An Exhaustive Summary of the Batman: Arkham Games Pt. 10

This is a full post-game DLC story that takes place quite sometime after the main plot of Arkham City. It helps to bridge the gap between Arkham City and Arkham Knight. It also allows for the exploration of Harley Quinn, a very popular yet underutilized character. During this adventure, you play as both Robin (Tim Drake) and Batman (Bruce Wayne).

You start the game playing as Robin who arrives outside of Harley Quinn’s hideout. Robin and Oracle (Barbara Gordon) speak briefly over comms and Barbara confirms that she still has not heard from Batman. She is worried because Batman is not in a normal head space after… but she trails off. The conversation turns to Harley and how she is amassing a crew and preparing for a siege. She is up to something big. Batman’s signal is coming from inside. Robin infiltrates the hideout as Barbara asks him to be careful.

Robin fights and sneaks his way through Harley’s hideout, eliminating her goons as he goes. Along the way, he finds that Harley has several Gotham City police officers held hostage. She has them out in a big open space. There is still no sign of Batman. However, Harley clearly has a plan for the cops which cannot be a good thing. However, Robin resolves to keep looking for Batman as the cops seem safe for the time being if Harley needs them. 

Barbara worries about Batman too as he is off his game and refuses to even talk about Talia or Joker. Robin promises he will find Batman and that they will help him deal with everything. After fighting a few more goons, Robin finds Batman’s discarded utility belt. Barbara begs Tim to answer as he is momentarily speechless.

We flash back to two days earlier. Commissioner Jim Gordon has set up a perimeter around Harley’s hideout. Batman arrives and Gordon tells him that Harley’s goons ambushed several of his cops and dragged them inside. Batman says that he will deal with it but Gordon asks if he is sure since Harley blames Batman for Joker’s death. It could be a trap. Batman tells Gordon to have his men fall back and let Batman deal with it. 

Batman stealthily takes out the goons outside of the steel mill hideout and then makes his way inside. One of the cop hostages is dangling on a crane inside. Batman fights off the horde of henchmen taunting the cop and lowers the crane to free the officer. Batman travels through the hideout, tracking the hostages to a previously unused high-security portion of the steel mill. Batman saves another cop but Harley herself reveals herself. She is dressed in mourning with her makeup showing signs of crying as it drips down her face. She aims at the cop and fires but Batman takes the bullet for the police officer. The heavy ammunition knocks Batman unconscious and Harley tells her goons to grab Batman. As her henchmen drag Batman away, they fiddle with his utility belt which sets off a defense mechanism so they leave it. The utility belt activates a homing signal.

Robin picks up and stows Batman’s utility belt. He tells Barbara that he thinks that he is close to finding Batman when she worriedly questions him. In the next room, Robin finds Batman locked in a bulletproof glass globe in a giant statue of the Joker. Robin sets about investigating the robotic statue’s mechanism to see how to release the unconscious Batman. 

Robin is missing a key and he decides that Harley must have it. It is time to confront Harley directly. He faces off against Harley and several of her henchmen, wary of Harley’s high-caliber gun (the one that took Batman out). Through stealth, he is able to corner Harley and grab the key off of her before leaving her tied up and dangling off of a ledge. Robin returns to Batman but must fight through even more henchmen (including a Titan-infused goon).

Robin finally releases Batman who regains consciousness and accepts his utility belt. Always selfless, Batman asks Robin about the cops who Robin has not rescued yet. Harley interrupts over the public address system and tells them not to worry about the cops. They will be dead soon as will the dynamic duo. She then reveals a giant bomb. Batman will handle the bomb while Robin saves the cops. Batman deactivates several bombs until he runs into Harley back in front of the Joker statue. She activates several robots (obviously salvaged from Wonder City) that are painted to resemble the Joker. The robots attack Batman as Harley launches rockets at Batman. 

As Batman defeats the robots, Harley reveals that the final bomb is inside the heart of the Joker statue. Batman takes her by surprise and takes the detonator from her. However, it is too late. Outside of the building, we see Jim Gordon start to rush the building when it explodes, sending him to the ground singed but alive. Batman appears with Harley and both of them are fine. Harley tells Batman that he should have left her to die. At least then she would be reunited with the Joker. She breaks down into sobbing hysterics and Batman asks Gordon where Robin is. Gordon thought Robin was with Batman. They look back at the building which is a deadly inferno.

Harley asks Batman if it hurts and Batman turns on her furious and asks what she did. Now Batman knows how she feels. As Batman turns to watch the building burn, Harley draws a dagger and attacks Batman from behind. Gordon goes in for the save but he is too far away. A projectile hits Harley and then returns to its owner. It is a birdarang. Robin appears with the cops in tow. Robin is fine and the cops are a little injured but fine. Batman declares that he is done there and swings off into the night. Gordon asks Robin if Batman is doing alright. Robin covers for Batman but does so while turning away, not quite believing it himself.

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An Exhaustive Summary of the Batman: Arkham Games Pt. 9

Batman: Arkham City had two purchasable DLCs that were included in subsequent versions of the game. The DLC allows the player to play as Catwoman within the same Arkham City setting as the main game. With the DLC purchased and installed correctly, the Catwoman portions are played seamlessly in line with the Batman portions so that you are basically taking Catwoman breaks from the Batman portions. If you recall my rundown of the main plot of Arkham City, Catwoman interacts with Batman twice during the story. Batman saves her from Two-Face early in the game and then Catwoman saves Batman from the rubble of the steel mill late in the game. This DLC expands Catwoman’s story so that the player can see some of what she was up to the rest of the night. The feel of her story and gameplay feels different from Batman’s while still fitting well into the world.

Part 1

Catwoman’s story begins with a bunch of Two-Face’s henchmen hanging out in his former campaign office. One of these thugs pulls at a painting on the wall and is amused that it swings open and reveals a safe. One of his buddies tells him to leave it alone as Two-Face would kill him for touching it. The topic of conversation then turns to the rumors that Batman has entered Arkham City. The main crook dismisses the idea as it makes no sense that Batman would come to Arkham City. His reasoning is probably that since they are all already incarcerated, there is nowhere else for the crooks to be sent. 

When a window breaks, the already-spooked criminals call out that it must be Batman. However, the crooks realize their mistake as Catwoman strolls into the room and announces her presence. She engages in hand-to-hand combat with six henchmen going up against one Catwoman. Catwoman easily mops the floor with the thugs, of course. With all of her obstacles unconscious, Catwoman approaches the safe and cracks it with ease. She gets what she came for which is a chip loaded with building plans for Arkham City. As she loads the program on her phone, Two-Face presses a gun against her temple and takes her prisoner. He takes her to the courthouse and ties her above a vat of acid which is where Batman first encounters her in the game.

Part 2

With Batman off chasing after The Joker, Catwoman goes about her own mission which is retrieving the loot confiscated from her when she was captured and brought to Arkham City. She uses the map to locate the confiscated goods storage and cases outside of it. The metal door is impressive so Catwoman tries to decide how to bypass it. She contemplates getting Killer Croc to rip the door apart or asking Penguin for explosives but decides that she needs a woman’s touch. She decides to try and recruit Poison Ivy to her mission. 

First, Catwoman needs to stop by her apartment to grab her gear. There is no way she is going to survive Arkham City without all of her tricks. When she makes her way over to her apartment, she discovers that Two-Face has sent henchmen to watch the place in case she returned. Catwoman easily takes out the thugs barring her way and sneaks into her apartment to replenish her gear including caltrops and bolas. With that done, Selina heads toward Ivy’s lair. She is able to get past some men mind-controlled into acting as guards.

Once inside, Catwoman is confronted by Poison Ivy who is still angry that Catwoman killed some flowers. Selina offers to replace the flowers but that is obviously not the point and Ivy attacks. She unleashes mind-controlled henchmen from the other gangs to fight Catwoman. Selina must also contend with Ivy’s plants and the lair filling up with poisonous spores that threaten to turn Catwoman into a plant. Catwoman is eventually able to get through to Ivy and it is revealed that Catwoman failed to water Ivy’s rare flowers. There is only one left. It is sealed in the confiscated goods vault. That works out perfectly as that’s where Catwoman wants to break into. 

Part 3

Catwoman travels back across Arkham City and makes her way to a manhole and into the sewers. Ivy’s plants have tunneled into Strange’s vault allowing Catwoman to get to a security office inside of the building. She analyses the security through the computer and finds that the vault requires three security keys to open. She goes around the confiscated goods warehouse to pickpocket TYGER guards for their key cards. Once she unlocks the vault, that alerts the guards that something is up. There was no scheduled opening for the vault and it takes three of them to open it so clearly things are not going correctly. Catwoman takes out the guards stealthily and then makes her way into the vault. 

Once inside, Catwoman finds her loot in two briefcases. She also finds Ivy’s special flower and smashes it for tying her up in vines and trying to kill her. Of course, this breaks the deal she made with Ivy. When she opens one of the briefcases, Professor Strange announces her presence over the PA system. Catwoman realizes that this has been a trap. Selina has to fight more TYGER guards in order to escape the vault. As she leaves the vault with her briefcases, an announcement declares that Batman is down. Selina looks and sees Batman’s prone body on camera pinned under rubble. She has to decide whether to abandon her loot and save Batman or just escape. You can choose to just leave but that results in an instant game over. Instead, Catwoman decides to save Batman and that leads to their second main story interaction.

Part 4

After the main plot is over, Catwoman decides to grab whatever loot is left in her apartment and escape the crumbling Arkham City. She arrives at her apartment but as she tries to enter the window, a bomb goes off inside her apartment which sends her flying. She wakes up to another fistfight with Two-Face’s goons and learns that Two-Face robbed her as revenge. Catwoman learns that he has taken over the Gotham Museum following Penguin’s defeat. She heads into the museum to get her property back. 

She makes her way carefully through the museum which has now fully melted following the recovery of Mr. Freeze’s technology. This makes it more time-consuming but still easy to traverse the flooded museum. Catwoman finds Two-Face who has his goons and a rocket launcher. Taking out Two-Face reveals that his obsession led to him only taking half of her loot and giving the rest away to his men. Annoyed, Catwoman takes her loot back from him and then escapes the museum. She then has to spend time tracking down and beating up Two-Face henchmen to get the rest of her gems back. With all of her loot returned, Catwoman then presumably escapes Arkham City. (In-game you are allowed to wander around as Catwoman at this point)

An Exhaustive Summary of the Batman: Arkham Games Pt. 8

The side missions in the Arkham games are called Gotham’s Most Wanted. There are no side missions in Arkham Asylum (except for The Riddler) so we will be jumping straight to Arkham City.

Acts of Violence (Political Prisoners)

Arkham City started as a place to put Gotham’s criminals as a convenient place for the League of Shadows to execute them all. This is part of the League of Shadows ongoing mission to cleanse Gotham City of sin. The secondary purpose of Arkham City was a place to throw political prisoners who somehow got in the way of the first purpose. The idea was that either the criminals would kill these people almost immediately or they would be in a convenient place to kill them later. Other than the backstory, there is not much story to this mission. Scattered across Arkham City you can find political prisoners being bullied and threatened by criminals. If you keep an ear out, you can find these interactions in alleyways. You can listen to a bit of the dialogue between the two characters which fills in some of the dynamics between the two groups. In all of these encounters, Batman easily takes out the criminal which allows the political prisoner to cower in safety.

AR Training

Early in the game, Alfred tasks you with completing training using augmented reality images. The training is a tutorial that teaches you how to better glide and maneuver while gliding. The first set of missions’ completion rewards you with a grapnel boost gadget. The grapnel boost allows Batman to catapult himself into the air in order to traverse the large map more easily Alfred drops the tech off using the Batwing (which he also uses to drop off the Batsuit in the main story). The second set of challenges just nets you some more XP but it also teaches you more advanced techniques of movement in the air.

Fragile Alliance (Bane)

One of the first major side missions that you can access. On the way to Joker’s hideout in the steel mill for the first time, Batman is momentarily distracted by a distress signal coming from nearby. There is a commotion outside of the half-flooded Krank Toys Factory. A group of inmates seems to be trying to break in. Curious, Batman heads over and takes out the goons in front of the factory. Inside the factory. Batman encounters Bane who he last saw when he fought him and then hit him with the Batmobile. (See Arkham Asylum’s main story). Bane claims to have come down from his exposure to Titan and now wants to destroy the stuff. He tells Batman that there are twelve canisters that were smuggled to various areas of Arkham City. They will split the list in half and he tasks Batman with destroying six canisters.

Batman slowly locates the canisters as he unlocks new areas of Arkham City. He destroys the canisters using his remote explosive gel. Once he is done, Batman returns to Krank Toys to meet up with Bane. Bane congratulates Batman on holding up his end of the bargain. Bane then reveals that instead of destroying his canisters, he hoarded them and Batman has ensured that Bane now has the only supply left. Before Batman can react, the place is invaded by gang members and he is forced to team with Bane to prevent them from getting the Titan. Afterward, Batman declares that Bane will not get the Titan either. He tricks Bane into charging and traps him in a broken elevator. Batman makes Bane watch as he blows up the remaining canisters one by one.

Cold Call Killer (Victor Zsasz)

If you poke around the industrial district enough, you will eventually discover a dead body leaning against a pay phone. A bit later, Batman starts hearing various pay phones ringing. If he picks up the phone, he hears the voice of serial killer Victor Zsasz who had a small cameo in Asylum. Victor has been murdering people who answer the phone. When Batman answers the phone, Zsasz will taunt him and challenge him to reach another ringing phone before time runs out. If Batman does not arrive in time, somebody else might answer the phone and get killed by Zsasz. When Batman reaches the phone in time, Zsasz starts rambling which allows Batman time to try to track his location.

After a few cycles of this, Batman is able to locate Zsasz’s lair. On arrival, it is clear that Victor has hostages and also that he has thought ahead and locked himself inside a panic room of sorts. In fact, he has been keeping his hostages in cages meant for medium-sized dogs.  Batman must take a more circuitous route through the flooded warehouse in order to get to a weak point in the panic room. Batman frees the hostages and leaves Zsasz in one of his own dog cages.

Identity Theft (Hush)

Batman stumbles upon a dead body in an alleyway of Arkham City. In the chaos of the gang wars, murders are unfortunately not unknown but this one was different because the entire face of the victim had been removed. This looks like the modus operandi of the killer that the newspapers had dubbed The Identity Thief. Batman finds evidence at three similar crime scenes. He interrogates a political prisoner saying that the murderer looked like Bruce Wayne. He finds Bruce Wayne’s fingerprints on a scalpel. Finally, he discovers a thug hired to clean up one of the crime scenes who tells him that Bruce Wayne was the murderer. As the evidence against Wayne mounts, Batman and Oracle grow concerned. Batman thinks that he is innocent of the murders but can’t be certain since Joker’s infection has caused an altered state. Batman vows to get to the bottom of it.

When Batman tracks down the lair of the Identify Thief, he is trapped behind bars. He is confronted by Bruce Wayne. Well, somebody who looks exactly like Bruce Wayne after surgery. The man introduces himself as Thomas Elliott, an old friend of Bruce Wayne’s. Elliott explains that he wants revenge on Wayne for what his father Thomas Wayne did. Thomas Wayne saved Tommy’s parents after a car crash, preventing Tommy from inheriting their money. Tommy sat by and watched as his pal Bruce’s parents died and Bruce inherited so much money. Tommy believed that should have been hs life too. He wants revenge.

As a professional surgeon, Tommy signed up for a medical mission to Arkham City. He had identified victims whose facial features he could fit together like a puzzle to recreate Wayne’s face. He also replicated Wayne’s fingerprints. In fact, early in the game, Batman encountered him without knowing it. In the church, there was a patient with heavy bandages on his head. When Elliott had cut off his own face, it had overwhelmed him and he needed assistance for some time. Eventually, he was able to finish the procedure and give himself Wayne’s face. He introduces himself as Hush. He walks away and by the time Batman gets free of the trap, Hush is long gone. Batman makes a note with Oracle to keep the file open.

Heart of Ice (Nora Fries)

After Batman defeats Mr. Freeze, he learns that the body of Nora Fries is in possession of The Joker as a way to force his cooperation. Victor Fries implores Batman to find his wife and gives Batman a vague area to look into based on his own deductions. Freeze couldn’t make a move to locate her for fear that Joker would pull the plug on Nora. Batman is able to sneak into the warehouse where Nora’s cryostasis pod is being kept and fights off the thugs keeping her hostage. He informs Freeze of the whereabouts of his wife. Freeze creates a path in the water to reunite with Nora. When Batman finds Freeze brooding near his wife’s tank later, Batman encourages the villain to turn away from crime and focus on his wife.

Hot and Cold (Furnace)

When Batman infiltrates the Steel Mill for the last time, he discovers Harley Quinn who has been taped to a pole and gagged. This had been done by Talia al Ghul in an effort to try and assist Batman. When Batman ungags her, she tells him that she definitely won’t talk and especially about Mr. Freeze’s stolen tech that she hid in the boiler room. (You can re-gag Harley at this point). Batman heads down to the boiler room where a bunch of Joker henchmen is hanging out. When they are defeated, it reveals an upgrade to Freeze’s ice grenade gadget which helps Batman with crowd control.

The Tea Party (Mad Hatter)

 After Batman saves Vicki Vale after her helicopter crash in the main story, Batman does not notice Jervis Tetch aka the Mad Hatter watching him from close by. Alfred contacts Batman and tells him that they have been able to develop a cure. He directs Batman to a nearby roof where he will be airdropping the cure from the Batwing. Batman arrives at the coordinates and injects the cure into his bloodstream. He promptly passes out. When he wakes up, he has been captured and restrained by The Mad Hatter. Hatter explains that he implanted Batman with a remote hypnotic suggestion that would lead him to inject himself with a hypnotic drug. Thankfully, Hatter has no idea what Batman saw and heard that convinced him. Tetch gives Batman his very own special hat (a strange mask) that will put him further in Hatter’s control. Batman begins to fight against the mind control and brawls with Hatter’s henchmen and Hatter while he does. He eventually breaks free and crushes Hatter’s hat which stops any and all mind control. He leaves Hatter and his henchmen unconscious at their little tea party.

Remote Hideaway (Remote Mine Detonator)

Sometime after Batman clears the Museum of Penguin’s thugs, the undercover cops have made the Iceberg Lounge their base of operations. They seal off the club in order to protect themselves as they wait for more orders. When Batman visits them, they give him an upgrade for his disruptor gadget allowing him to remotely detonate mines. This removes them as an obstacle to certain areas.

Watcher in the Wings (Azrael)

Throughout the game, Batman can find a strange cloaked man watching him from a high vantage point. When Batman draws close, this man cryptically states that “we” have been watching Batman and also talks about whether Batman is ready or not. Four times Batman finds him and each time, the man leaves a strange symbol carved by a gauntlet-mounted energy blade. Batman is able to scan all four symbols, combine them, and then use them as a key to the map of Gotham to find a fifth location. In the church cemetery, Batman finds a fifth symbol that summons the watcher. The watcher introduces himself as Azrael, lone servant of the Order of Dumas. He brings a message of a prophecy that a fire will rise from Arkham and Gotham and Batman will burn. Batman dismisses this as a fairytale and Azrael says they will meet again.

Shot in the Dark (Deadshot)

After Batman exits the Steel Mill for the first time, he spots a distress flare on top of the partially flooded buildings and hears somebody shouting for help over the radio. He arrives to find a frantic political prisoner who tells Batman that he is being hunted. Before Batman can get him to elaborate, a sniper shot kills the prisoner. Batman uses his cowl to determine the trajectory of the bullet. He follows the bullet back to the logical firing position and concludes that due to the distance of the shot, the only one who could have made it is Deadshot. This is confirmed when Batman finds a custom shell casing with Deadshot’s name engraved on it. This makes sense as Bruce Wayne encountered Floyd Lawton in inmate clothing at the very beginning of the game.

Over the course of the game, Batman finds two more political prisoner victims of Deadshot. Forensic examination of the firing positions reveals Deadshot had come in contact with a specific lead paint and a specific brand of plastic. This information allows Batman and Oracle to narrow down where Deadshot might be going in between kills. Prying off the cover of a utility access point reveals a little cubby where Deadshot is stashing extra gear. Luckily, he left behind a PDA that Batman is able to hack. Batman finds that Deadshot has been hired to murder political prisoners. There are only three names left on the list: reporter Jack Ryder, billionaire Bruce Wayne, and Batman. Batman rushes to save Jack Ryder’s life and then fights Deadshot and imprisons him in a broken-down cable car.

Harley Quinn and the Joker’s Daughter (Movie Pitch) Pt. 2

Characters:

Harleen Quinzel fka Harley Quinn (Jennifer Tilly) – Former devotee and henchwoman to the Joker who is now trying to get back to her original life plan of psychiatry. She wants to help people and keep her head down but has a flair for creativity and performance.

 Joker’s Daughter aka Dina {Bella Higginbotham) – A young woman who claims to be related to The Joker in order to gain some credibility in the criminal underworld.

Jewelee aka Julia Clarke (Jennifer Stone) – A former criminal and the wife of Punch. She has moved on and gotten her life back together (for the most part) but misses the excitement of crime.

Punch aka Paul Clarke (Joe Keery) – A former criminal and the husband of Jewelee. He is clingy without a job to go to and is kind of los in lifet.

 Enigma aka Evelyn Nashton (Joy Sunday) – The actual daughter of The Riddler who uses her considerable intellect to help people rather than hurt them. 

Lady Clayface (Chelsea Peretti, Ali Wong) – The victim of a freak accident with the original Clayface, she can shapeshift like her body was made of clay. She can also impersonate anybody or anything. Harley is helping her with identity issues related to her abilities.

The Toyman (Christopher Meloni) – A genius inventor and criminal who is tired of being overshadowed by the rest of Batman’s rogue’s gallery. He wears a mask resembling a doll’s head and often speaks softly.

Amygdala aka Aaron Helzinger (Derek Mears) – A muscular mountain of a man who has little control over his impulses but is easily controlled by Toyman. In his excitable state, he can barely form words let alone sentences. 

Blockbuster aka Mark Desmond (Charlie Rawes) – A steroid-infused thug who is also controlled by Toyman. He is a little more intelligent than Amygdala. 

Bob  – An ex-stooge for The Joker who survived when The Joker attempted to kill off his henchmen. He is captured by Toyman and tortured for information on The Joker’s resources before being killed and left as a message..

Batwoman (Kristen Stewart) – A costume crimefighter and cousin to Batman. She is stretched thin with the rest of the Bat Family off on a mission.

Pamela Isley fka Poison Ivy – Formerly an ecoterrorist as Poison IVy but now operates more as an activist after reforming coinciding with becoming Harley’s roommate and girlfriend.

The Joker (Jackie Earle Haley) – The boogieman of Gotham’s criminals. He has been missing for quite some time but his presence is still felt by many.

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Interior – Mayor’s Office, Interior – GCPD, Exterior – Street, Interior – Bar

Toyman takes over the airwaves. He asks Gotham where their heroes are. Gone. They once feared the Joker but where is he? Gone. Toyman is the new Joker. He’s better than Joker. He’s far more reasonable. Toyman has the power and he has the bombs. If the city of Gotham does not want to play nice, he can blow up any target he wants. And he will blow them up. He will follow through. No jokes. Bombs are already in place across the city. A list of demands will be transmitted and those demands better be met or there will be hell to pay.

Interior – Harley’s Hideout

Harley’s crew has just finished watching the broadcast. They are banged up and bandaged but still alive. They had a really close call. Harley tells the others that they have passed the point of no return. Toyman did not succeed in killing them but he tried really hard. He might think he succeeded but the instant he finds out he failed, it is execution on sight. The next time he will make sure to get the job done. If they run, they will never stop running. She did not want to get involved and she feels guilty for getting them into it. Everybody speaks up and says that they are there for her. It is personal for all of them now. It is time to suit up and wreck Toyman’s day. Dina points out that it has been shown that Harley cannot stop her from getting involved. Harley reluctantly agrees to take her along.

Enigma captured the truck’s license plate and her system’s algorithms have been going down the rabbit hole and gathering information. It has mapped out the financial and logistical structure of Toyman’s empire. He has done a lot in a very short time. Toyman has a data distribution center that he is likely using to remotely control his dollbots and drones across Gotham and possibly what he would use to set off the bombs. Harley says that dismantling that center would leave his operation confused and it would be fun. But first, they are going to need to gear up.

Interior – Multiple Locations

Paul and Jewlee go to their storage unit and dig out their old costumes. Enigma loads up on gear and pulls out a mask designed similarly to her father’s. Harley pulls out her old costume and shakes her head. She and Dina set about throwing new costumes together. Lady Clayface sits back and eats popcorn. She changes her form to include a costume in time for the lineup.

Interior – Box Truck

The group bonds as they drive toward the data center. Dina enjoys being a part of the group and Harley is clearly happy for her. They all have a lot in common being on the wrong side of the law but being good people at heart. 

Interior – Data Center

Their truck backs into the loading dock and several security guards start approaching. The door of the truck explodes, sending everybody flying. Harley’s gang pokes their heads in after the misdirection. Harley pulls a large piece of shrapnel out of the face of a dollbot. Harley congratulates Enigma on her bomb and asks how she knew they would all be dollbots. Enigma shrugs and states that she didn’t. The crew shrugs and sets about their plan. Punch and Jewlee will accompany Enigma to the control center. Harley, Dina, and Clayface will run interference.

Harley, Dina, and Clayface move to make as much noise as possible as they head toward the source of the most movement in the building. Their plan is to draw as much attention as possible to keep security off of Enigma’s group. As the three start to fight through the dollbots, Harley has to admit that she missed this. She also admits that Dina is doing a great job. Clayface is also thriving by cutting loose and allowing her form to continuously change. Harley remarks that Clayface might maintain better control by experimenting more. A rocket launcher hits Clayface and scatters her, leaving Harley and Dina to go on alone. Harley has seen Clayfaces go to pieces and come back together before.

Punch and Jewelee are bickering as they move with Enigma through the air vents. Enigma pleads with them to stop and focus but they cannot let it go. In the heat of the moment, both reveal their insecurities. They go silent and all business much to Enigma’s relief. They fight through their own gauntlet on the way to the control center. When they get to the control center, Enigma can no longer take the tense silence and begs the two to talk it out. As she hacks into Toyman’s systems, the two agree to confront their issues head-on. As they make up again, the two start making out much to Enigma’s annoyance/amusement. She struggles with Toyman’s system and looks over and spots a wall of photos of Batman’s rogue’s gallery. She spots her father’s picture and curses him before going back to it.

Dina and Harley step into a room and are confronted with five Jokers. The Jokers insult both Harley and Dina. They make fun of Harley’s past infatuation and her repeated imprisonment. They then start to make fun of Dina’s claimed parentage, disowning her. Just as the two seem they cannot take anymore, a sixth Joker appears. He mocks the Joker in general and how, as scary as he was, he was a failure too. He always lost to Batman. Always. The sixth Joker winks which causes Harley to laugh and then Dina laughs. The sixth Joker is revealed to be Clayface and the three wreck the Jokerbots in a moment of true therapy.

Harley’s team meets up with Enigma’s team, sealing the door behind them. They spot Punch and Jewelee still making out. As Enigma gets close to shutting things down, Toyman shows up on screen. He declares that this is not over. Harley tells him he’s right because they are coming for him next. Dollbots are slowly destroying the doors behind them. Toyman says that they will die. Enigma tells him that there is one problem with that. She is smarter than her father. She shuts down the data center. The operation was a success. Now to go after Toyman himself. Enigma traced his signal when he tried to gloat. They have his location. It is in a sub-basement below the facility.

Interior – Toyman’s Hideout

Toyman is throwing things around and yelling in anger. He reminds Amygdala and Blockbuster that they work for him as long as he has control. He holds up the remote control and uses it to bring them in line. He vows to rebuild once they eliminate Harley and her gang.

Interior – Elevator

Harley’s gang is huddled together in the elevator as it descends, licking their wounds and getting ready for the last fight. Harley declares that she is going to end Toyman for this which makes Dina apprehensive. 

Interior – Toyman’s Hideout

The elevator dings open and Harley’s crew is met by Blockbuster and Amygdala. The fight begins as the crew tries to take on these lumbering behemoths. Eventually, most of the crew is able to hold the two men back. Harley and Dina get past them and into Toyman’s inner sanctum. There they find Toyman has gotten into a mechanized suit. He shoots at Dina and Harley and the fight begins. Harley is able to goad Toyman into revealing the remote to his henchmen. At least Joker used emotional manipulation, she teases. She manages to get the remote away and smashes it.

Back out in the entrance, Amygdala and Blockbuster suddenly stop fighting. They try to gather their wits and when Harley’s gang go to attack them, they beg off. They explain that they are free of Toyman’s influence and that Harley’s gang can do whatever they want with Toyman. They are officially clocking out. They walk over to the elevator and leave.

Dina and Harley are still fighting Toyman who is surprisingly spry. Toyman knocks Dina into a wall and Harley goes into overdrive and beats him with her mallet. She raises the mallet above her head for the killing blow but Dina calls out for mercy. Harley brings the mallet down and breaks open Toyman’s mask. She did not kill him but he is dazed as he looks up at Harley.

“There he is. There is the pathetic Joker wannabe. You wanted so badly to be the Joker but you couldn’t be a quarter of The Joker on your best day. But do you wanna know a secret? The Joker was a loser. What does that make you? Less than a loser. The truth is, he was holding me back. You couldn’t even do that right. You’re not even worth killing.”

Cut to Harley and Dina having tied up Toyman. Enigma warns that the police are on their way and Harley blows a kiss to Toyman as they leave, laughing.

Interior – Harley’s New Office

Another group session. Everybody has been decompressing and debriefing from the adventure. Harley says that the adventure was crazy but it might have been good for them. Unconventional therapy, maybe. The others are open to doing it again sometime. Harley says they have to lay low. Everybody but Dina has a record. Enigma states that they did a good thing. The Batfamily does good and nobody bothers them. The difference is they have the trust of the cops. Maybe they can do it again if they are needed.

The meeting breaks up and Harley and Dina talk. Dina is done with the Joker and Harley states that they will continue to keep each other to that promise. Dina states that she is going back to school and got a job and an apartment. Harley is happy for her. Things are going to be better from now on.

Post-Credit Scene – Exterior – Gotham Street

Harley is walking into her car and stops in her tracks. She calls out whoever is following her to show themselves. Batwoman steps out of the shadows, impressed that Harley knew she was there. Harley has developed a sixth sense when it comes to superheroes over the years. She is disappointed that she didn’t rate a visit from Bats himself. Batwoman actually volunteered to visit. She does have a message from the Batfamily. They know what she did and they hope that Harley and her crew have truly turned over a new leaf. They need to stay out of trouble. Harley says that she’ll try but no promises. She turns to go but Batwoman asks to speak to her. She has a problem that she needs Harley’s help with. A family problem.

Harley Quinn and the Joker’s Daughter (Movie Pitch) Pt. 1

Characters:

Harleen Quinzel fka Harley Quinn (Jennifer Tilly) – Former devotee and henchwoman to the Joker who is now trying to get back to her original life plan of psychiatry. She wants to help people and keep her head down but has a flair for creativity and performance.

 Joker’s Daughter aka Dina {Bella Higginbotham) – A young woman who claims to be related to The Joker in order to gain some credibility in the criminal underworld.

Jewelee aka Julia Clarke (Jennifer Stone) – A former criminal and the wife of Punch. She has moved on and gotten her life back together (for the most part) but misses the excitement of crime.

Punch aka Paul Clarke (Joe Keery) – A former criminal and the husband of Jewelee. He is clingy without a job to go to and is kind of los in lifet.

 Enigma aka Evelyn Nashton (Joy Sunday) – The actual daughter of The Riddler who uses her considerable intellect to help people rather than hurt them. 

Lady Clayface (Chelsea Peretti, Ali Wong) – The victim of a freak accident with the original Clayface, she can shapeshift like her body was made of clay. She can also impersonate anybody or anything. Harley is helping her with identity issues related to her abilities.

The Toyman (Christopher Meloni) – A genius inventor and criminal who is tired of being overshadowed by the rest of Batman’s rogue’s gallery. He wears a mask resembling a doll’s head and often speaks softly.

Amygdala aka Aaron Helzinger (Derek Mears) – A muscular mountain of a man who has little control over his impulses but is easily controlled by Toyman. In his excitable state, he can barely form words let alone sentences. 

Blockbuster aka Mark Desmond (Charlie Rawes) – A steroid-infused thug who is also controlled by Toyman. He is a little more intelligent than Amygdala. 

Bob  – An ex-stooge for The Joker who survived when The Joker attempted to kill off his henchmen. He is captured by Toyman and tortured for information on The Joker’s resources before being killed and left as a message..

Batwoman (Kristen Stewart) – A costume crimefighter and cousin to Batman. She is stretched thin with the rest of the Bat Family off on a mission.

Pamela Isley fka Poison Ivy – Formerly an ecoterrorist as Poison IVy but now operates more as an activist after reforming coinciding with becoming Harley’s roommate and girlfriend.

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Dr. Harleen Quinzel had enough of being Harley Quinn, constantly dodging the Bat Family and usually ending up in Arkham no matter how hard she tried. On top of that, she had devoted herself to The Joker but he never fully returned her affection and instead constantly abused her. She shed that toxic relationship and earnestly worked toward redemption and eventually regained her degree. She hung up her shingle to practice psychiatry and although she was struggling, she was happier.

The Joker had mysteriously gone quiet a year ago but Gotham was far from quiet. Villains and gangsters still ran the criminal underground. 

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Gotham City – Second Bank of Gotham 

Police have surrounded a bank with a robbery in progress. The negotiator team taps into the security cameras as they talk to the robber.  A young woman wearing a handpainted mask reminiscent of The Joker looks directly into one of the security cameras. She declares herself to be The Joker’s Daughter and that she would be bringing her father’s chaos back to Gotham. After the young woman slips up, the cops rush in. She holds her own against the first handful of cops until somebody hits her from behind and she blacks out.

Interior – Abandoned Underground Bunker

We watch the interior of a large metal roll-up door for a moment before we see the sparks from somebody using a cutting torch device to cut a rectangle in the door. As the shape completes, there is a loud guttural noise as a fist slams into the door and knocks it down. As smoke drifts up from the door,  the forms of Amygdala and Blockbuster are silhouetted in the newly made entrance. We see them both step into the light, both of them monstrous. A commanding yet childish voice tells them to step aside. As the towering villains step aside, we see Toyman step into the light. Toyman remotely turns the lights on and we see that the place has Joker graffiti everywhere. This is the place. Time to get to work. 

Interior – Harley’s Office

She comes to, sitting in a plush armchair. As her vision comes back into focus, her gaze lingers on a plaque reading “Dr. Harleen Quinzel”. She sees degrees framed and hanging from the wall but also her discharge papers from Arkham. Dr. Quinzel is sitting behind that desk and smiles at the young woman and informs her that she saved her from the cops. The young woman complains that she would have been fine. Harley knows when she sees somebody over their head. The young woman freaks out when she realizes her mask is gone. Harley has it and can hand it and the young woman to the cops at any time. Besides, Joker is nobody to take after. 

The young woman declares that she is legitimately The Joker’s Daughter and that Harley is a quitter. Harley loses her cool and calls the woman a liar and she would know. The woman doubles down on her claim but it is not like they can do a DNA test. Harley calms down and finds out that the girl is basically homeless. With Pam out of town, Harley offers to let her crash at the apartment. She will tell this young girl all about The Joker. The girl’s name is Dina.

Interior – Harley and Pam’s Apartment

Harley and Dina order Chinese and talk into the night about Joker and Gotham as promised. They seem to bond just a bit. In the morning, Harley wakes up Dina and tells her that she has to go into the office and that Dina should come along. When Dina protests, Harley points out that she can turn her in to the police at any time. Dina calls her a narc but relents. 

Interior – Harley’s Office

Back at the office, Harley brings Dina into a group therapy session. It is here that Dina is introduced to some of Harley’s patients. The bulk of her patients are ex-villains like herself. Paul and Julie are former puppet-themed criminals Punch and Jewelee but came to Harley first for marriage counseling. Enigma came to Harley to deal with issues with her own father. Sondra is still coming to grips with her powers. We get short flashbacks of each patient here. Harley has Dina introduce herself and the other patients react to her claim of being the daughter of The Joker. Julie and Paul hate the mental image. Enigma states that Dina should not want to be the daughter of a villain. Sondra thinks Dina must be crazy. Harley defends Dina but also agrees with the group. She relates her own story as Harley Quinn with a flashback.

Exterior – Gotham City

Toyman stands on top of a roof overlooking Robinson Park with Amygdala, Blockbuster, and several doll robots. The city is unveiling a new outdoor theater pavilion. They are interrupted by two police officers doing a security check. Toyman watches passively as they are swarmed and silenced by the doll robots before they are killed. Toyman sets off an explosion, destroying the new outdoor theater and scorching a large section of the park. Toyman laughs as the fireworks are reflected in his doll eyes.

Interior – Harley’s Office

An alert on Paul’s phone interrupts the session but as his wife and the others yell at him he insists they will be interested. He shows the news of an attack on Robinson Park. Harley recognizes the tech used as coming from one of the Joker’s stashes. Dina gets excited about her father’s apparent return but Harley points out that if it was the Joker, he would be front and center and hogging the camera. Somebody else has done this. Dina is apoplectic and urges that something has to be done. She has to defend her father’s honor. Harley states that Joker never really had any use for honor and that the Bat Crew will handle it. As if on cue, the news anchors remark on the Bat Family being involved in a huge battle near Coast City. Harley curses.

Interior – Noonan’s Bar

Toyman struts into the toughest bar in Gotham and announces himself. He takes credit for the bomb in Robinson Park and promises more to come. He tells those assembled that she is the new King of Gotham’s underworld and they should run and tell their bosses. Forget the Joker, it is a new age.  If anybody crosses his crew, they will pay the price. The criminals start to hassle Toyman, asking what crew is going to back him up. He snaps and kills with his gadgets. Amygdala and Blockbuster appear. An impromptu barfight starts up and Toyman’s men make short work of their opponents while smashing up the bar. Toyman sits on the bar and just laughs as he watches. When the dust settles, he orders the two behemoths to go get the rest of the bombs.

Interior – Harley and Ivy’s Apartment

Harley gripes that Ivy loves Robinson Park and she is going to be so pissed. Dina tries again to push Harley into going after whoever is using the Joker’s bombs. Harley reiterates that it is not her problem. She is not a hero. She is a normal citizen. Dina says that she will never be normal again. Dina was such a fan of her as Harley Quinn. Dina wanted to be her.  But now Harley is just a traitor who turned on The Joker. Harley asserts that she did not betray The Joker, she just walked away. Her life with Joker was miserable. Dina asks if it was all bad because in the news footage, it looked like Harley was having fun. Harley admits that there were fun parts but after a while, those fun parts did not include The Joker. He never returned her feelings and then she realized that those feelings weren’t real. They were an addiction. Harley realizes that she is the only one who could investigate this. The cops don’t know about The Joker’s hideout. She insists that Dina stay put while she checks it out. She puts a tracking device on Dina to make sure she stays put.

Interior – Joker’s Bunker

Harley and Enigma show up to investigate. It is immediately apparent that somebody has been there. The place is a mess. Harley confirms that something is missing. She should have anonymously reported the bunker to the police. She supposes she didn’t out of a twisted sense of loyalty and fear of getting sucked back in. Enigma points out that she got sucked in anyway. It is because she let Dina push her into it. Enigma points out that maybe Harley wanted to be pushed into it. An adventure without The Joker. Joker had the keys to the place and had no need to break in so he has not returned. Enigma’s scans confirm that three people entered from footprints in the dust on the floor. They keep looking around and Harley finds her old gear and blows the dust off it. She reaches out and traces her fingers along the handle of her old mallet.

Interior – Harley’s Office

Dina is lounging at Harley’s desk. She is going through Harley’s personal files on The Joker and is curious. She gets up to clear her head when there is a knock on the door. She opens the door to find Punch and Jewelee standing there. They are there for emergency marriage counseling. Dina points out that Harley is out but lets them in. Dina points out that Julie and Paul clearly love each other like crazy, the only thing missing is their adventures. They’re stuck in a rut. She has just the solution but it is a little crazy. 

Interior – Sondra Fuller’s Apartment

Sondra opens the door to Dina, Julie, and Paul. Dina asks for Sondra’s help as she has a feeling that Harley and Enigma are going to be in over their heads. Sondra talks about fighting so hard not to be a monster that she cannot get involved. Dina points out that Harley was there for Sondra. Punch and Jewelee point out that a monster wouldn’t help Harley. She’s not just Lady Clayface, she’s their friend Sondra. They need to find Harley but Dina has a solution for that.

Interior – Joker’s Bunker

A truck backs into the bunker and Amygdala and Blockbuster get out. He lumbers over to load more bombs into the truck. Enigma and Harley hide and watch. An accidental sound draws Amygdala and Blockbuster’s attention and when they find Enigma, Harley attacks from behind with the mallet. The two women fight with the behemoths shrugging off their attacks. A drone appears with Toyman’s face on the screen and he is annoyed that the bomb retrieval is taking so long. Toyman activates robotic dolls that crawl out from under the truck. Harley and Enigma are very outnumbered now. 

The drone fires a rocket at them but a brick wall suddenly forms and blocks the shot. The wall is Sondra who immediately engages in a fight with Amygdala. Dina, Jewelee, and Punch join the fray and fight against the dollbots. Everybody gets in each other’s way and the fight is very dicey. Blockbuster loaded the truck while everybody else was busy. Near the end of the fight, something on the back of Amygdala’s neck sparks. Toyman’s crew gets in the truck and drives away. Dina tries to pursue but Harley holds her back, telling her they are in no condition to keep going.

Interior – Toyman’s Truck

Toyman is over the moon at besting one of The Joker’s greatest sidekicks, the great Harley Quinn. Still, he is upset that anybody would dare oppose him. He tells Amygdala and Blockbuster to deliver the bombs. He has business to take care of.

Interior – Joker’s Workshop

After regrouping, Harley decides that they should finish looking around before anonymously reporting everything to the cops. Harley is grateful for the help but it’s still not their fight. She does wonder how they found the place and Dina tells her to check her pocket. It’s the tracking device that Harley gave Dina. Harley is annoyed but impressed. They spread out to check things out. Dina is in Heaven as she tours the workshop of her alleged father. That delight turns to horror as she screams when she discovers a dead body nailed to the wall. She throws up as the others catch up to her. Harley confirms that this was an ex-Joker henchman named Bob. That must have been how they found the place. Bob was sick but he didn’t deserve to die like that. Dina is shaken. Harley comforts her but also explains that this is the kind of thing Joker did all the time, even to his own henchmen. 

Interior – Harley’s Office Building

After they are satisfied with their search, Harley tells everybody to come back to her office for a group session. They need to talk this out. When they get up to the floor where Harley’s office is, Dina looks pale and heads for the bathroom again. Everyone stops in the hallway as Harley goes into the bathroom after her. Dina is looking in the mirror. Harley watches her and gently tells her that some people aren’t cut out to be villains. She needs to find her own path. Dina frowns and keeps her mouth shut but when Harley looks away, she seems to really think about it. As they continue toward the office, they hear a loud noise. A missile impacts Harley’s office and a huge explosion knocks them all off their feet as parts of the building fall from above.

An Exhaustive Summary of the Batman: Arkham Games Pt. 7

Poison Ivy has revealed her position by attacking drones so Batman rides to her rescue. As Batman argues with Ivy about her being too exposed, Scarecrow unleashes the Cloudburst and floods the city with fear gas that easily penetrates any PPE. The energy of the Cloudburst also fried the Batmobile’s power source. Batman is forced to stick to the rooftops as he leaves Ivy in place to use her plants to struggle against the fear gas. Batman returns to Stagg’s lab to discover how to counteract and destroy the Cloudburst. He discovers battery technology that is unaffected by the Cloudburst. He dives into the fear gas and replaces the power source for the Batmobile The whole time, exposure to the fear gas brings Joker closer to taking over. Batman manages to pull it together and heads into the subway to awaken the last plant that Ivy needs. 

Ivy clears a bit of the fear gas which allows Batman to scan the Cloudburst for weaknesses. The Cloudburst has been mounted onto a tank which is piloted by the Arkham Knight. Batman has a prolonged urban assault battle with the militia’s superior firepower. Batman eventually whittles the forces down to just the Cloudburst tank. Attacks cause the Cloudburst to overcharge and explode. Batman attacks Arkham Knight after the tank explodes but the Knight he is fighting turns out to be another Joker illusion. Batman heads back to Ivy who expends the rest of her strength to unleash pollen in Gotham city that completely dissipates the fear gas. Ivy dies in Batman’s arms.

With the help of the GCPD, Batman is able to track a signal from Commissioner Gordon who is deep below the city. Batman follows and finds that Gordon has been caught and is being escorted deep into the Arkham Knight’s headquarters. Batman is confronted by the Arkham Knight again who is piloting an enormous excavator vehicle. Batman is able to escape the excavator’s ambush but the fight ends with the Arkham Knight obliterating the Batmobile. 

The Arkham Knight takes Gordon and Batman follows the two to an abandoned mall. The Arkham Knight finally reveals his identity as Jason Todd, giving Batman a shock. Batman enters into a final showdown with Jason and takes him down. Batman is able to talk Jason down, telling him that it is not too late to fix things. Jason disappears as soon as Batman turns his back to tell Alfred the good news. 

With the way clear, Batman and Gordon take the elevator up to confront Scarecrow. Batman tells Scarecrow to give up. The Cloudburst is destroyed and the Arkham Knight is gone. His plans are done. Scarecrow instead reveals that Barbara Gordon is still alive and that he was using her safety to blackmail Gordon into doing his bidding. Gordon shoots Batman, causing him to appear to fall to his death. Scarecrow throws Barbara off of the building but Batman swoops in to save her having faked his death to try and help the Gordons out. Barbara and Batman arrive at street level, surrounded by drone tanks when they are saved by the delivery of a second Batmobile that Lucius Fox built. 

Scarecrow still has Gordon but Batman brings Barbara safely back to the GCPD. Batman goes back to the clock tower where the militia is trying to damage the servers there. When he returns to the GCPD, the militia starts a siege. Batman must fight the militia to prevent them from gaining access to the one secure location left in Gotham. After the brutal fight, Batman is told that Commissioner Gordon’s voice has just been used to access the lab at Panessa Studios. At the studios, Batman finds the cell he left Robin in empty and covered in Scarecrow graffiti. Scarecrow tells Batman that he will give himself up in exchange for Robin and Gordon.

Batman travels to the agreed-upon place and removes all of his gadgets before entering the back of a truck that will take him to Scarecrow. The truck crashes and Batman is led through another extensive Joker hallucination. Batman once again sees the dead bodies of his parents where they fell that fateful night in Crime Alley. He is ambushed in the alley by a gang of dozens of Jokers who he struggles against. In the heat of the moment, he succumbs and kills one of the Jokers. The hallucination ends and he is back in the truck that did not crash. Joker taunts Batman for his failure to adhere to his no-kill rule. 

The truck arrives at Arkham Asylum and Scarecrow commands Gordon to unmask Batman in front of a live television audience. Gordon balks at the idea but Batman tells him that he will be okay. This is the end. Batman is unmasked and revealed to be Bruce Wayne to the world. Scarecrow seeks to destroy the symbolic power of Batman by breaking him on live television. Scarecrow injects Batman with pure fear liquid. 

We cut to a scene where Two-Face, Penguin, The Riddler, and Killer Croc have captured the Joker. They say that Joker has killed a lot of their men and that he needs to be brought to justice. Joker summons his version of the Batmobile tank. This is his fantasy. He is cleansing the city of all of the other criminals by killing them all. He uses the tank to slaughter the rogues gallery’s grunts. He then picks up a shotgun to personally hunt down Penguin, Riddler, and Two-Face and gun them down. Joker has taken over Batman’s body and the city is in flames as Alfred pleads with Batman to have mercy on Gotham. 

Back in the real world, Batman has allowed Joker to fully take over his body much to Scarecrow’s confusion. Why is he not scared? Scarecrow injects him again and Joker is plunged into another hallucination. Joker encounters a painting of his death, the cremation oven that burned him up, and his grave neglected and overgrown. People are starting to forget about Joker. He encounters Harley Quinn at Joker’s wake and she is the only one there. On the one-year anniversary of his death, people struggle to remember who Joker was. A radio cohost even mixes up Joker with Riddler. They call Penguin Batman’s archnemesis. As Joker gets more and more afraid of being forgotten, Batman is able to eliminate his presence in Batman’s mind. Scarecrow’s toxin actually cured him of Joker’s infection.

Jason Todd shows up and uses a sniper rifle to free Batman from his restraints and Batman causes Scarecrow to be injected with his own toxin. Scarecrow freaks out which allows Gordon to knock him out. Scarecrow is arrested and the nightmare is over.

With his identity exposed, Batman retreats to Wayne Manor chased by the police and the press. Nightwing, Robin, Barbara, and Alfred must be protected from this. As Bruce Wayne appears at the door of Wayne Manor, the manor explodes and Bruce Wayne is declared dead. However, a Batman is still stalking the streets of Gotham leaving one to wonder just who or what is still out there.

An Exhaustive Summary of the Batman: Arkham Games Pt. 6

The sewer ends up being a ruse as the Arkham Knight is once again steps ahead of Batman and ambushes him. Batman manages to fight his way out of the ambush to escape the sewers. Once he reaches the surface, Batman is able to capture the commander of a militia APC who tells him that the Arkham Knight got his weapons from Penguin through a company called North Refrigeration.

It turns out that Nightwing has been investigating that company in the city of Bludhaven and offers to team up with Batman to investigate. The two of them track a weapons delivery truck from the company to a Penguin hideout. Batman interrogates Penguin before Nightwing and Batman take on Penguin’s goons as Penguin slips away. Batman destroys the weapon cache. Nightwing offers to help with Scarecrow but Batman tells him to stay on North Refrigeration so they can destroy all of the weapon caches. Then Nightwing needs to go back to Bludhaven. Nightwing defers to his ex-boss’ decision. However, Batman has a new lead from Penguin. Scarecrow and the Arkham Knight are going after pharmaceutical magnate Simon Stagg.

Batman infiltrates Stagg’s airships and finds that Stagg is not exactly a victim of Scarecrow but a collaborator. He had planned to doublecross Scarecrow. Stagg’s company invented a system called the Cloudburst that energizes a gas in such a way that makes it quickly permeate any personal protective equipment. This would make gas masks useless against Scarecrow’s fear gas, destroying any hope of surviving Scarecrow’s next attack. Batman’s Joker hallucinations continually cause him to lose track of Stagg and keeps him one step behind the Arkham Knight’s forces. This leads to Stagg being dosed with fear gas and losing his mind. Batman moves to stop Scarecrow but Joker causes a hallucination that lets Scarecrow get the drop on Batman. Batman is dosed with fear gas and Joker starts to take control. He brutally beats the Arkham Knight’s soldiers and nearly kills several of them. This allows Scarecrow to prepare his escape and he is able to steal the Cloudburst device. 

Fresh off of this defeat, Batman is presented with a video of Barbara Gordon being held back at the Chinatown hideout where he saved Poison Ivy. He rushes across Gotham but Barbara is gassed just as he arrives and Batman is confronted once again with the death of one of his allies. His family. He breaks down with Alfred begging him to carry on for the sake of Gotham City. Joker seductively speaks to Batman and offers to take over his body. With Joker’s takeover, Batman would be free from any more pain. Sweet oblivion. Batman rallies and finally answers Alfred, getting back in the fight. 

Batman decides to head back to the GCPD to consult Poison Ivy on combatting the Scarecrow’s fear gas. She reluctantly agrees to help and he brings her back out into Gotham City where she causes the plants at the Gotham greenhouse to hypergrow into a giant plant to counteract Scarecrow’s poison. Batman must help defend the plant from Arkham Knight’s militia while Ivy forms hardened bark over them. Batman uses sonar to awaken the roots of a similar plant for Ivy so that she has coverage over two of three islands.

Batman then visits Panessa Studios to use the computer there to analyze the militia’s defenses on the third and final island. The island is guarded from the Batmobile and the Batwing by a missile launcher supported by two radar towers. Batman exploits a vulnerability in a drone to learn how to hack the militia’s drones. This causes the opening Batman needs to take out the radio towers. He next goes to the control room for the missile launcher where the Arkham Knight intercepts him in person. After a brief confrontation where the Arkham Knight taunts Batman and escapes, Batman destroys the missile launcher. This will allow the Batwing to scan the city from the sky for the Cloudburst. 

Batman is in the midst of analyzing the new data from the Batwing when he gets an emergency call from Panessa Studios. It is Henry who tells him that Robin is in danger as Harley Quinn has invaded the studio. When Batman arrives, the place is crawling with Harley’s goons and Harley herself. She is there out of loyalty and love to Joker and since there are now four Jokers (that she knows of) she wants to free them to allow their full transformation. Batman arrives to discover that Johnny Charisma, Christina Bell, and Albert King have all escaped deeper into the studios. Harley has sent her goons to retrieve/protect all three. Batman and Robin leave Henry in the lab while they go after all of the criminals.

Batman and Robin find Harley’s goons holding Christina Bell in protective custody in an old horror movie set. She berates Harley’s goons for keeping her from her one true soulmate, Batman. The goons (who used to be Joker goons) start warming up to Christina as familiar. Batman recaptures her and Robin goes to take her back to her cell. 

Each time that Batman is waiting for Robin, Joker starts a hallucination revealing the fate of Jason Todd. Todd was the second Robin and Batman had thought that he died. Joker shows him that instead of killing Robin outright, he kidnapped and brainwashed Robin over time in an abandoned wing of Arkham Asylum. He brands Jason’s face with the letter J. 

Batman goes after Johnny Charisma and Albert King in whichever order. Albert King starts a huge brawl in a Western set with Batman and Robin and Harley’s goons and is tough enough that both crimefighters are needed to take him on. Johnny Charisma faces Batman alone, having rigged himself and a studio with bombs. Batman distracts Charisma by letting him sing while Robin sneaks around and disarms the bombs. On the way back to depositing the last Joker patient (King or Charisma), Batman runs into Harley Quinn. Batman makes quick work of her and her goons and they carry her back toward the lab. 

Once they return to the lab, they are horrified to find that Henry has shot the other subjects dead. Henry reveals that he has been completely taken over Joker for quite some time but hid it. He was the one who let told Harley about the secret lab so she could come and rescue him. He will be the one true Joker. However, Henry catches a look in Batman’s eyes and realizes that Batman is also infected. Joyous that Batman will be a much better choice for Joker, Henry commits suicide. Batman imprisons Harley in one of the cells as everybody is disturbed. Robin says that it is time for Batman to take one of the cells as well. Batman agrees and willingly enters the cell prepared for him.

Joker gives Batman another hallucination and shows him the conclusion of Jason Todd’s captivity. Joker films Jason’s statement that he now hates Batman and that he will be helping Joker in taking him down. Joker laughs and shoots Jason and leaves him for dead. Joker makes a point that any allies that Batman leaves alone, get hurt or killed. It happened to Jason, Barbara, and Talia. Batman is dropped out of the hallucination and realizes that his accepting imprisonment was part of the hallucination. He shoves Robin into the cell and locks him in, cutting Robin’s access to the comm system. Batman goes to confront the Arkham Knight again.

An Exhaustive Summary of the Batman: Arkham Games Pt. 5

The story starts not too long after the events of Arkham City. We see the Joker’s body loaded carefully into a cremation oven. As the flames consume his body, his grin seems to glow even brighter. Gotham City Police waits to see who will fill the power vacuum but nobody steps up. A tense peace pervades Gotham City. Arkham City is dismantled and Bruce Wayne’s money is donated to repair the damage. Without warning, Scarecrow returns to the spotlight with an improved fear gas. His attack is senseless and he threatens further terrorist actions, pledging to flood the entire city with fear gas. With such a credible threat, the city starts to evacuate with only a few of the GCPD sticking around to try to keep the peace. With the streets now empty, the gangs of Gotham rise up as looters and rioters.

The story begins with Batman arriving at the batsignal to meet with Commissioner Gordon just as Gordon hangs up the phone with his daughter Barbara who has boarded the last bus out of Gotham. The two speak briefly about whether Scarecrow would actually set off a chemical weapon in Gotham. A call comes in about a missing patrol car but when Gordon turns back around, Batman is gone. We find out that Barbara Gordon lied to her father as she is assisting Batman from her base at the Clocktower. Batman easily tracks down and saves the cop from looters but they are almost run down by a military-grade armored jeep. The vehicle matches the description of one linked to Scarecrow.  Batman summons his new and improved Batmobile via remote and then roars after the vehicle in hot pursuit. Batman races through the city and eventually disables the target vehicle. 

Batman interrogates the driver of the vehicle to get information about Scarecrow. He gets the location of a hideout in nearby Chinatown. Batman takes a pure sample of the new fear gas off of the soldier and sends the information to Barbara to analyze. Batman heads to the hideout to find that Scarecrow has Poison Ivy captive as she is immune to his fear gas. Batman goes to take Ivy in but they are stopped from leaving by soldiers and tanks rolling up on them. Batman operates the Batmobile by remote and displays its new tank mode. With the enemy tanks being drones, there is no need to hold back. After wrecking waves of tanks, Batman takes Ivy back to GCPD lockup for her and Gotham’s safety. 

Batman goes to the Clocktower to use Barbara’s computer to analyze the new fear gas compound. They figure out that instead of tracing the ingredients of the compound, they can try and trace the specific manufacturing process that would be needed to make it. Batman and Barbara use several radio towers to search for and find the manufacturing energy signature. They discover it at Ace Chemicals. During this, Batman debuts his new gear which is basically Bat Armor. Batman relays the probable location to Gordon but Gordon says that he stationed men there. Something is very wrong. 

Batman rushes to infiltrate the Ace Chemicals plant to rescue the police officers and skeleton crew left behind. Once there, he finds that a full-blown paramilitary force has been using the plant as a staging ground. Analysis of their markings matches rumors of a force training in South America led by somebody named the Arkham Knight. Batman comes face to face with this Arkham Knight while trying to track and rescue Ace’s skeleton crew. The Knight taunts Batman and leaves him to fight more drone tanks as his army ships out. 

Batman goes deeper into the plant to stop Scarecrow. It becomes clear that the explosion of gas will not only encompass Gotham, it will cover the entire Eastern Seaboard. After a brief fight, Scarecrow tells Batman to let him go in return for Barbara Gordon’s life. Alfred chimes in to say that he has lost contact with Barbara Gordon. Batman selflessly risks himself to load a neutralizing agent to the tanks. As he puts in the last tank, he turns around to see the Joker pointing a gun at Batman’s head.

We suddenly flashback to Commissioner Gordon arriving at the rundown Panessa Film Studios. He is let into an elevator that takes him down to an underground laboratory. He sees five enclosures. Four of them are taken up by entertainment personality Johnny Charisma, Queen Industries executive Christina Bell, prizefighter Albert King, and boarding school principal Henry Adams. Everybody but Henry displays physical and personality characteristics reminiscent of Joker. Batman informs Gordon that these four slipped through the cracks when people were infected with Joker’s blood. Batman has Robin working on a cure. Meanwhile, the four subjects are basically becoming Joker. Gordon notes that one cell is empty and Batman says that the last patient will be there soon. 

Back in the present, Batman is pestered by the Joker who is clearly only in Batman’s mind. Batman is the fifth infected patient and seeing and hearing The Joker everywhere is a symptom. Batman escapes Ace Chemicals as it implodes but no gas is released thanks to Batman’s efforts. 

However, it is clear now that Barbara Gordon has been taken by the Arkham Knight. Batman breaks the news to Gordon who angrily accompanies him to the Clocktower. Once there, the Joker seems to induce a hallucination in Batman of the time that he shot Barbara Gordon, the incident that put her in her wheelchair. Batman reveals to Commissioner Gordon that Barbara has been helping him in his fight. Gordon angrily rebukes Batman for endangering his daughter and causing her to be put in danger. Gordon goes rogue and leaves Batman to try and track the kidnapping on his own.

Batman tracks the vehicle that took Barbara and finds that it has crashed not too far away. Through forensics, Batman discovers that Barbara caused the driver to crash in order to stash some of the militia’s tech before being recaptured by the Knight. With the help of Lucius Fox, Batman uses the hidden tech to infiltrate the militia’s network and track the Arkham Knight into the sewers. Batman receives a worried call from Robin who offers to join the fight, worried that he has not heard from his girlfriend Barbara. Batman tells him that she is on special assignment and that he is still needed to research the cure. Joker taunts Batman for not telling Robin and for his failures.

An Exhaustive Summary of the Batman: Arkham Games Pt. 4

Batman follows the trail to the Sionis Steel Mill, the legitimate face of Black Mask’s empire. Here he finds that Joker has fully taken over Black Mask’s operations. Batman makes his way through the Steel Mill and then through the massive hidden drug processing facility. Batman rescues Sionis but discovers that this has been a trap set for him by Copperhead. She briefly scuffles with Batman, injecting him with her venom. She toys with Batman as he struggles to get back up to surface level so Alfred can airlift him an antivenom. He starts to hallucinate and sees Alfred, Commissioner Loeb, and the bank manager filling him with shame and doubt. Batman fights hundreds of identical Copperheads until Alfred manages to deliver the antivenom allowing Batman to easily finish off Copperhead. She offers to lead Batman to Joker in exchange for her freedom. While pleading her case, she lets slip that the remaining assassins have a scheduled meeting with Joker which means Batman does not need her. 

Batman scans the city for the frequency of the Electrocutioner’s gloves and narrows down the location of the meeting to a room in the Royal Gotham Hotel. Batman must evade Lieutenant Branden’s team outside to get into the hotel. Meanwhile, Joker is berating the remaining assassins for failing to kill Batman and throws Electrocutioner out of the window who falls to his death right in front of Batman. Most of the assassins leave but Bane sticks around, correctly assuming that Batman would be coming for Joker. Batman fights through the hotel which Joker has fashioned into a strange amusement park decorated with dead bodies. Joker toys with Batman, forcing him to play games to save lives. 

At the top of the tower, Batman’s attempt to get at The Joker is thwarted by Bane who aimed to collect on the balcony. Bane allows The Joker one minute with Batman. Joker spends that minute taunting Batman with the knowledge that he has rigged explosives all over the city and sets one off to show that it isn’t a bluff. Batman tries to beat information on the bombs out of The Joker but the minute is up and Bane attacks. 

Batman fights Bane on the roof of the hotel with Bane using venom and his men to try and outmatch the Dark Knight. Bane’s ruthless cunning and chemically enhanced physicality make the battle very dicey for Batman. A worried Alfred goes against Batman’s orders and anonymously tips off Jim Gordon. Gordon rides to the rescue with his team on helicopters which causes Bane to consider a tactical retreat. Batman places a homing device on Bane. Joker is angry that Bane is retreating and fires on Bane’s helicopter. Bane retaliates by firing a rocket launcher at the clown and the explosion launches Joker into the air. Batman is forced to risk himself to save Joker from falling to his death. Joker is astonished that Batman would save him after all that he has done. Joker kills two of his own men before they can kill Batman.

Joker is arrested and taken to Blackgate where he receives an intake interview from Dr. Harleen Quinzel. Joker instantly charms Quinzel by talking longingly about Batman but in such an ambiguous way that the doctor thinks he is talking about her. As Joker talks about being destined to meet Batman, we see what might be The Joker’s origin story. He is forced to wear the costume of The Red Hood during an Ace Chemicals heist. In the middle of the heist, Batman appears and the frightened amateur criminal who would become Joker unsuccessfully struggles. Joker falls into a vat of chemicals and, when he surfaces, realizes the chemicals have turned him into the iconic Joker that we know.

Batman returns to the Batcave, shaken but still standing. Alfred begs him to stay put since Joker has been arrested which ends the whole affair. Batman disagrees and says that there is more work to be done. There are a few more assassins out there including Bane. The tracer on Bane does not seem to be working.  Just then, there is a report of a body resembling Bane in the morgue. It turns out to be just one of Bane’s henchmen. The signal for the homing device comes online and Batman makes his way into Bane’s Gotham headquarters. There he finds the tracer device attached to undeniable proof that Bane knows that Batman and Bruce Wayne are one and the same. Batman warns Alfred that Bane knows his secret. Alfred requests Bruce’s return again but Batman says that he will be safe alone in the Batcave.

Reports come in that Firefly is terrorizing the Gotham Pioneer’s Bridge. Batman discovers that Firefly and his men have planted bombs all along the bridge. Batman warns Gordon who chooses to trust him and calls for the cops to stay off the bridge and let Batman try and handle it. Batman travels through the train station inside of the bridge and rescues hostages while defusing the bombs. Batman and Gordon clash over tactics but end up working well together with Alfred urging Batman to trust Gordon more. After defusing three bombs, Batman is surprised by Firefly and battles him for control of the detonator switch. Firefly is finally able to use the detonator switch but the delay that Batman caused allowed Gordon enough time to have the final bomb defused. 

Batman gets a call from Alfred but it ends up being Bane who is in the Batcave. Bane taunts Batman with the knowledge that it will be too late to save Alfred and Bane wants to face him again when Bruce’s grief turns to anger. Batman rushes to the Batcave just in time for Alfred to bid him goodbye. A distraught Bruce uses Electrocutioner’s gloves as a last resort and manages to defibrillate Alfred and restart his heart. A convalescing Alfred tells Bruce that he understands the mission now and that he cannot dissuade Batman from his path. However, no man is an island and Batman must rely on others if he is to survive. There is trouble at Blackgate Prison again so Batman calls Gordon to team up.

Batman and Gordon work together and are able to stem the worst of the riots. They are able to rescue Warden Joseph and Dr. Harleen Quinzel. Quinzel tells Batman that she knows why he is at the prison and that Joker is waiting for him at the Panopticon. Batman confronts Joker who has once again teamed up with Bane. Joker has set up a heart monitor on Bane. If Bane lives within the time limit, Joker will fry in an electric chair. If Batman kills Bane, Joker will live. Batman fights Bane yet again and Batman ends up stopping Bane’s heart, saving Joker. He quickly repeats the earlier trick and restarts Bane’s heart with Electrocutioner’s gloves. Bane rages and injects himself with even more Venom and Batman must beat him again.

Joker is waiting for Batman in the prison chapel. He is delighting in this confrontation and gives Batman kudos for stopping and restarting Bane’s heart. He had not thought of that loophole. He dares Batman to kill him by pointing out all of the horrible things he had done. Batman easily disarms the Joker and beats the snot out of him. As he punches Joker, he envisions all of the horrible things that Joker did and set in motion. He starts to strangle Joker who simply laughs, finding it all so funny. Batman knocks out the Joker and chooses to spare him as Gordon watches. Gordon is finally convinced of Batman’s honor since he let Joker live even after everything he did. Gordon is set to become the new Commissioner, a promotion he did not believe in until Barbara and Batman convinced him that it might not be hopeless. Later, Joker wakes up strapped to a gurney and revels in the hilarity of Batman once again sparing his life. This was going to be fun.

An Exhaustive Summary of the Batman: Arkham Games Pt. 3

Last time in Arham Games: The League of Shadows engineered a plan to wall off the Gotham slums in order to murder the criminals of Gotham. Batman pulled triple duty by facing off with the criminals of Gotham, a government-contracted militia, and a fatal blood poisoning gifted to him from The Joker. It ended with the death of Hugo Strange, Ra’s Al Ghul, and The Joker himself. We left Batman emerging from the iconic Monarch Theater, cradling Joker’s dead body as authorities (and Harley Quinn) look on.

Eight years prior to the events of Arkham Asylum, the city of Gotham is rife with crime. The days of the mafioso are waning and the first supervillains are emerging. The police force and government, in general, are horribly corrupt. 

The game begins on Christmas Eve and a riot has broken out in Blackgate Prison. Somebody has broken into the prison on the night that Julian Day aka “The Calendar Man” is set to be executed. Batman has arrived uninvited to help with the crisis even though he is a target of police investigation himself. He infiltrates the prison which is spiraling into chaos as several inmates are already free. Batman rescues Warden Joseph only to have to fend off the Warden’s attack as well. He moves on after declaring that he is there to help.

Batman hurries further into the prison, close on the heels of the intruding force. It becomes clear that Black Mask has arrived with Killer Croc who is the muscle allowing him to bypass security. Batman struggles to keep up with the villains as he is forced to stop to fight escaped inmates in order to rescue guards and reporter Vicki Vale. Along the way, he also spots a drone following the path of destruction. Another mystery. Croc eventually destroys the drone much to Black Mask’s annoyance as he wanted the drone to be studied. Batman is able to recover the drone’s data storage before moving on. He arrives at the gas chamber just in time to watch Black Mask force Police Commissioner Loeb to take Calendar Man’s place in the execution. Batman is too late to save Loeb’s life.

Batman chases Black Mask and Killer Croc to the roof where a helicopter is waiting to whisk Black Mask and his men away. Killer Croc smells Batman’s scent and decides to remain behind to fight the Dark Knight. Batman fights Croc in close quarters on the roof as the helicopter keeps depositing Black Mask’s men to aid Croc. Of course, the murderous giant has no regard for Black Mask’s men and is just as likely to hurt them as he is to hurt Batman. As Batman defeats Killer Croc, the helicopter retreats as the GCPD approaches. Batman interrogates Croc who is smugly confident that Batman is screwed since “they” are coming for him. The police rush the roof and Batman comes face to face with Detective Jim Gordon for the first time. Batman avoids arrest by jumping off the roof so the Batwing can swoop in and allow his escape.

Batman quickly returns to the Batcave and he and Alfred access the chip he retrieved from the downed drone from Blackgate. He searches the footage and finds tape of a meeting held by Black Mask as he puts out a bounty for eight of the world’s deadliest assassins. The first is Killer Croc who Batman has already beaten into submission and remanded to police custody. There are still seven assassins out there, hunting for Batman for a $50 million bounty. Those assassins are Deathstroke, Bane, Lady Shiva, Deadshot, Electrocutioner, and Firefly. Alfred implores Batman to just spend Christmas Eve at Wayne Manor with Alfred. No Batman means no bounty. Batman points out that the assassins will simply harm innocents to draw Batman out and he cannot live with that. He sets out to figure out where Black Mask is to put an end to it.

Batman has a lead on an illegal arms sale that is linked to the brand of drone that infiltrated the prison. He flies off toward The Bowery to stake out the sale but the Batwing’s navigation systems are scrambled. It seems that somebody has hijacked the proprietary technology that Batman has attached to radio towers throughout the city. Batman is forced to land at one of the towers and make his way to the top to investigate the interference. Several thugs are protecting the tower. Batman easily defeats these criminals, saving repairmen who have been taken as hostages. As he flushes the hacker’s presence from the tower’s systems, he comes face to screen with a mysterious man who has plans to release the secret information of officials throughout Gotham on Christmas Day to cause a societal collapse. He warns Batman against interfering.

Batman travels to make it to the arms sale and stakes it out. He interrupts the sale and beats up and interrogates the seller, Ricky “Loose Lips” LeBlanc who unwittingly sells out The Penguin as his boss. He tries to figure out the location of Penguin’s hideout but is forced to hack into three of Penguin’s listening posts to help triangulate his position. He figures out that Penguin is set up on an old cruise ship that Penguin had renamed The Final Offer where his normally illegal deals are legal due to a maritime law loophole. Batman makes his way down into the ship and finds that Penguin has built a black market and is hosting a fight club. Batman interrupts the fights only to come face to face with the second assassin, Lester Buchinsky aka “The Electrocutioner”. 

And then the Electrocutioner gets dropped.

The Penguin retreats and Batman must chase Penguin and his assistants Candy and Tracey through the labyrinthine ship. Batman fights through the derelict ship, taking out any criminals he can find. The Penguin has been selling arms to some of the assassins. Along the way, Batman finds out that Penguin is feuding with the Falcone family, the oldest mobster family in Gotham. Penguin has taken advantage of the conflict between the Falcones and Black Mask, using the opportunity to oust Falcone from power. He has captured mob boss Carmine Falcone’s son Alberto who he is torturing in his office. Batman interrupts this torture and starts trying to interrogate Penguin who lets slip a comment about a murder at Lacey Towers.

Batman’s questioning of Penguin is interrupted by the arrival of Deathstroke who challenges Batman to a fight he cannot refuse. The battle with Deathstroke is fast and furious as Deathstroke is a master at combat. He comes at Batman with a bo staff, a katana, his rifle, and a special remote claw device that he uses to launch propane tanks at Batman. The two fight hard but Batman finally knocks Deathstroke unconscious with his own sword. Penguin had been watching the fight but immediately locks himself away when the fight concludes. Batman is forced to leave The Final Offer, begrudgingly satisfied that he beat two more assassins and saved Alberto Falcone from possible murder. He also has the lead of a crime scene to investigate at the Lacey Towers apartment building. 

Batman arrives at the apartment crime scene and finds two dead bodies. The first is a woman known to be a mistress of Roman Sionis aka The Black Mask. The other dead body is wearing the outfit of The Black Mask. This seems to be where the police were satisfied and stopped investigating. Batman looks further and finds evidence that helps him reconstruct the events of the struggle. The mistress arrived at the safehouse, rattled by a criminal known only as The Joker. She was murdered and hung from the chandelier as a psychological message. Black Mask suspected that his mistress’ call may have been a trap and sent in a decoy who was promptly murdered. Black Mask then attacked the intruder but lost the fight. 

Batman has never heard of this mysterious Joker before and, after discussing his options with Alfred, decides to infiltrate GCPD headquarters to access their national criminal database. Batman makes his way inside, knowing that he has to be stealthy as alerting the whole cop shop would end badly for him. The headquarters are in disarray after the murder of Commissioner Loeb with SWAT lieutenant Branden representing the bloodthirsty and corrupt faction within the police. 

Batman listens in to a conversation between James Gordon and his visiting daughter Barbara Gordon. In the server room, Barbara surprises Batman and reveals that she is a fan of his and helps him hack the server. She also reveals that he will need to access the data line in the sewers beneath to gain permanent access. Batman is discovered in the building and Branden rushes with his men to kill Batman for Black Mask’s bounty. Gordon intervenes, wanting to arrest Batman instead. In the heat of the standoff, Batman saves Gordon from being killed by Branden and his men and flees. 

Batman makes his way down to the sewers where he finds that Black Mask has a personal vault at Gotham Merchant Bank only accessible with Black Mask’s biometrics. Batman deduces that this is where Joker took the criminal kingpin. Batman rushes to the bank and the heist is in progress. The bank is full of the dead bodies of its employees. Batman encounters Black Mask who has the bank manager captive. The bank manager has a horrible, uncomfortable grin on her face. Black Mask postures and then is disappointed that people are not playing along. He brings out the captive Roman Sionis (the real Black Mask). The fake Black Mask unmasks to reveal The Joker, a murderous clown. He confirms Batman’s suspicions that he posed as Black Mask days earlier to place the bounty on Batman. He and his men grab Sionis and escape in an ambulance before setting off a bomb that destroys the vault. Batman examines the deceased bank manager who died from some sort of toxin.

Pt. 2 Coming Soon