Date: Sat, 10 Sep 1994 16:07:20 EDT Reply-To: Highlander TV show stories Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: "Jason R. Tippitt" Subject: Dark of Knight, Part 10 ************************************************************************ D A R K O F K N I G H T ************************************************************************ A Highlander/Batman Crossover Warning: Some Dark, Violent Bits Jason R. Tippitt, 1994 Part 10 Duncan looked around the cave. [A giant penny and a statue of a dinosaur?? Where the hell *am* I, Michael?] |Barring a better word, I guess you'd call this the Bat-Cave.| "Are you okay?" Jason asked. "You looked shaken." "Fine. Just coming back to my senses, I guess you'd call it." Alfred walked in from the operating room, removing his rubber gloves and throwing them into a trashcan. "Master Jason, Mas--Batman should be asleep for the next hour or so." He looked at MacLeod and the boy. "I truly thought miracles were only superstition." He began to walk up the stairs into the mansion above. Duncan sighed. "You must be mistaking me for my father--" Alfred turned and eyeballed the two. "If Jason were not standing here, you might be able to convince this old man that his mind and eyes were growing dim. But I am no more a fool than are you, old friend." The Englishman resumed his walking and disappeared in the shadows above. "As the centuries go by, it gets harder and harder to restart with a new life," Duncan murmured to Jason. "I don't envy you, newcomer." "We have to find the Joker," Jason said. "Br--Batman is in no shape to fight, and the Joker should be our concern. Batman is not one of our kind." "Richie, it appears Bruce has more nerve than I originally gave him credit for." Jason looked at him quizzically. "What did you call me?" MacLeod shook his head. "Never mind. How do we find the Joker?" "It shouldn't take long. If there's one thing the Joker *isn't*, it's subtle." ******* The cameras kept rolling as the Joker sang the dirty lyrics to the _Brady_Bunch_ theme song on the stage. He did a quick tango with a 300- pound woman he'd snatched from the audience, dropping her off the stage at the end. He walked to a television camera and smiled. "Welcome back to the Everyone's Going To Die Telethon, ladies and germs. We're having a killer of a time here!" One of his men shot a hostage, as they had been instructed to do every time he used the word 'killer' for the rest of the evening. "Batman hasn't shown up yet, but maybe he's recovering from the bang he got earlier this evening." One of the Joker's men ran up to the camera and held up a crayon drawing of the Batmobile exploding as it went over a pier and into the Gotham Harbor. "I guess he really bombed, eh, boss?" The Joker wiped fake tears from his eyes with a silk handkerchief. "Yes, Milo, I suppose some people are just not meant to entertain the masses. Whereas I *knock*'em*dead*!" The Joker beheaded Milo, sending blood onto the camera. "Nobody tries to steal my thunder! Or lightning for that matter!" The Joker let out a long, shrill laugh. "Step right up, Caped Crucible and Boy Blunder, or the whole audience goes out with a bang!" He opened up his purple trenchcoat to show his explosives. "You have one hour!" ******* Duncan looked from the television set to Jason. "He's serious?" Jason shrugged his shoulders. "I believe him. Can we survive being blown up?" "As long as none of the debris decapitates him. My guess is the explosives are rigged to help prevent that; he's no dummy." "Well, he wants Batman, but Bruce is in no shape to fight him. Want to play Halloween, MacLeod?" Duncan snorted. "Oh, yeah, like just anyone could just put on the mask and instantly be *Batman.* We'd better just do what we can." A flash of Tessa, dead and lifeless in his arms, passed before his mind's eye. "And if we can't do enough, we'll find his body in the wreckage and behead him, and try our damnedest to not remember the bodies every time we close our eyes." ******* Bullock smashed the front of his cruiser against the rear bumper of a hastily-parked ambulance, and he and Gordon hopped out and ran up to Montoya's side. "Montoya, has there been any word from the putz?" "Just what's been on television, Harvey. He said he'd kill three hostages for each time the phone rang, so we quit trying to call in." She looked at the Commissioner. "I assume that was correct procedure?" "Damn. It's so tempting to just kill this freak," Gordon murmured. He looked up at Montoya. "Yeah, yeah. Why isn't Batman here yet?" Bullock shook his head. "Well, the Joker's saying he blew up the Batmobile earlier. He may be dead, in which case...I don't even wanna think about that." ******* Jason swung down to a ledge clad in black, with a bulletproof vest. He'd thought of wearing his Robin outfit, but it just didn't feel right any more. It wasn't very practical for sneaking around in, anyway. Duncan stood on the opposite rooftop, tether line in hand, trying to fight vertigo. [It's not like this can kill you, Duncan.] He slipped the black ski mask over his face and swung. The feeling of flight was overwhelming. He saw the ledge come up below him-- * C * R * A * A * A * S * S * H * ! ! ! --missed, and smashed through a window into the control booth above the studio. Jason dove in behind him, throwing a boomerang to knock out the Joker's guard in the booth. "Oh, *brilliant* work, mighty one. How long you been doing this?" "Shut up, Richie." ******* The Joker froze. He Sensed two powerful presences up in the control booth. "Who?" He threw his microphone into the audience and stomped toward the back curtains. "I've changed my mind! The Dynamic Duo have five minutes, or I pop the cork on this champagne bottle!" Then he murmured to himself, so quietly no one else could hear, "I'm waiting, Darlings..." ******* To be continued... =========================================================================