Date: Mon, 18 Jul 1994 18:12:59 EDT Reply-To: Highlander TV show stories Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: "Jason R. Tippitt" Subject: Dark of Knight, Part 6 ************************************************************************ D A R K O F K N I G H T ************************************************************************ Jason R. Tippitt ** Note: This story occurs between "Under Color Of Authority" and "Unholy Alliance." Part 6 The Joker wasn't happy. He began to suspect Horton was lying to him about this man Garrett. He'd been up and down the length of Hobkins Street, and not felt even the beginnings of the Buzz he'd felt in the presence of MacLeod. "George, I tell you, society is on the decline! Here I am, in the midst of the biggest den of vice in the western world, and nowhere can I get me a Buzz!" George chuckled nervously. "That's a good one, boss." The Joker pulled out a gun and pointed it at George. "Oh, bite me." He pulled the trigger, killing George instantly. "Some people just have *no* sense of humor." He picked up George's Uzi and skipped down the alleyway, clicking his heels together every few steps. "I'm singing in the rain..." **** Duncan was dreaming of wolves tearing at his flesh when he heard the voice calling his name. He opened his eyes and saw Dawson's silhouette in the doorway. "What're you doing here, Dawson?" Dawson looked at him. "It's me, Uncle Mike, come to take you home." MacLeod stood, stretching. Dawson turned before his eyes into Gregor. He blinked, and he turned back. "What took my dear 'uncle' so long?" he asked as a nurse unlocked the door to his cell. Dawson leaned in close as they walked down the hallway, hands from several cells reaching out, pleading. "It's a good thing you threw your little temper tantrum in such a public place; one of our people called me as soon as it happened." The administrators tried to talk Duncan into staying. Told him they could do tests, possibly learn how to duplicate his body's immunity to the Joker's toxin. Dawson told them that he and his 'nephew' were both practitioners of Christian Science, and that they felt only God could protect a man from the poison. [Or whoever came up with the rules to this damn Game.] **** Batman rode through the streets of Gotham at an average speed of 60 miles an hour. The Batmobile's computers were in constant contact with satellites, allowing it to read the traffic patterns of the entire city and, in effect, drive itself along the best possible route to whereever Batman wanted to go. He parked the car near Crime Alley, trying not to think of the road that began here, so many years ago: A child, delighted by good defeating evil in four colors and stereo sound. A couple, so much in love, hearts filled with pride at their son as he played the scenes of the film over and over in his mind. A gun, a child's sobbing. He'd replayed the scene in his mind so damn many times he could *almost* pretend it was all one long, bad movie. Batman slipped a filter mask over his nose and mouth and climbed out of the Batmobile. "Shields." The car's armor slid into place, assuring that no one would try to prove his stupidity by ripping off any of the equipment. {All right, we've got a homicidal maniac ignoring his typical M.O. to exterminate the homeless of Gotham. The one man who's survived his gas is sitting in Arkham Asylum, and he looks just like the man whom my father and Alfred knew in the Forties and the Sixties. How does it all tie together? Ra's al Ghul's come back before...they *all* come back.} Batman headed for the rooftops, looking for the other predator loose in his city tonight. **** "Duncan, I believe you've met my brother-in-law, Commissioner James Gordon." Dawson looked at Duncan. "He called me as soon as you were locked up in Arkham." MacLeod eyed Gordon suspiciously. "How many sisters do you *have*, Dawson? Do you people get added bonuses for each kid, or something?" "Someone has to carry on the tradition, MacLeod." Gordon looked at the two men. "We can engage in coffee talk later. Right now, we've got a serious situation afoot, and we need your help, MacLeod." "Now, *why* does that not surprise me?" Duncan giggled, then forced himself to calm down, despite the fact Gordon had grown four extra eyes. Gordon ignored the joke. "You've met the Joker." "You could say that, yes." "He needs to be stopped." "He's as mad as a hatter--isn't that how all you mortals see us, though?" Duncan paced the floor. "I want his head, before he kills any more innocent people--that answers *your* question. Now, answer mine-- are you gonna be willing to look the other way while I stop him?" Gordon threw his hands up. "We did a damn good job denying Batman's existence for years." "My other question, then--will *he* look the other way?" **** Batman looked one way, then the other. There were dead bodies in the alley everywhere he looked. Then he heard the sickening rattle of an automatic weapon, followed by the sounds of a faroff (or else very mild) explosion. He grimaced and jumped back down to the Batmobile, then started the car and turned it around toward the waterfront. **** Jason was in shock. The Joker had arrived and machine-gunned their makeshift shelter. When he and Garrett had sensed the presence of an approaching Immortal, right before Jason was about to catch a taxi out to Wayne Manor, Garrett had been well on his way toward passing out from the vodka. Jason was feeling a bit light-headed himself, and the return of the Buzz in his head from the Joker had hurt him worse. Still, he'd thought to hide them in an empty room in one of the buildings above the alley. The fact that the Joker was another Immortal explained a hell of a lot--and made Jason want to take his head. This man had killed far, far more people than the creep Jason had once allowed to fall to his death; the next step should be easy, he thought. But he knew he wasn't ready, not if the Joker knew about the beheading part. "Garrett! I am the Joker! There can be only one!" The Joker aimed his machine-gun at the dumpster and fired into it. "If you do not fight me, I will continue killing these bums you call your friends!" That did it. Garrett leapt down from the fire escape, sword in one hand, vodka bottle in the other. "We must not do battle here, Joker. The god of the city resides in this place; it is holy ground." He set the liquor bottle down on the trash can beside him. The Joker laughed. "Garrett, you fool, the gods laugh at us. Thus, *I* laugh at the gods!" From beneath his purple trenchcoat, the Joker drew a broadsword with gaudy purple gems set in its handle. Jason looked on in terror. (Does he Sense me here?) "Garrett, this time I'm *not* joking. There can be only one!" The Joker jumped at Garrett, who blocked the sword by mere inches. Sparks from the edges of their swords hit the wet edge of the vodka bottle, causing it to explode. The Joker looked aside a moment, losing the advantage to the tall homeless man. "I am Odysseus of Ithaca, who in more recent times was known as Sir Gawain, the Grail Knight. There can be only one!" He kicked the Joker in the stomach, sending him sprawling back. The battle went back and forth, back and forth. It made Jason's head hurt to watch the battle. Thunder roared, lightning flashed in the nighttime sky. "We have angered the gods," Jason's newfound mentor said. "As have the gods angered me!" He reached out with a gloved hand and grabbed Odysseus' shoulder. Odysseus winced in pain. "You just have to know how to laugh *back* at them!" Jason knew what that meant. The laughing venom. He looked for a weapon, finally finding a chair in the room that he could throw at the Joker, hopefully distracting him long enough for Garrett to finish him. Garrett began to laugh, losing control of his sword and finally dropping it. "The gods come for us, Joker. If I must enter Pluto's domain, you will join me, also..." The Joker looked at him. "I'll trust you to make me a cozy place there, snookums." He raised the sword. "There can be only--" The Batmobile struck the Joker as his sword severed Odysseus' head. He rolled onto the window. "No, it's *mine*!" he screamed as the car zoomed along toward the harbor. **** (Bruce?) Jason jumped down into the alley, watching the car scream its way toward the waterfront. He reached out for his new friend, lying dead in the alley. (Maybe he'll come back, since the Joker isn't here to take the...) The first bolt of lightning struck Jason. He screamed, then took the second bolt, and the third. He felt himself age a hundred lifetimes in a second. His soul wept, and the sky joined him. He crawled over to Odysseus' sword, pushed it into a crack in the sidewalk to lean on, and felt the power overtake him. Manhole covers exploded. The building next to him burst into flames as its gas lines erupted. He was showered his broken glass and plaster. (Bruce...you can't stop him...you won't cross the line and do it right...*I'm* the one who's willing to try...) **** Duncan sat in the police helicoptor with Gordon and Dawson. A young Watcher named Montoya piloted. They saw the lightning converge on the waterfront. "There," Duncan said. "Drop me off there." **** The Batmobile's computers scrambled, and the steering locked up. {What the hell?} Batman looked at the Joker on the hood, half-laughing, half-crying. Screaming as if he'd lost his favorite childhood toy. {I was going 45 miles an hour when I hit him. Why isn't that ghoul dead already?} Then one of the booster engines in the back caught fire. Batman reached for the ejection switch. {Damn...} The river rushed up to meet them as the Batmobile exploded. To Be Continued... =========================================================================