The Bat-Mandalorian

Joker's Lair, Gotham District

Joker's men quickly begin fanning out and searching, some carrying blasters and others carrying only melee weapons. It didn't matter. Batman could not fight all of them.

He shouldn't have come in here so bluntly, without any good backup plan. Batman had made a serious mistake and he may pay for it dearly if he couldn't find something soon.

He looked up, scanning the roof for any signs of an exit. Luckily, there was a vent above him the same size as the one he had used in the many floors above this one. He would need to wait for a window of opportunity to grapple up and climb his way through one of the vents. That would leave him exposed to blaster fire. He swiveled his helmet around, looking for anything else. Nothing. Batman would simply have to hope that his armor would defend him from blaster fire.

"I was just joking earlier," said a croaky voice beside him. Batman froze. His head slowly turned.

Joker was sitting right beside him behind the junk, his grin looked painfully large.

"I knew where you were, I just wanted to distract them so that we could escape," Joker said slowly.

"Wha--" Batman began.

Joker pressed a finger against the center of Batman's helmet. "Shh! Shh! We don't want them to find us! For an intruder, you are pretty amateur. Come on, I know a way out!" Joker began crouch-running away before Batman could reject. Seeing no other good way out, he decided to follow. Maybe the Joker wanted to talk business, or maybe he was leading Batman to a death trap. It could be either.

Joker had come across a large rectangle cut into the side of a wall. He motioned for Batman to hurry. "Come on! Come on, they will be here soon! Get your fat ass over here!"

Batman decided not to comment, reaching the door quickly. No one, not a single one of Joker's goons had noticed them yet. Joker slammed his fist onto a concealed button and the rectangle shuttered before popping slightly loose. Joker grunted as he pushed it out of the way, Batman helping him. Together, they exited the base onto the alleyway Batman had first spotted Joker's secret lair.

"Ah, don't you just love teamwork?" Joker asked. Batman did not reply.

"Not much of a talker, huh? Well, that's fine, sometimes people are better when they don't speak their mind," Joker mused, shrugging.

"What is going on here?" asked Batman finally.

"What? Are you talking about the secret underground base or my outfit?" Joker asked, tracing the outline of his body with a finger. "I was hoping you would notice," he added with a wink.

"Are you tapping into GDPD comms?" Batman asked concisely.

The Joker's eyes widened, he looked left and right before saying, "No no no of course not! Not me, nope. Definitely. I would never do such a thing."

Batman grabbed the Joker's collar and slammed him against the wall.

"Woah, hey buster, I just broke us out of that insane asylum! I think you could show me a little more respect," Joker demanded.

"Enough with the jokes," Batman said flatly. "Who are you and why are you here?"

"Oh! Right, right, here," the Joker reached into his pocket and Batman punched him in the chest. 

"Ow!" the Joker wheezed, clutching his chest. "It wasn't a weapon! I was just handing you this," the Joker twisted his wrist and a card appeared out of thin air. It was a Sabaac card, with a jester printed on its front. "This is my card. Call me if you need me."

Batman whirled Joker around and slammed him against the wall on the other side of the alley. "What is your game here?" Batman demanded.

"Well, that card is from Sabaac, so I guess that game," Joker chorted, stifling his laughter.

Then Batman through Joker on the ground and the Joker giggled, wheezing while he did it.

"Why. Are. You. Here?" Batman demanded again.

"I'm just here for the sightseeing," Joker choked. Then his eyes focused on Batman again. "This time, I'm letting you off with a warning. But if I catch you in my domain again, I'll melt your armor and make silverware out of it."

Batman was about to punch him again in the face but he saw something in the corner of his eye. He looked, and from that little space the entrance to the underground base was, dozens of his henchmen began pouring out of it and aiming their blasters at Batman. There were far too many for him to take on.

"Boss, whose this? Boyfriend?" someone asked, snickering.

"Do we shoot him?" asked another voice.

"No, no," Joker said, getting up and patting down his clothes. "Just make sure he pays for my next set of clothing and we are even."

Batman didn't move. There was nothing he could do. The Joker could kill him right now and none of his plans would ever come to fruition. His idea of becoming a symbol for Gotham would be gone, drowned out by a rising crime lord.

"Come on boys, lets get some food cooking. What's on the menu tonight," Joker waved dismissively at Batman, limping into the entrance.

"Bantha thighs," someone answered.

"Bantha thighs? Saints," Joker remarked. He turned and pointed a finger at Batman. "Oh, and before I go, you tell Gordon or any of his police about this and you'll get nothing out of it. His men are on my payroll, and are on my hit list if they come out of line. Talking to them will do nothing but kill them. Remember that . . . what do I call you?"

Batman did not reply. He was still recovering from it all.

Joker looked his armor up and down. "You seem to like bats . . . Bats. Batsy. Something like that. I hope, for Gotham's sake, I won't be seeing you again soon, Batsy."

And like that all of the henchmen began following Joker into the little entrance, shutting the door behind them.

Batman stood in the alley, his eyes on that same entrance.