No Land for Men

Twisted Illusions {Ep-1}

The creepy little fellow had just wandered in as if he was welcome. He had managed to get into a science lab of course, and was brewing away. Her muffled sounds were barely audible over the bubbling and fizzing of the beakers and test tubes. Students were in classes, or at least the ones who hadn't been interrupted by the appearance of an eyeless Staycee Johanson outside of the Sports halls.
His nimble boney fingers lurked over the rims of the test tubes, making sure the mixtures were perfect. He spun on the spot and looked over at her, she was a whimpering snotty mess, and an attractive one in his sick and perverted eyes.
Grayson was messaging Barb none stop, hoping she would reply. She had figured he was pestering her about something he wanted to eat or buy, or some sort of terrible meme, so she was ignoring it, watching the tutor at the front of her class talk. Grayson and Jase instead headed inside,  both were trying to figure out what exactly had happened, what exactly The Mad Hatter was doing at the University and how the hell he got there.
After The Crisis, the majority of villains were locked away together in Arkham, however, it was no secret that the Asylum's handler and the new owner, Quincy Sharp, was dirty and rough around the edges.
Whether it was torturing inmates or picking favourites, he certainly wasn't the right man for the job, just the only man. He had each supervillain in their own state of the art cells. Croc, Ivy, Black Mask, Man Bat, Two Face, just to list a few and the list goes on. In fact, Gotham was the safest it had been for a while, this event is the most extreme thing to happen in the past year or so, minus the occasional breakout attempt. Penguin was killed during the Crisis, there were rumours that he had family in England, but the Cobblepot clan were nowhere to be seen in Gotham. Hatter had vanished, presumed dead, then randomly appeared after molesting two small girls, then bang, locked up in the asylum and left there to rot. But somehow, somehow he got out.
The Joker, no one knew what happened to him. No body was found after The Crisis. Some said that they saw him with the Bat before the Bat's final moments. Others say he fled the country, was killed by a god, turned into some sort of spectral being or was locked away in Arkham.
All false. Almost.
It really didn't take too long for them to track Hatter. It was easy really, science labs were the only place fit enough for him to make his serums and potions. They were his process now whenever it came to his needs. He satisfied himself with drugs, and other people paralysed by drugs. Gray looked through the window, obviously the door would be locked, that was where Jason was, but for some reason, Hatter hadn't really seemed to hide properly. Yeah he was in one of the lesser used labs, but he had ONLY locked the door. Windows were open freely, and there was no real attempt to rush with whatever experiment or pleasure he was planning for himself and the girl. Grayson climbed through the window, not trying to prevent himself from making any sounds, even if Hatter heard him there was no chance the 4ft 11 male could take him on in combat, and Hatter knew that too. Jason stood by the door, making sure no one else got out or in, sort of semi acting casual as he kept up with the news of the girl they had seen using his phone.
"What are you doing here Hatter?" Grayson asked with no response, just silence beside the whimpers from the blonde haired girl. Slowly Hatter turned, blood dripping from his face, a large chunk of flesh was missing from one side and was clearly infected. Without treatment, he'd be dead within a day or two. Grayson instantly grimaced at the sight and slowly backed towards the girl, untying her wrists. Hatter didn't stop him, he actually let her go, she ran to the door and Jason let her out, entering the room and closing the door behind him as he watched Richard interact with the older man.
I'm not the only one out baby bat. Keep your eyes peeled, weapons close, you'll have to track where they're all at." Hatter spoke in his usual rhymes, but what triggered him was how Hatter knew he was Nightwing. Hatter hadn't even flinched or shuddered or shown any signs of excitement or nervousness from actually revealing the information. Jason's eyes were wide, he leant against one of the lab desks which held multiple flasks and beakers of fluids.
"What the hell are you talking about old man?" Grayson asked him, throwing up his typical teen shield.
Of course, you must be thinking, how does a random teen boy not only know who Mad Hatter is, but how in the hell does one pluck up the courage to confront him? Hatter was known for being a coward, which made this confrontation all the more disturbing, but the majority of larger jock guys wouldn't be intimidated by someone who looks like Hatter.
"It's not difficult to figure out, tiny mask and that pretty face-" his rhyming was cut off by the floor rumbling. "It's happening, it's happening! Huzzah! Hooray! The gods are coming back, and they're here to play!"
Gray spun on the spot and looked at Jason, eyes wide "Babs, get her out of here!" He demanded, Jason knew not to argue, not wasting any time, he sped out of the room, stumbling and tripped from the shaking and cracking of the floor tiles, the walls were almost vibrating and buzzing with movement.
"What's happening Hatter?! What are you up to!" Grayson yelled at him, picking him up by the collar of his shirt and pinning him against the wall.
The last time Gods were mentioned he lost his second father, handfuls of friends, his adopted uncle and many others. The small creep giggled and his eyes went dazed as he passed out, must have been from the infection. "Rot" Gray said, muttering under his breath as he left the room, following the direction that Jason had gone in, but instead he took a turn and left the building. The school was being evacuated, Jason had managed to find Babs and the two were in a crowd that was moving. "Where's Richard?!" She asked, looking around the best she could, clinging to Jason's arm, not wanting to be torn into the frantic panic of their surroundings, the floor still cracking and shaking. The two managed to get out of the crowd, she pulled her wrist to her mouth, speaking into he watch "Oracle, find Grayson." She said as Jason watched. He didn't have little fancy gadgets, hell, the only reason she kept them was to keep Gray safe from himself. A little GPS appeared on the screen on her map and she showed Jase "Around the back, cmon"

The skies were clear, whatever was happening, it wasn't coming from above like before, this was definitly coming from below. Babs' phone was going beserk, she finally answered as the two managed to get closer to Grayson, it was her father, retired cop. "Yes dad! No, im fine! I think Grayson's fine, we're trying to find him now!" A few more pieces of reassurance and a promise of returning home and she finally put the phone down, the two found Gray who ran to meet them.
"What's happening? Jace mentioned The Hatter" Babs said as Jason panted.
"It's not him, something bigger, I'm not sure what though!"
"It's like freaking hell is raising." Jason chipped in and ran a hand through his hair.
Grayson scrolled through his phone, the shaking was happening all over Gotham, different areas were hit harder than others. There was no way this was a normal earthquake.
"I need my suit." He said as he looked at Barb, his eyes were slightly watery, it was clear he was worried that things were going to be as bad as they were before.
"Grayson you know I can't let y-" He cut off her words by kissing her and slapping Jason's ass.
"Take her to her dad's!" he yelled the Jason who in response looked at Babs who gave him a stern look in response.

After suiting up, equiping his gear and grappling up to a building he stood tall over the shaking city which he now looked after. He watched, lips parted, as each bridge began to crumble, the earthquake tremors seemed to be more powerful at the structural supports under each bridge leading into Gotham.
"Holy Fuck"