Batman: Curse of Thorn

Chapter 1: Break Out

Arkham Asylum, Gotham City,

"Oh come on, boys!" a loud voice laughed as it echoed down the metal and concrete hallway deep within the walls of Arkham Asylum. "It was just a joke!"

Two men, dressed in black body armor over black uniforms, complete with riot helmets, gloves, combat boots and a symbol on their arms, a stylized white A with the word Arkham in front of it, walked down the hallway, pushing a man between them. The man was secured to a mixture of a gurney and a trolley, his body secured by straps and wrapped up in a straight jacket. Even his head was secured with a leather strap.

The only bit of the man that could be seen was his facial features, and they were a horror to behold. His skin was bleach white and his lips were blood red, stretched into was seemed like an impossibly large smile, showing off his yellowed teeth. His irises were red in color while the surrounding white was a sickly yellow. His hair was slicked back and was bright green in color with a greasy sheen to it.

"Can you at least drop me back at my old room?" he pleaded with a chuckle.

"Shut up!" one of the guards shouted, elbowing the man in the gut, causing him to cough and gag as the air was forced out of his lungs.

"I guess I should have expected that," he said as his cough turned into a chuckle, "What with the hole I dug in the wall and everything."

A few moments later, they arrived outside a cell. Three of the walls, along with the ceiling and floor, were made of stone with white padding over them. The fourth wall, the one facing the hallway, was made of thick glass. The room was furnished only with a bed and a toilet, and illuminated by a fluorescent light.

The three men stopped at a heavy metal door next to the large window. One of the guards entered a code in a panel next to the door, which beeped before swinging open. The two guards then wheeled the other man through the door, which led into a small, dark room, before leaving him inside, still strapped to the gurney.

"The Joker is secured," one of the guards said into a walkie-talkie as the metal door closed behind them.

"Confirmed," a voice replied over the radio. A second later, a beeping nose came from the gurney, before the straps on the gurney released and the man, the Joker, stumbled forward. A moment later, a second metal door, leading into the cell, swung open, while the straps on the Joker's straight jacket released.

Walking forward, Joker removed the straight jacket as he entered the cell, the metal door slamming shut behind him. Flinging the jacket to the side, it was revealed he was wearing a simple white t-shirt and matching pants. It also showed the rest of his skin was the same shade of bleach white while his finger and toenails where pitch black. He chuckled as he looked around his new surroundings, rubbing his arms as he did.

Eventually, Joker looked out the window into the hall and noticed another cell across from him. Inside, Joker saw the hulking figure of a man. He had long, scraggily brown hair and so large that he seemed to barely fit in the matching t-shirt and pants he wore. Looking around the other man's cell, Joker saw that it was covered in what looked like paper mache masks of various shapes, sizes, designs and colors. Looking back at the man, Joker noticed that he seemed to be fiddling with something while a bottle of glue and a pile of newspapers sat next to him.

Walking up to the window, Joker tapped on it, creating a loud knocking sound.

"Hello?" Joker called, "Hey, I'm your new neighbor and figured I should introduce myself. Sorry but I didn't have time to bake a pie."

The other man ignored him, continuing his work.

"Hellllooooo?" Joker called out, banging repeatedly on the window. Eventually, the other man stopped his work, and turned around to look at Joker. His dark brown eyes met Joker's red ones and Joker couldn't help but notice how…soulless they were. Like the eyes of a shark, they were cold and emotionless and the gaze was enough to make a man weep in fear. Joker laughed.

"Howdy neighbor," Joker greeted as the other man stood up. Now that he stood, Joker noticed how massive the other man was, standing over seven feet tall even with his somewhat stooped posture.

"So what are you in for, Tiny?" Joker asked. It was met with silence as the man continued to stare at him.

"Not very chatty, huh?" Joker questioned, raising a green eyebrow, "Well, then I'll do the talking. First let me introduce myself."

Joker paused as the man reached up and took one of the masks off the wall, before holding it up in front of his face for Joker to see. Joker's smile grew as he saw that the mask was a recreation of his own face, complete with a massive grin.

"I see my reputation precedes me," Joker chuckles, "But it seems I'm at a disadvantage. You know who I am, but I don't know who you are. And you must be someone if you're here. So come on, what's your name, Tiny?"

In response, the other man looked up. Following his gaze, Joker noticed a name plate above the window. Reading it, he raised his eyebrow again.

"What? Like the actor?" he asked.

His question was met with silence.

"Come on you know," Joker said, stepping back from the window before thrusting his hips.

"Yeah baby, yeah!" he exclaimed in a bad British accent.

The man continued to just stare at him.

"These are the jokes, Shrek," Joker said in annoyance, before a smile crossed his face, "You know, I do remember hearing about you, now that I think of it."

"That was a long time ago though," Joker said with a smirk, leaning against the window, "You've been down here for a long time. You must be dying to get out."

In response, the man reached out and slammed his open hand against his window, causing a loud boom to echo down the hall.

"Yeah," Joker replied, his smirk growing into a full blown smile, "I know the feeling."

Weeks later,

Alarm sirens rang and red lights flashed throughout Arkham, mixing with the sound of the Joker's laughter. Joker stood over a dead guard, blood splattered across his white t-shirt and a billy club in his hand, blood dripping off of it. He cackled madly as he looked at the man standing across from him.

The man was tall and powerfully built, and appeared to be roughly the same age as the Joker. He was dressed in a black, armored bodysuit, along with black combat boots, black scalloped gauntlets, a long black cape, a utility belt around his waist and a matching cowl with long ear-like protrusions from the top, all of which made him resemble a bat. On his chest was the symbol of a black bat in flight.

"It's over Joker," he growled, his eyes, which his cowl made look like pure white orbs, narrowing, "You're not escaping this time."

"Hmmm, seems like you're right, Batsy," Joker replied, chuckling to himself, "Looks like you've got me cornered."

Then, Joker did the last thing anyone expected. He dropped the billy club and put his hands up.

"I surrender," he said with a grin.

The other man barely managed to hide his surprise, wearily approaching the Joker. The Joker merely smiled at him as he approached. Reaching him, the other man grabbed the Joker's arms and wrenched them behind his back.

"Easy, Batsy," he joked with a chuckle, "I'm fragile."

"Shut up," the other man said, reaching to his belt and pulled out a pair of handcuffs before slapping them on the Joker's wrists. Joker could only laugh as the other man began to lead him out of the room.

Kicking open a door, the man dragged Joker into a hallway, where a number of men were moving down the hall towards them. Some were dressed in the Arkham Asylum guard uniform. Others were also dressed in black colored riot gear, but they wore dark blue police officer's uniforms on which the symbol of a shield with the letters GCPD were emblazoned.

Along with them was a middle-aged man. He had a bushy mustache and greying red hair along with green eyes, over which he wore a pair of glasses. He wore a white, button-up shirt along with khaki pants, brown leather shoes and a brown leather belt over his athletic physique. He also wore a brown trench coat, on which a police badge was pinned.

Next to him was another man, roughly the same age. He was balding with brown hair and hazel eyes behind a pair of glasses. He wore a white button-up shirt along with brown slacks, brown leather shoes, a brown leather belt and a red tie. He also wore a white lab coat with a label on the breast that read "Dr. Jeremiah Arkham."

"Batman!" the red haired man said, "What happened?"

"I caught up to the Joker in the mess hall, Commissioner" the man, Batman, explained, "He had already killed two of the guards."

"Then what?" the Commissioner asked.

"Then he…surrendered," Batman replied, as he handed the Joker to two of the guards, the other man giggling as he offered no resistance.

"Surrendered?" the Commissioner questioned, "Since when does the Joker surrender?"

"I felt like giving Batsy a break," the Joker spoke up, "After all Jimmy, you and him are going to be having a long night."

"What did you do?" Batman demanded, glaring at the Joker.

"It's a special night for this new friend I made and he's been in here for so long, I figured he deserved to get out for some fresh air," the Joker explained enigmatically, chuckling as he did.

"What did you do!?" Batman demanded more forcefully as he reached out and grabbed Joker by his throat.

As he did so, there came the sound of someone running down the halls before a man came into view. He was in his late middle-ages, with a greying white goatee and a mostly bald head. He wore a white lab coat over a white button up shirt, black pants, brown leather shoes, red tie and a brown, leather belt over his slightly pudgy physique.

"He's gone!" he shouted as he ran up to them, panic in his blue eyes.

"Who's gone, Dr. Loomis?" Dr. Arkham asked, looking at the other man with a confused expression on his face.

"Michael Myers!" Dr. Loomis exclaimed, "He's gone!"

Batman's eyes widened in shock, before the sound of Joker's laughter caused him to turn and look at the madman.

"Happy Halloween!" Joker laughed hysterically, the sound of his mad laughter echoing down the halls and through the entire asylum into the cold October night beyond.

A/N: Happy Halloween! I've always been a horror fan and while watching the remake of Halloween, the thought came to me that Michael Myers would make a pretty good Batman villain and thus this idea was born! I was planning on this being a short story and hopefully I can get the rest of the chapters out before Halloween next week. We'll see. Hope you guys like it! Please review!