Gotham City nothing more now than a city of crime.
Shops, banks even toy stores are burgled.
The GCPD constantly harassed by new villains.
But Gotham has hope, this hope being in the form of the Batman.



Keep A Count

A silent night in the halls of Arkham Asylum.
Mr. Zsasz is brought in being led by twelve security guards.
He feels their pressure as they shove him into the plastic cell.
With the pain he lets out a little laughter, the guards look at him amazed and shocked. Despite that they soon leave him to spend a cold winter in there.

Zsasz looks down at the asylums dark meaningful floor as he feels a shadow approuch him. A smile as bright as razors is seen from him as his face looks up toward the shadow.
A women aged around 22 stares into his eyes with out flinching.
"My name is Doctor Goss, I am to review you" she says in an almost robotic manner. Zsasz lets out a brief laughter but then settles down and clears his throat. "Review me Doctor, how thoughtful, tell me what do you want to know" he states while sitting on his bed and crossing his legs ready to talk.
Doctor Goss looks around to see if any guards are around the area, she notices one of them who peers at her as if warning her to stay at a distance from her patient. She doesnt enter the cell as she planned and pulls up a chair and start to jot down notes on her paper pad. "Why do you keep a count of your victums when you kill them in such a disrespectful way, why mark their lives?" she snarls in a semi angry way.
"Im not what you think i am Doctor, inside im just like you afraid, alone...unsure of what will ruin my day next" "If i told you i enjoyed killing them would that make you recent me even more" a smile makes its pressence across his face.

"Tell me about your past" Goss says in an unsure manner.
"my past......." Zsasz starts to look regretful as he remembers the life he could have had.

"it all started when i was a young boy" I killed my first victum then of course i made a clean mark across my body to punish me for what i did but the punishment wasnt at all going to stop me"
He sits and talks to her for what seems like a few minutes but actually has became a few weeks.

Doctor Goss starts to trust him and it seems as if he two starts to trust her. "So tell me about the Batman?" he leaps forward in excitement and restrains himself while he makes his way back to the chair and the confidently says "Ah the Batman well he is just as mad as me, shame he doesnt see the funny side in it but i am not out doing what i do to amuse him" He starts to lift his shirt sleeve up slightly, Doctor Goss holds her breath as she sees a self inflicted cut maze on his arm, a tally of all that he has killed.

"Batman is evil ms.Goss there is no other word for him" "What makes you say that" the Doctor says as she moves her chair closer to the cell plastic window.

Doctor Goss sits back in her chair tuned into his every word as he tells her about his first confrontation with the Batman.
"Batman drinks the blood of Gothams Citizens and blames it on his criminal scapegoats ms.Goss. Do you really think we would hate him so much if there wasnt an injustice?. He spotted me making a killing the first time i had moved to Gotham, it was a simple case of I got there first. He ran at me...... No he flew at me trying to bite my neck, I forced him off with my trustful Knife but yet he didnt bleed, i remember him trying to kill me i had to defend myself. I swung a few punches at him but it had no effect, I told him that he could take me in also that it wasnt my fault i needed medical help but he wouldnt listen he just carried on trying to bite my neck".
Doctor Goss recieved an image of the Batman as a Bat like gargoyle monster, still in a trance with every word she remained focused to Zsasz's story.
"He pushed me through a window, I still can feel the glass braking lucky for me it didnt stab into me or i would have had to kill a lot of people to make up for it, not that the Batman would have cared he takes pleasure in my insanity. All i remember is that he made my condition worse and my fear of him is always in the back of my head, screaching like a bat".

Doctor Goss looked once again to see if the guard was present, he wasnt anywhere to be seen. She quickly unzipped her purse and pulled out her key card to enter Zsasz's Cell where she and him started to hug "Its ok Zsasz , I can make all this pain go away".

The Batsignal can be seen from across the vast Gotham moonlit sky. A dark silouette can be seen making his way towards the signal. Batman lands on the tower to see a concearned commisoner Gordon and a fustrated Harvey Dent. "Batman thank god your here" says Gordon as he rushes to greet Batman. Harvey tosses his coin in the air as it land on heads he looks up a smiles. "We got a problem" he says as he greets Batman.
"Dent whats going on?" Batman replys, "Arkham Asylum has been taken over by the inmates , looks like one of them got free and felt the liberty of opening most of the dangerous criminal cells. "We got a call in from the staff who are being held hostage right now, they say that the criminals want you to enter and only you. Once this is done they will let the hostages free". Batman looks at both Harvy Dent and Jim Gordon and simply nodds "good luck Batman" Dent remarks as he puts his double headed coin in his inside pocket.
Batman walks into Arkham as the police wait out side ready for the unexpected. He enters a non functional Asylum, the lights as chaotic and prone to coming on and off as the residents. He makes his way to the first line of Cells as he stares at the Inmates who he remembers all to well.
He hears shouting from the far hallway and along with that shouting comes a angry killer croc swinging punches at him left, right and centre. Batman takes the first hit but quickly moves out of the firing line for the second and third, he quickly takes Killer Croc down on his feet as he throws a batarang that ties Crocs' feet together.
Batman then heads down to the hall way yet again, he hear lightning strike the rooftop of Arkham as he turns to see a dark shadowy image emerge from the left hallway of Arkhams Asylums he briefly sees the scarecrow as the lightning hits the walls of the outside Asylum. Batman carries walking on and then stops to see the Arkham staff all locked in one entire cell. Before he can say anything he notices one of the staffs reactions as if something is behind him. Turning carefully he side kicks what seems to be the joker on to the ground "Geez Batsy i never thought i would ever be one of your side kicks...get it hahahaha" Batman looks at him in a plain maner, this anger the Joker as he walks into his Cell in a casual way "Oh come on cant you take a joke". Batman unlocks the cell with a bat style pick lock "Go!" he demands as they all start to run. He then heads to where the Joker is sulking in his Cell "Tell me what you want" the joker starts to laugh at Batmans request "It isnt me this time who came up with this humorous plan....I mean i always knew you were a nut ball but until now i never knew why..... HAHAHA its those ears they are so funny" the Joker just laughs until he recieves a heavy handed punch from Batman.
"Hel...P Me!" Batman hears a Women screaming it seems like it is coming from the top of the asylum. Batman rushes up the many winding stairs and finaly reaches the roof tops to see Mr.Zsasz holding a knife to Doctor Goss's throat "So glad you could join us Batman" Doctor Goss strugles to get out of the hold of Mr.Zsasz.
"Let the Girl go Zsasz, then you can deal with me" Batman tries to reason with him. Zsasz looks into Goss's eyes and relieves her from his grip. Batman tries to grab her to pull her away from Zsasz , Doctor Goss grabs Batmans hand as she does this with her other hand she pulls out a hand gun and points it at Batmans lower chest firing it sending him towards the floor. Batman wakes up tied to the ledge of the asylum with a Doctor Goss and Mr.Zsasz both smiling at him "wh..why are you doing this?" asks Batman trying to hold back his pain. "Im doing this to save my patients soul, you feed them all your madness, you force it onto them" she states as Zsasz looks deep into Batmans eyes.

Zsasz quickly reaches into his pocket to bring out a tarnished Knife, Doctor Goss fully unaware of what is going to happen keeps talking to Batman. "Do you have any idea how bad you make my life, all i hear in my work is your name, I am force fed every little thing you do to these medically ill people, how you manipulate their trust and install a deep horrible fear into them. Every time I deal with a patient who has had an encounter with you, it is as if you are doing the same thing to me!".

Suddenly Goss turns around to feel a sharpe stab wound be created by Mr.Zsasz's Knife she staggers to keep her balance and fires her gun out a lucky shot. Hitting Zsasz over Arkham asylums edge making him fall unconcious to the lower ledges.
"Listen if you let me go i can help you in time to stop the bleeding"
insists Batman. staggering towards the floor Doctor Goss looks up into Batmans eyes "Never!! you want to drink my blood!!!" she infactuaintedly screamed at him. "Dont you see I have to end it in tribute of those who failed to kill you, the whole Arkham set up was a tribute towards the Joker when he released the convicts of this asylum to test if you were one of us or not, one of the mad residents of this serious house on serious Gotham!"
she went on to explain how she is doing this in tribute of all the fallen criminals who tried to stop Batmans evil from spreading.
While she kept talking Batman slowly untied himself and set him self free "No! No! your werent suppose to do that!" he quickly avoided her gun shot and threw a batarang at the gun making it fall out of her hand and hitting the floor hard the gun went off firing a single bullet into Doctor Goss's shoulder sending her off the asylum roof. Batman quickly ran to save her but couldnt find her anywhere to be seen.

Two days later

"Mr.Zsasz was ok, it seems a shame that the pain was bareble for that mad man but hey at least he got shot" states Harvey in a joking speach.
Commisioner Gordon gives Batman a letter "we recieved this in the mail also it's a riddle"
Batman opened it up to see the words written in fine ink "Im a admins best friend when they are not making cups of tea , throw me some cotton wall and maybe come and play with me, guess who.....????".
"Do you think it is the riddler Batman?" asks Gordon
"No Jim the answer to the riddle is Copy Cat, I have feeling we have not seen the last of Ms.Goss".

The End