The Joke Was On Me

Chapter 1: A Death in The Family

That same night...

The infamous Arkham Asylum was before him, looming with a sense of dread and desperation as it always has for a hundred years. Robin clearly knew that the recently appointed warden wouldn't let him walk right in without Batman's clearing. No. This is a covert op, Robin thought. In and out, no one will know until the next morning when they find the Joker's bloodied corpse on the tiled floor of his cell.

Robin found himself perched atop an old and rusted watchtower near the opposite end of the asylum, near to the cliff wall that lead down into the Gotham City Channel. Most of the security detail is found near to the entrance and the southern, western and eastern sides of the facility; the northern one is pretty much left up for grabs for anyone sneaking in. But then again who'd be crazy enough to sneak into that madhouse.

The northern section was completely blacked out thanks to the Patient Riots from  two nights ago, in which him and Batman had to quell the threats of some of the most vile and terrifying patients, Joker included, found within. Not the most "fun" night with the Bat. Robin remembered that somewhere near the cliff wall there was a blown up section of the old brick and mortar walls from the original building back in the 19th century, which Batman destroyed when he was left trapped in the abandoned wing during the riots. It's only been two nights, Robin thought, that's my ticket in.

Robin, more akin to the Bat himself, made hefty use of the grapnel for traversal across the dark courtyard; this Robin had no acrobatic flair like Dick before him. He took a peek down the cliff wall as the roars of crashing waves made him question his decision. It was too dark to actually find the blown up wall and the use of his Night Vision didn't really help much when the hole was on the same cliff he was standing on. Unsure as to where exactly it is, he quickly pulled out one of Batman's Remote Batarangs, which he nabbed from the cave when Bruce's back was turned, and flung it to the open air between the island and the city. With a few sweeps on his brace-pad the batarang spun and flew around the cliff wall until he found the broken wall, intact, so to speak. It was a few feet beneath his position and a few more feet across to his right. Getting there seemed very risky, but with a few seconds of hesitation Robin leapt into a swan dive down the wall and with a flip to mirror Dick's aerial performance, he fired the grapnel gun at the right moment and angle for him to swing into the hole, landing on one knee with a bit of a slide.

Robin a felt a sudden surge to smile at his pretty impressive feat, something he's not accustomed to do. Bruce would be proud, he thought, only to remember their current status and return his face to a scowl that rivals the Bat's own.

The place was very dark and dank with a lot of pipework and the smell of decades old asbestos thrown into the mix. It was very 19th century-ish just like Bruce had told him, scarier too. Robin flicked his NV on and trekked through the basement of old Arkham. The air felt musty and dry and an ever present cloud of dust loomed over the entire area. The place felt dead, very dead; Robin was eager to get the hell out of there and soon enough he found the staircase leading out of the basment.

"Woah," Robin said aloud but frightened, "creepy..."

It seemed like that hole in the wall lead him back in time. The old asylum looked like something straight out of a horror movie: the dust covered walls, abandoned gurneys, century old blood stains, flung documents, broken glass, opened cells; nightmare fuel to be certain. Robin was actually scared, Gotham has always been a somewhat disturbing city, but he had never seen something quite as real as this; just by the utter appearance that the place is frozen in time with signs of the horrible things that took place within those walls. Not a pretty thought at all. Robin stalked the halls and corridors at a faster pace than usual but at the same time making barely any noise. Robin felt lost in the labyrinthine design of the old facility and the green hue filtered through the NV made everything seem the same. It seemed like he was going in circles, but not really, that's how it was designed back in the day.