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| - The story begins with Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson, bored from inaction, playing a game of chess inside Wayne Manor. Bruce checkmates Robin, but soon afterward, the two receive news of The Joker's miraculous survival from their last encounter. Bruce immediately dons his costume, stating to Dick that he intends to abduct Joker from the hospital before the madman can fully recover, and take him to a brain surgeon so that can "be cured and turned into a valuable citizen". Elsewhere, a crime organization known as "Crime Syndicate, Inc." receive news of Joker's survival, and one member in particular, known as Weasel, takes particular interest. The leader of the syndicate, after all, had just died, and Weasel believes that Joker will make an excellent replacement leader. Thus, the syndicate, too, begins to hatch a scheme to abduct The Joker from the hospital. Soon, the syndicate's plan is put into action; the members, lead by Weasel, infiltrate the hospital that Joker is inside and overpower the staff. They then proceed into the operating room, and force the doctors at gunpoint to perform premature surgery on Joker. As the operation commences, a horde of policemen surround the building from the outside, staking out the hospital well into the night. As eleven o' clock approaches, however, someone from the top of the hospital's roof throws a handful of pebbles at the policemen. With the help of the full moon's light, the officers spot Batman atop the hospital's roof, and give chase. The Dark Knight puts up a brutal fight against the policemen, knocking two of the officers off of the roof and to their deaths. As the rest of the policemen continue to chase him, "Batman" leaps into a nearby car and drives away. At a turn in the road, however, "Batman" accidentally crashes the car into a tree, and is forced to take shelter inside a barn. The policemen break into the barn with a battering ram, and engage in a final deadly battle with "Batman". Though several more officers are killed, they are eventually able to shoot "Batman" down with their pistols. When they unmask the Caped Crusader, however, they realize he is a cheap decoy - an ordinary criminal by the name of "Circus Charlie" who had escaped from prison a few weeks ago. The chief of police correctly deduces that the fake Batman had been there to lure the police away from the hospital, and he is proven correct - at that very moment, with the operation a success, the rest of Crime Syndicate, Inc. load the recovering Joker into a sedan and drive off. In the meantime, an old woman in the front yard of the hospital (previously seen receiving chewing gum from her "son") removes her makeup, revealing herself to be Selina Kyle - AKA The Cat. Before she can do anything, however, the real Batman steps out of the shadows and apprehends her. In no time, Selina finds herself seated inside the Dynamic Duo's car, Robin driving and Batman interrogating. The Dark Knight offers to let Selina go if she tells him everything she knows about The Joker's "escape", which Selina is only too happy to do. Batman keeps his end of the bargain and lets Selina go, but subsequently reveals to Robin that he had coated the bottom of the car with a radioactive substance which has stuck to Selina's shoes, allowing Robin to track her with a special flashlight. While Robin tracks Selina, Batman will look for Crime Syndicate, Inc. and Joker. A week passes, during which The Joker completely recovers and begins to plot crimes once again. While inside the syndicate's headquarters, he informs his cohorts that one of them had already planted a poisoned needle into the shoe of E.R. Arthur, owner of the Pharaoh's Gems (which he, The Cat, and the syndicate are all after), and that all of the spoils will go directly to him. Furthermore, he also informs them that he had administered a sleeping potion to them that will take effect in a few minutes, as he did not want to seem "ungrateful". Batman soon bursts into the room, much to the surprise of the syndicate. As the Dark Knight does battle with the mobsters, Joker casually informs them that he had removed the gunpowder from their bullets, thus leaving them defenseless. As Batman beats the criminals into submission, Joker leaves for Arthur's seaside castle. Selina, too, has arrived at Arthur's castle, having seduced him into inviting her there in her civilian guise. As she enters and grabs the jewels, however, she spots Arthur's Joker Venom-infected corpse, and soon finds herself being threatened by a gun-wielding Joker. At this moment, Robin swoops in, and fights Joker by himself. Unfortunately, the Harlequin of Hate proves to be more than a match for the Boy Wonder, and soon overpowers him. As he prepares to inject Robin with poison, Selina begs him to stop, offering him the jewels in return. The Joker is momentarily distracted by this bargain - distracted long enough for Batman to swoop in. The two men engage in a duel with swords, during which Joker manages to send Batman hurtling off of the balcony of the castle. Unbeknown to him, however, the Dark Knight has managed to save himself by grabbing onto the ivy on the side of the castle's walls. In the meantime, Selina had barricaded herself inside the library of the castle, along with the wounded Robin, but The Joker simply fires several flaming arrows at the doors, intending to burn the castle down and them along with it. Batman arrives just in time, knocking Joker unconscious with a single punch and escaping the inferno with Robin and The Cat. As the three climb up the rope ladder to the Batplane, however, Selina suddenly twists around and plunges into the water below. Robin laments that she had gotten away with the jewel cask, but Batman informs him that he has the actual jewels, having swiped them from her while on the ladder.
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