Please leave a like and follow if you like this story, it motivates me to write more. I getting an order sorted but it's clear what will be the fourth story. the third however... well that will be a little surprise.

Batman and RD have been taken by the Joker and Mr. Carnage is on his way to the church.

Chapter 7: Riddle me this Carnage

The walk had been a quick one for Carnage. A bit too quick for him as he was in no rush but alas it appeared fate was toying with him today so it appeared he would have to leave his self-pity to focus on swimming back with the makeshift boat.

As he walked towards the boat he found himself singing a familiar song under his breath. It was one both Carnage and his father enjoyed.

When you're strange,

Faces come out of the rain,

When you're strange,

No one remembers your name,

When you're strange,

When you're strange,

When you…

"Oh I love that song… whoops."

Someone else's voice had interrupted Carnage. The voice was very distinct and recognisable but he couldn't see Harley Quinn. However he did see a weird looking Harley Quinn statue by him. The voice did come from the direction of the statue so Carnage figured that they must be connected.

He looked over the device quickly. It was about his size, it had an enlarged head and then Carnage spotted what appeared to be a speaking device. He decided to have a go at talking to it, "Um… hello?"

The voice of Harley Quinn replied, "Hey."

There was an awkward silence between the two for a moment. Neither really knowing what to say in this situation but Carnage wasn't detoured. "So, what's up?"

"Um nothing much, just doing things for Mister J."

"Right of course. What's that like then?"

"Good… well."

"Yeah?"

"I mean, it's been rough lately because he's so ill and all but things will get better."

"Would you like to talk about it?"

There was another silence between the pair as Carnage waited for an answer. He didn't know exactly what to expect or why he was even asking this. It was just one of those things you go with in the moment. Eventually an answer came through, "No. Look, Mister J wouldn't be happy with me talking to you alright. I'm kinda busy helping him out here so…"

"Why though? It gets you nothing but misery constantly."

"Hey! What do you know…"

"I know that you were a promising psychiatrist, I do know that you have a family that have now completely cut off all contact from you and I know you're not really happy. You've put yourself in a deluded state. Maybe because you're afraid of being alone or something awful happened to you and the Joker capitalised on that but you need help. You need to get away from him before he completely destroys you."

One last time there was a moment of silence between the two before Harley's voice was heard, "I need to get away huh?"

"Yeah. Meet someone else or…"

"Like who Mister C?"

"… Maybe you just need…"

A voice coming from Harley's machine interrupted the pair's conversation, it was the Joker. "Harley? What are you doing? Come over here they're about to wake up. The fun is about to begin."

"Coming Mister J, sorry I've gotta go."

"Wait a second, who is he talking about?"

Carnage never got an answer. A lot of possibilities went through his mind but two people kept popping up, Batman and Dash. He tried contacting the pair but he didn't get a response so he called the Doctor and said "Doctor, I think Bats and Dash are in trouble. Have you found a way in?"

"Yeah but it will take a minute."

"Alright I'll be right there… wait, the hell?"

Carnage looked at his original destination which was the church but it appeared the building had some sort of makeover. There were now green question marks covering the entire building. It was obvious who was behind this so Carnage had no choice. "I'm sorry Doctor but something has happened at the church and I need to check it out, I'll catch up to you later."

Carnage sprinted to the boat and didn't waste any more time on his way to the church.

---

Meanwhile…

Batman was starting to gain consciousness. He wasn't sure exactly how long he had been out but he knew he was in trouble. As his vision started to clear the first thing he could see was the legs of Harley Quinn walking towards him.

Batman lifted his head but he noted that Dash seemed to be fine, but she was strapped to his chest. She was still unconscious and Batman tried to lift his arms to no avail as he discovered that he had been strapped down also. Harley got closer and as Batman's vision cleared up more he realised that she was a fingertip away from taking off his mask but the voice of the Joker stopped her. "Get back here, Harley!"

The Joker coughed a little and Harley did something she did very rarely with Joker, which was argue. "But I want to see who he is sweetie."

Batman realised now that he was in a wheelchair and Rainbow Dash was starting to awaken as well. Her back was against his chest as they were strapped together and then the Joker spoke again, "No one's who you think they are my dear, why spoil the fun?"

Dash was fully awake now a spoke in a quiet voice. "Huh? What's going on? Where am I?"

It was clear her brain hadn't caught up to now but Batman focused on just the Joker. He wasn't convinced by the cough that there was actually anything wrong with him. "It was all a lie. There's nothing wrong with you."

The Joker then started to walk towards him. "Nice of you to say. But, you of all people should know, there's plenty wrong with me."

As he said those last words he leaned his face in close to the pair. Soon they could both get a good look at his pasty white face. He had bits of skin missing and a number of lesions, in short he didn't look healthy. Rainbow Dash had a less than politically correct response, "Yuck!"

"HAHAHA, is that what you've got to say. Funny coming from the living piñata. You should be grateful I decided not to bust you open to see if there was candy inside of you."

Batman spoke with an angry growl, "Let her go Joker, it's me you want."

Joker ignored him and took out a small vial of red liquid from his jacket pocket, "Anyway, back to my problems. Take my blood for example. I wish somebody would. This stuff is killing me."

The Joker cackled a little and Batman said "Why should we care?"

The Joker was quick with an answer, "Because now there's a teeny bit of me, in the pair of you Bats."

Batman and Dash both turned to where the Joker was pointing. There was a blood bag presumably filled with Joker's blood and two leads from the bag connected to both Batman and Rainbow Dash. The Joker continued, "Oh c'mon. Don't tell me it's not what you always wanted."

Dash tried not to panic, "Wait I'm a Pegasus, will this stuff affect me the same way?"

Batman replied, "I don't know, it might act slower or quicker or not at all. I can't tell you."

On queue the Joker actually got somewhat serious. "Look, were running out of time, I need your help. I nearly had a cure, it was so close but then it was taken from me."

Batman was deadpan with his reply, "So we both die. I'm fine with that."

Dash was a little surprised. "Wait, what did you say?"

Joker was again quick to retort, it was almost if he predicted the answer. "Are you? Imagine, sucking down that last breath, knowing that Gotham is doing the same."

Dash looked a little worried, she wasn't sure how to feel right now. She had never truly faced the possibility of death quite like this, with no possible way to avoid it. The Joker turned again, "I mean can you truly let your little friend here suffer both our fates."

Batman looked into Dash's eyes. There was something very human about them. She had human feelings and emotions and tendencies. She deserved to live but Joker wasn't done. "Oh and did I forget? I've spent weeks shipping my blood to emergency rooms all over the city."

"So that's protocol 10. Poison Gotham. I expected more."

The joker faked a shocked reaction, "Protocol 10?"

But then he turned it onto an uninterested response, "Never heard of it."

The Joker was clearly not interested by whatever Batman was talking about. The Joker then got right up to Batman and whispered into his ear, "Hold tight."

Batman braced for impact but he knew he couldn't prevent any harm to a clueless Rainbow Dash. The Joker shoved the wheelchair with all his strength using his foot and Batman and Rainbow Dash helplessly crashed through the window. As they fell the last thing they heard was joker calling out "I'll be in touch!"

---

Meanwhile…

Mr. Carnage carefully approached the church. He wasn't sure if there was anyone tracking his movements or not but he wasn't going to take that chance. The Riddler was very good at hacking and keeping an eye on everything.

He was very worried about what he would find when he heard a conversation over his earpiece between Strange and one of the patrolling helicopters.

The pilot's voice rang through, "Tiger command, this is AT5. I have visual on the church."

Strange questioned the pilot. "Are there signs of life?"

"All scans reveal no movement. It's empty."

"Good, leave Cash and his pathetic team to die. They were never part of our mission."

This only built on Carnage's hatred of Strange. A man with all his power should use it responsibly and to help others. Instead, because Cash and co. tried to help others they were a nuisance and they should rightly die. If Carnage wasn't so focused on the church then he would have gone straight after Strange. He had turned his earpiece off in frustration after hearing that.

There were three green, neon arrows pointing towards the entrance. He realised that this was likely a set up for Batman and he wasn't sure what the Riddler would do if he entered but he needed to know if Strange was right.

As he entered he saw a large projector on the other side of the room. As soon as he got close enough the Riddler flashed upon the screen. The Riddler spoke in a mocking tone. "Oh no. Where have they gone? Could it be while you and your friends were doing what you do. I, the Riddler, snuck in and took those poor stupid fools?"

Carnage spoke, trying to keep himself as calm as possible. "You must be the Riddler."

"Oh, very observant of you. You have actually peaked my interest. You arrive here with a blue Pegasus in a bolt of lightning, and then you team up with the Dark Knight and that Doctor who helped stop me back at Arkham Asylum."

"Yes, you can call me Mr. Carnage. And I'm going to enjoy sticking that large green question mark right up your ass!"

"Ha, foolish barbarism will get you nowhere. Now this was set up for Batman but I feel you should try to save this poor fool yourself. After all you have already stuck your nose in my business and Batman seems to be somewhat preoccupied right now."

The Riddler fiddled with his horn rimmed glasses. He wore his iconic green clothing and what appeared to be a green bowler hat. Carnage didn't want to waste any time on this so he got straight to the point. "Where are they?"

"Easy there barbarian. You'll have to save them one at a time, oh, and I notice that you don't have the riddle box for the times or location. You should be there in about 5 minutes. Tell you what, solve my riddle and I'll give you a clue."

"Alright then, bring it."

"I'm an instrument whose music always comes from the heart. What am I?"

"Well that's easy, you're an organ."

"Well done, see, you can do it. Now, you will meet a group of men outside the church. One of them is an employee of mine, you just have to figure out which one that is and force him to tell you the location."

Carnage sprinted in the opposite direction. The Riddler wanted to continue gloating but he wasn't bothered. He didn't take this man seriously and he knew he would have him at the riddle.

Carnage ran outside and there were three men outside. They were two-face goons and the one at the front said "You see that guy. That's the guy who's working with the Bat. The one that attacked the boss."

A goon beside him asked, "How the hell did you know he was here?"

"That's not important, just kill him."

The third goon spoke, "No problem."

Carnage muttered to himself, "Well I thought that would be harder."

The first goon received a foot to his face that launched him to a nearby gravestone. The second goon was picked up and planted into the thin blanket of snow below him. Only the goon with the information was left.

Carnage jumped towards him and he put his gloved hand around his throat. He charged up his other hand so electricity was sparking from it and put it close to the terrified goons face. Carnage said "Now I would rather not burn your face off but if you asked my ex, she would be able to tell you I have a tendency to get angry, fast!"

"Wh-what do you want?"

"Well I would rather like the location of Riddler's hostage please."

"I-I-I only help-helped him with one but I can tell you, sure."

---

Meanwhile…

Batman hadn't been out for very long this time. Perhaps a couple of minutes at most. Bits of wheelchair were scattered all around him and as his vision returned to him he could see the faces of the Doctor and Rainbow Dash above him. The Doctor spoke in a soothing tone, "Relax a moment. I checked you over and nothing's broken but you may have a concussion."

Batman pushed him aside, he only had tonight and there was no time to mess around. "I'm fine Doctor. What about Rainbow Dash."

Dash answered that for herself, "I'm cool, and your body kinda cushioned the fall. Then the Doctor arrived and untied me."

"Good. Then we can… wait, what's that sound?"

The noise Batman was referring to sounded like fairground music coming from a small speaker. Batman followed the noise to an unusual point. It was a phone strapped to Dash's back. Dash said "Yeah, we have had a bit of trouble getting that off. The Doctor was about to use his… OW!"

Batman ripped the taped down phone off of Dash's back. The Doctor quickly looked her over and assured her that there was no visible damage. However this didn't stop Dash getting cross at the Dark Knight, however Batman seemed oblivious to the evils he was receiving from the Pegasus.

Batman pressed a button on the phone. He knew exactly who it was on the other end so he didn't beat around the bush. "I'm listening."

The Joker spoke in a mocking tone, "Is someone feeling a little down? Oh, I can see another old friend from the Asylum down there. Hello Doctor! I could really use your help right now."

The Doctor replied, "Dash filled me in on everything that happened up there, I don't think Carnage will be happy. What do you want then?"

"Oh Doctor, lighten up. It won't kill you. But it might kill your friends, hahaha."

Batman spoke in a harsher tone, "Where is the cure? Who has it?"

The Joker was quick to respond. "I had our cold-hearted friend Mr. Freeze making it, but he's gone dark on me."

"I'll find him."

"I bet you…"

The Joker didn't get to finish that sentence. Batman crushed the phone in a single palm. Batman then reached into the screen and took out a small chip and placed it inside his armoured glove. Dash asked "What are you doing?"

"We'll be able to listen in on Joker's communications now. I need to call Alfred so be quiet."

Batman turned on his earpiece, "Alfred. Jokers poisoned me and Rainbow Dash. He may have poisoned Gotham as well. Mr. Freeze has the only cure."

"What are you waiting for? He's in Arkham city. Find him!"

"If only it were that simple. He'll be somewhere cold. He needs to be kept at sub-zero temperatures to survive."

The Doctor interjected, "Then he'll likely be at the coldest point in Arkham city. We can use the Tardis to find it."

Batman hanged up and noticed they were one short, "Is Mr. Carnage still at the entrance?"

The Doctor answered, "No he's gone off. Apparently there was something wrong with the church."

"The church? Dash, try to contact him."

She did as she was told, "Carnage? Hey Marty, are you there?"

There was no reply. Dash became very worried as she didn't treat this as a good sign. Batman said "He may be in trouble. We'll have to find him first."

Dash quickly spoke up, "Hey… um could you like not tell Carnage I told you his real name. He's pretty secretive about that. I can't tell you why but let's just say it could be pretty bad if too many people know."

Both Batman and the Doctor nodded. Then the Doctor had an idea. He took his earpiece off and pressed his screwdriver against it. He then pressed it against Batman's cowl. "There we go. You should be able to spot him if you bring up the visual map of the city. You'll be tracking his earpiece to be precise. I think something upset him and he turned it off."

Batman grabbed on to the Doctor and as quick as a flash the Dark Knight shot upwards with Dash in close pursuit. Batman glided through the air to his destination till something caught his eye.

The familiar, mysterious figure stood on top of the Ferris wheel. He was unmoving apart from the fact he kept looking squarely at Batman. The Dark Knight changed course and Dash asked "Hey! I thought we were flying this way, what gives?"

"I have to talk to him."

The Doctor got a closer look as they approached and he seemed somewhat familiar. They landed on the cart before the figure. The figure had a sharp blade on his right hand and wore a red cross on his chest. It was the same one from before. Batman was about to question him but the figure cut him off again. "I have been watching you Batman. To see if you are ready."

And like before the figure sank his blade into the ground, did a circle and disappeared in blinding puff of smoke. Dash's mouth hanged open in surprise while the Doctor did a scan of the area. He got an interesting result. "Huh, according to this there is an unidentifiable energy source coming from the area he just vanished from. Now that's impossible."

Dash asked the obvious question, "Who was that guy?"

She never got an answer. Batman looked over the area and another shape was left. Like before it was a series of lines and circles and Batman scanned it to keep in his data files. He didn't want to waste any more time. "He's gone. Let's keep going. We have to find Carnage."

No one argued. The Doctor held on tight and the three off them were off, all hoping that Carnage wasn't in too much trouble.

---

Mr. Carnage approached the painted wall. With his super-strength it was easy to knock over and the demolished wooden wall and now he had a simple door before him.

Carnage entered with haste but what he saw made him pause. A walkway led to a stage that faced another stage. On the other stage there was a projection of the Riddler above and a wide curtain that covered the entirety of the other stage. As Carnage made his way down, the Riddler started to talk, "Roll up, roll up. It's time for my latest game."

That was a reminder to Carnage that to the Riddler, playing with people's lives was just a game. The stage Carnage was on had a sort of plank in the middle with a giant pressure pad on it. Carnage figured he was supposed to stand on it so he did.

As soon as he did this the curtain opened to reveal three chairs. One of the chairs had a guard from the church strapped to it. He was in the middle and below all the chairs there were flames rising up slightly. The Riddler's voice boomed through again. "All you need to do is keep your eyes on the prize."

Carnage realised what game he was playing when the three boxes came down and covered the chairs. All he had to do was guess which box the guard was in when it switched around.

The box's started to move at a slow pace as the guard called out for help. They actually moved quite fast but the trial was laughably easy. In the end the box returned to the middle position and the Riddler's voice rang out again. "Pick your box, Mr. Carnage."

Carnage was about to select the middle box when a thought came into his head. This was too easy. Although the boxes moved quickly they were easy to track, they even returned to their original positions. The second thing that gave it away was the anticipation in Riddler's voice. The Riddler thought he had Carnage despite the easy puzzle. The final thing was the moving gears. Carnage could hear them working below also. It made him think that the guard may have been moved to another box so the middle one was out.

So that left either the left box or the right box. He had to get into the mind of the Riddler. He called out "You know what, you almost had me with this."

The Riddler was confused, "What do you mean?"

"You're a cheater, history has shown that. He's not in the middle. He's in one of the other two."

"How did yo… well now you have a 50/50 chance at getting it right, do you like those odds?"

"You really think I'm an idiot don't you? You have no clue what you brought down here."

"What are you babbling about?"

"You see I know people. And your still a person know matter how high you elevate yourself. A person's eye is naturally drawn to the left when looking at something. And you must have drawn a blue print at some point. So your eye was drawn to the left box, and that's the one I pick!"

"Wait! What?"

And with that the left box was raised and the tied down guard was underneath it. The Riddler was infuriated. "You-you… you must have cheated. This was designed to best the Dark Knight, how could you have overcome it?"

"Because I'm Mr. Carnage Bitch! And don't you forget it Riddler. But if you do, I'll be more than happy to remind you."

The projection turned off and Carnage leaped to the aid of tied down man.

---

Dash, Batman and the Doctor arrived at the smashed down wall to find Carnage waving off the hostage who appeared to be making his way to the church. Batman looked at the scene before him and realised the Riddler was behind this, "You took on the Riddler?"

Carnage replied, "Yep, I beat his riddle."

Batman had a sincere response. "Impressive."

"Thanks, he's taken all the people in the church and has made them hostages. Also the next code is 8-6-0 1-2-0."

The Doctor interrupted him, "Do they have Martha?"

"I believe so Doctor, I'm sorry. But don't worry, we'll save her."

Batman took out the riddle box and placed the numbers in, "There, it will activate when it corresponds with the time. It actually activated on the way here so I know it works. You can take it now."

Carnage placed the small device in his pocket and looked at them. "Alright then. Sorry for getting all moody at you guys earlier but I'm fine now. So, what happened?"

Everyone was quiet. No one wanted to tell Mr. Carnage the possible fate that awaited Rainbow Dash and Batman but Dash stepped forward, she felt that she should tell him the news. Carnage questioned her. "Skittles what's wrong? What's going on?"

"Marty. I have something to tell you…"

Next chapter, Freeze.

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