Contents
Title Page
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Copyright
High above the busy, buzzing streets of Gotham City, an airplane soared through the clouds. To the aircraft’s crew, the troubles of the world below seemed far away. The two pilots, Bill and Dale, were the best of friends.
Pilot Dale picked up his intercom and radioed the air-traffic-control tower. “Gotham Tower, this is McGuffin Airlines Flight 1138. We are transporting eleven million sticks of dynamite, seventeen tons of highly explosive stuff …”
“And two best friends!” the pilots chorused.
“We request permission to fly over the most crime-ridden city in the world. Over,” Pilot Dale went on.
The air-traffic controllers down below looked at one another.
The first air-traffic controller said, “Well, I’m just looking at all the guys’ faces here in the control tower, annnnddd …”
“I’m good,” said the second air-traffic controller.
“Sounds good to me,” said the third, nodding.
“Do it!” said the fourth.
“As long as they’re best friends,” the fifth put in.
“Thumbs-up!” said the sixth.
And so they gave Pilot Dale and Pilot Bill the go-ahead to fly over the heart of Gotham City, where hundreds of thousands of innocent people were going about their daily lives, unaware of the explosive cargo three thousand feet above their heads.
And why should they worry? Gotham City had a secret protector—that is, a protector with a secret identity. It was the one and only Batman!
Batman was a dark, brooding Super Hero who fought the evilest of villains in order to rid the famous city of crime. Although Batman always worked alone, he did have an unwritten agreement with Gotham City’s police department. Batman would come if the police flashed the Bat-Signal into the sky. It was a beacon—a sign that there was a renegade defender of justice lurking in the shadows.
Batman had kept his end of the bargain, but he worked on his terms. He called the shots and defeated the bad guys as he saw fit. He and the longtime police commissioner, Jim Gordon, had an understanding. As long as Commissioner Gordon didn’t ask questions, the Caped Crusader would be his right-hand Batman.
“Yep, I think we’re cool with that. Have a nice fl—” the first air-traffic controller began. But he broke off suddenly. “Wait a second,” he said, leaning toward the radar screen. The radar showed two bright dots—one white and one red—that were far too close to each other. There was more than one vehicle in that flight space.
“McGuffin, do you have a visual of someone on your six?” the second air-traffic controller asked.
A helicopter, black as night, seemed to be approaching the McGuffin craft from the rear. It was hidden by a cluster of clouds.
“Hold on, let me give her a little check-er-ooni,” answered Pilot Bill. “I’m looking out the window, and nope, looks like there’s nothing following us at all.”
In the control room, the two dots were getting closer together. “What do you think?” the first air-traffic controller asked the second.
“If he didn’t see anything, I’m sure it’s fine,” the second air-traffic controller replied.
The first air-traffic controller shrugged and granted the pilots’ request. The McGuffin craft headed over central Gotham City.
“Thank you, Gotham Tower,” Pilot Dale said. “It’s a pleasure flying over you.”
But that pleasure was about to come to an abrupt end. The copter dropped from the clouds and landed on top of McGuffin 1138!
A band of Rogues—that is, Gotham City’s most dastardly criminals—swarmed from the helicopter onto McGuffin’s roof. They were equipped with extra powerful magnetic boots that allowed them to rappel down the side of the plane.
The Rogues prepared to blast open the cargo door. Their mysterious leader announced, “Gentlemen, seal breech in five … four … three … two … one …”
BOOM! The cargo door flew off its hinges, and the crew of evildoers piled inside the McGuffin’s hold.
“What was that?” Pilot Dale wondered from the cockpit.
“One of us should check it out,” suggested Pilot Bill.
The two pilots engaged in a friendly battle of Rock, Paper, Scissors.
“Ha! You always do paper!” Pilot Bill crowed. He’d won, so it was Pilot Dale who had to leave the safety of the cockpit.
The main cabin was empty, but another suspicious noise prompted Pilot Dale to check the cargo hold.
“Yikes!” he exclaimed as a cable of rope wrapped around him. It rolled him up tight and flung him out of the plane. A moment later, his parachute opened, and he began drifting toward the ground.
“Captain Dale, is everything okay?” Pilot Bill asked from the safety of the cockpit.
The mysterious figure who’d dispatched Pilot Dale glanced out of the airplane door and smirked. Pilot Dale’s hat had fallen onto the floor of the cargo hold. The figure snatched it up and plopped it on top off his thick, green mop of hair.
“I’m afraid Captain Dale had to bail,” he replied. “I’m your new copilot—Captain Joker!”
Uh-oh. Pilot Bill was in real trouble … and so was Gotham City. The mysterious leader of this dastardly group was none other than the notorious troublemaker the Joker.
The Joker pulled out his walkie-talkie. “Harley Quinn, are you ready?” he asked his right-hand Rogue.
“I sure am, sugarplum!” Harley replied cheerfully. She revved the engine of her motorcycle. Down in the streets of Gotham City, a whole gallery of Rogues was ready and waiting right behind her. They were outside the Gotham City Energy Plant, and they were lined up on an impressive array of souped-up vehicles.
The Joker began a Rogue roll call. “Catwoman?” he said.
“Meow, meow!” she replied.
“Penguin?” the Joker asked.
“Rahhhh!” the Penguin growled in response.
“Two-Face?”
“You got it!” Two-Face barked.
“Mr. Freeze?”
“Ice!” Mr. Freeze hissed.
“Poison Ivy?”
“Mwah!” she cried.
“Captain Boomerang?”
“G’day!” he replied.
“Riddler?”
“Riddle me this! What rhymes with Teddy?” the Riddler replied.
The Joker sighed. “Can you just say yes or no?”
There was a pause.
“Yes,” the Riddler said sadly.
“Perfect!” the Joker said. “Gotham City is about to get a load of me!”
At Gotham City Police Department, the bad news spread fast.
“Commissioner Gordon! We just got a report that all the B-grade villains are about to break in to the energy plant!” Police Chief O’Hara announced, bursting into the commissioner’s office.
A police officer was right on his heels. “And the Joker’s headed their way with an absurd amount of explosives!”
“Oh no,” replied Commissioner Jim Gordon. “They’re
working together!”
“What are we going to do, sir?” Chief O’Hara asked.
“The only thing we can do—which, luckily, is also the only thing we ever do—flip the switch on the Bat-Signal. Flip!”
As soon as the commissioner’s finger lifted from the Bat-Signal switch, a voice buzzed over his walkie-talkie. “Commissioner, are you there? The Bat-Signal—she’s been egged!”
“It’s Egghead, sir,” Commissioner Gordon said, sighing. “I’m well aware of his work.”
After years of helping defend Gotham City’s streets from crime, Commissioner Gordon was retiring. He was going to hang up his police cap for good. And he’d expected to take it easy today. He’d thought Batman would take care of whatever trouble the petty criminals attempted.
But the Joker was no petty criminal. He crafted devious, dastardly crimes, and the egg on the Bat-Signal could only mean one thing: The Joker had teamed up with Egghead, a wicked mastermind who could whisk up trouble into a boiling froth.
“All right, let’s roll out,” said Commissioner Gordon. He and Chief O’Hara rushed through the precinct, making sure their officers were ready. It was going to be a long night.
Meanwhile, more trouble was brewing in front of the Gotham City Energy Plant.
A pizza delivery truck sputtered up to the plant’s locked gate. “I scream, you scream, we all scream for … pizza!” sang the truck’s jingle.
“All right! I love pizza,” Security Guard Sandy said.
“Great,” the pizza man insisted. “The toppings are sausage, anchovies, and fear gas!” He opened a pizza box, and a thick fog of gas wafted out. It swirled around Security Guard Sandy until he began to cough.
A vision appeared before Security Guard Sandy’s eyes. It was a pizza … an enormous, menacing pizza.
“Uhhh …” Security Guard Sandy groaned.
“Don’t touch the alarm,” the scary pizza vision ordered.
You see, this pizza man was no ordinary deliveryman. It was the super-villain known as the Scarecrow! His weapon of choice was a powerful gas that made people see scary things.
As Security Guard Sandy fled from his vision, the Scarecrow drove his pizza truck right into the plant. Harley Quinn and her buddies followed him in.
“Red team, we are inside the perimeter,” the Riddler called into his walkie-talkie as he sped by the security checkpoint.
The rest of the corrupt crew was right behind him. They stormed the power plant, driving around the perimeter of the main building. They needed to locate the right entry point.
“Copy that,” Clayface replied. “Clayface in position.”
“Egghead ready,” said Egghead.
“Building breach in fifteen seconds,” the Riddler announced.
“We’re fifty meters from the door,” Captain Boomerang declared.
The Rogues revved their engines, putting pedal to the metal.
“We’re thirty meters from the door!” Two-Face bellowed. “Twenty meters! Ten meters! TWO METERS!”
As the Rogues barreled toward the door, security guards scrambled to get out of the way—just in time for Two-Face’s monster truck to burst through the door.
The rest of the Rogues drove their trucks straight into the building. One vehicle after another zoomed into the main hallway, throwing the plant workers into a frenzy.
“Get out of the way!” the workers yelled.
“Ahhhh! Run!” yelped another.
“The foxes are in the henhouse!” Two-Face cackled. His truck spun around and slammed its back end into a door. Gas started to seep out into the facility.
“Ahh! Help us! We’re under attack!” called a guard as the trucks chased plant workers down a long hallway toward the main core.
The plant’s security forces sprang into action, racing through the hallways, trying to track down the Joker’s Rogues.
Plant Chief Bill was hurrying toward the control room, taking the emergency stairs. He yelled into his walkie-talkie. “THEY’RE COMING!! Shut everything down. Secure all entrances into this facility!” he commanded.
“On it, Chief!” replied a plant worker, pushing buttons on the complicated control panel.
“Electrify the perimeter fence!” Plant Chief Bill cried, rushing into the control room.
“Yes, sir!” another plant worker replied as he pulled a lever.
“Give me live feeds from all the security cameras!” the chief hollered.
“You bet!” said a third plant worker.
“And Dave and David, shut down the energy core!” the chief ordered.
“Got it, Chief,” David’s voice came through the walkie-talkie.
Down in the basement, Dave and David stood before a leaky pipe.
“You got that switch, David?” asked Dave.
“I sure do, Dave,” David replied. “I’m turning it from on to off.” He pulled a massive lever from the ON position to the OFF position.
“Now it’s off,” said David, sounding pleased with himself.
There was a whirring sound as the plant powered down.
“Deactivating energy core,” the energy plant’s computer confirmed.
Back in the control room, Plant Chief Bill sighed in relief. “Great job! Now we’re almost one hundred percent safe! As long as no one gets past the—”
Before he could finish speaking, a huge ball of clay burst through the control room’s doors. It was Clayface!
“RAHHHHH!” he screamed.
The control room’s guards aimed their weapons at Clayface. But nothing could slow him down. He charged over to Plant Chief Bill and got right in his face. “Turn on the energy core!”
“Sorry, no one can get in there without Jeff’s unique fingerprints, and he’s on vacation in Honolulu,” Plant Chief Bill replied, shrugging.
At that moment, the doors slid open. Bane and Two-Face strode in, dragging Jeff along with them.
“Aloha, Bill,” Jeff said sheepishly.
“Aloha, Jeff,” Plant Chief Bill said sadly.
Bane popped off Jeff’s arm. Another Rogue, Kite Man, glided down and grabbed the arm, bringing it to the special, ultrasecure keypad control screen.
“How kind of Jeff to lend us a hand,” Kite Man joked, holding the hand up to a keypad.
The pad scanned Jeff’s fingerprints, and the plant computer announced, “Reactivating energy core.”
The Rogues had all been waiting on their vehicles. The moment the Core Containment Room doors opened, the place was overrun by villains big and small. “Yeah, let’s go! Woo-hoo! Yes! Meow, meow,” they whooped and hollered.
“Joker, do you read me?” Harley Quinn radioed. She stood out from the crowd in her black-and-red harlequin getup and famous pigtails. She gazed up at the sky. Above, a plane was approaching.
“Ten-four, girl buddy,” came the Joker’s voice over the radio.
“We’re ready for you, sugarplum!” Harley radioed back.
“Splendid,” the Joker answered. “Well then, let’s raise the roof!”
With that, Red Hood fired missiles that blazed through the air. They landed on the energy-plant roof with a bang, blasting a huge hole in the facility. The entire city block rattled with the explosion.
“Fire in the hole!” Bane yelled as the building crackled in the charred aftermath.
The explosion put everyone on high alert. Police Commissioner Jim Gordon led the charge as a team of police cars tore down the street.
“Great Caesar’s Ghost!” Commissioner Gordon exclaimed. “Chief O’Hara, have you tried the Bat-Phone?”
Of course the chief had tried the Bat-Phone, but he couldn’t get through. He was on hold.
In the meantime, the commissioner gave orders to secure the facility’s perimeter. “I want snipers trained on that building,” he commanded. “I want water and air support yesterday. And I need SWAT here now!”
Just then, a cop ran up to him. “Phone call for Commissioner Gordon,” he said.
The commissioner grabbed
the phone. “Hello, Batman?”
“Hi, Jimmy!” a giddy voice replied. “It’s the Jokes!”
The commissioner was not at all pleased to hear from him. “Go ahead, Joker!”
“Oh, Commissioner,” the Joker responded. “Listen up. At this very minute, a Joker bomb—that’s trademarked—is being attached to the inside of the main energy core.”
Inside the plant, Batman’s old enemy the Penguin, dressed in a stovepipe hat and black-and-white spats, had joined in on the destruction. The Penguin’s pet penguins were approaching the energy core, armed with power drills in their slippery little wings. The rest of the Rogues were busy attaching a gigantic Joker bomb to the inside of the main energy core.
“If the mayor isn’t here in five minutes to negotiate the city’s surrender, then we’ll blow up the energy core!” the Joker exclaimed.
Inside the Core Containment Room, Croc set the detonator and watched as the timer began to count down. “I did something!” he cheered.
At home, families all around Gotham City were glued to their TVs, watching the heist on the twenty-four-hour news. Nearly every citizen of Gotham City heard the Joker’s threats.
“The shock wave will hit Gotham City,” the Joker threatened. “And you wouldn’t want that, would you? Now give me the mayor! Joker out.” He dropped the phone.
“Madam Mayor, I cannot ask you to do this,” Commissioner Gordon told Mayor McCaskill, who had rushed to the scene.
“Jim, did you find Batman?” she asked.
“No, ma’am,” the commissioner admitted.
“Then we have no choice,” she said. “The Joker has the upper hand. We have to surrender Gotham City. I’m sorry.”
The mayor climbed in the police helicopter and lifted off. All around the commissioner, SWAT teams took their positions.
The commissioner couldn’t believe it had come to this. The bad guys were going to win.
The helicopter flew above the energy plant and hovered there. Slowly, the policemen lowered Mayor McCaskill into the facility. “Lowering mayor package through the hole,” the helicopter pilot announced.
When the Rogues saw the mayor, they began driving in tight circles around her. The Scarecrow tried to dive-bomb her from his tiny helicopter. The Riddler revved his lime-green car with jazzy racing stripes. Two-Face lowered and lifted the bucket of his bulldozer.
The LEGO Batman Movie Junior Novel Page 1