Wayne Quinn

[Moose]

"You killed her!" The Joker screamed, clutching the limp body of Harley against his chest. Her cracked and broken bones shifted as the Joker sobbed onto her red and black costume. She had fallen from the high rise that batman and he had chosen as his arena, well, fallen was innacurate. Tim Drake sent her hurtling over the edge.

Batman looked at his partner, disappointed, before walking over to the Joker, cuffs in head.


"She's dead... Dead..." He said, a bitter laugh forced from between his lips as Baman slapped the cuffs on him. The Joker's arms were limp as Batman pulled them behind his back to cuff the Joker's second wrist.

"Go home Jason." Batman said to Jason.

"But-" Jason began.

"Home!" Batman said, glaring at his protege, the boy he took in as his son. Batman knew this was not going to end well. He needed to talk to him in private.

Jason ran off and soon, the police arrived. Batman handed over the Joker and they delicately put him in the car. They were Joker veterans and seeing him so placcid and not completely broken physically disturbed them. The younger policeman, Jamison was stitched into his uniform, "So... She's dead then... Is... Is it over?" The young man asked, remembering the Joker's rampages, a renewed vigor seemed instilled into the Joker with his new sidekick.

"I think so..." Batman said, he felt himself longing for Harvey Dent, and his coin. His coin would have been helpful right now. Intact head up, the Joker would stay in Arkham the rest of his days, irreparably saddened by her death, scratched head... He shook off the thought. The Joker wasn't responding with anger and hatred, they would be safe.

*****

The Joker hummed to himself in his cell, it was all he seemed to do with himself these days. He didn't know how long he had been gone, but he knew it had been a while. The tension had an initial build, then it all went out, the guards had begun to relax around him. He was allowed to go out more, but he didn't do much while out there. He often sat in the yard when he was allowed out, on whatever open bench was closest. Soon most of the criminals conglomerated away from the doors so he always sat on the one closest to there.

Victor Zsasz took initiative, it was raining today, a good mood setter, matched the misery of the Joker. He crossed his arms in front of the Joker, tallymarks covering his body, the Joker didn't look up, "You used to be some hot shit, didn't you?" He asked with a grin, "I hear your body count is even higher than mine." He grabbed Joker by his green hair and yanked up, looking at the pale skin, he was disgusted, "That ends now." He swung at Joker and connected to his cheek, sending the Joker over into the mud, "I've been playing nice for three months now for this chance!" Victor shouted, laughing, and kicking the Joker in the stomach, "Who's laughing now clown?! Who's laughing now!" He pulled a shiv out of his pocket and grabbed Joker's jumpsuit, hauling him up, "I'm gonna carve you up, so that when you get to hell to meet your girlfriend, you'll match her!" He said, laughing as he pulled his arm back.

The Joker's eyes glowed with rage. He caught Victor's arm, and a grin grew onto his face. His grin eclipsed Victor's and all that confidence turned into fear. Victor's grin was replaced with dismay and Joker used his fear to snatch the shiv from Victor, stabbing him in the neck, hitting the carotid artery. Victor grabbed his neck and gasped in pain as he fell over into the mud. The Joker stood over him, "That was your carotid artery, you're going to die in a few minutes, and since I'm getting violent again, the guards are waiting to come out here in SWAT gear before they send any medical help. So I have plenty of time to teach you." He kicked Victor in the stomach to punctuate his next words, "So. Pay. Attention!" He said, every pause punctuated with a kick, sending a fresh explosion of blood from Victor's neck, "Don't assume your opponent is disabled, unless you have caused their disability themselves! Don't monologue with assumed superiority unless your opponent is disabled! And lastly..." The Joker added quietly, bending down, "Don't fuck with me." He pulled the shiv out of Victor's neck and he went into shock, twitching as he died.

He looked around the yard at his inmates, so much madness surrounded him, none of it equal to his own, "Anyone else wanna have a go with me?!" He said, fire ran through his veins. He felt so invigorated, this was what he had forgotten. Madness, the emergency exit, Gotham was going to be exposed to a new level of madness that they had not seen before. He had been hearing the news, this was Black Mask's city now. Black mask was going to have to learn a lesson, he was the Clown Prince of Crime, and this was his city.

The Joker ran at the yard wall, an unbroken monolith of stone and steel. He ran to it, darting to a door in the wall with two guards in front of it. They opened fire and got three shots in him before he got to them. In their panic, they dropped their guns. Joker stabbed the closer one in the neck while the second one regained his senses, picking up his gun. He kicked the man in the face as he knelt for his weapon, sending him flying. The Joker picked up his gun and walked to the man, "Well, well, well, seems you've gotten soft in my absence... Seems Gotham has gotten soft in my absence... Time to toughen them up." He said, shooting the man in the head.

He left the man and walked to the door, shooting around the handle, emptying the clip into weakening the door. He dropped the gun and picked up the second one and the spare clip off the bleeding officer. He kicked the door and it caved inward, the handle and lock falling out of it. Guards in SWAT gear were filling the corridor, and he didn't have the time for them. He fired a couple shots into them before he went for the stairs, leaping up them two at a time, soon he made it to the top and came out onto the upper wall where guards patrolled. He fired and took out three of them, their limp bodies toppling over the wall as the others ran to more defensible positions.

The SWAT teams made it up to the wall behind him, and one of them came otu front with a megaphone, "Give it up Joker, there's nowhere you can go." He said, the megaphone crackling.

He looked up to the rain, it wasn't raining the day she died, it should have been. It was only fitting though that the universe decided that it should be raining now, "The Emergency Exit." He said softly to himself as he ran to the edge of the wall and jumped off the side, plummetting down to the sheer cliff below.

****

The Joker pulled himself onto shore, barely alive, but he still had his old stash around there somewhere, he knew it would be there. He walked along the beach, looking at the rare person fly fishing in the water. They all began running off, paying no attention to his hunched form, clutching his bleeding stomach. He made it to the spot, exactly in the middle of two boulders, out ten feet to complete the right triangle. He dug a hole where he knew it would be and sureley enough, there it was, a stainless steel capsule. He opened it and immediatley went for the forceps and a party bag leftover from the last time he escaped. He unzipped his jumpsuit and went in with the forceps, the bullets weren't just flesh wounds, and he screamed as he dug them out.

He tore open the party bag and poured the contents into the wound. It was his own unique spin on something bane made, Joker Venom. He winced and screamed as the wounds began to close up, the steroidal compounds healing his wounds instead of bulking him up like usual. That was probably all it was good for at this point anyways, he knew it had been a while.

He pulled out his dress shoes and kevlar vest and stripped down, using his jumpsuit to prevent from getting sand on his feet. He put on the vest, zipping it up before grabbing his clothes, the classic purple suit and shoes. He put on the pants and shoes first before putting on his green button up shirt, vest and tie. He put on his jacket and gloves and he was ready. Gotham would be his again.

*****

It wasn't long before the city had become carved in two, it had been two weeks since the Joker's escape and he was proud of his accomplishment of reducing the criminal population by about half. Black Mask's empire was crumbling, and the Joker was only getting faster, more powerful. Gotham was actively burning, there was no coming back from this. The Joker decided that Black Mask had been softened enough that it was time to lie in wait. He emblazoned an R with an arrow through it on a building with gasoline, surrounded by batman's symbol. He lit it aflame and stood atop the building. Now, he would just need to wait, his thugs surrounding the building, clown masks all around, killing all the firemen who came close.

 

[❀ ℱℴʀℊℯϮ ℳℯ №Ϯ ❀]

The night of which Harley had been killed was a strange one. The way her father had come in that night..something had been up with him, Arabella had been hidden in her room, not getting involved with his recent chase of Joker and Harley..but she had sensed the change in atmosphere when he came in. Only for him to tell her that she was dead. Harley was gone and the Joker had been a mess, he had given himself up, allowed them to cuff and cart him off. That had been a very strange thing indeed. However for her, it had also been a relief. It had been years, ever since she was small in fact, when she had known about the joker and who he was..and what chaos he brought both her and her family. In a way the passing away of Harley had been a blessing in disguise, maybe this time the Joker would calm down, he would give in and accept his fate. It was a piece of hope she held onto for quite a while, and for some time, though it was short, everything was peacefully and calm at home. Her father no longer needed her help half as much as he once had, leaving her more free time to study, catch up with friends and simply enjoy her life like anyone else would be able to. For the first time in what felt like forever, she was finally able to act like a normal person, without worrying about who her father was and what problems he was going to run into next. There were still problems of course, there always would be, but they were small problems in comparison to the ones the Joker and Harley had caused. Her father also seemed less stressed, though to say he wasn't stressed at all would be impossible, he was always worried over something. As the days passed and the city got quieter, things become more peaceful, the female felt as though life could take a turn for the better. Joker was safely locked behind closed doors and he would never resurface again, Harley was dead and so there was no reason for him to return anyway, maybe finally she could have the kind of life she had been waiting and longing for throughout her life, without Joker taking all her fathers attention away.

As more weeks passed however, things got even quieter, there was less to do, less crime to worry about and it seemed as though Arabella was getting the life she asked for. Until there was news of the Jokers escape. He was utterly insane judging by the way he had escaped, ignoring people shooting at him, killing SWAT members left, right, and center. Then to top it off he had jumped off a cliff and vanished from sight. The female didn't want to believe it when she had been given the news, and there was only more bad news to follow after it. Joker clearly was ready to return from his little time off..and he didn't stop at anything. Gotham was soon a wreck, a mess, and Arabella had no choice but to help her father as much as possible. She ended up spending most of her time down in the basement where the computer and systems were, frequently on the phone to her father, trying to send him co-ordinates, trying to direct him to the best places to go..and most of all, trying to locate Joker. There had been a few leads here and there, but nothing that had lead them directly to him. However, so the female believed, she was safe hidden in their house..it was her father she worried for, out there, looking for Joker and who knew how angry he was after what had happened to Harley..who knew what he was planning. "There's a signal for you" She spoke down the phone after calling Batmans own phone "I'm sending you the co-orients for it now. I believe there is a fire there, a bad one at that. Please..be careful" It was something she always told him as she put the phone down with a small sigh, trying to find out exactly what the problem was where the signal was coming from. Why couldn't everything have just remained peaceful? Even for a short while.

 

[Moose]

The Joker bounced his crowbar against his thigh, three firetrucks had come until they got the hint and the police showed up, it was a joke. There was only one squad car and the two cops hopped out and immediately hid themselves behind their car, his men didn't waste the bullets, they knew better, wait for the cops to pop out of cover. The cops were doing no such thing.

It wasn't long before batman showed up with the boy blunder, "Thought you needed backup this time too, Batsy?" He asked with a laugh, "I reduce the criminal population in the city by half, and ensure they'll be fighting each other in the months to come, whether I'm here or not, and this is the thanks I get?" He pointed at Batman with the crowbar, "I gave you a gift Batsy!"

"You're psychotic Joker, innocent people are getting caught in the crossfire!" Batman shouted, "Gotham is burning."

"Well that's part one of my revenge, part two is asking for a gift exchange. Look at my boys down there, calmly following orders, calmly waiting, they used to be Black Masks lieutenants, and if and when I go away, their orders are to keep this up against Black Mask. You can calm down this blood dispute quickly if you win, so in exchange... Send the boy first." He said with a sneer, pointing his crowbar at Jason.

"Be careful what you wish for, clown!" Jason said as he came at the Joker with a diving kick.

"Jason, no!" Batman shouted, the Joker pulled out a gun and shot him in the leg. Jason clutched his leg in pain and barreled into the Joker, the Joker quickly recovered, Jason did not. The Joker raised the crowbar over his head and Batman took action, throwing several batarangs into his long-time enemy. Undeterred, the Joker brought the crowbar down, the pointed end going through Jason's throat. Jason chuckled and spat blood on the Joker's cheek, smiling as he died.

"Jason!" Batman shouted, running at the Joker, his training forgotten in this moment of grief.

The Joker spun around and hit batman with the crowbar, knocking him down, a chunk of Jason's throat flying free, "Oh dear Batsy, you remember that I could keep up with you in a fight on a good day. On your best day, you would trounce me, but it's been two weeks of chaos and pain, grief and tragedy, long sleepless nights, Brucie." The Joker laughed and began to approach the downed Batman, "On top of that, you're not thinking straight because of the boy." Batman grabbed a smoke bomb and the Joker hit him in the head with the crowbar again as he threw it. There was an audible crack before the smokebomb hit the ground. The Joker coughed as the smoke came up, waving it away. When it dissipated, Batman was there, regaining consciousness. The Joker took a hankerchief and wiped the blood off his cheek, tossing it to batman, "A parting gift, Jason's last act of defiance. Do try and make up with Dick, he was much more fun than Jason, this relationship won't work if two of us are doing the sadistic killer spiel." He said, setting the crowbar on his shoulder and beginning to walk away.

"Wait!" Batman said, "Where do you think you're going?" He said as he stood up, holding up his fists, the cowl on crooked, torn where the steel mail coif under it had cracked under it.

The Joker turned and rolled his eyes, "Home. Yours." He reached into his jacket and grabbed a bag, pulling it out and tossing it to Batman, it was filled with a white powder, "Unless you're going to stop me." Batman kicked the bag aside and ran at Joker, stumbling at the last moment and falling in a heap next to Jason.

"Yes... The girl..." The Joker said with a smile, "She's what? 19 now? It's been almost a year since my last little vacation, I have to make up for lost time. And what better way than to complete my sweet, sweet revenge." He said, laughing. He pulled a radio out of his jacket, "All right boys, time to go home. You've done good work for the day, leave the clown car and go to bed." He said into the radio. Several affirmatives came back and the Joker pulled Jason's grapple hook off him, "Mind if I use this?" He asked the prone form of Batman. He didn't stay to hear if Batman made a response, but he heard the inevitable call.

"Alfred... Take Arabella, not... safe..." He wheezed out as the smoke thickened around them. The Joker laughed as he got to the edge of the roof and rappeled down. He got to the clown car, a little green buggy, and he grabbed the ipod on the dashboard and turned to his metal playlist. The upgraded stereo shook the car as he shifted up and headed out to Wayne Manor.

 

[❀ ℱℴʀℊℯϮ ℳℯ №Ϯ ❀]

The tension back at the house was getting worse by the second. Arabella should have been completely use to these kinds of things, yet she always worried about her father. There was always fear in the back of her mind that one day he wouldn't come home, one day he wouldn't make it out alive of a fight, someone would eventually get the better hand of him. That someone she was sure would be none other than Joker. Out of everyone he had told her about, his voice always changed when he mentioned Joker, it took a darker tone..holding a more serious edge and it worried the female greatly. It wasn't just her who was worried either, Alfred was the same, normally he was quiet and easy to get along with..but even tonight he seemed more worried than normal, trying to keep himself busy and avoid conversation with her for now. Which left her thinking about something else. Did he know something she didn't? Her father always seemed to tell him more than her, wanting to keep her safe and stop her from worrying, why he thought it was the best thing to do she would never know. "Something's not right." Finally she broke the silence, standing up and moving to pace the basement, not looking to Alfred who stopped what he was doing and looked towards the female. "Mr Wayne shall be perfectly fine" his attempts at reassuring the female were left in vain as she continued to pace, shaking her head after he had spoke. "No..I don't think it is..knowing that somewhere out there, Joker is lurking around, I've been suspecting him for days. He's the doing of all of this, it would make sense" She murmured a response, talking mostly to herself though loud enough so that Alfred could hear. Normally she was easy to keep calm in these kinds of situations, despite the fear which constantly echoed through her mind, but something was putting her on edge and she wasn't liking it one bit. The sooner her father was home, the better, and it meant she could relax for another evening without worrying about where he was or what was happening. Unfortunately, that wasn't a fate to happen, as suddenly the sound of a phone ringing caught her attention. Alfred's phone. The second she heard that ringing, her whole body filled with dread.

Whatever was said on the phone, it was short lived, only a few words at the most as the phone was put back down and the butlers colour drained from his face. "Alfred..what is it? What's wrong?" Arabella had turned on the spot to face him, her eyes wide in fear, unable to move or say anything else for the time being. "Miss Wayne, we need to leave, at once." The butler stood up and Arabella shook her head, moving after him as he paced past her, up the stairs which led onto the ground floor of the manor. "No, Alfred, what's going on? What did he just say?" If her father had rung, and told them to leave, something had happened..something bad, and she needed to find him to make sure he was okay. "Miss, I'm not quite sure. Your father has asked me to take you out of here and I must do as he has asked before anything else." All Arabella could think about was where her father was, she had told him the location, she knew where it was herself..was he still there? The female paused from her walking in her train of thoughts. What if she went to find him? Going wherever Alfred would take her wasn't an option, not in her eyes, she wasn't going to up and leave her father to defend himself! Something had happened and she needed to figure out what it was. Which was why, in a rash choice, instead of following Alfred, Arabella took a different turn, heading to where the keys were hanging up for the various cars her father owned. One of which was hers. Without a word to the butler, the female turned and headed for the door after picking a set of keys up, running out the door without a word. Clicking the unlock button on the keys, seeing a car light up, the female wasted only seconds in opening the door ad climbing in, hearing the engine roar to life as she slammed her foot down on the accelerator. Well..she hadn't disobeyed her fathers orders as such..she just hadn't exactly followed them either.

 

[Moose]

The Joker sped down the road towards Wayne Manor, if she was quick she would find a way out one way or another, but it was the fear he wanted. The fear he craved. He was going to make Batman suffer. The roads had been cleared because of the curfew that had been ordered into place a while ago for the safety of the citizens. The citizens took it seriously, knowing all too well the warzone that Gotham had been transformed into. The roads were clear, and that was just the way he liked it. He grinned to himself as he sped down the roads, heaing towards the manor, but then he saw another car. It wasn't just any old other car, he recognized the plate, it was the brat's.

It was headed right where he was coming from. He grinned, "Oh, how fitting. Come into my parlor said the spider to the fly!" He shifted up and hit the accelerator, continuing to press on it even as he pulled up on the E-brake and spun the wheel, sending him hurtling towards the passenger side of her car. At the last moment, he hooked on his seatbelt and went limp in his seat. The natural movements of his body cushioned him from the crash of the car, and presumably she had the same training, so he knew it would still be a fight.

She was the daughter of batman, and not just adopted like the others. She wouldn't be as tired as dear old daddy, so he could only hope she was inexperienced, or disoriented by the crash. He unbuckled his seatbelt and hopped out of his car, "Well well well, if it isn't the little heiress, come to see if Daddy's fortune has quite gotten handed down to you?" He asked, grabbing the crowbar from his car and in a fluid motion jammed it into the rim, stabbing it into the car. The initial stab dented the wheel well, and he knew better than to pull it out, if she wasn't disoriented, she would just drive away and go to Daddy, he t-boned her to prevent from accidentally killing her, it wasn't time. He kicked the crowbar, embedding it into the wheel well, and he pulled out his knife, stabbing the tire, walking around the car to the driver's side, "Come on out Arabella, see if you meet Brucie in heaven!"

The Joker heard the sound of screeching tires, "Oh... Right... The help knows..." The Joker turned to face the oncoming car and he spread his arms, "Come on, come on, come on!" The car spun and stopped a few feet from him. The door opened and Alfred came out with his cane.

"Arabella, go check on your father! I'll keep him here!"

The Joker rolled his eyes and kicked Alfred's cane, "Ex Military, served in her queen's royal service for a full term before going to serve the Wayne family!" He grabbed the cane, and Alfred was too slow to catch it, "You're slow old man!" he shouted, smacking him in the leg and sending him toppling, "Your training may still be instilled in you, but that's not enough! Old man!" He leaned on the cane and stepped on Alfred's face, "But how convenient, you brought me a hostage." He said, digging his heel into Alfred's face, "Arabelle! Your daddy's going to be fine, the fire wasn't that bad, he's just gotta pick himself back up, now, hop out of the car. You come with me, I'll leave Alfred alone."