Hey all! Sorry to delete the past chapters, but I wasn't really happy with some of the later chapters that I've written. Plus, I decided to go in a different direction with this story. So without further ado, here is the newly edited and rewritten story! I hope I will be successful this time around! :)
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Teen Titans, Batman, or The Joker. They ALL are owned by DC Comics and Warner Bros. Animation. This is just for creative fun. ;)
[Note: Some of this chapter was written by YoungNapoleon22, but I edited some of it to fit in my story. I really appreciate the help YoungNapoleon22 had done for me though, and if you're reading this right now YN22, you're awesome! ;) ]
xXx
Something Wicked This Way Comes
xXx
Gotham City, a bustling and gloomy metropolis. Over a million people live here in this Gothic city, which is the yang to Metropolis' yin. While the city of Metropolis is the home of the good and pure-hearted Superman, Gotham City is the home of the dark and brooding Batman. In Metropolis, happy people and clear skies are the theme of the city; however, with Gotham, it is made of much harsher facades and a cloudy atmosphere. The city also makes a good place for criminals to hide in plain sight, so they can plan out their devious schemes.
And one such villain in Gotham is hiding in a building, planning his next move.
This hiding place was Jolly Jester's Jack in the Box; a long condemned, and run-down party house. The building is a two-story structure made of large bricks topped with a giant, smiling clown head with the name plastered along the facade. Its once brilliant red paint job has long since faded to a dreary, pasty pink and many of the windows were either boarded-up or broken. While many Gothamites look to this building with distaste, there is one that found the building to be his dream home.
The city's Clown Prince of Crime: Joker.
"Harley! Get these mangy mutts out of here! I can't hear the television!"
Inside the shambled remains of Jolly Jester's, the Joker sat in his favorite chair in the break-room portion of the building, trying to watch the news. Trying was the keyword, because Harley's pet hyenas, Bud and Lou, were sitting in front of the screen whining to be fed dinner.
"Well maybe if ya fed 'em, they would leave ya alone," came the heavily-accented voice of Joker's female companion as she walked into their quote-unquote 'living room' with her costume on, as well as her apron that's around her figure.
Joker turned his head to send a glare towards the once psychiatrist-turned-crazed villain of a woman. Harley, in compliance with her name, was still dressed like a harlequin, with her jester-like outfit in a black-and-red patterned, skin-tight suit with a white collar. The young woman's face was also still covered in white clown makeup with ruby-red lipstick and a domino mask, but this mask still allows to let people see her striking blue eyes. To top off the outfit, Harley wore her two-stem jester's hat.
Harley, being dangerously athletic, managed to stay fit during her time with Joker. As they both caused mayhem together throughout the years, the criminal clown noticed that Harley had managed to still look good in her outfit, even with the apron on her as she stood there with her hands on her hips.
'Nothing like a little eye candy once in a while.' Once he briefly took a good look at her, he went back to being frustrated as he exclaimed, "They're your pets, Harl'! Ones if I recall you begged for, promising that you'd take care of them!"
Harley let out a disgruntled huff as she walked over and pet their heads, her form being in front of the television as well, "Well, excuse me for tryin' to make things a little more homey, Puddin'. They just want some attention is all!"
"Yes, I see that, and I'll feed them an actual bone in a moment! I want to see and hear the news right now though, so just get them out of the way!" Joker hollered.
The hyenas, Bud and Lou, both whimpered while Harley frowned. "Now Puddin', you know not to yell at my babies! Apologize to them right now!"
Joker growled in anger as he ran a hand down on his face. 'I might as well get this over with and just do it. It is easier that way.' He took a deep breath and turned his attention to Bud and Lou. He scowled at them for a second and with a fake smile, he patted them on the heads and said, "I'm sorry Bud and Lou, Daddy just...wants to watch the news and have some time to myself." he stressed the last three words really well. "Harley here will give you two something to eat, right Harl?"
Harley smiled, "I sure will, Puddin'! Come on, Bud and Lou! Time for your dinner!" she then pulled their collars, and the hyenas, who seemed to be calmer now, obeyed and began to follow their owner to the makeshift kitchen that they have in the building.
'Uuuugh...finally!' Joker scowled at Harley's direction. Once the mammals and the nagging woman were out of the way, Joker turned his gleaming red eyes back to the bright TV screen to the news broadcasters.
"That's right, Tom. Dr. Penelope Young, head R&D at Simtech here in Gotham, is heading to Jump City where this year's annual World Medicine Conference will be taking place."
The Joker watched with a devious smile as he turned up the volume on the TV.
"Rumor has it that Dr. Young has been working on an edited version of her failed Titan formula that was in development for the military's 'Super Soldier' project. However, this new brand is meant to be used in the restoration of muscle tissue in those suffering from sarcopenia by rapidly replacing the muscle tissue lost with newer, healthier fibers."
'Ah, yes...this is exactly what I wanted to hear,' Joker thought with satisfaction.
The deranged clown remembered researching the Titan formula, after catching wind of its creation some time ago and studying the chemical's effects on the human body. The pasty-faced villain was shocked to find, almost immediately, just how similar in structure the Titan was to Venom; the formula his fellow villain Bane was known to use. However, upon closer inspection, the Joker noticed that Titan's formula had noticeable gaps where Venom's didn't; mainly with how the drug would blend with the recipient's natural DNA structure.
Titan failed in many of those regards in its earlier stages, and since then Joker kept tabs on the Titan formula, he had watched it stabilized into a much less dangerous drug. Even with that said, there was the side effect that makes the subject become crazy and feral, losing their mind during the procedures. Joker soon returned his attention back to the TV when he noticed they were still talking about Dr. Young.
"...believe this version will be easier to control. Dr. Young assures worried citizens that this newer, more civilian-level drug has been diluted to such a degree that there will be a minimal risk with taking what she has dubbed TN-1. We now go to Jump, where Tina Neto will be covering the conference in person."
The screen switched over, from the newsroom to another woman, this one an older looking reporter. She was standing along the shoreline of a lake, the sun setting down for the day, and behind her was an island with a giant 'T' tower.
"Thanks, Marisa. I'm here in Jump City waiting for the beginning of the conference which will begin five days from now."
"Now Tina," came the disembodied male voice of Tom, "could you mind telling the folks at home just where it is your standing?"
The woman replied, "Certainly Tom. I'm standing along the bank of the Titan River, aptly named because, as you can see behind me, this city is home to the Teen Titans, and that over there is their tower."
Tom's voice came through again, "The Teen Titans, now isn't that the same group that's lead by Gotham's former Boy Wonder?"
The Joker's eyebrows lifted high into his hairline at that piece of news. While it was true the clown hadn't seen hide nor hair of the brightly-colored sidekick in quite a while, he just assumed the boy had died in the line of duty, especially with how much more brutal Batman's beatings had become lately. Now to hear that the mouthy little runt was alive, and playing 'superhero' in another city no less, gave the Joker a fun idea.
Originally, the Joker had already planned to visit Jump as a way to catch a break from Batman and get his hands on the Titan formula, but now, now he had another goal in mind.
'Well, well! If Robin thinks he's ready to play in the big leagues, who better to be his true test than little ol' me?' he thought to himself with mischievous excitement.
Turning his head away from the television and towards the doorway to his right Joker called out, "Harley! Pack your bags, we're going on a trip! HAHAHAHAHAAAAA!"
[NEW AUTHOR'S NOTE]
So, yeah, as I said before, I'm basically borrowing some of the "Batman: Arkham Asylum" plot elements and making it my own with some major tweaks! Cause really, who doesn't want to see this type of concept crossed with Teen Titans? I sure would! XD
As of right now though, I'm deleting my old chapters and letting this somewhat revised one still stand. I'm gonna try to rewrite some of the older chapters to make them sound good, so everyone wish me luck on that! ;)
Until then, thank you all for the faves, follows, and reviews! I hope you'll all still continue to read this! :D
Keep on rocking everybody! ^_^
-TSP