I. Mysterious Stranger
Batman sighed. The streets were glistening under the streetlights, damp from the evening's rain, the city blanketed by the night. Somewhere in the distance, flames leaped skyward from a building, no doubt crawling with people up to no good. And this certainly wasn't helping. His eyes moved over the banner hanging across the street triumphantly. On it was nothing but an address, and the enlarged image of a playing-card joker in the bottom right hand corner.
"Subtle as a brick", scoffed Batman to himself. Of course he knew this was a set-up of some kind, as it always was with Joker, but unfortunately, it was also the only place to start in the tedious process of catching him. Batman made his usual call to the Commissioner, telling him where he was going, what to look out for, and to have his crew prepared to kick down any given door at any given moment, should the need arise. Climbing into the Batmobile, though, Batman couldn't help but feel as if something about this night was anything but ordinary. This was becoming far too routine, now. The Joker lures Batman in, Batman fights the Joker, the Joker gets arrested only hours before he escapes... Will it ever end?
The thick rubber tires of the Batmobile squealed around every corner as Batman tore through the city. He weaved through the traffic and the pedestrians as if they were stationary objects that had been there since the city was born. He knew he was approaching his destination when the crowds of life began to thin out, and turn into industrial parks and squalor. If the Joker could build himself a dream house, it would be here.
"716 Legend Street" Batman whispered aloud. He found himself talking to himself more frequently of late. He chuckled a bit at the deliberate inappropriateness of using the term 'legend' to define such a... Whatever the Joker is. But 'legend' isn't it. He prepared himself as best as he could for whatever awaited his arrival behind that door, making sure his team was in place in case he needed to call for backup, and he entered the dark building.
The light switch to his left didn't work, and there was a humidity in the air that reeked of mildew and decay. All the doors were boarded up from the outside, leaving only a tight staircase accessible. The once light colored carpet was now barely visible through the various unidentifiable stains that pocked it, and the wall paper (painted over several times) barely clung to the wall in tatters. Climbing the stairs cautiously, Batman was not only afraid of what he might catch if he touched something here, but he also dared not think of all the things that had gone on here to leave the place in such a state.
When he got to the top of the stairs, the view did not surprise him much at all. More rooms, all boarded from the outside, leaving only one at the end of the hall open. The situation was feeling more like a trap by the second, but still he started toward the door cautiously, knowing it was very much like the Joker to wait for him to pass and then spring out from one of the other "boarded" doors. Surprisingly, though, he did not, and Batman reached the end of the hall without a problem. He peered into the room, as quiet as a mouse, before finally entering.
"Joker," He called into the seemingly vacant darkness "I know you're in here."
"Actually... He's not." Came the soft reply
A shadowy figure that had previously been blending into the wall across the room side stepped, positioning its self so that it was now in front of the window, blocking even more of what little light had been trickling into the room to begin with. It continued to speak.
"And that is the problem."
"Who are you?" Asked the Dark Knight, more leery of this situation now than he had previously been, "Where's the Joker?"
"I don't know where the Joker is." Said the figure. It turned now, still cloaked in darkness, and slinked toward it's visitor. Batman, showing no fear, stood in his place until the being was close enough to touch... Then closer. The being stood before the caped crusader at less than a foot away, it's head cast to the floor. Without words, it raised it's face to be in full view of it's visitor's. Batman was shocked at what he saw before him. Not a freak. Not a scarred and battered lackey of the Joker's, but a fair skinned, dark haired girl, who seemed to be just a face floating in the shadows. Her eyes, black onyx, changed before the Batman to a cool blue, and then a softer, honey brown as she spoke.
"Then why have you called me here?" Batman asked, studying her suspiciously
"Because I want you to help me catch him" she said, knowing that his answer would be less than satisfactory
Batman laughed aloud heartily, just as she'd expected
"Help YOU catch him?!" he laughed, "And just who ARE you? This entire city has been trying to catch Joker probably since before you were even born!"
"I highly doubt that." She muttered under her breath. She shifted uncomfortably out of Batman's sight, which made him nervous for only a minute before she reappeared in front of the window, leaning on the wide sill.
"I have bombs..." She said, deliberately pausing to gage his reaction, "In every school in the city."
She felt the tension in the room immediately skyrocket, and heard the material of Batman's costume tighten and stretch as his whole body went rigid with an impatient need to act, but she cut him off before he could interject
"They're safe. All the kids are safe. The bombs weren't put there to hurt the children, or anyone else. They were put there to trap the Joker, and, if my math is right, we should only need one. I have reason to believe that the schools are his next target." She said, knowing she had the Batman's full attention now.
"Then why do you need me? It sounds like you have this all planned out..." Batman questioned, not wanting to encourage her, but still needing to push for further details
"Because you can get the children out long before the bombs go off. I cannot." She said, handing him what looked barely like a detonator. "When you get back to where ever it is you come from, the Commissioner will have a package addressed to you. Inside it will have the blue-prints of the schools, locations of the bombs, and anything else you may need to know."
"And the Joker? What do you want with him?" Asked Batman, curious as to why she would go through so much trouble independently
"I want him to pay. By any means necessary. Either at your hands, or that of others. I am indifferent. But I want him to suffer, and when he does, I want to know about it." Came the reply, cold. Harsh.
"Why?" Asked Batman, knowing he might be pushing too hard
She was silent for a moment, using her arms to prop herself up on the sill of the window. She let her head hang heavily between her shoulders, and let out a long, barely audible sigh before she spoke again
"Because he made me... What I am today" She whispered reluctantly
"And what's that?" Batman asked softly
"A shell of my former self." She responded distantly, being sure to choose her words very carefully, "Since the day he murdered my family. I was supposed to be there, you know. In the house. But I had gone to the store for last minute preparations for our Thanksgiving dinner... I don't know if it was some kind of cruel joke or what, but how could I have known that the door was rigged to detonate the bomb? As soon as I turned the handle to come inside, the whole house was blown to pieces. I was blown clear into the middle of the street."
"And yet you have no scars?" Batman interjected, seeing holes in her story
She brushed the comment off and continued,
"I was pronounced dead at the hospital. Obviously, that didn't last for very long, but I don't remember much after that." She concluded, knowing that he wasn't buying it, but it didn't matter at that point.
"I see." He stated, more interested in her proposition on catching the Joker than her phony reasons why
"You will see that I am correct about the Joker's next target." She added, "And when you do, I trust you will utilize my work to help you catch him, and get those kids out in one piece."
"And if I don't?" Batman asked, almost threateningly
"You will. Because you know the Joker. And as much as you don't trust me, you DO trust him... To do the most evil thing that pops into that asylum he calls a brain at any given moment. You know as well as I do that if you do not accept my help on this, there will be half a city full of parents who will not be attending any more parent-teacher conferences. And no one wants that." She responded, matter-of-factly
"When the time comes, how will I find you?" Batman asked, realizing the conversation was coming to a close
"You won't. I'll find you. I'm always around... But I must go now." She said, straightening her hunched posture in the glistening moonlight
"Wait... It's not safe out there. I'll go with you." He said, starting toward her cautiously
"No." She responded sharply "I go alone."
A flash of black cleared the sill of the window in one swift motion, disappearing just as the Dark Knight's hand reached out to grab it. He frantically searched the ground below for any signs of the fallen girl, but she was no where to be seen. He paused at the widow for a moment, gathering his thoughts, and then strode back out of the grungy hotel into the street. When he was sure he was within view of at least one of the men sent to watch his back, he broke radio silence.
"Did you see anyone else leave the building?" He asked, already knowing the answer.
"No, sir. We saw you at the window just a moment ago, but no one else came in or out" Came the reply...