AngelFire. That was her code name. That was what her experiment had been called. The one they used on her. She hadn't been a scientist before, so it technically wasn't her experiment, but it was only used on her, and was directly tweaked to fit her body. So AngelFire was hers, and it was hers to destroy. To destroy so no other innocent human being had to go through this sadistic torture the white coats had made her endure.

Ri waited for the right moment, it had been seven, or eight years. Too long without seeing his face, his happy grin. She had to get out now, the experiment was complete, the only step left was to lobotomize her so she became a mindless slave to be prodded and sampled some more. She was at peak power, having carefully picked out the food that hadn't been filled with sedatives. They put in normal food sometimes, and this she kept, so she could eat and get to the maximum strength she could obtain in her condition.

She waited patiently, for her weekly walk around the compound. With the animal strategy mixed with knowing feeling she mysteriously had, she had pinpointed the weakest spot in the wall, a small corner in one of the white halls she had the privilege to see. There, the story above it, had gotten flooded a few years ago, and had rusted the metal on the inside. It wasn't visible to the human eye, but the white coats had made sure she didn't have human eyes any more. They were strengthened and she could pinpoint movements faster than before. She could even see better in the dark now.

That spot was the weakest, and it was the only corner that looked out into the grounds, the other halls she was led around were in the inside circle and fortified by two walls, plus the outside wall.

The grounds were surrounded by six feet electrical fences, proving how scientists are idiots when it comes to the practical side of things. Since her experiment worked, she wouldn't be stopped by a measly six feet, even if she was 5'4.

It was time, the dark skinned white coat was coming to get her. After so long being held here, she didn't feel any remorse leaving it behind.
It was funny, first she had defended a man they called a monster but wasn't, and now she was being tortured by monsters who they called scientists and exceptional citizens.
They should all burn.

But she knew, as well as he, before they caught her, that she was too innocent to kill anybody herself.

The only reason she was burning the place down, was so nobody else could get the information on her experiment and use it on any other defenseless beings.

Ri was taken, her hands were cuffed, her eyes made sure to get a glazed look, and she followed the man in front of her without any resistance as usual. They thought she was already dead on the inside, so they had gotten sloppy, they didn't put the metal band around her torso today. That was good, her skin was still raw and bruised from yesterday. This was going better than she thought it would.

She was taken through the white halls, and she felt herself feeling lighter the closer they got to the corner where she would make her escape. She was ready. In one, two, and finally, three.

She pulled hard against the leash the man in front of her was holding, he let go in surprise, and before he could yell out to the guards just around the corner, she took the leash and strangled him with it, cutting off his air until he fell in a dead faint. Ri didn't want to kill anybody. But it was for the greater good that the information died. With a deep breath, she ran and used the tools the white coats had installed in her.

The next few minutes were a blur. Crashing into the wall, terrifying the white coats into a state of panic, the whole building on fire. For the first time in seven or so years, she could breathe in the fresh air. She took to the skies and flew as fast as she could. Away from the African continent they held her, and across the sea to where he was.

To Gotham City.

Ri was ten when she met her first love. She never played with the boys after school so she never had a kindergarten crush. Instead she helped her sister and caretaker, at her massage salon. Her sister taught her how to heal so when she was older she could start working, and she would never forget those lessons, even if she couldn't remember her sister. She had been her only biological family, but that was the end of their relationship.

So she didn't cry the day she died. She just kept on walking through the big bad city. The funeral service had ended, and she had nowhere to go now. She would have to go to some kind of foster care soon, but until then, until they found her, she could keep on walking through the rain and neon signs. Ri didn't even notice she was in the part of town known for being the Joker's home base. Ri didn't even notice the man with a gun following her. Ri only noticed the puddles forming on the sidewalk. She had found a penny, a pretty button, and two nickels to add to her pocket collection of knickknacks. She had just bent down and picked up a strange looking playing card, when the man with a gun grabbed her, and knocked her unconscious.

Ri woke up to her hands behind her back, and being held with handcuffs. The room she was being held was a grayish blue with windows running along the top of the brick walls. The windows let in some light, the kind you get after the sun sets. Ri looked around and noticed there were a lot of people in here as well as her. Ri didn't feel comfortable with all of these people. They were all older than her, and they looked at her like they looked at her at her sister's funeral. She even noticed that the priest who had done the ceremony was here. It didn't smell good in here, and a lot of the women were crying. They all had been handcuffed, and they weren't trying to escape. The windows were too far up, and they were all too far away from the walls in the large room. Not to mention the men with guns who were all standing around in random places. They all had clown masks on. Ri had seen magicians, but she had never seen a clown that wasn't at a birthday party. Ri liked magicians though.
Just as Ri was beginning to think about the different magic tricks she liked, a door banged open and in entered a few more clown masked men with guns. Then everything changed.
She saw him.

He was grinning his manic grin, and he had clown make up on, no mask. Ri briefly remembered watching an old western movie. The Indians had all worn war paint when going into a fight. He had war paint on, not make up. Make up was for girls who thought they looked prettier with it.
He was tall, he had a purple suit on complete with a waistcoat and shirt of different green patterns. He had green curly hair. Ri wanted her hair to be green, her black hair was too boring. He walked in the room and a few people shrieked, making him snicker. His gaze flickered over everybody, but didn't stay in one spot. He finally rested his eyes on a business woman.

"So, eh, guess every body is here, eh?" He chuckled, and his voice sounded strange, almost like he was singing to an imaginary tune. Rising and falling. Ri liked it. Suddenly he pulled out a gun from his jacket and shot three people dead. A deadly silence fell over the room. He had shot the business women he had been looking at. Ri didn't know what to think of the fact that he had just killed three people. She would think about it later.

"Too many body's, if ya know what I mean." Was his only answer to the silent gasp in the room. He made his way through the people, nudging the silent people with his foot. He finally made his way right in front of Ri. He didn't notice her though. There were five people in between them, but from here, Ri could see his face clearer.

He had scars. They made him look like he was smiling even if he wasn't. They were even lathered in the red war paint in a strange smile. Ri felt bad. He must have been in pain when he got those scars.

"You evil, cold hearted man!" The priest's voice rang through the eerily silent room. The clown man stopped, standing still, and cocked his head as if questioning the priest.

"Cold hearted? Last time I checked I wasn't a reptile, god man." Was the clown man's reply.

"You're nothing but a crazy, insane, freak who's going to burn in hell!" Was the priest's angry reply.
Ri never knew exactly what possessed her to do what she did. Maybe it was the pitying looks people were giving her. Maybe she just didn't like the priest. Maybe she hated how the priest didn't know this man, but called him insane and a freak. Maybe she had always hated the mean names that kids at school gave the special needs kids, and this situation reminded her too much of it.

"He's not crazy! And he's not a freak, you son of a bitch!" Ri stood up and yelled at the priest who looked quite shocked. If her sister had left her one thing, it was a hell of a vocabulary at her disposal. Her hands were in small fists behind her back, and she was very angry. How dare the priest say that! Wasn't the whole point of his stupid preaching, "love everybody"? Just because the clown man had scars, didn't make him a freak. That was horribly superficial.
Everybody was quiet, even the clown masked men who had stopped patrolling to stare at her. The clown man was very still. He slowly turned around and his smile dropped from his face at the sight of the furious ten year old girl. He made his way, slowly, to her. She was still glaring at the shocked priest, not looking at him. Without turning around, he shot the priest's head. Now she looked at him. She kept her eyes on his the whole time he walked up to her. Never glanced at his scars, or at his hair, or even at his purple suit. He crouched down in front of her, getting them at the same eye level. He stared at her, no expression on his face, except a curious look in his deep brown eyes. He played with his gun, in his purple leather gloved hands before asking his question.

"Would you scream if I killed you right now, little girl? Would you, uh, beg me not to? Cry for mommy and daddy?" He asked, grinning widely. A loud gasp went through the room. He would dare kill this little girl? The man was grinning, chuckling under his breath really, but Ri felt like it was a test, so she thought about her answer.
"I think I would laugh. It is kind of funny, after all." Ri finally answered, honesty was the best policy right? The clown man stopped chuckling and frowned. Ri looked down to the ground, she must have failed the test then.

"Take her to my room." The clown man ordered quietly. One of the guards stepped forward and took Ri's shoulder, leading her out of the room.
The clown man never lost eye contact with her, and Ri could still feel his eyes on her back after the door closed.

It was very dark outside when the clown man returned to see Ri. The guard had escorted her to a large living type room. It was long, and on of the walls was one long window. They were very high up, probably on some type of hill, because you could see all of Gotham City from here. It was very pretty, full of twinkling lights. Ri's arms were starting to hurt from being behind her back for so long, but she kept still and sat on a long green leather couch facing the big window. There wasn't much in here, a corner bar with a lot of bottles of varying degrees of emptiness, a table filled with wires and books. An empty coffee table.

Finally his job was done, thank god for lackeys right? Those idiot hostages were already taken care of. He would enjoy making them scream tomorrow. He'd been practicing with some more surgical type manouvers with his knife. Maybe he could put a small bomb in a few of them and then tell the others to kill those, before they blew them all up. Ooh! Fun!

He had almost forgotten about the little girl, until he opened the door to find her sitting on his couch. She seemed to enjoy the view.

She defended him. Strange little girl. No one had ever defended him before. They all thought he was a freak, she knew he wasn't. She would have to stay with him. She was a keeper.

Ri turned around when she heard the door open. There he was, leaning against the door frame, looking at her. Ri felt herself blush and she turned around to look at the city. Joker walked over to her, and knelt down in front of her. He didn't want to play his games with her. He wanted to tell her his jokes and make her laugh, just like she said she would if he killed her. He took her handcuffs off and she rubbed them a little and stretched her pea coat covered arms.

"Why would you laugh, at uh, me blowing your pretty little head off?" Joker asked her, tilting his head to the right. Ri smiled, he was very curious, just like her.

"What's your name?" Ri asked.
"Nuh, uh, I asked first!"
"So you answer first!"
"Uuf, fine. Joker." The Joker humphed.
"I like it. It's like this card I found." Ri searched through her pockets until she found the card she had picked up earlier in the day. It was hand painted, old looking, and it was a Joker. She handed it to the Joker so he could take a look at it. The Joker took the card and looked it over, it would look nice in his collection, but it was hers, she had taken it out of her...

"Hey, didn't they search your pockets?"
"I guess not. I have everything in here. Guess ten year olds aren't that dangerous. I'm off the radar."