It all started off innocent enough.
It was a Thursday morning. The sun was shining, birds were chirping, you know. It was the usual cliché morning. That happy morning found me at the Gotham City Bank, looking to withdraw some cash for the weekend. The instant I reached the friendly old bank teller, the sound of glass shattering filled the building.
"Excuse me," a voice exclaimed.
We Gotham residents knew the drill. In half a second, we'd dropped to our stomachs on the floor. Looking around at each other, we nodded reassurance to those who looked scared. Things like this tended to happen all the time in Gotham. There was generally a break-in, robbery, murder, kidnapping, or anything else on any given day. At least we always had good stories to tell.
"Very, very good!" the same voice mocked. "Now, my men will need all the money."
The tellers went about gathering packets of twenties in a panic. Seven men wearing all black except for white clown masks rushed past us and pointed their guns every which way, all shouting orders.
I looked up. Standing above me was the town's newest, most demented villain. The Joker wore white, black, and red makeup all over his face. He didn't seem to notice me, for he was simply observing and supervising the robbery. Probably didn't want to get his gloved hands dirty.
After just a few moments, the masked men ran for the door, their bags stuffed with bills. I saw the Joker turn to leave, but unfortunately, at that moment, I felt tingling in my nose. This is the first time I felt frightened. I was going to draw attention to myself unintentionally. The Joker usually did something about such people. A second later, I sneezed my delicate, girly sneeze. The Joker slowly looked down at me, just as I'd feared he would.
"Bless you." He looked into my eyes for a moment before pulling out a gun from his jacket pocket and pointing it at my face. Some of the masked men chuckled. In the blink of an eye, The Joker pointed the gun over his shoulder and shot at the group of accomplices. One fell dead. "Less people to split the money with," he said over his shoulder.
Suddenly, more shots rang out and more bodies fell. Then? Silence.
"They're all killed each other," I whispered breathlessly to no one in particular.
The Joker's grin faded a bit and his eyes narrowed. "Speak up, my dear."
"They're all killed each other. You planned that, didn't you? You're a smart man, as much as I hate to admit it. You are a criminal, after all." I didn't look up at him. A grenade in the mouth, a gun to the head, anything could be coming.
"Oh ho ho ho! So it is you. It's you, it's you. Just like from the pictures and the videos. How delightful." The Joker scooped me up off of the floor and carried me towards the exit. "Good! I do enjoy company."
At that point, I was very confused. I was being kidnapped by the Joker because I said he was smart? "What pictures and videos?" I squealed, too afraid to strike him or struggle. "You've got the wrong girl!"
"Oh, no, no, no. Is your name Crystal Thomas?" the Joker stopped walking and awaited my answer.
"Yes, that's my name," I said suspiciously. "What pictures and videos are you talking about? Has somebody been spying on me?"
"Well, time to go!" The Joker continued on his way, holding me a bit tighter in his arms as I began to squirm.
"Let her down! Let her be," the old teller begged, stepping forward.
"Believe me. She's better off this way." The Joker then laughed a terrible laugh. That's the last thing I remembered before he hit me over the head and knocked me out.