Joker in the Deck
Gotham wasn't a place people would call as one the safest. Crimes and corruption were the backbone of the city. Walking alone during the night is like entering a lion's den. There's no guarantee if you'll get to your destination safe and sound or end up in a random alley, bleeding to death, holding on for dear life or just plain dead. It depends on your luck. Nobody dared to interfere if they saw someone being threatened or chased by a few thugs. No. That'd be suicidal. Chances are, your fate would end up being the same with the victim.
Jack Napier sat by the window of his apartment, calmly smoking a cigarette as he looked out into the city, deep in thought. He couldn't wait to get out of the city. It was starting to get boring. He couldn't stand the repeating cycle of his plans. Plan, steal and hide. It didn't even feel like a challenge anymore! Sure, several years back when he started, it felt different. But now, there's just no thrill in stealing the city.
Jack was one of the most wanted criminals in Gotham City. He was known for pulling some of the biggest heists, especially his most recent one, robbing the Gotham National Bank. While he may be a lone wolf, he still had to hire some henchmen for the job but that was his biggest heist in resume so it was only rational of him to get help.
The heist is the reason why he has been laying low for the past two weeks, from the GCPD and from some ridiculous vigilante who dresses up like a bat, according to rumours. He puffed out smoke, eyes still glued to the city. As if some costumed hero was going to stop him. The man must be out of his mind thinking that he could stop crime in the city. What a joke!
The thought had caused him to smile. He would love to meet the guy and put a bullet between his eyes. Maybe he will. After all, Jack had one last heist to pull off before leaving the cesspool of a city for good.
It isn't going to be big but he'll only do it for fun, he had thought, as a memoir of his final crime in the city. Jack had been doing some research on the Ace Chemicals factory. It was the perfect place. It was at the outskirts of the city which meant he has plenty of time to run.
The only problem is that he knew the police were onto him. He didn't want to get caught, failing miserably just before he could disappear. The heist will be carried out in two weeks. He still has time to plan. Maybe he could dress up as the Red Hood, another well-known masked thief. That didn't sound too bad. It will make it harder for the GCPD to track him down and there won't be a single evidence pointed at him.
Jack crushed the cigarette on the window sill. He glanced back the bags of cash on the sofa. He might as well enjoy himself a bit. Aside from that, he needed to buy the necessary items for his disguise. He chuckled at the thought of wearing a fish bowl as a mask.
It was then another idea struck him. Jack's smile grew wider. He could send fake tip-offs as a pre-caution, just to be sure that they couldn't predict his next move.
Morning came by quickly and Jack wasted no time getting up early and preparing himself for the day. He had to go out and look for a few things. He just hoped finding a cape is easy and isn't too suspicious. As much as he would love to walk around freely, he had to constantly remind himself that he was a wanted criminal and anyone could recognise his face. After all, he had appeared in the news a couple of times but the images were always either blurry or dark, his face shadowed. He just hoped that people will mind their own business.
As he calmly walked along the sidewalk, passing by various shops, he didn't realise that a woman was coming out of a bookstore, looking at her belongings before they collided.
He could hear books and a few coins landing on the floor as he tried to balance himself. The woman wasn't so lucky as she fell to the ground. It was a good thing the person was a woman, had it been a guy, Jack would have loved to punch him but since it was a woman, he decided to be a gentleman for once and helped her pick up her books.
"I'm so sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going. Are you alright, mister?" she said in a panic, collecting her belongings on the floor.
Jack chuckled. "I should be the one asking you that," he said before locking eyes with the woman. He felt as if his breathing had stopped. He couldn't really tell why. All he knew was that the woman before him was gorgeous. Blonde hair, blue eyes and a cute face. He quickly regained his composure and looked down at the book he was holding, 'Psychology'.
He stared at the woman again and helped her to her feet. "Sorry about bumping you," he murmured. She smiled at him and apologised. Jack's lips began to twitch. He coughed, handed her the book and said, "You into psychology?"
"Yeah. I'm studying it at Gotham U," the woman replied shyly. "This year is my final year."
Jack smiled before he realised he didn't even know her name. "I didn't catch your name."
The woman beamed at him. "Call me Harley, everyone does!" she said cheerfully.
He extended his hand and shook hers. "J."
Both ended up having a long chat at a café close by with Jack having forgotten his errands. "So let me get this straight, you work at some fast food joint just so you could go to college?" he said, sipping his drink.
"Well, I do have a scholarship but that only covers the tuition fees. Other stuff like rent, food and books are from my own money. It's hard to make a living these days," Harley explained, looking out the window.
"So what made you come here all the way from Brooklyn?" Jack received a stunned looked from Harley but he could tell there was a slight accent in her speech. "Your accent," he added hastily.
The worried look on her face subsided. "I'm still trying to get rid of it. I doubt that it'll do any good for me in the future."
"And you came to Gotham because…"
Harley smiled shyly at him. "Let's just say that I have an interest in extreme personalities -which is why I came to Gotham. There's lots of things going on. Besides, I'll be applying for a job at Arkham Asylum soon. I hope my accent isn't too obvious."
Before Jack knew it, he had complimented her accent. "I kinda like your accent. It defines who you are and you shouldn't change that," Jack mentally slapped himself. He was getting his hopes too high. As if the girl in front of him would be interested in a guy like him. Wouldn't she get one heck of a shock to find out a wanted criminal was semi-flirting with her.
Harley giggled. "Thanks. You don't think it sounds unintelligent, mist- J?"
He arched a brow. "I doubt it, Harley."
"So what do you do for a living?" she suddenly asked, sipping her iced chocolate.
Jack smirked at her. "Let's just say I'm a businessman."
"Yeah. I thought so. You have that entrepreneur look," she said, smiling at him.
"I do?"
"Definitely."
They spent the rest of their time talking about general things. By the time Jack checked his watch, it was already noon. He couldn't believe time would fly so fast but he didn't mind wasting his time talking to Harley. The kid has a great personality.
"I would love to talk to you a minute longer but I've got a few errands to run. Nice meeting you, Harley," he said.
"It was nice meeting you too, mister, I mean, J," she replied. "Sheesh, I keep saying mister."
He suddenly stopped at the entrance and glanced at her. "To be honest, Mr.J doesn't sound so bad."
She watched him leave before she realised that her eyes caught something in her paper bag. Above her books were several wads of cash. Harley was about to chase after him when she saw his cup scribbled. He must have stuffed the money while she was in the restroom.
'Quit the job. Make use of the money. I hope you'll become a great shrink. – Mr. J'
"Mr.J…," she murmured, smiling as she said his name again.
Two weeks later, Jack, along with a couple of henchmen were standing in front of the Ace Chemicals building. While he had the Red Hood suit on, the rest wore their normal attire with ski masks.
"Why the hell is boss wearing that costume?" muttered Chuckie as he watched Jack adjust the mask.
"This is his last heist. I doubt he wants to be captured. Besides, have you heard about that freak? Bateman? Batman. Whatever his name is. That guy is nuts! He looks like a giant bat!" Joe said as he loaded his gun. "We should be worried more about that freak. I doubt he's anything but terrifying."
Jack narrowed his eyes in annoyance as he listened in on his men's conversation about the vigilante. If anything, he was going to make sure the Bat is dead before bringing him in. "Will you two stop talking about that lunatic? Focus on the heist. I'm sure he'll have a blast beating you two into a bloody pulp if you keep that up," he tormented and checked the magazine of his gun.
"All right, boys. It's show time."
Jack led the way to the back entrance of the building before he motioned for one of his men to break the lock. Once they were in, he pulled out a blueprint of the building. "The office is on the east side. Just be alert for any guards."
They walked cautiously around the factory, making sure that there were no guards monitoring the building. The factory was filled with large round tanks of chemicals and that was the last place where anyone wanted to be in. The chemicals made small exploding noises within the tanks.
One of the henchmen, Buddy, jumped when he heard a loud gurgling sound from one of the tanks.
"Will you calm down you idiot! It's just chemicals! They're not going to come out of the tanks and burn you alive," Jack hissed before he looked at the blueprint and then at the catwalk above.
"We have to use the catwalk to get to the other side of the building."
They hurried up the stairs connected to the catwalk before Chuckie gasped as he felt something approaching behind him. He turned around and started shooting wildly at a wall.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Jack snapped at the terrified henchman. "There's nothing there!"
"Boss! I swear there was something behind me!"
Joe started panicking. "Could it be the Batman? I don't like this!" He started looking around the area for any signs of the vigilante. He had heard a lot of things from his colleagues.
"I think I see something behind the tank!" shouted Buddy. His eyes were looking down at the tanks.
Jack's hands balled into fists. He couldn't believe he had hired cowards for the heist. "Will everyone calm down! There's no such thing as a guy dressed up as a bat! If there is, I'm willing to label myself insane!"
As if on cue, Chuckie was knocked down by a black shape. He tried to get up but the black shape knocked him out cold with a powerful punch. Jack couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the man. He was really dressed up like a bat!
"What are you waiting for? Shoot him!" he ordered and aimed his gun at the vigilante, missing by just centimetres. Jack cursed under his breath. He was sure no one was able to figure out his next heist, especially not some lunatic in a bat costume.
Buddy and Joe shot aimlessly at the black shape. This had caused a number of tanks to leak from the ricochet of the bullets. An explosion was heard and the catwalk became unstable.
The two henchmen were quickly knocked unconscious the moment they ran out of bullets. This had resulted in Jack being alone with the black shape. "You have got to be kidding me," he muttered under his breath, eyes scanning the area for the vigilante.
"Give up. You have nowhere to run," the black shape stated as he stood in front of Jack.
"Yeah, I'd definitely scream like a little girl, toss my gun and beg you not to hurt me."
He aimed his gun at Batman and before he could squeeze the trigger, Batman tossed something in his direction, hitting the gun and causing him to lose his grip. His gun fell to the ground.
"This is your last chance."
Jack shook his head. This wasn't happening. It couldn't. He had planned everything out perfectly. How did he know? Was he too predictable? So many thoughts were running through his mind. He wasn't able to accept the fact that his plan had failed.
He was deep in thought that he didn't realise Batman was slowly approaching him. He looked up and backed away.
"Stay back!"
Batman didn't say anything but he kept moving forward. Another explosion was heard and this time, some of the chemicals had hit the catwalk. It made hissing sounds as the metal corroded.
Before Jack had the chance to safely reach the other side, the catwalk collapsed into two. Batman attempted to save him. He reached out his hand but missed by just an inch. He watched as Jack fell into one of the tanks.
The vigilante didn't have time to react as he heard machines being operated and voices coming from the other side of the door. The door was kicked open and several police officers swarmed into the building. They gasped as they saw the person standing in front of them.
"Freeze! Put you hands in the air!" one of the officers in a brown coat said.
Batman said nothing but one of his hands reached for a smoke grenade before he tossed it into the ground. The police started shooting but he was long gone once the smoke cleared. The fire was put out as water began spraying from the sprinklers. The tanks were also emptied.
"What was going on here?" said the man in the brown coat.
"Captain Gordon! We found three men knocked out. It looks like they were the ones who broke in." a police officer on the ground said.
"I'll be down there in a minute, Bullock!"
Twenty minutes later, with the police gone, a man came out of the river behind the building. He gasped for air before taking off the mask. He breathed heavily before tossing the mask aside. He pulled off his gloves and wiped his face with his right hand before realising something wasn't right.
His eyes widened as he noticed his hand was bony white. He looked at his other hand and started breathing heavier. He ran back into the river and gulped before slowly looking at his reflection. His face was the same as his hands. What's worse is that his black hair had turned green and his lips were bright red. He was horrified by the sight before he narrowed in confusion. He looked like a clown! Like a freak! Freak… just like that vigilante, Batman.
His lips started twitching before it formed a gruesome smile.
"I look just like him, a freak!" Jack mumbled as he admired his new look.
For some weird reason, he felt like giggling so he did, while looking at his reflection. It then turned into a chuckle before he burst into a fit of laughter that echoed into the night.
His fate was changed forever.
The End
Well, that pretty much sums up the story. To be honest, before writing this, I thought that I would never be able to write an origin for the Joker but I seem to have proven myself wrong. It's nice to know that to the very least, I tremendously enjoyed writing this. I hope it was entertaining and thank you for reading.