The Downside of Comedy
It had got out of hand so quickly. That was the problem with working with the Joker, thought Poison Ivy, as she sprinted her way through the burning building, with flaming rubble crashing around her. The Clown Prince of Crime delighted in chaos and madness, and while Ivy was no great fan of order, she liked a certain method in her madness, and a certain control over her chaos. The same could not be said for the Joker, whose persona made him completely wild and unpredictable, as well as incredibly dangerous. Which was fine, Ivy couldn't care less if His Eminence blew himself into a million tiny pieces. It only bothered her when her life was put in jeopardy because of his recklessness. Or Harley's. And at the moment, they both were, as Harley ran behind her, narrowly avoiding a flaming mass falling onto her head.
Ivy at least hoped the Bat was dead. He was the reason J had started the fire, after Batman had decided to crash in on their burglary at the bank. Bats had demanded that they hand over the cash, and Joker had said over his dead body, and then seemed determine to make the joke come true by using his flamethrower on the stack of money next to them. The inferno had quickly spread throughout the building, but Ivy, Harley, and Joker had all made a dash for the exit before they could see what had happened to Batman.
She did see, the moment she got outside. She had turned back to make sure Harley was ok, and was immediately seized around the wrist by none other than the Caped Crusader.
"Dammit, you're supposed to be dead!" hissed Ivy, glaring at him. She turned around again to see Harley rushing toward them, stopping suddenly when she saw Batman.
"Aw geez, the fire didn't solve our pest control problem, Mr…" she began, looking behind her. Her face fell in horror when she realized that the Joker was still in the building.
And at that moment a huge chunk of the roof collapsed, sending a burst of flame up into the sky. "Mr. J!" shrieked Harley, starting forward, but Ivy grabbed her.
"Don't you dare!" she cried. "You'll never make it outta there alive!"
"Let go, Red, he needs me!" screamed Harley, struggling fiercely.
"Harley, I won't let you throw your life away…"
"He needs me, Red!" shouted Harley, breaking away from her with a sudden burst of energy. She rushed back into the burning building.
"Harley!" screamed Ivy, starting forward, but Batman held her tightly.
"Don't," he muttered. "It's too dangerous."
"Then you go in there and get them!" cried Ivy, rounding on him. "Bats, you gotta save them! You can't let them die!"
Batman nodded, running toward the doorway. It suddenly fell in on itself, blocking the entrance and, for Joker and Harley, the exit. Batman stared at it in dismay, and then rushed around trying to find another way in or out. He couldn't see one. He couldn't get back into them, and he didn't want to risk blowing one of the walls out in case the ceiling collapsed. They were trapped.
For the first time in his life, Batman felt truly powerless. All he could do was wait.