Funhouse

A Joker Fan-Fiction by Winter5526

Chapter 1: Funhouse

The city was dark, and the air cool as the little blue car approached a side street off the main road. It was a long driveway into the parking lot of one of the most desolate places in the city. Arkham Asylum. Though the car did not deter from it's path. It had no hesitation. Nor did the young lady who drove it; she did not seem to know of the danger that lurked inside the building. Quite the opposite in fact, she smiled to herself as she tapped her fingers in the steering wheel as she hummed along to the music.

'This used to be a funhouse,

But now it's full of evil clowns…'

She smiled and found her parking space by the door. She took her keys and wrapped her coat closer to her body as she stepped out of the car. The cool breeze of the evening slipped through her legs and she shivered. As she withdrew her ID card and scanned it in the slot by the door to let the guard know that the door was opening. Sure enough, a few moments later the door opened for her and the night guard smiled when he saw a familiar face. Her pale face was framed by straight black hair that fell to below her shoulders and a straight fringe which stopped just above her big cerulean blue eyes. Her frame was slight and she was short in stature, sweet and almost always smiling. Ever since she'd started working at the Asylum, four months ago, she'd brought a brightness to the place that seemed to make everyone's day better. The guard smiled warmly,

"Evening Amelia." He said with a gentle tone.

"Evening Sam." She replied, her voice soft and musical as she flashed her pearly whites at him. She headed to the staff tea room where she hung up her coat and purse and headed to the main office to pick up her files. She approached the receptionist, an African American woman, in her forties. She was a firm voice of control and reason in this madhouse. She looked over at the young lady and smiled.

"Hey girl," Martha said warmly,

"Any new admittance?" she asked sweetly with a smile before looking through the files that were left to her.

"No, slow day today." She seemed relieved, then she looked at Amelia's uniform, "Aren't you dressed a little to promiscuous to be dealing with criminals and psychotics?" she asked pointing to the girl's skirt which stopped about mid-thigh. Amelia looked down.

"Oh… well it's the same as my other skirts…" She adjusted to pull she skirt down an inch or two. Martha smiled.

"Much better." She said and Amelia just smiled back, she looked back at her file.

"Oh, I'm in the north wing tonight." She said, mainly to herself.

"What? They put you up there?" Martha blinked, "There must be some mistake, you're only new—"

"It's alright Martha, honestly I don't mind."

"Yeah but do you know what's in there… or rather who is there?" Amelia looked back at her blankly,

"No, should I?"

"The North wing is where they put the worst of the worst… where they put him." She leant forward as she spoke, as though it were a secret. Amelia seemed confused,

"Him?"

"The one who calls himself The Joker." Her voice was a deadly whisper, Amelia nearly laughed,

"Joker? That hardly sounds threatening."

"…You don't know who he is?" Martha was stunned. "How can you not know who he is?"

"I've only been in Gotham a few months. I think I saw some newspaper clippings about him… but I don't really know what he did…"

"He brought all of Gotham to it's knees. He had the city tearing itself apart. Undoing all of the Batman's hard work."

"We're not supposed to support a vigilante… didn't he kill a man? The DA or something?"

"Yes, around the time the Joker was caught, The Batman killed the District Attorney, Harvey Dent. The city was devastated. Some still look up to the Batman but none of it would have happened if not for the Joker."

"Oh… okay. Well he doesn't scare me." She giggled.

Martha just shook her head. "Well you be careful alright? We wouldn't want you to get too close to them." She said. Amelia just smiled and headed off to the North Wing of the Asylum. Martha looked sceptical, that girl was way to innocent and sweet. She just hoped she knew what she was doing.

Amelia hummed to herself as she scanned her card to let her in as she approached the main hallway. The décor seemed more and more drab and gloomy the further she walked. Signs on the walls were somewhat ominous 'Keep all sharp objects out of reach of patients' and 'beware of psychotic tantrums, exercise caution at all times' and one she had to stare at before it sunk in, 'Arkham is not responsible for loss of limb or life beyond this point' She blinked. They could do that? She shrugged, figuring it was something to scare off anyone who wandered down here by accident. She felt better upon seeing a familiar face ahead, Aaron, one of the cooks from the cafeteria. He usually delivered the meals too. Which seemed his current assignment, though he looked ready to drop. Amelia approached with a innocent smile,

"Aaron, how are you?"

He looked up from the cart he was pushing, looking slightly panicked about his name being spoken, "huh, ah—oh, Amelia. You startled me."

"Sorry Aaron." She blushed. "Is it dinner time?" She asked pointing at the cart.

"Huh, oh, yeah. Feeding time is the highlight of my day." He said sarcastically.

"You say that like they're animals." She looked at him pointedly.

"Aren't they?" he asked with a joking grin.

"Oh you're horrible." She poked her tongue out at him. "Anyway if you're tired why not take a break and have a coffee. I'll take over." She offered. He looked suddenly nervous.

"oh… uh, I can't really." He stuttered.

"Oh come on of course you can!" Amelia replied, "I won't tell."

"Uhm… I don't know… they're kinda expecting…"

"Oh, is something happening tonight?" She asked curiously.

He seemed to jump at her words, "Happening?" he let out a false laugh, "Yeah… like anything would happen here…" Amelia looked at him oddly, and he looked around nervously. "uhh… ok well I guess I can take the cart… I'll just… get a coffee…" Amelia giggled and took the cart from his hands. "Oh… don't let the grab you're ankles. 'kay?"

Amelia just nodded, watching him wanter off, he seemed quite edgy, but she chose to ignore it, there were most likely a million thoughts in his mind. Nothing to worry about.

She looked at the trays as she slid them through the slots at the bottom of the doors. They weren't exactly 5 star meals. She felt a little sorry for the patients, surely they should at least be allowed to eat decently… She wandered down the halls and delivered each meal to those on the roster sheet, halls H through to J. each hall had 20 rooms, or cells more appropriately. And to each of those rooms she delivered a meal. She had no idea who was in each room. Only the doctors and orderlies had contacts with patients. She'd seen a few of them, when she'd bandaged some small wounds on some of the lesser patients in the hospital wing. But she'd not seen people from this wing before. Though she was only a nursing assistant, not a real doctor or psychologist, she tended to first aid really, little band-aid matters. She usually ran errands for the doctors, meaning she had to run up and down the stairs and all over Arkham to collect and deliver files, anything to help really. It was good that she was fit enough to keep up. She continued to hum to herself as she approached the 'J' hall. She paused as she rounded the hall. Down at the end of the hall was a lonely door, no number, but a large 'J' was carved into the panel of the door. She wondered who it belonged to. Someone who makes an impression on people most likely. It was kind of spooky, the letter almost seemed to have blood in the carving. Creepy. She shook her head and shrugged off the feeling and continued down the hall. There was nothing to fear. All the patients were safely locked behind their reinforced doors. There was nothing to worry about… right?

-*-

They lay in wait. The time to strike was approaching. They inched closer and closer, surveying the outside of the building, the entrances were clearly marked. They knew what to do, they'd practiced many times. It was a dangerous job, but the rewards outweighed the risks. They'd be rich. Ready to retire. Though they didn't question the boss on where the money came from. They knew they'd get paid.

"Remember, 9:38 exactly." The leader muttered, "The boss was real specific. Else we miss our chance." The others nodded in agreement. There were quite a few guys in on this job. Ten to be precise, excluding the one that hired them. There were four in his group, four in the group on the other side of the asylum, and two guys already creeping inside to surprise any poor doctors in their way. There was little leeway for error. And they were prepared, at much explosives and firepower as they could carry. Anyone who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time would be blown away. The cops would be there as soon as they heard about the commotion, so they had to be fast. If everything went according to plan… Gotham wouldn't know what hit it.

-*-

His head rested on the cell wall behind him, he sighed quietly to himself, there was little to do other than sleep in a place like this. Nothing to do. The nothingness was maddening. A smirk played over his Glasgow smile as he toyed with the thought. Nothing to do but think. And think he had. Many thoughts had plagued him and he was tired of thinking. He wanted to act. His plans played through over and over in his mind. Gordon. Damn him. He knew he'd be caught that night on the Prewitt building. The Bat just had to interfere. Harvey Dent had fallen from grace. Gotham's white knight had been corrupted. But noone knew. The lies Gordon and The Bat had spun irritated him. Though… The Batman had now become somewhat of an outcast now. Turned on by the people he'd chosen to protect. He laughed, that shrill, high pitched skin crawling cackle of absolute manic hilarity. The laugh that made even the most prison hardy man shudder. They knew what that laugh meant. He wanted to find the Batman and rub it in his face. The Joker still affected people while he was locked up in Arkham. He could only smirk at the power he still had over the world.

His thoughts however were interrupted when heard a soft noise by the door. The meal cart had arrived, feeding time. He awaited the voice on the other side to taunt him as usual. And the fat hairy had to shove a tray under the door. Though no taunting was to be heard. He looked over, mildly curious and raised an eyebrow when he saw a soft slender pale hand slide the tray gently beneath his door. A woman's hand. He watched the space where it had been long after the hand had withdrawn. The hand meant something surely. Routines don't just change for no reason. Not at Arkham. He sat thinking a long while, and the cart had long been rolled away. The lady whose hand it was had gone back to her other duties. It seemed an age that he sat there in thought, contemplating what he would do once he stepped out of Arkham and into the real asylum. His laughter echoed down the hallways.

-*-

Amelia finished her rounds and wandered back down the halls, she hummed a tune to herself as she put the cart away. She looked down at her file, containing a list of things to do. She headed back to the closest hall office, near the J hall. She smiled to herself and with a skip in her step she rounded the corner. She froze as she came face to face with two men, clown masks covered their faces and they were dressed in black. There was a black duffel bag by their feet and what appeared to be automatic weapons in their hands. She stood looking at them, they hadn't seen her yet. A gun lay by her, it had fallen by her feet and they'd neglected to pick it up. She slowly and silently picked up the weapon and raised it. At that moment another nurse rounded the corner in front of her, she saw the men and was not as level headed as Amelia. She screamed.

-*-

The silence in Arkham was deafening. There was too many thoughts in his mind for him to even try and sleep. He sighed to himself again and was about to pick up the now cold meal tray when he heard a series of noises that were very out of the ordinary, a creaking sound. Squeaking like shoes on the linoleum floors, a clattering of metal object, hushed voices. Just when he thought he may've imagined it, a scream pierced the silence. And the familiar sound of gunfire was heard. A sinister and yet familiar smile crept onto his face. Another sound of deep voices and more gunfire. Then some shuffling sounds. He looked out to see what had happened, the tiny blurry window in the door was not clear, but he could see two dark figures picking up something and hurrying off. There was something on the floor that they left. It was white and beneath it, red.

It wasn't long before an explosion rocked the very foundations of the asylum's wall and the black smoke made anything impossible to see. He tried the door. Still locked. So he sat down on his bed, his time would come.

"Arkham walls are falling down…falling down… falling down…"

A song to the tune of the old nursery rhyme 'London Bridge' echoed through the halls.

"Arkham walls are falling down… Mis-ter Bat-man…" A manic laughter followed, sending chills up the spines of those who heard it. All but one. He sat grinning in his cell. Oh how he loved a good joke. And one not of his doing was so much sweeter.

Okay so here's my first chapter. It's shorter than I had thought but let's hope you (who ever will read this) will like it.

Reviews are really important. If you review I'll be able to keep going. I apologise for inconsistencies in character, I've never written a fan fiction before. So I'll hopefully get better with time ^^ Enjoy!