Chapter One

"Can you feel it?
Things are changing
Can you see it?
Watch as the worlds colliding
Can you see it?
Can you feel it?
Watch as the worlds...
Collide into themselves
Collide into themselves" End of the Beginning, 30 Seconds to Mars

Pain. Unbelievable pain. Blinding pain. Pain upon imagine. And then numbness. Blank. Blah. Nothing.

Who was I? It seemed like something that I should remember. Where was I? I didn't want to get up, from what appeared to be cold concrete, so it didn't seem like I'd get an answer to that question anytime soon. But I felt a blank spot in the back of my mind, as if there was something missing there, something that I absolutely HAD to remember, but the spot remained determinedly blank. But never mind.

Instead I concentrated on the fact that I had felt the most pain in the world a minute before, and now I felt completely fine, except maybe a little numb. I stiffened my body, trying to find some hint that I hadn't just imagined the pain. Who had ever heard of imagining something so terrible?

After a few seconds, I did feel something. It wasn't the pain, exactly. It was the a strange feeling, kind of like when you tie a string tightly around your finger. You don't feel any pain, at least for a little while, but the finger feels strange, and you can practically feel the dull roar, but not anywhere near what was really there. And you had no idea that the longer you sat there, staring at your finger, you got closer to letting your finger die. Yes. That's exactly what it felt like. Only in my case, it was the longer I lay here, too afraid and disoriented to even open my eyes a sliver, the closer I got to dying. I just wasn't sure how close.

It took me a few minutes to actually get up, but I did open my eyes straight away. I saw that I had been right about the concrete, but there was nothing else to see as I was lying face down. I tried to lift my head, but let out a moan of pain and my head dropped again. The pain came back full force when I tried moving even an inch. Not too convenient. But it was when I felt the pain again that I remembered what had happened. Who had caused the pain. And who hadn't tried to stop it. As far as I was concerned, the one who doesn't try to stop it is even worse than the one who does the crime itself. He was going to be the one who had to pay.

Batman. He had done this to me. Given up on me entirely. Allowed me to be thrown off the side of a building with not that much trouble. The hate that flowed threw me at that moment gave me the power boost that I needed. I felt flooded with new found strength. I lifted my head. No pain. I sat up. Nothing. I got up and ran and skipped and even did a couple of moves to Soulja Boy. I had apparently been cured by my sudden hatred. Interesting...

Enlightened by my new freedom, I looked around me a bit. I was, not surprisingly, at the foot of Wayne Enterprises, which I had been thrown of the roof of, just minutes before. At least, I thought it was just minutes. I supposed I could've been out of it longer, but it just seemed like minutes to me. So that's what I decided on.

The streets surrounding me were completely empty, and it filled me with suspicion. These were busy streets on normal days. Hell, even on holidays. And conveniently, on the very day, at the very time, that the Joker decided to try and end my life, the scene of the crime was deserted? I DON'T think so. I wondered if the Joker had done something to make it empty..but what?

Speak of the devil and he appears.

There he was, sulking in the shadows, watching me. I caught my breath, before realizing that I wasn't, in fact, breathing. Thoughts crashed against my skull, petrifying me. I sunk to the ground, feeling sort of like someone having an asthma attack. Only I didn't have an inhaler. That's when I figured out that whenever I was afraid, I lost all my flare. All my power. It rendered me utterly helpless.

Or maybe it was just that I was afraid of the one person, or more appropriately, the one freak, who I still loved. Despite the fact that he'd sent me tumbling to my death. But I wasn't dead. Was I?

Too many thoughts! I pressed my hands to my face and tried to calm myself. It didn't work. The Joker walked over to me and bent down, level to me. That helped. That helped quite a bit.

Amazingly enough, I was able to find my voice. "How..?" How what? How was I alive?? How was the street so deserted? How could he do this to me? How could I still love him anyway? I managed to settle on a not so awkward question. "How are you?" Call me lame. I know I am.

He laughed hysterically, and I even grinned apologetically. He understood what I needed to know. "As good as I ever will be." He managed, still snickering. "Better of than you are, anyway."

I frowned. "Why do you think that?"

He grinned, as only he could. "Well, most importantly, I'm still alive."

The air was knocked out of me, or it seemed to be, before I remembered. I couldn't breathe. But I couldn't be dead! I couldn't! "I don't believe you." I said, accusingly.

He laughed again, and I looked at him impatiently. He put his hand on mine. At least he tried. It went straight through. I shrieked. He giggled. "You didn't really think you were alive after that fall, did you?"

I was in shock. I was still moving! Talking! I was still on Mother Earth! But his hand had gone through me. What explanation was there for that? "I don't believe you."

"You don't have to. But either way, it's still true."

"Where's my body?"

"Just where you left it." He jerked his head to the right, and a little ways off, I saw my body appear.

"Then what am I?"

"You're a ghost!" His gleeful tone was teasing.

"No I'm not."

"No." He agreed. "But it sounds better than the truth."

"I need to know the truth."

"You're dreaming."

I did feel kind of let down. "I'm dreaming?"

"Yepperdoodle."

I didn't comment on that. "But...I just can't. I need to keep going. I wasn't finished."

"No. But you still ended."

"Isn't there anyway?"

"Only one."

I jerked my head up so fast that if I'd been alive I probably would've broken my neck and just died all over again. "What is it?"

"You can come back if your revenge is strong enough. It's stronger than any feeling on earth. Even love." he laughed. "I proved that when i took revenge on you. My dear Larisa."

My name. It made me feel alive again. I was Larisa. I had to be. Without her, I was just a shell. And I would NOT be a shell. Not yet. Maybe someday, but not yet. Immediately, the anger burst from me again, and I clenched my fists. Batman deserved to pay for this. I owed him that much. And I sat there, filled with anger, a single finger brushed the Joker's. And it didn't go through.

"You have to go now." He breathed. "Or you might never get back."

I nodded. Understood. But I still wasn't sure.. "Will I see you again."

"I'm going to see you again, but you may not ever see me."

I rolled my eyes. "That sounds vaguely familiar."

The Joker walked away without another word. But I could still hear him. He was laughing.

Before, he was the last thing I heard. Now, he was going to be the first. And with that in mind, i strolled over to my body. My anger at Batman still fresh in my mind, I sunk through my corpse, and fell. But this time, I was falling back.

A/N: HEYYYYYY!! Ahh! I'm back with the sequel! Haha, I feel drunk. Don't worry, I'm not, but I sure do feel like it. XD Well I hope you liked the first chapter, and if you didn't, remember it takes me a few chapters to get into it. And let me just say that if you didn't read my first story, go read it now, or get used to scratching your head in confusion. On a random note, I MIGHT HAVE MONO. It will REALLY suck if I do. : But whatever...at least I can still write.,. : Oh, and last thing, i had my first soccer practice yesterday, and almost my entire team thinks I'm a crappy soccer player and annoyingly hyper. I'm not really ALL THAT horrible, but I haven't ran since May...so...but I am annoyingly hyper. But anyways. : This guy wanted me to vote for him for student president, and he kind of likes me in a stalkerish kind of way, so he put the Joker on his presidential posters...I mean...WHAT THE FUCK. But anyways, my rambles are getting longer by the minute, I swear. O.o Oh, one last thing. My new friend who is my two best friends' other best friend IS A BATMAN FANATIC. It's so cool. We talk argue about Batman and the Joker all the time on myspace. And I made up a cool name for us: BATFANS!! XD anyways...yeah...I'll let you go now...please review if you weren't too creeped out. But I guess you guys are used to these strange rambles after about twenty five chapters of it. lol...okay, now bye for real!

Love, WhySoFreakingSerious