Chapter One: It Just Ain't A Party Without Me
Five people stood tall and proud to the left of the stage with their heads held high and large grins on their faces. Each wore a robe like one would get during a graduation ceremony along with those little square caps. The colours they wore were a deep mahogany with a yellow 'v' draped around their necks. Three young men and two young women smiled to the large crowd below and tried hard not to jump with joy.
An elderly, kind of wrinkly, man stood in front of the podium with his back to the five but his face to the audience in front. He spoke slowly but clearly and would occasionally lift his hand to emphasize something he had said.
"And now I would like to call the five winners of the Bruce Wayne Scholarship," the elderly man said. He shifted his body so that he faced them but still had his toes pointed to the audience. He smiled warmly to the five before turning back around and looking down at a sheet placed upon the podium.
"Alec Hawkins," was the first name that he called.
The young man closest to the podium took a step forward. His dark brown hair was neatly tucked behind his ears yet he couldn't stop himself from reaching up and tucking a few loose strays behind his ear, something done out of habit and reflex. He walked toward the elderly man and held out his hand. The elderly man smiled kindly and placed a scroll tied in a turquoise ribbon in Alec's open hand.
"Garrett Jefferson," was the second name.
The same procedure happened except it was with a young man with hazel eyes and short, light brown hair that was hard to see under the cap. He stepped forward and received his prize the same way as Alec and once it was placed in his hand it joined Alec on the other side of the stage.
"Mason O'Connell," came the third name called.
A red haired man took a step forward a tad too eagerly and nearly tripped because of it. A few people in the audience giggled and Mason just smiled sheepishly before taking his prize and joining the other two.
"Angelica Rosenberg," was the fourth name called.
A beautiful young woman with long, flowing golden locks stepped up with a warm and inviting smile on her face. She walked toward the podium with grace and bowed elegantly when she received the prestigious gift.
"And the last, and certainly not the least, Darcy…" the old man paused suddenly when he felt a small quake against the floor beneath him. He shrugged his shoulders and brushed it off as something he had imagined and looked up toward the last of the five who had yet to receive her gift. "As I was saying, Darcy…"
Suddenly an explosion went off where the main entrances once were. Immediately everyone in the room began to scream and run away from where the explosion had come from. Chairs were knocked down and a few people fell from the panic but no one cared. They all just wanted to get away from whatever danger might be bringing itself upon them.
Several men grabbed in fancy looking suits and clown masks rushed into the room and quickly surrounded the occupants. Many trembled at their sights, not because of the horrid choice of clothing combination but because of the large machine guns in their hands.
The elderly man stood, shaking, behind the podium yet was the only one brave enough to speak up. "Who are you? What is the meaning of this intrusion?" he shouted in a shaky, fear filled voice.
As the dust cleared a silhouette appeared standing at the gaping hole in the wall. He, unlike the other men with large machine gun, didn't wear a clown mask but instead donned on actual face paint. He cackled eerily, the sound of his strange laughter echoing in the large room. "You - you know," he started, taking a few steps further in the room until he was out and away from the dust, "It - it just ain't a party without me!"
Just the fact that his face was now visible to everyone in the room made the tension and fear rise tenfold. Many husbands and male significant others held onto their women tightly, as if thinking that would shield them from the bad, bad men in the room. A few others gasped and the rest wondered quietly of why such a man would be at a ceremony for a scholarship.
The elderly man gasped the loudest, only because he was still near the microphone. "Joker…" he said in such a low voice that it was barely a whisper.
"Now…" Joker said, walking closer toward the stage, "Where - where are those smarty pants?"
The five on stage began to shake, or shake even more if they already had been, as Joker came closer and closer to the stage.
"What do you want with us?" Garrett, the hazel-eyed young man, shouted bravely from his spot on the stage and his eyes trying to look intimidating but that was obviously not working.
Joker placed his foot upon the first step leading to the stage and paused, poking the tip of the gun to his chin and stared up at the ceiling in thought. "Hm," he hummed. "Should - should I tell you, or would it ru-ruin the surprise? Hm?"
The clowned-faced maniac ignored the question and continued up the steps until he stood just a few feet away from them. "Don't - don't worry! I'm only choo-choosing one of you so that's… That's like a four out of five chances of you living through this!" Joker said a bit too happily, giving the five a large smirk.
Joker took a step forward and noticed something odd: there were only four on the right side of the stage. He turned his head curiously to the side and saw a young woman sitting, sprawled out, on the floor beside him. "Oh?" he said curiously, "Did - did I interrupt you when you were about to - to get your little piece of paper? Such a shame! How of rude of me!"
Joker suddenly turned sharply to the elderly man and held out his hand to him. "Give it to me!" he demanded through gritted teeth, "Now!"
The old man gave Joker the scroll with a shaky hand as quickly as he could. How he was able to stand that long in Joker's presence was a mystery to everyone.
Joker slipped off the ribbon and unrolled the sheet of paper and read the name out loud. "Darcy Sinclair?" he said, looking back and forth from the girl to the name on the paper as if that would confirm her identity. Her pale blue eyes stared at him in confusion yet as well in wonder, and her long black tresses fell over her shoulders like a silken curtain.
"Well," he said as he folded the sheet of paper and stuffed it into one of his many pockets, "I think I just found my lab partner!"
"She'll have to take a rain check on that one," said a deep voice from behind Joker.
Joker titled his head in thought. "I know that voice…" he said before slowly turning around to see who it was.
Standing right there in front of him was none other then that infamous masked vigilante: Batman.
In a flash, Joker was punched in the side of the face and was now tumbling toward the edge of the stage. Joker regained his balance and managed to jump of the stage and land as gracefully as he could. He turned around with his gun ready in his hands and fired.
Batman dove down and jumped behind the stage with the young girl, Darcy, in his arms. He knew the others one stage would be fine because Joker was only pointing his trigger-happy finger toward him and gently placed Darcy down on her feet behind the stage.
Darcy was about to voice her thanks when Batman rushed passed her and around the stage to tackle Joker down to the ground, which was followed by a loud 'thump' and a painful groan and then, strangely, a fit of laughter from the Joker.
Batman went to throw another punch toward Joker but Joker somehow managed to wring his arm with the gun in hand around and smash the gun against the side of Batman's head. This caused the caped crusader to roll to the side, letting Joker free to jump up and rush to the back of the stage. Unfortunately, for the Joker, Batman was still able to trip his feet making Joker fall forward and smash his face against the side of the stage.
"Ow!" Joker yelped in pain, "That smarts!"
"Everyone, get out of here! Now!" Batman roared as he pushed himself up off the ground.
Immediately everyone who was able to ran toward the giant hole just as sirens could be heard in the distance. A few people had to jump over the knocked out bodies, courtesy of Batman, to get to the gaping hole and to safety.
Darcy stayed behind the stage and stood up on her toes to see what was happening on the other side but soon regretted it when her eyes caught sight of Joker climbing up over the side of the stage and his eyes catching sight of her. Darcy ducked down quickly, shutting her eyes and hoping she was just imagining things and that Joker didn't see her at all.
"I saw you!" Joker said in a singsong voice.
"Dammit!" Darcy said aloud.
Batman grabbed onto the back of Joker's coat and pulled him as far away from the stage as he could. Joker stumbled backward and lost his footing, which made him fall back on his rear end. "Again! That smarts!"
Joker was just about to get up again when he heard the echo of ten or twenty guns being cocked to the ready. He glanced around behind him and smiled sheepishly at the police officers that all pointed a gun at his head. "Well, hello there," he said with a smile, "Just here to support the great - great minds of today!"
James Gordon, the newly appointed Commissioner of Gotham City, stepped out from the crowd of police officers with a handgun pointed toward the Joker. "Take him in, Ramirez," he ordered.
"And him?" Ramirez -- one of the few female officers on the team -- asked as she pointed to Batman by jerking her head toward him.
Gordon glanced toward Batman for a quick second. "I'll deal with him," he said in gruff voice.
As soon as those words left his lips all the other officers stepped forward and surrounded the Joker, just in case he was thinking about getting away, as Ramirez placed the "heavy duty" handcuffs around his wrists.
Gordon put his gun away and walked slowly toward Batman but kept his face tight and serious. "Came just in time again, eyh Batman?" he said as he neared the black caped man, but in a low enough voice so that the others wouldn't hear him. "Everyone out safely?"
"Not everyone," Batman replied. He jerked his head over behind him for Gordon to look for himself. James eyed Batman curiously before peering around him and seeing a young black-haired young peering her head over the edge of the stage. "She's the only one who stayed behind," Batman explained.
James smiled warmly to Darcy and stepped around Batman with his hand held out to her. "You all right, miss?" he said as he waited for the girl to reach for his hand.
Darcy grabbed onto Gordon's hand and held on tightly as he pulled her back onto the stage. "Darcy Sinclair," she replied with a small smile. "Thanks."
"Joker was after her, and will most likely try again since I interfered," Batman said in that familiar deep, raspy voice of his.
"Why would he be after a tech student?" Darcy asked in confusion, glancing back and forth between Gordon and Batman for an answer.
Gordon shrugged his shoulders. "That's what we'll be trying to figure out, but in the meantime…" Gordon looked at Darcy and frowned, "You'll need to be placed somewhere safe, where he can't get to you until he find some answers."
"Great," Darcy replied in a sarcastic tone, "Really great… Where could I go?"
"The most I could do is a few guards at the station," Gordon said with an ashamed expression, "That way we can monitor both you and the Joker."
--
Joker rocked back and forth on the chair he was forced to sit on. He waved at the one-way mirrors like a giddy child with a large smile on his face. "You know…" he started, turning his attention toward Gordon who sat on the other side of the table in front of him, "You… You've tried this before and let's just say that I left with a 'bang'."
Gordon ignored what Joker had just said and shifted around his seat to get more comfortable. "Why don't you just do what you usually do and tell us what you're going to do?" Gordon asked, hoping Joker would fall into one of his odd habits.
"Mhm," Joker hummed. He placed his elbows against the table and rested his chin in his palms, staring at Gordon in the eyes. "Wouldn't that take away from the surprise?" he asked.
"What surprise would that be?" asked Gordon.
"Oh!" Joker leaned back and placed his right hand about an inch away from his mouth. "I'm not going to answer that one, Commissioner," he said, shaking a finger at Gordon.
Gordon sighed and looked at the Joker with a tired expression on his face. "Would you like to talk to Batman, Joker?"
"No!" Joker shouted in reply, "He hurt - he hurt my nose!" Joker pointed to his nose and frowned at Gordon like a child wanting attention.
"And I'm sure you deserved it, Joker," Gordon said.
Joker smiled and leaned forward, elbows back on the table. "How's Darcy Sinclair?" he asked.
"Why?" Gordon said in response.
"It's real nice to know there are other freaks out there, you know?" Joker pushed away from the table again and leaned into his chair, slouching back a bit. He let out a small yawn and waved to the one-way mirror.
"How do you even know that there are people on the other side of that glass?" Gordon asked in a bored, annoyed tone of voice.
Joker smiled knowingly at Gordon, "People are always watching, Commissioner," he said, "Remember that."
"What do you…" Gordon's words were cut off abruptly when a loud and large explosion went off. However, the explosion wasn't inside the building - it was outside. Gordon stared at the Joker and was torn with himself about whether he should stay in with the Joker or go outside and check what was going on.
"Always watching," Joker repeated, still smiling, "Commissioner."
Gordon glared at the Joker one last time before bolting out the door. He made sure to lock it before getting outside where a few others from his team to greet him. "What happened? What's going on here?" Gordon asked to no one in particular as he stared down the street.
"There was this loud explosion down the street," Detective Ramirez answered, "There's one that way and another the opposite way."
"Where to, sir?" one of the lesser officers asked as he turned his head left and right, trying to figure out which one he should head to.
Meanwhile, back inside the station, Darcy walked quietly through the new empty building. Everyone, even the ones who had been "guarding" her had rushed outside to check up on the explosions. She looked at everything she passed with great curiosity but stopped when she stumbled upon a large and very heavy looking metal door.
Darcy glanced around and saw no one around and then turned back to the large door. She took a few steps to the left of the door and found a small room she assumed to be the other side of those one-way mirrors she'd seen on television many times.
Slowly, Darcy walked into the room and stopped until she was standing directly to the Joker's right side. She eyed him curiously, as if examining a never before seen creature. She took a step forward and then another one until she was less than a foot away from the glass.
Darcy placed her palm against the glass and Joker turned his head her direction as if he could see what she was doing. She jumped back slightly in surprise but went back to place her palm against the glass. "I wonder what you would want with a tech geek…" Darcy whispered to herself out loud.
"Little Darcy?" Joker said as if he were calling out to a small child. "Haven't you ever - ever heard of curiosity killing the cat?"
Darcy frowned and leaned in closer to the glass window and turned her head left and right to see if anyone else was nearby. "How does he know it's me on the other side?" she asked herself out loud.
"Why don't - why don't you come on in, little Darcy? The door's open," Joker outstretched his arm toward the door and smiled toward the one-way glass.
Darcy took a step away from the glass and walked back out of the room and back toward the large steel door she had seen earlier. She looked around again, left and right, and bit her lip anxiously. "Why'd I have to be so curious for?" she said to herself. Her right arm reached out for the handle and she suddenly jumped back when a few sparks of electricity ran across the door and around the lock.
She watched the door, as it seemed to, unlock itself and push away from the doorframe just an inch. Darcy reached for the door again and pulled it opening just enough for her to slip inside and shut it behind her. She turned away from the door and fully faced the occupant in the room and gulped audibly.
Joker smiled wickedly and waved at Darcy. He threw his feet up onto the table and beckoned for Darcy to come closer to him. "Pretty thing you are, little Darcy," he said in a slow, eerie tone of voice. "And - and now, curiosity killed the cat."
"But satisfaction brought it back!" Darcy retorted quickly. "What do you want with a tech geek?"
"But, you're not just a - a tech geek, are you little Darcy?" Joker said and beckoned for Darcy to come again. "You understand what I say, don't - don't you?"
Darcy took a step forward and glared angrily at the Joker. "I don't do that anymore! How did you know about that, anyway?" she asked him, taking another step forward.
Suddenly Darcy jumped away from the door when a small spark of electricity came from the steel door. She looked back at the door for a moment before turned to look at the Joker. "So, what do you want?" she asked him, getting back to why she was there in the first place.
Joker swung his feet off of the table and planted them firmly against the floor. "Now - now… That wouldn't… That wouldn't be much fun if I just… If I just told you, now would it?" he said as he stood up from the chair. "I'm sure you already know what I'm 'jonesing' for, so to say."
Darcy was about to take a step back when she remembered that there was as steel door that would stop her in her tracks. Joker walked around the table and ceased his steps as soon as he was about a foot away from Darcy. "Think of it like… A business proposition for you, little Darcy," the Joker said with a large grin.
"I don't play nice with others, Joker," Darcy replied with a bitter retort.
Joker leaned forward and placed a flat palm against the steel door at either side of Darcy's head. "You haven't much of a choice, little Darcy," Joker said as he slipped one hand into his pocket. He pulled his hand back out in less than a second and brought that hand to the back of Darcy's neck.
Darcy opened her mouth to say something but her eyes suddenly fell closed and she fell limply against Joker's chest. The Joker grinned wickedly and wrapped his arms around Darcy's waist before hoisting her up on his right shoulder.
Joker pulled the door open, with some effort, and looked around to see if anyone was near. When he saw that the area was clear, Joker went running and giggled toward the back doors where he knew no one would be at.
--
"I brought back the prize, ladies and gents!"
Joker threw a still sleeping Darcy onto the long table that stretched out from one end to the other side of the room. There were a few young men and women surrounding him, all standing by his side voluntarily. The majority were teenagers and very few were young women.
"Who's she?" one of the more jealous females asked the Joker. She walked up to stand beside Darcy at the table and eyed her warily.
"She's a new playmate, Candy," Joker replied. "Be nice."
Candy scoffed and walked away from the table, allowing others to see a better and closer view of the sleeping Darcy. "Why d'we need her for?" Candy asked with a bitter tone in her voice.
Joker made gestures with his hands that showed the others that he wanted them to step away from Darcy. "She's going to make us new presents!" Joker exclaimed excitedly. He crawled onto the table, hovering over Darcy's body, and smacked her once against her left cheek. "Wake up!" he shouted.
Darcy groaned and blinked her eyes open. Her vision was slightly blurred as she turned her head around the room, completely passing by Joker's face twice. Once her vision was beginning to clear her eyes fell upon the person hovering above her: the Joker.
"Ah!" Darcy squeaked and pushed away reflexively. However, all that happened was that she slid back only to be stopped by the Joker's hand, near her shoulder. "What? Where am I?" she asked frantically, leaning away from the Joker.
"Now listen carefully, little Darcy, listen well because I - I'm not going to repeat myself…" Joker leaned in closer, ignoring the odd or lustful stares directed at him and Darcy from the others standing about. "I have a commission for you… I need… I - I need you to build me some fancy new toys," the Joker said a quiet whisper. "You know what kind of toys I'm talking about, don't you little Darcy?"
"I'm not making any weapons for you! Why the hell would you want weapons?" Darcy shouted back at the Joker.
"Why wouldn't I want weapons?" Joker responded.
Darcy frowned and tried to lean farther away from the Joker but ended up lying against the table's surface. "If I refuse to?" she asked, daring to wonder what the Joker had up his sleeve.
"You and I similar in many ways, you - you know?" the Joker started as he leaned back until he was now sitting on the table. "We have no - no memory of our past, all we know is what - is what we're perfect at doing," Joker swung a leg over Darcy and crawled up to sit beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, "And being bad is so much more fun than being good!"
Darcy tried to scoot away from the Joker but he only pulled her closer as a response. "You have no family, little Darcy, and no friends to stick by you… So, what have you got to lose? Well, besides your life and all," the Joker added in with a grin. "Think of it like a job! You will be paid, if that's what might be worrying you."
Darcy turned her attention away from the Joker and started to eye the other people around her with a wary eye. "How much we talking about?"
Joker took his arm away from Darcy's shoulders and clapped his hands happily together, like an excited child. "Money's no object, little Darcy! But, you have to get started on those toys now if you want to be see - seeing that money, little Darcy."
"I can't stay here, you know," Darcy pointed out, "I have school you know!"
"Mhm…" Joker frowned and slouched, more than usual. "Whatever. Fine."
Darcy pulled away from the Joker and slid of the table with ease. She was just about to turn around to look for an exit when the Joker's face was suddenly shoved in her face. Darcy gulped loudly and took a step back, only to be stopped by Candy and a young and gruff looking man. "No tricks, Darcy," he said to her.
Darcy shook her head 'no', "No tricks."
End Chapter
Author's Note:
Hello! I see that you've read the whole chapter, seeing that you're reading my little "author's note" at the end of it... I hope that you liked it enough to want to wait for chapter two (which I am currently working on right this minute).
So... I just wanted to tell you all that I hoped you liked this first chapter and the next chapter will be coming along (hopefully) soon. Just got a few things to take care of (school and other things).