Quick Note:
I realize I switch back and forth from present tense to past tense once and a while, this is due to the fact that I own and run my own RPG forum, where we write in present tense. I know what past tense is, and how to structure it...but it's harder to switch back then you'd think. Habit and all. xx Thanks so much for all the nice replies! I'll get the third chapter up quicker, since it's already done. :-PChapter 2
Part One, Crazy?
The flames had finally been put out, the soggy remains oozing with black soot and charcoaled support beams.
"Any survivors?"
The reporter pointed the microphone at Commissioner Gordon, but got a response from Harvey Bullock instead.
"Everyone on the North side of the building had minor injuries, and most of the inmates were recovered safely. Some hurt, but alive." He looked back at Jim, both of them knowing...he was missing.
The woman with the mic asked the obvious question,
"Is everyone accounted for?"
P2
Batman watched Harley Quinn being loaded onto a stretcher, her injuries somewhat severe. She was the only one of the prisoners seriously wounded...the paramedics said she was in a trauma related coma...maybe for good...
He looked into the empty cell to his right, following the footprints from the door to the crushed roof...blood. Closer inspection revealed a few strands of green hair left within a few of the crevices in the rocks. He'd fallen.
Immediately Bruce recalled seeing something in the woods...it had been HIM...he cursed himself for being so blind.
Quickly he followed in The Joker's footsteps, pulling the piece of his suit off of the bush as he reached the forrest's edge.
He couldn't have gotten very far.
P3
He clutched his head, the throbbing bubbling what was left inside of his stomach to the surface. Stumbling over the curb, he released the rest of it, coughing and sputtering for a moment...
He lifted his gaze, looking around him and not knowing where he was. A hundred times he'd seen this street...but it wasn't familiar to him anylonger.
His body began to shake, setting into early stages of shock from blood loss and over-excitement. Though his life was constantly full of action, he found himself panicking...
A small black gloved hand reached down for him,
"Come on, Mistah J! I'll help ya!"
He looked up, shaking his head,
"Y-you're dead."
Harley smiled, her face as clear as day to him in a world full of confusion and blurs.
"Come on, Puddin'! Bats is comin!"
Gingerly, he pushed himself up, the world spinning as he ran...
Chapter 2
Part Two, Repeating
The cherry fizzled out as it hit the puddle, the tan colour of the butt turning a light brown as the water soaked into the filter.
Tonight had been bad. Not as bad as some, but it was up there.
Jim let out a sigh, tucking his old tired hands inside of the tattered pockets in his jacket.
"You okay, Commish?"
He turned, a puff of Harvey's cigar hitting him in the face,
"I've been better."
He smiles,
"Think we all have."
Returning the gesture, the Commissioner rested his hand on Bullock's shoulder,
"You'll be thinking that more when you're filling out the paperwork."
P2
He'd been here, blood and vomit caking the pavement just outside of the wood's edge. His trail was obvious...erratic...
Batman stepped off of the curb, his cape billowing out behind him rhythmically with the gusts of wind as he pushed on. He had to find Joker before he did anything...before he killed another innocent.
His eyes flicked down to the road, glass and tiretracks left as evidence of his presence.
He'd lost him.
P3
The sounds of the tires screeching pulled him out of the darkness, the concussion having dangerous effects on his consciousness...
"Wake-up, PUDDIN!"
He shook his head, rubbing the drying blood from the back of his neck,
"No...you're dead."
She turned to him, her eyes filling with tears,
"Why do you keep saying that?!"
He slammed his eyelids shut, trying to push her out...she wasn't real.
Harley screamed, headlights blinding the two of them as they approached from ahead.
Chapter 2
Part Three, See things?
The steam and smoke rose from the now totaled engine, a small click and sputter emitted from deep within the recesses of the machine. Oil leaked onto the ground, dangerously close to where the man driving the other vehicle had flicked his cigarette.
Joker shoved open the door, falling out onto the road with a heavy and painful thud, his prisoner outfit now saturated in his own blood. A brand new slice embedded deep within a bruise laid in the corner of his forehead, the steeringwheel adding a nice addition to the long list of injuries he'd already sustained.
"Hey, buddy...are you..." The man froze up, getting a good look at the other driver. "Jesus, it's The Joker!"
Joker winced, pulling the gun he'd found inside of the glove compartment out of his pocket, a mist of red spray flying through the air as it went off.
The other man fell lifelessly to the ground, his smoke finally catching the fluids underneath the cars on fire.
Limping away, Joker skimmed the scene for Harley, but she was no where to be seen.
P2
Oracle pressed her index and middle fingers into her temples, trying to force the newly developed headache from her mind so she could concentrate on what was more important...like helping Bruce and Dick find the Joker.
Batman had radioed her with the news of his escape, the all too familiar feeling of dread seeping back into her daily routine. Every time that madman escaped, she was sure he was going to come straight for her, or even worse, her father.
"Three people just called 911, they said there was a crash." She listened carefully to the calls, "And that a man was shot. Sending the coordinates now."
Nightwing replied first,
"I'm on it."
Batman's voice cut through to both of them,
"No, leave him to me."
Dick started to argue his case,
"I'm right there, I can-"
His tone didn't change, the same emotionless orders floating across the air like Dick was still beneath him,
"Go home, Nightwing. Joker's mine. Batman out."
Barb winced, making sure Bruce wasn't listening in as she spoke,
"Why don't you go check on the Asylum. See if you can find out anything about the explosion and what might've caused it."
He was silent for a long time, his knuckles slowly turning white underneath his gloves.
"I've done all I can. He can handle it from here. Nightwing out."
The communication was severed, Barb letting out a light groan.
"Damn you, Bruce."
P3
"Did it work?"
The figure submerged in shadow folded his hands together, waiting for the only news that was acceptable to him.
The messenger swallowed deeply, loosening his tie.
"Well..uh..his cell was empty..Sir."
His jaw clenched, rage stewing deep beneath the surface.
"And Quinn?"
He fumbled his words again, fear enveloping him.
"S-she's in a coma, Sir."
His body relaxed, a smile stretching across his face,
"Well then, it's not all bad. You know what to do."
The quivering man nodded twice, exiting the room by walking backwards.
Lighting a cigar though he usually didn't indulge in them, he laughed to himself. First Quinn, then The Joker.
Chapter 2
Part Four, Swing of things
Tearing open the door too Funnybone's warehouse, Joker stumbled inside, desperately searching for a light switch of any kind...
As the entire building lit up from above, his body froze, Harley sitting on the chair next to his chest of toys with a smile on her face.
"What took ya so long, Puddin?"
He ignored her, grabbing his head and shaking it lightly back and forth. For the second time that night he had the urge to throw up, this time around he was much more successful in keeping it down.
"Why won't you look at me?"
Harley's lip protruded, the pout almost more than he could tolerate...if she wasn't dead, he wanted to kill her.
Rage took control of him, his eyes bulging with hatred as he grabbed her shoulders,
"YOU'RE NOT REAL!"
He stopped, squeezing her arms a few times before it registered...he was touching her.
"Whaddya mean, Mistah J?"
No...he'd seen her body. She was dead.
Wasn't she?
P2
"You're sure you're all right?"
Jim Gordon held the phone closely to his ear, the worry lines on his forehead showing more prominently tonight.
His daughter's voice came stronger over the other line, though he could tell she was worrying just as much for him as he was for her.
"Daddy, I'm fine."
He nodded as if she could see him, looking down at his feet that were now soaked in mud.
"Sorry, Barb. You know how things can get...how I can get loose."
She sighed gently,
"I know, Dad...you'll find him soon, I know you will."
Her voice was reassuring...giving him a small sliver of confidence before the long manhunt began...she knew more than anyone that these searches were arduous ... and so many people would lose their lives first.
He hung up the phone, praying to God that this time...JUST this once...Joker would forget about the Gordon's.
P3
"Oracle."
He pressed his hand against his cowl, adjusting the earpiece so he could hear her better.
"What's up?"
She sounded distracted, her tone wavering. Her emotions in this were running high, as were everyone's.
Leaping into the Batmobile, Batman shut the roof and revived the engines, letting it sit for a minute while he ran the start-up system for his computer.
"I need you to find me all known locations for the Joker."
The sounds of keys clacking emitted from the air waves.
"Shouldn't you know these by heart?"
He didn't acknowledge her remark, instead reworking the list of the most possible facilities he'd be using as she transferred them to him.
"Batman out."
Barb half grinned, knowing he wasn't on the other line anymore.
"You're welcome."
Chapter 2
Part Five, Memory Lane
"Where are ya goin, Mistah J?"
Harley kicked her feet back and forth, perched on top of a table and several of Joker's blueprints.
He pushed her roughly, her hands catching the brunt of the fall as she crashed onto the cement. Batman was coming for him. He knew it, and had to get out of there fast.
Getting up from the ground, Harley rubbed her hands down his back and across his chest, a teasing smile on her face.
"Why don't ya stay with me, Puddin?"
The back of his hand snapped against her cheek, knocking her to the floor once again. He leaned over her, grabbing her collar and raising his fist once more. She cried out as he struck her again and again, the look in his eyes unlike any that had ever been there before.
As her face began to blacken and break, the smile on his own started to grow, all his rage and confusion easily placed into this energy...
Long after she'd lost consciousness, Joker stopped, breathing heavily in an attempt to calm down and collect this already jumbled thoughts...something was wrong with him, he knew it.
Looking back at the dying woman on the floor, his stomach knotted, something he hadn't seen before...her belly...she was pregnant.
"NO!"
He screamed, falling backwards over the stool behind him and landing on his side. His entire body shook, something trying mercilessly to break through to him...something in his mind trying to remind him of something he'd forgotten so long ago.
His fingers ran up into his hair and squeezed, pulling lightly as he struggled to find the want to open his eyes again...to look at her.
One eye peered over there, the other one popping open instantly.
She...she was gone.
P2
The tires skid across the pavement as he stopped, immediately leaping out of the cockpit and running towards Funnybone's.
The lights were on, and the door was open...but Joker was already gone.
Batman searched the place, looking for anything Joker might've left behind. Something that would help him find the crazed clown.
A dark pool on the floor caught his attention, the crimson liquid reflecting his face back up to him. Next to it was a battered mannequin of Batman himself, the cotton and fabric torn so badly that the metal underneath had been exposed, pieces of skin scraped off onto it.
This was Joker's blood.
P3
The sounds of medical machinery bounced off the walls of the hospital room, Harley Quinn's pale form laying motionless on the firm little bed.
The IV dripped steadily, her heart monitor beeping rhythmically along with the oxygen pump, her chest slowly rising and lowering in time with them.
Bullock finished signing a few papers, checking back into her room one more time, just to make sure her cuffs were secure, and that she was in fact still breathing.
He hesitated at the door for a second, scanning everything one more time before shutting it with a light click.
Waiting to make sure he was gone, the thin man folded himself out from underneath the counter and approached the slumbering Quinn.
He pulled the needle from his pocket, tapping it to make sure all the air was gone. This poison was untraceable and incurable. No connection could be made, and the doctors would probably pawn it off on heart failure.
He pushed the syringe into the IV drip and prepared to administer it.
