"Why, if it isn't the Batman," the clown said, curling his lips. "I've been anticipating a meeting with you." I briefly wondered if the Batman was the vigilante's official title, or simply a pet name from the Joker.
"Joker," the Batman snarled, taking a protective stance in front of me. This transparent action caused a clutter of emotions to flood through my mind. Should I be flattered that he wanted to keep me out of harms way? Or offended that he deemed me too weak to fortify myself? I took a step away from the Bat to get a better view.
The Joker glared harshly at the ground, his hollow eyes peeking up just enough to meet mine. Cowardly, I looked away, breaking his cold gaze. A group of his goons settled in behind their boss, threateningly cracking their knuckles and brandishing weapons. For a moment, I pitied their feeble attempt to induce fear. Unlike the Joker, his followers bore no jagged scars across their mouth. They resembled circus clowns, where as the Joker looked like he popped out of a Stephen King book.
"Are we gonna fight or what, Batboy?" the Joker whined, his voice randomly fluctuating between exceedingly high and gravely low. When he realized the Batman wasn't going to respond, his eyes flickered to me. "Y'know, I never did get to tell you how I got these scars," he said, licking his lips. "Would ya like to know?" Damn, this guy was really pressing his story.
"Not particularly," I remarked with a roll of my eyes. His smile dropped suddenly as he feigned hurt at my comment, delicately placing his hand over his heart. If he had one, that is. I bravely stepped out from behind Batman. "Frankly, your first time shaving doesn't interest me," I said snidely, trying not to grin. His hunched shoulders shook with laughter while he wagged his knife at me playfully. The clowns began to advance on us, a revealing handguns, knives, and a couple of crowbars. The Joker leaned back against a street light to observe the Bat.
"Batty, Batty, Batty," the clown said accusingly. "Your little girlfriend here is quite feisty. But, you are sort of wasting my time." I ignored the Joker's relentless taunting, and looked to my right at the Batman, as he sprung forward to attack the men. The Batman disarmed a man, raising his knee and flipping the man over it. In a way, it was strangely beautiful. He fought with a certain calmness; he was graceful.
I watched in awe as he grabbed someone's arm, and snapped it like a twig. The man dropped his handgun as he fell to the ground in pain. I eagerly reached for the gun, and grasped it. I gave it a concise examination, trying to recall anything I knew about shooting. Just pull the trigger, right?
While attempting to figure out if the gun was loaded, I wondered if the Joker was still by the street light. As I turned back, I came face to face with the clown himself. He laughed quietly, then resumed our previous position; his knife against my neck. Before he could look at me too closely, I hid the gun behind me. He lead me to a brick wall, harshly pressing my back against it. I opened my mouth to call for the Batman, who was distracted by the final two goons.
"Shhh," he murmured, holding my chin up to him, as if looking into my soul. "Don't make a sound, or I'll kill ya," he whispered. I yelled out anyways, pulling away from him subsequently. I gasped as he embedded the knife in my left shoulder, grinning wildly. Since he was no longer holding a weapon, I slammed my gun down on his head, causing him to back away from me, cursing to himself. He backed into the Bat, who had just finished up with the last of the men.
The world around me blurred.
I collapsed to the ground, gingerly glancing at my wound. My shirt sleeve had absorbed some of the dark red liquid, but the rest was running down my arm. I groaned in pain as I pulled the knife out, sighing in relief when I realized it wasn't extremely deep. I had very limited medical knowledge, and nothing to tourniquet it with, so I decided there wasn't much more I could do. I glanced up at the Batman, who was handcuffing the Joker to the street light. He took out a cell phone, and murmured something into it.
"You're not gonna-uh kill me, Bat?" the Joker questioned mockingly, sliding his cuffs down the post so he could sit down. The Batman hurried over to me, his hand gripping a black device attached to his belt, and only when he pulled it out, did I realize his intentions.
"Not today, Joker," he snarled, bending towards me. I grunted in surprise as he gently tossed me over his shoulder, steadying me by my lower thighs. I heard the grappling hook clash against metal, then a moment of stillness. Just as I was about to question the hook's effectiveness, we were jerked upwards. I wrapped my arms around the vigilante's thick waist, pressing my cheek against his warm body armor. I caught a glimpse of the Joker observing me with a bemused expression. He focused in on the Batman, analyzing him critically.
The wire from the grappling hook twisted, causing my face to crash harshly into a cruel brick wall. I groaned, praying the clown hadn't seen that. The Bat heaved himself on top of the building, then set me down in front of him, calculating my reaction. I deftly un-bunched my skirt, and looked up at him, holding my arm limply to my side.
"Sorry," he rasped apologetically, his dark mask framing a grimace. The hulking vigilante frowned as he examined my wound. He looped his arm around my waist, supporting most of my weight as he shepherded me across the rooftops. After a long, dreadfully silent jog, I spoke my mind.
"Why did you leave him there?," I asked bluntly, my voice cracking because of the throbbing gash on my arm. "You could have taken him down. I've seen you fight a dozen men at once, hardly breaking a sweat. And for god's sake, the man is convinced he's a clown!"
"And leave you defenseless, sporting a wound? You shouldn't be living in the Narrows, let alone fending off criminals!" he argued. I blinked, unaware I was the cause of his fleeing. "You're untrained. You would be dead in a minute." The way he said it made me feel like he was testing me. Taunting me.
"Then teach me," I proposed candidly. "Teach me to fight." For a second, I thought he was considering my proposal, until he leaned into me, once again throwing me over his shoulder.
"Would you stop that?" I exclaimed, struggling against him to no avail. I would have attempted to punch him in the face, if I wasn't concerned that his mask would shatter every bone in my bloody hand. I released a sharp breath as he jumped off the side of the building, landing hard on a rickety fire escape. Rather than take the stairs, he felt the need to swing over the edge of each railing, and descend into the level below. Was he trying to prove something? I could already tell the extent of what he was physically capable of. For all I knew, he could just be trying to irritate me.
I breathed a sigh of relief as he hit the rigid pavement. He jogged around a corner, revealing a tank-like vehicle. It was dark, and massive, yet somehow blending in with the shadow of the building. I wasn't even sure how many wheels there were.
He punched in a code on a keypad while his other hand was placed securely on my legs. The door opened, and he leaned over to guide me into the passenger seat, avoiding my bleeding shoulder. I found the seat belt and clicked it in, praying that this car wouldn't fly. He slammed the door behind him, and started the purring engine. I marveled at the luxurious exterior of the car, musing over how a vigilante could afford something like this.
"Are we going to a hospital?" I inquired tentatively, hoping that I wasn't bleeding on his clean seats. He shook his head and expertly backed out of the alley, driving deeper into the Narrows.
"Too predictable," he murmured. "It's not too deep, and I have supplies." The vehicle had brought us down a few more streets, and was now heading through a forest area, the speedometer flickering around a hundred. I peered through the windshield, amazed that there was a waterfall ahead. A waterfall in Gotham! Who would've thought?
I clung to my seat as the Batman steered us directly at it, flooring the gas pedal. I glanced at him in alarm as we burst through the pounding water, landing roughly in some sort of cave. He slowed down dramatically bringing us deeper into the cave. I probably should have figured the Bat lived in a cave.
We exited the vehicle, and he ushered me into the high-tech cave. There were panels of controls, monitors, and mysterious weapons lining the walls, the waterfall flowing along the back. He gestured for me to sit down in a random chair, then crouched beside me, wielding a needle, and disinfectants. He cleaned the blood around my arm, then positioned the needle by the gash.
"This might hurt," he said simply, before piercing my skin. I bit my lip, resisting the tears threatening to cloud my eyes. He weaved the needle through my flesh, skillfully sealing the gash. I distracted myself by musing over the fact that the Batman was kneeling beside me, caring for my wound. He cut the thread then wrapped my shoulder tightly in gauze. He peered at me, as if gauging my reaction.
"I'll make sure you get home," he stated, rather spontaneously. Before I could question him, he removed a needle from a case, holding it up to my arm and inserting a fluid. Immediately, I felt the drug's effects. My vision became dim, the room swirling around me. I sensed sympathetic arms sweep me into their clutch, and then my sensations dissolved entirely.
Author's Note:
Hi! Sorry that took so long! I rushed to put this one up for you guys, hopefully you like it. Let me know if anyone seems out of character, or if Batman seems to wimpy or something. Yeah, tell me if you like it. Like I said before, I'm planning on going through and fixing all of the chapters when I get a chance, I've already noticed quite a few things that can be improved on. I know I definetly need to even out the sentence flow, if that makes again for reading.