I do not own any characters. Yes, I'm putting in some scenes of the Dark Knight, but that's just to get the story kind of going…

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Chapter Four

The next day, I left as early as I could, before Tony could wake up. After two hours of meaningless flying, I hit the ground and set off to find the flock.

After another two hours of irritating looking around LA, I ran into them outside a café.

'How'd the talk with Tony go?' asked Total quietly, as we were surrounded by people.

'Not well,' I said brightly.

'I'm bored,' said Gazzy.

'Let's play a game!' suggested Angel.

'Yeah!' Nudge looked at me. 'Max, can we play?'

A game? 'Uh... sure. What game?'

'Let's play hide-and-seek!' said Nudge. 'Like, through-out the city!'

'The city?' I asked. 'I don't think so...'

Angel, Gazzy and Nudge stared at me.

'Let's make it... um...' I looked around. Surely there was something I could do. 'How about we stay around these mains places,' I said finally, pointing at a few buildings. 'And no moving once you find a spot.'

'And I can't be in and have to go with Gazzy,' said Iggy.

'What?' asked Gazzy. 'That means when we get found, I'll be in! And why can't you be in?'

'Because I'm blind, nitwit,' said Iggy.

'Oh, yeah,' I said, nodding. 'It's not like you have super hearing, or can cook better than any of us, or beat Fang in polka.'

'I shall win someday,' Fang said darkly.

'Y'know what? Iggy's in,' I said, tapping him on the shoulder.

'What?' He sounded outraged.

'You'll find us really easily, I promise.' Hide in easy places and make noise, I told the flock in sign language. They nodded.

'Okay,' Iggy said bitterly. 'What do I count to?'

'A hundred,' said Angel and Total yipped.

'Fine. One. Two. Three. Four. Five...'

We all headed off in different directions. At least, I thought we did until I realised Fang was next to me.

'Hi,' I said. 'Why are you coming with me?'

Silence.

'Okay then.'

We turned down an alleyway. It was blank, there was nowhere to hide. I glanced over at Fang, who was staring at a barred air-vent. The vent was wide enough to fit three people, meaning two skinny mutant bird kids would do fine.

Fang leaned down, took out his pocket knife and unscrewed the covering. He pulled it off then gestured for me to go inside.

'No way!' I said. 'Small, enclosed spaces!'

'Do you want to be in and have to run around this place, being forever paranoid that you're not going to find someone?'

I stared at Fang. One of the longest sentences he'd ever said.

But still – I'm paranoid about Iggy not finding everyone, let alone me.

Just go in, Max, the Voice said. There's something you need to find.

Whaaatever, I thought.

But I climbed in and Fang followed me. We shuffled in for about ten minutes then realised sheepishly we were hiding from a guy who couldn't see in quite a hard place.

'Gee,' I murmured to Fang and he nodded. Suddenly, my ears picked up on voices. I looked warily at Fang and mouthed, 'Do you hear that?'

Fang nodded and we moved quietly through the vents, trying to find the source of the voices. Finally, we turned a corner and saw small bars of light shining through an opening in the vent that was looking down into a room. The voices were coming from the room.

'Who stupid enough to steal from us?' someone Russian was asking. Fang and I inched over, peering through the bars.

'I am told,' said an Asian voice, sounding like it was coming from... a TV? I looked around and saw the TV on a table, with a man's face on it. '...that the man who arranged the heist calls himself the Joker.'

I glanced over at Fang and he arched an eyebrow.

'Who the hell is that?' asked the Russian.

I noticed someone familiar, someone who answered, 'Two-bit whack-job, wears a cheap suit and make-up. He's not the problem – just a freak.'

He was talking about his son.

I tapped Fang's elbow and mouthed, 'JACKANAPES.'

Fang smiled for a second then looked back down.

'Thanks to Mr Napier's well-placed sources, we know that the police have indeed identified our banks with marked bills and are planning to seize your funds today,' said the TV.

This caused a lot of shouting at the TV.

'Gentlemen!' snapped the guy on the TV. 'With the investigation ongoing, none of you can risk hanging onto your own proceeds. I am your only option.'

'So what are you proposing?' Jack asked.

'Move all the money to a secure location. Not a bank. No one can know but me. If the police were to gain leverage over one of you, everyone's money would be at stake. I will go to Hong Kong, far away from Gotham's jurisdiction. The Chinese will not extradite one of their own.'

Everyone fell silent as there was another voice. It was droning on, emotionless.

'Ha, ha, ha. Ha. Hoo, hee, ha, ha. Hoo, hee, ha, ha...' The Joker walked into the room. I could only really see the back of his head, but I knew it was him. 'And I thought my jokeswere bad.'

'Give me one reason why I shouldn't have my boy here pull your head off?' asked a black, muscular man.

'How 'bout a magic trick?' asked the Joker. He took something out of his pocket and smashed it against the table. Whatever it was, it stayed there when he took his hand away.

I noticed Jack watching his son, eyes narrowed in boredom.

'Now, I'm gonna make this pencil disappear,' said the Joker. A thug lunged out, aiming his right fist at the Joker's nose.

The Joker caught the blow with his left hand and used his right to smash the thug's head down on top of the pencil. I shuddered and Fang swallowed next to me. The thug fell to the floor. The pencil was –

'Da daaaa!' yelled the Joker. 'It's – ahhh, it's gone!'

He sat down. 'Oh, and by the way: the suit? It wasn't cheap. You oughtta know, you bought it –'

The black man stood up, ready to pound the clown.

'Sit,' said the Russian. 'I want to hear deal.'

The black man looked at the Joker, whose head turned towards the Russian and nodded then turned back to the black man.

'Let's wind the clocks back a year. These... cops and lawyers wouldn't have dared crossed any of you.' He looked around. 'Well, what happened? Did your balls drop off?' He waited. 'See, a guy like me –'

'A freak,' said Jack and this stirred some laughter.

The Joker looked like he hadn't been interrupted. 'A guy like me...' he said slowly. 'Look – listen – I know why you're having your little... group therapy sessions in the middle of the day. I know why you're –'

'Get on with it,' snapped the black man. The Joker put his hands up and said, 'Tony Stark.'

Fang looked over at me and I shook my head frantically.

'He's shown Gotham your true colours. And as for the television's so-called plan, Stark has no jurisdiction. He'll find him and make him squeal. I can tell the squealers... when I see one.'

The television flicked off.

'So, what do you think we should do?' asked Jack, arching an eyebrow.

'It's simple,' said the Joker. 'We, uh, kill Stark.'

I looked over at Fang and our eyes met. Fang glanced back down at the table. A lot of men down there seemed to find what the Joker had said hilarious.

'You're crazy,' hissed someone.

'No, I'm not crazy,' the Joker said quietly. 'I'm not.'

I blinked.

'Well, if it's so simple,' said Jack, 'why haven't you done it already?'

'If you're good at something,' the Joker said, 'never do it for free.'

'How much you want?' asked the Russian.

'Uh... half.'

The men around the table laughed.

The Joker shrugged. 'Look, if you don't deal with this now, pretty soon little, uh, Gambol here, won't be able to get a nickel for his grandma –'

'Enough of the clown!' yelled Gambol, bolting to his feet.

The Joker stood up, turning enough for Fang and I to see his face. He opened his purple jacket to reveal the explosives he'd strapped to his chest. 'All right, let's not blow this out of proportion.'

Gee. Irony.

'You think,' Gambol snarled, 'that you can just walk in here and steal from us?'

'Yeah,' the Joker said, eyeing Gambol warily.

'Well, I'm putting the word out – five hundred grand for this clown dead. And a thousand alive, so I can teach him some manners first.'

The Joker looked around the table, eyebrows raised. 'Okaaay. When you're all a little more serious about this, call me. Now, here's my card.' He took out a small joker card from a deck, held it up for a second then set it on the table.

He walked towards the door, showing the explosives. His eyes were moving around, glancing everywhere. I blinked and the next thing I knew, the Joker was staring at the air vent, at me and Fang.

I froze and could only stare back at him. I couldn't stop until he'd kicked open the door and left the room.

Fang and I turned and crawled as fast as we could to the exit. I felt horribly claustrophobic, like I could just curl up into a ball and stay there in the vent, shaking and hyperventilating. I was freaking out that the Joker would somehow be at the opening, waiting for us or something. Then again, I'm just paranoid.

As Fang and I turned the last corner to see the opening, I saw something – or someone – moving outside.

Then again, maybe I'm not just paranoid.

I crawled to the opening and fell out, onto concrete, with the large, open sky above me. I sighed with relief then saw five (six, counting Fang) faces looking over me.

'What were you guys doing in there?' Angel asked.

'So much for "hide in easy places and make lots of noise,"' said Iggy, rolling his eyes. 'Oh, yes,' he added right as I opened my mouth, 'I heard that.