That evening, everyone had their therapy and was escorted back to their cells. Except one.
"Where's my Puddin'?" Harley screamed; the first to notice.
"Oh, he'll be here soon. Probably just giving the guards a hard time," Ivy dismissed with a wave of her hand
"Yeah," Two-Face added. "You know how clown boy is."
"No," Riddler shook his head. "Something isn't right. Even if, as you say, he did mess with the guards, remember the guards work for Bane now?"
They all went quiet after that, except for Harley.
"If they put one scratch on my Puddin', just ONE, they're dead meat, I swear it!" she hollered.
"Oh quiet down child," Scarecrow said, rolling his eyes. "The clown can handle himself. It's us we need to be worried about."
"What do you mean?" Ivy asked.
"Well, all I'm saying is that we need to keep our best interests in mind. Bane doesn't care for us, and neither does Joker, as much as we'd like to think so. It's time for us to start picking up the pieces, so that when the world around us crumbles, we'll already have built us a palace of stone."
"Nicely put," Riddler piped. "But how do you propose we do that?!"
"I don't know yet, "Scarecrow admitted."But do you know what I'm trying to say?"
"Yeah, we hear ya," Two-Face grumbled.
"I agree as well," Ivy nodded. "But we should bide our time wisely."
"I don't care WHAT you all say, I'm sticking with my Puddin'!" Harley said.
"Well, that's two against one," Scarecrow tallied. "And you, Riddler?"
Riddler thought about it for a minute. "I don't know just yet. I'll have to get back to you on that," he answered finally.
"You assume the offer will still be available then?" Scarecrow asked, turning from the bars of his cell.
"I assume you'll be dead when the clown finds out by then." Riddler replied, coolly. "But then again... assumptions are sometimes wrong."
"Come on clown!" one of the guards, muttered, shoving a nightstick into the Joker's back.
"This isn't the way to my cell," Joker said, as he looked around. "Oh, I see," he giggled, a smirk spreading across his face. "Let me guess...starved for a little affection, huh big boy? The missus not treating ya right? The baby's the number one man in her life now? Don't fret; Mistah J is a man of many talents, and an expert in such perverse sports as these. Why, you should SEE me when I'm at, it's quite the SPECTACLE! Or you can ask what's her name? Charlie...no...Barbie...that can't be right...Oh, yes! Harley! The only thing about her is that-"
"SHUT UP!" the guard, finally roared.
"-she's a-" The Joker kept talking as if he hadn't heard.
CRACK! The billy club smacked against his head. The Joker fell to the floor, rolling with mirth. "Get up!" the guard yelled, jerking him to his feet. The other guard tried to grab his friend who was going crazy, but the guard pushed him back.
"Jim!" the guard yelled, trying to calm his friend down. "Do this some other time. Right now we have to get him to Bane."
"Listen, Ross, I can handle this, alright? Bane's gonna rough him up, he won't mind if we have our little fun first, right?"
"Right." the Joker said from the floor.
"SHUT UP!" Jim said, turning to kick the clown in the face.
Blood shot out the clown's nose and his lip split.
"Mmm," Joker said, licking the blood from his lips. "Tasty."
"You want some more, clown!" the guard yelled.
"Jim!"
"What, Ross!"
"Don't do it, man. It's not worth it right now. Let's just get him to Bane and-"
"Screw that!" Jim said, turning to kick the clown in the face again only to find that the clown had escaped from his straightjacket and was now towering over the man.
"Thank you, Ross" Joker smiled sweetly. "I can handle it from here."
Jim started backing away in fear. "Ross..."
Ross just shrugged. "I told you, man."
"Come on, Ross…w-we can t-take him," Jim stuttered.
"Hey," Ross said, palms up in surrender. "I warned you."
"You idiot!" Jim spat, keeping his eyes trained on the Joker. "He's going to kill you too."
"Actually, I work for him," Ross explained.
"B-but...come on, man, we were friends for years. Y-you're not just going to let me get killed, are you?"
"Excuse me for interrupting this lovers spat," the Joker said, "But the answer to your question is yes. Yes he is going to let you get killed. Well, tortured, AND THEN killed. But I doubt it hardly matters to you now, correct? So," he said, taking a step closer. "Shall we begin? We mustn't keep Bane waiting too long."
Jim felt his back hit the wall, as the Joker slowly advanced. He saw the Joker flick his wrist and then flick his wrist again before staring at his hand in confusion. He trembled as he watched the Joker look down his sleeve shirt, check the other sleeve shirt, and pat himself down.
"Oh silly me!" the Joker laughed, slapping his hand against his forehead. "I must have forgot my tricks in the OTHER outfit. Oh well."
The Joker looked the guard up and down, his eyes settling on the buttons sewn into Jim's shirt. "Oh, pretty buttons!" the Joker said, coming closer to inspect them.
As he caressed the buttons, he said, "You know, I can ACTUALLY kill a man with these? It's amazing really," he stopped, and looked up at Jim. "I can see you don't believe me. Well, Ross, if you have a disbeliever you just have to show them the truth!" he cackled. "Here, let me show you a demonstration," he cooed, before ripping one button, cleanly, and smoothly off Jim's shirt. "This is only going to hurt you more than it's going to hurt me," he said, staring Jim directly in the eye. And then Jim felt the pain.
Bane drummed his fingers impatiently on the desk. "Where can they be?" he asked no one in particular.
Suddenly the door opened. Ross came in, dragging the Joker in behind him.
"What happened?" Bane asked, jumping to his feet. "And where is your friend?"
"The Joker is unconscious, sir. I knocked him out."
"And your friend?" Bane said, deciding to come back to the clown later.
"Well, uh, Jim lost his temper and… assaulted the clown. The clown managed to escape his straightjacket and kill Jim before I could knock him out."
"Oh really?" Bane said. "As much as the clown loves to murder, I'm surprised he didn't try to kill you."
The suspicion lingered in the air a little before Ross hastily replied, "He probably would have, but Jim was really getting on his back. As soon as he escaped Joker went after him after bashing my head on the wall and knocking me unconscious. I woke up, grabbed my club while the Joker was busy with Jim, and knocked Joker out. "
"And what did he use to kill Jim with? I understand he isn't allowed weapons in therapy and is thoroughly checked."
Again suspicion was in Bane's voice and lingered in the air. "He was checked, sir. And from what I gathered he killed Jim with… a button," he finished, knowing how silly it sounded. If he was in Bane's shoes he wouldn't have believed it. But he had seen it with his own two eyes.
"Are you mocking me?" Bane roared, standing up.
"No, sir." Ross said, not a single tremor in his voice. "It's incredibly hard to believe, if I hadn't seen it with my own two eyes."
"Hmm..." Bane thought, sitting back in his chair.
"Well, then, get the clown in that chair over there and tie him up and send some more guards in here. You may be dismissed after."
Ross did what he was told. The guards who walked in jumped at the sight of the Joker, but when they saw that he was tied up they quickly relaxed and started insulting him. One of them was told by Bane to get a bucket of cold water and to throw it on Joker. The guard did so gladly.
They all waited around for Joker's reaction. But, when they got one it wasn't the one they expected..
A/N: To all my wonderful readers, I live off of your support and your views. Especially yours, Septimaluna. And I would continue gladly writing for only the three I truly know are reading: septimaluna, jakefan and timorb22. But I've noticed I've generated traffic, without ever hearing a single review. Does this story displease you that much? So, I conclude, this might be my last chapter on this story if it displeases so many, so greatly, that no one leaves a review. Thank you.
