And so the next few weeks passed like this, stealing from thugs and donating to worthy causes. They were getting their work done, and the boys seemed to be enjoying themselves. Ruby was proud of what they had done, but she felt it was time to sets their goals on a bigger prize. The boys would be more than eager to help her.

That morning's breakfast consisted of French toasted waffles, one of Ruby's original creations. She hadn't been humming at all as she cooked today, as she usually did.

"Boys," she said as they ate, "How do you feel about murder and revenge?"

"My favorite pastimes," said the Joker.

"Good. You're going to help me with them."

"Whose murder? And revenge for what?" asked Dr. Crane.

"You ask a lot of questions. I like that. And a week from now, sooner if we work quickly, we'll be committing the murder of Dr. Collins of the Arkham Asylum. I'm sure you're both familiar with him."

The three of them were silent for a moment. Ruby decided to change the subject.

"I think it's time we got on a first name basis with each other. I consider you two to be my family, and I'd like to call you 'Jonathan' instead of Dr. Crane, not meaning any disrespect to your title of course."

"I'll let you call me by my first name if Joker tells us his," said Jonathan.

"That's right. No one knows your real name, Mr. Joker."

"No way," was all he said.

"Oh come on, won't it be nice to have some companionship with another human being?" asked Ruby.

"Companionship gets people killed."

"Not when your companion is a powerful witch. I'd think of it as an asset. Now, tell us your name, just your first name." Ruby used her magic to get him talking. She could see him trying to resist the spell.

"Jack," he said, crumbling under her power.

"See, Jack, that wasn't so hard."

Jack glared at her.

"Well, boys, it's time to get ready to visit Dr. Collins. I'll be making plans in my room. Jonathan, go make sure our knives in the garage are nice and clean, and Jack, you do the dishes."

"How come he gets the fun job?" asked Jack.

"You can take turns handling the deadly weapons, boys. And the more you complain, Jack, the more I'll strip away your ability to speak." Ruby headed to her room to create her flawless scheme.

On his way to the garage, Jonathan passed Ruby's bedroom. He heard a peculiar noise coming from it. He leaned in a pressed his ears against the door. It sounded like Ruby was… crying. He peeked through the keyhole. She was sitting on her bed, looking down at something in her lap, but he couldn't see what. When she headed for the door, he hurriedly went on his way.

"Did you hear Ruby crying in her room earlier? I wonder what that was about," Jonathan later said to Jack.

"She's a woman. That's what they do," said Jack.

So, Jonathan didn't give it another thought. Women were such temperamental beings.


Within Gotham city, Commissioner James Gordon was taking a moment away from the chaos of work to spend time with his family. When he went outside to get the mail, he did not expect the visitor that had been waiting there for him. He saw the dark figure, and his heart skipped a beat.

"Jeez! You scared the Hell out of me," he said.

"I going to help capture the Joker again," said Batman.

"You always get straight down to business, don't you?"

"I've already prepared antidotes to Scarecrow's fear toxin."

"Are you sure your involvement is a good idea? Everyone still thinks you're a murderer; you might only make the city panic even more."

"Not if they don't know we're working together."

"I don't like keeping secrets from my colleagues."

"We don't have a choice. We need to catch these guys to prevent what happened last time."

Gordon sighed. "Alright, I guess that's our best bet. Nice to work with you again."

And they shook hands like old friends. Bruce swore to himself that he would make Gotham City safe again, no matter what it cost him.


So Dr. Collins is another character I created. WARNING: the next chapter gets a little violent, but nothing too bad. Use discretion.