The bright flash illuminated Rose Shafer's body. Then another. It was not just around her, but all over. Her body lay mangled on the floor, with an arm across the top of her head. The face clearly revealed for all to see. The white make up glowed at each flash, the smile seeming to laugh at everything. Laugh Rose is dead, laugh at the police. It had a mind of its own. Forensics specialists crowded the room, sharing information and exchanging thoughts of fear and mystification. "What have you got?" Nash walked over to Thompson who gazed at Shafer's body on the floor.
"No prints, no clue to the motive. Nothing but the card, rose, face paint, and necklace. " Both began walking out of the apartment, down the stairs, neither looking at each other as they spoke.
"It wouldn't further this in any way. That bastard. We'll catch him."
Thompson breathed quickly through his nose, and shook his head lightly. "And what would that prove? Our reoccurring stupidity? No, that hasn't worked several times before."
Silence fell over the two down the next flight of stairs. The men stopped just before the door and Nash turned to look at Thompson,
"How is she?"
"Living. Flimsy and pale as a ghost….I don't know what to do any more. I've tried to protect her, but no matter what, he gets to her." Thompson laughed and shook his head licking the inside of his mouth and whispering, "He gets to her." He walked out of the apartment, heading for the ambulance where Madeline was, sitting on the bench, leaning up against the wall, doors open, the air flowing silently in and out. A crowd began to form around the police barrier, one person at a time. Thompson walked over to his daughter who sat more than still, not blinking, gazing at the floor across from her feet. "Madeline…" She did not budge. "Please look at me Madeline." She turned her head, her eyes glazed. Thompson tried to smile, "There is nothing we can find as to why. Random name in our area? Is there another reason. Mad…you were close. What was Rose involved in?"
It took several seconds for Madeline to respond and when she did it was soft, "I do not know, exactly…there's nothing she could have done to deserve this." She held back a few tears. "I killed her."
Thompson put his hand on her shoulder. "No, no…"
"If it wasn't for me….she would still be a living being. I brought her here, I brought her death."
"Madeline…"
"Stop….I can't take this anymore. What could I have done to bring this here? It's all my fault….and why? "
Thompson took his hand off of Madeline. "No matter how much we try, you are not safe. I need to…" he stopped and looked around, then motioned for her to come with him. She followed and he took a blanket from the ambulance and wrapped it around her. When she was only a few inches away from him he whispered, "I need to get you out of Gotham, take you away. I'm going to have you shuttled somewhere out of the city, perhaps to Boston with your cousin. He will protect you. I have a van waiting on the side, Nash is to drive you." Nash stood on the sidewalk watching and motioned for Thompson to come over. "I'll be back. Stay here." Madeline wrapped the blanket around her and watched her father walk towards Nash. She began looking around, up and down, slowly. She had a feeling in the pit of her stomach, she wanted to run but she couldn't. The lights from TV cameras, the yelling of reporters, urgent to know. The lights from the police vehicles going, flashing through her eyes, flashing into her soul. The world began to spin and Madeline, dug her fingers deep into the blanket. A hand wrapped around her mouth and part around her nose, cutting of most of her air supply. Another slithered around her waist. Madeline squealed. Someone was pulling her near the ambulance. She turned her face a bit to the side and could see the caked white make-up, the red leer of her tormentor. Thompson stopped talking to Nash the moment he heard the cry and ran over towards the ambulance. As the Madeline was dragged over closer to the ambulance, one clown jumped out from a curtain in the ambulance and clamped his hands over Madeline's face and waist. His figure was much larger than the Joker's and he squeezed tighter around Madeline, crushing her figure. The Joker grunted and ran over and pulled gasoline out from under the nearby police car and poured it around the ambulance door and pulled out a match lighting it on fire. The flames shot up and it blocked anyone from getting to Madeline, some of the officers pulled out their guns to shoot but Thompson yelled for them not to, Madeline was to close. The fire kept them from reaching the back of the ambulance, its rage bouncing off each face, each object its light could touch. The Joker ran into the ambulance and the clown pulled Madeline inside while a couple of other clowns got in the front to drive. "C'mon, c'mon." The Joker shut the door and Madeline was left go inside. She pounded and pounded on the window screaming, "OPEN!….Damn it!"
A hand slipped around Madeline's mouth and it pulled her back away from the window, she struggled again. The Joker handed her to one of the clowns and he held her on the seat and wrapped duct tape around her wrists. The Joker laughed and waved goodbye to Thompson with a huge grin upon his lips, extended by his scars. The ambulance took off and the Joker bounced away from the window, taking another roll of duct tape out of his pocket and taking the red lipstick from his pocket and drawing on the tape. Madeline could feel her heart full of twisted anger and horror. Her voice was calm and biting. Her lips curled around her every word, "Get away from me you purple piece of trash!" The Joker was adjusting the tape to rip it, but he was listening for he chuckled and finally ripped the piece off. He stuck it across Madeline's mouth with a grunt and smoothed it across, pressing his fingers down into the tape, putting pressure on Madeline's face and smearing the lipstick a bit. He had drawn a pair of red lips on the tape and snickered as he looked at them. "Shhhh shh shhh. I told you to wear your red lips the next time we meet. But, seeing as whatever I say goes in one ear and out the other. I came prepared to give them to you myself!" Madeline stopped breathing hard and just sat looking at him, silent. He looked into her eyes, the tension building. He could see that she hated him passionately. If looks could kill, but he liked the feeling of her intensity. She was a puppet and he held the strings. He quickly jolted forward and kissed the lips fleetingly then pulled away and laughing in a shriek, slapped her with all his might across her face. His laughing began to die down as he pushed his way to the front of the ambulance. "Move." Madeline slowly brought her head back forward. He flung the clown that was driving into the passenger's side on top of another clown and took over the driver's seat. The vehicle swerved a bit and he laughed again. The clowns and Madeline slid in their seats but despite all the movement, Madeline did not make a sound. The only noises were the Joker and his constant verbal antics, or the clowns in the car making wo sounds as if on a coaster. The Joker bit his lips and bounced in his seat, he saw a lady walking her dog to her car and he swerved to hit the dog. The lady collapsed as soon as the ambulance passed and the Joker looked out the side mirror to see her. He laughed, "Ten points." The Joker continued forward, pressing hard on the gas, then the brakes, then began it again several times. The clowns weren't too pleased, crushed over in their little corner, too afraid to lean towards the driver side of the car.
The ambulance turned a corner with a loud screech. The road ahead was clear all for the cars on the sides, and a black figure in the middle of the street, half way between the ambulance and a large office building at the end. The Joker's eyes slit, and he licked his teeth, "Well if it isn't the Batman." He grunted and stepped on the gas. The ambulance sped towards the black figure. "What are you up to now?…Hm?" He pushed on the gas until it hit the floor. Batman stayed still, watching, waiting. The Joker was impatient. He got out his gun and leaned himself far out the window firing at the Bat. The Joker let go of the wheel and the ambulance swerved to the left. The clowns in the passenger side began to panic, one grabbed the wheel to keep the steering going as he leaned across from one seat to the next. Madeline fell off the bench and landed face down on the floor. She turned her head upward to see the farce in the front of the vehicle. The other clowns could be visibly seen, one was holding onto the driving clown in case he needed to yank him back to the little safety corner at any minute. When the ambulance was close enough, Batman fired one shot from his bike and it hit the Joker in the shoulder. "GAH." The Joker slithered back into the car right on top of the one clown. "Get out of here." He shot the clown in the head and the goons released the dead clown from their grasp. The Joker pushed him downward and adjusted himself in the seat. "Thank youuu." Batman turned his bike around and drove the other way, the ambulance following swiftly behind. "C'mon Batmann. Is that all?" The ambulance front nudged one of the tires and the bike swerved a bit. The Joker laughed, "How about another?" He rammed the ambulance into the back wheel and the bike veered off to the side and hit a car. The Joker zoomed past and stepped on the breaks, turning the ambulance quickly around and heading back off towards the Bat. Batman got up and began running on the sidewalk. "Awww, I'm disappointed in you. I expected more than this." The Joker jerked the ambulance onto the large sidewalk and followed Batman, knocking over garbage cans, papers flying in the air. The Joker tried to get out of the window again to shoot at Batman, but he was took close to the wall. He threw the gun at a clown on the other side. "Shoot him." He sung. The clown pushed himself outside the window and shot at Batman, missing every time. The Joker became angry and jolted the vehicle to the right into a light pole and the clown ran right into it, being pull out of the car. The Joker glanced over and rolled with laughter.
Batman crossed back onto the street, followed by the Joker and his severely damaged ambulance. Batman pulled something off his belt and shot it into the air. He was lifted above and out of sight. The Joker leaned forward in his seat and looked up as best he could out of the window. Above, Batman let go of his device and landed on top of the ambulance with a bang. The Joker pulled back in his seat and grunted, Batman pulled out the Mangler, a device known to cut through almost anything. "Oh nooo you don't." The Joker was approaching a "Do not enter. Road Closed" sign, he smiled and sped right through the sign, breaking it into several pieces, one hit Batman on the top and he slide backward grabbing the top edge of the ambulance, bouncing onto the back door. The Joker swerved the ambulance from side to side, hitting all possible cones, glancing through the back windows to see if Batman was still hanging on. "You just won't give up, will you?!" He turned another corner and Batman swung to the side, his one hand slipped and he dangled there until he was able to get his other hand back onto the vehicle. The clown back with Madeline took out his gun and opened the back door. Just as he did this Batman swung his legs in and kicked the henchman back towards the front of the ambulance flying over Madeline. Madeline squeaked when she saw the man fall down. Batman stepped over Madeline and punched the clown, turning around and throwing him out the open ambulance doors. Madeline began to slide backwards and Batman grabbed onto her and lifted her into his arms. Ripping the tape off that was over her mouth and hands. "No." The Joker grumbled. He jumped out of his seat and grabbed an oxygen tank from inside one of the cabinets and hit Batman over the head with it. A clown face jumped into the passenger's seat, grabbing hold of the wheel and slowing down the speeding machine. Batman fell to the floor, the Joker raised in again and crashed it upon Batman's back. "Third time's the charm." He raised it again, but Madeline swung her legs around and whipped them into the Joker's feet. He fell to the floor and turned towards Madeline. "You want in, huh?" He pulled out his knife and raised it above Madeline's face. A light from outside caught it and it shined into Madeline's eyes. Just as he was about to strike Batman grabbed his arm and twisted it, pushing him against the wall. The Joker laughed again, "Glad to have you…back." The Joker flung his head back and it hit Batman. Madeline tried to undo the tape on her legs but the movement made it too difficult, she fell over and rolled out the back of the ambulance, her feet hit the pavement first and then the rest of her body wiggled after. Batman let go of the Joker and ran towards the end, but the Joker picked up the oxygen tank again and swung it at Batman's head like a bat. "3 strikes, you're out!" The Joker laughed and the ambulance turned another corner.
Madeline lay in the street, blood trickling out of her left arm. She flipped herself back onto her bottom to undo the tape. Her arms were in great pain and it hurt to move them. She tried as best she could to undo the tape, but her hands were shaky. With one last try she ripped herself free of the tape and stood up. Her one leg collapsed, the ankle was broken no doubt. She stood up as best she could, supporting her entire body on her one leg to look around .The air was silent, no cars on the street. It was eerie, her body was in torment and she wanted to cry. A howling could be heard from the street where the ambulance was last. Her heart began to beat deeply and quickly. She hesitantly turned towards the sound. The ambulance rocketed around the corner. Madeline's eyes grew wide. It stopped in the street and just sat there looking at Madeline, she returned the glance. Suddenly, it sped towards her, Madeline turned herself around and began limping the other way. She pumped her arms to try to get extra speed but nothing helped. Her ankle was in severe pain but as the ambulance got closer, her adrenaline picked up and she began to travel faster and not feel as much pain. She turned around to glimpse at the vehicle, it was a few feet away, she could see the Joker in the passenger side, smiling, his eyes fixed burning onto her. The ambulance caught up with her and the Joker opened his door and jumped out, landing on top of her. She slid a few inches across the pavement and he pushed her face deeper into it. "Hello, Maddie." Madeline lay still face down on the ground, breathing loudly in and out. He adjusted himself, sitting straight up. He lifted up Madeline's head so she could see his grimy white face. She hesitated to turn her eyes towards him, fearing what he would do. She slowly shifted her eyes to his scarred face and the first things she saw was his yellow teeth catching the dull light from the lamps. The Joker smiled for only a moment then slammed Madeline's head back down onto the pavement. Madeline groaned a bit and picked her head up, blood began to ooze out of the top of her forehead. She anchored her hands to the road and tried, slowly lifting herself up.
The Joker stood back and laughed, "You're something else, aren't you?" Madeline mustered enough energy and lifted her body. She staggered a bit and began to try to shuffle away again as fast as she could. The Joker laughed harder, "Where're you goin? Hm?" A faint sound of sirens echoed in the street, Madeline stopped to listen and the Joker walked closer. "Where?" He took a gun out of his pocket and shot at the ground just a foot from Madeline. The bullet hit the ground then bounced up at Madeline and grazed the back of her leg. It did not do much, but it startled her and she fell to the ground. "Where?" He put the gun back in his pocket. Madeline reached out her hand and began crawling away. "Aw" He grunted and ran over to Madeline and kicked her in the stomach. "You are too much for me Maddie. You know that?" She again tried to crawl away. The Joker licked his lips, "Your father is always in my business and don't even get me started on the Batman." He grumbled and hopped to get momentum for his next kick into Madeline's ribs. She fell down to the ground fully again and yelped. Hot tears began flowing down her face, air escaped her. She felt almost like giving up, but she had the urge to carry on, keep going. "And you know what each has in common? They never give UP!" He took one last kick that rolled Madeline over onto her back. As she lie there, staring up into the sky, the Joker walked over to her "So, I bet you're wondering what this has to do with you…huh?" He whipped one leg over her so one was on each side of her and he crouched down, breathing in as if he was going to say something important and looking not at Madeline, but down the street as if he were thinking. Madeline did not speak, she only blinked, scrutinizing him with pure revulsion. "Well…." He slicked back his hair and reached into his pocket, grinning and squinting his eyes, "Let me get to the point." He pulled a needle out of his pocket and lifted off the top, squirting out some of the liquid inside to make sure it worked. The sirens were louder now, it would only be a few seconds before they approached, or at least Madeline hoped so. The Joker looked up towards the street again and smiled at the sound of the sirens. "Sirens, Sirens, Sirens…." He looked back down at Madeline, "When I find a good reason, I'll tell ya. But for now, let's embrace the fear!" He laughed and shoved the needle into Madeline's arm. Madeline flinched and squeezed her eyes shut as the dense liquid was inserted into her arm. The pain rain down her arm and then up. The Joker pulled the needle out and threw it across the road. "It won't be too long gorgeous…" His shrill laugh echoed the street and it hurt Madeline's newly sensitive ears. The World around her began to turn fuzzy, she was losing consciousness quickly. Suddenly, the Joker flew back off of Madeline by several feet. Madeline tried to adjust her eyes to see who or what had caused that but all she could make out was a dark figure. Her guess was it had to be Batman. The Joker was breathing quickly as he just lay there sideways on the road.
He began to laugh, " You finally came back. I was worried you'd forgotten." He got up, but Batman pushed him down again with a punch. He bent down and picked up the Joker, who wiggled in Batman's arms. "Oh how strong you are." The Joker said in a sarcastic tone. Batman tossed him into a nearby car. Glass shattered on top of the Joker and he did not move. Batman ran over to Madeline and lifted up her head, trying to get her to look at him. "Madeline." Her eyes fluttered wildly as they began rolling back in her head. He reached for, his belt to pull something off of it, but the Joker quickly jumped onto his back and held a gun horizontally to Batman's neck, trying to choke him. He spun around reaching for the Joker who was piggybacking on his back as his long coat whirled in the air. Batman grabbed the gun and bent down, flipping the Joker over and off of him. As soon as the Joker hit the floor, he scrambled around for a knife that fell out of his pocket. Batman came racing toward him. The Joker did not find his knife, instead he took one out of his sleeve and spun around, slashing Batman on the corner of his mouth. The Joker giggled with success. Batman fell to the ground and licked his bleeding lip. He was extremely surprised he was hit. The Joker threw the blade down and walked over to Madeline, "Now, I take her…with me. And you, take flight." He smiled and pulled a grenade out of his pocket and bit the end off, throwing it at Batman. Madeline's eyes finally closed and the last thing she saw, was the grenade, flying slowly through the air.
