Rose

Warning: This chapter contains scenes of violence.

Chapter 7

The Joker stepped out of the van and took a deep breath of the night air. Refreshing. His henchmen jumped out behind him and he turned to face them.

"Here we are!" he said cheerfully, throwing his arms out dramatically. "Back at the old school," he grabbed the duffel bag off Pedo, "All of you except Light, start unloading the barrels. Light, follow me," He lead Light to the janitor's supply hut and opened the duffel bag. "You can pick locks, right?" Light nodded, immediately getting what he needed from the bag and starting to pick the lock. The Joker watched closely, committing the process to memory in case he needed it. When Light was finished, he pushed the door open and the Joker went inside. He had never understood why the janitor needed a hut. He found what he needed immediately. This was ridiculously easy. Why hadn't he done this years ago? He took the set of spare keys from their hook then looked around for anything interesting. He spotted a hat and a shovel. He shoved the hat on his head and grabbed the shovel. He walked out of the hut, whistling and twirling the keys on his fingers.

"Nice hat Boss,"

"Thank you. Which of these keys do you think would lock the hut?" the Joker gave him the keys. Light examined the keys then took one and tried it in the door. It worked. It didn't look like anyone had been here. Perfect. "Now, which one of these keys would open the school?"

"I'd have to see the lock,"

"You go do that. Back door. I'll check on the others," the Joker watched Light go towards the back of the school then turned to return to his henchmen. They had unloaded all the barrels and the canister and had placed them on carts so they could be taken from one place to another more easily. "Take them around the back. Light should have unlocked the door by now," They each grabbed a cart or two and pulled them towards the back of the school. They were all so obedient. Like dogs. He giggled at the thought then followed them. Light was standing by the open doors. Once they were all gathered, the Joker spoke. "Anyone want to suggest where we will put these?" he laughed. That sentence sounded so wrong.

"The janitor's room?" Dope suggested.

"Correct! Let's go," he walked into the school, his henchmen on his tail pushing the heavy carts. When they were all inside he locked the door behind them. The janitor's room was found through an old, oak door located in the corridor beside the principal's office. It was like a basement, there was a set of stairs that led down to a small room containing only a chair and a few books. The Joker reached the corridor, stood outside the door and then turned to Light. "Open the door," He moved to the side to let Light look at the door and pick out a key. When the door was open, he flicked the light switch and gestured for his henchmen to take the carts into the room. He hoped they wouldn't have too much trouble with the stairs. "Light, take the two keys you used to open the school and open this door off the set of keys," Light picked out two keys out and placed them into the Joker's outstretched palm. "Good. Now check on the others," Light turned around to look into the room and the Joker smashed him in the back of the head with the shovel, enjoying the satisfying clang. He shouldn't be dead, just out cold. Hopefully. He lent his shovel against the wall and looked through the door to check on his henchmen. They had been distracted by the noise. They all stared at him. "What are you looking at? Get back to work," They all looked away quickly and returned to their work, moving the carts around so they could all fit in the small room. The Joker took a moment to look at the neat rows of barrels his henchmen had set up, then grabbed the un-conscious Light and dragged him down the stairs, dumping him in the middle of the room so he was surrounded by the barrels. He turned the knob on the canister all the way. This gas should provide a nice fuel air mixture. "Viola! Let's go," His henchmen ascended the stairs, only Pedo taking a small glance back at Light as he left. The Joker went last, flicking off the light as he went and locking the door behind him.

"Hey, what are you kids doing here?" The janitor stood at the end of the corridor.

"Causing havoc of course," the Joker laughed. The janitor stormed down the corridor.

"This is trespassing! I should call the police!" The Joker sighed. He hadn't planned on killing anymore than necessary. Oh well, he would have died anyway.

"Grab him," The two henchmen who weren't Dope or Pedo grabbed the janitor. The Joker kicked him in the stomach then picked up his shovel and smashed yet another person in the head. He took some masking tape out of the duffel bag and wrapped it around the janitor's mouth. They finally left the school, bringing the un-conscious janitor with them. The Joker locked the door behind him. "Back to the forest,"


He had just stabbed the janitor in the chest and got two henchmen to dump him in a deep ditch in the forest. The janitor wasn't important enough to warrant a more creative death. He now sat in a tree in the forest which Dope told him they always had their meetings in. Pedo sat on one of the lower branches and the Joker sat on a higher branch with Dope beside him. Dope felt too close again and he was staring at the Joker with those weird eyes of his. He felt a bit un-comfortable being stared at by creepy eyes. Dope was taking this second in command thing a bit too far. Suddenly one of the two henchmen he had sent to dump the body came running toward their tree, looking white-faced.

"He... he fell! Into the ditch where were throwing the janitor! He just... slipped," This was the first time the Joker had heard the henchman speak.

"How deep was the ditch?" The Joker took this opportunity to get off the branch and away from Dope.

"Very,"

"He's probably dead then. Was he a relative?" The Joker didn't really care, he was just curious. The henchman nodded. They had looked quite alike.

"My brother. He was the only family I had left," The Joker still didn't care. "I... can't do this anymore," Okay, now he did care.

"What?" he grabbed the front of the henchman's shirt.

"I can't do this! Killing people... their families will feel like me. I can't do that to others. I just can't!" The Joker pulled out his knife and slit the henchman's throat. He let go of his shirt and watched him fall to the ground. He turned back to the tree. Dope was smiling at him in a creepy way and Pedo looked horrified. His face was white as he attempted to scramble off the tree. He landed shakily on his feet and attempted to run. Dope jumped off the tree and ran after him, tackling him and catching him. He dragged him back to the tree, kicking and screaming the whole way. Dope pulled him to his feet in front of the Joker and held him so he couldn't move.

"I don't want to die! Please don't kill me. I'll do anything, please! Please don't kill me!" Tears streamed down his white face as he begged. Begging is really annoying.

"You know Pedo," The Joker wiped the blood off his knife with his sleeve, "For some unknown reason, I don't like you," He brought the knife to Pedo's throat. Pedo struggled against Dope but he was held fast. He began to sob.

"P...Please don't... please," The Joker jammed the knife into Pedo's throat. That would shut him up. Dope let go and watched Pedo's body crumple at his feet. People revealed so much about themselves when they were about to die. Pedo had been a coward, willing to beg for his life. Funny but pathetic. He knew what he had to do next. He stepped over Pedo and rammed Dope against the tree trunk. The Joker stood on Dope's feet and held his hands above his head with the hand that wasn't holding the knife. He brought the knife to Dope's neck.

"Wait! Joker, please," The Joker was slightly surprised, this was the first time one of his henchmen hadn't called him Boss. "Don't kill me. Let me join you. Scar me. Give me the scars which you have. Then I'll know what it's like," The Joker was interested.

"What what is like?"

"Whoever gave you those scars was a sick bastard. Let me share your pain. Scar me too," This person was insane. Interesting.

"Why would you do that?"

"Joker... I love you," The Joker broke his hold on Dope and jumped away from him. "I've always liked you but only since you changed, became the Joker, did I fall for you. Please scar me so I can feel your pain," Dope stepped toward him. The Joker hit Dope as hard as he could and he fell to the ground. He still kept talking "We'll be the same. We can run away together. Scar me. I love you." The Joker knelt down and grasped Dope's neck in his knife-free hand. He squeezed and heard Dope choking, his hands limply grasping at The Joker's grip on his throat.

"I'll scar you," He brought the knife to Dope's mouth, pushed the blade in and sliced up, copying the scars he had seen on his own face earlier. When Dope had the smile shaped cuts in his face, the Joker dropped the knife and placed both hands around his throat, choking the life out of him. Dope died quickly, helped along by the blood loss from the cuts. The Joker's gloves were covered in blood. Great. Now he had three bodies to deal with too. Oh fuck it. He decided to just leave the knife, shovel and janitor's hat by the tree along with the bodies. He picked up the duffel bag and walked away. There was no way he was sticking around here. He needed to go somewhere where he could see the show.


The explosion was glorious. The fire, the sound, the rumbling of the earth beneath his feet. Truly wonderful. He knew Light couldn't resist flicking his lighter on, causing all that gas and oil around him to blow up, taking the school and a good proportion of the surrounding area out with it. He wasn't sure if it was going to work but it had and the chaos was brilliant. He could hear the screaming even from the hill he was standing on. He was leaving this place behind. He needed to find somewhere he could hide until he wanted to be noticed. Somewhere big, a city perhaps. Somewhere where the people were easy to manipulate. A big, crime riddled city would do nicely. Now he just had to find one.


It hadn't been difficult to attract the Bat's attention. A few helpless hostages and he had flown straight into the trap. The Joker laughed as he walked towards the beat up, chained Batman.

"You make this too easy Batsy," Batman lurched forward, stopped by the chains. He growled and glared at the Joker.

"What do you want Joker?"

"Just the pleasure of your conversation. Seen any good movies lately?" Batman remained silent and continued to glare at him. The Joker sighed. "If you won't talk, I'll just tell you a little story. Do you want to know how I got these scars?"

"No," The Joker just laughed and continued. He always said no.

"I used to have a family you know. A mommy, a daddy and a sweet little sister called Rose..."


A/N: The End. Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed Rose - A Joker Origin Story. Thank you to my regular reviewer Koschei966, your reviews encouraged me to keep going until the end. Thank you to my fellow Muffin Martians and friends for beta-ing. Please leave a review, this is the end and your last chance to tell me what you think. Have a pleasant day and sweet dreams x

Muffin Martian Eleri

Disclaimer: I don't own Batman, the Joker or anything recognisable in this story. I think they belong to DC and Warner Bros. Studios.