~Rose's POV~
The next few days passed without event. It seemed that ever since I joined this game, every day that didn't have a challenge was incredibly boring. At least it wasn't like this place had no entertainment, though. I had spent the morning swimming, and now I was taking a walk outside. I hadn't gone very far when Harley's voice rang out over the intercom, so loud it could be heard all over Arkham City, which of course was the point.
"Attention all contestants, go to the mess hall for your next challenge right now, and I expect to see big smiles on your faces!"
I turned around and headed back for the house. I entered the mansion and found the mess hall. The Joker was already there, and he seemed to be having a conversation with the cameraman. It was hard to tell with the clown mask on, but the guy seemed nervous and was trying not to show it. Once we were all there, the Joker stood to face us and the camera guy started recording.
"Greetings, my retarded children, and welcome to your fifth challenge," said Joker with a wide smile. "You'll be pleased to know this one requires little physical effort, or at least part one does. All you have to do is go without sleep for three days, and in that time you will only be given water to drink, no food. Anyone who falls asleep during that time will be disqualified and not allowed to participate in part two of the challenge. Someone will be here to chaperone you at all times, and if you ask them for food three times you will be allowed something to eat, but you will be disqualified. Any questions?"
"Um yeah, I have a question. What's the point of this challenge?" asked Zelda.
"I can't have an apprentice fall asleep when I need him or her most, I mean, duh. Sometimes you have to go without sleep and food for extended periods of time on the job, and so I'm weeding through you kids to pick out the strong ones, the ones with the most stamina. Survival of the fittest you might say. But I'll tell you what, I'll give you something to do during your three days. Come up with a plausible way to, oh I don't know, kidnap someone maybe? Someone important." He said this with a wink, and it couldn't have been any clearer that we had better do it. "Have fun!" And with that, he left us alone. He was replaced by a middle-aged clown woman.
"Hello everyone, my name's Joy! I'll be chaperoning this challenge!" she said cheerily. Most of the hench-ladies here, I observed, didn't feel the need to smile constantly, but the ones who did apparently were the Joker's favorites and he always assigned them to our challenges, while the rest worked behind the scenes. "I brought some pens and paper for you to work with, just stay busy and the three days will fly by!"
"Somehow I doubt that," muttered Robin.
Our two teams split up and, having nothing else to do, set to work on our kidnapping plan.
"How can we make plans to kidnap someone with zero information?" I asked. "All we can do is theorize and guess as to what conditions and challenges we'd be facing."
"Joker said someone important, so there'd probably be a ton of security. It's a start," said Finn with a shrug.
"Hardly. I'm not going to try to come up with a plan with no information, I'm out," said Edward as he got up from our table.
There really was no point in trying to come up with a plan like that, so we gave up on it. For hours we sat in that room with nothing to do. I tried talking to different people, but quickly ran out of topics. I tried working on our "plan" again after that, but there was literally nothing I could come up with. Not to mention I was starting to feel hungry, and it was only made worse by the fact that I knew I wouldn't be eating anything for days. I knew could go without food for a long time, but that didn't make it any easier. Joy had given us each a water bottle but warned us to conserve, saying that once we ran out there would be no refills. I moved away from the table and walked around the room to stretch my legs, but there wasn't much room to walk. I quickly grew tired of walking and sat down against a wall and tried to ignore my pangs of hunger. I stared at the opposite wall, studying the bizarre pattern of colors intently in an attempt to distract and entertain myself. I did this for so long that the bright colors seemed to move and dance around as though they had come alive. I found myself missing the challenges that threatened my life, at least in those challenges I could do something with myself. My brain didn't have an off switch and my mind was always a whirlwind of thought, which made this challenge that much more difficult and irritating.
"Hey Scarlet," said Bree with a yawn. "You hardly ever eat, how do you deal with this? I could never do this willingly."
"Hunger goes away for the most part after a few days, after that it's not so bad," said Scarlet while examining her nails. Most of her arms were covered, but I could still see a few scars.
"Well I'm bored. Anyone wanna hear about the time I went hunting for Bigfoot?" asked Johnny.
Even though we all knew he was probably lying, everyone asked him to tell it. That's how bored we were. His story became more and more outrageous with every word he spoke, and at some point he got off topic and told us about the time he dated Vicki Vale.
Several more hours passed, and I guessed it was nighttime, although I had no way of knowing for sure as Joy wouldn't say. I stopped studying the wall before me when Edward came to sit beside me. "How you holding up?" he asked.
"Okay I guess. This is the easy part, I dread tomorrow, that's when we'll really start hurting," I told him.
"I guess I should have known the Joker would implement a challenge to test our willpower like this. I thought I was prepared, but I'd kill for a cheeseburger right about now, and it's only going to get worse."
"No doubt the Joker's getting a kick out of this. He really knows how to torment people, physically and mentally," I said.
"Talk to me," he said. "Talking will distract us from all this. It won't help much, but I'm game for anything at this point."
"There's nothing left to talk about."
"Tell me about yourself," he said.
"You first."
"All right, fine. My dad's a detective and my mom is a bounty hunter for the mob. Both wanted me to go into their line of work and they constantly argue over which side of the law I should be on, yet their marriage is somehow stronger than most. It sounds like something from a bad movie, but that's how it is. I followed in my mother's footsteps by apprenticing under my uncle as a hitman a few years back when I turned fifteen. That's why I'm here, actually." He lowered his voice and said in my ear, "I plan to kill the Joker after I win this thing."
I whispered, "Why would you want to do that? I thought you wanted to work for him."
"I'm done being an apprentice, and killing him would gain me a lot of respect in the underworld. The way I see it, this will get me close enough to him to pull it off."
"What if you can't do it? You're not exactly the first person to go after the Joker's life, you know."
"I guess we'll find out, won't we?" he said with a grin.
We talked a little while longer, mostly about me and the others. Actually, we talked about anything we could think of, down to the most random thoughts that popped into our heads out of nowhere. The next few hours, or they could have been minutes, it was hard to tell, were made somewhat easier by our strange conversation. I think my favorite part was when we discussed how the guards at Arkham could usually be caught eyeing female doctors, instead of watching their assigned patients.
As the hours passed, I began to feel myself grow tired, but not nearly as much as the others, I could tell. I didn't sleep much anyway and so the lack of sleep wasn't much of an issue, but most everyone else in here was about to tip over. The only other person still wide awake was Robin. While he wasn't looking his best, he obviously wasn't suffering from the lack of sleep. It wasn't very surprising, staying up for days was sort of in the job description for Batman's sidekicks.
At that point, I was pretty sure that we had gotten through the first day, or at least, I hoped we had. Having no knowledge of the time was like being back in the asylum, at least there we could sleep and eat. Still, I was not about to cave. I had to prove that I could endure, I had to prove it to the Joker, and to myself.
As it turns out, locking up fifteen mentally unstable teenagers in a room with no food or entertainment is never a good idea, which was clearly the Joker's intention. Tempers began to flare at the slightest provocation, and a brawl seemed almost inevitable. Insults were hurled at one another, and after living with one another for so long in a mental institution, everyone had plenty of dirt on everyone else and therefore plenty of ammo. I now saw why Joy had taken everyone's knives away at the start, the Joker didn't want to lose his victims all at once. While he would undoubtedly enjoy that, he wanted to keep this going as long as possible, and therefore sacrifices had to be made.
More time passed, and a few people began to give in. Bree fell asleep, and so did Drake. I was surprised when Zelda succumbed, I had expected her to go the full time. A few people asked for food a couple times, but never three times. They might have been unable to stay awake, but they weren't going to risk losing a challenge for a full stomach, no matter how badly they wanted to.
My hunger had been intensifying, but after a while it seemed to lessen, if only slightly. My hunger was also helping to keep my mind clear, which I happily welcomed. I still wasn't very sleepy, I could go without sleep much longer than three days (I had done it before) but my low blood sugar was sort of canceling that out. The worst part for me was just sitting there twiddling my thumbs and waiting. I hated inaction, I wanted to do something that required physical or mental effort, not something that made me want to claw my own eyes out. It was as if the Joker had designed this challenge just for me, knowing that of all of them, this one had the most potential to be my undoing. My one comfort was that if I could beat this, surely I could handle whatever else the Joker threw at me.
More people succumbed to their fatigue. Elise, although I think she chose to give in because of Drake, and Johnny and Scarlet too. Just when I had about reached a point where I felt like I was going to have to hold my eyelids open to stay awake, the door finally opened and the Joker stepped in. Our three days were up.
"Hidey-ho, children!" he said cheerfully. "Congratulations to the nine who made it through part one! If you'll follow me, I'll take you to part two!"
"Wait, aren't you going to feed us first, or let us rest?" Sam asked. He had dark circles under his eyes, and I knew I must have had the same.
"If I did that, then what good would part one have been?" asked Joker as though this should have been obvious. "Now come on, let's get this show on the road before you all collapse."
We followed him outside to the clothing store next door where he gave us our instructions. "For part two, you'll have to pull off a kidnapping, as I believe I mentioned before. Kidnapping is a common tool for bad guys, and so it's important you learn how to do it without screwing up, even when you're low on energy."
"If you wanted us to pull off a successful kidnapping when we can barely stand or think straight, much less use a weapon properly, you might as well have given us alcohol and let us get drunk for the challenge," said Jess-Belle irritatedly.
"I could have, but you would have enjoyed that too much, and it wouldn't have been nearly as fun for me," he said with a chuckle. "Now, back to your challenge. You won't be kidnapping just anyone, you'll be kidnapping our dear sweet former mayor Sharpie!"
In a manner much like when Robin was introduced, a big, burly henchman brought out Quincy Sharp, but hadn't bothered with any restraints. The man looked ragged; his clothes were old and worn and it looked like it had been a very long time since he had seen a shower. He had been the one to create Arkham City, but after everything fell apart and it was almost destroyed, the people put the blame for its failure and the problems it caused all on him, using him as a scapegoat, and demanded he step down as mayor. He tried to resist at first, but there was no way a man like him could take on the entire city and win. He had quit the job and disappeared, hiding from the press and the thugs he had locked away. Not many people knew what became of him after that. He looked petrified, his face was drained of color and dripping with sweat. He hadn't aged very well, and looked as if he was just one 'boo!' away from a heart attack. How had the Joker gotten him in Arkham City, past the shield and without detection? Maybe Bats and the police just didn't care enough about him anymore to rescue him. I knew that wasn't the real reason, but I wouldn't have been surprised if it was, given all the wonderful things he had done to Gotham.
"You're probably wondering why I didn't kidnap our current mayor. Sharpie hasn't been in Arkham City in ages, he must have missed it so terribly. As the father of Arkham City, he's done more damage to Gotham than most thugs do in their lifetime, so naturally he's the perfect candidate for assisting in the challenge," laughed Joker as he clapped Sharp on the back.
"Please Joker, I'll do anything, anything…" he pleaded desperately.
Oh please, even if I could be bought with material possessions, what would you have to offer me? The dumpster I found you sleeping in? You're a pathetic, reeking hobo who's lucky to get two meals a week and there's not a soul in Gotham who cares if you live or die. In fact, the only person who's spent any time at all thinking of your welfare is yours truly," said Joker with an amused grin on his face. "Now to state the obvious, Sharpie will be guarded, blah blah blah, you know the rest. Your job is very simple, actually. Sharpie will be kept here, and all you have to do is get him out and to your team's homebase. Freaks, your base is the daycare center next door to the left, and Dogs, yours is the pharmacy to the right." He began to leave, but turned back and said, "Oh, and you have my permission to kill Sharpie, but you do whatever you want," he said with a dismissive wave of his hand. By the Joker's behavior in these challenges, one might think he didn't care about the end results at all.
As the door swung shut behind him, seven clown guards moved in around Sharp like bodyguards.
"I guess I got my wish," I muttered to myself. Actually, despite my fatigue and growling stomach, I was happy to fight these guys. It beat sitting in a room staring at colorful wallpaper any day.
My team and I looked at the Dogs for a moment as they looked at us, waiting for the others to make the first move. Without even thinking about it, we rushed the guards at the same time the Dogs did and attacked. It was harder to do in our weaker state, but all of us together took them out rather quickly. I wondered if the Joker had sent some of the weaker ones to protect Sharpie so that we'd stand a chance against them. Probably not, but it was possible. Either way, once we were done with them, we all threw ourselves at Sharp and attempted to drag him back with us, and it turned into an all-out brawl. Both teams grabbed at his arms and legs and pulled like it was a tug-of-war as Sharp screamed in pain and pleaded helplessly for mercy. It wasn't exactly the best strategy for kidnapping, but in our sleep-deprived minds, it seemed like the best idea ever. Actually, I was still coherent enough to see how messed up this all was, but I didn't let that stop me from following the crowd. I had a challenge to win after all, and being able to think somewhat clearly meant I just got to enjoy the madness of this whole thing. The audience would think I was no better than the rest of them, when really I was just as lucid as ever, which made it even better.
During the fight, Robin pulled away and shouted at us to stop, but of course no one listened. He tried to force us to stop, but he was powerless against all of us. We were no better than savages, which for some reason I found to be quite amusing. Someone knocked Robin out after a while, allowing us to act like Neanderthals in peace.
As the brawl progressed, some people used up what little energy they had left and dropped to the floor gasping for air, some passing out right on the spot. The rest of us began to fight each other while trying not to lose hold of Sharp, but fight is too loose a term for what we were doing. It probably looked more like a bunch of drunks stumbling around, but even so some of us were able to get a few good hits in. I don't know who did it, but during the fight I was knocked to the floor and my head collided with the ground. My head wound combined with everything else was too much, and once I was on the ground, I didn't want to move ever again. Right then that floor was more comfortable than any pillow. I knew I had a few bruises and cuts, but I could barely feel them through the haze in my mind.
In the end, it came down to Jack vs. Finn. Their duel didn't last long though; Jack punched Finn in the stomach and took off with Sharp. I laid down on the floor, no longer caring that we were going to lose again. I finally let myself succumb to sleep, not that I had much say in the matter. My body couldn't fight any longer, and so I gave in.
~Robin's POV~
I was woken up by freezing water being dumped on my body by one of the henchmen. My eyes shot open and, gasping, I took in my surroundings. We were in the auditorium, and everyone was getting ice water dumped on them, resulting in a chorus of startled shouts and angry cursing. I could see the Wheel of Misfortune; we had lost, and it was time to eliminate someone from my team. There would be no technicality to save us this time, we had to face the music.
The Joker walked out on stage, carrying a limp Quincy Sharp over his shoulder. My head throbbed, and with my exhaustion and hunger, it took all my remaining energy just to focus on the situation before me. The Joker put Sharp down but held onto him, and I noticed that Sharp looked very pale, battered, and broken. I noticed that there was a lot of blood on his clothes, and that one of his arms was hanging by a bit of skin while other was gone completely. I had a bad feeling about what had happened to him. The cameraman signaled to Joker, and he began to speak.
"Well kids, I hardly know what to say about your performance today," he began stoically. "It was one of the most depraved things I have ever seen, and I've seen a lot of depravity in my lifetime. Giving into your most primal instincts and doing what you did to each other, and to Sharpie. You should all be ashamed of yourselves, which is why I'm so proud of you all tonight," he said as he wiped away a tear with a proud grin. "I expected one or two of you to try to kill the poor vagrant, but even I was surprised when you trampled him to death and tore him apart like a ragdoll, you were worse than the crowds on Black Friday. I'm sure you were all too out of it to realize that you were killing him, which makes his death even funnier. But alas, despite the wonderful job you did today, the Freaks must now choose one of their own to kick the bucket."
Harley passed around slips of paper, pens, and a hat. As I contemplated my vote, I thought back to the challenge. The memory was fuzzy, but I could make out enough to be repulsed by it. Of course the Joker was proud, we had been no better than animals, myself included. It took me a lot longer than it should have to realize things were getting out of hand, the first part of the challenge had slowed my reflexes and made thinking clearly extremely difficult. Not only that, but I knew I played a part in the man's death. Even though I really didn't like him, the guy was dead, and part of the blame was on me. But right now I needed to focus on the task at hand. Tonight, I would play a part in someone else's death, again. Two people would be dead by tonight, one was already gone, the other could possibly be chosen by me. I had to vote, or the Joker would set off his bombs. I was tempted to resist him; after all, if there actually were bombs, surely Bruce and the police would have found them all and disarmed them by now, but I had no way of knowing for sure, and I couldn't risk the chance that they hadn't and have the blood of so many on my hands. I eventually chose Edward, not out of spite, but because I doubted anyone else would be voting for him, at least not yet.
Harley collected our votes and passed them to the Joker, who counted them just as he had before. He then announced, "And tonight's loser is… Gollum!"
His words instantly snapped me out of my stupor, and as I stood to protest, I felt a hand on my arm. I looked and saw Violet shaking her head. I watched helplessly as Finn stood and said, "I will accept his fate, but not without a fight." His voice was slightly higher pitched, and I realized with horror that "Aunt Lydia" had taken over and was going to try to take down the Joker, just as Nigel had tried to do. She was determined to try to defeat the Joker because she was willing to die to save Finn, unable to comprehend the fact that if she died, he would still die, regardless.
As Finn pulled out his knife and slashed at the Joker, I could tell that Lydia had absolutely no skill with a knife, causing several people from both teams to laugh at him. I wondered if they knew he wasn't himself, or if they even cared. They had voted for him because he lost the challenge, but at least he had made it farther than the rest of us. This was completely unfair, and I felt a mix of anger and sadness as I decided there was no way I was just going to let this continue. He was my only friend here, and I couldn't stand to see this happen. I had made him a promise, and while it had been sort of an impossible promise to keep, I couldn't go back on it. For a moment I forgot the consequences of what I was about to do and I got out of my seat and ran to help him, even though on some level I knew there was no way we could win this. The Joker produced one of his razor-sharp playing cards and threw it at Finn, lodging it deep in his throat. Finn spluttered and coughed up blood before collapsing, and then the Joker turned his attention on me. Even though the Joker didn't look like he could last five minutes in a fight, I knew better, I knew what to expect, but for all my training, there was no way I could beat him in my condition. I got in a few punches, but he took me down with humiliating speed and ease. He grabbed me by the front of my suit and looked me right in the eye as he spoke.
"I thought we had a deal, Chuckles," he said, his face still smiling but his voice deathly quiet. "You know the rules, but you tried to cheat anyway. I'll just have to punish you, like a good mentor should. Don't worry, I won't set off the bombs just yet. I have other ways of teaching you to play by the rules."
He dropped me to the floor and then turned back to face the camera as he said, "It's too bad Gollum had to go the way he did, Sharpie really wanted to spin that Wheel. I'm just guessing though, since he's being awful quiet. Don't touch that dial folks, 'cause we'll be back as soon as I perk these kids back up. Maybe a good ole cup of joe, or ten. Next time I might just read some of the fan mail you've all been sending me, I'm sure that would be entertaining!"
He signed off the episode, and I tried to stand and go back to the dorm room with as much dignity as I could muster, feelings of utter loathing for the Joker surging through me.