It took longer than expected for Poison Ivy to get the Joker and Harley out of Arkham, and Harry went to the Riddler's place after one week at Gabe's. Dick had gone to Wayne Manor by then already and Harry and Gabe had visited him twice by the end of the second week. Both boys, who were used to living in small homes or old, abandoned buildings, were awed at the large magnificence of the mansion. There were so many priceless paintings and sculptures that Harry's hands itched to steal. With the way Gabe's fingers twitched, he wasn't the only one with that problem.

Harry hadn't yet told Dick his parents were still locked away, not wanting his friend to figure out who they were yet. He wanted to be sure he didn't lose his friend when he found out.

*I ssmell ssomething that will make you happy, Hatchling,* Malinda hissed cryptically.

*What is it then?* Harry asked curiously.
*A present? Cake makes me happy! Is it cake?*

*Is that your new nickname for us, 'Hatchling'?*

Harry swiveled around, his eyes wide as he stared up at a grinning Joker, still wearing his orange prison garb. Harry smiled brightly and jumped up into his dad's arms.

"Dad!" he screamed happily.

"Looks like cake isn't the only thing that makes you happy," the Clown Prince of Crime laughed as he hugged his son.

"Cake?" Harley asked, appearing from behind Joker along with Ivy.
"If ya want cake, I'll make ya some, hun!"

"No!" Joker and Harry cried out together, eyes wide in horror.

"It's your first day back out," Harry explained quickly.
"I'll make one, as a welcome back present!"

"I'll help him!" Ivy offered readily, smiling at Harley.

"Nice save, kid," Joker muttered in Harry's ear, making the boy laugh joyously.

"I really missed you guys so much," he sighed happily.

. . . . .

The rest of August passed quickly after that. Harry soon stopped visiting his friend in favor of reconnecting with his parents after too long of a separation. Dick didn't contact him either, probably still working on getting used to the huge house he now had to call home. To be honest, Harry wasn't envious in the slightest. He'd never want to live in a big, cold place like that with only two other people. He preferred cozy and busy.

"You're lost in thought again," Bill spoke.
"And just when we've arrived too."

Harry shook himself out of his musings and looked up to find his driver/ bodyguard was indeed right. They had arrived at the school. Harry smiled at Bill and jumped out of the car, shouting the man a goodbye before rushing through the gates. He looked around himself, seeing Gabe and his friends at the basketball court shooting hoops while Bette was chatting annoyingly loud to the second year redhead, Barbara and a new student. Harry's eyes widened along with his smile when he recognized the new boy.

"Dick!"

His friend looked up and smiled relieved while Barbara, who was sitting next to him scowled. Dick waved him over, so Harry walked up to the three of them. Nikki, who was standing with some of the other kids from their year nearby, raised a brow when he saw Harry approached and quickly turned towards Dick.

"I'd stay away from Riddle if I were you," he said.
"He's a weirdo and a troublemaker."

"Really?" Dick asked curiously, making Harry frown and slow his pace.
"Are we talking, like, circus weird? Or is he more normal than that?"

"Circus weird," Nikki replied, grinning smugly.
"That kid belongs in a freak show, trust me."

Barbara hissed in anger at Nikki, who barely even looked at the younger girl, but Harry knew right away she was aware of who Dick was, as she was the daughter of Captain Gordon of Gotham PD. Dick's earlier smile disappeared in a second and he stared at the redhead boy with a cold expression.

"I lived in a circus my whole life," he said coolly.
"I guess that means me and Harry are a perfect fit, right? Two weirdo's escaped from the freak show."

Nikki took a step back in shock while Harry barked out a laugh. He walked up to the others, smacking Nikki's back hard enough to make the taller boy stagger a bit. Harry smirked at the wide-eyed look his classmate gave him and went to stand next to Dick, who was wearing a similar smirk.

"Next time, find out who you're talking to first, Nikolas," Harry snickered.
"This, is Dick Greyson. Youngest acrobat of the Flying Greysons' trio. He watched his parents fall to their deaths three weeks ago."

"Oh no…" Bette gasped horrified.

"Next time you try to slander someone, make sure the person you so it to isn't the same," Dick told Nikki harshly.

"Next time you try to slander someone, make sure they can't rip your balls off if they felt like it," Harry said, grinning darkly.

Nikki paled and turned on his heels, running away as fast as he could as harry, Dick and Bette laughed loudly Barbara was smiling too, but she tried to keep it in. She didn't like Harry in the slightest, not that he blamed her after the pranks he pulled on her the year before. Gabe and his friends walked up to them after seeing the commotion, the basketball still held under the brunette's arm.

"What happened?" Gabe asked curiously, eyeing the retreating forms of Nikki and his friends.

"They just came over to welcome Dick to the school," Harry replied innocently, making Dick and Bette snort amused.

Gabe chuckled and shook his head.

"If that's all," he muttered before walking away again.

The bell rang shortly after and Harry linked his arms with both Dick and Bette, grinning at his friend and semi-friend as he pulled them along to class. Miss Alice was eyeing him warily as they approached, a glint of fear creeping into her eyes as she stared at Harry. The boy grinned in a sinister manner. This year would be even better than the last two years, he was sure of that.

. . . . .

The first month of school went by without a hitch. Harry picked up his pranking habit, which he had discovered in his first year, turning Miss Alice's hair grey at a rapid pace. The woman was only in her early thirties, but the worry lines seemed to double in appearance every single day. Harry tricks went from fart cushions at the oddest of places, hurtful messages on the blackboard, escaped mice and frogs and once, he even called in a favor from one of Joker's contacts to sneak a Lama into the school and ride it to class. Dick had laughed so hard at that one and had been eager to join Harry. All in all, the two friends had detention nearly every week, with Bette or Gabe joining them every once in a while.

Soon, they were known to the whole school as the Trouble Duo. To some, they, along with Gabe, who hung out with them more and more often, had become the three musketeers, with Bette as their d'Artagnan.

As Bette's best friend, Barbara often got stuck in the crossfire, and whenever she ended up in detention with them, she spent the whole hour glaring at Harry, much to Dick and Gabe's amusement. The two of them teased him a lot, believing that aggressive dislike for him just meant she had a crush on him. Harry laughed at the notion and, to show how wrong they were, he started flirting with the redhead. To his own surprise, she blushed every time he did.

His training at home had become a lot more intense. He practiced for a whole hour every morning, spent the weekends at the Hideout, training with Joker's men, Magic was practiced every afternoon once he had finished his homework, and every Wednesday after school, he went to the Riddler's place to practice codebreaking and ICT. Just talking to the man improved Harry's steadily growing vocabulary, and he even learned French and Latin from him.

Now, however, Harry was jumping in excitement, wearing his newly improved costume. Rainbow striped thighs, blue shorts, blue boots, orange long sleeved shirt with rainbow striped sleeves, red goggles and clown make-up. Joker was holding up two bottles. One was decently sized with a green concoction in it and the other small with an eye dropper and a clear liquid inside.

"Green hair like your dad, and blue eyes like your mom," Joker said grinning, handing the small bottle to Harley.

Harry took off his goggles and sat still while Joker rubbed the green potion in his hair, turning it poisonous green like his own. Once he was done, Harley stepped forward and tipped his head back, letting a drop fall on both his eyes. Harry blinked furiously as she stepped away again and looked at the mirror. The boy staring back at him was a perfect combination of both his parents. His messy green hair looked a lot like Joker's and his eyes were the exact same shade of light blue as his mom's. He smiled.

"Awesome," he whispered.

"Now all ya need is a name for yaself, hun," Harley told him cheerfully.

"Child's Play," Harry replied instantly.

"Perfect!" Joker exclaimed cackling.
"Now we're ready to rob a jewelry store!"

. . . . .

It was the first time Harry was allowed to do more than just stand watch while his parents went in the store, and he was truly ecstatic when they blow up the door with his mom's bazooka and stepped inside. On Child's Play's belt, two heavy juggling pins were fastened and a Beretta 21A Bobcat in his back pocket. All in all, Harry was ready for any situation.

That was a good call too, it seemed, because they had only just started when the Bat showed up to stop them. Child's Play had been loading diamonds in a bag when a large shadow fell over him. He immediately jumped up and pulled out his gun, but the man standing behind him easily grabbed his hand and twisted, making Child's Play shout in pain and let go of the weapon.

"Training children now, Joker?" Batman asked coldly, glaring at the Clown Prince of Crime.

"Just one," Joker replied grinning, aiming his own gun at the vigilante.
"Figured I'd get my son ready to take over the family business early enough. You never know in our line of work, you know?"

"You don't have a son," Batman replied darkly.

"Then what am I, huh Batbrain?" Child's Play growled annoyed.
"A piece of buttered toast? I'm not fucking invisible you know!"

"No," Batman agreed, pulling the boy further away from the Joker.
"You're a victim. Just give yourself up, and I'll help you-"

A large mallet slammed into Batman's side at that moment and he went down with a grunt, letting go of Child's Play's arm. The boy pouted and rubbed his sore arm, glaring at the downed hero before looking up at his mom, her mallet slung over her shoulder as she glared at Batman.

"Keep ya hands off my baby, ya bastard!" she hissed.

"Time for you to go back to the getaway car, kid," Joker said to his son.

Child's Play wanted to complain, but when he saw his dad's serious expression, he nodded solemnly and took off. In the entrance hall of the store, however, his way was blocked by a second figure. To his surprise, this one was about his own size. Child's Play stopped running and pulled out his juggling pins, glaring at the stranger.

"That's as far as you'll get!" the other boy called haughtily.
"Now, either give up, or expect some pain."

Child's Play stared at the raven haired boy in front of him. He had the same messy black as his own would be without the coloring potion that turned it the poisonous green it was right now. He wore a black domino mask, hiding his eyes and the upper half of his face. His costume existed from green thighs, green boots, green gloves, a red shirt with an 'R' on it, and a cape. Black on the outside, yellow on the inside. He held a Bo staff in his hand and he was appraising Harry much in the same way as Harry was doing with him.

"Huh. I knew Batbrain was a fucking hypocritical asshole, but I hadn't realized just how much yet," Harry muttered, cocking his head.
"What's he thinking? Complaining to my dad he shouldn't employ children and then show up with a shrimp like you himself?"

"I'm taller than you, genius," the boy shot back frowning.
"Who're you anyway? Some crazy kid Joker found in the gutter?"

Harry raised a brow and stared impassively at the other child. The Bo staff was aimed at his chest in an attempt to be intimidating. He grinned and gripped his juggling pins a bit harder.

"I'm Child's Play," he replied.
"And who might you be? Batboy?"

"Robin."

"Like the bird? Cute," Harry snorted giving the other boy a mocking grin.

"Yeah? What about yours? It doesn't even make sense," the red and green clad boy growled.

"Sure it does!" Harry exclaimed grinning, throwing his arms wide.
"I'm a child, and I play! See? Perfect fit, right?"

"This is a game to you?" Robin asked incredulous.
"You're in the middle of robbing a jewelry store!"

"Yup! Fun, right? Fun! Fun, fun, fun!" Harry laughed.

Robin growled and charged at him, his staff raised. Harry laughed again and dodged the attack, swinging one of his juggling pins at the boy hero's head, only to miss as Robin ducked underneath his swing and swiped Harry's legs out from under him. He winced as he landed harshly on his back.

Before Robin could press his advantage, Harry rolled away and jumped on his feet. He'd lost both pins earlier, so he quickly slid a deadly card out of his sleeve and threw it at Robin, who dodged and attacked again. The card embedded itself into the wall, and though it hadn't done much to stop Robin, it had distracted him enough for Harry to dive towards one of his juggling pins and retrieve it.

When Robin reached him, he swung the pin, slamming it in the other boy's stomach with as much force as he could muster. He grinned in victory and stepped towards the downed boy, but paused when he saw Harley running towards the exit with a large bag over her shoulder.

"Time to go, hun!" she called.

Harry looked up, seeing Joker carrying another two bags rushing towards them too, laughing maniacally and the Batman hot on his heels. Harry glanced towards Robin once more before following after his parents, picking up his other pin as he went.

"Comin mom!" he yelled, before turning around one last time.
"Let's play again soon, alright Bird-boy?"