At that last shout of rebellion, Jack finally managed to pull the whip out of the Monster's grip, just as it's form really took hold of that of the man with the short buzzcut hair and the same eyes as Jack. The strong, military formed body took shape, and yet all that remained still unsure was that terrible gargled voice that was unrecognizable, just terrible to hear as it ROARED and the man fell to the barn floor.

The sword was held to the man's neck, as proper as a true swordsman like Zorro, and Jack's face, now fully determined and bold, no hint of the timid and fearfulness left, glowered at the adult man as he put one dirty bare foot on top of the man's chest as if to keep him down with it too.

"Raven, hurry!" Jack suddenly called, while still watching the man, "Run out of the barn, don't look back, and stay out!"

When Raven, despite obviously NOT wanting to leave the little boy, did as told and hurried out, she could hear a whoomp noise, like that of a flame coming to life.

Right after, a low mutter was heard, sounding deadly threatening.. But it was muffled by the time Raven escaped the trembling barn, and out into the trembling as well scene of the yard of the house still near by.

Next thing Raven knew, the boy himself had ran out, and just as he did…

The barn exploded.

Jack didn't look at it. He grabbed Raven's hand immediately and kept running, towards the house, while now dragging her with.

"We gotta escape this whole place! And I know exactly where to go!" Was all he said along the way, running up the wooden steps and up the porch Raven had came from right before the barn.

But Jack could feel extra resistance when they got to the door.

He stopped and looked at Raven. He knew she'd gone through this door, but he looked absolutely serious and self assured about this.

"Please, I need to go.. we need to go!" He told her, "Just trust me on this! It's the only way, and if we don't soon.." He glanced around as the whole area shook again..

He took her hand again and said "What you saw before behind the door was only the bad, but now it's time to see the good.. and escape…" He explained in his own way.

And then he pulled on her hand again, only gentler, and opened the door with his free hand.

It creaked open, and all Raven saw before her was… a normal house entrance way.

"C'mon, we gotta go upstairs.." Jack pointed as he started hurrying again and up said stairs.

There were pictures on the walls.. but they were oddly blurry completely. You couldn't tell who or what was on them. Clearly because Jack himself didn't either. Couldn't bring himself to remember.

And parts of the house were starting to blur too as well as tremble..

"To the bedroom.." Jack spoke again, voice getting softer though instead of the commanding serious tone he'd taken on before. The bedroom was clearly important in a different way.

As they got up to it, Jack only stopped once more.. He bit his lip and looked at Raven. "Please don't touch anything in here." He told her, his voice still soft.

And then he opened the bedroom door..

The bedroom of whoever Mr. and Mrs. Napier had been…

…It felt very sad and very unsettling. Not in the same way the barn had, but almost the unsettling and sad feeling when one goes to a.. graveyard.. and knows a few of the stones you see.

Jack had quieted and slowed down very much. He shut the bedroom door behind them, and then immediately.. his eyes darted across the room.. to a desk. A very prominent and important feature.

Mainly because it had a picture on it. And you could see the person in the picture.

The youthful but weak, weary and sad face of a young woman with soft dirty blond curly hair and freckles, and bright as the clear sky blue eyes…

"That's Mommy." Jack simply mumbled, as he turned immediately to the closet and started to open it.

When she saw the final transformation of the monstrous figure, Raven's eyes widened. The sound of Jack's protests had jolted her from her thoughts just in time for her to hear him yelling directions at her. She would like to protest, but this was not her fight.

'Oh dear Azar…'

That face, coupled with the roaring and snarling noises, sent a pulse of fear through Raven's body. He looked absolutely enraged, but for what reason? This hardened military figure before the two of them seemed to almost tower over them, despite his collapsing.

The girl scrambled out of the barn as instructed, afraid to look behind her to see what the reasoning was. All she knew was that Jack was right. The both of them needed to get out of there. Fast.

"What's going on?" The girl asked as she was pulled along, doing her best not to trip. "What did you do?" And then she finally looked up as they approached that house. Slowing, she pulled back gently in order to prolong going back through that door, obviously an annoyance to the boy.

He sounded so scared, so sincere, and she felt like she could actually trust him. Raven swallowed hard and nodded.

It had taken that extra tug to actually get her to cross that threshold. Having already been in there once, Raven had no intention of going back into that wretched hallway. But, at Jack's assurance, and for fear that the very ground was collapsing beneath her, the girl complied and followed him. To her surprise, the house was indeed just that. A house. It seemed to almost be an entirely separate plane from the field outside. An eerie calm, really.

"Where?" She hadn't noticed his talking, the boy's voice had gone so quiet that she could barely hear him. Still, she nodded and followed his lead.

Up the stairs and down the hall, Raven let her eyes wander around the lace, looking for anything that might be of interest. But to her discovery, it still appeared to be an ordinary house. No tools like in the barn, no crazy notes like there were out on the Joker's desk.

She did, however, note the blurred photographs. She was in Joker's memory, and it was common for people to forget such things as the faces in a photograph. The girl had zero expectations of seeing any full focused images in the residence. As the two continued on their way, Raven noticed that the walls themselves seemed to fade, as if the memory itself was being forced away. Then the tremors started again.

Not a moment too soon, Jack stopped outside the door to a room.

"Don't touch anything," he said. A standard request, so Raven nodded.

What she saw there would shock her completely. The first thing she noticed was the large desk on the far wall of the room. While still obeying the boy's one request, she made her way over to it and just found herself staring. The picture, it was completely clear, almost lifelike. Her eyes looked to sad, and yet, so loving. 'Mommy?' she repeated in her mind.

"She's beautiful…"

If this was truly Jack's mother, and she was this prominent in his mind, then she would like to know more about her. But that would be best saved for another day.

"Jack," she said in a tone as soft as his. "Why did you bring me in here?"

"Because," Jack said, grunting, tugging and pulling, struggling a bit with the closet door, "thi-this is… the only.. *grunt* safe way out and.. to a safer place I KNOW. A place that's kinda.. uh.. new around here.. but very safe."

The door still wouldn't budge. Jack huffed, backing up a bit and frustratingly scratching his wild, dark dirty blond hair. "Why is it so hard to open all a' sudden? It doesn't even have a lock!"

The room, despite being the most focused and prominent place in this area of Joker mind, began to tremble now itself.