Hey everyone! Be ready for more surprises in this Chapter. Don't forget to review and favorite :) Also this chapter is longer than the rest since I haven't written in a few weeks…. So enjoy :)
Disclaimer:I do not own any of these characters or references in this story. They belong to Dc comics. Please don't sue me k thanks.
Chapter 11: The return of the King
Harley's stomach felt to the ground and she swore she could physically feel her heart breaking apart. Everything became hazy and her mind began to cloud over. Her vision darkened and her ear began to ring. Pamela gasped loudly as Harley's body began to give out. Bartholomew rushed over to Harley and caught her as her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she began to collapse.
"Jessica!" Bartholomew yelled "Help! Harley has fainted"
Jessica ran into the room, not bothering to look over at Pamela.
"Oh no! Poor thing! What happened to her?" Jessica said with fake concern as she walked over to her boss and grabbed one of Harley's arms over her shoulders and Bartholomew did the same in order to even out Harley's weight.
Can she be any more obvious? Jessica is such a bad actress… oh and what now? She's sucking up to Bartholomew? She's pathetic – Pam rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. She wasn't sure what she hated more, Jessica or her hypocrite attitude
"Bruno!" Jessica yelled loudly while she tried to balance Harley. After a few seconds Bruno busted in with a worried look on his face.
"What's going on?" He said taken by surprise when he saw that Harley was unconscious. He looked over to where Poison Ivy was standing and narrowed his eyes.
"What the fuck did you do to her?" Bruno shouted and began to slowly approach her with his hands tightly put into fists. Pamela saw his aggression and put her hands on her hips and began to glare at him.
"Whoa calm down Bruno, Pamela hasn't done anything. Harley fainted because I gave her some bad news that caught her off guard. Please take Pamela back to her cell and me and Jessica will bring Harley down to the infirmary." Bartholomew instructed and both he and Jessica walked out of the office, leaving Pam and Bruno alone.
"What happened?" Bruno demanded in a harsh voice
"I don't need to tell you anything?" Pamela said crossing her arms. "Take me back to my cell"
"Anything that concerns Harley, concerns me too" Bruno stepped forward and grabbed Pamela's arm tightly.
"Let go of me" Pam said pulling her arm
"Or what? If you lay a finger on me, I'll make sure you get the death penalty. And you will never see freedom ever again" Bruno smiled and tightened his grip on Pam's arm.
"Please as if I was scared of you." Pamela laughed. Bruno's blood boiled at the sound of her laugh he let go of her arm and slapped her with a heavy hand and Pamela fell to the ground. She reached her hand out to touch her stricken cheek. The force of Bruno's hand was so hard that it cut her cheek and blood began to seep out of it. Pamela stood up and swung her arm up and with her left hand balled tightly in a fist, punched him right on the lips. Bruno bent down, put his hands on his knees and groaned loudly as he began to spit out blood.
"I told you to let me go" Pam said with a smirk and pulled Bruno up by the arm
"You bitch! You are going to pay for this" Bruno said spiting more blood into the marble floor.
"Yea yea…. Shut up and take me to my cell" Pam rolled her eyes and Bruno grabbed his handcuffs and tied them around her hands. The whole time while Bruno was handcuffing her Pamela was smiling proudly as Bruno kept spiting up blood.
I haven't lost my touch – Pamela kept smiling. I got him good; I wish I could have recorded it
"You think this is funny don't you?" Bruno said crossing his arms in disbelief
"Well, yes haha" Pamela laughed lightly. She really wasn't scared of this man and what he was going to do. Bruno took one look at her and saw her strength. His body shivered in anger when he realized that there was nothing in this world that would crush the woman in front of him, at least not yet.
"Let's go" Bruno simply said dragging Pam along.
…
Harley's body was stiff and she could feel someone shaking her as they said something to her. She couldn't make out what the person was saying, because all the words sounded muffled and it sounded as if she was underwater.
"Harley? Please wake up" Bartholomew said while he gently shook Harley and in return Harley began to stir and slowly began to blink.
"Harley?" Bartholomew said excitedly
"What happened? Where am I?" Harley asked in a hoarse voice and began to stand up but the blood began rush to her head and her vision blurred a bit. Her legs began to give out on her and Bartholomew didn't hesitate to help her up.
"Whoa not so fast! We don't want you fainting again" Bartholomew helped Harley sit down.
"What happened?" Harley asked again while put her head in her hands. She quickly remembered the horrible news that Bartholomew gave her and her heart began to ache.
"I'm so sorry Harley;" Bartholomew began to apologize "I was in my office watching the news that's when the programing went out and the screen went black. I began recording when the clown's face appeared on screen. Do you want to see the recording?" Bartholomew asked unsure if this was the best idea.
"Yea I do" Harley slowly got up and Bartholomew offered his arm to Harley. She was unsure but after a few seconds she stepped forward and took it. She was thankful because she knew that there was no way in hell that she would be able to walk all the way down to Bartholomew's office in the first floor on her own. Bartholomew pulled her along because every second that Harley stayed at Arkham was another second that Veronica was in custody of the Joker. It was extremely imperative that Harley saw this recording so she knew what she had to do in order to help save Veronica.
When they finally reached Bartholomew's office, Bartholomew walked Harley to the couch and he walked over to his TV. He got the remote and sat next to Harley. The screen of the mounted plasma TV on the wall remained black for a few seconds and then the video began to play. At first all she could see was the Joker standing in a dark room laughing. This footage gave Harley a weird feeling that she couldn't shake away. Then the Joker began to speak:
"Hello Gotham, how is everyone doing? I hope you are all doing great because today is special. Why? You may ask yourselves, and I got the answers. Besides the obvious reason that you all get to see your king today," He paused briefly to point at himself and smiled eerily before continuing. "Today is also special because I want to play a game." He stepped off to the side revealing a Veronica facing away from the camera. She was sitting down on a wooden chair and was handcuffed and tightly tied to it with chains. The Joker approached the chair and laughed loudly one more time as he turned the chair over and exposing Veronica. She seemed fine for the most part, her hair was messed up and her make-up was smeared from all the crying and the lower part of her face was wrapped in tape in order to cover her mouth, but as far as Harley could see she was unharmed and she could tell that the Joker had not laid a finger on her. Harley sighed in relief but her heart was still beating hard. The joker bent down and tightly grabbed Veronica's face.
"Look who we have with us today! Ms. Veronica Vreeland has joined us for playtime today!" The Joker laughed. He stepped in front of the camera and began to explain his game rules.
"Here is how things will go down. I have Veronica and Daddy Vreeland has a lot of money. I want some of that money. So if you want to see this precious little trust fund baby, then you need to follow my rules and accept my conditions. I need 6 million dollars in cash, obviously," The joker rolled his eyes and laughed. "Anyways I want Dr. Quinzel from Arkham Asylum to personally deliver the cash to me and I don't want her accompanied by anyone. This is very important, I don't want cops, or the military or Batman and anyone associated with the Bat. Am I clear?" The Joker paused a bit as if the audience was answering his question. "Great, then we are on the same page. I want HARLEY. Oh and just in case anything goes wrong, or if any cops decide to show up and crash our little game…" Joker walked off screen and retrieved something. When he returned, he was holding something that looked like a thick pen. He walked closer to the camera and gave out another big laugh. "Do you know what this is?" He asked before laughing uncontrollably. "This is a syringe containing Cyanide, a pretty heavy dose of it too. If anyone tries to stop my plan, I will inject Veronica with this poison and since it's a really heavy dose, her body will stop producing energy and her organs will give out one by one. This of course is faster than you would expect. Her brain will probably stop in about 10 seconds? And that's just a rough estimate." Joker laughed again and he walked over to where Veronica was sitting. He crouched down next to her face and began to point the syringe near her cheek. Veronica began to squirm and muffled screams escaped her taped mouth. The more Veronica screamed, the closer Joker pointed his syringe. Veronica shut her eyes closed tightly and tears began to roll down her cheeks. Harley covered her mouth with her hands as it had begun to tremble and her eyes began to water at the scene in front of her.
"HAHAHAH!" Joker began to laugh again and stood up without hurting Veronica. "Anyways, get the money here or the girl dies, and if anyone messes this up then the girl dies. You have two hours and I'll be waiting at the abandoned storage rooms in the docks of Gotham. Oh and every half an hour I will broadcast live from my location… I just want to share my game with the rest of Gotham. See you real soon" He winked and laughed one last time and the screen went black.
"Where am I going to find 6 million dollars?" Harley began to hyperventilate and began to feel lightheaded again.
"Calm down Harley. While you were unconscious, Veronica's dad gathered up the money and came to look for you." Bartholomew looked down and sighed. He walked over to his desk and pulled out a black leather suitcase.
"What's that?" Harley asked while she rubbed her temples. Bartholomew handed Harley the suitcase and sat next to her. Harley took a deep breath and with a fast motion the suitcase was opened. Harley's eyes widened at the amount of money this suitcase was holding. She had never seen so much money in her life and she knew that she would never see this much money again. Harley shut the suitcase rapidly, making a loud thud in the process and stood up
"I better get going then" Harley's vice cracked a little. Bartholomew nodded and stood up, when suddenly the TV blacked out again and Joker's face illuminated the room.
"Hello Gotham! It's your king once again" The joker began to laugh and stepped back. He was carrying a glass with some type of alcoholic drink in his hand. He took one sip and threw it angrily at the ground smashing it into pieces.
"I've been waiting for half an hour dear. My patience is very low right now, and you know what I need." He walked over to where Veronica was still sitting still tied up. Harley leaned in closer to the TV to examine her. Veronica's condition hadn't changed at all, the Joker hadn't touched her and she even looked well fed and taken care of. This was all too strange for Harley but she dint have much time to overthink this situation. The Joker grabbed Veronica's face and shook it at the camera.
"I either get this lovely girl's head on a silver platter or I get my six million dollars. It's simple, really. I mean I just got new gloves…" The joker said smugly as he waved his fingers at the camera while he widened his smile.
"And I don't want to stain my new gloves with blood… well at least not yet." The Joker finished and stepped away from Veronica. He grabbed the camera and looked directly at it.
"Harley, time is ticking darling" The screen went dark again and those last words hung in the air for a few seconds, thickening Harley's mind. She took a few deep breaths and nodded as courage and fury raged in her heart and mind. The anger she was feeling began to overwhelm her and her eyes began to fill with angry tears. Harley took more deep breaths and blinked her emotions away.
"He's not going to get away with this" Harley wiped an angry tear that had managed to escape her left eye.
And with that Harley ran out the door. Everyone in the lobby kept staring at her, some with disbelief and some with awe. They all knew that this doctor was going to risk he life and go up against one of the most dangerous man in the city, and she was going to do it alone. Harley knew this but she knew that one way or another, she was going to save her best friend. Harley ran to her car and quickly sped down to the docks. She began to swerve around in traffic and speeding twice the legal speed limit. And even though the GPD stayed away from her path, she knew that somewhere out there Batman and his sidekicks were somewhere out there following her, either on foot or they had fixed the Batmobile. Either way, she had no doubt that Batman was out there and this worried Harley. She didn't want Batman follow her because it would probably lead to Veronica getting injected with Cyanide.
He better keep his bat ass away from me. If The Joker sees him there… I can't even think of what would happen to Ronnie…. Shut up Harley… Just focus on what you have to do. - Harley sighed and shook the negativity away. Soon she would reach her destination and the sooner she gets there, the sooner she can save Veronica.
Harley was so deep in her thoughts that she almost missed the exit to the docks. Luckily Harley noticed before she passed it and quickly sped into the parking lot that led to the storages. The first thing that she noticed as soon as she got out of her white car was that the place was surrounded by men wearing creepy clown masks. She slowly began to approach the building carefully watching every person in that parking lot.
"Hey there pretty lady!" One masked clown began to approach Harley. For some reason this man reminded Harley of some creepy old man who gropes woman on the subway. Harley shivered those weird thoughts away and ignored him and continued her way to the building while the rest of the clowns began to laugh.
"Shut the fuck up" The creepy henchman roared and stepped towards Harley and grabbed her arm.
"Let me go" Harley pulled her arm away and began to walk away but the creep was persistent.
"Hmm…" He said in a curious voice while he stepped towards her, grabbing her arm and spinning her around in a violent manner.
"I now see what the boss sees in you. Damm you are one hot piece of ass" He took a step back and with hungry eyes inspected Harley from head to toe.
"You are disgusting" Harley tried pulling away but the henchman only tightened his grip on Harley to the point that Harley could feel a bruise forming on the inside of her arm.
"Oh you aren't going anywhere." He looked her over one more time and his voice grew hungrier with desire. "You can't leave, at least not until I get a good taste of you"
"Look creep, your dumbass boss has my best friend kidnapped and I am THE ONLY one who can help her and you are not going to get in my way, so you better known what's good for you, you will back the fuck up" Harley's face twisted into an angry scowl hoping that this weirdo would let her go and she ca continue with her mission.
"Sorry babe I can't let you hot ass leave right now." Harley kept pulling but the more she pulled the harder the man's grip on her arm grew. "How about me and you go behind the storage rooms and have some fun for a bit, after you can go wherever you want. How does that sound baby?" Some of the other henchmen began to laugh and other began to whistle at Harley in a disrespectful and vulgar manner.
Harley was done with this disgusting man and all the anger she was suppressing deep down, came out to the surface. She dropped the money and took advantage of the fact that the man was still holding to her arm and with a swift pirouette she spun behind the henchman and pulled her arm back and twisted the man's arm backwards causing a snapping sound on his shoulder and the man doubled over in pain. Adrenaline pulsed through Harley's veins, consuming her whole system. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion and she became extremely aware of her surroundings, she saw the dirty henchman on the floor crying with pain. For a few seconds the rest of the henchmen stared at Harley in complete disbelief. They could t understand how a 120 pound girl had so much strength to dislocate someone's shoulder, not to mention that this man was a little over three times over her size. They all began to gather around her ready to attack. Harley paused and analyzed her situation carefully, she didn't want to make a mistake and get herself killed before she saved Veronica.
"WHAT ARE YOU STANDING ARROUND FOR?!" The wounded henchman screamed from the floor, wincing a bit as the words came out of his mouth. "KILL THE BITCH!"
One henchman nodded and began to run towards her with a pocket knife. Harley watched him carefully and waited for the right moment to counter attack. When he was close enough she jumped back into a backhand spring, using her feet to kick the blade out of the man's hands. The knife landed with a soft clink behind Harley, and the henchman froze in astonishment.
"H… How did you do that?" The henchman asked in an impressed tone.
Harley was about to run at him and attack him but his question caught her off guard, making her stop dead on her tracks. This was when she finally noticed the man standing in front of her.
Actually… I don't even know how I did that… wait a minute! This henchman… he's a young boy… why would the joker want a kid in his team… this makes no sense. – Haley began to go over this question in her head a few times and didn't realize she had begun to talk to herself.
"….. Well now I know Batman isn't the only psychopath in the city recruiting children…"
"Umm what?" The young henchman asked raising his eyebrow in confusion, his voice brining Harley back to reality. Harley shook her head and picked up the suitcase and continued her way into the building.
"What the fuck is going on here" Mateo opened the door before Harley could reach it and took in the whole situation. So far all he could see was a bunch of mediocre workers, a man on the ground with a deformed shoulder, a boy who looked as if he had just met his biggest idol and a blonde woman near the door.
"I asked for a fucking explanation." Mateo yelled at them in an angry voice.
"Well..." The boy began in a shaky voice, "The lady here, she beat up Harold and I tried to kill her but she stopped me" He crossed his arms and looked down. Mateo stepped closer to Harley who kept a strong firm face while she carefully watched Mateo's every move.
"Is that so? I can believe a beautiful lady like you would hurt anyone. You are just too delicate" Mateo chuckled and stepped closer to Harley.
"Look, he's waiting for me, so you better step away and let me through" Harley slowly said, emphasizing her words so Mateo would understand.
"Or what?" Mateo asked in a challenging voice that irritated Harley.
"Or I will kill you" A voice echoed through the lot from behind Mateo. The Joker stepped out from the building and an eerie silence ran through the air and a few of the henchmen backed up a little.
"Hey!" Harley said with a little too much enthusiasm and stepped closer to the Joker. The Joker flashed a charming yet creepy smile at his former doctor and met her halfway. "Your dickhead workers won't let me pass" Harley frowned and rolled her eyes and stepped into the building ignoring everyone.
"It's nice to see you too" The Joker said as she disappeared into the dark building. The Joker just stood there surveying the situation.
"What happened? These men look as if they had never been in combat before" He commented as he walked to where Harold was still kneeled down on the ground. The joker twisted his face in disgust and slowly paced around him a few times. Harold's heart began to pace quickly and knew that if he didn't stand up now, he might not get a new chance. He pushed down on the ground with both his arms, causing a stinging pain on his limp shoulder. He began to get dizzy and he slumped back down on the ground. The Joker laughed at his weak attempts to make amends and soon every henchman joined him as they did not dare go against the boss. The joker smiled and kneeled down to his level and just stayed in that position for a brief moment looking into that man's eyes. He stood up and howled with laughter.
"Mateo, you know what I always say… we don't have time for injured workers. Fire him." And with that the Joker patted Mateo on the back and walked into the building. Mateo nodded and for his back pocket to retrieve his gun. He slowly loaded the gun and the rest of the workers began to back up, giving Mateo room to do his job.
"Please… just let me go. PLEASE. I have a family" The wounded man pleaded from the ground. Mateo didn't dare to look at him and just faced the ground as he slowly walked up to the man. He took a deep breath and raised the gun. The cold metal pressed into the man's temple and as the man's tears ran freely down his face he muttered his last words.
"Please forgive me" The man whispered and closed his eyes.
Mateo pulled the trigger, and a loud bang echoed through the lot. The cadaver fell sideways and landed facing the sky. Dark blood began to pour out if the whole in his head and soon a large pool had settled around the man while the rest of the henchmen watched. They all knew that this job meant dangerous business and if they made one mistake, this will be their payment. They all knew that there was a chance that this would be how it will end, but all of the henchmen stayed as they knew the amount earned in each job was great and if they were good at their job, the Joker would notice them and if they were lucky enough, one talented henchman will eventually replace Mateo. That little hope kept them in this business.
"Let this be a lesson for all of us. EVERYONE IS REPLACEABLE. Now get back to work and someone dispose of the body and clean this up" Mateo ordered in a loud and firm voice and all of the workers were quick to return to their positions. Mateo didn't glance back at the lifeless body and walked back into the building.
Harley heard the bang and her stomach dropped to the ground. She became terrified that some cop wanted to play hero and followed her there. She began to get nervous and her heart began to beat faster and faster.
"I'm… I'm sorry I don't know who followed me…. But believe me I don't have anything to do with this! Please don't hurt Veronica" Harley pleaded in a desperate tone that made her voice crack.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Joker asked while he laughed lightly at Harley's scared faced
"There was gunshots… didn't you hear them?" Harley asked while she crossed her arms in confusion.
"Oh that?" The joker rolled his eyes and sighed "I ordered it"
"What do you mean?" Harley raised an eyebrow skeptically.
"I guess you'll find out soon enough…" Joker grabbed her arm and pulled her into a large and familiar room. This was where the Joker was keeping Veronica and where he filmed his broadcast. As soon as Harley entered she searched for her friend and as soon as she spotted her sitting in a corner, hands and feet tied in chains to the ground. Harley yanked her arm away from the Joker and ran towards her friend and when she reached her, she dropped to her knees and embraced her as if it was the last time she would be able to do that.
"Aww isn't this the sweetest thing ever?" The joker laughed "We wouldn't want Gotham to miss this special reunion now, do we?" The joker walked over to the camera and began to record. "Hello Gotham!" He began to talk enthusiastically into the camera. "It's your well-loved king. And guess what everyone? has finally arrived with my money and now look!" The joker stepped aside in order for the audience to get a good look at Harley embracing her friend as the tears rolled freely down both of their cheeks. "Let's give them a few minutes" The camera zoomed in to feature the sweet reunion and Joker walked of camera and Mateo joined him and stood by his side.
"It's almost done" Mateo pointed out in a flat tone
"Yes, you know when to send Riley." Joker nodded and whispered.
"Yes, I won't fail you" Mateo looked down
"You better not, or else I get your head." Joker laughed quietly and Mateo nodded and left the room in a quick pace.
Meanwhile Harley ripped the tape off from around Veronica's face and quickly began embraced her friend once again.
"Ronnie, I'm sorry I took so long" Harley apologized, her voice cracking with sadness.
"I knew you would be here." Veronica whispered and looked down. She became lost in her own thoughts and her eyes became distant.
"Ronnie? What has he done to you?" Harley asked while she began to run a quick survey of her up and down. It was strange… she didn't find any bruise, or any blood and even her hair seemed to be perfectly in shape.
"Nothing… he did nothing to me. This is actually the first time I've been in the same room as him or any of his workers for this long. No one has touched me, or beaten me" Veronica looked up to meet Harley eye's and sighed.
"What do you mean? We are talking about THE JOKER here. He almost killed your DAD when he kidnaped him, but he's letting you go without at least a beating?"
"Wow… you must really want me to get beat up"
"No that's not it…. His killed a lot of people but he lures me in and lets you go? Makes no sense"
The girls had no time to keep going around the subject because the joker laughed and as he walked back in front of the camera, Harley pulled away to give him a questioning glare.
"Now they can ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after" Joker sighed and pretended to wipe a tear away from his left eye and bent over with laugh. Harley felt her blood begin to boil and she stood up and without thinking twice she angrily stomped over to where he was standing, firmly grasping the shoulders of his purple coat, pulled him up so his face was right in front of hers.
"You got your money clown" Harley menacingly muttered and pushed him away crudely. "Now it's about time, you untied my best friend and we will be on our way." Harley crossed her arms challenging him. The Joker furrowed his eyebrows and laughed.
"Oh, dear. Well this is actually really embarrassing…. But you two are not going anywhere." The Joker slowly paced in front of Harley and slowly raised his hand to stroke her cheek gently. Harley froze as his forest green eyes started right into Harley's deep blue eyes, and in that moment Harley seemed to have forgotten her current situation and as she started into his eyes, she saw something she hadn't seen before, but she couldn't put her finger on it.
"HARLEY WATCH OUT!" Veronica's eyes widened and she screamed her voice full of panic as she tried to warn her friend.
She didn't have time to react because as soon as the Joker saw that Harley laid her guard down, the henchman boy busted in and ran towards Harley. He quickly rushed towards Harley and took advantage of her current moment of distraction and cuffed her hands together. Harley blinked and was too slow to fight back. Harley looked around and she couldn't see where the kid had run off to, she began to turn around and around but she couldn't see him. Suddenly a strong force hit her behind her knees and she got knocked to the ground in a blink of an eye. Disoriented once again, Harley did not notice the kid had run back to where she was and was tying her legs together.
"Got you!" He laughed as he backed up to stand where his boss was standing with crossed arms and a proud smile on his face.
"Good job Riley" The Joker patted Riley on the back and smiled "Now go back with the others, Mateo has strict instructions for all of you, now get out of here"
Riley nodded and quickly walked out the door where he came from, leaving the Joker behind to deal with the two girls. The joker laughed and kneeled down where Harley was staring at him in complete disbelief.
"Well darling… I was going to let you go, but now… I want to play a different game." He smiled and softly pinched her left cheek
"That is not what we agreed on. You said bring the money and me and Veronica gets to walk away." Harley muttered nervously.
"I did no such thing, Veronica may walk away. But I know she won't leave without you. So I get to keep you both…. Unless, you can beat me at my own game… what do you think Harley? Can you do that dear?" He teased and softly traced her lips with his white gloved hand. Harley pulled away and gave him a strange look.
"I'm going to take your silence as a yes dear" He shot right up and began to laugh as he walked off camera to an old brown wooden desk and quickly took off his coat. "You know, there's a reason I like to have children work for me. They are so much more buoyant and energetic than your usual henchman. And as you already know, they are so much more agile. HAHAHA you should of seen the how early he took you down." The Joker laughed and opened the top drawer on the side of the desk. He pulled out a slender object and walked back to join the girls.
"What is that?" Harley's heart stopped for as second as she recognized the object in the Joker's hand.
"Oh this thing? I bet you know what this is. Let's remind the audience what it is, and what it does, ok?" The Joker walked back in front of the camera and began to talk as if he was one of those YouTubers who show off what they buy in their haul videos.
"Hello everyone! Let me remind you that this," He raised the object in front of the camera. "Is a syringe full with cyanide, a powerful poison that can kill in only a few seconds. HAHAH don't try this at home kids" The joker bent over with laughter and Harley felt her face grow pale as she realized what this man was about to do.
"We are NOT scared of you or your game. We aren't even afraid of your stupid 'poison'. I know you clown. You just want a good show and I know you are full of shit. Oh and you know what else? I know are trying to scare us with your little bullshit excuse of a game. Bring in clown." Veronica confronted the Joker with a level of confidence Harley had never seen in her friend.
Shut the fuck up Ronnie! What are you talking about? I'm so fucking scared that I am about to fucking crap pants! I think her anger is blinding her from the danger. I hope her little outburst didn't just make our current situation worse…- Harley thought as she watched in complete horror as her Veronica began to dig her own grave with her words.
"Wow look at you, finally showing some bravery" The joker laughed an d began to clap sarcastically "Let's give her a round of applause everyone!"
"I SAID BRING IT CLOWN!" Veronica was growing more and more inpatient as the Joker made more jokes about her.
"Fine. You better be ready, and listen carefully as I am NOT going to repeat myself. Got it?" He said while he smoothed his purple vest nonchalantly.
"Yes" Harley simply said as she watched The Joker carefully.
"Good. OK, here is how the game is going to go down; I am going to inject both of you with this. It's a bit watered down, so you will have a longer time to untie yourselves and get to that desk" The joker pointed to the same desk that he got the cyanide from. "That desk has four drawers, only one is unlocked. That one has a key to another drawer that contains the antidote for the cyanide. Whoever survives win." The Joker smiled and slowly bent down to face the doctors in front of him
"So who wants to step up and go first?" He asked with so much enthusiasm that his eyes began to gleam. Harley turned to look at Veronica and just stared at each other in complete silence.
"I'll go first" Harley quietly said quietly
"No!" Veronica immediately opposed "You can't do that! Please, let me go first." Veronica volunteered and her eyes began to water.
"No I want Harley to go, she volunteered first, so she gets to go first." The joker smiled.
"I'm ready…" Harley said and closed her eyes to await her fate.
"Harley…." Veronica began to cry silently and she turned her head away from the Joker. She didn't want to witness what the Joker was about to do to her. Veronica closed her eyes and pretended that she was anywhere but here. She began to pretend that she might not make it through this and she wanted to pretend that she might lose her best friend today.
Harley kept calm as the Joker got closer to her and began to roll her sleeves up to expose her forearm. The Joker laughed an intimidating laugh that sent shivers down Harley's back. The joker inched the needle closer and closer to Harley's arm and just before the needle touched Harley's skin, something flew into the room and knocked the needle from the clown's hands and it landed on the other side of the room.
"Joker, step away from Harleen" Batman ordered as he caught the Batarang that had knocked the needle off the Joker's hand.
"Well isn't this a nice surprise?" The Joker stood up and walked over to where Batman was standing.
Robin and Nightwing ran in and joined their mentor.
"Oh look at that! We have the whole Bat family here!" The joker laughed and walked closer to them.
"Just give it up clown, there's no way you can get away with this" Robin said stepping closer to the clown.
"Either you give up and we escort you back to Arkham or we can give you the beating of a lifetime we can escort you back to Arkham… either way you are going back into solitary." Nightwing said as he twirled his escrima sticks on his hands.
"Um I think I choose…." Joker crossed his arms and pulled out his gun. "This!" The joker firmly grasped the gun and pulled the trigger. The bullet flied through the air and it was meant to aim towards Nightwing, but he was quick to dodge it. He lounged to the side and the bullet flew past him, barely missing his head. The joker stood there in complete shock… He never missed a shot. Nightwing quickly ran up to him and hit both his escrima sticks together in order to create a higher electric charge in prep for his next move. After his escrmas were charged, he hit the Joker with the left escrima stick, hitting him with a moderate electric shock that made him jump to the right. Nightwing took advantage of him and hit him with his right escrima. He continued to hit the Joker shifting from his right escrima to the left. The joker was receiving multiple electric shocks that went through his lean body, which was causing him to loose conciseness. He used all his force and hit the Joker right on the face that made The Joker blink hazily. Nightwing realized that if the Joker received one more hit, he was going to pass out and he and his family could call it a day. He hit his escrima sticks together and was about to give the Joker a final blow when Batman put an arm right on his chest and shook his head.
"Why not?" Nightwing exclaimed in exasperation
"It's better that we take him while he's conscious, I want to ask him a few questions." Batman said as he began to get a pair of handcuffs ready for the Joker. Nightwing nodded and began to step back, when suddenly the Joker began to burst out with laughter.
The Joker sluggishly leaned against the wall and looked down, gravity did its's work and the blood began to drizzle down his white painted face.
"HAHAH" The joker tiredly laughed, and tried to catch his breath. Nightwing took a deep breath and held his tongue. The joker quickly cleaned the blood with his new white gloves
"Fuck… and these were brand new" The joker complained while Batman grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back.
"Well aren't you glad that you won't need your gloves where you are going clown" Nightwing rolled his eyes and crossed his arms in annoyance.
"Nightwing" Batman shot him a warning glare and Nightwing simply looked down to the ground. He took a few steps forward and glared up at the Joker. He was really close to losing his patience and if the clown said one more smartass comment.
""HAHAH yes bird boy, listen to daddy bats and back off. Let the grown-ups talk." The joker sluggishly replied, and tried to catch his breath.
"That's it!" Nightwing spun and kicked him right on the chest knocking him down to the ground.
"Do you have anything to say in your defense, before I kick your ass into the next life?" Nightwing grabbed the joker by the collar and brought him up to his feet. The joker was still a few inches taller than Nightwing, but Nightwing didn't care about this, he didn't care that Batman was shooting daggers through his eyes at him and he didn't care that Damian was literally clapping at his outburst. All he wanted to do was beat the crap out of the clown and teach him to not mess with him.
"Yes…" The joker weakly whispered "The mad king has returned"
And with that Nightwing grabbed his escrima stick and stuck it to his temple, making the joker shake violently with convulsions from the electric current that flowed freely through his body.
