Black and Red Chapter 37 Trip to the Zoo
Red Robin vaulted over the zoo wall and landed next to Commissioner Gordon. "If it's hyenas again-"
"It is."
"-I'm going to punch Harley in the face."
Gordon shook his head. "We evacuated the zoo as best we could. There are two major areas we don't have control of, the hyena pit and the crocodile pond."
Red Robin moaned. "What's happening at the crocodile pond?"
"Not much," Gordon assured him. "Isley has a few of the animal trainers there, and we've been told that if we don't stop moving in she'll start pushing them in."
Red Robin frowned and reached for his comm. "Oracle, check on those trainers Ivy has a hold of. I want to know if they're known for being not as eco-conscious as they could be."
"Is this important?" Oracle asked.
"Could be, but not urgent," Red Robin answered. "It may help long term, but it's fairly irrelevant right now."
"Has your version done something like this?" Gordon asked.
"Our Ivy was never interested in animals, but she had a metahuman connection with plantlife," Red Robin rattled off. "I'm looking for clues as to how she thinks. She's the most predictable of the three."
Gordon nodded. "Joker and Quinzel are at the hyena pit. They've got about a dozen hostages, most of them children."
"At this time of the evening?" Red Robin asked, frowning.
"Special late opening for a youth club," Gordon sighed.
Red Robin blinked slowly, then remembered this Gotham had less experience with Arkhamites' rampages. "Do we know what he's doing? Is he in contact with Ivy? How? Has he made any demands? Is he completely surrounded?"
"The CCTV still works," Gordon reported. "He's lining up the hostages on the edge of the pit in pairs, and telling them if one of them doesn't jump, he'll push both in. Isley and Quinzel have walkie-talkies. I don't know if we can block them, but if we did, Isley will start dropping her hostages. Joker's only real demand has been for us to keep back so he can have his fun. Yes, he's surrounded, but with the hostages…"
Red Robin grabbed a map from the nearest ticket booth and spread it out. "The crocodile pond and hyena pit are quite far away from each other," he murmured. "I take it you have men separating them? Good. We have to get those hostages to safety. Joker's first; Ivy's relatively honest, so I think we can trust her not to start feeding the crocs on a whim. Joker is susceptible to what appears to be a bargain…" Red Robin frowned at his map, quickly formulating a plan. "Right, let's go."
He hurried off in the direction of the hyena pit, Gordon following. "What are we doing?" the Commissioner asked.
Red Robin didn't reply immediately. "Allen, Montoya," he said instead, recognizing the pair up ahead. "Head to the croc pond. When the hostages are released, ensure they're escorted out safely. Then radio Gordon, and await his order to open a channel in the barricade to let Ivy out."
"But-" Montoya protested.
"Do it!" Red Robin ordered.
"What are you planning?" Gordon asked again as his officers scurried off.
"Have a cordon set up at the boundaries of the zoo," Red Robin said. "I'm going to try to tempt Joker into letting the hostages go in exchange for letting him go, then trap them."
"How will you get him to release the hostages?" Gordon asked.
"By giving him me," Red Robin replied grimly. "Keep hold of the radio with Oracle; I'll need a relay so I know when the hostages are safe."
"Are you sure?" Gordon asked, stopping and forcing Red Robin to stay as well.
"I'm going to offer myself for the hyena pit in exchange for the release of Joker's hostages," Red Robin explained. "When I'm in the pit, we can force Ivy to give up her hostages. She'll probably try to leave at that point. You tell Oracle when the hostages are safe, Oracle will tell me, and then I can get out of the pit and we can close in on Joker and Harley."
"Are you sure you can take those hyenas? And the pit's fairly deep," Gordon queried.
"It'll be fine," Red Robin reassured him. "I've dealt with hyenas before, I have a few surprises in my gloves, and if it does go wrong, well, I signed up for this. Those poor kids Joker has didn't."
"You're not making this easy," Gordon sighed.
"I know, I know; but we don't have time," Red Robin pleaded. "Concentrate on your part. Get the civilians out, and have the trap ready to spring. Let me bait the trap."
Gordon sighed. "This better work."
Gordon watched the vigilante boy as he disappeared into the trees near the hyena pit. Then he continued to the police cordon around Joker and his crew.
He pushed forward and, with a few words, passed the riot squad with their shields keeping the criminals contained. "Joker," he said, looking across the clearing around the pit.
Joker turned, and looked directly at Gordon. "Commissioner," he said. "Why am I not surprised you're here? You always seem to be trying to get in on my little tricks."
"Let the hostages go," Gordon insisted, knowing his words would be fruitless, but going through the motions. "They don't have anything to do with this."
Joker shrugged, then reached out and quickly grabbed a little girl. "You want to know how I got these scars?" he asked the crowd in general. "Well, when I was just a boy, I got into a little trouble with the law. A drunk cop caught me smashing shop windows. And I was terrified." He pulled a jagged blade and started pressing it to the little girl's face. "He took out a knife and told be that bad boys had to be punished, and then they'd be good boys. He asked me, doesn't the idea of being a good boy make you happy? He approached me, saying 'why so serious?'" The knife was pressed into the girl's cheek, and Gordon drew his sidearm.
"Uh-uh," said the blonde woman in harlequin's make-up, dangling a small boy over the edge of the pit. Below, the hyenas snapped and growled.
There was a loud rustle, and a black and red figure landed on the railing around the edge of the pit. Gordon restrained a sigh of relief. Red Robin had made it.
"That's at least the third scar story you've told," he drawled. "But, I suppose, if you've got to have a past, it might as well be multiple choice. Now, let's negotiate. We want the hostages. What do you want?"
AN: I'm not sure I'm doing justice to Heath Ledger's masterful performance, so please don't rant at me about it.
Joker's past being multiple choice comes from Alan Moore's The Killing Joke, rewritten for the Wayne's Boys series in Flashback. I have indeed read a version of Joker's origin featuring a bent cop, so I used that as an inspiration.
A lot of you guessed there would be hyenas. I had already planned this bit, but your input helped inspire the opening lines. Well done, dear readers.
Anyway, also updating today is Jason and the Argonauts. Damian and Cassandra have a little chat about the difficulties of being assassin children. And next week, Tim will have to fight the hyenas here in Black and Red (or will he?) and in Jason and the Argonauts, a little trouble in the 31st century has appeared in the form of the Legion of Superheroes.
Please review, and tune in next week.
Katara