"What the fuck did you do?!" Ivy called out when she entered the warehouse and saw Vicky in Harley's place, hanging in the chains while Harley held up a device to give her electric shocks.
"Red! Nice to see ya! Wanna play?" Harley asked innocently, then snarled at Ivy. Vicky was crying in fear and pain.
"Harley, relax, okay? Arthur's here and..." Ivy started to say, holding up her hands as she slowly walked towards her. But Harley quickly zapped Vicky one last time before dashing forward and zapping Ivy as well. The red-haired woman cried out in pain and fell to the floor, holding her neck where Harley prodded her with the weapon.
Arthur's arm shot forward and grabbed it, preventing the woman from hurting the others even more. "Harley, stop it! We have bigger things to worry over right now." He stated firmly, taking the weapon from her with a final yank.
Harley pouted, but averted her gaze when Arthur sent her his 'special look'. The look that warned her for punishment, for consequences.
"So. What's going on, Red?" Harley asked, a little more subdued than before, as she helped the other woman up. Ivy groaned in pain as she stood up, still rubbing her neck. "I took Arthur. I wanted to know what business he had with Crane. I wasn't exaggerating the other day, Harley. Crane is dangerous."
As they talked, Arthur helped Vicky out of her bonds. She whimpered and winced when he did, afraid that he was going to hurt her again. With a frown, the man caressed her eyepatch delicately. "I'm sorry for that." He told her with a frown. Vicky just walked away from him, avoiding eye contact.
"Alright, Crane is dangerous." Harley agreed, sitting down on a nearby table, curling her legs underneath her. "But why did you know he wanted that diamond, Red? Just tell me the truth."
Now that Harley was finally calm and no longer yelling at her, Ivy was more willing to share her knowledge with her, about Crane. "He is into some bad shit. I know we all are, but he's into toxins, poison, venom, fear gas. You name it. He uses those to hurt the people that stand in his way." She listed, leaning against the wall at the table's side.
Harley tilted her head. "Arthur gets rid of people in our way. So do you. So do I. Hell, even Vicky killed Jambo."
"Jasper." Vicky corrected her, sounding annoyed.
"Yeah, Jojo, that's what I said. What I don't get is why you're all up in a twist over this guy. What can he do more than we can?" Harley said in a bored tone, turning her attention back to Ivy.
"Harley, he used to work at Arkham. He used to...do experiments on the people there. That's why he got fired. My research was what replaced his and he wants revenge for that. He wants revenge on you too, since you once reported something that partially led to him being fired. So...he's out for retaliation."
Now she looked at Arthur. "That's probably why he approached you in the first place. He has contacts all over town and most likely hung out at your club. Am I wrong?" She asked him. Arthur shook his head.
"What did he want with you, mr. J.?" Harley asked him, tilting her head. "Nothing, Harley. We'll discuss it later." He answered quietly. "But I wanna know! I also still don't know why he wanted the diamond!" Harley demanded, pouting at him. "Harley!" Arthur said, a bit more forceful, to make it clear that this conversation wasn't happening in this moment. She huffed, but stopped asking for now.
"The diamond was a test, nothing more." Ivy interjected, feeling the tension rise. Before today, she would have spilled Arthur's secret easily and eagerly, but now that she was wiser, she didn't want to make it even more uncomfortable.
Harley pouted even more. Then she tilted her head at remembering something important. "But you knew! You knew he was looking for it."
"That might be my doing." Vicky spoke up. "I'm faking a relationship with one of his henchmen, to pry information from him."
Harley gave her an approving stare, while Arthur looked worried at both Vicky and Ivy. These women could take over Gotham if they wanted, if Harley ever decided to join them.
Harley suddenly looked up and started to grin menacingly. Then she threw her head back and laughed. It was eerie and gave Ivy chills, to her dear girl feel such glee over a thought that was obviously very cruel.
"Harley? What are you thinking about?" She asked carefully. Harley locked gazed with her and smirked. "You'll see, Red. The circus can begin. So, Vicky...this is what I need to know..."
A few days later, Jonathan Crane sat in his hide out, with a gleeful expression on his face. "Did business go well, boss?" One of his men asked, serving his dinner. "Oh yes." He happily confirmed and walked to a cabinet to retrieve wine and a glass. "Business went very well, dear boy. Soon, I will have my revenge and then Gotham will be mine."
"Good, good." The henchman replied, smiling carefully when he saw that his boss was in a good mood. He was a little agitated, jumping from one foot to the other.
"Tell me what is on your mind, before I pull your brains out your nose and find out myself." Jonathan murmured, not taking his eyes off his wine. Of course he noticed that the man wanted to tell him something and the impending threat of doom loomed over them both. He didn't like it.
"I-It's an invitation, sir. It's just been delivered." The man said, nervous to be mistreated. He handed the other a large red envelope, that was covered in strange stickers and glitter.
Dr. Crane used a knife from his desk to open it op and groaned frustrated when a large amount of glitter fell onto the ground. The henchman grunted in frustration as well, thinking he was probably the one that had to clean it up.
The doctor fished a letter out of the envelop, frowning as he read the content of it. "It seems that I am going to the circus."
Later that night, a man in a long coat arrived at a building site. Usually this place was quiet at night and deserted. But now there were sounds...songs, coming from a huge tent that had been put here a day or two ago. The skewed beams and grating iron that was heard betrayed how unsafe this construction was. But something told doctor Crane that it was intentional. Inside the tent, there were large strings of lights hung up in the upper area, but some bulbs were broken or flickering, making the scene even more gnarly. The songs sounded as if they came from a broken jukebox and gave an overall sense of dread to an already creepy scenery.
Despite all of this, Jonathan walked inside, smirking.
"Mister J.? May I ask what the meaning of this is? If you hurt a hair on my head, I will not assist you, you know that." He called out, once he stood in the middle of the ring. When he noticed that the ring was drawn with red liquid, he chuckled and shook his head. "Is that supposed to be blood? Are you trying to scare me? Come now, you know better than that!"
Jonathan started to walk in circles, to keep an eye on all exits. There were several chambers hidden between the folds of the canvas. Suddenly, a few repetitive thuds were heard and Jonathan's head snapped in the direction of the sound.
A severed head rolled into his direction and came to a halt against his black leather shoe, staining it with blood. With a disgusted look, dr. Crane stepped back and eyed the head. Was this someone he knew? Why would he care if...then he noticed. It was the head of one of his henchmen. The one that kept going on and on about his latest catch. "Fuck!" Jonathan cried out, when he realized that this new broad must have blabbed to Joker somehow. Was she Harley's friend? Was it Harley? Either way, he was compromised.
"Something wrooooong, doc?" A voice sounded, but it was so distorted that it was impossible to tell if it was male or female. Or human, for that matter. It sounded more like a demon, high pitched and low pitched at the same time. Perhaps this was two people talking at the same time, through some sort of machine that made them sound like this, Jonathan tried to reason.
"Show yourself. I do not appreciate being intimidated like this." He demanded, again circling around to keep an eye on the entire tent, to avoid any surprises.
"Ooooh, are you intimidated? That's a good start!" The voice said next and Jonathan cursed himself for his choice of words. His hand slipped into his coat and for a moment, his fingertips searched for the burlap sack he always carried and the little spray bottle of fear toxins. This was his security blanket, there was no escape from it, once he sprayed it into the air. He felt himself calm down some, although he was still on his toes.
The lights flickered some and only one string of light-bulbs remained active as the others went out, making it clear that there was a set path and plan for the dear doctor tonight. Jonathan winced when that thought popped up. But he couldn't show fear, that wasn't him. He caused fear, he inflicted it onto others. He wouldn't be held back by it.
Keeping this in mind, he started to walk where the string of light bulbs was leading him, finding another room between the folds of the tent cloth.
He saw that the smaller room was meant to represent the room of a child. There was a colorful ball, a rocking horse, an array of stuffed animals, which all had bloody smile and only their left eyes. A large plank resting on four stone blocks, covered in hay and a blanket, was supposed to look like a bed. The eerie sounds of a Jack-in-the-box playing 'Pop goes the weasel' filled the room and Jonathan walked forward, frowning as he saw the wooden object next to the 'bed'.
The sides were covered in blood, as if someone had tried to paint figures on them. The music stopped and a spring popped out of the box, a letter attached to it.
With a shaking hand, Jonathan snatched the letter from the spring, agitated by the scary tune of the Jack-in-the-box. He never liked them as a child and liked them even less in this bizarre setting.
"It's raining, it's pouring;
The old man is snoring.
He went to bed and he
Bumped his head
And he couldn't get up in the morning."
He read, his voice revealing a slight tremble. Then he let out a bitter chuckle. "Is this what you are scaring me with? A nursery rhyme?" He asked, no one in particular since the place was still abandoned from all he could see.
"You're a disgrace, boy! Why did you think I started to drink in the first place?!" A voice suddenly boomed off the walls, again sounding very distorted and barely even human.
Now Jonathan crumbled the piece of paper in his hand, both in fear and agitation. "Y-You know nothing about me." He said through gritted teeth, trying to see if he could make out any presence nearby, in the dark.
"You are a disappointment! A terrible son!" The voice continued, unfazed by what it was causing in Jonathan Crane.
There was a large mirror nearby, standing at the opposite side of the 'room' that was created by the tent cloth. A sign was attached above, the message 'come here' spelled out by light bulbs that were now flashing on and off.
Swallowing hard, dr. Crane stepped closer and closer, making out his own reflection in it. But then suddenly it was like the glass disappeared, while a loud shriek filled the tent. A figure was now staring back at the doctor, dressed in an old grey suit, his face hidden by rags. "You were a terrible son..." The figure rasped. Just when Jonathan was asking himself if this was his reflection, or not, the figure reached out and grabbed his coat, shaking him back and forth.
"You were a terrible son!" He yelled again, making Jonathan cry out in shock. He pushed the hand away and ran from the room, arriving back in the main circus ring panting and whimpering. He knew, he knew that it had to have been a trick but still it shook him to his very core. How did anyone find out about this? His little lackey may have blabbed, but his men weren't aware of the badly damaged relationship with his father. How could this be?
Nearby, another string of lights lit up, leading to another part of the tent.