Joker POV
Joker and his lackeys got settled into a 'borrowed' apartment as their temporary hideout in JJ's world. Joker took to pacing in his impatience. He knew Batman was not far behind him, yet again. JJ had better hurry up or he'd have to deal with Batso. Not that that wouldn't be entertaining to watch. It would test JJ's abilities. But Joker never did like to wait. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Joker looked up and wondered who it could be. Was it another singing telegram? He hoped not. While it was amusing the first time, a second time might be overdoing it. But when he opened the door there was no one there. He looked around but couldn't see anyone. Then he glanced down and saw an envelope. He picked it up carefully. He knew from his own exploits that an envelope wasn't always just a harmless letter. But this one seemed to be. He had a lackey open it however, just in case. Inside was a piece of paper and two tickets to what looked like a music festival. He looked at the piece of paper. On it was a single sentence. 'Enjoy the show.' Joker grinned. So JJ wanted him to attend a music festival, huh? He enjoyed music but he had a feeling that wouldn't be the only thing to enjoy at this festival. It was very soon. Only in a few days. He couldn't wait. Joker knew that JJ was out of Arkham and had some allies. He had taken the time to catch up on recent events. He found it interesting that JJ managed to ally himself with Scarecrow and the Mad Hatter. With allies like that, things were sure to be fun to watch.
Jim Gordon POV
Jim was really stressed out. He had had enough trouble with Penguin and his licenses but now he had to deal with Jerome and his band of psychos too. And then there was Jeremiah. He still didn't know whether to trust the man. But so far the man hadn't done anything that would raise red flags. He seemed to just be an eccentric and reclusive inventor. Jeremiah's personal assistant, Erica, was the only person that seemed close to Jerome's identical twin. She was not a very talkative person however and Jim didn't get much from her. He was currently brooding at home, and trying not to think about his ex, Lee. He jumped to his feet when he suddenly saw a dark figure in front of him.
"Gordon." the dark figure said in the deep modulated voice that he knew to be Batman's.
"Batman. How do you do that? Just appear out of nowhere?" Jim asked unnerved. "Never mind. What is it? Is Joker back here again?"
"I believe he is. You need to put the GCPD on high alert again." Batman said.
"I might have some trouble with that. The GCPD is weakened. They'd rather step back as Penguin controls the crime in the city. They don't listen to me anymore." Jim said. "But I'll try. Harvey is still captain. I can still have him put the central station on alert for Joker. But I'm not sure why you don't want me to tell them who Joker is, or reveal your existence to them for that matter."
"You can't. Not right now. Our worlds are parallel. Someday your world will have a Batman and Joker of your own and I don't think it's safe for Gotham to know that before it happens. Though I admit I have little experience with all of this. It's new to me too."
"Damn it. I'll have to add a cop or two to look after Jeremiah. If Joker thinks it will affect Jerome, he would definitely go after his brother." Jim said.
"His brother? Jerome has a brother?" Batman asked.
"Yeah. An identical twin. Only he seems to be rather down to earth. An academic rather than a psycho. But I don't know what to think anymore. You said that Jerome was likely Joker's parallel. Did Joker have a twin?" Jim asked.
"Not that I'm aware of. But not much is known about Joker's childhood. It's possible." Batman said.
"We have him in protective custody. He's worried that Jerome will come after him. Some childhood grudge Jerome has for him." Jim said. "This couldn't come at a worse time. Penguin has a grip over the city officials and Jerome and several other crazies have escaped from Arkham. Crane and Tetch are Jerome's allies now. All three are dangerous enough on their own, so I shudder to think what they'll do together."
"It's odd that so many of your more colorful criminals are already establishing themselves. I didn't have to deal with Crane or Tetch until a few years after I started fighting crime." Batman said. "I can help you as much as I can but you know I can't be seen. I shouldn't even have helped you as much as I did when we saved Bruce Wayne. But I felt I needed to. I feel somewhat at fault for not saving Jerome when I could've. I saw him in Joker's lair one night. I should've made more of an effort to save him. I let Joker twist him into that."
"Who's to say what Jerome would've been like if he was saved. You said they are parallels so he could've ended up the same. Do you have a way I can contact you? Where are you staying?"
"I'll contact you. Don't worry. I'll know when I'm needed." Batman said.
Jim was about to comment on that when his phone went off. He answered it. "Gordon here."
"Hey Jim. I know it's your day off and everything but there's been a murder and I want you to check it out." Bullock said. "It's at the Natural History Museum."
"Damn it Harvey. Fine. I'll go have a look. Oh and Harvey. Our odd friend from the other world said that Joker is back. Have everyone keep an eye out." Jim said, stressed out. He ended the call and sighed. "I guess I need to go into work today after all. There's been a murder." He turned around to find that Batman already left. "What the hell? How does he do that?"
Jim noticed Detective Harper when he got to the crime scene. "Harper, where's Bullock?"
She looked up. "He asked me to fill in. He took a sabbatical for a few days."
"You babysitting me?" Jim asked, irritated.
"Do you need babysitting?" Harper asked snarkily.
It turned out that the victim was an old historian working late the night before. His neck was broken. The fire alarm triggered the museum security. But what interested Jim was the fact that the man's log book indicated that Bruce Wayne was the last person to meet with the man. Then lo and behold Bruce suddenly showed up at the crime scene. And apparently it turned out that the murder victim was examining an old knife that Bruce bought at auction. And now they had a missing person on their hands since the victim's grandson was missing. Bruce also seemed to be holding back information about the knife that was also now missing. Jim wasn't at all pleased to find out that Barbara Keen, the woman he had been engaged to marry before he met Lee, was involved somehow. She had tried to bid for the knife at the auction. But when he went to ask her about it she didn't say much. But Bruce did once he showed up right behind him to ask Barbara about the knife as well and revealed a name. Ra's Al Ghul. Bruce said he was the real leader of the Court of Owls.
Jim and Bruce headed to the library to find the grandson of the murder victim. Apparently he spent a lot of time there. Jim wanted to get Batman to help but had no way of contacting him. He knew they might need help if Ra's Al Ghul was as dangerous as Bruce claimed. They managed to find the boy but were attacked by two people working for Ra's. Bruce and the boy managed to get away but ran off together. Jim didn't know where they were. He was on his way back to the station when he got a call.
"Yeah?" Jim said, hoping it was Bruce on the line.
"Gordon." came the deep voice of Batman.
"I could've used you a bit earlier. Bruce and I were attacked. I don't know where he is. He ran off with a kid we were looking for. Does the name Ra's Al Ghul mean anything to you? Because Bruce claims that's who is after the kid. He's after some knife that the kid has hidden." Jim said.
"Ra's Al Ghul?" Batman said with a surprised voice. "Yes. I've heard of him. He is a very dangerous person. Don't underestimate him. Where do you think Bruce might head? You may need my help with this."
"I don't know. Probably not anywhere someone would think to look. Bruce is clever. But I worry about him. He's just a kid." Jim said, sighing.
"This knife that Ra's wants, does the boy he's after still have it?" Batman asked.
"No. He said he hid it. Wait…" Jim said. "Alex was at the museum when his grandfather was killed by Ra's. What if he hid it there?"
"What better place to hide an ancient artifact then a building full of them?" Batman said. "Do you think Bruce will try to convince him to go get it?"
"The knife seems important to Bruce. I'm not sure why. But it's possible they could go back there." Jim said, already heading as fast as he could to the museum.
"I'll be there as soon as I can. Don't try to fight Ra's Al Ghul on your own. Leave it to me." Batman said before hanging up.
Batman POV
As if searching for Joker in an unfamiliar world when he didn't want to be found wasn't hard enough, now Batman had to deal with that world's version of Ra's Al Ghul. And that world's Bruce Wayne was in danger again. He knew he should stay away. This wasn't his fight. Bruce needed to follow his path on his own. But he couldn't stand by and not help while he was there. So he rushed to the museum. He met Jim outside.
"Batman. I heard noises inside. I think he's in there and being hunted by Ra's thugs." Jim said.
"Wait out here. I can handle this." Batman said.
"What happened to not wanting to be seen?" Jim asked.
"In this case it can't be helped. Ra's is too dangerous." Batman said before rushing into the building. He slinked through the building, staying to the shadows. Then he saw them. Young Bruce was with another teen boy and they were running from one of Ra's lackeys. Batman took the rather feral looking man out before following the boys. When he got to the museum's atrium he saw Ra's holding a knife to the other boy's throat and Bruce standing there looking concerned.
"Give me the knife, Bruce." Ra's said calmly.
"Don't give it to him!" the boy said, frightened.
"I can't. If this knife is important to you then I can't let you have it." Bruce said.
"I will slit this child's throat if you don't. Is his death worth it? There's someone here that can attest to the fact that I will indeed do so." Ra's smiled smugly and looked around "Won't I? Don't bother hiding in the shadows. I know you're there. Might as well come out."
Batman wasn't even surprised that Ra's could sense him. He was, after all, Ra's Al Ghul. He slipped out of hiding and faced him. "Let the boy go."
"Fascinating. You're a man that certainly doesn't belong here. At least not in this Gotham." Ra's said smiling. "It is quite the pleasure to meet you...Batman. Your existence is not quite what I expected but makes me happy all the same. Because it proves that I was right. But this isn't about you at the moment. So you'll forgive me if we talk later. I need that knife that Bruce is holding. And I am more than willing to kill to get it."
"Who are you?" Bruce asked with wide eyes as he stared at Batman.
"That's not important right now. Ra's, let the boy go and we'll talk about this." Batman said.
"Like I said, this isn't really any of your business. I will have the knife…." Ra's eyes lit up in surprise. "Oh. Oh now I see it. Perhaps it's your presence in the room that's done it. My powers of precognition don't work as well when your world is involved. It's been unbearable. But now I see more clearly." He had a very pleased look on his face. "Something is going to happen soon. And it's not going to come from the direction I expected. But it was indeed what I was hoping for. You won't be able to stop it. It's already too late. I was intending to die soon, did you know? But now… I think I'd like to see it all happen." He released the boy, who passed out cold on the floor. "Keep the knife for now. I don't have use for it at the moment. At least not yet. But keep it safe. You will need it someday soon. You'll be seeing me again Bruce. Have no doubt." Ra's then disappeared into the shadows like he was never there.
"He always did know how to make an exit. Even a different version of him." Batman said exasperated.
"Who are you? Tell me." Bruce asked with a shocked look.
"Why? I get the feeling you already know." Batman said seriously.
The young Bruce stared up at him with a complicated look. "You're real. I've seen you before. In my dreams. In my nightmares. How can you be here? You were just in my head."
"I'm not in your head Bruce. You are. That's all you. I'm from another world years ahead of yours. But one very similar. Those nightmares of yours shape your life. I know... because they shaped mine. I'm sorry. I never intended for you to see me. But Ra's is just too dangerous. I couldn't stay away. I didn't come here for you. I came here to find an escaped mental patient from my world. He is currently loose in your city and is very dangerous."
"Is that what Ra's said about something happening and it not coming from where was expected?" Bruce asked "Ra's can see the future I think. I've read about it in old stories about him. I thought most of it was just mythology but I can't be certain. The things he's done…"
"He can. My world's Ra's he had some precognition. It was very real. So I think we need to find out what that is he's warning us about and stop it fast."
"We?" Bruce asked.
"You are much more capable than most people your age. I've had sidekicks with less training. Stay out of the fighting as much as you can. But otherwise you can help me. This is your world. If it's Joker that's the threat, then it's my responsibility to help. But it's your world and your fight and I won't dispute that.
"Really? Most of the adults scoff at my trying to help." Bruce said surprised. "Oh. Alex!" Bruce knelt down to where the other teen was lying unconscious and had a look at him. "I think he's just passed out. I'm so glad Ra's didn't kill him. It's my fault he's here. I keep putting people in danger. I hate it. I can't even help it. Trouble just seems to find me and innocent people always get caught in the crossfire."
Batman pressed the side of his ear to activate the earbud in his helmet so he could call Gorden. "Gorden. All clear. We need an ambulance for the boy."
"Damn you work fast." Gordon said on the other end. "Thank you. I have this situation under control now. I'll make some calls. You should probably go so you aren't seen."
"Bruce Wayne is coming with me. I'm going to drop him back at the manor myself." Batman said.
"What? Why?" Gordon asked. "...Oh my god. Are you serious?" He said, sounding irritated. "Let me guess. Your name is Bruce Wayne? That's why I found you familiar. It's that same 'I have to save everyone' attitude that kid is so known for. Well it definitely seems like I need to have a word with Bruce later."
"Don't. Let him do what he needs to do with his life. Just be there for him and support him. You aren't going to stop him from wanting to help." Batman said.
"I can't believe how weird my life has gotten since I moved back to Gotham." Jim said with a sigh. "I'm not going to stop him. But I'd like to know more about all of this. I'd like to help maybe if I can. But now you need to go. The police will be here soon and you need to not be here. We can talk about this later." Jim hung up.
Batman turned back to Bruce. "Ready to go?"
"Should I call Alfred to pick us up?" Bruce asked.
"No need. I brought a car this time." Batman said smiling a little. Bruce walked with Batman out to the alley behind the building and saw the matte black car that didn't reflect light parked there.
"Wow. Anti-reflective. Good for concealing the vehicle. Good idea." Bruce said, looking at the car appreciatively.
"That was actually one of Alfred's ideas. It also has a quiet engine, has an inboard computer, and is armor plated. But not nearly as much as my usual vehicle. I needed to blend in a little more here. I don't want to stand out. Another one of Alfred's bright ideas."
"He is very clever. I'm glad you have him too in your world." Bruce said getting into the passenger seat. "I don't know how I'm going to explain you to Alfred. I'm going to have to tell him who you are and I get the feeling he's going to get mad at me for your identity. He'll say I'm a 'bloody fool'. And I'm not sure he wouldn't be wrong. Why did you do this? Become this? How did you take our nightmare and become it? Because I don't know how we could be so similar. Because I don't see me being you. It would be like proving Ra's right."
"Ra's is manipulative. He will use words to distract you from the truth. What I am has nothing to do with Ra's even if we have fought on occasion. And we do have a connection now, him and I. But it's not what you think and it's not through him directly. It's a long story. But the point is he has no power over you. Your life is your own. Even I can't tell you what to do with your life Bruce. It is up to you. And it seems you may have Gordon on your side already. You are way ahead of where I was at at your age. You have time. Plenty of it. Take that time. Now we need to start looking for Joker. If Joker is involved in what Ra's mentioned, anything could happen."
"Who is this Joker anyway? Why is he so dangerous?" Bruce asked.
"You've met Jerome Valeska. He tried to kill you more than once I heard." Batman said.
"Yeah but what does he have to do with it?" Bruce asked.
"Jerome is probably your world's version of Joker. In fact I'm pretty sure Jerome was trapped in my world for several years and tortured by Joker. Joker is the most dangerous villain I've ever had to face and it is because of his unpredictability."
"Jerome is bad enough. And I feel like he's my responsibility. I could have killed him that night back at the circus. But I didn't. I could've saved countless lives if I just killed him." Bruce said with a conflicted look. "And now you say he'll be even worse when he's older. I don't know how to deal with that."
"You did the right thing. Killing someone changes you. I don't kill. Ever. Even if it would be the safer option at times. I made a vow not to. So no matter what Joker has done, I won't kill him. And you have to remember that Jerome was likely not always that way. He is mentally ill. He needs help." Batman said.
"I don't want to kill anyone either. Ever. I don't think I could come back from it." Bruce said.
"It's a good vow to have. Especially for us." Batman said.
Harley Quinn POV
Harley was so surprised by the other world and all the differences. Ivy for example. Harley knew that Ivy was just a kid, no matter how adult she appeared, but she seemed so vulnerable. So naive. Ivy's behavior actually reminded Harley a lot of herself back when she was with Joker. Ivy's obsessive need to be seen as useful to Penguin seemed way too much like Harley's behavior with Joker. Well, without the romantic and sexual stuff of course. Ivy wasn't into that.
Penguin's mansion was old and opulent. Harley wasn't surprised at all at the luxury. Even her world's Penguin had been all about luxury. Ivy had a room to herself and it was filled with potted plants. Again not surprising.
Harley was taking advantage of the jacuzzi tub in Ivy's bathroom when she heard yelling from downstairs. She quickly got dressed in the clothes Ivy let her borrow and tiptoed out to see what was going on.
"What's wrong?" Ivy was asking a short thin man in a fancy suit who seemed rather agitated.
"Someone thawed out Edward! I have saboteurs on my staff. I just know it!" The man snarled pacing back and forth. "Where have you been anyway?"
"I was out. You told me to leave you alone. So I did." Ivy said irritated.
Harley was on the stairs watching the interaction when she felt a gun being placed against the side of her head.
"Hi." said the smiling bald man pointing a gun at her. "I don't think we've met."
"Uh. Hi. I'm here with Ivy." Harley said, smiling at the guy. "I'm Harley. Nice to meet you, Mr…?"
"Victor Zsasz. I guess this would explain why you are wearing some of Ivy's clothes. But we should still confirm with Ivy that you belong here." The man gestured that she walk down the stairs.
Harley walked down the stairs and Ivy looked up and saw her. She smiled at Harley. But then noticed Zsasz pointing the gun and frowned. "She's my friend. Stop pointing a gun at her."
"You let someone stay in my house and didn't tell me first?" the man Harley suspected was Penguin asked, irritated.
"Well this is me telling you now. She needed a place to stay for a few days. And could use a little help." Ivy said.
"I'm not running a homeless shelter, Ivy." Penguin snapped at her.
"She's not homeless. She's just here to see that something bad doesn't happen to the city. Somethings going to happen and she wants to stop it." Ivy said.
"And what would that be? That's very vague." Penguin said, rolling his eyes.
"I was keeping tabs on someone I used to be close with when I heard he came back here to this city. I looked into it and found out that the reason he came back was because of his protege, a kid he called JJ. And that his protege had something planned. It's a long story but I feel I have to help stop it. I could've helped the kid he tortured and twisted but I didn't because I felt jealous. And now that kid is out there planning something awful." Harley said.
"What exactly is a kid even capable of planning and why should I care?" Penguin asked.
"He's not a kid now. He'd be in his twenties. And I don't know what he's planning. But if he's anything like the man I know, then it's nothing good. I suppose I should try to narrow down who JJ could be. Are there any dramatic and cheerful psychopaths that laugh a lot in the city right now?" Harley asked.
"You mean like that Jerome guy? He does fit that description." Ivy said.
"Yeah. That could be him. I'll have to see a picture." Harley said.
"You can stay for now but I'm not getting involved. Especially if it involves Jerome Valeska. I don't want to know. Plus I have plenty of my own problems now as it is. Excuse me." Penguin said as he walked away mumbling under his breath to himself. The only words they caught were a frustrated sounding 'Valeskas' and 'Ed'.
When Penguin and Zsasz were gone, Ivy spoke up. "I kinda figured that would be his reaction."
"Penguin here looks so different. Is he always that frantic looking?" Harley asked.
"A bit. But I think that mostly has to do with the fact that Riddler got thawed out. They don't like each other. Though I kinda think Penguin had a crush on the guy." Ivy said.
"Wait what? Thawed out?" Harley asked, confused. "Penguin has a crush on Riddler?"
"What I think happened, but I could be wrong, is that Penguin had a crush on Riddler and thought Edward could feel the same. But Riddler fell in love with some girl. And in a fit of jealousy he killed the girl Riddler loved. And Riddler found out. So then he tried to kill Penguin. But Penguin got Freeze to freeze Riddler. But now he's thawed out and could be anywhere. Penguin's stressed out." Ivy said.
"Wow. That is so much drama. This Penguin is entertaining." Harley said giggling.
"Why do you think I stick around? He's not nice to me. He's not mean...most of the time. But he's not a pleasant person. It's all about the drama. He's so entertaining. I could leave if I wanted to and make it on my own. I just don't feel like it at the moment. I'm taking advantage of a situation."
"Well now that makes sense. I was worried about you for a second. But that sounds more like my Ivy." Harley said, smiling encouragingly. "Now I need to see a photo or something of this Jerome guy so I can see if he's who we're looking for."
"First...can you tell me what she's like? What I'm going to be like someday?" Ivy asked with a hopeful look.
Harley smiled. "Sure. Of course I can. She's my best friend. She's a force of nature. Like a mythical dryad or something. I'm not even exaggerating that much by that description. She really understands plants. And can make them grow in ways no one ever thought possible."
"Wow." Ivy said with a blissful look. "I'm going to be like that someday? I'm going to be that...cool?"
"Yeah. You are the coolest person I know, and I know Batman. Oh you've probably never heard of Batman. You will. I won't spoil that little surprise. It's a wild one."
"You must really like her. Your Ivy." Ivy said. "You talk about her like you care about her a lot."
"I do. But we had a fight back in my world recently. A bad one. So I was out doing unhealthy things like stalking my ex. That's how I knew to come here. But the point is, I feel bad now. I said some hurtful things to her."
"People fight all the time even when they care about each other. Especially when they care about each other. That's just normal. Even I know that and I hate people. But I know that if I was her I would want you to come back and apologize and maybe bring food. Food is a good apology gift. Honestly, any woman that would talk about someone the way you do about her, is someone even I know I'd want to hang onto. She'll forgive you. Words hurt but they're just words. If her childhood was anything like mine then she's probably heard much worse."
"Thanks. That's a relief to hear." Harley said smiling. "But we're getting sidetracked."
"Oh yeah. Jerome Valeska. There should be a newspaper around here somewhere with his picture. I'll go look." Ivy said. She went into Penguin's study and rifled around his papers a bit.
"Won't Penguin get mad at you looking through his stuff?" Harley asked.
"No. He won't even notice. His important paperwork is taken care of by this one weird nervous doormat accountant dude. All this stuff is just clutter. Ah ha. Here we go." she pulled out a newspaper and showed Harley the headline that had Jerome's picture on it.
"Woah. He is a sight. That definitely looks like a Joker. His face scars just make him look even more menacing. With the chemical burns that must look terrifying." Harley said, staring at the black and white mugshot in the paper.
"What? What chemical burns?" Ivy asked.
"The ones that are probably very obvious when it's not a black and white picture?" Harley said, confused. "Joker bragged about dumping JJ in a chemical vat. You see how pale I am? It's not makeup. It's a chemical burn like JJ's. JJ would have the same pale skin."
"But he doesn't."
"What? But there's no way he could've afforded the procedure to fix that. At least he wouldn't have in my world. I don't know how much it costs here." Harley said even more confused. "That doesn't make any sense. Because even with the scars, that looks exactly like the kid. And he's even acting like Joker."
"Well, I don't know for sure about this but I heard Jerome has a brother that just went into police protection? Some nerdy guy. He's apparently his identical twin." Ivy said.
"What? An identical twin that's a nerd? That kid that Joker had in his lair, he was clearly a nerd. He always seemed so pleased when Joker started talking about science. Does he seem crazy like his brother?"
"No actually. People say he seems pretty boring." Ivy said.
"Oh my god. I've seen that before! Several times. He'll act like a normal boring guy and when his plan is all together, he'll reveal himself. Joker loved to do that. JJ is doing the same!" Harley said with wide eyes. "Batman is here, I'm sure. He needs to know this! He probably thinks Jerome is the one to look out for!"
"To be fair he kinda still is someone to look out for." Ivy said. "Because he is pretty dangerous. But yeah we totally should tell Batman...Who's Batman?"
"Oh yeah. I keep forgetting you don't know who that is." Harley said. "I don't really have time to explain him right now. Just trust me that he may be the only one we can go to for help right now. I really hope he's here."
"Well you did explain Joker to me. That was a weird discussion. Especially the fact that you dated that asshole. Anyway, how would we even contact this Batman guy?" Ivy asked skeptically.
"Damn. I hadn't thought of that." Harley said grimacing. "We need to warn him somehow. But how? I need to figure that one out. I'll get back to you on that. In the meantime, thanks for letting me stay with you. You didn't have to."
"Friends are friends no matter what version of themselves they are. If you are a friend of another Ivy, you are my friend. And I'm bored and needed something to distract me from my worries. You are a great distraction." Ivy said.
"Well this distraction is about to get boring. Because I don't know how I'm going to figure this out. I don't know why I decided to play the hero. Again! Sometimes I miss just not caring." Harley said.
Suddenly, the tv that was on that a lackey of Penguin was watching cut to some breaking news report.
"Breaking news. A group of madmen led by Jerome Valeska are currently holding a music festival hostage. Reports say that Jerome has kidnapped several city officials and is calling for his brother and the billionaire Bruce Wayne to be brought to him." The reporter said.
"Oh crap. It must be happening already!" Harley said. "We need to go find Batman quick!"
Joker POV
The music festival was enjoyable so far but a bit boring. Joker hoped something would happen soon. But he didn't have to wait long. Because Jerome suddenly crashed the festival and took it over, bringing in several people with what looked like bombs strapped to their necks. The people with bombs around their necks were all rather important. One of them even seemed to be the mayor. Joker liked where this was going. He especially got a kick out of the female Firefly who was shooting flames at the crowd to scare them. Jerome had a remote to detonate the bombs and it clearly looked like it had a deadman's trigger. Clever. It would prevent the cops, or Batman for that matter, from swooping in to stop him or shooting him. The hostages were sat down in chairs on the stage but two chairs were empty in the middle of the stage. Jerome said that their 'guests of honor' weren't here yet. Joker wondered who those guests could be. Maybe him and Batman? Jerome was asking for James Gordon to come. Saying that he was the only one that could get him what he wanted. Gordon? Joker only briefly saw the young fresh faced version of the commissioner back at the circus. He was looking forward to seeing the guy again. This Gordon seemed tough. To have so many villains in his city already and no Batman to stop them? The guy had to be tough to survive that with his convictions intact. Joker respected that. And then there Gordon was, arriving with the cops. Batman must already be hidden on a roof somewhere by then. But Joker doubted that Batman would risk coming out and being seen with this many people. The crowd seemed too scared to leave. Even the cops that showed up couldn't get them to leave. They just stared at the stage at all that was happening.
"Ladies and gentlemen, as I live and breathe, James Gordon is in the house." Jerome said.
"I'm not talking to you until I can get up there and check on the wellbeing of your hostages." the young Gordon said.
"First of all, Jim, you're late." Jerome said. "Secondly, I think I'm the one who should be making demands. Don't you?"
"What you're doing is an act of terror, Valeska." Gordon said as he walked through the crowd towards the stage. "Ask our city's mayor what our policy is for dealing with terrorists."
"Terrorists. Frankly I'm offended." Jerome said. "No no no. That's close enough, Gordon." Firefly enthusiastically showed Gordon why it was best not to get too close to the stage with another burst of flame. Jerome also pointed out the deadman's trigger. Then got back on track. "I've got two empty chairs here." Jerome said, pointing to the chairs. "You haven't even asked me who they're for yet."
"Alright, I'll bite. Who are they for?" Gordon asked, irritated.
"Come on, James. You're a detective." Jerome said. "Do some detecting."
"Jeremiah, your brother." Gordon said, with a frustrated look.
"Bingo. That's one." Jerome said. Joker was surprised. He had a brother? He had never known JJ had a brother.
"And the other?" Gordon asked.
"Well, the only other irksome do-gooder who's ever spoiled my fun in this town." Jerome said. "Bruce Wayne."
"No." Gordon said simply.
"No?" Jerome asked.
"You can take me." Gordon said, his hero complex going strong. "I'll sit up there with one of those things around my neck but I won't let you have him."
"Well, I don't want you Jim. I want my brother, and I want Bruce. I want them now."
Joker was confused. This is not really the scenario he expected. Why was Jerome wanting him to see this?
Bruce Wayne POV
When the news showed the hostage situation at a music festival, Batman immediately rushed out. He told Bruce to stay behind. It was so annoying. All that talk about being more skilled than some of his sidekicks and he doesn't even let Bruce come along. Alfred seemed happy with him staying behind though. Alfred had accepted the parallel version of Bruce like he accepted anything else he found annoying about Bruce. He accepted it begrudgingly yet supportively. Bruce was currently watching the situation on the tv. He knew that Batman couldn't really help. It was too likely he'd be seen. Bruce hoped that Detective Gordon could handle it. But then Bruce heard what Jerome demanded. He demanded him. Bruce wasn't at all surprised when Gordon showed up at the manor. He agreed to help immediately. Alfred was not happy about it at all. But Bruce knew that he had to do it. He even went with them to Jerome's brother to convince him to go along with their plan.
"Absolutely not." Jeremiah said nervously. "He wants to kill me. Why would I willingly hand myself over to him?"
"We would put signal blockers on both of you. When one of you gets close enough to the detonator, we can stop him. This will work." Gordon said.
"But one of us would have to get close enough to my psychotic brother. Forgive me if I'm not enthusiastic about that plan." the nervous redhead said.
"Mr. Valeska. My name is Bruce Wayne. It's a pleasure to meet you." Bruce went to shake his hand.
The man put his gloved hand in Bruce's and shook it. "Likewise. I wish the circumstances were better."
"I know you have no reason to trust me at my word. But I know we will be protected. There is someone already there that will help us if something goes wrong and I trust him with my life. Trust me on this. He will protect us. I know he will. But even if something does go wrong, maybe by facing Jerome, I can show the people of Gotham that standing up to terror is the only way to take its power away." Bruce said, putting on a brave face for the man. Inwardly, he was terrified. Jerome scared him so much and to know that there was someone even worse out there from another world made it even harder. But he had to do this. And he needed to be the brave one for this man's sake.
The redhead looked at him with an interesting unreadable look for a moment and then looked down. "Well said. I suppose if you are up there with me I'll feel a little less nervous. You seem much braver than I am. If you think we'll be ok I'll trust you."
Jerome Valeska POV
Jerome was getting so bored. He was just considering blowing another hostage up when he noticed that Jimbo had returned.
"Look who decided to show up." Jerome said.
The people Jerome wanted to see were right there, nervously staring at him. Brucie. Jerome didn't know what made him continue to find that brat so interesting. But he was always fun to play with. There was that. But he wasn't the one he really wanted to see. The one he really wanted to see was standing next to Brucie and staring at him with a terrified look. His twin. Jerome would be lying if he said he didn't miss the bastard.
"My guests of honor. Please take your seats on stage." Jerome said.
Bruce and Miah started walking towards the stage. He grinned menacingly down at his brother as his twin walked towards the stage reluctantly. "Hi brother. It's been awhile."
Miah just looked at him with an irritated yet nervous look as he walked.
And then suddenly they heard the gunshots. The police snipers were dead as doornails and Jerome grinned at Jimbo smugly. "I had my guys take the best vantage points last night. So they've been watching your swat team all day."
Jerome felt so much excitement as he noticed Gordon looking worried. Everything was coming together.
Batman POV
Batman knew he couldn't just swoop in and save people here. He had to hope that Gordon had a plan on how to stop Jerome. He figured his young doppelgänger wouldn't have agreed to go up on stage if Gordon didn't have a plan. He was watching as Bruce and the rather normal looking identical twin of Jerome walked up on stage and were sat down in chairs with bombs around their necks.
"Batman!" said a familiar voice behind him. He whirled around and there was Harley Quinn with a young redheaded woman close behind. "Boy am I glad I found you."
"If you are here to point out that Joker is here, I already know." Batman said, his eyes returning to the scene playing out.
"I figured that. That's not why I'm here at all. You have to listen to me. Jerome isn't JJ! JJ was a nerd. A nerd! I don't think things are going to go the way even Jerome thinks they're going to go. Not if his brother is here." Harley said frantically.
Batman's eyes widened in alarm and he looked closely at the man now sitting with a bomb placed around his neck staring at Jerome with a terrified look.
Jerome Valeska POV
Finally. Finally he had Miah where he wanted him. At his mercy. There were so many things he wanted to do to his brother that ran through his head endlessly.
"How long has it been, brother? 15 years? You know how long I've wanted to do all of this to you? After you abandoned me and turned everyone against me."
"I regret that brother. Truly. You have no idea." Miah said with pleading eyes.
"Oh you regretted it? Then why didn't you bother to come back if you were sooo full of regret? Somehow I don't really believe you. You were always a coldhearted bastard to everyone else when you knew you could get away with it. So I didn't know why I thought I would be any different for you. And I was right. But this isn't about the past. It's about the here and now. I wish I could reminisce but we have an audience." Jerome hated the fact that even now, Miah acted so innocent. Jerome knew it was a lie! But maybe even Miah believed it now. So he had planned a little gift for his brother later. He didn't want to kill Miah just yet. The bomb around his neck wasn't even real. It was just to scare him. No, Jerome needed Miah to realize the truth about himself before he died.
Jerome addressed the crowd. "No parent will admit it. But everyone's got their favorites. Right, brother?" Miah looked really nervous and he just loved it! "The one that cleans their room, does their homework, doesn't try to kill everybody. Little Mr. Perfect here. Yeah, he was that guy. He got adopted by rich folks. He went to the top schools, then a top college. Meanwhile, I got dragged through the circus by my depressed, alcoholic mother. Forced to clean up elephant dung every day." Jerome randomly glanced over to where Jimbo was standing down with the cops and found it interesting that the detective reacted to his statement with an odd concerned look as if he realized something. What was that about? "Do you know how big those things are, folks?" Jerome smiled and continued. "But I know something that Mommy and Daddy, they never knew." Jerome looked over at his brother again. "You're as crazy as I am." Miah didn't look happy with that statement. He looked like he would be denying it if he wasn't so scared. Jerome was in such a great mood.
Jerome slowly walked over to stand in front of Miah holding a knife. "It's in your DNA. See, we've got the same blood running through us. We are practically identical." He cut the ties holding his brother's arms to the chair "You're a killer. It's in your nature." He then handed the knife to his very confused looking brother. And stepped back to present a good target. Let the bastard show his true colors! "Take your best shot."
Jerome loved the way Miah seemed to be at war with himself. Miah stared at the knife with a conflicted look. Like he was considering it. Here it comes. Come at me bro! Come at me! But then the nervousness and confusion melted away from Miah's face like a mask falling and he straightened up in the chair and looked at him with a considering and slightly smug look. What the hell?
"Of course brother. Where would you like it? Hmm?" Miah said with an arrogant and amused look. He placed the knife down on the arm of the chair and took his glasses off to clean them with a handkerchief. And then casually threw the glasses away like they didn't matter. Then he wiped the handkerchief down his face leaving streaks of white behind. It was like he was removing makeup, but the makeup was the color of flesh and his skin was the color of greasepaint. It was an odd effect. He took off the ginger wig he had on hiding his dark green locks of hair and grinned at Jerome with a grin even more deranged looking than Jerome could manage and that was saying a lot. Jerome's jaw hit the floor in shock.
"What the hell?" Jerome said, confused. He had always thought he'd have to help Miah along a bit to convince him of his true self. But there it was in front of Jerome already. He hadn't expected this.
Miah pulled off the bomb collar he obviously knew was fake, with a smug look. "Oh don't look so surprised, brother. You've always known the truth about me. That I was the one with the real issues. And that was before I even left the circus. Ah, almost forgot." Miah removed a small device from his pocket and then leaned over Bruce to pull out the same device in Bruce's pocket before smashing both with his foot. "Just so we don't get interrupted." Bruce looked at Miah with a surprised and hurt look.
Miah continued. "Despite what you might think, my life wasn't exactly as peachy as you explained it as. So I never got to repress any of that madness like you think I would've tried to had I had that charmed rich person life you described. But I appreciate the effort you put in to get me past that repression. You have no idea. It's so fitting that it's you. You would've been my origin. The thing that drove me over the edge like my parallel is the brother I've tried to get back to for years. That means so much to me."
"I'm speechless for once." Jerome said, after staring for a few moments at his brother in shock. "How did this happen to you already? I thought I'd have to do something! I was kinda looking forward to that!"
"Not really my fault but apologies anyway. I do believe the culprit of it is in the audience though so if you'd like to thank him for it later you can. In fact, we could thank him together. Preferably slowly and painfully."
The cops had no idea what to do. Jerome noticed Gordon and the cops and really everyone staring at them in utter shock that Jerome seemed to really relate to right then too.
"You think I'm just going to let what you did to me go? Just because you're crazy too?" Jerome snarled at his brother.
"Of course not. But I didn't lie when I said I regretted what I did to you. I did. And I tried to come back to take you away from there." Miah said with a voice almost devoid of all other emotion other than a smug dark cold humor. It sent chills down Jerome's spine. It fascinated him. He wanted to see more of it. He almost started obsessing about the look of pure madness in his brother's eyes until he remembered why he was angry at him in the first place.
"Then why didn't I see you, huh? You never showed up and I had to live in that hell called a circus with our awful family alone!" Jerome snarled at him.
"I never made it there. When I was twelve I ran away from the posh boarding school our uncle's rich friend sent me to and tried to go back to Haly's when it was in Gotham. But the Gotham I ended up in wasn't this one. I know that sounds insane. And I am insane. But it's the truth. I was tortured by a madman for years. So your revenge has already been fulfilled, brother. I got to feel the sort of things our awful family probably did to you. So let's let bygones be bygones and move on. I don't want to be your enemy. We could do so much more together. After all, a playing card deck always has two Jokers. Not just one. So why should our Gotham be any different, hmm? Now I do believe you should get back on track. That blimp will be here soon. Don't forget your own plan, dear brother."
"You've been spying on me." Jerome said, irritated.
"Well it's not hard to do so when you talk business in front of my lackeys. The hazards of scheming in my lair." Miah said, smirking.
"Your lair? You're the Red Hood? You?" Jerome said in total shock. Then he burst out laughing. "You've been helping me this whole time? That's hilarious. I can't even stay mad at you now. And you're right. I need to get back on track. I mean, that blimp did just get here. Look."
"Then I believe it is time to get this show on the road." Miah said, looking up at the blimp and then looking over and smiling at his brother. Jerome wasn't as against this team up as he thought he'd be. He'd give his cold hearted monster of a brother a chance.
Joker POV
Joker was intrigued as he watched Jerome's brother walk towards the stage. Joker didn't have a twin. At least not that he remembered. So it was so surprising to find out that his JJ was a twin. But sadly, the twin looked rather boring. He was cringing nervously as he sat tied to the chair. Maybe Jerome would appreciate help in showing his brother his inner crazy? Maybe that's why Joker was here. Jerome talked about how his brother abandoned him and got a good education at a posh school and left him to rot at the circus. Well Joker could certainly understand why Jerome must dislike his brother. Wait what? What did Jerome just say? He said his brother got a posh education while Jerome got stuck at the circus. Oh… The first time he had ever seen JJ, the boy had claimed he was trying to return to his family at the circus! And hadn't he been wearing a school uniform with a fancy crest?! Oh JJ you sneaky little bastard. Joker wanted so much to laugh but he knew it would give himself away. So instead he just stood there and smiled as he got ready to enjoy the show. He wasn't even surprised when the normal emotions disappeared from the nerdy twin's face and he revealed his true self to the world. And there he was in his full glory. His Little J. All grown up. JJ had fooled the police, probably even Batman. It was a masterful bit of acting and he had to give his protege props for that. So this is what he wanted Joker to see. That there were two of him! Two different flavors of Joker in one Gotham city! Joker couldn't be more excited. But then he figured that wasn't the only thing planned for this show. It was only an introduction. What did the Joker twins have planned for their city? He couldn't wait to find out.