Disclaimer:I do not own any Batman Begins/ Dark Knight characters. All other characters are mine.
"Excuse me?"
Cat knocked on the driver's window. The elderly man with round spectacles and a tan cowboy hat, almost dropped his coffee, swearing loudly.
"What the hell- "
He trailed off, staring at the woman who had approached his parked truck. Cat smiled, flirtatiously, and pulled her arms tightly beside her chest.
"Can I get a ride, sugar?" She drawled in a high, southern accent. The driver beamed at her, flashing crooked teeth.
"You should be careful honey," He opened the door for her, allowing her long legs to climb into the seat beside him. "It's dangerous to be looking for a ride around here, especially at this time of night."
Her hair was long and platinum blonde, trailing off to curled and blackened ends. Her burgundy lipstick and dark contour contrasted shockingly against her pale complexion. The cat-eye eyeliner widened her forest green eyes and trailed from her eyeline into a razor edge. She was donning black jeans, a black lace shirt, and a purple biker-jacket with cuffs rolled to her elbows. A silver chain looped itself around her waist and hung in tendrils near her thighs.
"Thanks sugar." She fluttered her wide eyes and slowly brought her hands to her waist, he watched excitedly.
"Who knows what could have happened to me if you hadn't come along, that big ol' shotgun beside you probably saved my life."
His attention was broken but for a moment, to admire his sawed-off shotgun gleaming at his arm.
"This was me fathers!" The driver proudly announced and turned back to his alluring companion, only to find the silver belt now held tightly to his throat and cutting off his air supply.
"I'm sure Joker will appreciate that." As Cat snarled this, the driver's door opened and a man in a similar-shade purple coat shoved the driver from the front seat.
Cat kept the man in her grasp as she nodded at Joker, who hummed to himself and gently pulled the seatbelt over his torso.
"C'mon man," Gurgled the purple-faced driver. "Call off your bitch!"
Without hesitation, Joker glared at Cat. "Back." He commanded, she opened her mouth to protest but fell silent again when his glare hardened. The chain was slowly lowered and the driver coughed himself to recovery while Cat crawled past the two men and pouted in the backseat.
They drove for about 8 minutes, the truck-owner made each turn with white knuckles and continuously glanced over at Joker, as if he would spontaneously slit his throat. Cat turned the belt over in her hands and was almost as nervous as the petrified driver. The plan was so complex that if one variable was miscalculated, they would undeniably be caught.
The truck pulled up to an intersection, where an officer was directing traffic. He noticed the approaching truck and said something rapidly to his walkie-talkie.
"Here we go." Joker mumbled to himself, holding the 'h' in the back of his throat.
"Hey!" The officer looked up at the truck-driver with a scowl, "You wait like everybody else, pal."
He grasped the door handle and waited patiently as the window rolled itself down. Joker picked up the 'heirloom' of a shotgun and sent the officer flying across the road with an orange spark.
"Go, go." Joker commanded the driver when he was too shocked to move. The driver remained petrified, and Joker was eventually forced to kick the driver out of the truck and take the wheel.
"Cat, sweetheart," He called over his shoulder, as the vehicle slowly accelerated. "Loose ends?"
She nodded, took the silver handgun from her pocket, leaned through the passenger window, and fired two precise bullets into the truck-drivers face.
The truck pulled up to tenth avenue, beside looming skyscrapers and brightly lit apartment windows.
"Now?" Cat surveyed the road, expecting something extraordinary to happen. Unsurprisingly, the quiet night remained quiet and Joker replied by pulling a grubby notebook from his breast-pocket.
"Now we wait."
"For?"
"…That."
He grinned as a fire truck motored past the curb and down the street.
"Three," Joker was holding his leather watch to the streetlamps glow. "Two, one-." On his count, the front of the truck sparked and exploded with a flurry of orange and white flames. It skidded to a halt and spun madly in the center of the asphalt. Like a dying animal, it whined and groaned as the tongues of red flame incinerated it from the inside-out.
Cat stared at the bonfire, transfixed, and crawled into the shotgun seat for a better view.
"We're not going to mention it?"
"What?" Joker was still flicking through his notebook, licking the paint off his lips in thought.
"You're pathetic irony?"
"It's funny."
"It's slightly pathetic."
She motioned this between her thumb and her index finger; "Slightly."
Joker shrugged and floored the truck forwards, making a sharp left at the burning firetruck. "You had a better idea for the roadblock?"
Cat pointedly fiddled with her chain belt. Unknowing to the late truck-driver, it was made of a new magnesium-alloy that had the highest strength-to-weight ratio known to man, meaning that it was incredibly lightweight and delicate, but stronger than titanium.
Joker shot her a side-ways glance. "Everyone's a critic."
The truck stopped again, and Joker made a series of complicated honks with the horn as about 8 thugs in clown masks came running from the indoor carpark. They were followed by a grey garbage truck and an obviously blackmailed garbage truck driver.
"Going well boss?"
One of the thugs hopped in the back of their truck and motioned for the rest to follow, they were carrying various shotguns, machineguns, and even a huge bazooka strapped to a thug's back.
"Everything's peachy." Cat stretched herself, smugly, in the front seat while Joker's men glowered at her from the sardine-packed back.
"And onwards!" Joker announced, happily, and directed the two trucks into a long and heavily congested tunnel.
Lower fifth was the perfect place to funnel out the GPD convey, which was transferring Harvey Dent to County. He was escorted by a SWAT armoured car, three police cars and an overhead helicopter awaiting their return from the tunnel.
But Cat knew that if Joker wanted to get to Harvey, no number of militarised vehicles would get in his way.
She watched as the garbage truck broke away from them, slowing down to drive in the lane beside the troop of security.
"C'mon, c'mon." Joker muttered nervously, and motioned at one of his thugs to take the wheel as he swung himself to the back.
The garbage truck rammed into the last police car, sending it sliding into the opposing lane and slamming into the cement archway, crumbles of sand-coloured rock sprayed over the asphalt and obstructed the heavy traffic. The truck continued to nudge the back of the remaining police vehicle, it too flew from the instructed path and remained motionless as the convoy motored forwards.
The GPD vehicle was now completely exposed from the back, allowing the truck to thrust forward and strike its rear bumper.
"On and on." Cat heard Joker singing from the back while he reloaded a machine gun and hoisted it on his shoulder. Their driver wrenched the wheel leftwards, slamming into the SWAT van and threw it to the concrete pillars barring the road from the river.
With a heavy and painful splash, the van was submerged into the murky depths of Gail River.
Cat held onto the base of her seat for dear life as their driver, seemingly unaware of passenger comfort, dodged the support columns and into the oncoming lane, pulling up beside the isolated GPD car.
"Wanna' join us, sweetheart?"
Joker casually slid the cargo door of their truck open, and smiled at Cat as the speeds rushed through his green and unruly hair.
"Coming."
Cat slid to the back of the van, pulled her own hair into a high-ponytail and shouldering the offered machine gun. She knelt beside the opening and awaited his signal.
Casually leaning towards the road, Joker pointed his silver handgun at the armoured car and let loose a round of thundering bullets, each bouncing off the car's bulletproof exterior with white sparks.
Cat took this as the signal, removed the safety, and fired her own machine gun into the car.
"We should try something else." She called over the rushing wind and gunfire. Despite the violent attempts, the van was merely dinted and riddled with bullet-shape compressions.
At this, Joker dropped his machine gun and waved, irritated, for the RPG carried by one of his thugs. He waited until Cat was safely away from the opening, before firing the bazooka and setting the final leading police car on fire, smoke billowing from its rear bunker and obstructing the van-driver's vision.
"Missed?"
Cat laughed and held out her hand for the RPG, he handed it over with a snarl.
"Can't be an artist without a steady hand." She held it up to her eye and prepared herself to shoot, this time the ammo hit the police cars rear wheel and blasted it up into the air. It was flung from the road and trailed smoke over its skidding and uncoordinated path.
Instead of pouting over his shattered pride, Joker laughed gleefully and pulled Cat to her feet, a proud smirk over his scarred face.
"That's my girl!"
She was caught in the excitement and thrill of the attack, adrenaline coursing through her veins and removing her restraint.
She grabbed the front of his purple coat in a clenched fist and brought him close, crashing their lips together amidst the chaos of the ambush. It was a good few seconds before he reacted, and she readied herself for sharp disapproval and a violent rejection. It was however, slightly staggering to feel his arms snake around her waist and his lips move gently against hers.
"Uh, boss?"
"Hmm?" Joker hummed into her lips, neither breaking away nor so much as looking at his interrupting thug.
"We got company."
It was the low, tiger-like growl of a motorized car that finally tore him from the kiss. Joker leaned out of the truck to glance ahead them, keeping Cat locked firmly in his arms.
"Batsy." He breathed, a maniac grin spreading over his, now slightly smeared, red lips. She felt him squeeze her waist in excitement, moments before the 'bat-car' ploughed into the garbage truck and sent it up into the tunnel ceiling. The truck skidded along the concrete, until most of its exterior was disintegrated and it hit the road without a driver's seat, or a driver.
"Hmm." Joker watched the struggled behind them, retired back into the van and wet his lips in anticipation.
"Stage 2?" Cat asked from his side. She brought her hand up to caress his cheek, tracing the scars in playful admiration. The bat-car spun on its hind wheels to join the GDP van, which was once again exposed.
"One more time? For me?"
Cat grinned at the Joker in reply, and, with the slight hindrance of being attached to his torso, lined up the RPG for another shot.
"Harvey Dent, you little liar." She sang into the eyepiece and fired a perfect shot. The van would've been hit dead-on and incapacitated, had the bat-car not reached them at that moment and launched itself between the bazooka and Dent. Its entire rear now up in flames, the bat-car skidded out of sight and tumbled its way through the pillars, crashing out of the tunnel exit and opening a gaping hole into the night.
A large chunk of fallen debris hit their drivers head, killing him instantly and bringing their truck to a complete stop. Cat kicked their driver in annoyance and looked back for instruction, Joker was storming around the side of their truck, muttering to himself as wrenched open the driver-side door.
"Harvey, Harvey, Harvey Dent."
He pulled the deceased driver from the seat and threw him to the asphalt in disregard. "Oh, excuse me, I wanna' drive."
Cat grimaced at Joker behind the wheel, he was grinning a little too widely for the promise of safety. As expected, the truck slammed itself repeatedly into passing cars, seemingly just for laughs as Joker giggled himself silly.
"Where'd you learn to drive?" Cat shrieked as a pickup truck was smashed to the adjacent lane.
"Learn?"
Joker glanced at her, beaming.
The GPD van was in their sights now, just as it made a sharp right and exited the underground. The remaining few thugs were thrown violently from the truck's open sides as Joker mimicked the GDP's route.
"I like this job." He regarded the fallen thugs through the side mirrors. "I like it, I do."
Cat couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm, and looked back to the disappearing tunnel behind them.
"Think Batman found his feet?"
"Oh, he's not giving up just yet, sweetheart."
Overhead, the rattling sound of a helicopter tore through the nights silence as it hovered above the GDP van rearing for attack. Joker signalled his awaiting thugs through a walkie-talkie.
"Okay, rack them up." He continued to mutter these words, as men in the surrounding fire-escapes fired cable guns from their seventh story position. The cables criss-crossed between the overhead buildings, pulling taut and awaiting the helicopter.
It hit them with its nose, throwing off its careful balance and ploughing it around the sky in violent loops. The helicopter's tail caught a nearby building, sending shards of glass flying in all directions. It struck the ground, hard, and barrel-rolled towards the GPD van in a ball of flame.
The driver dodged it by a hair and changed lanes again in an attempt to throw Joker off their tail. He howled in laughter at the passing wreckage of the helicopter.
Cat ducked to avoid a chunk of rudder that implanted itself in her seat, and didn't see the steel debris launch through her window.
It struck her below the ribs, the steel pipe jutting out of torn clothing.
"Fuck." She winced, breathing hard, and tenderly felt her wound. It was raw and deep, but plugged by the pipe so the blood flow was thin.
"What is it?"
Joker glanced over at her, she quickly wrenched the debris from her gut and used her jacket to hide the wound.
"Nothing." She managed in a normal tone, the last thing this mission needed was to be jeopardised by her inability to stay alive.
Cat looked ahead to see a motorbike emerge from a side alley in a cloud of smoke and fire. It pulled out in front of them, the silhouette of Batman looming over the bike, and raced towards their truck at impossible speeds. She regarded Joker to see if he was finally afraid, however he was smiling again.
"Now, there's a Batman."
The motorbike was rapidly approaching them now, aimed straight for the trucks front. Neither he nor the Joker were backing down.
"Ooh, you wanna play? C'mon."
He licked his lips again and leaned over the steering wheel in manic determination. Cat was less enthusiastic about this idea, and grabbed his arm in terror.
"What are you doing?!"
At her yell, Joker hesitated, the wheel turned slightly, and the truck lost control.
Batman saw the uncertainty, and took this distracted opportunity to fire two harpoons into the truck's bumper, zooming past them and down the street.
"He missed." Joker growled, disappointed.
Cat was busy trying to breathe again as the wound reaffirmed itself in painful stabs, blood seeped through her shirt and reflected the glow from the burning street.
The sound of a taught cable below their feet was the only warning of the entire truck lifting off the ground, tail first, and flipping over in the air. Cat was thrown from her seat and was airborne for a second, before the whole thing came crashing back to the road upside down. It skidded over the asphalt with an ear-splitting screech and came to rest in a mangled heap of steel and glass.
She pulled her leg from the collapsed wreckage and crawled out onto the street, clutching her ribs and coughing deeply.
"J-Jo…!"
Her knees met the ground, the street was still spinning around her and the crash ringing in her ears.
"J…Joker?!" She finally spluttered and glanced back at the truck, to see the Joker crawling out from the driver's side with a machine gun in his hands, he stumbled for a moment in a daze, before tripping over a piece of debris and getting back on his feet.
"Come on, come on." She heard him muttering to himself and fire randomly at oncoming traffic.
She tried to stop him, but her legs wouldn't move and she was helplessly watching Joker go head-to-head with a motorbike.
"Come on. Come on. I want you to do it, I want you to do it. Come on!"
That bastard was going to get himself killed, Cat sat back on the ground in defeat, her eyes shut tight, trying to ignore the waves of agonising pain that targeted her chest. The distance between the two figures was lowering, rapidly, and any second now Batman would hit and kill Joker. The very thought broke her, and she fell to the ground, her head hitting the road and her hands clutching at her bloody chest.
There was a squealing sound as brakes were put under immense pressure, and a heavy object slid down the street.
Cat opened her eyes and lifted her head; Batman was lying near the burning truck, his bike destroyed and his morale tested.
"Thank you."
Her words were barely a whisper and she knew it was impossible for the vigilante to hear.
"Thank you."
Cat's eyes fluttered and she could barely discern that someone was running towards her. Strong arms wrapped around her middle and lifted her to a sitting position, her head lolled forwards. Someone ripped her shirt apart from the damaged hole to reveal the wound, there was a weak sound of distress, just as the entire world vanished from view.
Joker shrugged off his coat and draped it over the unconscious Caterina, she was alive, and would remain alive until 'Stage 2' of the plan was completed.
He flounced over to the fallen Batman, where a few of his thugs were already trying to remove his mask. Just as one pulled at the mask, a blue electric current pulsed through him and sent him flying backwards, smoke rising from his clothing.
Joker fell into a fit of mocking laughter, and kicked the fallen thug heavily while dancing around him, the rest of his men remained at a distance.
He pulled a switchblade from his pocket, clicked it open, and knelt beside the batman with baited breath. It was such a special moment for him, he didn't want to rush it and end Batman's life too quickly.
The barrel of a gun prodded his neck from behind, he sighed in frustration.
"Could you please just give me a minute?"
The man threw him off the Batman by his shoulder and pointed the gun between his eyes.
He was, unmistakably, Jim Gordon, back from the dead and in SWAT member uniform. He was breathing hard, the right side of his face heavily bruised.
"We got you, you son of a bitch!" He spat and stepped hard on Joker's outstretched arm, causing him to drop the switchblade to the road. Armed guards circled him and his thugs from all sides, an unnecessary number of guns pointed at the Joker's head.
"Sir!"
Gordon glanced up as Joker was placed into handcuffs and walked to the back of a police car. A cop was standing over Cat, shining a flashlight over her face.
"It's Morgan, we found her!"
With the Joker finally secured, the group of police began to clap and cheer as the kidnapped woman was finally rescued.
"Let me see!"
Gordon ran over to the stretcher they were lying her on and turned her face, he smiled in relief.
"Should we take her to the hospital, sir?" The young policeman looked up at Gordon, fitting an oxygen mask over Cat's head.
"No," Gordon shook his head. "I'm not losing her again, not on my watch. Take them both to Major Crimes Unit. Set up a medical team in my office and I want guards at every entrance, no one goes in and no one goes out until Morgan's been looked after. And for God's sake, get her some clothes."
"Yes, sir!"
She was carefully placed in the back seat of a police car, the oxygen mask clouding as she breathed and Joker's coat still covering her torso.