The last laugh
It had been a year, a whole year and wasn't that a surprising thing, that it had been a year. Oh no, the surprising thing was that even now… people still remembered.
There was a fear of clowns that was learnt very quickly in Gotham, even the rogues had it. It was an unspoken fact among the inmates of Arkham that everyone feared the Joker.
No one would go up against him, he was the best, a master of mayhem, the king of chaos, the jester of jennacide and so on and so forth.
The hardest things for rogues to grasp was the fact that he was actually gone. There were moments when people actually thought he would never go, that he would always be there and never leave.
Though it wasn't possible, for the Joker at least, many thought he would live forever.
So when April Fools day went by without a hitch, when Christmas television wasn't interrupt by exploding christmas tress or a rocket powered one, it all seemed quite odd. Then the day came, the anniversary of the Joker's death and it was oddly… well noisy in the rec-room.
The patients were chatting all of them talking, but all of them talking about one subject.
Joker.
"And ya remember the time, Mista' J made all the smiling fish?!" Harley cried with a smile on her face. "The way they grinned," she placed her fingers on her smiling face, resting them on her cheeks as she rocked her head from side to side singing happily. "They're silly and funny and oh so delish', they're joyful and jolly, Joker fish!"
"Yes Harley we all heard the song too," Edward rolled his eyes as he sat with his arms firmly across his chest. "After that smiling fish academic… I couldn't eat fish for a week."
"I can never eat fish again," Jonathan stated bluntly as he shuddered slightly from the memory. "Just the image of them smiling at me," another shudder ran up his spine. "It was the first time I understood why vegetarians don't eat things with faces."
"It was… disturbing," Kirk whispered still sitting on the sofa like always, arms wrapped around his knees like he was trying to hide from the world. "Myself and… my wife… we used to have the fish from the docks fresh, after the Joker fish we never went there again."
"Oh!" Harley clapped her hands together. "And ya' remember that time Mista J and I hid out at the tunnel of love."
"Yes," Jonathan nodded. "I also remember how he tried to blast you into orbit afterwards."
"He did what?!" Kirk looked shocked but Lynns waved him off.
"It's psycho dating, Kirk, you wouldn't understand," Garfield chuckled. "Nigma does though don't ya?"
Edward rolled his eyes. "Very funny."
"Basically," Garfield turned to Kirk and smirked. "In psycho world there's always a game of tit for tat among partners and love interests and there's always gonna be a falling out."
"He tried to blast her into orbit," Kirk deadpanned.
"It was just a' argument Kirk," Harley waved him off and grinned. "Mista' J apologised afterwards."
Kirk raised and eyebrow before he rested his head on his knees again muttering under his breath. "Must of been one hell of an apology."
Garfield chuckled slightly and leaned over the sofa. "I remember the time Joker burnt up all the fire departments in the city."
"Oh yeah!" Harley grinned. "That was to celebrate the fourth of July! Oh and do ya remember the time Mista J attacked Maroni's place? Even held a gun ta Maroni's head!" Harley pointed her finger at her head to imitate the gesture.
"Yes…" Edward nodded his head. "I remember that year's April Fools day very well."
"Hmm…" Jonathan trailed off and nodded his head in agreement. "A very long Halloween, indeed as I recall."
"Oh and Ya remember the time Mista J let us all out at one of the other Halloweens and we partied with the civilians all night until midnight!"
Edward smiled fondly. "Hmm… that was fun."
"And do you remember the half a dozen times Joker beat you up and you came crawling to me for help?" Ivy raised an eyebrow at Harley as she came over to them with a bored look on her face.
Harley waved her off. "We all have our arguments from time ta time."
"Almost killing you on more then one occasion," Jonathan filled in with a rather bored look.
Harley frowned at him before she stuck her tongue out but then she grinned. "Ya remember that time Mista J got the second boy blunder?"
"Yes and the time he became Emperor or something?"
"Hmm and don't forget the time he and Lex killed Lex's brother," Edward recalled.
"Ah yes we can't forget that one can we."
"Oh!" Harley grinned and clapped her hands. "And do ya remember the time Mista' J did his Christmas with the Joker on the telly, oh, oh and the time Mista J pretended to be a priest and had the hydrochloric holly water! Oh, oh or the time-!"
"Child!" Jonathan glared at her ever so slightly. "We remember every single thing that clown ever did."
"It's a little hard to forget something like Joker," Edward shrugged.
"Guy was a maniac!" Lynns shouted.
Kirk gave him a look. "You fly through burning buildings."
Garfield shrugged slightly. "What's ya point? This is Joker we're talking about, no body can beat him," he shuddered slightly. "I remember the first time that I met him… at the Royal Hotel or whatever it's called…. with the fruit cake and the Electrocutioner…." he shuddered slightly. "Poor guy, almost felt sorry for him."
"Oh that Christmas eve!" Harley grinned. "That was the first night I met Mista J and he told me how special I was and how he was my friend, even called me Harley for the first time."
The others gave her a blank look at the dreamy look she had on her face and they all shook their heads.
"And it all went downhill from there, didn't it child?"
Harley glared. "Ha! You're just jealous because you never had someone as loyal and loving as my puddin was to me!"
"Yeah…." Garfield trailed off before he frowned. "And I don't think we ever want someone to care for us the way he did about you Harley, no offence."
"Alright rogues, time for lunch!" one of the guards in the corner yelled and they all obligingly got up and walked through the corridors to the lunch hall to have their meals, but once they got there, a frown fell on their faces as they examined exactly what was on their trays.
"Oh no…" Edward trailed off with a frown.
"Disgusting," Jonathan snarled as he glared at his tray.
"I'm gonna be sick," Gar pushed his tray away and Kirk did the same thing.
"Whoever did this has poor taste," Ivy hissed as she glared at her tray.
Harley grinned down at her tray before she looked up at the others and giggled.
"You did this didn't you, Quinn?!" Garfield demanded as he pointed an accusing finger at her.
"Child," Jonathan grit his teeth. "Why would you even…"
"Harley how could you ruin a perfectly good meal?! What did you do, flirt with the cook?!" Edward snapped as he glared at the smiling blond who giggled continuously.
"Well!?" Jonathan snapped as he narrowed his eyes, "Do you have anything to say for yourself!?"
Harley smiled at them and waved her fingers in a little wave before giggling again. With that she got to her feet and smirked. "They're silly and funny and oh so delish'. They're joyful and jolly, Joker fish!" she sang as she danced off leaving behind her tray and a small group of rogues staring at their smiling and fishy meals.
THE END.
Note: So here we are then, the last laugh and I think the Joker did get it after all :P Anyway, I hopes guys liked this one, it was a lot of fun to write and I look forward to more requests, since fifteen is almost ready too, so expect that one up soon :)
Anyway keep up the requests guys, I love them!
Next chapter: Crocodile tears: Summary: Part of the rehabilitation program at Arkham Asylum, means rogues have to work together and preform daily chores. The unlucky group this time round is Croc, Ivy, Firefly, Killer Moth, Rat Catcher and Arkham's latest arrival Man-Bat. There's just one problem... Moth's got pills to stop his ADHD... but... they've had the opposite effect. What would Autumn or Fall be like for Arkham if there wasn't a bit of Gardening chaos?
