Chapter 3

Punch Lines

"You want me to wait, that is funny." Joker said with his characteristic sneering grin.

Joker's lair was characteristic of his hideouts. Colorful and somewhat circus like in appearance. He sat upon a throne, with clown emblems emblazoned on the armrests and one large one above his head.

"So tell me, why should I even think about listening to you?" Joker asked his guest.

"We have a history, I planned the best joke on Batman to date." The guest responded.

"Oh hush" Joker laughed.

"I am serious," the man with a bandaged face said, "This could lead to the defeat of Batman"

"No, I mean literally, 'Oh, Hush.' Never mind," Joker quipped, "Tell me Tommy, what on this planet can you possibly offer me to hold off on my plans?"

"Money." Hush replied, "You always need that."

"But its much more fun to steal it, Tommy boy."

"Why are you calling me that?" Hush inquired.

"Cause your identity is widely known now, Tomas Elliot, I don't even see why you wear the bandages any more."

"I suppose my original identity is known, but now I am Hush, and that is what you should call me."

"Anyway, Tommy-boy, we had some laughs, but I have things of my own to do now, I just can't take the time to do what you want."

"Would you like to destroy Gotham?" Hush said calmly.

Joker's red eyes lit up like a child on Christmas morning.

"I can provide you with men, weapons, materials, anything you want, but I need you not to raise the Bat's attention before I am ready."

Joker sat thinking, tapping his finger on the armrest, "Tempting, how do I know I can trust you?"

"Have I lied to you yet?"

"You said you would take down Batman."

"But I didn't say when"

"MMM," Joker hummed, "You have a point."

"Well what do you say?"

Joker thought some more, his finger tapping getting louder and louder until he slammed his hand down with a WHAM and quickly responded, "I have a few conditions."

"State them."

"First how did you know I was up to something?"

Hush calmly stated, "Aren't you always?"

"HMMM," Joker hummed again, "So, Bugsy did tell you." And looked sternly at one of his henchmen.

"N-No, boss, not a word." The nervous henchman said as he began to run.

Joker reached behind his throne "I told you what would happen if you blabbed at the bar again, Bugsy." With that Joker pulled out a ridiculously oversized gun and took aim. "It's so hard to find good help."

BLAM! The gun thundered knocking Joker nearly off of his seat.

The henchmen flipped in the air from the force of the blast, landing face first on the ground.

"HA-HA-HA, now that's funny." Joker mused, "Right boys."

The men nodded in affirmation.

"Then why ain't you laughin'!" Joker screamed.

The men let out nervous laughs.

"That's better." Joker sat back, still looking frustrated.

"Anything else." Hush added.

"Oh yeah," said Joker jumping straight up in his chair as if called to attention "On Bats, one thing, I want to kill him."

Hush was silent and motionless as a statue for a moment. "Very well, his death is yours if he doesn't fall before you get there."

"No, No, No, NOOOOOOOO!" Joker screamed, "I killed Robin, I sent Gordon's daughter to a wheelchair." He pointed at himself and raised his voice up "ME! I have the legacy, it's my destiny if you will!" Joker sat back, all most calm, "I do him in and nobody else, otherwise I do my thing like I planned, understand!"

Hush stood silent again, "As you wish, I care not how, just that the Batman is dead."

"Good, now you can leave, Tommy"

Hush began to walk out of Jokers hideout.

Once Hush left Joker turned to his henchmen, "He really needs to lighten up."

Outside Hush removed his bandages. He pulls out a cell phone and dials. "Boss," He says, "It's Evil, the Joker has been recruited, will probably need men and weapons to win him over, call back when you can."

Gotham

Batman sits a top a roof, looking over the city, contemplating the night's events.

"I know you are there." He remarks to the wind. "Come out, Huntress"

The Huntress reveals herself from behind the shadows of a wall "I wasn't trying to sneak up, I was just checking to see if you were alright."

"Of course you were." Batman remarked not even looking her way, "Bigger matters to deal with though, I had a run-in with Clayface and Killer Croc tonight."

"I saw, I thought I was going to have to help you for a moment there." She responded wondering if he would ever take his gaze from the far off horizon of the city. She preferred people to look at her when they spoke.

"No, I tried to help Croc, but he was too far gone. I suppose the F.B.I. wasn't able to help him before he escaped. Just a moment of weakness that I should have known better about." Batman retorted, " Did you see after the fight?"

"No, I left after you took care of them with that electrical shock."

"Probably best you didn't see then. Clayface and Croc were hired, they have no idea who, but the man called himself Evil. He will probably have them out on bail in the morning. Point is something is up."

"Any ideas?" Huntress wondered. "Could it be that Hush character again?"

"Possible, but I doubt it, but I have been watched for the past few nights."

"How do you know?"

"I just know." Batman sternly remarked. "Whoever it is, they are a new player in this town, and I think they have big plans. You and the others should probably be ready for something major."

"OK Thanks for trusting me enough to tell me."

"It's not about trust," Batman said, "it's going to be public knowledge when it happens anyway, no sense in waiting to spread the word."

"Alright," Huntress remarked, "Are you sure Clayface told you everything?"

"Absolutely," Batman said "With what I did to him, he would have confessed to the Lincoln assassination if I asked."

Huntress thought for a moment, "What did you do."

"Like I said," Batman grinned, "good thing you didn't stay and watch."