Chapter 5: A New Rogue
The Batmobile rumbled down the deserted streets of Gotham. On the center conceal, a map blipped with the homing signal of Bruce's missing car. Behind the wheel, Batman sat grave and stern, his worse fear confirmed.
Inside, he had hoped Victoria strong enough to fend off and demons, but in the end they had won. Once again, Batman was faced with the loss of a friend, and even more, and also the duty of returning them to justice and helping find a normal life. What was done is done. There was no turning back.
Batman had located the missing Bentley in a back alley. He parked the Batmobile behind the stolen car and got out, examining the high rises on either side. All were dark, save the single glow that came down from on to the penthouse apartment. Faint echoes of glass crashing came down from above.
On instinct, Batman reached into his belt and shot his Bat-grapple up to the penthouse.
"Ah, Batman," the femme fatale Victoria stepped out onto the patio as Batman swung up to the penthouse. "I was wondering when you would pay me a visit."
Batman paused taking in Victoria's new look. She wore her wedding dress, now a pitch black, which ran from a tight corset into a simple skirt with a diagonal cut from her right hip to her left ankle. Her hourglass figure was even more extreme, with a thin, concave waste. Spike-heeled boots that laced up to her knees brought her already tall figure to and inch below Batman's. Two long-barreled revolvers were on each of her hips, half-hidden by a long, black, collared, trench coat. Her hair was neatly done up in a bun under a small black top hat. In her fingerless, gloved hand, she lightly tossed a perfume bottle.
"Like what you see, Bats?" she asked, flinging the bottles so that is crashed in the penthouse's open sliding door.
At first Batman was without words, "Victoria-"
"-Ah," Victoria raised a cautioning finger and smirked. "It's Vampyra now…"
"Victoria," Batman went on, ignoring her new title that only strengthened her insanity. "Come with me. I can help you…"
Vampyra, however, was examining the engagement ring on her left hand. "You know, Batman, some how I do not think this can work out between us…"
She twisted the diamond off her finger and threw it carelessly at Batman's feet. Reaching into her coat pocket, Vampyra pulled out a match. She lit it with a flick of her black nail. "It's The Tower for you, Dark Knight…"
With a devilish grin, Vampyra pitched the match into the puddle of perfume. Flames immediately engulfed the whole apartment.
Batman dropped behind the protection of his cape as the penthouse exploded. When the blast subsided, he straightened. All around the remains of the apartment still blazed and Victoria, now Vampyra, was gone.
The Joker staggered down the grand staircase of the Star Mansion he had just been awakened by another night terror. Instead of waking Harley, he had chosen to take his troubles downstairs to pace the rooms.
Moonlight filtered through the dirt-streaked windows of the living room, painting the room in blue and shadows. The Joker had the sensation of another in the room with him.
He turned his face upwards from his feet. A pair of laced up boots hung over the arm of a chair. Moonlight glistened on pale knees and a woman's thigh. A black-clawed hand reached out from the shadows to pull a card from a deck that rested on the nearby coffee table.
"Penny for your thoughts?" a woman's seductive tone escaped from the shadow.
"Who are you? How did you get in here?" Joker's surprise turned to anger once he remembered all the doors had been locked and the windows closed.
"I used the door, of course," the woman's legs moved to stand. "After all it is my house, Jack."
The Joker's face dropped and her retreated back a step in horror.
Vampyra stood before him, eyes burning with a new insanity and teeth flashing in a fanged grin.
"Victoria," Joker made no attempt to hide his uneasiness, his grin awkward and embarrassed. "I was just wondering how you were fairing, but I can see that you're fine!" His voice went up with slight panic.
"Oh, but I am more than just fine, Jack," Vampyra's indigo eyes softened into a livening fondness. "In fact, I was just dropping by to thank you…" Her voice was deathly sweet.
"Thank me?" Joker took another step back. "For what? I mean, really V, you didn't need to do this." He gulped.
"But, of course, I had to!" Vampyra advanced on him like a cat to a mouse. " I had to thank you for my birthday present…"
She held up a card before her face. With a grim smile, she flipped the card so the Joker could see its figure. A tarot card of the High Priestess flashed in front of the Joker and her could not help but see the similarities between Vampyra and the card. The both possessed the same fair skin, hour dark figure and a dark countenance that commanded fear and respect.
"Ah, yes!" the Joker let out a small sigh of relief. "I thought you would like them…"
Vampyra smiled. "I guess you thought right. However, that still does not excuse your offenses…" She reached at her hip and drew a long revolver on the Joker. "Look familiar? It used to be yours."
"Now, V!" the Joker nearly shouted from hysterics. "Can't we just be civilized?" He looked frantically for an escape.
"Civilized?" Vampyra let out a short harsh laugh. "From you? Surely that must be a joke," she cocked the hammer of the gun.
"Puddin'?"
Vampyra quickly hid the revolver in her trench coat, turning to the new voice.
Harley stood in the light of the hallway, rubbing sleep from her eyes, "What's going on?"
"Harley!" Joker let out and elated cry and quickly made to excuse Vampyra's presence. "Harley, this is Victoria-"
"-Vampyra," Vampyra corrected.
Joker looked at Vampyra in realization and then went on. "She's an old friend, who just happened to be dropping by. This used to be her old hide-out."
Harley looked at Vampyra and then the Joker. "Oh, okay… Harley Quinn, nice to meet cha." She gave a dreamy wave to Vampyra, who returned it with a nod.
Joker looked from Harley to Vampyra and back. "Uh, baby, why don't you just go back to bed? It's late and I'll be up in just a bit."
Harley gave a large yawn. "Okay, Mistah J. Goodnight…" She turned and walked back up the stairs.
Vampyra's gaze followed the sound of Harley's footsteps until they reached a bedroom. "I can see why you like her so much."
"Huh?" Joker looked at Vampyra. Inside, he praised Harley for being a light sleeper.
"She's a spitting image of me…" Vampyra's focus had turned to a picture that hung next to the doorway where Harley had appeared. "Or what was me, I should say… However, I am much taller… and intelligent…" she added the last comment in an undertone.
The Joker said nothing, knowing that Vampyra was exactly right. Harley was the one way he could lessen the loneliness. She was a reminder of what he once had and the idea that Victoria Star could have been at his side in crime. Now, however, the story was much different.
"Humph," Vampyra turned back to the Joker, the menacing glint in her eye had returned. "I would keep her close, if I were you, along with all of you other Rogue friends…"
The Joker face went blank. He glanced from the picture and the hallway and back to Vampyra, who had vanished in the shadows.