Chapter 3: The Ace Chemical Factory
The Joker lounged in the den of the Star Manor. He was silently shuffling a deck of trick cards. He was also well aware of what day it was.
Joker had never cared for Valentine's Day. There were too many bad memories that came flooding back. He did not regret his new life, in fact he loved it, but the losses to reach his freedom were scars that did not fade.
Jack Napier drove away from the Star Manor, a confident grin on his face. The cold wind blew on his face from the open window. He loved this feeling of excitement that ran through his veins with every new job. He was free. Here, there were no rules to hold him back. Daringly, he pressed the gas pedal to the floor and let the car speed to over a hundred miles.
Victoria would not understand. She would never even risk doing something illegal. So how could she comprehend the thrill of the chase, the heist, and the hit? The thought of giving up his new position in the Gotham underworld was hard to bar, but then so was the thought of Victoria leaving him.
So Jack kept up the charade, asking Thorne to call and give him jobs. Victoria would have no idea that his debt to Thorne was paid long ago. Thus, his high society life of academics was preserved along with his already renowned name in crime. It was the prefect alibi.
The car drove through the deserted streets of Gotham. Nights were early in the city. Crime ran everywhere and with it, the Batman
Nobody knew who or what the Batman was, or even whose side he was on. It did not matter where the job was the Bat was there. He was there before the cops, but was he one of them or another vigilante kook that wanted the glory for himself. Jack ruled out the latter, the Bat was obviously on the police's side. He could gather that from his previous encounters with him.
Jack parked the car in a back alley behind a large factory building. Cool and collected, he emerged from the car and spotted a shady group of trench coats down the alley. He surveyed the alley and the neighboring buildings. He was in the narrows of the city by the riverfront, on of the most dangerous areas in Gotham.
"Jack," a man from the group turned o him as Jack approached. He had a dark angular face.
"What's the plan?" Jack asked in a low voice, surveying the service door the group stood next to.
"Get in, lift that safe, whack a few scientists and doctors and get out. Quick and clean…" the man said with a grin.
"Right," Jack's face was straight and serious, now it was time to work. He pulled out his gun, silencer already attached. "What are we waiting for then?" He gave an evil smirk.
A large goon kicked the already picked door and the thugs stormed into the Ace Chemical Factory. The sounds of machine guns rang off the huge chemical vats that filled the factory. Limp bodies of chemists and technicians fell into pools of toxic liquid.
Jack calmly stepped around the dead figures and acid pools that spilled out from punctured vats. His face was turned upwards to the walkways above the vats, searching for any survivors. He knew if anyone escaped it would be disastrous.
A small explosion came from a ground floor office as the others blew the safe and began to empty it of any cash of valuable documents that could be sold on the black market.
"Jack!" The man with the angular face hissed, a heavy satchel over his shoulder. "Let's get outta here!"
Jack paused. It seemed too easy.
"The Batman!" echoed a cry from somewhere in the factory.
The running of footsteps came from overhead and Jack looked up. A white lab coat was running along a walkway above. "Go!" Jack yelled over his shoulder and started to climb the nearest ladder up to the walkway.
Below, the thugs made off toward the exit with their loot. The emergency door slammed on their faces and a burst of black smoke surrounded them. Coughing, one by one, they all fell to the floor unconscious.
Jack shot a glance to the commotion below and growled in frustration. He flung himself onto the causeway and took off down it, away from the exit.
In front of him, he could see the white jacket. Gun in hand Jack gave a triumphant smile. It was the thrill of the hunt that carried him closer and closer.
The coat stumbled and fell. Hearing the clamor of footsteps behind, the man turned over to face his assailant.
Jack slowed, advancing on the man. He was old with graying hair and round thick spectacles. His face streaked with sweat and white with fear. "Please don't," the man begged, pinned between a wall of factory controls and the end of the pathway. "I have a family, a grandson…"
"Awe," Jack faked a mock concern. "Too bad. I guess the jokes on them…"
The gun fired and a black mass swung down between Jack and the chemist. The gun was knocked from his hand and fell into a vat of acid below.
"Bad timing, Bats!" Jack hissed, opposite the infamous Batman. Between them lay the dead man, bullet hole in his chest.
"Napier…" Batman said in a dark voice, white eyes narrowed.
Jack was grinning insanely, an eye glow in his eyes. "Why don't you just have a blast!" Jack pulled a lever and a burst of steam hit the mask crusader square in the face.
Jack laughed and began to pull an assortment of lever and switches. Immediately alarms began to sound and the vats beneath started to drain and boil.
The burst of steam had ceased and Batman took off down the walkway after Jack. A toss of a Batarang hit the retreating Jack brining him to the steel grated floor of the causeway.
Jack rolled onto his back, a snarl across his face.
"Give it up, Napier…" Batman closed the gap between them.
Jack looked from the Dark Knight to the drainage vat under him. If he was caught it would be the end of his double life, no more high society, no more Victoria. "Sorry Bats, but I always have a Joker up my sleeve!"
Without a moment's hesitation, Jack rolled off the platform. He fell into the nearly empty vat and was swept down the drainage pipe.
What happened afterwards was a blur. Jack remembered being washed up on the riverside next to a drainage pipe from the Ace Chemical Factory. His head spun and his body was a tingling numb. His trench coat and hat were lost in the current.
Jack lurched to his feet. His skin burned faintly and his limbs were weak. Other than a few bumps and bruises he was fine.
A huge grin came across Jack's face. He had done it. He had outwitted the Batman and lived to tell the underworld without twenty-five to life. He let out an uncontrollable laugh of victory that sent a spike through his skull.
Still laughing, Jack clutched his head and began to stumble away from the river. The itching feeling of being burned crawled over his skin, but his head was too dazed to even notice.
The car was still in the alley adjacent to the factory. Jack slouched in the driver's seat, gasping for breath and chuckling, unable to suppress his glee. Jack turned the key and drove off toward home.
The shock and adrenaline of the incident was beginning to wane. Lead weights replaced his arms and legs and he sank back against the cushioned seat. His smile faded but it felt as if he was still grinning. Perhaps it was just that his cheeks were sore from laughter.
The car pulled into the driveway of the Star Manor and Jack stopped at the front door. Slowly, he stepped up to the front door and pushed it open. "Victoria?"