Jongleur and the other groupies had to hold back nausea when they stepped through the tear between realities. Jerome didn't really get affected as much since he had gone through it before. He waited for them to get their bearings.
"That was unpleasant." Jongleur said, still a little green. "But are we here?"
"Yep. Welcome to the other world." Jerome said, wishing he was coming back under better circumstances.
"It doesn't look that impressive." the nerdy Jerome groupie named Roz said looking around at the dingy alley they were in.
"It's an alleyway. An alleyway is going to look like this really anywhere." Jerome said, rolling his eyes. "Everyone good now?"
"All good, boss." Jongleur said.
"Alright, let's move out." Jerome said.
"Where exactly are we going?" Jongleur asked, curious.
"...I'm not really sure." Jerome said, looking uncertain. "When I left here, people found out about my connection to the Joker. I don't know if Bruce or the other people I know will even want me here. And then there's the Joker. That's a whole other thing I'm not looking forward to having to deal with."
"Joker. That's the guy Miah ended up as, right?" Roz asked.
"Never say my brother's name again!" Jerome snarled and got in his face.
"Woah. Sorry boss." Roz said nervously. "I didn't realize you didn't want to hear it."
Jerome clutched his chemical burned hand that was wrapped up in bandages and a glove. The sting of it reminded him of that whole awful event with Miah. "I just don't want to be reminded of what happened to him...or who he is now."
"It's all good, boss." Jongleur said with a sympathetic look. "I was there. I know that was a difficult thing to witness. We won't bring it up anymore."
Jerome pulled himself together. "Enough brooding. We are in another world. This should be good for all of us. I'm not sure what we're going to do but I can at least give you a tour of this Gotham. You won't be disappointed."
"Yay!" the rather short acrobatic Cammy said cheerfully.
They wandered out of the alley into the city. The groupies all stared in wonder at what they saw.
"Wow. It looks so different." Cammy said, eyes wide.
"Where are the flying cars? I thought you said this was the future?" Roz asked.
Jerome rolled his eyes. "It's not that far in the future. No flying cars yet. But the tech is a lot more advanced. You won't be disappointed." Jerome noticed an electronics store nearby and smiled. "Speaking of…" He walked over to the window display that showed several flat screen tvs and a few laptop computers. "Come over here. Have a look at what you have to look forward to tech wise."
Roz rushed over and stared in awe. "Flat screens? And they're so big! And look at that picture quality!"
The others wandered over and also gawked at the tvs. The tvs in their world had cathode tube screens. Clunky and not nearly as good picture quality.
"And look at these!" Roz said wide eyed like a kid in a toy store, noticing the laptops. "Are those really computers? They're so small."
"Yep. Those are laptops. They are a lot more portable. There are still full size desktop computers too." Jerome said, smiling at them acting like kids at Christmas.
"Wow." Jongleur said. "Hey look. Is that Bruce Wayne on the news? He looks so grown up. That's your adopted dad, right?"
"Yeah. That's him." Jerome said, smiling a little. He stared at the tv, watching Bruce at some press event. He missed Bruce so much.
"What the hell's Arkham City?" asked Tara, the tough as nails street brawler.
Jerome was brought out of his thoughts when she asked that question. That was what Bruce was talking about. Talking about how Arkham City was bad for Gotham. He was trying to get them to shut it down. "Sounds like some kind of walled off prison city right in the Old Gotham section of the city. That wasn't around when I was here. They must've started it after I left."
"Look at that huge wall." Jongleur said as he stared at the tv.
Suddenly, a group of heavily armed men rushed up and tear gassed the crowd and detained Bruce Wayne. Jerome stared at the tv in alarm.
"Who are they? What's Tyger?" Tara asked. "They look like some kind of private security company or something. Do they have the authority to do all that?"
"I don't know who they are but we are going after them!" Jerome said with determination on his face. "They have Bruce. We have to move quickly."
"Sure thing, boss." Jongleur said. "What's the plan?"
Jerome thought about it for a few minutes. "We can't know where they took Bruce until we find out who and what Tyger is. We need to find out more. Luckily we are right by an electronics store. We'll just grab a laptop and find a place with good wifi to do some research."
"What's Wi-Fi?" Cammy asked.
"A wireless internet connection." Jerome said walking into the store. They followed behind him.
"Wireless internet?" Roz looked like he was going to swoon.
"Can I help you?" the store employee asked, looking at them warily, noticing their rather flamboyant clothing choices.
"I need a laptop. Quickly. It's a bit of an emergency." Jerome said.
"Okay. What kind of laptop? What are you using it for? Gaming? Design? Word processing? I'm going to need a bit more information." the employee asked, still looking wary.
Jerome got in his face. "I just said it was an emergency. Do you really think I need it for gaming? I don't care what kind it is as long as it works and has the ability to connect to the internet. I don't have time to discuss the details. So go and get me a laptop."
"Alright. No need to get snippy." the employee said, walking away. He came back with a laptop. "So how are you going to pay for this?"
Jerome got out a wad of cash and dropped it on the counter. "That should be enough. Keep the change." He grabbed the laptop and walked out of the store with his groupies following him.
"Why didn't we just steal it?" Tara asked.
"Because we don't have time to deal with the cops if they somehow get called." Jerome said, rolling his eyes.
There was a diner nearby that looked rather similar to Jerome's uncle's diner only it was called Pauli's diner. They went in and piled into two booths. Jerome was glad to see an outlet near the booth and plugged in the laptop and turned it on. "You might as well all get food. This might take awhile and I'm not sure we'll have time to eat later."
"Thanks boss." Jongleur said. They all looked at some menus.
Roz stared at the laptop. "I thought you said this was portable. It's got a cord."
"Even a portable device needs power. This is a new computer. It's not charged." Jerome said, a little annoyed.
"Oh. Of course. Sorry. I suppose that should be obvious." Roz said, a bit embarrassed.
"What can I get you all?" asked the kind looking blond waitress.
"I'm not hungry. But they can get whatever they want." Jerome said. Then he added "Within reason." and directed it at his groupies. "What's the Wi-Fi password?"
"Oh, it's Pancake247." The waitress said, smiling. "What can I get for the rest of you?" The groupies ordered and the waitress wrote it all down and then walked away.
Jerome logged into the Wi-Fi and searched for the information he needed. First he did a simple internet search. Roz was kind of annoying him by staring raptly at all he did like it was fascinating. "It looks like Tyger is a private military and security contractor. They guard Arkham City. So that's where Bruce probably is."
"So how are we getting inside? It looks pretty well guarded." Jongleur asked.
"I'm not sure. I'll have to hack into their security a little to find out more. There's probably a subway or sewer tunnel that we could use. Unless they've sealed all of those off. Maybe we can still find a weak spot." Jerome said. "Ah ha! There's a subway tunnel that goes through that area. It's probably sealed off but I think we should be able to find a weak spot in one of the walls. Derek, this might be your time to shine. We might need to cobble together an explosive."
The mostly silent Derek smiled at the thought that he would be allowed to make some explosives soon.
A few diner patrons could hear them and looked like they found their conversation weird but wisely decided it was none of their business and didn't say anything. The waitress came over with their orders and they started eating.
"Eat quickly. We need to go soon." Jerome said. He hacked into Tyger security and looked through some files. He now knew where Bruce would likely be taken and where he would end up when he was thrown out into Arkham City. They needed to move quickly. He had to hope that Bruce's prisoner processing would take time.
After they ate, they all headed out into the city. After they gathered some supplies, Jerome led them to the subway. They all hopped the turnstiles and headed into the tunnels. Jerome had the laptop out with a map on it and was soon leading them through the tunnels.
"Here we go. If this map is correct, then if we blow through this wall, we'll end up in the tunnel we need to be in. Then we'll have to hack a security door that's sealed up and then it's a straight shot to Arkham city. Derek, you got that explosive ready?"
Derek walked up with the makeshift explosive he made. Derek might be rather quiet and none of them were sure about his mental age but he was a wiz at creating explosives from really anything lying around. They placed the explosive on the wall and then made a run for it as the explosive blew.
"Nice. It made exactly the right sized hole that we needed. Ok, follow me." Jerome said, walking through the hole they made and into another tunnel. They got to a security door and Jerome stared at it with a thoughtful look. There was a console on the wall next to the door. "Hey Roz, you think you could hack this?"
"What? It's technology way newer than anything I've dealt with before." Roz said with a worried look. "But I'll give it a try."
Roz had a look and started typing away at the screen. He seemed fascinated by the touch screen. Despite his worries about the advanced technology, he managed to hack it, since they soon heard an encouraging beep and saw the door open.
"Trust Roz to figure out any tech." Cammy said cheerfully.
"It's not as advanced as I thought. It's just fancy looking. It wasn't hard to hack." Roz said as they made their way through the open door into the sealed off subway tunnels.
Soon they found themselves in an abandoned subway station. Jerome ran up the steps and into the city.
"Welcome to Arkham city I guess." Jerome said, looking around at how trashed everything was.
"Now this is more like it." Tara said as she looked around. "I mean, look at this place. In a city full of madmen and criminals, there is no law. That's a wonderful thought." She cracked her knuckles, looking forward to the violence that they were likely to encounter.
The others had similar looks on their faces when they thought of that.
"Where to now, boss?" Jongleur asked, ever the loyal lackey.
"We go this way a bit and turn right. The door to the prisoner processing area should be right there. We get there and then just wait. Hopefully Bruce isn't already out here." Jerome shut the laptop and handed it to Roz. Roz happily took it and put it in his bag.
"So we're saving Bruce Wayne yet again." Jongleur said, smiling. "He does like to get into trouble a lot."
"He doesn't need us to save him really at this point in his life. He's not a kid anymore." Jerome said as they made their way through the trashed streets. "No, he only really needs us there so people don't wonder at the fact he can defend himself. Look, you are probably going to find some things out that not many people know. I trust all of you but know that if you reveal anything you find out, I will not hesitate to murder you. This is important. No one can find it out. Bruce is important to me and his secrets are important to him. So I am not playing. I will murder anyone that says anything about it, no matter how useful they are to me. Just forget what you learn."
"We got you boss." Jongleur said. "We won't say anything."
"Good." Jerome said as they got near the area where prisoners were let out into the city.
"Do you think he's already out here somewhere?" Cammy asked, looking around.
Jerome looked around. He noticed an orange prison suited thug and grabbed him as he passed.
"What do you want?" the thug asked nervously.
"Bruce Wayne. Did he come through there yet? Did you see him?" Jerome asked.
"Wayne? No! So he is being thrown in here? I thought people were bullshiting me when I heard that." the thug said with confusion on his face.
Jerome released the thug with a relieved look on his face. The thug ran off as fast as he could.
"Good. Then we just wait. It probably won't be much longer." Jerome said. He noticed the large group of orange suited prisoners waiting just outside the fence waiting for something. Were they waiting for Bruce? How would they know he was on his way?
"Who the hell are they?" Roz asked when a group of thugs in ski masks made to look a bit like penguin masks walked to the gate with a short fat man leading them.
"Penguin and his goons." Jerome said with a sneer. "Someone must've tipped him off that Bruce was going to be here. How much you wanna bet it's whoever runs this place that told him? I knew this place seemed shady."
"That's Penguin?" Cammy asked with a surprised look. "He doesn't look anything like our world's Penguin."
"Yeah. It's weird how different they are. But that's him. Get ready. I think we are gonna have to give a bird a beat down soon. No doubt he's here for Bruce."
"There are a few people coming through the door." Jongleur said, trying to see what was happening. "Oh, they're opening the gate. It's on!" He made to rush over to where Penguin was but Jerome stopped him.
"Wait. Let's see what Penguin does first. He'll probably move Bruce to a different location so he can beat him up in peace. We would be outnumbered if we tried to help here." Jerome said.
An inmate hit Bruce in the back and he fell to his knees.
"Welcome to hell, Brucey-boy." Penguin said to Bruce as he walked up to him.
The inmate knocked Bruce out. Jerome tried to make sure he memorized the inmate's face for later. So he could murder the guy. The Penguin thugs dragged Bruce's unconscious form to a nearby alley just like Jerome thought they would.
"Wakey-wakey, Wayne!" Penguin said as Bruce was waking up. He stood close to where Bruce was kneeling and smirked arrogantly at him. "Oh, what's up? Do you need me to call your butler?"
"Cobblepot." Bruce said with a sneer.
"Aw, you remember me. I'm touched." Penguin snarled. "Your family destroyed mine, Wayne. This...well, let's just call this good, old-fashioned revenge." He was about to punch Bruce in the face with brass knuckles when he heard someone whistling a merry tune. "Who's that?"
Jerome whistled as he walked up then smiled a dangerous looking smile at Penguin. His groupies sported enthusiastic and vicious looks. "Look what we got here. A pudgy little bird who thinks he's someone important."
"Buzz off brat!" Penguin said. "I'm busy right now!"
"I know. Busy trying to hurt someone I care about." Jerome said. "That's not good news for you."
"Boys, these brats are interrupting my important business. I think it's time we taught them a lesson. Kill them all."
Jerome's groupies looked thrilled with that. They brandished their weapons as the Penguin thugs closed in.
"It's about time." Tara said with a grin. She rushed forward and started beating thugs with a vicious glee. The other groupies had similar looks on their faces as they fought. Jerome swung a baseball bat at thugs enthusiastically. It didn't take long before the thugs were all unconscious.
Jerome looked up at Penguin and smirked. "Still think you have the upper hand? I much prefer the version of you in the other world. He actually has style. And isn't as pathetic."
Penguin tried not to look unnerved. "I know you, don't I? I've seen you on tv. You're one of those boys that Wayne adopted." Penguin said. His eyes widened when he realized what that meant. "I heard rumors about you. They true?"
"You mean the rumors that I'm from a parallel world and my parallel version here is someone rather well known and deranged? Yeah. They are." Jerome said, grinning. "So you realize that when I say I will gut you if you try to hurt Bruce, I mean it. Just keep that in mind."
Penguin made a run for it. The groupies laughed at the retreating form of Penguin.
"I could've dealt with them on my own." Bruce said after Penguin was gone.
"I know." Jerome said. "But then all of these unconscious assholes would start to wonder how playboy Bruce Wayne knows how to defend himself so well. They might start coming to some interesting conclusions. So I helped."
"Why are you here?" Bruce asked, eyeing Jerome's rather unconventional clothing choices. Jerome tried not to look self conscious. It was true he had started dressing more like his groupies. And he realized that might make him seem a bit more Joker like then people would be comfortable with.
"Like I said. I'm here to help you. Now these thugs will likely think I'll have you stashed away somewhere safe until I can figure out a way to get you out of here. They won't wonder at your survival. I'm doing you a favor." Jerome said.
"No, why are you back in this world?" Bruce asked.
Jerome looked down with a frown. "It's a long story. I couldn't be there anymore. I know you might not trust me, but I only want to help." Jerome noticed Bruce looking over at his groupies with wary looks. "Don't worry about them. They know to ignore anything they see. My friends are pretty loyal to me."
Bruce went over to a nearby dumpster and climbed up. He looked over at Jerome. "Coming?"
"Wait here. We won't be long." Jerome told his groupies before rushing to follow him up to the roof.
When they were on the roof, Bruce called Alfred on his wrist communicator that was disguised as a watch. "Alfred, have you got my location?"
"Only just, sir." Alfred said over the communicator. "There's more interference than usual."
"I need an immediate drop on the roof of the Ace Chemicals building. I'm on my way there now. And Alfred. That item I had made recently? Put it in the drop as well."
"My word. Has he returned?" Alfred asked with a hopeful sounding voice.
"Yes."
"Then I will make sure you receive it as well as your suit." Alfred said, sounding pleased for some reason.
They made their way up to the roof of the Ace Chemicals office building.
"You got captured on purpose didn't you?" Jerome asked as he struggled to follow the much more limber Bruce.
"Not exactly. But it did get me some one-on-one time with Hugo Strange." Bruce said.
"Hugo Strange? That's the guy that runs this place? It figures. That weirdo was a problem in my world too. He ran a secret lab under Arkham Asylum for awhile. Until the young version of you and Gordon managed to stop him. You'd like that kid. He's just as tough and clever as you. Well, I suppose that's because he is you."
"I knew that Strange was planning something dangerous but I'm not sure what. I need to find out what this Protocol Ten is." Bruce said as he made it to the roof.
"Well, if it involves Strange, it's probably something pretty twisted. That weirdo was experimenting on people in my world. You know Killer Croc? That was all Strange's doing in my world. Clayface too. He even helped weaponize a virus that nearly destroyed the city. Gordon managed to help find a cure though. The Gordon in my world really reminds me of Barbara really. Not quite as intelligent but the determination is definitely the same." Jerome said as he watched Bruce walk up to the metal canister that contained the batsuit. Bruce opened it with a handprint scanner and it revealed the batsuit in all its glory. But Bruce didn't put it on yet. He took out a small case and handed it to Jerome.
"What is this?" Jerome asked, confused.
"Open it."
Jerome opened it and saw a pair of glasses, a small armband, and an earpiece. "Well, I did lose my last pair of glasses but I don't really think I need them much anymore and I'm not sure why you'd give me another pair."
"Put them on. They aren't just glasses." Bruce said.
Jerome was still confused but just shrugged and put them on. And was immediately wowed by what he saw. "Woah. Augmented reality lenses."
"The armband links up with it and has a computer interface." Bruce said as he started putting on his batsuit.
"This is so cool!" Jerome said as he put on the armband and earpiece and fiddled with the augmented reality. Then he frowned as he realized something. "Wait. You said you created these recently. Why? These have my prescription. So they were made for me. But I left. Why make these for me?"
"I had hoped you might return someday." Bruce said as he suited up.
"Why? You know who I'm parallel to. You should hate me." Jerome asked, very confused.
"I don't hate you, Jerome." Bruce said with a complicated look. "And I always suspected you were parallel to him. It wasn't a surprise to me when Joker told me."
"What?" Jerome was in shock. "But you treated me like your own son. Why would you do that if you always knew? You hate him. And I'd like to say I'm not anything like him...but I can't. You should hate me. It doesn't make sense not to!"
"You aren't him. It didn't matter who you would've ended up as if you stayed in your world. You were just a child. A child that needed someone to care about you. And I was willing to be that for you. You were a member of my family. You still are if you want to be. That will never change."
Jerome tried really hard not to get emotional. "Bruce… I always thought you'd hate me if you found out. I was always so scared that you would. Especially after Jason. I hated myself after what happened to Jason. I had nightmares where I was the one torturing him. So after Joker revealed the truth about me I thought I had nothing left. I didn't want you to look at me differently. So I left."
"You didn't have to. You were not the one that did that to Jason. Joker did. And you aren't the Joker. You are Jerome Valeska, my adopted son."
"Wow, I didn't think I would be crying today." Jerome said, smiling and holding back tears. "Thank you, Bruce. That means more to me than anything. It's more than I deserve, no matter what you think. I'd love to talk about this more but I'm guessing you're pressed for time."
"We can talk about it more later after this is over. You are welcome at the manor. As well as your friends if they behave themselves."
"Well, you might regret that a little, at least as far as my friends go. But I'll tell them to behave. They do listen to me." Jerome said, smiling. "So what's next?"
"I took an encryption key from a TYGER guard. I'm going to hack into their communications." Batman said, getting out the gadget that could hack into things and putting the key in. He decrypted it and listened in. "Catwoman is being held hostage at the courthouse by Two-Face. I need to save her."
"What can my groupies and I help you with, Bats?" Jerome asked enthusiastically. "I'd love to help. I know I said years ago that I didn't want to be out there and be a vigilante with you but I'm not a kid anymore and can take care of myself."
"You are going to find a way out of here. I'm not putting you at risk." Batman said.
"Nope. Not gonna happen. I'm not a helpless kid anymore. Never was really. And I'm not one of your Robins. You can't keep me on the sidelines. I'm helping you whether you want me to or not. You don't like it? Well tough. I have a lot to make up for. So I need to do this." Jerome said with his arms crossed over his chest.
Batman sighed. "Fine. There are political prisoners in here. Innocent people. They are sitting ducks in here with all the violent inmates. Help them. Your augmented reality hud and earpiece should help you with picking up who needs help. I can't be everywhere at once. So you can help that way."
"I suppose you don't need help dealing with Two-Face and his goons. So I won't argue with you about that. But keep in touch. If you need help, call me, and we'll be there as fast as we can. And I will make sure to keep in touch in case I need help. So don't worry. Now go save your girlfriend."
"She's not my girlfriend." Batman said, annoyed at the insinuation.
"Right. Even in the other world you had a thing for that kitty. Just saying..." Jerome said, snarkily. "Say hi to Selina for me." He stared as Batman jumped off the roof and glided away. Then he made his way back down to his groupies.
"Boss, did you see that dude with the dark outfit on? He glided through the air!" Cammy said excitedly when he returned.
"Yeah, he does that." Jerome said, smiling. "That was a vigilante known as Batman. Get used to him. He's a common sight here in Gotham when there's trouble."
"Where's Bruce?" Jongleur asked.
"He had things to do. Don't worry about him. He can take care of himself." Jerome said dismissively. "But if anyone asks, just say that we have him stashed somewhere safe."
"Ok. What's the plan now?" Jongleur asked.
"We leaving now that Bruce is safe?" Tara asked with disappointment in her voice.
"Of course not. We have a lot of things to do. See these?" Jerome said, pointing at his glasses. "They aren't just glasses. They have an augmented reality computer connected to them. Batman gave them to me. It will help us figure out where we need to be. We aren't the bad guys right now, kiddos. Right now, we are going to play the heroes. There are people in here that don't belong here and can't defend themselves. One of the things we are going to do is help them out. Which means beating up a lot of thugs. Another thing we are going to do is investigate what is going on here in Arkham City. Remember Hugo Strange? Well the version of him here is the one running this place. Which means this place is not just a prison city. It's probably something twisted. And we are going to help find out what that is."
"Hugo Strange? Great." Roz said sarcastically. "The ultimate mad scientist is running a prison city. That's not shady at all."
"Like I said, something's definitely up here. So we need to figure out what." Jerome said. "This Protocol Ten thing is probably going to be bad. So we need to figure it out before that happens."
"We are with you all the way, boss." Jongleur said enthusiastically.
"Great. Let's move out." Jerome said as he led them out of the alley.
Jerome and his groupies enjoyed themselves as they beat up thugs. But they didn't learn anything useful about what was going on in Arkham City. And then Jerome heard a rumor that concerned him. He heard that Joker was seriously ill. He didn't know what to think about that.
Just as he was considering trying to find out where Joker was and see if the rumors were true, he saw the ice cream truck pull up beside the large church that was turned into a makeshift medical center. And several Joker thugs got out of it, along with Harley Quinn.
Jerome made his way over to the church just as Batman swooped in and took out the thugs waiting outside the entrance.
"Batman, wait. Let me go in there." Jerome said, rushing up.
"Absolutely not." Batman said. "There are hostages involved."
"Exactly. Who is Harley more likely to listen to? You or me? I can get her to leave them alive and unharmed. She won't hurt me. She's just as likely to hurt her 'puddin' as she would be to hurt me. Let me do this." Jerome said.
Batman stared at him for a few moments. "Ok. But I'm listening in. If I hear you are in trouble I'm coming in."
"I know. I appreciate that, knowing that you'll be there just in case. But it won't be necessary. Trust me." Jerome said, taking off the glasses and putting them away. "Come one, team. Let's move." Jerome's groupies followed him into the church.
"Who the hell are you?" asked one of the Joker thugs just inside the door. Interestingly, they were armed with guns.
"You must be new." Jerome said with a raised eyebrow.
"JJ? Is that you?" Harley asked, walking over. When she saw him she beamed excitedly. "JJ! You're back!"
"Hey, Harley." Jerome said. "How are things?"
"Not good. Not good at all." Harley said with a sad frown on her face.
"So the rumors are true? Joker really is ill?" Jerome asked.
"Yeah. That's why I'm here. To grab one of these docs to bring back to Mista J to see if they can help him. Why are you here?"
"I wanted to see if the rumor was true. If Joker's sick, then let me help." Jerome said.
"You aren't a doctor." Harley said.
"No but I did study pharmacology. Let me help, Harley." Jerome said, rolling his eyes.
"I suppose you might be helpful. And it might cheer Joker up to see you at the very least. Ok." Harley said.
"I do have one condition." Jerome said with a serious look.
"What?" Harley asked.
"You leave these doctors out of this. Let them go free unharmed and I'll come with you." Jerome said.
"So boring." Harley said, pouting. "You still trying to act like a good guy?"
"It may be boring but it's my condition for helping. Take it or leave it." Jerome said.
"Alright, fine." Harley said, sighing. "Boys, time to go. You heard what he said. Leave the doctors alone."
Jerome heard Batman speak up in his earpiece. "Don't go with her, Jerome. Whatever is happening with Joker, it is not safe for you!" Jerome ignored him and walked outside with Harley.
"So who are your friends?" Harley asked.
"Some groupies of mine from the other world. You might even recognize one of them." Jerome said.
"Oh my god, is that Frost?" Harley asked, in shock. "It is! It's a young Frost! Wow!" She went up and hugged Jongleur. Jongleur wasn't sure how to react to it and just stood there stiffly as she hugged him. She pulled away and talked with them while walking backward to the ice cream truck. "Frost is gonna be so surprised to meet you. Love the outfit, by the way. Actually, I love all your outfits. So stylish."
"Let's just get to Joker quickly. Batman is in Arkham City and we don't want him bothering us." Jerome said, annoyed.
"Oh I know!" Harley said, smiling as they got into the ice cream truck. "Mista J had me set a trap for him. But you came into the church instead. So who knows if he will even set it off? Not that I'm not pleased to see you. I'm glad you're back." She looked over at the thugs that were trying to climb in the truck. "Hey. No more room. You'll have to hoof it bozos. JJ's friends get to ride with me instead."
The ice cream truck pulled away from the church. Jerome wondered where Batman was. He was probably following them.
"How did you get the guns in here?" Jerome asked as they were making their way where Joker was.
"Now that's a weird thing. Strange let us have them. He just recently started providing crates of weapons for us. I don't know why." Harley said.
"That can't be good." Jerome said. "Strange in our world was a mad scientist. Any plan of his was shady as hell and never ended well for anyone. I doubt he's just being helpful to you with the weapons. Be careful. I know you are preoccupied, for a good reason, but keep up your guard."
"He was a mad scientist in your world? Not surprising. He looks like one." Harley said. "I'd love to hear all the similarities between worlds. Anybody interesting start their careers yet in your world?"
"Well, Scarecrow is already active. Even though he's only a teen apparently. That kid definitely won't be going to medical school at the rate he's at. And then there's Riddler. He's active too. And Penguin. In my world, that bird actually has style. Who woulda thought?" Jerome said. "Also I think that Penguin had a thing for Riddler but I could be wrong. It just seems too weird to think about given what they're both like here."
"Woah. That's hilarious!" Harley giggled. "What about Ivy? You see her at all while you were there? Just curious."
"I heard rumors about a girl who was really good with plants. Apparently something happened to her making her appear like an adult despite being a kid still. But that could just be a rumor. That girl was a redhead so maybe that's her?"
"Maybe. I guess she would be rather young at that point in time." Harley said. "It is fun to think about what all the other people would be like in your world. A young Ivy might be adorable. Or just as scary cool as she is now only smaller. Who knows? Maybe I should visit your world someday. To see all the differences."
Jerome stared up at the makeshift sign at Sionis Steel Mill that said Joker's Funland. It looked like someone tried to open an amusement park there. Probably Joker since who else would put an amusement park in such a place? His groupies got out of the ice cream truck behind him and looked around with wide eyes.
"What are we getting ourselves into, boss?" Roz asked a bit nervously. "You told us about the Joker, and I always thought he sounded like a blast. But actually meeting him in real life… That's a whole other thing."
"Just stick by me until we know the score. The thugs, that have heard of me at least, won't dare attack me. But they don't know any of you. Stick together whatever you do. And don't hesitate to defend yourself in as harsh a way as possible. That's the only way any of these guys will take you seriously." Jerome said, not sure why he felt the need to help the Joker yet again. Yeah, the bastard was sick. But why should he care?
"Home sweet home. Follow me. Joker will be so happy to see you. He was so upset when you left, JJ." Harley said cheerfully.
Jerome followed her through the docks to the steel mill. His groupies followed behind, making sure to keep close to him. The Joker thugs scattered around watched them walk through the place.
"Is that Jerome? I thought he was just a myth. That he was some bullshit story that the older Joker lackeys talked about." some random thug said to his buddy as they passed. "Is it true what they say about him?"
"Who knows." said the other thug. "But don't mess with him. I heard he don't mess around. People say he's just as dangerous as the Joker, no matter who he really is."
Jerome ignored what they said as best he could. So Joker's thugs still talked about him like he was some kind of legend. Like he was just as bad as the Joker. It was convenient in a situation like this, he had to admit. And he couldn't say he hated it. But he didn't want to be a villain now. He wanted his relationship with his adopted father back. And he'd never get that as the fucking Joker Junior that everyone there believed him to be.
A thug opened the door to the steel mill for Harley and she smiled at Jerome and waved him inside. "Come on in. Don't worry about your friends. I'll let everyone know that they are under your protection. They'll be safe."
"Harley, you're back. Finally. Joker's getting impatient. That's never a good thing." said a familiar male voice that belonged to the very familiar but older figure walking up to them. "Is that Jerome? Good to see you. I never thought I'd see you again."
"Woah. Jongleur, look at that guy. He looks just like you!" Cammy said with surprise on her face.
Johnny Frost stared at the younger version of himself with surprise on his face. "So it is true. About the other world. I was never entirely sure. Until now. There's no other explanation for you being here. You look just like me. Well, except younger and with an admittedly interesting style of dress. I don't think I ever wore something quite so unconventional. But honestly, it kinda makes you fit in more with all of this."
"Wow. Jerome told me about you. He said you worked for Joker. I was kinda hoping I'd get to meet you." Jongleur said, smiling.
"So what do I call you? I can't call you the same as what I call myself. That would just be confusing." Frost asked.
"Jongleur. It was my street performer name before I ended with Jerome. I juggle knives."
"I learned how to juggle when I was a kid. But I didn't keep up with it so I probably couldn't do it now. It's odd to see the differences between us. It's also interesting to see you with Jerome. I suppose it shouldn't be surprising though, given who he is."
"Yeah yeah. You both have plenty of time to compare notes later. Right now we are pressed for time. Take me to Joker." Jerome said, irritated.
"Why did you come? Are you going to try and help him? Why?" Frost asked. "You don't even like him."
"I don't know why. I'd love to figure that one out." Jerome shook his head. He sighed. "Just take me to Joker."
"Just this way." Harley said cheerfully. "Your friends won't be allowed to come along though. Frost, can you look after them? Show them around and stuff?"
"Sure thing, Harley." Frost said.
Jerome followed Harley through the mill. "What is Joker sick with? Do you have any idea?"
"We aren't sure. But we know it has something to do with the Titan formula." Harley said as she walked.
Jerome stopped in his tracks. "The Titan formula? Please don't tell me he injected himself with it." Jerome shook his head in annoyance. "He wasn't supposed to do that! Out of anyone that could inject themselves with that formula… The chemical imbalance in his blood is sure to make it fatal to him over time!"
"What? You knew this? And you didn't tell him?" Harley asked with a betrayed look.
"I didn't think he would be stupid enough to inject himself with a formula that unstable. It's just common sense not to." Jerome said, irritated. "If I had known that's what he was planning, I would've warned him. Fuck."
"Do you think you can fix it? If what you're saying is true, then it's partially your fault anyway. Now you have to help!" Harley said with a worried look.
"Relax. I already said I would help, Harley." Jerome rolled his eyes. "Let's hope though that it's not too late to save him."
They got to a door. Harley opened it and walked in.
"Harley, is that you? What took you so long?" Joker said from where he was sitting. He coughed painfully right after. "You have that doctor here or did you waste my time?"
"I've got something better, puddin!" Harley said. "JJ's back!"
"JJ?" Joker turned around in his chair to look at them. Then he just stared at JJ with an unreadable look. It wasn't a pleased look though. "Why did you come back? Hmm? You up and left me back at the Asylum. Which was rude by the way. What makes you think you can just come back?"
"You weren't the reason I came back to this world. And the why is none of your business. But now that I know you're sick, I can't ignore that. Let me help." Jerome said. He still wasn't sure why he wanted to help. But maybe it was because that now when he saw the Joker, he didn't see an older him. He saw Miah. He could definitely hate himself. But he could never hate Miah. And he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he didn't try to save Joker from his illness.
"I suppose I don't really have much choice at this point. Things are getting rather grim for me. And Freezie has decided to stop cooperating. Fine. You can help. I suppose it isn't horrible that I got to see you again. I actually think I kinda missed you, JJ." Joker said.
"I'll need a blood sample to see what I'm working with. Do you have any equipment I can use or are we going to have to go scavenging for lab equipment?" Jerome asked.
"I had my boys pick up some lab equipment for the docs that we were planning on kidnapping and getting to help me. I hope it's enough for you." Joker said before coughing painfully.
"Damn that cough doesn't sound good. Ok. Let's get started." Jerome said with determination in his voice.