Life Unexpected
Chapter 5
GCPD HQ- Just After Midnight
Atop of the civil service building, a man stood with a large searchlight next to him. A beam of light shot out into the night sky, high above the city and in the center a black bat calling out to the city's protector.
The dark clouds adding the gloomy aura of the city.
The gentleman shoved his hands into his pockets to keep them warm from the icy wind. His body unconsciously tensed, shoulders rose up to his head, providing little warmth. He pulled his trench coat closer to keep from freezing.
He turned his head to the left and started his scan for his ally. He finished the scan as his head turned to the right and saw nothing. Slight disappointment hit him, but he knew his ally would be here soon, he usually doesn't have to wait long.
But for this instance, his ally would be busy. A monster was loose. And people are going to die.
"Jim" a voice called out.
Commissioner Gordon doesn't even flinch anymore.
Not after all the surprise appearances of Batman for the last seven years.
The gray-haired man turned in the direction of the voice and saw the vigilante, "Have you heard?" he asked getting to the crisis at hand.
Batman nodded his head, "Yes. The Joker's free in Gotham." It's been years since the clown prince of crime had broken out of Arkham Asylum. After the last few break-outs Batman installed his own devices in the institution to monitor Gotham's most infamous individuals.
They went off minutes after the clown left Arkham Island.
He had just returned from the asylum investigating the scene.
The older man shamefully shook his head, "After all the death that… man" he emphasized with disgust, "has done. The number of graveyards he's filled, you'd imagine the state would put a tremendous amount of time, effort, and money to see to it the Joker never saw the light of day again."
A heavy gust of wind blew, causing cape and trench coat alike to flutter.
"You know they won't" the dark clad man uttered.
It still turned Gordon's stomach. Gotham City, the worst city in America. The city with the highest murder rate in the last twenty years. Many believed Gotham to be a city where hope died and those living here are just waiting for death to claim them. Gotham is a harsh mistress. She will seduce you with promises.
Promises for money, glory, and a place of being. But if she grows tired of you, she will toss you to the side and move on to the next poor fool.
But perhaps Gotham is simply waiting for the right person to make her change. The right citizens who love her and are treating her right.
Gordon doesn't believe Gotham's hopeless. He believes Gotham will change but only if we change first. He's waiting for her to change. To smile at us and tell us she wanted us here. The trials she puts us-her people through will strengthen them. Makes them tough.
So tough that it will take a hurricane to knock them down. And when her people stand up again, a hurricane will be nothing but a gentle breeze.
A pregnant pause passed the two men until the police commissioner broke it, "You remember the first time he broke out?"
The vigilante wordlessly nodded, but he didn't verbalize and continue their little reminiscing moment. Gordon did it for him.
"We didn't even know he did until he killed a toy maker three days after he escaped because of some bureaucrats didn't want to get blamed for the escape" he retold the tale.
"Yes, I remember" Batman participated. "It's why I put my own sensors in the asylum to monitor our… more notorious criminals" he informed the trench coat wearing man. "I also remember the Joker trying to kill me with a giant Jack-in-the-box version of himself" the vigilante finished the tale.
Feather light snowflakes started to fall. "I got my people and the Arkham staff keeping quiet about the Joker. Don't want to start a panic" the mustached man informed his ally. "What have you got?"
"Not much" Batman shook his head. "He knew the delivery schedule and somehow slipped out of his cell undetected and swapped places with the driver. Minutes later he made it to the truck. The Arkham staff were alerted to the escape almost immediately" he began. "Good that they're learning" he uttered as an afterthought. "But too late though" the dark clad man explained his findings.
"Any leads on the truck?" Gordon asked.
"It was found ten minutes ago in the Narrows" Batman responded. "You should be getting a call soon. Completely abandoned. No way of knowing which way he went. No CCTV cameras in the area the truck was abandoned in. No witnesses either."
Gordon grumbled. A mad man loose in the city and they have no leads. "Keep me posted" he requested, receiving a slight nod of the other man's head.
The older man's eyebrows furrowed tightly, "Where's…?" he began to ask about his ally's partner. Not that he liked Batman bringing a teenager into this horror show.
"He's benched until the Joker's caught. He's not equipped to handle that kind of madness" Batman answered looking over his shoulder as he now crouched on the ledge of police headquarters.
"Good idea."
The vigilante leapt off the ledge into the night. There's a monster loose in Gotham. And no one is safe until he's back in a cell in Arkham.
Gotham Morning Madness-6AM
"Good morning, Gotham!" Diana's pleasant voice sounded over the radio waves. The Greek woman has and always will be a morning person. It sometimes made people at the office hate her for her chipper personality during the early morning.
"It's six a.m. on a Friday, with temperatures as low as 32 degrees today, so dress warmly everybody."
"I hate the winter" Steve joined the conversation. "It's like the Arctic here" he joked.
The raven-haired woman smiled at Steve, "Yes, well, anyway, I want to remind everyone that we are hosting in the Gotham Children's Hospital. We would like to thank Veronica Vreeland for allowing us the use of her penthouse as the venue tonight."
"Please, send donations to the hospital and help the sick children" Diana addressed into her microphone.
Steve leaned back in his chair, "Now, we'll take some calls about the fundraiser" he spoke.
Etta Candy stood behind a mirror observing the duo. She gestured to the technicians behind the consoles to send the first caller through.
"Hello, caller. What's your name?" Diana asked pleasantly, excitement building at the prospect of talking to a new person.
"Jaime" a woman's voice came over the line.
"Hey, Jaime" Steve greeted her. "What are your thoughts?" he probed.
"Diana, how does it feel to abandon your daughter when she was born and only now want her after all these years?" the woman maligned.
Diana's blue eyes widened is surprise. She shifted in her seat by the sudden overwhelming shock of being asked such a question.
She whipped her head over to Etta's direction and mouthed, I thought you screen these calls?!
The plump blonde could only shrug meekly. She sheepishly smiled and mouthed a, Sorry.
The Greek woman could only roll her eyes at her friend.
"Uh, "Steve stuttered nervously. "We, uh, we're asking on thoughts about the fundraiser, Miss. Not about anyone's personal life" Steve tried to defend his coworker.
This better not be the entire show, she fumed to herself.
It was.
Never has Diana felt so humiliated and embarrassed in her entire life. Many people had things to say to Diana and her family matters.
"How does it feel to be Bruce Wayne's baby momma?"
"What kind of mother are you?"
"You should be ashamed of yourself?"
"Did Wayne pay you off?"
"Are you going to sue that rich bastard for millions?"
"Does your daughter hate you?"
And many, many others asked such questions until they stopped taking calls altogether.
At the end of the show, Diana went to her office to calm down. She felt like she wanted to throw up.
Etta had given her a sympathetic look and apologized profusely in succession. Diana could only wave her off not being able to deal with anything right now.
The woman sat behind her desk, hunched over with her face in her hands ashamed but far too proud to start crying at work.
Suddenly, a knock on her door made her remove her hands from her face and saw Steve with two cups of coffee in his hands.
He entered and sat in front of her desk but not before offering her the hot beverage. His face sympathetic to her situation.
She gingerly took the offered drink and set it aside, not particularly in the mood for anything to drink right now.
"I talked to Etta and she'll make sure what happened today doesn't ever happen again" the man tried to cheer the woman up. "Although" he started which a curious look from the woman, "I hear ratings were through the roof" he exclaimed.
Her embarrassed soured. She didn't care for ratings in the least right now.
The blond noticed a pair of gorgeous azure-eyes glaring at him. He put his hands up in surrender, "I'm just saying we've got a lot of viewers today" he tried to ease her silent burning gaze.
"I'm glad my misery is so entertaining" the woman responded bitterly.
"I'm sorry" he apologized sincerely. He knew Diana's going through a lot right now and doesn't need him to be a jackass. "Want me to punch Wayne for you?" he asked jokingly, trying to lighten the mood.
"Shut up, Steve" she bit out which was muffled by her face buried in her arms laying on the desk.
Surprised by her response, "Diana?" he murmured uneasy and slightly hurt by her complete lack of humor in her remark. She is really angry.
Gotham City High School
It came as a huge surprise to everyone, that Elissa and Dick went to the same high school.
Sure, Dick was a sophomore and Elissa was a freshman, but you would think they would have seen one another around.
Elissa never really paid any attention to the people at her school. She had more important things on her mind: like getting emancipated. Which didn't work go so well.
She never really saw the point of friends. She always preferred to keep to herself and keep her head down.
The dark-haired teenager walked down the halls while the other teenagers gave her looks.
As she walked past people to her class, she heard faint whispers.
"There's the rich girl."
"I love her mom's radio show!"
"She's hot like her mom" a teenage boy obviously said.
Faint self-consciousness crept up on the girl. Her blue-eyes darted side to side noticing all the other kids are staring at her. She witnessed some girls covering their mouths whispering to each other and then laughing.
Were they laughing at her? Talking about her?
The whole thing made her uncomfortable. She lowered her head, eyes to the floor and continued her trek to her next class.
Her lunch period wasn't any better. Everyone stared at her when she entered the cafeteria.
She felt like she was an animal at the zoo.
Were they expecting her to do tricks?
Well, she has a lovely one that involved two fingers. She could show you. But then she would be spending her lunch period in the principal's office.
Not the place she wanted to spend her lunchtime.
She tried her best to ignore the looks and got her lunch. She found an empty table in the far corner of the room, that would be perfect for her.
She made her way while feeling eyes on her back, boys and girls all taking their fill of her.
She ignored them. Getting anxious wasn't doing anything for her, so ignoring all of them was the next best thing.
She sat alone for a while, enjoying her food until someone decided to join her.
She lifted her head up from looking at some homework she missed and realized that Dick plopped in the seat across from her.
The two of them haven't really talked since her birthday party at Diana's. That was more her fault than anything. She remembered he tried to start a conversation with her, but she was quite cold to him.
She couldn't help it then, she had just found out that Bruce adopted a kid, while she was jumping from foster home to foster home.
She couldn't help feeling hurt, and jealous. And angry.
Her birth father wanted a total stranger instead of his own kid. Although, Bruce and Diana explained it to her quite clearly, that Bruce had no idea he had a daughter.
Diana was the one who gave her up for adoption with the intention and belief her child would be given a good home.
No one knew her mother's plans didn't go the way she intended too.
As time went by, the dark-haired girl felt ashamed for feeling the way she did towards Dick. She was sure Bruce was just trying to help a young boy in need.
Dick was nothing but pleasant and friendly, while she was cold and rebuked his kind gestures.
"Hey, you mind if I sit here?" he asked the girl cheerfully, even though he already took a seat at the table.
Elissa merely shrugged at him, "Go ahead" she uttered lowly.
The sophomore smiled at her. It felt nice that she didn't shoo him away or give him the cold shoulder. He's already getting those vibes from Bruce.
Considering the most dangerous criminal in the city just broke out of the nuthouse, Bruce had benched the teen until the Joker was captured and behind bars once more.
So much for the Dynamic Duo, he thought sarcastically.
Dick argued with Bruce that he couldn't search the city looking for one man, alone.
But he was vehemently shut down by his mentor and was forbidden from going out on patrol until the Joker was in custody.
Words were said. And they haven't spoken since.
"So, how are things?" he tried to get her to talk to him more.
"Fine" she replied flatly, writing something down in her notebook while eating some potato chips.
This conversation was getting pretty one-sided.
"You sure?" he pried almost irritatingly, a teasing smirk on his face.
"Yes!" she grumbled. His cheerfulness almost nauseating. She inhaled deeply and then exhaled attempting to relax herself. She didn't want to attract anymore attention then she already was.
"Don't worry, it gets easy over time and then they will forget about you. Or at least stop bringing it up all the time" the teenage boy responded wistfully, surprising Elissa.
She blinked at him with furrowed brows. "It was the same with me when Bruce adopted me. It gets easier, so don't let it to you" he smiled at her imparting some wisdom onto the freshman.
"Oh" surprised she was. "Thanks" she offered a small smile at the older boy.
A feeling of relief engulfed the girl. She felt like warming up to her…'brother'?
"So, uh, what class do you have next?" she asked extending an olive branch.
"English" the male teen replied. "You?"
"Math" she grumbled. "Geometry sucks" she cried.
Dick laughed, "Yeah, it sucks" he agreed.
The two having a pleasant conversation until their lunch period was over.
Diana's House- Late evening
"How was school?" Diana asked her daughter interested in her day as she quickly finished getting ready to go into the city for the fundraiser she was working.
She wore a lovely aqua blue dress with a her back exposed, a decent amount of cleavage exposed. The dress hung just above her knees. Satin white transparent sleeves hung over her arms. Her inky locks hung loosely. Her olive-skin almost glowed in the light of her living room as her daughter sat on the couch inspecting the older woman's dress.
Diana inserted her diamond earrings haphazardly when the doorbell rang.
"Coming" the woman called to the person at the door.
She looked expectantly at her child, whom finally answered her mother's question, "School was… okay" she half-heartedly answered.
The teen gave the woman a sympathetic look, "I heard about your show" which caused the woman to stiffen as she sat down on the couch joining her daughter.
The woman paused for a moment and then, "Yeah, it certainly wasn't one of my best days" she responded putting on her silver high heels. "Don't worry about what's going on with me. I can handle anything people throw at me" she gave the girl a reassuring smile.
She laid her hand on her daughter's shoulder, "You're not getting bullied at school, right?" her tone harsh, which surprised Elissa.
She never heard Diana sound so heavy before. The girl quite recently found her mother's voice soothing especially with her accent. But now the teenager found Diana's voice harsh and dangerous.
This got Elissa antsy, so she turned her head away from the woman, "Not really. Just some whispers and stares" she shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm just used to being invisible at school, but now," she sighed, "now I've got all eyes on me that it's nerve-racking" she confessed.
The woman's expression relaxed at her child's confession. She ran a soothing hand down the girl's back comforting her daughter, "You're not invisible to me. Or Bruce" she told her. "If something's wrong, please feel free to tell us. We would never judge you. Nor would we think less of you. Okay?"
"Okay" the girl brightened up as her mother made her feel better. She could feel Diana's genuine concern for her, and it felt great to know the woman would always be there for her as she promised.
The doorbell rang again, resulting in Diana getting up to answer the door, all the while Elissa following her with her eyes until the woman disappeared from sight.
Until the teen heard Diana's voice oozing cheerfully welcoming their guest. "Hey, come on in." Diana shut the door and walked back into the living room with their guest in tow.
Elissa was surprised when she saw Steve Trevor enter the room with the raven-haired woman.
Dressed in a tux, Steve walked toward the girl still sitting on the couch, a pleasant smile on his face.
The teenager gawked at the blond-haired man.
"So, you must be Elissa, Diana's told me a lot about you" Steve spoke offering his hand to her.
She shook his hand awkwardly still overwhelmed at meeting the man. "Hello" she greeted nervously.
"I'm Steve" he introduced himself properly.
"I like your show" the girl uttered starting to finally settle down, releasing his hand.
Diana watched on as the pair got acquainted with each other. A faint smile on her face watching them together before she checked her watch and saw the time. "Okay, I should be home by midnight at the latest" she interjected between the two. She walked over to the pair, "Bruce is going to the benefit as well, just to let you know" she informed the girl, whom simply nodded.
The woman was completely oblivious to her boyfriend's look of hurt in his eyes as not being told that her ex was going to be there.
"Don't answer the door for anyone, keep the doors and windows locked. There are leftovers in the refrigerator. You have mine, Bruce's, and Alfred's phone numbers on the refrigerator if you need to call us, okay?" the woman made sure she addressed everything.
"I got it" Elissa answered getting a little agitated. Like she's never been home alone before.
"Good" the woman nodded her head at her daughter. She turned to the man, "Ready?" she asked getting her coat on.
"Uh, yeah" he replied half-heartedly, but the Greek woman didn't seem to notice.
They made their way to the front door, stopping when Elissa called out, "Have fun!"
"We will" Diana called back happily.
"Nice meeting you" Steve called out.
Moulton Towers-Outside the Building-Venue for the Gotham Children's Hospital Fundraiser
Plenty of paparazzi were covering the event. Most of Gotham's elite were attending this benefit for the Gotham Children's Hospital.
As well as Gotham's most juicy piece of gossip in town, Diana Prince, mother of Bruce Wayne's child.
Diana was snuck in through the back to avoid the media frenzy as well as to make sure all the equipment was ready for them.
So, she was completely unaware of Bruce's arrival or the welcome he received by the paparazzi. Camera flashes almost blinded him as he stepped out of his limousine, dressed in a black suit and matching tie.
His face neutral as cameras took pictures of him, reporters clamored for him to look at them, others for him to say a few words.
He made his own choice.
He walked down the red-carpet aisle to the entrance of the building, ignoring everyone vying for his attention. He would pop in for the benefit, hand in his donation for the children's hospital, stay for an hour, then get back to work hunting down the clown.
He had to be here due to obligations. The Wayne Foundation has always supported the Gotham Children's Hospital and always will as long as he lives.
Also, his friend, Veronica Vreeland, was using her penthouse to host the event, while Diana's radio show provided the entertainment, with a lot of cameras covering it. He'll need to be careful with the cameras should they catch him leaving.
He entered the building, with the doormen opening the doors for him.
He gave them a nod of thanks before making it to the elevator.
He entered and pushed the button to the penthouse. His foot tapping impatiently. Between this and Dick getting rebellious about being benched, as well as Elissa's existence hitting the media, and to top it all off Joker's loose. Yeah, he's not in a good mood tonight.
The elevator doors opened with a ding, bringing him out of his thoughts. He walked through and was greeted to the sight of the white-tile floors, a crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling. A buffet table with a white silk tablecloth, an assortment of gourmet foods.
Lights and cameras in every corner of the room monitoring the event.
There were plenty of people here already laughing and chatting away with each other with light music playing in the background.
He turned his head and saw Diana and Steve Trevor setting up their workstation with the title of their show on a banner tied to the table with speakers on the sides.
Bruce was amazed by the dress she wore, mesmerized even but then swiftly turned away remembering they aren't together anymore.
He moved away from his position so Diana wouldn't see him, only to bump into Veronica.
"Bruce, so good to see you!" the red-haired heiress greeted him pleasantly, wrapping her arms around his neck to hug him.
"You too, Ronny" Bruce returned the hug. The woman was the definition of an heiress, but her heart was always in the right place, which made her bearable company for the rich man.
"Oh, I heard about your daughter, you must introduce us" she gushed.
He hesitated, "Uh, sure. Some other time" he promised. He wasn't sure about introducing Elissa to his 'friends'. Not because he was embarrassed by his daughter, quite the opposite. He was very proud of having a daughter. She was bright and a nice young girl. He just didn't want to expose her to the sharp tongues of socialites.
A sly smile crept on the woman's lips, she nudged her head upward, signaling Bruce to look in the direction she was looking at.
He saw Diana laughing at something Steve had said to her.
"That her?" she asked, although she already knew who she was.
Bruce paused for a second before answering her, "Yes, that's her" before turning back to Veronica.
"She's beautiful" she commented. "How'd you let her get away?" she raised a fine eyebrow.
The man frowned, "I screwed up" he muttered defeatedly.
"Big time."
She received a glare for that, which she countered with a teasing smile in response.
"Well, enjoy the party" Veronica said walking away.
"Hmm" he grunted.
Outside Moulton Towers
Alfred Pennyworth, butler to the Wayne family, for decades, sat in the limousine reading a novel listening to the radio.
Master Dick was left at home alone, so the master of the house could perform his duties as billionaire playboy philanthropist, before performing his nightly jaunts with the criminal underworld.
He turned a page before something caught his eye near maintenance entrance of the building.
A purple van with husky men, pulling out guns and clown masks.
The old man's eyes widen and pulled out his phone.
Back inside
Bruce navigated past the groups of people, tired of being asked about his daughter and Diana. Without warning his phone went off. He dug into his pocket and saw he get a text from Alfred.
Sir, I think we have a problem?
He saw an image of men in clown masks with guns. He immediately recognized them as part of the Joker's crew.
But why would the Joker strike here?
He sent a message back.
Send tip to Gordon, possible Joker sighting. And get my package ready.
Understood, sir. The butler replied back to his boss.
The dark-haired man started making his way for the exit when Diana spoke into her microphone, "Hello, everybody!"
Steve came in then, "Are you ready to have some fun tonight?" he asked excitedly.
The crowd cheered with a resounding yes.
"First, I would like to thank, Veronica Vreeland, for making tonight possible" Diana reminded everyone and started an applause for the redhead, whom blushed at the praise.
"Second, I would like to remind everyone to dig deep and donate as much as you can for the Gotham Children's Hospital" Diana finished.
She turned to Steve, whom saw his cue.
"We are going to play a game here" he spoke getting some excited looks. "My lovely co-host and I will be asking you questions—basic trivia. The one with the most points gets to appear on our show" Steve explained.
A camera crew recorded the whole event from all four corners of the room.
An assistant approached Steve, handing him a stack of colored index cards.
He pulled out the first one and read aloud, "Question one: Steve, what's it like to have a gun to your head?" he read enthusiastically. "What the hell?" his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
Who the hell wrote this?
Diana also had a perplexed expression on her face looking back at her co-host.
The audience was just as confused as everybody.
Everyone got an answer as the assistant, whom handed Steve the cards in the first place put a pistol to the blonde's head, right up against his temple.
The man's eyes widen and cautiously looked to the side in the same direction of the gun that was pressed to his head.
He saw the male assistant and immediately didn't recognize the gunman. Brown hair, green eyes, slightly pale.
The man smiled that sent shivers down the blonde man's spine. But also, he felt like he's seen that smile somewhere before.
His Air Force training could kick in, but he wasn't sure no one else would get shot.
Steve was roused from his thoughts as the gunman went into a giggling fit before his head slumped down and his unoccupied hand went to his face.
The giggles unnerved everyone until the man threw something to the floor, right in between the audience and the radio hosts.
People put their hands to their mouths in horror as they realized the man just tore his own face off.
But anyone who didn't look away in disgust soon realized there wasn't any blood.
Just then the giggles turned into sinister cackles, that sent a shiver down everyone's spine.
The laughing man threw his head backwards coming up for air. Gasps of shock escaped everyone's mouths.
"I'm back" the Joker said in a sing-song voice. "You all thought I was gone. Locked up forever and the key was flushed down the toilet. Well no sir, I'm back and I'm here to tickle your funny bones. Boys!" he hollered.
Responding to the madman's call, men in clown masks rushed into the room guns in hand.
They secured the exits making sure no one left. The crew made all the guests stay in one place.
Diana and Steve stayed where they were a gun still to the man's head. The camera crews caught everything, televising that the Joker was out in the open.
GCPD HQ
"Tip came in that the Joker's at the Gotham Children's Hospital benefit" an officer told Commissioner Gordon. The man already had an idea on who the tipster was.
"Get units over there now" Gordon ordered.
"Commissioner!" another officer yelled. Said man whipped his head in the direction of the voice. The young officer pointed to the small television on a desk, showing the Joker just took the benefit hostage.
"I want tactical there now" he ordered grabbing his coat, heading to the scene as well.
Wayne Manor
"Oh, God" Dick Grayson murmured dropping his bowl of cereal on the floor. Joker just took hostages and Bruce is there.
Wait. The teen narrowed his eyes scanning the screen trying to catch a glimpse of Bruce but found none. Either Bruce is out of sight or he's not in the building.
He doesn't know for sure.
But he knew one thing: Batman needed backup.
Five minutes later, the teen's in his Robin suit racing out of the cave on his red motorcycle heading to the benefit, all the while muttering under his breath, "I'm so fired!"
Outside the Benefit
Bruce Wayne sat in the backseat of his limo, having just escaped the building without anyone noticing him.
Most likely Joker's gang has secured all the exits now, so only one way in now: from the air.
"Should I alert Master Dick, Master Bruce?" the butler asked from the front seat.
"No, Alfred. He's not equipped to face the Joker" Bruce answered, starting to hear police sirens. He pressed a hidden button on the ceiling on the vehicle, blacking out the windows. He looked the black case in front of him. His hands went to work opening it up.
The case opened and a black cowl with white eyes stared back at him.
Time to go to work.
Inside the Building
Since the hostage situation began, Steve and Diana had abandoned their microphones and index cards. The pair simply stood together with the Joker pointing a gun in Steve's face.
The camera crew were still recording the whole thing, per the maniac's instructions.
He enjoyed the city watching him on television. Everyone said he should be on television. Now, he is. Just not the way they thought he would.
While this was going on, Diana stood alert and calm. She would not be intimidated by gunmen and a madman.
Her mother had prepared her to defend herself in certain situations, being a senator's daughter, she was prone to kidnappings, although thankfully, that never happened to her, Hippolyta made certain Diana could protect herself, seeing as how she refused bodyguards when she went to America.
So, now she waited for her moment to disarm one of the gunmen, quite possibly the Joker himself.
Speaking of, the pale man strutted around smiling and waving his gun around threatening some of the guests and telling dark jokes until Steve called out to the Joker having had enough.
"What do you want, you maniac?" he demanded causing the Joker's head to shoot up. He looked over to Steve from the crowd he was tormenting.
"Oh, that's right!" he smiled wickedly, "I almost forgot about you."
He walked up to Steve with Diana close by. Each step he took built dread in the bellies of his hostages. Because they knew what he is. What he's done. He's death on two legs.
The green-haired man stopped right in front of the blonde, that sadistic smile unnerving the radio host. The two men stared the other down.
Blue meet green until one of them broke the staring contest.
It was Steve, only because Joker pistol-whipped him.
The man fell to the floor with a grunt. Diana cried out to Steve and tried to help him, but Joker stopped her by pointing his gun at her threateningly.
She scowled at the man.
The madman leaned over the fallen man, smiling at the discomfort the radio jockey was experiencing, "W-What do you want?" Steve exclaimed clutching the side of his face the Joker hit.
"SO, glad you asked, Stevie Wonder."
The gun-wielding clown grabbed Steve by his tie and pulled him to his feet, "I've got a problem with you" the green-haired man sneered.
"What?" Steve uttered dumbfounded, his face scrunching up. "You took hostages because you have a problem with me?!" the blonde exclaimed.
"Yes!" the Joker raised his hands up exasperated.
"Can't you just send hate mail?" Steve questioned.
Joker shrugged, "They took my privileges away when I sent death threats to the pope" he answered nonchalantly.
Really?!
The blonde man's brow furrowed not showing fear to this…monster. He's ex-air force he knew how to fight. "So, what's your beef with me?"
The sociopath laughed, "I'm so glad you asked" he exclaimed. He started walking in place no longer pointing his gun at Steve, "You see, I was vacationing at Arkham, quite recently, and as I was working on my tan, did not work, I might add" he added under his breath. "I heard the most interesting and insulting thing ever" he growled at the last few words. He stopped walking and turned to Steve with a dark look in his eyes that chilled the radio host to the bone. "You started ranting about Batman. About how he's the most dangerous—the most notorious—criminal in Gotham. Well, that just pissed me off" he sneered leaning in close to the man.
"I'm the one with the three-digit body count to my name. I'm the one trying to share my outlook on life with people" he outstretched his arms to the mob of socialites and smiled at them which did nothing but make them more uneasy.
Incredulity, Steve could only stare at the Joker, "This-This is all about feeling insulted!?"
"Yes!" the murdering clown exclaimed. "I want my due" he pounded his chest with his unoccupied hand. "I am the worlds' first homicidal artist and I demand the respect and fear that comes with it" he spat. "I am Gotham's greatest criminal mastermind!"
"You-You're insane" Diana stammered, too stunned by the Joker's proclamation.
Her statement, however, made her the target of the madman's attention. "Wellll, look at you" he smirked wolfishly.
He walked over to her, inspecting her like a piece of meat. "Hmm, so you're the co-host. My goodness you are beautiful" he stated, resulting in the woman taking a cautionary step backwards.
Any complement this man gave her made her skin crawl.
"Leave her alone!" Steve yelled.
The Joker ignored the man and continued to lookover Diana. His smile sent a chill down the woman's spine.
She swallowed nervously at having that pair of green eyes looking at her. Those eyes. Those dead beady eyes. They weren't the eyes of a man. They belonged to an abomination of nature, that made Diana want to run, but her upbringing wouldn't stand for it, so she raised her head haughtily, refusing to be intimidated.
He continued to silently stare, a crooked smile forming at the corner of his lips. He reached into his pocket, causing many to hold their breaths in dreadful anticipation, even Steve felt it as he grits teeth in frustration and helplessness.
However, everyone breathed a sigh of relief as Joker pulled out a quarter of all things out of his pocket and threw it past Diana, everyone followed the quarter until it stopped in front of the speaker next to the radio show's booth.
The raven-haired woman looked back to the madman with a curious eyebrow raised. The smiling clown told her pleasantly, "Be a dear and pick that up for me" his voice jovial.
Diana, however, wouldn't cooperate and scowled at the pasty looking man stubbornly.
The smile on Joker's face diminished slightly, his eyebrows scrunched up partially, "Pick it up" he commanded her, his tone deadly like a knife's edge, no longer whimsical.
His tone scared everyone, even some of his own crew.
Because they knew when the boss got like that someone dies.
Outside
The GCPD had cordoned off the area and set up a secure perimeter around the building.
Commissioner Gordon stood in front of a squad car surrounded by his officers formulating a plan to breach the building.
"We tried to enter through the maintenance door but the poor bastard that opened the door ended up getting electrocuted. Paramedics sent him to the hospital" the commanding officer of SWAT informed the mustached man.
Gordon hummed in concentration, "What about air support?" he asked getting shaking heads.
"Someone damaged our copters" one answered.
"All of them?!" Gordon exclaimed.
Some shrugged, "Budget cuts, sir. We only had half of number of functioning copters than last year" another answered.
Gordon swore. How the hell were they supposed to do their jobs if the city cuts off the resources needed to keep the people safe? He shook his head and thought, God I hate this city. Or at least the corrupt officials in charge. Gotham needs a good mayor, one that understands her and her people.
Finished with his thoughts about Gotham and budget cuts, he looked up to the night sky hoping to catch a glimpse of something. Anything. "Where are you?" he wondered lowly to himself.
Back at the penthouse
Diana remained undaunted towards the maniac and his twisted command. Stunning azure orbs met acidic green, neither would relent. Until the Joker blinked.
He closed his eyes and a scowling smirk appeared on his face, "Fine" he uttered, astonishing everyone.
Did the Joker admit defeat?
Nope.
He looked over to one of the cameramen in the corners of the room. "That camera still recording right?" he asked. The cameraman nodded dumbly, "And that stand is stable? It won't fall without you there?" he probed.
The cameraman gave another nod, "Good" Joker smiled shooting the man in the face.
"No!" Diana cried in horror.
"You monster!" Steve roared.
The Joker simply gave that chilling stare as the other hostages cried and screamed in terror, wondering if they're next.
The pale man turned his gun on to another cameraman in the adjacent corner of the now dead cameraman, "Now pick up that quarter or I start killing more people than I intended to tonight" he growled.
From the look in the green-haired man's eyes, she knew he would kill more, and she didn't want to be responsible for more deaths tonight. So, she swallowed her pride, grimacing and strode over to where the coin resided on the white-tile floor.
Her silver heels clicked on the white-tile floor with each step she took, feeling the Joker's sickening eyes on her back as she got closer to the discarded coin.
Her feet came to a stop as she reached the piece of metal, she released a breath and bent over to pick the quarter up.
A crooked smile appeared on the Joker's face as he moved his head till his ear almost touched his shoulder appreciating the wonderous view.
Quickly, Diana stood up and walked back to the Joker and handed him his quarter.
He took it back smiling with a leer in his eyes, "Thanks, sweet cheeks" he appreciated her effort, turning away from her completely missing the indignation on Diana's face swiftly understanding why he tasked her with retrieving the coin.
Steve slowly walked to her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder, silently telling her to calm down.
She grimaced at her boyfriend before following his advice and settled down.
Suddenly, one of the remaining cameramen cried out, "What the hell?" earning looks from many.
"Problem?" the Joker stated menacingly.
A cold sweat went down the man's back, "The-The camera" he stuttered, "it just went dead. Out of nowhere" he explained nervously.
"Hey, mine too!" another exclaimed.
"Me too!" the last cameraman reported.
Some hostages started whispering to each other about what's happening, but Joker's goons made them shut up.
At that moment, Joker started giggling to himself before it turned into uncontrollable laughter. "He's hereeee!" he proclaimed eerily.
"Who boss?" one of his clown crew asked.
"Who do you think?!"
His crew immediately understand the who. They all started to cock their guns. Prepared to shoot at anything that moves.
"Batman's coming" the twisted jester started to dance. "Oh, I can't wait to see, ol' pointy ears" he said excitedly. "I haven't seen him in years!"
All this talking about Batman made Steve hate said man even more than he did before. Batman started all this insanity and its going to get everyone in the room killed.
Suddenly, the lights in the room started to flicker spooking the hostages as well as Joker's crew.
The Joker however smiled even more, adrenaline coursing through his veins, heart pounding in his chest. This is it! His bestest pal in the whole wide world is here!
The hired thugs nervously swallowed, tightening their grip on their shotguns.
The lights continued to flicker until…they finally went out.
Total darkness took over the penthouse.
The hostages penned together like farm animals started to panic. Some brave or smart individuals among the crowd got low and made others around them join them, so they didn't get shot.
A loud crash resounded throughout the room as glass rained into the room as two of the glass windows exploded and a black thing flew into the room crashing into an unsuspecting thug knocking him out cold.
One surprising prepared thug clumsily put on night vision goggles.
They turned on and his eyes bulged out of his eyes as he saw Batman standing three feet from him.
"It's the Bat!" he screamed terrified.
That caught the attention of everyone.
The Joker squealed excitedly, standing still.
His crew were getting antsy because when the bat showed up, he usually broke their bones.
Batman's head whipped to the goggle wearing gunman so fast the goon's heart almost jumped out of his chest.
Panicked, the thug tried to point his gun at the bat, but—those eyes. Those white eyes just unnerved the man so much that his hands wouldn't stop shaking.
When he finally whipped his weapon in Batman's direction, but when he managed to do so, the dark clad man had vanished only to somehow reappear beside the shotgun totting goon, grasping the body of the weapon, he pushed it upwards to the ceiling and went off with a loud bang, startling many.
Batman wasn't finished as he wrapped his large hand around the goggle wearing man's throat and slammed his forehead into the man's face.
He dropped to the floor totally out cold.
The vigilante swiftly broke the shotgun in two over his knee.
Without warning the lights turned back on somehow. No doubt by the vigilante's hand. A crowd of hostages and heavily armed gunmen with total darkness with a vigilante leaping through the shadows, whom no doubt would break their jaws didn't mix well.
And there Batman stood in all his dark glory.
Joker's crew panicked and screamed at witnessing the bat appear out of nowhere. It didn't hurt that he just finished beating one of their own into a state of unconsciousness.
Diana's blue orbs widened; her mouth slightly parted as she saw The Batman for the first time.
The black suit. The cape. The cowl.
It was truly terrifying up close.
Even the hostages were in a daze at seeing Gotham's notorious myth in the flesh.
Steve reaction however was different. Yes, he was surprised at seeing the myth up close as well as any other person in the room. But as soon as the shock wore off rage filled him at seeing the source of all the insanity and death in Gotham in the same room as him.
Batman's head whipped to the Joker, whom was leaning over a table sipping some champagne.
White eyes narrowed, glaring at the insane clown, "Joker" he growled, teeth bared.
"Bats" the pasty looking man greeted humor in his voice.
"You're going back to Arkham. How much time you spend in a body cast is entirely up to you" the vigilante stated, edge to his voice but otherwise calm considering all the gunmen are aiming at him instead of the hostages. Good.
His nemesis simply giggled. "Believe it or not, Bats, I'm not even here for our scheduled rumble" the clown exclaimed. "I'm here to kill Stevie over there" he said aiming his gun at the blond-haired man, though not breaking eye contact with the vigilante.
The Joker's words confused Batman. He ran a thorough background check on Steve Trevor when the family court judge put Elissa into Diana Prince and Bruce Wayne's custody. Wayne quickly figured out Diana was dating Trevor, so he did his due diligence by making sure Elissa was safe around the people in Diana's life.
Steve Trevor was a law-abiding citizen, with an Air Force honorable discharge. Batman couldn't understand what the radio host could have done to incur the wrath of the Joker.
A sudden thought from the past entered the man's head. One where the Joker killed someone for mocking him by spilling a drink on him.
"He insulted you, didn't he?" he inquired, earning a hum from the clown.
The madman simply shrugged his shoulders and smiled slightly, "Can you blame me?"
White eyes glared at the pale man. How many more lives will he destroy? How many more will suffer because of his whimsy?
The vigilante doesn't have those answers, but he does have one. No more death tonight.
He swore.
He surveyed the room eight gunmen not including the Joker or the unconscious thug by his feet. All weapons trained on him. Hostages got smart and are staying low.
Good.
Out of the corner of his eye he caught the worried face of Diana with Steve right next to her. His eyes narrowed. He would not let her die, he promised. A young girl will not become an orphan tonight. Not tonight.
His cape enveloped his body masking his arms from the unsuspecting goons. He pulled out a batarang and a smoke pellet.
In a fraction of a second his arms burst out of his cape and slammed the smoke pellet to the floor releasing the gray gas.
"Hey!"
"The hell!"
The Joker's gang cried out. Some started erupting into a coughing fit after inhaling some of the gas.
Batman then went to work.
The batarang cut through the air colliding into the head of a coughing gunman.
The gunman swayed seeing stars before finally dropping to the floor like a sack of potatoes unconscious.
Shifting through the smoke cloud to systematically started taking out each gunman.
One.
Two.
Three more gunmen fell. Until some started to fight back.
Shots rang out.
Another glass window exploded into pieces as a shotgun round collided with it.
Another shot the elevator doors.
Another shot rang out hitting the ceiling causing some sheetrock to fall.
The dark clad man wrestled a gunman's weapon from him and hit him with butt of the gun like a baseball bat.
The broken windows aired out the room resulting in the smoke density to start to dissipate.
Momentarily distracted by subduing the weaponless goon, unaware that a remaining gunman has his weapon trained on Batman's back, a smile growing on his face.
"Die you son of a—" he was interrupted as Robin burst into the room from crashing though another window on the left side.
The sound of breaking glass got Batman's attention, whom whipped his head to his partner entering the scene. "Robin!" he barked outraged by the young protégé's disobedience.
"I know. I know!" the teenager responded dropping onto the goon's shoulders, whom let out a grunt, as Robin used him as a springboard to backflip and land on his feet.
The goon stumbled forward dropping his gun. He quickly got his bearings and turned his head sneering at the lad.
The red and green clad teenager just smiled and coldcocked him toot sweet.
Batman had just finished rendering his opponent unconscious before turning his head to his partner and growled at the boy.
"I know. Yell at me later" Robin reasoned.
He was right of course. The boy wouldn't be fighting crime with him if he didn't show promise.
The Joker, whom was silently enjoying the show of Batman beating the snot out of his henchmen. Silently, gaped as he saw him.
Robin, the teen wonder. In the flesh.
How-how could he? He thought internally. Shocked at what he was witnessing.
How could his bestest pal in the world bring a third wheel?!
If kids didn't kill the mood, he didn't know what did?
The smiling man frowned, a hot grimace on his face as he pulled out his pistol. Oh, how he hated discipling children. But the best way to get kids to clean their room was to get rid of the kids.
It was just happenstance as one of the defeated thugs regained consciousness.
"You got to be kidding me?!" Steve uttered to himself. How insane was Batman to actually bring a child into his insane crusade?
"Steve, get down!" Diana cried pulling the man down to the floor staying low and out of the path of gunfire.
Batman and Robin easily dispatch another two goons both unaware of the Joker taking aim at the young man.
The thug that regained unconsciousness stood to his feet wearily, holding a hand to his head. Swaying side to side still seeing stars.
The man unknowingly walked into the line of fire of his boss, whom has Robin in his sights.
The clown narrowed in on the teenager pulled the trigger on his pistol and shot his goon in the back of the head. The shot rang out catching Batman and Robin's attention.
"Get down!" the dark clad man instructed his partner, whom performed a double backflip taking cover behind a tossed over table.
"Damn" the Joker grumbled under his breath, a scowl firmly expressed on his white face having shot one of his men instead of the brat and started taking more shots at the dynamic duo.
Batman alerted by the Joker now taking an active approach in the brawl now concentrates on his oldest foe completely absent notice of the last remaining conscious thug.
The thug dropped his weapon and raced towards the Bat, tackling the vigilante like a football player. The vigilante stumbled backwards with the goon to the open balcony.
The goon fell to the floor while Batman managed to steady himself on his feet. All too late as the Joker turned his attention back to his foe and shot him directly in the right temple. Blood and pieces of cowl fly off from his head.
The dark clad man gave a cry as he stumbled backwards and fell off the balcony.
"No!" Robin screamed at the apparent death of his mentor.
The death of Batman.
Hello, sorry for being so late. School started again and I haven't had much time to write. I would also like to apologize for not addressing Steve's reason for hating Batman. I didn't want to write a too long chapter so I'm breaking it up into two chapters. I didn't think it would be this long. Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please review, fav, and follow. Oh, and the story of Joker escaping in the beginning of the chapter was taken from Detective Comics #504. A good read in my opinion. Thanks and I will be back soon!