Disclaimer: I own nothing but the OC character Grace!
IIIIII
"...397, 398, 399, 400... This can't be right." Sitting in the middle of a rooftop, Annabeth finished counting the money she'd just stolen and stared at the empty money bag, then at the single twenty and ten, as well as the mass pile of fives and one's. After a few moments of silence, she felt her pride take a small hit as she realized she might have been tricked. There were far too many one's to have been in a single slot in the register. In fact, by the looks of it, the old man must have had them stacked beneath the twenty and ten slots. A little detail she'd missed when she watched him put the money in the bag and now looking back made her wish she'd been paying closer attention. The amount of effort she'd put in, as well as risking getting shot again, just for a small amount of cash, was ridiculous.
She'd run tirelessly in an attempt to escape the police she was sure had been called. Annabeth had even gone as far as to skip any hotels she'd seen and instead chosen to climb to the rooftop of an apartment complex, just to avoid any police finding her like they had the other day. She'd done all of that with ripped stitches and flaring pain that kept growing as her medication wore off. Something Annabeth had forgotten to get back when she'd left the police station. Now hours later, the result was only a measly four hundred dollars? It was more than a little disheartening.
Breathing out a small and slightly angry sigh, Annabeth looked in the direction of the shop she'd robbed, feeling a little miffed. She hadn't considered the old man, given that he was still alive and in business in the Marvel world of New York, probably had experienced robberies before. Nor had she thought he might have a way to prevent or at least minimize the damage that came from being robbed. A rather foolish decision on her part. Especially with how she usually planned everything, well, mostly everything.
Making a mental note to revisit the place in the future, she stood up, putting some cash in her pockets before stuffing the rest back in the bag, knowing it was time to move on. While rare, Annabeth could admit when she'd been beat, something that had taken many, many years, but it had happened as she'd matured. However, that didn't mean she had to like it or leave it at that. She knew eventually she'd get back at the old man, one way or another.
Pressing her palm against her open stitches, Annabeth gritted her teeth painfully but continued, knowing she had to keep the blood loss to a minimum. Glancing to the side of the rooftop, she made her way towards it and down the old metal grated stairs. Trying her best not to think about the jump down to the alley floor she'd have to make when she reached the bottom. Unfortunately, within minutes, her descent having come faster than she'd anticipated, Annabeth found herself roughly twelve or so feet above the alley floor. The ladder lying broken below, the metal having snapped off when she'd climbed up the first time.
Taking a deep breath, she jumped, feeling weightless for all of about three seconds before she hit the ground. Practically biting her tongue as she tried not to scream, the jolt from the landing was more painful than she'd previously thought it would be. Though that probably had less to do with her injury and more to do with the fact her legs took the brunt of the impact, and she hadn't been able to roll to lessen it.
Taking a shaky step forward, Annabeth felt the shock from the jump begin to wear off a bit, then frowned, feeling a little dizzy, her hand unfortunately not enough to seal the wound or the blood escaping from it. Something she knew would be the case eventually, but she'd hoped she'd be able to get farther before feeling any signs of blood loss. Looking at the empty street beside her, Annabeth focused her eyes, trying to keep her mind from wandering, then began her trek to the hospital once again.
IIIIII
"Ahhh, my head..." Groaning softly, Annabeth grabbed the edge of the hospital bed as her vision swam. Feeling extremely warm, in an almost just sick and had surgery type of way. Not a pleasant feeling, and one she wished she wasn't beginning to become familiar with. Taking a look around her hospital room, she breathed a small sigh of relief when she saw no one else in the room with her. By the looks of it, it was a private room, which meant more costs, but Annabeth wasn't about to complain at the moment. She would rather be alone than in a crowded room with other patients.
Pulling the IV line out of her arm, Annabeth gathered her bearings, then slipped off the bed. Struggling slightly as she woke her body up, her limbs still feeling groggy as she regained her strength. Seeing a pair of slippers by the bed, she slipped them off, silently remembering to thank whichever nurse placed them there later. Hospital floors were almost always cold, and the last thing she wanted to do was walk on a cold floor down a bunch of hallways.
Making her way towards the door, Annabeth placed her hand doorknob and was about to open it, then paused. Barely able to make out a muffled voice sounding from the other side. Now, call it what you will, paranoia, caution, or just plain out curiosity. Annabeth wanted to know who was talking and why they were standing outside her door. So, pressing her ear against it and trying to ignore the ridiculousness of her actions, she listened.
"Are you sure this woman is the one that fit's the description?" A man's voice sounded slightly muffled, but the words were clear enough for Annabeth to understand.
"Yes, the photo and clothes are the spitting image of what she looked like before one of the other nurses changed her. Though, if I may ask, what did she do? Surely searching all the hospitals in the city is going a little overboard?" The other voice, this one more prim and proper, and definitely a woman who responded.
"Sorry, ma'am, it's not my call to make. All I know is that someone up there has ordered to take her in. Reason or the why's are not my problem or responsibility. Now, that cash she showed up with where..."
Pulling back from the door, Annabeth had to hold back a curse as she stopped listening, not needing to hear anything more. Whether they were the police or someone else, that didn't matter. What did was that she was trapped in a room, the window, which she was only noticing now appeared to be bolted shut, and her money was gone. A minor detail she probably should have noticed but had forgotten about till the man on the other side of the door mentioned it. All in all, her so-called private room seemed to be more of a prison. One that she was put in to prevent her from leaving until the police, or whoever the man was, came for her.
Spinning around, she looked more closely at what was left in the room, looking for anything she could change into. Unfortunately, from what she's could see, there was nothing but the sheet on the hospital bed. Sitting down on it, Annabeth discarded that idea and tried to think of another but was drawing a blank. Glancing at the door, she frowned, knowing it was probably locked to prevent her from leaving, with probably only the nurses allowed in.
As soon as the thought crossed her mind, Annabeth felt an idea spark. Grabbing the side of the bed, she grabbed one of the wires lying across it and picked up the white emergency one. The end of it connected to a small circular button which she knew was for patients to press for an emergency, and as it happened, it should call a nurse to come to check up on her. Pressing the button, Annabeth leaned back on the bed, covering herself with the sheet as she waited for someone to enter the room.
Sure enough, within a minute, a rather tired-looking brunette entered the room. Looking as if she wished she was anywhere but where she was now. "What's the problem, miss."
Pretending to be a little groggy, Annabeth opened her eyes, blinking rapidly before opening her mouth and croaking a bit, trying to make it appear that her throat was dry. The nurse seemed to understand and thankfully didn't look to be in the mood to ask questions. Waiting until the nurse was beside the bed, Annabeth silently apologized, then before the nurse could react, she quickly sat up, grabbing the woman by the neck and pulled down, slamming her head against the rails of the bed with a loud clang, knocking her out cold.
Getting out of the bed, Annabeth kneeled next to the woman, a little relieved to see her still breathing. Then without delay, she began to strip the woman of her clothes, changing their outfits. Hopefully, if all went well, she could walk out and leave without anyone noticing, leaving the nurse in her place to mislead whoever was trying to find her.
Hoisting the woman onto the bed, Annabeth tied the hospital gown together then covered her with the sheet, positioning her face away from the door and using the pillow to hide her dark hair. Then picking up the blue-colored shirt and pants, she changed into them, grabbing a disposable doctor's mask from the counter by the side of the room to help cover her face. She knew most hospital personnel used these items when dealing with certain patients, so if all went well. She could walk out, not get discovered, and hopefully not recognized. Something that could be difficult if her photo really was shown to everyone in the building.
Standing next to the door, Annabeth narrowed her eyes, then flicking the lights off, she knocked on the door. Ducking her head and looking down as the door opened, pretending to be in thought and as tired as the nurse had looked when she first entered the room.
"Everything alright?"
Keeping calm, Annabeth nodded her head, then walked forward and passed the man who's asked the question. Only able to make out a pair of black pants and boots with her head down. However, that was enough for her to tell that it wasn't a police uniform. Not slowing her pace, she kept moving, barely able to feel any relief at successfully escaping before things started to go wrong.
"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!"
Hearing a shout behind her, Annabeth stopped her charade and sprinted out a stairwell door, not bothering to go for the elevator anymore. Chances were she wouldn't make it there anyway, or worse. She'd get trapped. At least with the stairs, she could always exit to another floor if she was cut off. Hearing the door slam open a few seconds after her, Annabeth increased her speed, the Adrenaline coursing through her allowing her wound to feel as if it wasn't even there. Which, of course, wasn't the case, and she would no doubt pay for it later, but at the moment, she had bigger things to worry about.
"Code 042, I am in pursuit. Target is heading to the first floor!"
Hearing the man's words and knowing he was getting closer every moment, Annabeth decided to take a gamble. Coming to a halt, she twisted and jumped at the wall, using her momentum to go a little higher than she usually would have been able to. Then, without thinking too clearly of the potential risk involved, she jumped off the wall and back towards the stairs, right where the man was running down—slamming her knee right into his gut and lifting him off the ground, barreling into the railing edge. Not letting the man get a chance to gain his bearings, Annabeth bent down in a handstand and flipped her legs, delivering a downward kick to the man's head and sending him tumbling further backward before flipping right over the side.
The sickening thud that shortly followed letting her know that he'd hit the ground. As for whether he was alive or not? That wasn't her problem.
Knowing the first floor was off-limits at the moment, Annabeth exited to the second floor, taking a few seconds to glance around at all the people milling about before beaming straight for a window, not bothering to hide her actions or look for a sneakier way out. She'd noticed when fighting the gun on the man's waist, and she wasn't looking to getting shot again if she could help it.
"Hey, miss, what are you doing!"
"Oh my god! Is she going to jump?"
"Someone call security!"
Flashing her best Harley grin at the people shouting, Annabeth hopped through the edge of the window and onto the ledge outside it. Using her gymnastic skill as best she could to scale down to the window ledge below it and down to the ground. As luck would have it, as she made her way down, Annabeth saw a young couple rushing into the hospital. Leaving their car door open, as well as the vehicle running. A rather strange coincidence, but she wasn't about to complain.
Running for it, she got in the car and slammed down on the gas. Heading for the downtown area, which she knew was almost always crowded with people. Especially during the day, something she hadn't noticed it was until now.
Character Percentage Increased!
New Skills and Abilities Available!
Ability List
[Beginner Regeneration] - Health is life, without life... there is nothing.
[Disease Resistance] - No disease can touch you, but other ways to die are still open.
[Empathy] - Are your own emotions too little for you to worry about? How about everyone else's?
Skill List
[Beginner Lock Picking] - Doors may no longer be an obstacle, but vaults and safes still are.
[Beginner Sword Mastery] - The risk of cutting off your own limb is a hazard you can finally say you've surpassed.
[Intermediate Gymnastics] - The Olympics has rejected you, but at least they now know you exist.
Her hands twitching, Annabeth tightly gripped the wheel, barely resisted pressing on the breaks as the window covered her vision. Almost unable to see any of the cars next to her as she continued driving. Giving the list a quick glance, she picked the regeneration and, ignoring the gymnastics, chose beginner lock picking. As she'd learned, while gymnastics was helpful, like knowing which way to bend and turn her body without injury, she wasn't about to make a career of it. Outside of that, learning how to walk the balance beam better wasn't what she needed.
Ditching the car by the side of the road, she left the vehicle and entered a clothing store. This one was larger and higher-end compared to the first store she'd gone to when she first arrived. Making sure to keep out of sight as best she could, Annabeth walked along the edge of the store, avoiding all the people shopping while keeping a lookout for any cameras.
However, just as Annabeth was about to grab some clothes and enter the changing room. She froze, staring in more than a bit of shock at what appeared to be a genuine Harley Quinn outfit. The short midriff black and red jacket, pants with black and red diamond shapes on the front and sides, as well as a white shirt with 'the jokes on you' written across it. The shirt was something Annabeth knew she hadn't seen a version of Harley wear before and had a feeling it had more to do with her situation. The game she was in seeming to love these so-called coincidences she kept finding herself in. The Harley outfit practically straight up telling her that the game was controlling certain things or, at the very least, the items in the world.
After a few seconds of hesitation, Annabeth made a decision and grabbed the clothes off the manikin before heading into the changing room. Some events or items may be put into the game, but the reality was that she couldn't do a thing about it. So why worry, especially right now, while it was benefiting her? For now, she might as well go along with it and try and beat the game.
Character Percentage Increased!
Ignoring the text that appeared, Annabeth sighed and exited the changing room—only noticing now that the adrenaline wore off that she was barefoot, which in hindsight was probably what altered the man at the hospital that something strange was going on. A rather dumb mistake on her part, she'd even taken off the nurse's shoes, but it had slipped her mind actually to put them on.
Grabbing a pair of nice-looking ankle boots, Annabeth slipped them on and headed for the store's makeup section, no longer bothering to hide now that she was out of the nurse's outfit. If she was lucky, no one would think she'd changed, and she would be long gone before anyone thought to look for her in a different outfit. As for who was looking for her, she wasn't ready to worry about that now. She needed to find food, money, and a place to stay. Which, funny enough, were still the same problems she'd been dealing with since she began this game.
Grabbing white finger makeup, she opened it and dug her fingers into it, spreading it all over her face, her reflection in the mirror genuinely beginning to look like a clown, not like Harley Quinn, not yet, but she was getting there. Smoothing out the makeup more and more, she grabbed some crimson red lipstick, then spread it across her lips, giving the mirror a slight smile before nodding her head in satisfaction. Finally, onto the last detail, she opened up one of the larger bottles of black and red makeup and set dumped the contents onto a counter. Then, grabbing two bands she'd taken from the tags on her clothes, she put her hair in pigtails, then bent down, dipping one tail in the red makeup, and one in the black.
Character Percentage Increased!
"Ha, if that's any indication, I think I did good if I don't say so myself!" Grinning, Annabeth looked at her image in the mirror. The red and black clothes, pale white makeup on her face, as well as her pigtails still dripping makeup. The latter of which she had to do given that she didn't have any hair dye. But besides that, she looked like a decent Harley Quinn, better than any cosplayer could have done, that's for sure. Annabeth looked kind of like the genuine article. The only difference was that the real Harley would have had a psychotic grin and a crazy glint in her eyes. That was something she still needed to work on.
Backing away from the mirror, Annabeth left her little mess and headed for the exit, miraculously going unseen, with no one noticing the mess she'd made or the fact she'd stolen the clothes she was wearing. But at this point, she was beginning to think that chalking it all up to coincidence, or rather the game, was going to become a very frequent thought of hers.
Giving a slight wave to one of the employees who were giving her an odd look, no doubt because of her outfit, Annabeth headed in the direction of the Stark building. A building she knew anyone would think her insane even to attempt to rob, which was precisely what she was going for. With her family's life on the line, she couldn't just do anything halfway like she had been doing. She would have to go full Harley mode, robbery, arson, murder, the works. As for whether she would still do those types of things if the world she was in weren't virtual, well, Annabeth wasn't going to think about that. Though she had a feeling, she knew the answer all the same.
IIIIII
"Fury, what a welcome surprise!" Tony smirked with his typical cockiness as he leaned against his sofa, drink in hand, the rest of the newly formed avengers scattered about the room, all turning to see the agent.
"This isn't a surprise visit Stark." Fury replied as his eyes narrowed, pulling out a small laptop from somewhere in his coat and setting it down on the table. "There's something you all need to see."
"Jarvis." Tony voiced, becoming a little serious at Fury's actions. Despite what Steve or any of the other avengers believed, he knew when and when not to say a snide comment or be his usual self... most of the time. And from the tone of Fury's voice, he could tell that this was one of those times.
"This video that you're about to see... is classified, and if I had it my way, that madman would be put down. Unfortunately, some people in our country feel differently."
At Fury's words, both Clint and Natasha straightened up, a tiny bit of alarm as well as confusion in their eyes, a glance at the other letting them know neither knew what Fury was on about. A rather difficult feat given that they were level nine agents, and there was little that they didn't know about... or so they thought.
Speaking up for the first time since Fury walked in, Steve asked the question they all wanted to know. "Who is he, sir?"
Hesitating for a moment, something Fury normally didn't do. He glanced at the paused video on the screen, then at the group of superpowered people before him. "...In his own words, his name is meant to bring laughter to people, something he claims to have done, wiping out the world with it."
"...What?" Tony almost choked on his drink, not having expected that answer at all.
"That was the first time we asked. The second time, he claimed it was to bring joy to children. He then told us that if you kill your enemies' son, make sure they stay dead. It can save a lot of trouble." Frowning, Fury tapped the space bar on the laptop and sat down on a chair. "The last time we asked... well, we didn't believe him. So he retaliated. This video is the aftermath."
Focusing on the screen, everyone waited for the figure that Fury was speaking about to appear. However, not a single one of them was prepared for what they saw.
"Heh..." A stark white hand appeared on the camera before the light grew brighter, revealing a man with bright, almost neon-green hair, sickly pale skin, and a giant grin with yellow teeth that stretched impossibly wide. "Believe me now?"
"Now's not the time for your games, Joker!"
"W-What in the world..." Gaping at the image on the screen, Tony snapped his attention to Fury, recognizing the man's voice as the other person in the video speaking. Though the raw anger in his voice was something he had never heard come from the spy.
"Ohoho... Now you call me by my name. It seems I made my point clear after all... hahahhaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Throwing his head back, the man called the Joker practically screamed, his voice becoming higher with every cackle that came out of his throat.
Slamming his hand down on the desk in the interrogation room, Fury glared. "You gassed twelve hundred people in three hours!"
"Oh my god," Banner muttered, wiping his forehead. Even at his worst time as the hulk, he hadn't killed that many people that quickly. Though a small part of him in the back of his mind couldn't help but whisper that he didn't even know his complete body count from his transformations as hulk.
"Now that's not fair, they were happy when I left... Why else would they all be smiling?" The Joker asked, his voice filled with glee, before taking a sharp turn as he wiped a fake tear from his eye, his face changing to sorrow in a blink. "Though I suppose if you consider a vegetable dead, then I would be guilty of your... accusation."
"He's insane." Natasha summed up all their thoughts, a conclusion that was almost impossible to miss as they watched the interrogation play out on screen.
"Yes, he is, but what comes next is why I'm here." Fury answered, pressing a key on his wrist, causing the video to shift to another scene.
"And this Harley Quinn. She's here as well?"
"Ah, yes." Joker chuckled, tapping his fingers together in a rather pleased manner. "She should be, eventually. It might take her a bit of time. However, losing a child can do that to you."
"She miscarried?"
"WHAT?" Joker's eyes widened in complete over-exaggeration as he clamped a hand around his mouth, looking shocked. "Harley? Give birth? What an absolutely insane idea. No, after I beat old Brucie boy's last protege, she didn't want to see me dirty my crowbar on another. Not that I would ever do that, bird boy has a special crowbar all to himself."
Grimacing, Steve grabbed a drink from Tony's bar and downed it. The implication that the Joker had used a crowbar on two children wasn't lost on him, and while he had seen terrors far worse during the war. It didn't mean he had to like hearing about it. The fact the clown onscreen was obviously a psychopath as well didn't help matters. Who knows what else he did to them.
"I see... What can you tell us about this, Quinn."
"Well, hehehahaha." Laughing for a moment, Joker focused his eyes directly on the camera lens. "Let's just say she made me who I am today... hehehahahahhahahAHAHAHA!"
"Well, maybe he was lying," Tony said after a few seconds of silence before pressing a remote and turning off the screen. Doing his best to hide how uncomfortable he was feeling, the madness in the Jokers' eyes as he looked at the camera made him feel like Loki was an immature child. The god of lies seeming tame in comparison.
"That was what we thought until recently." Fury replied as he stood up. "A few days ago, a woman mysteriously appeared in New York, no traces or identification of any kind. She then robbed a bank, got caught, and identified herself as Harley Quinn. She was then let go and has since robbed a small shop, and somewhere along the way, she needed to go to the hospital. Where one of our agents was waiting to take her into custody, unfortunately, she escaped, all while somehow managing to get the jump on one of my agents, paralyzing the man for life."
Glancing at each other, the avengers all frowned. When alone, the details made it seem that Harley Quinn was nothing but a small-time thief. But together, with the Joker video and her mysterious appearance. Well, something wasn't adding up.
"Sir, I'm sorry to interrupt. But I fear the front lobby has been breached. A rather odd-looking woman has begun to... oh my."
"What is it, Jarvis?"
"I think it may be best to see for yourself, sir." With those words, Jarvis turned on the tv monitor, showing the lobby camera on the first floor.
"Is that..." Steve started as they all saw a blonde woman dressed in black and red firing off two pistols everywhere. The white makeup and crimson lips looking disturbingly similar to the Joker's look they'd just seen, that, with the crazy grin on her face as she fired her weapon, didn't make it hard to connect the dots.
"...Harley Quinn."