Okay, yeah. My muse just up and died a while back. It made writing this chapter about ten times harder. I think I did an okay job getting it right, but I can't bring myself to double-check to make sure. Hope you all like it!

High school still sucked.

It was the wasted time that bothered me the most. The more progress I made setting up my projects and preparing to establish my company, The more all the time spent twiddling my thumbs in high school bothered me. There were a dozen better things I could be doing at the moment.

I really wanted to get that A.E. Pessimal fellow hired. I wanted to finish looking up and purchasing the lab equipment for Oscorp's research and development. I wanted to look further into buying that one television studio I'd had my eyes on. I had a constantly growing list of what I wanted or needed to do.

The worst thing was that going to high school hadn't given me the ability to express my emotions like I'd been hoping. I'd basically been throwing away massive chunks of my week by spending time in this hormonal hellhole. The only reason I hadn't given up a long time ago was stubbornness. I mean, this year was almost done, so I may as well finish it right? Apparently knowing about the sunken cost fallacy didn't stop me from falling for it.

Super-genius my ass.

Anyways, I had a few things that I was able to do after school. Plus, not needing more than three hours of sleep a night meant that my time wasn't completely monopolized. A few of my plans were almost ready, just needing a few more details.

I almost had the charities for Project: Bloodier Diamonds set up. Which was a pretty pretentious name for basically hiring a couple of assassins to kill the evil asses using slave labor to mine blood diamonds in Africa and sending in well-equipped charities to help the locals. The only issues were in making sure the positive changes to the regions would stick, that the charities all had plausible deniability, and that nobody found out I'd been the one to hire the assassins.

Right now I was finishing off some online purchases and setting up a few surreptitious meetings while relaxing and talking with Ivy about the obstacles I'd been running into dealing with big businesses. We were in one of her greenhouses, watching the leaves on one of here trees sway.

"The problem is the actual concept of middle management. The second I deal with anyone reporting up the chain any chance I have of convincing them breaks down."

Ivy smirked at me.

"Are you sure you haven't been reading to many Dilbert comics?"

"Ha ha. No see, in any business you need people to manage the workers. They look at the big picture and make decisions for the good of the company or whatever. The problem is that once a business gets past a certain size, you need people to manage the people managing the workers. And the bigger the company, the more layers you get."

Ivy smirked a bit. It was an odd smirk that she got whenever I started complaining about the big companies. I kept grumbling in a monotone, trying to convey my annoyance.

"A manager's job is to help the company get a certain amount of profit and performance from the workers he manages and to help the workers with various issues. Since those are mutually exclusive, the one that they usually try to please is their boss. And since it's easier to make the numbers look nice…"

Ivy waved a hand at me.

"Alright, cool it, I get it."

I forced out a sigh.

"Sorry, I guess I'm still grumpy about dealing with them. It'll be easier once I have a proper business, but I just realized that I'm going to be hiring a bunch of middle management and I'm not looking forward to it."

"Well, it's time to relax, so stop stewing and enjoy the rest."

"Alright, sorry."

I mentally forced myself to release the tension in my body. I took a deep breath of fresh, green air and relaxed deeper into the grass. After a few silent minutes, Ivy looked over and gave me an annoying grin.

"So, I hear you visited a certain villain bar recently?"

I almost flinched. Ivy grinned at me, obviously able to tell that she'd caught me flatfooted. We'd spent enough time working together or hanging out that she was able to read me, despite my emotionless body language.

"How'd you know?"

"Well, the name was a big clue. Normal-man? Really?"

I was really glad I couldn't blush. Ivy realized anyways and continued with a quiet snicker.

"Plus, there aren't too many expressionless teenagers who'd walk into a villain bar around here. A few of them were talking about the kid's preachy little speech. That reminded me so much of your little monologues that it was pretty obvious."

"Hey, I'm not that bad, am I?"

"Not really, most of them liked it. Quite a few liked seeing Scarecrow taken down a peg too."

"Ah, that's good. ...are my monologues really that preachy?"

"Yeah, a bit. It's not the worst thing in the world. It helps that you can't really sound pretentious with your monotone voice. Although, if I were you I'd use some of that cash you're rolling in to buy a few speech-making lessons or something like that."

"I've thought about it, but I can't exactly use charismatic body language. I may try later on when I have more time though."

Ivy raised her eyebrows a bit. Evidently, she'd been joking. I shrugged my shoulders in response. The conversation stalled for a second before Ivy gave me a look.

"Anyway, how'd you come up with 'Normal-man' as a name?"

"Well, it was going to be a joke about my defining quality being that I have a mental illness. I was going for a statement about how being crazy is the new normal or something. I never had the opportunity though, and it doesn't really work. The worst part is that I came up with a better costume later, but it was already too late."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I could have gotten myself a green apple mask and a bowler hat and call myself 'The Son of Man' instead."

Ivy frowned slightly and stared off into the distance before a look of dawning comprehension spread across her face. She smirked at me and jabbed me in the side with an elbow.

"You dork."

"It would have been good though, right?"

"Oh yeah, definitely better than 'normal-man' in fact. You could try to rebrand yourself if you're planning on doing something like that again. It probably won't work though. Your 'debut' was too public and the cape scene gets weird about names."

Our conversation turned towards different villain and hero names. It was interesting getting her perspective on them. I avoided mentioning her's, but there was still a looong list to work with. She had a lot to say about some of them too.

"Most villains have some sort of background with skills that help them in their new career. They might be inventors, have an odd physique, or maybe are just really, really smart. They tend to draw inspiration for their name from their unique skills or abilities. That's half the reason nobody respects Killer Moth. He just picked something that sounded cool, like an edgy tee-"

Suddenly, she paused in the middle of mocking Killer Moth.

"Huh? What is it?"

Ivy turned to look towards the entrance of the greenhouse just as the door creaked open.

When Harley walked in, it was obvious something was wrong. Her body language was so different that She seemed like a different person. She was hunched over, looking broken and vulnerable. When she caught sight of me, she seemed to want to turn around and leave.

"Harley! Are you alright!?"

I jumped to my feet and ran over, pulling her to our spot and moving her between us. Ivy pulled her into a hug as she started sniffling. She kept her head turned away from me, but I could see her bruises. One of her eyes was completely swollen shut.

Ivy's skin turned a vivid green as she abandoned her disguise. A series of vines sprouted, forming a row that disappeared off deeper into the conservatory. They shifted as a first aid kit and an icepack were passed along the vines and dropped into Ivy's hand. We pretended she hadn't outed herself as we took care of our friend.

Harley was still in her villainess outfit. I'd never seen her in it before, and this wasn't the best first impression. I did my best not to hover as Ivy wiped off her smeared makeup. Harley sniffled and spoke quietly, replying to my unspoken question.

"Mistah J is having a bad day. He was upset about something Commissioner Gordon did… It was my fault; I shouldn't have said anything."

I heard myself growling as my face started shifting. My expression didn't change, but my teeth got sharper and my skin started turning green as the Goblin started forcing itself to the surface. I sucked it back in and put a lid on it just as the whispers started. Ivy stared at me with slightly widened eyes. I shook my head and we concentrated on Harley. Leaning over, I looked her in the eye.

"Harley, I never want to hear something that stupid ever again."

"But I-"

"No! Not listening. You are smart, funny, and empathetic. I refuse to believe that this is your fault. Joker is just an unstable nutbar."

"He's-"

"Nuh-uh. Don't make excuses for him. You're smarter than that. His attitude fluctuates between insane and homicidally insane. If he lashed out at you, that's on him, not you."

"I-"

"Shush! You already said that he was upset about Commissioner Gordon. He was going to lash out long before you opened your mouth."

It bothered me, the way she quietly reacted. This wasn't the Harley I knew. She should have bopped me on the head for interrupting her. My friend wasn't a doormat like this. Once she stopped blaming herself I backed off again and let Ivy take over. Ivy was a lot more motherly than I was. Between us we managed to bring Harley out of her funk a bit.

"...I'm still worried about Mistah J. He's planning something big, calling in some oddballs and setting something up in the old carnival. He sent me away. He told me not to come back until he was finished..."

I ignored the goosebumps that I got when she spoke and reached over to give her a hug. I could deal with that later. Right now I needed to help my friend. We stayed like that for a while, her huddled up and me wrapping my arms around her.

"...No offense Norm, but you are really bad at hugs."

I shrugged but didn't let go.

"Ouch... Probably has something to do with the whole 'can't express emotions' thing. You want me to see if I can force a reassuring smile?"

Harley gave me a teary-eyed smile.

"No way. I've seen you try to smile before. It looks worse than Uncle Bob's from that one scene in the second Terminator movie."

"Alright then, how about you and Aunt Isley have a movie night. I'll go pick up some ice cream."

I let go and rubbed her back.

"...I want cookies and cream."

I gave Ivy a look behind Harley's back while she wasn't looking. Harley sniffled a bit and didn't notice.

"No problem."

"I'll set up the room, okay Harls?"

Harley nodded, sniffling again. Ivy and I moved away so we could talk without being overheard. I whispered in a low, monotone voice.

"I'm gonna kill him."

"No, you aren't. That would just make things worse for Harley right now. Besides, I've tried to kill that damn clown before. It never seems to stick."

"Can I go and break his legs then?"

"No, same problem. Besides, he's a lot more dangerous than you think. Remember, he regularly fights Batman."

"Hire Deadshot to pop his kneecaps?"

"He might be willing to go against the Joker, but it will depend on his mood and how much you are willing to pay. Not many people like earning a grudge from the clown. Seriously, let it go."

"...fine."

I decided to let it go for now. I was going to get ready for the Joker's plan though. Barbara Gordon was still Batgirl, so I could guess what was coming. This world didn't match up with any 'plotline' I knew about, but my intuition was screaming at me.

I knew, deep in my bones, that the Joker was getting ready for a Killing Joke.

I was going to beat around the bush, but I decided not to. Now you know what's coming! I'll try to get the next chapter out ASAP, but I doubt I'll manage it within a week or two. I'm still really uninspired and I want to get this next bit RIGHT.