It felt like hours since he'd left Barbara's safe house to find his way toward town hall. Time passed by so differently here, almost as if it stood still while always going forward; made things disorienting and harder to remember. On top of that, he had a very limited supply of ammo and there were just too many of these...'zombie' type people roaming the streets for him to simply just run toward town hall with no problem. And after what felt like an eternity he finally managed to find his way to the locked gates of town hall, making him sigh in relief. "Thank god I finally found it. Took long enough." He began to look around, hoping for some hole in the fence he could slip through so he didn't have to shoot the padlock, alerting any of those things roaming around.
He circled the building, finally finding a small break in the gate and catching the flash of the familiar purple suit this so called 'Joker' wore just as he slipped through it. He ran toward the entrance, grabbing the handle of the building and trying to open the door with no success. "Oh, you've gotta be joking." He kicked at the door, still with little to not success. "Dammit!" He yelled, punching the door again out of anger. "Bet the back doors easier to break." He ran in the direction he thought he saw a door at when he first circled the building, cheering silently when he found to. He turned the door handle to see if it was unlocked. It didn't open the first time around so he used a bit more force when he went to push it open the second time, resulting in him stumbling in when it opened.
The room that greeted him was in far better shape than the rest of the town he'd seen so far, looking almost untouched. "Well, that's suspicious." He mumbled, turning to shut and lock the door behind him. He carefully walked toward the office door, looking around for any signs of life around him. The crash from the office made him draw his gun in defense. He inched his way toward the door, taking a deep breath before opening the door quickly and pointing his gun. Nothing. "Increasingly more suspicious." He relaxed a bit more, peeking around the corner before moving further through the building. From what he could tell he was on the first floor and the generator or...whatever Barbara had called it was on the second. He was careful, making sure to peek around every corner and through every door he could before moving on. The Joker was in this building with him somewhere and he didn't know what the guy was even capable of.
He tried to keep track of where in the building he was and hadn't yet been. This was proving to be a lot harder than first thought when he rounded a corner and found the same painting he passed by four times before. "What the..." He trailed off, freezing when he saw a familiar figure standing only a few feet in front of him. He tensed up, his grip tightening on his gun.
"So nice of you to join us. I was beginning to think you'd abandoned me." The joker teased, the creepy smile he wore so well never fading. It almost looked like his face was frozen in place or that it was not his own. It was unsettling, which fit the atmosphere perfectly. Joker began pacing, waving around what looked like a crowbar as he spoke. "I hear you've been looking for the core. Now why is that?" He questioned, glancing at Jason who was growing impatient.
"None of your damn business, you creep." He spat back at him, ready to shoot the bastard already.
"Don't feel like sharing? You know you aren't the only one looking for her. She's the source of power around here. And my one ticket to power. He asked me to find her. Give her to him so that he may 'fix' this world for the better, whatever that may mean." He explained, stopping when Jason finally pointed his gun toward him. His smirk grew wider, if that was even possible, and he put his hands up in defense. "Now, now. Is that anyway to treat a someone you've just met? You can't expect me to tell you anything with that in my face."
"Shut up!" Jason snapped, aiming directly for his head. "I am not in the mood to play any of your games. You're going to tell me where she is or you're going to lose your head. Choose wisely because I am not a very patient man." The Joker didn't say anything, he just stood there as still as a statue. He counted to three, finger hovering over the trigger when he froze.
"Papa!" Her voice rang though the hall, making Jason hesitate. This gave the Joker the chance to swing the crowbar and knock the gun from his hands. He let out a chilling laugh as he 'skipped' away.
"Shouldn't believe every voice you hear around here, Jason." He yelled back at him. "Nothing here is as it seems." He said before shutting a door behind him, the door disappearing as Jason grabbed his gun and shot. He shot a few times, purely out of anger as he fought back tears of frustration. That bastard used her against him, made him think he was so close to her just from making him here her voice.
"Dammit!" He punched the wall, shutting his eyes as he breathed heavily. He had to get it together, focus. He couldn't find her if he acted like this at every little inconvenience. He gathered himself, taking a few calming breaths before going back to hunt for the stabilizer.
It took him longer than he would have liked, but he finally found the room. In the center of the conference room sat the large generator, looking as damaged as expected. He pulled out the hand radio, calling Barbara. He didn't exactly have the tools to fix things on his person, but Barbara assured him it would be a quick fix. And as usual, she was right. When he turned it on, a pulse came through. It felt like the building shook as the room shifted around him. Things put themselves back in place, almost fixed themselves in a way. It looked almost normal compared to how it was before. It was almost untouched. Much like the office downstairs. "So what's next Barbara?"
"I'd say follow the Joker's trail. After he left, a shift happened on the other side of town. The theater broke off...sort of. And so far, I think he's the only somewhat same person around that knows where Leia is." Jason groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. This is just what he needed.
"I'll head that way. Got any shortcuts I can take? Save me the hassle of having to deal with those...things outside?" He asked, hopeful she knew of some way to avoid having to waste anymore ammo.
"Actually." She began, bringing a smile to face. "I do. The basement has tunnel that leads to some pipelines underground. They were used for transporting supplies between some of the labs when everything was...well...better."
"Have I ever told you you're the best, Babs? Because you are."
"Anything for family, right? Call me when you get there. So I know you made it there safe."
"Of course. Stay safe, Babs."