This is where the story starts. I tried to use some dialogue from the actual movie. I don't own anything that I don't own.
Charlie was up late that morning, and he had to leave quickly. There wouldn't be any food in the fridge even if he had time to eat. That was what this job was for, paying for food. The house he lived in was a shack, holes in the roof and everything falling apart around him. There were only three rooms, a single bedroom, a kitchen, and a disgusting bathroom. Everything was covered in dust and dirt.
It took him only five minutes to throw on some warm clothes and head for the door. On his way out he stopped by the bedroom. There was only one mattress on the floor, but it didn't belong to him. He saw the buzzed blonde hair of his little brother sticking out from under the thick blanket. They were alone in this world, but at least the kid had someone left to take care of him. Hanging on the handle of the front door was a clown mask, a mask that Charlie put on as he walked into the cold air.
This guy was the newcomer, hadn't drawn too much attention to himself yet. From what Charlie heard he called himself the Joker, and practically no one had seen him face to face. It didn't matter to him, he just needed the money. They weren't supposed to kill anyone and that made him relieved. So far he hadn't killed on any of his jobs and he'd prefer to keep it like that. Four other guys were helping to pull off this robbery. As long as no one got hurt he felt no guilt in this job, they were robbing from a bunch of corrupt thieves anyway.
He was picked up on the street corner at a quarter to noon. The man driving the car was also wearing a clown mask, one with a grumpy expression. After another twenty minutes of driving they picked up one more man, who didn't utter a word to either of them.
"Three of a kind, let's do this," Grumpy stated.
"Huh, that's it?" Charlie asked. "Three guys?"
"Plus two guys on the roof," Grumpy assured. "Everybody gets a share. Five shares is plenty."
"Six shares," reminded Charlie. "Don't forget the guy who planned the job." This made Grumpy scoff.
"He thinks he can sit it out and still take a slice?" he asked to no one in particular. "I know why they call him the Joker."
Inside the Gotham Bank there was a sixteen year old, Will Grayson. He was up at the front of the line, standing next to his uncle Roger. This was where the rich came to collect their much too large sums of money. He'd been dragged along as punishment for what happened at school the previous day. Like all the others he was wearing dress clothes to maintain his presentable appearance, a suit and tie clothing his tanned skin. Roger had the same shade of black hair as he, which was on purpose. Before Will had blonde hair, but it had been necessary to dye it.
Three men came in suddenly, all wearing clown masks. One of them wearing a grumpy mask fired into the air and people started screaming. Will instinctively got down on the ground, knowing this fight would be pointless when they had guns. Grumpy and one of the other clowns started disabling the guards and then moved on to the tellers. The third clown used tape and zip-ties to restrain the hands of all the customers. When he got to Will he paused, cocking his head to the side.
"It would be a shame to shoot such a young boy," he told Will. "Be on your best behavior." His voice unnerved Will, like he could just be shot and this clown wouldn't feel a thing about it. But he kept himself perfectly still as his wrists were tied together and the clown moved on. When he was done he started putting gas grenades into the hands of everyone.
"Obviously we don't want you doing anything with your hands other than holding on to dear life," Grumpy said loud enough for all to hear.
Charlie was getting nervous about this; no one had said anything about gas grenades. But it was almost over, and then he could go home with his share and buy them some fresh food for a change. That's when he felt the searing pain of a shotgun shell blasting into his back. He dropped to the floor, not quite dead.
"Do you have any idea who you're stealing from?" shouted the bank manager. "You and your friends are dead!" Grumpy and the other clown dove for cover as the manager kept blasting shells at them. Grumpy came up in an attempt to shoot the attacker, but he was shot in the shoulder. Finally the third guy fired at the manager and the shotgun fell from his hand.
"Where did you learn to count?" asked Grumpy irritably.
Charlie thought about home, how his brother was going to be all alone now. As hard as he tried to keep himself awake, darkness drew closer and closer to his eyes. Everything became numb, stopping the pain. Then his eyelids fell.
Will watched Grumpy walk off toward where the safe would be. The clown hovered around the crowd, making sure no one tried anything. It only took Grumpy a few minutes to return with four bags no doubt full of cash, and the clown assisted in piling them up together. When that was done, Grumpy pulled his gun on the clown.
"I'm betting the Joker told you to kill me as soon as we loaded the cash," guessed Grumpy. The clown checked his watch and sighed.
"No no no no," replied the clown. "I kill the bus driver." Grumpy was confused by this response. He didn't notice that the clown was sidestepping.
"Bus driver? What bus driver?" In response, a yellow bus backed through the wall and hit him with such force he was knocked down instantly. No doubt he was dead. Another clown came out of the bus and helped load the four bags into the bus, casually talking to the other. The third clown was just as casual when he shot the bus driver and went to climb onto the bus.
"Think you're smart, huh?" demanded the manager. "The guy that hired youze, he'll just do the same to you. Oh, criminals in this town used to believe in things. Honor. Respect. Look at you. What do you believe in, huh? What do you believe in!" The clown approached and shoved a gas grenade in the manager's mouth to shut him up.
"I believe whatever doesn't kill you simply makes you…" began the clown pulling off his mask. Will's eyes widened as he stared at the face of the Joker. He wore so much makeup his face was unrecognizable and his hair was dyed green. His lips had been cut to make a permanent smile.
"Stranger." With that he walked back toward the bus. One last glance looked directly at Will, who was afraid of what this maniac could do. Then the bus pulled out of the bank and drove away, merging into the line of school buses taking kids home from their day in classes.
The police arrived mere seconds after the Joker's departure, and Gordon showed up a few minutes following their arrival. He examined the mess that had been left behind with disgust, hating the criminals that had caused such a panic. As he walked past a discarded shotgun he saw there was a clown that hadn't been taken to the morgue yet. Out of curiosity he found himself crouching down and removing the laughing mask.
It was just a young man, couldn't have even been twenty. Gordon felt some pity for this one, no doubt just trying to earn money. This was who the Joker was, a murderer. He'd make sure that they found the bastard and put him away.
Poor Charlie. That's the beginning of Will's story, we'll also get to meet the other four kids in the next few chapters. Please let me know what you thought.