The Penguin's Club was much more impressive than any of the villains had imagined.
It looked like an enormous sparkling ice cube, isolated from the tall and old buildings that Gotham had. It even had a red carpet coming out from those huge glass doors, for celebrities and other VIP people. Harleen's blue eyes were wide open, just like her small mouth. She looked like a kid on Disney Land. It was almost too obvious that she was seeing herself, wearing a long red dress, leaving a huge black limo, which would have a big and beautiful driver, ready to do anything for Harley. That made the blond woman giggle.
Pamela's green eyes looked unimpressed while driving Harley's dark blue car. She'd been there before, and although the first visit had made her eyes widen to their maximum, she was now used to it. The sparkles and lights didn't have the same impact they had at first. But the redhead had to admit, it was pretty darn impressive. While she worked as a botanist, she hadn't dreamed that she could be visiting a place like that. Actually, until a few days ago, Ivy didn't even know it existed. And, although she wouldn't admit it, Pamela felt pretty important every time her feet touched that club's cold floor.
The Joker was, actually, uninterested. His face showed the usual large smile and the usual insane and wide open eyes, not even bothering to glance at the building. Instead he was staring forward, lost in thoughts. Lost in ideas of how to break the Batman. He wouldn't kill him, heavens no. And he wouldn't dare to take off his mask just like that. That would be just too…predictable. He needed something different, something that would make the Batman snap. It would be glorious to prove his point. To prove that anyone could just go insane. Oh, how he would love to watch the Batman laughing out loud…
The Penguin had a small smile while admiring his club from the corner of his eye. He was quite proud of that gigantic iceberg of his. It made him feel important. That place was usually full of celebrities and powerful people. Oswald was quite sure he'd shaken hands with every single celebrity who had ever passed Gotham City. All except one…Bruce Wayne. Oh, that guy made Penguin quite angry. Although he'd invited him for so many special events in his amazing club, that rich bastard had never showed up. Not even once! Oswald wasn't sure what made him angrier about that Mr. Wayne…the fact that he ignored him completely, or the fact that he was richer than him! The Penguin seemed to suddenly swallow nervously, his eyes staring outside of the car's window. He was so excited about showing how magnificent his club was that he forgot about the dark caped guest that now slept like a baby on the trunk of his car…
The Batman.
They had caught the God damned Batman, and the only one who seemed to realize that was him! The car suddenly stopped, right in front of the club's door. There was no need to be discreet; every single crook knew that if they ever stole something from The Penguin they'd have their hands cut off. Mr. Oswald was quite known between the criminals that walked Gotham streets. Mobsters, shoplifters, everyone knew that if you messed with the Penguin, you'd soon be shark bait. But just because Oswald was known between the lower class criminals, that didn't make him popular between the big shots like The Joker. His fat little hand turned into fists while his teeth bitted his lower lip. Oh God…The Joker. He had brought that madman to his perfect little club! Who knew what he was going to do to it!
"Well, Ozzy…"
The Penguin gave a small gasp when feeling a long cold hand touching his shoulder. His wide open eyes quickly looked to his left only to find The Joker smiling at him. That smile…it seemed like he could see right trough Oswald. Like there were two cold and dirty hands sticking their fingers inside his brain. "…Shall we…?" The green haired man almost seemed to sing those words. That made The Penguin twitch his left eye slightly. "What have I gotten myself into…?" He thought while quickly opening the car's door and stepping outside. The short man seemed to sigh when feeling the cold wind blowing softly against his face. He had to try seeing the bright side of this situation, right? He'd finally get rid of that Batman and after that…well, after that it would be easy to take over. The Joker got out of the car, still dressing Arkham's orange uniform. He looked down at the short fat man and patted the top of his hat, like he was some kind of pet of his. "Not bad, Oz, not bad at all!" Joker said, staring curiously at the huge club.
Meanwhile, Poison Ivy remained on her seat, grabbing the car's wheel tightly while looking forward with a serious expression. She was lost between thoughts. Most of those thoughts involved The Joker and his unpredictable mood changes. Most thoughts also involved the question "How long do I have left…?" After all, although he hadn't said anything, The Joker had basically promised to kill Pamela. It was only a question of time now. Ivy would have to kill him first before he got to her. Her green gloves made a strange noise while her hands grabbed the wheel even more tightly, making Harleen's nose twitch. That sound was worse than hearing someone scratching a black board with long French nails! "What's gotten into you, Red?" Harley asked with a small confused look on her pretty round face. "Ever since you got inside the car you turned all cranky, like you need to poop!" The blond woman said, looking extremely serious, like the sentence she had just said was extremely natural.
The redhead didn't seem to catch the joke. She glared at Harleen with furious green eyes, her hands never releasing the wheel. An awkward moment of silence came up while both women stared at each other; Pamela had both eyes narrowed to their maximum while Harley had hers wide open, full of curiosity and confusion. Harleen got slightly closer to Ivy while blinking her eyes innocently and cleared her throat, like she was about to tell her a secret. "…You don't need to poop, do you?" Pamela swirled her head in her direction and frowned while widening her green eyes, her hands still glued to the wheel. "OF COURSE NOT!" She yelled, making The Penguin's eyes widen to their maximum. He tapped on the car's window while making a frustrated expression. "What are you doing in there…?" Oswald asked with his usual penguin-like voice. "We need to get the Bat out of the trunk." He said in a severe tone. Oswald seemed to be about to say something else when he noticed that the Joker was already walking in the entrance's direction. With a small gasp, The Penguin hurried to fallow the Clown Prince of Crime, leaving the two women to take care of the caped vigilante…again.
Poison Ivy gave a small sigh while massaging the sides of her head with the tip of her fingers. "Sure, let the women take care of everything." She mumbled under her breath while Harley gave a long sigh while watching The Joker talking with The Penguin while the short man opened the Club's door with his little key. The blond haired woman couldn't take her eyes off of Joker. She felt like she was melting while watching that pale and insane man smile and talk. Without noticing it she was giggling. That image made Ivy roll her eyes. "Seriously…" Pamela started, catching the Doctor's attention. "…What do you see in that guy?" The redhead asked, shaking her head lightly. She would understand if some respected him, even if some admired him…but that intelligent and beautiful woman was actually in love with that madman! Harleen blinked her eyes a couple of times and then sighed once again, her eyes blinking lazily while looking back at The Joker. Her small pink mouth showed a small smile while looking back at Pamela.
"He makes me laugh…"
Ivy's expression softened up slightly. Not that she was happy with that kind of answer, but she had understood something. Harleen was almost as mad as Joker was. Suddenly both women turned their heads in the club's direction when hearing something crashing, fallowed by a loud laughter and a small "ARGH!" The Joker had obviously begun partying already. "Let's get the Bat." Poison Ivy finally said while getting out of the car, slamming the door with more strength than needed. Harleen would quickly do the same and fallow the redhead to the back of the car. When the opened the trunk's door they found the dark caped hero. The only thing that indicated that that was in fact a human being was his mouth and chin. The only part of his body that wasn't covered by some dark cloth. Both Pamela and Harleen stood there for a couple of seconds, staring at the vigilante with serious faces. It all seemed just too…surreal. They had actually caught the Big Bad Bat…Pam was the first one to grab the man's arms tightly, while Harley clumsily grabbed his feet.
He was way heavier than they remembered him. Yet, they carried him until the entrance of the club, Harley huffed while staring at the ceiling, making sure she wouldn't trip on anything while Pamela made her best effort to not look tired. But the blond woman's eyes seemed to sparkle once they entered inside the club. It was beautiful. Everything seemed made out of…of ice. Maybe some crystal here and then, but it seriously looked like they were in North Pole. Everything seemed so fresh and clean and yet it all seemed fragile at the same time. It was like a perfect ice cavern, with beautiful round tables, surrounded by crystal chairs, a large white stage with huge light blue curtains and a small crystal bar…Both Ivy and Harley stopped walking and widened their eyes to their maximum when seeing a huge amount of pieces of glass on the floor. The Joker laughed out loudly while Oswald pointed at him and yelled phrases like "Do you have any idea how much these cost?!" and "You broke EVERY single one!"
When hearing the Joker laugh like that, Harley couldn't help but to sigh. Her knees felt rubbery and her hands suddenly released the Batman's legs, making Pamela release a huge gasp and fall on her butt. The hero was just too heavy for one person to carry him. Pamela mumbled to herself while trying to move the Batman away from her. Both The Joker and The Penguin quickly looked in their direction when hearing that loud noise, like a bag of potatoes had just fallen on the floor. The short man narrowed his eyes, too upset to say or do anything. Those crystal glasses had cost him a fortune, and that mad clown had just decided to break all of them for no apparent reason! Oswald quickly turned his back and walked into a small room where the brooms and mops were kept.
The Joker chuckled while watching his friend angrily walk away. "Oh, lighten up, Ozzy! They're just glasses…" He shouted, his cheerful voice echoing through the entire club. Penguin seemed to mumble something back, but his voice was too low for anyone to understand what he said. Joker's head then turned in Harley's, Ivy's and, of course, Batman's direction. His large red smile seemed to grow even bigger when seeing the dark caped man lying on the floor. The Batman was unconscious…The Joker could do whatever he wanted with him…The green haired criminal gave a small excited chuckle under his breath. "Harley, won't you be a dear and fetch me some decent clothing?" The pale man asked while walking in their direction. Dr. Quinzel kept on smiling while looking into The Joker's eyes, like she hadn't heard what the man said. Only when he was a couple of centimetres away from her did Harley react. "Right away, Mistah Jay…" She sighed before walking in the door's direction, never taking her eyes from the Clown Prince of Crime who smiled widely at her.
Pamela was cleaning the inexistent dust out of her tight suit, her beautiful face frowning while looking down at the Batman. He had recognized her. He knew her true identity and who she was…The redhead's expression softened. When she was a botanist she had always been shy and quiet, hiding herself behind big glasses and dedicating her time to plants rather than people. She was usually ignored by the rest of the world, and yet, The Batman knew her. Ivy's green eyes blinked softly while looking down at the unconscious hero. Why did she suddenly feel a certain sympathy for him…? Suddenly the redhead widened her eyes when finding The Joker standing right in front of her, that strange disturbing eyes staring at her in a malicious way. "Pam…"She felt a small chill on the back of her neck. The way how her name was pronounced seemed to be extremely slow and devious, like she could hear what horrible things went through his mind. "…Could you put our guest on the top of that table?"
Ivy could have spoken back to him. She could have told him to do it himself. But the way how those two insane eyes looked at her…it just made Pamela swallow her pride and do as he said. The redhead calmly wrapped her hands around the hero's cape and dragged him until the big round table that was near the stage. It was weird. Pam remembered how Batman felt extremely heavy, but now he seemed much lighter. Perhaps it was because Ivy wasn't focused on the hero's weight, but on the psychopathic clown that watched her every move with a smile on his face. She grabbed the man's arms and pulled him up, making his torso land on the top of the table. Pamela frowned slightly when hearing a small chuckle coming from behind her. That clown just stood there watching, like she was putting up a show for him. Pamela tried to bite her tongue so she wouldn't say anything she'd regret. She then grabbed the Bat's legs, placing them on the top of the table; finally! The Batman was ready to be served. His arms hanged from the table and his feet seemed to be about to fall from the table.
Pamela gave a small sigh of relief while placing her hands on her hips. "Anything else, Mr. Jay?" She asked with a sarcastic tone. It was impossible to hide her dislike for that man. It was even harder to hide it when thinking about the way he used and manipulated that woman. He obviously wasn't crazy about her either. The redhead wondered when he would strike. When would he snap and slit her throat…? Apparently, sooner than she thought. A cold and long hand suddenly grabbed her neck tightly, making Pamela release a loud gasp and widen her eyes to their maximum, her hands instinctively grabbed Joker's wrist tightly when feeling her back hitting the round table where the Batman now rested. Her head would hit the hero's stomach…it was hard as rock and it hurt her quite a bit. While one hand held Pamela's neck, another one grabbed her long red hair tightly, making Ivy make a small sound of pain. The Joker smiled widely while looking at her. The woman tried to gasp for air, both of her eyes were closed tightly while struggling against the man's grasp, but The Joker simply laughed in a low and delighted tone. "Ah, doesn't this bring you memories, Pams?" He asked after giving a long sigh, like he was breathing fresh air. But Ivy simply pressed her teeth against each others, trying to get free. Who'd say that man could be so strong? "It was just like our first meeting…!" He said, his eyes widening while he spoke. His eyes narrowed slightly while he looked up, like he was trying to remember something. "All that is missing is…ha!I know!" His hand suddenly released her head and took something from behind his back. Ivy widened her eyes and opened her mouth slightly while the green haired man kept on smiling. "…A small piece of glass…" Poison Ivy frowned while trying to sink her fingertips into the man's skin, but it didn't seem to affect him in any way.
That useless bird man and the crazy doctor were too busy doing God knows what…And Ivy just couldn't get free. Was The Joker really going to kill her…?
Was it really going to end up like this…?
--
I'm terribly sorry for taking such a long time.
For a long time I lost my Batman muse and focused more on school and music…
But I received an e-mail that made me quite excited from one of you readers.
So I decided to finish this chapter (even if I wanted to make it even longer).
I'm very thankful for all of your comments and messages! They are quite encouraging and cheerful. It was thanks to them that I finished writing this chapter! Thank you and sorry once again!