He just laughed. Or cackled, to be more accurate, a loud piercing shriek that would have summoned the Batman were he not assuredly already on the way. After a few moments of solid chuckling he stopped, and I heard a familiar ring; it was my cell-phone. I instinctively reached for my pocket, but it was empty; I listened and heard the ringing to my left. Against the wall was my jacket, which I donned to shield my frail body against the night's cold. In the inner pockets were my ringing phone, a half-empty pack of gum, and a knife. A feeling of nostalgia welled up inside me as my grip closed around it, but I ignored it and focused on the more pressing issue of the phone.

The name on the display read Kimberly, and I pictured in my head a tall brunette, slim and athletic, both modest and feisty at the same time, and a small sigh of exhilaration escaped my chapped lips before I could gasp it back in, and I inadvertently greeted Karen with the second half of my breath. It was an awkward start to the conversation, to say the least.

"Hello?" she said, audibly confused.

"H-… hey." I replied, trying to sound normal. It just came out betraying my exhaustion and confusion.

"Sid? I can't hear you." She said, and I realized that that was my name. I forgot entirely that I was on the phone, and lost myself in my mind, trying to figure out who I was. I remembered construction work. Steel beams and cranes and hammers and rivets. I vaguely remembered my childhood. But there was a gray period between those two periods, and another that extended from a few days prior until the night's festivities.

"Are you there? Sid?" I heard, and was brought back to reality.

"Hey… sorry about that. I'm working late." I said, hoping she would buy it. It was a few minutes before she responded, and for a moment I thought she didn't.

"Oh… okay. Could you call me next time? It's kind of embarrassing, sitting at a table for two by yourself all night." She said, plenty of sarcasm in her tone to cover up the disappointment..

"Yeah, I just… forgot. Sorry."

"I'll see you tomorrow." She said, and hung up before I could ask her what she meant by that.

Suddenly I became aware of a dark shadow in the corner of the 'room' (if you could call it that). It's shape didn't fit it's position. Then it moved. My heart jumped as the black thing crashed into me, rolled on the ground, then pounced at the Joker, who side-stepped him and stabbed at the shadow. It seemed to flow around it, never really touching it or being touched by it.

Then it lashed out again, and I could make out a fist against the dark night sky outside the building as it collided with the Joker's nose, followed by a sickening crunch as his nose ceased to function properly. He shrugged off the blow and laughed, then parried the next punch and swiped at the cloaked figure with his knife.

Suddenly the Shroud darted away from him, and I could finally make out the Batman's form, both elegant and deadly. Before I could get a good look he was moving again, tackling the Joker over the edge of the building, then soaring off into the night, holding the Joker's coat by the collar. Even as he grew smaller and smaller I could make out his struggle to free himself from the Batman's grasp, which would send him plummeting towards the ground and almost certain death.

My phone chimed at me, and I pulled it out, observing the text that said 'NEW TEXT MESSAGE'. I went to the inbox, and saw a message from and unknown number that read 'go back and check the glove compartment', followed by a smiley face.

Intrigued, I began the long climb back to the bottom of the construction site.