AN: I have an announcement. I am holding off on doing an Arkham City story for the Darkest of Knights series. The main reason is that I am doing some research on that game, and I want to get some facts straight before I do it. That means that once this story ends, there might, and I have to say again, MIGHT be a short-ish story coming soon after this. What is that story going to be called? I have an idea, but nothing concrete. Enough about that, let's finish this story, huh?
Chapter Eight: Prologue Into Tomorrow
Jeff and David were walking through the hospital, heading towards Miley's room where they were staying. David wondered just what was his plan was Jeff going to ask her, seeing as how he knew enough already, and talking to her was, let's be honest and flat out blatant here, plain unnecessary at this point.
Jeff stopped at the hospital room door, and then turned to David.
"Alright. I am going to step in and talk to her. You stay out here." Jeff said.
"Fine with me. I have something to tend to anyway." David said, heading back towards the front of the hospital. Jeff shrugged his shoulders, and knocked and entered the room. Miley was not alone, as Robby Ray and her brother Jackson was there as well.
"Hey, just checking to see how you were feeling." Jeff said, putting on a face to mask his true intentions.
"Fine, all things considering." Miley said softly. Jeff smiled briefly, but on the inside, he was ready to rip her a new one, but with her father and brother here, he knew he better lay off, at least for now.
"Did you find the Joker yet?" Robby Ray asked him.
"No. I am going to let Batman handle that. I am honestly no match for him, and I know that he is out there somewhere, getting ready for something. Probably gearing up for a confrontation with Batman. With that nutcase, who knows." Jeff said, shrugging his shoulders.
"Well, darling, me and Jackson are heading out. We will be by to pick you up tomorrow." Robby Ray said, he gave her a kiss on the cheek, Jackson gave her a hug, and they were gone. That left Jeff there with Miley.
"Is everything alright?" Miley asked him.
"No, not in the least." Jeff said, his demeanor changing. "I had a conversation with Christian, and he told me everything about what happened between you and Michael."
"Oh, I didn't mean for that to happen to him, or how he tried to kill himself." Miley said sadly.
"Save it. I honestly don't give a shit about what you or Travis are doing now. What I don't like is how, beside his dumbass brother, is that you are responsible for Joker being out here, and Michael being god knows where." Jeff said.
"What else can I say? I really am sorry, but what can I say? I am happy with Travis now, and Michael is an after thought." Miley
said.
"I have to let you know that this is not the end of this." Jeff said. "There is going to be a big blow back from this, and it is something that your and Travis name is going to come up."
"I said that I was sorry, what else can I possibly say?" Miley said, actually getting frustrated. Jeff was kind of shocked that she was actually getting mad at this.
"Why don't you tell Michael that when you see him again." Jeff said, smiling as he left the hospital room and the hospital all together.
A few days later, David and Jeff got a call from their superiors that there was a burning body found in a heavily wooded area. Once they got out there, even from a few yards away that there was something screwy about that scene. Once they got pass the crime scene tape, the state of the body, if you can even call it that, was nothing but a black pile of ash there.
"So, what the hell is this?" Jeff asked.
"From what we could gather, we got a call from someone who did not want to leave their name, that there was a burning body out here. Cops came and found a burning body. Once they managed to put it out, the only thing that was intact was the skull, barely at that." The coroner said.
"So, DNA is out of the question, huh?" David asked.
"Probably. I wouldn't hold my breath on that." The coroner answered.
"Okay, just who the hell is this supposed to be?" Jeff asked.
"No idea. We will get word once we find some way to identify whoever, or whatever for that matter this is." The coroner said.
David sat in his car, going over some notes when he heard a loud thump on the car roof. He stepped out to see who it was, and flinched when he saw Batman sitting on his roof.
"Jesus, man, you cared the crap outta me." David said.
"Sorry. No luck in finding Joker, or Scarecrow." Batman said.
"Not surprising. Those two are not gonna show their faces when it is this hot out here." David said, taking a look around. "Hey, while you are here, did you hear about that body that they found out in the woods?"
"Yeah, why do you ask?" Batman asked David.
"I am starting to think that may be Michael, you know? The kid that escaped." David said.
"Are you sure? Can they prove it with DNA?" Batman asked.
"No idea." David said.
"I doubt it as well. With the way that the body was, I seriously doubt anything can be pulled from the ashes that was left behind. There is no way modern technology can be used to identify who that was." Batman said.
"I don't know. I just don't know." David said, looking around as if he was looking for something. "Something just really stinks about this."
"From experience, I can tell you that there is something in the works, and whatever it is, it is going to be big." Batman said.
"How can I get ready for it?" David said.
"No idea." Batman said. "Just cross that bridge when you get to it."
"The test results on the body that was beyond badly burned? Well, it was obvious that the little remaining bones that were there did not contain any DNA, but the skull did have some human hairs attached to it. Just a few, if that. Some hairs did not contain any folicles, which contained DNA, but one of them did, and they were able to run a profile threw the database, and they came up with a match ." A lab technician said, as they were on the phone with Jeff. David sat across from him, and awaiting the answer as well.
"Yeah. Who is it?" Jeff asked, bracing himself for the answer. Then his demeanor changed as David heard some words on the other end. "Okay, thanks."
"Well?" David asked.
"I have to go do a notification." Jeff said, getting up, and heading out. David knew by the demeanor that was not going to be good by any stretch of the imagination.
Being a cop is not easy. You don't have to be one to know that little fact. Jeff did notifications before, and that is a part of the job that he hated. It never got easy, but if you have to do one, you have to do one. Each one got harder every time he walked into the room and told that family that their loved one was not coming back. This was going to be the hardest of them all.
Jeff stood on the front steps, and rang the doorbell. Then an all too familiar face answered.
"Yeah?" Charles said, answering the front door.
"I have some news. I need to talk to you." Jeff said. Charles invited him inside, and brought him towards the living room. Melody heard Jeff talking to Charles, and came downstairs from her room to join them.
"What's up? Have they found Michael yet?" Charles asked. Melody sat across from Jeff, as he grew ever more nervous about speaking to them.
Jeff took a deep breath, and decided to come out with it.
"It's about Michael. He's dead."
Harley Quinn saw the Joker mad before, but this time, he was beyond furious. This really scared her, as she stared at the television just to see if it was a misspoken word, or if someone made a mistake. Then it came across the ticker again, this time confirming what they already knew.
We can now say with the upmost certainty that the remains found deep in the wooded area is those that belong to 16 year old Michael Harris, one of five escapees from Arkham Asylum. As of now, they are classifying his death as a homicide.
Harley felt tears swell up in her eyes as she thought about his death as well. Then Joker came from ranting and raving from a nearby corner, and kicked the small TV off the little stand that it was on. The little TV went crashing to the floor and shattered, causing sparks to come from it and making Harley yelp in surprise.
"Mistah J?" Harley squeaked out.
Joker did not say a word. He just stood over the television, and stared at it. He was boiling with rage at this point. Even when he was mad, he was laughing at a point, but his face barely had any emotion to it. Before Harley could speak again, Joker beat her to the point. When he spoke, his voice was filled with venom, and hatred like she never heard before.
"I am going to murder Miley and Travis."
THE END