The two teens breathed a sigh of relief once both the Joker and Batman were gone. They didn't notice the thug hanging just around the corner, watching them.
"That was epically face-melting!" George exclaimed.
The breath rushed out of Lisa in one fell swoop. "Oh yeah. Almost dying and being held at knife point is quite possibly the most pleasant experience of my life." She leaned against the brick wall and tried to get her balance back.
"Of course. But you've got to admit, the tripod idea was totally boss."
"My fearless hero. How could I ever thank you?" Lisa put her hand to her heart in a mock swoon.
"I've got a few ideas," George chuckled. In response, Lisa playfully punched his arm.
In the background, the thug put the call in.
"If you're trying to get a hold of me, remember I might be stalking Batman, avoiding jail, or… my favorite pastime, blowing stuff up. So, before you leave a message, think about whether or not you want to be a part of the blowing stuff up." The voice mail beeped.
"But, I mean, the Joker? Heath Ledger's dead," Lisa reminded. How on earth someone could be that spot on was a real mystery to her.
"Then someone found a really good impersonator," George offered.
"For Christian Bale, too? You think just anyone can sound like the love child between Clint Eastwood and a grizzly bear?" She didn't think so.
"True that. I don't know. I think we set our movie inside the set of someone else's movie, and they didn't like it." He was trying to come up with some way to explain the costumed weirdoes that ran into them.
"Since when do actors and Hollywood go homicidal? Really? Really. He would've killed us, George," Lisa reminded.
He thought about it for a little while. "You're right. It just doesn't make any sense, no matter which way you slice it."
"You can say that, again."
"It just doesn't make--"
"George," she warned. He stopped and put his hands up in surrender. "What're we gonna do?" she asked worriedly.
"Well, I'd suggest going home."
The thug watched as they headed south by southwest. Like a silent wolf, he followed as they attempted to make their way home.
"Hmmm…" mused George.
"Hmmm? What is this 'hmmm'?" Lisa repeated.
George shook his head. "This should be Pershing. At least, I think it should be." The street sign definitely did not read Pershing. Instead, it read Kane. That made no sense.
"Maybe if we turn around…"
"No. I don't think that'll work." He continued staring at the street sign, as if daring it to switch back to what it was supposed to be.
"Then what…"
"That's not a street that should be around here."
"There are a lot of streets in Chicago, George. How do you know that you didn't just get all turned around?"
He shook his head again, and Lisa felt her stomach drop. He should know a lot about the streets and things. He attended a college in downtown.
"Look at the sky line, Lisa. The Sears and Hancock are missing," he pointed out.
Lisa thought she was going to be sick. George pulled out a paper towel from his back pack and began to wipe his burnt face make-up off. "Regardless of the street name, my car should be… there!" he found.
They approached the gray minivan and Lisa had never been so relieved to reunite with her purse. All of their stuff hadn't changed, or moved, or switched names.
"Lisa?" George asked.
She was too busy attempting a text message to respond.
"Lisa."
"Hold on--"
"Can you get out of the car for a sec? I need to change."
"Oh." Lisa's face burned with embarrassment as she existed the car. The text wasn't going through.
-
"The one-shoulder carry, huh? Very useful. Unless the victim's injured, then it's a problem," the Joker rambled. He was tossed over Batman's shoulder as Batman went to give him to the police.
"I really couldn't care less if you were hurt," he growled.
"Since you asked so nicely, my head's a little dizzy. The Mini-Dent got my right temple. Jogged my gray matter just a little. You think my musical talent will have suffered?"
Batman grunted an answer. He had hoped the boy would've knocked him out.
"My father used to encourage musical ability but--"
"If you don't shut up, I'm gonna play a number on your face."
Joker's eyebrows shot up. "Now that's not like you. Who stuck his key in your keyhole?"
Batman fell back into silence.
"Aw… see, now goading you is my favorite pastime, but you've got to help me figure out how those kids know about Dent."
"Whatever they know, it's due to you."
The Joker laughed. "Why thank you! I didn't know you felt that way about me." He continued to giggle.
"Why are you so focused on them? They couldn't possibly know everything about Dent."
"Why aren't you focused on them? They'll destroy your cause if they continue gallivanting about with half of that idiot's face painted."
"They're just kids."
"Who know too much."
"Who wouldn't know anything if you were safely put away."
"What does it matter what I did? I just.. Act. They plan to use Dent's tragedy for the entertainment of their friends. You can let them do that, can you?"
"Act? You never just act. You set things up exactly so that they go your way."
"Boy, any more compliments and I'll just have to ask for your cooperation with a drug test."
Batman dumped the Joker unceremoniously and tied his hands and feet together.
"I didn't know you were into this sort of thing, Batsy. I'm torn between being touched or disturbed. I like it."
Batman fought very hard the urge to give the Joker a swift kick in the--
"About time you got here!" the Joker cackled.
A blow came to pass on the side of Batman's head. As Batman spun around to face his adversary, a car exploded beside them.
"Ooh, nice touch with the car," Joker complimented as a thug untied him. The two snuck away in the sudden deluge of masked men. Batman punched and kicked, jumped and dodged. They had his ridiculously outnumbered, but this was what he trained for fighting armies by himself. Except, he hadn't known his quandary had gotten away, or Batman would have fled himself. When he realized the Joker had escaped, this gave the crowd the split second they needed to overwhelm him. One grabbed his head, one grabbed his leg. Batman heard a sickening crunch as they tied him up.
When Commissioner Gordon showed up to work that morning, he found nothing but shreds of string and duct tape.
-
The pair drove in awkward silence. Lisa found her friend's phone number to be out of service. George wouldn't admit that he was completely lost.
"Isn't this 87th and 88th?" Lisa asked. "Yeah, there's the police station. Even the gas station's the same. We heading to Roberts?"
George nodded. "I guess we can just hope that's the same, too."
They didn't notice the black Sedan following them.
A/N: Thanks to Puddum for reviewing!! Everyone else, please review. Please?