A Laugh In The Dark 8
The sound of things both metallic and non hitting the floor finally drove back the darkness in my head. Groaning in pain I slowly open my eyes. Bad idea. The light hit my eyes with a force equal to Joker's punch. Shutting them tightly I try to sit up only to realize with a start that I couldn't move. Forcing my eyes half open I glance around in confusion, then I saw them, the reasons for my inability to move. Cuffs. Then something else came to my attention, I was laying flat on my stomach. Shifting myself slightly I flinch as pain from my Joker sustained wounds screams through me. "Joker…" I thought angrily "What the hell did I do to deserve this?" I asked myself for a second time pulling at the chain binding one of my wrists.
"Hm?" turning his head in the direction of the sound of chins clanging together Joker smiled happily. "Jacey boy! Your awake!" he stood and threw his arms into the air as if completely surprised by Jace being conscious. His smile turned into a maniacal grin when Jace's head snapped, glaring in his direction. Jace's glare held the promise of pain in the near future for Joker, but at the moment he didn't care. He had Jace right were he wanted him and it pleased him to no end. "Ya know," he said stepping toward the bed, tucking one arm behind his back and raising a finger in the air, "I thought vampires were suppose ta be tough. And yet you cant seem to break those simple little chains." he says in a teasing tone. "Poor little Jacey boy. Where has all that vampire spunk gone to?" he asks with a shrug.
I continue to glare for several seconds then look away closing my eyes. "Damnit…he's right. When did I become so fuckin pathetic? I could easily get out of this under normal circumstances." I scold myself mentally. "But these AREN'T normal circumstances are they?" my black clad hallucination states, standing at the head of the bed. "Hahahaa! Honestly! You really should have seen it coming! This whole situation your stuck in! After all look who it is your dealing with!" the straight jacket clad clown chimed in jumping onto the other's back. I cursed at them. They were both right of corse and I hated them for it. But right now, right now I had bigger problems to deal with than two smart ass figments of my imagination. Like the fact that Joker was now standing by the side of the bed.
"Hmm…that's not the first time I've seen him stare off into space like that." Joker thought to himself tilting his head slightly. "Must be talking to those 'hallucinations' of his again." he let his eyes take in the sight before him. Jace, chained to the bed, completely naked… "And helpless." he thought licking his lips and grinning wickedly feeling himself become aroused by the thought. "I'll have to be quick about it though…" he thought gloomily "Cant keep ole Batsy waiting…" He quickly turned and strolled back over to the box pulling out the baterang he had thrown in it, along with his favorite knife and a bottle of medical alcohol. His grin widened as he imagined the sounds of Jace's screams of pleasure and intense pain, which would soon fill the room. "This is going to be FUN!" he said aloud, laughing manically.
I'm not quite sure what's about to happen, but that look in Joker's eyes as they trailed up and down my body were NOT a good sign. Then as he licked his lips and grinned that damn grin of his I knew I was in for…something, I could only prey I survived. His expression then turned slightly dark and annoyed as I caught him casting a quick glance at my clock and turn away. "Dose he know about my little meeting with Bat…" but my thoughts were cut off by Joker saying something about 'FUN' fallowed by that laugh. Gods I was starting to HATE that laugh! If it wasn't for that damn noise I wouldn't have run into him all those nights ago, and I wouldn't be in the situation I am now! Just then Joker turned around and my expression went from annoyed and angry to scared shitless in record time.
Joker took his time in returning to the side of my bed. His movements are slow, precise, and menacing. He was more or less stalking up to the bed, swaying his hips slowly in a slightly seductive way. Or at least it WOULD have been seductive had he not been grinning menacingly from ear to ear and carrying a few choice items that I new were going to hurt like hell in a few moments. I eyed the items, not bothering to hide the fear in my eyes. "The Baterang, a big ass knife, and a bottle of medical alcohol…yep what ever he has planed is going to Hurt. Like. Hell." I thought as he drew closer, that twisted grin of his steadily growing bigger.
Meanwhile back at the Batcave, the vigilantly known as Batman was scanning photos he took earlier that day, when he had paid a that short visit to Arkham to give Jace the message. Batman's eyes narrowed on a particular photo that showed the right half of Jace's face. "What the hell has that psychopath done to you?" he mumbled aloud, his eyes drifting from the half green half silver hair, to the red eye, and lower to the half red half normal. His mind drifted back to when he first met Jace. Frustrated with the lack of progress the GCPD and his alter ego The Batman were having in putting Gotham back together he decided to head out of the Batcave and retire to his room.
Just before he reached his room he was stopped by his manservant Alfred. "Ah, Master Wayne. Just a moment sir." Alfred said, walking toward Bruce with a slight alarmed look to his face. Seeing the look Bruce turned his full attention to him "What is it Alfred?" he asked, an edge of alarm working its way into his voice. "If its enough to put Alfred on alarm it must be important." Bruce thought. "A few moments ago, while I was tidying up the kitchen, I chanced to look out the window. At first I didn't notice anything wrong but upon further looking I noticed something slightly…odd." Bruce raised an eyebrow at this. "Something odd?"
Alfred gave a short nod "Yes sir, something odd. It was, I believe, a man." Bruce gave him a odd look so he raised his hand. "Let me finish sir. What was so odd about this man was that he was flying. He had big bat like wings and was headed toward the mansion. The roof, I believe, is where he was aiming sir." Bruce then looked away and went through his mental list of all the villains he had faced to see if this 'bat winged' guy fit any of them. Not finding a match he furrowed his brow and looked back to Alfred. "Thanks for the heads up Alfred. Ill go inspect the roof and grounds, see if he is still here. Good night Alfred." with that Alfred gave a polite bow and headed off to his room.
Bruce stood there for a few minutes watching the retreating form of Alfred. Finally when Alfred was out of sight an in his room Bruce made his way to his own room. Stepping in and closing the door behind him he made his way to the balcony that overlooked his front yard, as well as gave him a good view of Gotham. Opening the balcony's glass doors Bruce stepped out into the twilight and walked, as calmly as possible, over to the balcony's railing. He stood there gazing out over Gotham, after a few minutes of this gazing he began to get the feeling of being watched. Turning sharply and glaring up towards the roof he almost immediately locked eyes with the odd man Alfred had warned of.
Calling out angrily at the guy, "Who are you, and what the hell are you doing here?" Bruce noticed him visibly flinch back from the sound of his voice and realized he had used his 'Batman voice'. Softening his voice a bit he called out again, "Well? Who are you and why are you here?" The guy gives a subtle shake of his head then jumps down form the roof, gliding down to land on the railing. Now I could see what Alfred was talking about. The guy had huge wings that did in fact look like bat wings. Taking a cautious step back from the guy eyeing him as he recoiled his wings. "Fascinating, I wonder if he would allow me the chance to inspect his wings. Perhaps I can invent a better cape based off the structure of his wings." Bruce mused to himself.
The man apologized about his appearance at the manor and explained why he had come and introduced himself as Jace. Jace and Bruce exchanged a few words which was interrupted for a few moments when Jace suffered a sudden flash of pain. Bruce then asked if Jace was alright but was not at all interested in the state of his health, rather Bruce found himself letting his eyes wander slowly over the guy. He was a few inches shorter than Bruce, lean but not overly scrawny. He was well toned without being overly muscular. His short cut silver/white hair fell to just above the shoulders and his startling blue eyes were almost hypnotic. The man was, in a word, beautiful. Bruce, being the boy billionaire/playboy he was was no stranger to finding and being found attractive by men.
Jace obviously noticed Bruce scrutinizing him and flexed his wings nervously, and despite the dark he could tell that Jace was blushing. "Cute." Bruce thought but then his attention was drawn back to Jace's wings which he was flexing uncomfortably. Raising an eyebrow Bruce walked towards Jace raising a hand toward his wings. Pausing, Bruce thought better of just grabbing the guy, and asked. "May I?" After a moments hesitation Jace nodded and turned slightly so Bruce could get to the wings better. Bruce grabbed a firm grim on one of the wings and stretched it out full length measuring it in his head, he was only vaguely aware he had muttered "Wow" out loud.