I barged into the room where I had heard someone cry for help, but I definitely didn't expect what was awaiting for me. A woman dressed in a pair of jeans and a black shirt with red sleeves was kneeling beside a man on the ground.
I narrowed my eyes in confusion, taking in the scene.
"Glad you're here, sweetie, ya see, my friend here needs some help."
The man near her looked as though he struggled to breathe.
"And you're gonna help 'im, understand?" She asked me with an accent that suggested that she was from Brooklyn.
"Of course I will."
I approach the woman and the man, kneeling down beside the man on the opposite side of the woman. The eccentric looking makeup only slightly distracted me.
"I got the debris off'a 'im, but I jus' don' know," the woman teared up.
"Sir, I'm a paramedic, I'm going to help you."
"Oh, uh, I don't know if you can help me," he darkly commented.
"Don't say that. You're going to be okay."
"No you see," the man suddenly sits up despite my efforts and takes off an incredibly well-disguised mask, revealing jagged scars around the corners of his mouth. "I'm just great!"
I gasped and recoiled in fear, backing away in a crab-walk like fashion. I watch as the Joker and the woman stand and walk over to me, towering over my body.
"Hey, you're the same girl from the market yesterday," Joker commented, kneeling beside me.
I whimper and try to press further into the wall.
"Oh, sh, sh, sh, sh, don't be scared. Not yet."
He pulls out a switchblade and fiddles with it in front of me.
"You see, you know the Bat – don't try to deny it. I saw how he, uh, oh-so gallantly saved you last night."
I swallow hard, a lump in my throat.
"I just want Batman – he's just as crazy as the rest of us, you know," he begins laughing halfway through his sentence.
"What makes you think I know him personally?"
"Hmm… let's call it a hunch," the blade nears my mouth, and he stuffs something into the breast pocket of my uniformed shirt.
"I swear, I don't know him! He's only saved me the one time, that's it!" the blade tugs at the corner of my mouth. "I swear!"
The blade digs into my lip slightly, and I taste the blood and try not to wince.
"Harley?" Joker brings his attention away from me as he looks toward the woman behind him.
Harley? Who the hell is Harley?
Joker's head nods in my direction. "It's time for someone to, uh – take a nap. Permanently," he added with a chortle.
Before I know it, a baseball bat is swinging in the direction of my head. The contact of the solid wood makes me collapse, black spots dancing in my vision. The last thing that I hear is Joker cackling as darkness consumes me, and the building begins to burn.
Batman was in the Tumbler on his way to the Upper West Side. He knew that the situation was bad, and Alfred was updating him along the way. He expertly navigated the large tank-like vehicle around the streets and back alleys of Gotham, the flowing reds and oranges of the inferno and the smoke guiding him.
He parked the Tumbler about three blocks away, on the opposite side of where emergency responders were gathered, in a very dark, secluded alleyway. As soon as he got out and secured the Tumbler with his credentials, the grappling gun carried him to the rooftop above.
The scene was worse than he had imagined. Flames licked the sky, destroying buildings and lives as they went. He could hear shouting from emergency responders on the scene as well as from people who may have been trapped inside their homes when the explosion occurred. He sprinted off of the roof and leaped through the air to another, repeating the process several times as he neared the fire.
It was utter chaos below him, with nearly every fire truck, ambulance, and police officer in Gotham City responding to the Upper West Side; the efforts were nearly futile in keeping bystanders calm and orderly. Panicked shouts and shrieks of people looking for loved ones and pets filled the skies as the media swarmed around the area.
Batman silently crept down from the roof and began a sweep of nearby buildings that were unoccupied by the first responders looking for anyone, anything that may have been missed.
"Where are you?!" Batman hears someone shout, so he steps into the shadows.
He sees a man in a paramedic's uniform wildly looking around. He catches a glimpse of the patch, noticing that it's Station 17; Evangeline's station that she works for.
"Jon! What are you doing?" a voice screams to the man. Batman peers around the corner and sees that it's the same woman that was with Evangeline last night. She's a paramedic, too, he notes by the uniform.
"Evange went in that building and hasn't come out yet – I'm going in after her."
But before either of them can make a move, a portion of the building blows out, leaving glass shatter all around the building.
"You have to get out of here!" a firefighter runs up to the two and pulls them away.
"No! No! My best friend is in there!" Batman watches as the woman releases herself from the firefighter's grip, tears brimming in her eyes.
"Devyn!" Batman listens as Jon and the firefighter run after her and grab her securely before she half-collapses into their arms.
"EVANGELINE!" she screams into the burning building, tears streaming down her face.
Batman's feet carry him into the building from the rear, avoiding the gazes of the three people from the front; he avoided all attention as he entered the burning home. On the inside, it's complete chaos. Smoke fills nearly every inch of the home, and flames are spreading quickly. He quickly searches around the building, relying on his impeccable hearing for any indication of Evangeline's presence. He spots a door that looks like it's been caved in, and decides to check there.
Upon entering the room, he immediately sets out searching for the woman. He flips over debris, looking for any sign of her. A medical bag catches his eye, and he knows he's on the right track. But it's what's scattered around the bag itself that makes his stomach churn: Joker playing cards, and lots of them. He's the one behind this – she must have been tricked into thinking that someone was trapped in the building. Batman clenched his fists tightly and resumed his search for Evangeline. A glimmer catches his eye as he turns around, and he sees Evangeline slumped over in a corner far away from her bag in an awkward position; her torso and her arms spread on the floor and her legs bent at the knees like she was crouched in the corner, trying to get away, but her legs fell to the side. He raced over to her and immediately felt for a pulse; he found a weak one, to his concern. He gently picked her up in a bridal style just as more debris fell around them. He turned around to sprint outside of the burning building, Evangeline secure in his arms.
The two of them escaped the building just in time, as the edifice blew out and glass shattered all around them; Batman pulled his cape over Evangeline to protect her from the sharp, falling debris.
"Get outta there!" he heard a commotion from the front side of the building.
"Search the building for any survivors! And God damn it, get this damn fire out!"
Batman knew he had to get Evangeline to medical attention, but he didn't know what to do, he was torn; does he risk taking her himself to the police and risk getting arrested himself? Or does he take care of her himself? Batman clenched his jaw while he thought about his decision. Groaning slightly, he made his choice.
He sprinted back toward the line of emergency responders, Evangeline safe and secure in his arms. He knew deep down that he had to get her safe and taken care of; he could have done it, but he also knew that if he had brought her back with him it just would have caused more problems down the road.
He raced around toward the front of the burning building that he had rescued Evangeline from, and was greeted with the sight of numerous firefighters and a handful of police officers, but there was only one in particular that he was looking for: Gordon. Soon though, he spotted the man's trademark mustache, and then he quickly sent a message to Gordon through his wristlet computer to meet him around the corner.
Batman tucked himself around the corner in the shadows and waited for Jim. He quickly appeared, and took one look at Batman before noticing the woman in his arms.
"God, what happened to her?" Gordon asked.
"Joker. I think he tricked her into believing someone was trapped in that building," he responded, handing Evangeline over to Gordon.
"We'll take care of her. But you," Gordon brought his focus back upwards, but noticed that Batman was gone already. "…Should get out of here," he sighed, a joker playing card falling to the ground.
I know this chapter is much shorter than my others, but I wasn't sure how to divvy up this chapter and the next one since I liked how this one kind of resolved itself.