Chapter 2

It's lightly snowing when I exit the school building. I put on my heavy jacket as I carefully step down the frosted front steps. The sun is setting, and the bright light is only barely visible above the tall apartment buildings surrounding the school. Before I even reach the corner Cornerstone is located on (hence the name) I hear a strange, almost manic laughter. The laughing becomes louder as I draw closer and reaches a peak as I pass by the back alley right next to Cornerstone. I peek into the alleyway. It's a narrow gap between Cornerstone and a wire fence from the next apartment building over. I step into the alley, the gutter water trickling out from a drain pipe makes the ground damp as I walk across it. The sunlight completely disappears behind the apartment building. The laughter echoes through the alleyway, bouncing off the old wood wall of Cornerstone. I see several thin pairs of fair legs behind a heap of garbage cans and brace myself for what I'm about to see. I walk into their sight path and lurch back. As I suspected, it's Tara and several other cheerleaders, but at the same time, it's like they're strangers. Their mouths are stretched as far as they can physically go, and they held in place as they laughed. I scan the area for the culprit, and easily spot the empty syringes lying in a pile by them, some of them smashed. A neon green residue is present on the needles and in the syringes. Doesn't look like any kind of injection type drug I've seen before.

"Hey, Kathy!"

It's Brad, Cornerstone's part time clerk. He's a student at Gotham High, a freshman, and he works after school at his parent's store. Despite his name, he isn't exactly athletic or good looking. He's very thin, and not that tall, just peeking over my height with his dorky haircut.

"Hey, Brad, what's going on with Tara and the cheerleaders?"

"I was just about to ask you the same thing. I heard laughing from the store and thought it was just some bums but I recognized Tara's voice. Is this, some new kind of drug?"

I nod, "Seems to look that way."

Tara, her eyes like little glass marbles, snaps her head and stares right at me,

"Hey, ha ha, ha ha ha ha...you finally ha ha...came...bfff! Ha ha ha!...You've got to try this, it's...*hiccup* Ha ha, ha ha ha ha! It's, it's great..."

She sways her head around in different directions with her slurred speech. I can see in the corner of my eye Brad hiding behind me.

"What is this stuff?" I ask sternly. I knew she was into the occasional cigarette or joint, but nothing like this.

She laughs, her head swinging up in the air. I take a step backwards, trying to remain calm. I keep my breath under control as I feel Brad tightly clenching my sleeve.

"It's, heh ha, JV...pfff! You haven't...ha ha ha! Heard of it?"

"JV? That stands for something, what is it?"

She chuckles, and then laughs again. The other cheerleaders laugh too along with her.

"I'm, just, gonna go..." Brad says, backing up.

I nod, "Yeah, me too..."

We walk out of the alleyway and I lean against the wall of Cornerstone and pull out my phone,

"Wait, you're going to call the police?"

I look at Brad, confused, "Of course I'm going to call the police. Why would we not?"

Brad shoves his hands into his pockets,

"Well, but, I mean, they're your friends right? Most people wouldn't snitch on their friends like that."

Why does he care?

"Well...I mean...it's for their own good. And someone's going to find them eventually."

I finish dialing the last number and am about to press the final button, Brad grabs my hand,

"Look...please don't call the police."

I tightly grip my phone, and I see the desperate look on his face.

"Why?" I ask, my voice softening, but still ready to strike.

"Because...my parents gave them the drugs."

He lets go of my hand, and my eyes harden, "And you knew this?"

"I thought it was just heroin or something. I didn't know it would do this. Please, we need the money..."

I pause. Obviously this is wrong, this is very, very wrong. What other kinds of effects will this drug have on them as they continue to use it? Does it have a high addiction rate? What is it anyway?

Brad refuses to let go of my hand. He obviously wants me to promise him that I'd never call the police.

"Do you know who your parents are getting these drugs from?" I ask.

He nods, "Yeah. Two burly men in clown masks visit our store every night, why?"

His grip loosens momentarily, and I rip my arm away and start walking away from the store.

"Wait, you're not going to tell the police, right?" he calls.

"I won't." I mumble, but I hardly doubt he can hear me.

A quick internet search leads me to the Gotham Chronicle's website. Apparently there's been a drug called Joker Venom being circulated through various high schools around Gotham City. The article was only written a few days ago, and there isn't a lot of information. The report does say that police investigation into this is at a minimum due to "more concerning crime issues". So that means it's unlikely that Brad and his family will get caught. Also, my search leads me to the online edition of the Gotham High Oracle. There, a more in-depth article on Joker Venom is in the editor's column, written by none other than the student editor Martin 'O Connor. He states that he wishes to give more information on the subject but the school wouldn't let him. I give Martin a call, knowing he'll be home by now.

"Y'ello?" the soft, scratchy voice answers.

"Hey Martin, it's me, Kat. Do you not have caller ID or something?"

"No, I'm just a bit occupied is all. I'm encrypting the school website's code so we don't get hacked again."

"You guys got hacked?"

"Yeah, just happened yesterday. The guy didn't steal any information that I'm aware of, actually, he didn't do much at all. He just changed the cover picture. It's still up, I haven't updated it yet if you wanna look at it."

Really? I open up the school website. There it is, the cover photo that was once a picture of the school and three smiley graduating students is now a black picture with green question marks. In the middle, in bright green font, are the words, "I'm coming for you Batman."

I swallow. Is this guy talking about me?

"That's cool...but that's not why I called. You wrote an article in your column about Joker Venom last week?"

"Yeah. I heard that people at our school are using it so I did a bit of research and published what I could on my column."

I look over his article. It's far more in-depth than anything else I've found, and he doesn't cite any of his sources. Where did he get this information from?

"You mention in your article that you weren't allowed to release all of the information you found. Could you tell me what that is?"

"Sure. But may I ask why?"

I can trust Martin, right? I've known him since the second grade. But as of late, it seems like I can't trust anyone anymore.

"Well..."

I bring him up to date on how Tara and the cheerleaders are on JV, but I skip over the fact that it's being supplied by Brad and how I plan on further investigating tonight as Batman.

"Wow...huh. Then again, I shouldn't really be surprised, knowing the cheerleaders. Where did you say you found them?"

"In the alleyway by Cornerstone."

"Well, what I know about JV that the school paper wouldn't let me release is that JV is a drug that contains a high amount of dopamine releasing chemicals, more so than most other Class A drugs, making it the most addictive substance known to man. Also, the drug uses chemicals that not only induce a euphoric state, but also triggers the laugh reflex, making the user laugh uncontrollably. The long term effects haven't been studied properly, but according to police reports, users of JV have been known to have bouts of insanity as a major side effect."

Bouts of insanity? But, what if Tara and her friends are already having episodes of insanity? Does it go away if they don't use JV, or is it permanent?

And how does Martin know all of this anyway? The Gotham Chronicle article said that the police are still investigating and hasn't released any information. How did Martin get his hands on this information?

"Thanks Martin. That actually helps a lot. I gotta go now, I'll see you at school tomorrow."

The lights are dim as he makes his way to the usual stakeout spot. Binoculars in hand, I watch the sleek figure scale the drain pipe up to the rooftop of the decimated apartment. He watches from the shadows, unaware of my presence this time. I got here first, I've been staking out this place since school ended. I've been hiding in this narrow alleyway, a common feature in Gotham City. Finishing my homework by a group of garbage cans, I waited for the caped crusader to appear. Actually, this crusader doesn't have a cape, but every other detail is exact. I've found Batman.

It's….freezing. My suit is hardly enough to keep me warm in this frigid weather. The tiny flecks of snow melt onto the relatively thin fabric of my cheap costume. I found it in the closet of my new room when I moved in with Aunt Jennie. According to her, it was a Batwoman costume she wore during a parade a long time ago. It must have been a long time ago, because I've never heard of a Batwoman, and Gotham City's never had a parade for as long as I've lived. The cowl and gloves were a dark purple, so I re-painted them black, and I had to get rid of the cape all-together. I'm glance at my watch, it's a little past midnight, maybe I'll just call it quits for today. But just then, I see a truck pull up to the front of Cornerstone. Two burlesque men in clown masks exited the car. My heart jumps, they're clearly physically stronger than me. I don't know what I was expecting, I guess, well, maybe I don't have to go investigate tonight. No, what am I saying? This is my opportunity, if I leave now, all of my waiting tonight will have been for not. I climb down from the roof, my heart still pounding in my chest. The two men in clown masks are unloading generic looking cardboard boxes out of the truck and bring them into Cornerstone, ringing the bell every time they open the door. The boxes are closed, but I can hear a faint clattering as the boxes are picked up and moved. It had to be the sound of some kind of glass jingling around in there. Now I wish that I had staked out a building next to Cornerstone instead of across from it, there's no way I could get across without one of them seeing me. I watch them unload the final box, and head inside, leaving the door open. Why would they leave the door open? It's freezing out here, and the snow will fly in. Well, at least it leaves me an opening.

I watch as Batman darts into Cornerstone. Is he going to take those two thugs out? I need to see this. I peek out from my hiding place and duck under the windowsill next to the Cornerstone front entrance. With my unusual height, I was practically lying down on the concrete and snow, arching my head up to peek through the window. I couldn't see Batman at all, but I guess that's the point, right? The only source of light in the store is coming from the side door which the thugs had stepped into. Suddenly, I see a sudden movement coming from the stack of boxes the thugs had brought in. I then notice the dark figure hunched over the box. Batman had opened a box and had taken a sample. I duck my head down again as I see the two thugs in signature Joker masks walk out of the side door. I hear footsteps…my heart is pounding. I crawl away from the window back to the alley. Suddenly, I hear a shout coming from one of the thugs, they must have noticed the missing sample and open box. I yank out my iPhone to call the police, but, what if they arrest Batman? What if they arrest me? I stare at the blank screen of my iPhone, but, is this my only option?

I'm under the table. I'm curled up in a ball, under the table. My stomach has dropped ten thousand feet, and I'm biting my lip so my teeth don't chatter in this unbearable cold. The two thugs know I'm here, and there're going to find me. God, this is such an awful hiding place, they're going to find me for sure. I need to act now if I'm going to get out of here alive. I'll wait for one of the thugs to pass by, and I'll pounce him. Yeah, that's what I'll do. No need to worry, I now, have a, sort of a plan. One of the thugs walks by, and I instinctively grab his leg and yank it towards the table. The thug trips, crashing into a nearby shelf and collapsing it along with himself. The other thug turns around as I frantically crawl out from under the table, grab a can from the toppled shelf, and clobber the fallen thug. The other thug runs to one of the boxes, tearing another one of them open and pulling out a syringe of neon-green liquid. At first I thought it was Joker V, but something was different about it. It was a lighter green, and it glowed brighter than the variety I had seen earlier this afternoon. The thug plunged the needle into his arm, apparently unconcerned if he had punctured a vein or not. The green liquid quickly left the syringe and coursed through his veins, disgustingly visible as it traveled along his bloodstream. As it passed, his blood turned the same sickly green, and his muscles began to expand and contract. I watched, as the liquid reached his eyes, and his pupils and whites were filled with the green liquid. I double over, clutching my stomach, clenching my teeth as hard as I can. The thug, now swollen to double his size in height and muscle mass, is now charging towards me at breakneck speeds. I scramble out from under the table just to see him pound it to pieces with his fists. I make a break for the door, elbowing it open and sending the little bell flying out into the street with me.

Author's Note: This chapter is dedicated to Batkid, aka Miles Scott, whom I got to see save Gotham City as the best school field trip ever.