In a dark alley L sat crouched looking out into the street with the Batman lying limp behind him. He sat there occasionally glancing back keeping an eye on Gotham's dark knight as the sun began fading away and the shadows crept in overtaking the sky in a purple blue haze. The bat himself obviously had taken a powerful shock, well beyond that of stun guns, and also gained a third degree burn where the object, whatever it was that send the volts through him had struck.
The hair on the back of L's neck stood on end as a cackle came up behind him, "You know boy, if the Batman ended up falling what makes you think you can defend the great defender?"
L quickly pushed a hand against the ground and his leg flew up behind him connecting with a man with a powdered white face and what appeared to be lipstick drawn in the fashion of circus clowns, an enormous smiling mouth. The clown flew rolling back and landed on his hands and feet in an animal like pouncing position.
"Do you suggest I leave him out in the street for nut jobs like you? Clown, you are the one responsible for the massacre in town hall aren't you?"
The clown began laughing while running his tongue over his lips, "Oh how I wish I could had been in there as their bodies dropped. Sadly I was temporarily taken out in a great act of self sacrifice by frying the bat. Little boy, I am the clown king of murder. As for nut jobs, you must not had been around Gotham for long. This entire city is a trail mix of nuts. The way Arkhams filling up I must say they may need to build another asylum or three to contain all the residents within. I am called the Joker, if you had not heard of me."
"Joker, you had failed. Sure, there were bodies; however the majority had been saved by me. I am called L."
Joker fell onto his back laughing hysterically, "You saved them? Now that is rich. Then again, it is difficult to find worthwhile help these days."
L sprung forward toward the clown, and at that second he flipped over the detective and slammed his own kick to the back of his head crashing L down onto the cement alley floor.
"So, let's get this strait, you saved most of town hall while Batsy was unconscious, brought him here, and expected to be capable of protecting him? You are nothing but a mere speck, a smudge in the grand scheme. When it comes down to it the only entertaining challenge to me is the bat. Everyone else fails to amuse me enough, so I simply eliminate them. Hell, I go through goons on practically a daily basis. Why? I don't know, simply to do it. There isn't a scheme such as world domination, destroy and rebuild in my image, I just do things, and see what happens. Sometimes it can be an insignificant target, or I may turn around and take out all of Gotham's leaders. Make it something unexpected, something the horror genre does all the time, the sudden spring out. No warning, no nothing, it happens. Do you want to know how I got these scars?"
L pushed himself up as he took notice of the rather large grin carved into the sides of the Joker's lips, "How did you get your scars?" As he spoke he distanced himself away from the clown wiping blood from his face.
The clown chuckled as he spoke, "My sister and I used to go fishing all the time on the weekends with our father. We sat with our backs toward each other casting lines from his boat on the side railings. One day as I cast off two of the hooks attached to my line caught into my lips. I turned around looking for help, and found my sister and father wasn't on the deck. I went down into the cabin and found our father had stabbed her to death, on top of this he was in the process of raping her. I tore out the hooks which created the wounds which would later become these scars. Oh how he laughed when he seen me, and even offered to let me join. I picked up the blade he used to kill my sister and while he was laughing, I stabbed him over and over again, and even after he was dead I wouldn't stop for quite some time."
Joker then sprung at L gripping each of his shoulders with his electronic buzzers while speaking, "Well, it's been a blast, but we got to fry."
L screamed as the intense voltage came through his body, while the clown laughed hysterically. Abruptly Joker was slammed off of the detective with a punch to the face by the Batman sending him reeling. "Your jokes really get old quickly Joker."
He chuckled, "Batsy! It is so great to see you up once again! I was afraid I broke you!"
Joker slashed out at Batman who dodged each direction then grabbed a bat-a-rang from his belt hurling them at the clown, which hit his face causing him to begin falling back. At that second Batman leapt onto the Joker slamming him onto the ground knocked unconscious. The dark knight stood up turning toward L who had fallen to his knees from the short shock, "How are you fairing?"
The detective let out a cough as he slowly stood up facing the caped crusader. His listless eyes faced Batman's mask as he passed, but didn't speak a word as he left the dark knight's company.
"Master Bruce, you look a bit shook up. Did something unusual happen?"
Bruce Wayne pulled off his mask revealing his black hair and blue eyes as he faced a mirror skimming over a tapped up area of his cheek where the Joker had got him, "I met someone unusual today Alfred. I have never seen this person on Gotham's streets… his habits and even the way he stands is odd. His eyes were like black holes… his clothing wrinkled as is he didn't care. He was fighting the Joker when I had come to consciousness, perhaps to defend my body. Sure, the male lost, but I was able to save him from death and defeat the Joker."
"Defending you, against the Joker sir? Was he mad?"
"I can't be certain of that, possibly the same way I am. I think he could not stand back and just watch as someone is murdered. I am sure he is a good guy… but something about him unsettles me, like I missed something important about him."