AN: I live! -laughs hysterically before clearing throat- Sorry about that, been a little screw loose lately.
Harry "A little?"
...Don't judge me man! To my readers, sorry about the month long delay again...damn you brain! On another note, I found out that 'Jin' actually has a meaning behind it: compassion...or something like that. And here I thought I was just making a punny name. :P
Prank rubbed his eyebrows absently, quietly muttering, "That's odd…"
"What's wrong?" Harley asked, looking up from her job of modifying a stolen ice cream truck into an armored vehicle for safer getaways.
"I feel as if my eyebrows are on fire…must be my imagination," Prank answered before opening a window, "I will be out for a while; do not bother staying awake for me."
"…stop talking like that, it makes you sound un-Harry-like," Joker butt in.
"I am working on it, I have been for a week now," Prank retorted.
"And you still suck at it!" Joker laughed before ducking a pipe Prank hurled at him.
"My aim is just as good, though," Prank smirked.
"Just get comfortable being Harry and you'll be fine," Harley cut in, quickly defusing the potential fight from starting.
"I know, I know," Prank sighed as he slipped out though the window.
—HJH—
Prank landed on the roof of an apparently abandoned apartment building before moving as quietly as he could down the fire escape, it took him a moment to figure out which apartment was actually housing the person he was looking for and, after making sure no one would notice him, quickly entered. He rolled his eyes at the piles of completed riddle, puzzle, and logic books scattered about the room before homing in on the person he had wanted to talk to.
"How are you, Riddler?" Prank asked, perching on a chair near the green clad villain.
Riddler glanced up at Prank for a moment before turning back to his work, simply stating, "You're not Harry."
Prank tilted his head in confusion, "How did you know that I was not him?"
"The fact you called me Riddler," he answered, finishing up on his current project, "Harry always calls me Uncle Riddles."
"I see…cannot believe I forgot that…" Prank responded while warily eyeing the cane near the man, "I am surprised you have not hit me yet."
"If you were going to do anything to me, I think you would've done so already," Riddler informed, "Who are you really?"
"I am a part of Harry…to avoid confusion just call me Prank," he answered, "As to how I am here, that is a bit more complicated…Harry is right, I need to work on my speech."
Riddler chuckled lightly, "He's right, you sound a lot older than you should be. You need to bring yourself to Harry's level, relax."
"Great advice coming from a man who has OCD," Prank replied sarcastically.
"…blame my father…" Riddler mumbled.
"I believe there's medication that could help you with that," Prank offered.
"And lose my riddling skills? No thank you!" Riddler responded.
"It was only a suggestion," Prank sighed.
"Is there anything you need?" Riddler asked.
"No, I just felt that if I am to give the appearance that I am Harry, I should do what he does, visit members of his…family," Prank answered.
"He actually considers us Gotham 'baddies' his family?" Riddler spoke, a bit stunned.
"Harry has a skewed perception of things," Prank responded, "He considers anyone that doesn't hurt him as a very special person and has basically grouped anyone like that as part of his family, simple as that."
"I've heard cases of people doing that, especially after serious trauma or abuse," Riddler guessed, "What did Harry go through before he came to Gotham?"
"It's not for me to tell, ask Harry but I doubt he'd tell you anyways," Prank responded before turning to leave, "By the way, you might want to toss some of your old puzzle books or else you'd have enough gathered here to make furniture."
"…I'm currently sitting on a stack glued together to make a stool…"
—HJH—
"Don't drop in uninvited, even if you look like the kid," Two-Face spoke, pointing a gun at Prank's face.
Prank sighed in exasperation, "You're the second person to point out that I'm not Harry and it's getting annoying…at least my speech is improving a bit."
"Lucky me, I'm second," Two-Face remarked.
"How'd you figure it out?" Prank asked before adding, "Do you mind putting the gun down, I'd rather not want to go back to Ivy to get fixed up so soon."
"I'm an expert at split personalities, I know about Harry's and you don't act that much like him," Two-Face answered, keeping the gun trained on Prank for a moment longer before lowering it.
"I see…do you have any advice at being more like Harry?" Prank inquired.
"Yeah, pull the stick out of your ass," Two-Face answered.
"…other than that?" Prank growled.
"Just relax," Two-Face responded.
"Why does everyone keep saying that?!" Prank screamed, nearly pulling out his hair in anger.
"Because you're too damn uptight," Two-Face remarked.
"I was being sarcastic!" Prank snapped before quickly leaving, knocking over a stack of money just to spite Two-Face.
Prank grumbled darkly as he quickly ran across the rooftops, working a few flips in to his traveling to get more in touch with Harry's mindset. "Just my luck, I've completely failed at imitating Harry…this whole this is never going to work!" he muttered to himself, jumping over a TV antenna and continuing his way back to the current hideout. Prank was so immersed in his self deprecation that he did not notice that he was being followed until he was knocked into a water tower.
"What's wrong Prank, getting rusty?" Robin taunted as Prank picked himself up.
"I'm not in the mood Robin," Prank retorted, before throwing a card.
"What is wrong with you?" Robin asked, easily dodging the object.
"What do you mean?" Prank responded.
"Your aim's off and you're not as insulting," Robin answered, "Not like you…"
"You have no idea," Prank muttered under his breath, before quickly moving in to attack close range.
"And, you're not fighting dirty," Robin added, "Did you hit your head or something?"
Prank let out a noise of annoyance before pretending to punch towards the Boy Wonder's head and then proceeding to knee him in the stomach.
"That's a bit more like it," Robin muttered, falling back slightly and holding his stomach.
'Damn it, I need to work on my fighting too,' Prank dodged a kick and landed a solid kick to Robin's crotch, causing him to hit the ground with a strangled sound of pain, "While this has been fun, Bird-boy, I'm not in much of a mood to play, some other time maybe." With that, Prank smashed several gas capsules against the ground and used the smoke to disguise his escape.
—HJH—
"What's wrong?" Harley asked as Prank slipped in through the window.
"I still need more work on imitating Harry, Riddler and Two-Face figured me out and Robin almost did too," Prank sighed in agitation as he pulled off his mask and goggles, "I was going to visit Poison Ivy and Catwoman too, but thought not to push my luck after encountering Robin…combined with the fact my self-esteem couldn't take another blow if anyone else figured me out."
"Cheer up, hun, I know you'll do better," Harley encouraged, messing up his hair affectionately.
Prank stared at her for a moment before asking, "Why did you call me that?"
"Call you what?" Harley responded.
"You called me 'hun', you only call Harry that," Prank answered.
"The two of you might have different names, but to me you're both my son," Harley answered.
Prank remained silent out of shock before giving Harley a small smile, "Thank you for that."
"No problem," Harley smiled, giving Prank a brief hug.
Prank smiled to himself at the kind gesture before walking off to his/Harry's room to lay down on the bed, deciding that while he did not really need it he could use a bit of rest; he idly wondered how Harry was faring in the Wizarding world so far before closing his eyes and drifting off; he was unsurprised to find himself in a recreation of Harry's field of memories since it was all he really had. 'What to watch today? Maybe that memory of what Harry did to that man with the egg beater and the turkey baster; as disturbing as that was, it was hysterical.'
While exploring the field looking for a memory to kill his time, Prank felt a familiar sensation in the back of his mind. He looked around himself, wondering what exactly it was that he was feeling when he heard something.
"Whoa… how'd I get back home?" '…Harry?' "Prank…is that you?" 'In the plant flesh…I thought we'd be too far apart to talk like this?' "I don't know how this is happening but it's interesting…by the way, did you and my parents pull a heist yesterday?" 'We did, why do you ask?' "I dreamt about it…you think our connection is more than what we thought?" 'Maybe you see through my eyes when you sleep? That's as good an explanation I can think of.' "Have you seen anything through me yet, then?" 'I don't think so because I don't sleep much, I just take quick naps.' "Oh…I just realized something; you're talking like me now!" 'I do have to act like you…although I still need to work on it, Riddler and Two-Face have figured out I'm not you…Robin suspected something but I was gone before he figured it out.' "Uncle Riddles is a genius and Two-Face is a master at split personalities." 'I kind of figured that…' "Speaking of Robin, did you fight him?" "Briefly, he was also suspicious since I wasn't fighting exactly like you do and my aim was off with the cards and capsules." "Just keep on practicing all those things and no one should know you're not me…I have to go now, Prank, just keep practicing!" 'I will.'
—HJH—
"…that was trippy…" Harry mused, a dazed expression on his face.
"What happened?" Remus asked.
"I was back home, chatting with the other me," Harry responded, not noticing that he was currently sprawled out on the dirty floor of the shop.
"It's been a long time since I've seen someone have that reaction," the shopkeeper spoke, donning a pair of gloves to extract a dark green crystal from the bowl.
"That's Harry's blood," Remus half asked half stated.
"Yes, this will cause any wand it's implanted into to work only for him…in hindsight we should've had him pick out what to make his wand out of beforehand," the shopkeeper responded, glancing down at where Harry was still laying on the floor, a lazy smile etched on his face.
