The Rose and Her Thorns
Arkham Asylum: Joker's Cell
Joker sat on his cot, staring up at the ceiling with contempt. That girl; how had that girl taken him down so easily? He had seen promise in her. Everything about the child burned with hatred and rage, a fuel that made every pure thing you could think of pale. It was horrible that the child had turned all that anger on him.
He needed to get that girl. A pale fist slammed into the concrete, sending sharp staves of pain up the Joker's arm. The sting didn't bother the mad clown the slightest. In fact, it only made his resolve stronger. I'm going to kill that girl.
Standing, Gotham's most dangerous psycho stalked over to the glass door of his cell. Letting his rage build and boil, Joker raised a foot and kicked the transparent barrier. It shattered, sending shards of reinforced glass everywhere. Sirens blazed. Guards shouted. Inmates howled with horrible insanity.
Joker didn't care.
With speed that was almost impossible, Joker took off down the corridor. The layout of the asylum was burned into his cranium so he navigated the entirity of the building without a hitch. Something of a wicked idea crossed his mind as he passed Scarecrow's cell. Johnny-boy never did tell him where Harley was living. Crane didn't expect him to spring him again, so imagine the nerdy bird's surprise when the clown opened the door to his cell.
"Come on Nerd-Boy! You never found Harley for me!"
While it might have been a bad idea, Scarecrow couldn't say no to a free chance to escape Arkham. And so, the Joker and Scarecrow were once again out into the world. Only this time, Joker was out for blood.
Bergduff's Mall
The thugs backed off, fear filling their stupid eyes as Sunni stalked forward. A wicked smile crossed her lips, revealing her fangs to the boys. "What the hell is this chick?"
In a whisper that was rough and dry, Sunni answered the leader's question. "I'm your worst nightmare. Now, would you rather leave or let me rip your guts out through your windpipe?"
Sunni didn't even get to finish the sentence, as the teens ran past her and out into the mall. Enrique had watched the entire thing with amazement, surprised that the sweet, rather timid Sunni he had always known threaten and successfully stare down the trio. What had startled him most of all was the transformation. His chica hadn't been able to do that last time he met her, so how was she able to do it now?
"Senorita! How did you do that?"
The girl stiffened slightly, then she relaxed and turned back to normal, smiling tiredly up at her Latino friend. "Sorry Enrique. I should've told you sooner, but Dad mutated me. Now I have freaky weird powers that turn me into a killing machine."
Surprisingly, the small man took the news fairly lightly, nodding and silently returning to stand behind his counter. The blacklights overhead illuminated Sunni's white sure brightly, making her shine like a beacon in the fairly dark store. The smooth accented voice of Enrique came floating to her ears, grateful sounding and quiet.
"Thank you chica. I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't come along. Those boys...they're a mighty mean bunch eh?"
"They're just a bunch of punks on steroids that are too stupid to actually get money to legally buy stuff."
Enrique laughed, the sound light and airy despite the ordeal. "I agree! Now, why don't you go with your friends and brothers? I bet their worried about you."
Something close to pain flashed across Sunni's face, but the storeowner didn't notice it. Something just felt really wrong all of a sudden. Turning, Sunni rushed out of the store, calling her good-byes to Enrique. The man waved to her as the teen disappeared into the swirling crowds. He shook his head. Why God had given him such a caring young friend was beyond him, but for whatever reason, Enrique was forever grateful.
Through the swarms of people Sunni ran, leaping and dodging as she made her way to the Burger King. She didn't know what drove her, but something was WAY off. There was something bad coming, and she was going to try and protect her family whether or not it cost her her life.
Burger King; the restaraunt that was always so packed with people. Finding Harley and her brothers was going to take forever in that place! But something caught her attention; paramedics were carrying someone away on a stretcher, calling out orders and yelling at the crowds. There! Eli stood with Camden and the others, tears running down his face as Gabe tried to calm a sobbing Harley. Someone else was standing in the shadows, a smirk of satisfaction stretching his rather thin features.
Running up, Sunni spoke to Eli, breathless and terrified of what was going to happen. "Eli what happened?"
More tears gathered in electric blue eyes as her younger brother cuddled Camden gently. "Joker came back and caught us in Burger King. Some other dude was with him, but Joker wanted you. Harley tried to reason with him, but he refused and charged her. Jaylon jumped in front of him...and Joker stabbed him. Jay took the knife out and stabbed the clown back, but he was really hurt. They don't know if he's gonna make it."
Sobs wracked everyone's bodies; everyone, that is, except Sunni's. A strange numbness washed over her as she watched the retreating stretchers and paramedics. Jaylon; the little brother she had raised since he was barely Howard's age. Jaylon; the sweet little imp who was always there to help. Jaylon; the baby who was a sunray in the dark. He could die. And it was all that stupid clown's fault. Rage pressed up against the numbness, transforming it into boiling hot power.
"I'm gonna kill him."
Harley's hoarse voice reached through the pounding in Sunni's ears. "You may not have to. Jay-Jay got Mistah' J pretty good."
Finally, the tears sprang up, clawing their way into the teen's eyes as she stood next to her other brothers. Slowly, she sank to her knees, rocking back and forth on the floor and cradeling her head in her hands. !
It was all her fault. She should have stayed with them, damnit! It wasn't fair. Jaylon was the sweetest boy on the planet and now he was going to die because of some god-forsaken psycho clown! A growl started to form in Sunni's throat as she cried, slowly climing in volume until it transformed into a snarl, and then a roar of absolute rage. The others stared at her, the little ones actually starting to cry harder in fear.
That clown was going to pay. If Jaylon died, Sunni wouldn't rest until he was burning in hell. Strange enough, the tall skinny man standing in the shadows behind Harley stepped forward, blocking Sunni before she could rush after the paramedics. His voice was quiet, with a prim and proper lilt lying within the words.
"Don't. They need to do their jobs and save your brother. Instead of taking it out on him, call Ivy. She needs to know."
Bright amber eyes burned into the dark ones of the man. Then something flashed. Sunni knew that voice. It was often heard screaming or shouting something about fear. "You're the Scarecrow."
A tired sigh. "Yes. Now, if you would be so kind as to let go of my arm, I would like to get back to calming down Harley."
Wait just a minute. This shouldn't be happening. Scarecrow was a psycho; a loon that dealt with instilling fear into others through toxins. He shouldn't be standing in a mall trying to keep her from killing the Joker! Her hand was wrapped tightly in the fabric of the incredibly tall man's shirt, bring him face to face with fury.
"If you hurt a single one of them, I will personally filet you with my teeth. Do we understand each other?"
Scarecrow nodded quickly, leaping away from the girl as soon as she let go of his shirt. A snarl rose unbiddin in Sunni's throat. God, the world really hated her! If she was lucky, the cops would take Joker instead of Harley, because this time Batman wasn't here to stop them from arresting the harlequin as well. Why the hell the cops weren't there in the first place confused Sunni as well, but she wasn't about to complain. It was a blessing in disguise.
Taking a howling Miles from Gabe, Sunni gestured for Harley to stand up. Jonathan Crane, or Scarecrow, helped the sniffling woman to her feet, rather uncomfortable as she snuggled into his side with Hayden. Howard was tucked safely in Eli's grasp, Camden and Jasper following their older brother with tear-filled silence. "Come on guys. Let's get back to the hospital."
The Hospital~Noon
Ivy was still snuggled into Eddie's side when his lunch came. The nurse nearly giggled at the sight, but managed to keep her humor in check. Serving the Riddler his lunch, she gracefully bowed out of the room, sniggering all the way down the hall. She didn't stop laughing until an urgent call came through on her pager. Stab wound to a young boy. This was going to be bad.
Unbeknowst to Ivy, that little boy was one of her adopted sons. The world was still a rather bright place for her at the moment, as she finally realized something that had been nagging at the back of her mind for almost three days. She loved Edward.
It was a strange thing for her to admit. Considering that she had always seen men as the weakest link in mankind, Ivy found it ironic that she had fallen for the Riddler of all people. But once you got past the pompous and downright annoying mask, Edward was a really wonderful person. Sure he had a few problems, but who didn't in this crazy, messed-up world?
"What are you smiling about?"
The question brought Ivy out of a rather deep stupor. She realized that a dopey grin was plastered to her face, and she quickly removed the stupid smile. "Nothing. I was just thinking about something rather ironic."
A smug smirk creased Ed's perfect lips as he ate. "And would said ironic thought happen to be about me?"
"I'm not at liberty to say."
"That's as good as a yes in my opinion."
"Shut up Eddie."
The shrill ringing of Ivy's cellphone interuppted the conversation. Leaping lightly off the bed, the villainess answered with a rather pleasant, "Hello?"
Harley was on the other line, hitches coming through as she cried. "Red, something happened."
"What is it Harl? Did one of the boys break something really expensive?"
"No Red. It's Jay-Jay...he's been hurt. He's hurt real bad."
THAT got Ivy's attention. She stiffened, clutching the cellular phone in a death-grip. "What happened Harl?"
"Puddin' busted out again and brought Johnny with him. He found us at Burger King and started screaming real loud, waving a knife and yellin' that he wanted to kill Sunni. I tried to tell Puddin' that she wasn't here, but he came at me instead. Jaylon flew in front of me and...Puddin' stabbed him! Puddin' stabbed lil' Jay-Jay!"
The rest of the call was indiscernable to Ivy, but it didn't really matter. She couldn't hear anyways. Everything was black and numb. She could hear; couldn't breathe; couldn't speak. First Eddie, and now Jaylon? Why the hell did the world have to screw with her?
Hot, wet tears started to stream down her face as Ivy hung up the phone. Her legs felt weak, so she collapsed onto the bed, curling up close to Eddie. He was startled, but he managed to wrap an arm around Ivy's waist and hug her.
"Darling, what's wrong?"
"He hurt my baby! He hurt him!"
"Who hurt who? Come on Ivy, be strong and tell me."
After about a minute of gentle cooing and maneuvering, Eddie managed to get Ivy to calm down and tell him. Her eyes were now red and puffy, sticky tear tracks ran down pale green skin. Face buryied in Eddie's shoulder, Ivy managed to choke out, "Joker stabbed Jaylon. He stabbed my baby, Eddie. And I can't do a damn thing about it."
Finally, the sobbing took over again, and Ivy broke apart. The plants that were sitting in pots around the room started to move, slithering and squirming in silent agigtation. Ivy tended to have that effect on plants when she was upset. Edward gave up on his rather disgusting meal and wrapped both arms around Ivy. Tears were now streaming down his own face as he whispered words of comfort to Ivy.
But somehow he knew that everything was going to be much different now.