Chapter 5 - Suffer
Did you ever see the concrete stares of everyday?
The lunatic, the hypocrite, are all lost in the fray.
Can't you see their lives are just like yours?
An unturned stone, an undiscovered
Door leading to the gift of hope renewed, eternity for you.
The masses of humanity have always had to suffer.
The businessman whose master plan controls the world each day
Is blind to indications of his species' slow decay.
Can't you see his life is just like yours?
An unturned stone, an undiscovered
Door leading to the gift of hope renewed, eternity for you.
The masses of humanity have always had to suffer.
People blow their minds (they choose to resign)
This deformed society is part of the design.
It'll never go away (it's in the cards that way).
The masses of humanity have always, always had to suffer!
A door leading to the gift of hope renewed, eternity for you.
The masses of humanity, still clinging to their dignity,
The masses of humanity will always have to suffer.
Always have to suffer. Suffer by Bad Religion
(Rat City - Deep Alley - Narrows - Gotham)
Tim checked the holographic display from his micro computer through the lenses in his mask again. The information was correct and there was traces of the chemicals from the Lazarus pits mixed with sweat. The micro computer connected to the lenses quickly did a scan of the sweat and found small traces of DNA belonging to Ra's. It wasn't strange for the underworld to know of the global terrorist being in Gotham, but it almost seemed to easy to get the information. Ra's didn't attempt hide his presence. He wondered if Ra's wanted to bait the old man. It was possible, there was a mixture of respect and rivalry between the two of them.
"Steph, you hear me?" he asked.
"I certainly do boy wonder, or should it be man wonder?" she asked on the other end.
"Cute, look the information was good. Ra's is in Gotham, but something's not right about all of this. We usually have to work a lot harder to find a connection to him," Tim replied.
"Maybe you're just getting better than Bruce," she said.
"No one is better than him. Look, if you don't mind have Babs go through the normal channels we know Ra's has used to fund things. Maybe there's something more there that could give a reason why he's here," Tim replied.
"Not a problem, I'll let her know. Now, are you planning on coming back sometime tonight?" she asked.
"Sure, I just want to see if there is anything else. You know, if this is connected to the thing Bruce is researching that Spectral Explosion there's every chance we might need a magic user. Do you mind to contact Cassie and ask her to look into any connection Diana or Donna might have with this? Also, see if Spellbinder could be of some help. She might know something we don't yet. Wait, do you hear anyth..." he said before the line went dead.
"Robin," she said carefully.
"Oooooo, what is this? Is it a nifty toy radio? Bah, sounds like a boring channel," a chilling voice said.
"Joker!" Stephanie shouted.
"Congratulations, ding, ding, ding! Well, it's been fun!" he said before the line died.
(Batcave - near the Super Computer)
Stephanie didn't waste time trying to do anything. Instead she got the exactly location the comm had been in and ran to her motorcycle. She needed to find Tim, she needed this to be okay. They had dated on and off for the last three years, but it was only in the last six months in which the two of them had become nearly everything to each other. She felt the motorcycle roar to life before she sped out of the cave and toward the direction Tim had been in. The ride only took eight minutes, but it felt like an eternity. When she arrived she found nothing except for the broken remains of the comm itself.
"Bruce... he... he's got him," she managed to get out.
"Who?" Bruce asked through the comm.
"Tim... he's got Tim!" she exclaimed.
It didn't take Bruce long to get there. It didn't take her long to explain what happened. Within seconds Bruce contacted Babs, Dick, and Cassandra. The three of them agreed to help in the search, but for Stephanie it didn't matter. She was going to find Tim. She was going to make that son of a bitch who took him pay for anything he did to Tim.
(Twenty hours later - Jolly Jack Candy Warehouse)
She looked at the empty room. It was the last shred of information she could get out of Tommy 'Two Tone' Jones. The hired muscle was one of the few regulars that worked with the Joker. He told her about the Jolly Jack, how Joker was using it again, and from the looks of the room Joker might have been here a few days ago, but everything was gone now. Whatever he was planning he moved it somewhere else.
The entire world started crashing down. Everything, everything was trying its hardest to fall apart at the seams. Her mind rushed back to Tim's room. She could see his chest, the scars, the bruises, but none of it mattered. He was beautiful. He told her the same, and she believed him. She wasn't vain, but she liked hearing him tell her how beautiful she was. He touched her, and although they shared the blissful peace that only comes with amazing sex, his touch ignited her need again. Within minutes she found herself impaled on him again. Her hips held by his surprisingly strong hands, and she loved every minute of it.
The memory faded though. A small echo of a foot step was more than enough to bring her back to reality. She swirled around in time to see someone else she was looking for. She swung at the body before her and connected. She felt her fist push against the cheek of the other woman. She stumbled back and fell on her ass. She rubbed it and looked up at the girl across from her.
"Owww, whatcha do that for?!" Harley cried.
"Where's Robin?!" she shouted.
"Bird Brain, I don't know! Why?" she asked.
"Joker kidnapped him!" she seethed.
"Mr. J? I wouldn't know. I don't deal with Puddin no more," she said
"Where is Joker?!" Stephanie asked as she grabbed Harley and slammed her hard against the wall.
"Back up there Bratgirl!" Harley said as she kicked up and connected with Stephanie's knee.
The two of them squared off. Somewhere deep inside of Stephanie a voice said this was stupid. She knew Harley and Joker weren't together anymore. The truth was Harley was with Ivy and Selina. It didn't matter though. She had been connected to Joker, and because of that she had to know something. Before Harley could get another word out she attacked.
Harley managed to block, fight, and defend herself, but she wasn't someone who was growing steadily sure that she was losing everything important to her. In the end Stephanie and Harley both stood at opposite ends of the room, holding their ribs, panting.
"Bratgirl, I'm guessing that birdbrain means a lot to you. I really don't know what Mr. J's doing, but I do know he hasn't been here in a while. I make it look like he has so everyone will leave this place alone. I like to come in and think, but you should try Arkham. Mr. J talked about getting back at Bratman inside of the heart of it. I'm betting if he's got birdbrain anywhere it's there," Harley said.
"Why would you help me?" she asked.
"Momma?" a small voice asked from the distance.
Stephanie turned to see a little girl, barely four years old with bleached white skin, green tinted hair, and the most amazing blue eyes she had ever seen. She looked back at Harley who walked toward the little girl and picked her up.
"Momma said she would be right back, didn't she?" Harley said.
Stephanie could see how Harley was hiding the pain in her ribs, her joints, and the tiredness that was setting in.
"Because, I know what it's like to see the chance to lose everything. Please, let's keep this all between you, me, and the room," Harley said.
Stephanie nodded and left. If Harley was right there was no telling what was happening, but it was the only lead she had. It would be suicide to go into Arkham alone, but Harley had said it was Joker's way to torment Bruce. Deciding that she needed to tell him what she learned she tapped her comm.
(Zatanna's house - Living Room)
Madam Xanadu looked at the others as they saw the events play out before them. The entire ordeal with the Joker was terrible, horrible, but unfortunately it could play to their advantage. Batman would need to get into Arkham to rescue Robin, and when he did they could follow. He would be more concerned about the boy than them.
"He's a right bastard, but this doesn't feel right," Epiphany said.
They looked at the daughter of the East Street Mobster who shrugged her shoulders.
"I'm just saying this is the kind of thing Dad would do," she said.
"Love, we don't have much other choice," John said.
"I know, and I get it, but it feels wrong. We could have warned Batman about this. Nimue saw it coming," Epiphany said.
"This is bigger than Batman, Robin, or any one person. We're talking about millions of people. I don't like to do things this way either, but we don't have a choice," Zatanna replied.