Authors note- hey guys and galls, just a quick FYI, these fics are going to be a bit tedious until I get Joker to Manhattan, and will mainly consist of the Jokers POV and a short diary entry from Elisa (I think it'll only last for one or two more chapters this way). But I promise more garg-centirc storylines and action once Joker meets the clan. Until then, don't take things too serious, right?

Gotham City, the Narrows

A pale, thin man with stringy blond hair and a torn white orderlies uniform dashes through the crumbling alleys and abandoned buildings of the decrepit Narrows district, stopping every once in awhile to listen, like a wild animal prowling the jungle.

***

Running, running, running, running…

Can I stop running?

I hear sirens, way to many sirens, it hurts my ears! Gahhh…is it any wonder I like to kill those cops? I honestly wouldn't mind them so much if they were a little quieter!

But they still like to ruin your fun…

You shut up!

I don't want to listen to you now, we have to run some more!

But I'm tired!

You be quiet! No whining now, we have to run.

Run, run, run, I feel like the Roadrunner. I miss cartoons.

Me too.

Do you two have to be so childish?

Both of you be quiet! I think we can rest now.

Wonderful. Now what?

What gives you the idea that I would know?

You are the one with the most control.

Just like daddy!

I told you too never call me that! If you do it again I'll start taking the pills again and make you be quiet!

***

The man stops running and his wild eyes begin wandering back and forth across the alley he's halted in, his gaze coming to rest on a homeless man sleeping under a pile of newspapers; the papers and the ragged army surplus coat he was wearing were his only protection from the cold autumn breeze that was blowing in from Lake Superior and whipping through the steel and concrete chasms of the city.

The man stares for awhile, then looks down at the jagged, blood stained piece of glass in his hand.

***

I need new clothes; they'll be looking for me in this orderly uniform. And plain white is such a boring color for clothes anyway.

So olive drab is an improvement then?

No, but at least it'll be different.

***

The man moves quickly, leaping forward and locking his free hand around the hobo's throat in an iron grip. The transient's eyes fly open, and he see's his attackers horribly scarred visage light up with glee, hearing his piercing cackle just before the sharp pain in the side of his neck and everything goes dark. The killer leaves the jagged piece of glass in his victim's throat as he rolls the man over and yanks the old army jacket off of him, along with a dirty blue hooded sweatshirt that the hobo had worn under it.

***

Hmmm…lets see what's in the pockets; lint…syringes! Eww! I hate needles! Lets just toss these in a dumpster…there we go. Now what else…twenty dollars and some change.

Wow, that's a lot of money!

For what? A seven year old? We need a lot more than that if we're gonna have any real fun; fun things get more expensive every day.

But it's still more than we had before, isn't it? Now shut up!

Ok in this pocket we have some packets of…heroin? Tasty. And what else… oooo a knife! I just looovvveee knives! It's nice and sharp, too!

It's a well sharpened filet knife is all.

Oh boy…it's him.

He scares me!

You two, shut it. It looks clean enough, no rust. The balance will be off, bit heavy on the hilt, so don't get too artsy with it, just straight in for the kill, and remember short, sharp slashes, and do try and avoid stabbing anyone with it; more than likely it'll just break.

I like this guy; of all the people in my head he always has the most useful things to say. I just wish I knew where it was he came from.

Now what to do, what to do…I want to play with the Batman some more; he can be so much fun!

Not gonna happen.

What?

Look down and to the left genius.

I look down, read the headline on one of the newspapers and scream in frustration.

"BATMAN NOW ON THE RUN FOR A MONTH, STILL NO SIGHTINGS: POLICE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR MURDEROUS VIGILANTE!"

No, no, no, no NO! That's not fair!

Maybe you should read the story and find out what's going on?

It doesn't matter! Even if they only think he's gone and killed someone, the fun is still ruined! The humor is dead, dead and gone! Now he's just like everyone else!

Calm down. We need to get out of this city.

What? I like it here! It's fun and dirty and the people are always waiting for my next joke!

I know. But we just need to get out of here, unless you want to go back to the Asylum in a hurry.

Besides, if we go someplace else, we get a whole new audience and then we can have some real fun!

Ok, ok fine, we need to go someplace new…new place, new place…new city…

NEW YORK CITY! I've always wanted to go…

Off to New York City then!

I bet the food's good too…I'm hungry! I feel like Chinese, Moo Goo Gai Pan! I eat, and then I go have some fun…now where's a Chinese place? Let's try this way, and see what we can find.

Private Journal of Detective Elisa Maza September 20th, 2008;

Well today was wonderful.

Ever since I got promoted to lieutenant, things have been going down hill in hurry with Tony Dracon and his idiots. Apparently with me off of the street, he can do whatever he wants, including expanding off of Manhattan into New Jersey and the Bronx. And it would seem that the Mafia crews in Jersey and the Latin Kings in the Bronx object to this idea, and voice their opinions of Tony's expansion plans with gunfire. So far they've been sending Dracon's crew packing back to Manhattan with their tails between their legs, but it's only a matter of time before some innocent bystander gets caught in the crossfire. And as usual Dracon's sticking to the shadows, letting his thugs do the dying and dirty work.

God sometimes I just want to track that slimy weasel down and…

Oh the hell with it.

He's going to slip up soon, especially now that his gang's overextended itself, and makes a mistake, and then we'll get him once and for all.

That's enough diary writing for tonight, I think.

Ok I lied. I just switched on the TV and the lead story on the news was…

The Joker's escaped in Gotham City. I thought being a cop in THIS city was a tough job, but Gotham…even when their aren't psychopaths in clown make-up blowing up squad cars with a rocket launcher, the whole city is almost a warzone, and I hear rumors that almost every cop out there is on the take. But the Joker…reading about him and watching what he did to that city this summer really makes me appreciate people like Thailog and Demona. Seriously. Well maybe not Thailog (still not sure where the hell that evil bastard's got to anyway. I hope he turns up later rather than sooner though. If at all). But at the end of the day, whoever we end up fighting, they're just criminals, out for a profit, out for some thing material. But The Clown I just don't get.

On the lighter side, Angela and Broadway just got back from dinner with Demona. While I've long since stopped wondering if they were going to come back alive from these little trips it's still a bit of relief when they make it back in one piece…

I can't stop thinking about the Joker. He killed four guards to escape the Asylum they had him locked up in, and now god knows where he's headed…I'm sure he won't come here though, New York's almost on the other side of the country!

I'm going to go check on the kids.