Ghoul folded his arms and looked down at the twip that was Terry's little brother and snorted. He was almost an exact replica of his big brother, but with dark brown eyes. And a sullen, petulant expression that Terry most certainly did not have, even if he was beyond annoyed with people. Or, not that Ghoul had ever seen, that is. Then again, it wasn't like they really had spent an enormous amount of time together, which brought up a good point… "I'm not taking care of the kid brother. I don't care if Maxine has the flu and you've got work to do, I'm not taking care of him. I'm not that good with kids!"
Terry ground his teeth at the refusal but otherwise tried to remain calm as he attempted to keep Max from wandering into things that would scar him for life in Ghoul's room while at the same time keeping a firm gaze locked with Ghoul's annoyed one. "Come on! It's just for like…two hours! I'll make it up to you" Ghoul rolled his eyes and turned his head. "You don't have anything to offer to make it up to me. Go have the twip play with his friends. If it's for two hours, like you said, it shouldn't matter" At this point Matt had finally gotten away from his brother (a kick to the knee will do wonders in getting people to release their holds, you know) and Ghoul found himself smirking slightly as Matt went straight to Ghoul's dusty and unused writing desk, where he kept his music that he was too lazy to put on his computer. "Whoa, are these original Fall Out Boy CDs? That's so schway!" There was silence for a few minutes as Ghoul assessed the situation and Terry tried to melt into the floor. "I can go anywhere I want with the kid. I know some friends who have kids his age. It's about time I visited them"
Terry and Matt looked at each other then at Ghoul. Matt, on his part, was curious and excited. He was going on an adventure with an ex-con! Maybe he'd be able to bust a drug ring or something! Terry just looked at Ghoul. "Uh…can't you leave normally?" Ghoul gave Terry an 'are you stupid' look and lifted up the hem of one of his pants leg to show a thin metal bracelet on his foot. "Let's just say you're my parole officer, kay? I don't go anywhere from my room unless I'm with you. And the deal is off unless I get out. He is not going to ruin any of my computers" Terry groaned slightly. He needed to go, the Splicers were terrorizing de-splicing centers again and had taken some of the staff hostage. Then, he came up with a plan. "Okay, I think I have an idea, listen up…"
A little while later, Ghoul and Matt were walking out of the back way of the mall and Terry was suiting up. Matt looked out of the corner of his eye at the tall gaunt teen beside him. He looked like a possessed scarecrow. But not as scary as the real Scarecrow. Ghoul was just creepy, as though someone had decided to dress a corpse up for a Wizard of Oz joke. A very sick someone. Ghoul caught Matt's eyes and raised his eyebrows. "What?" Matt shook his head and looked away. How did you talk to someone like this? For once he was at a loss for words and they continued down the streets in relative silence, with Matt sneaking glances now and then and an annoyed Ghoul trying to pretend not to notice. Eventually they reached the subway and Ghoul couldn't take it anymore. "You got something to say twip? Or should I start charging for you to stare at me all day?" Matt scowled. "I'm not a twip! You're the twip, dressing like a carnival loser and running around being stupid and going against Batman. Batman's the greatest! I don't even know why he put up with a weirdo like you"
Ghoul snorted. "Because I was a threat enough for him to go against me? I mean, maybe I wasn't ever the mastermind, but I got things done. And I had fun doing it. Guess you could say it was a sort of thrill, seeing how far I could get before Bats caught me" He shrugged and smirked slightly as Matt tried to hide his awe. A badguy who wanted to be a badguy and had fun doing what he did? And enjoyed annoying Batman? It reminded the eight-year old of himself and Terry. "So…the kind of villain you were was like me to Terry right? The little brother who loves getting a rise out of the big brother. That's…kind of cool" Ghoul paused. He'd never thought of it quite like that before. "I suppose. Does Terry send you to jail or rehab or a center or beat you up so badly you can hardly remember your own name from the pain?" Matt made a face. Put like that, it sounded awful! "For me, the thrill always made the pain worthwhile, but there are plenty of people who give up because it's not worth it to them" Ghoul smiled slightly and shrugged again. The kid was starting to grow on him. Probably a sign he was getting soft. Ah, well. He was starting to enjoy this kind of soft.
They rode the subway in relative silence, Matt peppering Ghoul with questions every few minutes and Ghoul giving a usually curt reply in return. ("Have you ever killed anyone?" "No" "Is your hair really blond? You've got black eyebrows is all…" "…I got an acid bath once" "No way, really?!" "Don't be stupid") Ghoul was privately both happy and disappointed that no Jokerz got on to bother people. Happy because he had a sneaking suspicion most of them considered him a traitor, and the fact he'd kept his family status to himself probably didn't help. Disappointed because, well…he still felt like one of them, still considered many allies or friends. And Matt getting cowed into silence was a very appealing idea. After a time, the ride ended and Ghoul led the way to the doors, exiting into a much shabbier area.
"So…where are we going, anyway? This place is creepy" Matt moved a little closer to Ghoul, even if he was thinking dismally that the tall lanky teen could get his ass handed to him by a rabbit. Maybe he could kick Ghoul in the knees so he fell over and then make a run for it if anything happened. That thought helped. Ghoul looked down a little warily at the little boy. He knew the kid was planning something that involved a certain goth getting hurt somehow…he could feel it. "We're in Old Gotham, more specifically, the slums. I have friends here, and I know kids your age. Granted, they'd rather throw paint balls at my head and hit me in the face with foam bats," story of his life, getting beaten on for the fun of it, "but I think you'd get along with them" Matt made a face, but decided to go along with it. Maybe he was more of a social butterfly than Terry, but his mom was still nagging him he needed more friends.
"Okay, who are these kids?" Ghoul smiled slightly. "Well, there's three. One's…you could say he's adopted. He goes by Dak. He loves supervillains and Batman, and wants to be a villain one day. I believe he spends most of his time in the subway. Weird hobby, but I can't really judge. Then, there's Amp. He's a good kid, a bit shy, but a good kid. He's metahuman, his power amplifies the powers around him. Useful, I guess. Unless he's fighting someone like say…Superman. It'd be like an electric impulse trying to take down an electric-powered thing. Okay, and finally there's Kale. She was a runaway, but she got found and brought home" Matt blinked. "Um…you know a lot of weird and interesting people, don't you?" Ghoul chuckled. "Mmm, I suppose so…It's kind of the norm with what I do. Though I suppose heroes meet interesting people, too" Actually, he'd only heard about Kale and Amp. Amp had been kidnapped by the Brain Trust and Kale had run away when he'd last talked to their parents. Or, specifically, their father. He couldn't blame Kale for running away from Chucko. He made Ghoul's father look like father of the year.
Matt held back as Ghoul knocked on the door of a shabby looking apartment in a rundown apartment building, the kind that was open front, you walked up outside stairs to get to each individual door. He'd only ever seen these buildings get torn down. The door creaked open and a sturdy-built pre-teen glared warily through the crack, his eyes widening when he saw Ghoul, then he scowled. "What're you doing here? I thought you were too good for everyone now, slag. After all, you got that mansion…" Ghoul sighed, very annoyed. If I'd liked it so much, I wouldn't have run away, twip. Maybe I didn't have Bonk for a brother, but I did have good reason for running away, just like you Dak" He glanced back at a curious Matt and nodded. "Now stow your nasty words, I brought a kid I think you might have some things in common with. His name is Matt" Dak opened the door wider and glanced curiously at Matt as Matt took him in. about his size, burly, angry looking.
As Dak opened the door wider to look at Matt, Ghoul pushed his way in, leaning back to grab Matt and pull him in. the apartment was a bit dingier than Matt's, but it was fairly clean. Two other kids, a couple years older than Dak and Matt were on the couch. The girl looked up and smiled. "Ghoul! It's been awhile! Dad's in the kitchen. And after…if you can…can we catch up?" she smiled shyly and looked down, blushing, as the boy beside her rolled his eyes. Ghoul sighed and walked into the kitchen. And ducked as someone threw a beer bottle at his head. He was actually used to this, Chucko did it often enough. "You know, I was really surprised to find out that these two were your kids. Though it explains why your wife was always nice and cooking dinner for us when we needed a hide-away from Bats. Actually, this explains why she opened her door in the first place" Ghoul said quietly, over the "damn kids I told you to stay out of the kitchen!" The fat bald man paused and blinked. "Holy shit, the rich kid. So, decided you're good enough for us again, huh?" Ghoul sighed and stepped over the broken glass and spilled beer. "Stupid drunk. The only thing that keeps you sober is a good heist. Take that away and well…" Chucko blinked at him blearily. "Are you mocking me?"
Ghoul rolled his eyes and folded his arms. He wanted to say 'no shit, Sherlock' but he'd get another bottle thrown at him. It wasn't any fun talking to Chucko when he was drunk. He looked around and located a pad of paper and a pencil and wrote down a date and time. "I'll figure out a way to come back and talk to you. Right now, I'm taking the kids out for an hour. Because if I'm stuck with babysitting, I might as well go all the way…" He sighed again as Chucko looked at him without comprehension. It was useless talking to him, he wouldn't even notice the kids were gone, either.
Ghoul left Chucko to his drink and walked back into the livingroom, where Dak and Matt were having a heated conversation about heroes and villains and Batman. Kale was sitting on the couch looking lost in the conversation and Amp was adding random comments about a blond girl and a robot. Which transformed the conversation into a debate on what defined heroes and villains. Ghoul raised an eyebrow. Who said kids were stupid? This was as thought out and deep as any conversation he'd heard adults have. He waited until the conversation had wound down before clapping his hands. "Okay kiddies, we're going out for a bit. Chucko's impossible to talk to right now" Amp rolled his eyes and Dak snorted. "Well no duh. He's wasted like, every day now. You guys need to get back together. Then it'd be better" Ghoul smiled slightly. Of course it would be better, they'd never have to see him then. "We'll see how things pan out. Now come on, there's a hotdog stand with our names on it and an old playground we can eat at" Hotdogs might as well be the magic words for kids. He'd never known these three to turn down food, and even Matt seemed pretty happy at the idea.
"Dak, ask me if we can eat while walking one more time and I'll hit you over the head" "like that's a threat! You couldn't bruise a peach!" "And yet I can still do some damage when my fist manages to connect with anything" Matt shook his head at the conversation, and the rather deadly looks Dak and Ghoul were giving each other. They were being really stupid. He looked over at Amp and grinned. "Your sister has a crush on Ghoul, huh?" Amp smirked. "Obvious, huh? You know what's funny? He knows, too. He just ignores her. She's 13 and thinks she's old enough" both boys shook their heads at the silliness of girls. "Bet he only likes girls in black" "Bet he likes girls with gravestones for earrings" "Bet he likes girls who have zombie types for a name" Ghoul paused in the conversation with Dak as that grabbed his attention. The things you hear in the middle of conversations…
They reached the playground and Dak declared himself Bane as Amp called Blue Beetle and Matt called Batman. Ghoul snorted. It seemed oddly fitting, though he'd put Matt as Robin first. Or maybe make a Batboy and be done with it. He ignored the staring of Kale, used to it by now. He'd once chewed someone out for making fun of her Kittyhawk costume on Halloween, and she'd told him he reminded her of a friend. And then she'd gotten a crush on him. He didn't really mind, she was a good girl, and way not pushy. He'd date her if he thought the age difference and having next to nothing in common was alright. Stupid him and morality, it was why he'd never really tried to be a villain all on his own, instead of sticking as a lackey. Lackeys had some leeway. Villains? Nope. Still…it was gratifying, knowing he was on a Rogues list. How many lackeys could say that?
He was snapped out of his thoughts by the yelling of the boys and looked over. Shit. T Gang! He was up and running to where they were roughing up the boys, pulling a switchblade out of his jacket pocket. He'd found it on the ground a few weeks before getting taken back home and had stuck it in his hat, so far in the point it didn't come loose. Stupid cops, they never even bothered to check. Not that it mattered him having it; he really wasn't good at weapons. Still, it felt weirdly natural having a sharp piece of metal in his left hand. It reminded him of a recurring dream now and then, though it had been a saw, not a blade…Ghoul reached the T holding Dak and slashed him on the bicep. Not deep, but enough to hurt. "Roughing up kids, really? And you say the Jokerz are bad!" okay, they also roughed up kids but come on. It wasn't like this was T territory. Unless it had changed since the last time he'd passed by….crap…
He rocked back as the guy hit him in a backhand, but managed to stay on his feet. At least the three had been let go, Dak because the guy was in pain and the other two to help their now bleeding friend. Ghoul waved at the boys to run away, hoping that they weren't going to be stupid and play at being heroes for real. Well, he was worried about Matt and Amp doing that. Dak would pull an 'every villain for himself' card. At least, he hoped Dak would. He'd been a bit different after hanging out with Batman for a day. One of the T's stopped and looked at him. "Hey, I know you! You're that Joker freak! The one on T.V.!" Ghoul gritted his teeth. This new fame was getting annoying. He much preferred being an anonymous faceless Joker boy. But, no, he had to get his face plastered all over the media! Another T looked closer at him and grinned, pounding a fist into his hand lightly. "Oh, I'm going to enjoy this…" Ghoul began backing up, away from-he glanced and was glad the kids seemed to have vanished-the direction the kids had most likely gone, still holding the knife at the ready, his eyes narrowed.
It wasn't going well. Just a few minutes and he was losing. Badly. Ghoul reeled at the punch into his jaw, and fell at the kick to his stomach. Incredibly, they hadn't tried knocking the knife out of his hand. Probably because they knew he wasn't very good at using it. Still, he'd given some hits of his own, but they were really minimal. This was why he shouldn't play hero. He sucked at it. Ghoul began getting up but was knocked over again, the T's closing in on him. He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. "Hey, three against one. That's not a fair fight" Ghoul wasn't surprised when no blows came after that. He'd know that voice anywhere. Ghoul opened his eyes and sat up, looking at the rather ticked off looking Batman (the mask really didn't give off many expressions, but Ghoul figured you could tell by body language or jaw or something. Or maybe anyone who fought or talked to Batman just had a natural ability to know what he was feeling. Did that count as a psychic ability?) The Batman hovered a few feet above them, the rockets giving off a steady heat. He had his arms folded, though his voice was fairly upbeat.
"Whoa! Batman!" "Kick their asses!" Everyone looked over. It was Ghoul's little group, and a few more from the neighborhood. They were cheering. Well, not Dak. He was standing a bit away, just watching. Of course, he'd never been one for cheering. Suddenly, there was a black gloved hand in Ghoul's face. He recoiled until he realized that it was Batman's, offering to help him up. He cautiously took it and got to his feet. The T's were coming out of their stupor and had started advancing. Ghoul grimaced. If he hadn't been pegged as 'traitor' before this, getting helped by Batman would certainly do the trick. Batman looked at him. "It's your fight. I've been chasing them, but it's your fight" Ghoul snorted. "Yea, because I'm such a good fighter. Still…" He worked his jaw, feeling the pain blossom. "I'll take the guy on the far right. I already managed to cut him" Batman nodded and leaped at the other two as Ghoul ran to the T he'd singled out and jumped on the faltering man, latching on with his legs and alternating between punching and making shallow cuts on the face and shoulders.
Terry took out his two T's in record time before looking to see how Ghoul was doing. It looked like something out of a cartoon. No wonder he hardly ever actually fought. He was terrible. Terrible but effective. Still…Terry took a few steps to the side and stuck his foot out as the T ran screaming past him, trying to get the crazy blond goth off of him. The T tripped and fell hard as Ghoul tumbled unceremoniously off of him before he hit the ground. He stood up quickly, pocketing the knife and smoothing his clothes out.
"Thanks…" it took a lot for him to say that to someone he was not fond of and was the source of some of his nightmares and more interesting scars. Batman just nodded. He looked like he was about to leave, then paused. "You're bleeding" Ghoul blinked, and realized the warm sticky feeling in his hair wasn't sweat. He touched the cut on his forehead and shrugged. "It's not as bad as it looks" Batman shrugged and pointed over Ghoul's shoulder, a smirk in his voice. "Yea? Well, I'd let them fix you up. I think they might want to" Ghoul looked and blinked. The group of kids were walking up to him and Batman in awe, a few of them with Band-Aids in grubby hands. When Ghoul looked back to Batman, he was gone. The blond shrugged and kneeled for the kids to administer care. He was really hoping Terry wouldn't bring up his earlier comment about not liking kids, but he knew he would. No one he knew was going to let him live this down. Well, the ones he'd be able to find and talk to, anyway…
"-It was so awesome! And then Ghoul latched onto the guy like a tick and started punching him! And Dak and I decided that villains and heroes could be friends, sometimes, so it would be fine if he became my badguy" Finished Matt to an amused looking Terry as Ghoul slouched on his bed with an ice-pack on his jaw. Terry smiled and nodded at Matt. "Alright, I've got Mr. Wayne's car, go get in it. I'll be out in a minute" Matt paused. "Hey…can I change the station to anything I want?" Terry sighed. "As long as you turn it back before we get home, and it's not anything stupid, yes" Matt cheered and ran out of Ghoul's room. Ghoul chuckled. "I've never really been jealous of people with little siblings, but Matt's a good kid" Terry smiled wryly. There was a lot he'd like to say, but Ghoul might wonder at some of the questions so Terry compensated by putting his hand on the other teen's shoulder, making him look up in surprise. "Yea, he is. And thanks for saving him" Ghoul just stared at Terry for a moment before looking down. "You'd better go take him home before he decides to take that car and go crime-fighting. He was talking about that on our way back to the mall" Terry nodded and began hurrying to the door. He paused. "Thanks. Again. I'm serious" Ghoul sighed as Terry left and flopped backwards onto his bed, staring at the ceiling. He smiled wryly. "It feels good being praised, but I think I'll stick to villainy. Heroes don't actively try to kill you, just maim you" He began laughing, not noticing when it went from his laugh into something less sane and more…Scarecrow. He was already mostly asleep.