28. Pixie Dust

Disclaimer: I don't own Batman or any of the DC characters created to go along with it. I have created my own characters though and I do own them—some of them may seem to represent real-life representations of other Batman characters though, but I will not say who I am introducing in this chapter just yet! You'll just have to read…hehehehe

When the Batman never came, the Joker decided to take it upon himself to find him.

"Well can't I come with you?" I asked, following him over to the window by the fire escape.

"No—not tonight," he said finally.

"Well why not? I thought we were a team!" I retaliated.

"We…are. Giada, look, listen—the Batman is out to find…you. If he does, then, well, we have a problem. You—need to stay here until I can figure out his whereabouts," the Joker explained.

"Alright. Well, then, I'll be going out myself. You can find Batman…and I'll…go do something else. I'm tired of staying put here! I want to get out and wreak havoc on Gotham!" I exclaimed.

"In time, my love; in time," he said as he slid his gloved hand down my face. He paused for a moment and then escaped through the window.

What the fuck was his deal?! He left me in the apartment to sit idly while he goes and searched for Batman. We were supposed to be partners—a team! Why did he recruit me in the first place?! I was furious. I could feel my blood boiling. I walked into the bathroom and touched up my face paint.

"Come on Jade, let's get out there and find Batman for ourselves," I said aloud to myself as I gazed into the mirror. I glanced down and saw the peeler on the bathroom sink. I picked it up and placed it into my jacket pocket. I was the perfect harlequin to find the Batman.

I took a last moment to gaze at myself in the mirror. My make up was perfect. My costume was the costume I wore at the Jokers Wild—black and red corset underneath my black tailed overcoat, complete with various red shaped diamonds patched onto it. The pants, both ripped, one red, just past my knee and the other black, just above my knee, fit just as they should, snugly, but not too tight so that I couldn't move. My red lips smiled back at me in satisfaction. I slipped my red glove onto my left hand and the black glove onto my right hand.

I was ready. I slid out the window and down the fire escape to the ground below. I stealthily slid through the back allies of downtown Gotham, keeping a watchful eye out for Batman. He always seemed to pop up uninvited and unnoticed. I would not be taken by surprise tonight!

I just hoped I didn't run into the Joker while on my mission—he'd probably be angry with me for going out against his wishes. Oh well. He couldn't control my life. I was sure if I found Batman before he did and captured him, he would have to be pleased with me—pleased with me for going out and proving I could function as a high rate criminal on my own.

Maybe I'd steal a few things while I was out anyway. Giggling to myself, I tip toed through a few more allies until I reached an ATM.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

As the night went on, I somehow was successful in stealing ATM money. I'm not too sure how I managed to hack into the machine, but I did it. Maybe it was all the technical and mechanical talk the Joker had managed to impose on me during our various talks. He was so good at getting me to listen to him talk, even if it was about something I didn't find interesting—he managed to unconsciously filter his technical knowledge into me and I don't even know how he did it! He truly was a criminal mastermind.

I hit up every ATM downtown I could find until I decided I'd hit up midtown and uptown. But when I got there, all of the ATMs had been stolen from; an odd crime to have two criminals performing on the same night. It couldn't possibly be the Joker robbing ATMs in uptown and midtown. Also, there were traces of powder on each ATM machine. I thought it odd for someone to snort cocaine in an ATM and then rob it, so I figured I had enough fun with money for one night. I slipped down a private ally to count my cash.

"100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600…" I counted the hundred dollar bills in my hand.

"So you're the downtown ATM robber!" a voice exclaimed from behind me. I put the cash into my jacket pocket and spun around. A woman was standing there, clad all in green; dark green leggings with a light green body suit. Over the suit, she wore an oversized white button down shirt. She wore a black mask over her eyes and stood in front of me, incredulous that I would steal from her downtown ATM machines.

"Uh, yeah. I was bored," I responded, "who the fuck are you?"

"I think the better question is, who are you?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips and shifting her weight to the other leg. Jesus, she was thin, but with curves in all the right places. It was no secret why she dressed the way she did—she had fabulous legs! I was jealous. She was taller than me by probably three or so inches, but I chose to not feel intimidated by her. She kind of reminded me of Matilda back at the Jokers Wild in Boston.

Licking my lips, I approached her slowly, "I'm Jade. And who are you?"

"They call me Pixie Dust," she responded.

"Oh, so you're the crack whore leaving traces of that shit at every ATM I've been to uptown," I responded flatly.

"Cocaine? No, I don't use that shit. It's a special dust I've created from botanicals that allows me to cover up my prints—so I can never get caught," she explained.

Brilliant! But what the hell was a plant scientist doing robbing ATMs?

"So what's a little harlequin like you doing robbing banks?" Pixie Dust asked me.

"Uh, I told you—I was bored," I responded.

"I see how it is. You really should find yourself a man, Jade," she stated, leaning against the building opposite mine.

"Excuse me?" I asked. This woman was just too much! I hated her already.

"You heard me—find yourself a man and you won't be so bored at night that you have to go rob ATM machines," she stated.

"And the same could be said for you," I responded.

"I've got my eye set on one already. I'm just trying to catch his attention," she responded.

"Oh—the Batman?" I asked with a laugh, "He's about the only one who'll notice someone's been robbing every ATM in Gotham city!"

"No—not the Batman—someone else with more criminal power," she replied. My heart nearly exploded. She obviously meant the Joker. Who else in this city held more criminal power than the Joker?! My hands clenched themselves into fists as my blood began to boil.

"Oh, so then which criminal would that be?" I asked, trying not to sound threatened.

"Salvatore Maroni," she replied nonchalantly. My heart immediately stopped racing.

"Oh him?" I asked, feeling a smile escape onto my lips.

"Yeah, him. Why are you smiling?" she asked.

"No reason. You must be new to Gotham," I said finally.

"Yeah, a little. But I've heard of Salvatore Maroni for quite some time and from what I've gathered, he's the biggest mob boss in this city. All I need is to capture his attention and I'm all set," she explained.

"Right. Well good luck in doing that!" I said as I turned to leave.

"Where you going?" Pixie asked.

"To rob something other than an ATM," I responded flatly.

"Well, I'll see you around, Jade," she called back to me, almost in a mockery.

"Yeah, see you around!" I called back to her. I rolled my eyes and left the ally, this time in search of Batman.

How dare that Pixie chick even consider that Salvatore Maroni was the biggest crime boss in Gotham! Had she really never heard of the Joker?! I was appalled. But I guess at the same time, I was a bit relieved that she didn't know him or else she'd definitely try to get with him. I would have none of that. What a bitch.

I wandered down a couple of allies, in search of Batman, but soon grew tired, and a bit anxious. I felt I had been literally, all over Gotham, and I had not even come close to running into my beloved Joker. Where could he possibly be? Maybe he was meeting with the other mobsters. I bet that's where he was! That's probably the real reason he didn't want me tagging along with him. What a bitch.

I slid down a side ally and decided to haphazardly count my money again, just for no real reason.

"100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600…" I counted aloud to myself. Suddenly, I heard a bit of a commotion from down the ally. I shoved the money back into my coat pocket and clutched the peeler in my hand in case I needed to defend myself.

Then, from out of the darkness of the ally emerged Salvatore Maroni, the Chechen, the Joker and…that Pixie chick. My heart exploded and my blood reached boiling point on instant.

"Hey, it's Jade!" Pixie said aloud with a laugh as she pointed to me. The four of them approached me and I simply clutched the peeler in my hand tightly.

"Who?" Salvatore asked Pixie as they came closer.

"Jade! I met her a little while ago in an ally uptown," Pixie explained, batting her eyelashes at the men. I wanted to gag. The Joker just licked his lips and approached me.

"Jade, what are you doing?" he asked in a lowered voice.

"Me? What am I doing? What are you doing?" I asked through clenched teeth.

"Oh, Jade—this is the Joker," Pixie said, acting as though she'd known him all her life.

"Yeah, I got that. We know each other—quite well actually," I snapped back at her.

"Oh right—you're both clowns…of the sort," she responded. I wanted to cut her face. She deserved it.

"I wanted to get out…and you know…see the city," I replied to the Joker.

"And I ran into these…citizens," he responded, gesturing to the two men and one woman behind him.

"Look, Joker, are we going to discuss business or are we going to chat it up with your girlfriend here?" Salvatore asked impatiently.

"Just a minute here…Maroni," the Joker said, licking his lips.

"He can talk to you like that?" I could hear Pixie ask Maroni.

Maroni shrugged his shoulders and paused a moment before responding, "The Joker calls the shots in this town,"

Fuck. I was fucked. This Pixie chick now knew the Joker was the man to get—not Maroni. The battle was on.

"Giada, look, I know the…uh…Batman is out. You really need to head back. I'll be back within the hour—it won't take long to discuss…business," the Joker said to me quietly.

"Uh huh," I responded, crossing my arms in front of my chest, "Yup,"

"I'm being…serious," he said finally.

"Yeah, well how about you put a smile on that face," I replied, showed him the peeler and then ran from the ally. I really didn't know what else to do. I was so angry I would have cut them all, including the Joker. I really wanted to find Batman now—to prove to them all that I could work on my own—and to let that Pixie Dust woman know that I was the Joker's woman.