A/N: I hope when the DVD comes out that the Director's Cut has more Joker scenes.
This comment from Desert Rose - Hi I absolutely love your story, it's one of my favorite Harley Quinn origin story. I was just wondering if you were going to re-release the first five chapters of the story but from the joker's point of view instead of Harley's?- I feel like this would be interesting material to explore but at the same time very daunting. Instead I can write a series of well placed flash backs. I'll put one in this chapter... let me know if it has any merit.
The moon was a pale silver dollar in the sky. The world, it was just meaningless and shifting darkness before she landed scar side up in the sky. Once she bloomed, she gave the darkness purpose. She gave the night meaning.
I peeked through the curtain. I saw fireflies dancing in the belly of a wolf. I saw Griggs sitting at the bar with two ladies of the night. My bones ached like the cartilage had been eaten away by maggots. They ached for her. My arms yearned to hold her again. My hands pined to squeeze the life from the person who took her from me.
I ordered my men to take Griggs into the holding room. They march off like the toy shoulders that they were.
I followed behind them. Griggs was complaining. He was saying something about how ridiculous this was.
"... Can I go?..." He complained, looking up with a halfhearted smile at Frost. Frost returned an icy, emotionless stare
"Blah blah... blah. All that chit chat's gonna get cha hurt" I heard the Clown say. I placed my hands on his shoulders. He jumped up, startled. I ran my hands up to the sides of his face. I felt his life draining into my fingertips.
I made my way to face him. I could see the color visibly bleach from his face. I could see the rising dread in his eyes.
I lifted the ring on my pinky finger to his lips. I saw him finally comprehending the immense danger that he was in. The Clown was on the pulpit; he would judge if Griggs would live or die.
Griggs placed a respectful kiss on the ring. The Clown put a single coin on the balance in his favor.
"I could tell that you meant that" I commended him. Sweat was pouring out from his skin. The Clown was delighted.
I closed in on Griggs. I wanted to look him right in the eyes. I wanted him to see my conviction.
"You're gonna be my friend" I stated. He nodded incessantly.
"I'll tell you where she is" He said obediently. I placed a finger on his lips to silence him.
The Clown frowned. He put one coin on the balance against Griggs.
"No... we'll play first then you'll tell me where she is" I said... obviously
Frost handed me the Nanite air gun. I brandished it in front of Griggs.
"So what... you're gonna kill me?" He asked desperately.
"God ... people ask me that a lot" I said laughing. The Clown also liked that comment and put another gold coin in Griggs favor on the scale.
"I'm not gonna kill ya" I reassured him. I placed the barrel of the air gun into the fleshy part of his hand. He groaned for a moment as the rice sized explosive lodged itself in his flesh. Then I did the other hand as if I were simply piercing his earlobes. He grunted.
"I am gonna lay you out on the cross, buddy" I explained.
He seemed on the verge of passing out. I place a cellphone in his bleeding hand. He nodded with whatever little strength he had left.
"Give this to her" I demanded.
His eyes were fading in and out of consciousness. I looked back at the Clown. It looked at the scale to pass judgement. Griggs would live.
I directed the men to take Griggs out of my sight. I was alone now, expect for the Clown. It never left me. I basked in the dark for a moment then I heard something whisper behind me.
I turned back to see her ghostly shadow.
"Harley?" I asked the misty creature before me. She smiled but I knew she wasn't really there. It was simply the ghost of the past. It was the memory of a dream... It was my desperation to see her that had summoned this specter
The gray walls of Arkham rose up around me. The illusion of time faded.
I was playing chess with the Clown. He never lost. Every mistake he seemed to make turned into a trap in six moves. I had lost my queen when the Clown forked it and the king with a knight. I was going to lose, as always. But there was a sliver of hope. I had a pawn on the seventh rank, just one step from a promotion.
I moved the pawn forward. The Clown smiled. He extended his bony finger to the pawn. Immediately it crusted over in ice. It was a queen, a perfect ivory queen. I wanted to finish the game but suddenly the orderlies strapped me into straight jacket.
"Sorry, we have a doctor's appointment today" The orderly said in a baby voice, as though she were talking to a buffoon. I scoffed.
They led me down a corridor and then forced me into a seat. I sat pensively, angry that my game had been interrupted. The Clown stood in the corner, ripping the wings off imaginary dragon flies.
After a few more moments of silence, I heard the door open. A woman in a white lab coat sat opposite me. She was beautiful in a sort of generic way.
"Good Morning Mr... err.. Joker. My name is Har..leen... Quinzel" She said
The Clown looked up at her; he was smiling. Her name... was funny. I tossed her name around in my head. I heard the scratching of the Chaotic pen.
She meekly stole a glance of me. The way she looked at me, made my brain feel all funny. I felt my skin crackle with electricity.
"I am going to be evaluating and treating you for the next few months" She continued.
The Clown set the Ivory Queen, from our chess game, on the table between me and the doctor. I immediately saw his intention. I understood his will. It was absurd
"Harleen Quinzel" I heard the Clown say. She looked up startled. Her eyes were full of mystery and ice shards. Realization dawned on me; she really was my queen. Only, she was in disguise.
"Yes?" She asked.
"Can I call you Harley?" I asked. She nodded and murmured in agreement.
The Clown stood behind her, holding the globus cruciger (cross bearing orb) and scepter. He brought them together. In a blinding white light, I saw an icy crown form in his hands. He placed it on her head.
"...Harley Quinn... Harlequin"
"...Makes me wanna laugh"
I saw the chess board underneath us. She was on the seventh rank. I lunged forward, towards her. She fell back into the eighth rank, promoted. She struggled beneath me. She was awake, and yet asleep.
I leaned down and kissed her. I felt the smooth silk of her on my lips. I smelt the lavender body wash she used. I felt the coffee, that had spilled, soaking our clothing. The nerves in my skin were all on fire.
She put her hands on my shoulders, bracing herself against me. I briefly caught a look into her eyes. I hoped that the kiss would awaken the caged bird inside her. It did.
I waved my hands in front on me, banishing the ephemeral ghost. She vanished. I would stop at nothing to find her again. I balled my hands into fists. The Clown threw its head back and laughed. Everything would go up in flames.