"What a delicious surprise," Madame Twyla said to Bruce as he came into her shop.
Her shop was full of boxes and there were signs in the window. A going out of business sale.
"You're closing," Bruce noticed.
"Last week," Twyla said and polished a bottle on one of the half empty shelves. "I'm relocating to Switzerland."
"How much is this?" the only customer in the shop, a young woman with glasses, asked Twyla.
"Fifty," Twyla answered. "But for you, ten."
"Really? Thank you, I really need something for my allergies," the woman replied and then looked at Bruce. "Oh! Oh wow, Bruce Wayne!"
"Hello," Bruce said to the woman.
"I'll ring you up," Twyla said to the woman and Bruce watched them walk over to the register.
Bruce noticed that something about Madame Twyla looked different. And then he realized she was dressed differently from the way that he typically saw her. He was sure she has almost always worn very loose fitting, draping dresses and head wraps about half of the time. Today she was wearing a fitted black tee shirt and jeans. It was very casual. Bruce had always assumed that she was older than he was but now he was not sure.
Her hair was entirely white, but her skin was youthful and smooth and blemish free. Her neck and hands were also youthful. Her facial features in isolation looked no older than 25, which confused Bruce more than anything. It was incredibly mysterious. Bruce found himself wondering if she had purposely bleached her hair to make it silver. With fitted clothing she looked much smaller, her frame was very slim but her bust was full. He then began to wonder why she would hide such a figure at almost all times.
Once the customer left she returned to Bruce.
"Was not expecting to see you here again, handsome," she said.
Bruce pulled out the small bottle from his pocket.
"Returning?" she asked and placed a fist on her hip. "You do recall that was free. No refund."
"I need to use it," Bruce said. "And you told me you made it mild...tolerable. I need it to be more..."
"Explicit vision," Twyla said.
"Yes.." Bruce said. "And I'll be going to more than one place, so I'm not sure one dose is enough."
"Exactly how crystal clear are you trying to see things and what specifically do you need to see?" Twyla asked.
"I already told you that I need to see some things in my wife's past," Bruce said.
"Mhm," Twyla said.
"As clear as you can make them," Bruce said. "I need to understand things completely."
"Do you know the exact timing of what you need to see?" she asked.
"Ah.." Bruce thought. He knew the time of the night of the masquerade ball, but nothing else. "No. Not all of it."
"Then I will need context," Twyla told him. "If you don't know the exact time, the formula can be created to guide you to exactly what you need to see. Otherwise you'll waste my precious ingredients seeing things you don't need to, or you'll see nothing at all."
"Context," Bruce repeated.
"I don't judge," Twyla said. "It's romantic right? You want to see your wife's lovers."
"One," Bruce said.
"Well I can't make the formula for you to see one specific person, you may see others," Twyla informed him.
"Fine..that's fine..but I need to see everything," he said.
"I doubt you will," she said.
"Why?" Bruce said. "Will the formula run out?"
"Oh no, handsome," she said. "But you likely won't stick around to watch everything. I've seen this sort of thing before. You'll see a few minutes and that will be enough for you."
"I assure you this situation if different than whatever it is you've seen with other people," Bruce said.
"Whatever you say," Twyla said and traced her fingers along Bruce's forearm before taking the small bottle from him. "Wait here."
.
.
.
"Do you want to say hi to Jack?" Adriana asked Arsenio who was in her arms with his face against her chest.
"Hi..Dak," Arsenio said quietly.
"Hi," the Joker said to him and looked at Adriana.
"He's okay," Adriana explained. "He just had a little checkup with Dr. Kapoor and had to get a shot. He cried a little but you were brave my baby."
Arsenio hid his entire face in Adriana's shirt and the Joker smiled.
"I thought I heard a cry," the Joker said. "But it's over now right?"
Arsenio looked at the Joker and quietly nodded.
"Look on the bright side," the Joker said. "Couldn't possibly hurt as much as a gunshot."
Adriana closed her eyes and began shaking her head shamefully. The Joker looked at Arsenio's confused expression.
"I mean..with a water gun of course," the Joker said. "Or a paintball gun. You know what those are, right-"
"Let's just," Adriana interrupted him. "Find something fun to do today other than talking about guns."
"Yeah," the Joker said.
.
.
.
Bruce made his way to the hotel with the two five-ounce bottle Twyla had given him and he wondered if she was right. He wouldn't want to, or need see everything. He had a feeling everything would be clear without seeing all that happened. It wouldn't take more than a few minutes for him too see how the Joker had manipulated, tricked or coerced her...and had done it so well that even she, with her mind reading gift, was not able to identify it. But Bruce was there for her. To protect and look out for her, and he needed to find the truth.
Bruce arrived at the hotel where the masquerade ball had happened. He used to own this hotel, before selling it to pay Twyla. The hotel was quiet on this sunny day, one of the last of summer.
"Hello, Mr. Wayne," the bellhop said to him.
"Good afternoon," Bruce said and then realized that it would be strange to use this potion with people around. But he was anxious to try it and didn't care.
He felt the eyes of a few people on him when he entered the lobby. He didn't know where to begin. Privacy was something he needed, at least momentarily. Bruce made his way to the ballroom, which was dark and completely empty. No one questioned him, they probably assumed he was just checking out how things were going at the hotel.
With his hands shaking slightly, Bruce downed the first bottle of potion. The taste was horrible, like sulfur. He coughed a few times, trying to get the taste out of his mouth and throat. He looked around the room, nothing had happened. And then he remembered, he needed to touch the walls.
Bruce walked over to the wall and touched one of the pillars under one the enormous marble arches. It happened so fast that he took his hand back from the wall.
As soon as he touched it, the room was full. Masked dancers, the sounds of music, and he could even smell the champagne on the breath of the man standing next to him. Once he lifted his hand the room was dark and empty again. Bruce took a deep breath and placed his hand against the marble again. This was by far the strangest experience in his life. The potion took him to the exact time he needed to see.
Once he could see the party again he looked around. He saw himself. He watched how confidently he spoke and moved. He looked at the two women talking to him flirtatiously. He couldn't remember either of their names. He heard a man clear his voice beside him. Immediately, Bruce got a bad vibe from the man. He knew it wasn't the Joker, the man was only about 5' 10''. This must have been the man the police questioned and realized that he was a criminal that was associated with the Joker. The reason for the evacuation.
Then he saw Adriana by the bar. She was in a mask but he recognized her immediately. Her original deep blonde hair color, her skin, her energy, her body. She stuck out to him the most. He watched her take a look across the room at him..the version of him that was at this party and did not even notice she was there. He wanted to go back in time. If he had seen her..if he had left these other women behind and had gone to her, everything would have been different.
He then watched Adriana look across the room at Damien. Damien, like Bruce, was distracted with another woman. Bruce's heart hurt for Adriana, and he watched her anger and tension as she downed a drink. She shook her head and looked like she was beginning to leave. As she walked away from the bar, Bruce saw her bump into a man. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but he needed to. He couldn't get any closer without removing his hand from the wall. After watching them talk for a moment, Bruce knew it. This man was the Joker.
Adriana appeared annoyed as the man extended a hand to her and pulled her onto the dance floor. Immediately, Bruce could see that the Joker was using dancing as a way to get a closer look at the governor and his security detail. After a few more moments he saw the Joker pull out two bottles. In a shocking move, the Joker lifted his mask for a second. Bruce watched them both drink from the bottle but before he could try to figure out what was going on he heard the voice of the man next to him.
"I don't have it," the man was saying to a cop.
"Sir, we're going to need you to remove your mask," the cop asked.
"Can't," the man said. "Gotta huge zit."
"Run his prints," the officer next to him said.
Bruce looked back up. The Joker saw the man being the center of the cop's attention. Before he could register what was happening the Joker was pulling Adriana out of the room.
Bruce picked up his hand from the wall and was now even more confused than when he had begun. He walked out of the ballroom quickly and placed his hand on the wall in the large corridor...Adriana and the Joker were looking for a way out. The police were everywhere. They disappeared into the lobby.
Bruce went into the lobby and straight away, employees were asking him if he needed anything. He wished that the hotel was empty so that he wouldn't be bothered. Adriana had told him they went to the most expensive suite, and Bruce had no idea if it was occupied. He asked the concierge for the key and she gave it to him, no questions asked.
Bruce got into the elevator, and went to the suite. It was amazing how quickly it went from daylight to evening in a split second as soon as he touched the wall. The Joker was unmasked and was looking out of one of the windows. He turned back, looking straight through Bruce and at Adriana.
Bruce felt overcome with the need to protect her. This madman had his wife alone and there was nothing he could do. Adriana looked angry...fuming.
"What?" Bruce heard the Joker's voice speaking to Adriana. "Trust me, this is as luxury of a hostage experience as it gets."
"Fuck you.." Bruce then heard Adriana say behind him. He could hear the alcohol in her voice.
He watched her pick up a glass and throw it at the Joker and then he feared for her life, even though he knew she was alive and safe. Instead of reacting angrily the Joker laughed at her. Bruce watched as Adriana walked right through him, he was invisible.
"Come on," Adriana said to the Joker, anger in her tone. "Let's settle this now."
She sounded like she wanted to fight him.
"Wait for combat, until you can blink both eyes at the same time," the Joker said, taunting her. She staggered back a step. Bruce wondered how much she had to drink.
And then he knew, she was tipsy. It would have been easy for the Joker to take advantage of her.
"I hate you," Adriana said to the Joker and grabbed her chest.
"Heart troubles?" the Joker asked Adriana.
Now Bruce was more confused than ever. Had the Joker drugged her? Then he heard the Joker murmur that he had the same issue.
"It's so hot..." Adriana slurred and walked off, staggering.
Bruce ran after her, tracing his hand along the wall. She did not look well. She had suddenly gone pale, and he watched as she collapsed through the doorway of one of the bathrooms, losing both shoes.
"Adriana!" Bruce called out after watching her fall, but she couldn't hear him.
She began to shake and her breathing became louder and faster. Bruce didn't know what was going on. He placed his hand on the doorway and reached out to touch her but he couldn't. His hand was not even visible to himself. She began to sweat profusely and Bruce wondered if this was some early attack of her gift. The waves of heat she had encountered. He knew that if the Joker took advantage of her at this moment, when she was so vulnerable, he would have to kill him no matter what. He would need to force Lucius to reveal his location. He would burn the man alive. Adriana grabbed her chest and lower abdomen and her lips lost all color.
"So..." the Joker's voice came from above as he looked down at her. "It was a poison."
Bruce frowned and looked back and forth between them both. This was more confusing than he had possibly imagined. What drink had they swallowed on the dance floor?
"I didn't know.." Adriana said weakly. "I swear."
"Get away from her!" Bruce shouted, unheard by either of them.
Adriana asked the Joker for his phone and he refused, saying that she would call an ambulance. She promised she wouldn't and asked him to call...of all people..Madame Twyla. After cursing at Twyla over speaker phone, Adriana went limp and the Joker spoke to her.
As they spoke, Bruce began to understand. It was one of her potions. Adriana had stolen a bottle and didn't know what the contents were. She and the Joker had downed the entire bottle. And now their bodies were shutting down from the potent aphrodisiac.
"No!" Bruce said as he heard Madame Twyla explain what they needed to do.
"Did you hear her?" the Joker asked her and Bruce watched Adriana nod.
The Joker looked completely uninterested and seemed to have given up any type of hope that they would survive. In the lighting of the bathroom, Bruce could see the Joker's unpainted face. Enormous jutting scars, horrendous teeth, dark circles around his eyes indicating that he never slept.
Adriana let out a weak laugh. "I knew you were gay."
"Adriana," Bruce called as he watched her eyes shut and her chest stopped rising and falling. She appeared dead. "Adriana!"
The Joker looked over at her listlessly and shut his eyes. He watched the Joker's body seize up and he grabbed his chest. Bruce knew a heart attack when he was one. The Joker let out an angry sound. He looked up at the ceiling and began breathing quickly. His face became more colorless than it already was. The man looked like a zombie.
Bruce watched him crawl over to Adriana, horrified. The Joker grabbed Adriana's chin and turned her face upwards before letting her face drop to the side again. He placed to finger's on her neck, feeling for a pulse before leaning over and grabbing his chest again.
"Get...away from her..." Bruce said in vain.
The Joker wiped his face in the crook of his arm. He looked away from Adriana as his right hand went down, lifting the bottom her her dress. The Joker turned his face entirely towards the wall facing away from Bruce and Bruce suddenly realized the Joker had no interest in doing this. He did everything without looking. He parted her legs and positioned himself in between. While stabilizing himself on one shaky arm, he unzipped his pants with the other and barely entered her.
Bruce felt nausea. He dropped his hand from the wall and lunged at the toilet, heaving out his breakfast. After grabbing a wad of toilet paper to wipe his face, he touched the wall again. Since he was beside the toilet now, he was by their heads.
The Joker moved slowly, with barely the edge of himself inside of her. Bruce told himself the man was simply too weak to do what he wanted with her because he was poisoned. And that based on the size of what he was trying to penetrate her with, he didn't have the fortitude to fully do what he wanted. It would require effort and force. This was not a considerate man, Bruce told himself. He was not concerned with whether or not he was hurting her, Bruce voiced in his mind.
He felt sick again but before he could gag, he saw Adriana's finger twitch. He then could see that she was breathing again. The Joker felt her breath on his cheek and glanced at her face before looking away again. He kept moving slowly and moments later, Bruce heard her gasp and watched her left ankle curl inwards for a few seconds before her body went limp again.
The Joker frowned after hearing the small sound she made and grabbed her face again. The Joker had the faintest color return to his lips. So did Adriana. He released her face and held his chest again. Another attack. Bruce watched the Joker's eyes. This was not a man afraid of death, but the instinct of survival was within him. He placed both hands on the floor, looking away from her again and kept going.
Bruce knew Adriana wasn't to blame. This wasn't under her control. He watched her climax unconsciously four times, and this was what he needed to hear. It was involuntary. She had no control.
She opened her eyes. The Joker turned to her, waves of his messy and limp hair fell around his face as he looked down at her. He stopped moving all together. She didn't look confused or horrified. She looked relaxed and dazed. Bruce watched her glance down and saw the subtle look of surprise on her face. Bruce could immediately tell that she was impressed.
Her voice softly encouraged him to continue. This is life or death, Bruce told himself, remembering Twyla's words to them. He again felt his stomach contents rising. The Joker refused to move.
Bruce watched Adriana moving her hips until the Joker released. The man was so reluctant. Immediately, he withdrew what little of himself he had inside her. Adriana's hands went up to his face. She kissed the ghastly man twice and told him to take her to the bed.
At this point, Bruce knew what Twyla meant. He now understood why people didn't watch everything. He was seeing what he didn't want to. The Joker was the reluctant party and Adriana was the one that wanted to continue. The Joker picked her up and took her out of the bathroom.
Bruce sat alone on the floor in the bathroom, too petrified to follow. Heaved once more over the toilet. Afterwards, he pulled out his phone. He called Twyla.
"You did this," Bruce said.
"Hmm?" Twyla asked. "What have I done now, handsome?"
"This is your doing," Bruce said.
"Darling, I haven't a clue what you mean," Twyla said. "I have a customer. I am busy."
Twyla ended the call. Bruce clutched his phone angrily. He moved to his feet, overcome with the urge to throw the porcelain tissue box beside him. But he controlled himself. He wanted to leave. There was another small bottle of potion. He would go to Adriana's house and watch what he could bear to. How could this go on?
As soon as Bruce's hand grazed the doorknob the suite went dark again. He was pulled back into the potion's effect. He heard Adriana screech and ran to her. He slapped his hand down against the wall in the bedroom and what he saw nearly brought him to his knees. They were both entirely nude, the Joker's back had the gleam of sweat. Adriana gripped him as he entered her completely. Bruce didn't know how much time had passed but the sheets were covered in wet spots. But he did know that the Joker didn't speak Spanish or Arabic or whatever incoherent words were coming out of Adriana's mouth. Even Bruce could barely understand her. He tried his best to translate her unintelligible blend of languages. It was the drug. It was the poison, he told himself. It was Twyla who had done this to her.