Chapter 11 - Breaking glass
"Are you sure this is the right way?"
She was definitely not sure. Her only clue on the location of the GPN-TV station was a dirtied map page from a miraculously unstolen phone book. And she wasn't even certain that she remembered that logo on the van right! What if they were going to the wrong TV station? Oh god she was doomed...
"Uhm, yes. It's definitely the right way." Pamela lied.
And if she was wrong then she would just have to make it up to Tanya in some other way, she reasoned. Selling some of her more experimental plants on the black-market would hurt her heart, but she was certain that it should be enough to cover any possible debt Gabrielle might have accrued.
After waiting for the pedestrian traffic light to turn green and let them cross the street, they jogged around the corner towards what she both dreaded and hoped to be their destination.
It was a five floor building with a glass front, nestled in between some smaller nondescript office complexes. The turned off neon logo proclaiming 'Gotham Phoenix News – Home of Quality Reporting' was a bit tacky, but certainly made the station's purpose hard to miss.
Tanya silently assessed the building before turning towards her.
"Thank you very much for your help in tracking her down. However we need to get inside the station if we want to one hundred percent confirm that Batgirl is indeed being held here. We can't trust a mere guess or the police won't take us seriously, no offence meant by that Pamela. I am sure your super-senses are quite reliable, but we need something a bit more tangible here."
"I completely understand. But..." she desperately wanted to say 'Harley is in there'. Instead she continued with: "... whoever kidnapped Batgirl is probably in there. And they have to be pretty dangerous to take someone of her calibre out."
"Yes, that is most likely the case. That is why I wanted to ask you if you could kindly wait outside and keep an eye on the situation? I will take a peek inside-"
"No!" Pamela shouted.
Tanya alone with Harley? She could never allow that!
"I'll come with you! It's safer if you have somebody to watch your back!"
"You don't have to feel obligated to help me. It's totally alright if you-"
"No!" she heatedly declared again. "I'm coming with you. We're in this together, remember?"
Gabrielle's familiar eyes seemed to stare into her soul for a second, before reality reasserted itself and Tanya let out a deep sigh.
"Then I'll be glad to put my trust in you. I won't forget your dedication."
Turning back around the younger woman eyed the tower of glass and concrete again.
"The front is too visible; we'll need to go through the back."
Though it was Sunday noon, dozens of people were active on the streets, either shovelling snow or passing through to wherever people normally went the day before Christmas, not that Pamela was very interested in such mundanity. She'd rather be at home and tend to her garden than discreetly infiltrate the lair of Harley and her murderous boyfriend, but she couldn't shirk her duty to her late friend.
Rounding the block, they entered a small courtyard, separated off from the TV station's parking lot by a chain link fence. With Tanya's strength, cutting their way through was child's play and soon they found themselves standing before the far less glamorous backside of the building. While Gabrielle's daughter easily leaped up to the first floor of the fire escape, Pamela allowed herself to breathe a sigh of relief: The same van from last night was standing in the parking lot. She had not been wrong after all.
"Are you coming?" Tanya asked from up high and raised an eyebrow in challenge.
Was this a test of her abilities?
Scampering to climb after her, Pamela unfortunately discovered that her strength was not great enough to jump over the spiked top of the steel barrier at ground level. Just as she contemplated growing a liana to carry her upwards, Tanya leaned down with great dexterity and extended a hand. She tentatively grabbed it – being surprised by its icy temperature – before she got pulled over the fence and up to solid ground with one smooth motion.
'How strong is she to lift me with one arm like that? She doesn't even look winded!' Pamela thought in awe and only a hint of jealousy.
"I think it would be best if we were to disguise our identities from now on. I can hear multiple individuals walking around inside." Tanya commented, pulling out a white wooden demon mask from her backpack.
Was she just showing off her cool ninja equipment now? Well, then Pamela would just have to top it!
"A mask? I think nobody will recognize me if I do this..." she grinned smugly as she dragged her fingers over her eyes.
Where her hand touched her skin, moss bloomed in seconds and her whole face turned green underneath as she let go of her human disguise. Pretty white and red petals framed her eyes in a domino-mask-like shape, complimenting her hair and making her look rather dazzling in the reflection of the nearest window if she said so herself.
"Not bad." Tanya acknowledged, although her expression was rather hard to make out behind that fiercely grinning Japanese mask of hers.
Deciding to keep proving her usefulness on this mission, she took the initiative and knelt in front of the window.
"Don't worry, I've got this!"
Taking a tiny seed from her pocket, she gently coaxed it to sprout. Its adorable brown shell burst open upon her request and a lively young vine slipped into the gap between the window and its frame. She smiled as it curled around the handle from within and yanked it down, granting her access. Finally, one whispered "Sleep, little one..." later and the plant returned to its seed form.
"Pretty nifty. Going in silently will make this much easier and it doesn't even leave a trace." commented Tanya from behind her, sounding impressed.
Pamela preened.
Slipping inside, they found themselves in a stereotypical office. No decorations or creativity seemed to be allowed here. Not even a potted plant! How could humans function like this, so far removed from nature? Disgusting...
A loud cough from beyond the door alerted her to the presence of a guard. Of course Tanya was already standing next to the entrance, knife held in a reverse grip. No, she would not be shown up again so soon!
Dashing forward she slammed her palm into the face of the guy walking in and blasted him with a concentrated dose of her mind control pollen. Pulling him to the ground she locked him in place until the chemicals took hold in his brain while Tanya closed the door behind her.
Taking her hand away she saw the signature glassy stare in the man's eyes and harshly commanded him: "Tell us who you are and who you're working for!"
At first he just blandly coughed again, until her words penetrated the fog over his thoughts and forced him to respond: "Richard Willkins... and... I'm working for the Joker..."
Pamela's lips thinned in displeasure.
"What were you doing just now?"
"Patrolling... for Batman..." droned the goon lifelessly.
"Is Batgirl in the building?" asked Tanya, still looking towards the door.
"I... I don't know... N-nobody tells me anything..." stammered the hypnotized man, causing Pamela to shake her head in annoyance.
Why couldn't things be simple and allow them to leave already? Now they would have to keep searching.
"Go to sleep. You are very tired." she ordered the useless waste of skin.
"You never told me that you could mind-control people." Tanya stated quietly, her tone carefully empty.
Well, it hadn't exactly been important... Was that really so bad?
"I don't like doing it." Pamela explained truthfully.
Silence hung over them for a few seconds before Tanya turned abruptly.
"Something is coming."
As if to support her remark a loud crashing noise exploded from the level below them. Instantly, panicked shouting began to rise from the other rooms and many hurried footsteps rushed past their hiding spot on their way towards the entrance of the building.
Soon their floor was silent again, even as the obvious sounds of fighting below escalated. Guns were discharged and many men were yelling over each other.
"This distraction won't last long. Whoever is attacking most likely came alone."
Pamela didn't question how Tanya knew this, instead voicing the evident conclusion of that line of thought: "You want to ascend higher?"
Nodding, the blonde gestured "If anything important is happening in the building right now, I bet it is either on the top floor or the basement. Since the ground floor should be positively swarming with guards at the moment I suggest we head further up."
She really hated that she found herself agreeing with that assessment. Why couldn't Batgirl be somewhere simple to reach?
-W-
Dick weaved through the cars on the road with expert precision. Skidding around a corner he narrowly avoided colliding with a bus on the opposite lane and accelerated further. The engine howled like an angry beast as the cold winter wind lashed out against his skin. Upset honking accompanied his mad race against the clock as he crossed one intersection after another, forcing many a driver to abruptly brake as he took their right of way.
His GPS told him that the fastest route towards Barbara led through a one-way street, so he turned sharply once again, coming face to face with a car attempting to leave the narrow alley. There was no time to stop and thus he ripped on the handlebar and pressed the turbo button. Blue flames shot out of the vents at the end of the bike as it was propelled upwards for a scant two seconds and landed on the roof of the vehicle before blazing onwards. Dick really hoped the dent wouldn't be too costly to repair.
Gunning the accelerator to its limits, he chased after the elusive red marker on his digital map screen. Every minute he spent driving pained him, for it meant that Barbara had to spend more time with the Joker.
After recklessly dodging a police car, the origin of the broadcast finally came into view. Fixated as he was, the only thing he noticed about it was that the front of the building had huge glass doors.
'Perfect.'
He activated the turbo boost once more and rocketed towards it in a straight line. Just as his Batcycle was about to collide with the entrance he jumped off his ride and rolled with the momentum. Like a missile, the two hundred pound marvel of engineering slammed through the dark glass and embedded itself violently inside the splintered remains of the front desk.
Shaking off glass shards, Robin readied his fists and jumped towards the shocked group of gangsters standing around. His punch smacked into a fat guy's cheek which he followed up with a devastating kick to his groin and a third blow to the neck, knocking him out cold.
That finally seemed to make his buddies aware of the danger and they charged at him with knives, pipes or their own bare hands. Two even had pistols, but the fighting as a whole became a blur to Robin. Weaving, blocking, ducking and dealing pain were the only things he cared about at that moment.
More and more came to swarm him while he tried to reach the stairs and slowly his form became sloppier and sloppier... One man with a clown's mask tackled his feet, immobilizing him long enough for his cudgel-wielding partner to nail him in the side. Robin was sure that if he had been able to move his injured arm properly then he could have redirected that attack, but alas the damage was piling up. Over two dozen goons lay defeated on the floor around him and yet it was not enough.
Deciding to switch up his strategy, Robin attempted to make a break for the elevator instead of the stairs, but as if to taunt him somebody was already waiting inside the cabin for him: Harley Quinn herself!
"Surprise~"
Hatred bubbled up in his chest just by looking at this woman and he made to throw a punch at her stupid face. The next thing he knew was something heavy hitting the back of his skull and everything slipped away.
-W-
As she expected the only human noises she could hear came from the top floor. 'Studio B' had a huge, red 'On Air' sign over its main entrance. Luckily no guards were posted in the hallway, but peeking through the door nonetheless seemed risky to Tanya.
Scanning the hallway revealed another entrance to a handily labelled make-up room which from what she could hear appeared to be empty. Knife drawn, she lunged inside but found the area blissfully empty. A quick look confirmed that the room connected to the back of the studio stage via a curtain, likely serving as a greenroom for the reporters before they went in front of the camera. She motioned for Pamela to be as quiet as possible as she crept up to the curtain and stole a swift look at the person laughing on the other side.
"And you know what he said? 'Delicious!' Hehehehe!"
There was a man standing in the spotlight, focused on the nearest camera and the operator behind it, juggling apples of all things. In the relative darkness to his right sat a red-haired woman in a black costume... Batgirl!
Yes, mission success! Oh, Tanya could already imagine the extra zeros on her bank account.
The only obstacle in her way to monetary salvation? That cackling and juggling madman who was undoubtedly the infamous Joker.
A depraved and murderous anarchist hell-bent on slaughter and destruction. He was a domestic terrorist that should have been subjected to the electric chair long ago for any number of his senseless crimes. Years inside Arkham Asylum hadn't managed to cull his insanity in any way, it seemed. He was the living proof that nihilists were indeed worse than communists, as impossible as it may sound.
"We have to leave! Now!" Pamela urgently whispered into her ear.
Yes, they absolutely should back off now. The Joker was a dangerous psychopath that she didn't want to mess with. But what if he harmed Batgirl? What if he killed her?
Then all her beautiful bounty money would go up in smoke.
"Not yet." Tanya murmured back. "If possible, set up a trap with your plants in case we need to flee quickly. I'll keep watch."
Pamela shot her an annoyed look, but began to do something in her cupped palms. Even buying a few seconds would hopefully be enough time for them to sprint down the hallway and eject themselves out of a side window. The drop to the nearest roof would probably be too much for the botanist, but Tanya had every confidence that she could catch her after lifting her earlier.
Before she could formulate a further course of action, the sound of the elevator arriving stopped her.
Soon multiple loud voices – five as far as she could tell – drew near and they were dragging something heavy along with them; either a weighty duffle bag or an unconscious human.
It turned out to be the female super-criminal Harley Quinn and four of her henchmen who were carrying an unconscious... Robin? Was that his name? Tanya could scarcely remember such mindless hero gossip. They tied the assistant of Batman to a chair next to Batgirl, after which the four men left to guard the corridor.
Waking him up with a few slaps to the cheek, the clownishly dressed woman purred: "Wakey, wakey, Batboy... We are gonna play a little game..."
"Shut up and release me!" Robin hissed furiously, overcoming his drowsiness remarkably fast.
"Nuh-uh!" denied Harley in a childish manner, waving her finger.
"I don't care! I won't play your sick games!" he continued, incensed.
"If you don't want to play by the rules of the game then I'm gonna carve up your girlfriend here and we wouldn't want that, now would we?" the Joker chimed in with an oddly gentle expression.
Sensibly, the young vigilante shut up after that ominous declaration, exchanging a glance with his fellow captive.
"No spoiling the show, darling!" Harley giggled. "So the rules of the game are... Whoever reveals their deepest, darkest secrets on live TV spares the other one of excruciating pain!"
"What?" Batgirl asked perplexedly.
"Alright, to simplify it for you dunderheads, if you willingly give up a secret, like the identity of Batman or your own for example~... then your friend won't have to endure the heat of my cute widdle Bunsen burner! Shows that you really care about them by taking that burden onto your own shoulders and all that!"
Harley produced a camping burner from behind her back and cheerfully ignited it, playfully wiggling the blue flame to and fro.
"You young heroes are all about taking responsibility for the suffering of others, after all! So, who will it be?
"Why do you even care!?" Batgirl tried to reason with her mentally deranged captor.
"Oh, I don't. Really, who you are beneath your masks is soooo boring. But the rest of the city? No, they'd love to know..." grinned the Joker maliciously.
"We won't tell you anything!" declared Robin with a, quite frankly, stupid amount of confidence.
"Oh well..." Harley shrugged "So Batgirl, where do you want your burn marks? Your thighs or your arms?"
Turning up the valve on her burner, Harley increased the length of the flame and stepped closer to the tied up woman.
"No, wait!" yelled her crime-fighting partner, his earlier bravado nowhere to be seen.
Tanya readied her gun in anticipation.
"I'm waiting~" purred the villainess, slowly inching her torture device towards a squirming Batgirl.
"My real name-"
"Don't say it!" Batgirl hastily interrupted, but Robin carried on with a determined look in his eyes.
"My real name is... D-"
However he would not get to finish that sentence since in that moment the door to the studio got kicked open so hard it flew off its hinges. In stormed a very aggravated Batman who immediately knocked the goon behind the camera unconscious with a backhanded punch and threw a strange metallic object at Harley Quinn. The villainess had to jump to the side in order to dodge the weird, vaguely bat-shaped blade which brought some distance between her and Batgirl.
'Damn it!' Tanya silently cursed
Why did that bastard have to show up before she got the chance to call her bounty in! If he was the true instigator behind that scheme then he wouldn't feel the need to pay her at all now!
He appeared to be wounded and his cape was missing, so Batman had clearly been in some scuffle beforehand. Could she possibly knock him out after he finished off the villains and sell Batgirl back to him, basically for the second time? That sounded very risky. She didn't want to make an enemy out of the guy and his mysterious benefactors yet. Who knew which corporate interests were attached to a man as well equipped and informed as Batman? Maybe he was even a special agent for the government.
Tanya had no choice but to wait and watch the situation develop further.
"Ah, right on time, Bats! I trust my Mexican friend's work has been entertaining?" the Joker beamed, apparently unperturbed by the interruption of his plan.
"You are not getting away from this one, Joker. This has gone too far." Batman growled.
"Too far you say? Does this go too far, eh?"
Ripping a previously hidden gun from his pocket, the psycho pressed it to Batgirl's temple.
'NO!'
Suddenly the world around her shifted.
The motion of the Joker's arm stilled and the dust falling through the beams of the overhead lights froze in mid air. Tanya was alert to every single muscle fibre pulling and pushing underneath her skin; she knew where her every drop of blood was heading inside her veins and she could feel the rippling tension within her tendons. That incredible awareness was not an abrupt development as she instinctively understood. She had always felt these things deep down.
Her mind had just been unable to handle all of them at once. Suppressed and hidden by her subconscious, those sensations were now pushed to the forefront, filling her mind with a detached clarity that only served to expose her surroundings as the fake and pathetic reality it truly was.
Everything was rotting and falling apart. From the scratched floor boards to the flesh of those silly costumed humans, they were all returning to a state of entropy. Tanya saw the weakness in Batman's muscles, where he must have gotten hit and how he favoured his left leg over his right one. She smelled the Joker's sweat and melting cheap make-up as well as the nervous excitement that was exuded from his pores. With her superior ears she heard Batgirl's frantic heartbeat and the rattle of her slightly slime-coated lungs from meters away.
They were all failing in some way.
Just like when she had accidentally taken that thug's life on the trip home from Pamela's shop, the world seemed like an open book to her; comprehensible and logical to peruse at her leisure.
There was no uncertainty here. Only the choice of what she wanted to do with that information.
Would she let her bounty slip through her fingers at the behest of a manic psycho?
Earlier, she had been wary of the Joker and his gruesome reputation. Now that she bore witness to his frail humanity she felt only derision for herself and the city, anger for the fact that they had ever been deceived by his feeble act. He was a simple puppet of his hedonistic whims, which had been put in a position of power by pure coincidence
Normally, swinging the odds back around would require at least a little bit of luck. An opportune instant in which the rules of probability ruled in her favour. The inherent randomness of the universe ensured that there was nothing certain in life after all.
But now she was the one in control!
In complete command of her own body and its actions, she didn't need to 'hope' that what she was about to do was going to work. Tanya willed it and it simply happened. Nothing more, nothing less.
She was the hammer in a world made of glass.
So she broke it.
Her pistol snapped to its target and she squeezed the trigger once, adjusted with the recoil and fired again. Two flicks of her finger were all it took. How dull.
Time only resumed its normal flow again when the lifeless body of the Joker hit the ground, now missing his trigger finger and a chunk of the back of his head.
And then the screaming started...