Never too Serious 5 - (DCverse, SI)

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Having Olive look over my plans and give a brutally honest opinion was where the biggest case of personal revisionism started.

I didn't trick myself into believing the end result was a perfected thing, but the new plans held a few less details that, truth be told, overcomplicated thing with minimal improvements. Olive was surprisingly delighted to find out I was the real Joker- well, the new one.

She didn't have any trouble digesting I wasn't the original one, my lack of smile and overall friendliness paving that road of understanding, but she also picked this much by interacting with the thugs all around the base. I had curbed the worst by having them killed.

It was twice the effort, one to remove the scum and another to remove potential moles in case the old Joker came back alive somehow. You never leave the worst of that group alive when you know they will backstab you the very moment the old smiler was back for trouble.

Still, Olive had a blast. The kid accepted not mentioning what was happening there, and I took the chance to explain her what was happening with her mother. To say that the girl was aghast to know that her only parent was influenced by a bad person from the past would be an understanding.

"H-How do I save her?"

"You don't. We are," I hummed as a response, patting her head while hugging her tenderly. "You are but a child, Live. I bet your mom would appreciate your bravery, but it's a risky situation. Especially since Calamity if a fire-bender."

The kid was not utterly convinced, but appeared most sympathetic of her mother's constant 'black outs'. Luckily for her, no sudden cases of fires were coming up from the place they lived at so... Calamity wasn't free just yet. But I admit that I had been worried on how I was supposed to deal with it.

There were multiple solutions ranging from direct and indirect, but I realized that I didn't need to get too close to Sybil to get Amity Arkham out of her soul. Oh no, there was something very simple that was mentioned by a book written by Zatanna Zatara herself:

'If a powerful ghost is able to cast possessions through her bloodline, there are multiple solutions to this problem but the most satisfying answer lies within the remains of the possessing ghost. By having the bones sanctified, the ghost would lose their anchor in the living realm and be forced to return to the realm of the undead'.

That sounded simple, and yet there lied the issue: I know where the bones were, I don't know where precisely those were. Gotham Academy, the place had been there for a long ass time, but access to the bones had been particularly difficult to find since the 'tomb of Millie Jane Cobblepot' was thought to be a mystery for most of the staff and students.

Plus, I couldn't find any known map of the place. Hence why... Olive was giggling one day as I brought her to see where she may found higher education in a decade or so. Gotham Academy had an Open Day week. People of all sort could visit to explore the school and, after getting Olive ready to lie about me being 'simple and bland' Uncle John, I got her to check out the place.

No one complained, especially with how polite and well-behaved little Olive was around others. I was a bit worried someone would have nagged at me for having a 'Joker outfit' but I had to tell some guy I was on a job that forced me to constantly have it on to keep them from nagging me too much. Surprisingly enough, Gotham holds a sense of kinship for those stuck in unfair jobs.

So, no one truly stopped us from looking around, getting a proper understanding of where the stairs were, and even got the chance to look for what kind of security system the school had. Nothing too impressive as I had a small group of hackers in my team that could take it all down.

After making sure that I had everything noted down, and Olive was done getting pampered by students and teachers around as a 'cute and pretty girl', I proceeded to bring her back to base, then home, and finally... it was time for a heist n' exorcism!

I had everything I needed that very night. A shovel, several bottles of holy water I stole from the local church, and a book written by Zatanna on how to conduct basic exorcisms.

Once the cameras were down, I slipped inside the school from a large opening in the gates caused by a recent car accident. The school had plans to have it fixed, but Gotham's building companies took their sweet times when it came to public institutions so... I could exploit that for my own good.

Whistling quietly, I was wandering the dark halls of the school. A chill went down my spine at the thought I was going to be dealing with a spoky legit ghost that could harm me if she had a chance to react so... I made sure I had everything ready as I found my way to the unused basement.

Took me a while to crack through some of the moldy wooden floor and wall, but I finally found the blasted tomb. The fake tomb of Millie Jane Cobblepot was the ultimate 'gamer place' where to hide the remains of Amity Arkham. So perfect for a hiding spot of a pyromaniac witch's bones that it would have been untouched for another decade if I didn't do something about it.

Still, I was there, and I had everything ready to make this a 'fun night'. I uncorked the old stone coffin with a crowbar, gave a look at the bones and dust there. I readied book and holy water, clearing my throat and starting to chant while spilling some of the bottle's content over the bones.

At first, nothing seemed to happen but... it didn't take too long for supernatural shit to start happening. The room's temperature spiked, I could feel myself sweating as I continued to chant the lengthy lines presented by the books, not breaking focus as I continued the chanting.

I saw the room going from pale and gloomy gray and blue to orange and red. I could feel the heat of the flames surrounding me, and I saw something rise from the tomb. I saw her face, I saw her silvery hair, I saw her furious red eyes. I saw her snarl, then insult me, then scream, then... beg.

I wasn't stopping, and the fiery display slowly declined back to how things were before the exorcism. It all felt like a tantrum, a lost battle- she thought she could do so much, but she fell into a trap. Amity Arkham roared at me so fiercely before turning into a whimpering thing.

The flame were gone by the time I was done chanting. So was the heat. Amity remained. A semi-transparent being that knelt in her tomb. Her eyes wide open as tears still rolled down her cheeks. In that fragile state, I felt a bit hurting- she looked so similar to Olive if she was older and-

"Why?" She weakly asked. "Why did you do this?"

My lips twitched in discomfort. Should I? Should I tell her?

I felt myself inhale and then I produced a rather sharp noise.

"Because you warranted my wrath."

It was ironic. I wasn't angry at Amity, but her actions were enough to warrant punishment. She was too wild, too aimless, too destructive and, if she claimed Olive, too troublesome to be left alive.

Her eyes widened. "H-How?"

"The one you possess has a child. Little Olivia is just like you- or how you used to be before you were killed. Do you know what you would have done by being a vindictive fiery bitch? You would have ruined her smile. You would have ruined her happiness, her life. All because you decided to use your family as meat puppets for your own personal revenge," I started to get a bit worked up, and I saw the girl's vanishing frame appear more tense at my words. "You also decided to make it personal with their family rather than haunt the monsters that got you. And for what? Most of these families hardly have a stake in the city, and those that truly hurt innocents are newcomer. The truth is, if before you didn't deserve hell, now you do. So, good day."

Her eyes narrowed as I said that and... she lingered.

"I said 'good day'."

"...I don't think you understand what you have done. The curse is gone but I- S-Stop it!" I started to blast her with the remaining holy water, the liquid bathing her in the power of God and yet she semained. "I am not a demon! I am a ghost! And I refuse to go! Not when- when I have a hold on that woman and... your words."

She looked down on the ground, her eyes unfocused. "You... You may not be wrong. I will linger, and- and I will never leave!"

And she vanished. Except, I am sure, she is not gone to either Hell or Heaven.

"You got to be fucking kidding me." I mumbled as I started packing my shit and leave.

The place looked she same as usual, and nothing triggered the school's alarms as I got back to my car. I thought this would have worked, but comic bullshit was on the move to make my life more tedious. I will have to check on with Olive and her mother starting tomorrow.

After all, as I got back to my car and got ready to go, I was introduced to a factorable element I had disregarded up until it was aiming the end of a gun's barrel against the back of my head. A click, and then I saw a lighter turned on to offer me some limited view on who was behind this.

"So, you are the new one."

Jason Todd, the Red Hood, looked ready to make me the 'dead one' but... I guess he wants info. And a car ride.

AN

Exorcism gone wrong (Not Clickbait, Very Amogus!)

Next time, Red Hood POV, and then... Olive POV!