Never too Serious 2 - (DCverse, SI)
After the euphoria that brought novelty to 'my new gang' had expired, it was time for me to get business done right.
Starting with burning Joker's body and then getting the charred remains dissolved in a pool of powerful acid he had around. I am not sure why he had it, but I could tell it was powerful enough to do the job that Batman couldn't the first time they clashed.
Still, the next step was 'relocation'. Like hell we were going to linger any longer in Ace Chemical since it was the lamest place to set up a more permanent base. One of the first changes was - we need a proper base. We could no longer rely on 'urged meetings' when we needed a 'place to call home'.
Luckily for me, the Joker had a room backstage with some notes written down. Nothing about his plans for the day- those were definitely improvised to some extent. No, what I found were checks and notes on properties he had looked into as potential hideouts in case he needed to retreat. Lots of those had been ruled out due to the unneeded space, but I found those to be the most important.
What I had in mind was 'no action, more consolidation'. And I could tell that thought was met widespread acceptance as I laid out the big points of our 'renovation'.
"First thing first, no more suicidal plans. We ain't playing with Bats, we need to leave the 'kiddy league' for good."
I heard some cheering at that.
"So, we focus on getting a new safe base, we make dorms, kitchens, and other services that can make the place livable for us all."
More cheering, these were mostly unemployed hobos at this point so I was hitting all the nice spots.
"Then, we get to pick what our 'goals' are. I doubt we can just stick with 'shove it up' at some nasty fuckers of that 1%. But for now, let's just get ourselves a place to call home and where we can flip the bird to the bastards that are raising the house prices and make life miserable for us all!"
A resounding roar of agreement came from the large crowd of thugs and grunts. I had swayed most of those, with the little minority made by crazies that weren't there to fuck with society but to be the baddies. I would have to remove them in due time, but for now I had to get our asses out of harm's way.
I felt my heart burning by my throat by the time I was done talking, because the easy bit was over and now? Now I had to get our new base. The one I picked was located in the East End. Well away from the GCPD and from any worrisome heroes.
The large warehouse was once used as container-disposal facility, but had been vacated when Roland Daggett lost his shady businesses and everything was liquidated. It had fell on the Joker's hands years ago, and it was just the right place to set up my little hideout.
All that it needed was... furniture. And equipment.
So, while half of the thugs would go there in their separate ways without any make up on, the rest of the 'now exposed' grunts would come with me as we went to legitimately purchase what the place needed. I couldn't remove my makeup, but I put on hat, a face mask, and sunglasses to hide away the most defining bits of it.
Not the finest disguise, but I wasn't putting an effort to begin with.
The henchmen I soon led around took some trucks so we could get everything packed up and delivered in a single go. We arrived at one of the malls in the city and soon I was walking in with just four of the tallest guys around. I looked like a gangster or something, but we moved fast to the furniture shop, haggled an affordable price since I had some 'respectable and muscular man with a bit of a short temper with me', and then chunked them the cash straight out of Joker's 'war chest'.
The Joker's 'war chest' was something I found in his 'backstage room'. It wasn't all the money the Joker had, but it was enough for the budgeted plan he had in mind. Plus more if I thought of how much a bomb costed nowadays by asking some thugs that knew a thing or two about it.
Once we had the furniture, it was time for the solar panels. Like hell I was going to have us pay a huge bill to the corrupt mayor. So, the rest of the trucks was packed with generators and solar panels. We were done in less than two hours, and we found the warehouse cleaned up as ordered.
The next bit was to get the place set up to be a decent 'home'.
Dormitories, kitchens, bathrooms. Everyone contributed to see this place ready to be used. And the end result was wonderful. It definitely needed a paintjob, but the basic needs could now be satisfied by the current disposition of things.
The toilets worked, same for the showers. Likewise, cooking could begin as dinner was prepared for everyone. The air was homely despite the previous tension, and mostly everyone went to sleep at 20. The rest was the people that were taking turns patrolling around for any surprises and... me, since I couldn't catch any rest as I felt something wasn't... right.
The 'adrenaline' born from killing the Joker and pretty much taking over his operations was long gone, but I felt unable to catch any sleep. I felt too 'awake', too aware' and too... annoyed. I had noticed, just briefly, that some amusing sights that I found couldn't push me to smile.
I had lied a bit about being the Joker Without Smiles, but I couldn't force myself to smile. Maybe it was the stress, or the fact that I was still recovering from seeing a little girl that once was my charge dead due to the Joker, or...
Or maybe there was more.
I couldn't tell, but I didn't panic over this affair as I found it a good way to keep the mask up. And instead of rolling in my bed in a desperate effort to rest, I just prepped myself some coffee and keep some company to the guards keeping a lookout over the front door.
Nothing crazy happened - the little fear I had for Batman to somehow notice what was going on had vanished over time. There was no attack, and no sign of the Dark Knight setting up an assault with the rest of his family.
Everything was fine for us. But I took the chance to go for a walk once it was four as I felt like I needed to get something to eat that was not the usual breakfast. I had plans to make it back in less than a hour to avoid troubles, so I didn't feel to tell anyone but the guards I would be back soon.
I found a nice bar open at this hour. A bit of a surprise, but I guess the old owner liked to start business early to be ready for the early morning hours. He spared me a frown at my makeup, and yet didn't say much as I got myself a slice of pie to eat by the near park.
I got there, found a nice bench, sat down a bit, and then took my sweet time to enjoy it. I didn't like strawberry-flavored cakes, but Maggie did. It was a little chance to try and ease down my nerves after what happened. And yet, it wasn't enough.
I thought that this failed attempt would remain as such, but... I was surprised when someone slipped onto the bench and looked at me. "Are you the Joker?"
The voice was feminine and squeaky, and the one that asked that question was a little girl, around Maggie's age, that had white hair, red eyes and a bit of a tan skin color. She had a nice half-sleeved green dress that looked lovely on.
"Yes."
She gasped. "Really?"
"...Nope."
The child pouted, "That's rude."
"Like suddenly asking someone about their name? Should I start calling you 'Rudy'?"
"That's not my name!" She whined. "I am Olive!"
An apt name. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Olive."
The girl paused, then frowned. "Meanie, you- you tricked me to tell you my name!"
"Yep. That's what happens when you try to be cheeky yourself. Still, you can call me Joker if you so want," I hummed. "So, what are you doing here at this early hour, child? What about your parents?"
"Oh, mom's over there," Olive answered quick, aiming a finger around the corner. "But she is sleepy so I decided to check around."
...Oh?
"I see. Well, you still shouldn't be going around while your mom is sleepy. She could get spooked that she can't find you."
"I'll be back to her soon. I just saw you and... the Joker is cool."
"...Yeah? Well, he is a creepy dumb-dumb at times."
"He is. But I like the make up. He is so cool and... and I wouldn't be picked on if I wasn't like this."
I frowned over this comment, then realized the times and the place we were in. Racism goes quite strong in Gotham, and Olive's skin complex was dark enough to warrant a bit of trouble from idiots in her class.
"Nah, you're fine the way you are kiddo. This makeup is to be dashing, it's not truly a mask."
She raised her glance again, her warm red eyes aimed at mine. "R-Really?"
"Yep. They are just silly since they can't see what a lovable child you are. Just give it some time, and you'll find good friends that will look over such a dumb thing."
She beamed at that, giggling. "Thanks, Mr. Joker."
"You're welcome, Little 'live. And... tell you what. Can you help me finish the cake? I thought I could handle the strawberry but-"
"Strawberry! It's my favorite!"
The kid was quite voracious as she devoured well 2/3 of the cake before she left. I waved at her as she bolted back to her mother, and I proceeded to dumb what was left of the snack we consumed in the nearby trash bin.
It took me a moment to realize I had smiled a bit around the kid and... I guess Olive reminded me of Maggie. Still, as I walked back to base to get the next step of my ever-growing plan underway, I couldn't help but...
But think that I have seen her somewhere before which is odd since she looked quite normal at first glance and - I think I would remember a white-haired cutiepie like that with how few ladies with white-hair exists in Gotham.
AN
The New Joker makes first contact with his new Harley Quinn (aka, Clown Daughter). I don't think I need to add any clue as I have given plenty through the chapter on who this one may be: Olive is 5 at this point, her mom is prone to tiredness, and her dad is... missing?