Never too Serious 3 - (DCverse, SI)
My first serious plan revolved around the strong point for Mayor Hady and his current control over Gotham.
Where in the recent past those mayors were people that had exploited the popular fear of villains and masked heroes, Hady was a 'return to normalcy' as some journos called it. A 'normalcy' that involved the Mafia involved in stacking the staff and keeping their hands in the political bag.
This was all possible because... Well, Batman didn't destroy the Falcone family. Not in the literal sense of it, but one would have expected someone like the frigging Batman to make sure that Carmine Falcone could not make a comeback so soon in Gotham.
The Roman Rat had bailed for Hong Kong, made a hefty amount of cash there, and now he was ready to make a solid return to his 'home'. So, Hady was a problem that, albeit untouchable in the post he was currently in, had a glaring weakness: his main contributor.
Falcone was in town, he couldn't resist the chance to be in Gotham to finish the last touches of launching his bid against all super-villains that had replaced the former order. And while some would not give a shit, I admit that there was a name in Joker's old phonebook that would just love this piece of Info.
"What now, clown!? I am busy with something, so make it quick-"
"Carmine Falcone."
Oswald Cobblepot. The Penguin. The Owner of the Iceberg Lounge. The 'Main Rival' of Carmine Falcone.
"...Who's there?"
"New Joker, Cobblepot. I am still up for some shit and giggles, but there is a change in the gig- I don't smile for anyone anymore in this rotten town, and I can tell you are so interested in knowing the Roman is in town."
"Oh? And how do you know?"
"People. You see, my bird-loving friend, I have people that can spot an aging mafia moron that is trying to use the mayor as a spearhead and return. You know, Hady being a rat for the Falcone family and them being after your feathers."
"...So? What do you want with, new one?"
"An understanding. You know, between two parties that are born from a broken system. One to change Gotham for the better. And while still keeping the good business going."
"I am listenin', but not make me regret it, boy."
We had a rendezvous set up for the next two days at his nightclub, but he promised he would have Carmine caught and squirming names and stuff about Hady by the time we met. It was a 'first step' as I had contemplated doing this with my thugs, but I knew the grunts could not get anywhere around to do scary shit without Batman jumping their asses.
No, for now the main passive activity for most of the man was to organize heists by the docks, map out rapid ways out, and secure good loot. Nothing too expensive, but definitely enough to give fresh air to our lungs as we paid taxes and what not.
I may be the Joker Without Smiles, but I wasn't the Joker Unworried by the IRS (Yet).
So, we had to get our shit together within the first month of activity. I doubted Batman was letting us off the hook just yet due to the heists, but with the amount of preparation to pass the items around between various hands, I could tell the guy had not found out about the hideout yet.
I continued to work my ass off to improve the HQ, and I would dare to say the little green-and-blue combo we employed created a lovely interior appearance.
Recruitment has also grown more complex: we were not just picking random people, but we were also organizing the rookies into specific groups such as 'science nerds', 'financial nerds', 'brawlers', 'crazies', 'drugs specialists', and so on.
In a month, I had standardized the business and turned it into a joke- I mean, I turned it into 'JOKE'. It wasn't an acronym, I tried to make it one but I had too much coffee and I refused to waste braincells into it.
Still, this was not a company, and we needed this organization to have some heavy hitters to stand out from the rest. It didn't have to be a 'physical heavy hitter', rather I wanted someone that could give us an edge in the long run.
...
And I realized a lot of those people could kill me out of ambition. I had money, goons, and a good base. I needed the kind of villain that wasn't good at being boss and 'he knows it'. So, despite my hopes being for a bigger individual in terms of overall power, I had to organize an interview with Bane.
It wasn't that big of a meeting, actually. Sure, he was a towering guy, but he seemed overall pleased I wasn't organizing anything akin to the League of Super-villains. I was just trying to get him interested if he would be willing to work with us with a few hits in the future at a slightly higher fee than usual. Not by too much, but enough to make him less perplexed that the new Joker was not smiling anymore.
It didn't stop me from feeling really uncomfortable around the guy. He had done nothing to warrant this unease beyond being a fucking towering monster of muscles and 'roid rage. Admittedly, quite intimidating- but, then again, I was new in the whole 'heroes and villains are now real stuff'.
This sort of business meetings was leaving me still in a good mood. And finding Olive at the park once in a while truly made the overall month one I could somewhat adapt into. I refused to go full crazy, but I definitely was going to lose some of my sanity between paranoia, trying to keep up my mask, and keeping track of all the damn accounting.
Money was moving fast, and I had to keep an eye out for any worrisome detail that could potentially screw us all. A traitor was the last thing we needed, which is why I had to triple-check each time I would take any cash from the secret stash.
Still, no one tried to pull a funny and the nights of sleep, as tense as those may get at times, started to come back to me. I was no longer sleeping on a moldy mattress on the ground, that much was a big step up that ultimately conquered my worrisome insomnia to some extent.
I just hoped shit was not going to hit the fan anytime soon.
Bruce Wayne was quite perplexed by some recent events.
It wasn't a true novelty for the Joker to be at work with something unusual from previous attempts. The recent attacks were part of his pattern - his signal to tell Batman that the Clown Prince of Crime was back in town. But as the Dark Knight waited for the next clue, he was surprised by how much time it was taking for the Joker to get moving.
There wasn't truly a proper pattern in that regard. But it tended to be less than a full month. Whatever the Joker was doing, it was not going to be good if he was claiming so much time. He had intensified patrols for a while, but then he decided to slow things down as nothing seemed to come up.
Paranoid or not, Bruce wasn't planning to get claimed by what ifs. He was a man that believed to a degree of rationality despite the Joker's insanity being a counter to such mindset. The rich man was already focusing on the growing animosity shown by Mayor Hady against his alterego, and with the Joker's return, things were bound to get extremely interesting.
Barbara has been the least interest in those patrols and has been spending more time with her father, while Damian had been annoyed that he couldn't be around for too long during those.
Likewise, Dick was busy with his own responsibilities, Tim was dealing with the duties as part of the Young Justice group and... Bruce didn't even try reaching out for Jason. The Red Hood was definitely looking into the matter himself, but it would be wrong to say that Jason was going to jump the gun as he used to when he started his new career.
The chessboard was staged to be perfectly flexible to any sort of moves. The Joker was doing something, nothing that would suggest a genuine attack anytime soon but... heists have increased by the docks. It was far from something new considering that spikes in thefts in that area happened once in a while, but this felt more complex and more interesting.
Which is why the Bat-computer now held a folded containing all available reports and newspaper lines mentioning those 'lowly crimes'.
Leaning back from his browsing, Bruce noticed that he had been watched for a while now, and he turned a glance at... Damian.
"We could go for another patrol." The boy suggested, and Bruce held back a smile at the drive his biological son had. Sure, he could tell that he had been just as giddy as a child, but things change when people grow up. And while Bruce's mind and body were at their peak, he was still an adult that had to share the burden of handling a large economic empire and being the Dark Knight of Gotham City.
"I already said no. You have school tomorrow.."
"School is unimportant."
"Had it been a normal day fo school, I would have agreed. But you have a History Test."
He didn't forget, but Damian's vanishing smirk suggested the boy did want him to not remember that.
"I don't need it."
"Knowledge is power-"
"And useless knowledge is useless power," The boy remarked flatly, causing his father to sigh. "Don't you think so?"
"All powers have purpose. It can be straightforward, or it can be complicated."
Damian rolled his eyes, and looked away. Then... he yawned. He caught up to it, and a scowl appeared on his face.
"You should go to bed."
"I don't feel sleepy."
"I didn't say that," Bruce argued, once again holding a smile back as his son grumbled and shifted out of his chair, marching to change out of his Robin outfit, and get ot bed. "And remember to wash your teeth."
"I will remind him so, sir." Alfred assured as he left right behind Damian.
Thus, Bruce was left alone with the Bat-Computer and...
Many unanswered questions on what the Joker was now up to. He knew- no, he could feel the truth was soon to come out. Very soon.
AN
Next time, The new Jokers chit-chats with the Penguin and... surprises unfold. Also, a chance-meeting with Olive's mother!