Shorter chapter this time, next is the start of cannon

Dick took a few long, deep breaths. "Crime sprees... are... the worst... " So many criminals essentially tag teaming the city. "I know Arkham's a revolving door, but I thought someone would remember to keep it locked shut everyone once in a while."

"This wasn't Arkham," Bruce responded, keeping his Batman voice going even when it was just the two of them. "Every criminal was laying low. Someone drew them out of hiding."

"What?" Dick blinked. "Wasn't the last time that happened Bane was tiring you out so he could break your back?"

"It couldn't be Bane this time. None of his usual tactics were employed, and he would've struck by now." Bruce noted as he typed into the bat computer.

"Well, it isn't the Joker because he's too chaotic," Dick noted. "Riddler?"

"Too egocentric. He would have left clues to find."

"Sometimes I wish more villains were like him. Makes finding and kicking their butts easier." Dick snorted.

Bruce looked like he wanted to say something, but then the phone rang. He glanced at the number, grimacing before answering. "Commissioner Gordan." A moment of silence. "Are they safe?" Another silence. "And those responsible?" There was a silence. "... Are you certain?" There was more silence. "What happened with Dagget?"

"That makes too much sense," Dick muttered.

Bruce held up a finger to silence him as he leaned into the phone. "... I agree. I'll keep my eye out," he responded, hanging up.

"Well, what's the verdict?"

"... Dagget and Mooney were working together. He paid her to spread a rumor that he'd pay for lawyers for villains tonight, along with spreading explosives along the slums." Bruce answered.

"Didn't he try that a few years ago?"

"Yes, but he was just aiming for Crime Alley... " Bruce growled, the topic of Crime Alley already being a sore spot for the man. "What he and Mooney had planned would've blown up thirty percent of the south side of the Gotham slums, schools, businesses, buildings, just so he could make a quick buck buying up all the property."

"What an upstanding citizen." Dick rolled his eyes. "Let's go nab the guy-"

"Dagget's dead."

"... Oh." Dick blinked at the blunt interruption. "Guess Mooney double-crossed-"

"It wasn't Mooney." Bruce pulled up the files on the Bat computer... pulling up...

"The Gotham trio?" Dick raised an eyebrow. "Sure, they're annoying, but they just get in the way of one or two crimes... "

"DNA evidence confirms that the boy, Iruma, was involved... Dagget's body was found off the side of a building, his neck broken and his right ear torn off."

"... You know, I heard rumors of that kid being a cannibal, but I didn't think to take it seriously," Dick muttered.

"Not the time to joke, Robin." Bruce glared.

"Right, right." He nodded. "So what? We hand him over to the system or keep him in the cave until Dagget's men stop trying for revenge?"

"It's not just Dagget. The boy worked for Fish Mooney, and now that he's betrayed her, she'll be after him, too," Bruce typed on the computer. "And it wouldn't matter anyway; the boy hadn't been seen in the last twenty hours. Gordon's been told by his daughter he ran off."

"Mmm." Dick gazed at the image. "... So we leave him out in the wild then? Seems rough." He looked harder. "And accident or not, he did kill someone, and you usually don't have a tolerance for that... "

"He's a child, Robin," Batman said. "No matter how you spin it, it was desperation and confusion. The system won't care, and it'll forever mark him for life, guilty or innocent... this city can't help him."

Dick sighed, knowing he wouldn't be too far off from the same circumstances had things been different. "So, what now?"

"Now... " The man stood up, marching to the Batmobile. "I realize I've been tolerating Mooney too long, lesser threat or not." Bruce gripped his gloves. "But now she's launched herself to the top of the list."

"Right." Dick shifted up. "On the upside, that Ratcatcher girl will probably be less active now."

"Probably so... unless she decides to take up her father's old work."

"What was it you said Superman called it? The never-ending battle?" Dick asked.

"I hate when he's right."

Pamela blinked, looking over the empty crime alley. Today, she and Iruma were supposed to hang out together, listening to the whispers of dandelions... but he wasn't there. "Iruma... are you there?" Three years later, she'd gotten used to his presence and even came to prefer it. Maybe not at the same level as her plants... but in a different way... a way that made her chest beat a little whenever he shined that never-ending smile on her.

"Iruma?" He was the only human companion she could confidently say she had. The only one who understood her connection with the plants, the only one who respected her family. The only one who... she could call a friend...

"Iruma!" Yet he wasn't in his usual habitat... did he find something else to do? "Iruma!" Did... did he abandon her... forget her? Leave her alone to wither away-

Trip

"Ahhh!" She fell forward to the ground. "Ugh, stupid baggy clothes... " Pamela grumbled as she looked over what she tripped over... or rather into. "A crater?" Pam blinked. The pavement below the ground had broken apart to the point where the fresh, beautiful dirt could explode into the air once again. "Why would a crater be in the middle of Crime Alley?"

"It was... " She turned, seeing a crying Harley sitting on the edge of the crater. "It was Grundy... Solomon Grundy."

"Um... " Pamela felt like she ran into something awkward. "Did you... did you know-"

"Last night, there was this big fight." She cut her off. "Dagget and Mooney were going to tear the whole city block down."

"Again?" Pamela blinked in shock. Again, once again, the greedy businessman was trying to ruin lives. "I thought Dagget was in the red after all that happened last time-"

"He was... which is why he planted bombs all over the city to blow it to kingdom come," Harley explained as more tears came down her face. "Babsy and I got stupid and thought we could handle it. Tape his dirty laundry and get him arrested like we were Batman or something. That should've been the biggest red flag right there." Harley laughed maniacally. "Me bein' a hero... ain't that a joke."

"... " Pamela had no idea how to handle this conversation. Social interaction was NOT her strong suit. "You're here, right? So you got away."

"We didn't... we got tied up... beaten up... " The girl rubbed a black eye. "Iru showed up and took on Dagget... " She sniffed. "He threw the man off a roof."

"He killed him?" Pamela blinked in shock... and... a strange sense of pride. "Then... he saved you... he saved the city... " He saved her and the plant that would no doubt have been destroyed in the crossfire. He... he was a hero... A real hero... one that would do what was needed when time called for it... not like Batman, who let the real criminals roam free. "Where is he? Is he hurt? Did Dagget hurt him-?"

"He... he... " The girl cried. "Iru's on the run."

Pamela's blood ran cold. "He's... he's what?"

"He freaked out. He saw Dagget fall to his death, and he... he wasn't ready for it." Harley sniffed. "That penguin guy took him out of the city where Mooney couldn't find him and off him for betraying her."

"I... he... " She clenched her fists. "Why didn't you stop him!?"

"We did! We tried!" Harley screamed. "We cried and screamed and yelled for him to stay, we were short of bribing him with freakin food, but he couldn't be convinced! He was too scared and freaked out to listen!"

"But it wasn't enough!" She shouted. "You should have tried harder. You should have been stronger!"

"I know... "

"You should have run with him. You should have talked about something that would make him stay more!"

"I know... "

Pamela screamed. "You should have cared more-"

Slap

Her face stung as she met the crying and raging expression of the girl in front of her. "You can insult me all you want. I deserve it... but don't you dare say I didn't care with all my heart... that I don't care... " Harely gripped Pam by the collar of her sweater. "I cared... I cared so much that I would've killed everyone involved a thousand times over and gone to jail for a million years for him... He was family to me... " Harley cried as the sobbing increased twofold. "It was my job to watch over him, and Babsy and I blew it both! I couldn't help anyone! I was dead weight... I blew it... " They gave off a broken chuckle. "I'm a joke!"

"... I should've been there. I should've told him... " She couldn't understand... What did he believe he had done wrong... What was the harm in getting rid of a filthy, disgusting parasite like Dagget? "I could've been there... "

"Oh, get off ya high horse. If you really cared, you'd actually show it!" Harley cackled even more madly. "Iru did everything he could to draw ya out of your shell, and you barely reciprocated!" She exclaimed. "He tried to get you to leave your little flowers and forest and explore the rest of the world, and yet there you were, hiding away with the plants! Blocking all us weird humans out!"

"Shut up... "

"Oh, it doesn't feel so good when the shoes are on the other foot, does it!?" Harley pointed out with a finger of accusation. "It's easy tah care when life's easy for you, but you never went out of your way to show it! You barely cared at all!"

"I cared! I cared so much!"

"Not more than a couple of weeds, obviously! You loved them more than you liked the actually walking, talking person in front of you!"

"I loved Iruma-!" Pamela slapped her hands on her mouth, shocked that they came out at all.

Harley stared at her silently. "... I... think we both said more than what we wanted to." She walked away but paused at the end of the alley. "I'll... be here next week... if you need someone to talk to."

"... Thanks... thanks, Harley... " Pamela nodded, hiding herself in her sweater more. "... I'm sorry... I'm... I'm truly sorry... "

"... So am I." With that, the girl left... leaving Isley alone...

"He's gone... " Pamela stared at the crater. "Iruma is gone... " her friend... her first real... genuine friend... the first human she could say without a doubt she liked... and respected... and appreciated... was gone. "He's gone... and... and this city made him leave."

The one good person she found in this city and it took him from her. The ONE person that never judged her, that tried to change for her for her sake... that, for some cosmically dumbfounded reason, actually CARED for Pamela... and now he was gone... gone because of this city.

This city was rotten... it chewed up and destroyed anything good in it... no... not just the city... people... humans. Humans ruined everything... the plants that gave them life... the few decent ones that existed between them... Humans needed to go.

Harley glared at her toys. The type of toys she'd play with whenever Iru was over... the toys her parents gave whenever she didn't 'act like a nutjob.' "Worthless little things at the end of the day, ain't ya?" She looked at the teddy bear. "You know... Iru never had any toys... he never had a mommy or a daddy to give him toys as a reward for 'good behavior.'" She spoke out in a neutral tone, taking out a knife she had snuck from the kitchen and slicing it against its blank, unsmiling face. "Yet he never asked for them. He never craved them, he never even took them when we offered... he smiled on without things like you."

She moved over to the Barbie doll that kids her age went gaga for when they wanted to act like 'grown-ups' like they were too good for fun and games. "He never had a reason to smile... yet he did anyways... " She bent the doll's back at a 90-degree angle. "Cause he liked us, 'cause we made him laugh and had fun, and played games and ate together... " She snapped it in two. "He was just a boy that needed hugs and a smile, you know?"

She turned to a teacup set. "All he needed was food and kindness... and now what... " She gripped it tightly. "He's just... gone... scared and trapped in self-loathing for doing good... hunted by crazy goons... " She smashed it on the ground, stomping on it. "The one unselfish person in this stinkin' city, the only one willing to help a damn, and what did he get for it!?" She got the broken shards and began stabbing her walls and the drawings she had pinned on them. "NOTHING! HE NEVER GOT ANYTHING!" She smashed her fists into the wall, breaking little tiny holes in the weak wood and mortar.

"Why oh why world!? Aren't you supposed to have fuckin karma!? Good people get rewarded and all that jazz!? Where's HIS reward!?" Harley screamed in the air. "WHERE IS JUSTICE WHEN YA NEED IT!?" She went to her mattress and flipped it over, smashing it against her closed dresser, making it fall down. "WHAT'S THE POINT IN LIVING IF GOOD PEOPLE SUFFER!?" It was meaningless! Life was meaningless if this was the end result... if it just left her with this dark, hopeless, empty feeling on the inside! "WHAT'S THE POINT IN IT ALL!?"

They didn't ask for much. They really didn't! All Harley needed was her friends, and now the universe was trying to take that away! If Iru didn't disappear, then Dagget would've ended up killing Babsy!

And now Barabarabara... She was takin' the pills again... She would lose her smile... She would lose her enthusiasm... She would lose herself... Harley would be losing BOTH her friends... She'd lose them... She'd lose them, and she'll be alone... She lost their smile and now she was going to lose hers... She was going to lose her reason for smiling... Her reason for living...

"What's the point... " She cried. "What's the point... what's the... " She stared at the picture of the Joker... remembering an old quote she read on one of his forums. "One... bad... day... " The Joker's most iconic phrase, the most logical thing that ever came out of the man's mouth. "One bad day... is all it takes... "

One bad day was all it takes to drive one man insane... that's what this was... this was her day... her one bad day... "Hehehahaha... Hahhahaahaaha... " She began laughing. "HAHAHAAHAAHAAHA! HEHEEHAAHAAHAAHAHAAHAH!" Harley turned to the wall... and hit her head against it. "HAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHEHEHEHAAHA! SO THAT'S WHAT IT TAKES!" She screeched, kicking a hole in the wall. "I lost everything that mattered to me... And now I know the truth about life!"

Life... life was just one big... fucking joke. Bad things happen no matter if you're good or bad, and good things rarely come. Schooling was worthless, money didn't keep you safe, and giants could fall... So, how do you one-up the joke of life?

Mister J blows up buildings, causing chaos and mayhem to get people to see the joke. The joke that you could understand... When you lose everything... When you stopped caring about the rules that sane men follow... because what was more insane than following rules in a world that didn't care that you did!?

Harleen Quinzel... no... Harley Quinn... was going to paint this town red... with SMILES! For the city that took away the smile that would last forever... She would make sure EVERYONE else smiled... she would blow up everyone until they saw the pointlessness of all the rules, of all the rules that made people like her afraid... that made Babsy think she needed to be a good daughter, that made Iru think he needed to run away!

Smiles! Smiles! Smiles! If the entire city smiled, maybe his would come back!

"I'll be down for dinner dad, love you!" Barbara shouted as she slammed the door shut. She then sat down by the computer, typing and looking for 'best workout routine for eight year old girl'. She rubbed her head, it was buzzing from the pills... but she needed them. She... she couldn't allow for any more distractions.

She needed to focus. Because... because... Mooney was right. She was a little girl, and if she kept throwing herself into this with nothing but her grappling hook, a grappling hook she didn't even know how to USE, then... then she wouldn't be able to save anyone. Let alone save herself... not that she deserved saving... not after she dragged Harley into a mess that almost got her killed... And... and... drove Ir... Ir...

She wiped her tears. She couldn't even think about his name without tearing up... She failed him. Barbara failed him as a friend... if she had done her job right... if she had just pulled him away from Crime Alley, from Fish Mooney, from the dark side of Gotham... then maybe he wouldn't have felt afraid... she could've reassured him that he was safe in her arms...

Once she found the routine, she began lying on the ground before doing ab curls. "One. Two. Three." She needed to be stronger. Faster. Smarter. No batman nerdgasms, no comic binges. Train, get better. And one day... you can help people. "Four... fi... " She was already sweating up a raincloud. "Come on... push past it... push past it... Push... push... "

Barbara felt herself collapse against the ground. "Dang it! Why am I so weak!?" She called out, closing her eyes in frustration. No wonder why Batman always gave her looks of disappointment... She was a failure in life. Not enough muscle to beat up bad guys. Not enough speed to run away from them. And barely smart enough to get past C- to D+ levels.

She needed to be better. She needed to keep at it. You weren't allowed to be a failure, not with Ir... Ir... "Just... keep... working out... " She grimaced, continuing to work. "One... two... three... " She couldn't afford to do anything else. Batman was the peak of human physicality and ingenuity... so how could she be any less... in fact, she needed to be more than that.

What really stung... was how much less time she would have to spend with Harleen. The last thing she wanted to do was shut out her oldest friend, and she would NEVER leave her out of her life... but Barbara needed to be stronger for her... for everyone helpless in Gotham... for everyone helpless in general.

"Seven... eight... nine... " Stronger... be better... for everyone... And maybe one day... Gotham would truly be a safe place... a place that could be Ir-could be his home again... A home where he didn't have to sleep in the alleyways and eat garbage all day... a home where he could live with a family to call his own... "Ten... eleven... twelve... "

"Twelve berries," Iruma noted as he looked over his pile of gathered food. A little hard to do... since he was a stowaway on a ship. It was the best Cobblepot could do, so he appreciated the effort... especially for... a boy like him. "I've... I've survived worse... I can get through this." He'll just... Go the next two to three days without eating. It's not like he'd get seasick over it... right?

And hey, maybe if he was hungry enough, he wouldn't fall asleep... and get dreams... where he sees the blood and hears the screams and the voices said it was his fault someone died-

"Oookay, just gonna lock those thoughts away and never come back to them." Just ignore those thoughts. Those thoughts didn't matter. Those thoughts didn't matter, and he didn't need to think about them anymore. He didn't need to think about the past. The past was the past, and he didn't need to think about the people he hurt...

"I really messed up... I really messed up... " He ruined Barbara and Harley's lives... He put them in danger and almost got them and his whole home killed. He... "Did I kill Solomon too?" Solomon was a nice and good man... and Iruma watched him fall... "I killed two people... and... And I would've killed more... Because I'm an idiot... "

He shouldn't have tried to get a job. He shouldn't have trusted Fish Mooney, he shouldn't have... he just... shouldn't have existed. Iruma didn't have a purpose in life like everyone else did. Barbara wanted to stop bad people by beating them up, and Harley wanted to make people smile by beating them up... They had a purpose. They had goals and lives to live... He didn't... There was no purpose in his life, and there was no one who was going to miss him.

He... He couldn't come back... He couldn't go back to Gotham... He couldn't stay anywhere... He... He didn't belong anywhere. He was a monster that would get everyone killed. Iruma... Iruma couldn't stay anywhere, not for long at least... he needed to keep moving. Keep moving and not stay anywhere or talk to anyone. If he talked to anyone, then he'd get them killed.

He... He needed to keep moving... travel. Zee... she and her dad traveled everywhere... maybe Iruma could too... And maybe he'd see one of her shows again and even meet...

... No. No, he couldn't meet up with her. She couldn't see him... not when he was a monster. That's why he had to leave Barbara, Harley, Pamela, Waylon... He had three years and gained four friends overall... It... It was amazing that he lasted that long. He... He had a good life in Gotham while it lasted... but that time was over now. For their sake... He needed to leave it behind.

He'd start at wherever he found himself... wherever this boat led. "It'll... it'll be good... you'll eat from different dumpers... And the newspapers might be made out of thicker papers." There... there was an upside to all of this... There needed to be... even... Even if he didn't deserve it... he'd still look for the silver lining... And he would keep smiling. Despair never got him anything, so the only thing to do was to keep smiling.

Just... smile until it was over... until he died. When he died, the world would be better off for it... He'd make everyone's lives better by not existing... That's what he deserved... And he would live with it without any issue. That was the least he could do... The very least he could do.

He blinked out the window after staring for what felt like forever, noticing a sign. "Finally, we're docking somewhere... " He blinked again at what he was reading. "... What kind of place calls themselves Central City?"