[Thread] The beginning is the end is the beginning.

[entro_pist]

Characters : [OU]Joker ; Open to the Bat family.
Where : Your choice, Batz. Just make it obvious in your post.  
When : The second/third day after the Joker's arrival to the city, approximately. I'll leave time of day/night up to you as well (the Joker rarely, if ever sleeps)
Summary : How will the Bats react now that their sworn nemesis is in town?

Comments

[flipping_bird]

The Joker wasn't the only one doing some observing.

Nights and rooftops went together in Robin's mind, and he had been doing his usual nightly circuit of the compound, as much to keep his hand in as to watch and observe the compound's goings-on. That had changed when he'd caught sight of one of the compound's newest -- and in Robin's opinion, most unwelcome -- arrivals. The Joker was bad news in anyone's universe.

The man didn't seem to be up to anything -- which only made him more dangerous, in Robin's opinion. He followed quietly, watching from the rooftop shadows as the Joker continued his inspection of the compound. It didn't seem like he missed much -- not good, Robin thought, preparing to jump to the next roof --

He froze in place. The Joker knew he was there, he was sure of it.

[entro_pist]

Now, The Joker was not a man of few enemies. Hadn't been for a long, long time. Many a hit man had been hired to hunt him down in the past. And many a hit man had failed. Failed gruesomely. So it came as no surprise when he felt an unseen pair of eyes watching him from afar. But he didn't pause or look over his shoulder or appear otherwise distracted in any way. His empty hands clenched in irritation at having no grenades to throw or useful firearms at hand to make things even remotely interesting.

By this time he'd reached the end of the block and turned to follow the path he'd just made, this time blatantly looking for signs of whomever was watching him from the rooftops, squinting now and then as his tongue idled at the corner of his lips.

"Olly olly oxen frei..." he said darkly, melodiously.

[flipping_bird]

Robin knew better than to respond. His mentor had drilled that into him a thousand times. It was always the same -- look before you jump off a building, double-check everything, don't taunt the dangerous psychopath -- course, the Joker was always a special case.

A very special case.

"Joker." Robin's reply was cool, clinical. He didn't move.

[entro_pist]

The teen's response had confirmed some important details: his location and his ties to the Batman. Eyes trained on the spot where he'd heard the voice, the Joker adjusted his position on the ground - not necessarily so that he could see the boy clearly, rather so the boy could see him.

"I see someone's been telling you bedtime stories."

[0nightwing0]

Back to the rooftops once more, a restlessness spawned from an old enemy's arrival into this hell hole they called home

[entro_pist]

If the rooftops were where they liked to play then he would just have to put himself on their terrain. And that was exactly what he was doing now. Upon spotting a dark figure hidden in the shadows above the ground, he'd ducked into the building and was ascending debris-cluttered steps to the top. The Joker paced himself, in no real hurry - though his movements always maintained a frenetic level, as if he'd had too much coffee (and substituted cocaine for sugar). He was sure the silent stalker would still be there. At the top of the final staircase, a flimsy door, hanging only by its rusty lock, led out to the rooftop. Kicking it out of his way, the Joker stepped outside.

[0nightwing0]

Getting slower joker? It had taken the Psycho longer than usual to get up to the roof, though he'd leave that topic alone a slow psychopath was still a psychopath. Not moving from his place in the shadows yet Dick took in the sight of the man--green hair..white makeup, It was the Joker all rignt. In his time he'd accidently killed the man before only to have Batman bring him back..sometimes he regretted even letting him do so. Masked Eyes scanned his enemies movements..jerky..Frantic..like a junkie needing his Fix.

After a Few minutes he had enough, there was no use in staying in the shadows if the man Already knew he was there. So slipping slowly from his spot on the ledge he revealed himself to the lunatic before him. " Looking for someone Joker..or did you just come up here to stargaze"

[entro_pist]

The voice, the stern look on his masked face, the way he knew The Joker's name -- all testament to this man being the one whom he'd spoken to over the PDA. The one who'd threatened to 'keep him in line' and the one who'd called himself -NightWing-.

"No no, I'm just here for a friendly chat. NightWing, was it?" The 'pleasant' tone of his voice wasn't the least bit convincing. And despite the fact that this darkly clad man could probably fling him over the side of the building if he wanted to badly enough, the Joker felt no fear. He was simply curious to see what NightWing would do and rocked back on his heels.

"Ya know...you really did look like him from down there." His eyebrows raised slightly, tongue grazing his upper lip.

[little_wing003]

Tim sat on the edge of the second apartment building's roof in full Robin gear, keeping an eye on the street below. He'd been out of the habit of regular nighttime patrols for a while, but that was going to change. He'd kept himself in shape, and now Robin was going to start patrolling again--particularly in this area. Most of Tim's friends lived in this building, and with the new arrival--and Harth's possible alliance with him--he wasn't going to leave them unprotected.

He could sleep during the day. Or not. It wasn't like he hadn't gone without before.

[entro_pist]

The school library proved to be a useless source of information. Its shelves were lacking in informative materials and the books that were available had all but crumbled in his hands, ink corroded and their pages illegible from elemental damage. He'd scoured every dusty shelf, broken into every file and cabinet, pulled out every drawer. The place was a bigger mess when he left than it had been before.

Shaking the dust from his faded green curls, the Joker stepped out of the school building onto the plaza where he set his sights on the fountain. While it was just as useless as anything else the city had to offer, he would leave nothing unexamined.

[little_wing003]

Tim's eyes narrowed as he saw the form emerge from the school and into the street. Green hair, white-pale skin... definitely the lunatic he was looking for. He started running and jumping from rooftop to rooftop to get a closer look--and keep a closer eye on him. There was no Arkham to drag him back to here, but at least he could try to keep him from hurting others.

No matter how terrified he was.

Didn't matter. He was Robin.

[entro_pist]

Nothing but shallow water, putrid and green, was left stagnating in the fountain. It didn't leave him without ideas though. If he could get beneath the city's streets - beneath its skin - via a form of underground sewer system, some real *entertainment* could possibly come of it.

The thought was interrupted when he caught movement just at the edge of his vision. Un-alarmed, he looked over one shoulder then the other. Did another little Bat out there want to play?

[gonnaloveme]

The night sky was obscured by menacing clouds by the time the Bat made his way onto the scene. What little moon was left before it disappeared completely in its timely cycle was even hiding behind the dark clouds as if it knew what lurked on the darkened ground beneath its pale light

[entro_pist]

Little bat. Little bat. Little bat. Papa bat!

There was no place like a refuse lot for discovering sharp and dangerous objects. He'd already found some nice shards of tainted glass and metal, pocketing them. They would do until he could get himself some real weapons. It was too dark to carry out much of an exploration; perhaps he'd return in the day. And wouldn't you know it? - There appeared to be a dark figure perched at the edge of the nearest rooftop, so black that it was almost invisible in the night. The Devil himself might have never noticed had it not been for the feeling of being watched.

A sharp thwack - something being kicked - echoed in the darkness and an old hubcap rolled into view at the edge of the lot where light from streetlamps faintly reached.

"I spy...with my little eye--" Laughter, low and menacing, preceded The Joker as he emerged from the darkness. "--a Batman spying on me."

[gonnaloveme]

The Bat's gaze seemed to take in the rolling hubcap without ever leaving its intense stare from the form of the Joker. He was frozen still; not, of course, from fear, but rather the effort of will it took to control himself from performing an action he might--or might not--regret later, and if not regret then certainly would have its consequences concerning the damn cuff currently shackled to his wrist. He had yet to test the cuff's nature in any definite way and his mind was churning with the negatives and positives on doing such a thing right this moment in concession with the Joker, trying to find its answer of "yes" or "no" to different potential actions.

In the end he settled--for now--with a gruff reply from his perch above. "It'll get worse," he promised before flinging himself from the roof with a powerful push. His arms flapped open and the cape snapped into place behind him as his set of wings. He floated gently down and cut the glider off a good six feet from the ground, thus causing his landing to be a strong thwump of

[entro_pist]

He had to hand it to Batman - the Dark Knight wasn't afraid to get down in the dirt at the first chance. No more than six feet away, he stood gazing down upon the crouched Bat without fear. Perfect. Simply perfect. An amused smirk distorted his features, as if the warped visage wasn't already grotesque enough.

"Now, don't give me that look. You know the irony is absolutely hysterical. We were -destined- to end up like this, I said it before. You and me...we're both just two sides of the same coin."