Batman fic: Long Nights in Gotham City, chapter 3
Yatta! I did it! I hope my Joker is good. *Looks nervous* Anyway there will probably be two more chapters in this fic and it will hopefully be done by this week. Hooray! Then sequel!
Title: Long Nights in Gotham City
Characters/Pairings: Riddler, Scarecrow, Harley, Poison Ivy, Batman, Joker, mentions of others
Rating: PG
Warnings: violence, some gore, some swearing
Disclaimer: I don’t own Batman or any of the other characters from Batman they belong to DC comics, Warner Bros., etc.
Spoiler alert: Spoilers for Batman Begins, Dark Knight, some spoilers from the comics but you don’t need to have read them to understand.
A/N: Okay so Jonny Frost is from the Joker graphic novel. The other Jonnys mentioned are random minor Batman villains. Also the poker face idea I stole from the Joker Blogs, and Nigma’s riddle is from a book by Holly Black called, “Tithe.” I’m also not sure if Ed is actually from Gotham or not so lets just pretend he is.
Summary: The Joker makes his first appearance, and Ed learns more about the mystery that is Jonathan Crane and Batman crashes the party at the Iceberg Lounge.
Chapter Title: Party Crasher
There was blood on the floor, which was to be expected when the Joker was creating something beautiful out of what had once been Anna Ramirez. Well, maybe not beautiful, but definitely more interesting than she had been.
“Ya know, you really are lucky that Harvey Dent didn’t kill you. If he had, you wouldn’t have the, honor of me killing you.” The Joker said in a singsong voice.
“And I mean, not just killing you, making you into a masterpiece. I mean every cop in Gotham is going to notice you. You’re going to paint the town red!” The Joker laughed and shoved a piece of paper in Ramirez’s mouth.
“Hey, Jonny, Jonny could ya maybe stop standin’ there and help out.”
Jonny Frost had been driving him around Gotham since he escaped. He was brighter than most of the hired thugs, but that wasn’t saying much. Sure he wasn’t an idiot and could drive stick, but he was so…jittery. The Joker hated that.
“Jonny, Jonny, are you listening to me?” Jonny didn’t move his look of shock remained so etched in his face that the Joker wanted to carve it out. Joker sighed and grabbed another piece of paper. This time he shoved it into a hole in Ramirez’s stomach.
Each piece of paper showed a drawing of the Batman and had the words “WANTED!” printed on the top. Joker had been gathering as many of them as he could just for this occasion.
“Ya know. There are a lot of Jonnys in the world. I knew a crime boss named Johnny Witts, but Harvey Dent put him away. Then there was Johnny Warlock, he was an enforcer for the mob.” As the Joker talked he began sewing Anna Ramirez’s stomach. “I know a Jonny back in Arkham. He wears a potato sack on his head, freak!”
When the Joker had finished sewing up Ramirez, he then turned to several jars that sat next to Ramirez’s head. They were filled with various bits of Anna’s insides, including her eyes, intestines, a lot of blood, and several other parts to mangled to be distinguished anymore. The Joker took each jar gently and placed it in a black duffel bag.
“My point is Jonny, Jonny, that if you are going to be a Jonny you have to make a name for yourself, you have to ah, stand out from the other Jonnys, otherwise you’re just useless.” The Joker practically growled the last part causing Jonny Frost to jump but he finally managed to snap him out of his terrified state.
“Are you useless, Jonny, Jonny?”
He shook his head no.
“Good, because I didn’t want to make you all frosty, Jonny, Jonny.” The Joker giggled. “Now pick that up,” he gestured to Anna as he picked up the duffle bag, “we need to make sure she isn’t late for her big date tonight. Then if you’re real good, I’ll buy you a prostitute, male or female Jonny, Jonny, I won’t judge.” The Joker laughed again and thumped Jonny Frost hard on the back with his free hand.
Jonny grabbed the body and followed the Joker to the car. Joker was skipping as he walked and started singing, “J-j-j-joker face j-j-joker face.” He jumped into the car, laughing as Jonny loaded the body in the trunk before driving off into the night.
“Can’t read my, can’t read my, no he can’t read my poker face…”
“Mistah J loves this song!”
The back entrance they came through was more of a side door. It had leaded them right into the club near the bar.
“Okay guys,” Pamela said, “Oswald should be in one of the offices upstairs, so all we have to do is get to the stairs with out any trouble.”
“Oh, jello shots, I love those.” Jonathan said looking toward the bar.
Ed, Harley, and Pamela’s eyes went wide and their mouths hung open.
“What?”
“I never in all my years, thought I would see this side of you,” said Ed.
“I didn’t even no ya had a side like this,” said Harley.
“You are so not allowed to drink. I’m not cleaning up your puke, and there is no way that someone as skinny as you can hold his liquor.” said Pamela.
“Wow, for a bunch of super villains you guys are no fun.”
“And when did you become fun?” Harley asked. “Mistah J always said that you didn’t have a funny bone in your body.”
Ed watched Jonathan’s face scrunched into a frown. “Well your Mistah J is a-”
Ed clamped his hand over Jonathan’s mouth before he could offend Harley and probably get shot. “How about this, we’ll go drink and you two can talk to Oswald. He’s more likely to talk to you two gorgeous ladies than Jonathan or myself.”
Pamela sighed. “Fine! We’ll do all the work, again! You two will only get in my way anyway.” Ed watched them saunter away through the packed crowd toward the steps.
“Come on.” Ed grabbed Jonathan leading him toward the bar. “So,” he said, “what’s with the insistence on drinking tonight?”
“I have a tough life. Plus, I’m feeling nostalgic.” Jonathan downed two jello shots and ordered a rum and coke. “Besides, I’m not here for Harley. I mean, I worry about her but, there isn’t anything I can do for her now and I could careless where the Joker is or what he is doing.”
Ed frowned. This was the second time Jonathan had confused him tonight. Being confused wasn’t a feeling that Ed experienced often and it wasn’t one he enjoyed, at all. “Then why did you come? Did Harley make you come with us?”
“No, after you were taken back to your cell, I heard Harley and Pam talking about the three of you breaking out. I insisted that they take me too.”
“Why?”
“Because I was worried about you. You have never been involved with the Joker, plus, I didn’t exactly want to stay in Arkham either. Harley was more than happy to bring me along.”
“Why would you be worried about me? What, just because I haven’t dealt with Joker? Neither have you, at least not really.”
Jonathan finished his drink and ordered another. “No, I have dealt with him. You just weren’t in Arkham yet.”
Ed looked imploringly at Jonathan and he continued. “Well, you know I’m technically considered the first super villain in Gotham.” He said with some pride in his voice. “Of course when the Joker got sent to Arkham he knew that and well, decided to make an example of me, you know assert his dominance as top villain, or for whatever insane reason he cooked up in his head. Well, anyway he nearly beat me to death with a chair. I was in the hospital for two months. I was only conscious for one.”
Ed was mildly alarmed at the sheer brutality of the Joker, but everyone knew that’s how the Joker was, and beating up Jonathan wasn’t so hard as long as you stayed clear of his toxin. He didn’t see why Jonathan was worried about him.
Ed had grown up in Gotham, unlike Jonathan, who was Georgia. When he had first become the Riddler, it had taken Batman, the supposed “greatest detective,” almost a year to finally catch him. Further more Ed had figured out Batman’s real identity! Something neither Jonathan Crane nor the Joker had done. If he could handle the Batman, Ed knew he could handle the Joker. After all, out of all of them, Batman included, he was really the only sane one in the group.
Jonathan had just finished a shot of whiskey and was now looking morosely into a bottle of beer.
“Hey, are you feeling okay?”
Jonathan nodded but he didn’t seem okay.
“Jon, come on are y-”
“Don’t call me Jon.”
“What?”
“Only one person has ever called me Jon, and that was only because he was a stubborn ass and I couldn’t get him to stop.”
“But, Joker calls you Jonny all the time. I’ve heard him.”
“Same thing, kind of, I can’t get the Joker to stop because he’ll hurt or kill me. You, Ed, I could take in a fight so you will refer to me as Jonathan, as that is my name.”
Jeez touchy. Ed thought.
“Oh shut up, you could not take me in a fight.”
Before Jonathan could respond they heard gunfire going off upstairs and the people in the club started screaming. Over all the commotion they could hear Harley screaming. “Where is he Bat!? Whaddya do with Mistah J?!”
Ed and Jonathan looked at one another.
“Batman,” Ed whispered. Jonathan was no longer there. In his place were the cold calculating eyes of Scarecrow that quickly disappeared under the mask he had pulled out of his coat pocket.
“Shit!” Ed yelled as he ran toward the stairs following Scarecrow, who was working his way through the panicking masses, obviously enjoying himself.
Ed could see Harley shooting at the Batman. He dodged each one before getting in close enough to grab the gun and push Harley backwards into the wall, knocking her out.
Pamela came at Batman from behind, kicking him square in the back, causing him to lose balance, and fall over the railing of the steps. He fell right in front of Scarecrow.
Bruce struggled to stand up as he heard someone yell, “Go see if Harley’s okay. Me and Pam will take care of this.”
He knew that voice. He looked up to see Jon wearing his mask and holding a metal spray can. Bruce quickly dodged the toxin, which had inadvertently caused Jon to spray Pamela, who had jumped down behind Bruce. She screamed and dropped to the floor looking like she was attempting to tear off her own skin.
Jon turned toward him again, but Bruce was expecting him.
Jon was ridiculously easy to subdue. Grab the hand with the toxin, point it away from yourself and twist Jon’s arm behind his back forcing him to drop the toxin. Quickly check other sleeve for hidden toxin then wrap your arm around his neck to put him in a sleeper hold that will render Jon unconscious, but unharmed. Easy, but before Jon could pass out, Bruce dropped him. He felt a searing pain in his shoulder. Ed Nigma had shot him.
“Scarecrow, grab Ivy we’re getting out of here.
Nigma was supporting Harley while keeping a gun trained on Bruce. “I have a riddle for you Batman,” Nigma said with a smile.
“What belongs to you but others use it more than you do?”
Bruce suppressed the urge to sigh. Just once, he’d like Nigma to be straight forward about what he was trying to tell him. He thought about the riddle as he watched Jon retrieve a shrieking Pamela. Then it hit him. The answer was your name. His name. His identity. But he knew that Nigma would never reveal the answer to Gotham’s greatest riddle, but still it wasn’t a chance Bruce was willing to take.
“You wouldn’t.”
“Watch me.” Nigma was shaking though, and his left eye twitched. He clearly didn’t like the idea of revealing Bruce’s identity.
“Now, you are going to let us walk out of here and you are not going to follow us. Or…or I’ll, go to the papers.”
“Riddler, lets just go. I have to get Pamela the antidote quickly.”
Bruce was forced to watch them leave, but not before he had placed a tracking device on Jon’s coat.
Title: Long Nights in Gotham City
Characters/Pairings: Riddler, Scarecrow, Harley, Poison Ivy, Batman, Joker, mentions of others
Rating: PG
Warnings: violence, some gore, some swearing
Disclaimer: I don’t own Batman or any of the other characters from Batman they belong to DC comics, Warner Bros., etc.
Spoiler alert: Spoilers for Batman Begins, Dark Knight, some spoilers from the comics but you don’t need to have read them to understand.
A/N: Okay so Jonny Frost is from the Joker graphic novel. The other Jonnys mentioned are random minor Batman villains. Also the poker face idea I stole from the Joker Blogs, and Nigma’s riddle is from a book by Holly Black called, “Tithe.” I’m also not sure if Ed is actually from Gotham or not so lets just pretend he is.
Summary: The Joker makes his first appearance, and Ed learns more about the mystery that is Jonathan Crane and Batman crashes the party at the Iceberg Lounge.
Chapter Title: Party Crasher
There was blood on the floor, which was to be expected when the Joker was creating something beautiful out of what had once been Anna Ramirez. Well, maybe not beautiful, but definitely more interesting than she had been.
“Ya know, you really are lucky that Harvey Dent didn’t kill you. If he had, you wouldn’t have the, honor of me killing you.” The Joker said in a singsong voice.
“And I mean, not just killing you, making you into a masterpiece. I mean every cop in Gotham is going to notice you. You’re going to paint the town red!” The Joker laughed and shoved a piece of paper in Ramirez’s mouth.
“Hey, Jonny, Jonny could ya maybe stop standin’ there and help out.”
Jonny Frost had been driving him around Gotham since he escaped. He was brighter than most of the hired thugs, but that wasn’t saying much. Sure he wasn’t an idiot and could drive stick, but he was so…jittery. The Joker hated that.
“Jonny, Jonny, are you listening to me?” Jonny didn’t move his look of shock remained so etched in his face that the Joker wanted to carve it out. Joker sighed and grabbed another piece of paper. This time he shoved it into a hole in Ramirez’s stomach.
Each piece of paper showed a drawing of the Batman and had the words “WANTED!” printed on the top. Joker had been gathering as many of them as he could just for this occasion.
“Ya know. There are a lot of Jonnys in the world. I knew a crime boss named Johnny Witts, but Harvey Dent put him away. Then there was Johnny Warlock, he was an enforcer for the mob.” As the Joker talked he began sewing Anna Ramirez’s stomach. “I know a Jonny back in Arkham. He wears a potato sack on his head, freak!”
When the Joker had finished sewing up Ramirez, he then turned to several jars that sat next to Ramirez’s head. They were filled with various bits of Anna’s insides, including her eyes, intestines, a lot of blood, and several other parts to mangled to be distinguished anymore. The Joker took each jar gently and placed it in a black duffel bag.
“My point is Jonny, Jonny, that if you are going to be a Jonny you have to make a name for yourself, you have to ah, stand out from the other Jonnys, otherwise you’re just useless.” The Joker practically growled the last part causing Jonny Frost to jump but he finally managed to snap him out of his terrified state.
“Are you useless, Jonny, Jonny?”
He shook his head no.
“Good, because I didn’t want to make you all frosty, Jonny, Jonny.” The Joker giggled. “Now pick that up,” he gestured to Anna as he picked up the duffle bag, “we need to make sure she isn’t late for her big date tonight. Then if you’re real good, I’ll buy you a prostitute, male or female Jonny, Jonny, I won’t judge.” The Joker laughed again and thumped Jonny Frost hard on the back with his free hand.
Jonny grabbed the body and followed the Joker to the car. Joker was skipping as he walked and started singing, “J-j-j-joker face j-j-joker face.” He jumped into the car, laughing as Jonny loaded the body in the trunk before driving off into the night.
“Can’t read my, can’t read my, no he can’t read my poker face…”
“Mistah J loves this song!”
The back entrance they came through was more of a side door. It had leaded them right into the club near the bar.
“Okay guys,” Pamela said, “Oswald should be in one of the offices upstairs, so all we have to do is get to the stairs with out any trouble.”
“Oh, jello shots, I love those.” Jonathan said looking toward the bar.
Ed, Harley, and Pamela’s eyes went wide and their mouths hung open.
“What?”
“I never in all my years, thought I would see this side of you,” said Ed.
“I didn’t even no ya had a side like this,” said Harley.
“You are so not allowed to drink. I’m not cleaning up your puke, and there is no way that someone as skinny as you can hold his liquor.” said Pamela.
“Wow, for a bunch of super villains you guys are no fun.”
“And when did you become fun?” Harley asked. “Mistah J always said that you didn’t have a funny bone in your body.”
Ed watched Jonathan’s face scrunched into a frown. “Well your Mistah J is a-”
Ed clamped his hand over Jonathan’s mouth before he could offend Harley and probably get shot. “How about this, we’ll go drink and you two can talk to Oswald. He’s more likely to talk to you two gorgeous ladies than Jonathan or myself.”
Pamela sighed. “Fine! We’ll do all the work, again! You two will only get in my way anyway.” Ed watched them saunter away through the packed crowd toward the steps.
“Come on.” Ed grabbed Jonathan leading him toward the bar. “So,” he said, “what’s with the insistence on drinking tonight?”
“I have a tough life. Plus, I’m feeling nostalgic.” Jonathan downed two jello shots and ordered a rum and coke. “Besides, I’m not here for Harley. I mean, I worry about her but, there isn’t anything I can do for her now and I could careless where the Joker is or what he is doing.”
Ed frowned. This was the second time Jonathan had confused him tonight. Being confused wasn’t a feeling that Ed experienced often and it wasn’t one he enjoyed, at all. “Then why did you come? Did Harley make you come with us?”
“No, after you were taken back to your cell, I heard Harley and Pam talking about the three of you breaking out. I insisted that they take me too.”
“Why?”
“Because I was worried about you. You have never been involved with the Joker, plus, I didn’t exactly want to stay in Arkham either. Harley was more than happy to bring me along.”
“Why would you be worried about me? What, just because I haven’t dealt with Joker? Neither have you, at least not really.”
Jonathan finished his drink and ordered another. “No, I have dealt with him. You just weren’t in Arkham yet.”
Ed looked imploringly at Jonathan and he continued. “Well, you know I’m technically considered the first super villain in Gotham.” He said with some pride in his voice. “Of course when the Joker got sent to Arkham he knew that and well, decided to make an example of me, you know assert his dominance as top villain, or for whatever insane reason he cooked up in his head. Well, anyway he nearly beat me to death with a chair. I was in the hospital for two months. I was only conscious for one.”
Ed was mildly alarmed at the sheer brutality of the Joker, but everyone knew that’s how the Joker was, and beating up Jonathan wasn’t so hard as long as you stayed clear of his toxin. He didn’t see why Jonathan was worried about him.
Ed had grown up in Gotham, unlike Jonathan, who was Georgia. When he had first become the Riddler, it had taken Batman, the supposed “greatest detective,” almost a year to finally catch him. Further more Ed had figured out Batman’s real identity! Something neither Jonathan Crane nor the Joker had done. If he could handle the Batman, Ed knew he could handle the Joker. After all, out of all of them, Batman included, he was really the only sane one in the group.
Jonathan had just finished a shot of whiskey and was now looking morosely into a bottle of beer.
“Hey, are you feeling okay?”
Jonathan nodded but he didn’t seem okay.
“Jon, come on are y-”
“Don’t call me Jon.”
“What?”
“Only one person has ever called me Jon, and that was only because he was a stubborn ass and I couldn’t get him to stop.”
“But, Joker calls you Jonny all the time. I’ve heard him.”
“Same thing, kind of, I can’t get the Joker to stop because he’ll hurt or kill me. You, Ed, I could take in a fight so you will refer to me as Jonathan, as that is my name.”
Jeez touchy. Ed thought.
“Oh shut up, you could not take me in a fight.”
Before Jonathan could respond they heard gunfire going off upstairs and the people in the club started screaming. Over all the commotion they could hear Harley screaming. “Where is he Bat!? Whaddya do with Mistah J?!”
Ed and Jonathan looked at one another.
“Batman,” Ed whispered. Jonathan was no longer there. In his place were the cold calculating eyes of Scarecrow that quickly disappeared under the mask he had pulled out of his coat pocket.
“Shit!” Ed yelled as he ran toward the stairs following Scarecrow, who was working his way through the panicking masses, obviously enjoying himself.
Ed could see Harley shooting at the Batman. He dodged each one before getting in close enough to grab the gun and push Harley backwards into the wall, knocking her out.
Pamela came at Batman from behind, kicking him square in the back, causing him to lose balance, and fall over the railing of the steps. He fell right in front of Scarecrow.
Bruce struggled to stand up as he heard someone yell, “Go see if Harley’s okay. Me and Pam will take care of this.”
He knew that voice. He looked up to see Jon wearing his mask and holding a metal spray can. Bruce quickly dodged the toxin, which had inadvertently caused Jon to spray Pamela, who had jumped down behind Bruce. She screamed and dropped to the floor looking like she was attempting to tear off her own skin.
Jon turned toward him again, but Bruce was expecting him.
Jon was ridiculously easy to subdue. Grab the hand with the toxin, point it away from yourself and twist Jon’s arm behind his back forcing him to drop the toxin. Quickly check other sleeve for hidden toxin then wrap your arm around his neck to put him in a sleeper hold that will render Jon unconscious, but unharmed. Easy, but before Jon could pass out, Bruce dropped him. He felt a searing pain in his shoulder. Ed Nigma had shot him.
“Scarecrow, grab Ivy we’re getting out of here.
Nigma was supporting Harley while keeping a gun trained on Bruce. “I have a riddle for you Batman,” Nigma said with a smile.
“What belongs to you but others use it more than you do?”
Bruce suppressed the urge to sigh. Just once, he’d like Nigma to be straight forward about what he was trying to tell him. He thought about the riddle as he watched Jon retrieve a shrieking Pamela. Then it hit him. The answer was your name. His name. His identity. But he knew that Nigma would never reveal the answer to Gotham’s greatest riddle, but still it wasn’t a chance Bruce was willing to take.
“You wouldn’t.”
“Watch me.” Nigma was shaking though, and his left eye twitched. He clearly didn’t like the idea of revealing Bruce’s identity.
“Now, you are going to let us walk out of here and you are not going to follow us. Or…or I’ll, go to the papers.”
“Riddler, lets just go. I have to get Pamela the antidote quickly.”
Bruce was forced to watch them leave, but not before he had placed a tracking device on Jon’s coat.