(Untitled)

[he_is_wild]

Who: The Joker and the City of Siren's Port
When: After Sirens
Where: Wealthy sectors and surrounding areas
Summary: Joker's controller locks up, the Darkness goes berserk
Warnings: Violence, gore, monster shenanigans and the Joker

Comments

for joker.

[kingofrooks]

A detective's job was mainly finding clues and working through them. At times, it was a preventive thing, but most of the time he had to be reactive, instead. To wait for something to happen, to find out who the perpetrator might be, follow the clues to the culprit, and stop it from happening again.

It didn't take him very long to hunt down the Joker. Not this time. Not when he already had a good inkling of how he moved.

"Joker!" he called out, throwing his voice outwards. "Your vacation is over, and your cell is waiting for you."

[he_is_wild]

Joker heard the voice cut through the darkness. After fleeing from Jason he'd taken refuge on a nearby roof, crouching to avoid gaining too much attention from the flying monsters. For the most part it worked...though one flying monster still found him.

The sound of Batman's voice should have filled him with elation, he knew. But it didn't.

"Oh...it's you. Lame."

[kingofrooks]

That wasn't the expected reaction. Bruce stopped a little, cocked his head to the side- no, there was something wrong. Something missing both in Joker's reaction, and by the Joker's side.

And his words... Bruce's eyes narrowed, unseen behind the cowl. The tension around him thickened, and he took a single step forward.

"Where is Harley Quinn?"

[he_is_wild]

Joker waited a moment for Harley to come leaping over to the roof with a mallet in her hand. She didn't.

He stared fixedly at the building across the street in time to see the Wyvern swallow someone head first. This brought a grin to his face.

"So is this the part where you beat the tar outta me?"

[kingofrooks]

Bruce was waiting too, even as he threw an explosive batarang at the Wyvern. It reared back, roaring as it exploded at its throat, and Bruce turned his attention to the Joker, eyes narrowed.

"No. This is the part where I take care of you and I go back to my real job." His voice was a low, deadly growl.

"She's dead, isn't she?"

[he_is_wild]

Joker looked sidelong at Batman, bristling. This was why the Bat was his nemesis. He kept tabs. He knew things...He always did.

For a long moment the clown was silent.

Harley sure ain't kickin'.

He opened his mouth to say this but what came out was "I am your real job!"

[kingofrooks]

There was a stark difference between keeping tabs and someone being obvious enough that he could tell. Bruce's lips thinned slightly as he watched him again, even though he was keeping half an eye very solidly on the Wyvern, just to make sure it wouldn't hurt anyone else.

"No. You're an obstacle I'm clearing." He paused. "You don't even want to fight anymore, do you?

"I'll bring you back. They should have recordings of her."

It was kindness- for the sake of manipulation.

[he_is_wild]

"Recording!?"

He looked at Batman fully, his face twisted in anger. Recording!? What sort of sentimental sap did Guanoman take him for!?

"Why would I want to hear a recording!? I had that daffy dame yapping in my ear nonstop! I'm glad she's gone!"

As he spoke these words something somersaulted in his stomach. Were they true?

[kingofrooks]

Clinically, Bruce labelled this response as a classical case of denial. The first stage of grief, though different from most - the denial of affection, not of the event or the loss. But it was grief, nonetheless.

And here- here was the reason why he couldn't stop having faith in people. Even the worst and the most mad person he knew, even the Joker had the capability to feel grief. Not to process it, no. Not to deal with it sensibly, no. But he could feel it, and that feeling made him human. No matter what he had done, he was still human.

Sometimes, Bruce wished he wasn't.

"No, you don't," his words were quiet, but firm. Steady. The family was running away from the Wyvern - things were safe, for now. Bruce concentrated on the Joker, and he took a step forward. "She meant something to you, didn't she, Joker?"