Interlude: Hope? ...ha. Ha.
A gloved hand pulls an old record off a shelf, flicking off the loose dust from it and place it down on the antique record player. Slowly, the hand places the needle down as the player began playing. Crackles of static emerged from speakers at first, before eventually, the deep and soothing notes of jazz filled the halls of the abandoned asylum with its melody.
"Only yooooou~
Can make this worrrrld seem right~
Oooooonly yoooooou!!"
The figure lets out a contented sigh, throwing his head back and letting the music wash over like like a cool breeze. Closing his eyes, he can almost imagine that he wasn't standing in the ruins of his home, but on one of the many rooftops of Gotham at night. The red skies contrasted with the pale-white moon, the same color as the figure's skin, as he gleefully makes another daring escape from a towering shadow of vengeance. Those were the days, yes, those were the days...
Back then, everything had a certain rhythm to it. He shows up, cause trouble, then his Beloved would appear and they'd have a few laughs before restarting the whole game all over again. It was euphoric, it was the perfect life he had envisioned for him and the Dark Knight before That Night.
The night where the world decided to spoil the punchline of his greatest joke: Who is the Batman?
He wasn't in town at the time, too busy planning the steps to completing the Ultimate Joke but when he'd learned of all the super-losers getting blown out of the sky by Moltar and that Batman had gone missing, well, he'd rush home faster than that pesky Roadrunner he'd heard about in the Outback. He had hoped that he wasn't too late. That his Beloved had managed to fight off the weirdo men in black that were suddenly swarming all over Gotham, but alas... it was too late.
Joker watched in dismay as some woman stood next to his arch-nemesis, bloodier than he'd ever seen him before... and the spark in his eyes gone. And the whole time, he kept screaming at Batman to get up. To knock that woman's block off and show her what it means to be an annoying defender of justice or whatever he called himself, before Joker got the chance to off him personally.
But then... tragedy struck. The woman reached down and pulled off the mask, and the Joker's reality shattered with the joke laid out bare for him to see.
And that punchline... was sadly anti-climatic. Behind all the stern looks and fancy gadgets was a man-child crying out for his poor mommy and daddy. Batman was Bruce Wayne.
It'd have been funny to him if it weren't so pathetic.
...
"Oh, what the hell, I'll laugh anyways," the Joker said aloud before letting out a haunting crescendo of laughter that made the halls of Arkham tremble from the sound of it.
"PUDDIN'!! IS THAT YOU?!"
Flinching, the Joker rolled his eyes in annoyance and shouted over top the music playing. "NO, IT'S THE KING OF ENGLAND, HARLEY! WHO ELSE WOULD YOU EXPECT IT TO BE?!"
"Well, SORRRRRRRY!! I WANTED TO BE THE BETTER PARENT HERE BY TELLING YOU TO TURN DOWN THAT CRAPPY MUSIC BEFORE YOU WAKE UP JJ!"
Joker grumbles in annoyance, turning down the volume. "Lousy woman and brat," he grunts. "Turnin' me domestic over the slightest of things. Why, back in my day..."
"WHAT WAS THAT?!"
"Nothing, poo," Joker crooned. "Just talking about how much I love our little family of ours!"
"AWW, PUDDIN'!!"
The doors burst open and a red-and-black blur blitz across the room, latching onto Joker, who looks unamused by it. Harley Quinn nuzzles into her Clown Prince's chest, unknowing of the contempt that the homicidal maniac was displaying at this very moment.
"Do ya really mean what ya said, Mistah J?" she asked, batting her eyelashes at him.
"Oh, of course, my dear," Joker said, prying Harley off of him with a twitchy smile. "Why, we went through so much trouble setting everything up for our family to expand its roster that I'd hope it's true. After all, you know how I hate disappointments."
Hiding her flinch, Harley nervously bobbed her head as she followed Joker out of the room. The two criminals walked side-by-side down the desolate hallways, the smell of death and mold putrid to Harley's nostrils but seemed inviting to the Joker. He let out a grin as he neared the baby's room, straightening out any wrinkles in his tux as he approached it.
"Puddin', wait," Harley grabbed onto his wrist, only to be sent flying backwards from a backhanded smack from her partner.
"Don't touch me like that, woman," Joker growled. "And don't feed me no silly nonsense about 'letting him sleep a little longer, Puddin'. Psah! The last time we let that happened, we let the Dork Knight get iced off by The Man! No, this time, I'm playing for keeps."
He raises his foot up-
"And when I say that-"
-and slammed it into the doors, spilling light into the darkened room.
"I MEAN IT FOR REAL!"
Storming inside the room, he claps his hands twice, activating the lights built into the place to come on. All around him were his tools of torment and mayhem, which he used to reconstruct his experiment into becoming the true heir to the Clown Prince of Crime's legacy. It was true that Batman was dead and gone, yes, and he would always miss those days of fleeting young love. But he had to get serious now. He was getting older, slower even, and he'd noticed Harley getting some wrinkles on her face lately. That just wouldn't do.
So he decided it was time to change the game. Bring in some new blood, just as Batman had done with all the Robins and Batgirls he'd picked up off the streets for years now. And what better inspiration for his latest project than to take a page out of his arch-nemesis's book.
"Oh, JJ!" Joker cackled. "You've slept cozy and pampered long enough, my boy. Mommy Dearest and I have let you slack off this summer for your vacation long enough, but now it's time to get serious! School's coming back soon and we want you to start hitting the books, getting the right materials to knock the socks off the competition! More importantly..."
He walks over to a nearby cart, picking up a remote-control device and punching in some buttons. Out from behind the curtains came a stretcher which housed his pride and joy. Why, just looking at him brought a bigger smile on the Joker's face.
"It's time we shake up this dreary old town and give it something to really laugh about. Are you with me... son?"
A smile equally as wide as the Joker's very own stretches ear to ear on JJ's face, the boy letting out a high-pitched echo of the Joker's own laugh.
"That's the spirit, sonny!" the Joker laughed, their twin laughter chilling the air of the room they were in.
And outside the baby's room, Harleen Quinzel regains her bearings long enough to shed a few tears at the horrors she helped inflict onto young Robin with the Joker... before she reverts back to the Harlequin of Crime, letting out her own laugh that clashed with the tears that just wouldn't stop falling.
The Joker has returned to the limelight in Arkham City... bringing with him his new sidekick: Joker Junior, AKA Tim Drake.
"Only yooooou~
Can make this worrrrld seem right~
Oooooonly yoooooou!!"
The figure lets out a contented sigh, throwing his head back and letting the music wash over like like a cool breeze. Closing his eyes, he can almost imagine that he wasn't standing in the ruins of his home, but on one of the many rooftops of Gotham at night. The red skies contrasted with the pale-white moon, the same color as the figure's skin, as he gleefully makes another daring escape from a towering shadow of vengeance. Those were the days, yes, those were the days...
Back then, everything had a certain rhythm to it. He shows up, cause trouble, then his Beloved would appear and they'd have a few laughs before restarting the whole game all over again. It was euphoric, it was the perfect life he had envisioned for him and the Dark Knight before That Night.
The night where the world decided to spoil the punchline of his greatest joke: Who is the Batman?
He wasn't in town at the time, too busy planning the steps to completing the Ultimate Joke but when he'd learned of all the super-losers getting blown out of the sky by Moltar and that Batman had gone missing, well, he'd rush home faster than that pesky Roadrunner he'd heard about in the Outback. He had hoped that he wasn't too late. That his Beloved had managed to fight off the weirdo men in black that were suddenly swarming all over Gotham, but alas... it was too late.
Joker watched in dismay as some woman stood next to his arch-nemesis, bloodier than he'd ever seen him before... and the spark in his eyes gone. And the whole time, he kept screaming at Batman to get up. To knock that woman's block off and show her what it means to be an annoying defender of justice or whatever he called himself, before Joker got the chance to off him personally.
But then... tragedy struck. The woman reached down and pulled off the mask, and the Joker's reality shattered with the joke laid out bare for him to see.
And that punchline... was sadly anti-climatic. Behind all the stern looks and fancy gadgets was a man-child crying out for his poor mommy and daddy. Batman was Bruce Wayne.
It'd have been funny to him if it weren't so pathetic.
...
"Oh, what the hell, I'll laugh anyways," the Joker said aloud before letting out a haunting crescendo of laughter that made the halls of Arkham tremble from the sound of it.
"PUDDIN'!! IS THAT YOU?!"
Flinching, the Joker rolled his eyes in annoyance and shouted over top the music playing. "NO, IT'S THE KING OF ENGLAND, HARLEY! WHO ELSE WOULD YOU EXPECT IT TO BE?!"
"Well, SORRRRRRRY!! I WANTED TO BE THE BETTER PARENT HERE BY TELLING YOU TO TURN DOWN THAT CRAPPY MUSIC BEFORE YOU WAKE UP JJ!"
Joker grumbles in annoyance, turning down the volume. "Lousy woman and brat," he grunts. "Turnin' me domestic over the slightest of things. Why, back in my day..."
"WHAT WAS THAT?!"
"Nothing, poo," Joker crooned. "Just talking about how much I love our little family of ours!"
"AWW, PUDDIN'!!"
The doors burst open and a red-and-black blur blitz across the room, latching onto Joker, who looks unamused by it. Harley Quinn nuzzles into her Clown Prince's chest, unknowing of the contempt that the homicidal maniac was displaying at this very moment.
"Do ya really mean what ya said, Mistah J?" she asked, batting her eyelashes at him.
"Oh, of course, my dear," Joker said, prying Harley off of him with a twitchy smile. "Why, we went through so much trouble setting everything up for our family to expand its roster that I'd hope it's true. After all, you know how I hate disappointments."
Hiding her flinch, Harley nervously bobbed her head as she followed Joker out of the room. The two criminals walked side-by-side down the desolate hallways, the smell of death and mold putrid to Harley's nostrils but seemed inviting to the Joker. He let out a grin as he neared the baby's room, straightening out any wrinkles in his tux as he approached it.
"Puddin', wait," Harley grabbed onto his wrist, only to be sent flying backwards from a backhanded smack from her partner.
"Don't touch me like that, woman," Joker growled. "And don't feed me no silly nonsense about 'letting him sleep a little longer, Puddin'. Psah! The last time we let that happened, we let the Dork Knight get iced off by The Man! No, this time, I'm playing for keeps."
He raises his foot up-
"And when I say that-"
-and slammed it into the doors, spilling light into the darkened room.
"I MEAN IT FOR REAL!"
Storming inside the room, he claps his hands twice, activating the lights built into the place to come on. All around him were his tools of torment and mayhem, which he used to reconstruct his experiment into becoming the true heir to the Clown Prince of Crime's legacy. It was true that Batman was dead and gone, yes, and he would always miss those days of fleeting young love. But he had to get serious now. He was getting older, slower even, and he'd noticed Harley getting some wrinkles on her face lately. That just wouldn't do.
So he decided it was time to change the game. Bring in some new blood, just as Batman had done with all the Robins and Batgirls he'd picked up off the streets for years now. And what better inspiration for his latest project than to take a page out of his arch-nemesis's book.
"Oh, JJ!" Joker cackled. "You've slept cozy and pampered long enough, my boy. Mommy Dearest and I have let you slack off this summer for your vacation long enough, but now it's time to get serious! School's coming back soon and we want you to start hitting the books, getting the right materials to knock the socks off the competition! More importantly..."
He walks over to a nearby cart, picking up a remote-control device and punching in some buttons. Out from behind the curtains came a stretcher which housed his pride and joy. Why, just looking at him brought a bigger smile on the Joker's face.
"It's time we shake up this dreary old town and give it something to really laugh about. Are you with me... son?"
A smile equally as wide as the Joker's very own stretches ear to ear on JJ's face, the boy letting out a high-pitched echo of the Joker's own laugh.
"That's the spirit, sonny!" the Joker laughed, their twin laughter chilling the air of the room they were in.
And outside the baby's room, Harleen Quinzel regains her bearings long enough to shed a few tears at the horrors she helped inflict onto young Robin with the Joker... before she reverts back to the Harlequin of Crime, letting out her own laugh that clashed with the tears that just wouldn't stop falling.
The Joker has returned to the limelight in Arkham City... bringing with him his new sidekick: Joker Junior, AKA Tim Drake.
