#guard: it’s the joker. i was cheering freeze on

[x-gabrielle-x]

Withered Cards | IV

Pairings: Jason Todd x Reader.

Warnings: Blood, gore, violence, murder, swearing, major and minor injuries, death.

Summary: Despite the many different problems you overcome with Jason Todd, you always eventually make it back to each other. Even after his death, how could you still love a man who changed so much? Even when you made a turn for the worst.

Series Masterlist

Your body still ached from the hits that Joker had blown at you only a week ago, the scab forming over your split lip leaving a metallic tang on your tongue. The bruises still had yet to heal, the purple blemishes littering your skin and serving as a fresh reminder of just how cruel and nasty the Joker really was. It had been a week. A week since your failed mission, and a week since you had last seen Robin.

You had found yourself mostly staying hidden away in your tiny room back in the warehouse, finding that it was much greater comfort than having to be around the tantalizing grin Joker always sent in your direction, like a lion baring its teeth to its prey. So of course, when you had heard a loud bang on your door with the Joker bidding you farewell, claiming he had 'unfinished business to attend', you were more than relieved to finally stretch your limbs and let your guard down; just a little.

Though even without the Joker there for the few days you had, your heart would leap into your throat whenever you thought to hear something similar to his maniacal laughter. You were constantly on edge even without him there, and Harley seemed to be mourning his absence just as much as you were enjoying it.

Sitting on a random rooftop with the glimmering city lights below did little to ease your running thoughts. The familiar chill of the freezing air pricked at your skin to which you folded your arms against your chest for a sense of warmth. Gotham had seemed to be a lot quieter tonight, a very rare occasion. Crime was low, and the usual distant sirens were quiet. You could even hear the occasional laughter and cheers from the bar just down the street.

You wished to bask longer in the silence, in your own company, but it was quickly gone when you heard the soft thuds of boots on the floor behind you.

You didn't need to look over to know that he was staring directly at you, observant and intrigued. In any other situation, you would have found yourself reaching for your knife and defending yourself against the charging enemy, fists flying and weapons drawn for blood, but this was different. Very different. There was no harshness to his steps, no attacks thrown at you, only silence.

The silence dragged uncomfortably long, and you kicked your legs back and forth over the edge of the building as you let out a long breath.

"I didn't think the Robin would be paying me a visit tonight," you kept your gaze trained below. "If I had known, I might have put on my better shoes!"

The pounding in your chest grew with each word you spoke, but if he had come to fight you, he would have done it by now.

He ignored your comment and instead came up beside you. It was then you finally turned your gaze up at him, noticing his yellow, red and green costume. The dominoe mask shadowed his face, though you could see little due to the dimmed lights of the city. He was staring right back at you, a little too much for your personal comfort.

He slumped onto the edge of the rooftop with a huff, maintaining the safe distance between you both. You had to resist from smiling a little to yourself at the silliness of it all. Robin, your enemy, the one who had made you fail your mission and make the Joker’s anger flare was currently sat five feet away as if nothing had happened.

He was playing a dangerous game, yet you were curious to see the reason of his arrival. If he wasn't here to start something, why was he here at all?

The tension was thick with something you couldn't place, but the feeling was oddly unsettling. Not because you were fearful, but because you were oddly excited for this coincidental meeting.

"Tough week?" he questioned in a tease, pointing to your split lip and the yellowish bruise poking out from under your mask. You merely scoffed at the boy before subconsciously licking the cut on your bottom lip.

"Maybe. It would have been a hell of a lot better if you had left me that vial, though," you looked at him, catching the smile that had appeared on his face triumphantly before he quickly disguised it with a bored look.

"What did the Batsy say when you handed it in," you continued. "It better have been good, considering the Joker wasn't too pleased when I returned without the one thing he had asked of me." You gestured to your eye again, his gaze lingering there for a few moments too long.

He tensed at the mention of Batman, lips twitching into a frown.

"Nothing you need to know," he mumbled out, irritation laced in his voice. You quirked a brow.

"I think I do," you laughed, though it was obviously fake. "Considering you're the reason I got my ass beat."

He ignored you, instead shifting himself so that his leg was now propped up on the edge of the roof. He tilted his head in question.

"What are you doing here, anyway? Another Joker deed or dwelling in your failure," he taunted.

"Having a breather," you were quick to reply in defense, and you noticed the way his eyes widened in surprise. He let out a soft laugh, something that surprised you considering you didn't hear laughter too often where you were, or perhaps too much from the Joker.

"Something that we have in common," he mused, and for the first time you felt a strange sense of welcoming with Robin. With anybody, for that matter.

The both of you remained at a safe distance, but his presence alone was one that confused you. Tonight, even with him a mere five feet away, you weren't worried about having to fight him, worried about hiding away, or worried about who you were raised with. It was nearly as if in this moment, you had somebody who didn't pose you as a threat. Or at least, not much of a threat.

Robin's movements were relaxed and composed, abandoned of any tension he may have held before regarding your presence.

“I’m guessing you don’t do this often,” Robin concluded. “If not at all.”

You frowned at him, slightly offended by his comment. “How would you know?”

The corner of his lip tipped into a smile, and he shrugged, flexing his shoulders in a way that caused for his suit to stretch.

“I’m here nearly every night, and I can positively say, I haven’t seen you out here once.”

“And I bet you wish you could see me, little birdy,” you fake pouted, watching him closely.

He breathed out a laugh, his eyes squinting under the dominoe mask that concealed his identity.

"Believe me, if it didn't end in you nearly breaking my nose last time, I might have considered it."

You just stared at him, your mind trying to figure him out. In all honesty, you don't remember the last proper conversation that you had with somebody. much less around your age.

"How old are you?" the question had slipped out before you could stop it.

Robin glanced back at you; a brow raised. "Not much older than you, I'd guess," he looked you up and down. "How old are you?"

"Thats not an answer," you deadpanned, ignoring him. "For all you know, I could be a sixty-five-year-old woman with insane plastic surgery."

"But you're not," he clarified. "No old woman would be able to jump off rooftops and work for criminals like him."

You cringed at the mention of the Joker.

Robin let out a low hum, and the city lights from below flickered across the right side of his face in what seemed to be like a dance.

You opened your mouth. "You're not-"

"Stop." He cut you off.

You paused. "Excuse me?"

He held up a hand, his gaze going past you. It was only then you heard the quiet grunts and rummaging from a nearby alley. You were already on your feet and moving toward the sound, steps cautious. Robin was right on your heel, and by the time you were both on the ground hidden by the shadows in the alley, you could see a hunched figure leaning against the brick wall, digging through what seemed to be a purse.

You turned to Robin, a mocking smile gracing your lips. You gestured an arm out.

"Well? After you, Wonder Boy," you said.

He frowned. "Is that some way you're going to get me distracted and then knock me out when my backs turned?"

You rolled your eyes. "No, do I look like a hero who fights purse thieves?"

He looked you up and down. "Honestly, no."

"You didn't have to answer, bird brain. Just go!"

The man who had been distracted for long enough suddenly snapped his head toward you both, snarling.

"What the hell?"

The man stood abruptly, stepping closer, though Robin was quick to move from the outstretched hand of the man. With a swift kick, the man was doubling over with a grunt and spilling the contents of the purse onto the floor.

The man growled in annoyance, lunging for Robin again, but he was quick to duck down away from the mans clenched fist before it could make contact. You, however, watched on with amusement.

"You could have been a bit more original rather than a purse thief," Robin called out to the man.

The grunts exchanged between the two continued, and you cringed at the few hits Robin had received. You had to admit, he put up a strong fight.

"Little rat!" The man yelled, holding his head where a punch managed to land before he stumbled out of the alley, disregarding the purse he previously held.

Robin huffed, brushing a dark stray of hair away from his face. He looked over, meeting your gaze as you clapped mockingly, stepping out from the shadows and closer to him.

He stooped down, picking up what looked to be an ID.

"Do you know a Lora Johnston?" He said, flipping the card in his hand.

"Can't you search that up on a special little gadget or something?"

He mumbled out something that you failed to hear.

There was a pause.

"I think you could improve on your movement," you said, and his eyes snapped to yours. Something changed in his features that you couldn't place.

"Teach me, then."

Your mouth ran dry. "What?"

"If you teach me, then ill teach you some stuff." He was quick to add, but you shook your head quickly.

"I don't need your help."

You went to turn, but you let out a yelp when you were suddenly tugged back and landed onto the hard floor.

"You let your guard down too easily," Robin teased. You only glared up at him with annoyance.

You stood back up to your feet and wacked him on the shoulder, pushing past him and walking toward the alley entrance to leave, but he quickly called out to you.

You ignored him, but he called out again.

"What do I call you?"

You stopped and turned to him, eyes wide.

There was a long pause. "Nothing," you said. "I can't give you a name."

"Well," he thought, a suggestive smile gracing his lips that you knew you'd see again. "I guess I'll just have to decide myself."

You turned again, waving a hand this time. "Until next time, birdy!"

He let out a chuckle. "Until next time, Princess!"

You remain silent the rest of the walk, your interaction with Robin nothing like how you would have imagined it. He confused you more than you'd like to admit, but oddly enough, tonight was a change, and you liked it.

You couldn't remember the last time you had spoken to somebody so casually, the sense of normality something you craved more of. Though the two of you barely knew each other, much less trust, you had hoped it wouldn't be your last interaction.

@annabellelee @stormz369

©x-gabrielle-x. Do not steal, copy or translate my works.

[chess-blackmyre]

#guard: (gesturing to joker in a body cast) and i think the rest is self-explanatory#doctor: so you were in a position to intervene but you didn’t?#guard: it’s the joker. i was cheering freeze on#doctor: you made the right choice#joker mastered timing for comedy but finds it’s just as important for his true favourite hobby: starting shit#he says it with a completely straight face#looking victor dead in the eyes (love the tags OP)

[The rogues are in Arkham and bored.]

Eddie: If you could have sex with one person it is utterly impossible for you to have sex with, who would it be? Who is your ultimate pipe dream lay?

Victor: (sighs deeply) My own wife. Due to my lowered body temperature, simply holding her hand would cause me severe burns. I long for her to be awake and healthy again, but even then and even if she’ll still have me we’ll need to grieve all physical intimacy in our relationship. The downside of finding ‘the one’ is that you may lose them.

[A sad, uncomfortable silence. Harvey starts crying because God, he misses Gilda.]

Joker: I also choose his wife.

[anxiousnerdwritings]

Ok so this is gonna look weird since im doing this on my computer and i might have some uppercase sentences but hopefully this works and if it doesnt f also first time submitting and it might not show up as anonymous so f to me again help m e anyway if this doesnt work then i'll just continue to send in works through asks bc i cant figure shit out lmao.

-Knull anon

~~~~

You stopped for a moment before saying, “damian, you’re supposed to be with batman trying to fight the other batman, why are you here?” Damian seemed to freeze up, but before he could explain anything, you pressed on. “And what happened to your costume? I don't think he would let you get a new one.”

The 4 strange batkids who seemed to appear out of nowhere stood there not knowing what to do, and as you sat there wondering why they seemed like they were… before the joker gas, you also had to wonder why they were there. Who were they? Where were they from? The other batkids got killed when… “batman” killed them.

One of the kids you recognized was Cassandra, if you remember correctly. It was strange seeing her so.. Well, alive. You never met the actual batkids before, since the batman who laughs only found you after a reign of chaos, but you had heard about them, and in some files you found when you had a bit more freedom, they spoke of who they were and what they could do. Of course you had to put them back when your “dad” came back around, but you were still able to read some of them. 

The others you couldn’t remember as well, since you were only able to read up on 2 or 3 batkids. However, you weren’t able to think about that when one of them, who looked a little tiny and had a staff said “we need to find somewhere to hide, those robins are coming back down.”

Oh fuck, I forgot, I asked them to bring some food down! Well, now I feel bad about being hungry…

You were about to let them hide in your room, but then you saw the blasted door and thought, yeah, that's not gonna work. You looked around and remembered that stupid hiding place you found a couple of weeks ago while playing the robins version of hide and seek. It was such a good hiding spot that your “dad” actually had to come and drag you out.

Yeah, it wasn't a fun time.

But at least now you have a hiding spot. You motioned for them to follow you down the large hallway, and then opened up two double doors. Inside was a room of sculptures from all over the place. You walked them over to a sculpture of a man who appeared to be crying while sitting on a bench, and let them behind it. There was a small gap that you squeezed through and pressed 6 tiles in a pattern, before it revealed a sort of bunker like room. You led them inside and right as you were able to hear the screeching of the robins, you closed the door.

*

You sat there for about 10 minutes before you heard things quieting down. For the most part you heard the robins stomping around, trying to find you. You were honestly surprised to see that they didn’t just look where you were last time. A question pulled you from listening to the thumps.

“Why did you recognize Damian's voice?” you turned around and saw the same boy who had alerted you of the robins approaching had asked you. You turned to him fully before explaining, “this… earths, I guess you could call it, batman did have a damian wayne, but when he… ya know, became evil, he turned damian into one of them. He really doesn’t speak unless spoken to, which is also really rare. I was just surprised to see you since I thought you were supposed to be with him while they fight that one earths batman.”

Damian gave you a weird look and said, “I'm not the Damian from this earth, as you call it.”

You stared at him for a moment before going back to your mind. Not from my earth? What does he mean by that? Besides, what's with all the other batkids being alive? And even if they are here, and from a different earth, what would they be looking for? Was it money? No, batkids from all over never really want money, they want to follow, well, batman. So that means their batman must’ve sent them here. But why?

You turned back to the batkid with a staff and asked, “I'm sorry, I've never heard of you, what's your name?”

You saw Cassandra hold her hand to her mouth while Damian seemed to smile. Probably just your imagination, though. “Red Robin.” he said, as he looked down, seemingly a little embarrassed.

You tried to remember who had that name, but nothing came up, until….

“Oh, I remember now! You're the one that likes coffee, right?” he scratched the back of his neck, before nodding.

Cassandra was the next to ask questions. “Why don't you know the robins from this earth?” you leaned back into the wall behind you and said, “easy, I wasn’t there when you all died.” the mood immediately died after you said that, and it became extremely awkward. 

Damian asked, “why are you even here?” “I'm supposed to know? I don't even know why he didn’t kill me to be honest with you.” 

Damian asked, “why are you even here?” “I'm supposed to know? I don't even know why he didn’t kill me to be honest with you.” 

Damian was about to ask something else when his comm beeped for a moment. He answered it, before you heard someone say, “damian, you better have found the damn thing, because we're being overrun!” 

From the other line, you were able to hear the screeches of robins from all over, and the grunts of whoever was speaking. “Ugh- just get the thing, and head out! We've got them distracted!”

Damian immediately got up and grabbed your upper arm, before opening the door. “We're leaving, we don't have much time.” without another word, you followed them out of the strange bunker and back into the hallway.

*

Sneaking past the robins was easy. Sneaking past the guards was… not so easy. You were wondering how they even got in when, instead of heading towards the entrance to the fortress, they turned a random corner and dragged you down somewhere else. 

“Hey, not to sound rude, but the exits that way,” you pointed back to the two large doors that were heavily guarded, “why are we going this way.”

Cassandra turned back to face you. “We didn’t enter that way.” you were about to ask a question when you entered a tiled hallway. They brought you to one specific area and you could only assume that it was the same puzzle as the bunker, enter the right code and you would get into a secret tunnel.

Damian seemed to try and remember what the puzzle was, before he entered an unknown combination and the doors opened. He smirked before coming to the person who had distracted the robins.

“Nightwing, we’ve got the obj-” he looked at you before realizing that might’ve been rude. “... the… person, we’ve got the person.”

“It’s a what now?!” “Just get back to the ship and we’ll be off!”

He dragged you into the tunnel that seemed to be extremely long, and you continued like that in the dark, sprinting through the dark tunnel while you heard random noises everywhere else. Finally, you almost ran into the end of the tunnel, and when it was opened it was almost like a breath of fresh air. Well, it was a breath of fresh air, but this is the first time you’ve really been able to see the planet. Even in the dark, you were able to tell that it was a beautiful jungle. 

Being shoved into a nearby bush startled you but when you went to ask why red robin had pushed you, he held a finger to his lips, and pointed out of the bush.

There were two large guards with their weapons walking over to the door, and looking around. You saw the batkids make hand signals out of the corner of your eyes, but before you would even say anything, a large explosion from the other side of the fortress brought your attention.

Without a second glance the two guards ran around the building before disappearing to a corner of the wall. Waiting a few seconds to see if anyone was there, before red robin helped you up and the 5 of you started running to who knows where. It felt like a couple minutes before you suddenly stopped and went on a little wrist tablet and started typing. 

This resulted in a jet appearing from nowhere, before you realized that it was a wonder woman's invisible jet. “Did you guys recreate it or something?”

Cassandra gave you a weird look before you doubled back, and said, “Oh I forgot, this is from your earth.”

Walking around in grass and leaves felt surreal to you, but now you finally have a chance of leaving. Running up the ramp, you almost cried in relief when you realized that no this wasn’t you mind playing tricks on you. But that would have to come later, since you still had to leave the planet.

And as you took off, watching the fires swallow up the nearby trees, and the robins desperately try to find you, you really wanted to start laughing from joy.

~~~~

God this shit was so hard to write bc i was trying to figure out how to submit things and then like ya know this happened. Anyway if my name shows up when i submit this u can just copy paste this or just screenshot it idc whichever is fine with you. Anyway cheers love, god help me bc i want to sleep.

-Knull anon

[yellow-pigeons]

The troupe gains a member - A WillNemi Fic

London looked marvelous today.

If she wasn’t forced to be on her way to a certain place, hours wouldn’t be enough to fully admire the beauty of the slowly developing city, currently basking in the first, warm rays of dawn. Sunlight dusts over the grey and brown buildings like snow, gradually showing their outlines, and shines from the stained windows in the most abandoned areas.

Rain is no more, at least for the time being, unlike in her realm, which is also far more pleasant than having to walk around everywhere with her heaviest coat and a scarf. How annoying, even after all these years she cannot help but nearly freeze when rain or storms occur.

Sighing upon that wandering thought, the blue Shinigami bolts towards the already set up circus square, jumping down from a roof to seem a little less suspicious to the gloomy, still drowsy English.

Drat, this skirt was far from comfortable to be running in, if only times allowed for her to be wearing her usual one in public…

“Mornin’ to ya madam! How may I be of service?”

A loud, resonant voice reaches her ears, as an orange haired male towers over her, smiling in a friendly, harmless manner. Just now, she realizes she has been standing there for quite a while, not noticing him observing her since she came as well.

“Oh, pardon my mindless staring good sir, but... May I ask you something?”

Her chartreuse eyes pierce right through him, as the man widely known as Joker walks with her for a small while. Humans are indeed very interesting, they are careful around strangers, however are fooled by the commonly known façade of good looks and sweet words. Their ways of speaking also varies with each ones’ personality, but that is pretty obvious.

“Is there a problem, luv? Whatcha doin’ around here, with such heavy baggage?”

The fellow asks, to which she purposely looks away with a distressed frown, rubbing her arm a little. Clad in a teal blue shirt and dark grey skirt up to her ankles, she looks no different from some regular woman in the current era, with the exception of her unusually colored irises.

“I have found myself in a bloody bad space for years now, and have heard that you are looking for new circus members. Would it be much of a drag if I-”

“But of course! We been lackin’ ladies in the crew recently, so yer a perfect fill up for our troupe! Come, come, I shall introduce ye to the others!”

He is affable, unsuspecting just as she expected him to be. This is good, she thinks to herself, holding her head down as she walks by the man’s side all the way towards one of the big, greenish-brown tents.

“What’s yer name lass? Ye can choose one that will be yer stage name, and we shall call ye this way.”

“I’m not keen on being called by my real name, so just please call me ‘Nemi’”

Joker grins widely, patting her back in an assuring gesture.

“Of course! Yer secrets stay private in this place! Quick question before ye accommodate yerself here though.”

His eyes turn over to her as they suddenly cease the slow marching, Haruda stopping and immediately looking up at him. She sees a glint of mischief in his gaze, which makes her tilt her head to the side questioningly, morning breeze threading through her hair.

“What are ye good at? Certainly ye have a special talent that would be beneficial for tha circus.”

“Oh my, I simply don’t know where to start, mister…”

“Joker, the name’s Joker.”

 ----------------------------------

“Oi! Gather all around! We have a new acrobat in tha troupe!”

At the sound of Joker’s call, the circus members began walking into the white and blue tent, usually in small groups to see what was the show all about. Noemi was swinging downwards from a trapeze on one leg, curiously eyeing the poor, unfortunate souls that happened to end up here. What a shame she couldn’t bring herself to somehow feel bad for them, the mystery behind the disappearances of children were far more important though.

Swinging from one trapeze to another, she easily made a few flips in the air, earning herself a satisfying applause. Landing beside the purple eyed man with the last leap, she bowed politely to the cheering audience, them soon being shushed by Joker.

“Everyone meet Nemi! She will be one of our newest, and probably most skilled freshman acrobats. Peter, Wendy, better step up yer game if ye want to remain the main attraction.”

The male laughed, as the bluenette eyed everyone with a calm smile. Where was he, for Rhea’s sake? She wasn’t supposed to be here earlier. What she did notice was the Queen’s Guard Dog, and his…

“Demon...”

She whispered to herself, not dropping her stoic mask, feeling an elbow in the arm from Joker.

“What would ye like to say to yer new mates? No need to be shy!”

Haruda looked around, and after a while of thought, she finally spoke up, as she should’ve done before, instead of the sketchy whisper.

“I will be most happy to be working with you all! It’s a pleasure to be here.”

She smiled widely, earning an applause once again, as well as some silent comments.

Of course, there was one thing about her appearance that she could never fully hide, which was more than troublesome with her kind of outfit. The scars on her neck and chest were an issue, but people were kind enough not to ask too many questions. She made up a story of how her husband spilled boiling hot coffee on her, and she had no idea how to care for open wounds.

Ah, another wonderful thing about the people from this era. Immense stupidity and misinformation. Any story was good enough to be shoved in their faces with enough drama to that and they were on their knees.

Ha ha, what a silly world we live in.

“Ye sure space out a lot, lass. I wanted ye to meet some other skilled new members of our troupe, since they were much of bloody ignoramuses to come n’ greet ya! Black! Smile! Show yer new colleague around! And where’s Suit?!”

The male rambled, as the two approached her eventually. Not the first time she saw a demon in her life, however this one seemed to be oddly put for a starving vermin. She was told he had some sort of contract with that spoiled child. How utterly atrocious for him to prey on brats.

However, this was not the time to be revealing her true identity, so keeping a good face to a bad game was her task now. And obviously fulfilling her mission, which was making sure that Spears wasn’t going to screw up his task. This was quite a few souls after all, and with a starving demon lurking around to that he could be in potential danger.

Smiling softly as they finally closed the distance between one another with around six feet, the bluenette scanned them both properly, before the blue eyed child’s demon spoke up, his crimson orbs focusing on her with curiosity.

“Hello dear, you must be the Nemi everyone is talking about now. Welcome to the troupe. I am Black, and this little fellow here is Smile.”

“It’s a pleasure, Black, Smile. I am a tad lost with all the ruckus around here, would you be so kind and show me my place to rest?”

Smoothly, she escaped the kid’s suspicious glare, as the demon nodded and took her luggage. Huh, that was unusual, however if he were to check it, there was nothing really special inside, apart from spare clothing items, her favorite book and some daily care routine things, like a toothbrush or comb.

“Joker assigned you the tenth tent, which means you’ll be there alone. Such a shame I couldn’t be your company; you look dreadfully gloomy to me.”

“I am just fine with that, dear Black. Surely you have wonderful mates in your own one, I believe.”

She jabs back at the demon with a sly smirk, as he nods and sets down her trunk beside a bunk bed.

The tents’ inside is dim when the lamps are out, morning sunlight sneaking inside and somewhat making it more appealing to the eye. It’s a simple setting, with the beds set in the right corner and a few stacked up wooden boxes serving as a nightstand.

Before she notices, they swiftly leave, allowing her to accommodate herself into the new sleeping spot. Taking out an old-fashioned alarm clock, she places it on top of the boxes, setting it for five am with a few cracks of the cogs inside it. Despite the rather rigid, barbarian surroundings, she feels at ease, considering this yet another mission to complete.

This one just requires a little bit more effort and spying, which for her sounded more than just interesting. That was why she agreed after all. Besides, she was in charge of monitoring the Retrieval Division manager, so there wasn’t much of a choice either. Understaffment was truly a thorn in the side these days.

So, Suit. This was his stage name, eh? The blasted moron couldn’t come up with anything better, how typical.

“Tch. Always in a need to be controlled even though he was supposed to be fine on his own. What a waste of a perfectly fine reaper.”

She grumbles to herself, walking around in her ‘human’ attire, slowly catching sight of how the tents were placed, and where everything was. With her skirt swapped for trousers, she stumbles upon a training tent, being invited to stretch and work out a little before next week’s show.

Everything goes just fine before the last evening falls, the dress rehearsal after sunset being one of the last moments where she could focus and somehow catch sight of him. Up until then she was doing quite alright, slipping out of the suspicion range of the demon and the kid, whilst William apparently struggled with remembering what he was over a hundred years ago.

She hides from his sight, not allowing him to discover that he’s being watched.

Days fly as she trains and helps around the circus, each day being so strangely similar to what was once of her, somewhere in her motherland. Hard, physical work, but also some new friends, that sadly were to die in the nearest months. Despite that, she enjoys her stay, while being merely a week in.

Just now, she is in the middle of a pirouette in mid-air, when she hears a familiar voice. With a purposeful fail in her trick, she falls onto the white net, staying in it to avoid an unavoidable encounter with one person she was not supposed to encounter during her stay. Hoping for him to leave as soon as possible, she is quickly disappointed as silence falls in the huge tent.

“Just what are You doing here, Noemi Haruda. Are you not supposed to be sitting behind your desk, instead of fooling around here like some sort of monkey? You are one reaper I would never expect to be doing this type of work.”

Darn it.

She climbs out of the net, piercing the raven haired man with a dagger throwing gaze, shaking her head. This is no good. If the kid and the butler find out about her true identity her whole plan will go to absolute bollocks!

As an ultimate method of defending herself, the blue haired female blurts out a laugh, holding her abdomen before flopping back into the net, mentally kicking herself for choosing the biggest tent for practice.

“Oh four-eyes, your jokes are always spot on, are they not? I don’t believe we have been properly introduced to one another yet. I know no such person as Noemi Haruda. I am Nemi.”

The male frowns deeply, turning around and walks away from the tent.

What the devil is she doing here?

Did she send herself here to monitor his actions? Probably yes, judging from the undercover she is in. Unsurprisingly, the humans consider her to be one of them, which makes up for his poor attempts to blend in.

Hmm, did the demon fall for her trick as well?

Apparently yes, since he’s probably never seen her before. Can’t demons smell Shinigami? That wasn’t for him to wonder about, though.

As soon as the training is considered to be over, the blue haired woman follows after William to the back of the circus, grabbing his wrist. He pulls it away immediately, turning around to face her. It’s obvious her presence makes him far away from pleased, with his arms tightly pressed to his sides and jaw nearly snapping off from the strength he put in gritting his teeth.

Clad in his white trousers and green vest, he nearly spits venom when audibly snorting at her short, black and white striped dress and knee high boots.

Honestly.

“You look like a prostitute.”

“You look like a homo.”

“What makes you think I am not one.”

“I don’t know, maybe because we’ve slept together more than you’d like to admit?”

“Don’t start with that again. Better tell me what in the seven circles of Hell are you doing here.”

She turns her head away from him, grimacing ever so slightly at his immediate coldness. But what could she expect from a dense son of a dog like him. Ugh, is this barf bubbling at the back of her throat just now? Ah no, it’s only hatred. Burning, bitter disgust towards the reaper she not so long ago claimed to be her only reason to live.

How stupid can a woman get for the wrong man?

“It is none of your concern why am I here. We were not supposed to meet during your mission here, yet I have made a mistake with choosing the wrong tent, it seems.”

“How long have you been here?”

He drew through clenched teeth, as the blue haired reaper kicks at the ground a bit, unwilling to reveal more to him than he had already discovered. She is in trouble already for interfering with her mission, however this was an agreed idea among all the members of the headquarters, so in reality he doesn’t have much to say about her here, to be frank.

“It’s been a week since I joined. I have been monitoring your progress because of me and other chairmen deciding it would be a good thing to do. And since I am your superior, I was chosen to be the one having to work undercover as well.”

“This is plain idiocy. I am a grown man, why should I need someone to watch after me, let alone control my actions.”

“Maybe because Sutcliff went on a murder rampage and you saw nothing, you bloody moron!”

The woman snaps, summoning her scythe and directing a blow at him, Spears dodging before the blade hits his head. Growling, he grabs a hold of her death scythe, pulling her closer with a stronger, unexpected tug.

“Keep it down, it’s enough that they know I am a reaper. You don’t want to have a demon on your arse as well.”

“Ha! Since when do you care what will happen to me?”

He looks away, letting go of the double bladed pole, making the woman flop onto the ground with a growl. Pushing up his glasses, Spears scoffs, shaking his head at her repetitive accusations. How long is she going to hold a grudge? Of course, he is still going for a long while, but the fiery Italian seems to still have an itch for simply beating an apology out of him.

“I don’t. However, your injury will be cut out of my pay. I wish to avoid that, as well as overtime.”

“You will get overtime whether you want it or not. I decide about it. Better have a good contact with me, instead of throwing me around like a rag doll.”

Spears’ head cocks to the side in anger, as he approaches her in a rather quick, heavy manner. Despite her usual fearlessness towards his frustration, she flinches in a long-forgotten habit, mentally kicking herself for doing so. He smirks in return, grabbing her by the neck and rising upwards, until she grips his hand and huffs.

“Watch your tongue, missy. I have no concern in causing you harm, but I will if the occasion strikes.”

“I despise you.”

“So do I. Now get out of my sight before it gets bloody.”

With that, she is set down fiercely, the ravenet staring for a while before turning on his heel and making his way towards the tents. Something in her bubbles up, making a few tears prick at her eyes, before she wipes them away, leaping at him with an inhuman strength, knocking the other reaper on the ground with a thud.

As her hands wrap around the man’s throat, she holds him down with her whole body mass, eyes lighting up in a sudden outburst of power. She thanks Rhea that he isn’t that angry yet, but this surely puts her in advantage when it comes to a ‘fight’ with him. It is certainly not a time to be settling matters with Spears, but such disrespectful addressing will not be tolerated.

The evening is chilly, wind sometimes blowing and successfully muting the quieter words that escape from people’s mouths. Stars shine bright above them, slightly covered by the tall oaks and birches, that surround the circus. It almost feels like they are alone, yet the feeling is illusory, since one wrong move and…

“Listen here, agent 1398. I am your superior, and this type of ridicule is repugnant. Consider this to be your final warning, otherwise the rest of the headquarters will get to know about the shit you’ve been doing on the terrain of Dispatch. I’m not your colleague, nor underling.”

Words leave her in a low, venomous hiss, as she delivers a harsh slap across William’s face, making him finally cease his writhing. With his fluorescent gaze focused on her only, he scrunches up his nose, placing his hands on her wrists.

“That will be enough, Noemi. Fighting will cause a scene to occur. Let’s leave it to the day when the mission shall be completed. Pardon my behavior, however I am unwilling to spend another long night in my office because of your approach to my person.”

She sighs helplessly, standing up slowly. Lending him a hand, Noemi dusts her stockings off, locking eyes with him one last time.

“Maybe you will understand my motives one day, but what I know for sure is that you do not despise me. I see it in you, no matter how much you deny it. Do what you want with that. I will not be pushing myself somewhere where I am not wanted.”

And with that, she ports away, leaving Spears in the dreadful silence, sometimes interrupted by circus music and crickets.

Damn it.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

May contain strong language, read on your own responsibility <3 This is part of Noemi's canon story!

I will start posting just the links o any fanfics as soon as I get my Ao3 account activated, so sorry for the inconvenience TwT

[kaitoujokerscans]

Showdown in the Dark Night! Joker vs Shadow CH4

<4> The Events of Last Month

Obscured by thick clouds, an airship with two shark heads cruised the sky. It was Spade's vessel, the Twin Thunder Shark. In the bedroom, Spade had been laid to rest on the mattress atop clean sheets and had been tucked in with a white down quilt. His breathing was ragged and quick even in his sleep. At the bedside was Dark Eye, facial bandages removed, looking down at Spade with concern.

Dark Eye's inner identity was a handsome girl by the name of Ai. She seemed to be slightly older than Spade and Queen. Her emerald green hair was cut into a short bob, and her similarly green eyes watched over Spade trepidly.

"Is he all right?" inquired Queen worriedly from the side.

"He seems to have calmed a bit. He's been working nonstop without rest recently, so he must have been tired..." Ai replied as she looked at the thermometer. It was only a slight fever; she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Does Spade-san get fevers like this often?" Rose asked from beside Queen with concern. She and Queen had brought Spade all the way here from the field where he passed out.

"Yes, he frequently becomes ill when he stresses himself. He should recover if left in peace for some time, but..." Ai replied.

"I knew it... he pushed himself too far when he went into the water to save me..." Rose said remorsefully.

"It wasn't your fault. Spade just gets fevers easily. It happens all the time, so don't worry about it!" Queen patted Rose's shoulder to cheer her up and called out to Roko, who was watching the security cameras. "Roko, how's it?"

"I rolled back the footage, and it looks like Shadow was the one who took Komachi's Gilded Chrysanthemum."

"Thought so..." Queen put her finger to her chin. "Then the Gilded Chrysanthemum isn't in the manor anymore, right? Why are there still so many officers around?"

"It's probably because of him." Roko pointed to the screen with his long ears.

The screen displayed a large saloon. A giant cage was set in the middle of the room, and within the cage was a boy in a familiar red suit tied to a chair.

"It's Joker...!"

"It seems Oniyama caught him. He stole the treasure again from Shadow and ended up in there."

"If that's the case, then why did they put him in there? Couldn't they have taken him to the police station?"

"There's a reason for that."

"I see... he doesn't have the Gilded Chrysanthemum."

Joker had probably hidden it somewhere before he was caught. As long as he didn't have the goods that Joker stole, it wouldn't be a perfect arrest. Oniyama wanted to capture Joker and get back the Gilded Chrysanthemum.

Queen folded her arms. "Do you know where Joker hid it?"

"No, that I don't know. He was caught in a net and brought to where he is now."

"So that means we've got to ask the man himself..." Queen murmured and glared at Joker on screen. Joker was whistling with his usual expression of feigned ignorance. "Okay, I'm going to Joker."

"Eehh, on your own?" Roko turned to her worriedly.

"I can handle that much. They didn't pose much of a challenge earlier!" Queen answered with confidence, but Roko was still uneasy.

"Yes, but..."

Rose interrupted from beside Roko. "Then will you take me with you?"

"What?"

"I want to go there too..." Rose told Queen as she side-eyed the saloon on screen.

"Hmm... so you can meet Hayami?" Besides Joker and Oniyama, Hayami was also on screen keeping guard. He was talking to Joker as he slowly rolled his wheelchair around the room.

"Yes... there's something I have to apologize to him about..."

"Apologize?"

"What happened?" Roko asked out of genuine curiosity.

After a few moments, Rose began to tell her story little by little.

§§§

One month ago, Shadow and Rose were in Singapore. A pricey gem called the "Black Opal" was to change hands at the fancy Paradise Hotel. They had learned that Joker was after the gem and came in high spirits.

Shadow and Rose arrived via the roof of the sprawling hotel.

"Rose, are you really going to be okay?"

"I said, leave it to me. You should keep it together, Oniichan."

"Yeah, no problem. I'll invite them to the 𝒹𝒶𝓇𝓀𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓈." Shadow replied in his unique manner of speech, flapped his cape, and jumped down towards the entrance. Rose stayed on the roof and entered the building through the ducts.

Usually, when Shadow worked, he would violently break in with Bloody Rain and take the treasure by force. He wasn't very good at making elaborate plans in the first place, so from time to time he ran into unexpected difficulties on the job. There were also many times when his opponents put up a tough resistance to his frenzied attacks. That was where Rose came in.

Rose's powers would freeze anyone threatening Shadow with a gun, while Shadow used the opportunity to find the treasure and leave the place behind. On these occasions, Rose would take great caution to make sure she wasn't seen by anyone.

Nowadays, the two of them often used this tactic to steal. Despite that, there were times when Rose thought she wanted to try sneaking her way to the treasure's hiding place and steal it with her own hands. She imagined herself stopping the security guards and then audaciously and elegantly taking the treasure away, wishing that it would come true someday. And today's mission gave her that very chance.

Aware that Joker and Shadow were targeting the treasure, Singapore's police had readied a stockpile of weapons and set up a solid defense formation. Shadow had therefore decided to create a diversion around the hotel and distract the eyes of the police. During the confusion, Rose would sneak in and steal the treasure, or so the plan went.

"No! Absolutely not!" Shadow had immediately objected when Rose had first proposed the strategy. "It's dangerous for you to go in alone. There's a bunch of armed people inside."

"But I'll be able to drop in unnoticed if I'm on my own. Oniichan, you make uproars wherever you go. You'll put the police on even higher guard."

"Ghh, I can't deny that... But your power has a limit."

"I'll be fine. I have a proper strategy. I've thought of a way to minimize how much I have to use my power. While you're going as wild as you want outside, Oniichan, I'll bring out the treasure."

"But..."

"Or can you not trust me? You could let me handle things on my own once in a while!" Rose's eyes shone accusingly.

"Urk..." Her menacing look made Shadow shrink back.

--One time, Rose had made a hideous, awful-looking dinner. On the spur of the moment, Shadow offhandedly commented "Is this edible?". When Rose turned to look at him then, she had the same glint in her eyes as she did now. Shadow's body froze up, and then...

He didn't want to remember what happened after that...

A chill ran up Shadow's spine. "...F-Fine. Just this once."

"Really!? Yay! Thank you, Oniichan!" Rose jumped for joy, her whole face beaming.

I'll show Oniichan I can do it even better than him! Determined, Rose fluttered down from the duct into the hotel laundry room. She flung off her black cloak, revealing an employee uniform underneath. Rose's strategy was to make her way in as a hotel employee. The hotel was heavily staffed, and barely anyone was familiar with all their faces. In short, even if nobody recognized her, it was unlikely she would be exposed.

Rose briskly walked down the hallway, exchanging nods with different people, and made straight for the floor where the treasure was supposed to be. Possibly due to Shadow beginning his rampage outside, it was a chaotic, hasty mess of people inside the hotel.

At last, Rose reached the floor with the treasure without any trouble. This wouldn't have been possible for Shadow. All she had to do now was freeze the police on this floor and steal the treasure.

Rose smiled and peeked around the corner at the treasure room. Two guards stood at its door, and near them was a boy sitting in a wheelchair. He had neat bowl-cut hair and wore a blazer and slacks. He seemed to be about high school-age. The boy was meticulously checking the entrance to the treasure room with a serious look in his eyes.

"Is he with the police too...?" Rose wondered to herself, just as...

"What are you doing there!" A man's bark came from behind her. Rose turned around with a gasp. A stern-faced, brawny officer was standing there.

"U-Um... There was a call from a guest..."

"There shouldn't be any lodgers on this floor. That's suspicious..." The man neared Rose and glared. Just as Rose was focusing power in her hands...

"What's tha problem?" Rose heard a Kansai accent from behind her. She turned around to see that the boy in the wheelchair had come up right behind her. The officer quickly straightened up and told the boy.

"Sir, this employee was acting suspiciously..."

"I was feelin' a bit peckish, so I called up for 'er."

"Eh?"

"Innit right?"

"Eh... ah, yes."

Once Rose answered, the boy faced the officer again. "Case closed. Ya can take it easy."

"Yessir, understood!" The officer presented a respectful salute and walked away.

"Ha ha, did that blindside ya?" Once the officer was out of sight, the boy gave Rose a benign smile.

"Yes..."

"Ya got tha wrong floor. There's nothin' 'ere but treasure and brute armed police."

"I-It does seem like it." The boy appeared to be with the police as well. Moreover, he was ranked high enough to give orders.

"Yer bang on time. I wasn't lying about being peckish, so could ya come with me to tha room?"

"Eh..." Refusing now would arouse suspicions and put her in trouble. Besides, she might be able to overhear something about the security. Rose walked after the boy.

On the way, as Rose pushed the boy's wheelchair, they talked. The boy's name was Hayami Kyoutarou. He was a Japanese detective, but he had corresponded with the owner of the hotel who had passed away about a year ago, and when he heard that Joker was after the owner's treasure, he offered his services. He had also researched Joker and Shadow, the senders of the notices, in great detail...

"Shadow is Joker's rival. I bet I wouldn't be too off ta say that he's the man Joker's scared the most of right now."

"I-Is that so..." Rose wasn't sure what to say, but she didn't get any bad vibes from him. She tended to think of her brother as strict, rambunctious, and simpleminded, but it made her happy to hear someone else acknowledge him.

"Yup, it must feel peachy for a guy like Joker ta have a rival like Shadow hot on his heels. Joker's a smart guy and does everything slick-like, so havin' the bunglin' but zealous Shadow opposite him makes 'em complementary rivals."

"Yes... you might be right." Rose took the opportunity to ask Hayami. "Hayami-san, aren't you zealous about chasing after Joker too?"

"No two ways about it. Deduction's part and parcel of bein' a detective, but I've got loads more zeal than anyone else about solvin' the mysteries nobody else can and seein' the looks on their faces."

"So you do... I had a feeling."

The two of them passed through a glass-windowed passage overlooking the garden. It was illuminated here and there at night, but still it was silent and dim. Shadow must have been rampaging on the other side. The hotel hallway was bright in contrast to the garden's gloom, and the two of them were reflected on the glass as they moved along.

"Hayami-san, I'd like to see one of your deductions."

"Ha ha, ask and ya shall receive." On the glass surface, Hayami's prudent expression crumbled and was replaced by a grin. It was a warmer smile than she had expected.

"...Hayami-san, it's your dream to bring down Joker, isn't it?" Rose asked gently.

"Yup, my brains can't be beat. It's my dream ta make Joker lose in a match of wits. Then I'm gonna catch Joker, no question about it."

"Somehow... I feel like you and Onii-- no, Shadow, resemble each other."

"Me and Shadow? Ha ha ha, that's an honor."

"Yes..." Observing Hayami from behind, Rose almost felt the same familiarity as she did for her brother.

"True, me and Shadow might have somethin' in common on account of chasin' Joker's tail. But I get the feeling Shadow's got somethin' that sets him apart from me."

"Sets him apart?"

"Somethin' like that. Not sure what, but it's hidin' in Shadow's heart. I think that somethin's probably what fostered that simpleminded and earnest personality of his."

What could it be...? Rose couldn't think of a likely answer. What set Shadow and Hayami apart...? How he didn't think ahead, his violent streak, his esoteric choice of words; there were too many to choose from, so she felt he meant something else... Just then, a call came in on Hayami's cell phone.

"Hello. ...Understood. I'll be there." Hayami ended the call. "Joker's shown up."

"Eh?"

"I'm about ta go catch 'im. Do ya wanna come see?" Hayami asked, a colder smile than before forming on his face. Rose had been guided to a guest room directly above the room with the treasure in it. "Ya can watch 'im from here."

The monitor in front of him displayed Joker and Hachi running towards the treasure room. The police were putting up a resistance, but were completely useless; Joker and Hachi darted between them with grace, continuing down the hallway.

Watching them, Hayami quietly began to explain. "I'm about ta show ya Joker's movement pattern as I've deduced it. When Shadow's going after tha same treasure as him, Joker always makes the same move..." On the monitor, Joker reached the treasure room, opened the door without trouble, and slid inside. Then while the police were confused, he had them all down within moments. "Th' moment of truth. Joker'd try ta take the treasure and run off, usually." On the monitor, Joker gleefully grabbed the Black Opal. "But not this time." Just then, the room's window shattered and Shadow leapt inside.

"!?" Oniichan, you were just supposed to make a fuss outside this time......! Rose yelled internally.

"I gave orders ta bait Shadow to the treasure room. And he bit right in."

Really, how simpleminded can you get... And he couldn't trust me after all, could he... Rose clenched her fists. Still, Hayami kept talking in the same calm voice.

"Now th' two meet. Here's a question. When Joker and Shadow meet, they always do this one thing."

"One thing?"

"Yup, tha answer is fight like kids. Takin' a look at all tha cases before, those two never fail ta squabble whenever they meet. It's always over somethin' trivial, ta boot." Just as Hayami prophecied, the pair started to quarrel on screen. Their voices weren't audible, but no doubt it was their usual back-and-forth spat.

"..." Rose was too fed up to say anything.

"When people squabble, that's when they don't pay attention ta anythin' else. Even our ever-alert Joker can have it happen ta 'im. What I'm sayin' is, that's tha time ta spring a trap." Hayami's words were bewitchingly convincing, and Rose found herself nodding along. "That in mind, all ya halfta do is get a special trap ready in tha treasure room. That's my plan ta catch Joker... that's deduction too."

What Hayami said had a ring of truth. Joker was keen and clear of mind, but whenever he faced Shadow, he would forget himself and start fighting. And Shadow went without saying. This was the one thing Rose couldn't stop him from doing.

Soon enough, just as Hayami had said, Joker and Shadow began to fight on screen. Shadow lunged with his Bloody Rain, and Joker mischievously blocked it with his cards. She had seen the same thing time and time before. With everything going exactly as Hayami had foretold, she was disappointed in her own brother and Joker.

"Now the both of 'em are snared like vermin... hokay, time ta let it rip!" As soon as Hayami sent the signal, something seemed to happen inside the treasure room. The duo on screen stopped fighting and looked around at their surroundings.

Then, steel panes slammed down in all four directions and walled them in. Joker and Shadow both had been instantly trapped in the room.

"Those are...!" Rose exclaimed. Hayami told her.

"That's a steel cage. It's no piece 'a cake ta break, and ya can't lift it up either. Soon enough, sleepin' gas'll fill the room, and those two'll be sleepin' pretty till the police show up."

"Oh no..." Rose whispered and looked at the monitor. On it, Shadow was panicking and shooting beams at the wall, while Joker was trying to pierce the wall with his cards. But the wall remained unmoving.

"Fu fu, and now Joker meets his end. How do ya like my plan?" Hayami smiled triumphantly and turned around. However, Rose wasn't there.

Rose went along the blind spots of the security cameras, and by the time she arrived in front of the treasure room, Hachi was pounding on the steel walls. "Joker-san! Joker-san!"

Rose called out to Hachi. "Hachi-kun, how are they?"

"R-Rose-san!? Well, I was keeping watch outside. Then suddenly these steel walls dropped and trapped them..."

"Oniichan!" Rose yelled towards the wall. She could just barely make out two voices from within.

"Rose, is that you? Get us out of here!"

"Please! Rose!"

These were the voices of Joker and Shadow, or as Rose knew them, Jack and Cyan. She could tell that they were in a tight spot. Rose held her hands out front and concentrated. But just then, she remembered what Hayami had said. I'm gonna catch Joker, no question about it. Hayami's passion and warm smile crossed her mind. He had researched Joker and Shadow and formulated this plan, and Rose was about to ruin it.

Just like my brother Shadow, he's zealous about bringing down Shadow... Should I really undermine all that devotion he's put in...? But...

"Rose, what's wrong!? Hurry, please!"

"Oh shoot, Shadow! It's sleeping gas!"

Shadow and Joker's voices from inside pressured Rose. I'm...

"...!" Rose made up her mind and spoke to Hachi. "Hachi-kun, break the security cameras."

"Eh? But why?"

"Never mind why, please just do it."

"O-Okay!" Hachi sprang around the hallway, wrecking the cameras surveilling the area one after another.

If at all possible, she didn't want Hayami to see her using her powers... As she concentrated, Rose's body took on a pale glow. Her hands in front, Rose stared at the door and focused her power. The steel doors rumbled as they gradually lifted.

Once the gap had opened wide enough for a person to pass through, Joker and Shadow appeared from within and leapt out. As soon as they exited, they grabbed each other's lapels.

"Shadow! We were shut in because of you!"

"What!? It's because you did something you shouldn't have!"

Seeing them go back to abusing each other again, she screamed without thinking. "Both of you, cut it out!"

Shocked by her shout, the two of them looked back over at Rose. She was tearing up a little and glaring at Joker and Shadow both.

"W-What's wrong, Rose?"

"What are you angry about?" Joker took the gem out of his chest pocket. "See, I got the treasure!"

"Rose, thanks to you using your powers, we're sa-" Shadow started. But Rose cut him off with a yell.

"I didn't use them because I wanted to! I don't care anymore!" She pouted and looked the other way; then with her powers, Rose made herself float and speedily flew out of the window into the night sky. The two boys and Hachi could only watch dumbfounded as she faded away...

[oikawas]

Number 6 Bruce and Jason PEAS

“No one’s going to hurt you.”

Getting dosed with Fear Toxin is something that is commonplace among the Bats, especially afters all their years of defending Gotham in the dead of night. It’s the reason why the Medbay cots have restraints attached to them, and indirect cause of so many scratches and indentations in the Cave. It’s the only thing other than sleep that can make them relive all their past traumas so viciously and wholly, be it falls, gunshots, deaths.

But for all its commonality, none of them have ever seen Jason Todd high on the toxin. And when they finally do, it’s not something they ever wish to experience again, for secrets have a funny way of bleeding out when there are tears in your eyes and your throat has gone raw. 

It begins as a normal Friday night: an Arkham breakout. 

Such a mess warrants an ‘all hands on deck’ response, which is how Jason finds himself hopping rooftops with Robin nipping at his heels. Batman and Nightwing are already on the scene, putting out proverbial fires as they come, and the rest of them have been tasked with rounding up all the missing convicts. 

“I have three here,” Spoiler chirps, oddly cheerful for someone dealing with escaped prisoners. Jason momentarily wonders how she does it, so consistently and with so much...emphasis. “All subdued, and waiting on cops.”

“I have six by Gina’s Pizzeria on Fifth Avenue, waiting on cops,” Red Robin reports, sounding sluggish. “They just had to pick an off day to break out of Arkham, huh?” 

“Everyday is an off day for you, RR,” Nightwing supplies helpfully, coupled with the background noises of a body hitting the ground. There is a shout somewhere. “At least today wasn’t an especially off day.”

“Oh, you say that now, but you should’ve seen him this morning,” Signal mutters, and Jason’s lips quirk up at the disgruntled tone. He loves team-ups on Tim. “He put salt in my tea. What kind of heathen does that to a man’s tea?” 

“Blasphemy,” Steph fake-gasps. In her distance, they can all hear sirens approaching. 

“Electric chair for the not-so-baby bat,” Jason chimes in. “Salt infractions are punishable by death in good ol’ Gotham.”

“Got any pointers?” Tim asks, none too gently. They’re still working past their bloodied memories, and Jason can accept it for what it is. While he spent time with Damian and Duke, sometimes Steph and Cass, Tim isn’t in Gotham enough for them to try and mend bridges. 

And Jason, truth be told, isn’t sure if he’d want to. Dick and Tim are different from the others, a reminder of the dark stain in their family’s history that they all created together, willingly or not. And while some things can be put behind them, Jason is a sore reminder of everything they all so desperately tried to ignore in favour of the good. 

“Yeah. Cremation,” he veers to the left, finally spotting the man he and Damian had been chasing down for a solid seven blocks. “Very helpful in preventing zombies.”

“Hood,” Batman admonishes, but its softened around the edges in a way that indicates the old man is amused. Jason pretends to doesn’t warm him inside-out, to hear that soft adoration even now after years of fighting. To know he can still do that, pull that affection from the Dark Knight himself.  

“Eyes on Scarecrow,” Damian interrupts. “And if you intend on dying, Red Robin, do hurry. And make sure to make a spectacle of it.”

Jason lets loose a short laugh and cuts his comm before Tim can cuss them off, reaching over to ruffle Damian’s hair in appreciation. The two of them, surprisingly, have gotten closer since Damian’s unscheduled visit with his mother. After Damian had trailed Selina and Bruce, and Talia’s ‘duel’ with the Cat, the heiress had called Jason and pulled a promise to take care of Damian from him. 

And he intends to keep it.

Jason gets a half-smile as a reward for the ribbing of their mutually ‘disliked’ brother, and there is a few heartbeats of peace before all goes wrong.

In hindsight, they probably shouldn’t have let their guards down so close to a recurring villain. And as the older brother in the equation, he definitely should’ve been on top of everything as soon as they touched down on the ground, but as it stands, Damian is in the direct path of a suddenly thrown canister and there’s no time to pull him out of the way. The motion itself would prove futile if and when the gas releases, which left only one option in Jason’s mind. 

Unthinkingly, he throws himself between the canister of Fear Toxin and Damian with his back to Scarecrow, shoving the boy backwards only a few seconds before he hears the telltale hiss of the gas infiltrating the air and, subsequently, his mask. 

To his credit, Damian doesn’t even hesitate before shielding his face, eyes wide behind the white-out lenses of the mask with what he thinks to be realization. Jason grits his teeth against the shivers already beginning to make their way up and down his spine, and is barely able to catch Damian calling for aid.

“…ood? Hood!” 

Somewhere behind them there is motion as Cassandra lands and sends Scarecrow flying into a pile of crates. How she got there so fast, Jason isn’t sure, but the world is beginning to spin and there are embers in the corners of his eyes and fuck. Everything begins to smell like ashes and blood, and he can somehow taste betrayal on his tongue. 

“Hood!” Damian shouts again, and when this is all over Jason will resent the clear fear in his voice. It’s so, so easy to forget how young the boy is, but in times like this…times like this, Jason wishes he could forget. Wishes Damian didn’t have to be out here with the rest of them.

His knees hit the ground the same moment he feels his fingers begin to bleed, callused skin splitting open in the face of persistent abuse. He thought he was sure that his hands were fine, but the panic inlaid in his mind overrides any sense of logic as he curls in on himself, deadly intent focused on not alarming Damian any further. 

“…Father! Father, he was hit with Fear T–” 

Father?

And just like that, Jason is fifteen all over again and screaming and locked in a coffin with nothing but the blood on his skin and the belt around his hips. He doesn’t register anything other than a concerned murmur before his mind breaks from the intense pressure of fragmented memories; already a fragile thing, the imposed trauma rips through him with the subtlety of a bomb going off. 

Shoulders bent, his fingers scrape against what he thinks to be the coffin’s lid in a desperate attempt to find purchase, instead only managing to amplify the pain in his fingers. The wet touch of fresh blood does nothing to deter him, and it’s with near inhuman strength that he pushes off whoever is trying to hold him down.

It was Cass, he’ll later find out, as Bruce looks through his pockets, desperately, for their latest strain of the antidote. Tim, Steph, Duke, and Dick had stayed behind to deal with the Arkham mess, and the comms were off for a thin veneer of privacy. 

(Nobody wants to know his demons, because his demons were so staunch with blood and sacrifice that it would horrify even the most seasoned of heroes.)

Someone manages to take off his leather jacket, he thinks, because he can feel the cool touch of a cape against the nape of his neck but all he can think is he’s trapped, he’s dead, he’s lost, he needs–

“Dad!” Jason sobs, voice cracking in panic. He’s trapped in a coffin. He’s stuck with the Joker and a traitor and in a foreign country. “Dad, Dad I’m here! I’m in here! Please, I’m scared, I’m scared…” 

Damian freezes in both shock and what he perceives to be dismay, and next to him Cass frowns in worry. But both of them have nothing on Bruce, who sucks in a breath so sharp it could slice his throat open, lips parting around a single utterance of ‘son’. 

Jason hasn’t called Bruce ‘dad’ since coming back from the grave. But this, right now…he’d somehow forgotten how many times he’d screamed ‘Dad’ between climbing out of that damned coffin and the fatal car crash that would steal his memories from him. 

“Please please please please,” Jason chants, and the syllables crash into each other like waves against an outcrop of rocks, so similar to the man himself. “B-Bruce where are you? I don’t wanna be stuck in here I don’t!” 

They jerk with the effort it takes to keep the second Robin stationary; Jason is nearly Bruce’s size, and it’s no easy feat, keeping him down. Not with the shock flowing through them over seeing their most steadfast so thoroughly dismantled. 

“I’m sorry about Shelia!” Jason yells, a vain effort to get someone, anyone, to listen. “I...I don’t...all I’ve ever needed was you, Dad, please, I’m sorry...”

“Jason,” Bruce whispers, so soft, so scared. This is a display of all the trauma that stood between them, an open sea of all the times Bruce has failed his second-born. A sea so violent that it drowns both of them whenever they brave it, takes them into its darkness before spitting out even hollower versions of the men who went down under.

But not this time. 

Bruce takes off his belt determinedly and hands it to Cass, a pointed look instructing her to keep searching for the antidote. Jason continues to thrash and cry so openly, carving whole pieces of Bruce out and setting them aflame right there at their feet. This is the closest he’s gotten to the truth about Jason’s rebirth in all their years, and so desperately he wishes it could be different. Wishes it was Jason sharing this willingly, in an effort to mend, an effort to move forward.

But wishes are for men who have time and right now, Bruce has none.

Ignoring the flailing limbs as best he could, Bruce gathers Jason in his arms, softly shushing the boy and beginning to rock him the same way he had done years ago, after every nightmare filled with memories of a broken home. Jason shudders against him, still sobbing brokenly about how badly he hurt, and Bruce…

Bruce feels a bloodlust so vicious he can feel it pushes against the seams of his skin, his soul, and if the Joker had been anywhere near him, Bruce would rip the flesh off his bones with nothing but his teeth and anger. Not even the Gods themselves could’ve stopped the man from tearing apart the Clown Prince limb from limb, from a death so brutal there would be nothing left for the Underworld to punish. 

“Bruce,” Jason whimpers, and somewhere in his toxin-addled brain, there is a pause in the onslaught. He recognizes the arms holding him close, recognizes the tenor of the voice humming to him, recognizes the lips that press a gentle kiss to his hairline. “B, you came. Papá...”

And through his own budding tears at the call in Jason’s mother-tongue, Bruce says, “always. I’ll always come. No one’s going to hurt you. Not anymore, chum.” 

“I was so scared,” Jason blubbers, but through the tears staining his cheeks, there is an attempt at a smile; it takes Bruce’s heart in its grasp and squeezes and squeezes and squeezes until he’s sure there’s nothing left in its hold. How dearly he loves this boy. “But I…I knew you’d come. I always knew.”

And there’s the flash of the Robin who thought Bruce held the world in his hands, is a God, is a good man. There is the Robin--the Jason--who believed in Bruce. In his father. 

Bruce aches with a fierce love, and a longing for a bridge that’s barely there. 

Suddenly, Jason goes slack, his eyes rolling back in his head as the boy is finally given the sweetness of unconsciousness. Bruce startles badly, and glances to the side to find Cassandra holding an empty syringe with a sympathetic smile on her face. 

“Can we…take him home now?” She asks, and he knows the two siblings have their differences but they are bonded by family and she loves him, in a way, and it shows by how softly she strokes his matted hair now. 

Bruce gives her a tired smile, arms full of his lost son. 

“Yes…yes, let’s get him home.”

[raven-plume]

Frozentale chapter 5

The human comes out of the lamp, she smiles despite that Frozen wanted to denounce it. She smiles at him anyway, he looks like a joker

"You should go, he'll come back, and if that's it, you'll have to listen to my hilarious jokes even more."

She starts to leave, the cold freezes the fingers.

"In fact, hey ... I do not want to disturb you but you could help me? I said to myself ... My brother not too much morale in this moment, he never seen humans and see you could cheer him up, do not worry, it's not dangerous, thank you I'll be in front ' '

He goes back, she holds a laugh, decidedly it's not clear said she. She goes to a star and even if the last message did not give her confidence, this is the only way to warm up '' the cold thaws your hands, it filled you with determination '' she sighs of relief , '' maybe you're all normal? '' thought the human, she continues to move forward. She sees again Papyrus better known under the name of Ice and Frozen.

She plays a good time with him and his puzzles, up to a big bridge, filled with ice spear, blue fire, ice knife and she even notices a little dog, but the big skeleton did not trigger the trap, he sighs and leaves. He did not want to capture her, even with a perfect trap, he did not want it to be so easy.

'' I do not know what my brother will do next, if I were you, I'll make sure you're fine, and well dodged ''

She smiles at him and leaves. She arrives in a rather warm village despite the ice that is present. It heats up thanks to the star. Many people go out without shivering, she wonders how they are doing.

She crosses the city looking around, the frozen tree makes the city colder and all the light is dark blue a restaurant is different from all, but she dares to go there. She continues until the end and she finds herself in front of ... Ice!

''Human! I want to talk to you about perplexed feelings, feelings like the joy of meeting another gourmet spaghetti, the admiration of the puzzle of genius, the desire to have a cool and intelligent person who thinks you are cool, these feelings are yours ! I can only imagine what it must be! After all I am perfect! Do not worry, me, the great Papyrus, I will become your .... No ... You are a human ... I must capture you! To finally be part of the royal guard !!! ''

The soul of the human comes out, she does not want to fight! But ... Ice attack! It is not difficult for her to dodge, even if he is strong, she clemency it again and again. He stops after a moment, as a small dog steals his special attack, she smiles, reaches out for clemency. He can not capture it. Her soul enters her, the fight is over.

'' I can not even stop a being so weak ... It'll disappoint Undyne ... I'll never join the Royal Guard and ... My number of friends will stay the same ... ''

The human smile

''Lets be friends''

''Really!? Do you want us to become friends? I accept your request. Nyehehe but we have not had our first date, I'm already in the friendzone! You have taught me so much human, I give you permission to go on, keep going straight, when you are at the capital, cross the barrier, it keeps us here, but beware of the king, he wants a soul to open the barrier, and we are released. "

She thinks, if she leaves it will be alone but if she gives her soul she will die but the monsters will be free

''I would be at home to be a cool friend, come when you want for our date nyeheheheheheheheh ''

He ended up leaving. The human jump, he has to talk about date? Already? She wonders if this is madness. She smiles gently, she would like to know where he lives and how is his house and who it is, she will see her parents? She backed up and went to the skeleton brothers. She walks quietly and see Ice in front of the door

'' You come back for our appointment! You seem to really take this seriously, I'm going to take you to a very special place so, a place where I've spent time ''

He guides her to the end of the village and retraces her steps

''My house!''

He goes quietly home, the human do the same. She looks around her, the house is also cold, even the blue fire does not heat up, but the human approaches it to take the maximum heat. She sighs with relief, approaching it is really hot, but the cold of this mountain prevents her heat from going far. Go, it's time to go on a date!

chp4

chp3

chp2

chp1

[thejokersenigma]

Christmas Fan Fiction Advent Calendar 2017 - Day 6 - Rogue Club - The Great Christmas Trap Part 1

Ok, so this was originally a different idea I had, but I couldn’t see where it was going, so I’ve blended it into another idea I had - so yay for idea, but boo because now i have yet another day free for me to come up with another idea - an idea I am struggling to come up with (suggestions are welcome with opened, un-judging arms!)

Again, I’ve rushed this one a bit, so I apologise if its not great - its very hard for me to produce a piece of writing in the day when I used to at least having a week, and not really having any deadlines, so writing and editing one piece in a day is quite a challenge for me and I’m beginning to regret it! haha

Hope you enjoy anyway! (i took the inspiration from btas)

MASTERLIST

The old abandoned building – known to most rogue’s as ‘the club’ – was relatively calm that evening. There had been a small spat an hour ago between Mr Freeze and the Scarecrow other some odd chemistry argument that no one else understood or wanted to get involved in, but that had sorted itself once Mr Freeze had stormed out, leaving a deliberate chill in his wake.

The club had now settled in a calm atmosphere with a low rumble chatter as the crime lords, their henchmen, and a few lesser criminals, now entertained themselves with gambling, pool or drinking.

This peace however, was momentarily broken when the main door flew open dramatically. Everyone instinctively snapped their gaze to the door, hands on hidden weapons, ready should the police or bat have discovered their hangout. They immediately relaxed however, when they saw only Harley Quinn bouncing happily into the room.

“Merry Christmas everyone!” She cried with glee to those nearby and was met with a series of ‘Hi Harley’ and ‘Uh huh’.

Jervis Tetch, who was sat at one of the table’s nearest to her, placed his hand of cards down on the table and tipped his extravagant top hat to her, “Evening, my dear. How are you on this fine winters night?” He inquired politely with a charming smile.

“Just peachy, thanks Tetchy!” She grinned back and he nodded happily before returning to his game with the Ventriloquist, Killer croc and a couple of henchmen that Harley didn’t recognise. She smiled to the whole table anyway, all of them returning the smile, though not as enthusiastically.

Content with the response anyway, Harley moved her attention back to the rest of the room, scanning the tables, and smiling at any eyes she met, and finally settling on what she was looking for on the opposite side of the room.

Harley didn’t hesitate, immediately skipping across the room to the table and throwing her arms around the clown’s neck, causing him to pitch forward in his seat and his opponents look up in surprise.

“Hiya puddin’.” Harley squealed in his ear, making the Joker wince and growl in irritation, not looking at all impressed with her sudden appearance. “Hiya, boys!” She chirped at the other men at the table. The Penguin offered her a polite “Evening.” in return, Two-face grumbled something and Victor Zsasz simply nodding, all still looking slightly stunned by her sudden apparition.

The Joker seemed to painfully swallow his annoyance at the interruption, keeping his gaze on the cards in his hand, not even trying to detach Harley from around his neck – knowing she’d just end up clinging even tighter to the point of choking him.

“Harls… Pumpkin…” The Joker simpered sweetly. “What do you want?”

Harley ignored his attitude completely “Do ya have the babies?” She asked.

“They’re in the back.” The Joker muttered, his focus clearly more on the game in front of him as he reached for a card from the deck.

“Why?!” Cried Harley unhappily.

“They kept biting people.”

“Aww, they’re probably hungry…” Harley cooed, looking to the back door adoringly as if she could seem them. She planted a kiss on J’s cheek – much to his displeasure – and then she scampered off excitedly to her precious hyenas, leaving J to his game who grumbled something indistinct under his breath.

The brief period of calm without Harley didn’t last long as she was soon racing back into the room, this time followed by two hyenas loping along behind her. She grabbed a recently vacated chair from a nearby table, dragging it none too subtly across the room, and threw it down next at the Joker’s poker table. She straddled it the wrong way round and crossed her arms on the back of the chair, resting her chin on her forearms as she watched the game, her hyenas pacing around her until they eventually settled around the chair, watching the rest of the room, silently daring anyone to come near them.

The Joker might have been able to put up with her spectating, but he knew her silence wouldn’t last long. And, sure enough, he was right. She only watched one hand of the game before she chimed in, “So, what’s everyone up ta’ for Christmas?” She asked, pushing herself up right and leaning back, keeping herself from falling backwards with her grip on the back of the chair.

Everyone glanced up at the Joker to see his reaction, as if expecting him to do something about ‘his girl’. But J just rolled his eyes in annoyance whilst Harley continued to glance from face to face, waiting for someone to answer. Penguin eventually cleared his throat, “Well,” He said importantly, puffing up his chest, “Some of us have businesses that still require our undivided attention. This time of year is generally the busiest season for my lounge.” He informed the table pompously. The rest of the men rolled their eyes at this statement – all knowing that if it his business needed that much attention by him he wouldn’t be here right now playing cards with them.

Harley wrinkled her nose at the idea of responsibility, but nodded politely none the less.

“Harv?” She asked, turning to the half-scarred face.

Two-face glared at her for using his old name, but he answered none the less with a sullen shrug, “I’ll let the coin decide.” Harley nodded seriously like she completely understood this reasoning.

“Zsaszy?” The man shrugged silently.

The table knew their obligation now - as much as they didn’t really want to fulfil it. Penguin took it upon himself to be the gentleman, clearing his throat whilst the Joker continued to stare moodily at his cards. “And you, my dear?” Penguin asked politely.

Harley beamed at the question. “Well, J’s not a fan of the whole Christmas thing,” She told them, nodding at the pale moody man, his mouth never having been further from a grin, “So I thought I’d visit Red for a while. Problem is she has this aversion to Christmas trees…” And so Harley continued to chatter on about Ivy’s problems with Christmas, soon moving onto anything and everything when she got lost on a chain of thought.

The men at the table pretended to listen for so long, but eventually took a page of the Joker’s book and completely ignored her, returning their full attention to their game. This didn’t seem to faze Harley in the slightest and she continued on.

By the time the men finished their games, Harley had found herself a seat on the floor, having turned her attention to her babies and was now absently stroking Bud’s head where it rested on her lap, whilst Lou sat close to her back, his eyes keeping a hungry watch on the rest of the room, guarding her unnecessarily.

The criminals at the poker table pushed their chairs back to leave and both hyenas jumped to their feet at the commotion.

“Good game, boys!” The Joker grinned, “Maybe bring some more money next time.” He teased, clearly in better spirits now as he gathered up his pile of winnings.

“I don’t know how you do it clown,” Growled Two-Face across the table, he teeth clenched, “But I know you cheat. And when I find out I’ll wipe that pretty little smile off your smug face.” He snarled.

All the Joker did with this threat was grin even more widely. “Aww… you really think it’s pretty?” He asked, posing like a young girl and batting his eyelids at Two-face.

“There is unquestionably something irregular in your earnings at this table.” Muttered Penguin, eyeing J suspiciously.

“What can I say Ossy, I’ve got luck on my side.” Penguin bristled at the nickname, whilst the Joker grabbed his winnings and turned to leave.

“You’re not all going now, are ya?” Asked Harley suddenly, jumping to her feet. The hyenas bouncing around at her feet. All the men looked warily over at her, having almost forgotten she was still here. They all nodded or shrugged in answer, looking at each in silent question as to what they were supposed to say. The Joker did nothing, seeming to make the point of ignoring her, though she didn’t take any notice of this.

“Hang on!” Harley cried and pranced over to the small stage at the back of the room where a live Jazz band played low background music. The band stopped abruptly when Harley vaulted up onto the stage with them. “Sorry guys - thanks Travy.” She said as the one of the members made way for next to the microphone.

“Hiya! Wahoo!” Harley called out to the room, trying to grab everyone attention, tapping on the microphone so the thudding rang out through the speakers – even though it wasn’t completely necessary as everyone was already watching her, intrigued what she was up to.

“As we all know,” She called out into the room excitedly, “Its Christmas!” She paused then, clearly hoping response like some cheers or whooping, but all she got was stony silence as they waited for her to get to the point. “Well… I – uh – I had an idea - well its more of a repeat! I feel like Christmas is a time to do something together, so why not us?!” Numerous people exchanged unconvinced glances of mutters between one another.

“What did you have in mind, my dear?” Called Jervis from the back of the room.

Harley grinned at Jervis, though the spotlight on her made it hard to see to the back of the room. “Glad ya asked Tetchy!” She exclaimed, “I’m thinking…” She built up, “Secret Santa!” She exclaimed, throwing her arms wide in a ‘Tah Dah’ kind of gesture.

Unhappy muttering broke out around the room. “I know it didn’t work out great last year -!” She quickly pointed out over the mumbling

“Work out well?” Came a voice, “It was a disaster!” There were murmured agreements.

“It was chaos!” Someone else called.

“- But I really think we should give it another shot!” Harley persisted over the din of the room.

Despite her continued encouragement for the idea, Harley was only too aware of all the negativity still being expressed around the club and she realised her plan wouldn’t work at this rate. She needed to pull out the big guns. Her bottom lip began to wobble, tears starting pooling in her eyes and she began to sniff, ensuring she was close enough to the microphone to get the sounds heard through the speakers.

Everyone slowly quietened down, all watching the insane young women breakdown into tears on the stage. Most of the room was made up of large burly henchmen, or cruel crime lords – none of them with any skills of comforting a crying woman – so they all stood or sat awkwardly, unsure what they were supposed to do now.

Some people mumbled about trying to find Ivy – she would surely know what to do – but no one was sure where she was – someone else would have to do something.

Everyone looked among themselves pointing out candidates who quickly refused, all the while Harley maintained her tearful charade. Only the Joker knew her charade well enough to know it was fake – not that’d he’d care if the girl was crying for real either though – but it was fun to watch the other men squirm around him, unfamiliar with the water works scheme.

Eventually the Riddler stood up from his seat in the centre of the room. “My dear Harleen,” He began formally, “This isn’t much of a mind game - I’m sure we’d all like to see this idea work…” He muttered, not completely enthusiastically, glancing around at the room where no one else seemed to be particularly enthused either. “But we have tried your idea before – and no one really embraced the idea correctly… And some people…” all eyes turned to the Joker where he now lounged against a pillar, watching the show, “…thought to even try to sabotage one another with the gifts.”

J saw all the accusing glares and he raised both hands in defence, giving an innocent shrug, “Eddy boy… I told you I meant to pick up the non-exploding jack in the box – I didn’t mean to bring the whole building down!” He defended, though no one believed him - and they were probably right not to – and instead, they turned their attention back to Harley who continued to sniffle on the stage, looking rather depressed that her idea had been turned down.

Everyone felt a bit sorry her – they didn’t hate Harley like they did her clown boyfriend – she could just be a bit of an irritance. Harley sulked her way off the stage, thoroughly disappointed – she had hoped to bring some Christmas cheer to the miserable criminals, usually forced to hide away in slums like this to avoid the flying rodent.

She did wonder what Batman was up to at this time of year – did he celebrate Christmas? Did he even have a life outside of locking her and her friends up? He couldn’t possibly have any family – except maybe that little bird boy of his.

She almost felt bad for the guy.

Wait. That was it.

Harley dashed back, frightening Trav and his band once more where they have slowly made their way back onto the stage, now scattering when they Harley rushing back towards them. The rest of the room had returned to their previous activities – either playing their last game or beginning to head off.

“Wait!” She cried out, the sound ringing painfully loud through the room and everyone flinched, some people instinctively ducking. “I have another idea!” Called Harley excitedly, ignoring the rather annoyed looks she was getting. A few people, like Two-face, rolled their eyes at her in exasperation and continued on with what they had been doing, but still a large proportion of the room waited for her to explain.

“We give good ol’ batsy a little Christmas present!” She squealed with glee at her own idea. The crowd frowned up her in confusion.

“What are you on about woman?” Growled Two-face, unimpressed.

“Well I was just thinking - what does batsy do at Christmas?” She posed to them, “We all wouldn’t want him to be all lonesome this time of year.” She cooed with an evil look in her eye.

There were murmurs around the room at this.

“What are you suggesting?” Someone called.

“Oh, I’ve got a lot of ideas…”

[shigironki]

Happy very late new years everyone! I’ve been meaning to write this ever since the new year day came around, and with worry and this whole president mess coming along, I thought people could use a happy little cute reader insert to trouble those worries. <3 Hope you guys like it~!  ♥（ﾉ´∀`） ------ Characters: The Riddler, reader word count: 837 “Happy new years!”

News years, the day everyone would get with friends and party until the big ball in Gotham drops, announcing it’s a brand new start, with hopes of luck and new people in your life. And darn, they couldn’t be wrong with meeting new people, even if it was a dangerous criminal who tells riddles. His name was The Riddler, but you had always called him Eddie-Baby, or just Eddie since you two were close, and were together long enough to call him something else than just Riddler. You two had met when you helped him with his clothing choice at your job, him being pleased with the wonderful choices you gave him, and praising you for actually getting it right rather giving him what he would consider, “Something he wouldn't be caught dead in”. Edward was always the type to say things like this, so you just thanked god he didn’t do anything bad. After this, he left a note saying that he would love to get coffee with you sometime at the Cuppa Joe Cafe. After the date with you two, things kicked off to a wonderful start to a relationship. Edward was always kind to your problems, always helping you the best way he can with cups of hot chocolate and the type of food you’d always be craving. He, of course, had problems, and you two would be heated, but in the end, you’d be there for him, as he would be there for you as well. As weird as you thought, being with him wasn’t like how you thought; having it be like Joker and Harley, you two knew about the problems you guys have, and made sure to never trigger something. But, of course you were always worried about him, seeing as he was a criminal and could get hurt badly by either batman, or even another criminal. Another reason you were always worried on edge is if he was in jail. The nasty looks the police would give you as they were taking your bail money, calling the guards to escort him out. You tried not to care, but it always ate at your brain, even with Edward telling you they don’t matter. It has been nearly 8 months you two have been dating, and you two were standing out from the balcony of your apartment, seeing the whole street light up with neon lights, many balloons were out as well as ice sculptures, as it was in the dead of winter. You were bundled up in your favorite snow jacket, as Edward was wearing his olive green top coat, with his hands over your shoulder as you snuggled up to him, your face getting red abit as the freezing wind bit at your nose and cheeks, but you couldn’t care less, you were with your Eddie-baby, and nothing could get you out of the spot you were in, under his arms. The ball started to drop, as your eyes grew wider, excitement grew into your heart as a smile was cracking itself onto your face. Your feet couldn’t help but move as the feeling of happiness came to you. You had the love of your life by you, you had a wonderful life finally, everything was amazing at this moment. Edward looked over to you, smiling as he saw your smile grow wider, “Very happy I assume?” He said in a warm tone, as you looked up at him. “Mhm!” You said with a cheerful tone, as the ball went towards 20. Edward hugged you close, his smile was growing bigger, seeing the number go smaller. A thought popped into his head, his smile now going towards sneaky. You weren’t paying attention to Edward at that moment, as you were more focused towards the numbers going down, knowing a new year would be upon you anytime soon. The thought that maybe 2017 would bring you more happiness and luck was keeping you warm, with hope burning in you. “12, 11, 10, 9…” The people down there were yelling, as the anticipation was growing bigger, seeing the numbers go down fastly. Edward looked down to you, seeing your eyes light up with passion, which only made him happy more and more. You were a blessing to him, a gift that he would cherish with every might in him. “8, 7, 6, 5..” The voices of the citizens grew louder, as Edward pushed your head towards him softly, as you looked at him now with a wondering look. “You know what a wonderful start of a new year be~?” He questioned towards you, you only gave a soft “hm” to him, as he pulled you in front of him. “ What is worth a billion dollars but comes to you for free?” He asked you, wondering the question until it popped into your head. “4, 3, 2-” “Love!-” He didn’t let you finish, as he kissed your lips softly, the ball reaching the one mark as everyone yelled in happiness, confetti being thrown everywhere, being taken by the wind that blew it everywhere. You didn’t expect the kiss at all, but you smiled big, kissing back as you wrapped your arms around him, a joyful event melted your heart. Edward pulled away, a grin that went to ear to ear, as he went towards your ear. “Happy new years, my love.” He whispered.

[hydtrash-blog]

Meteor Garden 2018 Episode 1 Recap

As promised, here I am, recapping Meteor Garden 2018 (arriving ever so slightly late to the game…by 25 episodes).

Since I’m starting halfway through the drama’s run, I’ll try to churn these late recaps out as quickly as possible, and then peter off if/when we catch up to the current episodes. This is the plan… I’ll try my best to stick to it.

I mentioned before that, in an ideal world, I would have recapped both Hana Yori Dango (Japan, 2005) and Meteor Garden (Taiwan, 2001) first, in order to contextualize the story, particularly the changes that have been made to the premise. However, since the story seems not to deviate too much from the source material once we’re out of the gates, this is probably not necessary. Suffice to say that the story has been updated for a new generation, but is largely untouched once we get into the thick of it.

I’ll be referring to this drama as Meteor Garden 2018 in order to differentiate it from the earlier Taiwanese drama. Please also note that any quotes are being taken from subtitles, as I do not speak Mandarin! If anything is incorrect, please let me know, and I’ll be sure to make it right!

And with all those notes out of the way…onward, to the recap!

Episode 1

A black screen. A narrator asks the audience, “Have you ever wondered what will happen to you in the future?”

Fade in on a freeze frame: a girl, launched fully in the air, legs outstretched, foot making contact with a boy full on in the face. We’re treated to an extended 360 degree shot of the scene, taking in the boy’s horrified face, the bystanders behind the girl, and the floating debris from their bags, including a transparent Joker card.

The narration continues: “At least the 18-year-old me never thought something like this would happen in real life.”

The narrator is Dong Shancai, who introduces herself as an ordinary 18 year old girl. We backtrack a little in order to properly meet Shancai and her family. Mrs. Dong runs her own catering business, making specialty meals at home, while Mr. Dong is a logistics manager at a company. They are a close, loving family who scold and support each other. Awww.

It’s because of her mother’s catering business that Shancai has decided to get into the Nutrition Department at Ming De University, a prestigious school. She works all summer at a tea shop with her high school best friend Xiaoyou, and they adorably check each other’s college entrance exams results, cheering that they both got into their chosen schools and departments. Shancai is indeed off to Ming De, and Xiaoyou goes to another university to study tea culture.

Soon enough it’s Shancai’s first day at school, and we get beautiful shots of the campus, and of Shancai walking around, taking it all in. She’s soon joined by Chen Qing He, another classmate of hers from high school. Qing He expresses his excitement at being able to attend the same university as Shancai, saying it’s better than winning the lottery. Oooh, boy’s got it bad for Shancai, but she remains blissfully unaware, saying she’s happy to be his classmate once more as well.

Someone calls her name, and a girl runs up to the pair. Shancai identifies her as Li Zhen, another one of their high school classmates, although she was in a different classroom from them. They’re all studying nutrition together, and Li Zhen tells Shancai she’s grateful to know someone in her class. The three agree that they’ll all be best friends for the next four years.

It’s all off to a perfect start, and Shancai tells us in voiceover that she’s now ready to start this new chapter in her life. The next shot is of her, running across campus dressed in a formal skirt and blouse to attend a special lecture. She makes it to the classroom just in time, tripping into Qing He. Two girls snark at her to sit down quickly just as the lecture begins. The guest lecturer, a professor from the University of Pennsylvania, takes the stage. Apparently he’s quite well-known, and after the lecture, Shancai shows Li Zhen and Qing He the photos she took of him. Li Zhen requests that Shancai send her one of them so she can make birthday emojis. The other two are quick to wish her a happy birthday, but Li Zhen corrects them: her birthday is two days from now.

As they walk away from the lecture, still looking through Shancai’s photos, cries of admiration can be heard down the hall, and other students rush past them, their own phones withdrawn to snap some pictures. But it’s not the guest lecturer that they’re running to see. Instead, the students flock around a group of four boys, who stride down the halls, bringing their entourage of squealing fangirls with them. As the group collides with Shancai and her friends, her phone flies out of her hand and lands amongst the clamouring admirers. She drops on hand and knee, crawling after her phone as it’s kicked about the mass of students. She pops up, trying to get a better vantage point to see where her phone’s gone, and one of the girls from the lecture grabs her arm, squealing that “It’s F4!” She shoves past Shancai, who dives back down and crawls towards her phone. There’s a break in the swarm of legs, and Shancai spots her chance, reaching her hand out to grab ahold of her phone…

Which is when an expensive green man’s shoe comes stomping down on the poor phone, leaving the screen cracked.

The group passes, and Shancai swipes up her damaged phone, which now won’t turn back on. Outraged, she follows the group down the escalator and out of the building, determined to confront the owner of the green shoes. She finally catches up to the group, shoving her way to the centre. But the arm she grabs is that of the guest lecturer, and she is immediately pulled off of him by his security detail, who twist her arm and pin her to the ground. Realizing her mistake, Shancai glances around, only to see the expensive green shoes standing right behind her.

Cut to: Shancai being dismissed from an office, having been told to go home and think about what she’s done. She goes to gather her things from her locker; around her, students are whispering about how she tried to assault the special lecturer. Li Zhen and Qing He run up, asking if she’s okay and why she attacked the lecturer. Shancai explains that she didn’t mean to attack him, but that she was trying to find the owner of the green shoes, one of those F4 boys. Li Zhen asks, “Who’s F4?”, and Qing He notes that they seemed very popular.

A voice behind them pipes up, “The F4 members are very popular seniors.” Another student, Guo Caijie, a junior journalism student, approaches them, identifying them as new students. Shancai asks her about F4, and Caijie is only too happy to give them the rundown.

F4 is made up of four senior students, all incredibly handsome, talented, and among the best in their respective fields. They are Daoming Si; Huaze Lei; Fang Meizuo; and Yan Ximen. Lei is a music student, and the other three all study business administration. They have been close friends since childhood, and are so close knit that others have a hard time getting close to them, so they are also something of a mystery at Ming De. Basically, all the girls want them, and all the boys want to be them… or prove that they’re better than them. As a result, F4 issues challenges to prove that they are the top dogs ‘round these parts.

Shancai asks what the challenge is, and Caijie answers simply, “Bridge.” As in, the card game.

In fact, F4 are world-renowned bridge players, and founded the Bridge Club on campus…made up entirely of F4 members, and no one else. So far, no one has beat them. Caijie explains that they each have strengths that they use to their advantage.

Meizuo, for example, is artistic and good at design. He has a good sense of humour that he uses to lower the guard of his opponent, so that they take the game less seriously. He also has an incredible memory for which cards have been played.

Ximen is described as “subtle and cautious”, and comes from tea-loving family. His strength is strategy; he’s good at mind games to distract his opponents, and has earned the nickname “Battle God.”

Lei is a musical genius, with perfect pitch and a mastery of several instruments. He is described as being poised and calm, with a fantastic poker face and the ability to see through other’s attempts at trickery.

And finally, Daoming Si, the leader of F4. He’s primary interest is finance, and is said to have made a million yuan by trading on the stock market. He’s an aggressive bridge player, intimidating his opponents into making mistakes.

(He also has the wildest hair of the bunch, twisted and spiky... and maybe culturally appropriative? It’s meant to be an homage to Domyouji’s curly hair, but jeez… it’s kind of a lot.)

The four of them have won many awards for Bridge, and are a source of pride for the school as a result. But Shancai points out that they still ought to apologize for having broken her phone, regardless of how popular and talented they are. Qing He quickly agrees, and says they ought to go challenge them to a game of bridge right here and now, if they won’t apologize. But Caijie cuts in that it’s not as simple as all that to challenge F4; you have to be issued a Joker card first. It’s their official invitation; due to a large volume of challenges they receive, F4 only issues a Joker card to those they deem qualified enough to play against. They also require a wager to be set prior to the game.

Caijie explains that there are many rumours about what is wagered at the card table: having to clean up the school campus for an entire semester; squatting in the school fountain for half a day; spending a night in the biology lab; and, most ridiculous of all, being made to eat a pair of slippers. “So? Do you still want to challenge them?” Caijie asks, coming to a stop in front of F4’s club room. Shancai, Li Zhen, and Qing He all look on in shock at the story they’ve just heard. With that, Caijie leaves them standing outside of the classroom.

Shancai is not cowed for long; she tells the other two that the guy with the green shoes is in the wrong, and that she’s not afraid. So they march up to the door, and Shancai begins calling for F4 to come out and buy her a new phone. Qing He, her loyal hype man, repeats her demands loudly. Li Zhen looks on, slightly horrified.

There’s no answer, and Li Zhen stutters that they’re probably not in. Qing He suggests that they go off to find them; they shouldn’t be that difficult to find, if they’re surrounded by fangirls, right? “That’s right. If we see some long-legged arrogantly handsome boys, that should be them, right?” Shancai says. Qing He cringes as he catches sight of something over Shancai’s shoulder. “Is that them?” he asks. “I think so. I can feel their presence,” Li Zhen whispers. They turn to find F4 striding towards them, in all their arrogantly handsome glory.

Shancai, for one, does not look impressed, and she steps out in front of Daoming Si, who she sees is the owner of the expensive green shoes. “Hey. Green shoe guy.” She holds up her phone. “What’s this?”

“A broken phone,” he says, unfazed. The other F4 members snicker.

“Do you know why it’s broken?” Shancai asks.

Daoming Si replies that it’s none of his business, to which Shancai responds that actually, yeah it is, as he’s the one that broke it. She explains that he stepped on it when he was swarmed by his fangirls after the lecture.

There’s silence for a moment, in which Li Zhen looks embarrassed, Ximen and Meizuo look amused, and Daoming Si looks bored. Then, without a word, he steps forward and brushes past her, shouldering her on the way by. Shancai goes to storm after them, and is barely held back by Qing He.

The three freshmen head to their first lecture, where the professor warns the class that most of them won’t pass, and he won’t go easy on them. He then asks them to form groups of four. Shancai and Li Zhen join up with the two snotty girls from the special lecture earlier, while Qing He gets stuck in a group with three other guys. Poor boy.

At home, Shancai bakes a cake for Li Zhen’s birthday the next day. When she presents it to Li Zhen the next morning, her friend is touched, and suggests that they take a picture with the cake. They determine that the area they’re in is too crowded, so they head up an outdoor stairwell to take the picture in peace. They snap a selfie together, and then Shancai offers to take a picture of Li Zhen holding the cake. Li Zhen goes to stand by the stairs, but steps back to far and almost slips. The cake flies from her hands as Shancai rushes forward to save her friend. And just their luck: the cake explodes spectacularly over the curley, twisty head of none other than Daoming Si.

The two girls turn to see Si glaring at them. He recognizes them immediately, and grits out a furious, “You!”

Li Zhen immediately apologizes, but Si spits back, “If apologies worked, we wouldn’t need the police!” Ahh, that famous line. Li Zhen attempts to wipe some of the cake off of him, but he shoves her away, and she lands on the ground.

Shancai picks her friend up, and then immediately gets in Si’s face, telling him it was an accident, that Li Zhen apologized, so why does he have to be so mean?

She continues:

You’re an arrogant, green-shoe wearing pineapple head. You think you’re popular at school so you can do whatever you want. You didn’t apologize for breaking my phone. You’re just a jerk!

Si reaches out and pulls her in close, eyes blazing. Quietly, he tells her, “You. You’ve got guts.” And just like that, he pushes away from her again and walks away. Meizuo and Ximen follow without a word. Lei, however, bends to pick up the card that Shancai had written for Li Zhen, and silently hands it to her, before he also follows the rest of F4.

Later that day, Shancai opens her locker to find a Joker card, curtesy of F4. Qing He and Li Zhen are both worried, but Shancai quickly recovers, saying that she doesn’t have time to play card games. She slams the locker door shut and storms away, ending up on a rooftop. Once there, she unleashes a cry of frustration, and then immediately launches into a rant about F4.

Those stupid people. All I want to do is study! I didn’t want a Joker card! They broke my phone and embarrassed me in front of everyone! F4. You’re all jerks. I hope that from tomorrow, your phone signals will be blocked by aliens. No calls, no texts, no games, no internet! No phone in your life. You’ll step on your own foot and fall. You’ll dream of zombies that eat your faces. Your nostril hair will grow until it penetrates your head and becomes your hair!

And just as she finishes her rant, a quiet voice pipes up from behind her, “And then?”

She turns to find Huaze Lei sitting on a bench behind her, having heard her entire rant. He comes up to her and repeats the question: what happens to them next? Will she be happy then?

Shancai asks if he’s also trying to bully her, but Lei asks why he would do that. Isn’t he a member of F4? Shancai replies. Lei confirms that he is, but says that he isn’t interested in other people’s business. And with that, he turns and walks away, leaving Shancai staring after him.

On a basketball court, Daoming Si plays with some other boys, dominating the game. Girls cheer from the sidelines. One of the mean girls from Shancai’s class spots her walking across the court and calls her over. Pointing out Si, she confides in Shancai that he’s the boy that she likes, and asks Shancai to film her giving him a drink. Shancai demures, but her classmate insists, so she reluctantly takes the phone and begins filming as the other girl approaches her crush.

Except that Si notices Shancai first, and he walks by the girl, grabbing the drink without sparing her a glance as he walks right up to Shancai. He asks if she’s filming him, and then takes the phone away from her, not caring (or realizing) that it’s her classmate’s phone. Whoops.

We jump to a new day. Shancai is studying at home when her mother asks her to make a food delivery. Loading up her bike, she sets out to the address given. But when she arrives with an armload of food, she encounters one very familiar hairstyle. Daoming Si turns around, surprising Shancai: he orders takeout? He smirks and says that she should be grateful that he’s supporting her family by giving them the business.

Shancai is already sick of his shit, so she tells him to enjoy the food and makes to leave. Unfortunately, Si isn’t having it. He tells her to wait while he checks over the delivery to make sure the order is right. When he opens up one of the takeout boxes, he sniffs disparagingly at the food inside. This is what her family serves to their customers?

But Shancai merely tells him not to eat it then, and snatches the box out of his hands, offering to take it back. He grabs the box back, saying that he’s paid for the order, so he’ll do what he pleases with them. This irks Shancai. She tells him that she knows he’s trying to bully her, but that he shouldn’t be wasting food, and adding that her mother spent a great deal of time preparing the order.

But that’s not Si’s problem, he retorts, and admonishes her for being rude to her customers. Shancai replies that she’s nice to customers who are nice to her; he doesn’t deserve it. She continues that she understands that only elite students get into Ming De, but looking at him, she feels ashamed for him. He doesn’t understand how hard other people work, and finishes by calling him a parasite on society.

That does it for Si. He yells at her to shut up and swings the takeout box at her. It explodes over her, staining her clothes and flying all over the place. Shancai stumbles back a step, and looks up at him with anger and hurt.

For his part, Si has the grace to look ashamed of himself. Unable to meet her eyes, he looks away and tells her that it’s what she deserves for insulting him. Without a word, Shancai turns and runs out of the building; Si turns to watch her go, his expression regretful.

Shancai pushes her bike up to an outdoor tap and begins to try and wash away the food that still clings to her clothes. As she washes herself off, two boys approach her from behind, crowding her and preventing her from fleeing. Shancai is already pretty shaken up, and she tries to push them off, but they latch on, refusing to leave her alone.

Then, a voice offscreen asks, “What are you doing?” All three turn to see Huaze Lei standing there, watching the whole thing. He tells the boys to get lost, and the scram, leaving Shancai shaken and close to tears. She sits for a while and tries to hold back tears while Lei stands nearby, a silent presence. Tearfully, Shancai asks why Si acted the way he did, but Lei has no answer. Instead, he holds out a handkerchief, instructing her gently to use it to clean herself up a bit. And then, without warning, he goes into handstand against a wall. He tells her that when she’s sad, she should do a handstand so that her tears won’t fall down. They stay that way for a while, without speaking again.

That night, Shancai dreams of F4 telling her to eat slippers, and she wakes up gasping. At breakfast, she is quiet and contemplative, thinking over her encounters with F4, and Daoming Si in particular, over the last few days. With every memory, every bite, she becomes more enraged, more focused, more determined. Slamming down her empty bowl, she stands up from the table and announces that she’s going to fight back. She dresses with purpose and strides to campus, passing Qing He without a word, laser focused on only one person: Daoming Si. She calls his name, and he looks up. Their eyes lock.

Tossing her bag over her shoulder, Shancai takes off running right at him at full speed. She leaps into the air, leg outstretched, and her sole connects with his cheek. And with that, we find ourselves back where we started, in a freeze-frame of Shancai kicking Daoming Si right in his perfect face.

We watch the culmination of the scene in slow-motion: Si flies through the air with the force of the kick, past the rest of F4 (who watch the scene unfold with shock) and lands facedown on the ground, out cold. Shancai comes to stand over him. The rest of F4 look back at her, a definite note of fear in their eyes.

Brandishing the Joker card, Shancai says, “Who wants to play cards with you? I, Dong Shancai, won’t be bullied by anyone.” And she tosses the card down beside Si’s prone figure, before turning around and striding away without a single glance backwards.

What a badass.

After Thoughts:

For a 40 minute episode, we managed to fit a lot in, both plot-wise and character-wise. There’s a great sense of energy in this episode: the plot moves along briskly, and though there is a fair bit of exposition, it doesn’t feel like it bogs the story down (maybe because all of the F4 expo is paired with shots of four rather pretty boys showing off card shuffling. I dunno. It kept my attention).

The premise, as mentioned before, is a pretty big departure from the original HYD story. We’ve dropped the red card game in favour of the bridge competitions, which I think is a smart move: it keeps F4 generally inaccessible to the rest of the student body without making them into complete monsters. Daoming Si is still a jerk, obviously, but at least he’s not a psychopathic jerk.

I also like that Shancai and F4 are given more to do school-wise. The Makino character has never been a particularly studious character, and is pretty aimless throughout her education, at least for the first bit. I love that Shancai has a tangible goal that’s connected to her reason for choosing an elite school, instead of just going to the school because it’s an elite one. Similarly, I like that F4, and in particular, Daoming Si, are being set up as hardworking and intelligent students. It’s not to say that other adaptations of F4 have been unintelligent, per se, but rather that their futures are secured by their families, so it never seems like they particularly care about their education. I’m sure that this will still be the case in this version, but I like that school matters to them. The fact that Daoming Si isn’t being portrayed as a complete idiot who mixes up idioms is refreshing as well. They’re all still fundamentally the same characters, but this added layer makes them more interesting to me.

I’d like to end all of my reviews with three final thoughts: who I think was the shining star of the episode (or the episode MVP); who I thought was the absolute worst in this episode (or LVP — least valuable player, natch); and which scene I rewatched over and over. There’s always one.

Episode MVP:

Without a doubt, Shancai. I have a feeling that I’ll probably say Shancai a lot, because I love her. She’s spunky, fearless, and loyal. Her willingness to walk up to F4 and challenge Si to replace her phone, even after she’s heard that she might end up eating slippers, is fantastic. This character is a huge reason for why I continue to be a fan of this story, and can really make or break the adaptation in question. I’m rooting for her to achieve all her dreams and win all the boys’ hearts. You go girl!

Episode LVP:

If you thought I was gonna say Daoming Si, you’d be wrong. He’s a jerk, obviously, but I’ll save him for another day (I’m sure). Out of the gate, it’s hard to pick an LVP, but I’m gonna have to choose Qing He, if only because he’s not terribly interesting to me. His loyalty to Shancai is admirable, but I know that I would personally find his clinginess overbearing if he were my friend. That being said, I’m looking forward to watching him grow up a little and gain a bit of independence. Hopefully.

Most Rewatched Scene:

In an episode of introductions and set-ups, it’s hard to pick a scene that I want to keep watching over and over again. In future episodes, this spot will likely be reserved for super cute moments, but since we’re not there yet, I’ll go for the next best thing: Shancai and Si’s encounter on the stairwell with the cake. I love this moment for so many reasons, but mostly Shancai standing up for her friend and telling Si exactly what she thinks of him. I like that they’ve already had one encounter prior to this (unlike other versions, where the Makino character has watched F4 from afar and seethed, but never spoken to them directly). We also get the first mention of “pineapple head”, which holds a special place in my heart (even though I’m pretty sure that Si’s hairstyle is culturally appropriative…but that’s another gripe for another time).

[inamindfarfaraway]

[The rogues are in Arkham and bored.]

Eddie: If you could have sex with one person it is utterly impossible for you to have sex with, who would it be? Who is your ultimate pipe dream lay?

Victor: (sighs deeply) My own wife. Due to my lowered body temperature, simply holding her hand would cause me severe burns. I long for her to be awake and healthy again, but even then and even if she’ll still have me we’ll need to grieve all physical intimacy in our relationship. The downside of finding ‘the one’ is that you may lose them.

[A sad, uncomfortable silence. Harvey starts crying because God, he misses Gilda.]

Joker: I also choose his wife.