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The Joker's Shadow
folder
zMisplaced Stories [ADMIN use only] › Batman (All Movies)
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
3
Views:
1,316
Reviews:
7
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
zMisplaced Stories [ADMIN use only] › Batman (All Movies)
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
3
Views:
1,316
Reviews:
7
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own the Batman series, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
The Joker's Shadow - Prologue Part 2
Author's note: Story takes place during the movie, between scenes. Chaps 1 and 2 are prologues. You can skip to Chap 3 if you’d like, but these parts are background and add dimension to the O/C. Yay for reading! Yay!
_____________________
Days passed and the stranger hadn’t made an appearance, but the Joker was too occupied to notice. Days typically blurred together to J like lampposts down a highway – whizzing by, one barely discernable from the next. Yet the past few days had been different. A relatively straightforward scheme to set up the mob wound up turning the Batman’s head. That raised the stakes, and it meant J would have to get more creative. A challenge he was more than happy to take on.
J left a pool hall, one mobster disfigured by his blade, two about to maul one another with a broken cue. In the past he may have stayed around to see the results, but messing with pathetic excuses for criminals wasn’t quite the thrill it had been a few days prior. From now on, none of this little stuff, he thought. It’s time to show this city how dark it can really get.
J walked the lower Gotham streets searching for a car to “borrow”. He tugged at handles as he passed, grunting at each door that resisted. Two blocks, no dice. Three blocks. Four. Finally a door opened, and he patted it gratefully before falling into the driver’s seat.
He was gifted at hotwiring, a skill his mother might have been proud of if she hadn’t run off years ago. At least, he thought she did. The past was always a bit fuzzy. J looked under the steering wheel for the access cover, groping in the dark, muttering “c’mon, c’mon.”
“Would these help?”
Keys fell into J’s lap, startling him. He hit his head on the bottom of the wheel.
“I’m getting tired of the way you make an entrance,” he complained, rubbing the same spot the faucet injured several nights ago.
“Get up. I’ll drive. It’s my car, anyway.”
J obliged reluctantly, handing over the keys but keeping his eyes on the strangers’. “Got somewhere in mind?” he asked as they got into the car.
“Actually, yes. I have a gift to give you.”
J played with the car’s glove box, opening and shutting it rapidly. The stranger peeled out of the parking spot to regain J’s attention.
“I said I have a gift. Aren’t you curious what it might be?”
“No-pe.”
“Come on, not even a little?” The stranger grinned playfully, but there was clearly something darker behind his eyes.
“Make it fast. Make it good. ‘Cause if not,” J placed the tip of his knife against the stranger’s temple, “I’ll make you hurt-t. And not like the little boo-boo you caused on *my* head.”
The stranger’s closed-lip grin widened.
“That’s not supposed to make you smile,” J frowned, narrowing his eyes before finally taking the blade from the stranger’s head.
“What can I say? I’m a man who admires *you*, after all.”
J chewed his bottom lip, still looking at the stranger. “You gotta name?”
“Do you?”
“Hey. Hey, listen.” J leaned into the stranger, his wet, scarred lips inches from the stranger’s ear, “I enjoy games – I do. But only when I win. So if *you’re* trying to play some game with me that you think you’re gonna win, keep in mind….I’m a sore loser.”
The stranger stopped the car outside of a self storage facility. He climbed out and walked quickly, pausing briefly when he realized J wasn’t behind him. His grin became a full smile.
He came to a stop outside of a unit and leaned into J’s ear the same way J did to him. “I hope you like it.” He crouched down and unlocked the garage-style door, raising it quickly.
The unit emanated bright fluorescent lighting. In the center sat a blindfolded man in a home-made Batman costume, tied to his chair.
The stranger crouched again, this time next to his captive. He looked at the captive’s face while speaking to J. “I know you hate the Batfans. I know you hate the Bat*man*. So I thought you could put this….guy….to good use.” He looked up at J. “Do you think you can?”
J stared at the captive, his hands balling into fists. He began salivating, and licked his lips to keep from drooling. He pulled the stranger to his feet.
“I want a video camera,” J said, drawing the stranger toward him violently by the jacket lapels. “Get me a camera. Get it now-w. Get it for me.”
“I’ll get it for you,” he promised calmly, nodding. “Down, boy.” He tried to pull away from J’s grip.
J grabbed the stranger’s jacket harder and pulled him in, the two men chest to chest. “Fifteen minutes. Or I kill him *and* you. Understand?”
J looked for a response in the stranger’s eyes, but the stranger was looking at J’s gleaming, red lips instead.
“You got a problem with the scars?”
The stranger shook his head slowly. “No,” he whispered.
“Then why are you staring?”
The stranger looked up at J, his lips parted.
“Tell me!” J grunted between closed teeth.
“Just let me get a camera for you, ok?”
J pushed the stranger away from him. “Fine. Go. Now.” He turned his attention to his victim-to-be.
The stranger straightened his jacket as he left the storage unit. “Hey,” he called to J.
J looked over his shoulder.
“My name’s Victor.”
“Nice to meet ya, Vic. Now get me a camera.”
_____________________
Days passed and the stranger hadn’t made an appearance, but the Joker was too occupied to notice. Days typically blurred together to J like lampposts down a highway – whizzing by, one barely discernable from the next. Yet the past few days had been different. A relatively straightforward scheme to set up the mob wound up turning the Batman’s head. That raised the stakes, and it meant J would have to get more creative. A challenge he was more than happy to take on.
J left a pool hall, one mobster disfigured by his blade, two about to maul one another with a broken cue. In the past he may have stayed around to see the results, but messing with pathetic excuses for criminals wasn’t quite the thrill it had been a few days prior. From now on, none of this little stuff, he thought. It’s time to show this city how dark it can really get.
J walked the lower Gotham streets searching for a car to “borrow”. He tugged at handles as he passed, grunting at each door that resisted. Two blocks, no dice. Three blocks. Four. Finally a door opened, and he patted it gratefully before falling into the driver’s seat.
He was gifted at hotwiring, a skill his mother might have been proud of if she hadn’t run off years ago. At least, he thought she did. The past was always a bit fuzzy. J looked under the steering wheel for the access cover, groping in the dark, muttering “c’mon, c’mon.”
“Would these help?”
Keys fell into J’s lap, startling him. He hit his head on the bottom of the wheel.
“I’m getting tired of the way you make an entrance,” he complained, rubbing the same spot the faucet injured several nights ago.
“Get up. I’ll drive. It’s my car, anyway.”
J obliged reluctantly, handing over the keys but keeping his eyes on the strangers’. “Got somewhere in mind?” he asked as they got into the car.
“Actually, yes. I have a gift to give you.”
J played with the car’s glove box, opening and shutting it rapidly. The stranger peeled out of the parking spot to regain J’s attention.
“I said I have a gift. Aren’t you curious what it might be?”
“No-pe.”
“Come on, not even a little?” The stranger grinned playfully, but there was clearly something darker behind his eyes.
“Make it fast. Make it good. ‘Cause if not,” J placed the tip of his knife against the stranger’s temple, “I’ll make you hurt-t. And not like the little boo-boo you caused on *my* head.”
The stranger’s closed-lip grin widened.
“That’s not supposed to make you smile,” J frowned, narrowing his eyes before finally taking the blade from the stranger’s head.
“What can I say? I’m a man who admires *you*, after all.”
J chewed his bottom lip, still looking at the stranger. “You gotta name?”
“Do you?”
“Hey. Hey, listen.” J leaned into the stranger, his wet, scarred lips inches from the stranger’s ear, “I enjoy games – I do. But only when I win. So if *you’re* trying to play some game with me that you think you’re gonna win, keep in mind….I’m a sore loser.”
The stranger stopped the car outside of a self storage facility. He climbed out and walked quickly, pausing briefly when he realized J wasn’t behind him. His grin became a full smile.
He came to a stop outside of a unit and leaned into J’s ear the same way J did to him. “I hope you like it.” He crouched down and unlocked the garage-style door, raising it quickly.
The unit emanated bright fluorescent lighting. In the center sat a blindfolded man in a home-made Batman costume, tied to his chair.
The stranger crouched again, this time next to his captive. He looked at the captive’s face while speaking to J. “I know you hate the Batfans. I know you hate the Bat*man*. So I thought you could put this….guy….to good use.” He looked up at J. “Do you think you can?”
J stared at the captive, his hands balling into fists. He began salivating, and licked his lips to keep from drooling. He pulled the stranger to his feet.
“I want a video camera,” J said, drawing the stranger toward him violently by the jacket lapels. “Get me a camera. Get it now-w. Get it for me.”
“I’ll get it for you,” he promised calmly, nodding. “Down, boy.” He tried to pull away from J’s grip.
J grabbed the stranger’s jacket harder and pulled him in, the two men chest to chest. “Fifteen minutes. Or I kill him *and* you. Understand?”
J looked for a response in the stranger’s eyes, but the stranger was looking at J’s gleaming, red lips instead.
“You got a problem with the scars?”
The stranger shook his head slowly. “No,” he whispered.
“Then why are you staring?”
The stranger looked up at J, his lips parted.
“Tell me!” J grunted between closed teeth.
“Just let me get a camera for you, ok?”
J pushed the stranger away from him. “Fine. Go. Now.” He turned his attention to his victim-to-be.
The stranger straightened his jacket as he left the storage unit. “Hey,” he called to J.
J looked over his shoulder.
“My name’s Victor.”
“Nice to meet ya, Vic. Now get me a camera.”