[ WP ] - Joker seeks vengeance for the death of Batman

The fluorescent white light brought a fuzzy glow to the clown's bone-colored skin. Etched with laugh lines, his face held its signature toothy grin. But there was something different about Mr. J as he stood up in front of that room. It was something in his eyes -- as if he'd been slipped one of those sleepy pills from Arkham. He stood silently at the head of the metal-topped table for nearly a minute and a half as he waited for the rest of his former brothers in arms to get settled: Croc recklessly knocked over other chairs, Cobblepot had his bodyguard take his coat, and Two-Face conducted a lengthy seating decision process. It's clear that it can take these sort of gatherings a while to start up. Finally, all the chairs had been scooted in and the clown broke his silence. 
 
 He leaned forward, placing his hands onto to the edge of the table's end. 
 
 `` Welcome, boys... to yet another one of our festive get togethers.'' 
 
 He spoke through his teeth -- still smiling. There was a wild caged-in look to him, and the Joker was never know to hold back. His black blazer stretched over his lean arms, fabric pulled so tight that it was nearly ripping at the seams. With his elbows crooked, and his hands clutching the table's corners, it looked as though the Joker was about to through himself at somebody. 
 
 He craned his head -- sweeping his eyes across every person sitting at the table: Tetch, Zsasz, Nigma, Crane... 
 
 `` Very glad to have you all... here'' 
 
 The clown prince slowly pushed his bent torse away from the table and stood stiff, arms clasped behind him. 
 
 `` I've requested your presence in order to take part in a very important news bulletin.'' the words rang out of his clenched teeth. 
 
 The clown took a purple gloved finger to swipe a stray hair from his brow. 
 
 `` ABOUT WHAT!?!'' a cartoonish voice shot out from the table 
 
 `` WHY IT'S TAKEN YA SO LONG TO PAY US GACK OUR FAIR SHARE OF DA MONEY FA JOBS WE SO KINDLY ASSISTED YA IN!?!?'' 
 
 The shrill voice was barking out of the gnarled Ventriloquist's dummy, Scarface. 
 
 `` M-m-Mr. Scarface -- please!'' his Ventroloquist, Arnold Wesker, pleaded as he placed his hand over the dummy's mouth. 
 
 The Joker slide to the back corner of the table, standing behind Wesker and the Ventriloquist. He slowly squatted, folding his slender, black suit-clad legs as his bleach-white teeth approached Wesker's ear. 
 
 `` All questions will have to wait until the end of the presentation, Arnold'' he hissed. 
 
 `` S-s-sorry'' Wesker mumbled as Joker made his way back to the front of the table. 
 
 `` As I was stating. Some rather pertinent news has come to my attention... Harley -- projector, please.'' 
 
 A metal cart whined as Quinn pushed it toward the clown on its barely-functioning wheels. Harley switched on the outdated piece of technology and pivoted its beam of light toward one of the nearby white brick walls of the warehouse. 
 
 `` Clicker please, Harley'' the Joker ordered as he continued to gaze out into the guests. He extended one purple-gloved hand towards Quinn, gesturing for the remote. Quinn cautiously placed it in his palm before shuffling off to a vacant corner of the room. Joker tightly gripped the remote, with a seeming intent of crushing the object. 
 
 `` Thank you. Dear.'' 
 
 A few metal chairs groaned as several of the attendants attempted to settle themselves. 
 
 The Joker slowly extended his left arm until it had been pulled out to a rigid, thin line. He clicked the projector remote with his left hand. 
 
 *Click* 
 
 The whirring projector vomited an imaged of dark grays, blacks, browns, and crimson onto what was previously a glazed white wall. 
 
 The room gasped -- a few chuckled. 
 
 The faces of those at the table: fear, glee, anger, confusion. 
 
 The wall displayed the image of the Batman, sprawled out in the mud -- his heavy black cape spread behind him as if he were a specimen on a disection tray. The hero's cowled face held an expression of shame, eyes closed, mouth agape -- filled with a morbid collection of rain water. The fallen knight's torso was disturbed with three cratered dents from what were clearly high-caliber gunshot blasts. 
 
 The whirring hum of the projector filled the otherwise silent room. 
 
 His left hand slumped below his left pectoral, immediately below one of the three gunshot wounds. The vigilante's right hand clutched near his right kidney -- the location of the second of the three wounds. 
 
 The projector hummed. 
 
 The third wound remained in proud display, centered in his sternum. THe rain had dispersed the blood all over the suit's slate gray chest plating, spattering the bat emblem. 
 
 The Joker slowly curled his lips over his teeth and closed his eyes. 
 
 *Click* 
 
 The projector spat a new imaged onto the wall. Yet another photo of the murdered knight. Only his face. The flash of the camera had made clear even more disturbing detail: pores, stubble, and a few chipped teeth. Curdled blood was visible on the man's lips, kept wet by the collected rain. 
 
 The Joker's head hung loose from his shoulders as the crowd absorbed the imagery. 
 
 The projector hummed. 
 
 WHAM. 
 
 Killer Croc slapped his leather hand on the steel-top table. 
 
 `` WE DID IT!'' he roared. 
 
 The 8-foot tall beast erupted from the table -- knocking his chair back and standing in triumph. 
 
 `` WHY'S EVERYONE SITTIN' AROUND SO QUIET!?!?'' 
 
 The Croc slammed his fist into the table, leaving a bloodied dent. 
 
 `` WE OWN THIS CITY NOW!!! WE OWN GOTHAM!!! THE BAT IS DEAD! GONE! TORN APART!'' 
 
 Croc's spit flung out from his tooth jaws, with drops spattering the table and its guests indiscriminately. 
 
 The projector hummed. 
 
 Croc grew louder the longer responses were withheld. 
 
 `` WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU!?! WERE YOU DRUGGED'ER SOMETHIN'!? WE OUGHTA BE CHEERIN' N' CLAPPIN' N' PLANNIN' OUR VICTORY PARADE!!!'' 
 
 Croc's head shot to Two-Face. 
 
 `` YOU! DENT! C'MON, YA GOT TA HAVE SOMETHIN' TO SAY ABOUT THIS!!!'' 
 
 Two-Face slid his scarred coin toward the table's edge, dropping it into his hand. 
 
 The hum of the projector was interrupted by the chime of Harvey Dent's flipping half-dollar coin. 
 
 `` Croc.'' The Joker uttered, head still staring at the floor. 
 
 `` Croc. Croc. Croc'' 
 
 The words bounced from his lips as his wingtip shoes clacked on the cement floor, slowly shuffling towards the heaving beast. The Joker's sleek black outline was traced by the meaty, hulking frame of Killer Croc as they stood facing one another. 
 
 `` JOKER!'' Croc spat 
 
 `` YOU AI N'T GOT SOME SORTA FUNNY FOR THIS!?!? YOU BEEN COMIN' UP WITH JOKES YER WHOLE LIFE FOR THIS MOMENT!!!'' 
 
 The Joker smirked. 
 
 `` Yes, Crocky. I suppose you're right. I've been a poor host!'' 
 
 The clown tilted his head up to meet eyes with Croc's yellow slits. A warm smile stretched across the Joker's face. 
 
 `` Croc. What's the point of a dead rat with wings?'' 
 
 Croc stood in place, slurping on his own tongue as he pointlessly worked to come up with an answer. AFter only seconds, the leathery chunk shrugged. 
 
 `` HEH. YA GOT ME J! WHAT IS IT?!?'' 
 
 Joker let out a chuckle and shot out a hand, curling his index finger towards his face to gesture Croc's attention. 
 
 Croc leaned down, placing his boulder of a head near Joker's mouth to receive the punchline. 
 
 The projector hummed. 
 
 The joker's right arm shot towards his rear -- where he snatched a small switchblade tucked in his back pocket. In the flash of a second, the clown had flicked out the blade and driven it into Croc's right eye slit. 
 
 `` GYAAAAAARRRRGH!!!!'' Croc wailed. 
 
 The Joker hopped to the right as Croc began to thrash. 
 
 `` KILLL YOUUUU!!!!' Croc howled 
 
 The Joker continued to remove the knife and smash it back into the creature's eyes and nose as the wet, meaty smacks of the assault were punctuated by Croc's screams. 
 
 As if his voice ruptured from his chest, the Joker growled 
 
 `` THERE IS NO POINT YOU DOLT!'' 
 
 The blade tore in. 
 
 `` YOU MORONIC HEAP OF SEWAGE!!!'' 
 
 Joker's assaulting arm sprang back. 
 
 `` YOU MUTATED, HALF-BREED, BATHROOM-WATER BASILISK!!!'' 
 
 The blade plunged through the top of Croc's scalloped head. 
 
 The thrashing stopped. Croc left out a gurgled whimper and collapsed to the warehouse floor with a wet thud. 
 
 The Joker mounted the reptilian mass and continued to plunge the blade into the creature. The Mad Hatter pulled his purple velvet Tophat over his eyes as he sunk into his chair. Zsasz leaned over the table to get a better look at the mutilation as a smile carved across his jaw. The Penguin let out a tired sigh as he rolled his beady eyes. The Ventriloquist cried as Scarface's head twisted to watch, clacking its jaw along with the percussion of the stabbing. 
 
 The stabs slowed and finally halted before the Joker flopped off of the former apex-predator of Gotham's sewers. Picking himself up, the Joker dabbed the brownish-red blood off of his face with his purple kerchief, wiping his hair back from his face and releasing a relieving exhale. 
 
 The clown paced back to the left of the projected image and pointed. 
 
 `` THIS'' finger pointed at the projection. 
 
 `` THERE. IS. NOTHING. FUNNY... ABOUT...'' 
 
 The Joker stepped in front of the projection -- his white face a fitting canvas for the image as the smear of blood and chipped teeth melted across his pained expression. 
 
 `` THIS!'' 
 
 He threw his arms behind him. 
 
 The projector hummed. 
 
 As the clown stood there, breathing frantic breaths, tears visibly poured from his emerald eyes. The Joker's crimson frown trembled as he bathed in the image of his fallen adversary. 
 
 The clown heaved and shook as his breathing turned to tortured whimpers, and the tortured whimpers turned to labored sobs. He collapsed to his knees and grasped his face with his gloved hands as he shook. 
 
 His cries sounded nothing like his laughter. 
 
 Cobblepot began to push his chair away from the table as he gestured for his bodyguard to bring his coat. 
 
 `` Well, Joker... thank you for alerting us to this, frankly, convenient news. I believe I speak for the whole lot of us when I say that this is the start of a whole new era for us, and I'm sure all of us will b-'' 
 
 
 
 
 

