It has been quite the stormy day for the eastern seaboard as many fishermen were not able to go out and do their jobs. So much so that varied companies in said areas had to call off workers for the day with the low productivity for the time being. Of course there were those that wanted to try their luck and nab their daily catches to earn a good wage.
Though one such fishing boat was able to return to Gotham port after a long day of trial and error. But with how dark the sky was throughout the day, it was impossible to check out the load the fishermen caught until they safely docked. And with how drenched each of the men were, they were glad to finally travel on safe land and call it a night.
"Okay boys," said the fishing captain, "let's finally see what we got."
Lowering the crane that hoisted the netted fish, the large bundle landed on the ground for inspection. The workers brought out their flashlights to get a good look of their hard worked load. Though upon closer inspection, each man reeled back in disgust on what they just saw.
"Dear god."
"It's impossible."
"I'm gonna be sick."
"They have his face!"
"How the fucking hell did the Joker do all of this?"
In what each of the men were referring to, somehow the fish they acquired were tainted as they gazed at the smiling grins plastered on their faces. With the pale white scales, the green fins, the wide eyes and the stretched ruby lips. Though if they somehow showed off teeth then the men would've really been disgusted.
"We need to call the police." One of the sailors started with a grim look on his features. "We need to tell them that the Joker's back."
-Batcave-
Sitting by the batcomputer, Alfred was reading a book and drinking some tea as he waited for Bruce to come back on his nightly activities. There wasn't much for him to do as of late since he cleaned the manor earlier today and prepared Bruce and Dick's meals. Alfred would've enjoyed spending more time with Maggie, but she's been rather busy lately at work that his girlfriend didn't have much free moments to go out on dates. He respected such things and she promised that she'd call to go out on her next free day.
The butler's alone time came to an end once he heard the batmobile's engines coming from the distance and it's wheels came to a grinding halt. Seeing his costumed charge exit the vehicle, Alfred stood up and walked towards him and greeted Bruce with a small smile.
"How was your nightly patrol Master Bruce?" Questioned the Wayne butler as he received the typical frown Bruce wore the majority of his days. "That bad I take it."
"You have no idea." Batman muttered as he went towards the nearby table. Pulling out a bag from underneath his cape, he emptied it's contents onto a tray before turning on the desk light.
Taking a closer look to what Bruce brought back, he covered his mouth from not only the strong smell coming from the fish but also the ghastly sight of it. "My word."
"May I please have the dissection tray Alfred?"
"Of course sir." Walking off to the side to acquire said tray, the Wayne butler voiced his thoughts. "Any clue to what scheme the Joker has this time around?"
Batman merely shook his head as he waited for the tray to arrive. "Normal criminals have a logical motives, but the Joker's are only clear to him and him alone.
-The Dreaming-
Sounds of fighting could be heard in one area of the Dreaming. Normally such dreams could be just memories resurfacing for those that were battle starved warriors or suffering from nightmares of tragic moments of their past. After all, this is the Land of Dreams and such memories are experienced if one could access them.
But it should be noted that this dream in particular is neither of them.
Overlooking the vastly dense forest, many buildings could be seen once past a mighty gate. And beyond the city's worth of buildings and bazaars lies a mountain that one could mistaken it for Mount Rushmore with the carved faces chiseled onto its surface. And beyond that lies the continuous forests that spread out for miles on end that could make any nature lover possibly cream their pants with how beautiful the landscape is.
For those not in the know, this is Konohagakure or Village Hidden in the Leaves for translations sake… yet it is not. For the birth home of Naruto Uzumaki that we see here is merely just a dream. A dream that the former shinobi was able to access after trial and error.
After his discussion and mission given by the Lord of Dreams himself two weeks ago, Naruto wanted to possibly access his own dream world and see what he could do with it. He remembered seeing how Morpheus made the door to Bruce's dream world and from there, the former shinobi had experimented in trying to make such a door. It was an odd feeling as Naruto attempted in making the entryway, but he gained unexpected results.
The first few times were honest failures as he couldn't get the feeling right in creating the doorway. The next one didn't exactly create a door he imagined it would be; that instead of a typical door he saw everyday, Naruto ended up seeing a small dome of dark purplish fire that was cold to the touch. The Uzumaki didn't know how, but he got a distinct feeling it was indeed a doorway but it wasn't what he wanted at the current time. But that didn't mean he won't look into this at a later day.
After a few more tries, Naruto succeeded in creating a door and was able to enter the dream world but it wasn't his desired destination. Naruto first thought it was his as he sometimes dreamt of being back in the Konoha forest, but when he saw Pam being with the older version of herself, the Uzumaki realized that he somehow stumbled into her part of the Dreaming. The reaction was typical when he told her what he tried to do and it creeped her out on the idea.
Naruto tried getting into his dream world a few other times, but he ended up in his other girlfriends' dreams. Selina was interesting of her making the biggest score of her life and celebrating the occasion with 'him' in the snobbish apartment of said score. With Harley, it was rather trippy as the kaleidoscope of colors made things hard to focus. But he did make out of there being several versions of the bubbly blonde before they assaulted him with unrestrained love and affection… too much in fact.
After that was taken care of, it became a good experience for Naruto and his three lovers that they could enter each other's dream worlds… provided that the Uzumaki is there to bring them along.
Now going back to the sounds of fighting mentioned earlier…
"On your left Puddin!"
"Got it Harley!"
...Naruto and Harley are currently fighting a wave of enemies that appeared to resemble real-life animals in a darker variety. Bearing symbols on their bodies that resemble a darkened heart with bat like wings coming out of the bottom. They reeked of negative emotions and dark intents that would harm someone's dream if left unchecked.
These are the Nightmare Dream Spirits… Odd representations on actual nightmares in the Dreaming.
Naruto, who was currently in his Vanitas attire, blocked several incoming blasts with his ice shield before bashing some of the Nightmares away. As they flew back, the whiskered Uzumaki slammed his ice weapon to the ground to shoot several spears from underneath. As several Nightmares were destroyed, Naruto held up his shield as he lowered himself to help get Harley to jump higher into the air.
Leaping from her puddin's shield, the changed psychologist swung her weapon at the enemy Halbirds (hawk-looking creatures) and Peepsta Hoos (owl-like beasts). Her Creeper formed mallet smashed against the Nightmares' forms to send them crashing to the ground. Using much of her enhanced strength, Harley slammed her Nobody weapon onto one of the enemies to extinguish their existence before spinning herself around to smack other Nightmares in her site.
"Man this is really fun!" Harley proclaimed with a widened smile as she skated through the Nightmares. Her appearance was different from the norm as one side of her hair seemed sprayed red and the other black. From there, her attire consisted of being in a roller derby as the color theme was red and black with opposite colored diamonds decorating every other piece of the suit.
"Harley, you need to pay attention your surroundings!" Naruto called out as he replaced his shield with his scythe before slashing at several incoming foes.
"I am puddin!" She responded as she kicked another Nightmare away when she backflipped away. "But it's a little easier to forget with our backup!"
Said backup were blasting and slashing their way through the Nightmare forces as they consistently helped out the two humans. Two of them appeared to be frogs as one's winged with a lilypad shield and a cattail blade while the other wore a crown and a small cape as it wielded a buckler shield and a rapier. One appeared to be a jester-like ghost and the other was an electric themed unicorn.
Each of them bore symbols on their bodies that resembled a smoother heart, unlike the darker Nightmare ones. They were pleasant looking as they radiated kindness and affection, soothing others from the harshness of reality. Even baring brighter color schemes than from ones being fought on the battlefield.
These are the Dream Eater Spirits, opposites of the Nightmares in the Dreaming and the accessible gift Naruto received by their co-creator Morpheus of the Endless.
Sometime after Naruto was able to freely access his dream world, he came across both of these dream spirits as they fought each other. The Dream Eaters were clearly outnumbered and feeling the negative aura from the opposing number, Naruto clearly knew who to help out. Once taking care of their dark counterparts, the publisher was greeted by the lighter spirits before the Dreaming Lord arrived and talked to the Uzumaki.
Morpheus explained that both the light and dark spirits exist in the Dreaming, where they consume the good and bad experiences of it's denizens to help out it's ruler's workload. But as of late, the Nightmares started to outnumber the Spirits and Morpheus needed to take care of the problem. And much to Naruto's slight annoyance, Lord Dream dropped some of that problem onto the publisher.
Though this did give Naruto an idea to somewhat exploit by using this opportunity to help train his girlfriends in their fighting capabilities… especially Harley at the present time.
"Phew, I'm beat." Harley stated as she wiped the sweat from her brow. "And today's session was intense."
"No kidding." Came her boyfriend's response. "But once again, we've got to thank these guys for the help."
"Yup, yup." The psychologist was soon assaulted by a giant lick from the present Jestabocky. "Hey! Cut it out! It tickles!"
He chuckled at the sight before him as he petted the Electricorn and shook the hands of the two Kyroos. "And here I thought you'd be used to that by now."
"Well it's hard with these guys being so damn cute, adorable and cuddly!" Was her response as she glomped the jester-like ghost and rubbed her face against the top of it's head. This made the Jestabocky let out small squeals of joy on Harley's actions.
Naruto merely shook his head as he reflected back on the time when his girlfriends first met the Dream Spirits. Harley's was obvious, with her current actions reflecting the same ones back then; Selina loved the exotic animals and enjoyed interacting with them and Pam wanted to study them thoroughly while interacting with the Wheelflowers and Woeflowers. Given the fact that said Dream Spirits were plant based and had very small traces with the Green.
"Though I do wonder what Rachel's reactions will be like once coming here?"
"I'm sure she'll love meeting these guys puddin."
"You're probably right." Naruto smiled as he walked towards her. "Though I think it's time we woke up Harley." This made her cutely pout as she wanted to stay a little longer, causing him to capture her lips to cause her to lift up her legs on the action. Once ending the kiss, Naruto spoke once more. "We do need to go to work and I really don't want to make this a habit of us sleeping in too late on our work days."
The changed psychologist groaned as the two of them started to glow to signal their awakening.
-Waking World, Harley's Apartment-
Letting a small yawn, Harley rubbed the dust out of her eyes. "That was a good sleep."
"Pretty much." Turning her head towards the love of her life, she reached up and captured his lips while they lied in her bed. Once ending the kiss, Naruto smirked as he rubbed her sides to let out a pleasant moan. "And a good morning kiss helps start the day out well."
"Though I think I know a better way to make it even better." The changed blonde started to grind against her puddin's lower region, making him groan in response. "And us fighting those Nightmares really made me feel hot."
"You're really making it hard for me to stay in bed all day." Lowering his hands towards her panty clad ass, he groped and massaged them to earn a squeal in response. "With Selina and Pam out of town for their respective jobs, you have me all to yourself my pale princess."
"Well I am to please." Though her excitement had to end as her boyfriend started to move out of bed. "Ah~ Can't you just leave a clone and have it go to work in your stead? I really want to finally do it with you~"
"I want to do it as well Harley, I really do, but I feel it should be done on a really special day. And that will make it much more special for the both of us."
"Hmm, good recovery puddin." She said as she got out of bed as well. "Though I don't know when a such an occasion will come up."
"It'll come up when the opportunity presents itself."
For the months since the two have been dating, neither of them had gone beyond heavy petting. It seems a little unfair since Naruto has been sleeping with Pam and Selina quite a lot, even the one time with Cat Grant. But the psychologists ever present mindset on the matter keeps changing on the issue and her patience has been holding out as long as it can be.
Though it might be reaching the end of it's rope and when it happens, Harley will want her world rocked long and hard.
Naruto prepared breakfast while Harley first took her shower and once done, he'd take his turn while she ate. The two had a pleasant time to start the morning before the two of them had to go their separate ways for work. And when getting out of her apartment, the two were greeted by Paula.
"Good morning Paula."
"Morning Naruto, Harley." Harley's former teacher greeted the two as she locked her apartment door. "You two seem rather well."
"Isn't that obvious?" Naruto retorted as Harley nodded gleefully.
"Nothing really, just an observation." Paula said as she double checked herself for her job today. "Though I've been meaning to ask this the other day, but you were preoccupied at the time with Harley."
"About what?"
"Were you feeling alright? You seemed down when I spotted you two on your date."
Naruto sighed out a little breath as he knew what Paula was referring to. "Yeah I am Paula and before you ask, Harley was able to help me out on my problem."
"Was it a psychologist standpoint?" The neighbor said before her mouth went into a cheshire grin. "Or was it in a physical one?"
Harley merely twitched her eye on what her former teacher was suggesting. Responding with a groan, the psychologist rubbed her temple slightly as she spoke. "Puddin was suffering from some nightmares and he came to me to help take care of them."
"Oh~" Paula voiced as she nodded slightly. "Yeah I can understand that. Hell I even had to come to you a few times for some help in the past."
"Which you paid handsomely with some of your tasty dinners."
Paula chuckled alongside her neighbor on this. "Best bills spent." Looking back at the publisher, she spoke a statement. "And you won't tell me what it was about then."
"Doctor/Patient confidentiality Paula. Whatever we discuss in our sessions stay between us, unless needed to talk to others about it."
"Yeah, yeah." Waving off the two, Paula made her way down the building stairwell as the couple stayed around a little longer. "I'll see you two later and until then, have a good one."
As the Vietnamese woman made her way towards the parking lot, Paula slightly looked back as several things came to the forefront of her mind and they pertained towards Harley's boyfriend.
She and her husband were contacted by their boss, Ra's al Ghul, last year after Minato's defeat by Naruto's hands while he was out on a date. They heard about it and were surprised that it was indeed real. Even laughing about it of the former League member defeated in such a way.
Going back to Ra's, he called them and assigned the two to find out everything there is about the Uzumaki publisher from what he didn't know from his eldest daughter. They were confused on the request, but they didn't question their lord since it wasn't their place unless given. And with that, they did what they could to find about the whiskered man.
On what could be said on it being an easy assignment was anything but that. The two did get a general amount of information on Naruto through public records; but when trying to find out more of his personal life, the married couple were intercepted at every turn. And said interceptions were caused by a pair of snake themed assassins that neither Paula or Laurence saw before and it frustrated them to no end.
The two eventually realized they were highly trained assassins from the Kobra Cult, a fanatical group that sought to take over the world under tyrannical might and greatly opposed the League of Assassins' end goal. The couple wondered why they were involved in getting in their way on their task, but nothing could be done as they fended off the Kobra assassins each and every time.
When they were about to call Ra's on possibly failing their task, their neighbor ended up bringing their target to dinner one evening months ago. Things were quite interesting when learning more about the publisher as time went on. For instance, Naruto and Harley were starting to date after her accident over at Ace Chemicals and the publisher becoming friends with the Vlatavan queen while away on business.
All of this was fine and helped get their assignment done quite well in their favor. But at one point, Ra's eventually became uninterested in the publisher and ended their task... for some reason. Laurence gave a rat's ass on the whole situation and let things just breeze right through since he didn't want to get personal with his present target. As for Paula, she didn't let this go all the way as she had a feeling there was more to Naruto than meets the eyes.
'You are quite the enigma Naruto.' She thought as she started up her car and made her way towards her day job.
-Later; Office of Copyright, Gotham City-
Walking down the hallway, Naruto sighed as he looked through the paperwork in his messenger bag that he needs to turn in today. It was his turn to turn in all of the copyright forms for the upcoming novels and works his publishing company are going to release in the coming months. The majority of the staff does this sort of thing to at least be familiar with the copyright department, just in case of anything so no lawsuits will breathe down their necks.
'And there's a whole lot of them.' He thought as he came towards his destination. Opening the door, he was greeted with the sight of everyone busy with their daily tasks with some people talking amongst themselves. 'Now I wonder if he's here today.'
Walking further in, Naruto's eyed wandered in any sign of the man being in today. By the time the publisher reached the man's desk, he saw it was empty. Naruto considered coming back later or just stay nearby and wait, but he didn't have to do either of them as he saw the copywriter come back to his desk with a hot cup of coffee.
"Morning Carl." Naruto said with a smile, making the copywriter turn his attention towards the whiskered publisher.
G. Carl Francis is a man in his thirties and held the director position at the copyright office here in Gotham. He has short brown hair with a pair of dark eyes behind a pair of glasses. And to finish off his appearance was his fading red button up shirt, grey pants and suspenders to hold it up.
"Oh hello Naruto." Carl greeted in return as he got back to his desk. "Nice seeing you around here again."
"Same to you as well."
"So I'm guessing it's your turn today to drop off the varied forms?"
"Pretty much." It took a bit of effort to withdraw all of the documents from his messenger bag all in one go, making it awkward for the publisher performing the task. "And there's a whole lot of them this time."
"I can tell." Once the stack was on Carl's desk, the copyright director shook his head. "I swear, you guys at Spiral Publishing keep us quite busy with how many authors are under your employ Naruto."
"True, but at least you guys get something to do."
Taking the first set of documents from the pile, Carl briefly looked over it and quirked his head to the side. "Final Fantasy? Huh, interesting title… And you wrote this?"
During most of his time over at National City, Naruto had a clone work through most of the first book from the set of ideas he thought of back at the Gotham Airport. Hiding away at the hotel room he checked in, the cloned publisher got a good amount of chapters written out by the time Naruto came back home. And after that, the Uzumaki took his time to write the rest with Rachel and his girlfriends helping out on some details and opinions.
"Pretty much Carl."
"And mind giving me a hint on what it's about?" Asked the director, only to receive a shake of the head. "Figures."
"You'll have to wait for when-" *BANG*
The conversation was abruptly ended, among other ones around the room, when the office door was harshly opened. Everyone turned towards the entrance and many held their breath when they saw two large figures coming through the door. Both wore purple and green jester-like outfits, with their sleeves ripped off to show off their muscled arms, and wore white face paint with red circles on their cheeks. To finish off their appearances, their hair was either dyed or painted green and one of them had a large sack in their hands.
'Wait… I've seen those two before.' Thought the publisher as he eyed the muscled men. 'And if they're here then… shit.'
"Great Scott." Carl said in worry as the Clown Prince of Crime himself entered the room.
"Actually I'm Irish." The Joker stated in a joking tone. "An honest misconception to be sure." Coming up to the director's desk, the pale criminal shoved Naruto's forms off of the table so he could sit on the edge. "So Mr… Francis, let me introduce my associates with me at the present time." Waving his arm towards the larger men, the Joker spoke. "These are Punch and Judy. Though I do have other associates under my employ, but I felt that their presence might cramp up the space here."
'No kidding.' Thought the publisher as he stepped away slightly so he wouldn't get noticed. 'It would've caused too much tension if more of his goons were here.'
"W-What do you want?" Carl questioned.
"Why us gentlemen of business have arrangements to discuss." Came the Joker's response.
"...Arrangements?"
With a snap of his fingers, the Joker signaled one of his men to come forward and dump the contents of the large bag. "For my fish of course!" As this was said, varied objects came onto the director's desk to have several changed fish land onto the wooden surface with other items that were hard to tell at the moment.
"The hell?" Muttered the Uzumaki as he saw these.
"Beautiful aren't they?" Retorted the demented clown as he drew closer to the worried copywriter. "This has been worked and prepared far in advance, mind you. And you, Mr. Francis, are merely the last cog in my grand design. Oh and don't dare to speak to me unless spoken to, kay?" Pulling back, the Joker picked up one of the fish and played around with it. "Now what is Gotham talking about lately?"
"I-I don't know." Carl answered as he tried to scoot away from the criminal. "I woke up late and rushed over here. Didn't get the chance to check the morning news and paper."
Not liking the answer, along with something else going on in his head, the Joker smacked the clerk with the fish. "Who told you to speak?!"
"Hey! What the hell is your deal?!"
Turning towards the source, the demented clown eyed the whiskered man in the room and gained a curious look. "Don't I know you from somewhere?"
Realizing his mistake, Naruto mentally groaned as he tried to play dumb. "No, I don't think so."
The Joker narrowed his eyes and racked his mind on where he saw him before. His appearance was at the forefront of his crazed mind, but had a hard time placing it. It'll probably come back at a later time, but for now his current objective.
As this went on, one of the larger men came up to Carl and pulled out a small spray bottle and spritzed the director a few times. The process left a big plumb of air freshener on him. This made Carl cough in the process.
"For the fish smell." The man mumbled before backing away.
"...Getting back to business," said the clown as he backed away from the publisher, "every fish in Gotham bears my famous, and quite frankly fabulous face; I'd like to earn a profit from practically every fish product sold." The Joker explained his goal for being here. Picking up one of the dropped items on his desk, the clown presented the label towards Carl. "Possibly a nickle for every fish sandwich, fifty cents for sardines, practically millions of dollars per day to help finance my hedonistic lifestyle."
'So that's his game.' Naruto thought as he eyed the odd Joker labels on different products laid out in the open.
"So what tedious copyright forms do I need to fill out first?" Questioned the deranged clown. "Oh and you may speak now."
"B-But they're a natural resource." The director weakly said as he spoke back. "You can't copyright fish."
"But they share my unique face." The Joker said in a pouty tone. "I mean Coronal Saunders has his stupid chickens, yet they don't have moustaches."
"But I can't help it Joker, it's the law."
The Joker didn't like this at all as he leaned in too close for comfort for anyone nearby as he snarled at director. "Trying to cheat me out on this are you? Well we'll see who has the last laugh." Walking away with Punch and Judy on toe, the group almost exited the office when the Joker turned around and pointed at Carl. "You have until midnight tonight to change your mind Francis or else you'll be the porush fish of all."
All that was done afterwards was the Joker storming out of the office with the larger goons behind before one of them grabbed the office door and slammed it shut for their boss' slight anger.
"Oh god." Carl muttered as he massaged his head. "He's freaking crazy."
"Tell me about it." Naruto said in agreement. "We need to call the police for your safety Carl."
-Evening, G. Carl Francis' Home-
This has not been a great day at all for the copyright director as he's been a nervous wreck all day. Carl couldn't focus all that well on his job before the police arrived to escort him back to his home. He tried to take a nap and distract himself with his small hobbies, but he couldn't with how scared he was.
So here he was sitting in his living room late at night with Commissioner Gordon and several people from the GCPD watching over him.
"Don't worry Mr. Francis," James Gordon said in a reassuring tone, "we'll be sure to protect you."
"I hope so Commissioner." Came Carl's worried tone.
"How about we turn on the TV and see what's on." Suggested the Commissioner as he got to the television set. "Maybe that might help."
"I don't know about that Gordon." Bullock voiced as he entered the room with a small tray of food he pillaged from Carl's fridge. "All I've heard lately was just a bunch of news with those gross fish. And asides from that, nothing else is good lately."
"...It doesn't hurt to try you know." Came James' response before he glanced at the platted food in Bullock's grasp. "Also that's coming out of your next pay."
Bullock merely groaned as Gordon turned on the TV to see some news coverage over the latest news on the 'Joker Fish'. It wasn't pleasant for Carl to see as he cringed at the sight. Then the monitor went to static, causing Gordon to smack the top of it a few times.
"Sorry about that Commissioner, it's an old TV that I've been needing to replace." The copyright director apologized as he went up and adjusted the satellite wires on top.
Soon odd sounds were heard over the television set, causing the room's occupants to look towards it. One of the officers was about to change the channel when he saw something odd about the TV ad. Especially with the Joker's head plastered for the first few seconds.
"Their filling and hearty and all so delice~ Their joyful and jolly Joker Fish~"
"The hell?"
"The Joker must've tapped into the airwaves."
"Say, do you wonder on what you'd want to feed your family tonight?" The Joker's voice called out from off screen before it transitioned to a kitchen scene with two of the known Joker Gang members sitting. They appeared bored and hungry, given their body language with their faces covered by the large masks.
Walking on screen came the Joker in a sailor outfit with a sack over his shoulder. "Arr~ Then try my famous Joker Fish, why don't ye?~" Coming towards the empty table, the clown dumped the sacks contents to reveal many of the contaminated fish. "They're smilingly delicious~"
"You know, I think this might drive me away from seafood for a while."
"Gavin, shut up and keep your thoughts to yourself." Bullock said in a rude tone, causing several officers to glare back at the detective on the comment.
Back on the fake TV ad, some of the gang members rubbed their hands together in acting glee. "Yummy yum yum~" The Joker voiced as he cut into his fish and took a bite out of it… before he threw up off screen. "Should've cooked that instead of eating it raw."
"Eh boss." One of the off screen gang members whispered loud enough for others to hear. "I think they heard you."
"You think?!" Growled out the deranged clown before he went into his signature grin towards the viewers. "Yes folks, that was my Joker Fish. Very tasty and very tempting… once you cook it that is. And they're naturally low on cholesterol."
"Highly doubt it."
"Gavin, what'd I say?!"
"Bullock, shut up."
"...Yes Commish."
"...Coming soon to a market and grocery store near you." Stated the smiling Joker before his plastered grin went into a snarl. "Just as soon as that damn copyright director G. Carl Francis finally decides to give me my legal cut of the profits!"
"Change the channel!" Ordered the Gotham detective towards a random officer.
One of them went up to the TV set and flipped through the channels, but the Joker ad was still present. "It's on every station sir."
Growling to himself, Gordon pulled out his walkie talkie and radioed in his orders. "This is Gordon. I want people tracing the hacked TV signals so we can nab the clown as soon as possible."
"I hope you changed your mind Francis, because I haven't changed mine. HahahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Was all the Joker voiced out before the signal got cut off and things went back to their scheduled programming.
-Close to Midnight-
The home was rather quiet as the seconds passed on by. Moreso with the clock's ticking seemingly louder than usual, causing Carl to feel much dread on what is going to happen.
"Don't worry Mr. Francis." Detective Bullock said as he walked over to the copyright director. "We got people stationed at every entrance and window. So there's no way anyone can sneak in here tonight."
"Are you sure about that?" Came a voice from the shadows. Many police officers pointed their weapons at the source and saw Batman walking in from the far corner. "If I got in that easily, then so will the Joker."
"You're not the only one Batsy." A voice from above stated, getting the officers to aim their weapons up to see Vanitas' upper half phased through the ceiling. "I've been here for hours and no one has actually noticed me."
Bullock wasn't pleased in seeing this as he yelled out. "Hey! This is police business! So haul your asses out of here you two!"
"Hold it detective." Gordon said as he walked in between Bullock and Batman, while Vanitas fully phased through and landed on the ground. "Batman is the only one more knowledgeable on the Joker than any of us. So he might have some insight on what to possibly do next."
Bullock merely growled under his breath and walked away to blow off some steam.
"Um… Batman, Vanitas." Carl said towards the two heroes. "Why is this happening to me? I'm merely just a pencil pusher, despite my director position at work. I've never done anything wrong towards the Joker and I can't change the laws to make him happy."
Vanitas placed a comforting hand on the director's shoulder as he spoke. "You're practically harmless to the clown, but in his mind that's the joke of it all."
"As much as I'd hate to say it, Vanitas is right." Batman backed up the black/white themed hero's response before he noticed Carl scratching himself. "Are you feeling alright?"
"Yeah I'm sure Batman." Carl answered as he kept scratching himself. "It's just that I've been so nervous with how crazy today has been that I forgot to take a shower to get this gunk one of the Joker's guys sprayed on me."
"...What did you just say?" Vanitas asked with hidden widen eyes that matched the Batman's. 'He didn't clean that off?!'
"GET THIS MAN TO THE HOSPITAL NOW!" The Dark Knight yelled out as the officers were shaken by the sudden order.
Just as the bell tolled midnight, the house's occupants heard a sound coming from outside. It was getting louder and louder, causing several to peer outside. And what they saw scared many as a metallic swordfish-like missile was flying straight towards them.
"GET DOWN!" Vanitas called out as Batman brought Carl down to the ground for cover. As the missile came through the window, the masked Uzumaki brought his hands up and formed a barrier. The metallic swordfish impacted it, causing it to break and fall to the ground. Everyone expected it to go off with an explosion, but all that came out of it was some sort of gas as everyone started to cough.
"God! What is this stuff?!"
"It smells rancid!"
"Don't worry, I got it." And with a flick of his wrist, Vanitas' wind lance formed in his hand and created a small torrent of wind to help clear the smoke away and out of the house. "Is everyone alright?"
"I think so." One of the officers said among other similar responses.
The chatter quickly ended as they heard a soft chuckle coming from one side of the room. Looking towards the source, they saw Carl have a small smile across his lips before the volume increased tenfold. Laughing like a mad man as his eyed widened dramatically with veins popping out and his lips starting to stretch into a cheshire-like grin.
"What the hell?!" Bullock yelled out in what he was seeing.
Before long, Batman pulled out a syringe from his utility belt and inserted it into Carl's arm before injecting its contents. It took several moments before the copyright director started to calm down and started to fall asleep.
"He'll be alright." Batman voiced as he gently laid the man down on the floor. "The anti-venom needs to kick in once the sedative fully does it's job."
This merely got the detective to scratch his head and voice his thoughts "I don't get it. How come he got infected? We all breathed that gas, but we're not smiling?"
"Because he got sprayed by one of Joker's goons over at the copyright office this morning." Vanitas answered as he eyed the fish themed missile. "I'm guessing it was part of a compound for the Joker's concoction and we just saw the other half of it complete its function."
"He's right." Voiced the Dark Knight. "I inspected several fish on the venom in their systems and it only infected marine life to make them look… unsettling with its deluded compound. This must've been a new strain the Joker came up with."
Suddenly the TV turned on, causing the room's occupants to see the Joker on the monitor in what appeared to be a fake news bulletin. The deranged clown had his ever present grin as he had several papers in his hand with Carl's picture plastered on the far right corner of the screen.
"This just in. Former copyright director, G. Carl Francis, will be taking an extended vacation due to not complying with my demands." Voiced the Joker as Carl's picture changed to one with a ghastly smile drawn on his face. "Though I'm guessing he's having more fun than I am. Hehehehahaha!" Soon he abruptly ended his laughter as he glared and snarled. "But I'm not happy at all! And if i don't get legal claim on my fish at 3 am, then I'll target the next fellow that crossed me."
"Who is that I wonder?"
"Beat's me."
"Let's just hear what he has to say boys." Bullock stated as others nodded in agreement.
"I had the chance in talking to Mr. Francis' superior earlier this evening if he could help on my troubles. But it seemed that Mr. Thomas Jackson wasn't willing to budge, so I had to resort to this." Gesturing towards the following picture, it showed the copyright bureaucrat's picture with a similar face that Carl currently has at this time.
"Dammit. We got another victim on our hands." Gordon muttered as he tightened his fists.
"But you folks might be wondering who I plan to target next if I don't get legal claim on my fish." The Joker said as he tried and failed to compose himself with a twitch of his eye before he exploded in rage. "Well it's that good for nothing publisher, Naruto Uzumaki! He humiliated me back at the casino months ago and I want payback! You hear me! If I don't get legality on my fish, then what whiskered buffon is the next to go!"
Behind his helmet, Naruto widened his eyes and let out a mental groan that the Joker must've remembered him back at the copyright office this morning. 'This is gonna fucking suuuuuck.'
-Naruto's and Pam's Loft-
Naruto could only blankly stare at the officers in his home as they kept a close eye on things. Of course many of them were ignorant of Naruto's twitching eye as they were standing guard near him for his protection. Even more so when the publisher let out a groan as he was being talked to by the different officers.
"For the last time, I am completely fine." Naruto said in a calming tone. "So please, get out of my personal space!"
"They're just trying to keep you safe." Harley stated as she tried to sooth her boyfriend.
"I know Harley, but this place can only hold so many people without it being considered 'cramped'." Explained the publisher as several officers were changing shifts from the loft to the outside and in the surrounding area of the building. "Though I'm more concerned for Rachel since this is unsettling her and you with what's going on."
This was true as when the police arrived earlier, Rachel was harshly woken up and got quite worried on what was going on. Not knowing that was going on, she kept asking some of the officers only for Bullock's straight forward response to make her feel scared for her guardian. Even as Harley was comforting her, Rachel's emotions would clearly shown in her features as she drifted back to sleep.
Speaking of Harley, she's been a nervous wreck since she heard about the tainted fish later into her day at Arkham. And who can blame her, with the Joker kidnapping and torturing her when people last saw him during the asylum breakout months ago. That night still haunts her dreams, but at least the Dream Eater Spirits have been trying to fix them alongside her puddin.
"You know, I thought I'd be able to get over what happened with you guys helping me through this." Looking at her shaking shoulders, Naruto wrapped an arm around her for comfort. "But him coming back after all this time is not making it easy on my recovery."
"It never is Harley since most things take a lot of time to mend the wounds."
"Thanks… But this wouldn't have happened today if you didn't antagonize the clown." The psychologist said with a narrowed glance. "This at least explains on why I kept hearing him bitching and complaining about someone, other than Batman, was able to get under his skin so easily before his escape."
"Hey, in my defense, I never met the guy prior to that day so give me some slack." Letting go of her, the publisher crossed his arms and looked away as he continued. "I let out my little frustrations on the badly designed casino on a man, who just so happens to be the real deal, and I won't be hearing the end of it."
"I'll say." A voice spoke, causing the couple to look towards Commissioner Gordon standing by the two. "Quite the way to antagonize the Joker of all people and earning a target on your back. Not an easy feat I might add."
"Commissioner." The couple greeted at the same time.
"I know I said this several times already, but are you doing alright Mr. Uzumaki?"
"Yes I am sir." Answered the Uzumaki. "Though is the excessive protection a bit much?"
Gordon merely shook his head in response. "We can't take any chances with the Joker involved you know."
"I mean there's Batman sulking in the shadows over by the window and I think I saw Vanitas outside to hopefully find anything suspicious." Naruto pointed out to the leading officer. "So I still don't know that the added security would seem too overboard."
"With it nearing 3am, we have to be sure for anything. Snipers from the other building or an assault coming up from the elevator or stairs. And with him involved, anything could happen."
As this conversation was going on, Batman was focusing towards his surroundings if something were to occur in an incoming attack. But his eyes occasionally went towards the publisher in the room as several thoughts came to mind. Mostly those from when he had experienced that one dream, manipulated by the Mad Hatter the previous week.
The dream felt so real that Bruce almost succumbed to it if it weren't for his rational thoughts kicking in at the last moments. And even then, there were the defenses Tetch had set up in his mind to hinder his progress in escaping his entrapment. But if it wasn't for the dream Naruto helping him in the end, then Bruce feared he wouldn't be here today.
Though after waking up, the billionaire had been thinking if his friend in that world was indeed a creation of his subconscious like what the Hatter suggested. But he was second guessing himself as a sinking feeling came up that Naruto was indeed there. Bruce couldn't explain it, but it was somewhat backed up when Naruto acted particularly funny around him in both of his personas. Like he knew something, but trying to play it off or something else entirely.
And as much as he'd like to approach Naruto about this, Batman didn't think it was the right time to bring it up. Especially right now with the publisher's life currently on the line.
Soon the sounds of scratches were heard from the patio door.
"What was that?" Gordon asked as he and several other officers trained their weapons at the source. It wasn't long until the patio door was opened slightly for a small black figure to walk right through. "A cat?"
"Oh! That must be Isis." The publisher stated as he walked towards the door. "She usually comes back late at night from her 'walk abouts'." As he drew closer, his steps stopped. "Though why did she come back this late?"
His answers were soon answered as he saw something inside of Isis' mouth. Making him widen his eyes along with the rest of the loft's occupants as they heard Isis let out an odd hiss like laugh. It was even more sinister as they saw a blue substance leak from her mouth and the object in her maw.
"A Joker Fish!" Batman yelled out as he dived towards the black cat in hopes of catching her. But with the years of training from her mother made Isis jump out of the way in a fast reflex.
"She's infected!" Gordon called out as several officers ducked out of the way from the feline.
During her run around of the loft, Isis dropped the infected fish in her mouth. This made a little bit faster in reaching her goal, in her hazy mind, as her 'father' was in her sights and sought for his comfort. Of course with the drug running through her veins, Isis mistook comfort with death as her claws were out and aimed towards the whiskered man.
As the black cat was close enough to scratch the publisher, Naruto was barely able to catch her in time and held her at arm's length. With her limbs going frantic in her drug induced state, Naruto fell down onto the ground and kept his pseudo pet away from him. And all of this caused some unpleasant memories to resurface from his childhood.
"Oh not again!" He cried out as he kept moving his face away from her claws. "It's like Tora all over again for crying out loud!"
"Naruto! Are you alright?!" Harley yelled out as she tried to get close, but was held back by Detective Bullock. "Get your hands off me mista!"
"Do you wanna get scratched by that mangy furfall?!"
"Don't you dare call Isis that you ass! And if Selina was here, she'd kick yours to timbuktu!"
With the opportunity presenting itself, Batman carefully got in close and pulled out a syringe from his utility belt. With careful aim, the Dark Knight jabbed the needle into Selena's pet cat and injected the serum. And with a bit of a painful cry, Isis had let out a hiss before going limp in Naruto's grasp.
"There. That should help get Isis back to normal." Batman said as he saw Naruto bring Selena's cat closer to his chest for comfort. "Though she should go see a vet just in case."
Letting out a groan, Naruto petted his girlfriend's cat as he stared up towards the ceiling. "Selina is not going to be happy when she hears about this. I mean Isis was drugged back at the Daggett labs and that pissed her off to no ends. Imagine how she'll be when hearing about this."
"I can already tell." Muttered the bat themed hero as he shuddered in thought on that happening.
"Well ain't this dandy Commish!" Bullock said with a red handprint on her cheek, courtesy of one pissed off psychologist. "We had two victims so far, with a possible third, and no one has bothered trying to find his demented ass!" Turning around, the detective made his way towards the loft's entrance like a man on a mission. "Well I ain't gonna stick around and find out who's next! And I got my own methods!"
"Bullock!" Yelled out the Commissioner as he saw his subordinate slam the door on his way out. Letting out a frustrated sigh, Gordon rubbed his forehead on what to do now.
"Commissioner." Called out the Bat. "Take a look at this fish."
Looking towards the vigilante, James saw Batman hunched over the infected fish lying on the floor. "Hmm… Isn't this a japanese tang?"
Batman nodded as one of the officers picked it up and placed it inside of a plastic bag. "It's not native to Gotham's cold waters."
"So where did it come from?"
"I have an idea where." Came Batman's response as he went to the patio door, opened it and pointed his grappling gun towards the building outside. Before firing it, he turned back to see Naruto comforting Isis with Harley checking up on him. It was brief, but it that was all it took for the Gotham hero before he went off into the night to search for the deranged clown.
-Oceanside Aquarium-
The rain was starting to drizzle by the time Detective Bullock arrived onto his destination, alone. It's been awhile since he'd been here, but he still remembered coming here years ago and knows many of the fish that primarily live in the building's tanks. And a good number of them are of the asian variety with a particular species that he saw back at the publisher's loft.
Bullock made his way around the building on foot since he couldn't just go right through the front door. That would've been too easy and a big rookie mistake if there ever was one. Passing through several posted signs that showed the building was closed for remodeling gave the Gotham detective more on the idea that the Joker was using this place as a temporary haunt.
Coming to the side entrance, the detective had to pick the lock so he could quietly enter the building. The only sounds he could hear upon entering was the soft rain pelting against the skylights above. It didn't help with some of the atmosphere of the construction equipment placed inside of the one area of the aquarium that it'll give someone some extra coverage to get the jump on him.
'Now where are ya, you sons of bitches?' Bullock thought with his gun carefully aimed at the ready. Eyes landing on a nearby sign labeled 'Tropical Marine Life', the detective figured the coming area was the best place to start looking. Passing through it's doors, Bullock made his way through the hallway as he tried to look for anything amiss.
All of a sudden, a large figure landed behind him.
"Wha-" The detective barely said before one of the Joker's larger goons grabbed the officer in a bear hug, causing the man to cry out in pain.
"That's good Judy!" The Joker called out from up high. "Now help get him wrapped up Punch for some good bait!"
The other larger henchmen landed on the ground soon after, with rope on hand, before wrapping the detective up as he struggled. Bullock tried to get out of his restraints, but he was lifted up into the air by what appeared to be a large fishing pole. And sitting above one of the tanks with said fishing pole was the Joker, wearing a fisherman's hat with varied hooks attached.
"Seems we got ourselves a runty one boys!" The clown said in a pour sailor accent. "Not too good, I'm afraid. So I think we should throw him back."
As the Joker cackled, he turned the pole's crank as Bullock was lowered closer to the tank's surface. Looking down below, the detective squirmed with widened eyes as he saw the outline of a shark underneath the watery surface.
"You know… detective? Are you a detective?" The Joker asked in a mock fashion before he shook his head. "Meh~ It doesn't really matter at this point since you're more of a worm or a large codfish at this point. Hehehehehahahahahaha!"
"You won't get away with this Joker!" Bullock yelled out as he tried to keep his legs out of the water.
"...He's probably right." The clown muttered as he stopped lowering the detective to the water, causing said man to scream out in fright once the shark reached the surface. "I mean if this buffoon was able to find me, then why not Batman or that… Vanitas fellow." He said with a small growl in the end.
The Joker remembered what happened the last time he encountered that helmeted Gothamite hero. Beating him up back at Ace Chemicals when he wanted to turn the lovely Dr. Harlequin into someone much like himself. Vanitas got in the way from accomplishing his goal and after his defeat back at the chemical plant, he and his Joker gang had to lie low until to come up with this recent plan and spring it to action.
Shaking himself out of his thoughts, the clown reeled back the detective high enough as he continued talking. "Why waste such a treat to the nice sharky warky when I literally have bigger fish to feed him with." Pulling out a whoopee cushion, he squashed it to let out a loud sound to get the rest of his gang to show up into the room.
Asides from Punch and Judy; each of the costumed lackies consisted of two men wearing shark like masks in a black and white color scheme, a man in a panda suit, one wearing a mountain goat mask, two giant eyeball helmets, a crying baby mask, and a pair wearing 'tragedy and comedy' masks.
"Boys! We'll be expecting company soon, so get ready!"
Nodding at the given information, the group had split up to get into positions while one of them went to the nearby circuit breaker to turn off the lights.
Some time has past once the order was given when a shadowy figure was seen from the broken skylight to reveal Batman. Using his cape to help glide himself towards the ground, the Dark Knight pulled out a flashlight from his belt and shined it's light towards the nearby fishtank. He bit back in disgust when seeing several infected fish swimming about before his flashlight landed on the clown he was looking for.
"Now this little fella here... came with his own grin!" Pointing to the aquatic animal behind him, Batman saw the shark swimming in the tank. "See the resemblance?" Gesturing towards his face before waving his hand towards the air. "And check out my catch of the day!"
When the lights went back on, Batman saw the detective hanging right above the shark tank… with a fish placed in his mouth as an impromptu gag. "Bullock!"
Spitting out the disgusting fish from his mouth, Bullock spoke. "I didn't need no stinking batcomputer or whatever you have to tell me that weird-looking minnow came from an aquarium!"
Letting out a mocked yawn, the Joker walked around the caped crusader as some of his goons made their appearance by pointing their weapons at the hero. "Yes, well, this is all tremendously boring. Of course I can always amuse myself watching my shark give this real shark indigestion."
Hearing his cue, one of the shark masked men started cranking Bullock lower towards the tank below to be fed by one of the ocean's predators.
"WAIT!" Cried out the Bat as he walked closer to the Joker, with several goons training their guns at him. Let him go. I'm the one you're after."
Adopting a thinking position, the clown eventually weighed his hands on the options. "Hmm… I could feed my little guppy right now with a decent snack or feed him a decent sized bat. Decisions decisions."
"Maybe a third one is in order! A voice called out from the rafters. "Both go free with you and your pals sent to Arkham and Blackgate!"
"Who said that?!" The Joker yelled out towards the unexpected visitor.
His question was soon answered as several daggers and cards were thrown downward as they cut through the rope holding Bullock up above the shark tank. The detective screamed as he fell before he was roughly caught and tossed towards the side to safety. Landing on the tanks above showed Vanitas in all his glory as he gave a two finger wave towards the crowd below.
"Hiya Joker! Did you miss me?!"
"YOU!" Pulling out the gun from his jacket pocket before firing at the helmeted hero. "You'll pay for what you did last time!"
Effortlessly dodging and blocking the bullets, along with other ones from the rest of the Joker's gang, Vanitas spoke back. "You mean with helping Batman stop you from killing Kaiser, with his god awful Joker themed casino, or you trying to kidnap Dr. Quinzel! Either way, I don't regret a thing!"
Using this distraction, Batman dashed towards the panda wearing goon and kicked him into the mountain goat masked man. While off balance, the two goons pulled their triggers and wildly fired their guns all over the place. Some of the goons had to move out of the way as they tried to strike down the Bat. But this wasn't so as the hero delivered several punches at one of the giant eyeball helmeted men before quickly going towards the other. The presitional strikes were harsh as both men collapsed onto the ground.
As this went on; Vanitas was being chased down by Punch and Judy, who climbed up to the higher level earlier. Their swings were easily read as the helmeted Uzumaki swatted them to the side before punching and kicking each of the men in rapid successions. But with the two being so largely muscled, it would take time to fully take them down. Vanitas would've been able to take care of them quickly, but he needed Bullock to get away before that could happen.
Speaking of the detective, Bullock was able to climb down from the tanks. Not wanting to be left out of the action, he pulled out his gun and fired at some of the Joker gang members. They fired back as the detective tried to look for cover, but with the one hallway there was none at all. So he was forced to roll out of the way as the bullets flied.
'This is getting ridiculous.' Bullock thought as he was getting tired out from the constant rolling. 'I think I need to start cutting back on the donuts.'
During these separate encounters in the hallway, many stray bullets were impacting the water tanks as the holes were starting to leave cracks in their wake. Stretching and merging with each other that possibly one strong impact on either side would cause the glass to fully break. Moreso on the one that has the shark contained.
Over on the top of the tanks, Vanitas was able to knock out one of the larger goons. But the second one was able to knock the hero into the water. With the sudden change of surroundings, Vanitas tried to turn upwards so he could swim towards the surface, but that would have to wait as the shark seemed to come right towards him. He moved his limbs so he could swim, but it seemed that he's a slow swimmer, even when a shark was chasing him.
'This freaking sucks!' Yelled out the helmeted publisher as he move out of the shark's path.
Just when the Joker got to the top of the tanks, so he wouldn't be hit by either the Batman or the stray bullets, he saw the action going on inside of the shark tank.
"Oh! This is so exciting!" Cried out the clown as he rubbed his hands together. "I wish I had popcorn, but alas all I have is just rotten meat." Pulling out said item from his jacket, he rolled away in disgust of the smell. "Hmm… I should dump this properly… Meh~ I'll just do it here and make the shark go into a frenzie!"
Doing just that, the Joker dumped the contents of the bag into the water, causing the shark to hunger for food once it smelled the tainted blood in the water. Seeing the smiling predator go after Vanitas, who eventually rode on top of it, the Joker went towards his chair with his fishing pole attached and pressed a button. Rising up into the air, the demented clown laughed before looking up and realized that he was reaching the skylight too fast.
"Oh this is gonna hurt."
*CRASH*
The resounding crashes were heard, but it was hard to differentiate between them with the shark tank busting open once it's occupant broke right through it with Vanitas jumping off. As the water swept through the hallway, the other fights quickly ended as it's occupants were knocked over by the sudden wall of water. Though it drained rather quickly once the shark busted through the hallways door to the outside, falling into the ocean below to whence it came.
Shaking his head on from the sudden rush, Batman looked towards the side and saw Bullock coughing out water, possibly due to him swallowing a lot of it when the tank broke.
Coming up to the detective, Batman helped him up. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah. *Cough* *Cough* Just peachy." Replied the detective.
"And what about me?!" Vanitas spoke as he groggily got off of the floor. "I had to deal with the shark in there!"
"Seemed that you had it handled."
Sending a hidden glare at the detective, Vanitas looked upwards and saw the newly broken skylight with the high-rise chair right through it. "Seems the Joker went through there."
Turning his head towards the ceiling, Batman saw what Vanitas stated as he pulled out his grappling gun and fired at the broken skylight. Not wanting to be left behind, the masked publisher formed a dagger and threw it up high so he could teleport his way and not miss any of the coming action.
-On the Rooftop-
The sounds of laughter could be heard alongside the brewing storm, the Joker was stumbling in his step. Holding his head as massive pain rang right through it, due to crashing right through the skylight. Even with blood dripping coming from his scalp, the Joker still laughed off the pain.
The Joker stopped his movements as he felt someone behind him. Looking back, he saw the Batman there before being punched in the face. Falling onto the ground, the Joker pulled out his handgun and fired. Though these were blocked when Vanitas' ice shield appeared to stop the small pieces of led piercing the Bat.
"It's over Joker." Vanitas said as he dismissed his shield before he and Batman stalked the clown. "You're finished."
"You know, I believe I've said this before and yet I'll say it again. You've become quite a pain in my ass Vanitas."
Looking towards his side, the Joker saw a tool box as a small idea formed in his head. The clown grabbed ahold of it and tossed it at the two heroes, causing them to hold out their arms to block its contents. The Joker used this opportunity and grabbed a wrench lying on the ground and smacked the heroes over their heads in a quick succession. Even laughing as he saw Vanitas clutch his helmet in pain, due to the ringing echoing inside the form of protection.
"Meanwhile, back at the wrench!" Joker yelled out as he smacked Vanitas with the tool once again before turning his attention towards the Bat. "Since my side-splitters don't tickle you, how about a skull-splitter?!"
Just when the blow reached the Bat's head, said hero grasped the clown's impromptu weapon and twisted it. Both Batman and the Joker fought over the tool before the Bat won in the end by prying out of the clown's grasp. Seeing as he didn't have a good weapon on hand, Joker pulled out another gun and quickly fired it's rounds. One shot did land on the Bat's arm, but the rest weren't successful before a dagger came in contact with the criminal's hand.
"DAMMIT!" The Joker cried out as he held onto his bleeding hand once he dropped his gun. He glared at Vanitas before backing away from the heroes. The clown did stumble in his step once he reached the building's edge, causing him to look down to see the waves below.
"There's no place left to go Joker."
The clown merely growled in response as he was cornered by the two heroes. Glaring daggers at them for ruining his latest plan so far towards Gotham. But all of a sudden, the Joker chuckled and gave the two a shrug… before he turned around and jumped with his signature laugh.
The heroes rushed towards the edge and saw the deranged clown pull something from his waist. With his enhanced vision, Vanitas was able to make out what the Joker pulled out. Apparently it was an inflatable tube to help him stay afloat in the water.
"See Batsy! Vani! I think of everything!" The Joker yelled out as he kept on laughing. Though as he reached closer to the water, his laughter quickly died and birthed a scream of terror when he saw the aquarium's shark currently in the water.
And with his bleeding hand, he might just become dinner by the moment he contacted with the ocean below. In a resounding splash, the Joker's form was engulfed by the ocean's current while the shark went deeper into it's watery depths.
"So…" Vanitas briefly said as he and the Dark Knight kept their eyes towards the waters below. "Do you think he's gone for good?"
Batman merely shook his head as he gave his response. "Believe me Vanitas, I wish it were true, but deep inside, I doubt it."
"Yeah, I guess you're right. After all, I did throw him in one of the chemical tanks back at Ace Chemicals during his last breakout when he kidnapped Dr. Quinzel. And back then, I thought he wouldn't show his face again after that. And yet, he did today."
Batman let out a deep sigh, knowing that Vanitas backed up the claim. The Joker was always resilient and would show back up, despite the odd ways one would possibly die off from. But he will always come back when they'll least expect it.
"Come on Batsy, we need to get whatever of Joker's gang tied up for the police to arrive." The masked Uzumaki said as he walked back to the broken skylight. "And I doubt that Bullock would get the ones left behind tied up already."
As Vanitas left, Batman looked back towards the ocean and saw the shark from earlier jump out of the water one last time before going away.
-End Chapter-