Endless Epitaph

The Players : Lois and Clark
Where : Metropolis, KS
When : February 3rd, 2009
Rating : Its Clark.
Notes : A talk. Its needed right?

Clark was focused on the police blog as Lois was on the phone, but that didnt mean he couldn't hear what she was saying. He wasn't eavesdropping because he'd never use his powers like that. But on this end of the conversation the guy she met in Chicago was asking her to come back to help her with something.

And it involved the Joker. Which made him worry about Lois.

The last time she was in the vacinity of the Joker, Clark had to blur his way over to Chicago to save her. Odds are he'd have to do that again. He didnt want anything bad to happen to Lois. But her suddenly leaving put thier already delayed talk on hold.

They were supposed to meet the night before but Lois got called out on a story and Clark had to do some rescues. So, they both agreed to wait until after work tonight. But with her leaving, Clark decided to take some initiative. He still had no clue what he felt or was going to say. But he knew he wanted to talk to her before she left.

Clark gave her time to get home before going over to her place. He just hoped they could talk before she had to get to the airport.

Taking a deep breath Clark knocked on Lois' apartment door.

The Players : Xander
Where : Chicago, IL
When : February 3rd, 2009.
Rating : PG-13, but could go higher. Depends on what goes down.
Notes : Forget notes, just give me some cowbell.

The day started out fine.

Xander had a good breakfast, worked out for a bit. He was starting his new job at The Tool Box, a local hardware store and home decour place, in a few days.

After the death of his boss from the bar, it was closed by his family who had no interest in owning a bar. So he and his friends were out of a job. It was just as well, Xander mostly worked there for a lack of anything else available at the time.

But when he got home from the grocery store, that’s when things took a turn.

He placed the bags on the counter and turned the police scanner on, he often listened to it, just in case anything sounded supernatural.

Wished it were this time. But it wasn’t.

The scanner went off with a loud siren sound. And it only took one sentence to give him pause.

“Attention all units, attention all units. We have a 187 at Hailey’s Comics. Suspect is a male, green hair. Believed to be the Joker and his accomplice Harley Quinn. All units be advised…suspect is armed and very dangerous. Proceed with caution”

187…Xander raced through some of the police codes he had written down so he’d recogonize them. He stopped cold when he realized 187 was a murder.

“Alli…” Xander whispered to no one but with fear in his voice.

He dropped the eggs he had been holding to the ground as he raced out of the apartment and headed to the comic book shop. It was about a mile away from his place. No way would he get near that place fast with all the commotion that would be surrounding the place.

It took about ten minutes, but he got there. Crowds were gathered around the barricades trying to see what was going on. Whispering to each other what they heard.

( Read more... )

The Players : Harley Quinn (open)
Where : Metropolis, Kansas. Lois's apartment.
When : February 3rd, 2009.
Rating : PG13.
Notes : Harley hears that the Joker has a new playmate.


Harley sat inside Lois’s apartment and watched television. After getting back from her midnight visit to her mother and sister’s graves, Harley had thought long and hard about what she wanted to do with her life now. And… She was no closer to making a decision that she was when she started.
Days passed and life continued with Lois leaving to do her job and Harley was left behind in the apartment to think and regret.

She had committed crimes while with the Joker and even though she had been heavily drugged and programmed by him she couldn’t just so easily dismiss what she had done. She needed to pay for those crimes but how? Going back to Arkham would be a death sentence for her and even if she were to survive she would probably end up more insane than they already thought she was.

“They call themselves doctors in that place? How come not a single damn one ever noticed I had drugs in my system or recognize the signs of brain washing the Joker put me through?” Harley suddenly said out loud.

Getting up Harley started to pace. “I could go to prison for the crimes but then no one gets helped, I’m locked up for what I did but wasn’t really responsible for.”

Letting out a frustrated groan, Harley sunk to a chair in front of the T.V. “What I need is some way to make amends for what was done by me but things done when I was not in control.” Looking up at the ceiling Harley made a half hearted appeal to God. “How about some kind of sign on what I should do?”

Hearing no grand voice from above or seeing any of the plants in Lois’s apartment burst into flames, Harley sighed and turned her attention to the television.

“This just in from our Chicago affiliate. It would seem the clown menace of Gotham has decided to make the windy city his newest plaything along with his criminal sidekick of Harley Quinn. A series of brutal murders this last week was thought to be the work of the Joker as the victims were found with their faces twisted in a gruesome parody of a smile but police officials were not completely convinced.”

Harley winced remembering those people in the alley she had helped to kill before shaking her head violently. “I was under the Joker’s control. It wasn’t my fault… Entirely.”

Then came security footage from a museum showing the Joker not even attempting to hide his face. Eyewitness reports state that at that time his sidekick Harley Quinn had helped a newspaper reporter to escape from the Joker’s grasp.”

Harley smiled remembering that moment as being the beginning of her breaking the Joker’s control over her.

“But whatever change of heart the murderous partisan of the Joker had must have been short lived because we now have footage of a comic book store massacre that Harley Quinn participated in.”

Harley’s face turned white. She didn’t help kill anyone at a comic book store did she? Sure her memories were a little scattered from the drugs Joker had kept her on but Harley loved comic books, surely she would have remembered having been in one.

“Here is the footage from the security camera that was shot just last night. You can see Harley Quinn has modified her costume and makeup, perhaps in a badly conceived notion of throwing off the authorities? In any case you can clearly see the Joker taking from her several packages and thanking her for suggesting ways of killing innocent patrons of the store. The packages later exploded killing several emergency workers and firemen called to the scene…”

Harley feeling the intense need to throw up turned off the T.V. and stared at the now blank screen.

“That was not me!” She yelled at the off set. “Mr. J. replaced me so quickly?” Harley shook her head. “So not the point! The point is, I’ve stopped being his punching bag and crime accessory and I’m still getting blamed for it.” Harley’s face turned pure white as the implications of the newscast fully set in.

“It also means some poor probably innocent girl is being force feed drugs and brainwashing and is being molded into being the Joker’s newest plaything. I… I… Can’t let that happen. Not again, not to someone else.”

But what could she do? She couldn’t go to the police and tell that that. They would lock her up on sight.

Suddenly Harley remembered that the Joker had kept a ‘safe’ house in Metropolis. He kept such safe places to hide in many major cities in case things got too hot in Gotham and Harley just remembered where the one in Metropolis was located. There she could find some of her old costumes to wear when she confronted him and a cache of money she could use to get back to Chicago.

But first she would need to seek out some of Metropolis’s more criminal members and purchase one last thing. A high powered hand gun. Whatever it took Harley vowed to herself that she wouldn’t let another person suffer at the hands of the Joker like she had. It was time that the clown went down.

Harley paused as she started to rush out of Lois’s apartment and for a brief moment she thought about writing a letter to Lois explaining where she was going and what she had to do and how much Harley appreciated everything the woman reporter had done for her. But Harley knew the letter would be too much like a suicide note because Harley fully expected she probably wouldn’t survive her confrontation with the Joker, but as long as she stopped him permanently that was all that mattered.

“If I leave a letter Lois is bound to come after me to stop me, and I can’t have that.” Harley finally said out loud to herself. Walking to the door she turned to look back at the room. “So I guess this is goodbye. With luck you’ll think I just took off and won’t know where I went till everything is settled.” With a tear in her eye Harley told the empty room. “Goodbye L.L. You were the closest I ever had to having a best friend.”

Quietly Harley turned the knob that would lock the door behind her and leaving the apartment she shut the door.

The Players : Lois Lane & Clark Kent.
Where : The Daily Planet, Metropolis, Kansas.
When : February 2st, 2009.
Rating : PG13 – R just in case.
Notes : Oh look, Lois.

The bustle and noise around the Daily Planet barely registered with Lois as she sat staring at her computer, her morning coffee already cold and long forgotten. She had just finished working on a story about the most recent murder in Metropolis and it was a little worrying. After everything she’d found out in Chicago thanks to Xander, Lois was starting to look at all of the strange crimes in Metropolis with a new point of view. Just how many of them over the years were really solved and not some kind of cover up or undiscovered preternatural incident? Were the string of brutal hack and slashes she’d written over the past few months due to vampires or a demon? After all, not everything had to be done by human hands or a meteor infected psycho. How did a person manage to tell the difference in this day and age?

And where was the Blur? How did that murder get by him? Not that she saw him as some supreme omnipotent being, but he’d managed to save her in Chicago but couldn’t save a life in what seemed to be his base of operations? Too many questions and not enough answers.

She picked up her phone and checked her messages with a sigh. Things had been a little busy since returning to Metropolis but Lois was still insisting that Harley stay with her until they got her free of the Joker and hopefully any legal matters. She was already on the search for a lawyer who would be willing to work on their behalf. God knew who exactly she could trust for this kind of delicate matter, but she wanted all of her options covered.

Lois looked up from her phone as she sat it back down with a slight frown on her face as she heard the familiar squeak of the chair across from hers. She looked over at Clark doing whatever it was he was doing at his desk and resisted the urge to speak up about his squeaky chair again. Oh no, she wasn’t going to play that game today. She was still feeling snubbed and unimportant since coming back home and playing the banter game, which she’d normally enjoy, would just remind her about how up in the air things were. One of these days they were going to have to actually have ‘The Talk’, the question was, who would bring it up first?

Screw it. She was Lois Lane. She didn’t cower before a challenge. She charged head on into situations and this was no different. It couldn’t be, otherwise she’d turn into one of those pining romance heroines and Lois would rather die than let that happen. So she steeled herself for the ‘faceoff’ and stared straight at Clark. “So.. Clark." The fact she wasn't calling him Smallville was a hopefully an attention grabber. "We need to talk.”

Straight to the point? Blunt? Demanding? Eh, it would work.

The Players : Buffy Summers.
Where : Metropolis, Kansas.
When : February 2nd, 2009.
Rating : PG13 – R just in case.
Notes : I forgot to take notes! Can I borrow yours?

The afternoon was chilly but not uncomfortably so, or so Buffy told herself as she sat on the bench on the sidewalk. She was pretending to read a magazine while staking out the orphanage across the street. Dubbed St. Catherine’s, it was the closest orphanage to the last murder that matched the pattern Buffy was following. Unfortunately, her research had shown no sign of a Sister Margaret. But as her gaze stayed on the building, watching a couple of the nuns who were supervising the children in the playground, she could just sense something was off about the place.

She turned a page in her magazine to keep up with her facade and arched an eyebrow at its contents. It was an article about the most eligible bachelors in the business industry. It dawned on her that she hadn’t even noticed what magazine she’d bought until now. Was it Forbes or People? Did matter anymore? She shook her head until she skimmed the article, noticing that Oliver Queen had made the list. Was it a reminder by someone that she should call him? Sure, there were reasons why she shouldn’t, but they were actually fewer than she realized. And considering who he was, maybe he’d be willing to help her. She thought about asking him to offer a donation to the orphanage and then take a look at the facilities, only she could tag along... But while it sounded good it also sounded like some kind of convoluted excuse to get together. She didn’t want to seem like some kind of pushy crazy woman. Besides, he was the one to ask her for her number, right? There was also the fact that she’d probably have to explain why exactly she wanted to get inside without arousing suspicion, which would mean explaining her hunt. It was one thing to talk about vampires when you have evidence right in front of you. Despite his weird desire to carry a mini crossbow, which she currently had on her (as well as a Mr. Pointy and a seventeen inch dagger hidden under her black woolen pea coat), she wasn’t sure he’d believe a nun using magic or something to kill people for the happiness of orphans. Hell, it sounded a little crazy to her and this was her life!

Buffy groaned and rolled her eyes. She was putting too much thought into this. She should just go inside, follow the slayer sense, slay, and run. But the nun was likely human which put the kibosh on slaying. She supposed she could call in Riley to arrest the woman or even offer her up to the council for lock up, but neither was a guarantee of containment until she understood exactly how Margaret was working her mojo. With a sigh, Buffy realized that this was probably going to be a long afternoon…

( Wait, there's more? Yes there is. )

The Players : Buffy Summers, Clark Kent, Harley Quinn. (Open for anyone in the area!)
Where : An alley close to ISIS in Metropolis, Kansas.
When : January 31, 2009.
Rating : PG13 – R for language maybe.
Notes : Buffy is in Metropolis! Yay?

She shivered as the damp moisture in the winter air attacked her senses. She’d been waiting for over an hour now for her dealer and she hadn’t even gotten a text from the bastard. She hated winter. It was too damn cold and in the Midwest it was too unpredictable. Yet here she was in some alley waiting to get her fix. The things she’d do to make her troubles go away... to not have to think or face life… She told herself it was worth it, but in a saner and calmer state she’d know she was lying. She checked her watch again. It was only eight pm, but the darkness around her was already getting to her. She pulled her coat tighter around her and looked upward as she fidgeted impatiently. Because of the cold rain as of late, everything seemed to be coated with a light frost, even the glowing lights from the ISIS sign on the nearby building. She snorted at that. What kind of place was it anyway? It sounded like some sort of cosmetics company.

With a shaking hand, she managed to pull out a cigarette from her purse. As she searched the junk filled purse for her lighter she missed the sound of heels on the pavement. Just as she pulled the lighter out in triumph a card fell to the ground in front of her. She frowned as looked around to see where it came from. All she could see was a hooded figure in the shadows. She knelt down to pick up the card. “I think you dropped this.”

The figure didn’t move. If the person wanted to be a dick that was their problem. She decided to turn the black card over to see what it was. Blue eyes stared at hers from the card and the last thing she saw as pain filled her senses was that her shadow had fantastic shoes.

*************

Buffy had a headache. Who knew there were a dozen orphanages in Metropolis? She’d gone to four of them today and had found no Sister Margaret or any other new arrivals. She knew the woman was here, she’d managed to trace her to the city through a great many annoyances, such as actually interrogating people in that polite kind of way. But despite her efforts since arriving in Metropolis, the only things of value she had to show for her work was a new hand held custom made crossbow and Oliver Queen’s number. Which most certainly was unexpected but not in the least unwanted.

The slayer was taking a walk down the street from a coffee house she’d just been at and saw the familiar scene of a crowd and flashing police lights. Curious, Buffy worked her way through the gathering crowd of people behind the police blockade that was being set up. There were people standing about trying to get their questions answered and many of them snapping photos, no doubt to post on a blog or similar. Buffy, who was having trouble seeing over some of the taller people around her, finally spotted what the fuss was about. There was body in the alley covered by a sheet as the CSI team took in the crime scene. She snuck past the crowd and managed to find a secluded spot close enough to the alley to overhear what the cops were saying.

“What the hell could have done this?” One of the cops questioned as he stared at the sheet covered body.

His partner shook his head and chewed on a toothpick. “Beats the hell out of me. Her face was gone. Maybe it was one of those meteor freaks.”

“What about that butcher we’ve been trying to catch?”

“Couldn’t be, that guy always leaves a fucking mess. There’s no blood here.”

“So where the hell did it go?”

Buffy inwardly groaned. This was definitely her nun, already in the kill zone again. Any doubt that she’d had about not being in the right locale was nullified when it appeared that the victim matched the M.O from those in Des Moines. She slipped back into the shadows and onto the street again, allowing herself to get lost in the growing crowd of bystanders and gawkers. She looked around and started to make notes about the street she was on. What businesses, etc. Maybe there was a link to her killer around here. She’d have to look into it in the morning.

In the meantime, she was off to do slayer patrol. She’d discovered that there were vampires stupid enough to be in a city with superheroes. After her cruise through the cemeteries she planned on checking out one of the demon bars rumored to be in a place called Suicide Slums. That certainly sounded like a cheery kind of place to go…

The Players : Harley Quinn and Harley Quinn (open)
Where : Metropolis, Kansas.
When : January 30, 2009.
Rating : PG13 – R for language.
Notes : Lois leaves Harley alone in her apartment as she goes into work.



Harley relaxed as much as she could being alone in Lois's apartment. I mean she knew Lois had a life and had to get back to it sooner or later, she couldn't babysit her forever and she appreciated the fact that Lois was showing so much trust in her by leaving her unsupervised in her personal space. The only thing Lois had made her promise was that she wouldn't leave the apartment or call anyone. Lois assured her that she would have taken Harley with her but she was too well known and someone at the paper might recognize her.
Reasonable precautions and Harley fully understood them.

It was just.... Harley was still having strange mental lapses where she would see herself in her mind, in her old costume, extolling the virtues of being the Joker's punching bag. She kept that fact from Lois. Especially after Lois expressed worry about it. The drugs and conditioning that the Joker had put her through was Harley's problem and she didn't want to worry Lois about any more than she already was.


"Gee though, I really hate having no one to talk to." Harley muttered to herself.

Hearing a noise Harley watched with wide eyes as Lois bedroom door opened and Harley saw herself dressed in her old costume come out of there.

"Well you can always talk to me sweety." The costume Harley purred at her. "I can tell you more reasons on why you should go back to Mr. J."

The Harley wearing casual clothing slammed her eyes shut and started repeating over and over as a mantra. "Its just a hallucination caused by that crap the Joker gave me!"

"Oh come on." Costumed Harley said sitting down next to her on the couch. "You know the only real friend you'll ever have was Mr. J. He understands us."

"Me." casual Harley growled. "There is no us. There is just me. A mixed up, mind screwed me but just me."

"Whatever." Costume Harley laughed at her. "You aren't going to escape from me, us. I will always be here. In the back of your mind pointing out why we belong to Mr. J."

Casual Harley pulled into a fetal position on the couch and whimpered.

The Players : Lois Lane, Harley Quinn, Clark Kent...
Where : Metropolis, Kansas.
When : January 29, 2009.
Rating : PG13 – R for language.
Notes : Lois has been on a train with Harley Quinn for ten hours... and those hours may remain a mystery. HA.

It was wet and rainy morning in Metropolis. The heavy rain was only matched by the bitter cold that came with it and the mood of one Lois Lane. Lois sat on a bench as she tried to wake herself up with a second cup of coffee. She was extremely cranky and unhappy… Though it was surprisingly not caused by a ten hour train ride with one Harley Quinn. No, her mood was caused by the absentee known as Clark Kent. Before they’d boarded the train, she’d texted him and gotten his confirmation that he’d pick them up. Of course, they’d been waiting for a half hour now.

Lois grunted from behind her drink. It figured she couldn’t rely on Clark to follow through. It was as if everything just started to fall apart around the time of Chloe’s wedding. Before then, everyone had been fine. But what should have been a happy time just seemed to be the final warning signal that it was time to take that ride to hell in a hand basket.

She cast a look at Harley who was exploring their little niche in the station with wide eyes, much like a tourist. She’d woken Lois up from her nap when they’d almost hit Metropolis. She’d pointed out some of the landmarks and asked questions about some of the newer buildings she didn’t recognize, all while commenting that the city was still brighter than Gotham. Lois sighed and grabbed her bag and stood up from her seat. “Smallville is obviously going to be a no show.” She tried not to sound as disappointed as she suddenly felt. “We’d better go fetch a cab.”

Lois tried to ignore that sinking sensation she felt when she gave up on Clark as she waited for Harley to join her in the trek to the station exit. She hated that even despite her common sense to the situation, she wanted to trust him and give him the benefit of the doubt. And when her doubt was proven, she somehow still felt bad about it, as if it was something she had done. How the hell did he manage to do that to her?

She shook those thoughts off as best she could. They had to get to her apartment and then she’d deal with Clark and whatever he may have found. At least she could count on him for anything that didn’t concern her specifically. Maybe it was just a sign of how things should work…

The Players : Chloe; somewhat opened to other SV characters and stuff. See note below.
Where : Chloe's apartment above the Talon
When : Um... In the middle of the day? Nothing specific here.
Rating : PG-13, at most.
Notes : I guess this is really meant to be a narrative, but I thought it might be kind of neat if she checked her answering machine and has messages from her friends or something, wondering if her and Jimmy are okay. So... feel free to comment to this post with a message from your kid to Chloe. :)


( After at least a few weeks, Chloe Sullivan-Olsen was finally home. )

Who: Clark Kent
Where: Metropolis, Kansas
When: January 27th 2009
What: Clark is investigating something for Lois.
Rating: Dude, its Clark…PG at worst
Notes: Takes place seconds after his conversation with Harley.


Clark rubbed the bridge of his nose. If it were possible, he’d have a huge headache right now.

“Damnit Lois, what have you gotten yourself into,” he asked himself aloud.

Clark read the article; she had met The Joker and somehow lived to tell the tale. They got wind of some of the stories from Gotham City. The Joker was a dangerous homicidal maniac with a love for the theatrics.

And now, he had his sights set on Lois. And Clark couldn’t be there to protect her. Lois knew that he was here in Metropolis. If he showed up all of a sudden she’d get suspicious.

Sometimes he really wished he could tell her his secret. It would be easier. But he couldn’t. He didn’t want to put her in more danger than she already managed to get herself in.

He’d have to worry about that later. Right now, he had a promise to keep. He told Lois he’d check out that old murder scene. He picked up the piece of paper he wrote the address on and headed for the elevator while making a phone call.

“Detective John Jones.”

“John. It’s Clark.”

“Mr. Kent,” he replied. “Good to hear from you. Been a while.”

“Yeah, been kind of busy.”

“So I’ve been reading. I will say this, you have gotten more careful with your rescues.”

“Just taking some advice from a friend…look the reason I’m calling…I need a favor.”

“And this favor…”

“I need some police records of a murder a couple of months ago. I’m working on something for a friend. Could use some inside information to help with the story.”

“Two month old murders aren’t exactly what make The Daily Planet sell Mr. Kent…but I think I can make some calls and get that information to you.”

“Thanks,” Clark replied.

“I’ll have it ready for you tonight. Roof of the Daily Planet.”

Clark hung up and went to the address. It had been a couple of months so the police tape was down. But was still officially a crime scene.

He checked the door and it was locked. He glanced around to make sure he was in the clear and he gave it a small nudge popping the door open.

He’d have to wait for the file from John to get the view of the original scene. But Clark could see things that they probably missed.

“Okay, I’m not exactly sure what she expects me to find,” he said looking around.

The faded outlines of where the bodies were could still be seen, in a small flash he could almost see what happened.

“Guy came in from here,” he said pointing to the front of the room. “They were there.”

He didn’t see any bullet holes. He x-rayed the floors and didn’t find anything. Then out of the corner of his eye he saw something. He had to look twice to make sure he saw what he saw.

Clark moved towards the wall and felt it. There was a tiny, paper thin cut inside the wall. He stepped back and x-rayed the wall. When he did he saw exactly what he needed. Clark punched through the wall and grabbed the object that was embedded inside.

He carefully pulled it out. It looked like a card, but it was tougher than paper. It was almost metallic.

“Joker card. This was what he used to kill this family.”

Lois was not going to be happy when she heard this. Though whatever keeps them from having to talk about what happened or what almost didn’t happen…the better. It was one conversation he wasn’t looking forward to because he still didn’t know what to say to her.

That night Clark waited for John Jones on the roof of the Planet.

“I hope you know the trouble I went through to get this for you,” He said as he opened the door and walked towards him. “Tell Miss Lane…to be very careful. She’s dealing with an unstable character. The more she pokes, the angrier he’ll get. It’s bad enough that her recent article most likely put her in his crosshairs.”

“She’ll be back soon. Then I can keep a closer eye on her.”

“Right,” John said with a small smile. “Just be cautious in the days ahead Clark.”

He nodded as John handed him the file.

“Everything you need to know about that night is in that file. Everything except the murder weapon. Officers on scene think it was a blade of some sort.”

“It was,” Clark said as reached into his pocket. “I found this in the wall. It’s a Joker Card. Only its hard…like a sharp blade.”

“Removing evidence from a crime scene now are we?”

“Cops can’t know about this. Not yet. If word gets out the Joker killed this family, it won’t be good for anyone. Lois or the person she’s trying to protect. Promise me, we’ll keep this quiet.”

“Understood Mr. Kent. Same with this file. Because if anyone found out you were withholding evidence and I was giving inside information to a reporter of the Daily Planet…well lets just say you’d have to move to your fortress to stay out of the tornado that would come our way.”

“Understood.”

John left him alone on the rooftop. Clark turned out towards the city hearing sirens in the distance.

“We have a robbery in progress, subjects are on the move.”

In a blur, Clark put his file in his drawer and went out to help the city once again as the red-blue blur.