Who: OPEN TO GOTHAMITES Where: Gotham City. When: June 25, 2010 Summary: The Joker leaves a message for Red Hood.
Gotham City Megaplex was a high traffic movie theater perfectly suited for his message. The fact it was attached to one of the metropolis' largest malls was simply icing on the cake. The heat of long summer days drove hoards of people to the movies in the hopes of cooling off. Teenagers that were old enough to be out on their own but too young to drive themselves ran around in front of the theater, goofing off with their friends. Some drew mustaches on cardboard movie displays while others took pictures with cuts out of their favorite movie characters. One of these movie displays drew odd looks from everyone that passed. A large present wrapped in green and purple paper was reminiscent of winter holidays. A hand crank dangled off to one side, begging to be turned.
"C'mon Johnny! Try it!" Teens pressured their friend who edged himself closer to the box.
"Yeah, don't be a chicken!" They continued to press as he seemed reluctant to break any rules. Their teasing finally won out and Johnny cranked the arm. A cheerful melody played from the interior of the box as the teenager continued to wind up. When the arm reached its limit the lid exploded from the top of box in a burst of green, noxious gas. The teenaged Johnny stumbled out of the cloud and collapsed to the ground. He didn't move for some time and when he did his body convulsed with laughter.
Screams and the panicked sounds of humans running for their life filled the courtyard. Prerecorded laughter played from the interior of the box. A corpse hung from the end of a giant spring and danced back and forth as the spring jerked around. The dead body was dressed in a black suit and red cape. The head was concealed beneath a large red dome that clamped around the dead man's neck. Removal of the mask would revealed the tell tale signs of a toxic dose of Joker Venom. A joker card was pinned to the lapel, a note scrawled across the card's face. "Will the real hood come out to play?"