InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "These Things Take Time."

The Joker (dogchasingcars) wrote in utr_logs,
@ 2008-08-03 22:36:00

Entry tags:

belladonna rogan, carrie kelley, dick grayson, remy lebeau, the joker

Who: The Joker and Remy
What: Sacrificial lamb collection day.
When: Monday at one
Where: A busy street in New York

The snipers did their job and they did it well.

God knew how they saw through those rubber masks, but their aim was true. Two bullets went through the head and chest of a man driving down a busy street in downtown New York. His car careened into another, slamming the second vehicle into a light post. Other cars began swerving to avoid the crash, and people ran screaming out of the way as cars went up onto sidewalks and flew through crosswalks.

It was at this moment that the men on the ground executed their part in this whole beautifully orchestrated catastrophe. Two of them grabbed Remy from behind and dragged him through a short alley to the other side of the block. Then he was tossed into the back of a delivery van that read 'JOHNNY'S BEST CAJUN CONFECTIONS' on the side in faded red letters. The door shut and the van drove off, away from the crash area and deep into the city.

The Joker peeked over his shoulder from where he was sitting in the driver's seat. "Hi there!" he cheerfully called back as the tires squealed and the van careened around a corner at several times the speed limit. "I hope you like the van. I thought it might make you feel a little more at home."

(Read comments) - (Post a new comment)

dogchasingcars
2008-08-06 12:42 pm UTC (link)

The Joker did not like being interrupted. Sure, Remy had pretty much passed out and wasn't going to be any fun for a while, but he'd been busy staring at his battered, bleeding body, waiting to see if his tongue grew back. It had grown back for the most part, but was still missing a piece. He willed it to finish so he could cut it off again and feel like he was doing a complete job.

Then--noises. Crates being knocked over. He looked sharply out the window of the small room that looked out onto the main warehouse floor. It looked like his visitors had arrived, and some of them were on the catwalk.

He picked up his coat and shrugged it back on, pocketing his knife and walking out of the room and onto the warehouse floor. He took a semi-automatic from the hands of one of his guards on the way. "GENTLEMEN, GENTLEMEN. WE MUST STOP THIS POINTLESS CONFLICT."

He was grinning. This was the part he'd been looking forward to.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

gothamboy
2008-08-06 03:39 pm UTC (link)

Batman hadn't liked the idea of Nightwing and Robin coming along, but Nightwing had insisted. He was the one with the address, and Robin was his partner as much as she was Batman's. He'd put his foot down as far as the younger Robin went, though; he was a few blocks away, waiting for a call for backup that would probably never come.

Sneaking inside probably wouldn't have been the least bit difficult if the Joker hadn't had a hostage. The three of them could have taken out all the idiots suicidal enough to work for Joker without being noticed. But the point was to be noticed, so Nightwing was the first to drop in the middle of a small group and say, "Hi," before knocking them all out.

They hadn't raised an alarm. Damn. Nightwing sighed. "IT'S THE BATS!" he shouted in his best surprised guard voice. "GET 'EM!"

Robin soon joined him, but Batman remained in the shadows.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

girlwonder
2008-08-06 04:08 pm UTC (link)

In spite of her fear of the Joker, Carrie had insisted on coming. Not only for Jason and Cass, but for herself. She'd wanted to do this. So she reminded herself of this fact as Nightwing took a flying leap and jumped into the middle of some thugs. There wasn't anything about this operation that wasn't like any other bust. Except for the crazed clown on the loose who was hungry for their blood.

Carrie had memories of the Joker. The only time she'd dealt with him in her world, he'd killed some of her friends, along with dozens of innocent kids. He'd died at Batman's hands at the end of that day, much to Carrie's relief. In the deeper recesses of her consciousness were memories that didn't quite belong to her. Memories of murder done by a Joker copycat and torture, at his hands.

Carrie took a very deep breath and smoothed out her cape before dropping her hands to her side. She could freak out later, when they were all safe.

At the sound of Dick's voice, Carrie had jumped down from her spot in the rafters and landed on a thug. They were here to distract, so Carrie knocked hard into the solar plexus of another thug and sent him flying backwards into a pile of crates. She found quickly that the guys the Joker worked with weren't terribly bright. Aware of Dick beside her and Batman somewhere above them, Carrie smashed the heel of her foot into one thug's kneecap, and looked around for the man of the hour.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

dogchasingcars
2008-08-06 04:39 pm UTC (link)

The Joker walked toward the melee, which he could see through the mountains of boxes. Good. Alright, so this was working out.

He pulled a small, black, pear-shaped object out of his pocket and threw it over the crates. He waited until he heard the pinging sound of the metal sphere hitting the floor.

It bounced twice and then rolled to a stop. It was a grenade, with a smiley face painted on the front. It also ticked merrily away before buzzing to indicate it was done playing around.

The grenade wasn't too powerful, but the point here wasn't to blow the bats away. The blast went off, rocking a pile of crates which then tumbled to the ground one after another. Several hit The Joker's henchmen, crushing them instantly. Wood splintered and cracked for what seemed like hours. When the dust settled, things were eerily quiet.

The Joker stepped out from behind his hiding spot, taking stock of how many had survived the falling boxes. He waved merrily with the semi-automatic in the general direction of the Bats. "Hi," he said cheerfully. He stood, his head keened slightly to the side, his shoulders hunched. He was still grinning, still deathly pleased they'd shown up so promptly.

He held the gun out, his aim swinging from one bat to another. "Bats, bats, bats everywhere. I have an infestation! Ought to call the exterminator. Oh, wait. That's my job."

He glanced up a Batman, peering through the shadows at him. "What, you suddenly decide I'm too tough for one Bat? Don't mind my blush."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

gothamboy
2008-08-06 05:32 pm UTC (link)

Nightwing wasn't that afraid to have the gun pointed at him, but the trick was not to step in front of Robin, tempting as it was. She was capable, he reminded himself. She was brave. And more importantly, if the Joker had the slightest inkling what she meant to him and Batman, she'd be the first one to go down.

"Infestation?" said Nightwing in mock confusion. "I don't see any kind of infest--oh, you mean us. It was a joke. Nice joke, a bit high concept, took me a minute to get. They can't all be hits." He waited until the Joker was pointing the gun at him before he threw his escrima stick hard and fast enough to hit the Joker's hand. The gun went off, hitting Nightwing with a glancing blow in the shoulder; fortunately, he was mostly bullet resistant. It would leave a big bruise, but it knocked the gun away. Nightwing took advantage of it to rush towards him. "You've been here maybe a week, but you have grenades? Paint? Guns? Idiots working for you? I guess my question is--" and here he scooped up the fallen gun, threw out the ammo, and threw the gun itself at one of the mooks. "--where do you get all these lovely toys?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

girlwonder
2008-08-06 08:15 pm UTC (link)

The gun had gone off and the little hairs on the back of Carrie's neck stood on end. It wasn't the fear of being shot, though that was there behind all the adrenaline. It was more the worry of her husband being severely injured. Jason and Cass were already in the hospital. The last thing Carrie wanted was for Dick to join them. But she didn't react. Not like she wanted to. As the shot went off and Dick made a run for the Joker, Carrie's hand balled into a tight fist. She slammed into the nearest thug and swooped down for a solid chunk of pointy wood in one swift movement.

There was a guy with a gun. A few guys with guns, actually, and Carrie figured that if she couldn't be taking on the Joker, she might as well disarm his more capable henchmen. Carrie brought down the wood onto one guy's wrist. The gun he'd been holding went off but didn't hit anything but floor. It took a few seconds to knock him out and kick the gun away. She heard more shots going off not too far from her and ducked out of the way. "What?" She shouted from behind a half broken box, "Is the bright yellow cape and fire engine red vest not a big enough target for you guys? Lamest henchmen ever." There was a lull in the shooting as the guys reloaded. Carrie took this as an opportunity to move from her hiding spot. She threw the wood chunk at the nearest of the men and almost smiled when it hit. He had a huge splinter suddenly stuck in his shoulder. His gun was forgotten.

A bullet whizzed by her face, missing her narrowly, and Carrie glared. She took her line gun from her belt and shot it up into the rafters. "Missed me," she said as she swung into the thug and sent him tumbling.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

dogchasingcars
2008-08-06 11:50 pm UTC (link)

The Joker took a few light, skipping steps back, staying just out of Nightwing's range. He didn't move nearly as fast, but the rush was so direct, that he managed to swing out of the way. His hand hurt like a bitch, but he chose not to dwell on it. No, crying over spilled blood never got anybody anywhere.

"What can I say?" he asked, his smile feral. "I've got a natural...charisma. Things that I like just come to me naturally."

He had both hands balled into fists, despite how painful it was to pull his bruised fingers together on the right. In the left, hidden inside the fist, he held a switchblade, shut for now.

Alright, so he'd lost his gun. But there were plenty more lying around with the dead henchmen littering the ground. It was like a free gun festival down on the floor! If he could just reach one.

He figured it was worth a shot, and darted behind a mostly-intact box. There was a thug there, broken and bleeding from a blow to the head. He took his gun, and whirled to face where Nightwing should be, gun leveled.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

gothamboy
2008-08-07 12:10 am UTC (link)

The Joker spun, gun in hand, and Nightwing wasn't there. Never had the ability to disappear in the middle of a conversation been so useful. Nightwing had been expecting the Joker from his youth; dangerous mastermind from afar, moron with a glass jaw up close. This one was wild. Ha. Joker's Wild. He should get used to that joke, he was probably going to hear it again at some point.

The way the boxes had fallen (admittedly, mostly into shrapnel and ash) gave Carrie some cover as long as the Joker didn't move too far away from the area. Nightwing slipped silently through the darkness until he was just behind the Joker and dropped down, dodging the bullets before they even came. "Aren't you supposed to tell me your grand scheme? Torturing a Cajun and blowing up a mostly empty building isn't up to your usual style, Joker." He said this both to get his attention and to make sure Robin and Batman knew he was all right.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

girlwonder
2008-08-07 12:34 am UTC (link)

Okay. Keeping guns away from the bad guy was probably a good thing. Carrie kicked herself as she dodged a fist. It was a good thing Dick was fast and experienced. If anything had happened to him because Carrie had been careless, she wouldn't have forgiven herself. The next weapons she took away would be thrown as far away as possible. As this thought crossed her mind, she kicked a gun that had been idly sitting on the floor far into a corner.

The thugs were beginning to dwindle in number. The Joker had taken care of some, Dick and Carrie had handled a few, Carrie was certain Batman was dispatching a few that were hiding out in shadowy corners, and a few of the brighter ones were smart enough to start fleeing after realizing that they were fighting a losing battle.

Three ganged up on Carrie and, a little distracted because she was trying to keep an eye on what was going on between the Joker and Dick, she got caught in one's grasp. She felt herself being tugged and realized she would be in a spot if she didn't move quickly. Between the three of them, there (thankfully) wasn't much in the way of weaponry. One had a long piece of splintered wood. The other had his fists. Carrie could have wrenched herself out of the one thug's grasp, but realized she was going to be hit no matter what. Wood came down on her shoulder hard and she grunted. But the one who held her didn't have her legs, which was good. Carrie kicked the idiot with the stick, a hard strike to the throat. He went down quickly. Her heel then connected to the knee of the guy who'd been holding her. His grip loosened and that was enough for her to get herself free.

Carrie took a hit to her center, but didn't stumble. She reminded herself that she could handle this, that it was just like any other night out on the town. And then she kicked and punched until the two were down. "Stay," she said, pointing down at them as though they were two bad dogs. "I'm okay," she said, in case Bruce or Dick couldn't see. And then there was the sound of a shot and Carrie ducked. "Still okay!" She shouted from behind some cover.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

dogchasingcars
2008-08-07 11:52 am UTC (link)

He fired twice but didn't hit once, which was less disconcerting than it was irritating. "Dunno," he said, shrugging, his greasy hair swinging. "You seem to know me and my style so well. What do you think?" He sighed and rolled his eyes. "I admit, I always have been a great lover of a very certain kind of attention," he said, smiling and self-deprecating in his tone. "But this really takes the cake. Three of you at once? You know, I never forget a face."

He heard Carrie shouting from a little ways away and grinned. "Enough hints. If you have to explain the joke, the joke isn't funny!" He fired in Carrie's direction, emptying what remained of the ammo in the gun--six rounds, rapid fire.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

gothamboy
2008-08-08 12:32 am UTC (link)

"I think you could use a shower, but that's me. And what makes you think there's three of us?" His cocky persona faded, however, when the Joker started firing in Carrie's direction. It took everything he had not to abandon the plan and just jump out and beat the Joker to death. He could only imagine how it felt to Batman hiding in the shadows.

Nightwing heard Robin breathing through the receiver in his ear, so she didn't seem to be injured. Despite this, Nightwing hissed, "Stay down, trust me," and then took a deep breath. "NO!" he screamed for the Joker's benefit, leaping out of his hiding place and taking a swing. He didn't have the glass jaw of the Joker of back home, unfortunately; this one only laughed.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

girlwonder
2008-08-08 12:38 pm UTC (link)

Carrie was fortunate. There was so much litter on the floor that as soon as the Joker's gun had gone off, all she had to do was scramble behind a box or a body. "Missed me, asshole," she whispered in a low growl that was too quiet for anyone but her partners to hear.

On any other bust, Carrie wouldn't have listened. Her temper was too short and she didn't like hiding while the hero took care of the bad. The Joker had done too much; she didn't want to just sit around and let Bruce and Dick get in some punches while she played dead. Carrie inhaled deeply and gripped the edge of a box, ready to pull herself up and sprint toward the Joker.

"Stay down, Robin." Batman's voice was in Carrie's ear. She glanced up suddenly, looking around for him but not spotting him in the shadows. Her eyes were narrowed, and it looked as though she was about to fight. And then, just as suddenly as her annoyance came, it went.

"Fine," she whispered back sullenly, keeping her focus on Nightwing and the Joker but standing her ground. Carrie would play the lookout and wait until someone called her in, which she knew was unlikely.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

dogchasingcars
2008-08-08 05:21 pm UTC (link)

The Joker did take a hit this time. He dropped his gun--useless now anyway--and fell a few steps back with the punch. No point in trying to talk it out now. "You people," he said, shaking his head and rolling his aching jaw. "You people and your violent tendencies." Without warning he threw himself forward, flicking open the knife he'd held hidden in his left hand. He stabbed up, aiming to slide the blade into Nightwing's ribcage if he could manage it. That was why it was his favorite knife--small enough to conceal, long enough to get straight to the heart.

It had been fun and all, but he was getting kind of bored of the whole thing. If the kid was planning on taking him down, he should have moved sooner, when he was less inclined to use lethal force. Oh well.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

gothamboy
2008-08-08 07:59 pm UTC (link)

"Get the door," Nightwing hissed to Robin before taking a knife to the chest.

Whether through skill or circumstance, the Joker's knife hit Nightwing in a seam on his costume. Nightwing rolled away, feeling the sharp pain of the cut (deep enough to bleed, not deep enough to bleed much), but still too heady with adrenaline to really register as it should have. "You're not toying with me?" Nightwing asked, a dark grin on his face. He flipped backwards, taking what Carrie called "the Nightwing pose" by crouching on a box.

"You think the most important thing we're doing is walking away with you? Here's a joke for you. What do you call three bats who get lost in a clown's house?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

girlwonder
2008-08-08 11:38 pm UTC (link)

They'd given Remy and his rescuers enough time to leave the premises. Nightwing's words in her ears had Carrie casting one last nervous glance in his direction before taking off. It was probably a very good thing she hadn't seen Nightwing get knifed. Something like that would have had her abandoning the plan.

Speed was one of Carrie's few strong points and as she ran down the floor, she seemed to fly. Before they could finish this and take The Joker in, they had to be sure that there weren't any explosives rigged to the building. This was Carrie's job. The Joker hadn't been subtle and he loved leaving surprises for his enemies. But there were no jack-in-the-boxes here, no colorful boxes of dynamite, no bright toys that were attached to detonators. Carrie checked the room in which Remy'd been held. It was clean. "We're good," Carrie murmured. She imagined Batman was getting himself ready for some fun.

Hearing Dick's question in her ear, Carrie grinned a bit. She headed back to the floor, trying to hold her arm steady, as it was beginning to ache. With an elegant jump she landed on one of the boxes, making her presence known to all the men. "You give up?" She looked at the Joker, swallowing fear and trying her best to look impish. Without pausing to let him speak, she said, "A distraction, asshole."

(Reply to this) (Parent)

(Read comments) -