Batista stood up from his crouch, whistled and placed his hat back on. The drop, drop, drop of blood was constant, eventually it would run out, but the pattern...
"Christ, is this city ever going to catch a break?" Batista, grabbed and sipped his coffee.
"Well, we've ID'd the corpses." Deb made a motion to the three skinless bodies hanging upside down, tied to the basketball hoop with missing laces. The red, glistening corpses swayed almost imperceptibly. Miami heat was cooking the exposed muscles and nerves and the amount of bugs was staggering. They'd have to be cut down soon.
"Geoffrey Ortega, Paul Raddisson and Nicki "The Shark" Alvarez." Deb continued, holding a hand to her mouth and nose. Small time hoods. I'd heard of Nicki before. Two suspected murder cases that he managed to get off of. He had done them, killed that old man and the woman. He was next on my list, but someone...something, beat me to him.
"Christ, Dexter, close your mouth before the flies get in there." Masuka nudged me and broke me from my thought.
"Right. It looks like the victims were skinned with some sort of hunting knife. Done expertly. They were probably still screaming when the knife slid-" I began, but Deb choked, stopping me.
"I'll wait for the report, Dex, but I need to get some air." Deb left and after a shrug Masuka followed. Batista sidled up close to me.
"What kind of monster would do this, Dex? Sure these punks may have had it coming but..." He wiped sweat away from his brow.
I know exactly what kind of monster would do this. My new friend. I tried not to smile, but the edges of my lips turned up anyway. A whole new game had begun and it was going to be out of this world.
*** Travel to a strange, new Gotham after the jump! ***
An alternate universe where the Joker is a superhero and Batman is a super villain. [prompt by by Tyranid457]
*** Travel to a strange, new Gotham after the jump! ***
An alternate universe where the Joker is a superhero and Batman is a super villain. [prompt by by Tyranid457]
The alley smelled like someone had poured a vat of piss and alcohol everywhere. My parents wanted me to leave. 'Go to Central City or Keystone! Get out of Gotham'. I had to say no. Had to think I could change this place, make it better. I've always been one of those girls.
'I see how broken he is, but I can fix him, make him better' kind of girl.
The goon holding me by the shoulder, leered at me. He smelled like sweat and rancid Chinese food. His other hand put pressure on the knife tip against my stomach. I could feel my scrubs tear and the cold point already stinging my skin. I refused to scream, but my face was showing it. The thug was nearly drooling.
"How much longer, boss?" He asked a corner of the alley I couldn't see. Somewhere the streetlights had burned out leaving only a wound of shadow. The goon moved the knife just a bit and scraped my skin. I tried not, but I whimpered.
"Not much now." A voice from that maw of darkness answered. It was cold, gravely and dead. "He'll show, just make sure she screams."
The knife pressed against my side and then into it. I screamed and the goon leaned forward, putting more pressure on me making sure I couldn't struggle away.
"Does that hurt, sweetums? It's nothing compared to what I'm going to do-" There was a crack like thunder and the sweaty gorilla spun, cradling a destroyed ear. I slid against the wall, applying pressure on the puncture in my side.
"Aw! My ear! You piece of-" Another figure was in the alley, and in the time it took for me to hit the ground he was already by the cursing goon.
"I'm going to kill you!" He slashed the knife and the other figure swung out...with a fish? The wet slap of scales on skin stunned the thug and he took a step back.
"This place reeks. Here, let's add a little potpourri." The flower on the purple vest of this new figure sprayed a yellow mist. The thug tried to cover his face, tried not to inhale but it was too late.
"What've you-ha...done to me you fuc..haha...HAHAHAHA" The thug's face became a rictus grin and he toppled over giggling to himself.
"That's it. A good chuckle never hurt no one." The new comer stood beneath a street light and I saw him clearly. The Joker. Gotham's own vigilante. No one knew where he came from, but some people thought he was a victim of the ACE Chemical factory fire. A fire caused by-
"You're pathetic, Joker. It's too easy to draw you out." The Batman strode from darkness. The devil incarnate. For five years The Batman has terrorized Gotham. Murdered the head of each crime family and replaced them, creating a unified criminal empire. He owned the streets, the police and most of the city. He is fear. He is the night.
"Well, you're a sour puss." The Joker razzed. In a flash the Caped Crimelord was throwing punches at the clown and the clown was ducking and weaving. Blood loss was beginning to set in and the world was becoming hazy. It seemed the Bat would attack directly and the Joker would move. Occasionally he would misdirect the Bat with some silly gadget or trick.
A fake "BANG" gun popped out and while the Bat flinched, the Joker planted one on his chin. The Bat seized the gun hand and made a move that would break a normal person's wrist, but the Joker's hand just slipped off, a fake. In that moment, while he was confused, the Joker struck out again.
This is how it played, until finally The Batman cursed and then disappeared in a cloud of smoke. The Joker approached me, leaned down, took out something that looked like a silly string canister, and sprayed my wound. The ropey blue substance hardened instantly.
"That should hold until the quacks get here." He stood. "Well, it was nice to meet you miss...?"
"Harleen" The world was getting darker. "Harleen Quinzel"
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