Laughing maniacally to himself as he drove recklessly down a back alley, the Joker slammed his foot against the gas pedal, sending the purple car lurching forwards. Jonny, who was seated next to him in the passenger seat, was thrust backwards from the force, his head crashing against the headrest and dropping a lit cigarette down the front of his shirt. This caused Joker to laugh harder, tears streaming down his face, which in turn made the car swerve almost out of control. The pandemonium created from the combined effort of Jonny's swearing, Joker's laughing, and the screech of tyre wheels almost masked the sounds of screams from the people on the streets.
From the rooftops of Gotham, Batman, accompanied by Nightwing and Batgirl, carefully monitored the progress of the vehicle as it made its way towards Wayne Manor to collect Finny. Batman, calculating as ever, had his eyes trained on the driver. The frown that usually appeared whenever confronted with the clown grew deeper, the lines etched into his face from the stress of life became more pronounced with the action.
"Who gets to jump the car? I had four shots of espresso in the last hour and I need to spend this energy somewhere..." Nightwing shifted agitatedly from foot to foot. The black eye he had obtained from previously running into a telephone pole had deepened in colour. Thanks to Alfred, the swelling had been prevented for the most part, but it still made Batgirl flinch to look at.
"No one is going to jump onto the car. We wait for Joker to pick up the fish so that he's off his guard. At this moment, he's most likely expecting some sort of confrontation. No doubt he's assuming that we won't make our move while he's in possession of the fish." His head turned slightly as his eyes followed the route of the car, not daring to remove his gaze for even a moment, as if scared that it would vanish when he looked away.
"He's a terrible driver, almost as bad as you are," Batgirl smiled, amused with herself for poking fun at the brooding man. She elbowed him in the side slightly as she spoke, emphasizing the fact that she was making fun of him specifically. However, seeing that this attempt to lighten the mood did not achieve the desired effect, she crossed her arms over her chest and fell silent. Clearing her throat, she opted to change the subject entirely. "Who's that in the passenger seat? I can't see 'cause he keeps moving around."
"That's Jonny Frost, I recognize his hair." Nightwing spoke up, having been preoccupied with his black eye for the past few minutes of conversation. "Hey, they're pulling up to the Manor, should we wait 'til they get back into the car or just get them now?" He braced himself, prepared to leap from the edge of the roof at the command.
"No, wait until they're past the gates. We don't need anything potentially happening to Alfred." Batman stuck out his arm, holding him back.
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"Well Finny, old friend, whaddaya think of the high life? Personally, I could get it in an alley from a dealer but maybe Wayne's version is different!" He cackled at his joke, removing his hands from the steering wheel in order to slap his hands against his thighs and hold his arms around his middle, the constant laughing meant that he was often in pain. The muscles in his abdomen and his lungs were perpetually overworked and strained, though he didn't show it to the public. But Jonny had seen in, walking past his room when the door was slightly ajar...Jonny had understood his pain... He shook his head, scattering his thoughts to focus on the road for the first time since he stepped in.
"Jeez, that burns like a sonuva bitch." Jonny Frost scowled down at the fresh burn mark on his chest, rubbing it with the palm of his hand as he lit himself a new one. "Wha'do we do with him? Toss 'im in the trunk?" He took a drag from the cigarette and blew the smoke out of the window, then habitually tapped his wrist against the top of the window, ridding the cigarette of the excess ash.
YOU ARE READING
Fish and Bits
FanfictionA series of short stories involving the Joker's pet fish, Finny, as well as several other character such as Two-Face and Catwoman. Not romantic, obviously.
