He Who Laughs Last

CH 14: The Madness Trial

Gregory P. Welch was a very honest man. And, as an attorney in Gotham City, this meant he was also financially struggling. When he had first become an attorney, he did so wanting to help right wrongs, prove good people innocent, and help bring criminals to justice. This optimism lasted as far as his first case. From that point on, his career had been in a steady decline, leaving him primarily as a public defender. No one wanted to come to the lawyer who hated defending the guilty, and no one in Gotham standing before a judge is innocent. Most of the time, the judge themself wasn't even a law-abiding citizen. Gregory, though, could only be found guilty of speeding occasionally. And only when he was running late to something. But now, as he found himself assigned the one job everyone else had turned down, the job that might almost certainly kill any attorney's career, he felt that he could actually end up being convicted of something. He would be defending a monster. Someone indefensible. A job any more successful attorney might leap at the chance for just for the challenge, if not for the fact that this case would forever be a stain on their name and their firm. Defending the Joker was practically a death sentence to any lawyer. And now Mr. Welch found himself staring up at the headsman's axe.

.....

The Joker woke up in the back of a squad car, handcuffed and with a growing headache. He struggled to form thoughts, and had a vague idea that he might be concussed. What had happened? He had been making his way to his escape route... That guy! The guy who had been beating up all his men! Everything came rushing back at once and he groaned, temples throbbing. The officers in the front seat glanced back, startled. A small part of him grinned at that. They were nervous around him. Good. He wondered how many of them his men had killed. Hopefully not too many. It wouldn't do to get killed by some angry cop who lost a friend. He started planning on how he could gain favor in prison and start a riot before shaking himself. He still barely remembered how he had even gotten here. Let's see, the guy busted down his door, rude, and they fought for a bit. He'd like to say he gave as well as he got, but most of the wounds he dealt to the armored vigilante were pretty mild, to be honest. He winced as he breathed, and was pretty sure he had a cracked rib. That wouldn't make surviving intake any easier. Okay, back to the fight. He had switched to a crowbar, hammered the guy in the ribs and got hit in the jaw. I mean, it had hurt, and he'd staggered back a bit, but he'd laughed it off. It wasn't really that big of a deal. What happened after that? Why couldn't he remember anything past that point? Had that been the entire fight? That sucked! That wasn't a battle, that was like three hits and he went down! That couldn't be right! He hadn't even gotten to use any of his toys! Joker checked his pockets, checked for his hidden weapons. Nothing. They had apparently thoroughly searched him before loading him up. As they pulled into the precinct, Joker sulked in the backseat, profoundly unhappy. Everything had gone wrong. He had spent so much time ravaging the city, waiting for an adversary to rise from the ashes, and now he could barely remember the two minute long fight they had had. When he got out, someone was going to pay. Because the Joker wasn't about to go down so easily. He would make his enemy work for his victory, make him earn it. All the same, he was impressed with the man. The entire operation was very well executed. Stake the place out, or so he assumed, tip off the police, and then once the footsoldier fodder was occupied, straight shot uninterrupted to Joker. Simple, short, sweet. Effective. Heheh, though Gordon probably wasn't happy to find his prey already caught and trussed up for him. Joker hoped the man at least had the humor to put a bow on him. Though he doubted it. He didn't have much time with the man to properly gauge him, but he seemed like a very business first kind of guy. Barely even talked during their fight. Joker could respect that. It gave him more openings for taunting and jokes, after all. Hard to piss off your opponent if they won't shut up. The car door was opened, and the Joker found himself dragged out.

.....

Jim Gordon watched as the Joker was escorted inside, surrounded on all sides by armed policemen and given no room to move. The press had followed them the entire way to the precinct, and now they took pictures and shouted for his attention. He turned towards them and loudly announced that he would not be taking questions, and that they would have a press conference later to discuss things. With that, he turned and followed his men inside, eager to get the Joker locked away to await trial. He was certain that, no matter how corrupt judges in Gotham could be, no judge would grant the Joker, of all people, bail. Hopefully this would be a very quick sentencing, and they could all move on with their lives with this monster permanently behind bars.