Love Birds

Chapter Fifty

-Athena's POV-

"Well, well, well. Look who's here! If it's not my favorite assassin!" Joker exclaimed gleefully. I tugged out one of my throwing knives and tossed it. The blade went straight through his jacket, tearing a hole in the shoulder and hitting the wall behind him.

"Stop with the greetings and let's talk business," I growled. With a wave of his wand, Joker cleared all of his goons from the room. I assumed they were moved elsewhere to defend the warehouse.

I followed Joker to a large drawing table. He had blueprints spread out all along the length of the table with the width being overstuffed with scribbled down plans and sheets of paper. I scanned the mess, reading the plans on the top. Everything underneath was hidden and impossible to see. For someone who was known for chaos and unpredictability, the Joker sure did make a lot of plans.

Joker took a seat at the end of the table. He swept his arm across the table, multiple papers falling to the ground. Eventually, he pinched out a small piece of paper covered in phone numbers and addresses. He also grabbed a rolled up blueprint and a written course of action. I leaned on the corner of the table and looked over his shoulder. He cleared a large space so he could unravel the blueprint. It had markings, notes, and circles written all over it. It looked like a plan for a building but the map had no heading. I couldn't tell what it was of.

"Now, why did you come here again, my dear?" Joker smiled at me, swiveling his chair to face me. I suspected he knew why I was here, but he was asking why I chose to finally find him. Despite our partnership, I still couldn't bring myself to trust him personally. He was a business ally and nothing more.

"You said you had a plan. I'm here to tell you to put it into action."

Joker nodded and went back to the blueprint. He beckoned me over for a closer look. After a moment's hesitation, I sauntered closer. "This is a map of Arkham Asylum," Joker saw my expression of surprise, "Harley managed to snatch it when you and your Bat-friends locked her up where she belongs."

"What is the map for?" Just as I grabbed for the Arkham Asylum print, Joker pulled from his pile two more maps.

"These are blueprints for Blackgate and Gotham State penitentiaries."

"What about the phone numbers?"

"Well, I got to contact specific people to make this work."

"To make what work?"

"The plan."

"What is the plan."

Joker smirked. He laid out all three maps and pinned them down to lay flat. I noticed, just like the Arkham Asylum map, they all had symbols on them. Joker also put down the phone numbers as he cradled his planning sheet. "The plan...is to cause chaos on Gotham."

"Sounds easy. Why do we need all this?"

"Let me explain," Joker drew his finger across a large map of Gotham, "see, first we let out the not-so-threatening criminals in Gotham State. The GCPD will be sent with maybe the Bat coming to scout out the problem. Then, we turn the amp up and let out all the villains in Blackgate. This will cause a big enough problem to involve the allies of the Bat. Finally, I let out the crazies of Arkham. I will also unleash all my goons and maybe some Joker Venom. The Bat will really freak out then!"

I chewed my lip. "How does this benefit me?"

"Once the city is in chaos, it will take every Batbrat to control the mess. Batman will know I'm behind this. So, I'll make an appearance and he'll follow. I'll bring him here and you'll have your chance. You have gotten enough experience with him to know his weaknesses, right?"