Thirteen

Chapter 20 - Conspire

Chapter 20

November 16th, 2012

{21:01 EST}

"Sooooo happy you could join us, Batty!"

Batman stiffened immediately. Joker stood before him. His green hair was wicked and greasy while his face was a pale white with a bright red, ghoulish smile. His teeth were yellowed but looked like they had venom in them. He was still wearing his clothing from Arkham. A plain gown. Batman shuttered at the sight of the monster. This was the first time he had seen the man this close and boy he was a disgusting creature.

The hostages, Batman thought, he needed to save the hostages. He worked at a solution. Getting out of the hold of this goon wouldn't be difficult; however, he wasn't sure what Joker would do to the hostages before Batman could get to them.

Carefully, Batman reached towards his utility belt and activated his communicator. Hopefully Flash would be able to get the message to get the hostages out.

Joker twirled toward him, a gun in his hand, "Lighten up, Bats!" Joker smiled, pressing the barrel under Batman's chin, "We're all friends here!"

Batman kept his mouth shut and in a straight line. With Joker this close, there was a definite possibility he'd be able to see through the disguise. He could not let that happen under any circumstance. Joker removed the gun from below his chin and tapped his cheek with it.

"What's wrong?" Joker asked, beginning to laugh, "Cat got your tongue?"

The clown roared with laughter, doubling over to hold his stomach. Without hesitation, Batman kicked straight up, hitting Joker in the face with his boot. Joker stumbled backwards. He hunched over for a moment before he began roaring with laughter. The clown flipped his head back with blood dripping down the corner of his mouth. He dragged the back of his hand across his face, smearing the blood past his crooked smile and carried it all the way to his ear.

"That wasn't nice!" Joker growled, "Let's see what our friends think of that one?!"

Joker turned back to look at the hostages. He took a step forward towards them, spinning on the ball of his foot, "Come on, Batty! Smile for m- huh?"

The clown's shoulders slouched. One of the hostages was gone. His brow lowered and his head went back and forth looking to see if they dipped into the shadows. Before Joker could blink, the second hostage was gone with a flash of red. The clown's smile completely faded. Without a word, Joker turned around and pointed his gun at Batman.

Bang!

Batman flinched, shutting his eyes for a second. When he opened them again, the gun was in his face again with the sign "BANG!" hanging from the barrel. Joker was grinning at him from behind, eyes wide and wicked. With a sigh, Joker tossed the gun to the side.

"Wrong gun." He explained briefly, "Oh well."

Before Joker had the opportunity to pull another gun, Batman hunched over slightly before ramming his head backwards into the goon behind him as hard as possible. He hit the henchman directly under the chin with enough force for the man to loosen his grip on Batman. Batman elbowed the henchman in the gut and managed to slip out of the grasp completely. He moved between Joker and the henchman quickly, looking to get some distance between himself and the clown.

"Don't worry Bats," Joker said with a smile, "I brought plenty of other toys!"

The henchman threw Joker a bag from his waist. Out of the bag, Joker pulled an array of daggers. One by one, he whipped the daggers in Batman's direction.