Gunshots rang through the night alongside his sadistic laughter. His lips curled into a twisted smile that his scarred cheeks exaggerated as he slipped his revolver into his jacket pocket. He was overwhelmed with a joyous sensation as he spun merrily around the courtyard, stepping over all the bodies that lay still in pools of blood around him. He danced around the courtyard, holding the lifeless body of a woman in his arms, singing “la-da-dee, la-da-dee, la-da-dee-dumm-da-dee, la-da-dee, la-da-dee, la-da-dum-dit-tee-dee” as he danced. He threw his dance partner to the ground as something caught his eye. He saw a leg twitch among one of his victims, prompting him to hum as he went to investigate. As he approached the body, he heard it release a loud groan as it rolled onto its back. Removing the switch blade from his pocket, he closed in on the crippled victim with a sadistic smile.
The police arrived to the scene ten minutes too late. Upon their arrival, they were greeted by the grotesque scene of bodies suspended from light posts throughout the courtyard. There was a mangled group of bodies surrounding the fountain at the center of the courtyard, and a twisted figure tied to the fountain itself. Upon closer inspection, Lieutenant Gordon found that the body tied to the fountain had a smile carved grotesquely onto his face, and a blood-stained joker card protruding from a slit in his throat. As he placed the card in an evidence bag, Gordon noticed a message written underneath the joker picture. It said “GIVE ME THE BAT” in what appeared to be letters scribbled with red ink from a fountain pen. Gordon’s suspicions were confirmed when he found a fountain pen jabbed into the man’s rib cage. As he placed the pen in yet another evidence bag, Gordon concluded that the message had been written in blood. Joker’s creatively sadistic methods of torture and communication always sent a shiver up Gordon’s spine.
“Give me the card.”
The all too familiar voice made Gordon jump even though he had expected Batman’s arrival.
“I didn’t even hear your car pull in the driveway, dear” Gordon said with a smirk.
“I tried out the new stealth mode modification I made. I’m going to need it if I intend on taking the Joker by surprise. He’s expecting me.”
“Well lord knows I was expecting you and you sure as hell took me by surprise. But then again, I’m also a little stunned to see such a gruesome scene.”
“Even for the Joker this is sick. He’s trying real hard to draw me out of the shadows.”
“Oh and it’s working oh so well Bats!” Joker’s maniacal shriek of a voice echoed from speakers throughout the courtyard, his voice high pitched, and his tone playful as always. “You are a complicated creature batman, yet you are all too simple, much like me. There’re so many sides of you, so many shades of black, yet when it comes to doing your job, you undoubtedly show up, late as always, to see the beautiful wreckage I have created for you. You and I are so much alike. There’re so many colors to my colorful personality, yet when it comes to MY job, I simply create whatever carnage that I can in the most artistic fashion that I can. The only difference between you and I is that I embrace my colorful chaotic side, and you embrace your plain dark and predictable side. If only you saw how much fun you could have with a little color in your life. But no, yet again you are surrounded by black and red. See you later bats!” There was a high pitched squeak as the speakers went silent, leaving Batman to think fast.
“Gordon, where’s the room that those speakers are connected to?!”
“In the room next to the main entrance, but my men already investigated and he’s not in there.”
Batman dashed towards the room as fast as he could, only to be thrown to the ground as white hot flames burst from the room in a vast explosion. He lay on the ground dazed and covered in debris and sweat, unable to breathe due to the blast force winding him and rattling his rib cage. With all of the effort he could muster, he sat up and observed the wreckage. The explosion had come from the announcement room, but the flames were quickly spreading. Batman watched as a ball of amber flames consumed the entire building, and eventually the surrounding buildings of the courtyard. With his final reserves of strength, Batman stood up and began searching for Gordon among the debris. After five minutes of tedious searching, he found Gordon unconscious by the mangled body of one of Joker’s victims.
