When Cher and rainbows collide.

Untitled Part 1

Gotham, well known for its dank, grey and cloudy weather, had today been blessed with sunshine to rival Metropolis and Oswald was very grateful for it. Not that he usually thought about the weather all that much, it mattered little in the grand scheme of things and he always had an umbrella handy anyway, but today was different. Gotham Pride was a chance for the residence of this massively diverse city to celebrate who they were and it had been nice to have the sun shining on their backs as they paraded through the streets.

The current mayor of Gotham, whoever he was (it was getting difficult to keep track what with all the fatalities that seemed to come with any position of power in this nightmare of a city), had given a lacklustre speech and it was clear he had little interest in showing support towards the Pride community. So Oswald had taken charge. Hardly anyone had made a fuss when he had snatched the microphone from the old fool so that he could announce the start of the parade with more zeal. In fact, there were still some Gothamites who seemed to think that Penguin still held office and had actually been surprised that he hadn't intervened sooner. It had always been something that he had regretted about his brief stint as mayor, that he had been unable to attend a Pride event whilst he was elected and Oswald had been more than happy to take control of the situation and do it properly. 

The day had been a resounding success and it had been surprisingly uplifting to march through the city surrounded by people from all walks of life, rich, poor, cops, villains, and to know that they were all there for the same reason. Despite everything all united by at least one common cause. Rates for crime of any sort was high in Gotham and hate crime, although one of the least committed crimes in the city, was no exception. Yet average civilians had walked side by side with the likes of Jeremiah Valeska, Poison Ivy and himself and everyone present had known that, for today at least, they were safe. The likes of Bullock and Gordon had stood to the side, ready to intervene. They had been convinced that with so many wanted criminals all together in one place would lead to trouble but they had been proven wrong and by the time the after party was due to start they had both left to pursue other matters, leaving only several squad cars of UNIs in case of a disturbance. 

The Iceberg Lounge was, of course, the location of the Pride after party and was so packed that people were spilling out of the doors onto the street. The usual sophisticated tone of the club had been thrown aside ever so slightly, the tasteful and subtle gold and purple lighting substituted for kaleidoscopic rainbows and Zsasz had set up a first class karaoke machine. Oswald still wasn't sure how he had been talked into the last part but as he watched the party from the side lines, making his way through several bottles of wine, he had to admit that it was a rather amusing temporary addition. It would of course be gotten rid of first thing tomorrow but for tonight Oswald was content to sit back and watch the fun. 

It was all over far too quickly, however, and soon Zsasz was announcing the last song of the night. "Come on up boss" he called with a grin. Oswald choked on his drink. "No" he insisted stubbornly. There was no way he was embarrassing himself on stage like so many of his patrons had done over the course of the night. Zsasz wasn't taking no for answer though and it seemed that the crowd were on his side. There was a deafening mixture of disappointed boos and encouragement as he was surrounded by people urging him to take the mic. Whether it was that he had simply grown tired of protesting or whether he was far drunker than he had realised, Oswald soon found himself clambering up onto the stage to a round of applause and whistling. He knew he would live to regret this. Then the music started and he glared at Zsasz furiously. "No Abba!" he snapped. "It's the Cher cover" the assassin replied with a shrug and a happy smile. All Oswald could do was sigh and curse the day that Zsasz had found out about his secret penchant for Cher. Trapped in front of the bright lights with a microphone in his hands and not wanting to spoil the day, Oswald accepted defeat.