Must Love Hyenas

13: Taking Over

Joker kicked the warehouse door open. The gang members occupying the building, dressed in frayed clothing marked with sharpened metal studs, reached for their guns to remove the intruder.

"Gentlemen!  I bring you greetings," Joker said happily, his arms wide as he strolled right into the middle of the criminal group. He glanced around as his arms slowly lowered. "So few smiles considering what I'm here to tell you. You've all been chosen for a wondrous opportunity. I'm starting a new organization, and for a limited time only, you are all being given the chance to join. Isn't it delightful?"

"You ain't the boss of us, Clown," one of the thugs sneered. He aimed his gun at Joker's head.

"If this must be my tragic end," Joker lamented, holding the back of his gloved hand dramatically against his forehead as if faint, but as if a switch had been thrown, he instantly became serious and snarled the rest of his statement, "I'm going to take you with me!"

Joker grabbed for the gun with a speed the thug didn't expect, seizing it with one hand while his opposing fist drove hard into the goon's midsection. Distracted by pain and an inability to pull air into his lungs, the criminal could do nothing as Joker swung the man's gun hand around and opened fire on the other gangers, killing two of them.

Wearing her black and red jester outfit, Harley entered the warehouse and fired a large bore gun loaded with a giant cork toward the nearest gang member. The projectile struck the goon in the chest with enough force to catapult him backwards into the wall where he slid down to the floor and lay still. Seeing the situation turning against them, the surviving members put their hands in the air and gave up any attempt to fight back.

"Looks like the smartest ones of the group, Mr. J," Harley observed.

Joker twisted up on the gun still held by both him and the thug he'd knocked the wind out of, wrenching away the weapon before shooting the man in the skull.

"There does seem to be a lack of brains among the others," Joker said before laughing hysterically. He turned his gaze and aim toward the remaining goons. "How about the rest of you? Any of you want to keep what little gray matter you have inside your heads?"

The group nodded emphatically.

"Good," Joker praised, slipping the gun into an inside pocket of his purple suit. "I'm sure we're going to get along famously. For starters, clear away the mess here then get me a report on all the other gangs in Gotham. I want to know where they operate, estimated numbers and armaments, favorite foods and anything else you can find out. K?"

Joker's smile was wide, his tone playful, but the humor only masked the threat of violence just beneath the surface. The new recruits wisely kept their mouths shut and nodded their acceptance of their new boss' orders.

"Harley, this is great," Joker said after the thugs had dragged away the deceased and closed the doors behind them. He put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close as they looked out the dirty window together. "We have a new base of operations and the beginning of a new army, minus a few necessary casualties."

Harley wasn't bothered by the thugs who'd been ushered out of this life as she knew it was the only way to keep the surviving goons in line. Occasional demonstrations of force were required to maintain authority. Joker couldn't have the hired help start thinking they could be in charge. Besides, they were no doubt guilty of many crimes, the least of which was a willingness to kill Joker just for coming in uninvited. The only reason Harley and Joker were alive was because they'd been willing and able to kill the goons first.

She smiled as she leaned her head against Joker's shoulder. If the plan for Gotham was going to have a chance, Harley and Joker would need an army, and those they'd just recruited were a good start.

"We gonna' take over more?" Harley asked, gently tracing the edge of the yellow flower on the lapel of Joker's purple suit with the tip of an index finger. "The other gangs will come gunning for us the moment they realize another player is trying to get into the game."

"Speed is the answer," Joker replied. "We'll hit them all, hard and fast. They won't even see it coming. After all, the best punchlines are the ones that come at you sideways, unexpectedly."

"We don't have enough soldiers to take on the larger organizations," Harley pointed out.

"Not yet," Joker agreed. "So, we start with the small ones, the ones the larger groups don't care about and won't notice a change in their leadership. We'll soon have enough to challenge the big boys directly."

"Like tiny pebbles creating an avalanche?" Harley suggested.

"Exactly," Joker confirmed with a widening of his grin. The chemicals responsible for his change in demeanor had also affected his features, allowing his smile to be far wider than before. "The avalanche we start is going to bury them all."

"We do have one other troublemaker to worry about," Harley reminded. "What about the Batman?"

"What about him?" Joker asked in a tone of complete disregard. "He hasn't taken down the gangs, so he clearly doesn't have the strength or will to do so. Once we're in control of Gotham, he won't be able to stop us either."

"He can still get in the way," Harley insisted.

"Possibly," Joker said in a more serious tone before his unnatural smile returned in full. "Maybe we'll just have to find something better for him to do."

"Like what?" Harley inquired. "You gonna' take a bunch of hostages across town or something to keep him busy elsewhere?"

"Harley, you little minx," Joker snickered. "How did you guess? Nobody's going to stop us. Gotham is our oyster, and we're going to find the pearl in this wretched cesspool if we have to burn it all down and start over."

Joker chuckled in amusement, but it gradually built into a loud laugh of pure mania.