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Laughter in the Dark	By : FlameWolf666 Category: DC Verse Movies > The Dark Knight Views: 9317 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Dark Knight or the Batman franchise. This story is just for fun and no profit will be made from it.

Chapter List
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    Smoke billows out into a dimly lit room as two men stand in front of a large, mahogany desk. Both of them looked slightly nervous but stood their ground as the end of a cigar flared to life. “So yer tellin’ me that the bitch who waxed Big Roge is sittin’ pretty with Joker,” came a voice that was more like a deep rumble than human speech. One of the men stepped forward, the mustache on his upper lip twitching as he met the speaker’s eyes steadily.
    “Yeah and she’s pregnant too. What are we gonna do now boss? We can’t go against the clown. We’ve seen what happened to Ramone’s crew,” he replied, flinching when a ring covered, meaty fist slammed down hard on the dark, polished wood of the desk. Splotches of white stained the tanned skin and a green colored tinted a few of his fingernails.
    “Don’t tell me what to do Jerry. The only one who gives orders around here is me. Yer job is to get me the information I tell ya to and do as yer told. I want you and Carl to get a group together. We’re gonna come up with a plan,” growled the shadowed man as he slowly got to his feet.
    The two men in front of the desk cowered slightly as the towering man slowly moved around until the light was shining on his face. Horrified gasps left the pair but they stood their ground, not daring to move in case he decided to turn his rage on them. His face was an unnatural white, his lips a ruby red that stretched into a rictus of a grin that didn’t match his infuriated expression. Even his brown hair was beginning to change, becoming a bright, lime green. Leaning down so his nose was against Jerry’s, the hulking, suit wearing man brought the ember of his cigar dangerously close to his cheek. “We’re going to make them regret killing my best friend,” he snarled, pressing the burning tip into the skin and laughing at the sound of skin sizzling.
    Marie sighed as she slowly sat up, stretching and yawning before she swung her legs over her mattress. As she waddled to the bathroom to go pee for what felt like the five billionth time, she found herself reflecting about the events of yesterday. The inclusion of Dave Mickleson had gone over like a lead balloon. It had taken both her and Crane to keep Jack from pouncing the poor man and slitting his throat. After a long explanation, the ‘Clown Prince’ had finally allowed him to come visit and had even given him a burner phone before immediately throwing him out. The conversation that had followed certainly hadn’t been a fun one and he had berated her about leaving the house. He had even threatened to nail all the secret passages up, sparking another argument.
    Sighing as she brushed her teeth and washed her hands, the weary female closed her eyes as their angry words to eachother echoed through her head. It had gotten rather heated for a few minutes before Scarecrow had come charging in to pick her up and carry her out of the room, leaving both of them a bit speechless. After a few moments, Crane explained that so much stress wasn’t good for her so close to giving birth. She only had a week left until she entered her ninth month and from there it would only be a matter of time. Looking down at the huge dome she sported, the former psychologist felt a bit of apprehension wash through her.
    She had been trying not to think about it but it was quickly becoming impossible to do so. She would more than likely be giving birth at this house, with only a handful of villains as medical help. While Crane and Ivy had some experience in medicine, she couldn’t really say the same for Jack or Selena. They both knew enough to take care of basic first aid as well as remove bullets. Childbirth was another matter altogether. On top of that, things were only getting more hectic on the outside the more gas-bombs her lover set off. There were more and more crimes as well as new super villains. It was a miracle none of that had made it to the house yet. It was only the ‘Clown Prince’s’ efforts to make friends with all of the up and comers that kept the crazed masses from seeking them out.
    While all of this kind of scared her, Joker couldn’t be more ecstatic; cackling whenever he heard news about new attacks. With Gotham quickly descending in chaos, Batman was getting desperate. Desperate enough to try to get in contact with the criminal to attempt to come to terms over cessation of further attacks with Fearful Grin. A fact that only made the killer cackle harder. That alone showed that the Bat, even with all of his technology, was having a lot of trouble finding the antidote or vaccine for the gas mixture. Essentially, that meant that the entire city was in the palm of his hand to do with as he pleased. A truly horrifying prospect that made her glad he loved her as much as he did.
    Drying off her face, she wandered back to the room, unsurprised to find the bed empty. Shaking her head and rolling her stormy eyes, she grabbed a purple pair of comfy loungewear before heading out into the hall. Knocking on the door next to hers to let Jonathan know she was awake, the drowsy woman made her way to the stairs and carefully made her way down. She only made it halfway before she felt steadying hands on either side of her enlarged waist. “I suppose its useless to yell at you about not waiting. Let’s just get you downstairs,” sighed a soft baritone as her former patient helped her to the first floor.
    As soon as their feet touched the floorboards, Ivy and Selena were coming at them with identical expressions of concern on their faces. Before either of them could ask what was going on, Joker was skidding into the house with his goons; shouting instructions to everyone as he closed the distance to the four of them. Then, to everyone’s utter shock, he punched Selena hard in the face. He looked about ready to kill her as he shook a gloved fist, glowering at her redheaded partner as the plant hybrid moved to be by her girlfriend’s side. “Joker, what,” Marie began to ask, flinching when he spun on her with fire in his eyes.
    “This little bitch told Batso where to find me,” he snarled as the thief picked herself up, wiping the blood from her nose as well as her split lip.
    “You’re out of control Joker! If left up to you, the entirety of Gotham would become monsters. What happens after that? Are you ever going to stop? You’re making the city more dangerous for everyone, including Marie and your child,” the dark haired femme tried to reason, flinching as her lover gave her a slightly betrayed glance as well.
    The ex-Psychologist could only stand in place, wondering vaguely if all of this was really happening. She was dimly aware of moving forward in an almost mechanical manner, a slight buzzing filling her ears as her former patient and current friend tried to justify her actions. The monologue only stopped when she was standing in front of Catwoman. Silence stretched between the two of them before Marie was raising her hand and slapping the other woman hard. Then she spun on her heel and went back to Crane and Joker, the trio moving to the door with the henchmen without another word. “W-wait, please! He promised me he just wanted an antidote,” came a desperate voice from behind them, followed by a flurry of footsteps.
    “And you believed him? Just how wound around his fingers does he have you?” Spade hissed, sliding to the forefront and merging with her normal personality slightly as she spun to glare at a woman she had considered almost as close as a sister up until recently. She kept moving despite wanting to stop and give this woman a real piece of her mind, not really wanting to take the chance of Batboy catching them.
    “There’s nowhere you can hide anyway, he has all the mob bosses looking for you,” came a response that caused her rage to burn hotter as well as a very slight feeling of horror.
    Joker, however, wasn’t as inclined to let that one go. He knew just as well as she did what that meant and she saw the faintest flash of true terror on his painted face. Whirling around, the tux clad murderer made his way back to Selena while Crane continued to try to steer her toward the door. “You fucking bitch! Don’t ya have a fucking brain in your head or did you not stop to think just why someone like Doc would rather be with me? Weren’t ya the one that, uh, saved her from her so called fiance?” he snarled, one of his throwing knives coming into his gloved hand with a quick flick of his wrist. Flinching the caught thief looked to her lover, a bit shocked to find very little support in that corner.
    “He was abusive as shit but what does that have to do with anything?” the legitimately stunned woman whispered, fiddling nervously with an ebony lock of her long hair. This at least gave the raging supervillain pause, his tongue flicking out to lick ot his lipstick coated scars. Before he could ask, a huge commotion came from the front door.
    Swearing as he spun, he went silent as he took in the appearance of one of his more peripheral partners. This particular boss had had to be convinced of a partnership by not only the deaths of many of his henchmen but a clear threat to his very life. The camaraderie between them was pretty much non-existent, the man blatantly ignoring orders. The only reason why he hadn’t been killed was the fact he hadn’t done anything to interfere. Just seeing him in the state he was in made the ‘Clown Prince’ burst into laughter. “Gee, I’m flattered that you’ve had enough of a change of heart to take fashion tips from yours truly,” taunted the purple clad male, keeping an eye on Crane and Marie out of the corner of his eye.
    Thankfully Scarecrow had taken over, shoving the heavily pregnant female behind his back and bracing for a fight as his dark eyes narrowed. The sandy haired spitfire, on the other hand, had different ideas. With Spade obviously mixed in with her normal emotions, the former doctor was trying to get around the skinnier man to attack the newcomers. The amount of hatred and fear on her pale face made the wheels in Joker’s head start to turn. Was this man one of the people Roger had dealings with and if so, what had he done to her to bring such a burning fury to her normally gentle eyes.
    There she was, right fucking there. So fucking close he could reach out and snap her neck like he desperately wanted to. Instead, Tony focused his gaze on his ‘partner’ before smiling. When the Bat had started to canvas the city for criminals tied to Joker that would be willing to seek him out, he had almost thought it was too good to be true. Now that he was so close to his goal, it wouldn’t do to fuck things up now. “You know damn well why I look like this as well as why I’m here. We need a fuckin’ antidote to this shit,” he growled, forcing himself to act as if the woman hissing at him like an angry cat was of no consequence to him. A hard thing given that the whore had killed a man he considered family.
    Marie wanted to both run away and gouge the man’s eyes out, ‘Spade’ fighting hard against her common sense and self control. The man before her had committed horrifying atrocities in front of her, had even included Roger in a lot of those activities. When he was around, he made sure to let her know just who was boss; not afraid to hit her in front of her fiance. Knowing her now dead ‘lover’, he probably concluded she must have done something to deserve it. The fact that he was here, as well as highly mutated, didn’t bode well for her situation. The only thing that made her feel even slightly better was the fact both Crane and Scarecrow stood between her and the beast.
    Keeping a close eye on the body language of the two of them, Joker narrowed his green eyes as a dangerous grin spread across his painted face. The scars that stretched from the corners of his mouth only accentuated the already horrifying expression. One of his throwing knives easily slid into his hand with a subtle flick of his wrist and he began to slowly close the distance between him and the man that blocked the door. Ivy and Selena moved forward as well, the redhead’s eyes narrowed as she tried to assess just what happened to her plants through her strange connection to them. “You see, I’m just not willin’ ta, uh, give such an important substance out willy nilly,” he cooed in a smooth mid-tone, his voice silky with a dangerous tone.
    Tony only grinned back one of the hands he had clasped behind his back reaching for the pistol he had under his shirt. He just needed to bide his time, get the bastard to come a bit closer. If he was quick enough, he could kill both Joker and Scarecrow at the same time. Just a few more steps and the bastard would be in range of his piddly gun. Unfortunately, the clown was too smart for that and stopped just outside of where the bullet would connect. To add to the mess, he heard a familiar engine pull up to the isolated house. The Bat had shown up a lot earlier than expected, meaning someone here had already contacted the psycho. Things were going south quick and he felt uncontrollable rage began to fill him. He was so close to avenging Roger, to killing the bitch and the Clown in one go. He wasn’t about to let things go down like this.
    Marie watched what was happening unfold as if it was in slow motion. She could see a certain, leather covered vigilante coming toward the door at a rapid pace. At the same time, she saw the disfigured boss tense with his hands behind his back. Realization dawned on her far too late and she tried to dodge around Jonathan at the same time the bastard began to move. This only resulted in him stopping her. The duo in one body obviously saw what was happening as well but they weren’t willing to risk her safety. A notion that was put to the test when she saw the gun the big man pulled.
    Reality almost seemed to pull away from her as the sun glinted off the dull, black metal of the tiny weapon. Across from him, Joker got into a defensive position as he showed off the throwing knives in both his hands. While she was more scared than she had ever felt, her lover looked exhilarated. “Make a move ya bastard, I dare ya,” he hissed, his eyes moving from the rapidly advancing hero outside to the mob boss that had a gun pointed at him.
    “Both of you stop where you are!” came a guttural rasp as Batman reached the door.
    Twitching, Tony turned to glare at the Bat out of the corner of his eye. “I thought I told you I needed him alive,” the rubber covered man growled, pulling out a black, bat-shaped taser that looking likes it shot out similarly shaped prongs. Just seeing it nearly made both Marie and Joker burst into laughter. How much of an ego could one man have?
    “Plans have changed cowl boy,” snarled the heavy-set gangster as he returned his focused to the murderer in front of him.
    “I’m doin’ ya a favor anyway. This man is nothing more than a mad dog who’s spreading his disease from person to person. If he and those around him aren’t put down, it’ll only continue to spread,” he continued, some of his boys moving to protect him from both the Bat and Scarecrow. The bitch wasn’t a threat no matter how loud she snarled.
    “Stand down! If you kill him, we may never find out what the antidote is,” the hero tried to reason, only getting a laugh from the man in front of him.
    “Now who said I ever cared about gettin’ that antidote in the first place?” came the reply as the gun cock.
    Suddenly, things went from slow motion to fast forward: Jonathan charging at the same time Tony took aim. Joker also moved, throwing his knives before retrieving more from holders he had sewn into the lining of his tux jacket. At the same time Crane collided with the mobster, he was firing his gun and the ‘Clown Prince’ was tossing a knife. To add to the confusion, Batboy also charged forward as Ivy and Selena also moved. This was good because Marie was moving to put herself between the shot at the same time all of this was happening. Before she could get too far, the two women were there and restraining her as she watched her lover take the bullet in his left shoulder; dangerously close to his heart.
    The insane criminal only laughed as blood poured from the wound, watching as his knives hit the mob boss in the gullet. Blossoms of red bloomed on the white shirt he wore under his black tux coat but he also grinned around the blood in his mouth as he shoved Crane away from him like the man weighed nothing. Behind him, Batman surged past the line of his henchmen to tackle the mutated man to the ground. Joker, of course, took this opportunity to rush toward his extremely distraught lover. Her gray eyes were wide and unseeing, her face a mask of sheer hysteria as she struggled against the two women holding her like a hellcat. Even when he was right in front of her, she kept fighting like some wild thing, no comprehension in her eyes at all. She only stopped when he pulled off his gloves and grabbed her face.
    Everything was a haze, the only thing that mattered was that she got to her husband; that she made sure he was okay. She was dimly aware of two pairs of hands stopping her from moving forward and she fought against them with all the strength she could muster? She had to get to him! Couldn’t they understand that he was hurt? That if he died, she would surely go mad? Letting out incomprehensible noises, she bucked and squirmed until she felt rough palms settle on her cheeks in a firm grip. Blinking, she saw the painted face of her psychotic lover and nearly wept with relief.
    Before anyone could move, all Hell broke loose. The goons Tony had brought rushed to protect their boss, some of them tackling the Bat while others headed toward Marie’s small group. Crane, who was recovering from hitting his head on the floor when the gangster had pushed him, saw what was going to happen and simply let his dark partner come forward. The endless madness filled him and moved his limbs despite the pain and throbbing in his head. Scarecrow didn’t care for his human host’s condition. All he cared about was protecting the heavily pregnant woman who was his only friend. Joker also moved to protect her, motioning for Selena and Ivy to keep her safe.
    Then things seemed to freeze, the group coming at them unsure of what to do while the vigilante behind them struggled with both Tony and his own crowd of goons. The purple clad villain shifted as the dark eyed thing wearing Jonathan stood by his side. Marie could only watch, feeling a faint tight sensation in her lower back. Wanting to shrug it off as normal back pain, she had a suspicion all the stress had made their child decide to make an appearance. Rubbing her taut dome as the two men she loved dearly prepared to fight, the former doctor hoped desperately that the pain would pass and no more would follow. Giving birth while there was a life or death fight happening wasn’t exactly an ideal situation.
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Laughter in the Dark