gotham gazette

Layla scribbled down a few more of her notes in a neater manner than she had them written before from the press release on the Joker's recent attack on Gotham. He had been her top priority over the past few months, turning her attention from the caped crusader that the city called Barman, which had been over a year's worth of research and investigation on who might be behind the mask. Not only were the reports on The Joker more interesting and brought more readers, it also captured her own attention, and she spent nearly every waking minute trying to get closer to him, no matter how many people warned her not to do so. She knew just what he was capable of, she knew that he had no limits, she didn't care. She wanted to know.even more about him, even if it put her life on the line.

The Joker paced the roof of large building in the middle of Gotham. Twelve men and women around the edge of the perimeter, donning a black bag on their head, zip ties binding their hands behind their back and feet together, with a goon holding them from behind. Each goon waited for the order from their boss to make the next move.

A few moments later, the roof lit up as a news copter beamed down on them to get a better look. Smirking, the Joker spread his arms out and walked into the middle of the spotlight. He opened his coat and pulled out a small megaphone. "Ladies and gentleman! Boys and girls!" He purred into the device. "Are you ready for tonight's main event?" His smirk turned into a twisted grin, lips pulled tightly over his teeth. "Because we are ready to begin!" He called, and in unison the goons began to move.

Each goon pulled the bag off of their captives heads, revealing a noose tied around their neck. The Joker shrugged off his jacket, walking over to the nearest woman. She was blonde, mid-forties with mascara stained cheeks. Licking his lips, he grabbed her chin and pulled her face towards his. "Are you as excited as I am for this? Because, I for one can't wait."

@ destroya.

Layla looked to her cellphone when it buzzed at the opposite side of the desk, and she grabbed it quickly.

'Turn on the news. You definitely want to see this.'

She shoved her papers around and grabbed the remote when she finally found it, turning on the television, the news channel being the station on as soon as she turned it on. "No way," she muttered, grabbing her camera and recorder, as well as her notepad. She examined the building and recognized it almost immediately. She grabbed her keys and ran out of the office, down the stairs, and out of the building, getting into her car quickly.

"C'mon, baby. C'mon," she muttered, trying the engine of the '73 Dart again, sighing in relief when she started. She knew it wasn't the smartest idea to drive it around here, especially when she'd finally gotten to finish remodeling it, but she loved it. She put it in gear and sped off to the building where the Joker was, hoping she wouldn't miss the action.

She parked her car nearby and grabbed her things, racing towards the crowd of photographers and reporters were, managing to slip through it rather easily, her short stature helping her out a great bit. She made it to the front of the crowd and nudged a fellow reporter holding a pair of binoculars, who handed them over. "So what's going on?" She asked, looking up through the binoculars, squinting a bit.

"Doesn't look like he's done anything yet. You didn't miss much," the man said, moving closer to the caution tape, pulling Layla with him.

"Good."

As he pushed the blondes face away, he looked to the sky to see the circling police copter. "Looks like we have a big audience, boys, lets give'm what they want," he said to his henchmen. The Joker couldn't help but be proud of how well the plan was coming together. The next part was the easiest, and he silently commended his followers for moving so flawlessly.

"Remember, we are on a tight schedule." He told Don, the man to his right who was holding the blonde officer, with a stern fatherly look. He shook his index finger at him and smiled, "Don't forget about the lights!" The Joker pulled his coat open and revealed a coiled rope with a hook at the end and jammed it into the concrete. The gray crumbled and mounted it. He stepped back and onto the ledge, giving the rope a tug to ensure its security.

"Lets go." The Joker commanded, spreading his arms out and leaning off the building. He seemingly scaled the side of the building and watched the officers of the Gotham Police Department members being illuminated by lights just in time for them to be thrown off the building. One-one thousand, two-one thousand, three-one thousand, he counted to himself, then unhooked the harness from his waist.

A few hundred yards under him was a net that was to catch him and make him fall into an open window and let a decoy Joker jump out. Under a matter of minutes, the real Joker was under the city on his way back to the hideout and the decoys mangled was being surrounded on sidewalk of Gotham.

@ destroya.

@ creeps

Layla's focus stayed on the man dressed in purple, wishing she could get close enough to hear what was saying to the others. Her attention snapped away from Joker when she heard screams from the crowd around her and her eyes widened as she saw the officers fall from the building, fumbling with her camera to get a shot, looking back to where the man behind this had been just moments before. An irritated sigh slipped past her lips when she saw that he was gone, but something caught her eye on the side of the building.

"There he is," she muttered, pushing her way through the crowd in an attempt to get closer to the side of the building, watching the man fall but reappear a few moments later, seemingly unharmed. "He should be hurt though, that doesn't make sense," she muttered, shaking her head as the man ran off. She could tell that it wasn't him. No matter how hard they had worked on getting him disguised, it didn't make a difference. She had been watching him for so long, she could tell that it wasn't him.

She restrained herself from losing her shit right then and there and turned, walking away from the scene and back to her car, climbing in and speeding home. She turned off the radio, not wanting to hear about the chase after the fake Joker, and pulled into her driveway after a few minutes of driving. She walked inside and tossed her keys on the kitchen table, setting her things down next to them, and sat in the seat.

"This is so pointless.. I'm never going to get him." She sighed and shook her head, turning on the television, watching a press release that had been done earlier. She had managed to get a word in, asking for the Joker to give her some kind of information, to meet with her or find her, anything. She just wanted to know what was going on in that psychotic head of his.

@ destroya.

The Joker sat in front of a small TV, watching one of the channels covering his latest event. He rested his elbows on knees, a cigarette burning in his hand. The reporters were just beginning to notice the truth of the decoy, making him scoff. He huffed, shaking his head and taking a drag. How embarrassing, he thought, for the reporters who thought they had him. He could see the excitement on their wrinkled faces when they thought they had struck gold, but they were expecting the Joker to simply hand himself over to them. Didn't they know it had to be a little bit more of a chase? Since the Batman had fallen from the public lately, the Joker spent most of his time planning and only executing some of his ideas. His schemes felt wasted on the ignorance of the public. Frankly, he was bored. He needed something new.

He stood up, crushing his cigarette under his foot and stomping into stingy bathroom. The mirror was cracked down the middle and the light bulb flickered with uncertainty. He ran the water in the sink, rubbing off his make-up and drying off. Without looking in the mirror he made his way to the kitchen and picked up a bottle of whiskey off the counter. He popped the top off and brought it to his lips, groaning when only a drop came out. After raiding the cabinets and finding no liquor left, he changed out of his suit and into a pair of dingy jeans and a black t-shirt. Should he risk going to a run down bar for a drink? He didn't care at this point. His rush was going down and he was all about cheap thrills.

He crouched in front of the TV again, turning up the volume and watching some press release about him. A pretty young woman with light hair spoke for several moments and then was gone, and the Joker frowned slightly. He picked up his remote and re-wound the video, replaying the girls questions. "Huh," he mumbled. Rewinding again, he caught her name and turned off the report.

[ I'm sorry if these are too long I don't want to bore you to death. How would you like them to meet? I was thinking maybe he could break into her apartment after finding out more about her or he tips her off to meet at a bar? ]

Layla started watching what video she had managed to take at the scene from earlier that night, trying to catch a glimpse of where the real one may have gone. She sighed, rewinding it countless times until she finally spotted something. It almost looked like he fell into a window, and then the imposter just came out of nowhere.

She wrote down some notes, trying to catch which window it was before she turned off the camera. She stood up and gathered up all of her paperwork, taking it up to her office before she grabbed her cigarettes and walked out onto the front porch. It was raining now, and she liked the rain. She knew she wasn't getting any sleep any time soon, so she wasn't even going to bother trying.

She lit up the cigarette and inhaled deeply, exhaling through her nose as she sat down , watching what few people that were still up walk past her house. She always hoped that he might walk past, that she could catch him on his own. But she had a lot of dreams, and that one was probably the least likely to happen.

[ @ creeps No, don't apologize. I love long posts, they actually make things interesting and have a lot more detail. He could always pass by her house on the way to the bar and see her on the porch and try smooth talking her, and get in that way? ]

The Joker sighed, noticing the large bruise growing on his right hand. He slowly moved each of his fingers and was satisfied when none of them were broken. Struck again with the thought of alcohol, he started towards the kitchen window. Climbing through it with ease, he re-activated the explosive that would go off if anyone tried to break in (he had many little tricks like that set up around the hideout) and cracked his sore knuckles.

Rain soaked his clothes immediately as he walked down the alley of the backside of town. He glanced into peoples homes, watching humbled families watch the news. He wondered what those families would think if they knew the man responsible was walking right behind their house.

He hopped a fence at one point, cutting into a nicer area of homes. His shirt clung to his skin and his jeans were starting to irritate him, for a moment he began to question why he even went out. He stopped, running his hands through his hair to wring some of the water out and looked over at the home in front of him. He smelt the cigarette smoke before he noticed the woman smoking it, although he might as well have been craving a cigarette badly enough. But when he noticed the woman, he recognized her on site. "I'll be damned," he said.

The Joker walked over and leaned on the porch railing. He cleared his throat and locked his gaze on her, "Care to bum a smoke?"

@ destroya.
[ ]

@ creeps

Layla jumped slightly when someone spoke from the opposite end of the porch, her attention turning from the road to him. She studied him for a moment, trying to figure out why he looked so familiar to her. She stood and grabbed the pack of cigarettes, pulling one out as she walked over to him.

"Why're you walking around so late, and in the rain," she said softly, handing over the cigarette. She took a closer look at him and her eyes widened slightly, tracing over the scars. She licked over her lips and crushed the rest of her own cigarette on the railing, her hands trembling slightly, more from excitement than fear.

"I kind of thought it would be a lot harder to find you."

@ destroya.

The Joker took the cigarette, taking a step onto the porch to get out of the rain. "How do you know I'm the person you think I am?" He incited, looking down at her. He pulled a lighter out of his damp pocket and flicked it several times before it sparked, lighting the cig.

He couldn't help but smirk at the look on her face- she definitely knew who he was. Most people would have ran into the house and began dialing 9-1-1 before even reaching for a smoke.

@ creeps

"I'm not an idiot." Layla smirked a bit and sat down on one of the seats on her porch, examining him closely. "Even without your makeup, you couldn't fool me," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. "I've been trying to find you for months, and finally, you're here," she said, a slight grin forming on her lips.

@ destroya.

"Good things come to those who wait," he purred, taking a deep drag of his smoke. He exhaled slowly, studying her face. "You can't be too smart to be following after a- what are they calling me these days? Socio or psyco?" A wicked grin grew on his face, making his scars slightly more obvious as they rose up. "Aren't you scared, little girl?"

@ creeps

"I think it's a bit of both, depending on who you talk to. And I am rather smart. I'm the only one who figured out that they weren't chasing the real Joker as soon as he ran off."

Layla watched the man closely, her eyes focusing on the scars for a few moments before looking to his eyes, smirking a bit. "Do I seem scared to you?"

@ destroya.

"Not yet," The Joker laughed, shaking his head at the small woman. The laughter abrupty stopped and he reached for her, grabbing a fistful of hair and holding her against the railing. "We can fix that, if you'd like. I'm all about giving people what they want!"

@ creeps

Layla's eyes widened and she squirmed against his grip, moving her hands to claw at his, struggling not to scream. She didn't want anyone calling the cops or anything, not yet at least.

"Let me go, you prick! I just want to talk to you," she growled, glaring up at him.

@ destroya.

The Joker complied, dropping his grip on her and taking a step away. "I'm a man of my word!" He looked back and forth from the street to the door of her house, frowning slightly. "You wanna talk? I'm all about talkin'. I never have a chance to get a word in anymore."

He rubbed his hands and noticed how drastically her face darkened after his little stunt. "Sorry, doll, I'm usually not so rough on the first date." He ignored the uneasy churn of his stomach. "Second or third, maybe."

@ creeps

Layla took a moment to steady her breathing, her heart still pounding after what had just happened. She rubbed her head and sighed, eyeing him cautiously before she opened her front door, motioning for him to go in. "Just don't pull that shit again, okay?" She walked in close behind him, closing the door and slipping off her shoes. "Want a beer or something? My stuff should be in my office, we can just, er, talk up there."

"As you wish." The Joker said, holding his right hand up. "Scouts honor." He winked, walking to the stairs. "Mind some rum and coke?" He went up, peering into each room to find the office, stopping when he found what he assumed was and stepping in. Sitting down at her desk, he grabbed a pen and paper. "We'll start the interview as soon as you come up!"

@ destroya.

@ destroya.
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