Cut Me Open

The Joker had many cameras set up in various places of the upper floor. He had them hooked to the TV in one of the rooms on the lower level. French sat on the dusty couch thinking of the way he touched her the last time they were there, with hesitation and uncontrollable anger. Her skin was still buzzing from his cold leathered hands. She closed her eyes and leaned against the dusty couch, ignoring the tingling in her noise. Her stomach was lurching again and for the first time in a couple of days, she thought about her predicament. I'm going to be a mother, it felt like the world was crashing down around her and no matter how hard she tried to breath it didn't work. By the time the Joker was in the little room off to the side of the lowest level, she was almost to the point of hysteria.

His eyes widened, not knowing what to do, for once, he could see what she was freaking out about, one of her hands was pressed against her stomach and that strange emotion welled up in his stomach for the second time since he had been an adult. He pretended to not see her there and turned on the TV. Harley and Maroni popped up on the screen. French ran out of the room then, her face was flushed with embarrassment, she never wanted him to see her break down. The Joker felt no concern, but some type of jealousy and irritation for her.

"What gives her the right to be upset with an unborn baby, hmm?" he mumbled, watching Harley and Maroni being unconscious, "It's my baby too, seems like she would have more respect," this had been the first time he had acknowledged the fact that she was pregnant with his baby and not some other man that he wouldn't care about.

French came in then and flopped down next to him, she watched the unmoving screen, it seemed like a still of Harley and Maroni, "When are they going to wake up?" she asked.

"In, ah, two minutes," he didn't look at her, hatred was scorching through his body, "Is that not quick enough for you, hmm?"

She ignored his question and looked at the screen, Harley started to move around a little, she dropped the knife the Joker had stuck in her hand, this made Maroni jump, "What the hell?" he said, jerking upwards bringing Harley with him, "Joker!" he screamed, irritated.

"Hey, I'm hooked to you," Harley complained, she looked as if she was tugging against him, "I just dropped something when I woke up. I think it was a knife. I know Puddin' wouldn't leave me too desperate. He secretly loves me."

French couldn't help but feel a little outrage even though she saw him give Harley a knife and she glared over at the Joker, "What?" he snapped.

She rolled her eyes and looked back at the screen. Harley leaned forward, while Maroni tipped back and her fingers braised the knife. She leaned over once more and grabbed it daintily by the blade. She let out a little triumphant laugh and started sawing at the rope. It was hard to do because her hands were tied to her sides and the rope rubbing against her wrists felt like fire. Finally one ring of the rope snapped. Then, the other. After a couple of minutes they were loose. Maroni jumped up triumphant and started running towards the door, it was locked.

"Maroni, wait, this is one of his games, don't you see the Joker card taped to the door?" Harley asked.

A loud clicking began to sound in the room, Harley felt a little irritated at Maroni's incompetence, "What's that?" Maroni asked.

Harley investigated the large box they had been tied to, she opened it up. There were at least 15 toys in the box, they were all large and plastic. They all had clocks on the front of them, she let out a gasp and picked the first one up. It was laughing maniacally it sounded like the Joker had recorded his laugh and hooked it to the pink dinosaur she had in her hands. Harley took its head off and saw all the brightly colored wires inside, there was a button that said, 'Press me.' She pressed it, unwisely. A big puff of smoke came out of it shooting her in the face. It was carbon monoxide. The Joker laughed, Harley swayed a little and fell on the floor, almost unconscious. He let out an excited laugh and he picked up his microphone, "Open all the toys, children, I got them all special for you."

French watched as Maroni ran across the room head-long, he grabbed up one of the green Teddy bears and ripped its head off inside was a knife, it had a note on it that said, 'Cut Harley's left wrist, make it deep or I'll do it for you.' Maroni didn't mind doing this, it wasn't himself. He picked up her slightly limp arm and dragged the knife across her wrist, almost bone deep. She let out a wail of anguish. Blood started to come out of the large gash. French laughed hysterically seeing Harley's blood. The Joker smirked, excited that French found amusement in Harley's blood. Then, Maroni picked up the next toy, it was a clown, shaking his head he set it back down and picked up a plush fire truck. He ripped it open and found another knife. The note said, 'Cut off one of your fingers, Maroni.'

Maroni looked around the room, self-consciously and set the truck down and picked up the next toy, all of the next couple of toys told him to do something to Harley. Cut off three of her toes, shave her hair, punch her in the face, shoot her in the leg. She was a bloody mess and French was standing up now, watching the screen, excitedly. Maroni picked up an orange alien and popped its head off, there was a puff of smoke and it hit him in the face, like a boxer's punch. The room swayed and he caught his self and picked up the next thing, he opened it and it electrocuted him, making his body surge in waves until he fell to the floor flopping like a fish. He let out a groan and reached for the knife, knowing that he should have just cut off his finger and pressed down on his pinkie. When it was off and he was wailing in pain, he picked up the clown. Only three more toys were left, he knew this would lead to his demise and after the pain he had been through and saw Harley go through, he opened the top. Two pills were on the top, he took them. After a couple of minutes he was writhing in pain.

He moaned and groaned as he laid on the floor suffering. Pains fell through his whole body. Harley looked up, faintly, her lips curled in malice. She dragged herself across the floor, very slowly, she picked up the green water gun, on the bottom it said, 'Spray Maroni.' Rolling her eyes she sprayed him right in the face and watched as his skin sizzled and started burning away. He let out even more screams and his eyes were opened wide and bleeding. She sprayed him up and down as his skin melted away. French laughed hysterically, kind of hopping up and down.

She picked up another toy and opened it, a gun was inside, it had two bullets, 'Shoot Maroni in the side and in the leg.' So, she did, spraying his blood everywhere, he started coughing out blood. Then, she picked up the last toy, it was ticking, she opened it and a bell went off on a little note it said, 'BOOM'.

The screen went fuzzy and the whole warehouse shook as the last bomb went off. French and Joker started to laugh hysterically and the Joker reached over and pushed the tape out of the TV. They went up the stairs after the smoke cleared out. In the middle of the room, Harley's body laid on the ground charred and burnt. her head was in pieces laying around her. Blood was everywhere. Maroni's body was next to hers a little ways away it was charred as well but not as bad as hers. His eyes were gone. The Joker checked him to make sure he wasn't hanging on just a little bit. Then, he grabbed French by the arm and dragged her out. They left the warehouse and started driving towards the News station. The Bat-mobile appeared on a side street, driving quickly towards them.

The Joker giggled excitedly, "Get in the back," he growled at French, "Tie yourself down."

French listened to him for once, his intensity scared her a little, she hooked herself up. The van made quick turns tossing her from side to side. Her stomach already felt a little upset, so now she was about to puke. The Joker laughed maniacally and skidded to a stop, "Joker?!" she asked.

"Shut up, stay right there and don't you even think about getting out of this van, Biscuit," his eyes were fire and it froze her.

She unhooked herself and crept up to the window to watch. The Joker strolled up to meet Batman in the middle, "Joker," Batman pretended to acknowledge him.

"Batty, do we really have to do this, I was having such a, ah, fun night," he giggled, kind of irritated.

Batman came at him then, a bat-shaped blade in his hand, the Joker took out his favorite knife and moved to the side. A large battle ensued and Batman knocked the Joker out. The Joker looked unreal just laying there and French tried to hide a gasp. She grabbed the tape off the dashboard and snuck out the driver's side door. She ran down the road towards the news station. Something grabbed her from behind and she let out a gasp. One of the Joker's clown-masked goons had grabbed her, "Let me go, dammit!" she screamed.

"Boss said that I'm supposed to take you home," he grabbed the tape and handed it to another goon, "Take this to the News."

He dragged her towards another van, she fought the whole way. He threw her into the back and tied her up, "I'm going to kill you," she growled.

"That's why I wore the mask," he replied, simply.

She let out a groan, why would the Joker go willingly? Then, she remembered the drums of gas, the goons had loaded into the van. She smiled, "Why am I tied up?"

"I don't want to die, as soon as we're back, I'm going to untie you, then I have to go back into the city with a few others to get Joker."

French leaned against the van's side, annoyed. They pulled up to the mansion and like he said he would, he untied her and then drove off. She sighed and dragged herself into the house. Her body felt drained and she passed out on his bed, soaking in the smell of musk, nitroglycerin and something she couldn't name. She felt a sense of warmth come over her and she fell asleep.