Malice & Misery

"And now ladies and ah, gentleman, for the ffffinale!" The Joker eagerly flashed his menacing glasgow smile from the balcony down to the terrified civilians of Gotham. They were cluttered in the center of a ballroom surrounded by the Joker's henchman wearing their signature clown masks. With a glint in his eyes he swiftly turned and jumped off the balcony, leaving the civilians confused and his own henchman.

BOOM.

The place went up in an array of sparks from the explosions and flames, a glorious sight and sound to the Joker as he casually walked away from the disaster, throwing his detonator into a random bush as he did. A couple more strides and a dark black van pulled up in front of the Joker, as if right on cue. The back door swung open and out came two of his henchman.

"Boss- what...what about the rest of em?" One of them asked wondering about the other henchmen, being careful of his tone to not anger the Joker.

"Hmmm, the rest of em what exactly do you...? OH!" The Joker pretended to think really hard and rub his chin before snapping his finger and looking back up, a grin on his face. "You see...I simply didn't feel like having the uh, e-xtra bag-gage. Why is there...." He walked towards the man and menacingly towered over him, the Joker significantly taller and bulkier than the short lanky man. "-a problem?" The short lanky man took a big gulp, daring not to make eye contact.

"N..no boss. Just wondering boss...should...we get going then?" He asked trying to weasel out of causing anymore misunderstandings that could possibly get him killed too.

The joker simply smirked as he smacked the boy lightly on the cheeks two times with his gloved hand before heading to the back of the van, the two men following suit before they drove off.

**

They pulled up to their current hideout, an old abandoned mansion almost fully restored by the Joker. They had actually managed to stay at this one for a good 6 months, a new record. All the others were either inconvenient or blown into bits by yours truly.

The Joker exited the van and headed straight in, up the stairs, and into his room. The henchman he walked past, some which were shoved, dared not to say a word noticing his bitter mood.

"What's the deal with boss? Someone fuck up again?" One of the men who was already in the house asked the henchmen who came inside from the van. His eyes flickered from the stairs and back making sure the Joker didn't hear the gossip and slit their throats right then and there.

"You know he's been real moody lately, no matter what we do or don't." The lanky man sighed before he plopped down on the couch.

"Yea well I'm getting real sick of it. All we've been doing for the last couple months is crashing random rich people parties and blowin stuff up. What happened to the real stuff? This ain't Joker business this is petty business!" A big brawny man huffed as he crossed his arms.

CRASH

They all jumped as they heard a loud noise come from above, which they assumed was the Joker. Terrified that maybe he heard them they all dispersed throughout the house, ending the conversation.

**

The Jokers fist met with the giant mirror hanging on the wall, sending a loud piercing noise through out the room and probably the whole house. His hot blood began trickling down his fingers and dripping onto the floor as he raggedly breathed in and out from anger. The glass scattered all over the floor, making a crunching noise as he stepped on the shards to reach his bed. He plopped down and put his head between his hands, his bloody hand smearing all over his already makeup caked face, distorting it even more. He growled in frustration before it turned into laughter, full blown cackling laughter. Laughing until he couldn't breathe and had to fall back onto the bed to catch his breath.

"I'm bored." He stated as he stared up at the ceiling, his facial expression completely blank now.

"I don't get it."He thought as he continued to stare, completely oblivious to the fact that his hand was completely blood red soaking the sheets and might even need a couple of stitches.

" I don't get it."

"I DON't get IT."

"I live for the explosions...the terrified screams...good old batsy threatening to end me once and for all like usual..all of Gotham on the edge of their seats because of me...but why..." His brows furrowed.

"Why do I feel...unsatisfied? I never DO anything for satisfaction...I do it because...I CAN. Because I'm the Joker. Gotham's very own Clown Prince of Terror!"He balled his hand into a fists, causing another gush of blood to flow out his tender cuts.

"I don't get it."

His thoughts were interrupted by the sudden buzzing of his cellphone in his jacket pocket. He grimaced as he pulled it out with his bloody hand.

"what." He growled into the line, not appreciating the disturbance of his alone time.

"Now, now, is that any way to speak to a good old friend?"

"And since when ex-actly have we been so uh buddy buddy, scarecrow?" The Joker rolled his eyes as he recognized the voice on the other line.

"You're right, it's actually me who's trying to be buddy buddy. You see Joker, I have a favor to ask of you."

The Joker raised his eyebrows slightly taken a back by Scarecrow's words. Never has Scarecrow ever called him like this out of the blue, let alone ask for a favor. "Continue." The Joker said firmly, curious as to what exactly it was.

"Well basically I've been...I guess you can say working on a new research project for the last year. And I need your help with it. There's no one better I can think of than, well, you."

"Ya uh, I know I'm great and all but uh," the Joker smacked his lips before he continued, " ya lost me."

"Ok, this would be much easier to explain if we meet in person." Scarecrow sighed on the other end.

***

The Joker arrived to Scarecrow's lab. It looked like an old useless warehouse from the outside, but inside was every scientists dream.

"So what do you need me to blow up." The Joker snickered as he met with Scarecrow face to face.

"I'll get back to you on the blowing up part later if needed, thank you.Now follow me." Scarecrow smirked seeing the Joker slightly unsettled over getting told to do. "So, like I said on the phone, I've been working on a new project." He began explaining as he walked down a hallway, the Joker intently listening. "About a year ago, I went to Korea for business. When I was there , I accidentally came upon some old research files from a doctor named James Lee. These weren't just any regular files, they were medical files. Strange ones."

"What uh...what exactly made em strange?" The Joker questioned.

"The patient's...they weren't normal. Their DNA samples were strange. The medical citations were all strange too. Claiming the patients were severely injured one day, then the next completely healed. It was off to me, and it seems this Doctor Lee thought they were too. I found his journal with them, detailing it all. And in his journal...I found a map. So for 6 months, I tried tracing down whatever it is this Doctor Lee had made a map too. I had no idea what I was looking for, or if I was even getting anything out of this...but I just had this gut feeling." They had finally reached a giant metal door. Scarecrow scanned his hand on the scanner. "And I was right. I found it. What the map was leading to....or should I say who." The Joker simply stared with his brows furrowed as the scanner beeped in approval and the giant door slid open. There was a girl, laying in a giant medical bed surrounded by a glass box, all sorts of wires and monitors attached to her, the beeping loud and rhythmic in the big empty room. She looked so fragile, her pale skin almost comparable to the white bed sheets, her long silky jet black hair cascading down her shoulders and off the side of the bed. Her eyes were closed, her eyelids a tint of red and purple in her deep slumber, her full lips a pale pink to match. She looked ethereal.

"Joker...I'd like you to meet Alice."