Out of the Belfry, into the Fire

Smile

"Huh?" gasped Harley.

Batman swooped beside her and looked over the edge; quickly Harley followed his example as best as she could.

The Joker was literally hanging by a thread— naturally. The thread was swung around the neck of a grotesque, but after his prolonged shriek that petered into a self-made splat-sound, he did not look at all alarmed.

"Thanks, poopsie whoopsie!" the Joker called with a wave as he made sure he had a better grip on the stone beast in front of him. "I was just about to take my exit anyway!

"And I changed my mind, Bats! You can have the loony batty! Every single piece of her as long as you can hold her!" And he shrieked with laughter.

Batman turned sharply to the record player as the chorus singers began, but just as he was about to fling a batterang, Harley suddenly leapt at him. The record player was too easy. The Joker meant exactly what he said. She was going to be the one in pieces.

"No!" Harley cried. "It's me! I'm gunna explode!"

She jumped onto the rail, and before Batman could stop her, she took a leap.

"Harley!" cried Batman.

Her aim was narrowed perfectly. Landing on the Joker, she was determined not to let him go. Once his back with arms around his neck, she was nearly choking him before long.

The Joker screamed as his string broke and he grabbed onto the grotesque's mouth as hard as he could. His feet scrambled for the ledge upon which the grotesque stood.

"Get off me, you lunatic!" he snarled as he caught breath enough to speak.

Even for the Joker it was hard to hold on and shove away her latch-like arms at the same time.

"I know it hurts," hissed Harley into his ear, and he paused with a furious clench in his teeth to listen. "But try to smile..."

He started to growl deep in his throat, but the Batline grabbed them both. Though both let out a scream then, the Joker was suddenly frantic.

"Batman!" the Joker screeched. "Save me! She's gunna blow! This isn't funny! Let me go!"

I knew it, thought Harley.

"How!?" snarled Batman.

"Forget it, Batman!" snapped Harley. "I was gunna take him out somehow or other, anyway!" Then to the Joker she shouted, "Glad to be your last hobby, hubby! Betchya wish ya chose RPG now, huh?! Well, now our bones will explode intertwined! We all know that the movie's just a sugar coat and the real book is cold, hard reality!"

"A little late on the timing as usual, baby cakes..." remarked the Joker not without some humor, but this was right before he quite suddenly and savagely ripped off her cowl with a snarl.

Had he been able to, he would have just as well taken off her whole head, Harley was sure. Understanding even before Harley what was going on, though, Batman sent a batterang into the cowl. It ripped it from the Joker's hands. Then the cowl fell fluttering beyond them.

BOOM!

It exploded on contact with the ground even though it did miss the atmospheric fire trench, which, incidentally, was not fire, but flickering orange-yellow party-lights running like barbwire all around the tower. They were even winking along to the music as Harley blinked at them.

The force of the bomb, however, shook the tower, and shook the Joker and Harley so that they banged into the wall roughly. Harley got most of the brunt of it, and as the madman the Joker was, he took advantage of that. Quick as flash, the Joker loosened himself with a sharp knife slicing through the line.