The Joker's New Toy { Wattys 2016}

His Own Worst Enemy

***

"How can I help you boys?" Ralph Torlini asked in a gruff voice as he wiped down a beer jug behind the bar. It was a weekday night and the club was half empty save for a few lonely drunks sitting in the corner, drowning their sorrows.

"Sorry to bother you so late," Said Jim. Batman stood by his side, his mannerisms similar to a Buckingham Palace guard. "But my friend here and I wanted to know if you knew anything about the murder that happened in the alley behind your club eight years ago? The murder of a poor young woman named..." He looked at Batman. "Emma Napier?" Batman nodded.

"Woah. I haven't heard anything about that in a long time. I wasn't here when that happened. My brother Paulie was running the place at the time." He turned around and gestured to a picture that stood on one of the shelves above the many liquor bottles. "That's my brother Paulie and me, taken ten years ago." Jim squinted at the picture of the two short fat men. They almost looked exactly alike. They clearly were brothers.

"Funny that a few months after that murder occurred, my brother Paulie went missing. When the cops investigated the club, all they found was my brother's bloody fingertips on the counter. Now to be honest, I knew Paulie was a goner right when I heard that he went missing. He had some ties with the mob see. Got himself into some trouble in the past. Kept some bad company. Hard not to around here. I was upset, but I accepted it. They closed the place down for a few months and then I took over."

"But your brother's body turned up a year later," Batman rasped.

"Yes, yes, I was going to get to that," Ralph said gloomily. "It turned up alright. Turned up in the Gotham outskirts, Gotham lake, and the Eastside park duck pond. Whoever killed him, wanted to make finding his body difficult for the cops. Gruesome scene. They never found his head."

Jim grimaced. "Do you know anything about the Joker? Do you think Paulie had any connections with him at the time? You see my friend here seems to think this place might have some sort of significance."

Ralph looked at him confused. "Not that I know of. But then again, my brother didn't tell me much. Kept a lot of secrets. But that Joker lunatic wasn't even thought of yet at that time."

*

Eight Years Earlier...

It was a rainy night in Gotham. The Joker tongued at his scars anxiously. It had become a nervous twitch. Lightening illuminated the city, giving meaning to the name 'Gotham.' The Joker used some of the cash from Claudio's credit cards to buy a used car. He had paid the dealer off in full. If he was going to pull this off, he needed some wheels. Rain splattered on his windshield as he drove down the mostly abandoned streets on that Wednesday night.

He was now passing through the palisades. He passed by the famous 'Wayne Manor.' He slowed down for a moment, and glared at the large estate with pure detestation. He had remembered reading about that lone billionaire in the paper. Had his parents gunned down right before his eyes when he was a boy. Boohoo. If his father had been gunned down before his eyes, he would have been jumping for joy. Of course his childhood wasn't exactly normal. He was sure most kid's Christmas mornings didn't involve their drunken fathers smashing glass bulbs over their heads rather than hanging them on the tree.

With so much money and all that land to himself, one would think he'd be doing something for the community rather than selfishly hogging it all to himself. A devious thought crossed the Joker's mind about setting the estate on fire. A hatred for the entire world was now burning in the pit of his soul. But he had more important work to do this night.