Insanity

Chapter 23

I wake up the next morning to my head hitting the floor. "Oww..." i groan, getting up off the floor. I grab my phone off the table to see what time it is. I groan again when i see the time, 6:37 am. I sigh and open my door to go downstairs, knowing I'm not gonna be able to go back to sleep. I walk down the stairs as quietly as possible. I stop when i see Joker sitting on the couch. I take one last step to get off the stair case, and one of the boards squeak. I freeze and Joker's head whips around. We stare at each other in silence for a moment before I slowly walk toward the living room, sitting awkwardly on the other end of the couch. "What're ya doin' up so early?" he asks, cocking an eyebrow. "You know, i could be asking the same thing." i say, crossing my legs. "Well, I don't uh sleep very well. Wake up easily, take a long time to go to sleep." he says, stifling a yawn. "So why're you up so early?" he asks. I yawn, "I fell off my bed and it woke me up." i grumble, rubbing my eyes. "Why didn't you just go back to sleep?" he asks, cocking his head to one side. "Because most of the time i wake up, I'm not able to go back to sleep." I say, yawning once again. "Well, you might want to try and sleep a little more. We have our little job today." he mumbles, crossing his arms. "Job?" i ask, trying to remember. "Yeah, we have to go to Bruce Wayne's party. You're job is to look for anyone who disappears right before the Bat shows up." he says. I nod my head. "I got you a, um, dress. Its in my office. You go back to bed and it'll be on your dresser when you wake up." he mutters, standing to leave. I get up and go to my room, not caring if I'm quiet or not. I shut my door and lock it, climbing back into bed and trying to go back to sleep. After about 15 minutes, sleep claims me.

* 2 hours later *

I wake up and look around my room. It's so boring! I mentally groan. I should paint it...hang something on the wall..do something to make it look less boring. I grab my black jacket and slip on some sweats and my black Vans. I walk downstairs and slip outside. I walk to the garage. I look around before deciding on a normal looking black car. I hop in and drive to the closest Hot Topic. I buy some MCR, PTV, BVB, P!ATD, and Green Day posters. I buy some shirts and two pairs of Converse, one red, one black. I check out and head home, blaring my music and singing along to every song. When I get back home, i start hanging the posters, smiling at the faces of all my favorite bands. "Knock knock." Joker says, tapping his knuckles against the door frame. "What do you want?" i ask, hanging my shirts in the closet. "You should, uh, start getting ready, doll. We leave in an hour." he says. I nod my head, "Okay, I'll start getting ready.." i mutter, turning to face him. "Anything else you need?" i ask, walking over to my dresser. "Just..i got you some shoes for tonight." he mumbles, tossing a black pair of high heels on my floor and leaving. I shut my door and lock it so no one comes in. I strip down to my under clothes and grab the dress. It's a black, backless dress that stops about mid-thigh. I groan and slip it on. Then I look at the shoes and scoff, that's not happening. I grab my new pair of red Converse and slide them on. I walk to the mirror and pull out my eyeliner and putting it on. Then i put on some mascara and little lip gloss. Smiling at my reflection, I grab my flat iron and begin straightening my hair. When I'm finished, I put everything away and head downstairs. When I get downstairs, Joker looks me up and down, frowning when.he sees my shoes. "You, uh, you didn't like the shoes I gave you?" he asks. "Well... It's not that I didn't like them, its just that... My foot hurts and they would make it worse..." I lie. He narrows his eyes at me. "Are you lying?" he asks, tilting his head to the side. "No." I say evenly. He chuckles, "Okay let's go." he shouts, grabbing my arm and dragging me to a van. I climb in the passenger seat and buckle up, knowing how wreckless Joker drives. He climbs in the driver seat and starts the van. He casts a sideways glance at me and chuckles. "What?" i ask, crossing my arms over my chest. "Oh nothing, nothing at all." he says, chuckling again. "No, obviously it's something. Tell me." i say, growing suspicious. "Well, you uh, you kind of look like a girl in a video Harley showed me the other day. Except, your hair is longer and instead of red It's brown." he explains. "I know what video you're talking about." i say, smiling. "Hmmm... I wonder.." i mumble to myself. "Wonder what?" he asks, pulling away from the house. I open tge glove box and find a pair of scissors. "What are you...?" he trails off when i start cutting my hair. "Don't worry, I've always cut my hair." i say, checking my hair in the rearview mirror to make sure its even. I then change my hair to red and my eyes to hazel. Then I look at Joker, "Now how do i look?" i ask, giggling. "Well now you look almost exactly like her." he says, darting in between cars. I smile, "Good."
When Joker stops the van, he says, "I'm going to park a couple streets away. You go in now and I'll be in soon." I nod my head and climbing out and heading to the door. "Your name, Miss?" an older man at the door asks. "Emily Dawson." I say, running my fingers through my hair. He smiles, "Ah, here you are, miss. Enjoy the party." he says, letting me inside. "I'm sure I will, have a nice night." I say as i pass him. I follow a giggling couple to the main room. I walk into the room, making sure to see the faces of everyone there. A few moments later, the elevator dings and Joker shoves a man to the floor, walking out with some of his henchmen. "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. We are tonight's entertainment! I only have one question. Where is Harvey Dent?" Joker says, nobody responds. He walks around, pointing his gun at random people. "You know where Harvey is? You know where he is?" he asks. He grabs a mans face, "You know where I can find Harvey? I need to talk to him about something. Just something, a little..." he asks. "No..." he says, turning the guys face away. "You know, I'll settle for his loved ones." he says to the gathering of people. "We're not intimidated by thugs!" an older man growls. Joker smacks his lips. "You know, you remind me of my father." Joker pulls out his swithblade and put it to the mans mouth. "I hated my father!" he roars at the man. "Okay, stop!" I hear a woman shout across the room. Joker shoves the man to his thugs and turns to face the woman. I turn and see its Rachel Dawes. "Well, hello, beautiful. And you are beautiful." Joker says, walking over to Rachel, adjusting his hair as he goes. Joker walks around Rachel, "Oh, you look nervous. Is it the scars? You want to know how I got 'em" he asks her. He then grabs Rachel's head and positions the knife by her mouth. "Come here. Hey! Look at me. So I had a wife. She was beautiful, like you. Who tells me I worry too much. Tells me i ought to smile more. Who gambles and gets in deep with the sharks. One day, they carve her face. And we have no money for surgeries. She can't take it. I just wanna see her smile again. I just want her to know that I don't care about the scars. So... I stick a razor in my mouth and do this..." he says, mimicking slicing his mouth open with his tongue. I look around while he's doing that, noticing that both Bruce Wayne and Harvey Dent are missing. Joker starts talking again. "To myself. And you know what? She can't stand the sight of me! She leaves. Now I see the funny side. Now I'm always smiling!" He spread his arms wide, and Rachel took her chance, giving him a hard punch in the stomach.

He backed away in slight pain, but he laughed - there was a funny side in everything.

"Ah, a little fight in ya'!" He pointed his knife at Rachel again. "I like that."

Now a dark, threatening, angry voice spoke.

"Then you're gonna' love me."

Out of nowhere, a figure in black armor sprung and punched Joker in the face, knocking the him to the ground. This armored man wore a black cape and a mask that covered half his face, two sharp "ears" spiking from its top. This was the Batman himself. Joker's men immediately charged, but at lightning speeds, Batman took them down. Joker rose and shoved one of his thugs standing by into the fight. The thug caught Batman by surprise, knocking him down, but Batman dispatched the thug from the floor.

Joker began to kick the fallen vigilante, a blade sliding out of his shoe. He got a good stab in Batman's stomach, but the armor was thick enough to prevent much damage. Batman rose, kicked Joker down, and Joker frantically crawled along the floor, grabbing a dropped gun and rising. In a mere few seconds, while Batman fought another thug, Joker grabbed Rachel and carried her over to a large window, holding her at gunpoint. Batman threw the thug to the ground and turned to the Joker, seeing Rachel desperately trying to break the madman's grip.

"Drop the gun." The masked man ordered. "Oh, sure!" Joker replied. "And you just take off your little mask and show us all who you really are!" He cackled and shot the window behind him, glass shattering. He dangled Rachel out over the city far below.

"Let her go!" Batman demanded. Joker laughed.

"Very poor choice of words." He cackled, and let go of Rachel. She screamed, and Batman was out the window instantly. Once Joker saw Batman grab her in midair, he gestured to his few un-beaten men and ran to the elevator. They followed, and in a few mere seconds, they were gone. After a few minutes I walk over to the elevator and press the button. Once it arrives, I walk in and press the down button. When the door slides open again, i run through the lobby and out the doors. Once I'm outside, I run down the street until I see Joker's van. When I see it, I start sprinting towards it, glad that I decided to wear my Converse instead of the high heels Joker got me. I climb into the front seat of the van and look at Joker. He glares at me, "What took you so long!?" he hisses. "I didn't want to look suspicious so I waited a few minutes before leaving." i say, crossing my arms over my chest. "You couldn't of ran?" he asks, i growl. "I did run! I ran out of the hotel, down the street, then sprinted down to the van!" Joker chuckles and i glare at him. He pulls away from the curb and speeds home. Once we get there, he grabs my arm and drags me to his office. "So, who left right before the Bat showed up?" he asks, plopping down in his chair. I sigh, "Two people. Bruce Wayne and Harvey Dent." i grumble, fiddling with the end of my dress. "Interesting...it has to be Harvey...the way he threw himself after her..." he mutters. I stand there awkwardly for a moment before he realizes I'm still there. "You can, uh, leave doll." he mumbles, waving me away with his hand. I leave his office and go to my room. I lie on my bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking about something i could do. Then i hear something move in my closet. I walk over to it and open the door. The second the door opens, someone lunges out and covers my mouth and nose with a piece of cloth. After a few minutes of struggling my body goes limp and the room around me disappears into darkness.