Harley Quinn Romance

Chapter 11: Tripped Up

"He appears to be heading for the roof," Alfred reported.

"Got it," Batman answered, pulling out a remote control from his utility belt and pressing one of the buttons on it. A concealed panel slid back and granted Batman access to a hidden elevator. When the door slid shut, Harley and Alfred lost sight of him as there were no cameras inside the secret elevator.

Harley chewed the edge of her thumbnail nervously. The idea of Bruce fighting the Joker on the roof of a very tall building was not helping her stay calm. She wanted to be there; even if she couldn't help, being there would make her feel better.

Alfred switched the camera view to the rooftop, waiting for the arrival of Joker and Batman.

Because the secret elevator was high powered for use in emergency situations, Batman reached the roof first, using his grapple gun to latch onto the metal tower of a communication antenna. The line connected to the grappling hook retracted, and Batman was pulled off the roof and into the air. He latched onto the tower and hung off the side of it like a gargoyle, almost out of range of the camera positioned above him.

Joker exited his own elevator a moment later and briskly walked toward the far end of the roof.

Batman kicked off the tower and landed behind Joker. The clown spun around, bringing his machine gun to bear, but Batman was waiting for it, securing a grip on the weapon before delivering a punch to the Joker's jaw with the force of a sledgehammer.

The Joker staggered away, leaving the gun in Batman's unyielding grip. Batman, in a few quick movements, broke the weapon down into its component parts, dropping them clattering to the roof.

Reaching into his jacket, the Joker brought out his crowbar and took several viscous swings at Batman.

"Come on, B-man!" Harley cheered as Bruce dodged the attacks and landed several punishing punches. "Give it to him good!"

Joker swung the crowbar toward Batman's head, but Batman caught the clown's arm, twisting sharply and breaking Joker's wrist. The clang of the crowbar hitting the roof was almost drowned out entirely by Joker's yell. The clown twisted around in order to fire his acid flower at Batman, causing the hero to release him and dodge out of the way.

While running to the far end of the roof, Joker tossed several items over his shoulder, and they clattered to the roof between him and Batman. Harley instantly recognized them as Joker teeth, and Batman must have identified them as well for he dived away from the chattering devices an instant before they each exploded in sizable detonations.

The momentary distraction had served well enough for Joker to gain some distance from his opponent and produce a silver plated revolver. He fired a single shot to keep Batman away while working to remove his suit jacket. It was a challenge with a broken wrist, but he managed.

"There's nowhere to go, Joker," Batman told him forcefully.

"Let's not be pessimistic," Joker reprimanded. "I'd been planning to toss Bruce Wayne off the roof, so I came prepared."

Joker turned away as he sprinted for the roof's edge. Situated on his back was a parachute.

Batman pulled out a batarang and hurled it after the fleeing criminal. The sharpened edges of the bat-shaped boomerang slashed through the parachute on the left side before cutting one of the shoulder straps. The chute lurched sideways as it lost support on one side, and Joker noticed, spinning around in circles while trying to see the damage. Finally, he removed the ruined parachute and tossed it onto the roof.  A second batarang struck Joker's gun, knocking it from his grip.