* J *

Part Eight: Chapter 41: Evaluation

The first year of being the Joker flew by in the blink of an eye. It was as if since the accident that everything was moving faster. As if there just weren't enough hours in a day. He went through several changes that first year. He tattooed his body with numerous tattoos. The Joker found that he liked the pain. He got a dragon on his entire back. On his chest a skeleton jester head. Crossing the left side was a series of 'Ha Ha's that also ran down his left forearm. On his stomach was JOKER in old English letters. On his lower stomach he had a smile, one also graced his right inner forearm all the way around, and the back of his left hand. On the left side of his neck was cards with the words 'All In' beneath them. On his right ribcage was 'Gods Only Child'. On his left bicep was a jester from a joker card. Beneath his left eye was the letter J. On his right temple was a blue star. And his favorite was a bat and a robin with knives in them on the front if each bicep.

(And no I'm not forgetting damaged on his forehead. He does not have it at this point in the story. Nor has he yet obtained his silver teeth. Stay tuned.)

The Joker was learning how to become a better criminal. First by exercising his patience. He had noticed that things definitely worked better with patience. Impatience just created trouble and failure. That was two things the Joker preferred not doing. His status as the top villain in Gotham depended on things working his way. And the Joker took his status and reputation quite seriously.

He devoted much time and energy to Batman. You could say that the Joker became obsessed with the bat. The Joker pay so much attention to every last thing that concerned Batman. All of it it he committed to a private journal of sorts. Since the accident the Joker's mind is sometimes fuzzy, distracted, and confuses facts. So he's gotten into the habit of writing things down that he doesn't want to get lost in the recesses of his mind. The Joker has an entire notebook dedicated to the bat. It was part scrap book, part Batman facts, several notes, and line after line of diary type entries from the Joker.

The Joker, in addition, has thousands of pictures of the bat that he's collected in the last year. Most of them he personally took with his own phone. The Joker liked to get candid shots of the bat when he would be chasing him. It tickled him at how much it bothered the bat. There's been a few times that Batman was beating him to a pulp and he would manage to snap a shot in the midst of the ass whooping. Those were the Joker's favorites. They showed the rage in Batman's eyes. The Joker could see how close to the edge he was. One bad day was all the bat needed to be just as crazy as the Joker found himself to be.

The Joker tries all the time to get Batman to understand how important their relationship is. And to the Joker, they definitely had a relationship. They were detrimental to one another. One simply could not be without the other. And oh how the Joker loved the way they danced. The Joker provoked, which he related to asking the bat to dance. And the bat perused, thereby accepting the dance. They were the epitome of good and evil as they blazed through the city, both wanting to lead the dance. But at the end of the dance they were usually black and blue and in need of time to recuperate. But there's always this need to do it all over again. It was like...flirting.

Maybe it was flirting. The Joker did say things sometimes, in the heat of the moment, that could be misconstrued as flirtatious. Maybe the Joker's intent was just that. Or perhaps it was just for shock value. Perhaps for a laugh. It's even possible that he did it to antagonize the situation, to push his Batsy's buttons. Maybe the Joker has no idea he's even doing it at all. Or, he does know, knows damn well what he's doing. Maybe the Joker has reasons that he's yet inclined to share with you readers...

In truth, the Joker could have killed Batman if he really wanted to. But he didn't want to kill the bat. If there was no Batman all of the Joker's crimes would go unsolved or unprovable in court. Batman upped the stakes and drew attention to the Joker's crimes. In a way, Batman was good for business. He was the Joker's best publicity. Which in turn, kept the Joker's interest. And that's what the Joker tried to do for Batman. Sometimes he lost on purpose, it was like playing with a cat, if you don't let them win once and a while they quit trying. The Joker certainly didn't want to do that.