Professor Fear (the sequel) - Jonathan Crane

Chapter 15

Whether or not The Joker had bothered to decorate for his own party, the expansive room held strong 'joker-esque' themes: A mini mock-theme park, a few circus cannons with clown faces, a random tall pole that descended from the second tier, plush furniture dispersed across the entire warehouse floor, peculiar weaponry hanging on walls, more than a few drinks tables with 'serving staff' who looked remarkably similar to the bouncers but with clown face paint. Whether the clown prince of crime pain them a lot or whether he found a clever brainwashing technique; these men were very loyal followers.

"Oh my, what do we have here? Have you replaced me Jonathan?"
hearing a sultry female voice say that sentence made the panic rising in Daria only so much worse.
"It's Scarecrow," A protective arm went around Daria's cinched waist, "Our friendship will always be irreplacable, Dr Isly,"

"Oh Scarecrow you know I'm only teasing," The tall woman with fiery red hair, clad in a green cocktail dress extended a hand to the smaller woman who had shrunken into the master of fear.
"I'm going to steal your girlfriend now, so the men can drably talk business."
The arm around her waist withdrew and the out of place girl found herself floating aimlessly between two of gotham's most wanted villains.
"Come on...." Ivy looked back to Scarecrow for information after his partner was silent.
"Daria," He stated.
"Come on Daria let's regroup with the other girls,"

Harley Quinn, the Joker's girlfriend, was sitting on a cannon not too far away. Beside her, standing up, was Selina Kyle, the Catwoman. Jonathan had told Daria not to trust Catwoman as she liked to play both sides. So Daria planned to keep her eye out but she couldn't help the excitement of her current situation.

The Gotham Sirens.... Daria was standing with the Gotham Sirens.

"Oh honey, you're white as a sheet!" Harley gasped. "Lemme go getcha a brandy, that usually makes me feel better!" She hopped off the cannon, nonchalantly pulling her mini dress down after flashing her red thong to the immediate public, and scurried to the nearest drinks table.

Daria would have been completely fine and confident any other day in this scenario. It was evident that small stresses rebooted the final leftover toxin within her internal biochemistry. It would fascinate Jonathan to know how long his toxin will last in a body.

What if I'm just being kept around for studying? Daria took a long deep breath to wash away the anxiety thought.

"Don't worry, we three know that you were an experiment, has that all stopped now?" Once again, it was clear that news had travelled. "Don't worry yourself, Sweetie, Jonathan and I have been close friends for a while. It was a twisted thing for him to do but from the beginning he was fascinated by you. Into you. I guess he just didn't know how to approach you. So he approached you with the only thing he truly knows and cares about."
Somehow, Poison Ivy saying that in her unique honey-soaked voice made Daria feel comfortable. Daria suddenly felt lots of things click together about the peculiar but wonderful Jonathan. There was no mistaking that Jonathan, herself and, hell, the whole damn room she was in right now were not 'clinically normal'. She should no longer expect such. She should no longer 'expect' anything normal.

After three more long deep breaths, and a wine glass filled half full of brandy shoved into her right hand, Daria finally found her voice again.
"I'm Daria Morrison, lovely to meet you all,"

"Lovely to meetcha too!" Harley grinned. "I'm Harley Quinn! Joker's squeeze,"
"Ivy,"
"Selina Kyle," The Catwoman was wearing a black cocktail dress and a marvellous pair of four-inch stilettos. The left side of her head had been tightly braided, the rest of her hair flowed in chestnut waves over her right shoulder.

"Well it looks like Scarecrow chose himself a cutie, how you finding the new world?"

"I was pretty familiar with the narrows but not with... all this stuff," Daria found herself confessing honestly. The three sirens of crime closed in on her within a matter of seconds and before Daria could react in any mental or physical form, she was plonked on a sofa that had been casually placed nearby.

"Sooo whatsit like?" Harley cosied up – perhaps too cosy – to the new addition to the female crew.
"What's what like?" She bit her burgundy painted lips in confusion.
"Dating the Scarecrow," Selina Kyle explained, sounded much less interested then the vibrant chirpy Harley Quinn. Meanwhile, Ivy seemed curious. From how it sounded, she was a good friend of Jonathan and knew nothing of his romantic behaviours.
Daria wasn't ready to tell anyone about her private life. Not even the cute little plant on the window sill of the bathroom she had purchased half a week before. It stayed in her head.
Maybe that was what was causing her anxiety to resurge in cyclic dragging waves.

"It's-"

"Welcome Ever-y-one!"

Never did Daria Morrison think she would be expressing strong gratitude towards the joker, but his speech had been so perfectly timed, it was as if he'd waited for the opportune moment.
The voice did not have a body attached. It was coming from megaphones that hung from the rails of the second tier of the warehouse.
The chatter came to a halt and all invites were silent. A long-winded chuckle blared through the megaphones.

"We are gathered here today to celebrate-"

Then there was silence.

"To celebrate what?" A man asked. Whom Daria did not recognise despite Jonathan's briefing earlier.

"The future of Gotham!" The ever-so melodramatic answer did not come from the megaphones, but from the man himself who stood on the second tier of the warehouse, dressed head to toe in a green and purple velvet suit. After receiving the attention from all eyes, he launched himself at the random pole and somehow gracefully spun down to the ground floor where his many guests awaited.

"Harley!" He cried, as if he hadn't seen his girlfriend in weeks.
"Puddin'!" The human version of caffeine jumped from the sofa and threw herself at the Joker, wrapping her legs around her torso. Whilst he was still holding her as they were, his eyes scanned over the other sirens and noticed a foreign presence.
"Well, hello hello, who might we have here,"
He began to prance forwards and all Daria could think of was a mixture between 'what is he going to do to me' and 'how is he able to carry Harley as if she's made of air?'.
After thinking that, the clown placed her down and whispered in her ear. This led to Harley giggling again and rushing to the small carousel in the 'theme park' area of the warehouse and shouting for Selina and Ivy to come check her out. Ambiguously interested, the two other women followed after her. Ivy lingered to check Daria's expression.

"What might your name be sugar?" The red painted lips curved into a snarl and progressed to a Cheshire smile within a second. 

Daria's eyes darted to Scarecrow and then the Ridder to see what they were doing. They both had ceased their discussions and were looking her way.

Would Scarecrow come defend her once again? Speak on her behalf?