The "SAVE THE ORPHANS" Charity Ball ; part 4/4

[jokerish.livejournal.com]

[time has been given for everyone to de-cape, de-cowl, tattle on their friends... and now, it's time for the punchline to this little joke of his.

the lights in the room once more dim, and the spotlight on stage sets the attention to Mistah J - he grins victoriously, something gleeful and manic in his eyes as he steps aside, letting a projector screen fall from the ceiling behind him.]

You're all so kind, Paradisa... but some of you are a little too... late in your lives to offer the recompense these poor orphans deserve. You'd know all about that, wouldn't you...

Brucey Bruce?

[his eyes fixate on Mr. Wayne, and he opens his arms, gesturing Bruce on stage. after a moment's consternation, Bruce reluctantly agrees - looking badass despite his cane and carrying that Batman-esque hard set of his jaw.

once he reaches the Joker's side, Mr. J flings an arm all buddy-buddy over his shoulders.]

Thattaboy, Brucey.

Now, how about we introduce ParaDIsa to Gotham's most notorious orphan and his menagerie of failures?

[the spotlight dims; the Joker turns, guiding Bruce to do the same as the projector reel begins playing. there is a crudely drawn stick figure version of each of the batkids - one for each of them. Damian, Dick, Steph, Cass - etc, all the way to Batman himself. Drawn by Harley. In lipstick.

there are a few photos - all various failures the batlings have orchestrated in their lives (in his canon; he just makes up random shit for the rest of them it's tl;dr don't make me write this).]

But the biggest failure of all, Batman... is also the best joke you've ever inadvertently told. The passing of one Bruce Wayne... the inheritance of Gotham's most notorious orphan, from you...

[he snaps his fingers; the goonies around the room abruptly begin firing into the crowd - they're missing, purposely, scaring people as they begin to usher them back out towards the doors, some holding children hostage as they direct everyone to LEAVE THE PREMISES if they aren't with the VIP party - the Bat family.

I REPEAT: GET OUT UNLESS YOU AREN'T WITH THE BATFAMILY, OR WE'LL KILL KIDS.

meanwhile, a familiar face is making his way out from the curtains...]

...Damian... Wayne.

[ooc: MINUTE TO SET UP THREADS OKAY GO

reply here with fleeing outside the comedy club. THERE WILL BE "PEOPLE" (player characters) firing toxin into the crowd as people leave; those who are getting FATALLY or NON-FATALLY gassed can start posting as much in the appropriate thread below. ENJOY.

P.S - you can just reply to the post if you're fleeing for your life or otherwise outside of the club!]

Comments

[sikisikiana.livejournal.com]

[She lands on the ground, chin crashing against the..........ground.

She's quick to roll away from Cass, because hey, she's an olympic level gymnast even if she's not Cass or Dick level kay. Supporting herself with the arm that is not in IMMENSE PAIN AND NUMBNESS AT ONCE, she crouches and looks a bit crazed

Arabic shouting is go]

You idiots! Don't just stand around watching him!!

[heirdom]

[for a second, Damian feels a flicker of fear, seeing his mother go down for trying to protect him. Maybe it's missing out on sleep, maybe it's pressure and the concussion from before, or maybe it's just sheer recklessness blowing his rationale, but when Talia goes down, he tries to move away from Joker and go to her.]

Mother––

1/2

[jokerish.livejournal.com]

[he grabs the back of Damian's shirt, keeping him in place, the press of something cold and hard at the base of his neck. a gun barrel.]

Now, now! Let's not get hasty. Touching as it is to see the baby bird crying out for its mother, we have things to do, little Jay Jay! And time's a-wastin'!

[he angles his head back towards Bruce, all smiles.]

Isn't it, Mr. Wayne? We wouldn't want you to kick the bucket just yet, would we? God knows you're old enough.

[jokerish.livejournal.com]

[he guides him casually back a step, dragging him by the back of his shirt with the gun remaining where it is in his hands.]

You know... it's a real riot, kids! We've been doing this song and dance for yeaaars, and it's only in a place like this that I finally get to see your smiling faces.

But I get it! You don't want to spoil the fun by letting good ol' Uncle Joker in on things. Got things to protect. Lives. That sort of do-gooding rubbish, is that it?

[he releases Damian's shirt, shifting the gun over his shoulder and placing it in his hands, wrapping the boy's fingers over the grip and placing his finger on the trigger, talking as he did so.]

But there's no joke more hilarious than this one. A decrepit, wrinkly old man being the only BATman, the only REAL Batman this pathetic castle could produce! What sort of a punchline is that?

So let me tell you what.

It took one tragic story to make Batman. A night of sorrow - BANG. Just like that, a boy lost his parents, and the DARK KNIGHT was born.

[he tightens Damian's grip on the gun, leveling it at Bruce's head.]

Let's see what we can create when we twist it a little, kiddo. You...

And me.

1/2

[schwarbage.livejournal.com]

[ Bruce doesn't say a word; he just reaches down into the pocket of his suit jacket, discretely pulls out a little metal pipe, and blows. ]

2/2

[schwarbage.livejournal.com]

[ Suddenly, out of nowhere, over 100 pounds of snarling, angry black Great Dane comes barreling in the room, going straight to defend whoever or whatever is harming his master. ]

Re: 2/2

[heirdom]

[Damian doesn't struggle; he knows better with guns. He grits his teeth as Joker sets him up. He almost can't look at his hand, or what he's being made to do, but he can't face the Bats, either. In the end, Bruce wins out; Damian looks at his father with a growing nausea in his stomach.

Despite his age, Bruce Wayne has the same strong jaw as Damian remembers. His posture is more hunched, and his skin looks fragile and translucent with age, but he looks like the same man. He looks like Bruce Wayne, and he looks like Damian's father.

Seeing him old but alive is both terrifying and relieving.

Don't be upset, he tells himself. If it happens, he'll come back, this time. Castle residents come back. They always come back. While it's cruel, it'll be quick and painless and then he'll be back in two weeks, as if it never happened.

But it won't be as if it never happened. Damian knows better than that.

He can feel the bile in the back of his throat as his finger moves to the trigger. It's as cold as the Joker's hand is on his shoulder, and Damian can feel the eyes on him.

... and then the dog comes. Damian freezes, not wanting to accidentally pull that trigger.]

[ohmistahjay.livejournal.com]

[oh, you have a dog? WELL I HAVE HYENAS. harley yells loudly - loud enough to split eardrums, seriously:]




[and two hyenas come running towards the dog, going to tackle him]

Have fun with your new chew toy!

[jokerish.livejournal.com]

--What in the blazes--

[a dog? was Bruce seriously resorting to a dog, to--

the dog attacks him from the side; he lifts a leg up to kick it in the head which results in a rather haphazard sprawling of both the Joker and Damian -

and the gun goes off with a loud BANG--]

[heirdom]

[down they go, and a chain of different events start as the Batfamily jumps into action at the opening left for them:]

[scouring.livejournal.com]

[Acting quickly. In the middle of all this, no time to really think about the other things that are going on, he needs to immobilize the biggest threat right now. And that, is and always was the Joker.

In a split second Tim's leaping up onto the stage and go for the man]

[batfail.livejournal.com]

[Seeing what Tim is doing, Steph follows him a second later, going for the Joker as well!]

[jokerish.livejournal.com]

Oh, great. Juuuust great! Screw the pooch, why don't you--

[he kicks Damian off him and is swinging to his feet, pulling another gun out of his jacket while he does so - this one armed with toxin, and starts running through the curtains, thrusting them back at his pursuers as he starts laughing maniacally and clamoring backstage.]

[scouring.livejournal.com]

[No chance in hell. Tim's shoving the curtains aside easily and chasing after him. Aware Steph's following too.]

Don't fall behind.

[heirdom]

[Damian is thrown off of Joker as Steph and Tim rush him, and drops the gun in hand like it'll burn him. He sits up, turning to look at Bruce in panic, as Dick moves to him.]

[knightprodigy.livejournal.com]

[As soon as it's all in motion - Good ol' Ace - Dick removes his supportive/restraining hand from Talia's shoulder, and like Tim and Steph - who he sees moving out the corner of his eye - he rushes the stage.

The gun shot goes off milliseconds before he reaches Damian. And it's with unbridled relief that he looks up and sees Bruce still standing, but... Terry falling. Wide-eyed woe, and guilt for thinking of Bruce first register on his cowled face, but the suit... the suit will protect Terry, and reality snaps back when he feels Damian shifting under his hands.]

Hey, [Dick hauls the boy to his feet, surreptitiously checking him over. Tch. Nice make-up.] Let's get you out of here, yeah?

[heirdom]

[he grabs onto Dick, too, as he's lifted, and finds his feet quickly.]

That... that would be nice.

[knightprodigy.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I bet it would. Come on, alley-oop [He says softly, lending a supporting arm the entire time.

fff there so much crazy going on around, but before he can help anyone else, he has to get Damian, his responsibility, down the steps and...reunite him with his mother before she starts going crazy again.]

Maybe they'll save you a punch or two.

[thenewbat.livejournal.com]

[Ace was good backup, but he was just a dog and it wasn't like he had much finesse. Even Terry could see where this was going when the Joker and Damian started to fall, and the gun was still pointed at Bruce. He didn't even think about it, automatically moving to protect the older man.

He'd never actually been shot before. Not with actual bullets at least. When it hits his torso he cries out, the sudden pain a surprise. Thank god for the Batsuit, even if that was going to be a nasty bruise later]

[schwarbage.livejournal.com]

[ Bruce is stunned, at first, his eyes locking with Damian as he stood torn between his two sons. He sees Dick move for Damian, though, and knows that he won't be able to get to the smaller boy safely.

He manages to catch Terry just before he hits the ground, laying him down to minimize the inevitable shock reaction.

As for words, though--there's no witty comebacks, no threats, no apologies. Just the knowledge that as bad as it is, it could have be so much worse. ]

[thenewbat.livejournal.com]

[Terry hisses as he's moved. Man that hurts. But as much as it stings...]

Are you ok?

[schwarbage.livejournal.com]

Don't worry about me; I'm not the one who was hit with a bullet.

[ Bruce is careful, and puts him in recovery position, with the wound facing down. It's not much in the way of first aid, but it's better than nothing and the best he can do. ]

Are you bleeding?

[onset.livejournal.com]

[As the others begin their charge, Cass takes this opportunity to go for Harley. Someone needs to keep the crazy chick from being able to help Joker.]

[ohmistahjay.livejournal.com]

[totally taking on a ridiculous karate pose here. BRING IT OOOONNN BATGIRL]

[onset.livejournal.com]

[Fake out punch to the right, then a real one to the left.]