Across the River, Part One

My friends among the group always asked me, "Why Batman?" They've wanted to know why, of all the normal human heroes in comics, I picked Batman to base myself off of, and I never gave them an answer. I couldn't give them an answer. There was one, but it wasn't one that even I knew yet. I liked it that way. It kept me looking for answers as opposed to knowing them all. The only one that actually seemed to know anything about me aside from my public image was Angel, thanks to her gifts. I liked that that way, too. The less people who knew my secrets, the better.

I looked down upon Larsen City and heard what I always heard: blaring sirens, honking horns, unfriendly shouts, exclamatory gunshots. There wasn't a night that went by that I didn't hear these things. Some people considered them a constant, that they'd always be there, but I didn't see that. I saw a time when Larsen City could be close to crime free, a time that the city hasn't seen since the first few years after its founding.

I pulled my grapple gun from my utility belt and fired a line at the nearest building. I swung down, around the building, and landed on another, this one shorter, closer to the ground. I was following the sound of the sirens. They were close. Another grapple, another building, another swing, I landed on a different building, again closer to the ground.

It was about this time that I realized I wasn't alone in my trek. I saw a lone figure jumping from rooftop to rooftop, no equipment necessary. Seeker, if ever I could tell anyone. I fired my grapple in his direction and landed on a rooftop just as he did, surprising the teenaged super hero. I gathered my cape around me and stared the boy down.

"Hey, man, I'm not lookin' for trouble. I'm here on business."

I smiled. "I'm a businessman myself. You're an East City costume, what are you doing here? Looking for him?" I pulled a Joker playing card out of a pouch on my belt and tossed it down.

Seeker picked up the card. "How'd you know?"

"There's not a lot I don't know."

He walked toward me. "Look, the Batman crap is cool and all, but nobody can do that kinda stuff in real life. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a friend who had the shit beat out of her that I need to go help."

"Ms. Harkins isn't going anywhere, Mr. Holden."

Seeker slouched. "You just know everything, don't you?"

"I told you, not a lot that I don't. Ms. Harkins was lucky, that much I'll tell you. He doesn't usually show that much restraint. I've seen the photographs of the others. I'll spare you the nightmares."

I saw the look on his face and knew that I'd done the right thing, keeping the kid out of that loop. Most of the girls that this guy has killed have barely been recognizable. I didn't like to think of the photos myself.

"If you know so much about us, what do you know about him?" he asked me.

"He leaves Joker cards everywhere. The warehouse that everyone assumes he operates out of is almost always empty. I checked it out once, no one's there most of the time. I did a stakeout, all he did was operate out of a different warehouse. He's extremely good at whatever it is he does. The girls he's killed are all similar, no older than seventeen and no younger than fourteen. White, Asian, Hispanic, that's all he asks for, it seems."

"Does he have a name?"

"Not a real one, that anyone can figure out. He doesn't even have an alias. He's so secretive, very few people know as much about him as I do."

"Who's seen him?"

"His men, who are so loyal to him that they won't give him up even under intense pressure, and the girls he's killed. Ms. Harkins is the only one who can positively identify him, and she's in so much pain that the mere thought of him is psychologically traumatic."

Seeker walked over to the edge and knelt down. "So, trying to find this guy is like fighting an uphill battle inside of a tire, right?"

I smiled. "Good analogy."

"So, what do we do?"

"We?"

He stood up. "I made a promise to Charlie that I'd stop this guy, so if you're going after him, and I'm going after him, who's to say a little Dynamic Duo action isn't in our future?"

I walked over to him. "You're not old enough, kid. Head back to East City and do what you do over there." I walked to the edge of the building, shot out a grapple line, and swung out to another building, following the direction of the ever-increasing sirens. Something big was going down.

***

Frank Holden took the elevator to the third floor, where Charlie was, and found room 314. He knocked on the door as he walked in and saw her, covered in bandages from the neck down. He felt his blood boiling, seeing her this way. Charlie Harkins was a good person, she didn't deserve this. I'm gonna get that sonuvabitch for you, Charlie, don't worry.

"Hey!" she coughed out. He could tell that talking seemed like a strain for her. "I'm glad you showed up."

He tried to smile, for her sake, but he almost couldn't. "I had to come see you. Your boyfriend told me what happened."

She coughed again. "I was all over the paper that I work for. Wouldn't have been long before you found out, even if I hadn't sent him."

Frank sighed. "What do you remember about the guy?"

"Timmy? He's five-foot-eight, light brown hair, green eyes, and when he kisses my - "

He cleared his throat. "That's enough. I don't need to hear about that crap."

She smiled, weakly, and coughed out a laugh. "I was gonna say lips."

"I know what you were gonna say, I said it plenty enough when I was still your gender." He sighed again. "Not the boyfriend, the other guy?"

"Oh. Him. I..." Her lips quivered, and he saw tears streak down her cheeks. "I don't..." She tried blinking away the tears, but Frank could tell it wasn't working. "I can't talk about him..."

He sat down. "Sorry. He said this would be tough for you to talk about."

"He who?"

"Knight. I ran into him before I came here." He leaned back. "Unfortunately, according to him, you're the only one who can describe this guy."

She shook her head, groaned a little. "No, I'm not."

He bound from the chair. "Who else?"

"You've seen The Dark Knight, haven't you?"

***

Angel hovered above the building she knew that Seeker would arrive at. She giggled to herself. A lot of people have been expecting him today, and he didn't know why. She landed on the building and looked down upon the city. It was different from East City, though it held its own charm. Her only regret right now was that she had to leave, soon. She was needed elsewhere, outside of both East and Larsen Cities.

Luckily, her gifts would not be wasted where she was going.

Seeker landed at the other edge of the building and stopped short of accidentally falling off the roof when he saw her. She sighed. That reaction was not uncommon, when someone didn't expect to see her. She walked over to him and helped him to his feet, then smiled. "I'm sorry about that. If it helps, you're not the first person that's happened to."

He looked at her strangely. "I know you, don't I?"

She nodded. "I do. I helped you when you were injured by the Benefactor's robot."

He nodded slowly. "Yeah... Hey, I was in a pretty bad way then, and you healed me. You could heal Charlie - uh, Arachnya - right?"

She sighed. She knew this was coming. "Yes, I can, but I can't."

He snarled, "Why?"

She placed a hand on his forehead, closed her eyes, then opened them again. To the casual observer, her eyes were glowing white, as were Seeker's. Inside their minds, however, was a completely different story. Inside their combined minds, they weren't on the roof of a building, they were floating above a large black space. Undefined ovals orbited around them, each looking like some sort of mid-fifties TV image. One of them held the conversation that Frank had just had with Charlie, another appeared to be the one he'd had with Knight, but his clothes were different, and yet another appeared to be him staring down the bastard who had assaulted Charlie, Frank's hands on his throat.

"Where the hell are we?" he asked.

Angel had to remember that not everyone saw this place as she did. She simply hoped that their combined minds saw something similar. "This is a repository. Every event, past, present and multiple futures exist here." She pointed to the one with Frank choking the man. "This one is where we're headed right now, if nothing changes. You'll kill him, and Charlotte will be very thankful."

"What does this have to do with healing Charlie?"

She smiled. "This one," she pulled a different oval toward them, "is a potential future, should I use my power to heal your friend." Frank gasped in horror at the image before him: Charlie's mangled corpse, tossed like a rag doll over top of her father's headstone. "I'm sorry, but this is the best possible outcome, if I heal her."

"What the hell are you talking about?!"

"Every action has a consequence, every consequence has a reaction, every reaction has an outcome, and every outcome leads to a future. If I heal Charlotte now, before this man is taken care of, then she'll die. As I said, this is the best outcome in that situation, and all you're seeing is the aftermath. If I were to tell you about the events leading up to that outcome, you'd beg me to help her die right now, as it would be significantly more peaceful."

He balled his hands into fists. "And if you don't heal Charlie?"

She put her hand on his shoulder. "Then she lives, and everything turns out the way it should. I can't heal Charlotte because it would lead not only to her death, but to a global cataclysm that would tear the fabric of reality apart. As it stands now, the world is on the way to true peace. This sounds cold, but a little suffering for her now is the only way to help everyone and everything in the future."

He pushed past her and walked toward some of the other ovals. "You're damned right it sounds cold. She's in a hospital bed right now, feeling as though she's been raped in every way that's not physical, and you're telling me that there's nothing anyone should do about it!"

Angel sighed. "On the contrary, you're doing exactly what you should be doing, going after him."

"I don't even know where to find him."

She smiled. "You will. You'll find a clue soon. Don't worry." She closed her eyes again, and the world around them returned to normal. "I need to leave now, Francis. I'll see you some other time."

He sat down on the edge of the building. "Where are you going? Somewhere to help someone else?"

"Pine Ridge, as a matter of fact. There's a Chosen there who's a bit unsure of his path, or, perhaps, a bit too excited about his possibilities." She flapped her angel wings and propelled herself upward, but before she flew away, she looked back down at him and said, "Your first move should be to find Knight. After that, your path should become clear."

***

The police were engaged in a firefight when I arrived at the scene. Several goons inside the house were firing away with automatic weapons, while the cops had to fight back with handguns. It didn't seem fair. I landed on the roof of the house and kicked open a hole from a weakened portion of the shingles. I landed on the top floor and threw one of my rope boomerangs around the nearest goon's legs. I pulled, dropping him face first into the floor and unconsciousness.

Two other goons were in the room, one of them a trigger happy maniac that was enjoying himself too much on the police, the other a more sensible man who realized that one of his chances for cover fire was just taken down. He spun around just in time to see my boot connect to his face. The other goon finally realized what was going on just as he was reloading. I took my chance and rammed my shoulder into his gut, forcing him to drop the assault rifle. I pulled handcuffs from my belt and cuffed him to the nearest pipe just before I threw the rifle out the window.

Now to get the ones on the first floor. I found a hole in the room just to the right and slipped through it, directly on top of a goon who was about to head upstairs for something. I threw a boomerang blade into the leg of another goon, bringing him to his knees, and then heard the sound of automatic weapons go silent. There were still two more goons, but they were done shooting the cops. They were going to come after me, next.

Or, at least, that's what I thought they were going to do. I slowly entered the next room and saw Seeker puting the finishing touches on the last two goons, using zip-ties to cuff them. I wasn't exactly pleased to admit that the kid hadn't done a bad job.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "You're going after the guy who roughed up Charlie, I'm going after the guy who roughed up Charlie, and I know we're going to find some leads, soon."

I sighed. "How do you know this?"

He smiled. "Angel told me. She told me we're gonna havta work together on this."

Of course. Leave it to her to make my job that bit more complicated by working with a teenager. This kid is the very reason I bankrolled Erica Morris, but, granted, that little endeavor wasn't entirely paying off, after the situation with Muck. "And where is Angel now?"

"She said she was going to Pine Ridge."

Of course, again. That one. Pretty interesting case. I sighed. "Fine, you want to work with me, you follow my orders and don't get in my way, understand?"

He walked toward me. "I'm not here to get in anybody's way, man, I'm here to help Cha - Arachnya. You don't have to worry about me getting in your way."

I nodded. "Fine. You deliver these men to the police, and then we'll meet on top of Brand Tower. You'll know me when you see me." I walked into the other room, jumped back up to the second floor, then back through the hole I made in the roof, then I grappled away.

I landed on the roof of a building some ways away and pulled out one of the Joker cards I'd taken from one of the corpses. No DNA, no fingerprints, no nothing. Whoever he was, there was nothing on that card that could identify him. I was good with forensics, I could find things that cops couldn't, and I couldn't find anything about this guy anywhere on these cards. The guy was disturbingly good at what he did.

I put the card away and sighed again. Angel wouldn't have put the kid and I together if it wasn't for the greater good, that much I knew. I didn't like it, but that didn't change the fact that it had to happen. Besides, the kid was harmless enough. One wrong move, I'd inject him with nanocytes and take away his powers. Not something I'd ever want to do to a hero, but if the need ever arose, I'd do what I needed to do.

I shot another grapple line and made my way toward my building. If I was right, Seeker would already be there.

***

Frank walked around Mr. Brand's office and had to admit, he was pretty impressed with how the rich lived. For whatever reason he was there, he was enjoying himself. He walked over to the fully stocked bar and laughed at the variety of brands of alcohol. Rich folks really do get the best stuff. Wonder how Knight knows this guy.

"Don't touch that," Knight said, suddenly behind him. Frank spun around and saw the Batman wannabe walking away from the window. The butler that had let Frank in walked up to Knight with a tray that contained a single champange glass. "You're not old enough."

"I've had beer before, man."

Knight took a drink. "This is stronger. Besides, neither one of us can afford to be intoxicated right now."

Frank shrugged. "Whatever. So, what are we doin' here? Does this Brand guy know we're here?" Knight took another drink, then smiled. He reached up, pulled off his mask, and then Frank understood. "Oh, you're friggin' kidding me. You're more of a Batman ripoff than I thought you were!"

William Brand gave him an annoyed look. "I didn't claim to be anything less. People couldn't put two and two together in comic books, turns out life imitating art isn't so strange a phenomenon after all." He tossed several cards on the desk, all Jokers. "You're ability is a sort of ground-based sonar, correct?"

Frank shrugged. "Yeah, why?"

"What if I told you it was more like a high-intensity radar?"

"How would you know that?"

"Angel told me. She can do that sort of thing."

"Okay, so it's a radar, what about it?"

He tapped the cards. "Forensics can't find any traces of the guy on these cards, despite the fact that we know he handled them himself."

"So what?"

"Military radars have something called IFF, Identify Friend or Foe." He tossed Frank one of the cards. "Tap into your ability, learn something about these cards. Maybe it'll fine tune that radar of yours to the point where you can track him if you get close enough."

***

If there was one thing that Dave Forrest could handle, it was working for somebody who gave him simple orders. When he was overseas in Afghanistan, he was given simple orders, and never once got in any trouble with his superiors. When he came home, was passed over for a dozen different security jobs because they didn't need someone with his skillset, he turned to the police department. Lucky him, Larsen City PD was short on officers, so he got the job.

Dave preferred the simple orders, like standing guard over a patient in a hospital. The Harkins girl was being quiet enough. Granted, he'd seen what happened to her, she probably didn't want to say or do anything. He had a lot of empathy for her. He'd seen his fellow soldiers do things in Afghanistan, things that would make that poor girl scream in her sleep.

As a matter of fact, that's exactly what she was doing. He spun around and saw her violently shaking in the bed. He rushed inside and tried to hold her down, make sure she didn't accidentally hurt herself more by tearing open any of the sealing wounds. He grabbed his cuffs and just managed to get her left hand cuffed to the bed when his face was suddenly covered by something sticky. He fell back, landing in a chair. He tried to pull the gunk off his face, but the stuff wasn't coming off, whatever the hell it was.

He heard two nurses run in, one of them running over to the girl, the other one was helping him get the gunk off his face. Eventually, between the two of them, they managed to pull the sticky substance off of his face, but his face stung something awful. He looked over at the Harkins girl and saw she was calmed down now. The other nurse was holding a syringe.

"What'd you do?" he asked, coughing. He hadn't realized it, but his airways had been blocked by the gunk.

"Tranquilizer. It took a dose most people can't live through, but she's breathing normally."

He looked at the nurse who'd helped him. "What was that stuff?"

She held up the remains of the gunk. "It... looks like spider webs."

Dave worked to catch his breath. "Spider webs? Where'd it come from?"

The nurse with the syringe. "It looks like... it came from her," she said, holding up a line that led from the girl's wrist to the gunk the other nurse was holding.

"What the hell?" he said aloud to no one at all.

***

I watched the kid as he intensively stared at the cards. Maybe it was a waste of time. The kid only just learned about this fraction of his abilites, from me, it could take him some time to hone it. I was wrong to assume the kid would be a natural right away. I took another sip of brandy and turned toward the window. "How's it coming?" I asked.

He made a weird noise, then said, "Well, I'm getting a weird feeling now."

I spun around. "What kind of feeling?"

He shook his head. "I dunno. It's like a weird sensation, kinda like..."

"Like what?"

"You ever put a magnet beside a compass? The needle always points in the direction of the magnet, no matter which way is north?"

"Everybody's done that, kid."

"Well... There's this weird pulling sensation I feel," he pointed in a direction roughly southwest of the building, "coming from that way."

I looked out the window, direction southwest. "Anything more?"

He shook his head. "No, just that direction. Nothing but that."

I nodded. "At least we know which direction to look in. Maybe, once we get closer, that radar of yours will start to close down on him."

He nodded back. "Maybe we can actually catch this Joker."

I took another sip. "What?"

"That's what Charlie called him. She said he was just like the guy Heath Ledger played in The Dark Knight, y'know, the - "

***

" - joker, you here me? You're a real freakin' joker!" The man across the room from him shouted,as if he couldn't hear. He didn't mind. People were always shouting. He was used to it, even though he much preferred laughter.

And soon, 'The Roach' Lacasto would be laughing until he cried blood.

But he didn't suggest his plans in any way. In fact, if anyone were to look at him, they'd see a slightly deranged looking man wearing purple clothes and clown make-up with his hair dyed green and a Glasgow smile stitched across his face. He looked every bit like the Joker that the late Heath Ledger portrayed in Chris Nolan's famous The Dark Knight, having patterned himself on the character. He'd been asked why by his subordinates on several occasions, but he didn't feel like telling them.

In fact, he didn't feel at all. A side-effect of an accident when he was younger. The man who would grow up to be the real world version of the Joker hadn't felt anything emotional in many years, save a sort of sadistic joy whenever he killed someone. He'd garnered a reputation as a laughing maniac even before he decided to model himself on a comic book villain. It didn't hurt that everyone who'd ever crossed him had died with smiles on their faces.

Lacasto crossed the one lit spot in the room and grabbed the man called the Joker by the collar. "You're a sick prick, y'know that? You think we'd deal with you?"

The Joker calmly, slowly, grabbed Lacasto's wrists and pulled his hands off. "I don't remember exactly when I said you had a choice." He pushed Lacasto away. "Ever since the costumes showed up, Big Mike was killed, and Hammond went under, you're running out of people to do business with. You haven't gotten your products." He pointed out the window. "I control all the guns on this side of the city, on this side of the River, in fact."

"You're also a goddamn freak."

The Joker did his best to remain calm. He was good at that. "I'm a man of finer tastes. It's the one thing you New Age mob bosses don't get anymore." He reached under his suit jacket and drew his handgun. "You think that shooting people and paying off cops is all you need to do, when the world's gotten a lot stranger." He put the barrel of his gun right up against Lacasto's temple. "Tell you what, you'll get your products, all your drugs and your guns and your fake casino chips that you like to screw people over with, and I just get one thing."

Lacasto audibly gulped. "What's that?"

The Joker smiled. "Free reign to do whatever I want, using your people." He lowered his handgun, returned it to its holster, and drew his butterfly knife. "As a matter of fact. Your people, work for me now." He placed the blade of his knife directly in Lacasto's mouth. "Tell 'em, Roach. Tell 'em what I want to hear."

Lacasto's eyes widened in the most exquisite horror the Joker had ever seen. He tilted his head back and broke out into laughter.

***

Anna Adamsen sat at the desk. Not her own, but her photographer's. She picked through the many photographs Charlie had taken since coming to work for the Brigade, and laughed at how many pictures of Arachnya the kid could take while wearing her costume. At least none of them look like selfies, she thought. She sighed. Hopefully, she'd heal up and come back soon. Anna didn't like going to work without seeing the girl that had almost become a kid sister to her.

She heard the door open and looked up to see Tim walk in, backpack slung over one shoulder. He had a gloomy look on his face. "Hi, Ms. Adamsen."

"What's the matter, kiddo?"

He sighed. "Well, my girlfriend's in a hospital in Larsen, so I can't go see her every day."

"It's a two hour drive from here, Tim, you can go see her."

"No, my mom doesn't want me going over there. She's afraid the guy who did what he did to Charlie is somehow gonna know I'm her boyfriend and try to take me out, too." He sat down in his chair. "I'm only allowed to go when she drives me over there."

Anna put her hand on Tim's shoulder. "Sorry, kid."

He shook his head. "Naw, I'm okay. I called her yesterday. She said she was feeling a little better, but she still wouldn't talk about him. I didn't mind, I didn't want her to feel worse than she already does physically."

"And that super hero friend she sent you to?"

"I found him, I told him. He said he'd help."

Anna sighed in relief. "At least there's somebody working on it."

From out on the floor, she heard Barry yelling for her. She sighed again, this time in annoyance. She had to go to work. She opened the door and saw the majority of the other reporters hurrying to get their stuff. "Adamsen, get out to that hospital Charlie's at!"

"What's going on?"

"She nearly suffocated a cop with spider's webbing, and I want every one of our team out there!"

Anna looked at Tim, heard him gulp, and then did the same.

***

I could barely keep up with the kid. Jumping was in this kid's blood, clearly. He cleared six buildings with one leap all the while I had to grapple-line my way just to make half his distance. Hero envy wasn't in my blood, however. I never once thought this would be easier if I was a Chosen like him. Besides, I liked my dick.

As I cleared the sixth building, I doubled back. Seeker was standing on the roof of the building, looking out at warehouse. It wasn't the same one I knew the Joker operated out of. It wasn't the one the Joker was never at unless he was killing someone. Maybe this was the one he called home.

"What is it?" I asked him.

"I'm getting this vibe, coming from that warehouse." He turned to me. "He's not there, though, but he's been there, recently."

"Recently?"

"Yeah." He closed his eyes, then opened them again. "There's somebody else though, they're not moving."

"Not moving?"

"Yeah. I think they're dead."

I shot a look back at him. "Male or female, can you tell?" He shook his head. "We're going in."

I shot a grapple line at the building and let the grapple carry me toward the building. I made the hook detatch as I arrived at the wall, and landed on the sidewalk in front of the building. Seeker landed beside me, ready to burst into the building. I waved him down, then slowly opened the nearest door. I slid in quietly, motioned for him to follow, and then slipped my night-vision headset over my eyes. The large main room was completely empty, save for one thing.

A corpse.

I looked around for a power box with the light switch, but didn't see it. Must have been in the control room. I made my way in that direction, but then my eyes were flooded with intense light. I pulled off the headset and looked toward Seeker, who had found the power box. He was smiling. I was scowling. Stupid kid.

I walked over by the corpse and knelt down. The Roach. Figures. He was probably headed down this road anyway, what with Big Mike dead and Hammond in jail. I pressed a button on my belt, which sent out a signal that only police radios could pick up. It was tied to a GPS locater, which relayed my current address to the police.

The lights suddenly went off. I promptly stood up, was about to slip my headset back on, but there was no need. Two dozen spotlights lit up from the ceiling, focusing directly on Seeker and I. The control room light was on, now, a lone figure backlit.

Obviously, the Joker.

His voice filled the warehouse, probably from speakers that I hadn't noticed, much like the spotlights. I felt like a goddamn fool. "Good evening, Knight. Funny, huh? Evening? Knight?" He laughed for a few seconds. "It's nice to finally meet you, I'm sorry it couldn't be face-to-face."

"It will be," I said, "don't worry."

I heard a clapping sound. "Oh, I know, I know! I've got so many questions to ask you when we do! Actually, I'll ask one now, with such tight costumes, is it ever a pain in the crotch?" He laughed again. "Oh, well. I'm going to have to leave, now. I've got business to attend to with the Russian, but I've left some friends in there with you." I looked around and saw men coming towards us from all around, each one with a hostage. "I'd be careful about those hostages, if I were you. I snagged 'em from a church retreat, of all places! You'll probably be learning more about that from tomorrow's papers, if you live, that is." The light from the control room shut off, and so did the spotlights.

Great.

I slipped my night-vision headset back on and glanced around at the guns and the hostages. This was gonna be a tough one. "Can you fight?" I asked Seeker.

"Yeah. I can pick each one of 'em out. You ready?"

I smiled. "Of course."

***

Dave kept hearing an address being relayed over his radio, but he ignored it, mostly paying attention to the gathering sea of reporters, TV corespondents, cameramen, photographers, sound people, and everything in between. They were crowding the space outside of Harkins' room, each one trying to use their first amendment rights to break into the girl's room and get a statement from her about what had happened earlier.

He sighed. He wished he hadn't reported it to the station, now. Of course there was gonna be some news guy with a police scanner listening, who would relay the information to his people, and there were always people from the other news places crowding around their competitors, trying to get a scoop out first. He was happy he hadn't gone into journalism after coming home from Afghanistan.

Thank God there's a couple nurses in there with Harkins now, otherwise she may never get any care, what with all these bastards out here. Stupid, stupid, stupid mistake, calling that in. I shouldn't have done it.

He grabbed his radio. "Officer requesting assistance, St. Mary's Memorial, third floor, room three-fourteen." He sighed. He turned back to the crowd. "Please! Please! Calm! Down! Ms. Harkins isn't taking visitors right now!"

From somewhere down the hall, a man shouted, "Shut up, everybody!" Dave saw a man with gray hair, a similarly gray mustache, smoking a cigar making his way through the crowd. Behind him was another group of reporters, primarily an attractive woman wearing purple and a boy about Harkins' age. "My name is Barry Brindleson! I'm the editor and owner of the Daily News Brigade, and that girl in there is my photographer!" Brindleson, the woman and the boy walked up to Dave. "I have permission from the girl's mother that only the three of us are to be allowed in there, okay?" He pulled a paper out of his pocket. "Signed and everything."

Dave nodded. "You three can go in." He turned back to the crowd. "Anyone else tries to slip in with them, my weapon will be drawn, and I will not hesitate to fire! This girl is a minor, and her mother is the only one who can authorize entry!"

***

He couldn't see Knight, but Seeker could feel him, just like he could feel the gunmen and the hostages. He felt something... strange, though, like something was off about the whole situation. If the Joker had really kidnapped a whole church group, why hadn't they seen anything about it on the news before?

He didn't have time to think about that. He ran for the closest gunman and pulled the hostage away from him, then kicked the bad guy straight in the gut, sending him flying. Bullets whizzed by, and Seeker could feel those, too. Knight's knowledge about his powers had truly kicked them into high gear, he almost felt like he could feel planes flying in the air.

He heard the next gunman practically throw his hostage to the ground. He heard a distinctly male grunt come from what he remembered to be a female hostage. He knocked the gun out of the gunman's hand, then hit him with a right cross, knocking him unconscious.

Seeker immediately ran over to the hostage and just as immediately felt a gun against his temple. "Clever, kid," the female hostage said. He was obviously a chain smoker. Seeker punched him in the face and ripped the gun from his hand just as the overhead lights came back on. He looked over and saw Knight standing by the box with the light switch. He was smiling.

"Good work. The hostages were fake. We'd have seen something about it on the news, or I'd have heard something over the radio."

Seeker stood up. "When did you figure it out?"

"About three seconds after the lights went out. I'd taken down three of them, but only one 'hostage' drew their gun."

Seeker sighed, walked over to Knight. "So, what next? Where do you think the Joker went?"

Knight shook his head. "He didn't go anywhere. He was never here." He pointed up at the control room. "That shadow up there never once moved, despite the fact that he was laughing and clapping. We would have seen that. He lured us here, for something. We're gonna comb this place over until we find out what it is."

Seeker nodded.

***

Tim was happy to be in Charlie's room, even if he wasn't alone with her. Mr. Brindleson, Ms. Adamsen and three nurses were all in the room with them. He was mainly just happy to be the hell out of that crowded hallway. He'd never seen so many people crowded into one area, it was crazy.

All because Charlie had a little accident.

Charlie waved to them with her one less-injured arm. "Hey, guys!"

Mr. Brindleson walked over to her and unfolded a copy of the East City Coast, a tabloid. "Kid, see this?" He handed her the paper. "Every paper is runnin' this story, about you. Tabloids, junk small town papers, and first class news outlets like us. Now, tell me the truth, kid, are you?"

The headline read:

"EAST CITY TEEN ACCIDENTALLY REVEALS HERSELF AS ARACHNYA?"

Tim wanted to grab that paper, rip it apart, and swear on a stack of Bibles that it wasn't true. Even though he knew that it was.

Charlie sighed. "If I say yes, will you promise not to fire me?"

Mr. Brindleson raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Well, the super hero business is kinda non-profit, my mom's been losing hours at work, and my paycheck is pretty much the only thing that keeps us our apartment since my dad's pension hasn't kicked in yet."

"So, it's true?"

"Well, yeah. It's kinda hard to ignore, since I accidentally webbed up that cop earlier."

"And you didn't tell us?"

Charlie looked like she was about to burst into laughter. "Sorry, Mr. Brindleson, but you gotta admit, that's a pretty stupid question. It's a super hero's job to keep a secret identity, after all."

Mr. Brindleson sighed. "Look, kid, this ain't something we can just ignore, okay? A super hero working for us for so long, your pictures being so connected to Arachnya stories... If we're lucky, there won't be lawsuits slapped on us for anything."

"Lawsuits?" Tim asked.

Ms. Adamsen answered, "Think of all the exclusives we've gotten simply because Charlie was in the 'right place' at the 'right time'. Most of her standalone scoops came from her out being Arachnya."

"So, wait," Charlie said, "they can actually sue the paper for everything I've done? Wait, who would sue the paper for what I've done? Gustav Hammond? I was in his office when I took that picture of him, Big Mike and the Roach, and not in costume, I might add."

Ms. Adamsen nodded. "That's true, chief."

Mr. Brindleson waved his hands in a calm down motion. "Look, we can't worry about that kind of stuff today." He turned to Charlie. "You okay with us taking you public? There's no goin' back from that."

She shrugged. "What else can you do? I can't exactly hide after what I did, so either I go down as a public super hero, or a pariah. You want an interview right here, right now?"

Mr. Brindleson sighed. "Okay, but I'm not doin' it." He looked around the room, his eyes landed on Tim. "You, get over here. You're officially promoted to part-time reporter, your first assignment is to interview your girlfriend, East City's first public super hero."

Tim heard himself gulp. Great. This is gonna be fun.

***

THE NEXT DAY:

The Joker tossed one of the local papers on the arm of the chair and laughed. He'd gotten it right, alright. That girl he'd had his fun with really had been Arachnya. He reached into pocket and retrieved his phone. "Yeah, boss?" his man answered.

"That reporter for Channel Seven, bring him to the funhouse."

"Uh, which one, boss?"

He shrugged, though the man couldn't hear that over the phone. "Don't really care, I just want a reporter." He hung up and smiled. This is gonna be fun, he thought.

***

I stood near the stage as the journalists and reporters assembled nearby. There were almost a hundred people in attendance. Poor kid. I felt sorry for her, being outed the way she was. When the hospital director walked onto the stage, everyone quieted down.

"Good morning, everyone." He grasped the sides of the podium. "You've all ready the story running through the papers about Ms. Harkins. Those reports are, indeed, true. Ms. Harkins is the East City hero known as Arachnya."

A hand shot up immediately. "Does that mean that she was involved in her father's murder weeks ago?"

Another hand: "Has she been exploiting her powers to benefit her newspaper?

Another: "Where did she get these powers?"

And another: "Why did the criminal known as the Joker injure but not kill her?"

That question intrigued me. How did this journalist know that name? I stepped forward, onto the stage. I needed to have a look at that journalist.

The director pointed at the journalist. "Excuse me, what did you call the criminal?"

"He's called the Joker, y'know, like from the Batman movies."

The director waved his hand. "I'm sorry, I can't answer that question. Now, the first one..."

I stepped up to the podium. "I'm sorry, ladies, gentlemen, but some of these questions can't be answered right now. There will be another press conference in a few days, perhaps Ms. Harkins will be able to attend, and then - "

I was cut off by another voice coming up the stage. "These questions and more will be answered soon, ladies and gentlemen." I turned and saw a very plain-looking man in a business suit standing there, ready to shake my hand. Instead, I simply stepped away from the podium. He nodded, smiled, and stepped up to the podium. I saw the pin on his lapel and gritted my teeth.

HealAll.

"Ladies, gentlemen, my name is Kennedy, I work for HealAll Pharmaceuticals. Many of our brands adorn your shelves, I'm sure. As I'm also sure, you're all aware that we've provided many services and technologies for St. Mary's Memorial, and we have a much more vested interest in Ms. Harkins' case."

"Interest?" I asked, barely aware that I'd spoken.

He kept smiling that damn smile. "Today, we're announcing our program to help the publicly announced Chosen here in Larsen City, in East City, as well as others. As the first hero who's publicly revealed herself, we're extending our hands in aid to Ms. Harkins, as we will with any others who choose to reveal themselves."

A hand raised. "Are you expecting many other Chosen to reveal themselves?"

Kennedy nodded. "We are. Secret identities can only be kept secret for long, despite what Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne have had us think for the better part of eighty years." He put emphasis on that. Why?

Another hand raised. "And if there are heroes who choose not to reveal themselves?"

"We're hoping to, at least, extend an olive branch towards them in hopes of assistance. There are certain heroes who may, understandably, wish to remain anonymous. Knight, for instance," he flashed a look in my direction, "may not choose to reveal himself. Guardian? Doubtful. He seems to enjoy his anonymity. We hope to be able to help these Chosen without damaging their attempts to remain secret. We don't want this to turn into a super human civil war."

I stepped toward the podium again. "I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen, that's all the time we have for today. As I said, another press conference will be held in a few days, and then - "

I was cut off again, this time by gunshots. Six men walked into the room from the east entrance, five of them just standard-looking goons. One of them was wearing purple clothes, clown make-up. My eyes widened in surprise.

The Joker.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen!" the Joker announced. He walked up close to the stage. "I'd like to make an announcement, and this seemed like the best place to do it." He walked onto the stage and grabbed me by the collar. "I know you, don't I?" He pulled out a butterfly knife. Sadly, the knife didn't distract me from the scars on his face, a Glasgow Smile, leading from his lips to his ears. He stuck the blade of his knife in my mouth, but didn't attempt to cut me. "Yeah, I know you... Ah, William Brand! You're a bigshot, aren't you?"

Just before he dug the blade into my skin, the glass above shattered on top of us and there was Seeker, landing beside myself and the villian. "Boing, bitch!" he shouted, then kicked the Joker away from me. The knife landed on the floor beside me. "Yeah! Betcha didn't like that, did ya?"

I looked over in the direction the Joker had been launched and saw him standing up and pulling out his gun. He fired several rounds in Seeker's direction, but the kid dodged fast, springing up and toward the Joker. He wasn't all that lucky, though, the Joker had anticipated the kids moves, pulled out a shock baton and slammed it down on the kid's back.

I looked around, saw that the room had pretty much emptied, including the Joker's men. I ran towards the Joker and sent a left hook directly into his face. He aimed the gun at me, but then his watch started beeping. "Oh, sorry, look at the time." He bounded away, laughing maniacly and firing blindly at the kid and me. I pulled Seeker away and ducked behind the nearest pillar.

I looked around the room again, at the chairs that the journalists were sitting in. I walked over to the one that the surprisingly knowledgeable reporter had been sitting in.

There was a Joker card sitting there.

I walked back to the stage where the knife had fallen and saw that it was gone, and so was my only real chance at finding out who he was, slim though it was.

***

"There," I said, pointing at the image on the monitor. Mr. Kennedy, picking up the knife that the Joker had wielded against me. Frank looked at it.

"Who's that guy?"

"His name is Kennedy, he works for HealAll."

"What do they do?"

"They're a rival to Brand Industries, one of the many companies the government went to as soon as the Chosen started cropping up."

Frank laughed. "You mean, they didn't come to you?"

I sighed. "Actually, they did, but once I found out that the government wanted to force the Chosen to register themselves and their abilities, I dropped out. About a month later, I was told that those plans had fallen through, and asked to come back in. I refused. Looks like HealAll's taken up the sword I threw away."

"And what's this guy want with the Joker's knife?"

"Probably exactly what we wanted it for, to find out the Joker's real identity. It's a safe bet that reporter probably worked for HealAll."

"Which one, there were, like, a billion there."

"The one who knew the name Joker. Harkins never gave that up in her interview with the Brigade." I sat back in my chair. "So, HealAll has the knife, the Joker's got a reporter as a hostage, and we've got absolutely - "

I was cut off by the sound of laughter coming from the TV. Frank and I both looked up and saw a feed that looked like it was coming from a small handheld camera. The line at the bottom of the screen read "JOKER SENDS IN TAPE". The journalist from the conference was strapped to a chair, cuts and bruises all over his face and chest.

"Hello, hello, hello, hello, hello, hello, Larsen City. I didn't get to say much at the press conference this morning, so I decided to send it in to our own loveable but unreliable Channel Seven." Whoever was holding the camera pointed it at the Joker. "Y'see, the forecast called for rain today." He pointed at the journalist. "This man is Channel Seven News anchor Hank Barrera, and he's obviously suffered from something other than rain." He started laughing again. "You see, I wanted to have some screen time with Arachnya, or, should I say, Ms. Charlotte Harkins, today, to show that there's no ill will between us." He shoved his face against the camera, smudging the lens. "And how can there be any ill will toward this face." He walked over to Barrera again and pulled out a butterfly knife similar to the one he'd almost cut me up with. "Well, since I didn't get to spend any time with my new BFF..." He jammed the knife into Barrera's mouth, then sliced upward, from his mouth to his left ear, then repeated the action on the other side of his face. The feed was cut, however, before the second cut could be finished.

I shut off the TV, then reached for the phone. "Nancy, I want our security personel outside Ms. Harkins' hospital room and her apartment in East City. Inform the police. I want security personel with Ms. Harkins' mother at all times, bring her into protective custody if necessary." I didn't even let her answer before I hung up. I turned back to Frank. "This bastard just upped his game, so we're upping ours."

He nodded. "I'm gonna go see Charlie. I'll meet ya back here tonight, when we go looking for this guy."

I nodded, then spun around to look out the window. We needed to stop the Joker. I needed to stop the Joker.

***

"Well, since I didn't get to spend any time with my new BFF..." Then the Joker took his knife and started slicing into the reporter's skin.

"Shut it off!" Charlie screamed, shaking Tim out of his daze. He reached for the remote and hit the power button, then turned back to his girlfiend. She was shaking and crying and he immediately put his arms around her and held onto her.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..." he said to her, trying to stop her shaking. He felt her fingers digging into his skin. It hurt, but he didn't want it to stop, if it helped her. "It's okay, Charlie, he's not here."

She said through tears, "Why is there somebody like him out there? Why?"

Tim could only stroke her head and hold her tighter. Even as Mr. Brand's security people came in to inform them why they were there, he could just hold her tighter.

***

Melissa Harkins got out of the cab and walked upstairs to her apartment to find two men in dark suits standing in front of her apartment door. Both men had guns in holsters, looking very much like Secret Service agents, right down to the dark sunglasses and earpieces.

One of them, with his monotone voice, said, "Mrs. Melissa Harkins? We're with Brand Security, ordered to keep you safe."

Melissa didn't feel any safer. "Brand Security as in Brand Industries?"

The other one nodded. "Yes," that one said, again in a monotone voice. "Mr. Brand ordered security for you and your daughter." He reached across the door, without looking, and opened it. "The babysitter's waiting with your son, ma'am."

Melissa took a deep breath and walked into the apartment, seeing that everything looked the same as when she left, aside from Cindy Cooper, her babysitter, looking like she was being held in prison with a baby. Melissa walked over to the girl and patted her on the shoulder. "I think it's okay," Melissa said.

"You sure?" Cindy asked. "They've got guns."

"They said they're here to protect me. Said there's some around Charlie, too."

"After that Joker guy made that video?" The girl visibly shivered. "He creeps me out big time."

Melissa sat down on the couch. "Think about how Charlie feels."

Cindy nodded. "Yeah... Has she let you see her yet?"

Melissa shook her head. "No. She says she doesn't want me to have nightmares about her. I refused to even pick up a paper the other day, because I knew they'd run pictures of her. That... What are they calling him? The Joker? He's a monster."

"You think that's why these security guys are here? Because of what he said on the news?"

She nodded. "Probably. How does someone like him exist? Someone so horrible?"

Neither of them had an answer.

***

I slipped my costume on, it took all of two minutes. When I started, it had taken longer, but I was getting better at it. I adjusted my belt and made sure I had my equipment. Tonight. I had to deal with him tonight. I had to find the Joker, and I had to put him away tonight.

Permanently, if necessary.

I couldn't ignore that. Sure, Batman doesn't kill, but I'm not Batman, no matter how much I based myself on him. I'm not bound by that decision to not kill, I can do it if necessary. I was a soldier, once. That training doesn't just disapppear. I pulled my gloves on and then opened the secret door into my penthouse. Seeker was already there, already geared up. We were ready. I hoped.

"How's that radar you've got working?"

He shrugged. "I'm reading him in every direction. It's tough to tell which one's him."

I sighed. This would probably take all night. "Fine. I'll head east, you head west. If you get any further leads on him with your powers, radio me."

He nodded. "Alright. What are you gonna do when we find him?"

I raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Look, man, I saw that look in your eyes when you watched the news. You wanna kill him, don't you?"

I walked over to him. "He hospitalized your friend, and thanks to that, she's been outed, everybody knows her identity. Even if that hadn't happened, you saw what he did to her, what he did to that reporter, what he's done to dozens of others ever since he showed up here in Larsen. He's a monster, Holden."

He pressed his finger to my chest. "When I first put on my costume, it was a crappy Halloween costume that Charlie bought me, because she wanted to be a super hero. I played along, thought it was cute, thought she was cute for wanting to do it. I've got a soft spot for that girl that gets to me every time I hear about her and Tim doing this or doing that. But like I said, I played along. That was when Charlie and I stopped that bank robbery. I knew then that I really was supposed to be a super hero." He tapped my chest. "When you put that on, when you decided that you were gonna be the real life Batman, you chose to uphold everything that Batman does, because you patterend yourself on him."

I grabbed his hand. "You trying to tell me I can't kill someone, kid? Need I remind you that I'm twenty years older than you?"

He shook his head. "I'm out here trying to stop this guy for the girl that I love, okay? Would she be happy if he died? Yeah. Would it help her get back to normal? No way. She'd feel a thousand times better if she could see him suffer like she has, so that's what's gonna happen."

This kid was standing up to me. I was quite the imposing figure, and this kid was standing up to me.

I liked that.

"Fine, kid. The Joker lives to rot in jail, or somewhere worse. Now, get going. We've got less than twelve hours to find him."

The kid nodded.

***

The Joker laid down his cards and clapped as his three fellow poker players each folded. He laughed, then pulled a knife from his pocket and slammed it into the hand of the one with the highest losing hand. The man screamed as his friends rushed to help him get the knife out of his hand.

The Joker stood from his chair and walked over to the window. He saw the young hero known as Seeker, the one who'd kicked him around earlier that day. What are you doing out here? he thought as he looked at his own reflection in the glass. And what can I do with you?

He let his smile grow wider. "Get the funhouse ready, boys. We're going to have another visitor."

***

Seeker landed on the rooftop of an old apartment building that honestly looked as though a condemned sign would make the place look better. His tracking sense could feel the Joker, but he couldn't tell where exactly. He was having a lot of trouble with that thing, ever since Knight had helped him expand it to a full-on radar as opposed to a ground sonar.

Knight. Seeker could understand why he'd want to kill the Joker, hell, Seeker himself wanted to kill the Joker after what he'd done to Charlie. But super heroes don't kill, and when we chose to wear these stupid-ass costumes, we chose to be super heroes, we chose not to kill. Well, unless it's one of those big situations like Superman had to deal with in that crappy movie from last year, then it's okay to kill. Y'know, I miss my banter with Charlie. She'd actually remember what that movie was called.

He was suddenly aware of the men walking up the stairs to the roof. He spun around and saw the door opening. He watched as six men walked onto the roof, each of them carrying baseball bats or some other blunt object. None of them the Joker. This is gonna be fun, he thought.

He rushed toward the closest target, grabbed his bat and ripped it out of his hands. Another one was on top of him in seconds. He kicked that one, sending him flying. He would have looked to make sure the goon didn't get too hurt, but he was too busy surviving the other five. He spun around and punched the second one in the face, then used the bat he'd taken from the first and smashed the nose of the third.

By now, seven more men had walked onto the roof from the stairwell. He found it difficult to focus on any individuals, and instead tried to focus on the whole. Three more went down quickly, one of them falling onto an adjacent roof. Six more came from the stairwell. There were almost more goons than footspace on the roof. Seeker had to do something!

That was when he felt something hit his back. A shock ran through his body, God only knew how many volts. He fell to his knees and felt another shock. "It's nice to see you again," a voice said, coming out from behind him. He looked up and saw that face, the smile. "Y'know, there's only so many people to play with in this city." The Joker jammed the taser prod into Seeker's shoulder. "I should have set up shop in East City, that way I could have had fun with all of you." Another attack from the taser. "But, I have to admit, it's kinda fun having Larsen all to myself." The Joker knelt down in front of him. "It's fun being able to put smiles on all of your faces!" Another attack from the taser, and Seeker went down, falling unconscious to the sound of the maniac's laughter.