Taken 3: Look Who's Taken Now

[The Joker]

Players: Red Robin and the ever lovable Joker
Location(s): Gotham city, foo'
Plot Summary: Red Robin's been a naughty little hero and to teach him a lesson Joker wishes to play a game.

Men in hockey masks stormed a jewelery store, three employees were just locking up and readying to go home, but plans had suddenly changed. One of the larger burglars cracked the only male employee in the face with a hockeystick. Blood splattered on many of the glass cases as the man dropped to the floor, his female coworkers screaming out in fear. With the remaining two still standing employees huddled up together whimpering, the men in hockey masks continued on with their pillage. "The boss said to be in an' out, don't wanna go over our time!" He reminded the other three men as he punched through a glass box and quickly gathered up the stones on display.

"Rocket, get the loot in the back!" The criminals were efficient and they knew what was out for all the costumers to see weren't nearly as great as what was stored away in the back of the store. "On it, Lemieux!" The criminal in a hockey mask and jersey shoved the women out of his way and charged toward the back of the store, kicking down any door that opposed him.

"You two get on the ground and keep your faces in the floor." The female employees glanced at their coworker who'd been struck as soon as the masked men came in and immediately they complied with Lemieux's orders. "Lafleur and Gretzky, you two make sure everything's taken. And hurry, we're running short on time; the Bat could show up at any minute!" He slammed his stick into more glass cases and his two other associates followed his lead.

[Red Robin]

While the police were infamous for their slow response time in this city, Tim and the rest of the Batfamily were equally well-known for arriving at the scene of a crime with remarkable speed. With Oracle tuned in to every silent alarm in the city and a grappling gun that allowed them to dodge all of the traffic and traverse several miles in only a few minutes, it was rare for them to arrive before the crime had been fully completed. That was great news for the people of Gotham who refrained from attempted robbery, and not so great from those who for whatever reason still thought that committing a crime like that in Gotham (of all places) was a good idea.

So, luckily for the employees, it had only taken Tim several minutes to get to the jewelry store. In a way, the robbers had almost made it easier for him; the civilians were on the floor and out of the way of anything he might need to throw at the robbers, though one could clearly use a visit to the hospital. In this case, his projectile of choice was a pair of smoke pellets, which immediately burst and filled the store front with a thick haze. Seemingly appearing out of nowhere, Tim briefly dropped down to crouch next to the two female employees. "Head for the exit, stay as low as you can and watch out for the glass," he whispered instructions to them. "As soon as you're outside, call for an ambulance and get as far away from here as possible." The quiet brush of his cape against the floor was the only sound he made upon standing and moving on to take down the robbers.

They might not be able to see him, but he could definitely hear them, and that was all that really mattered. "You're only worried about the Bat? Ouch," Tim remarked, driving his elbow into the back of one of the robber's neck. "And here I was thinking that I was finally getting some respect around here." Once a Robin, always a Robin, he supposed. Besides, if they had learned anything after Bruce's death, it was that the title of Batman was the only one that people in this city really feared.

[The Joker]

Before Lemieux knew it the entire front of the store filled with thick smoke. While the lead man in the hockey get up kept calm his other two men were quick to panic. The hockey masks protected their eyes from the black smoke but still they were unable to see and no doubt this was all Batman's - or one of the other capes - doing. "Keep it together you idiots!" Losing their cool in a moment like this wouldn't do them any good, and at this point the only thing they could do was make for a hasty escape. A lot of the crime element in Gotham assumed having numbers on their side meant they could win against Batman and his lackeys, but years of proof of the contrary was too much to ignore.

Someone in the room Lemieux heard the faint sound of body contact, then a body dropping. He wasn't mistaken, it was definitely one of them and not whoever was trying to stop them. "Rocket! Get back out here, we're leaving!" He knew his talking would only draw the vigilante to him, but at this point he knew they were screwed anyway. So far as he knew one of them was already down. At this rate the mystery vigilante would make short work of them. Rocket, having heard his order loud and clear, bolted from the back of the jewelry store with a sack of jewels and money slung over one shoulder while he blindly swung his hockey stick back and forth.

He connected with someone, but had absolutely no idea of knowing who and honestly he didn't care. Rocket had only signed on for a quick payday and was reassured none of Gotham's heros would interfere. After knocking one of the people in the room out of his way Rocket charged toward where he knew the exit to be. Lemieux still stood in the same place he had been when things first went dark and as a ploy to ring further attention to himself he slammed his stick into more glass. He planned to draw the vigilante toward him and then bludgeon anything he heard getting near him.

[Red Robin]

While part of his training as Robin had been to rely on his other senses beyond his sight, sometimes getting a clear view of where everyone was located in a scenario like this was invaluable. Tim reached up to switch his mask to infrared. One man was already down; that left two up front and one in the back. It was easy to tell which was the leader, the way he was barking out orders. It wasn't a large group, but on a job like this, that made more sense. The store wasn't large, nor the valuables they were stealing. All that was needed was a couple of people to grab the loot, someone to keep watch, and someone to keep them all on track. It was a pretty simple heist, even with hostages previously being involved. Almost strangely simple, in fact. They should have expected that either Tim or someone else in a mask would show up to put an end to the evening's activities.

But then, sometimes he overestimated the intelligence of Gotham's criminals.

The man who had been in the back - Rocket, from the sound of it - ran back out with his hockey stick swinging wildly, and Tim had to stifle a snort as the thief knocked out one of his companions with the stick. Sometimes he didn't even have to do anything; they just took care of themselves. That meant two were out and two were left. The human-shaped silhouette of colors moving toward him said that Rocket was making a beeline for the door without realizing that he was running right toward Tim. The vigilante stepped forward, raised his arm, and seemingly burst out of the smoke to connect his fist with the bridge of Rocket's nose. His knee flew upward to drive into the man's diaphragm a moment later; between the loss of air and the disorientation that would come with such a hit to the face, he wouldn't be going anywhere fast.

That left the leader, who was using his hockey stick to smash the glass cases closest to him. It was almost an animalistic reaction, like a bull pawing and snorting or a cornered, growling dog. He knew he was in trouble, but he wasn't going down without a fight. Tim moved toward him slowly and silently, staying far back enough so that he wasn't in danger of being struck by the hockey stick. He didn't need to do anything yet. He would let the man work out a little more energy beating on the cases before he got any closer. Without either of them speaking, there was a common understanding of how this evening was going to end. It was inevitable.

[The Joker]

Criminals differed greatly. Some were smart, either equipped with common sense or otherwise greatly intelligent about what it was they were after and how crime worked; and some were just mindless idiots who needed a quick payday or enjoyed the act of committing crimes. And of course there were the criminals who were masterminds and could easily manipulate the former mentioned criminals, as well as others involved in the criminal element - including those who opposed said element. While Lemieux was a man with common sense his partners were simple drones who only did what told and without orders they were lost. The fact that Rocket had gotten spooked and ran off without so much as a plan was not a shock, but it was upsetting to the leader of this faction.

When the fist exploded out of the dark smoke Rocket had absolutely no time to react properly to avoid the collision. The man's nose broken under his mask and a split second later he felt the oxygen forced from his lungs. The bag of gems and money flew in the air and crashed to the floor right after Rocket's limp body. That left only Lemieux standing now, the boy wonder had made short work of his teammates and now it was left to Lemieux to deal with the vigilante. He listened over the sound of his weapon crashing into glass but heard no sounds of the vigilante's advance. Either Red Robin was just that good at not making a sound, or he too was holding his ground without taking a step.

Seeing nothing and hearing nothing was unnerving when the criminal knew for a fact that he was being watched. An ordinary man would lash out in desperation in order to get Red Robin before he got them, but Lemieux was no ordinary man. "What're you waiting on hero?" Lemieux scooped up a few jewels on his hockey stick and flung them into the slow dissipating smoke. "This smoke won't last forever, you're advantage will be gone soon." All the man could hope to do was draw Robin to him prematurely, and make sure that the disadvantage wasn't completely his alone.

[Red Robin]

Tim stood as still as a statue. The longer he waited, the more nervous the man would get. The more nervous he got, the more likely he was to make a crucial mistake rather than thoroughly think his actions through. While Tim doubted that the man posed any real threat to himself, if at all possible it was wisest to lower the risk factor as much as possible. The smoke was beginning to clear, and though Lemieux was right that it wouldn't be long until it was no longer an issue, he was wrong about something else.

"No it won't," Tim said, smirking. "Trust me." His advantage in this situation was entirely independent of the smoke. Smoke pellets were used as more of a distraction than anything else. It sent criminals into such a panic that they couldn't use common sense to figure out what to do; despite everyone learning as a child that smoke rises, none of them ever lowered themselves to the floor so they could see. They never stopped and tried to hear what was going on. They never attempted to find a way to get rid of the smoke. No, Tim wasn't so incompetent that he had to rely on the tools in his utility belt to do his job, but they absolutely helped. His real advantage was that he had been doing this for a long time, was very good at what he did, and was in all likelihood a great deal smarter than the man before him.

By the time the smoke cleared, there was nobody in sight. Tim had long since slipped into the shadows, lurking behind desks and shattered display cases as he made his way over to Lemieux. His steps were careful, deliberate; the last thing he intended to do was give away his position by his boots crunching on broken glass. He watched Lemieux from behind the sales counter after he had slapped several jewels into the air. He was almost at that point where his nerves would reach their limit and the adrenaline pumping through him would push him to the edge. That was when people got really sloppy. Tim reached into his belt and pulled out a bola, then flung it at the man's ankles. He would regret getting that much glass on the floor when he was lying in it with his ankles bound together.

[The Joker]

Lemieux was the last man standing. His ragtag group of criminals had all gone down one by one, mostly because they were idiots and didn't have the good sense to stop for just a moment and think. With his partners down and the smoke clearing Lemieux realized he was truly alone, there was no hero in sight. But he was not so naive that he would think this more than a ruse put into play by the hero Red Robin. Somewhere in the store the masked hero was lying in wait and just watching for Lemieux to make a mistake. His stance hadn't changed yet, slowly his eyes went from left to right looking for any sign of the man who'd bust up their heist....and then Lemieux went down.

The man fell and hit the ground hard on his shoulder, the bola around his ankles restricting all moment of his legs. Lemieux turned over onto his back and glared in the darkness where he was sure the vigilante was lurking, but he made no attempts at getting up or fighting against his bonds. Lemieux was not an ordinary man. He was not like the others on this job, he didn't make rash decisions out of desperation or let fear control his mind and body. Lemieux was not like the others because he saw a bigger picture, a bigger plan; and he alone knew that was not at all about this insignificant jewelry store's gems or money. And now Red Robin was about to find that out as well.

As Lemieux lay flat on his back on the floor his chest suddenly burst open revealing a cavity filled with wires and cords, from which sprung a rectangular screen. The screen was black at first before switching between fuzz and then an imagine of a familiar white face and red grin. The Joker pushed his hands into the sides of his face and made an O with his mouth as he stared out from the screen. "Over already? And those were supposed to be the best of the best, ha ha ha haaa!" Joker slapped a gloved hand over his white forehead as he laughed hysterically.

After a moment of cackling Joker managed to compose himself (as much as Joker could be composed) and he leaned into the camera with his hands grabbing the sides. With narrowed eyes Joker glanced from side to side, searching what was on the opposite end of his feed. "Who is that back there? Don't be shy! Come on up, let Uncle J get a look at ya."

[/b][/blockquote]

[Red Robin]

Tim scowled. That wasn't normal. Normally when a criminal found themselves bound by the ankles, they fought against it with everything they had. Instead, Lemieux seemed to just accept it. He was shockingly blasé about the heist not only being foiled, but about having his ability to run taken from him. It was concerning. The only time people didn't fight against fate was when they knew something better was coming along, and unless he was really looking forward to jail...

Instinctively, Tim jolted backward and drew his cape up in front of his face as Lemieux's chest suddenly burst open. That wasn't something you saw every day, even in this city. It also unfortunately confirmed that there was something else going on here aside from the standard jewelry heist. Lemieux had accepted his predicament because he knew what was happening next. He already knew that the game was over. And, as the screen emerged from his chest cavity, Tim had the sinking feeling that he was about to find out just what that was.

He knew that laugh. Everybody in Gotham knew that laugh, and they all knew that nothing good ever came of it. If Joker was involved in this, then it could safely be assumed that nothing was as it appeared to be. Tim didn't make a great habit of lowering his guard, but now doing so even slightly could be a costly error. He had to pay attention to every little thing, no matter how insignificant. The Joker was notorious for going against the expected to the extent that it was, by now, expected. Tim had no way of knowing yet what he was going to do; he just knew Joker was going to do something, and that he wasn't going to like it one single bit.

"Joker." Tim said coldly, still frowning as he slowly emerged from the shadows cast by the sales counter. "What do you want?" Nothing good, that was for sure, but it was a guarantee that Joker wasn't interested in some jewels. He had never been the materialistic type. None of his crimes were for monetary gain; he was all about causing mayhem, and most importantly, entertaining himself. This was all just the beginning of whatever he had up his sleeve, and Tim could only hope that this would be one of those rare moments when the clown was just messing with him and didn't actually have anything sinister in the works. Just because Joker wasn't here in person didn't mean he couldn't do plenty of damage from wherever he actually was.

[The Joker]

Everything had gone perfectly to plan. While the android disguised as Lemieux was in on the entire operation, the lackeys he'd hire to help with his score for the night had absolutely no idea who the clown pulling the strings was, and they definitely didn't know their fearless leader was a robot. It was enough to make a guy crack up and swell with pride all at once. Joker knew the heist would get broken up pretty quickly - weren't most things in Gotham? - but he had no idea who it was that would be showing up to the party. And that was all a part of the fun! Lemieux had played his part perfectly and now phase two was upon them; Joker had an audience with one of Gotham's prominent cape wearing lunatics.

He eased back away from the monitor jutting from Lemieux's chest when his audience finally emerged from the darkness. "Oooh. Robin in brand new packaging. What do I want? How's about a two day week and five day weekend? Ha ha ha ha!" Joker slapped his knee at his own joke before quickly getting back to business. On the other side of the screen Joker was seated at a desk, his feet propped up on said desk, and a blackboard behind him. "I want to play a game and so do you. You see there are two things you must find tonight, one of them is a bomb set to detonate should you fail this game or otherwise break the rules, the other is a very important man. So whaddaya say Red Robbypoo? Wanna play?"

[/b] As if the teen hero had a choice. Not playing meant a man stayed missing and a bomb would go off; he had no way of knowing where the bomb was or the level of damage it could produce. How riveting!

"Now to play this game you are allowed to ask only 1 question per round; either about the bomb or the missing man. And before you think of getting wise, no asking the location of either! Oh, and don't worry about the police interrupting us - hee hee - they're otherwise busy. Now then...let's start round one!"[/b][/blockquote]

[Red Robin]

Tim remained silent as the clown expressed his obvious amusement at his own joke. This was expected. The Joker was never one to not be taken seriously, but it always took him a little while to get to the point. Tim never ceased to find it extremely irritating. His displeasure with the situation only increased when Joker finally addressed his reasoning for all of this. He wanted to play a game. Big shocker there. No surprise that it turned out to be a terrible game, too. Tim's jaw tightened as the Joker revealed the premise of the 'game.' A bomb and a kidnapping victim, the latter of whom would most certainly become a murder victim if he didn't manage to win this game. He hated how great the likelihood was that he wouldn't win. He wasn't worried about being able to outsmart the Joker; he was worried about being able to out-crazy him. The Joker didn't follow the usual patterns and processes of a normal person. Nothing about him was normal. Even those who knew him best couldn't predict what he would do next, and Tim couldn't even begin to hope to use his usually strategies against the clown.

Tim was a little hesitant to ask what happened at the end of each round or how many rounds there were total, both because he wasn't sure he wanted the answer and because he wouldn't be surprised if the Joker decided to use that as his one question. He was curious to find out how exactly the police were occupied as well, though again, that could be considered his question. Whatever was going on out there, Dick was going to have to handle it. "Okay," he replied stiffly. "Let's play." Not that he had much choice here. Tim just couldn't let himself forget to keep his eyes and ears open. Just because Joker said this was the point of all of this didn't mean there couldn't be something else - a potentially even worse something else - going on at the same time.

It didn't mean that 'winning' would save anyone either, but Tim knew he still had to try. Briefly, he organized what information he needed most. Even if he wasn't allowed to ask where they were, there were plenty of questions he could ask that would aid him. The identity of the man was unimportant for the time being - a life was a life, after all - and the scale of the bomb... while that was extremely important, any bomb was capable of taking countless lives. First things first: he ought to make sure he was actually looking for two separate locations. With the Joker, nothing could ever be assumed. "Are the man and the bomb together in the same location?" he asked. He wasn't sure if it would make things better or worse if they were, but at least it would shorten the amount of time it would take to find them.

[The Joker]

"Ah, I like you! The big Bat would have brooded for a minute and threw about threats in his irritating scratchy voice before finally caving - its all about the foreplay with him, ha! - but you," Joker waved his finger at the camera and thus Red Robin with a grin on his face. "You know when to just shut up and play the hand you're dealt. You'll go faaar in this world kid."

[/b] The Joker nodded to himself self satisfied and leaned back in his seat as he awaited the young costumed hero to play his role in this very fun and enthusiastic game.

This was possibly Joker's lucky day. He had been saving this plot for a rainy day, a 'just in case' plan for whenever he could bored and needed something to entertain him for a few hours or so. But tonight he had snagged a Robin, Robins seemed to be in high order these days; there were actually two of them running around at the moment. How delightful! Though he had only ever killed one (and the damn kid managed to come crawling back after a decade) Joker deemed killing Robins his schtick. He'd even nearly killed Soinis after what he'd done to the female one.

Joyous thoughts of torture and murder tactics for the new Robin and Red Robin were cut unceremoniously short when Red Robin finally issued a question for the clown prince of mayhem and death by pies. The hero had obviously thought hard and long - that's what she said! - about his question. Joker leaned forward slowly. His elbows stood on the table before him with his fingertips touched together under his pointed chin. Slowly a smile spread over the clown's face before his red lips were parted. "We've got a smart contestant here folks! Trying to kill two bats with one stone, eh?"[/b] The Joker laughed.

"But let's review our rules, shall we? You are allowed one question per round, you cannot ask for the location of man nor bomb, and each question must be ABOUT THE MAN OR THE BOMB. Your question was about both, nice try!"[/b] Joker shook his head at Red Robin but quickly changed his somber attitude and shrugged with a grin on his face. "Now you have to learn what happens when you break the game rules! HA ha ha ha this part should be fun!"[/b] Joker jumped up from his seat and kicked the chair over. With exaggerated movements the clown stooped down and lifted up a large control panel and plopped it down onto the desk before the camera. On the panel Tim would be able to just barely make out a series of knobs, buttons, and switches. "You should be hearing screams riiight abooout....now!"[/b] Joker leaned his right ear toward the screen and turned a knob on the control panel.

A on the opposing corner from Red Robin's location a small spark triggered a fire in the basement of a small apartment building. The kerosene that drenched the basement ignited and fire sprang up instantly to the first floor of the building. "Be sure to take me with!"[/b] The Joker's haunting laugh reached out of the screen as it plopped down from its frame, revealing the screen to be a thin tablet that Red Robin would be able to carry with him.[/blockquote]

[Red Robin]

There it was: that sinking feeling of having screwed up very, very badly.

Behind his mask, Tim's eyes widened at the sudden display of controls that appeared on the screen. Knowing Joker, half of them would do something stupid like spray water at the camera or explode into a flag with 'Bang' written on it... and the other half would have deadly consequences. He was guessing that the latter was more likely, based on the words that accompanied one of the knobs being turned. "No!" Tim shouted, instinctively reaching for the screen despite knowing that there was nothing he could do from his end. Absolutely nothing.

Right on cue, the screams of several bystanders pulled his attention to a building nearby. Though the fire had yet to spread to the rest of the apartments, it wouldn't take long to do so. Tim started to run toward the building, but the Joker's voice caused him to freeze. His face tightened, the corners of his mouth downturned and his nostrils flared with tempered rage. How satisfying it would be to crush that stupid screen with his boot, but if he did, then what? The Joker would get upset that he wasn't playing the 'game' anymore and likely detonate the bomb as well as kill whomever he had kidnapped, along with whatever other tricks he had planned. He wordlessly snatched up the tablet before heading back out of the jewelry store and toward the burning building, making sure to keep his hand covering the camera lens at the top. The last thing Tim was going to do was allow the Joker to get the pleasure of viewing his handiwork.

With his free hand, Tim retrieved his collapsible gas mask from his belt as he ran, then secured it over his mouth and nose. God only knew what else the Joker had planned for this game of his should Tim either break another rule or finish a round without finding the bomb or the man, or if he just decided on a whim to blow something up. Tim wasn't sure which was worse: that he couldn't expect the Joker to play fair, or that he could. Several years ago, around Christmas time, the clown had abducted him and taken him on a hellish car ride in the vehicle of an innocent couple he had murdered. Tim had been forced to sit in the car, haunted by the stench of the bodies in the backseat, and watch as the Joker ran over Christmas shopper after shopper. Only when Tim had found just the right thing to say had Joker spared the lives of a group of children and allowed Tim to go free. It was then that Tim had come to understand the most evil thing about the Joker: he gave his victims hope.

Fire engines would be on their way soon. They never took too long to respond. In the meantime, Tim had to get all of the residents out of the building safely. If the first floor collapsed, the rest of the building would go with it. The vigilante burst through the front door into the scorching heat of the burning building. Outside he had already seen residents of the upper floors fleeing on the fire escape; his priority had to be evacuating those in immediate danger of the fire. He slammed his boot against the door of the nearest apartment, sending it swinging open and revealing a mother and her two children frozen with fear in their living room. Tim raised his index finger to his masked mouth to silence them before they could speak. The Joker wasn't going to get know whose lives he was ruining. After dropping his hand, he rushed over to the family and swept his cape up and over them to protect them as he ushered them out of the burning apartment.

[The Joker]

"Oh poo."

[/b] What a sourpuss. Joker pouted as his screen went dark, no doubt Red Robin's attempts to keep him from seeing all the fun. "Y'know, you're such a sore sport...but I like it!"[/b] The Joker grinned as he pressed his ear up against one of his speakers listening in on what he could not see. He could hear the crackle of flames splitting wooden frames, doors being knocked down, the panicked scampers of flaming bodies running around an inferno of an apartment complex, and all those other wonderful things.

After listening for a minute longer Joker leaned back from the speakers a lifted a single green eyebrow, "Not much of a talker are you? Or maybe you just feel awkward, I mean you're out there in a blistering burning building dealing with the filthy citizens of Gotham - ewww - while I'm here in an undisclosed location with the AC blasting and Harley wearing very close to nothing at all. PUT SOME CLOTHES ON, WOMAN!"[/b] A small squeak of a yelp could be heard over Joker's side of the tablet. "What you need, to get your mind off of all the burning bodies that must be around you, and the smell that comes with it, is a little uplifting mood music!"[/b] Joker cracked his knuckles and carefully looked over his control panel to find which one operated the stereo, he didn't want to mistakenly shut down Gotham's subways or accidentally push the button that released the giant flying aye-ayes ; those ugly bastards were still months away from perfection. When finally the Joker found the button he was looking for he pressed it and awaited for the happy tunes to cheer up his quiet playmate.

Warden threw a party in the county jail.
The prison band was there and they began to wail.
The band was jumpin' and the joint began to swing.
You should've heard those knocked out jailbirds sing.
Let's rock, everybody, let's rock.
Everybody in the whole cell block
was dancin' to the Jailhouse Rock.

Spider Murphy played the tenor saxophone,
Little Joe was blowin' on the slide trombone.
The drummer boy from Illinois went crash, boom, bang,
the whole rhythm section was the Purple Gang.
Let's rock, everybody, let's rock.
Everybody in the whole cell block
was dancin' to the Jailhouse Rock.

The rock n' roll tunes blared from the tablet Tim carried causing each person he saved to give stares as he became more a symbol of confusion than one of hope. The people wanted to be saved from their home that was burning down but in such a distraught situation the last thing they expected to hear, or wanted to hear, was the sound of Elvis Presley singing of a good time in the county jail. Meanwhile Joker giggled in excitement in the safety of his undisclosed location swinging Harley around as they both sang to the classic song.[/blockquote]

[Red Robin]

The only good thing about this building being on fire was that the roaring flames and collapsing beams almost drowned out the sound of the Joker's blathering. Tim ignored the clown as he guided the family out of the building and made sure they were safely outside before heading back in. The heat was more intense now, the smoke thicker; while his rebreather allowed him to breathe easily and his mask kept his eyes from stinging too badly, it was getting harder to see and this floor wouldn't be stable for much longer. He guided several more residents out of the building before making what might be the last trip he was able to make before it all collapsed.

As he raced back inside the building, his vision was almost completely obscured. Infrared wouldn't do him any good in the middle of a fire; he was going in almost blind. At least there was only one more apartment to check on this floor. Tim carefully made his way to the end of the hallway, carefully avoiding falling debris and parts of the floor that had been burned away. Finally, his feet bumped against the bottom of a door. The door itself and part of the wall bordering it was on fire, and based on the screaming coming from within, its residents were still trapped inside. Tim pulled his cape up and around his shoulder - his suit was flame resistant but his cape still offered better protection - and rammed it into the door. An older couple was inside, the man desperately trying to find a way out while his wife clung to him. They both turned to look at Tim as he entered the apartment, then motioned for them to follow him.

For a moment, they looked relieved, then confused. It took Tim a moment to realize why, then to understand where it was coming from. The Joker was playing music. Typical. Tim would have sighed and smacked his forehead if he wasn't under such pressure at the moment. "Don't worry about it!" Tim shouted. "Go!" The couple started to rush for the door, but an instant later the woman let out a frightened cry as the floor beneath her feet gave way. Her husband yelled for her and started to run back before Tim intercepted him. "Get out!" he yelled over the sound of the crackling building. "I'll go after her!" The husband hesitated for a moment before he nodded and fled the apartment. Tim turned to look back where the woman had fallen, then felt his heart sink. Flames had overtaken the entire basement; her body wasn't even visible through the fire. There wasn't a chance in hell that she could be saved.

Tim swore, then scrambled away from the hole in the floor as a burning beam crashed down next to him. This building was coming down. He cast one last glance at where the woman had fallen, then turned and ran after the husband. He moved carefully through the hallway, hoping to avoid a similar fate as the wife, before he managed to make his way back outside. A crowd of the residents and several onlookers had gathered on the opposite side of the street, pushed back by the firefighters who had recently arrived. Tim scanned the crowd. The husband wasn't among them. Tim felt his face crumple. He hadn't gotten everyone out. His grip tightened around the tablet still in his hand, now smudged and blackened by the smoke. Whatever the Joker wanted out of this little game, he was going to end it. The clown might be more unpredictable than he was, but Tim was smarter. He would find a way to put a stop to all of this. The dark-haired vigilante's face was tight with anger as he lifted the tablet and addressed the Joker for the first time since the fire had started.

"Next round."

[The Joker]

Joker and Harley continued to dance happily to the great vocals of Elvis while on the other end of their video chat Red Robin was dealing with panic and destruction. When Joker caught the voice of his contestant talking with someone he spun his henchwench around and shoved the woman away. Quickly he turned down the volume on his record and listened closely to Red Robin shouting with someone in the burning building. Was it someone who was trying to be hero? An idiot who didn't understand a burning building meant run away? Or was someone questioning why he wore that ridiculous mask? The possibilities were endless!

When it was all over Red Robin demanded the next round begin, but he wasn't the man running the show was he? Joker switched off the hip swayin' king of rock n roll and squeezed his face into the camera to look on the scowling vigilante. "Aw, you look like you lost your puppy, heehee. Why don't you tell Uncle J what happened, I'm here for you."

[/b] Joker nodded to the hero before he turned to get his chair back upright and reclaimed his seat. "Know what question you're going to ask this time? And keep the rules in mind...unless you want another incident on your hands."[/b] The Joker shrugged, either way was funny and entertaining to him.[/blockquote]