unedited part four J's story!

Part Four: Party Plans
The first thing he had me do was knock around the girlfriend or ex-girlfriend as he calls her now. He wanted me to punch her stomach repeatedly, something a lowly henchman could do, which made me wonder if he really knew the gravity of having this kind of control over me. But as I was quickly learning, even if his actions seem to come from nowhere, there’s always a reason behind what Joker does. He wanted her to cough up the blood, bleed out through her mouth so that he could authentically paint a smile similar to his own on her face…then I was supposed to kill her. She didn’t say a word, only a few painful cries here and there. She really did take anything he threw at her and I tried my best not to punch too hard. That was when I wondered if he had any real sense in him; I mean, he was going to kill her because she had “betrayed” him, while under a mind control device, much like the one he was using on me. I suppose to him there is no honour among thieves, or relationships. Or I could be playing into the widely accepted reasoning for his actions. What if, what if…he wasn’t killing her because she had betrayed him, but rather because he felt betrayed? Course, I could be talking a load of rubbish myself.
Anyway, he wanted her dead. And I felt sorry for her, but not the pity kind of sorry. The kind of sorry that you feel when you understand why someone is sacrificing their wants for someone else’s…no matter how ludicrous they are... like allowing someone to control your mind or something... If the lchip were any weaker, he would certainly have full control over me; one of the few moments in my life, and I do mean few, that I was thankful for Alexander Starr’s brilliance.
Much as her pain and suffering would’ve been over if I killed her, I knew I couldn’t. So I tried the hero thing.
“You know, Tetch only did to her what you’re doing to me.” His grin slid down to a playful and shocked expression. Was he ever an actor? He’s damn good.
“And that’s supposed to make me stop?” He giggled.
“Well she didn’t mean you any harm. I mean, she didn’t know what she was doing.” He walked up to me, eyes a fiery green shade and laughed.
“She almost got caught! You know the countless secrets about me he could’ve had her spill?! I don’t deal with anything less than the best, and you, my dear…you, are very bold. I can tell even ol’ Scarecrow would have trouble scaring you. I tell you what, I’ll let her live.” He bent down and threw a handkerchief at her. She looked at him with pained and defeated eyes. “But, I can’t leave her looking all shriveled like a fish out of water! No, what she needs—what you need Harley baby, is a good laugh.” Joker then squeezed the flower on his shirt and a green liquid sprayed onto her face. She started laughing almost instantly.
“Mysty dear, get me some of my boys here. We’ve got to go.”
So the hero thing worked…sort of. “What about her?”
“Leave her. I don’t have time for this. We’ve work to do!”
And so we left. A good part of me didn’t want to follow him and I probably could’ve broken free from the device had I tried hard enough. But I felt like I owed him…for what I had done when we were hostages. So I let him use me.
_____
I laughed inside a bit when I saw his henchmen. The big, burly men had their faces painted to resemble Joker’s. I don’t know if it’s because he’s that conceited or it just gives him a good laugh to see what lengths people would go to, to work for him. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realise that he’d kill you once you were useless to him. I’m going to say it’s a bit of both then. For a “disfigured” person, he was quite vain. I appreciated that confidence a bit more than I wanted to.
We wound up on the roof of an older building near the middle of the city. It was an abandoned party-favour factory, so naturally no one would really find us.
“Alright boys, you’re going to get some of the stuff I stored down there and decorate the place. Sweets and I are going to go find us some guests…”
It was irritating how I could have the most inner thoughts of any person in a moment’s notice yet I couldn’t even peek to see what in hell J meant by “finding guests.” I was intrigued by him because he was different. I stayed because he was a challenge; so far the only fair one I’ve come across.
“First, I think we’ll go out of town. What do you think, hmm?”
I shot him a glance. I know he didn’t expect a real answer…why waste my breath?
“Blüdhaven it is!”
Blüdhaven? What’s he want with that city? This was getting to be a bit more than I had planned for, but I kept quiet. I think the Hatter’s device was starting to get to me, the way the alcohol in a cocktail gets to your head; with no feeling, it just kind of hits you after the fifth hour and thirteenth glass. But I had this gnawing feeling that he didn’t make this all up on a whim. It was just too…intricate.
“What’s in this city that we can’t get in Gotham?”
“Not much. Ooh, but I’m famished you know. I could go for a little poultry…chicken, duck, maybe? No, no! I know! We need something a little more classy…how about Chinese—up for some Wingding?”
“Just wish it in your head.” I wanted to sound cold. Not that that would matter to him. I still didn’t understand what Wingding meant. Leave it to Joker to be the one person who makes me feel stupid. I stopped caring back when Tetch was around, and plus the lchip was starting to heat up. We were cast onto the top of a storage building and I could hear grunts and crashes below us. I looked to see who was making them and saw a muscular man dressed in a black and blue skin-tight suit, maybe a few years younger than me, fighting three men. My first instinct was to help him. The Hatter’s device stopped that.
“So you see that little bird jumping around there in the black?” I nodded, keeping my eye on the black and blue. “That’s Wingding, go fetch him!”
“Free or tied?” It was one of those stupid questions you don’t realise is stupid until it’s already left your mouth.
“Well he is the premier boy hostage…can’t have him betray his own name, now can we?”
“Suppose not.”
I dropped down. The dark purple of my own armoured suit seemed brightly coloured compared to his, as did my personality to his; he wasn’t happy I was there. I was so used to incessantly smiling man that I forgot most people don’t smile twenty-four hours a day.
He shot me a warning look, the “who the hell are you and what are you doing here and you better make it fast” kind of look.
I sighed, “Don’t make this any harder than it has to be. Your presence is requested,” I looked back to see J was furious, “I mean, your presence is demanded,” I looked back again, same face. “Sorry, your presence is being forced, at a little get-together. So come with me and we won’t have any problems.”
He arched an eye brow, “…you’re kidding right?”
“Nightwing?”
“Yeah…”
“I kid you not.”
“Who’s asking?”
“Jok—” Before I could finish my sentence the kid punched me point blank. I suppose he’s not as clean a fighter as Bruce is. No worries. I shot him an uppercut as I slowly rose from the ground, deciding a few good rounds (minus lchip powers) was in order. Nice night out of town, my arse. We fought for a bit, and I will say this—the kid has talent. He would’ve made a wonderful agent. But it’s hard to win a fight with someone that is part, for lack of a better word, machine. I had him down in ten minutes. Not the best track record, but J was happy with the results.
“Perfect, perfect. Make sure he’s out for a while. We’ve more guests to invite.”
_____
Four trips and three guests later, our guest list had acquired Batgirl, Red Robin, and a very disgruntled Oracle. According to J, she was not to be on the guest list originally. His reaction to her being with Batgirl was: “I’ve had all the fun I possibly could with her…I mean what’s funnier than putting wheels on a former bat? She should be thankful! I mean, I’ve given her the greatest gift! She gets to sit around doing nothing forever…”
It was four trips because we had to stop at a store. Apparently something that Harley had said before she was to be “killed” got J to crave lollipops. Our next stop was the current “boy hostage.” This was to be a bit tricky seeing as he was probably with Bruce, it wouldn’t be easy to remove him without having to tangle with father first.
When we found Robin, he was chasing one of the men involved in robbing the first national bank in Gotham. My first thought was, a robbery isn’t going to be your biggest worry tonight, Bruce. I wanted to tip him off somehow. Somehow never came to me though and I trudged on like a goddamn lackey. But at that point, Tetch’s device had successfully infiltrated the lchip’s central area. Anything, anyone the Joker touches turns to work for him…except Bruce. Robin turned out to be the easiest to snatch of them all. A quick sneak attack, pressure to all the right areas and he was out cold in seconds. I guess good help got progressively harder to find after Black and blue grew up.
The roof of the factory looked like someone had shot a clown and his insides exploded everywhere. J seemed to like it though, so that meant everyone liked it. So far no one was killed and I was getting a bit antsy. I mean, that was his thing right? I didn’t want anyone to get hurt. And this whole situation was becoming worse and worse. I was getting very heated; the kind of heated a computer gets when left on in hundred degree weather. If he uses me more, he’s going to kill me. I need to cool down.
He had me get a school bus onto the roof. (It seemed out of place to me as well.) Then, one by one, he had me tie down the chairs they were all tied to onto the top of the school bus until they were side by side facing the street.
“Splendid…now we only need one more thing and then we can start the party!”