I DON’T OWN THE CHARACTERS JOKER OR BATMAN, DC COMICS DOES. GRIN (ALAN BARK) HOWEVER IS MY CHARACTER. I THOUGHT OF THE STORY.
I GIVE THIS STORY A WEAK T AGE RATING.
Alan Bark lived in The Narrows with his torn apart family. His drunken father would often punch his son good morning, good-bye, hello and good night. His mother had died years before, in front of Bark’s own eyes. In school he would voluntarily walk into the bully’s territory just to prove his might. Because Alan Bark thought of the constant punches from his father was a way to make him tougher in life. Even though Bark was intelligent he was expelled, due to his constant fighting, from five different schools during his youth, the last was in high school and he never tried to go back to an educational facility again. This led to a life of crime.
Alan Bark was never a joker, which is ironic since his skills in weaponry and calculations abilities led to an employment in the Joker’s crime empire. Joker had a love/hate relationship with Bark, he loved the wealth in Bark’s calculative left half of the brain but hated the dried up and boring part of the right part of the brain. For years he served under The Clown Prince of Crimes, often as a safe opener. Bark never knew what he was pick up during his missions, since he wasn’t allowed to ask, and as long as Bark got his money he didn’t care much.
During a spring night Joker sent his boring minion to fetch a (what he called) “funny surprise”, and when Bark heard the zero’s he would get as payment he couldn’t get away quick enough. Wearing a beige coat with a high collar covering his mouth and chin and his two guns and tools in his coat pocket, he entered what looked like a run-down factory. As always he didn’t know what he was picking up, he didn’t know where to start looking for the safe either. He looked all around the giant rooms and the offices but all he could find was dust and old files (apparently the factory used to manufacture office supplies).
But finally he found it. In the office with the word executive on the door he found a rusty old safe. Ten inch thick, titanium, combination lock, piece of cake. Bark took his tools from his pockets and started working. After about eight and a half seconds the safe opened with a loud creak. But when the safe opened Bark was surprised by a greenish smoke hitting him in the face, blinding him and giving him a sense of amusement. Before he knew it, Bark was lying on the floor, laughing his lungs out (probably for the first time in his life). After a long time of involuntary laughter he passed out. Apparently Alan Bark had stopped being useful, either that or Joker got tired of what a bore he was.
It took a few hours until Bark felt something again. It started in his finger tips and started growing until he could finally open his eyes. His sight was blurry but he could see that he wasn’t in the old office anymore. Now he saw a rocky ceiling. He turned his head and faced a large joker card. The shock of seeing something that resembled his “former” boss made Bark to quickly search for one of his guns and shoot a straight shot threw the joker’s forehead.
“I guess I should have taken those away from you when I found you, Alan Bark” a voice said. “But I didn’t think a man who would fall for such a simple trick would do me any harm.”
Bark sat up and turned to a darkened and masked figure facing several computers.
“B-Batman?!” Alan Bark shouted in shock. “Where’ve ya taken me?”
“Don’t worry. You’re safe.”
“Not from you!” Bark said, still in shock.
“I’m not going to hurt you. I saved you from death. I have been shadowing you for a long time, but finally I found you, passed out. You were poisoned by Joker Venom. Somehow you survived. Would you like to tell me how?” Batman asked as he turned the chair around, facing Bark. The screens behind him showed different numbers and ingredients and the word “Joker Venom” with big letters over it all.
“How the heck should I know?”
“I have a theory. While you were passed out I had you examined. Your skin is very hardened, possibly from beatings during a long period of time in your life. If I’m correct those punches saved your life, the Joker Venom couldn’t get to you as it should have.” Batman said.
“Wait, ya mean it didn’t affect me at all?”
“Not quite.”
Batman waved is hand, meaning Bark should get closer. Slowly he moved over to The Dark Knight, who pointed down on one of the blank computer screens. He could see his face in the screen. The sight was unbearable.
“My… my face! That £@€!&%# clown gave me a stupid grin on my £@€!&%# face!”
The Joker Venom might not have killed Alan Bark, but some of its functions worked. Bark now has a permanent grin on his face, despite his dry humor. Batman started talking.
“Do you know where Joker is?”
“Hard to say. He moves around a lot. But I can sure as hell track him down. He will pay for what he did to me!”
To be continued…
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