How Jack got his Joker

Summary: There are so many stories of how Joker got his scars, how Jack became the Joker. Here's just another twist to the scars, another shade of Chaos and Darkness that captivated a boy, Jack Napier, and created a monster. Joker.

Jack Napier was your ordinary teenager passing through high school. His parents loved him and he loved them back like any other would. His life revolved around several things. The first being school.

His grades were....outstanding. Each class he passed exams with high grades that not only brought pride to himself but his teachers. Jack passed Chemistry will flying colours and even took up engineering. Homework and class work was handed in on time and at the best. However this did end him with the title of nerd amongst the majority of the school. Not that he cared. They were all words anyway.

Another thing were his friends, or in particular, his jokes. His friends liked to call him the clown but not in a harsh way. His jokes were hilarious unlike the majority and it seemed he had a new joke every day. That's what made him popular. His jokes were all he had. Through almost all of high school he was bullied but never fought back. In the words of his mother. Jack was a good boy. No one knew that sometimes his mind delved into the darker parts of humanity.

As he grew further into his teen years Jack became engrossed with more adult things. While most boys his age worried over which girl they would take on prom night, Jack worked furiously in his room creating things. Once his father had found him with a Swiss army knife in Jack's room. He hadn't been angry, a boy needed to protect himself after all, but over time the knife collection grew into the more menacing of blades. But that was only one thing. Jack got into gambling.

Jack walked through the corridors of his high school hurriedly, glancing at a clock with chocolate eyes as he passed. If he didn't hurry he'd be late! His shoulder length, wavy, dirty blonde locks became haywire with his quick walk. Soon enough he was sliding out of the school and towards the back where the gym was housed. But he wasn't heading there. No, Jack moved around the outside of the gym until he was behind it to find three guys already sat there waiting. All three were the sort of guys he didn't usually mess with - jocks - but today he felt oddly daring. The blonde one, Nathan, smirked up at him.
"About time you got here, clown."

Grinning at the jock, he took his seat opposite him, "is it my imagination or are you...." he looked into the jock's eyes, "scared?"

Nathan's eyes narrowed why his two friends snickered beside Jack's opponent.

"Very funny, clown, just deal already."

Still grinning to himself, brown eyes never shifted from the pack of cards in his skilled hands. Shuffling the deck with practised ease, he dealt out two cards each and the game was underway. There was no way Jack could lose. Literally. The game was rigged as always. He never played for the winnings, just to see if he could win with his tricks. All through the game he didn't stop grinning either to himself or at Nathan, no one was sure. And after several bets and cards being laid down, the jock threw his cards down with a growl. Furiously he stood and pointed at Jack as threateningly as his muscled arms could be.

"There's no way I could have lost!"

Jack's grin seemed to be wider as he gathered the cards back together and shuffled them, shrugging as he did so, "come on Nathan, don't be a sore loser."

The two friends of Nathan pulled said teen away, glaring over their shoulders at the one still sat down and smiling.

"Nathan!"

They turned to see a black haired girl come running over with a wide smile as she attached herself to Nathan's arm. Her skimpy cheerleader's outfit showing all of her feminine curves that pleased the eyes of the four. Nathan wrapped an arm around his girlfriend's waist and kissed her soundly with as much tact as an elephant.

"Come on, lets leave the clown to his cards."

As they left, Nathan's girlfriend - Nina - looked back at Jack. Said boy smirked and winked at her, blowing a kiss dramatically to her. She silently giggled. No one knew that Jack already had his winnings. Nathan's girlfriend had been with Jack several times without Nathan's knowledge and the knowledge of it made the smile only return with vengeance. Nathan would want a rematch tomorrow, that was for sure. Guys like that didn't take losing easily. Still, Jack would be ready for him and anyone else.

And that's how it went all the way up to college. Jack's grades still remained high despite his...extra curricular activities. Over the time he had become what he liked to think, a master at poker. He knew what his opponent would do before they had even decided for them self. His tactics of cheating grew subtler until no one even noticed they were being played before it was too late. Due to a mishap in his Chemistry class he had created a small explosion that had shattered the container but luckily no one had been injured. But Jack had been entranced. With his new found love, he raided his classroom every few weeks for chemicals where he would test at home or sometimes he would sneak in during the night and run the tests in the lab rooms! Within months Jack knew how to create explosions and with the aid of a friend, who had been placed in the Bomb Disposal Unit, creating a bomb was made easy.

Nina's appearances at his apartment he had rented became more and more frequent. Jack wasn't complaining. At the age of eighteen he could create and dismantle bombs, wield a knife with deadly accuracy and defeat any at Poker. And then everything took a turn for the worst. Nathan knew. Oh did he know. One night he had followed Nina back to Jack's apartment and had even caught them at it on the goddamn couch! To say he was disgusted was one thing, furious was another. He wanted to kill Jack. And probably Nina for good measure.

Jack closed his locker door only to turn and almost walk straight into Nathan. The jock's eyes were narrowed dangerously.

"You. Tonight. Behind the dumpsters in the car park," he growled lowly, "I'm going to beat you at Poker."

As always the grin returned to his face, there was no way Nathan could defeat him.

"I look forward to kicking your ass again."

Nathan's fist landed into the locker door beside Jack's head and his eyes widened a fraction, "don't get cocky, clown asshole," before walking off furiously, several people skittering away from him.

Running a hand through his dirty blonde locks, the genius shook his head before making his way to class, there was at least an hour before the end of college and by then he would have the perfect scheme to beat Nathan once and for all.

It was dark by the end of the college day and while everyone ran to cars or the bus to get home, Jack slowed his gait and headed to the car park. Towards the back there was a dark park that usually was home to couples or people just looking for a walk through the trees and over the fields. Humming to himself, Jack shuffled the cards in his hands as he walked, a large grin on his face at the thought of jock's face when he told him what they were playing for. The past hour he had finally decided that his bid for the game would be Nina and he would finally win her from the jock.

A line of dumpsters were all that blocked the sight of any on the main street to car park. Moving around it, Jack's hand that currently held his cards was gripped in a tight grip and spun behind his back. With a gasp of pain, he tried to get away from his attacker. That was until his wrist gave an unpleasant crack. Crying out in pain as his wrist broke, his attacker let go of him and he fell forwards. Rolling onto his back, cradling his broken wrist to his chest, he looked up with shocked eyes to see Nathan stood over him, his cards now in the jock's hands. The smile was completely gone from Jack's face and it only brought one to the jock's face.

"Not smiling any more, clown boy? Come on, smile for me!"

His foot kicked Jack harshly in the side and said boy coughed loudly, curling up as if to protect himself. He hadn't seen this. Never had he thought this would happen. He was Jack Napier! His plans never failed! Nathan kicked him again and again before pushing him onto his back. Blood trickled from Jack's mouth and he knew that his chest would be covered in dark bruises by now. Nathan smirked down at him viciously.

"You thought you could beat me at a rigged game and take my girlfriend?" Jack trembled as Nathan knelt down, hovering over him, "huh? Thought you were smart enough with your jokes and tricks. No who is laughing?!" he roared.

There was a flash and Jack's eyes widened in horror...and fear. Nathan now held a knife against Jack's face. God, he had never been so terrified in his life. The jock above him laughed at him, slapping Jack's face.

"What's wrong? Not smiling, not laughing, what kind of a clown are you? Don't tell me you're....scared?"

His body trembled furiously as the blade nicked the corner of his mouth, more blood dripping down his cheek and chin. Nathan's eyes were alight with a mad glint.

"Why aren't you laughing? Why aren't you smiling?" the blade pressed harder against his mouth, "Why so serious?"

The knife slid into Jack's mouth and cut through his right cheek and not neatly either. He would have screamed in pain, thrashed and fought but the larger, stronger boy held him down, one hand gripping his face as he sliced through his left cheek also leaving a Glasgow smile on the sobbing boy's face. Letting go of Jack's face, he was finally allowed to scream in agony. Oh god it hurt so much. Blood ran down his face and neck and into his mouth, choking him. As Nathan stood up over him, Jack rolled to his side, holding his face with both hands whilst trying to breath through the blood, no longer able to scream from shortage of oxygen. The smaller boy rolled either side in agony, clutching and clawing at his face with white hot agony. Nathan sneered down at him and held the cards over his head before letting them all fall over the boy. He turned and left with a bark of laughter. Either he would die of blood loss and shock, or he would survive with one hell of a smile.

Jack sobbed and sobbed, guttural sounds as blood bubbled from his cheeks and mouth. He wanted to die at that point. He rolled onto his right side once again and let his hands slip from his face. His blurred vision caught sight of the cards all around him, his cards but his eyes resided on one specific one. Reaching out with a shaking, bloodied hand, he picked it up and held it in front of his face. There in the centre of the card was a jester, the words 'Joker' down the sides. And it was laughing at him. The jester's mouth wide open with taunting laughter. His eyesight cleared enough to see this, see the jester laughing, laughing at him. His other hand cradled his face once again. His shoulders shook while more tears fell over her face, the salty tears stinging his aching wounds but it only made his shoulders shake further when finally a gargled chuckle broke from his throat. His hand shook with the card before his entire body trembled and loud, manic laughter spilt from him like his own blood until he was curled up once again. Laughing and clutching the joker card in his bloody hand.

- TWO YEARS LATER -

Graduation day. Everyone collected their results, were congratulated by their teachers, embraced and laughed with each other, some even cried. Nina - her left eye darkened with a bruise and several others hidden by her clothes - looked round sullenly until her eyes fell on Nathan who stood to the side smirking to himself. Jack hadn't been seen for two entire years. His parents had been worried sick until his mother had passed away. He didn't even turn up to her funeral. With the death of his wife, her husband and Jack's father drove himself to the drink until he died of alcohol poisoning. Once again he didn't turn up to the funeral. After Nina found out that Nathan had hurt and most likely driven Jack away, she was forced to remain with him in an abusive relationship that she was quickly tiring of.

Nathan stepped to the side after making sure Nina hadn't tried to run away when he heard a noise. Looking over his shoulder, his eyes narrowed when he saw nothing. Shrugging to himself, he looked forwards again only to have a hand slap over his mouth and another arm pull him back. The only thing that stopped him from struggling was the cold blade at his throat. Pulled backwards and around the corner of the college building he was slammed face first into the hard, cement wall. He hissed in pain as it grated against his face but the dark chuckle behind him made him freeze.

"Who the fuck are you?" he sneered, unable to see who held him, the blade now being run against his other cheek.

"Oh? You, uh.....forgot me, Nathan, my boy," the guy giggled....giggled!

Who the hell was this freak? Hot breath ran over his ear and he could almost hear the smirk on the guy's voice.

"It's your clown."

His eyes widened in shock before he was suddenly spun round and once again rammed into the wall painfully by his back. Opening his eyes quickly, his eyes fell on a tall guy in front of him wearing a purple and green suit finished with a long, purple coat and gloves that held a small but dangerous knife at the jock's throat. Wild, dirty blonde locks were half dyed with bright green but it was his face that made Nathan's eyes widen in horror. Horrible scars stretched up either side of the guy's mouth making a gruesome Glasgow smile. This was only made worse by the clown white paint on his face, heavy black in large circles around his eyes and bright, lipstick red over his mouth and scars making his smile seem to stretch. And he was smiling.

"J....Jack?" he asked nervously.

The laugh that came from those scarred lips was not the one he remembered. This one was much more maniacal, a slight childish pitch to it that made the sound horrifying.

"No, no, no, no, no, NO!" the man's fist flew into Nathan's face and broke his nose with a sickening crack.

Blood poured from the broken nose and Nathan tried to cry out but a gloved hand was placed over his mouth once again. The clown in font of him tutted.

"Shhh, shh, shh. It won't do no good if they hear," he giggled, dancing the blade to a slow waltz over Nathan's throat, "Jack's dead. Jack died. Jack is gone! Don't you remember?"

Blue eyes widened in horror and realization as the blade moved up his neck and to Nathan's mouth as the gloved hand was removed.

"If it wasn't for you I...uh...." he grinned widely, "wouldn't have seen the brighter side," the knife rested between the now shaking man's lips, slightly cutting the corners of his mouth, "I always repay my debts, you know."

Almost deftly, the knife glinted with its movement as it sliced both cheeks creating an almost identical, bloody smile on his face. Nathan screamed in agony until the blade flashed again and ran over his throat, slitting his throat in seconds and cutting off any further screams at the blinding agony. Still, he wasn't let down from the wall, and all he wanted to do was fall. The clown snickered and drew a joker card from his pocket, the very same one from two years ago still covered in bloody fingerprints. He slid it into Nathan's shirt pocket where it half stuck out. Patting the pocket, he nodded to himself.

"Perfect," he purred, "Jack is dead, Jackie died," he spoke between chuckles that were growing in volume, "Joker is ruling the game now."

A woman's scream made his head snap to the left, the wide grin never leaving his face, the scars stretching almost to breaking point as his dark, almost black eyes fell on Nina stood there, her hands covering her face but for her eyes as she screamed again.

"Why so serious, dollface?"

So....Any good? PLEASE TELL ME!! I get very picky when it comes to the character, Joker, and I've had this idea running through my mind all day. Please review and I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!

P.S. Sorry if it seems to go by quickly *bows* forgive me, oh reader!

LadyNightlord----