"Really?" said the Joker.

The Batman just stared at him from across the room, blood covering up all the skin his torn up outfit couldn't anymore. The Joker just stared at him, green eyes wide and crazy, spinning like kaleidoscopes in the flashing lights of the city.

"Does it look like I'm joking?" the Batman replied gruffly, cringing and pressing his rib up to keep it from digging down into his lungs. It didn't help much. What was worse, he had less than a second to regret using that particular turn of phrase before the joker cackled out into night. That laugh of his even drowned out the city.

The Joker decided in that moment it would be a good idea to test the rope he was suspended upside down by, arms and legs knotted and bound, by twisting himself about inside it. One of the threads snapped in retaliation, making him drop a good three inches, and his laughter just got louder.

That was all he did, wasn't it? All he was, was a laughing man.

"Didn't think you had it in you, Batman!" he cackled. "Maybe you should be the comedian."

"You're not funny."

"You just don't get the joke."

"And what's the joke?"

More laughter.

One rule, Bruce. Follow it.

"Well obviously I can't tell you!" said the green-eyed man. "You can't explain the joke or else it's not funny anymore. But you'll get it eventually." The Joker twisted around in his binds again so his captor could see his back, and he moved his hands together to make a heart shape—an upside down one from his position. "Because you and I are meant for each other."

Batman looked longingly at the rope the Joker was suspended from. One shot. He wouldn't even need to concentrate. He could just walk over there and sever the threads by hand if he wanted to and this would be over. He sighed in defeat in the end because…there had been a reason. There was definitely a reason somewhere, though God knew where now.

"So?" Batman sighed.

"Batman, I am flattered, but ya see, I don't do kids parties."

"If you don't agree, I'll kill myself," he muttered, half meaning it at the time. How could he say something like that? What was he thinking? If this was anyone of the other scum he fought on a daily basis, he would never have done this. Ever. Because you didn't trust scum. When given the choice, you didn't expect them to spare you. You expected them to scream JUMP. That was the thing, though. He got the Joker in a sick way—he understood what the hell happened in his sick little mind better than anyone even if that really just meant skimming the surface of a vast ocean of Crazy. But the Joker, for all that, would be the last person in the world to say, 'jump.' And that was the sick thing. The joker blinked, then grinned, stretching his grotesque red lips to their limits.

"We both know you wouldn't do that," he said, though his voice had a strange sort of desperation to it. "You and me—we need each other. You would never jump over something so petty."

Batman quietly walked to the side of the building and stood with his toes over mid air. By the time he had removed both his cape and utility belt, the Joker was swaying with glee. Apparently this sort of craziness was what the Joker likened to sex. Batman immediately regretted indulging him. This was insane. What was he doing?

What are you doing?

"And they call me crazy!" the green-eyed man laughed. "You are something else! Oh, oh, I have a joke for this! You're really batty!" He burst into shrill laughter even before he was done saying it.

You don't even know, you lunatic.

He put his foot out over the ledge and closed his eyes. Damn, if he jumped without any of his utility he'd really die. This would be it.

He's right about you.

Was he really doing this? Damning the whole city to madness over something so stupid? And right after he'd just gone through all the effort to catch this guy again. Even if it was just a merry-go-round game, it meant something to him to go chasing after the bastard again and again. Even for a day, keeping the Joker off the streets was almost all that mattered to him. Though he was beginning to wonder whether all the Joker lived for was getting caught by him. If that were so, maybe jumping would be the best option after all. It would end this loop once and for all.

Batman leaned forward out into the air, wondering what it was like to hit the ground. A bat without wings was pretty pathetic.

"No."

The man yanked himself back as fast as possible and stumbled into safety, snapped back to reality by him of all people. He looked to the Joker, and was met with a face that was so smotheringly, smoulderingly sober it was enough to burn.

"I'll do it," the Joker said, voice low and deep. Batman's ears ached just from knowing how different that was to the loon's usual hysteric voice. "Don't jump."

Batman indulged a smirk.

"Why do you care so much?"

"You're my better half. What am I supposed to do without you?"

Batman couldn't think of an answer that wasn't completely ironic.

"Wear a nice suit," he said to the green-eyed man. "Preferably not in purple."

"How do I get down from here?"

"You'll figure it out."

All the Joker's sobriety was lost to the night just like that.

"That's my bat," he whispered.

Barman turned his back on the hanging man and pulled his discarded pieces back on. It was almost like he was reattaching limbs--the fact that he'd taken them off at all. Some blood dripped onto the floor as he disturbed his wounds while pulling his cape back on, and he didn't listen to the Joker hissing in silent delight. When the man clad in black turned to quip, naturally all that was left was a purple jacket with knife cuts inside it. But there was a sound in the distance that told him the owner wasn't far. After that, Batman really did jump, but that time it wasn't to his death. It was into the darkness that protected him, and where not even that impossible laughter could find him.

If you happen to be a fan of DBZ and have read my only other fic on this site, then you may have seen this coming: I have no idea where this is going! Yay! I know what I'm doing for the next chapter (if I don't change my mind. I dunna.) But yes...I'll entertain you as best as possible. Yes. This does sort of serve as an intro chapter, so it might be a little...bitch if I didn't get my act together. Dammit.

By the by, it's very hard to write the joker. Very. Very hard. It's near impossibble to write a person you can't comprehend, so i think i may have gotten myself in deep with this one. Well, that's what happens when you abide the stream of thought. Anyway, thanks for reading this oddball chapter!