Post by Deleted on Jun 30, 2012 20:58:54 GMT
He stared out silently over the city from high on a tower. The steeple behind him cast its shadow over the corner he perched on in a low crouch, rendering him all but invisible in the darkness. From what he could piece together, this seemed to be...Rome. Or something similar to it. The architecture and general feel of the city was reminiscent of what most might call "ancient" Rome, though it would be more accurate to place it somewhere amongst the fifteenth or sixteenth century.
Though there were...strange anomalies in that observation, which he just couldn't place. Parts of the city seemed...vastly different. As if disaster had visited at random, touching down like a tornado and lifting away, leaving some areas untouched, and some devastated. Though everyhing in his view was in general disarray, parts were noticably worse than others. It confused him, to be sure, but he pushed that away and returned to his task at hand.
He had tracked one of Joker's top "lieutenants" -- if it was even possible for their to be anything like that in the madman's group -- here, with no small amount of effort. Now he was just waiting for him to make a move to be certain he was currently following the right man.
He only had to wait a short time before he had his chance. The clear sound of a gunshot sounded, and instantly Batman was up and in motion. He leaped forcefully from his perch, sailing out into open air. He fell for several seconds in freefall before he spread his cape. The dark cloth went taught and caught the rushing air, and his momentum slowed and he swept down at a steep angle, before swooping up to fall from just over a dozen feet from the ground, landing heavily with a roll to break his momentum.
Lifting his head from his crouched position, he narrowed his eyes in an intense stare at the man before him, still holding the smoking gun. And he was....grinning? Even the bravest most dangerous of Joker's thugs were usually reduced to crying children when they were forced to face Batman alone. Something wasn't right here.
"Well lookie here, it's the Bat. Enjoy your time here while you can, 'cause now Joker is the least of yer problems!" He cackled in a manner almost reminiscent of the Joker himself. "There are some people here who don't take kindly to people who...get in the way of their work. And you know how you love to get in the way of--"
That was as far as he got. In the blink of an eye, Batman had crossed the distance seperating them and brought his fist up. It connected with the man's chin with a horrid crunching of bone as his jaw shattered, and he was lifted off the ground to sail several feet into the air and several feet back and away from Batman, landing heavily on his back. He was unconscious before he even hit the ground. "I don't like this...." he thought to himself. It fit Joker's MO, if loosely....but there was something strange about how loudly the man had spoken. Almost as if he had been playing a part...