41 Bridge of Destiny

Gotham had many villains: Penguin, Riddler, Two-Face, Bane, Hugo Strange, and many more. 

But if there was one villain whose notoriety was known by people from other states, heroes from different regions, and whose insanity was beyond the treatable capabilities of any human institutions - that had to be Joker.

Joker was similar to a rabid dog, one that could not be cured and had to be put down. Only in this case, he was never put down. He kept on biting people, infecting them, and spreading insanity like a virus.

Most of the people who worked for him were blind followers with psychopathic tendencies developed over years of being tortured by the Joker, akin to Stockholm Syndrome. They started sticking to him, staying with him, and following him like their god.

But calling the Joker nothing more than a lunatic would be the biggest lie. Just being a lunatic is never enough to end up as one of the most prominent and infamous villains. No, Joker was much more than that. He was creative, emotionally distant, but above all else, he was manipulative. A master manipulator, a genius at messing with a person's psyche.

"Whatcha' upto puddin'?"

A great example would be Harley Quinn, Joker's sidekick, and his most devoted follower. Harley adores Joker, to her, he is the world, everything that means everything to her.

"My new great show, Harley," he chuckled, staring at Gotham's city map, "My new show!"

Harley never noticed this, maybe she never tried to, or even if she did, she ignored it. But Joker never said 'Our show,' it has always been 'My show' for the villain. Still, Harley, blinded by her devotion to Joker, ignored such things.

"What kind of show, sugah pie?" Harley asked.

Harley fell for Joker because she felt he was the only one that understood her. She felt he cared for her, adored her just as much as she adored him. But he never felt the same; if he did, he would have never thrown her into the vat of acid.

Harleen Quinzel's monotonous and seemingly aimless life, mixed with the chemicals she was exposed to, turned her insane and, mixed with Joker's manipulation, she became infatuated with him, devoted to him.

"The show where Bats is the main attraction!" He announced, nearly jumping in his psychotic excitement, "Where he is the main character, and I am the writer!"

Harley was happy for her puddin'. She loved seeing him happy, even at the cost of her own happiness.

"Should I help you?" She asked, curious if she could be of any help to her Puddin'.

"Of course, cupcake!" He said gleefully, "You are a key element of this joke!"

Hearing this, Harley felt excited. She felt happy that she was of use.

"What chu' want me to do, honeybun?" She asked, moving closer to him.

She saw the massive map that he kept staring at, especially a certain bridge area.

"I want you to be a sweet little bait, Harl," He said, "I want you to draw out someone that will make Batman come running to me."

Seeing her curiosity, he grinned. "You will know soon who I mean, Harley."

She wasn't going to question the Joker's decision; she was blind for him. But there was something else she was curious about.

"Why do you have that bridge marked, puddin'?"

She knew that the bridge was under someone she knew, more specifically, someone that her best friend was infatuated with.

"This bridge will be the site of the show!" He announced, "The bridge where it all started!"

This confused Harley, "I don't get it, puddin'."

Joker laughed maniacally, "The bridge where I gave up my downtrodden identity! The bridge where I first accepted my new life and the bridge where I first met the Bat!"

The man that was laughing maniacally suddenly stopped, immediately putting on a frown, "But that sacred place was then occupied by the Crow, the coward that never accepted his own fears."

Yet his expression changed again, changing into another grin, "But he is gone now! That place is mine to have!"

"But it is being taken over by Jasper–"

"SILENCE!" Joker yelled, immediately shifting to anger, "A no-name pawn cannot occupy a sacred place like the bridge of destiny! Mine and Batman's destiny!"

He turned towards Harley and even before she could say a word, in his fit of blind rage –he grabbed her by her neck, "That bridge is mine, MINE! you hear!"

"*Cough* P-Puddin–"

He pushed her back, "No! No, I cannot let a nobody take that place away from me!" He yelled, "I will take it! I will make it mine again! The place that started mine and Batman's unsung story!"

But while Joker was blinded by his insanity, Harley knew –she knew that it wasn't going to be that easy. She had heard of Jasper, and she knew what he was capable of. And if Joker went after him, nothing good would come out for her. She would possibly lose her friend Ivy, and Joker might lose more than that. But would Joker listen to her? Of course, he wouldn't. 

All she could do was try.

…

…

Lately, I have been having this weird feeling. I cannot explain it, but it is an uneasy feeling.

"You don't seem too good," Ivy said, "Too busy with work?"

Ivy and I were out to get dinner. It was my treat, or well, I was being made to pay.

I almost forgot that I promised Ivy that I would make it up to her for her help with poisons during the event with the assassins.

Thanks to her, I was now adept at forming a lot of poison and detoxifying them just as well.

In a way, I was trying to increase my inventory as I can only mess with things that I have interacted with before.

And a certain element that I wanted to work with happened to be Kryptonite, which I seem to have no way of finding.

It baffles me that I am unable to find kryptonite. I asked around so many famous people, villains, yet they have no clue.

It doesn't make sense to me that no one knows what kryptonite is, especially when every villain and their mother seemed to possess a piece of it whenever they faced Superman.

I might need to look into Lex Luthor and Metropolis to get my hands on it. After all, the three major characters that can screw me over now are Flash, Martian Manhunter, and Superman.

I can deal with Manhunter with fire, and Flash with possibly cold and ice.

It was hilarious how they had opposite weaknesses. One was weak to fire –which I remember being more of a psychological thing– and the other was coldness because he slipped on ice and slowed down because of the cold.

As for Superman, kryptonite was all I needed.

The rest of the heroes could be dealt with in a similar but easier fashion. But it wasn't like I was actively going for them; it was more of a defensive mechanism.

"I heard you were trying to turn Scarecrow's place into an area of business," Ivy smiled, "That's good. It's always better to earn through such means rather than robbing and killing people."

Technically, most businesses robbed people, and I don't think mine was any different, but yeah, at least it wasn't a direct robbery or murder.

"I can give you a job there if you want," It was a joke, but not out of the realm of possibility. If I were to expand the said business… I will definitely need skilled people like her.

She chuckled, "I will consider it if you happen to have a job as a botanist or something similar."

Botanist, huh? I just might have something similar. But not for now, later.

"Anyways, what's next?" She seemed curious, "What's the next step?"

Keeping my hand over my head, I thought the same.

Technically, I wasn't trying to be the big mafia lord or even the most famous hero or the infamous villain.

My plan was to create a business empire, not massive but big enough to be famous and possibly have a bit of impact on the world economy.

Never mind, that basically means it will be big enough.

So, for that, I will need skilled people.

Yeah, maybe that's it.

"I am planning on finding a few skilled people to work for me," I answered, "Some business geniuses, some superpowered… basically, people I need to have a successful and safe business in this world."

I had already built most of the foundation with my ability, and Zatanna had helped in the installation of electricity and water supply. What I needed to do now was to turn that place into an actual place of business.

Of course, it won't always be in Gotham. 

Even starting a business in Gotham first sounds stupid, but if I can manage one here, that will mean I am more than capable of branching out.

I looked at Ivy, making up my mind about a certain thing. "Want to go with me to Metropolis?"

This caught her off-guard.

"N-Now?" She was surprised.

"Tomorrow," I said, "I don't think either of us has any plans. So, why not visit Metropolis?"

"I mean… sure, but for what?"

This made me smile, "To find a few employees."

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