2014.04.16 - Joker and the Captain: Institutionalized

It's been a few weeks since Cap made his declaration to bring down the Joker, a sticking point that sits sore with him that he was not able to actually do as he promised. When word reached him that the Clown was back in Arkham, however, he pressed his luck and actually made the trip to the island to 'visit' Gotham's most dangerous criminal.

Usually the Clown probably doesn't get to receive official visitors. It's a dangerous prospect that involves transporting him from his cell to the meeting room, then back again.. but this is Captain America we're talking about. The warden is 'eager' to arrange the meeting and Steve sits in the small white room in full regalia. Obviously they have to make it as safe as possible so there's virtually no weapons in the room and both chairs are bolted firmly to the ground. A single metal bracket resides on the floor infront of the sole empty seat where the shackles holding the mad man will be threaded.

The Warden stands with Cap explaining how everything has to go, a list of rules that are more formality than actually believing for a second that the First Avenger might break one of them, "At the first sign of any trouble, a full team of riot guards are on standby..." That part, at least, seems comical considering who he's telling.

Usually, people are taken to the Joker instead. Even attempting to transport him can end in lost lives or a possible escape. At least, that's one of the countless methodologies that's failed to keep him within Arkham for any length of time. When a number of men corner him in his room, the Joker is thrilled. "Oooh? Am I going to meet a celebrity? Someone that you don't WANT to see the other monsters on this floor...?"

He's bound securely into something of a moving dolly, shackled across the chest with a mesh mask securely in place. He's wearing the standard Arkham Inmate colors, and is grinning without comment. Riot guards shift weapons towards the door as it opens, and the Joker is slowly, carefully brought in.

They go through procedure with him. Explaining things. It's the law. Always the law. He never once reacted. Leather restraints are unbound as two men at either side grasp shoulder and bicep. Lead into the seat, he's forced down. The slender chain threads through the two at wrist and ankle, about a meter long. Enough for 'comfortable mobility'.

Of course, the one absolute rule that Steve was told: Under absolutely no circumstances is he allowed to touch the inmate. A rule even Batman has been forced to follow when visiting the Joker.

"Hello." The Joker states, chipper, through his mask. "Why are you here? You're interrupting my rehabilitation. I felt I was very close to reaching a breakthrough..."

Steve clearly isn't buying the possibility of rehabilitation here in Arkham. Maybe for someone else, Edward Nigma, Harvey, but Joker? He doesn't say a word at first, just watches the madman being ritualistically lowered down into his seat. His own is several feet away from the Clown's, kept that way so that any possible movement that might be threatening could be prevented before it actually connects.

Cap would be faster than the guards, but he doesn't look outwardly threatening. Behind the blue mask he's just staring at the clown. "I don't want anything from you." Said seriously, leaning forward to rest his forearms across his knees. "I came to a revelation the other night, about you. Somewhere between thinking about what a monster you are and what I fool I was for underestimating you, it struck me. You thrive on attention. You'll say otherwise, but men like you need it. You need people to be afraid of you, to close their doors and hope to god you're not at their window."

The Captain watches the clown, "So you kill some people to get my attention, knowing I don't think like Gotham. You baited me and I let you.. And I'm not proud of it because I got people killed getting taught a lesson." He doesn't move away, still leans forward, "Every single death you cause bothers me, it will always bother me, but what it will never do is break me down."

The Joker's grin remains. He slowly crosses his arms across the table, in a rasp of chain. This causes every guard in the room to tense and raise weapons, only lowering them once he's still as a statue. He's being treated as if he were someone like General Zod; if, in a whim, he could shatter these restraints, flip the table, and kill every man in this room.

Maybe many of them genuinely believe it.

Not a word is said throughout everything Captain America says. "I see. You came here to play armchair psychiatrist with me. Is that it? You think you see a method to my *madness?*" The sharp exclaimation causes another prepared tension amongst the guards.

"You've given me your analysis. Now it's my turn. Tell me, Mr. America. How do you feel?" His green eyes are curious, almost playful, as he tilts his masked face. "Knowing this place is not a prison, but a home. Knowing that the legal system you stand so firmly behind means I can never be put to death for my crimes. Because it's true. I'm quite insane, you know. Even you cannot deny that."

A cackling sort of giggle follows, slamming back against his chair in a rattle of chains. "QUIET DOWN!" one person says, and slowly he does.

"Bothers you. Like an itch, right? An itch you need to scratch. But if that itch doesn't go away, then you scratch it harder. And harder. Soon you are bleeding, in agony, and feel like your brain might snap. That's what I'm doing to you, Mr. America."

Leaning back, a light sigh leaves his lips. "Since you are so unbreakable in resolve, how about this? Next time I break out, I'll find some more poor veterans. Those who /worked hard for our country!/" Firmly upright in his seat with a false baritone, he gives a sharp salute. With the wrong hand. Complete insult.

"And I'll carve out your name. C on one chest. A on another. P on the third... Oh my, what will I do for the space...? And no other reason..." His lips spread further, each tooth like a capped dagger.

"Then you coming here to speak with me tonight..."

"You had no reason to attack Captain Smith, either." Captain doesn't raise to the challenge, he doesn't scowl at the madman or narrow his eyes. He just keeps staring across the table with his thick gloved hands laying flat upon the surface. Unlike the guards in the room, he does not flinch when the Joker moves. Physically, the clown is not a threat to him... it's what the clown does to others or, rather, what he insights in those who come to 'revenge' for what he does to others.

Clearly, if a lesson has been learned by the First Avenger, it's that he cannot treat the man like a rational person. He doesn't even try, "It does bother me, but just because you escape persecution for the crimes you have done and those you will do... does not mean that I don't still believe in the law. It is not a failure of the system, it's the manipulations of a man... you." Nodding across the table.

Even when Joker threatens veterans, the Captain only smirks, "So you're going to threaten me with something you have already done." One shoulder shrugs, "And I don't doubt that you will. I'll try to stop you, as will others." He's hesitant to say the Batman's name outloud. To the public he's still a myth, right? That's all very confusing, so he avoids it altogether. "I'm not questioning how honest or not you are, I'm just telling you that it will be, point of fact, just another reason to hate you. But not enough to start hating myself."

Captain America stands up from his chair and nods, "Thanks for taking my visit. I genuinely hope you do find rehabilitation here. I can't think of a single person on earth who deserves to face what they've done more than you.. and not for the sake of the law, but with yourself." He doesn't believe that he's gotten through, that isn't his job because he's not a psychologist.

He turns to the Warden and nods, "You can take him back now. Thank you." Extending his hand to the only man in the room wearing a business suit.

"Wait." the Joker states, voice oddly firm and insistent. "This cannot be it, can it? All the paperwork, the bureaucracy, the consultations, warnings and approvals. To meet me for less than five minutes, and tell me you are not afraid? Not able to be broken?"

There's another laugh, as the Joker leans forward against his chains. "That's not really why you came here. Tell me. Tell me honestly. What is it like, looking in the face of someone your 'Justice' will never reach? How hard is it to keep a strong face, to show everyone how unbreakable you are? I saw it in your eyes. The eyes of an innocent, forged into metal in the fires of war. But metal like that is so very brittle..."

Leaning back, the Joker closes his eyes in thought.

"James Cardon. Left a wife and two children. Death: Smilex."

"Frederick Hughes. Divorced. Death: Smilex."

"Anthony Taylor. Disabled wife. Three children. Death: Smilex."

"Leonardo Giotti. Single. Young. Death: Smilex. And lastly... Warner Hall. Close to retirement. Death: Smilex."

Eyes open once more. "Every single one of them, dead. Because you thought justice and rationality existed in this twisted, broken world. I'm not the insane one... no. That such a world lets me exist and flourish... wouldn't you say THAT is the true madness?!"

He's then laughing, as men are moving to unchain him with effort to get him back into a dolly. He's having one of his violent episodes now; and somehow he still managed to kick the only person nearby without a cup in the groin, dropping them to their knees.

Steve clinches his fists and glances back over his shoulder at Joker, "No, my purpose for coming here was a lot different than that." Nobody ever asked him 'why'. Nobody even considered the possibility that Steve Rogers, Captain America, could have some dark intent for coming to Arkham Asylum to face e face with the Joker. It never even occured to them to wonder.

"I just changed my mind when I saw you. Because that's what you want and I'm not in the business of giving people what they want just for the sake of doing it." The Warden tries to usher Cap away, but he's a brick wall now, unmoving no matter how hard the man tugs. His expression, on the other hand, is still a rock. "Now you get to look into a new set of eyes. I 'see' you. What you did, what you put me through, I won't forget it. I'll shoulder it and I'll walk with it for the rest of my life, I have never had a problem admitting when I bit off more than I could chew... but at the end of the day, 'you' killed those men and women. Good men and women. For no reason. And if you weren't sick, insane like you so swear that you are, I would be very much in my job description to put you down as the murderous monster that you are."

Now it's Caps turn to smile, "Unfortunately, you're insane and I feel sorry for you." The grin was plastic, but Rogers has never been very good at hiding his emotions. They're worn on his sleeve.

"Oh. I'm broken. I'm a puzzle that will never be put back together again. A mirror in a thousand pieces." the Joker states, laughing all the while as he's firmly strapped back into the dolly. "But I enjoyed it. I enjoyed watching you struggle in my city... I was HARD AS A ROCK!! And,and when you lay broken, all your efforts brought to naught... Mmm. Wounded though I was, Harley had one *HELL* of a night!!"

Of course, this encounter has to be broken. Joker is wheeled out of the room quickly, still cackling. "I HOPE WE CAN PLAY AGAIN!!" is the last thing heard, before the heavy metal door slams shut behind.

Steve watches the madman being wheeled out of the room with contempt. Contempt for who he is and what he represents. Concempt for the systems inability to do something about him. Laws, laws he fights for, keep that man alive, that much of what the Joker said is absolutely true.

Yet, Steve can only fathom the alternative. Thousands of men and women clawing at each other's throats without rules there to keep them from doing so. Standing back and watching it all be thrown in his face is not something he's ever going to get comfortable with. No man could possibly find any enjoyment or relief in that.

"Captain?" The Warden asks, drawing the Avengers attention. To the world, his smile is as real as any, even as his mind reels at the prospect that there may very well be -nothing- anyone can do about that psychopath that doesn't ultimately end in a tombstone. "Yes, sorry Warden. Thank you again." Shaking the man's hand and then joining the young assistant who leads him back out the way he came in through a very specific set of cooridors meant to keep the darkest nature of this asylum well out of the view of Captain America.