2012-12-07 A Guest Of The Clown

Things have been a fog since Selina and Jim were brought to Joker's hideout, Sel kept unconscious more than long enough for the entire night and the next day to have passed without notice. Makes her the perfect guest as she does nothing but sleep until the beginnings of evening. Spares the Clown Prince and his gal pal from having to be yelled at as well as threatened.

Around eight or so a low moan comes from her cage followed by a cough and a sigh, sounds that are more than loud enough to be heard, sounds followed by a softer, "Hello, is anyone here?" Selina's laying on her side wherever it was in the cage she was left, back turned towards the majority of the room.

Their guest doesn't have to come around to an empty and silent world, at least. Not far away is the form of Harley Quinn, sitting on the floor with a book in one hand, a red pen in the other, and a sleeping hyena to either side of her. Sleeping until one of them overhears Selina coming to, his head snapping up away from the floor with ears perked. The other could care less, he's napping.

"Well heeeey, looks like the sleeping kitty's finally startin' to come arounnnd," Harley says in a way too cheery voice. She scribbles something else into the book with that pen then tosses it aside, tucking the pen into her hair while springing up to her feet. "Hay Jay! Sleepin' Beauty finally decided to join us!"

"I wasn't aslee- Oh you mean her," comes Joker's reply from the next room, before a shout of, "Yahtzee! That's three in a row boys... What? ... We were not playing blackjack! Go clean the hyena cages!"

The purple suited lunatic walks in with a faintly annoyed look on his face, hooking a thumb over his shoulder. "Those idiots. Don't know a good game of Uno from a hole in the wall." His eyes turn on Selina, and his grin flashes back instantly. "Ah, our guest of honor... Glad you could join us, Sunshine. Hungry? Thirsty?"

The woman in the cage slowly sits up and then turns, her head pivoting so she can face them. Selina looks like hell, to be brutally honest. Her eyes are red, her clothing crumpled and her hair messy. Kind of like one of those girls in the frat movies who is waking up after an all-night kegger, no? As if that wasn't bad enough, she is sore from sleeping on the ground and emotionally beaten down. And, most importantly, she at least appears to have had the fire knocked out of her.

Harley and Joker are looked at as she mulls over her situation, thinking about what happened as she rises to her feet. The leg that had been injured when Joker took out the phone with a well placed bullet aches. Throbs. But at least it isn't in need of medical attention, a truth Sel will be grateful for later, undoubtedly. "Where is the Commissioner," she asks, ignoring the question about whether she is in need of food or drink. There is zero trust where they go and she's not about to accept anything consumable from them.

The woman in the cage slowly sits up and then turns, her head pivoting so she can face them. Selina looks like hell, to be brutally honest. Her eyes are red, her clothing crumpled and her hair messy. Kind of like one of those girls in the frat movies who is waking up after an all-night kegger, no? As if that wasn't bad enough, she is sore from sleeping on the ground and emotionally beaten down. And, most importantly, she at least appears to have had the fire knocked out of her.

Harley and Joker are looked at as she mulls over her situation, thinking about what happened as she rises to her feet. The leg that had been injured when Joker took out the phone with a well placed bullet aches. Throbs. But at least it isn't in need of medical attention, a truth Sel will be grateful for later, undoubtedly. "Where is the Commissioner," she asks, ignoring the question about whether she is in need of food or drink. There is zero trust where they go and she's not about to accept anything consumable from them.

Harley positively beams with the Joker joins them, "Of -course- I meant her. Put yer cards down and pick up your ..ah... Saaay, what -are- we doin' with this one, anyway?" She was just the driver, she doesn't know anything! In short order she starts to walk a circle around Selina's cage, followed by one very ecstatic looking 'yena. "Golly, you look like ya got hit hard. Gotta watch that first step, sweetheart."

"Oh, him?" Harley suddenly pipes back in with a dismissive wave of a hand, "He went off to play with some new friends! Guy's probably havin' the time a his life, ain't he, Jay? Was either him or you and we didn't feel like wakin' ya," she teases while leaning reeeal close to the bars with her hands on her knees. "Seemed like ya needed the nap. Long week, huh?"

"Good news, is -- I got a pony out of the deal!" Joker adds on to Harley's explanation of Gordon's location. He then giggles, and claps his hands once, "What are we going to do with her? Well that's easy, but no need to spoil the surprise in front of her, eh? To the viewing room!" He claps his hands twice, pointing at the Selina's cage and standing still for a moment as nothing happens.

"I said to the viewing room you idiots!" Suddenly, three thugs rush out of the other room and head to the makeshift cell, preparing to move in and drag Selina out no matter what, heading down the hall for some kind of makeshift auditorium with badly upholstered theater chairs that look like they may have been transplanted into a building where the park used to hold cheesy shows. Selina is forced into the middle chair which is strewn with chains and padlocks, which are quickly wrapped around her and locked, before Joker leaps into the chair next to her with a bag of popcorn and an oversized soda which is already being obnoxiously slurped on. "Oh man, you're going to love this."

The soon-to-be star of the show struggles as she's moved into place, the efforts of those trying to get her into the chair and bound made difficult for how he fights. It really doesn't help as Selina's still fighting off the lingering drowsiness and the mooks are successful after a few minutes of her defiance. Chained and deflated, the defeated brunette tries to remain calm. To try and keep her wits about herself which she is mostly able to achieve, there being only a tiny welling of panic.

"You know, I have friends in places of power," she points out while squinting, trying to see where her captors have gone off to. "They will not stand for this." The threat is kept vague. No sense in showing her hand.

Harley follows behind the small gathering, walking in an exaggerated fashion that has her arms ramrod straight at her sides and a backward slant in her spine, taking each step like a cartoon villain sneaking around in the shadows. The two wild animals run erratic circles around her and each other, somehow managing to avoid colliding with anything in their excitement. "Bettah be a pretty pony, they're hard to return. I've tried!" Pause. "Impossible to fit 'em back into the original packaging, too."

As the others are 'settled in' Quinn -flops- down in the seat on the opposite side of Selina, crossing one leg over the other and stretching an arm around the back of their hostage's shoulders in a buddy-buddy sort of fashion. That also leaves her other hand free to play around with the bulky black flare pistol that had been tucked into her belt, spinning it around on her finger like it's a toy. "We aren't gonna have to sit through the credits again, are we, J-Man? They're so boring!" Then to Sel, she says "I'd hope not! They'll just have to take it sittin' down with the rest of us. Seriously, no one stands in a theater unless they wanna get clocked in the back of the head--Oo, popcorn!" With something akin to the attention span of a goldfish, Harley reeeaches over Selina to grab a handful from the Joker's stash. A few kernels hit the floor, which causes her hyenas to go bonkers over them. "Settle down now, babies. Movie's about ta start!

At Selina's threat, a small giggle erupts from Joker's lips, just before his gloved hand snaps outwards to grab her chin and roughly turn her head to face him. The grin he wears is equal parts insane and sadistic, when he says, "Oh, I'm counting on it. Hell, it's the whole reason you're still here, rather then at the bottom of Gotham Bay. Now shut up and watch." He releases her face with a sharp motion, before he settles back and crunches on a massive handful of popcorn, spilling most of it on the ground.

A projector screen is set up on stage, and someone in the back of the theater hits the lights, then the projector itself. A grainy, black and white image flashes up onto the screen, before gains focus and begins to move. Silent, were it not for the Joker's narration... Someone, probably Harley, follows the Joker who flashes Selina's ID on the screen. "When we caught you, we were pretty interested in who you were, Miss Kyle, but luckily, you had this handy ID!" The camera follows Joker up to a building, the address the same as the one on the ID, and he walks in, his body shaking from laughter. The doorman is obviously surprised, and terrified to see them. "The people at your penthouse were /very/ rude, but don't worry, I won them over!" Screen-Joker sprays the man with gas from the flower on his lapel, and he promptly breaks out into a massive grin and uncontrollable, silent laughter. The camera follows the Joker into an elevator, and the reflection confirms it's Harley as the camerawoman. When the doors open on the penthouse floor, he tries the door once, shrugs melodramatically, then kicks in the door. They go inside, and he begins searching around. "We decided to check out the digs, see if you had any family who'd want to pay for you... All we found was some dumb cat. We tried to get it for Bud and Lou, but the thing scratched me and ran away. Animals, am I right? Anyway, you would not /believe/ what we found!"

The next image is one of Joker overturning some furniture, then, stopping and holding up something black for the camera.

A catsuit.

"Why didn't you /tell/ us, Kitty?!"

Even if Joker hadn't shown the ID to the camera as well as the address Selina would know where he is, the lobby of the Gotham Arms distinctive as well the faces of those who work at the high rise apartment building. Her heart sinks and continues to do so, the plight of the people getting to her as does the knowledge that they're heading to her home.

By the time the little 'cast' gets upstairs Selina's in tears. It isn't her place or her belongings that has her so emotional but rather a certain feline companion, Isis someone she loves dearly. Thankfully she is not hurt and Selina can rest easy.

For all of three-point-seven seconds.

When Joker pulls out the costume and questions the camera Sel gasps, her eyes wide. This is not good. "Are you really that surprised," she asides to the crew, again not bothering to address anything previously said by either of them. "And now I supposed that you will use it as leverage over me," she adds darkly. It is either that or they'll kill her now that they know.

I don't recognize "bat".

Harley can't help but leeeean forward in her seat as the picture starts to roll. She knows this flick well, pointing out as they go "That guy was an idiot. -That- guy wet himself. That one there I wanted to get his number for a friend a'mine. Turns out he's a real jerk," she solemnly declares with a sad shake of her head. On the other hand, the part where her reflection is involved gets her all giddy like a kid on Christmas Day. "There's my debut! ..Stupid camera keeps gettin' in the way." She falls still and silent for a few seconds before turning to look at Selina with a frown, lightly tossing a popcorn kernel at the tip of her nose.

Bud snatches it out of the air as it falls, probably at an uncomfortably close distance to the other woman. "Lou, do--wait, you're Bud--Bud, down!"

Not long later and she's leaning right up close to Selina's ear. "Don't worry, your kitty's fine! Little bit of food did 'im right well. Such a sweet thing, I wanted to bring it with!"

The movie's big reveal earns a gasp from Harley that's so overly dramatic as to be laughably fake, staring at the screen with her hands clasped together around that pistol before she once more turns to stare at Selina. "Say it ain't -so,- sistah..! You've been holdin' out on us! ..Do y'think that would fit me..?" she hopefully inquires.

"I bet it would fit you just fine, Harley-poo," Joker assures Harley, leaning across Selina to pinch her cheeks affectionately, before he turns his eyes back on Selina, "Well, you're gettin' there. See, I went to pick up Gordon for /exactly/ this reason, but luck is apparently on my said, and I got the jackpot, though I didn't know it at the time. Those goons yesterday, they came by looking for Gordon, but I knew who you were already. I knew your secret. I didn't need Gordon, because we both know, between the two of you... It's you the Big, Bad Bat likes best. HAhaHAHaAhAHAhAHAHaA!" Joker leaps from his seat, and takes an exaggerated bow, before he straightens up. "He'll come rushing to your rescue, only to fall right into my trap, and oh what a trap it is. Come on, Harley, let's celebrate!"

"I'll have to take that costume to the city incinerator," Sel commends with a little sigh, sounding very put out by how she's going to be down yet another catsuit. They aren't exactly cheap, nor are they the easiest thing to make, but she refuses to wear anything that's been touched by the clown or the blonde he keeps company with. Joker's assessment of the situation and how he foresees it being her that'll draw Batman to him has her chilled and bothered. "Where is Gordon now," she asks again, hoping they'll throw her some kernel of information that she can pass on. Something she can tell Batman so he can save Jim as well.

Harley remains as ecstatic as ever, now picturing herself hanging upside down from a cable in a ceiling somewhere pretending to be a woman dressed like a black cat. "Hmm. Needs more red. But yah, everyone knows the big goodie hero guy -always- goes for the girl first! Especially if there's a literal gun to yer head," she states with emphasis on the words by thumbing the hammer back on her flare gun. Barrel skyward, pinkie out. Tip of tongue out of corner of mouth.

Not that she actually -does- anything with that pistol, apparently she just wanted to hear it go click.

"Aw, c'mon, don't be like that, Cattie," Harley lilts with a pout. "We're crazy, not diseased! There's a -big difference,- ya know. You're not gonna catch crazy. ..Except that I sorta did. But that's beside the point."

And again..back to Gordon... "Ah, the old coot's somewhere out there," Harley declares with a broad sweep of her hand. In the same motion she accidentally bumps the trigger, sending a ball of blue smoke sailing toward the makeshift movie screen where it impacts with the wall and bounces back to the floor, creating a large blue haze around the canister.

"Whoops! So -that's- what those blue ones do... That was kinda fun!"

"Some idiot in a mask came looking for him. Drank my tea. Gave me two of his men to kill. And a pony. Of course, I would have given him away for peanuts, now that I have you, but he didn't have to know that."

Joker ducks out of the way of the sailing blue canister, only to laugh hysterically, just before smacking Harley lightly across the back of the head, "Watch where you're shooting those things, Harley! You could kill us all!" His gaze settles back on Selina, a wicked grin spreading across his pale face. "Now... Time to get you back to your cage."

'Some idiot in a mask'. With how people in Gotham seem to have a thing for masks, herself included, that could be anyone and it does nothing to give Selina a clue. But she doesn't address Joker or Harley. Not until the cage is mentioned. "Do I have to," she asks, sounding a bit like she's about to panic on them. Granted, the cage isn't fully enclosed and she's not claustrophobic by any means of the word, but she does have an immense dislike of being locked up and she is not wanting to go back.

The blue smoke... the environment... everything about this whole messed up situation is starting to leave her cold and numb and she freezes in place. Someone's going to have to carry her back.

Getting smacked from behind only has Harley giggling harder, watching as the smoke fizzles itself out after a generous quarter of a minute. "Aw, that's only lethal if it's one of our -special- canisters, puddin!'" She'll have to pack some of those with on their next outing, Joker's special inhalant is always a great way to cheer up the crowd! Selina's question is met with a roll of tiny red and black-clad shoulders, "Would ya rather sleep chained to a chair? When yer behind bars my babies won't be able to rip yer face off while yer sleepin.' It's as much for your own safety as for ours!" ... "Hello..?" Frump. "Take 'er home, boys. We done broke another one. Lose more hosties that way," she says with a dramatic sigh.