The Vampires of Earth 43

𝖂𝖔𝖓'𝖙 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖏𝖔𝖎𝖓 𝖚𝖘 𝖋𝖔𝖗 𝖆 𝖇𝖎𝖙𝖊?

21+ ɪɴᴅɪᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ꜱᴇᴍɪ-ꜱᴇʟᴇᴄᴛɪᴠᴇ ᴍᴜʟᴛɪᴍᴜꜱᴇ ʙᴀꜱᴇᴅ ᴏɴ ᴅᴄ'ꜱ ᴇᴀʀᴛʜ 43 ᴀɴᴅ -43 ᴄʜᴀʀᴀᴄᴛᴇʀꜱ. ᴘʟᴇᴀꜱᴇ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴜʟᴇꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ᴀʟʟ ᴄʜᴀʀᴀᴄᴛᴇʀ ʙɪᴏꜱ ʙᴇꜰᴏʀᴇ ɪɴᴛᴇʀᴀᴄᴛɪɴɢ. ᴅᴜᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ɴᴀᴛᴜʀᴇ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄʜᴀʀᴀᴄᴛᴇʀꜱ, ᴘʟᴇᴀꜱᴇ ɴᴏᴛᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴛʜɪꜱ ʙʟᴏɢ ᴡɪʟʟ ꜰᴇᴀᴛᴜʀᴇ ᴅᴀʀᴋ ᴀɴᴅ ᴇxᴘʟɪᴄɪᴛ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴇɴᴛ. ᴀʟʟ ᴍᴜꜱᴇꜱ ᴀʀᴇ ᴏᴠᴇʀ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀɢᴇ ᴏꜰ 18.

ʀᴜʟᴇꜱ//ᴍᴜꜱᴇꜱ

Current Muses

Damien Wayne

Bruce Wayne

Jason Todd

HOW DO YOU GET OUT OF HERE. That was RUNNING through her head, the only thought that was there. She was TRAPPED, she was a PRISONER, she was LOSING hope. The longer she stayed here, the longer she felt herself SLIPPING. “Jason, just let me go, you KNOW me – you KNOW I won’t BETRAY ya.” She was trying to SOOTH him, BUTTER him up, but she was telling him the TRUTH as well – she would not BETRAY him, she would keep her word and that was something she never broke for anyone.

“Jason – you DON’T have to do this. You PROVED ya point, I UNDERSTAND that you’re the BOSS now, I’ll help ya as well, just let me go.” She DIDN’T understand, she could not UNDERSTAND. He wasn’t making any SENSE to her with what he was saying to her. “I already took a DIP for MISTA JAY back at ACE CHEMICALS, I AIN’T doing it again, not even for you.” She could not even raise her hands up to push him away, there was no strength left in her to fight him.

He MOVED, she had seen him do it before. He was FAST – really fast as he was before the other man in the CELL. He was SCARED, he was backed into a corner and he was begging for MERCY, but there was none of that for him as Jason had RAISED his hand and hit him only once, but it was enough for the man to be taken down, it was enough for him to be KNOCKED down onto the ground, it was enough for him to pass out. If this was a TEST, she didn’t want to do it. He KNEW her, he knew that she was dangerous that she was not a SAINT, that she was a RUTHLESS KILLER like he was, but there was a limit to what she would do, and this TORTURE he had placed her under, was something she would have never done to her.

“You have the CURE on you?” Whatever he had done, WHATEVER he had POISONED her with, the NIGHTMARE would end as he felt him guide her down onto the ground, as he held her. She just needed something to drink, she just needed something to EAT, she just needed OUT of the cell. “What are you DOING!” She WATCHED him, his hand raised as he would run his finger across the PRISONER’S THROAT as the skin would part ways and open as the BLOOD would trickle out.

“WHAT –” She could only watch as he FORCED her finger forward, dipping it and PAINTING it CRIMSON as she could feel the WARMTH, the WETNESS, the ALLURE of it all as her hand was guided to her face. “Jason, I AIN’T into the kind of SHIT –” Whatever this KINKY SHIT he was into – NO THANK YOU. She tried to move away from him again, but she FAILED. She just remained still – this, this was the medicine he talked about. What had he done to her, what had he done to the other MAN? Was the cure put into him, was it in his BLOOD. She moved her finger to her MOUTH and opened it slightly – suckling on her finger as she tasted the BLOOD, the RICHNESS, the SWEETNESS, it was UNLIKE anything she had ever tried BEFORE, it – it made no SENSE.

“WHAT – what HAVE you DONE!”

Watching her, she hadn’t even realised what she looked like, a starving woman who hasn’t eaten for days just having her first taste of what would be the rest of her life. “Now now Harley, you used to be smart, but that’s okay, once you’ve finished feeding, everything starts to get a little clearer, you start to feel a lot better once the change finishes.” He promised as he kept her held there. He didn’t move the other patient, keeping his hand on his throat, pinching just enough to keep the blood at the surface of the wound, but not leak out continuously. 

“Once you’re finished, I’ll let you go, but I promise you won’t want to go far, you’ll be practically begging me to stay, and I won’t turn you away.” He promised softly, brushing her hair back. It was like trying to convince a child to get a shot, or go to the dentist, once they were out of the chair, they’d see it wasn’t so bad, and they always got rewarded in the end. 

His other hand let go of hers, pinching her chin lightly as he turned her to looked at him. “I’ve made you a proper monster Harley... No more treatments, no more ‘flossin’ your brain. I’m going to make you better, stronger, faster... You’re going to feel better than you have in years, and I’m doing it because the two people who would of stopped us aren’t here to.” He told her. “I don’t blame you Harley, I can understand, what Joker did to your mind, your soul, I’m giving that back to you.” He smile just for her, his fangs long, showing her exactly what he had done to her. He’d make her understand. 

“I UNDERSTAND what it is like to be DIFFERENT, to have people look upon you as a MONSTER through no fault of your OWN.” She remained where she was, Barbara was many things, but STUPID – no that was not one of them. She would not allow her TEMPER and her HUNGER to get the better of her. She would not be as RASH and FOOLISH as her breather and do something SHE would regret. “You know what I MEANT, sooner or later – you will CRAVE blood and once that happens, you will become a THREAT to a great many people within this city – MYSELF included.”

It was not something that was worth thinking about. How bad was this truly? What had happened for them to become like this. How did they become INFECTED, there where endless questions, but the only one that mattered was stopping them from spreading death across this city? BARBARA had confidence within Batman and his skills – but did the OTHERS, where they all INFECTED. Where they ALL like her and if so, did they all think the same like her, did they all deep-down hate what they had become, did they all wish to follow the line that BATMAN had created. That they would be SATISFIED with the SUPPLEMENTS, it was only natural that they found it hard, that it was a CHALLENGE for them. They were afterall going against their NATURE. Vampires KILLED humans – it was there only FOOD SOURCE, take that away and try to replace it with something else, and you are only asking for trouble.

“ONLY if they WANTED.” She would not FORCE it upon the others, she would not TREAT them unless they came to her. “Then you have to MAKE a CHOICE Barbara. If you do THIS, you will BECOME there enemy, do you understand.” IVY was not a GOOD person, but she had never KILLED unless she was PUSHED into a CORNER and THREATENED and BARBARA had only confirmed what she already knew, they had already started to HUNT. “Then you KNOW that what they are DOING is WRONG?” A question that really didn’t need an ANSWER. It was a SIMPLE choice, be CURED and try to STOP them, or LEAVE and JOIN them and become part off a SHADOW that was CONSUMING the ENTIRE CITY.

Barbara thought it over, everything and she was thinking hard. Batman was already out of his league, she knew what he was planning for, but deep down, she truly did not know if he had what it took. Looking at his relationship with Joker was enough to put the doubt in anyone’s mind, and although she kept that opinion to herself, she always resented Bruce a little for not doing what everyone else in the world thought and put a bullet right in Joker’s skull. 

“I can’t.” She finally said, looking to Ivy. “It’s not that I don’t want to, please understand, I want it with all my heart, but I have to help get the others to understand, or I’ll stop them myself.” She said softly. “Being human again makes me fragile, and there’s no telling if they’d turn me again or just kill me.” It was a good shot either way. “I know they’re not living by the codes Batman set, but I think they’re still governing with some sense of humanity.” Villains, mostly, but Barbara knew it would only take a human being too close, or to say the wrong thing. 

THIS WAS HELL. This was hell for someone like her. She didn’t mind being locked up, heck she did stints at Arkham for months at a time and nothing ever happened, there was always Mista Jay waiting n the wings to break her out or some guard would make a mistake and she would get his keys and escape, but this was different. Arkham was not the same, it was not the hospital she remembered. This was a living hell were the forgotten of Gotham City came to get away from it all, were the people no one cared about came to waste away and Jason was the warden. Whatever had happened to him, had changed him. He wasn’t the little robin they brought here all those years ago, he wasn’t the arkham knight they had created here and set loose on the world, he was something more than that - she barely even knew who he was anymore, she barely even knew what he had become - whatever it was, it was something she could not fight, every single time she had been defeated, every single time she had thought she had killed him - she had failed, every single time she had tried to escape, he had brought her back here. She was starting to understand just how much she was in a fucked situation.

“Whatever you want Jason, whatever you want.” She was tired. She felt weak, weaker than she had ever felt in her entire life, whatever he had done to her, she just wanting it to stop. “I can be good, I can be your jester if you wanna -”

It made her sick to her stomach to utter those names, but it had been months without any real food. Whatever he had been giving her, whatever he had been dropping in, she could not eat it, she could not consume it and it was getting too much for her. Even as he held her, her legs were dead, without his support and grip around her she would have collapsed onto the ground. Mista Jay - he wasn’t coming for her, was he. He wasn’t gonna ride in one a white horse and break her out like the old days, he was dead, and he ain’t coming back which meant she was on her own. N her own and trapped with Jason - someone Joker had created as his final last act, trapped with this broken and damaged person, this was not what she wanted. She wanted to gouge his eyes out, she wanted to tear his throat, she wanted to break his neck again - but what was the point. She had a dozen ways she could kill him now, but why even bother with any of them, he would just get back up and bring her back here and no doubt put her somewhere far worse than here.

“Whatever you want Jason - I’ll work for ya, kill for ya, do whatever ya need.” She hated to admit defeat, but what other choice did she have. Her entire crew had been whacked by him and no one else in this city gave a shit about her, she was on her own and if that meant she had to work with Jason, what choice did she have. “I want your help - I need - I need the medicine, now.” Whatever he had poisoned her with, it had countered all the toxins and chemicals in her system placed there by pudding, Jason was good, but not that good, no one could hurt her like that, but he had found a way. She just wanted it to end, she just wanted it to stop, she just wanted to be let out.

She just wanted the pain to end.

Jason could feel how weak she was, but what did he expect from the almost dead clown. Her heart was beating weakly, it had little to do anyway, beating through the last of her human blood, changing it with every dull THUMP. She needed fresh blood, something to cement the change or she would simply exist as a dull, useless lump and he would be very bored, very quickly. “Mmm, that’s good Harley, I’m glad to hear it.” He laughed, spinning them around slowly, knowing she would simply crumple if he let her go. 

“But I don’t want you as my jester Harley. You’re going to let the clown die today, but there’s no time for a funeral, we’re going to a christening instead.” He chuckled. “You get to be a brand-spanking new person, not many people get that chance, but I’m giving it to you, third time lucky.” He snorted. He tilted her head slightly, his mark still on her neck, earning a growl of approval as his chest vibrated against hers.

His movements were swift and easy, moving them to the other side of the cell effortlessly as he knocked the prisoner out. They would have plenty of time to hunt in the future, oh there were plenty of games he would teach her, but this first step was the most important. He had let quite a few other out, all smattered across the property, all for her. Jason wasn’t one to spoil, but this was a special day after all. Joker and he had never truly bonded, dead before anything could be cemented, and he knew with Bruce abstaining from blood, Barbara and Damien were no better of without a sire. Well, anything Bruce could do, Jason would do better, and he had that chance here and now with Harley. 

“Don’t you worry about a thing, I’m going to make you feel so much better.” He cooed, bringing them both down to the floor, cradling her in his lap as he easily shifted the prisoner towards them. “First you have to understand, you have to see and feel.” He hummed, taking her hand as he used his nail to cut the man’s throat. Nothing to cause any true damage, but enough that a small trickle of blood beaded and fell from his neck. 

The vampires want to come out and play! Please specify if you'd like a particular muse, or if you have a muse you'd like to throw in their path!

ACE UP YOUR SLEEVE. He hit the wall hard and slumped down it, but it did nothing to him as he slowly stood up. Stretching his arms over his head as the buttons on his white shirt had been ripped open as she had taken him and thrown him across the room as it was revealed underneath his clothing he was wearing a metal chest plate. As his hand raised up and knocked it as it had done it’s job. Always come prepared, always come with something a little extra. There was a reason why he has survived gun shots, stabbings and so many other things, he just planned well ahead in advance and even for this, he had prepared himself.

“Superman fell first you know, but Wonder Woman, heck she fought it tooth and nail.” He leaned over and spat onto the ground as she had knocked the wind clean out of him. “She was the last one to fall it, had to tweak it a little bit after that.”

His smile was stretching wider and wider as he walked over the room as he watched her turn and try to leave him. “Stay –” He commanded, calling out to her - he didn’t want to have to bring in the justice league to take her down, he was keeping them on ice for Batman, he needed them all for him, every single last one of them to take him down, but Barbara, he was sure this would be enough. Even now the infection was targeting every single part of her body, taking it over, poisoning her within, taking over her body and giving it to him. She had to know that in this game, that in this world with poisons, chemicals and toxins, there was no one his equal.

“Stay here with me and listen –” He watched her stand there. As the blood started to drip out of her eyes, like fallen tears leaving crimson streaks as the blood dripped onto the floor as her mouth started to pull up into a grin, her teeth gritting together and unable to move as the blood start to flow from her gums as well. “If you wanna leave, then you can - but I need something from you.” He walked right up to her and held his hand out to her.

“I want your arm –” With or without her, he was going to poison the water reserve. If she wanted to run away, if she wanted to turn and run from him - then so be it, she could do it, but nothing would change. She could not cure herself, she could not get it out of her system, only he knew how to do it and he was not the type of person to just hand out cures to his toxins. “Cut it off for me would you please.” He just started to laugh - he wanted to see if she would do it, he wanted to see how much pain something like her could take, he wanted to see just how quickly she could regenerate.

Barbra’s boddy was rooted in place at his command. She couldn’t leave, instead her body pivoted, shaking as her own body fought against itself, worse still was being able to feel everything inside of her. Even as the blood tears slipped from her eyes, and the blood from her gums, all of it was trying to expel what had happened to her. 

He wanted her arm? Barbara knew he was sick, but whatever he thought he’d get from her, well, he’d be wrong. Her right hand elongated again, talons extending as she cut through her let, just above her elbow as she growled loudly. The extremity dropped to the floor a few drops of blood falling around it but almost instantly the wound was already starting to heal over. The lump of flesh below them was already dead, cut away from herself, it would provide nothing. Once separated from the host, it lost its properties, call it magic, or undiscovered science, there would be no use in it. 

Bruce might have kept secrets, but there were some things Barbara just knew on instinct. Vampires were made with purpose, the meaning had to be there. Drain the humanity, and replace it with their blood, starting the change, forming the connection between sire and childe. Bruce had already broken that bond between all of them, he wasn’t strong enough without blood to enforce it, harming him may hurt them, but they held no obligation treat him with any reverence. 

THIS WASN’T FUNNY ANYMORE. She had tried to escape from him two times now and she had failed both times. She had lost count now as well how many times she had killed him. it was at least five times, maybe more than that – it was getting hard to remember, but she was sure she had him that time. No one walked of a neck snap like that, but heck there he was again, grabbing her before she had the chance to escape and this time he was not messing around, he had taken her down to the lowest levels, where Strange had dumped all the rejects, where the forgotten where left to – well you know be forgotten and here she was taken to a cell and thrown in like she was one of the crazies or something.

“I only smell one thing Jason, and it’s you – ya a piece of shit!” She spat at him again. She had gone soft on him, had stopped Joker from killing him dozens of times and this was what she got in return, him back and all crazy and locking her up in Arkham, talk about being an ungrateful little brat. “Get out my sight.” She pushed him away from her, out of the cell as she slammed the door in front of him.

So this was it then, this was what he had planned for her, to keep her locked up with someone else. What did he think was going to happen, that they would both fight one another, beat each other for the little food that he would give them, for the mere handful of water. She could take it and if he thought for a moment she was afraid that he had locked her in a small cell with a man, he had been whacked one too many times over the head with a crowbar, the other prisoner should be afraid of her, if he so much as looked at her funny she would kill him.

“How long have you kept me here –” How long was it, days, weeks, months. She had lost track of time, it was all a blur. “Jason – I don’t feel good!”

She was calling out for him, crying out his name as she was starving. She could feel it, something was wrong with her. No matter what food Jason brought for her, she could not eat it. It tasted like ash in her mouth, she gave it to the other prisoner, watching him as he would eat his rations and also hers as he was getting nice and plump and she was wasting away. As she stood at the door, hands on the bars as she would shake them and scream his name. “Jason you son of a bitch, get back here now!” This wasn’t funny anymore, whatever trick he had done to cheat death and catch her, enough was enough. Whatever he wanted, she would do it, she just could not take anymore.

“Let me out – please” She could feel her legs weakening as she was holding her entire weight with her hands tightly wrapped around the bars. “This bozo is gonna have his way with me.” She was getting desperate now, should have killed her fellow inmate on day one and not allowed him to get nice and conformable in the cell with her.

“I neva hurt you – not like this Jason.”

He’d left her there in the cell, she wouldn’t be let out until she realised what she needed to do. Jason could see the little changes happening, although she couldn’t see him, she was always being watched. Her screams echoed Arkham but none would come to save her, none wanted to be out roaming when they knew a monster lurked around every corner. Little did they know they had nothing to worry about for the moment. Jason was more than content watching her. He brought her enough food, enough water, but only just. This wasn’t about surviving, he could see how little of an appetite she had, only she hadn’t worked out what she was missing. 

Every time she called his name, every beg, soothed the part of him that had wanted her dead. Where would be the fun in that now? He had all this time, endless really, she wanted them to be a family, he could do that. She needed someone now Joker was out of the picture, she had even managed to stop muttering his name when she did sleep. It wasn’t Joker she craved, not really, she wanted someone to depend on, someone who could depend on her for things they couldn’t get elsewhere. She wanted understanding. He could give that to her, once she knew what it was that needed understanding. 

“Tsk tsk Harley, if I had wanted to hear you shouting my name like this, I would have planned other activities.” Jason smirked as he stepped out of the shadows again. He had no food or water this time, it was done, she just needed the same little push he had. He reached for the cell, opening it as he slipped inside, closing it easily as he was no more threatened by her presence than he had been on the first day, although she was certainly is less of a state.

He made his way to her, wrapping an arm around her waist, keeping his grip iron tight as he thumbed over her chin, tugging on it just slightly as he looked down, he could even see the little baby fangs sitting so pertly with the rest. “Would you like me to make you feel better Harley? I can make it all go away, I left you some medicine right here with you.” He hummed softly, swaying them side to side as if they were dancing. 

DON’T GET ANY FUNNY IDEAS. Now this was something new. Trying to strike a deal with a blood thirsty monster. He wanted this to go nice and easy, but all she had to do was give him a reason and he would remind her why he was not someone to underestimate. “I can offer you freedom.” A simple reply from a simple clown. “You’re not the apex predator here – I am, you need to remember your place.” No movement, he was barely even breathing, his voice had changed, no longer was it the high pitch with merriment in it, it was low, dark and very serious.

“You ain’t that stupid to try and take me on.” A warning, one of the last ones she would ever get. Monsters or not, he had a knack for killing meta’s and monsters alike and he made it look so easy as well. “You don’t know him, not like me. He will find you, he will bring you in and he will stop you.” A reminder, of who they where facing, Batman was many things – but when someone he trusted and loved broke that bond, there was nothing in this earth that would ever stop him from bringing them down.

“And then what. You kill me and tens of thousands of innocent people and then – you walk away. I don’t think so kiddo. Maybe you ain’t done your homework, but you ain’t immortal. You can be killed, heck if I found that out, you bet others will as well. You think the justice league will let you walk, you think Superman won’t put you down, you’re kidding yourself, the most dangerous thing has happened to you – all that power has gone to your head, a pity.”

He would let a sigh escape him as at least she had done him a favour by getting closer to him as he sprayed the contents of the flower over her. The green gas spraying over her, attacking her body, entering every single pour and seeping into her as he could only watch her eyes stare at his own, even with her regeneration, even with all of her powers and skills – she was still a creaturelike all others that stalked this earth, and infections can still harm her.

“Right about now, your body will be fighting my newest toxin and it will be doing a bang up job as well, but trust me – if this little batch can take out the entire Justice League – hehe – left that part out that I dealt with those bozosfirst, then it will take you out as well. You will fight it of course, but soon you will fall to your knees, you will laugh, you will cry, you will smile – but in the end you will be under my control – my voice will be the only onethat matters soon.”

Eyes flashed as her fangs lowered in a snarl. Bruce would come for her naturally, but with the same sanctimonious attitude he always had. What was worse was that she knew he wouldn’t kill her, but she wasn’t an idiot. Barbara knew what he had been building, deep within the cave. He always came up to greet her, maybe he thought she’d ignore the construction, of metal being bent and shaped. He was building a prison for them, for moments like these. He had probably expected the likes of Damien to break first. 

Barbara didn’t take kindly to being threatened, kill him or not- She wasn’t about to let him fuck her around, she wasn’t some hussy, she had kicked his ass before being endowed with this kind of strength, she’d do it again as her hand came up to grab his neck. In the half second it took before she could snap his vocal chords, he had sprayed her. Her face contorted with anger and snap fear as she instead threw him against the wall, moving back as she tried to hold her breath but it didn’t matter. 

The worst of it was the she could feel it. Like foreign matter circulating to her lungs, settling in the tissue. It buried in from the top layer of her skin, she might not have had a normal circulatory system anymore, but her nerves still fired, her brain able to feel everything as she blocked out what he was saying. No. She wasn’t about to give up one imposed master for another one.

What was worse was that she knew there would be little to gain from demanding a cure. There wouldn’t be one and she knew it, Joker didn’t make toxins just to create cures, no. ‘Batman’ was always the one coming to the rescue, coming to save the people of Gotham from whatever harm Joker slung their way, but that wasn’t a road she could go down now, not with what she had done. 

“It’s never enough.”

The words were an indictment, a benediction. You are not able to complete the work, but neither are you permitted to stop. Reaching out, she smoothed a gentle hand across his brow. It was strange, to touch. To be willing to touch. But things had changed.

“My own, my champion. Do you not love me too?”

“Oh thank you,” she runs a hand through it subconsciously, “I was thinking the same about you actually.”

“Oh roses are my favorite too.” She straightens up, “My garden is full of them.” It had been a desolate place but full of potential. With her hard work it had been turned into a paradise. She’s surprised to hear he actually tends to a part of it.

“Forgive my surprise.” She looks around, the gardeners here must be very talented to keep it looking so wonderful. “Could I see it? The vegetable garden that is.”

“Of course.” Bruce said with a small smile, leading her through to the greenhouses, a little less manicured, he mostly took care of this himself. He turned on the lights, plants all in various stages of growth. “It relaxes me, moving all the soil, making sure everything is looked after. The only thing I automate is for the lighting and the watering, incase I’m away... But I harvest everything myself, and I make sure to eat what I can, and I give out the rest to various housing facilities around the city..” 

DADDIES LIL MONSTER. What fun they where going to have. What chaos they where about to unleash onto the entire city. No wonder she had held back, no wonder she had tried to keep this a secret from everyone, but she didn’t do a really good job at it. She should have known to stay away from here, she should have ignored the beacon in the night sky, the call for help, the warning that he was loose and taking out the Bat Family one member at a time, who would have thought that a night like tonight, where he planned to cut her up into little pieces would have resulted in so much fun.

He only clasped his hands together and watched as she would listen to him and obey. What a good little monster she was turning out to be, she knew better already. That he was not on the menu, that he was off limits. That he was not like the others, one bite of him and she would only be hurting herself. She would only be doing damage to her own body. Death didn’t scare him – you only had to look at him once to see how close he was to it, how much pain he was in. The drugs, the serums, the painkillers, there was only so much they could do to numb the pain, the exposed flesh was rotten, the blood was dry and his face that was barely hanging on him was getting worse with every passing hour, rotten flesh was not meant to be treated like this.

There was no fear, not even a sound came from him as he watched her, his eyes wide open as he stared at the changes that where brought under her. He had seen this before with Kirk Langstrom. It had always interested him how the man was able to change from human to monster, and while this looked the same it was anything but that. He had little doubt that Barbara would be able to take Kirk Langstrom in his changed form and kill him with ease. He had been looking for something like this for some time. Searching for something was delightful as this and here Batman had it the entire time, kept to himself, hidden away – how Batman of him. To keep something like this when it should be shared among the masses.

“Very much so –” His hands clapped together as he just stared at her. The thought was there, what he wanted to do, but would she agree to it, would she go along with what he wanted to do. He had tried to poison Gotham City before, the water reserve was always something he wanted to contaminate, but he had been stopped before, but this – her blood could do so much wonderful damage to the city, he had always said Gotham citizens would one day destroy the city themselves and she had provided him a way to do that.

“But are you satisfied, you have killed tonight, you have broken the rule, you cannot go back to him, you know this – you understand what we have to do now, the longer we wait, the more advantage we give him.”

With a slow, inhaled breath her limbs returned to normal, the wings shrunk into her back and she levelled a look at him, blinking slowly as spoke. “And why, do tell, would I want to work with you? What do you have to offer me?” She asked with a raised brow. She didn’t say it mockingly, but her tone was sharp, what could Joker possibly have to offer her that she didn’t have, or couldn’t get? 

“You might not taste like it, but you’re human, so fragilely so.” Barbara pointed out, he only had to look out the corner of his eyes, to his pale, curled skin to know the truth, he didn’t have long, whatever he’d end up doing. “I don’t have to go back to him, I don’t want to, I could simply vanish, or perhaps my brothers would enjoy a little revenge.” And they were her brothers now, in every sense of the word. Blood bound them together in this misery, she would have to find them, she what else they had learned. 

An easy step forward had her almost pressed up against him, she didn’t shy away this time, his little Babs was dead, or rather, silenced for the moment. Pushed so far deep inside of her that there was little he would have recognised in her eyes as she tilted her head to look up at him. “There are no rules now, he crossed that line when he killed me, shame it took me this long to see it. You’re speaking of advantages, I could snap your neck, tie you up, blow up this godforsaken city for all I care... I might still walk out of it.” Her lip curled up into a smirk. 

YOUR REALLY SOMETHING. Now that was one heck of a show and here he was thinking this had all been set up in a way to kill her for good, but he was glad this was how things played out. A dozen clowns dead and just as many hostages as well, but what was standing before him was something he himself could really sink his claws into. This - this was a monster, his little monster. He had already warned her once that he had a kill switch on him, that if he died the city went with him and besides what would she want to drink his blood for anyway, it was so toxic and polluted that it would most likely kill or and if not - do something far worse to her.

“Well I can clearly see that -” He moved his hand to his top pocket and removed the handkerchief. “There, you got a lil bit of clown on your face.”

He tapped the side of her face several times and cleaned the blood from it. What a riot this was, her she was the best that Batman had to offer and she had broken the one rule, the one rule that was meant to be enforced all the time, the one rule that none of them were ever allowed to break, the one rule that had been there from day one and she had not just broken it, she had completely and utterly shattered it to a million pieces. There was nothing else to do with it, she had killed them all and left him - so she was not stupid then, that was something he could work with. No point having a beast on your chain if it would turn and eat you as well.

“Barbara - look at you, all feisty now, I hardly know you.” He leaned down and patted her on the head and ruffled her hair. “But your still hiding.”

He stepped back, finger tapping on the slipping skin on his chin as he had to pull on the strap one more time to make sure it remained nice and tight. That was the problem you see when you go and cut your face off, it’s pretty damn hard to stick back on and even with the staples and the strap the skin was dying, but he had more than enough time to worry about that later, right now he had a gold mine in front of him, he had one of Batman greatest allies now turned into a monster, but she still looked human - too human for his liking. He had told her no more masks, no more pretending, no more games.

“Come on - show me.” He wanted to see it, he wanted to see what she really was, what they had truly become. “Show me what you really are, don’t hold it back.”

If her thoughts about draining him had been in debate, as he (perhaps foolishly) brought his hand towards her mouth as he cleaned her up. Her eyes flashed as she debated about giving him a warning nip but she could smell his rotten blood from here. No benefit would come from biting him, only his own, no vampire in their right mind would ever looked to him as a meal, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t dangerous. 

She watched a he struggled with his face, while everything on a human was delicate, she could see where the dead skin was curling, fighting as it struggled to stay on. She could see every hole he had put in from trying to staple it and it smelt dreadful, but in a way it broke that blood lusting haze that fogged her mind. The rest of the blood here was dead, cold and unappetising. 

His insistence was a little grating, but the monster was flattered he seemed so interested. Barbara brought her hand up, her new renewed strength meant she was able to become who she truly was, she had only seen Bruce do it once. Her hand flexed as her fingers elongated, nails turning to black talons, it was easy to imagine them ripping effortlessly through metal as though it were nothing more than tissue. Her mouth parted as her lips flushed a deep crimson, two fangs slicing down, but her remaining teeth also became pointed, there was no escape if she caught you there. 

Barbara felt her ears changing, the top pointing into tips as they grew slightly, she could feel something hot along the back of her spine, letting out a pained groan as two large, leathery wings ripped her suit as they flexed outwards, reaching just past her fingertips had she also held out her hands. Her whole suit was practically destroyed now, the front side only kept up as the fabric clung to the neck seam, but the cold didn’t bother her anymore. Her skin was almost as pale as his, but the recent feeding had been enough to send a little flush of colour over her.