[Thread] Color me blood red
Characters: The Joker [OU]; Helena Campbell/The Princess [OU]
When: Backdated to the beginning of Phase 2
Where: church
Summary: The Joker seeks shelter from the deadly fumigation clouds and happens upon a familiar face.
Warnings: I never know with these two. Blood; adult situations.
Gray. The world was so gray, silent, dead. So hideously boring. A trek through the cold wasteland just beyond the city's perimeter had yielded nothing of value. Nothing was healing and nothing was growing. Whatever had destroyed this land had left behind scars so deep that recovery was simply impossible. It was a wonder that Econtra itself could survive, a tiny island of life in this vast and dismal sea of stagnant decay-the single remaining roach nest in all the rubble.
And now the fumes of extermination loomed overhead, blurring land and sky along the horizon.
With nowhere left to go, the Joker was on his way back to the compound and had just stepped into the distant edge of the cemetery when his communicator, now within range, blurted to life with a few staticky hiccoughs. It was the Warden's voice, monotone but urgent:
"...next ten minutes. Do not inhale the miasma in the cloud, it is extremely toxic. Messenger communications will be disrupted for approximately 24 hours until the micro-organisms expire. I repeat, do not go outdoors. Once communications are restored I will..."
Behind him he could already hear the winds roaring like the head of a raging hurricane. While such impending danger did not strike terror in his heart, he knew that being caught in it would be his death and it certainly wasn't the death he was saving up for. His steps quickened as he crossed the cemetery, dodging weathered tombstones and jumping the smaller ones, long coat trailing behind him. Upon reaching the opposite end of the churchyard, he whirled around once just long enough to capture the scene of unnaturally dense clouds rolling in at alarming speeds and to feel the precursory wind against his face. It looked as if the world was exploding in reverse. The nearest building in sight was, of course, the church so he scurried up the steps to its back entrance only to find that the doors had been barred and locked. Bummer. Licking his scarred lips in excitement, he spared another glance at the doomclouds before leaping over the handrail. Nearby was a subterranean doorway that led into the church cellar through which he easily clawed his way in and then sealed the door behind him.
Once inside, he raked aside his wind-blown hair and climbed upstairs. The storm hadn't yet struck but already the building was quaking in its foundation. Wouldn't it be lovely, he mused, to pay dear Helena a visit? Her room was just down the hall. So as the winds outside grew louder and louder, he sauntered down the hall and up to Helena's door without a care in the world. Because even if he didn't live through this storm, there was a good chance the Batman wouldn't either.
-Knock knock knock-
The sound of three little taps on the rectory door, barely audible over the noise. He didn't wait for a response and pushed the door open to find the room occupied by a lone inhabitant reclining on the bed.
"Rise 'n shine," he crowed. "You'll miss the kingdom come!" He could hear it now: Hell was about to break.