Chapter Text
The early morning Gotham fog wafted past them as they walked forward; Batman with gritted teeth and grim seriousness in his stride, while a less than upbeat Joker dragged his feet as he followed along, slouching; he had his hands in his pockets, and a pout in place of his usual grin.
The air was eerily cold to the both of them, but neither voiced the thought out loud. They were used to their city, and their city was used to them. But this- this wasn't their city-technically speaking, but it was still Gotham.
Surprisingly, neither made any move to break the heavy silence that had fallen over them. They simply walked on, thinking of the same thing- the moment all of this began.
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Batman stood near the ferris wheel, looking around to find any evidence of recent activity to see if the clown really did choose Amusement Mile again to be his hide-out. "Did ya miss me, darling?"Joker popped up behind Batman, and narrowly escaped being elbowed in the face.
"Welp! Now you have!" Joker exclaimed happily before he ducked down to avoid a punch aimed at his nose, "Missed me!"
He twirled away from a kick, "Missed me again!" A batarang to the shoulder was narrowly avoided by a sidestep. "Aww I didn't know you missed me this much!" He cooed, both his hands coming up to hold the sides his own face.
"How," He spun around to avoid another batarang "SWEET!!" He pulled out a small blade from his sleeve and lunged at Batman, Batman caught his arm, but Joker swept a leg under Batman's feet and slipped away with a laugh before he could lock him.
Batman punched his torso, making him drop the blade, "Oh- Come. On!" He staggered back clutching his middle, "You'll be to blame if I puke right now Bats!" He yelled, but Batman only threw a kick his way.
"Seriously, stop! I have a tummy ache!" Batman stopped mid motion, and just stared at Joker with his raised fist. "....What?"
"What?!"Joker yelled back, and for a moment they just stayed like that, staring at eachother. These moments did happen from time to time, but they always end soon.
Right as Joker pulled out a bigger knife from inside his coat, smokebombs were thrown and he got decked square in the face."Gah!!"
He fell back and landed on his butt "Oof!" Before he could recover, he got kneed, in the face again. "Okay, stawp!" a leg on his chest pushed him down on his back; and then almost immediately, the leg stomped on his ribs.
Joker yelped, clasping both his hands firmly on the leg, seemingly going to twist it, but brought his own legs to wrap around it, then used his whole body to turn the leg and make Batman loose balance.
It worked, Batman fell down beside Joker, but he managed to push his leg harshly onto the clown's already bleeding nose, leaving a footmark on his face. "Can you like STOP going for the FACE too, Damnit!?!"
Joker yelled and tried to bite the kevlar boot off, working his whole body around Batman's leg like a snake. Batman retrieved a Batarang from his belt and threw it at Joker's shoulder, which got lodged perfectly between the clown's shoulderblades this time.
Laughing, the clown let Batman's leg go and clutched at his own shoulder. Batman stood up immediately, but he supposed immediate never seemed to be quick enough with the Clown Prince of Crime.
"Haha! Eat that!" Joker exclaimed, crawling backwards, with one arm pointing the gun in his hand at Batman; who kneeled down now due to the bullet that grazed his knee.
Luckily for the Dark Knight, Joker used his right hand to shoot, so he didn't shoot perfectly on target. Bruce knew Incapacitating Joker's Dominant hand wouldn't be enough to stop him, so he threw more batarangs at him, not letting him nurse his left hand.
He stood up now, ready to fight him on foot again, but that's when a bright light appeared, it was nearly blinding. Both the Bat and the Clown closed their eyes and looked away from the direction of the source; gripping their weapons tighter and shielding their eyes.
After a beat, Batman and Joker crack open their eyes to see the bright light fade and reveal a rainbow colored smoke-screen
Coughing; the pair look on in confusion as it clears to reveal a small figure clad in a rainbow cloak that hid their form, the only thing visible under the shadow of the cloak's hood being red, heart-shaped goggles with rose-tinted lenses.
Jazz music played in the backround as Batman narrowed his eyes at the figure, getting a Batarang ready. "Woah Woah WoahWoahWoah." Joker seemed taken back, but his irritation was more apparent. "Who the Holy Bat-Jaw Do you think You are, Squirt!?"
Joker didn't even get the chance to close his mouth before the colorful confetti popped in the air from out of nowhere; jerking his head back, Joker gaped at the spectacle unfolding before him. 'Damnit! This was supposed to be MY Night with My Knight!' He thought as the little creature twirled and floated above their heads.
"Fret not, My Dear Sourpatch! You'll get so much more than just a single night with him If I have anything to say about it!" They said, perplexing both the clown and the bat; but for different reasons.
"And I know what you're probably thinking too, Brucie boy!" It proudly proclaimed once more, and Batman quickly became mortified.
"Chilllllll. He knows. Isn't that Right, you cute lil' green-haired Gremlin?" They cooed, and Joker simply nodded with a pleased smile, then his eyes narrowed "Hey-! wait a second- the hell did you just call mwmhh-!?" The creature had floated quickly towards the clown to put a finger to his lips, effectively shushing him for a few seconds.
But still, Joker was far too dumbfounded to react; "I am Shipper! Captain Shipper!" They announced, floating back to hover over the pair of ' enemies', arms proudly outstretched.
"And I'm here to get my ship to sail!" They floated down, hovering between the Bat and the Clown. "The docks are on the other side of Gotham, pal. You've got the wrong address. We don't have any ships here." Joker Deadpanned.
"Awww how Cute!!!!" They crooned, petting Joker's head. Batman was very still as he observed what was going on.
Joker's jaw was nearly touching the floor from how much he was gaping, but that's when Batman noticed the reddish color to his face; Joker sputters then, and Batman realises that the Joker is Flustered.
Joker. The Clown who never shuts up and always has something to say. Was Flustered. Wow.
"Hm, Well, As I was Saying; I'm what is called an imp. I'm from the 5th dimension. And I'm here on behalf of a part of your fandom." They raised their hands towards the two, "And I suppose you might not like this at first, but trust me. You'll thank me later. After you find what you're supposed to!"
Before Bruce could even process all of that information, the Bright Light came back again, blinding.
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Joker suddenly halted his steps, and called out to Batman "Wait- Batsy! C'mon, stop!" Joker clutched at his stomach and stayed where he stood. "I'm starving!!"
Batman glared, and Joker pouted at him. Batman sighed, "Fine. It has been a while since we last ate. " He finishes.
"Hm, really? I mean, we're travelling between alternate realities here, how do we even know? Unless you have some sort of multiversal-" Joker wasn't allowed to speak any further. Batman will fight him to the death at this point.
"Hmmmmm what's gotten into you, Batsy Darling? You're even more grumpier than usual! I mean, Just what did you see back there? Why'd you-?" Joker was slammed onto the wall, caged there by Batman's strong arms on eaither side. "Do Not. Ask. me. about this. If you do, I will leave you behind." Bruce Growled, their faces mere inches apart from eachother.
"Well, no promises!" Joker chirped and ran off. "Fooooodddd!!!!!' Batman ran after him. "Joker!"