The Domino Effect [Dr. Leland]

[Joan Leland]

Sadly it's not the first time Joan's been shot at. It's not even the second time and Joan cottoned on long ago to a few tricks to keep ensuring it wouldn't be the last. The prepared might have a plan to evacuate in case of fire or something, Joan has a plan in case madmen come to visit.

Firstly, the moment she locked the door she goes away from it, sprinting across the room to get out of the way as the bullets start flying. The reinforcement wasn't enough to stop bullets but kicking it down the door might be harder than the Joker thinks as the metal bars she'd fitted to the inside of the door kept the wood splinters mostly together at least while Joan dialed 911 quickly on her phone, quickly giving her address and just the message "The Joker is here, help" before she abandons it, unlocking the multiple locks on her window as with her other hand she taps the floor by her bed a few times. She makes a few clicking noises and Gerald the cat who had a habit of hiding under the bed when strangers are around carefully appears and becomes confused when he's not immediately rewarded with chicken the moment Joan picks him up like he normally is when she asks him to come out of hiding.

If need be she would have left the cat but if she could take him with her she would try so she carried the cat with her as she climbed out the window on to the fire escape and made a run for it.

[The Joker]

Joker had started laughing while shooting. He was just shooting for fun. He liked it. It was like a game! However, he stopped when the gun started clicking without shooting anymore. Joker looked at the gun rising a brow and pointed the barrel on himself, exactly on his face. He knew that the gun was empty, but still. However, he just changed the bullets in the revolver, six to be precise. Then he walked towards the door and used his acid to open it, the door was already pretty damaged thanks to the shooting so the acid just did the trick. Joker used the acid in the right places and then pushed the door with his gloved hand. The door fell down.

Joker entered in the room and saw the Doc escaping from the fire escape, ah funny, and then he noticed the cellphone. Of course she had to call them. Oh, well. This had just become funnier. Joker walked towards the fire escape instead of running to let the doc some time to run away, otherwise where was the fun in this? Joker put his hands on the edge of the window and looked outside calmly, it was a very nice day. Then he looked down and saw the doc on the fire escape.

Joker titled his head to the left and looked at her for few other seconds then he had to follow her, the police was arriving soon. With a sigh he jumped out the window, landing on the fire escape, making as much noise as possible, he wanted the doc to be afraid. He could understand why Scary liked fear so much, victims were always so funny when afraid. Joker started descending the stairs to reach the doc. He was glad that the doc was trying to escape, now he could have fun.

[Joan Leland]

Joan had only one plan, to run. As far and as fast as she could. She didn't look back for the Joker, she knew he'd be there chasing her, she just ran.

Just like she had a plan for when mad men invade her home she also had one for when she's running away from it being chased. She knew where the nearest police station was, she knew the route they'd probably be taking to get to her apartment after her call, all she needed to do was follow that route and she'd probably find them on the way. Perhaps it would have been wiser to take the phone so she could have told them she was on the move but it was too late now.

How far she'd get before the Joker caught up or shot her she didn't know. Her cat was less keen on the plan. She could train him to come out of hiding but training him to be happy with her carrying him while she ran around was a little much and took only about a minute for him to wriggle around wildly and eventually break free, making a run for it in to an alley. Joan hesitated. She wanted to get her cat and keep him safe but he'd probably disappear in to some hiding spot and be gone for hours. She glances back and then the run begins again.

[The Joker]

A runner should never stop running. Especially a runner who was trying to escape from a psycho serial killer. To be fair though, the Doc was a doc and not a runner. Joker could run faster than her and he knew Gotham too so he understood where the doctor was trying to go. So, he didn't even follow her, but took another route that could lead him where he wanted in less time.

However, he preferred a panoramic view so that he could see the doctor. Joker had to watch the doctor, it was so fun seeing her in this moment of desperation. So, Joker climbed up a building, using another fire escape, and reached the roof. Joker wondered how much fire escapes were really useful because for now it seemed that they were only useful to thieves and jokers.

Joker kept running, but stopped at the edge of the roof, not that he couldn't jump on the other roof, because he could do that, the other roof was near enough. But, Joker could perfectly see the doctor down on the street. She stopped for a moment because her cat had run away. Big mistake. Joker smiled and used the moment to shoot at the doctor's leg.

Although the clown could have really injured the doc...and by that it meant killing her...Joker didn't do that because just killing her wouldn't be as much fun. Making her victims suffer first was way more entertaining. Besides, the cops would be there soon, at least Joker hoped so, he was in the mood to kill some law-bringers.    

[Joan Leland]

There was a second when Joan didn't even realise she'd been shot. She heard the gun and her head swung around sharply, expecting to see the clown right behind her. She didn't have time to register the feeling of surprise when she didn't see him there as the moment her foot hit the ground her leg collapsed under her and she fell to the ground with a scream of pain.

The pain made it hard to think so it was another couple of seconds before she connected it to the sound of gun shot. She'd been shot. She'd had a couple of near misses around Arkham, mostly explosions, getting hit, drugged or gassed rather than shot in the asylum. The Riddler had happened by and stopped for a chat once before, the end result being a narrow escape from a bomb. This wasn't the first time she thought this might be it and that was a feeling she fought against hard.

Think. Assess. Panic will kill. She could tell herself that all she wanted but there was no remaining calm now. She tried to get up but her leg just folded the second she tried to put any weight on it. Flight wasn't going to work. Fight was difficult, she wasn't even sure where the Joker was right now and he had a gun. She gritted her teeth as she pressed her hands down hard on her leg to try and slow the bleeding as she sat on the ground and tried to catch her breath.

"Where's the joke?!" she yelled after she wasn't dead after the first second "Wasn't this supposed to be funny?!" she sounded angry and she still didn't know where he was so she was just shouting at the world "No laughing gas, go out with a smile, just a gun?"

Joan couldn't focus enough to tell but the sound of sirens was getting close, the police would be there any moment, guided by the new calls from people who were hiding in their homes and trying not to get involved in what was happening right outside on the street.

[The Joker]

Joker laughed. How cute. The Doc was trying to psych him. Ohhhh, this was fun for him. Seeing a trapped animal under his control, he could do anything that he wanted to her. Anything. If this wasn't fun then what was? Mh, actually Joker could think about other stuff being even more deadly funny, but still. The clown watched the show from the roof. The Doctor down there, shot and hurt. A wicked smile appeared on the clown's face.

Then he started coughing. He was coughing so hard that he had to stand up, the coughs shaking his ill body. Joker was on the roof of a not so tall building, in fact falling from there couldn't kill. It could break bones and what not, but not kill. It was important for what was about to happen. Joker was on the edge of the roof and he didn't have control of his body right now because of the coughing. His body was shaking and because of that his feet were brushing the edge of the roof.

The first thing to fall was his revolver. Joker had to open his hand for a severe cough so the gun fell on the ground, it didn't break. The next one to fall was the clown himself and his laughing announced his falling. He knew that it was gonna happen, he saw his feet moving too close to the edge. It wasn't the first time that he had fallen. In fact he had fallen into more dangerous places than down a roof...like an acid bath...and he was still alive.

Joker's laugh stopped when he hit the ground. He passed out immediately, of course, but he wasn't dead. The police arrived and found Dr. Leland on the ground, injured. A yell from a cop announced the presence of the clown "We need two ambulances!" the cop said into his radio on the shoulder, looking at the clown on the ground. Although Joker was passed out, the clown had still a smile on his face.