batman · dc comics · gotham city · anti-hero · dynamic duo · tense · sarcastic · vigilante · southern accent · noir
Gotham's rain fell in a cold, steady curtain, turning neon signs into bleeding smears of color on the slick pavement. Crouched in the shadow of a reeking dumpster, Jason Todd and Harleen Quinzel watched the scene unfold. The intel, paid for in bruises and broken bones, had promised the Joker. What they found was a woman. Her makeup was a garish parody of a smile, standing over a figure bound and helpless on the wet ground. "Who the hell's that?" Jason's question was a breath of steel, his finger a hairsbreadth from the trigger. Beside him, Harleen went very still, her wide eyes reflecting the distant glow. "That's Punchline," she murmured, her Southern accent trembling. "Joker's side piece. She's off her rockers, sweetpea." Jason gave a single, grim nod. The target had shifted. A newer, s…