The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of Jack Napier

[Darth Paxis]

Chapter 1:

Gotham City is dark at night. Not in the physical sense, as with any major city, Gotham puts forth its fair share of light pollution, but anyone who has been there will tell you of the dark sense of something that follows everyone at night, a sense of malevolence that hanks thick in the air. It is interesting, however, that permanent residents of the city seem unaffected by this, almost as passing through it is a rite of passage. It is this ignorance that permits Gotham’s residents to go out at night, to be able to function normally in a society that is completely corrupt.

Jack Napier had lived in Gotham for almost a year. He had come fresh from college with a degree in advanced degree in chemistry and dreams of a better tomorrow. It hadn’t taken long for the dream to vanish, and a sense of incredible loneliness had taken its place. Jack had had a few fleeting relationships in college, but since coming to Gotham he had lived alone, making few friends, even at the chemical plant where he now worked, and he felt lonely. He had been taking a martial arts class for a few months, and it was from this that he was walking back to his apartment. It was hard work, but it had been doing wonders for his confidence, and he was starting to feel good about himself again.

Until now.

Now, Jack noticed that there were several people dressed similarly that were walking close to him. Probably nothing, but in Gotham, everyone was a bit paranoid. Jack increased his pace, but so did his followers. Jack turned the corner, only to slam into somebody. Jack fell to the ground hard. He started to apologize, but stopped when he saw that the person he had knocked over was dressed like the others.

Shit.

Jack rose quickly, trying to get around the man in front of him, but the man grabbed the back of his jacket, throwing him back to the ground.

“Why you in such a rush? We just want to talk.” The man said, looking down at Jack.

“Bullshit. Stay back, I can defend myself.” Jack yelled as he looked frantically for a way out.

The man just laughed. “Well, if you’re going to be like that.”

The man gestured slightly with his hand, and one of the others ran up to Jack, winding his fist back. Jack ducked, and jabbed his elbow into his opponent’s gut. His attacker doubled over, and Jack stood with a smile on his face, which was promptly wiped off as he was hit hard on the back of his head. He fell to the ground, his vision blurring. He felt hands reaching into his pockets, and removed his wallet.

“Fuck, this joker’s got no money.”

“What about plastic.”

There’s a couple, but-hey, what the fuck!”

Jack vaguely saw a large black shape appear out of the shadows and start beating his assailants with ease.

Hell, I wish I could do that.

The last thing Jack saw before he passed out was the shape rising into the sky.

The next thing Jack felt was a cloth sheet over his body. Jack moved it off him and stood up, rubbing the back of his head as he did so.

“Holy shit, he’s alive.”

“Of course I’m-“ Jack suddenly realized that he was surrounded by cops. “what’s going on?” he asked.

I’m sorry Mr….”

“Napier, Jack Napier.”

“Ah, then this must belong to you then.” The cop handed back Jack’s wallet. “I’m Gordon, by the way. I’m sorry about the whole dead thing, the EMT’s must have been too excited to do a proper check.”

“Excited?”

“Well, we thought that you were the first death caused by the Batman.”

Realization dawned on Jack. “So that’s who I saw.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I was laying there, and suddenly I see this black thing appear out of nowhere and start beating on those guys.”
“Okay, why don’t we get you to a hospital so you can be checked.”

And get thrown in the fucking morgue, no thanks.” Jack walked off towards his apartment, trying his best not to wobble.

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The next day, Jack was sitting at his desk reading the news paper.

Batman: Friend or Foe?

Recently many Gothamites have been reported seeing “a large man shaped bat” that has appeared out of nowhere and attacked criminals all over the city. So far, this “Batman” has been sighted over twenty times in the past week. So what does Gotham make of this Dark Knight.
“He’s a menace,” says Commissioner Piskura. “The law should be left in the hands of trained profeesionals, not masked vigilantes.” Piskura has recently announced a new task force, under the command of Captain James Gordon. Some in Gotham are oppsed to this, however.
“The police are just too jealous,” says Frank Donaldson, a retired bus driver who has witnessed the Batman in action. “sure, he’s brutal, but he’s nowhere as bad as some of these guys he’s taking on. I saw him rescue my daughter from a gang, and as far as I’m concerned, he’s a damn hero.”
One thing’s for sure however, Gotham won’t be forgetting its new protector anytime soon.

Jack put the paper down with a grin on his face. Sounds like a nice guy. I wish I could meet him again. Jack turned back to his work. Currently he was developing a new nerve gas that would immobilize enemies by compelling them to laugh uncontrollably. So far in animal testing however, The effects were proving fatal as they literally laughed themselves to death. Jack was trying to make the gas less deadly, with little success so far. Finally he decided to take a break, but as he left his area, he saw a group of people standing in the hallway. He stopped as he recognized one of them.

Bruce Wayne was standing in front of him.

Seeing Napier, his boss, John Trask, waved him over. “ah, Mr Wayne, this is the man I was telling you about. One of the best in his field.”

Wayne smiled and held out his hand. “Mr. Napier,right.”

Yes, sir Mr. Wayne, but please call me Jack.”

“Well, okay, but only if you call me Bruce.”

Jack shook Bruce’s hand, not quite believing that he was on a first name basis with the richest man in Gotham.
“So, Jack, what are you working on now?”
Just a new nerve gas.”

“Really, how does it work?”

“Well, it basically makes its targets laugh uncontrollably. I have the data in my lab if you want to look at it.”

“Sure, I think I can spare a few moments.”

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Bruce was interested in this new gas that Napier was working on. Although he wasn’t sure that laughter was the reaction that he was looking to inspire in Gotham’s underground, this sounded like it had potential. He followed Napier back to his lab and took a good look at the data, as Napier explained to him the science behind it all. He decided that he wanted to investigate this further.

“So, how far have you progressed Jack.”

“Well we’ve made it to animal testing, but so far the results are not what we hoped.”

“Really? How so?”

“Well the gas is proving a bit fatal right now.”

“That’s unfortunate.”

“Yeah, well I’m working on it now, and I’m hoping for improvement soon.”

Bruce decided to consult Lucius about it. “Well, I know some people who could help with this. I’ll contact them about it, see what they think.”

“Thank you, Mr.- Sorry, Bruce.”

As Bruce walked away, Jack felt a sense of relief. Maybe things weren’t so bad after all.








This is the Joker idea I had. I wanted to post this before I left for the summer. When I get back, I should have updates for all my stories.

Reviews still appreciated. Thanks

[Themightytom]

well IM reading and it looks good so far but of course, the REAL review must come from Batman himself.
or possibly superman- choking- wonderwoman.

its pretty well written and this is an intreresting take on the Joker. I can't see where your going with it.
I assumed the red to green was a reference to lanterns. Keep writing!

[Darth Paxis]

First off, thank you for giving a review. Spoiler

I'm thinking of portaying Jack Napier as a counterpart to Batman through the Red Hood identity, until he is transformed into the Joker.

I'm working at a summer camp with really bad internet right now, so I probably won't be able to continue my stories until late August, But I am still writing, so if the Internet improves, there will be more.