.. vim: set syntax=rst nosmartindent spell spelllang=en_us: ###################### How Joker Beats Batman ###################### It starts with a power outage at Arkham Asylum. Something about budget cuts and have prevented the Asylum from repairing its HVAC system. Mr Freeze needs to be kept at a low temperature. The guards are so scared of all the supervillains escaping, they just lock down the area. None of the inmates have food or water. Mr Freeze gets sick and starts having seizures. The blackout goes for almost two days. Not sure if Mr Freeze dies Normally the villains can't communicate much. But with the power out, the villains realized they could talk through the vents and plumbing, and none of the guards could see in the cell block anymore. So the villains all spent the blackout talking to each other. Joker starts talking about how much he hates Batman. The other villains laugh so he continues. He talks for like three hours, just making fun of Batman. Power comes back. Mr Freeze is carried out to the hospital. Guards won't tell them anything. Villains all tell Joker about how they were all in a terrible state of mind, but his jokes saved them from complete despair. Joker starts doing standup and sketch comedy at night in the asylum. He becomes obsessed. A guard records an hour of Joker ranting to a roaring audience of other villains about how Batman sucks. Then he sends it to a few friends. They love it. The guard passes the video to more people. And it goes on the internet eventually. Somehow the videos make it into the general public. Joker attracts a small and devoted fan international fan base. Most people can't get over his past crimes. The media largely ignores him. The guard tells Joker during a secret meeting that he is making money selling recordings. They work out a deal. More videos show up recorded by the guard on a camera he hides in his hand during his shift. One tape after another shows up. Joker now gets name checked by artists and comics. The asylum fires the guard that was selling the videos for Joker. Then the asylum puts Joker under more surveillance. But another tape still gets released. It isn't clear if he had recorded it earlier or not, but he says he expects it is only a matter of time before he is no longer allowed an audience. Then sure enough, the tapes stop. Mr. Freeze dies after being in a coma for months. A team of investigative journalists sue the Asylum for more details about the power outage. The journalists stumble across the videos of Joker doing standup. It becomes a media sensation. The asylum says Joker is unavailable for interviews. Internal documents are leaked showing he has been sent into solitary confinement. Protesters show up outside. The governor demands an investigation of Mr Freeze's death and of Arkham Asylum generally. Joker is nearly dead again, dying of thirst, after being in solitary confinement. The Asylum says he had water available. He replied with "they lied during the power outage and they're lying now!" Joker is pardoned. Many other villains are released as being rehabilitated. Joker starts doing standup at small venues. But becomes a huge hit. He seems to have an amazing volume of new material every week. Most of his most popular stories are about Batman. How he spends so much money on his crime fighting equipment. He compares the price of a bat-arang to a dose of insulin. ---- Joker becomes phenomenally popular. ---- Then Batman shows up at Joker's old apartment, where Joker is living still. Says he doesn't want Joker to think he buys this whole "I've been rehabilitated" act. Joker had cameras in his apartment. But later he discovers how Batman used some kind of jamming equipment. The footage is blurry around Batman and every time Batman speaks, the video is just static. But that masking doesn't happen when Joker is talking. So Joker releases the video with a voice over track and a short lead video that explains what happened. ---- The media start asking more questions about Batman. Why is he tolerated? Does he do more harm than good? ---- Joker says Batman should headline his own comedy show. Joker will be the opener. Then Batman agrees. Then the night of, it's on TV, and then Joker goes on, and he does his opener, and he does Batman's whole set. Then Batman goes on and dies terribly. ---- This is a wacky idea that I'm not sure about right now:: But another one is recorded with several higher quality cameras, and then competently edited. This one is released on the streaming services, through a new LLC that declares itself as the verified representative of Arkham Asylum. This one makes tons of money. It has professional level camera equipment. Joker doesn't get any of the money. It all goes to the Asylum. ---- Similar work ============ There was an Adam Sandler audio album about him tormenting somebody at a party. The guy pretends to be drunk but isn't drunk. That has vague similarities to Joker humiliating Batman. In the sense that the guy was just a liar and was being exposed as a liar.