Annie’s POV:

After the brutal smack to the face, the Joker left me alone with Harley. He declared that he had some things to set up before he “got started”…whatever that meant.

As I sat in the metal chair, still strapped in, I thought about what it took to be the lover of a homicidal clown killer. The criminal mind had always intrigued me, with my brother being a cop and all. My eyes flickered to Harley in the corner of the room, still kneeling down petting her beloved, slobbering hyenas. I suddenly got an idea.

“I like your outfit” I said to Harley Quinn, one of the most dangerous women to ever walk the streets of Gotham.

She looked astounded for a second, complete shock took over her face. After the words seemed sink in, she replied to my comment.

“Thanks!” She replied eagerly “Red doesn’t like it…she thinks I look like a tramp but Puddin loves it!”

I could only assume that Red was referring to Poison Ivy and Puddin was the Joker.

“I think you’re my favorite victim yet!”She continued, I smiled in return even though the use of the word victim made me uneasy.

My plan was to make friends with Harley until the Joker returned, maybe I could even trick her into untying me.

That plan was blown out of the water when the Joker returned only a few seconds later.  He smashed the door open, making me nearly jump out of my skin. In his arms, he carried a video camera.

“A video camera?” I asked suspiciously, I didn’t like my idea of where this was going. I got no answer as the Joker barked orders at Harley.

“Harley! Stop petting the hyenas and get over here!” He snapped at her, she complied willingly. 

“Now hold the camera” he said as he handed her the video camera. She pointed the camera at me and he reached over and pressed what I assumed was the record button because a red light lit up on the front of it.

“State your name” he said letting a few chuckles and snickers break through his serious voice. I didn’t find it funny as I just looked up at him in confusion and utter fascination.

“Annie” I said staring at my sneakers, refusing to look at the camera for whatever insane purpose he was filming me.

The Joker rolled his eyes as if we were playing a game and I wasn’t playing by the rules. “No no no…you’re full name, the name your mother gave you before she left” he said as a smile spread across his face and he let out several hiccups of laughter.

My heart nearly pounded out of my chest, how did he know that?!

“Ariebelle Bo” I stated grimly, still refusing to make eye contact with the camera.

Then the Joker stepped in between me and the camera. He faced the video camera and said “Hello Batsy!” I immediately knew what his reason for filming me was.

“Oh and I haven’t forgotten about you, Boy Blunder!” he continued with a dramatic cackle. “Now I thought I’d introduce you to my little friend here but it appears that you two have already met” His laughter grew ridiculously.

My heart plummeted into my stomach. Thoughts began to race through my mind again, giving me a headache. So that’s why the Joker kidnapped you…because you’re connected to Robin. What if he knows that Dick is Robin?! What if I gave away his secret identity!

I tried to remain focused on the mad man standing only inches away from me.

“Well I think it’s time we put on a little show for Batboy” The Joker said as he nearly bounded around the room in excite.

Without any warning, he knelt down next to me and pulled out a switch blade. I flinched and then began to shake in fear. The Joker seemed to notice that fear because he put the blade up to my mouth. “Look at the camera, dear” He whispered deadly into my ear.

“Screw Batsy’s family. You can join Joker’s family! You can even have matching scars!” he shouted as the tip of the knife touched by skin. My eyes were wide with fear, my muscles tensed and I had to use all my might to resist the urge to scream. As I prepared to carry the burden of having a disfigured face for the rest of my life, the blade lifted up off my skin.

“Actually, you might need that pretty face…” he said as he moved the blade down from my face to my wrists. He then cut the bonds that held me to the cold, metal chair. My mind was blown as my arms felt freedom from the unforgivingly stiff chair.

“Come on” He said as he put a ghostly white hand on my shoulder and pushed me out of the room.

“You too, Harley!” he added as Harley followed behind, still filming with the camera.

We walked down a long, dark hallway. It was so dark that I could not see in front of me and I feared that in the darkness something would jump out and grab me. I could barely get my legs to move because they were so stiff. Again I wondered just what time of day it was and just how long I had been in captivity.

We soon entered the doorway of a much larger room. The lighting was much better, as it fully illuminated the whole room.  One of the four walls in the large room was covered in mirrors. To my horror, there was a metal operating table with buckles to hold a person in place. All sorts of foreign looking medical equipment were surrounding the table. Next to the operating table was a large vat of water, which looked rather like a tub. I wanted to turn around and run as fast as humanly possible but I knew that was impossible because the Joker was standing right behind me.

“In you go” he said as he gave me a shove into the room.  Harley followed us in the room.

“Now, Bratboy” he said staring straight into the camera again.

 “I’m talking directly to you..” he said as he pointed at the camera with a pasty white finger.

“I want you to watch...I want you to watch…” he said this as he was pushing me closer and closer to the large vat of water. As I got closer to it I realized it was filled with ice.

 “I want you to watch as I torture this girl, and I want you to know that you caused it” he said with inane laughter and my heart began to thud. I tried to turn in the opposite direction and run but I was caught by the tip of the knife. “Ah-ah-ah” said the Joker shaking his head.

“NO!” I screamed as he picked me up, snatching me by the hair. He threw me in the vat of water. The ice numbed every inch of my body as I struggled underneath the water. A stubborn, unrelenting hand held my head under the water. My body shivered and my lungs began to scream for air. I began to feel myself blacking out when I was pulled up from the water.

“Now, I want you to look right in that camera—” he pointed to Harley holding the camera, “and say that this is all Batboy’s fault. Tell him that you hate him.” The Joker said, while simultaneously laughing hysterically.

My will overpowered my body’s senses. “No, I won’t do it” I obstinately objected.

This was not wise as all it got me was my head shoved back into the icy water. This time I was under for even longer. I could feel my bones actually becoming cold, my whole body shook and again my lungs screamed for air. I struggled and struggled relentlessly but still the Joker’s hand held me down. I could actually feel myself drowning.

He pulled me up again. I would not survive being held under again.

So I gritted my teeth and said “It’s your fault.” It was extremely unbelievable; I mumbled it and refused to look into the camera still, and the Joker didn’t like that so he stuck me back in the water but this time it was only brief.

“Look into the camera and say it” he sneered.

I looked fiercely into the camera and shouted “It’s all your fault!!!!” This was purely out of hatred for the man holding me into the icy water.

“There…isn’t that better?” he said as he plucked me out of the freezing water. “Don’t we all feel good and truthful?” he said as he stuck his hand out and played with my wet hair. My eyes turned to him in a mixture of fear, disgust and outrage.

My body was shaking uncontrollably and was covered in goose bumps. Chills ran up and down my spine, literally and figuratively. I was mentally kicking myself for my choice of attire at the time that I was kidnapped, all I had to keep me warm was a pair of small denim shorts, a tee shirt and a pair of sneakers—now all soaking wet.

“So you see , Bird boy, I have this project that I’ve been working on” the Joker said as one of his hands clamped down onto my wrist to keep me from running.

“It’s more of a science experiment, really.” He continued to say.

“But I needed a test subject” His eyes gleamed off into the distance. Harley smiled as though she was watching a skilled artist paint a picture.

“And I looked and looked for the perfect one, but no one caught my taste” He continued speaking, taking breathes in between words.

“But then imagine my surprise, when I found out that Batman’s little buddy had got himself a girlfriend!” He said this with unrequited enthusiasm.

“And then I saw her and I knew she was perfect for my little science project!”

His grin reminded me of the Cheshire Cat from the Alice and Wonderland movie that I had adored as a child. My mind struggled to understand the words that were spilling out of his mouth.

“It was really quite careless of you, Boy Blunder. You left her out in the open, with no protection. So exposed…” he said this as he stroked my freezing cheek. I pulled away from him sharply.

“You may have thought that freezing her under the water was part of the torture that was meant to tear you apart—” His voice was so chilling. “well that’s only partly correct.” He said vaguely.

“You see for my project to work, the organs need to be below normal temperatures. This keeps the effect from…wearing off. So now that your girlfriend is all prepped for surgery, let’s begin.”

With one single motion, he put his switch blade to my back and forced me toward the operating table. My soul melted with the word surgery.

What’s going to happen to me?

Before I knew it, I was strapped onto the hard table. The Joker still faced the camera that Harley was holding. She stood silently, watching and filming him.

“Our favorite poisonous friend, Ivy as everyone calls her, has been dealing me her neurotoxin that nulls the brain’s prefrontal cortex. With a little help from a certain doctor, we’ve made a neurotoxin that, unlike Ivy’s original poison, doesn’t wear off.”

My eyes grew wide as I realized where his plan was going.

The Joker approached the table that I was strapped to and picked up a syringe. Inside the syringe was a green fluid that looked absolutely vile.

“With this— ” he said as he flicked the syringe, “your girlfriend will be mine” he said with a hysterical cackle that tore into my brain.

Everything then became real to me.

With just one injection, I would no longer be myself.

With just one injection, he could make me do anything he wanted.