2961/Nothing To See Here, Move Along

Nothing To See Here, Move Along
Date of Scene:	25 October 2017
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	There is no such thing as a 'Green Goblin'. Just a nice sit-down with two rational individuals to discuss boring stuff like Mayoral policy and civic duty. Approved by the Norman Osborn for Mayor Committee.
Cast of Characters:	Green Goblin, Joker

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Green Goblin has posed:
    Tuesday evening, late into the night, the main corporate offices of the oscCorp Venture Capital firm (doubling as the campaign center for Norman Osborn's upcoming Mayoral Election run also) are utterly deserted. An odd sight, considering recent threats against his person and even a break-in a few weeks past. But sometimes, privacy is far more valuable than security.

    Behind the thick oak doors of his private office suite, Norman might be heard whispering faintly to someone on the other side, "No... you're right... something... has to be DONE."

    A long, cold silence, and then more muted mumbling from his private office, "It'll be... yes... I KNOW. We'll DEAL with it..."

    Inside, only Norman Osborn, one hand resting on his forehead, elbow on his sparse desk as he stares into the darkest corner of the room. "Be. Silent.." he hisses, as if giving the last word, before wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead and staring at the still-closed office door. Waiting for someone, perhaps? Or just insane?

Joker has posed:
Entering, not knocking, nor worrying about how acces may or may not have been restricted to him, the Joker throws his hat to the side as he throws his his arms open. The hat flutters and flops uselessly to the floor. The glowing grin momentarily stalled by confusion the Clown Prince of Crime turns his head over to the floored hat.

Turning back to Norm he says, "Nice place you got here. Sparcer than my suite at Arkham. Ever heard of furniture?" then he goes to retrieve it. Whilst doing so he says, "Tell me you seen it. You must've seen it. I seen it. I can't believe it... you've seen it though, right? I mean it's something you must've seen! We need to talk about it."

Casually moving on after de-flooring and re-heading the hat he walks over to the desk and sits down on the chair... only to jump straight back up. "Really, Norm, what did I tell you about the furniture! The chair, whenever they gave me it... has these things called cushions on it? Look it up." He pauses and with expert comic timing exclaims... "Not now! We need to talk about it. You still haven't told me, have you seen it?!"

Green Goblin has posed:
    Almost as if on cue, the entrance of that clown and most questionable ally EVER... And Norman just blinks, once, firmly at the man's grand entrance. In the time since their first real meeting, well over a month ago, he's come to know Joker's particular brand of madness well - even if it does seem to change ever-so-randomly... after all, Norman himself has some experience with dealing with lunacy. It's hardly virgin territory, more like staring into some cracked, unrestrained mirror-image of himself...

    <I told you we'd need him...> comes the quiet, whispering voice from the dark corner of the room - audibly only in Osborn's own twisted head. He simply smiles in response. When the Goblin is right, he's right. Norman has come to trust his judgment in MANY matters, despite doing his best to keep the beast at bay with medication and willpower.

    "Joker," comes the calm response from behind Norman's desk - the man barely visible in the cool, shadowy confines of his penthouse office, "I've always thought comfort the respite of the WEAK man. You never struck me as particularly weak..." He says with a grin, an almost smug tone to his voice.

    And then, in a flash, he's back to business - neutral glare and formal tones, "Yes, I've seen it. Unless you're off on some ramble, I was just.." he pauses, coming so close to saying the word 'discussing' before he stops himself. There's a pause, and then he continues, "I've been thinking about solutions. I'm eager to hear your opinions on the matter... more specifically, how it could be... resolved."

Joker has posed:
Norm gets an initial blank look. Then he gets looked in the eye... and that little finger wave and a 'coo-ee' to what the Master of Mayhem's Merriment has fondly thought of as Norm's better half... Joker leans on the table and says, "Norm. You ever done stand up? Sixty to a hundred hours? On your feet? Animated? Overacting? That alone can may a guy get ahead on stage but behind on height... really. Several sections of spine can fuse and form little more than face powder in your back. Trust me... for the weak it is not and comfy cushions are needed after the war is won."

He sleights a cigarette, then a second, between the same two fingers and looks off to the side. Looking to a camera that isn't there. Lighting up he says, "Any of you clever kiddies get THAT reference and you'll make this comic a happy ol' clown."

Looking back to Norm and taking a deep draw from the twinned cigarettes Joker says after puffing a few smokey shapes in the air... "You know it... and you know it... and I know it. The Mayor's got to meet his final act, open the ticking present and go KA-BLOOIE!... All the other puns, and wordplays for it aside. He's gotta die. I came a calling to see if you wanted to stop holding back... and come out and play."

Joker focuses on those bright green eys whilst taking another draw. He's not said it out loud but you can't kid a kidder kiddo... he knows people better than they know themselves. He knows Norm's frustrated. He's trying to deny who he really is. What he really is. Time to stop joking around. You're in there... aren't you. It's showtime.

The Joker sits and stares, questions asked, now the answers'll be telling. Will Norm double down... or will he fold? Doesn't matter... as Joker's always a wild card. And he cheats...

Green Goblin has posed:
Norm's face visibly falls at Joker's initial response, neutral expression turning into a scowl as he regards the manic individual lighting up two cigarettes in his own personal office. Instead of cutting off the man's rambling, however, he simply procures a glass ashtray from somewhere in his numerous desk drawers and slides it across the table. It's so new and unused, Joker would probably find the price tag still attached if he flipped it over.

    "First of all, Joker, WHATEVER your REAL name is," he hisses through clenched teeth, his usually shining eyes growing dark as he stares right into the Clown, "If you light up a third cigarette, you'll find your time in MY city cut short. We'll leave it at that, and write off your disrespect as the usual petty Gothamite theatrics..."

    He pauses, catching his breath after that barely-contained rant, veins in his neck disappearing as his blood pressure begins to dip back below 'Gobliny' levels. "You're right, of course. I can't rely on my current plans, not when so MANY of these idiot citizens are still publicly supporting that weak, ineffectual slug of a Mayor..." he says, growling as he suddenly stands up, moving around the large table and walking around to Joker's chair. He remains several feet away, but he takes the opportunity to look down on the Clown should he remain seated - a rare opportunity, given the usual height difference.

    "It's no great puzzle to solve, Joker - if it were, I might have gone into business with Nigma instead. No, this is New York City, and our solution need not be anything subtle..." he says, tapping one foot on the floor as he considers, "In fact, I would think the more of a spectacle, the better. Your specialty, my 'friend'. I may know a man," he says, very carefully, regarding Joker with suspicious eyes - he's never been sure exactly WHAT the Clown Prince knows... and the man does seem to be unpredictable and unorthodox enough to have come to his OWN conclusions on the matter of the terrorist 'Green Goblin', "A man who could deal with this issue. Now, I don't like to involve outside parties, but this is a man who can be TRUSTED not to speak."

    "This is a time when those Gotham theatrics I mentioned may be useful... the media loves a big story... my man can do the dirty work, if necessary, so our friend Charlie might be seen elsewhere in town. What I need from YOU, is some grand twist, a way to RUIN the man - not simply get him out of our way..."

Joker has posed:
"Bo-oo-oo-ring!" Joker starts and stands, "Method to the madness Normie, remember?" Not that he's said that before... he then puts the cigarettes between his lips, puts both hands inside his inside pockets and quickly, dangerously, draws outward. Paper and photo fly and flip flop everywhere... "Don't you ever believe what you read. You love the paps like those Spiderfan rags..."

Speaking of rags... someone's waving one, or several... "Try the funnies sometime... like these. Who do you think sells all those little vices and other fun things? Who do you think hire hoods to hit and help keep those dirty little secrets... who knows ever doorman, bartender, night manager and other low paid bum willing to sell their and ten others souls for a quick buck?"

The glowing grin is replaced with grimace and growl... "I'll give you a hint. It ain't you... and working that hard isn't funny. So you'd be forgiven thinking it aint me." Suddenly he's leapt over the desk, advancing, still the spectre of silliness past. "Finding enough to bury a politician isn't hard." He grumbles, getting closer... "But you're holding out on me... backing down... giving up... letting others play your hand for you..."

Now close, uncomfortably so, Joker folds his arms, resting his elbows on each of Norm's shoulders. All cheer, chipper and happy smiling again Joker continues... "Think I've not seen your meds? Found the pharmacies, in house and otherwise that you've been going to and no your treatments. I've even went through those so I can be the man the people want but really shouldn't have. Tell me Norm, buddy, pal, just between us... you want to do it yourself, don't you? But you keep throwing up walls. Hiding behind 'herbal suppliments' and hirelings. Let me help you..."

With that, the same sleight that made cigarettes form from thin air... allows a syringe to drive towards Norm's neck, Joker's elbows locking Norm's shoulders, by the time he dropped or otherwise broke the half hold... it'd be too late. "Relax Norm. It's a stimulant. Detox all those downers you've been taking. Let me speak to the monkey... not the organ grinder..."

Then... Joker laughs... the laughter of the truly damned. Of all hope lost. Seeing the truth... there is no bigger purpose or other reasoning... it's all one big joke. And it's funny kids! Oh how much of a laugh it is!

Green Goblin has posed:
    <He knowssssss..... just SHOW him, SHOW him what we are...>

    His suspicions seem to be confirmed as Joker carries on - though whether the man is bluffing or not isn't confirmed until he brings up the medications, and Norm's methods of hiding the medications he's taking behind third-party prescriptions and the ruse of 'vitamins' or 'natural remedies'. That's enough to confirm it, and by the time Joker springs over the desk, Norman already has one hand reaching into his suit jacket... but for some reason, he doesn't react defensively to the incoming Clown, his gaze turning for a moment to that ever-dark corner of his office...

    <NORMAAAAAANN... let it happen...> comes the hissing, harsh voice rattling around his brain - echoing through his synapses... and by the time he's regained his bearings, the syringe is already plunged into his neck.

    If the Goblin hadn't distracted him, Norm could have done something, resisted, pushed the Clown Prince away with his own Oz-boosted strength... but it seems THEY didn't WANT to get away. Did they WANT this to happen? Was THIS what Joker was here for all along? To give the Man the push that the Goblin couldn't?

    Once the needle is drawn out of his neck, Norman lets out a loud bellow, the 'RAAAAUUUUGH' seeming all the more loud for the relative quiet of his own office. Good thing he'd had the foresight to clear the building out in advance of Joker's arrival. Lurching forward, Norman collapses onto his knees in front of his desk, one fist SLAMMING down onto the thick oak surface and impacting into a massive dent, splintering the wood up and into the air by sheer force. His suit rips and tears with muscle movement under the surface of his clothes, as his body shifts and ripples under the skin.

    "GrrrAAAAAAAAA!" he yells, breath heaving as the veins in his forehead and neck press against his skin. <LETITHAPPENLETMEOUTLETMEOUTLETMEOUT> "LETMEOUTLETMEOUTLETMEOUUUUUUT!"

    As the lunatic whispers of the Goblin are replaced with an audible voice, the yelling finally stops, and Norman's breath slows, remaining on his knees for a moment as he clenches his eyes shut...

    And then he opens them. BRILLIANT bright green, shining even in the darkness, almost illuminating the room with their manic energy. "Goblin King, once and FUTURE..." comes the harsh, scratchy voice, as he suddenly lurches to his feet. He reaches out in one fluid movement to grab hold of Joker's neck and hold him aloft.

    "YOUUUUUUUuuuuuu..." he hisses hatefully through his teeth... before letting his head out with a laugh, releasing any grip he had on Joker as he does so, "THANK youuu..."

    "Buuuut, now that I'm OUT, why do I need YOU? The Goblin King must be baptized in blood, and how convenient, there you ARE..." he says, eyes suddenly locking his eyes onto the Joker with a menacing smile.

Joker has posed:
...luckily there isn't too much to recap as, the whole time, ups and ups, the Joker's still been laughing... so much so its when he's lifted from the floor he barely can catch his breath... smacking his chest, bobbling around... eventually composure, or as much of it that he knows, is restored. Wiping tears of joy from his face, sucking in air like it was the first time he'd heard of it... Joker tosses the syringe and says, "Ooh! Don't think you're the only one who know what it's like being locked in someone else's head."

A lot telling into the past forgotten to most... but not to him. Never to him... "I don't know... pick your poison... enough T4... yeah... the army grade stuff... makes C4 look like a whoopie cushion... to blow you, me and enough of the planet into the world's biggest smiley face? Also enough vapourisable gasses to put you both in a coma? An acrid acid that'd burn external skin or internal organs faster than Bat's can say something boring?"

Casually sleighting and lighting two fresh smokes Joker says, "Here's a hint kid. I went for all three. Wired into a joy machine that monitors my jollies. Besides, call that gratitude? He'd have kept you locked up 'til doomsday! What fun is that?! Nah, he could pull the ol' dippity doo dah on you again... then who you got on the outside looking in? Helping you out? Huh?"

Joker starts to giggle again. Only stopping himself long enough to say... "Besides, you really wanna make your debut in this cold and old office? No one to see? There's a whole world out there! Screaming to be screaming in the streets! Time to paint the town red and, if you're doing it in blood..." Another sleight, this time a knife, that he brings to his own arm, the point cutting an eye... the other eye... then the smiley face... ooh! And the pointy goblin ears... the cuts oozing a deep dark green... "... mine ain't quite the colour for it. Although... I like the chromatics of it... don't you?"

Green Goblin has posed:
    The Joker's own laughter, for one glorious moment, is echoed by the Goblin's own dissonant outburst - the two manic, insane sounds rising to the height of Norman Osborn's office and echoing throughout the space. For a moment, the energy in the room seems almost electric - as if the heavily-tinted glass of the office windows are about to shatter from some unseen force. The dimensions of the room expand and contract with the pair's laughter...

    And then, it stops - at least, the Goblin's laughter. And it IS the Goblin that now stands before the Clown Prince. He may still look like Norman Osborn - torn suit, pulasting veins and bulging muscles notwithstanding, of course - but there is most certainly a different individual behind those eyes. They're so bright, so green, it's unnatural...

    "Hrrrmmmm..." comes the deep grunt as the Joker details his back-up plan - obviously he'd planned this ahead of time... something Norman Osborn the man never could have predicted - perhaps the Goblin might have seen it coming, if Norm had only listened to him more closely, instead of trying to force out the one who REALLY ought to be running the show.

    As Joker pulls out his knife and begins digging into his skin, the Goblin's eyes follow every cut with hungry eyes. He's no cannibal, but the casual violence combined with the drugs... he yearns for some kind of release; how long has it been since he dropped someone off a bridge? Or threw an explosive into a storefront?

    <Don't let him RUIN everything...> comes the whisper... but this time, it's Norm's voice trapped in that dark corner, not the beast.

    "HAHA! This is why I had Norman bring you into the FOLD; you think that man would have let you so close, into his private circle, when he was so close to grasping the power he desired? Do you BELIEVE you'd be here, if I wasn't whisssspering in his ear?"

    The Goblin inches closer to Joker, hands hanging loosely at his side, manic eyes burrowing into the Clown as he continues to approach.

    "How many TIMES I had to convince him not to just... leave you dead in some ditch? You're not EASY, Clown, but I've taken a... liking to you..." he says, cracking a grin, "A fan, you might say... but you need to learn your PLACE. This is MY CITY," he bellows, voice far deeper and louder than a man his size should be capable of, "YOU.. are a GUEST, in MY Kingdom. A welcome one, my friend, FOR NOW. You have a plan, I'll hear it heard - this Mayor must be dealt with, and I'LL do what NORMAN wouldn't..."

Joker has posed:
Release happened at some point... also yeah... some people live... some die... it is what it is...something... something... get Bats to... whatever. Joker's mind switches station in his subconscious but his active mind is enthralled in the important little details. He takes a deep deep bow, brow almost toching the floor. "Every court needs a jester... your Majesty."

He doesn't really care about people trying to successfully kill him. Many have been pranked when it just doesn't happen... and he suspects he knows why. Not that this is the routine for today... you'll have to pay at the door like anyone else on the right day for that kids...

Nor does he care about who owns what territory and who's calling the big boss shots as... where's the fun in that?! Everyone looking to you to make the trains run off the tracks on time and to let the bodies hit the floor in time for the binmen coming round the mountain when they come?! Phooey. Double phooey, even.

No... far greater victories have been won. He got a laugh, what a laugh, a laugh and a half... and he has a fan. Nothing seduces his senses more than an appreciative audience. "In which case, your Honor, I, a humble tumbler, have a small suggestion. You wanna make a splash? Get a laugh or a cheer? Timing's key. So cut loose, have a little fun for now... and when I know when he's holed up, trousers down... we could blaze a trail straight to him. Don't worry your King-kiddo-ness, I won't spoil your fun... but I will make sure you get the best response from the crowd when you make your move."

Joker sighs happily... Now this... IS... FUN!

Green Goblin has posed:
    Already, the drug is working it's way through Osborn's system - his boosted healing system and natural immunity beginning to process and eliminate whatever Joker managed to inject him with... but the damage is clearly done. Even as his veins disappear back underneath his skin, that brilliant new shine on his eyes remains. That grin, still off-kilter, obviously unhinged. His mind, still racing with all manner of darkness and violence - much more so than usual, even. He does his best to listen to Joker's words, but they're distorted, shifting, becoming confused with his own maniacal, bloody thoughts.

    <We can't trust him...> comes Norman's voice, echoing through the Goblin's head. He shakes it back and forth, clenching his eyes shut for a moment before re-opening them and focusing back in on the Clown.

    "You DO make me laugh, Jester," says the Goblin, voice remaining scratchy and hoarse as the green of his eyes illuminates the shadowy office, and then he quickly corrects himself, "Joker... You've set me free, and so you're MINE now... betray me, and you won't be dealing with Norman Osborn, upstanding citizen.." he says, his grin growing suitably feral and threatening, more a baring of the teeth than an actual smile.

    "You're doing business with ROYALTY now... I expect you to keep my counsel, Jester... Or the joke, will be what I DO with YOU, after all THIS is over..."