Trump Ace

Chapter Five: Of Sighs and Fingerprints

"A hero cannot be a hero unless in a heroic world."

              -Nathaniel Hawthorne

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        The second time Antonia met with Kevin, he was the one waiting for her. She was not a frequent visitor of Briar Park and had gotten lost on her way to their designating meeting location, and had to ask for directions twice. She had never realized Briar Park was quite so large, and it didn’t help that the first people she asked were two teenage boys who decided it would be hilarious to point her in the opposite direction. 

            When she finally did find the blasted tennis court, she saw Kevin sitting at a picnic table calmly reading something on his netbook. With a sigh, Antonia dropped her bag on the grass near the table and sat down across from him. 

            “So you decided to ride a turtle here?” He asked, not even bothering to look up from the screen. 

            Antonia scoffed before she could stop herself. Remember you need his help, she scolded herself, He doesn’t have to do this, so don’t give him any reason to decide not to. 

            “Sorry, I got lost,” she apologized, feigning sincerity.

            “Obviously.”

            Antonia bit her tongue to keep it still. Jackass.

            After a minute she began to drum her fingers on the tabletop, hoping to steal Kevin’s attention away from his blasted netbook. Seeing that her plan was failing, she decided to take a more direct approach.  

            “Are you going to tell me more about this Joker fellow or not?”

            Kevin raised a finger as if to say “one moment”.

            She rolled her eyes to hold back the snarky comment forming in her head. Maybe I should just do the research myself, she thought briefly, before remembering the quick net search she had done on her netbook. “The Joker” had retrieved 1.3 billion results. Billion. She took a deep, calming breath, reminding herself that although Kevin was a prick, he was the lesser of two evils. Relaxing somewhat, she was pleased to hear the sound of Kevin’s netbook clicking shut. 

            “Okay. So what do you know about the Joker thus far?” Kevin asked. 

            “Umm… let’s see… he was very theatrical. Always wore stage makeup and purple suits. Greasy, kind of stringy green-ish hair. Had facial scars better known as a Glasgow grin, but no one knows how he got them, even though he did like to tell his victims stories about them. Used the Jokers from decks of playing cards as his calling card. No one knows his real identity. He terrorized Gotham city for fifteen years before he disappeared,” Antonia paused, “he stayed in Gotham city, right?” 

            Kevin nodded. 

            Antonia bit her lip, wracking her brain for any more knowledge of the Joker she possessed, before something finally clicked. 

            “Oh! You also mentioned something about a… bat-man?” She trailed off, uncomfortably aware of how ridiculous such a thing sounded. 

           Kevin sighed and glanced quickly to the heavens as if pleading with the good Lord for the strength to continue before he finally replied. 

          “No, no, no," he said, "Not a bat-man but the Batman. AKA the Dark Knight, the Caped Crusader, the Guardian of Gotham, the Silent Protector--”