Well, I don't know why I came here tonight
I got the feeling that something ain't right
I'm so scared in case I fall off my chair
And I'm wondering how I'll get down the stairs
Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right
Here I am, stuck in the middle with you
Yes, I'm stuck in the middle with you
And I'm wondering what it is I should do
It's so hard to keep this smile from my face
Losing control, yeah, I'm all over the place
Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right
Here I am, stuck in the middle with you
~Stuck in the Middle with You ~ Steelers Wheel~

"Get back here, you little wrench!"

"Not a chance, loser!" I shout back.

Caught me at a bad time, huh? Well, I'm currently running away from a group of thugs. The reason? I just stole some of their food, money, and maybe a little bit of name calling was involved as well.

Name's Aura Evans, though nobody knows my name, nor do I tell anyone. I usually make one up. Ran away from Central City about 7 months ago to Gotham City.

In that time frame, I've learned how to somewhat fight, but being 11 doesn't really help much in the strength department even with my powers. Also, being 5'1" isn't much help either. I don't like to rely on my powers. It could draw unnecessary attention. Especially being in Batman's territory. He doesn't allow metas in Gotham.

They end up surrounding me, raising their weapons.

"Now we got you surrounded, brat," a man says. "Time to pay for what you did."

"Alright, fine. Take it back." I stuff their food and money in my backpack, tossing it on the ground in front of the closest man.

He grins, stepping over the bag a little closer. "It's a little late for that."

"Oh? Then that means more fun for me." Pushing a little speed into my movements, I quickly rid them of their weapons from their hands while they're distracted. I smirk triumphantly... before they just pull out spares. "Shit, I didn't think of that."

"Nice try, girly," another man says.

They all come at me at once, tapping a bit more into my speed, I easily dodge. Instead, they smack into each other. "You didn't see that coming? That was obviously going to happen. I jump above when you all came at me, causing you to run into one another. How stupid can you get?"

"You little!" the man growls and suddenly smirks as if getting an idea.

"Geez, you have so many gaps in your teeth it looks like your tongue is in jail!" I shout, distracting him from forming any sort of plan. I stick my tongue out in disgust. "Nasty!"

"You, bitch!"

I swiftly kick the guy in the throat and backflip onto the shoulders of the guy behind me, grabbing hold and flinging him into a third guy. The last guy tries slicing his knife at me, but I simply slap it away before jabbing him in the throat.

I dust my hands off with a satisfied grunt, propping them on my hips. I bask in my accomplishment, looking over the large men. "Well, that was entertaining while it lasted," I sigh, scooping up the discarded bag and heading down the street. "What to do now..."

It doesn't take two seconds before a creepy old man makes his way towards me.

"Hey, what's a girl like you hanging out in the streets this late at night?" his creepy voice comes from behind. "You looking for something fun to do? We could go back to my place and slip into bed."

I look over my shoulder at the despicable man. "Why don't you slip into something more comfortable, like a coma." I spin kick him hard in the throat. It throws him back into the nearby building, creating an indent. I feel as if I heard nearby laughter, but I disregard it as the crazy voice in my head. "Disgusting." I continue down the street when I lock eyes with someone familiar. "I just can't get a break tonight, can I?"

"Hey, look! It's that bitch that stole our money and escaped yesterday!" the man who spotted me shouts.

That raises the rest of the gang's heads in my direction, all immediately gaining pissed expressions.

"Get her!" another shouts.

"Gotta blast!" I shout and salute, before heading down an alleyway. Only to find that it's a dead end. I sigh. "What a stroke of bad luck I have." My head slumps down.

"We have you cornered," the leader says. "No escape now, thief."

"If I had a dollar every time someone said that... I'd have like 50 bucks." I turn to count about 10 men. "Looks like you got me." I put my hands up. "If it makes it any better I'll say I'm sorry."

"You trying to be funny isn't going to get you out of this situation."

"If I throw a stick, will you go away?" I ask, making a shooing motion.

A creepy laugh resounds through the area before he can respond.

"It looks like you boys are having fun."

They all turn around to face the person who spoke.

"And who are you?!" the leader fusses.

"You don't know who I am?" the person asks, stepping out into the light. "I guess I don't have as big a reputation as I thought."

"J-J-Joker!" the men shout.

"Joker?" I question.

Joker's grin gets manically larger. "Oh? So you have heard of me?" His smile drops. "I'm honored."

"Hey, girly," a voice comes from above me in a whisper.

I look up to see a clown girl in a black and red suit, hanging upside down by a rope. It takes me a quick moment to recognize her with the darkness. "Harley Quinn?"

"Looks like you know who I am," she giggles. "Come on. I'll get you outta here, darlin." She holds out her hand.

I look at her hand with distrust before caving and letting her pull me up.

We end up on the roof as we watch Joker beat the group of guys, by pulling out his gun and shooting them all down. He twirls the gun around his finger with a laugh before shooting it again to show a flag that says 'Bang!' He pockets it after throwing the flag in the middle of the men. He then makes his way to the roof with us.

"Rescued by villains, who knew?" I say, watching Joker walk towards us.

"Villains rescue fellow villains," Joker says, spreading his hands open to the sides.

"Sounds funny coming from you," I scoff, crossing my arms with an eyeroll. "I know your M.O. Joker, you don't show 'kindness' without wanting something in return."

"Aww, is that the way you should treat your saviors?" Joker teases, tugging on my cheeks with a scary playful grin.

"I could've taken them," I scoff, slapping his hands away. "So, why did you save me?"

"We watched you take out the last group of thugs," Harley quickly admits.

"We've been looking for a protégé, sorta like how Batsy has that sidekick, Robin, was it?" Joker grins, leaning an elbow on my left shoulder. "We like you. You're funny."

"Do you have any parents?" Harley asks.

"Why?" I ask, narrowing my eyes suspiciously. "And no, they died."

"Oh, you poor thing," Harley pouts, tearing up and sniffling. "Oh, puddin, we should adopt this homeless criminal!"

"That's a great idea, pumpkin pie," Joker says, moving off my shoulder to cup Harley's pouted cheeks. He pinches them before letting go, turning and sliding an arm over her shoulders.

"Would you like that?" Harley asks, glancing to me. "You can be our little princess!"

"Eh..." I look at them with confusion. "You really would want me as a daughter?"

"It would be glorious! We can train you to become greater and a true master of being a villain. We can invite you to bigger things than just petty pickpocketing," Joker says with wild grand gestures.

"What makes you think that I wanna be a villain?" I ask.

"We've watched you for the past week," Harley says. "You definitely seem to like stealing and fighting."

"Yeah, that's true... I mean I only steal because I need to to survive, but I do love a fight..." I mumble. My eyes widen. "Wait! You've been following me?!"

"I'm getting impatient," Joker groans.

Harley sighs. "So, yes or no?"

I put my hand to my chin in thought.

"If you don't take the offer, you can just go back to sleeping on the streets instead of living with us. We have a nice big place to sleep all nice and comfy," Joker says with an eyeroll. "We won't bother you unless you get in our way like a disgusting superhero."

He was right, I wouldn't have the option of having a roof over my head. I don't want to go back to living on the streets, but I also don't want to be a sidekick of the craziest people in the city. If I say no, I'll be living on the streets, still starving, get barely any sleep, avoid police confrontations, fight for my life. If I agree, I'll be trained better, have food and water, somewhere to sleep and be safe, but become a villain.

After another outburst from Joker, I decide with a shrug. "Sure, why not? It'd be nice to threaten thugs by saying I'm your daughter." Staying alive is more important.

Harley squeals in excitement, clapping her hands repeatedly while jumping up and down. "Well, princess, let's go home."

"What's your name, girly?" Joker asks.

Should I tell them? Would probably be better if I didn't. "Uh, Dawn," I lie. Don't need any nosy, suspicious superheroes.

"What a beautiful name." Harley smiles before shouting. "Oh!" Harley squeals suddenly. "We need a villain name for our little clown princess."

Joker smiles bigger. "How about... Jester Quinn, pumpkin?"

"It's like a combination of your name and my name, puddin!" Harley says with hearts in her eyes, falling into Joker's arms.

"That's actually a pretty cool name," I say. "Jester or Jes for short works too."

"Wonderful!" Harley squeals with a clap, pulling herself from Joker's arms.

"Why do you want me?" I curiously ask.

"We need someone to take care of Batsy's little sidekick, so we can double up on the Bat," Joker cackles evilly.

"Doesn't Robin have like tons of fighting experience from Batman?" I ask.

"You learn from experience, right?" Harley asks.

"You mean copy the move techniques of the people I battle against?" I ask.

"Yes."

"Then yes," I nod. "I can usually memorize how they battle and copy it. Photographic memory is really wonderful."

"Then you should be able to kick Robin's butt in no time," Harley says.

"I'll have pumpkin here train you for a year before we get into anything too risky," Joker says and laughs. "Then I'll train you the next year with a few fellow villains."

"Sounds like a lot of crazy fun," I say with a grin.