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"Welcome to BatBurger. Can I take your order?" Danny called out from behind the counter, his voice echoing through the dimly lit fast food joint. It was a question he'd asked a hundred times that night, but it never lost its charm.
"Just gimme the usual," a gruff voice responded, the words muffled by a gaz mask. The customer was a regular, a burly man with a five o'clock shadow that looked like it had never left his face since it first appeared. Danny nodded and punched in the order on the ancient cash register, the gears grinding as if they hadn't been oiled in a decade.
The neon lights buzzed above him, casting a sickly glow on the worn-out tiles of the restaurant's floor.
Danny's eyes felt like clossing up, he'd been on his feet for hours, serving up the city's worst culinary offerings to the people who hadn't quite hit rock bottom yet. Or at least liked to pretend they hadn't.
Either way, they all came to BatBurger for the same reason: it was cheap, and it was open.
"Yeah, I'll have number 6 with extra fries," said a tired-looking woman with a faded smile. Danny nodded and slapped the order onto the register. He didn't even bother to ask if she wanted a drink with that; everyone knew the answer.
The bell on the door jingled again, Danny barely looked up, expecting another soul in need of a late-night grease fix.
The tired woman with the faded smile took a sip of her water, glancing over. She'd heard of the Joker, of course - who hadn't? But seeing him in the flesh was something else entirely. She nudged her companion, a young girl who was busy playing with her toys. "Look who's here," she murmured.
The girl looked up, her eyes going wide. "The Joker?!" she exclaimed, a little too loudly. The clown's head snapped in their direction, the smile on his face growing more sinister by the second.
"Shh," the woman hissed, her heart racing. She didn't want to be involved in whatever was going on here.
“Welcome to BatBurger. How may I take your order?” He looked up to see a figure in a garish purple suit and a face painted with a twisted smile. Danny’s stomach did a flip. Clowns. He hated clowns.
“With a smile of course!” The clown cackled as he pulled out a canister and threw it at Danny.
"Nuh-uh.” Danny replied, catching the canister mid-air.
The clown’s smile faltered, his eyes narrowing with confusion.
“The fuck you mean ‘Nuh-uh’?” The clown asked.
“Don’t wanna.” Danny deadpans before throwing the canister back.
The clown’s eyes twitched, and he barely managed to catch it. "What the hell, kid?"
"Look, pal," Danny said, leaning over the counter, his tone still casual, "I've had a long night, and I'm not in the mood for your shit. You want a burger, order one like a normal person, or get the fuck out."
The customers, who had been trying to carefully retreat, were now frozen in place, their eyes darting between Danny and the FUCKING Joker.
The clown's smile widened for a second, revealing a hint of the rage bubbling beneath the surface. But Danny was too tired to care. His eyes, surrounded by bags so dark they looked like they'd been packed for a week, remained steadfast.
The clown stared for a moment longer before bursting into laughter, the sound echoing through the empty restaurant like a gunshot. "Oh, I like you, kid. You got spunk!"
Danny just sighed, wiping the grease from his hands on his apron. "Look, I'm not your entertainment for the night. If you're not ordering anything, then scram. I got work to do."
The clown leaned on the counter, his gloved hands leaving smudges. "Alright, alright. But you can't blame me for trying to have some fun. It's a dull world out there."
Danny couldn't help but crack a smile at that. "You're telling me," he said, as he began to prep the clown's order.
From the corner booth, a few costumers watched the exchange with horror. One young man, barely able to hold onto his half-eaten burger, whispered to his friend, "Is that... is that the Joker?"
The friend swallowed hard, nodding. "It can't be, right? But why isn't anyone doing anything?"
The clown's eyes darted around the room, noticing the whispers and stares. His smile grew broader, the white paint stretching over his cheeks until it looked like it might crack. "Oh, don't mind me folks. Just here for a bite!" He shouted, waving cheerfully at the customers who had gone stock still in their seats.
As the clown waited, he couldn't help but study Danny. "You know," he began, "you'd make a pretty good sidekick."
Danny rolled his eyes. "Thanks, but I think I'll stick to flipping burgers."
The clown leaned in closer, his breath smelling faintly of beef jerky. "Come on, think about it," he whispered, "you get to drive the cool car, wear the snazzy outfits, and best of all, no more dealing with these sad sacks that come through here."
The old regular, who had been trying to enjoy some food, couldn't help but overhear. The man's eyes widened in disbelief. "Is he seriously trying to recruit the kid?" he whispered to himself, his grip tightening around his brearly eatten burger, unsure if he should laugh or cry.
Danny's smile disappeared as he slapped the burger with more force than necessary. "I said I'm not interested."
The clown shrugged. "Your loss, kid."
Danny handed over the burger and fries, watching as the clown counted out the exact change with a flourish. "Keep the change," the clown said with a wink, dropping a few coins into the tip jar.
As the clown turned to leave, a gust of cool night air rushed in. "Don't worry, I'll be seeing you around," he called over his shoulder.
Danny couldn't help the shiver that ran down his spine. He'd had his fair share of weird customers, but this one took the cake. Ancients, he hated clowns.
The customers, who had collectively held their breath, let out a sigh of relief. Danny returned to his work, trying to shake off the unsettling encounter.
"You okay?" A co-workerof his asked, her eyes full of genuine concern.
Danny nodded, forcing a smile. "Just another night in Gotham, right?" He quipped, hoping to lighten the mood. She chuckled nervously, her eyes still on the door.
The Joker stepped out into the dark alley, his laughter bouncing off the brick walls. The neon light from the BatBurger sign cast a sickly glow on his face, turning his grin into a twisted grimace. He paused, his head tilting to the side as if listening to some unheard melody.
The tension in the restaurant dissipated as he turned around the corner. The customers began to murmur among themselves, sharing their disbelief.
"Can you believe that?" said one. "The Joker just came in, and fucking left with a burger."
"And that kid, he wasn't even scared!" exclaimed another.
Danny's co-worker leaned in closer. "Did you see that? Someone's filming the whole thing," she whispered, nodding towards a young man in the corner, his phone pointed at the door.
Danny's heart sank. Great. Just what he needed.
The young man, noticing their gaze, quickly pocketed his phone and ran out of the store cheeks flushing a deep shade of red.
"Well, that's going to be all over the internet," Danny's co-worker muttered under her breath.
"What do you mean?" he asked, flipping over the next patty.
"The clown, he's..." she trailed off, looking around nervously.
"Who? The one who just left?"
The regular with the five o'clock shadow chuckled into his burger. "Kid, you've got more guts than I gave you credit for," he mumbled through a mouthful of food.
"What do you mean?" Danny asked.
The man took another bite, chewing thoughtfully. "You just told the Joker to take a hike," he said, pointing his thumb over his shoulder. "Not many people have the balls to do that."
Danny's heart was racing so fast he thought it might jump out of his chest. "The Joker?" he echoed, his voice a squeak.
The spatula clattered to the grill as Danny spun around. "Wait, what?"
The customers looked at each other, whispers turning to murmurs.
"You're shitting me," Danny said, his voice a mix of disbelief and annoyance.
The woman with the faded smile took a deep breath and nodded. "I'm afraid not, sweetheart. That was him."
The room grew quieter than a morgue, the only sound the sizzling of the burger on the grill.
He swallowed hard, "Moby Dick!" He cursed.
The regular took another bite, nodding in approval. "You're a good kid, but thay was dangerous."
Danny's mind raced. "Ancients," he murmured under his breath. The Joker. In this restaurant. And he'd told him to order like a normal person.