--------------------------
 Part 4: Descent
 --------------------------
 
 I'm your boogie man
 That's what I am
 I'm here to do
 Whatever I can
 Be it early morning
 Late afternoon
 Midnight
 It's never too soon
 
 
 - KC & The Sunshine Band, "Boogie Man"

  
You're a sick man with FAR to many CD's on hand, Rod.  

 [Fuji Lounge, Tinsel City, noon]
 
 "Gruesome way to go," said Nene solemnly.
 
 "He was just... I mean..."  Linna sniffled, took a deep
 breath, then sighed.  "The police have any idea who it was
 yet?"
 
 Nene shook her head.  "Whoever that was, he doesn't have a
 record.  Only thing matching is a psycho in Gotham, the
 Joker, and he died a long time ago."
 
 "Some copycat psycho.  Great."

You know, after the whole Mr. Freeze thing, it strikes me that when dealing
with a Gotham supervillain, they wouldn't be so quick to jump to the
conclusion that this isn't the same guy.

OK, granted, it's NOT the same guy. But still.....
  

 The clouds overhead and violent winds promised of violent
 rains to come on this early morning, but this failed to
 deter Sylia Stingray.

She should be used to it by now. It's ALWAYS  either about to rain or raining
in Gotham. I checked once: They haven't had a perfectly clear, brightly lit
night or a sunny day in decades. Convenient for costumed vigilantes, but hell
on your tourist trade. <g>
  

 She'd come to the lair of her pursuit, and a certain rush in
 her veins had told her to press onward.

"the lair of her pursuit?"

That makes no sense. "the lair of the one she persued," perhaps, or "her
quarry's lair," but the other one doesn' make any sense at all.
  

 /* Stingray's.  Leave a message after the beep*/
 
 -BEEP-
 
 //It's me.  Something big has come up, something with Genom
 that I think you'll have an interest in.  They've found
 Largo class boomers hidden in major Genom sites.  So far,
 Genom Metropolis, Genom Opal City, Genom Austin, and Genom
 Hawaii have found them.  Fortunately, they're all just empty
 shells.//

A nice touch there, with Opal City. Most people would have stopped after the
easy Metropolis reference, but you actually went in threw in a Starman one.
Coolness.
  

 Who did this?  What kind of sick monster did-
 
 An analytical part of her mind quietly pointed out a
 peculiar fact.  Each child had, clutched in their dying
 grip, cotton candy.

*ahem*

Oh, come ON.

We know you like Dark Knight Returns, and it's one of my favs too. However, in
this case, aren't you treading on that fine line between tribute and outright
borrowing?

 Halfway to the wall, as she walked over a hill, the ground
 under her shuddered with a muffled crackling noise and gave
 way slightly. For a moment, Sylia nearly lost her balance,
 then stepped away safely to see what she'd stepped on.
 

<snip>

 Curiosity tugging at her, she searched around the other end
 of the hill until finally discovering a small opening in the
 earth, a cave entrance that she would barely be able to
 squeeze into.

Nicely done. Actually going to the trouble of making sure you get the
structure of the Batcaves "back door" right. EXTREME coolness.
  
All in all, pretty good. You succesfully raised the stakes (Priss as
hostage..... love it!) threw around some good DC universe references, and
reestablished the Jokers modus operandi solidly.

I can't wait to see what comes next. Especially with Sylia's foray into the
Batcave: have you decided yet if Bruce is still alive in 2034 yet?

-Mercutio
"A plague 'a both your houses!"