A Clown

The old book keeper heard a knock on the door. It was probably Benny checking in on him. The old man hadn't found the answer he wanted in the time he'd spent searching. In fact it didn't feel like he spent much time doing so. But who else could it be at the door but Benny. He stood up and shuffled over to the buzzer that controlled the door. With a ring, the door unlocked and the book keeper awaited Benny's entrance.

And was met by a Boxing glove to the face.

The old man crumpled to the floor as the boxing glove retracted back on it's wires back to the comically large prop gun. The gloved hand that held it put back into the large bag held over the shoulder as the figure walked in. She wore a corset that pushed up her already impressive chest, with a crop top jacket over it. Her tight jeans clung to her long legs, with a few container pockets latched around them. Her boots made heavy thuds as she ran across the room, slamming the door as she went. The old man only had a brief moment to notice her colors; a mix of black and red but a head of golden blonde, before she slammed a overly decorated pie in his face.

"Now now, can't have you starving on me can I? How about you eat up bookie?" Harley Quinn cackled as she got out some rope to tie the man up.

The criminal clowness dragged him to the small office he'd been in only moments ago. Bound to the computer chair now, the old man felt a hand pat his head before the door was slammed. Prisoner taken care off, Harley brought out a list from between her breasts and looked it over, swaying around the store as she compared titles to her notes. Books..., weren't the most glamorous theft to do and something Harley wouldn't have thought about unless she saw that antique show that had some musty title estimated for TON of DOSH.

There were downsides though. Books were heavy, pretty fragile, required almost ART levels of fence work to sell off; oh gods it was gonna be a pain. Upsides? No one stole books. Okay maybe Riddler but there was going to be no Catwoman, no Scarecrow, no Firefly, certainly no Penguin or Mr. Freeze; yes just her and some goods to pilfer. Even Batman should be busy tonight, Joker was gonna be off doing his own stick that night which was sure to take attention of the spandex crusaders. "Hmmm, wonder who I want to win that." She posed the question to herself as she grabbed a book and shoved it into a suit case she had brought along.

Harley Quinn had fallen out of favor with 'Mr J' and she couldn't stand him these days either. The backstabbing and **** had finally woken her up to what he really was, a Monster. Oh she was thankful to him showing her a good time all those years ago; she probably couldn't go back to a normal life now. And she'd still work with him if it helped herself out. "I just can't trust him anymore." Harley thought.

Lately she'd been hanging with Poison Ivy but she'd gotten busted for something or another so the clownness was on her own. Ran with Catwoman a few times but she was too...., similar to Batsy. Yeah you could trust her to be stealthy and well mannered on the job but the woman was too close to that line at times that Batman was basically riding on. Couldn't blame them really though, at least it made them predictable. So anytime she buddied buddied up to Batsy to help deal with an actual problem..., she was never surprised when she was suddenly in batcuffs at some point during the partnership. Usually several times too.

"Least he could buy a girl dinner...., and not one of those batbars he carries." She mused as she put a few more books into the case. It was almost full now but she still had way more stuff on the list. "Ugh, that sweety nerd gave me WAY too many titles." Harley internally groaned as she recalled a meeting with a underground fence. Sweet gal, decent tech head, NO Manners at all but she could always give you info on what was selling and who was buying. Not a big time crook, just kinda like an info board. Still if she held up her end of the deal, Harley was gonna be set for a good while.

"Right.... so room for one book left and....., hmm?" Harley paused her thoughts as she noticed one odd book. A violet cover that sort of... demanded attention but only if you were focusing on it? Odd to describe the feeling... no wait it was sort of like any kinda hypnotic stuff she experienced before. That sort of allure that drew you in if you gave it the time of day. More importantly, it was left out in the open air of the counter. Not behind glass, not in a shelf, not well kept just... left open for anyone that wanted to do anything with the book.

"....Well. I have room for ONE more book...., I guess you're coming home with Mama." Harley noted as she picked it up to look at. Weird, no title or notable symbols. She wasn't one of them BOOK NERDS but even she was smart enough that most books had some sort of label. Very very weird. Harley flicked her eyes to a nearby clock. She'd cased the joint for like a week and if she was right; that security guard was gonna be coming up some time soon. She couldn't really afford to do a deep check on this book so it was opening it up now to flip through or just hope it's worth SOMETHING and stuff it in the suit case.