Disclaimer: If I owned these, would I be writing a FAN-fiction? I own nothing except the plot, an iPod, and the burning desire of a fan.
This is what happens when the Spartans we ended with in Ghosts of Onyx find themselves in separate worlds where magic is real, technology is slow, heroes exist, and the missing could be closer than you think. Based off the characters from the books, games, cartoons, comics, tv series and movies that make up this web of worlds.
6; Part 1 Ch. 1 "The Jester, The Poison, and the Spartan"
December 22, 1999. 2157 hours Gotham City
Batcave:
Batman and Robin pulled into the Batcave and exited the Batmobile.
"Another early night, Master Bruce?" Alfred asked.
"A quiet one," Batman said, almost sulking.
"Aw come on, cheer up Bruce," Robin said as he unsuited, "so the city doesn't need you for one night, no big deal." He cracked a grin in Batman's direction.
"That's good for you anyway, now you can go to that party at the Vreeland estate. Another good thing is I have some time for a game." Tim said as he hopped over to the Bat computer.
"Still, something doesn't feel right." Bruce said to Alfred.
Batgirl sped in on the Batcycle and dismounted it.
"Anything?" Bruce asked hopefully. She shook her head.
"Nothing." She said.
Batman turned and skulked off.
"What crawled up his cape?" she asked Alfred.
"I don't think Master Bruce knows how to handle Batman not being needed for a night." He explained.
With that Bruce left the cave and got ready for the party.
TIME: UNKNOWN LOCATION: UNKNOWN/SPARTAN-G327 Mission Clock
His consciousness drifted back; he was waking up and he had a funny feeling, like the one people often got when they were falling . . . he was falling! His eyes snapped open and he saw things flashing by, and it all went dark; he felt a huge shock as he collided with something—he assumed it was the ground since he had stopped moving. He was forced forward by the impact, into some kind of cover that inhibited any visual of what was outside. The fall must have been severe because the outside cover was split wide open, he raised an eyebrow and put his hands on the two sides of the opening and pushed them apart even more. He wriggled and slid out to the ground.
It was hard and made of cement. His suit made a weird noise and lights winked at his face from his HUD as it came back online. He stood up slowly and looked around. He figured that he was on a low rooftop in a city, but as far as what city? He did not know. The sky was dark and hazy, bits of moonlight flooded through the holes in the thick cloud layer. There were moving fluorescent signs on sides of some of the buildings. He directed his attention to what he had been inside of. It was a pod . . . well what was left of something that slightly resembled a pod like structure, currently resting on its side.
Another light winked, this time a link up error. He pulled up the error and tried to figure out what it meant, and then he looked at a list of what seemed to be other networks. The top network listed had a funny identification number; its icon was a black bat symbol. 'Oookay,' he thought to himself, 'seems legit.' He highlighted and selected this 'Bat network' as primary. A Firewall error appeared. He cracked his neck and clapped his hands. 'Looks like we're doin this old school,' he thought to himself as he told his suits computer to hack into the signal. About a minute later a green confirmation message popped up. Link successful, another win for . . . he stopped in mid thought as another entered his mind.
Who was he? A shudder ran through his body. He could not remember who he was.
'Oh God!' He thought in complete panic.
He looked down at his hands, gauntleted hands. Never mind who was he, what was he?
Why was he in this armor? He suddenly had a wave of claustrophobia wash over him and he tore off the helmet. He took a deep breath of the fresh air, actually it was quite dank and damp but at least he did not feel trapped anymore. He looked down at the helmet in his hand. What is this armor? He tried to think.
'Well let's start with something easy, something you do know,' he smiled at his own humor. 'The date . . . uh . . . no let's try your age . . . ' he wrinkled his forehead trying to remember.
He dismissed his failure to remember and looked around the rooftop; it was beautifully horrible, unlike anything he had seen before . . . not that he could remember if he had or not, but he had a feeling something was not right. He felt his panic fade as he strolled across the rooftop. It's not a problem; I'll just figure it out somehow. He tried to make sense of his surroundings but all the thinking gave him a headache. He ran a hand over his head; 'Military standard hair?'
He shook his head to clear his thoughts. He ventured back to the pod and searched it, Empty. He noticed some engravings on the side that faced upward. He ran his armored fingers over the symbols. 'I wonder what these mean?'
"Oh well, guess I should get moving, figure out where I am . . . and maybe who I am." He said to no one. "Such a cliché though . . . why am I talking aloud anyway?" he asked himself, smacking a hand on his head. He did so with so much force that his head fell backward and hit something hard. "Ow," he muttered, acknowledging the pain in the lower part of his skull.
He reached back to rub the area when his hand brushed across something. He let his hand wander blindly and eventually he grasped whatever it was and a mechanical latch clicked, freeing whatever it was. He pulled the object into his frontal view. It was a hefty sized, menacing looking rifle.
"Whoa." He said, bewildered. Sweet, he thought. He swung it over his shoulder to his back and heard the latch click again. Secured. A tingle told him he should check the date on that 'Bat network', he did so. December 22, 1999 2357 hours. "Oh cool almost Christmas! . . .Wait, what's Christmas?" He asked himself.
"Whatever." He said as he looked out over the edge of the rooftop. It was roughly eleven meters up. Easy, said a voice inside his mind. He shrugged and leapt over the edge. In a split second his armored boots hit the asphalt of the road below, making a distinct thud and leaving a sizeable crater with large cracks running in either direction. "Oops." He said apologetically.
He stood up straight, helmet still in his hand. He heard a loud clatter in a nearby build. "Sounds like trouble." He said. He hurried over and saw a long car had crashed into the building's door way. "Looks like trouble too." He said. He sprinted inside, scanning the area for signs of the struggle. He saw plenty of items strewn here and there. "What happened in here? What is all of this stuff?" He asked aloud. His ears caught some voices from around the next corner; he followed and came to an open double door. His instincts told him to slip his helmet back on.
"Huh? What's this?" Tim asked.
"What's what?" Barbara asked. Walking up next to Tim. "That, what does it mean?"
Tim asked pointing to a box with a bunch of text in it. Another one popped up, it read: "Unknown & unauthorized signal detected. Firewall breach, Cluster 4458."
"Uh-oh." Tim said reacting quickly by typing some countermeasures, but all tries were unsuccessful. "What's going on?" Barbra asked.
Computer: Firewall 3110. Full system infiltration attempt status: 66%
"Someone or something is hacking our system." Tim said angrily.
Computer: Firewall 1579.
"Hacking? Someone is hacking the Bat computer? Is that even possible?" Barbara asked in surprise.
Computer: Firewall 1209.
The screen flashed an '85%' Firewall 12.
Barbra typed along with Tim and still each attempt to block the incoming signal was useless.
Firewall 11. '95%' flashed. Server fire wall System failure imminent. Then seconds later Firewall 7. Firewall 3. Firewall 2. Final breach imminent. 100% Network link established: file share in effect.
Tim slammed a fist into the table, "Correction: hacked." He said. Barbra looked up and just stared at the screen.
"It hacked us in less than a minute." She said in awe.
"Whoever did this has to have used some high end gear. Maybe if I…" Tim trailed off as he put his hand up to his chin in thought. He started typing and going through some things.
"What are doing?" Barbara asked, leaning in to see what he was up to.
He spoke while he typed quickly, "If they used their equipment thinking that it wouldn't leave a trail since it was high tech, maybe… just maybe they…. yes!" he exclaimed as he initiated a trace on the signal.
"What did you do?" Barbra asked Tim. He smiled smugly at her.
"Well I just followed a sloppy trail that a geek left behind. Simple really." The results popped up and Barbra read them aloud. "The source came from an individual mobile system that had its own wireless server." she said looking at Tim, whose eyes narrowed.
"Suit back up, Batgirl," he said as he grabbed a gadget off the nearby table, "We've got a hacker to find."
As Barbra suited up in her Batgirl costume, Tim linked the device to the Bat Computer's tracking system. A red blip appeared on the screen to indicate the whereabouts of the signal that hacked them.
The two Vigilantes took off, back into the night; Robin holding on to Batgirl as she sped away on the Batcycle.
"Well, here's your stupid tree. YOU HAPPY!?" Ivy spouted to Harley.
"Yeah." Harley replied. An ornament fell and hit her head.
"Come on you two, Back to Arkham." Batman said reaching down to put handcuffs on both of them.
"What's going on here?" A young male voice asked from behind Batman. The Dark knight turned to see a silhouette an armored figure standing in the darkness. "I'm not sure where we are but I'm pretty sure you're all trespassing… yeah that's the word isn't it?" He said.
"A little help for a couple damsels in distress." Ivy asked.
Suddenly, with a burst of incomprehensible speed, the young man stood where Batman had once been. "Whoa." Ivy said quietly.
"No one messes with women, not on my watch." He said looking at the prone form of Batman that lay next to the wall.
"That was incredible!" Harley exclaimed.
"Are you alright?" He asked them.
"Yeah, we're fine." Harley said. Ivy nodded in agreement.
"Here, let me help you out from under there." He said. He went to the base of the fake tree and gave it a kick. The big fake tree rolled several feet. He hurried back and helped them both up.
"Just who are you anyway? And how do you not know where you are?" Ivy asked.
The man reached up and removed his strange helmet. Moon beams from a skylight on the roof played seductively across his face and illuminating his Ice blue eyes. "I . . . uh . . . kinda don't remember a lot of things. I don't know why either," he said shrugging, "and who I am happens to be one of those things."
Harley and Ivy shared a sympathetic look.
They were about to say something when two more figures entered the double doorway.
"Great, it's Bratgirl, and Bird boy." Harley said.
"Who?" The man asked.
"Not friends of ours." Ivy said.
"We've got you surrounded." The costumed man said commandingly from behind them. He apparently recovered. "Eeepp, B-man's awake!" Harley said.
"Yeah, you've got nowhere to run." The smallest and obviously youngest costumed figure said, he sounded like a kid. Logically Bird Boy, he thought. He looked to the third costumed person. They had long red hair flowing out the back of their mask. Definitely Brat Girl. She pulled a digital pad from her yellow belt.
"The signal is emanating from his helmet, Robin." She said to the boy. Bird boy… Robin, Correct deduction.
"Huh? What's emanating from my helmet?" He asked defensively.
"The signal you hacked the Batcomputer in under a minute with." Robin said.
"He did what?!" The costumed man behind them exclaimed. The boy looked at him.
"Yeah, Sorry Batman." Robin said to the man. Batman… B-man…Ok. He thought. Wait, Batcomputer? Then it hit him.
"Oh, right," he holding up his helmet, "Sorry, I didn't mean to cause trouble. I don't remember knowing how to hack but before I realized I didn't know, I'd already done it." He said, offering his helmet to them. "It popped up on my visor and something in my mind clicked." He said. Batman took the helmet and inspected it. While Batman did this the one referred to as Robin was staring at his armor.
"Wow, Cool armor." He said smiling up at him. Batman decided to cut in.
"Where did you get this?" He asked.
"Honestly Sir, I don't know." He said with a shrug.
"Give him a break B-man," Harley said. "He doesn't remember anything." Harley said.
"Not even his name." Ivy added
"Harsh." Robin said with a sad look up to him.
"Doesn't even know what city he was in." Harley said.
"Amnesia?" Brat Girl asked.
Batman's eyes narrowed. "Sounds too convenient for me Batgirl. You just happen to not remember anything and you have this high tech armor system. I don't buy it." Batman said, thrusting the Helmet back toward him. 'Bratgirl . . . Batgirl . . . whatever works.' He thought.
"I'm sorry; I don't know what to tell you, Batman isn't it?" He said.
"Hey don't badger the poor guy about-" Ivy started to say as she took a step toward him, but Batman stopped her by throwing a small Bat shaped object in front of her feet, menacingly close and sticking up, out of the floor.
"Stay out of this, Ivy!" Batman said angrily.
"Hey! Leave her alone, your problem is with me, what I did. Not them. So I suggest that you stop throwing things at them, or am I gonna have to teach you some manners?" He said, taking a few steps closer to Batman. He looked over his shoulder. "Thanks anyway, Ivy." He said, shooting her a smile.
"I'll ask you again: where did you get the armor!?" Batman demanded.
"Jeez B-man, he said he doesn't remem-" Harley was again silenced by Batman. He had reached into his belt and taken something out, twirled it.
"I said stay out of this, Quinn!" Batman growled, throwing it toward Harley.
It happened in the blink of an eye. He had jumped in front of Harley and caught the bola, as he now knew what it was. He stood there and shook his head.
"And I said to leave them alone. I warned you to not throw things at them. But if you want it to be this way," he said, setting his helmet down and cracking his armored knuckles. "Kicking your ass will be a pleasure."
Batgirl moved her arms swiftly, letting another bat shaped object fly toward his face. His reaction time was impeccable. To pretty much everyone's amazement, including his, he had caught the object between his teeth.
"Whoa!" Robin said, bewildered.
He clamped his teeth down hard and the bat object shattered to pieces. "My turn." He said in a dark voice. He moved so fluidly that Batman did not have a chance to react. Three impacts echoed off the walls of the building. Batman fell to the ground; he did not move.
"Next?" He asked looking to Batgirl and Robin. Batgirl ran around him and raised her leg for a kick. In the seconds before the kick could land on him, he spun, grabbed her leg and rotated her backwards and pinched her where her neck met her shoulders. She was out in an unconscious heap on the ground.
He turned back to Robin and found him flying toward his face, foot out stretched. Robin's foot connected with its target. He grabbed the kid's leg but the kid had anticipated this and spun his body around and landed another kick to the face. 'This kid's good,' he thought,' not good enough yet though.' He reached to Robin's neck and pinched him too.
"Sleep." He said. The kid went limp and he caught him, laying him on the floor next to Batgirl.
He approached Harley and Ivy. They seemed to be in shock because they didn't speak or move other than looking from him to the Bat Clan, which lay unconscious, defeated, on the floor. They looked back and forth several times before they snapped out of it. "You were saying something before we were interrupted, what was it?"
Ivy and Harley looked at each other. "So what will you do now since you don't have your memory?" Ivy asked. He shrugged.
"I don't know. I guess I'll try and see what I can find around this city. Something has to be here that can help me. It's not like I dropped out of nowhere, right." He said.
"Do you have a place to stay around here then?" Ivy asked.
He shook his head. "If I do I don't remember it." He said. "Why?"
The two women smiled. "Well you can, and should, stay with us. It's the least we could do to repay you and to thank you for helping us." Ivy said.
"Uh, well Thanks. If it wouldn't be too much trouble that would be great." He said.
"Yay!" Harley said with glee.
The three departed and stopped at the Gotham Hotel to pick up a few things.
"So where'd you learn to fight like that?" Harley asked, turning to face him. He shook his head.
"I don't remember, it'd be nice if I did though. Whatever it was just kicked in." He said.
Ivy looked around a door frame to see him. "I'm Ivy by the way, Poison Ivy." She said and then Harley chipped in.
"An' I'm Harley Quinn." She said with a big grin.
"It's nice to meet both you, I'd tell you my name but I don't remember it." He said with a laugh.
"Ah that's okay, we'll just havta come up with one for ya until you remember yours." Harley said.
As the newly acquainted trio headed down the stairs of the hotel, someone's stomach growled loudly. The two women looked at their new friend.
He had doubled over from the immense hunger he felt. "God I'm hungry!" He said.
"So we heard." Ivy said with humor in her tone.
"Jeez, when's the last time you ate?" Harley asked.
He shrugged and smiled. "I can't remember that either. Although I will tell it's been a long time." He said as his stomach growled again.
"We'd better get you some food then, I know a great place." She said.
"Ah that would be great! Of course I'll pay you back when I get the chance." He said.
"Don't worry about it. Consider this payment for what you did for us back there." Ivy said.
"Shotgun!" Harley said as she hopped into a car's front seat.
He stopped and looked at the car. It was pink; the name on the tag was 'Rosebud'. "Nice ride." He said. "Come on, get it." Ivy said waving him in.
"So Red, where are we goin to eat?" Harley asked. Before Harley got her answer they pulled up to a clothing store.
"Uh, Red?" Harley said in confusion. "Why are we at a clothes shop?" She asked as they all exited the vehicle. "
Well," Ivy said as she gestured at the armor, "we can't exactly go out to eat with him in this now can we?" Ivy looked at him. "That does come off right?" She asked.
"I think so," he said, "gimme a sec." He fumbled with the different pieces of the armor plating and eventually stripped down to a black under suit which was skin tight, accentuating his finely tuned body. He loaded the armor back into the car. "Alright, this is my bare minimum. I didn't think you'd want me in nothing." He said.
He noticed they were looking at him. "What?" He asked. With no answer, they turned and walked into the store.
Inside was an attendant who quivered at the site of Harley and Ivy. "H-Hello, how may I help you today?" He asked with a small voice.
Ivy smiled. "Yeah. We need some flashy clothes." She said.
"Y-Yes, Of-f course." The attendant said.
The attendant approached him cautiously with a tape measure and got the measurements. He took them to a private area and then he bustled away to get a few selections of clothes. Before long he returned with a few clothing collections.
He tried one selection after another but neither Harley nor Ivy liked any of them. That was before the last selection the attendant had chosen. It was a very tasteful Tuxedo, complete with Top Hat. Made from the softest, darkest black material, it fit perfectly.
"Oh yes, that's it!" Ivy said, eyes popping with approval. Harley too voiced her agreement. "He'll be wearing it out." Ivy said. They followed the attendant back to the register.
"So much will it be?" He asked admiring his new threads.
The man trembled. "F-F-For a friend of Ivy and Harley? . . . Free." The man said shakily.
"Really?" He asked. "Thanks." He said extending his hand to the man, who jumped back.
"Aahh! Don't hurt me please!" The attendant exclaimed. He bolted deep into the store.
"Ookay . . . thank you, sir." He called after the man. His stomach growled again, so they returned to the car and proceeded on their quest for food.
After a short while, they reached a building with a flashing neon sign that read 'The Iceberg Lounge.' "Sounds like a cool place." He said. The three shared a laugh as they passed the line of people that waited to get in.
There was a big man at the door that started to say "Back of the li-" but caught himself and changed his manner when he realized who was standing there.
"Cobblepot owes me a favor." Ivy said.
The man nodded. "Very well. Enjoy your visit." He said.
They entered the lounge and were shown to a table quickly. "Wow, this place is amazing!" He said to Harley and Ivy as he looked around.
"Pretty good, right?" Harley asked. He nodded.
"Hey, why is everyone so scared of you two?" He asked them. They were about to answer when a waitress came over to take their order. Once done she left and he watched her leave.
"Oh I could definitely get used to Gotham if all the women are as beautiful as the ones I've seen so far, that includes you two." He said. They laughed again and then their food arrived. "Well that was quick." He said. Not that he was complaining. They quickly ate their meals and then Harley and Ivy watched him eat seven more steaks. "Ah, now that's more like it." He said as wiped his face with his napkin and leaned back in his chair.
A stout man in a tuxedo with a top hat, monocle, and an umbrella he used like a fashionable cane approached their table. "Well, Well, What do we have here? If it isn't the Queens of Crime themselves; and to what do I owe the visit?" He asked.
"Well, Penguin, Our new friend here was hungry." Harley said.
"Oh, and what makes this fellow so special?" He asked, almost condescendingly.
"For starters he doesn't remember his past or his name." Ivy said.
"I see, do go on." Penguin said.
"And he went toe to toe with Batman, Batgirl, and Robin." She said.
"Many have done th-" He started. Ivy cut him off.
"And he won, in less than two minutes." She said. Penguin's face lit up.
"Really?" He asked, intrigued. "Do explain the details, Pamela." Penguin said.
She and Harley explained the brief fight and the outcome.
"Fantastic!" Penguin exclaimed. He reached out and took his hand. "Great Job! Never heard of the Bat taking a fall like that! So easily! Not even from Bane!" Penguin said ecstatically. "Everything is on me tonight." He said, obviously overjoyed.
"Thanks." Ivy said.
With that, they left for Ivy's place.
"Queens of Crime, huh?" He asked on the way.
"Yep, that's the answer to your question." Harley said with another big grin on her face. They reached a building nearly hidden by brush.
"So what exactly do you do?" He asked.
They explained their abilities to him as he helped him carry pieces of his armor into the building. "Wow, sounds great." He said.
They grabbed the last few pieces and carried them inside. After they had set the pieces down, one of Ivy's plants moved toward them. Not expecting this he jumped almost three feet in the air and about four feet back, knife out and ready to attack.
Both Ivy and Harley found this hilarious and had another attack of the gigs.
"You jumped back like a kangaroo." Harley said between breaths and laughs. Ivy caught control of her laughter, "Hey you might be on to something there, Harl." Ivy said.
"What?" He asked.
"Harley said you looked like a kangaroo, what do they call a baby kangaroo?" She said, waiting for them to take the hint.
"A Joey" She said.
"Joey . . ." Harley said.
"Hmm . . . Joey . . . I like it." He said. "But why am I a baby one?" He asked.
"Well we can't exactly call you Kangaroo." Harley said.
"True. So Joey it is." He said.
'A name, just like what they'd said they'd do.' He thought.
He'd had a gut feeling all day... well all night, that something wasn't right, he just couldn't place what it was.
And in any case, why did it matter? He was alright with his standings... For now.