DC Gothic – Dark Angel 2

The Ice Berg Lounge - Gotham – 2009

"Okay listen up" Dark Angel said as the squad readied itself for the night's work "we have a plan and you all know what you have to do. If everything goes smoothly we'll be back here by morning and you guys can get those nano bombs removed in a way that isn't lethal. After that we all go our own ways, but until then you follow orders and do try to keep the body count low".

With that the immortal brought out some plastic tipped tranquillised darts.

"If possible use these, they're good for putting someone down for a few hours at least, and we won't be there that long. Oh and if the Bat makes his presence known in Arkham, then leave him to me".

"You think you can take on Batman?" an unbelieving Killer Frost asked.

"Wouldn't be the first time" remarked the immortal "but I don't intend to kill him".

(Link Break)

Streets - Gotham – 2009

"Here's my stop" said Harley as the van came to a halt outside a toy store.
"Wish me luck, big boy".

"Good luck, Sexy" Dark Angel said as Quinn got out of the van.

"Aren't you married?" inquired Killer Frost as everyone piled into the back of the van, so that they could watch the oncoming performance "won't she be mad if she finds out you're doing Quinn?".

"Yes, and oh hell yeah" replied the immortal assassin "but we're separated now, and if I know her as well I think I do. Then she's probably getting down and dirty with some undead right about now".

(Link Break)

Unnamed Battlefield - Alternate Earth – 2009

Raven was indeed getting dirty among the undead but that was because she was fighting them not because she was having any sort of fun. Not that she would either as necrophilia wasn't her thing and she was a married woman. Besides even if she didn't exactly see her husband very often, she still remained loyal to him. That might seem odd given that the immortal wasn't exactly faithful, at least not in that respect but given that she'd once built him an entire harem, she could hardly expect him not to fool around now.

Besides she'd stopped being bothered by that sort of thing years ago. She was the servant of cosmic balance, which allowed her to see that very little in life was black or white. She lived in the shades of grey, and was just happy to have someone in her life who didn't embrace the extremes of either good and evil. It was a hard enough road to walk and she was just grateful to have someone who supported her along that path.

Putting such thoughts aside Raven focused on the enemy around here. The army of skeletons had regrouped under their master's command and now undead archers were preparing to let loose their missiles. The daughter of Trigon simply brought up a magical shield and the hail of arrows bounced off her magical defence as like rain drops off a room.

Beside her Dr Fate sent out a magical attack in the shape of a golden ankh. It reduced the skeleton archers to dust as the magic of Order undid the evil that was necromancy.

Order and Balance were not the same thing, but they often had the same goals in mind. Like not letting the Earth be destroyed. So Raven sometimes did find herself working alongside Doctor Fate and other magical beings. The funny thing about that was if Order became to strong she would have to fight him to ensure that Chaos wasn't totally defeated. Thankfully the forces of death and darkness tended to cheat a lot so Balance required her to mostly aid the good guys rather than to hinder them.

Once Dr Fate had blasted all the archers Raven span her staff and let lose blasts of telekinetic energy. Which sent the skeletal warriors, who had just tried to kill her, flying into the air.

Then she took fight and called up her goddess for a boost. The staff she had carried ever since starting her work for Rama allowed her make use of vast amounts of magical energy without burning herself out. But she could only call upon that power when on a mission her goddess had sent her on.

Still there were other benefits to being a servant of Cosmic Balance. She had balance in her own life which allowed her to control her own formidable powers, and her own life had been extended. She could expect a good couple of hundred years now, and she'd stay youthful until near the end. Which was nice, when you had an immortal lover as it meant he wouldn't have to spend decades watching you grow old while he stayed young.

Her goddess soon answered her handmaiden's request, and the ground beneath Raven shattered as the earth reclaimed the bodies that had been taken from its embrace.

"Why is this necromancer here?" she asked of Dr Fate when the noise level dropped down.

"This place was the sight of great battle" Nelson explained "The Necromancer is using a dark ritual to call forth the restless spirits of those who died here. The souls that have not moved on will come to him and he will able to animate tens of thousands of bodies. Then he will lead this new army to our worlds and with every life taken his army will grow. If he is not stopped then many will die and our planet will be plunged into its darkness days!".

That seemed a tad over dramatic. It wasn't as Earth was defenceless. The League could handle an undead army. Still it was best avoided and there could be other forces at work behind the scenes.

"See this is why I don't have a social life" Raven complained, not really meaning to say anything out loud "every Friday night I make plans with one of the girls. But rather than go out I end up fighting some crazy magic user who has overambitious dreams of conquest".

Rather than reply Fate charged up another golden ankh and sent it off to decimate more of the undead army that was massed around their lord.

Raven just checked her watch and realised that if she got this over and done with quickly enough then she could still met up with Stargirl in time to get a drink or two before she headed for bed.

Going higher the daughter of Trigon got a good look at the battlefield. Zantanna had created a small army of golems to hold the undead in place while Jason Blood used his own magical skills to try and close the portal to their world. No longer bound to a demon the centuries old man wasn't as much good in a fight, as he was starting to age now, but his arcane knowledge was considerable as was his courage.

The golems were just mud that had been given form via a spell so they wouldn't last long. However they were keeping the vast majority of the undead busy which meant that Raven could end this.

Using her mental powers she located the source of his skeletal legion and found the to her surprise that it wasn't a lich commanding these forces. It was in fact a wizard of some sort. A very powerful one judging by his aura. She was also surprised by the resemblance the man had to her husband. He was older looking, had really pale skin, blood shot eyes, and shocking white hair but they could have been brothers.

The word 'huh' was the sum total of her reaction as she blasted aside the Necromancers also living chief minions. Why he had a load of freaky half naked witches around him was a mystery, but it did make her wonder if this Necromancer was alternate version of her lover. But even if this was true then it wouldn't be the first time she'd encountered a more monstrous version of her partner. Heck she'd even helped to banish her husband's evil mirror universe twin, not that her Gothic knew that.

The witches still standing, who all had oddly coloured hair, not she could judge really, started throwing spells at her. Most were fireballs or electrical attacks, but some were focused by wands of all things.

All failed to defeat her shield, aside from a green coloured attack that nearly killed her, having only just missed her body, but that came from the Necromancer himself who had abandoned his ritual so that he could take her on personal.

Raven sent out a telekinetic wave of power that knocked down the witches, but it didn't even stagger the dark lord as he some sort of magical protection.

The Necromancer then once more used the spell that totally ignored Raven's shield and it was only the magical properties of the enchanted that amulet she wore that allowed her to survive. It was another gift from her goddess the amulet absorbed any magic that what cast directly at her. It had it limits of course, both in that there was only so much energy it could take in and that it did nothing against indirect spells, but it had saved her life many, many times.

Wisely the dark arts user changed tactics. He summoned forth a demo like creature and ordered it to attack. Raven simply banished with a single spoken word. She was after the daughter of Trigon and therefore understood far more about demons and their kin, than any human could hope to.

The Necromancer was good but he'd drained a lot of his energies with the ritual, and now he was facing a woman who had almost completely annihilated a demon lord back when she was merely a teenager.

With a movement almost to fast for the eye to see the dark wizard took out a short sword that seemed to glow with blue light. Clearly an enchanted weapon of some sort. Given the chance she'd take it and then study it. She wasn't one for blades herself, magical or not, but she knew people who did make use of edged weapons.

The Necromancer twirled the sword in a rather stylish manner, and then attacked with the vigour of someone who had far more physical strength and combat skills than most dark wizards ever had.

Sadly it meant nothing as his army was being blasted to bits, which would soon free up the others, and Raven's shield was able to block the foe's more physical attacks with ease.

"Sorry but you're really not in my league" she said, meaning it more ways than one.

To his credit the dark wizard didn't try to the same attack method over and over again. Instead he backed off and started muttering something that was rather disturbing to hear coming from a human.

Raven wasn't remotely foolish enough to let the robed man finish his curse, so she span her staff and let lose a lethal onslaught. The will of Cosmic Balance was with her, and her patron supplied her with the power to obliterate the body of the Necromancer.

"Regrettable" commented Doctor Fate as he landed behind Raven "but it was highly doubtful that we could have contained such a deadly dark magic user long enough to bind his powers".

Indeed he had been deadly. Had she not had the protection of her amulet that green coloured spell would have been the end of her, and had not been devoting so much of himself and his minion's powers to the ritual then this battle could of easily gone the other way.

"I spared his... women" mentioned Raven, who was pretty sure they'd been a harem but she rather liked harems, so she didn't want to sully the word "but he was to strong for me to contain".

Which was true, she wouldn't of been able to imprison for long, but she hadn't even tried.

She quickly examined the scene for anything of value she could take, which was another habit she'd picked up from her husband, and then told everyone that she was going home.

A drink was badly needed. Maybe even three or four. She deserved it.

(Link Break)

Toy Store - Gotham – 2009

Meanwhile in another reality Batman had finally arrived at the department store. Normally he was faster than this, but even he couldn't be everywhere at once.

"There's got to be, one here somewhere" Quinn said talking to herself, while also watching the shadows in the corner of her eye.

She knew he was there, but mission required her to be catch unawares.

"You know where he put it, don't you?" the Batman demanded to know as he entered the broken into toy store "Where is it, Harley?"

"No idea, what you're talking about" replied Quinn.

She actually didn't know, but Bruce Wayne didn't accept that.

"Answers! Now!" Batman growled.

"Back off, Bats" the painted up woman warned, as she got ready to fight.

(Link Break)

Streets - Gotham – 2009

"What's he talking about?" Frost demanded to know.

"Who knows what any of these wankers are ever on about" replied Captain Boomerang as the group watched Quinn fight Batman from the safety of their van.

"The Joker has a small, crude nuclear bomb hidden somewhere in the city" Dark Angel explained "That's what Bats is after. Quinn is the clown's sidekick, most of the time, so he figures she should know. But she doesn't".

Amusingly Gothic did, and he fully intended to exploit that fact later.

"How do you know that?" Harkness asked "Batman's not easy to figure out he might be doing something else".

"I work for the government" was all the answer he got.

"The Joker has a dirty bomb? That gives me the chills" joked Frost

"Ice puns? Really?" said Boomerang.

(Link Break)

Toy Store - Gotham – 2009

"Honestly, B man, I don't know where Mr. J puts half of his stuff. I just wanted a chatty boo-boo doll before they went on sale tomorrow" Quinn said as the Dark Knight restrained her.

Batman seemed to believe the story, as he handed her over to the cops as soon as they arrived.

"Get her back to Arkham!" Bats ordered.

"Will do, Batman" said one officer

"Get in there, you nutty broad" said another as Quinn was put into the back of police car.

(Line Break)

Arkham Asylum – Main Entrance - Gotham

In Dark Angel's opinion The Penguin had done a good job setting all of this up. Somehow he had gotten together all the proper identification Gothic would need and even an authentic policeman's uniform for the immortal to wear. Frankly the government agent really didn't want to think how the crime boss hand managed all of that.

"I'm in the middle of lunch. Now I've got to process this nutso?" complained the security officer

"Crazy, huh?" Quinn commented as she pressed her forehead to the glass.

"Well hurry up then" said Dark Angel "the sooner we get this done, the sooner you can go back to your lunch and the sooner I can back on patrol".

(Line Break)

Arkham Asylum – Morgue - Gotham

"Where should I dump her?" Harkness asked, as he wheeled in the 'dead' body.

"Put it through the X-ray machine" commented one of the staff.

Boomerang did just that and he also paid close attention to what the staff were saying, and where they were standing, as Frost was scanned.

"Heh, don't get much deader than that. This one's cold as ice"

Boomerang smiled while resisting the urge to point out how correct they really were.

"Hey buddy, I got nothing in the system about accepting a new body".

'Crap' the man from down under thought.

(Line Break)

Arkham Asylum – Kitchen Area - Gotham

"It says, 'not found'" informed the man behind the security glass.

Black Spider quickly realised that Dark Angel must not have been able to place the device that would hack this system of this place into position yet. He blamed Harley of course, and was right to, as he couldn't imagine some like The Immortal screwing up so badly. No one who could defeat Slade Wilson and Floyd Lawton could act like such an amateur.

"I came from inside" protested Spider, in his guise as a member of the kitchen staff.

Which was true as he had scaled the walls and then taken down one of the men who had been on a break. The tranquilizer dart had worked wonders and how the kitchen worker was soundly sleeping in a hidden spot.

"Run it again" Spider insisted.

(Line Break)

Arkham Asylum – High Security Wing - Gotham

"Right the junction box is up ahead" Dark Angel was saying as he and Harley moved towards their goal "remember you need to put on a good show while I place the device. So when you see him just do what feels natural. Okay Sexy?"

Quinn might of replied but it was then that the Joker spoke.

"Harley! Is it really you?

"Show time babes" said Dark Angel

"Aren't you even going to say hello?" asked the Clown Prince of Crime.

Quinn began to reach for the 9mm on the Gothic's belt.

"Aww, I can tell you're still sore, but at least the bruises cleared up nicely".

That did the trick. Quinn got lose, grabbed the gun, and then started firing.

"I'll kill him! I'll kill him myself, for what he's done to me!"

"Women! Can't live with them, can't kick them out of a moving car" the Joker was saying as Quinn kept firing the gun.

Meanwhile Dark Angel had gone along with what should have been mostly an act, and had nearly gotten the device hooked up into the Asylum's systems.

(Line Break)

Arkham Asylum – Morgue - Gotham

"You know the rules, buddy" one of the staff in morgue said "I've got to phone it in".

"Look She's dead! She's cold as ice and about as frigid as it gets" pointed out Boomerang while hitting the body bag "I mean how much trouble could she be?"

That would normally be a reasonable argument, but due to all the breakouts they'd had over the years, the staff had to follow the rules. No exceptions were made.

"Nothing goes in or out of Arkham without being okayed".

On the other hand corpses weren't a security risk, so it was possible that someone higher up the chain of command could have a solution.

"Give me a sec, I'll try to get, a hold of the watch commander" offered the man in charge of the morgue.

Arkham Asylum – Kitchen Area - Gotham

"Run it again" ordered Spider, who was now channelling his inner Gordon Ramsay.

"I tried twice, sir" reasoned the man at the checkpoint.

"I can't lose this job because your system is down" complained Spider.

(Line Break)

Arkham Asylum – High Security Wing- Gotham

"Sorry hon, bulletproof" the Joker was saying one Harley had figured out that she wasn't going to be able to just shoot her ex-boyfriend

"Even better, puddin'" Quinn remarked as she place the tip of the gun into one the air holes.

"No, wait" protested Dark Angel, but it was already to late.

With that she opened fire again and didn't stop until the clip was empty,

"Why, Harley, if I didn't know better, I'd say you're trying to kill me" remarked the Joker, in a very casual way.

Quinn on the other hand was anything but casual.

"We're finished, you and me!" she declared "I've got someone new now, someone better!"

Oddly no one had as of yet had tried to stop Harley from killing the Joker, perhaps they had all been hoping that she would actually do. It was about time somebody did.

(Line Break)

Arkham Asylum – Kitchen Area - Gotham

"Never mind, just came through" informed the man at the checkpoint

"It's about time!" Spider said, not actually talking to anyone who was in the room.

"Sorry, it's an old system" said the man at the machine

Actually it was state of the art, or nearly so, which was why the squad hadn't hacked the place from the outside. But people do like to blame the technology.

"Don't worry about it" said Spider as he left.

(Line Break)

Arkham Asylum – Morgue - Gotham

"Let's see what goodies we've got" said the man whose job it was to perform the autopsy.

Not that his services would be required this evening, as Frost suddenly sat up and kissed the man who had been about to cut into her. He died rather quickly, as he head froze solid, but to be fair there are worse ways to end a life than that.

"I am not frigid" said Frost as she kicked Boomerang in the nuts.

"Ahh! My goolies!"

(Line Break)

Arkham Asylum – High Security Wing- Gotham

"New guy?" inquired the Joker as Dark Angel started to drag Quinn away.

The Clown Prince of Crime hadn't failed to notice that Gothic (still in his guise as a cop) seemed to holding Quinn in a way that suggested a certain amount of past intimacy.

"That's right! You're not jealous, are you?" asked Harley

Joker quickly examined the face of his ex's new boyfriend and old memories stirred within his mind.

"Wait I know you. I'm pretty sure that I held you for ransom once. No, wait, don't tell me I'll get it in a moment. You were with those brats in Jump City. Emoboy... or was that just my nickname for you. I think you were more of a goth if anything".

Thankfully for Gothic everyone was too busy restraining Quinn to listen to what Mr Jay had to say.

"I got her!" the assassin was now saying

"Bah! You can have her!" said the Joker "and do try to make the most of your short time together, if I remember right women do have a habit of leaving you".

(Line Break)

Arkham Asylum – Basement Level - Gotham

"You're late!" Black Spider complained when Quinn and Dark Angel finally arrived at the RV point.

"Well you know woman" Gothic started to say, as the group tried to lift the heavy grate "if it's not their hair it's their makeup".

"Hey! Nobody's supposed to be down there!"

Before the guard could do anything a tranquilizer dart was in his neck.

"Hide him somewhere" Dark Angel ordered "then we're off to the control room".

(Line Break)

Arkham Asylum – Main Security Hub- Gotham

"Dark Angel" came the voice of Waller over the secure comm channel.

"Reporting in" the agent replied.

"GPS has you in the main security hub. What's going on?"

"We have to disable the cameras or we will never get to cane" said Gothic "we're not that far from it now".

"Remember agent you're at the point of no return. There's no extraction from this point on".

The immortal tried not to growl. He really hated Waller... well he hated her a lot, but at times like this he really regretted not shooting her. Ace should really have been avenged, even if she wasn't dead in the strictest sense of the word.

"Understood" was all he said.

"That gas explosion put the whole bloody asylum on yellow alert. If the security cameras make us, then we'll be staying here in the long term. If you know what I mean" said Boomerang.

Everybody did.

"So shut down all the security cams" suggested Frost

That wasn't the best of ideas.

"I think they'd notice that" commented Dark Angel.

"Well, what then?" Harkness demanded to know "Let him watch
us run around like idiots?

"Play yesterday's footage" offered King Shark.

"Oh look Jaws had his first thought.

"Play yesterday's footage of the same time" Shark explained when someone asked to speak again.

"Or better yet play last Friday's footage" said Gothic.

He hadn't wanted to suggest it because he hadn't wanted to look as if he knew what would happen. The team would turn on him if they thought that he was holding back information. Plus he couldn't actually remember all the details anyway as it had been more than seven years since he'd seen the animated film.

"I can do that" offered Harley, who then went to work.

"Right the intensive treatment building is there, just across the yard" Dark Angel was now saying "we need to get by those towers without raising the alarm".

As he said this the assassin took careful notice of Killer Frost. Not once had she looked at the screen that showed the cell of the Riddler.

(Line Break)

The Batmobile – Gotham - 2009

"You seem troubled tonight, sir" commented Pennyworth as the Batman drove around Gotham.

"It's Harley, Alfred" the Dark Knight explained "She was acting as if she wanted to get caught".

Which was indeed strange even for Quinn as she didn't want to be locked up. If she did she wouldn't keep breaking out.

"Maybe she missed her puddin'?" suggested the butler

That was possible, but Harley and the Joker had fallen out with each other recently. When this happened they did tend to separate for at least a while.

"More likely it has something to do with Joker's bomb" Bruce reasoned "Arkham had a yellow alert this evening".

"Everything looks to be in place" mentioned Alfred as he brought up images of what was supposedly going on at Arkham.

"That's the Friday crew" Batman said "but something is wrong".

The Dark Knight's mind went to work and quickly he had an answer.

"Wait Jenkins is there, but he's not working this week. He always takes this same week off every year for his family vacation".

Not for the first time Pennyworth wondered if Bruce took his job a little too seriously. Sometimes he ventured from the realms of obsessiveness to places that were just down right creepy.

"They're broadcasting old footage" declared the Caped Crusader

"Something is very wrong at Arkham!"

(Line Break)

Arkham Asylum – Main Security Hub - Gotham

"Four towers, four guards. They have to be taken down at the exact same time" Gothic said as he took out his twinned tranquilliser guns "I can hit two but...

"You do two, I'll do two" offered Boomerang.

The immortal considered it for a moment before saying.

"Fine, but they all have to go down at the exact same time. We can save the cool moves for the next time we're down the pub".

Harkness nodded

"On my mark. Three. Two. One!"

All four guards went down at the exact same time, or at least close enough that no one could tell the difference.

(Line Break)

Arkham Asylum – Main Security Hub- Gotham

"Where do we even begin?' asked Killer Frost

"Just start looking" ordered Dark Angel "spread out and if you find it then come find me. Then we can get the hell out of here".

Harley, acting like the complete basket case that she was, got distracted and opened a crate marked 'JOKER' she became more and more excited as she rooted through the wooden box.

"My acid playing cards! I just knew I left them here"

Gothic totally ignore the insane woman until she took out the mallet.

"Hey Sexy, could I borrow that?" he requested

Quinn looked lovingly at the mallet for a moment before handing it over.

"Thanks, babes. Hopefully I won't break it when I'm bashing Batman's head in" with that he kissed her on the cheek and made a request "Now please find that cane for me".

The Dark Knight appeared seconds later and swooped down upon the villains. As ordered they backed off letting their leader take on the hero all by himself.

"Yes Alistair. I totally agree swooping is bad" said Gothic for some reason or other as he charged The Batman.

The next thing anyone knew Gothic had somehow gotten behind Bats and had the handle of the mallet in place to choke to the life out of Gotham's dark avenger.

"It's in the mallet" the immortal whispered to his former sort of friend "Joker's bomb is in the..."

An elbow to the stomach winded Gothic long enough for the Batman to take control of the weapon.

"You need to let me drive you off" the immortal said, still whispering "take the bomb, and disarm it"

It was good plan actually. The two men would put on a show, lots of kicking and punching. The mallet would end up in Batman's hands and he could safely disassemble the bomb once Gothic ordered the squad to make a run for it.

There was one flaw: Bruce Wayne's ego.

Dark Angel back flipped and the dogged a punch and he soon realised that Batman fully intended to take the mallet but he wasn't going to throw the fight.

"You are such an arrogant...".

The immortal man never got the finish the insult as the Dark Knight nearly landed a blow. Dark Angel was forced to avoid or block several kicks and punches before had could find breath to talk.

"A little more detail next time, Ace" he muttered.

He'd concluded that this was the fight the ascended being had warned him about. Batman was holding on to the mallet which meant that his movements were limited as he wasn't going to use it as a weapon. This also meant that while Gothic might not normally be able to take the Bat, he did have a good chance of killing the Caped Crusader this time as he the immortal was free to use his whole body.

Gothic somersaulted, never an easy trick even in light body armour, and when there was enough distance between the two men he then threw something that resembled a Batarang right at Bruce Wayne. The Dark Knight blocked the attack but he didn't get the next one throwing weapon and it cut the flesh of his leg.

Next the immortal span forward and tried to connect his foot with Batman's head but the Dark Knight was already moving.

A smoke bomb filled the air, no one knew who dropped it, and the covered the sight of what happened next. By the time to scene cleared only Dark Angel was still standing there. His unmasked face showing his well known charming smile and The Batman was no where to be seen.

"Did you just make Bats run a way" asked a shocked Quinn.

"Told you I could take him" reminded Gothic before telling his new girlfriend that he had sadly lost her mallet.

"Wait where's Black Spider?" Frost asked.

"Waller" growled the immortal for some reason, before saying more loudly "come on let's get to the medical centre".

(Line Break)

Arkham Asylum – Medical Centre - Gotham

"Let's see now, we'll need this on" the Riddler muttered to himself "This for back up"

Black Spider entered the room last of all and then headed for the window, after offering to keep watch. Gothic just eyed the man and then decided to let him get on with it.

"Now grab a chair" the super villain instructed "all of you"

"Wait, I don't have a bomb" Dark Angel said, even as he took a seat.

The Riddler quickly inspected the back of the immortal's head.

"No" the crook said "but you do have a locater, and since you can't die we might as fry that to. Otherwise Waller can track us by tracking you".

"Good, put the chairs in a circle here, around old sparky here".

"Oh, I love electroshock!" commented Quinn "It's like a shiatsu massage for your brain".

"Be a good girl I'll see if I rig one up at my safe house for you" said Dark Angel.

"You two are total freaks" commented Boomerang, as he took his seat.

"I'm clamping you to the chairs" explained Riddler "because you're going to wiggle".

"I don't trust this fruit loop" stated Killer Frost.

"Well he can't kill me" Dark Angel pointed out "so if he does kill any of you then I'll torture him to death for you".

Only the likes of Louise Lincoln would find that not only reassuring, but also rather sweet of a guy to offer.

"Just make it slow and painful if it's for me " she requested

"Can do" Gothic promised

The Riddler ignored all of that and kept muttering to himself.

Mmm, 1000 volts, 5 bodies multiplied by 5, allowing for absorption, three second pulses.

"You know what you're doing, right?" asked a concerned King Shark

Gothic looked as if he might of said something, but he kept his mouth shut.

That was when his comm device went off.

"Dark Angel here" the agent said.

"I'm getting reports that there's a break in at Arkham. You're on red alert!"

"It's nothing to do with us" the assassin said "there could be something else going on a lot of crooks break out of this place or Batman might of set of the alarm. We just had an encounter with him, but he was more interested in the Joker's bomb. I don't think he has any idea why we're here".

"Why are you in the medical centre?"

"A few of us got knocked around during the fight" Gothic reported "without painkillers and some first aid I won't be able to get the team out. We have the cane so as soon everyone can walk we'll be getting out of here. I need five minutes top".

The immortal bite down on the part of a mope handle he'd been offered, and then was strapped to the chair, but not before closing the channel.

That was when the shocking part of the story took place.

Task Force X Headquarters – Location Classified – 2009

Amanda Waller looked over the screen before her. She knew that something was wrong. Dark Angel was the best at what he did, but what he did wasn't always what she wanted him to. Having an immortal assassin on the payroll made up for the man's habit of not always obeying orders, but this time she got the feeling that he was going to go to far.

She quickly realised her mistake. Gothic liked being part of a team. He was somewhat of a lone wolf at times, and he actually worked very well by himself but he'd trained to be part of a team while with the Titans. It was only natural that should he join a group, even that group wasn't made of heroes, that he would get all nostalgic and start to care about the people he was leading. Otherwise why would he not leave the wounded behind?

Plus he had honour of sorts. That was why he hadn't been sent after the Riddler directly. There was for him an important difference between taking down an active criminal, like say the Scarecrow, who had caused the deaths of more than a few teenagers recently, and walking into the cell of someone already locked up and then killing him.

Waller got the impression that Dark Angel was about to end his career, and that he might even start his own team. The Suicide Squad might be a load of monsters and killers, but Gothic had a talent for earning loyalty from people. Even if they were people he'd rather kill under slightly different circumstances.

She couldn't allow that to happen. If there was a chance of losing her assassin due to his desire to led a team then she had to remove that temptation.

When some of the tracking devices to started to fail she didn't even hesitate to press the switch that activated the bombs.

(Line Break)

Arkham Asylum – Medical Centre - Gotham

"I never need to do that again" commented Harkness once the bombs were diffused.

Well most of them.

"Are you kidding? I feel great!" stated Quinn

"Uh, guys!" said Killer Frost as she noticed that King Shark's bomb was still working.

"I don't know, maybe his skin is too thick?" figured the Riddler just before Shark's head exploded.

"Hey, why'd his head explode?" asked a confused Captain Boomerang.

"Because the bomb in his neck didn't diffuse, you asshole!" said an angry Killer Frost.

"So what's his excuse?" the man from down under said while tilting his head towards 'Black Spider'.

"Oh. Oh, that's rich!" the Riddler said.

However he wasn't heard because Dark Angel was also struggling to get loose while shouting.

"Shenanigans! You heard me universe this is so a case of shenanigans. There is no way humanly possible for you to have safely disposed of the dirty bomb and then to have grabbed Spider. Shenanigans! I call shenanigans upon Batman".

Clearly the immortal assassin was not a happy bunny.

"The Black Spider is Batman!" said the Riddler as not everyone had caught up on that just yet.

The Riddler opened fire with a gun he'd gotten from somewhere but he was quickly disarmed and then knocked down by a flying kick. Thankfully the electroshock didn't start up again, but that didn't stop the Dark Knight from trying to interrogate the immortal.

"Talk! Why are you here?" Bruce Wayne demanded to know.

Rather than answer Dark Angel head-butted the Dark Knight which sent him staggering backwards. Gothic then broke his restraints, but rather than keep fighting Batman he instead went for the gun that the Riddler had dropped. However before the assassin could fire the gun or before Batman could recover from the blow, the Joker arrived.

"I'm here, bitches! And I've brought favours for everybody"

With that the Clown Prince of Crime threw some marble sized compact explosives into the room. In the chaos that followed the Suicide Squad managed to get out of the room. Dark Angel was the last to leave, other than Batman who left through the window, as he had stopped to shoot the Riddler right between the eyes. One last completed assignment for Amanda Waller.

(Line Break)

Arkham Asylum – Corridors - Gotham

Somehow the Joker had gotten ahead of the group, likely because he knew the place so well and he also still had a loaded gun. Which he was now pointing at the squad. Only King Shark had been bulletproof, the rest of them could die assuming the Joker didn't miss. Well Gothic wouldn't die but a bullet to the brain would take him out of action for a while.

"Puddin', you're free!" shouted Harley Quinn, before running over to her long time partner.

"Don't you "puddin'" me!" said the Joker before striking her "I go away and suddenly you've got new friends. You even picked a new guy!"

Gothic was tempted to just shoot the Joker but Quinn kept dancing around the Clown Prince of Crime. Besides he did want to see if Harley had actually betrayed him.

"You got it all wrong, baby" she assured the Joker I was using them to help you escape! Who else would I break into Arkham for? Nobody, that's who".

Then she leaned up and whispered something into Mr Jay's ear, as she did this Gothic slowly reached for the gun that was hidden in his coat. He was already planning to shot both of them, but he also thinking of a way to avoid killing Quinn. A bullet to the leg would enough for her.

When the Joker turned and Harley raised the baseball bat she'd been carrying the squad seemed to relax a little, but only until Joker turned to face them. The sudden turn of his head ruined Quinn's chance to only knock out her long term love interest.

"Hey you. New guy. I don't like people touching my stuff".

Dark Angel snorted, and then said.

"Oh please, we both know you don't touch her in that way. Batman is the only one you want to feel up".

"Wait Joker's gay" someone behind assassin remarked.

"That's a lie!" shouted the Joker

"No it's not" countered Dark Angel "in fact it's so freaking obvious once you think about it. He's obsessed about the Bat. A man who likes to beat him up on a fortnightly bases. He's flamboyant to the point of being extremely camp. And that suit I mean come on, no straight man could pull off a purple suit and green hair".

"That makes sense" said Killer Frost.

"It's not true" said the Joker in the manner of a small child denying he'd wet the bed "shut up or I'll.."

With that the immortal pressed his head to the barrel of Joker's gun.

"Go ahead" said Dark Angel "we both know it won't do any good. I can't die, all you can do is knock me out for a while. And when I wake up I will come after you. You'll have the best assassin in the world hunting you down like the sick animal that you are".

The Joker didn't fire, he just stood there as if he couldn't process what was happening.

"Come on shoot me" Gothic demanded "come on I want you do it. Shoot me. Shoot me. Do it you big sissy. SHOOT ME!".

The next thing anyone knew the gun went off but no one got shot and Dark Angel had the Joker in front of him like he was going to use him as a human shield. Which may have had something to do with the fact that Harley Quinn now had the gun, and she seemed to be wondering who to shoot. Her loyalties were all over the place right now. She hadn't actually planned to kill the Joker with her baseball bat she'd just wanted to take him out of the picture for a while. After all there was still part of her that loved the Clown Prince of Crime.

"Harley kill him!" ordered the purple suited man.

"Don't do it Harleen" said Gothic "you don't need to listen to him any more. He doesn't love you. He can't love you. You're nothing but a tool for him. He keeps you around so no one will notice that he's sexually attracted to a man who smacks him around. He can't even treat you right. How many times has he tried to kill you? How many times has he hit you?"

"I...I..." was all she said to that.

"He made you into what you are now Harleen. I know how he tricked you. I've seen your files. You were just a young woman fresh out of medical school when you met him. You thought you could handle him, but he's a monster, Harleen not a man. He twisted you all up inside until you couldn't see straight. You were a psychiatrist once. You wanted to help people not hurt them. So ask yourself this: How did you end up like this?".

Harley lowered the gun, but Gothic wasn't done yet.

"Can you see what he did to you? He made you like him. You love a man who beats you. He kills without reason or remorse and so do you. He dresses like a clown and so do you. Don't you get it yet? You're not his partner, you're not even a sidekick. To him you're a legacy. Something to stroke his ego, a project. An attempt to make someone else just like..."

Click. Click. Click.

The weapon was firmly pointed at the Joker's chest but the gun had in fact run out of bullets.

Understandably everyone was rather distracted at this point so the Clown Prince of Crime made his escape after using a hidden blade to stab Gothic.

"I hadn't actually finished my speech" mumbled Dark Angel, as the Joker vanished down the laundry chute.

"What the fuck!" remarked Frost as Quinn broke down into tears.

(Line Break)

Arkham Asylum – Unused Room - Gotham

"Christ! This place is crawling with cops!" 'helpfully' informed Killer Frost.

"We need a way out" said Dark Angel "there has to be something".

"Why the hell are we running, if we don't know where were going" asked Boomerang.

"Batman's here!" Killer Frost called out.

Batman once again swooped down upon the Suicide Squad. He landed on Gothic and had pinned to the ground before anyone even tried to attack him.

"Joker, where did he go?"

In a feat of impressive strength pushed the Dark Knight off him and then the immortal was the one on top.

"And I was judging the clown for homoerotic behaviour" muttered the immortal as he quickly got back to his feet.

Then Dark Angel was soon trading punches and kicks again. Batman was wounded so Gothic had the upper hand and for second or two it looked as the immortal might kill the Caped Crusader, but he held back.

"Where's the Joker?" the arrogant hero demanded to know.

For some reason Bruce Wayne didn't seem to grasp that he wasn't in charge of the situation. Gothic had actually won two fights this night.

"He disappeared down the laundry chute" Dark Angel answered "by now he'll be preparing to open all the cells"

If the assassin had anything further to explain it would never be known as he was rudely interrupted.

"Testing, testing. One, two, three. I know you can see me, Bats. Now I was planning a big surprise but someone took away my toy, so for now I'll just have to settle for causing some mayhem. Then I can get started on some payback".

With that the alarms went off. The cells had just been open and any second now the chaos would start.

"You have work to do old man" Gothic said as he led what remained of his team away from Batman.

Once the Dark Knight was gone Dark Angel said.

"There's a chopper nearby. I say we grab it and escape in the confusion. Then we land somewhere and go our separate ways".

Every, other than Quinn, nodded their agreement, she just followed without a word.

Helicopter – Over Gotham – Heading Out To Sea.

"Wait what happened to Boomerang?" Gothic asked when he realised that only Quinn had made it to the chopper.

Dark Angel put the craft on autopilot and went over to Quinn who still wasn't talking. The he realised that someone else had made it to the chopper just in time to hear.

"Going my way handsome?"

Just before he was kissed on the lips. It was a great kiss, in fact it was so great that it killed Gothic in less than two seconds.

"Ivy!" Harleen shouted out "you crazy bitch. Why did you kill my new boyfriend!?"

Before the planet - woman hybrid could answer that, the immortal assassin sat back up again and started talking.

"Posion Ivy, or Toxicodendron if you like fancy words, that's mostly wha I can detect but that's not all. Cyanide hence that taste of bitter almonds. There was something else as well. Like apples. Ah amygdalin a toxin found in apple seeds it can kill a person in great enough amounts".

Everyone just stared at the immortal.

"I've been poisoned a lot over the years" he added a moment later.

Ivy just stood there shocked that her kiss had failed to kill his man, she was even more surprised when she kissed him again and he only staggered a little before recovering.

"Hey" protested Quinn, who had woken up again it seemed "stop kissing my man!"

That was when he kissed her and didn't seemed to be harmed one bit.

"Relax, Sexy" urged the immortal "you two are good friends I'm sure you'll keep getting along even if you have to share".

It didn't take an evil genius to figure out what Dark Angel was suggesting by that comment, and perhaps the two women might have been offended if one of them hadn't just watched a man come back from dead. While the one other started to think it over.

"Hold on I need to call my wife" said the immortal as he carefully wiped his mouth and then took out a small mobile phone.

"Hi, honey" he said starting a conversation that was only half heard by everyone else on board to chopper "I need a pick up... I'm sure you'll be fine it's only one drink... well bring her with you... no I just finished a mission... the Riddler...Arkham... yes that means I'm in Gotham...yeah I kicked his ass...there was this thing with a smoke bomb and then I... hello?".

The phone cut off and seconds later a very mad looking Raven magically appeared with Stargirl in tow. Not that either of them looked like their heroine selves right now.

"Gothic al Ghul" said Raven in a way reminiscent of upset wives, girlfriends and mothers everywhere "I am very disappointed in you. How could you break into Arkham and then beat up, Batman!".

Before the soon to be former Dark Angel could reply Ivy couldn't help but ask.

"Gothic al Ghul?"

"Yeah I married Talia al Ghul a few years back. I took her name because it's cool" the immortal explained.

No one seemed to understand why aside from Raven's but she was too busy giving her husband the glare of doom to care to comment.

"Ra's al Ghul can be translated as 'head of the demon' or 'Demon's Head' the al Ghul part can mean 'The Demon' so I took his name because it means I can go by 'Gothic the Demon' My mad looking current wife took the name when I married her so she's 'Raven the Demon' which is really appropriate if you know who her father is".

That was when Raven proved her evil, demonic nature by cruelly kicking her husband in the shin.

"That's it you're ground" the immortal's wife declared.

"Whatever" muttered the immortal, before more loudly saying "just get us to the island and I make it up to you".

The daughter of Trigon said nothing and did nothing but scowl.

"Come on the batplane will catch up to us soon. I don't want to fight him again... and I'll give you a back rub... two back rubs?"

Raven started the spell while Stargirl brought another matter to everyone's attention.

"Did anyone know that Killer Frost is hanging off the skids?"

"I hope she doesn't fall off" said Gothic as Raven's spell teleported them across the world.

Author Note:

I hope you liked that. Not my best work and it's a little to fast paced at parts but I wanted to try something different. It's a short story anyway so I didn't want to go over twenty thousand words. I had to cut some stuff and do a little trimming before posting it as well.