What Do You Fear Most?

Chapter 2

-=WDYFM2=-

As the ground broke apart, a large scythe breached the surface. The obsidian curved blade connected to a Black Lantern battery resting atop a large handle made of the bones and sinew of the deceased. Holding onto that scythe was a rotted, but still human hand. On that hand, a black power ring radiated a power that sent chills down Terry's spine, as if someone had walked over his grave.

The man carrying the scythe was dressed from head to toe in black. He wore a cape, wrapped around most of his body, concealing it from view. He was slightly hunched over, as he rose from the ground. On top of his dead, attached to the hood he wore, was a symbol, made of silver metal, and bolted onto his outfit. It was the shape of an upside down triangle with five bars shooting straight up from the inverted triangle. His ring bore the same symbol. As his body fully rose above ground, the undead man opened his eyes to survey those who had summoned him.

"Gardner. Why have you summoned me? And where are the sacrifices? You know the deal, 3 pure souls for every resurrection," spoke the zombie.

"Yeah, yeah Billy, I remember. But I think this is one you would be interested in, so for now, we're going to waive your little fee," replied Guy, glaring daggers at the Black Lantern. "Oh, before I forget, Hand, this is the new Batman. Bats, this is Black Hand, the Grim Reaper himself."

At the introduction, Black Hands gaze moved to Terry. His undead eyes boring right into the young man's soul. After several tense seconds, Black Hand gave Terry a dark grin.

"So… Terrance McGinnis of Earth. Taking the cape and cowl from old Bruce Wayne, eh? I bet that there is someone on the other side you would like to see again, isn't there? Like… your father?"

Terry's eyes widened. Not only because this… man… knew exactly who he was, but was implying that he could bring his father back. As Terry was about to reply, Guy pulled him behind him and addressed Black Hand rather suddenly.

"No, we need something else. You remember the Joker, right? One of Bats' old enemies? He is somehow back, but all ring scans say that he is dead and his body is invalid," said Guy.

That got Black Hand's attention.

"No! I shall not allow ANYONE to cheat death! Especially after that damn Hal Jordan! Too many have escaped death too many times!" screamed Black Hand, almost frothing at the mouth from rage. Before Guy or Terry could say anything else, Black Hand closed his fist, a black light shining through his closed fingers. With his other hand, he swung his scythe, embedding the blade into the ground. Immediately, a deep fissure opened up, a black mist rising from it. Opening his hand, he revealed a black ring, bearing the same symbol that he had. It then lifted off from his hand, and shot into the open fissure.

"Joseph Kerr of Earth! RISE!"

A flash of black light came from within the fissure. Several tense seconds passed in which the only movement was from the black mist rising from the fissure. Then the silence was broken by a chilling laugh, identical to the laugh of the Joker who showed up at the Gotham Gala. Then a hand gripped the side of the fissure, its decaying skin and muscles tensing, pulling the owner up. A man of average height climbed up out of the hole in the ground.

He wore a black suit, with coat-tails and purple pinstripes. He had a chalk white face, green hair, a bright red smile shaped mark covering a good portion of his face, and yellow teeth. Empty eye sockets took in the scene before the undead man. Terry noticed a small flag with the word 'BANG!' on it embedded right the Jokers heart would have been.

"Ahaha! What a pleasure it is to be back in my hometown! Why, there's little Guy Gardner! I must say, I like the new threads. Red is much more your color than that terrible green coat you wore," came the sadistically gleeful words of the newly resurrected Joker. Then he turned his black gaze onto Terry.

"Hmmm, my old playmate, but still, not. That's not ol' Bruce in the suit anymore, that's easy to see! And I don't even have eyes!" said the Joker as he began to laugh at his own joke. "Hoo-hoo-hoooooo. But still… the ears are too long, and I miss the cape. But overall, not bad. I like the Lantern makeover too, Bat-fake!"

The Joker abruptly stopped as the blade of the Grim Reapers scythe was placed less than an inch from his decaying neck. Tilting his head to look back at the Lord of the Dead, the Joker gave a broken grin.

"No more, Joseph Kerr. Unlike mortal weapons, my scythe will send you back to the Land of the Dead with no issue," growled Black Hand.

"Willie, Willie, Willie. Why so serious? Ahahhahahahaha!" laughed the crazy Black Lantern.

Narrowing his eyes, Black Hand pressed the blade to the Jokers neck, drawing black blood.

"Be silent Joseph Kerr. You will no longer speak unless spoken to, and only to answer the questions you are asked. You are merely a construct, and you will obey me," commanded Black Hand.

The Joker, unable to refuse, nodded, his frustrated frown in conflict with the painted on smile.

At that moment, a streak of green entered the skies of Wayne Manor. Setting down next to the other Lanterns, it was revealed to be a bald-headed human child. But despite being a child, he was a Green Lantern. Seeing the people he stood in the presence of, the child immediately fell to one knee, bowing his head.

"Forgive me for interrupting, My Lords Death and Butcher. Green Lantern Kai-Ro reporting. I came investigating a newly activated Yellow Lantern, but I could find no record of any Yellow Rings being sent to Earth," said Kai-Ro, getting everything out in a rush. He did his best to not look at the strange new Yellow Lantern.

"Aw, geddup," said Guy. "The other New Guardians and I keep telling you guys that we are all peers. No need to bow or nothin'."

As Kai-Ro stood, Guy gestured to Terry. "Lantern Kai-Ro, this is the goddamned Batman. Bats, this is Lantern Kai-Ro. The Green Lantern assigned to this sector. Bats, if after this escapade, you still accept the Yellow Ring, then Kai-Ro will be one of your sector partners. I'll introduce you to the rest later on. Kai-Ro, what are you doing here? You know Gotham is out of the Lantern Corps jurisdiction as well as the Justice Leagues. This is Bat territory."

Kai-Ro could only nod at the slight reprimand. "Butcher, my ring gave me a report that a new Yellow Lantern had been selected for the sector, coming from Earth. There hasn't been a Yellow Lantern assigned to this sector in 57 years. There was also no record of a Yellow Ring being sent to this sector. I was investigating to see if there was a rogue ring that found its way here."

Guy crossed his arms and nodded, accepting the answer. Kai-Ro was a bit boring, almost as emotionless as the little blue bastards that almost destroyed the Corps several times, but he did know right from wrong and did a good job. The Alpha Lanterns had reported that they wanted to keep an eye on him for when he got older, looking to possibly recruit him.

"Even so Kai-Ro, things in regards to the ring are under control. It was the ring that was assigned to this sector long ago, but the original owner had kept in just in case, but now his protégé has reactivated the ring. But right now, we're kind of busy with something. Tell ya what kid; here's ten bucks," said Guy as he pulled his wallet out of the same pocket dimension that the Red Lantern Power Batteries were kept. "Go grab some food before you head back out on sector patrol, or meet up with the League. This is Batman's hunting ground. Out of your jurisdiction."

Recognizing the dismissal for what it was, Kai-Ro nodded, and flew back into the sky in a streak of green.

"If you're done socializing Gardner, we have some more important matters to attend to," said Black Hand. All three turned their attention back to the Black Lantern Joker.

"How have you cheated me, Joseph Kerr? What keeps part of your soul attached to this world?" asked Black Hand.

They could tell that the construct of the Joker was struggling against Black hands previous command to reveal what Black Hand wanted. He thought it was a magnificent prank, to be able to pull the wool over Deaths own eyes. Slowly, the words came.

"Advanced genetic engineering," said the Joker. "As it turns out, as crazy as I was in life, I was actually a genius. Decades ahead of my time. I had developed a special chip. It contained my DNA within it, and, to make a long story short, once connected to a host, it would slowly convert the host into a clone of myself, with the same physical fitness and condition that I had at the time of making the chip."

"Who is the host?" demanded Black Hand.

Reluctantly, the Joker answered. "Right before the event that led to my death, I had kidnapped a child who wore a colorful outfit, red and yellow and green mostly. Served as a distraction for the enemies of Gotham, so the Dark Knight could have a little extra prep time. That's how the Batman was so successful. He sent in his Robins to be diversions and distractions. At any rate, the third Robin, Tim Drake, was captured by my beautiful assistant and I. I tortured the info on Bruce out of him. I found out everything. Bruce, Barbra Gordon, Dick Grayson and even dear old Alfred. I broke his mind. Reconditioned him into the perfect little mini-me."

Horrified, Guy and Terry hung on to every word. Black Hand however, had less patience.

"Get on with it!"

"Tim Drake is the host. I attached the chip to the back of his neck. It is so small, and embeds itself right below the skin. It looks like a freckle. Made out of materials that won't show up on medical scans or set off any kind of tech detector," said the Joker.

"Awright William. I think we've got all we need. We'll go take care of the rest. Do what ya will with this freak," said Guy. The Joker stuck his rotting tongue out in response.

"I agree. We're done with you Joseph Kerr. And I will have your complete soul. You are in for a rough eternity. But for now, begone."

The Joker corpse exploded with a scream as the Black Ring on its finger shattered. "Connection severed."

Satisfied, Guy gestured to Terry with a jerk of his head, indicating that he should follow. "Come on Bat-boy. We have a clown to hunt."

As they turned to leave, Black Hand slowly began to sink back into the ground. As the ground slowly swallowed him, he called out to Guy.

"I will waive the soul fee this time, Gardner. But never again. Next time you require information of the dead, you WILL have a proper sacrifice ready."

Guy stopped and tensed. He glared over his shoulder, his red eyes glowing brightly with unsuppressed rage and power. Black Hand met his glare, and did not waver. The two stared at each other until Guy nodded in understanding. Guy knew he was powerful, but there was no defeating Death.

-=WDYFM3=-

As Guy and Terry walked back into the Manor, they let their Lantern uniforms dissipate into wisps of red and yellow light. As they reached the living area, their rings gave a brief warning.

"Warning: Incoming spatial distortion. Incoming teleportation."

In the middle of the massive living room, a bubble of indigo light expanded into existence. Once it reached a twelve foot diameter, the bubble shattered into shards before dissipating, leaving behind John Stewart, the cell of Jokerz that had all attacked Terry at the club, they were all unconscious. Also with them was a beautiful, young crimson skinned woman. She had short black hair, and two small inverted black triangles underneath her left eye. Terry did his best not to stare at the cleavage she had on display, considering her skin tight green, blue and black uniform with a v neck so deep, it almost reached her naval. On her right hand, she wore a Green Lantern ring, and her left hand bore a Blue Lantern ring.

Upon seeing Terry, and the yellow ring on his hand, the red skinned woman narrowed her blue and green eyes.

"Great… another one bearing my father's legacy. Just what the Corp needs…" she said.

"Relax Sora, this one doesn't have the psychotic tendencies that most other yellows have," said John. "If he did, Bruce would have made sure there was no way that he could ever get that ring. Besides, we need to get to work on this serum in case we need to dose the entire city."

John then turned to Guy and Terry. "Did you guys find out any info on the Joker?"

Guy nodded grimly. He took a deep breath before he began to explain.

"Chuckles had found a way to cheat death. He died decades ago, but he created a chip that basically left a piece of his mind in a host he attached it to. Kinda like that old book series with the magic kid that had the thunderbolt shaped scar on his head."

"Well, that aint good. Any idea who the host is?" asked John.

"Yeah, we talked to Black Hand, and he brought Chuckles back as a Black Lantern, and forced it out of him. You remember when he kidnapped Bruce's third Robin, Tim Drake? Well, in addition to the torture, he apparently implanted this special chip. It's made to look like a mole, and is undetectable with any scanners on Earth."

"Damn. That's pretty heavy. Tim Drake, huh? He's had it pretty rough…"

There was silence for a few minutes as Guy and John were lost in thought, remembering the hardships of one of their younger acquaintances. Their morose thoughts were broken when the red-skinned woman cleared her throat impatiently.

Shaking his head, John addressed Terry. "Sorry, forgot to introduce you two. Terry, this is Soranik Natu-Rayner. She is the Corps lead surgeon and doctor, as well as combat medic. She is one of about twenty-seven Lanterns that can also use two different colors, excluding those of us who are bonded to the entities of each color, such as Guy and myself. She is married to one of the other New Guardians, a guy named Kyle Rayner. You can also call him Adara, which is the name of the blue entity of Hope. He leads the division of Blue Lanterns. Soranik, this is Terry McGinnis. He's the new Batman, taking over from Bruce. I guess he found Bruce's old ring and once it powered back up, it chose him to use it."

The two shook hands. Soranik still had an intense dislike of her father's legacy: the yellow rings of fear. If not for him and his old Corps, their home planet of Korugar would not have been destroyed by the First Lantern, Valthoom. But she did approve of the New Guardians decision to incorporate all the colors into one large Corps, where the Reds and the Yellows could be watched. She almost felt like dancing when the original Batman had become one of those New Guardians for a while, and had led the Yellow Lanterns, as well as tightening the recruitment programs of the rings. In addition, he had implemented new standards for the training of Yellow Lanterns. But even though they were no longer murdering psychopaths, or dangerously insane, most of the Yellow Lanterns tended to be incredibly aggressive, all part of their essential need to instill fear.

Breaking apart, the group conferred, and decided to split three ways: Soranik would stay at the Manor, using Bruce's cache of medical supplies and the Bat-Computers files on how to synthesize the Joker Anti-Venom. John would deliver the unconscious Jokerz to their homes. Meanwhile, Guy and Terry would track done and capture Tim Drake in order to purge him of the Joker's DNA.

-=WDYFM3=-

As Terry and Guy walked to the hanger where the Batmobile was being prepped for take-off by the automated computer systems, they discussed their plan.

"Awright Bat-boy, you're pretty new to ring-slinging, so I'll show you the ropes on how to locate certain targets, and how to create constructs that will carry out simple instructions," said Guy.

The two walked to the Bat-Computer, using one of the smaller screens to track Tim Drake. The computer indicated that he was at his research facility. Guy, knowing how good the Bat-Computer was, still wanted to take a moment to show Terry how to track an individual. Asking his green ring for the location of Tim Drake, Guy and Terry were startled to find that the ring gave a completely different location for him, at an old toy factory of all things.

"Well… That definitely fits the Joker's M.O… but I'm a little thrown off here. Check your ring too Bat-boy, this needs a triple-check apparently."

Terry did as he was shown, and his yellow ring confirmed that Guys green ring was spot-on. As Terry went to turn back to Guy, Guy's green ring started chiming.

"Incoming transmission."

Guy looked at Terry and rolled his eyes. "That's one thing that could stand to be improved about the rings. No caller ID, without specifically asking for it. Ring, who's calling?"

"Your wife, chucklehead." replied the ring.

Instantly, Guy paled. Terry almost laughed at the idea that the Big Bad Butcher, the New Guardian Guy Gardner would be so terrified of his wife calling. The only thing that stopped him from laughing was Guys death glare… and the sword made of red light directly at Terry's throat.

"Put her on," said Guy to the ring.

The ring formed a construct, a visage of the most gorgeous woman that Terry had ever seen. She had long hair, pointy ears, and of all things, wings on her back. She almost looked like an angel. He would have thought she was one if not for the look of absolute anger on her face.

"Guy! Where the hell are you?! John came back hours ago, but you didn't! I know you were going to go investigate the reactivation of the lead yellow ring, but it shouldn't be taking this damn long! You promised you would come home and help take care of the kids, you asshole!"

"Now, Bleez, sweetie, calm down-" started Guy.

"Don't you tell me to calm down! What is taking you so long?! And if you don't give me a satisfactory answer, I will come after you and cut your balls off!"

Guy began to sweat. This was serious business now. Normally, in past relationships, such as with Tora, or better known to the public of Earth as Ice, she would just make him sleep on the couch and give him the silent treatment for a few days. At least until Fire got involved. But with Bleez, Guy knew that she would make good on her threat. But luckily, for this particular situation, he knew how to get her to calm down.

"Bleez, babe, you're pregnant. You need to calm down. You know Sora says that any stress in a pregnant Red Lantern could possibly have disastrous consequences for the baby."

The construct image of Bleez gave an irritated huff. She knew that he was right. She closed her eyes, and gave five slow, very deep breaths. Opening her eyes again, she looked at her husband with worried and loving eyes, all the fire having gone completely from them.

"Guy, what's going on?" she asked, her voice much softer and sweeter now. "I expected you back with John, but he just brought in some more humans, and took them straight to the psychics. Right after that, he grabbed Sora and left again without telling me anything. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, sweetheart. We're having an issue with someone who is not quite staying as dead as he should be. We're about to go hunt him down and make sure that he stays in William's black hand."

At this point, Guy began to walk away from Terry, letting the red sword dissipate. As the conversation grew softer to Terry's ears, Terry couldn't help but smile. It seemed that all Lanterns had more than just one side to them. His thoughts turned towards Dana as he observed Guy talking to his wife. After a few minutes, Guy and Bleez said their goodbyes, and Guy walked over to Terry.

"Let's get to it Bat-boy. I've been given a curfew, so let's do this quickly."

-=WDYFM3=-

Soon enough, Guy had shown Terry how to use his ring to form a construct that would pilot the Batmobile to the print off the Batcomputer had given them, while the two of them would go to where their rings indicated that Tim Drake was.

They had come to conclusion that the Joker part of Tim's personality had installed a program on the Batcomputer that would allow him to access it remotely, feeding them false information. This was certainly probable, given Tim's occupation as a communications expert.

Within minutes, the two Lanterns had come across the toy factory. Hovering above it, about two hundred feet above the building.

"Awright Terr. I'll let you handle this, and I'll play back-up on this one. How do you want to handle this?"

Terry took a moment to consider before addressing his ring.

"Ring, disable all alarms, without triggering the 'alarm-down' sensors. In addition, set all surveillance equipment to loop the last half-hour."

Guy nodded. He wasn't fond of the subtle approach, but given the enemy they were facing, it was probably the best course of action. They both descended to the roof, and Terry told the ring to shut off the protective aura. Once that was done, he turned the dial on the front of his utility belt, activating the active camouflage.

Now invisible, Terry silently infiltrated the building through one of the broken out windows. Guy stayed behind, waiting and listening for anything that would indicate that his intervention would be needed.

Terry crept silently down to the service floor, where he saw the Joker in a large, over-stuffed office chair, looking up at several monitors, all of which seemed to have streaming feed from the security cameras at Tim Drake's office.

"Ugh… where is he? Where is he? Where is he?! Brucie boy never kept me waiting this long!" growled the Joker, impatiently. All of a sudden, the feed picked up the Batmobile, coming in for a landing. Laughing gleefully, the Joker stood to get closer up to the monitor. He couldn't wait to pull another joke on the Bat-fake!

However, when the Batmobile opened, there was no Batman inside.

"Whaaat?! Where is HE?!" screamed the Joker in outrage.

"Here," replied Terry from directly behind him. Before the Joker could even process what was happening, Terry squeezed a capsule right under his nose, the gas from the capsule being inhaled from the Jokers surprised gasp. Almost immediately, the Joker slumped over, unconscious.

"Nice job, Bat-boy. You got him good. He'll be pretty pissed once he figures out that you turned the tables on his little prank," said Guy, coming up behind him.

"Man, after all this, I thought he would have been a little better prepared. This was pretty anti-climactic," huffed Terry in annoyance.

Guy just chuckled. "Kid, once you are a Lantern, you'll find that all sorts of things become almost ridiculously easy. But what do you think? You want to join up with the Corps?"

Terry thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, sure. Why not? Could be a laugh."

"Then Terry McGinnis of Sector 2814, welcome to the Lantern Corps."

-=WDYFM3=-

Well, this wraps up the "Return of the Joker" arc. Terry will be formally inducted into the Corps. We will find out more about the New Guardians and the circumstances that put them where they are, and their choice of spouses. Until next time! Don't forget to leave reviews!