Raven came up from the shadows and smirked at DemiHawk. "So, funny man, which joke would be best in this situation?"

"Dunno, all I can think of are inside jokes at the moment. All I'd need is for Jinx to turn out to be a demon and this could be a replay of several of my dates back in SunnyDale… Then again- now that you're here," he chuckled.

Raven frowned.

"What, you are basically half demon, didn't say all the demons I dated were evil, I almost married one, and she was just fine- if not a little crazy."

Raven's eyes flashed black and the restraints holding DemiHawk broke off. "Robin and Cyborg are trying to track down Gizmo as we speak."

With his hands free DemiHawk had a hand in his mouth, "I 'hink 'at 'erk's 'edge sh'ped a toof…" He felt around for a moment, "Damn, and I already had fillings in that one," he sighed.

"Need a hand out," Raven had a hand out.

"Thanks but I feel like taking the destructive way out," he mused. As he balled up his fist and struck the wall he was a little surprised at how easily it came down. "I seem to be getting even stronger, I might be able to survive a pissed off slayer now," he chuckled as he walked through the giant hole in the wall.

"You tend to rate things against slayers, or occasionally to witches."

"Yeah," he brushed off a stray chunk of the wall he'd just smashed in. "Your point? What can I say, they left an impression on me."

Raven rolled her eyes. The communicator beeped.

"DemiHawk," he awnsered.

"Gizmo got away, but we got the sample from him…"

"Thanks Robin, meet ya' back at the tower."

"You can tell me what you were investigating in the first place then," Robin added.

"Deal, but you're not gonna like what I found."

"Understood, Robin out."

At the tower Xander explained that he saw the sight where they murdered Joker and we constructing the new Wolfram and Hart offices.

"And you were told they're not the bigger threat by who again?"

"A cousin I just met for the first time," he admitted, "who also admitted to me she's with what you would call the bad guys."

"You don't?"

"Gotta say, all the biblical prejudice aside, gotta respect the guy, he sticks by his principles no matter what."

"His pride-"

"That's one side of it, sure, Lucifer is an arrogant bastard, he also knows the rules, he follows them even more closely than God- and God makes the rules. Sure, he's going to try and cloud every issue, but he's not going to flat lie."

"He's The Deceiver."

"And he deceives with misdirection, not lies."

"No rule against lying."

"But to properly deceive me he needs my trust, he's not going to get that by lying, he wants my trust."

"To what end!"

"That I don't know yet, but I do agree he must want more than this apocalypse he told me about averted."

"Well, it's late. Goodnight everyone," Robin said, though he clearly wanted to press the issue further.

"What'ja do with Gizmo's sample," Beast Boy butted in. Robin tensed…

"He kept it," Xander mused. "He wants to know what I am as badly as Jinx and Gizmo do…"

"Robin!" Starfire scolded.

"No Kory it's fine," Xander smirked, "Just lemme know what'cha find eh?"

Xander stretched and yawned as he headed for his room.

"So you trust Robin but not Jinx," Raven commented as she came up behind him.

"I trust Robin to do what he thinks is right, he's just like Batman, trying to impose a little order in a disorderly world. Sometimes he has to step outside the established order to do what it wants to but can't." He turned and faced her, "Goodnight Raven," he closed the door between them and sighed…

"I assume you've noticed she's crushing on you."

Xander had been expecting some voice to pester him again- however he was expecting his cousin again. He quickly ejected his gun into his hand and pointed it behind him, but as he turned to face the voice he realized his gun was passing through them. "Joker."

"In the ectoplasm," he smirked.

He lowered his gun, slowly returning it to its quick-eject slot. "What do you want?"

"You're cousin filled me in on the scoop. You handle your apocalypse; I've got a personal stake in the other…"

"You're not exactly known for following the rules…"

"Well duh, but these guys are all about making their own rules, who better to fuck'em sideways," he held out his arms dramatically.

"Guess I can't argue that, though the lack of corporeality makes it a bit difficult."

"Yeah, and not that I expect you to gimme a hand or nothin', but rather if you could just look the other way?"

"You make a move that isn't directed against Wolfram and Hart, I'll take you down, and I'll exercise your spirit, that simple. But if I see you on the street , I'll assume you're just a figment of my overactive imagination."

"I'd shake on it, but," he held up his hands again, this time more innocently.

"Just stay out of my circles, and it won't even matter…"

"You want I should go back to Gotham, take'em out there?"

"Might be a start, Batman, like Robin, isn't going to kill you, barring extravagant circumstances," he amended quickly.

"Maybe later, but the Jump branch is new, more vulnerable- more-… malleable…"

Xander quirked an eyebrow, "No…"

"Probably not, they're… devoted… Makes it a little harder, not impossible."

"Did they tell you the origin, my cousin told me they were basically a trio of ancient demons who decided rather than destroy each other, they'd decay the universe… entropy… not you're preferred brand of chaos."

"Meh, figures, all that power and money, wasted on order… even an evil one…"

"Are we done?"

"What, we aren't having a moment here bird-demon?"

"Very much no."

Joker laughed, then vanished…

"I know you're still here- invisible isn't gone."

The laughing resumed, then slowly faded again.

"Great," he muttered, "now I get to figure out how to ward this place from ghosts."