Author's note: Alright guys... I've got some good stuff in store for you now. I'm thinking about bumping up the rating; Batman's about to completely lose his shit and go into his "WWWWHHHHHEEEEERRRRRREEEE'SSSS RRRRRAAAACCCCHHHHHELLLLLL?" mode. Oh yeah. Well, if you've read this far, You probably just want to know what's going to happen already, so I'll just shut up now.
Batman was about to wrap up his duties for the night and assume that for the first time in a long time, he was wrong. Maybe things would be alright, at least for one day, he hoped that he might have been able to show the slightest sign of weakness and no have to be punished for it. Just for a little while, for the first time in what seemed like forever, he actually felt optimistic.
Just as he was climbing into the Bat-jet to check the city one last time, he heard a voice in his ear. "Bruce." Batman activated his communicator. "What is it J'onn." "We... We've lost communications with Diana. It would appear that her plane went down somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean several hours ago. I'm terribly sorry, Bruce."
"Where. Send me the coordinates." Bruce said with surprising calm."
"I'm sorry, Bruce, but I cannot allow you to act so impulsively. You must come back to the Watchtower so we can discuss. The situation."
"TELL ME NOW." Bruce said, beginning to snap. "I shall not." Bruce was silent for a moment. He reached for the computer in the Bat-plane. He tried to directly access the information he needed directly through the tower's computer, only to find that the Martian had blocked his access. "I'm sorry Bruce. It's for your own good." Bruce shouted in rage as he began to hack the Watchtower's system. "No, Bruce! Please, come up here so we can form a plan!" Bruce killed the link; he had all the information that he needed. He fired up the plane, and got ready for takeoff.
Wonder Woman woke in a daze; she had no idea where she was, and she could barely muster up the brain function to remember her own name. She tried to adjust her position, but found that she couldn't move. She opened her eyes, just a little bit. From what she could see, she was on some sort of metal operating table; leather restraints held down her arms and legs. Immediately, animal instinct kicked in, and she began to struggle with all her might.
"HARLEY. She's waking up! Put her down again before she ruins everything!"
"Yes sir, Docta J!"
Wonder Woman's struggling was cut short by a chloroform rag being shoved roughly in her mouth. Before she she knew it, she was drifting of to sleep again.
Batman reached his the coordinates that he had obtained from the Justice League servers. He opened the floaters on the bottom of the jet, and landed in the water next to the wreckage that had once been Wonder Woman's invisible jet. He stepped onto the end of the floating ship, and began to approach the cockpit. He picked through the metal, and pulled out the hidden camera that he'd had installed as a precaution in every Justice League aircraft. He pulled the camera out of the wreckage, and plugged it into his Bat-plane computer. As he watched the footage; his worst fears were confirmed; he saw a helicopter flying overhead, he saw Killer Croc jump out, and he saw the plane spin out of control. Finally, to his horror, he saw Killer Croc dragging Wonder Woman's unconscious body out of the water, and climb a rope back into the helicopter, where Poison Ivy waited. At that moment something snapped within him; he felt a rage that he hadn't felt in a many years. Batman clenched his teeth and furrowed his brow. He wouldn't lose another loved one to the Joker. He knew that the Joker had to be stopped at any cost.
He jumped back into his jet, and closed the roof. He lifted out of the water, and hovered in the air for a moment. He pushed a button on his control panel, causing the jet to release a cloud of gas that would allow him to see any remaining exhaust particles that had been left behind. He picked up three trails; one was his own, and one appeared to be coming from Themyscira. He chose to follow the third, hoping desperately that he would be able to make it in time. He sped off in the direction that the trail pointed, praying for the first time in many years.
The trail came to an abrupt end above an abandoned carnival. Batman set the autopilot on his jet, and jumped out, using his cape to slow his fall. He landed silently, and immediately looked at his surroundings; the carnival was in an awful stated of disrepair. As a matter of fact, it seemed as if it had been eroded further by unnatural means in order to increase the eerie nature of the setting.
Batman immediately found the largest building, which was located in the very center of the carnival. Using strength that he didn't know he had, he reached back and punched down the door, storming in after it. "QUIT HIDING AND FACE ME!" He shouted into the darkness. Lights flickered on, and a sickening sight met his eyes.
Wonder Woman was strapped to a giant, golden X in the middle of the room, her hands and feet strapped to the contraption. Her nose and mouth were covered by what appeared to be some sort of breathing apparatus, which had two tubes, each leading to a different supply of gas. Her eyes had rolled back into her head, and she was completely motionless except for the occasional feeble twitch or jerk.
"You're late, Batsy... She isn't looking too good, you know." Batman turned to the left to see the Joker and a multitude of his other enemies surrounded by a force field generated by Sinestro.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?" Batman shouted, his rage reaching a boiling point. "TELL ME NOW!"
"Keep yer tights on, Batsy, I'm getting to that." He pointed to the machines that Wonder Woman was attached to. "To be honest with you, this may have been the most fun I've ever come up with. I think that even you'll be impressed by this scheme."
Batman clenched his fists, his anger growing visibly every second. "As I'm sure that you recall, the Scarecrow's fear toxin is quite potent, and I was almost at a loss of ideas for how to make it even more terrifying, when it hit me out of nowhere!" He slapped his forehead to emphasize his point. "I remembered my good friend Pamela; you may know her as Poison Ivy, and she agreed to provide me with a large batch of her world famous, all natural, home cooked psychedelic hallucinogen! When mixed with the Scarecrow's formula, they make for a screaming good time! Just ask your friend over there! She was screaming real good for the first hour or so! I would have had to gag her if I hadn't been enjoying it so much! Then she went all quiet, though... Then again, it's a surprise that her mind hasn't snapped yet... Or has it? I've never been the best judge!"
This was enough to push Batman over the edge. He ran at the Joker, Batarang in hand, with the combined rage of Batman and Bruce Wayne. "I'LL KILL YOU!" He bellowed as he charged. He had made that threat many times before, but this time he meant it. He reached out to stab the force field. However hard he tried, the force field repelled him.
"It's been fun, Batsy, but I think that I'd better be going... You know, places to be, people to kill... Business as usual. He waved as Sinestro began to levitate, taking the crowd of villains with him. Soon, they were out of Batman's reach, and vanishing into the night. Batman realized that he had no choice but to turn to face Diana. As he gently lifted the mask off of her face, all of his rage turned to sadness. As hard as he tried, everything that he loved, everything that he even came close to would suffer for him. He shed a single tear as he cut loose the straps that bound her; once they were gone, she fell limply into his arms. How could he have let his happen to her? He carried her outside, calling the Bat-plane to him. He set her gently in the backseat. "I promise I'll make this right." He whispered, heading for the Watchtower.
Author's note: I really like how this turned out. I really just wrote this off the top of my head (even more than the rest of the story), but somehow it turned out alright. I tried to capture some of the emotions that you see in the Christopher Nolan movies, and it turned out okay in my book. It's out much sooner than I expected; it basically wrote itself.
In case you haven't noticed, I decided to go with the cunning and evil Joker, not the dumbass from the cartoon series who never really even came close to doing anything right.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy it- but if I'm going to keep this going, I'd really appreciate some feedback so I can know what I'm doing right and wrong. Thanks, and once again, you guys are the best.
