Final Battle
Well, here's the second-to-last part of Return Of The Joker. Two or three more chapters should conclude the story. Sorry for the long wait, I was procrastinating while writing this. Enjoy!
"Whatcha watching, boy?" Ariel asked as she entered the living room to see Ace watching a cartoon. "Oh my God, Bugs Bunny died?!"
"What the-?" Terry came up from the cave. "Ace, I thought I told you not to watch this!" The dog merely growled in rebellion as Ariel began laughing.
"Ter, maybe you should put a child block on this channel," she choked out through her giggles. Terry actually looked as though he was about to do that, then shook his head in exasperation and went back downstairs. "Seriously, Ace," Ariel said, clicking the television off as Ace whined in protest, "You shouldn't watch this. It's too depressing even for me."
She scratched behind the dog's ears for a moment before standing.
"Besides, I have to practice my song and I don't want the noise getting in my way." Ace made an indignant huffing sound and left for the cave as she chuckled, going over to the piano.
She began to play just the melody of the song this time, not including the words.
"I remember..." she sang softly, then the music stopped as she heard someone coming downstairs.
"You shouldn't be up," she said quietly without turning as Bruce approached her.
"Would you have stopped me?" he returned, smirking as she scowled at him. "I thought not."
"Yeah, yeah, don't expect to be right all the time," she muttered, receiving another smirk before he went down into the cave. Shaking her head in exasperation, she covered the piano with the cloth and went after him.
She came upon Terry ranting about how he wasn't like Robin or the other kids Bruce had taken in. As she passed the display cases, though, something caught the corner of her eye.
"Hey, Ter, shut up for a second," she cut her friend off. He rolled his eyes, but did so. "Why did Joker go out of his way to destroy the Robin suit?" she asked, pointing at the tattered outfit.
"Robin did shoot him," Bruce said quietly and Terry gave Ariel a confused look.
"Yeah, I know already, Barbara told me way before she told you." With that, she stuck her tongue out at Terry. "Beat ya to it." He glowered at her.
"If you're finished," Bruce cut in, glaring at the two of them as Ariel merely grinned and Terry shrank back.
"And besides, if that's what Joker's up to, then it's just a ghost out for revenge. I don't buy it," Ariel argued, crossing her arms stubbornly.
"I talked to Drake, he has less love for that costume than the Joker," Terry spoke up, "I think somehow he's behind this."
"I wasn't thinking that far, actually," Ariel admitted after giving it some thought, "And I've known Tim since I was a kid. He wouldn't be involved with this."
"And I've known him since he was a kid," Bruce pointed out, "That's crazy."
"So was Drake, once," Terry stated.
"Harsh words, Ter," Ariel teased, causing him to smirk at her.
"Here. These are all the parts that the Jokerz stole," he said, bringing up the pictures. "Now let's combine them into something a satellite engineer would use. Someone of Tim Drake's caliber," he elaborated. The pictures came together to form...
"Satellite jamming system," Bruce realized, "Whoever has this can use it to take control of defense satellites and fire them at will."
"Yikes," Ariel cringed.
"I hate to say it, but I think your Robin's turned into a bitter old crow," Terry quipped finally and Ariel bit back a chuckle. "It's harsh, but what else do we have?" he finished.
"It makes more sense than the theory I came up with," Ariel agreed.
"What theory would that be?" Terry teased and Ariel opened her mouth. "If it involves evil vegetables..." She immediately closed her mouth and both Bruce and Terry shook their heads in exasperation.
"Suit up," Bruce ordered and Terry and Ariel nodded. "Take the car and check it out. I'll monitor you from here. And Ariel..." She turned as he tossed an earpiece to her: a commlink.
"My telepathy works fine, you know," she pointed out.
"The commlink works faster," he retorted and she gave up, going into an alcove to change into her cloak and leotard.
"What happened to leaving it to the police?" she called and could imagine the smirk on the old man's face.
"Not their game."
"There's something else we want to take with us," Terry said, removing his jacket as Ace looked up curiously. Ariel came out of the alcove, pulling on the hood of her cloak while smiling at the dog.
Half an hour later, the two vigilantes were headed towards the lab where Tim worked, Raven leading the way since she knew the route by heart.
After teleporting them inside the building, Raven led the way to the lab room she knew Tim would be in.
"Drake, drop the act. We know you're working with the Joker," Batman snapped. Tim continued working without turning.
"Don't pretend you didn't hear-" Raven began, reaching forward, then freezing as her hand passed through him. "Hologram," she whispered. Then she turned quickly as lasers blocked the doorway. Then a transmission flickered overhead and they looked up to find the Joker leering down at them.
"You guessed it, Bat-Fake and Bird-Girl!" Raven gave the clown a dirty look. "The disgruntled Mr. Drake is indeed in my employ. Took him a few years, but he finally figured out who ran the real winning team."
The screen switched to a picture of a satellite.
"This is one of Uncle Sam's orbiting defense satellites. Hyperion-class, laser-armed. Handy little gadget for shooting down unfriendly missiles or giving someone a world-class hotfoot."
Raven's eyes merely rolled, then widened as a simulation of the lasers came up.
"Think of it as urban tagging on a grand scale, reminding all and sundry that this is Joker territory."
The screen switched back to the Joker.
"You're welcome to try and stop us, but I wouldn't count on that happening anytime soon. Toodles!" The transmission ended with that and a black laser shot out at Raven, knocking her down as she yelped in surprise.
"You okay?" Batman asked, but she didn't answer because an array of pink laser beams shot at them. "Get us out of here?" he requested and she tried to do so, but couldn't.
"Looks like the black one shorted my powers out."
"Great," Batman muttered, "Any chance of them coming back?"
"I need a few minutes," she admitted.
"I can give you a few seconds," he suggested.
"Fair enough," she agreed, feeling her powers already returning, but they were still too weak to actually accomplish anything. He threw a Batarang, but the laser shot it before it even got a few feet away. The next laser shot his hand and he dragged Raven behind an overturned table as she focused on calling her powers back.
"I think they're back," she said, opening her eyes. With a swipe of her hand, the machine that was generating the lasers cut cleanly in half, falling apart. "Yep. They're back." The lasers disappeared immediately and Batman sighed in relief, inspecting the small burn on his hand while taking off his glove. "You okay?" she asked, also examining the burn.
"Fine." She rolled her eyes before waving her hand over his and healing it. "Thanks." She nodded once in acknowledgment before teleporting them outside.
"Raven..." Bruce spoke finally.
"What?" she asked, placing a hand to her earpiece.
"Stop listing the states in alphabetical order in your head. You're sending it to me mentally." She grinned sheepishly.
"Sorry." Batman snickered from beside her and ended up receiving a punch on the arm. "I'm trying to distract myself!" she argued as he placed a hand over his mouth to stifle another laugh.
"I noticed a brand name on one of the candy jars in the background," Raven said into her commlink as she flew alongside the Batmobile, "Jolly Jack."
"It's an abandoned candy factory," Batman informed her.
"Just his style," Bruce stated, sounding bitter.
Switching her commlink to one-way, she asked, "You okay, Dad?"
"Once this is over, I will be." Then he paused. "You called me 'Dad.'"
"I know." She smiled slightly, even though she knew he couldn't see it.
"You okay, Dad?"
Bruce looked up at the concerned question he received from Ariel's side of the commlink.
Switching it to one-way so that Terry couldn't hear, he replied, "Once this is over, I will be." Then he froze, realizing what she had said. "You called me 'Dad.'"
"I know," she replied simply. He could hear the smile in her voice.
"Ariel?" he spoke finally, his voice coming out softer than he had intended. Silently, he cursed himself for going sentimental.
"Yeah?" she responded. He stayed silent for a moment, pondering on how to phrase his next words. "Bruce?" A note of worry edged its way into her voice.
"Just...be careful." A slightly relieved laugh came from her end of the commlink.
"Don't worry about me, Bruce. I'll be fine."
"I never worry," he shot back and she laughed once more.
"Sure you don't." There was a pause. "I love you."
As many times as he had heard her tell him that she loved him, he never believed it, not even when Barbara confirmed it. Ariel couldn't possibly love him, especially after what he had put her through.
"I thought you wished you had never met me," he replied bitterly and immediately regretted saying it when he received no answer, "Ariel?"
"You heard me." Her voice was strangled and he realized she had been hurt just as badly that night by her nightmare.
Concerned for her emotional status, he said quietly, "I'm not mad at you."
"You should be."
"But I'm not." She couldn't afford to lose it now, not when she was about to fight the Joker. He would only use her emotions against her. "We need to talk when you come home."
"'Kay."The teenage empath reverted to the soft monosyllabic speech that she only used when she was feeling particularly upset.
Bruce sighed, the sound too soft for the commlink to detect. He loved Ariel, even though he had sworn he wouldn't get attached to the girl the day he adopted her. It had been only a matter of time before she turned on him, too, just as everyone else did. And it hurt even more this time because she was the only one who actually said that she loved him, even if she hadn't meant it.
"We need to talk when you come home." Raven didn't voice the morbid thought that had formed in her head after hearing that sentence.
If I come home. She had no idea if she was going to survive this encounter or not. The Joker was a real threat, despite what she had thought at first.
"'Kay," was all she trusted herself to say before turning her link to Terry's commlink back on.
"Hey, what happened? You both went offline," Batman complained.
"Nothing," Raven said quickly, "We're fine." Batman began to protest, but then sighed and let it go.
"You're sure?"
"Yes," Bruce confirmed, "Focus on finding the Joker first."
"I traced the name Jolly Jack to this address." It was clear that Batman had sent the coordinates to Bruce. "Tell Commissioner Gordon and her men to be there. Oh, and Raven, get in the car."
"Why?" the empath questioned.
"It's harder to talk to you while you're outside." Raven rolled her eyes before dropping into the car when the roof opened for her.
"You happy?" she snapped and Batman smirked at her as she scratched behind Ace's ears and the dog whined in pleasure, licking her cheek.
Batman frowned, worried when Bruce and Raven dismissed his concerned questions. He had tried to take a glance at Raven while she had been flying, but he couldn't take his eyes off the path of the Batmobile.
When both of them went offline at the same time, he knew they were still on tenterhooks with each other and were either resolving their conflict or making the problem even worse. As comfortable as Ariel had been around Bruce in the cave, Batman remembered her explanation of the argument they had gotten into earlier. There was no way that could have blown over so quickly.
He knew the girl loved the old man, but whatever Bruce was doing to push Ariel away was really hurting her.
"We're heading over there-" he began to inform Bruce, but then a face flickered onscreen.
"Well, aren't you the nasty tattletale...ratting me out before I have my fun. Papa spank!" Joker cackled as Batman noticed Raven trying to hide a laugh by covering her mouth.
"You're not supposed to laugh at his jokes," he reprimanded her quietly.
"Sorry," she chuckled softly, then looked out the window to see a blue light surrounding the Batmobile. "Great, we're the target now! Step on it!" He did so, but the blast from the satellite sent the Batmobile spinning out of control. Ace barked madly as Raven and Batman tried to turn the hovercar around.
"Yeah, we know!" Batman snapped at the dog to stop the barking.
"This kinda makes me wonder how you passed Driver's Ed.," Raven commented casually as he gave her an incredulous look.
"Is this really the best time?" He managed to get the Batmobile straightened out before zooming down the road.
"It is for me," she shrugged, then looked over her shoulder to see the movie theater get blown up. "Slaggit. There go my Friday plans with Max." Batman glared at her and she gave him an innocent look. The beam then solidified into a ray, tearing through the road to try and hit the Batmobile. As they passed over a parking lot, it followed. "Was that the best idea?" Raven questioned in surprise, looking back at the now flaming cars.
"It's an empty parking lot. The car owners will be fine," Batman responded as they led the beam over a fountain, which exploded. Meanwhile, Joker was laughing crazily until he stopped abruptly, clutching his forehead. Raven and Batman exchanged a wide-eyed glance at this. Did Joker have a weakness?
"I'd better sit down before I bust a gut," the clown finally spoke in a strained voice, "Catch ya later, kiddies." The transmission ended there and the two teenagers stayed silent as the death ray dissolved.
"We're going after him," Raven spoke at last and Batman nodded in agreement, piloting the Batmobile towards the candy factory.
Raven sighed impatiently and teleported straight to the factory when she realized that Batman was going slower than usual.
"What are you doing?!" Bruce demanded into her earpiece.
"Speeding things up," she replied casually, materializing behind the waiting Jokerz.
"You should have just waited," he lectured her.
"Can I just have my moment, please? You can lecture me later," she sighed and the Jokerz took notice of her.
"Gah! It's her!" the pumpkin-carrying Joker yelped, swinging said pumpkin at her. She blocked it and kicked him to the side, dodging the splicer as he sprang at her. Then everyone looked over as the pink Joker shot a bazooka at the approaching Batmobile. It hit its target, which spiraled down to the roof of the factory. Raven teleported out of the way and helped Batman free himself from the car.
"What kept you?" she teased and he shoved her lightly. Then they both looked over as the splicer approached, giggling dementedly. "Ace," Raven called casually and the dog emerged from the car, leaping at the splicer and attacking him. "Good Bat-dog," she cooed when Ace returned to them, leaving the splicer unconscious behind him.
"You're crazier than Joker," Batman muttered.
"Thanks!" she shot back before dodging a double-attack from the twin girls. Batman activated the camouflage feature on his suit and disappeared from view. Suddenly, something pushed one of the twins forward.
"Watch it!" she snapped at her sister and pushed her.
"You watch it!" the other argued. Then Batman pushed both of them to the ground as Raven watched from the side, interested.
"It's him!" the girls realized and began looking around for any sign of him. Then a box lifted behind them and they smirked, turning and running towards Batman. The box tipped over and spilled ball-shaped candies that made them lose their balance. Then they ran towards Batman as he appeared between them. Raven sighed in boredom and levitated him up into the air as the two girls collided with each other, knocking themselves out.
"You know, if you weren't a C student, you would've thought of that sooner," she commented, lowering him back to the ground.
"Thanks," he replied sardonically as they entered the building. He jumped over the railing and landed on the ground while Raven merely floated down.
"Cute playhouse," she remarked, gazing around at the toys and tools scattered on the table.
"You getting all this, Wayne?" Batman questioned and Bruce affirmed it.
"Just keep your eyes out for the Joker," he advised.
"Tim," Raven whispered suddenly, racing over to his unconscious form at the other end of the room.
"Careful," Batman cautioned and she nodded once, helping Tim sit up as he groaned.
"What? Who is it?" he questioned blindly.
"Drop the act, we know you're working for the Joker," Batman spoke harshly.
"Joker?" Tim seemed confused. "No, Joker's gone. I don't know where he is, really."
"The suit's not picking up any pulse fluctuations. He's telling the truth," Bruce informed the two teenagers through the commlink.
"Maybe, but he's still nuts," Raven muttered, watching Tim pick up a teddy bear that had been lying on the table.
"Oh God. I killed him. I tried so hard to forget," Tim spoke, horrified, "But I still hear the shot. Still see his dead smile."
"Should we call an ambulance?" Batman questioned Raven softly.
"No," Tim interrupted before the empath could answer, "Sorry about that, Terry, bad memories twisting inside me like bad oysters."
"Bad oysters?" Raven mouthed to Batman, trying not to laugh, but he had other thoughts on his mind.
"How did you know my name?" Raven had to admit, she was confused by that as well. She knew that Tim knew her name, but how had he found out Terry's?
"There's nothing I don't know about you, Bat-Fake." Tim picked up two balls and threw them at the teenagers. Each ball turned into a device that clamped onto their wrists and sent an electromagnetic pulse through their bodies, causing them to fall to their knees.
"What is it with me and getting hit with lasers and other crap today?" Raven complained.
"Not now," Batman snapped at her just as Bruce lectured her with the same words.
"Have a time out, kids. Can't let you spoil the party too soon," Tim spoke in a much calmer voice, strolling forward and stopping in front of the fallen vigilantes. Raven attempted to pull the device on her wrist off, but merely received a much larger shock.
"Raven!" Batman gave her a panicked look as she cried out in pain.
"And Bruce," Tim called casually, taking no notice of the girl in front of him, "I'm sure you've got your lackeys wired somehow. That's just peachy, because I want you to witness every minute of this. It's a killer." He started laughing in a way Raven had only associated with the Joker.
"No," she whispered without realizing. Right in front of their eyes, Tim was turning into the Joker.
"Ariel!" Batman pulled her towards him as Tim pushed all the random junk off the table, shielding her from the falling debris. "You okay?" She nodded into his shoulder, pulling away. By this time, Joker had replaced Tim and begun removing the lab coat, revealing the dark purple jumpsuit Raven was used to seeing him wear.
"Oh, I never get tired of that!" he laughed, no sign of Tim's voice anywhere in his cackle.
"Drake? You're the Joker?" Batman questioned, surprised.
"Please," Joker scoffed, "That flabby oaf doesn't even realize I'm using him a timeshare. Beneath this...puckish exterior, lies the mind of a genius." He smirked. "Years ahead of my time, in the weeks young Robin was under my tutelage, I used him as the subject of my greatest experiment."
"Let me guess. You stole a microchip from a lab and recorded your DNA on it, then planted it in Tim's mind," Raven stated dryly and Joker stared at her, surprised.
"What the...how did you know that?" he demanded.
"Oh, I was right?" She grinned sheepishly. "Lucky guess." Batman sighed in exasperation.
"She uses her brain for wild guesses and nothing useful." She stuck her tongue out at him and Joker glanced between them, blinking in confusion.
"Can I continue?"
"Oh, sure, go ahead," Raven said casually.
"Riiiiight. Anyway...everything that was me has been sleeping all comfy and cozy inside Tim Drake's subconscious." He showed them the microchip in the back of his neck. "Here." Raven stared at the microchip. "The changes come at will now, and soon, I'll be able to take over Drake's body completely. Mr. J's on the rebound, baby!" he cackled. "My comeback party's going to set the whole city on fire!" He went to the computer and began typing in a command.
"And you mean that literally, don't you?" Raven sighed, causing him to leer at her.
"You know, you'd look so much prettier with a smile on your face."
"Just try it, Bozo," she snapped as she and Batman glared at Joker. As Joker finished typing in his command, the large wooden head rose up, becoming a satellite dish that was obviously contacting the defense system in space. "Nice toy," Raven stated casually.
"Thanks!" Joker said brightly. "So where should I make ground zero?" He pulled up a picture of Gotham General Hospital and the yard behind Terry's apartment building, where Terry's mother was playing with Matt on the swings. "Gotham General, where our hero's dear little Dana is recuperating, or here, in the happy garden of Mrs. Mary McGinnis?" Raven took a glance at Batman to find him glaring at Joker, fists clenched. "I always think it adds a little resonance to a hero's mission to have some defining element of tragedy in his background, don't you?"
"Not really," Raven said simply and Joker shrugged.
"Oh well. To each their own." Then his face lit up. "Ah! But the one and only kickoff point must be stately Wayne Manor!" He pulled up a picture of Wayne Manor as Raven tensed.
"Don't," Bruce cautioned her, "He's trying to provoke you."
"If so, he's doing a good job of it," she snapped into the commlink without Joker noticing.
"Gone in a flash!" the clown was saying, "Before Brucie can hobble to safety, or mount a rescue!" Raven scowled and, ignoring the shock she received from the device on her wrist, telekinetically tossed a piece of metal at Joker's head. He dodged it quickly and she brought it back around to smack him in the back of the head. "Hit a nerve, did I?" He smirked while rubbing the back of his head. "Don't worry, though." He pulled up a map of Gotham now. "I'll be hitting those other spots soon enough." The three dots that symbolized the targets formed a smiley face.
"Don't you dare," Raven snarled, trying to pull herself into a standing position.
"Ignore him," Bruce lectured her and she exhaled in annoyance, pulling out the commlink device in her ear and turning it off. She dropped it in an inner pocket of her cloak.
"He says you shouldn't have done that," Batman relayed Bruce's message to Raven.
"Tell him I don't care." Joker blinked, looking back and forth between them.
"Can I continue now?"
"No," Raven snapped and he smirked, stepping back.
"Aren't we touchy?" She pulled the scrap piece of metal back up and hit him with it. This time, however, she couldn't ignore the electric shock that the device sent out. With a cry of pain, she dropped the metal and fell back to the floor. "Just so I can spare you some pain..." Joker said casually, pulling out a laser gun. He shot her with it and she absently noticed that it was the same black ray she had been shot with earlier.
"Like you care if it hurts," she muttered, rubbing her arm where the laser had hit.
"Good point," the clown shrugged. That was when Raven knew they were in trouble.
The chapter was getting too long, so I'll end it here. I'll finish up the battle next chapter. R&R!