Chapter 11: One Down
"Oh goodie!" the scratchy voice echoed in the prison cell, "They've come for a visit!"
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The team turned around, facing towards Harley once again.
"You're not as stupid as I thought you were, Bird Boy," her voice was high-pitched as it carried through the area. The snarling of her hyenas intensified, and she had to pat one on the shoulder to restrain it from pouncing. "Mr. J knew you would come."
The team went silent as Harley tightened her grip on the handle of her hammer. "I really did like you, Robby, I did. Too bad it had to end this way."
"You can't take on the six of us," Superboy added with disbelief before Robin had a chance to respond.
"You're right, I can't," Harley's head swayed to the side to look at the forest. "But I can try." Her head whipped around as she twirled the weapon around over her shoulder, revealing a jagged blade stretched across the wood. She lifted the hammer into the air, behind her back, before swinging her arm forward and releasing the grip.
The hammer cut through the air, but was easily dodged by the Boy Wonder. Robin had already had his hands on an exploding disc and flung it into the air. But before it could hit Harley, she back flipped toward the forest and yelled, "Attack!"
It didn't take a mere second for the hyenas to dive into the action, pouncing on the nearest team member who tried to avoid their attacks.
One of the animals chose Aqualad, leaping on him from behind and sinking his teeth deep into the Antlantean's left shoulder. He yelled out in pain, but the bite wasn't enough to stop the team leader from knocking it off his back.
Kid Flash sped over, knocking into the hyena and sending it flying back a couple feet. But it didn't take long to recuperate, because in seconds, it was already on Artemis. Kid Flash had hunched over and extended his hands to his bad leg, missing the sight as the archer shook the animal off of her and reach for her quiver. She had already had an arrow set in her bow when the second hyena pounced on her, claws digging into Artemis' side as it hung onto her.
The attack sent the arrow soaring toward the nearest tree, far from her designated target. Once she had a second arrow set in her bow's strings, the hyena was already on the ground again, crouching down for its next jump. But before it could leap, an arrow struck it in the shoulder and it stumbled backwards with the momentum of the hit. The faint whimper that escaped its mouth was swallowed in the night's air as it collapsed to the ground, fresh blood staining the green grass beneath the wound.
Artemis whipped her head around to face the first hyena, but it had disappeared. She stepped forward, looking for its razor-sharp teeth and curved claws, for its brown and black-spotted fur coat and its black eyes beaming with madness.
But all she saw was the red-and-black checkered lady who faded into the fog of the forest, her hyenas just behind her (the one she had hit with her arrow heavily limping) and the words, "Bye bye, Bird Boy!" lingering in the air as Harley vanished into the thick foliage of the trees.
She walked toward her team as they assembled into a huddle. The archer could see Aqualad's left shoulder bleeding out of large teeth marks, and Kid Flash trying to hide how he was leaning on one leg and cringing in pain. She saw the others' minor injuries, but her eyes turned to Superboy as he began to speak.
"That was easy."
Robin didn't look up as he replied, "It was intended to be." His head turned back to survey the Joker goons, "She wasn't trying to beat us; She was trying to delay us."
"Why would-"
Robin cut Kid Flash off, already knowing the question about to escape his mouth, "Because they needed more reinforcement—Joker goons."
"That means we'll have to get through them to get the Joker," Artemis' voice rang out in the small crowd.
The Boy Wonder sighed. "We can try."
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It could have been a fairly short walk to the gates of Arkham Asylum; the team was in fact just above it. Kid Flash could have been there in less than a second, Robin could have been there in two, Superboy in three, but as all six walked toward the building, feet creeping beneath them, they weren't worrying about the time as much as the tactics.
Four team members were simultaneously taken down by a fraction of the Joker goons storming before them, another one just after. These same five heroes, plus one, winning against at least double the Joker goons had the odds of a fish surviving in a desert.
But as Robin sneaked to a pole of the gate on the far right side of the Asylum, the team following behind him, he knew that wasn't the plan.
"That's a lot of goons," Wally whispered to his teammates as he stepped inside the area, past the gates Robin had hacked into opening. "Are you sure we can take them all and the Joker?"
The Boy Wonder didn't look at his teammates as he stepped forward to scope the area from a closer view. He studied the patches of dead grass under his feet and crawling up the brick walls of the building, considering what to tell his team. He couldn't tell them that he was using them to hold off the goons so he could save Batman. Or that he didn't know if they were going to be able to hold them off—that he didn't know if they were going to die that night, but he had to save Batman. The team after all, was his third choice.
So he didn't take a second more to say, "Well, that's the plan, isn't it?"
"Then let's go," Aqualad's voice was firm but unsuspecting as he lead his team toward the endless amount of goons before them.
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The Joker was smart. Robin knew that.
Maybe that's why he wasn't caught off-guard when each goon had a different technique of attacks. As soon as he had figured out one's and defeated it, another would use another method of strikes and defense. The simple programming of mind control demolished the option to take out masses of goons at once.
Maybe that's why he wasn't surprised as he watched the weapons in their hands form axes one moment and daggers the next. They twisted and turned like a machine with movement, but it didn't take long to figure out that each weapon had only two forms. One formed a club and a revolver, one formed a spear and a crowbar, one formed a pistol and a knife, and the last formed an axe and a dagger.
Maybe that's why he knew he couldn't fight. He couldn't win.
Maybe that's why he knew, as Joker goons piled in the gate of Arkham Asylum with grins from their chins to their ears, that he knew he had to go—he had to slip away while the team was occupied to save Batman and escape. There was still a chance they would survive…
The team was holding off well against the goons, but after ten minutes, they had barely made a dent and Robin knew time was ticking. He had to go. Now.
"Augh!" The Boy Wonder heard the Fastest Boy Alive scream out in pain as a large thump of a back to a wall rumbled in his ears. His eyes flickered to the side for only a moment to check on his friend, but he couldn't mistake the yellow figure struggling to stand as mobs of Joker goons flooded the corner.
Robin dodged an attack before squatting and swiftly turning, his leg outstretched and sending the goon to the ground. He could hear Wally's noises fade as Miss Martian telepathically flew the attackers away, straight into a wall and knocking them unconscious.
The three Joker goons around Robin turned their head at the sight, holding up their weapons high above their heads and charging towards Miss Martian with hysterical laughs escaping their grins.
That was without a doubt the worst part. The laughter. It filled the air, formed the clouds, clung to their skin, rang in their ears. But it wasn't joy that comes from a child's giggles at a clown's joke. It was the kind that came from real people, gone mentally insane and attacking the Justice League's protégés. And this wasn't a clown's joke of squeezing his red nose, it was a psychotic mass-murdering killer who was playing a joke of his own—but not a single wisp of laughter came from the civilians' bones burning under smoking debris or the little girl who's eyes tears up as she sits next to a picture of her father. It was easy to realize that the game was not being enjoyed by the players, but by the referee.
Robin knew this was his opportunity. He could see a clear path to Arkham's door and knew he could slip into the shadows and reach there before…
"Rob," the voice was heavy but inquiring as it cut through the night. "Where are you going?"
The Boy Wonder didn't have to turn around to know who was behind him, but he still twisted on his foot to meet the face of Kid Flash.
"Inside," There was no point in lying to Wally. He could see right through the 13-year-old. "I can get Batman," he stumbled over his wording as he searched for a reason to justify himself. "I can get Batman… and then come back. This way, we'll have a better chance, right?"
It didn't take the young speedster a second before he trusted his friend and said, "I'll come with you. I don't think my leg's in a good condition to fight maniacal goons right now." He wore a smirk but he couldn't hide the limp in his step or hiss of pain as he walked toward Robin.
The Boy Wonder saw his friend's condition and didn't take a moment more to say, "Sure." If Robin faced the Joker, he could use help…
"We should tell the others, though. They'll need to know."
Robin sighed and looked down at his glove for the time. "Why didn't we establish mental communication?"
"Because we thought we weren't splitting up," Wally replied nonchalantly.
Robin looked up from his wrist, only to meet a blur of yellow fading away and returning within seconds.
"We're good. I couldn't find Miss M, though. Aqualad told me he would tell her when he finds her. Let's go."
And Robin and Kid Flash walked into Arkham Asylum, the laughter traveling farther and farther away as they deepened within the building.
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"Where are the guards?" Wally didn't take care to lower his voice as he noticed the empty hallway. He limped along its flooring, running a hand through his red hair before placing it on the wall for support.
"Don't know. Maybe Joker had them taken out last night."
"Or maybe the goons were the guards."
"Doesn't matter. Either way, it makes it easier for us to reach Joker undetected," Robin didn't know how much irony laced within his simple comment until he sensed the footsteps across the corner, saw the grinning masks, heard the laughter once again bouncing off the walls and ringing in his ears. "Joker goons. You okay to fight?"
"I'm fine," Wally lifted his hand from the wall and cringed, "How many?"
Robin's eyes flickered to the oncoming mass of Joker goons, "Six."
It was only four seconds before half the goons were unconscious.
It was a mere five seconds before Robin's foot was again nestled in the chest of a goon and sending the crazed man to collide with the hard wall.
It was just seven seconds before the Boy Wonder heard the sickening snap of a bone and didn't have to turn around to know the Fastest Kid Alive had broken his leg. And he must have scared the goons away, because when Robin did turn, the hallway was clear.
Clear except for yellow speedster on the ground, holding his leg and suppressing a scream.
"KF, are—"
"Doesn't matter," Wally made out, quoting his best friend. He lifted his head to look at Robin, "go. Save Batman."
It should have been easy for Robin to ignore his teammate and inspect the wound. It should have been easy for Robin to whip out his medical supplies tucked inside his utility belt and wrap Wally's leg to stop the bleeding. It should have been easy to do anything but turn around and run deeper into Arkham Asylum. And it wasn't hard at all.
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Robin's breaths began to shallow as he slowed his feet, stopping at the door to Joker's cell. It didn't take a moment to hack into Arkham's security and send the door sliding into the wall.
And maybe, with all the years of experience he had with the Joker, the Boy Wonder should have expected the Joker to be standing right there, eyes wide with nothing but overwhelming bliss and insanity. Strands of his green hair gelled back into a neat curve. White face adorned with a large, wide, red smile and a mouth about to speak with a hoarse voice that only comes with weeks of just laughter.
"I was hoping it would be you."
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A/N: Creepy much? A lot of things happened in this chapter, just in like...2,250+ words. Review and tell me what you think! I hope to update sooner, maybe by Saturday?