"It's just like you said, they've been disappearing left and right." Robin looked over Gotham City as he spoke into his communicator. "It looks like the Reach have started taking known meta humans and heroes. According to Canary both Destiny and Firefly have gone missing, and that's just around here." Robin went to speak again but a siren in the distance caught his attention. "Looks like we'll have to go over the full report later, something is up and with Batman and Joker preoccupied I think Penguin is trying to make a move. For all of our sakes, I really hope you're wrong about this one Dick, Robin out."
"Right, stay safe, Nightwing out." The elder hero was standing aboard the justice league's Watchtower, a place that was secret to the world until recently. Having the watchtower had made the league a target of controversy, but for now no government had decided it was a threat. For now it was just what Nightwing needed, and having many members of the league out on missions helped his cause. Now all he had to do was wait for his operatives around the world, and hope for the best.
Since having a little pep talk with his friend Gaia Icicle Jr. was fighting like a completely different person, and it was becoming apparent just how dangerous he was to Poison Ivy. More and more she found herself more and more watching and protecting her nephew than caring about herself, and she knew that eventually someone was going to get hurt. She threw out some seeds that almost instantly sprouted into buds and released a gas, giving them some time while Icicle was blinded.
"Spore get out of here, the others inside need some help and this is becoming way to dangerous."
"I can't leave you alone against this guy aunt Ivy, you can't even touch him for long with his powers, and he has a pretty good distance game on you. I know you don't want me to get hurt, but you can't do this alone." Before Ivy could speak Fang and Gaia, the other two fighting on the rooftop had collided, sending out a strong shockwave and shaking the building.
"Ah.. listen, you don't know what I can do, and I will show you the reason everyone fears the wrath of Poison Ivy. Now get out of here, because I can't do anything if I am constantly worrying about you." The two of them barely dodged another shot of ice as Icicle had regained his vision and was on the attack again. "Listen, you have a bright future ahead of you with the powers you've got, don't ruin that by being hardheaded!" Icicle began running closer, ready to slice at them with an sharp crystal that had taken the place of his right hand.
"Hey, don't ignore me while I'm trying to kill you!" His repeated attempts only managed to cut a bit of Ivy's hair before he was kicked away and the two regrouped. This time he took to taunting Spore, hoping to catch him off guard and land a devastating attack. "I didn't know you needed help to fight, does you mommy hold your hand when you cross the street too? Who's a little fighter? You are!"
"Why you... I'll show you who needs help, just watch me!" Spore rushed at the man, throwing seeds which quickly sprouted into vines that surrounded him. "I hope this is really painful!" The vines wrapped around Icicle Jr. and before he knew it he was caught in place, being held by the plants away from the building below.
"Do you think that will be enough to stop me? Just watch what I can do to your precious plants." he concentrated as Ice began to form on the vines, which quickly turned into a cold, brittle mass. "Now I just need to break out... uh...ugh...hmmm..." The villain struggled in vain as the iced vines were to strong for him to move, and he was caught in a prison of his own design. Spore began to laugh and mock his foe, unaware of the battle still going on.
"Don't think I'll go down that easy, let me show you the ferocious power of the Red." Fang charged at Gaia before summoning the aura of a large Kangaroo, sending a swift kick into the villains' stomach which caused him to stagger a bit. Barely flinching, Gaia retaliated by pulling large chunks of rock and concrete from the building around them, weakening the floor and chucking them wildly at Fang. The Roof began to collapse around the two, and the shock rattled the vines holding Icicle Jr. in place just enough for him to get free. Spore was shaken up and didn't notice that the man who he had just captured had regained control and was coming up behind him. He formed a few spears of ice on his arm and fired them at Spore.
"Spore look out!" Ivy thought quickly and used some vines to pull him away, She barely had enough time to save him. It was then that she realized how big of a mistake she had made, and turned in time to see another ice spear headed right for her. "Don, I'm sorry..." Was all she could think to say before the ice hit her. The spear ripped through her midsection, leaving traces of ice along with a now gaping wound. The plants around him quickly wilted, and Spore rushed over to her. He placed some seeds near her and sprouted some vines which covered the wound and seemed to dig into her.
"Don't worry aunt Ivy, I'll fix you up! You may be more plant than human after this, but you'll be alive, and you love plants!" The boy started to panic as he continued to heal is near death aunt when Fang jumped at him, nearly avoiding another chunk of ice.
"Keep you head in the game Spore, as long as she's still alive we can help her, but we have to stop these guys first." Icicle was standing over her now, smirking at the young hero. He raised his hand as Spore went to say something, but only a small squeak came out as ice spread across her body until she was a frozen clump.
"Nobody messes with the Icicle, sorry kid nothing personal, but I had to show you what you're messing with." The next few moments were a blur to Spore, as he tried to get to his aunt. Gaia stepped in his way, Icicle had formed a giant Ice hammer, and he had almost reached her when it happened. There was a loud crunch and a bang, and Ivy was shattered. Any chance to save her had been destroyed, and as the roof below them collapsed the two stared at each other. They fell to the team below, as Spore looked on with new hatred.
Slash and Tigress watched as their teams both fell into the plant below, pausing the fight between them.
"With them gone we can start getting down to business, don't you think Tigergirl? Why don't you show me what you know?" The two of them charged at each other, neither gaining a definitive advantage, before disengaging and returning to staring each other down.
"You fight pretty good, and I know where you got most of your skill. I have to ask, why did you quit doing what you do best?" This time Tigress took the offensive, knocking Slash to the side of the building before he once again pushed her back. "We're you scared of the power you could have had, or did you just decide to grow a heart?"
"What I do with my life is of no importance to the likes of you. I may have done some things, but now I'm doing this. What's your story? You have some skills and decided that you should use that to terrorize the world? Feel that it owes you that pleasure? Or do you just hate everyone that much?" The two glared at each other before Tigress answered him.
"You don't know what I'm giving up, what the world owes me." She rushed over to him and landed a strong hook into his stomach. "I'm not some dainty little girl who decided she needed to be bad, I have reasons that you could never comprehend. The world is a sick place and I needed to do something, and this is where I've ended up. I won't rest until its all changed." Tigress went to continue but was cut short when her legs were taken out from under her. She landed with a thud as Slash flipped away with a handspring, staring her down before putting his weapon away. A sudden gunshot filled the air as both of them looked to the chemical plant. The two of them expected the worse and took of towards the plant, hoping that no body had been hurt.
Harley Quinn had heard a loud crash after Joker had left the room. To her it was just him being him, and that he had dealt with some intruders and would be back soon. As the minutes ticked by she became nervous, and finally aggravated. "Just where is that good-fer-nuthin... Demona go see what Mr. J is up to, and if he's trying on my clothes again... oh wait, you weren't suppose to know about that... Oh well, go get him Anyways!" She picked up a oversized mallet as the other girl left, taking a moment to wait for Quinn. "Don't worry sweetie, I'll be there after I deal with this little piece of trash. Now go find him, and don't be afraid to have a little fun while you do it." She left as Harley began circling the young girl, swinging her mallet to and fro. "So, any last words? Something you want me to tell whoeva decided to come save you? No, nothing? Good, I hate it when a hero can't shut up and die, it's such a pain in the neck." She lifted her hammer as Jinx thought it was the end for her. Suddenly there was a loud noise and the rope around her wrist feel to the ground. She sprang up from the chair she was tied to and placed her hand on Harley Quinn's mouth, covering it as the villain lowered her hammer.
"Good, now you're going to listen to me. Let me go, and then run away from here. You're going to keep walking until you reach Gotham City, then you're going to walk into the nearest precinct and turn yourself in. Now be a good Harley and let me go." The jester girl froze up as her pupils became dilated. The order sank in and soon she had untied the hero from her chair and started making her way for the door, fighting every step.
"Oh I don't wanna go! But... I have to.. I must... No! Aw dang it... I'll get you for this!.." She strolled off into the city as Jinx moved down the halls. It was only then that she realized that someone had shot a gun, and somehow that had helped her. She didn't have time to think of who, because as she turned the corner she could see the girl, Demona, transforming before her very eyes. Living up to her name, she grew a set of large, leathery wings before hissing violently. Her skin was now a dark smoky grey color, and a tail and claws had formed as she took to the sky. Jinx followed to she that she was heading for a large room with a collapsed roof, and that Blue Beetle was directly in her path. The young girl jumped, grabbing the demon's leg and forcing her off course before landing next to a surprised Blue Beetle. Taken by the fact that he was her and trying to rescue her, she tried to hide any excitement she had until after the fight. When he asked if she was okay, she responded with the first thing that came to her mind.
"Hey there, come here much? Maybe I could give you a hand?" He looked at her before rejoining the others, waving her to join him. "Really! That's what I come up with! Stupid Brain..." The scene in the room had erupted into total chaos as the three sides waged a battle that began to shake the room to it's core. From where she was standing Jinx could see Beetle engaging the demon girl in midair, while other she didn't know seemed all to content beating each other on the ground. Two of them, one she could recognize as Icicle Jr. and the other having the powers of Poison Ivy, seemed to be at the center of the action and were fighting as fiercely as they could. On the other side of the room a large man was flinging stones at Joker goons as they tried to rush at him, while a boy with a glowing aura fought nearby. They took out the nearest wave of henchmen before turning their attention directly at each other, slamming their fist together and creating a large shockwave. Jinx shook any doubts she had away as she ran into the fray, hoping to make a difference.
Duplicate did not want to be here. Things had spiraled out of control so fast, and now he had to fight if he wanted to survive. The Girl who the others called Psylum let out another psychic blast, causing one of his many clones to shutter and fall before disappearing. He ran again, creating more of him with each step hoping that it would be enough to confuse her and let him get away. He ran face to face with another girl, who just stared at him with great intensity before turning her head and letting him go. He ran past her out into the hallway, hoping to get away from the Light in the confusion and hide for awhile. As he burst through the doors leading out of the place there was a flash of red and blue lights surrounding him, and guns pointed at him from every direction. They told him to give up, that his crime spree was over, that they were ready to shoot at a moments notice. Before he could speak there was a woman standing next to him, cursing at the cops and the fact that they had been to slow to make a getaway. She dove out of the way as Luke hear the sound of a barrage of gunfire, diving to the ground in order to avoid it. The cops walked over to him and stood over him as another woman, this one dressed differently, said that she would handle it from there and started to carry him away. As he thought that this was his chance to get away from this life, he could see the first one holding a knife. She threw it, and right before it hit his savior he gasped and was back in the midst of the fighting. The younger girl was on the ground, seemingly weeping, as Luke hurried to get away again. "What was... it was so real.."
Fang and Gaia had been interrupted again. More of these useless goons had surrounded them and were wasting their time, the precious time they could be using to fight each other. As a group of them decided to gang up on them at once, the two found themselves back to back. The were surprised to feel the other one right behind them, before a plan came to both of them almost simultaneously. Fang was the first to speak as the surrounding goons started to close in. "You thinking what I'm thinking?
"Maybe I am, but if I am thinking what you're thinking, I think we should do it fast. Like maybe one 3."
"Right... 1...2..3!" The two of them turned as the first set of goons lunged at them. The threw out a punch just in time to hit and throw them to the ground. The continued to fight, back to back, easily defeating whoever came at them until they were once again the only ones left standing. "Well, that was fun. What do you think?"
"It was a blast, to bad these guys are about as strong as wet tissue paper. Now, where were we.. Right about here!" Gaia turn with a strong kick, hoping to knock Fang off guard. His effort was met with a similar kick, and the two were once again fighting on even terms. "You know, If it weren't for the fact I'm trying to kill you, I'd have to say you're the best opponent I have ever met."
"Likewise, it's a shame we can't have this much fun every day. Them's the breaks I suppose, now time to show you what I can really do." The two charged at each other before being sent flying in opposite directions. Joker had been hopping around the room, and it looked like he had decided that their fight would be the best to interrupt at the time. The clown set off a mild explosive in between them before skipping away laughing.
"Oh you supers are such joys! Never really paying attention to a normal human like me huh. Be careful, it might end up stabbing you in the back."
Blue Beetle and Demona had taken their fight up to the rooftops. They had more room to fight and would be able to move around easier without the limitations to the room below. She had lunged at Jaime Reyes with her claws outstretched as soon as they had hit open air, and if not for the intervention of the Scarab, he would have been cut bad. It was his turn now, and he sent a blast towards her, barely missing her body and slightly singeing her tail in the process. She let out a pained growl and hissed at the blue hero. She attacked him, attacking him to the ground and held him down. She was strong, even for a super, and was easily able to hold him down despite his struggles. her claws started scratching at his chest, doing nothing at first but soon started chipping the beetle armor away. "Jaime Reyes, magical presence detected. If not stopped she will destroy the suit, power already down to 50%." Another swing of her claws and she was through the suit, leaving a part of his chest exposed. He twisted and tried to activate any weapon, but was stopped by the intense pain of her ripping at his flesh. In a last ditch effort he was able to activate the wings on the beetle, flying out from under her and to safety for the time being. "Suit power down to 25%, flight and plasma cannons have been disabled, entering emergency power saving mode."
"No No no no, don't do this to me now. It's like a bad computer right before saving an essay.. Stay with me, we need the suit to at least get away from her."
"Fleeing is no longer optimal, recommended course of action is the Kamikaze attack, taking her out with you."
"That would kill me too! Any options that don't end up with me dead and in pieces?" The scarab was silent as Demona slowly approached him. It was more like an animal hunting some prey than a hero and villain fighting. She lunged at him but was stopped short as another gunshot rang out in the night. Her wing had been pierced, and she was down writhing in the pain of hit. Slowly she began to transform back into her original form in front of him, losing her wings and tail, before trying to get up again. Blue was ready and secured her to the roof before looking out into the distance. "Well.. thanks esse, whoever you are." He joined his friends after a pause, as the fight was winding down.
Spore was seething with rage towards Icicle Jr. When the fighting had started everyone moved away, everyone but the two of them. They were going to finish their fight right there, and nobody would stop them. When Slash and Tigress followed them down a little bit later, they were still fighting in the center of the room, and after a brief chat, the two leaders let them go at it. Spore concentrated more than he had ever done before, using his vines as an extension of himself to reach all corners of the room. Not only did this keep Icicle moving and off balance, he was able to pull in unsuspecting henchmen towards himself, making sure they got a good whiff of he special pheromones. Some fought it, but eventually all of them were under his control, mindlessly shuffling towards Icicle ready to die for the boy. Icicle was able to deal out just as much trouble as his adversary, sending shards of ice at him, freezing the floors, and causing his vines to become brittle and weak whenever the touched him. He was spending most of the fight dodging incoming attacks that he didn't see Spore get close to him. As he looked up he could see the plant themed anti-hero next to him, and was grabbed by the boy. He opened his mouth to let out a cloud of ice, hoping to freeze him in a similarly way as he did Ivy, but Spore had expected this as spit something into the Ice villains mouth. He choked and pushed away from Spore, trying to get whatever it was up.
"That is straight up nasty! Who would think of doing that? If I get some weird disease from this I'll.I'll..Kil-" He was cut off as leaves began to fill up his throat. His insides began to burn, an odd and painful feeling for the ice villain. Plants began to sprout out of his mouth as he fell to the ground, gasping for air. His eyes rolled to the back of his head as he lost consciousness, and Spore commanded the plants to stop moving and slowly slither out of the man. He was out cold, and in for an extreme amount of pain, but Icicle Jr. would live. Spore walked away, not wanting to let his darker thoughts take over.
Joker's world had quickly come crashing down around him. His henchmen had been defeated, and he was cornered by the combined remaining forces of the heroes and villains. "Well, looks like it's time for you to rumble to see who gets to take me in, right?" Slash looked around at the carnage that he had caused. He had learned from Spore what had happened to Ivy, and the villains had no problems killing the clown's lackeys when fighting. He sighed and turned his back on the clown.
"No, we're done here. Everybody let's move out, we got Jinx so that's mission accomplished. What happens to you know Clown, well that's your own fault." The Team looked at each other, expecting some sort of complaint or someone to go against orders, but one by one they followed suit and left. Joker was unhappy with this turn of events, and decided that he would change the way things were going to end. he lunged at Slash with a hidden knife, ready to plunge it into the hero's skull. Slash stood there, waiting as the others turned in time to see the image of him standing over their leader, the look of murder in his eyes. People from both sides moved to stop him, but neither would get their in time. Jinx shut her eyes and silently cursed herself for what was about to happen, blaming herself for it all when one more shot rang out. There was a scream that soon mixed with laughter, as Joker was holding a wound over his stomach.
"Hey now, looks like someone decided to bring a gun to a knife fight. Which one of you was it? Was it you bad girl, did the big seven decide to back you up? Ahahahaha, this is to good, maybe it was the heroes, someone decided to deal with me after all these years. Oh I'll bet poor Batman will miss me, what else would he do with his life if it wasn't for me?" The roles reversed, Slash was now standing over the clown, and picked up his own knife. He held it over him for a moment before leaning down and digging out the bullet.
"If you want to take him he's all yours, but I would suggest cleaning that wound first. As for you Joker... I won't let you take the easy way out, not after what you've done to us all." The team left, gathering members that had become to weak to move, and the remains of Poison Ivy. Tigress quickly sent word and location to The Light's retrieval squad, who was ready to patch up the beaten villains. They grabbed Icicle and Demona as they transported a wounded Joker to the Light, the clown laughing all the way.
Artemis felt sick. Not only did someone die because of this mission, she had to be around the man celebrating that death. his wasn't the tip of the iceberg for her, that happened after they had returned to base. They took the clown away, and she could hear it. They had a special treatment lined up for him, something to remind him just how dangerous it was messing with the light like he had. All through the base his tortured screams, mixed with his insane laughter could be heard. She was there when they wheeled him away, off to be healed after what had happened. In a jar next to the villain they had placed the cut and bloody flesh that use to be his face. It stared at her, as a warning to anyone that would cross the light. The Joker, the man who loved a good laugh and a smile, wouldn't smile any more.
They had all left, he had watched them. They were able to use some of Ivy's blood to create an antidote, then the plant boy was off to Gotham City to bury her. The rest of them were able to leave using the Justice League's zeta tech, getting home in a matter of minutes. It wasn't long before Slash joined him on the rooftop to discus what had happened that day. "You certainly put a lot of trust in me at the end there."
"Of course, I know I can trust you, but you really like to make it dramatic, don't you Aim."
"I've told you before, I prefer to be called Geist now."
"And I've told you, it's not going to happen. I know where you're from, and that means first name basis. Now let's go get ready, we have a team to create." The two left the rooftop and were gone almost instantly, off into the night to fulfill their plans.
It was a rainy day in Gotham City. Not many people had known about the death of Pamela Isley, and even less had cared. Spore stood there alone, saying his final goodbyes to his aunt, who had given her life for his without a thought.
"I'm sorry aunt Ivy, I should have listened to you when I had the chance. I stopped him.. but I couldn't kill him. I hope I didn't disappoint you, it's just not in me. You will always be my favorite aunt, and I'll try to do whatever I can to protect the environment like you wanted. Goodbye Poison Ivy." Spore felt a hand on his shoulder and looked. It was a man about the same age as him, maybe older, dressed in a black suit. He had deep green eyes, but what Spore noticed was the large mark over his left one. It took him a moment before finally speaking. "...Slash? What are you.."
"Pamela was my friend too. She gave her life for a mission to save someone she didn't really know. You could say she owed us, but I think she really was a good person. I wanted to say goodbye, for myself and everyone from the team that night. I also wanted to talk to you."
"Me? What for?" Slash wrapped an arm around him and turned around. Behind them four people were standing, some he could recognize, but mostly unknown faces.
"I want you to be part of my team. The one that doesn't really have a rule book, that the league doesn't even know about. There's a war coming, and I fear this was the first battle of many. I don't think the Justice League or the Team will be ready for this kind of fight in time... or prepared for the consequences. I want to have a team that is ready for anything, and will do anything, to make sure that evil doesn't destroy the world. A team with some questionable backgrounds, but ready to fight."
"And what's in it for me, joining this unknown team."
"Nothing really, but you will make a difference, any way you can. It will go completely unnoticed by the majority of the populace, but we'll always be in the shadows ready to fight the Light." Spore thought for a moment about what was being offered to him, and what had happened in the battle before. He finally smiled at Slash and nodded his head.
"... I'm in. I'll be part of your secret club."
"No, the type of missions we do, and the danger we'll face, we're no secret club." He smiled as the all walked out of the cemetery to plan their next move.
"Welcome, to the Suicide Squad."
I killed my favorite villain because I wanted to make a villain I don't really care about seem more menacing.. because screw logic! All and all I felt like I had to give you the rest of the story, even though I probably could have split it into two more parts (Over 5,000 words in this one!). Not as many breaks in this one, and hopefully it will be easy to follow, and not to confusing. This is the end of the trouble in Blüdhaven arc, and we won't be seeing much of some characters. I did a little homage to the new 52 Joker, which I really have no problem with, as long as they continue to write him the right way. Writing and re-reading chapters up until this point, I have realized that Slash has become "That character" in the story. "That character" refers to the character that is seen, mentioned, or a big part of a story in every episode that is released. In the actual show Dick Grayson is "That Character". I may not be able to crank them out as fast as this one was, with school starting again and more hours at work free time is the first to go. This chapter also marks the start of the second half of the story, with the end of chapter 8 being the halfway point. Things will go quicker in universe, even if it takes me longer to write. Now I have a question for you loyal readers who have been with me and have reviewed from the start. Would you prefer if I keep the information about series 2 under lock and key, or would you prefer me to give you the knew sign up sheet and some information at the risk of spoiling some things. (About that story, not this one). Please take your time to review and comment, I hope you all have enjoyed this one!