Disclaimer: We don't own Teen Titans, Naruto, or anything else that might make an appearance in this fic...
Naruto Ultimate 3: Red-X Rising...
Chapter 24: Gotham Nin Pt 5…--
Normal Talking
Normal Thinking
Radio in use
Demon Talking
Demon Thinking
Jutsu in use
Inner Self-Talking
--
(Gotham…)
Naruto waited for Harley to finally leave, and then slowly pushed himself into a kneeling position. If there was ever one thing he hated about being a Ninja, it was that he had to make people believe they beat him or knocked him out so he could follow them to whatever he wanted at the time… in short, deception really sucked and REALLY hurt… 'Ugh… but did she HAVE to use a fucking sledgehammer?' He wonder's to himself with a grimace while then getting up and making his way over to Billy.
"Tempest? Are you okay?" Billy asks the older teen and Naruto groans slightly, a hand on the side of his helmeted head.
"Mostly… but DAMN did that fucking hurt…" Naruto offers in response while getting down and slowly unties Billy.
"Well all things considerin' partner, I'd have expected her to do that." Billy offers while Naruto stops what he was doing and gives the other teen a fierce glare.
"I KNEW she was going to do that. But I needed her to think I was knocked out so she won't think I'll follow her to Joker…" Naruto states simply and Billy gives him an incredulous look in response.
"You want to FIND The Joker?! Tempest is your helmet on too tight or what?" Billy demands of the boy incredulously and Naruto rolls his eyes while grunting in pain from the ache in his skull… If he wasn't going to go after Joker before, he was now because of being slammed in the head with that damn hammer… one hundred pounds of steel being slammed into the side of a guys head makes it personal.
"No its not. The Joker forced me to free Harley from Arkham… and I don't like being used…" Naruto replies with a dangerous tone, one that causes Billy to gulp and chuckle nervously. "So, when I noticed Joker was no where in sight, I decided that it'd be best if I let Harley think I was out cold. That way, she won't look for the tracer I put on that collar of hers and she'll unwittingly led us to The Joker." Naruto explains while continuing to loosen the multiple knots used to bind Billy.
"Uh Tempest, ya'll really don't sound like yourself…" Billy offers and Naruto frowns, wondering why the hell everyone keeps saying that…
"Whatever, now either your going to help me take Joker down, or I'm leaving you somewhere… alone." Naruto offers and Billy weighs his options, being alone is NOT an option considering how often Joker uses people for his joke's multiple times… so…
"Alright I'll help. But what's our first order a business then?" Billy asks the older teen as he finally gets the last knot out of the binds holding him. Frowning in thought Naruto actually considers their first move, then checks a map showing where Harley is going and hums…
"First order of business is to get some rest Billy. We'll do no good against Joker if we're tired off our Asses…" Naruto offers simply with Billy agreeing and both getting back to their feet. Looking around Naruto then pulled a piece of paper from his belt and walks down out of the tower with Billy behind him. Writing down a message onto the paper he then comes down to the X-Cycle and pulls Batman's tracer off of it. Placing it into the paper he folds that up and sits it down with a bold X on the top.
Nodding his head the young blond then got onto the X-cycle with Billy on behind him. "Hang on Billy, this is going to be one hell of a ride!" Naruto then exclaims with a laugh as he and Billy go screaming into the distance…
--
(Later…)
Batman and Batgirl had arrived at the tower and searched it for Naruto, Harley, Joker, or Billy. They had started at the top before moving down to where Batman found the note that Naruto had left them. "Is it me, or is this guy really hard to catch when you actually WANT to catch him?" Batgirl wonders with a frown and Batman nods his head slowly while opening the note.
'Dear Batsy and Red.
I found Billy and he's safe. When I got here, Joker was nowhere in sight, Harley has a tracer on her that I'm going to use to find him. Meet Billy and myself at the Big-Bang Club tonight at nine. We'll go after Joker then, until then however, Billy and me need some sleep…
Until then, your favorite Super Thief, Red-X.'
Reading the note with a frown Batman then turned to look at Batgirl before handing the item over to her. Said girl blinked while taking the note then read it with a frown before shaking her head. "He's quite the character isn't he?" She asks seriously and Batman nods his head slowly. "Can we trust him?" Batgirl asks the older hero and he frowns slightly in response.
"To keep his word, to stay in Gotham, or to lead us to Joker?" Batman asks and Batgirl frowns, considering which she meant.
"All of the above." She offers in response and Batman frowns.
"We know he's a thief, more than likely he's going to high tail it out of Gotham, but if I know a person like him, Joker got under his skin by making him get Harley out of Arkham. He won't take that lying down so I'm sure he's going to lead us to him." Batman offers in explanation then sighs. "Unfortunately he's also our only other lead on The Joker's whereabouts. And he's right about needing rest. It's been a long enough night as is…" Batman states and Batgirl nods her head slowly before yawning to herself and rubbing her eyes.
"I hate it when Bad guys keep us up until four in the morning…" She mumbles to herself and yet Batman smirks in response while calling the Batmobile…
--
(Jump City…)
Jinx and Blackfire are sitting in the pink haired girls room, Blackfire smirking. The two had retreated to her room in case Gizmo was to walk into the med-lab while they were talking. "You know, your love life is better than one of your earth Soap operas… why do they call them that anyways?" Blackfire offers with a grin then questions with a confused look and Jinx gives her an annoyed look.
"First of all, I'm so glad my life amuses you Blackfire. Secondly, I don't have any clue why. And lastly, do you have any useful comments to make about my problem?" Jinx asks with an annoyed tone and Blackfire shrugs her shoulders in response.
"What would I know about human mating? On Tamaran, we could have multiple mates…" Blackfire offers and Jinx gives her a wide-eyed gaping look in response. "Different cultures, most Tamaranean's are ruled by emotion rather than reason, if we love two people, well that's okay… it's also not uncommon for two females to find themselves attracted because their with the same mate…" Blackfire offers in explanation and gets an incredulous look from Jinx anyways. "What?" Blackfire then asks while Jinx shakes her head.
"I can't believe a race of warriors could BE like that…" She says and Blackfire rolls her eyes in response.
"Most wouldn't, they also don't think were descended from a Feline species." Blackfire offers and Jinx looks at her with her jaw slack.
"Your related to cats?!" She demands and Blackfire scrunches up her nose in response with a frown.
"No. We're related to a feline species. A species from another planet, that's also long since extinct, to be exact. That's why we have prehensile tongues." Blackfire offers and sees a look on Jinx's face. "What?" She asks seriously and Jinx blinks.
"Prehensile tongues? You mean like a cat?" Jinx asks and Blackfire rolls her eyes before nodding her head to the girl who frowns in thought. "What all make's your species different than humans?" Jinx asks and Blackfire frowns in thought for a few moments.
"We have prehensile tongues, our skin pigmentation is a golden orange, we have eight small stomachs and a larger main one, this is for storing food for trips through space, we can survive without oxygen for weeks on end, we absorb solar radiation into our bodies to power our starbolts, invulnerability, flight, and our eyebeams, we are about eight times stronger than your people, and we can absorb languages through lip contact." Blackfire ticks off with a slight smirk seeing the wide-eyed look on Jinx's face.
"Wow… I actually wouldn't be able to guess we were so different… at least our species that is." Jinx muses and Blackfire nods her head.
"I'm with you. As of yet, I haven't found anything that your people eat, that is poisonous to me." Blackfire offers to a slightly surprised Jinx who wondered what WAS poisonous to a nigh invulnerable…
"Wait. You said Tamaraneans are nearly invulnerable to physical harm right?" Jinx questions and Blackfire nods her head. "But when Tempest beat you…" She starts to say only for Blackfire to grimace.
"Like I said before, I'm a Kom'Secrit, my immune system, thus my invulnerability, are nearly non-existent." She offers and Jinx grimaces as well, figuring that was another reason that Blackfire's father favored Starfire over her… who on a planet of warriors wants princess who can easily be destroyed or overthrown? At this Jinx mentally kicks herself yet again for bringing up something that deals with Blackfire's genetic problem…
Before Jinx could say anything else to depress the poor alien girl, Raven and Starfire suddenly appeared in a flash of black. "Sister!" Starfire says happily before quickly lunging at the older Tamaranean and pulling her into a bone-shattering hug.
"Koryandr' didn't we have a talk about these hugs?!" Blackfire demands loudly and Starfire yelps while releasing the girl with a nervous look.
"So why are you two here anyways?" Jinx asks with her arms crossed and a glare towards Raven, whom glares right back in response.
"Because a pink haired girl with access to gear similar to Red-X has been committing Tech-Crimes all over Jump." Raven states and Jinx blinks for a few moments before frowning.
"I've been with Blackfire." She offers in response and the older girl nods her head with a frown towards Raven.
"I wasn't saying it was you, I actually wanted to know if you know of anyone with Pink hair?" Raven offers and Jinx frowns in thought before growling.
"Besides a certain ninja chick?" She asks with gritted teeth and Blackfire and Starfire both look at her strangely. "She's from the same place and is the same human sub-species as X…" She then says with a sigh and they finally get what she means.
"Alright, that could work… But how can we be sure it's her?" Raven wonders and Jinx gets off her bed and then looks to Raven with her arms crossed.
"First of all, show me one of the crime scenes, I'll tell you how they got in, how they screwed up, and what amount of skill in infiltration they have." Jinx states while making her way out of the room, Blackfire smirking as she flips to her feet and follows her, Starfire and Raven going with them…
--
(Gotham…)
Naruto, in his X-suit, and Billy, in a new costume, are in the Big Bang Club; Billy has a drink while Naruto is frowning in thought. 'Why do I got this weird feeling, like somebody is either watching me, or planning on trying to kidnap me?' He wonders to himself, having mastered noticing this feeling on the numerous times Jiraiya tried to drag him to brothels… 'Damn I really WAS a dobe to actually run away from him over THAT…' He then thinks to himself while a strange girl dressed in purple with white skin and red hair passes him, humming a bouncy little tune to herself.
"So then Tempest, what's it been like in Jump without good ol' Billy around?" Billy asks of the skull-masked thief, said boy rolling his eyes for a moment.
"Nice, peaceful… and without your clones stumbling over one another…" Naruto offers with an amused smirk and Billy rolls his eyes behind his new goggles before ordering another drink from the bar.
"So Temp, why is it you're so pissed at Joker for makin' ya bust Harley outa Arkham?" Billy suddenly questions and Naruto frowns, eyes narrowed into a dark glare at a spot before him.
"I don't like being used… and the clown rubs me the wrong way…" He comments and then finds someone pulling his head back to look into a pair of deep purple colored eyes… 'Whoa… I thought only Kara-Chan had eyes like that…' He muses till he notices a mop of short red hair above the said eyes.
"Did one of you say something about the Joker?" She then asks and Naruto lifts a hand and then points his thumb to Billy. "Cool! I'm the Joker's Daughter, but you can call me Duela!" The girl offers and Billy spits out his drink while Naruto looks at her with a disbelieving expression on his face.
"RIGHT…" He offers sarcastically and the girl scrunches up her nose with a frown over her painted red lips.
"I am!" Duela says with a raised voice and Naruto crosses his arms with a smirk.
"Prove it." He offers and the girl blinks.
"How?" The clown girl asks and Naruto takes a thoughtful expression.
"Oh! I know!" Billy offers and Naruto motions to his teammate, Duela looking to the red haired boy in response. "Show us something that only the Joker would do!" He states and the girl frowns in thought before reaching into a brown backpack she's wearing and pulling a gun out to point it at Billy with a grin.
"Like this?" She wonders before pulling the trigger, Billy calling out while falling back as a bang is heard. However, rather than a dead and bleeding Billy, a long pole is now extended from the gun, a red flag unraveling from it to reveal the word BANG printed onto it in bold yellow lettering. "Gotcha!" Duela offers before laughing loudly and Naruto watches as Billy shakily gets off the ground and returns to his seat, his eyes wide behind his black tinted goggles.
"Alright… she just might be the Joker's daughter…" Naruto admits to himself while Duela wipes a tear from her eye and then flips over Naruto into a sitting position before him with a smirk, also allowing Naruto to see her better.
The girl has pale white skin, literally from what he can see, with red painted lips in a wide smile, her eyes are a deep purple color, and her hair is messy shoulder length and a bright fire truck red color. The girl was dressed extremely strangely, first was a pair of purple pants that were tucked into two white spats over her bare feet, a green pouch strapped to her right thigh, a green belt hanging loosely on her hips with a second green pouch at her left hip, a pair of forearm length fingerless black gloves with purple stitching at the back of each fist and purple bands around her wrists, an old brown backpack, and last is a straight jacket of all things, with long dark purple near black sleeves, a high green collar with a small ring at the front, green straps all over the jacket to hold her limbs together, and a purple torso with clasps on the front…
"What's with the straight jacket?" Naruto asks the girl with a raised brow and she blinks then looks down at herself.
"Oh this? I just recently escaped a mental asylum, they say I'm Delusional and Bi-Polar for some reason." Duela offers in response before shrugging her shoulders. "Besides that I kind of like it, keeps me nice and warm!" Duela then offers with a wide grin and Naruto raises a brow.
"So you're a mental patient?" Naruto asks and Duela nods her head. 'Why am I not surprised?' Naruto wonders to himself with a small smirk on his lips as the bi-polar girl then grins down at him.
"Yeah, weird huh? I was even in Arkham once… or was that the other me?" Duela then offers before wondering to herself with an obviously confused expression. "Anyways! You were talking about my dad The Joker just know?" Duela asks and Naruto looks over to see Billy is staring at the girl strangely.
"Yeah. We're going to be capturing him tonight." Naruto offers offhandedly and Duela looks at him for a moment before giving a wide grin in response.
"Can I help?" She asks and both Billy and Naruto give her a weird look. "What?" She asks them with a shrug and a confused expression on her face.
"You're the Joker's Daughter… Right?" Naruto asks and Duela nods her head with her head tilted to one side. "Then aren't you supposed to try and stop us?" The blond thief then asks and Duela snorts.
"Fathers suck." She offers in rebuttal and Naruto grins under his mask.
"Now her, I can work with." Naruto then says before turning on his seat to see Batman and Btagirl. "What took you so long?" Naruto then asks the two and Batman frowns before looking at Duela.
"Joker kidnapped Police Commissioner Gordon." He states and Naruto frowns then leans to the side as Batgirl walks to face Duela with her arms crossed and a frown on her face.
"Hello Duela, still as diluted as ever I see…" She muses and Duela grins towards the older girl widely.
"Hi, Barbie-doll." Duela offers and Billy snickers to himself while Naruto rolls his eyes and looks to Batman.
"She's coming with." Naruto states flatly while pointing his thumb to the red haired clown girl sitting behind him.
"She's a loose cannon. She's liable to change sides as soon as it suits her." Batman offers in response and Naruto nods his head.
"So am I. I trust her more than I trust you, mainly because with her at least I won't be taken to the police." Naruto states while crossing his arms and Duela leans forward, her elbows on Naruto's shoulders and her hands on her cheeks.
"Yep. So back off Owlman." Duela states and Batman raises a brow for a second.
"He's Batman…" Naruto reminds and Duela blinks, then looks very confused again as she puts a finger to her lips.
"Really? But I could have sworn…" She mumbles to herself and Naruto rolls his eyes then has a thought.
"Do you even know HOW to fight?" He asks and Duela blinks before grinning at the masked thief widely.
"Yep!" She offers with a smirk and Naruto rolls his eyes before getting up, Duela falling forward as he does.
"Then lets move out. We have a clown that I need to make very sad…" Naruto states with a frown and Billy sighs to himself, then notices Duela as she then places her hands onto the ground and twists herself back onto the floor with a pose. Shaking his head Batman merely turns and walks away, followed by an annoyed Batgirl and an amused Naruto. Blinking, the red head then follows the three out of the building while Billy sighs to himself.
"She's very limber… and pretty easy on the eyes… still crazy as hell though." He notes before getting up and following the rest of the group out of the club.
--
(Jump City…)
Jinx, Raven, and the Tamaranean sisters are currently at one of the "Pink-X" crime scenes in Jump City. Raven and Starfire having managed to convince the owner to allow them to look over the scene of the crime for clues. "She came in through the window…" Jinx muses while looking at the opened window, then narrows her eyes on a circular cut in the center of the glass.
"So she cut her way in?" Raven asks while looking at the whole and Jinx nods her head with a frown. Moving her head, Jinx gets a much better view of the hole cut into the window and narrows her eyes.
"Jagged edges… whoever did this wasn't using the same method that X uses. Nor was she very good at using her own glasscutter." Jinx muses to herself silently while looking over the glass. "Catwoman and X both use a type of claw trick to cut glass that leaves the inner edges smooth so they won't cut themselves on the edge, this person had more jagged cuts meaning it was with a more basic cutting tool and that they were probably either in a hurry, or more likely, less patient…" Jinx notes then kneels down to place a hand on the floor and drags a single digit along it.
"The floor is dusty back here, uncommon for a clean facility like this one." Jinx muses then gets up and moves through the room, looking to either side. "She didn't trip any of the silent alarms or pressure sensors through here or you Titans would have been alerted to them… suggesting she was much better than your common thief…" Jinx muses to herself once more before stopping to look at the area where the device was stolen.
"What was the size, shape, and weight of the stolen object?" Jinx then asks and Raven blinks before opening her communicator and scrolling down some of the data she had downloaded into it.
"Weighs less than a pound, about five inches wide, and quarter of an inch tall. It was some kind of miniature power converter that Lex-Corp was working on." Raven explains and Jinx frowns to herself while looking around the room.
"There are laser tripwires in every corner of the room and over the main doorway, they also have some situated around the pedestal that the device was resting on…" Jinx muses then looks around before spotting a piece of dark grey material on the floor. Kneeling down Jinx picks it up and turns it over in her hands before twisting it slightly between her fingers.
"Well?" Raven asks and Jinx frowns.
"Give me a second here." She grumbles then looks at the doorframe with a frown, stopping she reaches into her skirt and pulls a pair of tweezers free, then uses those to pull out a piece of a Pink X-Shuriken. Turning it around in hand she looks where it was thrown into the frame, then turns to pull a second one out of the opposite side of the frame. Clicking her tongue Jinx then looks at the X-Shuriken and frowns seeing circuitry inside of the small piece.
"Alright. First of all, she cut her way inside the room, and then she threw some X-Shuriken type weapons at this doorframe to cut electricity to the upper lasers. Letting her crawl through them." Jinx says then motions into the man room with a frown. "The dust everywhere is from her using it in order to see the Laser Tripwires. Hence why they found footprints on these tables rather than the floor. And since there is dust on this piece of cloth I found…" Jinx explained and then left hanging only for Raven to snap her fingers with a smirk.
"She used a Cape to spread the dust and see the beams." She guesses and Jinx nods her head with a smirk.
"Bingo. Now then, looking around it would also seem that our thief is able to walk on walls if she was able to crawl through those laser beams, and to be able to stay off the pressure sensors on the floor." Jinx then adds to her deduction before frowning and looking at the cloth and Shuriken pieces in her hand… "These have circuitry in them." She muses to herself and Raven blinks before walking over to see that the girl is right. "I think Gizmo should have a look at this before we make any real deductions on our thief." Jinx then offers while putting the piece of cloth away, Blackfire looking around with a bored expression.
"You know, this is probably the first time I've been around Starfire for an extended period of time and not tried to kill or hurt her in some way shape or fashion… same with you and Raven actually…" Blackfire muses and the two girls look over to her and see Starfire is asleep, leaning into her older sisters shoulder with a cute expression on her face and making both grey skinned girls blink. Jinx then laughed at the sight while Raven had to bite her lip in order to keep from laughing, though shattering glass alerted her that she wasn't doing a very good job of it.
"Let's get back to your HQ and see if Gizmo knows anything about this kind of material." Raven offers quickly before swinging her cape, shadows reaching out and pulling all four of the girls into darkness…
--
(Gotham…)
Naruto, Batman, Batgirl, Duela, and Billy Numerous are looking to the Axis Chemical Plant. "Why would he come here?" Naruto wonders while Duela rocks back and forth on her heels.
"Isn't this the place he fell into a vat of chemicals or something?" She then asks and Naruto and Batman both look at her strangely, Naruto wondering what's wrong with the girl, and Batman because she might be right.
"Either way, Commissioner Gordon is inside." Batman finally says while narrowing his eyes, a view of the commissioner visible through a window.
"Then why hasn't Joker left a ransom, a threat, anything for the Commissioner?" Naruto then asks and Duela snickers to herself.
"It's kind of funny…" She muses and Naruto looks to her.
"You're his daughter, what's he thinking?" Naruto asks and Duela blinks before snickering once more.
"He wants to lure someone out. I think you've caught his interest for one reason or another." Duela offers in reply and Batman frowns to himself.
"That's not good. The last person Joker took a liking too was me…" He offers and Naruto grimaces to himself visibly.
"Yeah… I don't think I want a crazy clown following me around if that's what you mean bats…" Naruto muses aloud and Batman nods his head, fully agreeing with the young thief on that.
"So how do we do this?" Batgirl then asks and Batman frowns in thought for a few brief moments.
"You and Duela deal with Harley, X and I will take Joker." Batman states and Batgirl nods her head while Duela grins widely.
"This is going to be SO much fun!" The crazed red head says mostly to herself and Billy looks at her strangely.
"What about Billy?" Naruto questions and Batman frowns.
"He can make sure Joker doesn't escape. Place a clone at every exit to the building." Batman states and Billy nods his head slowly before making his way away from the group. 'Ugh… now I'm helping the Batman of all people… what is Tempest thinking?' The southern boy can't help but wonder to himself while making a few clones that instantly go to cover the exits of the Axis plant.
"Alright, now that he's out of the way let's go!" Naruto states before teleporting away, Batman frowning as he fires a grapple and swings over, Duela grabbing hold of Batgirl's waist as she does the same and nearly causing the girl to crash.
"Don't EVER do that again!" Batgirl growls at Duela angrily before making her way into the building and the clownish girl blinks before shrugging her shoulders and following Batgirl inside. Entering the plant the two girls look around, then roll out of the way as Harley comes at them swinging her sledgehammer.
"Well, well, well. Looky what I got here." Harley muses while Duela and Batgirl get back to their feet. "A couple a party crashers, don't ya know it aint nice to bother people when they're just trying to have fun?" Harley then asks while wagging a finger towards the girl, Duela snickering to herself.
"She's so funny…" She muses to herself before laughing loudly and Batgirl sighs to herself tiredly while shaking her head.
"You just HAD to get Duela started didn't you?" She demands and Harley raises a brow while looking at the laughing girl in the straightjacket…
"Is it just me, or does she not look like she belongs on your side a da law?" Harley asks and Batgirl looks at Duela before rolling her eyes.
"She doesn't… she switches sides when it suits her…" Batgirl offers and Harley blinks before snickering to herself.
"Now her I like." She offers only for Duela to finally calm down, then grin and flip onto a guardrail beside her and run forward, jumping into a spin and lashing out with her covered arms…
Meanwhile, Batman and Naruto slowly pass over a large vat filled with a strange green fluid and see Commissioner Gordon, tied upside down and hanging above the vat. "Hello there, Batsy…" Joker offers from his place on a different catwalk adjacent to the one the dark duo was on. "Nice to see your choices in Sidekicks is improving…" Joker muses with a grin and Naruto narrows his eyes on the clown prince of crime.
"I'm NOT his sidekick…" Naruto growls out and Joker merely licks his lips for a second before reaching into one of his sleeves and pulls out a playing card.
"If you say so… but I don't know anyone else who would wear scalloped gauntlets and all that black… unless you're an emo or something." Joker offers with a slight laugh and Naruto twitches slightly. However, before Naruto can add something in rebuttal Joker throws his playing card, the sharpened edge nearly cutting the rope holding Commissioner Gordon up. "Now, lets play a simple game. It's called pick between catching the Commissioner, and catching ME." Joker then says before making his way across the catwalk and Naruto growls.
"The clown's mine!" Naruto says darkly while teleporting over to the other Catwalk and quickly runs after Joker. Frowning to himself, Batman raises his left arm and fires a grapple, the device wrapping around a high girder before he then jumps off of the Catwalk and swings across them, catching Commissioner Gordon as he does so. Catching the other Catwalk with one hand Batman throws the Commissioner onto it before jumping up with him. Kneeling down, the dark knight then removes some tape over the white haired, mustached mans lips.
"Looks like this is another one I owe you…" Gordon muses and Batman rolls his eyes while untying the man.
Back with Batgirl and Duela, the two are evading Harley's sledgehammer, Duela jumping and kicking out with both legs into Harley's back. "Hey no fair! Heroes don't attack from behind!" Harley calls out while swinging around with the sledgehammer, Duela flipping back and into a sitting position, her hands on her cheeks and elbows on her knees.
"Well it's like my daddy always says. Duela, if you ever want to get anywhere in life your gonna have to break a few rules every now and again." Duela offers in response before grinning towards the painted clown girl who looks to Batgirl.
"Seriously, where did you find this chick? I want one!" Harley asks then says with a wide grin and Batgirl frowns.
"She escaped from a mental asylum…" The older red head offers and Harley blinks before looking over to Duela and then chuckles.
"Aw, she's just like the daughter I'd want to have with Mistah J…" Harley muses with a sigh and Duela gets a strange smirk on her face before then flipping to her feet and then rushes towards Harley, swinging her covered arms at her in several punches. "Alright, enough a dis, I'm sick a being double teamed." Harley then muses while flipping into a kick to knock Duela back, then whistles loudly.
A second later, and accompanied by what sounds like laughter, two hyena's come running towards the three, causing Harley to grin. "Now here's a show worth watching. When animals attack two annoying girls!" The killer clown girl offers while Batgirl grimaces and Duela blinks for a moment. "It's a comedy!" Harley offers and Duela rolls her eyes before pushing herself off of the catwalk and flipping over one of the Hyenas before then quickly slipping out of her straightjacket and tossing her backpack up and into the air.
Smirking to herself, Duela then wraps the straightjacket around the Hyena's head, and then twists her body around until she slams the Hyena into the side of the Guardrail. The insane red head then quickly pulls something from her backpack before tossing that at the Hyena with a smirk, long strings of confetti popping out of the object and wrapping around the Hyena. "Now that's a wrap." Duela muses before laughing to herself with a wide grin, while behind her, Batgirl narrows her eyes on the second Hyena then flips over it and throws a bola down onto it, the weapon wrapping around it and causing the animal to struggle for freedom.
"Hey! That's cruelty ta animals!" Harley says with a frown while noting what Duela had been wearing under her straightjacket. First the girl is wearing a green vest, only two buttons are done however leaving her navel visible, with a sleeveless V neck purple coat over that with two long tails and a green collar that is folded down over her shoulders, with only a single button holding it closed, with a simple yellow flower placed into her lapel.
"I think the humane society will forgive us for saving our own skins in this case." Batgirl offers with a smirk while Duela takes her Straightjacket back and folds it up before sticking it into her backpack, then pulls that on over her shoulders.
"C'mon Harl, don't be such a sore looser." Duela then offers with a cheeky smile towards the older woman and said blond narrows her eyes onto the insane girl.
"Alright, no more miss nice Harley!" The woman growls while rushing at Duela and seings her Sledgehammer, only for Duela to spin into a jump, landing on top of the guardrail with a grin.
"Taa-daa!" She offers with her arms outstretched before then flipping and using an Ax kick to Harley's head, knocking her face down into the catwalk. Shaking her head, Harley knocks Duela's feet out from under her and flips her body to pin her down with her own weight. "Hey! Get offa me! Do you know who I am?!" Duela shouts while trying to wiggle her way out from under Harley and the older clown smirks.
"A bratty little red head with mental issues?" She offers and then gets knocked back by Batgirl, who then cuffs her to the guardrail, making her sigh. "Boy, beauty school is looking REAL appealing right about now…" She mumbles as Batgirl then cuffs her other hand to another bar of the guardrail, Harley pouting in response.
Meanwhile, Naruto slowly walks along the catwalks, a jet of steam rising at his side while he looks for The Joker. "Where is that clown hiding?" Naruto wonders before rolling forward, just in time to dodge the Joker swinging a crowbar at him. "Did you honestly think that was going to hit me?" Naruto asks seriously while slowly standing up, the scallops on his gauntlets unlocking as he does.
"No… not really at least." Joker admits before licking his lips as Naruto crouches down with his eyes narrowed.
"Then why even attack me like that?" Naruto asks and the Joker licks the insides of his scars for a moment before chuckling.
"Because I wanted to… You see, I don't just randomly kill people kid, I'm the Joker, I kill them when it's funny." Joker offers in response with a wide, psychotic grin on his face, Naruto's eyes narrowing on him. "You know, you, Batsy, and I we're actually an awful lot alike when you stop to think about it…" Joker suddenly says, making Naruto forget to attack.
"What? How do you figure that?" Naruto questions with his eyes narrowed onto the deranged clown and Joker brushes his hair back.
"Well. Look at yourself, judging by the fact you like to dress in a costume, I'd say you're as nuts as me or Batsy." Joker offers while Naruto growls towards him angrily. "All of life's little acts of random violence and injustice. All in one bad day… Any man can have one really bad day and end up just like me. All it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy. That's how far the world is from where I am right now. Just one bad day." Joker then explains to the teen with that near demonic grin while continuing to walk towards Naruto, the blond boy twitching.
"Shut up." He growls towards the clown who merely grins towards him in response.
"You had a bad day once. Am I right? You had a bad day and everything changed. Same with Bats for brains, why else would either of you dress like you do?" Joker offers with a wide grin slowly splitting his lips open. "What was it for you? Did you loose everything you held near and dear? Did you see something that changed everything? Did your life change when you couldn't take the torments of your life anymore? Or… was it a little bit of everything?" Joker questions with a strange grin on his face and Naruto lunges forward with a roar, knocking him down and grabbing Joker by his coat's collar.
"I said, SHUT UP!" The blond exclaims loudly and yet the Joker merely continues to grin towards him.
"Ah… I hit a nail with that one didn't I? Ah, so it was all that, all in one VERY bad day!" Joker muses while Naruto reels a fist back and slams it into Joker's face, causing him to stumble back but laugh all the same. "Really hit a nail there didn't I! Maybe you and I are even more alike than you know, maybe just a little more of a push and you could have actually become just like me…" Joker muses only for Naruto to slam his fist into the older man's gut, causing him to drop his crowbar and grab his stomach.
"What part of Shut the fuck up don't you understand clown!?" Naruto demands of the Joker before grabbing him and slamming his fist into the demented clowns jaw. Stumbling back and into the guardrail, Joker reaches up and works his jaw for a moment, a livid Naruto stalking towards him.
"If you were going for deformity you're using the wrong tools, kid. If you were going for pain you're hitting me in all the wrong places. You just keep working on trying to give me a broken jaw. Just wear out your wrist that way." Joker suddenly offers and Naruto growls before spinning on his heel, sending Joker skidding to the side from a kick to his jaw this time. "Ahh… Absolutely no concept of craft." Joker muses only for Naruto to rush over to him and quickly picking the clown up, the eyes of his mask glowing a fierce crimson color…
"WHAT THE HELL DOES IT TAKE TO SHUT YOU UP!?!" Naruto demands angrily, his voice a low, demonic growl at this point. Rather than fear, The Joker snickers in response before turning his head to look down, Naruto following his gaze sees a vat of green chemicals below them, the putrid green solution steaming and bubbling like soup.
"That might work nicely…" He offers and Naruto's eyes narrow before a demonic grin splits his own face beneath his mask.
"Yeah… It WOULD… wouldn't it." Naruto agrees before lifting Joker up with all of his strength, hoisting him up before then placing a foot against the guardrail. "You say we're a lot alike… well I don't think you and I will be too similar after a nice chemical bath, eh Joker!" Naruto offers with that same devilish grin on under his mask and the Joker merely snickers once more.
"Come on then… do it…" Joker says with a wide grin and Naruto's eyes widen in shock. "Come on… I want you to do it! I want you to do it!" Joker states psychotically while then moving so that he is now sitting on the guardrail, Naruto's eyes widening even further than before. "Come on now kid… Madness is like gravity… all it takes…" Joker starts before leaning back, arms spread wide, grinning at the masked thief with his disturbing green eyes. "… Is a little PUSH. So c'mon… Hit me!" Joker states darkly with wide eyes and an even wider more disturbing grin now stretched across his face.
"What's taking so long, kid? I said I want you to do it, HIT ME!" Joker then asks with that same devilish grin before shouting out at the boy, Naruto shaking, half of his body ready to push him over into the chemical soup, the other half trying to fight back that impulse… "Honestly now… Why so serious?" Joker suddenly asks and Naruto finally reacts, quickly releasing the man he takes several steps back from him, the Kyuubi's power receding as he does…
"What the fuck are you…?" He questions lowly while staring wide eyed at the Joker, the purple clad man licking his lips before moving himself forward.
"Me? Why I am the result of all of life's little random acts of violence and injustice… you see, it's all a Joke! Everything anybody ever valued or struggled for… It's all a monstrous demented gag." Joker says while reaching into one of his pockets, retrieving a knife from it and then kneeling down in front of Naruto. "So why can't you see the funny side?" Joker asks before quickly grabbing him by the jaw, a demonic smile splitting his face. "Why aren't you laughing?" He then asks as Naruto's eyes widen in shock only for bola to come from the side and wrap around Joker's arms.
"Because I've heard it all before… and it wasn't funny the first time." Batman says as he walks towards the two, Joker snickering in response while Naruto merely stares at the clown with wide eyes.
"Batsy, long time no see." Joker offers with a devilish grin and Batman ignores him, reaching a hand down to Naruto instead.
"Thanks…" Naruto offers lowly while taking the hand and getting back to his feet, The Joker watching them with a smirk.
"Joker loves mind games X, don't let this one get to you." Batman says simply to the blond before walking over to the Joker and then picking him up by his collar with a deep scowl on his face.
"Why so Serious, batsy? Afraid that I just might be right?" Joker asks the dark knight while slowly kicking the back of his foot against a pole.
"No… Maybe ordinary people don't always crack, Joker. Maybe it was just you all this time." Batman then states and Joker stops, his face changing to a look of shock mixed with amazement before the madness quickly returns. "Now why did you kidnap commissioner Gordon, Joker? What was all this about?" Batman demands and the Joker looks at the dark knight with a serious frown.
"I came to talk. I've been thinking a lot lately." Joker offers seriously before licking his lips for a moment. "About you… about me. About what's going to happen to us, in the end. We're going to kill each other, aren't we? Perhaps you'll kill me… perhaps I'll kill you. Perhaps sooner… perhaps later. But it's still going to happen someday." Joker offers in a strange moment of clarity and Batman frowns darkly.
"Maybe this is our last chance to sort this mess out then… if you don't take it, then we're going to be locked onto a suicide course." Batman states and Joker merely chuckles as his response.
"It's far too late for that. Besides…" Joker admits before then saying with a strange looking grin on his face. "I don't like following the rules… even my own rules." He reminds the man before stabbing Batman with a knife in his shoe, the Dark Knight grunting in pain and accidentally letting go of the Joker. Time seemed to slow down at that moment, Batman's eyes widening as he quickly looks to see the Joker fall back off of the catwalk, over the guardrail with a devilish grin on his face as he falls towards the chemical soup below.
However, a second later Naruto fired a grapple, and then jumped down towards Joker, grabbing him by his pant leg a second before he would have taken a dip in the chemicals. "Aw… so close…" Joker muses to himself strangely while Naruto grunts while holding the man over the chemicals. A second later, Batman throws a line to catch the two and pulls Naruto and Joker back over to him, then quickly reaches down and grabs the Joker before slamming him down onto the catwalk.
"I hate clowns…" Naruto offers while flipping back onto the catwalk and both he and Batman look down at a smiling Joker. "What are you grinning at?" Naruto asks while crossing his arms and Joker chuckles darkly in response.
"Oh nothing… something… everything…" Joker offers cryptically with his jade green eyes giving a near luminescent quality by the dim lighting of the plant.
"Let's take the clown to the Commissioner so I can book the quickest flight out of this insane asylum you people call a city…" Naruto then grumbles and Joker grins once more, only for the teen to drag him down the catwalks with Batman following after him. Soon coming to Commissioner Gordon, Naruto tosses Joker to him before walking over to see Duela and Batgirl sitting down.
"Cool. You beat dad!" Duela offers and Naruto frowns for a moment.
"No… I don't think he ever lost." Naruto muses to himself while looking back at the Joker, then turns to face Batman. "Well what can I say bats, it's been fun but it's time for this thief to head on home." Naruto states and the Batman frowns darkly.
"Your still guilty of numerous crimes." He states and Naruto nods his head, before quickly firing a constrictor X at both Batman and Batgirl.
"Yeah I know that, that's why I had a backup escape plan." Naruto admits while below them, Billy in a car has busted through the door of the plant.
"Hurry up! The cops are on their way!" Billy calls out and Duela snickers before jumping off the catwalk and down to the car, quickly getting in while Batman narrows his eyes on Naruto.
"So you had Billy get you a ride out of here." He states and Naruto smirks behind his mask.
"Not quite. I actually sent him a coded message when I found Joker. And seeing as all your trying to do is stall so you can use one of your fancy gadgets…" Naruto says then muses before holding up the Batman's utility belt, smirking as he can feel the shock coming off of the Batman. "Better luck next time." Naruto offers with a mock salute before flipping off of the catwalk and onto his bike as it swerves into the building. Revving the engine, Naruto chuckles to himself as he, Billy, and Duela then make their getaway, leaving Batman and Batgirl stuck to the catwalk.
"I'm going to but a bulletin out on…" Gordon starts to say only for Batman to interrupt him.
"No. He's not our problem anymore…" Batman states and then unlocks the blades on his gauntlets to cut through the constrictor-X, Batgirl doing the same.
"But he's getting away!" Gordon states and Batman actually smirks.
"I know, but he's Robin's problem now…" Batman offers before looking down at an amused Joker as he looks right back at the dark knight…
--
(Arkham…)
A pouting Harley slowly walks into Arkham, two large guards leading her down the hall. 'I wonder where they took Mistah J this time?' The blond can't help but wonder to herself before noticing Poison Ivy was smirking at her from her cell. "Nice to see you again Harley…" Poison Ivy offers with a smirk as the blond haired woman passes her cell.
"Aw shut up, red…" Harley says with a pout until the guards push her into her forward to the front of a cell. The two men then quickly pull the straightjacket off of her and then shove her into the cell. Looking back at them she blows a raspberry towards them, both men merely ignoring her, causing the blond to sigh. "Back in Arkham already, face it Harley, you've officially hit rock bottom. Now even younger men are pushing you around…" Harley says to herself while walking over to her cot and then sits down with a dejected look, hands on her cheeks.
However, a second later something catches her eye, tilting her head back Harley blinks when she sees something glinting in the shadows. "What the…" She mumbles then gets up and jumps to grab whatever it is. Landing on her ass, Harley groans slightly before looking at what she grabbed and gasps. In her hands is the Batman's famous utility belt, and attached to it is a note with a familiar jagged red X. Blinking a few moments, Harley then pulls the note off of the belt and opens it up…
'Dear, Harley.
Here's a gift, just to say that locking you up was nothing personal, babe. I just don't like being used.
Your Favorite Super Thief, Red-X.
PS: If your ever in Jump City, feel free to drop on by and visit any time.'
Blinking to herself while looking at the note, Harley then looks back at the belt and a wide grin spreads over her face. "Aw, thanks Skull Face!" She says to herself before opening the many pouches of the belt and checking what lays hidden within it. Finding a lock pick within Harley suddenly grins and then giggles to herself. "OH RED…" The blond suddenly calls out loudly and in her cell, Ivy huffs before rubbing her temples.
"What do you want, Harley?" She then asks with a frown and Harley grins to herself with a sly expression.
"Would you like ta get out a here?" She asks and Ivy rolls her eyes.
"Do you even HAVE to ask?" The red head retorts and then hears a lock clicking and turns her head to see Harley with Batman's belt placed around her waist and a wide grin on her face.
"Then c'mon, Pammy! Paroles come early this year!" Harley offers with an excited tone, Ivy smirking as she quickly gets out of her cell to join up with her blond haired friend…
--
TBC…
--
AN: Tamaraneans actually ARE descended from felines according to DC Comics, the powers / physical differences mentioned are also true to what has been said in TT about Tamaraneans by Starfire herself. Duela Dent is, or at least WAS an actual DC character in the original Teen Titans comic book franchise. She has been both an enemy to the Titans, an ally, a member, and so on and so on, depending primarily on her mood. Thus she seemed like a perfect addition to Tartarus. As a side note, references and quotes to and from "The Killing Joke" were used in this chapter… I don't own those!