Chapter Twenty-Nine: Deal with the Devil Part Two.
Cheshire dove in for the kill, rushing at the Joker with an intentional to kill fully on her mind. The Joker turned his body and twisted out of the way. He forced the assassin to land on the ground hard. The Joker clenched the hand of the knife in his hand and tried to stab her. Cheshire flipped over and landed on her feet. The woman hurled a set of knives at the Joker. The Joker crouched down, to avoid the knives from impaling into him.
The clown prince of crime nearly received a death blow to the chest. The clown arched back to avoid the full force of the attack from impaling into his chest. He twisted around her attacks for a brief moment.
"You've got some fancy footwork kid!" Joker yelled. "But, can you really keep it up forever, or will you be left behind?"
Cheshire flipped onto her feet and caught the Joker in the jaw with a vicious snap kick. Joker staggered back and landed on the ground. Blood started to drip from his mouth. The Joker rolled over, and scrambled like a monkey.
The assassin tried to jump in the air, preparing for the kill. Joker clenched an object in his hand and turned around.
He swung the pipe, bringing it into Cheshire's face with a solid crack. Her mask bent underneath the pipe attack. Another swing of the pipe caught her in the chest doubling her over.
The Joker rose to his feet, looking at the pipe in his hand. He shrugged.
"Not necessarily a crowbar, but it's going to have to do, won't it?"
The Joker gripped the pipe in his hand and prepared to bring it into the back of Cheshire's head. A blunt object hit his hand, forcing him to drop the pipe.
The Joker pivoted around on his feet. The clown's eyes widened to take notice of Supergirl and the Green Arrow showing up. The Joker gave Cheshire one parting kick to the head, before whistling.
A van across the street opened up and several Intergang goons showed up. One of them held a really large energy cannon.
"Boys, the streets are getting a bit too crowded tonight, aren't they?" Joker asked. He clapped his hands. "You know what to do….TAKE THEM OUT!"
Before Intergang could even pull the trigger on their attacks, a figure in black leather swooped down. Black Canary opened her mouth and a super-sonic Canary Cry knocked the goons onto their backs.
The goons screamed in agony, and Red Arrow swooped in. The young archer began to fire arrows. The arrows struck the Intergang goons, disabling their weapons and then as well.
Green Arrow returned to the fray, not being outdone. She reared back her bow and planted one of them in the back of the leg, taking him down.
Supergirl flew in a zig-zag pattern. One of the goons lifted a large laser cannon. The laser cannon met her X-Ray vision, being taken out of the fray in a snap of the finger.
The Joker shivered and made his way to the truck containing the other component of the weapon.
"It's getting a bit too crowded in here," Joker said. He started up the truck and tore off like a madman out of hell.
Out of his rearview mirror, the Joker saw the heroes make short work of Intergang. He really needed to find better help these days, because he most certainly wasn't getting it with those clowns.
Joker tore out of there, seeing Harley out of the corner of his eyes. Cheshire tied his assistant to a lightpost. The Joker looked over his shoulder for a few seconds, considering what he might want to do next, but shrugged.
'Not much of a loss.'
Harley's muffled screams echoed, but the Joker cackled. It was her own damn fault she got herself into this predicament.
Intergang dropped to the ground. The Green Arrow's attention turned towards the figure in the robe. She remembered him as the same figure lurking about in the warehouse a long time ago. She loaded up her arrow, preparing to take him down with one solid shot.
An energy portal opened up, and the man smiled, before escaping through the portal. The Green Arrow tried to follow him, but the portal sealed up.
"Let him go," Kara said.
"But….." Artemis said.
"Trust me, it's not worth it to follow him," Kara said. She lifted a bound Ella up by her bindings, and a battered Cheshire.
"We should really get both of them back to base," Black Canary said. Artemis raised her eyebrow, giving Dinah one of those looks, but Dinah didn't even bat an eyebrow. "Listen, Artemis, I know you're….well I know you're not in the best of spirits right now, but….we've got to get them back to base."
"Yeah, I guess," Artemis said.
Kara flew both Ella and Cheshire back to base. She could have thrown the woman who was responsible for her Black Kryptonite escapades into the river right now and finished the job the Joker started. She pulled herself back from doing so in an instant.
"What were you thinking going after the Joker of all people? You could have been killed out there!"
Dinah crossed her arms across her chest and bared down at Ella. Ella's eyes rolled into the back of her head. She expected the lecture the moment the group touched down, but….still she hated it.
"You aren't doing anything to take him down," Ella said. The young girl scowled back at Dinah. "You haven't done anything for years. Batman went into the ground and the Joker is still alive. Why doesn't someone just grow a set of balls and shoot the bastard in the head? Do you realize how many lives…"
"It's not the way we do things," Dinah said.
"Well, your way is flawed," Ella said.
Kara hated to admit the young woman had a point as it regarded to the Joker. Dinah was a bit too angry to listen to any kind of reason.
"What's the point in you being in protective custody, if you keep running off," Dinah said. "We took you at your word you were going off to visit friends, and you pull this shit! I can't believe you, Ella!"
"For the record, I didn't lie about going off to visit friends, I did see the friends, Artemis and Thea met them," Ella said. "And you know, this self-righteous act is getting a bit old. You think you can be everyone's older sister. Which is funny, given your attitude drove your younger sister into the arms of your own boyfriend and….well, we all know what….."
"Don't you….don't you talk about Sara to me," Dinah said.
Artemis shifted her weight between Dinah and Ella. The emerald-clad archer cringed with the sore subject being brought up against Dinah.
"Okay, everyone calm down, please, try and calm down," Artemis said. "I know everyone's upset, but we got bigger problems to worry about. In case, you didn't remember, the Joker has a doomsday device which will level half of Metropolis, or maybe it will level more than half of Metropolis. But still, he's a big problem and we can't deal with the problem, if we're at each other's throats."
Kara returned to patching up Jade. The assassin closed her eyes.
"Ah, the once mighty Justice League," Jade said. Kara jammed the needle into her forearm, and started to stich up the wound. Jade winced, although the pain came second nature to her. "Is stitching me up without numbing me first your passive aggressive attempt of getting revenge for the entire Black Kryptonite thing? You should know, I only intended to use the Kryptonite to strip your powers, not the Kryptonite which made you evil."
Jade bit down on her tongue, refusing to scream out loud from the racking amount of agony spreading through her being. The pain started to rack over her body a little bit. Kara kept working the needle into her forearm, making several passes over her as she attempted to stich up the woman.
"Regardless, you damaged my reputation," Kara said.
"Who cares what those idiots think?" Jade asked. "I mean, you still get to be a heroine, I don't know why you'd want to. Some of those people you save really are too stupid to live."
"You haven't changed much, have you, Jade?" Artemis asked. "What can you tell us about the device?"
"For the record, the fact there's a second component is news to me," Jade said. "And I'm really surprised you didn't leave me for dead. I would have done the same."
"I'm not you," Artemis said.
"Ah, I see," Jade said. "You're going to act all noble when you had to fight not to put an arrow into my head. And I wouldn't have blamed you. I did leave you for dead. And for the record, you're still on their list. And after tonight….well after tonight….."
"What, Jade?" Artemis asked.
"You know, you know way too much already, more for you own good," Jade said. "Don't try and stir things around. Things in the League have become complicated, too complicated for their own good even."
"You left the League," Artemis said.
"Me leaving the League is why things are complicated," Jade said. "And you never truly leave the League of Assassins. There are two ways out. You beat the Demon, or you leave fallen in battle with honor or in disgrace, depending on your perspective."
Jade sighed for a moment. She really spoke way too much on the matter already. The woman shook her head for an instant, returning to her thoughts.
"And I suppose you want to know what the device does?"
"It would help," Artemis said.
"As far as I know, and….I don't even know now with the second component in place, it's a device which can jam all communications. But I'm guessing my contact didn't have his facts straight."
"Maybe it does jam communications with the lone component," Kara said. She checked Jade's wounds to make sure they were properly fixed, making sure to fix them slowly, using the most amount of pain possible. "Maybe together, it's something else entirely."
The Joker crossed his arms. At this moment, the clown prince of crime resembled a frustrated father who tried to figure out how to resemble his child's new bike on Christmas morning. He really had no idea how to assemble the device.
Looking over his shoulder at the rapidly depleting Intergang goons, Joker doubted any of them had any clue whatsoever how to assemble this device as well. The Joker growled and gritted his teeth.
"Well, this is a fine bit of uselessness," Joker said. "What's the point in having some device which can….do something, if you can't make it do anything!"
The Joker didn't have a chance to ask the hooded weirdo about twenty questions before everything went south, and by south, he meant it went like the south end of a donkey.
"Everything didn't go as planned as you thought, did it?"
The Joker turned around. The same hooded weirdo showed up, and the Joker frowned. He noticed him standing behind him.
"You're harder to get a hold of than a jack rabbit in heat," The Joker said. He corked his eyebrow and stared down his mystery man. "But, I'm glad you're here, because I could really use a little bit of technical support."
"Everything hasn't gone according to plan, has it?" Desaad asked.
"You can say that again, Reverend!" Joker yelled. He clenched his fist, restraining himself from the urge to shoot the robed weirdo. "I'm down a few men, a lot of toys, and I have a bunch of capes who are after me….and I haven't even done much of anything other than kidnap a girl. Oh, and beat one of those Shadowy Assassin people up with a pipe, but seriously, she started it."
The Joker shook his head and groaned in response.
"But, I have a funny feeling this little something is going to level out the playing field," Joker said. He made a motion with his hand, as if signaling something leveling out. "Or rather, it better level out the playing field."
"Yes, the device will level any playing field, as you said," Desaad said. He made a motion with his hand. "All you have to do is flip one switch, and….countless will be brought to their knees."
Desaad adjusted the connection between the two components. A purple light manifested as he smiled.
"They will scream in frustration. No one will be able to hear them, or understand a single word they say. And the world will fall into a panic. Spoken word will be rendered completely useless, thus allowing you and your men to be able to do as you please."
"I like it so far," Joker said. He paused and frowned for a moment. "But, won't this failure to communicate affect us? I don't want to be brought to my knees as well. There's no point if we can't open our mouths and tell people what's what."
"Ah, don't think I haven't planned for the contingency," Desaad said. He put out a black metal case and put it front of the Joker.
The case contained several headsets. The headsets looked to be a sleek, if a bit dull black color. The Joker picked up the headset, flipping it over in his hand. His smile grew less prominent, but it was always present.
"Not exactly my style, but hey, it's going to have to do, won't it?" Joker asked. "Okay, boys, listen up….if you want to keep listening up, you put these on, and we're going to have a little party in Metropolis."
Joker slipped the headset on. It didn't feel constricting at all like a lot of headsets did. The Joker rubbed his hands together with glee.
"The device is ready, isn't it?" Joker asked.
"All you have to do is prepare to flip the switch," Desaad said. He took a step back and aimed his hand at the device. "Do you wish to do the honors?"
The Joker leaned in and pressed the switch. The Clown Prince of Crime started to cackle as the device started to hum to life.
Lois Lane sighed as she prepared to burn the midnight oils at the Daily Planet. Granted, no one really burned midnight oils, technically speaking any more, given most people no longer used oil lamps.
'Still works well, because it feels like I'm burning something.'
Lois worked a lot later on a story. The rumors of the Joker being sighted near the docks and fight involving the Arrow twins, Supergirl, and Black Canary reached her. No more details went out. Granted, the Vigilante Task Force looked pretty much ready to go to war against anyone.
The Joker was in town, but the VTF decided to focus their full and undivided attention to the heroes in the city.
'Priorities,' Lois thought. 'They're just a tad bit misplaced, aren't they?'
Lois hung her head in frustration and groaned. The dark haired reporter shook her head for an instant.
"Hey, look at this!"
Lois jumped halfway up her seat. Cat hung around the office fairly late. Lois admitted the kid started to grow on her, but it didn't give her any excuse to scare half to death.
"The Joker's girlfriend, the MCU found her strung up on a lightpost," Cat said. The young reporter stood up on her heels. "They're bringing her in for questioning. Maybe, we can find out where the Joker is doing."
Lois shook her head. So the Joker left Harley Quinn to her own devices. Given what she heard coming out of Gotham City, it seemed to be pretty much standard protocol involving the Joker. Lois shook her head for a moment.
Cat's eyes widened and she opened her mouth to say something. Only, no words came out, rather a garbled mess.
Lois blinked. Since when did Cat sound like one of the adults in the Peanuts? She opened her mouth to say something to Cat.
Only, Lois heard her words come out, and only in a garbled mess as well. The universal language of screaming and people losing their shit in the Daily Planet could be heard from her.
Lois tried to think to herself what the hell was going on. Only her own thoughts sounded rather garbled as well.
The reporter hurled her hands into the air. She closed her eyes, but opened them back up.
The sounds of cars crashing outside and screams of horror followed. Someone managed to not only garble the words of people, but also their thoughts.
Lois reached towards a sketchpad and scrawled down words. She couldn't even read her own writing. And not in the sense she couldn't even read her own writing. The reporter couldn't comprehend a single blasted word she wrote.
The squealing of cars and several gunshots echoed from outside. One of the reporters tried to dive into a window, but stopped short, landing on the floor.
Lois caught sight of Perry White acting like a chicken in his office. She raised an eyebrow, wondering if it was another day in the office.
A blur shot through the window, grabbing Lois. A pair of earbuds slipped into her ears.
"Lois, can you understand me?"
Kara hovered outside of the window. One of the members of the Daily Planet staff charged like a bull. Lois stuck her leg out and tripped the man up. The man crashed face first onto the ground.
"Yes, Kara, I can understand you," Lois said. "I can also understand how nuts everyone else in the office is."
Supergirl slipped a pair of ear buds into Cat's ears as well. She stood on the desk, about ready to do a strip dance. Although by the looks of things, Cat resembled someone who was about ready to have a seizure than someone who was going to strip.
"Oh my, Supergirl!" Cat yelled. She started to breath in heavily, out of relief more than anything. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"I need to stop the device, at least you can save everyone here!"
Cat and Lois looked at the box of ear buds left on the desk.
"Well, kid, time to earn your keep," Lois said.
"She wants us to ear plug all of the people in the office?" Cat asked.
"Yes, I guess, shouldn't be too hard," Lois said. The reporter allowed a shadow of a smile to cross her face. "We better stop Perry from embarrassing himself. The Daily Planet owner acting like a chicken is bound to pop up on YouTube."
Green Arrow, Supergirl, and Cheshire made their way to the source of the signal.
"Oh, by the way ,you're welcome for the heads up," Cheshire said. "Because if I didn't say anything, you would have been on the ground talking about evil waffles about as much as anyone else."
"They're talking about evil waffles?" Supergirl asked.
"Well, given they can't understand what they say about as much as anyone else, it shouldn't really matter," Green Arrow said. "So, are you sure it's here?"
"Yes, you're on the right track," Lara said.
The portable crystal connected to the fortress allowed Kara to track the strange energy signature. They were able to reconfigure high tech ear plugs to block out the sounds. Kara didn't have enough time to do so to all of Metropolis, but all could be ended, if they shut the little device down.
Black Canary and Red Arrow played traffic cop, getting as many earplugs as they could to people. Turpin and Sawyer received a set, which should make them valuable allies in helping keep the peace in Metropolis.
"So, we're going to need a door," Cheshire said. "Really…he set it up at the same place where he stole it from in the first place. I hate to say it, but I didn't expect him to go full circle."
"With the Joker, you have to expect the unexpected," Oracle said over the communication. "So, do you need me to find a security panel…."
"No bother, I'll find my own way in."
Artemis loaded up an arrow.
"Really, the boxing glove arrow?" Cheshire asked. "Out of all of the things you had to steal from him, you might have….."
The arrow fired at the door. The grooves in the fists connected with the door and blasted it off of its hinges. The entrance created cause Cheshire's protests about the absurdity of a boxing glove arrow to fade into nothingness.
"Okay, you've eased my doubts," Cheshire said.
Cheshire withdrew her blade. After the first round with the Joker, she prepared to kill him. Letting her guard down for someone like him was one of the biggest mistakes she could make. She spent a fair bit of time in Gotham City, she should have known.
"Bravo, you've found it."
Kara noticed the same robed figure. He raised his hands and started to clap slowly and obviously.
"You!" Kara yelled. "Desaad!"
Green Arrow and Cheshire both jumped up in surprise. The two of them must have met in the past.
"Yes, Supergirl, I'm pleased you remember me. Fear will grip the world, uncertainty will destroy everyone and….."
Kara zipped at Desaad and punched him in the face knocking him out with one punch.
"Good, I'm glad you shut him up," Cheshire said. "What is with villains who don't shut up?"
"You've noticed villains like to talk, now?" Green Arrow asked.
"I prefer to speak through my actions, "Cheshire said.
Kara's attention turned to the device. She needed to disable it and do it quickly before the entire city had been boned and not in the good way either.
"Okay, Lara, I need you know more than ever," Kara said.
"One moment please, I will run a scan through…this isn't good, "Lara said.
"What?" Kara asked.
"The device is rigged to explode, taking all of Metropolis with it," Lara said.
"Wonder if the Joker knows," Barbara said. "Well, if the Joker knows, I don't think he cares. He'd get the joke even if no one else did."
Kara fretted on what to do. She waited for Lara's input on the subject.
"I think we can disable it, but it's going to be really close," Lara said.
"Just tell me what to do, and I can do it," Kara said.
Desaad's eyes flickered open. He lifted his arm with a swollen face and a busted jaw.
Cheshire noticed him press a button on a box. A portal opened up and three figures exited the portal. A dark haired woman dressed in purple and red battle armor escorted them out of the portal. A redhead who towered over them at well over seven feet tall also joined them. She wore a skimpy green top and a tight pair of green shorts. A woman with wild blonde hair dressed in a skin tight white one piece which showed off her legs appeared.
Kara looked up suddenly. Cheshire and Green Arrow braced themselves for battle. The Girl of Steel needed to warn their allies what they were up against.
"The Female Furies are the most feared warriors in the universe," Kara said.
The tall redhead sent Cheshire flying into the wall. The assassin landed with a thud.
"I've noticed."
"Knockout, finish her," the leader of the Furies said.
"Right, Barda."
Knockout jumped into the air and tried to nail Cheshire. Artemis pulled her sister out of the way. She sent an arrow at Knockout. The arrow sent an electrified pulse at Knockout, stunning her, but it didn't take her out. It only served to heighten the anger of the powerhouse of a woman.
The clock ticked to explosion and Cheshire, Green Arrow, and Supergirl prepared to do battle with the Female Furies of Apokolips.
To Be Continued on October 23rd, 2015.
