The Son of the Joker: Chapter 6: Into the Portal: Part Two
**Previously, in Chapter 39 of another story-line I'm currently writing called, Katt Girl, Robin, & The Harley-Kidd: Into the Portal: Part One**
Doctor Strange had opened a portal to Earth 237. He went there to recruit Nuclear Batman because he needed his help to battle the evil forces that were trying to destroy every Universe/Multiverse that has ever existed. The reason Doctor Strange thought that the Nuclear Batman could help him was because Nuclear Batman had specific qualities that were far more unique than most of the other Batman characters in the DC Universe. (You can learn more about Nuclear Batman by reading the story-line I wrote called, "Batman: The Facebook Killer") Nuclear Batman agreed to help Doctor Strange because there weren't enough reasons left for him to want to stay on his own Earth anymore.
Then Doctor Strange and Nuclear Batman opened a portal to Earth 811 to recruit Katt Girl & The Harley-Kidd. Both of them had changed the course of history for the Universe after Gabby and Lola were sent back twenty years into the past by their father, Bruce Wayne. Strange also recruited Chad Grayson from Earth 811. Chad's body had been possessed by a spirit known as The Shadow Master. Doctor Strange would need Chad to harness the powers of the Shadow Master in order to defeat the enemy abroad. (You can learn more about Gabby, Lola, and Chad by reading the story-line I wrote called, "Katt Girl, Robin, & The Harley-Kidd") All three of them agreed to help.
Meanwhile, on Earth 999, Arthur Fleck and his son Junior had just captured the Joker. (In previous chapters we learned that Arthur is the Joker's brother, and Junior is the Joker's nephew. Although, at one point, the Joker thought Junior was his son. But, Jeannie, Jack Napier's wife, had an affair with Arthur, which led to her being pregnant with Junior. Along with their condition of uncontrollable laughter, the Joker, Arthur, and Junior all had the same traits that made them insane. They had already framed the Joker for a crime that he didn't commit, which involved tainting the Gotham City petroleum supply with Smile-X, and then watching as Gothamites and tourists began getting sick or dying as a result of breathing in the toxic fumes being released from every vehicle driving around in the city. Now, they were planning on tying him up to the front seat of a car, filled up with Smile-X, and then send him into the Christmas Parade crowd to poison everyone. The car was going to be used to pull the Santa Claus float down Main Street during the Gotham City parade. Several explosives were also placed in the back seat of the car and underneath the Santa Claus float. If they were going to kill the Joker, they wanted to make sure he could go out with a bang.)
Finally, the Christmas Parade had started. Several floats carried actors, singers, and big helium filled balloons to entertain the millions of people from all over the world who had gathered to watch the festivities. All of the classic balloons were there, such as Snoopy, Garfield, Mickey Mouse, Batman, and several others. The real Batman watched the parade from the rooftops.
The festivities had been going on for nearly three hours and everything seemed normal. Then, about a half hour before the parade was going to end, Batman saw something suspicious going on in an alleyway a little further away from where the parade goers were standing. And, wouldn't you know it, it was the same alley that his parents were murdered in. Crime Alley. Right next to the Monarch Theater. From what he could see in his binoculars, it looked like a group of four clowns were surrounding a couple of younger teenagers. Batman stealthily made his way over to the scene just as the clowns were starting to rough up the teens.
"WHY DON'T YOU PICK ON SOMEONE YOUR OWN SIZE!" Batman exclaimed while still remaining shrouded in the shadows of the alleyway. The clowns stopped bullying the teenagers and started to look around to see where the growly voice was coming from. All four clowns pulled out their guns, and then started pointing them in all directions as they looked around. Strangely enough, the clowns allowed the two teenagers the opportunity to run off without much resistance.
"It's him! It's The Batman!"
One of the clowns walked several feet away from the group. He was making his way over to the dumpster because he wanted to check behind it. "Where are you at?" he asked. "Show yourself!" He demanded.
"I'm right here!" Batman declared, startling the clown, as he turned to see that Batman was hanging upside-down from his grappling rope. He snatched the clown from off the ground, and then they both quickly ascended to the rooftop.
Batman held the clown over the edge of the building which stood about six stories tall. "What are you doing in this alley?" Batman asked.
The clown didn't want to give up any information, but Batman was determined to get answers. He released the clown, causing him to fall all six stories down. Luckily for the clown, Batman dropped him directly into a dumpster that was full of trash. Gotham City was always full of trash. The other three clowns that were still on the ground looked over towards the dumpster after hearing the thud of the clown landing in it. Batman looked down from off of the edge of the roof. He could see that the clown, who he had just dropped into the dumpster, was regaining consciousness. So, Batman leapt off of the roof, feet first, and without holding the grappling rope. He then landed perfectly on top of the clown in the dumpster. The clown let out a painful moan when Batman's knees landed in his midsection, instantly knocking the wind out of him. The other three clowns paused when they saw the shadow of Batman landing in the dumpster.
"Go check it out!" One of the clowns suggested.
"Are you crazy man?!" Another clown blurted out.
All three of them started inching their way towards the dumpster. When they made it to the dumpster, they crouched down next to it, and without looking inside first, they all reached their guns into the dumpster and began firing their weapons.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Finally, after they were done shooting, they peeked inside. It was a bloody mess. Their clown buddy had been shot to death, but there was no sign of Batman. Suddenly, Batman shot out a grappling hook, latching it around two of the clown's legs, and within a split-second, they were both swept off of their feet, and then dragged further into the dark areas of Crime Alley. The last clown that was still standing could barely see into the shadows. He could hear the sound of a thud as Batman quickly smashed the other two clown's heads together. The clown pointed his gun into the darkness, but before he could get a shot off, a bat-r-rang came soaring from out of the darkness and connected with his gun, knocking it out of his hand..
Meanwhile, the crowd of parade goers cheered when they could finally see the last float coming down Main Street because it was the one that was carrying Santa Claus. There was a car pulling the float, which was made to look like Rudolf. Rudolf's nose was flashing a bright red light like a beacon. But, there was something strange about the car. It had green smoke coming from out of the tail-pipe, and the fumes were starting to irritate the onlookers.
Batman was still in the alleyway trying to get answers from the last clown that was still conscious. "Now, tell me what you are doing in this ALLEY! Batman demanded as he gritted his teeth while holding his fist up near the clown's face.
"Ha ha ha!" The clown laughed. "You're too late!" He proclaimed as he gazed outward towards the crowds that were gathered on Main Street. At that moment, Batman realized that the clowns were only there to stall him from seeing the bigger criminal plot that was occurring in the streets.
As the Santa Claus float got closer, people in the crowd started screaming because they noticed who the madman was behind the wheel of the car.
"Run! It's the Joker! The Joker is in the car! Oh my God! He is going to try to poison everyone with the green gas! Run!" People in the crowd were screaming.
While holding their breath, they nearly trampled each other as they attempted to escape the green fumes.
The Joker WAS in the driver's seat of the car, but he WASN'T driving it. Arthur Fleck was the one actually steering the car from a remote control. It also appeared as if the Joker was holding a rifle in his hand. But actually, the Joker had been tied up by Arthur and Junior, and they had strapped the rifle across the Joker's chest to make it look as if he was armed and dangerous. Since Arthur and Junior were framing him for the pandemic they caused, it only seemed fitting to make sure it looked as if he was also responsible for this.
Batman couldn't make it to the car quick enough. Instead, Lieutenant Harvey Bullock was the first police officer to approach the Rudolf-vehicle.
"Stop the vehicle, Joker! Stop the vehicle, or I will have no other choice but to shoot!" Bullock yelled while covering his mouth and nose with one hand, and brandishing his gun in the other.
But, little did Bullock know, the Joker was actually tied up and couldn't do anything to stop the car himself.
"This is your last warning! Stop the vehicle, or die!" Harvey demanded. "You know what? Screw the Clown!"
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! Harvey fired his weapon several times.
"Ha ha ha ha haha ha haha!" The Joker could only laugh when he heard the gunshots being fired in his direction.
Several other officers ran up to the scene and also began firing their weapons at the Rudolf-car. The Joker watched the bullets as they hurled towards the car. One of the bullets had shattered Rudolf's red nose. Just then, before the bullets could hit the car, in some magical way, time itself had suddenly appeared to have stopped. The once scurrying crowds were now motionless, and everything else was now frozen still. The several rounds of bullets that were shot at the Rudolf-car were now somehow suspended in mid-air. The Joker smiled when he saw the bullet that would have certainly hit him in the head if time wouldn't have stopped when it did.
"Well, that was a close one!" Joker laughed. Then he looked over towards the passenger seat. "What the HELL took you so long to get here… OZBORN?!" Joker asked, knowing Ozborn was supposed to be there sooner.
Norman Ozborn had managed to teleport into the car by using one of Darkseid's Boom-tube portals, and Dr. Fate had managed to make time stop just before the bullets began piercing the vehicle.
"I wanted to make sure everyone thought you were dead!" Norman responded while he untied the Joker, and then pulled him into the Boom-tube portal.
As soon as Norman and Joker entered the boom-tube, Dr. Fate allowed time to start back up again. The bullets that had been previously fired by the police were now hitting the car. Several bullets pierced the glass windows. Then, suddenly-,
KABOOM! One of the bullets hit the explosives that were in the back seat of the car. That explosion set off the other explosives that were placed below the Santa Claus float, causing the float to fly through the air, making it look as if Santa Claus was flying overhead.
Something didn't seem right to Batman. He didn't understand why the Joker would have been willing to blow himself up like that. "I guarantee they won't find a body." He said under his breath.
Arthur Fleck and Junior were watching from afar. "Well, that went better than we could have expected. We didn't even have to detonate the explosives. The police took care of that for us." Arthur laughed.
"Now that Uncle J is gone, we can get to work taking on some of the other territorial leaders like Penguin, Riddler, and Bane."
"We will certainly take them on soon, son. But, first we will have to do something about that pesky Batman if we truly wish to take over control of this city. And that is all in good time son. All. In. Good. Time."
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Boom-tube portal, Norman and Joker were traveling back into the Nexus of all the existing universes/multiverses, which is a planet that ties multiple multiverses together, now controlled by Dr. Fate and Darkseid. Creating portals to bounce back and forth through the DC Universe was easy for Darkseid. But, the only way to travel from the DC Universe to the Marvel Universe, was to first go through the Nexus of all Multiverses. Darkseid and Dr. Fate, who was from the DC Universe, had discovered the Nexus at the same time as Apocalypse and Thanos, who were from the Marvel Universe. Darkseid and Dr. Fate managed to defeat Apocalypse and Thanos, which allowed them to gain full control of the Nexus, but despite their differences, the four of them did decide to make a deal to join forces if anyone else ever tried to claim it. Darkseid was hellbent on figuring out a way to destroy all of the Multiverses, only leaving the Nexus to be the last and final planet standing.
Doctor Strange had also accidentally discovered the Nexus while dabbling with his magic, but by that time, Darkseid and Dr. Fate had already gained control of it. Doctor Strange nearly got caught by Dr. Fate, but he managed to escape through an open portal. Strange tried getting back to his own Marvel Universe, but by some circumstance, he somehow transported to the DC Universe instead. This was all new to Doctor Strange. In fact, this was one of the first times anyone from the Marvel Universe had managed to teleport to a completely opposite Universe than the one they had originally come from.
After discovering that Dr. Fate and Darkseid were planning to destroy the multiverse of multiverses, Doctor Strange began his quest to recruit as many unique characters in the DC Multiverse as he could find, and then he would take them with him to the Nexus to battle Darkseid and his minions. Thus far, he had recruited the Nuclear Batman. (From the story-line, "Batman: The Facebook Killer") Nuclear Batman is very strong and cannot die. Doctor Strange has also recruited Gabby/Katt Girl, Lola/Harley-Kidd, and Chad/Shadow Master. (From the story-line, "Katt Girl, Robin, and The Harley-Kidd") Gabby and Lola were unique because they were the daughters of the Batman from Earth 811. Chad was unique because he was possessed by the spirit of The Shadow Master.
Doctor Strange had to make at least one more stop before transporting to the Nexus. He teleported to Earth 666 because he needed to find a boy named Michael Maddox Wayne.
**YOU CAN READ THE NEXT CHAPTER OF "INTO THE PORTAL: PART THREE" BY READING CHAPTER 10 OF A CROSSOVER THAT I'M CURRENTLY WRITING CALLED, "BATMAN: JOKER'S THIRTEEN GHOSTS"