Chapter 23

Wild Cards

Wayne Manor

Ash woke up with the sun beaming into his room, through the curtains. He then got out of bed and opened the curtains. The sun was big and bright. Ash had a great feeling about today. He then got dressed and headed to the kitchen. He enters the kitchen and saw Alfred serving up his breakfast.

"Good morning Alfred." Ash said.

"Good Morning Master Ketchum." Alfred said. Ash sat down at the table and started eating with a smile on his face. "I must of done something right with the food today with you having that smile on your face."

"I'm just excited about today." Ash said. This caught Alfred's attention.

"What is happening today then?" Alfred asked. Ash reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys.

"I'm going to ask Harleen to move in with me." Ash said. Alfred wasn't expecting that.

"I know I shouldn't pry but when did you buy a house?" Alfred asked.

"Bruce brought for me and Harleen as a gift. I haven't seen it yet but knowing Bruce, I can trust his judgement." Ash said. He put the keys back into his pocket.

"When are you going to ask her?" Alfred asked.

"When she gets on to the watchtower. I'm going to meet her in the teleportation room when she arrives so it's just the two of us." Ash said.

"Very smart, everyone hates it when they are on the spot in front of everyone." Alfred said. Ash finished his breakfast and Alfred took it and started washing it at the sink.

"Alfred, while it's just the two of us. I'd like to thank you looking out for me when I first got here." Ash said. Alfred wasn't expecting that but kept his composure.

"Please Master Ketchum, there is no need to thank me. I was just following Master Wayne's orders." Alfred said. Ash knew he was trying to be professional.

"Yeah, but still, you gave me that idea with the pocket watch. You didn't need to do that, but you did." Ash said. Alfred turned round and looked at Ash.

"You are welcome, Master Ketchum." Alfred said. Ash smiled. He got up from his seat and started making his way out.

"I better make my way up. I'll let you know what happens." Ash said. He left the building.

"I'd say it be a few months before he pops the big question." Alfred said to himself.

4 Hours Later/Watchtower

Ash had arrived on the watchtower and had enough time on his hands to talk with everyone and train his Pokemon. He felt a bit uncomfortable when he saw Green Lantern and Hawkgirl because they were in an intense argument. Ash just left and let them get on with what ever they were doing. Ash was waiting by the teleportation room, waiting for a hour for Harleen to come up. After a while, Ash was walking to the observation deck while trying to phone Harleen. But was getting no answer. Ash reached the deck and saw Tracey, Clemont and Sophocles at the control panels.

"We're nearly done here Tracey." Clemont said.

"After we install the updates, they will be zero lag between the commands you give the computers." Sophocles said.

"It's no problem guys. The updates will be really handy." Tracey said. He then turned around and saw Ash coming towards them. "Hey Ash, how's it going?"

"A bit concerned actually. I can't get a hold of Harleen. She was suppose to be up here a while ago." Ash said. Ever since Harleen was allowed access in the watchtower, she was always on time when she said that she was coming up.

"That is strange. But yet, she could of overslept from the party last night." Clemont said.

"Yeah. I wouldn't worry too much about it." Sophocles said. He then looked at Tracey. "All the updates are done now. Give it a quick spin."

"Thank you, you two." Tracey said as he went up to the control panel and typed in some buttons. Tracey brought up a window for a tv station and there was a intermission screen with a clown in the centre. Everyone didn't know what was going on.

"There might be a lost connection." Clemont said. Ash knew there was something more going on.

"I don't think so. Bring up another channel." Ash said. Tracey did as he was told. Another channel came up and the same screen came up.

"How?" Tracey asked. Tracey pulled up multiple channels and it had the same screen. Then, the insane clown appeared.

"Joker." Ash said.

"Ladies and gentlemen, tonight you are about to witness history. For you see, I have purchased every channel within the 500 mile radius. For tonight, Las Vegas gets written off the map, by blowing it up." Joker said. Ash and the others eyes widened.

"Is he being serious?" Clemont asked.

"That's crazy." Tracey said.

"But there's hope." Joker said. "You see, the bombs are on a timer. And I am only allowing the Justice League a chance to disarm them before they go off. But there are some rules. No outside help. So that means no police or other heroes. And no Pokemon. If you break any of these rules. I press this button and the light show starts early. And I don't think you want that to happen, since I have one of your own here." Joker steps to one side and reveals Harleen, tied up and gagged. Ash looked on in horror.

"HARLEEN!!!" Ash shouted. Joker appeared back on the screen.

"Tik tok. The clock is ticking, so I suggest you get a move on." Joker said. Ash immediately turned round and headed towards the teleportation room. Clemont and Sophocles saw him leave.

"Be careful." Sophocles said. Clemont didn't like what was happening.

"I don't like this. Joker is up to something." Clemont said. Ash got to the teleportation room and saw Flash already on one of the pads.

"You saw the feed too?" Ash asked. Stepping on one of the pads.

"Yeah, everyone is heading there now." Flash said. The pads activated and they both disappeared.

Las Vegas

Ash and Flash appeared in the middle of the illuminated city. All the building were tall and the city was eerily quiet. They know time is against them so speed is their friend right now. Flash grabbed Ash.

"Hold on tight. We need to find the rest first." Flash said. The both of them disappeared in an instant. As they were running round the city, a voice came through the receivers.

"Everyone come in." Superman said. Flash stopped and Ash reached for his receiver.

"Superman. Where's everyone else?" Ash asked.

"They are deactivating the bombs. I managed to stop one, but there's a lot more around the city and Joker hid them well since I can't find them." Superman said.

"Well I can cover more ground if I search all the buildings." Flash said. Ash had a question.

"What should I do?" Ash asked.

"Find Harleen and take her back to the watchtower. She's going to need you to look after her afterwards." Superman said. Ash wanted to help with the bombs but he knew that Harleen should be his number one agenda right now.

"Ok, I'll start looking for her now. I can probably shorten the time by using my aura vision." Ash said. But they were going to run into trouble.

"You won't find her for a while." Ash and Flash turned around and saw a group of 4 heading towards them. 3 men and a woman, each with a club symbol on their faces. "Joker said to keep you preoccupied." Flash activated his receiver.

"Sups, we have a problem here." Flash said.

"I see them, everyone is converging on your position. But Flash, get Ash out of there now. Their after him. We can buy him time to find Harleen." Superman said. Flash nodded and grab Ash. Before Ash knew it, he was 20 streets away from the group. Ash looked at Flash.

"We'll hold them off as long as possible. Now go find your girl." Flash said. He then ran back towards the fight. Now Ash was on his own. He only had one job. Save Harleen. Save the girl he loves in a dense city. It won't be easy and time is running out. He couldn't waste time. Ash started running, he would do quick bursts of his aura vision to know which building to go into. Ash got a hit in one of the buildings and went inside, only to find one of the gang members. He had a white costume with a metal helmet on.

"So it looks like I'm going to be the one to take you down." The villain said.

"Who are you and where's Harley?" Ash asked. The villain chuckled to himself.

"I can't tell you where your girlfriend is, but I'm Jack and I'm apart of a group called the royal flush gang." Jack said.

"The group that I saw, that's the royal flush gang?" Ash asked.

"Yes. Now it's time to hurt you." Jack said as he stretched his arm to punch Ash. Ash was knocked back and was dazed a little before coming back to his senses.

"So that's your power, elasticity." Ash said. Jack had a smirk on his face.

"Yeah and because of this, I have the advantage." Jack said as he stretched himself towards Ash. As he was about to reach Ash, Ash punched him in the jaw and the jaw stretched out of place. His jaw went back to normal and rubbed his chin. "Big mistake." Jack started wrapping his body all round Ash and tightening his grip to the point where he is crushing Ash. "What you going to do now? All you are is yesterday's news. No wonder a weakling like you couldn't protect your girlfriend." He shouldn't of said that. Ash activated his aura barrier and started to expand it. It kept getting bigger and bigger to the point where it was overwhelming Jack. "Stop it, you're ripping me apart." Ash then shot a aura beam out of his hand, towards Jack. Jack saw this and retreated immediately. "I'm killing you for sure now."

"Stupid idiot says what?"

"What?" Jack asked as he looked to the side just in time for Flash punching him in the face. Jack fell back a few feet. Flash turned to Ash.

"Get going now, I can take care of him." Flash said as he ran towards Jack. Ash didn't waste anytime and exited the building. He looked to see what way he should go next. He closed his eyes and used his aura sense. He could pick up a signature a few streets away. That might get him a step closer to finding Harleen. Ash ran towards the aura. He was getting closer and closer to it. But then, it suddenly vanished. Ash stopped and looked around. How could someone hide their aura? It was impossible. He then sensed the aura again, but behind him. Ash turned round and he met with a fist that hit him into a wall. Ash's impact made a large crater in the wall. Ash fell to the floor. Ash looked at the attacker as he was getting up. It was a big, bulky, bald man. Ash got back onto his feet.

"Ok, where's Harleen? And don't say you don't know because I know you know where she is." Ash said angrily. He was heavily injured and his aura was slowly healing him. The big man smirked.

"Of course I know. If you want to know where she is, then you need to beat me." The man said. They both started to walk closer to each other. Before they met, Superman flew in and pushed the man out of the way. Superman looked at Ash.

"Keep going, the faster you find Harley, the faster we can finish this." Superman said as he flew towards the man, knocking him through a building. Ash looked at the hole in the wall. Superman was having a tough time hurting the man. And if Ash continued his fight with him, it would of taken him too long and wouldn't be able to reach Harleen in time. Ash started running again. As he was running, he heard the commotion from the other heroes. Ash ran for 10 minutes until he heard a voice.

"Please help me, I'm stuck." A woman's voice was heard. Ash turned toward the voice and it was coming from inside the building. Ash tackled down the door and searched inside.

"Hello? Where are you? I need to get you out of here now." Ash said. But it was a trap. Something slashed across Ash's back. Ash recoiled in pain but did a commando roll away from the attacker. Ash looked and saw it was a woman with a sword. "So, it was a trick to lure me here?"

"You're a bright one. And I heard you are a good fighter as well." The woman said. Ash was getting angry with all these distractions now.

"I had it with all of you. Leave me alone. I'm only here to find Harley and that's it." Ash said. The woman then got a idea to make him stay around.

"How about this then? Fight me. If you win, I'll tell you where she is." The woman said. Ash was interested now.

"What if I lose?" Ash asked. The woman lightly grabbed her top and slowly slid her hand down.

"Well, a woman has needs. If I win, you will be my personal servant. Satisfying all of my womanly desires." The woman said. Ash only started picking up on all these signals and knew what she was saying. Ash wanted to deny the wager, but she might not offer anything else and Ash wasn't planning on losing.

"Fine." Ash said as he conjured up one of his aura swords and gripped it with both hands. "Whenever your ready, Miss."

"You will call me Queen." Queen said as she charged towards Ash. She swiped her sword but Ash deflected the sword and went for a counter attack. Queen jumped back. While she was in midair, Ash saw what she could do. She morphed throwing knifes out of her body and threw them at Ash. The knifes were fast approaching. Ash turned to his side and the knifes impaled into his arm.

"AHH!!!" Ash screamed. He slowly started pulling out the knifes out of his arm. "So that's your power. You can make metal."

"Yeah and here some more." Queen said as she threw more throwing knifes at Ash. Ash saw them coming and brought up a aura shield. The knifes got stuck in the shield. Queen came charging in and struck the shield with her sword. Ash pushed her sword upward and gave her a aura kick in the stomach, which knocked her back. "Nice foot work."

"Thanks. I saw an opening and I took it." Ash said.

"Good advice." Queen said. She thrust her arm forward and threw a spear through Ash's leg. Ash went into a kneeling position due to the pain. Queen slowly walked over to Ash with a grin on her face. "It looks like I won. So let's see behind shirt number one." She placed her sword on Ash and dragged it across Ash, not only cutting his shirt but his body as well. "You are mine now and I will tame you." Out of nowhere a mace came across Queen's face and knocked her across the other side of the room. Ash looked and it was Shayera and see doesn't look happy.

"Don't touch my son." Shayera said as she flew into battle. Next thing Ash knew, he was in a green dome. He was lifted off the ground and was taken outside the building. Ash landed on the ground and saw John.

"Can you walk?" John asked. Ash struggled to get up from the ground.

"More like limping but I can move." Ash said. John didn't like the condition Ash was in.

"Ash, it probably be better if you head back to the watchtower." John said. Ash couldn't believe he said this. Ash was injured and his aura had only recovered parts of his body. But there was no way he was going anywhere without Harleen.

"I'll go back once Harleen is safe." Ash said. A noise came from inside the building and Ash and John looked inside to see Shayera battling against Queen. John knew he had to go in there and help her. John looked at Ash.

"Ash, this is a direct command. Retreat to the watchtower." John said as he flew into the building. Ash wanted to say something but he knew John was right. He was in no fit state to fight and knowing Joker, he would have some trap setup that Ash wouldn't be able to handle right now. Ash reached into his pocket and pulled out his receiver. Ash was about to press the return button, but someone suddenly popped up on all the screens in the city.

"Hold on, little boy. If you leave now I will blow the city now." Joker said. Ash looked at the screen and gritted his teeth. Joker then put on a massive smile. "But I am getting tired of waiting round though." Big red arrows lit up and pointed in the same direction. "These will take you straight to your lover. But there's one more obstacle in the way. Get past it then you can take her home." Ash knew it was a trap but he had no choice. He had to save her. He began limping towards the location. He walked for five minutes until. BOOOM!!! Ash looked back and saw the building the John and Shayera were in had blown up. Ash grabbed his receiver and tried to contact one of them.

"Shayera, John, are you okay?" Ash asked. No answer. "Are you okay?" Still nothing. "Come in."

"Ash." Shayera said. Ash felt relief as he heard her voice. "I'm fine, but John is unconscious. He was closest to the bomb when it went off." Ash knew John would be in no condition to fight, even if he was awake.

"Shayera, take John back to the watchtower and take care of him." Ash said.

"What about you Ash? You need to be up in the watchtower too." Shayera said. Ash turned his body back to his destination.

"Until Harleen is out of danger, I'm not going anywhere." Ash said as he cut off communications. He continued limping until he came to a building that had a big painting of the jokers face on it. This was it. Ash was about to rescue Harleen. He walked in the building and saw the trap. It was the muscle man Ash encountered before and a man holding a staff. Behind them, a section of the room had separated by a window. On the other side of the window was the Joker, who was next to a girl in a chair with a metal headband around her head and a camera in front of her. Then Ash finally saw "HARLEEN!"

"ASH!! Don't worry me, save yourself." Harleen said. Joker punched her in the face.

"Be quiet, you're ruining my fun." Joker said. Ash saw red when Joker hit Harleen.

"You gone too far this time Joker. You can beat me all you want, you can torture me. But as soon as you lay a finger on Harleen, I will make you pay." Ash said. Joker had a grin on his face.

"I like the suffering part." Joker said as he snapped his fingers. The man with the staff shot out fire out of his hands and it struck Ash. Ash landed on the ground. "Good work King."

"Joker, please stop hurting him. I'll do whatever you want, just leave Ash alone." Harleen said on the verge of tears witnessing her boyfriend being beaten to death. Joker looked at Harleen.

"He's not hurt. But he will be after Ten is done with him." Joker said. The muscle man walked over to Ash and grabbed him by the leg. He swung Ash by the leg and hit him against wall. He then grabbed Ash by the neck and punched him in the face three times. He then held Ash above him.

"I'm taking this move out of Bane's book." Ten said. He brought Ash down and slammed Ash's back across his knee, breaking his back.

"AHHHHH!!!!!" Ash yelled.

"Oh, that had to hurt." Joker said. Harleen has had it with the Joker.

"You are a monster. I hate you. As soon as I get the chance, I will kill you." Harleen promised. Joker had a solution to that statement.

"Well, a life for a life. King, cook him." Joker said. King walked over to Ash and stood over him. King was powering up his fire attack.

"Time to die kid." King said as he started burning Ash alive.

"ASH!!!!!!!" Harleen shouted. Ash was in so much pain. He felt his body shutting down. He knew his life was ending as he saw his life flash before his eyes. Getting Pikachu, Meeting his friends, spending time with his mum, first meeting the Justice League, his first time in Kate's Cafe, Harleen helping Ash to sleep, their pretend date, their kiss after their date. The more he thought about Harleen, the more power he had in his body. His aura flared up across his entire body and blocking out the flames. He slowly got up and King was backing away.

"How the hell are you getting up?" King asked. Ash looked up and had a determined look on his bloodied face.

"Because I'm not ready to leave Harleen alone." Ash said as he fired a aura beam at King and Ten. The beam hit them and pinned them against the wall. The beam continued for a while before Ash's limiter kicked in and cancelled out his aura. King and Ten fell to the floor unconscious. Ash breathed heavily afterwards. Slow clapping can be heard and Ash saw it was the Joker doing it. The window that separated the room had been removed and the Joker was slowly moving towards him.

"Well, that was quite a show." Joker said.

"I done all you said. Now, let Harleen go." Ash said in between breaths. Joker had something else in mind.

"I could do, but this is so much more fun." Joker said as he lifted up his gun and shoot Ash 3 times. One in the chest, one in the shoulder and one in the side of the neck. He fell to the floor and didn't have the strength to get back up. Harleen wanted to do anything to help Ash get out of here and stop the Joker.

"Ash, I'm so sorry. This is all my fault. It's because of me that you are getting hurt." Harleen said. Joker stood over Ash and pointed the gun to his head. Ash had enough with his games.

"What are you waiting for? Just do it already." Ash said. But Joker had other plans.

"Not yet." Joker said. He pulled the gun away and walked back over to the girl in the chair. "I like for you to meet Ace. Her ability is mind control. She can control anyone whose watching their tv screens now by looking down this camera." That's crazy. Joker brought nearly every station in the state. He'd have an army at his fingertips. "But before I make her do that and also kill you, I want you to see what your lover used to be like when she was with me." Joker looked at Ace. "Do it." Ace made eye contact with Harleen and made eye contact. Harleen was put in a trance and Ash saw this.

"What are you doing? Let her go now." Ash demanded.

"But the fun part is about to begin. Now Ace." Joker said. She looked at Ash and put him under her spell.

Harleen's Mind

Ash was walking through a dark room. He had no idea where to go or if he would bump into something. Where did they transport him? All of a sudden, an image popped up and it was Harleen in her doctor's coat and it looked like she was talking to the Joker. Next thing he saw was her breaking Joker out of the asylum. At this point the images just got worse. Harleen with two hyenas, causing crimes, trying to gain the Joker's attention. Ash couldn't handle all this.

"NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!"

Joker's Lair

While Ash was still in his trance, Joker could see a single tear coming from his eye.

"Now you see her true colours. Me and Harley might of hit a rough and I threw her to the side because I was bored of her. But still." Joker said as he pointed the gun at Ash and loaded it. "She's my plaything." Before he could pull the trigger, Batman came crashing through the window. Joker looked at him.

"Playtimes over." Batman said.

Harleen's Mind

The images were still coming to him. Each one kept one getting worse. Ash felt like he was going crazy seeing all of these. Like, he was enjoying them. Was Ash's mindset starting to change. Was going to turn to a life a crime.

"I can't wait to see Kate. I always have a good chat with her." Ash hear Harleen's voice and looked at the current image. Harleen was approaching Kate's Cafe. Why did this memory pop up. Harleen walked into the cafe and scanned the area. She saw the regular customers until her eyes landed on a certain table. It was Ash and Pikachu. This was the day they first met. Harleen looked at Ash. Ash could hear Harleen's heartbeat. Baboom, baboom, baboom... baboom. Wait, did her heart skip a beat. Then another image came up with the Joker. This was the memory where Harleen didn't show Joker the receiver. Next memory showed Harleen defusing a bomb the Joker had planted in the watchtower. Then the next memory was Harleen crying over Ash's dead body during the Dr Destiny incident. And he heard her say. "I love you."

"Harleen." Ash whispered. Suddenly all the bad memories were being overwhelmed by the good memories. Somehow Harleen is mentally overpowering her bad thoughts and replacing them with the better time. Ash knew she had changed for the better and couldn't be more happier for her. "You did it, you left that life behind you now." Suddenly, a light pierced through and it was getting brighter and brighter until Ash and the room was overwhelmed from it.

Joker's Lair

"ASH! ASH! WAKE UP PLEASE!" Harleen was screaming. Ash was slowly opening his eyes and saw Harleen kneeling over him with a worried look.

"Hey beauty." Ash said. Harleen had a happy look on her face and hugged him tight. As she was hugging him, Ash looked round the room. Ace was missing, where did she go? Batman was handcuffing Joker, who looked like he been trapped in a mental prison with that metal headband around his head."Harleen." Harleen looked at Ash. Ash put his hand on her face. "I'm so proud of you and I love you so much." Harleen smiled at Ash when she heard this.

"I love you too sweetie." Harleen said as she bowed down to kiss him.

Watchtower/Next Day

Ash and Harleen were laying in bed in Ash's quarters. Ash had sustained heavy damage during the whole ordeal and had been bandaged up. Brock told Ash he was off duty for a week for him to heal up. The bombs in Las Vegas had cleared up and everyone was allowed back into the city. John was now recovering and everyone found out the him and Shayera were now an item and Ash couldn't be happier for them. Harleen looked at Ash.

"I'm not hurting you, am I? You know laying next to you." Harleen asked. Ash had a smile on his face.

"It hurt even more if you left." Ash said. Harleen smiled at his response and gave him a quick peck.

"I'm not going anywhere." Harleen said. She was happy she was able to spend some quality time with Ash now. She snuggled up close to him, enjoying his comfort. "What are you thinking about now?"

"I'm thinking about where I'm taking you tomorrow." Ash said. Harleen looked at Ash.

"What?"

"I'm off duty and I want to treat tomorrow for all you have done. Also last time we went out, we were interrupted with the whole Dr Fate thing." Ash said. Harleen giggled at that memory. Ash then reached into his pocket and grabbed the keys for the new house. "And I'm hoping you'll say yes to this."

"To what?" Harleen asked. Ash showed her the keys.

"Did you want to move in together?" Ash asked. Harleen had a surprised look on her face. She slowly grabbedthe key and looked at it. "I was going to ask you yesterday, before the whole Joker thing happened. So what do you say?" Harleen looked at Ash with a cheeky grin.

"What did I do to deserve a boyfriend like you?" Harleen asked. Ash smiled knowing her answer.

"Just being you." Ash said as he planted a kiss on Harleen. They were kissing for 5 seconds before Ash's phone went off. He looked over and saw it was a message from May. "Turn on the news, they are talking about you." Ash grabbed the remote and turned the news on. It was footage from every country in the world. Holding something that had to do with Ash and they were celebrating.

"And as you can see, everyone is celebrating that Ash 'The Cafe Boy' Ketchum is alive." The news reporter said. It showed footage from the fight Ash had in Las Vegas. Ash put his head down on his pillow.

"I thought everyone forgot that name." Ash said. Harleen then playfully looked at him.

"But your my Cafe Boy." Harleen said. Ash laughed at her statement. Ash's phone began to ring. He looked at it and saw it was Lois Lane. Ash answered it.

"Hello?"

"Ash, you have no idea how glad I am to know that you are alive." Lois said.

"Thanks Lois, really glad to be alive." Ash said.

"Look, I'm going to cut right to the chase. My producers want me to do another interview with you. Everyone wants to know what happened to you." Lois said. Ash wasn't so sure now would be the right time.

"Lois, I'm not sure if..." Ash stopped talking when Harleen got his attention.

"Hand me the phone." Harleen said. Ash didn't know what she was going to do but gave her the phone.

"Lois, it's Harley here." Harleen said. Lois was not expecting to her from her.

"Harley, what a surprise. I didn't think that you would want to talk." Lois said.

"What can I say, I changed for the better." Harleen said while winking at Ash. Ash smiled when she said that. "I know want Ash on your show, but how about we do that couples edition interview that Ash offered in your last show."

And that finishes this chapter.

First I'd like to say I'm sorry for the massive on this story and and My New Life Academia. I was experiencing major writers block. That's why I had to be away for a while. But I'm back now.

Next chapter of My New Life Academia is being written next.

But Next Time. Full scale invasion on earth. How will the Justice League and Pokemon handle this. Find out next time in 'Starcrossed.'