I don't own Halo or Justice League; they are the property of 343 Industries and DC Comics/Warner Brothers respectively.
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The Spartan had mere moments before the descending assailants would be upon him. Reacting quickly, he closed the distance between himself and the axe/shield wielding titan. A quick strike with the plasma swords made short work of the titan's shield, and separated its upper torso from its lower waist and legs. He then turned to face the swarm of masked assailants as they landed and rushed towards him.
Their numbers and speed would've made them more than a match against a normal human being.
Fortunately for the Spartan, he was not a normal human being.
Que SPARTAN Time.
In those first few milliseconds, he quickly analyzed their movements and attack pattern. Their backs were hunched over; their arms flailing; and their movement was more akin to an animal than a human. They were coming at him in a mass charge, intending to overwhelm him with sheer numbers. They reminded him of the suicide Grunts he faced during the Human-Covenant War.
Except back then, the Grunts had plasma grenades and weapons. These things were armed with daggers, clubs, and clawed gloves. No guns or armor.
Against a Spartan-II super-soldier who was trained and highly experienced in CQC, they were easy prey.
The first attackers soon closed the distance…only to be struck down by a dancing duo of plasma blades. Soon, the Spartan was in their midst, slashing and striking with deadly precision. Their shrieks of pain were quickly silenced as they fell to the ground in pieces. Some tried leaping into the air to strike from above; they were unable to avoid his overhead blocks and counters. They threw their blades at his head, neck and arms; his shield and armor plating deflected the few he didn't evade. Another massive titan lumbered towards him with two battle axes; he paused long enough to throw a plasma grenade at its head, incinerating everything from the shoulder blades up.
Within seconds, the entire wave of attackers lay in pieces at his feet…with another wave already charging towards him. As they approached, he glanced around the botanical. Wide open space with little cover. Perfect for mass suicide attacks. Behind him was the entrance into the asylum, where he could carry out a fighting withdraw. Force them into a confined space. Whittle down their numbers.
There was one problem: Dr. Pamela Isley. She was still irresponsive and unable to be moved in her condition; she would be an easy target in the middle of a firefight.
There was no other option. He would have to hold his position until the enemy's numerical advantage could be neutralized.
But not without additional firepower.
"Assault package. Now."
"Already done. Weapon's drop on route."
Sure enough, over the sound of dying screams, he could hear the Longsword bomber roar overhead. Shortly after, a metal drop pod dropped through the rooftop, crushing a number of attackers as it landed. The drop-pod panel opened up, revealing an M45E Shotgun and an M41 SPNK Rocket Launcher. The Spartan fired his grapplehook and pulled the two weapons towards him. He turned and fired a rocket at an oncoming group of assailants – their close proximity left them little room to escape as the rocket detonated in their midst. A second rocket finished off another group gathering on the upper balcony.
He quickly reloaded the launcher, then fired a third rocket at a pair of club wielding titans moving across the garden courtyard. The rocket hit the ground beneath them, negating their shield's protection and knocking them on their backs. Both struggled to get back up, only for a fourth rocket to finish them off.
He switched to his M45E Shotgun, and turned to face the next wave of enemies. This time, they were more cautious in their approach. They were spread out in a circular formation around the Spartan, limiting the effectiveness of his rockets. They were also edging closer towards Isley, with some crawling along the large vines and roots above and behind her. It resembled a classic tactic used by the Roman Legionaries in ancient times – force the larger, more heavily armed opponent to go on the offensive, thus leaving them vulnerable to a flanking maneuver from behind.
It might have worked on a slower, less experienced opponent. Unfortunately for them, the Spartan was more than capable of meeting this challenge.
The Spartan fired his grapple-shot at the ground in front of them, and he ziplined towards Isley's stoic form. He bulldozed through three of the attackers and sent them flying away from the green-skinned woman. He then fired his shotgun into another attacker, using the kickback to twirl it around like a mace; this enabled him to both shoot and strike down multiple attackers within mere seconds of each other. He repeated this motion several times, using the brief pauses between targets to load more ammunition. *
(* - Check out Halo Stopmotion: The One Man Army on Youtube; this should better show what I'm trying to write about.)
He remembered using this same technique against an entire fireteam of Elites back during the Covenant War. And it was just as effective now as it was back then.
As he continued his dance of death, he gradually placed himself between the attackers and the still unresponsive Pamela Isley. The massive vines and roots provided a barrier from flanking attacks, and his mastery of CQC allowed him to make short work of the remaining assailants. At last, the final three attackers were felled by well-placed blows/shots to their heads and chest cavities. After a moment, he could feel the Spartan Time start to wear off. Glancing around, he saw nothing but dead bodies scattered across the botanical. He took the momentary lull to reload his weapons for the next assault; given the enemy's tenacity, it was likely more would arrive soon.
"Arian, status."
"All hostiles in the area eliminated. I'm not picking up anymore movement around the asylum. If there were anymore, I'd say they learned not to mess with a Spartan the hard way. And, you'll be pleased to know," she added, "I've finally figured out how to remove the device from Dr. Isley's head. Admittedly, it took a lot longer than I would've preferred – at least ten whole seconds longer, in case you were wondering. Whoever built it was either trying to overcompensate, or just wanted to go for the dramatic effect."
"The Joker?"
"Obviously; I mean, who else would arrange the wiring and circuits in a yellow smiley face?"
The Spartan kneeled down beside the green-skinned woman. Her eyes remained vacant as she continued droning 'Happy and jolly" over and over. If anything, she appeared to be even worse than she had been before the attack.
"First, remove the panel at the back. It's bolted, so you'll have to cut it off." The Spartan activated a plasma dagger on his wrist and carefully sliced the tip through the metal plate. Then, Arian directed him in cutting the non-decoy wires in order to deactivate the devices remote command module. Finally, she used his armor's tech interface program to gain access to the device's data chip; she was quick to discover and deactivate the automatic 'kill switch' to the microscopic Joker Toxin bomb the Joker had built into the device.
For all the Joker's unpredictability and psychotically-induced genius, not even he could hope to match the capabilities of a UNSC Gen. 5 Smart AI.
Finally, the needles injecting the nanotech chemical retracted from Isley's skull. The woman gasped as she felt the Spartan carefully pull the device from the back of her neck. Her eyes briefly turned milky white, then slowly regained their green hue. She slowly glanced down and shakily brought her hands up in from of her. She slowly moved and clenched her fingers, hardly daring to believe what was happening.
"I…I'm free…"
And with a deep sigh of relief, she finally succumbed to the bliss of unconsciousness. Her weakened body leaned over and collapsed into the Spartan's arms. He could see that, despite her weakened state, she was starting to breath normally again. He noticed some nearby vines begin moving towards them.
"They're not hostile," Arian spoke up. "I noticed them before, but I didn't think much of it at the time. These plants, they seem to be…sentient in some way. Not like you or I, to be sure; it's more like they've developed some primitive form of reactionary consciousness."
"Is that even possible?"
"Well, it's well known that miss Isley has the ability to communicate with and manipulate all forms of plant life. So, it's not entirely impossible for this to have happened."
The Spartan watched as the vines reached out and connected with Isley's hands and face. As they did so, she let out a sigh of relief. Within seconds, her skin slowly began regaining its natural color; her breathing became steadier; and her eyes had stopped bleeding.
"Her vitals are stabilizing, and her healing factor's starting to kick back in," Arian reported. "But she's still weak from malnourishment, and her organs are potentially compromised. She needs to see a doctor. A real doctor."
The Spartan agreed. "Send a message to the Major. See if he can have her transferred to the Ghost of Barolon's mobile hospital under protective custody. And have him notify the Colonel about what's happened here. We need to be ready for whatever the Joker has planned."
"Already on it. I'll bring the Pelican down for transport. Also, Sergeant Montoya's on her way here. And it looks like she's brought some company with her."
"Police?"
"No…Bruce Wayne's younger sister."
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At last, the next chapter is done. So, the Spartan has triumphed over the Court of Owls' forces, and Poison Ivy has been freed from the Joker's mind control. But she still needs medical care, and she still has vital information about the Joker's plans.
Now, I recently got a review asking why the Spartan and his AI would be worried about the Joker, when they've survived an all-out genocidal war against the Covenant.
Let me put it this way: The Joker has, by this point, committed countless acts of violence, including terrorism and other crimes against humanity, both in Gotham and other cities across the United States. He is a brilliant mastermind in bomb-making, chemistry, and psychological manipulation. His murder count is in the thousands, including elderly and children. And, in YJ Season 4, he was able to infiltrate and place bombs within the United Nations building in New York.
As in, the building filled with political delegates from almost every single country around the globe, including China and Russia.
And, according to the World Strides website, "The United Nations is technically not on United States soil – it is on international territory." This means that the Joker carried out a deliberate act of terrorism on INTERNATIONAL TERRITORY...and both Batman and JLA still had him sent back to Arkham Asylum.
Is he a direct threat to the Spartan and his AI? Absolutely not. The Spartan could easily kill him, no questions asked. and the whole world would be all the better for it.
It's a matter of how many people he might/will kill before he can be stopped. And, of course, there's the fact that Batman will come and try to save him from the Spartan's wrath. And yes, Batman has done this before. He gave the Joker CPR after Nightwing beat him to death. He injured Red Hood in the neck (his hand in the anime 'Under the Red Hood) when he tried to shoot Joker. He even stopped the Punisher when he tried to shoot Joker in the Marvel/DC crossover comic book.
This is why the Spartan and his AI would be worried about the Joker. Not because he's a direct threat to them, but because of his connections and the heroes who would stop at nothing to protect him from the Spartan's wrath.
So, on that note, I'll try to have the next chapter posted within the next few days. Until then, please read and review.
