Batman and Yang glided across the rooftops, making their way to the courthouse, taking out a few groups of thugs along the way. They reached the roof of the building across from the courthouse, looking at each other and nodding. Batman went first, gliding in dropping down on a thug, instantly taking him out. "It's the freaking bat! Get him!" One thug called as they all rushed in, Batman smirking, leaping onto a nearby car and as high as he could.
"Don't forget the dragon!" Yang called as she dropped down and slammed her fist into the ground, creating a shockwave that sent all the thugs airborne, crashing to the ground hard, leaving them stunned long enough for a barrage of batarangs to hit them in the head and knock them out.
"Teamwork for the win!" Yang said cheerfully.
"Nice work. But this is just the beginning. Don't get cocky." He told her.
"When do I ever do that?" She asked, earning an skeptical look from the Dark Knight. "Okay, fine." She said as they made their way inside the courthouse.
Once inside the courthouse, the two of them quickly headed up to the second level, where they could see into the courtroom, where Two-Face stood on what appeared to be a stage built in front of and around the judge's seat and the witness stand, his goons standing in front of him and a red curtain hiding something hanging above a vat of acid beside him. "The only way to get by in this place is to get ourselves some respect." Harvey explained, playing with his coin in his hand, before suddenly clutching it tightly.
"Fear! That's how we get our respect. Show 'em all how WE do things." Harv interjected menacingly. (In the old Batman animated series, Harvey's alternate personality is called "Big Bad Harv", so to make things easier, when his dark side takes over, It will be stated as Harv, rather than Harvey)
"We should be fair, though. This is a place of justice, after all." Harvey stated.
"Screw justice! Kill them and they'll all fear us!" Harv countered.
From where they were watching, Yang flinched back slightly, disturbed by the villain's bi-polar argument. "Does it ever creep you out when he talks to himself like that?" Yang asked.
"Every time." Batman confirmed. "It reminds me of how broken the once-great man I called my friend is." He explained.
"Oh... Sorry." She said.
"Bring out the defendant!" Two-Face ordered, the curtain dropping to reveal Selina and Neo tied side-by-side, hanging upside down above the acid.
"You certainly know how to keep the girls waiting, Harv. Hey, have you had some work done?" Selina taunted as Neo glared and stuck her tongue out at the villain.
The deformed former DA didn't appreciate these words, which earned the cat burglar a backhand across the face. "That's for stealing from us! No one steals from us!" Harv snapped.
"I'm sorry we've been bad little kitties. Untie us and I'll make it up to you. And Neo could do a few chores for you like a good little girl." Catwoman said, shocking Neo for a moment, before the mute thief pouted at the idea.
Two-Face flipped his coin and covered it, moving his hand and revealing the shiny, unscarred side of the silver dollar. "This court is now in session!" He announced, his goons cheering.
From back where they were, Batman scowled at the danger Catwoman and Neo were in. "We have to go. Every second we waste, they could be killed." Batman said.
"Right. If this goes on for too long, they'll be in HOT WATER! Eh? Am I right?" Yang joked as Batman rolled his eyes and climbed a ladder to the next level, Yang quickly following.
"Order! Order!" Two-Face snapped to control his cheering thugs, before firing his gun into the air, quickly silencing them.
(Taking out the thug with the gun is the key. Without him, the rest of the room won't be a problem.) Batman said as he flipped the thug over his shoulder and flopped him to the ground, choking him to unconsciousness.
The two of them made their way out onto the wire above the crowd, dropping down to take out a few thugs, taking them out instantly. "Objection! I always wanted to say that!" Yang laughed, most of the inmates in the courthouse quickly fleeing while a small handful already loyal to Two-Face stayed to fight. "Oh! Looks like these guys have a rebuttal!" She said, uppercutting one thug and firing a round from her gauntlet to hit him in mid-air, knocking him out, deflecting a punch from another thug, spinning and hitting him with a rear kick, sending him back into a wall, knocking him out. The last thug ran at Yang, but she simply boxed his ears, causing him to hold them and cry in pain, allowing her to bring her fist down right on the top of his head, knocking him out.
Batman, meanwhile had raised his fist to punch a thug behind him with a chair in the face, sending him to the floor, catching the chair as the thug dropped it and throwing it into another one looking for a weapon in the corner. "Harvey! Let them go!" Batman snapped, grappling another thug and reeling him in for a clothesline hit, knocking him into the air, a punch to the gut knocking him out and to the ground.
"Objection!" Two-Face shouted, shooting at Batman, who used his Semblance, becoming a swarm of bats and avoiding the bullet, flying up to the window of Two-Face's judge booth and reforming into the Dark Knight, who's feet were primed and ready for a double flying kick to the window, shattering it and allowing him to tackle Two-Face to the ground, slamming his fist into the burnt half of his face, knocking him out.
"Well, well, aren't you two a sight for sore eyes?" Catwoman asked.
"It looks like you got your worlds turned upside down! Eh? Eh?" Yang taunted, Selina rolling her eyes and Neo sticking her tongue out at the blonde.
"Sore ears, though, just get worse when you're around." Selina said, cutting her hands free, cutting herself down and masterfully landing on the side of the tank, before grabbing Neo and pulling her over to her so she was no longer above the vat, cutting her free as well.
"I figured you could use our help, Selina." Batman said, dropping down from inside the booth, Catwoman dropping down beside him.
"You're right. I think I chipped a nail back there." She said teasingly.
"Funny." Batman said.
Neo walked up to Yang with a smirk, pulling out a phone (her scroll had LONG since run out of power), typing a quick message and showing it to Yang. [Bet it stung having to save me.]
Yang growled a bit at this, but managed to keep her composure. "Well, I'm such a nice person and it's the right thing to do. I'd do something you'd never do for me. It makes me the bigger woman. Oh, wait..." Yang countered, Neo now pouting at being called both short and small chested. She certainly wasn't flat, but didn't have nearly the bust of Yang or Selina.
"Neo, play nice, dear." Catwoman called, Neo slouching somewhat at the embarrassing mother-like tone Selina used, Yang snickering at the smaller girl's misfortune. With that, the cat burglar turned her attention back to Batman. "So, what do you need, Mr. Detective?" She asked.
"Protocol 10. What do you know of it, Selina?" Bruce asked.
Catwoman simply shrugged her shoulders at this. "Never heard of it." She answered.
"That's not what I wanted to hear." He said, looking to Neo, who also shrugged. "What about Strange?" He asked. To this, Neo glared somewhat and gave a thumbs down.
"I don't trust him. He's been missing for years and is suddenly put in charge of Arkham City. Rumor has it, he's been working with Joker, planning something very special just for you." Selina explained. "Maybe that's protocol 10?" She guessed.
"Joker on his own is already dangerous. With Strange on his side, I don't even want to think of what he's capable of." Yang said, Neo even looking slightly worried. Sure, she hasn't been in Gotham too long, but Catwoman made it very clear who was dangerous and should be steared clear of. The mute girl would even wager that the clown was, in practice, more dangerous than Cinder.
However, unknown to the group, that same certain clown was taking aim at Selina through a sniper rifle. "Twinkle, twinkle, little bat. watch me kill your favorite cat!" Joker laughed, before breaking out into a violent coughing fit.
Back with the group, Catwoman was sharing one final piece of information. "The ex-District Attorney here mentioned something about..." She started, before a green dot began moving up the side of her face.
"Yang, get her down!" Batman said, grabbing Catwoman and pulling her out of the path of the bullet, pinning her to a wall.
"Hit the deck!" Yang said as she tackled Neo to the floor.
"What the hell?!" Catwoman demanded.
"Hey!" Neo's phone called out what the mute girl had typed as she was pinned to the floor.
"See you soon, Bats. And you two, Dragon Breath." Joker said giggling once again, before breaking into another cough, the laser sight on the rifle turning off, indicating to the vigilantes it was now safe.
"This place is dangerous. I like it. You expecting a kiss?" Catwoman said.
"It was Joker." Batman said.
Yang was about to get up, before she noticed Neo was showing her another message. [Enjoying yourself?] It asked as Neo had a teasing smile on her face.
"As a matter of fact, I am. I may even take a quick nap." Yang said, laying herself back down and putting her full weight on Neo, smothering the mute girl in her boobs, causing the smaller girl to wave her arms frantically to escape as Yang laughed, remembering the times she did this to Ruby when she got the chance.
"Yang, let her up." Batman told her.
"Fine." She said, getting up off the smaller girl, who took a few deep breaths, before pouting and storming back over to Catwoman.
"You two aren't safe here. No one is." Batman said.
"Nine lives, remember?" Catwoman countered, grappling away with her whip as Neo bowed out and teleported after her.
"So, what are we gonna do now?" Yang asked.
"We need to find where the bullet impacted and where it entered the courtroom." Batman explained.
"Well, it impacted there. So there's half the mystery." Yang said, pointing at it for Batman to see, before they registered it in their cowls.
"Good. Now for the point where it entered the courtroom. There." Batman said, pointing it out and adding it to the crime scene data as well, a line of trajectory now connecting the two spots and went all the way to a window at the top of a church where the shot came from. "The trajectory the bullet traveled will lead us to the shooter." Batman explained.
"Sounds like a plan!" Yang agreed as she followed him. "The one's who ran probably told more of Penguin's guys we were there. They'll be waiting at the entrance. We should find another exit so we don't run into an ambush." She added.
"I taught you well." Batman said as they indeed found an exit in the upper levels of the courthouse. They exited and dropped down behind a group of thugs indeed lying in wait in front of the main door, Batman choking out one of them, Yang bashing the heads of two more together and Batman throwing a batarang past her to knock out the last one right in front of the door.
The two of them continued their way to the church, noticing three of Joker's goons guarding the entrance, but before they dropped down, the thugs started up a conversation that caught their interests. "So, do you think the rumors are true?" One of them said.
"What? About how Harley used to be a dude?" Another asked, to which Yang barely held in a laugh.
"Nah. The one about the Joker dying." The first one said, the two of them looking at each other in confusion.
"Joker's dying?" Yang asked, unsure how to feel. There was no doubt, if the clown died, Gotham would be INFINITELY safer, but she felt uncomfortable wishing death on anyone.
"We'll have to listen." Batman said. He held no love for the clown, but he'd been fighting him for so long, if he did truly perish, it would be like losing a part of his identity.
"No idea, man. But the last time I saw him, he didn't look too good." The third one said.
"When was that? I ain't seen him for months." The second asked.
"Me, neither. The way, I see it: if Big J dies, this whole place becomes an all-out war zone. And if that happens, I'm joining up with Penguin." The first one said.
"Joker loves to be in the spotlight. If he's gone into hiding among his own men, this can't be good. Harley is sure to know more. With any luck, she's already in there." Batman said.
"Let's go, then." Yang said, firing a round from each gauntlet into two of the thugs just as Batman dropped and landed on the last one. The two of them nodded to each other and entered the church.
After the first set of doors, the vigilantes had to pass through a second set, immediately alert as they saw Harley flipping and cartwheeling towards them. "Comin' through, Bats!" She announced, jumping and throwing a spinning kick at his head, which he easily caught, throwing her to the ground.
"Wow, Harley, you really need to change it up. You've done this so many times, we know as soon as it's coming." Yang said.
"Did ya see this coming?!" Harley snapped, looking at her guys.
"Let the lady go, Bat Freak! You two, Dragon Punk! Or these people all get a bullet in their head!" A thug warned our heroes.
The two heroes begrudgingly let the jester get back to her feet and dust herself off. "You should do what they say, you two. It'd be a shame to get blood on my nice new outfit. What do you think, Bat Brain? You like it?" She asked. "What am I saying? 'Course you do! Who wouldn't?" She said confidently.
"Gay men and straight women." Yang simply answered.
"Oh, yeah? Well, what do you think, Dragon Breath? Look good on me?" Harley taunted, grabbing Yang's chin and shaking it a bit.
Yang growled and pulled back at this. "I think you looked better in a straightjacket." She said.
"Oh, ha ha. Anyway, here's the deal. Mr. J's really not up for a visit right now. He's not feeling himself... Well, he was earlier, but that's not what I meant." Harley explained.
"Ugh! God! T.M.I!" Yang said, resisting the urge to puke.
"So, he really is sick." Batman said. One thing Harley is always serious about is Joker. She'd never lie about HIS health.
"Yeah... He's not doing so well and that idiot doctor I sent from here DIDN'T HELP! I've seen more smarts from these bozos." She said.
"You guys just gonna take that?" Yang asked, looking at the thugs.
"No one messes with Harley, lizard girl!" One of them snapped. Of course, in reality, this was from fear rather than genuine loyalty.
"Hey, no. Not lizard. Dragon. DRAGON. I don't do that tongue thing." Yang said, sticking her tongue out. Batman rolled his eyes at this. She'd been watching WAY too much movies and TV.
"You heard 'em, Goldie. They know who's in charge." Harley said, turning to her thugs. "I gotta run, boys. If they try anything funny, kill 'em!" Harley ordered as she finally left the building.
"Just stay there, heroes! Don't move and this will all end OK." One thug said.
"What do you mean 'end OK'? She. Left Us. ALONE. With BATMAN and LIGHT DRAGON." Another said as they began a panicked argument.
"Wow. Sometimes I think they try to make things harder for themselves." Yang said, pulling out a smoke bomb.
"Good thinking. You really have learned since the asylum." Batman said. She smiled and nodded, before throwing the smoke bomb to the floor, clouding them from the view of the thugs, grappling up to nearby gargoyles as the thugs blindly fired into the smoke. "They don't know where we are. Let's keep it that way. Survey the room and plan out tactics." He said.
"You got it." Yang confirmed as she grappled from one gargoyle to the next, moving to the right side of the room. In response to this, Batman went left.
"Four thugs. All armed. Two hostages. This is gonna be easy." Batman said.
"I ALMOST feel sorry for them. Almost." Yang said.
Back with the Light Dragon, she glared down at a thug holding a hostage at gunpoint, hiding under scaffolding for cover. "Aww, how cute! He thinks he's safe under that scaffolding... Too bad that just makes it easier to get him." She said, gliding down on top of the scaffolding from her gargoyle and grabbing the edge, dropping her body down so she could wrap her legs around the thug's neck and choke him into unconsciousness. She turned to the terrified hostage and smiled. "Don't worry. You're safe now. Just try not to announce it." She said, grappling to another gargoyle.
Meanwhile, Batman had grappled over to the other end of the church, where two of the thugs stood in front of a group of prisoners, ready to shoot if they saw Batman or Yang. "If I can get behind those two, I can take them both out at once." He surmised. Of course, being Batman, he did as effortlessly as he had made it sound, easily getting behind the two thugs and bashing their heads together to knock them out. "Yang. I took out the two in the front. There's one more idiot hiding in the confessional box." He told her.
"These guys never think this through, do they? He's not safe in there, he's just boxed in. That's not even a pun this time." She said, grappling to the other side of the room, dropping down behind the confessional box and ripping the back out, grabbing the thug and bringing her fist down on the top of his head, sending him to the floor.
"Don't worry, it's all over now. You're safe." She told the hostage as they all returned to the center of the room where the other hostages were. With that, the two vigilantes headed back to the entrance, but then turned left and made their way to the upper levels of the church. They reached the place they were looking for, with a ladder to take them to the room the shot had come from, but not before Yang noticed and picked up a Riddler Trophy. "UGH! Nigma again?! You'd think he would've learned after we got him thrown in here!" She snapped
"Doubtful. Riddler's driven. His one goal is to upstage and outdo me. He won't rest until that happens." Batman said as they reached they climbed the ladder.
They reached the room where the shot had come from, but found no Joker, or any person who could've made the shot. They found only a disturbingly large number of bombs, a TV and... "There's the gun. It looks like it's being controlled remotely by Joker." Batman said.
"A remote control sniper rifle? Ruby would be so disappointed." Yang said, knowing how much her younger sister enjoys personally pulling off nigh impossible shots with Crescent Rose. The idea of remotely controlling the weapon would be madness to her.
Batman scanned the rifle, only for the TV to suddenly kick on, revealing a recording of the Joker himself. "Well, look who it is. I haven't seen you for... how long has it been? Let's see, there was an asylum, some monsters, a blonde brat from nowhere and, oh that's right! You left me to die!" Joker said angrily.
"Not the way I remember it." Yang said, crossing her arms.
"Well, you two probably don't remember it that way, but who cares? You just need to worry about the bombs!" He said.
"Oh, come on! That's a bit much!" Yang snapped.
"Ignore it. We have to get out of here." Batman said.
"Hurry up now. The clock's ticking!" Joker said with a laugh as the two dove out one of the windows, gliding away to a safe distance as the tower of the church exploded and crumbled.
"I'm getting really sick of people trying to blow us up." Yang said.
"It's an occupational hazard." Batman said, before contacting... "Alfred. I've got a lock on the signal used to remotely control the sniper rifle. Joker's behind this." Batman said.
"Was there ever any doubt?" Alfred asked.
"No, we were pretty certain. The clown goons and Harley definitely gave it away, though." Yang said.
"The radio signal should lead us right to him." Batman said.
"Good luck, sir. You as well, Miss Yang." Alfred said.
"No problem. Now, let's go take Joker off the air!" She said, turning to Batman, who groaned and grappled away. "You get it? Because radio waves? Radio shows get taken off the air." She said, grappling after him.
A/N: Another chapter finished! I'm glad to see so many of you are already loving this story. Although some of you have questions or statements that only deserve fair answers. Surely Yang had run out of dust ammo for her gauntlets now, right? Yes and no, She has long since run out of dust ammo, yes, but thanks to Lucius, they were able to synthesize something almost exactly like it to create powerful, yet nonlethal explosive rounds.
And many of you are saying Batman still wouldn't use these because their still technically guns, but let's not forget the giant guns he uses on people in the Batmobile. Sure, they shoot beanbags, not bullets, but these also technically don't use bullets. The rounds are non-lethal, they're basically giant flares that explode on impact, so Batman wouldn't have a problem with it. He's got no problems using explosive gel and batarangs on people, to this isn't much different.
Lastly, of course, is despite Yang's new superhero persona, many people from the asylum saw her before and will recognize her, right? This is true, but they just know she rolls with Batman. They don't know where she goes after that. And when she isn't a superhero, she wears glasses, puts her hair in a ponytail and goes by Taylor Rose. Sure, that may not seem like enough, but this is the same world where no one can tell who Clark Kent is from a hat, glasses and acting like a wimp.
Also, a fan named Andromeda asked if I could do a version of the Arkham stories with Qrow helping batman. I'm not sure how that would work. Teenagers are one thing, Batman often works with them, but a random drunken man, I don't think that would go down well, but if someone thinks they could make that work, you're more than welcome to try.
And with that, I hope this has cleared up all your questions and you can now enjoy the story as it continues!