A/N: Hi! Sorry for the late chapter. I was kind of held up by my private life and I didn't have the time to finalize this, so here it is!
Thank you in advance for reading and supporting this story, I hope you enjoy! Please leave a review when done!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything
After the Joker had said his piece, Diana immediately changed into her outfit and flew out of the Themysciran Embassy. She was soaring through the air as fast as she could, coming in like a hot missile aiming at its target. She tried contacting Bruce through the commlink, but all she received was a static response.
Diana also thought about contacting the other leaguers about her situation but it faded away as the docks were in her sight.
Grabbing her lasso, she landed quietly through one of the shipping containers, silently sneaking into the warehouse.
Deciding to try her luck again, she tapped on her intercom. "Superman? Batman. Can anyone hear me?"
"D… in… a"
"Batman? Batman, is that you?"
"Di… a…a…" The line went static again, and she cursed under her breath. Peeking through one of the containers, she spotted at least ten men armed with guns and weapons.
Looking around, she could see some containers empty, giving her an idea. Setting her plan into action, she readied herself before out of her hiding place, capturing four of them with her lasso.
She threw them hard into one of the containers, knocking them unconscious. The remaining six were knocked back or fought against the force of the wind. Once he saw who it was, he quickly cried out.
"It's Wonder woman! Shoot her!"
The men carrying rifles fired a series of bullets at her, all of which were blocked by her bracers. One of the men tried swinging at her using a metal bat, but she dodged and elbowed him in the gut. He bent over to clutch his aching stomach. Using that to her advantage she punched his face, knocking him out cold. One by one, the men were thrown into the container, either unconscious or groaning in pain.
Out of her peripheral view, she caught two figures running away. There were two choices those men could've made; tell her all the things she needed to know or run away to avoid getting their asses kicked.
They chose the latter.
Their loss
Diana threw her lasso, snagging the two, and pulled them back towards her. The pull was so hard that the men landed on the ground, hard. Once they were right in front of her, she tilted one of them to face her and placed her heeled boot in one of the man's chests. Unsheathing her sword, she aimed it toward his neck.
"Tell me everything."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
He gasped out as she dug her boot harder into his chest. The man tied behind him grunted in pain for being squished.
The former felt a stinging pain near his cheek. A small trail of blood flowed down his face to his jaw. The blade of the Amazon now stained a few drops of blood.
"You might want to rethink your answers, lest you want to end up on the wrong side of my blade." She growled out, aiming her sword at the man's eye.
The man scoffed. "Oh please, you wouldn't even kill us. Hurt us? Yes, but killing? Now, what would the people say? You'd set that as an example for all who look up to you?"
The man watched as she slowly smiled menacingly at him. She suddenly stomped him on the crotch, making him scream in pain. "You're right on that part. What would people think about me killing? Luckily for me, there are other ways of making you talk."
"So, what's it going to be? I'm pretty sure I already broke your thing, but what purpose will it have once it's broken beyond repair?"
To prove her point, she pressed harder until she could feel his pelvic bone in her heel.
The man shrieked until his throat was hoarse, the pain becoming unbearable as tears leaked from his eyes. He got kicked in the junk by multiple people—which was some of the most painful things he had felt in his life. Not even a gunshot can compare to it. But getting his crotch stepped on very painfully by Wonder woman? She took his next entire generation away.
He decided that this entire plan he planned wasn't worth it and blurted out the thing she wanted to hear.
"There's at least 50 of them waiting for you inside! I don't know where the kids are! Last I heard, they're in some storage!" He wailed out in one breath, wanting the pain to end as quickly as possible.
"How about Joker?"
"He left with Harley after he made the announcementーAHHH, I SWEAR THAT'S ALL I KNOW!"
She removed her foot, leaving the man in a whimpering mess. Diana turned her attention to the other man, who paled from having her attention now directed towards him.
"I suppose you don't know anything?" She curled a brow. The man shook his head so fast but it was difficult for him to do so as he was getting squished.
"No! I don't know anything, I promise! I'm only here for the bucks!" He sputtered. His voice was a bit muffled.
Having all of the information needed, she grabbed the former's collar and threw both of them into a container. With that problem fixed, she flew right in front of the warehouse, expecting the band of henchmen displayed all over the place.
Instead, she got an empty building. Silence hung through the air. She prepared herself as she heard no movement within the building. An unsettling feeling entered Diana's stomach, but she shrugged it off.
Preparing herself, she went inside, unaware of the future consequence that was about to happen.
XXX
Superman flew through the air, scanning the buildings around Gotham with the other league members. He was having lunch with his wife when the interrupted broadcast brought everyone's attention. He tried contacting Bruce, but the latter didn't respond to any calls or messages. What surprised him was that Dick called, saying he needed the league as soon as possible in Gotham.
He knows Bruce will be pissed at him, along with the others entering his city, but it was worrying to hear that Dick had contacted them. Clark asked if Bruce was with them but the eldest son said the last they saw him was when he was preparing to leave for work.
Spotting a red dot speeding a few yards away, he zoomed toward it. Once Flash was in his sights, he maintained a steady speed to catch the speedster's pace.
"Supes! Found anything?" He questioned, sprinting past and dodging cars and civilians.
"Not yet! I've checked most of the hideouts Nightwing told me about, but they're all empty."
"Same here! The only place I hadn't checked was Scarecrow's new one. Last I heard, Deathstroke decided to visit. It's probably in shambles."
"Then let's head off before someone beats us to it."
Both sped through the city and entered the sewer canals. Flash complained of having to step into sewage water as well as the smell. Superman ignored himーalthough he agreed with the stench.
He scanned the walls as he hovered around, trying to find any hidden passages. Eventually, he found it. Unwillingly, he tried to feel the wet walls for any levers or pushable stones. Flash gagged behind him, scrunching his nose behind his red mask.
"Dude, why are you touching the walls? That's disgusting!"
"I'm trying to find a hidden passage, mind you. Would you rather have me lick it?" He retorted back.
Flash made a face and heaved a sigh. "Yeah, I'll pass hard on that one." He moved to one of the cleaner walls. Just as he was placing his hand on the wall, a stone slab slipped further inside its place, making him stumble from the lack of support.
Superman stepped back as a wall near him slowly opened, revealing a short tunnel. The Kryptonian looked back between the speedster and the wall.
"I'm starting to wonder if you're just that lucky in finding hidden things..." He wondered, giving Flash a once over.
"I'm starting to wonder, too." He scratched his head, thinking that Zatanna had put a spell on him or somewhere similar to that.
Both walked along the tunnel and faced a metal door. Using his heat vision, he melted the door's edges, making it fall. Once inside both were greeted by a dead Scarecrow seated in a chair, mouth stretched wide and open, into a familiar cackle that Flash felt goosebumps starting to form on his skin. Both had to scrunch their noses at the horrid stench of the corpse.
Superman looked away from Scarecrow, unable to look at his lifeless form.
"Let's look around to see if he left anything." With a nod from Flash, the two split up to check the room.
The two looked everywhere, neither finding any clues that could help them. Superman took note that the room was… tidy. Not one item has been moved or touched.
"Okay, now this is giving me the creeps." Flash shuddered.
"You're not the only one." Superman agreed. When his eyes moved up to secured storage, he warily approached it. "Where are you going, Supes?"
"Just checking something." As he looked inside the storage, Flash went after him and noticed this room was a mess compared to the one they were in. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw stacks of papers peeking out on one of the drawers. Once he read one of the papers, he realized it was Scarecrow's filesーmostly, research on toxins. "Hey, have you seen any chemicals in there?"
"None. The entire thing has been cleared." Flash was looking through the papers until he found one with viable information. He called out to the Kryptonian.
"Listen to this; Test number 67; Previous attempts to induce fear in one of the stronger meta's failed. Fear levels increased to 30% percent for better effect. Increase dosage for stronger will-minded victims."
"So he's been involved with the missing meta's for the past few months." These past few months, there have been reports of meta's disappearing in missions. Bruce discussed this in one of their meetings, they were trying to find those people, but there was a weird discovery when they found them.
Reportedly, the missing meta's were located all around Gotham. Of course, none of them were fatally injured but some of them were mumbling something incoherently or flinched whenever one tried to get near them. Bruce hunted down Scarecrow for months after a few days of digging but little to no luck, the latter disappeared without a trace.
Superman had to guess Joker either hired or took him against his own will.
It seemed that Joker was planning this. The interrupted broadcast, baiting Diana to play his game, having them in a wild goose chase to find the now dead Scarecrow. And now chemicals that were used on other meta's are missing. It's as if he was planning all of this the moment those meta's went missing…
Something clicked into the back of Clark's mind. His eyes widen in realization as he figures out Joker's plan.
Oh no
"Diana!" He screamed into his commlink. Flash jumped from where he stood at the volume of Superman's voice. "Diana, pick up! Diana! Come on, damn it!"
Hearing nothing but static, he tried to contact J'onn. "J'onn, can you hear me!?"
"Loud and clear, my friend. It seems you and I have come to the same conclusion. I'm telling her right now."
"Try to warn her as best as you can! You can'tー" He hurried outside, trying to get out of the room to fly towards her location and warn her of what was about to come. However, in his hurry, he managed to activate a trap. Gas was released down above them.
Superman covered his nose but he inhaled a good inch of the gas, making it hard for him to breathe. It was like the air was suffocating him. He stumbled through some furniture as dizziness invaded his mind. Flash was also affected by the gas. He was gasping on the ground. His breathing became heavier as the toxin became heavy and filled his lungs.
Both can hear the manic cackle ringing in their ears. Their eyes started to trick them as they could see the joker appearing in front of them. Superman tried to shake the hallucination off, but it only made it worse. Joker's cackling increased in numbers, and more faces of him appeared in his eyes.
Flash barely managed to get his senses together. He barely catches sight of a spinning blade aiming at Superman's head. Seeing Clark still out of it, he quickly shoves him out of the way.
Unfortunately for Flash, he was the one who ended up with the blade. The blade sliced through his skin, embedded in his stomach. The latter fell to the ground. A sharp cry came out of his lips as he landed hard on his elbow.
When the effects slowly wore off, Superman shook the last of the dizziness in his mind, cradling his head with his hand. Hearing a groan, he spotted Flash cradling his wounded stomach. Blood spread out his lips as he coughed.
He sped towards him and unclasped his cape, using the red fabric to apply pressure to stop his bleeding wound. The pressure made Flash hiss in pain as the Kryptonian accidentally hit the blade while he was stopping the blood.
Clark apologized as he pressed his comlink. "J'onn, I need medical aid in Watchtower stat."
"Already on it. Two for transport commencing in five seconds."
Looking at the room one last time, he grabbed the papers that Flash had held before dropping them. He hoped that J'onn was able to contact Diana and warn her. If one of them gets hurt or dies, then there's no telling what the significant other will do.
XXX
Gotham Docks 12:39 PM 21 mins remaining
Diana didn't know how many minutes were left as she crept along the empty warehouse.
"ーWonder woman, come in!" She jumped when she heard J'onn's voice through the commlink. Raising to press a finger, she answered him. "What is it? I'm kinda busy at the moment."
"You need to get out of the building as soon as possible! The place is aー"
"I'm sorry, what?"
"It…s a… tr-a-a…p… get out… now… !... get out! ーI repeat! Get out now!"
The warning was too late. Standing center of the room, all doors and windows were latched closed. A loud cackle echoed throughout the room. "Wondy! Oh, I knew you'd make it! How are my goons doing? You didn't give them much of a beating now, did you? Oh, that would have been fun to watch, HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Enough with your games, Joker."
"Oh, but I'm just getting started! Surely you have some time to entertain a poor ol' jokester now, would you?"
"Enough! Where are the kids, Joker?"
"Oh, there are no kids, silly! It was all just a ruse! I would never hurt those brats, no matter how annoying they could get. I know kids mean a lot to you, but I do wonder… When are you and Batsy going to have kids? Oh, I'd be delighted to meet them! "
Diana's lips formed into a snarl. The thought of having her potential child taken by Joker is making her want to kill the clown. After moments of silence and no response from her, he was starting to get a little impatient. "Nothing? Not even a little bit of info? Fine, I'm not here for chatter anyway. I'm just here to deliver your gift. Now, say CHEESE!"
All at once, flashes of light surrounded her vision, blinding her in all directions. She tried to shield her eyes from the brightness, but they increased tenfold. She stumbled back until her back hit the wall.
Green gas replaces the lights as it spreads through the room. Diana placed a hand on the wall, trying to balance herself as her vision was slowly regaining. Unfortunately for her, she inhaled the gas, making her head spin. The toxin was worse than she had endured the last time and it felt like she wanted to throw up.
She stumbled forwards, trying (but failing) to regain her footing, her sword in her hand, held tightly against her palm. She heard a metal door, but she wasn't sure if the door was opening or closing due to the dizziness her head was in.
She felt a hand grabbing her shoulder and made her turn around. When Diana managed to catch a glimpse of the figure, punched him as hard as she could in her condition. The dizziness came back at full force, but she ignored it and glared at the figure who was trying to get up.
"ARES!" She roared out, eyeing the groaning god who was trying to stand up.
When the god stood on his feet, rotating his right shoulder, she somehow managed to speed towards him while she was wobbly on her feet and lashed her sword at him. He managed to roll away in time as her sword collided with the concrete floor, cracking it in the process.
The god tried his best to dodge and block her assault. Diana's anger increased every time he blocked or evaded her. She managed to strike him a few times, but all attacks didn't hit him deep. She didn't understand why the god was using small devices to hit her but she didn't care.
Hearing a swoosh, she turned around and saw no one. She felt movement on her left and turned again, her sword aiming in that direction. Her eyes were darting everywhere, trying to find him. If it wasn't for the thick gas surrounding them she would've found him much quicker.
"Didn't expect that you were a coward, Ares!" She called him out, her stance battle ready but it wasn't strong. "Guess your time in those nets has made you soft." There.
A dark shadow passed by her, but she successfully grasped his arm as he tried to take off, throwing him across the room and into a few slabs of concrete columns. The god slowly moved to stand and Diana waited for him to get a good footing before punching him in the ribs. The god grunted in pain but he grabbed her arm and twisted her arm toward her back.
Diana felt sharp electricity from her arm traveling throughout her entire body. It made her bend a knee and it gave the god an advantage as he pushed Diana down with his knee towards his back.
The Amazon clenched her teeth from the pain and she tried to wiggle out of the god's hold but whenever she did the god would fight back. She barely heard the speakers turning on again but a word from Joker had her blood boiling and a newfound fire burned within her,
"Oh, I wonder what Batsy would do if he could've seen this. The people are enjoying this too, I bet. I hope you have enough fight in you princess 'cause I sure hope Batsy can hold on for as long as he can!"
The god's hold on her loosened a little but that gave her an opening. Ignoring the pain she twisted her arm and grabbed him, throwing him off of her. But before he could hit the ground she tackled him hard, with him landing on the concrete floor on his back and her using him as a cushion for her fall.
With him, in pain, she unholstered her lasso, tied it around the god, and dragged him back to the center.
She threw him around using her lasso, slamming him into everything she set her eyes on even with the blurry mindset. Slamming him to the metal crate for the final time, she released her hold on him, eyes staring at the unmoving figure. Bits and splashes of blood were everywhere.
He was groaning in pain as she loomed over him. His body ached all over the place. It is possible the bones in his body are shattered to one's imagination and some of them are poking through his organs. The metal rod sticking out of his chest only added to the pain he was experiencing.
He cried out as she picked him up by the collar, her face mere inches away from his.
"I know you cannot die as you are a god but I can torture you for all the things that you've done."
Diana's hand went for his neck, choking him. He tried to claw at her hand, much to his agony, but the attempt was futile. Diana watched the life of his eyes slowly fade away, but the toxin from the gas was slowly disappearing. Her head slowly came out of hallucination as she shocked her head to rid of the dizziness.
It was still hazy but she still saw the god right in front of her.
"Diana!"
She heard Dick speaking to her comm but she ignored him and squeezed the god's neck tighter.
"Diana, stop! Whatever you're doing, stop! It's not real! He's not Ares!"
She was confused by this. She didn't understand what Dick meant until a painful headache suddenly assaulted her mind, making her clench her eyes and grit her teeth. As she shook it off she opened her eyes.
What she saw turned her face into a mask of horror, and the blood drained through her veins.
"B-Bruce?" She whispered. Horror and shock went through her mind, her heart raced so fast that it might explode as she realized what she had done.
She quickly but delicately placed him on the ground, cradling his face. Half of his cowl got destroyed. His body was still. His eyes stared lifelessly ahead. "Bruce?" Her voice cracked as she uttered his name. She repeated his name repeatedly, desperately wanting to wake him up.
She quickly readjusted herself and gave him CPR, thinking that he may still be alive. Each press became stiffer. She didn't know how long she's been pumping his chest though she kept going, each pump included a mutter of 'he's alive' passing through her lips.
When there was no sign of life coming through him she slumped down as reality settled in. Diana cradled his body with her own. Her breathing turned ragged and more tears fell down her cheeks. His name became desperate to her lips as she clung to his body, refusing to let go.
Finally, she let out a painful cry. A cry powerful enough to be heard throughout Gotham. A cry that meant her only love was gone.
And she killed him with her own hands.
XXX
"What did you do?" Dick hissed out as his fist clenched Joker's collar, their noses almost touching.
True to Joker's words, the whole encounter was shown live to millions of people. But there was one problem: When Diana had thrown Bruce around like a rag doll, most of the things inside the warehouse got destroyed in the process, including the cameras, resulting in the feed being cut off.
They managed to locate him and Harley, escaping through a chopper. Luckily they caught them in time before they got away. Currently, they're on a cliffside, managing to have the perfect view of Gotham.
"Whatever do you mean, bird boy? I just wanted to make them play."
"Cut the bullshit, you clown!" Red Hood raised his gun at Harley's temple. "Every game you make has consequences attached to it. Either spill it, or I'll shoot your precious girlfriend right here."
"Puddin! You can't make him talk to me like that!" Harley wailed while Joker laughed it off. "Red, don't do it," Dick warned him.
Jason looked at him, annoyed, although Dick can't see his face, he knows him. Which, to be fair, he was underneath that mask. "This clown made me miss my lunch, made Wonder Woman play a sickening game, made us all chase him on a wild goose hunt and now you want me to hold myself for killing his girlfriend? You think I wouldn't be pissed about that?"
"I would listen to birdy over there red. It would be such a shame for Batsy to know you disobeyed him, HAHAHAHAHAーAughh!" He was cut off by a fist to the face. The punch was so hard that he had to spit out a tooth. Dick turned to look incredulously at Tim.
"Just tell us what you did, asshole. We're tired of your game." He hissed out, grabbing him out of Dick's grasp and into his. Joker chuckled before he stared into his eyes. ", What time is it?"
"What?"
"What time is it?"
"Why the hell is he questioning time?" Jason mumbled as Dick questioned the same thing, although he said it out loud. Jason used his right hand to pull up his jacket to check the time.
"A minute till one. What does one minute have to do with all this?" Jason questioned him as the Bat clan stared at the manic grin on Joker's face, Harley giggled once she saw it. "Well, time is important for important events and this one will go down the history books! It's such a shame that the people of Gotham didn't get a chance to witness it. But they will be part of it! HAHAHAHA!"
The Bat clan was confused about what Joker was telling them, but they then heard a boom. Turning to where the source was, all of the boys watched in horror at what happened to the city.
Back in Gotham,
All citizens were unaware of what was happening to them at the last minute. People talked about the feed and the clock tower chimed, indicating it was 1 in the afternoon.
But all hell broke loose when it rang for the third time.
Cliffside
Joker laughed in joyous glee as he saw the catastrophe he created.
"Surprise!"
