CHAPTER TWO: LEGION
Lex Luthor made his way through the gates. The building in front of him had been standing for a long time, but it had been renovated quite recently.
A man was waiting for him at the entrance. Lex recognized him by his ruby-red lips and green hair, as well as his evil smile. The Joker smiled in an insane way as he saw him.
"Hello, Lexy!" Joker greeted, waving his right hand above his head wildly. "Our leader's been waiting for you. It's best you come inside right now."
"What, he can't wait longer?" Lex snapped. "Is there a reason he can't be patient for once in his life?"
"It's not easy for him, all those years in Arkham. Poor man," Joker said solemnly, and then laughed like a madman, which, in truth, he was.
As they entered, they encountered the antagonists of the many superheroes that were members of the Justice League. They included: Black Manta, Metallo, Captain Cold, Professor Zoom, Ares, Killer Croc, Harley Quinn, and Star Sapphire.
They all followed Lex and the Joker into their main meeting room. Their leader set in a throne made completely of stone.
"What took you so long?" he rasped. "Do you know how much I hate waiting? All my patience is gone, Joker! Don't you dare give me crap such as, 'Oh, we were just having a laugh.' No!" He slammed his fist down. "I've been waiting for so long, and now you all are here. It's good to see everyone. Please, take a seat at the table in front of you."
The glossy wooden table had many seats, at least over a hundred. Joker and the others took their seats, with Joker and Luthor taking their seats near the front.
"So what is your plan?" Luthor asked.
"We must keep the Justice League real busy for the next few days," their leader explained. "To do this, I've assembled all of you. Each one of you has done something to the hero you are the antagonist of. I have a very special plan in store for Batman. It will make me very happy once I have finished. Of course, I want to fight someone else in the Bat-family, and that would be Batgirl. You see, I believe I might have formed an enmity between her and I, which started after I beat her once. She deserved the beating, most definitely. Batman stopped me, but I will win the next time we battle. I will stop here for right now. Do any of you have any questions?"
"I do," Luthor said. "How exactly do you plan to take down all members of the Bat-family? If you remember, they all beat you in a fight a little while ago."
"Yes, well, I'd been fighting Nightwing and Batman, Batgirl, and Robin," the leader protested. "I could have won, but there were four of them, and that posed a big problem. But let's move on, shall we? Back to Batgirl. Yes. She will die before her next birthday!" He slammed his fist down again in anger. "I've waited too long to have my plans foiled! I deserve my shot to kill whomever I wish to. But back to all of you. I will assign you whoever you will be battling. Of course, some of you already know. Lexy, you and Metallo will be together once more. But I'll be coming along, too. I have a good plan to take down Superman's little girl. And no, I do not mean Lois Lane. I mean his cousin. As for the Flash, Professor Zoom will be the only one going after him. Captain Cold, I know you wish to fight your other friend, but I need you to fight someone else."
"And who would this be?" Captain Cold snorted.
"You will help Ares against Wonder Woman and her little girl," the leader said. "It's better if you take down the little girl and try not to go up against Wonder Woman yourself, unless you really must. I'm unsure of your true prowess. The Green Lantern has Star Sapphire to go up against, and let me see, who should I make go with him…I'm not sure." He scratched his chin. "Oh dear."
"How about Harley?" Joker suggested, pointing to his girlfriend, who was dressed in her harlequin costume with her makeup fully on already. She looked over to him with a shocked look on her face.
"No," the leader said briskly. "Killer Croc, you are up. Go with Star Sapphire when we tell you to. And there's one big reason for that. A reason for why I don't want you in Gotham. But I'll go on to that much later." He turned to Black Manta. "You are going to take down Aquaman. Understand me?" Black Manta nodded. "Good. You see, the best thing to do is exhaust your hero in some way. I have a very specific way of doing such a thing, and it's quite fun to see them squirm around, helpless, screaming out for it to stop. It makes me happy. It gives me a reason to keep living, no matter how long I've stayed locked up in a hellhole like Arkahm Asylum. This is the chance for some of you to kill your worst enemies, those who have stopped you from doing what you wish to do most! Now is your chance, and I am leaving it wide open for many of you! THIS IS WHERE YOU WILL FIND YOUR TRUE DESTINY!" He threw back his head and cackled. "Now, does anyone have anything to say?"
"Yes," said Killer Frost from far in the back. "Is there something I can do?"
"Sure. You and Merlyn can take Green Arrow and Black Canary down. I would like you to take down Flash, but it won't exactly work for now. But it depends. Maybe one of you will be injured or defeated. I'll switch you around if that sort of a thing happens. But make sure IT DOESN'T HAPPEN!"
"Sounds good to me," Killer Frost said, now smiling.
"So, is there anything else someone might wish to talk about?"
"I do," Metallo volunteered. "Who will get the chance to kill Superman? Me or Luthor?"
"Luthor," the leader said. "But you can kill Supergirl if you wish."
"That's true. I watched her be teleported up to wherever the Justice League use as a base," Metallo said. "Oh, this is going to be fun." He laughed.
"So, what is your story?" Killer Frost finally asked the leader. "Surely you have a backstory that we should all know about, wouldn't you agree?"
The leader shuffled his position on his throne. He looked over to the wall next to him. A scythe was hanging there, and that scythe was one of his two main weapons.
"Fine," he said. "I'll tell you. I started out as a murderer. Some believe I was a psychiatrist. But in truth, I killed a psychiatrist and took his work. I don't think even Batman knows the truth. I mean, I fit the role because I was already quite smart and understood science. So I continued for many years developing this toxin that would give people nightmares, and it worked! Then my insanity shone through my 'work,' and I became who I am today. Of course, there is one more thing…" He scraped the scythe along the ground. He saw Professor Zoom and Joker talking to one another. Though he knew Joker was listening, Zoom was the one being rude. He could tell by the annoyed expression on Joker's face. "So you wish to know what happened to me afterward? Well, I'll show you!"
He picked up the scythe and slammed it down in between the outstretched fingers of Zoom's right hand. Now everyone could see what had happened to their leader, how disfigured he truly was.
His mask had been torn up, and now it almost resembled that of a Grim Reaper-like face. It could be seen that he was partially blind in his right eye. Through a tear in the mask, it could be seen he had no lips, and it was obvious part of his nose was missing. His chest and torso were covered in scars and partially-healed gashes.
"You see what has been done to me?" he asked. He looked down at his right hand. On the fingertips were five syringe-like needles, connected to tubes that seemed to be filled with some sort of toxin.
Scarecrow looked back up at his followers. "I have been planning this all out for a long time, and I will not fail!" He went back to his throne and took out a pumpkin. "Let's say this pumpkin is one of you. Hm…let's say it's you, Thawne," he said to Zoom. "If you screw up, such as giving information to the Justice League or being beaten by the Justice League girls, knowing how stupid they all are, then…" He slashed the scythe through the pumpkin, slicing it in half. "There. Case closed. So now you all know what you should not do. Don't any of you screw with me!"
"Why?" came a voice. "What will happen to any of us if we mess up?"
Scarecrow looked forward and found someone dressed in vermin control gear, wearing a gas mask. Scarecrow recognized him as the Ratcatcher.
"Flannegan," he said. "I'm surprised to see you here."
"I'm surprised I would have ever come here," he said. "But it seemed too good an offer to pass up."
"Who invited you?"
"I did," the Joker said. "But the reason is one only you would know, Scarecrow."
Scarecrow seemed to smile underneath his mask. He walked over to Ratcatcher and asked him, "Tell me, Flannegan, what is your greatest fear?"
"I don't have one," he answered.
"Is that so? Hm, let's see about that." Scarecrow stabbed him in the chest with the needles on his right hand, injecting him with fear toxin.
At first Ratcatcher didn't seem to be affected by it. And then he cried out, yelling, "Please, father, no more! Please! PLEASE!"
Scarecrow now knew Ratcatcher's deepest fear was being beaten by his father. Taking this as his chance, he turned to the rest of the Legion of Doom. "This is what happens to those who oppose me! If you are like him, then you will die." He turned back to Ratcatcher. "And now for the finishing touch." He raised the scythe and slashed Ratcatcher's chest with it. Even despite the brown vermin gear, Scarecrow could see blood seeping through. Ratcatcher gasped and collapsed to the ground. "Somone take out the trash!"
As Ratcatcher's body was taken away, Scarecrow returned to his throne. "We are almost there, my friends. I can almost taste the victory in store for us if we just keep waiting! Don't lose hope, my friends, for if you do, you'll end up like that piece of crap! I have many plans set out for all of you, and I want them done quickly! But first, let me tell you a little story. You see, there was once this woman who was walking along the road at midnight. She knew how dangerous it truly was, but she didn't care. She felt she was on top of the world! She felt she even had the whole freaking world in her hands! But that night, everything changed. Something seemed out of the ordinary to her. Suddenly she found herself confronted by a demon. The demon asked her what she was doing on the road, and the woman answered, 'I am trying to find my way home.' The demon decided he would trick the woman, so he said, 'I will show you your way home. Follow me.' The woman did so, and soon they entered a cemetery. The woman realized the demon had tricked her. She spoke to the demon about this. The demon just threw back his head and cackled. 'Yes, I know,' said the demon. 'I led you here so that I could kill you.' The demon encased itself with fire and took out its flaming scythe. It cut the woman's head off. It is unknown if the story is true, but if you ask me, it means something. I believe I am the demon. And Batgirl is the woman. I will kill her, and you all will kill the heroes who have wronged you in the past! The Justice League will fall, and when it does, we will be there! We will win!"
