Chapter 6: Of Ladybugs and Jokesters
It was hard to believe that a party and a massacre could be associated with one another. In fact, one would find it impossible to imagine a scene that somehow combines a lot of damage, frightened people and lots of cake and balloons. But that was the scary, disturbing thing about The Joker. He could turn the most innocent and joyful of occasions into something utterly horrific.
That was what had happened at the Le Grand Paris. The Mayor had been hoping to throw a party in Batman's honour, though the whole thing was more a publicity stunt for his own benefit than to show affection for Gotham's Dark Knight. But The Joker had blown up the three cakes that Tom and Sabine had made for the party and trapped all the guests inside. And now he was ranting at a camera that was focused on him, asking the cryptic words that would force his enemy to come out of hiding.
"Where. Is. BATMAN?!"
He swept his eyes over the hall, looking at all the frightened guests. What a sight it was to see them all sniveling in fear at him! It seemed that even out of Gotham, things didn't change with him. It was always the same whenever he brought his reign of terror to the world.
"He Frenchies, stop looking at me like that!" the clown criminal exclaimed, grinning manically, "I only asked a simple question. Where is Batman?! I want to teach him a lesson for thinking he could run away from me!"
As the purple-clad, white-faced clown made his scene, Hawk Moth's possessed butterfly took in the sight, its master able to see everything the butterfly saw through its own eyes. Hawk Moth had watched the cakes explode and The Joker unveil himself. He had never seen anything like him before. He tapped his chin with his cane in thought.
"Who is this clown-themed man?" he purred, "Is he...one of mine?"
He shook his head dismissively.
"No...my akuma hasn't possessed anybody. He can't be mine! Can he...?" he wondered.
Shrugging, Hawk Moth decided to watch on anyway.
"Maybe if Ladybug, Cat Noir and Batman show up, this stranger could help me in seizing their Miraculouses!" he said excitedly, "Yes...I can practically feel them in my grasp now!"
His eyes turned a frosty cold as he watched all of the events unfold.
With where he was in Alexandre's apartment, Bruce's eyes were wide in terror as he saw the Joker showing off his menacing and clownish look around at all the guests at the party. How could HE of all his enemies be here in Paris now!? The thought of all those people ending up dead at the Joker's hands made his blood run cold, because he knew the Clown Prince of Crime wouldn't show a single shred of remorse over doing it. He had to get there and stop him!
But first of all, he had to take care of Alexandre, whom he still had against the wall. He grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and dragged him towards the bedroom, leaving the Frenchman startled.
"M-Monsieur! What are you doing!?" he exclaimed as Bruce opened up the wardrobe door and tossed him in there.
"Your not going anywhere until I get back. You still need to tell me everything about the Riddler, and don't even think of screaming, because I know for a fact no one will hear you." Bruce coldly responded, not really thinking much about Alexandre's well being as he slammed the wardrobe door shut, before using all of his strength to shove his bed in front of the wardrobe doors to prevent them opening. With that he stormed out of the room and headed back to the balcony he gotten in through.
"Master Bruce? Forgive me for not speaking up a little earlier, but I've activated the Bat-Drone you brought with you to the hotel. It's heading to your location now, so just hop onto the roof and you can be ready to change." Alfred's voice informed through the earpiece, to which Bruce nodded as he gained the info.
"Heading on the roof now, Alfred, thank you." he said as calmly as he could, trying not to let his nerves get the better of him. He had to hurry and fast, before the Joker would start slashing down any innocents with whatever horrible tools he had in him tonight.
But in the Agreste mansion, a certain Bluenette was struggling to calm her nerves down at what was happening.
"No...mom...dad..." Marinette breathed slowly. Her chest was tightening and she was aware that she was hyperventilating. She was terrified, more terrified than she'd ever been in her life.
She, Adrien, Alya and Nino had seen the whole scene on the Agreste boy's computer. They had tuned into the news and had been horrified when the cakes exploded. Thankfully nobody was dead yet but given this was The Joker they were seeing, it could very easily turn for the worst.
"That's horrible!" Alya shrieked, "How could this freak do this to all these people?!"
"I have a nasty feeling that we should know who that dude is!" Nino cried, "Isn't Batman's arch-enemy some clown guy named the Jester or something?"
"The JOKER." Adrien corrected, "Following Batman on the blogs, they always talk about him fighting a guy called The Joker. He's said to be Gotham's worst nightmare. I dunno all the details but the fact he's here means Paris in in for some real shit tonight..."
Marinette was still so horrified at her parents getting hurt that she barely even noticed that the normally mild-mannered Adrien had just swore. She was feeling light-headed and clutched her chair as if her life depended on it.
"Oh no...my mom and dad could get killed!" the French girl shrieked, "I-I-I...I-I gotta help them!"
"Marinette, are you out of your mind?!" Alya screamed, "You can't go there! The Joker will blow you up with some booby-trapped custard pie or whatever!"
"But mom and dad are in danger! I can't just sit here and do nothing!" Marinette retorted, "I need to help them!"
"And maybe you can." Adrien said calmly, "You're a Ladybug fan right? You said so yourself earlier. Maybe you know how to find her. You could get her for help."
Marinette took this in and thought. Yes, that was a good idea. Of course, she was Ladybug so she wouldn't need to call herself but Adrien's idea gave her a good excuse to get out of the mansion so she could transform. It really helped to have smart people helping you in situations like this. Beaming, Marinette gripped Adrien's shoulders and almost bounced up and down.
"Adrien you're a genius!" she exclaimed, "Ladybug will save my parents! And maybe Cat Noir and Batman too!"
Alya then stepped in between the two of them.
"Hang on a sec, if you two are thinking of going outside together, don't you think that's a little risky? What if the Joker has done goons out on the streets!?" she pointed out. Though she often found these sort of things exciting, the fact that Batman's most frightening and unpredictable foe was the cause of this latest attack certainly didn't have the young fan girl in such a happy buzz.
But Marinette shook her head, a hard look on her face.
"Alya, if I have a chance to rescue my parents, I'm taking it! Ladybug's that one chance and I need her now!" she exclaimed.
Before any of them could say another word, the French bluenette dashed out of the bedroom door. Alya went to go after her, but Adrien put his hand out in the way, stopping her.
"No, you and Nino stay here! I'll go get her!"
Just like Marinette before him, Adrien was out of the door like an Olympic speedster, leaving the couple stunned.
"If those two get hurt, I'm gonna throttle them!" Alya said with panic in her voice.
"I feel the same, but if Ladybug and Chat Noir show up as always, we probably don't need to worry" Nino tried to reassure as calmly as he could, smoothing her shoulders.
All Alya could do was let out a distressed sigh as her hazel eyes trailed over to the nearby TV screen that was displaying the events that the Joker was causing.
Once outside, Marinette hid behind the mansion itself and opened up her bag, revealing Tikki inside. The kwami had been quietly munching on cookies at the time and was surprised to find herself being let out of the bag.
"Tikki, emergency at Le Grand Paris! Need to transform! Now!" Marinette cried, speaking in sentence fragments to get the point across quicker.
"Not like Hawk Moth to make his move so soon after his last one..." Tikki murmured.
"It isn't Hawk Moth. It's The Joker!" Marinette squealed, "Looks like another of Batman's foes has caught up to him."
"Oh no!" the little magical creature exclaimed, "We really have got to help!"
"I know, especially since my parents are there." the teen-girl said, "Tikki, SPOTS ON!" she yelled.
Her transformation began with Tikki vanishing into her earrings, changing her from plain normal Marinette into the Miraculous Ladybug herself. As she transformed, one thought persisted through Marinette's mind.
Hang on mom and dad...Ladybug is on the way...
Meanwhile, Adrien had run out into his overly large back garden, clear out of sight and safe to transform with no witnesses. He opened up his jacket, releasing Plagg from inside. Plagg looked half asleep, as if he needed to get into bed.
"Hey Adrien, can we wait a few hours?" he yawned, "I haven't finished my cat nap..."
"No time!" Adrien cried, "The Joker's attacking Mayor Bourgeois's hotel! We've gotta save everybody!"
"Whoa, hold the phone there! You mean..." Plagg gasped for a moment, "...Batman's Enemy Numéro un is...here?!"
"Fraid so." Adrien sighed, "You know the drill buddy. Plagg, CLAWS OUT!" he cried.
Plagg was sucked into the ring as the transformation from Adrien to Cat Noir began. As he began to change, Adrien thought to himself about something.
I hope I'm not too late. And I hope Batman will be there too...
Meanwhile, The Joker had grabbed the fame rock guitarist, Jagged Stone, by the throat and was shaking him around wildly. He was still expecting an answer to his question on where Batman was but nobody had been able to answer. He was beginning to get frustrated and was desperate for somebody to provide an answer. Fang the Crocodile growled but The Joker didn't even take any notice.
"Hey fashion disaster, do you know where Batman is?!" the clown demanded, "You better have an answer or your pet crocodile will get hungry for YOU!"
The British rockstar's arms trembled in fear as he shakily held them up, a dumbfounded look on his face.
"L-Look mate, I wouldn't have a clue, alright!? He's not hiding i-in my van, because that would be stupid, wouldn't it?" he tried to reason.
The Joker rolled his eyes, only for them to crack open a little wider as he looked back at Jagged Stone.
"You seriously think he'd slip in among some rockstar's fashion bombed van to hide from me!? That's one of the worst jokes ever!" he yelled as he backhanded the Brit before slashing him across the arm with his knife, making Jagged cry out in pain as he fell to the floor, clutching his bleeding arm in agony.
His crocodile, Fang, went to bite the Joker's leg, only for the red lipped clown to jump over the crocodile hopscotch style, finishing it by stamping on the reptile's tail, earning a yelp from it. This just made the Joker laugh madly at the injuries he just delivered.
"Ha! Call yourself a crocodile!? Killer Croc would eat you and many fishes for breakfast!" he madly exclaimed as he then zoomed around at the frightened crowd members like a typical pantomime villain would do to the audience he was performing for.
That was until an annoying, stuck up voice reached his ears.
"Now you listen to me, you mental freak! THIS is my daddy's home, so treat it with respect or Ladybug will come to kick your butt and put you back on the street with all the other hobos!"
The Joker just smirked as he twirled on his heels, facing the owner of the voice: it was no neither than Chloe Bourgeois, who was standing there with her arms crossed and tapping her foot in impatience, almost as if she was unfazed by everything he had done. But that just made the Joker ever more excited as he juggled his knife in between his hands, surprisingly not cutting himself.
"Ohh? Your the young lady of the house? Not amused by anything Le Clown is giving to you? Hmm...might as well put a smile on your face!" he laughed madly as he then dashed towards Chloe, who squealed like a little pig as he came closer to her.
In response to the Joker's incoming attack, she grabbed Sabrina and put her in front of her like a human shield "Protect me, Sabrina!" she cried, making her red headed friend scream out in fright as the knife wielding Joker came bolting towards her. Sabrina wrestled free and ran for her life, abandoning Chloe to her fate. The Joker lashed out with his knife at the Mayor's daughter...but no strike from the small blade ever came.
Instead, the Joker found himself backhanded by the large fist of Tom Dupain-Cheng, who sent him flying to the floor. Though stunned by the attack, the Joker chuckled as he rubbed his aching face, feeling it swelling from the whack he received from the big Frenchman, whom he stood up and looked at.
"Oh my my, what a big man you are. Bane would be impressed. Oh, was that your cakes I blew up? I'm sorry, but my critical views on things can get very explosive!" he laughed at the joke he made, but Tom was utterly unimpressed. Though the baker felt quite nervous for his and his wife's safety, he felt someone had to stand up to the Joker, and he couldn't just let him stab Chloe, even though she often bullied his daughter.
"Now you listen to me, mister. You might think hurting people is a huge load of fun and games to you, but these people have lives and others they love. What you just did is going to get you in a lot of trouble. When Batman comes, he's going to make sure your locked away in the dark hole you crept out of" Tom bravely said, hovering his large arm in front of his wife to protect her from any arm.
The Joker yawned and gestured a yapping mouth with his hand, smirking "That was epically boring, big baker boy, but it's not everyday an ordinary man pops out of nowhere to stand up to me. Even if they give me a boring as crap speech!" he exclaimed as he twirled the knife around in his fingers.
That made the huge, muscular man lose his composure briefly. Now seeing the knife in The Joker's hand, he began to feel uneasy. What if the Clown Prince of Crime attacked him? He'd be powerless to take him out, especially since his earlier punch hadn't even fazed The Joker. Sabine clutched Tom tightly as if sharing his fear.
"Tom, I think you were unwise to provoke him..." she whispered.
"Your lady friend sure is right big guy!" The Joker sneered, suddenly up in Tom's face and pointing the knife at his throat.
How had he got there so fast?! Tom hadn't even seen him move! One minute he was there, the next minute he had moved! It was like a magic trick, but an unpleasant one. Tom flinched, clutching Sabine harder to himself. He could feel the smaller Chinese woman shaking against his torso.
"So you're a baker aren't you?" the clown purred, "Well then, maybe I could prepare a special for everybody in this room! Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh! What should I call it? How about "Beef-Cake"?! AH, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA!"
He then suddenly grabbed Tom and wrestled him down onto the floor with little effort. That surprised the French baker, he hadn't expected such a skinny, scrawny looking man to be so strong. Sabine cried out with terror, her eyes full of tears.
"Oh god, no, Tom! Please sir, don't hurt him!" she whimpered.
The Joker pinned Tom down to the floor and held his knife just above the back of his neck. If he pushed down, the blade would insert itself into the thick neck and kill the man instantly. Sabine was rooted to the spot, the Chinese woman too afraid to move as if fearing moving would provoke him. The Joker stared at her with a crazed look in his eyes.
"If you want this walking muscle factory to live shorty than I suggest you answer my question! You know where Batman is?" he demanded.
"No monsieur but if you don't hurt my husband, maybe we could find him for you!" Sabine begged.
"Yes, let's find Batman so that he can deal with this ruffian!" Mayor Bourgeois declared, trying to seem like a hero to the guests.
The Joker looked up, his cold stare fixed on the mayor. Somehow, his smile now looked even scarier than normal.
"So you think you're a big shot do you?! Just because you're some fool in a suit and tie?!" The Joker screeched, "AH, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA! How droll! Let's see if big heads like you bleed any differently to the people I've killed!"
The Joker went to toss his knife towards the mayor, only for him to cry out in shock as a black dotted red yoyo shot out of nowhere, smacking the knife out of his hands and sent it flying into a nearby wall instead. Before the Joker could even react, a red fist crashed into his left cheek, sending him flying off of Tom and crashed into a table holding several drinks, which drenched him as they spun in the air, before shattering into smaller chunks of glass. Calmly wiping his face, the Joker opened his demonic eyes to see an angry looking Ladybug standing fiercely in front of Tom and Sabine, her blue eyes cold as she stared down the Joker.
"You keep away from them you monster!" she ordered with a hiss.
The Joker just laughed as he sprung to his feet, smoothing his hair back as if to charm the spotted heroine, who began to swing her yoyo, readying to launch another attack, but the villainous clown was unfazed by it.
"My my, you look even more fabulous face to face, Madame. Am I to have this dance?" he asked as he flipped out an even larger kitchen knife from his smart jacket.
All of a sudden though, he was whacked up the nose and jabbed in the chest, catching him by surprise and knocking him backwards slightly. Patting his chest to ease the bruise he received, the Joker looked up to see Chat Noir standing beside Ladybug, a fierce look in his green feline orbs.
"No one touches M'Lady or the people we protect" he said, his voice dripping with seriousness no one ever heard of. No one could really blame Ladybug and Chat Noir for being ultra serious here, they were dealing with an insane killer!
Said insane killer let out a groan and made a dramatic rub of his forehead.
"Oh my oh my, I demanded a bat, not a cat!" he yelled as he pointed the knife at Chat Noir, before smirking, "So, curlylocks, are you Batman and Catwoman's son? Because that's another thing I'd gladly have bite the dust!" the Joker exclaimed madly as his pupils went to slits with all that madness in him driving his strength and energy here.
"Sorry to disappoint but I'm not related to Catwoman or Batman." Cat Noir snorted, "Though it'd be awesome if I was."
"What's the big idea Joker?!" Ladybug demanded, "Why are you wrecking up the place and demanding Batman's head on a platter? You have no right to bring your reign of terror to France!"
"I don't believe in rights and rules!" The Joker sneered, "Only chaos and madness! AH, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA!"
He then sprang towards the French heroes as if fired from a gun and drop kicked both of them in the face, knocking them over. As Ladybug and Cat Noir were downed, The Joker spun his larger knife around in his hand, still managing to not to cut himself amazingly. He then threw it at Ladybug as she was standing up. Screaming in fright, Ladybug through herself down on the ground just as the knife swept over her head. It managed to cut a few tiny strands but otherwise did nothing of any real harm. The spotty heroine picked herself up and spun her yoyo around as The Joker's knife boomeranged back into his hand. The clown merely laughed as if the whole thing was hilarious to him.
Ladybug sprinted towards the purple-clad villain, keen to whale on him as much as possible. But then The Joker suddenly squeezed the flower on his jacket as Ladybug neared him. A spray of acid leapt out of the seemingly harmless decoration and hit Ladybug in the chest. The heroine screamed in agony as the acid ate away at the fabric on her costume, exposing a circular patch of skin that was beginning to turn red from the irritation of the acid. She staggered back, grimacing in pain. Cackling menacingly, The Joker advanced on her, knife in hand.
"I always did prefer bats over bugs anyway." he sneered as he raised the knife, ready to make the kill.
Hawk Moth's akuma was watching the fight and Hawk Moth saw clear as daylight as The Joker was about to stab Ladybug. He was smiling to himself gleefully.
"Yes...if that maniac kills her, I can seize her Miraculous from her rotting corpse!" he cried, "This "Joker" person's making my job easier for me!"
But the purple-clad, butterfly themed villain wouldn't get his wish for Ladybug recovered surprisingly quickly and uppercut The Joker in the chin. The clown's head snapped backwards so hard that the spotty heroine was amazed it hadn't come off. She then picked herself up and wrapped her yo-yo around his ankles. She was about to trip up The Joker but the clown sprayed acid at the wire with his flower, cutting the string in two. Ladybug gasped in horror as she saw her now useless yo-yo lie on the floor.
"Wh-what?! Bu-but my yo-yo's supposed to be unbreakable!" she protested.
"Acid breaks anything toots!" The Joker mocked, "I thought you'd know that already!"
Chat Noir suddenly slashed him down the side of his face, making the Joker cry out in pain as blood was drawn from his cheek. Before the clown had time to react, Chat Noir gave him an uppercut and gave him a nasty bash in the gut with his bo-staff.
"You keep away from her you piece of filth!" he ordered as he then went to punch the Joker in the face, only for his fist to be caught by the mad clown, who tossed him over his shoulder and sent him flying onto the staircase. Grunting, he looked up to see the Joker tossing out a knife towards him, but Chat dodged the incoming weapon.
"Filth? Last time I checked, cats lived in the alleys! So look who's talking!" the Joker mocked madly, digging deep into his jacket pockets and pulling out a pair of toy guns.
As Chat new better than to poke fun at the weapons, Ladybug looked down at her damaged yoyo, the broken string suddenly glowed a light pink, the light extending from the slashed point and trailed towards the injured heroin, who found the light coming into her hands. The yoyo then sparkled a bright violet, which connected towards Ladybug, who gasped as she was lifted into the air, her eyes glowing a bright pink as the glow of the same colour stretched over her body, her skin healing up, and the damage to her outfit was repaired in a matter of five seconds. Gently touching ground, the bluenette heroine's eyes stopped glowing and found the string had been repaired. Surprised, she rubbed the patch of where her injury once was, before smiling a little.
"Of course...the magic" she whispered. A sudden bang, however, brought her back to reality.
The Joker fired one of the toy guns, which popped out a flag saying "HaHa!". Chat stayed his ground, though, knowing very well what could happen next. About ten seconds later, the flag fired out like a rocket, which zoomed straight towards the black clad hero, who leapt to the side to avoid the rocket bullet, only for a volley of others to come right at him. Bouncing up the staircase, Chat leapt up to the second floor as the Joker continued to fire away at him.
"Come back kitty! Puss puss! Cmon, I won't bite this time!" he laughed as he began to dash up the staircase, only for a certain yoyo to wrap around one of his ankles.
Before he could react, the clown found his face smashing against the floor as he was pulled back by Ladybug, who swung him down onto the table behind her.
Dazed for a moment, the Joker looked shocked as Ladybug stood in front of him.
"What!? But I got you and your toy with acid!" He cried in surprise, his grin now well off his chalk white face for the time being.
Ladybug smirked confidently at him, "It's magic, moron. Magic can heal anything" she responded in a cool tone, before swinging the clown around in a circular pattern and tossing him out through one of the hotel's windows. The Joker cried out in...excitement as he slammed onto the road outside, slight tears in his suit thanks to smashing through some glass.
As he spat out some blood, the Joker saw a bo-staff tap the ground with a thud as Chat landed in front of him after leaping from the hotel's balcony.
"Ready to close the circus, clown?" the blonde haired boy calmly asked as he aimed his bo-staff at him.
The Joker looked as if he was ready to continue fighting. He was poised, ready to strike, centre of gravity balanced. Ladybug and Cat Noir braced themselves, waiting for another attack. But then suddenly...The Joker threw up his hands and dropped his action-ready expression. He now looked suddenly pathetic and weak as if he'd had enough and just wanted to go home already.
"OK! Ya got me! Paris's mighty heroes are way too powerful for poor, pathetic me!" he whimpered.
That made the French heroes stare at him incredulously. The Joker...was surrendering?! But that couldn't be, the Clown Prince of Crime was not known to just give up like that! Ever! They didn't lower their guard. Ladybug twirled her yo-yo around, ready to strike.
"Nice try clown boy but we ain't buying it..." she scowled.
"Buying what? There's no act whatsoever! I really mean what I say!" the clown-themed crime master insisted, "I give up! Ya may as well slap the cuffs on me!"
He held his hands out as if inviting them to do just that. Of course, Ladybug and Cat Noir didn't have handcuffs but they nevertheless looked at each other and then back at their opponent. On the one hand, they still didn't believe it. The Joker had to be tricking them. But on the other hand, he did seem pretty genuine about his defeat. Maybe they had defeated him after all? Still being cautious, Ladybug slowly approached The Joker. She intend to tie him up with the yo-yo and haul him off to be thrown away in a jail cell.
"You better not be lying Joker or you're in for even worse pain than what you've already gotten." the red and black superheroine warned.
"Oh really Ladykiller, why would I be lying?" The Joker asked innocently.
"It's LadyBUG actually." retorted Ladybug.
"Whatever." the criminal jester sighed, "Oh and just to show I'm not faking, accept this gift from me as a token of my apology for causing sooooo much trouble!" he added.
He then proceeded to pull out a cream pie from nowhere. It was like a magic trick, pulling things just out of thin air. Cat Noir blinked, wondering where the pie had even come from. Ladybug hesitated, not sure what to do. Of course, the pie could be booby-trapped but she had no way of telling. Cautiously, she chose her next words carefully.
"Put it on the ground." she ordered, "I wanna test it first."
The Joker, strangely enough, complied and put the pie down on the tarmac. That surprised Ladybug. She had expected him to drop the pretence and throw it at her anyway. But he didn't. Now for the test. She motioned for Cat Noir to come forward.
"Poke it with your staff." she ordered.
The feline hero nodded and slammed the butt of his staff into the pie, penetrating the pastry and spilling cream over the sides. Nothing else happened. It was a completely normal pie. The Joker hadn't been faking after all. Sighing with relief, Ladybug came forward.
"Phew, and to think I was expecting it to explode or something..." she mused.
"That's because that pie wasn't a gag pie like you expected." The Joker said, his innocent smile now disappearing as it was replaced with his usual sinister one, "THIS one is!"
Then suddenly, he pulled another pie from nowhere and tossed it straight at Ladybug and Cat Noir. The two teens didn't even have time to dodge as the pie hit them and exploded, throwing them off their feet and straight into the wall behind them. The insect and cat themed heroes didn't even know what had hit them, feeling as if the very life had been punched out of their bodies. The damage done to their costumes and bodies would soon heal but The Joker intended to finish them off before that happened. Whipping out another pistol he aimed at both of their heads with a wicked grin on his face.
"Now to pop a bullet in your brains before your magical mumbo jumbo can fix anything!" he cackled.
And that was when he was hit in the hand by a surprise attack from above. But said surprise attack was one The Joker was all too familiar with as he clutched his hand and looked at the very thing that had hit him...a single Batarang. The very presence of the weapon told him one compulsory fact. At long last, Batman was here! The Joker then chuckled and wiped the blood from one cheek to another, the red of his blood and lipstick mixing together in a sickening way, smirking as he glanced over his shoulder.
"C'mon out, Bats. I've been wanting to have this dance with you" he said calmly, almost as if he was relaxing in a comfy chair.
He failed to notice the angry snarl that formed on the Dark Knight's face: seeing Ladybug and Chat Noir risking their lives in trying to bring down the frightening clown filled him with dread and worry, given they were two youngsters putting their lives on the line in handling someone that he felt was his responsibility.
The cowled hero leapt off the edge of the hotel's balcony and delivered a hard kick to the back of his arch nemesis, sending him flying across the road as cameras of the news reporters began flashing all over the place, capturing the moment the Dark Knight hero literally kicked in on the incident. Batman's proper face behind the mask matched its scowl: he was livid as he face the Joker while Ladybug's and Chat Noir's magic healing began to kick in.
"You bring your wicked ways to Paris...it's time I put you down for the next eight months!" Batman yelled angrily as he readied his fists.
The Joker merely snickered at his arch-enemy.
"Put me down? PUT ME DOWN?! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! Oh Bats, we know full well you don't kill!" he taunted, "You won't ever kill me because you're too obsessed with beating me to do so!"
"I don't kill so that I can show I'm not the same monster you are." Batman retorted, "Why Joker? Why did you come to France? Did you really come all this way just to spite me?"
"HELLO!? Isn't it obvious?!" The Joker cried out in a mocking tone, "You run away from Gotham for some reason so obviously I'm gonna come after you! And why? Because Gotham's boring without you Batsy old pal! Without the Batman, crime has no punchline! So in order to keep myself entertained, I had to chase after you! Besides, there's all sorts of new fun to have here in France! Wouldn't you agree?"
Batman just sighed angrily. He hated that aspect of his nemesis, the fact he saw everything in life as some stupid game. He even seemed to view their rivalry as some stupid game to play over and over again. Well tonight, he would finally crack The Joker's skull open and make him realize for once that this whole thing was NOT a game. It never was a game and he was determined to show that he wasn't playing any.
"I think you just needed a bad excuse to attack an innocent country..." the Gotham vigilante growled, "And I'm that excuse. Well I'm gonna take you back to Arkham so that France will be spared your terror."
"Blah blah blah, it's the same dramatic retort you always come up with! As much as I love hearing it, Bats, I've gotten excited for this moment and I-" the Joker was cut off as Batman tossed a Batarang out at him, though he swiftly dodged it by jumping over a nearby car, spotting a fallen baton. This made the Joker grin wider as he could hear Batman leap off the ground from behind.
"Batiyata time!" he declared rather happily as he swung the baton around and whacked Batman in the gut with it.
Though his suit was laced with armour that absorbed the impact, it was still strong enough to send Batman tumbling onto the bonnet of the car. He recovered quickly as the Joker came flying towards him, so he rolled off the car as the baton slammed onto the bonnet, denting it. Batman managed to land a punch on the clown's arm and gave him an uppercut, sending him flying off the car and over onto the pavement opposite. The Joker kept hold of the baton and just cackled menacingly as he gestured at the Dark Knight to come closer.
"Come on, come on now, don't be shy, I won't bite too hard!" he said so innocently as Batman began to storm towards him like an enraged bull.
The bat made his move as he tried to tackle the Joker, who swung the baton towards the Dark Knight's face, only for a well timed arm to block the incoming blow and land a hard jab into the Joker's chest, knocking him back roughly, but a sickening cough of laughter escaped his lungs as he drew out another blade, slamming it into the arm of his nemesis. Batman let out a grunt of pain, but before he knew it, the Joker swiftly pulled it out and tried to slash his chest, only to be kicked in the gut by the Caped Crusader, who then gave him a double uppercut that sent him flying into a lamppost behind him, denting it.
Resisting the urge to groan, the Joker glanced at his knife and took notice of the small amount of blood he gotten on it. That made him smirk in delight as he realised he now had a chance to bring down the protector of Gotham for good. He glanced up to see Batman storming closer, his masked face looking as hard as a brick wall as he readied his gloved fists, almost eager to give the clown the nasty hiding he deserved. However, the bat then cried out in surprise as he came flying off his feet after the Joker gave a nasty swipe at them with the baton. His head ringing as it connected to the concrete ground, Batman's vision became a blur as he felt the weight of his opponent get on top of him. The laughter of the clown filled him with dread as he caught a gleaming shine of the knife rising over his face.
"Say bonjour to the devil for me, Batsy boy. And my regards to dear Jason Todd too!" the Joker said sweetly as the knife came flying downwards...but it never came into contact with the body of Batman. Instead, the certain yo-yo of Ladybug's wrapped around the Joker's wrist and his grin dropped like a stone.
"Oh c'mon!" he cried out in annoyance, only to be swiftly pulled off Batman, coming flying towards Ladybug herself. But he didn't get close enough to the insect based heroine, as a grey baton smashed into his face, sending him flying into the corner wall of a shop.
Dazed and surprised, the Joker could feel the skin on his right cheek had been torn open and felt two bits of teeth come splattering out of his mouth in a red puddle. Looking up, he saw Chat Noir giving him a nasty look, the end of his baton dripping with blood as his eyes glowed hauntingly in the darkness of the night.
"Oh my, is the kitty cat angry?" the killer jokester taunted, "That's unusual. I'm usually TRYING to make pal angry when they get angry at me!"
"Oh you don't have to try Joker. You're so annoying that you can tick me off without having to!" Cat Noir growled.
"Give it up Joker, you can't possibly beat all three of us at once!" Ladybug declared.
The damage done to them by The Joker's pie earlier had been repaired so now they looked as good as new again. Batman stared in brief surprise, fascinated at how they had just recovered from a Joker attack like that. It sure would help the Justice League if they could do that! He picked himself up, ignoring the pain, and he clenched his fists. The Clown Prince of Crime glanced from Ladybug to Cat Noir and to Batman, knowing full well he truly was out of his depth. But he was far too crazy and insane to just give up like that so he began to laugh. Then he pulled out some balloons from his coat pocket, once again, completely out of nowhere as if by magic. Everybody flinched. Knowing the Joker, these balloons could do anything.
"Haven't you heard the old phrase, "Quality, not quantity"?!" the Joker cackled, "Ha, ha, ha, ha! Sometimes it's just one man you need to take down an army!"
He then proceeded to blow the balloons up and toss them at the three heroes. Gasping in horror, Ladybug and Cat Noir dived for cover as one balloon missed them and hit the ground, exploding into a cloud of gas. Batman's eyes widened as he saw the gas spread out from the balloons as they popped. He knew exactly what it was.
"JOKER GAS!" he exclaimed, "Ladybug, Cat, don't breathe it on whatever you do!"
The two teen-heroes knew better than to argue with Batman so they did as they were told. Batman knew his nemesis well and wouldn't tell them to hold their breaths for nothing. They covered their mouths and noses so they couldn't inhale the gas and they ran away so they could wait for it to disappear. Batman himself pulled out a gas mask that he always carried with him for occasions like this and slipped it on. He was safe from the deadly gas now. But as he searched for The Joker, the crazed lunatic came at him with another balloon. This one wasn't full of Joker Gas this time, but was actually full of rocks so when he slammed it into the vigilante's head, he knocked him clean off his feet, popping the balloon at the same time. Batman lay on the ground, dazed and confused but he didn't take long to recover. The Joker gas hung in the air around the person who had created it, adding more to the already grim atmosphere of the Paris night.
"As always, you put others above yourself Bats! Pity it cost you your back up!" The Joker taunted.
"I've never needed back up to take you down before." Batman growled, "I can take you down alone again..."
He then swung his fist up, crashing it into The Joker's chin and throwing him backwards. The punch was so sudden and hard that the killer clown barely even registered what had happened, only that he now suddenly had a sharp pain in his neck.
"Whooaaaa!" he let out madly as he went flying into the metal fence of the park, making the clown wince in pain as he felt the bruises ache angrily. He glanced up to see the vigilante coming towards him once more, so the clown spring to his feet and brought up the baton as Batman slammed his band downwards.
Meanwhile, Ladybug and Chat Noir retreated to the corner edge of a rooftop, from where they could see the deadly Joker gas increasing in size and hovering towards the many frightened Parisians gathered outside the hotel. Ladybug's blue eyes widened in terror at this.
"Chat if we don't stop that gas then those civilians have had it!" she cried as she tried to think over what to do.
"How can we beat gas though?" Chat pondered and tapped his chin thoughtfully. That was then, though, when Ladybug snapped her fingers as if a lightbulb appeared over her head, then grabbed her yo-yo.
"LUCKY CHARM!" she exclaimed, tossing her yo-yo into the air above her.
At once, a magical effect occurred as the special power kicked in. The yo-yo remained where it was, spinning for a moment until finally, the Lucky Charm item came into existence. For once though, it seemed to be an item where Ladybug knew what to do with it straight away. The items he now held in her hands was a red fan with black spots all over. It looked like the kind of fan you'd keep on your desktop only this one didn't require a plug. The spotty heroine smiled gleefully.
"Alright, this is just what I need!" she said excitedly.
"Yeah, you can really "blow" The Joker away with that!" Cat Noir snickered.
Ladybug sighed but said nothing as she swung down to the ground and held her breath. She aimed the fan and switched it on. She was aiming it at an upwards angle so the Joker Gas would be blown straight up into the sky where it would be completely harmless until it disappeared into the atmosphere. The fan's blades turned around, becoming a red and black blur as they began to blow away the gas. Because it was a magical item, it was much stronger than an ordinary fan and the gas was slowly beginning to rise up and away from the fan as if afraid of it. The hotel guests began to cheer as they watched the deadly gas blow away into the sky above.
The Joker and Batman linked hands together and pushed on one another as if in a sumo match. But then Batman smirked at The Joker, making the clown stare at him incredulously.
"What the hell are you smiling it?!" he cried.
"Look over your shoulder Joker." Batman sneered, "Ladybug's blowing away your big plan."
The Joker glanced over his shoulder and his demonic yellow eyes widened in shock and fury as he saw Ladybug putting an end to his attempted gas attack on the hotel. He trembled in anger and glared at Batman.
"No! I'm meant to be the last one standing! I'm meant to survive the last curtain call! Not you or that bug!" he yelled angrily, furious that his insane plan had come to a frustrating end. But his crazy brain just kept picking away at him from the inside, telling him to keep up the fight, not to lose to Batman or another pair of teenagers!
The Joker made a twisted grin as he then lunged at Batman, trying to swipe him at the head with the baton, only for the Dark Knight to catch him by the arm and swung him high above his head, before sending him crashing onto the concrete ground below. The Joker howled in pain as his arm was then twisted by his nemesis, who planted his boot onto his back very roughly, pinning him there hard. Shortly enough, they were both joined by Ladybug and Chat Noir, both of whom gave Batman a relieved look.
"I take it he's down for now?" the bluenette questioned with an exhale, to which Batman nodded at with a small smile of his own.
"Couldn't have beaten him without you or Chat. Thank you, Ladybug" he said proudly as his hand went for his utility belt to get out a pair of handcuffs.
"It was our pleasure" she replied as she then glared down at the beaten clown.
Part of her really wanted to kick his head in for nearly killing her parents, but she had to resist the urge to do so, so to show she was the better person. But that was when she noticed Chat Noir looking to the sky with an uncertain look on his face.
"Uh, Chat? Everything alright?" she asked softly, so as not to bring his nerves up.
The feline based hero responded by pointing up at the sky, taking notice of a small, butterfly demon coming towards them "Something tells me we're about to get another akuma victim." he said in a bleak tone. Ladybug and Batman looked up to see the akuma coming towards them, making the latter frown.
"Am I right to assume that is what it is?" he questioned sharply.
"You said that right, it's an akuma...could it be coming for the Joker? To akumatise him?" she asked nervously, really unsure at this moment as the mad clown didn't seem the type to attract such a demonic creature.
"We did beat him, so he's bound to be pissed. Let's get him away f-"
Batman lost his words as the akuma then vanished into thin air, making them all frown in response.
"Wait, what? Where the heck did it go!?" Chat exclaimed in surprise.
"They've never done that before..." Ladybug trailed off as she felt a warm glow climbing up her back. Looking around with her two black clad comrades, she gasped as she saw the akuma was now on the winded Joker, who spat out another bit of his blood as he glared up at them.
"What's the frowny faces for?" he asked numbly.
Before an answer could be given, the purple glow of the akuma consumed the Joker like it was eating him alive, making him cry out in utter shock as he became a glowing figure of light, then in a split second, he vanished into thin air, almost as if he was never there in the first place. Batman, Ladybug and Cat could only stare in disbelief. The akuma...had caused the Joker to disappear! Where to? To Hawk Moth no doubt! That sent a lot of chills through their spines. The Joker was bad news enough already but what if he and Hawk Moth ended up forming an alliance?! Paris would be doomed forever if that happened! Ladybug could feel herself beginning to panic, something that didn't happen very often.
"Oh my gosh...he's gone!" she shrieked, "Oh no...Hawk Moth's probably brought him right to him! What if he akumatizes The Joker? What if he teams up with him?!"
"It could be the end of Paris as we know it...and I DON'T feel fine." Cat Noir said grimly, no humour in his voice whatsoever.
"You said earlier you don't know where Hawk Moth is..." Batman said, angry over the Joker's disappearance, "We'll never find him now...until it's too late."
"So what do we do?!" Ladybug shrieked, clutching Cat Noir and almost throttling him as if he could somehow save everything.
"I don't knoooooow so stop shaaaaaaaking meeeeeeeeeee!" Cat Noir exclaimed helplessly.
"Calm down, both of you! Panicking won't solve anything." Batman said, firmly but not angrily so as not to frighten the two teens.
They both tried to calm down, and it seemed to work, but only for a bit.
"But...what about the Riddler? He's still out there and this could all be part of his plan!" Ladybug pointed out, an almost angry presence entering her voice, trying to push out the thoughts of all three madmen in succeeding in their goals of chaos.
However, she then felt a pair of hands firmly grip her shoulders, rubbing them a bit.
"M'Lady, you need to calm down. If you keep overreacting and panicking, we're going to get nowhere." he softly pointed out, trying to ease her fears.
As much as she wanted to panic and voice out frustrations and worries, Ladybug exhaled and felt a massive weight ease in her. She and Chat had to be the heroes Paris needed right now, and right now the heroes shouldn't be panicking. She let out another big sigh before turning to Batman.
"I'm sorry for behaving like that...it's been such a long time since we faced a scale as anything as big as this." she explained, deep sadness and regret in her voice.
A tiny change came over Batman's features as he looked down at the French super heroine and her partner. He felt pangs of guilt eating away at his soul, a haunting voice all too similar to the Joker's and Riddler's that was telling him this was all his fault for bringing such terror to Paris. These two were teenagers and they shouldn't have to bare such a burden that he should be baring.
"There's nothing for you to be sorry for, Ladybug. If I was quicker in stopping the Riddler from leaving America, neither of you would've had to be putting up with this." he said with guilt and regret hanging in his voice.
Ladybug and Cat Noir exchanged sympathetic glances to their caped friend. They could tell from the guilt in his voice that this whole thing was like a heavy weight on his shoulders and he felt entirely responsible for it. And they couldn't blame him really. The Joker and the Riddler were his foes and they had come to France, the former coming because Batman himself was here. But at the same time, they knew that Batman shouldn't blame himself for the whole thing. After all, it wasn't as if he had told The Riddler to come here in the first place. The two approached him, smiling kindly.
"We understand your guilt Batman and why you're taking this so hard." Ladybug said softly, "But it's not your fault this is happening at all. If The Riddler never came to France, The Joker wouldn't have too."
"Besides, it's not like you let him get away on purpose." Cat Noir added, "We heroes sometimes don't always get it right first time. But we're all still breathing aren't we? That means we've got a chance on putting an end to this nightmare!"
"We're not gonna give up on our city Batman. We will remain strong, for our people...and for you too." Ladybug said kindly, "Will you do the same for us?"
Batman took all of this in, stunned at the fact that despite The Joker's worst attacks, the two teens were still very optimistic and hopeful. It was that kind of youthful energy that made them such great heroes and he had to admit, they really did remind him of the Teen Titans. They had a youthful energy that seemed to drive them on against all odds. And that was why they were such an admirable team in the world of heroism. Such optimism was not only admirable, but made for some great role models too. Batman didn't quite smile, but even behind the cowl the French heroes could see that his expression was softening. He looked at them through his blank white eyes.
"Of course." he said, a sense of determination in his voice, "I never stop when Gotham's in danger. I won't stop until Paris is safe too."
That made the insect and cat-themed crime-fighters beam delightedly. Batman gave them a brief smile, but a questioning look crossed his features again.
"Though I do wonder...can Hawk Moth's akumas heal their victims? We did do a lot of damage to Joker." he pointed out, really hoping they weren't going to be dealing with a powered up clown.
Ladybug looked thoughtful before giving her answer.
"Hm...from what I researched in the Miraculous book, I don't think they can. Akumas are strong, but nowhere near as strong as the Miraculouses themselves." she responded in a sharp tone.
"If so, that means Hawk Moth won't be able to heal the Joker straight away. They'll need time before he's fully recovered." Chat Noir reasoned with a hint of hope coming into his voice.
"Then that means we'll still have time to find them both, and the Riddler." Batman responded, his tone getting lighter as he realized this wasn't so bad: they'd still have enough time to beat all three of their enemies. And only one of them wasn't too far from his clutches. Speaking of which, Batman suddenly remembered he had a certain Frenchman locked up in his wardrobe!
He glanced around to notice the crowds of civilians and reporters beginning to growing larger as they came towards them. Wanting to make this quick, the vigilante looked down at the two teenagers.
"I'll have to go. I've got a lead on the Riddler and hopefully I can have him in handcuffs tonight and fly him back to Gotham before morning. That's if my source is reliable enough." he noted after he explained everything to them.
"Go ahead, we'll keep the crowd's attention." Ladybug offered.
But then suddenly, her earring began bleeping, telling her that she didn't have time to do that. Given she had used her lucky charm, her Miraculous was running out of power. She needed to disappear before her identity was exposed.
"On second thoughts, I'm outta here too!" she cried, dashing away like an Olympic sprinter.
Cat Noir watched her leave, knowing that he would have to disappear himself. He watched as the crowd lead by Mayor Bourgeois filed out of the hotel and came towards him and Batman. The guests had come for Batman and the Mayor had organized the party for him so they were keen to interview him. The Mayor in particular was the most keen, fighting to stay at the front.
"Batman, Batman! If you'd like to wait a moment, we'd all like to meet you!" the mayor cried.
But Batman was already on his way, firing a grappling hook into the air and swinging away, leaving the crowd behind to watch as he vanished into the night. Cat Noir watched him go and then sneaked away himself. He and Ladybug could meet up with Batman later and once The Riddler was arrested, they would team up to find Hawk Moth and The Joker...and hopefully, they wouldn't be too late to prevent an alliance between them...
But little did they all know a new member of the audience had been watching the entire battle against the nutcase of a clown. A camera from a nearby street corner zoomed in to where Batman was last seen leaving from. The one controlling it was none other than the ever self loving Riddler, who smirked as he rubbed his fingers together, intrigued at what he just witnessed.
"Hmm, so the Joker has decided to pay Paris a little visit too? My my, I'll be bringing the rest of the family over if that's the case!" he chuckled loudly, before quickly covering his mouth and frowned, "Then again, I shouldn't get too ecstatic. While I'm glad that nutcase is here, I don't want to end up acting like him..."
The Riddler also rubbed his temples with his gloved fingers, looking almost annoyed at what he'd witnessed.
"Should've expected the Dork Knight to show up though. Even I can't slip away without him following me!" he sighed angrily, "He's gonna ruin everything and he has my taxi driver imprisoned so he's gonna make him talk and therefore, find me!"
With anger coursing through his veins, The Riddler decided that he had to do something drastic before everything crumbled to bits before him. He didn't want to rush himself but there was no time. He had to act now.
"Shame I have to go ahead sooner than planned but I can settle for a minor inconvenience like this." the cluemaster purred, "I'll have to play my games now rather than later. Time to get those schoolkids rounded up..."
He chuckled to himself as he dug out a mobile phone and dialed a number. He pressed it against his ear. The phone as an Apple iPhone 6, modern and very flat in appearance but very potent and full of useful features. The Riddler's call was answered and he spoke a single command into the phone.
"My Riddler bots have bugged several schoolchildren's phones. You know where they are. Get the targets. It's time for a riddle..."
Whoever was on the other end grunted in response before hanging up. The Riddler leaned back on his chair, tapping his fingers away patiently as he studied all of his views screens.
Meanwhile, in a certain dark room just being lightened up by the calm glow of the moon, the Joker groaned as he came to, his demonic eyes looking like they had been rolling around his sockets with no precise coordination. He blinked and rubbed his chin, cringing slightly as he felt the crumbled and cracked bits of bone there. He looked around and frowned at the darkness.
"So where am I exactly? Le Grand Bat Hotel or something?" he muttered in half annoyance, not all too pleased he gotten his ass handed to him.
"Far from anything comforting, but your not the one for luxury, am I right...Joker?" a certain soothing voice echoed from the dark corner of the room.
The voice came as something of a surprise to The Joker. He didn't know who it was but yet, there was something he liked about it. Maybe it was because of how sinister it sounded. He looked around, curious as to where it had come from.
"Either I'm hearing voices in my head or I'm not alone!" he exclaimed, "Is anybody here besides me and my glorious insanity?" he called out loud, startling the clouds of butterflies that had settled on the floor.
In answer to his question, the owner of the voice came out of the shadows and stepped into the light, revealing himself to be a man in a purple suit with oversized lapels, a silver mask and carrying an indigo walking stick in his hand. The Joker stared in curious fascination. Some new Batman foe was this? Or was he France's local supervillain? There was something about him that made The Joker wonder. Had he saved him earlier? Had he brought him here? The man smiled thinly at his guest.
"Greetings Joker. I am Hawk Moth, and I'd like it if the two of us could have a little...chat."
Oh shit...OH SHIT! The Joker's now in the lair of Hawk Moth! I smell a team-up forming! 0_0
Also what's The Riddler's plan and what will happen now he's putting it into action? Will our heroes even find the villains before it's too late...?