A/N: I hope you all enjoy this new chapter. Please favorite or review!
anon: Yeah, Batman is pretty manipulative, but he isn't an anarchist. I think he's just the opposite, the embodiment of order. It's just a different type of order that he fights for. He doesn't discriminate between people of different status or powers, if you do wrong he comes after you.
IsaacClark: It will be Batman vs the Joker, but someone else will be thrown into the mix...
Chapter Four: Enter the Clown
"Ahem," Harley said, clearing her throat. The ex FBI agent stood in front of several hostages taken from different gangs across Armageddon State. Each hostage had a sac over his or her head and had their hands bound behind their backs. Armed thugs stood behind them, making sure none of them could escape.
Harley pulled out an obnoxiously large pistol out and began to sing as she pulled the first hostage's bag off their head, "Seems like everyone's got a price, I wonder how they sleep at night…"
She put the gun up to the man from Osprey's gang and pulled the trigger, causing his head to explode in a spectacle in a blood and gore. "When the sale comes first…"
The next two hostages were unveiled, one a five of diamonds from the Royal Flush Gang, and the other an Intergang member. "And the truth comes second,"
She shot the five first and then pressed the pistol to the shivering Intergang member. "Just stop for a minute and smile!"
She pulled the trigger and caused another bloody explosion, giggling a little bit when the warm liquid splashed back and hit her.
"It's not about the money, money, money," she sang cheerfully as she cart wheeled over to the forth hostage and pulled off the sac. The tied up man was one of the rabbits from March Hare's gang. The man in the rabbit mask cringed as he felt the barrel of the gun touch his head lightly.
"We don't want your money, money, money!"
The rabbit's head was instantly destroyed, remnants of skull and grey matter splattering all over the floor.
Finally, Harley unveiled the final hostage, who wasn't from any of their rival gangs. He had armored pads and other ninja like utilities, and he was struggling to get free.
Harley smiled and bent down to get eye level with her next victim. "We just wanna make the world burn, forget about the price tag!"
The ninja sneered at her, "We give you the means to fight, and this is how you repay us? My death will not go unpunished!"
"Yeah, yeah," Harley mocked, mimicking him by opening and closing her hand, "We ain't afraid of you bozos!"
"You should be very afraid of us," the ninja threatened as he continued to try and struggle free.
This made Harley laugh even harder, "I guess we've learned something here then? Don't make deals with crazy people!"
She pulled the trigger and shot the ninja's head off. His decapitated body crumpled to the ground as Harley wiped the blood off the front of her pistol. She did love her job so much.
"Harley, have you shown our guests out!"
Harley squealed happily and turned towards the pale menace in a purple suit. She ran over to him and gave the Joker a big kiss on the cheek, to which he chuckled lightly.
"Oh you little minx," Joker laughed as he looked at the blood stained floor, "you're learning!"
"I was taught by the best Mistah J."
Joker smiled, it was true, and he should take all the credit for it. He inhaled and took in the smell of death and destruction. He loved this place! It was completely and utterly out of control, unsupervised, and unprofessional! The one thing that kept Armageddon State from being heaven on earth was that his best pal wasn't around to enjoy it with him.
"Harley, go grab some more hostages and begin hanging them on our boarders," Joker barked, no in a sour mood because of his absent nemesis.
"Yessir!" Harley chirped, waving for a couple armed men to follow her.
Joker went back to his armchair and sat down, looking out his large window over his domain. Those jokes that called themselves criminals were no fun, too easy to mess with. It wasn't the same as…
"Boss!"
Joker looked over his shoulder lazily and saw one of his henchmen with multiple large bruises and cuts.
"What's wrong sonny boy? Besides the broken limbs of course," Joker asked, giggling a bit to himself because of that last comment.
"Osprey's operation just took a major hit Mr. Joker," the man reported anxiously
This caught the Joker's attention. Osprey and Joker had been waging war on each other for days now and it was nice to hear that he had suffered some terrible misfortune. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that his henchman still looked nervous, as if he was going to burst.
"What are you upset about boy? It better not be pity for poor little Sammy!"
The thug quickly shook his head, "No, I'm glad those ass hats are dead. It's just… it's just that the guy who took em down, it was the bat!"
"WHAT?!" Joker yelled excitedly, "Old Bat brain's in here! Heeheheehehehehehee! This place just became the best prison ever! Oooh, he's probably coming right now! I better prepare, we don't want to greet a guest as high esteemed as him without the proper decorations!"
"I'll begin planting the mines and capturing more hostages right away sir," the thug said, giving the clown a salute.
"Ooh, yes! Brew up a little titan while you're at it too, I know Bats loves that stuff! HAHAHAAHAHAAHAHAAAA!"
The Joker began making sure he had everything he needed in the case of a Batman encounter. Toy gun? Check. Real gun? Check. Joker gas made with love? Check. Communicator stolen from ninja? Check. Oh how he loved his job. This was going to be a riot!
He pulled out a red and blue walkie-talkie and called, "Haaaarleeyyyyy!"
Harley's bubbly voice replied through the radio, "Yes dear?"
"Do you mind being a doll and brining a couple of those hostages up to me? The ones that look like they came out of a bad animae!"
"Sure thing sweetie!"
Joker hung up the device and skipped back over to the body of the dead ninja. He bent down and searched the body, muttering to himself, "Now what makes you so special?"
Finally, he came across a strange pendant, one that looked like an owl head. The clown held it up to the light and examined it, using his borderline genius mind to try and figure out what it was. Could it be a funny hat, a police badge, or the mark of a secret organization?
"Owls," Joker scoffed, "whoever made these has no taste in style."
He tucked the pin in his pocket as Harley skipped into his office, dragging two ninjas with owl masks along with her.
"Alright Harley, what do we have here," Joker asked, pulling out his knife
Harley pulled out a clipboard and recited, "Here we have the teenage mutant ninja owls, Dr. J. They seem to be completely psychotic, and are in need of immediate surgery!"
Joker smiled widely, "Hmmm, you're right, these two aren't looking too good. Don't they know that we already have a nocturnal flying pest already?"
"You will rue the day you double crossed us Joker! The shadows will forever hunt you down!"
Joker laughed, "HAHAAAHAAHAAHAAAHAAA! Do I look worried? If old paps tricked your little club once, then I can do it too! Harley, will you bring out the hammer please?"
Harley walked out of the room, leaving Joker smiling sadistically at the two owls. The hostages continued to struggle, but their hidden weapons had been taken away.
"Don't bother. If I can hold Bats for ten minutes I can hold you two for three years," Joker jeered, kicking them in the face with his high-class loafers.
Harley walked back in the room after a couple of seconds, dragging an obnoxiously large hammer. She put the handle in the Joker's hand and then backed up, giddy with anticipation. The Joker heaved the thing up, stumbling backwards a bit for comedic purposes, and then slammed the mallet down. The hammer crushed the first owl's head instantly, causing it to burst like an over ripe watermelon.
"Just call me Gallagher! HAAAHAHAHAAAAHAAAA!" Joker laughed, teeing up for his next swing
"Woohoo! Go Mistah J!" Harley called as Joker readied himself for another swing.
Right as he was about to drive the head of the mallet into the owl's head, a bullet hit the hammer, causing it to fly out of his hands.
"Hey, what gives?" Joker growled, someone was going to die for this.
"Let the bundle of feathers go clown," a woman's voice demanded, "Or I put the next one in your lap!"
"Who's there," Joker demanded, pulling out a switchblade as Harley pulled out a sawed off shotgun.
Siren appeared in front of them, holding a .45 caliber pistol in each hand, glaring at the clown and his wench. "Let the man go."
Joker cackled, much to Siren's surprise, doubling over as he laughed, "You're out of your league kid! Messing with ol' Sammy is one thing, but you must be as crazy as I am to think I'll stand for it!"
"Siren," the owl called, "put that pathetic sac of filth out of its misery!"
"As much as I'd like that," Siren answered, keeping her guns trained on Joker, "we need the clown alive for now."
"Awww, you guys like me already?" Joker mocked, making kissy faces at the two.
"Shut up," Siren sneered, tensing up around the trigger menacingly.
"Look sweetheart, I don't know what my beef is with you, but I'll cut you a deal," Joker told her as he reached into his pocket.
Siren took a shot near his hand and barked, "Watch it clown, this better not be a trick."
"Oh, come now young lady, where's your sense of adventure," Joker giggled a he pulled out the gold Owl pin.
Siren's eyes narrowed angrily. "Where did you get that?" she demanded
Joker laughed, "Oh, so it does mean something to you? Lemme tell you, at first I didn't believe your little group had gotten back together, and under such a new direction!"
"You know nothing about us."
"Say what you want missy, it ain't helping chuckles over there live any longer."
Siren put her gun down and turned her back on the owl, who nodded solemnly.
"Sorry brother," Siren told him, "know that your death will not be in vain."
"May the shadows be with you sister," the owl told her, lowering his head and preparing for his death. Siren vanished, leaving her comrade in the hands of the Joker.
"Wow, even for me that's cold hearted," Joker giggled, "Harley! Pass me the hammer!"
Harley handed the hammer to Joker again and the clown sung it golf style into the last owls head. Laughing maniacally, he motioned for one last hostage to be brought out. The complications with the last one ruined the mood, and he needed another to finish on a high note. Harley dragged out a man who had an expensive suit and who was powerfully built. Joker giggled in excitement, he loved killing rich guys.
"What do we have here," Joker muttered to himself as he bent down to pull the sac off the man's head
When he saw his face, Joker's eyes went wide. He stumbled backwards a bit, trying to see if his eyes were playing tricks on him. When he saw that it was real, he yelled, "HARLEY! WHERE DID YOU GET THIS ONE!"
"He was just some guy they dropped off last night sweetums," Harley chirped back from the other room.
"Oh shi…"
Suddenly, the wall next to Joker's desk exploded violently, sending the clown flying across the room.
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Batman packed up his utility belt, preparing for a stake out in his most hated enemy's territory. With the others able to fend for themselves, Batman could focus his attention on the clown now. He made sure to store as much as he could in the belt, so that he would be prepared for every possible situation. If there was one thing he had learned from all those years fighting the Joker, it was to prepare for the unexpected. The clown was unpredictable and unreadable, two qualities that made him an extremely dangerous psychopath.
"Christian?"
Batman turned towards the door and saw Kara leaning on the frame waiting for him.
"You ready to go?"
Batman put a couple more smoke bombs in one pouch and then answered, "As ready as I'll ever be."
He followed her into the living room, where Artemis, Flash, Eve, and Green Lantern were all waiting for him. Both the Flash and Artemis were in uniform, ready to begin their search. Green Lantern was in civilian clothing since his power could not be restored until he got back his ring. Eve had her headset on and the Bat laptop opened up, preparing the case file for their search.
"So what's the plan Bats?" Flash asked as he pulled out a loaf of bread and devoured it quickly.
Batman nodded to Eve, who pulled out the Armageddon State Map. She the uncapped a red, black, green, and blue pen and began to write.
"Flash, as you all know, is going to check out the Royal Flush Gang's operation," she told them, pointing towards the gang's territory, "There he will try to check as many places as he can drawing too much attention to himself. We do not want the guards noticing that we've hacked the collars."
"What happens if Luthor's soldiers notice me?" Wally asked curiously
"Then they will execute you, no questions asked," Batman answered, shutting the speedster up. He then nodded to Eve again, who continued her presentation.
She pointed towards another section of the map and said, "Superwoman, you will be investigating Intergang. Again, just as I told Wally, stay on the down low. Also, try and destroy any potentially dangerous weapons that they have managed to get a hold of. If things escalate I think it goes without saying that we don't want alien tech in the mix."
Kara nodded, looking down at the black uniform the league had designed for her. Unfortunately, her regular red, white, and blue was not very subtle.
"Artemis, you will be spying on March Hare's gang. Their theme is your favorite book, so I believe you should be able to figure out the inner workings of their minds. Just be careful, ever since Hatter died ten years ago, March Hare has had an obsession for killing blondes."
Artemis rolled her eyes, "Great, I get the crazy bitch."
"Finally, Batman will be investigating the Joker. Now I know I don't need to remind him that this is purely for reconnaissance and that he needs refrain from taking it any further then that, as much as he may want to."
Batman snorted, "I can control myself."
"Yes sir, but do remember that the Joker can sometimes bring out the worst in you," Eve told him
Batman knew Eve was right, she was always right. The Joker could provoke irrational reactions out of him; lead him into traps that he would otherwise avoid. The clown was his exact opposite. As Kara told him once, the Joker is the yin to his yang.
"Are we all clear on the plan," Batman asked
Flash shot him his winning smile and recited, "Go in there, find Superman or Miss M, then meet back here. Dismantle anything potentially dangerous, but avoid contact."
"My God, he has a memory," Artemis gasped jokingly. Flash huffed at her, sticking his tongue out. Then, in a millisecond, he was gone, shooting out of the room faster then a bullet.
"Good luck everyone," Kara said, opening up the window and bounding out, using her super strength to jump inhumanly high.
Artemis shot a zip line out of the same window and used her bow to slide down the line.
Right before Batman left, Eve pulled him aside to tell him one last thing.
"You know as well as I Joker probably doesn't have either of them. So why are you really doing this?"
Batman pulled out the recording he had secretly taken when he was in the hands of Identity. "Identity mentioned something called Operation Doomsday. Whatever it is, it's going to be big. I'm going to see if the clown knows anything about it."
Eve nodded and then let him go, moving back towards the couch next to Green Lantern.
Before he left, he told Eve, "Give Cassie my signal once she wakes up. When I give you the word, send her in after me."
Eve simply nodded and waved him off.
Batman took one more look back to their apartment, and then continued to make his way to Joker's territory. Unfortunately, he didn't have the bat mobile in Armageddon state, so getting around took longer then usual. He used his grapple hook and glider cape to move from rooftop to rooftop.
As he moved, he could see and here what was going on below. Prisoners were stealing, mugging, and murdering each other without remorse. None of the helicopters or guards patrolling the area did anything about it, but neither could he. As much as he wanted to regulate, he was on a time schedule, and if the Joker really did have either Superman or Miss Martian, which he seriously doubted he did, then he needed to act fast.
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After ten or so minutes of gliding and grappling, Batman reached a huge fence with a sign that said 'Joker World'. He almost had to gag when he saw the fence, shielding his eyes with his cape for a second. The barrier was made up of wrecked cars, broken stones, and dead bodies. Each body had a horrifying grin plastered to its face, along with a sign around its neck that read 'Welcome!'.
Batman gritted his teeth angrily, but managed to control his rage. How badly he wanted to make the clown pay. Diving off his perch, he glided over the wall of bodies and wreckage into Joker world. It seemed as if Joker had claimed an amusement park and all the buildings around it. He was most likely in the largest and most fortified place. That meant the main office was his most probable hiding spot.
"Oracle, I need you to activate the tracer in my cowl," Batman told Eve, pressing his hand up to his ear.
"Sure thing Mr. Wayne, but do you mind if I ask why?"
"Because," he answered, using the hidden touch screen in his gauntlet, "Whenever I go in there, I don't know if I'm going to come back out. If get taken out, send either Kara or Wally after me. Let Cassie and GL rest for now, those two are still in serious conditions."
"Of course Mr. Wayne."
Batman hung up the phone and began to scope out the territory. To his dismay, he found that many of Joker's guards had gotten their hands on military grade assault rifles. He had no idea how they were able to procure such dangerous weapons in what was supposed to be a maximum-security prison. Now there was a new problem in the mix, Batman had to find just who the hell Joker was getting these guns from, and put them out of business.
He made his way through the amusement park mile quietly, making sure not to alert any of the armed thugs. The night cloaked his movements perfectly, covering his black suit in a veil of darkness. His footsteps were practically inaudible as he crept past the guards posted on rooftops. Batman was unarguably one of the best masters of stealth in the world.
When sneaking past guards became more difficult, he began creeping up behind them and choking them into unconsciousness if it was necessary. Whenever he disposed a guard, he would lean his or her body up against something, so the others would not suspect anything from afar.
Batman began hearing the guards chatter the deeper he went into Joker's territory. He stopped for a bit to try and listen in to see if they'd give him anything useful. Joker generally wasn't one to keep his plans a secret. He was the type that wanted Batman to know exactly what he was up to. Using his sonic amplifier, he eavesdropped on two guards standing outside the park office.
"So I heard the Bat's in here too," one of them said.
"Oh yeah?" the other responded, "It figures, guy's as crazy as we are."
"You aren't worried?"
"Why would I be? He's just some freak in a bat costume."
"I don't know Joe, he broke three of my ribs last time I ran into him."
The thug gave his friend a look of disbelief, "No way? Last time I escaped with just a couple bruises"
The other chuckled, "Well aren't you lucky."
"I wonder who's gotten the worst of it here, I mean other then the Joker?"
The older thug thought for a bit, and then answered, "I don't know, but the Joker has gotten it pretty badly. I remember that one time when he planted bombs under the mayor's office, Batman broke his arms, his nose, his collarbone, and one of his feet."
"Jesus, is it like that every time?"
"Not always, usually just when the clown pisses him off more then usual. That said, I just hope we don't run into him, he ain't gonna be happy when he finds out about all those dead hostages."
That was all Batman needed to move in for the interrogation. He descended down upon the two screaming guards and landed on top of the older thug. Using his batclaw, he caught the other thug named 'Joe' by the leg and pulled him back. Once within his reach, Batman grabbed him by the neck and slammed him against the side of a building.
"Who did Joker take?" Batman snarled, pushing his bladed gauntlets up against the shivering thug's neck.
"I-I don't know! All I know is that there were some doctors and gangsters, but I don't know any names!"
Batman knew this meant the death of a reconnaissance mission and a birth of a rescue mission. If Joker had hostages, they weren't going to last very long. Knowing him, the hostages from the other gangs were probably already dead.
Batman quickly raced into action, pulling out his grapnel gun and shooting up towards the office complex. He had to get there fast before Joker killed them all off. Using the x ray vision built into the cowl, he sized up the situation.
The Joker did not have a distinctive skeletal shape or height, so he was difficult to pick out from the rest. What did give him away was his faithful girlfriend Harley Quinn. The second Quinn was the one of the only, if not the only, women in the gang. Any other female members would cause her to be jealous, and thus were quickly dispatched of.
Batman immediately recognized Quinn among the crowd, and just as he had hoped, she was right next to another male. It had to be the Joker.
Batman glided around the building to get a better view, but unfortunately Joker had poured cement over the one large window in his office that Batman could have gone through. He needed another point of entry.
"Oracle, what are the possible infiltration points for this building," Batman asked as he sent her the building schematics.
"Have you considered the front door?"
Batman smirked, "Wouldn't want it to be too easy."
"There's a ventilation shaft you can crawl through to get inside without being seen. It's on the north side of the complex. Good luck sir."
"I won't need it," Batman told her, spreading his cape and gliding over to his entrance point. Using the Batclaw, he pried the vent open and dove inside.
There are several ways to infiltrate a building. Using the vent was what Batman hated the most. Vents were cramped, hot, and sweaty. If it meant getting to the clown though, it was a risk he was going to have to take.
As soon as he got inside, he jumped out of the tiny metal tube and took to the rafters. There were four armed guards looking after a group of hostages, all huddled in the corner with their hands over their heads. He needed a subtle approach or else they would surely execute them.
Batman pulled out a five batarangs and threw them into the lights, causing the room to go dark. He then switched on his night vision and analyzed the situation. The guards seemed to be disoriented, good. This would be easy for him now.
"Oh shit, oh shit oh shit oh shit," one of them began to mutter as Batman moved above them.
The thug next to him, obviously a rookie, asked, "What, what's going on?"
Batman dropped down behind one of the thugs and silently took him out, covering his mouth so no one could here him scream. He melted into the shadows with the terrified thug before the others even saw.
"Grab a hostage!" one yelled, pulling one of the doctors off the ground and putting a gun up to his head, "He won't take us if it might kill one of these fleshbags!"
Rookie nodded and grabbed another hostage, training his pistol at his head. Before the third thug could grab one, the batclaw latched on to his arm and pulled him kicking and screaming into the darkness.
"What's going on, who's there?"
"It's the Batman rookie, now watch my back!"
Rookie quickly ran over to the other thug as the two held their hostages back to back. The two nervously rotated around each other, flinching at every crack or rattle they heard.
"You've seen him before geezer, right?" the rookie whispered, "can he really turn invisible?"
"Stay focused and stay attentive kid! We make one wrong move and we'll wake up in a hospital with broken legs and major concussions."
Batman racked his brain for possible ways he could take these men out without hurting their hostages. He noticed that one of the thugs had a grenade held in his hand, brandishing it threateningly. It was the perfect opportunity. Batman pulled out a batarang and aimed carefully, he only had one shot at this. After a deep breath, he threw the small edged projectile towards the thug. The batarang flew straight past the grenade, pulling the pin off as it went by.
"Oh fuck!" the thug screamed, throwing the grenade as far away as he could. Batman immediately swooped down and kicked the rookie at full force, cracking his jaw. Before the other thug could recover, Batman turned and punched him in the throat, leaving him lying on the ground gasping for air.
The hostages began to beg for mercy, crying in horror. Batman pulled off the sacs that were over their heads to see who the Joker had taken. One looked like an Armageddon State doctor and the other looked like an Lex trooper.
"Batman, thank God you're here!" the doctor sputtered, quickly standing up off his knees.
"Who has else has he taken?" Batman asked as he undid the ropes that bound both hostages together.
"You have to hurry Batman," the trooper quickly told him, "the Joker has him!"
"Hold on, who does he have?"
"Mr. Luthor!"
Suddenly, the sound of an explosion went off and the building shook violently. Batman shielded the group of hostages with his cape as debris began to fall from the roof.
Once the rumbling had finished and the ceiling stopped coming down on them, Batman yelled, "Get all of these people out of here quickly!"
The trooper and doctor both nodded and ran over to help the other hostages. As they began to run out, Batman turned back towards the door leading up to the Joker's office.
"Oracle, the situation has escalated," Batman reported as he made his way to the Joker.
"I just saw an explosion out of the window, what's going on?"
"The Joker has captured Luthor. I'm going after them."
A/N: I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and remember to leave a review or a favorite! Thanks!