A/N: Please, if you like this story then give it a favorite or a review! I enjoy feedback and it helps me incorporate it into later writing!
IsaacClark: I'm glad you liked the chapter. As I said before, I'm planning to incorporate more villains in this story. I hope you enjoy this next one!
Chapter Five: Situations Change
"Lexy old pal, how's it going?" Joker laughed, patting the bald billionaire innocently on the head.
Mercy Graves walked closer towards the clown and his girlfriend, holding her arm cannon out menacingly. Luthor stood up and walked behind his personal assistant, rubbing his wrists where the rope had bound him.
"God, you're just as annoying as the first one," Lex muttered, face palming and shaking his head.
"C'mon Lex, call of your cyborg and lets talk about this."
Lex glared at the clown, "Oh but Joker, I know how much you love death and destruction. Wouldn't your own demise be ironic in itself?"
The Joker threw his head back and cackled evilly, "HEHEHEAHAHAHAHHAA! I gotta say Lex, I wasn't expecting you to turn up in my little bundle of victims."
"Yes, well your little whore over there grabbed me while I was off guard. The stupid bimbo didn't even recognize who I was."
"Oh come now, I'm sure Harley didn't mean it," the Joker chuckled, not so subtly elbowing Harley in the ribs, "Did you sweetie?"
"O-Oh no, of course not Mr. J," Harley stammered as she cowered behind her sweetheart.
Lex knew the clown was trying to buy time, and it didn't bother him. He was confident that he had the Joker right where he wanted him, at the barrel of Mercy's particle blaster.
"Well Lex, I hope you know that you've cost me quite a bit of money. How am I supposed to repair this wall?"
Luthor nodded towards Mercy, who moved forward a bit. "I think the wall is the least of your worries."
"You don't say…"
Luthor motioned to Mercy, who began charging up her blaster. As the yellow orb began to form in front of the barrel of her arm cannon, Harley hugged Joker tightly, shivering with fear. Joker merely began laughing, almost doubling over he thought it was so funny.
Lex's glare hardened as he heard the clown mock his victory with his incessant chortling. He hated the Joker almost as much as he hated the Superman family.
"Sweetheart, why are you laughing?" Harley asked, her eyes wide with fear.
The Joker didn't even answer, rather laughed even harder, tears coming to his eyes as he let out his terrifying cackle.
Lex was fed up with the clown. "FIRE!" he yelled to Mercy, who nodded obediently.
Right before she could fire, a dark figure swooped in front of her. It grabbed her arm and pushed it quickly so it pointed out the window. The particle beam shot out the window and off into the sky, completely missing its target.
Lex turned back to the clown and saw Batman standing between him and the Joker. The Joker was now rolling on the floor, having snickering and giggling loudly. Harley seemed to be surprised that the Batman had actually saved their lives.
"What are you doing," Lex Luther growled,
"Stand down Luthor," Batman responded, holding his fists up threateningly
Mercy jumped on top of Batman, but was quickly thrown off and out the window.
"Batman, I didn't know you cared," giggled Joker as he stood up and wiped a tear from his eye.
"Shut up, you're next on my list," Batman threatened without even looking at the clown. He kept Luthor pinned on the ground while he called Oracle. "Send her over now."
"What do you expect to accomplish here dark knight?" Luther asked as he struggled against Batman's grip.
"I just need to keep you here as long as poss…"
Suddenly, something heavy whacked Batman upside the head. He rolled off Luthor and jumped up, fists raised. Joker was standing next to the downed Luthor holding a crowbar, grinning dangerously. Batman's eyes narrowed angrily; of course the Joker would attack him after he saved the clown's life.
"Oh this is going to be so much fun! A three man brawl," Joker laughed, swinging the crowbar back and forth menacingly. Luthor stood up shakily and quickly jumped backwards. He pulled out a pistol from his suit and began to fire at Batman and the Joker, who quickly dove for cover.
Batman's back was pressed against an overturned desk as bullets tore through the top part. It wasn't too long until Harley had tossed Joker an assault rifle, giving the clown the upper hand in firepower.
"What's red, dead, and has lots of holes in it? YOU TWO! HAHAHHAHHAAHAHAAAAHAHAAAA!"
The clown began unloading his gun, not caring where his bullets sprayed. A couple of his own henchmen were even taken out during his rampage. Luthor would occasionally pop his head out and fire a couple rounds. Lead sprayed across the office as the firefight got out of control. Batman knew he had to act fast, or else he wouldn't have much cover left.
He pulled out a batarang and took a quick look from out of his cover. After figuring out a good trajectory, he dived from out of cover and threw the batarang at the Joker, knocking the gun out of his hands. Luthor tried to take the opportunity to shoot the Joker. Batman quickly lunged at Lex, pulling the pistol out of his hands and elbowing him in the chest. He then quickly grabbed the Joker by the throat and threw him across the room before the clown could get his weapon back.
"Oracle, I need that extract now!"
"She should be there," Eve assured him, "just give her a second."
Batman suddenly felt a sharp pain in his shoulder, causing him to fall to his knees. He felt his shoulder and saw that he had been shot by none other then Lex Luthor. The bald billionaire stood up, coughing a bit from that last blow, and held his pistol up to Batman's head.
"And to think, I thought it would be Joker finishing you off," he chuckled
Right as he was about to pull the trigger, a golden rope wrapped around him and pulled him through the giant whole in the wall. Batman stood up shakily and saw Cassie floating outside with Lex tied up in her lasso.
"This much more difficult without super strength," she panted as she struggled to hold Lex up in the air.
"Fly him out of here as soon as possible and then come back for me," Batman told her, cringing slightly in pain.
Cassie nodded and flew off with Luthor, leaving Batman alone with the Joker. As Batman waited, he saw all the dead hostages strewn out on the floor. Joker had killed every last one of them. Six more people were dead because of that monster. Batman sucked up the pain and walked over to the Joker. He grabbed the Joker by the neck and violently pushed him up against the wall, cracking the concrete. It was time do get what he originally came for.
"Hehe, what's up doc?" the Joker coughed, smiling defiantly
"Tell me what you know about Operation Doomsday," Batman snarled, ignoring how much pain his shoulder was in.
"Hehe Hahahahaaaaa! What makes you think I know anything about it?"
"Tell me!" Batman growled, pushing his forearm into the Joker's throat.
The clown laughed, "C'mon Batman, use your bat brain! If I was behind it, don't you think I'd make absolutely sure you knew it was me? HAAAHAHAAAHAHAHAHAAAHAAAHAHA AHAAA!"
Batman wouldn't admit it out loud, but Joker had a point. He was the kind of sick mind that wanted people to see his crimes and know exactly who did them. As he was holding the Joker up though, something caught his eye. It was a gold glitter coming from the pocket of his purple suit. Batman dropped the Joker and picked it up, examining it carefully. It was a golden owl pendant, but he had know idea what it meant.
"What is this?" he demanded, still looking at the small pin
"Well since you asked so nicely, I got it from the one with the crushed skull."
Batman looked over and saw several victims with their heads bashed in violently. He grabbed the Joker's arm and began to bend it backwards. "Who did you get this from?"
"Hehehehe, the ninja," the Joker laughed, "I got it from one of the owl ninjas…"
"Owl ninjas? You're a terrible liar Joker."
"Hehe, well then I guess I am just as crazy as they say, HAAHAAAHAHAAAAA!"
Batman threw Joker back on the ground and turned towards the giant whole in the wall. Wonder Woman was back, holding her hand out for him. Batman ran over and grabbed it with his good hand. Cassie quickly flew them off as more of the Joker's thugs began filing in the room. Batman looked back and saw the Joker smiling and waving, his white face tainted with red blood and purple bruises.
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Superwoman bounded through Armageddon State towards the Intergang territory. She was a little upset that she couldn't fly, but super strength was probably the most useful ability to keep. Intergang didn't have most of their alien tech in this maximum-security prison, so at least the job would be easier.
Superwoman wasn't very experienced with stealth missions, but she was a fast learner. For instance, Kara quickly found that she couldn't jump to high, or her landing would leave cracks in pavement. Also, she found that disposing of thugs would attract the attention others. Usually, dealing with multiple Intergang members wouldn't have been a problem, but Batman told them specifically to stay on the down low.
"Justice League, this is Oracle," Kara heard Eve announce over their radio connection, "This will be the first of routine check in's. Is everyone in position?"
"I'm down the rabbit hole," Artemis reported
"I'm now in the casino district," Wally told her
Kara checked her surroundings to make sure that no one was around to hear her, and then whispered, "I've infiltrated the industrial district."
"Good work, remember to let us know immediately if either Superman or Miss M so the other members can pull out. Oracle out."
Superwoman kept the frequency open and continued to move deeper into Intergang territory. If they had either Superman or Miss M, they'd be in the most high tech holding facility. She took a running start and jumped as high as she could and landed on the tallest smoke stack on the factory. Kara looked out on the whole district, trying to find the building that most likely held her teammates. With all the smoke coming out of the different buildings, it was difficult to see.
"God I miss x ray vision," Kara groaned quietly, squinting through the smog. She noticed there was a large storage facility about three blocks down that had multiple turrets posted around it. It seemed like an awful lot of security for a simple warehouse.
"Oracle, this is Superwoman," she called over the radio, "I think I may have found a holding facility."
"Good work Superwoman, engage with caution."
Kara nodded and bounded of the factory towards the large warehouse. She made sure to roll before she landed to prevent a noisy landing. As she jumped towards the warehouse, she noticed that some of the guns were turning towards her.
"Son of a…"
The turrets began to fire at her loudly, so much for stealth. Taking a deep breath, she launched herself high in the air, flipping and dodging the large shells that were being launched. Kara landed on top of one of the turrets at full speed, causing the large gun to crumple completely.
"At least this isn't apokolips tech," she thought out loud as she grabbed the barrel of the turret and ripped it off its base. Intergang members started to swarm her, but were quickly driven back when she began swinging the destroyed turret at them.
Once she had knocked most of the thugs back, she spun the gun around and threw it into the side of the warehouse. Before she could run inside though, a large robot suit jumped down in front of her, its fists raised and its weapons pointing right at her.
"There's the apokolips tech," she growled
"I'm gonna squash you bitch!" the pilot of the suit yelled as he raised the robot's giant foot up.
Kara jumped out of the way as the mech suit tried to squash her, and jumped up towards its chest. She unleashed a flurry of punches, but only managed to dent its durable chest plate. That was one well-made suit of armor.
The pilot laughed, "I don't know how you got your strength back Superwoman, but I frankly don't care! I'm gonna tear you a new one!"
The robot's hand morphed into a huge machine gun, which spun to life. Kara rolled and jumped to the side as he began unloading on her. As she strafed the bot, she grabbed a large sheet of metal left over from one of the turrets and used it as a shield. Once she could block the bullets, she charged towards the mech suit and jumped up in the air. Using momentum to increase her strength, she let loose a devastating punch into the robot's head. The pilot screamed as her fist went straight through the metal slammed right next to his head. The robot stumbled over and fell on its back. Kara grabbed the cockpit and tore it from the rest of the machine, throwing it away. Now it was time to rescue Superman.
Superwoman took a running start and then charged through the wreckage that blocked the hole she had made in the facility. Thugs began lining the halls, training their weapons on Superwoman. Kara thought fast and punched the wall next to her, causing the hall to shake and parts of the ceiling to fall down on top of the aggressors.
As Superwoman made her way through the facility, she heard Oracle call her up on the intercom. "Superwoman, what are you doing? This is a stealth mission!"
"Their turrets caught me," Kara answered as she began running through walls instead of using the hallways, "I'm not done looking through their facility yet."
"Well hurry up, helicopters are starting to fly towards your location. I don't think they know it's you who's causing the commotion, but get out of there as fast as possible."
Kara began to hear the whir of the helicopters' rotors; Eve was right, she didn't have a lot of time. She continued to charge through the building, looking in every possible place. Unfortunately, neither Superman nor Miss M was anywhere to be found.
Right as she was about to report her failure to Oracle, she heard a distinct echo coming from the floor. She decided to investigate it further, tapping on the ground around her.
"It sounds like there's a room under this," Superwoman said to herself. She pulled her leg up and stomped as hard as she could on the ground. Kara's foot went straight through the floor, and caused part of the ground around her to collapse. Kara took a deep breath and crossed her fingers at least one of her friends was around.
"Miss M, Superman! Are you there?!" Kara called, looking around the dark basement.
After a couple seconds, a weak voice responded, "Superwoman? I'm, I'm over here!"
Kara instantly recognized Conner's voice. She let out a sigh of relief; thank God he was all right. If she had lost a member of her family it would have torn her apart.
"Superman! Where are you?"
"I'm over here," Superman called, "I'm chained to the wall!"
Superwoman followed his voice through the darkness, occasionally stumbling over parts of the crumbled ceiling. It was a miracle he was still alive, she had thought Intergang would have killed him immediately. She finally spotted his red S shield and red cape.
She ran over and ripped off his chains, catching him when he fell off the wall.
"It would have been much easier to find you if you had just kept the blue," Kara joked, pulling him over her shoulder.
"Black looks good. I think Batman can attest to that."
"Oracle this is Kara, I've found Superman," Kara reported as she bounded out through the ceiling, holding Conner in her arms bridal style.
"Oh thank God, bring him back as fast as you can," Eve told her, sending out a signal to the others that Superman had been found.
Kara landed on the building opposite from the now completely collapsed warehouse. She didn't stop to look back at the havoc she had caused though; they had to get out before the helicopters could close in on them. As they escaped, she felt something that she usually never felt, fatigue. While her super strength may have given her durability, it did not provide the energy she had once had. Her jumps grew less powerful, and her muscles became sore. It sucked.
As they got closer to the apartment, a loud bang rang through the air. Kara whirled around and saw smoke and fire coming from the amusement park mile, Joker's territory.
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Cassie dropped Batman off on the roof of a tall office complex, where Lex Luthor was tied to a chimney. Batman stumbled a bit once his feet touched the roof, trying to gain his balance. The bullet that was still lodged in his shoulder was still causing him excruciating pain. He held his hand over his wound and made his way towards the businessman, who was smirking proudly. Cassie landed next to him, looking at him with concern.
"Batman, shouldn't we get that bullet removed first?"
Batman shook his head, "No, first we ask Luthor a couple questions."
He pulled his foot back, and then kicked Lex across the face, leaving a huge bruise on the side of his head. Lex glared at him calmly, but did not loose his cool. Batman knew that Luthor was going to be a tough one to crack; he was incredible at keeping his temper under control.
"I see we are not going to discuss this like gentlemen," Lex said, raising his eyebrow slightly.
"I'm sorry if I'm not too friendly to people who shoot me in the shoulder. Why are you in here?"
"I'm asking myself that right now."
Batman untied Luthor and grabbed him by the collar. Luthor's expression didn't change; he obviously didn't feel threatened. Batman punched him a couple times in the stomach, knocking the air out of the corrupt billionaire. He wasn't going to put up with this. He had been shot in the shoulder and hit in the head by a crowbar. Batman was not in the mood for a smart ass. He let Luthor fall to the roof and lay there gasping for air. It was the only way to get to him, through humiliation. Batman kicked Lex in the gut, showing the businessman that he had no control of the situation.
Finally, he snarled again, "Answer me!"
"I was dragged in here after I funded and constructed Armageddon State," he coughed angrily, "You catch that genius, I was betrayed!"
"By who? WHOSE IDEA WAS THIS?"
Luthor merely smiled and answered, "Shadows."
That earned him a kick to the chest and multiple punches in the jaw. Batman continued to beat Lex Luthor until his nose bled. As he was about to break his jaw, he suddenly dropped Luthor and stumbled back. Batman clutched his shoulder angrily, that damn thing was holding him back. Cassie quickly flew over and caught him as he stumbled backwards.
"Batman, please go get medical attention," Cassie pleaded
The dark knight merely pushed her off and growled, "No, not until I get answers."
Luthor stood up with difficulty and dusted himself off. He smiled confidently at Batman and chuckled, "I must say Batman, I have always admired your tenacity. You have the will and strength do things most super powered beings cannot. Like me, you are a true testament to human achievement."
"Shut up, you and I are nothing alike," Batman grunted, still holding his shoulder
"How are we not alike? We both are mere mortals who stand amongst those who think themselves gods. You know, the day you defeated the Justice League singlehandedly was a victory for mankind. It's a shame you had to join them."
Batman tried to ignore the scary similarities they actually had and went back to the interrogation. "Who gave you the idea?"
"Why would I tell you that? While they may have betrayed me, I still would enjoy their company more then the JLA's."
"Because," Batman told him, reaching into his cape, "If you don't, I'll destroy this."
Batman pulled out a small vial of glowing green liquid so that Luthor could see it clearly. Lex's eyes shot open with fear, something not many saw from him. He ran towards Batman, yelling with anger. Batman sidestepped past Luthor and kicked him back onto his back. He slammed his foot into Lex's face and leaned on it, causing him to squeam and grit his teeth in pain.
"I grabbed it before I dropped you. What is it Lex, is this how they paid you?"
"Give it back! Give it back or I will make you and all those you love suffer!"
Batman pushed his foot down even more into Lex's face, holding the vial just out of reach. "This is Lazarus isn't it? This is how you've been able to stay so young for so long!"
"The League of Shadows!" Lex yelled, "They came to me with the idea! I was running out of time, and they came to me with the secret of immortality! It was a perfect deal!"
Batman began to pour the green liquid out, much to Luthor's horror, "I'm getting impatient Lex. The League of Shadows disbanded many years ago after both Ra's and Talia died. They had no successor, no tell me the truth!"
"Stop, stop! I promise you that I'm telling the truth!"
Batman closed the vial and threw it over to Lex, who caught it and held it close to his chest pathetically. He glared back at Batman and pocketed the serum; trying to scrounge together what dignity he had left.
"I hope you enjoy your immortality Lex, though I doubt you'll be wanting it in here," Batman spat. He then turned and walked back to Cassie, who was waiting for him near the edge of the roof. Batman growled in pain as the bullet in his shoulder shot another burst of agony through him. Cassie helped him up and flew them off towards the apartment, where they would meet with the others.
"Batman, what's going on," Cassie asked as they flew off towards the apartment.
"Someone's gotten their hands on the Lazarus pits," Batman answered.
He knew how bad this situation was. Whoever had control of the pits would be practically unstoppable. The league of shadows couldn't still be around; they never had an heir. Without Ra's or Talia, they were nothing.
They landed outside the apartment and quickly went inside so no one would see them. Cassie helped Batman walk upstairs, but never carried him. He wouldn't let a bullet wound beat him.
Cassie opened up the door and walked Batman over to a chair. Batman refused to sit down though; he just stumbled off into his room and closed the door.
"What happened," Kara asked, standing from her seat as she looked at the trail of blood Batman had left.
"He needs medical attention," Cassie answered, "Where's Eve?"
"She's tending to GL's arms right now; they're trying to reset the bones in his arms. Can anyone else help him," Flash said
Artemis shook her head, "I don't know the first thing about that stuff. We just need someone to remove the bullet."
"Kara," Conner coughed, sitting up from the couch he was lying down on, "Didn't you learn how to do these kinds of things from Superman?"
Kara nodded, "Yeah, I can probably get it out of him. That is, if he hasn't already ripped it out himself."
"I hope he hasn't tried to stitch himself up. Batman never was the best medic," Cassie said in agreement
Flash zoomed around the room and collected the necessary medical supplies. He handed them to Kara, who examined the tools before storing them in one first aid kit. Kara went into Batman's room, leaving the rest of the team, minus Eve and Green Lantern.
When Kara entered Batman's room, she saw him sitting there without the top half of his suit on, other then the cowl. He held bloody tweezers in his hands, as he was about to swallow some pain pills. Batman turned around and saw Kara standing at the doorway, and then went back to trying to stitch himself up. Kara gave him a faint smile and sat down next to him. She took the tweezers from his hands, earning her a suspicious glare.
"You always make a mess whenever you try to play doctor," Kara joked, pointing one of the lamps at the wound.
"Apparently being a medic is the one thing I can't do."
Kara put the needle in her mouth as she pulled the wound open a bit to find the bullet. She carefully took hold of the bullet with the tweezers and pulled it out with expert precision. Batman winced a bit, but he knew whatever pain he was experiencing right now was noting compared to what it would have been had he performed the procedure.
"Please be more careful Christian," Kara told him in a worried tone of voice as she put the bullet on a tray next to his chair, "Most of us would like to have you here at the ripe old age of forty."
Batman chuckled, "That'd be a miracle wouldn't it?"
"I'm serious Christian, this could have killed you!"
"But it didn't. I got here just in time."
Kara poked the needle through his skin and began to sew him up. Batman gritted his teeth, refusing to show any emotion. Kara noticed his contorted face and rolled her eyes.
"You know, it's alright if this hurts," Kara told him
"I'm fine," Batman responded gruffly
Kara knew that he'd never let her know how he felt. He had been shoving everyone away ever since the tragedy that happened three years ago. Christian had his entire family ripped away from him, his father and his beloved sister were both shot dead by a nobody. The shock of the event piled with the massive guilt he felt after the event drove him into a deep depression, and out of that depression the Batman was once again born. Christian was now just an empty shell in which the demon of the concrete jungle inhabited.
"Christian, why didn't you get someone to help you with this?"
"The pain makes me learn from my mistakes. I shouldn't have taken my eye off Luthor, but I did. Now I won't," Christian answered
Kara wrapped his shoulder up and examined it carefully. The stitches were all in place and the bandage was tight enough to protect them. Batman eyed the bandage and nodded thanks to her. Kara leaned over and kissed him on the cheek lightly, "There, that should be better. Just stay off it for a little while."
"Thanks Kara. With Eve gone I couldn't have done this without you."
Kara laughed, "Yeah, I know I'm great."
Batman smirked; Kara could always coax a smile out of him. He stared at her as she put the tray away, watching her beautiful golden hair and her sky blue eyes. When she turned around, she gave him a suspicious look.
"What's wrong?"
Batman quickly realized what he was doing and looked away. He couldn't believe he had lost his self control like that. Kara giggled as Batman looked away, trying to hide his blush. He hated that she could do this to him. The feelings she could give him were horrifyingly similar to the ones Siren gave him.
"What you got there?" Kara asked, leaning over his shoulder and looking at the items on his desk.
Batman had the golden owl pendant, the Siren's encrypted device, and a sample of the Lazarus enzyme. Batman picked up the owl pendant and held it up to the light. "These are all related somehow, but I can't figure out how," Batman answered, "A golden owl pin has nothing to do with the League of Shadows or Siren, as far as I know."
"How could there be a League of shadows be back when Ra's al Ghul is dead?"
"I don't think there can be. My father was the only other one who would have been accepted as the head of the demon, so there's no one else who would have the blood right."
"Hold on, since you're his son, does that mean you could lead them?" Kara asked him, taking the owl pendant out of his hand.
Batman shook his head, "My mother wasn't Talia al Ghul though. Since my father turned down the position, I technically have no claim to the position. Also, why would I be here if I was the leader of the League of Shadows?"
Kara began to rub his shoulders to calm him down, "Relax, I was just kidding. Do you know how this Siren woman ties into all this?"
"I don't know, but she doesn't seem like an average criminal. She only takes from other felons. She's above all this."
Kara stopped massaging his shoulders and crossed her arm angrily, "I'm glad you see so much in an assassin and thief."
"She wants to bring justice Kara, she's just lost," Batman answered, pulling out the device she had left behind, "Besides, you know my mother was the same way."
"Yes, well as I remember she left your family and never came back."
Batman turned and glared angrily at Kara, clenching his fists.
"Oh God, I'm sorry Christian, that was too far," Kara apologized
Batman held the bridge of his nose and sighed, "No, it's fine. She did leave us."
"I'm just telling you to be careful with this woman, you have no idea what her real intentions are."
Batman nodded, "It's just there's something in her eyes that I recognize. There's certain despair, a burning rage in them. I know it because that's the same rage I feel every day, that drives me. The thirst for revenge."
Kara looked down sadly, but Batman did not notice. He was too focused on cracking this device and finding what was behind this. Operation Doomsday, Identity, all of it was related.
A/N: Thanks for reading the chapter. Please review or favorite!