Chapter Two: The Madness Begins

I DO NOT own the Teen Titans, the Joker, Batman or anything else in this fan fiction. They are the property of DC Comics, which is the property of Warner Brothers.

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"Insanity is inevitable in our line of work," Raven once said to Starfire, after the Titans had confronted an honorary Titan that had gone rogue, working against them, blackmailing them.

This phrase could be taken in more than one way. It could mean that, in the end, all great heroes are overcome by their own mind, the insanity loitering deep within. It could also mean that, as a superhero, one couldn't escape the insanity and psychopathy that lurked around every corner, stifling innocence and goodness as well as Raven stifled her father's essence. Superman had Lex Luthor, an insane criminal mastermind. Wonder Woman had the Cheetah, a woman who revels in her psychopathic feelings and murders for enjoyment. And Batman had the Joker, the definition of insanity. He ruled supreme in a city where sociopaths and homicidal maniacs ran amuck. He was the Clown Prince of Crime and the antithesis of Batman. He was Batman's most difficult enemy.

And now he was the Titans' problem as well.

Raven dodged a hit of acid from the Joker's specially-made gun. The Joker laughed hysterically before shooting again. Raven leapt the other way, using her powers to pick up a nearby trashcan. Throwing it at the Joker, who was able to narrowly avoid it, she almost stumbled over Starfire's unconscious body. She could feel the anger and worry from her friends, who were over a mile away.

There was no way that they would make it in time.

Her moment of thought was broken, as she was hit in the face with a burst of knockout gas, the price for pausing in the middle of battle. It was a foolish, rookie mistake. And it had cost her. She fell to the ground, asleep before she hit the cold sidewalk. The brisk wind hit her unconscious form, as if berating her for breaking concentration, for losing when Starfire and possibly Beast Boy's lives depended on it.

Joker cackled as he picked her up, draping the dark sorceress over his left shoulder. He bent to pick up Starfire as well, but found that he couldn't balance the weight of both girls. He dropped Starfire, and if Robin had been around to hear the crack of her head on the sidewalk, then the Joker would have had a full lashing.

"Harley!" the Joker called to a nearby unmarked white van, and the jester woman hopped out, her tradition outfit shining in the afternoon light. She skipped over to the Joker and asked, "Yeah, Mistah Jay?"

The Joker nudged Starfire with his foot, getting the point across, before striding across to the van, opening the back door, and dropping Raven inside, letting her fall on top of the limp Beast Boy. Harley arrived at his side just moments later, letting Starfire tumble down next to the two unconscious bodies.

"Alrighty, Mistah Jay," Harley called, jumping into the driver's seat. The Joker slid into the passenger's seat and muttered hastily to his squeeze, "Is everything set?"

Harley nodded exuberantly, and the Joker laughed clearly and said, "Great job, Harl! Now, let's get back to base so we can put a smile on these little depressed teenage faces!" They drove away and the Joker's laughter was heard for several seconds before it faded away, like an old memory.

When the Titans arrived approximately a minute later, only the blood on the ground where Starfire had cracked her head showed that anyone had been on that cold stretch of sidewalk in the past few minutes.

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"There's nothing?" the masked man asked, his frown deepening. Robin nodded wearily. It had been twelve hours and there was no peep about the missing Titans. Starfire and Raven…and Beast Boy. The changeling had been out on his own, so it took a little longer to figure out that he had been taken as well, but several pedestrians swore that a blonde woman had thrown him in a van and driven away.

Harley Quinn, he knew. And where the psychiatrist-turned-psychopath was, the Joker was as well.

He had gotten on the phone with Batman as soon as the remaining Titans had returned to the Tower, upset by the disappearance of their friends. Cyborg was at the computers, doing a complete search of the area with all of the technology that he possessed, but was having zero luck so far. Robin had sent Terra to search the city by hand, checking out the stories of people who had seen the attacks (why hadn't they called the police or the Titans? Robin wondered about the loyalty of the people in the city now).

"I've got Oracle on it, but she's having no luck. The Joker's gotten more cunning," Batman stated, using as much inflection as if he was reading off a grocery list, but Robin knew that he was nervous about what could happen to the younger heroes with the Joker in town. A sudden beeping cut off Robin's thoughts. He looked over to Cyborg expectantly, but Cyborg shrugged and said, "Still haven't found anything, man." Frowning, Robin looked at Batman, who stated, in a calm voice, "Oracle's found something." Robin was elated. He heard a sharp clear voice through the speakers and was confused. It was Oracle, but without her voice scrambler. Babs wanted to talk to him.

"Robin," she began, and he held his breath. "I don't have anything on the other Titans," the breath was released, "but I found something that might be of interest to you." Robin's ears pricked up again.

"The Joker escaped from Arkham about four days ago, and exactly three days ago, Wonder Woman began a rampage. She's been tearing up the entire world, looking for her lasso." Robin gaped. "The lasso of truth?" he asked, hoping that he would suddenly wake up, and find that it was a dream, and that Raven was reading in her room, Starfire was attempting to make pancakes, and Beast Boy was failing in his quest to beat Cyborg at Mega Ninja Fighters II.

He sighed. He was definitely not waking up.

The silence that was conveyed over the speakers answered his question. So, the Joker possibly had Diana's lasso of truth. This was bad – very bad. He imagined the things that the Joker could get out of the other Titans. Codes, secrets, but worst of all, names. And if his name got away, then Batman's identity was up in the wind. He noted the increased look of nervousness on Batman's face, and mentally cringed. Thank the lord that no one else understood that look. Batman was upset – no, he was pissed.

Robin took time out of his worrying to wonder who would get to the Joker first – Batman, Wonder Woman, or the Titans?

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She awoke, groggy from such a long, unnatural sleep.

"Oh! Raven! You have awakened?" Starfire whispered from wherever she was. Raven took a moment to look around. She was tied to a chair, with strange bracelets attached to her wrists. She tried to use her telekinesis – it didn't work. She looked to her right and left – Beast Boy and Starfire were tied up as well, the bracelets attached to them as well. They were in a cold room made of concrete. Raven hated this. She had never felt so weak in her life. Sighing, she looked to Starfire and nodded, and then asked, "Is Beast Boy?" The green kid looked limp and weak, head hanging.

"No," Starfire said, shaking her head empathetically, "Beast Boy may not awaken for some time, I fear."

"Why?"

"He awoke earlier, waking me from my slumber. Then, the evil man came in and knocked him out again for making loud noises. I pretended to still be out." Raven was surprised – acting skills from the youthful Tamaranian?

She heard footsteps but was too late to hang her head to pretend to be asleep. "Ah! The little birdie is awake!"

Raven, as usual, had a biting, sarcastic comment. "Like I've never heard that one before. I thought you were supposed to be a creative genius." She saw what little color was left drain out of the Joker's pale face. He stepped forward threateningly, but seemed to change his mind.

"Harley! Bring it in!"

Raven was suddenly afraid – what instrument of torture was the Joker going to use on them?

The woman entered the room, carrying a long, golden braid of rope that Raven and Starfire instantly recognized.

It was Diana's – Wonder Woman's – lasso of truth, and Raven understood all that he could do with it. But he didn't know how to handle it, and she had powerful telepathy – could she win, or would this be like the fight on the cold streets of her city? Were they still in the city?

Starfire looked at Raven with wide, fearful eyes. Apparently, she understood as well. Dammit – Raven really wished that she was the naïve alien that everyone had once believed her to be.

Dammit.

"You may have a smart mouth now, Titan, but in less than an hour, it'll all be loose lips from here on out."

And she knew he was right. No one could resist the power of the lasso, but she would sure as hell try. She could tell from the switch from a worried, tearful look in Starfire's eyes to a steely gaze that she was going to try to fight as well. Because that's what Starfire was – a warrior. That's what the Titans were. They fought, even when the odds seemed against them. It was an occupational hazard.

The Joker took the rope from the poor, love struck psychopathic girl before loosely looping it around Starfire's shoulders'. She almost whimpered and the Joker smiled wider than Raven had ever seen before. She assumed he was excited to learn restricted information. Things that he had only dreamed about.

So, no matter how you thought about it, insanity entered a teenage superhero's life in one way or another. Whether they were a corrupted soul that was tempted by the freeing power of craziness, or an unstoppable force of psychopathy was blocking the innocent and good-hearted nature of the world, they were there. Perhaps, in minute amounts, it could be acceptable, even important – for what is a world without a little madness? – but the overwhelming quantity of sociopaths, murderous schizophrenics, psychopaths, or some other mentally diseased convicts was terrifying.

And, especially when it came to the Joker, the king of all insanity, the madness was devastating, and enough to consume someone. The Joker's smile bore down on the fragile-looking alien, and Raven knew that the insanity was hitting them hard, for the first time. And what could she do to stop it?

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If you can guess who I am talking about in the first sentence, then I will give you many virtual cookies, and anything else you might like!

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Titangirl797