Hello everyone! CJzilla here with the next chapter. I would have had this chapter up sooner if my cat wasn't on my keyboard. (CJzilla sighs and rolls her eyes) All right; in this chapter there is a fight and concerns. Enjoy.
As I trash this city, alls CJzilla has to roar is this: R&R! Love... Hate... review. You know.
AN: CJzilla owns nothing of Mr. Nietzche. Weird that Germans have all these quotes on insanity...
"Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule."
Friedrich Nietzsche
German philosopher (1844 - 1900)
Chapter 11
Loopy Liaisons
Bruce Wayne had wheeled his way down to the Bat-Cave. The billionaire's fingers moved over the keyboard of the supercomputer, searching news archives spanning the last month; under the topic of the Laughing Bat. Bruce hoped there were some clues inside this information that would point to Joker's next move. Though the crazed clown was trying to be the Batman, the difference was night and day. Bruce was the Batman and the similarities between his crime fighting alter ego and Joker's imitation were few and far between. The one thing Bruce could count on was Joker's drive to mimic his arch rival to the letter, which included recreating the night that the Batman was sent into the ICU. Picking a fight with Penguin and Mr. Freeze was a big hint.
"The Batman was defeated at the Gotham Museum of Art." Bruce hushed to himself. "Since that building is nothing but dust, they will have to find a new arena. But where?"
Searching through the news archives Bruce saw no patterns according to locations. The criminals were taken down where they started trouble. Then a sinking feeling hit Bruce's stomach.
"There's no way to know where Penguin and Freeze will take on Joker." The man whispered, his blue eyes widening. But there was some hope: the Bat-Wave.
The criminal detection unit went off when a supervillain so much as sneezes. Bruce wished he had a better way of knowing where the Joker is. By the time the Bat-Wave alerted him, it may be too late to save the harlequin.
Bruce hit a button on his keypad.
"Alfred, Dick. It's time to get up. I have news on the Laughing Bat." The man spoke at the screen. The message would be relayed to Alfred and Dick's bedrooms.
Bruce would inform his sidekick and butler of the Joker's plan. Something told him that everything was going to happen fast; Joker was never the sort to be patient and neither were Penguin or Freeze.
Oswald Cobblepot and Victor Fries stood out on a street. It was about three in the morning; roughly three and a half hours after Joker appeared to Penguin and an hour after Penguin had recruited Freeze. Now both supervillains were in the middle of a late night street, glancing around for any sign of the Laughing Bat.
"We're not going to do this all night, are we?" Mr. Freeze complained, aggravated as he stood aside Penguin. The ex-billionaire turned super criminal glanced at the ice manipulator.
"Screw loose didn't tell me where to show up!" Penguin threw his hands in the air. "I'm just as lost as you, ice cube."
The ice controller's eyes narrowed dangerously. Walking around and looking for Joker like some sort of lost tourist was not the glamorous showdown Penguin promised him. Hissing, Freeze approached Penguin and swatted off his top hat.
"What's your problem?!" Oswald growled, swiping his hat from the ground. Freeze was getting angry.
He lashed out and seized the front of Penguin's three piece suit.
"You have exactly two seconds to get Joker here before I turn you into a frozen butterball, Penguin!" The ice manipulator fumed, his vents hissing with the building pressure inside Freeze's suit. Penguin was equally irate.
"Do I look like a magical genie, snow cone?" The bird-based villain's grip tightened on his umbrella. "How am I supposed to get Joker here in just two seconds?"
Penguin felt the front of his coat grow cold and spread through the fabric to his chest. Freeze was at his boiling point, which was pretty ironic since he was a living icicle.
"YOU'RE the one who called me out here! YOU promised me Joker!" The ice controller was so mad, his icy voice was growing hot. "So if that freak's not here within the next two seconds, I'm going to vent my cold fury on your pudgy form!"
Cobblepot narrowed his green eyes at his "partner" in crime. Fries had a fast fuse, a fuse that was going to detonate into an icy blast and make Penguin a bird for the freezers. Suddenly, both supervillains heard a laugh. Looking upwards they saw the Laughing Bat perched on an adjacent building ledge about three stories off the ground. In that moment, Joker gracefully bounded down to them, using a flag pole and street light to do so.
"This is funny…" The insane harlequin's face was straight, his body hidden under that poorly stitched cape. "A villainous team-up turning on itself before the hero even arrives."
Freeze and Penguin scoffed.
"What hero? All that we see is Joker in a bat suit picking a fight he can't win." Cobblepot returned looking over Joker's threads. "It's a look you'll take to the grave."
"Is there no honor among thieves?" The Laughing Bat questioned, shrugging slightly. In response, Freeze swatted off Penguin's top hat… again.
"You're the one donning the look and actions of a hero, Joker." Freeze hissed as Penguin picked up his hat, muttering curses under his breath. "So I will deal with you as you wish; as a hero."
The ice controller opened up his hand and summoned a blast of ice. The Laughing Bat easily dodged the shaft of ice and countered with a Bat-a-rang. Opening his other hand, Victor Freeze blasted the weapon out of the air. The frozen Bat-a-rang clanked to his feet in a block of ice. He chuckled.
"The Batman himself couldn't have done a more predictable move." Freeze quipped, mocking the clown's mimicry of his best fri-enemy. Then he saw that smirk on Joker's face.
By that time the frozen Bat-a-rang exploded, Freeze nearly standing right on it. The ice manipulator stumbled backwards, grunting in surprise. It wasn't until he caught his balance that he found the explosion breached his suit. Ice was forming and pouring out of a small hole in the ankle of his suit. Freeze grunted in irritation. Should have seen that comin'!
"Clowny too much for you, Popsicle?" Penguin was grinning at him.
"Mind your yap, you little turkey, before I freeze it off!" Freeze barked back. He slammed a hand on the asphalt.
Shards of ice shot along the ground, speeding toward the Laughing Bat. Penguin, who was still chuckling at his partner, flipped his umbrella. A small chamber on the crook released a razor sharp blade. Penguin gripped his umbrella and flicked his wrist. As Joker avoided Freeze's blasts of ice, he couldn't avoid the cheap shot from Penguin. The blade on a chain sped toward he clown and made contact.
"So…" Dick Greyson yawned, barely awake as he was still in his pajamas. "We're going to hang out around here until Penguin and Freeze decide to take up Joker on his offer for a slaughter?"
Bruce shot the boy a glare.
"Not quite the wording I had in mind, but yes." The man answered. "Until Freeze, Penguin and Joker make their move, someone has to be manning the Bat-Wave."
Dick groaned, getting him another glare from Bruce and an annoyed look from Alfred.
"This is pointless!" The boy growled. "Who knows when Freeze and Penguin will go after Joker? And why not let the three of them finish each other off? It's not like we're losing anything."
That did it. Bruce gave the teen such a venom glare that he immediately clammed up.
"You have got a lot of nerve to say that, Dick." He was as serious as the grave. "It doesn't matter who we are saving. Joker brought this on himself; that much is obvious. But we'd be just as bad as any criminal if we stand by and let those three kill each other!"
Dick shrugged but remained silent. When Bruce put it that way, of course Dick would help stop Joker, Penguin and Freeze from fighting. The teen's jealousy made him a little hateful to the clown. Dick held the fact that Joker was an effective hero against him. They were always beaten to the punch, Barbara and he, and by whom? None other than the Harlequin of Hate. It was enough to make Dick pull his hair out but not enough to make him ignore his duty as a hero. So though it would make him sick, the teen would go along with his mentor to stop Joker, Penguin and Freeze from destroying each other.
Now the waiting game began.
The Laughing Bat was driven to the asphalt by a block of ice weighing over three hundred pounds. Joker felt the air getting squeezed out of him. The man grasped the ice and dug his glove's fingertips into it. It wouldn't move. Joker gritted his teeth in an effort to hold in the breath that was being pressed out of him. Then he heard the hiss of Mr. Freeze's pressurized suit, along with an uneven pace.
"Such a pain in my undead, icy neck!" The ice manipulator hissed, the hole in his suit still leaking out ice as it formed to fit his footsteps. As he stood over the pinned clown, one could picture a smile on his icy face.
And joining Freeze, Penguin waddled up, holding his bruised face.
"You said it, icicle." The short supervillain grunted. Then he gave an evil smile as he bent down to Joker to pat him on the head. "Well, well, Joker. Who's the dead duck now?"
The Laughing Bat just frowned. Penguin laughed.
"You got 'im. How you gonna… ice him, Popsicle?" The bird-based villain questioned. Freeze had drawn his ice-breaker, a specialized weapon that sends a pulse through ice and shatters it instantly.
"I always wanted to know what this thing does to an unfrozen, human brain." The ice manipulator stated, flipping the handheld weapon in his grasp. "Now is a golden opportunity to test it."
Joker couldn't hold his breath nor could he move; it was too painful. Freeze kneeled over the costumed clown and poised the pulsing weapon next to his temple.
"Let's see what's really inside that insane mind of yours, Joker." The ice controller pulled back his arm and the weapon with it. He swung down, aiming for the Laughing Bat's head.
Joker caught Freeze's blow and pushed the weapon to the ice. The weapon touched the ice block and a pulse of energy flowed through it. The ice instantaneously shattered. The Laughing Bat took in a breath of air as he twisted Freeze's hand. The pulse weapon fell out of the ice manipulator's grasp and into Joker's. Springing to his feet, Joker spun to face the two villains.
"It's not so hard to get inside my mind, chuckleheads!" The caped clown beamed, seemingly unfazed by the wound on his head trickling with blood. "I'll give you a one-way trip to my land of fits and giggles! Free of charge."
With that, much to Penguin's horror, the Laughing Bat pulled out a canister of his Joker-Gas. The bird-based villain squawked in surprise and was quick to get that hazardous gas out of Joker's hands.
For the majority of this battle, Joker had Freeze and Penguin constantly moving. He scored strikes while Penguin only cracked him across the head with his umbrella's crock. Nothing serious; at least, that's what he thought. The Laughing Bat's luck suddenly evaporated when he was met with a swing from Penguin's katana. The clown avoided the brunt of the weapon only to have one of Freeze's sharp ice shafts hit him in the left shoulder.
Joker's wind was knocked out of him as he was blasted off of his feet and thrown down the street. When he came to a stop on the black top, there was a chunk of ice jutting out of his shoulder. The combination of the cold temperature and serious injury sent a wave of pain over the harlequin. But there was no time to sit still. Freeze had thrown both of his hands toward him and thrust another pillar of ice down the street. Joker scrambled to his feet and narrowly avoided the ice. Freeze iced the entire street as Penguin gave chase to the injured Laughing Bat.
Meanwhile, at the Bat-Cave the Bat-Wave suddenly rang. Bruce, Dick and Alfred jumped, their haze of sleep interrupted. Bruce spun in his wheelchair and faced the massive screen. It showed an accident report filed to police just a second before.
"A sixty car pile up? Blamed on… icy roads?" The injured billionaire quirked a dark eyebrow. "That can't be right."
"It's in the middle of summer! There shouldn't be any icy roads for months!" Dick threw his hands in the air, checking the report over again. "It must be a typo. There's gotta be some logical explanation."
Quiet Alfred spoke up.
"Ice is the calling card of Mr. Freeze correct?" The butler said. Bruce and Dick looked at each other, reality hitting them like a freight train. "Could this be what we've been waiting for?"
"You're brilliant Alfred!" Dick cheered, bolting toward his costume. The prim and proper butler managed a smile before he looked into the eyes of his friend and employer.
"Freeze, Penguin and Joker have revealed their arena, Alfred." Bruce looked him in the eye. "I will call Bennett and Yin for assistance but the Batman is the best suited for this."
Alfred Pennyworth's eyes went wide.
"Sir! Your injuries still require a full week of recovery!" The balding butler gestured. "Going after that harlequin and rescuing him from his personal escapades will only spell more injury to you! I cannot permit it, Master Bruce!"
For once a grimace of urgency from his younger master alerted Alfred to the gravity of what was going on.
"I will not have Joker perish fighting my battles." Bruce hissed, some hidden guilt colliding with his drive to protect those who need protecting. "This cast has to come off!"
Alfred glanced down at the big plaster cast that stretched from the man's hip to his ankle. Inside was a jigsaw puzzle of moderately healed broken bones. One wrong move by Bruce's part and he could seriously injure himself further. Suddenly, Dick was in his Robin costume and standing in front of them.
"I'm radioing Barbara right now, chief!" The boy's fingers moved over his personal Bat-Wave. "We'll get to F Street and 7th before Freeze and Penguin smear Joker."
"I'll be right behind you." Bruce told Dick. Dick froze mid-step, all ready turned toward the door.
"No way-!" But the boy was cut off.
"Get outta here!" Bruce gestured, an angry scowl coming to his face. "I'll be right behind you!"
Dick gave a yelp and did as he was told. Bruce then turned to his butler.
"Grab something to cut this with, Alfred!" Bruce rushed, slapping his plaster cast. "Every second I'm not there is a second closer to someone getting hurt!"
A look of indignation flashed across Alfred's face.
"You seem to forget, sir, that you yourself are hurt." He responded in a mild tone but his expression betrayed his deep objection. Alfred and Bruce lingered there before Alfred broke eye-contact to do as he was told.
Bruce ignored his friend. He put his life on the line every time he donned the alias of the Batman. This was no different. Why change now when the life of the Clown Prince of Crime hung in the balance? Bruce clawed at the cast on his leg. He had to hurry. For all he knew, Joker's already dead.
Barbara Gordon slipped out of her window, fully clothed in her Batgirl costume. Dick had just sent her a priority number one call. Though she had a big day in school, the teen girl was not going to let what happen to Bruce happen again; to anyone! Shooting a grapple to the closest building, the red-headed teen knew it'd take her at least five minuets to arrive at F and 7th. Dick was nearest to that city block. A knot formed in the pit of her stomach. She didn't want to imagine Dick battling with Freeze and Penguin alone. And that being said, Joker was facing them alone; probably for some time now. Who knew if he was winning or losing? Who knew if he was still alive?
Police Chief Ethan Bennett shook the fuzz of sleep out of his head, trying to focus on the road and phone conversation he was having with the Dark Knight at the same time.
"Icy roads sound about right for Freeze." His cop car's sirens screamed as he squealed around another corner. Over the Bat-Wave communicator he possessed, Ethan could hear a peculiar grinding sound on the Batman's line. "I don't care if the Crime Clown wants a private fight. He's going to get splattered."
There was a grunt of pain from the Caped Crusader.
"Freeze and Penguin promised a loud and deadly fight, Bennett." The crime fighter's smoky, aloof voice resounded through the phone line. "I've sent Robin and Batgirl. They should slow the villains down until I get there."
Ethan's mouth fell open.
"Bats-… You're not supposed to be on your feet for another week! You're only going to end up in the ICU again!" The bald black man objected, his car screaming around slower moving cars. "Or worse."
"I know the risks." The Batman swiftly replied. "But someone could end up in a premature grave tonight. I want to prevent that."
"Let us handle this, Bats. The last thing this city needs is another month without you protecting." Bennett voiced.
"Joker's taking on two madmen himself, Bennett." The Dark Knight returned. "Do I have to say anymore?"
The black man fell silent and rubbed his eyes. If there was one thing about the Batman, he pricked Ethan's sense of responsibility and humanity.
"All right, Bats." The police chief nodded, not that the Batman could see him. "You can come to the fight but I can't guarantee a battle. Joker might have everything taken care of all ready."
The Laughing Bat held his side as he took refuge behind a city building. Pieces of his body were hurting that he didn't know he had. Who knew bird-brain and popsicle could put up such a decent fight? Pulling his hand from his ribs, Joker held it up to the light of a nearby streetlamp. Dark red vital juices were smeared over the black fabric of his glove. He was bleeding… bad. Now the Laughing Bat was starting to realize that he just couldn't fight all of the Batman's battles. It just wasn't in him.
"Found 'im!" He heard Penguin's shrill voice cut through the air. Craning his head upwards, Joker spotted Penguin hovering on his mini helicopter blades.
Suddenly Mr. Freeze rode around the building's corner on a wave of ice. The ice manipulator opened his free hand and fired another blast of ice at the Laughing Bat. Forced to move and ignore his injuries again, Joker briefly considered fleeing. But then a smile spread over his face. If he was to go now, it would be in honor of his favorite sparring partner and best friend: the Batman.
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