Hawkgirl was right—Happy Times Amusement Park and Rides was abandoned. The place was desolate with trash spewed all over the grounds. The rides sat in disuse, patches of rust scattered at various parts of the roller coaster, merry-go-round, and giant slide. The booths were empty of prizes, having long been packed up and shipped to a more popular attraction.

All this Batman saw through his binoculars. Crouched on a building a couple blocks away, he scanned the area for any sign of life, finding none. Behind him stood his fellow Leaguers, all of whom were waiting for his signal to converge. The occasional crunching of gravel beneath boot soles spoke to their growing impatience as they shifted their weight from one leg to another. Yet, despite the clear absence of anything remotely resembling life, there was one thing bugging the Dark Knight.

The lights were on.

Standing high above the park was stadium lighting and most of the bulbs were lit, shining a light over the attractions. While there were many of the bulbs that were dark due to dead bulbs, there was enough to brighten up the area.

Finishing his observation, Batman slowly stood up, pocketing his binoculars into a pouch on the back of his belt. This movement drew the attention of his comrades. "So what's the verdict, Bats?" Flash inquired.

Honestly, there wasn't much he could say. It was a trap? That was clearly obvious. The Joker was planning something? Again, obvious. So, he settled for, "Stay sharp. We stay together, no splitting up under any circumstance."

Turning around, he caught the others nodding their agreement. As if by a silent cue, Diana moved towards him, wrapping an arm around his back as he placed his over her shoulders. Hawkgirl merely floated up and placed her hands beneath Flash's arms. As one, the two women lifted the men up into the air and flew towards the amusement park.

The entire time Batman's eyes darted all over the place, looking for any sign of the Joker. The lights were already an invitation for them to come here, so the demented clown had to be close by. No way did he just leave some sort of booby trap and moved on. Taking Central City and Metropolis into consideration, there was something here that threatened the well-being of Midway.

A cool breeze blew by as the two teams began their descent, landing next to the merry-go-round. Take a step from Diana as he allowed his cape to encircle his shoulders, the vigilante glanced to the grime and rust-covered horse seats. Their fading eyes created a creepy vibe that matched the eeriness of the park.

Slowly, they began moving down the parkway, each member on high alert for movement or sound.

It was awhile before Batman did hear something, that being Flash's voice. "Hawkgirl? Where are you going?"

Turning his head, Batman saw the Thanagarian approaching a stand with a long pole extended upward, a bell at its top—the Strongman Attraction. Once she reached it, she picked up a large mallet, hoisting it up as she adjusted her grip on the shaft. Taking a couple practice swings with it, she seemed satisfied with it and returned to the Leaguers.

Upon seeing their collective gazes on her, she said, "I needed a weapon."

"Isn't that what your mace is for?" Flash responded before his eyes dropped to the winged woman's hips noticing an absence of said weapon. "Hey, where is your mace?"

Hawkgirl rolled her eyes as she leaned the mallet against her shoulder, its head extended above her own. "Superman crushed it, remember? I haven't had time to fix it and trust me, that's going to take a lot of time and work."

"Ah, got ya."

Suddenly, there was a chilling voice in the air.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha."

Jerking his head to look in front of him, up ahead Batman caught sight of a figure, tall and lanky, but one he could recognize anywhere. The Joker stood there, his white face practically glowing in contrast to the dull, faded colors of the amusement park, both of his arms held behind him as he stood tall.

Batman's first instinct was to pull out one of his shuriken and send it flying at the clown's head. However, the distance between them would have given the Joker plenty of time to dodge it and continue to laugh that cruel laughter of his. However, in all of his confrontations with the madman, never had he faced him with others. That gave him options.

"Flash!" the dark-clad man barked. Instantly a red blur shot by him, racing towards the Joker as the distance between them vanished. A second later and Flash slammed his fist into the psychopath's head and cleanly removed it from his shoulders, his body jerking and falling backwards.

In any other situation, the vigilante would have been horrified at what the speedster had done. Decapitating another man was repulsive to him. Yet, even from where he stood, he could tell that hadn't been the real Joker; it was something else.

Quickly, he, Diana, and Hawkgirl rushed towards Flash, who was kneeling on the ground. The closer they got, the more Batman was able to discern that what he believed to be the Joker had actually been a cardboard cutout. Though he had known better, he felt a sense of relief well up within him, which caused him to slow his pace as he came to stand near the red-clad man.

Flash then looked up to them, holding the "head" of the cutout. On one side was the Joker's face, but attached on the other side was a small black box, most likely the source of the laughter—recorded laughter. "Okay, guys, I'm officially confused," the speedster spoke.

"You're not the only one," Hawkgirl agreed. She then turned to look at the vigilante and asked, "What do you make of this?"

Batman merely shook his head. "I'm not sure," he admitted. For some reason, he felt he was overthinking things here. The answer was most likely simple rather than the complexity that best described what the madman had done thus far.

"Now that wasn't nice."

Being as they were standing at a T-intersection, Batman and the others found themselves turning to look to a path on their right. A few booths down stood another cutout in the same pose as the one they stood over.

The Dark Knight resisted the urge to growl. The Joker knew they were here.

"Here I go, inviting you fine people to my humble abode and what do you do? You start destroying my stuff. I thought your mothers taught you better," the cutout lectured them.

Warily, the Leaguers began approaching the cardboard figure, slowly closing the distance between it and them with every cautious step they took. "Enough games, Joker," Diana ordered imperiously. "Surrender yourself at once."

"Enough games? Then why are you perusing everything this carnival has to offer? I mean, all the games are out of prizes and there's not a single artery-clogging hot dog at the concession stand. Seems like a total waste of time to me."

The four came to a stop in front of the cutout. "You know we're going to get you," Hawkgirl replied, adjusting her grip on her mallet. "Sooner or later, it's just a matter of time."

"He he he ha ha!" the cutout giggled. "Oh, I sincerely doubt that, Birdgirl. After all, I already got two of you. Care to make it three? Four? Ha ha!"

"REEEAAAHHHH!" Hawkgirl roared as she leaped at the cutout, swinging her mallet as it hit the cardboard, ripping the upper body from the lower. The top piece of cardboard sailed through the air until it smacked against one of the booths, leaving the legs to wobble where they stood before they fell down and slapped down on the ground.

"When I found that psycho, that's exactly what I'm going to do to him," the Thanagarian growled, her shoulders rising and falling with her breathing, her body shaking from anger.

"Tsk, tsk, manners, Birdgirl," the voice box from the cutout taunted from where the head and upper body landed. "Now I'm going to have to teach you a lesson."

That was the only warning they received before the piece of cardboard exploded into a ball of fire and smoke. The force of the unexpected blast knocked the four right off their feet, sending them crashing to the ground. Pieces of burnt wood and cloths rained down on them as the nearby stalls were blown to bits, leaving others on fire.

Thanks to the noise dampeners in Batman's cowl, he was spared the hearing issues from being right next to an explosion, though there was still a distinct ringing in his ears. He couldn't say the same about his comrades, however, as the three slowly tried to push themselves, always ending up collapsing back onto the ground. Their equilibriums were thrown off was obvious enough.

Gritting his teeth, Batman forced himself up, getting onto his feet despite a soreness making itself known in his body. Ignoring the feeling, the vigilante glanced around, making sure they were alone for the time being.

Seeing Diana trying again to get up, he stepped towards her and kneel down next to her. "Easy," he murmured gently, placing a hand on her shoulder. "The boom of the explosion has scrambled your equilibrium. It'll come back in time, but you need to take it slow."

Whether his words reached her or not, he wasn't sure, but he definitely noticed how the Amazon relaxed beneath his touch. "I feel like Count Vertigo has exposed me to his eye again," she groaned.

Holding his other hand out to her, Batman patiently waited for her to notice it, and when she did she placed her own hand in his. Carefully, he assisted her back onto her feet, the dark-haired woman pressing her free hand against her head. "I think I have a migraine," she complained.

"It'll pass," he reassured her before he dropped her hand, looking to the other two Leaguers. Unsurprisingly, Flash was getting back onto his feet, his recovery time much shorter than the other two due to his healing factor. And being the gentleman he was, he was at Hawkgirl's side, helping her up as well.

Returning his attention back to Diana, he moved right in front of her, staring into her eyes. Her eyes were adjusting to the light around him, removing any suspicion of dilation. Apparently she knew what he was looking for and gave him a small smile. "If you are looking for signs of a concussion, I do believe I missed out on those."

"Lucky you," Hawkgirl muttered loudly. "I'm definitely feeling foggy."

"Be glad that's all you're feeling," Batman retorted. "Had the Joker wanted to cause more damage, he could've loaded that bomb with shrapnel and tore us all up. Don't let him goad you like that, otherwise you won't be as lucky."

"So where too?" Flash asked, glancing around. "I don't see any of those cutouts of him anywhere."

"We go this way," Batman answered him, nodding in the direction away from the intersection. Not waiting for a response, the dark-clad man began walking, the others following behind.

As it turned out, they had indeed gone in the right direction. Soon they approached a Hall of Mirrors, another of the cutouts standing right in the doorway of the attraction. Batman narrowed his eyes at the sight. Clearly the green-haired man wanted them to go inside, otherwise why leave such an obvious trail of breadcrumbs to it? It would be in their best interest not to—

"Glad you made it!" the cutout exclaimed. "Come on in, the water's fine!"

And then it moved, disappearing inside the hall.

"That's really him!" Hawkgirl shouted before she began to charge. In fact, Flash and Diana had done the same, rushing towards the entrance.

"Damn it, stop!" Batman roared after them, to no avail. Giving chase, he was the last one to enter the Hall of Mirrors, though thankfully he could still see the other three. If Flash had used his super speed, there would have been no telling where he would have ended up.

Currently they were in a hallway, one that ended with a curtain at its far end. "Don't take another step," Batman hissed, earning him the attention of the heroes as they turned their heads to look at him. Reaching them, he demanded , "How many times do I have to tell you not to act rashly?"

"We are literal feet behind this guy," Hawkgirl shot back. "We capture him and this is all over."

"It's not that easy," he warned.

"Sure it is," she retorted before grabbing the curtain and ripping it to a side. The sight that greeted them was of a winding maze of mirrors, a distinct lack of the Joker being present. Unsure of what to do, the Thanagarian edged into the labyrinth, her reflection suddenly appearing on every mirror in sight.

"You were saying?" Batman prodded.

Hawkgirl merely glared at him before she began walking forward, keeping her guard up as she held her mallet in front of her. One by one they entered the maze, their respective reflections joining the redhead's, creating a chaotic sight all around them.

It wasn't helped at all by the different angles of the mirror glass. Some reflections made them appear tall and thin while others made them short and fat. Others exaggerated their features, such as one that made their heads, shoulders, hips, and legs wide and large while leaving their waists a thin as a straw. There was one that made their heads appear smaller than the rest of their body and another that did the reverse. It was quite disoriented to see.

"You know, I used to like places like this," Flash nervously commented, his head moving from side to side as he looked at all of the variations of himself. "But right now I'm getting the heebie-jeebies. Is that happening to anyone else?"

"Did someone say heebie-jeebies?"

Suddenly, one of the mirrors changed its reflection, replacing it with the Joker.'s His signature smile was on his pale face, his pointed nose practically twitching. "I can't tell you how happy that makes me feel. I mean, I've been trying so hard to do that and it isn't easy to do that to you hero types."

That was when Hawkgirl let out an enraged as she leaped at the mirror, swinging her mallet as she did so. Her weapon slammed onto the glass, shattering it, and sending shards flying in all directions.

"Now, now, you shouldn't have done that," the Joker's voice said, his tone condescending. Another mirror soon replaced its reflection again with the mad clown's. "Didn't your mother ever tell you that breaking a mirror is seven years bad luck?"

Then, as if to antagonize the Thanagarian further, multiple mirrors began reflecting misshapen Jokers. "But if seven isn't enough for ya, care to go for two hundred seventeen?"

"Haaaa!" Hawkgirl roared as she launched herself at the mirrors, swinging her hammer over and over, destroying the reflected Jokers one by one.

"That's enough, Sister!" Diana cried out as she held her arms up, shielding her face from any flying shards.

Batman was doing the same only with his cape hanging from his outstretched arm, the cloth doing a much better job than his arm could ever do. This venture of there's was going downhill in a hurry. If they didn't reign Hawkgirl in quickly, there was no telling what would happen.

So of course, that's when J'onn called.

"Batman, it's the Martian Manhunter. I have some worrisome news."

No kidding? the vigilante groused in his head. No doubt the Martian sensed his annoyed thoughts even through the mic rather than telepathically. Still, he needed to at least respond. "Now isn't a good time, J'onn," he replied.

"I will be brief. I was going through the black box as you requested and discovered the Joker accessed several rooms throughout the building. I believe he obtained some of our cleaning agents from the room we stored them."

Batman was about to dismiss the warning, seeing no reason why this information was important before J'onn's words really sank in. The Joker, household products—Joker Venom.

"We have to get out of here, now!" he barked at the others, earning him the attention of Diana and Flash as they jerked their heads around to stare at him. The only one he didn't have was Hawkgirl's, who was fully intent on smashing each and every mirror around them as she darted from one side of the corridor to the other.

That was when he heard a sound, one that came from somewhere above him. Jerking his arm down as he looked up, the Dark Knight was just in time to see the sprinkler heads extend out from their place in the ceiling, a white gas suddenly spraying out from them.

Goddamn it.

There wasn't any time to react. One moment they were surrounded by flying glass, the next the white gas enveloped them all. J'onn's warning was blaring in the vigilante's mind even as he began coughing harshly and hoping against hope that he could fight off the urge to laugh long enough so he could pull out a syringe of Joker Venom antidote to dose himself.

However, that urge never came. Having worked in a lab with the vile toxin, Batman had noticed a distinct odor from it; right now, he wasn't smelling that scent. In fact, if he wasn't mistaken, there wasn't any smell at all. This was less a toxin and more of a smoke.

Why? It didn't make sense. They were in a vulnerable position, what better time than to eliminate what was left of the League? Yet, the only thing this smoke could do is disorient them at best.

Glancing up, the first thing he was noticed was that he could barely see the person in front of him, only their silhouette being visible. An instant later he realized that was the gas' purpose: a smoke screen.

Immediately he lunged forward, shooting a hand out and grabbing a wrist. Considering how bulky and cool to the touch it was, he could only assume he had grabbed Diana by her bracer. "Stay close!" he shouted even as he pulled closer to her and began making out more of her features. She was looking to him now thankfully, her eyes red from the smoke irritating them. "Don't let anyone out of sight."

Immediately, the Amazon moved, though she didn't go far. As far as Batman could tell, she had reached out and grabbed onto Flash's arm, pulling the red-clad man closer to them. Unfortunately, he was too far back to see if Flash reciprocated that action with Hawkgirl.

Craning his head up, he searched for the woman, knowing she had to be somewhere up ahead. More troubling was that he wasn't hearing the sound of her demolishing more mirrors. Of course she would have stopped to resist the smoke in case it was laced with something, but he couldn't even hear her gagged coughs.

Where the hell is she?


Hoarsely, Shayera coughed and gagged. Out of nowhere, this suffocating gas had sprayed down on her and her friends and now she found herself stumbling forward, her feet crunching down on broken glass with every step she took, an arm extended out, reaching for anything that she could steady herself against. She just needed a minute to clear her head and lungs and get control of herself. If only she could do that.

Glancing around herself, her eyes welling up with tears to soothe the irritation they were most definitely feeling, the Thanagarian found that she couldn't see Flash, Diana, or even Batman. Where the hell were they?

"Flash? Diana?" she called out as she took another step. "Where are you?"

Suddenly, the floor beneath the winged woman's feet vanished and Shayera found herself falling. Letting out a yelp of surprise, she felt her back press up against something smooth and cool. She was still moving through, and going at an increasingly faster pace. It was like she was on some sort of slide, one that was at a near-vertical angle.

And then she felt her weight press harder onto the slide as the angle changed, her body suddenly jerking from side to side as the slide took a sudden twist, then a turn. She even found herself spinning in a spiral, rendering her unable to do anything to stop this crazy ride. The entire time she was screaming, not from fear mind you, but from surprise. There was no telling how far she had been going down this slide, but she felt the urge to do something to stop it.

And then the slide went into a near-vertical drop again, going on for several moments before it curved horizontally. This curve sent her flying sideways right off of its metal surface and the next thing she knew, her body hit something hard. Her body ricocheted out of it, the Thanagarian tumbling through the air until she hit the floor, bouncing off of it a couple times until she began rolling over and over until she came to a stop.

Lying there, it was a while before Shayera let out a groan before she began to shift around. Looking up, she found herself in some sort of cement room. No wonder she had felt like she hit something hard; she must have crashed into one of the walls when she first entered the room. Glancing around, she saw a hole in the wall, one that formed a perfect square. That must have been her entry point here, wherever that was.

"Eh hem, hem, hem," a voice suddenly coughed, an attempt to clear one's throat. Whipping her head around, she found an entire side of the room was transparent—either glass or some form of fiberglass. On the other side of this glass stood the Joker, standing ramrod straight, a hand holding out an open book as the other thumbed its way through a few pages.

"Now that I have your attention, I've always wanted to try this," the madman said before he spoke in a high falsetto, "Dear diary, Superman looked at me again. I thought I was going to orgasm right then and there, but I barely managed to keep it in as I confidently said 'hi.'"

Shayera bared her teeth as she forced herself on her feet. Her right hand flexed instinctively, tightening into a fist rather than around the shaft of her weapon. That was the first moment she realized she had lost her hammer since entering this place.

That did nothing to stop the Joker's mindless prattle. "Pardon me, that wasn't in this lovely book. I was taking some artistic liberties," he apologized, looking sincere—for him. "Now, for what it really says: Entry data seven dash sixteen dash thirteen, I've just had the misfortune of nearly laughing my lungs up after being exposed to this strange gas."

The Thanagarian froze upon hearing those words. "Where did you—?" she gasped.

"Get this lovely book?" the Joker finished for her. "Why, where else would I get it from, silly? Your boudoir, of course. Ya see, I had this question and I thought that if I went into that room of yours, I might get an answer. That's where I happened upon this fine piece of literature of yours. I must say, you have pretty neat handwriting, my dear, but it did nothing to answer that mystery of mine.

"What do women want?"

The goads aside, Shayera could feel her stomach dropping. That was her personal log, containing information that she had collected throughout her stay on Earth. She had hidden it in a secure safe in the room assigned to her at the JLHQ, figuring that was the safest place for it to be. Now that animal had his disgusting hands on it and there was no telling how much he had read.

"What have you read?" she hissed lowly as she began to inch herself to the glass barrier.

"Only want interested me," the green-haired man replied. "Though I will admit I was hoping to find some good gossip—things like what underwear Flyboy wears, if Miss American Model was swinging for the other team, or what celebrity crushes you all had. Nothing too important when compared to school shootings and that one guy who refused to sell me that jelly-filled donut I had been eyeing."

But then a smirk appeared on his pale face. "So tell me, do your buddies in your clubhouse know what you've been up to?"

Shit! He knew! He had to know everything! Shayera grounded her teeth together. She needed to get her logbook back.

"Oh, what's with that look? Can't you tell I'm teasing you?" the Joker suddenly declared, causing the redhead to look at him bewilderingly. "All you hero-types are so uptight. You always have some sort of secret floating around and all it takes is for someone to hint at it for your to tighten that butthole of yours."

Did...did he not know? Chances were he did and he was playing coy with her. Regardless, she had to make sure he never uttered a word of what he read from that book.

"Now, now, calm yourself down. You are a guest of mine and I am a terrific host if I don't say so myself. Why, you must be hungry, especially after I blew up your clubhouse kitchen. How about I feed you?"

The Joker shut the book, before dropping it to the floor next to him. Raising his hands up, the psychotic clown sharply clapped his hands twice in rapid succession. The next thing Shayera knew, she heard the squeal of hinges protesting, causing her to look up. A crease had appeared right down the middle of the ceiling and it was growing wider. And as it did so, a dark mass fell down on top of her.

The force of the mass hitting her crushed her down onto the floor, a cry escaping her lips. Through cracked eyes she stared forward when she noticed an avalanche of bugs rushing passed her.

Oh dear God.

"Mmmmm, that's some good grub!" the Joker exclaimed, his face and hands pressed up against the glass as he watched the Thanagarian be smothered by the growing piles of insects. "I had them specially imported just for you, since you're a bird and all and birds eat bugs. C'mon, don't be shy! Eat 'em up, eat 'em up, go Birdgirl, go!"

Unfortunately for Shayera, she was being swallowed up by the mountain of bugs until she vanished from sight. The sheer weight was keeping her pinned to the ground, no matter how much she struggled. Even worse, her mind was burning with fear as the enclosed space she felt began suffocating her. Her breathing quickened and became more shallow as she began to hyperventilate, her brain screaming how there was no escape, no air for her lungs. Rational thought was fleeing her as images of her partial-devoured corpse was found days, if not weeks later by investigators searching for a missing person.

She...she was going to die here.

NO! Frantically, the winged woman began to thrash as much as she could, her arms and legs flexing as her wings extended up and out, but it was to no avail. She was trapped, helpless, and the rest of the League had no idea where she was. She screamed, or at least tried to, but even her voice was muffled by the bugs and insects that swarmed around her.

That didn't stop her muffled cries from coming forth.


When I was planning this story out, I used my regular co-author of this series, Anonymous Void, to bounce ideas off of. The mountain of bugs was one of his ideas, but at the time I doubted I would use it. Then, the idea of the amusement park came up and I found the right circumstance to actually use his idea. Hoped you liked it AV!