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Flash's arms were a spinning blur, one that was blasting a powerful wind that blew away the smoke screen. Mere seconds passed before the small group was able to see mirrors around them, many of which were broken with glass shards scattered all over the floor.

More importantly though, was the lack of Hawkgirl.

Batman clenched his jaw tightly. He had expected a trap and they had sprung it gloriously. He had been a fool to think safety in numbers would protect them from another attack, especially when they all were purposefully goaded at their most sensitive areas. Hawkgirl's absence was just proof of that.

"Hawkgirl?" Diana called out as she began walking further into the damaged room. Her eyes were searching for any sign of the Thanagarian, even if it were in vain.

"Wings? Where are ya?" Flash joined her, moving out as well. The sound of crunching glass filled the room with every step they took, coupled with their constant calls for their missing comrade.

Batman, in the meantime, began searching for a way out. Sure there was the way they came, but there had to be another exit point. No way would the Joker lead them in here only to trap himself with them.

"Guys, I'm not seeing her anywhere," Flash spoke with growing alarm in his tone. "She couldn't have gone too far. I mean, she was just in front of us!"

"We'll find her," Diana replied, a confidence in her voice that with either genuine, or disguising her own anxiety. The vigilante wasn't sure which, but it didn't matter. It would be counterproductive to try and figure out how the Amazon was feeling, especially when every second was precious.

Weaving his way between a few unbroken sets of mirrors, the Dark Knight came to an abrupt stop. He had finally found an actual wall—one not composed of mirrors—and more importantly there was a doorway. "Diana, Flash," he called out just as he began making his way to the door. The growing sound of footsteps told him his comrades were heading his way.

Reaching the door, Batman grabbed the doorknob and gave it a twist, opening the door as it swung outward. It was then the two Leaguers joined him, coming to a stop behind the dark-clad man. Turning his head to look at them, he said, "I believe we have a lead."

Without another word, the three passed through the doorway, Batman leading the way and Flash bringing up the rear. The first thing they found was a staircase that lead downwards. Carefully, they descended the stairs, the vigilante on high alert for any boobytraps. If there was ever a place for one, this was it.

One flight of stairs became two, then three, four, five, and yet there hadn't been a single trap sprung. It was baffling and worrisome to the Dark Knight; it was also another puzzling piece of whatever the clown was up to.

Now that was something to consider. Throughout this entire ordeal, the Joker seemed to jump between mentally shaking the Justice League to flat out killing them. There was no set pattern unless you considered each attack went by the Joker's whim. One day he wanted to pull a catastrophic prank, the next he obliterated two powerful Justice League members in one fail swoop. Now they had a dead socialite and Hawkgirl was currently MIA. While the former was obviously trying to get the League's attention and lead them here, the latter completely ignored the precarious position they had been where simply filling up the Hall of Mirrors with Joker Venom would have ended them all. Something else was afoot, that much Batman was sure about.

It was after descending a sixth flight of stairs that they finally reached the bottom, a door greeting them at the final landing. Moving to it, Batman opened it and found himself entering a room. Looking to his left, he came to a full stop as he stared at a mountain of insects, many of which were crawling away from the pile and stretching out across the floor.

"Holy Bugfest, Batman!" Flash exclaimed the moment he entered the room, earning the red-clad man a blank stare from said vigilante. Flash merely pointed and said, "That's a lot of bugs."

"I noticed," Batman replied dryly, returning his sights to the rest of the room. Aside from the insects, there wasn't much to look at.

Diana, however, felt differently. Stepping forward, she ignored the crunching sound of bugs beneath her boots as she moved to whatever had captured her interest. Coming to a stop, she knelt down and reached to touch something on the floor. "Someone was dragged," she declared.

Frowning, Batman walked over to the Amazon and looked down at what she was examining. A trail of what looked like spattered bug insides emerged from the pile of bugs and made a turn towards a doorway on the opposite side of the room. Broken exoskeletons of the insects allowed internal organs and goo to be spilled over the floor.

More importantly though, Diana was holding a slime-covered feather in between her fingers, spinning it this way and that as she observed it. Though it was tainted with slime, it looked like a feather that belonged to Hawkgirl's wings.

Tearing her attention away from the feather, Diana looked up to the Dark Knight, a questioning expression on her face. "Do you think…?" she trailed off.

"It's possible," Batman admitted. If Hawkgirl had indeed been here, it seemed as if she had been buried beneath the pile of wiggling bugs, then pulled out of it and dragged away. It was a more preferable state of affair than the Thanagarian being dead.

"So what are we waiting for?" Flash asked, standing next to them all of a sudden. "Let's follow this trail and see where it leads us."

Glancing up to the door, Batman was more than inclined to do what the speedster said. However, he couldn't help but think how easy it had been for them to find this place. They had gotten here too easily, as if they had been allowed to.

Perhaps it was time to be more prudent.

"One second," he responded then, pulling out his grapple gun and aiming it at the door. Firing it, he watched as the claw flew through the air and collided with the doorknob, causing it to rattle from the force of the collision.

Instantly, the door blew up, sending pieces of it flying in all directions. Even more alarming was the rush of a cloud of green gas pouring into the room. "Get out!" Batman ordered even as he was retracting the remains of his grapple line, already backing away from the approaching gas.

Flash was already gone, having raced out the way they had come. Diana was on her feet as well, hurrying to the open doorway. Batman was right behind her, having completed his retrieval of his grapple. The claw was gone, having been destroyed in the explosion, which left the burnt end of the cable at the grapple's mouth. Pocketing the device, he went into a full out run, dashing through the threshold and grabbing onto the open door. Swinging it, he slammed the door closed and began leaping up the stairs two at a time. Even as he spun on the first landing to go up the second flight, he could see the Joker Venom beginning to leak through the crack at the bottom of the door.

Though it was alarming, there was no real need to rush his way up the stairs. The closed door impeded most of the gas, reducing its spread greatly. If he wanted to, the vigilante could walk his way out of the Hall of Mirrors and not be touched by the toxin.

However, there was work to do now. The Joker had Hawkgirl, that much was certain. Whether she was alive or not remained to be seen, but it definitely spoke to a greater plan on the madman's part.

It was finally time to figure out what that was.


The engine powered down a moment after the plane landed. Batman could hear a dying whine as the computer systems shut off, the canopy sliding forward and releasing the pressurized air from the cockpit. Hauling himself out and dropping to the ground below, the vigilante began trudging from the landing pad, across a catwalk, and onto the central plateau that was the center of the cave.

Hanging around the supercomputer was the rest of the Justice League. J'onn was sitting in the chair, most of his uniform on save for the cape. Flash was leaning his backside against the console as Diana stood to the left of the chair. He had ordered the latter two to head back to the cave while he brought up the rear. There was no need for them to take their time due to his jet being so much slower than they were. He had stayed in radio contact with J'onn in the event something happened.

Nothing had obviously, which led them to their current predicament. It seemed the Martian wanted to start their little meeting as he was the first one to speak. "I understand Hawkgirl has been taken prisoner," his stoic voice announced into the cave.

"That's correct," Batman replied as he came to a stop in front of the other three. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted Cassandra in her Batgirl regalia, watching the four of them silently. "For what purpose, I'm not sure."

"It does seem strange," J'onn agreed with him. "His previous actions seemed to indicate the elimination of the League. Perhaps he is changing tactics?"

"Or maybe he's going to Jokerize Wings and set her on us like he did Big Blue," Flash suggested.

Now there was a possibility he had overlooked. "Flash makes a good point," Batman acknowledged, "but until we have positive confirmation, we can't assume anything as of now."

Flash blew air out of his mouth as he tilted his head to look up at the ceiling. "Man, this bites," he groaned. "All this time and we still have no idea what the Joker is after." He leaned his head forward to look at the Dark Knight again. "Was it like this the first time you went up against him?"

"Pretty much, except there was a lot more collateral damage."

The red-clad man raised an eyebrow. "More than two separate cities getting demolished?"

"The body count was higher."

"Perhaps we should shelve such talk," Diana suggested before she turned her attention to J'onn. "Have you been able to uncover anything from the black box?"

The Martian slowly nodded his head. "I believe I have." At this he turned the chair to face the computer and brought up a window. Batman was quick to notice it was of the teleporter logs. "As you can see, the teleporter was used frequently right before League Headquarters was destroyed."

Indeed, the vigilante could see the multiple uses, right from where the Joker was believed to have entered to his and Diana's return. His eyes narrowed then. There was—

"Right after Diana and Batman returned with Superman, there was one last teleportation just before the building blew up," J'onn narrated. "It is possible this is when the Joker actually left, though it doesn't account for one earlier use before our return."

Batman moved closer to the console, worming his way between Diana and the chair as he came to stand in front of the computer. "Computer: search for locations the teleporter transported people from," he ordered.

Immediately, flashes of light filled the cave as the computer processed the command. "Is there something you'd like to share with the rest of the class?" Flash asked as he took a step away from where he was leaning so that he could turn around and face the large monitor.

"I can't believe I didn't think of this earlier, but I'm trying to see where the Joker had himself transported from," Batman answered him, his eyes never moving away from the screen. Soon, a new window opened up with the results. Eyeing it, it became apparent that the Joker had teleported in from Metropolis, most likely the factory he had been hiding out in.

"Well, that didn't do much," Flash groused.

"It at least confirmed how the Joker knew we would be absent though," J'onn spoke up. "He most likely watched Superman destroying the city until we arrived."

Before that line of thinking could continue, Batman interrupted as he pointed at the last entry. "Look," he ordered, drawing the other heroes' attention back to the screen. "The very last entry, the last use of Superman's access code shows the last use of the teleporter was to transport someone from the med bay."

That caused the others to perk their heads up. "Why would the Joker do that?" Flash asked in bewilderment.

"More importantly is the people that were in the med bay," Diana interjected as she took a step closer to the monitor. "Superman and John were in there."

"Which means they could have been teleported out moments before the explosions," J'onn finished for her.

"Which means they could still be alive?!" Flash practically shouted. "Oh man! That's great! That—"

"Puts them right into the hands of the Joker," Batman interrupted the speedster. "At the very least we know they're still alive since he went to the effort of kidnapping Hawkgirl. He must still have some plans for them."

"And us," Diana added. "It stands to reason that he'd want to capture us all as well."

"However you look at it, it's still good news," Flash argued. "I mean, we just went from thinking Supes and GL were dead to them possibly being alive. I don't know about the rest of you, but I think that's a cause for celebration."

"No one is arguing that," J'onn replied as he turned the chair to look to the young man. "Unfortunately, this speaks to a much larger plan in play, one we haven't begun to make any headway."

"Well, that's one way to look at it if you wanted to be a Negative Nancy."

That caused J'onn and Diana to look at the red-clad man in confusion. "Who is Nancy?" the Amazon asked, "and why is she considered to be negative?"

And they were getting sidetracked. Let them, Batman had other thoughts running in his head. J'onn was right in that there was some hidden agenda, but unfortunately the only person that knew what that was was a man with a sadistic streak a mile wide. The Joker had been playing things close to the vest, with a precision that was astonishing as much as it was troubling. Everything needed to be working in his favor, be it a situation he engineered, or just dumb luck. The biggest risk he had taken so far was revealing himself at the amusement park, trusting that Flash wouldn't capture him in a nanosecond the moment he poked his head out. He must have known they wouldn't have willingly separated themselves, yet he had created a situation where he managed to slip Hawkgirl out of sight, then out of the park entirely, leaving Joker Venom in his wake to discourage pursuit.

This was nothing like his old pattern.

However, just because they knew where he had been, that didn't mean they couldn't figure out where he was going. Chances were the Joker was taking Hawkgirl right where Superman and Green Lantern were. And since he had the use of a teleporter, he could've sent the latter two to any destination he wanted. What better way than to where he wanted them anyways?

"Computer: identify destinations inputted into the teleporter," the dark-clad man commanded, silencing the others as they turned their attention back to the computer.

It was a few seconds before the results were presented and Batman found himself narrowing his eyes at the very last entire. "Gotham," he growled lowly.

He should have known. With the Joker, if he was planning on a climax, the final punchline, it was going to have to be in Gotham. It meant that the green-haired man intended on saving the vigilante for last in this game he was playing.

Well then, it was time to put an end to this sooner than the Joker planned.

"Computer: trace current location of Justice League access code belonging to Hawkgirl."

If he wasn't mistaken, Hawkgirl still had her communication device on her. He hadn't seen it discarded in that room with the bugs—that wasn't to say it hadn't been knocked out and was still there—so if it was indeed on her, it would still be broadcasting a signal, which the supercomputer would be able to pick up and lead them right to where the Joker was going. Waiting, the flashes of light from the monitor lit up the cave until finally a new window appeared containing a map of Gotham.

On the map was a red dot and it was moving through the west side of the city, heading south and east. Reaching a hand to the keyboard, he tapped one of the keys to zoom in the dot, always keeping it in frame.

"Man, why didn't we try this earlier?" Flash inquired as he watched the red dot's movement. "We could've intercepted this guy in route."

"Perhaps," Batman agreed with him. "But if we want to recover Superman and Green Lantern as well, we need to know where the Joker is going."

"Oh, that's a good point."

As minutes began to pass by and the red dot continue to move, Batman began glancing at his teammates. Each one had been hit hard by the Joker's attacks—Flash unwittingly Jokerizing Central City, J'onn being shattered into pieces by Superman, and Diana witnessing the destruction and possible deaths of comrades-in-arms. They were clearly emotionally invested in this, a mindset he knew from experience was dangerous. Would they be able to handle what other traps and psychological tortures awaited them at the Joker's hideout?

His brain told him that they were professionals and would be able to face whatever deathtraps were thrown their way.

His gut told him otherwise.

Straightening out his posture, the vigilante earned himself the attention of the group, their collective heads turning towards him. "I'm going to restock. Be ready when I get back." Turning away from them, Batman strode away from the supercomputer, heading towards another part of the cave. Locating a crevice, he entered it, finding himself traversing a naturally-formed corridor. As he reached the end, he found a man-made vault, a keypad off to the side.

Entering a code on the keypad, the vault door made a hissing sound as air escaped through it, right before the large door swung open. Through the threshold, the vigilante found himself in his armory. There was a small table in the middle of the room, which the dark-clad man unbuckled his belt and placed it on top of.

The next few minutes were spent collecting shuriken, smoke pellets, flashbang grenades, and other devices he expected to use. He made sure to bring a couple spare grapples considering his luck lately with them.

Despite his focus on reloading his belt, Batman was fully aware of a presence approaching the vault door and entering the room. "What are our chances for success?" Diana asked, her voice coming from behind him.

"About like they usually are," he replied to her, not bothering to turn and address the dark-haired woman. She didn't seem perturbed by this like she would've been not too long ago.

"This isn't like the other times though," she was quick to point out. "Most of the people we go up against are for conquest and subjugation. We've been treating the last few days as such, that there's a villain we simply need to defeat. But this is different and because of this we have been hurt in ways we're not used to. That must be taken into consideration."

"You're right," Batman agreed, finally stopping what he was doing and turning to face the Amazon. "All of us have had our emotions used to devastating effect against us."

"So how do we get around this?" Diana pressed, taking a step towards him. "We need to think of something different, some angle we can use that the Joker won't see coming."

She was right in that regard. Everything they had done from partnering up to staying in groups had failed. The Joker had managed to separate them regardless of their intent and even captured a few despite having superpowers. With emotions ruling the League, it seemed something else entirely would need to be done.

He paused as he thought of possible solutions, continuously coming to one. It was the only one he knew for certain would keep the Justice League safe, though there would be resistance.

"I think I may have something we could use," Batman said, Diana perking her head up at this. "I'm almost through here. Meet me back at the computer."

Diana smiled at him as she nodded her acceptance. Spinning around, she walked out of the armory, the Dark Knight watching her leave.

Several moments passed before Batman called out, "You can come out now."

Dropping from the ceiling, Cassandra landed on the floor silently, her cape settling around her. She had done her best to follow him and keep herself out of sight. She might have succeeded too, had he not heard Diana coming.

Speaking of whom, this did present an opportunity. Looking at his protege, an idea was forming in his head.


The rest of the League was waiting by the supercomputer, just like he expected. The screen showed the dot was still moving, though considering the heroes were now staring at the approaching vigilante, their visible eagerness was definitely aimed towards him.

"So Wondy says you have some special weapon we can use?" Flash inquired, his body practically shaking in place.

"Something like that," Batman replied as he reached them. "Over by the dinosaur—" at this he paused to glare the speedster down before he could even utter a word about the T-Rex "—there's another vault. Inside are a number of suits I've developed that should protect us from anything the Joker can think of."

"So you just happened to have these things lying around? Just waiting for something like this to happen?"

"I made them in case someone like Despero decided to invade again," the dark-clad man retorted.

"A wise policy," J'onn remarked.

"Considering how you three already know your way around here, you should have no trouble getting in. The code is 17459. Get in, pick out a suit, and meet me back here."

Flash's eyes lit up. "Trusting us with the goodies you keep in your Batcave? Alright!"

The sour look on Batman's face spoke towards the opposite. "We don't have a lot of options right now."

"Come, Flash, it's best we do what is needed," the Martian interjected then, standing at his full height. Walking, he led the way towards the T-Rex, Flash following him a moment later.

That just left Diana standing in front of him. "What about you? Aren't you going to change your suit?" she asked.

"My current suit should be enough," he grunted in response. "Though there is something in the car I'll be needing."

"Very well." The Amazon approached him then, reaching a hand up to clasp it against his shoulder, giving it a squeeze. "We won't be long."

Then, as if on a whim, Diana closed in on him, wrapping her arms around him. Batman didn't move, allowing the dark-haired woman to embrace him. He was honestly a little surprised by the action, unsure how to react other than just stand there. The feeling was foreign to him. Eventually she pulled away, standing within arm's reach with a mischievous look on her face. It seemed she was very aware of his lack of response and was taking it with good humor. "For good luck," she explained, though she had no need to.

The corner of his mouth tugged upwards. That was about the only response she was going to get and her own widening smile indicated her knowing of this. For a moment Batman felt he should say something, but that opportunity left as Diana then took her leave, making to catch up with the other two heroes.

That's when Batman's smile dropped, the vigilante looking up to the computer screen. As it so happened, Joker had continued heading east into the city, stopping his southerly journey at some point, the red dot blinking on one spot continuously. It was somewhere in the Industrial Area, a building he wasn't quite familiar with. Even if this didn't involve the Joker, there was no telling what dangers awaited him there, more so with the madman running the show.

Hitting a few keys, he powered down the supercomputer before he turned away and walked towards the car. He spared a glance to the T-Rex, seeing neither Diana, J'onn, or Flash. Reaching the car, the canopy slid open and he hoped in. Turning on the engine, it rumbled to life; with any luck, the others were in the vault, and unable to react to the roaring car. Hitting the accelerator, the car shot forward, racing down the curved trail and entering the tunnel soon after.

With everything going on, this was something the Dark Knight needed to do on his own. The Justice League was not ready for a fight like this and perhaps never were. They were used to fighting monsters and aliens, not men with the capacity for evil that the Joker was capable of. With this psychopath, it was a fight that either ended with a few scars, or one you died fighting.

He had already done the latter.

Batman wasn't going to let the same happen to the others. When Diana had expressed the need to do something different, she had definitely been right. Staying with the others hadn't worked; perhaps it was time for him to go off on his own and use his own expertise at apprehending the clown. Trying to explain it to the League had not worked; having them fight against the Joker was putting them two steps behind at every turn. The strain of these attacks were doing a number on them, slowly driving them into irrational decisions.

It wasn't a matter of if they would react much like Hawkgirl did in Midway—it was a matter of when. And when they made that ill-fated decision, they would be captured, or worse. It was strange, but this was the same cycle he had gone through the first time the Joker attacked Gotham. With each situation that cropped up, Batman had slowly sunk into grief and devastation. While there was a possibility Hawkgirl, Superman, and Green Lantern were still alive, that wasn't the case with Alfred and he was still dealing with the man's absence every day.

If Batman ever saw the others again, he hoped they would understand what he was doing. Asking for forgiveness, well, that just wasn't something he did.