It was with a groan that Diana stirred, slowly coming back to consciousness. Her head was throbbing from a headache, something that made her grunt as she began to shift her body. The ground she laid on was cool to the touch, something that caused her to press her forehead against to soothe the headache.

Eventually, she opened her eyes and found herself staring down at cracked cement. It wasn't damaged from her landing so much as wear and tear over the years. Pressing her hands down on the floor, she pushed herself up, finding herself in a concrete corridor. More alarming though, was that she didn't see J'onn, or Flash anywhere.

The dark-haired woman tried to remember how she came to this place. The last thing she remembered was being in the company of her comrades, so she must have lost consciousness sometime during their last moments together. She was even willing to bet that her current headache must have been a result of the separation as well.

The Amazon sighed. The very thing they wanted to avoid and they were unable to succeed at that. Perhaps there was a legitimate reason for Batman striking out on his own.

Shaking her head, Diana forced herself onto her feet. Looking ahead and behind her, all she could see was the hallway extending out until darkness covered any distinguishing features. Focusing on her hearing, she tried to pick up any sounds that might tell her where she was other than underground.

Sound—now that stirred something in her memory. A high-pitched sound had been used against them, the Amazon recalling having to cover her ears in a poor attempt to block it out. All three of them had been affected by it, which left them helpless to however they were transported into these tunnels. Looking up, all Diana saw was a ceiling, though she was more than willing to believe that it could open up with the right amount of physical persuasion.

While she could do that, Diana felt that still wouldn't reunite her with J'onn, or Flash, especially if they were down here with her. It would be best to search for them first before trying to find a way out.

Taking a deep breath and releasing it, the Amazonian Princess began moving forward, heading down the corridor.


J'onn blinked his eyes. He was firmly aware of the fact he was in some sort of storage area, the amount of crates being his first indication of such. However, he had not moved a muscle since arriving.

His mind was still recovering from the debilitating noise used against him and his comrades. Unlike Diana and Flash, he had managed to stay awake rather than lose consciousness. That was why he was the only one to see them separated during their fall. There had been a metal construct reminiscent of what Earthlings called a slide. They had landed on it and gravity had continued to push them down it, the slide dividing into multiple ones soon after. There were all sorts of different paths as the slide repeated divided, though they may have just been the one J'onn had been on. Chances were they all had different paths and with the multiple possibilities they each could have taken, there was no telling where the others ended up.

It had been an unpleasant experience, physically at least. While the Martian's body ached at certain points, there was nothing stopping himself from moving save for his mind. His balance centers had been scrambled not only due to the unexpected sound, but the physical jolting of the slide. For now it was best to recuperate before venturing out.

However, that didn't mean he had to be inactive. Steadily he reached out with his mind, searching for any signs of activity outside of his location. He was being cautious with this as he wasn't sure what he might encounter here. At the very least he expected to find Diana and/or Flash, assuming they were awake. The lack of mental impulses made a psychic sweep much harder.

Eyes glowing orange, he searched and searched, until at long last he picked up a mind. It was a closed off and foreboding one—Batman's. So he was indeed here. However, he did sense the man felt disturbed by something; the exact details were lacking, but J'onn mused that it would have to be something significant to make a man like the Dark Knight worried.

Soon after he sensed another mind, and shortly after that another—Diana and Flash. So they were both on the move. That was comforting. He had been worried that out of all the different twists and turns, they all would have been captured with relative ease.

Unfortunately, that brought up another thought. If there was ever a time for the Joker to capture not one, but three Justice League members, he could not have created a better scenario. All three of them were rendered incapacitated at worse, weakened at best. Yet, instead of capture, the sociopath had designed his metal creation to deliver each hero to different places in his complex. Why would he do such a thing?

Suddenly, J'onn detected another mind, one that differed from the others. It was manic and dark, indicating an unwell mind. Considering his unfamiliarity with such a mind, the Martian could only assume this was the Joker. In fact, he was alone, a sense of patience emanating through the sickness within his head.

J'onn was up on his feet in an instant. Focusing on the depraved mind, his eyes nearly bore holes in the wall in front of him from the intensity. There! He had him now. No longer would this madman slip through their fingers. He was going to put an end to this once and for all.

The Martian's body changed, taking on a transparent appearance. Leaning forward, he lifted off the floor and flew headfirst at the wall, going through it and passing into another room. His speed picked up and the world around J'onn came at him as flashes of images, passing through one wall and then another and then another in a blink of an eye. He ignored everything else as room after room and hall after hall appeared and disappeared with every blink.

And then he was there. Coming to an immediate halt as he pulled back to float with his feet mere inches from the floor, his body returned to its natural hue, his cape blowing all over him, flapping in front of him due to its continued momentum. It eventually fell to hang from his shoulders even as J'onn gazed to the man he sought.

The Joker stood in his pressed purple suit, a sly smirk on his face as he held his hands behind his back. The room they were in was best described as a boiler room, the giant boilers placed at even intervals to their left and right, lining those walls. Oddly enough, only one was active and that one was far behind the Joker, off to his left. If there was ever a room that the clown could have chosen, this was the most advantageous if the boilers were actually on.

"Well, howdy there, Marvin," the Joker greeted him, his voice calm and laced with a touch of humor. "Are you here for the Uranium PU-36 Explosive Space Modulator? If so, you just missed it. I sold my last one."

J'onn was not amused. "I have come to apprehend you, Joker," he told him, dropping down to stand on the ground. "I advise you to surrender yourself peacefully and no harm will come to you."

The Joker's face twisted into one of thoughtfulness, or so J'onn believed since he could pick up on the man's thoughts. His eyes had rolled up as he jutted his jaw, pursing his red lips as they pulled to a side. "Ya know, that's very tempting," he acknowledge. "But I'm going to have to saaaaay...no."

He was hiding something, J'onn could sense it. However, the fact he immediately knew that not from deductive reasoning, but from the thoughts of the madman made him pause. He wasn't actively trying to read the Joker's mind, yet he found himself doing it repeatedly, unconsciously even.

I've got a secret… the Joker changed in his head. I've got a secret, I've got a secret, don't you want to know? Don't you want to know?

J'onn found himself glaring, an expression that was foreign to his face, made all the more intimidating by the lack of usage. "I can hear your thoughts," he warned the green-haired man. "If you wish to tell me something, do so."

"Oh, but where would the fun be in that?" the Joker taunted him. "Since you can 'hear my thoughts,' why don't you just read my mind and take 'em? Oh wait, I know you goodie-two-shoes don't like violating privacy and all—very admirable by the way. I wouldn't want TMZ snapping a pic of me in my tightie-whities and plastering it on the internet. I'd have to kill the entire office just to get the negatives back. So I'll be nice and give you permission. Go on, do it. I promise I won't bite."

"No," J'onn replied stonily. He then began approaching the clown, coming to a stop in front of him as he reached out and grabbed the man by his shoulder. "No more games."

"Pity," the Joker lamented. "Because games is all I have left."

And then the man's sly look morphed into a full out smile. Pain tore into J'onn's head, causing him to cry out and stumble back a couple steps, his hands shooting up to clutch his skull. His eyes shut tightly for a moment before he cracked them open.

Gone, however, was the boiler room and in its stead was a dark void, the only thing visible being the Joker himself. That didn't last long though, as menacing yellow-glowing eyes began to appear, one pair at a time, then two, then countless.

And all the eyes were staring right at him.

"Ya know, when I was visiting Metropolis," the Joker began, his tone conversational, "I happened to stumble upon this place that had this little do-dads in them. A Mr. Dorsey—I call him Freddy—said they were thought buffers, or something like that. Now, I know what you're thinking: why would some rich guy have a bunch of thingamabobs that kept people from thinking? Well, I'll tell ya: they're people wanting to hide something.

"As for me, well, I like to share my thoughts."

Suddenly, living shadows raced at J'onn, ramming into him. The Martian opened his mouth to scream from the onslaught, only to have the shadows begin rushing into the opening and down his throat. More entered his body through his eyes and ears, causing him to fall to his knees, his face frozen in a silent scream.

"So I took Mr. Dorsey's thought buffers and I reversed them! So now, instead of blocking thoughts, it encourages people to think them—and read them." The Joker paused in his narrations as he stared down at J'onn's stiffening body as it began to rear backwards, his back straining from the motion. "And right now you're getting a good look into my mind."

That was when the Joker's face began to change. His nose seemed to grow longer as his eyes became slited. His smile opened as fangs began to grow from the incisors, a forked tongue darting out from his serpentine face.

"Make yourself at home, Marvin. It'ssssss going to be a bumpy ride, ha ha!"


With a shrill screech, the hinges to the iron door squealed as it was forced opened. With a grunt, Batman shoved it to a side, where its edge clanged on the floor.

After investigating the rest of the upper floors, the vigilante had come to the conclusion that aside from the one room with the mural of dried blood, they were largely ignored. So he had gone in search of finding his way to the lower levels, finding a set of iron doors extending from the floor. Seeing a set of stairs descending, the dark-clad man didn't spare a second as he began climbing down them.

Reaching a new hallway, he began making his way down it. There was relatively little lighting, which was causing some issue with his night vision; in fact, he shut the setting down, seeing as they were as useful as using his regular sight. Reaching to his belt, he pulled out a glow stick and used both hands to bend it until he heard an audible crack. A green light began to glow, proving some light.

The walls, floor, and ceiling were made of smooth cement, occasional cracks breaking up the monotony. Reaching a T-intersection, he glanced to the hall on his right, seeing nothing different from his current path, and chose to continue moving straight.

It was clear this tunnel had been built during Sionis' ownership, most likely to hide paraphernalia during inspections, or audits. Knowing Sionis, it was most likely illegal arms and narcotics, which meant there had to be storerooms down here. No way would the former Black Mask leave crates lying in a hallway.

As he approached a four-way intersection, he heard a soft sound. If he wasn't mistaken, it sounded like a footstep, and it was coming from the right hallway. There was someone just around the corner and they had to have noticed the light from his glow stick. Carefully, Batman retrieved a shuriken from his belt, holding it at the ready. Silently he approached the corner, pressing his back against it as he readied to strike.

Whirling around the corner, his cape billowing out as he spun, Batman made to throw his shuriken, stopping short as he came face to face with Diana. Arm crossed over his chest as he held the projectile by his shoulder, the vigilante stared at the Amazon as she blinked her eyes rapidly in order to adjust to the source of light in his other hand.

He had expected her to show up sooner or later, but the fact that the dark-haired woman was creeping around down here and rather crashing through a roof was puzzling. "What are you doing down here?" he gruffly asked her, slowly relaxing his body as he dropped his armed hand down to his side.

"Searching for you," was her equally curt response. Her eyes narrowed into a glare. "How dare you decide to leave us behind. We may not be at full strength, but we are still a team and team members do not act unilaterally."

"We weren't getting anywhere sticking together—" Batman said.

"Which was your idea," she was quick to point out.

"—so I felt it was best to try something else," he continued unperturbed. "Since I've had the most experience fighting the Joker, I felt it was best if I went in alone."

"And end up captured by him no doubt," Diana growled back. "Now we're all separated; so we need to go find J'onn and Flash before something happens to them."

That caused Batman to scowl. "How did you three get separated?" he questioned.

"We tried to enter this building through the back door, but the Joker was waiting. He disoriented us with a high-frequency noise and dropped us underground."

Damn. So the Joker had figured to use hypersonics on them; it obviously was successful since Diana was all on her own down here. It was pointless to hope the other two would be together since it was most likely the Joker wanted them all on their own.

Since the Dark Knight hadn't run into anyone else down here, there was no point in going back the way he came to search. The same went for the corridor Diana was in. That just left the left and middle routes to try.

Turning around to look at the remaining halls, he glanced back at Diana before he said, "We'll continue your search for the others. After that we find the Joker."

"And after that we need to have a long talk," Diana added ominously.

We'll see. Aside from that one thought, Batman largely ignored the statement. Instead he began walking down the middle hallway, the Amazon following behind him. He could still feel her stony look on his back, but he didn't really care. They had a mission to complete.


Flash slowly edged himself to the corner, pausing long enough to work up his nerve before he quickly peeked around it and pulled back.

This creeping-around stuff was driving the young man nuts. If it wasn't necessary, he would've sped through this entire place already instead of tip-toeing around. His speed had already been used against him in his own city, so he didn't want to take the risk of doing the same thing in the bad guy's lair. If there was ever a place to have some speed trap for him, it would be here.

So Flash was doing his best Batman-stalking and was actually taking his time. Right now he was looking at a turn in the hallway he was in and his quick peek had shown him—surprise, surprise—another empty hall. This made, what, the ninth one? Seriously, he needed to find Wondy, or J'onn already, this being alone stuff was for the birds.

Moving into the new corridor, he walked down it until he came to another turn. Doing the same thing he had done earlier, he pressed himself against the wall and inched himself to the edge where he poked his head around it.

This time he stopped in mid-look. At the end of the hall was a door. Unlike the rest of this maze place, this was the first time he had actually found something that wasn't grey, cracked, or was boring-looking beyond belief. He was actually making progress!

His head jerked around in all directions then, the speedster looking for anything suspicious in this corridor, finding none. Head slowing down, Flash stared at the door before he darted towards it at super speed, stopping right in front of it. Grabbing the doorknob, he gave it a twist and pulled the door open.

Flash found himself entering a room with tile lining the walls and floor. That was about all he saw as his first step ended with his foot sliding forward unexpectedly. It wasn't often Flash found himself slipping unless Captain Cold had frozen the ground during one of their fights, so when the speedster lost his balance, he landed with a wet splat!

"Ow," he groaned, though he didn't really hurt. His body just let him know it didn't appreciate the sudden landing. Though the odd sound of his back hitting the ground was troubling him. Turning his head, it was then that he noticed that what he had thought was white tile was in fact a distinctive shade of red.

Oh...oh God...was this...was he lying in a puddle of blood? Oh geez, oh man, that was so disturbing and gross all at the same time. Please, oh please, don't let it stain his suit. Washing it was going to be an absolute nightmare—

Waaaaaait a minute. What was he thinking? His costume was already red! There was no way to stain it unless it got on his boots, or Flash symbol and wait, his boots were in the blood, damn it.

Slowly, Flash pushed himself up, doing his best to ignore his sensibilities that were screaming in protest from touching the blood anymore than he had to. He sat up first before he attempted to get on his feet. Fortunately he was close enough to a wall so that he could brace himself against it with one arm.

It was then that Flash got a good look at the room he was in. Hanging from the ceiling were several sets of chains, open shackles at their ends. The floor itself was just a large puddle of blood with blood spatters decorating the walls at various points.

All of this told the red-clad man was that a lot of people died in here and those deaths were not pleasant.

As if murder was pleasant to begin with, Flash groused. It wasn't often he went up against depraved people, but he was beginning to think the one he was dealing with was definitely the most deranged.

It was then he spotted a door on the opposite side from the one he had used to enter this place. Carefully, he made his way to it, making sure he didn't slip and fall face first into the the blood. He had tasted his on many occasions when someone managed to bust his lip, so he didn't want to attempt tasting other people's.

It took awhile, but eventually he reached the door. Anxiously he reached out for the doorknob and gave it a twist. Finding it unlocked, he then pulled the door open.

Only for a bolt of electricity to slam right into his chest, causing him to scream wildly before he felt himself be thrown off his feet and through the air. The young man crashed down on the blood-covered floor, smoke wafting from his body as he lay there.

That was when another bolt hit him, causing another cry to explode out of Flash's mouth, his body going rigid as muscles were forcibly contracted or relaxed. It seemed to go on for an eternity, but eventually the electricity disappeared, leaving him to lie there, his breathing heavy. Through squinted eyes, he could see ripples in the blood moving away from him with every breath he took.

"Whooooo-wee! Looks like I caught myself a big one!"

That voice…

Slowly, Flash moved his head to look at the open doorway, finding what was best described as a military rifle on a tripod stand. It had two barrels, the top one being the larger of the two with what looked like crackling electricity coming from it. Hanging from the ceiling was a security camera, its lens trained right on him.

"Now, I believe you're the one they call Speed Man, right? Fast Guy? The one in the red suit that ain't Santy. Whichever it is, it is with much regret that I'm unable to be there in person for your electrocution. I've got a lot on my plate right now, I'm sure you can understand, so we'll have to be impersonal about this."

That was when the bottom, smaller barrel fired a dart out, the dart hitting Flash right on the shoulder, causing him to hiss. "Now don't you worry, that's just a normal sedative—with a dosage made to knock out a pack of elephants. Wasn't sure how much was needed to dope up one of you super-types, so I figured the bigger the dose, the better the results. Now don't go anywhere, I'll be right down."

Part of Flash wanted to growl at how smart alacky that was, but he found his vision was beginning to become unfocused. In fact, darkness was moving from the edges of his sight and heading inward. Slowly the speedster he could feel the sedative kick in and he faintly wondered who would find him first: Joker or one of his friends?

Guess he'd be finding out when he woke up.


"This place is endless," Diana grumbled as they made another turn.

Batman was inclined to agree, though he didn't voice it. He had expected a tunnel system, but one this extensive was astonishing. At the very least they had moved onto a lower level, which rewarded them with a different view. Instead of plain cement, halfway up the walls were tiles, the upper half painted a dull green. The floor was formerly polished tile, but months, if not years of no maintenance had removed the shine. Thankfully the place had running electricity, so there was plenty of lighting for their search.

There were also doorways, most of which were locked up. Every once in awhile they found one that was opened, but the room beyond it was empty—or in one case the home for a colony of rats. The longer they searched, the more discouraged they became.

Even more worrisome was the lack of contact between them and J'onn and Flash. Neither of the other heroes had been found, or attempted to contact them. It was more so with J'onn considering he could reach out with his mind and form a telepathic link. Either he was unconscious somewhere, or he had been captured.

Neither scenario pleased the Dark Knight.

Spotting another door, Batman moved to it to attempt opening it. It was more for being thorough rather than out of desire. Unlike most of the doors though, this one proved to be unlocked as he opened it.

Peeking in, the vigilante found a long, rectangular room. There were scuff markings on the floor, indicating something had resided here at some point. Most likely, this was a holding room for the former owner's illegal goods. Like the hall, this room was lit up.

That made Batman frown. What was the point of having a room with the lights on if it wasn't being used? A warning flag went off in his head, a part of him wanting to discover the reason behind this, and the other wanting to ignore it due to the possibility of it being a trap.

In fact, it probably was a trap.

However, there was a door on the opposite side of the room. A piece of paper had been stuck to it with an insane amount of tape framing the edges. In a crude writing style, the words DO NOT OPEN UNTIL X-MAS had been written out in purple crayon.

That was when the vigilante felt Diana's presence behind him, her head looking over his shoulder at the sight. "It seems we are not wanted beyond that door," she remarked.

"So it does," Batman agreed before he pushed the door open completely, stepping into the room as he did so. Diana followed him through the doorway and moved to his side, keeping up with his pace.

"What do you think is behind it?" she asked him.

"Don't know."

"What are the chances it's a trap?"

"About a hundred percent."

A smirk appeared on the Amazon's face. "And yet we are going to trigger it."

"Unfortunately, we can't leave any stone unturned," the dark-clad man replied. "We haven't gotten anywhere and if this turns out to be another surprise the Joker is just waiting to use, then it's best to get it out of the way now while we're ready for it."

"Then perhaps you should—"

Whatever it was Diana was about to suggest, she was never able to finish it as panels in the walls suddenly extended out, mechanical arms extending out with what looked like a thin cannon at its end. The barrels were also pointed right at the two Leaguers.

"Best to get it out of the way, huh?" Diana commented.

"Next time, tell me to just walk away," Batman retorted.

"Count on it."

Although this weapons were similar to the ones from Cheval's house, their firepower couldn't have been more different. Instead of firing a machine gun's torrent of bullets, these acted more like actual cannons and fired one shot each, a loud BOOM! echoing off the walls.

Instantly, Batman moved back a step and to a side, even as Diana moved in front of him, raising an arm to deflect the shot. However, instead of a shell bouncing off of her bracer, the Amazon let out a cry of surprise as something wet hit her arm.

The Dark Knight had been pulling out one of his explosive shuriken when he heard his comrade's astonishment. Looking over her shoulder, he could see why she had been caught off guard as he stared in amazement. What looked like a big ball of grey mud had latched onto Diana's forearm, covering her bracer completely.

A moment later and another blob hit the Amazon on her left shoulder, the force causing her to back up a step and incidentally press her back into his. Batman wasn't sure what this stuff was, but he was going to make sure no more of it would be used against them. Pulling back his arm with the explosive projectile, he was about to arm it when he heard the sound of more panels extending out of the wall.

Jerking his head to look in front of him, the vigilante found more of the cannons pointed right at him, something that made him curse inside his head. Before he could even more, they began to fire, one of the mud balls hitting him right on his arm and sending his shuriken flying out of his hand. Crying out as he felt his arm twist into an uncomfortable position from the force of the hit, he pulled his arm down even as he ducked another shot at him.

Unfortunately, that blob hit Diana right in the back, causing her to cry out even as she was pelted with more and more of the viscous substance. Her body was constantly shifting from every hit she took at her front, her legs being glued down to the floor where she stood as the mud dripped down and weighed her down.

Before Batman knew it, he too was taking hits, forcing him to press up against the Amazon in response. Each blow felt like he was getting hit with a baseball bat, one of which knocked the air right out of his lungs when it collided with his chest.

Weakly, Batman forced her arms up in a poor attempt at protecting his face, even as he tried to catch his breath. Repeated hits to his abdomen prevented him from getting adequate air, which in turn was making his vision quite hazy.

His strength left his legs then, causing the dark-clad man to drop to his knees, leaving his back exposed to repeated beatings from the blobs. Before he knew it, he was covered from neck to toe in the mud, his face being the one place that had avoided being pelted.

Slowly darkness began to overtake his sight. From the lack of air to his aching body, they made a wonderful cocktail to sending him falling into unconsciousness. As much as he tried to fight it, Batman couldn't stop his eyes from closing over and over until they refused to open again.

Damn.


To Guest (1): Damn straight she is.

To Guest (2): Does this satisfy you?

To manchester789: That could potentially happen. Not now obviously.

A quick note: the scene in which J'onn is being overwhelmed by the Joker's mind is based off a JLA comic in which the men of the JLA have a philosophical debate with Hal Jordan's Specter. In order to make a point, J'onn take them all into a mind so dark and evil so prove that even such a mind can have a ray of light in it, which turns out to be the Joker's. During their journey, they're all attacked by goblins and ghouls, of which J'onn is literally absorbing them into his body due to his telepathy. I did my best to describe that panel, even if it was one that was easily glanced over the first time I read it.