28 CHAPTER 24
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[David Lance POV]
What was I doing?
I can't quite remember…
My mind feels… off.
Disconnected maybe.
I feel like I know why I'm feeling like this, but every time I try to remember, I can't, and I just want to laugh, even though it's not funny.
I don't want to laugh.
I have no idea why…
I don't walk to talk.
I have no idea why…
"HaHaHa!"
A laugh…
Who was laughing?
Was it me?
No…
It was them…
The monsters…
Maybe that's my reason for all of this.
Dealing with the monsters, I think remember that… I was dealing with a villain… and he made some monsters appear, now it was my job to deal with them.
I also had someone to protect… from these monsters.
But who?
He… heheHe, that's funny… Why is it funny? Does it even matter?
Focus… I need to keep my focus.
This isn't me…
Or maybe it is…
It doesn't matter… All I know is I have to make the monsters go away, that much is certain.
Hahaha… HaHaHaHaHaHaHa!
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[Harley Quinn POV]
I rushed to my pudding's side, tending to him as his wounds healed. The low-class brute of Black Bolt had hurt my pudding, breaking his arms and legs.
Well, no more!
That bully would have to deal with me now!
"Don't worry pudding, I'll protect you!" I swore, giving Mister J a kiss on his lovingly burnt face.
"Now, that's funny! HaHaHaHaHaHa!" Mister J laughed, as I turned around to grab my hammer, only to find Black Bolt, in front of me, hand outstretched grabbing my face, before slamming me into the ground, his eyes sparkling with charm just like my pudding.
Then, without giving me a chance to even move, he started punching me on the ground, each strike breaking something, each strike drawing blood, all while Mister J laughed in the ever-fading background.
I was going to die, wasn't I?
Heroes didn't kill…
But he wasn't a hero anymore, wasn't he?
What a way to go!
At the hands of a future hunk, as my pudding watched.
His eyes were just like those of my pudding. Too bad his smile was covered behind his mask.
He probably has a really charming smile, just like Mister J.
I would've liked to see his smile.
How dreamy… the way he looks at me, like I'm all there is… how dreamy….
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[Scarecrow POV]
My body froze.
The carnage this… kid was delivering on Harley, was shocking…
He was deliberately pulling back his punches, just so that he could keep punching her, over and over again, with a delirious gleam of joy flashing across his eyes.
We had made a terrible mistake.
We had created a monster; we weren't ready to deal with.
I had to run… I had to flee, to escape, to leave!
We weren't facing a hero anymore.
"I have to say, junior. You are making papa proud!" The Joker chuckled, looking in delight as Black Bolt continued to punch the already unconscious Harley drawing more and more blood, with her unresponsive body spasming with each hit. "Not even I! Have beaten Harley like that, and believe me, I have given her quite the treatment! But that pales in comparison with your work! Chef's kiss!"
At this Black Bolt stopped, his hands drenched in blood, as he turned to look at me, making my body go cold, as a feeling of dread invaded my every cell.
How marvelous.
To think a kid would make me feel such a primal fear, it's simply without precedent.
"If only I could've studied this feeling," I muttered longingly, before closing my eyes as the fist of my creation dawned on me like the sword of Damocles, shattering my consciousness to a world of darkness.
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[Batman POV]
We had finally arrived at the facility after a painfully long flight with J'onn, that only felt long because of the urgency of the matter, and that we hadn't been allowed to use the zeta tubes, because of our latest mission.
The first thing we noticed was that the facility was gone.
Our second discovery was infinitely grimmer than the last.
The bodies of Harley Quinn, and Scarecrow, laying on the ground in a puddle of their own blood, that by some miracle were somehow still alive, albeit barely.
The wounds demonstrated at least a decent level of superhuman strength, as well as clear signs of dragging fight for as long as possible. Those parameters immediately ruled Robin out, leaving Black Bolt as the only possible subject.
However, he wasn't one to enjoy the suffering of others. Which could only mean…
No…
"The Joker… he's still here," J'onn muttered, pointing to his right, where the faint sounds of someone laughing were heard.
Nodding, I rushed with Martian Manhunter towards the Joker's location, only to find the picture I dreaded the most to encounter, Black Bolt, sitting above the Joker's chest, punching him, over and over again, smiling from his eyes.
"Black Bolt, that's enough!" I ordered, in a loud commanding tone, hoping the infection was in its early stages, only to hear a chuckle coming from the bloody mess that used to be the Joker.
"I told you… didn't I? Batsy?" The Joker chuckled, "OnE. BaD. Day! HaHaHaHaHaHaHa!"
My suspicions had been right.
The Joker had infected him, twisting Black Bolt's mind to a deranged copy of his as the virus took control of his every move. Normally, any normal person would die within a few minutes, before fully descending to the Joker's level.
However, with Black Bolt that was simply not the case. He had many superhuman abilities, amongst them an incredibly effective healing factor, one strong enough to nullify the lethal side of the virus, allowing the virus free reign to alter the mind of the target even more, as death was no longer an option.
I also couldn't rule out the possibility of the Joker mixing his virus with the Fear toxin, which would explain why Scarecrow was here in the first place, laying so close to Harley.
Plucking two vials out of my belt, I rushed towards Black Bolt, stopping his next attack mid-swing, before injecting him with the vials. "That's enough… you can rest now."
Black Bolt… No, David didn't move for a second, simply staring at the Joker, who despite his injuries simply continued to laugh.
"Batman move!" J'onn shouted, rushing to my side in the blink of an eye, pushing me out of the way as David turned, and whispered, blasting J'onn out of sight.
"I know you are stronger than this!" I stated, staring at him. I knew the virus was affecting him; however, he wasn't using his powers to end things, meaning that a part of him was fighting this, a part of his was holding to his real self, not this deranged version of it, the Joker had produced.
"We need to take him down," J'onn said, flying to my side, seemingly unharmed. "Only then will we be able to heal him…"
"Try and reach into his mind first, I know he's in there," I replied, keeping my eyes on Black Bolt, who simply stared at us, unmoving.
"I can't," J'onn replied. "I tried the moment we arrived here, but his mind kept kicking me out. Did you know he had psychic abilities?"
I shook my head, that was news to me. And a problematic development for us.
"Well, he does. I do not know how strong his reach is, but it's strong enough to keep me out," J'onn replied with a small frown. "I could try to force my way into his mind, but that could ultimately damage his already damaged psyche even more…"
But if we did nothing, that would happen regardless. "He's starting to use his powers for the offensive. Right now, he's whispering, which has enough power to destroy between two and three football fields. If he starts speaking normally, Gotham city and everyone in it will be destroyed. Shouts and screams? I can't even calculate the possible outcome of such a scenario…"
J'onn frowned. "You suggest I force myself into his mind then?"
I nodded. "Unless you can knock him out immediately so that I can treat him, the situation will simply continue to scale to a point we won't be able to handle."
J'onn said nothing, simply staring at David with a pondering look, before saying, "Very well, I will try…"
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[ POV]
I… I don't understand anything anymore.
My head hurts, everything hurts.
Except punching the monsters. That felt good?
Why did it feel good?
I don't remember why I was fighting the monsters… or why I wasn't supposed to kill them.
I had to have a good reason for that, I think…
HaHaHaHahAhAHaHahA!
That's funny.
I like laughing.
I want to laugh; I want everyone to hear my laugh…
No… that's not okay… that would hurt others. I don't want to hurt others, even if I don't remember why I don't want to hurt them…
"I keep forgetting," I muttered, punching my head. I had to remember, I knew there were answers amongst this chaos that didn't let me think, that didn't let me be!
But did I… did I want to find those answers?
"Wouldn't it be easier to just push all these things out?"
It truly would.
"You can lock all these dreadful feelings away… forever. All you need to do it's walk through that door, let the madness take in… be free of this pain…"
Door?
Right, there's a door.
I shouldn't go there.
I don't know why, but… I feel like I shouldn't go there.
"Madness is the emergency exit. You can just step outside and close the door on all those dreadful things that happened. You can lock them away... forever!"
I…
No.
I can't do that to… to who?
"You can even remember who. So why fight for those you can't even remember?"
I refuse.
This is wrong.
All of this… is wrong.
I need to get out, I need to break out of here before I forget more.
"Stop fighting, stop hurting yourself. Accept this and be free!"
This chaos isn't natural.
This feeling is new.
I remember that.
I remember… being sane.
"Now that's a joke. Your stubborn, bone-deep conviction that somehow, somewhere, all of this makes sense! That REALLY cracks me UP!"
"Leave me alone!" I roared, trying to find a way out.
"That's beyond your control. Kid…"
"But not beyond mine," I heard a new voice say, somehow silencing the other voice.
"I don't want to go through that door," I said, pointing at the… where was the door?
"You don't have to," The voice replied, soothingly. Taking the pain away.
I liked this feeling.
I liked this voice.
I remember this voice… but from where?
I feel like the answer is in front of me.
"I know you," I muttered.
"You do," The voice replied in confirmation.
"I can't remember your name…" I muttered, trying to find the answer.
"It's okay, your mind it's healing itself…" The voice replied calmly. "You will remember me soon."
"How soon?" I asked, hoping J'onn' answer to be, something along the lines of, in a few seconds.
Wait… that's his name, J'onn!
But that's missing something…
I remember, J'onn J'onzz!
"Very soon," J'onn chuckled.
"I remember your name!" I smiled, happy to have had remembered something, instead of forgetting it. "J'onn J'onzz."
"I know," J'onn replied. "I'm glad."
I smiled, cutting my smile short, as I remembered I wasn't supposed to talk.
"It's okay… this is your mind. You can talk, freely… remember?" J'onn said.
Right… my mind.
The no-talk rule didn't apply here.
Why did I have that rule in the first place?
I guess it doesn't matter…
"Yeah… that's right!" I chuckled.
"Now, I must go… but I will be back in a moment, don't worry." J'onn replied.
"Will... will the chaos come back? Will the pain come back with it?" I asked, afraid the answer to be yes.
"No… I promise you."
Good, I didn't want to go back to that place.
I don't want to forget anymore.
