Bab 67: Chapter 67 Laser Tag, Times Up
Gotham City... The chaos carried on as people everywhere continued to hide away in fear.
With Joker's threat of death, all of Gotham fell into pandemonium, as if the end of the world would take place the following hour.
The first hour passed, and Joker kept to his word. Several GCPD surveillance blimps exploded the moment the time hit the one-hour mark.
Now, almost another hour had passed. It wasn't the appointed time yet, but strangely, something happened.
Just like it did after the first series of explosions took place, almost all television stations in Gotham were hijacked.
Billboard signs, TV commercials, news broadcasts... The scene changed.
Many who saw the scene expected it to show the face of that deranged maniac again, calling out for Batman to answer his challenge and giving himself yet another reason to do something that would kill the lot of them.
Strangely however, the scene that showed was not what they expected. What appeared on screen was..... A podium?
Wait... Why did that place look like a church?
Also, who was that person that was being tied to the cross on the altar?
"What the hell is that clown up to now?" Dick frowned heavily. Since the moment Barbara went after The Joker alone, he had this ominous premonition.
This feeling only grew more prevalent with each passing minute.
"Computer, Call Wally". Dick ordered anxiously.
....
"Move, Move".
"Find him". Multiple clown thugs with weapons in their arms moved around the church all on alert.
The church lights were on, giving them better view of their surroundings. At least, they wouldn't have to worry about getting attacked due to poor vision.
"... Hehehe... So you're finally here Batsie". The voice sounded through the speakers set all over the church.
Barbara looked at everything below her as she clung to the ceiling. Her spot was one of the few dark corners that wasn't illuminated with light.
A frown appeared on her face as she saw the weapons each thug carried.
This... Was going to be difficult. All because, those weren't regular guns. It was just like the one used by that thug earlier.
Although she knew that it couldn't be a coincidence, the sight before her eyes still shocked.
Ten.... Fifteen... Twenty-two.....
Twenty-two thugs, all armed with laser rifles. She remembered that Batman had dealt with similar weapons when Roman Sionis had armed his goons with Intergang tech. That day, Bruce didn't make it back unscathed.
And that was considering his highly durable batsuit and his high combat prowess.
Now, she found herself in a somewhat, similar situation.
"Glad you could finally join the party. But why are you hiding?" He inquired with sadistic delight.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are. We're just about to play a game. A very popular one which I'm sure you'll agree with. You know what it's called?".
Barbara partially if ignored the words, seemingly scanning her surroundings. Then and there, she noticed it.
Cameras..... All set up in different directions. Three, four... Four.
She counted four from four different directions. Nevertheless, they all unanimously pointed towards a specific area.
The church altar, where the body of a man was tied to the cross, his face wrapped up in a cloth and his body hung without movement as if he were a dead person.
A small puddle of blood had formed underneath the cross.
"Dad!" Batgirl exclaimed slightly with a worried expression.
"I even got some actual game equipment to make the game all the more.... realistic hehehe, and exciting. As you can see. So let's play Batsie, a little game I like to call, Laser Tag.... Haha haha".
It happened then.
One of the clowns suddenly looked up, spotting the darkly dressed figure hanging unto a wooden beam.
Seeing that her location was exposed, Barbara immediately threw out dozens of balls.
"Above". One screamed, and they all raised their heads alongside their weapons, only to see multiple objects fall from the ceiling, landing in their midst.
Boom!
The entire church hall was suddenly filled with smoke, once again obstructing vision as the balls exploded.
Tapping the side of her cowl, the multi vision function of her mask was turned on.
"Ok Barbara, don't die".
Following which, she let go of the wooden beam and fell downwards with her cape outstretched.
Pew!
Pew!
Pew!
"Arghhhhh!"
"Shoot him"
"You fucking....."
Laser blasts and Batarangs flew in all directions, on multiple occasions, resulting in friendly fire.
Barbara clashed her fists together, her gloves emitted electric arcs.
With utter concentration and impressive dexterity, her lean, well toned physique dodged many attacks intentionally and unintentionally aimed at her.
A marvelous display of martial and acrobatic ability.
With every leap, dodge and strike she made, an enemy would be rendered temporarily paralyzed due to the electric current in her attacks.
The video was displayed throughout all of Gotham. The citizens watched the scene playing out before their eyes.
They couldn't see anything though, as the smoke obscured all actions on video. The laser blasts firing in all directions though could be seen clearly.
Although they were unable to tell exactly what was happening, that didn't mean someone else couldn't.
"Her performance is impressive".
Amari didn't respond. Watching the scene with utmost clarity.
Seeing the performance of the redhead, he had to give her some credit.
But all in all, he wasn't too surprised. She was trained by Batman.
Dick could do similar.
"Pity". He couldn't help but mutter.
....
Less than two minutes had passed, and the smoke began to clear out.
Zap!!
Thud.
A rather muscular fellow, wearing a clown mask, fell to the ground unconscious.
The smoke cleared completely. Standing above the thug's body was Batgirl, sweating profusely and panting heavily.
"Ugh!" A let out a pained groan, as a stinging pain assaulted her nerves.
Turning her head down towards her waist, a part of her suit was letting out slight smoke.
The same thing happened on her left shoulder.
Just like Batman, she didn't manage to escape unscathed. With the obstruction of fog, the thugs fired rampantly with little care for hitting allies.
Barbara considered herself lucky that she reacted quick enough to get out of the way.
If not, she would probably have a hole near her stomach or lost an arm instead of having skin burns.
Still, that didn't mean it didn't hurt badly.
Barbara turned her head to look around. The sight was gruesome. The scene played out in front of all Gotham citizens.
Apart from the few that she knocked unconscious, others were caught directly in the crossfire.
Bits and pieces of flesh were splattered everywhere and many had holes in their bodies.
Barbara noticed a corpse whose penis area had a gaping hole.
The sight chilled her to the extreme.
"It's over". Barbara said out loud.
But in fact, her vigilance was raised to the extreme.
The clown gang had been defeated, but its leader was nowhere to be found.
Barbara was sure that the Joker was somewhere watching her. Just waiting for the moment she let her guard down to strike.
And so, with wariness, she walked towards the altar.
Looking at the cross which held her father, Barbara felt slightly anxious. The pool of blood formed underneath had turned into a medium-sized puddle.
Seeing this, she hastened her footsteps and arrived at the altar. Without delay, she took two Batarangs and threw them at the ropes binding his hands.
The ropes were cut off, and the body fell to the ground. Barbara wanted to catch him, but the fact that the Joker was still out there made her resist.
Thud!
The body fell to the floor and let out a groan.
"It's ok, Mr. Commissioner.....".
Barbara approached her father. Her body was tense, waiting just in case an attack was launched.
"You're safe now...". Barbara said as she pulled the cloth covering his face, but the scene she saw made her freeze.
"Why, hello deary". White face, red lips, green hair... Joker looked at the stunned female in front of him with a crazy grin.
Batgirl was caught off guard. And then....
Bang!
Barbara's mouth was wide open. The force from the blast hit her straight in her waist, pushing her back three meters.
Blood spilled from the point of impact, indicating that the Kevlar suit had been penetrated.
Barbara's body crashed to the ground heavily.
"Ugh... Arg..." Pain.
Severe pain assaulted her nerves as she instinctively lifted her shaky hands to cover the hole that had formed on her waist.
"Trying to stop the blood loss?" Joker asked as he pushed himself off the ground.
Tears flowed from Barbara's eyes.
"Well I wouldn't worry about that just yet". Joker didn't seem to mind receiving no answer. He patted the corners of his clothes, seemingly dusting the imaginary dirt on his body off.
He took two steps forward, looked at Batgirl on the floor and said.
"... You..... are obviously not Batman". He shook his head right afterward and sighed with disappointment, before raising the laser rifle in his hand and gesturing to the side.
"Alright, be honest with me here. You didn't see that coming, did ya?"
"Like the joke?"
"Now you see, that's why I'm so disappointed. Batman would have seen that coming. And you.... I know you..... You should be his little sidekick right?" He pressed the blaster against his cheek, seemingly in deep thought, before his eyes lit up.
"Yes, that's right. The female bat Harley mentions every now and then. Says you're a real tough nut to crack".
He squatted down near Barbara's face.
"Weird. I thought it was usually you and the Boy blunder, never seen Batman bring you to chase after me. Which makes me wonder... What the hell were you thinking, trying to do Batman's job?"
Joker asked in puzzlement before shrugging.
"But hey, I guess it's normal you didn't expect it. After all, the commissioner's clothes I borrowed fit like a glove". He said so, gesturing to the clothes on his body.
"Still, I do have to hand it to you". At this point, his gaze wasn't on the redhead, but on the numerous fallen Henchmen all over.
"Tsk Tsk..... I guess even a baby bat isn't something the average Joe can take on. Just look at all .... this..... And the turning on the lights' thing was your move, right?" He questioned with a raised eyebrow.
Barbara didn't respond. She was in too much pain to register anything that was being said to her.
"Not answering? That's rather rude. You should at least show common courtesy. After all, you just made me lose a bet. Nothing too big, still, It meant a great deal to me. So here it goes. Someone told me, that no matter what I did, Batman wouldn't show up tonight. Of course, I didn't believe it, and so we made a bet. I set out to prove him wrong which led to all the events that were orchestrated tonight. I had hoped that Batsie would show up..... But instead of him, I got you".
"And that..... Makes me really, really unhappy. So, since I can't have Batman..... I'll just have to make do with what I'm given.
He uttered in a sinister tone.
As he finished his words, the laser blaster within his possession was placed aside. And then.... A crowbar was pulled out of his underpants.
Seeing this scene, Barbara's eyes widened as a deep feeling of fear overtook her nerves.
What the hell was this monster planning to do.
"Oh, we should be live right now. How forgetful of me". It happened then.
As if realizing something, the Joker slapped his palm on his forehead.
Then, he turned around, facing away from the podium, and looked into the distance with a smile.
"Hello there citizens of Gotham. I'm sorry to announce that this special party of mine is coming to an end".
His chalk white face could be seen on almost every screen in Gotham.
Ten
Nine
Eight
"Bastard, this Bastard!" Dick roared angrily, his bike heading towards the cathedral. Just a few more blocks.
"I hope you enjoyed the show. Of course, I can't just leave you all empty-handed now, can I? No, no no..... I have a special surprise for you all. A very, explosive one". Saying this, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a remote detonator.
Seven
Six
"Well, it's been fun. You can perfectly enjoy the thrilling fireworks I set up, as well as watch the splendid video of me beating Batman's sidekick to death".
Five
Four
Three
"So now.....".
Two
"See you all on the other side".
One
"Hahahaha". And with that, he pushed the detonator.
"....."
All over Gotham, a weird silence enveloped the entire area. Many people covered their eyes, hugged their close ones, some stood there watching blankly.
All waiting for what would most certainly come next.
But strangely, nothing happened...
The whole city was... Calm.
"What in the world….?" Seeing that pushing the detonator had no effect, Joke frowned and yelled in a raspy, high voice.
He pushed the button repeatedly in an attempt to make everything go boom.
Sadly, nothing happened.
"The detonator was supposed to cause half the city to go up in smoke. Why isn't it doing anything? We had the whole audience on stitches, now we have to re-cut them all over again".
And then, Joker turned around to look at Barbara Gordon.
"It was you, wasn't it? Did you do something to my detonator?" He asked, visibly fuming.
"Or did Batman discover my plan all along. So he sent you here as a diversion while he went around disarming the bombs himself..... Haha…. Well played Batsie".
Without even receiving a reply, he immediately attributed everything to batman.
"Despite that, I don't think he can make it in time to save you".
Barbara watched as he walked to her with a hideous smile, holding a crowbar in his hand.
She took a profound look before closing her eyes, resigning herself to her fate.
Seeing this, Joker grinned wider. He raised the crowbar in his hand high above his head and swung down violently.
KINK!
The crowbar hit something, but the sound it gave off wasn't quite what he was expecting.
Joker's eyes widened... All he felt was a tremendous force slam into his chest, sending him flying into the distance.
"Alright redhead. Times up".
....
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