New Crisis, Chapter 8- Criminal Minds

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Rated M for Mature

Appropriate for readers 18 and over. May contain extreme violence, sexual themes, nudity, or profanity.

New Crisis, Chapter 8- Criminal Minds

Los Angeles

A group of super-criminals hanged around the table, playing a strip poker at their secret club. However, there was only one female criminal involved in the game. The other men didn’t mind it. Her name was Clarice Dawson, also known the Tangler. The name may sound silly though. But it was her natural abilities that counted her as an asset. She was able to tangle her hair long enough, to subdue her enemies and strangling them. The other criminals have wondered how she could have done it. It was her big secret. Some would say that she was a metahuman. But that wasn’t the case. It only mattered that she can do it.

The other three men looked at her. One of them, Tyler Hendricks, also known as the Hook Man, made love with her in several occasions. He wore a hood around him, his face barely seen by the others. He resembles that of a serial killer, which came straight out of a horror movie. He looked at his cards, struggling to shuffle them, and almost dropped them off the table. It was his right arm that went missing. He recalled some black-suited superhero, which he couldn’t remember, had cut off his arm about a year ago. The thought of it made him scared a bit. The others couldn’t believe what he had gone through. But he was still the Hook Man and always. He also continued scaring, and killing young high-schoolers around the block.

The other criminal, Jesse Curtain, also known as the Mind Hacker, was forced not to use his ability to “hack” into the minds of the other players. That would be considered cheating though. He felt tempted into doing it. Yet, he played fair, even though he lost the game session so many times.

The head player of the game, named Jack Wildman, also known as Wildcard, can use his cards as weapons; even lace them with poison, and fire. He can also throw them straight ahead, which could gash someone’s throat. He was also the core leader of the group.

When Mind Hacker again lost the game, he swore to himself. The previous game sessions, made him to remove almost all of his clothes. Now, he only has his underwear on.

“Do it, baby,” The Tangler said. “I liked to tangle your thing, if you don’t mind.”

“Oh, shut up!” The Mind Hacker had enough of this game. “I’ll just hack and slash your mind off. You really want that?”

“Oh, Big Loser is about to lose his balls,” the Hook Man said in his scary voice. “Just drop your underwear. Will you?”

The Mind Hacker sighed. He pulled down his underwear. Now a naked man, he felt ashamed that he had lost the sessions. At least, he was out of the game. The others continued playing.

Then a noise was heard outside the secret club. The others looked back towards the door. They thought it could be some superhero, coming here for a fight, or a vigilante for that matter.

“Did you hear that?” The Mind Hacker almost shook his bald head off. He looked skinny, and yet he ate so much junk food before playing the game.

“It’s nothing, Mind Hacker,” Wildcard said. He had a dark moustache, and wore some black jacket. He fumbles his joker card around, not even looking ahead of what was behind the door. He continued focusing on his card deck on the table.

Another noise came through. The three criminals stood up, except for the Wildcard. He told them to calm down and sit back. He then stood up, threw his cards straight at the door. The door cracked into small holes.

So far, there was no heroic intruder entering the club. The super criminals waited for a while. The Tangler was ready to attack with her long hair. No matter what the size, she could easily strangle that hero’s neck like a python.

The door finally broke through and out came a masked vigilante, the Black Weapon. The Hook Man got up from his seat, shaking his lost arm. The others looked at him.

“No...It’s him. He...cut off my...” The Hook Man couldn’t speak any longer. The Mind Hacker tried to hack the Black Weapon’s mind. But there was no effect. The vigilante just stood there, watching his nakedness. He rushed at the criminals, hitting them side by side. The pain hit them like a drug overdose. He took out his army knife from the front of his chest, stabbed the Mind Hacker’s skull. He then took out the Tangler’s hair, pulling her away before she could attack him. She screamed like a girl.

Wildcard couldn’t believe what he was watching. All his life, an assassin working for top-criminal organizations, he never witnessed the strange, black-suited vigilante able to pulverize his enemies. But it wasn’t the first time for the Hook Man. He didn’t do anything to attack the vigilante. He stepped back, not wanting to involve himself in a fight. Wildcard called out to him, asking for help. But the Hook Man didn’t listen.

The Tangler felt her hair, still being pulled by the Black Weapon. She tried other tactics to subdue her opponent. But the pain shot through her veins. The Black Weapon kicked the Wildcard on the gut, while he tried to show off his card tricks. The vigilante used his army knife to cut off the Tangler’s hair. She screamed louder.

Wildcard threw a flaming card at the Black Weapon. The vigilante jumped over him, kicking his groin. He then held his left arm, twisting it. The pain came out of his mouth. This was Hook Man’s chance, now that the vigilante was distracted. He raised his hooked arm, so sharp that he could stab at his back. He then ran towards the back of him. The vigilante looked back, holding his hooked arm, and stabbed on the front of his gut. The blood gushed out on the floor. The Hook Man found himself hooked to his own death.

The Wildcard felt the pain from his broken arm. He couldn’t move his arm to throw the cards away. However, his right arm was still functional. He took out the last card from the side of his jacket, hoping that it could explode in the vigilante’s face. He concentrated on it, throwing at him. The Black Weapon caught it, and then threw it back on the Tangler’s face quickly. The card exploded on her face.

Damn it! The Wildcard struggled to move his right arm. That was his last trump card in defeating the masked vigilante.

“It’s over, Wildcard,” the Black Weapon came closer to him. He took out the katana from his back, holding it high over the leader.

“F**k you,” Wildcard spat on the vigilante’s costume. He may not able to beat him, but at least he got part of his costume wet.

The Black Weapon didn’t think for a moment of killing him. He pulled his sword down, cutting the Wildcard in half. He was now alone in the secret, criminal club.

“Black Weapon,” a voice crackled through his communication link. “Did you get them?”

“Yeah, I did,” the Black Weapon answered the call. He looked around to see if he can use any of their weapons to attack the other villains on his hit-list. He found none.

“I’m leaving,” the vigilante went outside the club. “Where are you, right now?”

“I’m at the top,” the voice said. The vigilante looked above the sky. A blinking white light shone brightly in the night. It was an advanced jet.

“Are you coming?” The unknown voice waited for him. The Black Weapon looked back at the club. He thought about the time, when he tried to stop the Frighteners from killing his friends. They were great superheroes.

New Mexico

Floyd Lawton got up from his bed. It was 10:30 pm. He had trouble sleeping, and thinking about his former days of being a good husband. He went to war at that time and came back home. But having a minor war syndrome affected him and his family.

He looked at the naked woman, sleeping beside him. She was just a stripper, who was looking out for fun. But it wasn’t the money for f**king a Mexican, to be exact. An hour of sex wore the woman out, but it didn’t affect him. He had sex with this woman, just to forget the plain, old memories. He still remembered the time, he met his wife. She was beautiful, but not as beautiful as the sleeping woman. But that didn’t make him stay awake. He received a letter from Amanda Waller, indicating that his wife was getting a divorce. For that, she was getting a full custody of her daughter. Floyd feared that he couldn’t see his daughter again. He insisted his wife that he could still support her. But Mrs. Lawton didn’t allow it because of his dirty money.

He got out of bed, naked and stood behind the window. The cool air blew through his body. The cold happens in New Mexico all the time, except for days, when they were really hot. He pulled out a cigarette from the table beside him, and lights it. He hoped the smoke wouldn’t wake the woman up. Her name may not matter to him. The only reason why he thought about it was that he had forgotten her name completely. He puffed the smoke, blowing it away to the outside air. The window was open. The woman had insisted him to open the window, so they wouldn’t feel too hot inside.

The deadly mercenary felt like having a drink. He knew the bar could still be open at this time of night. It would be a waste of time, sleeping with a woman like this. He put his clothes back on, and left the room. He closed the door behind him.

The bar was full of busy men, coming from hard night’s work. Most of them were miners, and some of them were businessmen. A man, who kept drinking his whiskey never stops. The bartender looked up at him, wondering when he was going to leave his bar. The hard drinker wore his hat to keep himself warm. The chill outside the air almost affected him. He sipped the drink and asked for another one in Spanish.

Floyd came downstairs, watching the men sharing drinks and conversations with the others. Some of them laughed, either it was because of their drunkenness or just plain silly. He noticed the man sitting alone on the top seat beside the counter. He recognized him as George “Digger” Harkness, also known as Captain Boomerang.

The mercenary came closer to his half-American, half-Australian partner. He sat beside him. George didn’t take a look at the once, family man. He just continued drinking.

“Hey, George,” Floyd spoke the first time. He asked the bartender for a can of beer. He received it.

“Hey,” George replied.

“What’s up with you?” Floyd opened the beer, sipping it.

“Oh nothing, mate,” George said. “Been here and there, killing people.”

“For money...” Floyd said slowly. “Yeah, I get that.”

After saying that, George looked up at him. He could tell Floyd, how he managed this kind of stuff, when his family was still around.

“Shouldn’t you be going back to bed and f**k your own woman?”

“Couldn’t sleep,” Floyd wondered how George knew about him having sex with the Mexican stripper. He must have spied on him, for all he knew. “I had other thoughts.”

“I see,” George went back to his drinking habit. “Oh well...$h!t happens all the time, mate. Don’t feel bad though. You got all the sexy women in the world. They’re waiting for you to get f**ked. I myself have wanted to f**k your woman.”

“You can have her,” Floyd drank the part of his beer. “I don’t mind.”

George laughed a bit. “I was just kidding, mate. You need to chill and relax.”

Floyd had a hard time, relaxing, ever since his last suicide mission. He had to assassinate a bodyguard, who had both skills of a superhuman and a vigilante. It wasn’t easy for him to handle. He needed help and that’s where the Suicide Squad came in.

“Anyways...” George hiccupped. He took out an envelope from the side of his jacket, and slid it through the counter. Floyd caught it.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a letter,” George smiled. “Open it.”

Without asking further question, Floyd opened the envelope. He took out a piece of paper folded in a squared shape.

“This is a letter?” Floyd wanted to laugh.

“Just open the letter, will ya?”

Floyd sighed, straightening the letter into a whole. He read the letter for a while and folded it back. He then slid it inside the envelope.

“So...” George sipped another whiskey through his dried lips. “What do you think?”

The mercenary didn’t know what else to think. He had no idea that Amanda would want to send him and the others on a mission, just to hunt down the killer of Lex Luthor.

“This is going to be a tough one,” Floyd said.

“Who said a suicide mission would be that easy?” George finished drinking the whiskey and this time, didn’t ask the bartender for more. The bartender stared at him for a while and then left to take a leak. “Besides mate, we got a real-@$$ motherf**ker to deal with. Also...he killed the other villains.”

“Others?” Floyd felt confused.

“Yeah,” George continued speaking. “At one time, when I was strolling around the ship docks, I got a call from that fat b***h and...”

“Careful, George,” Floyd interrupted him. “She could hear you at any moment.”

“Like I give a damn,” George cared less about what she would do to him. Besides, he got his boomerangs to help him out. “Any who...she told me that the villains, who call themselves, the Frighteners were killed by a masked vigilante inside their secret club.”

“The...Frighteners?” Floyd almost spat his beer on the counter. The bartender came back from the washroom.

“Please...Don’t ask me why,” George wanted to ignore that silly group name. “But the truth is they were truly frightened by the guy. Well, I wasn’t there of course. But you could tell they were really in bad shape. I mean really in bad shape, mate.”

“Hmm...” Floyd stared at the beer. He didn’t know that this could happen to those kinds of villains. The last time, he heard about them, were working for a criminal organization, which he tried to remember. It must be his high level of alcoholism that’s blocking his mind.

“So, Floyd,” George said. “Ready to get killed?”

Floyd finished drinking the rest of the beer. He got up from the seat, placing the cash on the counter. He looked at the master of boomerangs.

“Don’t I ever,” he patted George’s back. He left him alone on the counter.

“Hey, Floyd!” George cried loudly. “To tell you the truth...I wasn’t kidding about wanting to f**k her.”

Floyd raised his left hand, reminding him to say good-night. He went upstairs back to his rented room. Everyone in the bar stared at the half-Aussie criminal for making a silly shout.

“What are you mates, looking at?” He stared back at them. “Can’t you see that I’m drinking here?”

“I think you had enough, senor” the bartender wiped the empty glasses.

“You know what, mate,” George stared at the bartender. “I was just about to leave. Besides, I had enough of your f**king drinks. He dropped the Mexican cash on the counter and left the bar.

The night was quiet. George looked around to see if anyone was nearby. He took out a bottle of whiskey from his jacket, which he had stolen it from the bar. He had done this, when the bartender went to the washroom.

“What an f**king wuss,” George said. He opened the bottle, gulping it, and strolled off into the night.

Tokyo

A mega corporation called the Hakusawa Industries was overseen by a young man, who had years of experience in handling this sort of business. He looked at the other men and women, neatly dressed as business casual and the perfume that went flying through his nostrils. The Hakusawa family had been working on a project for generations. This project became completely unknown to the outside world, which was why he had to take extreme measures in keeping it a secret.

Eric Hakusawa is now the CEO of the company after his father’s passing. He recalled the times, which he and his father played a game of chess, the Shogi. He won several times and that made the head of the family proud. His first name, Eric came from his American mother. He longed to see her, who was currently living in Los Angeles. He heard the news of several super-villains being killed by the masked vigilante. He had his own bodyguards to protect her; even if it meant that she might involve herself in a fire-fight.

He got up from his seat, staring down at the latest figures of his company. There were skyrocketing. He never thought this day would come. However, he knew that the vigilante may come after him, since he was responsible for sending the “Frighteners,” a group of ragtag costumed villains, with silly names, to kill a gang of superheroes. It was because that these superheroes had found the true purpose behind his top-secret project. He felt quite nervous after he heard the death of the Frighteners.

He led the bad thought aside from his mind and focused on what’s at hand. The activation of his project had to be done quickly as possible. No matter who will stand in his way, he will make sure that they get out of his life as miserably as painful it could be.

“Welcome, everyone,” Eric spoke throughout the meeting room. “This is it. We have the project in our hands. Once, my...I’m sorry...Our project gets launched, we can have the entire city of Tokyo to ourselves.” He pressed a certain switch on the table, which allowed the screen to lower from the ceiling. Then the screen showed a complicated design of an armour suit.

“What is that?” A European businessman was surprised. “I have never seen anything like it.”

Eric looked towards him. The European had vast resources and money to spend on other projects. But he didn’t expect that one of the Hakusawa family members would come up with an idea like this.

“It’s a super-powered suit that’s designed to maneuver super-humans and vigilantes. With this technology, we can save the entire world.” He hoped not to mention villains, since he had a backing from several criminal organizations. He only created these suits, just to target the good guys.

“I see,” a slightly, old woman took down notes. “So...How many models do you have for this...armour?”

“Ah, that’s a good question, Miss,” Eric smiled. “We are currently in the process of developing more suits as we speak. Do not worry about more money being spent on this contraption. I have “friends” on the horizon to help me out.”

“Hmm...”A fat businessman with the moustache gave it a thought. “What do you call it?”

Eric hadn’t thought about the name yet. It might be complicated of thinking a more suitable name, but he had other things in mind rather than naming his armour.

“To be honest with you,” Eric faced the fat man. “I haven’t got a name yet. Or the model type for that matter.

“How do you propose in marketing this strategy, Mr. Hakusawa?” a blonde-haired woman said. She wore eye-glasses, which made her look smart enough to take over the company. At one time, Eric had a secret affair with her. He wondered if she had told her husband about the cheating scandal. Her husband is now a politician running for the Mayor.

“Well...” Eric paused. He didn’t realize that he was running out of words. He tried to find them, and explain as quickly as possible.

“What about the super-humans and those so-called vigilantes that you have just mentioned?” the other businessman, who was an African coming all the way from his homeland to see what Eric can offer to his table.

“My friends,” Eric took a deep breath and ignored the African businessman. “All these questions will be answered after we test them out. Wouldn’t that be important right now? Surely, they weren’t designed to target any super-human.”

“When you say super-human,” the fat man continued speaking. “You mean by super-hero or a super-villain?”

“Both,” Eric lied. He only had to say it, because he was quite nervous of the fact that something was wrong with him. He had never been this nervous before.

“I see,” the European said. “So, when we will see this test of yours?”

“As soon as...” Eric stopped, when a wall broke and fell across the meeting room. Everyone got up from their seats, watching the rubble. From the hole came a masked intruder, more like a bounty hunter for Eric to notice.

“Hello, Mr. Hakusawa,” the masked intruder said. “It’s nice to meet you again.”

“You!” Eric cried out by mistake. Everyone stared at him, as if he had known the intruder. It was Deathstroke.

“Yes, me,” Deathstroke pulled both swords from his back. The businessmen and women stepped back in horror. “Sorry for interrupting this meeting. I have my own mission to take care of. Now, that you are all witnesses...”

Eric couldn’t believe what he just heard. The last time, he worked for Eric had to terminate certain superheroes from interrupting his project. Now, the bounty hunter has turned back on him.

“Any last words,” Deathstroke waited for their answer. “I guess not.” The bounty hunter slashed them away, blood spilling on the floor, and the walls. Some of their arms and legs were cut off. They cried out in pain and this made Eric more nervous than his presentation.

The bloodbath ended. Deathstroke came closer to Eric, pointing the sword towards his neck.

“What the f**k are you doing, Slade?” Eric felt so angry that he wanted to kill him. I gave you money, tons of money to do the dirty $h!t. Now, you have betrayed me. Why?”

Deathstroke stared at the windows. The sky was beautiful scenery, which made him recall the normal things that he had done in his childhood life.

“You see that sky over there?” Deathstroke pointed his other sword to it. “My Dad and I were on a plane. Then one day, our plane got hit on an island by some f**king storm. My Dad died in the plane crash, but I survived. I had become something than anyone could imagine. I was that lonely boy, staring at the sky, hoping that someday, someone could find and rescue me. It’s been five years, I’ve been on that island for five f**king years.”

“What’s that have to do anything with this?” Eric was confused after hearing Slade’s childhood story.

“It reminded me of who I was at the time, before I got stranded on the island. I was just a little boy, who had no idea of what was about to happen to me or my Dad. So, you have no idea of what I’m about to do to you.”

“I’m...” Eric felt like pissing his pants off. I’m going to get killed. You...can’t kill me. YOU CAN’T!”

“Yes, I will kill you,” Slade moved his sword away from Eric. “By the way, I have someone who pays a lot of money than you.” He stabbed through Eric’s chest and then pulled the sword off. Eric stood there for a while, staring at the deadly bounty hunter. He fell down on his knees, which gradually landed him on the floor. Deathstroke took a good look at the sky again and then left the meeting room.

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Tatsu Yamashiro also known as Katana just came from her flight to Tokyo. She had to stay in Los Angeles for a while, since she heard an outbreak, which involved the super-villains being killed by the masked vigilante. She thought of never coming back to her country. But she needed to do it. It was her employer’s idea to bring her here.

However, the employer was turned out to be an H.I.V.E. field agent. He was part of the organization, which they recruit super-humans or even vigilantes to do their dirty work. Tatsu didn’t consider herself as a vigilante. She had been a great hero after recently working with the Outsiders for the time being. But that teamwork had ended for her. She couldn’t stop thinking about Dick, who was now the current leader of the team.

She waited outside the airport for a ride. The sheer wind blew her short hair. It wasn’t cold to be exact. But she only wore her jacket, whenever a drastic weather change just happens too quickly.

A black car arrived towards the curb. The window slid downwards. A man, wearing the black specs, smiled.

“Miss Yamashiro,” He smiled without giving it too many of his handsome features away. It was the H.I.V.E. agent, who came to pick her up.

“You are late,” Tatsu opened the door before the field agent could do it for her. She got inside the car, looking at him. He placed his hands on her right thigh.

“How have you been doing?” The field agent who goes by the name, Derek recalled the time that he made love to her.

“I’m fine,” Tatsu led his hand aside from her thigh. She looked through the window as the driver moved the car into the other street.

“I’ve missed you, Tatsu,” Derek pulled the specs off from his eyes. He was quite handsome for an Englishman, firm, and intelligent. Any woman would want to bond with this agent, except for Tatsu. She only did it to calm her nerves down

Tatsu didn’t speak for a while. She wondered why he had contacted her to come back to Tokyo in the first place. She also didn’t expect to meet with him at this time. But she had the gut feeling that she would.

“Why am I here, Derek?” She still stared outside the window, not even looking at the handsome agent.

The agent gave out a short sigh. He put his specs back on, just to cover his eyes from the rising sun.

“It’s a mission,” the handsome agent revealed it to her. “It requires more tactics than your skills.”

Putting tactics aside, Tatsu wanted to remind him that she hadn’t perfected her new katana techniques. She had yet to learn more.

The hard-beaten Tatsu was eager to learn more lessons from her master. He taught her time and again that the brand, new techniques of the katana had to be applied to a certain extent; he or she could become an ultimate warrior. There was one student, who had become such warrior and that was her father.

Tatsu raised her katana to combat her master. He too had his own katana, which deflected right back at her. He moved quickly to the other side, so that he could hit her. Tatsu didn’t mind the bleeding though. She had bled before. After all, this was part of her training.

She received gashes of blood, when the master attacked on her back. The pain hit her mind like a wave. The master taught her that the pain can be erased. “Focus on the battle at hand and you will then triumph over your enemy.” She recalled that moment as she swung her katana against her master. The attack missed him. The bleeding took too much toll on her. She couldn’t bear it any longer.

“Tatsu!” Her master cried out. “Focus on the battle, not the pain.”

“Yes, Master!” She recalled his teachings. The pain only distracts the mind of an individual. Tatsu must overcome her pain, so that she could defeat her master.

She made a battle-cry, just to see if she can forget the pain. But she knew it was still there, no matter what. She swung the shiny, silver katana at him, thus made his clothing tore a little.

“That’s it, Tatsu!” The master said in his deep, proud voice. “Now...Come at me!”

Tatsu stared at the master for a while. She then swung at him, not noticing that the master flipped her leg away. She fell down on the floor, flat and unconscious.

“Tatsu!” The master cried out to her. “Tatsu!”

“Tatsu?” The field agent interrupted her silence. She looked at him, thinking that he might have called her so many times.

“I am sorry, Derek,” She felt a sort of dizziness. “I was just thinking.”

Derek smiled. He wanted to talk with her for a while, just to forget all the missions that they had done together in the past. After all, the organization paid the former Outsider tons of money.

“It’s alright,” Derek had a hunch that she must be thinking of some other man, whom she met in Los Angeles. But he knew she wouldn’t go out with another one, now that she’s with him.

The car finally arrived in Derek’s apartment. He opened the door and Tatsu stepped out into the open. She stared at the big building. It looked almost abandoned.

“This is your place?” Tatsu was surprised to see that the handsome agent couldn’t pick better than this.

“Yeah...It’s a little okay, I guess.” Derek picked her bag from the car. “You can stay with me for the day.”

Tatsu knew where this was going. She may not have any feelings for him, since she had been told by her master, to remove any of them within her. She recalled her husband’s death. That was the sole purpose of her harsh training.

Derek and Tatsu went to the building together. The car driver left them.

Five minutes later, Tatsu unpacked her bag, full of clothes. She couldn’t bring her katana through the flight, since there was tough security involved. However, Derek told her to send the katana, wrapped inside a package and gets send to a secret cargo.

Tatsu began to unbutton her shirt, while Derek came to the room. He stared at her back, filled with scars. Those scars were caused due to her intense training. He recalled that she had mentioned it to him a year back. For him, it was rather painful, yet needed. She had to enhance her sword techniques to a whole new level.

As she removed her shirt, her back was visibly seen by the agent. He came closer to her. At first, she knew he was behind her. He touched those scars, ran his fingers through them. She didn’t feel anything. She wasn’t human.

“Tatsu...” Derek felt lost at words. He had missed her so much. He always loved her, ever since the time he had worked with her. She turned back towards him, her eyes staring back at his. She was unable to feel any emotion at this very moment. But she somehow brought those feelings back, just by thinking of her dead husband. Then she kissed the agent’s lips. Derek felt the deep sensation from her. He had brought her back. After kissing for a while, they began to remove their clothes.

Arkham Asylum

There was a loud laughter coming from the walls of the asylum. It was a very, hard one that affects the entire security team. They wanted to go back home. Sometimes, they wished that the Clown Prince of Crime had stopped laughing. He laughed so hard that he could breathe barely.

“HAAA! HA! HAAA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HAAAAAAAAA!”

“Hey Joker,” one of the security guards banged the door with his baton. “Will you just shut up? We’re trying to play some poker here.”

The Joker finally stopped laughing. He was back, sitting lonely in his cell. There were no windows, not even the holes that the dangerous crown could breathe. But there was only the television attached at the top, right corner of the cell. He may not able to reach it with his hands, changing those channels. But one security guard had mentioned it was the only channel that would suit Joker’s taste. The TV show was called “Pranked.”

The show showed a scene, where some guy threw a cake at his friend. The skinny-looking security guard stared at the clown for a while. He wondered if he was going to continue laughing more. Better yet, he had to turn off that stupid TV show for a while, and concentrate on his game. He went back to his friends.

“He finally stopped laughing,” the chubby-looking guard ate the last part of the cheese burger.

“Yeah,” the skinny guard looked up at his cards. “Jeez, that stupid clown never stops.”

“Hey, you’re telling me,” the African-American guard said. He was new here. “I had never seen him doing $h!tty things around here.”

“That’s because, you weren’t around after we started working here,” the older guard shuffled his cards, and laid them on the table. He had years of experience, dealing with the nutshells. His outside friends used to ask him, how he managed to cope with the Asylum madness.

The Joker got up, came closer to the door. He looked through the small bars and watched the security guards, playing a poker. He smiled at them. They didn’t take a notice of the clown. Their eyes were only on the game.

“Hey Boys!” The Joker wanted some attention. “I see you’re having fun with your poker. Mind if I play?”

The black guard looked up at him, and shook his head. He took out a card from his deck and landed it on the table.

“You know...” The Joker continued. “I remember one time; I used to play poker with a friend of mine. I can’t seem to recall when...But it was pure fun at the least. I poked him because I lost the game.”

They were still silent. No matter how much the Joker had spoken to them, they were still playing.

“Hmmm...” The Joker thought for a moment. “You there, the oldie...” The old security guard turned away from his cards. “Yes, you...” The Joker smiled, showing his bright, white teeth. “I remember you. You were the one, who beat me up all the time. You were so young back then. How many years was that?” He gave it a thought. “Oh, yes...That’s right. Ten years.”

“Listen, Joker,” the old man said. “I don’t have time to play mind games with you.”

“Yeah, Joker,” the chubby guard agreed. “Why don’t you go and sit there? Enjoy one of those stupid shows.”

“Stupid. Stupid. All men get hit by a flying Cupid. Running along and making love. They fell down on their wives from above. Now, it’s the time to shout and scream. Because they have unleashed their ICE-CREAM! HA! HA! HAAAA! HA! HA! HAAAAAA!”

“Jesus Christ!” The chubby man felt like throwing up. I shouldn’t have eaten those cheese burgers.

“Hey man!” The black guard turned facing the Joker. “I’m going to beat the hell out of you! You got that?”

“HA! HA! HA! HAAAA! HA! Heh! Hmm...” Joker stopped his laughing moment. He tried to make a sick joke in years. All the time, he can be heard mumbling to himself. Sometimes, the guards thought he was talking to another mad prisoner on the other side of the wall. But there wasn’t one. The Clown Prince of Crime was all alone.

A little while later, a ground shook a bit around the security guards. They got up, raising their guns high. They thought someone must have gotten out of his or her cell. Then a big, bulky figure came out of the dark shadows.

“Oh my...” the old guard felt a chill to his stomach. The chubby man finally threw up on the floor. The black guard have wondered how this large prisoner had gotten out. The skinny one pissed his pants.

“BANE!” The Joker smiled from his locked cell.

“Hello Joker,” Bane came closer to the guards. “You must be wondering how I got out.”

“Does it really matter?” The Joker made a slight sigh. “Just break their backs, will you?”

“With pleasure,” Bane cracked the knuckles on both of his hands. The venom made him much stronger than before. He was given the venom liquid inside the soup, thanks to Dr. Hugo Strange.

The guards fired at him as they had no other choice. They couldn’t bring him down without killing him. They sure wished Batman were here to do the job.

Bane punched the skinny guard into the wall. The others fired several shots at his bulky skin. He felt a slight pain as the venom coursed through his veins. He broke the old guard’s back and threw him on the floor. The black guard tried to contact the other guards for help. But the strong Bane smashed his skull to a pulp. All was left for the chubby guard. He was scared to wits, almost puking.

“Please...Please...” the chubby guard cried out as Bane came closer to him. “OH GOD! NO!”

Bane raised his big hand and smashed him on the ground. The ground shook for a while. The Joker laughed harder as if he were enjoying his game.

“It’s about time, you showed up,” the Joker stepped back, allowing Bane to break the door. Once the door was broken, the Joker got out of the door, breathing heavily.

“AHHH! YES!” The Joker felt happy getting out of the rotten cell. “I’ve been waiting for this moment.”

“That moment has arrived, Joker,” Bane gave an envelope to the clown. The Joker looked at it.

“Well...Well...What do we have here?”

“It’s an invitation from the Secret Society,” Bane looked around to see if any more guards were coming at them.

“An invitation?” the Joker looked excited. “Let’s see if we got invited to the party.” He tore the envelope and unfolded the letter.

Dear Joker,

We’re sorry to say that you have not been invited to join our ranks. However, we shall use your skills in the future as required. The death of Lex Luthor had been a great effect on us. We wouldn’t want a mad clown, ruining our plans. Your plans in the past have proved to be more dangerous that we couldn’t imagine. Though, you were not serious about your plans, which is why we had to back you out.

Yours sincerely,

Vandal Savage, Secret Society

“WHAAT!” The Joker was so angry that he tore the paper in half. What f**king madness is this? NO ONE DEFIES THE CLOWN PRINCE OF CRIME!” He turned, facing towards Bane. “Who send this letter to you?”

“It was Hugo Strange,” Bane replied. “He began to receive letters from the Society without anyone’s knowledge. Vandal has taken over the entire organization.”

“Wait!” The Joker stopped Bane for a moment. “You have read this letter?”

“I received mine too,” Bane couldn’t forget the letter after he read it in his cell. “Strange said, these letters were only meant to remind us of their rejection.”

“Let me guess...” the Joker came closer to the big guy. “You’re out too?”

Bane didn’t say anything. He wondered why he wasn’t qualified to join back. After all, he was the one, who broke the Batman in the first place.

“Oh, well,” The Joker calmed down his anger. ‘I guess we have to do something about it.”

“What’s your plan, Joker?” Bane looked at him.

The Joker thought for a moment. Maybe, Vandal and the rest were right about him. His plans were too crazy for them to handle. He will prove them wrong. But that was out of his league for now. He had a new plan in mind.

“Bane, it’s time for the Clown Prince of Crime to take over the Secret Society.”

“You’re serious?” Bane looked surprised.

“For the first time, Bane,” The Joker smiled. “Yes, I’m f**king serious.”

To be continued in New Crisis, Chapter 9- Green Peace.

What’s this? So many things have happened in this chapter. The Black Weapon now has killed a group of villains according to his hit-list. Katana comes to grip, facing her past and must decide where her emotions lie. Now, the Joker has been released from his cell, what’s his next step in taking over the Secret Society? You will find out in the later chapter of New Crisis.

Next, Hal Jordan sees a ghost from his past. But is it a warning sign? Then, Swamp Thing must do battle with Poison Ivy, who has taken over the South American jungle. Not to mention, she has captured a group of botanists in her wake. Can Swamp Thing saved them in time? Find out in the next chapter of New Crisis.

Edited.