The Darkest of Knights

[Lol, yes Red! You remembered that The Joker killed the bartender XD also sorry I hadn't posted all day, just got out of Super-Con XP]

Dick looked at Zero then to Damian, "I'm free right now." He said shooing away Damian. "Would you rather talk in private?" He asked showing Damian to his room.

Raven looked at the chip confused. "So what is this thing exaxtly?" She asked.

Astro cheered when Luna got it, though they couldn't hear him. He stood from his spot on the floor, tapping her on the nose like in charades. Right! Ernie's bar! he confirmed.

" 'Help Ernie's Bar'?" Ivy questioned beside Luna. "Why would somebody need help from Ernie's bar? Ernie's dead."

[Noooooooooooooo, Ernie is still alive DX]
[And no worries Merc, no worries]

"No no, Not private. but the other day, when you interrogated Metallo- what EXACTLY did y'all find out? It'll help a ton if we're all on the same page." He requested.

(He isn't? I'm so very confused. In Midnight Riders, wasn't Ernie killed? And if not, the bartender is Ernie?)

"Fine. Give me a second to clean up this flour." Ivy caved, wind sweeping the fine powder from the ground and into the trash. Astro cheered again, halfheartedly, feeling weak from exerting that much power at one time.

"Let's go." Ivy sighed when the floor was cleaned.

[Ernie left town in MRP1 when crime got bad, and the dead bartender is a different dude altogether.]

Cassius plodded intot he back door of Ernie's old bar. Sure it was a felony, but if the cops wanted him so bad, they could come and get him for all he care don this particular day of the year. As he raided the liquor cabinet [he put the amount of money it costs in the bottle's place on the shelf, so he didn't count it as stealing] he noticed the trapdoor to the cellar slightly ajar....

"Take us there, please. If there really is trouble, we should get there fast." Ivy concluded. She glanced around the room, calling out, "Whatever you are, we'll be right there."

Astro cheered, disappearing from Wayne Manor and heading back to his body.

(Really? Well, big fail on my end. Dx Sorry!)

The Joker pulled his van up in front of an old warehouse. The building looked like it had not been inhabited in a few years and it was worn and damaged with what appeared to be blasting weapons. Turning off the van and stepping out, he headed for one of the walls that had been blow open a long time ago. He hummed a random tune as he stepped over the opening and walked around in the building. As he wandered, something came across his vision

"Oohh what do we have here?" he bent down and examined it. The skeleton had a large gaping hole through its chest, the bones that should have been there were completely vaporized.

"Hmm.." The Joker reached down and plucked the skull off the remains, holding it eye level. He licked is scars and ran a gloved had through his greasy green hair. "I see the resemblance!" he laughed and tossed the skull behind him and continued on. "Now what do we have here?" he pondered out loud. He had come across a few dozen large, dusty barrels. Walking up to one, he wiped away the dust in an attempt to find out the contents. "Oh ho ho ho! Now this is what I'm talking about!" he grinned widely.

The barrels were filled with Laugh-X

[no worries, abby]
[Ah-ha! The old joker!]

Cassius, his curiosity piqued, decided to pry open the trap door. It looked like there had been people her recently- as evidenced by all of the half- melted ice. And sprawled ingloriously on the gorund, the boy fromt he other day that was with the other superviallins. "Oh?" He said, cautiously approaching, his hands on the cannon in case villaiun Jr. made a funny move....

(Ahahaha you better believe it Red! After all, I was the last Joker, how could you not expect me to be this one Speaking of which, I replaced medication with LSD in Two-Face's office o_O)

As Karmy slept quietly on the table, dreams began to plague her mind.The streets of Jump City were, for once, emtpy and quiet. The hustle and bustle of the large city were, for some reason, gone. Why? Who's to know really, but all Karmy could think to do was to run. Just keep running. She was 18 again, not too sure how that happened but she could worry about that later. Her foot steps echoed around the city, and her labored breath was all she could hear in her head. Someone was chasing her, and she knew who it was. Making a sharp turn, she realized what a mistake it was when she saw that it was a dead end. Staring up at the large wall that blocked her path, she tensed up when she heard someone behind her.

Astro entered his body again grudgingly, unwilling to feel the freezing cold again. But he then noticed Casius. Maybe he'll help me before he shoots me. he though dryly, his last thought before being stuck in his body and the ice chamber. It was half melted, but not enough the he could burst out. "Help, please..." he croaked.
---
Ivy shuddered in the dark shadow. I can never get over how weird this feels...

(Dream sequence O.O! I can smell the upcoming win.)

"Yep." Ivy replied, another chill sent down her spine. "I can't help it. Each time feels like the first." She quivered, feeling a pity for anybody who had dared battled somebody who could control darkness.

Ivy blushed, "Sorry." Luna may have taken it offensively, she realized. "Holy crud, look!" she pointed, in an attempt to change the subject. Her finger was jabbed directly at Astro in his semi melted ice cube.

"Help." he croaked again. The elementalist melted the ice, Astro fell shuddering to the ground. "Th-thank you." he wrapped his arms around himself, freezing.

Astro slowly nodded, reveling in the warmth John provided. "Thank you, very much." he repeated, avoiding the fact he couldn't feel his legs. Or most of his body, for that matter. He looked at them curiously, "You don't recognize me?"

Ivy was about to reply, but she noticed Cassius. "Hi Cass." She didn't need to ask what he was doing here. It was a bar, there was alcohol, and he was Cassius. Simple enough.

Cassius shrugged, suprised that everyone arrived so quickly. "Beats me. Falling out amongst dingbats?" He asked. "Point blank, he's good now, we can put him in prison." Cassius said, cutting to the chase.

"Right." Ivy agreed, turning to Astro.

"Wait! Please!" He pleaded, still in a vulnerable state. "I want to apologize and help. They told me they were the Midnight Riders." He paused to shudder, looking back at the puddle that once encased him. "I see now that was a lie. I was on the wrong side the whole time, and I didn't even know." The astral glanced at the heroes, adding finally, "If you still think I should go to prison for that, very well." He held out his arms, allowing anybody to cuff him should they want to.

"I say jail. Anyone dumb enough to not know the difference between five of the most famous criminals in the world and three young superheroes is a liability, not an asset." Cassius said disdainfuly, apparently not keen on letting him into the group. And the fact that he was with the guys that kidnapped the girls and tried to help the criminals fight them didn't help Astro's reputation with Casisus. Not to mention the day for all of this to happen was particularly bad timing.

"Yes, but past a point, how much of it is their fault, I mean really? Neither you nor the villains are anything short of internationally known. Even when we were traveling in Russia you guys were on the news. And after nearly three decades in the business, if he can't even recognize people like Riddler and the Scarecrow in their home turf... I just think it's a no-win situation to keep him around. Do what you want, though. He's not gonna be on MY team." Cassius said, turning about and scooping some lucrativeley strong booze off the shelf and preparing to depart.

Ivy had stayed quiet during the whole exchange, staring down at the pitiful kid. "So, we're sending him to jail?"

This is where Astro piped up, "For the record...I've never been in Gotham before. I didn't know anybody, or anything." He glanced down, beginning to twiddle his fingers. "That is more of a long story." He kept his arms out, obviously glum but respectfully subduing to them. "As for attack," he added quietly, giving a hollow laugh, "I can't even feel my legs."

Officer Bard came down and walked into the cellar's door. He looked at the heroes confused. "Hey! I dunno how you got in here but y'all aren't supposed to be here! A homicide took place here, we're sweeping the area for evidence. Get out!" He ordered pointing out the door.


"Everything..." Dick repeated Zero, "Well if you really want to hear it we have it recorded. The basic jist of it is that S.T.E.A.M. has this EQ weapon similar to the one you dealt with about six years ago. They used a frame to get the police off their tails, and so much is happening at the moment that they've got their hands full. We'll have to do some private investigation on S.T.E.A.M. later." He said walking into his room. He dug in his drawer and pulled out an MP3 player. "Here," Dick said offering him the MP3, it should be the 8th track."


Malice deflected Karmy, throwing her arms up, grabbing the back of her head and kneeing Karmy in the face. "You don't have the right to call me by my name." She spat, as she kicked Karmy when she was down. "You call me Malice..." She seethed unclipping a grenade.

Astro struggled to stand up. He would have loved to say who killed the bartender, but he didn't know. He was busy being, well, frozen. He wasn't sure if he should tell the police what he knew, considering they seemed to mix things up all the time ("Batman wanted, reward guaranteed!"). "I'll tell you what I know." he whispered to the Riders and Cassius.

Ivy nodded. "We were just leaving, officer." She noticed the struggling Astro and added an air orb around him, both for security and to help him stand. She wasn't sure what to make of his offer before the other three spoke first.