The Darkest of Knights

"At least I'm not being a little b*tch to the everyone else around me!" Karmy stuttered up at Damian. "Why don't you just go back to your evil grandpa already..." she pulled Zeros cape tightly around her and she stood up, swaying dangerously. "Thanks, Z.."

"The joke.. Mr. Slade." The Joker started still laughing. "Is that I won. I got revenge against you, mercilessly killing your daughter, and crippling your old apprentice."

"SHIIII-! AH!" Alice screamed as Wintergreen and Dick worked on her back. "Can you feel anything here?" Dick asked poking at her leg. "Nothing, I- sh*t!! Wintergreen can you be a little more gentle?!" Alice yelled at him. "I'm sorry Miss Alice, I'm doing the best to my ability." Wintergreen assured, "The anesthetics aren't doing their job I presume?" Wintergreen asked. "Well I'm awake aren't I? I guess that means it would hurt a whole lot more, if I- Oh! Sh*t!!! Agh!" Alice twitched as Wintergreen made more progress sewing her up and stopping the bleeding. "I can't believe you're awake right now Alice." Dick said giving her a pill with water. "Well, I'm not as soft as you think I am Dick, I- holy sh*t Winter! Ok, ok! Oww ow! Stop that already!" Alice begged. "Just a moment more. I assure you."

"We still need a plan! We have to get out of here!" Barbara pressured the group. "C'mon, its now or never, we gotta move!"

Slade raised a curious eyebrow- if that egged him on, he didn't show it. "Funny. I thought all you did was ask me to kill you." Slade said sndieley, and eerie calm in his vocie.

As he pulled the trigger.

Zero winced at Karmy's comment, knowing it would juts start another fight. "No prob cuz. We've all hard day, let's jsut stop before someone does something." He said, trying to be the peacemaker as he propped up Karmy, making sure he was positioned between her and Damian in case a fight broke out. He tried ot think up a way out, but he had never warped this many people at once....

The subject of the matter was Alice, who was Karmy's best friend, so, it was rather obvious that she was NOT going to drop it and that she would continue to defend her right to be very pissed off. Leaning in Zero's grip, she turned to the younger hero. "Shut up, you spoiled brat!" she hissed, so frustrated that tears were streaming down her face. "How would you feel if the Joker maimed your best friend right in front of you!? Oh, that's right, you don't have one!" she felt Zero tighten his hold on her but she didn't care, she wouldn't and couldn't fight back.

Damian was about to punch Karmy in the face one last time when Barbara quickly grabbed his arm and brought him down by tripping him in a quick succession of complicated twists."Okay, that's it!" Barbara yelled scaring most everyone in the room, she wasn't going to take the time to let everyone sort out their issues. She stood up and brushed herself off. "Every second we waste bickering we letting someone down." Barbara scolded at the heroes. They were acting like children. "Now I don't know about the rest of you but if you want to get caught up in the whole police thing be my guest, I'm getting out of here." Barbara said putting her cowl on and shooting her grapple hook through an open window and zipping out.

The Joker didn't even flinch as the trigger was pulled and the bullet knocked Slade's weapon out of his hand. "Ahahah!!" he laughed as he started to back up towards the police. "Even the crap ridden members of the polive force are trying to protect me! The irony is hilarious." he held up his hands in surrender as he got closer to the officers. "I win! I always win!" he laughed maniacally as he was taken into custody.

"Lets get out of here.." Karmy begged Zero. "Where's dad and Cyssy?"

"I win! I always win!" The Joker continued to laugh as Bard used the but off his gun to knock two teeth out of his skull. "Joker, you're under arrest for the murders in Gotham City two weeks back and the events that happened tonight. You have the right to remain silent!" An officer yelled everyone pointing guns at his head.

"I'm fine. Lets beat it." Damian said to Robin. For some reason he felt that the same thing would have happened if it had been Dick in the same situation. Was he becoming more and more like Dick, or was Dick becoming more and more like him?

Damian smiled at Nicole, "Hey I'm your friend right...? You can keep a secret..." He whispered as they zipped away. "I'm Batman."

Slade wasn't about to let the Joker off the hook THAT easy. Reeling the powerlance back and activating it, he hurtled it past the cops at the Joker in a last ditch effort to take that hated clown out.....

Cy had been too ashamed to face Karmy after the illusion that had shoved her failures in her face. She had spent her time prying Cassius out of his no longer funcional deadweight suit of armor, uncaracteristically silent as all the faces she had seen and the attrocities commited tonight, what COULD she say?

Zero pointed to his dad and sister. "Right over there." He pointed out. His hand shimmered with red aura as he got ready to warp them out.....

Gunshots filled the air all aiming at Slade, cops shooting their handguns and Bard's sniper rifle in particular sounded different from the other petite handgun shots. "Get him off! Take him down!" stun guns were out and up.

Karmy stepped away from Zero. "I've got to do something..." she whispered, stepping further away. "I'll be back, I promise." and, with Zero's coat still wrapped around her shoulders, she portaled away. She landed on top of the warehouse roof, a good two levels above Slade. Hitting the deck once the police started to shoot, Karmy kept hidden, the cloak and the night sky keeping her deep in cover. She watched Slade.

"Oh and there's more to come. Dick and I aren't the only ones." Damian explained as they landed and caught up with Batgirl. "I'd hate to just the the scene of the crime like this. I guess there really isn't a choice huh..?" she asked the two.

Bullets zoomed at Slade, and he couldn't help but note the ultimate irony- the man that just tried to kill about 20 or so people and triend to send Gotham to hell in a handbasket, while he was the one getting shot at. Oh well, big whuppity. He was used to dodging bullets at this point in time, so he found it simple to just dodge them and retreat into the shadows, vanishing, as was his norm......

[So, uhm, yeah, I have no clue when I'm going to be able to log in next, just pencil me if you need to borrow someone for something and I'll reply...... eventually =P ]

Karmy ducked down and followed Slade, her bare feet kept her movements silent, but she knew that he knew that he was being followed. Why was she following him? Not to fight obviously. She was too exhausted and the hypothermia was still set in her body, granted, running around on a cold November morning wouldn't help that illness at all. But she had to, she knew she had to. Keeping a fair amount of distance between herself and Slade, she kept her wounded hand close to shaking body and the other one in snap position, just in case Slade tried anything.

By the time Batgirl, Robin, and Damian returned to the Batcave, Alice's back had been sewed up by Wintergreen and Dick. There was a pail of blood with several rags floating in it, the floors and operating table had been crudely cleaned, small impressions of a rag wipinging it. She looked more pale than she did at the warehouse and it wasn't surprising, the blood loss, the bright lights. The entire medical bay was a plain bright whiteness the shrouded the area. She was resting on her stomach, sleeping, heartbeat: normal. Dick was watching over her when Barbara came in taking off her cowl. "She needs to go to the hospital." Barbara suggested wrapping her arms around his neck, resting her chin on his shoulders. "I know. Earlier today, when the sun comes up." Dick said, "For now, this is the best we can give her." Dick's eyes were closed. "She saved us." Barbara sighed, "And she lost her legs."

Slade continued to slink about. Oh he flat out knew he was being followed- he was too experienced to not know. when he was adequateley away from the cops and the warehouse, he looked behind him, in Karmy's general direction. "I know you're there- you might as well come out." Slade called grumpily, oddly not drawing a weapon.

Karmy stepped out, still a good distance away from Slade but close enough so that he could hear her. A tense silence fell over the area as the two stared at each other, but, not wanting to be out long due to many factors, Karmy spoke up first. "You couldn't kill him either?" she asked, but really, it was more of a statement. "Which means I definitely won't be able to.."


(work till early this afternoon x_x)

Slade gave a shrug- he wasn't sure if his attack hit the Joker, and as long as he never saw that clown again, he didn't give a rat's ass.. "Doubtfully, expecially in YOUR condition." He pointed out to Karmy. "You look like sh*t." Slade grumbled, ever the cheery customer, expecially with all the evening's events considered.

"Yeah, got the Jokers madhouse of fun to thank for that.." Karmy stuttered, not moving from her position. "Tell me about Rose." she said after a few minutes of silence.

11/20/31
06:50 am
30 degrees. Snow.

Dick and Barbara transported Alice to a van with her stomach down on a stretcher, while Wintergreen started it. Dick and Barbara got into the back and held each other's hands as they drove to the hospital. "Wintergreen, step on it. We don't have a lot of time." Dick pressured. "Time never is on our side, Master Richard." Wintergreen sighed going 15 past the speed limit. "Dick, she'll be fine. Don't worry so much." Barbara appealed. "I know. I just don't want the media on our case." In this condition, Alice would most likely be out for a week. Barbara remembered she wasn't able to leave the hospital for rehabilitation. Seven days. The world could change in seven days.

Slade stopped for a second, obviously in thought about the topic at hand. "What do you mean, tell you about her? Her life's story?Why do you care to know, anyways?" Slade said in his usual disdainful manor, his mood clearly not improved by the daughter he had indirectly just blasted to hell being the topic of choice.

Zero, after frantically making sure Ivy, Lu, John and the rest of his family was in managable condition, decided he'd better not waste any more time in getting them all the hell out of here- the last thing they needed were the cops and media on their asses. He figured he'd go back for Karmy, but right now he needed to get everyone else out. With a flash of red light, Everyone was warped back to the Apartment the Riders had been calling home. He decided to not intrude on Grayson- he'd certaintly have a lot on his plate right about now....

Snow was starting to collect on Karmy's hunched shoulders, flurries speckled her locks and her skin was tinged a light blue. She was suffering greatly but she knew that she had to do this. "I care because she was a friend of mine, and now she's gone." her breath came out in fog as she spoke. "I'm talking to you, the man who killed me and sent me to the fiery pits of hell, because you are her father." she gave a heavy sigh. "What was she like? Why didn't she follow you in your footsteps and become a villain instead of a hero? All that bullsh*t..."

(Should be. Yeah. )

Alice wasn't only pale now, she was ghost white. "Hey Babs, give me a hand here." Dick requested as he pulled Alice's stretcher out of the van when they had arrived at Gotham General: Crisis, Barbara nodded and helped him out. "I'll be waiting for you here Master Richard." Wintergreen informed. "Thanks Wint, be right back." Dick replied getting out with Alice. Leslie Thompkins was waiting outside for them, she was getting too old for this, but still she was the only one Dick really trusted. They had talked before they left and she said she would treat their friend.

Alice's eyes peeled open. Completely white, it blinded her, closing her eyes again; there was so much pain in her back, surprisingly nothing below her waist. She could feel a numbness in her legs but couldn't move them. "Are you alright honey?" An unfamiliar voice asked her, Alice opened her eyes again. "What... No. A shovel..." And after that she was out like a light, again.

Consciousness again, she slowly opened her eyes. "How are you feeling?" Barbara asked. "Like a million bucks." Alice slurred. "How long was I out?" She asked wincing now, "And where's Dick?"
"Dick said he's going to be back, he's getting chinese take out. And you must have been out for an hour or two. You need rest. Go back to sleep."
"I'm fine.. I'm up."
"I don't think you'll be up for a while Alice.."
"What? What do you mean?"
"Your back."
"What happened..?"
"We weren't able to save your legs."
"My... Legs." Alice said trying to look back. They were only able to stop the bleeding and sew up the wound. Not that she could see it.
"Crippled?"
"I'm sorry Alice."
"It all happened so fast..."
"Yeah, I know.. I'm sorry."

Damian shook his head. "Doubt it." Damian said frankly. "Never seen anyone use a shovel the way he did." He scoffed and tore his own mask and cape off, tossing them into a laundry basket.

Slade crossed his arms and turned his back to Karmy, and for a moment it looked like he wouldn't answer. "Why didn't she end up like me, eh?" He said at long last. The snow flecked down on his armor, the white flakes sharply contrasting the dark black suit. His voice was slow and thoughtful as he recalled his supressed memories. "Who knows- heaven only knows I TRIED to make her like me." Slade said. His borderline obsesive quest to find an heir over the years was more or less common knowledge, and it probably came as no surprise that he would try to make his own flesh and blood his deciple as well. "But I clearly didn't succed- I guess she was just better then that I suppose." Slade shrugged. "She was above all that crap- following in my footsteps, crushing everything in her path- it wasn't her, too nice for her own damn good. Of course I'd hate to be the person to piss her off- she'd kick your ass." Slade relayed, his voice loosing it's usual crabiness- if you had the audacity to think so.