Chapter 14: The Girl Who Laughs
(In a stairwell stands a boy in red with a staff and cape and a blond girl in black and purple. They are waiting for someone...)
Red Robin: As a reception area, this place needs a lot of work.
(The two hear footsteps on the landing above. They look up to see Bruce.)
Bruce: Stephanie, Tim... thanks for coming on short notice.
Spoiler: You're lucky we found a sitter.
(As the two walk up the flight, Bruce presses a square in the wall, opening an elevator. The three get in and ride it down to an old abandoned Gotham Subway platform. As they exit, Bruce explains:)
Bruce: My great-grandfather built the original Gotham Underground. But, these days...it's the Batcave. (They walk to a large bank of computers and monitors) And this... is Brother Eye.
Red Robin: More like the Eye of Sauron. Surveillance hub?
Bruce: More than that. A communications hub linking every satellite and server on the planet. (walks over to a chair facing away) It warns us when trouble's coming and guides us when trouble's here.
Spoiler: Must take a real genius to operate...
(The chair spins around to show Daniel and Harley Quinn)
H. Quinn: I dunno about "genius", but I do got a PhD. (blows gum bubble, then gets up and hugs Black Canary) Stephanie! Stephanie's bird hubby! You sure came a long way...
Red Robin: (smiling nervously) A world away. But the change of scenery is nice.
Spoler: I was surprised you called, Bruce. Things seem to be going well. So what's up?
Daniel: Dismantling the Regime created gaps in global security. We're covering them where we can, but we're stretched thin. Vulnerable. Harleen, show them what you found.
H. Quinn: Right-o, darling. (sits back down and accesses Brother Eye) Otto Octavius, everyone's favorite villain Doctor Octopus. He's got himself a band of bozos. Calls 'em "the Society".
Bruce: My mole in Gorilla City says Octavius is planning something big. But what, where, when,...we don't know.
H. Quinn: One thing we DO know: Mysterio's gonna ship Octavius a butt-load of his drones from a hideout in Slaughter Swamp. Very mosquito-y.
Red Robin: Good thing I packed my bug spray.
Bruce: I need you three to stop those drones before they get to Octavius.
Spoiler: Not joining us for the party?
Bruce: Unfortunately, I can't leave Gotham without worrying the public.
Daniel: Especially about the remaining Regime members seeking to end what they've started.
H. Quinn: (standing and walking over to Spoiler) Don't worry, Darling. With this crew on the job, what could go wrong? (walks towards the elevator, arm around Spoiler's shoulders)
Red Robin: (still nervous) I know I'm the new guy, but you guys really trust Harley?
Daniel: She's a different person since joker died...mostly.
(Red Robin doesn't seem convinced, especially when Harley grabs a knife and puts it behind her back while walking with Spoiler.)
(A fair time later at Slaughter Swamp, a bunch of henchmen are packing crates from a shack. Harley, Spoiler and Red Robin sneak to the shack unnoticed and look inside. They see one of the Society, Bullseye, talking to the man in charge, Mysterio.)
Bullseye: Can we move any faster? I don't need Doctor Octopus taking my head off cuz you boys are too slow.
Mysterio: Fear not, Bullseye. We'll be ready for tomorrow's attack.
Spoiler: Tomorrow?
H. Quinn: Cheeky octopus...
(Suddenly, a bunch of vines grab the three and string them upside down. Out of the shadows comes another Society member, Poison Ivy. She goes up to Harley and strokes her face.)
Poison Ivy: Fancy meeting you here.
(Harley blows a gum bubble in Ivy's face.)
Mysterio: (to Bullseye) Keep them moving. I'll see what that's about.
H. Quinn: Red! I ain't seen you in forever! You here to take down these punks?
(Out of the cabin comes Mysterio, holding his helmet in hand.)
Mysterio: Quite a catch, Ivy.
H. Quinn: (upset) Red? You're with them?!
Poison Ivy: Bruce was supposed to care about the green, but instead he rebuilds the concrete jungles of Gotham and New York. In my eyes, there's no difference between him and Spider-Man.
Red Robin: Otto isn't a man you should be trusting either.
Poison Ivy: Otto will keep his promise, or he will be my next victim.
H. Quinn: (a little sad) Oh, Red...why you makin' me do this?
(Harley cuts through her vines and, as she lands, passes the knife off to Spoiler, who severs HER vines as well as Red Robin's. As the married couple goes after Mysterio, Harley stares down Ivy.)
H. Quinn: Let me get you outta here, girl. We can team up again. Drive all the boys crazy. Ya know? Like the old days...
Poison Ivy: The old days were fun...but, these days, I'm all business!
(They were best of friends...even lovers. But they're on opposite sides of justice now. Though Ivy has her vines and toxins to help, Harley is too fast and tricky for the human plant.)
H. Quinn: No more sleep-overs for you!
(Then Harley goes to see Red Robin and Spoiler easily defeated by Mysterio.)
Mysterio: Time to show you a magic trick.
(Mysterio creates various duplicates of himself, but Harley shoots them all like they're nothing.)
H. Quinn: Oh please, I've seen this trick before.
Mysterio: Then you're going to like my latest magic trick.
(Then the area seems to get darker, and only Harley Quinn and Mysterio are seen.)
Mysterio: Now the show continues.
(Despite not being as powerful as Mysterio, Harley manages to prove that not even Beck is match for the former princess of crime.)
H. Quinn: (holding her head) Ugh... instant hangover...
Mysterio: (sitting up) We're not... done yet...
(Then Mysterio chants his magic words and then Harley is somewhat transported to an amusement park. And in front of her is the gaping maw that's the entrance to a house of horrors. From inside the house, a very eerie, very familiar laugh is heard.)
H. Quinn: (dazed) Puh... puddin'?
(Out of the darkness of the maw and the smoke steps the Joker, dead these last several years... but still very much sadistic-looking. He slowly approaches Harley as she looks almost petrified.)
Joker: Harley, darling! Look at you! Such a big girl! Cosplaying a superhero. LARPing in the Batcave. But you hear it, don't you?
H. Quinn: (still dazed) Hear what?
Joker: The REAL you, buried under the floorboards, SCRATCH, SCRATCH, SCRATCHing to get out! (pulls a knife and mimes cutting his throat with it) The one who'd cut her friends' throats... and LAUGH about it.
(We turn to see Batman, tied to a chair and struggling to get out. Harley is now smiling widely...and in her old Harley Quinn costume from her days with the Joker.)
H. Quinn: (now holding the knife) Yesssss...
(Joker laughs in the background as Harley starts to approach Batman. Joker then walks behind her to watch.)
Joker: Hehehehe! THAT's my girl! (As Harley approaches Batman, though, her smile fades, as if she still remembers what she went through during the original War. She lowers her knife and drops it.) Oh, Harley! (points a gun at Harley's head) Always such a disappointment! Why do I bother?!
H. Quinn: (swats gun aside, with conviction) Ain't no slick fella in a cheap suit and cheaper grin telling me who I am ever again! We had mad love, once upon a time. But now that's OVER, Mistah J!!
(The battle between the two former "lovebirds" is brutal, even considering that the Joker is just a figment of Harley's fears. But she fights through those fears and puts "Puddin'" out of her misery for good!)
H. Quinn: NObody puts Harleen in a corner!
(Harley comes out of the state, seeing that she was fighting Mysterio again. Red Robin and Spoiler are also conscious and standing by the dock.)
H. Quinn: Let's go before it's anchors aweigh! (runs to the couple)
(The boats speed off, but Red Robin uses explosive-tip birdarangs to destroy them. But, when the explosions subside, a rumble is heard beneath the swamp. From out of the muck comes a towering Swamp Thing...and he is NOT happy!)
S. Thing: This swamp is protected!
H. Quinn: (surprised) Swampy? I heard you were dead!
S. Thing: I guard the Green, the plant life of Earth. As long as it lives, I cannot die! (swats at the three, with Harley side-flipping over the hand)
H. Quinn: Swampy, wait! It ain't us you wanna bash--we're the good guys!
S. Thing: Good? Bad? I care little for humanity. But I do care when my swamp burns!
(Swamp Thing shrinks in size to about Superman's height, evening things up. But Harley still has a tough time against the man-turned-monster. Still, she does her best...and that seems to be enough as Swamp Thing hits his knees in defeat. Spoiler and Red Robin have come to and are hiding from gunfire from the henchmen that didn't get blown up.)
H. Quinn: Mama always said I had a black thumb. NOW ya ready to be all ears? It's Mysterio and his goons you want. They're mixing drones right in your backyard. We came to STOP 'em!
S. Thing: Hmm... I see...
(Swamp Thing raises his arms and, much like they do with Ivy, vines grow out of the swamp and entrap the henchmen. Mysterio hops on an airboat and speeds away, a henchmen shooting at the trio. But Swamp Thing makes thick vines grow to block the bullets as Scarecrow escapes.)
S. Thing: If they return, I will be ready.
H. Quinn: Aw, Swamp Thing, you are ah-mazing! (punches Swamp Thing's shoulder) If ya ever want on the team, we'd love to have ya.
S. Thing: I would consider that...should our interests align. For now, go. This swamp must heal. (walks away and sinks back into the swamp)
(Meanwhile in New York, Miles Morales is seen listening to some music and dancing while walking in the streets. But as he approaches an alleyway, a familiar arm grabs him, and the figure drags him back to Oscorp. The figure reveals to be Iron Patriot, who doesn't seem to be happy, and then Captain Marvel comes in, also angry.)
C. Marvel: Miles! Where were you?!
Miles: Just in the streets... listening to my favorite musics...
I. Patriot: If someone saw you...
C. Marvel: How many times have we told you?! It's too dangerous outside Oscorp!
Miles: Man, first I lose my family, now I lose my right to walk around?
C. Marvel: How can we make you more comfortable?
Miles: Let me OUT. Carol, you've taught me what my powers can do. This world needs help. Earth's people are so divided. They're always fighting...
C. Marvel: That's the world without Spider-Man. (takes Miles' hands) Batman has eyes everywhere. He can't know about you before we're ready.
Miles: (pulls hands away) I'm not afraid of some guy in a mask! UGH! I can lift heavy things with my bare hands!
C. Marvel: So could Peter Parker.
Miles: Well,...well, what good are these powers if I can't even help Peter Parker?!
I. Patriot: We will, Miles. Just like you and I freed Carol from the Nova Corps.
C. Marvel: The time will come... we will free Peter Parker, and Batman will answer to us.
(This seems to satisfy Miles as he smiles confidently.)
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