//------------------------------//
// Chapter 36: Laughing 
// Story: Young Amazons 
// by Wanderer D 
//------------------------------//


Young Amazons
By Ackbarfan5556
Executive Produced By Wanderer D
Chapter 36: Laughing

 









 
“This much homework on the first week of school should be criminal,” Barbara groaned as she, Pamela, and Sunset were walking through the hallways of the movie theater with their food and drink.
 
It was the first weekend of their senior year and the three of them decided they needed to do something fun just to break the boredom of the schoolwork that had piled up in the week. That added with their chosen double lives as crimefighters gave them not as much time to be normal girls as opposed to their fellow students.
 
“Take it up with the school board or have your Dad mention it at the next PTA meeting,” Pamela joked as the three of them walked in.
 
“At least it’s nothing too difficult,” Sunset chimed in. “We already knocked out much of it last night. Besides, it’s our senior year. We should consider ourselves lucky when we go to university. You’ll be begging for this kind of homework by then.” 
 
“Ugh! Don’t remind me. I’m dreading it every night the closer and closer we get to graduation,” Barbara said.
 
“Uh, Red, we still have a full year before that happens,” Pamela replied.
 
“Yeah, and it’ll be here before you know it!” 

The two girls rolled their eyes at Barbara’s comment as they soon reached their seats. The theater was mostly empty with only a few people at the screening as the girls got settled.
 
“Not many people here today,” Sunset noticed.
 
“Well, the movie has been out since the end of June. We’re just lucky it’s still showing right now,” Barbara explained. “Plus it’s early in the afternoon on Saturday. The real crowds start showing up later, especially for the new releases this weekend.” 
 
“I swear, I’ve been human for quite a few years now, and the whole concept of cinema still wracks my mind.”
 
“Well, if it makes it easier to accept, Sunny, just remember it’s theater that you can watch and see repeatedly all the time,” Pamela said.
 
“That’s certainly one way of looking at it.” Sunset sighed as she leaned back in her seat as the previews began. However, she quickly stood up a second later. “Sorry, you two, I’ll be right back.”
 
“Don’t feel like you need to rush. The previews tend to last a while,” Barbara said as Sunset left the auditorium for the bathroom.
 
A few minutes later, Sunset walked back out and finished drying her hands before tossing the paper towel in the trash and walking back to the auditorium. She came to a dead stop when she saw what appeared to be a green fog seeping out from underneath the closed doors. Sunset quickly casted a masking spell, mostly to protect herself from inhaling anything that might have been dangerous.
 
It turned out she was right to take this precaution as she pushed the door open and found the whole auditorium was filled with the green fog. She barely walked in when she heard a familiar laugh that chilled her blood.

It took less than a second for her mind to figure out that the laugh belonged to the Joker and that it was his gas that was filling the theater. She ran back out, sure that he was up in the projector room. As she moved, she quickly casted her spells while preparing for action. Sunset put on the mask that she had been hiding in her pocket.
 
She kicked open the projector door, only to find to her mistake that Joker wasn’t there. Instead, it was the horrific sight of the projector worker lying on the ground with his face permanently stuck in the shape of Joker’s trademark smile; indicating he was one of the first victims of the attack before the rest of the theater.
 
Sunset turned to look at the projector to see the mad clown himself in black and white laughing up a storm on the screen. Sunset cursed herself for not walking into the auditorium further so she could see what actually was going on inside.
 
She turned back around and ran back into the main auditorium to the sight she dreaded, but expected. As she thought, sitting right in their chairs with the same terrifying smile were Pamela and Barbara.
 



 
There was sheer chaos at Gotham Memorial as Sunset sat in one of the waiting rooms with many other people; most of them loved ones of the victims of the theater attack. As Sunset discovered, Joker gassed all eighteen auditoriums of the theater; the only decent news was that due to the time of the day, the numbers weren’t as bad as if they had been later in the evening.
 
Even still, many officers and ambulances were going back and forth from the hospitals and the theater. Sunset was quickly questioned by a responding officer but managed to get him to believe that she had been in the bathroom the entire time before the gas mostly dispersed.
 
Sunset stood up as soon as she saw April Gordon walk nearby and tried to wave her down.
 
“Nurse Gordon!” Sunset walked up to her as soon as the nurse realized who had called her. “I’m sorry, I just-”
 
“I know, Sunset. It’s a disaster right now. I’m not sure what to tell you right now.”
 
“How are they? Are Pam and Barb okay?” 

Nurse Gordon took a deep breath. The troubled look on her face made Sunset’s heart sink into her stomach. It must have been terrible being a nurse and having your own child come into your care. She could not imagine that. 
 
“Well, with Barbara, she’s pretty much like all the other victims right now––no change. Pamela on the other hand, she’s surprisingly made quite a recovery already. However, she’s the only recovery as of right now.”
 
Sunset had a feeling why that was, but right now she was more concerned about seeing her friends.
 
“Can I see Pamela at least?”
 
“Room 309. Her mother’s been in there for the past thirty minutes.”
 
“Thank you, Nurse Gordon,” Sunset said before she made her way to the room, making sure not to get in the way of any of the doctors and nurses that were running around like Gotham had become a warzone and trying to deal with an influx of casualties.
 
Sunset soon reached the room and opened the door. She walked in to find Pamela in bed looking like she was completely back to normal as her mother sat next to her.
 
“Well, look whose bathroom break spared her from a nightmare,” Pamela said with a smirk.
 
“Talk about perfecting timing for sure,” Sunset responded as she sat down in the other chair in the room.
 
“It’s nice to see that you managed to avoid being affected, Sunset,” Miss Isley said. “I’m glad that Pamela was feeling much better by the time I saw her. I don’t think I would be able to sleep right again if I saw you with that twisted grin, sweetie.”
 
Pamela rubbed the back of her neck. “Yeah, I’ve got a really good immune system, I guess. Hey, Mom, it’s getting a bit late. You think you can maybe get us something to eat?” 

Miss Isley looked at her watch and nodded.
 
“Sure, I’ll see if I can quickly catch a doctor and ask if I can bring something in from outside. If not, I’ll see if they’ll let me in the hospital cafeteria and get something there.”
 
“Bring something for Barbara too, okay?” Pamela gave a small smile, which her mother reciprocated.
 
“You’ve got it.” 

The two girls watched the older woman leave the room before they soon deemed it safe to really talk.
 
“So what actually happened, Sunny?” Pamela asked. “I’m guessing you weren’t in the bathroom long.” 

Sunset shook her head.
 
“No, I was out of there by the time I saw gas coming out of the auditorium,” she replied. “A quick masking spell and I thought I could pursue Joker. It turns out I was fooled by the film he obviously left.”
 
“Yeah, it was weird. The previews suddenly stopped and we soon found ourselves watching Joker on the screen, staring at what felt like a black and white French art house film. Guess it was a good enough distraction since the gas filled in quickly. After that, it was the laughter and then just…” Pamela shuttered. “I don’t even want to remember. It’s not something you want to go through, I’ll tell you that.”
 
“Barbara and everyone else is still smiling. I think we know the answer to why you’re seemingly normal again.”
 
Pamela nodded. “Because I’m not actually normal. I think there’s something in my mixed genes that allowed me to get over the effects fairly quickly. I was already starting to come down from the effects by the time they loaded me into the ambulance.”
 
“It’s because of those genes that Joker’s gas hasn’t left you in that state that Barb’s in,” Sunset finished.
 
“Poor Red. She’s just sitting in that room suffering with that smile on her face.” Pamela pounded her fist into the bed. “I swear, if I see that clown, I’m going to have an army of vines tear him limb from limb.”
 
“I’m almost with you on that but, well, that’s not what we’re supposed to do. We’re supposed to be better than him.”
 
Pamela sighed. “I know, I just wanted to express my frustration.” The two of them soon heard the familiar ringing of the Bat-wave coming from Sunset’s pocket. “Sounds like you’re needed.”
 
“You mean we’re needed,” Sunset clarified.
 
“No, I doubt the doctors will allow me out so soon; not without some tests and we don’t want that. Besides, I should probably be close to Red. If that sicko finds out the only child of the Commissioner is here-”
 
“He might try something. I got it.” Sunset stood up. “All right, keep your eyes peeled and hopefully we’ll have Joker back in Arkham soon.”
 
“Before he shows Gotham his next trick,” Pamela grimly said.
 



 
“I still don’t understand what his goal was,” Sunset said to Bruce as she paced the Batcave half an hour later. “Why gas the place then instead of later in the evening when he could have had crowds of people to victimize? It just doesn’t make that much sense.”
 
“I’m not sure of that myself, but my best guess is that the smaller crowds made it more likely for him to do all this under everyone’s nose,” Bruce theorized.
 
“Less likely to get caught, right? Yeah, that sounds about right.”
 
“Plus, it might have given him a chance to test his latest strain of Joker gas.”
 
“Latest strain?” Sunset asked.
 
“Whenever Joker escapes and uses his toxins, it’s always something new that we haven’t had a cure to yet. Basically, we’re always back to square one when he sends out his chemicals.”
 
“Where exactly does he get this stuff? Or know how to constantly keep updating his strains?”
 
Bruce shook his head. “I honestly wish I knew, but no one has been able to figure that one out.” He then turned around in his chair to look at Sunset. “All I know right now is that Joker’s attack has nearly brought Gotham’s hospitals to a breaking point.”
 
“Which means that if he commits another gas attack, essentially, most of the victims will be unable to be treated since the hospitals and doctors would be fully occupied.”
 
“Exactly.” The Bat-wave suddenly went off behind him causing him to turn around back to the computer. “Dual break-ins. Give me a second… got it. It looks like a break in at the pharmaceutical plant as well as…” Bruce paused for a moment. “Ace Chemicals.”
 
“Something wrong? Why did you pause there?” Sunset asked.
 
“Ace Chemicals,” he mused. “I’m not fully sure, but I think that’s where the Joker was born.”
 
“Oh, right, you mean where he ended up getting that permanently clown makeup? I heard you once mention that.”
 
“Yeah.” Bruce stood up and dashed towards the area he had the Batsuit secured. “Either way, whatever he’s doing there, it can’t be good. And there’s the other break in as well. More than likely Punch and Judy are at the other one.”

“Punch and Judy?” Sunset questioned.
 
“Joker’s henchmen; big, burly thugs that don’t say a word.”
 
“Sounds familiar.”

Bruce started putting his suit on, but continued to give instructions as he did so. 
 
“Here’s the plan: You head to the pharmaceutical plant while I take Ace Chemicals. If you run into Punch and Judy, feel free to take them down. If Joker’s there, I want you to avoid him at all costs.” Bruce then pulled his cowel on. “Understand?”
 
“I-I don’t…” Sunset was confused about that.
 
“Listen, I want to be the only one who deals with Joker. I don’t want you or anyone else to end up like Ethan thanks to an encounter with him.”
 
Sunset suddenly understood why Bruce had asked her to avoid Joker. He would much rather take the sole burden of dealing with Joker rather than let anyone run the risk of becoming Joker’s next work of art like he did with Ethan Bennett.
 
“Okay, I’ve got it.” Sunset nodded.
 
The two of them were out of the Batcave five minutes later. The Batmobile zoomed through the streets of Gotham before it slowed down near the pharmaceutical plant. The roof opened and Alicorn leapt out, flipping over the moving vehicle and making a perfect landing. The Batmobile then picked up speed once more and continued on to Ace Chemicals.
 
“Shame no judges were watching that. That was a perfect routine,” Alicorn said to herself as she stood up and made her way towards the building. A part of the outer wall of the complex had been smashed. Alicorn made a guess that it was the work of Punch and Judy, but she couldn’t be fully sure.
 
She quietly made her way deep into the building before she finally came to a stop overlooking the main production line. She could see many of the chemicals that were being mixed together to produce all manners of drugs being connected up to two large gas tanker trucks.
 
And the ones doing the job were two large men. They wore similar purple jester suits, but their faces were the only way to tell them apart. One had bushy green sideburns on his while the other’s was completely bare. They both had large red dots on their cheeks and mean looks in their eyes. 
 
Alicorn took a small sigh of relief, thankful that it wasn’t Joker but rather his two flunkies that she knew she could take. She moved into position before jumping down and landed right near the two jesters.
 
“Evening, boys.” She folded her arms as the two of them turned to look at her. “I’m guessing you don’t have a permit to drive those trucks or have authorization to be here.” 

The two said nothing as they put down their tools and charged her.
 
Alicorn jumped over the two of them as they tried to grab her and launched an aura sphere at both their backs, making good contact and causing them to fall to the floor. However, it seemed they were much more resistant than she thought as they quickly got back up and now looked angry.
 
Punch, who Alicorn guessed was the one with the sideburns, charged her once more. Alicorn didn’t jump this time since she knew he was planning on having Judy cover him. The last thing Alicorn wanted was to be caught in the middle of those two brutes.
 
She side-stepped to allow Punch to run past her before heading towards Judy and kicked him right in the stomach before he could have a chance to grab her. As he gripped his stomach, Alicorn sent another aura sphere at Punch and once more made contact with him, this time against the back of his head which caused him to crash into the large metal chamber where the chemicals were to be mixed.
 
“You two are hard headed and silent,” Alicorn chuckled. “I bet a double date with you two and Penguin’s girls would be perfect.” 

Neither goon was laughing as Punch got back up and regrouped with Judy. The two of them ran for one of the trucks before Judy got what was in the front and handed it to Punch: A rocket launcher aimed right for her.
 
“Whoa…” Alicorn muttered before she ran as fast as she could when the rocket was fired. She made a diving roll out of the way as a large explosion tore the area behind her apart. 

Punch wasn’t done yet as he quickly reloaded and fired once more. Again, Alicorn moved fast to avoid being caught in the blast as Punch was now firing indiscriminately; it seemed like he moved from trying to get her to burning the whole place to the ground. With the vast explosions and the releasing of all sorts of shrapnel and chemicals, Alicorn thought it would be smarter to escape from the complex rather than be caught in it.
 
A quick portal and Alicorn was back outside as the chain reaction of the rocket barrage was ripping the building apart. Alicorn watched the destruction before the two trucks began to drive right out of the complex.
 
Alicorn silently cursed to herself. The destruction was just to cover their tracks and make an escape and now she was too far away to catch up to those trucks as they drove away. She sighed before she pulled out her communicator.
 
“Alicorn to Batman. Punch and Judy were at the pharmaceutical plant,” Alicorn said. “They tore the place apart and are escaping with what I have to guess is quite a lot of differing chemicals.” 
 
“Sounds like what happened here. Joker escaped and made a mess of Ace Chemicals,”  Batman explained. “Gotham PD and Fire are probably on their way to both locations.”
 
“I think this was on purpose. Punch and Judy seemed less likely to fight me once they started using their rocket launcher. It felt more like they were covering their tracks.”
 
“I’m thinking the same thing. Joker seemed like he was much more wanting to escape rather than fight me. It must be part of his overall plan.”
 
“Any guess what that plan might be?”
 
“Nothing good, that’s for sure. Not to mention that he more than likely has all the emergency services distracted now,” Batman said.
 
“All to deviate attention from his grand finale, right?”
 
“Right. And we’re going to find out what it is very soon. Joker is unknowingly leading us right back to him.”
 
“Slipped a tracking device on him?” Alicorn asked.
 
“On the truck he used to escape. Stay there, I’ll be there in a few minutes. Then we’ll follow him.”
 
“Good. The sooner we stop him and send him back to Arkham, the sooner we can help Barb.”
 



 
The tracker soon came to a stop near Gotham’s water treatment plant. When that happened, Batman and Alicorn came to the same conclusion: With Gotham distracted, no one would notice the water supply being poisoned until it was too late. The vast amount of chemicals that were stolen were sure to make the poison spread.
 
The two of them pulled up near the treatment plant to find all three trucks had been left behind and drained, meaning their deadly payload was already inside. Both moved as fast as they could, desperate to find the mad clown before he could complete his plan.
 
The two heroes soon ended up in the main treatment room where they could hear singing echoing through the building. It was Joker singing about putting on a smile, which fit with what his plan was. Alicorn looked up to see the shadow of the clown seemingly mixing his toxic cocktail into before Batman pulled out a Batarang and tossed it, causing the shadow to be knocked over and Joker falling into view before Punch and Judy appeared from behind the main tank.
 
Alicorn finally got a look at the infamous maniac in the flesh. The Joker was average height with wild green hair that stuck out in all directions and pale white skin. His teeth were large and slightly decayed, which made her cringe, and where most people’s eyes were white, his were red. He wore black pants and an orange shirt under a purple jacket. Black gloves covered his hands. He had no shoes, but instead wore ankle wraps on both feet. 

“Careful, Batsy! You could put someone’s eye out with those toys!” The Joker growled as he dusted himself off.
 
“Give it up now, Joker. This is only going to end one way,” Batman said.
 
“You’re right. It’s going to end with my little formula spreading all across town and making Gotham the happiest city in the world… permanently!” Joker gave out a loud maniacal laugh. 

Alicorn had enough already. Her mind was already burning with thoughts of revenge for what he had done to Pamela and Barbara and she wanted to shut him up fast.
 
She quickly threw out a fire spell. Joker yelped and ducked down before the magical trail of fire hit him. Punch and Judy moved into position and charged the two heroes while Joker pulled out a gun with a boxing glove in the barrel before firing it. Batman and Alicorn dove out of its path before it could hit either of them.
 
However, that was exactly what Joker wanted as it allowed Punch and Judy to get close without reprisal. The two heroes were grabbed and the two thugs began to put the squeeze on them.
 
“Keep a tight grip on them, you two,” Joker laughed. “They don’t want to miss this show.” 

He then ran off. Alicorn fought hard to break free. Finally, she was able to get her hand out and cast a bright flash of light in her palm right in Judy’s face, causing him to cover his eyes and let her go.
 
Alicorn saw Batman also freed himself from Punch’s grasp, only for Judy to recover and tackle him. Alicorn moved a few feet to help before Batman punched Judy in the face. Punch then grabbed him.
 
“Go! Stop Joker now! I can deal with these two fast, but we can’t waste time!” Batman ordered.

Alicorn hesitated for a moment but knew he was right. Joker had to be stopped and Batman could easily deal with them. 

Alicorn moved through the plant as fast as she could, careful to follow Joker’s path but making sure not to let him get the drop on her. His laughter continued to echo through the building before she soon realized he was making his way up to the roof.
 
She kicked open the door to find the clown waiting for her, holding what looked like a detonator in his hands.
 
“You’re not Batsy. Hmm. I thought he was coming through that door.”
 
“Sorry to disappoint you, Joker,” Alicorn said as she slowly circled him like a lion stalking its prey.
 
“Eh, either way is fine, actually,” he said with a shrug. “I’ve been looking forward to finally meeting you.” Joker then laughed. “I’m surprised we haven’t really run into each other with how long you’ve been under Batbrain’s wing.”
 
“It’s an encounter I didn’t want to have,” she returned, carefully keeping her eyes on him and waiting for any sort of trick he had prepared.
 
“Where are your two little friends? Couldn’t join the show tonight?”
 
“They send their regards,” Alicorn replied with a twinge of anger in her voice. Just looking at him was enough to make her blood boil, but she kept her cool. The last thing she should do was lose her focus against him.
 
“Oh, did I happen to catch them during my Hollywood debut?” Joker teased, obviously knowing that he had hit the bullseye on why the other two heroines of Gotham were absent. 

That set her off. 

Alicorn quickly unsheathed her rapier and sent a wave of lightning from it right at Joker. The Clown Prince of Crime, to her shock, dodged it quickly while still laughing.
 
“I think I hit a nerve!” He cackled. 

Joker put away the detonator he was holding and pulled out a group of playing cards. He tossed them towards her like they were shuriken. Alicorn moved fast to avoid the barrage before Joker whipped out a Jack-in-the-Box and began to crank it. The masked heroine didn’t wait for whatever he had inside and threw another burst of fire. Joker quickly threw the box forward and it exploded, indicating that there had probably been a small explosive inside it that she prematurely detonated.
 
The black smoke that covered the roof from the explosion temporarily obscured Alicorn’s vision. This was more than enough time for Joker to leap out of the smoke and attack her.
 
Alicorn tried to block as best as she could, but Joker’s kicks and punches were faster than she expected. Part of her cursed the fact that she seemed to underestimate him in terms of fighting ability, but knew it was obvious since he had been able to go toe-to-toe with Batman on many different occasions.
 
She threw one roundhouse kick that managed to end the offensive. Joker leapt back a few feet and landed on the roof, giving her time to regroup. At the same time, he spat out a pair of chattering teeth before tossing it towards her. Alicorn hit the ground before sending a wave of energy that knocked him towards the edge of the building.
 
The two combatants took a moment to organize themselves. Alicorn had more time and charged right towards him, her rapier poised to strike him right In the chest and put him out of commission with a nullifying spell.
 
“Surprise!” Joker yelled as a green ball shot out from his sleeve and hit her right in the face. Alicorn was then engulfed in a familiar green smoke. She dropped to the ground and her rapier fell before rolling a few feet away from her.
 
Joker laughed as he stood back up, his gas engulfing her as he adjusted his suit and pulled out his detonator.
 
“Oldest trick in the book,” he cackled with glee. “Always be sure there’s nothing up my sleeves! Now then, all I have to do is press this button and Gotham will join you in the laughter.”
 
Alicorn laughed hysterically, which caused Joker’s grin to widen a bit more.
 
“See? Isn’t life so much better when you laugh?” he chuckled. “Not that you have much of a choice there, though.” 

Joker soon stood over Alicorn, admiring his work, before everything below his neck went limp as something poked him in the neck. 

As he dropped to the ground, he found Alicorn’s rapier on the ground before it rolled right back to her hand. The heroine got back to her feet, her laughing coming to a stop.
 
“No, Joker, the oldest trick in the book is not giving away all your secrets,” Alicorn said as she walked over to him and yanked the detonator from out of his limp hands. “Don’t worry, you should only be paralyzed from the neck down until we get you back to Arkham.”
 
Alicorn dropped the masking spell she had cast, which kept her from falling victim to Joker’s gas ambush and walked back to the roof door. As if on cue, it opened to reveal Batman standing there.
 
“You missed the show, Batman, your little magician gave a great performance!” Joker laughed even as he laid on the ground paralyzed. Alicorn understood why. His plan may have been stopped, but he probably was sure that he would escape again sometime soon to wreak havoc once more.
 
Alicorn handed the detonator to Batman. “Well, at least we stopped him from poisoning Gotham.”
 
“Indeed. It’s going to take a while for the chemical crews to make sure this place is clean, but the alternative is something neither of us would like to imagine,” Batman said.
 
“Yeah. I’m guessing Punch and Judy are all tied up?” Batman nodded at her question. “Good. So, we get him back to Arkham?”
 
“And after that, we can quickly cure Joker’s latest strain of venom and help recover all of Joker’s victims.”
 
Alicorn gave a small sigh of relief.
 
“Just hang on, Barb, you’ll be out of that nightmare soon.”