"Okay, that's really bad. Very bad," Green Lantern muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. "Who knows what that lunatic is planning to do with those warheads?"
Superman's fists clenched at his sides. "Do we have any leads? Any clue where he could be hiding them?"
"Not yet," Batman answered. "Which is why I need your help."
Flash pointed toward Cyborg. "Vic, you think you can track him? Cameras, satellites, all that stuff?"
"Let me try," Cyborg said, already tapping into global networks. "If Joker is moving nuclear warheads, there's no way he avoids every camera on Earth."
For a moment,there was silence until Cyborg spoke again.
"Found him."
All eyes snapped to Cyborg.
"Where?" Batman asked immediately.
Cyborg's expression tightened. "He's in Russia."
Everyone stiffened.
"Russia?" Superman said. "What part?"
Cyborg's cybernetic eye glowed a deeper red as he pulled more data. His face went pale.
"He's… oh no."
Wonder Woman stepped forward. "Cyborg, what is it?"
"He's in Moscow," Cyborg said.
Green Lantern's jaw dropped. "He's actually doing it. He's really doing it. The Physcopath is about to start World War Three."
Flash blurred in place, anxious energy spiking. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's move."
"No," Batman said sharply.
Flash froze. "No?"
Batman stepped toward the table, voice low and steady. "We do this fast and completely silent. If Russia detects a group of American metas and aliens operating on their soil without permission, they'll go on nuclear alert before the bomb even goes off."
That was enough to quiet the room.
"Cyborg," Batman said, "take us there."
"On it," Cyborg replied as a glowing yellow Boom Tube cracked open beside them, swirling with energy.
The Justice League braced themselves.
And together, they stepped through the portal towards Moscow.
Nanda Parbat
Pain stood on the raised stone platform, the cold winds of Nanda Parbat blowing across his cloak as he silently observed the courtyard below. Rows of assassins sprinted, clashed, and stumbled through brutal drills. The clang of metal, the thud of bodies hitting the ground, and the barked orders of instructors filled the air.
He had ramped up their training significantly ,borderline sadistically after the last encounter. It was, frankly, disappointing that none of them managed to take down even a single one of those undead assassins. They were enhanced snd undead ,but the gap in skill was still unacceptable.
Still… he couldn't blame his own forces too much. He had seen Talons up close. They weren't normal.
And speaking of Talon.
His thoughts shifted to the Court of Owls. If Talon hadn't decided to be stupid and force a confrontation, Pain might've continued pretending the Court didn't exist for another solid year.
But now, with Talon gone, the responsibility of cleaning up fell on him. He wouldn't massacre all of them like Talon did in the original storyline,he was certain quite a few were coerced or manipulated, but the key members were already dead men walking.
A small tap on his shoulder snapped him from his musings.
He turned.
Ra's al Ghul stood beside him, stoic and composed, but his eyes carried urgency. He leaned in close enough that only Pain could hear.
As soon as the whisper reached Pain's ears, his masked face tightened.
One thought flashed across his mind:
"What is that clown doing with a nuke?,is he attempting to pull an injustice?"
Ra's straightened.
"What is our course of action, my lord?"
Pain didn't hesitate.
"Let them deal with it " Pain said. "You do not intend to intervene?"
Pain turned back toward the training courtyard, arms folding behind him.
"No. I cannot contain a nuclear blast. My operatives cannot contain a nuclear blast. Only a handful of individuals on the planet could reliably stop one,and I am not one of them."
His eyes narrowed behind the mask.
"And I do not feel like dying today."
Ra's gave a slow, respectful nod. "Very well then."
Pain hummed in acknowledgment.
He didn't care what the Joker was planning.Though he wished that the heroes he wished that the heroes could stop him in time before he detonated them to prevent mass innocent casualties.
Moscow
The Boom Tube snapped shut behind them, leaving the League standing in a narrow alley. This was near the road where Joker had been captured on camera, driving a van.
"Clark, clouds are low today. Use them as cover and don't break the ceiling. Look for heat bursts and radiation pockets," Batman said.
Superman nodded once, then launched up into the sky.
Batman then turned to Flash. "Flash, hit every warehouse, rail depot, abandoned industrial zone within a twenty-kilometer radius."
"On it," Flash said, vanishing in a blur of speed.
He then turned to Green Lantern and Wonder Woman. "Diana and Hal, you stay in the States."
Diana frowned as Green Lantern raised a questioning eyebrow.
"You believe this is a misdirection?" Diana asked.
"Could be. So I need you back there to conduct your own search," Batman said.
Cyborg opened a Boom Tube. "It'll take you straight to D.C."
"We'll be in touch then," Green Lantern said as they entered the Boom Tube with Wonder Woman, which promptly closed behind them.
"I'm picking up faint radiation spikes beneath the city. I think he's underground," Cyborg said.
"We follow it, then," Batman said, as Cyborg opened a second Boom Tube to the metro tunnels.
Meanwhile in Hell
Max stood over the last Hell Bat, its teeth gnashing as it tried to bite him. He pressed a foot firmly against its neck, forcing it to struggle against him. With a quick motion, he placed a paralysis seal on its forehead. Instantly, the creature froze. Around him lay a massive pile of immobilized Hell Bats—he'd been at this for hours, and they just kept coming.
"Now how do I go about doing this?" Max muttered, sitting atop the immobilized bat.
"Let's try this."
He stood and grabbed the bat by its legs, tossing it toward the gaping maw of the Gedo Statue. But just as it was about to enter, the statue's mouth snapped shut violently. The bat crashed against its face and splattered into a bloody smear.
"What the hell?" Max exclaimed in shock. This was the first time he'd seen the statue act on its own.
If it had rejected his offering, maybe it didn't want them alive. Or did it want them dead? Did it even work at all?
His thoughts were interrupted by a hiss. He looked at the statue again. The blood on its face began to smoke, curling into red tendrils that floated upward. Just as the smoke was about to dissipate, the statue's mouth snapped open and sucked it in.
"Ohhh… so that's how I should do it," Max muttered.
He turned to the massive pile of Hell Bats, focused, and formed a yellow ki blast on his palm. He released it with a deafening boom. Innards and blood flew into the air before being reduced to a charred mess on the ground. The residue turned into red smoke, drifting straight into the statue's waiting mouth.
A small grin spread across Max's face. Then, around him, the ground erupted. Rings of fire spiraled upward, forming columns around him. From the flames, a grotesque red arm with claws emerged,a gargoyle-like demon, clearly alive.
Another ring erupted, and from the fire slithered a snake-like creature with wings but no eyes. Flames continued to burst in massive circles around Max and the statue.
Soon, more grotesque creatures appeared. Hundreds. Then thousands. Max was completely surrounded.
A single thought ran through his mind:
Damn.
---
Batman silently walked down the metro tunnels with Cyborg beside him, sensors scanning for the faint radiation signature that Joker had left behind.
"This tunnel looks dug out," Batman murmured, crouching next to a fresh pile of soil beside a newly carved section of the metro wall.
"The radiation signature leads inside. It must have been dug out by Joker," Cyborg said, his eye glowing red as he scanned.
"Alert the others, but keep them searching," Batman instructed.
Cyborg tapped his earpiece. "Batman and I have found a modified tunnel branching from the metro. We suspect it was made by Joker."
"Got it. Need help?" Superman's voice came through the comms.
"No. You should keep searching. We don't believe Joker would take the nukes to a single location," Cyborg replied.
"Roger that," Flash responded.
"Cyborg out," he said, and the line went silent.
The two moved forward, descending deeper into the tunnel.
End of Chapter
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