Starting things off with a bang (Event 1!)

[The Joker]

The air was filled with the sounds of violence, cruelty, wanton acts of thievery, and general all-around chaos. Truthfully it was like music to his ears, and he hummed along briefly to a non-existent tune as the van he was in rumbled through the streets of San Francisco. Two lowly henchmen were in the front, one driving and one firing randomly out the window like a young boy engrossed in an imaginary game of "Cops 'n Robbers". He was personally accompanied by two others in the back of the van; a fiery little redhead with a flamethrower strapped to her back, and a lithe young man who had both the pallor and general air often attributed to graveyards. The two of them were both decked out in greasepaint to mimic the Joker's looks. He himself had painted shadows around his eyes and his lips red, to make the look 'pop' just a little more. His green hair was hidden underneath a woven black cap to further help him blend in with his lackeys, and he was dressed to the part as well: he wasn't in an outlandish costume or his usual purple suit, instead having resigned to a dark green muscle-shirt and khaki cargo pants.

As they neared their destination, the woman readied her flamethrower and the goth kid checked his own weapons. He had numerous knives strapped to his legs, but he carried two Desert Eagles; Joker himself frowned at their use, as the handgun model was much too cumbersome for the average person to use it with any kind of efficiency. He was in good spirits, though, so he didn't point this out to the man as he checked his own firearm, a good ol' Colt .45. Him and this gun had a very, very sordid little history together.

The van finally screeched to a halt moments later, and Joker kicked open the back of the van as he vaulted out with his gun in hand. He was followed quickly by the redhead and the kid, while the driver and his passenger exited the vehicle carrying an assault rifle each. They were under strict orders to guard the van, under penalty of - what else - death. The other two, however, were with him.

"Alright kiddies, today's the day that glorious San Fran becomes your oyster! Light a policeman on fire, kick a puppy, urinate in a mailbox! Just remember that, above all else, we're here to loot and plunder!" He paused to regard the two of them as he stretched his legs. "And the first one of you to make a 'Captain Planet' reference gets one between the eyes."

The two henchmen exchanged a solitary look before the redhead spoke up. "Uh, sir? Who's Captain Planet?"

"You never cease to make me feel old, Mary, and that's what I like about you. Never mind the Captain Planet thing, the three of us need to skedaddle! We've got a schedule to keep, after all!" With that he took off towards the entrance to the bank, with his two lackeys following as best as they could behind him. The Joker vaulted easily over abandoned cars, while Mary had to skirt around them and the depressed-looking kid skittering across the ground like a human spider, limbs akimbo in unnatural ways. From afar, they'd probably look like the weirdest parade procession in the history of mankind.

[Black Canary]

Anna had always wanted to go to San Francisco, but her parents never had the money. Now that wasn't a problem- on her spring break she was here to engage in a science competition, with most everything paid for by the Wayne Foundation, and to look at colleges in the area. And, though she didn't mention it to her mom, to scope out hot guys on the beach.

What she didn't expect to be doing was fighting crime. Still, she had packed her Black Canary costume at the last minute, just in case. She found herself wearing it sooner than she expected, and was glad she had assumed the Black Canary wouldn't have a chance to rest- even on Spring Break.

Something about the truck passing by the bank made her tense, and her fears were confirmed when a bunch of thugs dressed as clowns got out and began spraying the area with fire. They marched into the bank, and Anna had to assume that someone was going to get killed if she didn't act soon.

She dodged into an alleyway to change into her costume, She grimaced at how she had to get nearly undressed to get the tight-fitting costume on. All she needed now was for a police officer to walk over and cite her with indecent exposure.

Finished changing, she went over to the van, where two of the thugs were stationed. She snuck around the cars in a crouch and approached from behind. She noted that both thugs were armed with assault rifles...well she could take care of that. She straightened up and released a sonic blast. Both thugs instinctively dropped their guns to clutch at their ears, and Canary ran up and took out the now disarmed thugs with a flurry of blows before putting them in handcuffs.

"You're going to regret crossing the Joker, bitch," one of the thugs snarled.

The Joker. Everyone in Gotham knew that name. Had someone else arisen to take on that terrible clown identity? If so, she had to get inside quickly.

She shattered the bank doors with another sonic blast. The thugs turned to face her, one with a flamethrower and the other dual-wielding pistols. Canary ducked as a rush of heat and flame passed over her head. She knocked the flamethrower aside with a heavy gauntleted fist, then hit her in the stomach, knocking the air of her. A backhand blow to her face shattered her nose. Canary pushed the redhead back as the kid fired his pistols at her. The shots went wide, but close enough to concern her. She released another sonic blast. The loud "SHROARK!" of the attack caused the kid to drop his weapons, and Canary hit him with a roundhouse kick to the face, followed by a knee to the groin. A kick to his knee took him down for the count.

She turned to the blue-haired clown. "Just you and me now," she said.

[Combat]

Shadows seem to appear out of nowhere - An odd occurence, made even moreso due to it happening during broad daylight. The shadows accumulated and dispersed, to reveal the form of Michael Lee - Combat. He was clad in his usual battle garb, kevlar body guards on most parts of the body, though they steered clear of the inside of the joints to optimize mobility. His head was covered in a motorcycle helmet strong enough to take point blank shots from a desert eagle; though most likely he'd already be deafened or even knocked out by the impact itself.

Combat kept an eye on the traffic that passed by the bank, and slowly picked out vehicles that held potential robbers. He caught the van stopping in front of the bank, and he knew that something was wrong. A van was a perfect vehicle to stage a crime, actually. It was inconspicuous, cheap enough to be dispensable and can hold a decent amount of manpower.

He watched the men flow out from the car - And behold, the makeup. Michael was taken aback by the makeup on their faces. He was sure he hadn't seen that kind of makeup for quite a few years now, since the disappearance of the Justice League. Deciding to continue to watch before taking action, Michael stayed in his vantage point and looked at the scene unfold below.

The robbery was going as usual, busting the windows, the same few idiots spraying bullets around, until the hero appeared. The woman took the two guards of the van down within seconds. Michael acknowledged this with an unimpressed nod of the head. Any hero that was unable to take down a villain that easily, that fast did not deserve to be called a hero.

"Sonic Scream. Interesting." Michael made the remark with a bemused smile under his helmet, as he felt the waves of the scream crash against his body and subside. His helmet was padded out well enough to nullify most of the noise, except for a soft wail. Deciding that it was time to act, Michael again dispersed into a cloud of black shadows.

A yell of shock was drawn out from one of the handcuffed robbers as Michael seemingly appeared out of thin air. They soon recovered from their shock, and sneered at him.

"Another one? One less for the Joker to hunt down."

Michael processed the information without letting out any emotion. His suspicions had been confirmed. Someone was back, and taking the mantle of the Joker. With two quick blows of his palm, Combat knocked both robbers out cold, effectively cutting off the strings of profanity that was going to be unleashed.

Turning around, Michael watched the woman do almost everything by singlehandedly taking down every thug. Michael knew that the Joker himself, or whoever was the last surviving one wouldn't be so easy to take down, and he was sure the woman would need all the help she could get.

"And me too." Combat's voice was slightly muffled, but still surprisingly clear as he stepped into the bank, his boots making soft clinking sounds against the damaged tiles. He stepped to one side of the Joker, and knocked the rousing kid who had been taken out by a groin kick out again with a sharp boot to the face.

[The Joker]

He'd just been in the middle of a little spiel with his impromptu hostages, namely bank employees and customers that hadn't retreated to a safer locale when this whole outbreak of crime started. I mean literally, he was just in the midst of relating some kind of hilarious analogy to them when Canary's sonic gauntlets broke down the bank's doors. Thoroughly interrupted, his eyes had narrowed into mere slits as he turned his head to regard this intruder.

His entourage had gotten his non-verbal cue and rushed her, unfortunately - and he witnessed all this while heaving a very heavily affected sigh - that they did little more than distract her. The sound of Marie's nose breaking echoed a little, and his eyes tracked the arc of the blood before it spattered onto the floor. By the time he'd looked back, she'd also taken out the other one. A little nagging voice in his head told him that it was a mistake not to school the kid on his choice in firearms - I mean, he'd missed every single shot? Assuming this all went down well and the boy returned to the hideout with him, he was going to give him a very stern talking to...or two bullets to the back of the head, whichever one he felt up to doing at the moment.

And as if this little showstopper wasn't bad enough, ANOTHER one decided to just butt in where he wasn't wanted. This one, admittedly, in a much less inspiring get-up than the other; and he was sure that he was just wearing a motorcycle helmet, as well. Bringing his free hand up to one ear, he tilted his head to the side as he gazed haphazardly up at the ceiling. "What was that? Afraid I didn't hear you, you'll have to speak up louder!"

His hand lowered slightly, hovering around shoulder-level as he glared at the two of them with a disaffected gaze. Within mere seconds, however, he'd torn the hat off his head and replaced the look of cold hatred on his face with wide eyes and a crazed grin. Switching gears, he tapped his .45 against his hip in a rhythm that didn't really match up to anything.

"And here I was expecting someone more of the 'flying rodent' persuasion; no offense meant, but neither of you look very familiar. Although I feel obligated to point out, doll-face, that domino masks went out of style shortly after their introduction." Laying into Canary with that not so subtle dig, he barely lost steam as he rambled on. "I suppose it's dumb luck that you two were around the right place at the wrong time...and you neglected to just conk me out with little fuss Still trying to decide if that's some smart thinking or a really stupid mistake."

"I mean, just who the hell are the two of you supposed to be? 'Leggy Lass' and- and, uh..." His diatribe petered off as he waved a hand dismissively at Combat. "I actually got nothing for you. Leather fetishist, maybe, but I'd have to check your tags to know for sure."

"Still, this begs the question: who do I shoot? I could shoot you," he continued, pointing the gun in Canary's general direction. "But, those gauntlets give me a 'Wonder Woman' vibe. I could also shoot you," and here he swung the gun around to point it at Combat, before the clown holding the gun shrugged nonchalantly. "-well, I hate to be a skipping record, but I think it's safe to assume you've got some protection there."

He paused, scratching his head with the barrel of the revolver as he pretended to consider his options. "What to do, what do do," he muttered under his breath, pacing a few steps back and forth as all eyes were on him. In short time he stopped, one pointer finger raised as his head popped back up from a drooped position. "An thought occurs to me!"

With great care, he lowered his hand and pointed the gun...not at Canary or Combat, but the hostages. "I could just shoot one of them. I'm not a stupendous shot, but I've got six bullets and they're densely packed. Absolutely bound to hit one of them. Or, providing I shoot the right pregnant woman in the right spot, two of them! The ol' 'two birds with one stone', as it were."

Inclining his head to one side and swiveling it around to regard the two vigilantes again, he raised one of his eyebrows in an inquisitorial look. "Either of you feeling up to out-running a bullet? I'm tempted to put all my money on 'no'." The threat was left hanging after he finally finished airing out his thoughts, waiting for a response with half of a grin languishing on his face.

[Black Canary]

Black Canary had planned on diving right on toward the Joker after taking out his thugs, but the sight of that huge pistol brought her up short. Though adrenaline was already running through her body, she felt her heartbeat speed up at the sight of the weapon. Even though she had faced down gunman before, she never got over the fear. One twitch of the trigger could put her in a body bag.

The Joker used her hesitation to launch into a threatening speech. She didn't understand the references to a flying rodent or Wonder Woman, but she did understand him when he mocked her costume. She didn't react- she had too much on her mind and had heard the same jokes a million times already.

He was wrong if he thought her gauntlets could somehow protect her from a bullet. She would love to find a way, though. She didn't bother to correct him, though- no sense in doing that. She didn't think there was anything wrong with his assumption that the stranger who had come in to help her was wearing armor, though.

She tensed as he threatened the hostages. Of course, she had put the hostages in greater danger probably just by rushing in here, so she had to take responsibility. She could hope that her mysterious ally could shoot the clown man before he plugged one of the hostages, but she preferred to rely on herself.

She fired another sonic blast, aiming to incapacitate the new Joker long enough to cross the distance between them and disarm them. If that didn't work- well, she hoped the dude next to her could help her out and wasn't on the floor clutching his ears.

After firing, she launched herself toward the Joker as the hostages screamed in pain and clutched at their ears.

[Combat]

Michael's eyes were rolled under his mask while the Joker gave his speech. A Federal Agent trained in the arts of interrogation, he knew the look on a person's face when he was about to commit a violent act. Although it was much harder to read a lunatic's face, which Michael suspected the person in front of him was, Michael was still quite sure that the Joker was not about to fire on him. His thoughts were confirmed as the Joker lamented about Michael's anti-bullet protection, and furthermore if the Joker were to truly fire, Michael's reflexes were fast enough for him to dissipate.

Instinctively, Michael's lips were pulled back over his teeth in a fierce snarl as the Joker threatened the life of the pregnant woman. The idea of threatening the life of one who had not even yet begun it's life was abhorrent to him, and punishable by death if he was in a bad mood. Inside, the crime fighter let out a sigh of relief that the mask covered his emotions. He hated to let out emotions unnecessarily in such situations, it just showed weakness.

Once the Canary's mouth opened, Michael knew that something was about to happen, and effectively dispersed just as the scream came out. Michael rematerialized behind the Joker that the scream had been fired point blank at.

He had to think quick, and make a decision. Which weapon was he going to draw?

Michael decided none. Personally, if he had been alone he would've not even hesitated to shoot the Joker dead, but he was in the company of a hero - A young woman, no less. She was going to be much more than displeased. And so will the authorities.

It was always much harder escaping public attention when a hero's onto you.

His form flickered into view as multiple black, shadowy substances coalesced behind the Joker and Michael was immediately seen throwing back his right fist and bracing his right knee forward, ready to throw a straight fisted punch that will effectively knock out any normal human being.

Michael hoped that was enough for now, otherwise he'd have to use his knives, and knives were messy business.

[The Joker]

Waiting as patiently as he could, his thoughts momentarily turned to other matters as his gaze flickered over the prone forms of his henchmen. The two of them had taken some hard knocks in their line of work; it was how things went down when you became a career criminal. He had no idea, however, if they'd be able to get back up in time to be useful.

"The two of you don't have to be so deadpan, you know. I mean sure, this is a life-or-death situation here, but that doesn't mean you can't crack a smile or two-"

The rest of his words were drowned out by Canary's sonic blast, stumbling backwards as the arm with the gun flung upwards before it went off. Thankfully the shot went wild, embedding itself somewhere in the wall - if he'd been a bit quicker on the draw, or if she hadn't caught him unaware, it likely would have been a much closer call. His ears were ringing like a bomb went off next to them, but he recovered with an unusual quickness before leveling his gun at Canary.

Of course, with no extrasensory abilities and his hearing temporarily shot to hell and back, he had no earthly idea that Combat had somehow teleported behind him. Watching Canary's approach with a listless expression on his face, his only real thought on the matter was "Hey, where'd the other one go?" shortly before he felt a sharp impact on the back of his skull. His head snapped forward from the blow as he began to see stars.

At this point, he was obliquely aware of the fact that most people wouldn't still be standing, or at the very least having one hell of a time keeping themselves on their feet...then again, he wasn't most people. You didn't get to just walk around with the Joker's name without proving you deserved it; long-forgotten memories of fights in alleyways and other venues of ill repute, taking so many body blows and hits to the face with any number of improvised weapons. If pain was an obstacle for him, he wouldn't still be in the game.

And so that's why, after taking a few steps to regain his balance, he swung his arm over the opposite shoulder and fired off his remaining 5 shots in Combat's general direction. He didn't really expect any of them to land, as he still hadn't the faintest idea as to how the man had gotten behind him so fast, but it would serve to get him off his back for a little while. If he was only up against one 'cape', this would be the point where he'd chuck his useless gun off to the side - instead, he swung it back around in front of him in a wide arc, hoping to catch Canary with the pistol whip.

The half-grin on his face had vanished somewhere in the proceedings, replaced with a truly crazed grin that wouldn't be far from home on a mental patient. This promised to be fun, and a chance for him to vent the still mounting frustration he had for the capabilities of some of his men.

[Black Canary]

Joker wasn't the only one caught by surprise by her ally's disappearing and reappearing act. She wasn't sure if it was some high-tech device like her sonic blasters that allowed him to teleport, or whether he had one of those meta-genes. Either way, it was pretty cool. Honestly, she would have understood if the guy just shot the crazed clown- looked like he did have some guns on him. He didn't need to stop on the account that there was a lady in the building. Canary had already seen someone get shot once this month, and while she wasn't looking forward to seeing all the blood again, she would prefer that the person shot was someone who deserved it. Like a crazed clown.


But this was nearly as good. Her ally didn't seem incapacitated by her sonic blast- either he was deaf or he was just very resilient to pain. Canary leaped forward as the clown turned his attention to the masked man. She had just effectively sandwiched the Joker fellow between the two heroes. She swung a heavy gauntleted fist, then began sweeping her leg up and forward for a roundhouse kick to the face. Unless the clown was hiding some kickass martial arts prowess, he had to get out of the way or Canary and her unknown ally would take him down in short order. And then maybe she could learn who her unknown ally was and what he was up to.

[Combat]

What the .. ?

Those words were left unsaid, but they lingered in Michael's mind after he watched the Joker recover so fast from his punch. Michael's fist in fact, had quite a reputation during his time in the academy, having been the source of many a black eye during sparring matches and the occasional brawl. He had to quickly snap out of his thoughts as the recovered Joker now spun around and fired every bullet left in his magazine in the general direction of Combat. Sure, the Joker didn't aim those bullets but he knew how unpredictable wide shots were, and even with Kevlar, they were bound to hurt.

Taking his chances, Michael dropped his body to the floor as the shots rang above him and thudded into the wall behind him at random spots, before he felt the dull pain in his shoulder. Scrambling up to his feet, Michael heard a plink as a spent bullet dropped to the ground after being embedded in his left shoulder. Michael flexed his left arm experimentally, making sure that nothing was injured due to the bullet - His kevlar had protected him well.

"That'll leave a bruise, for sure." Michael spoke in a dull monotone, as he lamented. His voice would sound quite muffled from inside the motorcycle helmet but hey, who said you had to listen?

Michael watched the Canary start on her offensive against the Joker, and he realized that he should probably continue, too. He couldn't afford to use his guns - If the Joker dodged in time he could potentially injure the lady. Instead, Michael crossed his arms and drew both daggers from each of his sleeves and charged towards the Joker, simultaneously switching his daggers backhand.

He stood behind the Joker, ready to receive the Joker if he was to stagger back from the blow or dodge backwards. He had his feet placed apart, ready to spring in either direction.