Professor Fear III

64

The impatient Joker frowned as Daria ran off into her chosen store to find clothes.

Once out of sight, Daria immediately stripped off her clothes down to her bra, underwear and shoes and giggled running through the store. This would have never happened if Gotham was all normal. Daria felt comfort in the freedom and privacy offered by the orange haze of the stagnant toxin enshrouding Gotham.

She first went to go change her underwear and bra at the back of the shop where the lingerie section was. Despite the cute lace panties on display, Daria opted for a cosy soft black cotton pair. She needed breathability and comfort in this heat. At least if anything uncomfortable were to happen from constrictive britches she could go to a pharmacy and get medication.

Daria picked a not-to-tight sports bra to join her ensemble and quickly changed. She then resumed her pacing around the shop to find something stylish yet practical. She eventually decided on a pairing of a black bodysuit and a frilly black skirt. While she was doing a whole wardrobe change, she changed her socks as well and merely opted for sports socks.

Daria wondered if people like Harley and Joker just had many pairs of the same outfit. As they always, when not in post-toxin Gotham, had their signature looks in top shape.
Daria's mind began to imagine a laundrette for Gotham Rogues and what it would look like. She chuckled to herself.

"Hurry up!" Joker hollered. "I'm aching to play with some Justice League fools, now that Bats is seemingly unavailable." She heard the disappointment in the Jokers voice. Daria remembered Jonathan talking through all the Gotham Rogues and their psychological make-ups. Joker was, perhaps ironically, devoted to Batman. A good amount of his plots and ploys were to get the attention and engagement of the Batman. He'd be incredibly displeased if anyone else came to play such as the robins or titans.

The justice league, however, were a rare difficult delicacy. Like many, they seemed to be too preoccupied to visit to Gotham. Daria had heard stories of battles in space partaken by the Justice League. The idea of touching space, seeing Earth from a detached perspective, seemed unfathomable to Daria.

Daria emerged from the shop. The Joker let out a soft 'mmm' sound upon seeing her which Daria tried to disconnect from him and acknowledged it as a compliment. Jervis was on the ground with a small wrench, working on a helmet he planned to get onto either wonder woman or superman. Daria wondered how he would even manage to get close enough to two, often flying, super beings.
She'd just have to witness it herself.

Jonathan and Edward were walking down a desolate Gotham Street. Edward begun whistling a classic tune one might hear in an old western as two cowboys begin their shoot-out. With the orange haze and vacant street, that picture came to both the rogues' minds very easily. Jonathan smiled. The two of them were heading to a tall building to get a vantage point before their return to the labs. After all the tear gas in Gotham was put behind them (literally), Jonathan wanted to take Daria out of the city for a well-deserved break.

"Worried about Daria?" Edward asked, ceasing his whistling.
"No, I think she's perfectly able to cause ruckus,"
"She's still so new to our world, and the past year has been unusually eventful."
"I think she feels safe with us all now ... even Joker." Jonathan laughed at the last bit. Daria's fear of the Joker had dispelled so efficiently. He was proud.

He wondered if they'd met with the Justice league yet. The Superman was not an easy fight. Jonathan had heard of all the measures Lex Luthor had gone to be an adversary of the Superman. Jonathan also did not like Lex Luthor. The man was too vain to be a true scientist.

As they continued walking through Gotham, Daria noticed that Joker would stop to smash any camera he noticed.
"Need help?" She asked him.
"Oh Ms Crow, still so young and naïve," Joker chuckled, "Did Scarecrow not tell you to do the same?"
Daria then understood. Their identities were still – at best- shrouded by masks and costumes, and now, the toxin's haze. Batman, the Gotham council, the government, and who knows else could attempt to access the cameras at any moment if their electricity supplies or batteries were still functioning.

From then on, she made sure to keep an eye out. The smashing of the cameras also gave her a good buzz that she knew would be useful when meeting the members of the Justice League.

Ivy and Harley were the first to meet the Wonder woman. Harley had immediately ran at the woman, swinging her bat. She had been cast away like a baseball within seconds. Ivy caught her in the air. She then sent vines forward to grab the wonder woman. This incapacitated her for a moment. Ivy shrieked in pain and anger as lasers burnt through her vines. Superman was flying overhead.

Daria heard Ivy's shriek and called the Joker and Mad Hatter to follow her. They ran up the stairs of an empty building, aiming to reach the roof and chase from there. Superman could fly so he had an advantage. He seemed unaffected by the toxin and didn't wear a mask. Wonder woman, on the other hand, did have a mask.

Joker, much like Harley, was the first to launch at the enemy. He boldly jumped off the roof and landed on superman, surprising him. Daria threw her hammer at him, but it bounced off like he was made of metal.
Ohhh, right... the 'man of steel'... duh. Daria realised.

The Mad Hatter had jumped onto wonder woman and placed a hat on her head. She, for a moment, seemed to be caught.

Dara noticed that on another nearby roof, Scarecrow was standing near a ledge, watching the fight unfold.

The Joker was flung off Superman and he landed by Daria's feet. The clown prince was giggling, seemingly unharmed other than the new bruises on his face.

Superman flew up into the sky and he puffed up his chest for a good few seconds, then breathed out.
Daria squinted at his action.
He then puffed his chest again, breathing in. The toxin cloud began thin around Daria and the others, thickening around the Superman as he inhaled it. A sudden stream of bright sunlight broke through on the far sides of Gotham. The orangey tinge in Daria's vision was replaced with blues and yellows and the blue sky peaked through.

The superman shot up into the sky for a moment, then he was back and repeated the same action. Daria wondered if he'd put the toxin, he'd sucked up so far somewhere else to deal with away from Gotham.

How did he do that? What can't he do?

Daria was afraid, but differently to when she was afraid in her drugged state, she was afraid of limits, afraid for Scarecrow's work.
She looked back over to where the Scarecrow stood. She figured he too was surprised.
Superman repeated a process one more time, then he dived down and grabbed Wonder woman who, thanks to the Mad Hatter, engaged in a better matched fight with the man of steel until he punched the hat off her head, and she felt to the ground, briefly unconscious. Daria and Scarecrow were watching he fight closely. He seemed to be slightly weaker from the toxin, but nothing like if a typical human were to breathe it in. There was still fear toxin in the Gotham air, but it was much thinner and would dissipate within mere hours.

Superman looked up at Scarecrow. Daria felt her heartbeat increasing rapidly in her chest. She ran as fast as she could and dared to jump the gap between the two roofs. She rolled when she landed – something she'd remembered from when she watched parkour kids in Metropolis when she had visited as a teen one summer. However, Daria had no knowledge of technique, and her right shoulder was searing with pain. She paid it no attention and ran to defend Scarecrow.

The Superman was tall, wearing red and blue – much brighter in display than the way the Batman dressed. He floated before Daria and Scarecrow. His eyes briefly glowed red.

"Well, well, the great Superman. I've heard so much about you and finally I meet you. I'm impressed with how you've handled my toxin. It proves that you are not of this world at all. Tell me, superman, do you feel well?"

Superman didn't look his best. He was sweating slightly. Daria wondered if the toxin had affected him slightly.

"Batsy!" Joker cried. "I'm so glad you're here. I'm having so much fun!"
The Batman was near the Joker on the opposite roof that Daria had jumped from. Daria broke her gaze from Superman to glance out and look for any of the other Gotham Rogues. There was no sign of them at the bottom of the building. Daria looked back to the other roof.
Harley appeared behind the Batman, hitting him as hard as she could with her baseball bat. Ivy had crawled up the building wall using her vines and leapt onto the Superman, kissing his face multiple times. Daria watched as little spots of green tinged skin appeared on the Superman as Ivy's toxin fought to enter his nervous system. Superman's eye's flashed green.

"Go!" she shouted at Scarecrow and Daria.

They ran.