CHAPTER 53: "Madness Is Like Gravity..."

*Felix, Grand Hotel Penthouse Suite, Gotham City

"And you are certain?"

Felix sat laid back on a sofa chair listening to the sputtering of the low time crook in front of him.

"Uh... yes sir... I promise that is what I uh... I heard from a few of the... uh Clown's goons."

At the mention of the Clown Felix face took a dark turn. No good would come with messing with that psychopath.

"And the description was a cloaked man falling out of a sewer pipe?"

The short man in front of him wore a ruffled and semi torn blazer with jeans. When Felix had dumped money into the local underworld he didn't expect much. In fact, the last few hours had dozens if not hundreds of dead end leads. Most were just con artists trying to make a quick buck with some 'I know a guy who knows a guy' information. So imagine his surprise to find one interesting bit of information from an ex-member of the Blackwater gang.

The gangster nodded and appeared to want to say something else but held his tongue.

Felix pondered the veracity of what the man said. Based on the A.R.G.U.S. and GCPD files he acquired it was rational explanation of where Krios went. But the fact he somehow accidentally bumps into the Joker gang of all things?!?

Leaning his head back he sighed up towards the ceiling.

'I am going to have to use a fortune to hire enough mercs to handle the Clown, let alone Krios... maybe I should request a Einsatzgruppen to come and deal with this? No that would take too long.'

While Felix pondered his next move the gang member shuffled around nervously before coughing purposefully.

Felix looked up to see the nervous man stutter, "About the uh... the uh... the money?"

Smiling, Felix swung his legs off the sofa and stood up with a spring in his step. Though there were complications it seemed like an incredible lead in finding the boy.

Walking over to the man who seemed startled at this enthusiasm, Felix smiled and put out his hand.

"Of course, I am a man of my word."

The nervous gangster tentatively took Felix's hand and gave a quick shake before trying to let go. But Felix's grip remained firm and nearly as strong as iron, his veins begin to glow with a reddish hue that soon spread up the gangsters arm.

The man seeing this tried to break the grip but could not escape. As the red hue spread his arm seemed to wither, then his shoulder, then his chest before the hue reached his face bringing forth a gasp.

Felix continued smiling and put another hand on the gangster shoulder increasing the red hue.

"Unfortunately, I can't take the risk of you blathering to anyone else what you know."

The gangster during the conversation while disheveled did at least look like a semi healthy 34 year old man. Now as the red hue increasingly spread, his skin began to turn grey, his eyes grayed and any element of fat or muscle rapidly vanished. It was like watching in slow motion a man age while being starved to death.

After a few more moments Felix released the limp grip of the gangster who upon that collapsed to the ground. The gangster breathed hoarsely but gave no other indication of life or consciousness.

Felix cracked his neck and gave a slight shiver from the rush he experienced. His heartbeat was swift and the high was strong.

"Ok... got to calm myself. I have work to do."

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*Barbara Gordon (Batgirl), Gotham City

The Team had left the League and police to travel to another area of the city much more secluded. They decided on a park near ironically the Sprang Bridge, the same place Krios or the Hound as he was known back then fell.

Zatanna was weaving symbols and various strange words. It would of looked insane if Batgirl had not seen firsthand Zatanna's abilities, that and the glowing energy that was leaving her hands.

"Soooo, how much longer we doing some of this mumbo jumbo?" Wally asked.

Artemis swatted his shoulder.

"Hey!" 

"Hey yourself," Artemis said with an annoyed look.

"We literally have sorcerers and demigods in the Justice League and you still don't believe in magic."

The two continued to argue which brought a smile to Kaldur and Batgirl's face.

"They never seem to stop fighting do they?" Batgirl asked Kaldur.

He shook his head amused, "No... I think eventually they will figure it out but for now they are enjoying the foreplay."

Zatanna gave a loud shout and a magical circular construct with a glowing star appeared in front of her, only to begin glitching and eventually fade away. Her reaction showed confusion, before she cracked her hands and started what appeared to be another spell.

Batgirl and Kaldur rather watched with interest as she began to weave another spell.

"How long do you think till the others meet up with us?" Kaldur asked.

Batgirl considered the question. Robin, M'gann and Connor had gone off to the Batcave to acquire some additional equipment. That and as a way to let M'gann calm herself before a fight.

"Probably they will be here in the next 10 minutes or so, Robin didn't need alot and they had the Bio-ship so it would of been a quick trip."

Kaldur hummed as they watched another one of Katanna's spells seemingly fail. But credit was due for her determination as she began yet another spell.

"She seems to be having trouble with her tracking spells," he commented.

"No," Batgirl said as she critically looked at what she was doing, "She is very proficient, enough that I know the League has considered her for membership. I would guess that Krios is for some reason hard to track with spells."

A thought that did not thrill either hero as they watched their magician work.

Kaldur innocently then asked, "I heard Robin grumbling about some date you went on, how was it?"

The glare Batgirl gave him only made him laugh softly and hold up his hands defensively.

"I haven't seen you that angry in awhile," he said with amusement.

Robin had been acting colder and even more insufferable lately towards her and almost always grumbled about James. Thankfully she had not had to deal with it today with all that was going on. But sooner or later she would have to confront him and figure out his problem.

'You know what his problem is Barbara...' A small voice in the back of her mind said.

Sighing she responded to Kaldur, "You met him briefly Kaldur, James is a school friend who took me out to dinner last night. We talked, we laugh and that was about it. He was a perfect gentleman and I enjoy spending time with him."

It was the same line she had rehearsed with her father the ever nosy detective, and as always she delivered it with the same monotone voice she did with them. She was afterall a young woman, and allowed to have a private personal life.

Hearing her, Kaldur nodded and in his normally serious tone said, "Good, I am happy for you."

Batgirl gave him a look of confusion and surprise which made him smile again.

"I have tried to encourage the Team to enjoy normal activities rather then just training and missions. In Atlantis it is a requirement for many in the military, arcane arts, and police to be forced to take time for leisure activities. Finding balance in ones duties and lives just makes it a more pleasant experience does it not?"

Batgirl pondered that thought, 'That is actually... healthy sounding. It is certainly not something Batman teaches us.'

"So while I tease you," Kaldur continued, "What I really mean is to encourage you. If this James makes you happy and helps you balance yourself then you should pursue it."

"Thats...," Batgirl thought for a moment on his words.

"Thank you Kaldur."

At that moment they heard a uncharacteristic shriek from Zatanna as she stomped over to them in frustration.

"I don't know what is going on! The magic is connecting, the path is starting to show but then it disconnects like... like something is stopping it."

Kaldur said, "Is he hidden under some spell, or perhaps has a talisman?"

The magician shook her head, "Any spell, talisman or ward would never let the magic connect. But with him it does and I don't know why."

Taking a deep breath her eyes lit up.

"Yes... that could work," she muttered.

Pointing her index finger up and down she chanted, "Nepo Ecaps fo Ytefas."

A glowing line appeared where she pointed with a purplish energy leaking out. Reaching her hand into it, her hand then her arm disappear into the void she created only to be pulled back out with a small stone object.

Smilling Zatanna showed Batgirl and Kaldur a circular round slab that bore some strange symbols and a strange smiling head.

"Is that Aztec?" Kaldur asked.

Batgirl shook her head, "No... that must be Mayan."

Nodding appreciatively to Batgirl, Zatanna began weaving energy around the stone tablet that began to rise from her hand. Stepping back she began murmuring some words that sounded different from before.

The stone tablet began to spin and glow with a golden green energy.

Taking a step back Zatanna took a breath, "Ya... Mayan. It was something my father found during his travels. The merchant who sold it to him thought it was just a nice souvenir. Little did he know it was a sun tracker of the ancients."

"This will help us find him," Wally asked as he walked up to the group, with Artemis behind them.

Apparently they had finished arguing long enough to notice what was going on.

"Yes," Zatanna began waving symbols around the stone tablet.

"The usual methods of magic kept failing, and I am not sure why. This is a sure fire way of finding someone's location though it does demand a high energy input."

Finishing the last of the glowing symbols she slumped against Batgirl who helped her stay standing.

Muttering a thanks to Batgirl, Zatanna stood up.

"The Mayans were experts on astrological magics. Such practices touch upon the magics of seers and even the dangerous chronokenesis."

"Wait," Kaldur said angrily, "The magic of time is strictly forbidden for a reason Zatanna!"

But Zatanna waved him off, "I know Kaldur and I promise this does not use time magic but merely some of its principles. The Mayans were wise enough to realize the risks were not worth it. That is why they created stones like these so that they never went too far."

Batgirl watched the disk continue to glow and spin, "So how exactly does it work?"

"The stone will retrace the steps Krios took from the sewer to wherever he ended up in the last 24 hours," Zatanna explained.

"Unfortunately, 24 hours is the absolute limit. But we will be able to seem him and his surroundings."

The Team waited quietly as the spinning glowing disk began to whine and even smoke. Sparks began flying off of it and it began to emanate an intense heat.

The whine grew as did the glow before finally something seemed to give. The spinning tablet began to glow brighter then before as it stretched to show a circular window to a sight Batgirl recognized immediately.

"That is the main courtyard of Amusement Mile Carnival Park," She said narrowing her eyes.

"But where is Krios?"

The window as quickly as it came soon collapsed and the spinning stone tablet stopped in midair and hovered before the team for a moment before crumbling to dust. The wind blew its remnants away.

"Ok, that was weird," Zatanna said nervously.

"Was that not his location?" Kaldur asked.

"Not that was it, I am sure. But the tablet should of shown us him and his exact spot rather then a general area."

Zatanna appeared to want to say something else but seemed to bite her tongue.

It was at that point a light shown down from above the Team as they saw their Bio-ship land next to them. It appeared the rest of the team had arrived from picking up supplies from the batcave.

Kaldur, Wally and Artemis began making their way towards the ship with Batgirl and Zatanna following not far behind.

"Zatanna," Batgirl nearly whispered.

The two girls continued walking though the glance from the magician showed she heard Batgirl.

"What didn't you say earlier? About the tablet?"

Zatanna hesitated for a moment before saying, "The tablet disintegrated Barbs. These things are magically enhanced to resist some very and I mean very strong things."

"Something is protecting Krios from magical sight, and whatever it is scares me."

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*James (KRIOS), Grand Central Circus Tent, Amusement Mile

"...To which the barman says, 'May I push in your stool?'"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

The Joker roared with laughter at the joke he told and threw his head back, he was sitting on a stool near the tied up James. He was dressed in a purple suit with a green vest, a light purple dress shirt with a loose polka dot tie. His face was smothered with his typical clown makeup which gave a terrifying visage.

The past few minutes had been perhaps the weirdest he had ever experienced. The Joker had laxed long about his excitement of a new player in Gotham and a few tangents that involved dolphins, Batman and a zeppelin. He had paid little attention as he focused more on finding a way to escape. His powers were fluctuating due to his injuries but he felt confident that he could break his binds and snap the Clown's neck if need be. The only reason he hesitated was due to any hidden explosives or traps the psycho had set up.

While the Joker ranted he used his senses to check his chair and the area around him for any surprises the Clown had set up should he try to escape.

"...Hem Hem,"

It seemed he had focused too much on his escape and had missed whatever the Joker had just asked him.

For the first time since they met James felt nervous in the presence of the Joker. His face still had his trademark smile, his eyes were still deranged, but his energy oozed a malice and madness in that moment that sent shivers down his spine.

In a panic James quickly said, "I am so sorry, you just reminded me of a joke."

The malice and madness stayed but the Joker's smile grew wider, "A joke you say... my you must tell me my boy!"

Being put on the spot he pooled his brain for anything and blurted out the first one that came to his head.

"Do you know the phrase "One man's trash is another man's treasure"? Wonderful saying, horrible way to find out that you were adopted."

Silenced followed for a few seconds before the Joker howled with laughter. It seemed legit that he liked a joke and a certain amount of relief came to James at least until the Joker stopped laughing.

"HAHHAHAHAAHA, OH KRIOS! Who would of thought you were so funny! Go on tell me another!"

'Wait what!?!' James had thought.

So a few minutes passed with James digging in his mind for every decent joke he knew. He got desperate enough to start using movie references to tell some.

At his most recent joke of the 'barman and the stool' he was getting close to be fed up with this routine. Any second he felt like he would say screw it and break his bindings and be freed from this freak show.

"Hahahahah," The Joker wiped some tears from his eyes.

"I haven't laughed that hard in awhile. But all good things have to come to an end. I guess it is best to get down to why you are here."

'Gracias a Dios... I had just about run out of jokes.' James thought.

The Joker stood up and threw his chair into the wooden stands where it shattered. He brought his arms behind his back and paced back and forth in front of James.

"You see Krios my boy. Your antics as I said earlier made me jealous, then happy, and then mad, but then happy again hahahahahhaha."

The Joker's voice then took a dark turn, "But after all of that I came to realize that I have been quiet for far too long. People are forgetting my jokes... and if people forget me then he will forget me... and I cant have that."

The Joker walked back to stand directly before James and leaned down, "At first I thought I should hunt you down and skin you alive on LIVE television HAHAHAHA... but then when you showed up expectedly I felt fate must of decided to intervene."

"So..." The Joker voice became sing songy, "What if instead we work together to make the biggest joke Gotham has ever seen!"