306. Chapter 306

It's night.

Raphael, alone in his office, writes down some names.

"Arthur Fleck.Emil Blonsky.Dru-Zod.Karli Morgenthau.Cletus Kasady and Carnage.Norman Osborn.?"

He taps the point of his ballpoint pen on the paper after the question mark. "Who is their leader?" he whispers to himself.

"ALRIGHT!!! FINE!!! YOU... CAUGHT ME!!!" he hissed. "Fine! Just don't act all conceited and rub it in my fucking face!"

Raphael sighs as he sees The Joker.

He stands up and waddles toward the door.

Several young men and women kick a very young Raphael down to the ground.

He shrieks and hoots in fear.

He backs away from the men and women.

"Abnoy! (Freak!)" laughed one man, speaking Tagalog. "Abnoy! Abnoooooy!"

One woman laughs and throws banana peels at his face.

"RAUGH!!!" 

Miguel lands before them. "CLOSE YOUR EYES, RAPHAEL!!!"

Miguel, in his woged form, appears and beats the shit out of the young men and women with his bare fists and Star Platinum's fists.

"ORA!!! ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!!!"

Miguel grabs one's face and bashes it into the ground.

He then stops time and blasted a massive punch in each of their faces, knocking all of them to the ground with bloody and deformed faces. Teeth have popped out. Eyes popped out as well. Noses broken.

The men and women, out of fear, ran away.

"For fuck's sake... I told BJ to take care of you."

Raphael whimpers and cries in the background.

Miguel sighs and picks him up. "Hay Naku..."

Later...

"Hey, sweetie. You okay?" asked Miguel, smiling, who puts ice on Raphael's head. "I called Josuke. He'll be here in a bit."

"Why they... say I... weird?" Raphael asked in sign language. 

"Because you and I are very different from them..." said Miguel in sign language.

"I saw them hurt... other Chimp... like me... In zoo... They thought I... from the zoo..." Raphael's lips quivered and he teared up. "They killed her, Dad... the one... I helped... escape... They struck her in... head with... bat and played... with... body... her... body... They were like what they called me... us... animals... They were laughing..."

Miguel sighs and hugs his son. "It's alright, sweetie. I'll get them... I'll kill them all."

"They... acted... like... they... were... above... me..."

"No one is above another... No one is above the law... No one is above anyone else. Everyone deserves to be treated equally. I may be above the law but I damn well believe that I deserve to be punished for the things I've done..."

Raphael hugs his father silently.

Meanwhile...

*click*

The lights open.

The Joker covers his eyes, thinking it's too bright.

Raphael speaks in sign language. "Why are you trying to kill my sister?"

"Your sister? Your sister... Ah... yeah! Your magnificent sister!" he shook his face. "Well... You could say that we kinda have a little problem with her investigating our shenanigans at the office..." he licks his lips.

"Your shenanigans killed thousands of people."

"Well... That isn't exactly my fault now, is it? Right!? It's part of the job to cut off some Wesen heads. Just like what your time-stopping father used to do! Right!?" He licks his lips.

"Yes... But you have no authorization by the state of Maharlica to do these Grimm eccentricities neither do you have the right to commit murder."

"Oh, please! What's a couple of casualties in the day job?"

"Casualties!?" Raphael's eyes twitch.

"Yeah!"

Raphael slams his fists on the table. "You murdered children."

"And your father killed the President of the Land of the Free. He's not exactly an angel, too, now, was he?"

"Stop that."

"We're no different, your father and I. Two murderers... Freaks... Like you."

Raphael slams the table again. He shrieks and hoots. He snarls. "Stop it. Please. Have some Goddamned courtesy."

"Courtesy? A freak like you requires courtesy?"

"Stop calling me a freak."

"That's the thing, Captain. They didn't give me... courtesy... They called me a freak-Kuh... And I'm a person. You're a monkey, and they treat you like a man. Funny, right?"

Raphael sighs.

"Those people think that they're the good guys. They think you're a pretty good guy, too. But sooner or later, they will see what you really are. A creature who falls into instinct. Like we, I believe, all are. We're all animals... Even my brother. Ha... ha... ha... ha... ha... hoo... hee... ha... ha... ha... One bad day. It takes one bad day to make even the sanest man alive be reduced into a creature of instinct. It takes one bad day for someone even like Superman to be someone like me. We're planning something... And if it fails, we have way more... Who do you think you are to think you are determined enough to stand in our way? Well... it is expected of the offspring of the Reaper. I've never met him, but he reminds me of my brother and me. It's that comparison that made me realize he and his family are dangerous." He licks his lips. "Because if even a guy like me shivers on his name... Fuck. What would his children bring to the table? Wouldn't that be fun?"

Raphael grabs The Joker by the throat with his foot.

The Joker whispers and chuckles.

Raphael takes out a charger in his pocket.

Raphael sits back down. "You were hiding this charger?"

"How did you know?"

"You glanced at your pocket seven times."

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"What's so funny."

"That you're an idiot. A typical idiot."

Raphael senses danger.

*ZAP*

Raphael pounces forward and dodges the incoming lightning bolt.

The cuffs on The Joker's hands unlock.

He sneers with a bloody smile. "That day is going to be today... for a lot of people. Unless you stop me... JoJo..."

Raphael snarls.

Meanwhile...

Gabrielle sleeps on the couch with her daughter in her arms.

*creak...*

Narcos puts ice shards in his drink of lime honey soda. He takes a sip from it.

*clackity clackity clack*

Bruce and Nick silently type on the keyboards of their laptops.

Foo Fighters drinks cold icy water Narcos made.

Monroe reads a book, "The Fault in Our Stars."

Anne is listening to music while eating gummy worms on the chair.

Victoria is studying in the book of marine biology.

Iggy is licking her ass. Because... she's a dog. Arf...

Peter is up on the ceiling, lying down on a web hammock.

"You guys wanna do something fun?" asked Narcos.

"No," replied everyone else.

"Please?" asked Narcos.

"Narcos..." sighed Bruce. "The damned baby just fell asleep after so... Goddamned long that it's practically longer than-..."

"The damned baby has a name and the damned baby's mother will ORA ORA you if you don't call her by her name," said Gabrielle, still with eyes closed.

"Fine... The damned baby just fell asleep after so Goddamned long that it's practically longer than my penis..."

"I did not know you were going to end that sentence with that object."

"My penis?"

"Yes. Your Goddamned penis."

"Do you call it your 'Bat-Penis?'" asked Peter.

"Do you call yours your 'Spider-Penis?'" asked Bruce.

Peter stares at Bruce. "Psh. No."

"Oh my God, you call it your 'Spider-Penis?' Are you balls your Spider-Eggs?"

"I just said 'no!'"

"What? Your asshole is a spinneret?"

"There are underage women in this room!" yelled Victoria.

"All of you are above 19," said Bruce.

"I'm talking about Foo Fighters!"

"She's two weeks old. She's practically a hundred and forty in Algae Years."

"Still underaged," sighed Victoria. "Mentally."

"What's that supposed to mean!?" asked Foo Fighters.

"You're probably not offended by that."

"Probably not." Foo Fighters shrugs.

"Hey, Nick!" yelled Peter.

"Yeah?" asked Nick.

"You call your penis by a nickname, right? Haha! 'Nick-name!'" Peter laughs.

"No, I do not."

"Is it Grimmster?"

"God, no," sighed Nick.

"Is it your maul?"

"Well. Did you know that Wesen actually used to eat the human penis as a delicacy? Wendigos actually call those things as Meat Worms and is a delicacy in Canada. Particularly Quebec."

"Aaaand... I am officially disgusted..." said Anne, dropping her gummy worms on the table.

"What's a penis?" asked Foo Fighters.

"We don't talk about that," said Gabrielle. "Not yet, at least."

The baby cries.

"God..." sighed Gabrielle.

Everyone begins to argue with each other.

The lights go out.

"Fucking great," said Gabrielle.

"Sorry," said Narcos. "Hey! A button!"

Meanwhile...

Darkness is everywhere.

Raphael wakes up and looks around.

Raphael's eyes peer in the darkness.

He snarls.

He goes on all-fours and crawls out of the interrogation room.

"OOH!!! OOH!!! OOH!!!" He bumps into a drawer and opens it. He finds a flashlight.

He turns on his flashlight to see that the entire precinct is deserted.

Raphael hammers the ground and snarls.

He runs on all fours and crashes outside the window.

He sees that the police cars are empty.

Raphael looks around and sees that the entire town is deserted. He sighs as the cold fog leaves his mouth.

"Woop!" he howled into the darkness. "Woop!"

He growls, frowns, and leaps into the darkness.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Raphael's eyes widen.

He takes out seeds and grows out his Tree Golems, who stand on guard for Raphael.

The Tree Golem snarls. 

Raphael cannot see anyone with his flashlight.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" cackled someone in the darkness. "AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"Oh! Oh!"

"You're probably wondering where your friends are! Ooh, Raphael... You poor, poor little circus monkey... Don't worry... They're safe... for now. Your men are currently driven away by an emergency... Would you like to see it for yourself?"

A broken television outside randomly turns on. The screen then shows someone filming several people in a school screaming while Kenneth, in his Endezeichen Grimm getup, shoots the children down.

"It's dark out... so no one knows about this except you and I..." sneered The Joker, who held the charger. "This television is the old one I used to watch with my mother... who I wrongfully killed... Because of my heritage... Tell me, does your heritage burden you as well? Ah... yes... You're adopted."

Raphael snarls and looks around.

Steps could be heard in the darkness while The Joker runs around.

"In my hands is all the electricity of all of Burnham."

"RAUGH!!!" howled Raphael.

"Well, Humanzee? What will it be? Will you back away? Or will you fight all day? Well... Night... That wasn't really a perfect line, now that I think about it."

"RAUGH!!!" howled Raphael.

"Tell you what... We really connected earlier... Right? Your whole life you felt like an animal... I... I could be like your father... Your mentor... Your teacher!Right?"

Raphael takes out his handgun from his holster.

*BANG!!! BANG!!! BANG!!!*

Raphael snarls.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! MISSED, MONKEY!!!"

*BANG!!! BANG!!! BANG!!!*

"MISSED AGAIN!!!Well? What's it gonna be, Chimp? Will you join me? Or not? It's your choice!"

Suddenly, a Joker card is stuck onto the Tree Golem's chest. Raphael's eyes widen as he backflips off the Tree Golem.

*BAM!!!*

Raphael tumbles away and crashes into a tree.

*thud!*

Raphael coughs and spits out blood.

*STAB!!!*

Raphael screams and roars as The Joker stabs Raphael in the stomach.

"HAHAHAHAHA!!! Well!? What's it gonna be, son?" The Joker winks jokingly and smiles.

"Already... I..." 

The Joker is awestruck.

"I already had... father... His name... was... Miguel JoJo..."

He... spoke.

The Joker stares at Raphael with a "What the fuck just happened!?" face.

"Oho... OHO!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!! THAT WAS WILD!!!" he cackled. "This isn't one of my hallucinations, right? You can talk!? YOU ARE HUMAN!? What!? Is there another plot twist to this!? You were never real in the first place!?"

*CRACK!!!*

*SPLAT!!!*

Raphael punches The Joker square in the face.

"RAUGH!!!" growled The Joker.

Raphael stands up and beats The Joker over and over again.

"RAUGH!!! RAUGH!!! HA!!! HA!!! HA!!!"

*CRACK!!! CRACK!!! CRACK!!!*

The Joker just keeps laughing and laughing. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Raphael stops beating him.

He sighs.

"I... am not like you... Arthur... I... am... not... an animal."

"You could say that again!"

Raphael takes the cable from his hand and tears it in half.

A small hissing noise could be heard from it.

Suddenly, all the lights go back on.

"You're... under... arrest..." he growled.

Later...

The lights go back on.

"Finally..." sighed Gabrielle, having put her daughter back to sleep.

A portal opens inside the house.

"Whoa!" yelled Narcos. He covers his mouth. "Whoa..." he whispered.

Raphael struggles to stand up. "Gabrielle..." he spoke.

"Yeah?" asked Gabrielle. "OH, GOD!!! YOU'RE INJURED!!!"

Gabrielle uses her string to heal him up.

"Thank you..."

"You're welcome, Kuya!" smiled Gabrielle.

Everyone went back to their business.

Raphael sat on the chair beside Anne.

"Eh?"

Everyone turns to Raphael.

"HA!!????!!"

"DID YOU JUST SPEAK!?" asked Anne.

"Yes..."

"What were your first words!?"

"'I am not like you Arthur. I am not an animal.'"

"THEN!?"

"'You're under... arrest.'"

"THEN!?"

"'Gabrielle...'"

"THEN!?"

"'Thank you...'"

"THEN!?"

"'Yes...'"

"THEN!??"

"'I am not like you Arthur. I am not an animal.'"

"TH -!?"

"OKAY!!! That's enough, Mom... He can speak now and you missed his first words... We get it," sighed Gabrielle. "How!?"

"I... do not know..." said Raphael. "I must've... mutated... somehow... Because of my... Stand Power..."

Raphael puts his forehead on Gabrielle's. "Thank you, Gabrielle... I wish... Dad... was able... to see me like this..."

"Me, too..." smiled a teary-eyed Gabrielle.

"Right! The Joker!" yelled Raphael. "He... shot down a school..."

"He what!?" asked Gabrielle. She faces away. "I'll get there, now."

"No! Wait!" yelled Raphael. "That's the way... they're pursuing... you."

"What!?"

"That's their plan... They keep thinking of plans that you... get to them... by putting your drive to avenge Dad... against yourself.Sooner or later... if you keep doing this Reaper thing alone... You will die."

"What are you suggesting?"

"A team..."

(theme begins)

The entire group faces the original armors of the other Crusaders.

"Where is my mother's armor?" asked Victoria. "Sad that Daddy never kept hers."

Gabrielle sighs. "Hay Naku... Her Stand was her armor."

"So... what? A new Stardust Crusaders?" asked Raphael. "Count me out. I'm a cop."

"So was I," said Nick. "You don't see me not cutting off some heads."

"This is gonna be awesome," smiled Narcos.

(theme ends)