---
Chapter 27 – The Madman Joins the League
The fight should have ended with blood. With death. With Batman breaking Joker's skull against the alley wall. But it didn't.
Because red lightning split the space between them.
"Enough!"
Barry Allen—The Flash—stood between the Dark Knight and the Clown Prince, chest heaving, eyes wild. His suit sparked, veins of electricity dancing across it as if the Speed Force itself was angry at what it saw.
Batman's fist froze mid-air. Joker's grin twitched wider.
Flash raised his arms like a referee. "This—this is insane! You're both insane! You're out here tearing each other apart while the world is ending! Look around you!"
And there it was. The broken skyline, still trembling from the Parademons' swarm. The scream of civilians fleeing through fire. The tremor in the earth—the Mother Boxes pulsing like alien hearts.
For a moment, even Batman and Joker breathed the same breath.
---
Flash turned to Batman first. "Bruce—don't glare at me like that—yeah, I know it's you. Listen. He's strong. Stronger than I've ever seen him. He went toe-to-toe with you and survived. He's unpredictable, yeah, but that's exactly what we need right now. Darkseid isn't human. He won't play by rules. You think you can box him in with strategy? Maybe. But what happens when that fails? You need someone crazy enough to bend reality just by thinking it's a joke."
Joker chuckled. "Oh, Scarlet Speedster, I like you. You've got vision. You've got guts. You've got terrible fashion sense, but still."
"Flash, no," Batman said. His voice was gravel, heavy, like stone. "He's a murderer. He's a cancer. He doesn't fight for anyone but himself."
Flash snapped back. "Yeah? Well neither do you half the time, Bats. Difference is, he doesn't lie about it!"
The words cracked the space between them like thunder. Joker clapped slowly, mock applause echoing.
--
They brought the argument back to the group—back to where Superman stood with Green Lantern and Cyborg, Wonder Woman at his side, cape torn but chin still high.
Superman frowned when he saw Joker limping in behind them. His eyes flared red. "What is he doing here?"
"Helping," Flash said quickly. "Maybe. Hopefully. Look—we need to decide, and fast."
Batman cut in sharp. "There's nothing to decide. He's not on this team."
But Flash, stubborn, turned to the others. "Vote, then. Right now. We don't have time for speeches."
Cyborg's human eye flickered. "Flash, you sure about this?"
"Positive," Flash said.
Superman studied Joker—long, unblinking. "You're a killer. A lunatic. But… I saw you take down Parademons. I saw you hurt Bane. And I believe Flash. Yes."
Green Lantern shrugged. "Guy's a psycho, but if Big Blue's in, I'm in. Yeah."
Cyborg sighed, mechanical servos whirring. "If he's got this… 'Grow' power Flash says, he's an asset. Fine. Yes."
That made three. Flash was four.
Batman's jaw clenched. "No."
Wonder Woman, still limping from her fight with Joker earlier, spat venom in her tone. "Never. This man humiliated me. He desecrates battle itself. My answer is no."
The eyes of the League turned. Joker raised both hands like he was on stage, basking in spotlight. "Four for, two against. Democracy at work! The clown wins again."
Batman's eyes burned holes in Flash. Flash only muttered, "We need him, Bruce."
---
And then the ground screamed.
The Mother Boxes glowed, synchronizing, vibrating with cosmic frequency. Light burst from them—beams stabbing into the sky, weaving together like a net. And then he came.
The air split. The Boom Tube opened.
Darkseid.
Not a monster. Not a demon. A god of tyranny. His body was carved from stone, shoulders like planets, eyes like burning coals of damnation. Each step he took cracked the earth beneath him.
The League froze—not because they were cowards, but because they were human. And in the presence of Darkseid, all humans felt small.
The three Mother Boxes hummed together in his palm, forming one—the Unity. The hum became a roar, a song of apocalypse.
Batman muttered, "We're too late."
Joker whistled low, almost reverent. "Now that's an entrance."
Darkseid's voice rumbled across the battlefield. "This world will kneel."
---
Superman flew first, a blue streak into the giant's chest. Darkseid didn't even flinch. His hand lashed out, catching Superman mid-flight, and hurled him through three buildings.
Green Lantern launched constructs—jets, hammers, chainsaws—but Darkseid's Omega Beams cut them apart like paper. The beams curved, chased him, forced Hal to sweat bullets dodging at the last second.
Cyborg blasted sonic cannons, connecting just enough to stagger Darkseid for half a second.
Flash ran circles, trying to outpace the Omega Beams, grabbing debris, hurling it like bullets. But even in motion, he felt them gaining.
And Joker?
Joker laughed. He ran forward—not with speed, not with grace—but with raw madness. He threw grenades, knives, bombs shaped like children's toys. They exploded uselessly against Darkseid's armor, but Joker didn't care. Each miss was a punchline, each explosion a setup.
"Hit me, stony-face! Come on, carve the smile bigger!"
Darkseid's gaze fell on him, and the Omega Beams flickered, eager to obey.
Batman tackled Joker out of the way, rolling in rubble. "Stay down."
Joker licked blood from his lip. "What, worried about your newest teammate?"
"I'm worried you'll die stupidly and make us waste time," Batman growled.
"Aw, Bats, you do care."
---
Wonder Woman roared back into the fight, blade flashing, shield raised, clashing with Darkseid blow for blow. But even she, an Amazon, faltered under the god's strength. He swatted her aside like a doll.
Superman returned, bloody but unbroken, locking Darkseid's fist with his own. The ground trembled with every strike.
Cyborg screamed over the comms: "The Boxes—they're syncing with him! If he completes the Unity, Earth is gone!"
Flash: "Then we stop it! We all stop it!"
He glanced at Joker—who was smiling wider than ever, blood dripping from his teeth, eyes wild. And for the first time, Barry wondered if madness might be the only weapon sharp enough to cut Darkseid's certainty.
Joker cracked his neck. "Well, ladies and gentlemen, if we're going to die tonight, let's make it one hell of a punchline."
And he ran—not with speed, not with sanity, but with something else. Something growing. The Grow power burned in his veins, breaking his limits, step after step. His body cracked, healed, cracked again. Each second he grew stronger, louder, crazier.
He leapt at Darkseid's chest with a scream that wasn't just madness—it was rebellion.
The League, broken as it was, followed.
Together—heroes and monster, gods and clown—they hurled themselves against the end of the world.
And high above, the Mother Boxes pulsed like laughter.