The Joker looked up at The Question.
"Oh, you downloaded Lex Luthor's secret files?" he asked casually.
The Question nodded. So he wasn't even going to talk to him. Clearly he hadn't forgotten what happened when they last met.
"Rightio, here's the bomb," explained The Joker, "If you want me to type in the deactivation mode, you're going to have to uncuff me."
Batman didn't look convinced.
"Look, we don't have time for this, Batsy," groaned The Joker, "The code is long and complex, and if I tell you it, odds are you'll screw up. And if we type in one incorrect code, we're goners. So are you going to uncuff me or not?"
Batman paused for a moment, before finally uncuffing him. The Joker grinned as he looked at his released hands. He cracked his knuckles, then crouched down in front of the Venom-Bomb, the others gathering behind him. The countdown of random numbers was continuing on the attached screen. Humming to himself, The Joker typed in a series of numbers and letters into the panel, and the countdown stopped, the numbers vanishing from the screen.
"Simple as that!" declared The Joker, "But wait until you get the punchline!"
The Joker suddenly clapped his hands over his eyes, turning his head away. Before anyone else could react, a brilliant flash of white light came from the Venom-Bomb. This was a nice little sting in the tail added by Crane. The intensity of the light-flash was perfectly tuned to a reflex in the optic nerve, triggering a brief shutdown of primary brain functions.
And so, all the heroes instantly collapsed around him, unconscious. It would only last for a few minutes, then they would all wake up, feeling like they had a hangover. But that was all the time he needed. He scrambled across to one of the unconscious do-gooders: Batman. He opened up Batman's hand, and took what he was looking for. The hardcopy of Lex Luthor's secret files.
"You just made things a whole lot easier for me, Q-Tip. HA HA!"
And he had. If he hadn't made a hardcopy, The Joker would have had to break into Lexcorp and hack into the computer himself. Yes, this little disc would give The Joker much more information about The Unity. But it would give him so much more. Classified information about just about every hero and villain on the planet. Details about all Lex Luthor's underworld dealings, all his technological research. That's what this whole ruse had been all about.
"I wasn't lying about not wanting to wipe out Metropolis," cackled The Joker, "I don't. Not yet anyway. I wanted this bomb placed here, at Lexcorp, to place me in a position where I could access these files. With the king no longer present in his castle, and the city literally losing its mind, now seemed like the perfect time. But I couldn't just come here and steal the files. No, not while I was grouped with a bunch of fellow psychopaths who I'd have to share the info with. And besides, it was much more fun doing it this way, getting to make fools out of all you do-gooders. Particularly you, Brucie."
The Joker heard the noise of a chopper, and quickly looked up. It was Harley Quinn. Perfect timing. The chopper landed on the roof, and harley bounced out. She hugged The Joker, kissing him passionately.
"Clever girl!" he exclaimed, "Now, wheel the Venom-Bomb back into the chopper. It may be deactivated, but you never know when something like that might come in handy."
While Harley loaded the bomb onto the chopper, The Joker crouched down over Batman.
"When you wake up, I'll be gone," he cackled, "But I hope you realise I could have killed you, and didn't. And I hope that really screws with you. I wish I could see the look on your face when you realise you've been royally shafted by The Clown Prince Of Crime. Oh, how priceless! HA HA! But for now, here's something to remember me by."
The Joker took out a magic marker, drawing a curly moustache over Batman's mouth.
"Smell ya later, Batsy! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
With a theatrical bow, The Joker swaggered into the chopper. It took off into the Metropolis skies. By the time those chumps down there woke up, he'd be long gone. He was moving on with plans of his own. Not concerning The Unity, not anymore. He'd done his bit to save humanity: now he'd leave that to the experts. No, he intended to use his newly-acquired information to track down one man.
Lex Luthor.
He'd been missing ever since The Parasite began to imitate him. But he couldn't be dead - that bloated purple oaf would have to have him kept alive somewhere so he could continue sucking the life out of him. And the information he now had access to may tell him where Luthor could be hidden or, if he'd somehow escaped, where he could have gone to seek refuge.
The Joker had scores to settle with Mr. Luthor. And he planned to pay him a little visit. But he could see to that later. For now, he just wanted to take a nice, warm bath, and get a good night's sleep.
"Harley, head for Gotham," The Joker cackled, "We're going home."
