Hell Hath No Fury... (Open)

[norion]

The message had been simple: End your life, because Satan is waiting to meet you.

Inviting his potential partners this way was intended to prove a couple of things. First, Ryu had only sent the message to the ones who were evil enough and insane to do it. Would they listen to the telepathic message he had sent them? Surely, they would have to be crazy to listen to it... and that was precisely whom Ryu had targeted. Secondly, it would show that they were willing to take chances. The bigger the risk, the bigger the reward; that was the mind-set he needed around him.

Ryu was currently at the Soneva Gili Resort and Spa's Private Reserve, in Maldives. It was basically 3 houses connected by walkways, which totalled 15,000 square feet. It was set up in the Indian Ocean, right on the cusp of a crystal clear lagoon. It came complete with a man and woman butler, the man being similar to a mixed martial arts fighter and the woman a slutty-yet-totally-sexy maid.

It was private, $10,000 a night, and exactly what Ryu needed. He paid the hotel to renovate the gym and spa area into a "council chamber" and another place for people to stay. could now house 7 people comfortably, and discuss all of their business in the council chamber. It was equipped with everything they could imagine.

How was this all possible? Ryu's magic little black box. It was 6 inches deep and a foot wide and long, but when he reached inside he could easily fit his whole arm in the box. It provided as much money as he needed, when he needed it. He signed a contract with the hotel letting him stay as long as he wanted, as long as he paid on a weekly basis.

Today was one of those days. He was dressed head to toe in a stylish yet casual Italian outfit. A white shirt clean as the water around him, a black vest, tie, and set of pants, and matching black socks and shoes. all were Italian, and all were expensive. His sleeves were casually rolled just below his elbow, and the tie was a bit loose. It all fit his lean, muscular physique perfectly.

He reached inside the box down to his elbow, and took out multiple stacks of 100. Eventually, he had a suitcase full; $70,000. He brought it to his male assistant, who had a boat that brought him back and forth between the island and the resort, and both he and the maid left the island. They were told to return only when Ryu gave them a call.

Once his small island was to himself, he made his way to the council chamber. He drew a cigarette and lit it with a run-down, golden-plated zippo. His black hair whipped lightly around his face as he took a heavy drag of his Marlboro Red. They were his favorites; the heaviest amount of nicotine, yet even so his healing factor kept his body in peak condition. Ryu also smoked a lot of pot.

Once inside the council chamber, he took a seat at the end. HE closed his eyes...

Alright, Satan, we're ready.

At that point, Ryu's consciousness was transported to a different reality altogether.

The man was now in Hell. He was Satan.

He sat in his jet black throne , his golden hair and pale skin accented by his angelic, androgynous features. Once each of of his potential partners took their lives, they would be invited to the black throne room, which was lit only by candles. It was then that the real discussion would begin.

((Take liberties with how you describe hell, because then I can tell them that the environment outside his throne room is exactly how their personal hell is.))

[The Joker]

Sometime before the events of "The Joker"

The message had been simple, but he couldn’t think of one good reason to simply end his life as the message had so boldly put it; telegraphed or was it ‘telebrained’? Curiosity killed the Joker Cat. And he had to admit that not only was the Satan waiting for you part intriguing, the whole idea of a stranger’s presence alarming his brain could have grabbed just about any ones interest and sent them searching for nooses to hang themselves. Well, maybe not a normal persons interest.

Despite being in the same group of species, the Joker was far from anything human-being. He never functioned like the others did. God or whatever great creator must’ve been hung-over the day of his birth because they forgot to include HUMAN EMOTION into the make-up of DNA.

But was this message really true enough for one – even crazy – to quickly reach for the nearest life ending object and call it a day, or more bluntly. . . a life? Nonsense, it was possible that he had just imagined the telepathic invite despite the authenticity behind it. He had just begun tracking Quinzell, watching her from the shadows, studying her life like he would soon be sat down in a typical class room and tested on it. How old was Harleen when she first rode a bike? Ah – the multiple choice answer would be C, of course. He was not willing to throw all that away just yet. Satan would have to convince him a little more and even provide some proof of his existence before he put any gun barrels in his mouth.

[norion]

And so he sat, and waited, his fingers tapping his smooth chin as his brow furrowed. Ryu had effectively been in a coma for a few days, his consciousness stuck in hell with Satan. Of course, this was no problem for the Unholy Almighty (as he referred to himself.) He required no food, no water, no sleep, nothing the human body needed to function properly. He sat on his throne, alone, for three days until he realized maybe these humans weren't as stupid as he assumed. Perhaps stupid was the wrong word... it would be quite the opposite. They ones he targeted were cautious, too smart to go off of a voice in their head.

Of course, Satan had simply assumed that his presence in their mind would have been enough. Satan's presence was able to twist the minds of many a men, from Brutus to Nixon. From the assassination of Caesar to the Watergate Scandal, weaker men had fallen under his spell. He had even convinced Charles Manson that he was Helter Skelter. Still, the men and women he targeted... must be different. their minds must be different. This intrigued the Fallen One once known as Lucifer. Perhaps he would need to give them each a little... push.

Contacting them would prove a minuscule challenge for him, even though the telepathic connection would need to be made from a different realm altogether. This didn't phase him; he had connected with sentient beings on the other side of the universe. All he would need was a bit of focus, a familiar scent... and he would be on their minds like a bloodhound.

To the naked eye, it appeared as if nothing was awry in the throne room. However, to those able to see what was going on in the 4th dimension (what humans called "being invisible"), they would notice that a long, black, oozing tentacle had forced its way out of Satan's forehead. It was similar to that of an octopus, but with only one massive suction cup at the very tip. The tendril was dripping with energy and power, and it was still visible to Satan when he closed his eyes.

Satan, in this state of mind, was suddenly attune to every sentient being in the universe, and those beyond it. He could see everything, yet nothing at the same time. He could pick out anyone from this crowd, if he knew what he was looking for. Hell, he could have contacted the President of the United States, convinced him that Russia needed to be bombed, and nobody would ever have known the difference. Satan, however, no longer found such abuses of his power entertaining. The whole Hitler thing had gotten him a good laugh (with convincing him the Jews would bring about the end of the world and whatnot), but this was no time for play.

Soon, multiple more tendrils pushed themselves out of his head, and danced lazily around his body. Soon, they shot up through the ceiling of his palace, and they soared through the 4th dimension until they reached a little planet called Earth.

Of course, nobody unable to see the invisible would even know that Satan was soon about to infect the minds of the most evil beings ever to walk the ground they stood upon.

The first man, of course, would be the one known as the Joker.

While up until now the man had been relatively unknown, there was a darkness in his mind that had been unmatched since Satan had contacted Parallax (hm... maybe he would be on the list as well.) If any other man had the chance to stand on the edge of sanity and look into the convoluted abyss that was the Joker's mind... well, let's just say it probably wouldn't end well.

Naturally, this man would be the first to receive additional contact. It was at this point when a tendril sniffed out the man's mind, and found him. Once the tendril had connected with the Joker's consciousness, the Joker would "see" Satan standing before him. Of course, nobody else would. They weren't connected to Satan through the 4th dimension.

So, Satan not stood before the Joker as the primordial embodiment of everything evil, malicious, and wrong in the world. If Satan were in this man's shoes, he would be honored.

"So, it appears you aren't as quick to "jump the gun", as they say."

Satan took a few steps around him, travelling in a slow circle around him. Satan could not see what was around him, only the Joker. He knew not of the environment in which they were currently in.

"Part of me thought you might have been debating your options, part of me thought you weren't insane enough, part of me thought you might have needed more proof."

A wave of a hand, and Satan's throne appeared before him. Of course, none of this was real. It would only be real in the Joker's mind.

"Upon connecting myself to your mind once again, I see that it was, in fact, the latter."

Another brief pause as Satan laid his body across the throne, sitting casually and lazily as he continued to speak.

"I assure you, you are not any more insane than you were previous to our brief encounter. you see, I've connected our minds. It's a little party trick I picked up down under."

He sat silent for another moment, giving the Joker a couple small nods as he looked the man up and down.

"I must say, you're even more ironic in person... well, let's get down to business. I'm sure you are still hesitant to follow through with my request, but I assure you it serves its purpose. I'm looking for a certain... commitment from my potential partners. Also know that once our meeting in Hell has finished, I will transport you back here. Or we can conduct this meeting on your realm of existence, it makes no difference to me."

[The Joker]

And the proof he desired came almost right away. Someone had answered his questioning of suicide; someone alright, the Devil, or what Joker assumed to be the Devil. He wasn’t exactly sporting a pointy pitchfork but he couldn’t think of just anyone else who could simply break the lock into his tortured mind and transform his consciousness into a reality. And that was just what happened. His surroundings became an empty black nothingness and the only visible thing other than himself was the evil oozing creature that stood before him. Was he still alive? He had to be, he certainly didn’t recall jumping out of any windows or drinking that sweet spider poison and weed killer he planned on mixing later for a next precious victim to thirst upon. He was alive and having a meet and greet with THE Devil. . . well, that was a first. Why him – out of all the serial killers roaming the dark shadows of Earth, why this particular one. The Devil must’ve been fascinated by clowns or maybe he was recruiting a personal batch of circus entertainment to keep the demons in Hell amused. Then there was always that possibility that the Devil simply liked the Joker’s craft and admired his work. Now that was flattering, to say the least.

He began walking around the Joker like he was having a time studying him and enjoying it at the same time. He had to admit, it took him a bit of focus to pay attention to what the Devil was actually saying to him, given that he was still experiencing delighted shock from the current ‘turn of events’; turn of reality. A wicked throne soon appeared within his sight like someone had just performed a magic trick and he got left behind and didn’t catch on to how they did it. And the Devil sat his bottom on the resting place and continued talking. He wasn’t sure what to make of all this other than the fact that the Devil obviously had an interest in him, but then the Devil mentioned something to what he thought sounded like an offer of sorts or at least that’s the idea that he got. Sell his soul to the Devil – no matter how cliché that might’ve came off to someone – the Joker had no soul to sell. He had long already abused his right to fall from anything graceful or have something to lose. The Joker was at the muddy bottom where he belonged, he couldn’t possibly imagine sinking into the mud any further. But this was the Devil we’re talking about, if anyone could take the soulless Joker down any more into a cold non-human state of being it’d be him.

”Nice recliner,” even in Hell, Joker’s sarcastic humor couldn’t help itself. The Devil himself shouldn’t have expected anything less, the guy did resemble a clown, so a joke here or there or an attempt at something laughable wasn’t surprising in the least. ”So,” the Joker nonchalantly approached, looking over the Devil as the Devil had recently done with him. ”The boogeyman in the flesh, the serpent, everyone’s bad conscious, the man – “ The Clown got a bit dramatic, almost sliding on his feet up to the Devil’s throne and slapping his purple gloved hands down on the arm rest, ” – the myth, the legend, the big.. red..” his torn painted red lips inched closer into the Devil’s ear, or what he at least thought resembled an ear, ”... joke,” whether the Devil took that offensively or not, the Joker didn’t seem to mind, roughly displaying such when he lured in further and Bugs Bunny-like smooched the Devil’s cheek and squealed out an awkward burst of enthusiasm that could only be interpreted as odd laughter.

[norion]

Satan sat upon his throne with a look of amused skepticism as the Joker approached him. This man was a real treat. The insanity Satan had banked on seemed to know no bounds as the man with make-up planted a kiss right on the Devil's cheek. There was a level of audacity required in the men and women Satan was targeting, and this man had plenty. Then, the Joker reeled back with a laugh akin to that of a small school girl having met Justin Bieber. Satan felt that, deep down, he was probably this man's role model.

"It's a pleasure."

Satan wondered how Joker was reacting to the darkness, the embodiment of his own personal Hell. Satan lifted his left leg, and crossed it over his right as his arms laid comfortably on the arm rests of his throne. His head tipped to the side slightly as he eyed the Joker yet again, intrigued by the man's sense of sanity, or perhaps the lack thereof. If he could amass a group of individuals with his same mindset, he would be golden.

... Or maybe he would only need this one.

"Joker... can I tell you about what you are seeing?"

Satan smiled softly and coyly at the man as he continued to speak.

"You see, in my presence, if I so will it, each person's environment becomes their own personal Hell, an embodiment of every dark thought they have ever had, despite how fleeting and inconsequential it has ever been. I see what you see, but I see it through your eyes. Never before have I seen a Hell quite like yours."

Satan stood and walked around the darkness, where floors, walls, and ceilings were non-existent. It was very much like purgatory, but... still different. There was a strange musk to the air, something sharp yet unreachable hung around him as he walked through it.

"You see... people have this strange misconception about what Hell really is. It's much more than just being a sinner. How do I explain this..."


Satan scratched his chin, turned to face the Joker, and began walking back towards the man.

"Now, when you do something sinful, it goes against you. When you do something good, it works in your favor. In the end, your location after death depends on your "good to bad" ratio. If your ratio favors the good, you are brought to Heaven and your most blissful thoughts become a reality. If your ratio favors your sins, well... you are brought to me, and surrounded by your darkest thoughts.

I find many faults with this. The evilest man in the world who never acted on his evil could go to heaven. The most righteous man who commits evil for what he believes to be the greater good is brought to me. They all live and wander within the confines of my realm, yet they exist within their own reality as long as I will it. The men and women with the most powerful Hells are turned into my Demons. Men like Stalin, Vlad the Impaler, Hitler... they are the Generals of my army. But I digress...

Your hell is interesting. It seems that your darkness has... well, overloaded the system, if you catch my drift. Which is why you intrigue me so."

He placed a hand on the Joker's shoulder.

"Some of my highest ranking demons didn't live in a hell as powerful as yours. Again... a reason why you intrigue me so."

He turned away from the Joker, and made his way back to his throne. after he sat, he continued to address the man.

"You see... your Hell is more poignant, more pungent than some of the cruelest men history has documented. That being said, I would like you to assist me in bringing this realm to its knees.

I want you to make their lives your Hell. Are you following me so far, Joker?"

[The Joker]

The Joker appeared to be just as amused as the Devil, especially after he took kindly to the fan boy like peck. The Devil wanted to know what the Joker was seeing; seeing – the exact problem at hand because there was nothing to see. If this was the Joker’s own personal dream of hell he would need a flash light, his Hell was black, empty, infinite coldness. And to be honest he favored it that way. It seemed approximate; it seemed to go hand in hand with him. So much that he wanted to dance and live and be happy forever right then and there in that dark nothingness with the Devil. But the Devil sounded like he might’ve had other plans, perhaps.

But he wasn’t exactly sure what. Make their lives a hell. He had to of course be speaking of the ‘lives’ still occupying the Earth, because surely already being in Hell would be more than enough to make someone’s life just that. And why did the Devil have to remove his hand? He had felt so good on his shoulder. He wanted to snuggle his cheek into it and lick it, and maybe even nibble at it. It was like the exact opposite of someone claiming they felt the hand of God; the hand of the Devil, the hand that made him proud of his dark insides.

The Devil’s explanation of Hell seemed pretty reasoning. The good slash bad ratio explanation. It made sense. And the Joker actually felt pretty sure of his own ratio, he did let that man’s fat wallet of his last victim simply lay by a well-known hangout spot of the homeless. He was quite sure a dirty ragged fellow almost had a heart attack when he crawled out of his cardboard home the next morning and discovered a wad of cash that’d keep him drunk for the entire month. Now wasn’t that a good deed; a good deed to balance the sin of murder?

Not that it worried the Joker. The Devil didn’t break into his mind and arrange this meeting to talk about the Joker’s own doings. He wasn’t here to be judged. He was here because it sounded like the Devil needed him to be. The Joker nodded for the Devil, letting him know he understood, and then he answered an earlier question. ”I see,” letting himself pause long enough to wet his lips, describing the personal Hell and much more, ”... a mirror of everything that the world is and that is nothing. Everything is nothing. It’s a fat joke with no true punch lines, no end results, no solutions – the only solution is the joke – the nothing. And to oblige the nothingness, to play the role and let the nothing consume you is what has filled its population. I am the counter – the filling void that complements the nothing, the one who destroys the nothing, the one who creates the nothing, the one who is yours; your agent of chaos.”

[norion]

"Ah, but within your existence lies the punch-line that will leave humanity reeling until the end of time."

He was pleased that the Joker was so ready to pledge himself to this cause. He was worried that the man might perhaps question what sanity he had, but Satan knew that this wouldn't be the case. An agent of chaos; Satan liked that. Truly, was that not the purpose of this... mission? To bring the world to its knees among so much chaos that even the Devil's steady hand would be accepted? Yes, Satan thought to himself, that was the premise behind his grand scheme.

"My agent of chaos... I like it. I have a feeling that it is chaos that you thrive on, yes? Chaos you shall have, Joker. You see, we shall wring this world inside out until the only hand able to steady it is mine.

On my Earth, there would be no government. There would be no military. Every man, woman, and child would fight for themselves to earn the right, the privilege to live under my rule. Our rule.

While the Almighty keeps the world in check by maintaining a certain level of supernatural order, we would be doing the exact opposite. We would make sure that nobody unworthy came to power. If we felt they were too powerful, we would topple whatever regime they had begun. The streets would run thick with the anarchy we would bring.

But we both know that eventually chaos turns to order, and vice versa. Once the inhabitants of Earth became... comfortable in their chaos, I would step in officially, and merge my realm with this one. You see, striking so soon after bringing about the end of this order-laden generation wouldn't be as fruitful. You see, it is when humans are most comfortable that they are most vulnerable. But I'm sure you know that."

Satan paused for a moment, and clicked his tongue slowly.

"But there is a threat to this Earth that the inhabitants do not yet know about. This threat brings about a certain risk; it could either accomplish our first task for us, or it could ruin everything I have set into motion. It brings about the question; do we join with this... this "Justice League" and this "Great Alliance" for the time being in order to secure the planet's momentary safety... or... join with the threat, and destroy it soon after both organizations have been defeated. Tricky, tricky, tricky..."

((Yay, exposition!))

[The Joker]

Chaos was all the Joker had, all he could do to function required frequent doses of chaos; chaos was his best friend, a true gear that powered the Joker Machine. He and the Devil were speaking on the same level it seemed. He liked the Devil’s ideal world. And though that vision of Earth may appear cruel at first glance to most, the Joker couldn’t help but think of it as more natural and real than the world he already knew of today.

Then the Devil spoke of Justice Leagues and Great Alliances which for better or worst sounded like brand names of rivaling tire companies. He didn’t have knowledge of either; so, he spoke up asking a question that had a taste of hopelessness behind it, ”Join a Justice League?” And just afterwards a ah-ha should’ve came from his mouth but it wasn’t quite necessary because the Joker’s half smirked face spilled the can of ah-ha beans. The latter of the Devil’s choices sounded much better.

[norion]

"Join a Justice League?"

Both men couldn't hide their smiles at the idea, Satan even letting out a soft chuckle. As easy as it would be to simply join them, barely assist them in the fight, and eventually turn on all sides by unleashing his raw might on them... no, Satan didn't have it in him to call the likes of Superman and this... this "Foreigner" character an ally.

"I admit, even I find the idea... vulgar. But then again, an enemy of my enemy is my... well, for lack of a better word, my friend."

Satan's expression turned to one that had just eaten something rotten. No matter how much he tried to convince himself that the idea would work... he knew it never would.

"... Joker, if you could choose any city in the world to bring to its knees, which would it be?"

Satan stood and walked towards the Joker once more, this time standing roughly three feet away from him.

"Think carefully. In my world, this city will be our capitol. It will be in this city that our destruction will begin, and spread like a wild-fire, like a virus across the rest of the world."

Satan had an idea of which city it was, but he wanted the Joker to confirm it for him.

[The Joker]

Well that wasn’t much of a difficult choice; Gotham. But Gotham was already close to being brought down onto its knees, bringing in the Devil to provide a little extra push would’ve just been overkill. Gotham didn’t need such help. The crime rate was among the highest in the world and it was only just a matter of when the city plunged itself into Joker Land. And it would. The Joker knew just what to do with his little precious Gotham Island. It shouldn’t be complicated. The citizens of Gotham were just a few puppet strings away from being snipped and descending into madness and playing the Joker Game and all the fun rules that came with it. Gotham could wait; Gotham would wait. Or maybe it didn’t even have to; maybe the Devil’s wildfire of anarchy would spread and catch a little flame in Gotham, and naturally just let Gotham burn itself down.

Since the Joker had options here he might as well use them wisely. It’s not every day that you’ve got the Devil on your side, or maybe it is. ”Choices, choices, choices,” his tongue flickered over his bottom lip evoking a bit of excitement for himself, ”Ah,” and with a sharp left turn he changed direction; changed his mind, turning away from the Devil and peering out into the black empty that surrounded them, ”Tsukino Usagi,” and a necessary moment of silence soon followed.

Oh, little Goldilocks. A certain someone shall soon be getting your attention; your affection, your fun. Let’s play, Usagi. We must. We will. Despite earlier failure to acknowledge the existence of the Great Alliance, the Joker obviously seemed to know Tsukino Usagi, not personally of course, but he said her name. And no matter how odd or left field that her name came up in a conversation between a clown and a devil it was very apparent that he had an interest in her, enough interest to make Tokyo, Japan the starting ground for worldwide destruction.

”I highly doubt she’s on your naughty list but surely you know of her,” his brows perked creasing the lines in his forehead, ”Gotham is fresh out of playmates and all I’m looking for is just.. a little.. fun, so, why not Tokyo?” the Joker Machine powered its gears once more and that beautiful grin of his stretched ear to ear.

[norion]

"Yes, I'm familiar with the name."

It was true, Satan had heard of the name, of the woman, and what she had accomplished on Earth. However, his interest in the woman stopped there; she was anything but a threat to him, and was nothing he needed concern himself with.

"But if you wish to claim Tokyo as your own... I will not stop you. Let it be done."

Satan blinked twice, smiled, and disappeared, leaving Joker in the nothingness that was his Hell. It was soon replaced by Usagi's hotel room in Tokyo, as quickly as a flash of lightning.

((Sorry the post is shit, got some bad writer's block so I'm trying to let it pass.))

[The Joker]

This thread is closed right? I do remembering Ryo saying so a few weeks back, just wanted to make sure.