___

BOOM!

The room lit up with red, burning fire. From the looks of it, no one was in the way of the blast, thankfully. The small explosion caused a massive crater in the center of the balcony. The men above us looked shocked, trying to piece together what had happened as the smoke from the blast settled.

A whistle caught my attention, and I saw Candyman playfully reach into his bag. The very one I had come to associate with his explosive arsenal.

“No!”

I called out to him, desperate to stop him. I began looking around frantically for something, anything to stop him. Seeing the stairs, I started to run for them. Candyman saw what I was doing, recoiling his muscular hand while chuckling in his malevolent high-pitched voice. I climbed up the stairs, and once upon the balcony, I ran at Candyman.

“Nice of you to join us, Sarah.”

Candyman cruelly called out to me, before slowly unhooking his massive chain from his belt. When his weapon slid off of his leg, he wrapped it around his left hand, readying himself for a fight. As he got into a stance, I could see the nasty scars I had left him with on his exposed chest. It all made sense now, seeing him ready to maim.

Damn it, I thought. His reaching into his bag was a ploy to get me up there, and I had played into his hands.

I looked down at the hostages to make sure they were safe. Thankfully, The men on the balcony remained so and were too perplexed to move. They kept trying to right themselves again after investigating the crater. When they saw me, they pointed, yelling out that I had arrived. They began to charge toward me while I ran toward their leader, but Candyman barked out his orders with excitement, causing them to halt.

“Leave her! She’s mine, boys!”

With his words spoken, they all stood in a group, silently obeying their leader.

I turned back to the brightly colored foe, trying to reach him. With the hostages safe for the time being, I decided I would take a new initiative. Whatever it took, I needed Candyman’s explosives out of the fight. They posed too much of a danger to everyone here.

Suddenly, Candyman’s chain swung at me, narrowly missing as I swerved out of the way. He swung again, and all I could do was maneuver my head. I kept running, trying to close the gap. Once again, a chain came hurling towards me. This time, it hit me in the shoulder, causing me to stumble back. I cried out, holding my shoulder before stopping in my tracks. Candyman stood there before me, and while swinging his chain in his hand, he spoke in a gentle, cold voice. His voice paralyzed me from within, gripping me with terror.

“You know, I was hoping you’d make it out alive down there. Because I wanted to be the one to kill you tonight, Sarah... And no one, NO ONE, is here to save you!”

I swallowed my fear, getting into a stance quickly. Candyman giggled maniacally, swinging his chain above his head.

“It was fun watching you play Joker’s little game. But I think it’s time I play my own… And what he doesn’t know, won’t hurt him!”

As he spoke, he pulled out a remote-looking device, pointing it toward the corner of the room. I sharply turned to see what he was doing. I noticed that in the corner of the vast room, small camera blinked red. When Candyman clicked a small button on the device, the camera stopped blinking. It was only then I realized what he was doing.

He’s shutting off the cameras Joker was using to watch. Using a device to disable them. Lucius had made similar devices before, for us vigilantes to use in case of emergencies. I never realized Candyman had access to similar equipment until now.

My thoughts were cut short when I saw Candyman throw the device on the ground. In seconds, he then quickly reached into his pocket. A large sphere was thrown across the balcony, landing in front of the group of his clown-masked henchmen.

CLINK!

I waited to see what color it would blink, my heart sinking when I saw.

Red.

I called out to the group of men, desperate to get through to them, knowing now what was about to happen.

“RUN!”

Screaming at them, the clown men looked at the object in panic. Without another warning, they began to run from it, splitting off in two different directions away from the object. Some coming towards us, others going for the stairs.

BOOM!

In the biggest blast I had seen come from Candyman’s arsenal, fire blazed across the area, but luckily never caught on to anything. This time, however, the explosion was big enough to cave in the balcony completely, and the entire upper platform began to tilt downward towards the center. The change suddenly began shifting everyone on it.

I yelled out in surprise, as my body began to tilt and fall down with the collapsing platform. I watched on as men started falling off of it, crying out as they fell down onto the floor below. My eyes widened in horror, seeing someone fall and be impaled by a piece of the broken railing. Some of the men were able to make it down safely, others became lost and buried in the debris.

In an insane move, Candyman had attacked his own team. Most likely in an effort to make sure they stay out of his way.

“Shit!”

I cried out desperately, falling backward as the portion of the balcony we stood on began to break off as well. Just before I lost my footing completely, I felt a strong, warm hand grab onto mine.

In a surprising twist, Candyman had grabbed onto me, preventing a plummet down below. Only it wasn’t to save me. Instead, he quickly twisted me around away from the falling bit of platform I stood on. When he did, he then grabbed me by the throat. My eyes widened in horror, beholding the horrifying foe in front of me. His mask shone in the lights, illuminating the dirt, blood, and grime upon it. The bullethole in the center gleamed in the beams of light, allowing me to focus on his dead, red eyes. Before I could process any more of it, his other hand formed a fist, proceeding to hurl it down upon my face, punching me multiple times. He took advantage of my shock in the situation, letting go of me briefly. All before he kicked me back, sending me into a coral of benches. I cried out, pain shooting through me. I could feel blood begin to pool out of my nose, and my eye beginning to swell.

“Aw, don’t tell me you don’t have any fight left in you! That’s hardly fun, playing with a broken toy!”

Candyman began to tilt his head again after calling out to me. Taunting me as he stalked closer. Slowly, I got up, staggering a bit with each step I took. Once I got shook it off, I wiped the blood from my nose, before getting into a cautious stance. Ready to defend myself against him.

“Oh, Goodie! That’s what I like to see! Now… Let’s finish our one-on-one, shall we?”

He asked in a tormenting, but enthusiastic tone.

I spoke up, my eyes staring directly into his with unwavering conviction.

“I bet your boss will be pissed when he hears you spoiled his game.”

I said, trying to draw out any feelings of fear he might have for the Joker. Instead, he just snickered, teetering between both feet with his chain wrapped around his arm.

“He might be, but I just can’t help it! You’re so… killable!”

He growled out his last words, shifting from an eerily playful tone to one of pure hatred. He quickly changed his tone back, before speaking again.

“I guess it really is selfish of me. But you and I have a score to settle. You remember, don’t you?”

Part of me felt afraid, but deep down, I was numb to it all at the same time. All the threats to my life bounced off of me, as if my skin had thickened over the course of the night. My survival instincts kicked in again as I raised my hands up in a defensive stance, this time knowing full well that his only target was me. I told myself, however, that I would fight with the same ferocity I had earlier. My reasons for doing so were, in a way, selfish too.

He wanted to be the one to kill me, and I wanted to be the one to beat him.

I squinted my eyes briefly at him, studying every part of him, waiting for any sign of movement. I spoke up, angrily.

“Then come settle it.”

A few seconds after I spoke, he quickly whipped his chain at me. I barely dodged the attempt, and just before I could recover he flicked the chain so it would hit me in the back as it came back to him. I cried out in pain and frustration, buckling to one knee from the impact. He swung his chain again, this time smacking me across the face with it, causing blood to fly out of my mouth. My head roughly snapped to the side after the impact.

I needed to get up, I thought.

Noticing another masterful maneuver of the chain from Candyman, I knew he was about to make another go at me with the chain. Without a chance to recover, I quickly rolled out of the way, avoiding the next attack.

Coming to a stand, I began to run at Candyman, with plans forming in my head.

After my fight by the marina, I knew it would be difficult to get close to him with the chain. I stood no chance at the moment on my own, unless…

I could get the chain away from him.

Still plotting my moves, I ran at Candyman. I decided I would bait him, get him to swing the weapon at me. Candyman was breathing heavily, his bare, scarred chest moving with each breath. His neon leather pants shone in the now flickering lights. I watched as he shifted his body in a cocky manner, getting ready to whip the chain again.

This time, I thought, I had a plan that would blindside him.

Sure enough, I stopped in my tracks right as he swung his chain. I could see he was trying to aim for my torso by the way he swung it towards me. As the chain came barreling to its target, I got my hands ready. When the timing was right, I snatched the chain out of the air. A sharp, shooting pain traveled up my arms from the chain smacking into my skin.

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I winced, but grit my teeth in focus.

Got you, bastard, I thought.

I could hear an audible growl of disapproval come from my foe, and before I could blink he roughly yanked the chain to attempt to gain it back. The sudden show of strength caused me to falter slightly, but I straightened myself back, trying to pull it back to me.

We both stood there, trying to outdo the other. Engaging in an intense tug-of-war over who would have the leverage. My body tensed, as it took every ounce of me to match Candyman’s raw strength.

Come on, I thought. Give up!

I could see Candyman’s focused eyes through his worn-out clown mask. He fixated on me, never breaking gaze. I stared back into his soulless, red eyes, determined to win this game. When he saw this, he let out a hellish laugh, crazily cackling into the air.

“You never fail to entertain, sweetheart! Killing you is going to be so much-”

He paused, before suddenly letting go of the chain, causing me to catapult on my back with the weapon still in my hands.

“-FUN!”

I went down with a large thud, gasping lightly in shock. As I processed what happened, I looked at the chain in my hands. For a brief moment, I smiled, but it disappeared just as quickly when I heard a large snapping noise from under me. Just then, the platform we were on began to tilt as well. The only part of the balcony that was still standing.

Hearing another large snapping sound, I felt a pit form in my stomach when I felt the platform suddenly begin to fall. With the chain still in my hands, I began falling after I slid off of the balcony piece. Flipping through the air, I plummeted down towards the tiles. I screamed out, desperately looking down at the ground that awaited me below. I braced myself for the impact, sharply colliding with the floor.

The agonizing aching that shot up my leg after falling became unbearable. My eyes widened in horror, as I saw the balcony piece about to fall on me. In a quick move, I rolled out of the way, just a few seconds before the balcony fell upon me.

My head began pounding as well, the impact affecting me. Tears of pain welled up in my eyes as I slowly lifted myself up. Wincing at the pain, I held my leg for a brief moment, assessing the damage. Luckily, it wasn’t broken from what I could tell. Once I stood, I dropped Candyman’s chain whip, kicking it aside.

Dazed, my head spun as I looked around at my surroundings at the bottom. Dizzily, I could see the hostages, standing by the double doors that they had come from previously. Some tried to get it open but from the looks of it, someone had locked it well. Some of the hostages looked on at me with worrisome eyes. I straightened my back for them, trying to appear strong. I didn’t want them to lose hope. Looking to the other side of the room, where a few clown-masked men lay unconscious. Some were under the debris of the fallen balcony, void of life. Despite me trying to rationalize their deaths, I felt sorry for them. I felt responsible.

I need to stop Candyman, I thought. Before he hurts anyone else.

Just before I could look around the room, I felt someone rip me back by my hair. I gasped out, before trying to free myself from the attacker’s grasp. Pain shot up my scalp as the hands pulled tighter.

“Isn’t this just the time of your life?”

I felt Candyman yell out in excitement, pulling me by him. I was close enough to where I could feel his menacing breath on my neck, chilling me to the bone. He spoke enthusiastically, before putting me in a chokehold.

“Isn’t it just so exciting to feel your end is near? Huh, Sarah?”

I struggled under him, hitting his muscular, mocha-colored arms multiple times, trying to get him to relent. Instead, he just squeezed harder.

“Aw, come on! You’ve got to have more in you than that.”

His hellish ringleader tone matched that of his boss, showing excitement while in the most terrifying situations.

I calmed myself, despite my oxygen constricting. Focusing within, I called for help. Reaching out to my abilities, I called to them. Shadows just kept flicking around me, not allowing me to change. From within, I begged and pleaded, but I heard nothing. Something was different this time. I could feel it. It was as if my abilities felt far away, unreachable within. Like a cold, empty, vast distance was between me and it.

I could start to see the black spots in my vision, and I knew I needed to think of something else.

Hurry, I thought. Hurry, Sarah!

In a desperate attempt to get him off of me, I threw my head forward, before whipping it backward. The back of my skull smashed into Candyman’s face, and that was enough to cause him to release me.

CRACK!

I heard a sharp, breaking noise. I swerved around to face my opponent, only to see that my assault had broken his mask clean down the middle. In a disturbing sight, half of his mask fell off of his face, making it so his crooked, twisted features were shown. Blood dripped out of his nostrils, and from a new cut across his upper lip. His eyes were like red voids, leading nowhere. His skin was smooth, yet caked with sweat and disturbed dust. His facial structure reminded me of a heart, with his chin pointed devilishly at the bottom. His sharp face contorted, from a dangerous smile into a ragefilled frown.

“You little BITCH!”

He screamed out at me, his teeth gritting in annoyance. A long time ago, seeing his twisted face would have made me run.

Not anymore, I thought.

I charged at him, letting out a war cry as I did so. He yelled angrily at me, getting into a stance of his own. I ended up surprising him, tackling him by grabbing him around the waist ruthlessly. As I tackled him to the ground, he stood surprised for a moment. I quickly began smacking him across the face with my forearms, landing a couple to his face before he started blocking them. Suddenly, I felt my body twist and roll suddenly. It had taken me a second to realize Candyman had used his strength to roll on top of me. He started to throw a couple of punches, but I ended up successfully blocking a few. A few fists struck me in the face, however, causing more cuts and bruises to appear on my face.

Quickly, I ended up maneuvering my body so I could roll him back under me, catching him off guard again. I landed a few more punches, causing him to yell out in anger. All before -

SMACK!

A large, rough boot collided with my stomach, sending me flying back onto the floor, away from him.

“ENOUGH!”

He yelled at me, before flipping himself upright. He cracked his neck to the side, before facing me again. I got up off of the ground, facing him again.

This time, I thought, I’d let him come to me.

I raised my fists, spitting out some more blood onto the wooden platform we now stood on. With one of my hands, I beckoned to him, staring him down with a disdain that could burn a house down.

He let out a small, insane laugh. Only this time, it sounded deluded, like all sense of reality was fleeting him. The fact I wasn’t dead yet was maddening to him.

With a sudden leap, he jumped towards me, swinging a fist down. It was a sloppy move on his part, so I was able to dodge it with ease. He kept swinging, and I ended up dodging most of them. He was no longer coordinated, but instead desperate. Though, he picked up his speed, flying a barrage of fists toward me. He eventually became too fast, and the majority of them were now making contact with me.

He was fast, I thought. He was also a more experienced fighter as well. If I wanted to stand a chance against him, I was going to have to hit harder than him, and faster.

Candyman came at me again, his dreadlocks swinging with each stride be took. I focused intently, trying to match his speed. When I saw an opening, I swung my leg at his torso, kicking him back for a brief second. He growled, annoyed at the hit. I tried to kick him again, but in a surprising advance, he grabbed my leg, causing me to lose my balance on the ground. I fell onto the filthy tiles, but got up just as quickly, shaking it off.

I launched at him once I got up, attempting to land a punch to him. Thankfully, it was a success, as I watched Candyman recoil after the punch landed directly on his temple. Rage fueled him, however, as he swung back at me, yelling as he did so. His punch ended up catching me on the cheek, causing my head to whip to the side violently. We each threw punches and hits, trying to outdo the other. In the end, we stopped blocking each other's hits, only focused on making the other hurt more.

Ultimately, Candyman got the upper hand, backhanding me so hard it sent me to the floor. Landing roughly on my side, I grunted as the impact sent shockwaves through my body. Before I could get up, Candyman roughly kicked me in the stomach with enough force to send me rolling over off of the circular platform.

I winced in pain, holding my stomach as I got to my knees. Adrenaline continued to flow through me, but it was running its course. Looking over at Candyman, I saw him begin to stalk closer to me.

He spoke with a growl, his terrifyingly playful tone gone. All that was left was pure hatred.

“Play times over, bitch.”

He spat out to me. I quickly got up to one knee, using my hand for support. Just as I shifted my hand slightly, I grazed over what felt like a rusted, metal object of sorts. My focus turned to the object for a brief moment, and once I saw what it was my hopes lit up, as if it had revitalized the fight in me.

Hidden under some of the debris was a crowbar, most likely dropped by one of the clown-masked men I had fought before. Slyly, I slowly wrapped my hands around the weapon, looking back at Candyman. My chest rose and fell with each heavy breath I took. I tried to make my move subtle, in an attempt to not tip off my opponent. My face stung, feeling the blood from numerous sources stick to my skin. Sweat flowed down from my forehead, indicating the effort I had put into the entire night. My plotting eyes looked at Candyman, staring at the part of his face that was revealed. I was desperate to see any humanity left in the foe I was fighting, but I thought back to all the events I’d encountered with him. The first time we met, he killed the guards escorting me to Arkham. Then, after he was brought back to life he tried to kill me and my unlikely ally, Red Hood. Now, he had attacked his own men so he would be the one to kill me himself. All of that led me to one conclusion.

He had no humanity left in him.

Candyman saw me sitting there and began to grin ear to ear. He started to chuckle, before laughing like the psychopath he was. He was amused seeing me tired and beaten down by him. He tilted his head, his magenta locks flipping downward with him. His red eyes widened with delight, before speaking in his horrifying high-pitched voice.

“What’s wrong? Tired, are we?”

I shook my head, looking back at him.

“Just bored.”

Candyman clicked his tongue, cracking his knuckles.

“Am I not fun enough for you, Sarah?”

I smiled wryly, nodding my head slowly after hearing his words.

“You’re predictable. It was scary the first few times… But now- ”

I paused, my smile falling. I glared at Candyman, before wiping more blood from my nose with my free hand. I spoke again, staring him down with a glare.

“-Now it’s just sad. I mean, it’s the same things over and over again.”

Candyman’s smile faded, and rage once again filled those infamous bloodshot eyes. Hearing this answer from me had angered him even more. He was someone who liked being feared. Now that my fear was gone, he had nothing, and with nothing he was vulnerable and out of control.

His breath increased, seeing the fire of hate ignite in his eyes. He clenched his fists, his eyes wide with madness.

“Predictable? How about I show you predictable, you BITCH!”

I had touched a nerve, apparently, because now the neon psychopath in front of me had begun to reach into his pockets.

While he was distracted, I had leaped up within an instant, charging at him with a crowbar in my hand. Before he had a chance to blink, I screamed out a battle cry as I rushed towards him. He tried to back up, startled by my sudden movement, not even able to get a sound out. Using every ounce of strength I had in me, I swung the crowbar at Candyman’s head.

SMACK!

A loud noise echoed throughout the room, as the crowbar connected with Candyman’s head. The force was enough to knock off the rest of the maniac’s mask, the last remaining piece of the facial cover flying off of him. I watched as blood spewed from his mouth, with his head recoiling from the hit. Like a comet plummeting down to the earth, Candyman began to fall to the ground. I took a step back, looking at Candyman as he landed on his stomach with a large thud. His surprised eyes began to roll to the back of his head, indicating a loss of consciousness. I watched as his body relaxed, fading into a deep sleep. My body froze in concern, afraid I’d hit him too hard. I was put at ease, however, when I saw his back move slightly with the breath he inhaled.

I exhaled slowly, letting my body relax after the fight.

I finally beat you, I thought. I beat you, you bastard.

My body slowly shifted away from Candyman, turning towards the hostages, who stood huddled in the corner, watching the fight. Silence filled the room, all of us too stunned to speak.

I wanted to think of something to say, something that could help them get their morale up. Nothing could come out, however. The only thing on my mind was getting them out of there. Holding onto the crowbar, I slowly walked towards the group, doing everything I could to appear strong. Numbing myself to the horrors I had faced this night.

The group stood in front of the double doors but split off in half to allow me entrance.

“I-It was stuck!”

One man stuttered as he spoke up. Another woman followed his words up with her own explanation.

“W-We tried to get it open while you fought that freak! You… You were brave.”

I gave a slight smile to her as if to thank her. Looking back towards the door, I closed my eyes. Focusing on putting my energy towards opening the door, I exhaled slowly before bringing my foot back. With a strong kick, I launched my foot between the doors, using every bit of energy I had left to try to kick it in. The first kick was unsuccessful, and so was the second. With all my strength put into it, the last kick managed to do the doors in, opening roughly once the lock keeping it closed broke. A few gasps from the crowd of startled survivors erupted. Looking down the hall, I saw a filthy, abandoned hall, leading to more rooms on the side, before taking a sharp left past my field of vision. I knew I needed to lead them down this hall with their guidance, and that their freedom was within reach. I looked at their scared, but hopeful faces, speaking to them with a strong voice.

“Let’s get you guys out of here.”