"'Come to Gotham', he said. 'It'll be fun', he said." Raven muttered darkly as she looked to the filthy streets around herself. It certainly was no Jump City, that was for sure.

She scanned the rooftops for any sign of her quarry, remembering what Robin had told her. Apparently Batgirl, Barbara Gordon, had gone missing a few days ago; which coincided with a new wave of crimes from Harley Quinn and a mysterious partner. So, if she found Harley, she'd probably find her next lead.

A hint of a smile tugged at the corners of Raven's mouth as she heard the sound of obnoxiously loud talking, recognizing the voice easily. "Well, at least this will be quick." She muttered, vanishing into the shadows and reappearing in the alleyway behind the voices.

"And I'm tellin' ya, we'd have had 'im if you'd just let me dip him in the acid!" Harley whined loudly, shaking her head.

"And *I'm* tellin' you, he didn't know anythin'! It's better we keep a tamed rat than drown it, right?" Her new cohort chirped loudly, and Raven leaned out from her cover to take a look at the woman.

She was a redheaded beauty with a mask that reminded Raven distinctly of Robin. That was where the similarities ended, however. Her nose sported a red ball and her face was painted a stark white, just like Harley's. She had pink hearts on each of her cheeks, and her lips were painted a bright blue, which harmonized with her outfit perfectly.

Speaking of, she was wearing what looked to be a matching blue-and-white leotard and baggy clown pants, with a baggy leather jacket over her leotard. All of this was completed with an bulky belt that looked oddly familiar.

Raven blinked in surprise as she recognized it for what it was: a utility belt. Then she noticed that the two had stopped talking, and she flinched back as a throwing knife thudded into the wall beside her head.

"Aw, dang. My aim's a little off." The strange woman smirked, her arm extended from the attack. Then she flicked her hand up, and a grappling line of tied handkerchiefs shot out from her jacket, wrapping around Raven and pulling her into the light.

"Wow! Still not sure if I like that jacket's style, but I LOVE its tricks!" Harley chirped happily, bringing out her hammer and lifting it over her head. "And as for you... Time for lights out!"

Raven glowered and summoned a magical shield behind her head, letting the hammer bounce off of the barrier as surely as if it had struck steel. Her next move was to blow the bindings from her body with a wave of arcane force, bringing the knotted cloths under her control to snare the two.

Her motion stalled itself as she finally recognized Harley's new accomplice, and Raven couldn't help but gasp. "B-Batgirl?"

That seemed to have a reaction on the woman, who glared at her intensely. "Not anymore. The name's Barbie now." With that, she deployed a collapsible pie from her belt, expanding it to its full form and splatting Raven in the face.

Raven staggered back in confusion, trying to wipe the pie from her face with her telekinetic powers. Much to her surprise, nothing happened, and she froze in shock at the realization that her magic had just been dispelled.

"Whoops." Barbie smirked, reaching into her jacket and pulling out a set of spiral-designed leather balls. "Looks like our little Boy Wonder forgot to tell you that the Bat made tools to take down all of you superpowered kiddies."

"Do your worst." Raven glared, letting the woman's words wash over her like water. All she had to do was just bide her time, and then her powers would be active again... Hopefully. If she could get them back up, it wouldn't take much effort at all to take out these two literal clowns.

All she had to do was just last a few rounds in the world's least-fair fight. Raven grit her teeth and braced for Barbie to start tossing the balls at her, but to her surprise, the woman began to juggle them instead.

"Her? Really?" Harley pursed her lips, pouting at Barbie with a glare on her face. "Don't you think that we could have picked someone a little... Friendlier?"

"That's what these are for." Barbie replied coolly, tossing the balls from hand to hand with a smile on her face, ensnaring Raven's attention. "And don't remind me it's my first time usin' these, darlin'." She called off-handedly.

"Wouldn't dream of it." Harley said with a wink, chuckling at Raven. "I think it's really workin', sweetie!"

Raven hadn't noticed that she'd been watching the two talk with a slack jaw and glassy eyes. She hurriedly blushed and wiped the drool from her cheeks, though she still didn't keep her eyes off of the balls.

It felt strangely good to look at the round leather spirals, watching them spin in circle after circle. She'd been hypnotized before, but this was nothing like that; this was a strange warm blankness that seemed to spread its way through her entire form, relaxing her instead of setting her on edge like hypnosis usually did.

Somehow, it was like the added entertainment of the juggled balls was letting her relax in a way that she'd never felt before, her mind easily accepting the swirls and entering a pleasant state of hypnotic trance.

Worries, concerns, and even thoughts began to slip through Raven's mind. It was like her very being was ice, and it was slowly being melted through a sieve by the warm breath of hypnosis. Her eyelids fluttered as she found herself becoming increasingly open to suggestion, and she looked to Barbie eagerly as the woman nodded.

"I think she's stewed just enough... Care to take a crack at her?" Barbie looked to Harley with a smile, still juggling.

"Oh, if you insist." The woman chuckled, looking towards their victim with a grin. She cleared her throat, then began to speak in the voice of her old profession. "Hello, dearie. Just relax, everything will be fine. Today we're going to rehabilitate you, is that okay?"

Raven blinked in surprise at that, never having realized that Harley could speak that way. It was oddly comforting to her, and she shifted from side to side with a slow nod, utterly captivated by the spinning balls before herself.

"That a girl. Now, we're going to need you to come to the biggest realization of your life. We're going to realize that it's good to be bad." Harley spoke calmly and assuringly, smiling at the superheroine.

Raven nodded, absently relaxing her hold on her innate powers and smiling wickedly as she began to feel demonic influence run through herself. The two women in the alley beside her looked at one another uneasily as loose objects began to levitate, and Harley arched an eyebrow.

"Um... Raven? Are you feeling okay?"

Raven's eyes glazed over to be a pitch-black as she smiled wickedly, reveling in her might. Then Barbie pulled out another ball and switched her style, juggling three in each hand, holding one hand before each of the witch's eyes.

Immediately all thought drained from Raven's mind, and Barbie sighed with relief. "You probably didn't know this, but she's kinda the daughter of some demon-thing..."

"Thanks for the warning." Harley drawled, sighing. "What do we do with her now?"

"Well, we know that my little juggling act works..." Barbie looked deep into Raven's eyes, smiling as the demonic black slowly drained from her sclera. "So I say that I just go all the way here. Raven, can you hear me?"

Raven nodded slowly, her mind utterly drained by those mesmerizing orbs. She felt too empty inside to do anything else; and could only giggle anxiously, wondering what Barbie would tell her next.

"Good. Raven, I want you to think of what you'd be like if you were a part of our Terrible Troupe, okay? You're not some psycho monstergirl, you're one of us, okay? You're gonna erase every thought of the old you from your head, and replace it with somethin' new."

Raven nodded, shuddering slightly as her brain rebooted. Then she blinked eagerly, looking to her comrades eagerly. "Like, howdy! What're y'all lookin' at me like that for?"

Barbie pursed her lips as she caught the balls. "I... I don't know whether or not to be insulted."

"At least it's kinda cute." Harley sighed, thumping her hammer to the ground and leaning forward on it to inspect the brainwashed Raven.

The girl in question simply giggled and rocked back and forth on her heels, thinking of herself as nothing more than a dumb clown. Her old self's innate pessimism had turned against her, leaving her in a perpetually stupefied state and unintentionally making her the perfect henchgirl for the troupe.

Still, there was one thing missing...

Barbie was the first to realize it, clicking her fingers and tutting. "Aw, damn it." She frowned as she spoke, looking back to Harley with nothing but exasperation. "We don't have a name for her, do we darlin'?"

"Hey, don't look at me, doll face! I can't be the brains all the time! Besides, ain't you supposed to be the one who knows her secret identity?" The red-and-white clad woman frowned, lounging on her hammer idly.

"Yeah, but she chose it herself; it's not her real name! And what can I do with 'Rachel Roth', anyways?" Barbie stuck out her tongue, looking back to Raven curiously. "How 'bout you? You got any ideas?"

Raven stood at attention, not having expected to be put on the spot like this. She hurriedly tapped her foot against the ground; then clicked her fingers with inspiration. "Gosh, y'all're puttin' me on the spot! I think that'cha'll gave me a hell of an accent, so why don't we work with that?"

Both Harley and Barbie's eyes lit up at that, and they turned to one another in unison. "Rayvin Rodie!" They beamed, clapping their hands at the idea.

"Um. Beggin' pardon, but 'Rodie'?" Rayvin tilted her head to the right, already liking the sound of her new name. It was a lot like her old one, and thus was easy to remember.

"Like a rodeo clown, duh." Harley laughed, kicking her hammer up and hefting it over her shoulder.

"It's a theme thing." Barbie nodded in agreement, looking back to Harley eagerly. "So, what store are we gonna rob to make her official? She's gonna need some new clothes, right?"

Rayvin perked up at that, looking down to her old hooded costume with distaste. Then she remembered a shop from the night before and beamed happily. "I think I know a place where we can get me some fixin's!"

xXx

The Wild West Wearhouse's alarm blared loudly as Harley and Barbie lounged by its entrance, wondering how long it could take a girl to possibly get dressed.

"Ya know, I think we coulda made her a little smarter..." Harley sighed, tapping her large hammer gently against her foot.

Barbie shrugged, giving her partner a languid grin. "And here I thought you liked us being the brains of the operation. Besides, a girl like me's the jealous type... I might not like a little competition."

"Aw, go on. Yer makin' me blush." Harley sniggered, leaning in a little closer to her friend.

Before they could take things any further, the shop's owner flew out from the doorway with a yelp and a thud, and the two rogues looked back to the shop. The sound of clicking spurs heralded their new teammate, and both of them grinned as a much more appropriately-dressed Rayvin stepped out to meet them.

She was wearing a pair of jeans that were somehow magically stretched to be as balloony as rodeo pants, with red pinstripes running down their blue length. It clung to her chest tightly thanks to a set of blue suspenders, which raced along her red-and-black checkered shirt. She sported a white vest over that, and she also had an oversized cowgirl hat tied tightly to her head.

Both women beamed with delight as they saw she'd attached their symbol not only to her hat, but also to her jacket; as though it was a sheriff's star.

"Well shucks, stop starin' at me and tell me whatcha think!" Rayvin grinned happily, bouncing from foot to foot lightly and jangling her spurs as she did.

"I think you're dressed to paint the town red!" Harley giggled happily, turning on her heel and pointing to the docks. "And speakin' of, I bet Mr. J's gone off and hid in one of his old safehouses! Why don't us girls pay him a visit?"