It had been a long night and it was just about to get longer. Nightwing's body hits the ground with a mighty thud. "Maybe I should get a new hobby", he muttered to himself. Crime fighting has always taken a toll on his body, even when he was fighting beside Batman in his Robin days. He grabs his escrima stick and tries to stand. "Come on Grayson, get up, you've had worse", He said gritting his teeth. As he got to his feet, he looked around at the destruction. The bridge was covered in fire and smoke, filling the air with ash. Fighting the Joker was never a walk in the park.
He stands his ground ready for anything. He heard a familiar cackle beyond the smoke and rubble. "Haven't you had enough for one night, you destroyed nearly the whole bridge, for God's sake!", he shouted. The laughter stopped, Dick stands still waiting for something to happen. A lanky figure slowly emerged from the chaos. The joker stops ,"Patience, my dear boy. The fun is only beginning!", he said with a maniacal grin. Another figure appeared through the smoke, he assumed it was Harley coming to aid her "Mr. J". She was, carrying her mallet and wearing her usual harlequin attire. "Don't kill him without me, puddin'", She exclaimed with her shrill voice, "I wanna watch!". He smiled even wider reaching a hand in his jacket pocket, pulling out a detonator, "Anything for you, darling", he replied pushing the button.
Boom! Nightwing flies forward landing stomach first on the ground in front of Joker's feet. Joker laughed and kicked Dick in the ribs, making him double over in pain. "Harley, do daddy a favor and go get his crowbar", He said in a pleasant tone. "Yes, sir", she replied as she joyfully skipped away. "While we wait for her, lets have a little fun", He smiled as he kicked him a second, third, and forth time. Dick grunted in pain after each blow. He looks up to see Harley running over with a crowbar, "Here ya go sweetie", she squealed with delight handing it to him. "Thank you, my dear. Now the real fun begins", He cackled bringing the crowbar down on Nightwing's back. He screams in agony,"Damn it". Joker growled, "Didn't your parents teach you not to swear in front of a lady", bringing the crowbar down several more times. Dick's eye filled with tears, his body ached, he didn't know how much more he could take.
Joker brings the crowbar down, Dick rolled away before it hit him. He scrambled to his feet, as badly as it hurt, he had no choice. Joker ran to hit him, but Nightwing grabbed it and pulled it out of his hand, smacking joker in the leg. He collapses, Harley screams running at Dick with her mallet, ready to strike. He moved quickly, tripping her as she misses him by a hair. Without time to react Joker jumps on his back, strangling him. Dick tries to throw him off his back, no good. He had a tight grip around his throat. He started to get light headed, he backed up. Not realizing they were close the edge of the bridge, he falls to the ground. Joker releases and tumbles off the edge. Harley screams, Dick jumps after him, he hits the water.
The water was dark, the fires from the bridge reflected off the surface like a mirror. Despite the darkness, Dick dived deep into the blackened water hoping to find him. He searched everywhere, but there was no sign of the Joker. Nightwing gets back to the bridge to find Harley on her knees crying. "I'm sorry, Harley, I tried to save him. I was too late", he said sympathetically. "Yeah, I bet you did" , she snapped, " You don't care if he lives, you did this to poor Mr. J. He's gone and it's all your fault". These words cut him like a knife. As evil as Joker was, he never wanted this to happen, especially to her. He stood there thinking about what happened, at least Joker wouldn't be hurting anyone anymore. It was a good thing he was gone, but what about Harley? What will she do now that he is gone? Joker's thugs would never take her seriously and she can't go back to her old job. It's not a secret that Joker was one of her patients at Arkham Asylum. Dick felt bad for her, he took away one of the things she loved. It pained him to see her upset, he kneels in front of her and wipes her tears. She punches him in the jaw. "Don't you lay a hand on me", she screamed as she got up and ran away. He understood, she probably hated him. I never wanted anything like this to happen he thought, I never thought all this would go this way. He turned around and walked slowly to his motorcycle. It was time to go home, he had a rough night.