A Dark Day

Death. TV makes it so dramatic. Whenever someone dies, it's always during the night, or in the middle of a storm, or in a cold place. Point is, they always seem to involve some clichéd event in one way or another.

Not so when a certain Robin died. It was a bright sunny day; in fact, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The temperature was as a summer day would be. It would make you think that all was right with the world… But since when is anything right in this world? It was as if the world didn't even care that there was a boy inside a warehouse, in the middle of nowhere, being beaten to death with a crowbar. But then again, since when does the world care about anything, having to do with anyone but itself?

The sun shining brightly, the warm air, it was an insult. It all seemed to join in with the mocking laughter of the creature that was so mercilessly beating the already broken bird before him.

Each bone crushing blow re struck already serious injuries, causing the second Robin, Jason Todd, to scream out in sheer agony. He didn't want to. Each time the metal came down, he tried to hold it in, to not give the monster the satisfaction. But it was impossible, this kind of pain could not be taken silently.

The clown stopped for a moment, grinning darkly at the sheer mess of blood that was barely even recognizable as a human being anymore.

He kneeled down to his level, and wedged his knee inside one of the gouges left from the crowbar, the pain was almost too much for Jason to bear, and he almost passed out. Almost…Though he wished that he had. Joker took him roughly by his hair, lifting his head, and turned him to face him. Causing Jason to whimper, and wince in pain from his body being moved.

"Where's your dark knight now?" He taunted in a dark tone.

"If you were really important to him, he would be here by now.."

Jason felt tears welling up inside his eyes, he tried holding them back, but it was useless. The wetness in them was undeniable.

Joker saw them and started chuckling darkly.

"Do you really think he cares anything about you? You're the weak replacement of the one who was perfect to him"

That hurt.. A lot. It was as if Joker looked inside Jason's mind and pulled out his most vulnerable thoughts that were kept hidden deep inside the back of his mind, and brought them out front row and centre.

"You know you're the lesser of the two, the second best thing to him, if even that. And now you're going to die and he doesn't even care. Not much of a mentor if you ask me… All the work you put into this job to keep him safe and he doesn't even keep you safe."

Jason wanted nothing more than to get away from him. His neck was aching from being held up, and his body was screaming in protest to the way it was being handled. And now he had to deal with all the emotional weight on top of everything else. He just wanted to die, to just be done with this pain. Why was his body being so stubborn, why wouldn't he pass out at least?

It was as if even his own body was against him, and wanted to see him suffer more.

Joker eyed him, and after a long pause continued.

"So much for love." And with that, he drove Jason's face back into the hard concrete. Stars clouded his vision, but again, his body refused to pass out. He felt his nose break, and some teeth fall out. There was not one part of his body that wasn't screaming in pain now, he gasped heavily for air and saw Joker out of the corner of his eye get up again, crowbar still in hand.

No, it couldn't be, there was no way he could take any more of this. He weakly moved his arms and legs in a pathetic attempt to crawl away. He was stopped by Joker's foot stomping down on his back, driving him back to the floor.

"Where do you think YOUR going?! He snarled, kicking him in his broken ribs, sending Jason doubling over in agony, as his body went into a violent convulsion. He was now lying on his back, facing up. When it finally stopped, Joker was looking down at him, the crowbar in hand.

"Can't have you trying to get away again, now can we?" Joker said in a dark voice, waving the crowbar at his side.

Jason's eyes pleaded with Joker to stop, he just laughed.

"Now, now… You know the rules, you do something bad, you get punished for it, and running away is not allowed here, so we have to make sure you don't try it again. Don't worry though, this is for your own good"

And with that, he smashed the crowbar straight on Jason's kneecap, breaking it. Jason screamed out in pain and grinded his teeth.

"And now the other one!" Joker howled , bringing the crowbar down on the other kneecap.

No sound even came out of Jason's mouth as he waited for the excruciating pain to subside.

Joker laughed and dropped the crowbar beside Jason. The never ending clang ringing in his throbbing head.

Joker headed over to the door of the warehouse, and opened it. Before leaving, he turned back.

"Oh fiddlesticks! I left the oven on, you won't mind turning it off, will you? Be greatly appreciated!"

With that, he let out a high pitched laughter, and slammed the door across the room. Before the door closed, Jason got a glimpse of outside. A bright sunny day.