It was a cold evening, but unusually quiet. Perhaps it was because of the height of the building they stood on. So high in the air, nothing could really reach them. It was the ideal place to be away from it all, the hustle and bustle of such a huge and most often unforgiving place as Gotham.
But that wasn't why this place was chosen. Oh no, it was chosen for one reason and one only: the ransom of a bird. Not any bird, mind you, but a very valuable one yet vulnerable one. He was the son of a bat.
The Comedian cared little if the small thing was in fact the actual son of the caped Bat; details like that were unimportant. He knew for a fact that the Bat cared for it, and that in itself created an almost untouchable value for the creature—which of course made the Comedian quite interested, naturally. It wasn't hard to acquire the Trinket that bobbed so eagerly and loyally near its master. Often trying to prove itself, the Bird would venture into the unknown…or so the Comedian was vaguely informed. As mentioned before, the only details really interesting were the ones directly about the Bat. And most times even touching the Bird was taboo, resulting in a swift beating by the Bat. "CuRiOuS", said the Hatter one evening not long ago yet a lifetime away it seemed, and soon the Comedian caught on. The Bird was the answer. The weak link in the chain of power and strength the Bat so blatantly paraded in his quest to rid their city of crime and fun. The Bat cared for the Bird. And so the most ideal way to test the Bat presented itself.
With Joker holding the small whelp of a Robin over the ledge by the collar of the Bird's garish golden cape, waiting for the Batman.
It was so very easy and clever the Comedian thought to himself. It prevented him from scratching his mind raw with ideas to have such a focus as this. And the rush was a thrill he lived for-even if it meant he would die for the feeling. It was the only feeling he really wanted to feel…but that was also a vague detail in his grand scheme of things now.
The Bat was summoned by the Comedian's Assistant. Frankly he was mildly surprised she had gotten her part right after all. She was learning well, he thought, though that was also fleeting. Everything was now focused on the Bat, and what he would do. How he would do it. This game of Gotham Roulette as it were, was never boring now that he found a player to stabilize his instability.
They stood atop that building now, wind gently pushing aside the Joker's green hair and rustling the Batman's cape. Light, even here, seemed to cling to everything but the Batman. The thought made the Joker chuckle. Robin whimpered. Joker looked down at his captive and for the first time since kidnapping the Boy Wonder, saw how truly young and innocent he must have been. But that was the price for playing the Game. And Robin was really no consequence to the Comedian, no matter how much Harley voiced to not kill him. She still had a soft spot…one he had repeatedly tried to wrench from her personality. But that didn't matter now. He smiled, his golden eyes glinting in the orange haze of Gotham's smog filled sky. Robin's eyes widened, beyond struggling for air, realizing the madness of the one who held him aloft. Any time now and he would surely pass out. That would make things simpler but less entertaining.
Batman looked intently at Joker, taking a step towards the man. He never flinched, but smiled as he ran a long bony pale finger through Robin's dark wavy hair, in mock affection. Batman's blood ran cold and yet felt like it was so hot it would melt through his very skin. An odd feeling he mused absently.
"What do you want." He asked (or rather stated gruffly) of the criminal holding his young friend dangerously near the ledge.
"I wanted to test the Bird. And the Bat." The man said simply.
"Joker. Don't do this. He's just a child!" Bruce didn't realize he had been yelling now.
"And yet he fights crime alongside his beloved Dark Knight instead of doing homework like any other normal 'child'? Oh no Batman, he's Robin. Not a child. A weapon you utilized in this War, and tonight you've lost that weapon." Joker giggled madly more with each syllable, but what unnerved Batman was that he knew the madman was completely serious.
"I swear, you do this—" Batman warned, his voice lower than ever before, full of a malice he thought was long gone from within himself.
"You'll do what? Beat me senseless? Maim me?" Joker laughed. "Throw me over too?" His thin form trembled with excitement and humor and whispered intently, "Kill me?" His eye glinted eerily at the thought uttered aloud.
Batman didn't answer.
"Let's see if this Robin can fly." Joker smiled as he spoke so very calmly these words, and then thrust the Boy Wonder over the ledge.
"ROBIN!" Batman cried, forgetting Joker as he too lunged after his little partner. But it was too late. By the time he reached the ledge, Robin was nowhere to be seen. They were so high up and surrounded by darkness or the gentle glow of city lights reflected on the clouds that nothing was seemingly real. Like a very bad dream.
Batman sunk to his knees, shaking. Robin was gone. The only friend he had in the world except for Alfred, and he had let him die at the hands of an insane criminal. Joker began laughing a raspy laughter that sent chills and fury into Batman's whole body. He spun around and attacked Joker. He drew the thin man up after a swift beating into the air, directly over the edge where Robin was held only moments before.
"You're really going to do it aren't you?" Joker choked from Batman's grip on his throat.
"Casualties in the War." Batman's voice wavered, making Joker's eyes widen.
"I've broken you…" he seemed to rasp out more to himself than to anyone. His tone sounded more disappointed than anything. "….but why…"
Batman said nothing as his grip tightened around Joker's neck. The scars around his mouth indicated a smile, though he wasn't smiling now.
"Never and always a surprise." Joker managed to say.
"I..I-I want to know… before this all ends, Joker…. WHY." Batman was losing it; his resolve, his strength, his mind. Everything was beginning to blur. But he wanted to know.
Joker smiled one last time as he stared straight into Batman's eyes. "Because…I…could."
It was a lie. They both knew it, but somehow they both accepted it as truth. Nothing made sense anymore. The Pain, the Game, the War, the Result. And it was about to end…
Joker closed his eyes to meet what he hoped would be oblivion rather than Judgment when the pressure that nearly caved in his windpipe disappeared. A rush of cool yet burning air entered his lungs and he coughed as he fell onto…the ground? That was a short fall he thought, and laughed, but it came out as suffered coughing. He reached for his neck as he opened his eyes. He blinked to see through the water that had surfaced from near asphyxiation. A silhouette came into view, backing away from him, and settling down on the hard cement as well. As his vision cleared he saw Batman sitting across from him, leaning against the ledge and staring into nothingness.
"Not killing the killer Batsy?" Joker managed to gurgle out.
"No."
"And why, pray tell?" Joker said, quite amused and surprised again.
"….because I couldn't."
Joker snorted. The irony of the parallel was not lost on even him.
"But I will. So help me I will."
Joker made a face at this…but this had turned out better than he imagined really. Until…
"Excusez-moi, monsieurs…but does this belong to you?" Said a voice, a quite beautiful voice in fact, one that probably belonged to a singer. A hand grasped the side of the ledge and the figure lifted himself upon the ledge. He had latched a rope-lasso-looking thing to help himself climb up. Joker and Batman stared dumbfounded as the man stood up, holding a small golden…Bird….
"ROBIN!?" Batman gasped and lept to the man, gently taking the limp body in his arms. The man flinched at the touch but relinquished the small form of Robin gently as well. Joker still sat there unable to believe his senses.
"Thank you…" Batman breathed as he felt Robin's heart beat against his own as he held him.
The man nodded and began to turn away when Batman stopped him.
"Who are you?"
The man hesitated. He turned back around and both Batman and Joker realized that his face was covered in a mask. A rather odd mask…as they were accustomed to the more gaudy and extravagant in Gotham. But this one was rather plain, white and unobtrusive. A lock of brown hair fell from the man's long, haunted yet warm face. He was thin, thinner than Joker, and tall.
"…Erik." He whispered, before dashing off the ledge seemingly to his fate. Batman rushed to the edge, but saw nothing once again. He'd lock away this meeting for further thought later. Robin's breathing evened, but he was out cold. Batman pressed a button on his belt that would signal the Police, more specifically Gordon. He then sat down again.
"What a waste. An experiment gone to moot." Joker said after a moment. Batman had almost forgotten he was still there.
"It would have cost you your life." Batman said, not looking at the villain who made no attempt to escape. Most likely he was in no condition to…bruises were forming around his throat and his hands trembled. But he had that mad grin back on his pale face.
"No, it wouldn't have. I know that now…so the experiment wasn't a complete loss." Joker smiled, not looking at Batman either. Sirens faintly sounded in the distance, and were getting closer.
"You can't kill me because of those Morals of yours; I can't kill you because you're so fun."
Batman glowered.
"Oh if only angels could prevail, we'd be the way we once were…" Joker sighed, leaning his head back, taking in the breeze of his last moments of freedom.
Batman thought this an odd turn of conversation, even for Joker. Robin murmured, gaining consciousness. He didn't have time for this though. He was still mad. Very mad.
"You're right, I wouldn't have." Batman conceded, standing up. Joker didn't open his now closed eyes.
"Because in that moment…That moment of completed hatred and anger…I'd become you." And with a whoosh of his cape he was gone.
Joker began to laugh, and a very beautiful barn own fluttered by…leaving an odd sort of glitter behind in its wake.