The next day, Joe found it a bit hard trying to forget the day before. He was in a refuge home with other survivors. When he got the daily paper, the headline shocked him. It said, THE CLOWN PRINCE OF CRIME DEAD! A JOKER NO MORE. This answered some of his questions. Maybe the Joker was responsible for nuking Metropolis. But how did he die? Was he arrested yesterday and executed today? He asked this question to one of the survivors about this, who had just come back from visiting the police department. "Allow me to explain everything." He said. "I heard something like a rumor. The Joker had kidnapped Lois while she was pregnant and placed a trigger to her heartbeat. When the beat stopped, the trigger would be activated, thus exploding a nuclear bomb in Metropolis. Superman tried to stop him. Instead, he found himself fighting that rock monster, Doomsday. He flew up with him into deep space. However, Jokey got ahold of some fear gas and had sprayed it on Supes. So, he was only THINKING he was fighting Doomsday." "So, who was he fighting, really?" The man hesitated. "You don't want to know." "And what I WANT to know is what caused the nuke to go off." The man took a deep breath. "It was Lois." "What?!" "The one he was fighting his own wife. By the time he realized this, it was too late. By then, her heartbeat stopped." Joe then took this silence to put the pieces together. Then, he realized. "And then the nuke went off, destroying Metropolis and killing millions." He said to the man. "Yes. And earlier today, Superman was devastated. He had lost his wife, his city, and his unborn child. He flew to GCPD and killed the Joker by ripping out his heart!" Joe tried not to gag. The man continued. "I had questions about this, so I went to the department myself. The guards wouldn't let me into the cells, so I looked at the security footage. It didn't show Superman or anyone else. It was only showing live feed. The Joker's body was still there, with a gaping hole in his chest where his heart should be. So, that's proof that I didn't hear the last part as a rumor." With his questions answered, Joe then left, wondering what else would happen.
The next day, Joe had just gotten breakfast and was watching TV. He was bored as he flipped through the channels. Then, he noticed what was on the government channel. Curious, he stayed at the channel, watching the whole thing. On it was a red flag, with a white eye consisting of a red and black pupil, with double yellow rectangles behind it in the form of a triangle. The symbol was on a black circle on the flag. He then heard a microphone turn on, then someone speak. It sounded almost like Superman's voice. "Recent events have left our world in chaos." The voice said. Interested, Joe turned up the volume. "Millions died in one terrible moment. Friends, family, husbands… wives." Joe perked up. He knew all too well what that moment was. Yeah, but I wasn't one of those million people. He thought. "Some survivors have stepped forward to pick up the pieces." Joe gave an approving nod, but he wasn't so sure if looking for other survivors was "picking up the pieces". "Others have succumbed to corruption." He perked up. "And through it all, the perpetrators of that heinous crime are laughing." Joe knew that the voice was referring to the Joker. "Now, nowhere is safe, and no one is free." Joe was puzzled. Were they about to be ruled by yet another dictator?! And he thought Hitler was bad. "The criminals of this world, monsters that would gladly end your life in a heartbeat, have shown us that they do not fear punishment." Like what the Joker did to Lois. "They've shown us that incarceration will not deter them. They've shown us that no matter how long we fight, they will never contribute anything to society beyond fear and agony. They attack us, manipulate us, murder us. Again, and again and without remorse." Joe gulped. "The time has come to put an end to their reign of terror… permanently." Joe silently gasped and perked up some more. Woah, wait, what?! Wouldn't that be disrupting the balance between good and evil?! When will he realize that? "Some who oppose me you've known as heroes. They wish to hold the moral high ground at the expense of peace. I do not. They think the near destruction of our world is just another crisis for them to fix, an isolated incident. I do not. They believe that a man that has brought us to the edge of ruin simply needs rehabilitation. I do not. Instead, I believe that criminals should face consequences tantamount to their transgressions. I believe in fighting to guarantee that the millions of innocents who have already perished did not die in vain. If you believe as I do, then I ask that you join me in this fight. Follow me into a new world. A world where order thrives and criminals suffer. Where the virtuous rule and peace is absolute. Building this future will not be easy. We'll all have to make sacrifices. But our sacrifices will give us courage. Our courage will unite us. And together… we will finally and definitively save the world." Joe then turned off the TV. His head was spinning furiously. What else would happen? And when it would happen, what would he do in response? Little did he know that, he would soon find out.