Chapter 6
I honestly didn't care for last chapter. I honestly think it might've been my weakest chapter so far in this story. Which sucks, because Damian died and it should've been the greatest chapter I've ever written. I think I was kinda just trying to get the chapter out and rushed it. I'm just so buys with so many things right now that it's kinda hard to find the time to write, but I am seriously trying. With that in mind, it's announcement time:
After this arc, I'm taking a small break from this series. It won't last forever, just until I'm in a place that I can get these chapters out in a better quality and on time. This might be one of my best written series so far and I really want it to be good. I know I'm only on the sixth chapter so this is really soon to be taking a break, but there it is. And I will be back don't worry. The way I end this arc…there will be more chapters, I promise (unless I suddenly died or something).
Anyway, thanks to filliis for reviewing. Thanks, I'm glad you're enjoying this.
Thanks to septarsenior for reviewing. Yeah, the lemon was me really just trying something new as I had never done one before (it was actually really akward to write) and I've noticed some other people mentioning that it wasn't the best. Lemons are something that will probably happen again (hopefully they'll be better as I do more) but they won't be frequent. I don't want this story to end up being a softcore porn thing.
And thanks to fan girl 666 for reviewing. Yeah, I'm glad you enjoyed my nerdy Easter eggs I've sprinkled around here and there. As for what happen next, well here we are.
Jason sat across the street on a nearby rooftop, looking at the warehouse.
So this is where Bruce died…., Jason thought, looking at the rundown warehouse which was on the verge of falling apart. Even Bruce deserved better than this.
So did Damian. It dawned on him that the last member of the Wayne family died tonight, bringing an end to the philanthropic billionaires. This would probably have an effect on Gotham City in the months and even years to come. But none of that mattered.
The Joker was gonna die tonight.
He had already decided. He was never meant to be Batman. It was never going to work. He would kill Joker then disappear. Maybe start up the Outlaws again. He wondered what Roy and Kori were up to. Maybe he could use the Batmobile to get out of Gotham. No, they could track it. Maybe…
"So you made the same conclusion I made, huh?" a voice came up behind him.
Goddammit. God fucking dammit!
Jason turned around to see Batgirl landing behind him.
"I figured this would be the one place in Gotham Joker could be," she said as she knelled beside him. "Where's Damian? Recuperating in the Batcave?"
"Stop talking."
"What's your….oh God. Jason, is he…?"
Jason lowered his head. He didn't want to think about this. He couldn't.
"Poor Damian…," Batgirl said under her breath. "Where's his body?"
"There isn't one."
"God….," Batgirl said. "So, what's the plan?"
"The plan is you get the hell out of here," Jason said. "This is between me and him."
"If you think I'm going to just walk away after what he did to Damian…"
"I'm not asking you to walk away," Jason said. "I'm telling you."
"You're 'telling' me? You can't tell me to do shit. You're not Bruce."
"I know that."
"Glad we agree on something," Batgirl said. "So I'm staying. Besides, I have to make sure you don't do anything you'll regret."
"I promise you, I won't."
"Hm," Batgirl shook her head. "So how do you wanna handle this? Stealthy, charge in, what?"
"There's nobody else here."
"What?"
"There's nobody else in the area," Jason explained. "No guards, no enforcers, no villains, he's just sitting there in the middle of the warehouse with that big damn smile on his face."
"How long have you been here?"
"Long enough," Jason said. "I keep…I'm waiting on him to do something. Anything. But he just…sits there. Smiling."
"This is the Joker we're talking about," Batgirl said. "He probably has some trap set up. Some kind of plan."
"You think I don't know that?"
"Then we go in through the front door," said Batgirl, ignoring that remark.
"What?"
"Joker loves theatrics. If we go in through some other entry, he'll have something there waiting. If we go through the front…"
Batman jumped from the roof and expanded his wings, gliding into the front door, not waiting for Batgirl to finish. As he walked into the warehouse, he noticed different things. The first thing he noticed was the barren shape of the warehouse. There was literally nothing there, other than the Joker sitting in the middle of the room. The second thing he noticed was the smell. It smelled….nice. Like the place had been set up for some event or party. And lastly, the Joker was sitting there in the middle of the warehouse at a table with a chair across from it.
"Ah, Batsy! So nice of you to join the party!" The Joker said, motioning for Batman to sit down at the table across from him.
Jason was ready to tackle him right this moment. But he sat. The Joker was going to die tonight. Might as well see what his final joke was.
"Batman!" the voice of Batgirl rang out as Batman turned to see he gliding towards the door. Before she could come through, the doors slammed shut.
"Nah ah ah," Joker said. "Two's company."
The Joker reached under the table and Jason grabbed a batarang from his belt, before Joker sat back up, draping a pink curtain over the table, then taking out a large cake and placing it on top. The cake….was blank. Just white frosting.
"A cake?" Batman asked.
"Don't you worry about it Bats, I didn't steal it," said the Joker as he took a small knife from his pocket and started cutting the cake. "The tip I gave the waitress was killer!"
Batman grimaced.
"What's the cake for?" Batman asked.
"For celebrating, of course!" Joker exclaimed. "I've finally won!"
"What?"
"I mean, you're going to kill me right?" Joker said. Batman didn't respond. For once, Joker stopped smiling. "I'm insane, not crazy. You're not the real Batman."
Jason cringed hearing The Joker say what he had been thinking to himself all along.
"No no no, he's dead. And you…well, you're definitely not as funny as him, but you have been entertaining at least. You're a lot less….reserved than he was. Making a deal with Black Mask to save some random woman, now that was surprising! Who knows what he'll have you do!"
"You said that you finally won," Jason interrupted, not wanting to hear anymore. "What did you mean?"
"You sure you don't want any of this cake, old sport?"
"No."
"No, as in you're not sure, or no as in…"
"No."
"Hm, well you certainly have the same disposition," Joker shrugged as he continued to eat his cake. "What I meant to say was, the last Batman, the real one, he was incorruptible to the end, and I loved him for it. After all was said and done, I never broke him, not how I wanted to at least. I never got him to take a life. To kill me. I think that's what upset me the most about his passing. The joke was over, before it ever got to the punchline. But you on the other hand…ahahaha…"
Joker leaned in just a few inches from Batman's face. "…you're corruptible."
Joker leaned back in his seat. "Or, at least, you already are. So, it won't be as fun as if he had done it, but getting someone he trusted with his mantle to do it, well maybe I'll be able to die in peace."
"And if I don't kill you?"
"Then I'll kill them all."
"Who?"
"All of them. All of Batman's little distractions. First, I'll kill that girl you were so stressed out about. Isabel was it? Then, I'll kill that Dick Grayson fellow. Assuming you're not him, but I don't think you are. Then I'll kill Commissioner Gordon and his little bat-daughter too."
"You…how did…?"
"Really?" Joker asked, chuckling. "I shot that little red-headed girl in the spine and Batgirl disappears. Batgirly comes back, and the Commissioner's daughter makes a miraculous recovery and walks again. What do you think I am, crazy?!"
Batman sat there for a moment. Then, he reached up to his helmet.
"Before I do this," Batman said as he began to lift the red helmet from his head. "I want you to see something."
Jason placed the hood on the table to the side of him, and looked the Joker in the eye.
"Do you know who I am?"
"Um…no," Joker said. "Should I?"
"You bastard…"
"Let me guess, you're someone I wronged, or I killed your parents or something…"
"You killed me, you bastard!" Jason yelled. "You killed me!"
The Joker looked again Jason's face but still came up with nothing.
"You'll have to be more specific deary, I've killed a lot of people."
"I'm Robin!" Jason said. "I'm the Robin you killed!"
"Which one?"
Jason punched The Joker in the face, sending him flying across the room.
"Allow me," Jason said as he pulled something from his belt, revealing a crowbar. "To refresh your memory."
"Ah!" Joker smiled. "You're that boy who stole my old name! You tried to kill Batman once! And he let you be the new Batman?!"
"Shut up!"
Jason began to beat Joker with the crowbar repeatedly. The Joker made no sounds, not even a grunt. He just…kept laughing.
"Stop laughing!" Jason demanded as he continued to clobber Joker with the crowbar.
Eventually he stopped. He stood over Joker, who was on all but dead, coughing on his own blood. But under his breathe he still chuckled.
"D..do it," Joker said, coughing. "Finish me."
Jason picked Joker by his collar and aimed his wrist at him as a tiny bullet canister came up. He had lied to Alfred. He had put a few real bullets in there.
"My my," Joker said. "You really are a different Batman aren't you? Heh heh heh heh…"
There was an explosion, as the doors to the warehouse flew off their hinges and a voice rang out.
"Batman!" Batgirl said as she ran inside. "Are you…?"
"Dammit, these brats ruin everything!" Joker exclaimed in anger.
"Jason, what've you done?"
"Doing what he never could," Jason said. "He knows who we are, Barbara. You, Dick, Tim, he's always known."
"He won't tell anybody Jason," Barbara calmly said as she slowly made her way over to Jason. "He hasn't told any…"
"Oh, I will," Joker stated bluntly. "After I kill you all, that is."
"And if he tells, we'll deal with it. You can't..you can't let him win.."
"Don't listen to her Jason ol' buddy ol' pal," Joker said. "You know better than everyone that I'm as good as my word. So how about you kill me and you can all go home, eh?"
"Jason, you…you can't kill him. You won't," Barbara said. "You're Batman now. Bruce trusted you to be better than you were before. He trusted you to be the symbol, the hero Gotham…"
BLAM!
"Sorry to have to break it to you, Barbie," Jason said as The Joke's body slumped to the floor, blood pouring form the top of his head. "But I'm not a hero."
"You bastard!" Batgirl yelled as she slammed Jason punched Jason in the nose, no doubt breaking it, and slamming him into the wall. "You killed him with the bat on your chest!"
Jason didn't fight back as Batgirl delivered numerous punches to his unprotected face.
"We trusted you! Bruce trusted you!"
"And where did that get anyone, Barbie?" Jason asked. "Where did that get Damian?"
"Don't call me that!" Batgirl yelled.
Jason grabbed Batgirl's hand, stopping the flurry of unfocused punches.
"How's your spine?"
"What?"
"Does it still have a scar?"
"What're you..?"
"Barbara, are you telling me that after everything he's done, to us, to Bruce, that you've never thought about killing him?"
"Thinking about something and actually doing it are two completely different things."
"I know. And I'm not saying that I'm right or you're wrong. I'm saying that it's over. It's done. I'm going to walk out of here, and I'm going to leave Gotham forever. Tell Dick and Tim whatever you want. I'll never bother you again."
Jason moved her aside and began to walk towards the door, making sure to step on Joker's smiling corpse as he does.
"...wait," Barbara said.
"I won't let you arrest me, Barbara."
"You're not running away."
"What?"
"You're going to stay here, and you're going to be Batman, and you're going to never do something like this again."
"Wow. You're crazier than the Joke if you think…"
"We'll keep this between us, for now. We'll say he took his own life once he found out you weren't Bruce," Barbara walked by Jason towards the door. "But just know, I will be watching you like a hawk. If you ever kill anyone again, I don't care who, or if you ever cross a line, I will take you down hard. And I'll be sure to damage you beyond repair."
Batgirl walked towards the door and turned around toward Jason.
"See you in the Cave, Jason."
And with that, she pulled out her grappling hook and zipped away. Jason just stood there.
He had a lot to think about.
"Whoa. This is…this is incredible," Spoiler said as she walked around the Batcave, taking in all the sights. She seemed particularly fixed on the giant penny.
"Welcome to the Batcave, Spoiler." Batman said as he walked out, dressed in his full costume.
"Thanks but…why am I here?" Spoiler asked.
Batman motioned for her to follow him as he walked deeper into the Cave.
"Let's just put all our cards on the table, Stephanie."
"Wh..what? How did you…?!"
"I'm Batman," Batman said, turning to her. "I knew you were the second you touched the Batmobile."
"But my gloves…" She started before meeting his eyes. "Right. You're Batman."
"Just to make everything fair though," Batman said as he reached for his helmet.
"Oh my god, what're you…?" she started before Batman took off his mask revealing a man with black hair and greenish-blue eyes.
"My name is Jason Todd," the man said. "And I…I'm Batman."
"Oh oh man…, this is too much," Stephanie said. "M..my friend Harper is huge Batman fan-girl and we made a bet and she said she was sure he was Bruce Wayne and now she owes me twenty bucks but I can't get the money because that'd be telling and.."
"Stephanie, slow down," Jason said, shaking his head. This would be harder than he thought. "You know that you can never tell anyone this secret, right?"
"Y..yeah, of course," Stephanie said, meaning it. "I know that much."
"Here's something you didn't know," Jason said. "I only became Batman recently. Bruce Wayne has been Batman since the beginning."
"Ahhhhhh, wait does that mean I owe Harper twenty dollars, or does she owe…do we owe each other…?"
"Will you forget about your bet?!"
"Right. Sorry, sir. Mr. Batman-sir."
"Don't call me sir."
"Alright, Mr. -"
"Just call me Jason for God's sake."
"Right. Sorry, I'm, uh, normally not like this, but I'm really freaking out with this huge influx of information and…."
"I understand that," Jason said. "I was similar when I found out."
Jason and Stephanie walked into a hall with many cases holding different suits. Two of them were Robin costumes, one bigger than the other, and one was the classic black and gray Batman costume.
"This…is a memorial," Jason said. "This is where we honor the members of the family who..who aren't here anymore."
She looked at the Robin costume that was smaller than the other one. This looked like it belonged to kid younger than her. Jason motioned for her to walk over to the bigger Robin memorial.
"This one…is mine," Jason said.
"What?" Stephanie asked, confused.
"I was Robin. The second one. And…I…I didn't make it. I died."
"You..?"
"But I came back. I came back as someone I'm not entirely proud of…"
Jason looked at the Batman costume in the memorial.
"And when Batman…when Bruce died, he trusted the Batman legacy…the mantle to me. I'll never understand why. But he did. But…because of what happened to me when I was Robin…I didn't want to take that chance. I didn't want it to be my fault if another kid ever died."
Jason looked over to the smaller Robin case, tears welling up in his eyes.
"But…I failed. And I keep thinking, maybe if I was there, maybe if I didn't push him away so that I could feel secure, maybe he'd still be here. That…that will haunt me until I die. Again."
Jason finally turns to Stephanie.
"And then I see you in the streets, beating up street thugs, not knowing what you were in for. Not knowing the true horrors of humanity, of Gotham. And I think..I hope that if I help you the way I should've helped Damian, then maybe..maybe I'll be able to redeem myself."
"What…what are you saying?" Stephanie asked.
"Stephanie…"
Stephanie stood directly in front of the Robin memorial where she could see her reflection in the case, as the Robin uniform appeared to be over her current clothes.
"I have an offer for you."