"Is he absolutely sure it's the Joker? This is Bruce Wayne we're talking about." Commissioner Loeb said as sped towards Wayne Enterprises in his patrol car.
"Yes, sir. The secretary who called said that Wayne was dead serious and the station is getting reports of gunshots high above the building. The Joker's there somehow." Officer Renee Montoya replied through the radio as she drove behind the commissioner.
"Shit. I want everyone on the early morning shift. I'm not letting that freak kill anyone else." Loeb said, running past a red light as he saw the WE skyscraper in sight.
"Sir. Will we have enough room to detain them at the shelter? What if he has too many men?" Officer Montoya asked.
"We'll have more. I don't care what it takes, Officer. No one else is dying on my watch besides maybe him and the Batman. I'm sick of this shit."
"Where are the bombs, Joker? Does Firefly have the detonator?" Batman growled, knocking Joker to the ground and letting him fly into the bookcase nearby.
Batman ran towards Lucius as the men screamed and swung at nothing, untying him and holding him to the ground.
"Run straight, hold your left fist out, and scream for my name until you get down there. Tell them that Bruce Wayne is being held hostage. Go!" Batman said quietly, shoving Lucius up and seeing his shadow in the near pitch-black room.
Lucius screamed loudly and held his fist out, connecting against a Clown's chest and knocking him to the ground. He kept yelling Bruce's name as he headed to the elevator and the Clowns fired shots again. Batman grabbed the swivel chair and tossed the heavy object at the Clowns. Two Clowns went down hard as the cold metal slammed against them. Batman elbowed one of the goons in the chin and he flew high in the air, highlighted by another orange blast. Batman growled in frustration and avoided a punch as the lights came back on and the windows guards began to roll back up. Batman knocked out a man with one punch to the jaw and he turned around, watching as the Joker fired from his sleeve pistols and bullets dotted the wall behind the vigilante.
"I have the detonator! I want to make a deal! I know the cops will come shortly!" Joker yelled loudly, shooting the rest of his men in the head and letting the room become silent as Batman froze in a fighting stance.
Batman saw the blood splatter all over Joker's purple trenchcoat and the walls all around, stopping when Joker reloaded one of the pistols and clicked the firing slide into place. He took a deep breath and stood differently from how he had seen Bruce Wayne move around. Lucius was smart. He had taken Bruce's clothes with him, not leaving a single clue as to where Bruce had gone.
"What's your deal? And where's Wayne?" Batman asked, raising his fist.
"Stop the act for God's sake. How else could you be here? It's an awfully weird coincidence." Joker said, keeping his gun raised between Batman's eyes.
"I got the call and I know this city better than anyone. I have connections. Now before I utterly break you... what's your deal?" Batman grumbled.
"You... let... me go." Joker said quietly, lowering his pistol and clearing his throat as he watched his henchmens' blood collect under their heads.
"In your dreams!" Batman yelled, running at Joker but being blocked by a powerful throw.
Batman nearly lost his footing and turned around, swinging his arms down and being met with a headbutt by the Joker. Batman felt dizzy as he knew he was only wearing the non-padded cowl and watched the Joker shake his head like a wet dog and yell loudly in excitement. He put Batman in a headlock and punched him in his wounded shoulder as hard as he could. Batman groaned loudly and threw the Joker over his head, letting the crazed killer slam into Lucius' desk. Batman threw a punch but was blocked by Joker's left leg. Joker punched his enemy hard in the chest dozens of times, slobbering in menace as he cracked a rib and broke one of Batman's fingers. He gave a painful chuckle as he grabbed one of the dead Clowns' SMGs and pointed it against Batman's cowl hood.
"I must be asleep then." Joker said, giving a bloody smile.
Batman didn't even move, knowing his head would be blown off if he made another action. Joker caressed the trigger in an irritating way and stared in Batman's eyes.
"Let me tell you how it's going to be. You will let me go. You will meet me at a location that I decide. And we will talk in private since Mr. Fox and... Mr. Wayne disappeared. What a shame. I really thought the story was going to end here. Oh well."
Batman shook his head in non-agreement and watched as Joker pull down on the trigger, feeling the inside workings of the sub-machine gun began to turn and grind. He grit his teeth and sighed in anticipation.
"What do you say, hero? Make a deal?"
"I am not a hero." Batman replied, eyeing the barrel against his head.
"Oh, don't even give me that. You can't help yourself! All your life you've wanted to help people and no matter how hard you try... you fail. But yet, you still want to fight and win. That's shows who you really are, Bats. You're more than what you want yourself to be. Face it. You're a hero and I'm your villain. It's the way things have to be." Joker replied, putting the hero in a headlock and making him look at the dead Clowns.
"I'm not negotiating with a sociopath! Never!" Batman yelled, shaking with anger and resistance.
"But you have to. Unless you want all the people in this building to die. Sure... there's only about a dozen employees, a secretary that might live anyways, and about four illegal aliens posing as janitors but to you, a life is a life. I know your secret, Batman. You... won't... kill." he continued, whispering the last three words.
"You don't know me." Batman growled.
"Oh, but I do. I know you're angry. You hate yourself for ruining your life. And now, the only way you can redeem yourself is by fighting crime and saving this city from its inescapable doom. You're not a hard person to understand. You're a simpleton posing as an intellectual. You know you won't let these people die if you can stop it. We both know." Joker said.
"I can't let you go free. I won't!" Batman yelled, trying to move before Joker hit the back of his head with the SMG and he ran to the door, holding the small detonator above his head.
"Choose. I can't be let free... so let me push the button and we all go. Or... you let me go and I don't kill another soul. Tonight, we will meet at a place of my choosing and I will allow you to arrest me. Choose." Joker said, rubbing his finger over the button.
"What's the point?" Batman asked, standing up slowly and trying to find a way to get him unarmed.
"Oh, you'll see. Now choose. Die a hero or live as a criminal. Who are you on the inside? Hm?" Joker asked, slowly walking to the door.
Batman was about to move before he realized every option he visualized ended up with death and destruction. The Joker was going to win if he made a move. He had to let this deranged psychopath go in order to save Lucius, the employees, and the police in the building. The Joker may have been insane but his perception was correct; there was no way in hell he was going to let these people die. He knew the risks. Joker could simply lie and kill every person on the city block as soon as he left but he had no other choice. It would give him time to plan his revenge on the clown. He would take the Joker down and make sure he never hurt another soul again. Whether he received the death penalty or was committed to a psychiatric ward for the rest of his life, Joker would never be able to cause chaos again. It was a horrifying risk but it was the only way.
Batman held his chin up and sighed, watching against all his intentions as the Joker kicked the door open and ran down the emergency staircase. Batman hated himself at his risky move and quickly ran across the expanse of the office, making sure not to disrupt the bodies and other evidence of the fight that had taken place. Immediately, he ran down the hallway and avoided the next hall that had two security cameras set up. He ran across the unlocked door next to Lucius office and swung open the door. It was Lucius' room he used for important meetings with the company. He ran to the end of the room and grabbed Lucius' baseball trophy and pulled it toward him. Within five seconds, the first two shelves slide to the left where they stayed stationary inside a metal container inside the wall. It was about a three foot entrance and Batman leaned inside, hearing the elevator ding and footsteps of police officers in their gear. He smacked a button on the low ceiling above and watched as the shelves slid back into place quietly as the police approached the second office. Batman sighed and looked around, seeing the narrow saferoom that was placed inside the wall. The room was completely soundproof and the metal that made up the room was so strong that an RPG would barely make a scratch. Inside was a small computer server which essentially served as a smaller version of the cave's mother computer. The room was mostly used for Lucius when he needed to contact Bruce or vice versa. It contained a small glass container with two dozen batarangs, a lower-quality version of the Batsuit, and a small vent that led to the bottom of Wayne Enterprises.
"He's not here, sir. Or Wayne. There's bodies of the Joker's men on the ground and they've all been shot in the head. There was definitely a fight in here. No evidence of the Batman either. We'll keep searching, sir." Officer Montoya said as her partner felt the Clowns' pulses.
She took her hat off and brushed a few strands of solid black hair from her head and shoving it to the top. Her partner, a young man named Cheekings, was disgusted by the blood that covered a third of the room. He was quiet but extremely smart.
"What do you think happened?" Montoya asked when Cheekings looked at the wall behind the dead men.
"The Joker shot them all point-blank and from behind. He's definitely got some blood on him from the splatter patterns on the wall here. He received most of the blood spurt and is probably dripping with blood. Here's a small trail over here and it leads outside the office. Get another officer up here and let's do a search. He's got a gun and let's not risk it." Cheekings said quickly, scanning the area.
"Alright, partner." Montoya said, nodding her head as she called the lieutenant on the scene.
"We need another officer, sir. We have a blood trail and the suspect is most likely covered in blood. We need to guard all the entrances and exits. He's not far behind." she continued, talking into her radio.
"Alright. Good work, you two, Now... we need to find Wayne."