Author's Note: Hello to all my friends reading this...ehem...little fic. Normally I don't dedicate this chapters to anybody in particular, but in this case I want to dedicate this one to all my critics. Yes...you out there who had seen my mistakes and had pinpoint them to me so I can become betterwriter. You know who you are...your names are all over the reviews and I thank both the signing as well as the anonymous... The list is long so i don't want to leave anybody behind, but know that your critics/reviews are deeply appreciated and that measures are taken as soon as possible to fix the typos or the blunders. Thanks for keeping me on my toes... The best thing of this...everybody can become a critic, because I welcome well intentioned criticism. Just leave your piece of mind in a review and VOILA! Well, now that dedications are out of the way...let's go on with the story but first...
Disclaimer 1: Batman and all related characters belong to DC Comics
Disclaimer 2: There will be intances of MATURE LANGUAGE and SITUATIONS. Be warned
Now...ENJOY!
Chapter37: THE MEETING
"You are risking a lot by staying behind, Joker." Batman said.
"And I did it all for you chum," The Jester chirped, dragging on his cigar while smiling sardonically to the dynamic duo. "You should be more appreciative of what I'm willing to do for you, friend…even to guarantee our privacy…"
Joker produced a slender dynamite cylinder and lighted the fuse with his cigar. He let go of the explosive and it fell between the duo and him. Batman and Nightwing stepped back, exchanging looks as the fuse was consumed.
"B-Batman…should we…? Nightwing asked nervously.
"Look at him," Batman said almost to a whisper, motioning to the statuesque figure of the Clown Prince in front of him. "This has to be one of his jokes."
"No, not a joke," responded the Jester while chewing his cigar. "Just a test of balls and yours are in the right place, but your sidekick…He stinks the place. Better check his diaper, Bats." Joker fanned a gloved hand in front of his nose.
Nightwing frowned. The fuse was quickly consumed and disappeared with a soft hiss. Behind them, by the main entrance, a loud explosion rumbled and lifted some dust that filled the storage unit creating a soft haze.
"And you wanted to talk about…? "The Jester piped flicking the ash from his cigar.
"You know very well what I want to talk about. Where's the Commissioner?"
Joker checked frantically on the pockets of his jacket. "I know I had him around here somewhere…I swear. Maybe I just left him home."
"JOKER!!" Batman growled.
"What? You don't like my sense of humor? It's fun to joke around you because you're always so stiff…but unfortunately my sense of humor is not what it used to be…" The Jester said forcing his lips down in sadness.
"Because of your insane obsession with fun, there's a lot of people dead."
"What can I say…It's my gift." The Clown said with a smug shrug.
"Was the people at the arena part of the show too, Clown?" Nightwing spat back furiously.
"Now…don't blame those on me. If people can't follow orders and leave in a single file when there is an emergency.
"You knew this was going to happen, Joker." Batman growled.
The Jester giggled childishly. "As a matter of fact I did, but with only ninety six dead…I must be losing my touch…"
"You murderous son of a bitch…" Nightwing said advancing menacingly towards Joker, who quickly started to back off to keep his distance. The Jester inconspicuously tossed a handful of marbles on the floor and Nightwing tripped on them falling hard on the ground.
"Watch where you step, m'lad." The Joker said starting to laugh. "Next time it might explode."
Batman glided quickly over the floor and grabbed the Clown Prince by the neck pinning him forcefully against the metal bin. The Joker's cigar fell on the floor and disappeared under some boxes.
"Hey! Watch it….this is a linen shirt…GACK!!!" Joker chirped as the Batman tightened his grip on the Jester's neck.
"You are not funny, Joker…Where is Gordon…?"
"Neither are you…Bat-sap." The Joker said almost gasping for air. "And if you don't unhand me…I'm snuffing… the Commissioner." The Detective pressed the Clown Prince harder against the bin, and it was becoming really difficult for him to breathe. The Jester tried to frantically get loose of the asphyxiating grip and started to run a hand along the Knight's arm until he found the elbow. He pressed hard on the joint and was followed by a bright electric spark, that made the Batman let go of the Jester and back off. Joker fell to the floor coughing and laughing hysterically while he showed off the joy buzzer concealed in his glove. "WHAT? DID I SHOCK YA?"
"You can't escape, Joker." Nightwing said. The Joker stopped laughing and frowned as he rose from the floor.
"Doesn't mean I can't have fun trying." The Jester said playfully.
"You don't have anywhere to go." Batman said, still rubbing his arm forcefully from the shock.
"Tend to disagree. I can always go back…or down…and if I drink enough Red Bulls I can even get up because Red Bull gives you wings…" The Clown Prince started to laugh again. "Oh boy, sometimes I kill myself. Well, no more questions for the Master Clown?"
"What are you trying to do, Joker?"
"Put your mind at ease. I've noted you've had some…problems with my case lately. Being….watchamacallit …lagging a little? Maybe you need help…just a thought." The Jester said with a shrug.
"The only one needing help here is you!" Nightwing growled angrily.
"No…actually, for the first time I feel….one with the universe…I'm in control."
"You've never been in control…"
"The Clown was never in control…yes." The Jester said wagging a menacing finger. "Me…I'm a control freak."
"What the hell is that…?" Dick spat with a disgusted grimace.
"You two have not figured this out, have you?" The jester looked at the duo amusingly. "Haven't you noticed I'm not behaving like my clowny self lately…have lost my sense of humor…?I'm not who you think I am, Bats."
Batman stared at the Jester with great interest. Joker had always been out of his mind, confusing murder with a funny joke; finding joy in other people's miseries, but he had never doubted who he was. He always had been the Joker, the Clown Prince of Crime and he always boasted about it. What games was this madman playing with them?
"And you are…?"
"The man who has given you hell since this investigation had started. I have been orchestrating this whole thing just to see you stumble in your own logic. Because you couldn't see beyond the Clown, and realize I was capable of doing the impossible…That is something you were not prepared to handle, were you?"
"What's impossible?"
"That for the first time, I'm sane," Joker said jovially puffing in his cigar. "And you…are just a mediocre detective. HA! Smarted out by a clown…aren't you ashamed of yourself, Bats?"
"Sane…" Nightwing said in a mocking tone. Joker nodded placidly.
"And in your sanity you killed all those people at the Arena, Brufford, Trenton and his associates…and you call yourself in control." Batman said trying to remain calm.
"Don't be a cynic, Bats. The people at the Arena were just bait to catch your attention so you leave my new-found feline friends alone, and worked better than I planned. Brufford didn't want to play with me so I have to take him out of the game…and Trenton," Joker chuckled. "Well I had a score to settle with the bastard."
"And the attack on Catwoman at the museum?
"I wasn't there, but from what I heard the Clown had a blast with the Catlady…"
Rage filled the Batman's eyes. Everything turned red and in no time he was on top of the Jester. He biffed the Clown on mid abdomen and connected another fist on the grinning face. Joker fell on the ground panting and bleeding from his mouth. The Clown Prince tired to crawl away when Batman pulled him by his jacket collar and pushed him against the metal bin with a loud bang. He lifted another angry fist at the Grinning Gargoyle.
"Go on, Bats. Do what the Clown wants you to do…lose yourself in your anger. Come on…let me have a taste of your rage…lose your mind in your own violence and prove me that you are as insane as the Joker."
Batman stopped and lowered his hand. He had never heard the Clown speak in the third person, as if he indeed believed he was another individual. There was an explosion on the far end of the storage unit and it was when the Detective discovered the lighted match in the Jester's hand. The Clown had to be controlling the explosions.
"What are you trying to do, Joker?" The detective growled.
"One match a day…keeps the pigs away. That is what my mom always said." The Jester spit some blood on the floor and giggled. "I'm just trying to prove a point…that you and I are kindred souls…"
"I'm nothing like you, Joker…you are a demented psychopath who enjoys killing innocent people."
"And you are a proven sociopath with a fetish for young children, who dresses in tights and goes out at night to beat the hell out of anybody who disagrees on your idea of justice." Joker looked at Nightwing disdainfully and flapped his hands beside him. Batman raised an angry fist, but stopped himself from beating the Clown. Joker showed a joyful face after cowering from the Detective. "And you seem to have followers of this madness…"
"You're talking nonsense…"
"Am I really, Dumbwing? Just look at your mentor consumed in his own rage." The Clown Prince wiped his bloody chin and waved the bloody hand in front to the young man. "Look at all this violence, all this anger boiling deep under that cowl. I can almost smell it…well…once my nose stops bleeding I will…."
The Detective remained calm. The Jester was right when he said that he was allowing his anger take the best of him…could the Clown be also right that he was not different from his murderous enemy?
"You are under arrest, Joker." Batman said simply.
"HA! That's funny, Bats, real funny. I told you are not in control of the situation. I'm directing this musical and it doesn't end with me back in the loony bin." The Jester spat some blood on the ground and cleaned his mouth on his sleeve. "How does it feel to lose everything you hold dear in front with you without being able to do a fucking thing about it…?"
Batman frowned. "Is that what is this all about? Make me suffer? Why, Joker?"
"Because only then you will have a small taste of what you had me suffer. Only when you suffer as much as I suffered…you will get a glimpse of my pain."
"Your pain…? Joker, I don't know what you are talking about?"
"Have you forgotten so quickly what you did to me?" The Joker roared angrily. "You destroyed my life; you turned me into this…this thing called Joker. You killed me, and not happy with that…you went after my family. You killed them leaving me with this large hole in my chest. A hole only my anger and the Clown have been able to fill."
"I didn't kill your family, Joker. You're getting your facts wrong, and what happened on the card company…was an accident. You have to understand that."
"How dare you lie to me so bluntly? I read the police report the day my wife died. People saw the shadow of a gigantic Bat at the scene…How many oversize bats do you know? Nobody could make the connection but me. Doyle sent you to kill her, probably as a revenge for what I did to him…so I will be forced to do his bidding. He hired you to kill her…then to kill me."
Wife? The Joker was married? Batman had seen the murderous clown only as a pest that needed to be contained and he had forgotten he not always looked like a clown from hell, but that he had a normal life before he became the Clown Prince of Crime. What was his life like...? What made him into a murderer like no other in history…?
"I was not working with Doyle. I was trying to take Doyle down."
"Then he used you…like I'm using you now. You know you're a lousy detective when I can have you running amok like a chicken with its head cut off, you know?"
"Joker…"
"Shut up and listen, Bat-sap. You destroyed a part of me that night. It was the only part of me that was worth anything. My wife…the most beautiful, loving woman in the whole world that loved me for what I was…me. There was no Joker, no clown, and no murder because I had her and she tamed the beast that has always lived inside me; the one called Joker. She was the only thing that could keep the murderous Clown at bay. I was in love. I was loved. And that filled my life and made it whole, but what do you know of love when the only thing you do is project your own anger to those around you…because that is the only thing you feel...rage.
"You took her away, and with her, you killed my soul and my life was in pieces. I didn't know what to do, or where to go so I let someone else lead this dance. I gave up my sanity for a chance to forget my pain, a mistake I decided to fix by coming back and destroying the man who destroyed me and made me who I am. Thanks, dad!"
"Where is the joke on this…?"
" JOKE! YOU THINK THIS A JOKE? How dare you call this a joke, you half witted mongoloid crow! Are you deaf or what? This is no joke…this is not funny because I'm in such pain, I can't laugh at my own misery…it's not funny when things happen to you, but I will destroy my misery today, and then everything will be funny again…"
"Joker, believe me…I had nothing to do with your family's death." Batman said advancing a few paces towards the Jester. Joker caught attention and backed off. "You need to stop this violence, it will destroy you, bringing more violence is not going to take your pain away… Don't you want this pain to stop?"
"Oh, ho, ho…it will stop. And you are right…it will bring my destruction. Jack was supposed to be dead a long time ago anyways…so if he dies again…who cares? As long as the reason for his misery is dead too, there will only be space for comedy…Joker's comedy." Joker pointed an angry finger to the Detective. "Is the pain you feel for those I killed for you giving you a glimpse of what you left me feeling inside…can you see the Abyss? Now you understand that I can't live like this… that I have to let the Joker take over, because only he makes me feel better. He makes me forget what I am…what I lost. I want to forget this pain. I want to be Joker again…and I can't until I'm done with you…"
"Joker...stop. I don't want to hurt you."
"I can't stop…never been able to stop…will not stop until I see you take your last breath." Joker said angrily.
"You need some help." Nightwing said.
"Me? I'm not the one who needs Dr. Phil here, boy. Look at you and your daddy…Dressing up like rejects from animal planet to terrorize the poor citizens of this city….shame on you two." The Jester shook his head. "Come on, Bats, who do you think you are…ZORRO?"
Bruce stopped in his tracks. The Mask of Zorro was the movie he went to see with his parents that dreadful night when he lost his family. He remembered…it was raining and in the blink of an eye his entire world came crashing down and he was left empty and lonely. A child with no parents… Was it so different for a man without a wife…she was his family too. The loss of his parents left a hole very difficult to fill. He had had Alfred at the mansion, and his loving care helped ease the pain over the loss. Who did Joker have to help him cope? A murderous clown in his mind? Was all this violence the product of evil or just the frustration of a man who could not handle his pain? What would have been of the Batman, if Bruce would have been the one who could not control his pain? Would he be too different from Joker?
"You know what's the funniest thing about this, Bats?" The Jester said with a large toothy smile on his face. "You and I…are so much alike…we are almost like twins. We are both driven by our demons. Yours makes you build this anger to fight this useless crusade against crime in the hope that saving the lives of all these people you can redeem yourself of the guilt of your own loss, which is due to the fact that you couldn't do anything to save them. Me? Well, I let Joker take control over my life to make me forget the pain of my loss with his humor, as sick as it is. His crazy laughter helps me ease the burden of my guilt for all the things I've done in my life, which I have to admit…have not been pretty.
"Deep inside I've used my very own brand of anger to make everybody pay for my pain, because only when I share my pain like that, I feel much better with myself. I rejoice on making others more miserable than me…because I hate to be alone when I'm this depressed…" Joker giggled maliciously. "Gordon found that out the hard way."
Batman advanced toward the Jester when another explosion high above in the mezzanine caught his attention. In the Joker's hand another match was lit. The Clown flicked the match to the ground.
"I am addicted to make others pay for my pain, and humor makes me forget my miseries. Does the man under the cowl forget his when he's wearing the cape, Batman? Does your inner child forget about his pain when he dons the black costume?"
Nightwing advanced rapidly, taking momentum to pounce on the Grinning Gargoyle when the Jester waved a menacing hand in front of him. Nightwing stopped. "I'm not done yet, Nightingale. There is still you, at your young age, filled with the same pain and the same rage…Batman found a kindred spirit in his misery, and thinking that he could share his pain asked you to join his useless crusade. Instead, you two made your miseries even bigger, heavier and divided. That is why I don't see you around much, is it?"
"Tell me something, my avenging Crow. How did your anger start? Your high school sweetheart left you...maybe someone killed her? You felt the pain, like me…" Joker's voice broke almost imperceptibly. "…when I lost her. Did that give you the right to dress up like a gothic finch and beat people up in the name of justice? Life has not been fair to you, eh Dumbwing? Anger is such a powerful weapon…talk to the Clown about it…"
"Joker, listen to me." Batman said sternly as he passed by a dumbfounded Nightwing. He realized that he was no longer talking to an insane man but a man in a great deal of pain. Could it be true that Joker had recovered his sanity? Could he appeal to that new-found sanity to stop these violence? "You are right…anger is a powerful weapon, but don't you think of what your wife would think if she saw you now. Would she approve or would she ask you to stop?"
"Nice try, Bats. But she is dead…and with her died the only thing that could keep the murderous Clown away. The only thing left is the pain…and I don't handle pain well…makes me want to share it with even a larger number of people…and this city is soon gonna be too small for my pain, because in a few days…the entire world will know about my pain. I will have to do by seeing you die for now."
"I…want to help you…"
"And I want to kill you…." The Joker said giggling…"And then I want to kill everybody in the phonebook, in very…funny…ways. Make a circus of this city, maybe then, the pain will stop…"
Batman couldn't make up his mind. Was this a sane Joker tormented by his loss, and his conscience, or was this just a man that was completely lost in the realms of his own little world, where murder, joy, pain, were all the same hollow feeling? The Jester was not ranting aimlessly in his discourse, but his obsession with violence and murder had escalated even beyond Joker's standards. Joker killed if it was funny, this man was willing to kill without restraints, without motif, only to spill blood for his own satisfaction.
"Then tell me this…how did you become this angry?" The Jester went on. "Did someone kill your wife too? No…your Zorro impersonation is something only a child would come up with. Someone killed your parents and you are the last of your lineage…a dying breed. The sorrow of your loss made you go insane, dress up like a flying rodent to terrorize the criminal world that terrorized you when you were a kid.
"I did the same thing, gave up my sanity, took an acid dive, put on the permaclown but instead of beating people up to a pulp, I opted to make everyone literally laugh to death. See Bats, both roads will take us to Rome. You're as insane as me…we are both irremediably out of our minds."
Batman's world turned red again and he tossed his batarang with all his might towards the Jester who with indescribable speed missed it by a few centimeters. The Batman jumped on the Clown and slammed a fist on the Caliph of Clowns' face. Joker fell on his knees.
"How dare you call what I do…madness?" The Batman growled.
"You are more stubborn than I thought. Look what you just tried to do…KILL ME WITH YOUR LITTLE TOY!! Look what your anger made you do. Don't tell me that is not madness, my batty friend." Joker stood up unsteadily on his feet but fell again on the floor. He held his head with a hand. "Oh…and I can see a headache coming right now…"
Batman looked at his clenched fist. On his knuckles he could see the Jester's blood, and could almost hear it laughing back at his inability to control his rage. Why…? Could it be possible that this Grinning monster made him lose his temper so easily? His anger was there, boiling in his veins and the source of his anger was grinning at him from the floor. He wanted to put an end to the murderous clown, but the Joker had showed him the dark side. Was he less of the monster the Joker was? He felt contaminated, he felt filthy. How could he be so closely resemble this psychopath when they were in opposite sides of the law?
"That's the reason you hate me, eh Bats…? Because I'm so much like you that you can't stand the competition? Take a look in the mirror, pal…I'm the part of you that has much more fun…and I will soon need an aspirin." Joker chuckled. "Heh, heh…see if you can handle what you see, because I couldn't handle that much pain. Then I closed my eyes…and let go…heard the Joker make a joke…I laughed…and it was all a riot. I just wanted to be happy for once...stop feeling like this…"
Joker shut his eyes and started to laugh hysterically. What seemed so funny about this conversation? Was something that was escaping even Batman? The Clown talked about pain, about hatred, and he laughed like it was the most hilarious joke? It made no sense.
"Joker…your pain…you are not alone. Surrender, release Gordon unharmed and I…"
"Of course Jack is not alone, Batsy" The Jester interrupted with a large smile on his face. "He always had me to help him cope with his stupid pain, while I had fun bringing this city to total chaos. Amnesia for murder…deal of a lifetime."
"Jack?" Nightwing asked.
"Sorry…wrong number. The person you're trying to reach has been temporarily disconnected." Joker giggled. "I couldn't stand so much pain…what happened to good comedy?" The Jester looked at the Dynamic Duo amusingly, cocking his head slightly as he smiled innocently. He noticed Nightwing's attention. "Hi there, Dumbwing…missed me?"
"I'm offering you a chance, Joker. It doesn't have to end like this. If you are indeed sane…"
"It's not gonna end like this…I have not delivered the biggest punchline yet. Heh, heh…but don't pay attention to me…I'm just ranting here, like crazy people do. 'Cause though Jack was sane…I must indubitably be out of my mind. You know me, I live in a lunatic asylum and all that…so why don't we dance?"
"What is wrong with you? I don't want to have to hurt you."
"Oh…don't you like it when you beat me to a pulp?" Joker said sounding kind of disappointed. "I love it…the pain, the joy…all mixed up in my senseless existence. And don't you worry about me…the pain is gone. There is only me, laughing like only the Clown Prince of Crime can….what? Jack didn't finish you up I see…I will have to take his crap and finish the show for him…" The Clown busted in laughter.
"You are making no sense now…?" Nightwing said.
"That's the point Ass-wing. I've never made sense…not even to myself, but you like me that way, no? Totally out of control. I put the FUN in FUNERAL and the LAUGHTER in SLAUGHTER. I'm the King of Clowns." Joker rose from the floor and extended his arms triumphantly.
"You're…"
"Crazy? Well…DUH! I thought that was the requirement to become a murderous clown. Jack was sane...a cold, calculating and extremely boring son of a bitch who enjoyed projecting his pain on the poor souls of this city with his .38 special. He might have killed more people than me…but no one found him funny. Then here I come… and steal the show, because while Jackie killed one puppet at a time…I do it in multiples of ten….delivering good comedy…GO ME!" Joker laughed loudly and scratched his forehead. "Then I get this stupid idea in my head…even crazy for my standards…"
"What?" Nightwing snapped.
"Taste sanity for the first time…what was I thinking?" Joker rolled his eyes. "That logical, stable state of mind your Bat-daddy over there is so obsessed about. It had always eluded me, you know? Why is it people give sanity so much merit when it's so boring, predictable and unfunny…" The Jester pointed an angry finger to the Detective. "…just like you, Bat-sap. Chaos, on the other hand, is a constant adventure…a rollercoaster out of control. You never know what is gonna happen next or how many people are gonna get killed with one of my jokes until the very end…and then, I don't care as long as they are all dead. It's a riot."
Joker stopped his speech suddenly and looked slightly confused. He rubbed his forehead again as he went on. "But…but I was in control and I hate to be out of control…HAHAHA! You were never in control Jack….you were in pain… take a Tylenol and call me in the morning. Now…SCRAM!" Joker started laughing again, then stopped and frowned. "And who invited you to this party, Clown?" The Jester let out a loud cackle. "Your ugly sister…now get into the back seat and let me drive. This is my stage now…hmmm. I lost my track of thought…again. Joker and Jack are like oil and vinegar…never mix and when they try…it gives me a heartburn. I need a TUMS."
Nightwing eyed the detective. Joker had started to rant aimlessly in his conversation and now had started to talk in the third person again.
"With technical difficulties taken care of….we can return to our regular programming." Joker said giggling childishly. "Wow…what a trip. Now I need good ol' fashioned murder and I will be just OK. Oh, and I remembered…you know what was the problem I had when I tried to recover my sanity?" The detectives listened attentively. "That in order to think like you…I had to become you and now I'm left with this feeling that I'm not real but a fig of someone's imagination. I feel like a depressed, grouchy clown who has forgotten how to laugh and I don't get much sleep with the ghosts of my past chasing me every night at bedtime. It's not funny anymore. Do you have that many demons chasing you over your sleep, Bats? Maybe we can all have a pajama party…you, me and our ghostly friends."
Batman couldn't take it anymore. This conversation was not going anywhere because the Clown's ranting had gone out of control. The Detective threw a punch that Joker effectively blocked, the second missed him by an inch and finally he was able to connect a kick solidly on the Jester's chest. Joker stumbled and fell on his back on the floor. The Knight jumped on the Clown and secured a shackle on the Jester's right hand. Joker tried to push the Batman off him, but it was an impossible task. Mount Everest would be easier to move from the Himalayas. The Clown Prince threw a punch at the Caped Crusader with his free hand, when Batman stopped the Jester's fist in mid air.
Joker tried to pull back his fist, but the crushing grip the Batman had on his hand was too much to fight alone. Batman was a few times stronger than he ever would be, but the Caliph of Clowns continued to squirm on the floor like a madman. Batman fought to keep his grip on the Joker's arm when suddenly, there was snapping sound and the Jester's left wrist bent to an abnormal angle. Joker screamed in pain.
"OW, my God! You animal! Look what you did…my hand…you broke my hand!" Joker yelled at the top of his lungs as Batman fought to keep the Clown still.
"Joker stop! You will make it worse."
"How? It already hurts like a motherfucker!!" Squealed the Jester in obvious pain.
The Joker didn't stop squirming and his left wrist finally snapped from the rest of his arm. Batman looked in terror as the handless arm fell to its side…not bleeding? The Clown Prince thrust his broken arm forward and from within the sleeve a second hand came through to latch on to the detective's exposed skin under the cowl. There was a bright spark of light from the Joker's newly grown hand and the Batman stiffened on the floor, his eyes rolled back in his head and his mouth opened in a silent scream. The Jester let go of the Dark Knight's face and the Detective plummeted on the floor beside the Clown. Joker rolled away from the unconscious body of the Dark Knight and rose to his feet. The Joker was laughing uncontrollably against a wall, a now obviously fake hand, dangled from his shackled right hand. Nightwing, rushed without hesitation to the Batman's side.
"HA! Joker team wins one hundred thousand volts to none." Joker said as his laughter started to sub side. "I would like to humbly dedicate this triumph to Jack's mum and dad, in the hopes that both are dead and rotting in hell. I can't believe that Bats fell for that trick…it's the oldest one on the book."
"Batman, you OK?" Dick said softly close to Batman's face. "Please say something…?"
The Detective's eyes fluttered and opened weakly staring at Nightwing. He was cold and he felt his nose bleeding. "Stop him…at all cost." The Batman swallowed. "…too dangerous…"
Nightwing let the Batman softly on the floor and looked for the Joker who was standing smugly about ten feet away dusting off…against a wall. This was his only chance… so he advanced quickly on the Clown.
"No insanity plea is going to save you now, Clown. I'm gonna finish you off…going to erase that smile off your face…"
"Really?" Joker said as he stared to back off along the wall to keep his safe distance. "You're all talk and no bite, kid…just like Bats. And I want to see you try touching my smile…its patented…so back off! This Clown is loaded…"
"You crazy, demented freak!" Nightwing roared as he got ready to jump on the Clown who had lighted another match, this one caused a small explosion behind, where Batman was still on the floor. Above the Crusader, Dick could see a group of pipes dangling dangerously over the fallen Detective.
"Well, Dumbwing…say bye, bye to the Bat for me…I'm ready for my close up now, Mr. Scorcese!" The Jester pulled a marble grenade from his jacket and tossed it against the hanging pipes exploding close enough to make the chain holding the pipes snap. Nightwing almost had no time to move over to Batman and get him off the way of the metal pipes as they came down on them. Dick was able to pull Bruce out of harm's way, but at the cost of one of the pipes hitting him solidly on his left leg. He lost his balance and fell flatly on his face.
As the pipes hit the floor, the entire warehouse was filled with a dense white cloud of dust that made it very difficult to inhale pure air. It felt as if he was breathing hot sand. Dick's world started to spin out of control, he tried to move when he felt a stabbing pain on his leg…the metal pipe must have hit harder than he thought. Nightwing's vision started to tunnel.
"Oh, the joys of freedom, Jack…" The Joker said while he was laughing heartedly. "Once the duo is dead you can stop suffering and go to hell where you belong and leave me on tour. This town will never forget me or your pain…and in this town the mushrooms are gonna glow in the dark…."
The laughter, now escalated in pitch and volume, started to fade away as the Joker left the scene leaving Nightwing and Batman eventually in silence. The Detective moved on the floor, moaning painfully. The white cloud still lingered around them making breathing hard. He managed with great effort to reach his utility belt and got a miniaturized rebreathing unit he quickly put over his nose and mouth, at the same time he put a pair of heat vision goggles over his mask. Looking around he noticed a heat signal of someone beside him. On the floor Nightiwing was not moving.
Batman searched for the nearest exit which looked to be hundreds of feet away. This cloud was somehow affecting his senses as well, or maybe the poor oxygenation, even through his rebreathing unit, was making him hallucinate. He could only wish that Bullock had been able to intercept the Clown as he tried to leave….he will have the Joker pay for this…
He rose from the floor and advanced with unsteady feet over to where Nightwing lay, breathing heavily. He tried to pull the young man from the floor and drag him to the exit, but felt as if Nightwing's body weighed a few tons. The effort left him exhausted and he fell to the floor panting…he was surprised the Joker's joy buzzer had not killed him right there, but how could he help them escape the warehouse when he could not even walk. If they didn't leave that place soon, they could asphyxiate and there was nothing he could do to help…