The Past
For the first time he can remember Bruce Wayne actually has his double life as Batman under control and well-balanced. Sometimes he even gets to experience rare moments of happiness. After the devastating loss of Jason Todd those moments felt all the more fleeting and precious. The Robin's death at the Joker's hands claims a hefty toll on Bruce's relationships with those he loves most. For years Wayne Manor takes on the feel of an obscenely luxurious bachelor pad with only Bruce and Alfred living there. It takes time but eventually the dark cloud of grief lifts. Barbara Gordon turns back up at the manor first, more than ready to resume her role as Batgirl. Dick Grayson surfaces within a few weeks of Barbara and both decide to move in full-time. It isn't long before Helena Bertinelli, the Huntress becomes a regular fixture around the manor. Helena doesn't officially move in but is never far due to her closeness with Dick and Barbara. The Batcave hears banter and the clash of Bruce's students sparring once again. The most surprising addition to the Bat Family comes in the form of Selina Kyle. Batman and Catwoman finally make their relationship official after years of going back and forth between adversaries and lovers. The Bat and Cat had fallen into a toxic pattern of constantly self-destructing because Bruce couldn't reconcile with Selina's past. He didn't mind her being a criminal and a thief, Cat's bad girl persona actually turned him on. What Bruce couldn't move past was how she got her start.
Like any other orphan on the Gotham streets, Selina learns to steal as a child and matures into a promising young thief. She creates the guise of Catwoman to further her career. One night she gets caught breaking into the wrong safe. That safe was located in the office of The Grin and Bare It, one of the Joker's first successful clubs. When she was brought before the Clown Prince for judgment he offered her a job instead of killing her. The Joker was very much the violent psychopath of legend but back in those early days his focus was on taking over Gotham's underworld. The Cat has similar goals so she goes to work stealing and killing for the Clown. Batman is a constant thorn in their sides and both do time in Arkham over the years thanks to him. The joke was on Batman, Harley Quinn appears on the scene after one of the Joker's longer stints in the asylum. Now the Bat had two Clowns to contend with. It doesn't take long for the Joker to dispose of the crime families using his gang of crazed loyalists and hired goons. With the families gone Joker is the only cartel boss left with enough power and influence to seize the reins of Gotham's organized crime network. He becomes known for throwing wild parties at his legion of clubs and casinos. Catwoman had carved out a name for herself and stepped out of Joker's shadow early on but remains allies with the Clowns. Even after she falls in love with Batman and stumbles into uncovering his identity. Once Selina finds out that Bruce Wayne is Batman she decides to protect him no matter the price. She starts taking every job the Joker offers her in order to operate as a double-agent. Bruce has no clue that Selina found him out so of course her apparent loyalty to the Joker breaks his heart, driving a wedge between the two. The Cat stubbornly continues to exploit her position to protect Batman until a betrayal on the Joker's end nearly claims her life. Gotham and Batman believe the Catwoman dead for a time. Selina eventually resurfaces and cuts ties with her former life. The Cat resolves to never use her skills for anyone but herself ever again. When Batman catches up with the cat burglar he's furious for many reasons. Chief among them being that Selina allowed him to think her dead for so long. They rekindle their relationship after Selina finally confesses her true motive for serving the Joker. Bruce is shocked that she'd known his identity all along and moved by her willingness to give her life protecting it. His anger toward her dissolves and Catwoman starts playing for Team Bat on a regular basis. She moves in with Bruce shortly after the return of Batgirl and Nightwing. Bruce starts making plans to propose to Selina and has Dick accompany him to pick out an engagement ring. At last life is looking less bleak for the Bat Family, making Batman very nervous and paranoid.
At least Gotham was still Gotham, a broken city trying to survive in the middle of a never-ending gang war. For the time being there is no impending crisis or larger threat looming over the Bat and the rest of the heroes. In spite of this Batman still attends Justice League meetings. The League itself is in sorry shape, it had been ages since there was need for a team-up. Superman remains dead while false rumors of him rising again like Christ abound. Zatanna, the only full-time member with command of magic had quit suddenly and with no explanation. Aquaman never leaves Atlantis these days, no one had seen Arthur or Mera on the surface in years. Batman had witnessed his fair share of super-teams come and go, perhaps the Justice League was over. Even with plenty of other teams active and the world relatively safe, Bruce can't shake the feeling that something is coming. He continues to attend the meetings hoping to catch wind of whatever was causing this sense of impending dread. After sitting through yet another meeting consisting mostly of his teammates exchanging photos of their spouses and children, Batman begins to question his sanity. He spends the entire flight back to Gotham trying to convince himself he's just being paranoid. When he arrives back at Wayne Manor Alfred informs him Catwoman and the rest of his team are gearing up for a mission down in the Batcave. Commissioner Gordon had left word that the Bats were needed right away. The news channels are reporting a standoff between the police and a deranged woman with a flamethrower. Bruce gets down to the Cave and starts loading up for a literal firefight alongside his progeny. Catwoman waits with a smirk on her face, already mounted up on her favorite bike from Batman's collection. Before Bruce can join her, his personal phone starts to ring. He holds up a hand for silence while he checks the caller ID. It was Zatanna, Bruce knew better than to bounce the mage's calls. If he didn't answer he'd probably be dragged through a portal for a face-to-face with Zee. Without saying anything to the others Bruce turns away to take the call.
"Not cool." Huntress makes sure Bruce hears her. Batgirl and Nightwing exchange pointed looks but remain silent. Bruce answers and takes a few steps away for privacy, much to Catwoman's annoyance.
"Bruce," Zatanna's voice is shaking so badly she doesn't even sound like herself "Are you there?"
"What's wrong Zee?" Batman had never heard her so upset. Zatanna Zatara is a lion-hearted magic user with a great deal of raw power. Bruce had never known her to fear danger, no matter the threat.
"I'm so sorry," Zatanna almost sounds like she might cry "I can't be here when it happens."
"When what happens?" Batman is perplexed.
"I've seen something in the cards," Bruce can tell she's holding in a sob "I thought leaving the League may stop it from coming true."
"Zee slow down," Batman says gruffly "Stop what?"
"For a while now my cards have shown the same prophecy every time I'm near the League," Zatanna would sound certifiable if Bruce didn't know her so well "The Magician, the Hanged Man, the Tower and Justice always in the same order!"
"Let me bring you to Gotham Zee," none of this was making any sense to Bruce "Whatever's coming, we should work together to stop it."
Suddenly, Batman hears a hand cover the phone for a few, brief moments. Then a very familiar voice hijacks the call.
"Hello Batman," it was John Constantine "Mind if I call you Bruce?"
"Constantine," Batman becomes enraged instantly "Put Zee back on right now or I will find your sorry ass and kick it back to England!"
"Sorry mate the lady says chat's over," John snorts "World's greatest detective me arse."
"Constantine," Batman barks into the phone "Turn off that obnoxious attitude and tell me what Zee was talking about!"
"I know magic isn't your thing so let me break this down for you, sonny," John speaks quickly "Trickery will result in the death of an innocent, that death will reap destruction and justice will be lost soon after."
"What do you mean justice will be lost?" Bruce didn't trust Constantine but Zatanna's readings were eerily accurate. Her prophecies never failed to come to fruition but the events her cards represented always came to pass in an unexpected manner. The cards seemed to have a cruel sense of humor and a penchant for plot twists.
"That's all the cards will tell us," Constantine's voice becomes serious "I suggest you pack up your pet dominatrix and get the hell out of dodge."
Batman doesn't speak for a moment. He looks over his shoulder at Selina and her dark eyes lock with his. Whatever was coming, the Cat would want to face it side-by-side.
"You're a coward John," Bruce says in a clipped tone "Now take Zee and run as far and as fast as you can." If Zatanna felt it was safer for her to be absent from whatever was coming Bruce couldn't argue. Her magic would be a devastating weapon in the wrong hands.
"Be careful," Constantine's voice is devoid of his usual smugness for once "Best I can tell you don't want to be anywhere near the League when this shit goes down."
Bruce hangs up on the mage before he can spit out anymore vague, cryptic warnings. Batman couldn't punch a prophecy into submission, all he could do was put out fires as they cropped up.
"What was that about?" Catwoman asks as he climbs on the bike with her.
"Nothing important," Batman says as he revs the engine "Everyone look sharp time to move out!"
Selina wraps her arms around Bruce's shoulders and holds onto him as the powerful bike lurches forward. He was obviously keeping something from the Cat, Selina can practically smell the deceit on him. Catwoman just grins, she possessed the nose of a truffle pig when it came to rooting out Batman's secrets.
The Present
The Joker and Harley Quinn enjoy a lengthy reign as king and queen of Gotham City's underworld. Their crime empire keeps the Clowns flush with cash and every night is a party. Their relationship is still full of toxicity, instability, and abuse but codependency keeps the chaotic couple together. Harley's happiness is fully dependent on simply being included in Mr. J's life. To the outside world their relationship is one-sided, fellow villains only see how horribly Harley is treated by her beau. The Joker isn't even aware of just how much he depends on his partner. Without Harley he never would've been able to build such an impressive empire or hang on to it. Harley Quinn had taken on the role of boss many times due to Joker's multitude of incarcerations. The Joker's gangster phase would stand out in Harley's memory as the closest they ever came to being happy together. Maybe the Clowns could've carried on running Gotham forever but their dark appetites ultimately rob them of their life together. After a wild night of partying complete with a body count Harley Quinn is captured by Batman. The Joker manages to escape by the skin of his teeth and doesn't even consider going back for Harley. She'd break out of Arkham right away and most likely beat him back to their hideout. When days pass and Harley doesn't turn up, Joker feels this chapter of his life coming to a close. He never shows any concern but he does attempt to locate Harley. He tasks his driver and lead henchman, Jonny Frost with combing Gotham for his missing girlfriend. The longer Harley is gone the more Joker's mental state declines. Completely consumed by his madness, he pays a visit to Poison Ivy's estate on the outskirts of Gotham late one night. Harley always seemed to end up there when she became fed up with Joker's abuse. He kicks Ivy's front door in upon arrival and picks a fight with the mistress of poison, convinced Ivy was hiding Harley from him. Pamela is all too happy to kick his ass and send him on his way with thorns sticking out of his exposed skin. After that night the Joker starts to lose interest in being a crime boss. Killing people for sport isn't as satisfying without Harley around to laugh at the joke. Having more money than he knew what to do with had become boring. When Jonny Frost finally brings him word of Harley being held in a black site prison in Louisiana Joker doesn't know how to react. Jonny watches in alarm as his boss begins gathering every weapon in the hideout. At first he thinks the Clown Prince is loading up for a fight. When the Joker gets down on the floor and starts making a circular collage out of the weapons, Jonny realizes he's having an OCD episode. When the Joker snaps out of it days later, he no longer mentions Harley or his desire to find her. Jonny has to shoulder the Joker's workload at the clubs and casinos for a time. His employer had become withdrawn and rarely speaks to anyone, preferring to use Jonny as his proxy. Gotham's underworld swirls with whispers about a team of villains assembled by a shadowy government organization for the purpose of going on suicide missions. Those rumors are confirmed when Harley Quinn returns to Gotham fresh off her first stint on the Suicide Squad. Once she and the Joker are reunited, she thinks she's finally getting her fairytale ending with the Clown Prince. For a while Harley lives in pure bliss. She can't even remember the last time Mr. J laid a finger on her. Gradually, Harley begins to notice her Puddin had changed while she was absent and not for the better. He starts to pull away from Harley and gravitate toward Batman-obsessed madness. The Joker spends all of his time building death traps and hatching complicated plots to hurt the Bat Family. He sells off his properties and businesses to lesser gangsters like Penguin to fund this obsession. Harley goes along with this tonal shift readily, determined to be supportive of her Puddin. Until the day comes when the Joker decides Harley is a relic of a bygone era. It didn't help that she was constantly stealing his spotlight with more intricate death traps and funnier jokes. Without any hesitation, Mr. J kicks Harley to the curb like a below-average henchman. All because she dared to outshine him. What the Clown Prince can't admit to himself is just how much Harley being taken away had damaged him.
Harley does her own thing for a while, creating chaos when and where she saw fit. Before long she attracts Amanda Waller's attention and ends up back on the Suicide Squad. The Joker begins to hear about his ex's adventures through other villains and that's when it hits him. He'd made a mistake dumping her and wanted her back as his partner in crime. The Joker just couldn't get it right without his Harley behind him. All of the chatter and gossip about his ex saving the world on multiple occasions drives him even further into jealousy and madness. He hated that she was thriving without him and ruining his brand while she was at it. The Joker needed to plan the perfect crime to show Harley he still had it and teach her a lesson for thinking she could be more than just his girl. While Harley is with the Squad, Joker spends most of his time pacing the run-down hideout in a jealous rage. The Clown's formerly plush lair had fallen into squalor without Harley's eye for style. Making things even worse, the Joker is mentally blocked and unable to come up with a crime heinous enough to satisfy his madness. After weeks of pacing and talking to himself, the Joker starts gathering every knife and gun left in the hideout. He gets down on his knees and starts laying them out on the floor in a circular pattern just like he'd done the first time Harley was imprisoned in Belle Reve.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me," comes a voice "This shit again, really?"
The Joker snatches up a handgun and aims it at a figure lurking in a shadowy corner. His vision focuses and the Joker realizes it's just Jonny Frost.
"Jonny," Joker lowers the gun "Where is she?"
"You know where she is, boss," Frost crouches so they're at eye-level "You done fucked up, she'd rather be a good guy than be with you!"
"That will never be true!" Joker raises the gun again and fires twice at Frost. Jonny just laughs as the bullets hit the wall behind him.
"You already popped my top, boss," Jonny chuckles "Though I do love a good hissy fit!"
"I remember now," Joker drops the gun "I pawn sacrificed you to escape Batman."
"You didn't need to kill me but Batsy hates it when you cap people like that," Frost nods enthusiastically "So what now, boss?"
"I need your help," Joker's voice becomes frantic "Help me plan the mother of all crimes!"
"Calm down, you sound like a cartoon villain," Frost stands and walks over to a wall plastered with diagrams of rejected ideas "The problem is you're not thinking big enough."
"Oh Jonny-Jonny," the Joker begins to laugh manically "You always know just what I need!"
"You know that you're hallucinating, right," Frost suddenly shape-shifts into Selina Kyle "I'm a manifestation of your consciousness."
"Shoo Kitty," the Joker dismisses his delusion "Frost was right, bigger is better."
The Joker gets to work while he waits for Harley to come home. She always turned up even if it was just to collect a box of her stuff or punch him in the face. His grand design had many moving parts and it would take time to procure the necessary materials. He'd also have to assemble those parts and get them into position. Over the next few months the Joker stays laser-focused on his task. He plans every step in pain-staking detail and makes sure to pepper in plenty of his own, personal flair. The world would know that the Joker and Harley Quinn committed this most devastating of crimes. Together the Clowns would own Gotham again and their life together would resume, business as usual. Only the Joker was capable of the mental gymnastics it must have taken to convince him that this plan would launch him into his criminal prime. In reality, the Joker was setting up his own fall and sealing the fate of everyone in costume. Heroes and villains alike would suffer greatly or be killed as a direct result of his final and most brutal crime.
The Future
Bruce Wayne, Selina Kyle, and the Joker stand together on the edge of a ruined city. An unending hell scape looms before them as far as the eye can see. The three are battered, broken, and have become battle-hardened over the last few years. Batman takes no issue with using guns now and wears a brown duster over his suit with goggles to protect his eyes from harsh conditions. Catwoman had finally allowed the Bat to make her an upgraded suit shortly after everything went to hell. Panels of kevlar were grafted into the new suit to protect her ribcage and heart. The Cat's hood was made from kevlar now too and her goggles were equipped with the most advanced Wayne technology Batman could cram into them. The Joker was another story completely. The Clown Prince had fallen far from his days of luxurious parties and high fashion. His green hair had grown out long and stringy into split ends that nearly touched his shoulders. He'd taken to caking his bleached face in horrifying white makeup with red lipstick smeared haphazardly around his mouth. He was wearing a filthy white surgical gown and a bulletproof SWAT vest that Batman had slapped on him at some point. Neither Bruce nor Selina knew where the gown came from. Due to his lack of face tattoos they just assumed he'd killed a plastic surgeon after having them removed. His weapon of choice was an army-grade machine gun with a shoulder strap that allowed him to free his hands quickly for hand-to-hand combat. Every time the trio encounter cops the Joker refuses to slip around them without engaging. He'd started collecting badges to decorate his SWAT vest and not even Batman could stop him from adding to his collection. The police had chosen the wrong side of history and Batman has no choice but to allow this. The fate of the world rested on the Bat, Cat, and Clown. If they got spotted or captured there would be no one left to fight the good fight. The Joker notices a long-abandoned police car nearby and walks away to begin his ritual. The Joker scans the ground and starts digging through the car, ultimately coming up empty-handed. He lets out a disappointed sigh and takes a seat on the hood of the car, cradling the machine gun in his lap like a small child. Bruce and Selina ignore him for the most part, having grown bored of his antics by now.
"Is there anything else I can say to change your mind?" Batman asks the love of his life.
"Absolutely not," Selina flexes her powerful, new claws "It's a good plan and going back on your word wouldn't be very honorable."
Selina's words prompt a sudden stream of cackling from the Joker and they both glare at him in exasperation.
"We live in a society," he pauses dramatically just to annoy them "Where honor is a distant memory, isn't that right, Batman!"
"Knock off your nonsensical bullshit and focus," Selina calls the Joker out before Batman gets a chance "We only get one shot at this."
"Oh my sweet Kitten what's become of us," the Joker's tone is suddenly devoid of mockery "We used to be the best of friends."
"Shut it and be ready to move," Batman barks at his nemesis "We end this today."
Author's note: Thanks so much for reading. If you feel like you've read this before that's because I've been trying to launch this story for a while but ended up deleting because it just wasn't right. This chapter is meant to function as a prologue, the rest of the story will be written in a fleshed out and detailed style. This story is non-canonical but that doesn't mean I won't cherry-pick from the canon. I'm a sucker for a cameo if there's anyone you'd like to see featured drop their name in a review.