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By the Queen of Nightmares

Batman stepped through the hallway, pursuing some unseen masked man. He chased him but the hallway seemed to get longer, and change shape around him. Suddenly Batman was running in a hallway that he felt like he couldn't escape from. Like it was going nowhere.

Batman stopped where he stood, and looked behind him, the door that had led to that hallway, hadn't even moved. It was still a few feet away. He turned around and tried to head towards the door but it suddenly fled from him. Now running at full speed, he still couldn't reach the door. He stopped, looking around him, trying to think of an escape.

Batman saw a window and dived for it, breaking through the glass. The shards covered him, and turned into small snakes that slithered around him, through every crease in his suit. He tried to remove them, but whenever he touched one, they multiplied. Every snake became ten, just like that.

Batman saw a pool of water, he didn't know how it got there, but all the same, he leapt into the water, in the hope that the snakes would be washed away. They were, but he was greeted by a new terrible sight. Thousands of biting fish, charging in every direction. He quickly escaped before they could consume him.

"Ha… ha… ha…" A dark laugh was heard

"Joker…"

"Oh, not quite bats… not at all. I just look like him." The pale faced man emerged from the shadows. His face, forever locked in a smile… looked familiar.

"If you're not Joker…"

"In a sense bats, I'm you!" It was Bruce Wayne's face, in the twisted form of the Joker.

Batman gave a sneer, "You are never me."

"I am Batman. Ha ha ha ha! Because you see, we're in your head. Everything here is you. Even…" The Joker's grin seemed to grow as if truly consumed with joy, "Me…"

Batman gave a doubtful glare, "How could you, be apart of me."

"Oh Bruce… can I call you Bruce? Of course I can. You're so serious all the time, non-stop. But no one is like that completely. There is that little part of you that wants to let go, and enjoy the world in it's fullness. To be like The Joker. I'm touched… You want to be The Joker when you grow up! Ha ha ha ha!"

Batman punched The Joker-Bruce Wayne in the face and walked forward past him. Suddenly he found a body. Batman recognized it instantly, "Jason…"

"You can't just punch me and walk away. I am you Bruce!" The Joker-Bruce Wayne caught up with Batman, undeterred, "Let's be honest with ourselves. After all, who else are we going to talk to? Ha ha ha ha! We were better off when he died. Annoying little child who can't follow direction. We knew it was going to happen… We wanted it to happen."

Batman gave a cold response, "No."

"We wanted to be Batman, but the boy wonder was always getting in the way. At least we didn't have to wait until this one went to college, unlike Dick. Thank God the Joker did us a favor! Ha ha ha!"

Batman seized the Joker-Bruce Wayne by the throat, and threw him to the ground. He walked away calmly… But the Creature followed, "You can't get rid of me that easily, I am you… Your morals wouldn't get in the way if you just embraced me. I bet you'd have a good laugh if you cut Two-Face in half. How about the Penguin? Ground him up into meat chunks and feed him to his pets. You let me in… and you'll have a lot more fun…"

Batman walked past, ignoring the Joker-Bruce. The creature shouted, "I'm a part of you, whether you like it not, whether or not you can see me."

Batman thought about his situation, he was trapped in his own mind. He didn't know why, but he guessed it was fear poison, most of what he saw came from his nightmares. Suddenly he looked on the horizon and saw Gotham, totally and completely destroyed.

"Marvelous isn't it, detective?"

"It's horrible."

Batman turned around saw the face of Ra's Al Ghul, only something was different. He wore the batman suit, except no cowl. "That's not your usual attire."

"Good work Detective, you can spot a change of clothes. This is your city, and this is what is left of it… when you took my place. Don't you remember? Your war on crime? Embracing my view of the world, you realized that merely beating up the criminals wasn't enough. With me in your head, you took the fight to the criminals like never before."

Batman suddenly transported with Ra's Al Ghul, to a graveyard. Ra's continued, "Not without some casualties."

Batman saw the graves of Dick Grayson, Commissioner Gordon, and Alfred, and then saw a vision of how they died. Dick Grayson as Nightwing attacked Batman, but Batman in that vision shot him saying, "I never use guns, so you never saw that coming, you should have learned to anticipate all possibilities."

Alfred shouted, "But Mr. Wayne! Stop!"

Batman faced Alfred, "You're either with me, or against me!" and snapped Alfred's neck.

The Real Batman had his face in his hands, horrified by what he saw. Ra's interjected, "You have to break a few eggs… there is no crime in this city. Sure it's a smoking rubble, but you'll rebuild it in your image! People will move in again, and you'll make sure…"

The destroyed version of Gotham was replaced with a futuristic version. Everyone did come back, but Batman could see that everyone was living in terror… one man jaywalked, and several men wearing Batman caps swarmed them. "Stop, in the name of Batman!"

Batman suddenly found himself in a court, and he saw a version of himself sitting higher up in a golden chair. Judge Batman.

Judge Batman summoned forth a man, "Speak."

"I stole some bread to feed my kids."

Judge Batman scoffed, "Thief, you are to be taken out and hanged. No one needs to starve in my city. I am the judge. I am justice, I am Batman…"

Another man came forward, "I didn't do nothin."

A police officer wearing a Batman cape stated, "He was caught with some pot in his possession."

"Take him out and hang him. No drugs in my city! No addictions!"

Judge Batman waved another forward, this one was dressed as his old Robin. It infuriated Batman. "Speak!"

"You don't recognize me, Batman?"

Judge Batman gave a cold look, taking in the features visible behind the mask, "Tim Drake."

"Batman, you once fought for justice."

"I am Justice!" Shouted Judge Batman

"No, you are tyranny. A goose-stepping fascist. You are a shame to your cowl, and your parents!"

Judge Batman grew angrier as he listened to the tirade. "You are charged with assaulting a police officer."

"A woman went three miles over the speed limit, he took her out of the car and beat her, and you allowed it."

"Assaulting a police officer, is a capital offense. Your sentence is you will be taken out and beaten to death on the steps of this very court!"

The Real Batman turned away in shame, "That's not me… I would never do that."

The Joker-Bruce Wayne appeared, "You would, and you would love it. Not as fun as what I proposed, but you would enjoy it."

Ra's Al Ghul added, "You would… The ultimate Law & Order. Crimes are punished harshly, the criminal element never surfaces, people are not victims like your parents… because you make sure of it."

Batman responded, "No freedom. No justice. It replaces one hell, with another."

Ra's Al Ghul and the Joker-Bruce disappeared. Batman was back in the dark hallway. "Bruce…"

Batman didn't see where the voice was coming from, he kept walking forward. He saw several pearls on the pavement. They looked like they came from a necklace. Batman stepped forward and then saw a woman on the pavement… it was his mother. And next to her body, was a man… Thomas Wayne, his father. Suddenly they both got up and shuffled towards Batman.

And then another appeared, a woman… it was also his mother. A man, it was also his father. More and more figures appeared, each was either his mother, or his father. They said, "Bruce… you failed us…"

"Bruce, you failed us! We died because you failed… Bruce."

Batman's face was one of horror. Hundreds of undead creatures had now appeared, they were his mother and father, hundreds of them. They all said, "You failed us… we died because of you! Bruce!"

Batman took a step back. One of them grabbed his arm. He pushed the corpse of his mother to the pavement. When he did, he heard the gunshot, the exact same gunshot that was used to kill her. He pushed his father down, and heard the gunshot that killed his father.

"No… No… NO!" Batman turned around, and there were more. He was surrounded.

"You failed us!"

Batman looked up and saw the Joker-Bruce Wayne floating in the sky, "You failed Bats… and your parents are going to make you pay for it! Ha ha ha!"

Batman shouted, "I didn't… I was a kid… I couldn't do anything."

"We died… because of you! We died because of you… we died because of you…"

They surrounded Batman, reaching for his head, "No!"

"Mister Wayne!"

"No!"

"Mister Wayne!"

Batman shouted, "No!" But suddenly his parents disappeared, and suddenly Alfred's face had appeared. "Mister Wayne, are you ok?"

"Alfred… what happened."

"You stopped an attack from the Scarecrow. But you were exposed to a type of his toxin… you explained as you had me strap you down, that it would make you live all your greatest fears. I've been administering the antidote… but I wasn't sure it would work."

Bruce's world was still spinning a little, but he remembered. "It was my greatest fears… I saw my parents… I saw Gotham ruled by a despotic version of me. I saw the Joker, only it was me…"

"It's ok Mister Wayne…"

"I killed you in that dream. I snapped your neck."

"As you can see, my neck is working just fine Mister Wayne."

Batman nodded, "Thank you Alfred… You're always there when I need you."

"I do advise you to avoid more toxin… Maybe you should get some sleep"

Bruce smiled and nodded, and closed his eyes for a few seconds, and he saw the face of the Joker as Bruce Wayne, and opened his eyes again. "I think I'll take some coffee instead."