August 24th, 2022: Sunday
The second Joker woke up, he knew his jaw had been dislocated.
Everything was a daze. He knew they were back in the Metaverse, that they were trying to change someone's heart, but the details were fuzzy.
Where was he? Whose heart were they trying to change? Why was his jaw dislocated?
He tried working his jaw and felt it cracking and shifting back. After several unsuccessful attempts of trying to work it back into place, he finally sat up and grabbed his chin. He took a deep breath and popped it back into place.
Joker opened and closed his mouth a few times, satisfied that he set it properly. If not, he knew somebody who could double check for him.
He could hear a buzzing in his ear, but it wasn't from the probable concussion. He reached up and said, "Oracle? That you?"
"Joker! You're alright! We were worried about you!" Oracle took a few deep breaths. "Where are you? Any sign of the others?"
The room was a mostly nondescript blue, with the strange addition of nonsensical lines of light running up and down them. He looked up to the ceiling… and saw a hole to the night sky. Did he crash through the ceiling?
"I…" He clutched his chest and groaned. "No. I don't know where anyone else is. You?"
"I think Queen and Skull are together. Doc's here with me. As for everyone else, I know they're still alive, so that's something," Oracle replied.
Joker nodded and began pacing the plain room. No sign of any doors, windows, or any other obvious means of escape. It was a completely useless space as far as he could tell.
"Do what you can to get a hold of the others," Joker ordered. "Set up somewhere we can all meet up, I'll get there as soon as I-"
Footsteps interrupted him. Loud and heavy.
Clunk. Clunk. Clunk. Clunk.
They were just outside the room he was in. He crouched down and quietly moved towards the closest wall. He placed his ear against it and focused. They were getting closer.
"Joker? What's wrong?" Oracle asked.
"Someone's close. I don't think it's one of the Thieves." He spoke in a quiet whisper.
Clunk. Clunk. Clunk.
"You need to get out of there!"
Joker placed a finger to his ear. "What, why?"
Clunk. Clunk.
"No time, just run!"
Clunk.
"Oracle, I need you to talk to me," Joker said.
"Just go!"
He looked up at the wall. The footsteps had stopped. He narrowed his eyes and got to his feet.
He slowly reached for the knife strapped to his back, feeling his fingertips brush up against it.
Suddenly and without warning, an armored hand burst through the wall and grabbed Joker by the face. He was slammed to the floor, picked up, slammed again, and then thrown against the wall.
Joker was barely able to regain some semblance of balance before he had to duck a fist embedding itself in the wall where his head once was. He looked up at the man in pure white armor with a scarf billowing in the non-existent wind. It looked like something straight out of a sentai superhero show.
Wait a second… Joker raised an eyebrow. It was from an old sentai show. Zephyrman? That's what it was called, right?
Without thinking, he avoided being grabbed again and delivered two solid punches into Zephyrman's abdomen before sending an elbow into his gut. The force drove him back, but the sentai hero recovered nearly instantly.
He backhanded Joker away and followed it up by grabbing his feet while Joker was still in midair and threw him into the opposite wall. Joker fell with a thud and tried to get to his feet but was grabbed by the collar of his jacket and slammed into the wall.
Zephyrman then grabbed him by the face and smashed the back of his head into the wall. It felt like a train just ran over his brain, but Joker pressed on. He reached into his jacket and pulled out his gun.
He shoved the barrel into Zephyrman's armpit and pulled the trigger. For the first time, Zephyrman screamed in pain and dropped Joker to the floor, backing away.
With some breathing room, Joker reached for his mask. He grabbed the edge, gritted his teeth, and ripped it off.
The mask erupted into blue fire on Joker's face, but it did not burn him. Instead, it moved forward and grew into the vague outline of a humanoid shape. From the form, two large, feathered wings furled out, dispelling the fire.
Arsene stood, tall and proud, ready to fight.
Zephyrman looked up and tilted his head at the new arrival. His masked face made it difficult to see what he was thinking, but Joker guessed he was taken a bit by surprise. He didn't allow a second more to go to waste. He held out his hand and commanded, "Arsene! Ravage him!"
The Persona lunged forward and clawed at Zephyrman, leaving large marks in the armor. The attack knocked the sentai hero for a loop, but otherwise left him unharmed. He grabbed Arsene by the wrist when the Persona was coming in for another strike, pulled him close, and chokeslamed him into the ground.
Joker himself was thrown to the floor, feeling the exact same pain that his Persona was going through. Arsene disappeared, leaving him beaten on the ground. His body ached and he could feel his vision beginning to blur again.
This time he wouldn't be waking up with a broken jaw. He wouldn't be waking up at all.
He was grabbed by the scruff of his jacket and dragged over to the wall adjacent to him. Zephyrman picked him up and slammed him against it. Joker let out a scream of pain. He could feel some ribs breaking.
Zephyrman slammed him against the wall again. Cracks spread throughout the wall.
"Joker!" Oracle cried through his ear. "We got your location, just hold out a little longer!"
Joker choked on some blood. "O-Oracle…"
Zephyrman pulled him back and this time shoved him through the wall itself, still holding onto him.
Joker's head rolled to the side and his vision began to blur. He looked down at his feet dangling over a vast drop to the futuristic cityscape. Mint green lights shined throughout the entire city, cars flew at mind boggling speeds through the air. The skyscraper he was in had to be at least a mile into the sky, if not two. He wasn't sure.
When you're on the verge of slipping into unconsciousness, you tend to not be able to ascertain distance.
Zephyrman drew him in closer. In a modulated voice, he growled, "Finally, the world will be cleansed of your evil ways, Phantom Thief."
Joker couldn't muster up a response. All he could do was wheeze, struggling to get some oxygen into his lungs.
Zephyrman sneered and simply let go.
Time seemed to slow for Joker as he fell. He saw his enemy, standing triumphant over him. He had more than enough time to think of his friends, his family, everyone that he was going to fail because he wasn't strong enough.
More importantly, he thought of that one special person in particular. Never able to have the life they so rightly deserved with each other.
As he fell and the ground rushed up to meet him, as the darkness began to overtake him, only one more thought passed his mind.
Tae. I'm so sorry.
