Jerome and his Complicated Destiny

by DarkLordFluffy

Jerome lasted two years after his brother left until he had enough. He ran away. But ended up running much further than he had ever thought was possible. He ends up in a whole other world parallel to his but years ahead. Will he ever make it back to his own world? And will the life he leads while there, help him prevent him from becoming a psycho? Or was he always a bit psycho?

8. Chapter 8 - Jerome and Arkham City

Jerome, Jongleur, and Tara were out exploring Arkham city when they came across a dead body in the alley.

"Leave it, Jongleur." Jerome said. "We don't have time to sight see. He probably got jumped by one of the more brutal of the inmates in here."

"But this guy had his face cut off." Jongleur said, staring at the corpse with wide eyes. "Is that an MO of anyone you know here in this Gotham?"

"No one in this world. I did hear of a plastic surgeon in the other world that would steal faces for the mob. He would give criminals a new face to hide from the cops. But I don't think this is the same guy." Jerome sighed. Bruce would want to know. "Hey Bats." He called up Batman on the communicator.

"What is it? Find something?" Batman asked on the communicator.

"We found a body with its face cut off. I figured you might want to know. This doesn't seem like the work of some random thug. The cuts look much more precise. Like a surgeon." Jerome said as he scanned the scene with his AR glasses.

"That's the third body already tonight with the same injuries. Are you scanning the area for clues?" Batman asked.

"Of course. I did listen in on your work often enough to know how you do things." Jerome said, looking around. His eyes stopped at a splash of liquid near the body that glowed in the AR glasses. The glasses told him the composition of the liquid. "I see something. Someone's been using bleach to clean up. Not in the area though. They left a trail when they moved the body here. I can follow it."

"Be careful." Batman said.

"I'll stay in touch. Don't worry." Jerome said as he followed the trail of bleach. Jongleur and Tara followed behind him and made sure that no thugs would jump him while he was distracted.

"Isn't Strange about to do something bad soon?" Tara asked as they followed the trail. "Do we have time for this?"

"I know. We have to hope that Batman is dealing with that." Jerome said, hoping for the best. Jerome looked up as he saw a man with several bleach containers sitting on the front stairs of a random building. The man made to run off but Tara tackled the man enthusiastically.

"So, would you explain why you cut a man's face off?" Jerome asked. But he already knew the man was probably not their guy. This guy was no surgeon.

"It wasn't me! I just dumped the body." the thug said with a terrified look. "He told me to use bleach to clean it up."

"Who told you?" Jerome asked.

"Wayne." the thug said. "You know? The rich guy."

"Bullshit." Jerome said with a snort. "Bruce wouldn't do something like that. Try again."

"It was him though! I'm not lying!" the thug insisted desperately. "There's an alleyway near the courtroom. That's where he is. He's crazy, man. You don't want to go in there."

They let the thug run off.

"Boss, did Bruce do that?" Jongleur asked with a confused look. "Where has he been this whole time? You told us he was off doing his own thing. But you didn't tell us what that was."

"It wasn't Bruce. Trust me." Jerome said with an equally as confused look. He got on the communicator. "Batman, you aren't going to believe what I just heard."

"What did you find?"

"I followed the trail of bleach to a thug who told us that the killer told him to clean up for him and dispose of the body. Guess who he said the killer looked like."

"Who?" Batman asked.

"Bruce Wayne." Jerome said, frowning. "Could it be Clayface?"

"No. This isn't his MO. It's someone else. Did the man tell you anything else?" Batman asked.

"He said where the killer's hideout is. I'm going there now." Jerome said, starting to head to the location specified. "It would be a lot more reassuring to know which villain I'm about to face though. If it's Zsasz I could probably deal with him. Clayface, I might not. I don't like not knowing."

"It won't be Zsasz. It's not his MO either and I already incapacitated him earlier." Batman said. "Wait for me and I'll head over.

"No. We don't have time. Find out how to get to Strange or how to stop Protocol Ten. Leave this smaller stuff to me. I'll be fine." Jerome said.

They got to an unassuming door in the alleyway. Jerome opened the door and saw that no one was home. The stuffed toy wrapped in bandages was not encouraging to any of them as they entered the building. They walked around a corner and saw a makeshift operating room.

"Woah there are some really disturbing people in Gotham." Jongleur said as he stared at the pictures plastered on the walls. It looked like someone was trying to build a face. And Jerome pieced together whose face it was from all of the separate pictures. "They were trying to make themselves look like Bruce Wayne by cutting pieces off of other people and stitching it to their own face."

"That's why the man thought he saw Bruce Wayne. The killer must be close to finishing." Batman said over the comm.

Jerome looked around to find out who the killer could be. He found an audio recording labeled with Thomas Elliot. "Thomas Elliot. Isn't that a childhood friend of Bruce Wayne?"

"Yes. But that was a long time ago." said the man himself from the entrance. He shut the gate, trapping them in the operating room. "The Waynes took everything from me. And Bruce had everything I had to fight for handed to him when he was only a child!"

"What are you talking about?" Jerome asked with a frown. "The Waynes never did anything to you. And you were rich. You had everything that Bruce had."

"I dreamed of my parents dying when I was young. So I could be in control of my own life and have all of their money for myself. I wanted this so much that I tried to make it happen. But Doctor Thomas Wayne just had to save my mother's life in some dramatic emergency operation. He took that from me! And Bruce got to have his parents die and didn't even have to try!" Thomas said with a snarl. "So I'm taking his charmed life for myself." He pulled off his bandages and revealed the cobbled together face of Bruce Wayne. It was close enough to unnerve Jerome. "You see."

"As close as it looks, you still look more like Frankenstein's monster with all those stitches. How are you going to explain those?" Jerome asked.

"I was tortured by the inmates in here. It was an awful experience." Thomas said in a rather convincing Bruce impersonation. If Jerome didn't know better, the man had also mutilated his own vocal cords to sound more like Bruce. The man was wheezing ever so often like his throat hurt, so maybe.

"Well, there's just one problem. I know you aren't Bruce Wayne. And the people that matter will listen when I warn them about you." Jerome said.

"Oh yeah. I remember you. You're one of his brats. The redheaded troublemaker." Thomas said with a smile. "That's an easy fix. I can just kill you. Honestly, it might be a good thing you're here. I heard a rumor that one of Bruce's brats had hidden him somewhere. Tell me where you stashed him and I might make your death quick."

Jerome laughed. "First off, you aren't that intimidating to me. Second, you won't find him. Bruce isn't in Arkham City anymore. I managed to get him out hours ago. I just stayed to have a little fun and maybe help out Batman a little."

Thomas sighed in disappointment. "And here I thought this would be easy. That I could just grab him while he was in here, tie him to a block of cement, and throw him off the nearest dock so no one could find him. No matter. I'll get him eventually. Now how would you like to die?"

"Oh you think you can kill me?" Jerome said with an amused laugh. "With my friends here to back me up? Open the gate. We'll see which one of us walks away from this in one piece. Go on. I dare you."

Thomas eyed the three of them and seemed to reconsider. "Perhaps another time. I need to refine my face a bit more. Soon, not even you will be able to tell the difference. You will see me again, but you might not even realize...until it's too late."

"Right. Try me asshole. See you then." Jerome said, waving as the man rushed out of the building. When the man was gone, Jerome went to a control panel and hacked it. "Did you hear all of that, Batman?"

"Yes. I'll have Oracle make a file on him." Batman said. "He might be an issue soon."

"Don't worry." Jerome said as he opened the gate. "I've dealt with people pretending to be Bruce Wayne before. I'll be able to tell the difference."

"In the other world?" Batman asked.

"Yeah. Someone cloned the Bruce from the other world. He was an almost convincing copy. But didn't have the right look in his eyes. I know Bruce's eyes when I see them."

"I would love to compare notes on all that happened in your world and this one. It might be helpful. Some of the things that happened in your world might have happened in a different order than here." Batman said.

"Activate Protocol Ten." Strange said over a loudspeaker all of a sudden.

They looked up to see a missile hit a nearby building. "What the hell?!" Jongleur exclaimed.

They had to dodge missiles and helicopters. When they finally made it to a semi safe place, they stopped to catch their breath. "I guess now we know what Protocol Ten is." Jerome said with annoyance in his voice.

"How the hell is Strange justifying this?" Jongleur asked. "Is he going to kill everyone in here? Not all of the people here are even violent criminals. This is just like Strange, isn't it? Something wildly unethical that kills a lot of people."

"Why do you even care?" Tara asked. "None of us are really known for our ethical behavior."

"Yeah well when I am at risk of death from the unethical behavior I'm a little more critical of it." Jongleur pointed out.

"This is why he gave everyone weapons." Jerome said, realizing what Strange was doing all along. "He's using it as an excuse! He's probably showing footage of the inmates in here all armed and telling the people in Gotham that the inmates are preparing to escape and overrun the city. That way he can get them to approve something like this or at least make it more like a slap on the wrist afterwards for him. People out there that don't know what's going on in here might think it's necessary!"

"Are you ok?" Batman asked over the communicator.

"We're fine Bats." Jerome said.

"I have the codes to get into Wonder Tower. Meet me at the location I marked on your map." Batman said.

Jerome checked the AR map and it showed the roof of a building across from the location Bruce entered Arkham City in the beginning of all of it. They headed over there and climbed up to the roof.

Jerome smiled as he noticed Tim Drake in his Robin outfit waiting on the roof with Batman.

"Another vigilante? How many vigilantes does this place even have?" Tara asked.

"Jerome." Robin smiled at him with a pleased look. "It's so good to see you back."
"Robin. Always good to see you." Jerome said. "Robin, these are my friends Jongleur and Tara. Tara and Jongleur, this is Robin. Yeah, he's another vigilante. Batman has several allies."

"Batman says I can't help. That I should get the cure to the people who need it instead. But I managed to snag some grapple guns for you three. Here you go." Robin handed each of them a grapple gun.

"Woah." Jongleur said with a wide eyed look. "Cool."

"Well, it's the only way we are getting up the tower most likely." Jerome said. "Hope neither of you have a fear of heights." Jerome handed Robin the vial containing the cure.

"Get that to Oracle as quickly as you can." Batman said.

"Don't worry. I will. Just make it out of this alive, ok?" Robin said. He looked at Jerome and smirked. "I have no idea how you got him to let you come along and help him. He never wants help these days."

"I just pointed out he'll have trouble stopping me and doesn't have time to do so. So he might as well just accept it." Jerome said, with a laugh.

Robin looked amused. "Well that's one way to do it. That wouldn't fly if I tried that. Take care of him for me, ok?"

"You make it sound like Batman needs any taking care of." Jerome said. "But yeah. I plan on it."

"Good luck. I'm glad you're back." Robin said before grappling away.

"Ready to go?" Batman asked.

"More than ready. Let's do this." Jerome said enthusiastically. Batman grappled to the walkway over the door to the prisoner processing area. Jerome and his friends grappled behind him and watched as Batman hacked into the control panel next to the gate barring their way inside. Jerome looked down and saw the unconscious guards with sniper rifles. Batman must've taken them out before him and his friends got there. Jerome snorted when he saw the code to the door. "Mastermind? Really? Strange is really full of himself, isn't he?"

"I doubt Hugo Strange is the true mastermind behind all of this. He had to have had help." Batman said as the gate opened and they went inside. They moved through the building until they reached a group of TYGER guards surrounding a few political prisoners. A few of the guards had stun sticks.

It didn't take long though for Batman, Jerome, and a very enthusiastically vicious Jongleur and Tara finished off the guards.

"Stop right there." Hugo Strange said as he appeared on the huge tv screen in the room. He had a hostage. "We need to talk and I know you wouldn't be able to live with yourself, Batman, if your actions caused this poor man to die."

Jerome and Batman stopped in their tracks and stared at the screen. "Wait." Jerome said as Jongleur and Tara moved to fight the several guards entering the room. "Don't. Not yet. Just stay where you are."

"But boss…" Jongleur started to protest.

"Just do what I say!" Jerome said sneering up at the tv screen.

"I have a question for you, Batman." Strange said. "Before my arrival this city was drowning under a tide of filth. Had you ever considered that all this is your fault?"

The question gave Batman a slightly uncomfortable look that only Jerome seemed to really notice.

"Your presence creates these animals. Like germs, they spread. You created the environment that allowed the germ to mutate, to become stronger. Look at the Joker. Would he even exist if not for you?"

"Don't listen to him, Batman." Jerome said. He looked up at the screen with an angry look. "Listen here you asshole. He is not the reason there are awful people in Gotham. My world is parallel. But it's several years in the past. A lot of these villains existed in my world well before Batman even put on his cowl for the first time. Their existence had nothing to do with him. In either world. There were always bad people in Gotham City. From day one. That's just how Gotham is. There's something wrong with this city. Like it brings out the worst in someone. But in a few rare cases it also brings out the best. And you get people like Batman and his allies. That's the only reason that this city even still exists. So shut the fuck up with your manipulative bullshit designed to goad Batman into making a mistake! It's so unoriginal that it's boring."

"Be quiet!" Strange looked annoyed that Jerome was even there. "We have long last defeated the great Batman… and his pathetic allies. Soon I will take my rightful place at my master's side. We will rule over this world. So thank you, Batman, for all of your help. Now, kill them!" Strange ordered the guards surrounding them to attack.

Batman and Jerome fought together. It was thrilling to Jerome to fight alongside Batman. Tara and Jongleur were doing their own thing, gleefully beating up the guards they could get their hands on. Soon all of the guards were unconscious.

"Too easy." Tara said, smirking. "I thought they'd give us more of a challenge."

"What now?" Jongleur asked.

"We go down there." Batman said, pointing at the sewer grate.

"Great. The sewer again." Tara said sarcastically with a less than happy look.

"It's the only way to get where we're going from here." Jerome said.

They went into the sewer. Luckily they didn't have to go far before Batman deliberately dropped down a hole. Jerome rolled his eyes and followed him, using the grapple gun to slow his fall. The others did the same. When they landed, they looked around with surprised looks. They looked to be in an old house. There was furniture and décor as if the building hadn't seen the light of day since the 1800s or early 1900s.

"There's an underground city under everything?" Jongleur asked.

"It's one of the oldest parts of Gotham. Something happened. It was abandoned and the new city was built over it." Jerome said.

"Ra's convinced the city to help him build his Lazarus pit under Wonder Tower a long time ago. Wonder city was his idea. The people who lived close to the Lazarus pit were driven mad. And crime ran so rampant that the city was abandoned." Batman said as they made their way through the haunting ruins.

"Maybe that's why so many people in this city go crazy." Jerome pointed out. "The Lazarus pit is still down here. Still active. So anybody living in this area would still be affected, wouldn't they?"

"It's possible." Batman said.

"Strange was talking about his master. I figured he had someone above him pulling the strings. But who calls their boss Master?" Jerome said with a frown. His eyes widened when he realized. "It's probably Ra's Al Ghul. Who else would have their lackeys call them Master?"

"The Lazarus pit is almost right under Wonder Tower. It's a sound assumption that he's involved." Batman said. "It is definitely the type of plan he would come up with."

"Back in my own world he tried to poison the city. I saw firsthand what that man is willing to do." Jerome said with a sneer. "He made Bruce stab Alfred in the chest. He's fine. He lived but still… That asshole mind controlled the young teenage version of a person I care about into trying to kill the younger version of another person I care about. So yeah, I really am not fond of the guy."

When they reached the room in Wonder city that contained the elevator up the tower, they noticed several heavily armed TYGER guards.

"Look how many. Two snipers too." Jerome looked worried. "This might be a challenge."

"If you can get on the ground floor and sneak through the vents I could take them out from above." Batman said.

"You two should probably stay here. Neither of you are really sneaky." Jerome said to Tara and Jongleur.

"Be careful." Jongleur said with a worried look.

Jerome dropped down into the room and hid behind things. He looked up and just barely noticed Batman grappling from gargoyle to gargoyle. None of the guards seemed to patrol down there on the same level as Jerome. He used it to his advantage and went to the middle of the room were he set a device which would make noise. He then snuck behind a box and waited. One of the guards walked downstairs to investigate the noise and Jerome knocked him out and went to hide elsewhere as a second guard went to investigate the noise of him knocking the other guy out. He then circled around that one and took him out too. He checked to see on the AR lenses where the other guards were. Two more were unconscious on the second floor. Batman's doing obviously. One of them was a sniper. So they were down to one sniper and three other guards. Jerome figured he'd continue with his strategy since it had worked so far and set another sonic device in the center of the room and hid behind a crate. Another guard came to investigate. Boy are those guards dumb, Jerome thought to himself as he was sneaking up behind the man. But just as he was within arms reach, the man turned around. The man just stared at him for a second with a surprised look before raising his weapon to aim at him. "Target Identified!"

Jerome dove at the man tackling him to the ground and wrestling away his weapon and knocking him out. Another guard came running and so Jerome grabbed the unconscious guards gun and shot the incoming guard. He looked around him frantically to see if there were anymore guards. Batman had gotten the rest and was now staring at Jerome with a disapproving look.

"What?" Jerome asked. He looked down at the gun in his hand and then remembered Bruce's vow of no killing. He dropped the gun. "I know you have this thing about no killing, Batman. I try. But I don't have any guilt when it's someone who deserves it. I know that's not what you want to hear."

"Who's to say he deserved it?" Batman asked. "You are not judge, jury, and executioner."

"I know." Jerome said feeling a bit of guilt. Not for the killing itself really. For disappointing Bruce just as he got him back. "I'm not you. I'm not the pinnacle of goodness that you are."

"I'm not perfect either." Batman said. "No one is. I'm going to pretend I didn't see this. As long as in return you're not going to let it happen a second time. Deal?"

Jerome smiled a little at Bruce acting a bit like a scolding parent. "Deal."

Jongleur and Tara were waiting for them on the platform near the elevator.

"So what are the odds that Strange is going to mess with the elevator when we use it?" Tara asked, eyeing the elevator dubiously.

"I'd say that there's pretty good odds that he will." Jerome said. "You two should probably stay here. If we have to climb the building the hard way, you two might not be able to manage it. Not all of it will be just using a grapple gun."

"I'll head back down to the entrance then. Make it back alive, boss. I don't know what I'd do if you were dead." Jongleur said.

"I'm coming with you. I might not be an acrobat like Cammy but I can climb. I used to live in Colorado when I was young, in the mountains." Tara said. "I climbed all the time."

"Alright. Just keep up. And be careful. You won't have safety gear to protect you from falling." Jerome said.

The three of them got in the elevator. Batman climbed onto the roof of the elevator car. Jerome hurried to do the same and Tara followed behind him.

"What do you think you are doing, Wayne?" Strange said over the elevator speakers. "You cannot stop me. I have won."

"Did he say Wayne?" Tara asked with wide eyes. She looked at Batman. "You're Bruce?"

"Like I said before, forget what you learn." Jerome said, giving her a pointed look.

"I remember what you said, Jerome." Tara said. "And this just makes things make sense really. Why else would you help Batman? He's your adopted dad. Don't worry. I'll never tell. Not even the others. I would never betray your trust."

"Thanks Tara." Jerome said gratefully.

"Within the hour, every single piece of criminal scum will burn, and then I will turn my attention to your allies." Strange said on the speakers. "I will first let you watch as your redheaded brat dies in front of you before I kill you. Then I will march to Wayne Manor, drag your faithful butler through the streets of Gotham and I will make him tell the world you have failed."

"Really sure of himself isn't he?" Jerome said with a snort.

"My Arkham City experiment is a success and you...you will kneel before me, begging for your life." Strange said.

The elevator wasn't messed with but it stopped well before the top floor. They stopped at an observation deck. They heard the voices of a group of guards waiting for them at the elevator door. But they were on the roof of the elevator. Batman walked onto the art deco glass roof covering part of the deck and stared down at the guards who were directly above him. He dropped through the glass onto a guard below. Jerome and Tara dropped down right after onto two other guards. They managed to quickly incapacitate the guards and then looked up at the rest of the tower above them. They still had a ways to go. Batman hacked a security terminal and opened the gate to a ledge.

"Here we go. The really dangerous stuff." Jerome said as they climbed along a narrow ledge with their hands, their bodies dangling over a very long drop. Batman made it look easy. Jerome wasn't afraid of heights but it was still very unpleasant to have that much of a drop below him. He tried not to look down.

They climbed and grappled up to the top, watching as missiles hit the city below.

"You're running out of time. Strange is killing everyone in that place." Oracle spoke up on the comms.
"I'll stop him." Batman said simply.

"I know." Oracle said as if she had no doubt he would. He was Batman after all. "How did he ever manage all this? He's killed hundreds of people and he's got full authorization from the city. It's insane."

"I think Ra's is pulling his strings." Jerome said. "It's the only thing that makes sense."

"Jerome? Tim told me he saw you. It's so good to have you back. Are you staying?" Oracle asked with a hopeful sounding voice.

"I was planning on it. It's good to hear your voice again. I've missed all of you." Jerome said.

"You'll have to tell me all about the other world when we have the time." Oracle said.

"I would love to. I got to see your dad's parallel. He is one tough and determined guy. He manages to hold the city together on his own and doesn't even have Batman to help him yet. I could see the family resemblance between you two."

"He's still that way now. He'll always be that way." Oracle said with fondness in her voice. "I'd love to hear more details about that version of him. Later. When we have more time."

Batman opened a maintenance hatch above them as they got closer to the top. The vent would lead them straight to the top floor. They grappled to it and then crawled through to the top floor. Batman turned down a different route that led outside and onto several ledges he could grapple to. Jerome and Tara stayed in the vent and crawled to a section that was just a loose metal cover that they could pop out of. Jerome used his AR glasses to tell where the guards were. When he saw that they were clear, they exited the vent and hid behind some boxes.

Jerome heard Strange comment to his guards that one of their numbers was knocked out. Batman was already hard at work. Jerome had to catch up it seemed. He smiled as he knocked out the guard that walked by the area he was hiding. Tara had already snuck over to another one and held him in a chokehold until he passed out. Jerome climbed the ladder off to the side to get to the second level and knocked out another before smirking over at Hugo Strange standing behind a glass door. Batman took out the last guard and then walked over to where Jerome was.

Tara climbed up the ladder with a cheerful look on her face. "This has been so much fun."

Batman started hacking the control panel that controlled the door separating them from Strange. It didn't take long for him to hack it and it slid open to expose a very worried Strange.

"You have not won. You cannot win." Strange said, fully in denial that he just lost. "I, Hugo Strange, am your successor. I have saved Gotham."

Batman responded to that by kicking Strange in the gut making him fly across the room. "Oracle, shut this place down."

"My pleasure." Oracle said.

"You've ruined everything." Strange said looking disappointed.

Batman grabbed him and dragged him over to a window. "Look at what you've done."

"It's glorious, isn't it?" Strange said with a blissful look on his face.

"Don't try to explain to him how messed up his plan was, Batman. I don't think any Hugo Strange is capable of caring how unethical they are." Jerome said, rolling his eyes.

The nearby computer showed that Oracle succeeded in shutting down Protocol Ten. Which would likely call back all of the helicopters.

"You're finished, Strange." Batman said.

"I have powerful friends, Batman." Strange said. "This is just the beginning. You cannot stop me. Soon I will command forces beyond your comprehension. I have achieved what the great Batman could never do. Gotham will forever thank Hugo...Strange?" The last word was cut off mid word as an ornate sword plunged through his chest from behind him. Ra's Al Ghul appeared behind him as the mad scientist fell to the floor dying.

"Guess we know who's gunning for the most dramatic timing award." Jerome joked darkly. "I just knew this asshole would show up."

"Your part in this is over, Professor Strange." Ra's said as he put away his sword.

"Why? I did everything you wanted." Strange asked, very confused.

"Indeed. You clearly demonstrated that Batman is better than you." Ra's said with a sneer. "Let him die, Detective."

Batman went over to Strange. The man was dying and he couldn't help him. "He was your puppet, Ra's. Why?"

"You said I could replace you. This was our vision." Strange said wheezing and coughing out blood.

"And you failed to see it through." Ra's said.

"Bullshit. He would've killed you even if you had succeeded." Jerome told Strange. "A man like Ra's ties up loose ends. Isn't that right, Ra's? You are no different from the Ra's from my world. Both so removed from the real world. No one should live as long as either of you lived. It clearly made you unstable."

"Of all people that could call me unstable." Ra's said with arrogant amusement on his face. "What is the saying? The pot calling the kettle black?"

"I deserve that." Jerome said. "But at least I try to hold it together. And at least I'm not a genocidal maniac like you."

"Give it time. Your destiny will yet be fulfilled as my other version no doubt told you." Ra's said smirking smugly at him.

"It was already fulfilled. I remember what he told me." Jerome said sneered at him. "In my world I ended up 'shaping the future of Bruce Wayne and I provided his Gotham with something to fear.' With my brother, Miah."

Batman looked at him with a concerned look. "What happened when you gave your brother his cure? Did it fail?"

"No. It didn't. It worked exactly as it was supposed to." Jerome with an unhappy look. "He could finally feel happy. I saw a real genuine smile on him for the very first time and it made me so happy. But I failed to take into account that he might not gain a little empathy once he gained real emotions. My brother became a monster. One you've seen many times. He's my world's Joker now. I think he was always supposed to be that way but in this case it's partially my fault. My cure motivated him to be that awful." Jerome looked down at the floor. It was hard to think about without feeling awful. He looked up again and frowned at Ra's. "So all that destiny stuff is done already."

"That was indeed your brother's destiny fulfilled with your help. But not your own. Yours is still on its way." Ra's said cryptically.

"What are you talking about? I don't have a destiny. I was supposed to die in my own world. I've always felt that." Jerome said, very confused.

"You will discover your destiny on your own. I cannot lead you to it." Ra's said. "And you should be more worried about your parallel's life at the moment anyway."

"Joker probably has his cure at this point. He's not dying now." Jerome said dismissively.

Ra's smirked. "I sent a few of my assassins after that clown's woman and had them destroy the vial. It is necessary for the coming calamity in Gotham for Joker to die beforehand."

"What?" Jerome said with shock on his face. The other vial wasn't in Arkham City anymore! And Joker probably didn't have time for them to go get the other vial either. Joker was going to die. "You asshole!" Jerome snarled at him.

"What are you planning, Ra's?" Batman asked with a threatening tone.

"The calamity that will befall Gotham is not something I will have anything to do with. But it will change the face of Gotham. I look forward to it. It is why I am not overly disappointed this failed." Ra's said, smiling.

"Activate Protocol Eleven." Strange said with his dying breaths. "Passcode...Wayne." Strange took his last breath.

"No!" Ra's said as he saw the Tower self destruct countdown.

"Get out of there!" Oracle yelled.

Batman ran toward both Ra's and Jerome, knocking them both through the window. Tara wasn't close enough to jump out with them and got caught in the blast. Batman clutched Jerome to him as they fell and watched as Ra's stabbed himself with his sword to escape capture. Batman grappled to a building and Jerome fell out of his arms to collapse to the roof in despair.

"Tara…" Jerome said, devastated. "This is my fault. I let her come along. And now she's dead. And I failed. I couldn't save the Joker. He's going to die!"

"I can call Robin. He can have the vial brought back." Batman said.

"He doesn't have that long. He had hours left when I handed Harley his cure. And it's been a few hours since then. I don't think he even has an hour left at this point." Jerome said shaking his head in anger and frustration.

"Bruce?" Oracle said over the comms with a very worried sounding voice. "Are you OK? The tower just exploded."

"I noticed." Batman said.

"Thank God you're alright." Oracle said, relieved. "Is Jerome ok too?"

"I'm alive." Jerome said quietly. "But my friend, Tara, she didn't make it."

"Ra's Al Ghul was the power behind Hugo Strange." Batman told Oracle. "This whole place was part of his plan."

"You're kidding? Where is he now?" Oracle asked.

"Let's just say he's going to need a trip to a Lazarus Pit." Batman said.

"Hopefully he drowns in there this time." Jerome said viciously.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" said a very familiar singsong voice over the loudspeaker.

"Joker." Jerome said with a worried look.

"I'll get back to you." Batman told Oracle. "Something's come up."

The huge tv screen right across from the building they were on switched on and they saw the face of Joker. Joker looked much healthier than he had been looking lately.

"Hello, Batman. I know you can hear me." Joker said. "I haven't caught you at a bad time, have I? I was worried that you may have forgotten about little old me." The camera zoomed out to show Joker with several hostages he must've taken from the large number of political prisoners in Arkham City. "Listen, Batman. I'm putting on a little show for you. It's going to be a doozy. A real red carpet affair. Come to the theater, Batman, and bring the cure. You better hurry though. If you take too long, the cast might not make it." The TV switched off.

"Joker looks much healthier than I expected. Maybe we can get the cure to him in time." Batman said.

"That wasn't the Joker, Batman." Jerome said with a sad look. "That was Clayface. Joker hired him to act like him in front of his goons so they wouldn't think he was weak. Joker is probably not looking that good at this point."

Batman grappled away. Jerome rushed to follow him. "Are you going to confront Joker? We don't have what he wants."

"I can't let him kill all those people. And I think he'd prefer it if I was there...at the end." Batman said.

"It's weird to think he won't be around anymore." Jerome said as they made their way to Monarch Theater. "I wish there was something I could do to stop it."

"Jerome!" They heard someone yelling his name and stopped to see Jongleur helping Derek carry a gravely injured Roz.

"What happened?" Jerome said before remembering what Ra's said. "The League of Shadows did this to you, didn't they?" He wanted to murder Ra's so much. He better hurry up and come back to life so Jerome could murder him.

"Go deal with Joker, Batman. I'll catch up with you." Jerome told Batman who looked at him with concern before grappling away.

"They weren't turtles." Derek said quietly, staring at Roz with a traumatized look after they lay him down in a safe spot.

"What?" Jerome asked.

"The ninjas. Are only good ninjas turtles?" Derek asked.

"They must be the only good ones, Derek." Jongleur said with a sad look.

"They attacked us when we were with Harley." Roz said in a very pained voice. "They took the cure. Harley ran off after them."

"She left you like this?" Jerome asked with an angry look. "Where's Cammy? Is she with Harley?"

"She didn't make it." Roz said coughing. "She gave as good as she got though, boss. I want you to know that."

"Where's Tara?" Jongleur asked.

"She didn't make it either." Jerome said with a devastated look. Everyone that he cared about who relied on him was dying! It was too much. Why couldn't he be more like his brother or Joker and just not care? The ability to care felt more like a curse than a boon at that moment.

"I guess I'll be seeing her soon, then." Roz said, smiling sadly. "I always kinda had a crush on her."

"You aren't dying, so stop talking like that!" Jerome said. But Roz didn't look good.

"It's ok, boss." Roz said. "At least I got to see the way our world would be in the future. I got to see all the advanced technology. Don't blame yourself for this. Please. Promise me that you won't let it stop you."

"I promise." Jerome said.

"Good. I'll be rooting for you in the afterlife, whatever you do with your life. Make it a good show. Give them hell, Jerome." Roz said, smiling as he took his last breaths.

When Roz was dead, Jerome got to his feet and stared out at nothing. His mind was a mess with guilt, anger, and sadness. He wanted to tear the world apart. He was that angry. He screamed out in a rage.

"What are we gonna do now, boss?" Jongleur asked after Jerome looked a little calmer.

"...We still need to help Batman. And we need to be there for Joker. There's nothing stopping him from dying now. I need to be there." Jerome said. "Everyone is fucking dying!"

They put Roz's body in a nice spot that was mostly hidden so none of the creepier inmates would run across him and walk off with his body. Then they followed Jerome to the theater. There were a few Joker thugs at the entrance of the theater but they didn't stop them. They knew it wouldn't go well seeing the look on Jerome's face just then.

When they entered the theater, they saw Clayface fighting with Batman in his mudlike form.

"Holy shit, what is that?!" Jongleur asked with wide eyes.

"Clayface. His powers are a bit more dramatic than our world's version. This is what he really looks like now."

"It's the redheaded parallel of Joker. Are you an enemy or an ally? What do I do with him?" Clayface said as he looked up from pummeling Batman and noticed Jerome enter the room.

"Nothing for the moment. Just pause things with ol' Batsy over there would you? JJ, you're here." Joker said, sounding very unwell as he walked up behind Jerome. "Where is the cure? Give it to me. I don't have time to fight you for it."

"I know you don't have time." Jerome said. "I'm sorry. But I don't have it. It's not in Arkham City anymore and there isn't enough time to go and get it for you. I didn't want this to happen. I want you to know that. I would've given it to you if I could get it." Jerome meant it all. "I don't want you to die. That must sound so odd. Because I should hate you. But I don't. Seeing you die is like watching Miah die. And I never wanted to see that."

"You know, I wouldn't have hated to have a brother." Joker said with a much more serious look than really anyone had seen from the Joker ever. A look that said he knew he was now fucked and going to die. And nothing he could do would change that. So what was the point in fighting anymore? He perked up "Well at least I had a good run. And maybe I can give a great big grand finale to my adoring city and take Batman with me!"

Jerome sneered at him. "Do you think I'll let you? Gotham needs Batman! So I'll stop you. And you know I can. You are fucking dying."

"Why do you care so much about Batman?" Joker asked, sneering right back.

"Why do you?" Jerome turned the question around on him.

Joker laughed a laugh that quickly turned into painful coughing that wouldn't stop. "You have a point. I suppose then it's up to you now kiddo. At least there's you. I'm glad you're back JJ. Now don't let me down."

"I'm never going to be the Joker." Jerome told him, very irritated.

"Right. I can see the look in your eyes kiddo. I remember that look well. I don't think you'll disappoint. So give them a good show, JJ." Joker said, smiling before stumbling and falling to the floor. Jerome squatted down by the Joker and sat with him as he was dying. One of Jerome's worst fears was dying alone. So he'd never make Joker die on his own knowing that was likely his same fear. Clayface had stopped bothering to fight Batman and so Batman was standing there near them, with a solemn look on his face.

"Well, this is not at all how I thought this night would end." Joker said weakly. "I'm all out of punchlines."

"Oh I have a good idea of how you wanted this night to end." Jerome said. "But I'm not going to leave. I'll be here until it's over."

"Harley is right. You do care far too much." Joker said coughing. "But that hasn't worked out very well for you lately has it kiddo? I can see it in your eyes. I don't envy you that. It's far easier not to care. Maybe someday you'll have that and the suffering will go away. It worked for me."

"I want you to know that I would've saved you if I could." Batman said, absolutely serious. "After all that you have done, I still would've given you the cure."

Joker laughed as he died. "I know. I've always found that hilarious…" He was dead. The Joker was now dead.