Superman Ends the Joker Without Turning Evil
-A Justice League Story-
He sat behind the gray walls of his cell, smiling wickedly as he listened to the news report on the radio. It had been over an hour since their... delightful little chat. The Joker was amused, especially with all that had transpired afterwards. His plan was so brilliantly thought out, the beginning of its execution had gone off without anyone interfering in the slightest.
More than an hour ago, The Joker had requested the presence of the man of steel himself. Out of all the heroes in the Justice League, Superman was the perfect candidate. Why wouldn't he? The man was no ordinary man, he was a powerful being from another planet. From that fateful day when he met Kal-El, The Joker saw the potential and the naivety in the Kryptonian.
And that 'vitamin', that deliciously well-made 'vitamin' he'd crafted. All that The Joker had to do was have Superman taste it so he could "understand Joker's warning" and foolishly think that Batman's ever-infamous arch-enemy was right about the events that would unfold. While he may have been insane, The Joker was very intelligent.
"Do you really think they trust you and hold you in high regard?" The Joker had told Superman before giving him the vitamin, "They fear your power, they know what you can become. It won't be long now; Gotham will eventually turn and so will Metropolis. Why do you think the Justice League made you one of their 'founding members', Superman?"
The Joker's sinister smile widened as he rested upon his metal bed, still listening to the radio as the news channel went on a commercial break. The Daily Globe had been talking about the battle in Gotham between the Justice League and Superman for quite a bit and were now about to move on to other topics, especially when that fight was not the only story on the news.
Whatever was going to happen next, The Joker wasn't worried. He would soon be escaping this prison cell, once Superman had realized the truth and came to confront him. There was no doubt that Joker's hypnotizing vitamin would be wearing off in a while, if only he knew of what plans fate had in store for the green-haired madman...
Blackness shrouded his vision; he could feel coldness on his back. And yet, he was aware that he was still wearing his superhero outfit with the cape. Kal-El groaned and slowly opened his eyes, finding himself in... a cave. This wasn't an ordinary cave, it had to be the Batcave. He saw a giant coin and a large fake dinosaur close by, water dripped and computers beeped.
"Unh, my head..." The Kryptonian sat up and rubbed his head, he felt disoriented. His senses came around, even as a feeling of confusion washed over him. Whatever had happened in the last hour felt like a blur, his memories were oddly disoriented. The last real thing he remembered was talking to The Joker and taking that pill he apparently gave him, what were they talking about?
Footsteps approached and Kal-El shook his head before looking up to see Bruce Wayne in his Batman garb with the butler Alfred at his side. "It took a while, but it's good to see that you're awake." The Dark Knight said in a calm tone, assuring Kal-El that they were fine, "Can you remember anything important that happened before now?"
Kal-El grunted and sat up. "What's going on?" He asked, "Why do I feel disoriented with blurry memories and how did I end up here in the Batcave?"
"You attacked the Justice League and the city." Alfred explained, "It was completely unlike you, Mr. Kent. As far as we know, you were probably under some sort of mind control."
Hearing Alfred's explanation shocked Kal-El so much, his face began to sweat and he held his head with dismay. "This isn't right." He groaned, "I'd never do something like that."
"Under normal circumstances, you'd be right, and you are." Bruce agreed, "But you did and you weren't yourself, I could see it in your eyes. It's clear that you were brainwashed and tricked, we had to use Kryptonite to subdue you and break the hold of whatever was influencing you."
Kal-El chuckled and scratched the back of his head, "Kryptonite, my one weakness and also a useful tool that helped you snap me out of that brainwashed state. Wow, you weren't joking when you said you were keeping Kryptonite here just in case I became a threat one day."
"And, as we saw today, that critical event we long feared came. You did become a threat, but not in the way we expected." Alfred remarked, "None of us expected it to happen just after you flew over to the Gotham Security Prison to meet with The Joker."
As soon as 'The Joker' was mentioned, Kal-El clutched his head and groaned. Bruce scratched his chin as if he was in thought, the Dark Knight looked at Alfred and then at Kal-El. "Suspiciously enough, there seems to be a connection between The Joker and your attack on Gotham." He said, "Clark, what did The Joker want, what are the last memories you remember?"
"Joker wanted to see me so he could say that I was just as strong and formidable as you, he even said I can't trust everyone." Kal-El answered as he slowly remembered everything, "He said you and the rest of the Justice League feared my powers and it was only a matter of time until the world turned against me, I had my doubts and didn't know what he was... talking about."
It happened; the memory resurfaced. Kal-El remembered The Joker giving him that 'vitamin' and claiming it would help him understand. The man of steel remembered that, as soon as he took it, he'd started to feel strange. Initially, before his world view changed, Kal-El thought that Joker's 'vitamin' was helping him. Now, he realized...
"He brainwashed me!" Superman cried as he shot to his feet, "The Joker made me take his 'vitamin' so he could make me attack Gotham and decimate the Justice League, he turned me into his pawn. This will not happen, I foolishly allowed myself to be tricked by that madman. Oh, now that's both foolish and villainously clever on his end."
Alfred gasped with shock, "My word, now the connection becomes easier to see, especially when The Joker is one of Master Bruce's smartest and most dangerous enemies in Gotham. We let our guards down and underestimated that crafty madman, as a result, Mr. Kent briefly became a mindless and unwitting pawn to the world's most nefarious villain mastermind."
"That makes a lot of sense given how crafty Joker has been in the past." Bruce commented, "He must've had a long time to study you, Clark. And on top of that, there's no doubt that he's planning to break out soon. Had we not defeated you, it's likely you would have fully succumbed to the brainwashing effects of the vitamin and broken Joker out of prison."
No sooner than the idea of The Joker escaping was mentioned, Kal-El smacked his fist into a palm and floated off of his feet, his sense of justice was growing by the second. "Justice must be served." The Kryptonian superhero declared, "The Joker cannot escape and continue to live to strike again another day, the threat must be eliminated before it grows."
Just hearing the Man of Steel speak of actually doing the impossible shocked Bruce and Alfred. "Clark, wait!" Bruce warned, "If you do that, you'll be no better than..." Before the Dark Knight could finish, Kal-El flew out of the Batcave and out into Gotham. Bruce shook his head and Alfred headed off to the mansion upstairs, acting oblivious to what was taking place.
Kal-El raced through Gotham's airspace, focused on his current mission and the task of protecting the planet. He thought of Lois Lane, his parents and everyone whom the Kryptonian shared a strong bond with. The flying superhero was lucky he was snapped out of his "trance" by the Justice League, otherwise, something really bad could have eventually happened to Lois.
Behind Gotham Prison's walls, The Joker was smirking villainously as he stood in his cell. He looked at his watch and inspected the time, the criminal mastermind knew Superman had likely just recovered from the earlier fight and was on his way here right now. The Joker was prepared for what was coming, he was going to overpower the Man of Steel and escape this facility.
Unmistakably faint whooshing sounds made their way through the walls and reached the lunatic's ears, it was him, it had to be. Joker resisted the urge to laugh maniacally, he did not want to raise the guards' suspicions. Doors burst open and someone yelped, the sounds came closer and Joker turned to face the cell doors. Seconds ticked by, then... BOOM!
The doors exploded open and Kal-El flew into the room, he tackled Joker and pinned him down. "Well, well..." The crime prince sneered, "If it isn't the Man of Steel again. And how did it go with the so-called Justice League, did my... vitamin help you fully understand the gravity of the situation and what you had to do to defend yourself?"
"Don't even try, Joker." Kal-El growled, "I know what your game is, you tricked me and tried to use me to hurt Batman and his friends. You made me your pawn, you're trying to create as much chaos as possible and you're becoming more dangerous each day."
"Oh, please..." Joker laughed, "At least you didn't hurt that lovely Lane woman. Can you even imagine what would've happened if she ended up in your path during that wildfire between you and the League of do-gooders?"
Soon as The Joker mentioned Lois, Kal-El was shocked. How did this nutcase find out about the flame of his life? Sure, he had accomplices, but how he found out about Lois Lane was beyond comprehension for the Kryptonian Superman of Steel himself.
A sinister grin edged upon The Joker's face and he pushed Kal-El off him. "Surprised, are we?" He asked, "It doesn't matter anyway. You were so easy to manipulate, Superman, and my vitamin was the perfect tipping point to sway you to my side." Prison guards peaked in, visibly startled from when the Man of Steel furiously smashed his way in through the doors.
"You're not escaping again, Joker." Kal-El told the maniac, "There's no way out of this after what you pulled, if you escape, Batman will catch you and put you back in here only for the cycle to repeat itself. You've threatened Gotham and caused mayhem for far too long, someone should have taken you down a long time ago. Your day has come, I will be ending this."
Hearing a statement like that from the Man of Steel made The Joker laugh. "You? Put an end to me?" He mused, "Oh, don't make me laugh, Superman. You're not the kind of man who could possibly even dare to even do the unthinkable, are you really going to destroy me when I'm about to go terrorize Gotham and fight Batman again?"
Joker raced for the doorway, but Kal-El stepped in his path. The maniac tried to punch the Kryptonian and knock him down, but the Man of Steel blocked the fist and kicked Joker in the gut. Joker staggered and drew a gun out of nowhere, Kal-El ducked to avoid the shot and punched the weapon out of the nutcase's hand. "No escape, Joker." The superhero said.
"Oh, I think there is." The Joker grabbed a canister of Joker Gas from his pocket and was about to throw it when Kal-El snatched it from him and threw it out of a window. Joker attacked Kal-El one last time before the Kryptonian kneed him in the groin and bonked him in the face, dazing The Joker. Kal-El's eyes glowed red, he was ready to do what he was about to do.
As a handful of guards watched and just before The Joker recovered, Kal-El did what had to be done. "Say goodbye, Joker." He said in an intimidating voice. Without a thought of hesitation, Kal-El's signature red heat-lasers fired from his eyes and grazed right through The Joker's heart. "Eeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaagh!" Joker exclaimed, unable to let out a single mad cackle.
Kal-El kept shooting his eye beam as the energy melted away Joker's life essence, the maniac's pulse went through the roof and his eyes bugged out just like in a cartoon. Kal-El stopped unloading his lasers and relaxed, The Joker coughed and dropped to the ground. This was it, one of the most feared villains in Gotham was gone before he could become a big threat once again.
The guards were in shock and Kal-El turned to leave the cell, nobody moved forward to arrest him or even protest. One guard just shrugged and said, "Eh, it was about time before somebody put that nutso down. If it were up to me to decide his fate, I would've given that Joker fella the electric chair or just shot him." Even the other prisoners in the facility were surprised as well.
Regardless, in one day, Gotham City saw a superhero tricked into attacking the city and his fellow heroes by a madman before the superhero put down said maniac. Batman wouldn't worry too much, he had other enemies to face, but at least he didn't have to worry about The Joker again for a very long time. Until then, Gotham was finally free from Joker's reign of terror...
The End