This fic is coming to its final stages. Two more after this and a sequel already planned out.
All it takes is one bad day
Chapter 8
It had been three weeks since Raven had been last seen.
Three weeks of anxiety for the young Damian Wayne. Three weeks of searching and coming up empty and three weeks since he had spoken to his father.
To say Damian was furious was an understatement. To be honest, he was unsure if he would ever be able to speak to his father again. He blamed him for Raven's departure. She would still be here if he hadn't threatened her the way he had.
The said young man sat at his bed, worry clear on his face. He had been searching at every available moment for his friend but as the days continued to pass by he felt that it would be hopeless.
They all knew that she went off with Jason and Damian was terrified that they would get themselves killed. Jason was unstable and rash. Raven was emotional and angry. The combination was dangerous when going against the Joker. If Jason and Raven got to the Joker before himself and Nightwing (for they had requested the other Titans to sit this battle out and handle the day to day criminals) then they were liable to get themselves killed. The Joker would use their emotions against them. If Batman got to them first then it may be Batman who was in danger and that would not bode anyone.
A knock on his door got Damian's attention.
"Damian," the voice of Dick Grayson said. "Let me in."
Damian walked to his door and allowed his adopted older brother in.
"How can I help you?" he asked.
"Something's come up, we need to go," Dick said.
That got Damian's attention.
...
"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos," Raven chanted.
Her hands were on Jason's head as they soothed and calmed his erratic dreams. He had been having a nightmare. A nightmare so strong that it had awoken her from her slumber with a layer of sweat coating her body.
She hadn't meant to see his dreams but he been dreaming so loud, and the emotions were so strong that they managed to seep into her own as well. His nightmares were similar to hers. Like hers they were of the torture, the pain….the joker. She could not seem to get rid of them, she couldn't seem to heal herself but she could heal him. And so she did. It was the least she could do.
"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos," she continued as she tried her best to give the man a good night's sleep.
After a moment more of chanting, she felt him relax and she looked down to see him sleeping soundly. A feeling of relief rushed through her.
It wouldn't be long now, not at all.
He would be destroyed soon and nothing was going to stop her.
...
"You did something to me last night, didn't you," Jason asked Raven that next morning.
She nodded as she handed the man his tea.
"I soothed your fears," she told him. "I thought you would appreciate a good night's sleep. I hope I didn't upset you."
Jason looked at the young girl. She seemed so small and young and at the end of the day, she was. She was around 15 or 16, a kid and she was short and petite. Jason also knew what she had been through before with her own father. How she was meant for darkness but tried so hard to be light. How she nearly brought on the end of the world.
After that, she shouldn't have to have gone through anything worse but she had and it was unfair.
She didn't deserve it.
Hell, he had only been a kid when he had gone through his own hell. He didn't deserve it either.
Neither of them deserved to become the targets of the Joker's madness. No one ever deserved it and yet he was still out there killing and hurting and torturing people who didn't deserve it. So they would have to put a stop to him. They had no other choice.
He just wished it hadn't come to the choice between purging the world of their nightmares and sacrificing the relationships they held dear. Raven didn't deserve the ultimatum Bruce had left for her. She deserved to be a titan but she also deserved her revenge and Bruce made her choose between the two.
It wasn't fair.
"Nah," Jason said to her with a soft smile. "Best sleep I've gotten in a while. How'd you sleep?"
Raven looked down.
"The same as usual," she replied with no emotion visible on her face.
Jason sighed. That wasn't fair either.
...
...
" Batsy, batsy, batsy, batsy," the cruel and high pitched voice said. "It's been a while."
Batman scowled. He had managed to track down the Joker's whereabouts to an old abandoned warehouse in the business district of the city.
He had been searching non-stop for almost two days. He had needed to find the Joker before any of the others had. He needed to put a stop to this before they got themselves killed and he knew they would if they fought him again.
The Joker was sat on a spinning chair, his hands folded together and a huge grin on his face.
"You've gone too far Joker," he said.
"Too far?!" he laughed. "Now what are you talking bout bats, I need more detail."
Batman glared at his nemesis.
"You know what I'm talking about," Batman growled. "This ends today Joker. This ends now!"
The Joker stopped spinning and smiled at him.
"Oh you mean my little pet bird," he said licking his lips. "Now that was a doozy. I was crushed when my pretty little bird flew away. Someone opened her cage you know, the gall of some people."
"She's a child," Batman seethed.
"Was," the Joker said with glee. "She ain't no kid anymore, she's a woman now. Ahahahahahaha."
"Why Joker?" Batman asked with anger in his voice. "Why the girl?"
The Joker flashed his horrid teeth and suddenly Batman felt the poke of a needle dart puncture his skin.
The world started to become fuzzy and blurry. His muscles were failing and he fell to the floor on hands and knees.
He had fallen into a trap.
The Joker continued to laugh and spin around in the chair. The squeaking loud and clear through the empty room.
"Playing with the pretty bird wasn't the original plan," Joker said as he hopped off the chair and made his way to him. "I had a great show planned, a great one. Your boy was going to be the star of the show but he didn't show up for the audition. No, he was somewhere else. Instead, it was the girl, the pretty birdie who showed up to the audition."
The Joker stopped in front of his him. His wait level with Batman's eyes.
"She showed up to my little audition and I knew right away that she would be my star. She would be better than a little bird boy. Hollywood loves those little weird Goth kids with tragic pasts. I just made her past much, much more tragic. Turned a girl and made her a woman ready for the world and Batsy I have to admit that I liked having her around, hahahahahaha. I wasn't ready for her to go."
The Joker kicked him to the ground and put his foot on his chest.
"That's why I need you," he said with his horrific smile. "I can see that my pretty bird has a thing for your little brat. The brat will come to save you and she will come to save the brat. Whether she brings the other kid doesn't matter because I will be ready."
Batman's edges began to blacken and his focus was waning.
"I'm going to get my birdie back," he whispered. "And once I have her I'm gonna play with her and I'm gonna make you and the baby bat watch as I break her wings. It's gonna be a blast."
...
Raven stared at the message that they had been sent. Jason glared at it and Raven was stoic as ever.
They both knew it was a trap, it was obvious really.
Still, they had little to no choice but to walk into the trap.
"He's trying to get Damian and Dick to go to him so you go to them," Jason said as he loaded his guns and sharpened his blades. "We've gotta be smarter than this. I'm pretty sure Dick is already trying to stop the bat brat from being too rash. I am also pretty sure that he's gonna fail."
Raven signed for she couldn't disagree.
"Damian," she said. "Can be very rash and I don't want him getting hurt but I don't know if I'm ready to face the Joker again."
Jason put his hand on her shoulder, a comforting gesture.
"You're never gonna be," he said honestly. "There's also the chance that we fail but it's the only chance we are gonna get."
Raven nodded her head.
"I know," she said. "Let's try to get to them before Damian and Dick do."
"I'm ready when you are," he replied.
She nodded.
...
End.
A shorter Chapter and somewhat of a filler before the last two chapters.