"So…what are we going to do about the election?" asked Batman as he and the rest of the Justice League sat in the Watchtower.

"I don't think there's much we can do," said Superman. "We can't interfere with the democratic process, or we'll be seen as tyrants. We have to let the people make their own decisions, no matter how objectively terrible they might be. If Luthor or Joker can paint us out to be interfering with the will of the people, their involvement in the Injustice League to oppose us is going to be seen as freedom fighting rather than the terrorist organization it actually is."

"And you giving this interview to Lois Lane about Luthor's involvement in the Injustice League is not interfering with the democratic process, right?" asked Batman, sarcastically.

"Don't take that tone with me, Bruce," snapped Superman. "Lois asked me if I knew anything about the accusation, and I had to be honest."

"Probably also didn't hurt your relationship any," said Batman, lightly. "At least, not as much as it would have if you'd refused to say anything about it."

"I don't like lying," snapped Superman. "Especially not to people who are close to me. Although I know you don't have a problem with that, Bruce."

"Hey, boys, place nice," snapped Wonder Woman. "Nobody wants to see Batman vs. Superman again."

"Ha, good one, Diana!" laughed the Flash.

"You were in that movie too, and so was she!" snapped Batman. "And just when you think that's the biggest joke of the year, you get this election! We can't call ourselves heroes if we let either Lex Luthor or the Joker win the presidency. They're both unmitigated disasters for the country!"

"Bruce, God knows I hate Luthor," said Superman. "But we didn't interfere when he ran four years ago because we agreed that we had to respect the democratic will of the people."

"Clark, you know as well as I do that Luthor's election had nothing to do with the democratic will of the people," retorted Bruce. "He bought the presidency. I still think we should have done something at the time to expose him…"

"Yes, Bruce, we remember your suggestions four years ago," said Wonder Woman. "But you have to understand how it would look to have any of us directly interfering in a presidential election. We have to remain neutral, and neither endorse anyone, nor denigrate them. We all have great power, and with that comes great responsibility…"

"Spare me the Spiderman speech, Diana," interrupted Bruce. "What good is having great power if we stand by and let terrible things happen? And the Joker having a shot at the highest office in the land is too terrible to even consider. We have to stop this now."

"Bruce, if we didn't interfere with Luthor four years ago, we can't now," said Superman, firmly. "It would look like we have a personal grudge against the Joker…"

"We do!" roared Batman. "Or at least I do! He's a murdering psychopath! He killed Jason, crippled Barbara…"

"And so you're taking it personally," interrupted Wonder Woman, gently. "We understand, Bruce. But if you go down there as Batman and try to interfere in the Joker's election, he's going to turn people against you. He's going to say you do have a personal vendetta against him and that you attack him unfairly. And if people believe him, if public opinion actually turns against Batman in favor of the Joker, can you imagine how hard your job is going to be in the future?"

"Diana's right – remaining neutral is our only possible course of action," said Superman. "We can't let Luthor or Joker make people think of us as elitist autocrats who think we know what's best for humanity, and who try to control everyone just because we have superpowers. If people lose faith in us, we lose everything. How can we be heroes if nobody believes in us? And the moment we interfere in democracy, we'll stop being heroes."

"It's not democracy," growled Bruce. "It's a rigged election being fought by two evil people, and it has to be stopped."

"That's not our call," said Superman, firmly. "I know Luthor believes that a man who has money can do whatever he wants, but I always assumed you didn't think that way, Bruce. Perhaps I've misjudged you."

"Bruce, even if you could turn people away from voting for the Joker, it's just going to result in more votes for Luthor," said Wonder Woman. "And vice versa. Think about it that way. You wouldn't want to help out either of them like that, would you?"

"And Clark's interview isn't helping out the Joker by slandering Luthor?" demanded Bruce.

"No, both Luthor and Joker were in the Injustice League," said Superman. "So they're both equally to blame. I'm just giving the people information. What they choose to do with the information is up to them."

"So if I help spread information about the Joker's atrocities, no one will object to that either?" asked Batman, looking around.

"No one can stop you," sighed Superman. "Just try to be discreet. I'm making it clear in my interview that I don't endorse or condemn either candidate. Make sure you do the same."

Batman nodded, standing up. "If you'll excuse me, Bruce Wayne has a business meeting to get to. I assume he can support or condemn any candidate he wishes?"

"As I understand it, Bruce Wayne always does what he wishes," retorted Superman. "With an attitude like that, I can certainly see why he supports Luthor over Joker."

"Oh, believe me, Clark, your nemesis might be a corrupt, awful human being," said Batman. "But he's nothing compared to mine."

Bruce Wayne, despite his tendency to dress up in a bat costume and fight crime, was fundamentally a pragmatist. He hated Lex Luthor, but since the race for the presidency would result in either him or the Joker winning, Bruce saw Luthor as the far lesser of two evils. As such, Bruce was fully prepared to support him however he could, and had expressed this view to Luthor, who had requested a meeting with him. As Bruce changed from his Batman suit into his business suit in his limousine on the way to Wayne Enterprises to meet Luthor, he wondered what strategy Luthor had in mind for taking down the Joker. Whatever it was, it wouldn't be as satisfying as the strategy Bruce longed to implement, which was beating Joker to within an inch of his life, and throwing him back in Arkham for good.

"Bruce, I'm so pleased to see you again," said Lex Luthor, entering Bruce's office with a beaming smile. "And I'd like to thank you for choosing to endorse me for president."

"Well, anyone in Gotham who would want the Joker as president would have to be clinically insane," said Bruce, shaking his hand. "Which I'm not. We've seen what he's done to this city over the years – we don't want the country suffering the same fate."

"Understandable, Bruce," agreed Luthor, nodding. "And yet quite a few of your fellow citizens would disagree with you, judging by how packed Joker's rallies here have been."

"Well, they do say Gotham is a mad city," said Bruce, forcing a smile. "And of course many of the local criminals and supercriminals support him, being one of their own."

"Yes, I hear those types of people tend to stick together," said Luthor, nodding.

"Not that you'd know anything about what criminals or supercriminals do," added Bruce, lightly.

"Bruce, I hope you don't believe that Injustice League slander…" began Luthor.

"It doesn't matter what I believe," interrupted Bruce. "It doesn't even matter if it's true, because the truth is, you're objectively the lesser of two evils, Lex. So I'm going to do whatever I can to help you win, for the good of the country, and the world."

"That's good to hear, Bruce," said Luthor, smiling. "As I'm sure you're aware, Joker's taken the low road in his campaign, resorting to dirty tricks and name-calling while painting himself as an honest, trustworthy person. While I would like to be the better man, I can't argue with the efficiency of his approach. So I'm currently trying to gather as many of the Joker's victims, the ones who were lucky enough to survive an encounter with him, of course, to publicly denounce him. He can say what he wants about his criminal past, but when people see the actual effect his sick jokes had on people, it might jolt them awake to what kind of monster he truly is."

"Well, I've been held hostage by him a few times…" began Bruce.

"Actually, I was hoping you could put me in touch with a friend of yours, a Miss Barbara Gordon," interrupted Luthor. "She was paralyzed from the waist down thanks to the Joker, I understand."

"Yes," said Bruce, nodding. "And I'm sure she'd be happy to testify against him."

"He…um…just paralyzed her, is that correct?" asked Luthor, slowly.

"Yes," repeated Bruce. "Isn't that enough?"

"Oh yes, horrible thing to have happened to her," said Luthor. "But there were rumors that he may have also…sexually assaulted her. I wonder if she'd be willing to testify to that."

"Probably not, since it's not true," said Bruce.

"Of course, truth is important," said Luthor, nodding. "Only…sexual assault is such a hot button crime right now. It's something that really outrages people."

"…I think being shot for no reason and paralyzed from the waist down should probably outrage people too…" began Bruce.

"Yes, terrible tragedy," agreed Luthor. "But it's just not as juicy as rape. In terms of alienating voters, of course. The female vote is a huge demographic, and women tend to rally around sexual assault victims while unanimously reviling their attackers. Joker's done a lot of horrible, terrible things, but he's never raped anyone. But it would be nice if we could say he has, to really drive a nail in his coffin in terms of the female vote."

"You're advocating…asking my friend to lie about a sexual assault?" asked Bruce, slowly. "To tarnish the reputation of a man who's committed so many horrible crimes that one more really shouldn't make a difference? Doesn't that belittle actual sexual assault survivors? Plus why would we attack the Joker for a fictitious crime when there are so many more we could go after him for?"

"I just told you – rape is a hot button crime," snapped Luthor. "It'll do a huge amount of damage to his campaign."

"And if he somehow proves it's not true?" demanded Bruce. "If his accuser is found to be lying, how can anyone trust that all of his accusers aren't lying? That could result in the opposite effect, and rally support for the Joker. Plus I don't think Barbara will agree to lie about what happened to her…"

"Oh Bruce, for the right price people will agree to anything," retorted Luthor. "Surely you must know that."

"Barbara won't," said Bruce. "You don't know her. She's a person of integrity, like her father."

Luthor sighed. "Fine. We'll try being honest and attacking him for his actual crimes, but if that doesn't work, I'm going to pay some other women to lie about it. You don't know the Joker like I do, Bruce. You can try being earnest and decent, but he'll always find some way to take your good intentions and turn them against you. He takes everything as a joke, and somehow this makes him invulnerable to attack or criticism, since he just laughs it off. A man who stands for nothing is hugely dangerous, because he can stand for anything. And desperate people cling to anything when they feel like they're losing control. Even a psychopathic clown."

"You're right, Lex," said Bruce, nodding. "I don't know the Joker like you do."

But he did. And that was the worrying part, because he knew that everything Luthor had said was true.