CHAPTER IX

The most disturbing part of the situation was most certainly the grin plastered on the Joker's face. Whatever he said, he was smiling. This didn't help as he kept going, "This place may not be the murder capital of the world, but that's probably because no one bothers to report it. Gotham has ties to extremely dangerous crime families, most notably the Falcone family. And let me tell you, it's pretty deep. When Carmine Falcone kills someone, he doesn't even need to hide it. Everybody is either working for him or they're too scared."

I looked at him and said, "Not everyone." The Joker nodded grudgingly and said, "Yeah, there are some people, like Jim Gordon or Harvey Dent, but what have they done so far? Huh? Seriously, give me one example where those two…have done anything that in the long run damages Carmine's 'business'." I couldn't find a suitable answer. The Joker started back up after a few seconds of silence, "Although, I suppose that's what our mysterious villain is wanting." "What?" I said. "I think the guy who hired me and Chill wants the city destroyed," replied the Joker.

"Why?" I asked. "It's not like I could tell you why," said the Joker, "I don't know enough about the man. But I can give you my reasoning well enough. Think about it. Thomas and Martha Wayne were murdered, and they were affectionately called the 'Gotham philanthropists', so called because of their continual contributions to the city. And then, there's my earlier analogy. If you're going to let Cujo off the leash, a killer dog, what are you trying to accomplish?" I gulped and said, "To injure someone...or worse." The Joker pointed at me and said, "Bingo! And I see who he wants to 'injure'. The city council, the officials, the bigwigs. He wants me to show everybody who they really are and then use my doggy teeth to rip out their throats."

"What do you mean?" I asked, wanting to see his reasoning. The Joker laughed and said, "Most of these guys would sell their kids if it would save their own wretched skin. Sure there are a couple of good guys, but most of them…they should've had a needle taken to them a long time ago." "So you see yourself as what, a hero?" I said condescendingly. "No, I'm a criminal," said the Joker, "and I deserve what I've gotten. But these guys haven't. That's where I come in. If I succeed or even if I get caught, I'll gladly serve a life sentence or two. As long as I know they won't be breathing, or at least most of them. So, no, I'm not a hero. I'm just a clown."

I stared at him for a long time. He looked back at me and said, "Once again, I can't accept your love." My mouth twitched. "Gordon?" I said, "I think we're done here." I walked out, and the two officers came in to get the Joker. He stopped them and said, "Hey, Batman?" I turned around. The Joker continued, "This city is deceptively beautiful, with all its buildings and its wonderful skyline. But whether you kill yourself, or you get murdered, or you die a natural death, you'll die knowing that it's Gotham that killed you. You can carry on your slightly creepy way." "You're one to talk," I said. "That I am," said the Joker. As I walked away, I heard the Joker ask the guards to drag him away by his arms, "Like in the movies", as he put it.

Before I left, Alfred had told me about a guy named Anarky who was running around causing general mischief. From police reports, Anarky was only a nuisance. They had figured out that he would only help small-time criminals, nothing more. No one has died directly or indirectly because of Anarky. Nevertheless, of course, I still would have to get him. So I watched and waited, with my helmet tuned to the police radio frequency. Eventually, I heard a voice talking about a couple of guys who they knew were amateurs robbing a bank with some pretty heavy guns. Anarky, I thought.

I quickly headed for that part of town, eventually reaching the bank. I knew that Anarky couldn't have gotten far, so I did a sweep of the surrounding area, and quickly found him. He was shorter than I had expected, and thinner. I jumped off a low roof and landed in front of him. He backed away, terrified, and yelled, "Batman!" I squinted and said, "Did your voice just crack?" "Uh, NO! No, it didn't," he said, obviously trying to control his voice. I rolled my eyes and kicked him in the chest. He landed hard on his back, gasping. I pinned him down with my foot and took off his mask.

I was saddened by what I saw. He couldn't have been older than 17 or 18. I helped him up and said, "What's your name, kid?" "L-Lonnie Machin," he replied nervously. "What're you doing?" I asked. "Well," he said, "I just…" "Just what?" I said, "You know, maybe the better question is why? Why are you doing this? You're throwing your life away." "I JUST WANT TO FEEL FREE!" he shouted. I took out a pair of handcuffs, sighed, and said, "There are better ways to do that."

After I dropped him in front of the bank, I headed to Wayne Manor. I pulled up my laptop, and dug through the city records looking for any info on Lonnie. What I found revealed to me why he did what he did. He was regularly locked into his room for sometimes days on end without a suitably supply of food by his crack-head parents. He was taken to the Gotham Orphanage at the age of nine after his parents were sentenced to thirty-five years for possession of crack. He was adopted by strict and unfair parents who basically kept him sealed away, not like his biological parents, but he was really a nobody in his own house.

I understood why he became Anarky. He was tired of the twisted authority he had faced throughout his life, and he wanted a change. Lonnie's story made me think of Dick. What if I hadn't found him? Would he be out on the streets, a criminal? I may never know. But I was glad I didn't have to worry about it. I did find him. He isn't out on the streets. I closed my laptop and headed for the Batcave.

I took off the Batman suit and placed it on the rack which I had moved from my room. I stared at it for a long time, thinking. So, this is what it feels like, I thought. This is what it felt to be a hero. I mean, I don't have powers like my friends, but I imagine they feel the same. I yawned loudly and heard the sound reverberate, causing the bats to stir. I froze as several of them flew downwards towards me. As they passed me, I closed my eyes and managed to relax. Even as one brushed up against me, I stayed calm. I was one step closer to conquering my fear of bats.

I went back up to my room and lied down on my bed. Staring up at the ceiling, I thought about everything that the Joker had said earlier that day. He was an interesting criminal. Through that smile, though, he seemed almost…sad. To this day, I still don't fully understand him. I guess that's his curse. To have a personality so erratic that it can't really be called a personality at all.

And then there was Lonnie. The poor kid. All the pent-up anger and need to have some amount of freedom resulted in overcompensation and taking it out on the city. That was the moment I realized that he wasn't the first, and he wouldn't be the last teen to become a criminal, all because of the life Gotham has. All these years, living in a mansion, I never took stock of anybody else's life. The Joker was right. Gotham can kill you, and it can make you into someone you're not. But still, that didn't mean I totally agreed with him. I didn't believe that the councilmen should be killed, no matter how corrupt. They should have a fair trial, a sentence in accordance with the law. But then again, there never was enough damning evidence for something like that. I suppose that's the angle the Joker came from.

I heard sounds like muffled gunfire from down the hall coming from Dick's room. I got up and headed to his room. I opened the door to find him mowing down Covenant Elites with a Spartan Laser. "What time is it?" I asked, yawning. "One in the morning," said Dick, not taking his attention off of the game, "I couldn't sleep." "Why not?" I asked. "I had a nightmare," he replied. "What kind of nightmare?" I asked. "It wasn't so much a nightmare as it was memories," he replied.

I fell silent. "I'm sorry for asking," I said. "Don't be," said Dick, "I'll bet you've had that happen to you." I sat down on his bed and said, "Yeah, a few times." "Sucks, doesn't it?" said Dick. I never really had thought about it that much. "It sure does," I said. Dick pointed towards the second controller and said, "You want to play?" "Okay," I said. I picked up the controller and said, "So, Halo 3?" "Heck yeah," said Dick, "Best of the series. Course, we'll see if 5 can top it. Did you see the teaser?" "Oh, yeah," I said, suddenly geeking out, "It looks amazing." "You've got that right," said Dick, "So, what level do you think we should play?" "Uh, how about Cortana?" I said, "I never could beat it alone." "Then let's do it," said Dick.

As we played, Dick said, "So, how about that Anarky guy?" I sighed and paused the game, saying, "He was just a teenager." "How old?" asked Dick. "Seventeen," I replied, "I mean, just think, in a year he could've graduated, and instead he's in juvenile detention. I just…" I sighed again. "I get it," said Dick, "Throwing his life away, and all that. It's a downer, all right." I nodded and resumed the game. "I mean, who knows?" I said, "What if it had gone another way? What if he helped instead of hurt?" "You mean what if he became a hero?" asked Dick. "Yeah," I said, "That's exactly what I mean."

We played and played, eventually beating the level on Heroic difficulty after an hour. "Well, that's that out of the way," said Dick, "I'm going to hit the hay." As he nodded off, he mumbled, "Hey, that rhymed." I smiled and walked back to my room, finding Alfred leaning on the wall outside of his. "Did you have fun, Master Wayne?" "Yeah," I said, "I did." "That's very good," said Alfred, shifting, "You know, maybe you can be a 'father figure' to young Master Grayson." I shrugged. "Maybe," I said. Alfred chuckled and said, "Goodnight, Master Wayne." "Night, Alfred," I replied. We both reentered our room, and I went back to my bed. All the time before I fell asleep, I thought about the day and silently wondered how I ended up with such a life.