Sorry for the delay; I've been having serious writer's block and have been kind of avoiding writing this chapter. The dialogue between Bats, Jason, and Joker is taken from the movie (probably part of the reason I didn't want to write this chapter), but it's necessary.
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By the time I got back to the cave, Bats was already back out, going who knows where. Well, I'd probably know if I could actually read the monitor, but everything was incredibly fuzzy. Alfred helped me back to my room, and I collapsed in a heap next to the bed.
Since my first time, dragons and men came to use me brutally week after week, month after month. Days flashed by, mere glimpses of the horrors and pain. Suddenly, the torrent stopped, landing on an off day. A male terrible terror- no, a duone! slunk into the room, changing after he slipped through the bars. I shrunk back, surprised to see my own kind. "Shhh, it's okay. I don't want to hurt you," he gently whispered. Glancing around, he continued, "Just stay quiet; I'm not even supposed to be here. I'm Jamal."
I studied him warily, wondering what his angle was. "Kylrm. I'm Kylrm."
I pulled myself upright, groaning as a splitting headache shivered its way down my spine to my toes. "Hehe that doesn't make sense," I giggled. I wasn't nearly as sore as most nights, but then again, this was one of my best memories. "I wonder why whatever God there is sent me this one?" I thought. A sharp rap on my door rang out like a gunshot. "Come in!" I growled, hopping onto my feet with a slight sway. Alfred cautiously entered, narrowly dodging a fiery belch. "Oops! Sorry about that," I covered my mouth sheepishly.
He just shook his head and set a drink on the bedside table that smelled of rotting fish and infected cankerous root. "Here, this will take care of your hangover," he chuckled as I scrunched my face at him. "Trust me, Master Bruce had many a hangover in his youth, as did I. My mum's own recipe, this is." Shrugging I chugged the glass, nearly spewing it at him as the taste was even worse than the foul concoction smelled. After a few minutes, though, my head and vision cleared.
"Thanks," I mumbled grudgingly. Alfred smiled and strutted out of the room, ever the posh gentleman. Or not, I suppose, in his youth. I grinned at the vision of a young Alfred getting drunk in a mead hall; ah, how the times - or rather places - had changed. It was still dark, of course, but I seemed to have slept for another twenty minutes. "Better than yesterday, I suppose," I grumbled. And I suppose it was better than having a single, nightmarish day. I was just settling into my comfy - and by that, I mean it had a tiny cushion - chair by the monitor when Alfred conferenced me and Bruce on the screen.
"Master Bruce, Kylrm! You must turn on the news," their faces tightened with worry. I quickly sat to attention, startled at the scene unfolding on the Washington Parks Bridge.
"It seems the Joker has escaped once again! He is now holding several people hostage in an armored car," the red-headed reporter shouted over a helicopter's din. The spotlight panned from the truck towards the nearest support tower, light glinting off the red helmet. "And here's the new vigilante in town, known as the 'Red Hood!'"
Eyes narrowing, Bats hung up. "Don't worry, Alfred," I called out as I transformed into the Phoenix. "We'll bring him home." I barely noticed the screen going back to the default blue home screen as I shot out of the cave on the Batcycle. Normally, Bats would have beaten me to the bridge, but I tapped into my energy, letting it boost the engine's output. I almost flew down the streets, tires barely skating across the pavement, nearly running into pedestrians a few times in my haste. A blockade of police cars parted as they spotted me, but it was too late; I jerked up on the handles, gaining enough lift to catapult over the hoods. Leaping off, I engaged the magnetic grips on my suit to better cling to the bridge's tower. Hearts pounding in my ears, I rapidly scaled Jason's tower, pausing just before the top to collect myself. Pinging Batman's mental signature, I sensed he was only about five minutes away. Pushing myself onto the thin ledge, I sidled up to Jason. "Jason, please," I whispered, using a bit of telepathy to make the sound carry only to him. "Bruce can, wants to help you. I know you feel you don't deserve it, but believe me; everything you've done can be forgiven, redeemed. Just come home."
Jason froze, barely seeming to breathe. He sighed, eyes closing, "No, I can't. I still have work to do; you'll see."
"Bu-"
"We'll all see tonight," Jason stared into the distance, giving me a slight nudge off the platform.
"Then so be it." Shaking my head, I glided down past the Joker, landing just in front of a large, growing crowd. "I need everyone to move back! He's got unknown explosives, and we will not have further civilian casualties."
"Why didn't you kill the hood?" "Is the Batman in league with the new vigilante?" "Why didn't you help the hostages?" dozens of questions hit me like a tidal wave, reporters mixed with civilians trying to press me back.
"ENOUGH!" I roared, silencing the crowd. A fine mist hit me in the back as the Batplane coated the vehicle with fire extinguisher. Smirking, I continued, "All questions will be answered in due course. Fall back so that the professionals can handle this." Everyone reluctantly moved off, grumbling and cursing as they glared daggers back in my direction. I turned around, only to see that Bats and Jason were gone. "Bats, you there?" I clipped over the com.
"..." after a few minutes of silence, I sighed and double-checked that the Joker and the "hostages" - the Black Mask and his people - were securely in GCPD custody. Well, as secure as the Joker could be, anyways. I roared off on the Batcycle, following Bats' scent through the windy streets and back ways. Most people recognized the bat symbol, so I was able to almost fly across sidewalks and even through a few buildings before I pulled up a block from where they were fighting. For what felt like hours I merely sat on the motorcycle, watching, waiting for them to reach some kind of- there! They landed with a loud crash! in an alley off an old abandoned warehouse. Thunder storms let loose a torrent of rain with a dragonesque roar, distracting my senses for a moment with the abrupt cold, wetness, and scent of an old Viking boot. Eyes narrowing, I caught a glimmer of metal in the clouds, drawing lightning. I swung my leg over the Batcycle to take off, only to drop to the ground as a rapid succession of shurikens sliced through the air where my chest had been.
"Lovely," I muttered, rising to my feet and side-stepping to avoid further missiles from the fight. Lightly sitting atop Batman's mind, I caught Jason rapidly scaling a fire escape, baiting us forward. I retreated, letting Bats fight his own-
I sniffed, sharp ears picking up something new, something hidden beneath the rain. I huffed; surely he would notice once he got to the room. Still... I grappled up a building across the street, watching the duo posture through a filthy glass window stained with years of neglect and abuse.
"...that you let me die?" after a moment of searching, I picked up their conversation. "I don't know what clouds your judgment worse. Your guilt or your antiquated sense of morality. Bruce, I forgive you for not saving me. But why? why on God's earth... is HE still alive?" Jason jerked open what must have been a door, causing a chair with a pale man to fall onto the floor. A pale man with green hair. Static suddenly overwhelmed the signals, blocking me from hearing anything. Wait, not just their signals... a presence lightly pressed against my mind, testing the fortitude and depth of my walls. I quickly brushed it aside, setting up a firm wall broadcasting a simple message: OUT. It backed off, even letting up on the signals, but never truly went away.
"You know, I thought. I thought I would be the last person, you'd ever let him hurt," Jason breathed heavily, somewhere dangerously between crying and laughing from pain, fury, and expectation. "If it had been you that he'd beat to a bloody pulp... if he had taken you from this world, I would've done nothing..." Jason was almost screaming now, seething in his search for answers, "but search the planet for this pathetic pile of devil-worshiping garbage... and sent him off to hell!"
"You don't understand," Bats practically whispered. "I don't think you've ever understood."
"What? What, your moral code just won't allow for that?" Jason mocked, sarcasm dripping like blood from his lips. "It's. too. haaard to cross that line?"
"NO! God Almighty. no," Bats spun back to face him, terror and pain spinning off him like waves. "It'd be too damned easy. All I've ever wanted to do is kill him. A day doesn't go byI don't think about subjecting him...to every, horrendous, torture, he's dealt out to others. and then, end him."
"Awe, so you do think about me," Joker cackled. I growled, envisioning the sadist go through far worse than he could have dealt.
"But if i do that... if i allow myself to go down into that place... i'll never come back."
"Why? I'm not talking about killing Penguin or Scarecrow or Dent. I'm talking about him. Just him. And doing it because... because he took me away from you.
"I can't. I'm sorry," Bruce looked away, and I almost wanted him to-
"Well, you won't have a choice."
"I won't-"
"Huhu, this is what it's all been about. THIS. You, and me and him. Now is the time you decide. If you won't kill this psychotic piece of filth, I will," Jason punctuated those two words with pressing what appeared to be a .45 Glock to Joker's head. Startled, I made to glide into the building, but Bats made a slight stopping motion with his hand. Growling quietly, I settled back into a crouch, ready to step in at a moment's notice. "If you wanna stop me, you're gonna have to kill me."
"You know i won't-"
"I'm gonna blow his," Jason paused, glancing towards the box. "deranged brains out. And if you wanna stop it, you are gonna have to shoot me. Right. in. my. face."
"Hoo hoo, this is turning out even better than i'd hoped," Joker cackled, not caring even about his own life.
"It's him or me, you have to decide. Decide now. Do it!" Bats slowly turned, walking away. "Him or me? DECIDE!" Jason suddenly jerked the gun up, pointing it squarely at the back of Bats' head. I froze; if he saw me move, it could set off his finger. Batman glanced over his shoulder and reached into his cape, startling me and Jason with a jump as he whipped a shuriken into Jason's right hand, making him drop the gun. I sighed in relief, gliding towards the warehouse's fire escape on my false wings to help get them out of there before-
"I can't believe you got him. You expert, rooting-tooting, eagle-eyed, goth-loving marksman. I love it," Joker cackled, eyes rolling in that deathly pale head. "You managed to find a way to win. And everybody still loses."
Wait...
"BATS! bomb, bomb, bomb!" I shouted over the com.
"No, don't spoil it. This is better," Joker screamed, tripping Bats as he ran towards Jason. Confused, I hesitated, wondering who to risk everything on. "I'm the only one who's gonna get what he wants tonight. Yes, bing, bang, boom. We all go out together.
Meeting Bats' eyes, I nodded and swooped towards Joker, grabbing his shoulders and angling out-
An ear-splitting roar filled all my senses, a sudden blast of air knocking me off balance and tearing apart my right false wing. A large weight suddenly gone from my arms, I banked hard to the right, missing wing sending me into a spin as a slab of concrete smashed into my legs. Swallowing the pain, I quickly unfurled stormcutter wings, banking hard again to avoid a strangely-bent metal tube. Dust and bits of rock and concrete sprayed out from the building, clipping my wings as I frantically tried to avoid the larger debris. A sudden shadow blocked most of the sun, followed almost immediately by a huge weight crashing onto my right wing. Screaming as bone, muscle, and membrane shattered into tiny pieces, I plummeted with the concrete, thrashing helplessly as a thick metal bar impaled my core.