I played Gotham Knights recently and this was something I had to let out, mainly because I enjoyed mostly Jason and Barbara in the game.
And if any Batman stan comes whining here, I don't care. Easiest solution for you: Find 'back' or 'close' and click it. Don't like, don't read, move on, instead of wasting everyone's time by whining, I have better things to do than to take your crap.
Disclaimer: I do not own Batman.
It was late at night, when Bruce saw on TV that the Joker had escaped from Arkham Asylum (again) and was currently holding hostages in an abandoned toy factory, with gasoline spilled around them.
Batman had flown in with his Bat-Plane and broke into the factory through the roof window, quickly dispatching Joker's thugs on the catwalk before he heard gunshots and looked down to see Red Hood in a shootout with more of Joker's henchmen, though Red Hood wasn't aiming for kill shots, which Batman noticed and appreciated, but he still didn't show much restraint, when the thugs got to him too closely, which ended up with broken bones and losing teeth and Batman made a mental note to himself to have another talk with Jason about his brutality, when it was over.
Batman then noticed more thugs getting behind Red Hood before he glided in and kicked one thug down and threw batarangs to take down two more. The last thug rushed at Batman but Batman easily blocked his punches before slamming his face to the wall, knocking him out.
"Well, look who decided to join the party." Red Hood quipped.
"Didn't expect you here." Batman said, not that he was complaining before he looked around at the thugs groaning on the ground, brutally beaten up, bruised and bloodied, even though they were not dead. While Batman was disturbed, when he had begun as vigilante, he also didn't have much restraint, so he was hardly in a place to judge, but still, Red Hood's methods were worrying him.
"Calm down, if I wanted them dead, they'd be dead already." Red Hood said.
Batman was about to open his mouth, when he and Red Hood heard all too familiar maniacal cackle and Red Hood growled angrily, his fingers twitching on the triggers of his guns as they ran towards the source of the laughter and saw the Joker in the storage area about to enter his truck, while gasoline was poured around a group of hostages tied up together.
"Oh, look who decided to crash the party. Though, as much as it's always fun to play with you, Bats, I don't have time to play games." Joker said as he threw a lighter at the puddle of gasoline and the fire spread, about to burn the hostages.
"No!" Batman yelled.
"I got this, stop the Joker!" Red Hood ordered as he ran to the hostages.
Batman nodded, pulling out his grapnel and firing as it latched itself onto Joker's truck as it drove off and Batman ascended onto the container, while Red Hood grabbed a nearby bag of sand and threw it into the way of the fire, stopping its trail before it could burn the hostages.
Batman had reached the driver cabin and threw the Joker out, while the truck skidded and crashed into a wall. Joker was crawling on the road and about to get up, when Red Hood kicked Joker and stepped on his chest.
"The GCPD will contain him and send him back to Arkham." Batman said and Red Hood looked at him incredulously.
"Again? And then what? You don't really believe he won't escape again, do you?" Red Hood demanded.
"We stopped him. And that has to be good enough. We'll be ready if he gets out." Batman said as he walked aside, reaching for the comms in his cowl, while Red Hood scoffed at the word 'if'. "Oracle, call the Commissioner and—"
BANG!
Batman whirled around and saw the smoking barrel of a gun, with Joker's brains splattered on the road, with Red Hood glaring down at Joker's corpse.
Enraged, Bruce grabbed Jason by his jacket and slammed him to the wall.
"What did you do?!" Bruce snarled.
"I ended it." Jason said.
"But the Joker—"
"No. Not the Joker. It's never been about the Joker, but you." Jason sneered, taking Bruce aback. "It's always been you. How many times have you put his miserable ass back into his padded cell in Arkham, only for him to escape, time and time again? At a certain point, the blood of the people he kills isn't on his hands but yours. He kills because you let him. You even saved his life countless of times when you didn't have to and what happened next? I died at his hands. Commissioner Gordon went through psychological torture by that maniac. Barbara spent three years on wheelchair. All that suffering he brought to all of us is on you and your morals. I did what you should've done long ago, but your self-righteousness and your antiquated code wouldn't allow it."
"It's not that simple." Bruce retorted.
"Isn't it?" Jason scoffed as he shook Bruce off and jabbed his finger on Bruce's chest. "There are people who deal in extreme and it would be naïve to think that anything less than extreme measures can stop them. The difference between me and them is that I know where the line is and I know what separates me from them. I know I'm not a saint. But unlike you, I don't have innocent blood on my hands because I'm too afraid to stain them with the blood of the sinners. I know what I am and I don't pretend I'm a hero. I'm doing what has to be done to save innocents, even if it means compromise what I believe in. You can blame the likes of him and me for all the people dying, but in the end, the answer is simple. He is what he is and he kills because you let him kill by letting him live, even when it's not your obligation to save him."
Bruce was silent, remembering how many times had he himself saved the Joker from death, only for the Joker to kill again before regaining his resolve. "What separates us from monsters like him, then? This can't be the answer. We're supposed to be different than them. There has to be a better way."
Jason scoffed again and let out a loud humorless laugh before he turned, about to leave. "Let me know when you find one, which doesn't involve you trying to protect scumbags like him and letting them kill more innocents by letting them live, even when you don't have to. Sometimes it takes a monster to stop a monster. You think you're a hero, Bruce? Think about what being it means, when you save the bad guys and let them kill more good guys. I know what I am and I know what I'm not. But do you?"
As much as Bruce wanted to argue more, what Jason had said left him with a lot to contemplate. He couldn't deny that Jason had a point as Jason got on his bike and drove off. Sometimes it takes a monster to stop a monster. But how do you fight a monster without becoming one yourself?
This was something inspired by Stand with Ward and Queen's 'A Bat in Starling City' and reading some Bat-Family related comics, such as Nightwing, Batgirl, Red Hood and such.
Batman is one of my favorite comic book characters, at least up until the latest iteration, since this one is just a wannabe smartass self-righteous Bat-God mistreating his family and being abusive to Dick, Jason and Tim at many points and even though, yeah, he is smart, tactician and investigative, but the trope of him basically being so OP with how he uses his wits and gadgets and beats even superhuman characters in a first encounter is at this point tiring.
And yeah, I understand perfectly his no-killing rule, he kills once, he might never stop until he doesn't recognize himself anymore. It's the fact that he saves the lives of his enemies, even when he doesn't have to and it's not his responsibility. Several people have tried to stop people like the Joker and Batman actually protects Joker from them. In one comic book arc, Jason shot the Penguin for having a hand in his father's death, seemingly killing him and Batman beat Jason within an inch of his life, even though he'd just put him in a coma. On another occasion, Maxwell Lord had control over Superman and was making him beat Batman to death. Under the Lasso of Truth, Maxwell Lord admits to Wonder Woman that the only way to stop this was to kill him, which she does. Batman condemns her despite their literally being no other way.
Batman not killing is one thing, but him protecting his villains from death, how many times has he saved the Joker from death, even resurrecting him with Lazarus Pit at one instance. At a certain point, it's not the villains' fault anymore that innocent people die, it's Batman's because he lets the villains live, even when they face certain death, Batman protects them and perpetuates the endless cycle of death, he puts them in prison, they break out, Batman puts them in prison again and they go around in circles.
Any Batman stans defending him shall be ignored and their rants deleted, since I'm not going to waste my time taking your nonsense.
So, what do you guys think?
Please review and let me know if you have enjoyed this one-shot.
With regards
Bl4ckHunter