Batman arrives at ACE Chemicals. The building had stood dormant for years. He kicks his way into the front door.
"Oh good, you're here." Joker says.
Batman looks around, but he can't see the Joker.
"It's over Joker." Batman says.
"Over? Why my dear dark knight it's hardly even begun." Joker says.
Batman makes his way through the facility. He looks up at the railing where this all started. In Batman's first year of crime fighting in Gotham, he came up against a burglar known as the Red Hood. He chased the red hood to this very plant. As Batman lunged towards him, the Red Hood fell over the railing into a vat of chemicals. A year later, the burglar formally known as the Red Hood would return as the clown prince of crime, the Joker, and for the next decade, he would wreak havoc on the city of Gotham.
Batman makes his way up to the railing and investigates.
"You almost won our game last time you know. I actually thought you might kill me after what I did to your poor Robin. You even put me in a body cast for six months. After I was out of that, I spent my days at Arkham in deep reflection. And you moved on to a new bird." Joker says.
Batman runs his hand along the railing in the spot where the Red Hood fell all those years ago.
"That was a bad day for me. And that's all it takes is one bad day. You had a bad day once, right? You had a bad day, and it drove you as crazy as everybody else... Only you won't admit it! You have to keep pretending that life makes sense, that there's some point to all this struggling! What made you what you are? Girlfriend killed by the mob, maybe? Brother carved up by some mugger? Something like that, I bet. Something like that... Something like that happened to me, you know. When I saw what a black, awful joke the world was, I went crazy as a coot! I admit it! Why can't you? It's all a joke! Everything anybody ever valued or struggled for... it's all a monstrous, demented gag! So why can't you see the funny side?"
Just then, Batman is hit from behind.
"Arg!" Batman yells out, as he falls to the ground.
He looks up and sees Joker standing over him with a wooden board in his hand.
"Why aren't you laughing?!" Joker yells, as he swings the board at Batman.
Batman blocks Joker's swing and pushes him back.
"Because I've heard it before, and it wasn't funny then." Batman says.
Back at the hospital, Clark wakes up.
"Bruce, no." Clark says, he worries for his friend.
Clark walks into the hallway. In the waiting area, he spots Jim Gordon.
"Commissioner Gordon?" Clark says as he approaches.
Jim looks up, his face was puffy from crying. He tries to fix himself up and look strong.
"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Jim asks.
"Its Kent, Clark Kent from the Daily Planet, my wife, Lois Lane, has interviewed you before." Clark says.
"Oh yes, well I'm not really in the mood for interviews right now Mr. Kent." Jim says, curtly.
"I'm sorry, I'm not here for that, I just- your daughter has helped me with some computer stuff before, and well… I'm sorry." Clark says.
"Barbara was always a wiz when it came to computers. And now… she's all I have." Jim says, starting to cry again.
A nurse approaches.
"The surgery was a success; we got the bullet out. You can see her now." She says.
"Will you come with me Kent, I don't think I can face this alone." Jim says.
"Sure." Clark says.
The two enter Barbara's room.
"Dad!" Barbara exclaims.
"Barbara, I'm so sorry." Jim says.
"It wasn't your fault dad, it wasn't your fault." Barbara says.
Barbara looks past her father and at Clark.
"Mr.… Kent, right?" Barbara asks.
"How are you Barbara?" Clark asks.
"I'm well, you know." Barbara says.
Clark uses his x-ray vision to look at Barbara's spin. It doesn't look good, but her heartbeat is strong. To Clark, this is all too reminiscent of last year when his mother was in the hospital.
"Have you found… him?" Barbara asks.
"We haven't." Jim says.
"Commissioner, if you do find him, what would you do? Would you… kill him?" Clark asks.
"I'd love to, I'd love to so much, but that's probably what he'd want. I'd do it by the book, show him our way works." Jim says.
"What if Batman killed him?" Clark asks.
"He wouldn't he could never. It just isn't in his DNA." Jim says.
"I hope you're right." Clark says under his breath.
Jim looks at the city out the window.
"Hey Kent-" Jim says, but he turns around and Clark is gone.
"You okay dad?" Barbara asks.
"Kent, he just… reminded me of someone else." Jim says.
Back at ACE Chemicals, the fight between Batman and the Joker continues. Batman knocks Joker backwards, down a flight of stairs.
"Oop, HA HA HA!" Joker shrieks as he hits the ground.
"All those people you've murdered over the years. Their blood is on my hands, because I let you live." Batman says.
"I never kept count." Joker says.
"I did." Batman says.
"I know you did, and I love you for it." Joker says.
Joker slides a knife out of his sleeve and stabs Batman in the shoulder with it.
"Ahh!" Batman yells out.
"All the old familiar places." Joker says.
"Grr." Batman snarls.
Batman punches Joker full force in the face, knocking Joker backwards into a couple old drums of chemicals. The drums fall over, spilling their chemicals onto the floor.
"It's all a game to you, isn't it?" Batman asks.
"My dear Bats, life is a game, you just have to know how to play it." Joker says.
The Joker lunges forward, but Batman just smacks him back down to the ground. Batman jumps on top of him.
"I'll break you." Batman says.
Batman holds his hand on Joker's throat.
"Ha, gotta love the irony. You can't kill me without becoming me. And I can't kill you, because no one else understands me." Joker says.
Batman pulls a baterang from his belt, he holds it to Joker's throat. Joker stares back smiling. Batman raises the baterang above his head. Joker can see Batman's eyes widen. Joker's eyes widen too. He can see he's actually going to do it. Batman is actually going to kill him.
Just then, the wall busts apart and Superman flies in. He snatches the baterang from Batman's hand, and crushes it in his own.
"What are you doing here?" Batman growls.
"Saving you." Superman says.
"A-hoo, this wasn't on my bingo card." Joker says.
Batman jumps towards Superman, but Superman tosses him aside. Joker gets up and begins to make a run for it. Superman speeds over and grabs the Joker. He rips apart a railing and wraps it around the Joker. Then he wraps Joker to a beam.
"Stay here please would you?" Superman asks.
Superman is then hit from behind. Batman takes Superman off his feet.
"You shouldn't be here." Batman says.
"My friend is in danger, he needs me." Superman replies.
Batman charges at Superman again, but Superman is fast enough to grab Batman and toss him aside.
"It's over, Joker is apprehended. We can turn him over to the authorities." Superman says.
"And wait for him to escape and do this all over again?" Batman asks.
"He's got a point." Joker says.
Batman throws an explosive at Superman, but Superman knocks it away. The explosive goes off. It ignites the chemicals that were spilled earlier. A fire begins to erupt. Superman turns his attention to the fire. As he turns back around, he can see Batman throwing a pellet his direction. It's another kryptonite knock out pellet, just like the one used back at the hospital. Superman spots a row of gas masks. He speeds over and puts one on before the pellet goes off.
As Superman looks around, he can't see Batman. The smoke and fire is rising. From behind, Batman knocks Superman to the ground. He rips the mask from his face.
"This isn't you. Think of everyone you fight for, think of Barbara." Superman says.
Batman pauses for a moment.
"Her surgery was successful; she's going to live." Superman says.
Batman's adrenaline levels begin to fall.
"Barbara." He says, calmly.
Batman gets off Superman and helps him up.
"If your lovers quarrel is over, is someone going to rescue me. I mean I thought you were heroes after all." Joker yells out as the flames continue to rise.
Superman grabs Batman, then he speeds over and grabs The Joker, he flies both of them to safety as the building burns.
The fire department arrives on the scene and Superman helps them put out the flames.
Batman takes Joker to the GCPD. Gordon watches on from the front door and Batman walks him in. Batman and Joker stand alone on the sidewalk as Batman marches Joker forward.
"So here we are once again, everything is back to status quo." Joker says.
"I won't forget what you did to Barbara… or Jason." Batman says.
"Jason?... Jason… oh yeah, Jason. I never told you the punchline of that joke, did I? That video was doctored." Joker says.
"What?!" What are you saying?" Batman demands.
"Things played out a little differently than what I showed you…" Joker says.
Joker then leans in to whisper something in Batman's ear.
"Bruce." Joker says.
BANG!
A gun shot goes off. The cops outside the police department look around. Batman looks at Joker, he had been shot in the chest. His body falls to the ground. Batman watches as the life leaves Joker's body, leaving behind a corpse with a permanent smile on its face.
Batman looks around. Atop a building, he spots a figure dressed in leather with a red helmet on.
"There!" Gordon calls out.
Batman and the cops race to the top of the building. But by the time they get up there, the figure is gone.
Back at the batcave, Batman sits at the bat computer. He is looking at a file on the Joker. Superman arrives behind him.
"Joker is dead." Batman says.
"Do you know who killed him?" Superman asks.
"No, I don't." Batman says.
Superman takes a moment to look at the screen. All the chaos and murder that Joker had spread over the years, it was finally all over.
"Can't say I'm sorry." Superman says.
"Me either." Batman says.
Batman pauses for a moment.
"You did save me you know." Batman concedes.
Superman looks on at Batman but doesn't say anything.
"I've always known killing Joker, killing anyone would send me down a dark path. A path to which there's no return." Batman says.
"I started doing this whole hero thing as an attempt to save lives, not take them." Superman says.
"Me too." Batman says.
"Our methods may be different, but I think we both want the same thing." Superman says.
"Yeah… I think we do." Batman says.
"Want to go visit Barbara?" Superman asks.
"You head out, I'll be there in a minute." Batman says.
Superman leaves the batcave.
Once Superman is gone, Batman opens up another file, the file on Jason Todd.
Later, Bruce and Clark arrive at the hospital.
"Ready to go in?" Clark asks.
"Just… give me a moment." Bruce says.
Bruce takes a deep breath.
"Okay." He then says.
Clark opens the door. Barbara is sitting in a wheel chair looking out the window. She turns around.
"Bruce, Clark!" She exclaims.
"Barbara, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry for what that monster did to you." Bruce says.
"It's not your fault, none of this is your fault." Barbara says.
"How are you Barbara?" Clark asks.
"I'm… learning. I'm not going to let this define me. I may have lost the use of my legs, but I still have my mind." Barbara says.
"And it's the sharpest mind I know, a real oracle of information." Bruce says.
"Oracle, I like that." Barbara says.
"I'll leave you two alone." Clark says.
As Clark begins to leave, Barbara grabs his hand.
"Thank you… for helping him." Barbara says.
Clark nods and heads off. He heads home to Metropolis to see Lois. Tonight was a good reminder to him that he has to always cherish his loved ones, no one knows what tomorrow will bring. Clark arrives home and gives Lois a big hug.