Chapter 23: Last Laugh

Disclaimer: I own nothing

"All it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy. That's how far the world is from where I am. Just one bad day. You had a bad day once. Am I right? I know I am. I can tell. You had a bad day and everything changed."

The Joker

Chapter 23: "Last Laugh"

(Sunday-April 20, 2014)

Joker grinned as he looked down to his hands. He was handcuffed to a rusted, metal table. His hands trembled in pain as blood dripped from his head onto the rusty metal. A single light bulb shined above him lighting the immediate area around him. Besides that, nothing else could be seen in the room. Joker knew though, that his captor was in the room, stalking him. He couldn't hide his giggle of excitement.

"Please, you think this will intimidate me?" Joker rolled his eyes, "I've been through worse interrogations than this—"

Joker's chair was kicked out from under him. This caused the clown to tumble forward onto the table and slide to the floor. The handcuffs held him to prevent him from getting to far from the apparently nailed down table.

"Nice move, hehehehe…" Joker admitted as he pulled himself up, "Alright. Let's get started. What do you want?"

A voice sounded through the darkness, "Jason Todd…Robin…"

"Oh, him…" Joker snorted, "Why do you care about that little bird? One less good doer to get the way, right?"

The response he received was an armored hand slamming into his left hand. A load crack sounded from the now broken hand before the hand slipped back into the darkness.

"AAAHHahahahahahahahahahahahaha!" Joker's groan of pain quickly turned into mad laughter, "There we go! That's the real way to get what you want!"

"His mother. How did you know about her?"

"Psh! She contacted me!" Joker noted, "She said that she had Robin in the palm of her hand and was willing to sell him. Even sent me pictures of him. I couldn't say no, could I? Course I betrayed the dumb crackhead. Not like anyone would miss her if she was gone."

He was met with silence.

"What? No hit this time? Do you agree with me? Hehehehe…"

"I know what type of mother she was…I just never thought that…that anyone would sell their own kids like that. It's sick."

"Oh ho ho! You have no idea," Joker gained a wide grin, "Want to hear about my parents? They were both drinkers. I mean, seriously, you'd think that they were fish trying to keep breathing the way they jugged down the whiskey. And you know what their favorite game was when they got drunk? Hit the kid. Then, this one night—"

Joker was silence when his captor grabbed him by the back of the head and slammed it down on the table.

"I don't care about the fake past you just made up," The voice growled.

"Party pooper," Joker spit out a tooth onto the table, "No cake for you."

"Party…You think this is a game, don't you?" The voice gave a low chuckle. Joker felt the cold barrel of a gun press against the back of his head, "Well, think again."

"Now that…is new…" Joker admitted, "Fair enough. This is a different type of interrogation. But I wonder if you will actually—"

BANG!

"AAAHHH!" Joker screamed as his captor moved the gun away from his head and shot him in the leg.

"Yes. I will shoot you," The voice noted, "Now, I want you to start talking. Tell me what happened. I want to hear every single detail. If I get the hint that you're holding anything back, I'll shoot you in the nuts next."

"You…sure?" Joker gave a sideways grin, "The story is pretty graphic…"

The gun moved so it was pointed at the clown's grown, "I can stomach it. I assure you that."

"Alrighty then…Were to start…Harley captured the good old Jason and his beloved mother…I just finished off shooting Barbara Gordon—OW!"

Joker's kidnapper punched him across the face.

"What was that for? I'm telling the truth!"

"I know. I just really, REALLY wanted to hit you. I'll probably do it again, and you're going to learn to like it."

"Hahahahahahaha! How fun! I like this game!" Joker continued to giggle even as he spoke further, "So I finished up with that business and went to have some fun with Jason…"

Jason's return to consciousness was filled with dizziness and nausea. He felt completely sick and could hardly remember what had happened to cause this feeling. What had exactly happened?

"But Puddin!"

"No buts, Harley! Get out of here! This is my moment to enjoy, and I don't need you soaking in the humor!"

"Oh…Okay, Mista J…"

Suddenly the churning in his stomach changed. Jason would recognize those voices anywhere. Waking up next to them like this…it was bad. This was really bad. Forcing his eyes open, Jason fought back a groan as the world span before his eyes. He had to fight to keep the vomit from crawling up his throat.

"Please, I did what you wanted. Don't—"

The pleading instantly turned to cries of agony as the sound of metal hitting flesh echoed around the room. Focusing his vision the best he could, Jason saw the two other people in the room. He struggled to move, but the restraints holding his arms and legs together kept him still, "M-mom…"

As his vision cleared, he saw the figures of the Joker and him mother through the darkness. The Joker stood over his mother with a blood soaked crowbar. His mother lie on the ground, broken and sobbing. Several of her bones were broken, and her face was a literal bloody mess.

"Oh! Boy Blunder is awake!" Joker quickly skipped over to him, "How you feeling? Considering the drugs she shot you up with, you must be feeling pretty damn sick right now. Sicker than my and Harley's sex tapes, and trust me when I say, those are pretty demented even by my standards."

"You bastard," Jason hissed, "Let her go—AAAAHHHH!"

Joker quickly shut him up by slamming the crowbar in his hand into the Boy Wonder's side. Jason twisted in agony as at least two of his ribs shattered from the force of the blow. Unfortunately, the pain didn't stop there. Joker quickly followed up with a swing at Jason's knee. The crack and agony shooting up his spine was all that was needed to tell Jason that his knee was shattered.

As Jason moaned pitifully, Joker turned to Shelia, "You see what you do? All this is because of you. Poor, poor Roby poo is in pain because of YOU! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Shelia just quietly wept as she laid on the ground bleeding. She had taken her fair share of abuse from the Joker while Jason was asleep. It seemed like Joker had only been warming up for Jason, though. She couldn't bring herself to look on as her son was violently beaten in front of her.

Jason gritted his teeth as his body shook in pain. Lowly, he hissed through his teeth, "You…I'll…kill…you…"

"That's the spirit!" Joker laughed as he widely swung the crowbar with the sound of a sickening crack, "Tell me, what hurts more? This?"

Jason cried in agony as his arm was quickly fractured to go around the crowbar's edge.

"Or this?"

The blow across his face instantly shattered his nose. The tip of his nose was now bent at a complete ninety degree angle. Blood poured from the broken nasal passage at a sickeningly fast pace. All Jason could do in response is moan pitifully.

"Oh come now, Jason," Joker giggled as he stepped away into the darkness, "Don't pass out one me just yet."

Loud clacks of Joker's shoes hitting the concrete floor echoed across the room. As Joker reappeared from the darkness, an earie red glow shined below his face. To the captive's horror, Joker now held a seething red bran in the shape of a backwards J, "We're just getting started."

Jason was silent, but Shelia was far from that, "No! Please! Dear God no! Have mercy!"

"Oh would you shut up!? Jeeze, the boy's taking his beating better than you," Joker shook his head in a manner that suggested that he was disappointed, "How about this. I believe in choices, you see. And while I know what you'll choose, oh lovely bloody Shelia, I have no idea what Robin will choose right now. So how bout it champ? The choice is yours, do I brand your or the mother that sold you out because she doesn't care about you at all?"

Robin looked up defiantly at the Joker, "Go…to…hell…Leave…her…alone…"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Joker reeled back his head in laughter, "I can't believe it! After everything this bitch has done to you, you won't take the satisfaction of watching me shove this hot poker down her throat. Or…in a worse place…hehehehehe…"

Jason's gave a blood soaked snarl, "Give me your worst, asshole."

"Gladly!" Joker jumped on top off the Boy Wonder, "I just want you to know, I'm doing this out of love. I mean, your mine now. I would hate for you to get lost and not have a mark showing people where to return you. Now, though…"

Joker brought the brand down to Jason's left cheek. The sound of sizzling flesh was quickly drowned out by pure screams of agony.

"EVERYONE WILL KNOW THAT YOU'RE MY BITCH! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Things just became a blur for Jason after that. Everything that could feel pain was hurt in some shape or form. The brief moments of reprieve he received were filled with the screams of his mother. Oddly enough, Jason couldn't decide which form of torture was worse. This continued for hours. Each minute was worse than the last. Then, finally, Joker stopped, whether from fatigue or boredom was unclear. All they knew was that it was over.

"Whelp…" Joker noted as he dropped a pair of pliers clutching a single unrooted tooth onto his pile of bloodied weapons, "I think that's enough. Anymore, and you won't be able to make your next choice."

Reaching into his purple coat, Joker pulled out a knife instead of cutting one of them like they expected, he reached down and cut Jason free. Then, he released Shelia. Tossing the knife away, Joker took a jolly stroll back into the darkness. With a flick of a switch, the light turned in throughout the warehouse that they were behind held captive. What was in the warehouse instantly made their hearts beat faster.

"Do you like it?" Joker span around gleefully with his hands in the air. He gestured to all the bombs that were scattered across the warehouse, "I placed these all around the city. Batman's been chasing them all night. I took a page out of old Riddler's book and left a trail to lead him here. Don't get any hope, though…"

Pulling out a controller, Joker pressed a button and started a timer on all the bombs counting down from ten minutes.

"There's no way he'll make it in time to save you," Joker giggled as he made his way to the door, "So this is where the real choice comes in, Robin. Show me what kind of man you REALLY are. If you crawl with all your might, you might just make it to a safe enough distance. But poor Shelia here can't move on the account of she's a GODDAMN PUSSY THAT TAKE A LITTLE PAIN! Woah…sorry about that. Lost my cool for a second there…"

Opening the door, Joker quickly exited the warehouse, "So here we go, Jason. Either save yourself, or die trying to save your mother. Those are you only choices. I wish you luck!"

"W-wait…" Robin let out a cough, "Why…why didn't…you ask me…about Batman?"

Joker rolled his eyes, "Really, Robin, Jason, whatever! I don't care who he is! I bet I could find out if I just traced where you've been staying, but that would ruin my fun. And I'm going to have as much fun as I can before the end comes. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Jason spit blood in Joker's direction, "You won't get away with this…"

"Oh, I think I will. Not like the big bad Bat's going to kill me. Or any of your little 'family' for that matter."

"Not them…My friends…They'll kill you…I promise you…They'll kill you, you bastard!"

"Sure kid," Joker shook his head as he stepped away from the door and out of sight, "Whatever you want to say to make your death more meaningfully."

Jason looked at the still open door. Joker was right. If he used every bit of willpower he had, he might get away. It was a long shot, but it was possible. But if he did that…His eyes shifted to his mother. Shelia was lying on her face, loudly wailing about how she didn't want to die and how it wasn't fair.

Jason closed his eyes in turmoil, "Damn it…I'm sorry…"

Giving a groan of extreme pain, Jason began to crawl his way to Shelia. Each movement felt like a small death. Almost every part of him wanted to give up and accept the welcoming embrace of death. It surely had to be better than this agony. That wasn't an option, though. Call it pride. Call it stubbornness. Hell, even call it shear rage at the situation, but Jason could not just lie down and die like that. It wasn't in his nature. He'd prefer to go down tearing out Joker's neck, but this would have to do.

Once he finally made his way to the woman, Jason tried to move her. That quickly proved to be impossible as even his still unbroken arm was too weak to do anything more than to gently nudge her. From there, he tried pushing her with his feet. That didn't work either. Neither did trying to pull her with his teeth. There was no possible way for him to move her. So, he did the only thing he could.

Jason covered her entire body with his own in a desperate attempt to be a body shield for her.

"What…are you doing?" Shelia questioned softly into his ear.

Jason's eyes were locked firmly on the counter. One minute was left, "Being an idiotic goddamn hero, that's what I'm doing. I'm such a dumbass…"

"Do you think that I'll thank you?" Shelia hissed in his ear, "It's because of you that I'm here. I hope you rot in hell, little piece of shit. Just like that bastard father of yours."

Jason was not listening to her. Instead, he was picturing happier things. Donna smiled at him, forgiving the dumb thing he said. Bruce gently placed a hand on his shoulder, expressing only pride in his protégé. Richard and Barbara giving him tips on how to hide in the shadows, wanting him to be safe. Cassandra nodding as she listened to his advice about being in the Batfamily, her wanting a steady home with people would support each other. Joel…being there for him in hard time…Dani…Danny…Everyone smiling at him, telling him that he belonged.

They were glad that he was alive.

Tears ran down his bruised face as Jason watched the clock tick down to zero. Shelia still whispered curses in his ear. She might not love him, but there was more than enough people that really cared about him. That was more than enough to make him content in death.

Letting out a small sob, Jason forced a painful smile. Life was good. He would miss it.

The bombs went off, and then there was nothing.

"And that is how it went down," Joker smiled as the end of the gun was pointed right at his forehead. It was different from the other guns he was used to seeing. It didn't use regular bullets. Maybe that was the reason the wound in his leg was deeply burned instead of penetrated, "Any more questions?"

"How did it make you feel?"

"How…did it make you feel? See the smile on my face," Joker's grin threatened to tear his own face off, "This is how it made me feel. Hehehehehe…"

"I see. So is that why you did it? Because you enjoy it?"

"No…No, that's not the only reason," Joker's eyes suddenly became misty, "I'll admit that I've been feeling off for a while now. It's like…chaos and death have been whispering in my ear. You know how those freaks in the tin hats, yes I'm calling them freaks. They're that bad. But I get where they're coming from now. I feel like…the end times are close. And I just…I had to do something big."

"Something big?"

"Oh you know, blow up half the city. Shoot the Commissioner's daughter. Kill Robin. Make the Commissioner just like me. Piss off Batman enough to finally do the deed," Joker listed off nonchalantly, "I was just about to head out to get good old Jim when you found me. But I'm adaptable. After all, I always wanted to get revenge on you."

"So you remember me, huh?"

"Oh! How could I forget!? You broke into my hideout, beat up all my goons, and knocked Harley around. My job by the way," Joker stated, "Then, you give me fake guns and get me captured by the police. Not even Batman, but the POLICE!? I was humiliated! Of course I remember you, bastard!"

"Then how come you never came after me?"

"So many reason. After what happened to the others that went after you, I second guessed it. Even more so when I realized that you weren't actually a person," Joker explained, "And the guy that controls you was in the Hornet's Nest. Not even I am crazy enough to attack that place. It would take an army."

"I see."

"Yeah, you do," Joker noted, "But now, I get my revenge. I may not get to your creator, but I do get to destroy you, Red X. And that's enough."

"Is it?" Red X stepped out of the darkness, "Then let me make it even better." The helmet to the suit opened up to reveal the face of Danny Fenton, "I decided to do this personally, Joker."

"HeheheHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Joker burst out laughing, "And why would you do that, huh?"

"Because I wanted the pleasure of killing you myself."

Batman cursed under his breath as he sped through the streets of Gotham with such reckless speeds and maneuvers that it was a wonder that he hadn't crashed yet. He was willing to risk it, though. Jason. Joker had Jason. Damn it!

Whipping around a corner, Batman hit the gas and sped to the last bomb location. He had been tracking Joker's movements all night. His latest insane plot was even more demented than usual. Batman had just barely been able to stop the bombs that had been set off around the city. He would have requested help from the League, but Joker made it known that it wasn't an option. At the first bomb location, Batman found a picture of the Joker standing over a bound and unconscious Jason. A few simple words were scribbled across the back.

'If I get one whiff of any of those fellow tights wearing doo gooder League friends of yours in my city, then I slit his throat. Love, Joker. XOXOXOXOX P.S. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!'

As such, calling the League was not an option. Luckily, Joker didn't specify about Nightwing and Black Bat. He managed to get them to help. Their assistance was invaluable. Still, without Barbara…Batgirl…Joker…

"Damn it!" Batman floored the gas once more. He rocketed up a hill to a broken down warehouse. With screeching wheels, the Batmobile slammed to a stop just as Batman hit the eject button. He was rocketed towards the warehouse. As soon as he landed and rolled back up to his feet, Batman ran forward in a desperate attempt to—

BOOM!

The surge of flame and debris that followed flung Batman back as though he were weightless. He tumbled back across the ground. His suit singed and his body aching, Batman still pushed himself up to the feet, "JASON!"

In near desperation, Batman nearly flew over to the pile of collapsed rubble. Still crying out his protégé's name, Batman pulled and flung the rubble over his shoulder. After several minutes of searching, Batman finally found his first sign of Robin. With deep snarl on his face, he moved pieces of concrete that were far too heavy for a normal man to lift.

When all the rubble was finally moved away, Batman froze when he saw Jason lying over his mother. Carefully moving the broken form of the Boy Wonder, Batman checked for a pulse. Nothing. There was nothing. Jason was dead.

A quiet coughing sound revealed that the woman was still alive. Batman instantly knew what happened. Jason used himself as a shield to protect his woman. She was alive, if only barely. Batman would let the approaching ambulances handle that. As for now…

Batman lifted up his protégé. Carrying him in his arm, Batman slowly stepped away from the rubble. Absolute grief covered his face. This was his fault. He was the one that dragged Jason into this life, and Jason had paid the price. Once again, someone he loved was dead because he was too weak to save them.

"You? Kill me? Ahahahahahaha!" Joker shook his head at the idea, "You're not a murderer, boy."

"I've killed before," Red X's helmet closed to hide Danny's face once more.

Joker nodded, "Considering what town you come from, I don't doubt it. Strange shit goes down in Amity Park, even by Gotham standards. But there's a difference between killing to protect your home and murder. And this…"

Joker looked down at his cuffed hands. Every inch of his body was covered in bruises, especially his broken hand and shot leg. He was defeated and defenseless, "This is murder."

Red X shook his head, "I don't think most people would think that. How many lives would I save by killing you?"

"Oh, hundreds if not thousands," Joker admitted, "But you didn't have to torture me first. You didn't have to capture me and make me defenseless. You wanted to make me suffer first. You wanted me to suffer in my demise. That's revenge not a kill for justice. Don't try to argue with me on murder, kid. I'm the world's greatest expert on it."

Red X leveled his gun at Joker's head, "Fair enough. This is revenge. You shot one of my friends and killed another one. I can't let that go."

"Friends, eh? Do I even want to know how you know them?"

Red responded by kicking Joker across the face.

"Gack…hehehe…" Joker shook his head, "I guess not."

"No, you don't…" Red X continued to point the gun at Joker's head.

"Well?" Joker gave him an amused look, "Come on, brat. I want you to do it. Right in the face. One shot, and it's over. Come! I want you to do it! DO IT!"

Bang!

Joker tumbled back as Red X shot the handcuffs holding him. Rubbing his wrists, Joker looked up and smiled at his captor, "Knew you couldn't do it."

"You're right. I couldn't do it…like that," Red X noted as he put his gun away, "There's no honor in that…There's not honor in killing you like this. I'm taking you to the police. And then, I'm going to lobby for your death. Screw the insanity plea. You're a rabid dog that needs to be put down. You're not going to die by a shot to the head, beaten to death, or even electrocution. I'm going to make sure you're sedated and killed without even a whimper. That's my revenge, Joker. And I'm going to enjoy every second of it."

Joker looked at Red X in horror. He looked to be thinking a mile a minute. Then, before Red X could react, Joker turned and ran away knowing that he couldn't beat the armed Red X in a fight.

This time, it was Red X who laughed, "Go ahead and run, Joker. I'll find you."

Nightwing knelt by the Batcomputer crying. Batman just sent word in about what happened to Jason. It was just too much. First Barbara, and now Jason? What was happening? How could so much go wrong so quickly? Just…Why?

"Dick?" Phantom's voice rang out behind Nightwing, causing the young man to instantly snap up and wipe his tears away.

"Danny," Nightwing coughed to cover his scratched voice, "I thought I sent you a follow-up message about Joker's warning."

"Yeah, but I thought I could help from the shadows. You know, I'm a ghost and all. Plus…Looking at how you're dealing with what happened to Barbara, I think you need a bit of help," Phantom gently placed a hand on Nightwing's shoulder.

That's right. Danny didn't know. He shouldn't know either. Danny always took the deaths of others even more personally than anyone. If he found out, who know how he would react.

"It's…" Nightwing quickly got a hold over his voice, "It's okay. The bombs have been stopped. We just need to track the Joker down."

"Because he has Robin."

Nightwing's eyes snapped to Phantom, "How did you know that?"

"Black Bat said something about it to Dusk before she left the Cave. Dusk told me. He's worried, but is afraid that he'll get Robin killed," Phantom noted, "With the others going to check on Barbara in the hospital, I thought I should do something to try to be productive. Even if it's working information and coms for you."

It was then that Nightwing cursed ever keying in Phantom to the Batcave's Zeta Tube. He did in case of an emergency, but this emergency…tragedy did not need Phantom in it. Nightwing's thoughts raced at a rapid pace. He was actually a great liar, but Danny was one of the few people who could see through his BS. They just knew and worked with each other for too long for it to be any other way. No matter what, though, he had to try.

"There's nothing you can do now." Nightwing noted.

"What the hell are you saying?" Phantom glared at his long-time friend. "Of course, there's something I can do."

"This is no longer your responsibility." Nightwing explained. "Let me and Batman handle this."

"No." Phantom shook his head. "I can't do that. I can't just abandon a friend. You know that. If I was the kind of person who abandoned the people closest to him, then Young Justice wouldn't even exist anymore. You all would have died a long time ago."

"I know," Nightwing nodded. "But this is now out of your hands. We don't want you to interfere. You might…overact."

"Overact? Are you kidding me? You think I'll kill that psycho, is that it?"

"No…Maybe…I'm not sure."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Phantom shook his head, "I'm pissed about Barbara, but so is everyone else. I'm probably likely to beat the ever living shit out of Joker, but it won't be any worse than what Batman's going to do."

"Look. I said no. Either go see Barbara, or go home."

"Fine, fine, jeeze, Richard," Phantom sighed and turned to head back to where the Zeta Tube was, "I get that Barbara getting shot hurts, but at least no one died."

There was a silence. That wasn't always unexpected with members of the Batfamily. They tended to hush up really fast in certain moments. This one was different, though. Phantom knew Nightwing more than most people. He recognized the subtle things like when Nightwing suddenly dropped things when confronted with hard facts.

Phantom paused, "Did Barbara die? Did I get bad information?"

"No!" Nightwing defended himself, "Barbara is still alive."

"There was no news of people dying from Joker's bombs. A few injuries, but no deaths."

"Yeah...No deaths."

Phantom glared at Nightwing from over his shoulder, "Dick…Did Joker kill Jason?"

Nightwing did not know how to answer that.

"No…" Phantom hissed out through clenched teeth, "Not again…Not another…"

"It was no one's fault. We can't blame ourselves," Nightwing noted.

Phantom whirled around, "I don't blame myself! I blame the damn clown! For God's sake, Dick, he just killed Jason! Our friend! Our brother! Doesn't that warrant a full on head hunt for the Joker!"

"If we do that, then the others might try to kill him," Nightwing sighed, "And Batman…"

"Screw Batman! This isn't about Batman's weird sense of morality! This is about the fact that Jason Todd is dead! Joker killed him, and the damn clown needs to pay!"

"He will! We'll make sure that he never gets out of Arkham—"

"Arkham? Really? Arkham? The place that he breaks out of on a weekly basis? That Arkham?" Phantom trembled in anger and grief, "Come on, Dick. That hasn't worked. If we keep trying to do the same thing over and over again, and expect results…then we're just as crazy as that clown."

Nightwing frowned, "So what? We should kill him?"

"I'm not saying that," Phantom shook his head, "I'm just saying…Why just cripple the man? Make sure he can never walk again? Wouldn't that be more effective?"

"That's…that's not how we do things," Nightwing looked conflicted, "Look, this is Gotham. We have to play by Batman's rules no matter what. Trust me, I've had my disagreements with him. That's why I've been thinking of finding a place of my own, but…the Joker's just a sensitive topic with Batman. Let him handle Joker."

"Really? You just expect me to ignore this? To let this go?"

"Gotham doesn't need Danny Phantom right now, okay," Nightwing tried to reason, "You flying around won't help anything. Joker will hide away before we can blink, and I know you won't just work coms and intel here in the Batcave. So please…just go. Let us handle this."

"Dick…"

"I'm asking you as a friend," Nightwing pleaded, "Please…I just lost Jason too…And with Barbara in the hospital…Just let us handle it our way…"

Phantom took a deep breath and turned away, "Fine. I get it. No Danny Phantom. I promise. I'll just…head to the hospital."

"Thanks," Nodding, Nightwing quickly composed himself and went back to the Batcomputer.

Phantom walked into the darkness of the Batcave. When he knew that there was no way that Nightwing could see him, he pulled out a canister that he left in his pocket when he left the lab. Nightwing was right about one thing. This situation did not call for Danny Phantom. But…

Maybe Red X was an entirely different matter altogether.

Joker burst through doors making a mad break through the abandoned building. He was trying to find the exit, but so many doors were locked. Usually, he'd just break them down. Right now, though, he didn't have the time to break down doors with a broken hand and injured leg. With Red X right on his tail, he had to keep moving.

When he finally found a door that wasn't locked, it turned out to be stairs leading up. A quick look showed that Red X was stalking towards him. If he didn't move, he would get caught. Hissing curses under his breath, Joker rushed up the stairs as quickly as possible with his limp. Each step made him hiss out in pain, but he continued on despite that.

Once he reached the top, Joker burst through the door to reveal the roof of a five story building. Rushing to the center of the roof, Joker looked for a fire escape. There was none, "Damn this city! Why is nothing up to code!?"

"Do you think I'm stupid?" Red X questioned as he stood at the only door, "I knew there was the chance you would try to run. That's why I made sure there was nowhere to go. And even if you did get out of the building, I'm far faster than you. There was no way you would ever escape."

Turning around, Joker began to back away, "No! I won't go down like this! I'd rather jump and break my neck than be put down like an old dog!"

"Sorry…" Red X disappeared and popped up right in front of him, "But I'd save you. There's no getting out of this."

Cornered, Joker did the only thing he could. He tried to egg Red X on, "Do you really think that a trial for my death will be that clean? Even if you did succeed, it would take years. That would give me a lot of time to break out and blow up a city. And not my city. Amity Park."

Red X paused.

"I will kill everyone you love. Your entire family. And that adopted sister of yours? I'll break her just like I broke Harley—Gack!"

Red X reached out and grabbed Joker by the throat, "Shut up."

"What? Don't like the truth? What I do to her will make what I did to Jason look like a trip through a playhouse," Joker smiled at him, "Not only her, but everyone you ever cared about. Hell, I'll dig up your fiancé's grave and have some fun. I'm not above necrophilia."

"I told you to shut up!" Red X snapped out in anger. He punched Joker across the face. Then, he did it again and again. He sent a blur of punches at Joker's face. All the while, Joker just laughed and laughed. He had won again.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!"

"Come on! Move!" Joker snapped out to his goons as they packed up trucks, "We're working on a limited time schedule! Batman or one of his kiddies could show up at any minute."

"Puddin…" Harley looked over to her boyfriend, "Don't you think that we should spread out some of these plans? Going back to back like this…It give me a bad feeling."

Joker smacked Harley away, "Shut up, Harley! I don't care about how you feel about this! We need to do this now, or we won't get to do it."

"But, Mista J…"

Joker's glare instantly shut her up.

"Um…Boss?" One of the thugs slowly walked up to the Joker, "The trucks are ready."

"Great!" Joker smiled, "Let's go—"

It was then that the lights went out. Darkness hung over the entire warehouse. Dread instantly fell over the room as they realized what was happening. Everyone had been through this enough to know when the lights went out in Gotham, pain usually followed.

Just like they assumed, screams filled the room. Flashed of red blared all around the warehouse. Most of the thugs began to panic. The fired guns wildly into the air, but the screams did not stop. For a full minute, this continued until finally all the noise stopped. Then, the lights came back on blinding the Joker.

Blinking to regain his vision, Joker looked around the warehouse. All of the thugs were beaten, electrocuted, and trapped by giant red x's. Wait…None of Batman's group did that. Red x's belonged to someone from another city.

Turning around, Joker was met with the sight of Red X. That sight lasted only a single second as Red X hit Joker with a punch that floored Joker. As he flopped onto the ground, Joker felt blood run down his face from the cut that was tore open from Red X's blow.

"Mista J!" Harley rushed to Red X, "You monster!"

Red X smacked Harley away flooring her as well. Rushing forward, before the Joker could recover, he quickly tied the clown up and lifted him over his shoulder. Before Harley could recover and say something, Red X dropped smoke pellets and disappeared into the night.

He had work to do.

After finally stopping his punches, Joker's face was a bloody mess. Red X let out pants and large breaths as he held up the clown up by his collar. He looked down in horror at the blood covered his hands.

"Hahaha…I was wrong…" Joker noted through broken teeth, "You really are…a murderer…I wish…I could see the monster…you'll become…"

"No, I won't," Red X pulled Joker up to his eye level.

"What? Are you…pussing out…on me?"

"No. I'm going to kill you. But I will never be a monster. I won't let myself be that," Red X noted.

"Hahahahahahaha! What?! Do you think I intended to be like this?" Joker giggled. He gave a wide smile that showed that he was missing several teeth, "No. I had a bad day. Just like you're having a bad day right now. I always wanted this to be with Batman, but I'm okay with it being you…"

"Sorry to disappoint you," Red X shook his head.

"Disappoint me? Please…" Joker looked incredibly pleased, "I get it now. The feeling I had. It was about you. You're going to make this world burn. The destruction you'll cause will put everything I did to absolute shame. I only wish I could see it."

"I always knew you were nuts, but I figured that you would make at least a little sense with your last words," Red X shook his head.

"No…this is the most sane I've ever been…" Joker's eyes glazed over once again, "Earth's Blackest Night is almost here. And that…will be a very bad day for everyone…"

With that, Joker pushed away from Red X. This caused the mercenary to let go of the Clown Prince of Crime. Said clown then stumbled back and fell off the edge of the roof. Looking over the edge, Red X watched as Joker fell. He could have saved the villain. It would have been easy. Yet he couldn't bring himself to do it. Joker had to die.

So he watched as Joker landed right on the back of his head and broke his neck. Yet even that didn't stop the Joker from laughing out in the utmost joy.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHahahahahahaha…hehehe…"

The laughter finally died down. Nevertheless, Joker's smile never fell. Even as the life faded from his body, he still took joy in his own madness. Red X stood at the edge of the roof looking down at Joker's now cooling body. After a solid minute of looking down at the corpse, Red X turned and walked away. It was over, and he just wanted to go home.

Yet, despite knowing that Joker was gone, he couldn't help but hear the laughter of the Joker ringing through his mind.

Dani sat on a rather hard chair in the waiting area of Gotham Central Hospital. It was rather far away from Barbara's home, but apparently there were bomb threats at several other hospitals across the city. Another sick ploy by the Joker to be sure. Dani tightened her fists as she thought of that clown. If she ever got her hands on him…

The opening of the emergency surgery door opened to reveal a graying man in his midlife. He looked completely exhausted, and his suit looked absolutely disheveled. The man tiredly rubbed his wrinkled temple as his mustache covered lips dipped downward.

"Mr. Gordon," Dani stood along with the other members of Young Justice in the room.

Commissioner James Gordon looked at the teens, "Oh…You must be Barbara's friends from her…job."

"Yeah," Victor gently placed his arm around Dani to help comfort her, "We came as soon as we heard."

Tired eyes glancing around the room, Jim nodded, "Thank you. It's good to know that she has such good friends. Well, I always knew that. She talked about you all a lot. Probably to make me feel better about what she did. Always thought that was the biggest danger in her life, not…just staying in the apartment…"

"We…We kind of heard it," Zatanna noted sad.

"Yes, thank you for calling it in," Jim smiled at them, "You saved her life."

"So Barbara will be okay?" M'gann, appearing with Caucasian skin, questioned.

"She…She'll live," Jim sighed, "As for okay…Well, that's a different matter. I doubt she'll be okay with what happened. And what she has to deal with now."

Raquel frowned, "What do you mean?"

"The bullet was lodged in her spine. There was a lot of damage. She's not in life threatening danger," Jim explained, "But…the damage is too severe. There's a very high probability that she'll never be able to walk again."

Gasps spread throughout the room. Several of the teens broke out into tears. Others merely stood there numbly. As for Dani, she managed to hold back her own tears. Still, she embraced Victor tightly like a lifeline. Glancing at Jim, she nodded in both sympathy and regret. On Jim's part, he glanced down to Dani's leg and noticed the bit of metal shining where her ankle used to be. Usually, she did a better job of hiding it in public, but the situation caused her to rush through it.

Sucking in a deep breath, Jim nodded back at her and Victor in understanding. This had happened before and would happen again in this line of work. It was inevitable. At the same time, though, they wished that there was a greater meaning to all it. Barbara didn't sacrifice herself for anything. There was no heroics involved in this. She was just one of the many victims of a madman. It had nothing to do with her place in the Batfamily or Young Justice.

It was just…madness and chaos. And that's what hurt the most about the entire situation.

Joel stood in the Batcave. He had been granted access by Nightwing as a guest. The older member of Young Justice had called him first. Confused, Joel had made his way through the Zeta Tube to be immediately greeted by Nightwing. His words came in small whispers and warnings.

He was Jason's best friend.

Dear God no…

He would handle this the best.

Please. Not Jason. Not like this...

Nightwing would have to prep Donna more. That would give him time alone to say what he wanted.

This can't be happening.

Yet it was. Standing in front of the medial center of the Batcave, Joel felt complete numbness. On top of a metal table, a single white sheet covered the unmoving body of Jason Todd. The silence physically hurt the halfa. Jason was not this quiet, even during stealth missions. Out of everyone in the Batfamily, he was the loudest. Now, though, he was completely silent. It was sickening.

"Jason," Joel lightly whispered.

He received no response.

"Come on man, please tell me this is a joke."

Jason did not sit up and yell gotcha like this was all a cruel joke.

"Please…"

Slowly, Joel reached out. He gently pulled the sheet over Jason's head. Through all the burns and bruises that marred the now lifeless face, Joel could still recognized Jason. Part of Joel expected Jason to have one of his famous sly smirks on his face. Yet, Jason just lied there like he was in a deep sleep. He looked so calm and peaceful in death, even with the mass J branded onto the left side of his face. Joel hated it. He always thought that Jason would go down fighting and spitting. Not…not like this…

Joel blinked as he suddenly realized that he was on his knees. Tears were running down his face. Opening his mouth to say something to the now deceased Jason, Joel were surprised when his words were drowned out by a sob. Then, he wheezed. Suddenly, he was having a complete breakdown. His eyes never left Jason's unmoving face as he sobbed onto the table. He desperately tried to stop his tears, but that only made him cry even harder.

"No!" Donna rushed into Joel's vision at the other side of the table. With tears running down her own cheeks, she shakily brushed her fingers along Jason's bruised cheek, "Oh, Jason…Athena have mercy…"

Joel watched as Donna knelt down and gently kissed Jason's forehead. Her tears dropped down on Jason's cold face as she lifted her head back up and moved down to his chest. Burying her face in his chest, Donna began to sob uncontrollably hugging the corpse as tightly as she could.

Together, the two heroes knelt by the body of their friends. Loud sobs and cries of despair echoed through the Batcave. Neither noticed as Cassandra stood in the shadows, silently crying over the loss of another person in her life. In that moment, things changed for all of them. Suddenly, hero work didn't seem so heroic.

Danny sat slumped his personal lab below Fenton Works. His swivel chair was pointed right at a desk where the Red X suit lie unpacked from its container. With tired and guild ridden eyes, Danny looked all across the suit. He always loved that invention. It was the first true invention he ever came up with on his own. There was pride in it.

Yet, there was something else. It brought something out in him. The cruelest side of his humanity always seemed to creep out when he wore that suit. That was why he usually let J.A.Z.Z. control the suit. Because no matter what he said, he always loved when he was Red X. It gave him a freedom that none of his personas had. There were no expectations for Red X. He didn't need to be the perfect protégé or the infallible hero. He could be the mercenary that would do anything for the mission. Even kill. And he enjoyed doing it.

That terrified him more than anything else. While there was always a reminder of the darkness in his ghost half in the form of Dark Dan, there had never really been too much opportunity for the worst part of his humanity to show. Now, though, he realized that Red X was that darkness, the darkest parts of his humanity brought to life.

Danny rubbed his face tiredly. Damn it. He knew this was coming. He had to deal with this…

The sudden sound of opening metal doors signaled the arrival of someone into the lab. There was no sounds after that, though. No footsteps or sound of movement met Danny's ears. For someone that dealt with floating ghosts all the time, that was not something that was new. This wasn't a ghost, though. His ghost sense would have told if it were. Considering what happened today, it could only really be one person.

"Batman," Danny noted as the Dark Knight's image flooded into his vision.

Batman reached forward and grabbed the collar of Danny's lab coat, "What did you do?"

"What do you think I did?"

Batman snarled in Danny's face, "Don't play games with me. Joker has been found dead!"

"Really? That's great. Guess karma finally caught up to him."

"Stop. Playing. Dumb."

"Playing dumb?" Danny raised an eyebrow, "I don't know what you mean."

Batman pulled Danny up so they were both standing, "I examined Joker's body myself. He was tortured. His fingers were broken. Several bones were shattered. Burns were across his body with the exact markings found when someone is hit by one of your weapons. And your Red X suit is out right there for me to see. I know you killed him."

Danny's eyes lazily looked away, "I didn't plan to…I hesitated, but he threatened my family...He promised to do unspeakable things if I let him live..."

"And that makes it so much better," Batman's grip tightened, "How could you? I thought that you understood why we were above this. I thought that justice mattered to you. Not this petty revenge."

"How could I? Bruce…" Danny glared at Batman, "Joker shot Barbara. I've seen the reports. I know that it's like that she's paralyzed from the waist down. And…he killed Jason. He KILLED Jason. Your protégé. My friend. A member of our family. How could I not do something?"

"That's no excuse. You crossed a line. You know you did," Batman hissed, "You intended to kill Joker. And he did die. There's no coming back from that."

"Yes there is," Danny shrugged, "I just did it."

"No. You're wrong. You're a killer now. A murderer. Nothing will ever change that."

"I've killed before, Bruce," Danny argued, "Back in the Ghoul Project, I thought I killed Agent Z. Then, I killed the Spectre."

"Those times were different, and you know it."

"I don't really," Danny shook his head, "I did what I had to then. I did what I had to now. Joker's bullshit had been going on for too long. How many people has he killed? How many people was he going to kill? It's insane that we've just…let him go every time."

"It's not for us to decide. You know that."

"Really? Do you think that the cops will even look for Joker's killer? Do you think that a judge and jury would ever willingly convict me? Because I don't. When people find out, they'll rejoice all around the world. A monster has been slain, and he'll never kill again," Danny noted, "That's what really bothers you, isn't it? Because if you were just willing to take one life…Make one exception, then Jason would still be alive."

"RAW!" Batman punched Danny across the jaw and sent him flying back into his chair, "That's not the point and you know it!"

Danny rubbed his sore jaw, "We're not talking about Two Face or Penguin. We're talking about one person. The Joker. Just the Joker...because he took Jason from us. He had to go, so I made a judgment call. Humanity will be better off for it."

Batman shook his head disappointingly, "I thought I knew you. I thought we were the same, but I was wrong. I know now…You're destined to end up just like that alternate version of yourself. A mass murderer. And I won't have you anywhere near the Team anymore. Consider yourself off of Young Justice."

"Off of Young Justice?" Danny snorted, "Idiot. That won't work. I'm the core of Young Justice."

"And your role will be replaced," Batman argued, "Nightwing and Aqualad can lead."

"Really?" Danny gained an amused look, "Because I know that Aqualad is stressed enough as it is with Aquaman in the brink. And Nightwing has been thinking for years that Joker should be the exception to the rule. With what just happened to Barbara and Jason, neither of them will be willing to take my spot out from under me."

"There are others."

"Really? Superboy, one of my best friends? Miss Martian, the girl that's idolized me for years? Artemis or Wally? Really? They'd follow me until the ends of the earth," Danny laughed, "And who else? I can go on. Zatanna, Rocket, Spirit, Dusk, Troia, Black Bat, any of the Atlantians…You think that they'll just accept my being kicked off the team? No, that won't happen."

Batman was silent.

"If you kick me off the Team, then that's the end of Young Justice," Danny argued, "Not only that…it's an entire generation of heroes that will no longer follow your rules. The Justice League will bleed away. And you won't have any protégés to keep up your war when you're gone, because Dick and Cassandra…They'll chose me over you if you do this. You know it."

"I don't understand…" Batman gave a frown, "When did you become like this? When did you…"

"Become cunning? Controlling? Demanding? Like you?" Danny smiled, "Do you think after years of working with you, Vlad, and Vision that I wouldn't pick up on your tricks. I haven't been a piece on the chess board for a long time, Bruce. I'm a chess master, and right now, I have you in check. Your move. Will you lose all of your pieces by trying to fight on, or will you save what you have left by surrendering."

Batman was silent for a moment. Hardened eyes stared at Danny for a long time. Then, the turned away and made his way back to the door. Before he left, he spoke one final sentence, "This isn't over."

Danny shook his head and turned back to the Red X suit, "You're wrong. It's been over for a long time."

"Danny..."

Danny ignored the voice and continued to look at the Red X suit.

"Will you not even look at me? I've never known you to be so rude."

"I'd prefer not to see your disappointed look, Death."

From her spot at the side of Danny's chair, Death shook her head, "I'm not disappointed in you, Danny. I'm just surprised. It's not in your nature to be so unforgiving or uncaring. Even when faced with an enemy that has wronged you, you've always held at least a little compassion in your heart."

Danny's eyes finally snapped over to her, "So you think the Joker deserved compassion?"

"Not really. He created more work for me than any man should," Death tilted her head to the side as she examined Danny's angry and passionate eyes, "Every crime must be met with equal punishment, and his sins were many. If I had my way, I would have taken him a long time ago. I might have made him suffer even more. But you are not me, Danny. My element does not give second chances. Yours does, though."

"And what is this element?"

"Hope. You've always been Hope, Danny," Death gave him a fond smile, "Look at who you've inspired, who you have built up. It is through you that Jason Todd became the person he was. Without your influence on him and the people around him, he would never have really understood what it meant to be a hero. That only happened because you gave him hope."

"A lot of good that did him," Danny grumbled, "It got him killed."

Death's face fell a bit, "Do you really think that dying is so bad? Do you resent me like everyone else, Danny? For taking your loved ones?"

"No!" Danny gave her a desperate look, "I don't resent you, Death. You're only doing what your job. I resent the fact that I can't save anyone. I always do my best, but it never seems to be enough to save everyone. But at least this time, I know I saved people by killing the Joker. He will never hurt anyone again."

Death nodded, "I agree, but it doesn't change your nature, Danny Phantom. You are the living embodiment of the line between life and death. Tonight, you relied too much on the living side...on your human side. You killed him not out of justice, but out of anger and hatred. Don't think that Dark Dan is the only dark path you can take. He is the example of when your ghost side is taken too far. And tonight shows what happens when your human side is taken too far. You have done the right thing for the wrong reasons."

Danny's eyes suddenly seemed very hollow, "You...I know...Damn it...I still hear him, Death. I still hear the Joker laughing in my head. Please, help me fix this. Tell me, how do I stop the laughter? How do I get back the balance between life and death?"

"The answer is simple, Danny," Death's form began to disappear, "You must remove the weight giving your human side the edge."

Danny's eyes turned back to the Red X suit. For the first time in hours, Danny stood. He knew what he had to do.

The sound of metal dragging against tile sounded throughout the lab. Danny stalked slowly across the lab. At his side, a large sledgehammer hung all the way to the floor. The metal of the hammer gently met the floor below, causing the noise that sounded all around Danny. If he weren't so dead brained, he would have noticed how eerie the noise was.

Making his way to the table which held his beloved Red X suit, Danny eyed the invention that he held so dear in his heart. The events of the night surged through his mind. Every step he made and every blow he delivered to his enemies popped up once again before his eyes. He had enjoyed it so much. Just like he enjoyed outmaneuvering Batman. It filled him with a pleasure that he had only ever received in the embrace of a lover.

It was a dark pleasure. Something that Danny always knew existed but had never allowed himself to enjoy. It was the pleasure of outright sin. He did terrible things tonight, and they rewarded him with pleasure and satisfaction. The temptation to do it again rang in his mind. Being Red X felt a lot more rewarding in the short term compared to being Danny Phantom.

"..I know now…You're destined to end up just like that alternate version of yourself. A mass murderer…"

He was like Dark Dan tonight. Suddenly, the sound of Joker's laughter sounded through his ears.

Anger surged through him like never before. With a scream of rage, Danny brought the sledge hammer up above his head. Then, the brought it down and smashed the chest of the Red X suit. He did this again. Then again. And a fourth time.

The room was filled with the sound of his wails of rage and the sound of the Red X suit being smashed to pieces. Yet all that was lost on Danny. All he could hear was the demented laughter of the deceased Clown Prince of Crime. It mocked him, telling him that he had indeed crossed a line. It felt like the madness had been passed on through death, and Danny was determined to destroy it.

With one final roar of rage, Danny brought his sledge hammer down right at the helmet of the Red X suit. It crushed before his mighty swing. Pieces of metal and glass scattered everywhere. Danny noted that some of the glass had cut him, but he didn't care.

Looking down at the destroyed suit, Danny allowed his weapon to slip from his fingers. It clattered to the floor with a loud ringing noise. After a few seconds, the sound died down, leaving only Danny's labored breath to push away the silence. With tears running down his face, Danny collapsed to the ground. His eyes still firmly locked onto the pieces of metal that had once been his favorite invention.

"Never again. I'll never put that suit on again."

With that, the Joker's laughter died away in his mind never to return again.