5. The Battle Part-02

English is not my first language, so if you notice any mistakes, please mention them in the comment section at the end of the chapter. Let's begin the story!

Word Count: 3900 words approx

----------------------------------------------------------

Two weeks Later

Bruce was lying on his bed wearing his suit, gifted to him by ROB while holding the cane on his chest. Waiting for the time to get out.

Bruce with World found out about Joker's plan and has been making preparations to fight against him. In the night he used to practice in dream space, and in the day he was Bruce Wayne. Touring his factories and exploring the VR.

It wasn't a good ride for him researching about it, the darkness behind it. The game and other facilities were more generally used for giving people happiness and enjoyment, but now it was a way to control people.

'I shouldn't be worrying about it, I will be out of this abyss before I know it. I should concentrate on my plan.'

Everything was set in order, Bruce had visited many places in search of him. Especially the places that had been impacted by his attack. After checking out all the places, he found similarities in them. Every one of them was a place that the VIPs of the city visited or at least those close to them.

The bank, restaurant, hospital and pub. There have been four attacks so far by the Joker. After going through all the recent incidents, I can tell they aren't just random locations. The police commissioner was visiting the bank on the day of the attack, the mayor was at the restaurant at the time of the attack and a Judge was at the hospital visiting his relative at the time of the attack. But luckily they survived, it might have been a warning.

The Pub is the only place that doesn't fit in this criteria. There were no notable figures in the pub at the time of the attack and nor were there any named gangsters in the pub. Rather there were no big-time gangsters.

The peace is protected by the police, but to the poor, they are dogs serving those in power. The government is corrupted but unlike in the Batman lore, the rich have complete control of the city now. They don't have to worry about these people when they have power. People don't have any say in the decision most of the time. So no gangsters were present in Gotham before Joker, even if they existed they were uprooted before they could cause any major damage.

'After all the city is governed by those True gangsters. They can't have competition now, can they?

I guess it was just him attacking for no reason. There is a possibility that he was there, someone got on his wrong side then Boom. We are talking about Joker here, he is anything but normal. Some people just love to see the world burn. They don't care about the consequences. They love to hurt others for their amusement. But I can't say Joker is that type of guy. I haven't met this Joker yet.'

'I sometimes wonder if it was true when Green Goblin said about people, "But the one thing they love more than a hero, is to see a hero fail, fall, die trying. Despite everything you've done for them, eventually, they will hate you. Why bother?" to Spider-Man.'

Ironically what Norman said could be applied here. I think Joker would resonate more with the quote than Peter Parker.

<They have initiated their attack>

'Let's go'

Bruce got up and took the mask lying beside him on the bed and wore it. Despite many qualms, he chooses to go with Batman's mask. Much to his surprise, he can change the design of the suit and cane. He proceeded to turn the blazer into a long coat. To boot it up, he was born a handsome man with black hair with red eyes. He was born with a good physique, and while he didn't have any supernatural powers he more than made up for it with World, money and many weapons he took out from his warehouse.

Mc [Image]

After following the leads and checking the city calendar, they found a construction site to be visited by some of the city's VIPs tomorrow. The site of the visit is important, a major government project is taking place in that site.

Despite the tight security placed on the construction site, the intruders had managed to get in.

'The chances of Joker being one of them is high'

<Yes, but we are unaware of his true identity which makes it difficult. I can only follow the clues that lead me to those incidents. Joker has been using police server control and direct attacks. He camouflaged himself pretty well>

'While they are searching for him, he just stays under the radar'

"Let's go"

---

Mc Pov

Construction Site

'Is this it? Where are those guys?'

<They have entered through an underground tunnel>

'Well, then let's get this over with. I can't get caught by the police. I am surprised they could get in with this much security

I moved through the way World pointed and made my way through an underground tunnel. After making my through the tunnel for some time I could hear some muffled voices.

I Slowed down, as I got closer to the voice. Luckily for me, I was near the exit but there was a grunt standing watch at the exit.

Just like Batman I moved slowly without making any sounds and got right behind him, without him noticing anything. Took him out with a jab to the neck.

'That was easy. I just hope the rest is as easy as this was'

After getting him out of the way, I moved ahead.

"Hey you", unluckily got caught by some other grunt.

"You shouldn't be here."

"I know that what can we do now? I'm here now. If you allow me I'll make it as painless as possible"

"It's too late now, wait! What?"

Having learned the martial arts, and stuffing all that knowledge into my brain, everyone would have expected me to rush to him and have a brawl but unfortunately for them, my opponent had what appeared to be a gun.

Just like anyone in my situation would have done, I took out my gun and shot him. It was his fortune that it wasn't a gun made for killing, while you could kill with it by tweaking it a bit currently, it wasn't set at that.

It was sci-fi or a future version of stun gun. I was fast and no one got hurt. Well, except him.

'Doesn't he know that those weapons are deadly? You carrying them and using them against others by extension permits others to use them against you. Unless you are a cop which you aren't. Well, even they have certain rules and regulations that they have to follow. '

He made his way onwards, taking care of the other grunts he found safekeeping the place. When at last he reached to what appeared to be the main spot of these criminals.

It was an underground space. 'What are they doing here?'

<This here is right below the stage set up above where mayor going to be giving his speech>

'How did those guys not find out about this? They are right under them and I am sure digging this tunnel would have made noise. And this isn't a tunnel anymore but a cave'

<We can have this conversation later. They spotted you>

I jumped down from one of the holes in the underground layer. 'When did they even start digging? This is one big room'

"Who are you?", said Grunt 1.

"Get ready, we have to finish it as quietly and quickly as we can. We can't have our plans fail because of some masked clown", said Grunt 2.

'Isn't their leader also a clown and a masked man'

Well rather than answer them loudly, I choose the not-so-superhero approach. I attacked them without waiting for them to finish talking.

I don't know how they have done it but this is a cave. A large one at that, this must be at least 100 meters below the ground.

Which I was going to use to my advantage, as I shot the first person in my sight and used a grapple gun to lift myself above and latched on a rock using a grapple hook. While I was suspended in the air, I shot anyone and everyone who entered my sight. Well, many might consider it to be a disadvantageous position, but I didn't think so.

Yes, I was suspended in the air and was a target for them to shoot but I was much to their disappointment swinging like a pendulum with full force, dodging their attack. This could have been a losing situation for me if they could go all out to their heart's content but they couldn't.

They could but who would risk a major mission trying to kill a man wearing a mask playing around? I shot many of them using my stun gun while they kept shooting me.

They kept cursing and shouting orders but I filtered out their useless noise to concentrate on my aim.

Much to their disappointment no bullets made contact with me. At least that is what they assumed with such low lighting conditions here.

After having enough fun I dropped down, right in the middle. They were stupefied seeing me drop down and me standing just there without moving an inch.

Some were fast to come to their senses and started shooting but to their astonishment, I was unharmed. The bullets turned to dust as they made contact with my coat. I observed a guy standing in the corner, from where he was shooting and trying to run away.

"It's time for the main show" Saying that I took out my lightsaber and activated it.

And the rest is history, I chopped up the guns all the while I was putting them to sleep. A jab or punch at the correct location with the correct power can do miracles.

Finally, after beating out the rest, I caught up with whom I assumed was Joker. He had managed to escape the cave and had come outside.

"Give up"

"Do you think that I will give up so easily you self-righteous hero"

"Guess not, but let's find out"

I rushed towards him and he fired as soon as he finished talking. He was carrying an AR. I think that it is an AR. I am not too sure about it, it's the 22nd century after all.

Armed with the lightsaber and this suit, I didn't have to worry about his bullets. Soon he was within my arm's reach.

---

Omni Pov

Bruce sliced through Joker's aiming range and punched him right in the face. The punch broke the mask the Joker was wearing.

"Is this it!"

Joker was lying on the ground with Bruce Wayne standing right in front of him. Bruce was having a tough time accepting the result of the fight.

It was anticlimactic.

'I guess the World played a huge role in this. Without her, I wouldn't have been able to find him. Also, this suit is a cheat. I can just rush through anything without having to worry about defence.'

Bruce removed the rest of the mask to get a good look at Joker's face. 'He looks different than in movies and comics. While Alfred looks the same as his comic version he doesn't. Well, I guess it's fine since neither do I look like Bruce.'

His inner monologue was broken by an all-too-familiar laugh. It wasn't his first time hearing it. He had heard it a lot of times while watching Batman.

But to surprise Joker was unconscious.

"This is getting interesting. I hadn't thought I would meet some hero of justice in this corrupted city. By the way, you do a very clumsy job, Mr. Peeking Tom."

'So this guy isn't Joker! It is never too easy when you are handling Joker are you?'

Joker's voice was being transmitted through a phone speaker of the duplicate Joker. Bruce after following the sound picked up the phone from the duplicate Joker's dress.

"So hello Joker"

"Hello to you Mr. Peeking Tom. I hope you are fine as I can see you right now. I'm going to go with you being fine."

"Well on an important note, I like Tom & Jerry. So it does not matter what you decide to do I'll stick with my plan of action"

"I like that in a Hero. It makes it more fun to bring out your true self to the real world"

"You are interesting"

"Copying me now are you? Well, let's see about it when I bombard town hall."

"Easier for you to say, do you think I would let you go."

"First... You have to catch me..., to let go"

"I like the confidence but it is not going to help"

"Well, I don't have to worry about it much Mr. Hero. I will have to thank you though, if it weren't for you I would have never found out"

"Never found out what?"

"I was busy. Planning. This attack. I was careless and didn't check it out much. If it wasn't for you. I caught the sniff of you snooping around and had to check it out"

"What?"

"That the police were on my trail and set up a trap to catch me. You don't give them enough credit"

"A trap?"

'World'

"We will meet, or wait we can meet if you get out of there alive. Though your suit is impressive to protect you from that barrage. Guess we will find out whether that is enough"

<Exit plan initiated>

"Joker!!"

"Don't be disappointed, I won't disappoint you. Just for you right now I am in a restaurant having dinner. See you can listen to children laughing and people talking now"

*Indistinct sounds of chatter and laughter

"Don't worry I will do right by you."

"You wouldn't"

Bruce was petrified. Despite the sound of footsteps, he was hearing he didn't move from his place.

*Footsteps

"You sound young, well get to see you. Without you, I would have been caught by now. But here I am, free."

Bruce could hear the sound of a chair moving, followed by his footsteps.

"Hey, kid!"

"What is it?"

"What are you doing?"

"I am trying to find my friends"

"Finding your friends Hmm! So are you guys playing a game?"

"Yes, have seen my friends? I can't find them, I have been searching for them for two hours now."

"So you are staying in this hotel kid?"

"Yes, can I leave now? I have to find my friends"

"How do they look? Maybe I can help you find him"

"Really?"

"Yes, I know how it feels to be left alone."

"Left alone?"

The police had arrived and encircled Bruce leaving him no place of escape.

"Come quietly Joker and don't even think of escaping. Otherwise, you won't be leaving this premise alive."

"I am not Joker"

"It's okay, just come with us back. I'm sure there are some unforeseen circumstances here"

"Yes"

"We believe in you, So let's go. We won't harm you if you come quietly"

"I'll have to decline. I am not Joker"

"You leave us no choice."

<A drone has arrived and is hovering just above your head>

"You see in my childhood I didn't have many friends but the few I had were always mean to me. They used to always hide and ask me to find them. When I wasn't looking they used to go back home while I remained there the whole day looking for them."

"That's mean"

"Yes, they were mean. Not all friends are good"

"So are you saying my friends are also being mean to me?"

"No, I am not saying they are mean. I am sure they are your good friends. They wouldn't betray you"

"..... yes"

"Good let's find them"

"Okay"

"Here take this switch"

"What's this?"

"It's a switch, you can't find them alone now, can we? This is a very big hotel. So let's split up and search for them. It will be very fast. That's where that switch comes in handy. It has two buttons, red and green. The green button is for when you find them. The moment you press it, I will get a notification on my phone with your location so that I can come running to you."

" Okay"

"As for the red, it's a special button. It's your wish when you decide to press it. It's your wish, you can press it or leave it be"

"What does it do?"

"Oh! It's a special button for a grand fireworks show. I had set up a fireworks show to do with my friend but he stood on me. While he promised to come here but didn't. He just lied to me"

"That's wrong"

"Yes, it's wrong. Would you like to say that to him for me? He wouldn't care if it was me saying it. I think he will realise his mistake and ask for forgiveness if it was you saying that to him"

"Okay"

"Just a minute"

"Don't speak out of line. I'm sure you know the consequences of such action"

Bruce stood like a statue, but he couldn't let the worst come to pass.

"Here take this, he is on the line"

"Okay, you are a big meanie. You should never betray your friends. You should also ask for Uncle's forgiveness"

He couldn't let himself get arrested here. A lot was riding on this now. "I'm sorry, I am sorry. So can please give the phone back to Uncle? I'd like to apologise to him"

"Good, uncle take it. He says he is sorry"

"Thanks a lot, kid. Now you can start finding them. I'll be right behind you. I will also help you find your friends after I finish talking to my dear friend"

"Okay"

"Keep the switch safe"

"Yes"

"Bye friend", Joker had disconnected the call.

Bruce with his grapple hook held onto the drone. The drone was being remotely controlled by World. The police started their open firing with World's greatest control and drone manoeuvrability plus the suit got him out of the area for a long distance.

Bruce got down in an alley not so far away from his fight.

'World track the hotel and how far is it'

<It's at the other end of city>

"F*ck"

*PHONE Ringing

[Joker]

"Congratulations, you were able to get out of there. I'm impressed. As for your reward don't worry I have deactivated the bomb in the hotel. So the kid is safe"

"You.."

"Ohh! Let's save it for when we meet again"

Bruce was in the alley for some time before he got out and got on a bus. While he was on the bus moved down the road towards the area where his home was located. Then he heard a loud sound of an explosion.

'What?'

<The explosion took place on the construction site>

{Unread Message}

[Joker: I never said anything about diffusing construction site bombs]

---

Late at Night

Bruce was lying on his bed, thinking about today's events.

'If it weren't for me, the police might have caught him. Those people wouldn't have had to die.'

<Do not worry. It's entirely your fault. Joker has a pattern of manipulating the emotions others, and you are well aware this.>

"I know but it doesn't help."

While Bruce was on the bus, there wasn't a single explosion but a chain of explosions. There was a set of explosions that night. It wasn't just the building, the cars where they were carrying the fake joker and his other grunts also exploded. Right in the middle of the road.

'Those two buttons were triggers for those bombs. There never was a safe way out of this.'

<It is plausible>

'He killed them using a child.'

He was never as exhausted as he was now. This was a first for him since coming to this world, even intense training never gave him such a tough time.

"Wait he said meet again. What did he mean by it?"

<He met you but don't know who it was?>

"Most likely, do you. Anyway, how did the police even lay the trap for him and even you managed to locate him? How did you do it?"

<It was a neuro chip>

"Neuro chip?"

<The chip is implanted at the back of your head. Once connected to a system, it enables you connect Virtual Reality system or console. Although accessing memory challenging, tracking emotions and thoughts relatively easy.>

Bruce had a chill run down his spine, he got up from his bed and his hands moved towards his port for the neuro chip reflexively, located at the back of his neck.

"So with this?"

<Yes >

"Am I going to be safe?"

<As long as you have me, no one can access or mess with your brain not even memories and thoughts are protected from them I only those that give me permission for>

"Good to know"

He threw himself back on his bed.

When suddenly he remembered a fragment of his memory. In the memory, he was in search of Joker in the pub and was checking out nearby places. While he was wearing a mask to cover his face.

'An old man bumped into me and apologized. Now that I think about it he didn't have any neuro chip port.'

"JOKEERRRRRR! How am I supposed to live a free life with him."

Sighs

"Well this would have never happened if I hadn't got involved in this and had just gone to Japan. I know it World! "

<I guess this is where I say, you should have listened to Artificial Intelligence>

"Huhh! Are you still mad about it"

<I don't know, but since Joker thinks so highly of himself. I think should show him his place>

"Then what was it till now?"

<All my calculations were right, though I failed to recognize him when we met for the first time. But it won't happen again. All was going according but Joker an unknown variable till now. Now he is not anywhere>

"I hope for it"

{Note: In the first movie of Overlord, Momonga aka Suzuki Satoru has a port integrated into his neck. The system he used to play Yggdrasil was a chair unlike SAO, where they only had a helmet. It's a chair with a PC connected to it and a helmet. He uses a cable to connect his helmet and himself. The cable is connected to the port located in his neck. I just thought of mentioning it as most of the Fanfics here represent the console as just a helmet.}