An End and a Beginning

Pov Batman

Today had been… Bad

As he looked at Superman, holding the collapsed form of Lois Lane in his hands, unconscious but alive, he knew things would no longer be the same as they once had. Things had gotten too close to home, things had passed a limit that was not supposed to be broken

The Joker had crossed a new line

Apparently, Gotham was no longer a big enough stomping ground for him and he had begun to branch out. Metropolis had been his target and Superman with it. A nuclear warhead had been hidden away within the city, prepped to detonate on the death of one Lois Lane whom Joker had sicked a drugged Superman upon 

If it wasn't for the fact that Batman had been able to warn Superman of the Joker's plan, that the doomsday he was fighting was Lois, and that she had been rigged with a nuclear detonator mere seconds before Clark was just about to drag her into the upper atmosphere…

Things would have ended far differently… 

And why did the Joker go so far? Why did he do it? 

Because he had grown bored.

"Haha Did you know that she was pregnant?!" Joker laughed, cackling gleefully despite the fact that he was now surrounded by over half the members of the Justice League, including Wonderwoman, Flash, Green Lantern, and himself "HAHAHAH-

Crack 

He couldnt help it, slamming a fist into the now restrained Clown Prince's face, crushing his nose like a ball of aluminum foil, watching with a hardened gaze as no small amount of blood splattered on his suit. It felt more than deserved. He hadn't been this angry since Jason… since that day in the warehouse

But for all of that anger, He knew Clark was feeling it even more

"You almost took her from me!" Superman growled as he began to stalk forward, passing his wife who was begining to regain consciousness to Wonder Woman, who gently took her in her arms. Red light pulsed erratically from his eyes, as he began to stomp forward.

"Now, Now, Superman" the Joker placated, wiping at the blood on his face and lifting his hands in a gesture of mock surrender, still grinning. "Let's not do something incredible violent and messy that we might regret" 

From where he was standing, he could Harley cowering behind Joker. There was something on her face, a look in her eyes as she stared at her beloved "Puddin" from behind. An emotion displayed in her eyes that Bruce wasn't sure if he had seen her look at him before, at least not at this level

Uncertainty 

Did even she feel that he had gone too far?

"I'm not going to regret this-" Superman began to get even closer to the Joker and Bruce could see the veins bulging in his neck, just how much rage he was undergoing. Hence why he had to step between them, placing a hand on his friend's chest… before something happened

Something that neither Superman nor Clark Kent could walk away from

"Superman" 

One word, that was all he said. A warning and a plea as much as it was a reminder, that he was Superman and Superman didn't do what he was on the precipice of doing

Superman did not kill.

"Move aside Bruce!" 

…

Everyone froze

…

"Bruce?" the smile on the Joker's face was wider than even Batman had ever seen it 

…

"No! This spoils everything! Now you're just a "Bruce" in a bat-suit" Joker began to complain, causing everyone to flinch slightly, even Superman who shot a glance towards the friend, whose identity he had just compromised "Hahaha!"

And the day just grew even worse

But his problems would have to wait, there was still an armed nuclear explosive, nestled somewhere within Metropolis

"Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Flash, deal with Harley and then begin the search for the Nuke, time is a matter of utmost priority" he had to focus, had to delegate. "Superman look after Lois… I'll take the Joker back to Gotham for questioning" 

"No!" Superman immediately protested, standing his ground even as Lois was once more placed into his arms by Wonder Woman as she took off to deal with the nuclear threat along with the others "I should be the one to question him!"

"No, look after your wife" he responded, shaking his head "I'll deal with him"

"Like you have before?!" Superman, Clark, Snarled back "Like you did when he pulled that shit with Commissioner Gordan and Batgirl, with Jason?!"

…

"Trust me" was all he could say in response, a request that was meant for himself as mcuh as it was for his friend "He will never hurt you again"

…

…

…

Speeding down the long road back to Gotham in the Batmobile, Bruce was stuck online with his thoughts and with the Joker on another of his insane tirades 

"I hope you aren't feeling Jealus Batsy, I swear it was just a Fling!" the Joker chuckled as he sat beside him, looking out the window with a smile 

This man was the same man who had shot Barbra in the spine, paralyzing her from the waist down

"You don't need to say anything of course… I know you need me"

He had tortured and tormented James Gordan to the point where it had taken years to regain any feelings of trust and friendship

"And I need you, it's all for you. Every cut, every terrified scream in the dark… you keep me going, you're who I perform for"

He had killed an uncountable amount of innocents, tortured, and done unspeakable things to the very city that Bruce's parents had spet their lives protecting, that he had spent his life protecting 

"I did like playing with your friend though… I think I'll do it again. You're okay if I torment other people from time to time Right?"

He had killed his son and even when Jason came back to life he was still lost to him.

He was a threat to everything he had ever loved, especially now that he knew his name. Selena, Dick, Time… Damian

All of them, he would torture and kill all of them if meant that it would hurt him… and It would

"Of course, I'll wait till their child is born… children scream in a way that-"

Enough 

It was enough

He would never hurt him or another person he loved again 

CRCK

…

Silence 

…

And as he pulled up in front of the Gotham police station, the joker's lifeless corpse falling onto the concrete, his neck twisted at an uneven angle

He felt a chill go down his spine

As if something had awakened

Not within him

Something else

Something he had forgotten

As unbeknownst to him in a long-abandoned batcave, far beneath the surface… a containment cell began to rise upwards

[Contingency Zero: The Dark Knight]

[Activated]