The Last Joke (2/2)

"Stop!"

Batman couldn't believe the scene in front of him.

He saw Harley Quinn lying a few feet away from them, unconscious in a pool of blood. She had her legs pierced with a metallic rod serving as her restraint.

Thankfully, he was relieved to see Gordon safe inside a swirling barrier like sphere.

The man has lost consciousness but a quick nod from Superman gave him all the assurance that he needed.

As for Joker, he was screaming in agony thanks to a certain person removing his hand entirely.

"S-Stop!" Joker begged, but Jasper was not amused by his cries. 

And as such, he placed his hand over the clown's mouth before freezing it entirely.

"You do not have to take it that far." Superman said, blowing away most of the fire with his freeze breath.

But Batman was surprised to see that the place was already covered by ice, which he was certain was done by Jasper. He just wasn't sure how Jasper managed to do that.

However, to their surprise.

Jasper merely sighed at the situation.

"Tell me, Batman." He asked, "Why did you never bother getting rid of the Joker?"

The voice lacked interest, as if he was already aware of what the answer was going to be.

"We do not have the right to take someone's life," Batman said, "No matter how corrupt or heinous that person may be."

"Killing someone would make us no different than those villains," Superman added as he landed next to Batman. "We are not killers."

He gave Jasper a kind smile, "And I know that you are not one either."

Jasper felt exhausted hearing their excuses, "The justice system has failed us all and yet you cling to the fantasy that it will ever be able to punish these criminals."

There had been countless times that villains managed to escape the law and save themselves from death penalties using various methods.

The first hand experience he had was with Scarecrow.

"This piece of shit has taken as many lives as any famous terrorist yet he walks freely." Jasper shook his head, tired of the excuses. "Then why has your justice system never managed to put him down? After all, he is worse than a rabid dog."

"He won't walk freely again," Batman assured, "Justice will be served and we will make sure of that."

This sentence by the caped crusader made him lose whatever little faith he had left on the heroes.

Jasper looked at them, "I know he won't." He said, "because I won't let him walk ever again."

Saying this, he lowered himself to match the squirming Joker which immediately alerted the two heroes. 

"Don't!"

Fearing that Jasper was about to kill Joker, Batman threw this batarang hoping to stop Jasper.

However, the batarang never reached him –instead it bounced off inches away from him– as if it had hit some invisible forcefield.

"You have caused irreplaceable harm, Joker. From killing to torturing… and even burning down people's dreams." He whispered next to Joker's ears, "You should not have even been allowed to live, Jack."

"D-Don't u-use that name!" Despite the pain, despite the fear –Joker was adamant in never hearing that name again. 

Enough to tear his lips off of the ice just to scream that.

He bled profusely from his mouth, but Jasper paid it no heed.

"You must be punished… even if it is in the most immoral way possible."

"STOP!" Batman yelled, which signaled Superman to shoot his heat vision at Jasper.

Not to kill him, but to graze him and scare him.

Unfortunately for him, it didn't work.

As with one hand, Jasper grabbed Joker's head while he pointed the other towards Superman.

The laser wasn't meant to hit him in any vital part but Jasper was not in the mood to deal with the superheroes.

So the moment the laser reached his proximity, it bounced back towards Superman –surprising both the heroes.

Superman managed to dodged the laser as it would have been dangerous even for him to take the hit.

And while both of them were shocked to try and figure out how Jasper did that, the man had already decided to get rid of Joker.

Spreading a form of purple gas around Joker's face, he whispered, "For the pain and suffering you caused others… You must suffer ten times worse."

And that was possibly the worst fate that Joker could meet.

As the gas was not an average toxic mist –but one that brought out a person's true fears.

The gas seeped inside Joker's mouth, nose and ears –consuming his senses entirely.

"What did you do!" Batman asked, horrified at the possibility of him using a toxic gas.

Thankfully, it wasn't poisonous.

"Scarecrow used to call this the fear toxin," Jasper mumbled, "It shows a person their greatest fear, makes them live through tragic memories and causes most to grow insane."

He smiled, "Let's see how insane it can turn an already insane person."

Joker immediately went silent, as his eyes turned red and started to tear up.

Jasper removed his hand from his head, letting the clown tumble down.

The heroes were not certain about Jasper's way of thinking and hence they could not make rash moves.

Mostly because they were worried he might harm Jim Gordon.

And while Jasper had no reason to harm Gordon, he had all the reasons to kill Joker.

Unfortunately for the Prince of Crime, he wasn't going to kill Joker.

That wouldn't be satisfying.

"Live through the pain, Jack." Jasper said without a shred of emotion in his voice, "Live your worst memories. Be it losing the person you love or losing your hopes and dreams."

And that the Joker did.

Tears started to well up in his eyes while his body began to shake.

"J-Jeannie…"

He started to quiver, "JEANNIE!"

Years of memories flooded his mind, his wife Jeannie, his son and the happy life he had.

"N-No no no! Jeannie don't die!" He cried, years of pent up emotions flooding his entire self, "Mikey no!"

Batman finally had enough and jumped towards the place, landing just a few meters shy of the Enchanter.

"What did you do!" He demanded, seeing the Joker cry for the first time.

"Just took him down the memory lane," Jasper answered in an unapologetic manner, "The memories that he tried to hide. The memories that would give him the most pain."

"I-I am sorry J-Jeannie!" Joker bellowed, "I should not have yelled at you that day…"

Joker's eyes quivered, "No No No! My son! My wife! Give them back! Give them back!"

"For every life that he took, he must suffer. For every family that lost a child, wife or husband… he has to go through their pain." At Jasper's statement, both the heroes were shell shocked.

Jasper wasn't harming him physically, but he was eating away whatever little happiness that the Joker had left inside of him.

Exposing him to pain beyond his bearable range.

Joker jerked up, "No! I didn't kill your son!" He suddenly shouted before crawling back, "No No No! I didn't kill anyone."

"Fear of committing his first murder," Jasper mused, "Mixed with the delusion of his wife leaving him for it."

"D-Don't leave me, Jeannie! No, don't take Mikey!" He begged, "I didn't kill anyone."

"Not remorse, but the fear of losing his family again and again." Jasper said, "While countless illusions and scenarios play inside his mind… all about losing the people he loved."

Joker was a broken man, one that had gone through every misery in life.

"But the misery is not enough to account for the crimes he committed. Being miserable is not a reason to bring misery to the innocents."

Jasper knew that he was worse than being called petty for making Joker delude about his dead wife –but he did not care.

"P-Please… Forgive me…" Joker begged, "Please forgive me, Jeannie."

Batman and Superman were shaken to the core. They had never witnessed something like this before, even with scarecrow's toxins Batman did not expect Joker to be so broken.

But it wasn't just the toxin, it was Jasper's enchantment that brought out the most sensitive memories.

Memories that hurt the Joker the most.

Scarecrow's toxins were unable to form such fake scenarios in someone's head –this was all Jasper and his enchantment.

"No… P-Please… Stopp…" He crawled to Jasper's leg, gaining just enough sense to notice the people around him. "M-Make it stop… Make it stoppp…"

Scenarios of his wife's death, delusions of his wife leaving him for his crime and seeing his son and wife being tortured and murdered in every way that he tortured his victims… broke Joker.

Even the most insane villain felt the pain when it came to his family.

"K-Kill m-me…" He begged, wanting to escape from the hell he was facing.

"Don't!" Batman said, "Don't kill him! He has already given up."

And truth be told, there was no way for Joker to make a return.

His insanity was turned into crippling depression and regret while his body had been crippled –torn mouth, missing arm and broken bones.

'But is it enough?' Jasper asked himself as he looked at the destroyed building and structures that he and Zatanna built with their heart.

'No…' He knew, 'It isn't enough.'

And so, he finally made up his mind.

"I won't kill him," Jasper smiled at the heroes, giving them a moment of relief.

Before taking it back with his next words.

"But he will."

Saying this, he made a gun that was lying in a corner drop near Joker. 

"Your misery, you can end it all."

Joker stared at the gun for a few seconds as he gulped thickly. 

"Joker don't!" The heroes yelled, but it was already too late.

Jasper created a barrier that wasn't breakable with brute strength alone, which prevented the heroes from coming near.

Dragging his broken body to the gun, Joker shakingly grabbed the gun. 

The memories didn't stop and continued to haunt him, making him lose sense of reality.

He looked at the people around – the unconscious Gordon, his sidekick Harley, his archnemesis Batman, the hero of hope Superman and the most terrifying man that he had ever met.

"W-What is your name…"

He finally asked, He had heard Harley take his name but never did he pay any attention to it.

"Jasper Hughes."

But this time, he did –He bore the name in his mind.

With a fearful smile on his face, he picked up the gun with his remaining hand.

He turned to smile at Batman before turning to Jasper.

"D-Do you know what the r-reaper said to me?" Joker asked.

Jasper raised an eyebrow, but didn't follow his joke.

"Peek-a-boo."

And with that, a gunshot fired.

Leaving nothing but the shouts of the heroes and the corpse of the Joker.

Ending a never ending tale.

The tale of Joker.

The tale that ended with his last joke.

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