Rising with the Laughs

By Michael Weyer

This hit me as I watching the last movie and even though the horrible tragedy in Colorado shifted some of my drive for it, still wanted to get it out. All comments welcomed.

He didn't know what hurt more: The pain in his side or his heart. No, his heart, that was it.

He'd opened up to her, trusted her, she'd been the first woman he'd…been with in a decade…and all this time, Miranda had betrayed him. No, not Miranda. Talia. The Demon's Daughter. How could he not have seen it? The clues had been there, the scar on her back, the talk of her past, the eagerness to see the reactor. All there but he couldn't put them together. And now it was costing everyone.

That face loomed over him, the beauty transformed to a cold and icy shell. Her eyes, how could he not have seen her father's eyes? Or that wicked turn of the lips as she gazed down at him, any feeling of love gone, replaced by cold certainty. "It does not matter the signal is gone." She threw the detonator away. "In fifteen minutes, it is over. The bomb will detonate and this wretched city will be cleansed from the Earth."

Bane tightened the rope around Batman's neck, causing him to gasp but he was still reeling more from Talia's words than anything Bane had done. Talia was rising up, her smile growing. "All that fighting. All your struggles to escape from that hell and yet you only find yourself in a new one. And twelve million will burn with you."

"Now, see, I have a problem with that."

All three whirled their heads around at the sound of the high voice. A figure slowly moved out of the shadows, thin and lithe, clad in a rumpled purple suit with a long coat to match. His gait was odd, as if refusing to follow a straight line, a gloved hand brushing back the straggly green hair. His face was covered in white paint except for the red lips, which were scared into a permanent grin. And then there were the eyes, pools of a madness no human being could match.

"You?" the Dark Knight gasped.

"Hiya, Batsy. Been a while." The Joker still appeared the same as the last time Batman had seen him, no signs of aging or of spending years locked away. Bruce had made sure to check on him regularly even during his retirement but it appeared Arkham Asylum had done a good job holding the Joker. Which made his arrival here more surprising.

"How…did you get out?" he grunted.

That familiar laughter filled the room. "Bats, I could have gotten out five minutes after they put me in there. I just took a break for a bit, recharge the batteries and all that." The smile frowned a bit. "But then you decided to just hang it all up. Come on, Bats, I thought we had something special. I go cause havoc and murder, you chase me but one go-around and you refused to play anymore?" He shook his head. "I was so crushed, needed therapy to get over it."

Talia was rising to her feet, glaring at the newcomer. "I have no time for clowns."

"Aw, honey, why so serious?" The Joker giggled. "Sorry, I haven't been able to ask that for a while. Come on, you're about to kill millions of people, that always puts a smile on the face!"

Bane growled and the Joker frowned at him. "You should get a lozenge." He glanced back at Batman. "Oh and by the way, you really didn't see this coming? Handing her total control of a mini-nuclear weapon, she's been kept at Bane's side and you never asked if she had an ulterior motive? Great detective, my ass."

He didn't seem to care about the knife Talia was holding tight in her hands, the point aimed at him. "Look, I get it. You want to blow up the city and all, okay, I understand that. But this is where we have issues and not just because of the fact I made my way onto this island." He glanced at Bane. "Oh and you do not even want to know how tough that was." He returned his gaze to Talia. "No, I have issues you are wrecking a perfectly wonderful playground."

Talia grit her teeth. "I have planned this moment…"

"And now we have the crux of things," the Joker responded, absently leaning on a desk. "I hate plans. Always have. Plans and schemes and all of it. What fun is that, to waste time planning? Just let things happen naturally, you know? That's what life is, lady, chaos, random and unfair. That's the joke of it all, the great, grand joke. Why do think I kept quiet that it was Harvey Dent who committed those murders? Because I got the humor of it, Batsy here made the outlaw and the monster made a hero." He shook his head. "That's why I have problems with this whole holocaust deal."

"I am fulfilling my father's ambition."

"Ah, Daddy issues." The Joker nodded. "I know that song. My own daddy could be demanding, always questioning and screaming, always wanting me to stop drowning kittens and cutting my sister's hair off. But he taught me a lot, I just didn't understand it until years after I murdered him. But that's the thing, caught in plans and not realizing you just gotta go with the flow." He spread out his hands as he walked forward. "Why do this? Why wipe out Gotham after turning it upside down? You made the downtrodden an army to smash down the rich and powerful, made the decent folk cowardly, locked away the police force, showed the darkness in other people and how they can turn to savages, I respect that." He narrowed his eyes. "But you don't wipe out the game board when there's so many pieces left, dearie. You keep it up to play again and again."

"This is not a game," she snapped.

"Honey, all life is a game. A joke of a game." A gloved hand waved at Bane. "Look at this. The monster who's kept Gotham in terror actually a lovesick puppy dog? Now that's funny." He kept moving closer. "That's what this is about, honey, the joke. It's why I came here, to note the big joke to show the uptight like Bats here how the game is played." The grin increased. "And what's a better joke than the mad killer being the one who saves the city?"

Talia snorted. "I escaped hell on Earth. I was trained by the most ruthless killers the planet has ever known. I fooled a master of detection. You believe a mere clown like you can defeat me?"

The inhuman grin widened. "Um, that's the point. It's all about…the punch line."

With the speed of a cobra, the Joker lunged forward, placing his hand into Talia's. She was taken aback by the sudden move and felt something pressed into her palm. Then the agony filled her as electricity blasted into her body. She screamed out as her hair began to stand on end, jerking and withering in the Joker's grasp. Both Bane and Batman were united in yelling out "NO!" but the Joker's laughter was loud as he kept the deadly handshake up, Miranda electrocuted in seconds. He let her go, her body slumping to the ground, her eyes open, smoke rising from her body, her face frozen in utter surprise.

The Joker blew off the device in his hand. "Eight years gives you time to come up with new stuff. Wait'll you see my new lapels."

Bane let out a howl of sheer outrage as he let Batman go and charged at the Joker, all reason gone. The Joker was backing up when the glass doors of the building smashed inward and a vehicle drove in, a blast erupting from its front. It struck Bane full-on, sending him flying to the other side of the room in a bloody heap. Rising from the seat, Selina Kyle slid the goggles back on her black hair, stretching her lithe latex-clad body. "You know this whole no-guns policy of yours?" she asked. "I'm reconsidering it."

"Hellllll-o nurse!" the Joker grinned. He looked at her outfit, then at Batman, then laughed. "Oh…oh, I get it now! Batman…" He threw his hands out to Selina. "And Catwoman! Oh, that is so adorable!"

"Catwoman?" Selina sniffed. "Oh, please, I…" She paused and cocked her head. "Huh. That's actually not bad…"

Batman was on his feet and moving to the Joker with a hard gaze. "You murdered her!"

The Joker threw out his arms as he backed up. "She's about to nuke this city and I'm the bad guy for killing her? And they call me crazy." As he saw Batman moving closer, the Joker let out a tired sigh and opened his coat to reveal a vest of explosives strapped to his chest. "Now, let's not blow our tops, ok?" Batman paused as the Joker kept backing up. "Now, you can chase me or stop the big bomb and we both know how this ends up, right?" He laughed at the look on Batman's face. "And there we have it! Oh, Bats, I so missed this!" He moved to the back of the room and the hallway behind him. ""So, be seeing you soon."

Batman glared at him before moving to the door. Selina frowned as she looked at him. "You have the most interesting friends."

"Follow me," he growled. "We have to get to that truck."

"Make sure you let me know where you're registered!" The Joker called out. He chuckled as he walked down the hallway. "Cute couple, can't wait to chop her head off."

Wayne Manor hadn't changed too much, Alfred was happy to see. Coming back hadn't been as hard a decision as he'd thought it would be. Despite all his talk, he was bonded to this place and its legacy. He knew Bruce Wayne needed him and he needed Bruce as well. So coming back wasn't a major issue. There was no tearful reunion, no hugs or anything, just a simple nod and "you're late" before Alfred was back at work. That included answering the door to see Detective John Blake standing on the steps. "Ah, come in, sir."

Blake nodded as he entered. "So you came back?"

"I left him before and look at the mess it created," Alfred dryly replied.

Blake hid a smile as he followed Alfred into the main living room where Bruce sat, going over various newspapers. Blake looked around. "Just you here?"

"Selina had some…business to take care of," Bruce carefully said.

"Diamonds or rubies?"

Alfred smiled. He liked this young man.

Bruce looked at Blake. "Are you here as a cop?"

Blake shook his head. "I quit. I was on the bridge when you were reattaching the bomb to the chamber. The way the cops stood there and were going to let us all die…" He shook his head. "I couldn't do it anymore. I wanted to fight for justice but…the rules just hamstring us too much."

Bruce nodded. "I know. It's why I chose my path." He made a motion to the papers. "Guess it slipped by but we tracked down some evidence of what Daggett did faking my deals. With the chaos around, it'll be slow but I should be getting most of my fortune back."

"Well, looks like the haves of Gotham are going to be a bit quieter," Blake noted.

Bruce rose and moved to the younger man. "I wanted to tell you first. One of the chief items of business once Wayne Enterprises is settled is to double our old funding to that orphanage and others like it."

"Thanks."

"No," Bruce said. "Thank you. You helped when few did, you fought back. You've got drive, John."

"Robin."

Bruce blinked. "What?"

John shrugged. "My real first name is Robin. Dropped it when I enrolled in the Academy, thought it sounded…well, not that tough a name."

"Robin." Bruce paused and smiled. "I like it." He studied Blake carefully. "So…maybe you'd be open to an offer I'm considering making."

Blake raised an eyebrow. "What kind?"

The sly smile on Bruce's face made Alfred feel more at home than ever.

He'd tried to quit. He really had. Jim Gordon had tendered his resignation as soon as the new mayor was installed, figuring that he was just saving time before he was fired. After all, who would want to keep the man whose lie had made a hero out of a killer and helped lead Gotham into chaos?

As it turned out, virtually every cop in Gotham had made it clear that if Gordon went, so did they. It was heart-warming to Gordon to know they still respected him and understood what he had done. So he was back at his job, helping get Gotham back into shape. It was hard given the endless appeals now that the Dent Act was repealed, added to by a few thousand arrests and then the rich folk who had been cast out of their homes demanding to be treated well first. But it was the job, something Gordon could never give up and that led him to the rooftop this evening.

"You fixed the sign." Gordon smiled as he looked to the darkness where Batman stood.

"I thought it'd be a good step to reassuring the public," Gordon said as he looked at the bat-shaped oval in the sky. "How's it feel to be the adored hero? They're talking about giving you a statue."

"Tell them to save it," the Dark Knight replied. "Is it Joker?"

Gordon shook his head. "No, he's been keeping quiet so far. We do have a lead on how he got out as a shrink at Arkham disappeared at the same time. I've got an APB out on her now." He moved to his coat. "No, I called because we've had a series of thefts at the Gotham museum. Thought it was that Cat character but she doesn't strike me as the type to leave this behind."

He handed a note in a plastic envelope to Batman, who scanned it quickly. Made of green newspaper clippings, it was a simple rhyme. "White when dirty, black when clean, comes in many colors but most famous green."

"Yeah, a bit weird," Gordon said.

"A chalkboard," Batman remarked.

Gordon blinked before nodding. "Right. Why he left some riddle, I don't know but I'm betting there will be more to come."

Batman took the note. "I'll start checking into it."

Gordon looked at him. "You sure you can do this? It's been a while and the city's still wild. You really think you can handle it alone?"

"I'm not alone." The Batman gazed to the side and a figure slipped down from a ledge to join them. He was clad in a dark costume, navy blue with streaks across the arms and chest. A symbol much like a bat but with wider wings covered his chest area. His head was bare to show short dark hair and a mask covering his eyes and nose. Gordon could see who it was. He was a cop after all and a damn good one. But he held back that knowledge from his face as he studied the newcomer. "And who are you supposed to be."

The younger man glanced at Batman and at the reassuring nod, spoke in a low but proud voice. "Nightwing."

Gordon looked at Batman. "Should I be expecting more recruits soon?"

"I'll let you know."

Gordon stared before rolling his eyes and moving back to the signal. "I'm not even going to bother to ask if you're serious. As long as you don't get in the way too much-" He turned to see the rooftop now bare and grunted. "Great. The kid does it too."

He decided to leave the signal up as he sat on the edge of the roof to open up his files. Somehow, he knew that a new duo was about to take a fight to Gotham to help the city rebuild and somehow knew that together they would all rise a bit higher.