Chapter 5

His Very Last Secret

Nightwing woke up to find that he had slept through the entire day and most of the night. It was almost daybreak. Slowly he got out of the familiar bed, stretching and walking about the room. It felt so much better to have slept for almost 14 hours. Alfred would be asleep in his quarters now, he could just quickly slip away. He got out of the room, walking toward the study. He needed a new suit after the blast.

The study was enormous. Hundreds of books stacked on every wall, and there were additional slots again, every few feet in the room. A large piano stood at the very centre, it was a masterpiece. Too bad nobody ever used it, except to get into the Batcave. He played the high C note twice, and then the low note causing the door to the Batcave to slide open. It wasn't a door as much as part of a book shelf at the North east corner, which moved outward like a door. He slid through it, climbing down the slippery stairs and jumping over the last few. The Batcave seemed different now, almost hostile. It had been years since he had taken this route to reach it, and the path seemed rather eerie.

He stepped into the first landing, the Costume Room, he chuckled. Batman always hated that name. It made sense though, as this partition held almost all the outfits that Batman had used, and Jason's old Robin costume. He would have just walked past everything without a care, given his way. But, Bruce's rumored death had really changed a lot of things. Alfred and Selina had advised him to step in as Bruce's successor to the Bat family. In other words, they wanted him to be the Batman. He had refused blatantly, but the thought had lingered, causing a number of sleepless nights. He allowed himself one glance at the Bat costumes, after all Bruce would be back soon and he would be out of here by then.

He stopped, mid-step. Everything was the same, every costume was in its place and everything seemed normal, except for the very last case. This case was supposed to have held the current costume worn by Batman, instead he found it held something else. The Joker's suit. He recognised the familiar shade of green and the purple lining in the jacket. The teal middle piece was stained in blood, and the brown shoes seemed badly torn. A little above the jacket, right where someone's mouth would be, a dark red smile glared at him on the glass casing. He narrowed his eyes and moved to examine the suit. The red paint indicated that it had been there for a while now, more than a couple of days. So Joker was indeed back. A loud noise like that of a ricocheting bullet came from somewhere below. Nightwing ran to the source of that noise, someone was in the Batcave.

He barely made it to Batman's real study when he saw Alfred cleaning up a mess on the steel floor. He breathed a sign of relief.

"Alfred, there has been a breach. Did you see - ?" he began, as Alfred turned around. Nightwing gasped. Alfred's face was disproportionate, with his eyes bulging out, giving him an insane look of someone being strangled to death. His eyes had a green in them like the red lines that appeared in someone's eyes when they suffered from lack of sleep, and his teeth were bared in a smile. A thin red line seemed to be drawn along the edges of his face where it was sliced with a knife.

"Master would be arriving any moment," said Alfred, in his usual curt voice.

"Alfred, are you – can you – do you know what is going on?," said Nightwing.

"Of course, Master Grayson. How's your head? I knocked you out for a very long time. Master said he needed you. He will be arriving shortly"

"Master? You mean Bruce? But your face ... Alfred," he said, shaking the Butler vehemently, trying to bring him to his senses.

"Master Batman is on his way. You must stay ... Heh," said Alfred. He held Nightwing's hands around his shoulders and stiffly pushed them away with a force that hardly compared to an old man's.

Dick staggered backwards, into the offline controls of the Batmobile. He tilted his head to peak at the beast vehicle, and was shocked to notice that it was missing. The indicator on the offline monitor showed that the Bat was moving towards the cave from a distance. Alfred stood there, unaware of his surroundings. It was the Joker's poison, Nightwing registered. Green was evidently Joker's color. He knew who was driving the Batmobile at rocket speed towards them now. Surely, Batman would be more careful. He punched the red, round, buzzer button, closing the entrance to the Batcave immediately. There was a ground-breaking thud as the Joker somehow swerved the vehicle to get inside anyway. The noise of the falling water died out, making the Bat's sound more pronounced than ever. As the Bat landed, the cave went completely quiet.

Dick moved to the other end of the room, picking up his charged sticks. He ducked behind the counter, waiting for the maniac to come out. The Bat's door burst open. He peeked around the edge of the counter to see what was happening.

Damian stepped out. His neck wrapped in a steel chain. His tongue was out like a dog's, and his teeth were pointy with each one of them cut out to precisely fit the toothy smile. The red lines extended all the way to his ears, and his costume was the same as ever.

"Haarrrrr ...," said Damian.

"Ooo Nightwing is here! Good sniffing out boy," said the Joker, stepping out. His Bat costume was evil, with chains stretching out in many different directions. The eyes had thick steel bars coming out of them and his head was covered in metal, with two pointy ears raised around it. Just like Batman's. Within a flash, Nightwing understood. That wasn't the Batman he had seen the other day. It wasn't Batman's return the media was reporting. Selina hadn't decided to stay because of Bruce's return. Bruce was gone, dead. The Joker was back ... as Batman. This was the last straw.

Nightwing lunged. He had nothing to hold back. Alfred turned to look at him, with the mad laugh still in place. Nightwing knocked him out first, without thinking. Damian then moved in front of the Batman, taking a defensive stance. Before he could make a move, Robin stopped him, mid air. The Joker moved around, whistling casually as he picked up pieces of hardware from the Batcave. The chain from his robes extended smoothly as Robin moved instinctively to cover his master, with Nightwing trying to close the gap between them. He rolled over the Bat manual controls, slipping horizontally on the steel frame of the landing. The Joker was feet away when Robin came out of nowhere, knocking the breath out of Nightwing. Nightwing doubled up, leaping up with nothing for support, this was his one trick, extended jumps – the ability to stay airborne longer than most vigilantes hoped for.

"Haaarrrr ... ," said Robin again, losing his momentum.

Nightwing unsheathed his sticks, going for the Joker's head. Robin was up in the air again, having leaped up from the ground. The chain from the Joker's robe extended infinitely, without a hitch or a break.

"Hmmm? Yes ... he does seem to be coming for me .. haheha," said the Joker, dropping the things he was carrying.

Nightwing stretched his right hand, ready to lash at the Joker. He was two feet away now ... seventeen inches ... a little more ... less than quarter of a second now ... and then the Joker disappeared. Nightwing crashed into the table, the things dropped by the Joker falling into a heap around him. His head hit something hard, the pain intensifying with time. Joker's laugh echoed all around the Batcave.

Robin hadn't moved. The chain around his neck seemed to stretch on forever. It was now so complexly wound around the clearing that following the other end of it to the Joker seemed arduous. He struggled to his feet, despite the pain. Joker was in no hurry to kill him, he thought, for the mad clown was nowhere to be seen. Robin stood there, immobile with his mouth wide open, smiling at him. There was a reverence in his look, like he was looking at a God. Behind, he thought quietly.

He spun around, shielding his chest with both his sticks forming an X. The four knives entered his abdomen despite the defensive position. He stumbled, backing up several steps and almost colliding with Robin, who remained stuck to the same place. The Joker tasted his blood off his nails, his smile widening.

"Haha, that was fun. You almost had me! Hehe ... now now Damian, show a little respect. Dick was you at one point," said Joker. "And he will be again."

His vision blurred, and his lungs were ruptured. The Joker had his back on him now, walking slowly toward the large screen at the center of the other edge. The loss of Damian and Alfred stung harder too, combined with the disappointment of finding out that Bruce was dead. Joker was the Batman, and Batman was the Joker. Evil combined with Strength – there was no stopping this force. He felt his breath fading, each one causing more pain than the previous. Robin moved then, and his walk was comparable to a zombie's. His hands hung limply in front of him, his legs moving sideways one after another. He dragged Nightwing by his hair, walking back to the Joker in the same staggering movement.

"Damian ...," moaned Nightwing. Robin didn't seem to hear him. "Damian ... please ..."

Robin dumped him by the Joker, walking back to the Bat mobile. He began working on the broken right wing. They did not seem to have any trouble communicating without using words.

"Haha .. surprised? Wouldn't you rather join me, Nightwing? Oopsie! I made it sound like you had a choice .. Bleh heh. I am what Batman was supposed to be. A power more fierce and terrible than everything else combined. You will serve me, willingly or otherwise."

Nightwing had to admire the casual tone of the Joker-Bat. The restraint he had learnt was insurmountable. The Joker was a maniac. Batman was ... well, Batman. And this was the worst of both. The world would fall apart under this new regime of Ordered Chaos. The Joker's movement was different, more ... structured. He moved fluidly around, his hands loose on his sides with nails that could pierce even the thickest of Bisons. The armour was all dark. Different shades, more artsy but the iron plating was hard to miss from up close. Three layers of the magnum opus of the future would be enough to even stop a canon from getting through, even if his rapid movement could not save him. The chains seemed to emerge from the mad man's body, there were many of them, all seemingly pointed outward. This was not the Joker of the old days.

And he had no eyes. The thought returned to him. No eyes yet Joker moved graciously, without skipping a beat. The screen flickered before changing to the bird eye view of the Justice League Watchtower. Nightwing watched in horror as the Joker flicked through the outputs of different cameras, various JL members appeared on the screen, their strengths, weaknesses, and loved ones all documented for Batman's eyes only.

"... so you see, my vision goes beyond Gotham," finished the Joker.

Batman walked back to Nightwing, the smile stretching slowly to his ears as he got closer. He put one long index finger into Nightwing's mouth and lifted him up. He turned the old sidekick's body around, shoving his other index finger into the mouth as well.

"The smile is mandatory," he whispered.

The right index nail cut through Nightwing's tongue, all the way through to his jaw, it then emerged out near his Adam's apple. The other nail made a hole in his upper mouth, joining it with the air vents of his nose. Suddenly, Nightwing understood what had happened with Damian. The clown pulled, and Nightwing heard his own jaw crack. All pain he was facing till then ceased, as the fresh one took over. His lips grew out into his cheeks, with muscle linings trying to hold on at first, then everything tore out, producing a surprisingly small amount of blood. He tried to bite, struggling in the Joker's hands but the only thing he was certain of was the taste of his own blood. He could feel his vocal cords screaming their loudest as their breaking point drew near, but none of it made it to his ears. He could only hear laughter. The cold, heartless laughter that he remembered from a long time ago. Perhaps when he was still alive. The track to his ears seemed to be joining in the protest too, struggling to hear anything that could possibly make some sense, but no one else was there. And no one was coming. Darkness consumed him, his thoughts losing the little sense they had left. He was staring at something dark, and then there was nothing at all.

He lost track of days, and nights. The Batcave remained dark and cold as ever. His senses returned after a while. It was impossible to be sure of things like time here. The daylight outside never made it so far in, but the lights remained, burning. Dick raised his head, slowly looking around the Batcave. His hands were tied above his head by a rope that bound him tightly allowing no movement. His legs barely grazed the ground, putting most of his weight on his toes. The pain was bearable, but the thing that annoyed him most was the lack of feeling in his face. He felt no pain at all, and that surprised him beyond anything.

He tried to move. Nothing happened. His legs screamed in protest when he tried to lift one off the ground. And then he felt it – a single line of metal inside him, stretching from his head to his abdomen within his body. The only part of it that was visible was from his jaw line to his upper chest, and then it disappeared again inside in his chest. He lifted both his legs slightly and swerved his entire body from left to right, and then right to left, and this worked. He moved his legs to the side together and now they moved, his movement had to be in coordination with the new Spinal cord. There was movement nearby. Damian came hopping in front of him, moving a long, thin, black board. He turned it over revealing a mirror. Nightwing looked at the man in the mirror and gasped.

He looked like Damian in every way. Their smiles matched, down to the very last tooth. His own tongue stretched out making faces at him from the mirror. Part of the steel cylinder was clearly visible in front of his neck and the ghost of his eyes made him forget everything he thought he knew about himself.

Nightwing tried to shout, no sound made it out. Or perhaps his ears no longer worked. The world seemed upside down, his other senses taking a front seat when he tried to figure out what had happened.

The Batcave shook as the Bat entered. The Joker leaped out even as the Bat parked itself in its usual place. He walked up to the screen and started pulling up various documents that were too far for Nightwing to catch. The chain, Nightwing observed, slowly wrapped itself around Damian as soon he was in its range. The Joker turned to look at him, and then smiled. He then continued to look at the screen, going through the information that Nightwing only dreamed was not something that could put his allies in jeopardy.

Joker began walking towards him then, his hands tied on his back, his tall figure moving ever so fluidly through the semi-darkness.

"The prodigal sidekick .. hehe .. ah but you look so handsome with the perfect smile on that face," said the Joker, running his finger nails on Nightwing's face creepily.

Nightwing struggled to move away, unsuccessfully. A different chain was now closing around his neck, making it harder to breathe. The stench of blood from Batman made it impossible to take anything else in, and his teeth still had traces of blood on their tips.

The chain tightened till the metal in front of his neck threatened to crush his oesophagus. His thoughts dimmed, like he was waking up from a very deep sleep. Liquid rushed up his throat, and he thought he would barf but, the liquid's presence vanished as soon as it had come. He felt tiny pebbles glued to the insides of his neck. The dizziness intensified and he started to forget. All pain disappeared, only to be replaced by absolute, dark silence. For a moment, he forgot who he was, then a voice took over, a powerful voice that seemed dull and foggy at first, and he clung to the words it spoke. A metallic voice that rung in his silence, lone and loud.

"So you hear me now. Yes, what you're thinking is perfectly accurate. This was what happened with Damian."

Nightwing didn't need to look at the horrifying face to realise who was speaking, although Joker's mouth did not seem to have moved. All other frequencies were dimmed out, except for that one voice. The chain around his neck vibrated infinitesimally, causing resonance in the metal rod inside of him. His free will flickered, and he thought desperately of breaking free, and the Joker laughed.

"Too late for that now. You're mine!"

"Harrrr ….," said Nightwing.