Batman Fanfic

[Jacob Williams]

Here is another one of my English assignments that I wanted to share with you guys. I hope another spambot doesn't show up after I post this. Anyway, this is a Batman fanfic that takes place right after the events in The Dark Knight. The first and last pages were drawn out by my wife. I hope you guys enjoy this, and please post any and all feedback (if you hate it then please don't be afraid to say so!

“All units in the vicinity, all units able to respond, two forty five in progress at Arkham. Suspect is a white male approximately twenty five years of age, five feet eleven inches, and one hundred eighty five pounds. Suspect is also wearing white face paint. All units are advised, suspect is considered armed and dangerous.”

Batman, after days of rigorous detective work, had finally tracked down the Joker hiding in the abandoned amusement park on Gotham’s northern outskirts. Until today, the case had been growing cold, but true to his style the Joker, through the media, broadcasted one of his terror tapes. This tape featured an innocent girl duct taped to a carousel horse reading queue cards.
The Joker was ready for the second round in the fight for Gotham’s soul, and it was probably inaccurate to say he was in hiding. Most likely he was waiting in ambush. Batman had already guessed as much; the Joker was crazy, but he wasn’t stupid. Everything he did was always well thought out right down to the most meticulous detail. So, it was no coincidence that the tape showed the carousel horse of the old Gotham amusement park.
This particular ride was one of a kind in the city, probably one of a kind in the world. Its construction was heavily influenced by Victorian architecture, much like a lot of things in Gotham. Every wooden horse and bench on the carousel was hand carved by the original owners of the theme park. Bruce remembered riding it as a little boy, but sadly he had forgotten. Had it not been for the fact that Wayne Enterprises just recently purchased the carousel to refurbish and donate to charity then he probably wouldn’t have recognized it on the tape.
Batman now laid flat on an old rickety roof on top of an abandoned ticket booth. From his vantage point, he could clearly see the carousel. All of its lights were lit, and its looped carnival music was playing over the PA. The music was so loud that it nearly drowned out the noise of the electrical generator.
He could also see the young woman who had been abducted. She looked unconscious. In all likelihood, she was probably dead. Bruce wanted to run to her, but Batman knew the situation had to be analyzed before anyone could be the hero.
There were no guards to be seen. Also, the Joker himself was nowhere to be found. However, Batman could see strands of hand grenades hung from the carousel poles where riders normally grab the brass rings. He didn’t know whether they were rigged to blow when someone stepped on the ride or if they were on a timer. At this distance, fine details like that were impossible to see, but either way, it was definitely a trap. Employing his best stealth skills, the dark knight moved with grace through the shadows on his approach towards the carousel. As he advanced, the humidity levels in the air began to rise, and off in the distance, rolling thunder could be heard. The approaching storm was surely the outward manifestation of the coming battle between the two rivals.
Batman thought about the possibilities of the Joker’s plan. Most likely, he was far away, perhaps at the pinnacle of the roller coaster, a hundred and fifty yards away to the south, with a pair of binoculars and remote detonator. Or, maybe he just had a sniper rifle, and the grenades and hostage were to draw him out. Batman’s first thought was to disable the generator, but if his initial thoughts were correct, then the Joker would know the perfect time to detonate the grenades. The explosives had to be examined first. Once those were disarmed, he could work on freeing the girl.
Fortunately, a large Ferris wheel cast a shadow on one side of the carousel. From the shadows, Batman could tell that the grenades weren’t wired to a timer, pressure plate, or remote control. However, all the grenades in the strand were rigged to the rings in the brass ring dispenser of the carousel. If it were to be pulled, then all of them would explode. The strings were cut as precautionary measure.
Now that he felt it was safe, Batman came out of the shadows and onto the ride. The sniper scenario was still possible, but it wasn’t Joker’s style. That gave the caped crusader some comfort. He quietly made haste to the hostage. His cat-like moves didn’t result in any creaking from the rusted metal below his feet.
The girl’s head leaned lifelessly forward, allowing her long black hair to veil her face. Dried rust brown blood coated her pink sweater and jeans. After pulling her head back, the dark knight’s worst fears were confirmed: she was dead. It was obvious that the murder weapon was a small blade. Her mouth was cut at both corners from the lips to the base of the jaws. Those cuts were not the mortal wounds though. It was the huge gash on her throat that killed her.
Bruce’s heart become so heavy with grief that if felt like it was going to sink to the bottom of his stomach. His mind became flooded with and rage. These strong emotions began altering his perception of time, allowing seconds to seem like minutes. This temporal numbing affected his reaction time as well.
A muffled blast came from behind the mirrors in the center of the carousel. Batman, in his state confusion, could only move his head towards the sound. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion, but he couldn’t react to his environment. The mirror slowly spider webbed from a random point. Each vein of the web shot out from the center in multiple directions. In their wake, glass shards leaped from the epicenter of the pattern. Something else was also emerging from the web. He couldn’t make it out because of the object’s high velocity, so his eyes relaxed; allowing him to see what was behind the shattered mirror. Standing behind it was the Joker with a pump action shotgun. The sight of this caused a massive amount of adrenaline to be pumped into Batman’s system. His eyes refocused on the object bound for his face, but it was too late. The beanbag round hit him right between the eyes.
The dark knight was instantly knocked to the ground. Disoriented, he couldn’t see the Joker approaching. Moreover, his brain was being overloaded by hideous laughter on top of deafeningly loud music. As the Joker approached, he fired multiple rounds into Batman’s chest. The Kevlar material along with the trauma plates of the bat-suit absorbed most of the impact. The Joker now stood over him with the butt of the shotgun poised to be used as a bludgeoning weapon. Batman’s quick thinking allowed him to use a sweeping kick to bring the Joker to the floor. The Joker was easily taken off balance and slammed against the metal floor of the carousel.
The caped crusader picked himself up while wiping the blood from his nose. He then bent over and grabbed the Joker by his long green hair and drove his face into one of the solid oak horses. The clown’s body went a little limp. Surely, he was close to unconsciousness, so the dark knight hurled him to the side. However, the Joker’s feign was well played, and he recovered quickly and ran to closest ring dispenser. Batman tried to intercept but was too slow. The Joker pulled the brass ring and dived for cover. There was nothing the dark knight could do, so he tossed up his cape to shield himself from the oncoming blast. A second later, the strand of grenades exploded, sending jagged metal fragments in every direction. Several pieces of shrapnel tore right through the black cape. Luckily, only a few managed to penetrate the body armor. Luckier still, Batman had so much adrenaline in system that he couldn’t feel them.
The Joker picked himself off the floor. His head was gushing blood from where he had hit the wooden horse. A few pieces of shrapnel managed to find their way into him as well. He tried wiping the blood out of his eyes quickly, and when his vision cleared up, he sight was filled with an incoming black fist. Batman punched him several times with full strength. The Joker fell to one knee and tried to swing back. The caped crusader knew that the Joker couldn’t adequately fight back, but after being fooled by the first feign tactic, he wasn’t taking any chances. After a couple of more solid hooks, the dark knight threw the Joker out into the dirt.
The clown tried to stand up but immediately collapsed again. He started making noises under his breath that were impossible to hear over the carnival music. It began to sprinkle. Refreshed by the precipitation, the Joker was able to sit up in the mud. As the rain came down harder; the only thing he could do was laugh. Batman began to approach him.
“You wouldn’t kick a man when he’s down now, would you?” the Joker said as he pulled a shiny revolver from his purple overcoat. He then hesitated slightly so that his weak fingers could pull back the hammer. This brief instant allowed Batman to charge him. He grabbed the pistol with his left hand and nailed the Joker with another right hook. The pistol easily came loose.
“Do you want to know what I did to her before she died?” the Joker asked in a calm voice. “We had so much fun, if you know what I mean. Well, I had fun anyway.” he replied with a voice full of laughter. Batman’s response was putting the pistol in the Joker’s face. “Oh, you’re finally going to do it, huh?”
There came a long pause. Bruce truly wanted to pull the trigger. Madmen like the Joker couldn’t be allowed to terrorize Gotham anymore. He had tried his way, but perhaps Ra's al Ghul was right all along. Perhaps Bruce lacked what was necessary to defeat evil. But, something else was eating at the back of his mind. Strangely enough, it was a memory from his college years. He recalled a lecture from his philosophy class where the professor said a human being could only kill another person once that person’s humanity had been stripped away.
It was easy to dehumanize the Joker. He was a sociopathic killer who viewed other people’s lives as tools to be used at his discretion. But, Bruce couldn’t help but think that maybe the Joker’s parents were still alive, and that they loved their son no matter what he’d done. Perhaps he even had a wife who was waiting for him to come home. Maybe, he even had a son of his own. In this moment of revelation, Bruce knew he couldn’t pull the trigger. How could he possible make another boy go through the same thing he went through as a child? For all of the Joker’s flaws, he was still human. Neither Bruce nor Batman could strip away anyone of their humanity.
“What’s wrong, are you scared?” the Joker asked as he leaned forward and wrapped his mouth around the barrel. His eyes then suddenly widened like a reverse wink daring Bruce to pull the trigger.
Batman replied by jerking the gun out of the Joker’s mouth and pistol whipping him with it. He then threw the gun down so that he could reach for his zip ties. With all deliberate speed the Joker grabbed the pistol and pulled the trigger. Batman tensed up regretting his rookie mistake only to be surprised by the sight of a little red flag at the end of a stick in the barrel of the pistol that read bang.