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The night had started out like any other one of their nocturnal encounters generally did:A fervent chase across rooftops followed by a heated exchange of kicks and punches, usually accompanied by the clown's shrieking laughter.
They knew this dance by heart now; The Joker and his faithful Bat, locked in an epic battle of wills until the end of time itself.There could be no winner to this game they were playing because, just like the prince of crime had told him once,
there could be no Joker without Batman, nor a Batman without the Joker. They completed each other, like two sides of the same rotten coin.Luckily for the Bat, though, their confrontations typically ended in exactly the same way they did tonight: With one final punch to the clown's jaw, he went flying down."Come on, I'm bringing you back to Arkham", Batman growled, motioning for the Joker to get up.The latter made no effort to comply, choosing instead to stare up at him in quiet defiance with that unnerving smile only he could pull off."Oh Batsy, do we really have to go through all this again? It's such a tedious little routine we got ourselves into, don't you think? I wreck myself some fun, you beat me back to the nut house and before the night's
even over I just end up right out on the streets again. You of all people should know how toxic routine can be for a relationship, hehe. You know what life really is about, Bats? CHANGE!
But you seem to just wanna stay the same. I mean, just imagine what a long way you could go with some personal growth and acceptance! You could have such POTENTIAL!",the Joker finished with a loud chuckle, his face suddenly lighting up as if he just had one of the most brilliant ideas there was, which in his case couldn't possibly be a good sign."I'll tell you what Batsy-O: If you let me off the hook this time, I promise that I won't cause any, let's say, permanent damage to our beloved Gotham."Having witnessed first-hand with what ease and ingenuity the clown carved up people and blew up buildings, his resourcefulness not lacking its gruesomeness these days, the idea didn't even cross
the Bat's mind. "Tempting, but no. You're going straight back to Arkham. And this time I'll make sure you stay there."The clown didn't seem disappointed by the Bat's refusal, merely staring at him with an expression of mock humour."Tst, tst, tst, sweet, but untrue", he commented."I'll be out before you know it.""We'll see about that," said Bruce before prompting him again. "Now get up."The clown's smile widened mischievously."Make me."Bruce wasn't particularly in the mood for the Joker's antics, not that he ever was, mind you, grabbing the clown by his collar and slamming him into the nearest wall."Gosh, what's up with you being so rough tonight, Batsy? Most girls aren't really into that kinda stuff, but I'll let you in on a little secret of mine."
Ever so slightly he leaned forward way past Bruce's personal space, conspicuously looking left to right, as if to make sure the nonexistant onlookers weren't listening."I love it when you play rough", he teased, falling into yet another fit of cackling laughter.Meanwhile, Bruce was shaking with barely contained rage, violently pushing the Jester away from him,
sending him tumbling to the ground a few feet away."Ouch! Way to hurt a girl's feelings", he smirked up at his Bat while brushing imaginary dust off his coat."That's enough!" Bruce ordered, pulling a pair of handcuffs from his suit and motioning for the Joker to get up. "Fiiiiiine", the clown, now back on his feet, sighted in mock exasperation, apparently having resigned himself to his destination for the night, stretching out his arms for the Bat to cuff him.Something which was considerably odd.If there had ever been anything remotely consistent about the Joker's behavior, it was his inconsistency in every single aspect of his existence with special regard to his seemingly interchangeable moods.Nevertheless, the walk back to the Batmobile was spent in relatively uneventful silence.When they reached the car, Bruce opened the passenger door for the Joker to get in, the latter complying without a single complaint and without putting up
a fight like he normally would out of pure spite when the Bat would handcuff him to the sideboard.As soon as Bruce himself got in the car he took off down the road to the asylum, regularly casting sideways glances at his temporary passenger,
still trying to figure out what he could be and most certainly was up to.For now, at least, the clown had contented himself with looking out the side window at nothing in particular,occasionally breaking the tense silence by humming a few notes of a song he might as well have made up on the spot
before falling back into complete vocal and physical stillness.That's why Bruce nearly jumped when he finally did speak up."Isn't it funny-""No." The Bat interrupted almost automatically, although if the Joker heard him he gave no indication of it, simply picking up where he left off."- how one bad day, well, night actually, set this whole party, our party, in motion and brought us together, night after night after night?
You with your lovely but misplaced sense of righteousness and me, ever the selfless entertainer. I gotta admit, people do enjoy a good show."By the time he was done, the usual smile had retaken its place on the villain's face.
Bruce knew which night the clown was referring to, but tonight he had no intention of reminiscing about the past, preferring to focus on his growing frustration."Does this conversation have a point or is this simply an exposition on the point of view of a rambling madman?"At that, the Joker's face surprisingly lit up."And he's got FIRE! I like that about you Bats, you should try that more often. You know, you could really learn a thing or two from madness, since you're constantly rubbing yourself so close to it.
Wasn't it one of those pesky little writers that said "I have found both freedom and safety in my madness;
the freedom of loneliness and the safety from being understood, for those who understand us enslave something in us"?Hehe, anyway, back to your question. Now that you mention it, I did in fact have a POINT, somewhere somethere.."And with one quick motion the clown freed himself from the cuffs he most likely undid a while ago, pulling a knife out of hismany coat pockets and aiming straight for Bruce's chest, laughing hysterically.Luckily for Bruce, though, he had the reflex to successfully block the majority of the blows the clown was sending his way, only managing to get nipped a few times here and there.Nothing a needle and some thread couldn't fix.The clown, on the other hand...Stopping the Batmobile, he turned in his seat and, with one strong punch to the Joker's face, knocked him straight out.
Confiscating the knife and making sure he was definitely restrained this time around, Bruce started the car again and headed back down the same road he had already taken many times before.To be honest, he never really liked this whole process of locking somebody up and leaving them in Arkham to rot, and now that the Joker was temporarily incapacitated he had some time to think about why that was.Through all these years, he never really questioned himself over why the Joker was the way he was. Sure, he was aware of his infamous transformation into the Clown Prince of Crime on that fateful night at Ace Chemicals, but it never truly crossed his mind to look into the moments that led up to it.
The same going for every criminal he had ever fought and eventually locked up.He just made sure that they were stopped and either sent to Blackgate or Arkham.In fact, it was so much easier to think of the world as either black or white, to believe that the clown and the likes of him were already born inherently cruel and madly evil, than it would be if it was really that bad day the Joker had mentioned earlier,
that bad day that could truly happen to anyone, that had driven them all down the path of insanity. And if so, could that day be avoided?He was pulled out of his thoughts by a small sigh escaping the Joker's lips, but it seemed like he was otherwise still far from regaining consciousness.He will have to talk to Arkham staff to make sure they reinforce their security measures.