Joke's On Me [Batman/ DC Universe]

Chapter 2/3

The red light on his windshield began beeping, catching Batman's attention. He ignored it for now, the captive Deadshot was his priority. Batman slammed his foot on the breaks, swerving the vehicle to one side and skidding to a stop at the gates of the GCPD. He recalled the vault the police officers had built specifically for the villain in the backseat of his batmobile.

With a click of a button, the roof of the batmobile slid open and the caped-crusader himself leapt from the vehicle, feet digging into gravel. The back opened up and Deadshot's seat propelled itself forwards, dropping the villain onto the ground with a thud.

"Stand up." Batman's voice was low and held a heavy authority, one even the Deadshot was inclined to obey.

"Yeah, yeah. But I'll be out soon, you know that." He did as he was told, immediately keening forward, unable to withstand the pain of fractured bones and bruises dealt by the Dark Knight.

In silence, Batman escorted him to the gate, wound a thick metal wire around his body and left him tied to the metal bars. He knew Detective Gordon could take it from there.

Back in the Batmobile, he finally turned to the beeping. "Yes, Alfred?"

"Sir, good to hear from you. Have you escorted Deadshot to the GCPD?"

"It's taken care of," he replied to his butler, stretching his neck until he heard a crack, "I'm ready to turn in for the night."

"About that, the disturbance in Gotham's communications network still hasn't been repaired. I know we thought it was a temporary glitch, but one of this magnitude deserves your attention."

"What could it possibly be?" Batman leaned back in his seat, gears turning in his head.

"As per your request, I had Oracle look into it, but it seems she is having her own issues with her servers."

"With the networks down, there's no way to communicate with anyone outside of Gotham."

"Indeed. The public is already riled up by Joker's lobotomy; not being able to connect with the outside world is just another issue to throw Gotham into pandemonium."

The mention of Joker's name silenced Bruce. He had been the one to capture Joker again in the middle of one of his plots to tear Gotham apart. However, he had never expected that turning the villain in would lead to the lobotomy. It shouldn't bother him that his greatest nemesis had finally taken a permanent vacation, yet the mere mention of his name got under his skin. Whether he felt relieved that the Joker had been taken care of without having to be killed, or loss from having wiped the man he knew out of existence, he did not know. Nor did he want to.

"Batman? Bruce?"

"I'm here, Alfred."

"What will you do?"

"I'll talk to Gordon and see-"

"Oh dear! There's been an explosion at the Gotham City Hall! It seems TwoFace is behind the attack."

"I'm on my way." Batman stepped on the gas pedal and the vehicle drifted, scorching tire tracks into the dirt as it lunged forwards. With a burst of speed, the batmobile flew down the roads towards the chaos.

Two cars immediately flanked the Batman, driving at a steady speed as he turned left and right through the city of Gotham. Windows rolled down, one of the thugs opened fire, spitting bullets up and down the length of his vehicle. Batman slammed the breaks, allowing the cars to position themselves in front of him before he activated the machine guns implanted at the head of his car.