The Batmobile carved through Gotham's streets like a specter. Tires screeched on tight turns, but the engine barely made a sound. The dashboard screen still displayed the collapse of the Wayne Enterprises tower, now shrouded in smoke, sirens, and media drones.
Bruce kept his hands steady on the wheel, but his knuckles were white. Lucius's voice still echoed in his head.
'We lost the building. Lost people. But you're still here.'
The image of Red Hood biting the metallic capsule wouldn't leave. The click, the poison, the body seizing on the floor.
'Even dead… he won.'
The city blurred past the windows in cold streaks. Shuttered shops, dark alleys, flickering streetlights. None of it mattered now.
The screen flashed. Bruce pressed a button on the console.
"Alfred. Answer."
Silence.
He pressed again.
"Alfred. It's Bruce. I need to know you're okay."
Nothing. Not even static.
His jaw clenched.
'Not now. Not again.'
His voice grew sharper.
"Alfred. If you're hearing this, activate Protocol Lambda. Anything."
More silence.
Bruce's fist closed over the console. The pressure nearly cracked the display.
He swerved the car to the side of the road and floored the accelerator. The engine growled softly, charged. The route shifted — now heading straight for the Batcave's hidden entrance.
'If he hasn't answered by now…'
He didn't finish the thought.
The concealed tunnel opened as the Batmobile approached. The false wall parted, revealing the passage into the underground slope. The car descended with controlled speed.
Inside, the cave was cold. Dark. Emergency lighting cast faint reflections on the water puddles dotting the stone floor.
Bruce stepped out. His cape still torn, his shoulder stained from the earlier fire.
He climbed the internal stairs quickly. Passed the analysis station, the shelves of equipment. Stopped at the main terminal. Typed a command swiftly.
The manor's external cameras aligned.
Some were blind. Others showed smoke. One, on the garden's side, revealed muddy tracks at the entrance.
Zoom.
Erratic footprints. Two distinct sets.
"No…"
Bruce switched to another camera. A partial view of the main hall. Low light and dense shadows obscured details, but… something lay on the floor.
He paused the feed. Enhanced the contrast. His face froze.
"Alfred…"
The image trembled. The lens was cracked. But it was enough. A body in the foyer. Motionless. Blood. Broken furniture.
Bruce stood still for a few seconds.
The cave's silence was oppressive.
He didn't speak. Didn't scream. Just closed his eyes.
'Too late again.'
He activated the comms with Lucius.
"Alert. The manor's been breached."
Lucius's voice came through, weak.
"What?"
"Alfred's not responding. Clear signs of a struggle. Cameras show a body. It's him."
Lucius went silent for two seconds.
"Bruce…"
"Stay at the base. I'm going up."
He cut the connection.
Turned and strode up the staircase to the manor's inner wing. His boots struck the floor firmly. His breathing was controlled, but his eyes — empty.
At the hidden entrance behind the old clock, he stopped.
He heard something.
Laughter.
Soft. Wet. Erratic.
Coming from the hall.
The unmistakable voice.
"Ahhh… you're here. I've been rehearsing this moment for days."
Bruce pressed his hand to the wall. The touch activated the hidden panel. The sliding door opened.
The manor was thick with smoke. The hall reeked of blood, earth, and charred wood.
In the center of the foyer, the Joker spun with a candlestick in hand.
Laughing.
"Look at that. The millionaire's back. Bet you didn't expect me here, huh?"
Bruce stopped a few meters away. His eyes didn't waver.
"What did you do."
The Joker spread his arms, blood staining his cuffs.
"Redecorated the furniture. A touch of homicidal Feng Shui. And I took the butler out of play. He wouldn't serve me coffee."
Bruce took a step.
The Joker raised the knife.
"Not another step, Bruce. You already took everything from me. Don't play house lord now."
"You killed Alfred."
"You killed Sophie."
The silence exploded between them. The Joker trembled. Eyes wide. Hands sweating.
Bruce took another step.
'I buried employees today. Watched my legacy turn to smoke. Almost lost Lucius. And now… I've lost Alfred.'
The Joker started laughing. Weakly, shoulders shaking with short spasms.
"You deserved it. Every drop. Sophie was everything. And you… you stole her gaze."
"I don't even know who Sophie was."
"Liar. You lied to her too. And now… you look at me like that? Haha… like you've done nothing."
'He doesn't know what he's saying.'
Bruce glanced at the body by the staircase. The torn jacket. Dried blood. Alfred's hands still half-clenched, as if trying to rise.
'He died trying to protect what's left of me.'
The Joker twirled the knife in the air.
"Come on, Bruce. Do it like before. Lock me up. Ignore me. Visit me in the hospital with that disgusting pity face…"
Bruce lunged suddenly.
The Joker tried to react, but the knife fell on the second step.
Bruce's fist struck his face with a dry snap.
THAK
The Joker's body spun and hit the floor.
Bruce dropped on top, his knee pinning the ribs.
THUD THAK THOK
The punches came direct. Short. Relentless.
The nose broke on the third.
Teeth flew on the fifth.
THAK THAK THOK
The Joker laughed between blows, blood streaming from the corners of his mouth.
"You… you only show who you are… when you bleed, huh? Haha…"
THUD
The sound of a fist cracking cheekbone drowned his words.
Bruce didn't stop.
THAK THAK CRK
The sound of a jaw fracturing.
The laughter stopped.
Bruce didn't stop.
The fist came down heavy. Fast. Cold.
THOK THAK THOK
The head no longer reacted. The body twitched on instinct.
CRK THUD THAK
Blood sprayed in short spurts. The face disfigured. The floor soaked.
Police sirens sounded in the distance. Then closer. Then very close.
Bruce no longer heard.
'You killed Alfred.'
THAK
'You destroyed my home.'
THOK
'You were my mistake.'
THOK
THOK
He stopped, fist raised.
The Joker's body didn't move. His chest didn't rise. His head twisted at an unnatural angle.
The silence was thick. Broken only by a ringing in his ears.
Bruce stood slowly. Blood dripped from his fingers. His chest heaved.
His eyes fixed on the cracked mirror at the top of the stairs.
The fracture grew.
Without sound.
A bat emerged.
Silent. Dark. Large.
Low flight. Precise. Skimming the ceiling. It passed over the staircase. Hovered a few meters from Bruce, in the air, as if floating without flapping its wings.
Bruce didn't move.
'This is how it was…'
He remembered the cave. The pit. The fall. The black shape among the rocks.
'This is how it all began.'
The bat stared at him.
Its eyes didn't blink.
Bruce unclenched his fists. His body relaxed, unresisting.
"I accept."
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