Match 16170 Batman (Richard Grayson) vs. The Joker

[Pizzaguy2995]

The Batman is dead.

 

No, this isn’t a clone or an alternative version from another reality. No, he’s not in some induced comma, nor is his heart just in need of resuscitation. And no, no magic, time travel or other Deus ex Machina’s are going to bring him back to life. Batman is dead, fully and utterly dead.

 

Richard ‘Dick’ Grayson knew that better then anyone, he was there when his mentor and adopted father died. 

 

Bruce and him had initially parted on bad terms when he decided to relocate to Bludhaven to become Nightwing. After almost a year of no contact though, Barbara and Tim managed to pester him into trying to reach out to Bruce again. It took a while, but the two former partners eventually patched things up and it become all too common for Nightwing to go on missions with his old mentor.

 

Old. That become an increasingly worrying issue for the Bat family as Bruce entered his 50s. Barb, Tim, and himself had various talks with the old man about his increasingly advanced age and the physical limitations that will come with it. At first the stubborn man had resisted their attempts and to Bruce’s credit he definitely looked in better shape then most men his age. That quickly changed when a standard physical revealed that Bruce’s coronary artery is starting to strain; in lay man’s terms it means too much stress on his heart will kill him. Several more talks latter, plus one stern lecture from team grandpa Alfred, and Bruce was finally starting to agree to take a more backseat role to the crime fighting business and allow us younger bats handle more of the physical responsibilities.

 

I wasn’t in town when Alfred had his stroke, Tim had to call and tell me what happened over the phone. One minute he was calmly doing dishes, the next thing Bruce knew the dishes crashed to the floor and Alfred wasn’t breathing. Bruce did everything he could but not even the worlds greatest detective could figure out how to resuscitate an 80 year old man after his second stroke.

 

Bruce threw himself back into the life not even a day after Alfred’s funeral. We tried to remind him of his heart but the stubborn jackass was more pigheaded about his stupid mission then ever. I guess it was his way to not think about his grief.

 

When the bat computer picked up a robbery at the Gotham Bank I knew I should have stopped him. Part of the reason I was in town was to once again talk him down before his age caught up to him. The damn fool refused to listen to me, for a couple seconds I thought about forcibly restraining and tying him up, but instead I insisted on coming with him. I should have tied him to his fucking chair.

 

The gang holding up the bank were a standard bunch of low level thugs and flunkies. They didn’t secure the roof or back entrance, didn’t patrol the hallways for us, they couldn’t even keep most of the hostages from escaping before me and Bats arrived. Ten years ago we could of had them bound and gagged in under 2 minutes flat. Ten years ago Bruce’s heart wouldn’t have given out on him. I had just taken down the three mooks guarding the last two hostages when I heard the gunshot rang out. I turned to see the last punk with a smoking gun looking just as surprised as I was, like not even he believed a nobody like him had just plugged Batman. I knocked him over the head with my Eskrima stick and cradled my adopted father. The bullet went into his stomach and for a split second I had hope, Bruce had survived countless shootings before so why would this one be any different? Then I realized my father’s hand wasn’t covering his stomach, it was covering his heart. Panic set in as I desperately racked my brain for what to do! I couldn’t move him without tearing open his stomach, but if I didn’t get him to a doctor his heart would fail! Dammit Grayson think! You have to do something or he’s going to die here! Think you idiot! Think!!!

 

“Dick...” Bruce whispered to me, his head covered in sweet and face so pale.

 

“Dad,” I whispered back. Too useless to even say anything remotely comforting, I grabbed his hand and squeezed it, like I was stupid enough to think it would help.

 

“D-Dick,” My father whispered again. The Dark Knight’s hand slowly slipped from mine as I saw the light in his eyes slowly dim. 

 

“Dad,” I choked out, holding his body close as I wailed in despair.

 

*************************************

 

I’m sure the fucking news media had a field day in the weeks that followed; ‘Batman Dead!’ ‘Billionaire Bruce Wayne revealed to be Batman!’ ‘Batman shot dead by street thug at the age of 55!’

 

I wasn’t in the condition to look the articles up, I couldn’t even speak at his funeral. Tim spoke first, followed by the aging Jim Gordon, police commissioner Renee Montoya spoke next and even Selina Kyle managed to give a short, but moving speech. Cyborg spoke last as leader of the Justice League. Most of Dad’s oldest friends in the League had long died by now, a thought that only furthered my depression.

 

I managed to somewhat stumble through the ensuring meet and greets. Several old friends, colleagues and tons of people Dad saved over the years. They asked the usual questions: ‘are you doing okay?’ ‘how are you feeling?’ ‘you know we’re here if you need anything right?’ I managed to smile and give good enough answers to satisfy them. The truth was that I wasn’t alright and every time I looked around saw that damn Bat symbol I had to fight the urge to lose my mind. I wanted more then anything to get away from Gotham before I went freaking insane, but I couldn’t. Not when my remaining family needed me most.

 

*************************************

 

“Dick? Dick are you even paying attention? Dammit Dick, I get that your hurting but I really need you to listen!”

 

Snapped out of my moping, I shook the cobwebs out of my head and refocused on the women staring at me with her hands on her hips. Barbara “Babs” Gordon, the one and only Batgirl. Strong, determined, and smarter then I’ll ever be, Babs was the second protege that Dad had taken under his wings and boy did she quickly earn her keep. At the time I was just happy to see a new face at the Bat Cave, someone closer to my age then Dad or Alfred. And yeah, of course it didn’t hurt that she was a pretty cute, intelligent, upbeat girl with just the right amount of snark, great sense of humor, incredibly gorgeous red hair and- Okay yes! I had the biggest crush on her as a kid! ‘Sighs’ if only things could have worked out between us.

 

“Sorry Babs, I didn’t get much sleep last night. I couldn’t stop dreaming about... Well let’s just say I had a lot on my mind.”

 

Babs annoyed expression quickly softened as she got what was wrong. Stepping closer, I felt her wrap her arms around my back and pulled me into a hug. Easy Grayson, don’t pass out every time your childhood crush gives you a hug.

 

“I miss him too Dick. He was like a second father to all of us,” Babs rubbed my sides soothingly and looked up at me with those beautiful green eyes of hers. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there when it happened, but I promise I’ll help you through this. Whatever you need, I’ll be there.”

 

“Thanks Barb, I appreciate it. I guess what I really need right now is time. And some space.”

 

“I understand completely. Take as long as you need. I’ll actually be pretty busy myself; making sure Bruce’s final will is taken care of, helping Lucius make sure Tim’s takeover of Wayne Industries is seamless, and of course I gotta make sure the Bat Cave is prepared when your ready to take over.”

 

“Take over?”

 

“Yeah, you know. When your ready to... inherit the cowl?” Barbara offered.

 

Don’t act like you didn’t know this was coming Grayson. Come on, you knew her or Tim were going to ask about this sooner or latter.

 

“You know that it’s pretty annoying to have to take over your old mentors persona after working so hard to establish one for yourself. And anyways, the whole world already knows that Batman is dead, we kinda had a globally shown funeral. So what, do you think they’ll just accept that he’s suddenly back from the dead via Lazarus Pit or something?”

 

“Bruce and Bane destroyed the last Lazarus Pit years ago remember? And they don’t need to believe the original Batman is back, they just need to be know that the symbols and ideals that he stood for are timeless. That things like justice, heroism, and the power of the individual to make great change will survive and endure as long as their is at least one person willing to fight for it,” Babs explained.

 

“You or Tim could always take the mantle, your both just as qualified.”

 

“Sorry Dick, but their’s too much spotlight on Barb and I right now,” Geez, must be more rusty then I thought. I hadn’t even noticed Tim had walked in. “It was difficult enough convincing the authorities and news media that Bruce Wayne’s adopted son and appointed heir had no idea that he was Batman, but once a new Batman shows up I’ll be the first person they suspect. Also now that they know just how close Barb’s father was to Bruce, they’ll also be keeping a close eye on her as well.”

 

Tim Drake, my wise beyond his years adopted  little brother. The kid managed to deduce mine and Bruce’s identities at the age of nine. NINE! When he turned 13 he knitted his own Robin costume, tracked down and apprehended Two-Face, and then rescued our father from Scarecrow! The kid was a natural detective, being able to see any and all angles of a case and being methodical to the point of emotionless when solving a problem. It never bothered me that Tim was made the main inheritor of Wayne Industrious, the company needed someone mature enough to put his emotions to the side, even when preparing his fathers funeral.

 

“It has to be you Dick. You’ve been out of the public eye long enough to move around anonymously and the fact that you still officially live in Blüdhaven will also throw off suspicion. But more then that, you were our father’s first child Dick. You understood his mission, tactics, and him better then any of us. Why do you think everyone from our family, to the Titans, to even the Justice League looked to you whenever something happened to Dad? Because we all knew that he wanted you to succeed him one day, because he always knew you were the best student he ever had.”

 

I wonder if he sweet talks every bozo he tries to talk into being Batman? Unfortunately for me, I know that he is not wrong. Time you accepted your responsibilities Grayson.

 

“It might take me a while to be mentally ready for this, but okay guys. I’ll do my best,”

 

*************************************

 

I wouldn’t say I ever really got over the mental trauma I was feeling, watching your dad die in front of you tends to stay with you for the rest of your life. But after a long period of brooding, having your friends constantly reaching out to you, and finally talking about how your really feeling, I guess I can say I’ve learned how to cope with the pain. Once I got past that though, let’s just say all that I’ve been training for this moment for almost my entire life.

 

“What the hell is this! I thought the Bat was dead!”

 

“Dude, I told ya that funeral was a hoax! Vampires always come back from the dead!”

 

Not the most diabolical of criminals I know. But I caught the bums during a shady meeting by the docks. They were apparently trying to buy a shipment of plutonium from Bialyian nationals and considering that their still debating whether or not I’m a vampire, I’m willing to guess these goons were hired by a bigger fish to acquire and deliver the plutonium to them. 

 

“Don’t be stupid, vampires ain’t real! I bet this is a robot! Wayne was stupid rich, whose to say he didn’t create a dozen or more ‘Batbots’ to do his dirty work while he hid in his underground lair or something!”

 

“Are you seriously that dumb? Look at him, doesn’t he look like- AAAAAAHHHHH!”

 

Having strung the men up and dangled them over the edge of the building, I waited until they stopped screaming and then gave them my ultimatum:

 

“I know that you two small fries didn’t order this plutonium, I know that somewhere in Gotham some power hungry criminal is collecting plutonium, but what I don’t know is where he is.”

 

Pulling out a batarang, I watched the two toadies eyes almost bulge out of their heads and start squealing in fear as I held the sharp end of my weapon at the rope keeping the two lackeys from falling.

 

“So you two can either talk to me or you can talk to the pavement.”

 

“The Doomsday Cult!” The two almost screamed it out in unison. “That’s what their called! They offered us ten thousand dollars to collect the plutonium and bring it back to their hideout at the old steel mill, in the industrial district! That’s all we know, we swear!”

 

I left the two underlings for the police and made my way to the Industrial district. The area was one of the least habitable areas of Gotham, the smog and pollution here was bad by even Gotham City standards and almost always under the thumb of a different gang/cult each week. This Doomsday cult appeared to be it’s newest occupiers and for an apocalypse cult, they appeared to be pretty well organized. Patrols of armed vehicles made regular patrols around the blocks surrounding the old steel mill and snipers were positioned all across the rooftops. I could probably take them on if I had to, but I had a feeling that if I revealed myself the main group would slip away and I might not be able to find them again. Luckily for me, Babs and Lucius have created a new toy that I’ve been itching to try out: the Bat Drone!

 

I carefully and quietly managed to pilot the drone past the cultist to the old mill, a busted window let the drone into the building and I followed the sounds of obnoxious shouting to the main gathering of cultists in a large room with a stage. The collection of killers, psychopaths, and other deplorables of society were huddled around the stage, shouting things like “bring on the end!” “eat the weak!” or “the world ends with us!”

 

Keeping the Bat Drone hidden in the rafters, the camera lens scanned all across the room, looking for anyone who might be the leader. I didn’t have to search for long. The unpleasant squeal of a mic feedback quickly silenced the resounding chants and gathered all attention to the figure on the stage.

 

“My, my, such a lively and passionate group of end time worshipers. And to think I feared joining a death cult would be the dullest point of my career! Hahahaha!”

 

“Joker! Joker! Joker! Joker! Joker!”

 

It was him alright. The Clown Prince of Crime himself. After Batman’s death had been announced to the world, the aging mad clown had surprisingly dropped off the radar; no more joker venom attacks were committed, no more of his literal calling cards were found at robberies, and most surprisingly all of his top lieutenants, including Harley Quinn, turned themselves into the GCPD after saying they hadn’t heard from their boss in months. I suppose it was too much to hope that the psychopath had taken his own life. 

 

“Thank you, thank you all very much! I’m crazy about myself too! Ah-ha-ha-ha! Seriously though it’s really all of you who made this little shindig possible. Before I joined this soirée of Jonestown rejects I’ll admit I thought I was living the best life ever: I lived in a big house with plenty of rooms and a great view of the city, I had huge collection of friends who would do anything I asked them to, and I had a significant other who changed my life the very day he walked into it. Someone who thought of me almost as much as I thought of them, someone capable of sticking by my side through good times and bad, someone who could bring out the very best of me and encourage me to be even greater still! Words cannot describe how obsessed I was with that man! For so many years I couldn’t even fathom living without having him in my life! And then he was gone. The yin to my yang, the night to my day, the other side of my insane coin. And the very worst part of it all was that it wasn’t even me who killed him!”

 

Oh boo-hoo for you. So sorry that the guy you constantly tried to kill ended up dying without you. Guess you weren’t really that relevant to his life after all.

 

“I’m embarrassed to admit that I feel to pieces when I first heard about it. For so many years it’s always been the two of us together as one. The Batman and Joker, the Joker and Batman. I spent so much time thinking of what I was with him, I forgot what I was without him. Who was the Joker without Batman? What’s a criminal mastermind without a hero to fight with? What’s the point of chaos with no order left in the world? I spent so many nights just thinking what I was supposed to do without the Bat in my life. But thanks to the love and support of the Doomsday cult, I’m proud to stand before all of you and say that I’ve finally found the answer: their is no point to living in a world without Batman! In fact, their’s no point for any of us to still be living!”

 

Well, that’s not a healthy attitude to have.

 

“My friends we had the pleasure of living through the greatest era of heroes and villains this world had ever seen, and it was certainly a hoot while it lasted. But the sad fact is that it’s already coming to an end. Our greatest champions of justice and evildoers are old and dead and all we’re left with are a bunch copy cats and rehashes that have the depth of a puddle and are as interesting as sandpaper. Fortunately, my time here has given me the perfect idea of what must be done; since the world as we know it is coming to an end, why not help speed up the process? I’ve already ordered enough plutonium and uranium to blow this city to kingdom come and back, all I ask you my fellow worshipers of Armageddon, is to help me in my last and greatest evil scheme ever! I ask for you all to finally live up to your name and bring doomsday to Gotham!”

 

The crowd roared with approval at the crazed old geezers plan, chanting their war calls with an increased vigor. Sorry you deluded wacko, but I’ve been stopping your insane schemes since I was a twelve. Your mass suicidal temper tantrum will fail just like the others.

 

“Yes! Yes! That’s right boys! This city will burn! It’s people will burn! We will burn! And it’ll the biggest and funniest joke of them all! And whose gonna stop us? Not the little eavesdropper hiding in the rafters!”

 

Bang!

 

Dammit! Joker shot down the Bat Drone before I could even react. As I mashed the controls in desperation, I saw the drone being picked up and held to the Jester of Genocides wrinkled old mug.

 

“Hello there bird boy. Did you really think that dressing up in the old man’s tights and cape made you any less a sidekick? That pretending to be the Bat made you the Bat? Your still just a little birdie stuck in the big man’s shadow, and your gonna burn just like the rest of us. WHAAH HA HA HA HA HA HA HAAAAH!”

 

*************************************

 

Classic battle of old vs new. Will the new Batman save the day or will the Joker be the blast from the past that destroys Gotham?

[Callisto]

Learn More About
Batman (Richard Grayson)
Read more about Batman (Richard Grayson) at Wikipedia
Official Site: DC Comics Links: Wikipedia Grayson wiki Batman wiki

The Joker
Read more about The Joker at Wikipedia
Official Site: DC Comics Links: Wikipedia: The Joker DC Database: The Joker DCcomics.com: The Joker (PDF file)

[Pizzaguy2995]

I’m thinking about starting my first CBUB story arc with this match. The main idea will be former sidekicks of the main DC heroes trying to fill their old mentor’s roles as heroes and battling new villains. What do y’all think?

[JohnnyChany]

On 4/2/2021 at 6:07 PM, Pizzaguy2995 said:

I’m thinking about starting my first CBUB story arc with this match. The main idea will be former sidekicks of the main DC heroes trying to fill their old mentor’s roles as heroes and battling new villains. What do y’all think?

Sounds fun. I'm in. As for this fight, I'm going with Grayson. If it was any other forrmer Robin, I'd go with Joker, but I trust Grayson's experience and familiarity with the Joker.

A well done set-up

[RakaiThwei]

Definitely felt like I was reading a Batman comic here. So I am giving you  5.0!

I would definitely have to go with Grayson here. He's definitely got more experience with the Joker than any Robin after, and Bruce considers him to be the best student he's had who has the potential to be better than him.

So reason dictates that Grayson wins.

[SSJRuss]

On 4/2/2021 at 7:07 PM, Pizzaguy2995 said:

I’m thinking about starting my first CBUB story arc with this match. The main idea will be former sidekicks of the main DC heroes trying to fill their old mentor’s roles as heroes and battling new villains. What do y’all think?

I'd be down to read, absolutely. Really good stuff, some of your best work so far!

And I'm a big fan of Dick as Batman. I've been saying he should assume the mantle as a permanent position in the comics for awhile. The set up is a good way to do it too.

Dick shouldn't have a big problem with this encounter but I do see Joker slipping away.

[Callisto]

Match Final Results

Member Ratings:
5.00 - JohnnyChany
5.00 - SSJRuss
5.00 - patrickthekid
5.00 - RakaiThwei

FPA Calculation:
4 Total Votes cast
20.00 Total Combined Score
20.00 / 4 = 5.00 Final Rating on the match

MATCH SCORE
Batman (Richard Grayson): 5
The Joker: 1