[Zatanna POV]
As I ended the hug, Bruce stepped back, and the red eyes of his mask changed to white. He glanced down briefly before looking back at me.
"They only used one entrance, and it's right there," He said, pointing to the right side of the building then took my hand and led me there.
Standing at the edge, we looked down and saw a zipline plunging to a wall ten stories below.
"There," Bruce pointed.
Which annoyed me a bit. Does he think I'm blind or something? Before I could say anything, he suddenly pulled me into his arms and leaped off.
"A little warning would be much appreciated," I remarked as we began to fall. I felt his suit shift slightly before it enveloped me, and Bruce let go of me to grab the edge of his cape, spreading it out to glide.
At first, he glided away from the building, then turned back, heading toward the broken wall where the bad guys had entered.
Entering through the wall, we found ourselves inside the trashed storage room with shelves scattered across the floor.
Bruce let go of me, and the red eyes of his mask once again turned white.
"The kitchen is two walls ahead of us," he said, pointing forward, then took out something similar to a pen.
"What's that?" I asked, pointing at the pen-like thing.
"Bat-laser," he replied, completely serious.
Sigh... another thing with "bat" in its name. I don't know what his obsession with bats is, but it's not healthy. Everything he creates has "bat" on it —bat-mobile, bat-suit, batarang, bat-glue, and now this bat-laser.
"What about the ones in the corridor?" I asked.
"Too far away to notice," he said as he aimed the "bat-laser" at the wall and began cutting a door shape. Despite its silly name, the bat-laser was incredibly effective, slicing through the wall like a hot knife through butter.
Once he finished, he pressed his hand against the wall, using his claw-like fingers to pull it out and lay it down quietly to avoid making noise.
Then he moved to the next wall, and before he could do the same to the wall, I stopped him.
"I got this; go do your thing," I said, and he simply nodded without arguing before retracting the mouthpiece of his mask.
"Be careful," he said, giving me a quick kiss on the forehead before he walked away.
I gently touched the spot where he kissed me, feeling warmth spread through me, and a smile crept onto my face without me realizing it.
"Idiot, doing things like this and expecting me not to fall for him," I muttered to myself, getting lost in the silly dream of us living happily ever after with seven kids.
Then I shook my head and lightly slapped my cheeks to refocus.
Focus on the task at hand, Zatanna.
I placed my hand on the wall.
"tsud ot nruT(Turn to dust)" I commanded, casting a spell as the wall began to disintegrate.
As I entered the kitchen, I was met with the sight of ten men aiming their guns at me.
"ezeerF(Freeze)" I quickly cast a spell, immobilizing them. If it had been before, my first instinct would have been to use a sleeping spell, but after training with Bruce, some of his overly cautious and paranoid habits rubbed off on me, so I developed the habit of considering every scenario possible before taking action.
For instance, if I had put them to sleep while they still held their guns, with them losing control over their bodies, the bad guys could accidentally press the trigger, and the guns could go off, possibly killing or injuring someone.
"seilfrettub otni nruT(Turn into butterflies)" To be safe, I transformed their guns into butterflies. The butterflies fluttered towards me and landed on me, making me giggle softly.
"meht eit dna sepor otni nruT(Turn into ropes and tie them)" I cast another spell, changing the butterflies into ropes that bound the bad guys.
"peelS(Sleep)" and finally a sleeping spell.
I moved towards the hostages and untied them.
They all thanked me sincerely, telling me that I was a godsend and whatnot, while I just nodded with a smile, waiting for the obvious question.
"You don't have to answer if you don't want to, but how did you do all that?" One of them, a young girl around my age, asked eagerly, her eyes shining with curiosity and admiration while making gestures with her hands.
"A magician never reveals their secrets," I answered with a smile, causing her to blush in embarrassment for asking.
"I'm sorry," she quickly apologized, but I just shook my head.
"It's fine," I assured her before clapping my hands to grab everyone's attention.
"peels dna dessentiw tsuj uoy tahw tegroF(Forget what you just witnessed and sleep)" And Cast a spell to ensure that my secret stayed a secret.
***
As I walked down the corridor leading to the party hall, a strong smell of blood hit my nose. After walking for a while, I found the source of that smell.
The entire corridor was almost destroyed as the bodies of 20 bad guys sprawled on the floor. Some were embedded in the walls, but luckily or unluckily, none were dead. However, given their condition, death may be a mercy for them.
Every single one of them had at least one of their limbs twisted at odd angles. One had both of his arms looking like stairs with how many times they were bent, with bones sticking out of his skin. Another's leg was bent sideways. There were some on the walls, and one particularly caught my attention; it had a bend in the shape of a boot on his chest.
Bruce is truly ruthless. I mean, I get it; they are criminals, and it's his job as Gotham's protector to stop them. But breaking them like this, crippling them for life, is actually worse than death.
I did ask him one time why he just doesn't kill them. When I did, he became very serious before he gave me his answer. And seriously, Bruce looked really hot; it almost made me rip his clothes off and have my way with him.
"Death is a mercy for the wicked, a mercy they will not receive from me."
His answer was a little cringe, but overall it just once again confirmed that there is something really wrong with Bruce.
***
[Batman POV]
After taking care of the thugs in the hallway, I headed to the party hall, switching back into my stealth suit. I phased through the door.
The situation inside hadn't changed in the slightest since I had watched it through the CCTV.
After I walked inside, Joker, who was sitting on a chair he had found somewhere, was rocking back and forth, looking bored.
Suddenly, he jumped excitedly.
"He's here, he's finally here!" he exclaimed with a big smile, looking around him, his eyes searching every corner of the room.
His words made me stop in my tracks.
What in the actual fuck. How did this cheap-ass clown even know I was here? Does he have some kind of Batman-finding cosmic awareness or something?
Deciding to act cool, I walked into the center of the room and turned off the lights as I transformed into my bat-suit.
Panic erupted as the hostages screamed, and the Joker's henchmen scrambled to turn on their phone flashlights.
"What the hell," one of the goons shouted, aiming his flashlight at me.
"THE FREAK'S HERE!" he yelled, pointing his gun at me with his free hand while the others surrounded me.
Calling me a freak while working for one, how ironic.
"I knew it!" the Joker cheered, jumping up and down excitedly.
"I knew you would come for me," he said, approaching me with quick, jumpy steps just to stop right outside the goon circle.
"Did you miss me, Batsy? Because I did," he said with his cheap-ass, huge grin.
I stayed silent, my body concealed by my cape as I gripped mini disruptors in my hand.
"Always with the silent treatment. You need to lighten up, Batsy. Life's boring if you're always so serious," the Joker said, spinning around with his arms wide open before settling back into his chair.
"Don't be rude, boys. Let's give a warm welcome to our special guests," Joker said, signaling his goons to open fire.
But it was also a signal for me; I jumped and threw the disruptors in my hand at the guns in the goons' hands.
My actions startled the goons as they stared at the device I had thrown, which beeped a few times before it exploded and destroyed their guns.
"What a crafty gadget," Joker commented from his seat. "I want one too, Batsy."
With the guns exploding into their faces, most of the goons got knocked out except for a few sturdy ones—exactly seven of them—five of whom rushed at me with their fists, while two sneaky ones headed for the tables to break them and use the legs as a weapon.
Looking at the goon rushing towards me with his fist in the air, I tilted my head and dodged his punch. I then elbowed his jaw, shattering it. Next, I raised my arm to block a punch from the goon on my right. After his punch connected with my arm, I wrapped my arm around his before bending it completely and then punched him in the face.
"Such brutality, I love it. Break them more, Batsy," the Joker cheered from his seat, watching with a flashlight to either get a better view of me or help his henchmen to see me.
With two down, I ducked to avoid a table leg swinging at my back. I wrapped my arms around the goon in front of me, lifted him, and shifted my weight back, slamming him into the ground hard enough to break both his back and the floor while also using him to hit the one behind me.
At that moment, another thug attempted to kick me from the side, and he did, but the hit was too weak to break my focus. Seizing the opportunity, I grabbed his leg and broke it with an elbow strike to his knee.
He opened his mouth to scream, but I shoved my hand inside and grabbed his jaw, pulling him closer. I punched him in the chest with enough force to bend him over and send him flying before I backflipped and dropped a smoke grenade.
"Booooo, this show sucks. The hero is too shy to even show himself brutally beating innocent civilians," Joker complained, sounding frustrated since he couldn't see anything through the smoke.
Inside the smoke, the goons swung their punches and kicks wildly, often hitting each other. I moved behind one, grabbed his shoulders, and kneed his back, breaking his spine. He fell onto his back, and I slammed my boot into his face.
Moving on to another, I kicked another thug's knee from the side, bending his leg before striking the back of his head. Then I swiftly took down the last two, making sure I was as effective and brutal as possible.
By the time the smoke cleared, all the goons were unconscious on the ground with multiple broken bones.
Joker stood up from his seat, gazing at his defeated goons, and his smile grew wider. He tossed a flashlight that landed perfectly to shine on me and began to clap.
"Bravo, Batsy, bravo! You never disappoint. As always, you came victorious, leaving your victims broken in body and spirit," he said, pulling a detonator from behind his back.
"This does bring back memories," he remarked, gazing at the detonator. Before he could tell his 'evil' plan or press it, I shot my batclaw at the device and snatched it from his hand.
"What the hell, Batsy? At least let me deliver my line." Joker protested.
Ignoring him, I pointed my finger at the detonator as Caple emerged and connected to it, safely disabling it. The detonator became completely useless. I crushed it in my hand and tossed it aside.
"That wasn't my only trump card, Basty," Joker said, reaching behind him to pull out a revolver.
"Ta-da, my gun," he declared dramatically, brandishing his revolver before suddenly aiming it at me and firing.
I tilted my head and dodged the first bullet while stepping out of the flashlight's beam.
"Oh, you want to play hide and seek, Batsy? Let's play."
I moved closer to the Joker, and he fired again but missed because he couldn't see me.
However, his shot briefly lit up the room, revealing my position.
"Oops, it looks like I cheated! HAHAHAHA!"
He fired again, and I sidestepped to avoid it.
He shot two more times, and I dodged each one.
"Looks like this is my last bullet, Batsy."
God, does he ever shut up.
What is he, Joker the Clown Prince of Yapping.
While I was a few steps away from him, Joker, instead of shooting at me with his last bullet, pressed the gun to his own temple.
"Time to go Russian."
BANG
Just before he could blow his own brains out, I grabbed the barrel of the gun, covering the tip with my hand, and with the bullet having no way out, it exploded inside the gun.
explosion Send Joker sideways; he lay on the ground, the side of his face scorched and his ear bleeding, but despite that,.
"HAHAHAHA!" Joker, like always, just laughed maniacally.
Grabbing him by the collar, I lifted him off the ground.
"Ah, put me down, please! I'm scared of heights," Joker made a fake scared expression, swaying his hands around.
"What else?" I asked him.
Stopping his cheap-ass acting, he looked at me with a confused expression.
"This," I gestured to the crowd. "It's too simple, too basic. What else do you have planned, Joker?"
"Nothing, Batsy," he replied with a casual shrug.
"This is just an appetizer, an introduction. Scouts honor," he added, holding up three fingers and grinning.
"So don't worry; once we get to know each other better, I'll prepare something spectacular, worthy of Gotham and us," he continued, giving me a playful boop on the nose with an ominous smile.
Just to be sure, I had Eden check all over Gotham.
{He is telling the truth, sir. There is no imminent threat to Gotham at the moment.}
With that confirmation, I released Joker and turned to leave.
I'm not going to torture Joker physically because that's what he wants. He is the very definition of an attention whore. Besides the whole shit and giggles thing, he is doing everything he does for attention. He always wants people's eyes on him, to be the center of attention, and to be remembered forever.
And that's his weakness, his flaw. He is scared of being forgotten, of being ignored.
"Hey Batsy, where are you going? Aren't you gonna take me to jail or something?" Joker shouted after me.
I stopped and looked behind me.
"I have 'other' criminals to defeat, Joker. I can't waste my time taking another into custody," I said, my voice dripping with disdain as I emphasized the word 'other,' making sure he understood that he wasn't special to me.
Hearing my words and tone, Joker's confused face slowly shift to a twisted grimace. His big-ass smile became crooked, and he looked like he was having a stroke.
Satisfied with the reaction I got, I turned away and continued to walk.
"NO!" I heard him scream sharply as something struck my back.
"You can't leave me! I'm not like those idiots here. If you leave now, I'll kill everyone in this room. You hear me, Batsy? Everyone!" Joker continued to yell while throwing things at me, but I just ignored him.
Phasing through the door, I left the party hall.
Outside, I saw Zatanna leaning against the wall, with a bored look on her face.
"Hey," I greeted her, but she only dryly nodded in response.
Wrapping my arm around her, I pulled her closer.
"Come on, Z, don't sulk. I just didn't want to get you hurt," I said, trying to soothe her.
"Sure, that's what you always say, whatever," she said, giving me the cold shoulder while rolling her eyes; then she gestured toward the elevator at the end of the hall. "The cops are already in the building. They'll be here any second."
"Then we should leave," I said, preparing to teleport us out.
"Yeah, we should," Zatanna agreed, turning to me. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed my mask.
"See you later, 'Batsy," she said with a playful grin before teleporting with magic.
Just as she disappeared, the elevator doors opened. Officers rushed in, taking positions a few feet away from me, their guns aimed at me. They looked tense, their hands trembling and sweaty as they glanced between me and the broken goons in the corridor.
Some whispered prayers while staring at the bodies, and then James Gordon stepped forward from the group of officers. He surveyed the scene and shook his head.
He then met my gaze and subtly nodded toward the window.
He didn't tell his men about our deal. Why is he keeping it a secret? What am I, his mistress?
Using my usual trick, I flickered the lights and teleported away.
***
"Welcome home, my love." Close to dawn, I got home, where my dear wife, Teleute, greeted me warmly with open arms.
I walked over, knelt down, and embraced her tightly, resting my head on her bosom while breathing in her delightful scent, which instantly calmed me.
Sigh... I really love my wife.
"How was your day, dear?" she asked with her melodious voice, gently stroking my hair.
I lifted my head to gaze into her stunning, night-sky eyes.
"I met Joker today, had a little showdown, and emotionally manipulated him."
"Oh, you finally got your toy," Teleute said with a smile as she cupped my cheeks and kissed me. "I'm happy for you, darling. You've been waiting for so long."
"Meh, it wasn't as thrilling as I thought it would be," I shrugged.
"Forget that cheap clown. How was your day?" I asked as I got up and princess-carried her toward the bedroom.
"Dream visited today," she said, resting her head on my chest.
"Is he still here?" I asked her since I wanted to meet Dream and thank him because he saved Teleute, although accidentally.
In 1916, Roderick Burgess made a deal with a museum curator named Doctor John Hathaway to obtain a powerful mystical book called the Magdalene Grimoire. In return, Burgess agreed to use the book's magic to bring Hathaway's deceased son back to life by summoning Death itself.
During the ritual, however, they mistakenly summoned Dream instead of Death and captured him. While Dream was imprisoned, Roderick Burgess tried to negotiate with Dream to set a trap to capture Death, but Dream refused and remained imprisoned for nearly a century.
To my disappointment, Teleute shook her head. "He left because he didn't want to harm you."
Her words caught me off guard a little since I never had any beef with Dream; if anything, I like the dude... no homo.
"What? Why would he do that?" Furrowing my brow, I asked her.
"You know why, darling. My poor baby brother is sensitive. He still has PTSD from his time in imprisonment, and when he was here, he relived those moments," Teleute said; although her voice was calm, she had a sad look in her eyes.
Yikes, she is talking about the enchantment the Order of Ancient Mysteries used to trap Dream for nearly a century.
After finishing my Batsuit v1, one of my first actions was to track down the Burgess family and the Order of Ancient Mysteries to destroy every single one involved in the imprisonment of Dream. Not because of Dream, but because those fuckers' real target was my beloved wife. Even if they didn't succeed, they did try.
While I was at it, I also got the runes they used to imprison Dream and tweaked it a little so as to not trap my wife. I carved those runes beneath the Batcave, Wayne Manor, and in every room of the manor.
"I can apologize to him if you'd like, my love, but I doubt he would appreciate it since it wouldn't be genuine. I'm not sorry for what I did; I was only trying to protect my family, and I will do anything to keep you safe," I told Teleute, kissing her forehead gently as we entered our bedroom, and I gently sat on the bed.
"It's okay, darling. Dream isn't that petty. He once had a family too, so I'm sure he'll come to understand," Teleute said as we both undressed each other, and then once again I princess carried her into the bathroom.
Once in the shower, I gently set her down and turned on the water. We took turns washing each other before settling into the bathtub.
I wrapped my arms around her and gently stroked her tummy, placing soft kisses on her head.
"Hmm," she sighed contentedly as she leaned against me.
We enjoyed a quiet moment in the bathtub, wrapped in each other's arms, until Alfred knocked on the door to let us know breakfast was ready.