Chapter 23

The Choices We Make

Drake Household

"Decide Brucie. Remember it's the choices we make that define us. Shall you choose the family or the city?" The Red Hood asked.

Bruce turned to Tim. "Tim... I'm sorry."

"I understand Bruce." Tim said. Joker shot Stephanie in the head.

Tim tackled the Red Hood and started beating him. The Red Hood pushed Tim of his body and shot Tim in the shoulder. The Red Hood pointed the gun at Tim's kids.

"Nah. I'll let you kiddies live. Just remember, you owe me." The Red Hood stated. The Red Hood walked out.

Bruce ran to Tim. "Tim. I'm sorry."

"Just go save Gotham." Tim got up. He pulled the bullet out of his shoulder with his bare fingers. He picked up his wife. His child we ran beside him. "Let me be with my wife and kids."

"I promise Tim, I will stop him." Bruce stated.

"I know." Tim said a tear fell from his eye as his kids were sobbing.

Before Bruce walked out of Tim's house, he covered his mouth with a shutter built in his mask. Stephanie once was Robin at one point. She worked with Bruce a lot before she retired. Bruce knew what Tim felt.

Bruce got a call from Barbra. He answered it "Bruce, it's Barbra. It looks like hell out there. Is Tim okay?"

"Yes, his kids are too." Bruce stated.

"What about Stephanie?" Barbra asked.

"She's dead Barbra." Bruce said.

"Oh my god. You need to stop the Red Hood before he hurts anyone else. Did you find out who he was?" Barbra said.

"Yes. It's the Joker inside Jason's body. Jason's back Barbra." Bruce said. "There are nanites in his DNA that Joker could control. The nanites ultimately take over Jason's body. He released the nanites all over the city, so anyone who breathes them-"

"Becomes Joker's slave." Barbra interrupted.

"Yes." Bruce got out a test tube and swung it through the poisoned air. Some of the air got trapped in the test tube. "I got a sample of the nanites. Send a Batpod here to pick it up. Find a cure for them. The nanites were modified from Tim's mutated Hydrogen particles. They're in Damian too. The nanites in Damian didn't work to their full potential though, so his rage was the only thing that got enhanced."

"Ok." Barbra replied.

"Jason and Damian were manipulated by the Joker. Neither of them died, they were hidden away like Tim, just in a more secure area." Bruce told Barbra.

"Ok. I'm sending a Batpod now. I'm sending the League  too." Barbra said.

"No! If you send the League, everyone drops dead." Bruce said.

"Bruce... It'll be impossible to beat him then." Barbra stated. "You're talking about taking on nine-million people."

"I have to. Just figure out a cure. I'll be in the city looking for people who weren't exposed." Bruce said.

He hung up. Bruce looked up and saw five civilians under Joker's control. The civilians started running towards him. Bruce grabbed one civilian and threw his body towards another civilian. Bruce got out three freeze grenades and froze the other three civilians.

Bruce got another call. It was Dick. "Bruce-,"

"Are you okay in Blüdhaven?" Bruce asked.

"Yeah." Dick said. "Do you need help?"

"No, I need to do this alone. The Red Hood is Joker inside Jason's body. Joker injected nanites into Jason that would let him take over Jason's body." Bruce said. "I can't talk long, I need to look for people not effected by the nanites and get them to safety."

"Ok, just get Jason back Bruce." Dick ordered.

"I will." Bruce said.