---
The battle had become noise.
Explosions.
Screaming metal.
The crack of Superman's fists against Darkseid's armor.
Barry could barely keep track of it anymore.
Everywhere he looked, someone was bleeding.
Someone was losing.
Someone was getting back up anyway.
And somehow...
Joker was still laughing.
Not because things were going well.
Because they weren't.
Green Lantern had a broken arm.
Wonder Woman could barely stand.
Superman looked exhausted.
Batman was running on stubbornness alone.
Yet Joker laughed like he'd bought front-row tickets to the end of the world.
Barry didn't understand it.
Maybe he never would.
---
Batman saw it too.
Joker wasn't just fighting.
He was changing.
The cuts covering his body should have slowed him down.
Instead they seemed to disappear faster every time he got knocked down.
Every time Darkseid sent him flying, he came back quicker.
Stronger.
Smiling wider.
That worried Batman more than Darkseid.
Because he knew obsession when he saw it.
And Joker looked obsessed.
---
The next time Darkseid struck him, Joker crashed through the remains of a building.
Concrete collapsed around him.
Dust filled the air.
For a few seconds, nobody saw him move.
Then a hand emerged from the rubble.
Followed by laughter.
Not loud laughter.
Not insane laughter.
Just...
Happy laughter.
Like somebody having the best day of their life.
Batman felt something cold settle in his stomach.
Because that wasn't normal.
Not even for Joker.
---
Darkseid noticed.
Of course he did.
Darkseid noticed everything.
His eyes followed the clown as he climbed from the wreckage.
Slowly.
Casually.
As though getting punched through a building was mildly inconvenient.
The battlefield seemed to pause.
Darkseid stared at him.
Joker stared back.
For once, neither of them spoke.
---
Then Darkseid said:
"You should be dead."
Joker brushed dust from his coat.
"Yeah."
He glanced down at himself.
At the blood.
The bruises.
The wounds already fading.
Then he looked up again.
"Funny thing, that."
---
For the first time, Barry saw uncertainty in Darkseid's eyes.
Not fear.
Darkseid didn't fear people.
But curiosity.
The same way a scientist looks at something that shouldn't exist.
---
Joker's smile softened.
Not widened.
Softened.
And somehow that was worse.
"Do you know what I like about tonight?"
Nobody answered.
Not even Darkseid.
Joker shrugged.
"Nobody expects me to be the good guy."
He looked around the battlefield.
At the heroes.
At Batman.
At the civilians being evacuated in the distance.
At the burning city.
"I don't either."
For a moment, the laughter disappeared completely.
And the silence felt strange.
Almost uncomfortable.
Like the world didn't know what to do with a quiet Joker.
---
Then Darkseid attacked.
Fast.
Far faster than before.
His fist slammed into Joker's chest.
The impact shook the street.
The ground cracked.
Joker flew backward.
Rolled across the pavement.
And stopped moving.
---
Batman was already running.
He hated himself for it.
But he was running.
Because despite everything...
Despite the murders.
Despite the years of pain.
Part of him didn't want to watch anyone die.
Not even Joker.
---
Then Joker coughed.
Rolled over.
And laughed again.
"Weird."
Blood dripped from his mouth.
He sat up slowly.
"I think that one actually hurt."
---
And for the first time all night...
Darkseid frowned.
Not because Joker survived.
But because he had expected him not to.
---