A dark shape landed on the roof of the Ace Chemicals building, where a figure dressed in purple stood, calmly smoking a cigar.

"I've been expecting you," he murmured to the black shape.

"Is that why you unleashed Joker toxin on the people inside?" demanded the black shape. "To get me to come here?"

The figure in purple shrugged. "How else was I supposed to do it? You're such a busy guy – killing hundreds of innocent people is the only way to get your attention. And I had to meet you here, where it all began. Seems fitting somehow."

He inhaled from the cigar, smiling at him. The black shape glared at him. "We don't have to do this, you know," he murmured quietly. "We're not them. We don't have to keep playing their game…"

"Oh, that's where you're wrong, Batsy," he interrupted. "Playing the game is the one thing we do have to keep doing. Oh, we can change the rules a bit – maybe you're not the strong, silent type as much as your predecessor was. Maybe I ain't got a worthless dame dragging me down, like my predecessor did. Maybe I won't hurt you in quite the same ways – maybe you won't fight me in quite the same style. But we gotta keep playing the game. Otherwise what's the point? A joke with no punchline is a pretty anticlimactic thing."

He inhaled from his cigar again. "Our lives don't have to be jokes…" began the black shape.

"Everything's a joke, Batsy," murmured the figure in purple. "Everything and everyone. Life, death, love, hate, war, and peace. Everything people believe in. Just one, big, cruel joke."

The black shape was silent. "I know you've been hurt, J.J…"

"It's the Joker," he interrupted. "I'm the Joker. And you're Batman."

"You were J.J., the Joker's son. Harley Quinn's son…"

"I don't remember any of my past since the accident, I'm afraid," chuckled the figure in purple. "You know that, Batsy. So there's no point in talking about it, or trying to get me to remember. It'll only make me angry."

He puffed out smoke. "The accident which was your fault," he murmured. "You've always been responsible for me. And that hasn't changed, even if you do think we're different people. We're not. Some things don't change. And we don't change, Batsy."

He laughed. "Kinda comforting, in a way, isn't it? There'll always be a Joker terrorizing Gotham City. And there'll always be a Batman to put a smile on his face."

The black shape was silent. "I'll tell you what isn't funny," he murmured at last. "Living our lives exactly like our predecessors did – wasting our time simply repeating their endless cycle, not being able to change or break outta it…"

"Think of it as a running gag," chuckled the figure in purple. "An oldie but goodie. I'm sorry you don't enjoy the joke, but it's a classic. Can't just dismiss it."

"I don't want to end up like Bruce," whispered the black shape. "I've seen what his life has done to him – he's alone and broken. I admire Bruce so much. He's the most determined and resolute man I know. But he's taught me through his life that sometimes you can't always be right. Sometimes you have to be willing to listen, to talk, to compromise, not just to fight on and on, or there'll be nothing left to fight for. You'll lose everything you tried to save."

He stepped forward. "I don't want to fight you night after night. I want to help you, J.J. I want us to be better than our predecessors were. We can change things for the better, if only you'll be willing to let things change."

The figure in purple smiled. "Oh, Bats," he sighed. "Same old herospeak, just translated for a new generation. The hero of Bruce's time was a man who resolved to fight, no matter what. The heroes of our time are people who try to listen, and find non-violent solutions to problems. Who try to understand those they considered to be evil and deranged, who try to be merciful, civilized, humane."

He grinned. "Suckers!" he chuckled. "Oh, if this the way you're gonna be fighting me, Bats, winning's gonna be too easy! You've told me what you believe, but you're as blind as a bat when you get right down to it."

He giggled, finishing his cigar and crushing it on the ground. "Y'see, the thing you people don't understand is that nothing important ever changes. Oh, you can try looking at things differently, interpreting them in different ways, but that doesn't mean they are any different. That doesn't mean the truth changes. And the truth, Bats, is that it doesn't matter what you and I want. Do you think I wanted to be the Joker? Do you think that was a choice I made? It wasn't. It was something I was destined to be long before I was born. And you can't escape your destiny – it's like truth, fixed and unchanging. You may not wanna live your life fighting me night after night, but you're gonna. Because what we want doesn't matter. What we believe doesn't matter. Only the truth matters. The truth is I'm the Joker, and you're Batman. And that's what we do. We fight, night after night. Neither of us can escape that, no matter what we want."

He reached into his jacket and pulled out a coin. "Two-Face gave this to me," he murmured. "He said it was life. You got a good side and a bad side. You're the good side, and I'm the bad side. Joined together on one coin forever. Can't separate it, can't fix it, can't change it. You can flip it," he said, tossing it into the air. "Sometimes one side will come out on top, sometimes the other. But the coin is real. It's the truth. You can't wish it away, or wish it was different. You can look at it in different ways, but that doesn't mean the coin changes. It just is. Just like you and me."

He caught the coin and smiled. "Looks like tonight's your night, buddy," he said, holding out the good side to him. "But that don't mean I ain't gonna put up a good fight. That's all we got, after all. And that's all either of us is ever gonna have."

He suddenly struck the black shape a powerful blow across the face. He continued to punch him, and the black shape fought back. They punched and kicked and hit each other across the rooftop, until at last the black shape threw the figure in purple to the ground, where he lay, winded. He laughed hysterically.

"Told you it was your night, buddy!" he chuckled. "Now see, if we were playing by the same rules, you'd probably drag me off to some asylum now."

"I will," growled the black shape.

The figure in purple giggled madly. "Change of plans," he whispered, grinning at him through bloodied teeth. "Well, what do ya expect with a Joker in the deck?"

And he suddenly sprayed a cloud of Joker toxin from the flower in his buttonhole into the black shape's face. The black shape coughed and started laughing, reaching for the antidote on his belt. By the time he had applied it and recovered himself, the figure in purple was gone. He heard the echo of his maniacal laughter in his ears, and his fist tightened in resolution, even as his heart sank in despair.

"We will meet again, Joker," murmured Batman.

The End