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When Tim woke up, he immediately knew he was in some deep shit.
The last thing remembered was being on patrol. He’d heard a woman calling for help and gone to investigate. But when he’d gotten to her, he’d very quickly realized it had been a trap. She’d turned around and bashed his head in with a mallet, revealing herself to be none other than Harley Quinn before knocking him out completely.
And now, he was strapped down to a table.
He took a moment to take in his surroundings. It looked like he was in a lab of some sort. Beakers and vials of various mysterious liquids littered the space. Directly in front of him, there was a cardboard white picket fence and what appeared to be… a grill?
“Well hello there, Red Robin!”
Tim’s blood turned to ice. He struggled violently against his restraints. He had to get out of there now.
Joker waltzed into the room with all the dangerous grace he usually did. He wore his usual purple suit but also had an apron overtop of it that read, “Kiss the Cook.”
Tim was beginning to get very scared. If only he could reach one of his emergency beacons…
“Allow me to be the first to welcome you to your new home,” he greeted with a manic grin. “You see, my fine, feathered friend, my Harley and I have decided it’s high time we expand our little family. So, we decided to take one of Batsy’s birds off his hands and adopt! And you’re our lucky winner!”
Tim gulped, still fighting against his restraints. Unbothered by his lack of response, Joker opened up the grill and revealed two electric cables. He picked them up, laughing as he clicked their ends together.
“Now, I know what you’re thinking: how could you ever live up to the family name? Well, don’t you worry, Junior, we’ll have you turned into a true Joker in no time.”
“Batman’s going to find me!” Tim asserted. His heart rate grew faster with he step Joker took towards him. “You’ll never get away with this!”
The madman simply shook his head as he latched the cables onto each end of the table Tim was strapped to. “Back talking your Old Man already? Come now, son. That’s no way to act.”
“I will never be your son!” Tim snapped.
“Tsk, tsk,” Joker chastised. He approached the control panel and placed his hand on a comically large lever. “Let’s see if you’re more cooperative after some discipline.”
With that, Joker pulled the lever, and all Tim knew was pain.
Tim couldn’t stop laughing. Why couldn’t he stop laughing?
A sharp prick in the crook of his arm gave him his answer. “There we go, JJ! Growing boys need their vitamins!”
Joker venom.
He remembered now. Joker had been micro dosing him for days (weeks? Months? Time had no meaning anymore). Every time it started to wear off, he was given more.
“Maybe now you’ll be a little more cooperative,” Joker said. “Tell me, Junior, who is the Batman?”
Tim refused to answer. There was no way in hell he was going to expose their identities to their greatest enemy. Joker would have to kill him.
“Fine. I guess it’s time to try something else. Harley, hand me my crowbar!”
Even as he was beaten, Tim laughed.
“Puddin’, JJ’s suit is finally ready!”
His clothes were being cut off now. Tim tried to tell them to stop, but he couldn’t speak. All he could do was laugh as they stripped him down until he was fully naked.
Even as his mask was torn off his face.
“What beautiful blue eyes you have, Junior!” Joker praised. “You know what would complement them and your new suit? Skin just like Daddy’s!”
Laughing turned to screaming as Tim’s entire body was submerged in a bathtub full of caustic chemicals.
“There you go, JJ! Now you’re a spitting image of your Old Man.”
The green hair dye burned as his saturated his damaged scalp. His newly whitened skin felt like it was going to slough off.
At least he was no longer naked; though, that may have been preferable to the awful purple suit they’d dressed him in.
They gave Tim a break from the drugs just long enough to torture him.
“All you have to do is tell us Batsy’s real name, and I’ll stop,” Joker taunted. He was approaching Tim with a white-hot, “J” shaped brand.
Tim put all the strength he had left into spitting in Joker’s face. “I’m not telling you anything! Stay the fuck away from me!”
The madman’s face darkened. “Now, now, is that anyway to talk to your old man? It seems your previous father never taught you to respect your elders. But don’t worry, JJ, I’ll make sure this time it’s ‘seared’ into your brain!”
The brand burned into his neck. Tim screamed. He’d never experienced pain like this before. He just wanted to go home.
Joker tortured him for hours. During that time, Tim was waterboarded, burned, stabbed, and even tied to a post and whipped. All of that was in addition to the near constant electrocution he was subjected to. That was always Joker’s favorite.
Despite his best efforts, his tongue finally loosened.
“B-Bruce Wayne!” He choked out, hating himself as he did so. “Batman is Bruce Wayne!”
Joker’s cackle echoed off laboratory walls. “Oh, Junior, that’s the funniest thing you ever said!”
This time when he turned the table back on, Tim welcomed the pain. He deserved it, after all.
“You’re looking so glum today, JJ! Let’s fix that, shall we?”
A knife plunged into his cheek. Tim tried to scream, only to start choking on his own blood. Daddy – no, that wasn’t right. This was Joker – laughed at him. He always laughed. One dose of venom later, Tim was joining him, even as the cuts opened wider and painted his face with bright, red blood.
{Now look just like Daddy!}
{Don’t worry, Timmy! You just take a backseat and let me handle everything. I love spending quality time with Daddy!}
Tim didn’t know exactly when he noticed another voice in his head, but at this point, he couldn’t bring himself to care. He was more than happy to float away and let JJ deal with the Joker. At least he didn’t feel pain like Tim did.
And if Tim no longer existed, then nothing could hurt him anymore.
“Here you go, Sonny Boy! Deliver the punchline.”
A gun. JJ was holding a gun. And it was aimed at… Batman.
No.
Tim found himself clawing back to the surface of his psyche. He couldn’t let JJ shoot Batman. He just couldn’t.
JJ, don’t!
{Hey, let go!}
Batman was staring at him, and somehow, Tim knew his father could see him through the madness. “Tim.”
Tim didn’t want to see Batman die. He certainly didn’t want to be the one to kill him. He had to stop it. He had to beat JJ.
“Do it!”
He fought JJ for control over his body, all while desperate, choking laughter ripped out of his throat. His finger was still on the trigger. JJ was trying his hardest to pull it.
{He wants to take us away from Daddy!} he screeched. {We have to kill him!}
But as JJ pulled the trigger, Tim moved the gun.
The bullet buried itself in Joker’s chest.
{DADDY, NO!} JJ screamed.
“That’s not funny,” Joker gasped, stumbling backward. Blood dribbled out of his mouth as he began to choke. “That’s not –”
But Tim thought it was hilarious. He kept laughing even as the Joker’s death rattle echoed against the walls.
It was over.
Tim dropped to his knees as his laughter turned to tears. It was over. The Joker was dead.
And now Tim had to live with what the villain had done.
He was still holding on to the gun. Tim was tempted to use it on himself. JJ was screaming threats of violence and vengeance for his father. He was never going to stop fighting Tim for control. It would be better and safer for everyone if he just…
Someone was hugging him.
“It’s okay, Tim,” a soft, feminine voice whispered, gently taking the gun away from him. She was wearing a purple suit and had flowing, blonde hair. Tim knew the her name – he was pretty sure he’d been in love with her at some point – but his brain was too far gone to think of it.
So, now unable to end his own misery, he just sat there and cried. Because Batman may have rescued him, but Tim had not been saved.