Prompt Post - Part Three [CLOSED TO NEW PROMPTS]

[yj_anon]

THIS PART IS NOW CLOSED. YOU CAN CONTINUE POSTING FILLS, BUT PLEASE PROMPT ALL NEW THINGS HERE.


Part one here!

Part two here!

Feel free to reprompt posts from parts one and in part three once. If you do so, I'd reccommend leaving a link to your fill on the original prompt, in case somebody is tracking the first thread.
Please note that you can still

Comments

everything burns: part iii [2/?]

[anonymous]

“Batman is nothing like you!” he shouts, and Kaldur feels a sinking sensation in his stomach. If there’s ever been a time that Robin’s stubbornness may get him killed, it’s now. Judging from the groan that Artemis lets out, she’s thinking the same thing.

The Joker, however, only laughs. He walks around to the side of the chair, twirling the crowbar in one hand. The other one comes to rest on Robin’s head where it strokes the boy’s hair. Robin pulls back from the touch as if burned.

“Feisty and loyal!” the Joker crows, and then he smacks Robin across the face with the back of his hand. It makes a sharp cracking noise, and the boy’s head whips to the side.

Superboy is on his feet immediately, fists raised, while both M’gann and Wally cry Robin’s name. Kaldur finds himself exchanging a look of utter hopelessness with Artemis. Something in the blonde’s gaze scares him - perhaps it’s the truth of what’s happening, of what he’s realizing none of them can stop - and he looks away before gently forcing Conner to sit back down. He keeps a firm grip on the clone’s shoulder, feeling him trembling with suppressed rage.

The Joker’s laughter is fading, and Robin raises his head defiantly, revealing the red mark standing out starkly on the pale skin of his cheek. The Joker regards him for a moment before addressing the camera once more.

“It’s time someone cut Batman down to size again,” he says. “It’s time to remind him that he doesn’t control this city - that he’s just as vulnerable as the rest of us. And I’m going to start... by taking something from him.”

The Joker suddenly moves forward until the dark room beyond him is obscured, until only his ghastly white face is visible. He sounds breathless with excitement. “You made a mistake, Bats,” he titters, “Gave yourself another weak spot. Another Rachel! Another Dent! Haven’t you learned? I’ll take them all! I’ll take them all from you!”

He laughs again; the speaker crackles from his close proximity. Kaldur’s fingers dig into Superboy’s shoulder, and somehow the action is steadying. M’gann starts to ask what the Joker means by that, being unfamiliar with the madman’s history, but Kaldur holds up a hand to silence her. He has a feeling they’ll find out soon enough.

The Joker backs up from the camera, and that crowbar is twirling in his hand again. Robin tracks its movements warily as it rests on the Joker’s shoulder, cocked like a baseball bat. The man bends over until his face is level with Robin’s.

“Now, Boy Blunder,” he says, sounding for all the world like he’s talking to a close friend and not a hostage, “I’ve got a question for you. I want you to think long and hard before answering.”