The phone feels heavy in my hand.
Jim Gordon's voice comes through the encrypted line, tight and strained.
"Speak."
I look at the screen in front of me. Live feeds from Gotham patrol cars. Thermal imaging. Street cameras the GCPD doesn't even know exist.
The system made this easy.
Too easy.
"I've been tracking him for hours," I say calmly. "You're sending officers into a slaughterhouse without knowing the rules."
Silence.
Then: "Who is this?"
"Someone who doesn't want Gotham burning."
He exhales slowly. "What do you know about him?"
I bring up a new file.
Green hair.White skin.Unpredictable body language.Crime scenes that look more like performances than massacres.
JOKER — HIGH-LEVEL THREAT ENTITY
"He's not playing with Batman tonight," I say. "He's using Batman."
Gordon swears under his breath.
"What do you want?"
I don't hesitate.
"Give me control of your network. All channels. All tactical authority."
He laughs once, without humor. "You're insane."
I send him something.
A live feed from a civilian bus wired with explosives — one his own department missed.
Silence.
Then a quiet, hoarse response:
"…You already have it, don't you?"
I smile slightly.
"Yes."
Patrol routes adjust in real time. Units redirected. Roadblocks snap into place like a chessboard locking itself.
Within minutes, Joker's escape paths collapse.
He runs right where I want him.
Good.
The warehouse stinks of oil, blood, and rot.
He's standing there when I arrive.
Hands spread. Smile carved wide.
"Well well well! If it isn't the mysterious new player!" he sings.
My gun stays low.
I don't need theatrics.
"You've murdered 37 people in the last forty-eight hours."
He tilts his head.
"Ooooh, someone's been doing homework!"
I step closer.
"You're not going to Arkham."
The smile twitches.
"That's no fun."
My thoughts are cold.
Clinical.
He shouldn't exist.
Creatures like this aren't "patients."
They are failures of the system.
I can feel the line in my mind — the one Batman never crosses.
And I'm standing right on it.
The system flashes.
[WARNING]JUSTICE PATH DEVIATION DETECTED
My finger tightens slightly.
I could end this.
Here.
Now.
One movement.
No more laughing corpses.
No more games.
But then—
Bat-shaped static flickers across the system feed.
Another player entering the board.
Not yet visible.
But close.
Watching.
Waiting.
I lower the gun… just enough.
Not mercy.
Strategy.
Not yet.
Not while a shadow is analyzing me back.
Because if I'm going to end monsters…
I'll do it in a way that doesn't get me hunted next.
As the cops crash in from all sides, I lean close to the Joker.
"This isn't mercy," I whisper. "This is delayed processing."
His smile widens.
"I like you."
I don't respond.
As they drag him away, Gordon's voice crackles through my hidden earpiece.
"…Who the hell are you?"
I look up at the dark ceiling.
"I'm the difference between control and chaos."
And somewhere in the shadows…
I know Batman heard that.