"Smart kid, wasn't he?"
That irritating, smiling voice rang out again. Batman saw the Joker appear behind Peter's chair, cradling Peter's face in his hands as he said, "I like him. He made the right choice: abandoning Batman, even betraying him."
"What a wise and noble decision. Even after observing you up close and joining the Bat-family, he still didn't change his mind. You knew he wasn't stupid—he was too smart."
"He saw through you. Yes, you, Batman. You couldn't give anyone a happy ending. Only by truly eliminating you could Gotham welcome a better tomorrow."
"You knew I was telling the truth, like advice from a close friend. Yet you could never let go of that sliver of mercy, turning you from a true hero into a hesitant coward."
"Stop running. Stop running. Or just listen, Batman. Listen to how Judas came to understand Jesus. Did they really need saving? Did they really deserve to be saved?"
In an instant, Batman was back in that pitch-black little room. He heard Jason calling to him again.
"Batman, where are you? Where are you? Why didn't you come save me?... Batman, you forgot about me, didn't you? Someone replaced me, didn't they?"
"It hurts... It hurts... No one will save me. No one will save us. Batman, you knew all along, but you didn't care. All you cared about were those long-term plans."
"Those killed by criminals, those violated by criminals—every ghost on Gotham's dark streets, how much pain did they suffer before they died? You didn't care at all. You forgave every criminal for them, but did you deserve to?"
"If we wanted a tomorrow, we first had to survive tonight. Maybe you would make Gotham better... but we couldn't wait. I couldn't wait."
Jason's face gradually merged with Peter's.