ตอน 67: Chapter 67: Freaks
Words: 2,360
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The Joker, or Jack Napier was an ordinary unsuccessful comedian who could barely eat and decided to turn to a criminal path to live properly.
[NOTE: This is AU]
Over time, he formed a gang known as the Red Hood.
It wouldn't be accurate to say that everything always went smoothly in his criminal activities, but he clearly made progress in that field.
Nevertheless, Batman appeared one night while he and his group hid in a chemical plant.
During the fight, Jack fell into a tank of acid... but he survived, and his appearance changed beyond recognition.
Jack's skin became pale and cracked, his lips stretched into a grin, and his hair turned green.
The awakening of his meta-gene caused this transformation.
Cortana managed to dig up information on him and cross-reference the data.
Jack is already responsible for more than seven hundred victims, with a large portion being civilians, casualties of his "jokes" and fights with Batman.
Moreover, there were quite a few ordinary children among them who died simply because the Joker wanted to make Batman chase him with his sinister smile.
There was a period in his life when he was just starting his insane killings, and all the people he killed remained with frozen smiles on their faces.
Jack recently escaped from Arkham Asylum, so it's better to deal with him first.
"And they don't execute someone like that?"
Shinoa doubted the sanity of local justice.
"He's a notorious psycho killer, and people like this need to be eliminated quickly."
"This is Gotham."
I answered while following Shinoa who was having a great time jumping from roof to roof.
I didn't mind running because Shinoa had just entered this universe even if teleporting would have been quicker.
"Moreover, this city is ruled by the Court of Owls which is something like a secret organization. It wouldn't be beneficial for them if the death penalty was allowed."
"That... explains a lot."
I heard Shinoa's voice through our mask communication.
"This city is somehow gloomy. It reminds me of a city of vampires or something. Can you give me a tour later?"
"Across the cities of the planet? Sure, no problem."
I readily agreed.
"However, let's focus on the task at hand for now: this factory."
We already saw the factory and several trucks at the location, as well as the Joker's gang members.
"They look awful... awfully ridiculous."
Shinoa commented and tossed her braid.
"Shall I deal with them? This is my first heroic deed in this world... well, in life in general."
Shinoa added.
"Yes, please, go ahead. Remember, they're just ordinary people, so try to just severely injure them, not kill them. This gang formed recently... but you can deal with them severely if you want."
"Um, I think I'd better just break all their bones."
She might be right that killing vampires is easier than killing people. I'm more than confident that she could do it.
While Shinoa went to fight the Joker's gang, I teleported into the factory and immediately heard the Joker's voice.
"Come over here... yes, just like that... this will be a very good joke, hahaha, the best of my jokes, hahaha. Harley! Have you prepared everything, I hope? I want as many people as possible especially my Batsy to laugh at my joke, hehehe!"
The Joker's behavior made it clear that something was wrong with him.
He looked like the photos obtained by Cortana, with green hair, pale and cracked skin, and a smile from ear to ear.
"Puddin', I'm coming!"
A female voice rang out.
"I've checked everything, and the preparation of your prank is almost complete. Our people have managed to get a lot of good stuff from that Wayne idiot."
A blonde in a Harley Quinn latex costume said, with a huge wooden hammer on her back.
"Ha-ha, marvelous, Harley just marvelous. This will be an explosive prank... I hope Bats arrives on time, or it won't be fun at all. Is that moron who loves riddles still alive?"
Joker asked while pacing back and forth.
"Yes, here."
Harley leaned over, showing off her latex-covered behind, and turned on the television.
On one of the channels, the Riddler had his show called "Riddle Factory," where Batman had just been caught and was being shown.
"What?! How?! Harley, hurry, we need to get him out... otherwise, he won't laugh at my jokes!"
Joker clearly became concerned about what was happening in his twisted tone.
"By the way, why haven't those imbeciles arrived yet? They should have already completed the perimeter check right?"
"Because they're not capable of it."
I said this as I jumped off a railing.
"Oh, who's this clown in the ridiculous mask? Ha-ha, get it? Clown, ha-ha-ha..."
Joker himself laughed.
"Very funny, but even talking to you disgusts me."
A stone spike formed behind Joker that pierced through his body and stomach but he was still alive.
"And also... Crucio."
I said, and a spell from my hand shot towards him, causing him to scream in pain.
"Mr. J!"
Harley exclaimed, clearly about to hit me with her hammer.
She turned around, looked at Joker, and then looked back at me. She then pulled out a gun and pointed it at my head.
"BANG!"
The bullet stopped against my aura and fell to the ground under the surprised gaze of Harley.
"What the fu..."
Joker's scream loudly caused her to clearly start getting scared, but before she could move, Shinoa appeared next to her, with a "gentle" blow to the chest that sent Harley flying straight into the wall while leaving a small dent from the impact.
"That was fast."
I said, and with alchemy and erased Joker's body, but I didn't bother taking his soul into the medallion...
"There were only three dozen morons there, an easy task."
Shinoa admitted.
"Cortana, call the police here."
I said it aloud.
"Let's go. We still need to deal with the Riddler, and then we can go relax."
"I'm in."
Shinoa jumped.
"You know, it feels very strange to be in such a crowded city after my world... not that I don't like it. I guess I just need to get used to it."
Shinoa told me.
"And what about this... umm... clown girl?"
Shinoa pointed her scythe towards the barely recovering crazy blonde.
"Mr. J... Mr. J..."
Harley muttered.
"It seems we broke her."
Shinoa wasn't entirely sure.
"I'm surprised she's even standing after your blow. That makes sense, and she is a metahuman too but not very strong. That explains her resilience."
I realized this after using the analysis spell.
"What a stupid fool! Do you even know who you're dealing with here?"
I asked her... Her name is Harleen Frances Quinzel or Harley Quinn.
She was recently an intern at Arkham Psychiatric Hospital and had the courage to conduct sessions with the Joker.
Then she simply fell for the maniac's charisma over time and tried to help him escape.
She didn't get mad because a nice visitor came to see him recently, set everyone free, and just ran away with him.
She hadn't really had the chance to do anything truly terrible yet, but she definitely could.
I had doubts about her mental health because she had only spoken to Joker for long periods of time and had been swayed by his charm.
She may have thought it was love, but the Joker only needed Batman not her love.
"You're lucky you didn't have the chance to commit horrible acts. Otherwise, your body would also have disintegrated into atoms."
I told her while clearly seeing her aura.
"Listen, she's got a really nice ass..."
Shinoa commented while looking at the crazy Harley's behind.
"Shinoa... let's get out of here. And I'm not going to stick my dick into a crazy chick forget it."
I turned towards the exit.
"So... maybe we should tie her up somehow?"
"She's not herself right now and doesn't plan on running anywhere. Her mind was already too fragile... ahem. The police will handle everything and they're already on their way. Moreover, she hasn't done anything terrible yet and can be considered innocent."
We left the building, and with one jump I was on the roof.
Shinoa soon joined me, and I teleported us to the Riddler or to his underground riddle show.
The Riddler himself was quite the main character... with Batman's appearance, there seemed to be suspiciously many freaks in costumes, and each of them was somehow connected to Batman or Wayne.
On the other hand, Batman was doing a good thing but wasn't finishing the job, and innocent people suffered because of it.
Edward Nigma, a.k.a. the Riddler, was born into a troubled family.
Edward's mother abandoned him when he was a child, and his father abused him so his childhood wasn't great.
He was a very smart kid who would easily ace all of the tests in school competitions.
However, his old man either didn't believe in his abilities or was just jealous, constantly accusing him of lying.
Therefore, Edward grew up needing to always tell the truth to prove his innocence.
Therefore, the truth might be hidden in riddles.
When he grew up and moved out, he used his skills to get people to coax money out of visitors.
That wasn't enough for him so he came up with a new name for himself— the Riddler to use his real name as an anagram.
After all, Nigma is very similar to Enigma which means "riddle."
The Riddler chose Batman as his opponent because he thought Batman was a worthy opponent.
However, The Riddler started out as a small-time informant and didn't get much attention... until recently.
He did his first violent act about six months ago.
He caught two wealthy people and tied them with a rope to a fixture above with a tank of acid below... provided to him by the Joker.
As a result, the two died, and Batman beat the Riddler, but he managed to escape because the Joker showed up.
Now he's filming his illegal show underground in one of the mafia's houses where people are locked in large glass cubes and live on air.
He will fill the cube with acid if they give the wrong answer to the riddle.
So far, no one has died because Batman has taken it upon himself to solve the riddles and has already answered four of them.
One of these cubes also contained Gotham's district attorney, Harvey Dent.
Apparently, Batman was following him.
"Alright, and now for the final riddle. If our magnificent Batman answers correctly, then no one will be harmed isn't that right?"
Riddler smiled into the camera broadcasting the show.
"So let's move on to the most interesting part—the riddle. Ahem, I am strong as a rock, but a word can destroy me. Who am I?"
Riddler smiled. Shinoa and I had already sneaked into the underground and had just heard his words.
He was... well, certainly better than the Joker, but still a psycho because childhood traumas worsened the situation, and he went crazy in the field of riddles.
"Riddler, justice will catch up with you if you don't stop your actions. The city is already in chaos, and you've decided to make things even worse."
Harvey spoke up.
"Shut up! Or do you want to try solving my riddle?"
Riddler returned.
"The process of pondering over a riddle is sacred, so be silent."
"Silence."
Batman suddenly said, and for a moment.
"Correct answer, heh. Well, until next time, ladies and gentlemen, you've been a great audience. I'll go. I've already prepared everything to leave. Oh, and I'll definitely prepare for next time..."
"Next time in hell."
I spoke up while jumping down on him and piercing his heart with a sword.
"They've been waiting for you there."
At that moment, Cortana cut off the broadcast.
"No!"
Batman exclaimed and pressed something on his belt.
Then, a small layer of some liquid on one side of the cube exploded, opening a way for Batman.
"You killed him!"
Batman accused me of throwing a batarang at me.
"Are you serious? He's already killed several people with his riddles, and how many more would suffer because of him? Do you want to send him to prison or a psychiatric hospital?"
I caught the Batarang and spoke up.
At that moment, it sparked, and electricity hit me. A regular person would have been knocked out, but I didn't even feel it.
"You have no right to kill."
Batman said it with a serious tone, clearly noticing that his recent attack didn't harm me.
"Well, maybe I'm from a place where capital punishment is allowed. It would be nice if it were like this here too... It would save so many people. Your solution only draws freaks who time and again set up their 'games' and innocent people perish because of them. You're lucky now, but what if you hadn't been, and he killed them all?"
"Murder is not a solution and never has been. Surrender."
Batman ordered it with a "serious" tone.
"Your sense of justice is quite twisted Bats."
I said this while approaching him closely.
"If you leave alive a scum who can throw a child into acid without hesitation, then something is wrong with you. There's something wrong with this whole city..."
"That's actually one of the many things I'd like to change."
Harry spoke up.
"But murder on live television..."
"Well, it's so others don't get any ideas."
I shrugged and immediately dodged Batman's attack, then kicked him in the chest to send him back into the cube.
I'm starting to like this.
"Are we done?"
Shinoa asked when he just finished knocking out several of the Riddler's henchmen... who were already dead.
"Yeah."
I nodded.
"Murder is not justice either."
Batman's voice was heard.
"Yes, but by doing this, you'll save hundreds of lives... Deal with the Joker in time, and many people would still be alive."
I said finally.
"And take back your bugs..."
I tossed everything he had planted on me onto the floor.
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