"A complete mess!" Joker berated Joe Cole, who was tied up on the ground.
He began to describe a beautiful future: "Imagine you no longer have to work for a living. At your feet are the people who once bullied you, wailing and bleeding, and you can do whatever you want!"
"How wonderful, hahahaha!"
Joe looked at the man who looked so much like himself, his face full of panic. He shook his head: "I just want to be a big star."
A surge of anger rose in Joker's heart. Usually, he would have made the other person taste fear by now, but this time he held back.
Because the person across from him was his former self.
Even for Joker, facing his past self brought about a different feeling.
However, Joker's thought wasn't about making up for past regrets; he was beyond satisfied with who he was now. So, looking at the pathetic Joe, Joker felt a surge of irritation.
He had to transform Joe into an existence just like him!
"Be a star?" Joker first sneered, then finally couldn't help but burst into laughter, "Hahahahaha, you?"
"I've seen the movies you've starred in. Your acting isn't even as good as a street urchin begging for pity. I bet it won't be long before Vought Corporation kicks you out, right?"
"That's not true, Mr. Fang Yuan is very good to me." Joe wanted to retort, but the manic look on the other's face made it impossible for him to speak.
He stared intently at Joker's appearance, finding it hard to imagine such a demonic expression appearing on his own face.
Joker was also a smart man; he knew that coercion could never compare to initiative. So he squatted down, put his arm around Joe Cole's neck, and softened his tone.
"It's fine if you want to be a big star actor, but the screen isn't the only stage." Joker leaned close to Joe's ear and whispered, "Life is also a stage, and it's the most real and the biggest stage of all!"
Joe Cole's mind was suddenly struck by the thought.
It seemed... Joker wasn't wrong?
Seeing Joe's expression, Joker immediately began to laugh.
Past experience told him that once someone felt even a hint of agreement with his ideology, it would be the beginning of their fall.
Joker wasn't just a person; he was a disease, a disease of the entire World.
He stood up happily.
"Let me demonstrate to you exactly what we can do, hahaha."
"Who should I find to play with this time?" Joker rubbed his chin in deep thought.
"Gordon?" He shook his head. "Just played with him, I'm bored of it, and it's too easy to attract the Bat."
"Robin?" He walked out of the room and asked the criminals outside loudly, "Does the Batman here have a Robin?"
Many people shook their heads, though a few had an impression.
"Robin? That little kid who follows Batman around?" a man wearing a hood answered. "He's rarely seen."
Joker understood immediately; it was still too early, and Robin had just debuted.
"That's no fun. I'll go find the Mayor of Gotham City instead." Joker curled his lip and picked up a few round objects from a workbench where some item was being constantly refined. "I don't know what they're thinking—is there still someone who dares to be the Mayor in Gotham these days?"
However, his words immediately drew opposition from the criminals present.
"The Mayor?"
"Weren't we supposed to deal with Batman?"
"Targeting the Mayor is a death wish, right? I'm not going!"
They had no problem dealing with a vigilante like Batman, but targeting the Mayor would directly escalate them to Terrorists. These criminals were naturally unwilling.
They still wanted to survive in Gotham. How many underground forces relied on the Mayor to make money? If they messed with the Mayor, how could they keep playing?
The criminals of Gotham in this period were far from as crazy as they would become later in the comics.
Joker wasn't surprised by this at all; he had long been prepared.
He threw out all the round balls he had just taken. The balls hit the ground and immediately exploded into a cloud of green gas. The gas from several balls instantly enveloped all the criminals, catching them off guard.
"What is this?"
"Cough, cough!"
At first, people shouted in confusion, but gradually, laughter began to emerge from the scene.
"Hehe!"
Then more and more.
"Hahaha!"
"Hahahahaha!"
Finally, all the criminals began to laugh wildly, almost losing their minds.
Joker looked around with satisfaction, his mouth split into a wide grin.
This was Joker's most commonly used Joker Venom. It could make those who inhaled it gradually lose their reason in wild laughter, making them extremely easy to incite.
"Go say hello to Gotham!" Joker shouted.
"Bang!"
Suddenly, the window here was smashed from the outside, and a Shadow swung in using a Grapnel Gun.
Joker had naturally seen this figure countless times.
"Batman!"
He waved his hands and loudly expressed his dissatisfaction: "You're early!"
Batman stood on the steel beam of the warehouse and asked Joker in a low voice, "Where is the Mayor?"
"The Mayor?" Joker spread his hands. "I haven't even gone to kidnap him yet!"
"The Mayor has been missing for four hours!" Batman's voice became even more authoritative. "You can't lie to me!"
To his surprise, Joker completely ignored his question and instead looked up with a look of ecstasy.
"As expected, no matter which Batman it is, they all have sexy voices." His words made Batman visibly pause.
Then, Batman raised his hand and threw a Batarang.
Fortunately, Joker dodged quickly, but even so, a cut was opened on his face.
He quickly found a button and pressed it. Suddenly, a curtain was pulled back, and a man in a suit, blindfolded and hanging, appeared at the ceiling of the warehouse.
It turned out Joker had already captured the Mayor of Gotham.
"I was going to pretend to be the Mayor to give you a surprise." Joker shook his head and pressed the button again. "But using him to escape is also not bad, hehehe!"
The next second, the rope holding the Mayor snapped, and the Mayor fell directly from the several-meter-high ceiling. Now, Batman could only choose between saving the person or chasing Joker.
Batman chose to save the person.
He quickly fired his Grapnel Gun at the Mayor, caught him in mid-air, and then pulled him up with all his strength.
He then turned to look at Joker and found that Joker hadn't actually run far.
Batman suddenly felt something was wrong, but before he could make a move, a sharp pain came from his back—
The Mayor he had just saved had actually pulled out an electric baton and was shocking him with a 'zzz zzz zzz'.
Batman, after all, had the physical quality of a peak human, but he still had to follow the laws of physics; he immediately lost his ability to resist.
"Maximum power, specially prepared for you, hahaha!"
Joker's laughter came at this moment, and the "Mayor" beside him also ripped off his hood, revealing a stranger underneath wearing Joker makeup.
Only then did Batman realize that he had fallen into Joker's trap from the very beginning!
Joker had predicted his behavior; everything he had said to the criminals earlier was just an act.
You will get 90 chapter ahead for this fanfiction.
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