"Bzzzt—bzzzt—"
The sound of electricity crackled through the Batcave. In an instant, the enormous curved screen lit up, though Batman's hand was nowhere near the switch.
The cold glow of the screen shone across the black cape, tinting the bat wings deep blue. But soon, brighter colors appeared: firefly green and blood-red, flowing in turns across Batman's armor. Light and color danced across the black cape.
Batman turned around and saw a familiar face. Green hair was slicked back, blood-red lips stretched into a wide grin, and eyes fixed on the screen brimmed with indescribable madness and cruelty.
"Joker..."
Batman softly spoke his name, as though he could never tire of repeating a lover's name ten thousand times. Heavy emotion flowed from the trailing syllable.
The massive curved screen was filled with that crazed face. More terrifying still, the skin on it looked as though it had just been pasted back onto the muscles beneath. The wrinkles formed by its smile ran entirely differently from the underlying musculature, like a painted human skin.
Before the screen, Batman saw obvious wounds around Joker's neck. His skin looked as though someone had peeled it off, only to glue it back on again.
"Long time no see, Batman. I know that while I was gone, you found yourself a new lover!" Joker curled his lips back, exposing his teeth. "I merely lost the skin on my face, and you changed your heart so quickly, completely forgetting the passion we once shared!"
"You damned sinner! Traitor!" Joker's voice suddenly rose, only to soften again in the next instant. "Oh, damn it, what am I saying? How could I speak to the great Mr. Bat like that?"
"Batman would never betray me..." Joker muttered as if delirious. "Of course, of course, we all know that.