Penguin had not even finished being shocked when Batman, watching a movie in the Batcave, froze first.
Of course, he knew about the mayoral election, and he knew exactly what Lincoln March was about. After all, before the universe had been rebooted, he had already dealt with March.
Robin, Penguin, and the mayoral election all seemed perfectly normal when considered separately, but putting them together felt strange. Or rather, the fact that those three things could even be put together was already strange enough.
At that moment, Joker, sitting on the sofa, burst into laughter. He wiped away the tears at the corners of his eyes, tore open a new bag of chips with a bang, and tossed snacks into his mouth as he spoke.
"I have to say, it's a good choice. If they really want to accomplish their goal, they naturally need to find enough of their own people, and they need them spread across every industry and every social class. Oswald Cobblepot has been trapped in the roles of gang boss and businessman for years. Who's to say he doesn't have ambitions to go even further?"
Joker crossed one leg over the other, shook his foot, and said, "He has a lot, but he lacks even more. Violence can help him protect his businesses in a city full of chaos, but if he wants to go further, he lacks sufficiently long-term vision, sufficiently profound understanding, and a true Mafia mindset."
Batman's fingertips shifted slightly, signaling that a particular word in Joker's speech had caught his attention. He repeated it, "Mafia mindset..."
"Have you ever thought about why the Italian Mafia was able to flourish across the Americas? They even shed the stereotype that street thugs could never enter respectable society, developing a unique family culture and godfather