Smile (Part 3)

He saw the torn crumpled pieces of paper scattered at Alberto's feet, no different from the tickets in his hand—just a jumble of news articles and pieces of torn white paper.

When did he start to genuinely believe this thing was a ticket? Did he start to think there were clues on it?

Was it when Schiller insisted he drive the Batmobile to the TV station mailbox to buy tickets? Was it when they actually went to the theater's ticket checkpoint? Or was it when Schiller and Alberto looked at him with certainty and read out the clues one by one?

Batman suddenly realized that none of these were the most important reasons; the root cause was his Pride.

He always held the idea that he was the only one sober while everyone else was drunk, and felt that the madman on stage was no different from the crowd on the street. He disdained to understand him or get involved, so naturally he didn't participate from beginning to end.

So he was tricked.

There were no clues from beginning to end; it was just a bunch of madmen executing a group of idiots.

"Do you know what this means?" Schiller stood up, put his hands on the back of the chair in front of him, and asked Batman.

"This means that the joke from before was really funny."

Schiller turned and took the popcorn bucket from Alberto, grabbed the crumpled paper inside, and tossed it into the air, saying, "See? This is 'money'."

"... Isn't this what they're after? Isn't that ridiculous?"

The Joker on stage stared intently at Batman. Suddenly, he lowered his head, letting his green hair cover his eyes, and asked Batman, "You really don't want to laugh at all?"

"Enough." Batman leaped to the front of the stage.

"This farce should end." His voice was tinged with annoyance.

"Before coming here, I pulled up all the historical materials of Gotham Grand Theater, including the construction plans."

"And in just a few minutes, I've read them all."

As he spoke, Batman turned his gaze to the center of the stage and said, "The people who built this theater were once Europe nobles. To prevent the actors' footsteps from being too loud and affecting the performance, they did not use the hollow wooden stage commonly used in United States operas, but a solid stage made of whole rocks. Your footsteps earlier proved this point."

"From the time you issued the announcement until now, without using explosives, it wouldn't be enough for you to dig a hole in this kind of stage and then plant a bomb."

The Joker stared at Batman, then suddenly snapped, "How come you still don't understand? This isn't a detective show! You idiot!"

"Never mind, you'll understand, you will..."

He twisted his neck and waist, then loosened his tie and unbuttoned his suit jacket. He was strapped with bombs, and as he unbuttoned it, he said, "I told you I should have bought a size bigger; this is really too tight."

"Oh, see, you were right! Great Detective Batman! The bomb's right here!"

"Look, there are so many!" The Joker hunched his chin back and looked down, trying to make out the bombs hanging on his waist.

"I'm about to detonate them! I'll blow you and these idiots on stage to smithereens!"

The Joker threw away the triangle he was holding, pulled a pistol from his waist, pointed it at Batman, and said, "You can't stop me!"

Batman stood opposite him. Without hesitation, before the Joker could make his next dangerous move, several batarangs flew through the air and cut the ropes suspending the people. The group of people fell to the ground, screaming in pain.

The Joker was drawn to the sudden, high-pitched scream. In an instant, Batman rushed forward, first kicking him and breaking his arm joint, sending the pistol flying. Then he punched him in the face, grabbed his neck, pulled him backward, and dislocated his other arm.

The Joker screamed and fell to the ground. Batman crouched down, intending to remove the bomb from his body first. Just as he lowered his gaze to meet the Joker's eye level, he saw a triumphant smile on the Joker's face.

A scream suddenly rang out from the center of the stage. Fat Haru clutched his neck and fell to the ground, a small iron rod used for striking triangles sticking out of his neck.

Another strong man made the move. He grabbed Haru by the neck, pulled the small iron rod out, and blood splattered instantly. Haru clutched his neck and collapsed to the ground, lifeless. The man said, "You bunch of low-class nouveau riche! How dare you humiliate us, I..."

Before he could finish speaking, a gunshot rang out. Cherry, Cherie hands trembling, gripped the pistol and yelled viciously, "I've had enough of you! If you hadn't insisted on throwing that party, we wouldn't have made such a fool of ourselves!"

Two people died in an instant, and all the court members began to quickly break free of the ropes binding them.

When they were hanging in the air, it seemed that no matter how much they struggled, it was useless. However, after the rope suspending them was cut, the section of hemp rope binding them was not knotted. As the end of the rope was cut, the binding loosened, and the strong men were the first to break free.

The triangle and pistol thrown by the Joker had already been picked up. In the chaos, everyone was using whatever they could find. Some grabbed broken bricks, others untied ropes. Everyone's eyes were bloodshot as they attacked each other like madmen.

But they soon discovered the best place to steal the murder weapon.

One person rushed into the orchestra, trying to grab the music stand as a weapon. Another person rushed over to hit him. After a round of fighting, one of them quickly grabbed the violin bow lying nearby, seized the opponent's weakness, and strangled him from behind.

He yelled, "You're the one who threatened me just now, trying to make me comply with their demands so you'd get the real answer! Die!!!"

He tightened his grip, and blood spurted high into the air, shooting straight to the stage ceiling like a crimson fountain or a vine climbing a trellis.

Batman, who had just rushed over to stop him, was splattered with blood. The strong smell of blood rushed into his brain, making him dizzy for a moment.

Only when the corpse opposite him fell to the ground did the murderer suddenly kneel down in panic, saying, "No! No... What did I do? But..."

"I did nothing wrong, I did nothing wrong, I saw him trying to press the button, he wanted to kill me..."

The same words rang out countless times, accompanied by screams. Batman turned his head stiffly and looked at the stage, which was now stained with blood.

The old curtains on the theater stage, which had turned from a dark, blackish red, have returned to a bright red, as if we have returned to that glorious era.

He heard laughter coming from the Joker's direction, first a soft, breathy chuckle, then a maniacal roar. He laughed until he Shang-Chi, saying, "Hahahaha, you really are..."

His arms were already immobile, but he still struggled to sit up, then stood up against a corner of the stage, laughing as he did so, choking himself and coughing.

"Congratulations... Batman! You've succeeded in your revenge!" The Joker staggered over, almost collapsing, but still managed to support himself.

"Your enemy is dead, do you see?"

The Joker was covered in blood from his nose, but he still managed to move forward and, panting, reached Batman, saying:

"Your enemy is so miserable, so wretched..."

He swallowed hard, his voice like dry, rotten wood, and said with some difficulty, "This is a gift for you, Batman, my greeting present."

His voice was full of joy, even a hint of flattery and anticipation. He sniffed, trying to suck the blood back, but failed, which made him look somewhat comical. He said, "Although the gift you gave me was to make me bleed so much, I'm still very happy."

"I think my gift is pretty good, look..." The Joker swallowed again, then shook his head, as if trying to clear his head.

"I'm a bad guy. I organized a kidnapping and then got a lot of people to support me."

"And the TV stations...they can all see it, ha, I admit it, it was me, it was me...I'm a criminal, a villain."

"And you... you're a hero. You saved them. You bravely rushed onto the stage, faced the vicious kidnappers strapped with bombs, and showed your wisdom and courage. Then, you successfully saved them, right?"

"Your enemies are all bad guys, a bunch of selfish bastards, so after you saved them, they killed each other and then died." The Joker's tone became increasingly excited.

"But you are innocent, you did your best, you are even a hero..."

The Joker was struggling to Shang-Chi, his ravings drowned out by his gasps. Then, with difficulty, he looked up at Batman, staring directly into his eyes, and said, "I've done so much for you, and all I need is one answer from you, just one question..."

"Please, Master Batman, answer me! Answer this poor man..."

"I'm really badly hurt, it really hurts..." the Joker cried, but quickly, he tried to suck out the blood from his nose and said:

"When you see my performance, when you see the enemy you hate being so humiliated, tortured, and made to look so ugly..."

He began to tremble all over, and he asked frantically, "Answer me, answer yourself..."

Have you ever had a fleeting moment... when you wanted to laugh?

Batman's fist clenched tighter and tighter, the veins on the back of his hand almost bursting out of his Gauntlet. The Joker leaned forward, as if trying to press his ear against Batman's chest to hear his heartbeat.

The Joker could hold on any longer. He collapsed, groaning in pain, but with a snicker mixed in. He said, "You can't accept the answer in your own heart, can you?"

Why do you find it unbelievable? Why do you feel upset? Why do you feel your emotions starting to worsen?

"A person who thinks he's crazy just because he wants to laugh is the one who's truly crazy!" the Joker shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Why did you do all this?" Batman finally asked.

He finally realized the difference between this madman and him, and finally stood on the same stage as him, asking him questions and waiting for answers.

The Joker lay on the ground, his chest heaving as he gasped for breath. Finally, he stopped laughing and said, "Because I am a Joker."

"I just wanted to make you smile."

Finally, as the theater lights went out, Batman heard a pleading tone in his voice:

"Smile... Batman."

Have a laugh, readers.