Another deafening boom rang out as a massive excavator tore open another wall of the Welfare Institute. Members of Joker's gang clung to the excavator, grinning viciously at the people inside.
"Ha ha ha, got you!"
Harley Quinn jumped down from the hippo and skipped over to Clark. She first pressed her palm to her lips, then tried to slap her lipstick-marked fingertips onto Clark's face. But the moment she raised her hand, Clark caught her wrist.
Clark flung Harley Quinn's hand aside. She made a disdainful sound, pulled a face at him, theatrically cleared her throat, then smashed the nearby railing with her wooden mallet and said,
"Officers, we are now arresting these little drug dealers who dared to sell Forbidden Drug in Gotham. Any objections?"
"What are you doing?" Clark asked, confused.
"No one's speaking? Then I'll take that as consent. Come on, arrest them! I'll become Gotham's greatest hero. Move!"
The members of Joker's gang who had rushed into the Welfare Institute immediately prepared to act. Clark rose into the air and said in a low voice, "Stop."
Several shadowy figures behind him still tried to sneak toward the children while Clark was distracted. But the instant they reached the stairs, a hiss cut through the air. A red beam sheared off half their pant legs and gouged a deep trench into the floor.
Clark's eyes glowed red as he stared coldly in that direction.
Superman almost never used Heat Vision on humans. That, too, came from his parents' teachings: weapons that were too dangerous needed strict limits on their use, or they were bound to hurt people.
But these people reminded Clark of one criminal who irritated him immensely: the Joker.
What Clark hated most about the Joker was not even the Joker himself. This god