Where Will Dream Go? (Part 3)

Selene picked up her bag and got out of the car. She turned back and blew Bruce a kiss, saying, "Thank you, baby. I had a lot of fun. I need to go back and pack my things. See you tomorrow afternoon!"

Bruce turned to the side, reached out One Hand, and pushed open the car door on Selene's side. Selene understood what he meant, walked back, leaned forward, and then snuggled into Bruce's arms, kissing his cheek.

Then she left quickly. Bruce touched the spot on his cheek where Selene had just kissed him, sighed, and thought to himself that he had really been a little bewitched.

If someone had told him a year ago that he should spend a few days driving around the East Coast, he would have felt worse than being in jail. But love is so irrational. When Selene said she was having a great time, Bruce's guilt about wasting time vanished.

Of course, now that his vacation was over, he had to return to his normal life. Bruce slowly started the car and drove back to the Wayne Manor. When it was completely dark, he drove the Batmobile, wearing the Batsuit, and left the manor, intending to continue improving his Batcave.

After so much time, the Batcave was basically completed, except for some light equipment that hadn't been put in yet. The Batmobile roared through the streets of Gotham at night, but as soon as he passed an intersection, he felt a strong beam of light blinding him. He couldn't help but squint and look at the intersection on his right, where a huge truck was parked.

The bright lights were the truck's high beams. The two headlights flashed for a moment, and as the light went out, Batman saw the terrifying smiling face in the truck's driver's seat.

Instinct began to scream, and Batman slammed on the gas, but it was too late. The massive truck was already hurtling towards him. Batman pressed a button in front of him, and in an instant, his seat was ejected. He landed, rolled twice on the ground, and then stood up.

The heavy truck crashed into the Batmobile, lifting Batmobile completely off the ground. As it landed, fragments of the windshield and roof parts flew out. Then, the front of the giant truck exploded, the flames of the explosion blooming like a firework bursting in the dark highway.

"Welcome home, Batman, hahahahahaha!!!"

A series of piercing laughs came from the darkness. Batman squinted and saw the figure.

Like a fateful duel, they faced Gotham. The man opposite them, dressed as Joker, held no weapon and looked frail.

But Batman's heart was pounding faster and faster, his blood was rushing to his head, and he didn't know whether he was afraid or excited.

"Did you have a great vacation, Batman?"

The Joker looked Batman in the eyes, a smile on his face as if expecting a positive answer. But he quickly put on a sad expression and said, "But I'm very unhappy, Batman. Do you know what I've been through lately?!"

"I was dragged to a hospital by a crazy Doctor! He subjected me to his horrific dream experiments, throwing me into a deep space of consciousness to face a terrifying monster!!"

Suddenly, he stopped, then turned to look at the wreckage of the exploded truck. He screamed, pried open his eyes with his fingers, and then slid four fingers down his eyelids in a horrified expression, saying, "My God, what am I seeing?!"

He rushed over and began frantically searching through the wreckage. Suddenly, he found a piece of tire that wasn't completely charred. He hugged the piece and said, "My dear tire, she's dead... sob sob. In the days you weren't here, she was the one who kept me company..."

Batman stood there watching the Joker's performance, saying nothing, only turning the corners of his mouth down.

It started raining in Gotham, and soon it turned into a downpour. Lightning flashed across the sky, and the rain pounded on the wreckage in the middle of the road, carrying the smell of burning farther and farther.

At that moment, the Joker stood up. He stood in the rain, without armor, without a cloak, without weapons, all alone, like a thin and pale ghost.

The rain started to smudge his makeup, as if his entire skin was being dissolved, but he still wore that maniacal smile and said to Batman, "You think I'm a annoying lunatic, right?"

"They always pop up from all sorts of places, causing you a ton of trouble, dragging you to see performances you don't like or understand, and saying crazy things you don't want to hear or understand..."

"But Batman, I'll make you understand..."

His smile grew increasingly manic; stripped of its absurd and comical quality, his terrifying expression and actions revealed only a tangible danger and madness.

He pulled a button from his pocket and said to Batman, "Have you ever made a life-changing decision? The kind that can change the course of your life?"

"I just made that decision."

"I made a bet with someone, Batman..."

"I bet you won't let me down, so now..."

The Joker looked directly at Batman through the layers of rain and said, "... The game begins."

The button was pressed, and with a loud "boom," Batman turned his head and saw a fierce fire erupting somewhere in the city.

When the button hit the ground, it splashed up a barely perceptible ripple. When the waves subsided, only the Joker's maniacal smile remained, while Batman had vanished.

The following night, amidst the same cold, heavy rain and piercing sirens, a giant Bat-Lamp illuminated the sky above Gotham. Gordon, holding the phone, said on the other end, "Get the negotiators up there immediately!! What is that madman trying to do??"

He stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window in his office, looking at the rooftop of a building not far away. There was only one standing figure there, but many ropes were hanging from the side of the building, with people tied to them.

The television showed the Joker's face, even more terrifying in the rain. He held the camera and said, "You know what? Just yesterday, I was in the underpasses of Gotham's twelve main streets, asking all the homeless people who they hated the most. I asked them who they thought caused their current miserable lives..."

"Many people complain to me about all sorts of things: their bosses fired them, their landlords evicted them, convenience stores and restaurants didn't provide them with free food, yes, yes, all sorts of things like that..."

"And I! Hero Jack! I weep for their tragic fate, and so, hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!" The Joker let out a series of maniacal laughs, saying, "I've brought their enemies here!"

He took a deep breath, then shrugged, gripped the camera with one hand, pointed to the edge of the roof with the other, and shouted, "See that! Homeless people! Your enemy is about to... is about to die!"

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!

In the scene, the Joker walks to the edge of the rooftop in the pouring rain, then pulls out a dagger and holds it against the rope. The person who is tied up is dressed in a suit and looks like an elite employee.

He looked up and saw the Joker's maniacal grin and the dagger Facing Forward at the rope suspending him. He screamed in despair, "No!! No!!! I'll fall! I'll die!!"

"Oh, hero... yes, I am a hero. I want to give the person on trial a chance to say his last words. Do you have anything to say?"

"Please, let me go! Please, don't do this... don't do this to me, I don't want to die!!"

The employee kept pleading. He had completely broken down and couldn't even utter a complete sentence.

This bored the Joker, so he swung his dagger and cut the rope. The employee fell from the 30-plus-story building and crashed to the ground, turning into a pile of minced meat.

Before the police and negotiators on the ground could make a move, ropes and people fell down like a torrential rain from the sky. Standing on the ground, all that could be seen were their desperate expressions before they died.

Shortly after the Bat-Lamp came on, a second figure appeared on the rooftop—it was Batman.

Just as everyone expected, a dark figure stood opposite the Joker.

I don't know what they said, but the two of them started fighting, and the whole world was filled with the sounds of rain and thunder.

The fight between the two was more like a silent film performance, and a less-than-exciting and even somewhat comical confrontation unfolded.

Finally, the Joker was knocked to the ground and his arms were tied, but Batman also had a cut on his shoulder, and blood flowed down as the rain washed over him.

The Joker, still smiling, lay on the ground and said, "Batman, you won, but do you think this is what everyone wanted to see?"

"Even if you are the hero of everyone else in Gotham, you are definitely not the hero of those homeless people, because they almost saw their enemies fall from high-rise buildings, be smashed into mincemeat, and suffer a more tragic end than they did!"

"You'll never be a hero, hahaha! The innocent people you save might be the very people others dream of killing. Do you think they'll hate you? Hahahaha!!"

After the Joker was taken away, Batman walked alone through the streets, got into his car, started the engine, and drove into Gotham's endless dark, rainy night.

He was not swayed by those crazy words; he just had exhausted too much energy.

Instead of returning directly to the Wayne Manor, he drove to the Batcave, treated his wounds as usual—first with spray, then bandaged—and after finishing, removed his blood-stained clothes, changed into a new set, and then drove back to the Wayne Manor.

Wayne Manor was still brightly lit. Alfred stood at the door to greet him. Seeing his somewhat pale face, Alfred said to him, "Young master, would you like some hot drinks? How about a cup of hot chocolate?"

"Thank you, Alfred."

He didn't refuse, but walked over to the sofa and sat down. When Alfred brought over the hot chocolate, he instinctively tried to take it with his dominant hand, but it aggravated his wound. For a moment, he paused, then immediately switched to his One Hand to take the cup.

But he knew that Alfred had still found out, even though his butler said nothing and escorted him upstairs to his bedroom as usual.

A deep weariness enveloped him. He walked to the sink in the lavatory, looked in the mirror, and saw that he was pale and expressionless. But somehow, that crazy smile appeared in his heart, in his eyes, and then reflected in the mirror. He seemed to see himself smile.

He shook his head, suppressing those chaotic thoughts, and then walked out of the bathroom.

His finger hovered over the lamp switch, but after hesitating for a moment, he didn't press it. So he lay down on the bed without turning off the light and slowly fell asleep, looking exhausted.

The soft sound of breathing echoed in the room as the night deepened and the rain poured down harder.

The room was filled with soft light, reflecting a thin halo around the bed, walls, and carpet, making the darkness seem to have nowhere to hide.

As a bolt of lightning flashed, in the darkest corner beneath the bed, a scarlet mouth slowly revealed a crazed smile.

Due to my job responsibilities, the update time has been adjusted. You can check back the next morning instead of waiting.