The Joker tugged at the lapels of his coat, spun around twice on the spot, and showed Batman his new outfit. Bombs aside, it really was a new suit, completely different from the one he had worn during his last stage performance.
But when he finished turning, he realized that the scene he had expected had not happened at all.
Whenever Batman saw the Joker carrying explosives, he would usually retreat at once, assume a tactical defensive stance, and shout, "Joker! Stop your evil plan!"
But now, Bruce merely looked up at him. When the Joker's eyes met his, both of them froze for two seconds.
The Joker looked down at himself, then up at Bruce, then down at himself again, as though he suspected he was hallucinating.
He let go of his clothes, wiped his nose with his arm, sniffed hard, and said, "No, no, this isn't right. You're not Bruce, you're Batman... You're Batman right now. I can smell that pain..."
The Joker scrunched up his features and leaned close to Bruce, sniffing hard. "Yes... yes... the scent of fear from a bat. A bloody smell, a stench. I could smell it from two kilometers away. In all of Gotham, no one else could possibly smell like that..."
Suddenly, the Joker jumped backward and screamed hoarsely at Bruce, "Batman! How could you do this?! Why aren't you wearing your suit? Why are you standing outside a hospital instead of on top of a building?!"
He yanked his coat open again and shouted at Bruce, "Look at me! I got a whole lot of explosives! Enough to blow half of Gotham into the sky!"
The Joker flailed his arms, spittle flying as he described the mushroom cloud that would rise after the explosion.
He swallowed, limped over to Bruce,