It was a cramped space.
Dozens of chairs had been arranged inside, and on those neatly ordered seats sat motionless figures.
"They're all dead."
Gordon watched Batman weave past the chairs and stare at the shriveled faces. Beneath the skin protruded bulging eyeballs and strange smiles curled at the corners of their mouths.
They were all dead, and the scarlet lipstick on their lips reminded Batman of an old acquaintance—a mad, lawless, chaotic existence and the gift he had left behind, a gift wrapped in dozens of human lives.
"These people mysteriously disappeared five years ago after attending a free dental event."
Gordon carefully pulled a file from his coat and looked at Batman. "You're the only one who can find that guy."
"Whatever you're planning to do, make it quick."
Gordon lowered his head, his gaze falling over the corpses with their eerie smiles.
He feared that Joker might turn everyone in the city into something this horrifying.
"I know." Batman nodded and looked up at the web-covered ceiling.
"I'll find him."
Batman felt a fierce fire burning in his chest, urging him to smash something to vent it.
He even had the impulse to kill Joker and put an end to their conflict once and for all.
Batman stepped out of the room, fired his grappling hook, and swung away, vanishing into Gotham City's hazy night.
Gordon silently watched Batman's departing figure for a long time, unable to say a word.
He felt that this city owed Batman far too much.
It was an amusement park.
A Ferris wheel, roller coasters, a swinging hammer ride.
It had every attraction one could expect.
There was even a circus tent set up nearby.
But the only difference—or rather, the unusual thing—was that there were not many visitors here.
No, perhaps