Never Let Anyone Else Defeat Him

"Mr. J, why let Batman go? Wouldn't it be better to force them to tear each other apart? As long as we control the airship, Batman won't dare disobey us."

Harley had needed to give Joker face in front of outsiders, but now that they were alone, she immediately voiced her dissatisfaction.

Joker shot her a glare. "This is my decision. Just do as you're told!"

She had clearly put in so much effort, yet Mr. J, the man she loved, still snapped at her. He would not even give her the slightest right to know what was going on. Harley's lips instantly curled into a pout.

Noticing that his toy was upset, Joker hurried to comfort her—he still needed her to do things for him. "Oh... Harley, I always thought our hearts were in sync, but it seems you still need to work harder."

"Why did I leave? Because only I can defeat Batman. No one else—absolutely no one!"

"If Gotham City were destroyed, what would Batman do? Cry? Of course not. The city he had protected all this time would be gone, and he would break down. I absolutely cannot allow that to happen."

"Because there is only one person who can make him break down, only one person who can defeat him completely—and that person is me!"

Joker ranted madly, but Harley Quinn did not hear a word of what came after. The moment she heard that their hearts were in sync, her eyes filled with nothing but little red hearts.

"Mr. J, I'll definitely work hard to enter your heart. So what are we doing now?"

Joker grandly swept out a hand. "We have the mutagen. Of course we're going to make some big news."

"Hehe, that's exactly what I like."

Gotham City, Ace Chemical Factory.

With Joker gone, Ra's al Ghul knew there was no longer any hope of carrying out the plan. Protected by his men, he chose to retreat.

Though Shredder was deeply unwilling, Ra's al Ghul had already withdrawn, leaving him with no reason to stay. He grabbed Stockman Fly and disappeared into the darkness.

As for Rocksteady and Bebop, those two idiots were naturally abandoned. Even Shredder had probably had enough of their stupidity.

With the main battlefield settled, the cleanup elsewhere also entered its final stages. Once Bruce and Jude joined the fight, Two-Face and Killer Croc were subdued again. In the end, only the flying Scarecrow escaped; all the other villains were captured.

"I should've chosen an avian mutation too," Two-Face said unwillingly.

Jude slapped his wolf face. "He can't fly for long. Before long, I can turn him back to normal—but I'll need your help first."

Two-Face immediately looked at him warily. "What do you want?"

Jude smiled, revealing stark white teeth. "Nothing much. Just some of your blood. That way, I can formulate an antidote."

Two-Face immediately wailed, "No! This is the United States. Even criminals have human rights. I absolutely refuse! I demand to be sent back to Arkham!"

"Hmph. That's not up to you."

Beep beep.

After escorting several villains away, Bruce's phone suddenly rang. He opened his armored gauntlet, and a holographic image was projected.

However, the person in the image was not Alfred, but a tall woman in a purple combat suit. She looked as though she had just been through a fierce battle.

"Huntress, why are you here?" Bruce asked in surprise.

Red Hood covered his chest and coughed a few times. "I notified them. Gotham has been too chaotic lately, and all of you were deployed. I was worried about Alfred's safety, so I contacted the Birds of Prey."

In the image, Huntress panted as she said, "Wayne Manor was attacked. If you're done there, you'd better hurry back and take a look."

"Was anyone hurt?"

"We got there in time, fortunately. Otherwise, Alfred would have been in serious trouble."

At that, everyone in the Bat Family frowned. Alfred was their collective weak spot, a true father figure to them all. If anything happened to him, the entire Bat Family would go mad.

On the way back to Wayne Manor, they could still see mutated beasts rampaging through the city, though the overall threat was no longer severe.

Commissioner Gordon once again organized manpower and brought in heavier firepower. He also joined forces with the major gangs, using favorable terrain to fight back against the crazed beasts.

Beneath Wayne Manor, the Batcave.

"Wow. Just as I thought—how could the Birds of Prey be absent when something this huge happened in Gotham? Let me introduce myself: Jude Herbert, the world's greatest scientist."

At Jude's exaggerated introduction, Black Canary Dinah Laurel Lance and Huntress Helena Bertinelli both frowned. This unfamiliar man struck them as unbearably pompous.

"Sorry, I'm not interested in old men," Huntress said flatly.

"What? I'm an old man? I'm only twenty, okay?"

"But you look fifty. Of course, researchers tend to overwork their brains and age prematurely. I can understand that," Black Canary added, twisting the knife.

Jude looked at Ivy with an unhappy expression. "Do I look that old?"

Ivy shrugged. "You know, we haven't seen each other in a long time. When you rescued me from Arkham, I thought you'd just been overworking yourself lately."

Jude suddenly understood. After merging with Grandpa Rick, his appearance had indeed changed from that of a twenty-year-old to someone in his forties. He had not looked in a mirror recently and had forgotten about it.

"Just wait. It's nothing more than a vial of medicine. I'll be young again soon. The world's greatest scientist isn't a title I got for nothing."

"Then hurry up and make an antidote for the mutagen. I'll help too. There are still plenty of monsters in the city," Stephanie urged.

"Hey, girl! Don't talk to me in that tone. I do whatever I want. If I don't feel like it, I can make the mutations even more intense. Do you know Cronenberg? A world like that would be pretty interesting too."

Stephanie snorted. "I'll do it myself. I don't need you."

Jude chuckled. "Very good. How about a competition? You can ask anyone for help, while I only need a laboratory."

Stephanie raised an eyebrow. "Fine. But if I win, you have to give me that belt and those shoes. And preferably that Freeze Gun too. I can tell it's stronger than Mr. Freeze's weapon."

"Whatever. But what if I win?"

"What do you want? Money, or something else you've taken a liking to?"

Jude stroked his chin. "Bruce already promised to provide me with rare materials, so you don't have anything that interests me. How about this? If I win, you have to stand on top of Wayne Tower and admit in front of all Gotham City that I'm the world's greatest scientist."

Stephanie said speechlessly, "You're so boring. But I agree."

While Jude and Batgirl made their wager, everyone else gathered around a large containment tank. Soaking inside were the corpses of two Talons.

I'll take everyone's suggestions into consideration as appropriate. A new day has begun, and so has my second round of PK, but the numbers aren't looking too good. I hope everyone will give me more support.