Marvel: Godhood Unlocked, I Choose Sci-Magic Dual Cultivation

As he went, he saw more victims: Killer Moth without his armor, Calendar Man, Riddler...

These were still somewhat famous criminals. Even more dead were the nameless inmates with mental disorders.

Batman found the sight horrifying, his heart heavy.

He hurried to the innermost room, where he saw the Arkham Knight, and...

Joker.

"Quite the dramatic scene, isn't it?"

Joker looked delighted when he saw Batman.

"I knew it. Our fates have long been bound together, Little Bat, whether you agree or not."

Batman paid no attention to Joker's nonsense. His eyes remained fixed on the armed Arkham Knight.

"Stop this now!"

The Arkham Knight turned around, his Electronic Eye regarding him without emotion. "Why?"

"His crimes should be judged by the law, not by personal vigilantism."

"You think he's just a vigilante? Hahahahaha!" Joker burst into laughter.

"Poor Little Bat, you're wrong. He's an Avenger!"

"This isn't an execution of justice against evil. It's purely a personal grudge."

Joker turned to the Arkham Knight as though admiring his most satisfactory creation.

"Look at him. Isn't he wonderful? This is my masterpiece!"

Bang—!

The Arkham Knight shot Joker in the left leg. Using a large-caliber round, he blasted half of Joker's lower leg into a pile of mangled flesh.

He said coldly, "I hope you enjoy this pain."

Even a lunatic like Joker could not help but howl in agony.

Yet he was laughing at the same time. He truly was insane to the core.

Batman threw a Batarang at the Arkham Knight. The other man fired several shots, blowing it apart and releasing a cloud of smoke.

He immediately switched his vision mode, but all he could see was darkness.

"What's going on?"

The AI swiftly ran a diagnostic and replied:

"It's Electronic Smoke. It has infected the sensors' operation."

The Arkham Knight's mask relied on dozens of external sensors working in coordination to provide vision.

He quickly understood Batman's plan.

"Heh. Do you think I care about the identity beneath my mask as much as you do, Bruce Wayne?"

Bruce's advancing steps suddenly halted. He had heard a familiar voice, and he raised his head in disbelief.

As the smoke cleared, the Arkham Knight lifted his Electronic Mask, revealing Jason's more mature face.

"Jason!"

Even with the searing pain in his calf, Joker could not help bursting into laughter at the sight.

"I won! Little Bat, hahahahaha!"

Jason raised his gun to fire while Bruce was stunned, but he suddenly discovered that it had malfunctioned. He immediately realized it was because of the Electronic Smoke from earlier.

"You even planted a virus in it?"

Though it could not disable the suit for long, it was enough time for Batman to do plenty.

Jason was furious, and he regretted not killing Joker immediately instead of wasting time talking...

"That's why I told you long ago: when you do something like this, don't talk so much."

Jason looked up. Batman's expression changed as well, and he followed suit.

The ceiling was suddenly smashed open, and a red figure descended from above.

"Since neither law nor justice can punish this Joker, let God decide his fate."

Dane smiled at Batman, spread his palm, and drew out a mass of lightning.

The lightning formed into a spear and instantly pierced Joker through the chest. The wound was charred black, without a trace of blood.

Joker was dead.

Red Hood Is Born

"You crossed the line!"

Batman said in a low voice.

Dane looked at him seriously. "How so?"

"You shouldn't have killed him!"

"Didn't he deserve to die?"

"Only the law can judge fairly..."

"Bruce, I'm sick of hearing that from you."

Before Dane could speak, Jason interrupted Batman's lecture.

"No matter how logically or legally correct your reasons are, they don't change the fact that you've been allowing Joker to ravage Gotham."

"Jason, we can't do things this way. We can't be so... simple and brutal."

"It might be convenient for now, but in the long run, it carries enormous risks."

"I agree with you." Dane smiled.

"That's exactly why we need to form the Justice League."

"Batman, you won't deny that you might lose control one day, will you?"

"If you lose control, who will stop you?"

Batman fell silent.

Dane continued:

"Only us. Power needs checks and balances, but Batman, Gotham has no force capable of keeping you in check."

Batman finally spoke:

"If I lose control, I'll make Batman disappear forever!"

Dane believed that, because Batman had even made emergency plans against himself.

But whether they would truly work was another matter. After all, somewhere in the multiverse existed a thing called The Batman Who Laughs, something even more troublesome than Injustice Superman.

At worst, Injustice Superman wreaked havoc on Earth and could not even be bothered to venture into space. The Batman Who Laughs, however, had devastated countless multiverses.

So, as a rational person, Dane believed in Batman's determination, but not in uncertain possibilities.

"Bruce, after fighting Joker for so many years, have you realized something? You and he are very alike."

With Bruce's intelligence, he had surely considered that possibility before, but his pride would not allow him to admit it.

"You're both equally intelligent, and both have your own unique views of the world."

"You're both obsessed with turning the world into what you want it to be. Only your methods differ."

Dane picked up Joker's corpse and drew a circle at his feet, placing him inside it.

In some versions, Joker's blood carried the Joker virus. Better safe than sorry.

He sat on the stool Joker had just used and, when no one was paying attention, used divine power to destroy every trace of Joker's blood he touched.

"But in my view, the two of you have gone to completely opposite extremes."

"He goes to great lengths just to set the world on fire. For the sake of amusement, he tirelessly causes trouble for you."

"Even if you beat him bloody, even if he fails again and again, he never loses heart."

"Because it's fun. As long as you don't kill him, he can keep running out of Arkham to play with you."

"He must have tried to make you kill him before, right?"

Batman clenched his fists.

"I think a large part of why you insist on your no-killing rule is because Joker tried to make you kill, and you didn't want to lose to him."

Dane smiled knowingly.

"Bruce, you're very arrogant. I believe you know that yourself."

"But you have enough wisdom to avoid the side effects of that arrogance."

"Joker is different. He's another you."

"If the one who walked out of that alley all those years ago had not become Batman, then he would have become Joker."

"What are you trying to say?" Batman asked.

"When it comes to Joker, any normal person knows that a lunatic like him should not be allowed to keep living."

"Anyone in this world can die. You can, I can, Jason can. Why can't Joker?"

Batman turned to Jason. "You think so too?"

"Of course."

"Then you can no longer be Robin."

The design of Jason's suit began to change. The pointed ears vanished, and his mask turned bright red.

Other than the blood-red color, there was nothing on it.

"From now on, call me Red Hood!"

Rather than a superhero, he looked more like an assassin.

Even Deathstroke did not radiate such murderous intent.

Batman understood what he meant and turned to Dane.

"You said you formed an organization called the Justice League. Is it meant to carry out killing missions?"

"Of course not. It was established to deal with global disasters."

"Capturing and handling ordinary criminals is not actually within our scope of responsibility."

"Global disasters?"

"That's classified."

Batman glanced at him, then suddenly said:

"I want to join."

"Then you'll have to undergo the organization's evaluation first. You can join only if you pass."

What a joke. I invited you politely before, and you refused.

Now you want in whenever you feel like it? It's not that simple.

But Batman's expression did not change. "What will the evaluation involve, and when does it begin?"

Dane looked around and felt that this place was not bad.

"Here. Right now."

"The evaluation is simple. One member of the organization will assess your strength."

"If you win, you stay. If you lose, then sorry—we can work together another time."

Batman's mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.

"I'm not going to fight you, am I?"