Long ago—not when The Batman Who Laughs embraced Mandrakk and transformed himself, but even earlier, when The Batman Who Laughs had just begun to be transformed by the Joker Virus—he had already completely lost all sense of pain.
The kind of pain that made normal creatures suffer, that was unpleasant and that they would do everything possible to avoid, had become a massive dopamine rush that left The Batman Who Laughs addicted.
He began instinctively pursuing pain, whether his own or someone else's. No matter what kind it was, it filled The Batman Who Laughs with satisfaction.
He should have been changed by the Laughing Gas Virus long ago. He should no longer have been a normal creature. Haha! Hehe! He was one of the Laughers. He had been such a freak for many years.
But now... it seemed everything had changed.
The sense of pain that had long since fallen silent groaned and voiced its discontent to The Batman Who Laughs. Yet he felt no pleasure in the pain, only exhaustion.
The world had changed in The Batman Who Laughs's eyes. It was no longer gloomy and dark as it had once been, as though someone who had been blind for a long time had suddenly seen a little color again.
The Batman Who Laughs felt his thoughts settling into calmness, as if he had no emotions. He still clearly remembered his plans: stealing Doctor Manhattan's power, taking the Total Aggregate, creating Quantum Batman, replacing him, and controlling the entire DC Multiverse—
Yes, he remembered everything, and he empathized with the self who had made those plans.
In truth, he was no different from before. He was still The Batman Who Laughs and still intended to carry out his plans. But his top priority now was figuring out what