Starting in DC: The Joker Was Dead

How did Shazo survive?

Of course, someone provided him with help and protection.

It's not Orphanage!

Let me emphasize this: Gotham's Orphanage are Hell!!

Four-year-old Shazo went in; it almost ended his life, just a hair's breadth away.

That time, his genetic match was 2 percentage points lower than that of another child.

This is the only difference: Shazo survived, while the other child "fell off the bed in the middle of the night and broke his neck."

Shazo and that child lived in the same dormitory, and the records show that he didn't even live in the Orphanage on the day he fell to his death.

A few days later, when he returned as a corpse, Shazo ran his hand through the wound on his chest and confirmed that he had no heart, no internal organs, and no eyeballs under his eyelids.

Terrified, Shazo didn't even bother to wash his hands before escaping the Orphanage and becoming a homeless child again.

After that, he desperately avoided people like the police and social welfare volunteers, but he was able to survive thanks to the help of ordinary people.

They're just ordinary people.

They are company employees, bakery workers, repairmen, construction workers, department store sales clerks, and so on.

They are the underprivileged of Gotham City, ordinary people whose consciences have not been completely extinguished, and the true producers of this dark city.

A smile appeared on Shazo's face, a smile so gentle and warm.

"So, Gotham City isn't just pure Hell after all. I knew it! How could pure Hell possibly function?"

"Sigh, how could I forget these people who work so diligently and struggle so hard to survive?"

"It seems their spirits have been corrupted by the atmosphere of despair in Gotham City."

"Hehehehe, this can't go on. I can't be an ungrateful bastard."

"Oh dear, where should I begin—who should I kill—"

Suddenly, a sharp ringing sound rang out. It turned out that the Joker Gang had received a message on their phone. The message was very simple, just a small part of a robbery plan.

Shazo's assigned task is to rob a school bus tomorrow, then drive it into the Main Gate at 2:20 PM to pick up the others.

No, to meet someone.

Shazo tilted his head, looked at "a person" several times, and then suddenly laughed.

"Haha, who was it? It's you, Heath Ledger!"

"I've been hanging out with the Joker Gang for a year now, and I've never seen the real Joker. I wonder which version it is. Turns out it's the craziest and most insane Joker ever."

"Let me think... he also dropped the school bus driver, right? ---- Interesting!"

"This is so much fun!"

"So they're taking me seriously because I've been in the Joker Gang for too long?"

"No wonder the Joker Gang doesn't have many traitors; it turns out they have a strict 'expiration date.'"

"Hahaha, this is hilarious!"

"You mad Joker, can you withstand my power?"

"I'm really looking forward to it----"

The next afternoon.

14:00

Two men wearing Joker masks set up a zipline from the Skyscraper opposite the bank and glided to the top of the building with remarkable skill.

14:02

Three men wearing Joker masks drove a black SUV toward the bank's main entrance.

Throughout the journey, the driver and the two people in the passenger seat kept complaining that there were just too many people involved.

They also complained that the Joker planned the events were getting paid for just coming up with ideas, which was too much.

14:03

The two people on the rooftop began tampering with the electrical distribution box, cutting off the alarm signal.

14:04

The three passengers got off the vehicle, carrying large suitcases and armed with automatic submachine guns and Pistol, and rushed into the bank.

Two of them skillfully began the robbery process: firing shots to intimidate, knocking down guards, taking hostages, and verbally threatening them.

Pull the alarm off.

The third silent Joker unfolded his duffel bag, appearing timid and shy.

The two skilled robbers took control of the bank lobby within a minute, but they overlooked the Main Hall manager's office.

Clearly, these two guys aren't locals; they're from out of town.

In Gotham, who doesn't know that the bank lobby manager is a ruthless bank robber?

14:07

The professionals on the rooftop cut off all external communications to the bank, and then he was killed by his tall accomplice behind him.

"One less person means one more dollar."

14:08

One of the skilled robbers, carrying equipment, entered the bank's vault and began to target the security door.

Another robber used a rapid-fire, monologue-like rhetoric to intimidate the bank employees and prevent them from making any rash moves.

The cowardly robber pulled Grenade from his bag, forced the bank staff to grip it tightly, and then pulled the safety, leaving them utterly terrified and unable to do anything.

14:10

The bank Main Hall manager stepped in, using a shotgun with its barrel sawed off to take down the frantically intimidating robber who was trying to provide backup.

The manager then subdued the cowardly robber to the other end of the hall, but was instead used by the tall robber who rushed down from the roof to fight back, injuring his Right Side thigh and abdomen.

14:11

The tall robber was very dissatisfied, but time was of the essence. He could only take his backpack to the vault, where he worked with the guy who had been electrocuted to break down the vault Main Gate, and then killed another professional.

14:19

The burly robber, his bag smuggled full of cash, returned to the bank lobby. He then raised his gun and aimed at the cowardly robber. "I bet the Joker instructed me that once I've filled the bag with money, you can kill me."

The plan he received included three murders to increase his profits. As a professional robber, he couldn't help but suspect that his last accomplice was planning to kill him.

The cowardly robber replied, "No, no, no, I killed the bus driver."

The tall, burly robber was dumbfounded. "What bus driver? There's a sixth person?"

14:20

Shazo arrived on time, reversed his car and crashed into the bank, knocking the tall robber flying.

[It's really interesting. The process of robbery is a process of constantly wearing down one's accomplices. This kind of frenzied killing would terrify not only the bank employees, but even the Main Hall manager, who came from a gang, wouldn't be able to react in time.]

[What a master manipulator!]

After helping to move the money bag, Shazo unsurprisingly took half a magazine of bullets. He let out an exaggerated scream and fell down next to the school bus.

The confident Joker didn't even bother to check whether Shazo was alive or dead, and threw the last bag of money—the bag of money that the skilled robber had looted from the Main Hall —into the school bus.

Then he was drawn in by the Main Hall manager's resentful questioning, and patiently walked over to him, proclaiming his crazy philosophy. "My principle is, what doesn't kill you makes you even weirder."

Then he removed the Joker mask, revealing Joker face painted with oil paint.

That twisted, insane aura, the maniacal scars on his cheeks from knife cuts—all of this proves one thing: this is the Joker himself.

Upon realizing this, the Main Hall manager's eyes widened, and he even forgot about the Grenade shoved into his mouth. He stared at the Joker in a daze of fear, his mind completely blank.

"No, no, no, that shouldn't be said." Shazo was finally satisfied, especially after seeing the Joker's true face, which made his heart tremble.

I'm so excited! This is the idol of all the Gotham criminals, the immortal, limitless crime star, the supervillain with no Esper Powers — the Joker!!

I'm going to kill you!

Shazo Zuo stood up laughing, removed his Joker mask, revealing a Monkey mask, or more accurately, a mask of Son Goku).

He said to the Joker turned to look at him, "It should be said: What doesn't kill me makes me stronger."

"That's what Nietzsche said, right?"

The Joker tilted his head, asking in confusion, "Bulletproof vest? Esper Powers?"

Shazo spread his arms and answered frankly, "Of course, it's Esper Powers."

The bullets that struck his body fell out from the tears in his clothes, each one bright and intact, showing no signs of impact.

The Joker's pupils contracted, and he reached behind his back to pull out a Pistol, firing repeatedly at Shazo while simultaneously turning and running to the left.

The Joker flipped over and grabbed a submachine gun from the fallen, skilled robber, snatched a Grenade from a hostage, then turned and opened fire wildly, throwing Grenade as well.

Rat-a-tat-tat----Boom!!

Shazo didn't move at all, not even changing the way he spread his arms; he simply turned his head to watch the Joker react.

It's like watching a Joker.

We should take more time to look at it; if we don't now, we might not be able to see it again.

It is said that as long as Batman lives, the Joker will continue to emerge, but by then, the new Joker will no longer be the purely insane Joker of today.

The Joker dropped his gun because he saw all the bullets he had fired, as well as shrapnel from the Grenade explosion, hovering in front of Shazo.

He tilted his head again and exclaimed, "It really is Esper Powers, and it even makes me immune to bullets!"

The Joker mimicked Shazo, opening his arms wide. "You seem to be a member of my Joker Gang?"

Shazo lowered his hands, and bullets and shrapnel fell to the ground. "Yes, I've been in the Joker Gang for a year now, and Luck I'm still alive."

The Joker sighed, "A year, that's a long time."

"But for someone with such powerful Esper Powers as you, surviving is to be expected; it has nothing to do with Luck."

"I don't understand, you could have killed me directly, why did it take you so long?"

Shazo: "Can I say this is a coincidence?"

Joker: "A very good reason. The world is always full of coincidences."

"Only a coincidence could have allowed you to appear before me so suddenly, giving me no time to prepare and pushing me into a hopeless Extremis I was certain to die."

He clapped with his outstretched hands, his elbows deliberately straightened, making the clapping exaggerated. "Hahaha, well done! Finally, someone can kill me! Hahaha!"

"Ah~~, can I ask you why you killed me?"

Shazo thought for a moment and said, "How should I put it? I'm an orphan. I've been wandering around Gotham since I was four years old. It was only because many kind people shared their food with me that I was able to live to the age where I can fight people."

"I owe Gotham a life, I owe all those who earn their own living through work a life, I have to repay this city, I have to repay those kind people."

"Now that I've coincidentally gained power, I can finally do something, so I want to give it a try."

The Joker asked in surprise, "Your solution is to kill me?"

Shazo Zuo nodded. "Mm."

The Joker laughed loudly, "Killing people can solve Gotham's problems? That's hilarious! If Batman heard this, he'd Daya."

Shazo said, "Gotham is so rotten because of your recklessness, isn't it? Killing you might not eliminate the root cause and could even breed new evils, but at least we can have some peace and quiet before the next supervillain emerges."

The Joker nodded in agreement. "You're right. If we kill fast enough, most people can live a better life."

He pinched his right index finger and thumb together, leaving a tiny gap between the fingertips. "Just a little, no more."

Shazo scoffed, "It's no better than nothing."

"Besides, while you're alive, there are far too many self-destructive criminals you can incite. The improvement caused by killing you won't be just a little bit, but a billion times more."

"Hehehehe, the thought of taking down the Joker as my first step in changing Gotham is truly exciting."

The Joker's eyes widened, as if he were caught in some kind of agitation. "You're a madman too, that's good."

"Come on! Kill me. Batman never dared to kill me, afraid of going insane. I never thought I'd die at the hands of another madman."

Shazo roared, "Don't compare me to that idiot Batman! He's a coward, an arrogant, suspicious, shameless, double-standard coward!"

"He doesn't even have the courage to kill, yet he wants to protect Gotham. He's just a spoiled brat who treats Gotham like a playground, playing a real-life game of morality and emotion."

He's just playing around!

"But the Gotham are willing to pay with their lives as the price for playing the game and protecting their sense of moral sanctity."

"Batman is a coward, the true source of evil!"

The Joker laughed, a hideous and terrifying laugh, "Hahahaha, well said! Batman is a coward! He's the true source of evil! Ahahaha!"

"Come on, kill me! Make Batman go crazy, make this game even more fun!"

"I will die, but the Joker will not die. As long as Gotham exists, the Joker will not die."

"Next time, it'll be the Joker who murders you—"

Shazo Zuo pushed Son Goku's mask up, revealing a smile even more exaggerated than the Joker's, "As you wish, I look forward to the Joker's return, I look forward to your assassination, I can't wait to experience the Joker's conspiracy."

As he spoke, Shazo Zuo clasped his hands together as if he were choking someone, and then suddenly twisted them. The Joker's neck, several meters away, twisted 270 degrees in sync, breaking his cervical vertebrae.

The Joker blinked, a final smile appearing on his face, a smile that would remain forever fixed on his dying expression.

Then the Joker died.