The Joker listened to his men's report with a sour expression. After a long moment, he raised his hand and shot the poor thug dead.
"So you just came crawling back like that? Useless! Idiots!" A maniacal grin spread across the Joker's white-painted face, startling the thugs around him. Fortunately, he only took out his anger on the corpse before continuing.
"Well, well. Another hypocritical bastard in this world. He silently took out five of my men. Should I call him impressive or an idiot?"
He executed a graceful waltz step.
"But no matter how impressive he is, it's all just the dying whispers of a desperate man. Once my adorable little toys explode, all of Gotham City will descend into chaos and hell! Heh heh heh~~"
"Bang!"
A tremendous crash interrupted his muttering. Through the clouds of dust, a burly figure appeared before the Joker and the few remaining thugs, as if descending from the heavens.
"Too bad you won't live to see it." The newcomer spoke with a hint of amusement. "Heath Ledger!"
"Who? Who did you say?" The Joker was still the Joker. Faced with a scene straight out of a play, he recovered from his initial shock and returned to his usual composure and madness. "A fresh, delicious little hottie?"
"And who might you be? A superhero? What a wonderful surprise! I love surprises!"
The snake began showing off his silver tongue. "Heh heh heh... What's the point of doing such a hypocritical, boring job? Why not join me and add a little fun to this fragile, boring world?"
Unnoticed by anyone, a sharp little knife slipped silently from his sleeve.
"Not interested? Then how about blowing Gotham City sky-high? What do you think of that?"
A flash of blade-light streaked through the air.
Aeo had already had Eiffel monitoring a large area around the intersection of Fifth and Third Avenues. Just like Aeo and Batman's group, the Joker and his men would inevitably leave traces in the world if they moved.
Sure enough, when the Joker sent men to kidnap Harvey Dent and Rachel, several suspicious vehicles drove out of a short, gloomy building. Then, after Aeo and Batman's side rescued the hostages, several suspicious people hurried into the same place. Well, that confirmed where the Joker was hiding.
After dealing with the hostage situation, Aeo rushed straight back as soon as he got the news. With his X-ray vision sweeping the area, the Joker and his accomplices were like rats in broad daylight, with nowhere to hide!
"So the Joker's nothing special when you have the advantage of an asymmetric attack..." Aeo sighed softly from the sky.
When the Joker suddenly turned on him, Aeo merely looked at him with pity and stood perfectly still, letting him do as he pleased. The Joker's eyes gleamed with delight and excitement, but the result was...
Snap. The knife broke. The bullets flattened.
The Joker stared at it all in astonishment. "What kind of monster are you...?"
Aeo smiled.
"It's ironic to hear that from you, Mr. Joker..." Without turning around, he casually grabbed a chair. Then—crash!
A thug went flying as if he'd been hit by a cannonball.
"..."
"After all, you used to be my idol..."
Crash. Another thug.
"Even if it was only in a movie, still..." Aeo blinked. A sizzling beam of heat vision, unique to Fortier, burst forth, blasting away and killing the third, fourth, and fifth thugs.
The scorching glow in his eyes slowly faded, and Aeo returned to normal. Meeting the Joker's dumbfounded stare, he shrugged. "There's no denying it. Heath Ledger's portrayal of you was incredibly captivating. You couldn't help but get drawn in..."
Bang! Moving at super speed, he killed the last thug as he tried to flee through the door, then burst through the wall with another bang and returned to his original spot.
"..."
The Joker's expression shifted from astonishment to silence, then from silence to fury. He raised his hand and pressed the gun's muzzle against Aeo's forehead. "Who the fuck do you think you are? You actually think you can come here and play the madman with me..."
"Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang."
Only after emptying the entire clip did the Joker finally stop, panting.
"All right." Aeo gently pushed away the M9 pistol in front of him, the standard-issue 9mm military handgun. "The facts prove that you're not Heath Ledger after all. Yeah, you're way too ugly... Heath Ledger was a real handsome devil..."
"What.the.fuck^"
"Hey, relax. You're the Joker, remember..." Aeo jokingly raised a finger to his lips.
Thump! The stunned Joker was sent flying by Aeo, crashing through countless tables, chairs, pots, and other things along the way. When he finally landed, the great Mr. Joker was barely breathing.
"Who... the... fuck... are... you..."
Aeo's lips curled into a cruel smile. He walked slowly toward the once-infamous villain. "I know you might think this is unfair, and that you have a lot to say, but..."
"I'm not the ordinary guy I was when I watched the movie anymore, and you really aren't Heath Ledger, either, so..."
The Joker had no idea what the bastard was talking about. "..."
"Sorry, but you're going to die here." His declaration was calm, but cold.
"..." The blood-red blur before his eyes and the broken feeling throughout his body told him he really was going to die. That made the Joker—who had thought the newcomer was one of Batman's hypocritical superheroes—laugh an ugly laugh.
"You're different from them. Ruthless, cruel, powerful! The world will become more interesting because of you. You..."
Aeo shook his head. "You're still trying to 'corrupt' me with your dying breath..."
"No, that's not..."
He suddenly leaned close to the Joker. "Don't compare me to you!" Aeo snarled. "To someone who watched his entire planet's people fall like shooting stars, you and this world are both far too narrow-minded..."
The Joker stared at him in terror.
"You!"
"...Die." Aeo realized he'd said too much. "Heath Ledger!"
"!"
"I'm... not... called..."
The great supporting character breathed his last.
...,...
Bruce Wayne and his butler Alfred watched with grim expressions as the news anchor excitedly introduced the body being carried out on television.
"According to Director Gordon, the man was indeed the Joker, who caused such a sensation a while ago. He and his accomplices were killed in this abandoned parking lot..."
"VBS News..."
"According to Reporter Walker's report from the scene, broadcast by NBC..."
After changing the channel several times, Bruce found that the Joker's death was being reported everywhere. At last, he irritably switched off the 100-inch LCD television.
"Alfred, who could possibly have the power to track down the Joker before S.H.I.E.L.D. did...?" Bruce asked, his expression grim.
"Whoever it was, he's powerful and ruthless..." The Old Butler sounded concerned. "Master, I don't think you should keep investigating. Whatever else may be true, he saved Miss Rachel and dealt with the threat to Gotham City..."
"But power like that needs to be restrained!" Bruce declared firmly. "Otherwise, he'll be just like S.H.I.E.L.D.—acting without regard for the consequences, capricious and ruthless!"
The Old Butler had no answer.
After a long silence, he gave up. "In any case, Bruce, I only want you and Miss Rachel to be safe and happy. The rest..." Wisdom and acceptance shone through the wrinkles on the old man's face.
"...isn't really that important."
...,...
S.H.I.E.L.D.
Nick Fury, Hill, and Black Widow silently watched as another agent arrived in response to the news: Level Nine Agent Melinda May.
After a long moment, the big boss spoke. "Well, Agent Melinda, does this resemble anything you've been investigating over the past ten years?"
"!"
.
Before you continue