Two Madmen

Two Madmen

Christmas,

Gotham,

0:02,

5 hours and 28 minutes until the Space-Time Portal opened.

Gotham Merchants Bank, vault.

Li Zu, wearing a Santa hat, tilted his head.

Deathstroke stood beside him without saying a word. The muzzle of the gun in his hand still gave off wisps of smoke, trembling faintly with his breathing.

Across from them, the female teller with a bizarre smile on her face was still laughing loudly. The terror in her eyes and the horrifying smile on her face formed the most dreadful picture.

"Hahahahaha!!"

Joker held a gun in his right hand and draped an arm around the teller's shoulders.

A blade had carved a huge smile into the corners of his mouth, splitting all the way to his cheekbones.

"You know me?" Joker leaned forward and looked at Li Zu.

Li Zu's earlier gaze, along with the "just as expected" smile when he took off Black Mask's mask, all showed that Li Zu knew him.

"Well, how should I put it?"

Li Zu tossed aside the rifle that had run out of ammunition, pulled a toy meat saw from his pocket, and casually swung it twice through the air. It made a soft swishing sound.

Even Deathstroke, standing beside Li Zu, looked at him strangely. From their interactions over this period, he had believed Li Zu was someone who knew neither fear nor terror.

His mind was like a muddied pool, where no fish, aquatic plants, shrimp, or crabs could be seen...

Yet this green-haired... Joker was dressed like a terrifying circus clown.

And this strange fellow had actually made Li Zu reveal a cautious expression.

"These two really are unexpectedly..." Deathstroke took two steps back and left the combat zone.

He looked at Joker, then at Li Zu.

The two men—one green-haired, ugly and horrifying; the other black-haired, with a sickly pale, listless complexion.

They were completely different, yet Deathstroke had a feeling.

"They really are alike..."

"How should I put it?" Li Zu raised the toy meat saw and pointed it at Joker. "If you don't like wearing dresses, then the two of us aren't very familiar~"

His heart was pounding wildly.

He could feel his "fear" of Joker. It was the fear of a rational soul toward a chaotic, insane monster.

At the same time, he could also feel "excitement." It was the excitement of the beast lurking within his body, a beast equally born of chaos and madness, upon seeing another beast.

That beast roared through Li Zu's mouth.

"Hahahahaha!!!" It was laughter.

"Gahahahaha!!!"

Deathstroke stood off to the side with his arms folded, watching the two madmen clutch their stomachs and laugh. It was like a ritual for some ancient god, two humanoid priests praying, chanting, and dancing, trying to bring chaos down upon them with bizarre, twisted movements.

Still laughing, Joker shoved the teller away. In that bizarre exchange of laughter, she was as inconspicuous as a small stone.

The teller fell to the ground and curled up, laughing wildly, adding a dull background note to the pair's strange laughter.

Li Zu and Joker walked toward each other. One held a plastic meat saw, the other a handgun. At that moment, they saw only each other.

The two laughing men looked as though they were about to embrace... like two old friends who had not met for years.

They stood face-to-face.

Bang!

Joker suddenly raised his right hand and fired without warning.

The smoking muzzle tilted sideways. The bullet grazed Li Zu's cheek, leaving a tiny wound on his face.

"Hahahahaha!!!" Joker was still laughing, clutching his stomach.

He slowly moved the gun until it pressed against Li Zu's brow.

The plastic meat saw in Li Zu's hand was already pressed against Joker's neck. It gradually transformed into steel teeth, piercing into Joker's throat.

Like a vicious tiger biting through Joker's skin, blood gushed steadily from the wound.

Neither of them gave an inch. They ignored the weapons that could take their lives at any moment, instead focusing on each other's eyes, trying to catch a trace of fear.

Joker put away his gun. "You really are a mad dog~"

He lost interest in Li Zu. He preferred shoving people into darkness and watching them struggle, but he loathed freaks who already belonged to the dark.

"Seeking to understand the truth of the world is madness to begin with." Li Zu also smiled and lowered his weapon.

He admitted that he went mad at times, but unlike Joker's aimless chaos and insanity, he had a goal. He was not some mad dog without purpose.

One of Deathstroke's eyes watched the two men the entire time, seeing them suddenly fight to the death, then suddenly make peace.

Bang!!

An explosion suddenly sounded overhead, and stones and broken bricks rained down from the ceiling.

It broke the atmosphere that made Deathstroke uncomfortable.

A black figure descended from above as well, landing in the center on one knee.

A pitch-black cape spread out across the ground.

Batman had arrived!

Batman rose from the ground and lightly shook the stone chips from his cape.

The situation here was completely different from what he had expected.

Corpses lay scattered all over the floor.

A car loaded with the emptied vault roared as its engine prepared to leave.

The teller on the ground was cackling wildly.

And a masked man stood nearby... He recognized him at once. Deathstroke, mercenary!

In an instant, Batman formed a deduction based on the scene before him.

The people impersonating Roman Sionis had wanted to empty Gotham Merchants Bank, but another group—Deathstroke and his companions—had also come here. The two sides had exchanged gunfire and fought, leaving behind this field of corpses and blood.

Not far from Batman.

A green-haired freak with a smile carved into his mouth by a blade held a gun and stared at him curiously, his eyes filled with interest.

The man in the Santa hat whom Batman had encountered atop Blackgate Penitentiary also stood there holding a meat saw. He looked at Batman with anticipation, as though he were waiting to watch a good show.

Two freaks, both wearing smiles.

"Where is Roman Sionis?" He swept his gaze around before finally fixing it on the green-haired freak.

Both his instincts and the clues at the scene pointed to one thing: this green-haired freak had to be connected to Roman Sionis's disappearance.

"Batman, Batman, Batman, Batman~~~" Joker threw back his head and let out a bizarre cackling laugh.

He suddenly swung his gun around and pointed it at the teller curled up on the ground, laughing wildly.

"Hahahahaha." The teller continued laughing, with no intention of dodging.

Batman immediately lunged toward the teller, wrapped his arms around her, and rolled away across the ground.

But the gunshot never came.

When Batman helped the teller up from the ground and turned around, he saw that Joker had merely been holding his gun on him without firing.

"Gahahahaha!"

Joker fired. He laughed as he shot, catching Batman completely off guard.

All three shots struck places that were not fatal, yet painful enough.

Batman fell to the ground, his body twitching.

Several minutes later,

When Batman clutched his chest and struggled to his feet, Joker, the Santa hat, and Deathstroke had already left in the armored truck.

Beep, beep, beep—

A timed explosive had been thrown in front of Batman.

Thanks to "Cosmic Voice of Blind Idiotism" for the 1,000 Qidian Coins donation.

(End of Chapter)