Doctor Quinzel

Blackgate Penitentiary,

The helicopter landed. After Li Zu disembarked, he entered through the rooftop route he knew best, stepping through the howling cold wind.

Police-uniformed thug impersonators escorted him the entire way. Posing as Gotham cops, they cleared every checkpoint, preventing the armed forces stationed outside from shooting down the helicopter.

Li Zu's trip to Blackgate Penitentiary was as effortless as walking through empty space.

The moment he entered the prison, he saw "merry christmas" spray-painted in green on the wall opposite him, along with a crude Joker smiley mark.

Ignoring the blood at his feet and the prisoners whose faces were filled with madness and excitement, the wall might have seemed like an ordinary joke—one that did not look quite so lethal.

The cheering prisoners in their uniforms were like unbridled wild horses.

They crowded around Li Zu and cheered. Some recognized him and cowered off to the side.

Following the arrows leading him onward, Li Zu stopped before a television set sitting on the desk where the prison guards used to work. Blood was splattered across the screen. It seemed the prisoners had gone to considerable effort to get that TV—and sacrificed quite a few guards in the process.

"Welcome back, welcome back!! Hee hee hahahahaha!!"

After a burst of static, that pale smiling face appeared on the screen—green hair, and carefully applied thick lipstick... meant to conceal the scars at the corners of his mouth.

"You planning to put on a big show?" Li Zu turned his head from side to side. "Where are the guests and the audience?"

"I need you to do me a tiny little favor." Rather than answer Li Zu's question, Joker raised a finger and pinched his fingertips together. "Just a teeny bit. Don't you want to have a little clash with our superhero?"

Li Zu stared at the television. He was certain Joker was staring back at him.

"That would definitely be... interesting!"

Smack!

The television lost its signal, and static filled the screen once more.

Joker believed Li Zu would not refuse his request. That was a madman's confidence.

And Li Zu truly would not refuse, because there was no reason for him to hide. A grand finale was far more intriguing.

"Take me to the stage," Li Zu said to the prisoner in the distance, who had turned timid the instant he saw him. "I want to watch the grand finale too."

The prisoner stood, rubbing his bald head. "Follow me."

They crossed two flights of stairs and passed through the most deranged section.

Then they were drawn in by a woman's furious curses.

"Why have you tied up a lady?"

Li Zu stopped and looked past the thirty-odd steps leading downward, his gaze settling on a figure bound to a chair.

She was a sexy female doctor in a white lab coat, glasses, and black stockings.

"Get away! Get away! Get away!" She sounded panicked.

Li Zu walked toward the doctor and stopped in front of her.

His eyes swept over her fair, slender neck, cinched tightly by hemp rope, and her beautiful face.

"It was Joker. He only tied up this doctor, said a few words, and then left." The prisoner beside him spat, greedily eyeing the doctor. "The consequences are going to be serious when a woman shows up in a place like this!"

"This is Joker's gift to us. A christmas present!"

The prisoner's words struck a chord. Seeing the sexy, alluring doctor, the exhilarated prisoners slowly began to close in.

She was a little lamb thrown into a pack of wolves, and one bloody maw after another had opened wide.

Bang!

A gunshot rang out.

"Ah!!" The woman screamed. She had indeed been startled by the sudden gunshot.

The revelry stopped dead. Everyone stared at Li Zu. He held a pistol out to the side, though just seconds ago his hands had been empty.

Li Zu did not even look sideways, but the bullet from his raised pistol struck the man preparing to take off his pants with perfect accuracy, blasting through his temple.

The corpse collapsed, giving off a stench foul enough to disgust even carrion eaters.

Blood gushed out, pooling on the floor.

"Hm, I actually hit him this time~" Li Zu was very pleased with his marksmanship. He turned the pistol back into a toy and slipped it into his pocket before walking toward the doctor with a smile.

He bent down, brought his face close to hers, and said in a very gentle voice, "I really hate rapists. In my court, they get the death penalty~"

In the distance, those who had been about to come over for a share shuddered.

Mist had already gathered in the doctor's eyes.

It was not gratitude, but fear.

"Please rest assured~"

Li Zu's eyes swept over the doctor's chest, and he deliberately emphasized her name. "Doctor Harleen Quinzel~"

He strode away, leaving Doctor Harleen Quinzel frozen in place along with the prisoners, who did not dare move.

Whoosh~

A gust of black wind swept past,

A shadow clung to the ceiling, hanging beyond the reach of the lights.

"What happened here?"

He leaped down, swept his leg into the two prisoners behind Doctor Quinzel, then rapidly punched down the others before stopping in front of the doctor's chair.

"Batman?" The doctor stood and rubbed her shoulder. "I didn't expect you to really exist."

"Doctor Quinzel?" Batman did not understand why the doctor was so mentally composed. This was not how a kidnapping victim should behave, but it made asking questions easier.

"I am a doctor at Arkham Asylum. I came today to perform psychological evaluations on several people," she said. "But a riot broke out a few hours ago, and they caught me. I even ended up in the hands of a green-haired guy, but he was quite interesting~"

"Where is Joker?" he asked.

"I just saw that man in the Santa hat—the one who can turn toys into real guns—run that way." Doctor Quinzel pointed behind her. "That path."

Batman nodded. "Head from here to the roof. The police will take you back from there. I've already cleared the dangers along the way."

"Also, Doctor, dressing like that is actually very dangerous." In the end, Batman could not help offering advice to the scantily clad doctor.

"That's a normal reaction for men. They can't help looking."

Doctor Quinzel clearly did not buy it.

After personally watching Doctor Harleen Quinzel leave, Batman turned and pursued Li Zu in the direction he had gone.

"Why is it him?"

The moment Li Zu entered an "arena," an annoyed voice came from above.

Bane wore a mask and a strange set of infusion tubes embedded in his skin, green energy flowing through them.

He was even stronger than before.

"Hahahahaha!!" Joker was the one laughing madly beside Bane.

Clutching his stomach and pointing at Li Zu, Joker howled with laughter. "So happy you're back~ Let's have a... deadly joke with Batman."

"No need!!"

Bane was the first to refuse. He roared and dropped from above, the shadow of his enormous fist engulfing Li Zu.

Boom!!

Dust flew everywhere,

"He really is impatient," Joker said with a curl of his lip.

(End of chapter)