Deadly Duo

"I didn't expect it to be you..." Batman knelt on one knee, gasping for breath, his face deathly pale.

"Hahaha..." Harley laughed. "That's right. I'm the one who caught you, Batman. And now I'm going to turn you into the Joker..."

After hearing Harley's plan, Batman's expression grew grave. "I never imagined you were this cunning... You're even scarier than the Joker... Hahahahaha..."

As he spoke, Batman suddenly doubled over laughing. His exaggerated grin startled even Harley.

"What are you laughing at?"

"I'm laughing because you look so smart, yet the Joker fooled you this badly." Batman roared with laughter. "It would make sense if you were an idiot, but you're not."

"No, he didn't fool me..." Harley's heart raced. Batman could no longer fight back, yet she found herself afraid of him.

"He didn't fool you? Then how did Arkham Asylum's specially appointed psychological consultant for criminal patients become Harley Quinn?" Batman said bluntly. "If I had to guess, you only wanted to give the Joker therapy at first. Then you fell for one of his stories."

"Let me guess. Was it the one where his father broke his nose? Or the one where his mother imagined she was a billionaire's mistress?"

"Oh, so it was the abusive father." Batman read the answer on Harley's face. "The Joker's made up more versions of that story than I can count. I could tell you two off the top of my head."

And Batman did just that, recounting two versions of the Joker's tragic childhood.

"A gambling dad, a sick mother, a broken home, and a broken boy," Roland summed up from the sidelines. "The Joker had it pretty rough."

"You... you..." Tears streamed down Harley's face, but she refused to listen. His words had struck a nerve. She pulled out a dagger and moved to finish Batman off.

"Damn it!" A gunshot rang out, knocking the dagger from Harley's hand.

It was an astonishing shot, and the Joker was the one who had fired it.

"Another gatecrasher?" Roland kicked Batman away and charged at the Joker.

Furious, the Joker pulled an extravagantly designed Thompson submachine gun from behind his back and sprayed bullets at Roland.

"I'll hold off the Joker! Find a way to deal with Batman!" Roland shouted to Harley, rolling clear of the bullets.

"Got it!" Harley wiped away her tears and went to finish Batman, only for him to recover without her noticing and kick her away.

Roland dodged the Joker's bullets, deliberately drawing him toward Batman.

The Joker pulled out an assortment of bizarre-looking but deadly gadgets, throwing the fight into even greater chaos.

Within minutes, it had become a two-on-two fight: Roland and Harley against the Joker and Batman. Gordon, who had served as bait, watched from the sidelines with his mouth hanging open, at a loss for words.

"I'll draw both their attention. Use the tranquilizer gun to take Batman down," Roland whispered to Harley.

"Bat-brain, keep yourself safe. I'm going to twist their heads off and fire them out of a cannon myself!" the Joker murmured to Batman.

The next instant, Roland stamped his foot against the concrete with a thunderous boom and charged at the two of them like a tank. The Joker produced a massive handgun from somewhere and fired at him.

But Batman struck without warning, snapping handcuffs around the Joker's wrists, while Harley shot Roland with a tranquilizer dart.

"Ugh." Roland pitched forward onto the ground.

"Harley Quinn!" the Joker snapped.

"Puddin', I'm coming to save you!" Harley fired several shots at Batman, forcing him back, then picked the Joker's handcuffs open in a few quick motions.

"You know, I've never liked being called 'Puddin'.'" The Joker gave a cold smile and threw Harley into the sea.

Batman jolted and jumped in after her. Roland sprang up from the ground and hurled a gas grenade filled with anesthetic at the Joker, knocking him unconscious.

"That takes care of it. And I even got an unexpected bonus." Roland dusted off his hands. When Harley had been thrown into the sea, a notification had suddenly appeared.

[Goodwill Value +100]

[Redemption Value +1]

"Harley Quinn should finally see the Joker for who he really is. At least this trip wasn't a waste." Roland lit a cigarette and untied Gordon.

"I hope so," Gordon said. "If she knows the Joker is an irredeemable madman and still chooses to believe in him, there's not much we can do."

"Yeah." Roland took a deep drag on his cigarette. A sharp taste seemed to pierce his tongue and shoot straight into his brain, bringing an indescribable sensation.

"Shit! What little bastard put chili powder in my cigarettes?" Roland couldn't stop sneezing.

"I did that to my dad when I was little," Gordon said, laughing at the sight of him.

"Could you two give me a hand?" Batman emerged carrying Harley, who looked utterly defeated.

The seawater had washed away her garish makeup. For a moment, she almost looked like Dr. Harleen Quinzel again.

Before long, Gordon called an ambulance to take Harley to Arkham Asylum. Batman left before it arrived.

"You know, Albert Einstein once said, 'Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results,'" Gordon said suddenly.

"Uh... I only know he said genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration," Roland said. He knew that quote all too well; he had used it countless times in school essays.

But Roland had never heard the quote Gordon mentioned.

"What I mean is, could Harley be drawn to the Joker's mad charisma all over again?"

"Who knows?" Roland said, unconcerned. "If it happens, we'll deal with it then."

That wasn't what worried Roland. He wondered whether steering Harley back onto the right path a second time would earn him more Redemption Value.

If it would, he might have to give Harley Quinn a taste of being captured and released seven times.

The thought made Roland look forward to it.

"What's that look on your face?" Commissioner Gordon asked, seeing Roland's eager expression. "You're practically drooling. You're not thinking of doing something to Harley, are you?"

"Don't be ridiculous. Do I look like that kind of guy?"