Batman and the Joker

After her abilities were tested, the Little Merfolk Miaomiao officially moved into the newly built "Water Park" at Wayne Manor.

The Water Park suited Miaomiao's body perfectly and came with all sorts of fun, fascinating things. The Little Merfolk, who had seen so little of the world, loved it so much she could hardly bear to leave.

Then there was the thoughtfully prepared Water Room. For the first time, Miaomiao slept on a soft, plump air mattress, topped with a four-piece bedding set of mermaid silk she had woven herself. Perfect!

Miaomiao had always loved sleeping, and now she was even less willing to get out of bed. Unless Alfred had food for her or Damian called her to watch a movie or play games, she had no desire to go out at all.

That was perfectly normal, really. Merfolk lived in water, so wasn't it only natural for them to enjoy staying in it?

No one thought much of it. During the day, those who had school went to school, and those who had work went to work.

At night, of course, those with "part-time jobs" went off to their "part-time jobs."

Their nightly patrols often ended at two or three in the morning. Lately, with more details to investigate, they could drag on until four or even five, and occasionally lasted straight through the night.

The Bat Family had long since grown used to this punishing, nocturnal schedule. Apart from Alfred, who worried about their health and reminded everyone to go to bed earlier and get more rest, none of them saw anything wrong with it.

And so their newest member, Miaomiao, noticed something very strange: at a certain time every night, everyone's presence would suddenly vanish from Wayne Manor.

At first, Miaomiao assumed this was some peculiar custom of humans from other lands and paid it little mind. But the clever Little Merfolk soon learned from television and books that the humans here were supposed to follow the same routine as those back home: "work at sunrise and rest at sunset."

Even if city-dwelling humans often stayed up late for one reason or another, surely an entire family shouldn't be running off into the city in the middle of the night instead of sleeping.

Miaomiao asked Damian, who told her to stay out of it. She asked Bruce, who merely patted her head and reassured her that she only needed to rest well and be herself. She asked Alfred, and Butler Batman smiled elegantly before asking what she wanted for dinner, effortlessly diverting the food-loving Little Merfolk's attention.

As for asking Tim...

One look at Tim's perpetually sleepy eyes and the coffee that never left his hand, and Miaomiao gave up on asking him. She felt that the poor boy already had it hard enough-she had tasted coffee herself, and it was every bit as horrifying as Bruce's cooking!

How could something so bitter and disgusting exist in this world?! Why could Tim gulp down a whole big cup without so much as flinching?! Did he not have a sense of taste?!

Once or twice would have been one thing, but when it happened every single day, Miaomiao couldn't help suspecting that everyone was definitely hiding something from her.

The Little Merfolk was unhappy about being kept in the dark. Pouting, she pressed the buttons on the super-waterproof remote Bruce had specially made for her, flipping randomly through the channels.

"The mayor of Gotham City has just announced..."

"You pathetic fool..."

"Education and healthcare..."

"Bruce Wayne suffered..."

"Tonight, Gotham Concert Hall will welcome..."

Huh, wait! What was that just now?

Miaomiao hurriedly switched back to the previous channel, which was reporting on the past two days' news in Gotham City.

"According to reports, Gotham City's wealthiest man and the current head of Wayne Enterprises, Bruce Wayne, was stranded on a deserted island following a cruise ship disaster. After nearly half a month without contact, he returned to Gotham only recently. Even during his absence, Batman continued his nightly patrols, showing no signs of concern for his financial backer."

Huh? What was this?

Miaomiao blinked, a little confusion appearing in her big, watery eyes.

Bruce Wayne, and Batman?

The images and voices on television dutifully continued.

"Recently, Bruce Wayne has made frequent appearances at various parties. The Prince of Gotham remains as charming as ever, decisively dispelling rumors that 'Bruce Wayne is gravely injured and has little time left.' When a reporter asked whether he regretted spending a large sum of money funding Batman, this was his answer-"

"I have no interest in that freak in black. I was just looking for a little excitement. What could be more exciting than funding a monster? Oh, you mean the money? Darling, that was just a tiny bit of pocket change..."

"In addition, reporters captured footage of Batman and his assistant, Robin, beating up members of Black Mask's gang..."

Miaomiao was getting a little bewildered-

Perhaps her English still wasn't good enough? Why did it sound as though Bruce and Batman were two different people? And apparently, Bruce didn't like this 'Bat-Man' at all—he even seemed to dislike him a little?

Just listen to what Bruce said: "Anyone who dresses up as a bat must have something wrong with him"...

But unless she was mistaken, the clothes that 'Bat-Man' wore were exactly like the ones Bruce had been wearing when he fell into the water, weren't they? She had even taken them apart herself!

Besides, it wasn't as though she had never been to the Batcave. The clothes hanging there were exactly the same as the ones worn by 'Bat-Man' and 'Robin Bird' on television!

Poor Miaomiao, who had no idea there were humans in this world who led "double lives," felt her brain tying itself in knots.

What on earth was going on?

"Breaking news: the Supervillain Joker has escaped from Arkham Asylum. The Joker has now seized control of Gotham Television Station. Batman must arrive within ten minutes, or the Joker will kill one hostage for every minute he is late."

Huh? Had she misheard again? What was the television station saying?

Miaomiao looked at the television in surprise.

The news had originally been presented by a sweet-looking woman with blonde hair and blue eyes. Now that woman was nowhere to be seen, replaced by an unfamiliar face.

He was tall and lanky, wearing an obviously ill-fitting blue skirt suit that fell below his knees and a long, curly blonde wig, with glimpses of fluorescent green showing through the gaps. His eyes were ringed in black, his face deathly pale, and his blazing red lips stretched all the way to his ears.

Despite the skirt and wavy curls, despite even pitching his voice higher and softer, every movement carried a masculine roughness, even brutality...

No! It wasn't mere brutality. It was a kind of...

Madness!

Those ghastly green eyes looked like pool water contaminated by chemicals, overgrown with slimy, sickening moss, then filled to the brim with pure malice.

Just that single look through the television made Miaomiao's eyes ache, thanks to her gift of "Perception."

Seriously, how could anyone in this world be so ugly?!

As we had mentioned, the Merfolk were a race that loved beauty by nature, and every one of them was beautiful. Faced with such an "unparalleled visage," Miaomiao, who adored good looks, felt as though her eyes had been insulted.

"Hahahahaha, why not give us a smile?"

On the television, the man brought the camera close to his face and stretched his mouth wide, his expression somewhere between laughter and tears-

"My dearest little bat~~~~ Uncle Joker~~ is right here waiting for you to come and play~~~"