Joker

Meanwhile, Batman and Joker, still locked in combat upstairs, also heard the explosion.

The sound struck everyone's hearts like a heavy drumbeat, as though some cruel truth had been forcibly laid bare.

Batman's expression changed instantly. His movements slowed a fraction, and Joker seized the opening to slam his club into him, putting distance between them again.

"Ahahahaha, hehe... why did you stop, my dear little bat?" Joker stretched his lips into a broad grin and laughed. Not even the several heavy punches Batman had landed on him, or the blood on his face, could spoil his good mood. "Listen~ What a beautiful sound~~ Boom! Looks like someone's getting impatient~~"

Batman did not let Joker's words cloud his judgment. Behind his white lenses, his steel-blue eyes remained fixed on the man before him, his mind working like a precision instrument as he analyzed his opponent and searched for an opening.

Joker was not upset when Batman ignored him. That eerie smile remained on his face.

"Aha, little bat~ Why won't you talk to Joker~~ Give us a smile~ Why so serious?"

Joker darted aside, dodging the projectile Batman hurled at him. Even as he evaded the attack, his mouth never stopped running.

"Don't be so violent~~ Look at this world. It's so boring. Everyone wears a phony mask, acting all high and mighty, following all the rules. Let Mr. Joker bring the world a little excitement and laughter~~"

"All you bring is chaos and fear!"

Batman stopped wasting time trading blows with Joker. He knew every moment of delay put the hostages in greater danger. He threw another Batarang, and as Joker twisted aside to evade it, a second Batarang shot toward his flank from an unexpectedly sharp angle.

A powerful electric current surged through Joker's entire body, making him convulse uncontrollably.

Batman immediately closed in, grabbed Joker by the collar, and drove a fist into him, knocking his head to one side. He demanded in a gravelly voice, "Talk. Where are the other hostages?"

But a current strong enough to bring down a burly grown man only made the deranged Joker twitch a few times before he recovered. Faced with his old adversary's interrogation, Joker showed no fear. Instead, he looked eager, as though the real show had only just begun.

"Oh~ My little bat, you're still so impatient~~ Oh..."

Batman's fist came down in answer.

Yes, all of Gotham knew Batman did not kill. But that was all-he did not kill.

Often, even the most vicious criminals would rather face a police officer's gun than Batman's fists.

Joker was not so easy to kill, and his remarkable ability to recover made Batman hit him all the harder.

"I'm not wasting words with you, Joker. Tell me what you've done and where the hostages are, then crawl back to Arkham!"

Joker had timed it perfectly, allowing only ten minutes. Robin and Red Robin had both been drawn away to handle incidents elsewhere. Batman was alone, with no time to conduct a thorough search for the hostages.

Even with several broken bones, Joker still wore that crazed smile. To him, pain was nothing more than a little seasoning for a boring life.

"Little bat, you're as unlovable as ever. Oh!"

After another punch, Joker finally changed his tune.

"Let's play a game, little bat~"

Joker raised both hands to demonstrate his "harmlessness" and "sincerity." "You know, Batman, I just want to play a game with you~~"

There was even something "innocent" about Joker's gaze and tone, but a second later, it gave way to boundless malice-

"Of course, you can always refuse~ Or... kill me... hahahahaha, hehehe, cough, cough, cough..."

As though he had told a remarkably funny joke, Joker laughed himself breathless, even breaking into a coughing fit.

"Come on, little bat. Kill me~ Come on! All you have to do is squeeze, and Mr. Joker's neck will snap-like a Christmas candy cane, broken in two... Then Uncle Joker will never drag anyone into his games again~~~"

Joker's words were like a devil's whispers, carrying the power to beguile.

Yes, so many people had died because of Joker. Why did this piece of scum get to live on, perfectly fine?

"Think of those innocent children... think of that feisty little baby red bird of yours... Oh, the sound of his bones breaking was the most beautiful sound in the world. And that look in his eyes... Right up to his dying breath, that poor little baby red bird still believed his bat daddy would avenge him, urk..."

The sudden tightening of the grip around his neck convinced Joker that, for one moment, Batman had truly wanted to strangle him-when he mentioned that stubborn little red bird.

Unfortunately, Batman still stopped himself, through sheer, extraordinary willpower.

Boring...

Having failed once again to goad Batman into killing, Joker curled his lip. As expected, another punch landed on his face, even harder than the ones before.

"Where are the hostages?"

Certain he could no longer force Batman to kill today, Joker had to settle for the next best thing. "I told you, play a game with me~~"

"I split the people in this building into three groups. Every time you beat me, I'll tell you one location. How does that sound? Oh, I almost forgot. There are only two locations left now~~"

Watching Batman's clenched jaw, Joker grinned and spread his hands, perfectly at ease, as though he really had only just remembered. "What should we do? In that case... let's make it simpler~"

"Let's play the classic game of choosing one of two~~~"

By now, Joker made no attempt to hide his malice.

"Oh, Mr. Joker loves this game so much~~ It's simply the best game in the world~~~"

"So tell me, my dear little bat~~~ Which will you choose?"

"The rich people who hold the Gotham Television Station's lifeline in their hands and provide a living for so many Gotham residents?"

"Or the employees who work themselves to the bone, nine to five, treading carefully, yet can never afford homes of their own?"

"Which will you choose?"

Batman stared silently at Joker, the mentally ill criminal who called himself Batman's "archenemy" and "other half."

Joker's favorite game of "choose one of two" weighed humanity and lives on a scale. On the surface, it gave Batman the choice of whom to save. In reality, whatever Batman did, he would fall into Joker's trap.

Whichever group Batman chose, it would mean abandoning the lives of the other.

The image of "justice" Batman had built in the minds of Gotham's people over the years would shatter. He would lose their trust, and his tacit cooperation with the police would end, reducing him to a hunted criminal.

Joker's "game" was a brazen, openly laid trap, built on his grasp of human nature.