Every long tunnel had an end. Even if there was no light beyond the exit, it was still an end.
Batwoman and Jack no longer had time to figure out what the red light was. In a few seconds at most, the car would burst out of the concealed tunnel exit and reach the island.
More villains would be waiting there, along with an army under Mind Control. It was bound to be a hard fight.
Jack coughed several times and secretly wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. The closer he got to the island, the closer he got to Female Joker, the louder the laughter in his mind became.
To keep his sanity, he bit through his tongue.
Batman, who was driving, perhaps had not noticed, or perhaps had noticed and did not care. He merely said in his usual tone:
"Prepare for combat."
As he spoke, he pressed several buttons inside the car. Weapons emerged from all over the Batmobile's exterior, all nonlethal, of course—heavy machine guns loaded with tranquilizer rounds, launchers packed with tear-gas grenades.
The Joker Jack was impersonating could certainly go meet that woman. The Mind-Controlled villains might even carry him over in a sedan chair.
But Batman knew that all she wanted was Joker. He certainly was not on the guest list.
No matter what, they could not be allowed to meet alone. One wrong move, and Joker might truly return.
That would not do. Although Batwoman did not particularly trust Jack, he had at least been fairly stable. Even if he was still Joker, he was a Joker who posed less of a threat to society. They could not let his old personality return.
That meant Batman had to break through layer after layer of defenses and force his way