"Hee hee! Ha ha! Come catch me! If you can't catch me within thirty seconds, I'll detonate the bomb and send half of Gotham flying into the sky."
Joker danced happily, as nimble as a noodle soaked in water, twisting his waist beneath the pouring acid rain. His long green hair clung to his face like seaweed.
A bolt of lightning flashed across the sky, illuminating a figure in the darkness not far away. It was Batwoman. The two arch-nemeses were playing a traditional game of hide-and-seek.
Even though Joker was a criminal genius, he did not come up with new routines every day. That took inspiration. Most of the time, he simply modified games he had played before, patched them up a little, and brought them out again.
Of course, Batwoman always came when invited and never missed an appointment. So what mattered was not the game itself, but who he was playing it with.
Riddler was hardworking enough, wasn't he? He could come up with hundreds of new riddles at the drop of a hat and make Batwoman play guessing games with him.
But Batman did not like riddles. If he had to choose, he would choose no one else—only the one and only answer, Joker.
"I'll catch you, beat you senseless, and send you back to Arkham."
Batwoman, a woman of few words and vicious action, said it lightly. She rolled her wrists and neck, then charged at Joker. She was a shadow in the night, and ordinary people could not see her path of movement at all.
"Ho ho! Hee hee! Hahahaha!" Joker spun around and ran off happily, looking back as he ran. "Guess which one of us is the rabbit and which is the turtle? Do you think fairy tales are real? Do you