Rain still fell under Earth's gravity, merging with more liquid on the ground. The pattering sounded like someone clapping beside their ear, or like the roar of pearls striking the floor.
Joker laughed beside Batwoman, rubbing the gun barrel against his own head and narrowing his eyes blissfully, as though scratching an itch.
"Why so serious? Wouldn't it be better to smile?"
He wanted to see Batwoman go mad.
But how could Batwoman laugh? Her heart had died along with Selina. Her brain had nearly stopped functioning, the past and present overlapping without end as she sank into her own darkness.
Joker stuck his head between Batwoman and Catwoman's faces, staring wide-eyed at Batwoman. He held the revolver in both hands, as careful as a servant.
"Do you recognize this gun? This is the very gun that killed your parents back then. I went to a lot of trouble to get it. Today, your fiancée died by the same weapon too. Happy? Huh? Hahahaha!"
Batwoman's pupils were unfocused. She was seriously injured and had been hit with Joker's new laughing gas. The Demerol Joker had injected into her afterward had also been specially enhanced, the kind that worked quickly for pain relief but came with a mysterious aftereffect.
Now, she had completely fallen into a world of hallucinations. Aside from the dead loved ones surrounding her with smiles, all she could see was a dazzling yet bizarre scene.
A bat-bat flew past her, but she heard it rapidly talking to itself.
"Oh, dear. Oh, dear. I'm too late."
It said this while beating its wings furiously and pulling out a pocket watch from its little vest to check the time.
How could a bat wear clothes and carry a watch? Batwoman was terribly curious.
She sprang up to chase the