"Come on, darling, let's see your choice! Two places, pick one! Whichever you choose, I'll spare it tonight."
Joker raised a hand, making the screen behind him display two buildings at once, and waited eagerly.
"The right! Please, the one on the right! My mom's inside, she can't walk!"
The woman on the phone practically screamed it.
Joker tapped a finger on the building on the right.
"Made your choice? No changing your mind?"
"No, you promised! You said you'd spare one!"
"Of course. I promised."
He nodded, beaming, and pressed the button. The image on the left suddenly lit up, flames rolling up from the ground floor as the people outside scattered in panic.
The woman drew a breath, covered the receiver, and hurriedly shouted to someone beside her.
"Call Mom, tell her to open the door! Tell the neighbors, anyone who can help carry her down-"
"Wait."
Joker leaned toward the microphone, arching an eyebrow.
"Are you asking for outside assistance?"
The woman's voice stopped.
"This is a one-on-one contest, darling. How could you cheat?"
"You never said that! You didn't say-"
The building on the right lit up too.
Joker spread his hands toward the camera, listening to the scream over the phone as his mouth slowly stretched into a grin.
"Now I have."
When flames rose from the intersection, Chen Mo was sweeping over the rooftops with Jason.
Silent, Chen Mo thought for the 10,086th time how satisfying a novel it would be if Punisher had transmigrated to Gotham.
Fuck all you lunatics with your depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, multiple personalities, antisocial personalities, paranoid personalities, borderline personalities, and delusional disorders. Shoot every last one.
*What was that anti-tank sniper rifle called again? Forget it, skip the rifle. Use a rocket launcher instead. Otherwise they'd still need