Chapter 13: Stalling

"Since you've come knocking at my door, it couldn't be better."

Black Mask, despite being a leader in the underground criminal world. With a wave of his hand, his henchmen closed in on Jekyll, surrounding him.

Jekyll flashed a mysterious smile at the menacing former Joker gang members, showing no signs of panic—at least not visibly.

I'm in a tight spot. Keep calm, keep calm, act cool to bide time until my skills are ready.

Jekyll's real thoughts were a mess. He knew he wasn't a ruthless killer or a super soldier. While he wanted to save someone, as a regular guy from his past life, he never imagined fighting these dangerous lunatics.

His simple plan was to use deceive magic to approach and find a good angle, then throw his double-shiv poisoned dagger at Black Mask to kill him instantly, seizing the chance to escape amidst the chaos when Black Mask's henchmen panicked because of their boss's death.

Reality had a harsh lesson for this poor kid who had only been an ordinary homebody in his past life: never underestimate your opponent.

Black Mask's instincts and hearing alone allowed him to defend against the dagger just by the sound it made, preventing it from hitting a vital spot. This fact caught Jekyll off guard—his throwing knives were accurate, but only against stationary targets.

Only then did Jekyll remember that while Black Mask might be an ordinary human in theory, he was a formidable combatant in hand-to-hand combat, capable of standing toe-to-toe with the likes of Batman, Nightwing, and Robin. His belief that a surprise attack would result in an easy kill was naivety at its finest.

Nevertheless, Jekyll forced himself to maintain a calm façade. He's not good at fighting, but he has mastered the art of pretense from years of navigating social circles in society.

"For the sake of capturing just me, this is an awful lot of trouble. Mr. Black Mask, aren't you afraid of attracting the attention of Batman and Gordon with this big show here?"

Jekyll spoke casually while silently counting down the cooldowns of his two skills.

"Hahaha."

Black Mask chuckled recklessly, then looked at Jekyll with interest.

"I finally understand why that man insisted I find you, and why Harley Quinn wanted to keep you hidden. You're indeed different from the other clones. The others seem like idiots, unable to string together a coherent sentence. It's my first time seeing one who talks normally like you—almost made me think the Joker truly came back to life."

That person? So, does Black Mask have a connection with the person who created this body for me?

Though there were many questions in his mind, Jekyll maintained a mysterious smile on his face and remained silent. He knew that even if he asked now, Black Mask wouldn't straightforwardly answer. It was better to stay silent, feigning mastery to stall for time.

"But there's a clear distinction between you and the Joker. If it were the real Joker, he wouldn't have chosen this moment to save Harley Quinn. Instead, he'd drive the truck and ram us both together—you lack the Joker's eerie chaotic vibe."

Feeling the intense gaze of Black Mask, Jekyll raised an eyebrow slightly, but then relaxed, maintaining a calm demeanor.

"You're right. I'm indeed not the Joker you're familiar with. But I'm happy to know the differences between us. I have no intention of impersonating him—after all, sometimes the copy outshines the original, doesn't it, Mr. Roman Sionis?"

"Oh, interesting. I didn't expect a mere clone to say such things. While I'm intrigued by you, it's a shame. The final ultimatum from that gentleman to me is to bring you back today—no matter what."

Black Mask's words grew colder. As soon as he finished speaking, the former Joker gang members who had surrounded Jekyll instantly charged at him!

Stalling with talk had reached its limit. However, the cooldowns for the deceive and the double-shiv poison still had roughly a minute left.

Seeing the aggressive men wielding weapons charging at him, Jekyll took a deep breath, mentally preparing for severe injuries. Even with enhanced physical abilities, four hands were difficult to fend off with two fists, especially with almost ten opponents now.

Yet, in that moment, he suddenly felt the time around him slowing down, observing the clear trajectories of the iron rods and knives swinging towards him from all directions.

'What's going on? Have I awakened a new power like super speed?!' But he quickly dismissed that thought when he realized that his own movements had also slowed—only his consciousness had sped up.

Enhanced Perception

Jekyll immediately recalled this term in his mind, realizing instantly why he entered this state—his deep breath earlier had momentarily increased the intake of poison, temporarily enhancing his reflexes.

Given this, dealing with these few lackeys seemed not much of a challenge.

Jekyll's figure moved like a ghostly blur, effortlessly dodging all the attacks from the former Joker gang members, swiftly slipping out of the encirclement and landing behind them.

Wham! Wham!

Imitating scenes from movies he had watched before, Jekyll used knife-edge strikes to hit the necks of two former Joker gang members hard.

As they collapsed, Jekyll was about to pursue further when a sudden dizzy sensation almost made him stumble.

Was it the aftermath of the increased poison intake from the deep breath earlier? Indeed, there's no such thing as a free lunch; this bullet-time-like state came with a cost.

Fortunately, once his breathing stabilized, these brief aftereffects quickly dissipated. Surprisingly, when he exposed that vulnerability, no one attacked him.

Raising his head, Jekyll saw the other former Joker gang members looking terrified and cautiously moving away from him. Following their gaze towards the two he had just took down, he understood their fear.

The two individuals Jekyll struck with his knife-edge strikes had their necks twisted unnaturally and were frothing at the mouth, clearly beyond saving.

Well, it seemed he wasn't qualified enough to learn the principle of not killing or controlling his force. But don't blame him, it was obviously an act of immediate self-defense.

Jekyll mourned inwardly for two seconds, then glanced at the other former Joker gang members around him, observing their hesitation.

It was understandable; even though Dinah and Harley had struck hard earlier, it wouldn't have instantly taken a life. The sight of the two men dying instantly and Jekyll's ruthlessness had made them all hesitant.

Noticing this, a faint smile formed on Jekyll's lips.

"Come on, those who don't care about their lives, feel free to come forward. You were all once Joker's subordinates, right? You should be very familiar with the Joker. Regardless of whether I am him or not, I can promise you one thing—I can make you remember the terror of the Joker again—of course, provided you survive."

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