Chapter 155 Gotham Is Gone

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Gotham City ...

Nighttime .....

Crackle!

A flash of lightning streaked through the cloudy skies of the city alongside the sound of crackling thunder.

Rain splattered through the opening of the batmobile's doors as the Caped Crusader stepped out of his special ride. Cold winds swept over him, swinging Bruce's cape to the sides.

Looking up was the sight of dark rain clouds gathering overhead. No citizen of Gotham would be surprised.

The storm would be slow to wash over the city but by the end of night, there would be no dry area for miles.

"Are you sure about this?" A clear, hesitant voice came from the other end of the comms.

"There's nothing to hesitate about". Answered The Dark Knight, his tone firm and his voice deep. Despite that, his narrowing eyes made it seem like he was about to face a great enemy. Truth be told …. He was.

".... I'm already here".

Crackle.

A flash of blue light emerged from the clouds lighting up the area before him. The black gates rattled with the wind as Bruce stood before his destination.

A place that could be considered the root of Gotham's darkness itself. The lair of monsters ...

Arkham Asylum.

This madhouse was a place the Caped Crusader was all too familiar with. Walking through the dark hallways, he had honestly lost count of how many times he had set foot in here over the years.

How many psychopaths he had locked up here …. Again …. And again, and again …. At this point, the layout of the building was burned into his mind. Every turn, hall, prison cell, crevice …. Rain water dripped down his waterproof cape as he passed through the doors one after another.

Bruce knew the cells and the prisoners they held. If that wasn't enough, he could recite them without blinking.

In this building, Batman was as much a regular as any other prisoner. So much so that his visits were already protocol.

The guards always stepped aside, nodding when he approached and unlocking anywhere he needed passage to.

Clink!

The first sound made its way to his ears as he passed the first cell. The sound of metal, a flipping coin.

Not long after his shadow departed, lightning struck once again, illuminating the cell for a split second and revealing its resident.

Two face.

Approaching the next one, the first thing that assaulted him was the freezing cold. Icy air could be seen being emitted from under the cell door.

He didn't stop at that one either.

The third .....

A growl…. Animal growl.

Recently imprisoned killer Croc.

Moving on ….

"Hahaha hahaha ha ….".

Light emerged again, illuminating the room. Bruce clearly saw the shadow of the mad clown appearing on the walls through the guarded opening.

That laughter ..... His footsteps paused slightly. But that lasted only but a moment as he resumed his steps. Because today, he wasn't here for the Joker.

Or at least …. He wasn't here for that Joker anyway.

Arkham Asylum was a place for the criminally insane, and all its patients were either insane or murderous criminals pretending to be insane. A group of hardened individuals with so much blood on their hands that ten lifetimes of punishment wouldn't be enough to serve as proper atonement.

However, a new tragedy had occurred that scared even these freaks. Nothing else, but the appearance of a second Joker.

Creak!

The sound of a heavy metal door creaking opening resounded through the corridor.

The door opened, and at the entrance stood the Caped Crusader himself.

"How is he?" Bruce asked in a deep, unrecognizable voice while looking straight ahead.

"..... He's….". The guard who opened the door for him opened his mouth but hesitated to speak.

"He's what?" Bruce shot him a look.

"... Strange".

"...". Batman didn't reply at first.

"How strange?"

"He's acting normal".

"You're saying that he's acting like usual?"

"No". The guard shook his head. "He isn't behaving like he usually does. He's behaving … like someone else…".

His eyes drifted into the cell as he spoke. A trace of fear flashing through his eyes.

Within was a room, and within this room was another cell. Iron bars all around like an animal cage, only much larger. And in this cage sat a man with a book in hand.

Bruce had his eyes narrow.

The Joker was known for his unusual antics. And if that were all, then he wouldn't mind. No.

What made him narrow his eyes wasn't the fact that he was reading but the book itself.

The Bible.

You heard that right. At the moment, Jack Oswald White was sitting cozily on an iron chair with glasses on his face and the book of the Bible in hand.

If that wasn't enough to startle someone, Bruce didn't know what was.

"He's been requesting for books ever since he got here. He calmly asks for meals, he no longer plays cards, there's been fewer outbursts, and he no longer laughs". Each sentence made its way into his ears, causing Bruce's frown to deepen ever so slightly.

".... I was lucky enough not to be on shift for the last breakout before his …. Death. And seeing his changes … Well, I'd rather believe the other one down the hall is the real Joker and this one's some kind of imposter. He's acting normal, so normal that it's strange ….".

Bruce didn't respond. His gaze fixed on that clown sitting there, seemingly engrossed in a book without bothering to acknowledge his presence.

The smile ..... It was gone. It didn't matter whether the Joker reacted to his visits, but that creepy smile that seemed to be forever etched on his face would never disappear the moment he showed up.

It did today, though. The Joker wasn't smiling anymore.

If this wasn't enough to startle someone, Bruce didn't know what was.

"..... Look. This is probably above my pay grade and I shouldn't be the one to tell you how to do your job ….". The guard uttered hesitantly.

"... But be careful. There's something terribly off with this one. A second Joker is bad enough, but this calm one seems much harder to get along with". Honestly, the guard didn't even know how that was possible.

"Well I won't know until I find out now will I?"

Those were his last words before he stepped into the room.

Creak!

The sound of the door closing behind him fell into his ears as he walked forward.

His soft footsteps signalled his entrance.

The Joker didn't respond. Not even when he was practically standing before the cage.

Seeing this, Bruce narrowed his eyebrows even more. His expression solemn as he stared at the clown without uttering a word.

"...". Silence.

A strange scene continued in which Batman watched the Joker with an intense glare, yet the other party didn't reciprocate.

His eyes glued on the book as if he were reading some heavenly treasure.

Time elapsed as neither party uttered a word to each other. Until.

Thud!

It was the sound of a book being closed.

"Well, well Batsy ..... ". The familiar raspy voice drifted into his ears once again.

'..... Looks like that hasn't changed'.

".... How nice of you to pay me a visit".

Green hair, pale face, blood-red lips ... And that grinning smile.

"You done ignoring me?"

"Ignore you? That doesn't sound right. I thought we were playing a game of who could stay quiet the other the longest".

"And you didn't keep playing?"

"Consider it my ..... Consideration". The green-haired madman gestured.

"After all, a member of the Justice League must have a busy schedule. You definitely won't come to see me to check up on how I'm doing. It's heartbreaking really. With my death, I honestly thought you would go to great lengths to avenge me. Or … At least put by murderer behind bars. Tsk …. I truly thought we had a thing going on".

'…. He's the same .....'.

Yep. There was no denying it.

The Dark Knight's expression remained unchanged, but his mind contained numerous thoughts.

'..... Yet, different at the same time ….'.

"What's with the books". The Caped Crusader turned his gaze to the cell floors.

There were two rows of shortly stacked books beside him. His eyes moved from the floor back to the book in hand.

"Or are you going to tell me that you're actually seeking redemption after your resurrection from death". He asked apathetically.

To which, those blood-red lips parted to form a sinister smile.

"What can I say, Batsy. A change of scenery can truly broaden your horizons".

'His speech patterns .....'. Batman pondered on the Joker's choice of words.

"From that, I'd assume that hell did a number on you".

"Perhaps, perhaps not. But that's not why you're here, is it?"

Batman's Stoic expression almost cracked from surprise.

The Joker was never like this. Never so straight to the point.

That small change, despite being so minute, was accurately captured.

After their long-lasting twisted relationship, how could he not know what Batman was thinking?

"Come on, Batsy, let's get this over with. I'm really not in the mood for a back and forth right now".

"….". For a moment, Batman was momentarily silenced.

"Why did Amari bring you back?"

"Oh …. A tricky one right off the bat".

Bruce clenched his fists.

"Talk".

"Sorry. No can do".

Living up to expectations, the Joker shook his head frantically.

"You should know me by now, Batsy. There's a certain rhythm to these things. I cause trouble, you show up, we have some laughs and the whole thing starts all over again. Nothing you do can make this work the other way around".

Batman gritted his teeth in fury. The continuous tensing of his fist showing that he was desperately restraining himself from taking drastic measures.

Seeing his state, the grin on his face only grew wider.

"Unless, of course, you take that option". They both knew what he was talking about.

"So what's it gonna be? You gonna do it this time? Or just put me in another body cast for six months?"

Bang!

A loud bang resounded through the cell. Joker watched unflinchingly as Batman's fist slammed against the iron bar.

Staring into the eyes of the Caped Crusader, he could see it. That look, that glare, the one bordering or plain murder. Almost there …. He leaned forward with a bit of expectation welling up in his heart.

But while he lived up to Batman's expectations, Batman always failed to live up to his.

The murderous glare cooled down as he withdrew his fist from the bar.

"Tsk ... Disappointing really". It was always like this. So close and yet so far.

"But don't worry". The mad clown uttered while leaning back in his seat.

"If there's one thing you can count on, it's that whenever I stir up trouble, I'll always make sure you know it was me".

"So my advice ..... Just take a break, Batsy, and wait for the fun to happen. Hahahaha".

The maniacal laughter once again reappeared.

For strange reasons, however, the guard outside felt relieved. Sure enough, once anything was wrong with Joker, all you had to do was all the Batman.

Creak!

The door reopened as Batman took his leave. The Joker watched all this with a smile on his face as the door closed.

"Seriously, always in such a rush". The Man Clown uttered before picking the next book for a good read. The title of the book was particularly eye-catching.

- How To Find The Entrance To Hell -

.....

Thunderclap!

The heavy downpour of rain water was accompanied by the constant sound of thunderclaps.

The gates were opened and Bruce stepped out of Arkham Asylum, his mood fallen to the lowest of lows.

"Did you gain anything useful?"

Oracle's voice came through from the intercom.

"Very little". Bruce replied plainly as he arrived before the Batmobile.

"But yes".

"Great. At least it wasn't a total waste of ....". The voice on the other end suddenly cut off.

Bruce stopped in his tracks.

"Oracle?" He called out.

"...". There was no response.

"Oracle ….". It happened then. A blinding white light suddenly erupted from the distance, causing Bruce to squint his eyes. Raising his hand to block the light, he turned his gaze in that direction, only to see a large explosion rushing in his direction.

"What the .....". Before Batman could react, the bright explosion rushed in his direction, engulfing everything it touched, with Batman alongside it.

In a split second, The Dark Knight was blown apart completely, him and everything around him for miles disintegrating into ashes.

He wasn't the only one. As an explosion erupted from Strader Pharmaceuticals, expanding rapidly and destroying everything in its path like a nuclear bomb. It spread from the city all the way to the very outskirts of Gotham, engulfing anything and destroying everything in its path.

...

Outer Space .....

Watchtower .....

.....

"Damn you, Bruce ….". A well-timed curse echoed through the monitor room.

Emerging from the hallway leading to the kitchen, Oliver Queen stepped outside with a sullen face.

It couldn't be helped. With the reassignment of Black canary, Green Arrow was once again brought back to perform guard duty on the watchtower.

Assigned to watch keeping duty yet again.

"God so help me ….".

Arriving at the Watchtower computer, the green costumed hero muttered angrily while taking a sip of his beverage.

".... That's one good cup of Joe". A moment of silence later, the archer muttered begrudgingly as he began his job of monitoring the world while desperately combating the urge to swipe YouTube videos instead.

He still remembered Batman's frightening expression the last time he was caught.

"Alright then …". He sighed as he swiped to display the world map as he took another sip.

'…. Let's see what the world is up to today .....'.

This was his line of thought in the first moment. The next, however .....

Pfttttt!

The archer's eyes went wide as he spit out the coffee in his mouth. Thankfully, it wasn't on the billion dollar super computer. Batman would probably have his head for that.

Nevertheless, Bruce definitely wasn't going to like this either.

He thought so as he hurriedly turned on the communication channel.

"This is Green Arrow to all Leaguers. Please respond. Gotham City is Gone, I repeat, Gotham is Gone".

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