Chapter 191 : Barbatos!!!
DCEU World!
Joker wears a grin of delight:
"A fitting moniker!
"As expected of you, Bruce, the perfect foil to my madness!"
Wham!
Bruce's fist connects with Joker's jaw, sending him crashing onto the unforgiving pavement, blood once more trickling from the corners of his mouth!
Yet Joker's laughter remains indifferent!
Physical agony is but a triviality!
The more enraged Batman becomes, the more ecstatic he feels!
This is what fuels his existence!
Bruce, too, is well acquainted with Joker's nature and disregards his adversary!
His concern lies elsewhere now!
The encroachment of the Dark Multiverse into the ordinary universe is an inevitable fate looming on the horizon!
The only uncertainty is which world will fall prey to its grasp!
Can any world truly satiate its hunger?
One need not ponder to know the answer!
Even Superman, standing nearby, bears a countenance of solemnity!
He had believed that bolstering his own might would easily quell the crises befalling this world!
But alas!
The Dark Multiverse Crisis has returned!
The screen displays, revealing seven Dark Batman at the beginning!
Batman, devoid of superhuman abilities, can orchestrate unimaginable feats!
Now, however, possessing such immense power spells catastrophe!
At this moment, Superman can't help but steal a glance at Bruce!
Simultaneously, a grim realization dawns upon them both!
Consequences!
Upon the video's conclusion, there shall be consequences!
Ones that undoubtedly shall render these seven Batman even more formidable!
Even though this event has already transpired!
The rewards are bound to make them stronger!
And in this very instant, the screen shifts once more!
[Earth, -22!]
[Gotham!]
Batman: "The showdown with the Joker has finally reached its climax!"
[Unlike other iterations, this time Joker has actualized all his deranged schemes!]
[Amidst this indiscriminate chaos, the Joker razed Gotham Police Department and Mercy Hospital! Heinous acts claimed the lives of Sheriff Gordon and all of Gotham City's notorious villains!]
[The Joker then employed poison to sap Batman's strength and ensnared him!]
[Yet, this is merely the onset of the nightmare!]
(In the heart of the city's plaza, the Joker has the citizens of Gotham assembled!)
(Raising his pistol, he executes a family's parents before Batman's eyes!)
[Then they infected the surviving children with Joker virus, transforming them into cackling monsters!]
"Haha, what a cute doll!" Joker exclaimed, patting the head of the laughing doll like a puppy, then turned excitedly to his subordinates, shouting, "Now, bring the next family here!"
"And the next one after that!" he added. "Keep bringing them here and make them all mine!"
Off-screen, countless viewers were consumed by a mix of fear and anger!
The Joker reveled in evil for sheer amusement!
In the Batcave, Bruce fixed Joker with a cold stare and warned, "If you dare to do that, then your day of reckoning will come!"
Joker shrugged indifferently, flashing a smile. "Darling, you know, all I do, I do for you!"
Batman's gaze darkened; this was his worst fear!
Joker in the video must have the same intention; his motives were undoubtedly not benign!
"Executions and transformations continue!" the narrative pressed on.
Finally, amidst the shrill laughter of the dolls, Batman's fury broke through all restraint!
"Stop right there!" he bellowed, breaking free from his restraints and pummeling the Joker to the ground, unleashing his rage upon him!
Yet, Joker remained defiant, laughing and taunting, "Hahaha, still don't have the guts, Bruce!"
"If not," he continued with a sneer, "there'll be just you and me in this world, together forever!"
Confronting the laughing clown, Batman tightened his grip around his throat with all his might!
The hellish imagery and the grotesque smiles of Joker dolls finally spurred Batman into decisive action!
This time, he vowed to end this nightmare once and for all!
With a resounding crack, silence fell!
The once wildly laughing man fell silent, laughter forever silenced!
"Joker is dead!" came the declaration.
But there was an eerie smile frozen on his face!
"You've lost, Joker!"
"Be dishonest again, and this will be your fate!" Superman's voice echoed coldly off-screen.
"Lost?" Joker cackled madly. "No, I've won!"
In the next moment, a green mist billowed from Joker's mouth, enveloping Batman!
Inevitably, Batman took several breaths, but after more than ten seconds, the fearful Bruce Wayne noticed nothing unusual about himself!
(…)
(After a few days.)
(Bruce has gathered members of the Bat Family and arranged for them to engage in simulated training!)
"Unlike before, the intensity of simulation training has been raised by a level!"
(Bruce informs all members that while attempting to apprehend the Joker, he was exposed to a previously unknown nanovirus!)
"The virus rewired his brain, maintaining highly rational thinking but corrupting its moral core with malevolent impulses!"
He urges the Bat Family to prepare for his potential mutation, to detect any abnormalities in time, and to prevent him from unleashing a catastrophe!
(However, at the conclusion of the training, Batman reveals guns he had prepared and launches an attack, catching the exhausted and unprepared group off guard!)
"Hahahahaha! What a splendid bloom of blood!" At this moment, the Batcave descends into chaos, with Batgirl, Robin, and even his son Damian falling into despair and death!
Off-screen, numerous viewers couldn't help but feel a shiver down their spines!
Even children can discern that Batman has undergone a transformation!
The earlier training was nothing but a ruse to gather them all!
However, Batman, unlike the tiger, shows no mercy, even to his own kin!
Or rather, he has become a more sinister version of the Joker!
"And this is just the beginning!"
(A week later, Bruce Wayne effortlessly seizes control of the Justice League's base – the Watchtower!)
"Superman stands as the last survivor of the alliance, yet in the face of the deranged Batman, his power wanes!"
Batman manipulates Supergirl and Superman, pitting them against their own loved ones with an enhanced version of the "Black Air Stone"!
Easily, he subdues the mightiest hero on Earth!
(…)
(The second week elapses, and the world falls under the heel of the Bat's laughter!)
"At this moment, only the wild laughter of The Batman Who Laughs reverberates throughout Earth-22!"
Seated upon a throne of corpses, he clutches a clown doll, observing as chaos reigns supreme!
He has achieved his goal and now sets his sights on a greater goal,
"But there is no limit to his descent into depravity!"
Off-screen, countless beings from the DC multiverse tremble before their screens!
The chaos orchestrated by the Joker and the unmatched brilliance of Batman have given rise to the most fearsome incarnation yet—the Dark Batman!
Though his physical prowess may not rival his predecessors, his dominance and terror undoubtedly exceed theirs!
Just as countless spectators were gripped by fear, a figure cloaked in darkness and towering several meters tall emerged within the chaotic realm!
"Who dares to confront me?" bellowed The Batman Who Laughs, his demeanor as unsettling as a twisted plaything.
"Me?" responded a voice from beneath Kabuto's hat, as a pair of scarlet vertical pupils gleamed ominously.
The laughter of clownish dolls ceased abruptly, replaced by trembling silence as they cowered in the corners.
Then, with a hoarse yet resounding voice emanating from beneath the Kabuto hat, the figure declared,
"I am the master of the dark multiverse! My name is Barbatos!"
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