Bat King

[Warning! Warning! Anchoring prop detected: Joker's crystal coffin]

[Crisis Energy converted: ∞]

What?

Adam could scarcely believe his eyes.

[Syncing: The Batman Who Laughs!]

[The Batman Who Laughs! Laughing! Laughing! Error! Error!]

[Emergency shielding activated! Emergency shielding!]

After a flurry of blinding silver-white text, the display on Adam's retina finally stabilized.

[Crisis Energy converted: 80]

[Current Crisis Energy units: 164]

[Warning, downloading targetable Batman files]

[The Broken Bat]

[Danger level: C]

[In a dark multiverse, at the end of the Knightfall incident, Batman failed to defeat his fallen protégé, Jean-Paul Valley, the Azrael. Batman's identity was usurped. Azrael, renaming himself Saint Batman, initiated a bloody, tyrannical reign of terror over Gotham.

Bruce Wayne was subjected to vivisection, his vital organs preserved, and forced to witness Azrael's atrocities for thirty years.

Rescued by Lady Shiva and the Son of Bane, he was healed by nanotech micro-bats, transforming him into a cyborg. However, the three decades of torture had shattered the once righteous Dark Knight. Embracing the darkness, the Broken Bat murdered Azrael and all who stood in his way, becoming Gotham's new overlord.]

[Do you wish to consume 80 Crisis Energy units to synchronize immediately?]

Adam stroked his chin, his fingertips tracing the iconic cleft.

The Joker had provided him with 40 Crisis Energy, but another 40 had been consumed during the Bane-Batman synchronization.

This time, he'd been granted 80, and the new Batman on offer required exactly that amount. Unlike the previous instance with Bane, where he'd received 103 Crisis Energy but only used 59.

What was happening?

Adam pondered this for a moment, but quickly dismissed the question. The Riddler's situation was far more pressing.

.....

"You crossed that line, Batman."

The Riddler's voice was hushed, filled with awe.

On the screen, the clownish meat paste splattered onto the floor in a gruesome display.

He confirmed the truth with his own eyes, over and over again.

"Oh my God, you actually crossed it!"

The Riddler's voice rose in a mix of horror and delight.

"I was wrong, so wrong. I thought I had to go to extraordinary lengths to force you to kill. I wasn't even sure I could – but it turns out, I didn't have to do a thing!"

"You never wanted the Joker alive. While I was still playing by the old rules, you had already shattered them like glass – you, you planned this all along! Oh, I adore you, I absolutely adore you! You ruthless, calculated murderer!"

He erupted in laughter, then took a deep breath, choking it back as if it were suffocating him:

"Batman, trust me, it's about to begin. I know this feeling all too well. You'll soon attract some new admirers."

"No, I won't."

"Believe me, I've considered it. But it's not up to you."

The Riddler set his pistol down neatly: "I surrender. And they..."

His eyes swept over the silent Ventriloquist and Killer Croc, who was still tying up Amygdala.

"I'm such a fool. I said I wanted to break the rules, but I never even considered this possibility – almost all my hired thugs were moles!"

"The line didn't exist for a long time now. You already have these followers, don't you?"

"Employees," Adam corrected him. "I paid them."

"You – paid them? Hahaha, Batman, I apologize, even though I'm the Riddler and laughter isn't really my thing, I still find this hilarious, haha, hahaha!"

The Riddler's laughter was loud and exaggerated.

He slapped his thigh and pointed at Killer Croc: "Do you know how many employers Waylon Jones has eaten alive? Those weak-willed fools with their cheap, unimaginative schemes –"

"How many times has that beast devoured those who tried to manipulate him? He's an animal, Batman. Do you honestly think money alone can control an animal? Do you want me to list the number of times he's eaten both the goods and the money?"

Adam was certain the Riddler's use of "eat" was a pun. He glanced at Killer Croc, who returned a bashful smile, innocent and harmless, like a puppy eager to please its master. After witnessing Batman's act of murder, he seemed even more docile.

"Argh!"

Amygdala howled in pain, struggling against Killer Croc. He was a simple-minded brute, one of Arkham's inmates hired by the Riddler, and had been brought here in a daze. Then—

Killer Croc sank his teeth into Amygdala's shoulder, tearing off a chunk of flesh, chewing it twice, and spitting it out.

Amygdala collapsed, unconscious.

"And the Ventriloquist, do you think there aren't fools in Gotham who think he's nothing more than a harmless schizophrenic with a doll?"

"That's blasphemous—"

"Oh dear, that's not very polite, Nygma. First—"

The words died in the Ventriloquist's throat. He saw a glint in the Riddler's eyes, a ferocious, predatory gleam.

He was a formidable criminal, no doubt. But facing the Riddler head-on?

Not a chance.

"Shut up."

Both Scarface and the Ventriloquist fell silent under the Riddler's gaze. They looked pleadingly at Adam, hoping their employer would come to their defense.

"And then there's Arnold Wesker. Never involved in gangs before Blackgate, but he learned everything he needed to know about gang survival in there. In just three months, he became the biggest crime boss in Burnley."

"What kind of gentleman do you think a man is who can tear off a piece of his own flesh, already divided? Do you know how many corpses are buried under Arnold Wesker's pink bunny slippers? He's a cold-blooded, ruthless madman."

"No, I'm Batman's dog. Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof!"

The Ventriloquist, panicking, mimicked a dog barking as if no one was watching, desperate to prove his loyalty to his master. "I listen to Batman now. I know that only by obeying Batman can I... I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

"So, do you understand, Batman?"

"There's no going back. What's the old saying?"