I'm in an American comic book, and all my teammates are main characters and bosses.

Chapter 108 Bruce's Uneasy Night

Looking at the clown in front of her, Martha's face was filled with the same joy as the clown's.

She didn't hide her identity, but instead sang in a melodious, lark-like voice: "I am a clown from another world, who has come to this world to stay. But you know, this world can only have one clown."

"I know, of course I know, you beautiful lovely girl... I knew it the moment I saw you."

The Joker from Barry's world gazed at Martha before him, his pale green eyes filled with surprise and fervor. There was no fear, no confusion, no bewilderment. It was as if, to the Joker, the visit of his counterpart from another world was no problem at all.

No, it should be said that this is how it should be, this is how it should be!

"That's right! You're absolutely right! There can only be one clown in this world! He's unique! All the brilliance and beauty of his life will be utterly destroyed in a single moment, one day! Like a joke, he tries his best to make people laugh, but he's already cried all his tears!"

"I smell it, I smell your scent." The clown moved close to Martha's face, completely disregarding the cracked corners of her mouth caused by his words.

"You too, right? One moment, one moment that destroyed all the beautiful things in your life! You can't fool me, you smell like that, I can smell it!"

Taking a deep breath, the Joker suddenly took two steps back, smiled, and looked at Martha, saying, "Come on, let's decide who the Joker should live."

Martha didn't seem to care much. She simply took out her vanity case and wiped the blood seeping from her face where the wound had reopened. After touching up her makeup, Martha brought her face close to the clown's ear.

"I won't let you continue to hurt Bruce."

Upon hearing this, the clown was not angry but pleased, a smile playing on his lips, and asked, "Why?"

"Does a mother need a reason to protect her child?"

"Mother, protect your child?"

As he spoke, word by word, the clown couldn't help but laugh.

"Hmph, hehe, hahaha~ Who do you think you are? You're her mother? How could that be? Or is there something that makes it impossible for you to suppress the Kane family's hereditary disease any longer?"

The clown's eyes narrowed slightly, and one after another, blood vessels filled his exaggeratedly large whites.

"Or perhaps, in that fateful moment, it was he who died, not you!"

Martha simply smiled and remained silent. The Joker, after uttering his words, also fell silent, then straightened his posture, adjusted his bow tie, and asked with an air of elegance:

"So, you already know that there can only be one clown in this world. It's either you or me. Right?"

"certainly."

"Then let me ask you another question: who brought you here?"

"A man named Ron," Martha said, her eyes lowered, a hint of relief in her voice. "My God, he's like an angel, giving Thomas and me a second chance..."

"Your husband's here too? Good heavens, that guy Ron is a comedy genius!"

The clown exclaimed, "Dear Mrs. Clown, don't you think you're a little crazy?"

"Madness? No, no! This is not madness! It is love! Intense, a mother's love!"

"You really are crazy." The clown shook his head and sighed, though his gaze toward Martha was filled with regret and a hint of joy.

"But unfortunately, there can only be one Joker."

As he spoke, the clown raised his hand, the dark muzzle of his gun pointed at Martha's forehead.

"It's a pity I won't see the little bat's expression when it finds out about you—but it doesn't matter! The curtain has already risen, kudos to the master of comedy!"

As they spoke, the clown burst into uncontrollable laughter, his lips splitting open, his entire face contorting into a bizarre smile that no ordinary person's facial muscles could possibly produce. Obsessive, insane, he seemed to be wearing a plastic clown mask.

"You need a long-awaited reunion gift. Say hello to Batman for me!"

The trigger was pulled, and first a white flag flew from the muzzle. Then, a bullet shot out from behind, striking the Joker squarely between the eyebrows. Even so, the Joker's face maintained its unchanging smile. In fact, the pain seemed to intensify his expression.

"What could be more cruel than love...?"

The bullet that had lodged in his skull didn't give the Joker any more time to finish his last words. He swayed twice, then collapsed to the ground with a dull thud.

Looking at the Joker's fallen corpse, Martha showed no sorrow or fear. Instead, she gently knelt down and, with a small knife, cut off the Joker's head along the bone seams.

"How ridiculous! How could a mother's love possibly cause her child pain?"

Martha picked up the clown's head, whose smile had frozen on his face, her face filled with disgust.

She completely disagreed with the Joker's theories. Similarly, she utterly hated the Joker—for causing Bruce so much torment. To die so easily was too good for him.

Martha didn't notice that the more she loved Bruce, the more the Joker's eyes flashed with a deadly arc of mockery.

Meanwhile, after bringing the vicious Mr. Freeze to justice, Batman Bruce Wayne also took out a syringe from his all-purpose belt and injected it into his thigh.

As the drug spread, Batman's body, which had been severely damaged by the freeze gun, began to recover rapidly.

Lying on the ground, Mr. Freeze showed no sign of panic. Unlike the Mr. Freeze hired by Ron, this Mr. Freeze appeared more refined and still retained a human form. Although he also wore a cryogenic suit, at least his eyes did not have red arcane lenses embedded in them.

"Ha, Batman, here you go again. You want to save people, but how many can you actually save... Ugh! Ugh!"

Before Mr. Freeze could finish speaking, Bruce stuffed a rag directly into the old man's mouth.

In the past, Bruce wouldn't have minded discussing philosophy with Mr. Freeze.

There were issues with that aspect. But now it was different. For some reason, Bruce felt unusually uneasy and restless today. It was as if something was swirling in his mind, instinctively warning him that something must have gone wrong somewhere.

But the question is, what went wrong? What went wrong? Where did it happen? And who caused it?

Is it the Joker? No, he just escaped from Arkham Asylum, he hasn't had time to rebuild the Joker gang... If that's the case, where exactly is the problem?

Could it be... just my imagination?

Bruce shook his head, dismissing the idea. Whether it was a misperception or not, he had to stay alert.

Come to think of it, when did this paranoia of mine start? It must have been recently... because of Barry's letter.

Bruce couldn't help but chuckle as he thought about it.

Seriously... what am I even fantasizing about? The prohibition of any form of material exchange is an ironclad rule for every speedster, and a rule that the Flash must abide by.

If any problems arise in this regard, the mages will make all the necessary preparations in advance, so you don't need to investigate yourself.

But at that moment, suddenly, Gordon's terrified scream came through Batman's earpiece. Before Bruce could even ask, he clearly saw the massive searchlight that had lit up and was projecting the Batman symbol into the sky.

Something's wrong with the police station?!

Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Bruce immediately said, "Barbara! Get all the Gotham Police Department's surveillance cameras running right now. I need to find out what exactly happened there!"

"Huh? Ah, ah!!"

Barbara nodded belatedly, then stammered, "Okay, okay! I'll start preparing right away!"

Although she said that, Bruce could clearly sense the pauses in Barbara's speech. However, Bruce didn't suspect anything because of this—for one thing, Barbara was Bruce's long-time assistant. The two had known each other well before the first Robin appeared by Bruce's side.

Furthermore, Barbara's father, Commissioner Gordon, works for the police department. As a key figure in the joint law enforcement efforts between Gotham City and Batman, Bruce deeply admires Gordon's unwavering commitment to justice. Having grown up under Gordon's tutelage, while he can't completely trust Barbara like he does with Alfred, she is still one of the people Bruce trusts most.

Meanwhile, Ron clapped his hands after hearing Barbara's voice message. Thomas nodded, a red light flashing in his eyes, and then all communication in the Batcave was forcibly cut off.

Affecting the other side, Bruce only heard a series of crackling radio waves in his headphones, and then all the signal nodes connected to the Batcave simultaneously went out of service.

Bruce glanced at the data displayed on the microcomputer, a serious look appearing in his eyes. Without pausing, Bruce quickly hopped onto the Batmobile beside him, twisted the handlebars, and the motorcycle, bathed in the moonlight, became a blur as it sped towards the police station at nearly 300 miles per hour.

When Bruce arrived at the police station, it was deserted. Alert status was activated, and the Batplanes in the sky simultaneously went into patrol mode, patrolling and maintaining vigilance under the control of the intelligent AI Bruce had personally programmed.

Through the Batmobile's perspective from above, Bruce could clearly see that someone had painted a large smiley face and a red heart representing love in white paint on the open ground of Gotham Police Department.

In the center of the graffiti was a gift box, and there was Sheriff Gordon, tied up to the side, his face filled with terror and disbelief.

Upon seeing Gordon upstairs, Bruce immediately drew his grappling hook and fired. As the hook pulled back, Bruce leaped through the dark doorway and reached the rooftop, asking in a low voice, "Gordon, what happened here?!"

(End of this chapter)