Laughing American comics, I am becoming more and more like a clown

Page 130

The first time a civilized society kills someone is like a fish stepping out of the ocean onto land, like an ape standing up, or a monkey becoming aware of the existence of a mirror.

Fish will evolve lungs, apes will free their hands, and monkeys will see themselves.

For Lucian, he had killed people, evolved lungs, and freed his hands... But when he stood in front of the mirror, he saw who the man with two bloody heads was.

he realized.

……

When he realized what killing meant... it was like a monkey realizing who the monkey in the mirror was.

When he starts to think that killing is wrong, when he feels pity, hesitates, and hesitates, and turns the knife on himself... that is when the murderer looks back and reflects on himself.

……

Lucien looked at Batman... Isn't it strange that Batman picked up the butcher knife, while the Joker put it down.

Batman was also looking at him, without saying a word, his face not covered by the visor had age spots and wrinkles.

He was in his sixties, but under Paul's torture he looked like he was eighty.

……

"I understand." He lowered his eyes and licked the corner of his lips: "This is a world where bats kill people, so the clown who turns back is needed-"

"No." The clown's voice came to his ear, but was ignored.

Lucian raised his eyes again, looking at Batman. The blood marks the Joker had drawn on his face were now mottled and falling away from him due to drying. "Then why did you kill me? Is there anything wrong with being a good man?"

"I didn't do anything...Okay, I admit that my thoughts are sometimes dangerous, but you can't kill me for something I haven't done yet...If you kill me first because you're afraid someone will commit a crime, I don't see how you're any different from a criminal."

"I am a criminal." This is Batman's answer.

"Yes, you are a criminal." Lucian licked his lips again, the blood making his face itchy. "But if you hadn't killed anyone, your sentence wouldn't have been more than thirty years. Now that you've killed someone, you'll be sentenced to life imprisonment. Of course, for a sixty-year-old man, thirty years and life imprisonment are no different."

He had nothing to say. Compared to the Joker, he really had nothing to say to this unfamiliar Batman.

Batman broke the silence: "Gotham cannot have chaos factors, and you are one of them."

Lucien had nothing to say. He thought the clown probably had nothing to say either, and waved his hand, refusing to communicate.

……

Batman talked about killing people, but in the end he locked up Lucian, not Arkham, because that place was blown up by Paul eight hundred years ago.

It was just a cage, with cement walls, cylindrical in shape, and only a window welded to the wall and an incandescent light shining from above.

What a familiar scene. The -22 was also treated like a formidable enemy at the beginning.

He rubbed his face in frustration, and then rubbed off the blood scabs.

"..."

"How does it feel to not kill anyone?" A voice came from beside him. It was the Joker. Lucian did not answer, and even his expression did not change.

"You've made progress. At least you didn't yell or punch me in anger. Come... take a nap. We'll meet in our dreams."

The people of Gotham seem to be gay from a genetic level. Even if the Joker is their future self, they won't speak properly.

……

The yellow sand was mixed and entangled, like swans embracing each other, or like poisonous snakes biting their tails.

The sound of "bang bang" was heard, and each punch hit the flesh.

"Honey, I really hope you're punching Batman instead of unleashing your hostility on me like a coward or a domestic abuser... You obviously don't hate me that much."

The clown endured it and fought back, but he soon fell into a disadvantage due to his physical condition.

Lucian punched him twice more before letting go. "I really don't understand. We are one person—one person. Shouldn't you protect me as much as you protect yourself?"

"I really don't understand." The clown said, "We are one person, so why do you hit me to vent your anger instead of forgiving my mistakes?"

Lucien said, "Because I hurt myself."

"Yes, that's right, because I hurt myself."

……

It's hellish enough, but it shouldn't qualify as a joke.

Chapter 170 Red-breasted Robin

This is a standard coastline, with no stones, no small holes for clams and sandworms to breathe, no fish or shrimp in the sea, and no birds in the sky.

It is as silent here as the Earth when life was first born 4.6 billion years ago.

Lucian raised his hand to wipe the blood from his forehead and sighed, "Hey, this is the first time I've won."

"Does bullying make you so happy?"

"If the target of the bullying is a clown, then yes, I'm happy."

I didn't wipe it clean, after all, there was blood on my hands, so I walked towards the sea and wanted to wash it simply.

"I advise you not to do this."

Lucian turned around to look at the clown who had spoken: "I knew you would persuade me." He grinned and walked towards the sea, just looking at him without any contact.

The sand under my feet was wet. "Do you remember the first time you had this dream, when you came here?"

The air was silent for a moment, and the clown's voice came from far behind: "I can't be a supporting role."

"Have some class! Those are my lines!"

"We are one person!" He admitted it again at this time.

Lucien didn't say the word "shameless" out loud, but squatted down and looked carefully at the clear sea water and white foam.

……

This dream first appeared in Universe -32, when the Joker said it was a quiet place where no one would disturb him.

At first, Lucian also thought that this was its use—

"Harley Quinn's Worst Day didn't fail, she created a Joker persona that lived up to the classic image of The Killing Joke... but it disappeared without a trace for a long time."

"Also, when I lost my memories, the more I felt my emotions, the closer I got to this place... Like he said, the closer I got to reality, the closer I got to the Joker."

The scene becomes complicated...it is definitely not just a so-called "place for thinking".

"And then?" the clown's voice came from afar: "What is your conclusion?"

Lucian paused. "Mr. Duplicity, I have no conclusions. I am merely raising questions."

The clown sneered: "Don't worry, no matter how immature, boring, and full of loopholes your deduction is, I will give you the most basic praise."

"I do not believe you."

"Have some confidence in yourself. Do you have a habit of self-humiliation?"

Lucien turned around and saw the clown sitting on the beach in an indecent posture. He was too far away to see the expression on his face or the emotions in his eyes, so he didn't continue.

……

The clown stood up from the ground, patted the sand off his body, and walked over: "There is no point in exploring this place. It could be a dream, an illusion, or a crack in space. You can guess and think whatever you want... Let me think, were you trying to say just now-"

Pointing at the sea, he said, "Is this the embodiment of the clown concept? Is this where the clown originated?"

Lucien saw the clown squat down, his long windbreaker spread out on the beach like a bird's tail feathers, and he stretched out his fingers to touch the sea.

High tide, low tide, high tide, low tide... When the sea water comes, the fingers will change shape, and when it recedes, their true shape will be revealed.

The clown kept his half-squatting posture and turned his head to look at him:

"Are you wondering: Why can the clown disappear into the sea, turning into foam like a mermaid princess and merging with the water, while I can only stand here, standing on the beach, never having the thought of entering, and not even the slightest interest in these ripples?"

The identical green eyes looked at each other, like a mirror, and Lucian was looking at himself in the mirror.

The clown pointed to the sunset and said, "Do you think that is the sunset of the concept of clowns?"

Dusk is "Rok" in Old Norse, which also means "fate" and "destruction".

The name "Twilight of the Gods" in Western European mythology comes from this word, which can be understood as "the fate of the gods" and "the moment of destruction of the gods."

As for the story of "Ragnarok", it is not only about the decisive battle, but also represents the cycle and rebirth of life.

"You thought it was some kind of prophecy, that the sea represented the Joker, that the boundlessness represented the countless creations of that character, and that the dusk represented the Joker's current state or end—that he would be reviled and no longer loved. Or perhaps you thought it represented that in this story you were breaking free from, or taking over, the Joker's concept and becoming him, right?"

Yes.

This was Lucian's guess, bizarre enough and bold enough.

The clown nodded. "We think the same thing. I used to think so too."

Praise: "Great, you're just as wrong as I am."

Lucian: “…”

He sighed, "Is self-deprecation so funny?"

“Very interesting.”

……

Suddenly, a black dot appeared in the sky... It was a small bird with brown-red feathers on its chest, abdomen and waist.

Lucian was surprised at the emergence of new life in this place, and was also very surprised at the type of life - it lived in fields or woods.

"Red-breasted Robin, I thought it would be a bald eagle."

(The red-breasted robin is the national bird of the United Kingdom, and the bald eagle is the national bird of the United States)