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

But when the camera captured the eyes, it gave Lucien the illusion that there was someone inside.

Yes, it was like something had descended here, spying on the world maliciously, and Lucian was glanced at by him, so they looked back.

Even if there is a screen between us, even if the object on the other side is just a metal product.

----

The maze in the Court of Owls is hallucinogenic, and in the comics, Batman experienced hallucinations when he was trapped there.

Lucian was well prepared. He wore a gas mask and a small tank of oxygen before going down. He didn't stay there for long, but he still saw hallucinations in modern times.

The pure gold lines twisted and deformed in his mind, folding into an incredible shape and arc, like a real owl, looking at him with round, cold eyes... There was an image of a bat reflected on the iris, or perhaps in the pupil.

Not Barbatos.

The image enlarged, enlarged, and enlarged again, and when it reached a certain extreme, it disappeared. Lucian did not see the specific image.

Until he smelled a pungent odor.

There was no fishy smell or stinky smell or anything else, just a pungent, empty pungent smell... It was the smell of the clown.

……

That's great, he chased after me again.

Lucien felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around naturally.

Although we don't know how the Joker did it, there is no need for explanation. He can do it, he has a way.

Then Lucien saw...

A corpse that was salvaged from darkness, but still dripping with unknown substances, looked like a pitch-black and pale ghost, cold to a certain extreme... Wearing bat armor, it stood behind him, looking down at him condescendingly.

When Lucian turned his head, his pupils almost hit the spikes.

...not a clown.

It was a wild laugh.

The sense of smell was belatedly aware of the bloody smell hidden behind the pungent smell.

!

How did the Laughing Bat get out of -22 and enter this universe?

And why is it in the eyes of that owl statue?

There is no point in thinking about this. After all, the Joker has long been able to use dreams as a medium to get to Lucien, and Laughing Maniac can definitely do it as well.

……

Silent Bat knew that even though Jack was exhausted, he could still hold on for fifteen minutes and lead Quinn to the agreed place.

Suppressing the ominous premonition in my heart, I walked back as I was told, found the chain, set a trap, and waited for his arrival.

He wondered why Quinn's target was Jack... There was nothing special about Jack, he really was nothing special, especially when investigating the situation of seeing Jack's counterpart, the Joker, in the parallel world.

Jack has no origin story, his congenital mental illness has been completely cured, he is not short of money, he is not crazy, he is peaceful and has a good temper. He has nothing in common with the Joker.

Silent Bat didn't know why he was thinking about this. Logically, he should have wondered if there was something about Jack that attracted the Court of Owls, or if he had ever been a member or enemy of this organization... It should be the influence of Lucian.

he thinks.

But sixteen minutes later, Jack didn't come.

……

"Good evening--"

It's not aggressive, its tone is gentle and soft, and it's not as artificial as a clown, but because of the source of the voice, it's inherently creepy.

It's like a skinny demon with protruding spikes, ugly and cunning, with blood on its hands and killing people like crazy... You can't expect words from this creature to make people let down their guard.

Lucian had goose bumps on his arms under his clothes. He glanced at the sun above his head and said, "Good morning, dear."

……

It’s bad, I can’t change my catchphrase.

……

Kuangxiao was also surprised by the suffix, asking, but also sighing: "It seems like you have grown a lot."

Lucien didn't talk as much as he would to others. He thought about his answer again in his mind before saying, "The clown is a very good teacher."

Disaster is diverted to the east.

Go find the clown and ask him what to do.

"The children I've raised and taught could easily defeat you." He laughed wildly, as if he had the leisure to discuss parenting tips, or perhaps he was just chatting and procrastinating. "If he only raised you like this, I'd be disappointed."

"...Then you still don't understand the clown." Lucian's words could be described as an ignorant provocation, but apart from the clown, no one else's words were more convincing than his.

The laughing eyes were covered by thorns, and his expression could not be seen clearly, but he could see Lucian's expression.

"You raise your children so that they can fight for justice and become like you... But the Joker didn't teach me to become like him. He was trying to make me what he thought was the best outcome... Rather than saying that I'm too ordinary to beat your children, it's better to say that this is what he wants to be the most."

Lucien smiled, his smile a mocking conclusion: "I think that whether it's the Joker or Batman, no matter which world they are from, when they see me and him, they will understand what the Joker wants."

He was poking at Kuangxiao's sore spot and repeated the reason for the -22 time stop.

……

There was no anger in the laughter, and his emotions and temperament did not fluctuate at all, as if this did not matter, but if it really did not matter, he would not have chased Lucien here.

He is suppressing his emotions, why?

Lucien remembered his first words, "Good evening."

But it was daytime here, and in order to prevent being framed from the time perspective when entering the maze, he wore mechanical and electronic watches and checked the time every hour.

It's daytime now.

……

This should be an illusion or a dream, an illusion that is so subtle and real that it is hard to tell the difference between the real and the real. Its elimination is most likely related to emotions.

Is that right?

How could a wild laugh reveal such obvious limitations?

Unless there's a trap.

As Lucian's thoughts turned to pieces, Kuang Xiao spoke again. He thought carefully about what Lucian had said before:

"No one knows the Joker better than me, and no one understands his expectations better than me. He has never wanted to be like you, nor does he resent his identity as the Joker... He once said something."

That was the scene when Batman confronted the Joker. At that time, Batman was still very young, and he used a well-reasoned origin story to try to convince the Joker that he could understand his behavior and it was not too late to turn back.

But the clown was extremely angry, he almost roared:

"I'm telling you, Bat! Anyone who feels sorry for me, wants to save me, and forgive my past sins, I'm telling you, Bat! He's just looking down on me!"

"I'm telling you, I'm a villain! A bad seed! A criminal! I'm hopeless! I was born to enjoy watching people suffer, and I enjoy having fun in the city—blowing my brains up to the sky, watching them faint from fear. I was born this way, and if I were given the chance to choose again, I would still be this way—my dream is to become this kind of person!"

……

You can't make a villain without guilt and mercy repent, nor can you make a bad guy, a criminal who intends to disrupt order, wish only to live in peace.

……

Is that right?

If Lucien had just traveled through time, if he was still covered by stereotypes, if he had not been deceived many times by the Joker's and the current Maniac's reversal lies.

Then he would really believe it.

But now, the image of the clown is three-dimensional enough, vivid enough to make him not believe the words of laughter.

Lucian's dream was so barren that it only contained clowns.

He looked at the man laughing wildly, his expression gradually dimmed, and then he sneered as if he was forcing himself to laugh.

……

Jack is gone, and Quinn is gone too.

Silent Bat: "..."

He originally targeted himself, and as a member of the Wayne family, he should be more noticed by the Court of Owls than Jack.

Silent Bat clicked the headset, but there was no sound from the other end. He took out a small locator from his belt. This signal was linked to the locator embedded in Jack's body, and required multiple keys to crack it.

After a while, the Silent Bat walked into the maze.

After a while, he saw the locator dug out from the ground along with the flesh.

"..."

"Have you ever thought about why you appeared in Gotham with no memory but a 'plot'?" asked Kuang Xiao.

Lucien hadn't thought about it, nor did he care. It didn't matter, but in order to cooperate with the performance, he still thought about it, very seriously:

"The memories and living habits I retain all have the characteristics of a clown, but I can be sure that I am not a clown... so I have another guess."

"Smoking, drinking, standing in high places, my emotions towards the Joker and Batman, my concern for Bruce, and using guns and killing people... Actually, I kind of suspect I'm Thomas Wayne."

……

The one who died in the alley of the Flashpoint Universe was Bruce Wayne. Later, his mother Martha became the Joker and his father Thomas became Batman. Coincidentally, this Batman's father smoked, drank, stood in high places, had special feelings for the Joker and Batman, cared about Bruce very much, used guns and killed people.

The only difference is that Batman's father is in his forties or fifties, while Lucian is only about twenty years old.

So he added seriously, "Thomas and Martha accidentally merged while traveling through time, becoming younger, losing their memories, and peeking into a series of Batman stories... and thus became me."

"So, I am your father."

Laughing wildly: "..."

But surprisingly, his emotions remained stable and he was still not angry.

This is a very unreasonable thing. No one would allow others to make fun of their parents, let alone Bruce Wayne who chose to become Batman because of his parents' death.

There's something wrong. A million and one hundred thousand things are wrong.

Unless Kuangxiao finds out that Lucian is really Thomas Wayne as he claims, he would never have this attitude now.

……