Before Bruce could even feel touched, a strong sense of danger engulfed him. Shiller placed his umbrella in front of him and suddenly a sharp blade appeared tip of the umbrella.
"Thank you for your goodwill, I am touched, but I reject it. Forcing me to accept it only satisfies your personal desires. If that's the case, you must bear the consequences."
As the words fell, Shiller held the umbrella and, from top to bottom, plunged the blade into Bruce's abdomen, causing blood to spatter everywhere.
Bruce curled his body in pain, the umbrella knife didn't hit a critical spot, it just hurt him more. In a daze, Shiller pulled the knife out elegantly, very dignified, forming a stark contrast to his hysteria.
Looking at the smile on Shiller's face, Bruce understood what he wanted to say. This was a reverse competition; whoever realized earlier that they should step back out of love, won.
Shiller conceded sooner than him, gave him more, understood love more – Joker won once again.
In this moment, Bruce realized how irredeemably arrogant he was. Even when it came to conceding, fulfilling others and giving love to others, he wanted to win.
At this point, the matter of who loved whom more wasn't important anymore, what mattered was the desire to win.
So, lying on the ground, Bruce, clutching his wound, looked at Shiller with a scattered gaze, and said, emphasizing each word, "It seems....we both understand....love is not about taking, it's about giving.... giving the other what they most desire...."
"And I know....what you want most...is freedom."
After saying this, Bruce seized the umbrella that hadn't yet moved too far from his body.
Before Shiller could react, Bruce grabbed the umbrella, pulled on Shiller's arm that was holding the umbrella, and brought the umbrella knife close to his own neck.
Without any hesitation, determinedly, he slit his own carotid artery.
"Slick!"
The last thing Bruce saw was the Professor, who never joked, displaying an utterly flustered expression.
Approximately a few hours later, in Wayne Manor's room, Bruce, bandaged on his neck, chest, and abdomen, lay expressionlessly on the bed, while Shiller sat next to him, looking blank and dazed.
On the other side of the bed, Gordon, Victor, Alberto, Cobblepot, Thomas, Lucifer, Alfred, even Amanda and Angela, all stood in a row.
None of them looked at Bruce and Shiller, they all looked at another tall figure at the foot of the bed. That was Clark Kent.
"Friends... can anyone explain to me.... what has happened here?" Clark spread his hands and swept his gaze over each person's face.
Confronted with Clark's sincere and puzzled look, no one managed to speak.
"These things you just told me about Bruce and Shiller, can I consider this scenario to understand that two mentally ill people have been forced to hurt each other uncontrolled for four consecutive years, while you all just watched?"
Clark spread his arms wider and raised his voice, the tone becoming as sharp as the bleat of a baby lamb:
"Can no one really do something about it?!!!"
"Have you guys not yet realized that they are both mentally ill?" Clark's tone was full of disbelief.
"They are people with imperfect conduct capacities! They need care. They need supervision. They need help to live! This fact even the rural doctor from our small town knows…. but you all live in the big city!!!"
Clark went over to Shiller and Bruce, pointed at them, and said:
"Just because this city is too corrupt and they are thriving here, should make you realize that something's wrong with them! For this kind of basic judgment, what sort of high IQ do you need?!!"
Several people looked embarrassed. Victor cleared his throat and said, "But they themselves believe that they don't need help... we..."
"Every mentally ill person thinks they aren't insane!" Clark looked at Victor in disbelief: "If we listen to them, we will not need any mental hospitals in this world!"
"I don't think... it's as serious as that." Lucifer also interjected.
Clark stared at him as if to say "Look at their current condition again then repeat that."
Lucifer had nothing more to say. Gordon coughed twice and said, "Indeed, they did go a bit too far this time…"
"A bit too far?!! God! A student puts his teacher into jail and tortures him, a teacher tricks the student's father to cause him trouble, breaks his three ribs, and in the end, the teacher stabs him, and the student uses the teacher's knife to slash his own throat. And you all call this 'a bit too far'?!!"
Clark took a deep breath, held his chest, and stepped back. Looking at everyone present, he said: "You all should be in an insane asylum, seriously!"
Thomas frowned. The last few words that Bruce said hinted to him that Shiller might be deceiving him. Just as he was about to express his dissatisfaction, Clark raised his hand to halt all speech.