"Hmm?" Noticing that the Hellfire on the chain hadn't engulfed Batman, Joker raised an eyebrow. But in the next instant, a sly smile crept across his face. The chain Batman had grabbed suddenly morphed into a scythe, slashing towards Batman's neck!
"Hmm?!" Batman's pupils dilated slightly as he was caught off guard by the sudden transformation of the chain, but he was not without a countermeasure.
The inspiration for his countermove didn't come from the current Joker but from Elsie Simmons, a previous host of a hellish demon, who had similar chain powers that could morph at will. Batman had repeatedly reviewed footage of Robert fighting Simmons and found a way to counter this ability.
"Buzz!" With a practiced response, Batman conjured a surge of dark energy that acted like a sponge, inserting itself between him and the transforming scythe.
When the scythe struck the dark energy, it was like dropping into the ocean, its force nearly completely absorbed. This new application of dark energy was something Joker hadn't anticipated.
With a powerful tug, Batman pulled on the chain, attempting to bring Joker directly to him. From their brief exchange, Batman had realized that Joker's Hellfire was incredibly potent, surpassing his dark energy and difficult to manage due to its persistent and invasive nature.
However, Joker wasn't without weaknesses. Batman had already seen that Joker's physical strength wasn't superior to his own, evident when he had kicked Joker away and blocked his skeletal claws.
Thus, Batman decided to engage Joker in close combat. If his gauntlets could withstand the Hellfire's corrosion, he might stand a chance to defeat Joker—or at least hold him off long enough to pull him into a dark space using home-field advantage.
"Hmm?" On the other side, Joker was surprised by Batman's attempt to pull him in. He had used the chain precisely to drag Batman towards him and potentially trap him for a Penance Stare to see if Batman would succumb.
Upon realizing Batman's intent, Joker didn't immediately yield but feigned resistance. The ground under his feet crumbled as he stamped down, flames continuously scorching the earth and turning it to charred material.
It seemed Joker was fiercely resisting the pull from Batman, but due to a disparity in strength, he didn't succeed. His power was indeed less than Batman's.
After leaving a trail of scorched earth, Joker was eventually pulled close by Batman. But just then, Joker launched a surprise attack. The scythe didn't move, but the chain Batman had grabbed transformed again, unleashing numerous new chains that wrapped around Batman's body like countless tendrils, binding him on the spot.
"You! Are guilty!" Joker's eyes whirled with indescribable darkness and fire as he launched the Penance Stare. "Look into my eyes. Your soul has been tainted by those you've killed. Feel their agony…"
Just as Joker spoke, he realized something was amiss. Batman's face was covered with the Ikai Mask, and although General Ikai was feigning death, the utterance of the Penance Stare made him instinctively open his eyes, shielding Batman's and locking gazes with Joker.
"No! Not this! Ah, I'm dead!" General Ikai panicked upon seeing the Penance Stare, recognizing its threat even to supernatural beings like him. Any being with a soul could be judged by the Penance Stare, an unavoidable truth.
As General Ikai saw the Penance Stare, real panic set in, and the entire mask trembled as if trying to detach from Batman's face.
Meanwhile, powerful dark energy leaked from the Ikai Mask, combating the Hellfire's burn and protecting General Ikai's soul. Hellfire wasn't invincible; sufficiently powerful entities could resist its burns. While General Ikai wasn't strong enough to ignore Hellfire on his own, the dark dimension's power supporting him from behind prevented his demise at Joker's hands.
"Shit! Get off!" Frustrated that the Ikai Mask had blocked his Penance Stare, Joker erupted in anger. This was a golden opportunity he had nearly grasped, now thwarted by the no longer endearing Ikai Mask.
Joker reached to remove the Ikai Mask, but just then, a terrifying force burst from Batman's utility belt. The recoil alone knocked Batman back.
"Pfft!" The force pierced Joker's body, shattering his skeletal frame into countless pieces, exploding him into a scatter of bones across the floor.
With Joker's Hellfire gone, the chains binding Batman reverted to ordinary metal and could no longer hold him.
"Click!" Batman shattered the chains, but his expression under the mask was grave. Joker's apparent death had violated his core principle of not killing.
"The power is indeed great, but I didn't expect..." Batman removed the struggling Ikai Mask, still caught in the throes of the Penance Stare's power.
With the source of Joker's Hellfire extinguished and the support of dark dimensional power behind the Ikai Mask, General Ikai was likely to survive this bout with the Penance Stare. However, the ordeal had visibly shaken him, and while Batman didn't particularly value General Ikai's consciousness—seeing him more as a conduit for the dark dimension's power—the impact was nonetheless severe.
"Is he truly dead?" Batman's eyes flickered with uncertainty as he surveyed the scattered remains of the Joker. If this had been the Joker of old, being blown to such an extent would surely mean death. But the Joker had stepped into the realm of the supernatural; his powers were still largely an enigma to Batman, who suspected that it wouldn't be so easy for the Joker to die.
"If Joker truly isn't dead, then in this state, he would be the easiest to contain," Batman thought as he looked at the remains. He pulled a device resembling a pistol from his belt and aimed it at the fragments of Joker.
"Bang!" A net shot out from the device, enveloping the larger pieces of Joker's remains, then gathering them up.
"Bang! Bang!" Several more shots ensured that all fragments were secured. If Joker was still alive, this would give Batman a chance to securely detain him for treatment. If Joker was indeed dead, Batman felt a disturbing sense of relief mixed with violation of his moral code.
The no-kill rule was among Batman's most fundamental principles, a safeguard against descending into darkness. While sometimes circumstances demanded flexibility, breaking this rule wasn't without profound personal repercussions.
Ignoring that the deceased was the Joker, his longtime adversary, if Batman lost all reverence for life, he would become a terror of the dark side, no longer the Batman as known, but a fallen figure consumed by his own shadow.
Lost in thought, Batman stared at the remains of the Joker, understanding that Joker could die and even deserved death for his crimes—but not by his hand.
"You! Are guilty!" As Batman was distracted by his thoughts, Joker's skull suddenly blazed with fire, and the Penance Stare activated again, fixing on Batman. "Look into my eyes. Your soul is corroded by those you have killed. Feel their agony…"
"Hmm?!" Batman sharply inhaled. During the previous instances when Joker had unleashed the Penance Stare, Batman had not fully experienced its effects—once aimed at Elsie and another time inadvertently blocked by the Ikai Mask.
Thus, while aware of the Penance Stare's formidable nature, Batman didn't truly understand its profound effects or how to defend against it.
The next moment, Batman's mind blurred as he was surrounded by the vengeful spirits of those who despised him—those he had brought to justice. Not every criminal ended up in Arkham Asylum; only the most talented did, and many others met different fates.
Strictly speaking, these deaths shouldn't be attributed to Batman, but the vengeful spirits didn't see it that way. The Hellfire linked to the very essence of Hell, and these spirits were not mere illusions but actual souls reliving their agonies.
"I killed you with a clear conscience!" Batman remained unflinching despite the onslaught of pain from the spirits. Even if given a hundred more chances, he would still choose to bring these criminals to justice.
Especially since Batman had realized he hadn't truly killed the Joker, his previously shaken state had stabilized. Unyielding and resolute, he let the spirits' pain wash over him without regret.
However, as Batman endured this torment, his surroundings suddenly changed. He found himself in a dark alley, a place from his memories he wished to forget—the place where he had helplessly watched his parents murdered, a source of irreparable pain.
As Batman relived this agonizing memory once again, his expression finally shifted.
But still, he continued to bear this pain. Though he had revisited this memory countless times, sometimes even more painfully, he remained steadfast.
"How is there no reaction?" In the real world, flames surged within Joker's skeletal remains, burning away the net and reassembling his body. His bones regrew, and soon Joker's form was whole again.
As Joker's body reconstituted, he frowned, puzzled by the lack of effect from the Penance Stare. If Batman had truly been affected, he should not have been able to recover so swiftly and retaliate.
"If you were dead, maybe this technique would have worked on me…" As if responding to Joker's expression, Batman's gravelly voice echoed around them, sinking Joker's heart further…
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