As they descended the stairs, two figures clad in identical armor strolled casually through the halls of the Bat's company, completely disregarding the surveillance cameras along the way.
Eugene, having just arrived at the rooftop, was clueless about the situation, but seeing Cindy's nonchalant demeanor, he figured she must have intended to draw out Batwoman.
They reached Bliss Wayne's office, where Cindy casually smashed a liquor cabinet and grabbed two bottles of fine wine, paying no heed to the blaring alarm.
Taking a sip from her bottle, she nodded in approval, then tossed another bottle to Eugene before the two of them boldly entered the elevator, heading straight down.
Under normal circumstances, the Grim Reaper wouldn't take the elevator; there was always the risk of someone cutting the power, leaving them vulnerable or subject to a free fall.
But seeing Cindy step into the elevator without a care in the world, Eugene followed suit without protest. Her calm demeanor suggested she had already taken care of all the security guards downstairs.
His mind immediately made speculations, far sharper than before his transition. If he had possessed such keen intellect back in the day, he might have earned scholarships to any school he desired.
"Ding!"
The elevator reached the ground floor, and as they stepped out, they were greeted by a chaotic scene in the lobby. Several security guards lay sprawled on the floor, some unconscious, others unsure of their fates. Furniture and decorations lay shattered around them, all courtesy of Cindy's handiwork.
Eugene glanced around and noticed that some of the security guards were quite attractive, a testament to the Wayne Corporation; even their security personnel were impeccably styled.
He still wasn't quite accustomed to this world of decay and decadence. His gaze lingered on women in the same way as before, still concerned with their beauty.
"Let's go, they're all alive," Cindy urged Eugene, noticing him standing amidst the wreckage. She had spared the lives of these guards specifically so they could report back to Bliss.
Though the chances of Batwoman showing up were slim, it was worth a shot. Besides, dealing with these guards had been effortless.
"Did you come by car? Do you know where Hali is?" Eugene asked.
"Of course. And as for Hali, she's probably still with Jester's circus, right?"
Passing through the shattered glass doors, they stepped into the dark, rainy night. A few suspicious-looking women lurked around the street corner, but upon spotting the Grim Reaper emerging from the building, they scattered like birds.
Their only intention had been to take advantage of the Wayne Corporation's lax security to steal some valuables or information. However, if the Grim Reaper was on duty, it was best to keep their distance.
Cindy's car was parked across the street, just an ordinary American jeep, cluttered not with garbage but with an assortment of weapons, large and small. Two rocket launchers and two massive ammo boxes sat in the back seat.
Eugene took the passenger seat, accidentally sitting on a grenade. He retrieved it from under him and handed it to Cindy.
"Your grenade."
"No, it's your grenade," Cindy replied, glancing at him with a chuckle beneath her mask, then turned the key to start the car."Trying to flirt won't work on me. I'm only in it for the money."
Eugene's eyes widened beneath his mask. Flirting? He had only returned the grenade he had sat on...
"By the way, things are different in this world. Here, men are the disadvantaged ones. It's usually the women who pursue men, sending them flowers and gifts, hoping to marry them..."
Eugene shivered at the thought. It felt awkward. Reflecting on his actions earlier, he realized they might have been interpreted as flirtatious...
"No, I didn't mean it like that... It's just... adjusting to a new world, you know?"
"Sure, sure," Cindy replied nonchalantly, starting the car.
Breaking through the rain curtain, they raced along the street. The alternating streetlights cast fluctuating shadows inside the car. Eugene prepared his weapons.
Yes, weapons.
If they were to find Harley Quinn and confirm whether the world was facing imminent destruction, they would undoubtedly have to venture into Joker's territory.
The fanatical followers of the Joker were utterly irrational. If they couldn't render them unconscious, these lunatics would happily blow themselves up along with their targets. Moreover, the Joker had used a gas that induced fatal laughter—laughing gas— which these lunatics also possessed.
Eugene didn't intend to use the guns strapped to his legs. He wasn't prepared to kill. Knocking them out would suffice. The electric shock feature on his baton was quite effective.
"Security guards also carry batons. Could that be why they ended up in the Grim Reaper's body?"
But wielding just a baton wouldn't take much time to prepare. Soon, they fell into silence.
"I don't like Gotham. This city... it's too crazy," Eugene said, unsure why. Maybe it was nerves, or perhaps the silence unnerved him. He just wanted to break the tension.
"Why?" Cindy asked, curious."I remember being quite popular here."
"Oh, of course. I mean... don't you feel like our straightforward style doesn't quite fit in here? The people here... their mindset is different from ours."
Eugene paused, unsure if Cindy caught the irony. He just felt the air was getting awkward and wanted to change the subject.
Cindy ran a red light, splashing a black man with a wave of water. As the man pulled out a weapon and fired at the car, she provocatively flicked her taillights and let out an ambiguous laugh.
"Haha, not bad. People here are all crazy. If it weren't for the business opportunities, I'd rather live in Star City."
Star City was the domain of the Green Arrow, where the villains were more straightforward than the lunatics of Gotham.
If it turned out Atlantis was going to flood the world, Eugene would have to fight for his survival, no matter how dangerous it might be.
The problem was, he didn't feel ready. Perhaps it was indeed necessary to fight for survival, but he still couldn't bring himself to take lives as easily as the original Grim Reaper.
He knew that even if he didn't go to war with Atlantis, his enemies from the original Grim Reaper's world would force him to kill sooner or later. It was just a matter of time.
As he contemplated, a smoking rocket flew towards them from a nearby building.
With his exceptional physical abilities and dynamic vision, he could even see a ridiculously exaggerated smiley face painted on the warhead in red and white paint, raindrops shattering on it into sparkling shards reflecting the light from the street lamps.
"Jump!" Cindy yelled, pushing open the car door and leaping out.
Without her special attention, Eugene's body's superior qualities led him to instinctively follow suit.
But while Cindy landed smoothly, Eugene, realizing what was happening mid-air, didn't know what to do and ended up crashing into a pile of garbage bins on the roadside.
The car took the hit and exploded into pieces. In the firelight, he noticed Cindy looking at him, and for some reason, he felt like the person beneath her black and yellow mask was in a good mood.
In the next moment, a torrent of bullets and laughter accompanied the onslaught, the firepower so intense that the muzzle flashes illuminated the nearby street.
Regular bullets had no effect on the fully armored Grim Reaper. Though the impact stung a bit, the bullets were like harmless pellets against his skin.
Under the joint assault of the two Grim Reapers, the dozens of Joker's henchmen posed no real threat. Soon, the street returned to tranquility, the rain washing away all evidence.
Of course, there would be no police investigation into the matter. Deaths like these were commonplace in the area.
With luck, the bodies would be dumped in the pauper's cemetery or crematorium. If luck ran out...
Well, Gotham was teeming with folks engaged in all sorts of crazy activities—cannibalistic priests, cash-strapped anatomists, and perverts in desperate need of corpses for their toys...
"This is why I love Gotham. The people are simple, hospitable, and always up for a good old-fashioned gunfight. It's the perfect vacation spot," Cindy remarked.
Replacing her spent magazines, she holstered her pistol and approached Eugene.
"Sigh... I thought only the warmest folks lived in Arkham Estates. Turns out the residents of this madhouse are just as warm," Eugene said, brushing off the rotten cabbage leaves hanging from his shoulders. Fortunately, the heavy rain washed away the filth, making him look less disheveled.
Cindy surveyed the area, identifying a direction, then gestured towards a building with colorful lights shining from its windows.
"Let's go. We'll talk to Hali and see what's wrong with these people."
"Even though I'm not a doctor, I know what's wrong with these people. They're insane," Eugene quipped, cracking a grim joke.
Indeed, the original Grim Reaper was also a master of dark humor. After blowing up his targets or breaking their necks, he would often mutter dark jokes to himself.
The surrounding buildings were eerily quiet in the rain-soaked night. Like lurking monsters in the darkness, the dark doorways and windows were their eyes and gaping mouths, their hollow expressions capable of swallowing hope and driving people to despair and madness.
On either side of the road stood abandoned tenements, now serving as hiding places for the Joker's minions. Joker's oversized face and various other props adorned the high walls, but the colors were fading in the rain, indicating they had been freshly painted in the past few days.
Now, both sides of the building were dark, except for one with electricity and colorful lights pouring out from its windows. That was likely where Hali resided.
Eugene couldn't believe she hadn't heard the intense firefight earlier, but she remained unresponsive for now.
As they approached the brightly lit building, the sound of music—a heavy metal rock band accompanied by screams—reached their ears from the room above.
"Well, it seems our little Hali isn't as heartbroken as we imagined. Looks like she's working out," Cindy remarked, tilting her head to listen, realizing that amidst the music, there were also sounds of boots and wooden floors colliding.
In the main world, Harley Quinn was originally a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum. As she studied the Joker, she became increasingly fascinated by his chaotic mind, falling madly in love with him and helping him escape. Afterwards, she remained by his side, aiding him in various criminal activities. However, the worldview of the DC universe was always chaotic, and Eugene couldn't be sure of the exact relationship between this Earth-11's Harley Quinn and Jester.
In Earth-37, another parallel universe, set in the 1960s, Harley Quinn and the Joker had a lesbian relationship.
But in the New 52 universe, Harley had fallen out with the Joker, eventually joining the Birds of Prey and having a complex relationship with Batman.
Regardless of the parallel universe, Harley possessed genius-level intellect and exceptional gymnastic talents.
Her hobbies included listening to music, and she would dance when she had free time. Despite her madness and chaos, she knew she was a good girl.