Since it's been a while since I last posted, I placed the end of the last chapter at the beginning of the chapter.
- I found you! - Eduard exclaimed softly before opening his eyes and disappearing with a bang that echoed throughout Gotham's Financial Center.
[Are you going to kill him?]
'Not yet... I don't think killing all the threats is the answer..., But I'll definitely tell the police to fuck off and lock him up in space, seriously, how come the man is always put in Arkham even though he escapes from that hole every time?'
[There are several factors, from simple ones like corruption to -]
- I know Cortana, you don't have to explain something so simple to me... - Eduard smiled a little before his expression turned neutral as he arrived above an abandoned shed where dozens of armed men stood. - It's precisely because I understand that we're going to build some special prisons on earth and in space, in fact if I'm not mistaken, we already have something like this ready to be used?
[We have containment booths made for Kryptonian people or beings of similar strength reinforced with some runes you've invented].
- Prepare one of them, no, prepare two of them, let's lock up the girlfriend with Stockholm Syndrome too and try to help her.
[Cabins prepared, where do you want to send them?]
- Ask Kara to leave them in the fortress, and if possible try to convince her to wait for me away from that place, I don't want her to end up killing Joker by accident...
[All right, I'll talk to her, Ed.]
- Thank you... - After muttering Eduard looked at some cameras and decided to scare all the bad guys in the world. - Cortana, Joker seemed to want to do a broadcast here,
so, let's take advantage of that and start it, but broadcast everything even if you have to relocate local cameras and broadcast it to the whole country and not just to some local Gotham station as he must be ready to do. Also, don't forget to stop all the bombs from detonating and alert the bomb squad.
[Ready in 30 seconds!]
- Perfect. - Eduard nodded and prepared for his entrance while watching Cortana work through a hologram.
- Puddin! We're on television! - Harlequin shouted to Joker, who seemed to be playing with a remote control.
- What? - Joker turned around in surprise and looked at several screens showing the various parts of the place as well as him and his Harley. - Is this a Batsy joke? - Joker looked at the screens with excitement and anticipation.
- "Look at Puddin, the new man with an 'S'," Harlequin pointed out with the same partially insane and provocative smile she had when she was with Joker.
Joker's mood dropped sharply when he saw that the man who appeared was not Batsy, but the new clown who was saving the day away from Gotham. - No! No! No! He's going to ruin everything! - Joker shouted hysterically as he watched the new "hero" simply walk away while receiving shots as if they were nothing, even those aimed at his face didn't seem to bother the man, which caused even someone like Joker a little discomfort, even if it only lasted a few moments before he started laughing and looked at Harlequin. - I think our jokes are going to be a bit dated for this one, Harley.
- What are we doing, Puddin? - Harley asked while hugging Joker from behind who at the moment seemed to be contemplating before bursting into laughter again. - Let's just use the joke prepared for Batsy, he can't be everywhere, right? - Joker maintained his completely crazed expression with a smile as he waited for the new news hero to finish walking into his "trap".
- Wow, he's finished them all off! - Harley tightened her embrace around Joker, but just looking at her expression it was obvious that she was forcing her smile, after all, not so long ago she was a doctor, so just unlike Joker who was at least used to dealing with Batman she was panicking inside, and if it wasn't for blindly trusting the Joker she might have already tried to escape.
- He's reached the first challenge, let's turn on the monitor! - Joker shouted as Harlequin ran and pushed a trolley with a camera, and after turning it on she stayed behind while checking the transmission to a monitor they had both left in parts they had prepared in advance. - All set Puddin!
- Thanks Harley! - Joker looked at the camera and straightened his outfit in imitation of the upper class; after checking his purple suit and green vest he straightened his orange tie before smiling at the camera. - Hello "S" boy, how are you? I hope you enjoyed having fun with my friends while I put the finishing touches to my joke! - Joker gave a broad smile before continuing. - Unfortunately, I had prepared this party for Batsy so it may not be to your taste but try to enjoy the games before we laugh together at the end!
Eduard slowly took care of the Joker's henchmen while thinking about how to deal with the madman he knew had no solution, how did he know that? Well, even though he wasn't a DC expert like some of his friends he knew some of the countless versions of Gotham's only Clown Prince of Crime, and in all the ones he knew this man never cured himself of his madness, not once and he honestly doesn't want to risk a second Harlequin, so he'll just lock the clown up and throw away the key, the question is how to announce it to the world?
While Eduard was lost in thought he ended up finishing off all the mobs that the Joker uses so that Batman can warm up before his deadly jokes; after realizing that there was no one else shooting at him or even conscious he simply walked over to the abandoned place that the Joker had arranged and simply ripped off one of the 4-meter metal doors and threw it aside, and thus entered with a disinterested look on his face similar to the look of an office worker ready for another Wednesday routine.
[Thank you, Harley!]
Eduard's gaze was drawn to the television that had turned itself on out of nowhere, looking at the broadcast image he noted the appearance of the Joker of his world. He was wearing his signature purple suit, combined with a green vest, tie and orange shirt; there was the iconic make-up accompanied by his green hair, but without the scar he remembered seeing in a movie, observing a standard image of the Joker carrying even his iconic crowbar he just sighed wondering why Batman didn't personally lock him up somewhere out of reach.
[Hello "S" boy, how are you? I hope you enjoyed having fun with my friends while I was finishing the touches on my joke!]
Ignoring him, he looked around, his vision overcoming all obstacles, and simply saw what had to be a strange, deadly acid trap, one where he would have to test his morals and then one where he would be crushed when he met it at the end. 'It looks like this guy is based on one of the more childish versions of the cartoons.'
[Unfortunately, I had prepared this party for Batsy so it may not be to your taste, but try to enjoy the games before we laugh together at the end!]
Eduard looked at the screen for a few moments and seeing that he was just staring at the screen without saying anything else he just started walking without caring about any of his pranks; when the ground under his feet opened up he didn't even bother to float and allowed himself to fall into the tank, he himself wanted to know if his clothes would be okay so there was no point in trying to avoid it, at least not at the moment. After a few seconds he floated out of the tank and looked at his clothes carefully, ignoring the chaos that this simple action would cause when it was passed on. - Looks like I don't have to worry about being naked by corrosive attacks, at least not as long as they're not magical attacks... - Eduard muttered and didn't even bother to look at the dumbfounded expressions of the two on the monitor before floating over to a wooden partition that seemed to have been made recently.
The sound of wood cracking was heard at the same time as a little smoke went up while all Eduard did was move his head a little to draw a rectangle with his heat vision, just after he'd finished it he just breathed a little air into his lungs before exhaling it with enough pressure just for the piece of wood a few centimeters wide to fly out.
[OH! That was impressive "S", you really do make the games I set up for Batsy easy, but now I don't think things will be so easy even for you, after all, you are a HERO!!!]
Eduard turned his attention to another television identical to the one in the previous room, he looked at it for a few moments and seeing the Joker's sick smile and Harley's forced smile he decided to just listen to what he wanted to say about this stupid prank that Batman should solve again if he wasn't here.
[Now big busybody, let's start your trial!]
Looking at Joker at that moment Eduard was really interested, after all if this was a trial, should he be the judge? Did Joker expect him to kill one or both of these people? What does being a "hero" have to do with it?
[Now, you must be confused about your current situation, so let me explain the joke! These two people in front of you are horrible criminals, the young man has just stolen some food from a market I was shopping at, and for this he is holding up the queue, really despicable! The lady, on the other hand, is a very rude waitress].
Watching the screen without believing the shit he's hearing Eduard lets out a laugh, which seems to surprise Joker who should be watching his reactions in real time, which is understandable considering that Batman is an inexpressive person and only laughs when he becomes the villain...
[Do you like my joke?]
Joker asked me like a child expecting compliments despite his crazed look, the tone surprised Eduard, but it was enough to observe him to know that regardless of what was answered the game would continue, in fact this is a good opportunity to justify my actions.
- Not really, I'm just too surprised by Gotham... I just can't believe you haven't already been sentenced to death or imprisoned at the bottom of the sea if those are your jokes... - After Eduard answered him, he saw a perplexed Joker watching him, and when he saw him seem to want to answer him, he cut him off and continued. - Honestly, I've avoided this shithole that is Gotham because I just feel like killing half the people in Arkham or throwing them into space... And looking at you know I think I'm going to throw you into space. - Eduard said to himself and nodded provocatively before appearing in the same place with both hostages in his arms with both chains holding them under a pool full of now broken piranhas.
Looking at the Joker's crazed gaze Eduard allowed himself to smile slightly again and just said as he walked. - I'm not your Batsy Joker, I didn't come here to play theater with you or some such nonsense, I'm simply going to capture you and lock you up somewhere you can't escape, I think I'm already being too lenient in not killing you... Staring at the screen and listening to the words spoken by Eduard who was slowly walking towards her, Harlequin was truly afraid at the moment, and all that was stopping her from running away was her absolute faith in the man she was embracing at the moment, unfortunately her faith began to shatter when she felt him tremble slightly; Jack Napier, the man who went mad and became a constant reference to terror in Gotham alongside Batman who sought to apply fear to people like him, Joker a mad man found in Batman a challenge that he longs to overcome and at the same time fears getting rid of, and thanks to this his game of getting captured by either Batman or the police and then escaping has become a routine, he always escapes at least once a year and this cycle has been repeated over the last four years with more than nine escapes, and all the times he's been captured he's never felt like he does now, remembering Eduard's partially indifferent eyes when he talked about his life or freedom, completely disregarding the laws really left him dumbfounded, after all, that's not what a hero like Batman would do, right?
- Crack! - Joker stopped looking at the monitor where his hostages were lying unconscious far from the water tanks with piranhas and looked at the collapsed wall and a hazy figure behind the dust.
- Hello Joker...
- Hehe... Hello Super. - The Joker, who was still waiting for him to pass the last room where he had prepared some explosives, looked irritated and apprehensive at the man who continued walking towards him.
- Super? - Eduard stopped for a moment and looked at the symbol on his chest, then just shrugged as if he didn't care. - Whatever... Well, let's get this over with, Jack Napier, aka the Joker and Harleen Frances Quinzel; I'm going to ignore the laws of the land and judge you in the way that I think is fairest... - After pausing for a while, he heard the Joker's voice.
- Puddin what do we do?!
- Let's back off Harley! - Deciding not to continue with the jokes for the time being, the Joker decided to back off and prepare better for the next time.
- Back off? - Eduard smiled and looked with interest at Joker, who seemed a little less crazy at the moment. - And how exactly do you intend to do that? Because I'm not just going to turn around and let you run just because you want to...
- Hehe Hehehe! You didn't seem so nice anyway Super, but it's okay, I've got the key to freedom in my hands! - Joker smiled as he shook a remote control in his hand.
- BUM!
- AARRGHHH!!!
Eduard simply destroyed the remote control with his heat vision and consequently put a hole in Joker's hand, which was holding the remote control. - Honestly, I expected a lot more from you...
- Laeh! - After muttering I watched his hand heal immediately and then without waiting for him or Harlequin to make any move I simply decided to call it a day before the police arrived and I had to "kidnap" two criminals in front of the live police; honestly I don't mind too much, but it would be annoying to worsen my image since I'm not trying so hard to keep a secret identity and I don't intend to be blackmailed when someone finds out, so it's better to avoid publicly fighting with the government.
- Pots! - After paralyzing them, I simply took them to my side and looked at the camera. After thinking for a few moments, I decided to continue with my sentence just on a whim.
Eduard focused his gaze on Joker's camera and after confirming with Cortana that it was being broadcast, he continued. - As I said before, I'll take care of these specific lunatics myself, in the case of Jack Napier, also known as Joker, I'll just lock him up until he dies of old age, I won't torture him or anything like that, I'll even offer treatment, but only by means of machines? Well, let's ignore Joker for a moment and focus on the most serious case in my hands, Doctor Harleen Frances Quinzel, for whom I intend to carry out a treatment and reintegration program before integrating her into the authorities; once I've treated her I'll consider handing her over for sentencing as long as she's not put in the dump that is Arkham, honestly you should get rid of half the garbage there... Forget it, that's the politicians' business, I'll only take care of those who are free when I feel like it, so see you later~
After waving to the camera, Eduard simply floated away with his two prisoners, leaving a flurry of news and "serious" consequences to deal with in the future.
In my other story I had a problem with the final paragraphs so as a precaution I will post this at the end of all the chapters.