"Right on time, as always! Afraid I'd do something to your friend?" Joker cackled, his cracked, white-painted face stretching into a twisted grin.
"You don't have the ability," Batman replied, delivering another punch to Joker's face. This time, Joker yelped louder, blood pouring from his nose.
Unfazed, Batman continued pressing him. When it came to dealing with criminals, Batman held nothing back—except for that one line he wouldn't cross. But he had no qualms about beating the truth out of his foes.
Batman glanced over at Avery, who responded with a slight shake of his head, signaling that Alfred or the police had yet to uncover any leads.
"Why not let me take him?" Avery stepped forward, breaking the silence.
For personal reasons, Avery had avoided getting too involved in Batman's work, but this situation was dragging on too long, and he knew a more aggressive approach might speed things up.
Besides... Avery's gaze hardened as he looked down at Joker, his eyes flashing coldly.
Even from this brief encounter, he could tell—Joker was a truly detestable presence.
Avery stepped forward, reaching out his hand to use a truth-incantation to force Joker to reveal the truth. But before Avery even began, Joker, who had been taunting Batman with his usual arrogance, suddenly looked panicked.
"Alright, alright! Don't do this to me—I'll talk," Joker stammered, his face paling. "There's no bomb. I was just messing with you two, that's all."
Avery's hand froze mid-air. "…"
This was exactly Joker's style—but still…
Batman narrowed his eyes. "No bomb doesn't mean there's nothing else."
Avery made a move as if to cast the spell again. Somehow, Joker seemed aware of Avery's unusual abilities and reacted with visible dread, reluctant to endure any of Avery's tactics. Quickly, Joker spilled the rest of the truth.
Indeed, there was no bomb. Instead, Joker had set up traps filled with laughing gas—not in the city center, but in two other locations. He had planned to spread it further, but the sudden kidnapping of Bruce Wayne had disrupted his scheme, so only two places were affected.
"'Laughing gas,' also known as nitrous oxide," Batman said, his voice flat. "It's a colorless, sweet-tasting gas, originally discovered by a British chemist in 1772. Initially, it was used as an anesthetic due to its pain-numbing effect, and for a while, it was widely used in hospitals. These days, it's easy to purchase in the U.S.—you can even find it in whipped cream canisters."
Avery frowned slightly. Though nitrous oxide usually seemed harmless, Joker's version of laughing gas wasn't ordinary. Joker's twisted concoction could make people laugh uncontrollably until death, leaving them with a horrifying death grimace.
Batman's expression remained hard as stone. "What's the timer set for?"
Joker smirked, though the fear lingered in his eyes. "Thirty minutes. This time, I'm not lying."
Avery's gaze was steely as he replied, "Really? I don't believe you."
So Avery went ahead and cast the truth-incantation. Joker, for all his evil, was still a mere mortal—a slightly unhinged one at that—and ultimately, he gave in and spilled the truth.
The countdown was indeed synchronized with the livestream—leaving them with less than ten minutes.
When he was done talking, Joker glanced at Avery with a look of utter disdain. "From this moment, I'm putting you on my permanent blacklist. You are, without a doubt, the person I hate most in my entire life."
Avery smirked with an air of indifference. "Well, thanks for that."
But with less than ten minutes, Batman didn't have enough time to handle both gas locations alone. While Avery called the police department, he and Batman quickly formulated a plan.
For most people, this situation was manageable, but leaving Joker unattended wasn't an option. Batman decided that one of the two gas locations would be handled by Commissioner Gordon and the police, while he would personally take care of the other. As for Avery, he would be responsible for transporting Joker back to Arkham and then returning to Wayne Manor to retrieve the antidote for Joker's gas, just in case any unforeseen issues arose.
Given his repeated clashes with Joker, Batman, who had also studied chemistry, had—with Avery's help—developed antidotes for various versions of Joker's laughing gas, stored in the Batcave. If Joker hadn't had time to create a new variant, they'd be in luck. If this gas was newly developed, however, Batman could potentially formulate a new antidote on the spot, but there was no guarantee people wouldn't suffer or die in the meantime.
"I'm on it," Avery said, grabbing Joker and hauling him off to Arkham. Joker protested the entire way, but his objections went ignored. Meanwhile, thanks to Alfred's foresight, a transport jet had been parked outside, originally meant for transporting the Batsuit. Conveniently, it would now help Batman travel quickly between locations.
To avoid attracting unwanted attention from other enemies, Avery moved with deliberate caution, using up a full minute to reach Arkham.
Arkham Asylum was located on a small island named Naka Island, southeast of Gotham River's Three-Gate Bridge. Known for housing not just the criminally insane but some of Gotham's most dangerous individuals, the facility frequently experienced escape attempts, and it wasn't unusual for a few guards to lose their lives in the process.
So, when Avery, masked and carrying an unconscious Joker (who he'd knocked out due to his relentless ranting), arrived, the guards panicked. At first, they thought he was here to seize control of Arkham—maybe even declare himself the "King of Arkham" or, worse, some kind of "Arkham Knight."
"No, gentlemen, I'm here to return something you misplaced," Avery said with a seriousness that, though masked, was clear in his tone.
Standing before him was a middle-aged guard who, though startled, appeared more composed than the younger, wide-eyed guard beside him. Avery handed over Joker with a brisk movement. "Here's the item you lost. Take it."
The older guard stared blankly at the Joker, now placed in his hands, as if temporarily struck mute.