I'm the villain in Gotham

Batman followed Erberist's gestures, seeing the mess of writing on the wall, and a big, over-the-top smiley face.The red letters looked extremely hideous in the dark room where the lights were not turned on at night, and the excessive liquid dipped at the turning point slipped out of the range of the letters, drying up and leaving a strange scratch on the wall.The looming fishy smell floated into Batman's nose, and he frowned unconsciously.

"It's not blood." As if guessing what he was thinking, Erberist said, "It's just a special paint."

Batman nodded silently, and pressed the helmet's ear position. Immediately, the white goggles turned into scouting mode, emitting a bright blue light.

Different from the hidden clues on the two people in the alley, the Joker has predicted that Batman will enter the store to find clues, and the big thorns on the wall show him the next amusement place he has prepared for Batman.

In the special mode of the goggles, Batman noticed the footprints of two other people in the house besides himself and Erberist.One, of course, was the owner of the cloakroom shop, the victim lying outside the door; the footprints of the other person protruded half of the sole of his foot from the crack of the closed door, extending all the way to the wall painted in blood red, and then turned around. After a circle, he left from the door again.This footprint cannot be one of the two policemen outside.

It is conceivable that what happened should be like this: the owner of the cloakroom shop was tidying up the hygiene of the store and preparing to turn off the lights and leave for get off work. He met a clown at the door and was sprayed with laughing gas.The clown found the wallet from him, took the driver's license, and then went to the house and sprayed a string of addresses. After admiring his work for a while, he swaggered out of the door and even closed the door.

The three locations chosen by the clown are lined up in sequence, from far to near, and according to the modus operandi, the three people that Gordon found lying in the alley at the beginning were the final victims instead, and the cloakroom owner was the second. At this time, there were not many pedestrians on Edson Rick Street, and the cloakroom was located in a remote place. It was only a few minutes ago that someone found it and called the police.

The Yule Street that the clown pointed out on the wall should be the place where the original crime was committed. It takes 6 minutes to drive the Batmobile from Edson Rick Street at the fastest, and it takes 3 minutes to stay in the cloakroom. 13 minutes by car, a total of 32 minutes.

Prolonged inhalation of laughing gas can result in death.Based on Batman's knowledge of the Joker, he may have already set a trap on Yule Street, waiting for Batman to step in, and then watched the victim's laughter fade away while desperately solving the puzzle, and then Witness their demise at the last second of breaking the trap.

The Joker's purpose is not to kill, he just wants to see Batman tortured.Because of this, in order to avoid this ending, Batman must coordinate all the helpers at this time, accurately calculate the time, and make a complete plan and backup means.

But now, with Erberist around, this matter has become much easier.

Space magic saved them 6 minutes on the road. With this time, they could do more things earlier, in a timely manner.

The range of locations given by the clown this time is really too large, and it is not easy to search the whole street one by one.Erberister stood on the roof, stayed quietly for a while, and said to Batman, "I didn't find any unusual sounds or people."

Batman is not surprised by this result. This is the first confrontation between him and the Joker in this timeline. It is a temptation and a test.And since it is a test, the other party will certainly not put the puzzle on the bright side that is best solved.

So, where will the clown hide the hostages?

Batman thought about the distribution and structure of the city's buildings in his heart, and suddenly noticed the uppers of the shoes reflecting the faint moonlight.

They stood on the top of the tallest building in this area, the moonlight shone through the clouds, Batman was bathed in the moonlight, the surroundings were dimly lit, and the street below became darker and darker.

He suddenly thought of something, turned his head immediately, and said to Erberister: "Let's go down."

Erberist didn't know why, watching Batman pull out the Batgun and jump off the roof.The moment the heavy cloak fell, it immediately spread into the wings of a bat, and quickly disappeared into the darkness blocking the moonlight between the buildings.

They landed in front of a manhole cover.

Watching Batman squat down and lift the manhole cover, even though Erberist still didn't know where their destination was, he already understood what was going to happen next, so he couldn't help but sighed while covering his forehead.

God, he really hates going down the drain.

Batman said: "I'll go down first, you follow."

"Wait..." Just as Erberist stretched out his hand, Batman had already jumped down.

The imaginary sound of slapping the surface of the water did not appear, and he floated directly in the air, and then Erberist also jumped down and landed beside him, and then stretched out his finger and closed the manhole cover on top of their heads.

Doing the aftermath, Erberist asked, "Where do we go next?"

Batman broke off a light stick: "Turn right after 300 meters ahead, and turn left when you get to the fifth branch road. The situation there is complicated. Listen to my instructions."

Uberist took Batman's hand: "It's still the same as last time?"

Batman knows he's referring to the time he went to the cult's stronghold, that's when he made his heart out to Erberist, and then...

Then he seemed to screw things up today.

Batman became worried again, and nodded slightly on the surface calmly.

Erberister smiled slightly, and his voice softened: "Then let's go."

The next moment, they flew forward like arrows flying off the string.

Out of necessity, Batman's knowledge of the construction of Gotham's underground facilities is almost engraved in his mind.This part is the subway station built by his grandfather in the last century. It has been out of use for a long time, and it is gradually merged with the sewage sewer.But some places are still vacant, and no waste water is poured in, so they are very dry.Of course, it is also very hidden.

Batman guesses that the Joker put the hostages here.

They quickly checked several eligible locations, and with luck, they found their target when they checked the sixth location.

Batman turned his head, and as soon as he opened his mouth, Erberist disappeared beside him.

He was slowly lowered from mid-air, and the wetness and coolness that he expected when his legs came into contact with the sewage did not appear. When he looked down, he found that his legs were covered by a thin layer of darkness, covering his body and the sewage. isolated.The cloak was also lifted up carefully, being careful not to get any water stains.

That's good, Batman thought, at least he won't be scolded when he goes back this time.He could imagine the expression on Alfred's face when he held his wet and dirty uniform.

Hearing the sound of someone walking towards the water, then stepping on the dry ground and then disappearing, several blindfolded and gagged hostages immediately let out a frightened "whoosh" sound. It was tied tightly, and the cage rattled when struggling.

Batman had to speak to silence them: "Calm down, the police will be here soon."

What I heard this time was not the crazy laughter. The hostages paused for a moment, and then, as if they saw hope, they immediately became more intense: "Woooooooooooo!!!"

Batman: "..."

He held up a fluorescent stick and looked around, but found nothing special outside the cage.In addition to a few bound but intact hostages in the cage, there was also one lying on the ground, whose head was wrapped in a burlap bag and whose face could not be seen. His body twitched from time to time, as if he was inhaling laughing gas. Too long, almost suffocated to death.

This forced Batman to speed up his progress. He took out his tools and prepared to open the lock outside the cage.

A few hostages who can still move: "Woooooooooooo!"

It seemed that when they heard the sound of the cage door, these people struggled harder.Batman paused and immediately stopped what he was doing.At the same time, his pupils shrank, and he found a thin line connecting the lock of the cage, going down the railing all the way, and extending to the side when it reached the bottom.The line was so thin and dark that Batman wouldn't have been able to spot it had it not been reminded by a few hostages.

At that time, once the cage door is opened, the wire is pulled, and the gun above the head will be activated immediately. If Batman fails to dismantle the bomb before the countdown ends, or escape in time, they will be buried in the ground immediately, suffocating to death .

Relying on the fact that several hostages were blindfolded and unable to see, Batman raised his hand openly and pointed to the device above his head.

Erberist's figure immediately appeared on it, tearing off the nipple.Before the first "drip" of being activated came, it had already disappeared above the head with the bomb.

A second later, Erberist reappeared next to Batman.

Batman asked him where he dropped the bomb with his eyes.

Erberist took off his mask and smiled a little.He said silently to Batman, "Gotham Bay."

Gotham Bay should... not belong to Aquaman.Batman remembered the various poisonous and harmful items he had thrown into Gotham Bay, including villains, and continued to open the lock with peace of mind.

Realizing that he was going to attack the cage again, several hostages kicked their legs in fright, and knocked on the chairs, and then they were all interrupted by Batman's deep voice: "I have dismantled the bomb."

Only then did the hostages calm down, and they breathed a sigh of relief sweating profusely.

Opening the cage door, Batman bent one leg and squatted down to pick the sack from the face of the hostage lying on the ground.The moment his fingers were about to touch him, Batman suddenly paused, turned his head, and looked at Erberist.

Erberist understood, and a dark energy rushed towards the hostages.After a moment, he withdrew his strength and shook his head at Batman.

So Batman also understands that this is another trap of the Joker.

He stepped over the "hostage" lying on the ground, and took off the coverings from the mouths of several people who were tied to the stools. He didn't rush to untie the ropes on their bodies, and first carefully checked their whole bodies, including the chairs. , and indeed a laughing gas bomb was found under one of the chairs.

Erberist did it again.

Now that the crisis was finally resolved, Batman untied several people, but did not take off the blindfolds on their faces, and said in a deep voice, "Go forward, don't stop."

A person said: "But, outside is..."

Batman said: "The police will be waiting for you in front, you will not be in danger."

After finishing speaking, he lined up several people and asked them to go forward one by one, through the space door opened by Erberister, and came to a dark alley.

At the entrance of the alley, Gordon and a group of policemen were waiting there.A few minutes ago he received a message from Batman telling them to wait here to receive the hostages. Gordon didn't know where the hostages were in this empty alley, and he couldn't ask, so he had to rely on the police car wait.

As a result, after a while, several blindfolded people really trembled and slowly came out of the darkness one by one.

Gordon: "..."

……

After sending the hostages away, Batman looked at the "hostage" who was still lying on the ground, squatted down, and lifted the sack on his head.

A clown doll bounced towards Batman's face in an instant, with a bomb strapped underneath it, and the 1-minute countdown had already started.

Erberist asked inexplicably: "You know it's a trap, why did you open it?"

Batman said in a deep voice, "Because the Joker isn't here."

Erberist immediately understood what he meant.

The Joker has put in so much effort up front to lure Batman into this trap, it's unlikely he won't come to see his results.For the Joker, this is his first confrontation with Batman, and he must be happy to watch his opponent die in front of him, or escape from life in danger.

—unless he had other things to do.

While Erberist was thinking, Batman had already defused the bomb, and then grabbed the clown doll and looked left and right.He didn't know where he touched it, but he suddenly triggered the switch of the device.The doll's mouth opened and closed, and the clown's voice with an abnormal and creepy smile came out: "Hello, little bat, it's the first time we meet, let me introduce myself, you can call me a clown! Oh, yes ...It's the one on the playing cards, I really love playing cards~"

"I'm so glad you finished all my games, I knew you must be very interesting, and I'm sure you must be addicted to it, right! Unfortunately, even if I really wanted to, I still can't talk to you right now. You meet, and congratulations on finding a like-minded best friend - me of course! But that's ok, you'll see me on TV in a moment. Oh, what a shame, I didn't expect our first meeting to be separated One layer of screen!"

Erberist began to feel bad: "What is this madman going to do?"

The following words from the clown answered his doubts: "By the way, you must be wondering where my next game will be arranged, right! Hahahahaha, it's okay, of course I can tell you. I'm in Gotham City, three large There are laughing gas bombs installed in the hospital, and as soon as I press a button, they will blow up the hospital with a... BOOM! Then the laughing gas will waft from their bodies and eventually fill Gotham City, everyone Everyone will be as happy as me! Including you, little bat! Hahahahahaha..."

What followed was a series of meaningless laughter, Batman frowned after listening to the recording, and pressed the button on the arm armor.In less than two seconds, the call was picked up by the other side: "Batman? I saw those hostages, and now they are all sent to..."

"Don't send them to the hospital!" Batman immediately interrupted Gordon's words: "The clown—the person who planned a series of events, planted bombs in the three major hospitals in Gotham."

Gordon's heart skipped a beat: "What—?"

Batman ignored him, and continued to speak quickly: "Now I'm not sure which ones, I need you to evacuate all the patients in the hospitals in the city immediately, and try your best to find out where the bomb may exist."

"No problem." Gordon's expression became serious, and he turned around and gestured to Bullock: "Where is that lunatic now? I'll take someone to catch him."

"Leave it to me," Batman said in a low voice, under the goggles, his steel-blue pupils were gloomy and dark: "I will arrest him and bring him to justice."

"But..." Gordon had just spit out a syllable, and Batman had already cut off the communication.

Urberist walked up to Batman: "Where do we find him now?"

According to the meaning of the clown's words, just find him, get the remote control of the bomb, and then let the police find it slowly.

The point is, the clown didn't give the address this time, where can they stop him?

"Let's go to the TV station." Batman said in a deep voice, "He said, 'We'll see him on TV later.'"

In the Joker's plan, it should be at least half an hour after Batman finishes solving the problem here, which means that he will appear on TV in half an hour.And from the very beginning Gordon discovered the locations of the three victims who were poisoned with laughing gas, it took about 10 minutes to drive to the TV station... No, a show just ended near there, Batman remembered that he had seen through the police car The light saw the vehicle interviewed by the TV station behind.

The clown would get in that car and be at the TV station within 10 minutes, plus the time it takes to kidnap and intimidate the TV crew and have them switch live for him so that "you can see him on TV later" On purpose, exactly 45 minutes or so.

"Television station?" Urberist couldn't follow Batman's reasoning, but believed in his conclusions.He said: "Then we need a plan, and I'm afraid he is ready for you to come and stop him."

"I don't think he will." Batman said, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, and he smiled at Erberist: "Because of you, we saved a lot of time, and the clown must not have thought of that."

In the 6-5 minutes of the journey, the flight of Erberist saved them at least 2 minutes in the sewer, and nearly 15 minutes in dismantling the bomb after that, not to mention the [-]-minute drive from Yule Street to the TV station. minute.

If the normal process is followed, even if Batman can notify the police before the Joker presses the bomb, he will definitely not be able to reach the TV station.

And the clown... According to past experience, the police are no match for him.Even if they can snatch the remote control, they will not be able to prevent the clown from escaping.

Batman looked at Erberist, a smile flickered on his lips: "Good job. Next, we have to stop the clown."

……

After "riding" the vehicle of the TV station, the clown successfully arrived inside the TV station, and he waved his hand at the car: "Thank you, my dear friends!"

The sound of leather shoes slapping the ground faded away, and the strange laughter of drivers and reporters echoed in the empty underground parking lot...

From the underground parking lot to the elevator on the first floor, the clown looked at the ID card in his hand: "Reporter Lowell Valen, ha!"

He swiped his ID card, entered the elevator, and happened to meet a female reporter who hurried into the elevator: "Hey, the elevator... wait a minute!"

After running into the elevator, she had time to pay attention to the clown.After seeing this obviously strangely dressed man, the female reporter felt puzzled and vigilant after a while: "Uh, may I ask you...?"

The clown opened his arms to her, showing his clothes and shape: "Me? I'm a clown, it's obvious."

...very obvious indeed.The female reporter speculated that he might be an actor invited by a certain program of the TV station. There are so many staff members in the entire TV station and programs and activities that are being refurbished almost every day. He may be a guest invited by a certain program group.Although the shape is a bit weird, it may be needed by the show.

The female reporter put down her guard and asked enthusiastically, "Where are you going?"

"Where are you going? I don't know, hahahahaha!" The clown turned around in a circle, bowed to the female reporter, and put his palms on his chest: "I need to participate in a live broadcast, so how many buttons do I need to press?" What about layer buttons?"

"Live broadcast?" The female reporter said, "That should be on the ninth floor."

She pressed her floor, and another nine.The moment his finger left the button, the clown laughed:

"Thank you very much, my dear lady!" The clown laughed and said, "To thank you, please allow me to give you a little...'perfume'! Hahahaha!"

Before the female reporter could react, the clown pinched the purple flower on his chest, and instantly, a puff of green gas came out.The female reporter's bewildered expression slowly changed, the corners of her mouth opened upwards, and she burst out laughing.

"That's it, my dear lady, I wish you a happy life!"

The elevator stopped on the ninth floor, and the clown swaggered out.The elevator door closed behind him, slowly enclosing a woman who grinned almost to the ear, with red lips, and crazily laughing.

He walked swaggeringly in the corridor, everyone regarded him as a real clown, a comedian, watched him look left and right, found the live broadcast room, then opened the door and walked in.

There was a loud noise when the door was closed, and everyone in the studio turned their heads. Even the two hosts who were broadcasting the news couldn't help but glance in the direction of the door.

"Oh, look, the live broadcast room and the camera are all ready! It's really time for me to come!"

"Hey, you, what's going on?" The director of the live broadcast room frowned and walked over: "Who told you to come in? Get out quickly."

"Wait, be patient, my friend," said the clown. "I've come to bring you something. Oh, wait a minute, let me find it."

He hilariously rummaged through several pockets on his body, finally took out a black thing, and held it in front of the director: "Look, a gift! Do you like it?"

After seeing clearly that the damn lunatic was holding a bomb in his hand, the director's expression of impatience and anger froze, and the next moment it turned into panic.Because the expression changes so quickly, it looks very distorted.

When he saw clearly what he was holding in his hand, he didn't know who made the first scream, and the live broadcast room was in chaos.

The director just turned around to run, but the clown grabbed him with quick eyes and hands, and threw the bomb into his suit pocket very smoothly: "Don't move, my friend. Otherwise, as long as I press this button in my hand, the next moment you It will: BOOM——! Become a beautiful firework, hahahahaha...!"

The director immediately stood there stiffly, and because the clown blocked the door, everyone was blocked in the live broadcast room, and an atmosphere of panic permeated the entire space.

"You, my dear," after everyone froze in shock, the clown pointed to the two photographers: "Turn the camera around and face me, I have good news to announce, and everyone must know .”

The two photographers trembled, and turned the camera to the clown and the director with a terrified expression.

"Well, that's it, that's right." The clown nodded in satisfaction, and the smile on his face seemed to grow wider: "Now, dear audience friends, I have to announce some good news to you—"

He took out a controller from his pocket and shook it at the camera: "I have installed three hospitals in Gotham City. Come and guess, where is it so lucky? After I press After pressing this button, where is it, there will be an explosion sound, oh, think about it, the house will collapse, and all the people staying in the hospital will be buried in the ruins in an instant? Of course, it will There are people who were lucky enough not to be crushed to death, and they held their bloody legs or arms that were crushed..."

Suddenly, there was a sound of piercing wind, and the batarang passed the clown's hand holding the controller, causing him to let go of his fingers under the stimulation and pain, and threw the controller out with the strength of the batarang.

A huge black bat jumped down from the ceiling above, and the deep and hoarse voice echoed throughout the live broadcast room, and was transmitted through the camera to every screen and every Gotham person's eyes: "No one will die today, only one People get hurt, and that's you, clown!"

The clown held his injured hand and opened his eyes wide: "Batman?! Why are you..."

Before he could finish speaking, Batman slammed his fist in the face.

The scene after that was too bloody, and was quickly switched away by the TV station personnel who reacted.When Gordon brought people over, the clown was already lying on the ground with a bruised nose and a swollen face. Gordon looked at his twisted limbs, and couldn't tell for a while how many bones he had been broken.

Batman ignored Gordon's complicated eyes: "Send him to Arkham, he's a lunatic."

Gordon nodded in agreement: "Indeed, only a lunatic can...well, dress like this and do this kind of thing. But we still have to find a doctor for him and do a test. You know, judicial needs."

Batman nodded slightly.

The farce was barely resolved until dawn, when Batman and Gordon returned to the sheriff's office from Arkham just in time to meet Harvey after answering questions from the swarming reporters.

Seeing them, Harvey strode over and sighed loudly: "I'm already preparing to propose to the governor the policy of implementing the death penalty for criminals. Now, do I have to add a sentence to the proposal: lunatics have to be sentenced?" Harvey Waving his hands, he turned back and forth between Gordon and Batman: "By the way, is that guy really crazy or fake crazy?"

"We had someone test him, and he's definitely out of his mind," Gordon said.

"That's great," Harvey rolled his eyes. "After a scarecrow, a guy covered in question marks, and a schizophrenia patient with a hand puppet, here comes another lunatic who likes to be a clown!"

"Hey, Harvey, let's talk about the business first." Gordon looked at Batman: "What's going on in the specific process?"

Batman was silent for a while, and roughly told what happened tonight. He described Erberist as just meeting him and helping him by the way.

After that, the three discussed other issues.Not long after, Harvey and Gordon turned their heads and found that the third person had disappeared.

Gordon and Harvey looked at each other: "..."

After confirming that their old friend had really run away instead of hiding under the desk or in the cabinet, Gordon didn't sigh at Batman's turning his head, and started another topic: "So Are they really on good terms?" He wondered, "But why didn't Erberist act with Batman in an open and honest manner, and insisted on hiding it?"

Even now, Erberist is still synonymous with criminals in the eyes of Gotham people.

"I don't know," Harvey shrugged, "Maybe it's a personal preference."

……

After sending Batman to the TV station, Erberist hid his figure and confirmed that Batman had sent the Joker to Arkham before leaving Batman and not returning to the police station with him.

He stood beside the clown expressionlessly, watching him being tranquilized, put on a straitjacket, and locked in a cell.

During this period, a thought kept circling in his mind.

There is no objection, the clown is a jerk, and as long as he exists, the sword of Damocles will always hang over Gotham's head, and Batman will never be able to truly relax and be at peace.

And as it happens, he has the ability to solve this scourge.

—Unconsciously.