[Zhongyingmei] The clown is actually me

"...Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors, not lead us into temptation, and deliver us from evil..."

The drizzle was heavy and dense, lifting the thin Cebu among the grass leaves.

It's night in Gotham now,? The night is like an endless stretch of black mountains, not far away, there is a lot of people,? There was the faint sound of an accordion.The cobweb-like drizzle came from the deep sky, ticking and beating on the dark umbrella surface, making a rustling sound, like the breath of the extremely silent wind.

In such a peaceful and peaceful night, everyone was smiling, and the crisp sound of the bell was blown away by the wind.Not far from the Corinster Cemetery, there is silence everywhere, the sky is high and the earth is far away, the stars are broken, the moonlight is as calm as silver sand, the walls are covered with creepers like fish scales, and it undulates like waves when the wind blows Up and down, from the gaps in the fence, bright red roses stick out their heads, the petals are as bright and dazzling as sparks, the dense green leaves are trembling wetly, and occasionally there are a few clear songs of birds and insects.

A few people stood in the night, making a brief mourning.Because there were too few people present, or because of the drizzle, it seemed a little quiet.

"...Because the kingdom, the glory, and the authority are yours forever, Amen."

The priest crossed himself and put his hand on the Bible.Among the few people who came to the funeral, one of them was smoking a low-quality cigarette. It was Director Gordon. He turned his head and said to the man in mourning clothes beside him, "I can't believe he just died like this." .”

Bruce Wayne was holding a straight-handled black umbrella, standing in the rain as thin as a cow's hair: "I didn't think about it either, I thought he could live for a long time."

Before his eyes, Jack lay in the coffin again, with his eyes closed, his face serene, spotless from head to toe, clean and tidy, wearing a luxurious and complicated hand-made black mourning dress, lying in the white lilies, dignified Like a buried crown prince.

"Are you really not Batman anymore?"

"Maybe, I just need a period of time, rest or... adjust my mentality." Bruce whispered, "I will give part of Wayne's technology to GCPD for free, and the Gotham police will get new high-tech soon Equipment, they should be enough to deal with Double-faced people. If not, there are Nightwing and Batgirl."

Director Gordon comforted: "Listen, Bruce, Jason and his death are not your fault."

In the past two weeks, Bruce has personally arranged the funerals of two people.When he was writing his obituary and epitaph, he felt that he had been slowly shattered, a poisoned sharp knife cut open his pumping heart, silent and huge grief tore him, dismembered him, Make him unable to move, physically and mentally exhausted.It was hard for him not to blame himself for this misfortune. If he hadn't developed the termination program, the Joker wouldn't have been brought back by Harley, and Jason and Jack wouldn't have died before his eyes.In a way the Joker wins, he makes Bruce hate himself more than he hates him.

Faced with this relief, Bruce just shook his head, walked forward, put the bouquet of white lilies in his hand on the coffin, and said softly, "May you rest in peace."

Director Gordon sighed, the clown died, Harley was imprisoned in a lunatic asylum, Joe Chell died three days ago, and the violence/chaos in Gotham had just subsided.Everything seems to be over.Gravediggers poured earth over the coffin and buried the black coffin.Under the clear night sky, Jack was slowly buried six feet below.The soil covered his body and was buried together with the enigmatic past. The seasons were constantly changing, the flowers and plants trembled in the wind, and there was only an indifferent silence. In this way, he was rested.

The coffin was finally completely buried. Bruce looked down and saw a square tombstone with the epitaph written by himself on it:

"Jack Napier

a venerable friend”

Six feet below, deep in the darkness.

Jack put the muzzle of the gun to his chin, and pulled the trigger with his thumb. At this moment, there was a long sigh, which was very familiar. Jack opened his eyes, and he was still in the dilapidated building. In the tavern, there was another person sitting on the other side of the table.He was wearing a neat purple dress, a pair of black patent leather gloves, and half of his face was hidden under the shadow of a bowler hat. Jack put down his gun and said slowly but firmly, "I knew you couldn't watch me commit suicide. "

"Loving you is such a bad business. It doesn't do any good except for you to mess around with my body and take advantage of me. Sometimes I can't figure out which of us hurts each other more deeply." The clown began to peel the shrimp without interest.

"Sure enough, I am in the fantasy world you built. You want to trap me and occupy my body."

"First, this body is mine. Don't make it seem like I'm an outsider." The clown pointed at him. "Second, I didn't construct this body, but you."

"I?"

"Yes, this is a special independent space. Using your memory structure, you are here to experience what happened before. In a sense, the place you are now is real. It's just that It's fleeting and unstable, like bubbles on the surface of the sea."

"Why do I suddenly think of this, my memory should have become a mess."

"After the tsunami, the water level will drop, exposing the rocks on the bottom of the sea, you can understand that." The clown smiled and raised his face, only then did Jack realize that his right eye had disappeared, and there was a black hole in the eye socket. Half of his face looked like a skeleton.

"What's wrong with your eyes?"

"Blinded by an unknown pawn." The clown smiled nonchalantly, "Why, do you want to go back? Why don't you stay here and continue looking down?"

Jack was silent for a while: "It's not a question of whether you want to, but I have to go back. Once I'm not here, you will definitely not do anything good. And...Although it is very shameful to admit it, the past is the past. About the past memories There is still a chance to find them again, Batman and the others are my friends now, and they are even more worth cherishing."

The Joker shrugged, seemed to be smiling, but didn't seem to: "I respect your great friendship with Batman, but I'm sorry, you can't go back."

Jack was stunned for a moment: "I can't go back? What does this mean?"

"Literally, the 'ship' that crossed the 'sea' has been damaged, and you can no longer cross the sea. Unless you are willing to pay the price, just like when crossing the river Styx, you have to put the thing under your tongue Give the gold coins to the ferryman and let him take you across the world and the underworld, otherwise you will have to drink the water of the River Styx."

Ship of Soul Theseus.He didn't know what this thing was, Jack thought, and the "system" was still shrouded in a veil of mystery.But the most important thing now is not this, he settled down: "What is the price?"

The clown handed him a peeled shrimp, stretched out his arm, and touched Jack's earlobe. For a moment Jack thought it was a caress, but no, he just touched Jack's earring, the silver-white cross: "This .”

Jack looked at him, those green eyes looking back, with a smile as cold as an opal.Seeing that Jack was silent, the clown grinned and let out a series of hoarse and distorted sneers: "What's the matter, don't you dare? After all, you don't need to go back and meet Batman. If you can invent an injection to kill you, it means he I didn't regard you as a friend, and you don't have to have any feelings for them. If you lose this cross, if you go back, you will give yourself to them and let them grind your heart."

The clown continued in an unprecedentedly calm tone: "Maybe you will persist, but you will find that your principles are meaningless; you may gain a few friendships, but they will all leave you in the end; you will be killed by the beast." You will share food, be trampled by the wicked, be hated by thousands of people, and be ashes. You will become angry, paranoid, ugly, evil... You will hurt others recklessly, and finally when you look in the mirror, what you see will not be the same. And your own face, you will forget your name and where you came from, and in the end you will not remember who you are at all. This is the price you paid for going on this road.”

"You're talking nonsense again. If you have nothing to do, go to the amusement park and find a fortune-telling booth to work and make money." Jack rolled his eyes, "Of course we have to go back. Although there is a problem with reason, I should be able to control it." .”

He took off the cross next to his ear and handed it to the clown. The clown probably didn't expect him to be so forthright. Holding the cross, he was silent for a while before saying, "I would have added a kiss if I had known you promised quickly."

Jack patted him on the shoulder: "Cash out next time, so row now, let's go back."

The clown muttered a few times: "You really know how to send people, so I shouldn't love you."

Jack opened his eyes.

What came into view was darkness, and there was a fishy-sweet rotten smell in the air, like rotten vegetables.Jack was stunned for a while, and then tried to get up, and he could hit the ceiling hard when he raised his head, and a big bruise was hit on his forehead.

He raised his arms and groped around, and quickly figured out what was going on around him. He was locked in a small, dark, boxy space that wasn't wide enough for him to spread his arms and raise his legs together. It is difficult to get up.In this space, the only movement he can do is probably to turn over with difficulty.

The space was too narrow, even the air was limited. Jack controlled his breathing rate, reached out and touched the wall he was facing, and pushed hard, but there was no response.Then he put his ear on it, and what he heard was a faint rustling sound, like water flowing through the soil.Jack paused for a long time before he heard the small, pitiful insects coming from a distance.

The darkness, sound, suffocation, and surrounding shapes made him feel ominous, and he thought: Am I buried alive?

It's over, I thought I was smart and kept a little back, and I didn't tell Batman about Dionysus factor!

At this critical moment, a heavy memory pierced through him like a bullet, the burning chemical plant, the arms of hundreds of people raised high, Jason's slack green pupils, and the face of Batman... something that doesn't belong to him Memories are pierced into the brain like thousands of steel needles, and the viscous brain is boiling inside the skull.Under the severe pain, Jack didn't care about the limited air storage. He raised his hands to hold his head, and let out a miserable wail like a dying beast.His screams were muffled by six feet of soil and lost in the relentless rain.