American Comics: Today's Big News

"The Joker and the Riddler, it's time to end this, Harley Quinn—what are you doing here?"

"You should say it like this!"

Harley Quinn spoke to him in Batman's tone.

Batman glanced at Harley, who had just been woken up by a splash of cold water.

But Harley ignored him and instead shouted into the camera:

"Hey, is the camera still rolling? I have an announcement to make—Harley Quinn and the Joker are no longer connected; they've gone their separate ways!"

Batman was there to deal with the Joker, not to be a bystander, and paused for a moment upon hearing this.

Then, with two splatter sounds, two spherical domes enveloped Batman and Harley Quinn, suspending them in mid-air.

"Let's guess what's both cold and hot, that will devour you if you drink it... What...?"

The Riddler grabbed the brim of the top hat and flung it aside, speaking rapidly as he approached Harley Quinn and Batman, who were dangling in the air.

Unfortunately, before he could finish speaking, Harley Quinn and Batman spoke at the same time:

"acid."

The riddle teller was astonished:

"I haven't finished speaking yet, what...?"

"It's just sour," Harley Quinn interrupted the Riddler.

"That's right." Batman agreed with Harley's point of view.

The riddle solver nodded helplessly:

"Alright, alright, it's acid... Well then, I'm going to throw you into the acid pool now."

After saying that, he pressed the button on his cane.

With a mechanical sound, the ground beneath Harley Quinn and Batman cracked open, revealing two pools filled with acid.

"Wait, this isn't what we agreed on..." the Joker said, somewhat surprised. "Our plan was to just lock Batman up and have me put the laughing gas into the reservoir."

"Yes, but that's just your plan. But don't worry," the Riddler said to the Joker.

The cameras were still pointed at them, broadcasting the live footage to Gotham City's television station.

boom!

The henchman standing behind the camera was shot down by the Joker, who then pointed the gun at another person standing next to him.

"Go and point the camera at them."

He was referring to Batman and Harley Quinn, who were suspended in mid-air.

"You've made a big mistake, Riddler, because when my man finds out, he'll definitely storm in."

The clown was laughing so hard he couldn't straighten up.

"Are you talking about me? Don't worry, it's the same this time: 'Only death can truly separate us,' hahahaha—"

"No……"

Harley Quinn lowered her voice, hoping that Connors would appear at this moment, but so much time had passed and he still hadn't arrived.

"Maybe I shouldn't have left without saying goodbye and come here alone... With Connors here, there must be a way."

Yesterday, Harley Quinn accompanied Connors and witnessed firsthand how he moved through the bombed and heavily besieged Williams Medical Center with ease.

Harley Quinn could see everything clearly when Connors wrote the words behind the Joker's poem.

And yesterday, before anyone knew about the Joker's plan, he had already sent the keyword "reservoir" to Batman via an anonymous email address.

And today, the Joker's prediction came true; his plan was exactly as Connors had predicted.

In Harley Quinn's mind, Connors' image had completely overshadowed the previous Joker.

Unfortunately, Harley was too confident today, thinking she could defeat the Joker all by herself, never expecting that the Riddler would be there with her.

Now she was hanging in the air and could only try to save herself, so she lowered her head, prepared herself, and put on a pitiful expression:

"Mr. J, you'll definitely save me, won't you? Let the riddle teller burn this little bat alive and let me out!"

The Joker ignored her, the Riddler didn't respond, and Batman, hidden in his dome, remained silent.

The riddle teller's voice gradually rose in pitch:

"How about we play a little game? One person lives, the other dies, and the loser will be thrown into acid and burned alive."

"I'm sure our Mr. Clown will make the perfect choice, right?"

The Joker nodded repeatedly, watching Batman and Harley Quinn in the air:

"Yes, yes, that's right, it seems like a very simple choice, but, Harley... hahahaha—"

He suddenly burst into laughter, laughing so hard he could barely breathe, his mouth stretching almost to his ears:

"But, Harley, I can't let this question mark bastard steal the credit for killing Batman, right?"

"Release Batman, release this woman!"

The acid pool beneath Batman was shut down, and Batman opened it before the Riddler could manipulate the shield to do so.

Batman chased after the Riddler, while the Joker fled in another direction to fulfill his prophecy:

—Kill Judge Thomas Lake and the wealthy Bruce Wayne.

Poor Harley Quinn was left behind, even though this time she wasn't there to find the Joker, but to defeat him and prove herself, only to be abandoned once again.

As she watched helplessly as the protective barrier around her was opened and she was about to fall into the acid pool below in freefall, Harley Quinn quickly took a deep breath and closed her eyes tightly.

Just as her body was about to fall in, Connors arrived late and prevented Harley Quinn from falling in.

"Little Pa! I knew you'd come!"

Harley Quinn realized she hadn't fallen into the icy, scalding acid, but was being held in an embrace. She opened her eyes, saw Connors, and cried out with genuine joy.

"Shh!" Connors gestured for silence. "Come on, let's go see what's going on."

……

The Riddler hadn't run far when he was tripped up by some weeds on the ground, tripped on flat ground, and then took a solid punch from Batman.

"I have to hurry and catch the Joker. He's trying to kill Judge Thomas. I absolutely can't let him succeed... Huh?"

Above where the Riddler fell, Officer Thomas Lake was tightly bound by vines, especially around his head, which was practically tied up like a giant ball.

If it weren't for the size of the body, the name tag on the body, and the constant stream of profanities coming from the vines, which confirmed that these were indeed Judge Thomas Lake's words, Batman would have even suspected that someone was playing a prank.

"Judge Thomas Lake looks like he doesn't need to worry about being killed by the Joker... Is Poison Ivy helping me? Or some other plant-manipulating entity?"

Batman thought for a moment, then quickly chased after the Joker in the direction he had fled.

He wasn't worried about getting lost at all, because the arrows made of plants guided him along the clown's escape route, like a navigation system.

As the clown ran toward the reservoir, he turned to look at the weeds behind him, which kept growing into the shape of arrows. Even if he used a bomb to destroy them, other plants would quickly fill the gap.

When he reached the location where the poison was released from the reservoir, Batman was already waiting there, and he was greeted by a fist the size of a sandbag.

Not far from Batman and the Joker, Connors earnestly explained to the dazed Harley Quinn beside him:

"The Joker didn't say 'Only death can truly separate us,' he said to Batman, not you."

"Didn't you notice that every time the Joker said that to you, Batman was either present or arrived very quickly?"

"Alright, now let's enjoy Gotham's traditional show: Batman vs. the Joker."