Laughing American comics, I am becoming more and more like a clown

"Give me one, thank you." Lucian held out his hand. The clown was silent for a moment and gave him the rest of the cigarettes.

Lucian took it without hesitation, then held out his hand: "Lighter."

clown:……

There is a classic phenomenon in psychology called the threshold effect, which means that when a person agrees to a small request, he will unconsciously position himself as a "helpful" or "willing to cooperate" person, so that when faced with larger requests in the future, in order to maintain consistency in this self-cognition, he will be more willing to accept.

And now it seems that this master of psychology, a jester who is proficient in the brain and nerves, is swayed by a simple psychological effect.

Lucien looked at his dazed look and realized what Batman meant to the Joker.

……

Both men were smoking beside a pool of blood, one was leisurely and relaxed, the other was weird and entangled.

There was a silent atmosphere until it was broken by the members of the Joker Gang.

"Boss, these people..." He pushed the family of three in front of him who were trembling with fear and had pale faces because they had witnessed Batman's death.

This is something aimed at Batman, and it is a prop used by the Joker to break Batman's defense.

But now Batman is dead.

The super villain showed mercy for the first time since his debut: "Let him go, let him go."

The Joker is a mad dog chasing cars, and although he doesn't know what to do after he catches up, he also doesn't know what to do when he sees the car he's chasing flip over and explode.

Chapter 38 The Death of the Clown

When Batman disappears, does the Joker disappear too?

Lucian didn't know, he only saw that the clown stopped laughing and became serious and silent.

Especially on their way to the crematorium, he was hunched over, like a withered flower. Lucien spoke to him several times but he didn't respond. Until they got out of the car, the clown spoke:

"You can't be my past."

His eyes were bright and clear: "The Joker will never kill Batman."

Lucian remained silent.

The Joker continued, "But I have extraordinary patience with you...Even if you interrupted me while I was playing games with Batgirl and changed the subject, I had no intention of killing you."

He narrowed his eyes slightly: "Is this some kind of rule-based weapon?" Then he said indifferently: "Forget it, it doesn't matter."

"I'm going to die soon anyway." The Joker took a puff of his cigarette and poured out his heart to the man as if he were talking to an old friend:

"I should have died six months ago... That psychopath Luther said he wanted to cooperate, but ended up backstabbing me. He tore my spine apart and then dumped me in the desert."

"You can still survive this?" Lucian was surprised.

"There was no one living there for thousands of miles. I was completely unable to move. I fell from a high altitude, lost blood, became hypothermic, became dehydrated, and starved..." He was silent for a moment. "In the end, I died."

Lucien:?

The Joker forced a laugh, but after Batman's death, his smile was really not good: "Just kidding, I was rescued."

Before Lucian could ask, he continued, "The Assassin's League saved me. By the way, they installed a mechanical spine in me and tried to use the Lazarus Pool to control me... You know, it was the only thing that could save me at that time."

"What happens next? I don't believe you'll be controlled by others like this."

"After that, I recruited as many assassins as I could, and then blew up the spring of the Lazarus Pool... Haha, I'm afraid Lei Xiaogu will ascend to heaven soon."

Lucian understood. So that was the case. No wonder Batman could kill the Joker so easily. But he still had a question, a hypothetical desire that came from nowhere:

"If Batman became the Batman Who Laughs, and you were resurrected in my body... would you become the Joker?"

The Joker pondered, his confused expression like an unemployed middle-aged man during the Great Depression. Finally, he said, "You know, I might try to find the Batman part of him."

"Then?"

"If I could find it, I might become the Joker."

"If I can't find it, you know, I'm a coward... maybe I'll give up the use of my body and return it to you."

"Escape?" Lucien couldn't believe that this word would be used to describe the clown.

The clown nodded.

They walked together to the incinerator and watched Batman's body being wheeled in.

"I thought you would stop it," Lucian said. "After all, you seemed to want him to live so badly."

"If I wanted him to live, you wouldn't even have the chance to point a gun at him." The Joker said, confused:

"Don't you think this is a dream? A nightmare? Or maybe a sweet dream? ... Everything is moving so fast, this isn't reality at all."

After he finished speaking, there was silence for a moment, then he took out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Lucian.

I used to be a comedian, and now I'm trying to make you laugh with my own death.

"What is this? A suicide note?"

"No, it's my epitaph," the Joker replied sincerely. "I even thought of one for him."

He was referring to Batman.

"I used to be without parents, and now I am down there with them."

Lucien: ...

Batman jokes from the Joker.

"When he comes out, I will die as well." The clown patted Lucian's shoulder.

"I used Bane Venom on myself, which is why I was able to drag him, who weighed two hundred pounds... That thing could support my body. As for the Lazarus Pool, I used it to create the Joker virus, thinking that after I died, at least Batman wouldn't be alone... Now it seems."

He looked at the burning incinerator and said, "It would be better if I were buried with him."

"You know, there are heaven and hell in this world." The clown suddenly smiled. "We are each other's only dance partners, entangled and dragging each other... I will go find him."

"It's a bit romantic, with the rotten smell of love." Lucian couldn't describe the Joker's feelings for Batman, so he could only say this.

"Love is the most superficial thing produced by dopamine..."

Before the Joker could finish, he was interrupted by Lucian, who asked, "So do you know Batman's girlfriend?"

"Hmm..." The Joker began searching deep in his memory: "Raxiaogu's daughter? Or Catwoman? Rachel? Julie? Linda? Vicko? Cassie? Natasha? Silver? Sandra? Vesper? Sasha? Becca? Louise? Zatanna? Barbara? Charlotte? White Rabbit? Wonder Woman?"

Lucien:?

"Love is the most superficial thing produced by dopamine." He emphasized the general repetition and questioned the Joker.

"Although I'm willing to give my dick and ass." The Joker said helplessly: "But unfortunately, Batman minds this kind of thing."

Lucian looked at his purple clothes and said, "No wonder they say you are wearing Ji Lao purple."

"them?"

“They’re readers.”

When Batman's corpse completely turned into ashes in the incinerator and appeared before the two of them, Lucian still felt a little dreamlike.

"This is Batman..."

"In fact, you pressed the incineration button yourself."

The Joker stood up. He was already skinny and bony, but he suddenly became even thinner. Even standing was shaky. "The venom has worn off. Give me a hand."

Lucian supported him and led him to Batman's ashes.

"You have to remember, after I turn into ashes, let me mix it with him thoroughly." The clown pointed at it, and then lay down on the iron plate with the help of Lucian.

"...Don't you have anything else to say?" Lucian asked.

The Joker Gang members escaped one after another without anyone noticing, and Lucien had to do it himself.

The clown shook his head slightly, his hands clasped in front of him, his eyes empty, his face silent. Only the cuts on his face made him smile against his will.

Lucian pushed him into the incinerator, which was still warm, and turned on the button.

----

what is this?

Is this an illusion?

Lucien woke up, and what he saw was no longer the Joker's suicide note and his burning body, and what awaited him was no longer their ashes and the upcoming funeral.

"Mr. Lucien, long time no see, I'm Julie."

Chapter 39 Spiritual Leader - Lucian

Julie?

Lucien raised his eyes and looked at the person in front of him.

Blonde and blue-eyed, with a sweet air, this was the Julie he knew.

I turned around and looked at the surrounding environment: green wallpaper covered the moldy walls. The room as a whole was not very good, but it was very tidy and clean.

Lucian sat up from the bed, feeling his back numb and his head dizzy from lying for so long. He turned his gaze to Julie and asked with a smile:

"I remember I was in Batman's clutches. Did you rescue me?"

"Thank you so much. If it weren't for you, I would have died at his hands."

Julie's attitude was very strange. Unlike the way she treated the robber who had robbed the house before, she was reserved and shy, as if she was treating her sweetheart:

"That's not the case, Mr. Lucian... When we found you, you were the only one unconscious. Actually, I was rude not to ask for your opinion and bring you home. It's really kind of you not to blame me."

He sensed admiration from her attitude. Lucian thought he was wrong and cautiously refrained from expressing his opinion. He maintained his gentle smile and hinted:

"I thought you would blame me for taking your things..."

"If you had told me that you took the gun to kill the Joker, I would have even given you another one." Julie still looked admiring, with a blush on her cheeks.

"Besides, you returned it not long after."

It turned out to be the case.

Lucien understood that the girl might have seen him killing the clown clearly through the window.

Julie continued, "Besides, you saved me again when I was completely disappointed with this city."