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

"This is why I didn't think highly of you in the first place." Lucian sat next to the dripping stone beast, looking into the distance at the crowd gathered together and making loud noises.

"This isn't the first time I've seen this... There's a saying: Among the enraged messengers of justice, if you dare to have even a hint of skepticism or rationality, you'll be treated as a criminal... It's easy to be the black goat, the first initiator, but it's too difficult to control every move of the flock."

What’s different from killing the Jokers is that what they burned was not the Constitution, but Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations, Milton Friedman’s Capitalism and Freedom, Ludwig von Mises’s Bureaucracy: The Anti-Capitalist Mentality, Victoria Grazia’s Irresistible Empire: The American Expansion into Twentieth-Century Europe… What they burned was praise for capitalists.

"This is so exciting." Lucian couldn't help but sigh. "If you participate, you'll be betraying your class. I know you don't care about that... but they do. Your very existence is a sign of your class."

"And if you leave, you will betray justice... They will treat you as an enemy and burn you together."

The Joker's eyes watch the riots in Gotham through the bat mask.

……

Batman talks a lot, Batman says nothing.

Lucian didn't necessarily need a response. After searching for a while, he finally found something unusual - a short figure holding a flag.

Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot.

The future underworld emperor penguin.

"Why is Oswald even included? Isn't it a bit of a loss of character for him to participate in a parade of this significance?"

The Penguin is one of the few chaotic neutral people in Gotham during the Mad Age who is wholeheartedly devoted to building power and trying to get rich... He is not mentally ill, will not backstab his teammates for no reason, and maintains a certain order - even Batman, who can kill people in the positive universe, will let him go most of the time.

If you don't let go, it will basically turn into dark pluralism.

...Therefore, Lucian was confused, but he also understood one thing - whenever super-anti-reactions were involved, no matter what happened, it would not be as simple as it appeared.

……

The crowd did not storm the courthouse or police station, nor did they demonstrate in front of the famous aristocratic manor.

Amid the clamor, they marched in an orderly manner to the busiest commercial district and sat there in silence.

"There must be someone behind this," Lucian, who was following closely, couldn't help but say, "This parade isn't just a one-off... The purpose is actually real. They really want to do this, not just pretend."

...This is the proper procedure for demonstrations and parades. Killing the Joker Gang is abnormal.

But in Gotham, on the contrary, this kind of peace, silence and order is abnormal.

……

"Wealth injustice, fight to the end!"

"Fight for survival, fight for dignity!"

“Our wealth!!”

They shouted slogans over and over again, and wrote their ideology with ink on the white cloth they held high. The night wind blew the cloth, making a rustling sound like the sails of a ship sailing far away.

Lucien watched quietly, and suddenly something touched him: "I've heard some doctrines, they say... this is the most thorough way to save Gotham."

"them?"

"They're just readers, outsiders... What do you think?" Lucian asked. "If this world becomes positive, without the Barbatos crisis... How would you save Gotham?"

Bruce was also watching: "...I have the same idea as the outsider you mentioned."

"I really think this will end up in a war... Either the country will be destroyed, or you will be destroyed."

"I know," Bruce said. "I've been to Russia. I know."

……

Lucien wanted to see Bruce's face and was curious about his expression, but unfortunately, this wish could not be fulfilled.

"Hurry up... We have to return to the positive universe before they decide the winner..."

They left here.

----

"There has been no progress in the study of parallel universes, whether on the scientific or emotional spectrum."

But the cursor on the Batcomputer kept moving, and the map of Central City gradually zoomed in, from a bird's-eye view to the police station, and then to the crime research laboratory inside... and finally aimed at the fair-skinned boy with little stubble.

Chapter 96-22 Universe IF Line: Madness and Immortality (Joker's Perspective)

“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is a form of rebellion.”

—Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus

----

Gotham, Arkham Asylum.

The clown's hands were firmly fixed to his body by a corset, and his whole body was chained to the seat. The light shone on his dark green curly hair, and from his brow bone down, it was all in shadow.

The door opened and closed, and footsteps were heard.

Only one person dared to be in the same room with the famous criminal emperor.

……

Then he slowly smiled:

"Good day, Bat." Looking up at Batman, the Joker saw his old enemy reflected in his irises. He whistled, his smile widening as he added, "...Long time no see, Bat."

"What's the matter?" Batman said without any expression.

"Do I have to have something to talk to you about?" Normally, the clown would be happy to go around in circles before talking about business... or even just talk nonsense without any business at all. But today, the matter itself is more interesting:

"Well... haven't you noticed? About this world... oh, I don't mean the game between us has added someone else. To be honest, although I don't want to admit it, I've gotten used to the fact that you are my most philandering lover... Sorry, let's get back to the topic."

The clown's voice gradually faded, and then he spoke slowly, his voice soft and gentle, with a hint of pity and regret:

"I have lost everything. I myself no longer exist. Not long ago I was the favorite of the gods."

"They tested me and gave me Pandora. She holds countless treasures, but also many more dangers."

"They forced me to kiss her enviable lips, then pulled me away—and threw me into the abyss."

(Goethe's "Marienbad Elegy")

……

The Joker is using metaphors, and he's good at using them.

Pandora refers to Batman, and the gods refer to fate. Compared with Marienbad's tragedy, the whole plot is more like a summary of his own experience.

Batman looked at the clock in the room, "Eleven past eleven. If you just want to tell a story, I don't mind paying a million for ICU medical care."

"Oh, you still have no sense of humor... So in the final analysis, it's just a dream, a time travel, or maybe a crack in space, a possible future? I can't explain... Anyway, I know the future." The Joker leaned forward, his acid green eyes locked on the goggles - the lenses seemed unable to block his vision, and he looked at Batman.

"The future is bad," he said softly.

……

What kind of future would be bad for the Joker?

It's definitely not a future where the Joker and Batman are entangled, but a future where one of them wins... But maybe it's not bad for him, it only proves that there is a winner in the debate between the two.

The Joker said, "I saw you kill me and then turn into a monster."

He said: "A disgusting monster that bears both of our names, but is as disgusting as a maggot."

Batman didn't say whether he believed it or not. He was like a solid wall, cold and silent.

"You are Angerboda, the mother of monsters, and I am Loki, the god of lies... Then, in front of everyone's gaze, you gave birth to a monster capable of destroying the world."

The green eyes locked onto Batman's forehead, as if that were the uterus, and the monster would be born from Zeus's hard skull like Athena.

Batman looked at the Joker, as if he read something from his unusual expression: "Go on."

The clown licked his teeth and lips, his scarlet tongue looming like a snake's tongue: "It seems you believe me." He lowered his head and gestured to the abdominal binder tied across his chest: "Untie it... I can't get away."

……

"The child you gave birth to is not Fenrir, who devoured Odin, nor Jörmungandr, who encircled the world, nor Hela, who commanded the army of the undead... The child you gave birth to is Kronos, the father of Zeus, who controls time."

"This Kronos who was born in your brain has been searching for his father...my existence on the timeline. He is trying to prove that he is his mother!" The clown seemed to be telling something extremely absurd, and he couldn't even help laughing.

Full of disdain, arrogance and deep contempt.

"He's chasing me! I've seen his silhouette countless times... but I'm always one step ahead of him! Haha! He'll never be able to prove that he's his own mother!"

The clown's laughter gradually became somewhat hollow and pathetic: "...He can never become his mother, but as long as we cling to him, he will always be born."

"We have to think of a way." He said: "Let me wear a condom, or you take a few pills... or get a vasectomy, ah..." The clown became a little fragile again, and with his pale skin, he looked like a plaster statue that would fall into powder if touched:

"That won't do... As long as we love each other, he will always be born."

He looked at Batman with a sad expression: "What can I use to keep you? I give you the thin streets, the desperate sunset, the moon in the wilderness, I give you the sadness of a person who looks at the lonely moon for a long time... Dear, what can I use to keep you?"

……

A madman, an illogical and ambiguous madman, these seemingly plausible words were just another third-rate story he made up when he was bored.

As for now, it's just a grandiose theatrical performance.

If it were someone else, they would probably think so.

……

Batman looked at him and said in a hoarse voice: "I saw him too."

Suddenly, an incomparable light shone in his green eyes. The sadness and anger that were hidden in them disappeared without a trace. The Joker became interested: "Oh, I know, I understand, because - I am Batman."

Just like asking where the Joker appears, asking Batman why he knows certain information is equally pointless.

They don't care about this.

"The Barking Maggot... You still remember his name, right?"

The newly-baked nickname expressed the Joker's personal feelings towards him. He was enthusiastic: "This is a common enemy... We have to cooperate, Batman. You know, I've been looking forward to this for a long time. Maybe we will really have a child, but to be honest, we have to prepare milk powder, a crib and a small quilt for him."

"...God knows how much I looked forward to the fruit of our love, but that disgusting thing took over this wonderful idea."

"Let's deal with him, let's kill him..." The Joker seemed sincere, yet extremely hypocritical: "Let's work together and save the world?"

Chapter 97 The Flash Lives, The Flash Dies, The Flash Lives Again (92 Unblocked)

Barry Allen