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

He walked over and knocked on the cabin door, but of course got no response.

"...Wayne hasn't slept yet?"

Lucian reached out and pressed the liquid removal button, then knocked on the hatch again. In Bruce's somewhat confused eyes:

"Mr. Sleeping Beauty, here comes true love's kiss."

Bruce:…

"If you want me to listen to your bedtime story, you can come back tomorrow."

Lucien shook his finger and sat on the ground against the bulkhead... At this angle, neither of them could see each other, but the sound was clear.

He pulled a roller lighter from his pocket and lit it up:

"I had a dream."

"Oh?"

Bruce was listening.

"I dreamed..." Lucian said in a deep voice:

"I dreamed that Snow White poisoned her wicked stepmother with an apple, then seduced her own father, and finally when she ascended the throne to become queen, she was blown up into the sky by a pea under nine layers of quilts."

Bruce: ?

"Well... I mean." The light from the lighter was a little dreamy and faint... like the one in the hands of the little match girl:

"I mean, we shouldn't just talk about Batman or the Joker or Batmech or Gotham."

Bruce's voice sounded a little dull due to the obstruction: "I am more inclined to believe that you had some nightmares and had to run to me for comfort."

"Hey!" Lucian knocked on the bulkhead with his backhand. "What the hell are you talking about!"

"So the reason you woke me up in the early hours of the morning was just to share your dirty stories?"

"I mean—exchange of feelings!"

"Oh? I guess I'm too old to fall in love," Bruce said. "It's like me falling in love with a newborn baby at forty... I'm not a jerk."

"…You know that's not what I meant."

"So you don't think we're exchanging feelings now...?"

……

Lucien held his chin with his hand. The lighter, which originally had little kerosene, had no fire after being opened and closed continuously.

There was only the "tick-tick" noise like the movement of the clock hands.

"What do you think of the Bai Yueguang and the double plot, Bruce?" he asked.

"It's just an excuse for my own infidelity."

Lucian listened to his voice, thought about little Bruce in Universe -32, and began to question his own fickleness.

"What if the substitute is you?"

"Oh?" Bruce's voice was a little slow: "Don't mention that Bai Yueguang is also me."

"Oh, of course, my dear prophet."

……

Lucian felt that the thing he was most proficient in was that every time he arrived in a new world and faced a new Batman, he had to reiterate his relationship with Batman.

This is also quite positive... At least for him, things related to Batman can occasionally be considered happy moments.

……

The sound of the lighter acted as the clicking sound of the clock hands, and because of Lucian's narration, it became an unnoticeable white noise.

The old bat listened quietly, his eyes somewhat distant... There is an advantage to not confronting each other face to face, as both parties do not have to suppress their emotions to a certain extent.

The red and blue lights of the surrounding instruments flickered, resembling stripes.

----

Arthur had left, and the old clown sat alone in front of the mirror. He touched the bottles and jars on the table with some nostalgia, and applied layer after layer on his face.

His origin is not a chemical pool, nor is it a comedy clown... It's a genetic mutation and mental disorder caused by a little incest, and mental illness is hatched by ordinary family and school violence.

Also because of his origin, he was so surprised when he found out that he had a child of his own blood...even though he didn't treat Arthur well.

"...I guess I still love you." The old clown began, humming softly:

"I treat you this way because I'm despicable... I'm vilely replicating my father's actions, just to see... what's different." He used a brush dipped in white powder to paint his already pale skin.

"Now it seems like it's all due to genes... Maybe I was born to be a lunatic... If it weren't for blood, perhaps I would be like you? A little stupid? A little smart?"

There were no listeners around, and the old voice floated in the empty room, sounding lonely.

"You are very good, my dear boy, my...Arthur."

……

Arthur was walking on the way back to the base. Due to the shortage of supplies and unnecessary issues, his clothes were always a little tattered.

But the gray cloth combined with the black combat uniform and the white gauze made him look like the image in a black and white movie... so fake as to be real.

He looked up and saw the sunlight peeking through the gaps between the buildings, and he let out a long sigh.

Maybe Arthur understood everything the old clown had done? Or maybe he didn't?

But the result is what it is now. He refuses to inherit the Joker's playing cards, refuses to become the next Joker... He even doesn't act like any second-generation Joker.

He has none of his father's characteristics and is stuck at the bottom of the resistance army... He's not even a squad leader.

Could that be true?

——The second generation will always disappoint people.

----

Resistance Base

training room

Lucian turned over and sat up from the ground, holding his shoulder blade, and complained to Bruce who had withdrawn his hand:

"I thought last night's emotional exchange would make you show some mercy...at least stop at a certain point, but you didn't hold back at all."

He walked over to the medical staff next to him and asked, "It's a broken bone, right?"

High recovery doesn't mean Lucian is immune to pain, and being able to hurt himself doesn't mean he can get the same pleasure from being hit by others.

Bruce ignored this and said to the researcher beside him, "The adaptation is very good and can fully exert its original strength, but it is far from enough to defeat Paul."

...If you don't know Bruce's physical condition, and only look at his streamlined, sci-fi appearance, no one would guess that this is actually a human pig.

……

"This is already the current limit. The next level of technical difficulty lies in the dispersion and combination of materials. That means abandoning fixed mechanical tissue and using nanorobots throughout the body." The researcher stroked his glasses.

"This will take at least a year of research."

"That's enough," Bruce said. "Paul can't be defeated by nanorobots, even if the technology becomes more advanced."

"So do you have any unique suggestions?"

Just at this moment, the door was pushed open, and Damian walked in, gradually approaching Bruce.

These two are truly similar in appearance... Damian completely inherited his father's facial features, but inherited his mother's eye color.

They faced each other, more like a young bat facing an old bat.

"If you want me to say it right now."

"...Follow me." Damian turned around.

Bruce left together. Lucian hesitated for a moment, thinking that it was best not to delve into the details of parent-child activities, so he did not move.

……

But today seemed special. Not long after, Tone asked Lucien to meet him.

He put the plaster on his shoulder blade... To be honest, the self-healing ability is getting weaker as time goes by.

It's understandable that the Dionysus factor the Joker gave it wasn't its own, but a concentrated version of the Lazarus Pool... This might also be the reason why it can heal itself without endangering its life.

……

The meeting place was not private, but rather open, with a window next to it, and Tone himself looked a little dusty.

There was a pack of cigarettes and a box of matches on the table, obviously left for Lucien.

The young man poured a cup of coffee in a paper cup and placed it in front of him...Lucian took a sip and there was not even any saccharin in it.

"If the rebels are really this poor... perhaps we must consider launching a general attack on Paul."

"Economic sanctions." Tone shrugged. "There's nothing we can do about it. The entire city's capital has united."

"What about the Assassin's League?" Lucian asked, then added, "I understand. Bruce used all their money."

Toni snorted, a sort of acknowledgment.

……

This is not a question of whether the League of Assassins is involved or not. During Paul's rule over Gotham, he launched the "Last Laugh" plan, completely isolating Gotham from the outside world and relying solely on the city's own resources to achieve self-sufficiency.

The Assassin's League's home is in the Middle East, and it is difficult to transport supplies from outside Gotham... Economic sanctions and supply shortages are the difficulties that the resistance must face.

……

"Remember my question last time?" Toni repeated, "Your ideals and aspirations."

Ideals and pursuits.

These were two unfamiliar words to both Lucian and the Joker.

Lucian's ideal and pursuit is just an ordinary normal life, which is completely impossible to achieve at present.

And the Joker’s ideal and pursuit - Batman.

……

So he chuckled, "What are you asking?" He took out a cigarette and lit it for himself: "My current ideal is world peace, and my pursuit is to overthrow everything."