Chapitre 294: Chapter 294: Calamity Strikes Arkham
"Boom, boom, boom!" Hearing Joker's remarks, Batman's gaze sharpened. He immediately drove the Batmobile towards Joker. The Arkham Asylum, now fully funded by him, housed psychiatrists and mental health professionals he had personally recruited, and he could not afford any mishaps.
"Did you hide the mask? Then it's no fun!" Joker heard the roaring of the Batmobile but didn't care. He smiled in the direction of the approaching vehicle and spewed a burst of fire towards it. The flame was so fast that even Batman had no time to dodge.
The explosion was tremendous, the ground around them collapsing slightly even though Joker had consciously controlled the destructiveness of his attack. After all, this was his newly refurbished home at Arkham, and he hadn't fully enjoyed his new abode just yet—why would he want to destroy it so soon?
Of course, if the new Arkham didn't meet his expectations or bored him, Joker would surely be prepared to demolish and rebuild the entire facility.
As for whether Batman would survive the explosion, Joker wasn't worried. He had already demonstrated his superior power, and although Batman might not fully understand the extent of his abilities, he was surely prepared with some defensive measures.
Thus, Joker didn't even bother to look back at the explosion; he walked straight into Arkham Asylum. Perhaps due to the reconstruction or to help the inmates adapt back to a familiar environment that could benefit their recovery, the interior of Arkham looked the same as before. Joker walked in confidently as if nothing had changed.
"You are… the Joker!?" As Joker entered, a doctor in a white coat came out, drawn by the noise of the explosion. He was startled at first and then exclaimed in recognition.
As a Gotham local, Dr. Elsie was well aware of Joker's notoriety. The recent news of Arkham's destruction and the criminals' escape had been widespread, which ultimately persuaded him to work at Arkham, given the attractive salary and benefits. However, Elsie hadn't anticipated encountering someone as dangerous as Joker on his first day.
Even as a psychologist, Elsie doubted his ability to treat someone like Joker, knowing well that Joker had driven many doctors to madness before. Elsie didn't consider himself exceptional in this regard.
"You've come at the perfect time!" Joker's eyes lit up upon seeing Elsie, who fit perfectly into his plans. Driving Elsie mad wouldn't even require a transfer; he could move directly from the doctors' quarters to the inmates' quarters, how convenient!
"Whoosh!" As Joker spoke, a burst of flames enveloped him, stunning Elsie who had never heard of Joker being able to ignite himself.
While Elsie was frozen in shock, Joker grabbed him by the neck and lifted him up, even sniffing him and nodding in satisfaction, pleased by what he sensed.
Joker, now embodying the Ghost Rider, couldn't judge the weight of a person's sins before using the Penance Stare, but he could smell the scent of sin on them—all those he grabbed reeked of it.
"You! Are guilty!" Joker's face twisted into a grimace, his eyes swirling with indescribable darkness and flames as he stared into Elsie's eyes, his voice booming from the depths, "Look into my eyes, your soul has been tainted by those you've killed, feel their agony!"
"Let him go!" Just as the Penance Stare was about to begin, Batman burst into Arkham Asylum. He saw Joker holding Elsie, and instantly threw a Batarang at Joker's arm.
"Shh! Shh!"
Unfortunately, the intense heat from Joker's flames was too much; even the specially made Batarang couldn't penetrate and melted into molten metal upon contact.
"Ah!!!" At that moment, Elsie screamed as he witnessed the crimes he had accidentally committed. Although not severe by Gotham's standards, everyone makes mistakes, and Elsie was no exception. His mischievous childhood actions had once accidentally caused a fire that killed a neighboring family—all members perished.
Young Elsie, due to his age, wasn't suspected, but the incident left him with deep psychological scars. He chose to become a psychologist in hopes of alleviating his nightmares...
But now, Elsie saw the souls of those he had inadvertently harmed approaching him through the flames, reliving the horror of the fire, experiencing the agony that the victims had suffered.
"Hmm?" Noticing Elsie's reaction, Joker's eyes flashed with anger. He had only intended to turn a psychiatrist into a patient, not to confront a murderer directly. Now that Elsie was dead, it disrupted Joker's plans.
"Bang!" With a punch, Joker exploded Elsie's body on the spot, his eyes flickering with displeasure. He couldn't understand why he couldn't control the Penance Stare's intensity—despite mastering the Hellfire completely, why couldn't he manage the Penance Stare as well? This was a new challenge for Joker, who had never lost control of his powers before, even when empowered by the dark energies from the Ikai Mask.
Now, in the supernatural world, failing to control every aspect of his powers was what truly infuriated Joker. It was partly why he had returned to Gotham—to prove he could handle his new powers, but even after besting Batman with his Joker Mobile, he still lost control, which drove him toward madness.
Interestingly, Joker hadn't been entirely indifferent during his encounter with Mephisto. In fact, he didn't want to make any deal with Mephisto at all.
However, feeling that Mephisto wouldn't let him off easily without a contract, and lacking a means to counter the sudden threat, Joker reluctantly agreed to the pact. It wasn't out of fear of death; rather, Joker knew that even in death, escaping Mephisto's clutches would be unlikely, so he signed the contract with apparent indifference but great reluctance.
Having secured the powers of the Ghost Rider, Joker thought he had outmaneuvered Mephisto by not following his scheme and even managed to banish him back to Hell—a seeming victory for Joker.
However, the use of the Penance Stare was making Joker reconsider. It only killed those with the most grievous sins, exactly the type of souls Hell cherished most. Now, each use of the Penance Stare might actually be feeding the hellish dimensions with what they desired most.
"Joker! Are you having another episode?" Batman's angry voice filled the hospital, snapping the equally furious Joker out of his reverie.
A life had just ended before Batman's eyes, not even leaving a body behind, which was something Batman could never accept, especially now that Joker seemed to be exacerbating his condition—having intended to drive someone insane, he had instead killed them outright.
Both figures in the room were incapable of tolerating such outcomes, but Joker's erratic and extremely furious behavior was proof that he was losing control.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
As Joker came back to his senses, several Shadow Warriors charged towards him. Joker was all too familiar with them and didn't take them seriously, knowing they posed little threat to a being of his newfound caliber.
"Whoosh!" Flames burst from Joker, engulfing everything in their immediate vicinity. The approaching Shadow Warriors didn't stand a chance and were quickly consumed, turning into mere wisps of smoke.
While formidable against ordinary foes, the Shadow Warriors stood little chance against a true supernatural entity. They had been deployed not to defeat Joker but to buy Batman time to capture him.
"Hehe!" Just then, Joker laughed, vanishing in a flash of fiery light from the spot he had occupied, leaving behind a dark void that failed to consume him.
Now wearing the Ikai Mask, Batman faced off against two former hosts of the mask's powers, now uncontrollable. General Ikai remained silent, uncertain who would win this confrontation. Speaking out might provoke the victor's retribution later on.
"Joker, the techniques you're using now are the ones I discarded. Do you really think they can stop me?" As the darkness missed its target, Joker's mocking voice rang out. He wasn't lying; his ease in dodging Batman's attacks was indeed due to his familiarity with the dark powers of the Ikai Mask.
"Whoosh!" With that, a massive blast of flames swept towards Batman, warping and eventually collapsing the walls and floors around them.
It seemed that the newly rebuilt Arkham Asylum was once again destined for destruction.
"Sizzle!" As the wave of fire approached, Batman released a surge of dark energy in defense, but to his surprise, the Hellfire overwhelmed his dark power, suggesting that the dark energy was no match for the Hellfire.
"Boom!" Realizing his dark energy was faltering against the Hellfire, Batman dodged aside, and the fire consumed the wall behind him, piercing through Arkham Asylum.
"You didn't think that using the discarded Ikai Mask against me would make you my equal, did you?" Joker suddenly appeared next to Batman, his flaming skeletal hand reaching for Batman's neck, only to be blocked by Batman's arm.
"Whoosh!" Instantly, the Hellfire spread, engulfing even the dark energy around Batman, which could not fully resist the infernal flames.
"Bang!" Batman's pupils narrowed as he kicked, sending Joker flying through several walls. Joker's bones seemed to crack, but he quickly stood up unharmed, then cocked an eyebrow as his attention momentarily shifted.
"Chains?" Joker's gaze fell on a metal chain. He picked it up, and Hellfire quickly transformed it into a weapon shaped like himself.
"Whizz, whizz, whizz~" As Joker swung the chain, the wind it whipped up fueled the Hellfire
, even sketching Joker's face in the flaming air.
"Whoosh!" The next moment, the chain extended towards Batman, who had just leaped from the building. The short chain, under the influence of Hellfire, stretched incredibly long in an instant, striking towards Batman from dozens of meters away.
"Snap!" Batman caught the chain, his gloves morphing as if he had adjusted them just before in the building, now different than before. This time, facing the onslaught of Hellfire, his gloves held up for a moment...
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