Bab 247: Perfect Wordl #247
"That might be true, but what good has detaining 'such people' done to anyone?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "The answer is none," I added, shrugging my shoulders.
"You all know how it goes. Some hero or the other would catch the villain, throw them in jail, they break out, and the cycle repeats itself," I said, briefly glancing at Clark Kent before turning back to Lois Lane.
"Throwing highly trained mercenaries and metahumans into jails never was and never will be an effective solution," I concluded, pausing as I waited for everyone to digest my words.
"Surely you're not suggesting we let them be and look the other way simply because they can escape prison?" Lois Lane asked, raising an eyebrow as she gave me a bemused look.
"No. I suggest we look deeper into the problem to see what causes such people to act the way they do as I have," I said, shaking my head. "Most criminals out there are people who had no other choice or thought they had none but crime," I added, making a cutting gesture to the side.
"In a perfect world, the awful hand they got in life wouldn't excuse their actions," I added as I stepped forward, leaning on the podium and roaming my gaze over everyone.
"But In a perfect world, people would not have to choose between crime or starvation and homelessness," I said with a wince. "Unfortunately, a perfect world this is not," I went on, shaking my head.
"As someone who lived their entire life in Gotham, I can tell you with full certainty..." I said, my tone turning solemn. "All it takes is one bad day..." I added, trailing at the end of my sentence.
"One horrible day is all it takes for the average guy to snap and turn into something even their loved ones wouldn't recognize," I added, speaking in a louder tone.
"I've seen it many times, and it will continue to happen in this city unless somethings change," I added, sighing as I stepped back and removed my hands from the podium.
"But that is for the future. For now, we all have a choice..." I said, crossing my arms in front of my chest. "To move on to better things, to break the cycle, or to cling to old grudges and let it continue," I added, taking a deep breath.
"Lady Vic, Deadshot, Harley Quinn, each one of them tried to kill me on one occasion at least," I said with a chuckle. "But I'm still willing to give them a chance to do better, to be better," I added, putting on a genuine smile.
"I'm no saint, nor do I want to be one. I'm just a kid from Gotham, and this is the only way for me to fix my city," I added, scratching my head. "Trust me. I've seen people try everything else and fail," I continued with a sigh, shaking my head.
"We can't rely on one person to fix everything for us, and that goes for me as well," I said, shrugging my shoulders. "I'm not here to give a magical solution that will solve everything. I'm here to ask for help more than anything else," I continued.
"So, please... let go of the past, and help me turn this hell hole of a city into something tolerable..."
...
"Well, that went better than expected..." I muttered to no one in particular as I stepped into my hideout and went straight for the workroom without delay.
Lois Lane being Lois Lane, continued to question me about my plan in the most brutal way imaginable, calling out one flaw after the other, only for me to correct her on every point she made.
She questioned the viability of even attempting to rehabilitate career criminals like Deadshot and Lady Vic and crazies like Harley, and I gave her the same answers I gave to Katherine Spencer.
The journalist didn't give up and continued to press, but I was ready for any questions she had for me, and I like to think I handled her well enough.
Ultimately, it took half of the press conference's time for Lois Lane back off, but it was worth it since she asked pretty much all the right questions, leaving nothing to everyone else.
Still, I steered the questions back to my company after I was sure the line of questioning regarding the three villains ended on a good note, and the other journalists were more than eager to ask their questions.
I couldn't blame them since they spent more than an hour awkwardly staring at Lois Lane, asking one question after the other, so I gave everyone else a chance.
They asked me about the nature of my company and why I chose to specialize in software instead of robotics since I've used my Sentry Machines to fight Faust and even had them help with search and rescue efforts on more than one occasion.
I replied, saying my machines were still a work in progress and not ready for public use, which was true since I had to control them using my mind most of the time.
They could perform pre-programmed tasks, but they still had a long way to go before they turned into anything average civilians or even police officers and soldiers could use.
There were other questions of that nature, but they did not matter as much until someone finally asked me if the company was a part of my plan to "fix" Gotham.
Again, I replied truthfully and explained why I created the company despite being already rich thanks to the many sources of revenue, which were the apps and games I designed beforehand.
I revealed my plans to invest most of the company-generated income back into Gotham to improve the police department, open schools, hospitals, and whatnot, alongside using technology to better the city as the company expands to new fields and grows.
I got the reactions I was hoping to get, with everyone asking mild questions after Lois Lane got the malicious ones out of the way. And I finally ended the conference once I'd shared everything I was out to share with the public.
From there, I made a straight line back to my hideout, and now I have nothing to do other than work on my gravity machine and wait for the Questions and Batwoman to find The Religion's higher-ups so I can swoop in and clean them up.
"Hmm...?" I stopped working as soon as I started when I heard my phone buzzing, causing me to sigh as I picked it up. "The joker's out again... why am I not surprised..." I muttered, shaking my head as I threw the phone away and resumed working.
I'm not about to make a habit of hunting the fucking clown every time he escapes.
That's Batman's job.
...
Gotham
Crime Alley
"Where is the Joker?" Batman calmly asked, revving the Batmobile's engine with a remote control device as he looked down at the thug lying on the ground with his head in front of the front wheel.
"Wouldn't you like to know, freak!" The thug replied, stubbornly scowling at the caped crusader, which was a mistake as he received a kick to the mouth that dislodged half of his teeth.
"I won't ask again. Where is the Joker?" Batman asked, his tone eerily calm as he stepped on the thug's chest and leaned on his knee, looking the poor hooligan straight in the eye.
"Fuck! Stop! I'll talk!" The thug hurriedly said, blood and saliva flying out of his mouth as he struggled to breathe, having endured the pain for almost an entire minute, much to his credit.
"The Joker's goons rented one of our warehouses north of Gotham. That's all I know! I swear!" The thug quickly added, shouting every word as fast as possible when he noticed Batman's raising his foot again.
However, the caped crusader gave him another kick to the head, knocking him out cold instantly.
...
Somewhere north Of Gotham
Inside an empty warehouse
"Oh, boy... that looked like it hurt..." The Joker said with a chuckle as he struck the tied-up Robin with a crowbar, forcing him to his knees, panting for breath and grunting in pain.
He paused as if appreciating his handiwork before tossing the metal weapons to his other robotic hand before he resumed beating the boy wonder with a demented grin.
"Whoa, that looks like it hurt a bit more..." The Joker said as he stood over Robin, who was now lying in a pool of his own blood. "Let's clear this up, shall we, pumpkin?" He said as he raised the crowbar and brought it down on Robin's back.
"What's more, A?" He said as he struck him again with the crowbar in his robotic hand. "Or B?" He added as he put the crowbar in his other and resumed the beating.
In response, Robin let out a few barely audible words as he gasped for breath. "What's that again, lamb-chop? You're going to have to speak up. I think you have a collapsed lung," The Joker said as he kneeled next to the boy wonder and raised his head, to which the latter responded by spitting at his face.
"Now that was rude... the first boy plunder had some manners at least..." The Joker said as he took a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the blood and saliva off his face.
"I suppose I'll have to give you a lesson so you can better follow in his footsteps..." The Joker said, trailing at the end of his sentence as Robin turned around and gave him a bloodied grin.
"Nah... I'm just gonna keep beating you with this crowbar..."
...
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