บท 60: Laugh of Insanity
Since Beast Boy was fine, he tossed him to the side and no longer bothered him.
After he was done healing Beast Boy, the previous members of the Young Justice appeared as well to help.
Aqualad took a look around and frowned.
"Is it true that Batman did all this?"
Lucas shook his head.
"No, I was with him when this happened. It's someone else."
"Do you have any suspects?"
Raven asked.
"Well, the usual troupe would be an evil clone or someone from another multiverse."
Hearing that, Wondergirl chuckled.
"Since when has this become the new normal?"
"We live in a crazy world after all."
Lucas shrugged and shook his head.
"Anyway. Wondergirl, Miss Martian, Static. Stay here for now in case the evil Batman comes back. Aqualad, search underwater. Supergirl and Powergirl, search the skies. Kid Flash, search the perimeter. Raven, see if you can find any traceable clues with your magic."
The group nodded and did their thing.
Lucas also joined in the search but found nothing.
In the end, Lucas went back to Gotham to return to Wayne Manor, hoping that Bruce and the others found some leads.
He didn't teleport over or fly on the way as he simply took a taxi.
There wasn't any particular reason why. He just wanted to do it like that for today.
In a sense, walking and commuting had given him a feeling of normalcy so it was a hobby of him to do so in order to calm himself and relax.
Earlier when he went to Wayne Manor, he also just commuted.
"Where to sir?"
"Wayne Manor."
Lucas looked out the window while resting his chin on his hand.
The driver smiled.
Then, gas started to fill the taxi.
Lucas blinked in surprise and took a look at the driver in front of him.
He saw him suddenly peel the skin off his face, revealing his true appearance.
It was Bruce...but he was...smiling?
And the way his mouth curves into a smile...looked very creepy.
Wait...this situation...am I getting kidnapped!?
Lucas was shocked. This gas was most likely a knockout gas. However, such things were useless to Lucas at all.
But since the culprit had literally sent himself to him, Lucas decided to play along.
Let's see what this guy plans to do…
Like that, Lucas 'fainted' at the back of the taxi.
By the time Lucas 'woke up', he found himself tied up in a dark room.
His hands were tied behind him as he sat on a metal chair.
In front of him was another man similarly tied up.
It was Joker.
The door opened.
A man wearing Batman's cowl appeared. However, his whole appearance was completely different than Batman.
He had these metal spikes covering his eyes and he wore a black suit with lots of belts...like some punk rock emo guy.
He also had this huge disgusting grin on his face that looked a lot like Joker's.
"What is this!? Where am I!? Do you know who I am!?"
Lucas shouted desperately.
However, in his mind, he was laughing.
Hehe, I always wanted to say that line myself!
It was the famous lines of a mob character.
In the system, Lucas was long 'dead'. He died during the invasion of Darkseid.
Afterwards, since Lucas didn't want to make a huge fuss of his return, Bruce simply made a new identity for him.
It was also released in the news at some point.
[Billionaire Bruce Wayne adopts his younger brother look-alike!]
To the rest of the world, the Lucas Wayne that now exists was a fake one. A normal guy with no powers. Just someone that Bruce is fond of because of his similar appearance to his little brother.
Lucas also didn't show up publicly and used his powers. He either wears a mask or blurs his face all the time.
This fake Bruce probably kidnapped him to lure Bruce out.
The fake Bruce laughed.
"Hahaha. Of course I know who you are."
The grin on his face became wider.
"You're going to be my next pet!"
"Huh?"
He tugged on the chains that he was holding on his hand.
There, Lucas saw something that made his face pale.
Three small figures appeared wearing the Robin suit. The chains were all attached to their collars.
They had pale faces and a huge grin on their mouths.
Upon being pulled, the three of them charged towards Lucas like rabid dogs, only to be pulled back with their leash.
"...What is this?"
"Do you like my pets? Don't worry. Soon, you will also join them~"
"..."
Lucas' face became solemn.
Seeing this, Lucas had enough. He was no longer in the mood to fool around.
However, Lucas wanted to know the fake Batman's plan. If he had some sort of contingency, it would be bad to act now.
In his mind, a couple of scenarios had started to form. He was planning what to do for each of them.
Sitting across him, Joker laughed.
"Hahahahaha! Don't you just love this guy!? He's everything I wanted Batman to be!"
"You're both insane."
"No no no. You see, that's the thing."
The fake Batman shook his head.
"For a long time, I've been losing. Everytime I catch the bad guy, they always escape! Over and over! My life has been stuck on this loop! That's insanity!"
He stretched his hand and grabbed on Joker's head.
"That's why, I decided to stop 'defeating' them...and start 'killing'!"
Suddenly, his other hand blurred. Blood flew out from Joker's neck.
Joker's eyes were wide as he looked at his own blood flowing from his throat in disbelief.
His mouth opened a few times but no sound came out of it.
It only took a few seconds for the light in his eyes to dim.
The Joker was dead.
The fake Batman looked at Joker's corpse and scoffed as he kicked him down.
"At that time I killed my world's Joker, my eyes were finally opened! You see, Joker's body contained toxins that would be released when he dies. The toxins then go to the nearest healthy body...and well, you know how it goes."
Lucas frowned.
What kind of shitty development is this!? Does that mean Joker is, in a sense, an immortal being!?
So in the comics, there was actually this reason why Batman never killed the Joker?
Lucas remembered reading in the past about how Joker supposedly had three names back when Batman became a God as he sat on the Morbius chair.
Does this mean...that Joker was already killed two times back then?
Or maybe this is some sort of plot armor the writers did to explain the various personalities and appearance of Joker in the comics?
Lucas' head hurt just thinking about it.
In any case, he isn't in the comics. This was his reality now.
No matter what the comic writers thought about in the 'real' world, it wasn't always the case here. There was no use thinking about it so much.
Then, Lucas noticed something.
Wait...since Joker's dead now...am I the next in line to become Joker?
"..."
Lucas turned to look at the fake Batman. He was also similarly looking at him, seemingly waiting for his transformation.
...So this was his plan? Corrupt me and turn me against my real brother?
Lucas's face darkened. His head lowered.
He could feel something seeping in his body...it was the toxin in Joker's body.
"Ha…"
A chuckle escaped in his mouth.
"Hahaha…"
Then it became a laugh.
"Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!"
Lucas lifted his head upwards as he laughed.
The fake Batman also smiled and laughed.
He knew that laugh.
It was the laugh of madness becoming free…!
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