What is Coulrophobia? Why do people in this city have Coulrophobia?
In the past, long ago, before this term was associated with that smile, everyone knew clowns as funny, mysterious, prankster troublemakers.
But over the years, more and more people in Gotham have developed Coulrophobia, and similarly, this fear only leads to two directions.
One is to continue to endure silently, using all their strength not to lose their life when this dark city falls into chaos.
The other is to develop hallucinations similar to Stockholm Syndrome, beginning to worship the Joker, starting to laugh with him, gradually becoming him.
The image of the Joker appears in records of various civilizations, from the Celestial Dynasty to Rome, from indigenous tribes to high society. The comedic aspect often arises from people's greedy desires for food, sex, alcohol, and irritable behavior.
Sometimes the vulgar things are funnier, and the Joker is the one who carries these jokes, and this direct reference to human folly always feels a bit too naked, full of malice.
But Gotham's Joker is different; he refracts this society in a strange way.
Whether it's Gotham's luck or misfortune, he rarely cracks those lowbrow jokes; what he likes are darker methods.
Year after year, day after day, that laughter always echoes through this concrete jungle.
He gradually changed the meaning of the word clown through his portrayal of comedy, and now when people on Earth mention clowns, they first think of him.
Comedy is a form of communication, not deception; laughter reflects a person's true emotion, not the pure and evil mask placed in front of feelings.
The Joker's performances and attacks of malice were never related; he represents love.
It's when you look at him, you feel like you're slowly reaching a place full of love and joy, and then you discover that this love is genuine, not fake.
It's just that this love is too mad; except for Batman, no one else can accept it.
A qualified actor must love his audience; he has always tried hard to make the Bat laugh, yet Batman is always solemn.
This only makes the Joker increasingly mad.
"Have you seen him laugh?" The Joker scratched his back with a revolver, shivered comfortably, showing a curious smile on his face, as he squatted in front of Barbara, looking into her eyes.
The sky gradually became obscured by clouds, but his face remained starkly pale, Barbara looked at him, trying her best to suppress herself, yet her gaze inevitably showed fear.
This kind of look only disappoints the Joker; he never wants fear, he wants to see others laugh.
He flicked the red bomb in front of him with the barrel of the gun, the sound of the timer 'clicking' became clearer: "Give me the answer, and I'll help you get rid of one bomb, so there will only be 99 left beneath your feet, haha."
"Mmm mmm mmm!!!" Barbara shook her head violently, trying to kick those bombs with her feet, but only made the red mound squirm a little.
The Joker covered his forehead, sighed towards the sky.
"I was wrong, I forgot you still had your mouth gagged, hahahaha..."
With that, he stretched out a hand and pulled the dirty cloth from Barbara's mouth, stuffing it into his chest pocket like a handkerchief. Then he opened his big eyes, extended his neck, waiting for Barbara's answer.
Barbara breathed heavily, able to move only the parts of her body above the neck and below the ankles. It was said that in the old West, people liked to tie others like this and leave them on the railway tracks, steam monsters would cleanly sever the head.
"Of course, he smiled at each of us, but definitely not at you, Joker, not someone like you!"
The Joker looked at the sky, bobbing his head like a bobblehead doll: "You don't understand him at all, you don't understand, you think flying around with him means you understand, but that's not the case."
"Pah!" Barbara spit at him.
But the Joker did not dodge; on the contrary, he moved closer, leaning his face against hers, gently rubbing.
"Batman is real, and Bruce Wayne is the disguise; Bruce smiled at you, that's just the false smile on the mask, just a face Batman thought was necessary to perform at certain times."
The Joker, twirling her hair with his fingers, whispered in her ear, he could feel her warmth, her trembling, a life, a comedy.
"Only I understand him, only me! Hahahahahaha....."
The Joker patted Barbara on the head, bent over with a laugh, and actually picked a detonator from the pile of explosives beneath her, disarming the timer on it.
Despite his hands shaking badly, no accidents happened. It was like even though Barbara hadn't given him the answer he wanted, seeing others fooled by Batman was enough to make him laugh.
This answer deserved a reward; what others thought didn't matter, but he was a man who always kept his promises.
He tossed the detonator aside, clapped his hands as if suddenly remembering something: "Oh right, he'll definitely come looking for you. I have a show to prepare, so I won't keep you company here, hehehahaha...."
The Joker let out a bizarre laugh, his eyes dark as he looked at Barbara. He stepped back step by step, raising both arms and one leg, preparing to sprint, then comically dashed into the woods and disappeared.
.......................
"Your satellite images look like a puzzle game," Bo Bo mercilessly mocked Oliver. The surveillance images on the screen seemed to reveal something at every angle.
Tilting his head to the left, maybe he saw snowflake butterflies? Tilting it to the right, it looked like camouflaged camels.
In summary, the monitoring images sent back by the satellite were not useless, but they were too blurry. The four people underground were watching a screen full of pixelation; useful information only appeared for a frame or two, far from enough to form a continuous picture.
"Well, I kind of expected this result," Su Ming stroked his chin, calmly looking at the screen. "The fact that Green Arrow's satellite didn't mysteriously crash and kill his friends is already good: that's good enough for me."
Oliver shook his head with disappointment: "I'm sorry, this satellite hasn't been maintained for a long time, I don't really understand this."
"No matter, this intelligence is just supplementary for reasoning. I'm not Batman; I don't need so much precise information to take action." Su Ming patted his shoulder: "Now dismantle the equipment; let's move the useful stuff to the Eternal Rock, especially those tomato juice and bean cans, the kids will definitely like them."
Diana seemed puzzled about who these "kids" were, and Bo Bo quietly explained. Soon, she displayed a helpless and doubtful expression.
She couldn't be sure about others, but Damian, who had been pampered from a young age, was used to the finest things. Would he really like something that costs a few US dollars for a large can?
Even with her lack of common sense, she could see that the cans' expiration dates seemed fake; Oliver, with bad luck, seemed to have bought fake goods....
Oliver stood up from the box and walked towards the signal receiver: "So what should we do? Just wait quietly?"
Su Ming was picking out cans, clearly avoiding the slightly bulging ones: "The Laughing Bat is playing to win; he treats everything like a game. And the only ones who can beat him are either a Bat or a madman. Harley is with me now, and Batman and the Joker are in Gotham. If nothing goes wrong, the Laughing Bat will appear there too, at least he'll send another Dark Knight."
"Alright, there are 52 known Dark Multiverse worlds, with more unformed ones. We disposed of four Dark Knights last time, so theoretically, 48 remain..." Diana, holding a small box, walked up to Su Ming and said.
"We can rule out Earth -11; there's someone defending there, and that Batman won't have problems. A few other worlds are shattered, with no living souls there, so optimistically, there may be over forty Batmen with uncertain statuses. Assuming half of them join the Dark Knight Order, that's about twenty joining."
Su Ming took the small box and consoled Diana.
Unlike ordinary women, she didn't need optimistic words; she just wanted to know the truth.
Bo Bo scratched his head and fixed his detective hat; the previous rain made his shirt and suit cling to him, uncomfortably with long hair.
As for what Deathstroke said, just do it; he didn't need to know too much, so he changed the topic: "Oliver, all your medicines here are expired."
Oliver nodded, a nostalgic expression on his face: "Yes, I haven't been here for years. This was the place where I landed when I returned from overseas, with my father's ashes on the boat...."
Green Arrow looked around the dim hall, a wave of melancholy sweeping over him.
Bo Bo and Deathstroke exchanged a glance; he bared his teeth, indicating that this was indeed a tragedy. Someone immersed in their past tragedies was indeed too dark.
"Alright, friends, let's get moving. We need to quickly locate the Laughing Bat. As long as Luthor's geographical advantage is unbroken, the Justice League can't do anything about it, and neither can we. Without finding the Laughing Bat, defeating him is out of the question." The gorilla turned his head and slipped away.
Su Ming nodded, affirming the gorilla's statement; currently, standing undefeated wasn't only him, but the enemies, too.
And Batman and the others needed to put out fires globally; they were already at the pit bottom of the trap. Whether the enemy poured venom or urine into the trap, he could only adapt on the fly.
This strategic disadvantage was still his own choice, the shackles of being a hero.
Fortunately, Diana had an obsessive view of justice, treating enemy extermination as the best mean to uphold justice. Even the poor quality of Oliver's satellite had its uses; at least it spared them from seeing Gotham City's citizens dying tragically, and she naturally wouldn't leave the team because of it.