Batman arrived at Arkham Asylum. But this Arkham Asylum was not quite the same as the one in his memory.
The Arkham Asylum of the Prime Universe may look like a prison, but besides having stricter security, it actually does have doctors, and they are very professional. All the psychiatric patients receive proper treatment, even enjoying better medical resources than many other places.
However, as soon as Batman stepped into this universe's Arkham Asylum, he understood this was not a hospital at all. Calling it a prison was almost an insult to prisons. This was the kind of atmosphere Batman had only felt in U.S. military human experimentation bases he had dismantled.
Everyone wore identical uniforms, expressionless, never smiling, looking more like professional agents than asylum staff. Security robots patrolled around the clock, psychiatric patients were nowhere to be seen, but people in lab coats appeared frequently, whether as doctors or experimenters.
Despite the tight security, it was clear they couldn't stop Batman. Especially after he confiscated Jason's headphones and those control devices as "surgery fees," making the patrolling security robots and cameras hardly worth mentioning.
Batman picked up the headphones and manipulated them a bit, causing the security robots in the corridor to halt. After jumping into the corridor, the two robots and the security cameras seemed blind, completely unable to see a human entering.
Elliot surely invested money, but unfortunately in the wrong direction, Batman thought. Full electronic security was not safe at all. Humans, fragile as they are, at least count as large animals, requiring some effort to deal with. Now, all turned into robots, a few Trojan horses could render them useless.
From this, Batman could deduce that Wayne Enterprises falling into Elliot's hands was a significant misstep. The company's situation probably wasn't good. If he still intended to run for president, he must have been depending on some other forces.
Batman made his way to the second floor, only to hear chaos downstairs before beginning his search. He quickly switched the channel on the headphones to listen in on the surveillance cameras downstairs.
"... I am Special Investigator Jack Napier... zzz... Jonathan Crane... zzz... cooperate with my work..."
Batman went to the second-floor atrium, cautiously peeking downward, and saw a Joker in a police uniform.
Batman truly felt his worldview was being challenged. In their universe, Joker had also impersonated a policeman for pranks, but his demeanor was far from that of a real officer. That police uniform on him seemed more like a costume, not so much man enhancing attire, as it was amusing.
But the Joker below wasn't like that. Although he still had green hair and red lips, the uniform fit perfectly — mainly matching his demeanor. Unlike Joker's madness, he exuded seriousness, even possessing a sharp sense of justice.
This made the person standing below look more like Batman in Joker makeup rather than a Joker in a police uniform. It was far more terrifying than the Mad Laugh hybrid.
Batman's heart sank. But the other responded swiftly, suddenly looking up at him. And then —
"Bang!"
The gunshot instantly brought chaos. Everyone downstairs started screaming, seeking cover. Batman took a bullet in the shoulder but did not immediately feel the pain.
Mainly, the mental shock far exceeded the physical pain. Batman's current feeling boiled down to two words — absurd!
Why would Joker shoot at him? Batman really wanted to ask. Even though this madman pulled many tricks secretly, facing him head-on, he would always run with his head covered. And now he was shooting! Is there any justice left? Any law?
The key was, Batman felt deeply wronged. Under what circumstances would Joker's instinctive reaction upon seeing someone in a bat suit be to shoot?
What on earth did Batman in this Joker's universe do?
No matter what he did, why take it out on me? I didn't do anything wrong. Shooting at me without distinguishing right from wrong, what sense does that make?
Batman admitted he was a bit angry. It was more of indignant anger than fury. Initially, he could have dodged the shot, but the demeanor of this Joker downstairs startled him, so he couldn't duck in time, making him look guilty as a thief.
What made Batman even angrier was after seeing him, the Joker, and the people below didn't care anymore, put away their credentials, and rushed at him. Hop on, who ever knew a Joker capable of leaping on Batman?
This Joker actually jumped at Batman's face. The moment he got upstairs, another "bang" rang out. This time Batman dodged, but the opponent didn't relent, raising the gun to fire again.
Batman couldn't bear it anymore and launched three Batman darts. The Joker rolled, dropped to one knee, and while half-kneeling, raised his arm and fired again in a standard shooting stance.
"Bang!"
But Batman was already close to him. Seizing the instant Joker rose, he kicked the gun from his hand, pressed a Batman dart against his neck, and pinned him against the wall.
"What are you doing?"
Hearing his tone, Batman was taken aback. His personal emotions were too strong, indeed sounding like a rogue attacking an officer.
In the moment Batman got distracted, he caught Joker smiling at him out of the corner of his eye, then "bang" a punch hit him in the eye socket. Batman took a step back covering his eye, and his opponent delivered a whip leg, directly knocking Batman to the ground.
Batman didn't get up because his opponent had already picked up the gun and held it against his head.
"Are you Batman of this universe?" he asked.
"No, you are," Batman said, lying on the ground. He really believed it. He had never seen a Joker with such good combat skills, that whip leg having the style of Arkham Batman, the strength was surprisingly immense, obviously from years of training. If you're not Batman, who is?
"Resistance is futile." Joker held the gun against Batman's head with one hand, pulled Batman's two arms behind his back with the other hand, then skillfully handcuffed him.
Batman thought he might be the first Batman in the entire Multiverse to be handcuffed by the Joker.
But he didn't reveal his identity. It's fine to let the opponent think so; if the opponent wants to interrogate him, they will inevitably reveal some of their own information. Compared to the old unresolved cases of this universe, Batman was more interested in this Clown Hero.
Sure enough, the opponent dragged him into the room next to them. It looked like an emptied hospital room, half divided by iron bars. The Joker threw him inside.
"I won't waste breath with you."
Joker's first words completely surprised Batman. Hearing such a straightforward sentence was peculiar because Joker loved nothing more than wasting breath with him.
"How did you survive? I saw your hollowed-out corpse in the freezer."
Batman remained silent. He just wanted to see how this Joker would deal with him.
Joker came in and punched him directly.
A very Batman-style interrogation method. Batman thought, it wasn't really surprising.
But the next second, Joker directly yanked off Batman's cowl.
Batman was so shocked he couldn't speak. Are you insane, buddy?!
"You two look very alike, but not exactly the same. Twin brothers? No, that's not it... you're from another world, aren't you?"
Batman opened his mouth but didn't know where to start. Joker smirked a bit mockingly, then walked outside the bars and said, "Are you shocked to have your true identity revealed? Or do you think I should pretend to be as mad as the others and pretend not to know who you are, and play house games with you for a few rounds?"
Batman adjusted his seated position to face Joker. He thought for a moment and said, "No need for that. After all, in this universe, Wayne Enterprises is led by Elliott."
"If you expect me to feel any reverence for the identity represented by your face, then you're going to be disappointed, because in my universe, Wayne Enterprises isn't led by you either."
Batman slightly squinted his eyes; it seemed like he knew which universe the other was from.
"Now, let's cut to the chase," Joker said, "I found clues left by Gordon in the police department. Before he died, he had partially uncovered the truth behind the deaths of Mr. and Mrs. Wayne, as well as the death of the Elliot couple. All these cases point to one person, Thomas Elliott."
"Years ago, after the Elliot couple adopted Bruce Wayne, Thomas Elliott kept finding various ways to provoke Bruce, eventually leading him to develop mental illness and enter Arkham Asylum for treatment."
"But Bruce received no proper treatment here. Elliott conducted various cruel experiments on him until just days ago, Bruce Wayne died."
"I just saw his body in the freezer. His internal organs were completely hollowed out. Although the body looks quite real, my intuition tells me he is not dead. If he's not dead, he'll certainly find ways to get revenge on Elliott. I have to find him."
"Why?"
"Because if we don't find him, he might be recruited by others. You can't expect someone who has been imprisoned and tortured for so many years to be very normal. He must be full of resentment and anger, and once used by someone with intentions, it's another level of trouble."
Batman's evaluation of Joker's speech was like hearing celestial music, temporarily clearing his ears. He never imagined that such ivory could come out of Joker's big-mouthed dog muzzle—the enunciation was so clear, logic so coherent, plans so evident, and stance so righteous!
More importantly, in the full one minute and forty-eight seconds of monologue, he didn't explore any philosophical questions, didn't try even once to steer the topic towards Batman or himself, and didn't laugh once.
Night Owl, you're muddling through. Batman couldn't help but think, if you don't want this Joker, I'll just take him. If you feel you're short of a Joker, I can also give you the one from our universe—let's happily decide that.