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Chapter 41: Catwoman Captures Phantom Thief Kid
"You were certain I would take this route, so you waited here all along. Clever. As expected of the Catwoman who gives Batman such a headache."
Phantom Thief Kid praised Catwoman with sincere admiration in his tone.
Whoosh!
Just then, Catwoman suddenly fired a dart forward, grazing the hand Kid was stealthily reaching behind his back.
"Close, close. Nearly lost a hand there."
Kid hurriedly raised his hands to inspect them, clenching and unclenching his fingers repeatedly.
"Don't move, kid. I know you like to fiddle with strange gadgets just like Batman, so I won't let you move a single finger," Catwoman warned with a smile.
"Don't worry. My job is just to stall you so you don't interrupt Harvey's LARP session. Understand? Once he's done over there, my work is finished. After that, whatever you want to do has nothing to do with me."
"It seems I have to stay frozen in this pose then? That is quite a headache. I am the type who prefers moving to staying still."
Kid sighed, spreading his hands outward naturally.
As he spread his arms, an object fell from his sleeve.
Snap!
In that instant, Catwoman produced a long whip from nowhere and lashed out, knocking the object flying before it hit the ground.
Boom—
An explosion accompanied by blinding light erupted behind Kid.
However, Catwoman was unaffected; her specially made goggles filtered out most of the flashbang's intensity. Because of this, she clearly saw Kid's movement trajectory within the glare.
"Didn't I tell you not to move? Why can't you save me some energy?"
Catwoman swung her whip with force. Swish—it wrapped tightly around Kid's ankle.
"Huh?! What is this?"
Amidst Kid's shocked exclamation, Catwoman yanked the whip, dragging him back...
In the "Courtroom."
Two-Face was passionately declaring to the "Judge" and "Jury":
"I must reiterate, in this trial, you only need to hear from one eyewitness, which is the victim himself—me! We will prove that the defendant intentionally committed..."
He hatefully rattled off a litany of crimes that did not exist in any statute.
"Harvey, what on earth are you talking about? I don't understand a single word."
At that moment, a mature, seductive female voice cut in, interrupting Two-Face's laundry list of charges.
"That voice is..."
Robin, hearing the voice, showed a puzzled expression. "Catwoman? Why is she here?"
"Selina, didn't I tell you to deal with Phantom Thief Kid? What are you doing here? This court session is closed to unauthorized personnel!" Two-Face looked unhappily in the direction of the voice.
"I'm not interested in your judgment game, Harvey. I'm here because—"
As the voice drew nearer, a hot figure walked out of the darkness into the candlelight. She seemed to be carrying a person on her shoulder.
"My work is done. You don't have to worry about Phantom Thief Kid interfering with your game anymore."
Catwoman dumped the figure from her shoulder onto the ground. The signature white suit was conspicuous in the dim room.
"The clothes, the top hat, the monocle... even the height and measurements match the Kid I've seen! Did she really catch him?"
Robin had met Kid several times and was familiar with his basic physique. He couldn't be precise, but a visual estimate suggested it was him.
Because of this, he was the most shocked person in the room.
Catwoman was hired by Two-Face to deal with Kid. that explains why she's here. Right, Catwoman is also an expert thief. Using a thief to catch a thief is indeed a good move.
But I still can't believe Kid was caught so easily...
Looking down at the unconscious Kid on the floor, Two-Face revealed a happy smile.
"Excellent. Now, our court has another sinner. To think he delusionally thought he could steal from me—truly foolish, ignorant, and utterly despicable!"
"Hey, Harvey."
Catwoman walked over and patted Two-Face on the shoulder, reminding him of her presence.
"Don't forget the bill you owe me."
"The money is ready. It's at the old place. Go get it yourself; the code is the same as before," Two-Face replied impatiently.
"Then I won't disturb you. See you next time... actually, better if we never see each other again."
Catwoman turned and left, her figure disappearing into the darkness.
"Now, Your Honor, let us continue the appeal from earlier, and then convict this shameless thief who was just captured," Two-Face declared loudly to the "Judge" on the bench, slipping back into his role immediately.
"God above, Mr. Dent, I... can we skip these... steps? I don't know what to call them. Just do what you want to do. I can't take it anymore," the Judge said with a mournful face.
"No!"
Two-Face glared furiously.
"Your request is contempt of court! Even if you are the judge, you cannot do that!"
"I think he's right, Harvey Dent. Save it. We all know your real thoughts," Robin sneered from his bound chair.
"What court, what judgment, what conviction? You just want revenge because I beat you last time. To go to such lengths to set up this farce... do you really expect anyone to believe you are executing justice?"
"I am justice!"
"If the old you said that, I would agree. But now, you are just a criminal deceiving himself."
Robin's words were like a match, instantly igniting the anger in Two-Face's heart.
"Nonsense! I have never changed! From beginning to end, we are two people! The good man does no evil, the bad man does no good!" Two-Face slapped his chest, staring viciously at Robin.
"We are perfectly balanced, like the two ends of a scale, impartial!"
"You're just finding excuses for your madness. It's that simple." Robin stared back, refusing to show weakness.
"...Fine, fine, fine. Every single one of you is in contempt of court! I was wrong. This trial didn't need a judge or jury from the start. The verdict will be decided by—Fate!"
Two-Face took out his coin and flipped it high into the air with a ping.
It landed on the back of his hand.
"I announce the verdict is—What!?"
Staring at the pristine, scratch-free head of the Liberty coin, Two-Face revealed a look of disbelief.
"How can this be?"
Two-Face muttered to himself.
Deep inside him, a voice spoke: Heads up. I win.
"No! This is just an accident! Maybe I just saw it wrong!" Two-Face roared internally.
He looked down again to confirm. The face-up side was indeed the Liberty Head.
Refusing to believe it, Two-Face picked up the coin to check the back.
The image he imagined did not appear.
The back of the coin was still the defaced head, the scratches identical to his memory.
Two-Face's coin had not been swapped.
He stood frozen in place, unresponsive for a long time.
"Oh, looks like fate stands on my side this time."
Seeing Two-Face's bizarre reaction, Robin knew the coin must have landed on the side Two-Face didn't want to see.
"Shut up! You just got lucky this once!"
Veins bulged on Two-Face's forehead. His gaze shifted to Kid on the ground. He pulled a pistol from his waist and aimed it at Kid's forehead.
"Hey! What are you doing? The coin has spoken! You're supposed to be the 'good guy' right now, and 'good guys don't do bad things'—that's what you just said! Are you going to admit you've been lying to yourself all along?" Robin shouted urgently, noticing Two-Face's action.
"I didn't! That last toss was a judgment for you alone. Now I declare you innocent. But he is another criminal. I must perform another judgment!" Two-Face responded forcefully.
"I really underestimated your shamelessness, Two-Face."
Under Robin's contemptuous gaze, Two-Face ignored everything and flipped the coin a second time.
But the result this time—
Still Heads!
The pristine Liberty Head!
Two-Face's widened eyes were bloodshot, his body trembling uncontrollably.
Heads up. I win again. We should let them go.
The inner voice spoke again.
In this moment, the hand Two-Face held aimed at Kid lowered involuntarily.
"No! There's still a chance! It can't be like this forever!"
"Just once! Just one time!"
Harboring this thought, Two-Face raised his gun and rushed toward the Judge on the bench.
"Wait, don't... don't come over, Mr. Dent! Please spare me!"
The Judge was so scared he wanted to flee on the spot, but unfortunately, he and the jury were tightly bound to their chairs, just like Robin.
Although Two-Face had left one of the Judge's hands free to strike the gavel, it was impossible for the Judge to free himself with just one hand in this situation.
After all, he wasn't an escape artist.
"Whether you are spared or not never depends on me. It depends only on the arbitration of Fate!"
Two-Face coldly flipped the coin right in front of the Judge's eyes.
This time, he didn't catch it but let it fall naturally onto the judge's table.
"It's Heads! Thank God! Jesus save me!"
Seeing the coin land steadily on the table, the Judge's face lit up with the joy of surviving a disaster.
Two-Face's face, however, alternated between green and white.
Three times!
Three times in a row, he had flipped the side of goodness!
This had never happened before.
"Why? Why is it like this?"
Two-Face clenched the coin tightly, asking himself internally.
"Could it be that what I'm doing today is truly wrong?"
You finally got one thing right.
"Shut your mouth! I won't give up! I don't believe you can win forever!"
Two-Face suddenly roared aloud, startling the Judge in front of him.
"Wh... what... who won?" he asked, stammering.
Two-Face ignored the bewildered Judge and turned toward the jury.
"Flipping the same side multiple times in a row... is it pure coincidence? Although it's good for us, it is definitely a bit strange," Robin mused, observing Two-Face.
In this moment, he thought of the notice letter Kid had written earlier.
The lost Gemini fallen into darkness,
Unfolding a hypocritical judgment upon the world.
When the gavel of fate strikes for the seventh time,
Silver wings shall descend with the moonlight,
Bringing redemption to that tainted soul.
The first two lines had already come true. Robin, Kid, and everyone present were undergoing Two-Face's judgment.
"The third line... When I was first dragged into this so-called court, I suspected it might literally mean the number of gavel strikes. But the guy playing the judge only knocked it once from start to finish."
"In my discussion with Oracle earlier, she thought it represented the number of times Two-Face flips his coin. Now it seems Oracle's guess was correct. But—"
Robin turned to look at Kid, who was still unconscious on the side.
"In his current state, how is he going to fulfill the last two lines?"
"Wait, I seem to have overlooked a crucial piece of information!"
A light bulb suddenly went off in his head.
"I see. So that's it. Indeed, seeing isn't necessarily believing..."
Ping! Ping! Ping!
Two-Face started from the first person on the left of the jury, flipping the coin one by one.
Without exception, every single time, the pristine Liberty Head faced up.
At this point, even a fool would realize something was wrong, and Two-Face was no exception.
He repeatedly checked the coin, his own body, the jury members, and the table, trying to find the problem.
But no matter what method he used, he couldn't find any anomaly.
Reason told Two-Face he should try a different coin.
Regrettably, he was not a wholly rational person.
Moreover, Two-Face's coin was hand-crafted by him, unique in this world. He only obeyed the decision of this coin.
Thus, he walked toward the fourth person on the jury.
He tossed the coin for the seventh time.
In this moment, Robin was on high alert.
Whether his guess was correct or not depended entirely on the result of this coin toss.
Clatter—
The coin landed on the table, wobbled a few times, and settled.
Heads up. I win. Face reality. You lose. Let them all go, and then return to the place we should go—Arkham Asylum.
"No! No! No! No————"
Two-Face let out a roar of unwillingness.
Snap!
In that instant, a white light suddenly illuminated the entire room.
The light wasn't intense, but everyone present had grown accustomed to the darkness. Seeing the sudden brightness, they couldn't help but close their eyes.
"This is... the lights!"
Two-Face shielded his eyes slightly with his arm, looking up at the ceiling in surprise.
"When was the power restored to ACE Chemicals?"
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