A Dance of Madness!

"Citizens, this is the GCPD. All Gotham City residents, please take shelter as soon as possible. Ensure your own safety."

"I repeat. All Gotham City residents, please take shelter as soon as possible. Ensure your own safety."

Amid the flames of war, the broadcast sounded so powerless.

Commissioner Gordon drove the police car with one hand while extending his pistol out the window with the other, firing indiscriminately at the Para-demons wreaking havoc in the sky.

Two-Face, seated beside him, was even more unhinged. He threw open the sunroof and leaned half his body out through the top of the car.

"Come on, you monsters! If you want to destroy Gotham, you’ll have to get past me first!"

Flames spat from the muzzle of his submachine gun. The barrel had been scorched red from sustained fire, but Two-Face did not care. Right now, he just wanted to go completely wild.

By this point in the war, there were no civilians left on the streets. Anyone still out here had clearly thrown their lives on the line to fight the Para-demons to the death.

"Gordon, the street ahead is blocked. We need to take a detour."

While firing at the Para-demons and drawing their attention, Two-Face surveyed the surroundings. When he saw the road obstructed by a collapsed building, he immediately roared into the car.

"I see it. Hold on."

Commissioner Gordon yanked the steering wheel. The car swerved sharply in the next instant, dodging incoming Heat Vision before plunging into an alleyway at full speed.

(Commissioner, are you still alive?)

The voice of an elderly officer crackled over the radio. They had been scattered by the Para-demon forces the moment they hit the streets and could not regroup at all.

"We’re safe! What about you?" Gordon immediately replied.

The thunder of explosions had become Gotham’s main refrain. Gordon felt as though his hearing had started to fail him. In these conditions, they could only communicate by shouting.

(We lost the brothers in two cars, but we have no way back now, do we?)

The elderly officer’s voice came through the radio alongside the chatter of a submachine gun.

(Where are you headed?)

"We’re going to reinforce Gotham Hospital. Half the precinct is fighting there, and Gotham Hospital is where most of the civilians are sheltering. We can’t let those monsters break in," Commissioner Gordon roared.

(Understood!)

After a brief pause, the noisy transmission returned.

(I’ll stay behind and cover you.)

Commissioner Gordon’s pupils contracted sharply.

But he knew this was not the time to hesitate. Since the plan had been made, they had to carry it through no matter what. That was respect for everyone’s sacrifices.

After a bone-rattling ride, the car burst from the mouth of the alley onto the main street. Gordon wrenched the wheel again, turned the car around, and sped straight toward Gotham Hospital.

Having lived in Gotham for most of his life, Gordon knew every blade of grass in the city by heart. Even with skyscrapers collapsed and the entire city in chaos, he still remembered every street and would not lose his way.

"Slow down! There’s a combat zone ahead!"

Two-Face watched the fierce battle in the distance and recognized the people there. If he remembered correctly, this was the edge of Black Mask’s territory. The powers in that area were tangled together, and it had always been a mess.

Even now, it remained the most chaotic area of all.

Just from the gunfire, Two-Face could identify dozens of different weapons. They belonged to several different factions. If they charged in recklessly, they would definitely be attacked.

Yet despite Harvey’s warning, Gordon showed no intention of slowing down.

His gaze sharpened. He turned and switched on the siren, then floored the accelerator. The police car instantly shot forward like an unbridled horse.

The shrill siren blared, and Two-Face’s face stiffened.

"Are you insane, Gordon?!"

"I’m not insane, Harvey. They know who the real enemy is."

Commissioner Gordon removed his hat. Looking at the ever-nearing combat zone, his eyes were filled with resolve.

Amid the artillery fire stretching across three city blocks, the siren was especially jarring.

Many gang members heard it. As they fired at the Para-demons that could dive down from the sky at any moment, they looked toward the source of the siren.

"Hold the line! Don’t let those bastards break through our defenses!"

A hulking man built like a Colossus stood atop a car. Several sinister tubes were connected to his back, the source of his strength.

The man tore an ordinary Para-demon in half with his bare hands, then roared at the creatures in the sky.

Suddenly, the sound of a siren reached his ears. He knew that sound all too well. Bane could never forget it for as long as he lived, not even now.

He turned his gaze and, sure enough, saw a police car barreling brazenly through their defensive line. It drove straight in without slowing down in the slightest, apparently intending to cut right through them.

"Lord Bane!"

One of his underlings pointed at the car and waited for Bane’s command.

In less than a second, Bane made his decision. He spun around like lightning and shouted at the underlings near him.

"Point your guns upward! Keep those monsters pinned in the sky! Don’t let them come down!"

Before his words had even faded, everyone raised their guns in perfect unison.

In an instant, the ground firepower surged to more than double its former intensity. These bullets, soaked in water mixed with Kryptonite powder, could not deal devastating blows to the Doomsday Para-demons, but they could still injure them.

Terrifying firepower poured forth, pinning the Para-demons in the sky and preventing them from diving down. The ordinary Para-demons suffered heavy casualties, and several unlucky Doomsday Para-demons even had their heads shot through.

In this utterly chaotic war zone, Bane and his underlings’ actions immediately drew the attention of the other factions. Seeing them suddenly unleash such heavy firepower, the others all looked over curiously.

Everyone had been holding back at first, so why had Bane suddenly stopped playing coy? Had something happened to provoke him?

Before long, Gordon and Two-Face’s vehicle entered their field of view.

At once, everyone understood why Bane had made such an unexpected move. They did not hesitate either, reacting immediately.

"Raise your guns, you scum! Let those bugs see what we’re made of!"

Black Mask held two automatic rifles high, roaring as he poured out bullets.

They had no idea what Commissioner Gordon was doing, but they did not mind lending a hand under the circumstances.

The sudden eruption of firepower forced back a large number of Para-demons. Some with injured wings fell straight from the sky, but even crazier attacks awaited them on the ground.

Gang members led by Professor Pyg and Scarecrow swarmed forward, wildly swinging butcher knives and scythes coated in Kryptonite powder at the monsters.

Staring at the scene in shock, even Two-Face could not help freezing where he was.

He could never have imagined that one day he would witness all of Gotham uniting against a common enemy. His blood boiled.

Yet amid his astonishment, Two-Face was also confused. He did not understand how these gangs had reacted so quickly, or how they had produced such a huge amount of Kryptonite powder mixed with water in barely ten minutes. That should have been impossible.

"Gordon, does your police department have Kryptonite?"

"How could we?! That stuff isn’t even common on the black market, much less with us," Gordon shouted back immediately.

"Then did Batman come back?"

Two-Face stared open-mouthed at the terrifying firepower. He could not imagine how much Kryptonite it required.

"Otherwise, there’s no explanation."

"It’s not hard to explain."

Gordon suddenly spoke.

With his brow furrowed and both hands clenched around the steering wheel, Gordon and Harvey had already passed through most of the combat zone. Ahead lay the final street of the entire battlefield.

Though they were still far away, Gordon could vaguely make out a frenzied figure.

Someone was standing atop a bus, dancing. Though the figure was blurry, Gordon recognized him at a glance.

"Ha ha ha ha… Put a little smile on that face!"

The man laughed loudly, stepping through a dance called madness. Amid Purgatory, the bus beneath his feet was the finest stage.

Joker stood alone upon his stage, solitary beneath a straight beam of light. Gunfire and artillery formed the finest symphony, while the entire chaotic battlefield served as his audience.

The police car sped past, crossing alongside Joker.

Perhaps it was an illusion, but Gordon felt that Joker’s gaze met his own for that single second. In that instant of eye contact, Gordon sensed an indescribable sorrow.

The wind howled past. Gordon had no time to dwell on the feeling.

He only had time to glance into the rearview mirror and see Joker finish his final dance, bowing in his direction.

The next moment—

BOOM!!

Behind Gordon, the entire block exploded apart. Terrifying flames shot into the sky and swallowed everything.

In the end, only mad laughter echoed between heaven and earth.