Chapter 221: Allen Prepares to Teach the Marvel Heroes a Lesson
"The Metropolitan Times has a question: With Arthur the Joker running for mayor, does this mean Gotham City has spiraled completely out of control?"
The Gotham City spokesperson remained calm and professional in the face of aggressive questions from reporters across various outlets.
Not long ago, Arthur the Joker had abruptly announced his candidacy for mayor.
Even more unexpectedly, countless members of the Joker Gang had taken to the streets to campaign—helping maintain public order, stopping multiple crimes, and immediately alerting authorities.
At that time, Gotham's residents seriously began to doubt whether they'd somehow slipped into a world where logic had been flipped on its head.
But the truth was, they were still stuck in damned Gotham. It was just that the Joker Gang had seemingly gone mad and veered off from their usual antics into politics.
On the same day, Penguin and Riddler publicly declared their full support for Joker's mayoral campaign.
They released multiple urban improvement plans.
The Penguin Gang even stepped up to organize charity events.
The absurdity of it all quickly caught the attention of media across America.
After all, this kind of sensational story was exactly the sort of thing the so-called beacon of freedom loved.
"Gotham is an international, diverse, and highly inclusive city. One man's past crimes should not negate his current resolve to do good. And unlike the hypocritical politicians who make empty promises during their campaigns and immediately forget them once in office, Mr. Arthur is taking real action…"
The spokesperson spoke righteously—but inwardly, he was in utter misery.
He had no choice. He was a fringe member of the Comedy Troupe, a VIP member of Penguin's entertainment industry under the "Red Romance" brand, and there were... videos of him in compromising positions with various superheroines—currently in their hands.
What's worse, he'd even dressed up in a makeshift Batman costume to act out some beast-blood-boiling scenarios.
Cobblepot had bluntly threatened him: If he didn't follow orders, those videos would be sold to adult film studios the next day.
And Batman would be the first to hunt him down afterward.
On top of that, most of the major players in Gotham's political and business worlds were also part of the Comedy Troupe.
They had only just escaped the control of the Court of Owls, and now they were under threat from Gotham's supervillains. Just thinking about it was exhausting.
"Father, are we just going to let the Joker do whatever he wants?"
On a rooftop, Batman and Robin looked out toward the press conference.
Damian, filled with righteous fury, couldn't understand why his father remained indifferent.
Clearly, something was off.
A maniacal criminal becoming Gotham's mayor—he could hardly imagine what horrors would follow.
"He hasn't committed any crimes," Bruce said gravely.
Following his principle of targeting crime, Bruce couldn't arrest Arthur without cause—not unless he wanted to risk a massive public backlash.
The Joker Gang and Penguin Gang were doing charity work, carefully crafting a positive image, deliberately documenting and publicizing their good deeds online, all of it leaving no trace of illegality.
If Batman arrested the Joker now, he would lose the moral high ground.
Years of carefully built heroic reputation could come crashing down.
"Well, well... Batsy, long time no see."
Allen climbed up onto the rooftop in a ridiculous "Comedic Bat" costume.
Since the Lantern ring was still lodged in Mimi's belly, he had to make do with his old outfit.
Bruce greeted him in his usual voice, "Allen. You're back."
"Did you miss me while I was gone?"
Allen swaggered over to Bruce, slinging an arm around his shoulder. "Guess what? I just went on a trip back to 500 years ago. Guess who I met?"
"Who?" Bruce asked instinctively.
"Your lifetime bromance buddy, Big Blue. Five centuries ago, he was a monster-hunter named Geralt. Same sexy cleft chin and everything."
As he said this, Allen pulled a burger out from under his arm and offered it to Damian, who was glaring at him. "Here, little lady. This burger's been sealed in plastic, totally odor-free. I swear."
Smack!
Damian slapped the burger out of his hand, fuming. "Stop calling me little lady!"
"Sure thing, little lady. No problem, you brat."
Allen picked the burger back up, unwrapped it, and started eating like nothing had happened. "The aunties at the orphanage always said wasting food is shameful."
At those words, Damian's temper instantly cooled.
Even just that one offhand line hinted at the kind of life Allen had lived.
"Allen, are you the one who put the Joker up to running for mayor?" Bruce asked. He already had a strong suspicion—he just wanted confirmation.
"I did."
With his mouth full of sauce, Allen nodded. "They were bored, so I figured—why not stir the pot?"
"What's your real goal?" Bruce frowned slightly.
"To make Arthur president."
"…"
Bruce instantly regretted asking.
If Arthur could become president, he might as well start tearing Kryptonians in half with his bare hands.
Allen gave Bruce a pat on the shoulder and grinned. "Feeling empty now, aren't you, Batsy? Cold and lonely, huh? Now you can't bully them anymore. Feels meaningless, doesn't it? No more crime to fight. Batman's whole existence… pointless. I really am evil. Heeheehee…"
"…"
Bruce had no words for that kind of twisted logic.
But truth be told, without any major supervillains stirring up trouble lately, he had started to feel... off. Night patrols no longer brought the same adrenaline rush. Returning to Wayne Manor, looking in the mirror at the fine lines on his fifty-year-old face—he'd been feeling a growing sense of powerlessness.
"I hope you know what you're doing. Otherwise, I'll stop it all myself."
Bruce stared at Allen seriously—only to be stunned the next second.
Allen had stuffed nearly an entire burger into his mouth. His cheeks were puffed up like a squirrel's, and his face was turning red as he struggled to swallow.
What the hell?
No one's even trying to steal your food. Why the rush?
Gulp!
"Phew... almost choked to death."
Allen patted his chest, licking the cream off the corner of his mouth with a satisfied look.
Same old unhinged Allen.
---
The Next Day
Inside a private club—
The Comedy Troupe had gathered and were sorting through the day's newspaper headlines.
There was no way the media would ignore something this explosive.
Meanwhile, Joker Arthur hoped to ride the wave and gain some extra popularity.
Smack!
"Shit! Those two bastards stole the front page headline!"
Allen slapped the paper down. The main headline blared the news that LexCorp was deploying Amazo robots in the national defense sector.
In second place was Stark Industries announcing the practical deployment of Ultron bots.
Third was a minor story about radiation levels spiking in a small town.
Only in fourth place did Arthur's story finally show up—and even then, the article was written with obvious bias and scorn.
"Lex Luthor and Shit-Stark—just a pair of evil capitalists. Birds of a feather with Batsy."
Arthur, Cobblepot, and Edward wholeheartedly agreed with Allen's outburst.
LexCorp and Stark Industries were arms dealers. Their weapons, leaked onto the black market, caused more civilian deaths than all the supervillains combined.
"You guys hold down the fort at home. I'm heading out to knock some sense into the Marvel heroes."
Allen muttered under his breath, "Stealing my spotlight? How annoying."