manynovel Chapter 168 Bane: Joker, guess who wasn't invited?
Chapter 168 Bane: Joker, guess who wasn't invited?
Chapter 168 Bane: Joker, guess who wasn't invited?
Darkness, gloom.
This is the Bat Cave. Countless people have imagined what it looks like, but very few have actually seen it—in the past.
By this time, this place had been visited by countless villains, completely stripping it of its mysterious veil.
In the cell, the clown's face and mouth were covered in blood, and he was tied to a bed with his hands and feet bound together.
Ten seconds after being brought into the room by Bane, he launched a surprise attack, attempting to injure Bane and break free of the cage, but he clearly underestimated Bane's strength.
His opponent shattered his nose with a single punch, and that was with him holding back; otherwise, with Bane's punching power exceeding tens of tons, that blow would have been enough to crush his forehead. A normal person would probably faint from the pain of such an attack, but the Joker remained calm.
His head was fixed in place and could not be turned, so he rolled his eyelids up and watched Bane's movements as closely as possible.
He was very unhappy.
The Joker should have known that he couldn't possibly have been the only one to visit the Batcave over the years, just as he knew very well that the shady path that many people longed for was actually covered in frost every morning and evening.
But knowing something is one thing, seeing it with your own eyes is another.
So he was very unhappy, extremely unhappy.
However, the Joker does not choose to show this emotion.
"Oh my, look! Who's that?"
Bane ignored him, and the Joker continued speaking to himself:
"Isn't this our dear, powerful chunk of meat, our Ronnie Coleman? Look at you. Staggering around in that ridiculous suit of armor, pretending to be some kind of super-powerful criminal."
(Note: Ronnie Coleman, a famous bodybuilder and eight-time Olympia champion, suffered a spinal fracture in his later years, requiring 10 screws for fixation, yet still confined to a wheelchair. Here, the Joker is mocking Bane's subservience to Batman, and also alluding to the fact that Bane failed to break Batman's spine while Bane himself had a fractured spine first.)
"Don't tell me your brain was enhanced by venom, or just gained a few grams in weight?"
"Tell me, Bane, do you think Batman really sees you as an equal partner, or are you just a useful toy to him?"
"I bet you secretly pray every day that Batman will trip over a banana peel so you can take his place! Poor Bane, your loyalty only brings you Batman's whippings and mockery, while I, the Joker, only need one chance to send that bat's head rolling to hell!"
Bane remained unmoved. He knew the Joker had never intended to sway his mind with such clumsy attempts at sowing discord and taunts; these were merely distractions. He blinked, keeping a watchful eye on whether the other man could escape the restraints.
The clown continued his raving, incoherent cries:
"People say you're a 'powerful, stupid monster,' and it seems to be half true. Is your IQ as developed as your muscles? Or are you just thinking about the next opportunity to smash through the wall?"
Bane remained expressionless as he organized his belongings. The Joker seemed to have given up trying to persuade him further, turning his gaze away as he noticed a lot of needles and thread in Bane's bag.
"Need to thread a needle? Synthetic muscle oil? Your needlework is quite good?"
"Batman sent you to do this? Wow, what are you going to do? Hey, can't we chat a bit more like classmates?"
Bane put on surgical gloves and then a mask. The Joker guessed what he was about to do, and a twisted smile appeared on his face.
"I'm like a little bird full of anticipation, my belly button is practically opening and closing in excitement."
Bain didn't speak. He came over and grabbed the clown's hair. Then, the masked, burly man picked up a scalpel and deftly cut open the dragon fruit's skin. With a little force, he peeled the dragon fruit skin off completely.
"Ouch, that hurts so much, veal."
The clown's eyes darted around wildly. Because his neck was restricted from turning, he could only let the blood drip down like melting ice cream, staining his entire face as if he were drenched in sweat on a hot day.
Bane wasn't given anesthesia, and the excruciating pain that would have made someone faint seemed to have no effect on the Joker.
No, he could feel it.
Bane observed the other man's facial expression; the twitching physical reaction didn't lie, but he didn't want to show pain in front of him. Pain wouldn't bring the Joker pleasure in Bane's presence, and most importantly—
There was absolutely no fear.
Bain carefully assessed the Joker's mental state again in his mind. He realized that even if the other party felt pain, this pain would not induce any negative emotions at all. On the contrary, it would stimulate positive emotions. He just did not want to show it now.
Simply put, the Joker is in pain, but he's also enjoying himself. However, since Batman isn't in front of him, he doesn't want to show his enjoyment to Bane.
How twisted and perverted!
Bain shook his head and called out to the person beside him, "Give me the saw!"
The diligent maid, Arnold, soon brought over a chainsaw.
The ventriloquist carried the circular chainsaw on a cake tray, the movement as graceful as if he were carrying a dessert.
He exclaimed, holding his Batman toy, "Beautiful, so beautiful! This beautiful chainsaw!"
Bain was about to reach her breaking point with this mentally unstable old maid.
He took the circular chainsaw, then casually flicked the ventriloquist's forehead, leaving him to walk away clutching his head with a bewildered expression. He then carefully sliced open the clown's skull beneath his scalp, his movements as gentle as if he were cooking a dish of hot oiled monkey brains.
He said, "This is my first time performing brain surgery. Although I studied it on my own for a while, I originally wanted to study it for a longer period of time before actually doing it."
"Oh dear," said the clown, "I'm terrified... umm...uh...uh...uh!"
The next second, Bain fixed countless tiny metal wires connected to the computer to his brain, one for each area. He roughly glued these wires on, a simple and brutal action that would leave any medical student speechless at the sight of such haphazard operation.
"Awoooooo..."
The clown screamed like a siren, while the ventriloquist dressed as a maid carefully manipulated the giant computer beside him. He said, "Almost there."
Bain nodded, and then Blake, a bald man with a face full of ulcers, walked in from outside.
He regained his composure in an instant, and Bain was unsure whether his howling just now was genuine pain or an act.
"Wow, what's this Chick Babos doing?"
(Note: Chick is a member of a famous American comedy duo, and like Blake Lively, he is bald.)
Bain guided Black to the side of the giant computer.
Then he went to the Joker's bedside and, sure enough, found that the Joker's restraints had been slightly torn. It seemed that he had pretended to howl in pain to try to cut the restraints.
Bain reinforced it again.
"Oh, come on, muscleman. This is no fun," the Joker said.
The ventriloquist, Arnold, kept typing on the computer and then said:
"Everything is ready, Bane. Every cable is already connected to a part of the Joker's brain."
"Tsk tsk tsk..."
Bane ignored the strange noises coming from the clown. He casually pulled out a piece of cloth and stuffed it into the clown's mouth, breaking a few of the clown's teeth as he did so.
Next, he replicated the surgery he performed on the Joker on the forehead of the bald zombie Blake, and then used countless metal cables connected to computers to the white jelly inside Blake's skull. After that, he washed away some of the sweet and fragrant juice that had flowed out of the jelly in the sink next to him.
Then he attached a huge hemispherical thing to Blake's head and pushed him, machine and all, to a corner of the room.
He turned around and walked up to the clown.
"Um, um... Bane, we've rehearsed these before, um... you can leave now, Bane."
The ventriloquist said somewhat timidly, "Batman mentioned that only I can be in the room when it's activated."
He said, "I already know how to operate Blake, so..."
"You're talking too much nonsense, let me do the talking."
The baby bat in his hand interrupted him: "Bane, you fucking still not leaving? Are you planning something? I'm warning you, don't be stupid enough to..."
"Shut up."
Bain said only one sentence, and the ventriloquist fell silent.
He removed the cloth from the clown's mouth.
"Is there anything you want to tell me, veal steak?"
Yes, I have it.
Bain said.
"Okay, lamb chops, what's that?"
"The clown asked."
Bain rubbed his forehead and then said:
"Does that thing... bother you? Does it really bother you, to be honest?"
"...Batman sees me as a rival more than you."
The clown was struck dumb.
"Hahahahaha!" Bane suddenly stomped his foot, slammed his hand on the table, took off his hood, and grinned wildly, his mouth stretching to his ears.
"He'll never love you, sweetheart. You can keep causing trouble for his city, but he'll never take you to a prom!"
"You were so excited to attend that ceremony, but he just tied you up here and lets me do whatever I want with you, hahaha, hahaha, ahahahahaha!"
"I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, you idiot! I'm going to chop off your genitals and eat them with my wine! I'm going to— Waaaaah—"
Bane stuffed the cloth back into the clown's mouth, then resumed his aloof and indifferent demeanor, as if he hadn't been the one laughing wildly just moments before.
The ventriloquist was terrified after seeing his maniacal laughter.
"I'm alright, Arnold," Bane said.
"Let's continue with the plan." He put his hood back on and patted the other person on the shoulder in a friendly manner. "After all, we're all working to save this planet. At least from humanity's perspective, we're all in the same boat."
He said, "As for what happens next—"
"We'll talk about it later."
He turned around lightly and walked out of the small room, like a little girl who had received a gift.
That's weird, why do I have this feeling of déjà vu?
……
……
……
"I...I didn't expect you to be so prepared."
Brainiac was silent for a moment, then waved his hand, closing the now-useless spatial teleportation channel.
"My calculations show that your desires will override your reason."
"You will never give up these doomsdays. Even if you guessed that I could manipulate them, you will try to use your own methods to bypass me and manipulate them."
"You would never give up such a powerful force as Doomsday. Your greed should have blinded you to reason. This is unreasonable."
Then he heard Batman's voice: "I am my own master, Brainiac. I am not like you. I do not treat knowledge like a miser clutching gold. I use it for the benefit of all mankind."
"Wrong. You use knowledge to enhance yourself. You yearn to one day dominate everything. I have seen through you long ago. You are no different from Luther. The last time we met, you fought like a dog for the knowledge I threw at you, just like Luther."
"I've read Luthor's mind. I know what's going on in that bald head of his. If he saw you now, Batman, Luthor would be insanely jealous. You've become humanity's savior, just as you wanted to be—a protector of mankind?"
Even when pursuing things that might awaken self-awareness in others, have you never been able to successfully examine your own heart? Can't you witness your own ambition? Can't you acknowledge the joy you feel when you're playing the role of a savior?
"You're just trying to provoke me."
Chen Tao said, "Come on, this stuff is useless to me. Compared to your nonsense..."
He turned his head and looked at his teammates whose foreheads were gradually glowing: "What you did for my lovely teammates makes me care even more."
"That's why I said I see right through you, Batman."
Brainiac said, "You could have taken my ship by yourself, but you insisted on bringing this bunch of so-called helpers."
He said, "Your success needs people to highlight it, your victory needs cheerleaders, that's why you insist on bringing them along. Arrogant vanity manipulated your behavior, causing you to act irrationally, which ultimately led to your failure."
Chen Tao turned his head and saw that Deathstroke had taken off his mask.
His forehead began to turn green, and three pink dots appeared on it.
"You underestimate my telepathic abilities. I am not just sitting on this spaceship; I am this spaceship. Bringing them onto my spaceship is tantamount to throwing them into my jaws."
He said, "I originally considered manipulating you directly, but Lex Luthor exposed your trump card ahead of time. Given the crazy thoughts you had stored in your head last time, I won't be foolish enough to continue attacking your brain."
He spread his hands, and Chen Tao saw pink dots light up on the foreheads of each of his teammates. They were like live wires and heavy bombs. In just a few seconds, they quickly turned green and became Brainiac's puppets.
"No one can withstand Brainiac's mind control at such close range. The so-called teammates you brought are nothing but puppets that I can control with a flick of my finger."
Deathstroke's blade turned towards Batman, who was still somewhat conscious but unable to control the movements of his hands.
Black Manta turned around expressionlessly, and two red lasers on his helmet lit up. He reached out a hand to grab his helmet, but he couldn't control his will to manipulate the helmet's charging.
The live wire's azure face surged with electricity as it moved toward Batman.
Chen Tao knew that they would become complete puppets in a few seconds.
"How stupid, Batman."
Brainiac said:
"Resistance is futile. You are about to witness my victory, the victory of Brainiac."
The next second, he saw all of Batman's teammates pull out a pink pill and swallow it.
(End of this chapter)