Everyone's faces were twisted with pain. The countdown had reached its final seconds, and they were about to say goodbye to the world.
"Marlene…" The lawyer whispered his daughter's name in agony. For the first time, he started to reflect on the shameless arguments he'd made in court, twisting the law to protect criminals for profit. His wife had left him. He'd exploited her financial troubles to win custody of his daughter. His daughter was his everything.
But now he couldn't even see her one last time. Everyone was making deathbed confessions, as if last-minute regret could somehow buy them a ticket to heaven.
Only Liu A'dou wasn't satisfied. Was this really it? He had been hoping to see the Joker and Jigsaw brawl. Instead, it ended like this. Jigsaw was already on the verge of death? He hadn't even shown his face. Most likely he had already collapsed from his illness. What a joke. He thought Jigsaw would be another lunatic like the Joker, but turned out he was just a sick man clinging to leave something behind. Boring.
"Three, two…" The Joker counted down.
Some people wore looks of sudden piety, others cried bitterly in unwillingness. But no matter what their final expressions were, the result would be the same—headless spirits.
"One!" The Joker spread his arms wide like he was welcoming New Year fireworks.
But the explosion never came. Surprised, he opened his eyes. The countdown on the collars had frozen at one second. It never reached zero, so there was no blast.
"Pathetic Jigsaw faction." The Joker hadn't expected they couldn't even get a countdown bomb right. "No matter. You're all poisoned anyway. You'll still die, just a little later." With that, he turned to leave.
"Hold on a second, Joker."
The one calling him back was their so-called "little lucky star." The Joker tilted his head. "What do you want?"
"Why not play one more game?" Liu A'dou smiled. "If you lose, hand over the antidote."
"Interesting." The Joker hadn't expected something so amusing at the very end. A half-grown kid challenging him? "What game?"
"A very simple game," Liu A'dou grinned. "Let's play mahjong."
"…" The Joker's expression twisted. Was this Harry an idiot? Did he think there was time for mahjong now? "Are you messing with me?"
"That's right, Joker. I'm messing with you." Liu A'dou finally revealed his dagger. "I'm arresting you on behalf of Batman!" He stripped off his disguise, showing his true face—Kaitou Kid.
"??" Even the Joker looked stunned. "Kaitou Kid."
"That's me." With a flick of his hand, the Joker was bound tight in the glow of the ring. "Joker, Arkham Asylum is ready to welcome you back."
"Why, why?" The Joker still wanted to continue his games. His next targets had been the big figures of Gotham City. But now he was captured. "Why do you people always have to ruin the fun?!"
"You've already killed enough this time. How's that ruining fun?" Liu A'dou shook his head. "You wiped out Jigsaw's disciples, all except Jigsaw himself."
Neo had already confirmed the Joker really had killed a batch of people. Most of them had been electrocuted instantly by the high-voltage traps he'd planted earlier.
And in Jigsaw's room, they had found the secret transmitters the Joker had set up before the game even began.
"Couldn't you have waited? Let me at least reshape Gotham City before you caught me." The Joker bargained. He had never once shown the awareness of a man about to be arrested.
"Kaitou Kid, save us! Ask the Joker for the antidote!" Seeing Kid was like seeing a savior.
"Sorry, but the Joker clearly doesn't have any antidote." Kid knew him too well. Poison, sure. Antidote? What a joke. The Joker would never have one.
"Hahaha! Other than Batman, you know me best, hahahaha!" The Joker burst out laughing.
So there really was no antidote. Everyone glared at him with hatred, wishing they could tear him apart. Luckily Kid wouldn't let them kill the Joker. "Go to the hospital. There's still a chance to save you."
The Joker's poison was probably a mental toxin, and the dose wasn't large. There was hope.
"Yes, yes, to the hospital."
Boom!
The main doors blew open. Through the smoke, Batman walked in slowly. When he saw Kid had already taken the Joker, his face darkened. They'd agreed the Joker was his, yet Kid made the move first.
But in the end, Kid would still have to hand the Joker over to him.
"Look, look, our Batman finally arrives late," the Joker chuckled. "A vigilante and a thief teaming up—what an honor. I don't think I'll forget tonight. Maybe someday we'll get to reminisce about it."
Liu A'dou said, "Maybe."
"I won't forget either. Today you're going back to Arkham Asylum!" Batman snapped. With criminals, he never softened his tone.
The operation was done. The Joker was caught. Jigsaw, because his disciples were all slaughtered by the Joker, fell into relapse and would never commit crimes again. The Jigsaw faction was gone for good.
"What a dull play this turned out to be." Liu A'dou had thought Jigsaw would at least face the Joker directly. Instead, Jigsaw already had one foot in the Styx.
Batman looked at Kid. "Tonight, we let the Joker win."
"Before the game even began, the Joker had already investigated the Jigsaw faction inside and out. We only learned the game's content when it started. There was nothing we could do," Kid answered.
"Both the Joker and Jigsaw's faction ended tonight," Batman said. "The Joker won."
The truth was, Liu A'dou could have stopped the Joker during the killings. But he didn't. He sat back and watched, because he wanted a dogfight. The Jigsaw faction wasn't good either. Better that they were wiped out. If handled through normal investigation, the process would've been complex, and sentencing would have stirred huge backlash. Better to let the Joker take them out.
So Batman said nothing. Since the murders happened outside Gotham City, he chose to act like he hadn't seen.
The survivors were sent to the hospital to have the toxins cleared. Commissioner Gordon sealed off the site. Everything was settled.
"My performance was great, right? Pausing the bomb at the last second—just like a Hollywood movie!" Neo said excitedly, standing in front of Kid. To investigate Gotham's games, Kid had brought him along.
Harry's face had already regained color. Though frustrated he hadn't lasted to the end, at least he felt that now he wouldn't vomit at the sight of corpses. Kid encouraged him. "You did well. You can go back to New York." Liu A'dou always believed in letting students walk their own path after being led to the gate.
Kid, meanwhile, had his own matters to handle. Since returning to Earth, the Dragon Pearl he'd collected had been dormant. But lately, it had started flashing, like it was sending a signal. He couldn't ignore it. If it kept flickering, it would be trouble.