Luthor conversed with Joker while striding swiftly to the laboratory wall, where a secret compartment held his backup battle armor.
He pressed his hand on a specific spot on the wall, and after a palm print verification, the cabinet opened.
But inside was a mess; his armor was dismantled into pieces, painted with the inscription 'Hahaha' in red paint, and a playing card with a clown on it was pinned to the cabinet with a dagger.
"Oh? Did you find your little treasure chest? But I think I got here first, rummaging through every single thing inside, hehehe."
Joker's voice timely echoed again; he had long since sabotaged Luthor's armor.
"How could this be?" Luthor was incredulous.
"Ah, because you ate the special dinner I prepared. Last night, I dragged you all the way from the bedroom to the laboratory just to scan those layers of protection on your little hand." Joker laughed again, finding joy in Luthor's startled expression: "I could have chopped your hand off, but then where would the surprise be today? Hehe..."
Joker stared intently at the monitor screen, clutching the microphone to taunt Luthor, enjoying the sight of Luthor's dumbfounded look, relishing the worth of his elaborate setup over the days.
"Lex, I am a cultured Joker, and I know you too well. We've been together for so long, haven't we? We've fought side by side, shared hardships, blah blah blah... but you never change. You might have stashed away the Kryptonite death ray and Red Sun Generator, thinking you've changed, but in reality... it's still the same old story."
Luthor ignored Joker. After quickly checking the armor, he found that the arm of the armor could be repaired. By activating several circuit boards with wires and connecting backup energy, he could use the pulse weapon on the arm.
He forcibly pulled out the armor arm, carried it back to the test bench, and desperately started repairing it with tools.
Joker remained laid-back, now imitating the Queen of England while having tea, pursing his lips into a small point, raising a flower gesture, and holding the microphone.
"You'll always be Luthor; your actions are always predictable, so boring. As for me, I switch between three personalities just while having breakfast. Early retirement? Hehe... not my thing, that would just kill the humor."
Luthor merely picked up the soldering iron, busying himself on the armor arm amidst flying sparks.
He repaired the armor arm and immediately put it on.
Backup energy, voice control, weapon systems all activated, he now aimed to capture Joker.
But upon opening the laboratory door, outside were villains laughing hysterically; Scarecrow chuckled eerily, saying "so scary," and lunged at him.
"Pulse weapon activated, non-lethal mode at maximum output." Luthor cleared a path with the emitter in his hand.
Joker's yawn sounded through the broadcast: "Non-lethal? Lex, you're so boring."
"I'm saving the energy for you." Luthor swiftly ran down the corridor, setting up a contingency at the doorway of an inconspicuous room at the corridor's end.
There, the wall was a hidden control panel activated solely by his palm print.
Luthor pressed against the wall, panel activated. He clearly and loudly issued a command: "Computer, rewrite command, immediately close the hall, cut off oxygen supply to the main control room."
"Oh, I'm so scared, where are my shoes?!"
Joker's voice came through the broadcast again, sounding frantic.
Luthor continued towards the main control room to capture the suffocating Joker and then kill him.
But as he ran through the corridor and entered the hall connecting to the control room, the heavy metal doors suddenly shut behind him.
The lights in the hall instantly transformed into circus lights, flashing red, yellow, and green alternately, while comical music associated with Joker's performances played all around, as all vents started spewing green gas.
Joker's voice rang out again: "Smart, I assume you've escaped my trap, averted the danger, hehe..."
"Damn..."
"You see, Lex, you should never have let me handle the construction of the interrogation room. I can't help it, turning the entire building into an interrogation chamber."
Luthor let Joker manage the interrogation room construction; he knew well that torture wouldn't affect the Justice League, even if they captured them. The room wouldn't be of use.
It was merely to divert Joker's attention, to keep him from causing trouble.
Unfortunately, Joker saw through everything and used those resources meant for interrogation rooms to utterly transform their secret base, embedding death traps with a circus theme everywhere.
Traps solely controlled by Joker.
Now he simply pushed a few buttons, eager to watch Luthor evade flying knives, certain it would be amusing.
The walls split open with several seams, unleashing massive circular saw blades, rotating towards Luthor.
Luthor made a dive, using the arm to deflect one blade and dodged another.
"Hehe....."
Luthor wasn't a professional warrior; his dodging move was rather clumsy, much to Joker's satisfaction.
"Do you think pressing me will shake me? Are there quicksand pits on this path? Piranha tanks?" Luthor got up from the ground, covered in dust.
Joker rested his ten interlocked fingers under his chin: "Haha, Hailax, you should know sometimes the simpler the dish, the better the taste."
Luthor frowned, but it was too late.
The entire hall's ceiling exploded, dropping dozens of grenades. With flashes and explosions, Luthor was blown away by the blast wave, landing hard on the ground.
But not all these grenades are explosive grenades; more than half of them are laughing gas grenades.
Because of the impact with the ground, Luthor's body instinctively breathed, and he had already inhaled too much laughing gas.
And it was specially made for him by the Joker.
Now, hallucinations have appeared in his mind, everything around him is a blur of green, and he can't see anything.
This is not a visual obstruction; his brain can only recognize the color green now.
The green gas previously discharged from the vents in the hall wasn't laughing gas; it was just ordinary green smoke. The Joker's killing move was in these grenades.
"Hey, Lex, you've been holding onto that magical door handle for too long. Did you think you could become a god by covering it with a white dwarf glass?"
"No, stay away from it! You demon!"
Luthor waved his arms, able to hear the Joker's voice coming from the green mist, and he fired desperately in the direction of the voice.
"Too late, Lex. You broke the agreement."
Like a ghost, the Joker appeared behind Luthor, still wearing his purple suit, clutching the 'Destruction' door handle in his hand.
He broke the white dwarf shield and stole Luthor's treasure while Luthor was researching Totality.
How could the Joker break through the white dwarf barrier? Because Batman used it as an anti-theft measure too...
The Joker tightened his grip on the door handle, fiercely striking the shiny bald head, blood splattered everywhere, and Luthor fell before him.
"Now it's time for you to pay the price."
The Joker bent down, dragging Luthor's arm like a sack towards the conference room.
...........
Unsure how much time had passed, Luthor groaned as he awoke from unconsciousness, feeling intense white light outside his eyelids while he was suspended in mid-air by numerous chains.
"King Attila, Genghis Khan, Al Capone, Luthor... all defeated at the pinnacle of their lives, tsk tsk."
Luthor heard the Joker's voice and tried to open his eyes.
The Joker and other villains were seated around a round table, with Luthor hanging from the hollow center like food ingredients over a hotpot table.
Everyone's face bore an unnatural smile, filling the table.
"I will kill you, I swear, I will slice open your brain, burning every nerve, ensuring you never go into shock."
The Joker poked his ear, revealing a smirk: "Keep it up, Lex, keep going. Maybe you'll come up with some terrible plan, hehehe..."
"And these idiots, if I find out who among them helped you, I..."
"Oh, Lex, don't be so neurotic. My laughing gas toxin makes them obedient and docile, but I want you to stay awake, so the laughing gas used on you is special... Don't thank me, by the way."
The Joker waved his hand as if he was speaking graciously to Luthor, jesting him to quiet down and continue listening.
"You promised us the whole world. Oh dear, you promised us the whole cosmos, huh, and the power of creation, so here's the question... Why would I want a multiverse?"
The Joker's eyes filled with questions as he stared intently at Luthor, wanting an answer.
Luthor: "...."
Yes, the Joker doesn't care about any multiverse; he just wants to have fun.
He knows Luthor can't give an answer; he's just talking.
"However, I find it quite amusing watching you reach the brink of success and then suddenly flipping the table, slamming everything in your face."
Saying this, the Joker couldn't help but laugh again, supporting himself to flip onto the table, adjusting his suit collar as he stood.
Then he leaned into Luthor's face, pacing around him.
"I want to see you cautiously become the Cosmic God, then I pretend to be reborn in the 'Destruction' chapel for a second or two. Next, I prepare a death trap for each member of the Destruction Legion, maybe lethal, but could also make them think they've won."
"Then, I teleport the entire base into the sun and watch everyone turn to ashes..."
The Joker sighed, pinching his nose bridge.
"Originally, this plan might have gone down in history, but Lex, you ruined it all!"
"For months, I've been secretly rebuilding the Metropolis Museum, which will be your failed memorial. It's missing one last memento to be the centerpiece of the exhibition."
"I even left clues for Batman and the blue-clad scouts to ensure they arrive in time to see all the villains blown sky-high. They will see your corpse and the smiley face I drew on your brain."
"But you ruined everything, Luthor. Believe me, you could have died more peacefully..."