Joker crashed backward again after Adrian's punch.
Since he had been kneeling, the impact flipped him completely onto his back.
Blood spilled from his mouth and splattered across the dirt-covered floor.
"I'm the joke?" Adrian asked, stepping forward. "Then your understanding of reality is even worse than I thought. Compared to a pathetic, disgusting bastard like you, I'd say you're far more ridiculous."
His fist came down again.
Thud!
"I know exactly what kind of person you are," Adrian continued coldly. "You preach violence to criminals because they respect brutality. Then you switch to emotional nonsense around vulnerable women because manipulation works better."
Joker's body twisted instinctively, trying to avoid the blow.
Too slow.
Adrian's punch slammed into him again.
Blood burst from Joker's mouth.
For a brief second, the laughter stopped.
Then it started again.
"Hahahahaha!"
Joker collapsed onto the floor, coughing between broken laughter.
"You really don't get it," he muttered, struggling to breathe. "I understand you, Homelander. Better than anyone."
He slowly pushed himself upright.
"This," Joker said with a grin, blood running down his face, "this is what people call a meeting of minds."
His smile widened.
"If you were a woman, maybe I'd bring flowers. A ring too. Maybe we'd stand in some church and exchange vows."
He laughed at his own thought.
"No betrayal. No lies. Just trust."
Adrian looked down at him with visible disgust.
"Is that supposed to impress me?"
"Oh, come on," Joker replied, wiping blood from his lips. "You and I? There's no more perfect outcome than this."
His face was already swollen and torn from the beating.
Blood covered most of it.
Still, his eyes gleamed with madness as he stared at Adrian.
"You're fascinating," Joker said quietly. "An alien wearing a human face. A predator pretending to belong among prey."
His grin stretched wider.
"A wolf disguised as a sheep."
Adrian said nothing.
Joker continued rambling.
"And eventually, the wolf gets tired of pretending. One day, the costume comes off."
He tilted his head.
"Then everyone finally sees the monster underneath."
Joker suddenly chuckled to himself.
"You know, I used to have two dogs, Bud and Lou. Sweet little things at first. Loyal too."
His expression shifted into mock disappointment.
"But eventually, they started showing their teeth."
He shrugged.
"That's when I understood something important."
"Their nature was never obedience. It was violence."
Before Adrian could respond, movement stirred behind him.
Whoosh!
A blur rushed through the air.
Without even turning fully, Adrian swung his arm.
Bang!
The charging figure slammed violently into the wall with a painful yelp.
The remaining shadows stopped instantly.
Adrian finally looked over.
Two grey-black hyenas stood several feet away, muscles tense and teeth bared.
Drool dripped from their mouths as they stared at him with feral aggression.
Joker laughed again.
"Bud and Lou," he said proudly. "Harley's little companions."
His smile widened.
"They've finally embraced what they are."
He looked directly at Adrian.
"Just like you."
"You started out pretending," Joker continued. "Playing the obedient little hero, blending in."
"But eventually?"
"You showed your teeth."
His voice lowered.
"That's your true nature."
The hyenas lunged.
Adrian's eyes glowed red.
Two streaks of Heat Vision flashed through the room.
The smell of burned flesh filled the air.
The hyenas dropped lifelessly to the ground.
Joker sighed dramatically.
"Poor Bud and Lou."
He shook his head.
"Harley loved those idiots."
Adrian turned toward him.
"You should worry more about yourself."
Joker ignored the threat entirely.
"No, no, no," he said, waving weakly. "I'm not finished."
"You still haven't heard my psychological analysis."
He staggered to his feet again, barely standing.
"When you embraced who you really are," Joker said, pointing at him, "your brother couldn't keep up."
A twisted smile spread across his damaged face.
"He still wants to play sheep."
"What a tragedy."
Joker tilted his head, studying Adrian like a puzzle.
"You know what I see?"
"Anger."
"Bitterness."
"Misunderstanding."
He laughed quietly.
"A man betrayed."
Adrian simply watched him.
Joker paced unevenly, blood dripping onto the floor.
"You remind me of Batman," he said. "Contradictory. Torn apart inside."
"That's my favorite kind of person."
His eyes brightened.
"Someone caught between what they are and what they want to be."
He raised a finger.
"Here's the truth, Adrian. If you want to be completely ruthless, completely free, then weakness gets you killed."
"Compromise gets you eaten."
"You should learn from me."
Joker spread his arms proudly.
"I cut off my own face."
"I abandoned the last part of myself that could still feel human."
He tapped his chest.
"No weakness."
"No fear."
"Just instinct."
"Pure freedom."
Adrian finally moved.
In an instant, he appeared in front of Joker and grabbed him by the clothes.
His feet lifted off the ground.
"If you have no weaknesses," Adrian said, voice cold, "then why is your life hanging in my hands?"
Joker grinned.
No fear.
No hesitation.
"Death doesn't scare me," he said quietly.
His swollen lips curled upward.
"But your weaknesses?"
"Oh, I see them perfectly."
Bang!
Adrian's fist slammed into Joker's stomach.
Joker folded forward violently.
Blood rushed into his mouth.
Still, he laughed.
"Hahaha…"
"You hate hearing the truth, don't you?"
He coughed hard.
"My poor little Homelander."
"You could've abandoned humanity completely."
"Like me."
"But you didn't."
He grinned through the pain.
"You're still holding onto a piece of it."
"And that?"
His smile widened.
"That'll ruin you."
"If a villain still wants to be reasonable…"
He coughed blood.
"They always fail."
Another punch landed in his stomach.
This time, Joker nearly lost his voice from the pain.
Adrian's expression darkened.
"The Gotham City Hall bombing," he said. "Was that your doing?"
Joker spat blood onto the floor.
"You already know the answer," he rasped. "Why ask me?"
"I'm not your teacher."
Then his grin returned.
"Besides…"
"How'd you like my gift?"
His breathing grew uneven.
Every sentence clearly hurt.
Still, he continued provoking Adrian.
Adrian could have killed him instantly.
Joker only remained alive because Adrian had chosen not to finish him yet.
"Gift?" Adrian asked.
He tightened his grip and lifted Joker higher.
"I actually had a birthday recently," he said. "Got plenty of expensive presents."
His eyes narrowed.
"But compared to what I got today?"
He smirked.
"I prefer this one."
Bang!
His fist smashed into Joker's cheek.
The impact twisted Joker's head violently.
His body hung helplessly in the air.
He could not dodge.
Could not resist.
The blow felt like being struck by a speeding truck.
Blood sprayed outward.
His green hair hung in ruined strands.
His eye sockets darkened with bruises.
Worse still, the skin on his face had started separating again.
The staples holding it together had loosened.
Exposed muscle showed beneath torn flesh.
"You called me a wolf in sheep's clothing."
Adrian stared at him.
"You got one thing wrong."
Without warning, Adrian grabbed Joker's face.
Rip!
Blood splattered.
Joker screamed.
The loose skin of his face tore away completely.
"You're mistaken," Adrian said coldly.
"I'm not the wolf."
He let the bloody skin hang loosely in his hand.
"I'm the sheep."
"The strongest sheep in the flock."
Bang!
He kicked Joker across the room.
Joker crashed hard against the ground.
Blood dripped steadily from the torn skin Adrian still held.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
"I know everything about people like you," Adrian said. "Far more than you understand about me."
He tossed the bloody face aside.
It landed heavily on the floor.
"I turned Gotham into a battlefield for a reason."
Adrian slowly walked toward Joker.
"There are people obsessed with this city."
"People who can't stand seeing it change."
His eyes hardened.
"And you're one of them."
"If Gotham suffers…"
"You come crawling out."
Joker writhed on the floor, clutching what remained of his ruined face.
His screams echoed through the chemical plant.
"You were right about one thing," Adrian said.
"I still have a piece of humanity left."
He stepped onto Joker's chest.
The pressure crushed the air from his lungs.
"But that humanity?"
Adrian looked down at him coldly.
"It was never meant for people like you."
Boom!
With another brutal kick, Joker's body flew across the room once again.