After Joker's capture, Gotham City seemed to return to calm. But anyone paying attention could feel it—this city had changed. The sense of safety Batman brought had been shattered by Joker's madness.
Now, everyone was on edge. They remembered what Gotham was like before Batman—when the city was ruled by gangs.
"This choking fear, I can't take it!" Iselin muttered, staring out the car window at the hurried crowds. People were rushing as if wishing they had two more legs, desperate to get home before dark. They believed Gotham was unsafe again, and they had to be inside before nightfall.
Liu A'dou felt it too. But to him, this felt like the real Gotham. A city where people lived in fear, where gangs ruled, the police were just their lackeys, and the government was spineless.
"Why hasn't Harvey Dent held a press conference yet? If this keeps up, Gotham's finished. Everything Batman worked for, gone," Iselin grumbled, frowning.
But Liu A'dou knew where Harvey was—by Rachel's side. Her injuries were critical. Even with advanced medicine, there was no guarantee she'd survive. Harvey cared about her too much to think about anything else right now.
"Liu, look!" Iselin pointed.
Their car was passing an intersection when they spotted it—a masked man pointing a gun at a car waiting at the light. The gun was aimed at the driver's head. He was robbing them.
It wasn't even dark yet, and there were already thugs on the street. This was madness.
"Hey! What the hell are you doing?!" Liu A'dou pulled over and shouted.
But instead of running, the thug fired back. A bullet whizzed past, missing them by inches.
"Insane," Liu A'dou muttered, glancing in the mirror just in time to see the thug fire twice more—killing the driver.
"Oh God," Iselin gasped, frozen. She'd just watched a murder in broad daylight. Before, something like this might've made her excited for the story. But now? Her whole body was cold. Gotham had turned upside down in a single day. It was terrifying.
She couldn't move. Liu A'dou saw the killer run off and sighed, pulling away.
Gotham City. What a charming place.
Neither of them said anything after that. They didn't even bother calling the cops. They'd just come from the station—they knew there weren't enough officers left. Even if they called, no one would come. Neither of them spoke it out loud, afraid to share the same fear.
Liu A'dou thought, Joker really pulled it off. In one night, he'd knocked Gotham back to square one. Batman had spent years restoring order, making the gangs afraid to come out in the day. Joker just killed a few people, filmed some videos, and hit the reset button.
Iselin was thinking, only Harvey Dent could fix this now. Gotham's White Knight—he was the only one who could restore faith after Joker had twisted the city's soul.
At Gotham Central Hospital—
"Vegetative state?" It felt like lightning struck him. Harvey nearly collapsed, the doctor barely catching him.
"The spinal trauma was severe. Saving her life was already beyond what we expected. With our current tech, we can only keep her alive."
"She won't wake up?" Harvey's voice shook.
"It's not impossible..." The doctor looked even more uncomfortable. He hated giving bad news, especially to a city hero. "But even if she does wake, the spinal damage is permanent. She'll be paralyzed from the neck down."
Another bolt. Paralyzed? No better than being a vegetable. Harvey couldn't accept this. He wouldn't.
Burning with rage, Harvey stormed into the police station and locked himself in an interrogation room with Joker. The windowless room was dark, only a ceiling camera recording. But Harvey jammed a chair under the door, yanked out the camera wires, and smashed the mic. No one would know what he was about to do.
Joker sat across from him, still smiling, as if he had no idea what was coming.
Harvey, now more demon than man, stepped closer, slamming his hands on the table. "Tell me. What was your real plan?"
"Oh, Harvey Dent, Gotham's shining hope. Isn't there anything in this city you don't know?" Joker grinned. "You're scaring me."
That smug tone only made Harvey angrier. "Tell me everything, or I swear—"
"I'm really sorry about your girl," Joker cut him off. "You have to believe me, that wasn't my intention."
"AAARGH!" Harvey finally snapped, his fist flying straight for Joker's face.
Harvey's punch knocked Joker's jaw crooked, sending him and the chair he was tied to crashing to the ground.
"Ha… haha… hahahahaha…" This was it—the feeling of rage. Anger was just the start of the fall. To Joker, Harvey Dent was already standing at the edge. One more step back, and he'd plunge into the abyss. Then Gotham's White Knight would become the devil, and the city would fall again into darkness.
"Tell me! Why did you kidnap me and Rachel?!" Harvey pressed Joker to the ground and pulled a revolver from his pocket. The barrel was already at Joker's forehead. One wrong word, and Harvey would pull the trigger.
Yes, that's it. Joker roared inside. Throw away the rules. Act on rage.
"Speak!" Harvey shoved the gun harder against Joker's head.
Joker laughed again, but this time it was genuine. "Harvey Dent, you've disappointed me. With all your brains, you don't see it? I'm just a mad dog someone let loose. What can I really do? I just used everyone else's plans."
"You all have plans. You had a plan to lock up the mobs. The mobs had plans to run Gotham. Even Gordon had a plan to protect you both. Plans, plans, plans. And me? Look at me! What did I do? I just used a little dynamite, a little gasoline… and all of your plans went up in smoke. Lulululu…"
"Go ahead, pull the trigger, stupid Harvey Dent." Joker kept pushing, betting everything that Harvey would break.
Sure enough, Harvey didn't shoot. He suddenly realized Joker was nothing more than a tool. Joker ruled Gotham not by himself, but because he leaned on others—the mobs, the corrupt cops. They gave Joker everything, and he ran wild. The mobs wanted to kill Batman and gave Joker everything he needed. The police tried to protect people from Joker, but because they were corrupt, Joker turned it all on them and took hostages. Like Joker said, he didn't plan anything, he just played them all. He did the deeds, but the real cause, the one who hurt Rachel, was behind Joker.
"Shoot me. Avenge your girl. Tell yourself the plan still works. Tell them it's all part of the plan." Joker grinned. He knew Harvey could never get all the mobs into prison, which meant, by the plan, Rachel's death could never be avenged.
"Rachel wasn't part of the plan!" Harvey roared. He admitted he had a plan, but it didn't fix anything. It couldn't kill the fire in him now.
"Harvey, when you and sweet Rachel were kidnapped, where was I? I was at the police station, fighting it out. So we're even. I didn't do this to you. I just broke the rules. I brought chaos. I am chaos."
Harvey stared at Joker. He knew Joker was telling the truth now. "Chaos?"
"Yes. Chaos." Joker saw the hook was set. He was leading Harvey's anger toward Gotham's order. "Chaos is fair."
Those words were like hands pushing Harvey back. Chaos was fair. Break the rules, and he could have revenge. Yes, revenge needed chaos—needed fairness.
Harvey thought of his brutal childhood, his drunk father flipping a coin to decide whether to beat him or his mother. His father kept order in the house through that coin. That was fairness.
Harvey pulled out the coin that belonged to his father. It was time for him to bring his own fairness. If he didn't act, how could he face Rachel? His cold eyes locked on Joker. Slowly, he spoke, "Heads, you live. Tails, you die."
Joker was thrilled. Even the righteous have filth inside. "Ahaha, very fair!"
Harvey flipped the coin.
It spun through the air and landed in his hand.
He didn't say a word. Harvey stood up and stepped off Joker.
Joker knew. It must've been heads. Of course, bad guys always live longer. "Harvey Dent, don't you want to know who's really behind all this?"
"No need. I'll find out myself." Harvey walked out.
Joker laughed harder and harder. He couldn't wait to see what Harvey would do now. Harvey would kill so many for revenge. But the best part? Gotham would lose all hope in the law. When people saw their White Knight, DA Harvey Dent, turned into a killer, the law would crumble. No one would trust Gotham's justice again. Gotham would fall into chaos.
"Ahahahahahahaha—" Joker laughed like a madman in the empty interrogation room. His laughter seemed to echo into every heart in the city.