Li Jie reacted a fraction too late.
The canister shattered against the marble and detonated with a sharp pop. Thick blue vapor erupted outward, rolling low at first, then surging up in a choking wave that swallowed him and Catwoman whole.
Laughter echoed before the gas even fully spread.
The Joker didn't move from his spot. He simply stood there, delighted, watching his masterpiece unfold.
"Ahhh," he sighed. "Now we're back to something familiar."
Inside the cloud, Li Jie held his breath and activated the filtration system in the cowl. Micro-seals tightened around his jawline. The internal HUD flashed a warning: unknown neurotoxin detected.
Too fast.
Even with the respirator engaged, some of it slipped through in that first second.
A tremor ran through his diaphragm.
He bit down hard.
Across from him, Catwoman staggered.
Her gloved hand flew to her mouth. A strangled sound escaped her throat—half cough, half giggle.
"No," she muttered, voice shaking. "No, no—"
Then she laughed.
It started small. A sharp exhale.
Then it spiraled.
Bright, hysterical laughter tore out of her as she dropped to one knee, clutching her stomach. Tears streamed down her face while she tried to fight it, muscles locking and spasming against her will.
The criminals backed away instinctively.
They had seen this before.
The Joker spread his arms wide.
"Ladies and gentlemen," he announced grandly, "the punchline!"
Li Jie's vision flickered.
His lips twitched.
A sound tried to force its way up his throat.
He forced his breathing shallow, controlled. The suit's internal system began isolating airborne contaminants, but the neurotoxin was aggressive—designed for rapid neural override.
His chest convulsed.
A distorted chuckle slipped through the modulator.
The Joker's eyes gleamed.
"There it is."
Li Jie dropped to one knee—not from submission, but to steady himself.
He pulled something from his utility belt.
A compact injector.
Antitoxin.
Not specifically engineered for Joker venom—but broad-spectrum enough to disrupt synthetic neurotoxins.
He jammed it into his thigh and triggered the dose.
Pain lanced upward.
His heart rate spiked.
Across the hall, Catwoman had collapsed fully now, writhing and laughing uncontrollably.
The Joker walked casually toward her.
"See?" he cooed. "This is why I missed you. You bring such… energy."
Li Jie's HUD showed toxin levels plateauing—but not gone.
Not yet.
The vines.
He needed thirty more seconds.
The Joker crouched beside Catwoman and tilted her chin upward.
"You came all this way for him," he whispered. "That's adorable."
Li Jie surged to his feet.
The Joker stepped back instantly, quick as a striking snake.
"Oh? Still standing?"
Li Jie didn't answer.
He triggered a secondary function in the cowl.
Thermal sweep.
The blue haze glowed faintly in infrared—but beyond it—
Movement.
Inside the walls.
Inside the ceiling ducts.
Spreading.
The Joker noticed the shift in his posture.
"Oh, don't tell me you have a surprise too."
Li Jie straightened fully now.
The laughter still clawed at his lungs, but the antitoxin was stabilizing him.
The Joker lifted the detonator again.
"Last chance," he said softly. "You're not him. But you can still make the right choice."
Li Jie looked at him steadily.
"You talk too much."
The floor cracked.
Not from explosion.
From pressure.
A sharp snapping sound burst from the walls.
Then another.
And another.
Green shot through the marble like lightning.
Vines exploded outward from ventilation grates, from shattered tile seams, from light fixtures overhead.
They moved violently—alive, aggressive, coiling around ankles, wrists, throats.
Criminals screamed as the growth wrapped around them, yanking weapons from their hands and slamming them to the ground.
"What—?!" someone shouted before being dragged backward into a pillar.
The Joker leapt away just as a thick tendril lashed toward him.
His grin faltered.
"Now that," he breathed, "is new."
Within seconds the lobby transformed into a living trap.
The vines didn't crush.
They restrained.
Every gunman found himself bound tight, pinned to columns or suspended helplessly off the floor.
The Joker slashed at a vine with a hidden blade, but two more wrapped around his wrist and elbow, forcing his arm open.
The detonator dropped.
Li Jie moved instantly—snatching it midair.
The Joker stared at him.
For the first time—
No laughter.
Just calculation.
"You ran," the Joker said slowly.
"Yes."
"To plant this."
"Yes."
The vines tightened around the Joker's torso, pinning his arms to his sides.
He didn't struggle.
Instead, he started laughing again.
Soft at first.
Then louder.
"Oh, you are interesting," he said between chuckles. "You're not him. But you might actually be more dangerous."
Sirens wailed outside.
Through shattered doors, armed volunteers flooded in behind James Gordon.
They froze at the sight.
The entire lobby overtaken by living green restraints.
Criminals immobilized.
The Joker captured.
Catwoman's laughter had subsided to weak tremors; she pushed herself upright, wiping tears from her face.
"You could've warned me," she muttered hoarsely.
Li Jie glanced at her.
"You would've improvised."
She snorted faintly.
Gordon approached cautiously.
"Status?"
"Bomb control secured," Li Jie replied evenly, holding up the remote. "There are pressure traps in the stairwells. Do not use them. Western maintenance shafts only."
Gordon nodded and began issuing orders.
The Joker studied Li Jie carefully.
"You hesitated earlier," he said quietly. "When I said you weren't him."
Li Jie met his gaze.
"You wanted a performance."
"And?"
"You got one."
The Joker's smile returned—but thinner now.
"You almost slipped."
"Almost doesn't count."
For a long moment, neither looked away.
Then Gordon's men secured the Joker fully, adding reinforced cuffs over the vines.
As they dragged him toward the exit, he twisted his head just enough to call back:
"I'll figure you out."
Li Jie watched him go.
The vines began retracting slowly, slithering back into cracks and ducts as if they had never been there.
The lobby fell quiet except for distant rescue activity above.
Catwoman stepped beside him.
"You were laughing," she said.
"So were you."
She gave him a sideways look.
"You're not as steady as you pretend to be."
He didn't deny it.
Outside, survivors were emerging onto balconies, staring down in awe.
Batman stood in the center of the reclaimed tower.
Alive.
Unbroken.
Li Jie felt the weight of it settle again.
Acting wasn't about imitation.
It was about conviction.
And tonight—
That had been enough.
....
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