"Yes!" he said.
The Windbreaker Warrior lowered his hand, nodding his head up and down.
Rainwater dripped from the brim of his hat, drawing them closer together, and the Windbreaker Man shrugged as if relieved.
"Then I'm relieved, you really are a hero!"
He released his hand, letting Selena run toward Batman, her eyes filled with both joy and worry.
Glad that everyone was safe, yet worried about Batman's injuries. Despite her agility, running in high heels through the rain was somewhat challenging.
Batman, holding Joker over one shoulder, reached into his belt with his other hand, intending to return Catwoman's tail.
Not only had it been grabbed by Joker, but the tail on her suit had been stolen—quite careless for a thief.
"Your tail."
"No, it's your tail."
He could already imagine Selena blushing and denying it. Perhaps this was a chance to reconcile.
She truly was like a cat, proud and mischievous, sometimes utterly incomprehensible.
Yet she was the woman he loved most.
However, as she ran, he suddenly noticed that her suit clearly had a tail attached, and this absurdity immediately made Batman sense something wrong.
But it was already too late.
"Bang!"
Only the sound of a gunshot was heard, and Selena's body staggered a few times before her knees buckled and she collapsed forward, clutching her chest and splashing up a large spray of water.
Behind her, a thin plume of smoke rose slowly from the Windbreaker Warrior's gun.
The bullet pierced her heart, entering through the back and exiting through the chest, the rain instantly washing away the bloodstain on her hands. She died with her eyes wide open, her face still bearing the complex expression she had when she saw Batman.
Batman, holding the leather tail in his hand, froze completely, watching her collapse before him, feeling as powerless as he had once felt in Crime Alley.
His gaze mechanically shifted to the Windbreaker Warrior, who at that moment was holding the gun in his hand and fiddling with it, even leaning in close as if checking inside.
But he could no longer react, the sudden shock thoroughly shattered his will, and the tragic memories, forcibly buried deep in his mind, surged back with overwhelming force, smashing him to pieces in a black wave.
He dropped Joker from his shoulder, staggering over to Catwoman, and cradled her in his arms.
Wanting to press on her wound, but the blood mixed with rain gushed out like a fountain; he pressed on her chest and back, but couldn't stop the flow, only feeling warmth on his knees.
And that heat was quickly fading.
No heartbeat, no pulse, her pupils already dilated.
His trembling hand slowly reached her face, but she would never respond to him again.
Just then, beside him, hysterical laughter rang out. The Windbreaker Warrior was laughing so hard he couldn't straighten up, lying on the car's hood rolling around: "Haha! It's so touching, Batman won again."
Batman heard the laughter but didn't react; he just squatted on the ground, bowing his head to look at Catwoman's face.
The Windbreaker Warrior took off his hat and threw it far away, then removed his windbreaker to reveal a purple suit underneath, and then forcefully pulled off the mask, revealing a ghastly white smiling face.
Joker jumped onto the curb, happily dancing the Rain Song to Batman's side, resting his head on Batman's shoulder, also bowing to gaze at Catwoman.
"How tragic, her heart is broken, it'll never heal, hehe..."
Batman's heart was filled with darkness, completely losing the ability to perceive external information; whatever Joker said was unheard, only the echo of the gunshot rang in his mind.
Joker brought his mouth close to Batman's ear and jabbed at his injured side, deliberately uttering each word: "Hey, Batman, want to go for round~two~?"
"...." Batman was silent like a sculpture, rain blending his silhouette into the darkness.
"How about I tell you about my new trick? Want to hear?" Whether Batman wanted to listen or not, Joker began his tale with great excitement.
The Windbreaker Warrior? Never existed, just Joker's disguise.
In the past he indeed dressed like this, doing things heroes love doing, but all to set the stage for today.
Yes, since he learned Catwoman intended to marry Batman, he began his preparations.
Though he used some tricks to prevent the marriage from happening, he knew as long as Catwoman lived, Batman had no future.
For Batman's sake, he had to kill Catwoman!
Yet a group of impostors from the Dark Multiverse interrupted him, temporarily shelving his plan, although this introduced some uncertainties, it also offered more opportunities and time to refine his strategy.
This time he first sent Nameless to disguise as Barbara, luring Batman while using lies to stall the rest of the Justice League.
Joker himself disguised as the Windbreaker Warrior, "coincidentally" meeting Batman, casually dealing with some thugs together, building basic trust.
Because Batman had heard about the Windbreaker Warrior's righteous deeds in Gotham before, everything he witnessed matched the intel he knew, so soon they operated together.
Joker was overjoyed, cruising around, while Batman quietly accompanied him, it felt like a dream!
He wanted to laugh many times, it was terribly difficult holding back all the way.
Later, using tricks to lead Batman to the museum, then pretending to leave, reverting to Joker and contacting Batman, followed by setting off the bomb at Barbara's place, redirecting Batman's potential allies to the distant park away from the museum and subway station.
For the footage shown to Batman, the on-screen Windbreaker Warrior was indeed Joker; only the right half wasn't live surveillance but pre-recorded footage.
The old broken TV, chaotic lighting in the room, combined with previous misguidance when it was always live monitoring, led Batman to mistakenly believe Windbreaker Warrior was stuck in some unknown bathtub.
He then provided an address as Joker, luring Batman to the subway station, dispatching Bane to stall him while engaging in a dance with Giant and Bat, while Antlion Butterfly flew to Washington to meet Nameless just returned from the Cosmos.
Bane completed his task excellently; no hope to defeat Batman, but he could stall for half an hour.
Antlion Butterfly delivered Nameless, disguised as Joker, and the captured Catwoman to the final restaurant, while Joker switched back to the Windbreaker Warrior, catching up with Batman after Antlion Butterfly was also defeated.
Nameless, due to mimicking Joker's thinking, appeared insane, but whether she was crazy mattered not to Joker, wasn't laughter beneficial?
Thus the act unfolded smoothly; everything previously at the museum was to lull Batman into a false sense of security so that when he thought it was all over—bam! The plot took a dramatic twist!
That's why he chose the subway as the final stage; it's well-known that a subway ring line doesn't have just one entrance, each platform can access the underground, like rabbit holes....