Gotham City had made it through another long night. Even ‘Batman,’ after everything that had happened, finally managed to get so rest. But not everyone closed their eyes.
Kate didn’t go back to the Kane estate after leaving the Batcave. Instead, she kept her distance and quietly watched every movent around Wayne Manor.
She was waiting.
Eventually, Alfred stepped out of the manor, moving with his usual calm grace.
Watching him leave, Kate's expression beca complicated. She didn’t want to believe the ssage she had received from the Court of Owls, but logic told her otherwise. The Court had no reason to lie about sothing like this. If it weren’t true, the facts would be easy enough to prove wrong. A lie would gain them nothing. Stirring up inner conflict wasn’t worth the risk if it could be so easily exposed.
Still, for her own peace of mind, Kate chose to keep an eye on Alfred herself.
The words passed to her through a mber of the Kane family were simple—a suspicion. One unsettling theory: that Alfred might actually be the Joker.
‘Alfred, you’re not that kind of person... right?’ Kate thought.
Ever since hearing the news, she had racked her brain, searching for a reason to dismiss it. Anything at all. So detail, so mory that would make the theory fall apart.
But the more she thought about what happened in Gotham seven years ago, the more she realized that anyone could’ve reached the sa conclusion.
And that was exactly what ‘Batman’, or Reid, had planned for. Back then, in order to keep Wayne Enterprises afloat, he had pushed Alfred’s identity to its limits. Used him to the very last drop.
Because of that, all of Gotham had started to believe there was so kind of connection between Alfred and the Joker Gang, especially the Falcone family. They had even been directly involved in Alfred’s financial support of the gang.
From that mont on, the secret—that Alfred was the Joker—beca sothing that would eventually co to light.
Now, with the mutant incident disrupting Gotham, ‘Batman’ decided to use this chance to bury Alfred’s old identity once and for all: to let him fully beco what the city already feared—the Joker. A symbol of chaos, soone whose na alone would shake the city.
……
After leaving Wayne Manor, Alfred quickly realized that Kate was tailing him. But he made no effort to cover his tracks, and instead walked straight into one of Gotham’s alleys, heading down into the sewers below the city.
Most people in Gotham had no idea that nearly half of the city’s sprawling underground sewer system had been taken over by the Joker Gang. Over ti, they’d transford it into their secret base of operations.
When Kate followed Alfred into one of those bases, marked by a giant painted Joker smile, her heart sank.
She didn’t want to believe it, but the truth was right in front of her. The man she had always respected from the bottom of her heart—Alfred—was actually connected to the Joker Gang.
“Mr. Pennyworth.”
The mont the gang mbers saw him, the usual laughter and chaos vanished. They imdiately straightened up and lowered their heads, showing clear respect as they welcod him in.
Seeing that destroyed what little hope Kate had been clinging to. Just seconds ago, she had still been trying to convince herself that Alfred’s connection to the gang must’ve been born out of so desperate situation from seven years ago.
But now, based on how the Joker Gang acted around him, it was hard to deny the possibility. Maybe the Court of Owls was right. Maybe Alfred really was the founder of the Joker Gang.
Hiding inside an air duct, Kate silently dropped into an empty room. Relying on her agility, she moved through the base without being noticed. One by one, she took down any mbers who crossed her path and continued following Alfred from a distance.
She didn’t tell ‘Batman’ what she had seen. From her perspective, ‘Bruce’ might not be able to handle the truth—that Alfred could be the one behind the Joker Gang. The best way to deal with this was to take the opportunity to capture the Joker. Once everything was over, she could pull Alfred out of the darkness and free him from the gang's grip.
With that thought driving her forward, Kate continued deeper into the base. She didn't realize until it was too late that she'd wandered into an underground arena.
By the ti she noticed how many Joker Gang mbers surrounded her, escape was no longer an option.
When she turned around, all she saw were gun barrels pointed straight at her. A dozen gang mbers holding submachine guns blocked the only exit. Ahead of her, more mbers stood watching her silently.
And Alfred—the man she'd been following this whole ti—stepped into an elevator that led even deeper underground. His face was blank, cold.
“Alfred! Don’t go in there!” Kate shouted. “Co back! Co back to Wayne Manor!”
But Alfred didn’t respond. His face remained expressionless as he pressed the elevator button. The doors slowly slid shut.
With guns aid at her, Kate was forced to move forward. She stepped into the underground arena.
“Ladies and gentlen!”
As the iron gate slamd shut behind her, Harley Quinn appeared on a raised platform, waving a mic and shouting with wild excitent.
“Our challenger, Batwoman, has arrived! And now, it’s ti for us to show her what power really looks like! So tell , boys—who’s stepping in? Or should I say… who all is stepping in?”
As soon as she finished speaking, the surrounding tal gates burst open. Waves of Joker Gang mbers flooded in, charging toward Kate.
"Damn it," Kate muttered.
Realizing she had fallen into a trap from the very beginning, she had no choice but to fight back. The only way out was to defeat all these Joker Gang mbers.
But it was clear that this plan had never allowed for a path of escape.
The first few thugs who charged at her barely had ti to react before they were knocked to the ground. But their fallen bodies only blocked her path, slowing her down.
anwhile, more enemies continued to flood out of the dark hallways, never stopping. Kate could use her gadgets and equipnt to take down ten, twenty, thirty enemies, but could she defeat an endless stream of them?
The answer was obvious.
The mont a baseball bat struck her in the back, more blows followed. Before long, she was battered and bruised. Even the batarangs in her hands were becoming harder to throw with precision.
Around her, aside from the unconscious Joker Gang mbers littering the ground, more enemies kept rushing in. They didn't even hesitate to trample over their fallen comrades, relentless in their assault.
These were lunatics, pure and simple.
Finally, with a baseball bat crashing into the back of her head, Kate lost consciousness completely.
"Alright, everyone! The fight's over, and our challenger has failed this ti!"
Harley’s voice rang out, signaling the end of the ambush. Then, she slowly turned her head.
From the shadows erged a figure who shouldn’t have been there—Reid, who was supposed to be in New York, monitoring every Skrull on Earth.
"It’s your turn, boss," Harley said with a grin. "Just like you handled the others."
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