Chapter 35: The Alliance of Two Madmen

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“Ah, Gotham City. I’m back again.”

Returning once more to the famously wholesome streets of Gotham, Roland felt deeply uncomfortable at the smell of kerosene and dampness lingering in the air. The night sky was black as spilled ink, oppressive and heavy.

“Coming back from Blüdhaven feels like stepping into some demon’s territory,” Jason complained. “This city really is creepy.”

“Maybe it really is a demon’s territory.” Roland looked down at the ground, deep in thought.

“Then why don’t you go down there and fight him? Aren’t you one of God’s people?”

“On second thought, I’ll leave that to my boss.” Roland raised his head. Fight Barbatos? No, thank you.

“You’re talking as if there really is a demon…” Jason muttered. But after Roland’s remark, he too began to feel that some occult force might truly be cursing Gotham.

“Whatever. If the sky falls, someone taller will hold it up. What’s there to fear?” Roland parked the car and gazed at the black sky. “It’s really dark… Hm?”

A beam of light pierced Gotham’s pitch-black sky, flashing the image of a bat.

“Trouble again?” Roland shook his head. “Well, this is Gotham. That’s normal.”

“Boss, you’re back! Something terrible has happened!”

“…Which lunatic is causing trouble this time?” Roland asked bluntly.

“It’s the Mad Hatter. He escaped from the Falcone family!”

“Good grief… How did he manage that?” Roland froze. The Mad Hatter had virtually no combat ability. A reasonably large cat could probably kill him one-on-one. How had someone like that escaped from Gotham’s most powerful criminal family?

“I heard he seduced Falcone’s daughter, then used a mind-control device to make the Falcone family members slaughter one another.”

“What the hell? He seduced someone?” Roland stared blankly. “That guy could play Gollum in The Lord of the Rings without any makeup. Is Falcone’s daughter blind? How could she possibly find him attractive?”

“That’s just what I heard.”

“Oh, come on…” Roland shook his head. The rumor was so unlikely to be true that it probably had almost nothing to do with reality.

The Falcone Family

“That bastard… How exactly did he escape?” Falcone slammed his fist onto the desk. He had suffered far too many defeats lately, and his composure was beginning to crack.

“He built a mind-control device and hypnotized the men we assigned to guard him.”

“…And no one noticed while he was making it?”

“No. I suspect there was… a traitor.”

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“Forget the traitor for now…” Falcone slumped back in his chair. “Send people out. The moment they see that freak Tetch, kill him!”

“Yes, sir!”

“Since he doesn’t want the mind-control technology to fall into our hands, then… destroy it outright!”

Throughout Gotham City, an unknown number of people were suddenly hypnotized and controlled by their own hats, and began fighting the members of the Falcone family.

“What a mess…” Batman surveyed the chaos and immediately followed the Mad Hatter’s trail, hoping to stop the riot at its source.

Although the Mad Hatter was mentally unstable, he was highly intelligent. Batman searched throughout the night but failed to find his true location. In the end, he had no choice but to work with the Gotham City Police Department to bring the disturbance under control.

The next day.

“The Mad Hatter still hasn’t been caught? Now that’s interesting.” Roland looked at the newspaper. “Even Batman couldn’t track him down? Where on earth did that man run off to?”

“Tch. That lunatic is still alive…” Jason remembered the time he had been hypnotized and controlled by the Mad Hatter, and his expression darkened.

“You didn’t develop a psychological trauma because of him, did you?” Roland asked.

“No. I was just thinking that if it weren’t for him, you wouldn’t have caught me and dragged me here to work for free.”

“So you ought to thank him.”

“Oh, thank you so much!”

“Boss, something serious has happened…”

“What is it this time?” Roland snapped, flinging down the newspaper.

“Miss Natalia has disappeared!” one of the children said anxiously.

“Who’s Natalia?” Roland asked in bewilderment. “Do we even know anyone by that name?”

“She’s the pianist who was beside Bruce Wayne on Valentine’s Day,” Jason explained. “She’s been coming by lately to bring us food. She was also the anonymous donor who gave us money last time.”

“You never told me about this?”

“I was afraid you’d scare her away… Father, I’m sorry.”

Roland immediately hoisted Jason into the air.

“Keeping things from me, are you?”

“No! She was the one who told us not to say anything,” one of the younger men hurriedly explained. “Miss Natalia really admires the charity work you’re doing here. She wanted to help, but was afraid you’d refuse, so she…”

“Why would I refuse?” Roland asked, stunned.

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“She isn’t a Christian…”

“So what? I’m not one either… Ahem. I mean, I don’t care about that.” Roland shook his head. “Since she’s missing, get out there and find her. We know plenty of people—get them all involved.”

“Yes, boss… But what should we do about Jason?”

“Leave him hanging!”

On the outskirts of Gotham City stood a house assembled from wooden planks.

During the Great Depression, the city’s homeless and destitute built shacks from scrap wood and sheet metal. In protest, the public called such dwellings Hoover houses. This particular building was one of those structures left behind from that era, never yet demolished.

“Who are you, and why did you save me?” the Mad Hatter’s shrill voice came from inside the shack.

“Shh… Quiet. Quite a few people are looking for you now. You don’t want the Falcone family to capture you again, do you?” said a man dressed like a scholar. “As for why I saved you…”

“Because you are an exceptionally intelligent man. I admire your inventions and your intellect, and I need their assistance.”

“Because I want you to become my partner. An ally like you is someone I can trust.”

“Because we share the same goal: opposing that Batman.”

“Because I despise those greedy Italians. I don’t want to see them continue running wild in Gotham, and I’d like to cause them a little trouble.”

“Because we are fundamentally alike. In your eyes, I see the same thing that burns in me—madness!”

“Allow me to introduce myself. I am Hugo Strange, formerly a professor of psychiatry at Gotham State University.” Dr. Strange extended a hand toward the Mad Hatter. “So, my friend, will you join me?”

“Yes.”

“Excellent. Then let us begin our first collaborative project.” Dr. Strange handed the Mad Hatter a file folder. “These are the subjects from my genetic research. They stand fifty feet tall and possess incredible strength. Their only flaw is that they have no minds of their own. Can you solve that problem?”

“Of course… But I have one condition.”

“What condition?”

“Help me find Alice!”

Dr. Strange fell silent. He was beginning to wonder whether joining forces with the man before him had been the right decision.