"Oh my God!!! Rhino, tiger, rabbit, turtle, hedgehog, kitty, gorilla, lion, elephant, monkey, beetle, dinosaur, watermelon, banana, apple, blueberry, gray robot, cowboy, policeman, builder, nurse, doctor, sir!"
"Stop fighting!!!"
"Stop! Everyone, stop right now!"
Chen Tao crouched calmly to the side, watching the Ventriloquist — each of his fingers and toes was wearing a plush toy, and every single one of them was furiously battling the others. Around him lay a whole pile of stuffed animals, all participating in this chaotic melee of personalities.
He even noticed a thin wisp of smoke curling up from the Ventriloquist's balding head — the man looked like a human speaker, his small body booming with dozens of dissonant voices clashing into pure noise.
"Ahhhhh!!!"
The Ventriloquist screamed. The battle of the puppets reached a new stage — now Arnold himself was suffering. One bird puppet seemed to have convinced several others, and together they formed a fist and smashed straight into Arnold's eye.
"Help! Save me!"
Chen Tao merely shook his head, his face twisting in disgust.
Just as expected. A lunatic. Beyond saving.
Once, when the Ventriloquist broke into Gotham's police evidence room, he was able to calmly choose a police puppet as his new sub-personality only because of the stronger alter — Mr. Socko — who kept the others restrained.
But now things were different. Chen Tao had already killed Mr. Socko. Now, all the personalities were of equal strength — so how could a new dominant one appear?
Equal in power, they tangled together like dozens of viruses trying to run on the same computer at once.
"Awoo, awoo, awoo...!"
With every passing moment, the arguing grew louder. Arnold's facial expressions twisted out of control — his eyes rolled in different directions, drool streamed from his mouth, and incoherent noises spilled out.
"Almost ready. Time to move to phase two of treatment. If his brain's processor fries, that'll be a problem," Chen Tao thought.
He stepped into the heap of toys and found... a Batman plush.
It was a childish, cartoon-style Mini-Batman with a pacifier in its mouth, wearing a black costume and diaper, with a little fabric utility belt. It looked both cute and stupid — exactly the kind of toy little girls would love.
Chen Tao had even installed a radio module inside, allowing him to speak through it remotely — the perfect tool for controlling the Ventriloquist.
"You'll do nicely."
He walked up to Arnold and quickly ripped all the puppets off his hands.
?
Arnold lunged at him, clutching his leg and smearing snot and tears across his pants.
"Oh my God, please, don't hurt Rhino, Tiger, Rabbit, Turtle, Hedgehog, Kitty, Gorilla, Lion—"
"Get lost!"
Chen Tao roughly tore every shred of clothing off the balding white man — nothing left, not even underwear. Then he gathered all the puppets into a pile.
He pulled out a lighter.
"No! No!"
Arnold thrashed desperately, but Chen Tao held him under one arm and set the pile ablaze.
Whoosh!
The flames roared up instantly — plush toys burn fast.
Even those that weren't used as "personalities" couldn't escape.
Chen Tao took the rest of the stuffed animals from his bag and tossed them into the fire as well.
"No…"
Arnold collapsed weakly to the ground. Naked, without his puppets — he could no longer create a new personality.
"Arnold? Arnold?"
No answer. The Ventriloquist wept like a huge bald baby, slapping his own face as he sobbed.
"Take me... take me away..."
If Chen Tao hadn't held him down, he probably would've thrown himself into the fire.
His reaction was perfect. Chen Tao took out a vial of serum and sprayed a cloud directly into the man's face.
"Cough... cough... AAAAAHHHH!!!"
This time Arnold stopped crying — his body convulsed violently, like a man in seizure.
Fear toxin. Developed by Scarecrow.
Effect — amplify fear.
"See? No matter how many new friends you make, I'll kill them all! Hahahaha!"
Chen Tao grabbed him by the throat and forced him to look straight into his eyes.
Arnold screamed so hard it seemed he'd tear his throat out.
No one knew what he was seeing, but in his mind, the whole world was probably burning.
Flames. Batman — his greatest fear. The loss of his protector personalities. And the toxin of terror.
All of it blended into one vile stew called Absolute Horror.
Perfect.
"Only this one... Batman... uh, Mini-Batman Baby — is the only friend I'll allow you to have."
He shoved the toy into Arnold's hands.
"He represents my will. He'll make sure you obey."
"Don't throw him away! Don't let go! He won't make you kill people like Scarface did. He'll make you listen! He won't hurt you! I won't hurt you! This is all for your own good!"
Chen Tao screamed into his face, spit spraying, his voice like a sonic weapon smashing into Arnold's fragile sanity.
Arnold held Mini-Batman tight. A single clear tear rolled down his cheek.
Then... nothing.
"Damn... did I break him?"
Worried, Chen Tao slapped him twice.
"Hey! Say something! Come on, smile!"
The Ventriloquist stayed silent, eyes blank and hollow.
"Arnold, don't be afraid. As long as you listen to Batman — you won't get hurt."
A deep voice answered — not his own, faintly resembling Batman's.
Chen Tao smiled.
Success.
"Remember this — from now on, you're Batman's dog!"
"Woof!"
Huh? Something's off... Ah, whatever.
Just then, silver text began flashing in his mind.
[Warning! Anchor item detected!]
[Obtained: Tear of the Ventriloquist's Personality Collapse]
[Description: A tear left behind after the total breakdown of the Ventriloquist's sub-personalities. Can only be acquired through extremely immoral and brutal means. It may be used to summon a Batman from a parallel universe.]
[But can something born from immorality truly be powerful?]
["Yes, you got him… but you lost your morals."]
["Was it worth it?"]
Chen Tao looked down at his hand — the tear was slowly drying up.
[Crisis energy converted: 10 units]
[Batman memory synchronization available]
Chen Tao's heart pounded.
The hack worked?
[Protocol activated. Now in effect... Activation complete. New Batman detected. Assigning number...]
[Your number is 52.]
[Alfred Protocol initialized.]
[A mortal body, yet power equal to a monster king.]
[Human strength on par with a holy emperor.]
[In the world's darkness — he stands as guardian.]
[The knight's shadow remains unmatched.]
[Evil and ch aos tremble before my light.]
[Demons and spirits shall fall before me.]
[The lamp of shadows shines forever.]
[Welcome, Batman No. 52 — to the Bat Legion.]