American comic Gotham, the sheriff of Arkham

In a cemetery on the outskirts of Gotham, a coffin buried in shallow soil was suddenly opened.

The distraught Faust crawled out of the coffin.

The mask on his face was broken, revealing a bloodless face, like a vampire crawling out of a coffin.

Although they are similar, Faust, who is proficient in black magic, is much more difficult to kill than the legendary vampire.

However, even Faust was severely injured when his body was crushed by Malebolgia, the devil of hell.

He hated such accidents, especially those of failure.

A white light appeared on the eastern horizon and daybreak broke out.

Faust had just stood up with the help of the coffin when he was hit on the back of his head by a shovel. With a clang, the severe pain and bleeding on the back of his head caused Faust to fall to the ground.

"Merry Christmas, but it seems to have passed already."

The clown was wearing a well-fitting purple striped suit, clean Italian handmade leather shoes, and holding a pointed shovel in his hand. He looked at the black magician with a half-smile.

"You are still... alive?" Faust raised his head and looked at the clown in front of him, feeling a little unbelievable.

"Tsk... You know, the stage can't be without some special characters, such as... the protagonist!" The clown swung the shovel and hit Faust on the head with a whoosh.

"You know what? I prepared a great Christmas present for you, but Santa didn't come. That's annoying, isn't it?"

The clown asked with a smile, and swung the shovel and hit Faust's head hard. Thick blood slid down the broken wound and fell into the black soil.

The crow that had built its nest on a nearby tree was startled by the banging sounds and peeked down from its nest.

"I hate it when others touch my destiny, if I have that, but... I still don't like you."

The clown panted, put the bloody shovel aside, tugged at the tie around his neck, and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

However, this feeling was really great. The clown stood up, closed his eyes, and felt the first ray of sunlight shining on his body.

The feeling of cracking someone's skull is simply amazing!

The Joker gritted his teeth and was about to shed tears of emotion. Life in hell was simply too terrible.

Taking a deep breath, even the smell of blood seemed so fresh. The clown picked up the shovel beside him, pushed Faust's body into the coffin, and closed the coffin lid.

After a long time, Faust opened his eyes, and the coffin lid was suddenly opened, and the dazzling sunlight shone in.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty!"

The clown was holding a Thompson submachine gun with a large round drum magazine in his hand. He pointed it into the coffin with a smile on his face, pulled the trigger, and started a burst of shooting.

Faust had just opened his mouth and was completely blasted with bullets before he could say anything.

"I should have said goodnight to you, but I regretted it."

The Joker threw aside the empty submachine gun, took in the dynamite with a smiley face graffiti on it, threw it at Faust, and then waved his hand with the remote control.

He jumped out and then there was a huge explosion, which blew the entire tomb into the sky.

The soil, mixed with broken pieces of meat, fell to the ground like rain. The crows scared by the explosion flew in circles in the sky, making terrified cries.

"See? This is the magician. Hahahahahahahaha, really... so boring..."

The clown laughed twice without interest and pressed the other buttons on the remote control.

Where the tomb exploded, there were continuous bang bang bang bang sounds, just like firecrackers were set off.

A truck carrying explosives leaves the cemetery.

------

Robinson Park, home of the Zatara Circus.

"Are you really leaving? Everyone likes your performance very much. If you stay for a few more days, there will be a lot of audiences."

Bruce Wayne, the wealthy son of Gotham, was leaning against the truck with a bag of popcorn in his hand, throwing popcorn into his mouth one by one with a cynical smile on his face.

He really looked like one of those frivolous playboys. Of course, the tapes on his forehead, chin, and neck looked more like the consequences of his crazy time in bed with that female star.

Zatanna was absentmindedly organizing some magic props. The surroundings had been almost dismantled, and the circus truck was already filled with various equipment and devices.

"Bruce, you know what? I was deceived."

Zatanna said with some emotion: "I thought he was a friend, and I wanted to help him, but he lied to me!"

At this point, Zatanna could no longer suppress her anger. She turned her head and looked at Bruce, and asked seriously: "Bruce, you won't lie to me, will you?"

"...Of course." Bruce smiled awkwardly.

"Heh, men." Zatanna sneered and turned around as if she had expected it. "None of them speaks the truth. They are all liars!"

Bruce felt that he was innocent, but he didn't know what to say. He came here to learn about magic.

Because he felt that his... friend's magic performance had a lot to do with magic.

He reviewed the video of Zatanna's performance frame by frame, and it was definitely not magic.

It's hard to be sure anymore. Bruce is very clear about some things about himself. He has to deceive a lot of people and keep a lot of people in the dark. Even to Zatanna, he won't tell the truth.

Zatanna also noticed that something was wrong with this "senior brother".

Although Bruce probably doesn't care about his apprenticeship in the Zatara Circus.

But Zatanna cares, and she cares a lot. Her world is very small, with only the circus, the missing father, and the goal of touring the world to find her father.

In her past memories, Bruce was probably the one who left the deepest impression on her. Of course, if it was a negative impression, it would be the scumbag Kang.

"look here!"

Zatanna smiled, stretched out her hand, made an OK sign, and turned around on the spot. Many bubbles appeared around her, floating down one after another, reflecting the colors of the sun.

Bruce watched this scene and laughed as well.

He remembered that when the Waynes died and he was depressed, Alfred invited the famous Zatara Circus to perform at Wayne Manor.

At that time, he didn't want to see anything, so he simply hid. As a result, Zatanna, who was about his age, came over and used a bubble magic to make him laugh.

"Thank you." Bruce nodded and said, "Can I learn this?"

"I won't teach you. You are not suitable for learning magic." Zatanna shook her head. "You probably forgot how to break free from the ropes, right?"

"This..." Bruce was silent.

"See." Zatanna had the expression I had expected.

"I don't know why you're doing this, Bruce..."

Zatanna walked to Bruce's side, raised her hand and pulled it. Bruce's right cuff, which was holding the popcorn bucket, was wrapped with bandages and a mechanical fixator on his wrist.

"You're heading for collapse. You should take a break." Zatanna looked up and said. A woman's intuition is always accurate.

Especially in Zatanna's family, which has the blood of the prophet, she can see a scarred figure in the darkness, going against everyone, moving forward alone, painfully but firmly.

"I can do it. Do you need help?" Bruce put down the popcorn bucket, adjusted his cuffs, and said with a relaxed smile: "Do you want me to clean the elephant's cage? I'm very skilled at that."

This also made Zatanna laugh. When Bruce was learning his skills here, he cleaned the cages for the elephants, although he was often pulled out by the elephants by his pants.

The two of them walked around the circus laughing and joking, but there was a barrier between them, which was an unspeakable secret.