Chapter 3Ba

Chapter 3Ba

“Oh my god!!!! Rhino, tiger, rabbit, turtle, hedgehog, kitty, gorilla, lion, elephant, monkey, beetle, dinosaur, watermelon, banana, apple, blueberry, robot, doctor, cowboy, police officer !”

“Stop fighting, all of you!!!!”

“Stop it—stop right now!”

Lucen Kelith crouched leisurely to the side, watching as the Ventriloquist had a plush toy on each of his ten fingers and ten toes, all of them locked in chaotic brawls. A large pile of other plush toys had also been placed nearby, joining in on this full-blown internal war of personalities.

He could even see steam beginning to rise from the Ventriloquist’s balding middle-aged head, his whole body like a human speaker blaring a chorus of chaotic sounds, the noise and turmoil inside him blending into a single boiling mess.

“Aaaaah!!!!”

A sharp cry escaped the Ventriloquist. What had originally been a scuffle between the puppets now extended to Arnold himself. One bird puppet seemed to have convinced several others on the same hand; the five puppets twisted together into a fist and—bang—socked Arnold right in the eye socket.

“Help! Somebody help me!”

Lucen Kelith shook his head slowly, his expression as if watching garbage.

Totally insane. Beyond saving.

In the original timeline, the Ventriloquist had been able to calmly select the police officer puppet as the core of his new personality during the raid on Gotham Police Department’s evidence locker, all thanks to Mister Sockie—a stronger persona that kept the others in check. But now, things were different. Mister Sockie had been eliminated by Lucen, and all the newly formed personas were roughly equal in strength. How could any of them emerge as a dominant figure in such a short time?

With none overpowering the others, the result was like dozens of viruses running simultaneously on a single computer.

“Awooooo awooo awooo awooo...”

As time passed, the arguing continued at full volume, but the Ventriloquist’s facial expression management began to collapse. His eyes rolled in different directions, drool dribbled from his mouth, and he let out a stream of incoherent moaning.

“……”

It was about time to move on to the next phase of treatment. If the brain’s CPU really burned out, that would be trouble.

Lucen stepped into the heap of hand puppets and pulled out… a Batman plush.

This was a cartoonish, miniature baby Batman, pacifier in mouth, wrapped in black clothes, wearing a diaper, with a cloth belt stitched onto his waist. It was the kind of thing little girls would instantly love.

Lucen had even installed a wireless voice module inside, allowing him to remotely control the doll’s speech—yet another layer of control over the Ventriloquist.

“This one’s perfect.”

He stepped up to the Ventriloquist and, without hesitation, yanked off every puppet from his hands.

?

The Ventriloquist lunged forward and hugged Lucen’s leg tightly, smearing snot and tears all over his pant leg. “Oh my god, you can’t do this to Rhino, Tiger, Rabbit, Turtle, Hedgehog, Kitty, Gorilla, Lion—”

“Get off.”

Lucen unceremoniously stripped the balding old man completely naked—not even leaving him a pair of underwear. He then piled all the toys that had just been clinging to Arnold into a heap.

He pulled out a lighter.

“No! No!”

The Ventriloquist struggled violently, so Lucen tucked him under his arm, then lit the heap of plush toys on fire.

Whoosh!

These things were highly flammable. Flames erupted instantly.

Even the plushies that hadn’t been assigned as personas weren’t spared.

Lucen grabbed the remaining ones from a nearby shoulder bag and set those alight too.

“No…”

Arnold collapsed helplessly to the ground. Now completely naked, he couldn’t even put a pair of underwear on his hand to create a new persona.

“Arnold? Arnold?”

No response. The Ventriloquist sobbed like an oversized, balding infant, slapping himself across the face while wailing.

“Take me away! Take me away!”

Had Lucen not stopped him, he would’ve thrown himself straight into the fire.

Lucen was pleased with the reaction. He pulled out a vial and sprayed a thick cloud of mist into the poor old man’s face.

Cough cough cough… awooooo awoooo awoooo awoooo!!!

This time, the Ventriloquist didn’t scream. He convulsed as if in the throes of a seizure.

Fear Toxin. A chemical agent created by the Scarecrow, designed to amplify terror.

"Did you see it? No matter how many new friends you make, I’ll kill them all. Heh heh heh!"

Lucen Kelith leaned in close, seized him by the neck, and forced him to look directly into his eyes.

The Ventriloquist began howling again, so violently that Lucen even suspected he might vomit his own throat out. Although he could not tell exactly what the Ventriloquist was seeing, perhaps in that man’s eyes, the entire world was burning.

Flames, his greatest fear—Batman—combined with the terror of losing the protector personality and the fear toxin, all boiled together into a thick stew named extreme fear.

The taste was just right.

"Only this one, Bat… uh, Mini Batman Baby, will be the only friend I allow you to have."

Lucen Kelith shoved the little Batman toy into his hand. "He represents my will and will watch over you at all times to make sure you’re listening to me."

"Don’t throw it away! Don’t leave it! He won’t make you kill people like Scarface did. He’ll make you listen to me! He won’t hurt you! I won’t hurt you! It’s all for your own good!"

Lucen Kelith shouted at the Ventriloquist’s head with all his strength. The sound waves carried a spray of spit that splashed onto Arnold’s face, delivering a heavy psychological shock to his already dazed mind.

He held the Mini Batman Baby toy, and a clear teardrop slid down the corner of his eye.

Then… there was no response.

Oh no, did I break him?

Lucen Kelith slapped him twice, worried. "Say something. Come on, smile."

The Ventriloquist remained blank and silent.

"Arnold, don’t be afraid. As long as you listen to Batman, you won’t get hurt."

A low voice rang out—different from Arnold’s own, faintly resembling Batman’s.

Lucen Kelith’s face lit up with a smile.

Success.

"Remember, from today on, you’re Batman’s dog!"

"Woof!"

Huh? Something felt off. Never mind… not important.

Lucen Kelith’s attention was drawn to the silver-white text flickering wildly in his mind.

[Warning! Warning! Anchor item detected!]

[Acquired: Ventriloquist’s Tear of Personality Collapse]

[Description: The tear left behind after the Ventriloquist’s secondary personality completely disintegrated. It can only be obtained through a series of extremely immoral acts. You may be able to use it to summon a Batman from a parallel universe.]

[But can something born from such corruption truly bring forth power worth having?]

["Yes—he’s yours now. But so is everything you gave up to get him."]

["Was it worth the cost?"]

Lucen Kelith suddenly looked down at his hand. The Ventriloquist’s tear was slowly drying up.

[Converted Crisis Energy Units: 10]

[Batman memory synchronization available]

Lucen Kelith’s heart began to race. Was the system finally online?

[Protocol activated, now in effect… activation complete. New Batman detected. Assigning number…]

[Your designation is 52.]

[Alfred Protocol initialization complete.]

[Though flesh and blood, I fear no king.]

[Beside the saints, my will takes wing.]

[In darkest hour, I guard the night.]

[A shadowed knight, a blinding light.]

[Let traitors run and cowards flee.]

[No ghost or fiend gets past me.]

[Where shadows fall, my mark shall gleam—]

[An endless vow, a burning beam.]

[I am the watch, the silent roar.]

[Bat No. 52, forevermore.]

[Honored Batman No. 52, welcome to the Bat Corps!]