The scene instantly plunged into extreme chaos. The already hypnotized victims became even more violent, and the newly controlled officers joined the attack.
Even the cloaked figure and Gordon were momentarily brought to their knees, clutching their heads in pain from the stronger pulse.
Jay's mind was unaffected, but the shockwave from the high-pitched screech left him dizzy and his ears ringing. Before he could react, an agile figure leaped down from mid-air, five sharp flashes of cold steel slashing toward his face.
He instinctively took a step back, but the front of his police uniform and the lining were shredded. Jay raised his left arm to block the second claw strike, delivering a headbutt to Selina's face.
While she stumbled, her face streaming with blood, he followed up with a punch to her stomach.
The future Catwoman was thus knocked to the ground.
He grabbed the back of the unconscious Selina's neck with one hand and her waist with the other, tossing her toward the struggling cloaked figure.
"Go find your official partner!"
Jay watched the two tumble together and turned back to the fight.
The remaining Alices rushed him without regard for their own safety. Jay felt his patience had been burned to ash.
He saw a girl, less than ten years old, with a grotesque smile, pick up a dining knife and stab toward Gordon's calf.
"Damn it! I don't care anymore!"
He turned and slammed a rushing officer backward onto the floor. Facing another charging "Alice," he delivered a precise and forceful hook, hitting her directly on the jaw! The girl collapsed silently, fainting instantly. Then came the second, and the third!
Whether it was a hook, a slap, an elbow, or a hand chop, every time he struck, a controlled victim immediately fell to the ground. He charged toward the Mad Hatter, and the crazed tea party guests fell like mown wheat in his wake.
"No! Stop! My friends! My Alices!" The Mad Hatter screamed in distress and anger as he watched his carefully controlled dolls being destroyed one by one.
He watched Jay charge through the crowd like a God of War, leaping onto the long table, crushing countless cups and saucers, and pouncing like a cheetah toward his high-backed chair.
Fear showed in his eyes for the first time.
"√2, you're finished!"
Jay launched himself into the air, extending his steel police baton. Just as he was about to deliver a full-force strike, the insane dwarf flashed a desperate and sinister smile, slamming his hand onto the armrest!
CRACK!
The back of the ornate high-backed chair suddenly flipped open. Behind it was not a wall, but a deep, dark, bottomless hole.
"Hahahaha! One step too late, Officer!" The Mad Hatter shrieked, instantly plunging into the dark "rabbit hole" along with the core components of his complex instrument! "The tea party is over! But we will meet again soon!"
The baton descended, smashing the wooden seat surface into splinters. Jay desperately lunged to the edge of the hole, only hearing a rapid series of objects rolling and colliding below, before the sound vanished into the depths.
He shone his flashlight down, seeing only a slanted pipe, apparently a repurposed old ventilation shaft or cargo chute, which likely connected to the city's sewer system or some other complicated network.
"You son of a bitch!" Jay angrily punched the wall. Unwilling to give up, he tried to squeeze himself into the hole, but the opening was far too small. He almost got his thigh stuck and spent a great deal of effort pulling it out, making the attempt completely useless.
With the Mad Hatter's disappearance and the main device powering down, the powerful hypnotic pulse abruptly ceased.
The formerly aggressive hypnotized individuals collapsed like puppets with cut strings, instantly losing all strength, slumping onto the floor into deep comas.
The entire scene of the frantic tea party was instantly reduced to utter wreckage, punctuated by groans and heavy breathing.
The beam of police flashlights flickered in the air, thick with chemical fumes and dust, illuminating the nightmarish scene like a post-war ruin.
Gordon and the officers who hadn't been controlled emerged from behind cover, their faces shaken, looking at the unconscious people strewn everywhere, exchanging bewildered glances.
Batman struggled to his feet. His condition seemed to have improved somewhat. He glanced at the "rabbit hole" and Jay, nodded silently, then vanished like a phantom, melting into the shadows of the conference room corner without a sound.
Jay stood at the edge of the hole, breathing heavily, looking at the mess and the unconscious people, gritting his teeth.
"The rabbit hole… damn it, he actually got away…"
"…Thanks to the relentless efforts of the Gotham City Police Department, the Miller Harbor floating bodies case has been solved. The main perpetrator and cult leader, known as 'The Mad Hatter,' Jervis Tetch, has now been issued an all-points bulletin…"
"Sir, what does this case have to do with a cult? Wasn't that guy just a lunatic?" Allen asked, his face full of confusion, watching James Gordon speak animatedly to reporters on the precinct breakroom TV screen.
"What else?" Jay glanced at Allen. "If citizens knew there was a mentally ill person who could control other people's minds right under their noses, and the police department let him get away, what do you think would happen?"
"So that's how it is…"
"It's the usual song and dance, the standard operating procedure. Forget about it. The brass agreed this time: the credit for solving the case goes to Central, but the practical benefits go to us. You'll all be promoted with me at the beginning of next month."
Jay stood up, about to reach out and turn off the TV, when he suddenly heard Gordon throw out the next piece of news to the assembled reporters.
"…During the course of this investigation, we received assistance from that cloaked figure. It has been proven that he is an individual dedicated to fighting crime and willing to cooperate with the police.
We should not harbor hostility or even hatred toward him during this city's difficult time…"
"Ha! Ha? Hahahaha…!"
Jay couldn't hear the rest of the words. From astonishment and confusion to roaring laughter, he slapped his thigh and laughed until he couldn't stand straight, while Allen and the others watched in confusion.
"That's just like you, James Gordon. Justice above all else. You always find a hell-difficulty setting for your own game."
He saw Gillian Loeb's livid face at the edge of the camera frame, and the explosive enthusiasm of the media, like cold water poured into hot oil. But Detective Gordon seemed not to notice any of it, or perhaps noticed but didn't care.
"What's his name! Detective!"
"Who is he?"
"What is his true identity!"
"Where is he now…"
"I'm sorry, we do not know his true identity. But…" Gordon shouted the name into a microphone jammed toward his mouth.
"We call him—Batman!"
——————
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