Dragon Ball: Mori's tales

The chapter opens with Mori wandering through a narrow, shadow-filled alleyway, hands in his pockets, the cold Gotham night clinging to his skin. The walls of the alley are lined with graffiti and cracked bricks, and the smell of damp trash and gasoline fills the air. Every step he takes echoes faintly as he kicks a crushed soda can down the alley.

"Man, this is so got damn boring," he mutters to himself, sighing deeply. His voice cuts through the silent night as he lifts his head to stare at the clouded sky. The stars are hidden behind a dense veil of pollution, barely visible in this grim city. "The only fun I've had was fighting Darkseid, and now I'm stuck here. Does Gotham even have any interesting villains, or something?"

He slams his head against the rough wall, the dull thud doing nothing to ease his boredom. "Darkseid, Steppenwolf, that was something. But here? It's just thugs and muggers. No real challenge at all." He exhales a slow breath, frustrated by how mundane this world feels compared to what he's faced before.

Just as Mori is about to leave the alley and teleport out of Gotham, a strange sound catches his attention—a faint giggle. His ears twitch slightly, picking up the unmistakable sound of soft, eerie laughter followed by the clinking of metal.

He turns his head to see a pale, almost ghostly-looking woman standing at the mouth of the alley. Her colorful hair is a chaotic blend of pink and blue, and she wears a red and black jester-like outfit. She's twirling a wooden baseball bat lazily over her shoulder, her face painted in stark white, with a wide, unsettling smile stretching across her lips.

"What in the…" Mori begins to say, but before he can finish, he feels a sudden, sharp blow to the back of his head. The impact isn't enough to hurt him, but he decides to play along. Might as well entertain myself, he thinks, allowing his body to go limp and slumping forward.

As his body hits the ground with a soft thud, he hears an exaggerated, gleeful voice ring out, "You got him, Mr. J!"

Still pretending to be unconscious, Mori listens carefully, trying to make sense of what's going on. 'Mr. J?' Who the hell is that?

They begin dragging him along the ground, his body scraping against the gritty concrete as the woman's incessant laughter continues. He feels himself being hauled through dark alleyways and narrow streets for what seems like half an hour. Finally, they stop and roughly toss him into a metal chair, tying him up with rope.

Mori's eyes remain closed as he listens to the two figures shuffle around, setting up some kind of device. He hears a few clicks and the flicker of a red light before deciding it's time to make his move.

Feigning a slow, groggy awakening, Mori blinks his eyes open and surveys the scene in front of him. The first thing he notices is the man standing next to the jester girl—a lanky, pale man with neon-green hair slicked back, wearing a purple suit with a matching green bow tie. His smile is wide, stretched impossibly far across his face, the bright red lipstick making it look like a permanent grin. The infamous Joker.

Beside him, the woman—Harley Quinn—twirls her bat impatiently, her manic energy practically radiating off her.

Mori's eyes fall on the strange device they're setting up, a camera with a bright red blinking light pointed directly at him. He raises an eyebrow and asks flatly, "What the heck is that?"

The Joker's grin stretches even wider as he saunters over to Mori, speaking in a voice dripping with malicious glee. "Ah, perfect timing! You're awake! You're my bait for the Bat, so just sit tight and look pretty, won't ya?"

As Joker finishes speaking, he gives Harley a nod, and she skips over to Mori with childlike excitement, her eyes gleaming as she lifts her bat high. "This is gonna be fun!" she giggles, swinging the bat hard into Mori's stomach. The blow is nothing to him, but he decides to play along, groaning loudly as if in pain, his body lurching forward slightly.

Harley skips back to Joker, smiling proudly as if she's just delivered the blow of a lifetime. Mori, bored but curious to see how this plays out, watches as Joker turns to the camera, beginning his maniacal broadcast.

"Ladies and gentlemen of Gotham, it's your favorite clown prince of crime!" Joker says, his voice theatrical and menacing. He launches into a tirade, taunting Batman, calling him out, and promising the city's doom, all while using Mori as the focal point of his twisted show. Every now and then, Joker picks up a random object—a crowbar, a wrench, even a lamp—and smashes it against Mori, each blow followed by a playful quip from Harley.

Mori, still not feeling any real pain, lets out exaggerated grunts, playing along just to see how long they'll continue this charade. If this is the worst Gotham has to offer, no wonder Batman's so uptight all the time, he muses to himself.

Eventually, after what feels like an eternity of mindless abuse, Joker finishes his broadcast, turning off the camera with a theatrical flourish. "That should do it," Joker says, chuckling as he throws the camera aside.

Harley skips in place, excited and clearly pleased with herself. "Good job, puddin'! The Bat's gonna come runnin' any minute now!"

Mori leans back in his chair, completely unfazed by the makeshift torture session, and gazes up at the ceiling. I could snap out of this any second… but maybe I'll just wait for Batman to show up. Let's see how this plays out.

After about an hour of waiting in silence, Mori hears the unmistakable sounds of a scuffle coming from the next room—the heavy thud of fists hitting flesh, followed by the dull clang of metal hitting the ground. A fight.

Finally interested, Mori effortlessly breaks the ropes binding him and stands up, stretching his arms and cracking his neck as if nothing had happened. He walks toward the door and casually opens it to find Batman engaged in combat with Joker and Harley.

The Dark Knight is moving swiftly, blocking Harley's bat with his gauntlet while delivering sharp, precise strikes to Joker, whose manic laughter fills the room even as he's being pummeled. Harley, acrobatic and wild, swings her bat with reckless abandon, but Batman expertly dodges and counters every attack.

Mori steps forward, his voice cutting through the chaos. "So this is the famous Joker, huh?" he says, his tone dripping with boredom. "He's crazier than I expected."

All three of them freeze mid-action, turning toward Mori. The Joker's smile falters as he realizes Mori is completely unharmed, standing there like nothing had happened.

"Wait… you were supposed to be tied up!" Joker exclaims, his voice cracking with disbelief. "How are you standing there like nothing happened?!"

Batman, ever composed, speaks without turning his head. "Mori, leave. I can handle this. And that performance you put on wasn't necessary."

Mori raises an eyebrow, unimpressed. "Nah, I'm sticking around. I'm curious about this Joker guy now." He crosses his arms, watching Joker with mild interest.

Joker, after a brief moment of confusion, throws his head back and laughs hysterically. "Ohhhh, this is rich! You wanna play with us, big guy? You think you can handle a little madness?" His wide grin returns as he gestures grandly toward Mori. "You must be new to Gotham if you think you can walk in and play hero!"

Mori shakes his head, stepping forward with a cold look in his eyes. "Hero? No, I'm not a hero. I don't do the whole 'letting the bad guy live' thing. Heroes like Batman, they let people like you live because they think they can fix the problem. But you…"

He looks Joker up and down, his expression growing harder. "You're like a rotten fruit. You don't fix something like that. You throw it out before it spoils everything around it."

Joker's face twitches, his smile faltering. "Rotten fruit, you say? Oh, I've never heard that one before. Do go on," he says mockingly, twirling around in his flamboyant way.

Mori's tone darkens. "When you find a rotten piece of fruit, you don't let it sit there and rot the rest of the basket. You take it out, you throw it away, or else it ruins everything. You're the rot in this city, Joker. And Gotham will never be free of you until someone has the guts to remove you permanently."

Joker's face shifts from mock amusement to something more dangerous. He starts to chuckle, but there's an edge of unease to it now. "Oh, you think you can get rid of me that easily? Newsflash, buddy—Gotham needs me! Without me, there's no Batman. Without chaos, there's no order! We complete each other!"

Batman steps forward, his voice low and commanding. "Mori, stop. We don't kill. That's not the way."

Mori glances at Batman, his expression unchanging. "That's why this city stays broken, Batman. You keep letting the disease spread, thinking you can cure it. But you can't. Sometimes, you have to cut out the rot to save the rest."

Without another word, Mori decides to make his point clear. He releases a fraction of his Ki, letting 10% of his power surge through the room. Instantly, the pressure becomes suffocating, the air thick with an invisible force that forces everyone to their knees.

Batman grits his teeth, barely able to stay upright as the overwhelming energy presses down on him. Harley collapses entirely, gasping for air, while Joker's maniacal grin falters, his laughter turning into a strained wheeze as he struggles against the oppressive force.

"You see, Joker?" Mori says, his voice calm and measured, despite the immense power radiating from him. "I could destroy this whole city if I wanted to. Wipe it off the map. But I'm giving you a chance—a chance to be stopped for good."

Joker stares up at him, wide-eyed, his voice shaky as he gasps for breath. "W-what are you…?"

Mori looks down at him coldly. "I'm the one who deals with the rot before it spreads."

The room quakes under the pressure of Mori's energy, but after a long moment, he finally pulls it back, the suffocating force dissipating as quickly as it came. Joker collapses to the ground, gasping for air, while Batman slowly stands, his gaze locked on Mori.

Mori gives Batman one last look. "Next time, maybe consider taking out the trash for real, before it's too late."

And with that, Mori vanishes into the night, leaving Batman standing in the wrecked room with a barely conscious Joker and Harley.