"You… you…"
Two-Face stared ahead in a daze. The person before him was someone he was unbelievably familiar with, yet at the same time unbearably unfamiliar.
Someone who should not exist here, at this time and place.
A young man in a prosecutor's suit stood there calmly. His posture was straight, his gaze steady, his eyes filled with determination and an unwavering sense of justice. There was no hesitation in his expression, only the kind of conviction that belonged to someone who believed law was sacred and truth was worth any sacrifice.
That was himself.
His former self.
"Harvey… Dent."
Two-Face's vision blurred for a moment, as if the world itself had wavered. The candlelight flickered violently, shadows trembling across the walls, but he quickly forced his mind back into clarity.
"No, I am Harvey Dent. You're just a fake impostor!"
His voice was hoarse, but filled with stubborn certainty.
"Kaitou Kid, don't think you can fool me by turning into me."
"Really? You truly believe I'm fake? Then what about Carol Birmingham? Do you think that relationship was fake as well?"
Harvey Dent spoke slowly, his tone calm and precise, as if he were presenting evidence in a courtroom.
The name landed like a hammer.
"No… impossible. How could you know that name?"
At that moment, the corners of Two-Face's mouth trembled uncontrollably.
His breathing became uneven.
"Are you surprised? Why would someone know the name of the female colleague you had an affair with over ten years ago while you were married? She was supposed to be just a minor, insignificant stain on your career as a prosecutor before you became Two-Face."
Harvey Dent's voice remained steady.
"Perhaps after all these years, even you have long forgotten her. It should have been a secret buried deep in your heart. So why can a fake Harvey Dent say her name?"
He took a step forward.
Each word felt like a blade cutting into memory.
Harvey Dent asked one question after another, leaving no room for escape.
"Now, do you still think I'm an impostor, Two-Face? No… the imposter is..."
"Me? No… no… no… You can't be me. You are Kaitou Kid."
Two-Face shook his head repeatedly, his movements almost frantic.
"You say I'm Kaitou Kid, but then who is Kaitou Kid? Who knows whose face is hidden beneath that top hat and monocle? Maybe he is Harvey Dent."
"Or perhaps Kaitou Kid never existed from the beginning. All that has ever existed is you and me. Us."
The words echoed in the silent hall.
Two-Face's pupils slowly lost focus.
His lips moved, but no coherent sound came out at first.
"No. This is just a farce."
A trace of ferocity flashed across his face, replacing confusion with rage.
"You're lying. Don't even think about confusing me."
"You definitely tampered with the coin. None of those judgments just now count. No, they should all be reversed."
Murderous intent surfaced in Two-Face's expression.
The veins on his forehead bulged.
His fingers tightened around the pistol.
He raised the gun he had lowered and aimed it at the "Harvey Dent" before him again, pulling the trigger with a sharp flick of his finger.
Click.
The sound of the trigger echoed in the hall.
In Two-Face's imagination, the Kaitou Kid disguised as himself should have fallen to the ground instantly, his body collapsing under the impact of the bullet.
But in reality, not a single bullet came out of the gun.
"What the..?"
Two-Face froze for a moment.
Unwilling to accept it, he pulled the trigger several more times, his breathing growing heavier, nervousness gradually creeping into his eyes.
Click, click, click.
Still nothing.
The pistol remained silent.
"Harvey Dent" remained where he was, quietly watching Two-Face's actions, his expression unchanged, his gaze calm to the point of indifference.
Two-Face's mind raced.
"The safety is off, and there's no response when I try to eject a round. Could it be that there are no bullets in the gun?"
He hurriedly pulled out the magazine to check.
To his horror, he found that the magazine was full of bullets.
Cold sweat began to seep down his back.
But he did not hesitate for long.
Even if he did not understand why the pistol was unusable, his weapons were not limited to guns.
Two-Face pulled a folding knife from his pocket and lunged at Harvey Dent without a word.
His footsteps were heavy, his movement violent, his expression twisted.
Faced with such danger, the latter still did not move.
He merely stood there, his posture unchanged, his gaze fixed on Two-Face, as if he were waiting to be judged.
It was as though he had been frightened into paralysis.
In the blink of an eye, Two-Face rushed in front of Harvey Dent.
"Die, you fake 'me'!"
However, the imagined scene of the blade piercing into flesh did not happen.
The instant Two-Face was about to stab Harvey Dent, the latter's entire torso, from the neck down, suddenly vanished before his eyes.
It became more transparent than the clearest glass, allowing the room behind him to be seen through his body.
Only Harvey Dent's head remained, floating alone in midair.
The candlelight passed straight through the empty space where his body had been.
The sight was eerie, unreal, and utterly impossible.
The change happened so fast that Two-Face did not react at first.
He maintained his forward momentum, passing straight through the space where Harvey Dent's torso had disappeared.
He stumbled several steps forward before stopping in disbelief.
"W-what's going on?!"
His voice cracked.
What had just happened was completely beyond Two-Face's understanding.
His logic, his experience, his twisted worldview could not explain it.
"Still don't understand?"
At that moment, Harvey Dent's voice echoed beside him.
Two-Face jerked his head up.
Looking up, he saw that Harvey Dent's head had somehow floated close to him.
The face was still his own.
The eyes were still his own.
But the expression was something he no longer recognized.
"I am nothing but a phantom in your heart. How could you possibly kill a phantom?"
The words were soft, yet merciless.
"Impossible. If you're a phantom in my heart, then who is Kaitou Kid? How could Robin and those hostages see you?"
Two-Face's voice trembled as he spoke.
As soon as he finished speaking, Harvey Dent said something that made Two-Face's hair stand on end.
"What are you talking about? Kaitou Kid? Robin? Is there even a second person here?"
The words fell slowly, clearly, without any hint of mockery.
!!!
Two-Face felt as if he had been struck by lightning.
His mind went blank.
His heartbeat thundered in his ears.
The hall, the candles, the jurors, Robin, Kaitou Kid, everything seemed to blur for a moment.
No.
Impossible.
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