[Comprehensive British and American] Family Matters

Batman has changed.

Jim Gordon watched as his police officers put handcuffs on the thugs who had lost their resistance. Some of them had already been carried into the ambulance for emergency treatment, and the remaining few were in relatively better condition. There is only a thin line between it and the meat paste.

Years ago, when Batman was accompanied by a little yellow, green, and red figure, he would also beat criminals black and blue, but never like this-if they weren't still humming, Go Den thought Batman beat them to death.

Batman has changed since Robin disappeared.

If it weren't for the fact that Batman only shot criminals with proven evidence, if it wasn't for the sworn testimony of those rescued by Batman, and if it wasn't for the trust accumulated between them over the years, Gordon would almost have given the criminals a chance at the start of Batman. Rebooting the original Batman arrest team while they were branded (ah, but he doubted how many people would actually want to be involved with the project).

Something -- a person or an event -- made Batman angrier, that's for sure.

Jim only hoped that this rage didn't completely burn his old friend out, or worse - torture him into a shape Jim would never recognize again.The city has devoured so many people who came with good intentions, distorting them beyond recognition, and now it seems that even the knight who guarded her the longest can't break free from this cursed gravitational pull.

"Sir, the hospital called. The few people who were sent just now are not in danger of death, but it is impossible to ask questions tonight." One of the police officers reported the progress to Gordon, "the other accomplices said Batman sounded like he was looking for something and they had absolutely no clue."

Jim waved his hand indiscriminately to show that he knew that this group of people is the bottom of the gangsters, and you can buy their "services" with just a little money. What can they know.There's no way Batman doesn't know this, and whatever Batman is investigating, it's certainly not going well.

"Okay, everyone knows the rules. Those who need to make notes should make notes, and those who need to pass the inspection should be notified. You—that's you, go to investigate the missing persons and see if you can find the families of these people." Jim commanded Started to act, looked up at the bat light in the sky and let out a long sigh while others were busy.

Wait, Bat Light?

He didn't turn on the bat light tonight.

***

Batman landed on the top floor of the GCPD, right next to the Bat-Light.He could feel the heat from the bat light. After so many years, he had already practiced to roughly judge the time elapsed after the light was turned on from the heat of the bat light.

The bat light had only just been lit, but he hadn't seen the old friend who would be waiting for him by the bat light.

To be precise, Batman knew he wouldn't be seeing Jim Gordon here at this moment.The good director is dealing with the end of the transnational human-snake group at the port. Batman personally notified Jim, using an encrypted line.Even if the police car honked its horn and ran through the red lights, it was impossible to return to GCPD from the port area in such a short time, let alone wait with the bat lights on.

Therefore, no matter who lights up the Bat Light, he knows the tacit cooperation between Batman and Gordon, and he knows when to light the Bat Light to avoid the eyes and ears of GCPD.

Whoever this man is, he knows too much.

When the footsteps fell behind Batman, he wasn't surprised at all, and he didn't immediately turn around and greet someone with a bat dart.The other party obviously came prepared, and they have spent a lot of time to lure him here. Batman doesn't think that the mysterious person is just for such a boring reason as "attacking Batman next to the Batlight".

More importantly, judging from the sound of landing footsteps, the person who came was a child.

So Batman just turned around, staring like a black statue at the diminutive figure hidden in the shadows.Rao had already simulated various possible situations in his mind. When the child stepped out of the shadows wearing a Robin uniform, Batman still couldn't keep himself calm.

They can laugh at Batman, they can blame Batman for what he's done in this city, but how dare they - for heaven's sake - let a child who has been gone for so many years have to be to calm.

If it weren't for the fact that the person dressed as Robin in front of him was just a child, Batman really didn't know what he would do.

"What do you want." Even through the mask, Batman's low voice and the tone of these five words that he almost gritted his teeth can infer the anger he is suppressing at the moment.

If it were an ordinary person who was questioned by Batman like this, he would probably be so frightened that his legs would be weak at this moment and he would not even be able to say a complete sentence, but Damian has long been used to Batman's various methods of intimidating his opponents. He even wants to help Batman create that "I am everywhere" horror atmosphere, compared to this way of questioning can already be called "friendly".

According to the plan, Damian quickly opened and closed the lead box containing kryptonite in front of Batman, enough for Batman to see the green ore inside, but he couldn't tell the authenticity of the ore, and at the same time expressed his intention: "I didn't want to What, but what you want, Batman." Just finished speaking, before Batman was about to move, Damian had already dropped a smoke|fog|bomb, and the irritating white smoke temporarily became a barrier to stop Batman and him, The brief gap was just right for Damian to follow the rehearsed escape path and disappear from Batman's sight.

As for the people who are most capable of throwing off Batman in the world, the Robins, as an eternal victorious group, willfully occupy No. 4 to No. [-] on the ranking list according to their daily mood.

Waiting for the smoke to dissipate, there was only a piece of paper firmly nailed to the roof of GCPD by Robin darts at Damian's original position. Even the note itself was an advertising leaflet distributed by the roadside, with the time 10 :48.

Batman wouldn't naively think that this meant asking him to meet at the same place at 48:[-] tomorrow night.

First: Nobody makes an appointment like 48:[-].

Second: This is a special time.

Third: This special meaning is for "Bruce Wayne", not Batman.

This is bad.

Very bad.

Let Alfred, who was on standby in the Batcave, re-check the security system of the Bat computer, and Batman went to the place designated by the other party—Wayne Manor without stopping.

He has not set foot here for many years.Too many memories, even breathing the air in this old house made him feel his stomach turning.The wall of the manor used to be full of climbing roses, and gardeners regularly took care of the small climbing flowers to prevent them from going crazy and destroying the wall. Now only dry vines are left, like black and blue on the arms of a withered old man. blood vessels.

There used to be a crystal chandelier on the top of the hall. When Dick Grayson jumped from the handrail of the stairs to the chandelier for the first time, when he used that exquisite crystal handicraft to show his superb gymnastics and trapeze skills, he was as calm and self-possessed as Alfred. I almost jumped out of the stairs with Dick in fright—in order to catch Dick, in case he lost his grip, or the chandelier was not fastened and there would be an accident, now only the bare metal lamp stand, the crystal decoration on it was probably early Let thieves or teenagers who come to play haunted house adventures in the middle of the night divide up.

There used to be portraits of the Wayne family hanging in the corridor. Although it can be done with a flash of the shutter, in an old family like Wayne, a portrait still has a distinctive meaning.Compared with the portrait itself, the family members gathered together to paint the portrait, and the time spent with each other are the deeper memories behind the portrait.But at this moment, there are only picture rails embedded on the wall, and the wall itself, which can vaguely see the difference in shades and shades, implying that the time of the Wayne family was once engraved here.

Batman stopped in front of a grandfather clock that hadn't been oiled or rusted for many years. The whole grandfather clock exuded a rotten smell from the inside out. Batman wondered how much of what he felt at this moment was true. How much of the reality is the unrealistic imagination in his subconscious?

Almost mechanically and stiffly, he reached out and turned the hands on the grandfather clock to the time that changed everything—10:48.

It has become a veritable Batcave again, full of newly immigrated bats, or bats that have reproduced in large numbers without human interference. At this time, because of Batman's intrusion, they collectively let out a piercing scream. .

Standing where the bat computer was originally placed was a tall man, wearing a leather jacket that didn't look particularly protective. Judging from the lines of the clothes, he was wearing weapons like guns, and the hood covered his body. I can't help but catch his expression, but what Batman cares most about is the bat symbol on the other's chest, and the rock he is throwing up and down for fun.

Although there is not enough light in the deserted Batcave, Batman is quite sure that the stone must have a green color if it is held in sunlight.

"Ah, it seems that the B of this universe still lives up to the title of 'the world's number one detective'." Jason is extremely grateful for the perfect concealment of the red hood. Damian, who knew the inside story, knew that his heart was actually flustered, "I guess you came here for this little thing, right?"

"Explain." Batman watched the opponent's every move closely to prevent any sudden attack, "How did you find this place?"

Finally, throw the kryptonite upwards, turn around in a circle, and take out the lead box in the coat pocket, open the box to let the kryptonite fall into it, close the lead box with a "snap" and turn back to face it. Holding Batman's posture, all movements are smooth and flowing. Batman has no doubt that even if a few more stones fly in the air at the same time, this person can also finish this series of movements perfectly.

"Well..." After dragging the end of the sentence for a completely unnecessary long sound, Jason pointed his finger in the direction where Batman entered the Batcave, "From there."

When Batman opened his mouth to speak, Jason's fingers changed direction again: "Sometimes from there, the library is behind the bookcase of the complete works of Shakespeare. I know you have sealed that entrance."

"If you don't want to enter the house before coming down here, you can also take the passage of the dry well." Jason said, rubbing his arms, "But I personally don't like to go through that well, and I know you don't like it either... Click the card."

Batman watched the mysterious man silently and finally pointed to the depths of the Batcave: "I don't know if you—you in this universe—know that there is actually an underground river under the Batcave, which can lead to the outside. If you don’t know, you’d better check it out, just to be on the safe side. Although this place has been abandoned, you don’t want strange guys to break in and use it as the base camp of some evil organization.”

Refusing to put up with someone who doesn't know who is the enemy or who continues to talk about him, Batman simply throws two bat darts hoping to make the other person serious.

Watching the other party draw their guns and blast their own weapons in mid-air, it seems like a moving target shooting game at a garden party. This is not what Batman expected-most people will choose to avoid it, or some people will choose to avoid it. Confident, experienced people will choose to catch his batarang, but none of them know the explosive mechanism on the batarang, which gives Batman a chance to take advantage of it.

"Explosive bat darts? Real or fake?" Jason stared at the half-bat dart wreckage on the ground with wide eyes, and recognized their functions, "I didn't do anything, old man! From just now until now, I can only answer seriously What else did you do besides your question to get you to poke me with a popping batarang?"

——No, you're not answering questions, you're testing Batman on the verge of madness.

Damian, who had been watching secretly, wanted to say so.

He really couldn't understand why "challenging the old man's tolerance limit" became one of Jason's favorite pastimes, second only to inspecting the progress of the construction site in Wayne, and reading fairy tales with Bizarro and watching Disney princesses animation.

"Shut it up, Hood." Damian jumped out of his hiding place and landed next to Jason, "What good is it if you drive him crazy."

Batman looked at the place where "Robin" jumped out, and his breath was stagnant. For a moment, he almost saw another child. He liked to hide in the blind corner of the Batcave because of his thin body, and then jumped when he was not paying attention. Come out and startle him.

"I'm just comparing Batman's differences across the multiverse."

"No, you just want to piss him off."

"Well, 90% of the time when he is wearing a bat suit, he behaves like a patient with chronic emotional constipation. I am helping him..."

"You are not! You just want to start a war, admit it."

"Ha! This guy wants to lead the war, I have to try to see if he is as good as our B, isn't it?"

"That doesn't mean you have to fight right away, right away, when we finally catch Batman! It's business!"

Batman took a deep breath, and roared at the unknown duo in front of him: "Enough! Who are you and what is your purpose!"

The loud noise caused a small group of bats closest to them to dance wildly, chirping as if an evil spirit was about to appear.

Jason and Damian glanced at each other, and took off the hood and domino mask respectively, revealing two similar faces - Batman's memory was brought back to the day when Superman and General Zod fought fiercely in the metropolis, from the collapsed The heavy iron cabinet that fell from the building, and the child who was rescued by him—by "Bruce Wayne".

Damian took out a business card, which he gave out himself, and held it between his index and middle fingers: "You said 'call me if there is any trouble', we do have trouble, but this trouble is on the phone Can't explain clearly."

Jason directly raised his phone, and it showed the latest photo of Dick before they were sent to this earth. He didn't know what method he used to finally make their Bruce wear a T-shirt with "ILOVE SUPERMAN" on it, proud Complacently pulling Bruce to take a selfie.

Thanks to the multiverse, the world's prematurely deceased Teen Dick looks almost identical to theirs, which means that the Batman in front of them has a certain chance of recognizing the adult Dick.

"Simply explain in one sentence - we are your sons from another universe, I am Jason, this is Damian, the sand sculpture youth in the photo is..."

"Dick." Batman's voice trembled when he called Dick's name, which made Jason's face twitch uncontrollably.

Well, golden boy, he gets it.

"Considering the differences among multiverses, I don't think DNA tests and the like will be [-]% accurate." Jason kept looking at Batman's chin as he spoke, "But we are willing to cooperate with your investigation as much as possible , until you are willing to believe that we really came from another Earth."

From time to time, Batman's gaze wandered to the hood that Jason held under his arm, especially the two spikes on top of his head.

"I've never considered being with Catwoman...well..." Batman's tight lips revealed that he was going through some kind of psychological struggle at the moment.

Damian patted Jason, who was completely numb to this, to express his deep sympathy.

"No, not Catwoman." Jason felt as if something sublimated in his heart. He looked at Batman's secretly relieved expression, smiled and patted the hood, and the hollow metal made a "boom boom" sound , "Have you never considered Leopard Girl?"

"Who?" Batman had never heard of such a character.

"Oh, yes!" Jason slapped his forehead and muttered, "She is Wonder Woman's old enemy."

"Wonder...Woman?" Batman felt the day was getting more and more confusing.

"Diana Prince, Princess of Paradise Island? Oliver Queen? Green Arrow? Zatanna Zatara? Victor Stone? Cyborg?" Jason and Damian tried again and again. The names and titles of several members of the Justice League have been revealed. Facts have proved that these people have never met. The Justice League has not even formed a concept, let alone a rudimentary form.

Batman doesn't quite understand what Damian and Jason's eyes mean, especially after they confirm Gotham's list of villains, especially those dangerous elements in Arkham Asylum, the eyes seem a little...moved?

"There are no aliens, no superhumans, no magicians, no cyborgs." Jason muttered unbelievably, "What a pure and simple Gotham City!"

Damian nodded with empathy.

Batman looked at the two men and boys who claimed to be his sons from another earth in silence, and for some reason he felt a little sympathetic to himself in that parallel universe-he couldn't imagine someone putting himself on any suit with a Superman theme. product.

What a terrible world these two children had grown up in!