[Comprehensive British and American] Family Matters

Alfred is always the eye of the storm in different degrees of storms in the Wayne family, always stable and calm no matter the time.

"What would Master Timothy want to drink? Tea or juice?"

"Please give me tea, thank you. Also, you can just call me Tim." Tim sat nervously in front of the coffee table, with his hands on his knees, and he did not dare to relax his back and leaned against the back of the chair.

Although the Drake family had little savings, Drake Industries was nothing compared to Wayne Enterprises. Although the two lived in the same area, their lifestyles were completely different.The steward is a creature that cannot even be seen as a fragment in Drake's house, let alone served at close range.The most important thing is that Alfred is not just any housekeeper, this is the person who raised Batman, Tim can only respect and respect this gray-haired old gentleman.

"Come right now, Master Timothy." Ah Fu slightly bowed to the guests, and left the living room to prepare drinks and snacks.

Tim breathed a sigh of relief and eased into his sitting position.From time to time, his eyes drifted to Bruce Wayne who was sitting across from him and was flipping through his proposal.

He tried not to make himself look impatient, and turned his head to look at the surrounding decorations. There were many ancient antiques protected in glass cases, such as a brass dagger, or a small arm-high stone sculpture.Some of the paintings on the wall are by famous artists Tim recognizes, and some he is not very familiar with, but the ones he recognizes are enough to show the grand heritage accumulated by the Wayne family for generations.

Alfred brought hot tea and a plate of biscuits, Tim murmured thank you, but was still too nervous to reach out for the plate of pastries.

"Well written." Bruce closed Tim's report, picked up his cup of tea and took a sip, "I have to admit that there are some points in it that I haven't even thought about, but since you mentioned it, now think about it." And it does seem to be so."

"I'm just watching from the sidelines. Compared with the contributions made by Batman and Robin, I'm just playing lip service." Tim is not self-effacing, he really thinks so.Batman and Robin brought hope to Gotham. Although from a bad point of view, the appearance of Batman certainly led to dangerous characters like the Joker who are obsessed with challenging Batman, but Batman also inspired more people. The sense of justice in the hearts of many upright citizens.

Tim personally hacked the GCPD database, and the record of registered citizens helping to stop violent crime has grown by five percent since before Batman came along.Not everyone can be Batman, but at least they are within their powers, without being insensitive.

Robin is even more of a miracle.Adults may not be able to comprehend just how inspiring it is for teenagers to see a teenager their own age fighting crime.It was like a shot in the arm, telling them that "we are not vulnerable even though we are children", and that as long as we are determined, we can also make changes.

There couldn't be a more inspiring story.

"Although your report is well written, I'm more curious about how you discovered Batman's identity." Bruce put down his teacup and looked at Tim in a different posture, "and how long you've known."

Tim stared at Bruce, the little prince of Gotham in front of him. He had seen Bruce himself in various newspapers, magazines and social occasions from far or near.Every time he appeared in front of everyone with a radiant face, even if he had just fought against the gangsters or sent the Arkham madman back to their ward the night before, Bruce would point to the scars on his face and tell exaggerated stories with a smile Surprise the curious people.But Bruce, who is sitting across from him now, has dark circles under his eyes that are worse than Tim's. Tim's dry skin allows Tim to clearly see the dry and cracked skin around his nose and mouth, and he has to squint his eyes from time to time when he reads the report Tim guessed that Bruce's vision might not be as clear as before.

Simply put, he looks terrible.Jason's death is really going to bring down Gotham's Dark Knight.

"I... I have seen the performance of the Grayson family. Their signature quadruple backflip is not something any gymnast can do. There is a fundamental difference between acrobats and regular athletes, so when I was nine years old, I watched When Robin made that action, I knew he was Dick Grayson." Tim observed Bruce's expression and found that the other party didn't intend to stop him, so he boldly continued, "If Dick Gray Sen is Robin, so it is reasonable to infer that you, as his guardian, are Batman. In fact, as long as there is a direction, everything seems logical. You see, Batman's equipment, just the Batmobile, is not affordable for ordinary people It started, but with the financial resources of Wayne Enterprises, it makes perfect sense. Even when the first Robin disappeared, Nightwing appeared next door in Bluhaven. The age and Robin can be matched. After that, you Adopted Jason, Robin reappeared not long after... that's about it."

Tim took a sip of tea to calm his nerves: "I haven't told anyone, Mr. Wayne. I...I'm not here to threaten you or force you to let me be Robin. On to Jason. Jason is..."

"Jason is the best." Bruce's thumb lightly caressed over Jason's photo, and the boy in Robin's uniform was flying in the night sky of Gotan.He may have problems of one kind or another, but for God's sake, who doesn't?Bruce had swept his laundry list of problems under the rug years ago.

"I totally agree on that." Tim nodded solemnly.He has seen Jason's actions, and knows that the other party is burning all his life, and all his enthusiasm is on the heroic cause of Robin.Tim even suspects that if he could, Jason would choose to be a masked hero forever, rather than having a dual identity of day and night like Bruce.

"Let's put it this way, Timothy, I admire your mind and appreciate your recognition of Jason." Bruce leaned over and put Tim's report on the coffee table, "But that doesn't mean I want someone to replace Jason, the truth is Well, it wasn't a good idea to have teenagers fighting crime on the streets in the first place. Dick got hurt a lot, and Jason... believe me, Timothy, this life isn't as easy as you think, it's going to Devour you, and when you come to your senses, you realize that you have changed beyond recognition."

Bruce held up those photos and smiled softly: "You are very talented in photography, why don't you try to be a photographer? This is a more promising career than Batman or Robin."

Tim knew it meant no, but he wanted to try again.

"I know I can never replace Jason, I can't be him." Tim clasped his hands into fists on his knees, "But Batman needs Robin, and like you said, this kind of life will change people's faces , so Batman needs Robin to remind him why he chose to go down this path."

Bruce didn't speak, just looked down at Jason's photo.

"Also, uh... I didn't mean to offend, but you are very bad now, Mr. Wayne." Tim pointed to his dark circles, "I don't just mean physical badness, but also Psychological."

"Of course I'm not, my son is dead." Bruce stated in a flat tone.

"Yes, I know, but you allow yourself to be sad, and you don't want to leave. This...is not good." Tim looked down and scratched his nails, "My mother said that sadness has a time limit , because the living people still have to continue to live whether they are happy or not, so when the deadline is up, we have to throw away our sorrows, just like throwing away food that has passed the expiration date. These spoiled foods have been piled up in the house and will not be thrown away until the end Even the house itself will break, and so will the people."

What Tim didn't say was the context of the passage.His guinea pig died, and he cried and refused to let his parents dispose of the little animal's carcass, so he got the above remarks.But the truth is similar...probably.

"Jason is kind of my friend, I mean, without the mask. Ugh, I know it sounds weird, but we're really just friends! I don't have evil thoughts, though I'll be stalking him at night. Bing took pictures... Oh, my God, what am I talking about!" Tim's confession made Bruce raise his eyebrows, and the expression on his face was half a smile, "Anyway, we met at a banquet you hosted, and then occasionally I can send text messages. As a friend, I really hope I can do something for Jason, like... help him watch Dad's back, and help him make sure Dad can go to him later."

Bruce tilted his head to re-examine the boy in front of him.Young, determined, innocent, but there's something about him that neither Dick nor Jason has.And at a deeper level, this boy has the potential to be more dangerous than Jason or Dick. Bruce has no doubt that if Timothy is given the wrong guidance, he will definitely become some kind of opponent that he doesn't even want to face.

"You won't be Robin. I'll say it first." Bruce is really tired, he doesn't want to continue entangled in this topic, the biggest secret of the Bat family has been known to him, the most direct way to persuade him to quit is Let Timothy leave by himself, otherwise Bruce can foresee a future where Timothy keeps showing up at his door, "You have to be trained first. I know you don't live in the mansion, so there will be a lot of inconvenience, figure it out yourself, I don't I will put water on you, but if you don't obey the instructions or I think you are not suitable, you forget all this and go home to live a good life."

Even with such a non-guaranteed treaty, Timothy still looked like someone had the world held up to him.

"No problem, Mr. Wayne! I will try my best to make you agree!" Tim beamed and took out several high-resolution photos from his backpack and offered them with both hands.

Bruce took it over, and vaguely knew what the theme would be—he wondered if the photos at the kid's home could be used for a photo exhibition, and the theme was "Jason in every way."

"Timothy."

"Just call Tim, Mr. Wayne."

"Okay, Tim." Bruce shook the photo in his hand, "First, let's talk about stalkers."

"Don't worry, Mr. Wayne, I don't follow everyone!" Tim assured, patting his chest, "I basically only follow Jason."

"You...you go home first, I will contact you again." Bruce gave up, he really didn't have the energy to go through another emotional roller coaster, he had more important things to deal with later.

Tim left contentedly, his steps seem to be jumping.

"Hey, Ah Fu, what's going on with the young kids nowadays?" Bruce looked at the photos in his hand, Jason was smiling happily in every picture, and these smiles successfully replaced Bruce's impression that they got along in the end In those days, there were always quarrels with blushing and thick necks, and found some happy moments that Bruce himself had forgotten, which were too small.

It seemed that looking at Jason's smiling face, knowing that the child had once laughed so purely by his side, Bruce's guilt also eased a little bit.

"That's why it's always said that young people are hope, my lord."

Ah Fu put away the tea set, looked at the photo of Bruce on his lap, his eyes were full of sadness that couldn't be concealed.Bruce looked at the old man whom he regarded as his second father, and it was not difficult to find that his hair was a little grayer, and the wrinkles on his face were a little deeper.

The kid was right about one thing.

The grief he refuses to let go of has begun to corrupt and poison those around him along with it.He won't give up on taking Jason back from death, but he has to keep going, even for Al Fu and Dick, he has to stand up.

"Yeah, they are." Bruce stood up from the single sofa, still holding the photos tightly in his hand, "When Batman finishes his meeting with Constantine, we will frame these photos together Get up."

"I'd love to, sir." Alfred took the photo and the lovely report on the coffee table from Bruce, "I'll go and see what size photo frame I still have at home."

The bat computer sent a call invitation from Constantine, Batman accepted the call, Constantine's signature windbreaker, cigarettes and a decadent beard appeared in front of his eyes: "Yo, it's really strange that you came to me ,bat."

Batman is usually not very happy to associate with Constantine.It's not that he thinks Constantine is evil or his magic is unreliable, but he really doesn't like that guy's sloppy attitude, and his violent behavior that often doesn't follow the rules when dealing with things.But Batman has to admit that Constantine is an expert in this kind of thing. The hunter's specialized field is how to kill these supernatural monsters, but Constantine knows how to deal with these forces-even though he often cheats out a way of life.

"Konstantin." Batman nodded in greeting, and then went straight to the point, "What's the result of what I asked you to check?"

"It's still the same, no mess." Constantine extinguished his cigarette and exhaled a smoke ring at last. "The answer is 'no', sorry. But your old friend Wayne can't revive his son."

Batman clenched his fists outside the camera, and exhausted all his self-control to keep his voice from being stiff: "Reason?"

"Well, you see, after death, the soul either goes to heaven or goes to hell." Constantine pointed to the sky and compared the ground, "but the Wayne boy, tsk tsk, poor boy, his The soul is not in this world. Then there is no resurrection! The game is over."

"What does it mean that the soul is not here? Why is this happening?"

Bruce couldn't believe what he was hearing. His son, his Jason, died without a soul?

Constantine scratched his face and pondered for a long time as if he was thinking about how to explain it. Batman's patience had already begun to drain. Constantine seemed to feel the pressure across the screen. He cleared his throat and began to explain: " Generally speaking, after a person dies, there will be a god of death to receive the soul, they are basically a neutral group, responsible for guiding the soul that has just died and is still confused to the next stage.”

"You mean heaven or hell." Batman was not a devout believer, but he also believed that if Jason's soul had a place to go after death, it must rest in heaven.

"Correct." Constantine nodded, "However, I have asked all over the place. Among the many Jasons in heaven and hell, there is no Wayne boy. Before you question me, I have to say that although the devil is treacherous and cunning Things, but they are more honest than humans when they have a contract. As for angels, they are a group of winged balls, but they are not sloppy in counting souls. Human souls are important to heaven and hell. They are all important resources.”

Constantine seemed to be afraid that Batman would not believe it, and pointed out another way: "If you don't believe me, I have a gossip that Lucifer opened a nightclub in Los Angeles and worked part-time as a police consultant to fight crime. I think You should be able to talk. You know, the dark knight and the dark... just pretend I didn't say it."

"You haven't said why the soul is absent." Batman directly stared back at the topic of Constantine's running around. "If it is not in this world, where will the soul go?"

"Ah, this is complicated." Constantine shook his head, grabbed his cigarette from the inner pocket of the windbreaker, shook out a cigarette and squeezed it in his hand but failed to light it. Some dark ritual, so his soul was destroyed in the process, the contamination distorted into something else that was no longer recognizable, but at that point, that soul wasn't the one you were trying to get back either. Or Some kind of magic has trapped the soul and shrouded him. Rarely, the soul may have been drawn elsewhere by forces from other universes. In this case no known resurrection ritual There is a way to cross the barrier between universes and summon the soul back. Sorry, but that level of power is not something humans can achieve."

Batman knows what Constantine is implying, using inhuman power to break the barrier between universes, will the existence with this power be at their mercy?Worst case scenario, can anyone "fix" the damage done by this existence?

But he still wanted to try again, at least...at least he had to be sure where Jason was.

"Oh, if you want to find that child's soul—provided that he hasn't been twisted and broken. There is such a ceremony, but it's a kind of blood ceremony. The son of the Wayne family is adopted, I think. That's no use. It's a sad story. No matter how much money a rich man spends, he can't buy his son back."

Constantine shook his head and sighed in front of the screen, oblivious to the hope that Batman's eyes burst out under the white lenses.

***

Peter got back his boat, his music and his ball.He left the loathsome prison.He sailed the highway of freedom—

Oh, and he has four more passengers!In this vast sea of ​​stars, I can make four friends with different personalities from different places. It is really touching. The fate of the universe really works in a wonderful way!

Weird.

Rocket started sitting on the floor of his ship building bombs as soon as he was aboard.The kind that would really explode.

Gamora said that he would take them to sell the ball and make a fortune together, but there was no news about the ball.Big guy Drax "The Destroyer" can only think about killing Ronan.

As for Groot... Peter thinks he likes him better.

Their final destination is the "Field of Ignorance", which looks like a super-giant skull, and it is.It is said that it is the remains of some kind of super creature after death, and now it has become a mining area.

——Isn’t this the concept of digging oil on the earth!Dinosaurs turned into oil, cosmic beings turned into... various resources.

Jason's comment was so spot on, it completely destroyed Peter's awe at seeing this incredible sight in an instant.

After a long wait, they were finally brought in front of the buyer "Collector", a guy dressed like a hippie. In addition to some strange alien products, there are even living animals.

Peter didn't know why a dog could be regarded as a collection, until the collector finished appreciating Groot, and suddenly leaned in front of Peter, tilted his head and pulled down his small sunglasses to start appreciating him.

"Why!" Peter walked away from the collector uncomfortably, trying to avoid the unpleasant gaze, "I'm nothing special, I'm just an earthling!"

"No, no, you have something very special on you. It's weird. Why can't I see where you hid it?" The collector looked around Peter curiously, "It's really amazing. People are fascinated, do you mind..."

"I mind!" Peter tightened his coat and went to the other side of the table to keep a safe distance from the collector.

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Jason didn't know what item the collector was talking about on Peter (could it be the Walkman?) or something else, but based on his knowledge of Peter, there were only two things that were most unusual about this guy: 1. Mystery the father. 2. The ghost of mystery.

Unfortunately, Jason is the second option. Unless the collector has the special ability to inspect DNA with both eyes, the 50.00% chance should fall on him.

"That's enough, Difan! We're here to negotiate a deal, and we've got the ball you want!" Gamora hit the damn ball on the table with a "touch", attracting the collector's attention , he quickly stopped Gamora's rude behavior.

"This is not an ordinary thing." The collector began to explain the origin of the ball in a mysterious tone.

Everyone, including Peter, was attracted by the stories told by the collectors. After all, things before the formation of the universe were not so easy to inquire about, and the magical existence of infinite gems was not information that ordinary people could grasp.

Only after Jason showed the projections of various infinite gems in the collector, all the attention was attracted by one of the blue stones.

He seems to remember this thing.When he was first brought into this universe, he vaguely remembered a blue light after he "died".Jason thought it was the legendary light that guides the dead to heaven, but now it seems...it wasn't pure light.It's more like a pulse, an intense emission of energy.

If the infinite stone is such a powerful existence in this universe, is it possible that it is because of the energy of the explosion of the stone that he sucked a wandering soul here?

If yes, then the way to go back...

Jason watched as Collector unwrapped the sphere, revealing the purple gem.

—Damn it!

Before he could tell Peter to take the stone back and not sell it, the collector's maid grabbed the gem and blew up the whole building.

Then Ronan and his men came after the stone.

——Peter, good brother, for the peace of the galaxy, let's beat that blue man to death!

Jason was gearing up in his mind, no one was allowed to grab stones from him, even if Ye Yi came, they would all fly together!