amaotonovel Chapter 2498: Battle for the Cloak (54)
Chapter 2498: Battle for the Cloak (54)
Chapter 2498: Battle for the Cloak (Fifty-Four)
Batman and Batwoman are looking for Bruce's location, and they know that the key to all this still lies with the Batman of this universe.
It was actually not difficult to find Bruce. Although the female police officer refused to reveal more, considering Gordon's personality, the community where they lived would not be too far from the police station. Considering their financial situation, there were not many communities to choose from.
Batman and Batwoman have basically searched the surroundings, and now there are only two target communities left, and they plan to go to one of them, but when they are on the way, the surrounding space suddenly changes.
To be precise, the entire dream changed. Suddenly, the space and time around them began to change rapidly, making them both feel like they were in the center of a storm.
The shrubs turned green and then yellow, yellow and then green again, the leaves grew and withered, the flowers bloomed and then fell, the street signs began to become old and rotten, and the road surface began to become bumpy and uneven.
Batman looked down and saw the hands of the watch on his arm moving rapidly, and in the end, only the afterimage could be seen.
"TIME IS FAST FORWARD!!!" Batwoman yelled.
Suddenly, the storm stopped.
The familiar street still appeared before them, but the scenery had changed greatly. Some of the original stores were still there, some had moved away, and those that remained had become a little shabby. The newly painted zebra crossing on the ground had become mottled, the trees had grown taller, and the style of the posters on the wall had jumped to an era.
When Batman looked at his watch, he found that 20 years had passed.
"What's going on?" Batwoman frowned and looked around and said, "Time skipped. Who can control it... Oh, this is a dream."
They both realized that it wasn't that someone really controlled the time of the universe, but that dreams are just like that, or it could be said that the inspiration for the time montage in common movies actually comes from dreams.
No one will honestly go through all the details of the past ten years in a dream. Most people just jump to ten years later, or simply stay in ten years later and ten years ago.
As the protagonist of the dream, if he does not realize that he is dreaming, or deliberately regards this place as the real world, he will not think there is anything wrong with this jump. They will think that ten years have really passed.
"The creator of the dream fast-forwarded twenty years," Batman said. "What was his purpose in doing this? What did he want to do?"
Bat Cat and Little Krypton followed Crocodile Cat in searching the sewer. Soon they deduced more clues based on the half footprint and combined with Crocodile Cat's eyewitness testimony, they began to approach a target location.
After turning a bend in the sewer, the bat cat finally saw a ray of light at the end. He approached cautiously, only to find that it was the gap of an open door.
He leaned over to take a look and found that the room was pitch black with only the back of a sitting person and a screen showing a movie.
Batcat recognized the figure as Batman. He tiptoed in through the crack in the door, squatted behind the chair and looked at the screen.
The screen seemed to be playing a family videotape of a very happy family of three, a father, a mother and a little daughter.
"Hey, Gwen, where's Annie's hat? I remember bringing it. Where did you put it?"
"Maybe it's in the picnic basket." The gentle and beautiful lady turned to look in her bag and said, "It's definitely not here. Maybe you can look in the trunk of the car."
"We have to convince her to wear it, otherwise she'll get sunburned again. Okay, I'll go check over to the car."
The man walked towards the car, and a figure with white hair on his temples came out from the driver's seat, stuffed the bag into the man's arms and said, "Peter, you are still so forgetful. You almost forgot this bag on the porch. If it weren't for your aunt, no one would have a hat to wear today."
The man called Peter smiled shyly and said, "Thank you, uncle. Where's aunt?"
"Halfway through the journey, she said she forgot to bring honey seasoning, which is a secret ingredient necessary for Parker's barbecue, so she turned back to get it. She will be there soon. Where's Mr. Todd?"
"He'll be here soon...Oh, is that his car? I'll go pick him up." Peter walked quickly to the other end of the lawn.
The person who got out of the car was Jason, who was already middle-aged. Peter was much younger than him, but both of them were obviously middle-aged.
Another lady got out from the passenger seat of the car, and two half-grown children jumped out from the back seat of the car, one of them was probably in junior high school, and the other was still young.
"Oh! Polly and Reed!" Peter walked up to them and hugged them one by one, holding one's hand and saying, "Come on, Mr. Todd and Miss Todd, Annie has been waiting for you for a long time and is clamoring to play with building blocks with you."
The Batcat in front of the screen almost immediately recognized that this Peter was Peter Parker, and the one called Todd was Jason Todd.
Batcat walked around the chair and jumped onto the armrest. He saw Arkham Batman sitting on the chair with tears streaming down his face.
The scar on Jason's face has disappeared, and it can be seen on the screen that he is older than Batman. He is old but not weak, and appears rosy-cheeked and energetic.
More importantly, his eyes were extremely calm. The storm of anger that had often swept through his eyes in his youth had long since subsided, and the raging waves had calmed down, leaving him looking peaceful, stable and happy.
"Jason..." Arkham Batman muttered his name, and even when Batcat jumped on him, he didn't react.
"What's wrong with you, Batman?" Batcat waved its claws in front of him and climbed down his arm to his shoulder.
Arkham Batman did not answer. He was watching the scene on the screen intently and even greedily, watching Jason's happy smile between his wife and children.
Batcat frowned deeply. He could feel that something was very wrong. Then he heard Arkham Batman whisper, "Yes, this is the life he should live. This is..."
"What are you crazy about?!" Batcat interrupted him and said, "You won't be fooled by illusions so easily, right? You are Batman."
“This is not an illusion!!!”
Arkham Batman suddenly roared, startling Batcat.
Batcat was stunned, then stepped on his shoulder with his paw and said, "You should know that it is not difficult to make similar movies, right? I understand that you want to find a spiritual sustenance, but this is a bit..."
Arkham Batman gripped the armrest tightly, closed his eyes and said in a trembling voice: "Jason is a good boy. If I hadn't picked him up, he would have lived a life like this. He is smart, capable, and strong. Of course he can..."
"Instead of...instead of..."
Arkham Batman's voice gradually faded away. After all, he was not good at expressing his emotions with words.
"Do I have the right to be a judge?" Arkham Batman repeated Spider-Man's words, "Let a child suffer in exchange for the safety of another group of people. What qualifications do I have to make such a decision?"
"No, wait a minute!" Batcat yelled, "Wake up! You are Batman, why are you crazy?!"
"I'm not crazy! You are the ones who are crazy!" Arkham Batman began to roar again, "What's wrong with letting him live like this?! This is what he deserves! This is what I, this society, and this world owe him!"
"But this isn't real!" Bat Cat said in a raised voice, "This is a dream world, this..."
"As long as you can't wake up, this is not a dream!"
Arkham Batman stood up from his chair, picked up Batcat, looked at him with shining eyes and said, "I know who sent me here. I'm not dizzy, crazy, or trapped here. He told me he could show me what Jason Todd really wanted... and he did it!"
The batcat whimpered and bit Arkham Batman's hand, then suddenly jumped down when he felt the pain, and stood in the distance, watching Arkham Batman vigilantly.
Although he is a cat, he is also Batman. How could he not understand that someone has bewitched Arkham Batman, or to be more precise, has taken advantage of his mental loopholes with great precision.
Even if Jason said he didn't mind, even if Jason said it was nothing, how could Batman really let it go? How could he be so shameless as to think that as long as the victim forgave him, all this could be erased?
What's more, it is impossible for the victim to forgive. Batman himself has never forgiven a criminal.
Of course they have to look forward and move forward, but the most terrifying thing about this kind of trauma is that you know clearly that no matter how broad the road ahead is, your past is constantly rotting, until one day this rot will catch up with you, until it consumes your future.
Batman couldn't allow this to happen. He believed that letting Jason continue in this state would only be repeating the same mistakes. He had to find a new way for Jason. There must be a new way.
It would be best to go against him and stay as far away from him as possible, because he knew clearly that the path he was taking now was not what his heart desired, but more like a terminal illness with no cure.
The man who put him here made a bet with him, saying that Jason would certainly have a bright future, and as long as he watched here, he would definitely see what he wanted to see.
Yes, he did see it. It turned out that the end of this road was at the starting point. If Jason had not been picked up by him, if Jason was not a superhero, he would have lived a happy life like this.
Batman knew Jason could do it, because he was so smart and strong, and he was able to thrive on the streets of Gotham since he was a child. Even if he didn't become rich, at least he would have no problem getting married, having children, and living an ordinary life.
How could he not want to? Batman thought, during his days of wandering the streets, this was probably Jason's greatest hope, right? It was his intervention that gave him a goal that could not be called a goal, a dead end that he himself had not been able to walk through.
"There is still a chance to save it, there is still a chance to save it." Arkham Batman muttered to himself: "He chose this path, and he also thinks it is good, so let's do it... let's do it..."
He stumbled and tried to walk out the door, but was quickly stopped by Krypton, who yelled at him, and Batcat ran out as fast as he could, shouting after Arkham Batman.
"Wake up! If that was really Jason, he was also bewitched. This is not true!!!"
Arkham Batman suddenly stopped, turned around and glared at BatCat fiercely, saying, "So you think he should be a superhero at all costs, sacrifice himself, and uphold justice, and never deserve to live such a peaceful and happy life, right?!"
"But he's not a wealthy man, nor a super genius. He's just an orphan living on the streets of Gotham. He suffered from poverty and hunger in his childhood, and was unfortunately kidnapped and tortured by brutal criminals. Why should he pay more for this?!"
"He's sick, his mind has collapsed, he doesn't have the ability to be a hero..." Arkham Batman's voice was trembling and breaking, and his voice gradually disappeared in the silent and dark sewer.
"He no longer has such a responsibility..."
I ate the most delicious rabbit I have ever eaten in my life!
(End of this chapter)