mtl008 Chapter 4056 MU Superbody Major Event (136)
Chapter 4056 MU Superbody Major Event (136)
Chapter 4056 MU: The Superbody Incident (136)
"Isn't that Batman?"
As Batman stepped out of the conference room, he heard a slightly familiar voice, but one that made no attempt to conceal its malice. He turned around and saw Night Owl's two round eyes.
“Hello, Owlman.” The main universe’s Batman stopped and looked at him. “If being Batman makes you so proud, then don’t always jump into the Bats when choosing which group to belong to. That just makes you look like you’re starved for love.”
Night Owl was stunned. He was even momentarily speechless from the outburst. Wait, dude, what's wrong? Why are you so angry?
I failed in my attempt at dark magic, was hunted down by my own teammates, had my location exposed by evil electronic lifeforms, and was eventually taken to another universe, yet I've never felt this much resentment. Is the sky falling?
The Batman of the main universe is not usually one to swear. He won't resort to personal attacks to communicate with someone worthy of his insults; and he won't even give a glance to someone unworthy of his insults. He's never even personally attacked the Joker. For a moment, Night Owl didn't know whether he should feel honored.
He assumed that if he rushed out to provoke Batman, the main universe Batman would simply glance at him silently, as usual, and then turn and walk away. Of course, if the guy in the metal armor were there, he might want to punch him, but the main universe Batman would stop him. Why is the script all messed up today? Has Batman taken some kind of poison?
"I..." Night Owl opened his mouth, momentarily at a loss for words. And you know what? The main universe's Batman really hit the nail on the head.
The biggest weakness of Night Owl isn't about justice or evil, nor is it about intelligence; it's that he's not Batman at all. He's not even Bruce Wayne. Therefore, his inclusion among Batman's group is inherently illegitimate.
Although the game categorizes him as part of the Batman group, he isn't. Especially since he has other counterparts, such as Night Owl from Watchmen and Night Owl from the animated series. Therefore, he should be classified separately, not mixed in with Batman.
Of course, the principle of "better to be a big fish in a small pond than a small fish in a big pond" doesn't apply to Night Owl. He obviously wants to earn his place within the Batman group, rather than hanging out with his few impoverished counterparts.
While Batman must have discovered this weakness long ago, there's a reason he didn't voice it. After all, Batman's job is to unite the vast majority, not to divide the group based on individual differences. That wouldn't contribute to unity.
If Night Owl doesn't count as Batman, then there might be many Batmen who don't count as Batman, and then many Supermen who don't count as Superman, and many Green Lanterns who don't count as Green Lanterns. In that case, the multiverse alliance would fall apart instantly. For the sake of the bigger picture, even if the main universe's Batman knew this, he wouldn't say it outright.
But for some reason today, Night Owl felt that he might have lost his mind, and actually used a killing move right from the start.
Night Owl hesitated. Batman from the main universe seemed to be in a bad mood. If he rashly provoked him again, he might get kicked into a black hole. Night Owl didn't call it being cowardly, but rather "discretion is the better part of valor."
Thinking this through, Night Owl didn't voice his further sarcastic remarks. The main universe's Batman ignored him and turned to walk in another direction. Night Owl wanted to know where he was going, so he followed him.
When the door opened, Thomas Wayne was there.
“Father,” the main universe Batman called out, “How is Mother? Is she alright?”
"Not bad, I went with Selena to pick out a wedding dress," Thomas said gently. "I was supposed to be their driver, but you said there wasn't enough manpower here, so Martha told me to come over right away. How is everyone else?"
"Not bad, Batman didn't suffer any losses. But Superman lost quite a few men, otherwise we wouldn't need to bring in reinforcements."
Thomas sighed and said, "War inevitably results in casualties. When I was on the battlefield, friends I was laughing and talking with one day were lying in the trenches the next day, and I didn't even have a chance to bandage them. The war between superheroes might be even more brutal. Losing a close friend for the first time must be very sad. Maybe I should have brought Martha with me."
“Never mind, Bruce’s wedding is coming up soon, it’s more important to pick out a good wedding dress,” said the main universe Batman. “Let me introduce you, this is Thomas Wayne Jr. In one universe, he’s my brother, your eldest son.”
From the moment he stepped inside, Night Owl was already restless. Seeing Thomas Wayne's face again triggered a severe stress reaction in Night Owl. His hand was already on the dartboard.
The origin of Night Owl has been modified. Originally, he was a purely evil Batman who killed the kind Wayne couple and his own brother. However, later, it was changed so that the Wayne couple were greedy and ruthless capitalists, and Night Owl accidentally killed his own brother while trying to eliminate them.
The latter origin story is actually more plausible, because Earth-3 itself is a world where good and evil are reversed. If the Wayne couple in the normal universe are philanthropists, then the Wayne couple in Earth-3 are unscrupulous businesspeople, which makes more sense. At least that's the current origin story for Nite Owl.
Furthermore, the Wayne couple treated the Wayne brothers poorly, constantly busy with work and rarely coming home. The servants they hired were greedy and snobbish, treating the brothers poorly and even abusing them, which the Wayne couple completely ignored.
Childhood trauma is hard to erase. So even though he knew this Thomas might be completely different from his biological father, Owl still felt a jolt when Thomas looked at him.
Now he's certain that the main universe's Batman is half-mad. To disgust him, he even went so far as to call his own father to the battlefield. Who can tell you apart from the Joker now?
Despite cursing inwardly, he dared not show it. He didn't even dare attack Thomas, not entirely because of his psychological trauma, but mainly because there were many other Batmen in the base. If he were to hit someone's father, wouldn't he be chopped into mincemeat?
At that point, forget about recruiting other Batmen; he'd become the enemy of all Batmen in the universe. He can't do something like that.
But perhaps the main universe's Batman was certain he wouldn't dare do that, so he deliberately brought Thomas over to annoy him. Does it even need to be said who the evil Batman is?
"Why is he dressed like a scuba diver?" Thomas asked, somewhat puzzled. "Well, your mother and I discussed having another child. But we both felt that we couldn't make up for what we owed you with another child; that wouldn't be fair to you."
Night Owl got goosebumps. The main universe's Batman, however, nodded as if nothing had happened and said, "If you're going to have another one, hopefully it won't be like Bruce."
"Speaking of Bruce, where is he?"
"They've gone out on a mission, but they should be back soon..."
The two walked towards the back door of the room, talking as they went. Night Owl didn't want to follow, but he also wanted to hear what they were saying, yet he was afraid they'd think he had something to say to them. He hesitated for a moment, then ultimately decided to give up.
The main universe Batman seems to be in a daze; it's best to keep your distance. He needs to investigate what happened while he was away, especially figuring out how the main universe Batman failed.
The main universe's Batman only chatted with Thomas for a short while before going off to get down to business.
He arrived at the cell where Eric was being held. Actually, it wasn't really a cell; it was just an ordinary room. Because of Darkseid's presence, Magneto was, at this moment, just an ordinary person without superpowers. When the main universe's Batman arrived, he looked like he had just woken up.
Seeing his expression, the main universe's Batman frowned. As far as he knew, Eric Lansheer wasn't the type to fall asleep under these circumstances.
“Hello, Mr. Lanshere.” The main universe Batman was cautious. He was not fooled by the young appearance of the person in front of him, but instead tried his best to treat him with the respect due to a wise old man.
Eric didn't answer, but simply sat down opposite him, still looking somewhat distracted. The main universe's Batman was beginning to worry about his health.
“We have no intention of harming you,” the main universe Batman said. “Locking you here is just a temporary measure, and we only want to use you to exchange for prisoners. But your old comrades seem to have some issues with us.”
Eric lowered his head and remained silent. The main universe's Batman had to change his approach, saying, "He killed most of the Flash and many Supermen, including those from my universe, just because we captured you."
“Perhaps,” Eric said.
What does "maybe" mean?
"He told you himself that it was because you arrested me?"
"Of course, The Flash heard that."
“That might only be part of the truth,” Eric said with a yawn. “Actually, I should thank you; this is the only good night’s sleep I’ve had in the last six months.”
The main universe's Batman frowned deeply.
"You may not know this, but there are four newly born Omega-level mutants in our universe. Before you brought me here, I was the one taking care of them. I don't know if you can imagine the workload, but in any case, you rescued me from this hell, and I should thank you."
"...Four Omega-level mutants?"
Eric looked down and fiddled with his fingers, then said, “Yes, and it is precisely out of gratitude that I must remind you. Without my help, neither Wanda nor Charles, nor the children’s biological parents, are capable of caring for them alone, nor can they control them at all. The truth behind what you said about Charles going crazy because of my arrest is probably that he tried to control those four little devils but failed, triggering a series of chain reactions. The consequences of that failure will not be borne by just one side.”
The Batman in the main universe seems to be listening to some kind of fantasy. Mainly because their universe doesn't actually have mutants, making it difficult for him to imagine scenarios like a super-baby destroying the universe, and thus he has no concept of such a catastrophe.
"You mean, Charles went crazy not because of you, but because he had no one to help him take care of the children without you, so he went crazy?"
“You’ve got one thing wrong. Most Professor X aren’t that kind. He’ll just think that your imprisonment or killing of me is just giving him an opportunity to comfort me, which strengthens his control over me. He might even be grateful to you.”
“You might describe our relationship as a mix of love and hate, but what dominates this relationship is not love, but rather the negative aspects. If you want to drive him crazy, you should exploit his hatred for me, not his love for me.”
"for example?"
Eric looked up at him and said, "For example, between victory and him, I chose the former, once again."