Chapter 28 Chapter 28 Is he really going to kill it?

Deeply touched, Red Robin declined Red Hood's friendly offer, seizing the opportunity to attack the last cherry tomato. The second Robin easily saw through his ruse, their forks wielding furiously as they argued, "Trust me, Red, that's a truly heartwarming story!" "That's what you said the last time you asked me to play Revolution."

No one noticed Elio quietly forking away the last cherry tomato.

Growing up in an orphanage, he was already accustomed to his siblings' open and covert struggles for various resources. Therefore, Elio, who was not surprised by this, quickly saw that the two brothers were not fighting for resources so much as just playing around at any opportunity.

This was amusing, at least to Elio. He calmly made his way through the playful tussle between the vigilantes, collecting the empty dishes from the table and carrying them to the kitchen sink. Elio turned on the water and rolled up his sleeves, but just then they heard the notebook, left on the sofa, begin to drip.

"Our Doctor Langstrom can no longer hide."

Red Hood raised his hands, signaling a pause in the brawl. He swiped his mask from the cabinet behind him and put it back on. Red Robin had already leaped away from him, grabbing the equipment from the sofa.

When the assassin came out of the kitchen and put on his hidden blade, all he saw was Red Robin's surprised expression on the sofa.

"I never thought of that!" He turned the screen around and showed them. "We're not looking for Dr. Langstrom at all—"

·

Dr. Kirk Langstrom, professor of genetics at Gotham University, is, like many of the city's most unfortunate individuals, either destined for, or responsible for, their misfortunes, obsessed with bats.

In the literal sense.

The echolocation system unique to these small creatures may help him cure his deafness, at least that's what he hopes.

Applying biological traits to human genetic modification should have been a fantasy, but fortunately and unfortunately, Langstrom possessed a brilliant mind. He oversaw the "Hawkeye" portion of the assassin project and, based on his success, further developed a bat serum that could restore hearing to the deaf.

This is undoubtedly a pioneering achievement in biology, science, and even medicine - if this serum does not have any side effects.

After a series of experiments, Langstrom made a brave and daring decision: he would inject himself with bat serum. If all went well, he would be able to hear the wind, the rain, the budding of grass, the growth of petals—all the sounds that free people in the world can hear; and, more importantly, he would be able to hear the smile of his wife, his lover, Francine.

She was there, of course, and although she had some concerns about the serum, Langstrom reassured her and urged her to be present to witness this happy, historic moment.

After a final hug, Langstrom picked up the shiny serum. He rolled up his sleeves while Francine smeared iodine on him for disinfection. They exchanged a glance, perhaps his beloved wife sensing his nervousness, or perhaps she herself was a little nervous, and Francine gave him a forced smile.

"Everything's going to be alright, honey." He gave Francine's hand a final squeeze, which was returned firmly. Then, a slight sting shot through his arm, as if an invisible force were coursing through Langstrom's body—he heard it!

A faint, rustling sound broke through the air, transforming into tangible ripples that were captured by his ears. In ecstasy, Langstrom stretched his ears as wide as he could, wanting to hear more sounds—more, more…

He didn't notice that Francine, who had been watching him, suddenly changed color. The nervous anticipation that had been etched on her face faded, along with her usual rosy complexion. She paled as she watched a monster surge forth from her husband's body. Its ears were strangely pointed, its brown eyes glowed red, and its human features contorted—replacing them with a terrifying bat!

The rapidly growing muscles tore Langstrom's clothes, and he - if he could still be described as such - grew thin wing membranes under his arms, flesh-colored and bare, completely turning him into a half-human, half-bat monster.

The Man-Bat was born.

Francine took a step back, staring in horror at the thing that was no longer her husband. Its head turned perfectly, its mouth open to reveal inhuman fangs dripping with saliva; Francine tried to find a familiar look in the bat's face, but failed.

"Kirk, no!"

She let out a final scream and instinctively reached out. In that final moment, even she herself didn't know whether she wanted to reach out and save her husband, give him a final, waking embrace, or whether she wanted to push it away out of fear.

But she didn't have time to think about it. The man-bat pounced on her—Francine subconsciously closed her eyes—

Bang! At the critical moment, the basement door was kicked open. A mechanical "What the hell!" sounded, and rubber bullets rained down, forcing the Man-Bat back. The monster, forced to raise its wings to shield its tattered form, roared in anger at the intruder.

"Is this a... human-bat?" a young man replied hesitantly. But without hesitation, he pounced towards the human-bat.

"Tell us something we can't see!" the mechanical voice shouted.

The Man-Bat flapped its wings violently, nearly knocking the vigilantes surrounding him flat on their backs. The assassin leaned back to avoid the attack, deftly climbing up along the wings that hadn't folded in time, gaining a high position in seconds and leaping into the air. Sensing the threat, the Man-Bat opened its mouth, but a long stick shot out from the side at a tricky angle and pierced its throat, blocking any further attack.

The towering assassin was about to fall. Seeing the situation was dire, the Man-Bat didn't even have time to bother with the stick in its mouth. It quickly retracted its wings and attacked him with its sharp claws. The bat's claws flashed a dangerous cold light, and it was about to rip open the assassin's chest when Red Hood's bullets came crashing down again.

The man-bat whimpered unwillingly. The assassin's hidden blade flashed before it, but in that instant, Elio read the human fear in its scarlet eyes.

Is he really going to kill it?

Without time to think, Elio inexplicably retracted his finger and sheathed his hidden blade. The assassin punched it in the head, and the newly born monster rolled its eyes. Its wings trembled helplessly but thankfully for a few times, and finally fainted to the ground.

The assassin jumped off it. Red Robin poked it a few more times with his long stick, and only after confirming that Man-Bat was unconscious did he retract his weapon.

"I'll have to clean it thoroughly when I get home," he sighed. Amidst the Red Hood's laughter, muffled behind his mask, Red Robin squatted down, pulled a blood collection tube from his uniform, and plunged it into Man-Bat. The monster shuddered reflexively, but remained unconscious.

"So what exactly is this?" Red Hood stroked his chin. "A failed attempt at becoming 'Batman'?"

“…He was my husband,” Francine shuddered in the corner. “He…”

The assassin stuffed a piece of chocolate into her mouth and tried to calm her down. Francine recounted the whole story in fragments, and after the vigilantes understood the situation, they decided to transfer Professor Langstrom to the Bat Base to conduct research on a serum antidote.

In any case, they have to find a way to turn it from a monster back into a human being.

The assassin gathered all the information he could find, preparing to take it to the vigilantes' base. He walked over to the summoned Batmobile and saw Red Robin and Red Hood shoving Man-Bat into the extended, strapped-down backseat. Francine wiped her tears and got in.

Then, Red Hood took the lead and prepared to get into the driver's seat as if nothing had happened.

"Wait—" Red Robin didn't have time to grab him, though from what Elio could see, he seemed, possibly, to have been able to grab Red Hood. But that didn't matter anymore. Before Red Hood could open the car door, it automatically rose, revealing a dark vigilante sitting there.

Red Hood and Batman looked at each other.

After a brief silence, Red Hood silently withdrew his hand, then realized that he had no reason to feel guilty, and immediately became arrogant again.

"Get out of the way, old man," he knocked on the door, "it's time I drove the Batmobile."

Batman was unmoved, "Get in the car."

Red Hood was furious. But before he could get angry, Batman said, "I'll take you home."

Red Robin happily climbed into the passenger seat. Red Hood remained silent, itching all over, but he got in obediently.

Elio was the only one standing there. The assassin hesitated for a moment, trying to read Batman's expression, but the Dark Knight's visor almost covered his entire face, only his expressionless chin was exposed - Elio felt that even if he was gifted, he would not be able to read any expression from a bare chin.

"What are you waiting for?" Red Hood rolled down the window, motioning him to get in quickly. "Do you want me to say 'please'?"

The assassin holding the documents hesitated to speak, but obediently got in and sat down next to him. The Batmobile rushed out immediately after he fastened his seat belt. Elio lost his balance and almost spilled the documents in his hand all over the car. If Red Hood hadn't quickly restrained him, Elio believed he would have done so.

Under the Domino mask, the vigilante gave him a quizzical look. The assassin also gave him a bewildered look, but he didn't dare ask Batman directly, "Does he always drive like this?" He glanced at the driver's seat, where the wildly racing Batman sat, calmly manipulating the wheel, even able to activate the hoverboard.

"Abstergo has launched a second attempt to enter Gotham." Batman said in a deep voice over the roar of the engine. "We need cooperation, Assassin."

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Author's Note: *Special Characters in this Chapter: Gotham anti-hero Man-Bat (Kirk Langstrom) and She-Bat (Francine Langstrom).