Chapter 97 Chapter 97 No More Nursery Rhymes

Li Hua: "I remember there was a villain in Gotham who liked to play with coins. Did he kidnap Nightwing?"

"Probably not." Jason took a tissue and lifted the coin from Benjamin's palm, examining it. "The Two-Faced coin has a human head on both sides, but this coin has an owl's head engraved on it."

"Owl?" Batman's voice rang out over the comms channel, sounding unusually urgent. "Benjamin, get the coin to the Batcave, now!"

Realizing that the situation might be serious, Benjamin appeared in the Batcave as soon as Batman finished speaking and handed over the coin with the owl pattern.

The Kryptonian's vision and hearing accurately captured Batman's constricted pupils and his heart that suddenly contracted and stopped for a moment.

Obviously, Batman recognized the coin, or rather, he recognized the owl emblem on the coin.

"What is this?"

Benjamin asked this question for himself and for the others in the communication.

Batman didn't answer. He was busy operating some device that Benjamin couldn't understand to study the coin. It seemed that the coin was not engraved with the owl emblem, but the location of the missing Dick.

Benjamin changed back into human form: "Who took Dick away? Do you know anything?"

Batman scraped a little crumb off the coin and placed it in some kind of instrument to analyze its composition. Then he opened the Batcomputer and began to search rapidly. "Nothing's confirmed yet. Let me know once the Omnitrix buffer is finished."

"What's the story behind that coin?" Li Hua asked after Benjamin left. "Bruce's reaction is so dramatic. Surely Two-Face just decided on a whim to make a seasonal edition of his coin?"

"I hope it's just a commemorative coin. I saw the words on the coin."

Jason was worried, as if he saw something from his nightmare appear in reality.

"If I'm not mistaken, it seems to say 'Court of Owls'..."

Oracle: "...What?"

"Is this a naming preference for a new villain? Seemingly seeing the magical boy Red Hood haunting Gotham and wanting to recreate a nursery rhyme?" Tim asked. "If so, then this person's naming skills are truly terrible."

Jason sneered, "That's right. We might as well call it Turkey Court, so we can still use the mascot every Thanksgiving."

Li Hua: "Excuse me, what is the Court of Owls? A court that uses owls instead of ostraca and uses the law of banishment?"

The locals in Gotham started to scold people, and even exposed a scuba diver. Only the outsiders Li Hua and Benjamin felt very confused.

Benjamin: "A group of people who were pecked by a genetically mutated owl and then awakened owl superpowers?"

"The Court of Owls is a legendary organization mentioned in a terrifying nursery rhyme that circulates throughout Gotham."

The oracle recited a nursery rhyme.

"'Beware the Court of Owls, always watching your every move. He watches Gotham City from the shadows, hiding in the low walls and attics. He is with you in your home, and even in your bed. Never mention his name, or his claws will find your head...' This nursery rhyme, a cult classic, has been circulating in Gotham City for a long time."

Li Hua: "Is this some sort of Peeping Tom version of Voldemort? Tim's right, it's a terrible name. What if kids have nightmares? I'd say this shouldn't be a nursery rhyme; it should be rated 16."

"I don't think so..." Benjamin's voice came from the Batman channel, and the voice sounded a little far away and a little echoing.

"Considering the numerous traumatic experiences you've created for me during my childhood, I'll tentatively agree with your opinion," Li Hua said. "But I still reserve the opinion that this should not be classified as a children's work."

Jason: "I agree with Li Hua's opinion. This thing is simply a childhood shadow for countless Gotham people. Of course, not me. After all, to me, the villain in a nursery rhyme is not as scary as my own life."

"Then I'm afraid this thing will be twice as scary for you, buddy."

Benjamin stood in a secret room full of owl elements, his expression as solemn as Batman next to him.

This was the second such secret room they had found. The decoration and the degree of dust accumulation in the two secret rooms were obviously different. They were obviously from different eras. If this wasn't some kind of fun house for children's song fans...

"From today on, the Court of Owls is no longer a legend."

Batman declared, standing under the "watchful eye" of the Court of Owls' Talon suit.

"The Court of Owls is real, and they took Dick away."

…

Dick was walking home from get off work, in a good mood planning what to eat for dinner, when he saw a hunched old man sitting on the ground, holding his waist in pain, with the fruits and vegetables in the plastic bag scattered all over the floor.

"Old man, are you okay?"

The old man stood up shakily with the help of the wall, and was about to squat down to pick up the things on the ground. Dick rushed forward to support the old man, picked up the goods on the ground for the old man first, and then supported the old man.

"Do you need me to take you to the hospital?"

"I won't go!" The old man gasped, his eyes wide. "My body isn't that fragile. It's just a fall. It's still a long way to go before I see God!"

This wasn't the first time Dick had seen this kind of stubborn old man. He smiled and said, "I can see that, but to be on the safe side, let me give you a ride. Is your home nearby?"

The old man tried to straighten himself and take it, but perhaps the blow had really hurt his waist. In the end, he could only point in a direction resignedly: "...over there, just a few steps past that intersection."

"What a coincidence, I'm on my way." Dick carefully helped the old man up, took over the shopping bags that were too heavy for the patient with a back injury, and helped him all the way to an apartment building. He helped him up the stairs and stopped in front of an apartment.

"arrive."

The old man took out the key from his coat pocket, opened the door, and his tone softened.

"Come in and have a drink of water, child."

…and what happened after that?

Dick shook his head, trying to clear his dizzy mind.

In fact, since his limbs were firmly restrained on a device that looked like a dental patient bed, this was the only movement Dick could make so far.

A beam of light shone from overhead, and everything around was covered in darkness except Dick and a pile of things around him that looked like dental equipment.

"Hello, Officer Dick Grayson." A man wearing a white face mask walked out of the darkness in front of Dick. "Or more formally, Mr. Richard John Grayson? Or should I call you-"

"Nightwing?"

"I don't understand what you're saying." Dick looked sharply at the man in the white mask. "Although I'm off duty now, what you did is undoubtedly an assault on a police officer."

"Relax, Grayson. You belong here, we're just taking you home."

The man in white mask was not angry at Dick's words. He waved his hand, and two men in golden owl masks walked out of the shadows. They walked straight to Dick, one pinched his jaw and forced his mouth open, and the other stuffed something into Dick's mouth.

The white mask introduced politely: "A mouth opener, a standard medical device, just to prevent you from moving around and stopping us. Relax, Grayson. As I said, this is your real home, we won't hurt you."

If Dick hadn't been unable to speak with something gagged in his mouth, he would have cursed, "If knocking people unconscious and kidnapping is your family tradition, then I don't want to be part of your family!"

He is not a wild bird without a family!

White Mask picked up a dental mirror from the instrument table next to him and put it into Dick's mouth. He said to him, "See? This is proof that you have always had our emblem on you."

Dick: “…”

It was unclear whether the instruments around him were modified instruments from dental clinics, but the man in the white mask in front of him definitely had no experience in dental work.

For Dick saw nothing but his own healthy white teeth and the flash in his eyes from the reflected overhead light.

So when the mouthpiece was removed, Dick answered honestly: "Sorry, amateur dentist, you may have seen something, but I only saw my healthy, white teeth."

"Oh, it's my problem. I'm really not very good at this kind of thing." The man in the white mask pulled a white robotic arm connected to a display screen from behind Dick's seat, moved the screen to where Dick could see it, and took out an intraoral camera connected to a wire from the instrument table. "Then let's do it again. You know the process, right? Let's save ourselves unnecessary struggles and say, ah——"

Dick: So this set of things is indeed modified dental equipment!

After I go back this time, I think I will have a psychological trauma about dental clinics for a while.

The white mask placed the electronic lens into Dick's mouth, aimed it at a tooth on his upper jaw, and then let the image of the tooth remain on the screen. He pulled the lens out and asked Dick, "Do you see this tooth?"

Dick: "Yes, but I only see an ordinary tooth. If you envy my dental health, I can recommend my dentist to you."

"Thank you, but no, there are better dentists at the courthouse."

As soon as the White Mask finished speaking, one of the warriors wearing an owl mask punched Dick in the face with a steady and fierce punch, and a white tooth flew out.

The bloody tooth was brought to Dick's eyes for display. This time, Dick saw clearly that the tooth had no roots. Its bottom was inlaid with a small metal disc with an owl engraved on it.

White Mask said, "You see, you have long been branded by the court. You belong here, Grayson."

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