Chapter 55 Anger Level...
"Night Owl!" Dick gripped the throwing knife that Claw had given him warily. "What are you going to do?"
What are you doing? Night Owl had only wanted to see his claws with his own eyes.
They ended up seeing an imposter with his family, seemingly heading somewhere unknown.
The owl didn't speak, but instead spread its cloak, leaned forward, and swooped down.
He didn't hold back at all, seemingly intending to crush the imposter to a bloody pulp with this blow.
But this time Thomas was prepared; he turned and avoided the owl.
Seeing that the attack was unlikely to hit, Night Owl adjusted his posture in mid-air and threw the boomerang in his hand.
The boomerang barely grazed Thomas's scalp; had Dick not thrown a knife to deflect it, it would have slit his neck.
The silver light spun once and returned to Night Owl's hand.
"You're stopping me?" Night Owl asked incredulously. "Didn't you realize this is an imposter?"
There was a moment of silence in the alley.
Well, Owl's mood is absolutely terrible today.
He was already annoyed by being locked up by the GCPD, and then a bunch of people suddenly appeared who wanted to kidnap him and send him to the East End.
Being sent to the East District was one thing, Thomas was prepared for it all; it would be strange if the people behind the scenes didn't take this opportunity to do something.
He found an opportunity to escape and dealt with a bunch of clueless thugs before he could finally put on the Night Owl armor.
He reconnected to the Court of Owls' internal line, turned on the secret surveillance system installed by the Court of Owls in the East District, and tried to find the guy who was causing him trouble.
But he found Dick first, or rather, he took the initiative to find Claws, who wanted the Owl Court equipment.
Obviously, there are some things that can be put on hold compared to this.
Night Owl decisively decided to hand the case over to Batman. He activated the locator hidden in the Claw suit and headed straight there.
He then stood on the rooftop and witnessed the touching scene of "Thomas" and Dick reuniting.
...That's really touching.
Of course, the most "touching" part is that Dick was completely unaware that Thomas was a counterfeit product, and even went so far as to stop Night Owl's weapon for this fake.
“…So you really didn’t notice.” Night Owl put down his weapon.
For some reason, Dick felt a pang of guilt.
But he quickly adjusted his mindset and retorted confidently, "Do you have any evidence?"
In any case, it's unlikely that one person could perfectly impersonate another.
Besides, while Thomas is indeed a bit strange... it would be even stranger if Thomas suddenly became a person who conforms to the generally accepted standards of a normal person.
Good question.
This is getting more and more absurd; the Night Owl has to prove that the fake across from him isn't him.
“Just now,” Night Owl said in a menacing tone, “if it had been the real Thomas Wayne, he would have immediately taught you a lesson for blocking my weapon. That kind of behavior is dangerous.”
...That seems to make some sense.
Barbara had a sudden inspiration: "Dick, ask a few questions and let Thomas answer them."
The two looked at each other, and Barbara blinked a few times.
Dick immediately understood what she meant.
Whether this Thomas is real or fake, it's just stalling for time, waiting for Batman.
Only Dick could do this task, because he was the only one of the three who had a relationship with Night Owl.
He turned his head and asked loudly, "What's Thomas's favorite drink?"
“…Strawberry milkshake,” Thomas replied, somewhat speechless.
“Anyone who has ever attended a Wayne family party knows,” Night Owl said impatiently. “I think you could ask some more difficult questions, like when you said what.”
Dick could certainly ask questions that only he and Thomas knew the answers to, but even if he did, it wouldn't make things any better.
If this Thomas is a fake, Night Owl will obviously not let it go; if this Thomas is real, given their long-standing feud, Night Owl seems unlikely to let him off the hook either.
If we don't want to add another corpse to this mess, we'll just have to put this on hold until Batman arrives.
"Um... what is Bruce afraid of?" Dick asked tentatively.
“A bat. He fell into the bat cave at Wayne Manor when he was a child,” Thomas answered fluently.
"What is the core principle of the quantum essential state bomb?" Night Owl asked impatiently.
The three-person group all looked at Night Owl.
What kind of bomb?
“How could I possibly let you know my skills so easily?” Thomas looked at Night Owl warily.
“Another piece of evidence,” Night Owl stepped closer, “If you really are Thomas Wayne, you should know that the quantum bomb is entirely my invention.”
“We can’t determine the truth of this matter based solely on your side of the story,” Dick said sternly. “Rejected.”
The owl's anger level surged again.
“I’m sorry to say you’ve wasted my precious patience,” Night Owl said in a hostile tone. “I think you’ve got at least one thing wrong—I am the one with the power to judge truth from falsehood now, not you.”
Night Owl approached Thomas and the trio: "Remember, the power of the court has never been about justice; it only stems from the power and violence behind it."
Thomas tried to dodge, but it was impossible; the owl easily slammed him against the wall.
This was even after he had considered that there were three minors beside him, so he did not fully utilize the power of the armor.
“Anyone who can be easily killed is a fake,” Night Owl rushed forward. “The one who is alive is the real Thomas Wayne. That’s the simplest way to tell.”
What the heck!
Thomas dodged awkwardly, while Dick went to meet him.
This is a narrow alley.
Unable to find a way to completely avoid the three children and kill the imposter directly, the owl finally withdrew his hand in frustration.
I'm done!
Night Owl picked up Dick, tucked him under his arm with one hand, and forced a gap through which he quickly passed.
There was nothing he could do; Dick was standing right in the middle.
Night Owl then put Dick down, took out his grappling hook, and tried to pull Thomas over.
However, a small black object deflected the grappling hook, and then a small ball fell down, emitting thick smoke. The gas mask inside the Night Owl helmet automatically rose up.
...Here we go again.
Clearly, it was Batman who made the move this time.
Batman is not an enemy that can be easily defeated, and Night Owl cautiously stopped his movements.
A whooshing sound came as Batman fell from the sky, and Owl took a step back to avoid it.
Batman used the momentum to spin around and fling off his cape, but Owl clearly knew the cape's power. He stepped back again and then caught Batman's punch, while hesitating whether to hit his brother on the nose.
What's going on! Why doesn't anyone recognize me?!
"Can't you guys really tell that what's over there is a fake?!" Night Owl squeezed out the words through gritted teeth.
Batman frowned: "What counterfeit?"
He stopped attacking, and the two stood facing each other.
“Here’s the thing, Night Owl insists that this Thomas is someone else in disguise…” Barbara tried to describe the events in detail, but things had been in chaos since the beginning.
“I understand,” Batman said, his back to Thomas. “What will Thomas Wayne’s future be like?”
Night Owl looked at Batman.
...Do you really have to ask this kind of question? Wouldn't it be better to just take him to Wayne Enterprises for a blood test? Asking it like this immediately makes it clear that you have a close relationship with Thomas Wayne.
You're not going to kill someone to cover it up. What if this imposter tells someone else?
“…death,” Thomas replied.
“You seem to know Thomas Wayne quite well,” Night Owl sneered, “but unfortunately, the correct answer to this question is ‘blue’.”
Upon hearing this, everyone present turned to look at Night Owl.
“It seems you know Thomas Wayne better than I do,” Thomas said, narrowing his eyes. “Who are you?”
Night Owl ignored the imposter. Now that he had achieved his goal of drawing attention away from Batman, he was ready to leave.
Night Owl drew his grappling hook and disappeared into the night.
"Hey! He just left like that?"
“Obviously.” Batman strapped “Thomas” back on. “The most important thing now is to find Thomas Wayne.”
He grabbed Thomas by the collar: "Tell me everything you know."
“Ahem…” Thomas cleared his throat with difficulty, “Let me see Bruce Wayne.”
?
What does this have to do with Bruce Wayne?
Just then, Batman's communicator rang.
Thomas's voice came through: "Please take him to my office... and while you're at it, get me the drink Alfred prepared for me."
-
Thomas Wayne returned to his loyal office.
Following closely behind are Batman, Barbara, Dick, Jason, Milkshake... and the imposters.
“Thanks,” Thomas said, taking the important prop milkshake and completely ignoring the imposter’s gaze. “Do you want to go pick up Bruce? He seems to be downstairs.”
Thank you for your caution, but... is it absolutely necessary for Bruce Wayne to appear?
Batman walked away silently.
“Alright, now let’s settle things. According to you…” Thomas turned to the trio, “So in your eyes, I’m a moody, irrational man who kills indiscriminately, a psychopath who tramples on his parents’ memorial? A criminal who has been hiding for years?”
Although these impressions are entirely correct (except for the part about mental illness, he is of course a perfectly normal person), it is precisely at times like these that we should question him with righteous indignation.
“I’m really sad.” Thomas put down his drink and said expressionlessly, “Even the owl could see it, but you couldn’t.”
Just as he was about to unleash his acting prowess, Bruce rushed in, panting, and grabbed Thomas's shoulder: "You...you're alright, Thomas."
Okay, this acting is pretty good too.
Thomas wanted to take the role of Bruce Wayne, but the imposter interrupted him, saying, "Bruce Wayne... I'll get everything from you one day..."
"Bang!"
A fire axe flew over, passing by the imposter and embedding itself firmly in the bookshelf.
“If you say even one more crazy thing in my face,” Thomas looked down at him, “I’ll crack your skull open and flush the contents down the drain.”
The trio took a step back.
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Author's note: I plan to finish Hollow Knight before Silksong is released (it's really fun!).
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