Chapter 99 Trust Crisis
Batman paused for a moment, then nodded.
A tool is useless if you don't use it.
It's just temporarily impersonating Night Owl's elder, right? It's very simple.
"Does Your Honor have any other more specific orders?" Claw rubbed the small knife in his hand. "Like, how to kill him?"
“No,” Batman said in a low voice, “the situation is urgent, keep things simple.”
“Okay,” Claw crouched down, about to strike, but Robin seized the opportunity and kicked his wrist.
"What's going on!" Robin shouted angrily. "Didn't we agree to cooperate?"
“Otherwise what? Of course I have to follow the orders of the Court of Owls,” Claw steadied himself and gripped the knife firmly again. “You’re not Night Owl, why should I listen to you?”
“That sounds familiar,” Robin said, dodging the claws. “How about you pay me some royalties?”
Okay, things are getting a bit tricky now.
If it were Dick standing here now, he might be able to persuade Claw by virtue of his relationship with Night Owl himself.
But now it's Robin standing here, and he can't possibly reveal his identity.
“Keep the kids,” Batman emphasized to Talon, “Just kill the Penguin.”
“Hold him off, or better yet, distract them,” Thomas’s voice rang in his ears. “Batman will be here soon.”
“Do you really have to listen to him?” Robin questioned Claw loudly. “What if Night Owl has a bad relationship with his family and runs away from home? There are plenty of examples of that, and he looks like it.”
“How would I know anything about family of origin?” Claw replied somewhat doubtfully. “I’m an orphan, and I’ve been Claw of the Court of Owls for as long as I can remember.”
“…I’m sorry,” Robin said softly.
The scene fell silent for a moment.
“Take a step forward.” Thomas’s voice rang out again, and Robin immediately took a big step forward.
Batman's hand slashed across the back of his neck, the resulting gust of wind ruffling his hair slightly.
"Good reaction time," Batman praised, picking up his gun again and pointing it at the Penguin.
“Now,” Thomas Jr. continued, directing Robin, “take a running start and jump to kick that claw. Don’t worry, he won’t suddenly pull out a knife to slash you.”
"So how do you know so much?"
Robin did as he said, and sure enough, Claw simply crossed his arms to block Robin's feet.
“Use the momentum to twist your body, grab the hand holding the gun, and kick him in the chin.” Thomas took a sip of water. “The ‘Bathound’ camera isn’t broken; I can see what’s going on with you.”
“No, I’m talking about combat skills!” Robin did as instructed, but still took the opportunity to ask Thomas in a low voice, “And how do you know they won’t draw their swords?”
Batman indeed lowered the arm holding the gun and used his other arm to deflect Robin's kick.
"Let go, do a backflip, dodge, jump further," Thomas continued to instruct. "If you were assassinated every day, you could learn it too."
This was very easy for Robin; he did a standard and perfect backflip and went straight to the other side of the room.
“Claws are easier to understand; most claws simply obey commands mechanically.”
“Okay, and then?” Robin asked in a low voice.
"And then?" Thomas leaned back in his chair. "There's nothing more to do."
"What... wait a minute!"
Robin watched as Claw picked up his knife again, wanting to stop him, but he was already far from the center of the battlefield.
"So you did it on purpose!" Robin said, pulling out his Robin's Halberd and throwing it at the knife in Claw's hand.
But this move didn't work well; the claw flicked the dart away with a backhand side flick.
Batman then raised his gun again.
Fortunately, just then, the original Batman from this universe emerged from the ventilation duct, his bat claws grabbing "Batman's" gun and disarming him.
"It's strange. On one side is you, and on the other is the Penguin who's gone mad and keeps trying to kill me. Is there any doubt that I would choose him? Whether the Penguin lives or dies has nothing to do with me. Even if you just grabbed someone off the street in Gotham and put them in my place, you wouldn't get the other answer." Thomas's tone sounded a little frivolous. "I never said I would help you protect the Penguin."
Given that the Penguin has successfully spread the word about the quantum bomb, his usefulness to Thomas is now virtually zero.
Considering that the Penguin still possesses considerable information about the Night Owl and is even attempting to maintain order in Gotham, the best outcome for him would be to die now.
“But you just said Claw wouldn’t lay a hand on me.” Robin seized the opportunity to rush forward, grabbing Claw’s hand to relieve the pressure on Batman. “You just said Claw would only mechanically obey orders…”
“That sounds interesting,” Thomas said, his voice devoid of any emotion. “So you’re betting that ‘Night Owl’s elder’ won’t suddenly back out because he thinks you’re in the way, or that you’re hiding your strength and have the confidence to survive against two adults who are skilled at killing?”
The words sounded a bit strange, but Robin really didn't know what was wrong with them.
Ultimately, Thomas Jr. isn't a vigilante, and his actions do indeed align with the first reaction an ordinary person would have.
“You’re deliberately testing Robin’s trust in you, T,” Batman said, using the side blade of his gauntlet to block “Batman’s” knife. “While I approve of your attempt to distract him, you could have simply told him I was in the ventilation duct.”
“I knew it…” Robin breathed a slight sigh of relief.
“You too, Robin,” Batman said, nudging the Penguin off the ground to keep him out of the fight. “One day you’ll have to stand on your own too, and you’ll have to be able to trust others while also having your own judgment… especially T. If you believed everything he said, you wouldn’t even be able to celebrate Christmas properly.”
“I bet T’s next line will be ‘I remember what day Christmas is.’” Robin nimbly dodged Claw’s fist. “‘Batman, you’re framing me.’”
“No,” Thomas said calmly and detachedly, “Batman is absolutely right. You really should reflect on yourself. It’s absurd that someone would trust me unconditionally.”
“…Are you serious?” Robin whispered. “T, don’t scare me.”
“Trusting another individual is a very foolish thing to do,” Thomas Jr. continued. “It’s the same with any one of them. You know, humans are completely uncontrollable.”
"Uh," Robin seized the opportunity to snatch the knife from Claw's hand. It seemed that Batman's "no children" order had seriously affected his fighting ability. This was probably the first time he had considered how to avoid the enemy's vital points. "So you want me to suspect you and Batman?"
“In fact, that also includes Alfred,” Thomas continued, ignoring Alfred’s disapproving look, “...Yes, trust is definitely not a necessity of life, but a stumbling block.”
“Don’t listen to him, that’s too extreme. As a vigilante, you can be prepared for all possible malice and betrayal, but that doesn’t mean you should see trust as a stumbling block. It’s still a very beautiful part of human relationships,” Batman said, taking a moment from his fight with “Batman” to try to correct Thomas’s distorted upbringing. “You have to remember, he’s lived his whole life without a single friend.”
“And you, you found a good friend named Thomas Elliott,” Thomas Jr. retorted to Batman. “At least I’m the one who’s lying, not the one being lied to.”
"...Deceiving people is nothing to be proud of," he said, rubbing his temples if Batman weren't still battling "Batman," "especially when you're deceiving someone who trusts you."
“What’s the big deal? Humans either deceive or are deceived. People who trust others too easily will be deceived sooner or later. Why can’t I deceive them?” Thomas retorted confidently, then posed a difficult question, “Okay, let’s test it out—I have a way to get you out of your current troubles quickly. If you trust me, I’ll turn on the speaker. So, do you still trust me?”
Batman and Talon are indeed formidable opponents; one was trained as an assassin from childhood, and the other is an expert in human anatomy and combat techniques. Allowing either of them to get close to the Penguin would have extremely serious consequences.
If only the penguin was smaller, but unfortunately, the penguin is not the kind of person that is easy to carry around.
If Batman chooses to pick up the Penguin and run, he will only make them both live targets under Batman's gun.
Robin hesitated for a moment, but ultimately did not turn on the speaker.
Batman, however, took advantage of a lull in the fight to stand next to Robin, remove the signal receiver from Robin's ear, and throw it on the ground.
"...I now suspect that the two of you planned this behind my back all along," Robin said sarcastically as he flipped over Claw's head. "Isn't this a perfect team effort?"
Thomas Jr. ignored Robin and cleared his throat slightly:
"Can you confirm that this fake Batman is Night Owl's elder?"
Upon hearing this, Claw didn't react much, but Batman hesitated slightly.
“It doesn’t matter, I can’t always take your orders, Thomas Wayne Jr.,” the claws moved without hesitation, “and at least the lower halves of their faces are similar.”
“Actually, Night Owl has a very ordinary face,” Thomas Jr. continued. “Otherwise, why would he only show his mouth?”
"Nobody would believe what you're saying."
"So you're planning to use some meaningless words to piss off Claws?" Robin asked in a low voice, taking a moment out of her busy schedule.
"It's okay, he can't come to Batman's base to beat me up anyway," Thomas said casually. "And... oh, it's you, Bruce..."
The name had an immediate effect; "Batman" threw out a smoke bomb and rushed out of the room.
"How did you wake up?" Thomas finished the sentence perfunctorily to prevent anyone from using it to confirm Batman's true identity. "Batman isn't back yet. You'll have to wait until tomorrow for an autograph."
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Author's Note: A short, irresponsible OOC (Out of Character) skit is coming soon:
Cup Noodles: This is Clark, this is Diana, this is Barry, this is Hal, this is Ron, this is Arthur...
òvó: What do you want to say?
Cup noodles: It's nothing, I just wanted to tell you that I have good friends, good people + friends (emphasis).
òvó: ...How could you remember that for so long? How petty.
(Batman's disapproving look).
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