Chapter 108's exposure is probably some kind of narrative trick (?).
“So it’s just that someone died, it just so happens that it was someone you knew,” Night Owl interrupted Dick’s statement. “Can we ignore all the sadness that can’t help you achieve your goal and get straight to the point? You can just tell me what you want, and I happen to be in a pretty good mood today, so I might just agree to it.”
"..." Dick said with a straight face, "May I ask you to remain silent for now?"
"Did I really look that easy to talk to?" Night Owl remarked. "Alright, go on, but I'm more curious about the 'videotape.' Could you elaborate on that?"
Dick glared at him again, but Night Owl couldn't see his eyes through his goggles.
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After Batman announced the death of Thomas Wayne Jr., a long silence fell over the Batcave.
The news came too suddenly. Even though Thomas Jr. always subtly revealed his life attitude and forced everyone at Wayne Manor to accept the fact that he would inevitably leave this world early through his extreme words and deeds, no one could accept such a sudden news.
“My child, my child,” Martha was the first to react. She almost collapsed to the ground, muttering in despair, “Why…why do you always have to face such a cruel fate…”
Dick stepped forward and took out the videotape that he had tucked into his belt.
“This is what he showed us before he left,” he said in a low voice. “I guess there must be some important information in it.”
Silence. No one spoke.
Batman took the videotape and tried several times before finally inserting it into the Batcomputer.
The contents were quickly extracted, and Thomas's face appeared on the Bat computer screen, staring blankly at his family.
“Good morning, Batman. By the time you see this, I will have already been blown up by the bomb I created. Don’t worry, my death was completely painless,” Thomas’s voice came from the Batcomputer. Perhaps because it was just a video, his voice sounded unusually cold. “I know you must have a lot of questions, so I specially recorded this video and created a simple Q&A program based on some questions you might be curious about.”
"First of all, I must state that this incident was entirely planned by me and based entirely on my own free will... if I really have such a thing."
“My plan was actually to activate the quantum state bomb on Christmas Day and destroy this planet directly,” the mouth in the video opened and closed, and there was no emotion in the pale blue eyes. “Later I didn’t want to do it, but I couldn’t waste the bomb that I had worked so hard to invent, so I simply tricked the Joker into coming and dragged him to his death. So the mastermind behind everything is just me. You have no one to fight against.”
“I’ve never been able to fully understand you, Batman, so I can only speculate about your current emotions.”
"At this moment you may feel extremely sad, or relatively calm. But in any case, the pain and sorrow a person feels at a funeral is probably only a small part of what is given to the deceased. The rest is a mixture of societal shaping, self-projection, and the grief of unfulfilled desires... Sadness is meaningless to a person who has already died, so I would rather you just forget about it and not waste your energy on someone who is determined to die and has already left."
Thomas paused for a moment, then continued, "So you don't need to prepare any troublesome things like a funeral for me. Just say I'm missing. Based on my estimation of the bomb's power, my body should have been completely disintegrated into a small pile of particles by now."
"So if you really love me, put down your sadness and pain, and celebrate with a smile how I died peacefully and painlessly." He concluded, "Even sadness and pain fade eventually. If you live long enough, all that's left in the world is numbness, at least that's how it was for me."
The image freezes, with Isaiah Thomas's indifferent face remaining in the last frame.
“Why…” Batman clenched his fist, staring at the face that seemed indifferent to everything, “Why did you have to do this? Thomas Wayne Jr., do you remember…”
"Why?" the program repeated, then interrupted Batman's question with an answer: "There are countless reasonable reasons for both living and dying. To choose to live or die for a noble purpose, for family, for enjoyment, for escape, for oneself... This question can have countless reasonable or unreasonable answers, and the subtle difference between reasonable and unreasonable is only related to the value orientation of the individual judge. Moreover, you have always regarded life itself as the foundation of everything, and my actions are completely contrary to your principles. Therefore, I deduce that no matter what answer I give, you will deny it, and in turn deny my actions and all efforts related to it."
"So I had no choice but to answer like this—because I was bound to walk this path, and it just so happens that this one is me, because although I don't have the freedom or right to choose, I still have the intention and ability to choose."
At this point, Dick suddenly looked up at the owl.
“So you know what he meant, Night Owl?” Dick had clearly realized that the goggles on the Claw uniform concealed his eyes well, and he stared intently at Night Owl’s face, trying to discern any particular emotion.
Thomas Wayne Jr., who is not yet twenty-five years old, has reached the pinnacle of power in Gotham at a young age. From any perspective, he cannot be said to have "lived long enough" or "had no intention or right to choose".
"What do you mean? Doesn't he just want to die?" Night Owl pursed his lips. "It's just a simple reading problem... except that there are some uncommon words and long sentences. So minors should study hard and not go out at night. What you should do now is go back and catch up on your sleep, and go to school tomorrow."
“I thought you knew him better than we did, after all, you're the only one in Gotham City who knows he wants to destroy the world.” Dick continued to observe Night Owl, trying to find some flaw in him. “Isn’t that right?”
“Who knows?” Night Owl retorted nonchalantly. “At least I have no idea what he really wants. Thomas Wayne is a bomb floating in the air, with no destination in sight. What’s next?”
“Batman didn’t ask any more questions, and I helped Grandma Martha out of the Batcave,” Dick continued. “Then I told her I knew Thomas had brought…”
“I see. The guy who impersonated me told you that Thomas stole technology from me and brought back two dead men,” Night Owl interrupted him. “And then you set your sights on me, planning to use me to resurrect Thomas Wayne?”
“Yes, I’ve teamed up with Grandpa Thomas, Grandma Martha, and Jason,” Dick stared at Night Owl. “Batman and Alfred certainly won’t agree to my plan anyway.”
"I temporarily handed over Robin's job to Jason, and under the cover of the three of them, I left Wayne Manor, found Claws, and persuaded them to bring me in. That part was relatively easy."
“So I’m really curious,” Night Owl looked away, “You all knew that Thomas Wayne had voluntarily given up his life, and that bringing him back would have been completely pointless, yet you still made up your mind and took the risk to do it… It’s absurd,” Night Owl continued, “According to Thomas Wayne’s own account, it was all his own choice, it was his own will.”
“Never mind all that, just pretend we’re determined to pull him out of hell and give him a good beating,” Dick said, turning his head away with a grim expression. “So, do you have any ideas?”
“Yes, unfortunately, there is indeed a precedent of someone surviving within the core blast radius of the quantum bomb,” Night Owl readily agreed, placing his hand on his shoulder. “Coincidentally, I also need to use the technology you want to bring my subordinate back.”
"Your subordinate is dead too?"
“No,” Night Owl lowered his hand and strode to the end of the corridor, “he was just kicked into another universe by Thomas Wayne Jr., but I can still do some work for you first.”
“With a quantum starter?” Dick asked in a low voice, “The thing on the bomb landing gear?”
“That’s right,” Night Owl replied absentmindedly, his back to Dick. “Anyway, there are always similar little Thomases. What kind do you want?”
“So you’re planning to just grab any Thomas from the multiverse,” Dick said, reaching for the belt of the Claw suit, “like you brought back Grandpa Thomas and Grandma Martha from the multiverse?”
"Finally couldn't keep up the act anymore?" Night Owl turned around, kicking away the smoke bomb Dick had thrown at him. "Well, I thought Alfred would take all my little secrets that might affect family harmony to the grave... When did you find out my identity?"
Dick gave a somewhat sly smile.
“Until you just admitted it yourself, Thomas, I had no conclusive evidence,” Dick said, making a face and nimbly kicking Night Owl’s chin. “It was all a lie, are you surprised?”
“I’m pleasantly surprised,” Night Owl said, easily grabbing his calf. “I never expected you could learn these things I was trying to teach you. I thought you would only ever be a kind and honest person.”
"Hey!" Dick kicked his leg in annoyance. "Whose fault is this? It's all your fault!"
“Okay, it’s all my fault,” Night Owl released his grip on Dick’s leg, took a step back, and dodged the flying batarang. “What are you doing here, Batman?”
“Of course, it’s to teach my brother a lesson,” Batman stepped out of the darkness. “I think I should at least make up for the mistakes Penny and I made in parenting.”
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The author's note: ò? ó He successfully achieved his goal—referring to teaching the bird to lie (not really).
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I've been taking a lot of exams lately... so my mental state isn't great. I'll probably update the bad ending short story first (which is probably some kind of self-recharge segment).
Okay, I'm not really willing to hurt the original characters... Anyway, it depends on how I do on my online exam in a couple of days.
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Wow, I feel like I'm a genius at emoticons [starry eyes] So which one is more fitting?
ò? ó or òvó?
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