Chapter 89 Who is the Evil Owl? Who exactly is the owl?
“So you mean,” Thomas concluded, “that you and that fake owl put on a show together…”
The fake Claw proposed that the real Claws cooperate with him to destroy the world, and then deliberately let the real Claws discover his flaws.
“This ensures that even if the real Night Owl were to use the power of the Court of Owls to create a quantum bomb, he would be suspected,” Bruce added. “Especially since Night Owl has never even revealed his true form to his subordinates.”
So there's a mole within Claws, otherwise how could Batman know that Owl has never revealed his true identity to his men?
"So what do they think about their boss wanting to destroy the world?" Thomas asked, somewhat puzzled. "Logically speaking, if the other members of the Court of Owls realized that the Night Owl would destroy the world, it might cause them to fight amongst themselves."
“According to that fake Night Owl’s description, the Court of Owls’ main fighting force is a group of brainwashed and modified living dead who only mechanically obey orders,” Bruce casually explained. “I don’t think we can just rely on the will of these people who have hardly ever lived for themselves to fight back against the Night Owls.”
“Okay,” Thomas Jr. said thoughtfully, “and then?”
"It worked well. Most of the Claws attacked us after they realized that Night Owl was really not doing something right," Bruce continued. "One Claw even cursed at us."
"What?"
“To say we were stupid enough to stand with a lunatic like Thomas Wayne,” Bruce nudged Thomas with his elbow. “Look, this time it’s entirely your reputation that’s dragging Batman down.”
“Great, I’ll take this as a compliment, even though I’m a perfectly normal person, definitely not a madman.”
"The more you emphasize this point, the more suspicious it seems."
“Am I not normal enough?” Thomas Jr. naturally changed the subject. “So what’s the Penguin thing? I don’t think he would want to see Nite Owl, and it’s unlikely he would show up at Nite Owl’s headquarters.”
“Even though you’re changing the subject, I have to say it: in this family, I’m probably the only one more abnormal than you. That gives you an idea of just how abnormal you are.” Bruce teased Thomas before getting down to business. “Actually, I found the Court of Owls through the Penguin. He seems to have a former Court of Owls member working for him, and he wanted me to protect his life. I happened to use a secret code to reach a brief agreement with the fake Night Owl. According to the Penguin, the Joker, the newly revealed but unscrupulous second Batman, and some supervillains are seriously disrupting Gotham’s underground order. Night Owl’s prolonged absence from Gotham has caused unrest…”
“I think I understand. He wants to use this opportunity to gain more control over Night Owl,” Thomas said calmly, keeping his eyes on Bruce. “I guess you have something to ask me too?”
“Of course, Thomas.” Bruce fiddled with his fingers. “Do you know the real identity of Night Owl? He hasn’t shown up for a long time. Whether he’s dead or alive, I think we should find him as soon as possible.”
“Of course I don’t know,” Thomas shook his head. “You know, there are people in this world who are exceptionally good at disguising themselves, and I just happen to not have X-ray vision.”
“What features?” Bruce pressed. “I trust your observation skills, Tommy. We know too little right now.”
Batman is certainly very smart.
But Night Owl rarely appeared in front of him, so it was difficult for him to deduce Night Owl's true identity from such a small amount of information.
As for Isaiah Thomas, regardless of whether those strange rumors are true or not, he has at least had contact with the Night Owl, and probably more than once or twice.
“You could say that,” Thomas nodded. “Have you noticed that Night Owl seems a bit like Batman?”
"What did you say? Did I suddenly hear something wrong with my ears?" Bruce moved to the other end of the sofa. "Who are you saying looks like Batman?"
“Night Owl,” Thomas turned to look at him, “Night Owl is very similar to Batman.”
“It doesn’t seem quite right. Besides both having capes, always appearing at night, and having two points on their shadows, what else is similar? Could it be that their bases are all underground?” Dick poked his head out from behind the sofa. “Or maybe they both have sharp claws? If you think about it that way, it does seem quite similar.”
Thomas and Bruce both turned to look at him at the same time, and Dick ran back upstairs.
"So you really have to do this?" Jason's voice came from the second floor.
Bruce looked at Dick, who looked back at him and mouthed, “Don’t worry! He just arrived, I guarantee he didn’t hear what you were talking about.”
"Don't you guys have to go to school today?" Bruce rubbed his head and asked loudly.
“We can’t go,” Jason stood up, his legs a little numb. “Grandpa Thomas thinks neither of us should leave Wayne Manor until things calm down in Gotham.”
He spoke these words so lightly and quickly, as if they were extremely hot to swallow.
“It’s rare that we’ve all gathered here,” Alfred asked Thomas and Bruce. “Young masters, would you like to have a picnic on the lawn at noon? I think I can probably find a corner that isn’t covered by cameras.”
“Good idea, Alfred,” Bruce agreed.
"So I can eat whatever I want..."
Thomas was about to ask a question when Alfred interrupted him.
“No, young Thomas, from a health perspective, you should reduce your sugar intake,” Alfred said seriously. “Besides, I think if I put your favorite foods and other family members’ food on a picnic mat, it’s very likely to cause some unnecessary trouble.”
"The way he fights, when Batman appears in Gotham," Thomas turned his head back, trying to express his dissatisfaction, "Although Nite Owl uses high-performance power armor, his fighting style is not that different from Batman's."
Good clue. If we know which part is similar to Batman, we might be able to find someone related to Night Owl among Batman's group of mentors.
"Could you be more specific, Tommy? Which part is most similar?"
“They look alike in every way,” Thomas said seriously. “Aside from the minor differences caused by the different tools, I guess if Batman wore the Nite Owl power armor, he would look almost exactly like Nite Owl.”
“Batman once told me he hadn’t fought Night Owl. Obviously, he didn’t want a direct confrontation with Batman and even tried to recruit him to his side,” Bruce could even hear gasps coming from the second floor, probably Jason, but he didn’t think Jason could deduce Bruce Wayne’s true identity from his words, so he didn’t take it seriously. “Do you have video footage of him attacking others, Tommy?”
“Of course I do,” Thomas Jr. replied, “but most of the time it was him throwing people off the building unilaterally. You know, ordinary people in Gotham wouldn’t have the strength to fight him.”
"What about the other part?"
"Another part is that he commands his henchmen, the Claws, to throw people down," Thomas said honestly. "I think you could suggest that Batman fight Night Owl himself to see if I'm telling the truth."
“That makes sense, but I think if Batman really gets to see Night Owl, he’ll definitely do his best to bring him to justice.” Bruce looked at Thomas speechlessly. “Look, Tommy, now we’re back to square one. We need to use clues to determine Night Owl’s true identity because we want to know where he is now, since he hasn’t shown up in a long time.”
“And if that owl doesn’t show up, I don’t think even Batman could verify the Night Owl’s true identity using the clues you’ve provided,” Alfred added. “That’s probably the ‘Night Owl Paradox’.”
"So do you have any other clues?" Bruce asked pessimistically. "Preferably ones that are easy to verify."
Dick eagerly peered out from the stairwell, waving his arms exaggeratedly.
"Um, he looks a lot like Batman? Actually, I didn't want to say that." Thomas took out his phone and "laboriously" pulled out a CCTV screenshot showing the face of Night Owl, a picture he had prepared beforehand. "Take a look for yourself."
Bruce carefully grabbed Thomas's phone, zoomed in on the picture, and covered the Owl's mask with his finger, only showing the lower half of his face.
“Alfred, take a look,” Bruce held the phone up to Alfred’s nose. “Does he look like Batman?”
Alfred observed carefully for a while, then answered cautiously, "Although I don't want to associate Batman with a supervillain, and this photo isn't very clear, I think he does have some resemblance to Batman."
How similar are they?
"One-half, I guess."
Bruce breathed a slight sigh of relief.
"After all, these two nocturnal creatures only showed half of their faces."
Bruce held his breath, trying to sort out everything that had happened recently.
An even louder gasp came from the other end of the stairs; clearly, Dick had joined in this time.
Bruce, with a stern face, handed the phone back to Thomas.
“Actually, you don’t need to worry so much,” Thomas said quietly. “These things can all be faked.”
"No, I've seen some footage of Night Owl before Batman appeared in Gotham, and it's similar to this photo."
Unless the Night Owl can predict the future, he probably wouldn't specifically imitate Bruce Wayne.
“If he really is connected to Batman,” he said rather cautiously, “that would be troublesome.”
Bruce couldn't help but think of some of the information that the former member of the Court of Owls had told him.
According to him, Owl claims to be from the future, possesses a wealth of Gotham's secrets and the weaknesses of the Claws, has never shown his face, and harbors a sinister hostility toward most members of the Court of Owls. Coincidentally, he learned these secrets on Halloween.
There's also that inexplicable "curfew" and the Owl's strange attitude of avoiding Batman.
If Night Owl really is the future Bruce Wayne, it seems to explain a lot of things.
So, is it possible that Bruce will become Night Owl in the future?
No, no, no, how could that be?
Bruce fell into a little self-doubt.
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Author's Note: A Little Skit (No-Responsibility Scene)
Jason: This Wayne family is such a mess! Batman and Bruce are secretly working together, Nite Owl and Batman have never fought, and there's even a story between Nite Owl and Thomas...
òvó: Whose fault is this? Is it my fault?
Cup Noodles: Yes, it's all your fault.
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