Chapter 37 Confession? No one's normal.
While everyone was still stunned, Allen grabbed a crystal decoration he was using to decorate the room and threw it at 'Matthew', followed by a book and a glass of water.
Matthew, with perfect reflexes and precision, dodged every one of Allen's "weapons," then gave Allen a guilty smile: "...Allen, you...would you like me to explain? Actually..."
“I don’t want to hear your excuses, Matthew Murdoch.” Alan pronounced Matthew’s name clearly, “Daredevil, no wonder… you bastards!! I’m going to kill you liars!”
The bastards shrank back, too afraid to face the enraged Allen head-on.
If only Dick or Peter had been exposed today, Alan might not be so angry, especially since he was just about to forgive Dick. But today it was Dick, Peter, and Matthew—a triple blow that made Alan's anger far more than triple. Alan, who always considered himself a smart man, began to doubt his own intelligence. He felt like the biggest fool in the world, that no one was dumber than him.
The doctor's increasingly furious expression curled into an ever-brighter smile, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. Instead, it made his murderous intent intensify, his eyes flashing with cold light.
The crystal decoration shattered on the floor. Allen slowly kicked away the shards at his feet and moved to sit down on the sofa.
He crossed his legs, leaned back on the sofa, his eyes were cold, and his posture was very bossy.
Allen's gaze lingered on the three superheroes who stood there like schoolchildren who had made a mistake, and finally he took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and said, "Speak, is there anything else you haven't told me? Tell me everything today so I can see what kind of people are around me."
After saying that, as if he had remembered something, he turned to look at Harry: "My dear Harry, heir of the Osborn family, I don't think you'll tell me that you also have some special identity, will you? If you dare to join the Avengers, I will definitely break your legs gently, bit by bit."
Peter thought to himself, "Harry definitely doesn't have a special identity, but your dad turned into the Green Goblin and joined the Illuminati. I've been investigating him recently."
Oh right, your personal psychologist, Hannibal Lecter, is being watched by the FBI. I heard he's a serial killer.
And another thing, it seems that the angel-demon gene research project you sponsored was destroyed by Gabriel and Constantine when they were fighting.
I cut off the tail of Dr. Collins Connors, who was working with you on the gene project, and sent him to Cube Prison.
It seems... everyone around Alan, except for Harry, has a special identity. That's great, everyone has a bright future ahead of them.
Allen suddenly sneezed.
Unaware of the situation, Harry shuddered slightly, then immediately stood behind his brother, demonstrating that he was just an ordinary person and had absolutely no connection to superheroes or supervillains. His Osborn family were simply unremarkable capitalists; they only sponsored hospitals, not superheroes.
“I hate superheroes, you know that, Alan,” Harry said.
He looked at Matthew with a mocking gaze. Although he didn't know why Matthew had become Daredevil, or how the other two strange superheroes had offended Allen, that didn't stop him from laughing at everyone.
However, Alan's next words made Harry's face turn ashen.
Allen turned to look at the instance 'Matthew' and asked, "You also know their identities?"
Matthew seemed to hesitate for a moment before speaking, “Peter and I already knew each other’s identities in New York. As for Dick… you know, my sense of smell and hearing are very sensitive, and I can detect even the slightest difference… Dick and Nightwing both smell of your favorite brand of shower gel.”
Dick narrowed his eyes, his sense of crisis rising to a new level.
It seems Allen was right; this 'copy' probably possesses all of the real Matthew's memories. So, the Daredevil he encountered on the rooftop of Broodhaven a couple of days ago was also this 'copy' in disguise. Can the 'copy' also inherit all of the original owner's skills? Then what's the difference between him and the original owner?
Harry was silent for a few seconds, then asked incredulously, "...What are you talking about? I don't think I understand. What's the relationship between Matthew and Peter? And that idiot Dick...cough...I mean Dick, what's wrong with him? Are you breaking up?"
By the end, Harry couldn't hide his excitement and even accidentally blurted out the nickname he usually used to mentally criticize Dick.
Dick: ...
Thank you. Why do you all like to call me Dick? Do you know my brother Jason?
Peter desperately wanted to run away, but he couldn't. He knew that if he dared to run now, Allen would definitely buy out the Daily Bugle without hesitation and spend a fortune taking pictures of Peter Parker making embarrassing mistakes in Spider-Man's life every day. He really didn't want his image in the newspaper to become a comedic character.
So he wisely remained silent and huddled in the corner, letting the other two more important people stand in front of him to face Allen's rage.
Anyway… he glanced at the city superheroes of Brudhaven and thought, even if Allen is angry, he won't stay angry for long. In fact, Allen is incredibly forgiving of his own people. Don't be fooled by Allen's current rage; once Matthew explains things, Mr. Grayson acts a little coaxing, and he cooks Allen something nice, Allen will immediately forgive them in his heart. After all, Mr. Grayson almost succeeded in winning them over on the street just now.
However, Allen seems to have some special superhero attraction buff, which can't be blamed on him.
“We’ve already broken up.” Allen picked up his glass, downed the water in one gulp, and then got up to get a bottle of champagne his brother had brought for him to enjoy. “Dick Grayson, I suggest you stay away from me!”
Harry was so happy he almost grinned from ear to ear, completely ignoring Spider-Man and Daredevil. Young Master Osborn followed his brother over with four more glasses, opened a glass of champagne as if he'd gotten his revenge, and forced one into everyone's hand. "Oh, this is the best news I've heard in a while! Allen, why didn't you say so sooner? I should have called the chef today; this deserves a seafood feast! I'll go call him right now!"
After saying that, he raised his glass and drank it all in one gulp, then looked defiantly at the people around him, especially Dick.
Allen smiled insincerely and raised his glass to Dick, Harry, and 'Matthew,' who were staring at each other with a glass of champagne forced into their hands. "It's definitely worth celebrating, everyone."
Peter, terrified, downed his drink in one gulp. He felt that if he didn't do as Allen asked today, Allen might end up with a sack over his head. Dick smiled helplessly, reached for the cup in Allen's hand, and began to skillfully coax him, "Okay, okay, it's just a temporary breakup. Thank you, Dr. Osborn, for giving me a chance to pursue you again. I'll cherish it!"
Matthew, on the other end, silently took a sip. True to Daredevil's nature, he wasn't one to argue with Allen. "Do you remember when I said in the hospital I had a little secret to tell you? It's this, but I haven't had a chance to say it yet..."
Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly felt dizzy.
Three blurry images of Allen sitting on the sofa appeared before me, indistinct under the warm yellow light of the living room.
He realized something was wrong and reached out to grab the white cane that Allen had placed on the sofa.
Just a second before his vision completely went dark, he saw Allen smiling, tilting his head to look at him, and playing with his white cane in his hand.
The next second, he collapsed to the ground.
Dick and Peter, who were about to continue coaxing Alan, were startled. They rushed over to check the situation, but Alan stopped them.
Allen put down his glass. Sometime later, an electrode pad was attached to his forehead again. The room was also filled with the ionosphere they had seen in Allen's lab last time.
Allen: "Never mind him, I just used a little neurotoxin."
Dick and Harry exchanged a glance.
Immediately afterward, Harry stepped forward and yanked 'Matthew's' face hard. Looking at 'Matthew's' distorted face, he asked with some doubt, "Is he really an imposter? How come there's no trace of disguise at all?" After saying that, he began to check whether 'Matthew' was carrying any high-tech equipment.
As a result, nothing was found.
Instead, they noticed a scar on Matthew's wrist—both Alan and Harry knew it was from an injury Matthew sustained when they were children.
But this only further confirmed that the 'Matthew' in front of them was the Matthew they knew.
The most bewildered was Peter, who had just joined today. The little Spider-Man was so scared he could barely speak. He looked at Allen and said, "Neurotoxin?! No...it can't be that serious, right? Wait...it's fake? What's going on?!"
He felt like he had accidentally skipped several episodes. One episode was about everyday family matters, and the next episode was about beating up aliens.
However, Peter can't be blamed for this, since even Dick and Harry didn't expect Allen to make such a sudden move.
Their original plan was to feign trust in 'Matthew,' allowing him to infiltrate their ranks, and then relay false information to Luther. Before the enemy's plot was fully exposed, avoiding any unnecessary conflict was the best course of action.
Allen nodded, looking at Dick and Harry: "Your equipment should have X-ray capabilities, why don't you just scan them and see?"
Upon hearing this, the penniless superhero Spider-Man chose to shut up, then looked at Allen with a suggestive gaze, the meaning of which was very clear—why not consider sponsoring me to use your lab?
Allen couldn't help but glare at him.
Dick nodded, and the mask's built-in scanning function scanned Matthew, who was lying on the sofa, from head to toe: "...Seems like nothing special...No, wait, his internal organs are the opposite of a normal human's!"
Allen snorted: "That's why I said he's an idiot for making such a basic mistake."
Peter, finally understanding the plot he had skipped after Harry's explanation, was completely bewildered: "What do we do now? Good heavens, if this is the only difference, are we going to scan everyone?"
Allen glanced at Peter: "You think that monster won't evolve? I guess this is just a flaw he accidentally left behind. Someone who has witnessed human evolution won't make the same mistake; he'll create a more perfect second or third generation copy." For example, the 'Squid' couple—he didn't notice the mirror image problem when he dissected the 'Squid'.
Peter became even more nervous.
Harry looked at his brother. "So what new plan do you have now?"
Allen raised his chin and nodded in Matthew's direction: "Find someone to impersonate him. Then come with me to find Lex Luthor. This can't be delayed any longer."
He originally wanted to resolve the matter slowly, because he knew very well that Luther wouldn't kill Matthew easily, and that the Metropolitan Bald would definitely choose to keep Matthew alive as a final threat to him.
But this long-term plan is based on the premise that Matthew is just an ordinary lawyer.
If Matthew is also Daredevil... he doesn't want the great lawyer in Hell's Kitchen to find his hometown has been taken over by Kingpin after he rescues Matthew.
The real Matthew would be furious, so for the sake of his and Harry's mental and physical well-being, he decided to act immediately.
Moreover, he didn't believe Matthew hadn't done anything. If Matthew had already found a way to escape, then now was the perfect opportunity for them to work together from the inside.
“I’ll play Daredevil,” Dick said, his head aching. “Can I come along with you? But before the next operation… could you talk to me about it?”
Allen looked at Dick and then at Matthew, and said, "No, absolutely not. Matthew weighs 195 pounds, and you only weigh 175 pounds. You're also an inch shorter than him. Besides, I'm not used to teamwork, so you'd better get used to it."
Dick: ...
I can wear height-increasing insoles.
And, did you sound disgusted with me just now?!
Dick stood ramrod straight, trying to emphasize that his height, including his hair, was definitely over 180 cm.
Allen's gaze shifted to Spider-Man, who was also 178cm tall and 10 pounds lighter than Dick, and he curled his lip in even more disdain.
Tsk, useless.
Peter: ...
Although he's not that tall, he still has room to grow; although he's not as heavy as Daredevil, he's agile!
Fine, he shut up. As a superhero, it was only natural that Allen would look down on him; the fact that Allen hadn't kicked him out was already a kindness on Allen's part.
With little room for choice, Allen sighed, "Fine, you're the one."
He pointed at Dick and said, "I hope your acting skills stay at the level you used to use to fool me. If Luther finds out, then I'll have to resort to the simple and brutal method of killing that bald guy. Be careful, just think of it as saving Luther's life."
Dick felt wronged but didn't say anything: "...Don't worry, I'm a great actor, baby. I can also build muscle. How about we start going on gym dates together tomorrow?"
Allen slapped him away: "I refuse! I'm allergic to superheroes, so please stay away from me, your superhero smell is suffocating me!"
Dick: ...
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