Batman: “…”

They sat around a square table in the conference room. The whiteboard and projection screen were replaced by magic communication. Wonder Woman sat in the first row with him, followed by Shazan, Green Lantern and Cyborg. Before, everyone's attention was focused on the missing teammate. After confirming the safety of Superman and Flash, they began to seriously look at the environment of the parallel universe.

Superman is not usually a talkative person.

He is not stingy in speaking when necessary, but sometimes he gives strangers the impression of being shy and inarticulate, making people feel that language is just a useful tool for him, rather than the primary channel for expressing himself. More often than not, he does more than he says, and inputs more than he outputs.

But now, Superman was talking endlessly in his childish voice about the causes of World War III. His explanation was full of adjectives and nonsense words, which made people look sideways, as if he was trying hard to divert people's attention from a certain place.

The heroes had never thought that the hero of Metropolis was so good at... water words. He must have studied literature and made great achievements in it, so that his expression could be complicated but not bloated. At least Shazan had gradually begun to look confused and drowsy, just like sitting in a classroom listening to an English teacher teaching grammar.

At first Diana thought he was distressed by his current unstable image.

But she soon realized that Superman was not someone who valued appearance over inner qualities. Just like Diana was more interested in Batman than the Amazon Queen who had a romance with Aquaman in the parallel universe, Superman's abnormal behavior at this moment was not for himself.

His current behavior is actually more of an attempt to influence the emotions of the Batman in the parallel universe.

After Diana personally told the list of members at the meeting, the elderly vigilante in the Batcave had not spoken for a long time.

Thomas moved Carl to an iron platform, the same one where Barry, who was scorched by lightning, was placed. The human and the Kryptonian looked at each other in silence, except that Carl would turn his head from time to time to look for Superman, while Thomas seemed to have completely blocked out the sounds coming from Superman and him.

Barry and the Lightning Man huddled together, and the former asked in a low voice: "Do you think the atmosphere is particularly weird now? Who is that guy you just brought back?"

"Can't you see? He's the superman of this universe."

Barry: “!”

At this moment, Superman finally squeezed out the last bit of information.

If he continued, he would have to mention where they were, who was the person lying on the operating table, and who was the Batman looking into his eyes.

"...System." Superman's expression was about to collapse. "Please help me pass on the message. What should I say now?"

With his super hearing, Thomas Wayne's breathing was almost inaudible, as if it had merged directly into the darkness and disappeared.

He had never seen such an awkward parent-child meeting.

——These are two parallel worlds that should have nothing to do with each other.

Regardless of Batman's emotions, he has no memory of what's going on right now. And if you expect him to initiate the conversation while he's in uniform, the others can just wait until the Earth is destroyed.

As for Thomas Wayne, perhaps he thought more clearly.

In any case, the world in which Wonder Woman exists is not his world, and the person who has the opportunity to talk to him face to face is not his son.

There is a side to his thinking that is sober to the point of being cold.

Look at Diana. She can be a wise, kind and tolerant hero, or she can be a ruthless hero who holds a sword and fights bloody battles for her people and shows no mercy to the outside world.

If in another world, the people who died in the alley more than ten years ago were the Waynes instead of their children.

...Then the parents in Bruce Wayne's memory may always remain at that moment of youth and justice.

A dozen years is like a filter that never fades, beautifying the image of the deceased to perfection in the minds of the living.

Thomas knew how precious these memories were. In these years, he had rubbed himself beyond recognition in Gothan, where the sun would never rise. His hands, which had only ever held a scalpel, were now stained with gunpowder and old snakes. Sometimes, when he saw his own devilish shadow in Xiao Chou's cloudy eyes, he would feel a moment of palpitations.

Who is this? he asked himself.

It's Batman.

Who will Batman be?

Whenever he thought he was about to forget the true face under the mask, a photo of the Wayne family flashed before his eyes. Bruce, who was only eight years old, was running and laughing in the garden of Wayne Manor. They had a picnic in the jungle, and Thomas and Martha taught the boy how to set up a tent. The aroma of food, the gentle sunlight and the freshness of the grass mixed into a hazy and ethereal picture, which made the middle-aged man unable to sleep at midnight.

Thomas knew clearly that this was a past that he had lost forever and could never look back to face.

It is also the signpost that supports him from falling down and keeps him moving forward.

Bruce Wayne is not dead. Their children are still alive, living in every life-and-death confrontation between him and Chou, living in Martha's crazy and desperate laughter, living in the crimes he violently cleans up with a knife, and living in the morning light shrouded in dreams at dawn.

If that's the case, why should he meet Bruce from another world?

Although God made us a family, we were together for only eight short years.

My past and future have left no place for you, and your tomorrow does not have to be entangled with your half-buried old friend. Thomas Wayne will never be the protagonist of this story. In this case, heroes should have a more glorious path to follow.

Superman suddenly heard a rustling sound of fabric rubbing against each other.

He turned around and was not surprised to find that the owner of the Batcave had disappeared.

"He will be back." Another young Batman's voice rang in his ears, "You just may have to wait."

There is a line in the French play "Feder": "I saw my old friend again, whom I had not seen for a long time, and my wounds suddenly began to bleed again."

They all need to take a moment to themselves to process this.

**

After Thomas left, Superman suggested that they take Carl to Gotham for a walk as it was still early. On the way, Flash visited the same ice cream truck for the second time and bought Carl two flavors that Superman praised. Then the four of them found a cafe and sat down in the outdoor dining area outside.

"How can we get back?" asked Superman.

"It's not certain yet." Steel said, "The two worlds are too different. According to Barry, this is because the history of the universe was changed by Professor Speed ​​who went back to the past."

He paused, and said in confusion: "But according to the parallel universe theory we know, a new universe should be generated the moment history is changed. Rather than saying that Barry opened his eyes and found that the world had changed, it is better to say that you ran too fast and directly came to the derived parallel world line. You want to restore your power and stop Professor Speed, and 'change the past that has already been changed'... There is a logical paradox here."

"Assume that Barry was originally in Universe A, and Professor Zoom's actions created Universe B where you are now. If Barry goes back, he can't turn B back into A. Instead, he will regenerate Universe C, where all the above events have occurred but the overall development is similar to A."

The Flash frowned: "You mean not only Superman and I came to the parallel universe, but also the other me?"

Steel Bone: "This is just speculation. Human theory is still at an early stage. The information I just mentioned is just information I checked on Wikipedia."

“…”

Shazan couldn't help but ask, "Is it so convenient?"

"Not really." Cyborg, who is said to still have not adapted to his half-human, half-machine identity, looked straight ahead, "But the network signal is definitely much stronger than when I used my cell phone before."

Solomon's wisdom makes an envious sound.

Shazan's face was full of: Give me one too!

"That's enough," said the Green Lantern. "You've been in class for a whole day. If you continue playing games in class, I suspect the alliance will receive a complaint call from the school one day. That would be too embarrassing."

Shazan: "But I can't ask for leave on the pretext of maintaining world peace? The Alliance needs more minors!"

"Anyway," Batman said, changing the subject from WiFi signal amplifiers to holiday plans, "you still have to stop Professor Speed. As long as he's around, no matter which Flash is, he won't be able to run at top speed." This was another example of the law of conservation of energy that came from nowhere. "After that, the Flash can come back the same way he went there."

This is the truth.

However, both Flashes looked guilty.

The Alliance has given up on science, and this arduous task will be handed over to the Avengers, who are persevering in their efforts to move forward.

As for the black technology in the Batcave, it is black technology and needs no explanation.

"There are several proposals for the location of the Alliance headquarters," Batman continued calmly, "Inside the United States, in neutral areas, and in space. The voting process will be held when you return. And the name of the Alliance..."

"Justice League!" Flash immediately responded, "We in the parallel universe have already helped to come up with a name."

“…”

Batman pursed his lips, with an obvious reluctance to be 'arranged' appearing on his face.

But he thought about it carefully and did not raise any objections: "Okay, this is tentative."

The Flash couldn't see his expression at all, and he cheered a little, as if he was a student who finally joined the Hexin Club in college. Superman could imagine Batman's obsessive-compulsive disorder, and he was amused halfway through drinking Coke with a straw, and made a "concentrate a little" gesture to the Flash under the table.

Carl carefully scooped a spoonful of ice cream and shivered the moment he put it into his mouth. He felt the inside of his throat was so cold that it made him shiver, but his skin that was in contact with the sun was warm. This wonderful feeling made the Kryptonian unconsciously curl up on the chair like a lazy cat. He looked at Superman, who was laughing with two dimples on his face while his short legs were hanging down. The curly hair on his forehead was blown up by the wind, like a mess of sheep's wool. He didn't know when he started laughing too.

Kryptonian cheeks are so thin that they appear gaunt and sickly.

But he still laughed, and didn't know how to feel sad about his experience. Sitting under the sky wrapped in clouds, with a little bit of blue occasionally showing, he actually agreed with what Superman said before: Not all humans are bad. Some of them are very interesting, some are very smart, and maybe after a long time of contact, he can also recognize which ones are worthy of admiration.

Thinking of this, Carl listened carefully to everyone's somewhat difficult to understand conversation and ate another spoonful of ice cream.

In the evening, Thomas came back.

He was covered in dust and no one knew where he was going. He smelled of alcohol, sulfur, and a little blood.

"Today on the battlefield, a war correspondent was rescued by a stranger with super speed. I managed to get a photo of him. Let's see if he is the person you are looking for?"