NABC Chapter 12 Tradition
Chapter 12 Tradition
Chapter 12 Tradition
The third Robin, Tim Drake, sat in Batman's designated seat in front of the Batcomputer in the Batcave, wearing shackles and chains, with a sour expression, looking like a housewife who had just discovered her husband's infidelity.
"Alfred, something's off with Batman lately, absolutely, definitely something's off."
He strained his voice and said sarcastically, "Ignoring Batman's orders is practically a signature skill of every Robin, so I'm sorry, dear Tim, I'm afraid I'll have to lock you up."
Tim wanted to slap himself for actually extending his hands when Batman asked him to.
"Hahaha."
Alfred brought over a box of pastries: "It's Robin's duty to take a break now and then. How about a candy? Do you want a taffy or chocolate?"
"I want them all!"
Tim sullenly accepted the pastries and began to stuff them down. His voice was muffled from having too many Taffy candies in his mouth.
"Aww... thank you! But Alfred, to be honest, I think there might actually be something wrong with Bruce."
He swallowed a large mouthful of pastry.
"Perhaps it's mind control, perhaps it's a magical soul swap, or perhaps it's another of the Mad Hatter's schemes—but I beat him for two hours straight and he still wouldn't say."
Actually, regardless of who the soul currently residing in Batman's body is, at least... I don't think it's Bruce Wayne.
Young Robin placed the empty plate on the table, his expression gradually becoming serious.
"I have to say, he is the most skilled actor I have ever seen. Even Basil Caro (the real name of the Mudman, a villain who can shapeshift) would be speechless when he sees him."
Tim paused, then continued:
"However, even such a great actor cannot imitate something he doesn't understand at all. His understanding of Batman is flawed—Bruce is just a mortal, Alfred."
"No matter how terrifying Bruce Wayne appeared in front of outsiders, he was still just a mortal, we all know he was just a mortal. But he portrayed Batman as a god! A god walking among humans!"
"His presence, his demeanor, and most impressively, his aura—I've seen Bruce angry more than once, but this imposter is a hundred times more terrifying than the original. I feel my heart stop just looking at him!"
He said somewhat irritably, "I've secretly used over 40 methods to verify his identity in the past three days: iris scans, fingerprints, DNA testing, biometric AI analysis, gait detection... but no matter how I verify it, he's still the same Bruce Wayne!"
He looked at Alfred very seriously: "However, he hired mercenaries to help him complete the mission of fighting those Arkham lunatics, and deliberately abandoned Robin to act alone. Of course, 'abandoning Robin to act alone' is also Batman's consistent style, but this is different."
His gaze deepened: "And all that retirement nonsense... He's definitely not Bruce. We should probably arrest him and torture him with crowbars and whips to find out where the real Bruce is."
……
……
……
"That's terrifying."
Chen Tao maintained his bat-like, condescending, and disdainful posture, his heart pounding.
Fortunately, the fake bat scared away the real Bane, and they managed to get through this ordeal undetected.
As he had predicted, Bane was not a mere warrior, but a cunning hunter.
He would never confront Batman head-on before confirming that Batman was completely exhausted. In the original story, he waited for more than three months, allowing Batman to arrest the lunatics he had released from Arkham one by one, and even sneaking into people's homes to ambush them after confirming that Batman was completely exhausted. Bane, being so cautious, would never launch the final duel here.
Chen Tao still has time—before his outwardly strong but inwardly weak nature is fully exposed.
Chen Tao climbed down from the garbage mountain and walked towards Death Shooter and his group.
[Warning! Anchoring item "Javelin Captain's Broken Javelin" detected]
[...Anchoring item "Slipknotted Broken Beloved Lasso"]
[...anchoring prop: "the tattooed man's severed hand"]
Chen Tao paused, staring at the silver-white explanatory text that kept appearing on his retina, and fell into deep thought.
What does this mean, huh? I'm asking you. What does this mean?
Why am I able to pick up anchoring items when my teammates die tragically?
Breathless, shivering, cold.
Am I, the Dark Knight, the Cloaked Warrior, the Guardian of Gotham, the world's greatest detective, the renowned Batman, destined to make a living only by stealing my teammates' coins from now on?
Looking at his teammates' belongings, Chen Tao felt a lump in his throat, and a poetic sentiment of melancholy welled up in his heart.
No! Absolutely not!
Superheroes must have backbone!
I would rather die than pick up my teammates' corpses!
"..."
Half a second later, Chen Tao licked the bag with tears in his eyes.
Oh well, Batman beating up his teammates is a long-standing tradition in the Justice League anyway, so a few more won't make a difference.
[The broken javelin of the javelin captain: Günter Braun used it to win multiple Olympic gold medals. Although it's now headless, the remaining material is just enough to make a flagpole.]
"This javelin is my wife!"
Chen Tao then realized that not only did Captain Javelin's villa not exist, but his wife was also a javelin. He should have realized it sooner; how could someone like Javelin have a wife? The villains in the DC Universe all have some kind of mental problem.
[The broken, beloved lasso: Christopher Weiss doubts everything, but has unwavering confidence in his own ropes. In the lonely depths of the night, he even uses them to masturbate. Whenever he ties someone up, a slight smirk plays on his lips, a confident smile spreading across his face.]
"Oh, ah, oh, oh ooh ooh ooh—the lasso responded to me…I have complete faith in its judgment."
This one is even more important.
Chen Tao decided he would never hire such a pervert again. Especially since he had ruined his life.
[The Tattooed Man's Severed Hand: John Oakes was an ordinary sailor until he was imprisoned for fighting, where he met Abel Tarrant, one of the earliest tattoo artists. He still kept the anchor tattoo from his sailor days on his arm as a memento of his youth.]
"It's so slippery! I'm telling you, the deck is really slippery!"
[Crisis Energy Units Converted: 10]
Chen Tao was speechless. These three weaklings only converted a total of 10 crisis energies into his energy, which was the same as the amount the ventriloquist had converted into his energy before.
But ultimately, how is this crisis energy calculated? Any one of these three people could fight the ventriloquist to a standstill, so why was only this much energy converted?
[Warning! None of the three anchored objects you already possess have found a target Batman! You will soon be randomly matched with three weak, low-level Batmen...]
Matched with: Baby Batman
[Consume 1 unit of Crisis Energy for synchronization?]
Chen Tao noticed that unlike the previous Batmobile, this time the matched Batman had a small silver-white description below it:
[In a dark multiverse, Batman, nearing the end of his life, transferred his memories into the body of an infant, thus gaining the baby's physical form. Later, due to the weight of his head, he accidentally fell down the stairs and died while attempting to walk upright.]
[Danger Level: None]
Chen Tao's face immediately darkened. What use is it to become a top-heavy baby? Does he think that if he acts cute and acts coquettish, the villain will let him go?
Please, please don't!
[Immediate synchronization has been abandoned; this data has been saved. You can sync this Batman at any time by consuming one unit of Crisis Energy.]
[Matching again... Successful]
[Matched with: Batman, the Rich Man]
[A Batman from a certain dark multiverse bought the entire Gotham City, turning it into his medieval serf estate, and was then killed by Superman who mistook him for a villain.]
"..."
Chen Tao was speechless. Superman actually kills people? What kind of cruel and twisted world is this?
Out of sync!
[Matching again... Successful]
[Matched with: Mayor Bat]
In one dark multiverse, Bruce Wayne didn't become Batman; instead, he became the mayor of Gotham City. He was assassinated, and his head was hung on the gargoyle of Wayne Tower as a warning to people not to mess with the mob.
"..."
"Another useless ability," Chen Tao sighed, then turned his gaze to the three seriously injured men lying on the ground.
stare~
(End of this chapter)