DreamersGN Chapter 109: 1 Questions
Chapter 109: 1 Questions
Chapter 109 A Question
When Batman finally waited for the elevator to reach the top floor, he almost immediately opened the slowly opening elevator doors and rushed out:
"Where's the Joker?!"
He had indeed planned to meet with the Joker under a different identity, as old Thomas had hoped, but that was before he figured out who the Joker was.
When questioned, Thomas nestled in the recliner behind his desk, slowly lighting a cigar, behaving like a mafia godfather.
"This is none of your business."
"Of course this concerns me!"
Bruce wasn't going to let him get away with it this time. He immediately grabbed the man by the collar and lifted him off the table, just like he always did to all the other villains.
"You should have told me this sooner!"
Like Bruce, old Thomas initially harbored a naive illusion that the two of them could communicate in a normal relationship.
That's how it should be. What can't a father and son talk about?
Bruce rushed up and started asking about Martha.
"What did I tell you? Your father is Batman, a violent vigilante with blood on his hands; your mother is the Joker, a mentally unstable serial killer?"
Bruce wasn't the only one who died in Crime Alley that day; the helpful doctor Thomas Wayne and his kind and gentle wife Martha Wayne also died at that time.
The survivors are Batman, who kills indiscriminately to vent his inner hatred, and the Joker, a twisted and deranged killer. No one from the Wayne family survives.
Bruce never imagined he would grab old Thomas by the collar like a criminal and interrogate him word by word:
"I'll ask you one last time, where is she?"
Old Thomas completely disregarded Bruce's threats:
"What can you do if I don't tell you? Throw me out the window?"
After the initial rush of excitement, Bruce slowly released his grip.
I'm sorry.
His anger just now was too childish. Martha had become a clown, and Thomas, who had fought with her for decades, would only feel worse than he did now.
The bewildered Penguin, who had been standing behind Bruce, finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Although the conversation between the father and son was very informative, the penguin didn't care. As long as a full-blown fight didn't break out during this heartwarming moment of father and son recognizing each other, it was a good start.
Before the two could even begin to talk, another phone call came in.
The penguin, with remarkable agility, shifted its short, stout, oval-shaped body to answer the phone:
"Master Wayne is busy right now... What?! Get Jim up here, no, don't let him up here!"
After hanging up the phone, Penguin realized that the eyes of the two people present were focused on him, and he immediately felt a chill run down his spine.
"Um, I... my wife gave birth, I have to leave for a bit..."
"Just say it, Penguin."
Old Thomas stopped the Penguin from leaving with a look; his excuse for getting his foot fixed was truly a new low.
"Even if you don't tell him, he'll find out for himself."
Having received the order, the penguin had no choice but to bite the bullet and dial the phone number for the reception room downstairs again:
"Bring Jim up."
Bruce also recognizes this name.
Jim Gordon, Commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department, is one of Batman's most reliable allies in his fight against crime.
Having learned from past mistakes, Batman adopts an open-ended attitude towards the newcomer's identity and background; he wouldn't be too shocked even if the other party were a corrupt cop.
The elevator lights came on, and a somewhat absent-minded Director Gordon arrived at his top-floor office.
The moment Bruce saw him, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief again.
His trench coat was so worn it looked worn out, his beard was unkempt, his brows were always furrowed, and most importantly, his eyes were tired but alert.
Bruce could see something else familiar in Chief Gordon's eyes: justice.
Gordon, looking worried, didn't even bother to look up and observe Bruce in the office; he simply walked past the three of them.
He picked up a cigarette from Thomas's desk, lit it, took a deep drag, and then sighed heavily.
She ran away again.
Director Gordon's visits almost always brought bad news, and this time was no exception.
The Joker has escaped from Arkham Asylum once again, and no one knows what heinous crime she is planning to commit this time.
"Thomas, I know I shouldn't ask this, but I still have to."
The smoke he exhaled obscured most of Gordon's lowered face, making it impossible for Bruce to see his expression.
But what the other person said next sent a chill down Bruce's spine:
"It wasn't me; it was because of the 'oracle' that I asked why that monster is still alive!"
"Oracle," another reliable partner of Batman in fighting crime, whose real name is Barbara Gordon, is Commissioner Gordon's biological daughter.
In the Batman universe, she once worked alongside Batman as Batgirl to fight crime.
This continued until Batgirl was shot in the lumbar spine by the Joker, resulting in paralysis of her lower limbs, which meant that she would rely almost entirely on a wheelchair for the rest of her life.
From then on, she operated as "Oracle," providing hacking support for Batman's operations.
It now appears that the deadly joke has also been present in this universe.
Unlike Bruce himself, who has been Batman for so many years, only to eventually lose control and kill the person closest to him.
In the years that Thomas Sr. has been Batman, he has killed almost every villain who has caused trouble in Gotham, except for the Joker.
It's no wonder Gordon would criticize Thomas so harshly.
Bruce couldn't help but ask old Gordon:
"How is your daughter, Barbara, doing?"
Gordon then realized there was a third person in the office. He looked up and glanced at the person, but almost had his heart stop at the sight of their face:
"Your face!"
Commissioner Gordon has been by Batman's side since the privatization of the Gotham Police Force and the establishment of Arkham Asylum; the two have worked together for decades.
He clearly remembered what Thomas looked like when he was middle-aged and grieving the loss of his son.
It was exactly the same face as the one I saw.
If it weren't for the elderly Thomas standing right there, he would have suspected that the old bat had used some kind of evil magic to regain its youth.
Trusting the face, Gordon answered the somewhat abrupt question:
"What daughter? Where would I find the time and energy to get married, let alone have a daughter?"
In this universe, Commissioner Gordon dedicated his entire life to the work of maintaining order in Gotham.
He never started a family, and Barbara Gordon never existed.
So what would the 'oracle' of this universe be...?
"My son, I can see that you know almost everyone important I've ever met in my life as Batman."
Old Thomas put his hand on Bruce's shoulder, knowing that what he was about to say might be even more hurtful to Bruce:
"Then I'll assume you also know this 'oracle.' She's my adopted daughter, and her name is Selena Kyle."
Thomas Sr.'s journey as Batman wasn't always stained with blood; there were times when he softened.
This old guy encountered Selena Kyle, a masked female thief who called herself "Catwoman."
Perhaps it was her status as a helpless orphan and her age, which touched Thomas, that ultimately led the old bat to spare her life.
It's like the master-disciple or father-son relationship between Batman and Robin.
The old bat and Catwoman also spent a heartwarming time together, during which time they fought crime without even killing anyone.
Back then, the old Batman even naively thought that he could live out his days like this, and then pass on the entire Wayne Enterprises and the mantle of Batman to this strong girl.
Until Martha the Clown put a bullet into Selena's body.
This fatal joke from Martha almost instantly extinguished the few remaining traces of tenderness in the old bat's heart.
"This is impossible..."
When Bruce realized that his mother Martha had turned into the Joker and killed his butler Alfred, his inner world was shattered, but he could still barely hold on.
Catwoman holds an even more unique significance for Batman.
Upon hearing the news about Catwoman, he felt as if the whole world was spinning around him.
This cold and ruthless world left not a single trace of beauty for its father; no wonder the old bat of this universe is so sinister and cruel.
Batman had already grasped some of the meaning behind Joey's earlier statement about "our universe."
Then, the world in my eyes continued to spin endlessly...
Not right.
Bruce felt himself becoming unsteady, and this wasn't just his imagination; he was losing consciousness!
"Go to sleep first, my son."
Old Thomas threw away the tranquilizer he had been hiding in his hand and reached out to support Bruce, who was about to lose consciousness and fall to the ground.
Every parent wants to give their children the best, and old Thomas was no exception:
"When you wake up, I will leave you with a brand new Gotham."
Bruce could feel his eyelids growing incredibly heavy; he shouldn't have let his guard down against old Thomas in the first place.
"What...are you going to do?!"
After the ruthless Batman had nearly wiped out all of Gotham's supervillains, everyone who had ever been hurt by the Joker would ask him the same question—
Why is the Joker still alive?!
"I need to answer that question that Selena, Alfred, and so many other people... they keep asking me."
Faced with his son's questioning, old Thomas simply smiled, as if he had made up his mind:
"I'm going to do something I should have done a long time ago."