Chapter 2911: Minifigure Great Battle! (29)
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Boom!
Just after getting out of the car, Shiller turned his head to look inside and asked, "Did you hear any noise?"
Batman looked thoughtfully toward the chemical plant but said nothing. Instead, he entered the airport with Shiller.
Gotham's airport was usually bustling, but for some reason, there were not many planes tonight. The numbers of takeoffs and landings were few. After asking an airport staffer, they learned that the control tower had been damaged by a laser, causing most flights to be diverted to Metropolis.
Of course, in theory, planes could land without a control tower, especially when there aren't many around. They could rely on visual estimations, but most pilots didn't want to take the risk, and thus, very few chose to land here.
Shiller and Batman thought this was an excellent opportunity. Since the tower was broken, let it stay that way for a few more days.
They hurried toward the direction of the tower, intending to tamper with it further to ensure it wouldn't be fixed anytime soon when they heard bursts of commotion from the skyline.
Batman turned and the first thing he saw was that red and blue figure. He frowned; Superman was indeed unreliable, alright, so was Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern too…
The figures taking flight on the skyline were indeed the Justice League, but shouldn't they be accompanying Batman on an adventure in the Ancient City?
Shiller seemed to have anticipated this, as he never really expected anything in this world to follow the script.
The Justice League seemed to be flying over not to find trouble with anyone but to stop something. From afar, the Primary Universe Batman noticed a cloud of dust on the ground as if an enormous thing was charging over.
As they got closer, the Primary Universe Batman realized the thing running in the front was Joker, and the one chasing after him was Batman.
The Primary Universe Batman reacted quickly, darting behind the tower's structure. He hadn't forgotten that he was the evil Clone Batman, and if the local Batman spotted him, he might not bother with Joker but come after him instead.
Fortunately, the local Batman didn't even glance at him, chasing Joker with sparks flying around, not even noticing Shiller and Tim standing nearby. His look at Joker could only be described as pure hatred.
Only then did they notice something in Joker's hand, or more precisely, someone he was holding—it was Dick.
Something seemed off. How could Dick end up with Joker??? Tim was puzzled. Watching Batman chase Joker from one end of the tarmac to the other, he felt like someone had messed up their script.
Joker was running ahead holding Dick, with Batman chasing behind with a dart. At first, they were running back and forth, but soon Joker, burdened by Dick, couldn't outrun Batman and started looking for cover.
The tower was the only adequate cover nearby. Joker turned and headed behind the tower. Seeing him approaching, the Primary Universe Batman had to give up his hiding spot and started running out.
As he ran out from behind the tower, he was spotted by the local Batman, who bellowed, "Evil clone, I knew it was your doing!"
He turned and started chasing the Primary Universe Batman.
Could Joker let this go? After finally drawing Batman's hatred, he now found this damned guy stealing the attention. So he, too, carrying Dick, joined the pursuit.
Now the scene had gone completely out of control. The Primary Universe Batman would never choose to run across such an open tarmac. Once he was targeted, he plunged into the waiting hall.
Unfortunately, at that moment, due to the tower issues, the airport was in a semi-paralyzed state, with no security or staff, which really let him charge in.
The three of them chased each other through the hall, leading up to a gate entrance. Shiller wanted to stop them but couldn't catch up. Just as the members of the Justice League were about to fly after them, they noticed a plane attempting a blind landing without properly aligning with the runway, about to crash.
The heroes had no time to get involved in the feud between Joker and Batman and hurried to act as a makeshift control tower.
After running a big circle around the waiting hall, Batman and Joker eventually ran back to the international channel exit, where they heard a bustling noise.
As the door opened, both parties were stunned.
Leading the way on this side were two Batmen, dressed in pitch-black Batman suits, followed by Joker with Dick tucked underneath his arm.
On the opposite side was a couple, the man in a floral shirt, beach shorts, slippers, sunglasses, and holding a sunhat; the woman in a Bohemian strapless maxi dress, carrying a straw tote bag.
"Dad, Mom?!!!!!"
Both Batmen exclaimed in unison.
Don't ask how the Primary Universe Batman recognized the minifigures' parents; it's because his parents dressed like that when they went on vacation too.
The local Batman, however, stood petrified at the sight of Thomas taking off his sunglasses, turning into a statue on the spot. Joker lightly tapped him, and he crumbled.
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"Oh, dear Little Bruce." Martha handed her bag to Thomas, rushed up to hug Batman and said, "It's been so long! How have you been? Mom and Dad have missed you a little."
Following Martha and Thomas were the superheroes of the previous generation, then members of the Justice League, who surrounded Batman tightly, seemingly eager to find out from him what was going on.
Superman stepped forward first, looked at Batman and said, "Can you explain what's going on here? Your parents aren't supposed to be..."
Wonder Woman also began to speak but stopped herself, while the other members of the Justice League all looked completely baffled. They had always heard that Batman's parents were dead, yet here stood Mr. and Mrs. Wayne looking very much alive and well. What was going on?
Martha let go of Batman, sized him up and said, "You seem a bit thinner, how have you been lately? Have you been taking care of the house well?"
"Um, this is..." Thomas looked towards the Primary Universe Batman.
The Primary Universe Batman took a small step back and said, "I am the evil clone."
Then he turned his head and asked Shiller in a low voice, "What's going on here?"
"I told you before, how could there be dead people in a universe with such a comedic style? Mr. and Mrs. Wayne and the previous generation of superheroes just went on vacation."
"What about the recycling plan?"
"Are you sure the recycling plan is really about dissolving oneself in a chemical pool?" Shiller raised a crucial question and said, "Have you ever actually seen anyone do that?"
Batman remembered the day he saw a worker at a chemical plant throw something into a chemical pool and then something else came out, but indeed he hadn't seen exactly what it was.
"So this is actually two separate things?" he lowered his voice even more and said, "The recycling plan has nothing to do with the chemical pool?"
At that moment, Thomas began to explain in response to Superman's questioning, "Yes, we did indeed discover that our bodies possess a kind of life factor that can be used for self-healing."
"And the recycling plan..."
"Was just going on vacation," Thomas said. "After our research, we found that if we consume a large amount of the life factors for repair in a short term, the production of life factors would slow down. We needed to go to a peaceful environment to recuperate, so we decided to take a vacation with our old buddies."
"But... wait, why didn't anyone tell me?" Batman finally snapped out of his reverie.
To their surprise, Martha and Thomas suddenly froze. Martha blinked and said, "We told Alfred, didn't he tell you? We also called you on a video call, but Alfred said you were too busy..."
Batman couldn't help recalling the period just after his parents "passed away."
The disappearance of Mr. and Mrs. Wayne indeed made a big splash at the time, the Gotham Police Department also mobilized a large force to investigate, and Batman himself was busy looking into what had actually happened. He remembered that Alfred seemed to want to say something several times, but Batman never really listened to him.
To be precise, every conversation was diverted by Batman towards himself. He continually talked about his future plans, declaring that he was the night, he was vengeance, he was Batman, and discussing his thought process for creating equipment.
And whenever Alfred asked if he had time, Batman, of course, would say no, just like when Superman asked him if he had time for the party.
"Sorry, Little Bruce, at the time we couldn't tell you directly because this generation of superheroes made quite a few enemies, so we had to leave both secretly and swiftly. We couldn't prepare early, but had to act spontaneously, so no one could figure out our plan," said Thomas.
"Of course, we knew it might make you sad, so we specifically told Alfred to take good care of you. It seems he has raised you well, but not answering our calls is not a good habit. Come on, let's go home and see how the manor is doing."
Batman stood there, stunned, still reflecting on his conversations with Alfred.
Actually, his way of communicating with Alfred wasn't much different from how he dealt with Superman and the others—they would exchange a few words upon meeting, and then he would go on at length about his former self, followed by an extensive discussion about his own matters. Alfred could barely find an opening to say a word or two before being steered back to Batman's own affairs.
So, was this why he missed the truth about his parents' departure?!
"No, no, wait," Batman suddenly stopped them and said, "We can't go back now."
Batman thought that if they chose to go back now, Alfred would surely tell Thomas and Martha about Batman's past behavior.
If Thomas and Martha knew that he, because of his own arrogance, failed to communicate with Alfred and thus believed they were dead, he would be doomed!
But if he said he knew his parents weren't dead, then how was he supposed to explain that to his Justice League comrades?!
Batman immediately turned a pleading look towards Shiller.