What Bad Thoughts Can Batman Have 97

## Chapter 97: The Deafening Boom

Self, belief, awakening, responsibility, courage, hope—these complex inner emotions.

BOOM—

A violent explosion.

You’re in the heart of trillions of suns.

These concepts are too distant, so distant that you can’t reach them even with wide open eyes. Yet, you can feel them breathing in your ears.

So you remain silent.

Flames wash over you, shockwaves surge through you, air rushes past you, radiation envelops you, breezes and sunlight caress you.

But nothing can stay.

This is outer space.

The glow of the Milky Way and billions of stars suffuses the endless brilliance. They mix and mingle, flowing through your soul in another form and resonance.

…

…

…

Poison Ivy descended from the hemispherical thought-sharing machine, her body swaying uncontrollably.

Harley Quinn, who had been hesitant to interrupt her, rushed over to support her.

“Batman… is Batman back?”

Harley shook her head.

She opened her communicator and shouted to Lucius: “Hey, you noisy squirrel scientist—”

“Is Batman alive?”

“Quickly lower the plane’s altitude!”

Penguin yelled loudly to Two-Face Harvey Dent, then Harvey Dent screamed at the Ventriloquist, and finally, the Ventriloquist roared at the plane’s pilot.

The gangster acting as pilot pulled the control stick, and then the three mob bosses rolled onto a sofa.

The storm subsided.

“How’s Batman?”

Penguin was the first to get up, his voice somewhat dazed: “Is he alive?”

Then they heard Harley Quinn’s question over the communicator.

No response.

The three of them waited for five or six minutes, still no reply.

“Oh, God bless Batman, please don’t let him die.” Penguin said: “Batman is a good man, Holy Mary bless him.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he immediately turned his head: “Oh, this feels so weird.”

Then, he turned his head and saw the bat toy in the Ventriloquist’s hand lying askew on the ground. The Ventriloquist was wailing at the toy: “Woohoo! Bat-bat! How can I live without you!”

Uh…

Double… Two-Face Harvey Dent was continuously rolling his dice and slapping himself each time.

Uh…

Penguin realized that Two-Face’s mind was a bit messed up. Before he was Two-Face, he always gave himself a two-option choice for everything he did. But now, the options had become five, so he was forced to include some meaningless choices besides the normal ones.

And now, he was unlucky, rolling the “slap yourself in the face” option several times in a row.

Penguin realized that he was actually the most normal of the three.

He said to Harvey:

“Is it okay if I ask what your other four options are?”

“[‘Rush to Arkham to avenge Batman’, ‘Escape Gotham’, ‘Lick Bane’s boots’, ‘Howl with the Ventriloquist’]”

Two-Face Harvey Dent replied, then rolled his dice again.

Then Penguin saw him stand up straight. Just when he thought he was going to rush off to avenge Batman, he saw Harvey walk to the Ventriloquist and kneel down beside him.

“Woohoo, Bat-bat! How can I…”

Penguin blinked his eyes.

And then, the string in his brain snapped.

He suddenly realized that apart from praying, he really couldn’t do anything.

So he knelt down beside Two-Face Harvey Dent, and the three mob bosses howled in unison at the Batman toy: “Woohoo! Bat-bat! How can I…”

The plane was instantly filled with deafening cries.

“Enough, you’re driving me crazy!”

Harley Quinn was annoyed by the three old men’s crying in the communication channel. Her voice came through the plane’s speakers: “You cry all day, all night, can you cry Bane to death?”

“Waaaahhhh——!” A louder howl came through the communication channel, it was Mudface. This guy had fully gotten into character, deeply portraying a grief-stricken—uh, a grief-stricken Robin.

“No—Batman! You are the light of my life! You gave me the dream of being Robin! Your existence redeemed this city, in every darkest midnight, you inspired everyone’s direction!”

The real Robin, Tim Drake, was starting to doubt himself in the communication channel.

Mudface continued to howl.

“You are the torchbearer, you are the guide, you are the meaning of my life. Oh, heavens above! Robin can’t lose Batman, just like the Jews can’t lose Jerusalem!”

He cried even more heartbroken than the real Robin, it was truly heartbreaking and tear-jerking. Anyone who heard it would have to give him a thumbs up and praise him for being such a filial Robin?

Tim, who was already starting to feel a bit sad, had goosebumps all over his body.

“Don’t engage with crazy people don’t engage with crazy people…”

He kept telling himself this, then took a deep breath, patted his forehead to calm down, and turned to ask in the communication channel: “Chief scientist, did you detect any signs of life from Batman?”

“No.” Lucius’ voice was muffled.

“Absolutely none, it’s illogical, I believe Batman wouldn’t, according to my calculations, he wouldn’t…”

Robin immediately turned his head to look at Alfred.

He saw the old butler collapse to the ground, his eyes tightly closed, not saying a word.

“It should be okay, right.” He immediately turned to the communicator and said: “The life detection instrument wouldn’t detect him so quickly, it would take a while, right?”

“…That’s true.”

Robin was unsure whether this was Lucius’ comfort or the actual situation.

“Batman can’t be really gone, can he?” Killer Croc said in the channel: “Well, there goes our plan, let’s all split up.”

He mumbled: “I’m going back to my Killer Croc gang, still going to bite people, Cheshire, you go back to Africa, get married and have kids, Deadshot, go back to your hometown, see your daughter, let’s all go our separate ways, sell the Batplane and buy Batman a solid gold coffin.”

“Anyway, without Batman, our lives will be the same, won’t they? Nothing changes, and nothing will ever change.”

Deadshot looked at him: “What do you mean, Killer Croc?”

“I mean, we’re going to kill Bane, goddammit.”

The burly thug opened his mouth, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth: “I had a good time working for Batman. I got a lot of money these days, I live better than when I was wandering around the sewers picking up trash and eating.”

He said: “I’m not a good guy, and I’ll never be a good guy. But right now, I really want to bite off Bane’s head.”

He said in the communication channel: “Anyone with me?”

(End of Chapter)

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