fictionpage Chapter 118 Did you miss me?
Chapter 118 Did you miss me?
Chapter 118 Did you miss me?
Lightning flashed and thunder roared in the Gotham suburbs under the cover of night, and as always, a heavy rain began to fall.
The speedometer on the sports car's dashboard was at its limit; this kind of terrible weather was something Batman Bruce Wayne was already used to.
He slammed on the gas pedal of the sports car, and the speedometer on the dashboard reached its limit. He needed to reach Wayne Tower in the city center in the shortest possible time.
"Darling, why are you in such a hurry? Which girl are you going to meet up with this time?"
Catwoman's voice came from beside him. She reached across the driver's seat and fastened his seatbelt, her slender, long fingers intentionally or unintentionally brushing against Batboy's chest.
"If you keep driving like this and get pulled over by the cops, you'll be on the front page of Gotham's Sun again tomorrow!"
"Selena!"
In any other place in the past, Batman would have been at most surprised to hear Catwoman's voice, but now he felt his hair stand on end.
"When did you get on the bus?!"
Selena removed the pearl earrings from her ears and leaned closer:
"When you asked the waiter for the key."
It was impossible—Bruce was quite certain he hadn't noticed Selena getting into the car.
If it were the agile, elusive cat thief Selena Kyle that I used to know, then it might be possible for her to evade my notice.
Selena in this world is just an orphan adopted by Thomas Wayne since childhood. How could she possibly avoid Batman's keen senses, which are almost a passive skill, without making a sound?
wrong.
Sizzle!
Batman, driving a sports car, brakes suddenly and makes a sharp turn, drifting and spinning around on the rainy night highway.
"Meow!"
Catwoman was caught off guard and thrown onto Bruce's waist by the huge inertia. The massive weight pressed down on Bruce's lower body, making him shudder.
Catwoman, who was leaning against the control panel and Bruce, didn't rush to get up. Instead, she looked up and said:
"Now? Are you sure?"
"Of course not now!"
As the current driver and a former experienced driver, Bruce naturally knew what the other person meant, but he clearly didn't mean it that way:
"Fasten your seatbelts, Serena! I'm going to accelerate!"
Bruce drove faster than when he left the manor because he realized he probably shouldn't have left.
Just now, information about Catwoman inexplicably popped into my mind.
Since arriving in this reality, no one has told her about the Catwoman's background.
Just like Joey, memories that shouldn't belong to me started appearing in my mind.
As the sports car traveled further and further away, more and more memories flooded back.
The flood of memories about "himself" that surged into Batman's mind made him grit his teeth and curse Bruce Wayne under his breath.
Although Batman presents himself as the playboy Bruce Wayne in his daily life, it is merely a mask.
Regardless, Batman, disguised as Bruce Wayne, still maintains his own principles.
In reality, Bruce is a complete bastard, a beast, a parasite, and you can find almost every despicable trait a playboy should have in him.
If someone like that appeared in front of Batman, he would probably punch him first.
Batman had to admit that Joey might be right; the fragment had protected his memories, and it was very likely still in the manor.
As I distanced myself from the fragments, my memories began to be assimilated by this world.
This forced him to turn back.
"I'm serious, Selena, buckle up, I don't have time for your nonsense right now!"
Amidst the astonished gazes of everyone at the manor, Bruce climbed out of the car and expertly tossed the car keys to the valet parking attendant.
Selena hurriedly unbuckled her seatbelt and followed suit.
"Wait a minute, Bruce, what's wrong with you today?!"
Catwoman gently lifted her skirt and took a long stride to keep up with Bruce's pace. She had never imagined that Bruce could refuse her.
"I feel like you're a completely different person now!"
"Don't worry, Selena, and don't ask too many questions. Trust me, everything will be back to normal."
Batman discovered that his idea was correct; after returning to the manor, his memories had stopped changing.
The situation is not that he has become a different person, but that everyone else except himself has become a different person.
Ignoring the toasts and greetings from the guests around him, Batman frowned and scanned every corner of the manor's banquet hall.
Where exactly is that fragment?
What do you mean by "returning to normal"?
Selena, panting, jogged alongside Bruce, barely managing to keep up with him.
"I don't think there's anything wrong with me right now; you're the one who's abnormal."
Batman's gaze swept over every possible door and corner in the corridor, and he instinctively answered casually:
"Returning to normal means..."
Suddenly he fell silent.
"Why are you not saying anything again?"
Catwoman then had a chance to catch up, panting heavily.
Her skirt was gently gathered up, revealing her long, slender, white calves and delicate ankles. The high heels on her feet made a dull thud on the carpet in the corridor.
Running like that in high heels annoyed Catwoman, so she lightly kicked her feet and flung her heels against the wall.
"That's much better. If you leave without a word, I'll catch you right away—don't forget that."
I can run incredibly fast!
Yes, he ran incredibly fast; there's a segment of that in Batman's newly added memories.
In real life, Bruce and Catwoman are childhood friends, and in every playful chase, Bruce could never outrun her.
Looking at Catwoman's bare legs and feet, Batman fell into deep thought.
Catwoman looked at the person deep in thought before her, and noticing his gaze, she crossed her legs together and performed a ballet exercise on her tiptoes:
"Does it look good? Are you thinking of trying out the new XP system again?"
"Oh my god, of course not!"
Bruce has never been this speechless in his entire life.
"In your eyes, am I just the kind of person whose mind is only filled with thoughts of color?"
:::.Hmm, in Catwoman's eyes, it seems that's really the case.
Just as his memory presented, the real Bruce Wayne was indeed a hedonist spoiled by his parents and billions of dollars.
But Batman was clearly not that kind of person—he looked at Catwoman's legs, thinking about something else entirely.
If things return to normal, it means the other party will also return to "normal".
From a healthy girl who could jump, run, and even do ballet steps, she became a paraplegic who could only move around in a wheelchair.
"Miss Selena, and Master Bruce..."
Alfred, who was in charge of the waiters, finally managed to find time out of his busy schedule to take care of the two overgrown children of the Wayne family.
Seeing the pair of high heels carelessly kicked against the wall, Afu felt her blood pressure spike. After a pause, she could only offer gentle words of advice:
"Miss Selena, those shoes, worth $160 million, were a birthday gift from Mrs. Martha. Please don't treat them so roughly."
"Okay, okay, I know I was wrong. I won't do it again next time, Grandpa Afu."
Selena bent down and picked up the expensive shoes, the underlying meaning of which was clear to anyone.
That means, "I was wrong, but I'll do it again next time."
Butler's composure prevented him from dealing with such a spoiled brat. He could only subconsciously raise his hand to straighten the black bow tie on his chest, suppressing his rapidly rising temperature and blood pressure.
".....Alright, Miss Serena."
As the two bickered, Batman unknowingly retreated into the shadows of the corridor, where the light couldn't reach, as if only such an environment could bring him a sense of comfort.
If this had happened a long time ago, such an interaction between Alfred and Catwoman might have made Batman secretly smile, becoming one of the few rays of sunshine in his gloomy Batman career.
Now he could only watch this scene with cold eyes. The closer he got, the deeper his heart would sink into an even darker, bottomless abyss.
Batman remembers that just an hour before he arrived here, he was stopping Thomas from going to Martha and killing each other.
Afterwards, he went to great lengths to save his apprentice, son, and the family of "Nightwing" Dick Grayson in this world.
Even though they are from parallel universes, they are still very important to Batman, who is almost penniless.
In this universe, Alfred is murdered by the Joker, and Catwoman is crippled by the Joker.
In this artificially created, distorted reality, at least Afu is still alive, and Catwoman is healthy and happy.
Even Superman, who sometimes wears the same bitter and resentful face as Batman when he was still struggling to move on from his past, has now achieved the highest honor in journalism.
Moreover, he and Diana were a perfect match, a match made in heaven.
Maybe I should...
Dangerous thoughts are brewing in the dark corners of Batman's mind.
However, this is just an idea.
Batman had to admit that, in those short few tens of minutes, this carefree, parasitic lifestyle might have indeed affected him.
In particular, many memories in his mind did not belong to him, but to Bruce Wayne, who had both parents and was spoiled.
He may indeed need some time now.
Adjust your mindset and let that cold-blooded, ruthless bat come back online.
"Aaaaaah~"
The three people in the corridor simultaneously heard a faint scream, accompanied by the sound of shattering glass.
boom!
Now all three of them heard it clearly: it was a gunshot coming from the hall where the party was being held.
"Stay here!"
After saying that, Bruce loosened his tie and unbuttoned his suit jacket as he ran toward the hall where the gunshot had occurred.
Upon arriving in the lobby, he felt a sudden choking sensation.
A pale-faced figure in a bright purple tuxedo was firing a pistol haphazardly indiscriminately.
At his feet lay a pool of blood that was spreading outwards, and the true owner of the gun, Gotham Police Chief Jim Gordon, was now submerged in it.
Gotham District Attorney Harvey Dent, who was closest to the man, bravely rushed forward to try to subdue the madman or take the gun back from him.
"Well done, righteous and courageous sir!"
The clown chuckled and deftly dodged Harvey's first attack as if playing a trick on him.
Then he reached out and plucked a small orange-red flower from his chest, offering it to Harvey, who was about to pounce again:
"Here's a little red flower for you!"
"Harvey! Don't go over there!"
Batman screamed upon seeing this and tried to stop Harvey, but to no avail.
"ah!!!"
The flower emitted a highly corrosive mist. Harvey instinctively turned his head to dodge, but he was a fraction of a second too slow. The mist made contact with his face, instantly causing him to clutch and scratch in agony.
"My face!"
Batman grabbed a shard of a ceramic plate from the nearest wall and threw it like a batarang.
His excellent eyesight allowed him to clearly see Harvey Dent's injuries; the right half of the man's face had been completely disfigured by the strong acid sprayed by the Joker.
Gotham's righteous prosecutor has once again become a "two-faced" figure.
As if anticipating this, the Joker ducked and dodged the dart. He stood up, revealing the face that Batman knew so well—Jack White's face.
"What a long time coming, Bat."
The Joker opened his terrifyingly long mouth, like a child seeking reward for doing something good, and flashed a wide, toothy smile at Batman:
"Did you miss me?"