"My God, what is all this?!" Standing atop a high-rise building, Batman looked towards the horizon and saw the countless monsters, and couldn't help but exclaim with genuine astonishnt, "What on earth did Superman do?!"
On the distant skyline, towering spires slowly rose into the clouds. At the pinnacle of the spires, a pair of scarlet eyes blinked. Beside a building, a gigantic gorilla climbed up and bashed its chest, howling fiercely. A mage in a black cloak bombarded with a magic wand incessantly while down on the streets, a colossal Tyrannosaurus Rex chased the scattering citizens. The North Sea Giant Monster laid on the bridge, its tentacles thrashing, lifting vehicles off the bridge and tossing them into the sea...
Superman landed behind Batman and said, "Your evil clone has broken into my Phantom Prison and set all these monsters free."
"Are you trying to bla... I an, is your Fortress of Solitude okay?" asked Batman.
"He didn't damage anything else." Superman stepped forward, looking at the group of monsters, and added, "I suspect he might have wanted to use the criminals confined in the Phantom Prison to destroy Gotham. And having your intelligence and abilities, he succeeded."
"You're saying my intelligence and abilities are quite... What do you plan to do now?" Batman asked.
Superman glanced at him with a hint of surprise, flew up into the sky, and circled around Batman, saying, "You seem a bit off today."
"Where am I... let's focus on the situation at hand." Batman had to take deep breaths with each sentence; the abrupt changes almost choked him, but rembering the techniques Shiller had taught him, he decided to try not to steer the conversation towards himself.
Wonder Woman also leaped onto the rooftop of the building. With a grave expression, she brought even worse news as she pointed downward and said, "Do you see that smiley face on the big screen? The Joker seems to have hatched so plan as well; it looks like the lunatics from Arkham Asylum have already broken into the streets."
"What?!"
Batman walked to the edge of the building and looked down. Killer Croc was roaring in the middle of the road, Bane jumped down from a building and smashed into the ground, forming a large crater, then grabbed a civilian by the foot, swung them around, and threw them away.
"This is bad..."
Batman almost blurted out "This is nothing," intending to reminiscence how he had flawlessly handled similar crises in Gotham before. However, recalling Shiller's guidance, he realized it wasn't the right ti for self-aggrandizent.
"Back to the Batcave, I need to get so gear."
Watching Batman's departing figure, Superman and Wonder Woman exchanged a look, each seeing confusion in the other's eyes.
The two of them followed Batman towards the Batcave, but Superman whispered, "Why is he acting so strange today?"
"Exactly, the mont he started talking, I was already bracing myself for a half-hour monologue on his past triumphs," Wonder Woman agreed.
"And he didn't even ask us to go and throw a party," Superman said, looking around, "In the past, no matter how dire the situation, he wouldn't let us get involved in saving Gotham. What's gotten into him today?"
"Wait, you ntioned a clone, right? Could it be that..."
Superman and Wonder Woman were suddenly alard.
In the study of Wayne Manor, Shiller found a note left behind by Batman's father, Thomas Wayne—a business report, to be exact, though it focused on children's toys.
Wayne Enterprises was involved in a myriad of businesses. Even though the chemical industry was the pillar in most universes, there were also Wayne Enterprises that manufactured daily necessities. Clearly, this Minifigure universe was among them, making not only children's toys but also clothing, books, baby products, and more.
This business report was actually quite ordinary, except for Thomas's note that he planned to discontinue a certain product line, which seed to be the one producing monster toys.
According to the report, these monster toys were once the flagship of the toy industry. However, the subsequent animated series, which depicted scenes of the toys devouring Lego-like pieces, was warned to be taken off-air.
Parents resisted such violent cartoons, and by association beca reluctant to let their children play with those toys. Sales plumted to a tenth of their original volu within just half a year, and no subsequent animated series or movies were able to save this classic character, eventually leading to discontinuation due to poor financial returns.
What was an otherwise commonplace business recomndation sparked an idea for Shiller, who seed to have pieced together what was happening.
Standing by the window, he watched as two Robins, just equipped for departure, ran into Batman returning for gear. Dick, because his Robin uniform pants were too tight, took them off just as Superman and Wonder Woman happened to land.
There was another round of banter and explanations among them, before they all entered Batman's gear vault together. The warehouse door slowly opened, revealing a plane significantly larger than the other Batplanes in front of everyone's eyes.
However, Batman didn't imdiately board the plane. Instead, he walked through the hangar to a workbench at the back and said, "We need to lock up these damn monsters, so we have to modify the Phantom Prison's transmitter and turn it into portable gear to capture them."
He then looked at Superman, as it was clear that only Superman had the Phantom Prison's transmitter.
Superman displayed a look of hesitation.
"The Phantom Prison's transmitter is actually a very powerful weapon," Superman said asuredly. "Because if soone is transported into the Phantom Prison without a transport anchor, even I wouldn't be able to get out for quite so ti."
"I've been aning to ask," Wonder Woman spoke up. "What exactly is the principle behind the Phantom Prison? Where did you carve out such a space from?"
"I... now's not the ti to explain."
Superman's evasive words caused Batman to frown. His hands paused for a mont before he turned around and said, "You don't trust ?"
"Soone tampered with the Phantom Prison's transmitter," Superman replied, looking concerned. "The Fortress of Solitude's surveillance equipnt captured that it might be another 'you,' your clone."
"Impossible, he was just in Gotham not long ago..."
"But indeed, a Batplane is missing." Superman said, pointing to the empty space next to the large airplane.
Batman rushed over, looking at the disappeared Batplane with a hint of shock, then ran back to the computer and began typing furiously before saying, "Damn it, soone guessed the password and unlocked the plane's security lock, how is that possible?!"
"We absolutely don't distrust you," Wonder Woman said, extending her hand. "We're just worried that if we give you the Phantom Zone Transporter, your clone might use it against us. If the Justice League is locked up in the Phantom Prison, then there would be no one left to fight these monsters."
Batman seed to have a lot to say, but in the end, he let out a long sigh and said, "Alright, if you can't offer help, then I'll do it myself. I've done it before, after all..."
Wonder Woman and Superman exchanged a look, their expressions saying, "Typical, here we go again."
But as Batman was speaking, he suddenly stopped talking, silently gathered his gear, and seed unwilling to speak any further with anyone, making Superman and Wonder Woman feel uneasy.
After equipping himself, Batman adjusted the aircraft. He alone jumped onto the massive Batplane, then waved to Tim and Dick below, and the two boarded the aircraft, one after the other.
Superman and Wonder Woman wanted to say sothing, but their words were drowned out by the roar of the engines. Watching the plane fly into the distance, Wonder Woman shook her head and said, "I always feel we're doing sothing wrong. Is it really okay to keep this from him?"
"When Mr. and Mrs. Wayne ca to you, you didn't refuse, did you?" Superman said, looking at Wonder Woman. "If it weren't for that unexpected clone, Batman wouldn't have suddenly called , and the party wouldn't have been discovered by him. I think he might be suspecting us."
Wonder Woman also sighed and shook her head, saying, "The party was only to eliminate potential threats for him before we get recalled. Even for Batman, taking on so many evil creatures alone is still too much to ask."
"No one knew this was going to happen," Superman said, patting her shoulder. "Right now, the priority is to make sure that our upcoming plan does not go awry. We still need to find that clone."
"No need," a deep voice ca from behind them, and Superman and Wonder Woman turned around sharply to see a tall figure walking out from the depths of the laboratory.
Superman imdiately flew up, but then fell to the ground with a thud. Pri Universe Batman, holding a piece of Kryptonite, had pressed a button just as Wonder Woman was about to rush over.
Whoosh, a net made of special material hoisted Wonder Woman into the air. Universe Batman looked at the two he had captured and said, "I do have quite a few questions for you."
Lying on the ground, Superman gritted his teeth and said, "You evil clone, we won't..."
"What's this about a Life Factor recycling plan?"
"We won't tell you anything!" Wonder Woman declared. "You won't get any information from us!"
"Then I suppose it's necessary to tell the real Batman..." The deep voice was calm, as if always in control.
"No! Don't!" Superman shouted, taking a deep breath and then saying, "He mustn't find out! He mustn't..."
"He mustn't find out what you've said today? What exactly are you hiding from him?" Universe Batman slowly paced the room and said, "No matter, the night is long, and I have ti to uncover the truth."
"You are so dark!" Wonder Woman roared. "You damned, evil..."
"Let guess," Universe Batman said. "You wanted to join this Life Factor recycling plan, but you especially wanted to kick Batman out."
Wonder Woman, as if her throat were suddenly gripped, stopped speaking abruptly. She turned her head to look at Superman, who also looked puzzled. Clearly, no one had leaked any information to this clone, but she almost guessed it right.
"Life Factor is in short supply, you need soone to fill the void to keep the world running smoothly, to prevent it from collapsing and being destroyed," Batman stopped pacing and stood still.
"You want to follow in the footsteps of the previous generation, sacrificing your own Life Factor to replenish the world's origin, but you don't want to take Batman with you because of the request Mr. and Mrs. Wayne made to you?"
"It's none of your business," Wonder Woman retorted, her tone sowhat softer. "Since you guessed it, we won't hide it from you anymore. It wasn't ant to be a secret; it's just that Batman can't know."
"Does he know the plan?"
"Of course, but he thinks he's part of it," Wonder Woman said, pursing her lips. "He doesn't know that we plan to leave him behind. But we must do this."
"Why?"
"With the wisdom of Batman, you should know that this is no lasting solution, only a temporary delay," Superman said from the ground. "We need to leave soone behind, soone who could break this stalemate. We chose Batman."
Wonder Woman's face showed a mix of guilt and regret as she said, "I was the one left behind by the previous generation. Mr. and Mrs. Wayne hoped I could find a solution, but I didn't find anything. Now we can only pin our hopes on Batman."
"So why can't the Life Factor regenerate?"
"We don't know, nobody knows."
At that mont, a voice ca from above.
"What if I say I know?"
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