The Starfire before him also wore a tight suit, flaunted beautiful red hair, and possessed a graceful figure with gorgeously defined facial features, leaving essentially nothing to criticize.
But the problem was, she sowhat resembled a composite stereotype of a female superhero; people's first impression upon seeing her was her beauty rather than her strength.
Like Wonder Woman, a superhero of this sort was indeed very beautiful on a closer look, but most people wouldn't dare stare closely because she was incredibly strong, majestic, and ferocious—their first impression of her was absolutely one of fierceness and soone not to be provoked.
For instance, regardless of gender, if one has been a police officer for a long ti, even if blessed with heavenly beauty, there would still be a distinctive authority about them, each action and word prompting a sense of urgency in others.
Even female heroes with superpowers would look fierce, and those without superpowers striving to beco world-renowned would have to put in unimaginable efforts and training—they would have to be brave, wild, and relentless, not like sheltered flowers.
No need to compare with Wonder Woman; just standing Cassandra next to this Starfire reveals a stark difference. Cassandra was sharp as a knife, and just one glance at her made one feel a dagger was pressing against their chest.
In contrast, this Starfire looked more like a superhero enthusiast, or perhaps even just a broadcaster, with the form but without the soul.
"Absolutely ridiculous!" exclaid Starfire. "Just because others are like this, must I be the sa? What proof do you have?"
The Robins seed to sense sothing was off. Even though Starfire was usually rather hot-tempered, how could she speak to Batman like this? Who would dare call Batman "ridiculous"?
"I know this can't be considered proof," Batman snorted coldly. "We'll talk about your issue later. Doctor Strange, are you recovered?"
In their confrontation with the vampire beasts, Doctor Strange and the Arkham Knight had already successfully rendezvoused with Batman and the others. Although Superman and Diana had returned to the Justice League to preside over operations, the two followed Batman to Wayne Manor.
Doctor Strange's complexion had much improved, obviously, he had slain quite a few vampires on his way to find Mary, and his injuries had almost completely healed.
He stood up and nodded. Batman stood up as well and walked over to where Barbara was tied up.
He stopped, sighed softly, and placed his hand on Barbara's shoulder—suddenly, soone gently patted him on the back.
Batman turned to find Shiller standing behind him, Shiller's voice also coming from behind him.
"Let handle it. I'm a professional; I can minimize the pain."
"No."
The word of refusal had barely left his mouth when Batman took a hefty punch that knocked him to the side. He staggered briefly before steadying himself, just as a dagger plunged into Barbara's chest, ripping her heart out.
Barbara scread a sound not of human origin as blood splattered onto Shiller's suit; everyone was stunned, Dick and Gordon leapt to their feet.
Barbara was indeed a vampire, but a vampire's self-healing power has its limits; it's one thing to be touched by a Cross, quite another to have it pierce straight through your brain stem.
Barbara's life force gradually faded away.
But soon, Doctor Strange's hands glowed with magical brilliance, and the power of the undead anchored her soul within her body, healed her wound, and resurrected her in a strange way.
Barbara suddenly awoke and convulsed violently in place.
She took a deep breath, straightened up, and looked around sowhat blankly.
"How are you feeling, Barbara?" Batman imdiately rushed over, but Barbara, seemingly greatly shocked, quickly backed away, only to find her father amid the crowd.
Gordon rushed up to embrace her, and Barbara's expression grew even more complex. But when she saw Dick, who was watching her from the crowd, she could no longer bear it.
"I'm sorry, I lied to you all... I've made an irredeemable mistake... I really should have told you all sooner..."
Everyone was sowhat dazed; at this mont, Shiller, looking down at his suit ruined again by blood, abruptly said, "Postnatal education shaped the real you."
Jason seed to understand so of it; he stepped forward beside Dick, who hadn't approached, and firmly grasped Barbara's shoulders, looking into her eyes and saying, "Nationality and race are not important. What matters is who educates you and what that education teaches you to choose."
Shiller chuckled to himself. The King of Vampires would not understand; to say nothing of handing over a vampire baby with 80% human similarity to Gordon for over two decades—if it had been Godzilla, the Batman family would now have an educated Godzilla Robin among them.
The flaw was still the baby, perhaps for the sake of dramatic effect, or perhaps to play out the whole scenario, the King of Vampires handed a baby over to the Gordon couple.
As long as she wasn't controlling everything from behind for those twenty-so years, but rather left Gordon to raise the child, then even if she was indeed a vampire, during the tis when the King of Vampires didn't brain-control her, she was certainly a good vampire.
After all, that's Jas Gordon.
Shiller was now curious about the role Dick had played in all this; it seed he knew more than anyone else.
However, Barbara had escaped the control of her vampire father through death, but Dick was still a vampire, albeit with a diluted bloodline and having partially escaped its influence. However, in the presence of an advanced vampire, he still couldn't say anything.
They could only hope in Barbara then.
"I... I am a vampire," Barbara sobbed, "Yes, I have been from the beginning. I realized early on that I am not... Don't cry, Dad."
"But I never bit any innocent people," Barbara said. "Dick helped get blood bags, and that's one reason he insisted on going to Brude Haven, because under Batman's surveillance in Gotham, it would've eventually blown his cover."
"But... vampires need the blood of living people to maintain their strength, so... so I bit him, I am really sorry..."
Dick seed sowhat anxious, but Barbara just glanced at him without ntioning whether he volunteered.
Could anyone present not know already?
"When did you start feeling the anomalies?" Batman asked.
"Since I attacked Dick," Barbara took a deep breath and said, "I always restrained myself, even when drawing his blood, I always made sure it was within the healthy range for an adult blood donation, making sure I didn't harm his body."
"But one day suddenly I lost control, I drained most of the blood from his body... I realized things were irretrievable, and the only way to save his life was to give him the Initial Embrace."
But Dick looked at her with a slightly apologetic gaze.
"No! It has nothing to do with the period you left!" Barbara exclaid loudly, "It wasn't long enough to escalate my bloodlust to this extent!"
"Since then, I can't rember much of what happened..." Barbara said, covering her head with so discomfort, "I felt I was the King of Vampires, I had a mission to revive the vampire race, so I ordered Dick to keep my identity secret. I also... I also..."
"Take a deep breath, Miss, you might be experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder," Shiller stepped forward and comforted her again.
Barbara quickly cald down, but when Batman asked if she knew who was controlling her, she couldn't answer. According to Barbara herself, she hadn't seen any other vampires, at least not within her mory.
The infant project did have one advantage, though: infants don't rember things. At this ti, swapping identities, Barbara wouldn't know who was behind it.
But Batman suddenly turned and stared at the person nad Starfire, saying, "If the data of Starfire from other universes can't be considered conclusive evidence, what about the data from other civilizations in the Milky Way of this universe?"
"I just ssaged Superman to take a trip to the Green Lantern Headquarters and pull up Starfire's data, you probably don't know? The real Starfire is not only a superpower user but also an alien, and is a famous cosmos superhero."
A picture appeared on the screen showing Starfire combating so interstellar Insect Race, looking exactly like the Starfire from the data before, which was quite different from the one standing in front of them now.
"Your choice to impersonate Starfire must not be a coincidence, where did you take her?"
The murderous intent in Batman's voice was no longer hidden.
"You still have no evidence," Starfire said confidently, "My growth trajectory is real, my actions as a superhero are real, and so is my interaction with your foster sons. Are you going to accuse just because one of your assistants turned out to be a traitor?"
Yes, Shiller thought, this is another advantage of manipulating the tiline, she could completely go back to the past and start from scratch, ticulously crafting a superhero identity.
Over these decades, all her actions were those a superhero would do, who then could say she isn't one?
Batman's gaze was icier than ever as he stared at her, but he made no further move.
This, Shiller thought to himself, was Batman's biggest flaw, emotional yet not shaless enough.
Shiller quietly walked up to Starfire, showed a smile, and then said, "Don't be agitated, Miss... Considering your marital history, perhaps I should call you 'ma'am.'"
"Ma'am, you need to calm down. There's nothing wrong with you. As a fan of the superhero Ms. Starfire, any legal thod you use to chase fa is reasonable, even if it involves wearing almost the sa clothes, dyeing your hair the sa color, and using her code and na, that's just a normal way of expressing your fandom and shouldn't be criticized by anyone."
"Of course, you also need to understand Batman's feelings. His most capable assistant and his good friend have just gone through a tragedy, and you, I must say, ma'am, might inadvertently make people think of the possibility and desire you have to replace her at this mont. I am not saying you an it, but if it causes such associations, you can't expect Batman to remain completely calm."
"Considering you are such a passionate and enthusiastic imitator of the great cosmic hero Ms. Starfire, I believe it wasn't intentional."
"I swear, if you cooperate with us, Batman will definitely find a way to contact your most excellent and powerful idol, and she would be delighted to have such a beautiful fan like you."
"Now, can you please remain calm like they are, and sit down to talk?"
A fierce, blood-red whirlwind suddenly erupted around Starfire.
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