Red Robin stealthily pushed open the door of a room, relieved to find Red Hood sitting on the bed, not asleep, busy with his gear. In a low voice, he said, "Let's go, the butler isn't here."
Red Hood reattached his weapon to his waist, reluctantly stood up, gave an impatient tap of his foot, and kicked the carpet on the floor. "I told you guys before, as soon as The Flash arrives, we knock him out. It's your constant hesitation that has put us in this mess now!"
"Quit whining, Jason." Red Robin led the way, opening the door to say., "Who could have guessed that Batman was serious about sending us away? He usually just talks."
Under Red Hood's mask his face seemed impatient, but a flicker of thought crossed his eyes. Red Robin's wisdom helped him understand the behavioral patterns of every member of the Batman Family. Sensing Red Hood's silence, he asked, "Do you think something is off?"
"There's plenty wrong." Red Hood replied irritably, "We all know Batman isn't generous. To some extent, he sees Gotham and the Batman Family as his personal possessions, not allowing anyone else to meddle. Do you think he would willingly give up Gotham?"
"Of course not." Red Robin walked into the corridor and continued, "He would just say 'Get out of my Gotham.'"
Red Hood stroked his chin, speaking in a serious tone, "That's the problem. Not only is he letting us leave Gotham, out of his supervision and protection, but he's sending us so far away."
"What's more important is that this seems completely out of his control. Even with The Flash here, if we're in danger, he might not be able to rescue us in time."
Red Hood paused, seemingly a bit annoyed. He roughly pulled off his mask, tossed his hair, and turned to Red Robin who was staring at him: "Don't look at me with those damn eyes!"
"We all know what he's worrying about." Red Robin shrugged as he replied.
"This is precisely what's strange to me." Red Hood went down the stairs, stopped at the corner and said, "His pointless worries have always made him treat us like vulnerable birds, reminding us not to drink at parties and such. So why is it suddenly different this time? Why has he kicked us into a distant universe?"
"This universe is weird." Red Robin could only comment, "Every place, every person is strange, especially Batman. I really didn't expect the younger Batman to be like this."
Red Hood snorted, "I don't care about what the Batman of other universes is like. I just want to make sense of why our Batman would do this."
"Before I came to look for you, I had made a roundabout in the mansion but couldn't find the entrance to the Batcave. I spotted a possible entrance to a basement, but I was afraid it might have an alarm system, so I didn't go."
"Haven't you had enough of others praising your wisdom?" Red Hood replied in annoyance, "Get to the point."
Despite the impatience in Red Hood's tone, Red Robin seemed as though he was being complimented. He moved further down the stairs and hummed intentionally, "I think the Batcave of the Batman in this universe might not be below Wayne Manor, or that might be a decoy. The real Batcave should be outside Wayne Manor."
Red Hood frowned, glanced at Red Robin, but refrained from immediately sharing his opinions. Red Robin played with his fingers and said, "Follow usual routine, skip my tiresome logical deduction, and move to the conclusion directly."
"You probably noticed as well. As soon as it got dark, Batman left. I suspect he went to the Batcave. We can't follow him though. We'll be found out. Even installing surveillance cameras is out of the question."
"But we can follow the trace left behind by the Batmobile. It won't be too hard for me."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get started."
The two figures exited the gates of Wayne Manor, encountering their first hurdle on the main road.
Red Hood glared at the tire tracks beneath their feet, wider than a man. He raised his chin at Red Robin and said, "Following the trail of the Batmobile, huh? Quite impressive. Seems like this universe's Batman likes driving trucks."
Red Robin walked around in disbelief, using his detective and reasoning abilities on par with Batman's to come to the shocking realization that Batman was indeed driving a truck.
"It's not too strange, right?" Red Robin opened his hands and said, "Although a truck is big, it's strong both defensively and offensively. As for the image issue, this universe's Batman may have unique aesthetics."
The two of them soon followed the traces of the truck to a parking lot, then along footprints to Grill Street.
It was nearing late night and most of the people, satiated, were leaving. As Red Robin, moving against the flow of people, glanced around, he saw a familiar figure among the crowd.
"There's Batman." Red Robin whispered; he was trying to alert Red Hood. But Red Hood saw a more familiar figure—it was the Joker.
In the next second, Red Robin also saw the figure. He let out a gasp, as if someone had throttled him. His next move was to grab Red Hood's arm.
But to his surprise, the force he expected to feel as Red Hood shook his hand off was absent. Unlike his usual reaction to the Joker, Red Hood didn't act like a man on a rampage, yearning to confront and kill him.
Red Robin swallowed, lightly tugged on Red Hood's sleeve, afraid that he had been shocked into a stupor. But somehow, Red Hood had already put on his mask again. Red Robin could no longer see his expression.
"My God! What are Batman and Joker doing together? Is that Damian in Batman's arms? Has Joker kidnapped Damian? ...Who is that? Gordon? Why does he look so young? Oh God! Barbara's here too! I knew they couldn't sit still!"
"Quick, Jason, let's hide over there, we can't get spotted!"
Red Robin pulled Red Hood to one side a little away from the grill stand where Batman and Joker were at, their backs against the wall, craning their necks to catch a glimpse of their actions.
As the crowd was gradually dispersing, the grill stand significantly calmed down. Conversations between Batman and Joker were carried by the wind, clearly audible.
"Your daughter is starting primary school next year?"
"Yes, I haven't shown her the school yet."
"Are you planning to send her to a church school?"
"I had intended to hire a private tutor for Aisha, but Thomas said she needs to learn social interactions. You know, that kind of thing, 'A true lady enters society long before she actually enters.'"
"He seems like he's from the 'Pride and Prejudice' era."
"Who's to disagree?... James? James? Ok, it seems he's drunk again, Barbara. You help him; I'll go pay the bill."
After a rustling noise, Red Robin saw Batman stand up from the stool, then take a wallet out of his pocket, and walk towards the barbecue stand.
He stopped in front of the stand, flipped through his wallet, took out a card, and after handing it to the vendor, said: "Card."
The vendor grabbed a card machine from nearby, swiped Batman's card that appeared to be an exclusive card only obtainable through constant upgrading after spending billions, and then furrowed his brow.
The machine 'beep beeped' twice. When Batman leaned over to look, he seemed to discuss something with the vendor in a whisper, then flipped through his wallet again.
He took out another card that looked like it could only be obtained after depositing with a centuries-old exclusive account in a bank operated by a vampire. The vendor took it and swiped the machine again, but it just 'beep beeped' twice once more - the card made no response.
Red Robin saw Batman furrow his brows and whisper to himself: "What's going on? How come my cards have been frozen?"
At this moment, another figure barged in - it was Joker, dressed as a trucker. He impatiently took out his wallet and handed a wad of cash to the vendor. Then he turned to Batman and rolled his eyes, saying, "Don't offer to pay if you have no money!"
Batman muttered something else but said nothing, pocketed his card, and followed Joker back to the stand.
Red Robin and Red Hood, who were peeping from the corner, pulled back their heads in sync, covering their mouths and widening their eyes, all while screaming inside their minds——"What the hell is happening???!!!"
Batman has dinner and Joker pays???
"What are you guys doing here?!"
A familiar voice came from afar. When Red Robin stuck his head out, he saw Batman walking this way. He frantically patted Jason's arm, saying, "What should we do? What should we do? He's coming!!"
"Who the fuck I'm I supposed to ask! Don't run anymore! It's too late!"
Five minutes later, two new statues were added to Jack's truck.
And Damian, the little devil still comfortably cradled in Bruce's arms, turned back to look at the rear seat. When he turned back, he grinned, his smile brighter than Joker's.
As the saying goes, the more unstable your worldview, the easier it is to accept new knowledge as common sense. Damian is scared of the Joker, but not that scared. After all, he was born and raised in an assassin organization, and he has seen all kinds of horrific people.
But that's not the case for Red Hood and Red Robin, especially Red Hood. The space inside the truck is not large. Those on the back seat were squeezed in. Red Hood was sitting right behind Joker, separated only by a seat back. Even when he was killed by the Joker, he had never been this close.
The inside of the truck is eerily quiet.
Once the truck stopped and the car door was opened, the two figures in the back seat rushed out like madmen. As soon as Red Robin got out of the car, he clutched his neck and started dry heaving. Red Hood was so weak he could barely stand.
Meanwhile, in the very next second, they remembered Batman. Looking over at the front seat, they saw the Wayne father and son, who had eaten their fill, sound asleep.
Through the truck's window, they both saw Joker unbuckle his seat belt, struggle to climb over Bruce and Damian in his arms, and pushed open the door on Bruce's side.
Then he kicked the father and son out with one foot.
As the truck drove away, Bruce, struggling to open his slightly sleepy eyes, looked back at Red Hood and Red Robin standing dumbfounded by the road and said, "I should've let him drop you off at Wayne Manor first…"
Red Robin flinched, "N-n-n-n-no need..."
"Alright, come with me."
"Wh-where?"
"Just look around and see where we are."
Red Robin and Red Hood looked up to find themselves standing in front of a towering iron gate.
At the gate's top was an arched support, and hanging in the center was a sign with a line of English written in cursive - "Arkham Asylum".