Sitting to one side, Harley let out a sigh and rubbed her sore arm which she had just raised, saying: "Luckily, we were prepared, imbuing the missiles with Dark Power. Otherwise, we might not have been able to shatter his armor. This guy's got the real deal."
Little Bruce stood at the porthole, gazing outwards. He saw Batman carrying away the Savage Wolf. Turning his head, he gave Helen a look. Helen slipped away from the Robins, letting Harley explain the whole story to them while she made her way over to Little Bruce.
"Fancy going on a more exciting adventure?" Little Bruce, arms folded, looked towards Helen revealing a wicked smile.
Helen immediately shot back, baring her teeth at him and retorted: "What you consider an adventure is a piece of cake for me. Spill it, what are you up to now?"
"Just now, I found the autopilot coordinates to the Apocalypse Star in the spaceship's database..."
Helen swiftly widened her eyes at Little Bruce exclaiming, "You can't be serious?"
"I might not understand what you mean by 'dirt,' but I can clearly feel that these aliens aren't that powerful, or rather their hardware is good, but they're not too bright."
Little Bruce turned his body around, resting his back against the window, and continued: "It's a once in a millennium occurrence, are you really planning to stop at such petty matters with these dimwitted aliens?"
"Petty matters?" Raised an eyebrow, Helen glanced around the cabin and retorted: "We did manage to take a whole fleet."
"But definitely not their best fleet."
"Harley was right, you have gone off your rocker!"
"Did someone call me?" Hawley ambled over, casting a glance back at the Robins who were fixated by the spaceship. She grimaced.
Helen gestured towards Little Bruce, who then explained his plan to Harley. Helen thought Harley would say it's too risky, but instead, Harley stomped her foot excitedly and exclaimed: "So, we could actually infiltrate the Apocalypse Star?"
"Infiltrate."
"Alright, it's more or less the same, but we will certainly get to kill quite a few things." Harley spread her mouth into a big grin and said: "I've been keeping it in for far too long and haven't seen much action. Plus, there's a surveillance monitor in my brain, so killing humans is out of the question. But killing aliens to let off some steam... sounds about right."
"But soaring towards there like this would certainly pose a risk; I think we need an insurance policy." Harley rubbed at her chin and said.
In a dimly lit room, a boy was lounging on the couch, tossing chips into his mouth with one hand and channel hopping with the other hand. At last, he settled on an animation, but he wore a bored expression, which showed no delight at being able to freely watch the cartoons.
The sound from the cartoons filled the room, and suddenly, his ears perked up. Quickly turning his head towards the door, he yelled: "Who's there?! Come out!!"
Suddenly, a head appeared in the door's window. Harley's bubbly voice injected: "Damian, it's me. Do you remember me? Harley Quinn."
"God, Harley, how did you get here?" Damian virtually jumped from the couch, dropped his snack bag, and rushed to the door. He aimed a big shout at Harley: "Are you here to rescue me? Hurry up, let me out. That damned Batman locked me in here!"
"Of course, we plan on infiltrating an alien planet and we could use an extra hand. You in?"
"God, how could I miss out on such fun? Quick, quick, quick, find a way to let me out!"
Meanwhile, Little Bruce was still scrutinizing the Necronomicon that Harley was holding, giving it a dubious look and asked: "How does this book know where Batman's son has been locked up?"
Helen snapped her fingers and said: "Trust me, no one understands Batman better than him."
At this point, Harley and Damian had started to study the door. Damian turned to Harley and said: "I think trying to break it open will definitely not work. Batman must have installed loads of mechanical traps on it."
"What about magic?"
"You know magic?"
"It's not anyone's privilege. Bruce, Bruce!" Harley shouted behind her. She pointed at the keyhole then said, "I've charged up the missiles just now. It's your turn."
Little Bruce walked forward, arms crossed over his chest and expressionless. Damian took one look at him through the door's window and his eyes nearly popped out of his head, he then quickly caught up and questioned: "You must be Bruce Wayne from another cosmos, right?"
Little Bruce did not even glance at him. Damian rested his arms on the railing of the window and said: "In the future, don't sleep with a woman called Talya. Don't believe in any true-love bullshit. She's just after your genes."
With a click sound, the door opened. Damian walked out and noticed that the dark energy hadn't vanished from Little Bruce's hands. He widened his eyes in astonishment and looked at Little Bruce, muttering: "Are you from the magic faction? A Batman who knows magic... that's astonishing."
"Why are bringing him along?" Little Bruce grumbled impatiently.
"Of course, because he is a very powerful special agent," Harley shrugged and said: "He's a rare all-rounder, we still need him for our infiltration."
Damian immediately revealed a proud expression, while Little Bruce had already walked towards Helen. As he walked, he said: "Once Batman defeats the Savage Wolf, he'll quickly board the spaceship to check the situation. Before he figures out exactly how many spacecraft there are, we need to take the one we want."
Just then, a round of footsteps echoed down the corridor. Everyone became alert, afraid that the figure with two pointed ears might appear from the darkness. However, it was Constantine who emerged from the darkness.
"What are you doing here?" Harley muttered, looking up and down at Constantine. She let out a sigh of relief once she established that he wasn't from her universe. Her only worry now was that Professor Shearer would learn about the trouble she had caused in this universe and send someone to capture her.
"Batman asked me to guard this place to prevent any magical beings from threatening the safety of his son."
"Ha, the thief acting the guard," Damian snorted.
"You aren't going to tell Batman, are you?" Harley squinted and said half askingly, half threateningly: "What did he offer you? We can double it."
"I don't want your incentives. You guys are going to take a spaceship to another planet, right? Take me with you."
Everyone was a bit taken aback. Little Bruce raised an eyebrow, glanced over Constantine from top to bottom, and asked, "Why do you want to go to another planet with us?"
"What other reason could there be? To avoid my debtors." Constantine shrugged and said, "Even though I have quite a few debtors in Heaven and Hell, the ones on Earth are the most troublesome. If you don't take me, I'll go tell Batman."
"Despicable!" Damian yelled at Constantine.
At the entrance of Rodrix Manor, Merkel opened an umbrella for Shearer and helped him into the car, saying as he opened the door, "Sir, just let Alfred call me when you return."
Shearer nodded and got in the car. After a long traffic jam, he eventually arrived at Wayne Manor. Alfred was waiting at the entrance.
"You're here, Professor." Alfred opened the door for Shearer, who nodded and asked, "Am I late?"
"Of course not. Only Chief Gordon has arrived. Miss Pamela just called, saying her plants have escaped from the warehouse. She needs to catch them, so she probably won't be able to make it today."
Just as Shearer was about to walk in, he noticed a figure strolling quickly through the large entrance. As Professor Strange, who was smartly dressed in a suit, came in, he said, "This is insane. I've never seen a traffic worse than Manhattan on a Friday night!"
Shearer slowed down his pace and waited for him. He then said, "I told you to stay at my manor but you insisted on living in a high-end apartment in the city center. It took you three hours to get here, didn't it?"
"Three hours? Five and a half!" Strange quickly caught up with Shearer, got under his umbrella and said: "Forget about building any Magical Defense Network, let's just destroy it."
The two quickly crossed the front yard and entered the front hall. Alfred magically appeared by the door, took the umbrella from Shearer, and handed them towels and warm tea.
"Oh, you're here. And this must be Professor Strange, pleasure to meet you, sir." Gordon got up from the couch near the fireplace, shook hands with Strange, and introduced him to his daughter, Barbara.
"I'm not your daughter yet." Barbara complained, rubbing her forehead. Shearer glanced at the dark circles under her eyes and asked, "How many days have you not been sleeping, Miss?"
"Just about a week, I guess." Barbara returned to her couch by the fire. Shearer shook his head and said, "You should have gone with them."
"Go back and be Batman's little assistant again? His team has doubled in size; they don't need me now."
Barbara took a sip of her warm tea and let out a sigh, "Don't worry about me. It's true that at first I pulled several all-nighters for the music festival and it was indeed exhausting, but now it's different. I am investigating the city's economic system."
"Especially how Wayne Enterprises manages to operate smoothly while maintaining the Gotham renovation project. Logically, their working capital is not sufficient. It's a business miracle."
Shearer's hand, which was holding the cup, faltered. At this time, Bruce came down from the stairs. They both glanced at each other and withdrew their gaze. Obviously, both were interested in the expression Barbara would wear once she uncovered the truth.
"You didn't actually divert funds from the Federal Reserve, did you?" Barbara turned her head, draped one arm over the back of the couch, and asked Bruce, "Where did that huge amount of working capital come from?"
"Miss," Shearer stopped Barbara and said, "For some time now, Wayne Enterprises has been managed by Thomas Wayne. Perhaps it would be more effective if you took the time to ask him."
Barbara wore a puzzled expression. She moved her gaze back and forth between Shearer and Bruce. At this point, Alfred walked up to her, handing over a plate of cheese, nuts, and snacks. He told her with a smile, "Despite admiring your dedication to studies, Miss Gordon, it is also important to look after your health. I have some calming tea here. Would you like some?"
"You better give her some. I'm afraid she won't make it till Barbara and I patch things up," Gordon sighed, "She spends every day either tapping away on her computer or buried in a pile of documents. No point in persuading her."
"It's important because you revived Gotham. It's what we've been aiming for." Barbara stiffened, raising her voice in declaration.
"Alright, Miss. Please, drink your tea."