As the saying goes, family disputes are the hardest for a clean official to resolve, primarily because individuals unconsciously tend to embellish their own actions in conversations while judging others. Even the most seasoned judges cannot make people tell the full truth. Thus, it often happens that everyone seems to have a justified point of view.
Determining who's in the right becomes exceptionally difficult and both parties, being well aware of this fact, can comfortably lie without any fear of repercussions.
However, in the DC universe lies a divine artifact assigned to sorting out familial disputes - the Lasso of Truth.
Ever since Bruce learned about this valuable tool from Diana in his own universe, he frequently borrowed the Lasso of Truth to mediate family disputes.
For instance, disputes like who stole whose belongings between Jason and Tim, whether Aisha chewed up Dick's homework, and who got the school principal sent to the hospital by carrying Fightin' Cabbage to school.
Through extensive use, Bruce found that the Lasso of Truth was not very effective for answering overly complex questions. Even if one does not lie, the truth can be interpreted in many ways.
However, for yes or no questions, the effectiveness of the Lasso Of Truth was beyond imagination. With only 'yes' or 'no' as possible answers, ambiguity wasn't an option. So, as long as the question was asked properly, an almost 100% accurate answer could be achieved.
Wonder Woman indicated Bruce with her eyes, and he prepared to start asking questions.
"Do you both understand each other?"
"Yes." "Yes."
Lord Superman answered first, followed by Batman, who seemed to show slightly more resistance to the Lasso of Truth.
"Do you both think the other party understands you?"
"No." "No."
Immediately, Wonder Woman furrowed her brows.
"Are you both willing to understand each other?"
"Yes." "Yes."
"Do you both think you're capable of understanding each other?"
"No." "Yes."
For the first time, their answers diverged. Lord Superman answered 'no' to the question, implying that although he had the intent, he felt he lacked the ability to understand Batman.
However, Batman was both willing and confident about understanding Superman.
Seeing the crux of the problem, Bruce turned to Wonder Woman and asked, "Do you find Batman hard to understand?"
Wonder Woman pondered seriously, then replied, "I think, for anyone, Batman is not easy to understand."
"Have you tried to understand him?"
"I have tried to understand him, but rarely come to any helpful conclusion. Most of the time, Batman's actions baffle me."
Hence, Bruce asked again.
"Batman, have you ever tried to make them understand you?"
"Yes."
This answer left both Lord Superman and Wonder Woman dumb-founded.
"When?" Wonder Woman asked incredulously.
"All the time." Batman replied calmly.
Wonder Woman glanced at the Lasso of Truth on them, as if trying to confirm the authenticity of the reply. But she lost against her knowledge, knowing that one cannot lie under the sways of the Lasso of Truth.
"You all would naturally think it's an expression problem," Bruce sighed, "Because Batman does have a unique way of expressing himself."
Lord Superman and Wonder Woman exchanged glances, finally opting to accept this young Batman's beautification of Batman's actions and his imprecise words.
However, when a message fails to transmit, checking only the senders isn't enough, one must also check the receivers.
After snapping his fingers, Bruce looked at Lord Superman and asked, "Have you ever felt that Batman is trying to make you understand him?"
This time, Lord Superman remained silent for a long time. Yet, the Lasso of Truth didn't tighten, seemingly acknowledging that he was genuinely considering the question.
"Perhaps. I have a vague intuition, a very unclear feeling, which I always attributed as a misperception."
"Did you respond to it?"
"Of course, but it seemed to bear no fruit."
As Bruce stroked his chin, studying the two, Wonder Woman came over and nudged him with her elbow, saying, "Why don't you ask them whether they consider each other as friends?"
"Because the answer to such an obvious question doesn't need asking."
After some thought, Bruce mumbled to himself, "Why didn't this situation occur in that universe?"
This was his core reason for concluding that Lord Superman and Diana also had issues. The Batman of the Prime Universe hadn't encountered this problem.
He had heard about the general situation of that universe from the experiences of the children who had visited the Prime Universe and from Shiller. By observing the Batman of the Prime Universe, Bruce was certain that he was far sicker than this universe's Batman.
But the Justice League of that Universe, although in its infancy, had experienced one major Darkseid event. There hadn't been any disagreements afterward, and despite co-operation amongst them needing some adjustments, they surprisingly had no issues in getting along with one another.
Bruce replayed what Lord Superman had said along with the overall circumstances of this universe. He felt he was onto something but fell short in pinpointing the key issue.
This was the critical case study for his PhD application; failure wasn't an option. Bruce pondered over where the problem might lie.
Despite reviewing all actions, detailing each sentence's tone, movement, and eye contact of Lord Superman and Batman, analyzing and refining them over and over again, he still felt he was missing the last piece of the puzzle.
In the end, Bruce still had to resort to psychoanalysis, an area in which he had no expertise. Realizing upon analysis that he didn't even know the basics, he couldn't claim to be proficient or conversant in the subject but rather had to admit he needed to return to the beginning and learn from the teacher.
Bruce thought about seeking external help, but Owen was currently not with the team and there was no way to contact him. Moreover, making this phone call would surely result in his doctorate application getting rejected more than 70 times.
Suddenly, Bruce thought of a solution.
He said to Wonder Woman, "You stay with them and keep them from moving. I'll be back soon."
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going to look through some books."
Having finished speaking, Bruce walked into the house. Once he was out of sight from the trio outside, he began to chant a spell.
Those outside the house saw a holy light descend from the heavens, but it disappeared in an instant, leaving them all staring agape in surprise.
Bruce was back in Heaven.
Bruce has realized that Battleworld is a place caught between two worlds. However, it didn't have definitive authority over the highest beings of the two worlds. It rather only got permission, hosting a friendly gathering
Sinice the superpowers of the heroes from both realms could be used here, Bruce's angelic status remained valid in heaven. No one could stop an angel from returning to heaven.
Bruce returned to Heaven, not to dwell there, but to go straight to the Sanctuary. Using the portal in the Holy Spring, he arrived in Dreamworld.
Then, he located the Dreamworld and began summoning Constantine, who was now the ruler of Dreamworld.
Constantine, who had apparently also entered the Battleworld, felt weak at first but eventually received Bruce's summoning, and returned to Heaven.
Bruce had located Constantine, who was surprised to see him. He didn't know who had summoned him, and was about to leave after seeing Bruce.
"Don't leave. Help me."
About 5 minutes later, Bruce arrived inside Shiller's subconsciousness. The Dreamworld is a world submerged beneath the subconscious mind of every person. Theoretically, it can grant access to anyone's subconscious.
Upon entering the subconscious, Bruce navigated towards the surface. Instead of entering the Tower of Thought through the hole in the floor, he entered the Abyss, and began crying out for help.
After a while, a figure with mid-length hair appeared next to Bruce. He stared at Bruce and asked, "Didn't you just complete your postgraduate studies? Are you having trouble finishing your thesis again?"
"It's not about the thesis this time."
Mid-length haired Shiller let out a breath of relief.
"This time it's about the PhD application."
Shiller turned around to leave again.
"There's no need for you to help me write." Bruce held on to him, saying, "Just take me there once, help me avoid Arrogant, is Greed in?"
"You expect him to write for you? Do you know how much that would cost? Besides, if you go in your usual form, you'll easily be detected by Arrogant, and then we both are screwed!"
"I need to look into the Memory Archive. I need a guide." Bruce tugged at Shiller's arm again.
"Just say it earlier, I will take you there."
After a while, Bruce arrived at Shiller's archive for professional knowledge; a complete psychology information database in the world, which is also attached with countless psychoanalysis experiences.
Bruce began to look for similar cases at the fastest speed. He found too many, it was impossible to go through all of them, so in the end, he had to pick up a textbook instead.
After flipping through several pages, Bruce suddenly stopped at a few lines of text.
"The period of self-exploration, also known as the period of psychological transformation, refers to the time when a person gradually completes self-improvement due to age growth or significant life changes...."
Bruce suddenly understood. He thought of the universe where Lord Superman lived, where they had just experienced the death of The Flash. Superman killed Luther and established Justice Lord, to clean up the criminals, uniting the entire Earth.
For Superman and Batman, these were significant changes in life. The death of a good friend, changes in the way justice was carried out, and significant achievements would all make them self-reflect. They also start to understand others through their own reflection and likewise, understand themselves through others.
"During this period, people's views on things and people will fluctuate unpredictably, sometimes even to opposite extremes. The process of rebuilding and improving the new self inevitably accompanies mental depression and pain."
Hence, they tend to introspect more, ignoring contact with others, exhibiting excessive self, being distracted, and appearing irritable, moody, and unstable due to the pain of self-instability."
"It sounds like a period of rebellion." Bruce muttered, "But this should be where the problem lies."
Then he continued to read. The following text mentioned various adverse outcomes that might result from people's bad guidance or excessive stimulation during the psychological transformation stage, as well as the proper ways of guidance.
Bruce read for a long time, making sure to remember all the details in his mind, before once again returning to heaven.
But this time, as soon as he returned to heaven, Bruce encountered Uriel, who was inspecting appearances. Uriel pointed behind him.
Bruce looked back. There was no one there. When he turned to look at Uriel again, Uriel flapped his wings.
Then Bruce remembered that in heaven's dress code, all angels must properly wear wings and halos. Bruce, inheriting Gabriel's status, is also an Archangel, just like Uriel.
With a swoosh, Bruce displayed his wings, and Uriel, satisfied, nodded and walked away.
Bruce then stepped into the Holy Spring and, using the signs he had marked before, returned to Superman and Batman's base.
As soon as he landed, Bruce saw three figures standing in front of the door, staring at him.
The next second, Bruce saw three shocked faces. Lord Superman, Batman, and Diana all looked surprised as they looked at Bruce's back.
Bruce, somewhat puzzled, looked back. There was no one behind him.
Then he saw his three pairs of large, holy wings.