The cosmic owl of the universe where Bruce belonged has vanished, but this does not stop him from creating a new Court of Owls, justifiably so, since Alberto was essentially created by the Court of Owls to destroy the Falcone Family, with the legitimacy of the Owl being the Godfather itself.
Even if Bruce is no longer Batman, he is still someone who has received top-notch modern education. Apart from psychology, there is no subject in which he falls short. As a seasoned leader proficient in both academic and social arenas, he requires no extra words of praise for his organizational and leadership skills.
As for the leaders of the Court of Owls in other universes, they are either aging leaders on their last leg or brainwashed zealous followers. Those who are of decent standard are nothing but excellent successors cultivated by their families. What lowly creatures dare compare with Batman?
In the universe where Bruce resides, everyone supports his work, be it Roy, Falcone, gangster families or corporate groups, they all give him the green light for his Owl proposal. It's a strong united front.
But other Owl Courts still linger at the basic stage of American democracy. For every minor issue, they gather in a dark conference room, side by side at a long table chattering for half a day, fondly recalling their glorious past for half an hour and envisioning a bright future for the next half.
As a result, the efficiency between the two parties is worlds apart. Despite the rose-colored language in Bruce's budget report, he truly puts in the work.
In less than half a year, he has fortified all underground cold storages using the dark energy pilfered from Barbados, while planning an almost perfect new subway route. Construction has already begun at the docks.
Regardless of whether this benefits Gotham's development or not, the extent of my dark energy penetration is something to be acknowledged.
Even Barbados has to admit that the depth of infiltration is immense. Most Owl Courts remain stuck in the era where dark energy was infiltrated into Gotham only by mixing impurities into buildings. They lack the knowledge to approach the situation from the aspects of water sources and geology, which is simply a disadvatage against Batman's expertise in these fields.
Efficient and articulate, with a group of experts polishing his image, Bruce quickly rose to become the star in Barbados' eyes.
Barbados knows that Bruce is Batman, but as a dog that once sat beside the world forge, he knows better than anyone that different environments shape different Batmen. Not every Batman is a beacon of righteousness.
In Barbados' eyes, all the years of waiting were worth it. The once sturdy and seamless bright cosmos finally showed a crack. A deranged Batman has been born and he is bound to strike a decisive blow in the counterattack against the bright universe.
All preparations over the years have finally seen a glimmer of hope. Now, Bruce can be said to be Barbados' treasure. If it weren't for the difficulty in planting a pawn in the bright universe, he would have had to sing a tune of victory.
Although Bruce seems devoted to working without compensation, Batman could gain the upper hand with just intel. Backed by his renowned knack for exploiting loopholes, Bruce obtained many contact numbers of the Owl Courts after several communications with Barbados, the source of darkness.
As long as he enters the priests' dreams through the Dreamworld, he can alter the dialed numbers, redirecting calls meant for Barbados to him instead. And this was how he fed the bundle of dark energy into the mouth of the owl in New City.
Now that Barbados has blocked their calls, it made Bruce's actions even more convenient. He shamelessly redirected the numbers dialed by the Owl Priests to his own.
Indeed, he is an archangel, one of the privileges of being an archangel is having a unique number for believers to pray to.
This switcheroo caused the owls to pray directly to Bruce. Just like a true angel, Bruce could reciprocate their prayers with power.
But although Bruce is an archangel in status, he lacks power. Even if he had the Divine Power of an angel, it would clash with the Dark Power of Barbados, the disguise would be seen through no matter how well it is done. So, the power Bruce gave to the Court of Owls was still the Dark Power of Barbados.
However, the dark energy he had was already used up after the first free supply. So, where did the later supplies come from?
Just a few minutes earlier, Peter was called over by the mysterious Black Sun.
When I say 'called over', it is because unlike previously where he needed to focus to enter the Fog Realm, he found himself standing amidst the thick fog in a daze.
"Is something the matter?" Peter asked.
There was no response, but Peter suddenly felt a surge of energy within his soul.
This was a strange sensation that Peter had never experienced before, because he wasn't proficient in magic, he couldn't understand what it feels like to be filled with soul energy, but this time he could feel it.
Then, the Black Sun kicked him out again.
At this moment, Bruce was patting his shoulder from behind. Peter turned to look at him, Bruce lowered his voice and asked him, "Do you believe in the existence of angels?"
"Uh, I..."
"Whether you do or not, here, let me teach you something, pray to the angels. Put your hand on this page of the Bible, yes, this page, stop looking, it's about Gabriel."
"Then, read out this line, repeat this part three times, then start with 'bestow grace upon me, offered to my Lord...'"
Before Peter could process what was happening, he had finished reciting the prayer guided by Bruce and suddenly felt a lightness in his previously heavy soul as some energy disappeared.
"You two, don't slack off." Bruce turned to Joker and Clark and called them over, "I didn't go to great lengths to bring you guys here just to enjoy the scenery. Come on, Joker, hold his hand and recite this line."
"Clark? Clark?... What? You don't believe in God? Doesn't matter, you don't have to believe, just close your eyes and recite."
Joker looked at Bruce with one eye bigger than the other, confused about what the mad bat wanted to do this time.
He rolled his eyes, quickly withdrew his hand, crossed his arms, coughed twice, and said, "I am a firm atheist. I decline to spread heresy unless you tell me what the heresy you're spreading is."
"I swear it's not heresy, God, God, do you understand?"
"I see you have no intention of going through God."
"You saw through that."
The two glared at each other for over a minute, but in the end, it was Bruce who gave in. He waved his hands in front of him and said, "It's too complicated to explain in detail, let me just use an analogy."
He picked up a branch and drew a circle in the dust on the ground from the bomb, then pointed to the circle and said, "This is a lake full of water."
Then he drew a small circle within that one and said, "This represents a pipe reaching into the lake, but a pipe is just a pipe. No matter how broad it is, the amount of water that can pass through it is limited."
He drew a small square next to the circle and said, "This is a pump connected to the water pipe but due to hardware limitations, the power cannot be too high, or it will burn out."
At the tail end of the pipe is a water storage tank which, due to various constraints like technology, doesn't have enough capacity. The water stored inside evaporates and deteriorates at lightning speed."
Looking up at him, Joker asked, "What are you planning to do?"
"We'll open a canal." Bruce drew two vertical lines above the circle, about a palm's width apart, more than ten times the width of the small circle that represented the pipe.
Then he curved the canal and drew another big circle at the end of it, slightly smaller than the one representing the lake, but still quite large.
"By taking advantage of the height differential, we could let the water from this lake flow into another lake we've prepared along the canal we've dug out. More organic, natural, suitable for water storage, and entirely under our control."
"What do you plan on doing with the water?" asked the Joker.
Bruce immediately gave him a "you wouldn't understand" look, wiggling his finger after he said, "We don't necessarily need the water, we just want to empty that lake."
"Oh, he's calling me," Peter exclaimed as the Joker suddenly grabbed his arm.
After a few seconds, both of them snapped back to reality, the Joker screaming like he had been trodden on, "You fucking call this lake water?!! Batman, what the hell are you doing?!"
Joker's hair stood on end as he understood better than anyone else what the dark energy present in his soul represented. It was Batman, the Joker, Gotham. It was the origin of everything.
It was the puppeteer he had been investigating all along.
No wonder you kept telling Batman it's fine. While Batman and I were discussing whether gas stations should prohibit smoking, you've been stealing oil with a bamboo tube, haven't you?!
Stealing a barrel or two is one thing, but you stole a whole truckload, and then smoked a cigarette smugly. You're like an owl in a sewer tank - dead as a dodo!
"I know you're in a hurry, but don't worry just yet," Bruce said with a shake of his head, "Let me finish panicking first. Start praying quickly, or the water will all leak out."
Joker glared at Bruce, took a deep breath, felt the dark energy churning within him, then turned to look at Peter and Clark next to him.
Both of them were obviously now filled with dark energy too, but they looked clueless, innocent.
Joker now understood why the three of them were chosen - a madman and two fools.
The corruption of the soul and the downward pull of darkness that came with such dark energy was as harmless as a tickle to people of extreme good or evil.
No wonder Bruce asked him to provide psychological support to Clark, using him as a filling?
Joker looked down at the Bible. Never before in his life had he been so earnestly and genuinely hoping for the existence of God.
If there really is a God in this world, nevermind me, and forget about the killing joke, could you please stop that unfortunate fellow in front of me from laughing?!
Feeling Joker's death stare, Bruce wiped his face forcefully, pulling down his upturned corners. He said incoherently, "I'm sorry, I usually don't laugh, but do you know who you just looked like?"
"If you dare to say Batman..."
"It's him! And I just took your picture and sent it to him, hahahaha!"