Selina, somewhat helpless, hung up the phone and turned to look at Bruce who was laying against the back of the chair next to her.
"I don't understand. You're not really sunburned, and we're all prepared, so why delay going to the banquet?"
Bruce snapped his fingers and closed his eyes, saying, "I don't need to look to know that Pamela surely arrived at Rodrix Manor earlier."
"So what if she did?"
Bruce sighed deeply, looked at Selina and said, "You can absolutely not imagine how crazy a woman possessed by lustful desires and evil spirits can be."
"You mean little Pamela?" Selina tilted her head in confusion, "I think you're a little biased against her just because she likes women."
"That's absolutely not prejudice. Moreover, she doesn't only like women. Haven't you noticed? She has the typical traits of a psychologically obsessed person."
Selina shivered, glanced left and right, and rubbed her arms, "A psychopath, where is there a psychopath?"
Bruce stood up and put his arm around Selina's waist. She was dressed for the banquet in a champagne-gold deep V rhinestone gown, which nearly blended with her skin tone, as if she were draped in a dazzling sunset glow.
Bruce rested his chin on Selina's shoulder, whispered into her neck, "Have you never felt anything special about me?"
"Special? What kind of special? Does being overly sentimental count as special, young master?"
Bruce chuckled deeply, his arms around Selina's waist, "Pamela has designs on both of us… hold on, retract your claws and listen to me first."
As for you… of course, it's due to your beauty since you precisely fit in her preferred spectrum – glamorous, mysterious, and sensual, you're her ideal type."
"But her interest in me, isn't entirely based on my appearance. She likes madmen, particularly those highly intelligent, ruthless yet fascinating madmen."
"You're saying she likes you?" Selina turned her head slightly to look at Bruce.
"More accurately, she admires you, but for me, it's a sort of morbid obsession."
Bruce lightly licked his lips, "We met after she was cured, and I found her overly excited. I speculated that her repressed desires suddenly burst out, which led to some issues in her mental state."
"But what does it have to do with us delaying our arrival at the banquet?"
"Did my description of a madman remind you of anyone?"
"Who? … Professor Shearer?"
"Yes, compared to him, I'm rather normal. And Shearer does possess an exceptionally unique charm for psychopaths and those obsessed with them; he's like a potent magnet."
"If you have even slightest curiosity or interest in him, you'd find it almost impossible not to be attracted by him. Once you're hooked, you'd inevitably have to pay a hefty price, which typically involves bloodshed."
"Pamela would be attracted to him?"
"I'm afraid it's inevitable." Bruce nodded and sighed softly, "The person who cured her was Shearer, and I suspect Shearer erased her memory of the treatment process to spur her curiosity; that's an irresistible bait."
"Judging from Pamela's behavior, she must've taken the bait. Hence she would definitely arrive early at Rodrix Manor."
"What's she planning to do?" Selina asked in surprise.
"She wouldn't be so foolish as to attack Professor Shearer. Yet it's hard to predict what else she might do. In her current state of hyper-excitement verging on madness, she would at least provoke some irrational speech."
"Why?"
"To draw the attention of the madman, to put herself in the role of the victim."
"What sense does that make?"
"It makes no sense." Bruce shrugged his head.
Selina narrowed her eyes, "Does it not, or can't you say? It has to do with Pamela's personality and character, right? Where has your knowledge of psychology gone?"
"Let's not talk about it. All I know is, I won't rush onto the front line. The host of this party isn't the Shearer we're familiar with. Up to now, no one knows how many tricks the morbid Shearer has up his sleeve. I wouldn't want to set myself up for disaster."
Pamela continued to stare at Shearer's bedroom balcony.
"The banquet will begin in an hour," Lex looked down at his watch, "Cobblepot will be in the foyer in half an hour. His car should arrive in 20 minutes."
He meant to remind Pamela that guests were about to arrive and if she planned to cause a scene, now was not the best time.
But Pamela acted as if she didn't hear, raising one hand slightly. A thin vine grew up the exterior of the mansion and crawled onto the balcony of the master bedroom.
Lex did not try to intervene this time. After all, if something happened, the one to incite Shearer would be her. Being a spectator, he might even gain more useful information.
The vine continued to extend along the bottom edge of the balcony door but keeping its head down, just crawling around the door frame like a greedy snake.
"That cold power is quite strong." Pamela sniffed, "I can feel that the vine is about to freeze. She must have bled a lot."
"Is she powerful?"
"Perhaps so," Pamela said with a slight frown, "I firmly believe that it's not just beauty, straightforwardness, and passion that attract Shiller. There are too many people like that around him. She must be special."
"You think her uniqueness is power?"
"At least that's one reason... Shiller is getting dressed."
"Don't you feel like a bit of a peeping Tom?"
"Do you think he hasn't noticed me?"
Speechless, Lex shook his head, "I think you should calm down now. Don't you think you're getting overly excited?"
Licking her lips, Pamela replied, "I'm just being myself. If you set rules and boundaries for every game, there would be no fun."
"But I must remind you," Lex lowered his eyes with a more serious tone, "my previous speculation about Shiller's past was not unfounded. As I have said before, his romantic encounters with the straightforward and fervent ladies you mentioned may have unfolded differently than you imagine."
"You think he has a particular hobby? How interesting, I do too."
"I don't think that can be considered a special hobby." Lex's Adam's apple bobbed as he spoke, "I've seen some uncontrollably dangerous elements beneath his human skin."
"Just like the Clark Kents I mentioned before. Even if he could control everything when he's sober, certain situations may cause him to lose control."
"But Shiller is human."
"Yes, but he is not an ordinary human."
Laughing, Pamela turned around and looked at Lex with sparkling eyes, "It's just that you never regard him as an ordinary human. His past and present, filled with meaningful extraordinariness, make you fear and become cautious. But usually, you reserve such attitude for dangerous beasts."
"I just treat him as an ordinary human. I'm interested in him, want to explore his secrets, get feedback from him, even use him to satisfy my desires. What's so illogical about that? Isn't that what ordinary people do?"
"And most importantly, which of these attitudes do you think he finds more annoying?"
Lex was stunned.
He had thought before, if he truly considered Shiller an ordinary man, their interactions would become different. Once he decided on this, he believed he had been following through.
But now he realizes it's incredibly hard, because Shiller is too intimidating. The dangerous traits he emits force Lex into defense mode.
So everything goes back in circles, attracted to danger yet fearing it, staying on guard. This is not the way to approach another person as 'normal'. People tend to relax around those they're familiar with.
This applied to Lex's display of nervousness around Shiller, revealing some vulnerability as he thought it could open up a chance to console one another and make their emotional exchanges more 'normal'.
But in reality, this was all his design, not his genuine feelings. It's incredibly hard to fully relax around Shiller.
Dammit, how on earth does Bruce Wayne manage to doze off for half a day during Shiller's lessons?
And how does Pamela boldly approach him knowing full well how dangerous he is?
From a behavioral perspective, their actions are the 'normal' ones, and he seems like a paranoid fool. But no matter how Lex's rationality and intuition judge, he felt that they were the insane ones.
Shiller walked out onto the balcony.
When he leaned on the balcony railing and looked down, Lex tensed. Yet, the vine that had been lingering on the balcony frame subtly wrapped itself around Shiller's ankle.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please go and do a final check on your outfits. Lex, wait in your room. Pamela, head to the hall."
The vine quickly retreated. Pamela apparently received the answer she wanted, Lex, however, remained frowning. Shouldn't he be the protagonist of today?
But after Shiller finished speaking, he went back to his room, Pamela started heading towards the front hall and Lex had no choice but to follow her back to his room to wait.
Kopot arrived soon after.
He stepped out of the car and made for Rodriguez Manor beaming. First, he went towards Alberto's room then knocked on Lex's door afterwards.
"Good evening, Mr. Kopot. You're earlier than I anticipated." Lex nodded at Kopot.
Kopot smiled. Although his eagle hook nose gave him a bit of a gloomy look when he was expressionless, it's often said that a rosy complexion is a sign of good health. When he smiled, he no longer seemed as humble and obsequious as before, rather he was quite sincere.
"The first batch of guests from other universes have arrived at Wayne Hotel. They'll be here soon, but I'm afraid you'll have to wait in your room until all the guests arrive. Then, Professor Rodriguez will introduce everybody."
"I see," Lex nodded in understanding. "Will the guests from the other universes be the first to arrive?"
"It depends on whether they have pre-considered the traffic situation in Gotham, but it wouldn't be off by much."
"TONY STARK, HOW MUCH LONGER WILL YOU TAKE?!!!" Natasha's roar echoed in the corridor of Wayne Hotel, followed by the banging sound of knocking on the door, "I TOLD YOU MANY TIMES, THIS CITY CALLED GOTHAM HAS WORSE TRAFFIC ISSUES THAN NEW YORK. IF WE DON'T HIT THE ROAD NOW, WE MIGHT BE LATE!!!"
"Keep it down!" Tony snapped back, sounding impatient but slightly guilty, "I have some problems with my mini ultrasound machine. Give me ten more minutes! I must make sure that traveling between universes didn't affect Pepper's tumor!"