Nick didn't seem surprised at the addition of Spider-Man, even though he was Bruce Wayne, he simply took him to the locker room without any reaction.
And so, Spider-Batman, or perhaps Batman-Spider-man, or simply a unique Spider-Man, got himself a brand-new costume.
The costume was more like Spider-Man's bodysuit, which fit him without any sense of incongruity, whereas the mask resembled Batman's, being all-encompassing without exposing the chin, but it had two pointed ears.
This costume actually looked more like Night Devil's, but the color wasn't as bright, adopting Batman's usual black. Luckily, the emblem on the chest wasn't a spider, and the patterns on the bodysuit weren't webs; otherwise, it would have looked a lot like Venom.
The black color of the costume was a bit special, reflecting a dazzling metallic color. At the chest was a bat emblem, but with the center cut out in the shape of a spider; the legs of the spider fragmented the bat's wings, creating a bizarre aesthetic.
Bruce's physique was excellent, somewhat bulkier than most Spider-Mans, simply put, broader, and he looked even more imposing in the bodysuit.
"I will add a cape to it," Bruce said.
"You know that's pointless in combat."
"But it's a symbol of a knight."
"If you like it, fine," Nick shrugged and said, "Come here, we are going to test the new battlesuit's capabilities."
Bruce followed him, and during the test, he found that the suit was not merely decorative; in fact, it was fireproof, waterproof, electricity-resistant, and virtually protective against everything conceivable. The arms were equipped with mini communication devices, a Spider Silk Launcher, the back concealed nano-gliders, and the legs housed environmental sensors, chips, and micro-drones.
"We've updated the costumes for most Spider-Mans," Nick said. "To help them better accomplish various combat tasks while ensuring their own safety."
"Spider-Mans are quite strong, so there's no need for excessive improvement in that area; they are also quite agile, so no additional mobility aids are needed."
"On the contrary, they need more accurate judgment of their surrounding environment, as well as the ability to call for help at any time. I hope you remember this: if you can't handle it, call for backup. You are certainly not short of manpower."
Bruce nodded without voicing any opinion. Unlike other Batmans, he knew his own limitations; anyone who came his way was stronger than him, so there was no need to question whether others could help.
After testing the battlesuit, Bruce quickly entered the portal and arrived in a wasteland with ruins, where, in the center of these ruins, stood a man wearing a shiny silver helmet and a long cape.
The moment Bruce landed, he was discovered. The other simply raised a hand, and Bruce was instantly flattened to the ground.
Bruce immediately understood that the other's ability was to manipulate gravity, an area he was not adept in; he could hardly figure out the center of gravity in those complex physics problems.
Bruce took a deep breath, his muscles swelling instantly. The tremendous strength imparted by his spider mutation came into play at this moment, as he bore the oppressively heavy gravity and stood up.
The other seemed surprised and bewildered, but quickly raised his hand again, bringing down an even heavier force, which floored Bruce once more.
In the street adjacent to where they were facing off, two shadowy figures stood furtively at the mouth of an alleyway.
"Who's that guy? Spider-Man?" Harley said, puzzled. "I don't recognize this version. But his physique does look familiar; I've forgotten where I've seen it before."
"You dragged me out here just to watch someone else's fight?" Little Bruce crossed his arms and said, "And here I thought you had found some important clue."
"Actually, there's both," Harley said. "The important clue might be hidden in the way they fight. Haven't you felt that something is off? According to our earlier deductions, these personas might come from memories that left a strong impression on David."
Bruce nodded.
"And what about their superpowers?" Harley raised a doubt. "It can't be possible that every time David sees something, he imagines it to have superpowers, right? Even if he likes to think that way, it's unlikely he does so with every memory."
"Uh-huh," Little Bruce hummed noncommittally.
"Either he's already lost his mind, seeing superpower users in everything, or the superpowers these things possess were not his original associations, but rather added subsequently."
"You mean..."
"These things may all be David's precious memories, but they were originally just memories, not superpower users. Something caused them to gain superpowers, turning them into the superpower users we see now."
"You're saying their powers were bestowed by something?"
"Exactly," Harley analyzed. "Since this is the Psychic_Battlefield, we should look at it according to the rules of a psychic world. To transform an inanimate object from a memory fragment into a series of superpower users with special abilities and personalities, this kind of purposeful, uniform transformation can't be a natural occurrence in the mind, nor can it be due to some uncontrollable pathological change."
"Such a change is orderly, systematic, so there must be some intelligent existence behind it," Harley said. "This entity could be someone other than David, but it could also be David himself."
Little Bruce furrowed his brows deeply, pondering for a bit before saying, "You think the latter is more probable, right?"
"Right. Such an internal shift is hard to be influenced by others, and it's much easier to be affected by oneself, like deciding whether to forget a memory or remember it forever. This preference can propel the change in the memory, either gradually fading it or solidifying it."
"So why would David do this?"
"We'll have to ask David himself," Harley replied.
"So, we've come full circle," Little Bruce said disdainfully. "To find David, we have to defeat these bizarre personas, but to understand how these personas came to be, we have to find David. Oh boy, it's a vicious cycle."
Harley also sneered and said, "I don't need to go looking for David like you do. Just wait."
Then, the upper half of Harley's body suddenly vanished.
Little Bruce was startled, his pupils shrunk sharply, but on a closer look, he realized that Harley hadn't split in two. Instead, she had stuck her upper body out from an invisible window.
Even from the side, nothing could be seen except for a thin line, as if someone had suddenly opened a slit in the existing scene and then stuck their head out through it.
After a while, Harley came back, snapped her fingers, and said, "Just had a chat and got quite a bit of useful information. Let's go."
"Where to?"
"Of course, to find David. Well, a part of David. He's the boss of the Soulstream Sect and is called Lord-Trauma. His abilities are telepathy, and he can also absorb other personalities. The Soulstream Sect's doctrine of absorbing other personalities to strengthen itself was proposed by him."
"What exactly did you do?" Little Bruce narrowed his eyes and asked.
"Don't worry about it too much, let's go."
"How are we going?" Little Bruce looked up, noticing the many personalities still roaming the streets, looking unpredictable and irascible.
"Can we find a car?" Harley looked around and, finding no means of transportation, said, "Let's go. We need to find that Batmonster Vehicle."
"How are we supposed to find him now?"
Harley looked around and then spotted a taxi sign at the end of the street. She stood under the sign and reached out her hand, shouting loudly, "TAXI!"
With a sizzle, a braking noise came from within the smoke, forcing Little Bruce to wave his hands in front of him. When the dust settled, he saw the Batmonster Vehicle carrying Barry and Lightning Batman had pulled up in front of them.
Barry and Lightning Batman appeared a bit bewildered because the road they had just been on was not this one. But the Batmonster Vehicle seemed quite comfortable with the situation and said, "I heard someone hailing a cab. Hop on, miss."
"Thank you." With a smile, Harley pinched up her nonexistent skirt and gave a curtsy before getting into the vehicle.
"What the hell is going on?" Little Bruce asked in a lowered voice, "You've never shown these abilities before."
"Don't forget we're in the Psychic Battlefield." Harley whispered back, "You think you can only use abilities you have in the real world because your thinking is limited. Mine isn't, so I can accomplish anything I want with my mind."
"Crazy people have broader thoughts?"
"I'll say it again, I'm not crazy." Harley rolled her eyes and said, "Sorry, can I drive? I think we should speed things up."
"Uh, is it possible that this car can drive itself?" Barry said, "I mean this Batman... uh, this Batmob... this Batman... "
"Alright, move over." Harley pushed Barry off the driver's seat, took the wheel herself, and pressed on the gas pedal.
"Whoa, miss!" exclaimed the Batmonster Vehicle, "Excellent racing driver!"
Whoosh! The giant off-road vehicle vanished into the end of the street and when it reappeared, they had already arrived in front of a house painted orange.
Barry got out of the car and saw "Shaun Lorne" written on the mailbox at the entrance, while Harley had already gone up to ring the doorbell.
The door opened promptly, and a young man appeared inside. Harley greeted him, "Hello, David, or should I call you Master of Trauma?"
The young man's expression immediately froze, but Harley didn't consider herself an outsider and squeezed through the gap between her body and the doorframe into the house. This David clearly wanted to chase after her, which caused the people behind to also squeeze in, including the Batmonster Vehicle, which smashed a window and poked its head in.
"Who exactly are you? How can you just barge into someone's house like this? And why can't I..."
"Because we're not one of David's personalities." Harley said, crossing her arms and turning back, "You can't absorb us, and it's hard for you to hurt us."
"How did you find this place? The group outside..."
"We didn't encounter the group outside at all, don't worry about how we got here. I just want to know where the real David is."
At that moment, Lightning Batman noticed a family portrait on the living room table, with a boy in the middle who looked exactly like this young man, only with long hair.
The young man known as the Master of Trauma's complexion darkened, and he said, "What do you all know?"
"These personalities, turning from memory elements into beings with superpowers, it wasn't caused by illness or by chance. David did it." Harley was very assertive, "There must have been a key event that made David do this. Where is he now?"
The young man's expression became even heavier, and he said, "Outsiders, this is our own affair, you're not welcome here."
Harley snapped her fingers, and Little Bruce caught on immediately. Countless tendrils erupted from his back, enveloping the entire house in a shroud of black despair and incoherent babbling.
The Master of Trauma's expression stiffened further, until at last, he had to grit his teeth and say, "Don't damage the house!"
"Will you tell us?"
"Forget it," the young man looked away, "You won't be able to find him. Even if you do, you'll just find an imposter."
"Tell us about this imposter."
"If you've managed to find this place, it must be because he's let something slip." The Master of Trauma looked away, "The one in the castle now, suppressing all the personalities, he's not really David. David has long since vanished."