The next task clearly arranged by Thomas and Martha was for Little Bruce, who was to attend school. Though it was home tutoring, the actual location for the classes wasn't in the main hall where everyone commonly gathered, but rather through a corridor next to the grand hall, where there was a separate building. The study, library, repair shop, and all other workshops related to craftsmanship were there.
Red hood would read books there, Nightwing would tinker around during the busier times in the Batcave, and even Batman would occasionally retreat to the study in this building to ponder life. It could be said that this was Wayne Manor's large-scale activity center.
Previously, when the younger Robins arrived, they received tutoring and attended interest classes in this building. By the way, originally there was no dance studio here, but one was added after Dick arrived, and even Nightwing was dragged to attend a few lessons by force.
However, learning to dance as an adult was truly difficult, especially ballet, which demands a high level of foundational skills. After attending a few lessons, Nightwing thought that learning some cheerleading moves might not be a bad idea.
The first thing Little Bruce needed to do was to tour the classroom. It wasn't because there was something particularly noteworthy to see, but rather it was a rule of their social class that if you invite a tutor to dine at your home, the first thing to do after the meal was to show the tutor the place where teaching would take place, and this step must be completed by the child.
During this process, you must come across as poised, articulate, friendly in communicating with the teacher, express your views on the upcoming curriculum and the timetable, display the luxuriousness of the manor, and show that you are a child of the elite class with not only a family background but also a smart brain.
Although Little Bruce possessed both of these qualities, Batman's biggest problem was his lack of talkativeness; he could hardly play the role of a service-oriented character, so in the end, it still fell to Red Robin to accompany him, as Red Robin had also taken classes with this teacher for a period of time.
Next was selecting the outfit for the day of the meal. Luckily, the person who delivered Batwoman's clothing had not yet left, so they started to measure Little Bruce's figure up and down at 360 degrees without missing an angle, until Little Bruce started to space out.
He thought some of Gotham's villains were really stupid; wanting to get his detailed information but having to do the measurements themselves. Anyway, in this cosmos, if you want to know the detailed body measurements of the Batman Family, just go directly to the tailor.
After being measured, he couldn't help but start to review dining etiquette. Indeed, it had been a long time since Little Bruce participated in a formal dinner, and Thomas and Martha went to great lengths to break his bad habit of poking steak with tentacles.
By the end of this entire process, it was already dark outside, dinner had been eaten, but now Little Bruce needed to check what the teacher was going to teach in the first lesson. Not to show off his proficiency, but rather to show what he didn't know.
If the teacher taught one thing and he knew it all, the teacher would call him a once-in-a-generation genius, and recommend that he go to college right away, he would end up going to school with those noisy Robins again.
By evening, most people either were slumped on sofas enjoying the warmth from the fireplace or were in various rooms doing their own things.
The Flash, as Lightning Batman, was in the library reading some books on mechanical engineering, not because he didn't know it before, but after seeing the Mechanical Batman's body, he came up with some new ideas.
"I think you would make a great mechanical butler," said Lightning Batman, deliberately trying to scare Barry. "You need to take control of those machines and help me out, that's the usage fee for this body."
"But it was you who destroyed my body!" Barry exclaimed incredulously. "You're just compensating me."
"Then what you will get is just a regular robot body, not a super-robot body that's nearly identical to the Mechanical Batman."
Barry immediately fell silent. After a while, he spoke up, "Fine, you caught me. How long do I have to do this?"
"That depends on when I figure out what exactly went wrong with that experiment," Lightning Batman said, essentially sentencing him to death. "I'll figure it out eventually."
"Please, no!" Barry started wailing. He didn't want to hear anything about that experiment anymore, then started to haggle, "You can't do this, otherwise I'll tell Thomas and Martha."
"Through whose mouth?"
In the art of intimidation, The Flash was clearly no match for Batman, and in this unfavorable situation, he ultimately had no choice but to compromise.
However, their peaceful reading ambiance was soon disrupted when Batman appeared and said, "We need to go check on the Bat Tyrant Dragon."
"Is there a problem?"
"The problem lies in the problem it's created."
Soon, Batman, Lightning Batman, and Mechanical Batman, the three Batmen, were together, and Batman introduced the matter to them.
"Preliminary judgment suggests that the Bat Tyrant Dragon lost connection due to the impact of a particular type of energy waves, similar to an intense electromagnetic storm. Considering the circumstances back then, this could only have been possible with the energy ripples generated when the Lantern Furnace hit that helmet."
Several Batmen furrowed their brows, knowing full well what this implied. They had been aware of something amiss with that helmet, beyond the contaminated core that had already been removed, including the energy circuits that couldn't have possibly been created by the Olympus Gods.
This object was clearly the handiwork of someone pulling strings from behind the scenes, and now the Lantern Furnace's collision had triggered it, causing the Bat Tyrant Dragon to crash.
Although the Bat Tyrant Dragon had now recovered, this was clearly due to a minor accident rather than intentional sabotage. However, all the Batmen were contemplating the same question—what if it hadn't been an accident next time?
"It possesses very advanced brainwave technology," said Mechanical Batman, by "it" he obviously meant the fact that someone was able to infiltrate the original storage unit for Alfred and masquerade as him.
"If that Alfred was not the real one, then at the very least the impersonation was convincing. This proves that it is not unfamiliar with such replication of human brainwave frequencies, and might even be a master of the craft."
Now the Bat Tyrant Dragon had also crashed due to an electrical storm caused by some accident. Could this be a coincidence?
Clearly, in the world of Batman, there were no coincidences.
"The contaminating ability might not be just about driving you mad," Batman assessed. "Although that is one of its aims, it might not be the sole purpose of the contamination. It's very possible that it fundamentally altered your brainwave frequencies, making them susceptible to a special kind of electromagnetic pulse. This way, if it confronts you in the future, it could knock you down just like ringing a bell, triggering the same kind of shock that took down the Bat Tyrant Dragon."
"No wonder he granted us superpowers stronger than those of other Batmen, yet seemed utterly unconcerned about us becoming a threat," mused Lightning Batman, narrowing his eyes. "Perhaps it was intentional from the start—if it itself is one of the Batmen, it would never create an adversary that could pose a threat to itself, only handy tools that are obedient and can be disposed of at any time."
"Perhaps we need to think about adding a protective shield to your brains," Batman stepped forward, analyzing the data on the equipment. "But that could be difficult, and would likely require the assistance of a psychic."
"Martian Manhunter?"
Batman shook his head. Everyone understood what he meant; he didn't trust Martian Manhunter to access the brains of the Batmen, especially when this group of Batmen had been contaminated.
At this moment, they spontaneously thought of the Legion they had just had to deal with, which included many powerful psychics among its personalities.
But Batman considered another individual—Charles. He had previously heard about Professor X from Iron Man, and he was inclined to trust Charles because one, he was from another universe, and two, beyond the mutant issue, Professor X's moral standards were trustworthy. Furthermore, their own universe had no mutants.
However, Batman was more inclined towards the younger Charles. Not overly familiar with the developmental patterns of mutant abilities, he believed youth might bring greater focus and strength. Besides, it's far easier to persuade a young man than an old fox.
To eliminate the risk thoroughly, Batman immediately initiated contact with Charles. However, he soon learned that Charles wasn't currently in Shiller's universe—he had taken a trip back to his homeland.
Batman saw no issue with this and, after communicating with Charles, received his agreement to come over. However, when the portal was set up, two figures walked through.
One was Charles Xavier, and the other was Erik Lensherr—both young versions. More troubling was that both their expressions were darker than Batman's own.
What could be scarier than a middle-aged couple arguing? A pair of quarreling teenagers. Seeing the two, Batman turned to leave; he was already recalling Martian Manhunter's phone number in his head.
He had just returned to the Wayne Manor living room when Thomas brought in even more alarming news—the Superman from Mechanical Batman's universe had come looking for him, and Mechanical Batman didn't want to deal with him.
Mechanical Batman wasn't particularly keen on dealing with him, but Doomsday Batman was very much inclined to interact with Superman. Coincidentally, Superman arrived just as Doomsday Batman was about to join Thomas for a night shift, and the two met right there in the living room.
Upon seeing this scene, Batman turned and walked away again, and at this very moment, God of War Batman returned with Diana.
Doomsday Batman glanced at Superman, Superman looked at Batman and Diana together, and Diana observed Doomsday Batman.
And to make things even more coincidental, Charles and Erik showed up mid-argument, just when they reached the "let's have someone else judge this" stage.