Jason ate two large pieces of waffles, not because they were really delicious, but because with a blocked nose and a sore throat, he couldn't taste anything. He wasn't really hungry either; it was just reason telling him that he needed to eat more to regain strength and recover faster from his illness.
Not only that, he also ate a plate of ham, a freshly baked meat pie, two fried eggs, and a large glass of milk. It wasn't until his body signaled that he was completely full that he turned around and sat properly on the sofa to help his food digest faster.
Fortunately, it was still not too late, and Uncle Ben had gone to pick up the Christmas tree by car. Spider-Man was helping his aunt with the big cleaning, although the Christmas supplies and food would have to be bought tomorrow.
Leaned back on the sofa, Jason quickly felt sleepy. The flickering lights from the TV show danced on his face, and the sound of a news broadcast started playing in his ears, "The Clawed Killer has struck again in a southern town, two child witnesses claim they saw him crawling out of a wardrobe, with long daggers in his hands and what seemed to be burn scars on his face. State governments have issued warnings, and residents of New Jersey need to be especially vigilant..."
Jason felt a shadow block the television. He barely opened his eyes and saw Spider-Man standing with a broom in one hand and the other hand on his hip, intently watching the news.
Spider-Man sat down next to Jason with a sigh, "This killer is just too evil, targeting children specifically, and it seems he's active in New York, with Christmas just around the corner. What are we going to do?"
"It seems like he's following me," Jason managed to clear his throat and said, "Don't forget, we're in a dream right now."
Spider-Man paused, then as if realizing it for the first time, said, "Oh, right, we're in a dream. My God, this dream is so realistic, I thought I was really at home celebrating Christmas."
"I don't think it's that simple," Spider-Man scratched his head, threw the broom aside, and picked up a cushion to knead it. "This dream is a bit too realistic; even those hard-to-clean dead corners in my house are replicated exactly."
Jason wanted to say that it was probably because Spider-Man remembered those corners so clearly that they were replicated so accurately, but his sore throat didn't allow him to say such a lengthy sentence.
"I really want to know what's going on," Spider-Man said. "If the Fog is dragging us into a dream, then what is its purpose?"
Jason had also thought about this question, but his focus was more on Batman; if they were now in the same dream, and the dream was initiated by the Fog, then it meant that they had all encountered the same kind of fog.
This indicated that Batman was not dead and had most likely already returned to Gotham—just that his whereabouts were unknown. If they could use this dream contact to locate where Batman currently was, they could save him.
But speculation was just speculation, and Jason currently had no capacity to turn those guesses into reality. He couldn't even stand up, and he would need a few days of rest at least.
Just by talking for this short while, Jason fell asleep again. In the dream, he vaguely saw the flash of dagger blades seeming to get closer and closer, but this time Jason only wanted to sleep, so no concrete images formed in his dream.
If falling unconscious could immunize him from the Killer's influence, then the cold came at just the right time, Jason thought. Whatever the case, he should sleep first.
After dozing off again, Jason suddenly heard a loud thud. When he opened his eyes, he saw a terrifying figure standing in front of the window—a man wearing a hat, with hands like daggers formed into talons, his skin covered with burn scars, looking even more horrifying in the moonlight streaming in through the window.
Jason struggled to open his eyes and sit up straight, but the figure kept approaching, reaching out its blade-filled hand as if to decapitate him.
Jason kept trying to recoil backward, but he was so groggy and weak, he couldn't stand up or dodge the Killer's attack.
With a swoosh, the cold gleam of the blade passed by. Before the severe pain could even begin to materialize, Jason was startled awake.
Turning his head to look, he found himself already moved into the bedroom. The desk had been removed from the room, and a mattress had been placed under the top bunk, covered with soft bedding.
The swooshing sound Jason heard was Spider-Man, who was crouching nearby fiddling with the Spider Silk Launcher. Spider-Man looked up when he saw Jason awake and asked, "Why are you awake at this time? Are you thirsty? Shall I get you a glass of water?"
"Where are you going?" Jason asked with a furrowed brow, as Spider-Man had put on his battlesuit and was adjusting his equipment, clearly about to go out.
"Me? I'm just, um... going for a walk," Spider-Man said. "Just taking a stroll or something. I ate too much and really need to digest it."
"The Clawed Killer?" Jason pointedly suggested that Spider-Man intended to investigate the Killer's matter.
"Alright, you got me," Spider-Man sighed. "This has to be resolved, doesn't it?"
"We are in a dream," Jason said, implying that the entire city wasn't real, and that the Killer might just be the materialization of some nightmare, posing no real threat to anyone and therefore not warranting investigation.
He found it hard to say whether he was trying to deter Spider-Man or comfort himself. After all, it was just a dream, none of it was real, so his being bedridden and recuperating was no big deal; nobody was truly going to get hurt.
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"No, it's not like that," Spider-Man said. "Generally speaking, dreaming is something one does alone, right? I've never heard of two people meeting in the same dream. That's because dreams are a product of our thoughts, and thoughts are virtual."
"But now it's clearly not like that, we've both entered the same dream, not only have we met, but we've also encountered Batman, who we've never met in reality. This proves that this place isn't just a dream."
Jason had thought that Spider-Man might have some grand theories about the true nature of this world, but what Spider-Man said was, "If we can both come here, meet, and do things together, it proves that this might not be a virtual dream, but some kind of parallel universe, just like all the others."
"If that's the case, the dangers that people here are facing aren't fake. They won't disappear just because we leave, so of course, we have to think of a way to help."
Instinctively, Jason wanted to ask him what investigation he had conducted to come to this conclusion, if there was any concrete evidence, but he knew he didn't need to ask because Spider-Man definitely didn't have any.
Spider-Man still left, and Jason fell asleep again. Over the next few hours, he kept drifting in and out of consciousness, occasionally seeing terrifying figures with claws flashing by.
It seemed as though they were trying to approach him, but were hindered by something, constantly blinking in and out of sight, running and vanishing.
It doesn't matter, it's just a dream after all, Jason thought. When the thick fog lifts and he truly wakes up, everything will return to normal.
"He's not dreaming," Batman said, examining Arkham Batman's eye movements in the safety house of the Arkham Universe. "Dreams are unconscious mental activities, there should be detectable brain waves, but there are none right now. His soul isn't even in his body."
"What do you think is going on?" Poison Ivy was clearly aware that something was amiss as well. She asked, "This fog has lasted too long, it's more than triple the duration of previous occurrences. Is it not going to dissipate?"
Batman shook his head; it wasn't that he didn't know, he knew there must be some problem with the fog, otherwise it wouldn't so easily break its previous pattern.
Batman had already formed a connection in his mind because previously he had seen a tarot card with a fog pattern on it at Dr. Sophocles's place. It couldn't be a coincidence that both used fog; they were most likely one and the same.
Combining this with the characteristics of the members of the Dark Council, one could deduce that the perpetrator behind the arrival of the fog was a member of the Dark Council, The Nameless Fog. It's very likely another one of Barbados's tricks.
But if Barbados intended to invade on a large scale, there would be no need for such vague and mysterious phenomena, nor a need for the fog to appear and disappear intermittently. He must have a purpose, and until that goal is reached, he wouldn't change the pattern.
However, now that the fog has descended on a large scale and is showing different patterns than before, it proves that something unexpected must have happened, something these puppeteers behind the scenes didn't expect.
What could this unexpected event be?
To find out, Batman obviously had to find someone, and that was Dr. Sophocles who had previously helped him establish contact with the fog.
However, Arkham Batman's body couldn't just be left aside. Coincidentally, Batman had previously proposed a solution that could speed up the healing of external wounds; it was meant for treating Arkham Batman's injuries, but was refused by Arkham Batman. Now that his soul wasn't here, Batman could soak him in the medication.
Naturally, Batman could sense that Arkham Batman's unstable mental state was still because of Jason, so he knew it would be useless to try to persuade him. But since it was his universe anyway and the role he played was important, it was a good opportunity to at least get his physical state in order.
With Arkham Batman's body in tow, Batman returned to the Batcave, but by that time all the Robins had left, leaving only Alfred behind.
Alfred, seeing the battered Arkham Batman, had an even heavier look in his eyes, but he didn't say anything. He helped Batman prepare the solution and submerged Arkham Batman's body into it.
Wanting to go to Oxford, England, without the means of magical transport, flying a plane would certainly be too late. Even the Batplane, no matter how fast, needed time to get there, and Batman knew who was the fastest flyer in the world.
In his communication with Robin, Batman learned that one of the reinforcements they brought was a Clark, who had headed straight for Washington the moment he landed. Like the fallen Superman, all he wanted was to rush to Batman's rescue while there was still a chance.
Batman knew that Clark was not likely to succeed in saving Arkham Batman; whoever was behind this would certainly not let Superman appear where he shouldn't. The fallen Superman was the perfect example.
But now Batman needed Clark's strength, so he had to find a way to reach him. With the fog locking down the city, most communication devices were unusable. Superman's super hearing and vision might be limited as well, so the only way was to test their understanding of one another.
If Clark hadn't saved anyone, or if he had run into any other trouble, he would surely think to find Batman right away. Having Superman come to him was much simpler than going to find Superman, especially since it was not as difficult for Superman to see through the illusions in the fog.
As Batman had predicted, Clark indeed hadn't saved anyone. At the first sign of being thwarted, his first thought was to look for Batman, although, he ended up seeking Batwoman instead.
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