This story takes place fifteen years ago in Gotham City. As the elders say, beneath Gotham always lurks a dark undercurrent. For the past month, strange occurrences have been happening near Gotham Harbor. The number of missing persons recorded by the police has been increasing daily, yet people seem oblivious to these events. Fired intern officer Brucey is determined to prove himself in this case, while Dick Grayson, seeking inspiration, embarks on this exploration journey. Three other investigators, to a greater or lesser extent, find themselves involuntarily drawn into this mysterious event.
Baia stared at the shop window for a few minutes. In this illusion, she was already twenty-four years old, her long black curly hair casually flowing, giving her a somewhat rebellious look. Her eyes were slightly darker than in her teenage years, and her face was not as round. The short girl had somehow turned into a tall, shapely, and beautiful woman, looking exactly like what she should look like in adulthood.
"Hey."
The first person to find Baia was Damian - no, Damili. It looked like a young Talia in a dress, with two ponytails, and holding a rabbit doll in an unfriendly manner, her face expressionless, as she coldly called out to her.
Although Damian looked angry, he was still a round little thing, very cute.
And Baia immediately flashed a victorious smile: "Little sister, first of all, I don't respond to 'hey'."
Damian clenched the rabbit tightly, restraining his anger.
In Baia's mind, Tim's voice sounded in time: "Damian, watch your behavior, and, Baia... well, that's enough."
Baia clicked her tongue regretfully and began to play along: "Are you lost, little cutie?"
"Yes, auntie," Damian's face turned pale, "could you take me to find my aunt Brucey? She must be very grateful to you. She should be near Gotham Harbor now."
The little devil bear bore with it, always reliable in such times.
Suddenly, Baia heard the sound of dice rolling in her mind: "Damian, are you rolling secretly?"
Sometimes the game master determines the next direction of the plot by secretly rolling dice.
Tim replied, "No, it's Red Robin... um, stealing pants."
Gotham Harbor.
What appeared behind the container was a half-length, extremely beautiful pearl red fishtail, gently flapping its wide crescent-shaped tail fin. The passionate color shone dazzlingly in the sunlight. Upwards was a tight-waisted and curvaceous figure, and the sturdy and developed chest muscles made it hard to look away.
Above was a red hood.
"Is this your revenge for mocking your sweater?" he spoke, not a bucket on a person's head, but a head that looked like a red hood, "Do you not think you're being childish, Little Red?"
"You've been seen, Jason, and someone is coming towards you," Tim didn't respond to the mermaid's provocation, "What are you going to do?"
"Great, are you saying pants are coming towards me?" Jason said gloomily, also hearing footsteps.
"Wait, you can't steal people's pants. Your personality says you're a pacifist, you never fight with others, that's why you can become a clergyman," Tim explained.
"Fun fact: It's not considered 'usual' if you don't have pants," Jason retorted.
The tail fin, which had been tapping nonchalantly, clearly aroused the curiosity of the newcomer. When the lifeguard was close enough, Jason made his move.
"...Jason, make a difficult agility check." "Why is it difficult?"
"Because you don't have legs?"
"So, you think I can't defeat an ordinary person without legs?"
The sound of dice rolling was heard, 23/22, failure.
The mermaid flopped onto the ground and didn't get up.
Tim painfully took a breath, "Now make a lucky roll."
Not only did Jason start to imagine how awkward it would be if both agility and luck failed, fortunately, the result of the determination proved that Lady Luck still chose to stand on his side, 36/50, success.
Out of curiosity and duty, lifeguard Nash cautiously approached the tail. It was a beautiful fish tail attached to a human body... a bucket. Stunned by its appearance, Nash was momentarily stunned, and the terrifying mermaid immediately took advantage of the opportunity to spring up and headbutt his chin.
"Let him go."
As Jason was expressionlessly choking the lifeguard and starting to pull his pants down, a young woman coldly exclaimed.
Her long hair, as seaweed, was jet black and glossy, her fair skin, even when frowning, did not detract from the beauty of her cornflower blue eyes by a single iota, and her rose-like lips seemed to have been kissed by Aphrodite herself. She was the living muse, the goddess of beauty, poets would have nine hundred and fourteen-line sonnets flowing out when they saw her, and painters dared not touch their brushes for fear of tainting her beauty.
Once you've seen her, she'll appear in your dreams for the rest of your life.
Bruce.
Jason, who had just headbutted a passerby, paused for a moment: "Get lost, it's none of your business."
"Why isn't it my business?" Bruce said, "Let him go. What are you trying to do?"
It's hard to imagine her speaking with the delicate and charming voice of Batman.
"I need a pair of pants."
Jason tried to cover his embarrassment with a fierce tone.
When Baia led Damian to Gotham Harbor, Bruce had already helped handle the scene, sweet-talking the just-awakened lifeguard into helping him, and even without needing to charm him, Nash gratefully treated him as a savior.
And, no matter what, Jason got his pants.
Damian found an old-fashioned button phone on himself and called Bruce, arranging to meet at a nearby coffee shop in Gotham Harbor.
As soon as they entered, Baia saw the seemingly glowing Bruce, and the surrounding customers couldn't help but sneak glances at her. However, the person in question was already used to being the center of attention and remained calm.
"Thank you for bringing Damili here," Bruce smiled, "I'm Bruce, and this is Jason."
"I'm Baia." Baia looked at Jason, her tone very professional, "Have you ever considered plastic surgery?"
Although she knew that asking this question repeatedly was playing with fire, as a plastic surgeon, she couldn't help it.
Jason pondered confusedly whether this was a provocation, but Bruce interrupted the dangerous topic: "By the way, I happen to have something that needs help."
"What is it?" Baia asked.
She actually had no idea what was going on, and because of their different identities, everyone's understanding of the plot was different. She and Damian should be the two who knew the least about the story and had no concept of what had happened.
Writer Dick and private detective Bruce should have a lot of clues, and now it's time to exchange them.
At this moment, Dick, who had been searching fruitlessly near Gotham Harbor, also entered the coffee shop. Baia and the others noticed him immediately, but since the plot hadn't intersected yet, they had to resist the urge to communicate immediately.
The young writer sat at the neighboring table and winked at Baia.
"So, recently there have been a number of missing persons cases near Gotham Bay, and bodies have also been found one after another. The victims seem to have been drained of something," Bruce explained, "The police seem to be turning a blind eye to this matter, so I want to find some companions to uncover the truth."
"Is that so?" Dick seized the opportunity to join the plot, "I'm also investigating this matter. Perhaps we can travel together, Miss Beautiful?"
Dick called Bruce "Miss Beautiful." Jason, who was drinking water, choked, almost spilling water on himself and transforming back into a fish: "To express my gratitude, I'll join too."
"If that's the case, that's great." Bruce turned his gaze to Baia, "Would you like to join, Miss Baia?"
The long-silent Tim pondered: "Don't you think this invitation is too sudden?"
"A bit," Bruce deliberated for a moment, "then let's do this, I'll cast a charm. The reason is that I need as many helpers as possible."
Tim: "Out of line."
The sound of dice still rang out, charm check, 62/85, success.
Baia secretly complained: ...so my opinion doesn't matter at all?
Dick was also shocked by Bruce's move: Is he going to charm everyone who opposes him?
"Ah, of course I'm willing." Due to the charm, Baia said shyly.
"I want to join too." Damian said decisively.
Dick: "But you're still a kid—"
Damian punched the table.
67/80, the table cracked.
Dick and the others were kicked out by the owner after paying for the table.
Intentionally or not, Bruce once again became the leader, after all, no one could match his dominance. Apart from him, the team also included the powerless elementary school student Damian, Jason who owed a favor for a pair of pants, Baia forced to be a lackey, and the overly curious Dick.
With such a team...
Clearing the level? That's a ghost of a chance.
After hastily introducing themselves, Jason crossed his arms and said, "Where should we start?"
"I remember Bruce interned at GCPD," Damian said, "Can't we find some clues at the police station?"
Dick added, "The bar on Emerald Bird Street should also be a place to gather information, not far from Gotham Harbor, it's full of talent, I often go there to find inspiration."
Truly a detective family, it's a shame Tim couldn't join.
"Then how about Bruce and Damian go to the police station," Baia pondered, "and the rest of us go to the bar?"
Baia considered Bruce's appearance value, realizing that his presence at the bar might cause a commotion.
"No, we must act together," Bruce said.
Jason "tsk"ed, feeling annoyed by the overbearing behavior of the black-haired beauty.
The Gotham sky was always covered in leaden gray, and now it looked even gloomier than usual, with low rumbling thunder coming from the horizon, and a continuous drizzle falling to the ground.
Jason, who had finally turned back into a human, and the others looked at each other for a moment.
"This is bad."