In the silent expanse of space, scattered dots of starlight twinkled. A TARDIS-shaped time machine quietly floated, with a planet vastly different from Earth below. After a while, the wooden door creaked open a crack.
Superman poked his head out.
"Actually, I just said it casually," he turned back to look at Batman, who stood with his arms crossed. "But it's true, this is the galaxy where I went on a mission three months ago. There was a war erupting here at the time, so I came to take a look."
Soon enough, Superman returned.
"It's either that all the dead have been resurrected, and then they fought again, or we really have gone back three months," Clark said.
The Doctor was a bit annoyed. "My dear girl has never been questioned like this before!"
Batman's expression shifted slightly, but he didn't respond to the Doctor's words. "Let's get going, then. Doomsday needs to be dealt with as soon as possible."
On the other side of the TARDIS control room, a pile of limbs was piled up messily because the TARDIS door was too small - the TARDIS's shape-changing system had been damaged by the Doctor, so Wonder Woman had to chop Doomsday to pieces again and stuff it in.
At the severed muscle ends, faintly visible cells and blood vessels were squirming, and Superman could feel it was still regenerating at a considerable speed.
Baia, in her dazed state, was originally wandering around with her unclear eyes, but Tim covered her eyes and didn't let her witness this horrifying and bizarre scene. She murmured for a while before being coaxed to sleep.
Tim just wanted to minimize his presence as much as possible. After Baia enthusiastically said those words, Bruce's gaze at him was wrong, as if he was about to find a room to have a talk with him on the spot, or even just turn him into a piece of equipment. Superman, with his super hearing, only showed a momentary "This reporter wants to watch the show" expression, then returned to his usual demeanor, pretending he hadn't heard anything.
After all, Professor Chronotis handed him the book, so now Tim could only clear his throat and ask, "Doctor, how do we use this book?"
The Doctor pulled Tim in front of the console. "That's a beacon, it can pinpoint the location of the Chameleon Arch for the TARDIS."
"But I met a Time Lord in Cambridge," Tim said, "He told me that the Gallifreyan doesn't exist in this world at all, so how could their prison be here?"
"Yeah," the Doctor whispered, "So I need to borrow something from Sparrow to give to the TARDIS."
Batman, who had been silent and listening, suddenly spoke up. "What does she carry on her? Can you use it too?"
"Theoretically, I can't. To put it simply, the 'kickback' from what she carries is too strong, and only a few Time Lords can bear it. As you've seen, she only used it to save some people, and it ended up like this... For some reason, I'm also a human now, but the TARDIS can do it!"
"Isn't the TARDIS a machine?"
"Who said that? The TARDIS is alive!"
"Alive?"
Tim touched the console, and the time machine immediately made a buzzing sound. With this understanding, observing the interior structure of the TARDIS, one would find that the branching structures on the walls of the control room resembled veins.
"Well," Tim said, "Do you... always create living machines? I'm curious if Sparrow is—"
"I don't know," the Doctor shook his head, explaining, "She carries the highest product of Gallifreyan temporal technology, which is very dangerous and has its own will, but her identity, I don't remember at all. You mentioned you've met Dr. Sho— cough, Chronotis before?"
"That's right."
"I have a guess, but I'm not sure if it's true," the Doctor shook his head.
"Is Sparrow human?" Batman asked.
"At least she is now."
"Explain."
The Doctor took a deep breath, sat down at the console, and looked at Batman. "Time Lords have a technology that can temporarily turn themselves into humans or other creatures, to escape from things they don't want to face. Both my friend and I have used this technology."
"So this technology would temporarily make her forget her past, and generate a virtual personality."
"Are you saying that all of this... is fake? We never really knew her?" Tim couldn't accept this explanation.
"I didn't say that," the Doctor frowned, pondering. "Perhaps she's just human after all, and all of this is speculation."
Tim fell silent.
The Doctor said, "Anyway, let's wake her up first. We need to hit the road."
"I hope this 'Shada' can really contain Doomsday," Superman said.
The Doctor's voice was very cheerful. "Of course, only the TARDIS can reach Shada under the guidance of the 'Law'. If you're still worried, Red Robin, if you ever happen to visit my homeworld Gallifrey, remember to return this book to the Panorama Library."
"How is your homeworld now?" Superman, as one of the only two aliens present, became interested.
The smile on the Time Lord's face suddenly disappeared, and the usually enthusiastic Doctor's eyes revealed a deep-seated pain and confusion accumulated over the years. His gaze lingered on Sparrow for a moment, and Tim immediately noticed this detail.
"It's destroyed," he said abruptly, turning his head to set the parameters for the TARDIS, pretending to be nonchalant.
The window was half open, and the curtain fluttered in the gentle breeze of early summer.
Baia struggled to open her eyes, feeling them heavy as if laden with weights. She had had so many dreams. Sometimes she dreamt of having dinner with Tim in a restaurant, only to find that the plates served were filled with zero prisoners; sometimes she dreamt of a fragile white box shouting not to be drowned out by the roaring engine noise; sometimes she dreamt of a golden city, a burning, golden city.
Her fingers brushed against the bedsheet beneath her, a bedsheet with seven thousand stitches. Immediately, she realized she was back in her own bedroom - the one in Gotham.
"Are you awake?"
Faint sounds of typing came from beside her. She then noticed Tim sitting on a chair nearby, with a computer on his knees, looking at her with a smile that was hard to decipher.
"How... did I come back?"
"Do you remember anything from two days ago?" Tim put the computer aside, propping his chin on his hand as he watched her.
Baia rubbed her forehead, feeling her eyes swollen badly. Tim immediately went to soak a towel in hot water and applied it to her eyes. With the towel covering her face, she couldn't see anything, but she felt the bed sink a little, indicating that Tim was sitting beside her.
"I don't remember anything."
Baia said confusedly, her memory abruptly stopping at the moment she faced Dalek, like a frozen frame, knowing nothing about what happened afterwards.
"Really? You don't remember anything you said afterwards?" She heard a soft sigh, "Are you sure you don't remember anything?"
"I haven't embarrassed myself, have I?" Baia had a bad feeling about this. She heard Tim chuckle softly, "Then let me tell you."
"We went to permanently contain Doomsday," Tim said, "At that time, I had to wake you up. You were so upset, crying all the time. When we came back, it was Diana who volunteered to help, so she helped you change clothes. You asked Diana to take responsibility for you, insisting on marrying her. Diana refused, but you clung to her and wouldn't let go, crying all night."
Baia felt lucky to have the towel covering her face; it was really embarrassing. Tim didn't mention her silly oath from before.
Before she could speak, there was a knock on the door.
"Miss Baia," Alfred's voice came, "Are you awake?"
Tim immediately became alert, like a fox smelling danger, hastily leaving a sentence "I'll come back to see you later," Baia put down the towel and looked at Tim, who was putting his computer under his arm, rushing to the window, propping it open with one hand, and then...
Did he just break out through the window?
Even though it was her own house, why would he break out through the window?
Baia couldn't understand it at all.
Dick, who rushed back to see his sister, looked at the handsome Tim who leaped into the bushes, feeling a bit puzzled.
But when he looked up and saw that Tim was breaking out through Baia's window, he suddenly understood.
Baia straightened her messy hair and replied to Alfred, saying she would be down soon. She reached for her phone on the bedside table and found the screen full of messages. There were messages from her classmate Jasmine, as well as from someone who managed to get her phone number - Edmund, as well as from Caroline and Max, Megan, and even Mrs. Brent, who knew she was going to school in Metropolis.
She patiently replied to the concerns of these friends and relatives one by one, then hurriedly got up to wash and go downstairs, pleasantly surprised to find Dick there.
"I'm glad you're okay," Dick said with relief, "Alfred told me you've been unconscious for two days, really scared me."
Baia peeked around the living room, but she didn't see the Great Detective or Ace, and Tim was nowhere to be found. Damian and Bruce were both there, though.
After a brief consideration, she decided on the order of her questions, "Where did the Great Detective and Ace go, and where's Tim?"
Bruce, who had just lifted his spirits, became complicated again upon hearing Baia's additional question.
Dick explained, "Jason came over earlier and took Ace away to play for a while. After all, Ace was raised by him. He'll bring her back after the summer."
"What about the Great Detective?"
"You know, we don't restrict the freedom of cats," Dick said. "It's spring, and she hasn't been coming home much lately. Probably out looking for love."
"Bat-Cat must be out exploring new territories," Damian said. "Without her motherly love, she's probably picking fights left and right."
There was no need to worry about the Great Detective; her collar had a tracking chip embedded in it, so if anything happened, Damian would definitely notice it in time.
"What about Tim?"
Bruce immediately gave Dick a meaningful look.
"On that note," Dick cleared his throat, "Would you like to talk to me?"