Jessica and Gwen were chatting and laughing as they returned to the Batcave.
The two of them had gotten a rough understanding of each other.
Even though they had fought side by side in another world before, they had never truly gotten to know each other.
Back then, in that situation, it was enough just to know the other person wasn't trying to kill you.
Anything beyond that didn't matter.
But now that Gwen had come to their universe, it was only natural to get to know each other properly.
"So that's why you had that weird reaction when Aunt May gave you red date bread?"
Gwen was listening as Jessica explained the reason behind her odd expression when she heard Aunt May had handed out red date bread.
"Yeah. Want to try some of Aunt May's red date bread?"
Seeing the look of disbelief on Gwen's face, Jessica didn't say anything more—she simply broke off a small piece of the bread and placed it in Gwen's hand.
Gwen was indeed skeptical that Aunt May's bread could taste that bad.
I mean, it didn't even look that bad, right?
Jessica stayed silent, simply watching as Gwen took a bite.
Gwen didn't mind Jessica watching her—she popped the small piece into her mouth without hesitation.
But after just a few chews, her eyes widened. She wanted to speak, but her mouth was still full.
Not to mention, her upbringing had drilled into her that you're not supposed to speak with food in your mouth.
Still, Gwen was really struggling with the taste.
It was… strange. Not exactly bad, but just strange.
And that strangeness made it almost impossible to swallow.
Still, committed to not wasting food, Gwen forced herself to swallow it down.
"…I get it now."
Now Gwen understood why Jessica had looked so odd when talking about that bread.
"Hahaha!"
Laughing, the two of them walked deeper into the Batcave.
But they quickly realized the cave wasn't as quiet as it usually was.
A voice was coming from the medical bay.
Jessica frowned.
She knew very well that the Batcave was absolutely secure. There was no way an outsider could have infiltrated it, much less made it all the way to the medical bay.
Which meant the person making noise in the med bay had to be someone Batman himself had brought in.
Jessica and Gwen exchanged a glance and made the same decision.
In an instant, they rushed toward the med bay. They wanted to see what on earth Batman was up to—what kind of stunt he was pulling to make such a racket.
But when they finally reached the med bay, threw open the door, and saw who was strapped to the operating table, both Jessica and Gwen froze.
Because they knew this man.
"Wilson Fisk?!"
They called out the name of the man bound to the table in unison, then glanced at each other before turning their gaze back to the burly figure on the operating table.
Jessica darted over to the control panel beside the table, which displayed the surgical plans previously input by the last user.
There was only one surgical procedure listed—and it was marked as not yet executed.
Apparently, Bruce had planned a surgery for Fisk.
But for some reason, he hadn't gone through with it. And based on what Jessica knew of Bruce, a man so stubborn that he rarely took advice from others, once he set a goal, he always followed through.
When Jessica opened up the surgical plan Bruce had left on the console, her eyes widened in shock.
The operation Bruce intended to perform on Wilson Fisk was beyond cruel.
"…Is he crazy?" Jessica muttered.
Wilson Fisk didn't know who these two women were, but he could tell they were allies of the Bat.
"Tell that Bat—I'll snap his bones one by one."
Even now, Wilson Fisk hadn't forgotten who he was. He looked straight at Jessica, fully intending to pass a message to that damned Bat through her.
"Shut up!"
Even though Bruce's surgical plan had stunned Jessica to the point where she thought he might've lost it, that didn't mean Fisk had the right to speak. And passing messages through her? Absolutely not.
Without hesitation, Jessica deleted the pre-programmed surgery Bruce had left.
There was still time to fix this—Bruce hadn't fully automated the operation, nor had he initiated it manually. That meant he was hesitating.
"There, keep an eye on him. If necessary, break his arms and legs."
As a former agent, Jessica had a far harsher approach than the average Spider-Person. And she held no fondness for Wilson Fisk. Right now, the most important thing was to find out whether Bruce had really gone off the deep end.
Hearing Jessica's order, Gwen obediently nodded.
She could clearly sense something was wrong with Jessica—and she'd also caught what Jessica had muttered earlier.
But right now, her priority was to keep an eye on the so-called Kingpin of New York. Jessica would handle the rest.
Jessica had a good guess where Bruce would be.
She quickly headed to the meditation room—the place where Bruce had once held Prowler and a Mysterio from another world. Both had since been transferred to other prisons.
And now, if she wanted to find Bruce, the meditation room was the most likely place.
When she arrived, just as she expected, the door—normally left unlocked—was sealed shut.
Through the observation window, Jessica could see Bruce sitting motionless in the center of the room, his back to the window.
"Hey!"
Jessica banged on the window, hoping Bruce would respond. But he remained completely still.
At least, that's what it looked like from the outside.
Inside his mind, Bruce was experiencing absolute chaos.
The Ravager. Thomas. Even LEGO Batman—they were all chattering away inside his head.
And then there was Barry Allen, who had taken control of Bruce's body. He was talking non-stop, completely ignored by the other Batmen.
"Hehehe… Hey big guy, what were you thinking? You actually wanted to perform a lobotomy on that guy."
Lego Batman stood beside Bruce. He was so small that the only way he could vent his emotions was by repeatedly kicking Bruce's shoes.
He wanted Bruce to notice him as quickly as possible, but Bruce showed no reaction at all—just stood there quietly.
"Hahaha, it's impossible for him to hear your voice," the Ravager said with a booming voice that echoed through the entire prison.
No matter how loudly Lego Batman shouted, there was no way he could overpower the thunderous roar of the Ravager.
"Why did you stop back then? Was it really because of the voices in your head trying to persuade you?" The Ravager clearly enjoyed seeing Bruce, and he was equally eager to witness the moment Bruce operated on Wilson Fisk.
Back in New York, it was the people Bruce killed during the crackdown that awakened him.
But that didn't mean much to the Ravager. Only when Bruce actually killed someone with his own hands did it prove that this Batman had started down a radical path.
"You can't show mercy to your enemies. What you need to do is eradicate them completely," Broken Bat said, questioning Bruce at this point. Clearly, he was displeased with Bruce's last-minute hesitation.
In his eyes, Wilson Fisk was Bruce's enemy—someone he should have killed.
Whether through a lobotomy or simply by slitting his throat on the operating table—it was all just a means of killing an enemy.
"No, no, no, Bruce, you can't do that. You need to really think about this. There are always situations that don't require bloodshed. We could build a prison—a strong, secure one—where these guys would never have another chance to rise again. We wouldn't have to give them anything, just ensure they stay alive,"
Barry Allen's words came rapidly, like machine gun fire, trying to convince Bruce that killing wasn't the solution to everything.
But unfortunately, none of the other Batmen reacted to the words coming from the Flash inhabiting Batman's body—it was like he was speaking into a void.
Still, Barry Allen noticed a flicker of hesitation in Bruce's eyes, and to him, that meant he had done his part.
At the very least, he had stopped this Batman from being swayed or corrupted by the others.
It was at that moment that Thomas finally spoke.
"Is that really what you think?"
Thomas looked at Bruce. He wasn't trying to lecture him, just trying to understand what Bruce had been thinking—why he had chosen that particular method to deal with Wilson Fisk.
Bruce hung his head in silence.
He stood there like a child who had done something wrong, quietly listening—not just to their criticism, but also to their roars urging him to go even further.
He said nothing. He just listened.
Seeing Bruce like this made Lego Batman even more agitated. He tried to climb up Bruce's cape, but even though Bruce was only present in spirit, his suit was still made of nanotechnology.
After several failed attempts, Lego Batman grew frustrated and pulled out one of his batarangs, hoping to use it to help him climb up.
But suddenly, Bruce bent down and reached out a hand to him.
Lego Batman didn't care what Bruce meant by the gesture—he just leapt up.
After all, even if Bruce wanted to kill him, he couldn't.
Earlier in this prison, he had been punched by the Ravager and sent flying into another cell.
Yet his body remained completely unharmed—after all, the Ravager was Doomsday.
That made Lego Batman realize that maybe no one could actually kill anyone in this prison. Of course, the real Bruce in the outside world might be able to—but he wouldn't.
As Bruce placed Lego Batman on his shoulder, the little bat was still irritated. He pounded Bruce's chin, trying to snap him out of it.
"I think you should know what you really want to do by now."
Thomas looked at Bruce and spoke.
"He's always known what he should do. It's just—"
The original Batman, who had remained silent this whole time, closed the book he was reading and finally spoke.
"Just what? What are you trying to say? The fact that he didn't eliminate the threat completely—that's the real problem," Broken Bat snapped. He never liked the Batman who always sat in his cell reading. There was something strange about him, as if he had once fallen into despair but had somehow been granted hope again.
But instead of becoming fanatical, he had grown more peaceful.
Original Batman didn't bother responding to the nanotech Bat.
"I understand his thinking. He just believes that someone like that should never be allowed to hurt others again," the original Batman said as he walked up to the bars and locked eyes with Bruce.
Their gazes met—two Batmen, sharing the same understanding.
Original Batman knew—this Bruce was just like him, back when he had been misled and wanted to use extreme measures on Superman.
He was simply blinded by anger.
"Because of those innocent family members who were kidnapped, right?"
Hearing that, Thomas finally understood why Bruce had planned such a brutal surgery on Kingpin.
Kingpin had used the families of American soldiers—blackmailing them to force their cooperation.
If it had only been a hostage situation at the Presbyterian Hospital, Bruce might not have reacted so strongly.
But if Kingpin's plan had succeeded, those soldiers would have died, and their kidnapped families would have been slaughtered as well.
Even if the police had managed to rescue the hospital, they would've been greeted by the sight of countless broken families.
That was the real reason Bruce had made up his mind to perform a lobotomy on Wilson Fisk.
Because he had seen families torn apart.
And he didn't want to see it happen again.
Bruce gently placed Lego Batman back on the ground and turned to leave the prison. Even as he walked away, Barry Allen was still trying to talk to him—though Bruce could no longer hear him.
"Will he do it again?"
Thomas turned his gaze to the original Batman.
"Maybe."
Original Batman couldn't make any promises. He simply returned to his cell and resumed reading his book.
Because every Batman is different, and no one can truly predict what that Batman will ultimately do.
(End of Chapter)
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