3. He Time-Traveled
◎Ludwig: I miss Dad◎
Ludwig was sleeping restlessly. He felt weak—or rather, he felt like his very existence was becoming blurry.
He woke up from his sleep and immediately sensed something was wrong. This wasn’t the home he and his father, along with Damian, had designed together. Well… he meant designed, not decorated.
When Bruce had chosen their residence, he had picked an entire apartment building based on the personalities of his two children. Aside from its convenient downtown location for school, he had also hired a magical consultant to enchant and modify the place.
His original plan was to give each child a whole floor, arranged to suit their individual preferences. Damian needed space for training, while Ludwig’s powers needed a safe place for testing.
Both activities generated a lot of noise, so Bruce had used the best soundproofing materials. The entire building was meant to be completely quiet—at the very least, you weren’t supposed to hear car horns from the street.
It’s worth noting that when it came to bedrooms, Damian still chose the room right next to Ludwig’s. He believed that as the eldest son, it was his responsibility to look after the whole family.
Yes, Damian took great care of Ludwig. Even though Ludwig insisted he was actually born earlier than Damian, Damian firmly insisted that he was the older brother.
Not to mention Damian—even at their most difficult times, even when assassins were chasing them, Bruce had never once let Ludwig or Damian sleep on the street.
He always managed to find branches or something else to build a small tent for his kids.
But now, Ludwig was wrapped in a brown blanket, lying on the side of the road. People walked past him, cars zoomed by—but not a single person noticed the boy sleeping on the ground.
At first, Ludwig thought maybe he had awakened some new superpower. He tried to teleport back home—but nothing happened.
That wasn’t right. Something was very wrong. Ludwig tried several more times, but his feet remained firmly on the ground. He tilted his head, listening. Aside from the roar of traffic and the sound of footsteps, he couldn’t hear the usual background noise he normally had to consciously tune out.
Everything around him seemed to be telling him one thing:
His superpowers were gone.
Normally, he would’ve been thrilled by that.
But right now…
Ludwig pressed his thin lips together. He told himself—it’s okay. Even if he had to walk, he could walk all the way back to Gotham.
Just as Ludwig had finished folding up his blanket, he suddenly sensed a spatial disturbance—right then, a man came tumbling down the stairs across the street.
That man gave Ludwig a bad feeling. Not that he seemed like a bad person, but his presence felt off. Clearly an ordinary human, and yet he gave Ludwig—a superpowered individual—a strong sense of danger.
Ludwig walked through the crowd and saw the man being helped up by an elderly woman. From the woman’s words, he learned the man’s name:
Barry Allen.
This wasn’t Ludwig’s first time hearing that name. When Ludwig had first shown signs of superpowers, Bruce had asked his old college friend—Clark, who was also moonlighting as Superman—to compile a list of known superpowered individuals.
Back then, Barry Allen was listed as The Flash.
Ludwig hid a short distance away, quietly eavesdropping on Barry’s conversation with the elderly woman—his mother. From their dialogue, Ludwig came to a conclusion:
Barry, like him, came from another world.
Whether or not they came from the same world was still uncertain.
But maybe… he could help me.
With that thought, Ludwig secretly followed Barry and snuck into the back seat of his mother’s car when Barry wasn’t paying attention.
Maybe it was the overwhelming emotions from reuniting with his mother, or maybe he was just too nervous—but Barry didn’t even notice Ludwig sitting right behind him.
Ludwig followed Barry all the way as he drove the car through Gotham, all the way to Wayne Manor. He stayed silent the entire ride until they reached a quieter area with fewer people—then finally asked the question on his mind:
“Weren’t you going to see Batman? Why are we going to Wayne Manor?”
Ludwig’s voice was hoarse and his pronunciation a little unclear. Forgive him—ever since awakening a language-related superpower at the age of three, he hadn’t spoken a word. This was the first time he had spoken in all those years.
But his sudden voice startled Barry so badly that he lost his grip on the steering wheel. The car nearly crashed into a tree—fortunately, Ludwig quickly reached out and steadied the wheel, preventing the accident.
Barry hurriedly pulled the car over to the side of the road, utterly shocked, staring with a complex expression at the child sitting in his back seat.
It was simple—this kid looked way too much like B. If it weren’t for the wrong timeline, Barry would’ve thought he was a younger version of B.
“How did you get in—? No, I mean… alright, may I ask who you are?” Barry gave up asking how the boy got into the car. After all, it was the Bat family’s signature move—he got it.
What he really wanted to know now was: who was this kid? Why had he followed him? Did he know what was going on? And given that he might be a little bat cub…
Ludwig cleared his throat and tried hard to squeeze out a smile.
“You’re the Flash. You don’t know me, but Bruce mentioned you before. I’m Superman’s student—Ludwig Wayne.”
Ludwig had a theory in mind: Barry knew Batman. He also knew Superman, and from his reaction just now, he even knew Superman’s real name. And for someone like that to come to Wayne Manor to look for Batman—it could only mean that Batman was at Wayne Manor. In that case, only two people could be capable of pulling that off in the entire estate:
His grandfather, Thomas Wayne, and their butler, Alfred.
Barry was still thinking. He was pretty sure he didn’t know Ludwig, but this kid knew about Superman—even his real name. At the very least, Barry could confirm this:
This kid wasn’t from this timeline either.
After all, in this world, no one even knew Superman existed.
“Sorry, I really don’t know you, kid. But I guess Bruce just hasn’t had a chance to introduce you to us yet.” Barry felt a little frustrated. He didn’t even fully understand what was going on himself—how could he expect a kid to explain it to him?
“It’s okay, Uncle Barry. But if you’re going to Wayne Manor, it’s better to bring me along—after all, I’m a Wayne too.” Ludwig was already adjusting quickly to speaking—he was now able to say full, proper sentences with ease.
Ludwig had prepared himself for rejection, but whether Barry agreed or not, he was going to Wayne Manor either way. After all—it wasn’t like he didn’t know the way.
Besides, there was something else.
Ludwig had a strong feeling that following Barry would lead him to the reason why his superpowers had disappeared. And if he could get his powers back, he could return to his father and Damian.
They must be so worried, looking for him.
“…Alright, alright…” Barry really shouldn’t have agreed so easily—but he knew even if he said no, the kid would still go. Rather than letting him go alone, he figured it’d be better to keep an eye on him.
“I don’t know why you’re here… but—well, not everything B does is something he tells us about.” Barry could understand Bruce. If he had such a sweet kid, he probably wouldn’t want him involved in the family’s dangerous affairs either.
At least he needs to be a little older.
But Barry still decided to take Ludwig with him. Having a kid who looked so much like Bruce around would probably make Batman more likely to trust him.
Barry didn’t want to admit it, but he was really just trying to avoid things. After all, who hasn’t been yelled at by Batman? Who wants to be shouted at, “Get out of my Gotham!”?
Barry and Ludwig set off again. Fortunately, they weren’t far from Wayne Manor, and before long, the old, rundown estate came into view.
“Hm… last time I was here, it wasn’t like this,” Ludwig said, surprised. In his memory, Wayne Manor had always been neat and well-kept. This was the first time he had seen it in such a broken state.
“Well, at least I know a little more about Wayne Manor than Bruce does,” Ludwig comforted himself, though he didn’t feel good inside.
Even Barry couldn’t help but smile bitterly. Wayne Manor was Batman’s base. If the manor itself had become like this, he could only imagine what the Batcave underground looked like now.
Barry wasn’t comfortable letting Ludwig follow him down—he didn’t know what condition the Batcave was in, and Ludwig was too young.
“Hey, kid, stay here, okay? If I confirm it’s safe, I’ll come back with B to get you,” Barry tried to calm Ludwig and stop him from following.
“Okay, Uncle Barry. I won’t be reckless,” Ludwig replied with a sweet smile. He really looked very well-behaved, not fierce like Robin.
Barry was charmed by that sweet smile. After reminding Ludwig not to run off, he got out and slipped into the manor.
Of course, Ludwig didn’t just obediently hide in the car. Earlier, when Barry helped buckle his seatbelt, Ludwig secretly stuck a small tracker under the hem of Barry’s shirt.
Ludwig was extremely grateful for his father’s foresight. Otherwise, without superpowers, how would he find the hidden Batcave underground?
Carefully feeling his way around, Ludwig wasn’t familiar with Wayne Manor. He had visited when he was very young and barely remembered the layout since he had been traveling all over with his father.
“I wonder if Dad even knows there’s such a huge cave under the house,” Ludwig looked inside. The pitch-black cave entrance filled him with extreme unease.
Swallowing hard, Ludwig held his flashlight and cautiously stepped into the cave.
—
【Author’s note】
Only fans of the original know the details, so there are many stereotypes—please don’t be mad at me. 【crying emojis】