6. Where Has Superman Gone?
◎Ludwig: Feels like being made into a table◎
In an underground casino somewhere in Gotham, music blended with the graceful dances of the showgirls, while chips and shouts rang loudly.
Lights and alcohol were scattered throughout the casino, and the scent of burning tobacco filled the air.
Here, US dollars had become the least valuable thing.
A man, escorted by bodyguards, pushed through the crowd and reached the innermost private room but stopped in front of a curtain of beaded chains.
What blocked him was not just the dense curtain of beads, but also a group of henchmen painted like clowns.
“Come in, boy.” The lazy female voice carried a hint of wild madness as she beckoned the man outside to enter.
The man swallowed hard, if it weren’t for the urgency of the situation, he wouldn’t have dared to step into this madhouse.
Unlike the smoky chaos outside, inside the beaded curtain was a clean ‘sanctuary.’ Everyone was standing, and even though there were two benches on the floor, only one woman wore a suit vest, had short green-dyed hair, and a pale face — she was sitting on the sofa.
She was the notorious Joker.
At this moment, Joker was leaning back on the sofa chair, tapping an unknown rhythm with her pale fingers. Unlike the death metal rock outside, it seemed as if a completely different symphony was playing inside her mind.
“Oh, music.” The Joker’s lips curled into a smile, but a cut across her cheek made it so she looked like she was always smiling.
“I like music. Have I ever told you my favorite is Zorro is Back? That really is… quite an old memory.”
The Joker stopped tapping her fingers. Her movements were so elegant that if not for that horrifying face, she would look more like a refined noblewoman rather than the infamous Joker.
“So, my boy, I heard you have something to say to me?” The Joker leaned slightly forward, her gaze was completely emotionless, and beneath those calm eyes lay suffocating madness.
“Y-yes… Joker… ma’am.” the man licked his lips and spoke in a somewhat dry voice.
He had been standing by the door since he came in, fear almost filling his entire heart. But whenever he thought of his pregnant wife and their future home, the fear inside him eased a little.
“Why don’t you come a bit closer?” The Joker waved at the man. Everyone was watching him, their eyes filled with sympathy and pity.
Now was not the time to go against the Joker. The man trembled as he slowly walked to stand opposite her.
Even so, he didn’t dare sit down in front of the Joker. He struggled to control his shaking hands and carefully placed the prepared photos on the table before her.
“I… our boss said… an… according to your re… request, these… are the photos you wanted.”
Only after speaking did the man realize that, due to his nervousness, all the photos had been placed face down on the table. He hurriedly and nervously tried to flip them over.
But just as his hand touched the photos, a shining silver dagger suddenly pierced through his hand, the photos, and the table, turning them into a sandwich.
“Wait, Mr. Napier.” The Joker shook her finger regretfully amid Napier’s screams. “Don’t just mess with my things, okay?”
Under the pressure of the Joker’s gaze, Napier gasped and nodded. The Joker then patted his head approvingly and suddenly pulled the dagger out without warning.
Napier clutched his hand, standing there helplessly. Fresh blood soaked his sleeve, the wet feeling made one’s heart tremble with fear.
The Joker didn’t care about Napier’s embarrassment. She pinched the photos with her fingers, lifting them off the dagger, and looked at them with great curiosity. Then she clearly saw the images on the photos.
There was nothing particularly special about the pictures—mostly towering buildings.
But the Joker was the Joker, she always noticed things others couldn’t.
Like the corner of a black cape in the photos.
“Not bad.” The Joker sounded somewhat satisfied. “Napier, you’re the most satisfactory informant I have.”
Napier forced a grimace, twisting his face into a smile more pitiful than crying.
The Joker was still flipping through the photos, precisely locating Batman’s position in each one.
Until she reached the last photo, her speed finally slowed down.
“Who is this?” The Joker frowned. She placed the last photo in front of Napier and pointed at a shadowy figure in a corner of the picture.
Napier was startled by the question and didn’t dare speak. Who knew which unlucky guy had gotten tangled up with the Joker? He hoped that person would die before the Joker caught him.
Although thinking this in his heart, he still answered the Joker respectfully, “I… I don’t know him…”
The Joker regretfully took back the photo. She studied the contents for a long time—the figure showing only half a profile, that vague image buried deep in her memory—could it be someone she knew?
No, that was impossible. Bruce died in her arms, she was the one who knew that best.
But that half-profile—Martha could not be mistaken. It was almost exactly the same as the Bruce in her memory.
“Batman…” The Joker’s face turned dark and fierce. She muttered the name under her breath. At that moment, she wanted nothing more than to storm into the Batcave and see what Batman was up to!
What was he planning? How dare he let someone else have the exact same face as Bruce!
The Joker leaned back, forcing herself to control the rage inside.
Not yet—the time was not right to confront Batman. She would wait a little longer, just wait.
At the Batcave on the other side, Thomas was performing a full-body examination on Barry.
The shocking burns from before were now healing at an incredibly fast rate. Barry had also changed into a red-dyed suit.
“Now, I believe you really are the Flash.” Everything before Thomas made him admit this—he even started to truly believe Barry could change the world.
“I have a question,” Ludwig, who had been sitting quietly beside them, obediently raised his hand. After getting permission from both Flash and Batman, he asked his question.
“Since Reverse Flash can go back to the past, why don’t you use your powers to go back and change all of this?” The boy’s eyes were pure, filled with deep confusion.
“Good question, kid.” Barry smiled as he reached out to ruffle Ludwig’s hair.
“Time is like a river. If the upstream is blocked, new and uncontrollable things will happen downstream. So I try not to do that kind of thing. What I want to do is just move the stones that change the river’s course.”
Ludwig nodded, understanding Barry’s meaning. If you go back to the past without knowing what happened, you could only create a worse future.
“What if the upstream is already blocked? What should we do then?” Ludwig asked next.
His question caught the attention of both Barry and Thomas. They looked at each other, surprise clearly visible in their eyes.
It seemed neither of them had ever considered how Ludwig, as Bruce’s offspring, managed to survive in a world where Bruce didn’t live.
“We can’t really give you advice, kid.” Barry thought for a long time. Even he couldn’t give Ludwig solid advice.
“All we can tell you is don’t make decisions you’ll regret.” Thomas crouched down and adjusted Ludwig’s collar for him.
Ludwig thought for a moment, then made a sound that had always puzzled Barry.
“Mm-hmm.”
“Mm-hmm? Is that a Wayne family tradition? Bruce does that too. What does it mean?” Barry had been bothered by this question for a long time. Today, he was determined to get an answer in front of the two Waynes.
But neither Thomas nor Ludwig seemed willing to explain. They both smiled mysteriously in unison.
“Now we have to find Reverse Flash and figure out what he did, right?” Ludwig cut in ahead of Thomas and sat down at the old computer in the house.
“Yes, but obviously, none of us are experts in this area.” Thomas placed his hand on the back of Ludwig’s chair, like a proud elder watching his junior.
“Uh… nobody’s going to pay attention to me? Hello?”
“Why don’t you wait until things are settled and then ask Bruce yourself?” Thomas comforted Barry, then watched with him as Ludwig worked on the computer.
Ludwig skillfully pulled up profiles of one superhero after another on the computer, then dismissed them one by one.
“None of them work. As far as I know, there’s one person who has super hearing and maxed-out combat skills, but…” Ludwig withdrew his hand from the keyboard, hesitating to speak.
“Hmm… Thomas, around the year Bruce was born, was there any news about a meteor hitting the Earth?” Barry thought for a moment. He didn’t doubt whether Superman had landed on Earth—that didn’t matter.
Before Thomas could recall anything, Ludwig took action.
The boy’s well-cared-for fingers flew over the keyboard and quickly pulled up the information they needed.
Both Thomas and Barry looked at Ludwig with surprise, but Ludwig just shrugged carelessly.
“That’s my dad.” Ludwig seemed to have eyes in the back of his head as he rolled his eyes and retorted mercilessly, “When you’re only allowed to eat cake on your birthday, you remember every family member’s birthday.”
“Okay, let’s see what you found.” Barry leaned in, then was stunned by the news he saw.
Superman hadn’t landed on a farm—he had crashed in a big city, causing serious casualties.
“The question now is, where is that spaceship? And where is Superman?” Ludwig was more restless than ever. He kept thinking about his superpowers—if only he could take a quick look, he would know everything happening in the world.
Everyone noticed Ludwig’s agitation but assumed it was just frustration from not finding Superman. Thomas gently stroked Ludwig’s spine to help soothe him.
“Don’t worry. I know who to ask for help.”
“Who?” Ludwig quickly asked.
“Cyborg.”
【Author’s Note】
Zorro is back: Theme song of the movie Zorro