The forced calmness brought about by a large amount of analgesics gradually slowed down Bruce's breathing rate. Putting aside the euphoria that caused hazy hallucinations, fragments of countless scenes began to play back in Bruce's mind.
He had spent countless nights dreaming of the happy family life he should have had. The tall and steady Thomas and the gentle and beautiful Martha were by his side, spending peaceful and happy days one after another.
.
But the scenes of Thomas in these dreams could not overlap with the Thomas he met today. They were too different.
But what makes Bruce feel conflicted is that the Batman Thomas he met is completely consistent in the logic of actions and behavior with the father in his memory. He does not think that this is the effect that plastic surgery or cloning can achieve.
With more clips and more details, the brain that is far beyond ordinary people begins to work overload, and all the details are comprehensively analyzed in just a few minutes.
The mirror-like fragments shattered in an instant, and Bruce opened his eyes, feeling a little dazed.
He finally understood where those contradictory feelings came from. This Thomas gave him a sense of strangeness, but at the same time gave him a sense of familiarity.
This familiarity does not come from Thomas's face and figure. In fact, this Batman Thomas is much older than Bruce remembered, and his figure is also different.
The original Thomas was a businessman. Although he would go to the gym to maintain his majestic image, it was obviously impossible to have such strong and smooth muscle lines as this Batman Thomas, nor to have such a dark temperament.
Originally, such a big difference should make him feel strange, but inexplicably, Bruce felt that the expressions and words spoken by this Batman were somewhat familiar.
After Bruce thought for a while, he stood up from the sofa. A sharp pain hit him again. Bruce covered his chest and stood there panting for a while, then shouted to Alfred: "Alfred, before
...where is the potted plant I brought back from hell before?"
Alfred came over, he supported Bruce and said: "The little devil called Hexagon always fights with Elsa, so I sent it to Rodriguez Manor."
Hearing the familiar last name, Bruce's lips curled downwards, but he seemed to be pretending not to hear it. He said to Alfred: "Can you go get it back? I want to use it tonight."
"
Alfred nodded. It wasn't difficult. He was originally fostered at Merkel's place, so he just had to drive over and pick him up.
After Alfred left, Bruce pursed his lips and looked a little uncomfortable. He held on to the railing and walked slowly toward the basement. The basement is now his laboratory. The bats are not here. The bat equipment is all placed in a cave in the suburbs.
.
After arriving in the basement, Bruce wanted to start the lathe to make something for himself, but he found that the injuries on his body were too serious. He could only lie on the operating panel and move for a few minutes.
Bruce stood up slowly, turned around and sat down with his back to the experimental table, breathing slowly and heavily.
And between the gasps, there was a series of rapid footsteps.
Just when Bruce's eyes were darkened and he was about to take out the analgesic and drink it, he felt his arm being grabbed.
Dimly, he heard anxious calls.
"Bruce! Bruce! Wake up! ...Bruce!"
Bruce felt unreasonable anxiety. He was worried that after he woke up, a series of troubles would be waiting for him.
His physical condition, which was approaching its limit, made him instinctively want to escape, but for the last time his reason told him that the voice that woke him up was very immature, so he had to wake up.
Between the intertwining of black mist and dreamy light and shadow, Bruce saw the faces of Jason and Tim, and also saw Dick standing far away at the door of the laboratory.
"I said, something must have happened to him!" Tim stretched out his hand and snatched the pills from Bruce's hand. Jason took the pill bottle and screamed: "Oh my God, where did he come from?"
What a good product you got?!"
Jason quickly stuffed the medicine bottle into his pocket. Tim looked at his actions and asked with some confusion: "What? What medicine is this?"
"This is a regular analgesic! It's not the junk that's been processed twice! Even if it's taken to the living hell now, it can still be sold for a high price of forty or fifty dollars. For those addicts, let them take it
It doesn’t matter if you change your life.”
As Jason spoke, he stepped forward and rolled Bruce's eyelids, sighing and saying, "He took too many analgesics and is now in a state of unconsciousness. What's going on?"
Tim turned back and pulled Dick over. As he walked, he said to Dick: "Can't you see? He is a little mentally disturbed. He must have encountered something last night."
"He..." Dick hesitated for a moment, but when he saw Bruce leaning on the experimental table with a pale face, he still said: "The night I quarreled with him and ran out, I met a weirdo who claimed to be Batman.
, and I think..."
"What do you think?"
"He's more Batman than Batman."
"Jesus, stop kidding!" Tim patted Dick on the back and said, "Batman is here now."
"Some impostor must have hurt him!" Dick's tone suddenly showed a hint of anger again, and his unstable mental state made him look a little startled, and Tim hurriedly comforted him.
Jason's expression was also very angry. In fact, he was the one with the worst temper among the three. In Gotham, every child who had been on the streets had a bad temper. Jason immediately turned to Tim and said:
"Don't you know how to crack the combination lock? Go to the warehouse and shoot the cabinet!"
"No, don't, come back..." Bruce shouted in the hazy state: "Do me a favor, do me a favor, Dick...Dick!"
Hearing Bruce calling his name, Dick instinctively walked over. Bruce seemed to have completely lost consciousness and just instinctively shouted: "Dick, help me press the button on the third row... Design drawing, design drawing
In the drawer."
Dick turned around and opened the drawer, but he flipped through the blueprints inside and said, "There are no new blueprints here. Aren't these all ordinary bat equipment?"
Jason and Tim also came up. While Bruce was silent, the three of them studied for a while, and finally Jason said: "He may need new bat equipment, but those things are in the cave now, so he wants to
Do it all over again.”
"Then why doesn't he get it?...Oh, he can't drive now." Dick suddenly realized.
"Dick, you stay here to take care of Bruce, while Tim and I drive to get the equipment. Remember, don't let him take medicine anymore. Drug addiction is not good." After Jason finished speaking, he pulled the trigger vigorously.
Then Tim left.
Dick sat next to Bruce and started to cry again. He didn't know if Bruce could hear it, but he still said to himself: "I'm really sorry. I didn't know that weirdo wanted to hurt you that day."
"Actually, I should have noticed that he wanted to take advantage of me. I should have known that he had no good intentions. But I was so angry at the time. I felt that you just wanted to accuse me on purpose."
"Dick...Dick..." The unconscious Bruce shouted Dick's name, making a sound like a mosquito buzzing. Dick couldn't hear what he was saying, so he moved closer.
Now Bruce couldn't think rationally at all. The impact of a large amount of analgesics left him with only instinct, so he stretched out his arms and held Dick in his arms.
Dick's eyes widened in shock. He felt Bruce hugging him tightly and his strong arms squeezing his chest.
He was like a sponge. After being put under such pressure, love and tears were squeezed out like a waterfall.
Dick began to cry loudly, like a newborn baby. He didn't know if he saw tears in Bruce's eyes, but sadness, grievance and more, he didn't know what the emotion was, so he could only cry.
Come to vent.
It wasn't until Dick started crying in Bruce's arms and the clips of their relationship replayed in his mind that Bruce discovered that behind the alternation of paternity, there was exactly the same father and son looking at each other in the mirror.
Bruce felt that Thomas was so stubborn, domineering, and old-fashioned in his thinking, like a piece of wood that made no sense, but maybe at some time, Dick saw him that way too.
Thomas made judgments without knowing anything at all, and used violent means to force Bruce to accept his ideas, but Bruce did the same when dealing with Dick.
He seemed to have the patience to communicate well, but he actually didn't understand Dick at all. He didn't know why he was like this or what he wanted. He interpreted it all as nonsense.
When many people were children, they felt that their parents were stubborn, inflexible, and simply unreasonable. They also told themselves in their hearts that when they became parents, they would never become like this.
But if they could really do it, there wouldn't be so many awkward and painful family relationships in the world.
When people are in a low position, they beautify themselves, thinking that with their own willpower, they can remain pure even if they are in a high position.
But when they are really in a high position, they will think, human nature cannot stand the test, I am just for myself, what's wrong with me.
The same is true for the father-son relationship.
When I was a son, I wanted a father who was reasonable, understanding and communicative.
When I became a father, I would think, I have given him so much, I am so busy at work, and I bear so much pressure. Can’t my son understand me?
Human beings essentially cannot understand each other, and they never learn any lessons from history. Fatherhood is the epitome of these two points.
Therefore, the alternation of paternity has been carried out thousands of times, and when it falls on everyone, it is still extremely painful, and no one is immune.
This kind of misery did not bring any growth to Bruce. It only made him realize that he was not immune to the weaknesses of human nature, but it made him feel fortunate that everyone was like this.
Then, this made him realize that the solution to the various contradictions in the replacement of patriarchy is not to let the other party go, but to let himself go.
As long as you don't beautify yourself into a perfect person who is absolutely correct, has strong willpower and self-control, you won't think that you can do better than anyone else, and you can solve the problem.
The oppression of the father and the resistance of the son.
As a father, the path pointed out by me is not perfect, so just listen to it and it is up to you whether you want to go or not. As a son, my plan for my life is not perfect, so I still need the help of others.
Opinion.
Only by giving up the unreasonable arrogance and self-beautification that comes from the bad nature of human beings can we have space to take a step back, and only the space left can accommodate love and understanding.
Of course, there is another possibility. Bruce, who was sitting on the ground, thought that if he took a step back, the other party would advance even further. What would he do then?
At this time, Bruce thought again, what is the difference between fatherhood and power?
There is a physical blood connection between father and son. However, this cannot be perceived in reality. The so-called blood is thicker than water, which refers more to the emotional connection. The difference between fatherhood and power is that
like.
The essence of love is not to move forward aggressively, but to retreat with consideration.
Once there is no love, the relationship becomes outright exploitation and oppression.
As for what to do in the face of simple exploitation and oppression, Bruce knew that he had learned this lesson long ago.