Chapter 2471: Cape Contention Battle (Thirty-Six)

Spider-Man's explanation stirred up many unpleasant memories for Jason, like that night when Spider-Man nearly destroyed Gotham twice, then showed up in his face to provoke him before escaping unharmed, all while spouting nonsense in front of Batman.

Spider-Man even claimed someone was bullying him at school—please, who was bullying whom back then? I have a grudge against Batman, so I returned as the Arkham Knight to seek revenge, and then you popped out saying, "Now who's Batman's favorite Robin?"

You say you're not good with words, but who was it chattering away in front of Batman, pinning the blame squarely on him?

Jason could of course tell that the little spider before him wasn't the same Spider-Man from that night, but at least in terms of strength, how could Spider-Man possibly be weak?

Spider-Man seemed equally unable to explain, so he could only sigh and say: "Well, you people just wouldn't understand. Staying here all the time isn't a solution—I think we should go out for a walk."

"Go do what?" Jason asked.

"First, my bathtub duck exploded—I need to buy a new one. You can't take a bath without a rubber duck. Second, you said the person chasing you hasn't given up, so let's see if we can lure him out."

Jason also felt puzzled, scanning the bedroom and saying: "Strange—how did he not follow us here?"

"Come on, there's still no room for him in here." Spider-Man said with a hint of self-mockery: "Don't even talk about a whole hand with a dagger—he can't even squeeze a finger in now."

Jason couldn't argue, because the bedroom was indeed overly crowded—like trying to stuff an eagle into a sparrow's nest—and he'd been sitting there so long his neck ached.

With no choice, Jason climbed out the window first and waited on the balcony. Spider-Man hadn't changed into his suit, just thrown on a jacket, and slipped out with him from the balcony.

Walking down the street, they found it eerily real—nothing like a dream. The streets, shop windows displaying appropriate goods, lawns, shrubs, and trees all looked normal, as if no monster would jump out at any moment.

"What do you mean by that?" Jason asked Spider-Man.

"What do you mean?"

"You know, what you said about me not understanding."

"Oh, that." Spider-Man sighed: "I mean, I've always been a poor little thing—seen by classmates as a bookish fool, a punching bag. I lived like that for over a decade, from elementary to middle school."

"Yeah, so what? Didn't you gain great spider powers?"

"But even without this power, I'd still have survived this long. Do you expect me to become like Thompson the moment I got power? How could that happen?"

Jason seemed to grasp it a little: "So you're still used to living the way you used to."

"Not used to—it's the only way I can live." Spider-Man spread his hands: "Otherwise, should I use my newfound power to beat Thompson senseless?"

"Why not?"

"Of course not." Spider-Man raised his voice: "Never mind that hitting people is wrong—I'd beat him up, and then what?"

"Then you'd feel better?"

"But I'd get called in by my parents, possibly expelled. Even if I became popular, wouldn't I just be another Thompson? Strutting around, using violence to threaten people—honestly, that's utterly detestable. I don't want to become that."

Jason opened his mouth but had nothing to say—the logic was sound. As a victim, Peter should know better than anyone how detestable Thompson's type is. So if he'd beaten Thompson senseless right after gaining power, he'd have become just like him.

"So you're just going to keep going like this? Keep being a bullied little weakling?"

"Of course not." Spider-Man said: "If he still wants to bully me, I'll run. Before, I didn't run because I couldn't. Now I can easily leave him in the dust—even if his nickname is 'Lightning'."

"So you've got no plan to teach him a lesson?"

"He'll get his lesson someday." Spider-Man said: "You don't really think he can go through life just swinging his fists, do you? Society doesn't work that way. Maybe it flies in school, maybe for a while, but eventually someone will show him what's what—and by then, it won't be something a mere beating can fix."

Jason found Spider-Man's words reasonable, but he occasionally found himself daydreaming in the gaps of conversation.

He too had once been a little weakling—not that being picked up by Batman made him Batman II, strong and smart. In fact, compared to the criminals he dealt with, he was genuinely weak.

And his situation was far worse than Spider-Man's: Thompson might be arrogant, but he wouldn't dare kill Peter. Yet the criminals Jason faced weren't just trying to kill him—Joker didn't just kidnap him, he kept torturing him, did he?

So Jason wanted revenge—and it was only natural, entirely fitting. He's no saint—why shouldn't he use extreme means to get revenge?

If we followed Spider-Man's logic, using criminals' methods to take revenge would make him become the very person he once hated most. But so what? Past Jason would certainly have thought that way.

But later—yes, later Jason met Shiler, and realized: criminals come in ranks.

In that cramped room, under dim light, Shiler pointed to the unconscious Joker on the operating table and told Jason to cut him open. At that moment, Jason deeply realized he wasn't as extreme as he imagined—and this revenge method was too advanced even for the Arkham Knight.

So Jason began to put himself in others' shoes: he didn't care about becoming the person he hated most—what about Batman?

Batman obviously hates criminals—if Jason became one, would Batman hate him too? Of course. Jason felt Batman didn't like him anyway, so being disliked a bit more wouldn't matter.

But Jason kept recalling Batman's past: the brutal criminal who killed his parents, from then on becoming the very symbol of criminality in Batman's eyes. Did Jason want to become that kind of criminal?

Just imagining himself being lumped together with the criminal who murdered Batman's parents made Jason feel nauseous.

He certainly had just cause—but what if that criminal also had his own?

Jason dared not go further—stepping forward meant becoming like Shiler, stepping back like the man who killed Batman's parents. Either way, being a criminal was a dead end.

Spider-Man's words made Jason recall how he lived before becoming a criminal—just like how Spider-Man lived before gaining spider powers.

Jason raised the question, and Spider-Man truly pondered it before answering: "Just muddling through, really. He can't kill me, so I dodge when I can, take a beating when I can't—but life goes on."

"You never thought of fighting back?"

"I did—but I couldn't win." Spider-Man sighed: "I also didn't want to trouble my aunt and uncle, so I studied hard, at least trying to be better than them in one way."

Jason felt Spider-Man was just like his younger self—unlucky to be born in this city, kids can't run away, so they wander the streets, study hard to learn a skill, only to end up picked up by Batman—just like Spider-Man eventually got his spider powers.

Jason wondered what happened to that Spider-Man Thompson he'd met that night—but he could already guess: either he matured, or he was destroyed. Either way, such people are bound to get their comeuppance.

And what about Joker afterward? Jason thought: for Joker, being put on an operating table for dissection isn't really a big problem.

The real issue now is that someone has invaded this universe, claiming to have killed Batman, beaten him black and blue, while the Robins scramble to launch a counterattack.

The two sides are fighting fiercely—though Jason's mind is too troubled to join in, Joker hasn't joined either!

Jason isn't much for crowds—lying in bed is fine—but Joker isn't. Just someone claiming to have killed Batman? That's no different from punching Joker in the face.

Where's Joker? Where are you? You're not even in Gotham!

Jason then remembered: his universe actually has no Joker anymore. Shiler used some technical means to extract the Joker virus from Henry's body. Though traces remain in the blood, as long as Arkham Batman doesn't act as Batman, those viruses won't turn Henry into Joker.

In other words, Joker is already dead.

So how did Joker die? Because of Shiler—why did Shiler come? Because of Peter—why did Peter come? Because Batman was short-staffed—why would Batman lack personnel? Because Jason became the Arkham Knight, refused to help, even opposed—so how did Jason become the Arkham Knight? Because he was kidnapped by Joker—wasn't that just desert?

In a sense, isn't this also like Thompson—getting his comeuppance from some natural social rule?

So saying we expect the perpetrator to learn a lesson isn't entirely baseless… but what about Batman?

Jason has long known that Joker's kidnapping means nothing—what he truly minds is that Batman, right after Jason went missing, immediately found a new favorite. So why hasn't Batman learned his lesson?

Jason had completely forgotten how he once cornered Batman in a hotel room—shattering Batman's patriarchal authority—and now he's carefully pondering what lesson Batman actually learned.

"Hey, we're here." Spider-Man called out to Jason, pointing at the window display next to them: "Look at that little duck, dressed up for Christmas, isn't it pretty?"

The two of them gathered by the window, looking at row after row of little ducks. Jason gave the Christmas-dressed little yellow duck a somewhat disdainful glance, then pointed to the side and said: "I think that one over there looks better."

"You're serious? How long has it been since Halloween? Oh, I get it—you like that bat, huh? But my money only covers one, and I think this one's better."

As they spoke, they walked into the store, and the moment they stepped inside, both froze at the same time.

"Batman???"

Jason and Spider-Man shouted in unison.