Night fell, but Bruce did not rest in his room. Carrying a somewhat oversized flowerpot, he went to a corner of the manor garden.
What was surprising was that the pot did not contain a flower, but a chunk of raw mineral. Even more baffling, Bruce crouched beside it and began speaking to the ore.
"Just like we did in the mine before, if someone attacks the Shadow Ore, don't restrain it. Let all the Shadow Vines inside the Shadow Ore erupt."
"But that's dangerous!" A voice came from within the mineral. A pair of eyes appeared inside the translucent ore, darting about as they looked at Bruce. "Human bodies are fragile. One hit might kill you."
"Then control the Shadow Vines and restrain him, but don't hurt him. Can you do that?"
The eyes within the mineral blinked, and an affirmative answer came back. After setting down the flowerpot, Bruce walked back into the hall with some difficulty, just as Jason and Tim came in.
The two children carried two heavy cases. Tim lifted his over his head and ran up to Bruce with a thump-thump-thump, saying as if presenting a treasure, "Look, we went to the Batcave and brought all your gear!"
"Thank you, but I don't want to use it now," Bruce said, shaking his head.
Tim's eyes widened in surprise. "You don't want to use it? Then how are you going to protect yourself? You'll get hurt."
Jason chimed in, "You're already badly injured. If you fight someone without armor, all they need is a knife to stab through your lung."
"Don't worry. I have a way. You don't need to worry."
Bruce coaxed the two of them upstairs and told them to stay in their bedroom and not come out under any circumstances. He had