"That's what happened, ma'am. I'm sorry..."
Peter's voice drifted intermittently from the hospital room, while Martha seemed to be speaking heatedly to the Doctor.
Batman stood outside the hospital room door. He knew that the Batman inside belonged to the universe beneath their feet.
Based on the previous investigation, Batman understood that this was another fledgling Bruce Wayne. He was probably around the same age as Schiller's students, yet he had received almost no professional training before the opening act of Joker's scheme completely shattered his defenses.
But Batman had not expected him to break down so thoroughly. Just now, he had heard the Doctor say that this Bruce might be suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and that it was serious enough to require immediate treatment.
Now Thomas and Martha had even more to deal with, but Batman was still the first one in line to suffer.
"Bruce Wayne!" Thomas shut the hospital room door with a dark expression. The instant Batman heard his full name, he knew he was in trouble. Still, he could only follow Thomas into another room, because Martha was watching him from behind.
"Listen, Bruce. I've expressed countless times that I never wanted you to become Batman. Yes, that's exactly what I think. This profession is both dangerous and not meaningful enough."
"Don't rush to argue with me. Answer me one question: why didn't you take more extreme measures to restrain that madman called Joker? You let another version of yourself get hurt."
Martha sighed softly, walked over, and reached out to stroke Batman's resolute face. "I don't know whether every Bruce in every universe has suffered the tragedy of losing us, but at least I see them as my children—as you at different stages of life. I don't want them to be hurt."
"The