"Cough, cough. Hello, I'm your new President. Forget that stupid name from before. Bruce Wayne? What a joke. That's already a dead man. That name belongs on a tombstone. I am your new king. Remember my name—I am Robin King!"
The one speaking on the screen was not an adult at all. Judging by his physique, he was even younger than Jason and the others, looking entirely like an elementary school student.
His face was deathly pale, without a trace of blood, and he had no pupils. His eyes, rimmed with thick black eyeliner, were blank and faintly glowing. His mouth was stretched into an enormous grin. He wore a spiked crown atop his head, and his uniform looked somewhat like Batman's, especially the belt, but overall, he looked incomparably more sinister than Batman.
His sudden declaration stunned everyone. In the Clock Tower, they stared at the screen Barbara had projected. After a long silence, Jason finally pointed at the screen and said, "You mean that thing is what nearly killed Batman?"
The others were not certain either. First of all, he was a child, or at least a severely underdeveloped adult. Second, only a child or an idiot would do what he had done.
Any mentally mature villain, after causing an explosion that drew nationwide attention and socially killing Bruce Wayne, would not suddenly use the media to announce his identity and location.
That was right. The wallpaper behind him was the kind used in the Capitol Building. Since Bruce Wayne of this universe had become President, they had all toured the Capitol Building. Barbara could even identify the room he was in from the damage to the wallpaper.
If you wanted to confront the whole world head-on, you might as well have stepped out from the start. You