What happened next went somewhat beyond Shane's expectations.
He had thought Mr. Mxyzptlk would leave him with a threat or two, or simply turn around and leave in a huff without saying anything.
He had never expected the guy to open his mouth and burst into tears.
And since his existence was not constrained by the rules of reality, his mouth opened even wider than a python's.
His tears were endless, too. A single drop hit the ground and burst into hundreds of millions of tons of water, forcing Shane to grab Chronos and fly into the sky to escape the flash flood below.
"You don't understand anything! How could you bully Superman like that?!"
Mr. Mxyzptlk accused Shane like a child whose candy had been stolen.
"Superman works so hard to stand in the way of every danger, but you don't understand any of it! All you see is this so-called 'freedom.' You don't care about Superman at all!!!"
Chronos glanced down at the raging ocean below with a pale face, then leaned toward Shane's ear in fear.
"What do we do? Boss, do you know how to soothe a kid?"
Shane snapped back irritably.
"Soothe him, my ass! Do I look like I've had that kind of life experience?" He raised a hand to press his earpiece in resignation.
He intended to ask the two Batmen whether they had any ideas.
Especially Injustice Batman, who was older and might have some experience dealing with Bat-Mite.
A beep sounded, and the connection went through.
"Things are pretty much settled. There's just one little issue left to wrap up."
No reply came through the earpiece.
Shane was just wondering whether a fifth-dimensional being had interfered with the signal when he suddenly felt a sting on the back of his hand.