Bruce put the hood back on, and the familiar weight calmed him down a little.
He glanced at Damian, who was still poking at the little black ball, then at the elevator entrance where Thomas and Alfred had disappeared, and said nothing more.
Damian, watch this area.
He turned and walked toward the Batmobile; the roar of its engine quickly echoed through the cave before fading into the distance.
Selene, he had to see her now.
Shortly after the roar of the Batmobile faded completely into the depths of the passage, the elevator doors leading to the manor opened again, and three figures emerged.
"So, you really just hung that arms dealer upside down in front of the GCPD?" Dick Grayson's voice was full of helplessness as he walked, rubbing his temples.
"He deserved it," Jason Todd's voice came from under the red hood, muffled. "Who told him to shoot my informant?"
"Can't you two just behave yourselves? I just fixed the communications grid and I got an alert about the commotion you've caused in the East District." Barbara Gordon skillfully operated the controller on the armrest next to them.
However, the three's daily bickering soon stopped.
They all looked towards the center of the training field at the same time, and then froze.
Damian is sparring with... something...
The thing looked like a black capsule with two small bat ears, and it could fly.
Even more outrageous, it was wearing a miniature Batman costume, with a small cape fluttering in the wind on its back.
At this moment, the flying capsule was hovering in the air at an extremely high speed, throwing countless miniature Batarang at Damian as it flew.
"Chirp! Chirp chirp!"
Damian's movements were incredibly swift; he dodged and weaved through the dense rain of Batarang, and with a flick of his wrist, two Batarang were precisely returned to the target.
And so, the person and the "capsule" went back and forth in the air, countless Batarang flying in all directions, making a series of crisp clanging sounds. The scene was extremely intense, yet it also had an indescribable eeriness to it.
Dick was a little confused. He turned to Barbara and asked in a low voice, "What's that? Bruce's new drone?"
Barbara's gaze never left the strange creature.
She took out a small scanning device and scanned the area.
A few seconds later, the expression on her face turned strange.
"It doesn't seem like it," she shook her head. "The scan results show... it's a living thing. And its biological structure doesn't match any known life form on Earth, or even any alien species in the Justice League's database."
Jason didn't have as much patience as they did for analysis.
He crossed his arms, strode over, stood at the edge of the training area, and shouted inside, "Hey kid, what's that thing?"
Damian didn't even turn his head, and as if shooing away a fly, he threw two Batarang in Jason's direction.
Jason casually extended his gloved hand and caught the two Batarang steadily.
He grinned, his voice, emanating a dangerous undertone, from beneath the hood.
"Kid, do you want to fight me?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Damian and the capsule-shaped creature stopped moving at the same time.
They exchanged a glance without saying a word, but their unspoken understanding was as if they had rehearsed it a thousand times.
The next second, the man and the "capsule" simultaneously turned towards Jason, one to the left and one to the right, and launched an attack.
Jason sneered inwardly.
You little brat and a flying clay doll?
He easily dodged Damian's powerful side kick and was about to grab his arm for an over-the-shoulder throw when he suddenly felt a faint gust of wind behind his head.
He subconsciously tilted his head slightly.
It was this pause of less than half a second that Damian seized the opportunity.
A heavy punch landed squarely on Jason's stomach.
"Ugh!"
Jason grunted, but before he could retaliate, Damian's combination punches rained down on him, several of them aimed at his hood.
Despite the headgear protecting him, these blows still infuriated him.
"You're asking for it!"
Jason was completely enraged. He grabbed Damian's wrist, ready to teach this arrogant brat a lesson.
Just then, the flying capsule threw two more miniature Batarang at us.
Jason grabbed it with his other hand and, without even looking, prepared to throw it back with even more force.
However, the instant he caught the Batarang—
"Bang! Bang!"
With two cute, soft pops, two mini Batarang exploded in his palm, bursting into two thick clouds of pink smoke, carrying a sweet, strawberry scent.
Jason choked and coughed, his vision turning pink.
The power of that explosion... was truly astounding.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Tuotuo pulled out a whole bunch of different kinds of Batarang from somewhere and threw them all at Jason.
A frozen Batarang exploded in his chest, leaving a small patch of frost that felt chilly.
A stun Batarang flashed on his leg, causing his muscles to twitch uncontrollably.
A Batarang, now a sticky, gooey mess, was stuck to his hood; it was slimy and dripping green liquid.
These attacks caused no real damage, but Jason felt his anger had reached its peak.
He wiped the sticky substance off his hood, exuding an aura of "I'm going to kill."
"Alright! Stop it, all of you!"
Dick finally couldn't stand it anymore, and he rushed over, standing between the two of them.
He held Jason's shoulder with one hand and blocked Damian with the other, looking at the two guys who could start a fight at the slightest provocation with a headache.
" Damian," he looked at the boy with his arms crossed and a disgruntled expression, "Where did this thing come from?"
Damian reached out his hand, Tuotuo immediately flew obediently into his arms.
He held Tuotuo in his arms, glanced at Jason out of the corner of his eye, and snorted coldly.
"This was given to me by my father."
He paused, then spoke in an extremely boastful and unquestionable tone.
"Only those most favored by bats are entitled to possess it."
The air fell silent instantly.
Even Dick was taken aback.
A few seconds later, Jason, whose anger had just been suppressed by Dick, completely exploded.
"Fart!"
He roared and shoved Dick aside, "You brat?! How could you possibly be the most beloved person by the bats?!"
Without saying a word, the two started fighting again.
Dick, caught in the middle, frantically tried to separate them, repeatedly shouting, "Calm down! Calm down! This is the Batcave! Not a gladiatorial arena!"
One of the instigators of this chaos, Bat Tuotuo, completely ignored the two guys fighting.
It slowly flew out of Damian's arms and wobbled over to Barbara.
"Chirp?"
It tilted its head and meowed at Barbara in a soft, innocent voice.
Barbara looked at the little creature, a smile of interest spreading across her face.
She reached out her hand, and Tuotuo naturally landed in her palm.
It's soft, slightly warm, and has an exceptionally good feel.
Barbara couldn't resist, she picked it up and hugged it, and started to rub it roughly.
"Chirp~ Chirp chirp~" Tuotuo made a comfortable sound, and even rolled over, revealing her little belly under her mini uniform so that she could stroke it.
Dick managed to separate Jason and Damian temporarily, leaving them glaring at each other and panting heavily at opposite ends of the training field.
He wiped his sweat, walked over to Barbara, and looked at the little thing in her arms enjoying being stroked, looking utterly exhausted.
"I wanted to ask Damian what this was, but then they started fighting again."
"It shouldn't be anything dangerous," Barbara said, rubbing the Tuotuo. " Bruce wouldn't just hand over anything dangerous to us."
Dick glanced down at the little creature; it was comfortably squinting, even extending a pair of soft, black paw pads to rest on Barbara's fingers.
"Yes," Dick nodded in agreement, but then frowned. "However, I'm certain this wasn't Bruce's doing."
Barbara looked up at him.
Dick looked at the adorable creature, his tone very certain.
"Believe me, he absolutely, positively could never give Damian a... miniature, cuddly, fluffy bat pet."