3 Passionate Acting Duel

Adult breakdowns rarely last long.

Clark was initially shaken by the fact that he was about to face a native rival with a ninth-level intellect, but he quickly pulled himself together.

The process of regaining composure went roughly like this:

Clark: Brainiac, do you have any good strategies to deal with Luther?

Brainiac: Why ask me? Isn’t there a Batman?

Clark suddenly understood.

Bruce: “…”

Even from opposite ends of the earth, he could feel his childhood friend’s expectations.

Though Bruce was usually the one making decisions between them, he still had to remind the culprit who had dragged him into cosplaying the world’s best duo against his will.

“You’re a DC fan, right? At the very least, you should be familiar with the Batman and Superman storylines. Tell me everything you know, and we’ll just act it out.”

In Bruce’s imagination, this should be a simple task.

All they needed was to pick an appropriate point in the story from Clark’s knowledge and then direct all the actors to seamlessly enter the scene.

However, Clark’s abrupt silence gave Bruce a bad feeling.

“...What’s wrong? Don’t remember clearly? No worries, we can make some of it up, as long as we know the general framework.”

“Uh, Bruce, don’t get too excited yet.”

Clark’s voice was cautious, tinged with a hint of pleading.

Bruce could almost see those impossibly blue dog-like eyes drooping slightly, looking at him with the expression of someone trying to bluff their way out after making a mistake...

Stop! Don’t think about it any further! He wasn’t going to let him get away with this so easily!

“Speak.”

“I didn’t tell you, but I’ve only been into this fandom for less than a month…”

Bruce recalled how Clark had suddenly started bombarding him with his newfound adoration for Batman and Superman, which had only begun recently.

He appeared calm, and if it weren’t for the metal handle beside him groaning under his grip, it would seem as if nothing had affected him at all.

“So?”

“Sorry, Bruce, I actually got into it after watching some Superbat fan edits on YouTube!”

Ah, so it was the ship that hooked him.

Bruce finally understood why so many girls had been shouting “Superbat” around the two cosplayers—they were shouting the ship’s name.

What was even more surprising was that his childhood straight male friend was into shipping as well.

And it was Superman and Batman? Seriously?

Not knowing the behind-the-scenes fan drama of the world’s greatest duo, Bruce felt like he was about to split in two.

Wait, that’s not the main issue here. Though Clark had dragged him into cosplaying possibly a same-sex ship couple without telling him the truth, they could settle that later.

What did this have to do with Clark recounting the stories he’d seen?

Clark’s voice sounded almost like a mask of anguish.

“I’m still stuck at the stage of recognizing characters and playing around with memes. I haven’t finished the classic comics or animations. The only thing I’ve barely completed is BVS...

Oh, by the way, in that movie, Batman only has Alfred by his side, no Robin, and Superman is lonely. It should be easy to act it out like that!”

Bruce clung to that last shred of hope.

“So can we act it out according to BVS?”

“I’m afraid not, sir.”

Alfred, who had been quietly listening in the mental channel, suddenly interjected, consciously addressing Bruce as “sir.”

He stared at the files of several boys and girls appearing on the screen with a complex look—somewhere between affection and regret.

But his voice in the channel was filled only with regret.

“First, by your account, BVS is just one movie, and its plot alone isn't enough to get this world back on track.

Second... this world already has members of the Bat Family, which conflicts with the lonely Batman persona Clark mentioned.”

Although the entire Bat family was listed as cast, once World Consciousness had hired them and brought them into this realm, they had become real characters in the story and had to be integrated into the main plot!

Bruce fell silent after Alfred’s explanation.

It wasn’t just because his hopes were dashed; he also thought he heard something strange.

The Bat Family?

If his ears weren’t deceiving him, that meant he’d have to act alongside an entire family of members?

Joke’s on you—Batman works alone.

He took a deep breath, feeling a sudden twitch in the nerves at his temples from prolonged mental exertion, and a dull headache began to creep in.

The waves of disappointment flooding his heart were almost unbearable.

Breath in. Breath out.

Then, seemingly calm, Bruce spoke in the channel.

“I’m not a writer. I don’t think I can create a coherent superhero story from scratch, and Clark doesn’t know the canon well either...

But I have watched the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe), so I suggest we take some inspiration from Marvel’s storyline.”

What?

Clark already gasped in the channel, and even Alfred’s expression blanked for a moment.

Several seconds passed before Clark cautiously realized Bruce wasn’t joking.

“But DC and Marvel are completely different universes…”

Can you just mix them like that?

Bruce chuckled inwardly.

“Both have superheroes as main characters, right?”

“That’s true, but...”

Clark panicked a bit, desperately trying to distinguish the differences.

“DC has a core team of heroes...”

“The Avengers?”

“No, the Justice League!”

Clark was nearly driven mad.

“And the members are all different! For example, the team’s spirit leader is Superman, affectionately called the Big Blue Boy Scout; the advisor is Batman, who’s dark on the surface but actually a playboy; the core members also include the super cool and powerful Wonder Woman, the bow-wielding Green Arrow, and the green-skinned...”

“The blue Captain America, playboy Tony, super cool and powerful Black Widow, bow-wielding Hawkeye, and the green Hulk.”

Bruce listened in stunned silence, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth—the first smile since arriving in this alternate world.

“All matched up, right?”

Clark was dumbfounded.

Was that even allowed?

He hesitated, suppressing a restless impulse and barely regaining his composure.

“But their personalities are totally different! For example, Bruce—you know, Batman Bruce—and Tony, both lost their parents early, but...”

“Characters are just for fun. Close enough is good enough. Do you really think you’re here just to clock in and out?”

Bruce crossed his arms, letting out a cold laugh.

He meticulously sifted through the mass of information in his mind, making sure that as long as no local native was watching, his ranting madness wouldn’t become world canon, then decisively chose to go all out.

“Alfred, do you remember my father?”

Alfred wasn’t sure what script this willful master was acting out, hesitated slightly, then nodded.

“Of course. A man like Master Thomas is unforgettable.”

“Yes, in your eyes, he was a hero worthy of remembrance.”

Bruce chuckled softly, but beneath it lay a subtle, unshakable oppression.

“But to me, Thomas was the worst father in the world.”

Alfred: ?

Clark: ? Wait! Are you already acting it out over there?

Bruce ignored the frantic messages from the two in the mental channel and continued his performance.

“When I was a child, whenever I wanted him to do crafts with me or attend events, he would impatiently tell Martha to take me away, telling me not to disturb him while he searched for... Superman.”

Alfred was utterly stunned, completely lost on how to respond, and Bruce gave no hints in his mind.

After a long pause, Alfred barely managed to speak.

“Sir...”

“You don’t need to defend him, Alfred. I know. The day he sent me off to boarding school, he was overjoyed because he no longer had to...”

“Bruce?!”

A shocked male voice came from the darkness not far away.

Bruce had to pause his act, looking toward the approaching figure with a flicker of surprise.

He hadn’t heard the elevator running—when did this person arrive? And how much of what he just said did he hear?

Alfred, who had thoroughly studied the Bat Family before starting duty, felt his pupils dilate in shock.

Because the voice and figure unmistakably belonged to the man who was supposed to be nothing more than a gravestone now...

“Master Thomas?!”