“Considering Batman’s performance with the rope darts and in close combat, as well as his familiarity with all kinds of equipment, he must’ve trained hard for a long time.” Flegg thought for a moment, then shook his head. “But there’s a limit to how much energy a person has. It’s difficult to be both good at so many professional skills and marksmanship.”
His teammate agreed. “Besides, long-term hand-to-hand combat training affects the flexibility and agility in a person’s hands, which will adversely affect their use of firearms. That’s a problem too.”
Flegg heaved a sigh. “Fine. Contact our branch in New York and have them reach out… to Big Dad and Hit Girl. Ask them what they think about Batman.”
His teammate chuckled. “Boss, even if there’s just the slightest resemblance, you’re not willing to give up on this Batman.”
Flegg: “Batman’s style is more to my liking. It wouldn’t be bad if we can rope him in. He’s good at fighting, at least, and has boundaries.”
His teammate clicked his tongue. “He crippled more than two hundred people in one night on his own. He’s very dangerous.” Flegg shrugged. “But nobody died. Most of them will make a full recovery. If it was us, most of them would’ve died on the spot. Who do you think has more boundaries, us or him?”
His teammate chuckled. “We have a license, but he doesn’t.”
Flegg patted his teammate’s shoulder. “So, as long as he’s willing to join us, I can give him a license so that he can hit them legally.”
On the distant East Coast, in the basement of a two-story building in New Jersey, Mindy stopped hitting the sandbag and looked at the TV on the wall where Batman was beating up hoodlums.
She took off her gloves and grabbed a cup of water.
At that moment, the basement’s metal door opened and Damon walked in with a pained expression.
Noticing her father’s expression, Mindy asked worriedly, “Dad, is there a problem?”
Damon shut the door and nodded at the image on the TV screen with a bitter smile. “It’s all because of your new idol.”
Mindy rolled her eyes. “Someone asked you again if you know Batman?” Looking at his daughter’s face, Damon heaved a sigh. “There’s no need to test me. I’ve never heard of this guy before. None of my friends fit his description.”
Biting the straw in her pink Snoopy cup, Mindy mumbled, deep in thought, “But why does he dress so much like you?”.
Even Damon, who was normally unflustered, couldn’t help but scratch his head. “How are we similar? Because we’re both in black?”
But looking at his daughter’s big sparkling eyes, he admitted defeat. “Fine. We’re a little alike. But how would I know why he’s copying me?”
In the end, holding the cup in both hands, Mindy’s eyes continued to sparkle as she stared at him.
Damon suddenly realized what his daughter was implying. Stunned, he pointed at himself and then at Batman on TV, before he stressed, word by word, “Are you saying that I’m the one copying him?”
Mindy turned her head away. “Cough, cough. Dad, I didn’t say anything; you said it yourself.”
Damon: …Sh*t!
After joking around, Mindy finally said, “Actually, we have an old acquaintance in Los Angeles, don’t we?”
Damon hummed in response.
Mindy rolled her eyes. “Dad, why don’t you send a message to V and see if he knows Batman?” Damon shook his head. “That’s his business. V never asked us if we know the Punisher, right?”
But he suddenly got it and looked back at his daughter. “Are you implying that V is Batman?”
Mindy chuckled. “Look, V is in Los Angeles, he’s very strong, and also wears dark clothes and covers his face with a hood and a mask. They’re really similar.”
Pondering for a moment, Damon shook his head. “Have you forgotten V’s shooting skills and how vicious he is?”
Mindy paused for a moment, but argued again, “What if it was on purpose?”
Damon stared at her. “Are you serious?”
Mindy’s mind spun with thoughts. She knew that her father asking this meant that there had to be a flaw in her thinking somewhere.
But she couldn’t figure out what it was.
Damon finally reminded her, “Don’t forget that V fought Bullseye and dozens of his men on his own that night. Eventually, Bullseye had to sacrifice all his subordinates for the chance to escape back to New York. Also, V has never been soft with criminals. Why bother covering himself up?”
Mindy shook her head. Someone as skilled at shooting as V could take on a hundred people at his level; abandoning his skills in battle would be very jarring for him.
Forcing a regular person to do everything with just one hand would be very difficult for them
Given V’s expert marksmanship, he must be using his gun like an extension of himself.
To suppress the instinct to use a gun would be very hard.
If V was using the guise of Batman to take action, there was no reason for him to.
In the end, Mindy abandoned this illogical speculation; she had no idea that she was the very first to guess correctly.
Of course, it didn’t matter even if she guessed right.
V was just a shadow to Luke. This person had never really existed.
The only people to remember V vividly were Bullseye, whom V had sent packing, and Damon and his daughter.
After abandoning her correct guess, Mindy thought of something else. “Dad, let’s ask V if he can make Batman’s suit. I think it’s awesome!”
Damon nodded. “Okay, but we have to be clear about the price first.”
He hadn’t forgotten how he had taken half a million dollars with him to buy equipment, thinking that it was more than enough, only to discover that it was only half the cost of the top-notch equipment. Damon didn’t like putting on airs, but he didn’t want to be embarrassed in that way again.
In his Malibu Beach Villa, Tony dropped the bat dart in his hand, a strange expression on his face.
“This object is just made of regular steel. There’s nothing special about it except for its shape. Judging from the marks on it, this and the other ten darts are crudely made and can be manufactured in any workshop. It’s not difficult at all.” Jarvis’s voice rang out.
Looking at the bat darts that had been thrown onto the workbench, Tony had a bite of his cheeseburger and said cryptically, “I was right; this guy is doing it on purpose. Everything that he’s revealed is a facade carefully established to conceal his real identity.”
As he chewed on the burger, he mumbled, “That ridiculous, obsolete battle suit, the gliding cape, the rope darts and these darts were all made for everybody else to see. This guy might be kicking back to watch the show and playing everybody, with no one the wiser about who he really is.” He stuffed the rest of the burger into his mouth. “Just you wait! You’ll never get away once my suit is ready! I’m going to personally unmask you, Batman… No, Mr. Mysterious!”