Multiverse: Deathstroke

Chapter 106: Ch.105 Abandoning the Useless

"Ha ha ha! Oh my, oh my! Isn't this the Dawnbreaker?" A man dressed in a tight leather suit, his face adorned with a wide grin, immediately noticed the 'half-piece' lying on the ground.

He was the Batman Who Laughs, and those boys surrounding him were his former Robins. Barbatos had transformed them into bloodthirsty Robin Hounds.

The Batman Who Laughs still had a twisted affection for them. He decided to put name tags and leashes on them, treating them like pets. Whenever there were usable remains, he would unleash them to have a feast.

He turned around and spread his arms wide, hugging himself tightly as if basking in happiness, his body writhing in madness.

But he suddenly stopped, grabbing his chin with one hand, tilting his head as he walked over to the mangled legs that had been gnawed upon.

"Oh no, Dawnbreaker! What happened to you? Answer me!"

He cradled the half-body in his arms, holding it to his chest, and suddenly burst into tears.

Like a little girl holding her doll, he raised the remains to eye level and spoke to the severed part:

"No, Dawnbreaker! You can't die! Who killed you? Tell me! Don't people in movies always reveal their killer before they die?!"

However, he seemed to have used too much force. The already fragile half-body finally fell apart completely.

The Batman Who Laughs seemed to understand something, and he began to tremble slightly. "Oh, I see? So this Earth killed you, huh? Hee hee hee hee hee hee hee! Ha ha ha!!!"

The others who had emerged from the portal exchanged glances. A figure resembling a robotic Batman quietly spoke to the gigantic monster beside him: "Dawnbreaker is clearly still alive, albeit heavily wounded. But to him, it's as if he's already dead?"

The massive creature scratched his arm. Standing over five meters tall, he resembled a wall amidst the ruins, gray spores falling from his body. "Alive or dead, trash is still trash."

At this moment, another figure wearing a bat armor made of chains, his face pale and bloated like a corpse, with seaweed and barnacles clinging to him, stepped out of the portal, leaning on a trident. He looked like a drowned corpse recovered from a sunken ship: "Dawnbreaker is already useless. His heart is filled with fear. For a Lantern, that means he's completely finished."

"Looks like Red Death and the Merciless are dead too. I'm curious who managed to kill them in an instant," the robotic Murder Machine said, calculating with interest. But with insufficient information, he couldn't arrive at an answer.

Su Ming had been moving around constantly with Barry's help, leaving no trace of key information. Even the Murder Machine couldn't deduce who was responsible.

"I'm more curious about the Laughing Bat's plan. He doesn't seem to care about the losses." The new Drowned stabbed his trident into the ground and leaned on it.

"His thoughts are devoid of logic, impossible to calculate." The Murder Machine responded. They were all Bruces from different worlds, and shared certain traits. But the Batman Who Laughs was different; he was more like his former nemesis, the Joker.

The three fell silent, watching the Batman Who Laughs crazily hugging and talking to the remains, which would need to be censored. The Nightmare Batmen reached a mutual understanding once more.

"Oh, right! I have business to attend to. I'll come back to see you later." The Batman Who Laughs rummaged through his numerous pockets and finally found a wilted, ragged little paper flower.

He casually tossed the flower onto a pile of trash, made an exaggerated gesture of wiping away tears, like an actor in a stage play.

"You know we love you. Goodbye." He tugged at the leashes of the Robins, looking around. But the surroundings clearly didn't satisfy him, so he turned back to the portal: "Let's go. Those guys sure ran away quickly."

"If the little bugs return, I'll give them a proper welcome." The Ravager followed him into the portal.

The Batman Who Laughs didn't seem to hear him, quickly walking back into the portal, where a thunderstorm-ridden apocalyptic landscape awaited.

This was Gotham. Barbatos' overwhelming power used this place as a nexus to influence the entire universe. Under this force, and with the Court of Owls' long-term preparations, a mountain range had risen in the center of Gotham, splitting the city in two.

Everyone suddenly knew its name—Challenger's Mountain, as if the knowledge had been injected into their minds from a nightmare.

The mountaintop was wide and flat, as big as dozens of football fields. The Cosmic Tuning Fork they had stolen was placed there, gathering the dark forces of the universe as an anchor point. Barbatos' massive form coiled around the Tuning Fork like a serpent.

In the darkness, only the occasional streak of purple lightning illuminated his figure.

Stepping through the portal, they saw the Dawnbreaker, reduced to half a body, lying on the ground, gasping for breath. Barbatos' dark energy had kept him alive, but his pale face made it clear he was gravely injured and still in shock.

"My legs... Laughing Bat, our master can heal me."

He stretched out a trembling hand, reaching toward the Batman Who Laughs, his eyes filled with desperation.

"Hm?" The Batman Who Laughs tilted his head, grinning wider: "Hee hee, one of the rings has gone dark."

"It's just because I'm injured, and out of strength. Once our master puts me back together, I can fight again." Dawnbreaker's heart sank. He knew he had been deemed useless.

"Strange, an illusion?" The Batman Who Laughs placed his hand under his chin, looking around as if searching for something. "I just buried the Dawnbreaker. How am I hearing his voice again? Huh? I'm sick! Ha ha ha!"

"No! Look at me! What are you planning to do? I fought for all of us!" Dawnbreaker crawled toward him, trying to grab at his clothes.

But the Batman Who Laughs stepped back several times, twirling around as if dancing, then really started tap-dancing.

"Well, I guess I haven't been sleeping well lately. Ever since we got here, my insomnia's been worse. Ha ha!" He let go of the chains, sticking out his tongue and licking his teeth. "Rest in peace."

The mad Robins immediately let out sharp laughs and charged at Dawnbreaker on all fours, attacking him.

They were creations of darkness; any act of darkness was their nature.

"No!!! Ring! Ring... ack!"

In just a few seconds, Dawnbreaker went silent.

At that moment, his ring slipped off his bitten-off finger and flew toward the sky.

"Lantern deceased. Seeking replacement."

The Batman Who Laughs turned his head and looked at the Murder Machine, still smiling: "What are you waiting for? The little bird's flying away!"

Among the Dark Knights, the Batman Who Laughs was Barbatos' favorite because he was the darkest and the craziest. He was in charge of most operations.

The Murder Machine immediately raised his arm, which began transforming from its original mechanical shape. With a series of mechanical clicks, it formed a massive cannon barrel.

A streak of black energy shot through the sky, precisely striking the gray-green ring.

"Error. Ring compromised."

Watching the ring shatter and fall down the mountain, the Batman Who Laughs joyfully sprinted back to the others, throwing his arms around the shoulders of the Murder Machine and the Drowned. Leading the way, he burst into laughter, and they joined in.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"