During the loading time in the middle, Shiller reviewed the confrontation just now. In fact, this dreamscape was created by Dream Power Doctor Strange, and he also decided the sequence, so the opposing side should have arrived earlier than they. But they were late because they were busy managing their appearance and preparing clothes.
Meanwhile, Arkham Batman's group had not yet disengaged from combat thinking. To be precise, these people here are more adept at fighting rather than scheming, and were only focused on taking people away at first, neglecting the issues of the time period and Little Eric's trust.
But actually, doing it this way can't be considered wrong. After all, if they had arrived just a few seconds earlier, they might have saved Little Eric's parents. In that case, no matter what Charles and his team said, Little Eric would definitely not trust them.
This wasn't simply a gamble; it was the best approach for them. Because none of them had truly experienced World War II, their understanding of people from this era was mostly from documentaries.
On the other hand, Charles was a real veteran of World War II, completely aware of all the details of this era, knowing what people looked like, and knowing who would fit the role of those foreign merchants they mentioned and who could walk the path of deceit.
Even if Batman's side wanted to take this route, they might encounter issues in various details. For one thing, they wouldn't know the American accent of that era. Before and during the war, a transatlantic accent was very popular among the American upper class, and some politicians still use it today. It sounds quite different from the general American accent. No one here can speak like that, and trying to imitate it might get noticed.
So they could only choose to charge directly, betting whether they could save Eric's parents or not. Unfortunately, they were a step too late, and Charles, who was more familiar with the various aspects of this era, gained the upper hand.
"The next dreamscape should be ours," Arkham Batman said as he turned to look at them.
Then everyone was engulfed in deep darkness, unable to see those around them. When they reappeared, Shiller felt a slight chill on his shoulder.
He found himself surrounded by dim lights, but across the street, it was brightly lit. A luxury car drove over a puddle, and the splashed water droplets were illuminated by the lights. Fog had dampened the movie posters on the wall, and Zorro's sword glistened coldly.
Shiller and Jack gasped simultaneously; Dream Power Doctor Strange, you're playing with fire!
The two of them moved in astonishing unison—rushing quickly toward the alley beside the cinema.
At this time, this alley wasn't called Crime Alley yet, because the most shocking major incident hadn't occurred.
Although Constantine didn't know why they were running, seeing their urgent expressions, he followed behind them. Falling slightly behind, he then saw someone rushing to the cinema entrance, blocking a family of three, and apparently some conflict broke out.
Without having time to think, Constantine dashed into the alley. By this point, Jack and Shiller had already jumped onto the second-floor windowsill. He stood below, looking up at them and asked, "Why are you going up there?"
"Less talking, come up quickly!" Shiller pulled Constantine up. As soon as Constantine got up, he saw a shady figure sneaking past the other side of the alley.
"Who was that? Aren't you going to stop him?" Constantine asked, somewhat surprised.
"You don't understand," Jack and Shiller, sitting with arms wrapped, said from the balcony. "This matter is absolutely unavoidable. We just need to wait for a black-haired, blue-eyed boy to run out alone, and then take him away."
"But I just saw someone causing a disturbance at the cinema entrance, must be their people, right? Aren't we giving them the upper hand by just waiting here?"
Shiller shook his head and said, "Don't worry. No matter how big a mess they make, they won't stop that couple from walking into this alley and losing their lives. This is completely unavoidable; they are just wasting their efforts."
"It's better that they're causing trouble," Jack chuckled and said. "They think that as long as they save Mr. and Mrs. Wayne, they can smoothly take away the young Bruce Wayne. Little do they know, nothing can change what happens in Crime Alley. Their disruptions will only make Bruce completely distrust them."
Just as he finished speaking, a black-haired, blue-eyed boy hurriedly ran out from the cinema's back door, shouting as he ran, "You go watch the movie with those two weirdos! I don't want to be with you, I'm leaving!"
As he said this, he ran toward the other end of the alley, with two figures chasing behind him: Dream Power Doctor Strange and Charles. At the back were Mr. and Mrs. Wayne.
As soon as they entered Crime Alley, Charles seemed to realize something was wrong, but it was too late. He turned around abruptly, and two gunshots rang out behind him.
Bang! Bang!
The figures of Mr. and Mrs. Wayne suddenly fell, the blood-stained pearl necklace scattering all over the ground. At the end of the alley, a boy looked back in disbelief.
"Dad! Mom!!!"
"Tsk tsk, how tragic," Jack said. "Mr. and Mrs. Wayne have fallen again... Wait, why did I say 'again'?"
When the sound of sirens came from afar, Shiller jumped down first. Jack followed closely behind. Shiller walked over, pulled out his credentials from his trench coat, flashed them to the police, naturally crossed the barricade, and grabbed a cup of coffee from the nearby insulated box, saying, "Really, just as I was finally taking a vacation, and now this."
"Who wouldn't agree?" said a chubby officer beside him, clinking his cup against Shiller's and adding, "The moviegoers who didn't finish their movie are going to curse us to death. But anyway, didn't you see anything, Mr. Agent?"
"Funny enough, I just went to the back door for a smoke and saw a little boy run out first, followed by two men, then a couple, and after the gunshots, that couple fell. I have no idea what happened."
"Two men?" The officer frowned and said, "Was anyone else in the alley besides the Wayne family?"
"That's right. I heard that little boy shouting something, about not wanting to watch a movie with those two freaks. Weren't they supposed to be friends of Mr. and Mrs. Wayne? Never mind, I'll go ask."
Shiller, holding his coffee, walked over to where Little Bruce was sitting beside the ambulance, grabbed an orange rescue blanket and draped it over him, then said, "Don't be afraid; leave everything to the police. Do you remember seeing any suspicious individuals in that alley?"
Little Bruce seemed completely terrified, unable to speak, and his eyes unfocused. But when Shiller mentioned the word "suspicious," he snapped awake and said, "It's them, it's those two!"
Little Bruce, as if seeing something, dashed off madly; Shiller chased after him, causing a commotion that naturally attracted the attention of the police, and a group of them joined the chase.
When Little Bruce reached the barricade, a female officer stopped him, but he screamed and pointed in a direction, saying, "It's those two! One tall with a long face, and the other with blue eyes! They suddenly rushed in front of my parents, blocking them from entering the cinema. We were watching a movie in there, and they kept causing trouble on the side, which is why I ran into the alley. It must have been their plan!!!"
Even in his childhood, Batman was quite smart; even after witnessing the death of his parents, he could clearly recount his experience. The police immediately rushed in the direction he pointed, and sure enough, they saw the figures of two suspicious individuals running.
This time, Dream Power Doctor Strange and Charles seemed out of place. Despite being well-dressed, they clearly didn't belong to Gotham; their aura was mismatched.
When the police chased them further away, Shiller saw Alfred approaching. He glanced afar and then said, "Your family is here to pick you up. But just to be safe, they might want to eliminate all traces, so let me drive you back home."
Alfred and Little Bruce accepted the suggestion. So Shiller requested a police car and drove them back to Wayne Manor. Immediately following that, they were enveloped in darkness—indicating that this dream had ended. The score was tied at 1:1.
The reason this dream managed to succeed, in reality, was that both Shiller and Jack knew the death of Mr. and Mrs. Wayne was irreversible. Trying to get them to leave the cinema before entering or during the movie was impossible, nor could they earn Little Bruce's trust through such means; rather, it would only increase their suspicion.
Therefore, they never considered interrupting the family's last movie outing but instead immediately waited in the alley behind. Sure enough, due to the reckless interference of Charles and Doctor Strange, Little Bruce ran out of the cinema, luring Mr. and Mrs. Wayne into the alley, where they were gunned down.
Though Batman was young, his intelligence was not on par with ordinary children. He only needed a bit of thought to realize: even if those two didn't pull the trigger, they were certainly involved.
If those two hadn't suddenly intervened in the family's movie viewing, perhaps they would have finished watching the entire movie quietly, then departed through the front entrance to return home. But they insisted on causing trouble, affecting Little Bruce's mood, leading him to run out, subsequently implicating his parents. No one would believe they hadn't planned this.
"Sometimes I feel this might really be the case," Arkham Batman said. "Like I saw something terrifying in the cinema, heard the ticking of a bomb, or was bullied, which made me run outside. But I know none of that happened; I just ran out impulsively after arguing with them."
"After learning that Batmen across the multiverse went through similar experiences, I once thought this might be God's arrangement, a fate no matter my actions, inescapable."
Shiller was just about to say he was right when Arkham Batman continued, "But I also know that's just how I am. Back then, their work suddenly got busier, reducing their time at home, and even when they were home, they were on calls non-stop, seemingly ignoring my existence. I almost lost all sense of security, fear hovering inside, bound to explode sooner or later, be it in the cinema or elsewhere."
"But I understand this isn't coincidence. The one behind it all wants to exhaust my parents' energy, force them to show flaws. If it wasn't my mistake, someone else's would have surfaced. From then, I understood that when someone is dead set on committing evil acts, they are the ones who should bear all the guilt; others are merely victims of the crime."
With those words, they returned to the rain-soaked city. However, this time, they were in a cluster of low-rise buildings. Batman immediately recognized it as Gotham's slums.