After Arkham Batman agreed to Dream Power Doctor Strange's decision, they began to slowly sink into the first dreamscape. Since there was no set order, no one knew whose nightmare it was until two gunshots rang out like a thunderclap, jolting everyone awake.
As Shiller's vision gradually cleared, he immediately realized that this was Germany, specifically during World War II. Now he knew who the third person Dream Power Doctor Strange had mentioned was.
"Erik Lehnsherr," Shiller immediately said, "No, it's Max Eisenhardt, a Jewish boy about 10 years old."
Arkham Batman paused and said, "Was he captured?"
"Yes. He was born into a German merchant family, his father was a World War I veteran, and his childhood was very happy. But after World War II broke out, his family was sent to the Warsaw Ghetto, and they almost escaped, but were later betrayed by an acquaintance. After being arrested again, all his relatives were buried in a mass grave, and only he escaped."
Shiller quickly recounted Magneto's life, but it was actually quite vague. Because neither the exact birthplace nor the specific time when he escaped was known. The comics didn't portray it very specifically, just that something like this happened.
"Remember? They rescue people, we prevent them from rescuing people." Jack scoffed, "He's targeting the fact that Batman is in our team, trying to morally blackmail us, right?"
Shiller felt the same way. Batman would absolutely never help those people capture someone, but if he doesn't play the bad guy, should he just watch them take the person away?
"Who says preventing a rescue means helping those people capture someone? We can intercept beforehand and take Magneto somewhere else," Constantine said.
Arkham Batman thought the same way. They quickly moved along the alley towards the source of the gunshots. The range of nightmares is usually not very large and generally builds scenes around the protagonist, so Magneto couldn't be too far away from them.
"Be careful," Shiller said, "if I remember correctly, it's about this time that Magneto's abilities awakened. You better not provoke him."
"Whether we provoke him or not isn't up to us," Jack said, "If this is their first capture, that's one thing. But if they escaped and got caught later, things might not be so simple."
As they reached a corner and spotted a bakery ahead, they heard a man's trembling voice inside in a string of German: "I can give you money, I still have businesses, I have friends in America, I can give you whatever you want... please don't harm us..."
Bam!
As the gunshot rang out, they rushed into the bakery. Unfortunately, there were three bodies inside, two adults and a child, who seemed to be Magneto's parents and sister.
Two adult men held guns, seemingly intending to finish off the last person alive. As Arkham Batman rushed forward to subdue them, he saw one man's gun barrel begin to tremble.
Arkham Batman abruptly stepped back and shouted at the others, "Run!"
With a loud bang, the entire bakery exploded violently. Those at the entrance didn't have time to dodge, and were directly blown away.
Jack crawled out from beneath the bakery sign, grimacing, "Are you sure he needs rescuing?!"
Shiller, standing a bit further away and less affected, also got up and said, "The mutant abilities of a childhood Magneto are hard to control. He probably can't use them consciously, and after the power outburst, he will enter a weakened state. He might have already passed out. We just need to stay here and make sure no one..."
Before finishing his sentence, he glimpsed a pair of fleeting blue eyes in the dim street corner.
"Wait," Arkham Batman said, "Shiller, Constantine, you two find Magneto and tell him you're his father's friends from America, here to rescue them but arriving a little late. First, calm him down."
Shiller nodded and rushed with Constantine towards the bakery. He understood Arkham Batman's intention—everything depended on whether Magneto would listen to them.
If he refused to leave, there wasn't much Dream Power Doctor Strange could do. With someone else, they might have forcibly taken him, but even in childhood, Magneto wasn't easy to deal with. Without disrupting the dreamscape structure, both Charles and Doctor Strange might very well be blown over by this young Magneto.
So if they could first gain Magneto's trust and convince him to go with them, their chances of success would be much higher.
They rushed into a pile of rubble and found the boy curled up in a corner. Somewhat, his face bore the semblance of the older Magneto, but the difference in demeanor was significant. This young Magneto, while somewhat melancholic, had far more emotional turbulence than his older counterpart.
At this moment, he was crying, with dirt smudged on his face and disheveled hair, looking utterly bewildered.
Feigning just now noticing, Constantine said, "Wait, why is there a kid here? He... he looks a bit like Mr. Eisenhardt?"
Shiller quickly approached, "Who are you? How did you end up in this bakery? This is the rendezvous point planned with Mr. Eisenhardt; have you seen him?"
In his early years, Magneto was still very naive. He came from a middle-class family, well-protected by his parents, and was nothing like the closed-off and vigilant person he would later become. He widened his eyes and said to the two, "I am Eisenhart, Max Eisenhart."
Shiller and Constantine exchanged a deliberately surprised glance and then said, "You're Little Eisenhart, aren't you? Where's your dad?"
"He...he's dead! He was beaten to death by them!" Little Erik seemed utterly unable to cry; he just kept repeating something, pointing in a direction with his finger. Constantine walked over, pretending to take a glance, and surely, he saw the male corpse that bore some resemblance to Erik.
"Oh, God, we're too late." Constantine said, "Mr. Eisenhart was a good man. It was always a pleasure doing business with him, how could this happen..."
"No time to grieve," Shiller reminded, "those people will be here soon. Let's get the child out of here first."
Then he turned to Little Erik and said, "We came from America, we're your father's business partners. A few weeks ago, he contacted us, saying he was in trouble and wanted to move the whole family to America. We agreed to meet here, but didn't expect..."
"He seemed to have mentioned it to me," Little Erik's voice was somewhat hoarse, as he sniffled and said, "he said someone would come to pick him up. If only you had come sooner..."
"Sorry, the city is too strictly monitored, we're also being hunted. But now's not the time for many explanations, come with us first."
Little Erik nodded. But just at that moment, two more people entered the bakery, dressed in this era's suits: Dream Power Doctor Strange and Charles.
Seeing Constantine and Shiller in the room, the two were shocked and shouted at them: "Who are you people? Where's Eisenhart?!"
Constantine and Shiller stood firmly in front of Erik, frowning at them and said, "That's what I want to ask you, who are you? How did you get here?"
"We're Mr. Eisenhart's British friends, here to help him evacuate," Charles said with a frown, "Where is he?"
"But they said they're my dad's American friends, here to take us away," Little Erik said, "Did he contact two groups of people? But why didn't you come sooner..."
"No, Little Max, don't be deceived by them," Constantine immediately turned and said, "Your dad told us he only contacted us. Besides, he had no business dealings with Britain, you've never heard him mention knowing any British people, right?"
Constantine dared to be certain because Old Eisenhart had mentioned having friends in America before. Although it might have been to scare off enemies, Little Erik also heard it, so naturally, he would trust their words more.
Unexpectedly, Charles didn't get angry or argue, he just slightly furrowed his brows and scrutinized Constantine and Shiller, saying, "You are Americans? But as far as I know, even people from San Francisco don't dress this strangely..."
This successfully drew Little Erik's attention to the two's attire. He wiped his swollen eyes with his hands and looked up at Shiller and Constantine, immediately noticing their odd dressing.
The two of them were both wearing trench coats, and those were relatively modern-designed trench coats, unlike the woolen overcoats people wore in this era, nor the hats and gloves ordinary businessmen wore. They looked too young and didn't have beards.
Precisely because Old Eisenhart did business with Americans, Little Erik had seen some American businessmen. He immediately and keenly found that these two were nothing like American businessmen.
In contrast, Dream Power Doctor Strange wore a very retro-cut British navy suit, with neatly trimmed facial hair, and light gray gloves. Charles wore a long overcoat, a gray-blue wool scarf, inside was a stiff suit fabric, carrying a leather case with metal edges, embodying a World War II-era figure.
Erik slightly raised his head, directly locking eyes with Charles' blue eyes, and then he just stood there, stunned.
Shiller couldn't help but cover his forehead, no wonder people often say you can see a child's adult character by age seven. Some people's aesthetic is really unyielding and consistent, Shiller didn't know how many times in his life Erik Lensherr had stumbled due to those blue eyes, but he knew that this time, they were likely to stumble too.
Sure enough, Little Erik sprinted over to Charles, grabbing his hand.
Luckily, Arkham Batman and Joker Jack stopped at the door. The plan to gain trust was no longer usable, so they could only resolve it through force.
Arkham Batman swung a punch at Dream Power Doctor Strange. Dream Power Doctor Strange moved with extreme agility, dodging by bending over, and pulled Little Erik along as he ran out.
The two of them ran out, leaving Charles inside. Just as Jack was about to make a move on Charles, a young voice called from outside the door: "You can't hit him!!"
With a roar from Little Erik, his mutant powers once again spiraled out of control. With a loud boom, half of the building the bakery was in collapsed. Except for Doctor Strange and Little Erik, everyone else was buried inside.
And when they finally crawled out, Dream Power Doctor Strange had already taken Little Erik away. The score had come to 0:1.