The serene times always pass quickly. The next morning, it was yet another busy day. Batman went downstairs to find the seats almost filled with Robins. They had all come to retrieve equipment yesterday and stayed overnight here, ready to set off shortly.
Upgrading their weapons really made a difference. And they weren't using discarded military gear from the black market but the current equipment of the Skrull Empire. The creations of mechanical civilization have their own aesthetic order, and although the Robins were all different, using new equipment made them look quite professionally armed.
Workers at Cross Two were not allowed to stay overnight, so not many people came this morning. The Robins finished breakfast and headed out. They laughed and talked, and the topics were not entirely centered around Batman, but also about new discoveries in the cosmos.
Standing at the bar, Batman watched their backs, thinking perhaps he was also gradually realizing that to make the birds independent, he first needed to teach them to fly. However, without a vast enough sky, they could never truly roam free.
Once, Earth was large enough for them. It held many kinds of cities, yet these cities were quite alike. After having their own independent nests, their lives didn't change much from before, just in a different city being superheroes.
But they should have other paths besides this. They could stay by Batman's side, learn knowledge and skills, or they should pursue the mysteries of magic, exploring cosmic truths in another way. They could be street heroes, maintaining the order of everyday life for ordinary people, or sail through the wind and storms of the Star Ocean, becoming the bravest helmsmen.
Perhaps every father and son is like this. Batman felt happy and proud seeing Robins want to become him, but he couldn't help thinking that maybe they should have their own path, not just repeat his life.
Repetition means no progress, and his hard work to make the world and the universe better was for more people to have more paths. The same goes for the Robins.
Perhaps that's why Batmen unspokenly agreed to send Robins here. They hoped the birds could see the sights of the cosmos, and only then, when they leave the nest, they wouldn't spend too much time looking back. When the sky is no longer the limit, they can focus on flying higher, and higher.
One starship after another took off, the glow of their engines reflecting on the barren rocks, transforming into points of light like meteors disappearing into the cosmos. The darkness as far as the eye can see also appeared more vivid because of these lights.
But soon, more vivacity and noise descended. Batman was at the bar completing his unfinished wine-tasting endeavor when he looked up and thought he was seeing things.
"What are you doing here??!!"
The one appearing before the bar was none other than Loki.
"You gotta ask these two." Loki pointed to his sides. One side was black and red intertwined, the other was entirely pink.
"That's right, the two of us rescued him!" Gwen Stacy spoke up first, "I knocked out those two prison guards to get him out!"
"Oh, please, if it weren't for me diverting the guards, you'd never have been able to get into that heavily guarded prison!" Deadpool retorted.
"That's because my stealth skills are top-notch. Besides, you crashed the prison building, causing the foundation to crack, and we almost got crushed!"
"If you hadn't insisted on touring the palace first, we wouldn't have missed the guards' break time and had to use this approach..."
"Stop!" Batman shouted. He had already figured out from this brief exchange what kind of splendid and thrilling adventure these two had gone on in the cosmos, but this wasn't the main issue.
"Why did the two of you go to rescue him?"
"Because he got captured," Gwen Stacy shrugged and said, "It was all over the news. We both saw it. Anyway, Asgard is an ally of the human race, how could those damn aliens capture Loki?"
Batman looked at Deadpool again. Deadpool spread his hands and said: "On this point, I agree with this silly girl. The whole cosmos knows we're tight with Asgard. They just go and capture the prince like that, isn't it disrespectful to us?"
Finally, Batman's gaze landed on Loki's face. Loki looked helpless. He sat at the bar and said: "I didn't want to leave, but if I don't go with these two, Skrull's capital would've been destroyed! They were first causing a ruckus in the palace, tore down the emperor's throne, and poisoned the palace's tap water system..."
"That's not poison!" Gwen Stacy said helplessly, "We were hiding from guards on the water tower, and this fool insisted on checking the structure inside and accidentally fell..."
"That would've been worse than poisoning!"
"He," Loki pointed at Deadpool, "bombed the emperor's toilet while the emperor ran to the restroom."
"She," Loki pointed at Gwen Stacy, "ran off with the spaceship the emperor was preparing to go see the doctor."
"The entire military force of the capital star system was chasing them, and I don't know what kind of luck they had that they didn't get caught, flew the starship to the prison, one jumped down, the other for some reason didn't and crashed the starship into the prison. I thought it was an earthquake!"
"So, just tell us if we rescued you or not," Gwen Stacy said.
"I didn't need you two to rescue me!"
"I know, I know," Deadpool waved his hand and said, "Getting caught is embarrassing, especially for you as the prince of Asgard. But you shouldn't care about appearances too much; getting home safely is better than anything else, right?"
Loki weakly covered his forehead.
"Does your brother know you're out?"
"I left a decoy there," Loki said, "Don't worry, it won't delay the hearing the day after tomorrow. But I should tell Thor I'm out, otherwise I fear he won't last till the hearing."
"Good," Batman said, "They caused such a big news event, it's like avenging you."
"But why did you get captured to begin with?" Deadpool asked, "I thought you picked up a dagger and stabbed their emperor, but that guy seems alive and well."
"When did I ever use a dagger..."
"That's irrelevant," Gwen Stacy interrupted him and said, "I'm more concerned that they claim Helen is your and the Supreme Magician's illegitimate child..."
"Cough cough cough cough cough!!!!"
Loki almost coughed out his lung, then he glared at Gwen Stacy and said, "What kind of nonsense is this. Helen is indeed my daughter, and I do want another child, but Strange?"
"Well, if you had considered him, it wouldn't have come to this." Shiller continued to fan the flames beside him.
"What the heck is this?" Loki said.
"I think the most important thing now is to think about how to explain to your brother," Shiller said, pulling out a gossip tabloid from beneath the bar and placing it in front of Loki.
Loki took one look at it and almost fainted. "'Supreme Magician secretly married for years, the game of cat and mouse between the strongest law enforcer and the biggest trickster originates from marital discord'?!"
Shiller hadn't looked closely at the newspaper either, but upon hearing such an explosive headline, he leaned in to take a look, silently thinking that this was definitely Venom's doing. He's ruthless when it comes to pranking his former host!
Loki crumpled the newspaper into a ball, took a deep breath, and with a whoosh, a flame appeared in his palm and burned the paper away.
"Burning it won't do any good," Shiller said, "This issue's sales have already surpassed one billion copies and it's been rated as the most popular news headline of the year."
"Loki!" a voice called from outside the door. Loki vanished in an instant.
Then, a crack of lightning struck him out. Of course, it didn't actually strike him, just nearby, shocking him back into visibility.
"Thor, let me explain!" Loki said, "That's completely gossip, nothing is going on between me and Strange!"
Thor crossed his arms, leaning against the bar and said, "I heard you've been married for ten years and have a love child?"
"How is that possible?" Loki said somewhat helplessly, "We're just ordinary partners."
"I remember there was a time when you both stayed at Kamar-Taj."
"...When?" Loki said with some confusion.
"Right after you came to Earth."
"That was over a decade ago!"
"Doesn't that line up perfectly?"
"We were just researching how to make money then," Loki said.
"Of course, I trust you." Thor said, "I'm just reminding you, Strange is a good Supreme Magician, a decent partner, but certainly not a good companion. He's too obsessive."
"Got it," Loki said somewhat helplessly, "Isn't it nothing?"
The group sat back down at the bar. Shiller looked at Deadpool and asked, "You made such a mess in the Skrull Empire's capital, are you sure they'll be able to appear in court on time the day after tomorrow?"
"Don't worry, their Emperor isn't going," Deadpool said.
Thor turned to Shiller and said, "I heard you're planning to move Earth to another spot?"
"Yes, establishing a transport channel is best in the Solar System, where Earth lies. I trust Reed's calculations, though it might be troublesome, relocating is indeed doable."
"What about the other planets?"
"Move the whole lot."
"You mean moving the Solar System?"
"No, the Sun stays put; just spread the rest out a bit. Consider it making some room inside the Solar System, it's quite cramped, wouldn't you say?"
Thor nodded, accepting the beer handed by Shiller, and took a big gulp. Having fought across the cosmos for years, he understood Earth's Solar System's situation wasn't typical.
Throughout the cosmos, binary star systems are more common than single star systems. For instance, Cross Two has more than one star. Even single star systems rarely have a configuration as the Sun does, dragging along eight planets, and these eight planets' orbits are mostly evenly distributed, creating a delicate balance.
Usually, a star has three or four planets, and these planets are relatively far apart, and they may all be gaseous. Earth and Mars, with similar properties and orbits, appearing in the same star system, are quite rare.
So, the Solar System's planets are indeed too many and too closely packed. Previously it wasn't much of an issue, but now humans have starships and are preparing to build large-engineering machinery, and such a dense star system has become a burden because many things need ample start-up space, and such densely packed celestial bodies are likely to bump into each other.
Therefore, human scientists are studying how to disperse the planets in the Solar System slightly, readjust the orbits, place the important ones in better positions, and move the less important ones to the side.
Mercury is basically left alone, being close to the Sun and providing abundant energy. The locations of gaseous planets are also fine, neither too far nor too close for mining. As for the distant planets, the star ports are already built, so it's not ideal to move them.
Currently, the biggest nuisance is Mars. This once hopeful colony planet for humans is now somewhat snubbed. It's close to Earth but hasn't been very useful, sitting idle without serving an important role. Hence, the scientific community's biggest debate is whether or not to remove Mars altogether.