[Zhongyingmei] The clown is actually me

* Frozen prison if line

"Modern hibernation technology is very mature, please trust us, Mr. Wayne." The doctor in a white coat sighed, turned his head, pointed to the hibernation cabin, which was as high as two people, and said with a smile: "Look , perfect, right? It's like falling asleep."

Bruce looked in the direction of his fingers. The hibernation cabin is an upright cylindrical shape. All kinds of messy pipes are connected from the top of the hibernation cabin. Cold white steam is rolling around. Frost, he hung a piece of Frost with his hand, exposing Jack's face.

Jack's eyes were closed, and his fingers were crossed on his chest. He was still wearing a black dress like a mourning dress, with an emerald brooch on his chest, and the intricate and gorgeous lace on his sleeves and neckline.Pipes for conveying fluids were inserted into the neck, under the collarbone and wrists,? His already pale skin seemed to be even whiter,? The dark green curly hair was like algae,? Maintained a floating form, fixed in a whole piece of cold In the ice, the whole person looks like a doll made of silk cloth.

When Bruce stared at him, he had the illusion that the entire hibernation chamber was a gigantic glass slide, which fixed the moment of Jack in the water forever, and turned it into crystal clear amber of time.

"Don't be so sad,? He can live to be more than 120 years old,? It is possible to be more than 150 years old, and he can live longer than us." The doctor pushed his glasses and added in his mind: Although he lives like this, is longevity Not necessarily a good thing.

Bruce watched for a moment, then whispered, "Does he dream?"

"Maybe, but we are more inclined not to. At this low temperature, the brain will enter a dormant state, and it may be difficult to dream. It will only sleep until old age dies."

Bruce nodded slowly, he didn't know what he was thinking, and it took him a long time to say something abruptly: "You go out first, let me watch here alone for a while."

The doctor has some doubts about whether this rich second generation can understand the hibernation facility, but the newly established frozen prison is partly controlled by the Wayne Group, and Bruce standing in front of him is actually the major shareholder controlling the experimental funds, so he He could only exhort a few words, and then walked away.

In the dimly lit laboratory, only the floor lamp at the foot of the hibernation cabin was on, and the cold blue light illuminated Bruce's eyes, making the hibernation cabin look more like a jewel.Bruce pulled a chair, sat in front of the hibernation cabin, lit a cigarette, and the smoke curled up, blurring Jack's face, before he said, "Jason broke with me."

When no one answered him, he continued, "He thinks I shouldn't have put you here, and letting the only person who is saved freeze to death while other lunatics can vacation in Arkham is not what heroes do. We It’s been half a month since the Cold War, and I haven’t received any news from him.”

Just for a short while, there was a layer of cold mist on the scraped glass, Bruce wiped them off again, looked at the man who was forever frozen in the depths of the ice, and sighed deeply.In his short absence, he wasn't the richest man in Gotham or the indestructible Dark Knight, he was just him, a tired, powerless, ordinary man.He finally defeated his nemesis and ended the hopeless bloody cycle between Batman and the Joker. Thousands of Gotham citizens poured champagne for this victory, but Bruce felt that he was wrong.He didn't beat the Joker, he just killed him.

But it's useless to regret. When Jack entered hibernation, he had been injected with a special hibernation preparation. The effect of this preparation on the cerebellum and brainstem was irreversible. Waking him out of the ice would damage his brain.

Bruce took a deep breath before throwing away the not-so-short cigarette, stamped it out with his leather shoes, and sighed: "I will come to see you often."

"I hate him." Jason held the furry Algernon in one hand, and knocked on the glass of the hibernation cabin with the other.

"He is always so domineering, too bad for good people, too good for bad people, the clown has caused so many troubles, he is not even willing to break his ribs, someone wants to kill the clown, he has to go forward Like an old hen, 'Gee, don't kill people, it's not good'. But he hides kryptonite in his lead-coated pocket, doesn't care about my dug up grave, and freezes you into a Popsicle." Jason snorted coldly, "I hate him."

There was also no response, and Jack fell into a nearly eternal sleep without even moving his eyelids.

Jason didn't expect him to respond. He touched Algernon, who was shivering from the cold in his arms, and said with a little sentimentality: "If you didn't sign your name voluntarily, I would definitely rescue you. Why did you leave? up to this point?"

Dead silence.

This silence seemed to be heavy, hanging heavily on Jason's neck, he laughed for a long time, and whispered: "I was thinking, whether you will be paraplegic due to neurological problems after waking up, or If you become a mentally handicapped person who can't take care of himself, I will rescue you. Sure enough, I have been a little crazy after staying with you for too long."

He stood up and continued, "I won't be doing it again, Jack, you're a nice guy, but your choices make me sick."

He stepped forward and walked out of the laboratory slowly. He walked unusually slowly, and the sound of his footsteps echoed in the huge space, as if he could remind someone to call and stop him.But when he got to the door, he didn't get any response. The only thing beating in the room was a heart in his chest. He could only give up a long sigh as if admitting defeat, and walked out of the door without looking back.

Jack's time is always frozen inside the glass, and outside the glass, time flies by.

"Jack, Halle is married." Bruce was still sitting on the stool, but there were some wrinkles under his eyes, "Ten years, I thought she would forget you soon, who knew she persisted for so long. Her spirit is basically Back to normal, married to her therapist, and next June, you'll be able to see their baby."

He lowered his head and smiled: "You once asked me if I would marry Serena or Thalia, and if you should be a matchmaker. I am older than my father, but I am still not married, maybe I will never be in my life. wife."

He finished smoking a cigarette, stood up, took out a photo from his trousers pocket, and pasted it on the glass of the hibernation cabin. The frost formed by the low temperature quickly stuck the photo.Harley in the photo is no longer a girl, and her figure is not as slender and graceful as it was ten years ago.She wore a gorgeous snow-white wedding dress, removed all the clown girl's makeup, and put on the bride's makeup. Her fair face was hazy under the light, as if shrouded in a milky white halo.

Before leaving the laboratory, he turned off the lights and said softly, "Good night, Jack."

Many years passed, and Bruce stood in front of the hibernation cabin again. His hair was neatly combed, but his temples were already graying, and the crow's feet were getting deeper.He's old, too old to throw his fists at crime anymore, too old to hold up Batman's cape.The person sealed in the ice is as young as many years ago, but lifeless, like a bunch of flowers fixed under a specimen.

"I'm not going to be Batman anymore, and Damian will take over this job. Should I be able to live out my old age?" Bruce touched his expensive suit and smiled helplessly, "To be honest, brother Tam City doesn't need Batman much anymore, unemployment and crime rates are the lowest in history this year, and people say, I really saved the city."

He smiled for a while, then raised his head and looked at Jack in the hibernation cabin. After so many years, that young face has not changed in any way, and his golden eyes have not opened even once.Many times, Bruce looked at him quietly and felt that it was not a person who was sealed in the hibernation cabin, but the spring many years ago.It was the worst of times when Arkham's lunatics took control of Gotham with explosions and gas, and it was the best of times, the golden days of Batman's heroic legend, when his most important friends and family were still there his side.

"I know it's too late, but..." Bruce caressed the frost-covered hibernation cabin, and pressed his forehead against the special tempered glass. Across a thick piece of ice, he and his friend from many years ago pressed against his forehead, " Putting you in this is the thing I regret the most. At the beginning, no matter what happened, I should have stopped them and stopped you."

No one responded, Jack didn't wake up like in a fairy tale, hug him, and tell him, it's not your fault.He still closed his eyes tightly, sleeping unconsciously in the cold, and this sleep will last until death.Maybe he died decades ago and what's here is nothing more than a shell.Bruce smiled wryly, raised his head, and said in a low voice, "The only consolation now is that at least you can outlive me."

The world is always cruel, "At least Jack can live longer than me", this expectation was not realized in the end.

When the call from the management of the Frozen Prison came to Wayne Manor, the elderly Bruce Wayne was sitting in a wheelchair basking in the sun. Damian brought the unfortunate news to Bruce, and those words became more and more deaf through Bruce. The ears brought a piece of death news that should have been received 50 years ago: due to the incomplete hibernation facilities, Jack's internal organs were aging faster than they thought, and he passed away last night.

Bruce didn't feel anything anymore, he calmly told Damian to preside over the ceremony, and tremblingly put on mourning clothes to attend the funeral.The injuries he suffered when he was young made him more and more decrepit, and his joints were dry and aching every rainy night like unlubricated gears. Alfred had been dead for so many years, and he was still not very good at taking care of himself.

He sat in the first row of the funeral with his cane on his back, looking at the man lying in the dark coffin, it was someone he was familiar with, but he wasn't.The familiar face remained unchanged, as pale as a stencil doll, and for a split second, Bruce finally understood why he was so calm that he was indifferent.Because deep down, he felt that Jack died 50 years ago, and this long heartbeat that lasted for half a century was just a vague and comforting phantom to keep him hopeful.He had been mentally preparing for Jack's death for 50 years, how could he not be calm.

The time was too long, his lacrimal glands were dry, and he couldn't shed a single tear.

During the priest's prayer, he closed his eyes, and a warm water flowed into his old body, and his cloudy and dry eyes were as wet as they were when they were young.The sun rose again, the sky was blue, everything was shrouded in warm sunshine, his soul broke free from the heavy shackles, and started to run, the green grass rubbed against the soles of his feet.

This is the spring half a century ago, a fresh spring that has not been frozen forever in the depths of the glass.In this spring, all the people he loved came back, he heard Alfred calling, and the children shouting, and finally, it was Jack rushing to him from afar from the end of the earth, waving to him...