Jason mocked Damian for being a "grass-eating rabbit," while Damian swore he would shave Jason bald. As the "war" broke out, it was clearly visible that Bruce's originally leisurely stroll had turned into a jog.
The two looked at each other and laughed.
Barbara lowered her voice: "Tim, Bruce is the father, you can't spoil him like a son."
“I am not,” Timothy also lowered his voice, “Fine, he's been looking at me with scrutiny lately, so I've been avoiding being around him a bit.”
Barbara knew everything and gave a light laugh. "Because your communication channel has delays from time to time, you frequently shield your location. You spend most of your time staying out, yet neither the company nor the Titans can find you."
“Red Robin always has a few safe houses that aren't exposed.” As Timothy was speaking, a piece of fermenting dough came flying toward him.
He had just reached out to take it when, in the next second, flour showered down upon him, accompanied by Duke's terrified scream: "Stop! You're making a bomb!"
Without Alfred's kitchen, it was a total disaster zone.
The kitchen did not explode.
There was no explosion in the dining room either, nor in the living room; the only victim was the coffee machine.
Timothy looked at the wreckage of Coffee Machine No. 5, feeling fortunate it wasn't the dream model from Colt's house.
"Sorry, Little Red Bird, I'll give you an extra scoop of meat sauce." Jason, who had used the coffee machine to block the knife, apologized with great sincerity.
"Tt." Damian showed no remorse, but he didn't protest the confiscation of his knife either.
Stephanie wanted to cause more trouble and stir up even more commotion, but she was silenced by Dick before she could even speak. After sacrificing the coffee machine, whose nickname was "Drake's Wife," everyone could finally sit peacefully and quietly at the dining table to have lunch together.
Alfred had baked a large cake in advance, Bruce had arranged the fresh flowers.
There was a feast on the table: steak and chicken wings fried by Jason, cereal soaked by Dick, candy sandwiches made by Stephanie, egg fried rice by Cassandra, stew by Duke, a vegetable salad by Damian, a fruit platter by Barbara, cola poured by Timothy.
Timothy shared a family feast with Colt, primarily to mourn the fallen coffee machine.
Colt shared his shopping cart from the mall with him, along with tickets to Gotham Aquarium; he had heard that if you bought hidden tickets, you could see a real Merfolk performance.
Timmy, no work allowed today." Dick hooked his arm around Tim's neck and used his other hand to hook Jason, pulling the two people who were trying to sneak away into the game room. "Come on, everyone, let's race cars. The loser has to tell a secret about themselves.
"What's the prize for winning?" Jason asked.
Dick replied, "Winning is winning. I'll give you that."
Perhaps the phrase "I'll give you that" has a massive appeal to men, since even Bruce has joined the video game war.
Timothy rolled his eyes; there was no need to calculate, he was formidable too.
Timothy shoved his phone into his pocket and joined the fray.
Stephanie and Barbara also joined in, while Cassandra acted as the referee.
In this multiplayer mode of Kart Rider, some players only cared about charging forward, some tried to steal others' lanes, some dropped obstacles for others, some even crashed into others' cars on purpose.
Bruce was the unluckiest; he was bumped by Damian the moment he started.
"Father, I didn't do it on purpose." It was Damian's first time playing, he truly hadn't done it on purpose.
Bruce said it was fine and even taught Damian the rules of the game, only to have his car blown up by an obstacle Jason had left behind right after he had just been resurrected.
"Aha, I didn't do it on purpose." Jason apologized lazily; he didn't do it on purpose, he did it very deliberately.
In the next second, Jason's car crashed into Timothy's.
Jason scratched his head. "Alright, Little Red Bird, I really didn't do it on purpose this time, do you believe me?"
Timothy smiled at him, "Do you think I believe you?"
Jason shrugged. "I guess you don't. Come on, I'll help you distract Dick and give you a three-second window."
The scene was in total chaos.
The winner of the first round was Duke, simply because no one interfered with his vehicle from beginning to end.
Duke raised the popcorn bucket and carefully announced, "Anyone slower than me is a loser."
Cassandra grabbed a handful of popcorn and said, "By age, starting with Bruce."
Bruce looked around the room, saw that Alfred wasn't there, revealed his secret: "I poured my midday vegetable juice into the vase."
“That doesn't count!” everyone shouted in a jeer, "We saw it!"
Fine," Bruce thought for a moment, then added, "I've seen Ghost.
Timothy looked at Bruce, but Bruce didn't look at him.
Cassandra handed Bruce a piece of popcorn, "Passed."
Barbara pulled the blanket on her wheelchair closer and said calmly, "I've seen a love letter from someone in the house, with 'I love you' written in 131 different languages. Not that it was written to me, of course."
Everyone gasped.
Everyone stared at Dick.
Duke scratched his head, turned to the knowledgeable person beside him, asked, "Are there 131 languages in the world?"
Timothy adjusted his sleeves and answered quite naturally, "If you include regional dialects, there are approximately 7,117 languages in the world."
"It's not like I'm that good! How could I possibly know 131 languages!" Dick cried out in protest.
Makes sense.
Everyone looked at Bruce.
Bruce's mouth twitched slightly, he smiled and winked at the children. "Do I need to write love letters?"
That makes perfect sense.
Everyone's eyes shifted, landing on Timothy.
Timothy smiled, just as he was about to speak, when Duke scratched his head beside him. "So many girls at school like Tim; they say he's handsome, wealthy, an elegant gentleman. Tim shouldn't need to rely on love letters in 131 different languages to chase girls, right?"
Everyone thought that made sense, they looked past Timothy and past Duke to look at Jason.
Timothy watched along with them.
Damian's eyes gleamed as he stated his deduction, "Todd reading 'Pride and Prejudice' and the opera 'Romeo and Juliet' makes him a prime suspect."
Jason was incensed: "Being able to read doesn't mean I can write. I dropped out in ninth grade; do you really think it could be me?"
That was a perfectly reasonable explanation.
Everyone averted their eyes, bypassing Damian, finally resting them on Barbara.
Stephanie hugged Barbara and pleaded, "Please, Babs, just tell me who it was! If I can't find out who it was, twenty-five kittens will be fighting in my heart!"
Tim joined in, looking at her with pleading eyes as well.
Barbara smiled and refused, "No, this belongs to someone else."
Cassandra handed the popcorn representing a pass to Barbara: "Pass."
Next, it was Dick's turn.
Dick rubbed his hands together and said cheerfully, "I broke up with someone yesterday."
Everyone disagreed: "You break up twelve times a year! That's not even a secret!"
Dick looked at Cassandra.
The fair referee shook his head at him, indicating that it was not acceptable.
Oh, alright," Dick thought for a moment and said, "Would it count if I sneakily took out Bruce's favorite bottle of wine, drank it with my friends, then put soda back in the bottle before returning it?
For the sake of Bruce's dark expression, everyone agreed that it counted.
Dick held the pass-through popcorn issued by Cassandra and looked at Jason: "It's your turn, Little Jaybird."
Jason revealed an evil smile: "Someone among us is holding Vibranium, by the ton."
Timothy thought he was being targeted.
He looked at Bruce along with the others.
Dick had already pounced on Bruce, howling, "Please, Bruce, I want to upgrade my escrima sticks! I need Vibranium that can absorb kinetic energy! One kilogram, or even two kilograms would be enough!"
Damian's eyes lit up: "Father, can I make a Vibranium dagger? A short dagger will do."
Stephanie raised her hand: "I want to collect Vibranium Batarangs, is that allowed?"
Barbara also joined in the fun: "I want to apply a layer of Vibranium paint to my wheelchair."
Timothy was still considering whether or not to add fuel to the fire.
Bruce struggled against Dick's immense strength, defending himself: "The Vibranium in my collection is measured in carats, it totals less than ten kilograms. Jason, I suspect you found your Vibranium in the Penguin's vault."
Jason snorted coldly, "Old man, you know absolutely nothing about your precious son's social circle."
Bruce's good son.
The three girls looked at Dick; he looked far too poor to be able to produce any Vibranium.
The three girls looked at Duke, who was once again stroking his head, which was full of confusion.
The three girls looked at Damian.
Damian puffed out his chest with pride, looking down his nose at them.
No, Damian certainly wasn't a well-behaved son.
The three girls finally looked toward Timothy.
This is definitely Bruce's good son, he can even produce Vibranium.
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Author's Note: Due to the limited length of this story, extra updates are suspended. Taking a short break (ω)
Chapter 40
Timothy's smile was stiff, his fingers tapping a secret code on his leg, attempting to strike an ugly deal with Jason.
Jason refused.
Alright, it was me," Timothy said after failing to negotiate with Jason, choosing to be honest. "It was a friend of Red Robin; he couldn't show up personally, so he asked me to help receive the Vibranium.
He looked very sincere, he was telling the truth.