Batgirl declined politely: "Thanks, but when we're in uniform, we generally try to drink as little water as possible."
Colt looked at Nightwing and Red Hood, who were mixing juice as if it were alcohol at the bar.
"Red Hood doesn't have that problem, but Nightwing probably offended him. It's fine, Jim and Juan will bless him with a resilient bladder." Batgirl didn't get involved in the boys' squabbles and seriously thanked Colt.
Her younger brother, Gordon, returned to her side during Easter.
Tim said you needed a quiet space for rehabilitation, so that's why we're coming to see you now.
The stalking from a few days ago doesn't count.
The Jester shared a secret that Colt already knew: "I'll tell you a secret, Timmy was actually planning to propose to you the day before Easter. We set up a huge flower arch and a rose wall, but unfortunately, Leviathan trampled them."
After the world refreshed, the flower walls and arches at Wayne Manor were gone.
Colt also shared a secret with the girls; he pulled a necklace from his clothes, showing off the ring hanging from it.
Oh my god, Timmy is so efficient!" Jester said, resting her chin in her hands, her eyes shining. "When you get married, I want to be a bridesmaid! And Cassandra! Babs, you should come too! Then add Harper and Kara, we'll form the strongest bridal party in history! Colt, have you guys decided who will be the groomsmen?
Colt shook his head. "We haven't thought that far ahead."
"You can think about that now; a best man can be a relative, or he can be a friend." Batgirl looked forward to the wedding.
"Spider-Man, plus Armory and Beacon, will that work?" Colt was only familiar with these few peers, they had all previously been on the "beggar" list.
"Sure, add Dick and Jason, that's just enough people." Jester nodded.
The Orphan also spoke up with a suggestion: "The Super Twins, as flower children."
"I'd be more than happy to be a groomsman, but I'm not sure if Damian will try to assassinate the groom." Little Reed joined in, having drifted over at some point to interject.
“No,” Batman said, passing by them and joining the discussion. “The wedding will be held at the White House, Damian has promised not to let the Secret Service suspect he is Red Robin.”
The group began discussing what kind of wedding to hold, who should be invited, even Nightwing and Red Hood joined the discussion while mixing juices. Colt was pushed out of the crowd, staring blankly at Timothy, who was still fighting with Damian.
Stop fighting! If you keep this up, the wedding date will be decided before you're finished!
Finally, the battle between Timothy and Red Robin escalated, affecting everyone, then it turned into everyone focusing their fire on Batman.
It was Batman who initiated the provocation, so no one could blame the others.
Ghost and Little Red Bird's home was so lively that the roof was nearly blown off. Knives and forks flew around the dining room, while plates and chairs collided in mid-air. From time to time, someone would curse due to being accidentally hit, making their strikes even more vicious. The battlefield looked dangerous and was indeed unsafe, but everyone was laughing.
Perhaps fighting is just the Bat Family's way of communicating; the Bats always have a way of turning a gathering into a martial arts sparring session.
Colt hid in a corner, raising his phone to capture the precious footage of the flock of birds fighting the cat. A slender dark shadow kicked away the fork flying toward Colt and landed lightly on the second-floor railing, the sound so faint it was as if her feet were padded.
"Thanks." Colt took a close-up shot of the Orphan wearing a Domino Mask.
"You're welcome." The Orphan also raised the Polaroid camera and took a close-up shot of Colt.
Colt opened his mouth, wanting to ask how Orphan had broken through the limitations to master language and speak. He could make sounds now, he was trying to practice starting from the 26 letters and phonetic symbols, but the results were far from ideal. Many times, he felt as if he were speaking, but no sound actually came out.
Orphan tilted her head at him, then suddenly pushed her wheelchair away from the battlefield and out into the garden.
She took off Colt's Holographic Glasses, walked around to in front of Colt, reached out her hand. "Hello."
Colt shook her hand in confusion.
The Orphan said slowly, "Hello."
Colt understood what she meant and opened his mouth: ".. H.. Hi.."
Orphan gave Colt a thumbs up, returned the Holographic Glasses to him, shook her head: "No need for this. Intense outpouring.. love, response."
Colt thought for a moment, turned off the voice function on the Holographic Glasses, looked at Orphan, recalling the sensation of air rising from his lungs to vibrate his vocal cords, before opening his mouth again: ".. Ca.."
Orphan covered his mouth: "Mom, Dad, or Tim."
The first sound is very important; it should be a call to someone important.
The pronunciation of "Mama" and "papa" is the easiest to practice, but "father" and "mother" are a bit difficult, Timothy is even harder; his mind wants to make the sound, but his vocal cords are still knotting up.
"Relax, don't force it." The Orphan discovered Colt's problem.
Colt used to be able to speak, but he had suddenly lost his voice due to special reasons, which caused his language abilities to degenerate. Now that he had regained his voice, he should be able to speak naturally without needing to learn any specific pronunciation methods.
Just as breathing is a human instinct, trying to consciously control it only makes it more difficult.
..
The Bat Family made a ruckus for an hour, then spent another hour cleaning up the battlefield, finally heading out for their night patrol close to midnight.
Ghost stayed at Red Robin's Cave, responsible for information support.
Colt was relieved that although his strength had weakened, he hadn't lost his Quantum Ghost abilities, allowing him to monitor all the cameras in Gotham simultaneously.
Gotham's population now exceeds ten million, there are as many as a million surveillance cameras in total. Official monitoring only accounts for 11.2%, while Bat monitoring takes up 50%. The rest, excluding private household surveillance, were all fitted with backdoors by Timothy during the New World internal testing, bringing them under the Bat Security System.
Perhaps it was because the debuffs were cleared, the souls of Gotham's people, once eroded by darkness, were thus purified. Perhaps it was because the madmen of Arkham had been cleared out, the lingering effects of the Easter miracle still remaining, the people of Gotham were finally afraid. Or perhaps it was because Bruce Wayne became President, Gotham wanted to show the President some respect. It was even more likely that Blackgate Prison had been moved to Mars, making it difficult for criminals to escape prison..
In short, the Gotham of the New World has public security so good it could practically compete with civilized cities.
Of course, this also had to do with the fact that a new batch of people had taken over the upper echelons of Gotham, the GCPD had joined forces with the Brother Eye system, resulting in a massive upgrade to both police force and equipment.
The biggest disruption tonight was a mother traveling with her child who was in a hurry to use the restroom; she shoved the child into Batman's arms, which caused Batman to be swarmed by tourists taking photos and bombarded with countless inquiries asking, "What exactly is your relationship with President Bruce?
Batman stood like a silent statue, letting the child burrow into his cape, as majestic as a masterpiece.
Colt rotated the camera with the best field of view, aiming it at Batman, who was being swarmed by tourists, took a screenshot as a souvenir.
Batman suddenly looked up toward the camera and gave a slight smirk, greeting Colt from afar.
He was very happy.
Colt let out a long sigh of relief and couldn't help but burst into laughter.
That's great, Batman is very happy; this is the world that Batman is satisfied with!
Colt had always been worried that while making Batman the President might be the best choice for the New World Project, it might not necessarily be what Batman preferred. Batman would be trapped in a cage of politics and would become unhappy. He had underestimated Batman's ability to handle pressure; as expected, Timothy understood Batman much better!
..
Red Robin finished his night patrol at two in the morning and found Colt in Little Reed's basement.
Colt wasn't wearing his Holographic Glasses. He stood before the holographic workbench, where a projection of his own virtual avatar was displayed, wearing a hooded cloak adorned with a prominent Silver Bat.
Red Robin hugged Colt from behind: "Are you designing Ghost's uniform?"
Colt leaned back, resting his head on Red Robin's shoulder, turned his head to exchange a light kiss with him, while his hands typed blindly on the holographic keyboard: [Brother Eye's intelligence is high enough; you don't need extra information support. For the next group night patrol, I want to go on field duty.]
“Newcomers can't act alone. Who do you choose as your leader?" Red Robin gave the options: "A. Red Robin, B. Red Robin, C. Leader of the Teen Titans."
Colt frowned intentionally: [Is there a choice D?]
Red Robin generously provided two more options: "D Detective, E Red Sparrow."
Colt asked again: "Is the detective the World's First, or the World's Second Detective?"
The first, because the original World's First Detective became the President, so the World's Second Detective moved up to become the first." Red Robin lightly spun Colt 180 degrees until they were face to face. He picked Colt up like a child, saying, "Think carefully, or you will lose the freedom of having your feet touch the ground today.
What a serious threat; this really puts Colt in a difficult position!
Colt poked the emblem on Red Robin's chest, then took off Red Robin's Domino Mask and kissed the eyes beneath it.
He chose A.
"Correct answer, a wise choice." Red Robin rewarded Colt with a kiss.
They designed the uniform together.
Colt felt like wearing a bodysuit was like running naked, so he insisted on adding a trench coat over the outside to cover his backside, the cape also needed a hood that could cover his hair. Timothy was responsible for selecting the materials for the uniform and quietly added Red Robin elements to the inside of the cape.
“.. Tim.”
“Mm.” Red Robin responded instinctively, but froze in the next second.
The voice was wrong; it wasn't the voice he had tuned himself. It didn't sound clear or bright at all; instead, it was muffled and hoarse, with intense emotion detectable in its tone.
Red Robin slowly turned his head.
Colt wasn't wearing his Holographic Glasses; his bright eyes watched him, his mouth opening and closing as he spoke again, "Tim."
This cry was clearer, the hoarseness no longer so severe, a distinct hint of laughter could be heard in the voice.
Red Robin thought his expression must have looked absolutely foolish, but the corners of his mouth spread into a grin that he couldn't control. He threw his arms wide and let out a completely irrational scream:
“Colt! You can talk!"
Colt raised his phone to take a picture of Timothy's face, then lunged and jumped into Timothy's arms.
“Timmy..”
His shouting became increasingly fluent.
Red Robin spun him around, so happy he didn't know what to do.
Wait, is the surveillance on? Great, it's not off, it's all recorded!" Red Robin grabbed Colt's phone, switched to camera mode, held it high for a selfie. "Colt, say it one more time.
Colt closed his eyes, relaxed, shouted clearly, "Timothy Drake."
Cassandra is an angel; her reminder was extremely useful. Speaking doesn't require much skill, nor does it require special control. Once the first sound is made, everything else becomes easy.
"I'm here," Red Robin responded earnestly.
..
At four in the morning, the two of them finally lay down in bed.
Timothy nudged Colt: "Colt, call me one more time."
Colt rolled out of Timothy's embrace. He had shouted it at least two hundred times tonight, to the point where he was almost starting to forget the name.
Using his strength and skill, Timothy dragged the rolling Colt back into his arms, nuzzling him. "Colt, darling Colt, I was so worried this was a waking dream. Call my name one more time."
You're not even asleep, what kind of dream are you having!
Colt pounded Timothy's shoulder and muttered, "Timothy Drake, sleep!"
I'm here." Timothy contentedly nestled Colt's head into the crook of his neck and kissed his forehead. "Goodnight, Colt. Remember to dream of me.
Rustle.. rustle..
Colt dreamed of a Little Red Bird flapping its wings, flying over high mountains and over the sea, flying towards him without ceasing.