"The Batmen have arrived!"
The Recovery Alliance Headquarters was in chaos. The Security Department personnel were coordinating security defenses, and the reception team was organizing staff to head to the airport. The heads of several departments were all fully focused.
Captain America walked out of the office, adjusted his uniform in front of a mirror, and leaned closer to groom his beard. Carter just happened to come out of the adjacent office. When she saw him, she paused for a moment, then continued to walk forward with her head down.
"Wait." Captain America called out to her, "Aren't you going to the airport?"
"I'm not participating in this reception event," Carter said.
Captain America frowned. Previously, Carter had been involved in all reception events and was responsible for hosting travelers from otherworlds. Why was it that now that Batman had arrived, she wasn't going?
As Carter brushed past him, Captain America's gaze lingered on her. When Captain America went downstairs, he saw Nick standing in front of the convoy, giving instructions to the agents. Receiving so many Batmen was a complex task, with many points to consider.
"Ah, Captain," Nick greeted him as he saw him approach, and then said, "Come over here, there are some things I have to emphasize to you. Although Batman has come with good intentions this time, he will definitely be gathering intelligence. Yet intelligence work is our business, and revealing too much loses us profits. But saying nothing would seem impolite. You must handle the balance well..."
Nick briefed him on some points to note in intelligence work, mainly how to avoid being tricked into revealing information. Normally, there wouldn't be a need to emphasize this to Captain America, but after all, this was Batman, whose level of wisdom was incredibly daunting.
Captain America was a bit distracted. After Nick finished speaking, he asked, "Why isn't Carter going?"
"She's not in a great state," Nick replied honestly. "You know how many troubles have arisen recently, and not once since the first reception event has it gone smoothly. Although most of it wasn't her fault, it has left her quite exhausted. Batman is so astute that I'm afraid they would notice Carter's flaws, using her as an entry point, so we simply didn't let her go."
"It's all my fault," Captain America said. "The media has been speculating why she divorced me, and some extreme fans have even uncovered her true identity."
"I'll investigate the identity leak," Nick sensed the dissatisfaction in Captain America's tone. As a former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and now a member of the Recovery Alliance, Carter's identity should be highly confidential. But as the saying goes, in America's Special Agent Organization, there's not a single wall that doesn't let air through, and the internet users are remarkably resourceful—Carter's identity nearly got exposed.
"But you should also understand that from the moment you chose to marry her, her identity could never be completely confidential," Nick emphasized as well, "Your marriage will have a tremendous impact on her career, and she is very aware of that."
Captain America forcefully closed his eyes, lowered his head, and said, "She decided to trust Captain America like most people would, but I disappointed her."
"This is not your fault," Nick patted Captain America's shoulder, and without saying anything more, continued to organize the work.
The convoy soon arrived at the airport. By rights, Batman should have arrived by now, and they should be emerging from the airport, but the agents from the Recovery Alliance had been waiting outside for a long time, and they hadn't come out.
"Send two people inside to see what's going on." Natasha said through the walkie-talkie, "Be careful, mind your manners."
Soon, two agents peeked inside from the entrance, and Natasha received their report through the walkie-talkie: "There seems to be a problem on Batman's side, someone hasn't come through the teleportation portal..."
"Didn't come through the teleportation portal?" Natasha said, puzzled, "Could it be that the teleportation portal is malfunctioning?"
"Someone's stuck." Batman's deep voice sounded over the walkie-talkie, making Natasha's scalp tingle, "Your architectural design has an aesthetic appeal, but there's a lack of practical consideration in the teleportation portal. Some of our members can't come through."
"You all stay put, we'll bring people over immediately." Natasha quickly arranged, she pressed the walkie-talkie, switched to the internal channel, and said, "Get the Strategic Security Department over here quickly, with a few more technicians..."
Not long after, two more cars arrived. Peter got out after pushing open the car door, looked at Natasha, and asked, "What's happening, how did the teleportation portal malfunction?"
Peter had also been involved in the construction of the new airport; the teleportation portal had accommodated so many travelers from otherworlds without a problem, so why was it malfunctioning just as Batman arrived?
It's not that Peter was being skeptical, it's just that Batman was someone you couldn't let your guard down against. Who knew what kind of tricks they were up to.
The two of them walked into the airport interior together. As soon as they entered, they were greeted by a scene full of dark bats. They both stopped in their tracks, looked at each other, and shared a wry smile.
Peter was the first to step forward, immediately recognizing the Primary Universe Batman, shook his hand, and then asked, "What's going on, how did you get stuck?"
"It's a size issue." The Primary Universe Batman replied the same way as always, with a calm expression and a low tone, though Peter could tell his attitude was very amicable, "Your teleportation portal is a bit too small."
Peter looked up at the teleportation portal. This portal is more than three meters high; even The Hulk could pass through it. What's being stuck?
"Can I go over and take a look?" Peter pointed at the teleportation portal.
Primary Universe Batman nodded. Peter passed through the teleportation portal and then returned in less than a second, looked at Natasha and said, "Tear it down and rebuild."
Natasha slightly widened her eyes. Peter didn't say much, just waved his hand to let the technicians start measuring. He then turned to Hill and said, "Seal off the teleportation hall for now, we'll open it once the portal is fixed."
"Can we make it in time for the wedding?" Hill said with a frown.
"Should be able to." Peter looked up at the teleportation portal and said.
Under the escort of the agents, Batmen began to leave one after another. As they walked out, Hill explained the upcoming arrangements, "The wedding requires unified attire, we've already informed you to have custom clothes made, and you also have to attend the final rehearsal..."
Since Batman arrived quite late, it was certainly too late to order custom clothes here, so the Rebirth Alliance already notified Batman to prepare his own suit. However, due to the complexity of the wedding process, Batman still needs to participate in the rehearsal.
Primary Universe Batman nodded and said, "What about the bride and groom?"
"They're traveling, helping to take care of the kids along the way." Hill said.
"Hard to imagine." Primary Universe Batman said with a bit of a sigh, "Kids always grow up so fast."
Hill smiled and said, "Yeah, seeing your kids grow up, marry and start a family, it's a really wonderful feeling."
Arriving at the convoy, Nick got out of the car and shook hands with Batman, then said, "Let's head to the headquarters first, the superheroes are waiting for you."
Actually, every otherworld traveler has a simple welcome ceremony when they arrive. Most are held in a hotel, just bringing everyone together for a meal to get acquainted. The welcome ceremony for Batman is more grand because besides the superheroes of this universe, many people from other universes want to meet Batman.
People from this universe and otherworld travelers had already been called to the Recovery Alliance Headquarters long ago. Little Superman peeped around at the entrance. Greed stood next to him and asked, "Which Batman did you encounter before?"
"To be honest, I don't know." Little Superman said, "But if he comes, I'll definitely recognize him."
As they were speaking, Batmen walked in. Upon entering, seeing a Superman and a Shiller nearby, Primary Universe Batman was also stunned.
Realizing that standing here was a bit impolite, Little Superman quickly stepped back a few paces and signaled Batman to go ahead. But he kept glancing at the crowd, trying to see if he could find the Batman he first knew.
"Ah, he's not here." Little Superman said with some disappointment, "Looks like he's too busy, but it's okay, I'll find him later."
Little Superman flew away. Primary Universe Batman walked over to Greed and shook his hand, saying, "Looks like your plan is going smoothly."
"He's not in my plan at all." Greed, knowing what Batman was going to ask, replied. Little Superman is too special, clearly different from other Supermen. But what puzzled Greed was that Primary Universe Batman didn't recognize him.
Even if Little Superman hasn't been active in the cosmos for long, being put on the wall so soon, if Primary Universe Batman ever met the Batman known to Little Superman, he surely would have learned about Little Superman. Could it be they never crossed paths?
That's quite odd; now Primary Universe Batman has basically contacted all available Batmen, even those temporarily unable to leave their universe have joined the Batman network. If he hasn't met Little Superman's Batman, that Batman might be missing.
Greed's heart sank a bit, and Primary Universe Batman obviously realized something too, saying, "We'll discuss this later."
He glanced at the superheroes, noticing two very clearly missing people. He asked, "Where are Mr. Fantastic and Iron Man?"
"Busy with things in this universe," Greed replied, then signaled with his eyes to another side where Central Universe Reed was speaking with Susan, laughing to his heart's content.
Primary Universe Batman nodded slightly, walked toward Reed, while other Batmen each took a seat. Then came the common routine of the welcome ceremony, everyone introduced themselves, found someone interesting to chat with.
Little Superman squeezed back next to Greed, lowered his voice and said: "The other you seems so serious, I want to talk to him, but I don't dare go near."
"I think he can't handle you," Greed said, "He can't even handle ordinary Superman, you better stay away from him."
Little Superman really wanted to argue about his differences with ordinary Superman but soon got distracted by Batman, saying, "Where's the Batman I knew? Did the middle Batman have him stay at the base or didn't he contact other Batmen at all?"
Greed had pretty much guessed it, so he changed the subject, saying, "The tailor said your custom clothes are ready. Since you haven't found acquaintances anyway, why not get the clothes first? In case anything doesn't fit, you need time for adjustments."
Little Superman got attracted by new clothes, nodded, and said: "Alright, I'll go get them now. I want to wear the new clothes for the rehearsal too."