Christmas Special (1)

How should Christmas be celebrated?

However you want.

Jason muttered complainingly. He was long past the age of excitement over gifts and Christmas feasts, and snuggling up with Roy in a fairly comfortable safe house was fine—so it should be, but unbelievably, after a perilous shootout on the streets, he had to come back to clean up the mess of takeaway boxes strewn all over the room.

Hoping that fried chicken, beer, and spicy hot dogs would somewhat soothe his soul.

The communicator beeped once, displaying a message without a sender's name, with a cold and terse tone, commanding and indicative of the style of that annoying old guy. Honestly, he didn't think they were at the point of being so familiar with each other.

Either someone else sent the message, or he was surely quite drunk.

Come home.

He hesitated for a moment, then chuckled to himself, surprised to find himself actually secretly excited about it, as if he couldn't wait to fly back and join that family that didn't even need him.

It had been days since he last saw him, and the old bat had already gotten himself a biological son. Robin had gone through generations after generations, where did he fit in?

Jason sneered and realized he didn't care about Christmas or Wayne Manor. And fundamentally, it wasn't about their relationship anymore, but about him having his own life. He wasn't a runaway kid, he knew how to live his life comfortably.

The tall man took off his hood, revealing a head of black hair with two tufts of white, sharp green eyes with a hint of disdain.

Roy, lying on the couch, heard the commotion outside, and when the red hood was flipped over and landed on the ground, it made a loud "thud", the wooden floor creaking painfully, followed by silence.

"I left you——"

Roy realized something was wrong, he rolled over and jumped up, grabbing the bow nearby and crouching as he walked towards the door. Kicking open the door, the arrow pointed to where only a white shadow cast by the moonlight could be seen. A red hood was placed steadily on the windowsill, while Jason's communicator lay on the ground.

The communicator displayed only two words: Come home.

Jason scratched his head, not sure if it was some kind of emergency involving him or if someone was just too happy to receive a message from the old man.

"What the hell is going on—"

"Jason." Dick raised his voice disapprovingly, "There are minors present."

Baia observed her surroundings, near the dark sea where waves crashed layer upon layer, creating a layer of white foam on the surface. The sky was darkening, with the rusty silhouette of a large ferry and countless containers appearing on the shore. The cityscape of Gotham was quite clear in the distance. She had never been here before, but she knew where it was.

Gotham Harbor.

And what lay before them was the ancient banquet table from Wayne Manor's dining room, with lit candles, Christmas decorations, and dishes all neatly arranged on top. Everyone sat in their designated seats. Tim was still wearing that slightly silly but very dear to Alfred Christmas sweater, and Baia still had on those two holiday-themed pompoms.

Only Dick had an unhooded red hood next to him.

It could be said that they appeared suddenly, people and tables, in Gotham Harbor.

Baia first secretly observed the sudden appearance of the tall and intense young man, who seemed to have a higher concentration of green eyes all of a sudden. He seemed somewhat similar to the second-generation Robin depicted on the photo wall, but the second-generation Robin had blue eyes, which confused her.

However, through Dick's address and the uniform on the other person, Baia reached a conclusion. This was the child that Bruce lost, the second-generation Robin, AKA the Red Hood who had once saved her. Jason Todd.

The real name Jason Todd.

Baia asked the system, "System, do you know what's going on?"

System: Illusion, no big deal.

Bruce stared blankly ahead, considering that he was still wearing the suit he had come back from the banquet in, he wasn't sure how to face Jason, he hadn't had this kind of face-to-face interaction with his second son who had been away for so long in a while.

But, as Batman, and as the patriarch of everyone present, he reluctantly spoke up, "It's the Bat-signal, I just saw him."

"What's the Bat-signal?" Damian pondered for a moment, then pointed the spear at the suddenly appearing Jason, "And what's up with him?"

Dick slightly raised his hand to cover the corners of his mouth and replied, "He's your brother."

"I don't have a brother!!" Damian bristled again.

"Okay, okay," Tim hurriedly intervened, "Let's first review the situation."

Jason said, "Little Red, your sweater is seriously ridiculous."

"Forget about the sweater now!" Tim clenched his fists, feeling his blood pressure slowly rising.

"First of all, we were chatting at the dinner table, discussing future entertainment activities," Baia quickly changed the subject, "Tim suggested playing the most popular tabletop role-playing game, which is a kind of board game."

Bruce added, "Then I saw the Bat-Imp, a mischievous fifth-dimensional creature that often causes trouble for me. Dick and Jason should know about it."

He found it wasn't as difficult as he had imagined to say that word starting with "J".

"It said our Christmas entertainment should be more exciting," Tim pondered.

"Buzz—buzz! Correct!" A figure wearing a bat costume suddenly appeared in the air, and because its proportions weren't quite right, it looked very funny. Its voice also sounded ridiculous, "More exciting! Great detectives! Let's have a Christmas Eve adventure!"

"Seeking excitement and adventure," Jason crossed his arms, not giving the Bat-Imp much face, "isn't it better to team up to fight the Penguin?"

"Anyway, you have to play according to my rules!" The Bat-Imp stomped its foot and chuckled again, "Anyway, since you're going to play a role-playing game, why not do it in a real situation?"

"Before the game officially starts, you have half an hour, and I've put the rules on the table. Because this is my Christmas gift to you, there's no punishment even if the game fails! However, if you manage to clear the game, there will be extra surprises!"

The Bat-Imp's figure had disappeared from the air, leaving behind a lingering sentence.

"I always feel like the surprises it mentioned aren't a good thing," Dick commented.

"Do you think there will be any danger?" Baia asked the system again.

System: No, I feel like it really has no malice... maybe?

Baia: "...Thanks, but you sound completely unreliable."

Bruce was much more familiar with this fifth-dimensional being than the others, after all, it was after him. He rubbed his temples with a headache, "In unclear situations, we better follow its instructions. The Bat-Imp has a low level of intelligence but strong abilities, so there may be danger if we act recklessly."

Everyone had a rulebook in front of them, and the other five Bats present all had the ability to read quickly, flipping through hundreds of pages of rulebooks in no time.

Among them, Tim read the fastest, and after reading it once, he put it down, and at the same time, another rulebook appeared in front of him.

Just now it was the "Investigator's Handbook," now it was the "Keeper's Code."

Tim frowned slightly, and after some consideration, he picked it up and read it again.

Right after Tim finished reading the second rulebook, he disappeared from where he was standing.

"Tim?" Dick immediately stood up and called out.

"...I'm here," Tim's helpless voice seemed to directly enter everyone's minds, "Because I was the first to finish reading the 'Keeper's Code,' so, I'm the game master."

"Wait a minute, I wasn't given a script. Damn it, the Bat-Imp made me improvise. Well then... um, the story takes place in Gotham, where there have been frequent cases of people disappearing recently. Let me think about the specifics for a moment, you have 17 minutes left for your discussion, so it's best to hurry." Tim said.

Baia didn't have to worry too much about this, although the system didn't help at all when she was studying medical knowledge, it said it could help a little with things like game rules.

"Alright then," Bruce closed the rulebook and looked at the four people present, "Let's first establish some absolute principles. First, in the game, we must act according to the identities we randomly draw, and there can be no actions inconsistent with our own identities. Second, the success or failure of our actions is determined randomly by rolling dice."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"So, let's start by introducing ourselves based on the identities we randomly drew," Dick found a blank card appear in his hand, and when he took it, a series of values appeared on the card. "I am, uh, a freelance writer with no physical strength. I'm 28 years old, my name is Dick Grayson, and I contribute to the paranormal magazine 'Strange Happenings!' in Gotham. I can't restrain my curiosity, and the terrifying events and ghost stories in Gotham always inspire me."

"I'm a plastic surgeon," seeing Jason silent, Baia naturally continued from where Dick left off, "I'm 24 years old, and due to a medical accident in the surgical room, I had to switch to plastic surgery. I live in Brudehaven, and I came to Gotham to relax."

When Dick heard about the medical accident, his pupils shook dramatically, as if he had anticipated something serious.

The next to speak was Bruce, who had been silent since seeing the card. He adopted a casual tone, one he would use only when speaking at board meetings, "I am private detective Brucey Wayne. Before doing this, I interned at GCPD, although I'm very handsome, the authorities decided to dismiss me after my internship ended. Currently, I'm investigating some cases in Gotham on my own."

"Brucey?" Jason muttered.

"It's your turn, Damian, Jason," Baia said, "We're running out of time."

Damian suddenly slammed the table heavily.

"I am Damili Wayne, also known as Brucey's niece attending elementary school," Damian gritted his teeth, "Although I'm young, I'm a sweet-looking, strong girl. I came to Gotham because the school organized a spring outing."

Dick was almost laughing out loud.

"Now it's your turn, Jason," Dick tried to control the expression on his face, "It can't be worse than Damian's, hurry up."

Jason glared at the piece of paper, looking like he was about to explode in anger.

"I am Jason Todd," he said in a calm tone, "A mutant from Metropolis. Despite my appalling appearance, I managed to find a place for myself in the church through my efforts. My mutant ability is to turn into a goddamn mermaid when I come into contact with water. I came to Gotham because I fell asleep on the beach while sunbathing and drifted to Gotham Harbor."

"What's your appearance?" Baia asked.

"5," the Red Hood replied grumpily.

Now even Bruce started laughing, how refreshing.

"Ahem, Bruce," Dick said, "Let me satisfy my curiosity, what's your appearance?"

"96," the Wayne patriarch said casually.

People are truly incomparable.

"Let me clarify, the rules of this game have been modified by the Bat-Imp and are slightly different from the original version," Tim said. "I'll do my best to ensure everyone survives and as long as you're not heard or discovered by NPCs in the game, you can say things that don't match your identity."

Bruce nodded. "We'll meet at Gotham Bay."

The surroundings began to distort, and the five people's forms began to change slowly according to the settings on their character cards.

"Now, let the game begin."