Wayne Manor.
Zatanna, an early riser, had just stepped out of her room when she ran into Max, who seemed to be waiting specifically for her.
He had already discussed it with Alfred; he wanted to find Zatanna to learn magic!
"Hello, Great Magician Zatanna! I wish to learn magic from you!" Max bowed deeply, his respect evident.
Zatanna, still dressed in her signature stage magician attire, carefully observed the exceptionally handsome young man before her.
After a quick mental scan, she remembered. "You're... Oh, the boy Bruce brought back yesterday!"
Max nodded eagerly. "Yes, that's me. My name is Max. Master, I want to learn magic!"
Zatanna looked puzzled. "Why do you want to learn magic? It requires immense talent and patience. Besides, isn't Bruce rather resistant to magic? Would he even agree?"
Max shook his head. "This has nothing to do with him. I need magic! I need the kind that allows me to communicate mentally with others, without speaking, without using my mouth! This is very important to me! Critically important!"
Zatanna smiled. "May I ask why?"
Max held up the Omnitrix. As Zatanna watched with a curious expression, he slapped it, activating it.
Poof! A flash of green light, and then it was gone.
An adorable Pokémon—Eevee—appeared where he had stood.
It looked down at its small paws with a helpless expression. Eevee tried to speak: "Eevee! Eevee! Eevee!" (See? It's really hard for me to communicate like this.)
Zatanna's eyes lit up, captivated by its cuteness.
"This is... truly interesting transformation magic! If your mental signature wasn't still present, I'd have thought this creature was your true form!"
Zatanna, intrigued, picked it up and playfully scratched the fur under Eevee's chin, much like one would pet a cat.
"Eevee~ Eevee~" (Don't scratch~ Don't scratch... Ahh~ That feels good—don't stop!)
Eevee was so comfortable from Zatanna's scratching that its hind leg twitched involuntarily, as if scratching something itself.
Seeing its blissful state, Zatanna smiled and uttered a spell in reverse: "Knil Dnim!"
(Translator's Note: Reverse Magic is a technique in the DC universe that reduces the cost of spellcasting. Spells are cast by saying them backward, producing various magical effects. Zatanna is a master of this art. So, the spell she just cast should be "Mind Link".)
Zatanna: [This way, I can communicate with you, little one!]
Max (as Eevee): [Wow! This is it! This is exactly what I want to learn! Please teach me, Great Magician!]
Zatanna gently stroked Eevee's adorable face and said,
"Learning Reverse Magic is quite tedious, and it requires a high aptitude for languages. If you transform into this wondrous creature, which lacks linguistic ability, you wouldn't be able to incant spells at all!"
Max: [Huh? This... then, can I cast the Reverse Magic spell before I transform, and then change? Would the magic's effect persist?]
"That's something you'll have to try for yourself. Theoretically, the duration of Reverse Magic depends on your own mental strength.
Do you know what mental strength is?
Everyone possesses mental strength. If it disappears, that person becomes a vegetable or succumbs to dementia."
[I see. Um... Teacher Zatanna... could you do me a favor? Please tap the circular symbol on my shoulder blade, let me change back!]
The moment Zatanna started explaining mental strength, Max knew he was on the right track!
"Certainly! So, the magic to undo your transformation is to tap this?"
Zatanna tapped the Omnitrix symbol. Eevee transformed back into Max in another flash of green light. He jumped down from Zatanna's arms, an embarrassed smile on his face.
Then, he bowed respectfully again. "Teacher Zatanna, please teach me magic!"
Wayne Industries, Polymer Materials Factory.
This facility housed Gotham's most advanced scientific research equipment, making it perfect for "counterfeiting."
After his conversation with Gordon yesterday, Batman had come here. He needed to replicate the "Shennong Ruler" using polymer materials!
Size, patterns, a one-to-one replica, further enhanced with special fluorescent materials to make its surface glow.
The resemblance to the genuine Shennong Ruler was about eighty percent.
The remaining twenty percent would require a bit of maneuvering to achieve.
This newly created item would be placed in Wayne Manor, becoming the "genuine article"!
Even if it was fake, Bruce Wayne would promote it as if it were real!
Next, Bruce Wayne, in his personal capacity, would organize a charity auction among the wealthy, aiming to draw in those who coveted the ruler. But the fake "Shennong Ruler" would not be sold.
This setup was crucial, at least to publicly declare that this item belonged to Bruce Wayne.
Moreover, Bruce Wayne would vehemently insist it was not for sale! Even if he were to sell it, he'd set a price no one could afford!
Then, he'd use trusted employees to "buy" it back; for him, money was just moving from one pocket to another, inconsequential.
This would deter the more overt pursuers. That was the first step of the plan.
As for the second step, those more obsessed tycoons would undoubtedly resort to underhanded tactics.
Hiring thieves, hiring robbers—this world was never short of skilled mercenaries.
Heh heh, that's when Batman would make his entrance! No matter what mercenaries came, or how many, he would stop them.
And Batman's appearance would further convince more people that the "Shennong Ruler" in Wayne's possession was authentic!
With their target confirmed, the desperate tycoons would dispatch increasingly formidable agents.
And then, Batman would deliberately let them slip through, allowing them to steal it!
The whole point of this elaborate charade was for someone to steal the "Shennong Ruler"!
Then Bruce Wayne would blow the incident out of proportion!
Bruce Wayne, the playboy persona, would make a grand reappearance.
He'd hold a press conference, vehemently denouncing the thief's audacity, and offer a huge reward!
This way, the "Shennong Ruler," now a hot potato, would be off his hands. Even if someone obtained it and discovered it was a plastic fake, they'd have to swallow their frustration in silence!
Even if the thief themselves came forward claiming the "Shennong Ruler" was fake, no one would believe them.
After all, Batman no longer had the Shennong Ruler, and neither did Bruce Wayne.
Everyone would believe that only the thief who stole it possessed the real one!
This was Batman's overt scheme!
...
When Batman returned with the "Shennong Ruler," which emitted an eerie green glow, he saw Zatanna teaching Max Reverse Magic.
Like a kindergarten child learning phonics, she was teaching Max to speak backward, to pronounce various words in reverse. She would say a phrase, and Max would repeat it.
Max had a powerful memory and learned quickly, mastering it almost instantly, even able to replicate Zatanna's incantation intonations.
Batman stepped forward to advise, "Using magic comes with a price! I don't recommend you learn it. You already possess great power; learning magic will only distract you."
Max understood that the fundamentals were crucial for magic. These things had to be learned. Only with a solid foundation could his magical abilities soar.
Zatanna wasn't too pleased with Batman's statement. "Magic has high requirements for talent. Since he has the ability to learn magic, he should learn more. This world isn't just about criminals; there are also demons from different dimensions!"
Seeing that the two were about to argue, Max quickly changed the subject:
"Hey, Batman, are you done with your work? What's that?"
Batman knew Zatanna was right, so he didn't argue with her, instead following Max's lead:
"I've made a fake 'Shennong Ruler'. It will be needed in the next few days.
Wayne Manor will be quite lively for a while. You can stay in the Batcave and move back after things settle down.
Little Z... be careful in Gotham. Don't underestimate anyone; people can sometimes be far more troublesome than demons."
"Understood, Bruce," Zatanna replied with a slight smile, though inwardly, she wasn't too concerned.
Then, she turned back to continue teaching Max Reverse Magic.
...
The Joker was very happy right now.
Taking advantage of the chaos in Gotham yesterday, he had infiltrated a Court of Owls warehouse and stolen a dirty bomb, powerful enough to destroy all of Gotham. This thing was much more potent than a small nuclear weapon!
Now, he was preparing a big surprise!
"Hehehehe, hahahaha, I never expected this! I originally wanted to steal a small nuke, but I ended up with such a big treasure, hehehehe..."
The green, cylindrical dirty bomb was now painted bright red. It was covered in Joker's smiling faces.
After finishing, the Joker found an extra-large cardboard box, wrapped the bomb like a gift, and topped it with a large pink bow.
"Hahaha, perfect! Oh-hohoho, Little Bat will be thrilled to death by this gift! Hahahaha..."
This dirty bomb was the Court of Owls' secret weapon, intended for "cleansing" Gotham.
A specially made tool of execution.
And now, it had been stolen by a thief!
The entire Court of Owls was in a panic!
That thing, they had created it just in case, or rather, as a deterrent, a toy!
No member would ever be foolish enough to set off fireworks with that thing!
But now, things were uncertain. Some lunatic had actually stolen that custom-made dirty bomb.
Who knew when the Joker would detonate it!
If it exploded before their Court members had completely evacuated! Wouldn't that be game over!
And so, the already troubled Commissioner Gordon suddenly received an anonymous tip, claiming the Joker had stolen a dirty bomb from the Department of Defense and was planning to detonate it in Gotham.
Commissioner Gordon felt his heart stop for a moment, followed by a chilling sensation crawling up his scalp!
"Fuck, fuck, fuck! Harvey, get all the boys out! This is huge! Get out there and find it, now!"
Harvey, disturbed by the commotion from the office, ran into Gordon who was storming out.
"What's wrong, Gordon? Calm down! Tell me what happened first!"
"That bastard Joker stole a dirty bomb!"
"WHAT THE FUCK!!!" Harvey also let out a string of Gotham expletives.