American comics: From Hogwarts to God on Earth

Chapter 506 is truly a pair of star-crossed lovers.

Chapter 506 What a pair of star-crossed lovers!

Barbara was truly determined to die, deliberately choosing an ordinary apartment. Rune and Dick searched many places but couldn't find her, to the point that Dick had to beg Rune to save her.

Rune ultimately relented, but recklessly using magic in Gotham could easily attract unwanted attention, so—

He chose to directly question Dr. Manhattan, a man with incredibly comprehensive abilities. His body was an infinite quantum body, neither matter nor energy, existing neither in this universe nor throughout every corner of it.

Of course, in Dick's eyes, Rune simply asked a question to the air beside him and then opened a portal for himself. On the other side of the portal, Barbara, dressed in casual clothes, had almost stepped into thin air.

Fortunately, Dick managed to grab her hand at the last moment.

Barbara's body hung suspended in mid-air. She looked up and saw Nightwing—her friend, family, and former lover, but now—

He is perhaps one of the people he is most ashamed to face.

He was clinging desperately to the edge of the broken platform, most of his body sticking out. Rainwater washed over his black and blue uniform, streaming down his face, which was contorted with extreme strain.

"Let me go, Dick." Barbara's voice was eerily calm, a calmness that even surprised herself. "Please, let me go."

"No way!" Dick yelled and tried to pull Barbara up, but with one hand holding Barbara and the other pressing against the edge of the slippery ground, he couldn't find a foothold.

Most importantly, he is still injured and his strength has not fully recovered. For him, stabilizing the current situation is already very difficult, let alone getting Barbara back on track.

"I will never give up!" Dick said firmly, perhaps to encourage himself.

"But—I betrayed all of you—" Rain mingled with tears, rolling down Barbara's face. She sobbed, her words slurred and broken. "I hurt Bruce—I hurt you—I hurt everyone who loved me—I—I don't deserve to go on—"

"Look at me, Barbara, look at me!" Dick's face was contorted with rage, but his voice held a hint of a sob. "Yes, that's right! You've messed up, you've turned this place upside down—God! We're all fucking in hell! Look around! This is hell!"

His words were like a whip, lashing at Barbara's heart.

"But," Dick's voice was hoarse, "as long as you're still here, as long as you're still fucking alive, as long as we're all alive, we still have a chance to crawl out of this hell! A little bit—even just a little bit, we'll crawl out!"

"So, I'm begging you, Barbara, don't give up, don't give up on us! Grab me, please grab me with your other hand!" Dick forced a glance behind him. "Runn—that's your name, right? Please help me!"

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry—" Rune said with a smile, without a trace of apology, "Your melodrama was just too captivating, I got a little mesmerized."

Then, turning to the blue-clad man beside him, he said, "What a star-crossed couple, aren't they?"

The Manhattan Doctor, who was unseen by the others, nodded thoughtfully.

Rune simply waved his hand, and Nightwing and Barbara were both pulled up. But at this moment, Barbara was in a daze.

Is it really possible to crawl out of hell?

Unbeknownst to her, the future was an impenetrable darkness, filled with judgment, alienation, and self-exile. To survive seemed to require even greater courage than to take that leap.

But----

Barbara looked at Dick, the young, handsome man with a shapely bottom, whose hand was still tightly gripping hers, as if he wanted to crush her wrist bones, afraid that she would fall into that cold and terrifying abyss again.

Dick was complaining to Rune at that moment.

"How can you call this a melodrama? Barbara and I could die because of your momentary lapse in attention! Good heavens, I really don't know why Batman has a friend like you!"

He complained like that.

Poor Nightwing still thought Rune was Batman's good friend; hardly anyone knew about Rune's rampage in the Justice League. After all, it was a misunderstanding, and the Justice League had been defeated, so naturally it wouldn't be widely publicized. The only guy willing to tell the story was Constable, and he—

Well, if you set it to an alarm clock, Constantine's credit limit probably wouldn't even be enough to scan a single shared bike.

"Friends?" Rune gave Dick a strange look. He also wanted to be friends with Batman, but—

The only person Batman could truly confide in was the terrifying, now-dead Joker. And tragically, they were destined never to be friends.

"Isn't that right?" Dick frowned, counting on his fingers as he began to analyze each and every one of the incidents: "Look, you can freely enter and leave Gotham City, command others to kill Gotham's most insane criminal—the Joker, and even mind-control Batman without getting beaten up—"

It's not entirely Dick's fault for mistakenly believing Rune was Batman's friend. In fact, Nightwing even thought Rune might be Batman's illegitimate son—no, even if he were, Batman would still beat him up for what he did, but Rune—

Rune received almost no punishment from Batman; even verbal reprimands were so weak and ineffective!

Even Rune himself was somewhat confused after hearing these words, but he shook his head. The reason why Rune could do these things without getting into trouble with Batman was entirely because he understood Batman's personality very well.

Barbara and Jason think Batman is heartless, but Rune knows that Bruce actually longs for family, he just doesn't know how to express it.

After all, how can you expect someone who lost their parents at a young age to quickly find a way to get along with their son and daughter?

But this thing is hard to explain, so—Rune could only shrug, “Whatever you say, but don’t worry, you two won’t die with me here.”

"Wait, the Joker is dead?"

Barbara repeated the word, her voice so soft it was almost swallowed by the rain, but Dick caught part of it and immediately leaned closer to hear what Barbara was saying.

"I mean—the Joker—" Barbara's voice was soft and her tone was somewhat strange, "He is—how is he—"

Dick gripped Barbara's hand tightly. "The details don't matter, Barbara. What matters is that he's dead. That bastard will never hurt anyone again. You understand?"

Upon hearing this, Barbara burst into tears.