The Robins from the prime universe are shocked, but not too shocked, at the return of Mr. and Mrs. Wayne. They've had their fill of shock during this period. After continual strong emotions, people often enter a numb state where they don't experience strong emotional fluctuations towards anything happening before them. This is the state the Robins currently find themselves in.
Nightwing is studying the divine artifacts obtained from Mount Olympus and practicing integrating them into his usual combat strategies. Red Hood is still reminiscing about his experiences and observations while following Shiller, immersing himself in psychology books these past few days. Red Robin is healing from his wounds, taken daily by Alfred into the courtyard for sunbathing at specific times.
Martha feels deep sympathy for what the Robins have been through, so she does her best to play the role of the caring elder female in the large family. She takes care of their daily needs, shows compassion, and provides gentle solutions to the dilemmas in their hearts.
In fact, there are disagreements between Thomas and Martha on how to educate their children. Because of the personality hardening caused by the incessant torture they had endured for many years, the extent of their differences can be described as: thank goodness Bruce passed away early.
Thomas is a traditionally strict father. His method of parenting involves asserting his authority and motivating his children to learn essential knowledge and skills for survival. Martha, on the other hand, is the traditionally nurturing mother, who takes care of the children, letting them feel loved and helping to develop their characters.
Theoretically, this family structure is perfect, but inevitably, Thomas feels Martha spoils the children too much, while Martha thinks Thomas puts too much pressure on them. This is a problem nearly all families with a strict father and nurturing mother face.
Once they clash on this issue, their children naturally take sides based on the parents' different attitudes towards education. This is precisely what happens with the Robins.
Nightwing and Red Hood both prefer Martha. They enjoy her gentle care and meticulous attention, and are resistant towards Thomas's aggressive and oppressive educational methods.
Aisha and Damian have better relationships with Thomas. Aisha prefers Thomas, purely because younger children are more accustomed to relying on authority. They find it comforting to have someone continuously telling them what to do.
The case of Damian needs no further explanation; he thinks of himself as the chosen successor, the absolute best. Throughout his time with the Batman family, because he was the youngest, everyone treated him as a child. Now that he finally has a chance to show his worth, of course, he prefers to stay with Thomas and learns about the operations of Wayne Enterprises.
Red Robin, however, takes more interest in Bruce. He finds an infinite number of secrets in the Batman of this universe waiting to be uncovered. Therefore, despite not fully healed, he spends every day sticking with Bruce, engaging in research together.
The other younger Robins can be roughly divided into the following categories: "I'm exhausted from ballet and culture classes, and you're not getting out of it," the "drag others down into the same misery" type; "Even though we are the same person, I insist on making a different choice to you," the rebellious type; "If our idol is Batman, we would be invincible if we unite," the super-fan club type; and Harley, who enjoys chaos and drama, falls under the "the more chaos, the better" type.
Logically speaking, it wouldn't be a problem for a manor as big as this in Gotham to accommodate over ten people. There should be no issue of overcrowding. But somehow, the complex overlapping relationships among these individuals make Wayne Manor feel bustling.
Although many people refer to Batman and his companions as the "Batman Family," in reality, they don't fit the definition of a family, because the hierarchy in the Batman Family is not clear.
The structure of the Batman Family can essentially be described as "one super, many strong." Batman is a supreme leader, his power and prestige exceed everyone else's. The power of the remaining members is leveled, plain and simple, it's so-called "family love."
Even though Nightwing and Red Hood joined before Damian and are older, they don't have the full authority to discipline Damian when he throws tantrums or causes trouble. Because they're still considered his peers in terms of siblings, not superior or inferior.
What unites this family is love, not interest, therefore the resulting structure naturally does not involve hierarchy and absolute power.
The Batman Family is like a utopia, with a truly omnipotent and omniscient patriarch who can convince everyone. Other members are united and mutually respectful, their union based solely on shared beliefs.
However, the major problem with this structure is that the Batman Family lacks adequate social education for teenagers and children. Such communities, united under these conditions, are rare in society, and therefore cannot provide their members with any experience of normal human social interaction.
Every place where humans live has hierarchy, explicit or implicit. This is an indispensable stage in the evolution of intelligent races. How to accept influence from others and how to influence others is a compulsory subject for every teenager before they step into society, it's called "social education."
Once this kind of education is lacking, it can lead to social skill deficiencies, like being too influenced by others or powerless to influence others, which may result in dangerous situations of being controlled by others or of withdrawing from society.
Artificially leveling all the ranks in a group is not beneficial, it does not eradicate hierarchy fundamentally, but only dodges socialization, it is an attitude of evasion.
For example, in the Batman Family, Nightwing, who is the oldest, most mature, and most trusted by Batman, and Damian, who is younger and joined the group later, have no differences in power. This could lead to situations where Damian causes trouble, Nightwing can't stop him, has to clean up his mess, but Damian doesn't learn his lesson and would dare to repeat it.
In the long run, their relationship won't become more harmonious because one party in a relationship is continuously tolerant and retreating, which consumes their feelings and is unhealthy.
Learning to obey authoritative individuals in a group, and learning to establish one's own authority in the group are equally important. These are social genes ensuring the normal operation of a group, refined over generations of social species.
In the process of doing these two things, humans learn to read others' emotions, and to show their social signals to others by expressing emotions, thereby receiving emotional feedback from others, and providing them with the same. This is an essential social requirement for human survival.
A large family with multiple layers is the perfect place for social education. If the Batman Family in the prime universe is similar to a high school where only the teacher has authority, then Wayne Manor at this moment is more like a university.
Mr. and Mrs. Wayne undoubtedly occupy the highest rank within this large family. They are both older and of greater seniority, bearing the cost of the family's livelihood and possessing the greatest power to distribute wealth and resources.
Next are Bruce and Alfred. Bruce has earned the trust of everyone through his capabilities, while Alfred has been entrusted by the family to manage and take care of the household.
The children also form multiple groups, roughly divided into older children and younger children, newcomers and original inhabitants, father's side and mother's side. They can even be subdivided into study-oriented and sports-oriented, day-active and night-active groups.
This forms an incredibly complex web of interpersonal relationships, transforming Wayne Manor into a social structure just as complicated as the real world, in which everyone needs to learn how to find their place.
Judging oneself based on the assessment of others, and assessing others based on one's own position, is a valuable skill. This is because viewing others' criticisms impartially requires a stable personality, consistent logic, and controlled emotions.
When such a large family gathers together, no matter what they do, they are undergoing countless instances of social reinforcement training.
Take the simplest example, the first time everyone at Wayne Manor gathered for a meal was quite a test for the Robins.
Thomas and Martha, having received aristocratic upbringing and possessing some educational skills, deliberately slowed down when they approached the dining table, observing how the children chose their seats.
Bruce, without a thought, took the eldest son's place on the right and continued to calculate the research data in his head. But in doing so, Nightwing, who originally sat in the eldest son's place, now lacked a seat.
Nightwing seemed somewhat at a loss because he wasn't sure who the seat opposite Bruce was for. If he sat there, would Martha have nowhere to sit?
If he took her place, causing embarrassment for Martha who was kind to everyone, it would be like repaying kindness with unkindness. If he made such a mistake, would it incite public anger?
Nightwing slowed his pace, his demeanor becoming more cautious. Red Hood, who seemingly robust but was actually an acute observer, also noticed the problem. If Nightwing wasn't sure of his seat, then he could not be certain of his either. What if he made the wrong decision after helping Nightwing decide?
Red Robin then coughed lightly, and instantly Nightwing and Red Hood turned towards him with pleading eyes, knowing that Tim had received aristocratic education and would certainly know what to do.
At this point, Red Robin turned to look at Alfred, who was pushing his wheelchair towards a seat on the same side as Bruce but one seat away. He moved the chair and then wheeled himself in.
Nightwing and Red Hood sighed in relief because it meant that their initial indecision was correct, the seat opposite Bruce was indeed reserved for Martha.
Then Nightwing took a seat next to Bruce and Red Hood sat across from him.
Now it was time for the younger generation to select their seats. Another problem arose. They and the newcomers weren't in the same group. So, should Dick sit across from Red Robin or start a new row so that he and Jason could sit across from each other?
After a moment's hesitation, Dick chose to sit across from Red Robin, a social signal of his openness and acceptance.
When the three younger Robins also took their seats one by one, Harley, who came out later, took a seat across from Tim. Normally, Damian and Aisha, who were left, should be sitting across from each other, but Damian seemed very unhappy about sitting so far away.
After some etiquette training over a period of time, Damian also knew that the seat opposite to Bruce was Martha's. So, as he had done numerous times in the Batman Family, he said to Nightwing, "Let's swap seats, Dick. You can hold Aisha. You said you liked her, didn't you?"
Nightwing instinctively stood up to give his seat to Damian. In his view, it didn't matter where he ate. But Thomas cleared his throat loudly, and Bruce also glanced up at Nightwing.
In the end, Nightwing, thinking he had done something wrong, stood there awkwardly, unsure whether to sit or stand.
"Damian, go sit in the back," Thomas motioned with his chin for Damian to sit across from Aisha.
Damian was about to say something when Red Hood said, "Go on, who's fault is it that you got up late? If you want to sit up front next time, get up earlier."
Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, Thomas, Martha, and Bruce all frowned.
Red Hood's words didn't seem to have a problem at first glance, and it could be seen as providing Damian a way to save face, but Thomas, Martha, and Bruce frowned almost simultaneously because they all realized that the social education of the original Batman Family was more lacking than they had imagined.
Damian demanding Nightwing's seat looked more like a comprehensive challenge to authority. First, Nightwing was older than him. Second, Nightwing was originally the leader of the outsiders' group. Third, Nightwing had taken on more responsibilities in the family than Damian to care for others. Surprisingly enough, who sat down first was the least important of these matters.
This meant, Damian and Red Hood were completely unaware of what was actually happening in the room, they didn't understand normal social rules, couldn't read social cues, and couldn't even sense the emotions of others.
Many people can get frustrated when they encounter an individual who is constantly demanding without giving anything in return, emoting without considering the context, and expecting everyone to cater to them.
Often, these individuals are not malicious, but deficiencies in their social education prevent them from knowing how to find their place and influence others in a rational way. So they express their emotions in what seems like a tantrum.
Damian simply believes that he should sit closer to Thomas because he sees him as more of a father figure. However, he has no idea how to convince others using this reasoning and resorts to unreasonable demands or absurd justifications.
Nightwing barely spent any time at the manor, and it was the younger Dick who was closer to Aisha, not Damian. But Damian randomly muttered a nonsensical excuse that had nothing to do with the situation. He was even convinced that this reason could convince others.
Social habits and reasoning are slowly established through exploration within society, and Damian's actions indicated that he had no such experience.
Finally, under the collective gaze of Thomas, Martha, and Bruce, Damian sat in the seat furthest away at the dinner table. Throughout the dinner, he stabbed at his food with a fork, keeping silent with a scowl on his face.
He felt wronged, and he didn't understand why he suddenly had to sit so far from the people he was close to, so far away that he could barely see them. The only way he knew how to deal with this was to look for a fight with Nightwing after breakfast.
This series of behaviors resembled that of a mischievous child, but thankfully, Martha, who had grown up in the Kane family, had similar confusions in her childhood. Why did she have to obey the rules when they conflicted with her instincts? Why did her family claim to love her, but never compromise on certain matters?
After Damian had a fight with Nightwing in the back garden, which left him bruised and dirty, Martha sat on the doorstep and called him over. She comforted him and asked him why he did it.
People often break down more easily in front of their mothers. The conflict between mother and child is less than father and child, there is no need to resist a mother's love like one would resist a father's authority - this held true at least in front of Martha.
Damian resisted for only about thirty seconds before launching into a long list of complaints. However, he still didn't realize where the problem lay. He complained about Nightwing not giving up his seat and Red Hood saying he woke up late – when he was actually held up by Aisha.
After patiently listening to Damian's complaints, Martha explained why he couldn't command Nightwing to give up his seat, why they had to follow a seating order rather than seating randomly, and even why most social events in society were like a magnified version of 'finding a seat'.
In the following days, Martha, Bruce, and even Thomas patiently dealt with the trivial frictions that arose from these complex social dynamics, and the naive lambs gradually learned how to accept good influence while discarding bad, and how to use their positions to influence others.
All the Robins were very intelligent without exception, and what was unique about the Batman Family was that they were good at learning through practice. In just a few days, they began to understand the operation rules of Wayne Manor.
Damian finally learned that if he wanted to sit next to Thomas the next day, he had to first get Thomas's agreement, then ask Alfred to add a chair, and finally put a doll opposite Aisha to prevent her from feeling sad and biting her plate.
Nightwing also finally learned to exert authority in front of those he can exercise power over, to restrain them from causing trouble, and not just cleaning up after they cause a mess, preventing his life from becoming a mess.
But this was not the end. After exploring individual roles, they began to form groups divided by age, familiarity, activity time, and the groups had to find their respective positions and manage various interactions and frictions.
The groups included two sets of older and younger Robins, a group consisting of Harley, Jason, Aisha and Damian which was previously formed to find the Black Diamond and was the first group where older and younger Robins mixed, a group that attended ballet classes together consisting of two Dicks, a group learning Anatomy from Bruce, and a group that had to go out for a drive every night which included Nightwing, Dick, Red Hood and Aisha.
They started to learn how to manage their positions within small groups and use this to consolidate their positions within larger society, to handle contradictions arising from conflicting likes and rules, deciding how much of their individuality to sacrifice for the group in order to gain clearer self-awareness and a more stable personality.
When Bruce reached this point in his narration, Gordon and Barbara were looking at him. Gordon said, "Isn't this a good thing? It's a rare educational opportunity and you don't even have to lift a finger."
Barbara also sighed and said, "Thank God they're finally learning to mature a bit. You have no idea how much they used to fight in the Batcave over the smallest things, everyone was so immature, sometimes I blamed Batman for not intervening more."
"But looking at it now, just having Batman alone wouldn't have helped." Barbara said with a small smile, "Especially when he barely has time."
"If everything's going so smoothly, why are you here?" Gordon asked.
Bruce let out a deep sigh and said, "After they've worked through their differences, they finally realize that everyone in Wayne Manor is part of a common community. They should work together to fight for status for this community."
"Isn't that a good thing?"
"So where do you think they plan on fighting for status?"
Gordon widened his eyes at Bruce, "You don't mean, all over Gotham?"
"Congratulations, you're right." Bruce said, covering his eyes, "All the kids have united and started fighting crime in Gotham."
Gordon opened his mouth, and after a moment of thought, he said, "Although I don't really approve of these little kids running around Gotham, at least their hearts are in the right place. Who hasn't dreamed about fighting crime and upholding justice? Right, Batman?"
"You don't actually think they're running up to criminals and throwing punches, do you?"
"Aren't they?"
"They can throw punches on their own, why would they need to unite for that?"
Seeing Gordon's puzzled face, Bruce said helplessly, "They didn't form a team, but a gang. God knows what they've learned lately! They don't want to save Gotham, they want to take over Gotham!"
Bruce planted a hand on the table and began ticking off his fingers, "One day, after Dick finished his ballet class, he didn't take a car home. Instead, he ran home from the rooftop. On the way, he noticed a new food street and goods market that had formed near the Gotham train station."
"He originally led a few other kids there to eat and drink. But somehow Damian found out a street vendor's business secret. The vendor learned in advance about a grand music festival Gotham was going to host. There would be many out-of-towners there, so securing a stall near the train station definitely wouldn't be a loss."
"Damian immediately thought he had found a way to make money so he convinced Jason to rent a stall with him for the upcoming festival. Jason felt they should make money together, so he contacted the former members of the Children's Gang to get some popular small commodities to sell on the streets."
"However, to set up a stall in Gotham, you need the mob's approval. The local mob there hadn't seen them before, and thought they were looking for trouble. A conflict erupted, and Nightwing and other older kids ended up taking them all down."
"At that point, Red Robin realized there was more money to be made sitting backstage taking a cut than setting up a stall oneself. So, they replaced the original mob and started collecting entrance fees from all the stall owners. Then they realized the turfs of the two neighboring mobs were also lucrative, especially if they could join them together with their own to form a larger market."
"Who knows what was going through Red Hood's mind, after the others had figured out the headquarters of the two mobs, he threw Aisha into their weapons depot. She took all their weapons, and the two mobs surrendered without a fight. They gained the two largest pieces of land near the train station suitable for setting up stalls."
"I don't know how Damian naturally learned the skill to launder money, but he had Tim write a letter to the Gotham City Government stating they were planning to hold a 'Gotham King Music Festival and Cultural Showcase' near the train station. They wrapped up the entire neighboring three streets and a square into one big shopping area under the cultural exhibition guise."
"They all played different parts in writing to the city government. Some posed as destitute artists wishing to exhibit their paintings, some as roaming musicians wanting to perform, some as small vendors desperate for a stall, and some as custom merchandise manufacturers that could produce goods in large quantities. Together, they created an illusion of a cultural event that was bound to take place, with an extreme shortage of stalls and exhibition spaces."
"That fool Roy was completely fooled. It wasn't until he approached me asking if Wayne Enterprises wanted to invest in this cultural event that I realized, the handwriting on the letter was all too familiar. The hundreds of letters were all written by these little rascals."
"In just less than a week, they had swindled over twenty million dollars worth of investment, 80% of which came from the Gotham mobs."
"They made over twenty posters of Gotham's urban scenery and cultural propaganda, took over two hundred photos of the actual scene, and set up an official web page posting all these images. Afterwards, it became popular on the Internet within a week, with over four hundred thousand views and thirty thousand reservations."
"Tickets for journalists from six East Coast TV stations have already been booked, including Clark Kent. My foolish journalist friend even asked me to give him early access to a touring suggestion. Even Amazon Princess Diana expressed her desire to come learn from the advanced tourism development experience and asked me to organize a banquet so she could meet with the brilliant curators of Gotham."
Gordon covered his eyes, and Bruce sighed again before turning his gaze onto Barbara's face.
"Now, Miss Gordon, you have a new mission. You need to secure two million dollars over the music festival's budget to get this cultural event off the ground - it's almost like a wasteland there right now."
Barbara slapped her forehead.</p
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