To be or not to be - Chapter 2

"Kudos!" Flash said sardonically, "Now we can all wish him 'Happy Birthday'"

We could see the manor, on the top of the hill. We found ourselves walking towards it, though it was hardly the plan. In fact, we didn't have any plan at all.

"Doesn't this place seem to be – um - higher than usual?" Superman said, as we reached the foot of the hill.

"Yeah! And I don't remember seeing so many trees around here, the last time we visited!" GL said, as he inspected the surroundings.

"Well the house still looks pretty much the same!" I said, trying to hide my exasperation. Frankly, I didn't care if the hill was higher or the grass was greener. I just wanted to see him! The pique between Clarke and Bruce had somehow interfered with our relationship too. I did take Clarke's side of the argument, and that certainly should've pissed him off.

We stopped halfway down the path. Well actually, Superman did. The rest of us simply followed him.

"Aren't we going in?" I asked, this time sounding desperate.

"I'm not sure if he'd want to have us," he said, sceptically. "You know how critical he is about our public appearances."

Superman had the point, and the others seemed to agree with him and began to leave. I had to follow them, dejected. That is one disadvantage of being a team player, you need to give one to the team.

Superman who was leading the way down again, stopped suddenly, and so did his entourage.

"What happened?" Hawk Girl asked, clenching her club, ready to act.

"I hear a car, speeding up the hill!" he said. After a while, we could hear that too. I would've wagered that it was a sports car, may be a Ferrari.

"Move away, everyone!" Superman shrieked suddenly. But we were a little too late to act upon his instruction. Or maybe we were too bewildered to act upon the most singular incident that occurred after the shriek.

It was a Ferrari alright, and it sped up on the turning and made its way for a head-on collision with Jonn. Jonn made himself transparent almost immediately and the car lost its balance and made it off the edge. Before we could comprehend what was going on, Superman was on the rescue, as he lifted the car back to the road.

I knew that the driver was up for some serious trouble from the way Superman pulled out the car door and threw it away. I expected that to be Dick Grayson, in which case he was up to some trouble with his guardian too, but…

"Bruce!" Superman exclaimed. We all rushed to the dishevelled car. It was Bruce all right. But he was unconscious, with his head on the steering wheel.

"Oh, my god! I hope he's not hurt!" Jonn said, gently pushing him backwards so that we could see him face. He wasn't hurt, at least there was no visible wound. He must've had a concussion.

Superman slowly pulled him out of the car and helped him to the shadow of one of the trees. I wrapped my arm around his shoulder and patted his forehead, brushing the hair backwards.

"You don't suppose he's been to a beauty parlour, do you?" Flash remarked, "His face looks unusually smooth today."

He was right.   He did looked smoother, no scars, no wrinkles around his eyes and no dark circles. I smiled at the thought of his having a facial or something. Well he had to look good for the party, not that I had any complaints regarding his previous look.

"He's coming!" Jonn said suddenly. Superman had fetched the water bottle inside the car.

"Aah! What on earth just happened?"

"Don't get up!" Jonn ordered. Pushing him back, gently, "You have a concussion!"

"Just have some water!" Superman said, handing him the bottle. He tried to grab it, but fumbled. I took it from his hands and brought it to his mouth.

I must've given him more than he could take, for hew choked and coughed hard.

"S..Sorry about that!" he murmured an apology, "I…WHAT THE HELL!!!"

I don't  remember which of us was more surprised to see the other. But certainly he was more expressive of it that I was. For a moment, he was gaping at me, as if he had seen a ghost!

"Bruce, what's wrong?" I asked, concerened.

"You…you know my name!" he stammered.

"Well, of course, I do, Bruce! Are you…" I wasn't able to complete for I must say, I was distracted by his expression, which melted from confusion to awe to exhilaration.

"For the love of god, you're Wonder Woman!" he shouted. I've never heard him use such a phrase before, he usually did not bring God into his expressions. It was my turn to gape at him.

He turned away and looked around at the others, with the same expression planted on his face. "You are the Justice League!"

"Well, of course, we are, damn it!" Superman  shouted in aggravation, but before he could vent out his frustration completely, Jonn pulled him back.

"I need to talk to you, all of you!" he said, in a muffled voice. "Something is not right here!"

We all gathered around Jonn, leaving Bruce in his own world.

"I think he has lost his mind!" Superman said.

"Not exactly!" Jonn said, "This…this is not our man!"

"You mean he is an imposter?" Hawk Girl gasped.

"No…no… he is Bruce Wayne all right! Calm down!" Jonn said in a hurry, "He is just not the Bruce Wayne we know."

"Don't be cryptic here, man! What do you want to say?" GL asked.

"It's just that, he's not Batman!" Jonn suggested.

"And we are still the Justice League, except for him!" Superman said, "That's preposterous! I'm sure he's fooling us!"

"No, Superman!" Jonn said, "I have read his mind."

"His mind! How can you read his mind! He has a way of blocking you?" I said.

"Exactly my point! He's not blocking me! He is not our Bruce Wayne!"


None of us realised when Bruce had come up to us and joined our conversation.

"What are you guys discussing? What do you mean I am not the Bruce Wayne?" he demanded.

"Ah! Don't worry about that, Mr. Wayne! " Jonn said, "It's really nothing!"

Ordinarily, Bruce would not be satisfied by the answer, but this time, he didn't seem to bother. However he frowned, as if the expression was unpalatable.

"Are you on a mission?" he asked.

"Well, not exactly," Jonn said, "Our teleporter had given us some trouble, and we were dumped here!"

"And what a coincidence!" Bruce sighed in relief, "And as long as you are here, why don't you come to the manor?"

"Ah, that's very kind of you, Mr. Wayne, but…"

"Um, just for clarification, they call me Bruce, or Bruce Wayne, not Mr. Wayne!" he said, cutting off Jonn.

"Well that is odd!" Flash muttered.

"And please, allow me the honour to have you at my humble home!" he said with uncharacteristic meekness.

We looked at each other spoke with our eyes. Finally Superman took the lead.

"That will be an honour, Mr. … I mean, Bruce!" he said.

"Awesome! I've been away from Gotham for three months now, and I just can't wait to get back home. I'd love to see the expression on his kid's face when he sees you all!" he said, as he craned his neck to look at the manor, as if he was expecting to see someone there. Then he turned back, a little disappointed.


"I think we should get going!"