"I don't need some little punk butting into my business."
Having his real motive exposed, Oswald Cobblepot jabbed his umbrella hard against the floor several times. With Cyborg sitting right in front of him, he didn't dare make a move—so he could only lash out at Ben, trying to shout him into silence.
Cyborg had no patience left.
Now that Cobblepot's game was clear, all Cyborg felt was disgust for a profiteering opportunist.
"Save it," Cyborg said coldly. "You can explain yourself to Batman."
Cobblepot's face twisted.
"What do those big laboratories ever accomplish?" he snapped, voice rising as his composure cracked. "They monopolize all research—years and years—and what do they have to show for it? Nothing! Look at what they turned you into!"
Ben, Cyborg, and Billy fell silent.
Cobblepot mistook that silence for hesitation—for doubt.
He leaned in, emboldened, pouring on the pitch as if he could sell conviction like it was a product.
"I can extract the true value from that technology," he insisted. "I can turn it into real wealth!"
Ben couldn't watch the performance anymore. He casually lifted a hand and pointed behind Cobblepot, speaking almost kindly.
"Before you keep talking big… maybe check what's behind you?"
"Huh?"
Cobblepot turned—
—and nearly fell out of his skin.
Batman was there, looming like a nightmare made solid, cape spread wide in a dark, predatory silhouette. Cobblepot's legs went weak and he dropped to the floor.
He scrambled, trying to prop himself up with the umbrella—
Then Batman's voice poured into his ears: low, restrained, and utterly devoid of warmth.
"Oswald," Batman said. "Everything you've ever built ends up as a weapon or a bomb. None of it improves anyone's life."
Cobblepot couldn't argue. Not here. Not with him standing a meter away.
He might swagger in a courtroom. He might buy smiles from politicians and judges. But in front of Batman, he couldn't even summon anger—only fear.
Even his precious umbrella tricks wouldn't buy him an advantage. His so-called combat training was a joke to Batman. Sometimes even Robin would step in close and trade a few moves with him—just to make a point.
Cobblepot swallowed and forced out a shaky protest.
"D-Don't talk nonsense… I'm legitimate now. I only do proper business."
Batman stared at him, unblinking.
If the aftermath of Apokolips, the Justice League's responsibilities, Wayne Enterprises' reconstruction projects, and the endless drain of metahuman criminals hadn't eaten up so much of his time—Cobblepot would already be back behind bars.
"If you're truly legitimate," Batman said, "then shut down the criminal operations you're hiding inside the Iceberg Lounge."
Batman's gaze felt like it could peel skin off bone. Cobblepot's body trembled under it.
"That's slander!" Cobblepot squeaked, finding a shred of courage in the one place he always ran to—legal technicalities. "Where's your proof? The law declared me innocent! You can't punish me for what I did before—I'm not guilty now!"
He'd spent a fortune and burned favors by the truckload to buy that "innocent" label. That was exactly why he could still operate in Gotham's underworld for years and even flirt with political ambitions.
Batman's voice didn't change.
"You bribed politicians and judges to clear your record. That doesn't mean your crimes vanished."
Ben finally spoke again—his tone light, but his hand settling onto the Omnitrix dial as he did.
"You paying the court doesn't mean you're clean," Ben said. "It just means you paid more than everyone else."
Cobblepot's face spasmed.
For a split second, he wanted to raise his umbrella, point it at the kid who kept ripping off his mask—
But Batman was right there. One wrong twitch and Batman would break his good leg in seconds.
Cobblepot jabbed a shaking finger at Ben, voice high and indignant—like a man who desperately needed the world to believe his act.
"I'm warning you—watch your mouth! That's defamation! I'm suing you for defamation! I'M SUING YOU FOR DEFAMATION!"
He backed toward the door, still yelling as he fled, turning his humiliation into theater on the way out.
"He's slandering me!!"
The suite fell quiet.
Ben took his hand off the dial and chuckled.
"Finally. He's gone."
He leaned back, grinning like he'd just watched a comedy sketch.
"You know… Gotham isn't that dark. Those guys are basically professional clowns."
Batman didn't relax. Not even a fraction.
"That's because you can protect yourself," Batman said flatly. "You kept your hand on the Omnitrix the whole time, ready to transform."
Ben didn't deny it.
Batman's eyes stayed hard.
"I don't have that option," he continued. "I'm just a man with tools. I can't become something else. I use fear to stop them—because fear is the only thing that makes them hesitate."
Even if criminals looked ridiculous in front of them, those same criminals were still nightmares to ordinary people.
"For normal people," Batman said quietly, "Gotham is dark enough."
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 120)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 100)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 100)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter89)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter86)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter63)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter75)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 53
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 57
From Junkman to Wasteland 35
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