[3rd POV]
For a moment, Philip thought Tony sounded just like Gollum from The Lord of the Rings.
That creepy, hunched little monster muttering obsessively in the shadows over the bewitching power of the One Ring.
"Precious! My precious!"
"Paycheck! My paycheck!"
It was exactly the same.
"You've already gotten your damn One Ring!"
Philip, already on the verge of a breakdown thanks to the damn chandelier and Batman, completely lost it and snapped angrily, "You already got it at the beginning of the month. It's a paycheck or salary and not the One Ring!"
Tony was sure that Philip's face would be bright red if there had been any light left in the room.
Batman couldn't understand what these two were rambling about. He simply and calmly took down the armed employees one by one.
After two minutes, they were all lying on the floor.
The only reason Philip hadn't shared their fate was because Tony had distracted him, preventing him from drawing his weapon.
"Say it! Say it already!"
Tony watched in panic as Batman disappeared into the darkness, "Say it! Say the words!"
"Don't block me from shooting! You son of a—"
Philip's words were cut short.
A tall, cold figure cloaked in black had silently appeared beside them and grabbed the gun from his hand with one swift motion, pushing it down onto the floor.
"No—"
Tony felt a cry of hopelessness deep in his heart.
He finally understood how Philip felt watching a fortune slip right through his fingers.
Of course, he did care about the supervisor's safety… but then again, Batman doesn't kill people and might suffer a bit.
However, Tony's situation was way worse.
He had worked hard for a whole month, finally finished all his shifts, and just when it was time to get paid... the business might be gone!
"The day before Halloween..."
A voice asked coldly, "Someone carved an ugly jack-o-lantern in this restaurant. Where is he?"
Batman paid no attention to Tony, who was already lying flat on the ground beside him.
Tony didn't even try to pull out a gun and just dropped to the floor with his hands over his head as soon as Philip got caught.
He didn't want to fight at all, and he just really, really wanted to stay alive to avoid being beaten.
But the moment Batman asked his question, Tony felt like he was going to faint. He started frantically looking around the system store for a rapid health regeneration.
'Damn it, I knew Batman was the biggest freak in all of Gotham. How did he even find out about that? I only spent like half an hour carving that dumb pumpkin...!'
Hearing Batman's question, the pinned-down Philip was stunned at first and then suddenly burst into loud, uncontrollable laughter, rolling on the ground as he laughed.
"HAHAHAHA—that's what this is about?"
Philip laughed mockingly, "The Gotham's nightmare is just this? Hahaha, cough cough, investigating a murder case, and all you find is some idiot who carved an ugly jack-o-lantern?"
"So what if I'm not good at carving pumpkins? Is an ugly pumpkin really such a big deal? It's not like it stole your lunch or something!"
Tonyn couldn't help but lift his head and retort, "The pumpkin I carved totally had artistic style! You just don't understand art, okay?"
Right then, Philip and Batman looked over at him.
Philip's eyes held a look of disbelief like he was looking at an idiot while Batman casually set him down on the ground.
"So... you're the one who carved that pumpkin?"
Batman already knew the answer, but he wouldn't just grab people without first confirming the identities of everyone in the restaurant.
He probably just hadn't finished confirming whether Tony was truly a random newcomer in Gotham or not.
Tony's heart pounded fiercely, and he could truly feel how terrifying Batman's presence was.
In just two minutes, Batman had taken down over a dozen armed Falcone gang members, forcing them all to their knees, completely immobilized.
Batman mastered a hundred twenty-seven forms of martial arts in the world. He's also studied tons of things like crime, law, biology, physics, advanced chemistry, and medicine, but even that is just a small part of the iceberg.
He started his training when he was only eleven years old and pushed his body to be as strong and fast as a human can possibly be.
Batman could almost be called a perfect human in a certain sense.
That's the only reason he can beat all the supervillains in Gotham, like gangsters, assassins, and psychos who use ice, fire, tricks, mind games, magic, mutations, or who can't even die!
He fights them, wins, and sends them to prison or Arkham Asylum. Now, such a figure was standing right before Tonny.
Even though he's not as scary yet as Batman will be later in his career, it still wouldn't take much for him to make him spill all his secrets.
"Bang!"
A loud clap of thunder sounded outside, and a lightning bolt streaked through the night sky, illuminating the room.
Batman's cold, solemn shadow was cast right over Tony, making him feel like the darkness completely swallowed him.
"Yes, yes, I carved it. It's not against the law to carve a pumpkin on Halloween..."
"But murder is against the law. And the jack-o-lantern left at the crime scene was also equally ugly."
"What do you mean 'equally ugly'? The citizens in Gotham really have no manners."
As he complained, Tony pulled a small jack-o'-lantern from his pocket.
The face carved on it looked just as weird and ugly as the one found next to Johnny Viti's body.
However... this one probably looked even worse.
"Where did you go after you left the house on Halloween night?"
"I was out on the streets, just having fun with the crowd dressed up for Halloween."
Batman's eyes narrowed slightly, showing a look of displeasure.
After sensing trouble, Tony quickly gave in, "Hey, don't hit me! I went to the Diamond District, wearing the pumpkin mask or head I carved myself."
"Where is your mask now?"
"It's at home. I haven't even had time to eat it yet."
"Did you see the big fire at the warehouse?"
Hearing that question, Tony's heart tightened.
...
150 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter
250 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter
450 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter
1000 Power Stones = 2 Extra Chapters
2000 Power Stones = 3 Extra Chapters