On the second night following the attack on Black Widow, inside the Batcave:
The Batwing that had been used solely for travelling to New Mexico to meet Harry Osborn, the young Green Goblin, had already been completely dismantled into spare parts. In its place stood a brand-new Vibranium aircraft crafted by Alfred's own hands.
Or rather, it was a massive bat—magnified three hundred times—hanging upside down from the ceiling of the Batcave at this very moment.
If it were not for Batman's exceptionally sharp eye, a regular person at first glance would not even realize it was a flight vehicle, simply mistaking it for a gigantic, terrifying bat monster.
"Master Wayne, allow me to introduce this Batwing, built after utilizing almost the full potential of Vibranium," Alfred said, with one hand tucked behind his back and the other gesturing toward the aircraft.
Batman gave a single nod. Off to the side, Venom Robin sat slumped on the ground, his head drooping listlessly while his eyes peered upward.
In his eyes, it was merely an intimidating little plane.
Venom Robin had just finished his training session and could not even maintain his shroud-wrapped mummy form, reverting completely back into Venom.
Seemingly noticing Robin's indifference, Alfred looked toward Venom Robin with a mild smile:
"As you can see, this Batwing measures only 5.2 meters in length while stowed. However, I must remind you that this is its docked configuration with the wings folded.
"Once its wings are fully deployed, its length extends to 16.8 meters, with a wingspan of 26 meters."
Venom Robin nodded in satisfaction, feeling that a plane simply had to be big to be cool enough, even if it wasn't his ride at all.
Now, as he looked up again at the inverted Batwing, it seemed far more pleasing to his eye, and only now did Venom Robin pay attention to its exterior details.
The front end of the Batwing was flat like a shovel, with three movable nasal leaves extending outward in an exaggerated fashion along both sides.
Venom Robin could not see where the cockpit was, nor could he spot a windshield.
Where the cockpit should have been, there was only a slightly raised, pitch-black armored panel.
Beneath the panel sat two slender, deep-red luminous slots, resembling a pair of sinister eyes.
"I have named this Batwing 'Reflection,'" Alfred said. "The forward structure serves as its ultrasonic directional array and acoustic weaponry, while the eye slots house the optical sensor array."
"Hold on, Alfie," Batman interrupted Alfred's introduction. "I'll familiarize myself with the details. Robin, get ready to move out."
Venom Robin's tongue had been lolling over his chest, but the moment he heard "move out," he instantly cast aside his listless attitude, springing up from the ground in the blink of an eye:
"Where to? Who are we hitting?"
Batman said nothing, signaling for Alfred to activate the Reflection.
Alfred nodded, showing not the slightest disappointment over being unable to fully present his creation; instead, he offered a gentle wave of his hand.
With a hum so faint it was barely audible, Reflection came to life.
Scale-like structures along the fuselage—which Venom Robin had overlooked a moment ago—tilted upward section by section in sequence before swiftly lying flat again. The jet-black hull, tinged with a subtle trace of purple, looked just like the living body of a gargantuan bat.
Its wings slowly unfolded, differing from the fixed wings of ordinary aircraft to look instead like a pair of true wings.
The more Venom Robin looked at it, the more familiar it seemed. He cracked his neck, and the symbiote matter behind his back squirmed and thrashed as a pair of somewhat comical wings burst forth from his body.
He turned his head to glance at his own tiny wings, then at the massive wings of Reflection, before asking Alfred:
"Did you design this after me?"
"I referenced your form slightly," Alfred said.
Reflection's wings resembled bat membranes, covered in irregular, dark-gray vascular networks.
The edges of the wing membranes were far from smooth, looking as though they defied the pitiful knowledge of physics inside Venom Robin's head.
The wings possessed a structural skeleton, membranous webbing, and even massive curved talons at the tips—looking for all the world like a bat monster spreading its wings.
Now Venom Robin could see clearly: though those vascular networks were intricate and complex, they ultimately extended to line the rear sides of the wings, exposing extremely fine micro-apertures.
Furthermore, similar structures appeared to be present at the ends of the wing framework as well.
"Those are micro-jet nozzles, enabling Reflection to weave through the city with minimal noise and maximum speed," Alfred explained to Robin.
Sixteen wing spars across both sides, containing over 1,500 micro-jet nozzles in total.
As the wings expanded and the micro-jets engaged, the only sound reaching Venom Robin's ears was a faint hiss.
When Alfred spoke, those soft sounds were almost effortless to ignore.
"Old butler, though I don't know much, don't try to pull a fast one on me," Venom Robin asked in confusion. "It flies on these tiny air nozzles?"
"Thanks to Vibranium's kinetic energy absorption properties, I can assure you that even in low-speed cruising mode, its speed is more than sufficient for urban operations," Alfred said.
"But where we're going right now is really far," Venom Robin said.
"That brings us to Vibranium's most unique feature," Alfred said. "Young Master Robin, once you step inside, you will understand."
Venom Robin rolled his eyes dramatically, turning the back of his head toward Alfred as he leaped ahead of Batman onto Reflection, which had already deployed its wings and transformed from its docked posture into flight configuration.
"St." The moment he crawled inside the Batwing, Venom Robin could not help cursing, drawing a simultaneous frown from both Batman and Alfred.
Having seen the Batwing at just over five meters long in its docked state, Venom Robin had subconsciously assumed the interior space would be pitifully cramped.
Yet upon squeezing inside, he discovered the internal cabin actually expanded along with the deployment of the wings. While the space could not compare to the previous aircraft capable of housing the Rogue Mech, a conservative estimate suggested it could easily cram the entire Justice League inside.
Nor was the roominess the cause for Venom Robin's outburst; what truly made him blurt out a curse was the dizzying array of buttons on the control console.
Submersible Mode, High-Altitude Cruise Mode, Low-Altitude Skim Mode, Near-Earth Orbit Mode, Ultra-High-Speed Penetration Mode...
The flight modes equipped on Reflection alone numbered dozens.
Venom Robin excitedly reached out to press the Submersible Mode button, but was immediately stopped by Batman, who had likewise stepped into the Batwing.
Alfred, surprisingly, was also present inside the craft.
"Master Wayne, while the shape of the aircraft differs from your previous models, the control layout remains fully tailored to your habits," Alfred said.
Batman nodded, lifting Venom Robin with one hand to toss him into the co-pilot's seat before settling into the pilot's station himself.
Reflection possessed no windshield, yet that did not mean one could not view the scenery outside.
In truth, those crimson eye slots on the exterior functioned as the internal observation display, engineered under Alfred's design to offer an expansive field of view.
Batman had no time to spare inquiring about the finer points of the Batwing; he trusted Alfred completely.
Turning his head to confirm Venom Robin was securely seated, Batman hit the Ultra-High-Speed Penetration Mode button without a moment's hesitation.
With another soft hum, the massive, newly deployed wings began to slowly retract backward.
A portion of the micro-jet nozzles continued operating, while all sixteen wing-frame spars across both sides gradually took over flight propulsion.
With the retracted wings pointing all spar tips toward the rear, pale blue flames erupted before rapidly shifting into an infrared-suppressed stealth mode.
"For safety considerations, full power cannot be engaged inside the Batcave. Master Wayne, it is time to depart," Alfred said, standing beside Batman.
A thunderous sonic boom generated from breaking the sound barrier detonated within the Batcave, yet was swiftly absorbed by the sound-dampening walls constructed by Alfred, who knew Batman all too well.
While dozens of air currents still surged through the space and expanding smoke rings were only just forming, Reflection had already vanished from inside the Batcave, soaring vertically into the night sky where the full moon hung high.
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