The nighttime rain in Gotham always carried a bone-chilling coldness, as the colors of the neon lights shimmer between the strikes, like the city's moving gaze.
A man in a trench coat hurriedly dashed across the sidewalk, horns honking in his wake, however, he quickly disappeared at the other end of the street.
The traffic light changes, car tires squished over puddles, the splashes coating the cobblestone edges, illuminated by the convenience store's warm lights.
As his leather shoes splashed through the puddles, he left behind only tiny gaps in the reflected light. The man in the trench coat ascended the stairs quickly, entering the Gotham Grand Theater. Inside, there were no attendants, and the lights were all out.
Even so, he swiftly turned left, entered the ticket aisle, and arrived in the audience. Already, a few shadowy figures were waiting.
The latecomer, Victor, took off his hat, shaking off the rain, he sat next to Shiller, apologizing, "Sorry I'm late, had to close up my lab..."
"No worries, the movie hasn't started yet." Shiller moved his umbrella to the side, from the droplet hanging off the umbrella, Victor knew that he just arrived not too long ago.
The two people sitting in front of Shiller, Evans and Cobblepot, were whispering about some fight between Bruce and Lex and how they got caught. The story caused Evans to frown and grumble.
Sitting diagonally in front of Evans and Cobblepot, was Joker Jack, already fast asleep, snoring soundly.
In a far corner, a mystery man sat alone. Victor could not see his face clearly but felt a sense of familiarity.
Suddenly, the shadow shifted. Before Victor could react, the unknown man blinked to another spot and disappeared.
Victor wasn't even sure if what he saw was real, but Shiller cleared up his confusion, "We have a lot of actors tonight, the movie will be exciting. However, I can't manage everything, so, I hired a projectionist."
Victor looked at Shiller, he saw Shiller glance to the side, where no one was sitting. However, it was as if Shiller saw something, he said, "Morpheus, could you please start the movie for us?"
In Shiller's line of sight, the pale man in the black robe sitting next to him casually glanced over. The dissatisfaction in his eyes suggested he did not take kindly to being called a projectionist.
"I assure you, this will be your last movie before bedtime. After it's over, you can have a good rest, my friends and I will personally bid you goodnight." Shiller chuckled.
Morpheus turned his gaze back to the stage, suddenly, the wood stage and curtain vanished, replaced by a sea of endless stars. The theater seemed to have a large hole, with everything beyond the front rows becoming a black hole.
The stars constantly moved around in the deep space, creating a shimmering whirlpool, the lights on the ceiling of the theater gradually went out.
The profound darkness didn't last long, the floor in front of the seats began to extend forward, changing from the originally worn-out tiles to wooden floorboards.
Then, a room was gradually formed, seamlessly connected with the audience area of the theater. One could even see a mixing point of wooden floors and porcelain tiles.
At the moment, the viewing area was dark, as well as the room. Then, all of a sudden, a light bulb at the top of the room turned on illuminating the seats in front.
When the light shone on their faces, everyone squinted their eyes, just like the rest of the audience looking back from the front rows at the beginning of the movie.
After the light bulb came on, every detail of the room was visible. It was not a spacious one, with a desk in the center. Most noticeably, there was a large poster on the side wall that read: "Welcome new students."
Footsteps echoed from outside, a silhouette strolled in and stood in front of the desk.
The man behind the desk looked up; he was in a doctor's uniform, sporting glasses but, unlike others, he was bald with a goatee. Victor was quite familiar with his face. It was Hugo Strange.
Victor raised an eyebrow, confused. He didn't understand why this scene would open in such a way, but Shiller showed a fascinated smile.
Hugo looked up at Bruce and said with a gentle smile, "Bruce Wayne, welcome to the enrollment. Please sit and fill out your personal information."
"Thank you." Bruce in the room sat down obediently and started to fill out the form on the table. However, after filling out only two lines, he stopped, saying, "Why is there so much to write? I don't want to fill it out."