Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics

California State, 6:23 AM.

The tides of the Pacific Ocean ground the first light of a California morning into scattered golden specks, seeping through the cracks of the worn wooden walkway into the farm. Outside the old garage, the wind chimes mingled with the cries of seagulls, creating crisp echoes.

Jason pushed the door and walked out of the garage, his hair and eyelashes dotted with dew condensed from the morning fog, his boots brushing the edges of the muddy ridges. Upon seeing the series of raccoon footprints, he couldn't help but curse.

"Dick! Dick! Look at what you've done." Jason pointed at the footprints and turned back to shout, "I told you the car wasn't fixed yet and shouldn't be driven. You had to drive it anyway. You even broke the railing, and now a raccoon has gotten in. It must have stolen the ingredients for the ice cream machine I prepared!"

Dick, holding a shovel caked with mud, was prying the railing, damaged by the car the day before, out of the mud. Hearing Jason's shouting, he tossed aside his spade, pulled up his pants while tying his waistband made of rope, and said, "Blame me for trusting your car repair skills too much, alright then?"

"You trusted too soon," Jason said, "I told you it would need one more night to fix, but you wouldn't listen! We could have been enjoying delicious ice cream today..."

"Alright, stop complaining." Dick interrupted him, "We don't even know if that old hand-cranked ice cream machine still works. We need to fix the car first."

Tim's voice came from inside the garage: "It's starting, come and see!"

The two rushed in, and Tim was stepping out of the car. Seeing the mud stuck around their ankles, he grimaced and quickly stuffed his pant legs into his boots.

Dick slapped the dust off his hands, pulled open the car door and sat down, turning the key. The car jolted harshly, but it didn't seem to start.

"Oh, shit! It's still not fixed!" Before Dick could finish cursing, Jason pulled him out. Jason himself got in, grabbed the steering wheel with one hand and twisted the key with the other; with a "click", the car started successfully.

"Pfft." Dick said disdainfully, "From now on, you handle the driving and transporting, God bless the fences on the farm."

Jason ignored him, feeling somewhat excited, looked around, and backed the car out of the garage, then slowly adjusted the angle. Just as he was about to drive the car out, Harley, holding a megaphone made from a palm leaf, rushed over and leaned on the fence outside shouting:

"Are you deaf?! Jason Todd! The road outside hasn't been fixed yet. If you drive out now, you'll just get the tires stuck in the mud pits and splash everyone with mud!!!"

"It won't happen, you've got to trust my driving skills." Despite her warnings, Jason stubbornly turned the steering wheel and drove out of the garage courtyard. Then the car jolted harshly again, his butt lifting off the seat.

"Ah! Damn it!" Tim, who had run after him, blocked his front with his arms as the car's tires splashed him with mud the moment they plunged into the water pit.

As expected, the tire got stuck. Jason got out to check, finding the car tilted, with the rear right tire sunk into a mud pit, spinning uselessly.

He quickly dodged the palm leaf Harley threw at him.

"What a mess this farm is." Dick couldn't help complaining, "Was the original farmer a dinosaur or what? How could they make such a mess of the roads? Professor Shearer definitely got scammed by them!"

"You know, the shape of this water pit kind of looks like a dinosaur footprint." Tim leaned over to look and commented, "Only much larger. It looks like it was made by a giant dinosaur."

"Let's get the car back," Harley said, "A typhoon is about to make landfall, and the Doctor hasn't come back yet. If we're not planning to seek shelter in Stone House, we need to take care of our cabins first, no time to waste!"

The three boys worked together to lift the tire out of the mud pit and pushed the car back to the garage.

Dick was putting away scattered repair tools when he turned around and saw Jason and Tim tying the old hand-cranked ice cream machine to a cart.

"Do you guys really need to bring this thing back?" Dick sighed, tapping his forehead, "The ingredients are gone, what are you going to make ice cream with?"

"The ingredients are gone, but we can buy more. The typhoon won't affect Raven using Teleportation Magic to go to Los Angeles for shopping."

Dick sighed helplessly, but seeing the excitement of Jason and Tim, he stepped over to help them tighten the ropes.

Weather in California during the rainy season is unpredictable. It was sunny when they woke up, and in less than an hour, dark clouds loomed overhead. As they pushed the cart out, a strong wind began to blow, and it started raining.

The unrepaired muddy road turned into a swamp in just a few minutes. Jason's flip-flops seemed to stick to the ground, only Tim, wearing waterproof boots, managed to run.

"Oh, God's shit!" Jason suddenly cried out, falling sideways to the ground. Dick and Tim quickly helped him up as Jason cried out in pain holding his ankle.

With a "whoosh", a streak of golden light flashed. Barry, holding a tattered canvas umbrella, appeared before them. Dick quickly took the umbrella from his hand, covering Tim and Jason.

"The Teleportation Portal is here!" Raven's voice sounded in their ears, and a purple glowing teleportation portal suddenly appeared.

In the storm, the group supported each other and entered the teleportation portal. A soggy mess landed in the freshly cleaned living room center, eliciting a scream from Pamela in front of the fireplace.

"Oh Lord, what happened?!" Pamela put aside the broom and walked over, asking, "Jason, what happened to you?"

Jason grimaced in pain, clutching his ankle and saying, "I think I twisted my foot."

"Yes, it's quite obvious," Pamela said, looking at Jason's ankle, swollen like a big loaf of bread, and asked, "How did you manage to twist it?"

"They just had to push that broken ice cream machine!" Dick said, raising his voice.

"It's your fault for not wearing waterproof boots!" Tim immediately retorted, "You should have changed into boots knowing it was going to rain!"

"Just drop it," Barry said, frowning, "Hurry up and get some ice, apply a cold compress to reduce the swelling, then put some ointment on it."

"He looks like the oldest among you," Harley said annoyedly, "You shouldn't have gone to the garage knowing it would rain! What magic does that 'Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea' old car have anyway?"

Cassandra, obviously woken up by the noise downstairs, was stunned for a moment when she saw so many people gathered. Similarly, just out of his room, Blue Beetle appeared in the crowd with a holographic flash, nearly knocking Tim over.

"Oh, sorry. I'm still not very proficient," Ted said.

Jason was helped to lie down on the sofa, and Harley went over to examine his injury. After carefully checking the ankle, she shook her head and said, "No hope, amputation it is."

Jason threw a pillow at her.

Only then did Harley put away her schadenfreude expression, cleared her throat, and said seriously, "That was a pretty bad twist. But the storm shelter notice was issued last night, the community hospital is definitely closed. You can either go to Los Angeles to see a doctor or just manage it for now to see how it goes."

Seeing the severely swollen ankle, Tim frowned deeply and said, "I think we still need to make a trip to Los Angeles. I heard from a doctor before that you can hire a Flying Shuttle through your phone. Should I call one?"

"No," Jason refused, he said, "That's too expensive, and even after going there, you may not be able to get the examination immediately. You guys don't plan on using the emergency room, do you?"

Pamela fetched some ice, put it into a bag, and tied it around Jason's ankle, then said, "We need to reduce the swelling to better assess the bone condition. If the bone isn't hurt, there's no need to go to the hospital."

"It seems that's all we can do for now," Dick shook his head and said, "I'll go get you some dry clothes."

Jason, lying on the sofa, still couldn't stay still, stretching his arm to shout at Tim, "Bring our ice cream machine inside. Don't let the hurricane blow it away!"

The weather was getting worse. The strong winds of an undetermined scale outside were causing the palm trees to sway perilously. The wooden structure of the house couldn't possibly withstand such a powerful hurricane. It was Pamela who used vines to hold onto the foundation, and Ted who used his holographic reality abilities to anchor the house to the base, narrowly preventing the house from being blown away.

It was a dull and boring time hiding from the rain inside the house. Jason fell asleep on the sofa, emitting faint snores. He occasionally turned over, and being tethered by his immovable ankle, he grimaced and muttered discontentedly.

Harley and Pamela pulled Cassandra to play cards in front of the fireplace. The burning firewood crackled. Ted and Barry played an online farming game with a holographic screen, deliberately lowering their voices while discussing which plants to cultivate.

Dick and Raven were talking about love in the hallway. Meanwhile, Tim fiddled with the ice cream machine in the kitchen, his ears perked up, listening to their gossip about college dorms.

Thus, they whiled away the afternoon. It wasn't until Harley's phone rang, hearing the familiar voice on the other end, that he threw the cards on the table and stood up saying, "Doctor! You're finally coming back!!"

Everyone else was startled and gathered around. Shiller's gentle voice came through the phone, "Yes, we're heading back from Los Angeles. We're planning to pack some food from a restaurant. What would you guys like to eat?"

"I want a taco!" Ted was the first to raise his hand and shout, "No tomatoes, no entrails. Extra chilli!"

"Is there a spicy hot dog?" Pamela leaned in to ask, "I never eat these things in Gotham, but I crave them whenever I leave."

"I'm dieting. I'll have a vegetable salad with juice. Sauces on the side," Harley said, "And if there's Italian meat sauce pizza, get me one with double cheese, I'll eat it after dinner."

They clamorously mentioned their food preferences. Shiller's voice sounded somewhat helpless: "Kids... kids! I'm not at a street food stall. This is one of the most expensive restaurants in Los Angeles, a Michelin three-star!"

They looked at each other. Harley was the first to rub her hands and said, "Doctor, isn't that a bit too extravagant?"

"Let it be," Shiller said, "I'll pack some stuff for you guys according to my taste, you just need to tell me if you eat spicy or not. By the way, I brought a guest this time. Tidy up a room for me."

"A guest? Who? A superhero from here? Is it Captain America?"

They got excited again. After hanging up, they cleaned the living room while discussing who might be coming. Although most of them had encountered superheroes from this part of Battleworld, those heroes were always in full gear, and they hadn't seen what Marvel heroes looked like in their everyday life.

It wasn't long before the humming of the Flying Shuttle resounded above the farm, and the sound of the car engine stopped abruptly beside the cabin, with the sound of foot stomping coming from the doorstep.

The door creaked open, and Shiller walked in with bags big and small. Everyone curiously crowded around, but the face that appeared behind Shiller was shockingly familiar.

"Bruce?!"