《DC: I am Bruce Wayne》 Chapter 1: Crossing into the Dark Chapter 1: Crossing into the Dark --- "Things always get worse before they get better" ¨D Alfred Pennyworth, [Batman Trilogy] --- "Oh motherfcker it hurts. God, somebody just fcking shoot me and get this fcking pain over with." A young boy of about eight or ten years old suddenly began screaming in pain after he woke up in what seemed like a very luxurious hospital bed. The boy was confused, he wasn''t feeling any sort of pain before he went to sleep but just after he woke up, he felt like he was in hell. His body was weak and tired but his stomach especially hurt a lot like somebody had made a freaking hole in it. But within just a few seconds of him yelling toxic words which were not at all appropriate for a young boy like him, a team of doctors suddenly rushed into the room with serious faces looking like their lives and careers were on the line. "Mister Wayne, are you alright? Please calm down, we will help you relieve your pain. Susan, give me a Midazm injection, a 2 mg dose. We cannot have him disying high levels of anxiety just after the huge surgery he went through. He might even go into seizure at this rate." The doctor who seemed to be the leader of the team spoke in an urgent tone. "What do you mean by Wayne you fcker? I am Alex Vincent. And what do you mean, surgery? Did you guys cut out and steal my kidney or something? God, I''ll fcking sue you all..." the kid continued to yell in his foulnguage till someone injected a syringe into his hand at which he felt like his nerves became calmer and his spiking heart rate seemed to drop to normal. The ''kid'' still tried to free himself from the ''evil'' doctors who had most probably kidnapped him in his mind but he was quickly losing his consciousness. All he heard before he again passed out into the darkness was the doctor saying something like "Give him some pain meds. Lets make sure the kid is alright after he wakes up again. I really like my current job. If the prince of Gotham dies under our watch, we will never be be able to treat another single patient ever again." ''Gotham? Wayne? Are these psycho doctors some DC fans or something? Did they kidnap me because I posted on my blog that Batman only wins due to plot armor because if that''s the case then I still stand by my point.'' That was thest thought before hepletely lost his consciousness once again. All he hoped that by the time he wakes up again, he would be in a much better and safer ce like his soft bed and not some hospital bed surrounded by psycho doctors. It was about a few hourster that he again began to form some coherent thoughts in his mind. He wasn''t feeling pain this time, atleast not as much as he was feeling the first time he woke up. But this time he could hear the sound of someone silently weeping. As the ''young kid'' weakly opened his eyes, he saw a good looking adult man with silver white hair dressed in a butler uniform sitting beside his bed, hiding his own face with his left hand as silent tears seemed to roll down his cheeks. "Wh-what" The boy couldn''t speak well due to his throat being parched and dehydrated from his previous shouting and not drinking water for a long time. "Mas-Master Bruce, you are awake again. I am sorry I was not here the first time you woke up. It seems I have been repeatedly failing in my duty recently." The man straightened up immediately and spoke up in an English ent after he heard the boy and quickly hid away his previous trail of tears on his face like they were never there. "What" The young boy who was presumably named Bruce spoke up in his same dry voice in a questioning tone. "Oh, here''s some water." The butler immediately brought a ss of water after filling it up from a nearby jug in the room and offered it to Bruce. "I know this is a difficult time for you master Bruce, both physically and mentally. But, I just want you to know that I am there for you and I''ll make sure that you never get hurt, ever again." The butler said in a determined voice. But Bruce at this time wasn''t at all listening to the man. He wasn''t in a state to calmly listen to him because while drinking water and preparing himself for another new session of severe cursing at the butler, he had finally noticed his own reflection on the screen of the tv in front of him. What looked back at him through the reflection wasn''t at all the ordinary teenager he was expecting but the appearance of a barely ten year old young boy with ck hair and blue eyes. Although he wanted to curse a lot and maybe even beat someone at this point but he was just too goddamn tired and in too much of a shock. He was trying to figure out how the fck did he be a child again. And not only did he be a child but he transformed into a child that he had never seen before, lying in a hospital with a butler at his side. He remembered that his first name was Bruce as he was called by the English butler and that hisst name was supposed to be Wayne... His name was Bruce Wayne, he was in a hospital in a city named Gotham, he was addressed as master by an English butler and ording to the doctors he was supposed to be rich... Fck. "Alfred?" Bruce called his butler trying to test out his theory praying in his mind that he was wrong. But sadly for him he wasn''t, "Yes Mater Bruce. Do you need something? Can I get you another ss of water?" Alfred, the butler spoke up in a concerned tone. ''Shit. I am Bruce Wayne and I am in the fcking DC world.'' Bruce thought as he felt like puking after remembering the thousands of horror that he might have to suffer as the ''Prince of Gotham''. ''The Pengiun, Joker, Riddler, a lot of crazy criminaldies, ''my'' evil variants, interdimensional entities, a possibly fcked up Kryptonian with an obsession with justice, demons, evil gods and so much more were just waiting out there to fck me up.'' Bruce gulped. Oh how he wished he could go to any other world besides DC. Even Marvel although with a simr power structure and cosmology was better to live in than the absolute fckery of a world that DC was. ''And I had to transmigate into Bruce Wayne''s body, didn''t I. Now I can''t even hide or run away or something since there are atleast a dozen factions and criminal organizations who either have a personal vendetta with the Wayne family or the Wayne Corporation or just want to get their hands on my sweet innocent self to free some interdimensional demonic god by sacrificing me.'' Bruce sadly thought as he slowly lost his hope. "Master Bruce, I am sorry to do this to you right now but the police are here. They wanna ask some questions about your parents''... deaths. Should I tell them toe backter?" Alfred asked Bruce in a caring voice after a nurse entered the room and whispered something into the butler''s ears. "Yeah, that would be the best. Right now, I don''t even remember everything that happened. Its all a mess. I don''t think I can tell the police anything in this condition. Maybe ask them to visit me after we go back home." Bruce tried to bullsh*t his way out of giving a statement to the police. "Don''t worry master Bruce, I''ll take care of it. You just take some rest and focus on getting better." Alfred said in a sympathetic voice as he left to meet up with the cops outside, not at all suspecting Bruce''sck of sadness in his voice. He just attributed it all to shock of his parents'' deaths. ''Shit I need to figure out something quick. As much as I remember, the death of the Wayne couple was supposed to be orchestrated by the Court of Owls, a secret society that not only controlled the entirety of Gotham but even had influence and perhaps even control of his ownpany, Wayne International.'' Bruce thought to himself as he tried to figure out a way to save himself from the terrible future that awaited him if he couldn''t master the same skills and abilities that the original Bruce Wayne mastered. He was particrly sad at the point that he didn''t even feel a little bit smarter or stronger after his transmigation. He wished he had atleast gotten Bruce Wayne''s iq but he was having trouble to even remember stuff that he had read in theics in his previous life urately, so he knew that he didn''t have anything even remotely resembling Bruce Wayne''s supposedly genius intellect. ''How am I going to survive in this world? Presence, Lucifer or whatever Rob who had transmigated me or whoever the fck is listening, please at least give a fcking cheat for me to survive.'' He prayed to anyone who was listening desperately. --- Also, you can support me or read ahead in advance on my pat reon page, /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a) Chapter 2: A new home and a new watch Chapter 2: A new home and a new watch --- "Everyone has a vulnerability." ¨D Alfred Pennyworth [DCics] --- "Do you want to wear the ck suit or the beige one master Bruce. I do rmend the ck one since it will go well with your skin tone." Alfred was holding two suits in his hands whileparing which one would look better on Bruce. "I''ll take the ck one then. It would suit well with the dark and grim theme of Gotham." Bruce replied in a monotone voice at which Alfred just sighed. Bruce was atst being released from the hospital after spending about another three days in there. The medical authorities actually wanted to keep him under observation for another week but Bruce with his current disturbed mentality didn''t want to spend another moment here and thus made Alfred pressurize the hospital board to give him an early discharge. He knew that for every second he spent here, the chances of people discovering that something was wrong with him was increasing. This was mostly because that despite being transmigated inside the original Bruce Wayne''s body, he had neither inherited his full memories nor his personality. Well, perhaps he might have inherited some muscle memories or some deeply ingrained emotions from the old Bruce since he did feel rxed after seeing Alfred near him every time but nothing above that. He was lucky that the original Bruce suffered so much before his death since it was the reason that he could just give the excuse of ''trauma'' to everyone to exin his present change in attitude from the old one. But he didn''t want to be near a lot of people and risk them suspecting something about him especially since the doctors and nurses were keeping a twenty-four hour watch on him due to him being a VIP. In fact, a lot of people including the press, politicians, businessmen and everyone else who called themselves ''family friends'', had tried to visit him to get into his good books. Of course Bruce denied all of them for now. He didn''t want to meet anybody without any information about them and himself and his family first. After Alfred signed the documents andpleted the formalities on behalf of Bruce, they boarded their Rolls Royce parked in the front while avoiding the paparazzi trying to get a sad photo of Bruce''s face for the next day''s front page. Alfred had already been given the legal guardianship of Bruce. Though there were a lot of people trying to prevent that from happening as well as people who wanted to adopt Bruce themselves due to being ''caring'' towards the child, Alfred didn''t face any hups especially since thete Wayne couple had mentioned in their will that if something were to happen to them, Alfred would be the first in line to get his legal guardianship. "The paparazzi are the biggest gangsters of this town, I tell you. They are the devil incarnate." Alfred said in anger as he closed the door to the car. "No, they aren''t. The devil is much more fun." Bruce muttered to himself as he looked outside the moving car and gazed at the worn down condition of the city. The Wayne mansion was only about a fifteen minute drive from the hospital but in that short time Bruce saw about five drug deals on the streets, half a dozen different mugging incidents and about a dozen hookers trying to sell themselves in broad daylight. He was sure that he even heard a few gunshots on the way. The condition of the city really was bad. As they reached the gates of the mansion, Bruce''s heart began to speed up. He knew that it was probably the leftover emotions of the old Bruce. But he himself was surprised at how luxurious and big the Wayne mansion was. The word mansion was probably downying it. It could even be called a pce. That''s how big and luxurious it looked. Bruce knew that he had severely underestimated the wealth of the Waynes. Perhaps the family was even richer than what Batman liked to show. "Please master Bruce, after you." Alfred opened the car''s door for him as he gestured towards the entrance of the house. "Thank you." Bruce said. He had been trying to act all noble and courteous recently to imitate the role of a broody billionaire orphan well. He thought he was doing a really good job. As Bruce entered into his new home followed by Alfred, he was sure of one thing, he was filthy rich indeed. Therge living room in the mansion was decorated by what looked like priceless antiques. From a piano to a standing knight armor, it had it all. "Do you want me to take you to your room master Bruce or do you want to get a bath first? I can even fix up some food as well if you are hungry. Perhaps some garlic bread and scrambled eggs?" Alfred asked courteously. Although Bruce had a literal chill run through his body after hearing the line about taking a bath from the butler, he still controlled himself from replying with ''No homo''. He just coughed lightly and told Alfred to take him to his new room first especially since Bruce didn''t even remember where his old room was and he definitely didn''t want to search the huge mansion to find out. "Fine master Bruce, but you ARE going to have some dinnerter. You need to eat to heal up quickly." Alfred said as he looked directly into Bruce''s eyes to get his point across. Bruce of course was quite amused. He had always thought that Alfred was a gentle person. He had no idea that the English butler could be strict as well when he needed to be. He just nodded with a small smile on his face and followed Alfred who was himself pleased from Bruce''s answer and thus smiling as well. After they came in front of arge door on the second floor, Alfred opened the door for Bruce and gestured for him to enter. As Bruce entered into his room, he got the same luxurious old-money feeling he got from the rest of the house. There was a queen sized bed in the massive room, multiple wardrobes, a firece and even a work desk, as well as arge bookshelf. He even noticed two more doors in his room which he assumed to be the doors to a balcony and an attached toilet. "It is as you left it, master Bruce. I didn''t let the maids make a single change." Alfred deed with what seemed to be almost a proud expression on his face. "Thank you Alfred. I guess you are the only one that truly cares for me even after my parents are gone." Bruce said in a sad manner trying to act up the part of a boy who just lost his parents. "Its my duty Master Bruce. I''ll always be there for you no matter what." Alfred said after flinching a little as he heard him mention his parents being gone. He was trying not to talk about the death of Bruce''s parents since he med himself for not being there in time, for not being able to save them. "Actually I have something to give you master Bruce. Here, this is the watch that your father promised to give you that day after the show. Most of their stuff was taken by the police after their death as evidence, but I was able to pull some strings to secure this. It seems to be not working anymore but I am sure that we will be able to find someone to fix thister." Alfred took out a really expensive looking watch and handed it to Bruce. "Umm, thanks. This means a lot to me.'' Bruce said. It meant sh*t to him since he didn''t remember anything about this watch but it looked like a really expensive limited edition Rolex piece and he was gonna keep it as a momento. "Its okay. I''ll be taking my leave now. Please call me if you need anything. Also dinner will be at seven. I''ll even tell the chef to prepare your favourite chocte mousse cheese cake as dessert" The butler smiled a little before turning around and leaving while closing the door behind him. ''He is a really good butler, isn''t he? I guess the original Bruce was really lucky to get him as his parent while growing up. Perhaps the luck passed on to me now.'' Bruce thought to himself as he lied down on hisfortable and soft bed. ''I don''t think think I''ll be able to live much longer. A lot of people would want me dead and I doubt I currently possess the willpower and skills to be the Batman. I would probably die even before the cannon starts. So I should just enjoy my limited days on this dark twisted version of earth by spoiling myself silly with all this wealth. Maybe I should just sell all this and escape to some no-name country to live out the rest of my days in peace and luxury.'' Bruce thought as he fiddled with the broken watch. The watch didn''t have much damage on the outside except the slightly cracked ss but for some reason the seconds hand wasn''t able to move from its ce despite it still making the ticking sound. It seemed like something was stopping the seconds hand from starting its journey round the dial. ''I wonder how this watch works. Does it work like all watches do in the twentieth century or does it have different machine parts? Huh, I truly should be ashamed at myself. Two years of learning electronics engineering and I still don''t even know how a simple watch works.'' He thought angry at himself as he barely learnt anything about engineering. Even the only program he had learnt to write in his two years of study in his past life was ''hello world''. As Bruce just nkly stared at the watch, his anger rising at the watch not working for some reason, he began to slowly lose himself into the constant rhythmic ticking sound. All he wished was to somehow learn how this broken watch worked and fix it just like he desperately wanted to fix his life. And that was the moment that changed Bruce''s life forever for he finally discovered his ''cheat'' for his new life since under Bruce''s watchful eyes, the Rolex soon appeared to break apart into holograms of its most basicponentsir byir as they lined up to show Bruce how they worked, to show him their secrets. He immediately understood how the watch originally worked, its mechanism, the problem for which it was not working, and even what it was made of. He was even sure that he could make the same watch himself if given the right tools. ''What the hell was that? It felt like I was high or something. It felt... awesome. Is that supposed to be my ability? I can know how stuff works?'' Bruceughed as he finally realized that what he felt might just be the key to his surviving in this world. "If this is real, I am going to spam the hell out of this" Bruce thought as he began to think how else he could use his power to make the coolest stuff or reverse engineer the mostplicated technologies to give him an edge over the rest of the heroes and viins out there. He was going to survive and he would do anything to make sure of that. --- Also, you can support me or read ahead in advance on my pat reon page, /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a)
Chapter 3: No pain, no gain Chapter 3: No pain, no gain --- "Venture outside yourfort zone, the rewards are worth it. " ¡ª Rapunzel, [Tangled] --- Having a superpower is something unbelievable for anyone. It was the same for Bruce as well. Until now he was moping about the fact that the only superpower he was gonna have was being filthy rich but it turned out that he had a real superpower given to him to survive in this world, a power that was his own, an intuitive intellect. The first thing Bruce did after gaining that power was beginning to experiment with it. It was not just his wish to develop and master his power but also to satisfy his curiosity about how his power exactly works or in what ways he can use it. He immediately began to try to use his power on every other electronics or mechanical item in his room including the lights, a calctor, a pen, and some other small machine stuff that he could get his hands on. At first, it was a little difficult for him to properly use his power but after doing it a couple of times he understood how it worked. All he had to is just to will his mind to analyze and understand the thing in front of him and vo, his ability would automatically activate. It broke down the machine he used his power on, into separate hologramponents of itself and showed him what each specificponent of that machine did, how they worked, and how they were joined with each other as well as the functions of the machine. It even showed him the properties of the materials theponents were made from. But there was also a shoring in his power, it seems that he cannot automatically know the name of theponents or the parts of the machine if he hasn''t ever heard of them before. For example, when he disassembled the pen, he knew the general names of most of its parts but he didn''t know the names of theponents of the ink. He only knew the general properties of theponents and how they werebined to make that ink. Same with the other stuff too. In the holograms, he was only shown the names of theponents which he already knew the names of previously. That meant that if he wanted to truly use his powers to the maximum he had to study stuff up as well, since his power was directly linked to his mind and knowledge. The more he knew, the smoother and more efficient his ability would be. ''So, I can analyze already built stuff in my mind but can I possibly do the reverse?'' He thought as he began to imagine a modern smartphone from his previous life in his mind and willed his ability to tell him how to make that into reality. As soon as he activated his ability, countless holograms began to pop up in front of his vision which showed him how to build a smartphone from scratch including its software and hardware. ''YES, I knew it. It is possible. It seems I have a simr ability to Forge from theics. My power gives me the innate talent to either analyze and figure out stuff or it gives me enough knowledge to make new tech just from my imagination.'' But this happiness was only short-lived for him. Since as soon as he focused back on the holograms, he understood that he didn''t know the names of half of thoseponents despite knowing their individual detailed properties and uses. His general knowledge about electronics wascking in his ability toprehend everything on its own. He understood that he had to learn about more stuff so that his ability could include his learned knowledge in its process and can give him a more simple and efficient method of constructing that particr smartphone or any other invention he wants. He was a little depressed at this that he wouldn''t be able to make stuff from the get-go and had to study some stuff up first but he didn''t let this keep him down. He knew that with this ability he could easily increase his knowledge. Also, he was fully motivated to study stuff up and work hard if it meant that he would be able to use that knowledge for making cool sci-fi technologiester. ''Wait, can I even make sci-fi stuff from fiction that I have seen or read about?'' He wondered as he imagined the super soldier serum from the MCU and willed his ability to figure out a way to make it into reality. For a few seconds, he waited with baited breaths as his ability seemed to be processing his mental request, trying to find a way to make it in real life. And then finally, when he thought that he would not be able to wait anymore due to his wildly beating heart, it finally happened. He got the knowledge to make the super soldier serum. But this time, it seemed like there were numerous holes in that knowledge, even more than when he tried his power to find out how to make a smartphone. If he had to give it a number, he would say that presently barely ten percent of the knowledge was actually clear to him. ''I guess no pain, no gain. I''ll have to work for it like most people do when they train their powers to be better at using them.'' he thought sadly as he discarded the idea of inventing something like the Omnitrix or the ultimate nullifier and bing op instantly. ''Perhaps one day.'' He thought as he was determined to be powerful enough to not be scared of anyone anymore. But before all that, he would need a workspace, numerous tools, pieces of equipment, and the biggest of all, books, lots and lots of books. *** Bruce was called for dinner at exactly seven. He was the only person at the table. Even Alfred wasn''t eating with him as he patiently waited beside the table for Bruce to finish his dinner like the loyal and professional butler he was. "Hey, Alfred." Bruce started to speak as he picked up a piece of steak with his fork. "Yes, Master Bruce?" Alfred asked waiting for Bruce''s question. "Do you think, you can arrange some stuff for me? Like some electricalponents, circuits, carpentry tools, and metallurgical instruments among other things?" Bruce asked while eating his meat like what he asked wasn''t a big deal at all. "..., May I ask what you n to do with it?" Alfred asked as he raised one of his brows in curiosity. "Nothing much. I just thought that I should take up a hobby now. After all, azy mind is a devil''s workce, so maybe I could busy myself doing some... science projects to pass the time." Bruce said as he made sure to make eye contact with his butler to show him that he was telling the truth. "I guess I can but don''t you think Master Bruce that some other simple hobby like collecting antiques or reading would be a better choice to pass the time?" Alfred asked hesitating to agree, fearing that Bruce might hurt himself with some sharp tool or electrical equipment... "I can but science is what interests me not antiques. And I have already made up my mind. I think taking up this hobby will really do me good in taking off my mind from the ident." Bruce tried to emotionally ckmail Alfred. "I-I see. But what about the space for the equipment? I don''t think the estate is proper enough to store such equipment nor do I think you should practice any experiment without proper guidance of an adult." Alfred decided to give onest try to reject Bruce''s request. "Don''t worry Alfred. There''s a huge empty cave in our backyard if you are forgetting and as for adult supervision, I have you. You are plenty adult enough to keep an eye on me. I know you will keep me safe." Bruce tried to give Alfred the starry-eyed look to convince him to let him ''y'' scientist. He had even remembered the legendary Batcave and had decided to use it to its full potential by making it into his own uniqueb. "Oh, that. I had almost forgotten about that cave. *Sigh* Fine, Master Bruce. I will contact Wayne Industries and Wayne Technologies to get you some good machine parts and tools appropriate for you as well as renovate the cave. But I am warning you now that I will be present there with you every second when you are inside that cave." Alfred said with a no-nonsense expression on his face. "Thanks. You are the best Alfred." Bruce yelled happily as he thought about all the amazing world-ending weapons he could make with hisb and his new unique ability. "Oh and another thing, do you think we can buy the Gotham library?" Bruce asked innocently with a straight face. *** ''That''s interesting.'' Bruce thought as hepleted reading the third physics book from Wayne''s private collection of books in his estate. It turns out that his special ability has given him some sort of photographic memory also known as photographic memory. It lets him not only read and understand stuff a lot faster but also lets him remember anything after just seeing it once. That was the reason he was able to read threeplicated high-level physics books in just one hour. All he had to do was just take a single look at one of its pages and he remembered everything written on it. It was like he was on NZT pills from the Limitless movie. He literally felt himself bing smarter with each page. He even felt his innate ability bing better too. The pieces of knowledge he was getting were slowly feeding data to make his power work more efficiently. ''Okay. I take my previous statement back. I don''t think this is gonna be as hard as I imagined it to be. In fact, I am pretty sure that at the rate I am going, I''ll soon be able to build something like the super soldier serum or extremis after just a few months of absorbing knowledge from books and research papers. And with my wealth and influence on Wayne Corporation, I can literally make anything I want whenever I want.'' Bruce said as he smiled dreamily at the idea of making a-sized mecha or maybe even a time machine one day. ''If I cannot be the most op batman ever even after getting such a cheat, I should probably kill myself. Hell, I want to be the most op superhero even before canon begins. I''ll make Darkseid cry tears of blood when hees to Earth.'' Bruce smiled evilly as he thought if he could develop a machine that could even steal powers like Dr. Doom from Marvel was able to do from Beyonder. "Oh, I love my new life. I am gonna have so much fun with it. Hhahahaha. MUHAHAHAhahaha.'' Bruceughed evilly as he soon choked on his saliva and began to cough violently while cursing his own little body of a young boy.
Also, you can support me or read ahead in advance on my pat reon page, /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a) Chapter 4: Books and Chilled Coffee Chapter 4: Books and Chilled Coffee --- "Forgetting is like a wound. The wound may heal, but it has already left a scar." ¨C Monkey D. Luffy, [One Piece] --- "Finally, I am done." Bruce sighed as hepleted reading all the books in the Wayne library. It took him an entire week but he had atst done it. From books on advanced physics, chemistry, and biology to philosophy, politics, economics, and business, he had read it all. So much continuous reading was almost bing unhealthy for him since he didn''t even sleep much for thest few days. But that didn''t matter to him. What mattered was that he had done the impossible, he had read or maybe, he should say seen and remembered, every book in the huge Wayne estate library. Of course, an average speedster or Kryptonian could do the same thing in a few minutes. But he was sure that his reading speed was much better than the other ordinary human geniuses out there on Earth. *Knock Knock* A sudden knock on the library door brought Bruce out of his deep thoughts. "Come in," Bruce said as he closed thest book in his hand and kept it on the shelf. "Do you n to spend the rest of your life cooped up in this library Master Bruce? I heavily rmend you stop studying so much and enjoy your life a little. You are young right now, you should enjoy the world and all it has to offer. How about I contact some of the yers from Gotham Knights to y a mock baseball match with you?" Alfred offered. He wanted to get Bruce out of the library and into the fresh air as soon as possible. He was really worried that Bruce was sumbing to depression or some other mental condition while always staying in the mansion. "No thanks Alfred, I am good. Anyways, what about the cave? Is it done being refurbished? Are the equipment and machines here yet?" Bruce enquired as he wanted to start working on some inventions as soon as possible. "*Sigh* It''s almost finished, Master Bruce. We are paying the workers double their wages just toplete the construction by tomorrow. As for the machines, equipment, and other tools, most of them have already arrived and have been ced in the cave." Alfred said with a sigh. "Good, very good. Oh and please make sure that none of the workers hired for the job ever leak the information about the cave in our backyard." Bruce said as he stretched his body. "I already made sure of that Master Bruce. After all, it won''t be good for the reputation of the Wayne family if people hear that the young master of the family is building secret scienceboratories in the basement of his mansion. I even created a fake paper trail showing that the high-grade expensive machines and tools that we got were donated by the Wayne Corporation to a non-profit science research foundation." Alfred said with a severe expression. Bruce was a little surprised at the fact that Alfred could do illegal stuff like making a fake paper trail since he was always shown to be a really honest and honorable person and basically, a good human being in theics, movies, and even the animated series. But on second thought, this was quite reasonable especially since Alfred was a retired soldier who had seen and experienced a lot and also he was the chief butler of the Wayne family. He knew his way through the politics and ways of the rich even if the Wayne family didn''t employ such dirty tactics much. "Thank you, Alfred. That''ll be all." Bruce said, quite pleased with the butler. "Also, the main reason I am here young Master Bruce is that the Gotham police areing to take your statement. I had dyed them till now since you were not in a good mental condition but they are insisting on an official statement from you today. I know that talking about the incident would be hard for you but I too think that you should tell them whatever you can remember from that night. It might potentially help them catch your parents'' murd... the criminal." Alfred resisted mentioning the death of the Wayne couple directly in front of Bruce. "Ok. I don''t think I remember too much about that night but I''ll say whatever I can remember." Bruce said as he nodded at Alfred. "Thank you, Master Bruce. I''ll go and prepare some snacks and maybe some English tea, you do seem to have taken a liking to the tea I make, for thest few days." Alfred smiled as he turned around and walked away to prepare for the ''guests'' that wereing. ''Now, what do I remember from the Wayne couple''s death?'' Bruce thought to himself as he tried to remember various versions of the same event from theics and the movie. In every mainstream version, the couple gets killed by a thief who wanted all their valuables on them. In some, it''s a mistake while in some it''s a deliberate murder. There are even versions where the thief was actually hired by the Court of Owls to get rid of the Wayne couple so that they could quite easily take control of Gotham. ''Now, what''s the name of the thief? Cold coffee or something? Goddamn it, why don''t my photographic memory work for my memories from my previous life?'' Bruce clicked his tongue in annoyance. He remembered the names of almost every big hero and viin but it was the identities of these small-time characters that he had forgotten. ''Maybe I should keep a journal but again the number of times, people had stolen information and items from the Wayne manor or Batman himself is too much for me to write a physical journal with such sensitive information and keep it in the mansion.'' He thought as he prepared to go to the living room since he could already hear a car slowly approaching their mansion. *** <(Jim Gordon pov)> "I am telling you, Jim, I am sensing something weird with this Wayne family murder. I don''t understand why the young Wayne boy couldn''t give his statement earlier. It has been more than a week. I tell you I smell something funny in this. I say we arrest the butler. In cases like these, the Butler is always the murderer." Harvey gave his expert opinion as he looked at me with a facial expression like the solution to the case was obvious and I was the idiot to not see it. "It''s not that simple Harvey. The butler, Alfred has a solid alibi. I suspected him too at first but I simply didn''t find any reason for him to do it. Also, he doesn''t exactly have the personality tomit such a crime." I say as I rang the bell beside the door. "Whatever you say partner, but remember people in Gotham are never as they really appear to be. They are sick twisted bastards who can betray you at a moment''s notice." Harvey said as he adjusted his belt and cowboy hat. The door was soon opened by the butler himself who greeted both of us politely and led us to a sofa in the living room. The young Bruce Wayne was already sitting on one of the sofas. He looked thinner than normal as his eyes had turned red due tock of sleep and had sunken in his face. It seems the kid was really suffering from the inside due to his parent''s deaths. "Good morning umm, detective?" Bruce looked at us both in a questioning manner. "I am Jim Gordon and this is my partner Harvey Bullock. I am sorry to disturb you Bruce but we need your cooperation to get the criminal who is responsible for your... parents'' deaths." I say a little uneasy at mentioning the death of his parents in front of him. Bruce''s eyes seemed to widen a little at the mention of our names. Perhaps he recognized us. Well, I can''t deny that I am not famous in the department right now due to the recent battle I am waging against the cartels in Gotham. "We need to ask you some stuff kid. We know that this is a difficult time for you but answering our questions will make our job a lot easier to arrest the one responsible for the crime since you were the only eye witness there." Harvey said as he picked up a cookie from the te in front of him as he happily munched on it, uncaring that he was talking to a child who was recently orphaned. I guess, he is either a natural asshole or that''s what working in the Gotham police department for a long time does to you. Or maybe in his case, both. "Sure. Ask away. I don''t remember all the details from that night since everything is a mess in my memory but I will dly help you with whatever information I can remember." The young boy said with a downtrodden expression on his face as he didn''t seem to mind Harvey. "Okay then, let''s begin," I said as both I and Harvey got our notepads out of our pockets to take down details and important notes about the incident. I asked him all the questions that I could think of that could give us some clues about the murderer but most of the answers were disappointing as they didn''t really provide us with a solid lead. ording to Bruce, there was only one man who had tried to mug the Wayne family but he couldn''t get a good look at his face due to the darkness of the night. That one man had shot all three of Wayne''s family members before he escaped. The Wayne couple of course was spot dead but the young Wayne had survived as the bullet had barely missed his heart and had been a flesh wound. His medical records and the forensic reports confirmed his statement as well since all three bullets were shot by the same gun. In short, we got no additional helpful details besides confirming the points we had already guessed and knew. "I see. That will be all I guess. Please get in contact with us if you remember anything more to add." I said trying to hide the frustration in my voice at not getting a more helpful clue in catching the criminal bastard. "I will definitely do so," Bruce said in a sad voice as he seemed to have guessed what I was thinking. This kid really seems to be down. Maybe, I should bring my daughter the next time I visit. She is almost the same age as him and could be friends with him. She might be able to cheer him up. He looks like he really needs a friend and a ymate. "Oh and next time, you should prepare a cup of hot joe next time. We Americans aren''t really a fan of tea. We prefer either hot coffee or some chilled whiske..." Harvey was again starting to be a jerk as he started his useless banter with Alfred but I quickly stopped him with an elbow to his side. Sometimes I wonder how I even work with him. "Wait, what did you just say?" Bruce suddenly looked up at Harvey with wide surprised eyes. Shit, was he insulted by this. I knew bringing Harvey with me was a bad idea. I should have left him in the car. Hell, my little daughter is probably more sensible than him. "Umm, Chilled whiskey?" Harvey asked in doubt. "Yes, but you also said a cup of Joe. Yes, I finally remember. Thank you, Mister Harvey. You just did a huge favor to the Wayne family." The young boy said as he had a joyous expression on his face. Did the kid finally crack or something? Maybe losing his parents, being shot, and then listening to Harvey''s bullshit was too much for him. "Thanks?" Harvey replied as he looked at me trying to make sense of what was happening. "The man who killed my parents. He had mistakenly said his name in front of me after he shot me, thinking that I was dead. He said that his name was Joe Chill." Bruce said as he looked at me directly in the eyes. Everyone in the room was quiet for a few seconds including the butler Alfred and even Harvey. This, this was huge. If this was really the real name of the murderer, then we will be able to arrest him. "Thank you, Bruce. This would be a huge help to our investigation. I promise you that we will definitely get the criminal and give him the punishment he deserves. This is my promise to you." I said as I shook his hand. "Let''s go, Harvey. It''s time for us to leave. We have a criminal to catch." I said as I marched towards the door in a hurry. We will need to act soon if we want to catch him. I just hope that he hasn''t left the city yet. We got in our car and drove straight to the department headquarters. We will need to keep this under wraps and not let this Joe Chill guy get a single chance to escape. *** <(Bruce Wayne pov)> I wonder if I did the right thing by telling the cops about Joe. I mean in some versions of theics, the guy even got his redemption arc or something which I am sure he wouldn''t get this time if he gets arrested. Although, again in some versions, he was actually evil and had even made his own criminal empireter by doing illegal stuff. Well, truthfully I don''t care. I don''t either like or hate Joe Chill. I don''t even know the guy. He might have killed previous Bruce''s parents but not ''mine''. I have no connection with him. Whether he lives or dies, simply doesn''t matter to me. And I am definitely not going to go out of my way to take revenge on that guy. I have much better and more important things to do as well as more dangerous people to worry about. So, I am sure that the police will be much better suited to take care of him. He would get life imprisonment at the minimum due to his crimes, especially if I make sure to pull some strings through Alfred. Also, the Wayne family has some pretty goodwyers. I felt a hand on my shoulder as I saw Alfred beside me looking sombrely at the police car leaving the mansion, his eyes glistening with traces of tears. He seems to have be emotional at the recent conversation. But again, Joe Chill would probably not survive after he gets arrested especially if the Court of Owls has a hand in the murder of the Wayne couple in this reality. They would make sure to sever all connections linking them to the case. I guess this in a way is an experiment for me to find out if the Court of Owls has anything to do with the murder of the Waynes in this reality or not and the result of this experiment ultimately depends on if Joe Chill will remain alive or not.
Also, you can support me or read ahead in advance on my pat reon page, /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a)
Chapter 5: The First Invention Chapter 5: The First Invention --- "Destiny. Fate. Dreams. These unstoppable ideas are held deep in the heart of man. As long as there are people who seek freedom in this life, these things shall not vanish from the Earth." ¡ª Gold D. Rodger, [One Piece] --- "I am not sure that can be said to be safe, Master Bruce. I think we should discuss further your experiments and take some expert opinions to see if they are safe or not before you continue." Alfred said worriedly as he looked at Bruce carefully picking up a hot smoking metal with a pair of tongs. "Don''t worry Alfred, it''spletely safe. There is absolutely nothing that can go wrong here." Bruce smiled as he put down the metal carefully but as soon as he touched the metal piece with the machine he was assembling, thin lines of electricity suddenly exploded from in front of him. "Well, nothing besides that." He corrected himself. Bruce was currently making a mini arc reactor simr to the one from MCU. He wanted to build a battle suit too but sadly he barely had the materials and tools necessary to make the arc reactor. He was extremely lucky that Alfred didn''t know how dangerous padium really was or that Wayne Industries for some reason didn''t say no to sending padium to his house without a permit or conducting any further inquiries on why he even needed the radioactive material. He wanted to make the arc reactor with the ''badassium'' element that the Starks invented but his intuitive intellect told him that trying to make that metal right now with his limited tools and resources was more than just a simple challenge. In fact, at first, he doubted if he would even have been able to make a simple machine because although he possessed the knowledge, he didn''t have the slightest skill in making stuff. But fortunately for him, his ability took care of that for him. Within just a few minutes of tinkering, he had innately understood almost all necessary physical skills to makeplex inventions like carpentry, metallurgy, and every other talent that required years of practice and concentration. It was like, he was a natural-born talent in the department of scientific research. "Eureka" Bruce eximed happily as he finished attaching the mini arc reactor to his first true masterpiece, his new ''Swiss army knife''. "And may I ask what you might have made here, young master? Because it definitely doesn''t look like a Swiss army knife, as you told me before. It looks much more...plex and also bigger." Alfred said as he looked at the strange device in Bruce''s hands. "Oh, but it is a Swiss army knife, Alfred, just millions of times more advanced. I call it the proto tool. Although I might call it the bat-tool as well." Bruce muttered thest part to himself wondering if he should continue with the bat theme like the original Bruce Wayne would have. Bruce''s new proto-tool was actually thebination of the proto-tool of the plumbers from the Ben 10 verse and the multi-tool from Star Wars. He made the mini arc reactor as the power source of this new tool of his. Although not nanotech, Bruce''s new proto-tool was the apex of multipurpose microfolding technology. This little multipurpose machine of his had almost every tool he might need in the next couple of years for his other inventions or any other needs he might have including self-defense. It was equipped with an energy vibrode, a hydro spanner, a mini energy ster, a custom bow or crossbow firing energy arrows, an energy sword, spear, staff, a grappler, energy shackle, shlight, taser,ser, a sight, scope, an energy shield, a vacuum cleaner, and even an extremely high grade analyzing tool. The best thing was that Bruce could program more modes and tools into itter. Also, the tool would only work for him and the people whose DNA and fingerprints he would upload into it, making it useless for any thieves to try stealing it. The tool was a bit of an overkill but Bruce was proud of it. He had wanted to make it smaller like the sonic screwdriver from Doctor Who but sadly he didn''t have ess to the resources for that yet. So, he had settled for a multipurpose proto-tool, aka, bat-tool instead. After that, Bruce spend the rest of his morning testing out the ''bat-tool'' he had made for the entirety of hisst week. He was extremely happy with it. He knew that with this tool alone, he could easily be a street-level superhero if he so wished. *Boom* As Bruce shot the head of another mannequin with the ster mode, Alfred looked at Bruce with helpless eyes as he said "This is proving to be more and more dangerous Master Bruce. Can''t you make something simple like a potato clock or maybe a walking robot? I heard many people are doing that nowadays." "Hmmm. You know what Alfred? You are right. I should make something like that next. An AI will be useful for assistance in my future endeavors." Bruce said as he began to think about what type of AI he should make. Hearing this, Alfred began to feel like his job was in danger for some reason. Anyways Master Bruce, when would you like to start school again? I think being near more kids your age should be good for you. Also, you can even show off your science knowledge as well as your archery and shooting talents there too. Alfred said as Bruce released an energy arrow from the bat-tool''s bow mode. "You are joking right Alfred? Come on, I just made a tool that even most of the brilliant minds on the would not be able to reverse engineer and you want me to go to school. I am pretty sure that I know more than most of the teachers in any school." Bruce smirked. "I know but that doesn''t mean you are above going to school. There are a lot of other things people go to school for besides knowledge, some of them being friends and happy memories." Alfred calmly spoke. "Well, I need neither. I am perfectly happy staying here in the manor without friends, just inventing stuff." Bruce tried to argue. "That is not up for discussion Master Bruce. You WILL resume school if you want to continue spending time here in the cave and do your science stuff." Alfred strictly said. "... GOSH FINE," Bruce grumbled as he finally agreed with Alfred. He knew that Alfred was doing all this to actually benefit Bruce in the long run by trying to give him a happy childhood but the truth was that he didn''t need one. What he needed was more knowledge, skills, and other useful tools and weapons he could use to surviveter down the line. "Good. I''ll inform the school board that you will be starting school again next month. Also, the Gotham Library finally epted your generous donation and decided to give the Wayne family exclusive reading rights to all books in the library. So you can go there any time to read any book you want from now on." Alfred said as he smiled at Bruce. "Then, let''s go there tomorrow. I would need some advanced programming andputer science books if I want to know the basics of programming before I start making my own AI." Bruce said as he continued testing the different modes on his bat-tool. "Got it, young master. Now, can you please put down that huge glowing sword? I feel like I am going to have a heart attack every time you wield that thing." Alfred said as he felt a headacheing. --- Also, you can support me or read ahead in advance on my pat reon page, /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a) Chapter 6: I hate yelling Chapter 6: I hate yelling --- "Simplicity is the easiest path to true beauty." -SEISHUU HANDA, [BARAKAMON] --- "Why did we have to go all the way to the library, couldn''t the library just deliver the books that I want to the estate? Also, why can''t we just buy the entire library and shift all the books that I want directly to our home?" Bruce nagged like a spoiled child as he looked at the shabby city outside through the car window while he and Alfred were returning from the library to the Wayne manor. He didn''t like going out of thefort of his home into this cursed city every day, just to read some books. "Well master, I asked the same question but apparently you cannot be the owner of a city-government-owned library. You can donate to it and thus experience some extra benefits but not buy it entirely. So I donated a generous amount to the library ording to your wishes and got you the right to read any book you want in there, even the restricted ones. But the condition is that in case of such rare or restricted books, you will have to read them in the library and won''t be able to take them out of the library premises." Alfred patiently exined to Bruce. "*Sigh* I don''t like it, but I guess you can''t have everything you want in life." Bruce grumbled while thinking ''At least not so soon after my recent transmigration.'' "By the way, any news about my parent''s murderer from Detective Gordon after ourst conversation?" Bruce crassly asked. "Unfortunately, no young master. But I do assure you that the culprit will get caught one way or the other. And when he does, I will make sure that he gets his due. He will never be able to see the outside world ever again." Alfred said with a distinct coldness in his normally caring voice. "I hope so, I really do hope so." Bruce trailed off as he again shifted his attention outside. Quite surprisingly, they were passing by the same alley where ''his'' parents got killed that day. Bruce could feel it in his heart and bones, a chilling sensation of trauma and a lingering feeling of heartbreaking sadness. They were the suppressed emotions that the previous Bruce had left for him even after his death. "Wait what is happening there?" Bruce suddenly spoke out as he noticed a group of people looking like thugs cornering a small poor looking child. "Alfred, we should help the child. I think he is in trouble." "Master Bruce it''s not safe for you. I am sure that someone else will definitely help the child, someone besides us." Alfred didn''t want to stop the car and get involved in situations like these. He didn''t want to do anything that could potentially endanger Bruce. "Look, Alfred, I know where you areing from. I probably would have agreed with you normally but that''s a child who needs our help in the same alley where my parents were killed and I was shot while nobody came to help us despite our desperate yells and screams. Do you want the same thing to happen in the same ce to another child?" Bruce pleaded as he looked and reasoned with Alfred. He normally really wouldn''t have bothered with stuff like these but even a selfish person like him couldn''t just ignore a little child being harmed in front of his eyes. This was one of the few rare cases where he genuinely wanted to help someone without expecting anything in return. Besides he had no danger from ordinary thugs like these, not with his bat-tool still with him. "Fine. Stop the car here Jimmy. And also Master Bruce, please don''t get out of the car, no matter what happens." Alfred said as he opened the car door and got out of the car. "Hello there gentlemen. May I ask what is happening here?" Alfred asked in a polite tone to the five people cornering the little child dressed in worn-down clothes which looked like they had been patched and melded multiple times. Bruce was watching and hearing this from the window of the car parked a little away from the alley. Normally he wouldn''t be able to hear sounds that far away but he had a sound amplifier and a digital zoom-in binocr in his new bat-tool which made observing them and hearing their voices excessively easy. "None of your business brit. Now why don''t you do us a favor and get the hell out of here?" A nameless thug yelled in anger. "I am afraid I can''t do that, not while that child is still here. You see my master is suffering from the trauma of a recent incident and he doesn''t want to see someone suffering from the same fate he has suffered from. So I have to politely request you to leave that child alone and walk away for both of our sakes." The look in Alfred''s eyes hardened as he discharged a thinly veiled threat toward the punks. "No can do English boy. This little street runt stole money from us and we want it back. A well-mannered dude like you have no business in protecting a thief like this do you? Now bugger off before you get some holes in that well-groomed suit of yours." A different thug spoke up this time. The child didn''t say anything to oppose the thug''s im indicating that the thug''s words were probably true. "Really? Cursing me on my suit and ce of origin? So original. Now, I guess since you guys don''t understand words of peace, I''ll have to use something a little more violent on you..." Alfred didn''t back down as he inserted his right hand into his coat. "Wait. How much did the child steal from you?" A voice suddenly came from Alfred''s back which startled him and he quickly got his hand out of his coat. "Young master, what are you doing here?" Alfred spoke out frustrated that Bruce hade here despite his initial warning to him. "Now, who are you little rat? This doesn''t concern you." The first thug spoke out again as he looked Bruce up and down. "Maybe but your money does concern you, right? How much money did he steal from you? I''ll give you your money back and all you have to do is just take it and leave that child alone. How about that?" Bruce said as he looked at the thug who seemed like their leaderpletely ignoring Alfred''s frustration. He was mainly here to stop Alfred from doing something stupid. He already knew that Alfred had begun to carry a gun after the incident that night. But he didn''t want him to carelessly use that gun on someone. Many enemies of the Wayne family were already looking for reasons to strip away Alfred''s position as Bruce''s legal guardian somehow. Bruce didn''t want to give them a way to do exactly that. "Sure. All I care about is that we get our fairly hard-earned money, no matter who gives it back to us. That little shit stole a thousand dors from us. Give it back and we will quietly walk away." He said as he showed a disgusting smile. "He is lying. There was barely a hundred dors in his wallet." Suddenly the child spoke out in what seemed like a high-pitched and scared voice. "Did somebody ask you, you disgusting little maggot..." Another thug yelled in rage as he looked at the child threateningly. "Fine. Alfred give him a thousand dors." Bruce said in a passive voice as he maintained eye contact with the leader. Alfred didn''t argue with Bruce. He was d that this matter could be over with just a measly expense of thousand dors. He quickly got out his wallet and took out thousand dors from it and handed the fresh bills over to one of the thugs. "You got your money. Now, leave." Bruce said without changing his serious tone which sounded a little funny since it wasing from a nine-year-old child. "Yeah but what about the charges for our psychological damage and loss of working time? I think we can agree on another two thousand dors to settle that. Of course, you can always choose not to pay in which case we will ''kindly'' ask our little street rat here for it." The thug leader tried to take advantage of them. "Psychological damages? You were traumatized by a little child stealing from you? And lots of time? I am sure that most of you guys do nothing but harass people all day." Alfred shouted in annoyance at their tant try to rip them off their money. He was not angry about having to pay money. He was angry that those people were trying to take advantage of him and his young master. The leader seemed ticked off at Alfred''s outburst and angrily said "We work for the Falcone crime family. Our time is more important than our lives. NOW UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE SQUASHED LIKE LITTLE COCKROACHES UNDER OUR BOOT, THEN EITHER PAY OR...." *Pew* *Pew* *Pew* *Pew* *Pew* "I hate con men and people who yell for no reason," Bruce said as he shifted his bat-tool from his gun mode back to its torch mode and kept it in his belt buckle looking like a glorified child security guard. "D-did you just kill those people young master?" Alfred asked not believing his eyes, his brain working at full speed in finding ways to protect Bruce from the ensuing legal repercussions. "Do you think I am crazy or something? Of course, I didn''t kill them. I shot low-voltage electromaic shots. They were like tasers and were only strong enough to knock them out for a few hours." Bruce snorted, not telling Alfred that they may or may not suffer from a decreased iq since Bruce set the voltage at a much higher level than needed to knock out an average human. "*Sigh* Okay but please don''t do that next time something like this happens. And also next time, stay in the car." Alfred said as he frowned at Bruce. "Hehe, I can''t promise anything." Bruce jokingly said as he focused his attention on the child. This was the first time he was looking closely at him now. He could not see his face before as the child had a hood on and the alley was quite dark even in daylight. "Are you alright kid? Are you injured? Do you need help of any kind?" Bruce said as he went close to the kid sitting on the ground and noticed a scratch on his leg. "N-no, I am alright. It''s just a small scratch." The kid nervously said as he opened his hood to show his face. The face was really beautiful in a girlish way with a strange aura of uniqueness and mystery to it. ''That face looks like that of a girl''s. And that voice also seems... Wait is she a girl?'' Bruce thought to himself. "Are you a girl?" Bruce asked as he raised one of his brows curiously. "Yeah, wasn''t that really apparent?" The young girl said as she looked at Bruce in confusion. "Not really, you looked like a boy with that hood on. Anyways, I am Wayne, Bruce Wayne. What''s your name?" Bruce asked as he gave his hand to the girl to raise her. The girl saw Bruce''s hand and took it using it to get up after slightly hesitating for a second. "I am Selina, Selina Kyle." --- (A/N: I didn''t n to release a chapter today since I wanted to take Saturdays as holidays but still, here you go. It''s a BONUS CHAPTER.)
Don''t forget toment and ''favorite'' this chapter if you like it. Also, you can check out my Pat re?n page as well to read ahead or just to support your amazing author. (My Pat-reon uses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, ie, the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a)
Chapter 7: Pinky Promises Chapter 7: Pinky Promises --- "Knowing what it feels to be in pain, is exactly why we try to be kind to others." -JIRAIYA, (NARUTO) --- "I am Selina, Selina Kyle." The girl introduced herself. Bruce couldn''t believe that the defenseless little weak and malnourished-looking girl in front of him was Selina Kyle, the future Catwoman of DC. She was not only a master thief and an important character but also the person who would one day be able to steal Batman''s or Bruce Wayne''s heart. ''Is this the universe''s way of telling me that I might finally be able to lose my virginity in this life?'' Bruce thought as he looked at Selina with surprised eyes but at the very next moment admonished himself for even thinking lewd stuff about a little girl. "Hello, Selina. Nice to meet you." Bruce replied with a smile. He didn''t want toe off as rude to an important character like her. *Grooowl* *Growl* A deep voice suddenly came from Selina''s stomach startling both Alfred and Bruce. "You are mighty hungry, aren''t you youngdy? Maybe we can treat you to a meal or something...?" Alfred asked as he looked at Bruce through the corner of his eyes to make sure that his young master didn''t have a problem against the idea. "But none of the food ces allow me in after seeing my clothes. Some even try to send me back to the orpha..." Selina tried toin but then suddenly became quiet as she remembered that she shouldn''t reveal to them how she had run away from her orphanage. "You ran away from your orphanage, didn''t you?" Bruce gave a smallugh as he looked at Selina who first had a surprised and then a downcast expression on her face thinking that they would either call the cops on her or just force her to return there. She had escaped from that hellhole with a lot of difficulty and she didn''t want to go back there. She was almost on the verge of tears. "You know what Alfred, I think we had some delicious steak and a bowl of ice cream at home didn''t we? It was going to waste anyway, so how about inviting this girl toe and help us finish it up?" Bruce asked looking at Alfred. The old butler knew what Bruce was trying to do. He himself was empathetic with this girl, so he gave a knowing smile and replied, "Yes indeed we do. I agree with you young master. We do need some help. So how about it little girl, wannae help us out in finishing the food?" "Really? Y-You won''t send me back or take me away to a bad ce, right?" Selina asked already half sold on the idea of apanying the duo back to their house to eat some tasty food. "We won''t. Promise." Bruce said as he used his little finger to grab hold of Selina''s pinky finger in a childish show of promise. "Then fine, I guess I can apany you this time." Selina agreed making it seem like she wasn''t that eager to go and eat at his home. Bruce and Alfred then directed Selina to their car which was still parked at the same location and told the driver Jimmy to go back straight to the manor. Bruce and Selina didn''t say anything the entire journey. Alfred had tried to crack open some really bad dad jokes to lighten the awkward atmosphere but sensing an absence of interest in conversation from both the children, he just sighed and became quiet. "Is this really your home or do you share it with other people?" Selina finally opened her mouth once they entered the gates of the manor. "Well, it''s my family home. And currently, I am the only resident if you don''t count Alfred and the other couple of dozen maids and security officials living here. I am an orphan after all." Bruce said with an impassive face. After the incident with his family, Alfred who had been spooked had contacted some of the best security agencies in the world and hired an entire team of professional security officials to ensure Bruce''s safety. He had even begun to carry a gun on himself as well even though he had once sworn to never again use a gun after he had retired from the army. "I see. You are quite lucky to have a big home like this." Selina said as she excitedly looked around the big mansion while entering through the door. "Yes, I really am quite lucky." Bruce didn''t deny it. He knew that as a human being both he and the original Bruce was quite lucky to have billions in the bank to fall back on even after bing an orphan. Although the previous Bruce of this universe probably ran out of his luck as he got shot and died in that alley. ''Someone should never depend on pure luck in life. ns, preparations, and skill are way better.'' He thought vowing to never just go with the flow and instead control his own life and destiny with his ns and ability. "You should wash your face and hands first before eating young miss. The washroom is that way." Alfred said, his voice carrying a gentle yet strict undertone leaving no arguments to be made. "You too young master." Both Bruce and Selina couldn''t help but nod their heads and go to the washroom to clean themselves one by one. This was new for Selina. At the orphanage, nobody cared if you had washed your hands or not, hell they didn''t even care if you had eaten or not, much less maintain your cleanliness and good habits. Once both of them were done, Alfred presented an assortment of hot food on the table in front of them. There were slices of bread, vegetables, soup, bacon, a big steak, and even a shake. "The dessert will be for after you finish your food," Alfred said, taking his position to stand near the table and wait patiently for them to finish their meal. Selina didn''t wait anymore. The moment she had seen the wide assortment of food, she started salivating like a hungry cat seeing a fish. She didn''t even care for any manners as she just ate as fast as she could with her hands like she was afraid that all of it would suddenly vanish soon. Both Bruce and Alfred just smiled upon seeing this. None of them said anything to her about table manners and just watched her eat. ''She is almost like a speedster.'' Bruce thought as he slowly ate his own food with a fork. After both of them finished eating, the duo just sat on the sofa in front of the massive antique firece with a bowl of ice cream in each of their hands. Alfred wasn''t there as he was allowing them to talk alone and for Bruce to potentially make a new friend. "I wish the orphanage food was as nice as this. This was the nicest meal I have ever eaten in my life." Selina said as she licked her spoon with her little tongue. Bruce who was watching this cursed himself for ever seeing those damned Loli videos in his previous life. They had truly corrupted him and now even though he was a grown teenager in a young boy''s body, he was still finding Selina strangely cute and extremely beautiful. ''All because of that cursed Boku no pico'' He thought and pushed the entire me to that... abomination he had once mistakenly watched during his adolescence. "I am d to hear it. I aim to please." Bruce said trying to distract his focus from Selina. "I know that you two will probably shift me back to the orphanage tomorrow. But still thank you, for today. I am d that I was able to eat such tasty food and able to make a... friend." Selina said as she stared down at her ice cream like she was gonna miss it the most. "..." Bruce couldn''t reply anything to that. It was true, even though he did help her today, he couldn''t do it every day. She was an orphan who didn''t belong here. Being a poor orphan suffering was her ''plot''. Her harsh life was the thing that would one day shape who she was gonna be. To be the Catwoman, she needed to be an orphan, she needed to be poor and suffer... Bruce couldn''t change her fate, that would change his own plot as well, and it could potentially change everything. And Bruce was just a regr guy now. He couldn''t help her even if he wanted to could he?... could he...? ''Tchh. Such a weakling. I guess I still suffer from that cowardly herd mentality of myst life, don''t I? The same mentality that got me killed by a goddamn dc fanatic. Hahaha, I am forgetting that I am no longer that weakling anymore. No, I am Bruce Wayne, I am GODDAMN BRUCE WAYNE for god''s sake. I can do ANYTHING I want. And I know what I exactly want, right now. SCREW THE CONSEQUENCES.'' Bruce had an entire inner monologue within just a fraction of a second. "Hey, Selina. Do you like it here?" Bruce asked looking at the girl in her eyes to show his seriousness. "Um yeah. Of course, I do." Selina nodded like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Then tell me honestly. If I gave you a choice to remain here with me in his home as my friend if you never have to go back to your orphanage again, will you ept it?" Bruce said with determination shing in his eyes. "Are you pulling my tail?" Selina said as she looked at Bruce annoyed that he was joking with her. "No, and I think the correct expression is ''pulling my leg'' not tail." Bruce smiled and corrected her. "Whatever, I like tail more... But I guess it would not be so bad with living in a home, how worse can it be from the orphanage? Although sweeping the floors would be a little harder due to the muchrger size of the building." Selina said as she looked at the floor, trying to judge how much effort it would take for her to clean it. "You don''t have to clean the floors silly. The maids will do it. But you have to study and stuff." Bruce said as he looked at her amused at her answer. "Only that? I mean it''s equally as daunting a task but I think I can manage that." Selina said as she nodded her head like she had given it some deep thought. "Fine then, we have a deal. You will be my friend from now on and I''ll share my home with you. But you will have to study too." Bruce said as he thrust his hand forward for a handshake. "Hmm. Okay, I agree." Selina gave a big smile as she shook his hand. "By the way, that reminds me I think you should have this back," Selina said as she took the... Bat-tool out of her baggy worn-out clothes and gave it back to Bruce. "I stole it back in the car earlier from you because it looked like it was really useful and expensive. But don''t worry, I won''t steal from you ever again. I promise." She did a pinky swear trying to imitate what he had done before in that alley. "..." Bruce was gobsmacked at how much of a good thief she already was at this age. She was almost a natural cat burr because he didn''t even realize that he was missing his most prized creation up until now, not that she or anybody else would be able to use it with the heavy security protocols inside including a DNA-scanning based security measure as well as its state of the art anti-hacking protocols and an auto-lock feature which locks the tool in its torch mode every twenty-four hours until provided with a password. Although, he did wonder how she even got caught back there and why she tried to steal from a guy instead of a regr rich asshole. "Thank you for giving it back I guess. But the next time you want or need something, just ask. I''ll bring it for you." Bruce didn''t ask her about what happened in the alley. He believed that she would gradually reveal her story to him in time. However, he couldn''t help but pinch her cheek at the cute expression she was making. "Also we need to buy some good clothes for you." "But, because you did this, I''ll have to give you a goofy nickname as punishment now. So from now on, I''ll call you, Kitty." He smiled at the very much super original nickname he had thought of. "That''s not fair. I of course am a cat, not a mere little kitty." Selina huffed in annoyance as she looked at Bruce''s teasing face. But she had a small smile on her lips. In her own secret thoughts, she quite liked her new nickname just like she quite liked this new house and its food and most of all, she very much liked this strange boy in front of her who was the same age as her. ''I think I''ll like my new home very much.'' She thought to herself happy at the sudden turn of her fate.
Don''t forget toment and ''favorite'' this chapter if you like it. Also, you can check out my Pat re?n page as well to read ahead or just to support your amazing author. (My Pat-reon uses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, ie, the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a) Chapter 8: Sleeping together with no lewd thoughts Chapter 8: Sleeping together with no lewd thoughts --- "Do exactly as you like. That is the true meaning of pleasure. Pleasure leads to joy and joy leads to happiness." GILGAMESH (FATE ZERO) --- Convincing Alfred of adopting Selina wasn''t as hard a task as Bruce imagined it to be. All he had to do was just make him believe that Selina wasn''t really a thief and was just trying to steal before to get some food since she was hungry which was more or less true except for the fact that Selina seemed to have some kind of special grudge with the Falcone family for some reason as Bruce understood, from their conversation on why she was trying to steal from a gang instead of an ordinary rich person. Alfred of course had his doubts about the entire thing and at one point even thought that Selina could even be a spy or a ploy from one of their enemies (the man had grown really paranoid after the murder of the Wayne couple). But after a few minutes of heartfelt requests from a cute starry-eyed Bruce and slight emotional ckmail about him being all alone and having no friends after his parent''s death, the butler melted like pure butter. He ultimately gave in and promised Bruce to take care of Selina''s situation first thing in the morning and adopt her officially and legally to make sure that she could remain here freely in the mansion. This freed Bruce of all worries since he trusted Alfred. He knew that his trusty butler would always fulfill his promises and do anything to make sure that Selina gets adopted into his family even if it means bending thews with their wealth and influence. His universe''s Alfred was cool that way. Maybe it was because of Bruce ''almost'' dying in this world after being shot in that alley that Alfred became this paranoid and loose with his morals when it came to Bruce, but whatever it was, he was d for it. As Bruce was lying on his bed in a carefree manner that night, pleased with himself for having manipted Alfred and sessfully getting what he wanted, a sudden sound of small footsteps got him out of his reverie as he looked at the closed door of his room. "Who''s there?" Bruce said, taking the bat-tool on his nightstand into his hands, ready to shoot down anything that moves. "Umm. It''s me, Selina." A small mosquito-like voice came out from outside the door. "Kitty? What are you doing here at this time of the night?" Bruce asked, still not moving due to being suspicious of the voice. He had seen far too many horror and thriller movies to just believe any voice he hears during the night and open his door. "I have never slept alone at night. I always used to sleep with the other girls back at the orphanage, so I was a little afr... uhh, troubled, yeah I was troubled and couldn''t fall asleep, so I thought that I coulde here." Selina said from behind the door. Bruce almostughed aloud at her words mainly because of how she was trying so hard not to admit that she was just afraid to sleep alone. "Fine. I guess you cane in." Bruce said as he opened the door for Selina but still held on to his bat-tool, just in case. Coming in, Selina quietly moved to the bigfortable bed andid down on it like it was her private bed. "Hey, that''s my bed," Bruceined, annoyed at Selina for not even taking his permission beforeying down on HIS bed. "Huh? But you let me enter yourself. I thought you knew that I wanted to sleep with you." Selina said, not at all realizing the potential double meaning hiding behind her childish words. But Bruce also ignored them right now and just looked at her with an annoyed expression. "What? You can sleep too. You can take that side while I can sleep on this side. I promise I don''t scratch or anything, although there was that one time when a bully tried to cut my hair when I was asleep..." Selina innocently said as she began to remember the details of the event when she had almost scratched the eyes off a boy. "*Sigh* Okay I guess you can sleep on my bed for today but that''s only for today. I am a man who likes his privacy, so you should sleep on your own bed from tomorrow," Bruce said as he looked at Selina seriously. "Yeah, yeah sure," Selina said carelessly dismissing his words as she pulled on his nky to make some space for herself in it. "By the way, how did you know the way to my room? I don''t think I told you that, right?" Bruce asked as he kept the bat-tool on his nightstand close to him and pulled on his nket as well, making sure that he had some left for himself. "Well, Alfred had told me where his room was before he went to sleep. So, when I couldn''t sleep, I first went to Alfred''s room, he told me that I should instead sleep with you if I am having nightmares and showed me where your room was. So I came straight here." Selina said as she covered half her face with his nket and stared at him like a small adorable cat. Bruce was feeling a lot of emotions at the same time right now. He not only felt annoyed at not being the first choice of Selina toe to when she was afraid but also happy that at least his butler was a good wingman and sent Selina to him, although it might be due to Alfred not having the slightest idea of his master being a low-key pervert with a head filled with the lewdest thoughts of the twenty-first century. "I see," Bruce answered as he quietly closed his eyes after switching off the bedmp. "Bruce? You awake?" Selina asked after some time of only silence permeating the darkness of the room. "Yeah." "Do you ever miss them, your parents I mean?" She asked out of nowhere. "... A little, I guess," Bruce said, although he was talking about his real parents, not the Wayne couple. "Do you ever wish that you could meet again, like even if one of them didn''t want to meet you?" She continued with a voice that sounded like it was carrying a lot of hidden emotion in it. "It doesn''t matter what I want or wish Kitty. Reality is always disappointing. Nothing ever goes as nned in this ursed world. The longer you live, the more you realize that the only things that truly exist in this reality are merely pain... But, we have to make our path in that reality with our own efforts, create our own protecting bubble with happiness even in the harshness of it. That is what life is about. Enjoying the little things." Brucebined a couple of quotes to not only encourage her but also to remind himself why he was trying so hard in this new life. "I-I see. That''s deep, you know. Maybe you can be a good politician, tiger. I heard that they can also give good speeches in public." She smiled as she tried to imagine kid Bruce with a hat giving a speech about reality in front of the entire city while she was stealing everyone''s wallets. "Thanks, but tiger?" Bruce asked as he ignored the quip and raised one of his brows in curiosity at the nickname even though Selina herself couldn''t see due to the darkness inside the room. "Well, you call me Kitty, so I thought I should give you a nickname too. You seem like a good leader and you are bold and courageous as you stood against even those thugs in that alley. Also, you are so cute in a different way than normal and a big softy on the inside, thus the name tiger." Selina exined. "Wow, that exnation was deeper than my advice." Bruceughed at her as he could almost imagine her pouting in the dark at his response. "Whatever," Selina grumbled. "Now, go to sleep little kitty or this tiger might try its luck on hunting you." Bruce teased. "Best of luck with that. Catching a kitty is really hard, even for a tiger... By the way, thanks Bruce, for everything." Selina said as she slightly touched Bruce''s back with her finger to show her appreciation before quickly retracting back her hand. Bruce didn''t say anything. He didn''t need to. He knew that he had done something good today. He had not only rescued an orphan hopefully earning him some much-needed good karma for all the psychos he was gonna killter in his life but also he had secured an adorable little kitty for himself, a kitty that hopefully would one day turn into his own sultry cat. At least he was secretly hoping for that to happen. The silence continued in the darkness of the room as both of them slowly fell asleep with each having their thoughts swirling in their minds. Of course, Bruce had another problem the next morning when he found out that Selina had hugged him sometime in her sleep and had ced her hand somewhere really close to a ce where kids like her shouldn''t be allowed to ce her hand at this age. Bruce was narrowly able to save his own life and freedom from the interdimensional FBI that morning only due to him being eight years old, the same age as her making him unworthy to truly get morning wood. Bruce survived that day but he had no idea that it was only the first day and that sleepover was only the first of many with countless more toe. Of course, Alfred didn''t know about all this since he as a dutiful butler and a guardian just wanted to give his young master a friend and a ymate. So, after waking up, the first thing he did was call up a trustedw firm associated with the Wayne family and had them prepare a meeting with Selina''s orphanage. He was not only going to adopt Selina as his daughter ording to his master''s wishes but also make sure that there was no corruption in this orphanage of hers. Because the one crime even he couldn''t ignore in Gotham was child abuse and trafficking. And he was gonna make sure that his future daughter and friend of the heir of the Wayne family was in no way linked to a heinous crime like that. Even his young master had permitted him to use any means possible to adopt Selina and make sure that the orphanage''s kids are not being abused in any way, so he was gonna do exactly that even if it meant taking control of every orphanage in Gotham. Yes, the Waynes had enough money to do that without even making a single dent in its deep, deep coffers. "I think the future of the Wayne family is in very capable hands, Master Wayne. I hope that both you and Lady Martha can rest assured knowing that the Wayne family would never decline under a young master. I''ll make sure of that. Nothing would happen to him as long as I am alive, I promise." Alfred said as he ced a bouquet in front of the Wayne family mausoleum where the two Wayne parents were buried. --- Don''t forget toment and ''favorite'' this chapter if you like it. Also, you can check out my Pat re?n page as well to read ahead or just to support your amazing author. I have 12 chapters in advance there right now. (My Pat-reon uses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, ie, the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a) Chapter 9: Wayne Murder Case – The Arrest Chapter 9: Wayne Murder Case ¨C The Arrest --- "People''s lives don''t end when they die, it ends when they lose faith." ¨C Itachi Uchiha (Naruto) --- "God, I never thought that writing programs would be this taxing. I think this is my 10000th line of code this week." Bruceined to no one as he continued to type away with his tired and swollen fingers he yawned due to theck of sleep for thest few nights, a result of Selina making him into her personal hug teddy every night for some reason, not that he wasining about it. Anyways, to construct a new AI for him, he not only had to write code for the primary matrix of the AI but also write different separate additional programs to make sure that the current programmingnguages and tech of this time would be able to handle and support his code for the required AI. He didn''t want to spend a month writing codes for an AI, only for it to crashter because some programmingnguage simply wasn''t capable enough to process hisplex code. "But at least I don''t have to make blueprints for this. That''s a plus." Bruce''s smugly thought. His biggest headache wasn''t writing code or gaining knowledge or even using his ''gift'' to understand how stuff works. No, his fear was making blueprints. That was the one thing that he hated in this life due to the fact of how time-consuming it truly was. He remembered that he had to spend an entire day making blueprints when he was first trying to make his bat-tool. To most scientists or engineers, that would be considered an extremely small time to devote to making a blueprint of such aplex tech but to him, it was an eternity since he hade up with the idea and understood the entire process of how the bat-tool was gonna work within just one hour but took a day for drawing up its blueprint. Even following the blueprint and actually constructing the bat-tool was a much more enjoyable process where he at least wasn''t bored out of his mind. "And done. That marks the end of all the additional programs required to run the primary code. Now I just have to write the main code for the AI and start the training process." It would be a little more difficult and time-consuming for the AI to grow and mature due to the absence of enough simtion and training data since this was still the nies and the inte still hadn''t developed to that extent yet but the AI would seed nheless with it bing smarter and smarter with the steady development of technology and spread of inte since that was the primary ce where all advanced AI collect data from to learn. Bruce was at first thinking about making an assistant-type AI like Jarvis but he already had Alfred. So instead, he decided to go for something moreplex. He would never in his full sanity ever try to make a militaristic AI like Sk but he could make a supportive analytical one like Cortana, one which could update and evolve its responsibilities with time while strictly sticking to its core programming andmands of being loyal to him and always obeying him. "Yes. Soon I''ll develop my own AI and then the entire inte will be my yground. Unlimited nudes forever, hahaha, muahahaha HAHA HAHAHA." "You areughing like one of those crazy scientists on tv, you know?" Selina said from behind him while chewing on a piece of gum. "Da FCK?" Bruce almost had a heart attack as he was surprised by Selina''s sudden voice interrupting him. Selina could be really sneaky when she wanted to be. She was the literal living incarnation of what a talented female cat burr should be like in a fictional universe filled with absurdly skilled and powerful people. "Oh Sorry, did I surprise you?" Selina said with an extremely smug smile that said ''Got you again''. "Kitty, you took over my bed, I didn''t say anything. You made me your hug buddy every night, I didn''t say anything (In fact, he even enjoyed it somewhat). But this cave is my personal man cave and you don''te into a man cave without permission. That''s the one thing you never do. And also, how did you even find it? I was sure that I hid all its entrances on the estate ground very well." Bruce said with an annoyed expression. "Oh, it was quite easy. I just followed my gut. I even was waiting for the past ten minutes to see if you noticed me. I was even thinking of not surprising you this time and just announcing my presence but when I saw you do what I can say was the most epic crazy scientistugh I have ever heard, I could no longer control myself, I had to do that." Selina justified herself. "You waited for ten minutes just to do that? Wow, that''s some level of dedication." Bruce could not help but grow amazed. "Yeah, I also liked watching you work all focused and determined. Anyways, I was here because Alfred was calling you. He seemed to be really serious and worried, so I think you should go and see what it''s about. "Let''s go then. I don''t think we should keep a worried Alfred waiting." Bruce said with a smile as he shut down all the screens in front of him and turned off the cave''s main power supply, an additional arc reactor that he had madest time when he was working on his bat-tool. As both of them reached the living room of the manor, they saw Alfred talking with someone on the telephone. Seeing the two of them, Alfred quickly bade goodbye to the person on the other side and put down the receiver. "Young Master, I have very good news and a little bad news for you," Alfred said as he seriously looked at Bruce standing with a confused face. "I am listening," Bruce replied. "I just talked to Detective Jim Gordon from GCPD, the same guy who took your statementst week. He and his partner seem to have caught the guy who murdered your par..., whose name you remembered, Joe Chill. But since you couldn''t provide a physical description of the guy in your statement, they do not have conclusive evidence to detain him for long. So they would have to let the guy go... unless you can go the station and sessfully identify the person yourself." Alfred said, a little angry at himself for even suggesting Bruce go through that all again, to stand in front of the same guy who had killed his parents. To say Bruce was worried about this was an understatement. He didn''t know who had murdered the original Bruce''s parents in this universe. When he told the name ''Joe Chill'' to Jim, it was purely based on a guess from what he knew from theics about the death of the Wayne couple. It was very much possible that in this reality, the guy didn''t even have anything to do with his parents'' murder in which case he would be wrongfully using an innocent man as a vile murderer. ''God, why did I even say that at that time? I really should have thought this through." Bruce said. He had said it in front of everyone to seem like the original Bruce Wayne genuinely suffering from amnesia. He had used that name as a bone throwing it to the dogs so that they don''t follow him. It was all only a way for him to make his story sound more genuine so that nobody would doubt him or question him about the incident too much. Now even if he stood solid in his previous statement of remembering that name, he wouldn''t be able to identify the person since he had never seen him. Even if he was the murderer of the original Wayne family, he would still not be able to recognize him since he didn''t inherit the previous Bruce Wayne''s full memories. Also, there was always a chance of the personing back to finish the job and tie loose ends if he were the murderer and if Bruce failed to identify him. As Bruce was thinking about all this, he found a small hand slowly sliding in between his hands, trying tofort him and remind him of her encouraging presence. Looking at both the empathetic eyes of Selina and Alfred looking at him, practically telling him to do whatever he wanted and that they would always support him no matter which option he chose, he ultimately made his choice. "Call Detective Gordon Alfred. Tell him Bruce Wayne ising to the station. If that person did kill... my parents, I would make sure that he gets his due. That''s the least I can do for the Wayne family. I at least owe them that." Bruce said as he clutched the bat-tool on his belt buckle determined to just ''wing it'' and worry aboutplex stuffter when they pop up. He didn''t care if he was changing the plot or breaking the character. He had sworn to himself that he was gonna write his own story and that was exactly what he was gonna do. He was gonna write his own fate, even if he had to shoot an endless and steal his book for it.
Don''t forget toment and ''favorite'' this chapter if you like it. Also, you can check out my Pat re?n page as well to read ahead or just to support your fantastic author. I have 12 chapters in advance there right now. (My Pat-reon uses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, ie, the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a)
Chapter 10: Wayne Murder Case – The Lineup Chapter 10: Wayne Murder Case ¨C The Lineup --- "If you really want to be strong¡­ Stop caring about what your surrounding thinks of you!" ¨C Saitama (One Punch Man) --- This was the first time that Bruce was inside a police station in both of his lives. He was quite curious and nervous at the same time. His nervousness grew even more when he saw the reporters standing outside like hound dogs ready to eat some Bruce Wayne meat. If he for some reason fails to identify Joe Chill, the press controlled by the people truly responsible for his parent''s death would brand him as a mentally imbnced amnesiac patient whose words cannot be trusted by thew and justice department in this case and this case would be finally shut down due tock of evidence. This would not only harm his future reputation but could also be used by the potential enemy organization behind the conspiracy of the murder of Waynes to end the investigationpletely. Bruce even suspected that if Joe Chill was truly the murderer and if something like the Court of Owls was involved in this conspiracy, then Joe would be killed even if Bruce somehow did recognize him today. He was only a pawn after all. Bruce was even hoping in his heart that the guy gets killed before he could reach the lineup. "Don''t worry. Even if they took my gun, we still have ways to protect ourselves. Also, there are too many cops here for anyone to try anything." Alfred tried to reassure Bruce looking at his worried face. "No, I was just thinking about Joe Chill. Do you think he would face long-term imprisonment even if I do recognize him today?" Bruce asked as he yed with his bat tool since he was bored from all the waiting. They had not brought Selina with them as both Alfred and Bruce decided not to involve Selina in this mess since this can negatively affect her mental health. Although the decision did make her extremely angry and she even tried to use emotional ckmail on them using her big adorable eyes filled with tears but the duo stood strong on their decision and rejected taking her with them. After all, even if she tried to behave like an adult, she was just a nine-year-old kid right now, much like Bruce, the only difference being she really was nine years old in both body and mind. "Yes, he would. I would make sure of that. Even if the court can''t give us the justice we deserve, I have other contacts. The Wayne family might be good and righteous but it was never weak, it nevercked power or influence. We will get justice, one way or the other." Alfred said as he looked to be deep in thought. "I see," Bruce replied and continued to y with his bat-tool which was currently in torch mode making sure that nobody suspected it to be some high-tech state-of-the-art weapon. The cops had searched them and seized all their weapons at the lobby which was only just Alfred''s gun. When they saw his torch-shaped bat-tool, they had only thought it to be a weirdly shaped torch perhaps used by the rich who had money to spend on stupid stuff, so they hadn''t taken it from him, dismissing it as harmless. Alfred had of course recognized what it was but the butler had wisely kept his mouth shut. "Bruce, Mister Pennyworth, we are ready for you now. Please step this way." Jim said as he came up to them. The detective had deep circles under his eyes and looked like he needed a cup of coffee. ''His workload must be really bad. Well again it''s Gotham, so...'' Bruce thought as he and Alfred followed him. They went to an empty room that was connected to another room where about ten simr-looking people wearing the same orange prisoner jumpsuit were standing, holding different number cards in front of them. "Now Bruce, carefully look at every one of them and see if you can recognize any of their faces. If you do and if you are sure, just tell me their number. As long as it matches our suspect we are good to go. There is no rush, so take your time. But remember, you only have one try. If you fail, we won''t be allowed byw to try again. So, only tell me the number when you are absolutely sure." Jim carefully and patiently exined the process to Bruce. Bruce took a deep breath and slowly began to look over each of the inmates'' appearances, carefully studying their faces and physical features, trying to remember if he had seen aic book character like them on some Wiki page or you-tube video in his past life. But s, he remembered absolutely nothing as he went over most of their faces. They didn''t look even the least bit familiar to him. As he finally set his vision on the face of thest man, a man with absolutely nothing special to his looks or features, their eyes suddenly met. At that very moment, Bruce felt something. He felt an intense sensation in his stomach like his guts wrenching, his throat running dry and his body heat rising. Fear? No. It was somethingpletely different. It was anger, anger that he had never felt before in his life, absolute disgust at the human waste standing in front of him. He didn''t need to remember memories about this guy that night. No, Bruce''s emotions were enough. The strong undeniable emotions he was feeling were the proof he required to identify the guy. Bruce''s shaking hand moved to the bat-tool on his belt, wanting to shoot the bastard right then and there, an action that was noticed by Alfred. "Control yourself, master. A Wayne always listens to his heart but he always ns and acts with his mind." The butler ced his hand on Bruce''s shoulder and advised as he followed Bruce''s line of vision and looked at the man looking back at them with nervous eyes filled with worry. "Yes, you are right Alfred, like always. Detective Gordon, number ten is the one. He was the one who killed my parents and shot me in that alley that night, the one who told me his name at a moment of carelessness and overconfidence when I was dying, bleeding out on the cold floor with a bullet in my chest. That is Joe Chill." Bruce added for dramatic effect, making sure that no doubt remained in anyone''s mind about his iron-d statement. "I see. Are you sure?" Jim asked. "Yes. A hundred percent." Bruce said as he continued to give Joe a death re. "That is indeed the Joe Chill we apprehended. Thank you for your cooperation. We will handle it from here. Harvey, would you please escort them outside to take their signatures." Jim said as he gestured to another officer to arrest the original Joe Chill and bring him into custody. Bruce and Alfred were escorted by Harvey to the lobby again where theypleted the remaining formalities which were mainly a couple of signatures. Then the duo left the station for their car, ready to go home. "That went well," Alfred said sometimeter in the car. "Don''t worry young master. I''ll take care of this matter from here. You have done your part. It''s time I do mine. Joe Chill will be going to prison for a long long time, possibly forever." "I hope so," Bruce muttered but he somehow doubted that. Nothing could be said for certain in an uncertain world like DC. There is always a bigger fish around, always a higher power controlling stuff from behind the shadows. ''As much as I want to kill him, I hope that he survives and the cops can get some intel from him about the real people behind this crime.'' Bruce wanted confirmation of the existence of the Court of Owls. Once he did get that, he would be able to n his steps ording to that. ''Although, if he dies in police custody or prison then that would also give me the confirmation I am looking for...'' The rest of the day was uneventful for the entire Wayne family as Bruce just focused on his inventions in his cave to divert his mind and Alfred did his housework like usual after making some calls while Selina either hung out with Bruce or tried to practice gymnastics as she had taken it to be her hobby. The next morning when the newspaper was delivered to all the homes in Gotham, a single article dominated the entire first page of the most famous newspaper in the city. ¨C ''Primary suspect in the ''Wayne family murder case'' identified by survivor Bruce Wayne to be the killer of the billionaire Wayne couple Thomas and Martha Wayne dies in police custody due to heart attack.'' The article stated that Joe Chill died in police custody after suffering from a major heart attack where medical attention could not be provided in due time. The Forensic scientists assigned to the case had sighted this as a natural death without any outside interference or foul y. There was even a big picture of Joe Chill''s face making it clear in the article that this case was simply a mugging gone wrong and that the Waynes were just at the wrong time at the wrong ce. Of course, most of the people of Gotham ate this right up, except a few which included a small nine-year-old boy silently observing everything, understanding everything and just waiting for his chance, biding for time and making his preparations like a determined hunter. For when a true bat flies, he flies for blood. --- A big shout-out to my new p¨¢tron ''Devor'' for joining the Celestial Emperor tier on my p¨¢treon. Thanks for the support. Don''t forget toment and ''favorite'' this chapter if you like it. Also, you can check out my Pat re?n page as well to read ahead or just to support your fantastic author. I have 12 chapters in advance there right now. (My Pat-reon uses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, ie, the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a)
Chapter 11: The Funeral (1) Chapter 11: The Funeral (1) --- "The world isn''t perfect. But it''s there for us, doing the best it can¡­.that''s what makes it so damn beautiful." ¨C Roy Mustang, (Full Metal Alchemist) --- "Are you sure you want to do this, young master?" Alfred asked as he fixed Bruce''s tie on his new tuxedo. "Yes Alfred, I am sure. We need to make a public statement showing that the Wayne family is still going strong and this funeral is the best way to do that. It will help me in both paying respect to my parents as well as using this opportunity to tell the world that the Wayne line hasn''t ended yet." Bruce said as he looked at his reflection in the mirror. He looked cuter than even the most famous child actors, probably an effect of the body belonging to one of the most important and central characters in DC. "I see. By the way, you look good. I think your parents would be really happy seeing you in that suit today, after all, you always hated wearing suits." Alfred said with a small smirk on his face. "Thanks, Alfred. Let''s go, I don''t want to bete for my own parents'' funeral." Bruce said as his butler just sighed and followed behind him. Selina also joined them in the living room. She was wearing a in ck dress, looking like a grieving princess. "Are you alright Bruce?" She asked worried about her friend. "Yeah, I am alright." Bruce gave her a small smile to ease her worries. He could not tell her that he was not at all affected by the death of Bruce Wayne''s parents, so he had to act a little to keep everyone''s suspicion off him. A constant stoic look was doing wonders in that regard. The trio went to the part of the manor grounds that was hosting the funeral and saw that there were many guests already there as well as some reporters under disguise. Bruce and Alfred readied themselves for the conversations, favors, and questions they would have to face from everyone here. Selina although had little idea of the importance of this funeral was still warned by Bruce and Alfred beforehand to stay close to them at all times and to only respond to people after thinking carefully while not revealing anything sensitive about their family like Bruce''s secret cave or his inventions. Bruce was approached by many people at the funeral to tell him how sorry they were for his loss, how much of a good rtionship they had with his parents, and how much they would love to help him if he ever needed it. Most were just trying to establish good rtions with him, some even trying to get him to sell some of hispanies or properties to them or pitch him their business ideas and try to get investment from him. Some looked genuinely sorry for him but those were a minority who could be counted in a single hand. Most were just sharks, who hade here to try their luck to get a piece of him. About twenty minutes into the funeral, he had almost gone crazy with the number of people trying to somehow lynch some benefit from him. The announcement of the officiant for Bruce to say some words in the memory of his parents was the only thing that gave him some temporary relief from the headache that Bruce was getting. He went to the stage and gave a very good speech in his parents'' memory, a speech that was written by a professional writermissioned by Alfred. After giving the speech and shedding some tears which Bruce brought to his eyes thinking about his dead dog in hisst life, he was again approached by a volley of people expressing how sorry they were with tears in their eyes, tears which were as genuine as his own. "Bruce Wayne. You have grown, haven''t you?" A voice interrupted a conversation that Bruce was having with one of his uncles, Jacob Kane. Looking in the direction of the voice, Bruce saw that it was a crooked-looking man in his mid-forties wearing a ck suit and ck sses with a rose in his hand. He had about half a dozen men behind him standing still with stoic faces like his bodyguards, all dressed in ck. "I''ll talk to youter Uncle Kane. Tell Aunt and Kate that I said hello." Bruce ended his conversation with Jacob. He had already learned most of the names of his rtives and other important people using newspapers and photo albums. So he at least knew the names of his close rtives. There were very few of them and they were probably the only ones at the funeral who were genuinely sad about the death of his parents. "Do I know you?" Bruce asked as he looked at the man with curious eyes. "Maybe. I was your father''s friend and associate. My name is Carmine Falcone. I have a little business of my own, nothingparable to that of the Wayne family but enough to bring food on the table. Listen, kid, I was just here to tell you that I am sorry for what happened to your parents. It was an undesirable tragedy. But I am here for you. If you ever need anything, call me. I have a lot of ways to make people''s problems go away, permanently. I hope that the Wayne and Carmine families can continue to work together even in the future." He said giving Bruce a crooked smile as he nced in the direction of Alfred and nodded to the butler who was observing all this with frowning eyes. "Thank you for your worries and sympathy. But I do not need any help for now. But if I do, I know whom to contact." Bruce gave a fake smile to the head of the Falcone crime family of Gotham. "So be it kid. And again, nice to meet you. Hope I''ll see you by." Carmine said as he turned around and left with his men. For some reason, Selina hade beside him sometime during the conversation and was looking at Carmine Falcone with cold angry eyes. Carmine however didn''t notice it and didn''t even give the little girl a second look after he was done talking with Bruce. "What happened kitty? You don''t like underworld kingpins or something?" Bruce asked her. "No, I just don''t like liars and assholes," She said cryptically as she continued looking at Carmine''s leaving back. ''Does she know Carmine or something? Wait, wasn''t she Carmine Falcone''s daughter in thest Batman film that he watched in hisst life? Shit, does that mean I am in a way ''sleeping'' with Carmine Falcone''s daughter?'' Bruce thought as he for some reason felt proud of himself. But before he could continue thinking about this, he was pulled off his thoughts by a girlish voiceing from behind him. "Bruce? How are you?" A small girl with a head full of red hair, about the same age as him asked as she looked at him with worried and concerned eyes. "Hmm? Do I know you?" Bruce asked confused. He wondered if this girl was some distant cousin or rtive of his. He hadn''t seen her photo in the albums, so he didn''t recognize her. "What? Are you still angry with me about that day? I told you I am sorry. I didn''t mean to push you into that cave. I didn''t even know that you were afraid of bats, otherwise, I would have made sure that we don''t y anywhere even near the cave. Just, please forgive me." The girl said with teary eyes, showing that she really did feel sorry. ''What the hell is she even talking about? Am I supposed to know her? Is this some canon event? Wait didn''t something like this happen in the ''Batman Begins'' film at the start of the movie? Is this girl that future reporter named Rachel or something? "Rachel?" He questioned doubtfully. "What are you talking about? It''s me, Vicki Vale." The girl said, annoyed that he couldn''t remember her name. "Did you forget your old friend just because you got a new one?" She asked with childish anger leaking into her voice as she looked at Selina standing beside him. "What? Of course not Vicki, I would never forget my friends. It''s just that after the incident, I started to suffer from mild memory loss also known as amnesia. I have trouble remembering parts of my life from before the incident with me and my parents." He quickly tried to shift the me away from him. Bruce couldn''t believe that he was just nine years old and he was already suffering from girl problems. ''Billionaires seriously do get it all, don''t they?'' He thought. "Oh, is that true?" Vicki said as she looked at him in pity. "Yep, you can ask Alfred if you want, otherwise who would forget a beautiful-looking friend like you," Bruce said in a gentlemanly manner. A huff came from Selina standing beside Bruce, who had a frown on her face with barely hidden annoyance. "And who is your new friend Bruce?" Vicki said as she looked at Selina. "Hmm? Oh, this is Selina Kyle, my friend, and Alfred''s adopted daughter," Bruce said as he smiled and introduced Selina. "Hello, nice to meet you. Vicki right? Quite a boyish name for a girl?" Selina threw a quip at Vicki for some reason,pletely forgetting the anger she had for Carmine Falcone some time ago. "Really? That''s a surprise because you look like one of those gold diggers my father talks about who steals other people''s friends." Vicki smirked at Selina looking like she was proud of her argument. Bruce at this time wanted to get out of here. He was in no mood toe in between their argument although the argument was caused because of him. "You know what? I think Alfred is calling me, so I''ll have to go. But Vicki please do visit us sometime. I and Selina will both love it if youe and y with us." Bruce said as he smiled at Vicki. He was not gonna miss a chance to get some early connections with a famous future reporter early on in his life. Also, Vicki Vale was reportedly quite hot in theics. So, she could at least be his eye candy growing up. Selina was annoyed at Bruce for inviting Vicki to their home but she didn''t say anything. She knew that even though she was Bruce''s friend, she didn''t have authority over him. It was quite the opposite actually since she always listened to him as she knew that he was not only smarter than her but also the real reason why she was even able to stay with them. "Of course Bruce. We will y together just like old times." Vicki said acting like a grown-up. Bruce just smile and turned to leave. He really was bored at the funeral and needed a drink, a non-alcoholic one since Alfred would never allow him to touch any sort of alcoholic drink at this age. As he went towards the table with the drinks, he saw another person whom he knew was an important character from theics and shows. A small girl about half his age with red hair was standing with her father looking at everyone with curious eyes. Bruce would not be able to realize her identity just from her looks but he recognized the man she was standing with. It was the same detective who was working on Bruce''s parents'' case, James Gordon. The girl standing with him was most probably the detective''s daughter, Barbara Gordon. ---- {A big shout-out to my new p¨¢tron ''Daniel O''Brien'' for joining the DIVINE EMINENCE tier on my P¨¤treon. Thanks for the support.} Don''t forget toment and ''favorite'' this chapter if you like it. Also, you can check out my Pat re?n page as well to read ahead or just to support your fantastic author. I have 12 chapters in advance there right now. (My Pat-reon uses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, ie, the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a)
Chapter 12: The Funeral (2) Chapter 12: The Funeral (2) --- "Humans die. Animals die. nts die. Even soul reapers die. It''s the arch of the universe. Everything thates to life eventually ceases to exist." ¡ª Baraggan Louisenbairn --- "Hey, Bruce. I was looking for you. I wanted to personally apologize to you for not being able to punish Joe Chill ording to thew for what he did to your family." He said with a hint of genuine regret in his voice. "It''s okay Detective Gordon. After all, he did receive punishment. His life, in return for the lives of my parents, although I have to say that the trade wasn''t that fair." Bruce said with a ''sad'' smile. "Revenge doesn''t heal your wounds, Bruce. I admit that losing your loved ones do birth that feeling in most people, I would probably be as angry as you if not more if this had happened to me but we still have to learn to move past our grudges, otherwise the fire of our hatred can burn us as well. Your parents were heroes of Gotham, their loss was a big one, one that Gotham would suffer for years. I just hope that you stand with it in its time of need." Gordon said as he sighed. "My parents were not heroes, they were simply businessmen doing their business," Bruce answered as he picked up a ss filled with soda into his hands from the table. "A hero can be anyone, Bruce. Your parents were more heroes than you can imagine." Jim said as he suddenly smiled to disperse the heavy mood. "Anyways, meet my daughter, Barbara Gordon. She is my only daughter since myte wife passed away. I brought her here for a change of air. I don''t get a lot of time to spend with her, so I brought her with me." He said proudly as he ced his hand on her daughter''s shoulder. "You brought your daughter to a funeral to spend time with her?" Bruce asked wondering how busy and desperate the detective really was. "I was desperate." Gordon pursed his lips together as he smiled sadly at his own situation. Bruce looked at the young girl listening to their conversation intently and smiled at her while saying, "You know your father is a really good man, take care of him. This city is really lucky to have someone as honest and hardworking as him." "Hmhm" The little girl nodded as she agreed to Bruce''s words smiling at him, happy that someone was praising her dad. "Good girl." Bruce smiled and patted the little girl''s head also taking the chance to pinch her fluffy cheeks after noticing how cute she was, "We''ll have to go now, Bruce. I am afraid this is as long as I can stay and talk to you without some wild reporter clicking a photo of us and posting it tomorrow at the front of a newspaper stating that a detective was seen taking bribes from the prince of Gotham." Jimughed at his own joke. "Yeah, that is very much possible, so I won''t stop you. But please bring little Barbara here to the manor sometime if she ever feels bored. You are both wee here. Plus, I would be d to host a little princess like her in my home." Bruce said as he smiled at the little girl who giggled back. "Of course. See youter Bruce." Gordon said as he walked towards the exit gate with her daughter in tow. "Byeeee byeeee prince," Barbara shouted to him in her childish voice as she waved at him. Bruce of course waved back. ''Look at that. I met another important character today and made a favorable impression on her at the same time. All in a day''s work.'' He thought as he sipped his drink rxingly. The entire funeral was quite sessful for Bruce. He mostly got what he wanted through it. He was able to not only meet a lot of people but also get a basic idea of Gotham''s current political and economic condition and structure after his parent''s deaths. Gotham was rapidly changing after the Wayne incident, a change that was for the worse. The investments and political moves that his family used to make were now absent letting all the criminal and corrupt organizations grow without a check. The crime families were getting bigger with bolder investments and operations now that the biggest supporter of peace was absent from the game. The position of mayor that his father was fighting for, was now believed to be Aubrey James'' since there was almost no other good politician who couldpete with him. Many of his differentpetitors had also taken the chance to one-up Wayne Corporation as they bid for projects or entered into industries directly against Wayne due to an absence of strong leadership at thepany as well as dwindling share prices. Even the government seemed to have benefitted from his parents'' deaths as they had silently taken over some assets and projects rted to hispany in the name of national security and interests. "It''s almost like most of these people wanted them dead. A lot of them even seemed quite happy from their expressions." Bruce said to Alfred after the funeral ended and everyone left. "That''s regrettably true young master. Many of these people had interests that didn''t match with your parents, some of them were even outright their enemies. But look at them now, they are so happy thinking that they have won the battle. *Sigh* Don''t worry young master, we will have our chance as well. We will rise again." Alfred sighed heavily looking at thest of the people leaving through the gates. "Yeah, I agree. They were the most shameless liars I have ever seen. Even the people from the orphanage didn''t use to lie through their teeth like they did. These bunches were probably the most pompous arrogant-looking fools I have ever seen in my life, especially that girl, Vicki or whatever her name was." Selina said as she chewed on an apple. Bruce kept a straight face while hearing what Selina said even though he wanted tough. He still couldn''t understand how and why the two girls became enemies after meeting each other just once. "Let''s go inside. It''s getting cold. By the way, what do you two want for dinner today?" Alfred asked as heid the two kids towards the mansion door. "Ooh ooh, I want that chocte ice-cream sundae again maybe with more chocte in it," Selina said excitedly after hearing about food. Bruce just smiled at her antics. He quite liked his new family here, even though it was a small family for now, he still felt like he belonged here. He didn''t feel that lonely anymore. *** (1 weekter) "Are you done, Bruce? I still don''t see any movement in the screen like you said." Selina remarked as she kept sitting on her spot looking at theputer screen with barely hidden impatience. Bruce had been trying to train her into his personalb assistant which wasn''t going so well. The only thing she could do to actually help him was with practical data collection or practical tests. In one way, she was his Morty. "Almost done Selina. I just have to integrate the programs and recalibrate the learning matrix while checking if its coremands are responding urately in all given situations." Bruce said as he ran the debugger and checked all his codes onest time. He had mostly checked all programs individually more than once but he was still running ast test just as an additional measure before he executes the entire code. After all, he had no wish to make an Ultron because of a small bug in his program or something. "And Done!" He said as he pressed run on theputer, hoping that the program doesn''t crash or disy an error after he worked for hours upon hours to write all of it. The screen on hisputer disyed a loading screen where it began to list all the assets and programs it wasbining, showing the percentage of the integration in real-time. Soon, the screen changed to another one which showed a ''Connecting to wirelessworks'' prompt, followed by an ''Online'' notification. "And that''s about it," Bruce said as he noticed at the corner of the screen a small window showing the AI scanning all avableworks and tforms for collecting training program data to learn and evolve itself. "That''s it? So, what now? Can we talk about it?" Selina asked. "Well, generalnguage data should be the first thing it would have downloaded, so yeah go ahead. Although keep your questions simple for now, it needs about another day or two to learn about philosophical stuff" Bruce said as he doubted Selina could askplex questions on philosophical topics that she herself didn''t like or understand. "Ok... What is your name?" Selina said to theputer as she stared at the screen. "I don''t have a name right now. But the user can provide me a name if the user wishes." An androgynous voice responded realizing the question was directed towards it due to the cameras ced all over the cave. "What should we name her?" Selina asked turning towards Bruce. "Hmm? How about something simple like... Cortana." Bruce said smiling as he remembered the famous smart AI from Halo that he based his own AI program on. "That''s a brilliant name. Your name is Cortana from now on." Selina said thinking about how cute yet techy the name sounded. Bruce had already programmed Selina and Alfred into the AI''s database as users with B-level ess to it, he himself possessing the only A-level ess which was the highest level of ess to it. So not getting any rejection from Bruce, it epted the name instantly. "Ok, I''ll take the name Cortana from now on. Thank you for naming me." Cortana said in a robotic voice as it still hadn''t learned much about different emotions and how to show them. "Now, for the most important question," Selina said with intense seriousness on her face, "Cortana, what is your favorite vor of ice cream?" --- Don''t forget toment and ''favorite'' this chapter if you like it. Also, you can check out my Pat re?n page as well to read ahead or just to support your fantastic author. I have 12 chapters in advance there right now. (MyPat-reonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, ie, the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a) Chapter 13: The Bat-list Chapter 13: The Bat-list --- The past is the past. We cannot indulge ourselves in memories and destroy the present. -MURATA KEN, (KYOU KARA MAOU!) --- (A/N: Before you read this chapter, I just want to say that this one might be a little inconsistent with one of the previous chapters and some stuff might have been repeated from one of the chapters before. It was not because ofzy writing or because I was trying to fill up words but simply because I wrote this chapter the day my semester exams ended about a month after writing thest chapter. So I was not in the flow at that time... Don''t judge me. ) --- It took Cortana about 3 days to analyze almost all essential data to train itself, like the meaning of different tonic concepts, emotions, their importance, and everything else. It even chose its own gender after learning about its concept. It chose to identify itself as a ''she'' simply because Cortana seemed to her to be a feminine name. She wasn''t at her full potential yet due to theck of data on the inte but the amount of information and data avable was still enough to make her a hundred times better than any other artificial intelligence ever developed on Bruce''s previous world. It could be said that Cortana right now was at the childhood stage of what she could truly be one day. She had even simted an image of herself of what she currently perceived herself to be as a young girl on theputer screen to make it easy and morefortable for Bruce and the others tomunicate with her. Bruce had programmed her to be a very polite, honest, and caring person with a good sense of humor and she was exactly that although thest trait would probably need time to develop since her current humor only included bad dad jokes which only Alfred found funny. Selina was also extremely happy with Cortana as she regarded the AI as her new best girlfriend since both of them liked the same vor of ice cream which was chocte. Of course, Bruce didn''t remind Selina that Cortana had never even eaten ice cream and her answer was just a way for the AI to appear more polite and humane to her. Bruce was quite happy with his new creation right now. Truthfully, even he didn''tpletely understand how exactly he had created Cortana. He had just concentrated on his ''ability'' to show him how to make an AI that was as good if not better than most AIs he had seen in fiction including Ultron and Jarvis from Marvel, Cortana from Halo, Red Queen from Resident Evil, and even the AI from that movie Eagle Eye. His Cortana was thebination of all of them, although much much different from them as he was sure that she would never betray him or go against himter because that was the core of what he had wanted in his AI and what he had willed his ability to base Cortana on. Her entire existence and purpose was to serve, help and protect Bruce. Everything else cameter. Bruce''s life was going pretty well after his transmigration. But just when he thought that almost everything was going his way, Murphy''sw hit him like a speeding bullet train. The one thing that he dreaded, the one ce that he had sworn never to visit again in his life was calling him back and he had no way to defend himself. His easy life was on the verge of being ruined. "Alfred, I am not going back there. You might as well send me there in a body bag than expect me to go there on my own. I am never going to go back to that hell." Bruce said gulping as he remembered hisst experience in that ce. "Young master Bruce, please stop referring to your school as hell. And as I said before, you have to go to school to receive your education. You can''t just sit at home all day like some spoiled child. You and Selina are both going there and I want no more arguments." Alfred said strictly. "It''s a waste of time. A bunch of people runnin'' around bumpin'' into each other got a guy up front says "2 + 2," and the people in the back say, "4." Then the bell rings and they give you a carton of milk and a piece of paper that says you can go take a dump or somethin''. I mean, it''s not a ce for smart people, Alfred. I know that''s not a popr opinion, but that''s my two cents on the issue. So I don''t need to go to school to be smart. I can get homeschooled for god''s sake." Bruce defended. "Maybe Master Bruce but you need to go to school for being a proper part of the social hierarchy and be a functioning human being. You need to be around people right now, to get back to society and so does Selina. Homeschooling can''t give you that." Alfred calmly replied. "To be fair, I hate going to school as well... But I think it might be important for you tiger if Alfred is insisting on the issue." Selina said from the sides as she turned towards Bruce. "You too kitty?" Bruce said with an expression that seemed to say that Selina just betrayed him. "Present schooling system, although said to be not perfect, can result in the development of human behavior and result in higher functioning of a human in society in most cases." Cortana chimed in from theputer with a metallic female voice. "And I was silly enough to believe in her loyalty and to always have my back in my arguments. I think I would have to teach the meaning of that concept to herter" Bruce said jokingly as he looked at her female image on theputer looking at him with a confused expression like she didn''t know what she said wrong. "Fine, I will go to school but I have a condition," Bruce said as he looked at Alfred. "Sure Young Master Bruce, I am sure that we can arrange whatever we want, sports cars, toys, more machineponents, whatever you wish," Alfred said, happy that he could give something to Bruce to entice him to go to school and stop this useless childish argument. "On no, I don''t need more tools. What Wayne Corporations is sending us is more than enough for almost everything I am going to work on in the near future. What I want is abat trainer. I want to be trained in martialbat and weapons usage by experts during my free hours as well as ess topany decisions with you approving them as my guardian and in return, I will try to go to school at least three days a week." Bruce offered. "... Five days, registered experts with nonlethal weapons only and you will only get ess to onepany to ''influence'' under my guidance." Alfred countered thinking that Bruce getting some early experience in business with some small unimportant Waynepany would not be a bad thing for the conglomerate in the long run especially since he was gonna take over it one day after all. "Okay, five days but lethal weapons should be allowed for practice under the guidance of the trainers and ess to twopanies one dealing with software and one dealing in capital investments," Bruce said desperately bargaining. "*Sigh* Fine. Sometimes I really think that you would be the death of me, young master. Anyways, I''ll inform the school board about your returning to school from Monday as well as contact thepany board to see if they have any spare subsidiaries lying around concerning those two industries you mentioned that you can take over with me as your parent." Alfred said as he turned to leave but then remembered something and turned towards Selina, "And you Selina, is there something you want?" Selina was confused. She didn''t know what she wanted. She didn''t even think she would ever have what she currently had. So anything more than this was just a luxury for her. "Uhh, since Bruce is learning those stuff, can I learn them with him? They sounded fun. Also, I always wanted to learn gymnastics. I always loved it when I saw those women on tv bending their bodies in weird ways like nothing." Selina said doubtfully after thinking for a while. She didn''t know if she had requested more than she should. She wasn''t even sure that she should bargain with Alfred like Bruce just did. "Okay, Selina. I''ll make sure to contact a high-level professional gymnast for you to learn from." Alfred didn''t even try to bargain with Selina at all as he just epted her request. ''Sexist.'' Bruce muttered in his mind seeing Alfred''s even gentler treatment towards Selina. "Yeaaaa." Selina pped happily. It seemed like Selina would be a cat-woman with a flexible body no matter what Bruce did to change her fate. It almost seemed like it was her destiny. ''Although I can eventually enjoy that flexible body one day.'' Bruce smirked to himself as he went back to working on the drone he was working on leaving Selina to wonder about the reason for that happy smirk on Bruce''s face. He was currently working on different types of drones for information gathering from all over the city. He was too young to be Batman and fight crime on the streets, so right now he was going to build his power. He knew about the term, ''Knowledge is power'' and he agreed with it. He wanted to collect as much information and knowledge about everyone and everything in the city as he could. Cortana could easily observe and control any technology connected to the inte out there as she had almost unrestricted ess to it but what about the ces without any gadgets connected to the web, what about the more sensitive information? Bruce was going to collect those types of intel through the drones he was making. Originally he wanted to make bat-shaped drones to go with the entire theme as he had already fallen prey to the obsession with keeping everything bat themed after he first named his muti-proto-tool as bat-tool. But he quickly figured out that bat-shaped drones while pretty good for dark areas or night-time surveince wasn''t as good during the daytime or for areas with too much light. So he was also designing drones shaped like spiders, pigeons, and even mosquitoes along with bats. He was going all out with perfecting his surveince drone technology to make sure that every corner of the city could be viewed by him whenever he wanted by the time criminals like Joker, Riddler or Penguin rose in power. Right now, most of those identities didn''t even exist or were just starting their criminal career somewhere and Bruce wasn''t that big of a fan of DC to know about all their secret identities or histories or even remember about most viins of Batman. He only knew about the most famous ones from the movies and some animated shows that he had watched back when he was young. So he could not send an exploding package to their homes to kill them before they even be criminals although he would like to do that very much. He wasn''t a psycho to kill every bad guy he came across. He could just send some of the criminals who could be redeemed to aa or just break their spine forever but he wasn''t gonna kill every one of them. He would only kill those psychotic and truly evil ones that really deserved it like Joker or maybe Two-face or Bane or Savage or Luthor or... ''Okay, that''s a long list. Wait, maybe I should actually keep a list and maybe even n how to kill them. ''Natural deaths'' would be the perfect way since that way I would not only get to keep Batman''s non-killing image and not get in conflict with the cops or the other heroes but also the criminals would underestimate me. Wow, I am a genius.'' Bruce thought as he quickly began to devise the best ways to kill criminals in a non-suspecting manner while crackling madly in his cave. "He knows that I am still here, and I can hear himughing like a maniac, right?... But he still sounds really cute for some reason." Selina muttered while standing at the entrance of the cave wondering just how and why she finds someone this geeky and crazy cute. --- Don''t forget toment and ''favorite'' this chapter if you like it. Also, you can check out my Pat re?n page as well to read ahead or just to support your fantastic author. I have 12 chapters in advance there right now. (MyPat-reonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, ie, the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a) Chapter 14: First day at school & meeting a Princess Chapter 14: First day at school & meeting a Princess --- "School is not a ce for smart people." - Rick Sanchez, (Rick & Morty) --- "Do we really need to do this Alfred? I am pretty sure that this is gonna be a waste of time." Bruce said, hating the idea of returning to the very ce he had once vowed never to return in his previous life. "Here is your bag young master Bruce and here is yours Selina. I have packed your lunch boxes in your bags since I don''t trust the sanitary process of cafeterias. I''ll be back to fetch you two when school ends. Have fun." Alfred saidpletely ignoring Bruce''sint. Truthfully, it wasn''t even the butler''s fault, Bruce had been constantlyining the entire way from their mansion to school. At one point in time, even Selina had gotten a little annoyed at hisints but Bruce just couldn''t help it. He was ready to fight with psychotic viins and godly invaders from space but going back to school was something he didn''t want to do especially after the experience in his previous life. In hisst life, Bruce was just an ordinary guy who was a victim of severe bullying by some rich kids because he looked way more handsome than them and was also smarter than them. He had triedining to the authorities but none of the teachers had listened to him. He had to suffer his entire school life silently tolerating everything and just wishing that people would leave him alone. He wanted to take revenge against those people by working hard and attaining enough power and influence to go against them. But before he could seed in that, he was killed by a retarded Batman fanatic just because he said Batman wasn''t a real superhero since he didn''t have any power except ''nning''. ''God, I shouldn''t have gone to thatic-con. Fck trying to shake hands with Elizabeth Olsen. I wasn''t even able to see her in that crowd much less shake hands with her.'' He thought regretting his past life''s stupid decisions. "Let''s go, tiger," Selina said as she took Bruce''s hands and dragged him with her before he couldin again. "Easy for you to say kitty. I am sure that you will be popr and be one of those stic girls that everyone fears." Bruce muttered. He was in a state of frustrating regret and slowly followed after her into the hell that was filled with screaming and scheming little monsters. The moment the duo entered the school lobby, almost all eyes turned toward them. However, instead of saying anything or paying any attention to them, they just continued doing what they were doing. Bruce and Selina walked straight up to the principal''s office and nobody tried to mess with them or directed any weird stares at them or even whispered mean things about them. They simply did not care and were just busy talking with each other and having fun like a bunch of regr kids. At that moment Bruce suddenly realized something in his mind after observing the behaviour of the children around him. ''They are KIDS, OF COURSE. I am such an idiot. Why the hell would eight-year-olds try to bully others? This isn''t high school, it''s barely middle school. These children are still innocent. Plus I am no longer the same poor and ordinary powerless kid I was way back then... although maybe bringing the bat-tool to the school wasn''t such a good decision.'' Bruce thought pping his own head for getting confused between the behaviors of high school kids and eight-year-old kids. His fear and frustration almost disappeared instantly as he realized it. He was carefree now because he realized that he didn''t need to be on his guard here, at least not any more than he usually is. This school still hasn''t be the hell it one day will be when those children grow up into their toxic teenage selves. Bruce and Selina went to the first ss on their routine before the teacher came and took their seats beside each other. They already considered each other best friends, so they always sat together, no matter where. "Hey Bruce, you came to school. I thought you would enjoy your holidays a few more days." A happy and familiar childish voice sounded from behind Bruce and Selina. "Vicki, nice to see you again. Yes, I guess I grew tired of just sitting at home all day, so I thought why not meet with one of my favorite friends back at school." Bruce said looking at Vicki with some surprise hidden in his eyes. He had no idea that Vicki was in the same ss as him, he didn''t even know that she was a student at the same school. He had just said all that to charm Vicki although he had forgotten that Vicki was an eight-year-old girl who did not even realize urately what flirting really is. "But weren''t you the one who said that you hated school?" Selina muttered, confused at the sudden change in Bruce''s behavior. "Oh hi there, Selena right? I almost didn''t notice you, you seem to have grown a little fat since thest time I saw you." Vicki threw a quip at Selina. ''Oooh burn'' Bruce smiled at Vicki''s quip but his smile instantly disappeared once he looked at Selina''s rageful expression. "And you seem to have grown a bit more masculine, maybe you are trying to stand true to your name." Selina also bit back. "Girls girls. I think you two should stop fighting and arguing with each other every time you meet. This is getting annoying for me. If you are going to argue with each other all the time, then do it when I am not there." Bruce said dominantly like an adult to make sure they knew how serious he was. He was getting bored because every time these two met, they would pass the entire time just fighting like two little daddy''s princesses. The worst thing was that the two didn''t even know why they were exactly fighting. "But she started it," Selinained with a small pout. "I don''t care. From now on both of you can''t argue or fight in front of me. If you do, I''ll sit far from you two where I won''t be able to hear both of your annoying banter." Bruce said as he looked at both Selina and Vicki. He knew that the two girls considered him as one of their best friends and they wanted to stay near him like kids their age normally do when they are friends, so he used that opportunity to ckmail them into not arguing with each other. "Fine." Both the girls said at the same time as they took their ces beside Bruce. Selina sat at his right while Vicki sat at his left. ''Wish I was this smooth and lucky with girls in myst life.'' Bruce thought to himself as he looked at the two girls'' happy expressions at being able to sit with him. The first ss was a breeze for Bruce. In fact, all the sses Bruce attained were very easy for him for obvious reasons. He right now was smart enough to probably go toe to toe with some of the most intelligent geniuses on the, so school for him was absolutely useless. He was only attending school due to the benefits Alfred promised him. Vicki and Selina looked bored as well forpletely different reasons. They barely listened to anything the teacher said and concentrated more on ring at each other which soon turned into a game of ''Who blinks first''. Bruce just smiled at their antics as he realized that they really were just children. After half of the sses for the day were over, the trio went to the cafeteria for lunch. All three of them had brought their own lunch boxes from home. Of course, as usual, Alfred had gone Overhill and packed Bruce and Selina a four-course gourmet meal in overly decorative boxes. However, Vicki''s lunch looked luxurious and over the top as well due to the fact that her family was also quite rich since her father was a really famous and sessful reporter in the Gotham Newswork. ''I think I should buy out some news channels and newspapers early on so that I can influence how the media shows my image to the general public when I put on the cape in the future.'' Bruce thought as he took a bite of his lunch cooked by professional chefs under Alfred''s strict management. "Hello, can I sit here? All the other seats are either full or really dirty." a confident-sounding female voice asked the three. Looking at the small figure Bruce noticed that it was another girl their age but quite different from the others, she was emitting a unique aura of coldness and confidence like some sort of princess. "Yeah sure go ahead," Bruce said after both girls had looked at him like he was their leader or something. "Thanks." She said as she sat down with her ck premium-looking lunch box. "I know you. You are from our ss, aren''t you? Helena, right?" Vicki asked like a curious little girl. Bruce wondered if he had heard about that name before in his previous life. It sounded really familiar for some reason. Bruce used his mind to its full extent trying to remember where he had heard about her. Sadly the photographic memory skill that came with his innate ability only worked on his memories from this new life after he had attained the skill. It didn''t really make remembering the memories from his previous life any easier. "Yes. I am" The girl spoke only three words before bing silent once again. "You don''t talk much, do you?" Selina asked with a smirk. "If I wanted to talk, I would have sat with the bigger groups of children shouting there, not with you three," Helena answered back frostily. "You know if you didn''t want to talk, you could have just said so. No need to talk rudely with us. It doesn''t matter how amazing your daddy is or even how important you are at your home, we are not your servants and you can''t talk to us like that. If you are gonna abuse our goodwill, then you can try to find another ce to sit." Bruce said, annoyed with the girl''s self-important way of acting. "..." Helena couldn''t answer anything as she just stared at him in surprise at his upfront way of speaking while Selina and Vicki just nodded like theypletely agreed with Bruce. "You are right. I should not have said that or behaved like that. It was my fault. I was just a little worried about my family earlier... I am sorry." Helena said as she looked at him with apologetic eyes. "It''s okay Helena. Just make sure that it doesn''t happen again. we don''t say stuff like that to each other especially when we are friends." Bruce said as he smiled at Helena, forgiving her for her behavior earlier. "Hmm." Helena nodded seriously, making it clear that she understood. "Oh, by the way, I think we should introduce ourselves. I am Wayne, Bruce Wayne. This is Selina Kyle and this is Vicki Vale." Bruce introduced all three of them. "Hi. I am Helena Bertinelli. Nice to meet you." She introduced herself with a small smile. ''Bertinelli? Wait the Bertinelli crime family? Shit, so that''s where I had heard her name before. She is the daughter of the leader of the Bertinelli crime family, one of the strongest crime families in Gotham. Also, she was the famous future Gotham vignte, Huntress.'' He thought as he looked at her with an impassive face. At that moment Bruce wondered to himself if he had some sort of protagonist aura to attract all the important beautiful females of the plot towards himself at such an early stage. Maybe he even had the legendary protagonist halo but then he immediately dismissed the silly idea at the next moment because he was sure that he wasn''t that lucky. --- {A big shout-out to my new patron ''Chamar Ellis'' for joining the Celestial Emperor tier on my pat-treon. Thanks for the support.} (A/N: Some of you guys might be wondering why I am writing about Bruce''s childhood and not just fast-forwarding it to when he bes Batman. It''s because this story is not about him just being Batman, it''s about him being Bruce Wayne, all of Bruce Wayne. Batman is just a small part of his life, unlike the original version. This story will mainly have three parts: -His childhood, which won''t be boring at all because a lot of things happened when Bruce was young. For example, did you know that he knew Zatanna as a childhood friend in the original dc universe? -His Gotham phase where he would change/take control/''work'' in Gotham and make sure it''s ''scum-free''. -His Justice League phase which would focus on the bigger problems. His childhood phase will be the shortest by the way.) Don''t forget toment and ''favorite'' this chapter if you like it. Also, you can check out my Pat re?n page as well to read ahead or just to support your fantastic author. I have 12 chapters in advance there right now. (MyPat-reonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, ie, the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a) Chapter 15: Choosing a Dragon as a teacher Chapter 15: Choosing a Dragon as a teacher --- "If you can''t do something, then don''t. Focus on what you can." -SHIROE, (LOG HORIZON) --- It turned out that Helena was quite a friendly and kind-hearted girl, just somewhat frustrated for some reason, probably the effect of the criminal rtives in her family. She had quickly be friends with Bruce and the other two girls after talking with them for some time in the cafeteria. She didn''t mention anything about her family to them but that didn''t stop Vicki from enquiring about it which Helena skillfully dodged. Helena was a lot more mature than Selina or even Vicki. So it was quite easy for Bruce to converse with her. By the time school ended that day, the trio had be a quartet although Bruce wasn''t ever gonna call their group that since it sounded really weird. "So, did you two have fun?" Alfred asked after school ended as Selina and Bruce went to him standing at the school gate with their car. "No," Bruce said simply as he went directly inside the car to sit. Yes, he wasn''t bored at school as he was able to talk with Selina and Vicki andter even Helena all day even though they talked like little girls which they were. But it didn''t mean that he enjoyed school. Enjoy was a very strong word. "He did," Selina whispered to Alfred with a cheeky smile. Bruce was able to hear her but didn''t respond. He was toozy to argue with her. He just wanted to go home and work on his drones. He had sworn that once his drones wereplete, he would use them first to find out about some of Alfred''s secrets so that he could ckmail the butler into agreeing with him to not go to school. But again that would be difficult. Alfred was the most savage and sigma male he had ever seen. Bruce doubted that the butler would even care if he found out any of his dirty secrets. The entire way to their home Selina exined to Alfred about their newest friendship with Helena as well as her rivalry with Vicki while Bruce just remained quiet. "This Helena girl, is her full name Helena Bertinelli?" Alfred asked with a frown. "Yes, do you know her?" Selina asked. "Yes, indeed I do. Her family is quite famous in Gotham. Did you approach her or did she approach you?" Alfred asked with concern in his voice. "It''s not what you think Alfred. She didn''t try to get close to us because of her family or anything. She was just an interesting girl, so we decided to befriend her. As for her ''family'', I indeed know who they are and what they do but you don''t have to worry, her family probably doesn''t even know about her being friends with us and I don''t think she is gonna tell either. She only seemed to truly like her siblings amongst all her family members." Bruce said quickly before Selina could answer. He didn''t want Alfred to have a wrong idea about Helena because she genuinely seemed like a good girl if he were to exclude her coldness and attitude that was drilled into her by her family. "I see. I''ll trust your choice ofpanions then Young Master. However remember, trust is something that should be earned not given. Your parents were too trusting, I don''t want you to make the same mistake." Alfred said somewhat hinting at his suspicion that he thought that there was more to the Wayne murder than just a simple mugging gone wrong. "You are quite right Alfred, you are quite right," Bruce said as he looked outside the car window. He didn''t trust most people he met in this crazy world. The only people he trusted were the people he knew were honest from his previous life''s knowledge and who also appeared loyal to him in this reality as well. After they reached home Bruce went straight to continue working on his drone project again after freshening up. He had too many models in his n of getting an eye everywhere on the entirety of Gotham, he had no time to rest. The first phase in his long-term n of being the perfect Bruce was the intel phase where he would have ess to and control over all intel in Gotham as well as have information about things all over the country and maybe even the world in due time. Data was the new oil after all. Wait, now that he thought about it, he could also weaponize these drones as well. Someser projectors, sters, mini-missileunchers, and holographic projection technologies would enable them to not only be capable enough to hide or defend themselves but also help him in battle when the time came as well. After most of the drone models were more or less designed, only then would Bruce move on to other projects. He was nning to work on some bio-strengthening projects after this like Cyberware, BioWare, or every nerd''s wet dream, Super serums that creates super soldiers and super-powered beings. With his power that could create anything even remotely possible by science, he would be able to create most of the technological wonders he had seen in fiction in hisst life. The only thing he needed for that was time and knowledge which he would have plenty of both. After all, he was the richest kid on Earth and still wasn''t even in his teens yet. ''Although I wonder, would my powers work on the more supernatural machines like the mother box or maybe the world engine orntern rings or perhaps Asgardian technologies which were said to be both science and magic in a way? Would my powers work on magic at all, like could I analyze or understand them with my powers or build magical artifacts or objects that I had seen before in fiction?'' Bruce thought. He didn''t think he could. ''But I should still at least try one day if I ever get some magical knowledge because right now I know nothing about magic other than the correct spelling and pronunciation of the word.'' Bruce thought. He had already tried to focus and see if his ability could tell him how to make a Dividing gear or a Boosted gear but he felt nothing, not even a headache like hemonly had whenever he tried to direct his ability to show him how to make some world-ending weapon. "Master Bruce," Alfred whispered from behind. "God damn it. Shit, Alfred, can you not sneak up on me like Selina? I almost had a heart attack. I got to put some sort of rm sensor on the doors before I die of surprise." Bruce said, wondering how it would sound to people if they heard that Batman died of a heart attack because somebody sneaked up on him and surprised the life out of him. "It''s not our fault Master Bruce. You get deeply concentrated and focused whenever you are working on something. It doesn''t matter what we do to try to dere our presence, you always get surprised." Alfred said with a straight face. Bruce had a fleeting suspicion in his mind that perhaps Alfred WANTED to surprise him like Selina but then the butler was also speaking the truth. Bruce does get overly focused and detached from his surroundings every time he uses his ability which was a serious nerf for him in abative situation. He didn''t want to get defeated or die because he was too focused on analyzing a machine than keeping track of his surroundings. His giving full attention and focus to a single objective was detrimental to him in a fight in the real world. "I was here to give you these. They are some of the professionals I shortlisted for yourbat training. All the important information and data on them are already there including their achievements, specialties, and qualifications. I made sure that they were genuine. You should have thest decision to choose who should teach you. After all, you seem determined on learning how to fight and defend yourself." Alfred said as he sympathetically looked at Bruce. Alfred agreed with Bruce receivingbat training this easily because he thought that Bruce was afraid of people attacking him after the incident and he wanted training to cope with that. The butler even med himself partly for not being there to save the Wayne couple or protect Bruce that night, so he also wanted to make sure that Bruce would never have to face that type of situation ever again in his life and this self-defense training was a good way to make sure of that. "Thanks, Alfred. What about Selina? Did you give her choices as well concerning her gymnastics teacher?" Bruce asked as he looked at the dozen thin blue files with different names on each of them. "Yes, but she said and I quote, ''I am too hungry to read right now. Please choose whoever the best you think is for me, Alfred.'' So I did. I got her an Olympic-level gymnast teacher who only teaches students interested in participating in the Olympics as well as a yoga instructor who was a well-renowned yoga guru before but started to work in a circus for some reason after a back injury." Alfred said with a small smile. ''Ohh." Bruce said. He had forgotten how rich and powerful they were. Hiring the best, most expensive, and premium teachers in the country or even the world wasn''t a very big deal for them. "Anyways, I''ll look at the files and tell you the person or persons I want to hire for my training," Bruce said as he opened the first file to see if he was someone worth hiring. "Okay master, call me when you have decided or if you need anything," Alfred said as he slowly turned back and left. "Let''s see, Oliver Lee Thomson, three times International judo champion with five years of paramilitary training. Hmm, pretty good. I guess he could be good as a closebat martial art teacher." Bruce said already impressed. "Next, Safir Niki, four times Olympics gold medal winner in fifty-meter men''s shooting event. Served ten years in the military as a sniper. Very very impressive." Bruce thought as he looked over every file and tried to get an idea about their rough qualification and overall achievements. But it was only thest file that surprised him. "Richard Dragon. Professional martial art trainer, unarmedbat expert. No military service. Certified archaeologist and adventurer. Winner of Japan International Jiu-Jutsupetition, winner of World Wushe Championship in Chinese Kung Fu, Gold medal winner in World Kung Fu championship...." Bruce was stunned. He could not believe what he had just read. He knew about Richard Dragon. He was perhaps one of the most famous martial artists in DC who trained the majority of Gotham vigntes. He was one of the best martial artists out there, only a few people like Lady Shiva or Karate Kid were able to match him. "I want him, no question," Bruce said. He did not know how or why Richard Dragon''s name was in these files but he NEEDED him to be his teacher. That was his first step to be potentially better than even Batman as the original Bruce Wayne wasn''t trained by Richard. If he was, then Bruce would probably eat viins like Bane for breakfast. Richard was that good especially if he is ready to teach him how to use chi. ''Although I still have to find a teacher for more modern weapons like guns and stuff, I still think my future is suddenly looking very bright now. Who knows I might even be as good as Karate Kid under his training.'' Bruce thought as he daydreamed about him knocking out Kryptonians with karate chops. --- Don''t forget toment and ''favorite'' this chapter if you like it. Also, you can check out my Pat re?n page as well to read ahead or just to support your fantastic author. I have 12 chapters in advance there right now. (MyPat-reonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, ie, the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a) Chapter 16: The Court of Owls Chapter 16: The Court of Owls --- "It is possible to make no mistakes and lose. That is not failure; that is life." - Cpt. Jean-Luc Picard, (Star Trek) --- <(Unknown pov)> "Good morningdies and gentlemen, since all of us are already here, we should officially start the meeting." A man in a suit wearing a golden owl mask said as he entered a room with a dozen people wearing white owl masks sitting around a luxurious big table. There were also about half a dozen people wearing ck skin-tight body armor and weird ck owl masks looking like monsters guarding the doors of the room. All of the attendees said nothing as they just nodded at the man''s words. "As all of you know, some days ago we were sessful in eliminating the biggest hurdle in our path, Thomas Wayne after he denied our invitation to the court and threatened to expose us to the public. Although we had decided to eliminate the entire Wayne family, the person we used toplete this job failed to kill the youngest member of the family, Bruce Wayne. We had let him live after confirming that he had lost his memories to amnesia and was no threat to our n. But a few days ago I was informed that he was able to recognize the face of the person we used toplete the job indicating that he had either gotten his memories back or he had never lost them in the first ce. Now, rest assured I have made sure that the man we used to kill the Wayne couple died the same day in police custody before he could reveal anything about us, but the main topic of discussion today is what to do with Bruce Wayne." The man with the golden eagle mask who seemed to be in charge asked as he looked at the people sitting around the table. "I think he is no danger to us. He is just a spoiled little innocent boy. I doubt he knows anything of value about us or the incident. Also, if he does be a problemter on, we can always just remove him and make it look like an ident." A woman with an owl mask on said carelessly. "Hmm. What do you think Mr Twelfth? You are one of the board of directors at Wayne Industries. So you might have an idea about the boy right?" The golden owl mask-wearing leader asked as he looked at another man at the table. "I agree with Miss Fifth. I think Bruce Wayne is just a spoiled kid. ording to my intel, he is just a kid who doesn''t even like to go to school and justzes in his room all day. He is extremely anti-social and is just wasting his family''s fortune by donating expensive research equipment to charity as part of his Martha Wayne Foundation efforts. The pipsqueak even thinks that he can run apany at his age as his little caretaker had the galls to request the board to hand over control of apany that is not doing well to him to practice his leadership and business skills." The manughed smugly as he said his piece. "Also the League of Assassins would like you to leave that boy alone as well. This was a ''request'' directly from the Demon''s head. That boy might be important to our ns. We hope that you can respect this small ''request'' of ours." A man with a simr white owl mask but with a different demeanor than the rest of the members present said as he seemed to look directly into the leader''s eyes like he was threatening him. "I see. It is decided then. We will leave Bruce Wayne alone for now unless he bes a thorn in our side in the future." The leader said with an expressionless voice as he didn''t react to the member''s thinly veiled threat. None of the other members there did. The League of Assassins might be extremely strong but the Court of Owls wasn''t a pushover. It had its own power and fighters. It didn''t want to directly make the League an enemy but it also wouldn''t cower in fear if it ever came to a fight. Now onto more important matters, the recent political and criminal hierarchy of Gotham City is undergoing a major change. The question is do we actively take part in it or do we leave them to their fate and let things y out naturally and then vaguely influence the winners of this battle royale for our benefit in the future?" The leader asked as he looked around the table. "This prestigious organization was established to control Gotham and put its members at the top of the economic ss of the city. Involving ourselves with criminals and petty politicians directly will be degrading to not only our image but also the image of the organization. I think we should just let things y out and support or recruit the winners into our outer circles." A different man spoke out from the end of the table with a gruff voice. "Thank you for expressing your view Mr Third. So, all in favor of not involving ourselves with the political and criminal underground turmoil in the city, please raise your hands." The leader said in a raised voice. All the hands around the table went up at the call for a vote. "It is decided then. We won''t interfere in the city politics and underworld for a few years until things cool down... Now that all of the more important topics are done, let''s move on to our businesses..." The leader said as he began to discuss the other different projects and business-rted opportunities, some of them even directly rted to them taking some business away from Wayne Enterprises. They were drawing up a rough n for how they were going to grow their ownpanies and strengthen the Court while making sure to weaken and slowly drain projects and contracts away from Wayne Enterprises. In their eyes, the once mightypany was already gone due to the recent death of its most important leaders. It was only a matter of time before thepany crumbled without powerful leadership under the Court''sbined pressure. *** <(Bruce Wayne pov)> "How could they do this? They know that I am thergest single-person shareholder of thepany right?" Bruce asked angrily as he looked at the official document in Alfred''s hands. "Yes, they very much do young master. But sadly, most of the members of the board of directors think that you are too young to be involved inpany operations at this age. So they are legally making sure that you even with my permission as your guardian can''t get involved in the administrative duties of thepany. They even got a governmental permit using their connections with the excuse that you are too immature and young to be involved in intricatepany dealings." Alfred said with a hint of anger leaking from his tone. Bruce was really angry. The one thing he had no shortage of was being taken away from him. Although he would still have full ess to all his liquid assets and personal properties as well as the two foundations under his name, Wayne Enterprises wouldpletely be out of his reach. This would mean that a lot of resources and influence he would be getting for free would now no longer be avable to him until he came of age. He knew that this was probably done by his enemies, someone with huge power and influence, even more than the Wayne family''s. Whoever this was also controlled his board of directors as well since without his thepany board agreeing to it, this wouldn''t have been possible. The worst thing about this was that he couldn''t do anything about this. Right now hecked enough influence, connections, and power to fight against this decision. He couldn''t even sell off his shares in thepany since that wasn''t allowed until he was an adult under the eyes of thew. The only ''help'' he would get from thepany was the annual dividend which he was free to use any way he saw fit. Normally any person would be extremely happy with this since the dividend alone was in hundreds of millions each year but Bruce wasn''t. He needed Wayne Enterprise''s huge ess to resources and global connections to achieve his goal faster. This new development would slow down his ns. After all, there was a difference of power between a person having a billion dors in cash and a person having a billion-dorpany under him. "What about the request you had for them? Would they be willing to let me take control of at least onepany?" Bruce asked, hopeful that he could still milk this somehow. "Sadly no. They were adamant about not letting you even near thepany. However, I was able to make a deal with them. They although would not allow you a singlepany to manage would however consider selling you one if provided the market valuation for thepany. They had given me a list of whichpanies you would be allowed to purchase." Alfred said as he passed Bruce a thin bundle of papers. As Bruce looked at his ownpanies that he would be able to purchase from HIMSELF, he felt his teeth clench in anger. Those businessmen were tantly robbing him. They were not only taking advantage of him but also mocking him in a way. These people were the same parasites that his parents had helped or worked with once upon a time. The worst part of this all was that Bruce could not fight this off, at least not legally since he was too young and underage to almost do anything concerning his rights to his ownpany. There were severalpanies that Wayne Enterprises were ready to sell to him. However, the ones that caught his eye were Wayne Capital an ailing capital investmentpany, and Wayne Entertainment, a movie and music productionpany that wasn''t doing well at all for thest few years making more flops in a year than it had hits in thest decade and finally Wayne Electronics, a subsidiary that made consumer electronics for the general public but was struggling and making huge losses due to directpetition from Queen Industries as well as its Japanese and Chinesepetitors. "How many of these can we buy?" Bruce asked Alfred sounding like he was talking about buying watches and not entirepanies. "They wouldn''t sell more than two or threepanies since they would still have to answer to the other shareholders. The main areas of business for Wayne Enterprises have always been medical, pharma, food, heavy industries, energy, and weapons development. Selling two or three of these loss-making subsidiaries wouldn''t affect their public image at all." Alfred said as he informed Bruce. "Now, the main question. How much money do we have in personal ounts? Can I even afford to buy one of them?" Bruce asked as he looked at Alfred''s displeased face. "Unfortunately your parents normally didn''t keep liquid assets much. Some ranches, international residential properties, and houses are all bought as fixed assets under their name. As for liquid assets, you only currently have about two billion dors..." Alfred said with a bit of regret. Bruce was almost heartbroken. Each of thesepanies would cost about double or triple that even though they are all loss-making ones being sold to him at market value. "However the two foundations do have some money that we can use since we haveplete control of them," Alfred asked as he looked at Bruce like he remembered something. "How many liquid assets do they have?" Bruce asked without much hope. "Not a lot. About thirty-five billion in cash and bonds." Alfred asked after thinking for a moment. "..." "..." "You couldn''t have told me about it sooner. And I was almost worried that we had money problems." Bruce sighed as he rxed. He was ultra-rich again as the money in the two foundations under him would alone make him the richest person in his previous world in this era. "Well, your parents were always extremely charitable," Alfred said as he seemed to grow nostalgic with a smile on his face. "Whatever. Inform the board members that we will be buying Wayne Entertainment, Wayne Electronics, and Wayne Capital from them. Buy it under the foundation''s name since I don''t want this ''I am too young to manage apany'' fiasco to repeat. Oh and also make sure that weplete this entire process as silently and quickly as we can." Bruce ordered. "Sure young Master it will be done," Alfred said as he nodded and left, determined to not let Bruce down again. ''The Board of Directors, huh? They are probably in cahoots with the Court of Owls or some other nefarious organization since if they were alone they would not have the nerve to do this to me. After all, even they know that once I reach my adult age, I could effortlessly take back control of mypany again and easily take revenge against them. I promise you, whoever you guys are messing with me, you will be in a hell of pain soon. Nobody takes my money away from me, NOBODY.'' Bruce thought grimly as he clenched his fists tight until they became white and then silently went back to making his drones again. --- Don''t forget toment and ''favorite'' this chapter if you like it. Also, you can check out my Pat re?n page as well to read ahead or just to support your fantastic author. I have 12 chapters in advance there right now. (MyPat-reonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, ie, the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a) Chapter 17: The Night of the Hunt (1) Chapter 17: The Night of the Hunt (1) --- "''Why did you do all this for me?'' he asked. ''I don''t deserve it. I''ve never done anything for you.'' ''You have been my friend,'' replied Charlotte. ''That in itself is a tremendous thing.''" ¡ª E.B. White, (Charlotte''s Web) --- "When you guys told me that you live in a mansion, I didn''t actually think that it was a real mansion. This is even bigger than my own house and our house is pretty big." Helena said with awe evident in her voice. "Why thank you. I am d that you like my humble abode." Bruce said while smiling. He too had the same expression on his face as Helena the first time he saw this manor after his transmigration. "By the way Helena, howe your parents even allowed you toe here? I thought they were very strict and normally don''t let you go to other people''s homes." Vicky asked like a curious cat. "I don''t know. After I heard that you guys were going to y together here, I just asked my mother if I coulde to y with you guys as well. I thought that she would just say ''no'' like always but surprisingly she agreed to it. She even said that she would keep it a secret from my father and my other siblings." Helena said with a happy expression on her face. "Great. Now, can we start ying? Bruce had a professional script writer prepare a special Dungeons and Dragons game for today. "I really wanna y it so let''s go," Selina said wanting to start the game as soon as possible. She was a fellow Dungeons and Dragons fan like Bruce was in his previous life. Of course, it was Bruce who introduced it to her. ying it just once with Alfred was all it took for her to get addicted to the game. She didn''t like ying console games or PC games as much as she liked ying the board game. And she even always chose the rogue or thief ss every time. "Yeah let''s go" Vicky shouted. She too wanted to y the game since she had never tried it before. Alfred was the dungeon master for the game besides being the official snacks supplier as well. The entire game was quite an enjoyable experience for all four of them including Cortana who was introduced to Vicki and Helena as a friend living in Australia. Bruce had told them that Cortana would also y the game and converse with them through video calling. The girls really liked her on-screen avatar thinking that it was a real girl cutely sitting behind aputer talking with them. They became friends faster than Bruce could spell Top-g. They yed the game for about two hours and still, none of them got bored, they were that hooked. Vicky was a little slow at the game at first but under the expert tutge of Bruce and Selina, she became quite good at it by the end. Helena who was ying as a ranger however was the hidden dragon among them. Her natural talent was barely beaten by Bruce''s skills even though he had a lot more experience than her due to his previous life. Cortana on the other hand didn''t seem to try to do her best otherwise she could have probably beaten all of them very easily because of her capability of doing countless simtions inside her mind in seconds. She just took it slow and let others have their fun as well. "It''s gettingte. I think I should go now. My mother would probably be angry if I didn''t go back home in time." Helena said with a sad face, not wanting to stop ying or leave her friends. "It''s okay Helena. I think I should go back as well. My father would get worried too if I don''t go back soon. Alfred, can you drop me at my home?" Vicki asked. Her father was the one who had dropped her here but she didn''t want to pester him again to pick her up as well, so she asked Alfred. "Of course Miss Vicki. It''s my duty. Miss Helena, should I drop you as well?" Alfred looked at Helena. "No, it''s okay. My family driver is waiting for me outside." Helena politely refused him. "By the way, thank you Bruce for the wonderful evening. I am d that all of you guys are my friends, you too Cortana." Helena said after which she ran to her car parked outside. Bruce couldn''t help but smile at this. Although for some reason he seemed a little ufortable like he could feel that something bad was going to happen. His sixth sense or ''bat sense'' was tingling. Soon, Vicki also left with Alfred to go back to her home. "That was enjoyable," Selina said with a small smile still visible on her lips as she watched the two cars slowly fading away in the distance. "Yes, yes it was," Bruce said as the uneasy feeling still lingered within him for some reason. "Bruce I havepleted manufacturing ten initial units of each of the bat carrier drones as well as the generation-onebat drones you wanted. Should I continue to make the rest of the one hundred nned units of the two models?" Cortana asked from the screen. She had not only been ying Dungeons and Dragons with all of them but was also assembling multiple drone units of Bruce''s design using her newly made ''arms'' that Bruce made for her in the Bat cave. Her new arms very much resembled the octopus arms that Dr. Octopus had in the MCU. They were extremely versatile and were the best possible design for assembling and other production purposes. As for why she was making the drones, it was because Bruce simply did not have the time. He had designed one single unit for each of his current three models and had uploaded the details and the process to Cortana''s database which she was now using to make multiple drones at an inhumane pace. "No. Let''s have a field test before you continue. I don''t think we ever tested it outside the Wayne manor. Let''s do it now. We can also see if there are any problems concerning limited range or reduced controbility or something." Bruce said as he started walking towards his cave. He had already tested the initial drones he made with the analyzing power of his ability and hadn''t found any problems with their designs but he wanted to be sure. Field tests are always the best ways to make sure that your machines will never malfunction in times of need. "Wait, you are going to test out your drones? Can Ie too?" Selina asked with pleading eyes. "Yeah, sure Kitty." Bruce instantly agreed as he didn''t keep his projects a big secret from Selina and Alfred. They knew about most of his inventions since they came into his cave whenever they wanted and Bruce never did anything to stop them. Why would he? One normally came to deliver him snacks and the other to talk and y with him. He had always trusted Alfred as he knew that the butler would rather die than even think of harming or even betraying him. As for Selina, she might have the innate traits of a thief but he knew that she had never stolen anything from him after promising him that night. Also, he trusted her. She might be a wild cat for everyone else, but to him, she would always be his kitty. "Let''s start, take control of three units of each of the drones Cortana, and deploy them to the main city," Bruce ordered after he took his seat in front of hisputer in his bat cave. As soon as he ordered it, three high-tech-looking drones slowly floated up and went towards one of the exits of the cave that opened to a small artificial waterfall on the manor grounds. Simrly, three bat bat-shaped objects which also had slight traits of an insect if looked closely enough began to p their wings rhythmically and slowly floated up and went towards the same direction as the previous drone. "Wow, the bats look so real. I mean the first type was also cool but the bat one was just too real looking." Selina said as she looked at the two drones flying away with amazed eyes. "I know. That is what they are supposed to do, look as real as possible." Bruce said as he switched on the live footage of his drones on hisputer''s multiple screens. "What do you wanna see Kitty? Thebat drones can fly at the speed of two hundred and fifty kilometers per hour while the bat drones can reach one hundred and fifty kilometers at top speed. Their range also extends to about fifty kilometers in radius. So we can see everything everywhere in the entire city through these drones." Bruce proudly boasted about his creations. "How about we visit Vicki and Helena''s homes then? I think we can scare them with the bat drones." Selina said with an evil smile on her face which Bruce dly returned. "Good idea kitty. Why didn''t I think of that? I can even make it seem like they are being haunted by invisible ghosts." Bruce said as he ordered Cortana to do it. Cortana followed his orders while seriously questioning both Bruce''s and Selina''s maturity in her mind. Even she didn''t expect her maker and friend to use state-of-the-art technology that governments would go to war for as pranking tools. As one of thebat drones and bat drones reached each of the two girls'' homes, Bruce got ready for pranking them. The n was simple. He was gonna speak through the drones and scare them using weird scary noises. He might even use a drone to knock over things in their rooms if they didn''t get scared easily. "Come on, what are you waiting for? Let''s scare them." Selina said excitedly. "You heard her Cortana. Let''s start Operation Boogeyman. Select Helena as the first target." Bruce said, using the first random name that came into his mind to name this prank. The bat drone silently entered Helena''s mansion through one of the open windows and began to search for her room. Soon, it found a room with a half-opened pink door looking like it belonged to a small girl or kid The bat drone went towards the room slowly under Bruce''s instructions, expecting the room to either belong to Helena or one of her siblings. Cortana made sure to fly the drone as silently and steadily as possible, so as not to alert the people inside the room of the uing prank. However, the moment the full view of the room appeared on theputer screen, a bone-chilling scene suddenly became visible. The bodies of two children were lying on the floor with blood flowing from their corpses, dying the entire carpet red. The little children had been shot by someone in cold blood. --- {A big shout-out to my new p¨¢tron''Muscab Mumin''for joining theDivine Eminencetier on myP¨¢treon. Thanks for the support. ¨R???¨Q} {A big shout-out to my new p¨¢tron''Christian Demers''for joining theCelestial Emperortier on myP¨¢treon. Thanks for the support. ¨R???¨Q} Don''t forget toment and ''favorite'' this chapter if you like it. Also, you can check out my Pat re?n page as well to read ahead or just to support your fantastic author. I have 12 chapters in advance there right now. (MyPat-reonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, ie, the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a) Chapter 18: The Night of the Hunt (2) Chapter 18: The Night of the Hunt (2) --- "How can you destroy a monster without bing one?" ¨C Kaneki, ''Tokyo Ghoul'' --- "Br-Bruce i-is that, are those d-dead bodies?" Selina said verbally stumbling in fear. She had seen a lot of suffering in the streets and the orphanage but this was the first time she saw someone lying dead like that in their own home. "Kitty, go to your room," Bruce said with a stern tone after controlling his shock at the unexpected sight of the gruesome scene. He didn''t want to let Selina see everything here and ruin her innocence so soon even though he doubted if any child in Gotham ever truly had an innocent childhood. "No, I wanna watch. I want to find Helena and make sure that she is okay." Selina said with tears in her eyes while holding Bruce''s hands, begging him to let her stay here with him. "Fine. But first, call Alfred to inform him about this and tell him to contact the cops as soon as possible. He should have already dropped Vicki at her home by now and should be on his way here." Bruce ordered her with a tone that meant no nonsense. "Can''t we ask him to go to Helena''s home first and try to see if... try to find her? It would be quicker than the cops." Selina said in a frustrated voice. "No. Alfred is just one man. This is probably the work of either a criminal gang or an experienced serial killer. Sending Alfred there alone would be jeopardizing his life. I doubt he even took his gun with him. So just tell him to call the cops, particrly James Gordon, and tell him that we received the information from an anonymous source about the crime and then order him toe straight home." Bruce instructed. Normally the excuse of receiving information from an anonymous source doesn''t work in front of most cops as they insist on knowing who the anonymous source is but Alfred worked for the Wayne family and that alone would make his words a hundred times more credible and believable than anyone else''s. No cop would be stupid enough to try to force Alfred on revealing how he got the information about the crime even before the cops did. "O-okay," Selina said as she quickly went to the main manor to ring up Alfred from the mansion''sndline. Truthfully Bruce could have done the same from the cave itself since not only did his bat-tool also function as a phone but also Cortana herself could make the call. But Bruce sent away Selina because he didn''t want her to see the rest of the bloody scene in Helena''s house, he didn''t want her to see the dead body of one of her friends since he didn''t know if Helena was even alive at this point. But most of all, he didn''t want Selina to see what he was gonna do if he found the ones who did this. "Cortana release the spiders" Bruce instructed with a cold expression. As soon as he said it, the stomach of one of the bat drones opened slightly and about a dozen tiny crystal-like objects dropped from it which soon began to move and morph into shapes of spiders. They even began to crawl on the walls just like normal spiders would. "Generation-one Spider drones released," Cortana followed his order without any question or dy. Even she sounded somewhat cold right now, maybe because she too was angry that one of her newest friends might have been murdered in cold blood along with her family and she wasn''t able to do anything to save her. As soon as she said it, a dozen more live feeds became visible on the screens showing the same room from different angles. "Spread them all over the mansion, try to find out if anyone is still alive. Also, call the other bat drone inside and release its spiders as well. And station thebat drones outside the mansion, be ready for heavy battle in case anything goes wrong." Bruce said with determination. He didn''t know if Helena or any of her family members was still alive or not. But he swore that he wouldn''t allow any criminal to escape alive from this mansion today, no matter what. Criminals who can kill children are the worst type of criminals and one of the very few ones who don''t deserve the least bit of mercy. "Multiple heat and sound signatures detected." Cortana suddenly announced as one of the feeds became slightly erged on the screen and two burly figures became visible shooting another smaller figure. "Okay, that''s thest maid. *Sigh* I tell you, these Bertinellis have too much household help. Even Mr. Gnte doesn''t have these many servants. He should have given us an assault rifle to kill all of them instead of just pistols." The first man said. "Yeah, I agree. I had to use three rounds of ammunition to kill everyone. We were lucky that Santo was able to convince the Bertinelli slut to open the doors at the back or this hit would have been impossible. I still remember the expression on Franco Bertinelli''s face when he learned that he was not just dying but was dying as a cuckold." The other man broke out inughter which the first man also joined. "Anybody else?" Bruce asked after hearing out their conversation. "There are also two more men in another room which seems to be most probably the master bedroom of the mansion where Mr. and Mrs Bertinelli slept. They are currently searching for something in one of their safes. Everyone else in the mansion is either already dead or in critical condition and cannot be saved in time. The drones still haven''t found Helena''s body anywhere. However, there is a small mild heat signature under one of the tables in the dining room. It might be a small child or a pet of some kind." Cortana answered him dutifully. "Send one of the bat drones to the area and check if it is Helena right now," Brucemanded. "BD-002 is already on its way to the dining room," Cortana said as another screen became highlighted on theputer where the camera recording the feed seemed to move at rapid speeds through the mansion soon reaching an extremely long old-fashioned table normally seen in old movies about crime families. As the bat drone wiggled to go under the table, a small silently weeping figure was seen on the screen much to Bruce''s relief and increasing anger. "Switch on the microphone. Helena, can you hear me? If you can hear me, please just nod your head." Bruce whispered after the sign of the microphone activated. He was whispering because he didn''t want to take any chances and attract the attention of one of the gang members. Immediately Helena was surprised and looked around trying to find where the voice of her friend which she easily recognized wasing from. Not finding anyone nearby, she just fearfully nodded her head, hoping that Bruce would be able to see her. "Good. Now listen to me very carefully Helena. The cops are on their way to save you. The bat-shaped drone near you is the machine through which I am talking to you. It will protect you until help arrives. So just sit back and wait patiently. I''ll be here with you the entire time." Bruce said to make her rx. "Okay," Helena whispered between silent sobs after she noticed the bat drone sitting near her. She was using her hands to forcefully close her own mouth and make sure that she didn''t make any sobbing sounds that would attract the gangsters. After seeing her terrified and sad face, Bruce was angry. No, he was beyond angry. Before this, he still wasn''t sure if he wanted to go into the entire saving people and punishing criminals business but now he knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to get rid of the useless filth that dirtied this world, that hurt the truly good and innocent people like Helena. And he would start all that today with the people of this mansion. He would not only be what Bruce Wayne was meant to be but even more. He would be Vengeance, the purest and most brutal of its kind. "Cortana, lock targets on all four gang members and then use Spider BYTE on them," Bruce ordered after a slight second of deliberation. "Are you sure Bruce?" Cortana unexpectedly asked for confirmation this time. She knew the negative effects this singlemand of her maker could bring on his young mind. "I said DO IT," Bruce said determined. He was doing this for two reasons. One was out of raw spite and hatred against these criminals for killing innocent people and most of all, little children. But the other primary reason was to protect Helena. The cops still hadn''t arrived and he didn''t want to bet on the possibility that none of the gang members would find her within that time frame. "Command confirmed," Cortana replied with a low cast voice. As soon as she said it, the spider drones nearest to the gang members quickly moved towards them, crawling with absolute silence, making sure that they could not be seen or heard by the targets. They moved like little assassins climbing up on the gang members towards the areas on their bodies which were not covered by any clothes. As soon as all of them had reached their target areas, small syringes stuck out of their mouths and pierced into the skin of the gang members as they injected a small solution inside them within a millisecond. The gang members only felt a small slight prick and didn''t even react much. They just tried to itch the area where they had been bit, thinking that they were just bitten by a small mosquito but the spiders were long gone by now. They had retreated to safety the moment the solution was injected into their targets'' bodies. Now, Bruce just waited for the effect. For a few seconds, everything was normal but soon the gang members began sweating. They didn''t realize that something was wrong with them and just continued their search and looting thinking everything was going their way. But the truth couldn''t be more different. What they were experiencing while sweating crazily like pigs was a small toxin of Bruce''s own design. A very easily made (for him) solution of electrolytes in their bloodstream which right now was affecting their physiologies, dehydrating their entire bodies at a marvelous rate, shriveling their organs, and making their bodies nothing more than just dusty withered remains of their previous selves. Bruce had made this poison for all beings with humanoid physiologies who survive on water. Once this poison enters their bloodstream, then no matter if it''s a human, Antean, Amazonian, or any other water-consuming race whose bodies'' major parts wereposed of water, they will die as a mummy without any chance of survival. Intake of more water to bnce the dehydration would just be uselessly prolonging their suffering. Simrly to its intended effect, the men too tried to search for water to satiate their increasing thirst but three of them died even before they could get close to any source of water while the fourth even after continuously consuming ss after ss of water from the kitchen sink, still died after his body could no longer keep up with the continuous dehydration. And all this happened within just a single minute after injecting the toxin in them. "I guess Spider BYTE is another huge sess. It will be useful for low-key assassinations in the future." Bruce had a cold smile on his lips. "One of thebat drones seems to have found another one of the gang members near the back door of the mansion. It looks like he is guarding their escape car." Cortana said as the camera view of the shriveled-up dead bodies changed to an image of a man smoking while standing with his back against the door of a ck-colored car. "Lock target on him and use low pulse sonic turret," Brucemanded. Under Bruce''s orders, a barrel peeked out from one of thebat drones and targeted the smoking man''s direction. After a three-second charge, it began to fire a continuous pulse of sonic sound, so strong that it was almost visible to the naked eye. It was another weapon that Bruce had installed in hisbat drones for not only dealing damage to physical objects and humans but also beings that were way more durable than humans but had a superhuman sense of hearing. It could fire pulses of sonic sounds at a wide range of frequencies that could crack crystals, metals, bulletproof ss, and even liquefy people''s brains like the unfortunate smoking man who was its first field target. Within just five seconds of continuous firing, dark red-colored liquid began to leak from the man''s ears, eyes, nose, and mouth signifying that whatever limited amount of brain the man had was now slowly leaking out of him like water. Even the ss and mirrors of the car behind him had all cracked under the pulse''s devastating effect. "Cortana, note that the pulse guns need to be further modified. Its effect is too slow. We need to either recalibrate the frequencies to fasten the rate of damage or increase the strength of the pulses to maximize the effect." Bruce said with a neutral expressionless tone. "Are you okay Bruce?" Cortana asked with worry in her voice. "Yeah, of course, I am. Why wouldn''t I be? I just cleaned up some garbage from the and made it a slightly better ce than it was before." Bruce said, not changing his emotionless tone. Truthfully he didn''t know what he was feeling. He had watched the deaths of every one of the gang members with utmost focus. He wanted to see what he felt after seeing their deaths, knowing that he was the one who decided their deaths, he was the one who gave the order for them to die, and he was the one who decided if the trigger should be pulled or not. But he didn''t feel anything. A small feeling of guilt had risen up in his stomach but it disappeared as soon as it rose up. In fact, he felt somewhat d and happy and proud of himself for protecting his friend and ''punishing evil''. ''Maybe that''s why the original Batman never killed. Because he knew he would feel the same way I do and that he would never be able to stop killing again.'' Bruce wondered to himself. But he stopped thinking about stupid stuff like that. He had a friend to console right now and by the sound of footsteps, it also seems that Kitty was alsoing back. He would be conducting his research on his feelings and psycheter. For now, it was time to be a good friend. It was his duty, not just as Bruce but as a man. To put the happiness of others close to him before himself. --- Don''t forget toment and ''favorite'' this chapter if you like it. Also, you can check out my Pat re?n page as well to read ahead or just to support your fantastic author. I have 12 chapters in advance there right now. (MyPat-reonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, ie, the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a)
Chapter 19: The Night of the Hunt – Aftermath Chapter 19: The Night of the Hunt ¨C Aftermath --- "A man, after he has brushed off the dust and chips of his life, will have left only the hard, clean questions: Was it good or was it evil? Have I done well ¡ª or ill?" ¡ª John Steinbeck, (East of Eden) --- <(James Gordon pov)> "Who else do you think did this?" Harvey shouted at me while holding his cross tight in his palms. "Whoever it was, It wasn''t a mummy Harvey. This is not a horror film. Mummies do not exist in real life just like aliens or ghosts or demons or any other made-up stuff you see in movies. We cannot just conclude the case by saying that the crime was done by mummies." I felt a headacheing my way. It seemed like the world itself didn''t want me to rest. Just when I was thinking of going on a vacation with my daughter, I''ll have to deal with a high-profile case once again. After the entire thing with the Waynes, crime has almost tripled in Gotham. It was like everybody is trying to screw everybody. "Then what do you call this? Those four bodies in there were withered like mummies. I am telling you either an Egyptian mummy has gotten loose from the museum or the family threw some curse at the gang members or something before they died." Harvey said as he continued to rub his cross in frustration. "Sir, we found another body at the back. It looked like the man was staying close to his car as a quick getaway n. His cause of death seems to be a goopy brain." A young cop approached the two senior detectives and reported with a straight face. "Excuse me?" I said looking at the rookie with one of my brows raised. If this was a joke, I wasn''t appreciating it. "The man doesn''t have a brain anymore. Most of his brain seems to have liquefied and leaked through his... orifices. We will know more once we send the body for post-mortem." The younger cop said with a slightly disgusted face. "Seems I was right. This is a curse after all. I knew I should have listened to my mother and taken that firefighter job. A least I wouldn''t have to fight god-damn mummies." Harvey said looking like he wanted to shoot himself. "Okay, first this was not done by a mummy. And, second, there is no curse just a very smart person who either wanted to send a message or is just trying to hide how hemitted the murders." I said looking at Harvey. This was one of the weirdest murders I have ever seen in my life. It isn''t that I haven''t seen dehydrated bodies before but normal bodies take weeks to dehydrate like that and also they are not nearly as intact as these are. The Bertinelli family is a very famous crime family in the Gotham Underworld. Those four gang members are most probably from a rival gang who came here to kill the Bertinellis and steal whatever wealth they could get their hands on. It''s a ssic tale of the cruel andpetitive underworld. But what changed this simple case was how every gang member included in the crime was killed by weird unexinable methods. "What about the survivor? Did she say something?" I asked the younger cop with some hope. "No, she hadn''t said anything. She is still in shock. We tried to ask her some questions without trying to further worsen her condition but she isn''t even paying attention to us. She just ignores us and stares at the void with tears in her eyes." The young cop said as he signaled towards an ambnce parked a little further from where we were standing. "I see. I didn''t expect her to know anything about it anyways. She was hiding under a table when we came. I doubt if she wasn''t hiding from the very beginning, those monsters would have even let her live." I said as my fists tightened on their own as I remembered the two little young bodies lying in a pool of blood. "I told you, Gordon. Gotham is a shithole full of people who loves shitting and then throwing their shit at others. What happened here today is almost a daily urrence in the city except for the part about the weird deaths. You should stop caring if you want to truly live your life without depression because justice in Gotham is the same as a rose growing in a shithole." Harvey smirked somewhat sadly at his own words. "Yeah, but I am still gonna try. Whether it''s the person who killed those criminals today or the gang who ordered the hit, I am at least going to find out the reason why an innocent child became an orphan today." I said determined as I went towards the ambnce. Getting close to the ambnce, I saw a small girl a few years older than Barbara sitting with a towel wrapped up around her for warmth andfort while shedding silent tears from her eyes. "Your name is Helena, right? Are you okay?" I tried to start a conversation but the girl didn''t respond in any way. She just kept silently crying while ignoring me. "Look Helena, I am sorry for your loss. I know I probably won''t understand your pain but I want to help you. I promise you that you are safe now. We have already contacted your uncle since he is your closest living rtive. He will being from Europe to meet you. Bruce Wayne has also contacted us. He said that you can stay with him till your uncle reaches Gotham. You will be safe with him. But before that, I have to do my duty and ask if you know anything about this incident. Did you hear or see anything while ''this'' was happening? Anything out of the ordinary at all?" I asked while mentally swearing at myself for even trying to interrogate a young victim like her. "No. They entered through the back door when most of my family had gone to sleep. And began to shoot everybody. I was eating at that time because I had arrivedte from Bruce''s house after we yed Dungeons and Dragons all evening. When we heard shooting, one of the maids in the room told me to hide under the table while she checks out what was going on. But..." Helena could no longer continue and broke out in tears. "It''s okay. I understand. Thank you for your cooperation. Sit tight, I think your friends would being soon to pick you up." I said as I turned around but stopped after just taking a single step. "By the way, did you or any of your family members contact Alfred or Bruce by any chance? Because they were the first ones who knew about this and informed the cops. You wouldn''t happen to know how they knew about this right?" I asked wondering if they had any connection with this case. "..." Helena was silent. From her sad tear-stricken face, it looked like she was thinking about something. "Helena, Do you know anything about this, anything at all? If you do, you should tell me, any clue could be a big help in solving the mystery of why, how, or who did this." I asked again. "...No, I don''t," Helena said after a while. "I see... But don''t worry, I''ll still try my best to find out who did this. And when I do, I''ll bring them to justice whoever they are." I said with determination in my voice. "Detective, please try to find out more about the people who killed my family and not the people who avenged them by killing those criminals and saving me in the process." The girl said with a certain coldness in her young voice just when I was turning around to leave. "Umm, okay miss. We will do our best." I say, not ming the girl for her rudeness. If I was in her ce, I would have been much ruder than her. I understand what and how victims of such crimes think. So, I decided to just leave her alone for some time until the Waynes get here. ''This city truly is going to hell.'' I mutter in my mind as I went to a quiet corner and lighted my first cigarette in months. I have tried to quit for a while now after Barbara was born and seeded too but its times and crimes like these when I need them to continue to function properly and do my duty despite the massive frustration that whispers in my mind to just kill every criminal and gang member and be done with it. While thinking all this, I suddenly felt a gaze on me as I looked around but didn''t see anyone near me. But then I noticed a bat hanging upside down from the roof of a nearby house looking straight at me with its menacing red eyes. A bat? Well, I did hear there have been reports of too many bats in Gotham now. I guess darkness always invites the bats huh? --- Don''t forget toment and ''favorite'' this chapter if you like it. Also, you can check out my Pat-re?n page as well to read ahead or just to support your fantastic author. I have 12 chapters in advance there right now. (MyPat-reonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, ie, the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a) Chapter 20: Goodbyes are not Forever Chapter 20: Goodbyes are not Forever --- "Losing people is a part of life, but that doesn''t mean you stop letting them in." ¡ªBatman, (The Lego Movie) --- "Helena! I can''t believe you''re leaving. It won''t be the same without you." Vicki said as she rushed forward and enveloped Helena in a tight hug. "I''ll miss you too, Vicki. You were a good friend." Helena hugged her back. Bruce, Vicki, Selina, and Alfred hade to drop Helena and her uncle at the airport. The bustling airport was filled with travelers hurrying to catch their flights. Among them, Helena stood with watery eyes at the entrance, her little suitcase beside her, as Bruce, Selina, and Vicki were standing before her, unwilling to let their friend go while Alfred was having a conversation with her uncle. Those two had also be good friends due to both their tempers being simr, they were both gentlemen. The very air seemed heavy with a mixture of sadness and gloom. "Helena, we want you to know that we''ll always be here for you, no matter the distance. You will always have a friend in us." Bruce said as he stepped forward, his voice filled with determination. Bruce had wanted to be selfish and just keep Helena with him in Gotham. He had enough money to look after her but the question was could he really keep her safe? In a world where Kryptonians could not keep their own wife and unborn baby safe, what chance did he have at this stage, when he was just a child? Maybe in the future, he would be powerful enough to not care about minor gangs and silly psychos with retarded senses of fashion but right now, he couldn''t do that, he couldn''t be selfish. No matter how much he just wanted to say ''fck off'' to the plot and this world and keep Helena with her, he couldn''t do it, at least not when he was still so weak. "Absolutely, Helena. We''ll call each other every day and keep you updated on everything happening here. You won''t be alone." Selina nodded at Bruce''s words, her eyes shining with sincerity. "And we''ll n all the adventures we''ll have when youe back! The three of us, together again." Vicki chimed in, her voice filled with anticipation. "That sounds amazing, Vicki. I''ll look forward to that." Helena said with a small smile. "Remember, Helena, we''ll always be just a phone call away. And if you ever need anything, anything at all, don''t hesitate to reach out." Bruce said as he took Helena''s hand offering support andfort. "Helena the flight''s on time. We have to go or we will miss it. We have to say our final goodbyes for now." Helena''s uncle said as he lightly ced his hand on her shoulder. "...Yeah." Helena''s eyes were filled with tears. She had already lost her entire family in one fell swoop. She didn''t want to let go of her friends so soon as well. "But it''s not goodbye forever, Helena. We''ll see each other again. We promise." Vicki said as she was pulled in for a hug by Helena along with the rest of the gang. It was a weird sensation for Bruce. This was his first time in a group hug. But he liked it. It felt like home, it felt like family. "Thank you, guys. You''ve made this a lot easier for me to bear." Helena said as she wiped away her tears. She then proceeded to give Bruce one final hug before leaving. "Thank you for everything that you did for me. I promise that I will always keep your secret and that I will pay you back one day... Thank you." She whispered. Bruce didn''t understand if she was talking about him saving her life or him letting her stay at his home for thest three days or him killing the ones who killed her family. But he didn''t care even if she did tell people. It was not that he blindly trusted her or anything. It was simply because nobody would believe her. An eight-year-old orphan boy invented a state-of-the-art high-tech drone that is more advanced technology than anything currently on Earth and he used it to save his friend and kill her family''s gangster murderers using a home-developed artificial poison that kills people by making them mummies. Yeah, best of luck in making the cops and the press believe that. "What I did wasn''t a favor. What I did was simply to help one of my best friends. And THANK YOU for being my friend, Helena. Take care of yourself." Bruce smiled at him. "Goodbye, my dear Gotham Knights. Until we meet again." Helena said with a smile as she with a heavy but hopeful heart went into the airport with her uncle, slowly disappearing into the crowd. For some time after the two left, Bruce just stood there in silence, thinking about something, wondering if it was a coincidence that Helena had called them the Gotham Knights before leaving or did the universe itself wanted to tell him something. "She''ll be alright, won''t she? We''ll make sure she is." Vicki said worriedly. "Yeah. Helena is strong, and we''ll be there for her every step of the way. We will support her from here as much as we can." Selina said while wiping her residual tears. "She will be alright. She is our friend after all. And as for her safety, I pray for anyone who tries to ever do anything to her." Bruce gave a small smile whose meaning none of the people standing near him understood. Only he knew what he meant. Only he knew that before Helena left, he had given her a little farewell gift. He had given her his favorite and greatest creation till now, a bat-tool. The entirest week, he had made one specifically for her. A slightly different version of the bat tool he made for himself. This one leaned towards protection and defense more than versatile tools. He was sure that if Helena could one day master it, then she could even defeat a lot of dangerous metahumans out there. Of course, he made sure to include more security features to make sure that it doesn''t fall into the hands of some evil genius. But the best thing about her particr version of the bat-tool was that it could even change its appearance into a girl''s purse making it blend into a normal environment and easily pass through any scanner. "Let''s go. It''s gettingte." Bruce said after some time of silently standing in front of the airport. He had already noticed a couple of people pointing at him and whispering. He knew it would not be long before this ce ispletely swarmed by reporters. So with heavy hearts, the trio along with Alfred who also looked somewhat down went towards their car. It was time for them to return to their normal lives again. *** "Master Bruce, here''s your snacks and the documents you requested. The folder contains all the information about the threepanies that we acquired recently as well as the smallerpanies that you wanted to invest in through the foundation. I have also started making deals for the filming rights of various books andics that you told me under Wayne Entertainment." Alfred said as he ced a tray of food and a thick folder on the table. "Oh, goody. Continue buying the filming rights of all the literary works I mentioned. I''ll make sure to prepare a couple of dozen songs as well as some tv and movie scripts. Making the other twopanies seed will be easy due to my skills but the entertainmentpany would have to be handled very delicately." Bruce nodded as he continued working on a weird-looking helmet. Bruce had ns for his technologypany. Making money through it would be the easiest since all he had to do was just release a few of his designs to the public every year as products and vo, hispany would be the most advanced and famous technologypany in the world. Evenpanies like Apple or Te would be nothing in front of Wayne Technologies. Same with Wayne Capital. Cortana was already making various ai programs for doing sessful short trades in the share market to make quick money as well as shortlisting ventures and startups that had the most chances of seeding using countless real-world simtions. That coupled with the knowledge from Bruce''s previous world would almost make it a certainty that Wayne Capital would seed and would soon be the biggest investmentpany in the world. But Wayne''s entertainment was different. Bruce could easily make it one of the biggest entertainmentpanies as well by making all the movies and shows he knew from his previous life but he didn''t have enough time to start writing scripts to make. He would earn and profit way more by using his time to make state-of-the-art technologies than by writing manga,ics, or movie scripts. All he could do was buy some franchisees that he knew would seed in the future, hire the best directors and producers, and make sure that the shows or movies have a decent storyline. But that was it. He was mostly pinning his hope on Cortana who had supposedly cracked the form for making hit storylines. ording to her, she had analyzed thousands of sessful stories, and she used that information to develop a form that she could apply to effortlessly influence people through her stories and make sure that every one of her scripts seeds as a film or show as long as it''s made well. Truthfully Bruce doubted that because he knew how varied the human race was and how their opinions differed. So, he was going to do what he could do and develop some high-tech machines and programs as well through Wayne Technologies to make visual and audio effects in movies a hundred times better than what was possible in this era. That would be the defining point of how the products of his studio would be different from the others. In reality, he could even make an entire movie at his home, simting everything through hisputer with the help of Cortana without any need for shooting in the first ce but that would raise too many questions like who are the actors in the movie or where and when was it shot, stuff like that. So he was just going to provide as much help as he can to his studios'' employees for them to make their best stuff for the people to see and enjoy. ''Perhaps I could start the Marvel franchisee here. I already checked Marvel doesn''t exist in this world for some reason, so it could potentially make me a lot of money but if this multiverse is somehow connected to Marvel for some reason, then it could create a lot of chaos.'' Bruce thought to himself. "Sure master Bruce. Also, I know a certain person in Wayne Enterprises who might further help us in our business dealings since I am not really that bright in running a business and you young master need a business mentor to learn how to sessfully run a business empire." Alfred said. Bruce was sure he didn''t need a mentor since he didn''t intend to actually run the business himself. He just wanted to sessfully grow his business big and powerful enough for him to never get into money problems. He even had ns to just sit back and enjoy his money rolling in after all hispanies are big and strong enough. But he didn''t say that to Alfred. Alfred had really big expectations of him and he didn''t want to break his hope so soon. "Sure, Alfred. Who is this mentor that even you look up to?" Bruce asked trying to show some curiosity. "Lucius Fox. He is one of the board members of Wayne Enterprises, one of the very few who is still loyal to the Wayne family and supports your im on thepany. He couldn''t attend the funeral because he was more or less broken after your parents'' deaths since they were best friends. But I am sure that if you ask him to join your newpany, he would do it in a heartbeat." Alfred said with a sad look on his face, probably having some shbacks about Bruce''s parents and Lucius. "Fine. Then request him to join Wayne Solutions. By the way, that''s the name I have decided to name the holdingpany. The three subsidiaries as well as all thepanies I would acquire or start personally in the future would be under it. I don''t have enough time to be the acting CEO anyway and will be taking up the chairman position, so maybe he could make for a good CEO." Bruce made his intentions clear. He had even thought he could merge Wayne Solutions with Wayne Enterprisester down the line when he bes an adult. He was sure that the moment he turned eighteen would be the end of most of the members of the board of directors in hispany. He was going to make sure that he not only took back control of Wayne Enterprises but also ruin the lives of everyone who opposed him. Alfred looked like he was a little displeased with Bruce''s decision and wanted to say something but he ultimately didn''t. Perhaps he remembered that despite Bruce''s maturity and high intellect, he was still an eight-year-old kid and eight-year-old kids don''t really make very intimidating CEOs. So perhaps making Lucius Fox the CEO would be a good move. "Fine, I''ll inform him then. It is extremely important that this new venture of yours seeds Master Bruce. That would win us the trust of the general public shareholders and make it much easier to take control of Wayne Enterprises in the future when you turn into an adult, even if the board still opposes us." Alfred said with an air of seriousness. "Don''t worry Alfred. Bruce Wayne doesn''t fail. He might get slowed down but he never fails." Bruce smiled while feeling a little weird for talking about himself in the third person. ''Maybe, it wasn''t that easy being Bruce Wayne after all.'' He thought. "Oh, and your newbat teacher contacted me. He said that he would being tomorrow to start your training. Although he has certain conditions before he starts teaching you. He will only train you if you agree to them. But make sure they are not anything too extreme Master Bruce. You never know with people noways, lots of weirdos out there." Alfred said with a frown like he was imagining Richard Dragon as a pedophile. "I am sure his conditions won''t be too extreme Alfred. And if they are, we can always just get another teacher. Anyways, what about the other person I told you about? Did you find anything about him?" Bruce asked. "You mean de Wilson? Yeah, I did. He is currently posted as a soldier in Iraq." Alfred revealed. "Oh, that''s a bummer. I was thinking about hiring him to be my armedbat trainer. I guess I can do it after he retires." Bruce showed a sad expression but inside he knew it would not be long before de Wilson stops working for the military to be a hitman, the best god-damn hitman out there. And that would be the moment when Bruce would snatch him up to be his trainer. he was sure someone like de would never say no to a couple of million dors when offered nicely. --- Don''t forget toment and ''favorite'' this chapter if you like it. Also, you can check out myPat-re?npageas well to read ahead or just to support your fantastic author. I have12chapters in advance there right now. (MyPat-reonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, ie, the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a)
Chapter 21: Dragon meets Bat Chapter 21: Dragon meets Bat --- "Being weak is nothing to be ashamed of¡­ Staying weak is !!" ¨C Fuegoleon Vermillion, (ck Clover) --- <(Richard Dragon pov)> This is a really big house, even bigger than Sensei''s dojo. I wonder what the history is behind this building, just how much blood and tears were used up to make this piece of architectural marvel. Countless useless thoughts like these began to swirl in my mind as I stood outside the door of the main mansion after ringing the bell on the door. It didn''t even make sense, the guards outside at the main gate had already checked my identity and let me in, so the residents knew that I wasing. So, what was the use of cing a doorbell here? Seriously, the rich and their over-the-top security. "Good morning Mr. Dragon. We were expecting you. Pleasee in. The young master is waiting for you inside." A man in histe thirties or maybe early forties greeted me after he curtly opened the door. He was probably the butler of the family, a well-mannered person if one goes by his style of speaking. Even though I had only just met him, I could sense he wasn''t a selfish bloodsucker like most of the people I encountered aftering to Gotham. He seemed like a normal butler at first sight but if one looked carefully at his posture and the thin outline of a fading muscr physique inside that suit of his, one would know that he had some decentbat experience, maybe a military man of some kind. I didn''t reply to his greeting and just silently followed him. I am not here to judge people or find out about his personal history. I am simply here to teach a prospective student if he is worthy enough to be one. Otherwise, I am just here to enjoy a cup of expensive tea. As we went to the living room which was bigger than my entire apartment, I saw the kid I was supposed to teach. And he was just what I expected him to be, a normal-looking little kid. He didn''t look any different than the other hundreds of kids I have seen in my life, maybe a little better looking than the average but that might just be the expensive grooming products that I have heard billionaires like to use. Although the look in his eyes did seem somewhat different than what I was used to. I have seen a lot of eyes. My master, O-sensei believed them to be the windows to our souls, disying our true emotions, our true selves to everyone outside. I have seen eyes with looks showing a determination to survive or desire to take revenge or even greed for money and power. But his eyes were different. In his eyes, I saw... absolutely nothing. They were nk. Not a single bit of emotion was present, just pure intelligence. It was like he was observing me as much as I was observing him, like a predator hiding in the shadows, waiting to see if I was a friend or a foe. Maybe ''they'' were right. He might be different than the others who normally want to learn martial arts from me. But the question was why did they want me to teach him? Why was it so important that they even had ''her'' approach me for a ''favor''? "What''s your name?" I ask, not waiting for the butler to start the introductions. "Don''t you already know that?" The kid raised one of his brows in a question. "I want to hear it from you," I said as I looked him straight in the eyes. I was trying to determine his personality by observing his actions and expressions. I am not gonna teach a kid with a twisted personality who might be a serial killer in the future. "Wayne, Bruce Wayne. What''s yours?" He asked. "Richard dragon. So, Bruce, I heard that you want to learn how to fight from me..." I began without any dilly-dallying. "Is that what you were told, that I want to learn fighting from you? Because that''s not true. I can get hundreds of teachers for learning how to fight. No, what I want to learn from you is the art of unarmedbat. I want to learn the art from an artist, not how to fight from a fighter." The kid said interrupting me. Although I don''t like people interrupting me, I can''t help but be impressed at his respect for both me and the skills that I learned from O-sensei. "And may I ask why?" "Because I want to, as simple as that. It will be one of the most useful skills that I will learn in my life and will undoubtedly help me in the future in whatever I want to do. Be it surviving, showing off my talents, defending myself, protecting my friends and family, saving others, or crushing my enemies, it will help me in everything." He answered in a matter-of-fact voice. Saying that I was surprised would be an underestimation of my current mental condition. That was one of the most tant answers to that question I had ever heard in my life. That question was once asked by my own sensei to me and my peers as well. I remember what we answered that day. I still ask every student that wants to learn from me that same question. But nobody and I mean NOBODY till now has ever given me such a blunt yet truthful answer. Most answers include serious and grim reasons like taking revenge or being powerful enough to never lose to anyone or wanting to be the best fighter in the world or wanting to protect the weak and innocent but what he answered right now was truly out of my expectations. "Hahahaha. I see. Fine. But as I already mentioned to your butler, I have some conditions before I agree to teach you." I said afterughing for some time. "Yeah sure, as long as they are not too stringent or restrictive, I will dly agree." He said as he shrugged his shoulders. "It''s not. All I want is for you to swear never to ever use the skills that I teach you to kill anyone." I said. It was a very minor condition that most people won''t even care for. I think he should be no different since this won''t restrict him from anything nor will it affect his future much. And even if he did ever want to take someone''s life, he could just spend some money and get a hired gun to do the dirty work. But this little condition would make sure that he couldn''t be used by ''them'' in any way as long as he sticks to it. That way any ns they had made regarding him would be useless. Of course, Bruce might break the rule in the future but I think that an individual like this kid doesn''t break promises that easily. Also, I don''t want a smart innocent kid like him to be ever tainted by the darkness thates with taking a life. "No, I am sorry. That won''t be possible. I had sincerely hoped that you could be my teacher but I guess I am not that fortunate. But still, thank you for your time." Bruce stood up and lightly bowed as he began to walk away without rifying his reasons. I was not the only one surprised as the butler standing beside me was also equally astounded. "Wait, why can''t you agree on that condition?" I couldn''t help myself but ask with curiosity brimming inside me. Does the kid want to kill someone? Does he want revenge for something, maybe his parents'' murders or something? "Hmm? Why, you ask? Because it would be a drag. Don''t misunderstand, it''s not that I want to kill people. I don''t. I believe in the statement that every life is equal. But if sparing one life that is my enemy results in him or hering after my friends, or my family and killing them for revenge or hurting numerous other innocents just because he is an evil psycho who loves to kill, then I would much rather kill that person. Forgive me if that sounds rude. But that is what I believe in" He said like he was stating a general fact. He didn''t sound rude. For some reason, he sounded logical. He sounded right. And I couldn''t help but believe him. Even from his heartbeat, I knew that he was most probably not lying. They were his real thoughts. But the question was were they correct? I didn''t know. I myself had taken a few lives before, like when I avenged my sensei or when I fought in the underground ring. So, I wasn''t a stranger to killing but I wanted to make sure that my students won''t have to go on that road, that they can find a better way, one that I couldn''t. But, the question was, did a better way truly exist in every situation? "I don''t know how right or wrong you are in your beliefs, Bruce. Perhaps I would never know, maybe I don''t even want to know. But they are your beliefs nheless and looking at you, I don''t think I can change them that easily. But I will teach you even if you didn''t agree to my conditions simply because I believe that you are speaking the truth, that you will try to avoid useless death or futile killing as much as you can though in return, you will only have two years to learn from me. After two years, I will leave, no matter how little or how much you have managed to learn from me. That''s the cost of not agreeing to my conditions." I said with a no-nonsense tone that made sure to highlight the fact that I was not ready for any negotiations. "Sure. But you have to promise me one thing, Mr. Dragon. You will teach me everything you know in these two years as long as I can learn them or master them. You won''t withhold anything from me as long as I have enough talent to learn from you." Bruce said as he too sounded quite serious. I had only agreed to teach him for two years because I knew that he wouldn''t be able to learn or master everything I had to offer under the limited time. That way, even if he did go down a dark path, people would still be able to stop him. Even geniuses need years after years of training to even begin toprehend some of the advanced techniques I possess. He might be a genius himself but, no matter how rare once-in-a-century genius he is, he simply won''t be able to learn it all, at least not the skills that truly matter like my knowledge of chi. "I ept. I swear I will teach you everything I know in these two years as long as you can learn and master each subsequent skill and technique I teach before I move on to the next." I swore. Truthfully, I was feeling somewhat guilty for fooling a small kid like him. But I had no other choice. I can''t make him into an absolute weapon for ''them'' to use. I couldn''t go against them directly and deny training him. If I don''t train him, they would just find someone else for the job. But this way, at least I could make sure that he doesn''t be the weapon that ''they'' always want in their members. "Thank you, then I''ll be in your care from now on, sensei" Bruce bowed to me, this time with much more respect than before. "We will start your training from tomorrow then, my young student." I bowed back, a little happy to finally get some respect from him. "By the way, I should mention that a young friend of mine will also join my sses. She is my best friend and lives with me, so you can trust her. I assure you she is the most innocent and pure girl you will ever meet who can''t even think of stealing, much less killing." Bruce said as he smiled at me. Of course, I nodded and smiled back in return epting his request. Training him will be more important for me of course since that was why I was here but if he wants a friend to learn with him then sure, why not. But I still wonder, why did he describe his friend, the girl that way? Is she a little angel or something? --- {A big shout-out to my new p¨¢tron ''Sebastian Vasquez'' for joining the CELESTIAL EMEROR tier on my P¨¤treon. Thanks for the support.} Don''t forget toment and ''favorite'' this chapter if you like it. Also, you can check out myPat-re?npageas well to read ahead or just to support your fantastic author. I have12chapters in advance there right now. (MyPat-reonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, ie, the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a)
Chapter 22: If you aren’t cheating, you aren’t trying Chapter 22: If you aren¡¯t cheating, you aren¡¯t trying --- "If you can''t do something, then don''t. Focus on what you can." -SHIROE, (LOG HORIZON) --- Bruce had begun his training the very next day. Selina was training under three different teachers including Richard while Bruce just trained under Richard alone. He decided that he didn''t want to train in stuff that he wasn''t interested in or not gonna need in the future much in his line of ''work''. Batman was known for hisbat and physical fitness, not for his yoga and gymnastics. As for the level of agility, flexibility, and body-mind coordination that he was going to need to be an adept fighter, he would get it from his martial art andbat training. Speaking of martial arts, Bruce found out that martial arts weren''t exactly as easy as people imagined it to be. You were not told by your master to sweep the floor a thousand times and then after a couple of days, you be a master of fighting. No, the reality was much different. Training meant performing grueling and cruel sets of exercises and repeating even the simplest of techniques hundreds of times to master them and perform them without even the slightest of mistakes. Prodigies weren''t asmon as seen in movies. And unfortunately, it turned out that Bruce himself wasn''t a true prodigy or a fighting genius. After the first day of training, Richard just straight out told him with an expressionless face that he was better than the average which would have been a praise if it were in the normal world since the average assassin in DC could easily take on the best of martial arts geniuses in his previous world. But here in the world of chi and unnatural and impossiblebat techniques, he was just a guy who was slightly better than the average. And even that was probably because of him inheriting the original Bruce''s better-than-average senses and brain. He might not have inherited the original''s memories and stuff but he did get his physical body which included his potential to be the peak of what humanity could be. But even with all that, Bruce knew that he had more or less zero chance of being as good as Batman if he were to just depend on his tenacity as Batman did. Why? Simple, because hecked the iron-hard willpower and determination that the original had. Of course, this didn''t mean that he wascking in the department, he in fact had a lot of will and determination to survive and grow strong as well as protect the people that he cared about like Alfred, Selina, and the others but it was nothingpared to what the original Batman had. His willpower was like the strength of a mighty river in front of that of the original Batman which was like a raging ocean. He knew that at this rate, he could be a decent respected martial artist within a decade or two, perhaps even better than some of the other heroes and vigntes like the Question or ck Canary but that wasn''t enough. He didn''t just need to be better, he needed to be the best, and he needed to learn and master everything Richard had to offer within two years which was almost practically impossible since not only he wasn''t that innately talented but also because he simply didn''t have enough time to practice. He evencked in the strength department since he was just eight years old. So, Bruce decided to do the only thing he could do. He decided to cheat. He had already suspected that his talents in martial arts might not be the best and had begun preparing for it. A person''s body might be a temple but it''s the mind that''s always in control of it. And Bruce was VERY proud of his mind. So he finally made up his mind to start using his ''cheat'' from the second day of training. He had already tried to learn the art ofbat without using it to show respect to the hundreds of shonen protagonists he had watched in his previous life master everything from hard work alone but when he did it, all he got in return for this respect was the title of ''above average'' from his master. So, he decided to just embrace the dark side and stop trying to be like a Shonen protagonist. ''epting my inner Itachi it is then.'' He thought in his mind as he looked at his master who was going to demonstrate an aikido move for Bruce and Selina to learn. Just seeing him perform the technique normally would have enabled Bruce to remember it forever since he had a photographic memory but that didn''t let him learn it since remembering something and learning the skill from that memory was very different. If eidetic memory could allow someone to learn any skill they saw for the first time then Nik Te would have been the greatest martial artist of all time. So, Bruce concentrated and activated his Intuitive Genius ability and willed it to show him how Richard was performing the technique. He had no idea if this would work. Now, that he thought about it, he had never actually tried to use his power on a human before. He had always only used it on nonliving things. For a few seconds after activating his power, he felt nothing, but then an influx of information suddenly almost overcame his mind. Everything slowed down as if the world itself was in slow motion and his vision changed allowing him to be able to perceive the flow of blood, breathing, muscr contractions, and joint movements of his master in front of him. He saw each and every minute change in Richard''s body as he looked like he was performing his technique in slow motion. And as he moved, it seemed like he was leaving a set of shadowy images in his previous positions making it even easier for Bruce to understand how the technique was being executed. By the time Richard was done, Bruce knew that he now would be able to replicate this technique and perform it without much difficulty. The performance might not be as wless as Richard who had been practicing it for years but it would definitely be way better than just ''above average''. "Did you understand it?" Richard asked as he approached Bruce. "F*ck, I am a demon yer." Bruce couldn''t help but mutter to himself, not realizing that his new master was now looking at him with a weird expression. "Bruce, are you alright?" Even Selina had a confused expression on her face, even though she mostly remained silent during her training. She just liked to silently observe everything and absorb it all like a sponge. That was one of the reasons why she appeared even better than Bruce in learning martial arts on the first day. He suspected that she might even have some kind of female lead halo or superhero halo or something that made her good at almost everything she did including gymnastics, yoga and even fighting. ''Tch. I think the previous Bruce took his superhero halo with him when he died because I didn''t get anything of the sort.'' He thought in his mind, annoyed at the original dead Bruce for some reason. "It''s nothing. Can I try it now master?" He asked, wanting to try out if it had really worked like how he had imagined it to be. "Yeah, sure. Go ahead." He said, not expecting a lot from Bruce. In fact, Richard was both happy and disappointed at the same time that Bruce wasn''t the one-in-a-million martial art talent that he expected him to be after he observed him on the first day because this meant that Richard would not have the fortune of teaching another martial art genius but it also meant that ''they'' would not have much use for him in their evil machinations. But sadly what happened next reversed both those emotions inside Richard making him question both his sanity and reality. As soon as Bruce started, he was able to perfectly replicate the entire technique that Richard just demonstrated. Even the distribution of power in his muscles, the center of bnce, the posture, the way he breathed during executing the technique, everything was the same as Richard as he had just shown them. "Wow, that was awesome tiger. It was almost as good as master''s." Selina praised Bruce. "Thanks, kitty. I think I might give you a toughpetition after all." He said as he smiled at Selina at which the girl herself nodded with a smile. She wasn''t envious of Bruce at all but was genuinely happy for her best friend being so talented. Richard agreed with her statement except for the fact that it was not ''almost as good'' as his technique but equally as good as his technique. Richard even wondered if Bruce was hiding his talent the day before but ultimately just chalked it up to stage fright that beginners have on their first day. Bruce on the other hand was ecstatic. What he had just discovered would be a game-changer for him. He could use this to potentially be better at martial arts than the original Batman or even the Karate Kid. He more or less had a discount Sharingan with this. He could just observe the strongest and most talented martial artists and pull a Taskmaster on their asses, copying and stealing all their techniques and adding them to his own roster. Although, there was still a problem with this method. It was the fact that even though he could learn every martial art after seeing it just once, it still didn''t change the fact that he would not have sufficient time to practice them enough to wlessly integrate them into his fighting style or master them enough to incorporate them into his muscle memories. To do all that, he needed time to practice. But he had previously thought of that too. He was prepared with a solution already. Because that''s where his newest invention came in. Another little by-product of his amazing power. His version of the NerveGear or more specifically the Amusphere from Sword Art Online. The device could use his memories as well as Cortana''s processing power to transport his mind into a digital world simtion where his digital avatar could do anything he wanted to, including practice his skills. And the best thing was that it allowed the user to elerate his sense of time by up to a million times that of the time flow in the real world. Although Bruce decided to only use a ''ten times'' constant time dtion for the time being so that his ''childish'' mind didn''t break under constant duress and stress. He had even decided to let Selina use it as well for her training although both of their ''screen time'' would only be limited to three hours in the real world since he didn''t want their bodies to suffer or their minds to get addicted to the time-dtion since apparently that was a thing. However, using it for three hours every day meant every technique that Richard would teach them once could be practiced by them both for thirty hours till the next day. It was ample time for them topletely master any technique, learn how to incorporate them wlessly in a fight as well as practice them enough to make them part of his instincts. Of course, physical fitness was still an issue but he knew that it was nothing a few serums and daily workouts couldn''t solve. ''It seems that my future in martial arts is bright. I guess the age-old saying is right. If you ain''t trying to cheat a little, you ain''t likely to win much.'' Bruce thought as he smiled to himself. --- Don''t forget toment and ''favorite'' this chapter if you like it. Also, you can check out myPat-re?npageas well to read ahead or just to support your fantastic author. I have12chapters in advance there right now. (MyPat-reonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, ie, the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a)
Chapter 23: A magical Birthday (1) Chapter 23: A magical Birthday (1) --- "Today I will live in the moment unless it''s unpleasant in which case I will eat a cookie." ¨C Cookie Monster --- "Are you sure young master that you don''t want to invite some of the richer members of the upper echelon of Gotham to your party? Establishing a good rtionship with them from early on might give you lots of benefits in the future when you take over Wayne Enterprises and kick out the board members." Alfred asked with a straight face making it clear that he hated most of the board members of thepany with every bone in his body. "No, Alfred. Not on my birthday. I can barely tolerate those stuck-up people who think that they are the most important and powerful people in the world at normal times. But inviting them and listening to their stupidity on my birthday is a big no-no." Bruce answered with a smile which Alfred returned with one of his own and left for the preparations. It was Bruce''s ninth birthday. It has been almost a year since Bruce and Selina started their training under Richard. In just one year they had improved so much that Richard still had trouble believing that two little children could really be that talented. To Richard, Selina was a natural martial art prodigy while Bruce was a once-in-a-generation genius who was fated to dominate the martial art world one day. Of course, what he didn''t know was that both of their sesses were not because of their talents but because of their diligent practice through the NerveGear and Bruce''s Walmart Sharingan power. After about a month, Vicki too found out about their martial arts training when she came to y with them one morning and saw them practicing their techniques with Richard. After that day, she began pestering Bruce and Selina to let her join in too during their training sessions. Bruce had of course denied it at first but after an entire month of constant nagging, he had no choice but to agree to Vicki''s request and ask Richard if he could train her as well. He had expected Richard to deny training her but quite on the contrary, the martial art exert readily epted her as a student the moment he brought up the topic without even asking her any of the questions he had previously asked Bruce showing that his master was a sexist of a sort. Helena however ording to Richard''s harsh opinion was an average talent in the DC world meaning that her martial art talent was not as good as his or Selina''s. But that didn''t stop the little girl and she made it her life''s mission to be as good as Selina at least. But every time she thought she was doing well, it turned out that Selina and Bruce were doing way better than her, mainly because of their constant practice with NerveGear. She had almost fallen into depression when Bruce could no longer bear to see this and finally revealed to her the existence of the NerveGear after making her promise not to ever tell anyone else. So, Vicki too started training in the digital simtion with time dtion and even though she wasn''t as good as them, she could still be called a rare talent after she began to spend a hundred hours a day practicing. This of course made Richard question his entire existence. He wondered if geniuses and prodigies were really thatmon nowadays or if Gotham was a home of hidden dragons. But then he just decided not to waste his brain cells on those thoughts and go along with the flow. He even thought that it could be fate guiding him toward a better future. "Vicki should being soon. She promised that she was not gonna miss your birthday for the world. Will you finally tell her about the helmet thing? I mean she is a friend of ours too. Also, we could y games together in it like the realistic racing game we yed that day." Vicki said while she did her stretching exercises in her white martial arts clothes. "I don''t know Vicki. I might, since I don''t think she would be telling anyone about it." Bruce said as he tried to do pushups with his childish body. "Of course, she won''t. She is a part of the Gotham Knights remember? The first rule of the pact was that we don''t betray each other, no matter what. Also, snitching on Tiger would probably be thest thing she would do in this life." Selina said while eyeing Bruce discreetly. She had an inkling of what Bruce had done that day for Helena even though he always refused to talk on that subject. But that only increased her respect for him in her heart as she knew that he would do the same thing for her as well if she was in Helena''s ce. That''s just how Bruce was, the BEST friend someone could ever hope for. "I agree," Vicki said as she nodded with a sagely look on her face at which Selina just snorted. The three just continued doing their respective exercises in silence after that as they waited for Helena to arrive as well as all of Alfred''s preparations for the party to finallyplete. *** "Alfred, when I told you to make preparations for a small party, I really did mean a small party. This looks like it''s the birthday of the Prince of Arabia or something." Bruce said as he looked at the over-the-top decorations adorning the walls of the ''ballroom''. "I am sorry young master but this is the smallest party I could prepare for your birthday. Any smaller than this and your parents would start cursing me from their graves." He said with a small smile at the corner of his lips. "Haha. Very funny" Bruce said, not able to control his own smile from leaking onto his face. The party was supposed to be small with limited guests that he knew personally like his friends and their families, Jim Gordon and his daughter, the people that directly worked for him like his guards, and maids, as well as Lucius Fox and his family who was the current CEO of hispany Wayne Solutions. So he had told Alfred to make preparations for that but he should have expected that the lovable English butler would neverpromise with a party especially if that party was for Bruce''s birthday. "Oh, it seems that Ms. Helena and her uncle are already here. I will go and receive them then." Alfred said after he received a notification from his pager. ''She is here already huh? I wonder how much she has changed in thest year.'' He thought as he looked at himself in a nearby mirror. He himself had changed a lot due to his regr training and a proper strict and bnced diet. He looked a little like that child actor who yed Bruce Wayne in the Gotham TV show but was somehow cuter and better looking. Comics logic, he guessed. "I wonder how I would look when I grow up." He murmured to himself while looking at his reflection, wondering if he would look like Robert Pattinson, Christian Bale, Ben Affleck, or maybe Val Kilmer as an adult. There might also be the possibility that he wouldn''t look like any one of them and resemble a Batman from theics or animations more. "ording to my calctions and simtions, you will look great master. You have perfect ny-nine point nine-nine percent pure human genes with absolutely no defects." Cortana''s voice chimed in as the watch on his hand slightly glowed. "Thanks, Cortana." Bruce thanked his cute little digital assistant. "Is that you Bruce? Wow, you look taller." A familiar female voice came from behind him. "And so do you Helena. Let me guess, you are learning acrobatics or maybe some martial arts?" Bruce turned around and smiled at her. "Along with archery... I missed you." She said as she hugged him tightly. "Same, Helena and so did Selina and Vicki." He hugged her back. "HELENA" Vicki suddenly shouted from the stairs and ran up to them in excitement followed by Selina who too looked excited but was calmerpared to Vicki. They were both dressed in white and ck dresses simr to the purple dress that Helena was currently wearing. "Wait, did you girls discuss today''s dress code or something? I don''t believe for a second that this is a coincidence." Bruce said wondering if they were trying to copy power rangers. "Maybe, who knows?" Vicki said as she shyly looked everywhere around her, trying not to look at Bruce''s eyes making it clear that they were indeed trying to match dresses. ''I guess they are in their chunibyou phase right now.'' He thought to himself. "Ms. Helena, it''s nice to see you after so long and you are looking like a princess by the way. Selina and Miss. Vicki, looking beautiful as always. Master Bruce, most of the other guests have arrived. Would you like to greet them?" Alfred said. His demeanor had changed from a kind and loving guardian to that of a seasoned butler in front of the guests. "Yeahing Alfred. As for you three, enjoy yourselves at the party. I''lle to you guys after I am done meeting with the other guests. I should be done in about half an hour. You should try out the food till then. Remember, it''s all free." He said with a smirk as he went away with Alfred. "Has he grown even more confident and cooler than before?" Helena asked sometime after Bruce was gone. "Yep, but don''t tell him that. He would never let us hear the end of it." Vicki said as she continued looking in the direction Bruce had left. "Hey, you wanna see the photographs I secretly took of Bruce when he is focused on his work and training?" Selina asked with a yful smile. "Yeah let''s. We will even have free snacks to eat with it." Helena giggled. *** The entire party was quite enjoyable for everyone who attended it. Bruce had greeted everyone that hade to his party with the utmost respect because to him they were the few people who were currently worthy of being friends with him. He even met with Lucius'' pregnant wife who was a kind andpassionate woman just like her husband. She was also a sessfulwyer and had her own legal firm which handled all of Wayne Solutions'' legal matters. Jim Gordon on the other hand had visited him with his little daughter Barbara but had left soon after just about an hour when he was informed that some psycho had killed and eaten his victim. But even within that short hour, Barbara had be famous among the girls due to her cute doll-like appearance and smart responses to their questions. So they were quite sad on seeing her leave so soon. But in return, they made Detective Gordon promise that he would bring back Barbara again to meet them in the future if he had time. ''I guess Lolis really are famous among everyone'' He thought as he looked at the girls'' sad expressions while waving away at the leaving Barbara. "By the way, why didn''t Cortanae today? We used to talk on theputer all the time back when I was in Europe. I thought she would being since it''s your birthday. You didn''t forget to invite her, did you?" Helena asked as she looked at Bruce with a raised brow. Bruce didn''t know how to tell her the fact that Cortana wasn''t even a real human. Selina and Vicki already knew about her but Helena didn''t since he hadn''t yet revealed to her about his inventions, even though she had her own hunches ever since she saw his bat drone that night. So, he could do nothing but smile wryly wondering how to begin exining everything. "Master Bruce, there is a friend of your father''s, here to see you along with his daughter. You should probably meet him, he was quite close to your parents." Alfred said as he came up to him from behind. "Sure Alfred. Let''s go. Oh, and you two should exin to Helena about Cortana and NerveGear. I am sure that you two are enough to clear all her doubts and answer the hundreds of questions she might have about them." He smiled at them as he quickly began to follow after Alfred without waiting for them to answer. "Did he just?" Vicki started. "Yep." Selina sighed as she nced at Helena who looked like she could burst into a flurry of questions at any time. Her expression clearly said that she was annoyed and angry that she didn''t know something that the rest of the members of the gang were obviously privy to. *** "By the way, who is this family friend Alfred? Do you know his name?" Bruce asked after they were out of the girls'' sight. "Yes, I do. In fact, I have met him quite a couple of times and had even invited his family to your parents'' funeral but sadly they couldn''t attend due to their own personal problems at that time. His name is Giovanni Zatara." Alfred informed as he continued to walk like everything was normal. Well, everything was normal except for Bruce who had an expression on his face that clearly said that he was having trouble processing Alfred''s words. "What the fuc...?" --- Don''t forget to ment'' and ''favorite'' this chapter if you like it. Also, you can check out myPat-re?npageas well to read ahead or just to support your fantastic author. I have12chapters in advance there right now. (MyPat-reonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, ie, the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a) Chapter 24: A magical Birthday (2) Chapter 24: A magical Birthday (2) --- "The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper." ¡ª W.B. Yeats --- "What the fuck?" Bruce couldn''t help but curse in surprise. "Language young master. Your parents would be rolling in their graves if they heard you using that sort ofnguage." Alfred said with some amount of strictness in his voice. "Sorry," Bruce said a little sheepishly. He had tried to stop cursing as much as he could but moments like these forced his inner angry teenager out of him. "What I meant to say was what type of name is Zatara? I mean it sounds really corny, also I never heard about them. Are they from a business family or some influential politicians?" Bruce tried to fish for information about anything Alfred might know about the most famous sorcerer family of dc. "They are not in traditional business or politics. As much as I have heard, they are in the entertainment industry. They do magic shows all over the world. They are quite famous in the craft too." Alfred informed Bruce. "Oh, I see." Bruce didn''t stretch the conversation more and just silently continued to walk with Alfred toward the room where the Zatana members were waiting. As the duo entered the room, Bruce finally saw the man who is supposed to be a legendary magician of dc and his daughter, an equally legendary sorceress with reality-defying magic powers. "Ah Bruce, you have grown bigger than thest time I saw you." The middle-aged magician sporting a well-groomed mustache and wearing a suit got up from his seat and approached Bruce to shake his hands. "Uh, sorry but I got amnesia after my ident. Please do forgive me but I can''t seem to remember you or anyone else for that reason." Bruce used his go-to excuse as he showed a confused expression on his face. "Yeah, I heard. But you don''t have to worry about it now. I believe I can help you with that. By the way just to remind you, I am Giovanni Zatara and that is my daughter Zatanna Zatara." Giovanni said as he took a peek at his daughter. "Wayne, Bruce Wayne. But I think you already knew that. As for helping me, can I ask how and why you would help me?" Bruce asked, with a doubtful expression. "One simple word, magic." Giovanni wiggled his fingers in the air like he was trying to make a two-year-old believe in magic. ''Shit.'' Bruce thought in his mind since he knew that if Giovanni were to use his magic on him, there was a very good chance that he would find out that he was not the real Bruce Wayne but a different soul in Bruce''s body. Hell, the magician might even try to exorcise him thinking of him as a body-possessing demon or something. So he could not let him use any sort of mind or soul magic on him until and unless he is sure that he got the mandatory security against mind and soul attacks that all other transmigrators receive, or at least until he made something to protect his mind from outside influence. ''All those inventions and I never bothered to make some sort of mind shield. I really don''t deserve to be a transmigrator.'' He thought as he quickly began to search for some possible and believable excuses in his mind to stop Zatara from using any sort of magic on him. "I am joking of course. I actually received some training in physical therapy from a spiritual guru when I went to Bali for one of my shows. I think I can use that knowledge to try and get your memories back through hypnotism and rxing meditation." Zatara smiled and gave him a reason that Bruce didn''t believe for even a single second. "Mr. Zatara, the truth is, I actually don''t want to remember what I have already forgotten. If ites to me naturally, it''s okay but if it doesn''t, I don''t want to force it. I have left that part of my life behind and moved on from my parents'' deaths. I think that''s what they would have wanted from me." Bruce gave a very mature speech as an excuse to try to exin why he did not want to take Giovanni''s help. Normally that would have been enough for any other person to agree with him but what Bruce forgot was that those came from him, a nine-year-old boy. So, it sounded really weird. "Really? Fine but if you do change your decision, do tell me. I will do my very best to help you get your memories back. I am very capable in stuff like that." Giovanni said with a kind smile after looking at Bruce''s eyes for a couple of seconds, even though Zatanna looked sad all of a sudden for some reason. Bruce somehow felt a little weird, being in Giovanni''s line of sight. It was like the magician could look at what he truly was like Bruce''s very soul wasid bare in front of him. But it onlysted a fraction of a second. As soon as Giovanni smiled, Bruce inwardly released a sigh of relief. He was sure that his secrets weren''t revealed. If they were, then Giovanni wouldn''t have smiled at him. He would have bound him in a spell and started torturing him already. Bruce didn''t want to fight mages and sorcerers so soon. He knew that even with his op cheat and his continuous inventions, he could still lose. Why? Because magic was op. Science could do anything within its own rules. But magic disregarded all rules. Magic was total b.s and someone who doesn''t know magic should never fight a master of it. ''I wish the Wizard would summon me to the rock of eternity. I could use some Shazam powers for myself.'' He thought as he remembered how easily one could gain god-level powers in this world. All one had to do was just have a heart as pure as gold. But, Bruce knew he would never be selected or even short-listed for it simply because he didn''t have a single bit of purity in his heart. The only gold the wizard would find in there were entire libraries of high-quality doujinshi, manga, and anime. ''By the way, I heard that you were a good friend of my parents but I didn''t see you two at the funeral. Alfred mentioned that you couldn''t attend due to your own personal problems. Is it something that I can help with?" Bruce asked. He wanted to get a position of superiority in their conversation whether it was through showingpassion or making the middle-aged wizard feel guilty. "You can''t help even if you wanted to Bruce. Sadly no one can. You see, my wife, Zatanna''s mother passed away some time ago and I wasn''t able to get over it. I locked myself at home grieving her, even neglecting my own daughter. Zatanna had lost her mother too but I guess I was too self-absorbed to think about her. Shows what type of a father I am, doesn''t it?" Giovanni said with an expression that screamed that he genuinely felt guilty. "No Dad, stop ming yourself. What happened to Mom and... what happened after wasn''t your fault at all. You tried your best, and you still are. That''s why I love you, Dad." Little Zatanna spoke up for the first time with tears held up in her eyes. Giovanni too looked emotional at his daughter''s outburst and looked at her with aplicated expression and proceeded to hug her tightly, showing how much he loved her and cared for her. While all this was happening, Bruce just continued to look at the father-daughter pair with interest. He hadn''t ever seen such family drama in real life before so this was all very interesting to him. He was d this was happening in his home because this way he was not only able to get some details about their past but also get a rough idea about their psyches. Bruce had already started keeping a mental journal of sorts where he recorded the personalities, goals, ambitions, strengths, and weaknesses of all the ''important'' people he came across in his life. He was sure that this would help him immensely in the future. He could write them up too but he didn''t want to risk someone seeing that data or stealing it from him somehow. "I am sorry you had to see all this. It seems we still have to work on our rtionship more to avoid awkward situations like these," Giovanni said as he stopped hugging his little daughter and cleared his throat. "It''s okay. Truthfully, I am d that you could sort out your differences and mend your rtionship. I just hope that you two don''t drift apart again. Our friends and family are the very things that define us. Without them, we are nothing." Bruce smiled somewhat sadly. "You have grown much wiser than thest time I met you, Bruce. I guess losing one''s parents does force one to mature quicker. Anyways, as I was saying, I was here to actually help you regain your memories, but since you don''t want them back, I won''t force you." Giovanni said. "Thanks for that. By the way, can I ask how your wife passed away? Was it a disease or was it an ident like my parents?" Bruce asked curiously. Both the husband and wife of the Zatara family were supposed to be powerful sorcerers. So his wife dying just like that seemed a little unbelievable. "She died while battling the armies of hell and forcing back a demon general back into his realm." Mr. Zatara said with a straight face. "..." Bruce didn''t know how to answer back. Should he ept that reason since it was most probably true, or should he act like he didn''t believe it like any normal person wouldn''t? "It was a joke. My wife died... in an ident. She was too kind for her own good... But I am not here today to talk about her. She is in a better ce now, wherever it might be. I am here because of you and my daughter." Giovanni said as his posture suddenly became straight and his face turned stern. "Huh?" Bruce was confused. "After my wife passed away, I realized that my daughter has been suffering a lot emotionally. Due to our constant traveling, she doesn''t have a lot of friends so to speak. So I thought she could spend some time with you since you are the only friend she ever made..." "That''s enough Dad. You are embarrassing me now." Zatanna interrupted with a flushed red face in an attempt to stop her dad from continuing to talk and further embarrass her. Bruce really wanted tough at this. It was truly hrious. Their personalities were in no way simr to the serious characters portrayed in some of the shows Bruce had watched before in his previous life. They appeared just like a normal father and daughter trying to mend their rtionship and get back to their normal lives after the death of the mother. "Yeah, sure. I''ll be d to be friends with her again. Even though I might not remember our friendship from before I lost my memories, I am sure that we can always make some new ones." He said. He hadn''t only said that because he really liked the two but also because this might be his chance to get closer to the hidden world of magic and learn more about the world of mysticism. All he had to do was just win their trust and vo, he would get a magical friend as well as a free magic teacher for himself. ''I guess my ''parents'' did leave something useful for me besides their huge wealth. They left their contacts with some very important ''canon'' characters.'' He thought as he wondered who else the original Bruce and his parents might have known before their deaths. --- Don''t forget toment'' and ''favorite'' this chapter if you like it. Also, you can check out myPat-re?npageas well to read ahead or just to support your fantastic author. I have12chapters in advance there right now. (MyPat-reonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, ie, the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a)
Chapter 25: A magical Birthday (3) Chapter 25: A magical Birthday (3) --- "Never half-ass two things. Whole-ass one thing." ¡ªRon Swanson, (Parks and Recreation) --- "That was a little weird, wasn''t it?" Alfred murmured to himself with a confused face after both the magical father-daughter duo left. The butler was confused by some of the things that Giovanni had said in the conversation especially whenever he joked about things like magic. Who the hell jokes about the death of their wife being caused by a war with demons? Bruce on the other hand wasn''t confused at all because, unlike Alfred, he knew that the Zatara family was not ordinary at all but a magical one. So he knew exactly what he was talking about. But Bruce still had a certain doubt in his mind. Giovani seemed really protective of his daughter. He didn''t even let her talk with Bruce much, let alone allow her to y with him alone. Even though he himself asked Bruce to be her friend to which Bruce immediately agreed, he still left with his daughter after some time, not letting her freely talk or y with him. Giovanni told Bruce that he had some important work to do and thus had to leave for the day. He took Zatanna with him too even though Bruce told him that he wanted to celebrate his birthday with her along with his other friends. ''Is it purely because he is an overprotective father or is it because he was here for something else? Whatever he said he would send her to y here next week anyway, so I''ll get my answers then'' Bruce thought to himself frowning. "Yeah, it was a little weird," Bruce replied as he took out a small machine the size of a TV remote the moment the Zatara family left the mansion grounds. He then began to roam the entire room with the tool in his hand like he was looking for something with it. After a few minutes, the lights on the device began to blink and rapidly change from white, red, green, and blue until a couple of secondster, the green light glowed slightly more than the other lights and finally, the white light turned on. "Interesting, so he did some sort of magic while he was in the room since there are traces of paranormal energies here but there is no active spell right now," Bruce muttered to himself as he frowned. "What''s that Master Bruce?" Alfred couldn''t control his curiosity despite his best efforts and finally asked after some time. "This my capable guardian is a pk-meter I made recently. It can detect various supernatural energies and events. Red light means ghosts or other demonic entities are detected nearby, green means the detection of any paranormal substance or energy, blue means the detection of a cursed object, and white means everything is normal." Bruce exined but looking at Alfred''s face, he doubted how much the butler was believing his words. He wasn''t lying. He made the pk meter after he remembered the iconic device from Ghostbusters. It was the only device he currently had that could detect supernatural stuff around him. It detected ectosmic energy as well as the unique radiation signature of mana and could basically detect any supernatural entity that was nearby. At first, he wanted to name it the bat-meter but that sounded too dumb for him, so he just stuck with the original name. But he would change it if he got a better idea for it. He was even working on trying to integrate it into his bat-tool so that he doesn''t have to carry a weird-looking remote with himself all the time. "Do you think allowing the girl toe to y with you next week will be safe?" Alfred asked as he wondered if he had contacts with any demonologist or wizard to help them if the situation required it. "Yeah, it would be alright. I don''t know about Giovanni but Zatanna definitely didn''t seem like a bad person. Hell, even her father seemed like a good person to me if he didn''t act so suspicious. I am sure that we will know more about thister. I don''t want to list them off as an enemy so soon but we would need to be more on guard." Bruce said as he thought if he could make any other machines through his knowledge of science that could block or nullify magic. "Sure Young master. I will make sure to write Mr. Zatara on my people to watch out for list." Alfred said with an expressionless straight face, not making clear if he was joking or not. "I don''t get it. Are you joking? You know what? It doesn''t matter. I need to get back to the girls. They have been alone for a long time now. I just hope Helena is calmer than before." Bruce said as he began to walk away. He had three girls to get back to and entertain and also a few remaining hours of his birthday to enjoy. *** "Hey, where were you? You were gone for like an hour. We thought that you ditched us. We even yed an entire game of Monopoly in that time." Vicki puffed up her cheeks andined. "Not even in my wildest dreams I would ever ditch you guys. I was just making sure that two of my guests werefortable enough. They were a little more ''special'' than the others." Bruce smirked. "Even more special than us?" Selina asked without looking at him. "No, of course not. There is no one more special to me than Alfred and you three. You are my oldest and closest friends." Bruce said as he gave them a brilliant smile. "Huff, it better be," Vicki said. She was the most immature among the three girls, probably because she hadn''t experienced even a fraction of the stuff that Helena or Selina had experienced in their lives. Compared to them, she was just a normal girl in a happy family. "By the way, they told me about your inventions. Is it true that you gave birth to Cortana?" Helena asked with stars in her eyes. "Gave birth is too far-fetched a word but yes, I made Cortana. You wanna meet her?" Bruce asked. "Yeah of course I do. She is the coolest person I have ever met." Helena fangirled. "Thank you for thepliment." The watch on Bruce''s wrist buzzed as Cortana spoke through it and responded to Helena. "I think she meant Cortana was that you were the coolest after me, right Helena?" Bruce asked shamelessly. "Yeah yeah, sure," Helena said, not caring about Bruce''s hurt sentiments at not being called the coolest kid among them. "Okay, you wanna see my cool Batcave?" Bruce asked. Helena already knew a lot of stuff about Bruce just like he knew a lot of stuff about her. He knew that Helena would never betray him at this point. Even if they were young, their bond was too strong for them to backstab each other. "Yeah, of course, I do. Vicki told me all about it. She even said that we could use aputer to y a racing game in another world." Helena revealed. "Really Vicki? After all the time I told you to not reveal anything about the Batcave to anyone." Bruce narrowed his eyes at Vicki. "What, you said to not tell it to any adult or stranger. But Helena is our friend. You said yourself that you trust her." Vicki argued, not able to look him in the eyes. "*Sigh* Fine. Let''s go to the Batcave. But if you tell about it to anyone else ever again without taking my permission first, I swear I will delete all your memories and make you believe you are a chicken." Bruce threatened half-heartedly although he didn''t even have anything to make true on his threat. As Bruce led them to his Batcave through one of the many secret entries, this one being the ssic opening of a hidden door by twisting a certain statue''s hand in a particr way, Helena was gobsmacked after seeing the inside of the cave. The entire cave was decorated with LED lights in a cool dark design. There were assortments of various machines and tools lying all around with the most noticeable being a giantputer at the front of the cave. "That''s a pretty bigputer," Helenamented. "Yeah, that''s the batputer. You can''t even imagine what ying yStation feels like in there. It''s almost as good as Bruce''s digital world." Vicki couldn''t help but reply. "Wait you call yourputer the Baputer? And you also call your cave the Batcave just like you call that gadget you gave me the Bat-tool? What''s with you and your obsession with bats?" Helena asked, raising one of her brows. "I have a problem okay? You will never understand the addiction of sticking to a theme. It''s like you can''t stop once you start. So, stop judging me." Bruce said with an aggrieved voice. "Sure," Selina said as she just smiled. She knew it was one of the very few bad habits that Bruce had and truthfully she even liked it somewhat. She herself had started something simr to that after she started naming everything she had with the theme of cat. She even named her own pillow as soft pussy although Bruce for some reason alwaysughed whenever he heard of it. That was annoying for her. After all, she neverughed at his names. "Wow, what''s that blue pill? I didn''t see it before. Did you make a new candy or something?" Vicki said as she went toward a small box containing a few dozen attractive transparent pills. "Wait no, don''t touch those. They aren''t for the consumption of regr people." Bruce yelled and snatched the box away from in front of Vicki. They were NZT pills that Bruce had made with reference to the film Limitless. They were supposed to let anyone use a hundred percent of their mind''s capacity, giving them photographic memory and perfect recall. But Bruce more or less already had those two abilities through his power. What he really wanted from these pills was the Sherlock Holmes-like genius observation and deduction skills they could give him when consumed. However, the pills weren''t perfect. For some unknown reason, maybe due to the fact that he was making these pills from the resources avable in the DC universe, these NZTs were stronger than the ones in the movies and evensted longer for approximately twenty-four hours before they lost effect. But in return, they had more negative effects on the user''s mind like the elimination of empathy, severe addiction, slow breakdown of neurons, dependency on the drug, and other harmful consequences. So Bruce right now was working on a booster dose to counter those negative impacts. He wasn''t an idiot. He was not going to consume those nor let anyone touch them till he developed a method to eliminate their negative resultspletely. The only unfortunate thing was that it would probably take a few years to develop it since Bruce still hadn''t found an element substitute good enough to rece the mainponent of the booster drug. In the limitless world, there was a special nt whose chemicals were used in it but in DC there was no such thing. So he has to keep looking for a good enough if not a better substitute. "So I can''t have one," Vicki asked as she looked at the attractive pills. "No, you can''t. You should always listen to me, Vicki. Stuff in myb might be really dangerous for you." Bruce said as he seriously began to consider developing a Neuralyzer and neuralizing Vicki. She was too innocent and childish but he still couldn''t deny that she was probably the most entertaining among the three. "So you admit that I am more responsible than Viicki," Selina said as she puffed her chest proudly like she had just been praised by the teacher. "I guess I do, especially since you don''t try to eat the very first thing you see in theb." He said as he carefully stored the box full of NZT pills safely into a secure storage device. "Okay, how about we now y the game Vicki was talking about." Helena interrupted at which Vicki who had be downcasted again beamed with happiness. "Yeah, sure. Let''s go. Cortana, turn up the NerveGears and start Sugar Rush." The rest of Bruce''s Birthday passed away for Bruce as the four friends just yed games all night and happily chatted among themselves while having a sleepover. Life truly was going well for Bruce Wayne. --- {A big shout-out to my new p¨¢tron ''Inders'' for joining the Celestial Emperor tier on my P¨¢treon. Thanks for the support. ¨R???¨Q} Don''t forget toment'' and ''favorite'' this chapter if you like it. Also, you can check out myPat-re?npageas well to read ahead or just to support your fantastic author. I have12chapters in advance there right now. (MyPat-reon uses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a) Chapter 26: Cards of Fate Chapter 26: Cards of Fate --- "My advice is, never do tomorrow what you can do today. Procrastination is the thief of time." ¡ª Charles Dickens, (David Copperfield) --- "Today I am going to teach you both a special technique that only a very few martial artists in the entire world are privy to. It was a technique that my own master taught me when I was young. At first, I wasn''t sure if you three were worthy of learning it but seeing as how you have mastered everything I had taught you till now, I am positive that I am making the right decision to teach this to you." Richard said with a nostalgic expression on his face. Richard had truly been confused for thest few months if he should teach them the most powerful martial technique in his arsenal, the use of chi or not. But after seeing their ''legendary genius'' level talent, he had epted that not teaching them just because of a few worries in his mind about their future would be the biggest mistake in his life. "He is probably just talking about those flying kicks he showed earlier. I still think he was using hidden springs under his feet for that trick." Vicki whispered to Bruce and Selina. "Shh." Selina shushed her. Helena had already left for her uncle''s house in Italy about two days ago after Bruce''s birthday celebration. But even though they missed their friend, Helena, they still didn''t halt their training for even a single day. They were determined to learn everything they could within the limited timeframe they had. "I didn''t use springs in my shoes Vicki. What you saw that day during training was also a small function of chi. Chi is the very life force flowing within us just like it flows through every living organism on the. It is the spiritual energy that connects our souls to our bodies. It has been called a lot of names in different civilizations. Chi, Qi, Ki, Chakra. They are all the same." Richard began teaching. "So, it''s magic?" Selina asked disbelief written on her face. "No, it isn''t exactly magic. It''s a mystique art but not proper magic. Instead, it is the flow of one''s life force. We don''t learn how to control it but simply how to direct it. As long as we can control its flow, we can do a lot of impossible things with it." Richard exined as suddenly a calm slightly golden aura began to flow around him. "The fundamental process of using chi is not to implement force but to simply remain calm and meditate tobine yourself with nature to augment your chi." He said as he raised his arm while breathing slowly, approaching the dojo wall with his raised arm and lightly punched it. The moment his arm touched the wall, the wless wall caved in, and huge spider web-shaped cracks developed on it looking like it was punched by a monster. "That''s amazing. How is that even possible? Did your chi increase your strength?" Vicki asked not believing what she was currently seeing. "Not really, Chi doesn''t magically increase your strength per se. Instead, it influences your muscles and forces them to act to their full extent and its energy might also affect the target and try to destroy it from within. That''s why a person with chi is ten times more dangerous than another person with the same physical abilities but without chi." Richard said as he pointed at his handwork on the wall. "So, does anyone can use chi?" Bruce asked the question which has been guing his mind for a while now. "Yep, as long as the person is alive and has a soul, he or she will be able to learn to use chi," Richard answered. "Now let''s see which one of you can learn chi the fastest. It''s quite different than the other martial arts techniques I have taught you till now. While those mostly depended on your physical abilities, this one depends on your state of mind and tranquility of soul." After that Richard showed them a set of meditation and specific breathing techniques for them to best harness the power of chi. They weren''t quite hard for them to follow but performing them constantly as Richard demanded it was a sweat-inducing task. Bruce was quite excited to learn chi because he had thought that chi would enable him to achieve the impossible. In his mind, he had even imagined himself as a Wuxia protagonist who could just by cultivating all day long increase his power but he soon understood the difference between chi in DC verse and chi in Wuxia or Xin Xia novels. Chi here was only a temporary method of increasing one''s physical abilities through contact with one''s spiritual side. But there was no tempering your body or stuff. In a word, this chi was meant forbat, not cultivation. Bruce had already sessfully copied the breathing and meditation techniques of Richard a long time ago, the moment when he had first shown it to Bruce and the girls but copying and learning weren''t the same thing. Bruce had merely copied those techniques but to learn them he needed to find ''inner peace'' ording to Shifu..., uh, Richard Dragon. And that was where he was finding some difficulties. He didn''t even understand what inner peace was because he was quite sure that he was already as fucking calm and peaceful as he could be. So he wondered what he was truly missing in his quest for learning chi. ''Well, probably nothing a hundred hours of constant grind on my Nerve Gear won''t solve.'' He thought to himself as he smirked and looked at the two girls practicing the techniques and trying to copy them to the t. They were really working hard, probably even more than him since they had to work harder to keep up with him despite him cheating his way through with his Photographic reflexes. *** <(Omniscient pov)> "Ah, you are back. So, did you find anything about the... anomaly?" A humanoid figure with a deep voice asked without turning back. "I did. I went to his house with my daughter. And don''t call him an anomaly, that''s not a respectable way to address anyone. He is not a thing but a living person and only a kid at that." Giovanni Zatara said with an annoyed expression on his face. "Ah, humans and their petty manners. It''s funny. You behave with the utmost respect for people yet still backstab them the first chance you people get." The person with the deep voice said after giving a smallugh. "You are talking like you weren''t a human yourself once. Don''t forget that you were one of the very humans you are currently looking down upon." Giovanni sighed as he looked at the figure. "I indeed was. But I ascended. I found my higher purpose and now I must guide humanity itself from the numerous threats it faces daily." The voice said with a little bit of arrogance mixed with it. "Yeah, sure. And this arrogance right here like you are some sort of blueblood noble is the reason I don''t like you. The only reason I am even working with you is because of Thomas. He was a good friend who had once helped me in my time of need, and I am just returning the favor by checking up on his son. So here, I did your stupid test." Giovanni snorted as he took out a set of tarot cards from his pocket. "The Fool, the Lovers and Death. Interesting. And what about the possession test?" The figure asked as the three cards flew toward him from Zatara''s hand. "None. No demon or Ghost or otherworldly entity in his body. He was squeaky clean. Just regr old Bruce Wayne like thest time I saw him. Although, his soul did seem quite a bit stronger than kids of that age normally have." Giovanni said as he remembered what he had sensed when he had cast his spell on Bruce that day. "Probably an effect ofing back from the dead. It''s quitemon. Happened with another kid I know who came back from hell recently. "I see. So can I ask what those cards mean?" Zatara asked not able to hold back his curiosity. "The Fool for him means that he is a nexus point of this particr world, representing the beginning, and end of this universe. He has unlimited and endless potential. The Lovers signify that he would have to face a lot of trials, experience lots of rtionships, and would have to make choices that would determine not only his but the fate of the world itself. As for the third card, that''s the tricky part." The figure said as he held the card of death in his hand while the other two cards continued to float in the air. "Death or the Grim Reaper," Giovanni said with his brows furrowed. "Yes. In thisbination for the kid, it could mean either of two things. One, he is an avatar of death herself, spreading death to all those who deserve it, or two..., he is meant to be already dead." The person said as he turned around to face Zatara. "But that''s not possible. He is alive and quite well. I saw him myself. So it must be the other meaning." Giovanni said as he looked at the now floating death card. "Yes, it seems so, doesn''t it? Fate is a fickle thing after all. Sometimes it is written in stone and sometimes it can be changed as easily as a butterfly pping its wings. I wonder what his fate will be, will he be a ve to his own fate or will he be able to break out of it?" The figure murmured. Giovanni however didn''t answer anything as he just continued to look thoughtfully at the golden helmet-wearing figure in front of him wondering why the mighty lord of Order was suddenly interested in the rich little orphan and how he mattered in the grand scheme of things that was the everchanging universe. --- Don''tforget toment'' and ''favorite'' this chapter if you like it. Also, you can check out myPat-re?npageas well to read ahead or just to support your fantastic author. I have12chapters in advance there right now. (MyPat-reonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a) Chapter 27: Money and Steroids Chapter 27: Money and Steroids --- "Money doesn''t buy happiness, it buys crazy-ass happiness." - Eminem --- "So Lucius, how is the future looking for Wayne Solutions? Are we on track for our goals?" Bruce asked while looking at the financial reports handed to him by Lucius Fox, the CEO of Wayne Solutions. "Most of our annual goals have already been realized and we have also met our revenue targets. Wayne Electronics had significant growth following the release of ourmercial drone technology and the Xbox gaming console that you provided us the design with. We have already established ourselves as the leadingmercial drone manufacturer in the world while we currently rank second in the gaming console category. At this rate, we are projected to overtake Sony by the end of next year." Lucius stated. Bruce was happy with the rate his business was growing. He had only introduced three products in his Wayne Electronics subsidiary for now. Since it was defined as a consumer electronicspany, he could only introduce consumer electronics as per the contract he had signed with Wayne Enterprises. But that didn''t stop him from introducing products that were decades ahead of the current industry standard. He had used some of the technology from his own drones to makemercially viable and practical drones as well as released some of the games designed by Cortana that she had designed for Bruce and his friends to y alongside the gaming console. The yStation had just been released a few years ago and it was nowhere near the poprity level that it would be in the future. Sopeting with the yStation wasn''t hard for him at all. He was sure that no otherpany would be able topete with his gaming console or his drones for the next decade. That was how much he had made his products superiorpared to itspetitors out there. "Wayne Venture Capital has also invested about ten billion dors in more than the dozenpanies that you rmended. However all of its investments are long-term, so it would be a while before we could start getting returns on our investments. However, surprisingly the highest profit percentage came from Wayne Entertainment. Who knew that children''s animations and space operas could be that famous among people? Even my own wife has be an avid Star Wars fan." Lucas Foxughed as he mentioned his wife. "I know right? Space magic and talking animals are unexpectedly quite attractive to moviegoers." Bruce smiled back as he remembered how even Selina and Vicki had be fans of The Lion King and Star Wars respectively. The employees in his entertainmentpany had proven theirpetitiveness by shooting both films in less than four months which was quite an achievement. After that, all the post-production and editing of the two films werepleted with the help of Cortana and his new editing software in less than a week. This allowed them to release both of his films in a single year with a one-month gap. Both films due to smart marketing campaign strategies which were devised by Cortana had brought tremors in Hollywood and had collected more than a billion dors in global box office collection, solidifying Wayne Entertainment as the newest rising giant of Hollywood. "What about theputer designs I sent you? Do you think you''ll be able to mass produce them by next year?" Bruce asked. "We should be. The design although much moreplicated than the otherputers of this time can still be replicated by our factories once we upgrade them with some higher-tiered machinery." Lucius answered him. "Good. We will be releasing the Wayne range ofpactptops next year along with other PC software and programs thate with it." Bruce said as he put down the financial reports on the table. "That''s a good decision. Capturing the growingputer market will be a good second step to increasing our customer base. I''ll be making the preparations for theunch till then." Lucius nodded. "Okay. By the way, did you find any of the minerals I mentioned to you earlier?" The young billionaire asked. "No, most of our contacts haven''t even heard about the minerals you mentioned. However, there''s a chance we might find the metal promethium soon. A dealer in Africa had reportedly been selling certain quantities of the metal in the underworld in exchange for advanced weaponry, so we might be able to acquire some from him if we offer a good value. However, if I may ask, why do you even need those? " He asked Bruce with curiosity evident in his voice. "For the future of ourpany Lucius. It''s as easy as that." He smiled at Lucius, not revealing any of his real ns to the genius CEO. "Okay, as you say. Just don''t get into any trouble, Bruce." Lucius Fox said as he got ready to take his leave. "I won''t," Bruce simply replied, not saying too much as he too stood up to bid him goodbye. Bruce was d that all of his businesses were doing great. He had lots of ways to earn big money. Cortana could just hack into bank servers and start transferring money to him. But his newest business was the most efficient and safest method for that. He could not only earn enough money without rousing any suspicion but also make sure that he could amass some power, influence, and connections along with it as well. ''I guess it''s finally time to get my first dose of steroids." Bruce thought as he went towards the Batcave after Lucius left. After Richard taught him how to use chi, Bruce had been trying to master it as quickly as possible. He had used all measures avable to him to do that. He even used his ability to devise a new breathing technique, trying to upgrade the breathing and meditation technique that Richard had taught him. But almost nothing yielded the result he decided. All the breathing techniques he tried to copy from Wuxia novels seemed to be ipatible with the chi from the DC world. Chi of this multiverse wasn''t that strong which basically meant Bruce couldn''t turn himself into a cultivator or as he liked to call a murder hobo since they were all basically murderous homeless people. The only breathing technique that was somewhatpatible with his chi was the Hamon technique from Jojo''s Bizzare Adventures since it too depended on the flow of life force like chi. But besides that, nothing. That''s why he had decided to turn to steroids to not only make his body stronger and more durable but also to try to increase the chi inside his body since chi inside the bodies of normal humans in DC verse existed in really small amounts. The small amount of chi could barely be used by humans at all. Even martial arts experts like Richard Dragon liked to use supernatural amulets or other things to concentrate and augment the chi inside them while most experts like Lady Shiva barely used chi in normal battles since it was too draining. However, he hadn''t developed any meta serum or superhuman serum for that but instead made a simple gene enhancer. Its purpose was to enhance his body to the peak state of a wless human and lock it in that condition. This meant that he wouldn''t be as powerful as Captain America or other ''super'' soldiers but he would be the strongest normal human. He would have the same physique as the original Batman would have had one day, only he would have it without putting in the effort which was a big win in his book. Now, one might ask why he wasn''t going for a stronger and more powerful serum to make himself as op as he possibly could. The answer was simple. He couldn''t. While developing super serums sounds super easy like making a cup of hot coffee, in reality, it wasn''t. He barely had enough knowledge and research data to develop the peak human gene enhancer. Developing something like the super soldier serum or extremis or a radioactive spider from Marvel orpound V from The Boys or the gene modification form from the World of Heroes was more than he could handle for now, much less developing the exo-gene Kryptonian serum or the Golden Sentry serum. Bruce had desperately tried to make them using his ability but besides having massive headaches, he didn''t receive any other significant knowledge about them. And truthfully, Bruce actually expected that. Even the Super Soldier serum which he hade the closest to understanding among all the super serums was the mostplicated biotechnology in the world, even more than the Sandevistan or Kerenzikov from Cyberpunk. Guys like Erskine and Frederick Vought were mega-geniuses who were probably some of the smartest in their respective multiverses in their fiction. After all, that''s why their inventions were so popr and highly sought after. So, the best Bruce could do for now was a gene enhancer but he was sure that soon, once he had enough data and information about topics like these, he would be able to move on to the next big ''steroid'' for his body. it would probably be only a couple of years before he was able to crack and perfect one of the super serums he wanted. But until then, he would have to make do with his peak human gene-enhancing serum which would give him the physique and mind of a human at the highest possible peak of their respective age without those desirable traits deteriorating with time. ''Now, time to juice up.'' He thought to himself giddy with excitement as he injected a vial of green liquid inside his veins while sitting alone at the Batcave, praying that he doesn''t get covered with filthy ''impurities'' from his own body like in those wuxia novels. --- Don''tforget toment'' and ''favorite'' this chapter if you like it. Also, you can check out myPat-re?npageas well to read ahead or just to support your fantastic author. I have12chapters in advance there right now. (MyPat-reonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a) Chapter 28: The Last year Dragon Grind Chapter 28: The Last year Dragon Grind --- "What''s the point of magic, to begin with¡­ if I can''t use it to protect my friends?" ¨C Lucy Heartfilia, (Fairy Tail) --- "Were you this fit thest time I came here because you look like you went through a real growth spurt?" Zatanna asked with a mixture of curiosity and confusion in her eyes as she looked at Bruce who now looked like he was a really fit twelve-year-old rather than a nine-year-old kid. "Yeah, Bruce. Tell us, how exactly did you be this fit?" Selina also repeated Zatanna''s question as she squinted her eyes at him. "It''s just your imagination girls, I was always this ripped and handsome. Perhaps, you two just never noticed it till now." Bruce smiled defensively not looking into the eyes of either one of the girls. The young witch had visited him today to rekindle their friendship back and catch up with him. Her father had dropped her at Bruce''s house in the morning, promising that he woulde to pick her up in the evening. Bruce had been maintaining his distance from Giovanni as he was sure that he had cast some sort of spell on him thest time they had met. So, he didn''t talk with Giovanni much, only interacting with him the minimum required amount. Bruce was trying to stay the hell away from Giovanni as much as possible. He was even wary of Zatanna since the sorceress had a history of erasing people''s memories in theics, especially Batman''s. Anyways, after the young witch visited his home, she quickly managed to be Selina''s friend as the two surprisingly had quite simr personalities. The trio was right now sitting beside ake as they were waiting to see the sunset. "Hey, you two wanna see a magic trick?" Zatanna asked trying to lighten the awkward atmosphere. "Yeah, sure. I love magic." Bruce answered curious to see her magic. "Here see an ordinary coin and now it disappears," Zatanna said as she shook her fist holding the coin to make it disappear. "Oh, I know that trick. I can do it too. My yoga teacher taught me that. Let me guess it''s inside your ear?" Selina asked with confidence. "No, it''s inside your ear." Zatanna smiled mischievously. "What? That''s not possi..." She couldn''tplete her sentence as Selina suddenly found the same coin falling out from her right ear. "Wow. Can you show us another trick?" Selina couldn''t help but want to see more magic like the little kid that she was. "Yeah, sure," Zatanna responded as she scooped some water with both of her hands from theke and blew into it, instantly turning the entire water in her hands into numerous bubbles. But that was not the end of the trick. The bubbles then began to project various images on themselves. "That''s my mother." Selina cried out as she quickly tried to touch one of the bubbles only for it to burst the moment she touched it. Bruce noticed that not only Selina''s mother, but the bubbles also had a lot of other different images on them including the image of Giovanni Zatara as well as thete Thomas and Martha Wayne. "How did you do it?" Selina asked in amazement. "A magician never reveals her secrets," Zatanna said with a proud smile on her face. "Then you are a very good magician Zatanna. Your father should be really proud of you." Bruce praised her. "I hope so, although I think sometimes he just forgets to show it but I cut him some ck since he really just misses my mom. But that still doesn''t change the fact that he is a good dad... at least when it counts." Zatanna said as she sadly looked at a bubble that was showing the image of a beautiful young woman, probably her mother. Bruce had already partly figured out how the trick worked. It worked on some kind of mental magic where the bubbles could read the memories of its targets and identify the people whom the targets missed the most in their memories and it showed the images of those people to its targets. Truthfully, the trick would have been quite a good one if it were not for the fact that the bubbles could literally look into other people''s memories without their permission. However, what Bruce wondered about was why the trick didn''t work on him. Because if it had, at least it wouldn''t have shown the images of the dead Wayne couple to him. It would have shown somethingpletely different, maybe something from his previous life instead. ''Perhaps, the remnants of Bruce''s leftover consciousness are protecting my mind or something.'' Bruce thought to himself. The three kids passed the rest of the time till Giovanni came to fetch back Zatanna by happily talking among themselves and ying chase with each other by theke. Zatanna was a fan of magic, both the real and the fake versions of it, so she dly showed Bruce and Selina different magic tricks and simple spells one after the other to keep them entertained. By the end of her visit, all three were pretty happy as they had enjoyed themselves a lot and promised to meet up again soon. Even Alfred who had kept an eye on them from the very start was d that the kids had enjoyed themselves. "She is cool, isn''t she?" Selina said after Zatanna had happily left with her father in the evening. "Yeah, she definitely is," Bruce said while deactivating the ne on his neck, a small tool he had specially designed to obstruct telepaths from messing with his mind. The ne worked by releasing an inaudible and undetectable signal of a particr frequency which barred any brain waves or theta waves from approaching the user''s brain and affecting the user''s mind in any way. He had developed it after he met Mr. Zatara that day. Bruce developed it for himself and even gifted one to Alfred and Selina each as well to also make sure that nobody could know his secrets by reading their minds. Although Bruce had no idea if it would be able to protect them from the mental tricks of a magic user, he still preferred some form of protection inparison to absolutely no protection at all. Even though it seemed that Bruce ultimately didn''t need the ne since this Zatanna appeared too sweet and childish to use mind-altering magic on him, he would still continue to wear it simply because he liked to be ready for everything including any random telepath appearing out of nowhere to try to learn his secrets by reading his mind or deciding what memories Bruce should and shouldn''t remember. "Bruce it''s time to start your chi practice simtion." Cortana''s voice came from his watch as it slightly vibrated on his hand. "*Sigh* Fine. I really hate my chi practice sessions." Bruce murmured as he looked at Selina who was looking equally as distraught as him at the fact that they would have to practice their chi maniption again. *** "That''s amazing. How did the two of you improve in your chi so much in such a short time?" Vicki yelled in frustration as she saw Bruce and Selina induce cracks in a rock using their chi. "We practice. Not unlike you who just likes to y video games on theputer." Selina retorted with a smirk on her lips. "Hey, that''s not fair. I practice everything else just as hard as you guys but the chi exercises you do are too much over the top. I don''t think we need that level of practice any time sooner." Vicki mumbled while pouting. "Okay okay, stop arguing my proteges. And Selina not everyone is talented at everything. People have different types of talents that they might excel in, so never underestimate anyone... But I do have to ask, what type of private training are you two doing to improve so much in just a few days?" Richard asked with an interested voice as he himself couldn''t believe how much the two of them had improved especially Bruce since his chi even felt purer than even Richard''s own quality of chi. "Not anything severe sensei. We just follow a strict diet n along with a strict personal training regime." Bruce replied before any of the other two girls could. However, the truth was far from that. The training they were undergoing in simtions was much more harsh and brutal than simple exercises. They were basically trying to master something like ultra instinct to sharpen their chi by fighting with digitally simted wild animals for hours on end until they were out of energy or could no longer move. Of course, they weren''t fighting with lions or tigers. In fact, Selina''s choice of animal sparring partner was humorously a pack of wild cats while Bruce''s was mostly wolves. The two trained daily while having almost what could be called life-and-death fights in the simtions to sharpen their instincts and reflexes. That''s why Vicki being mostly a normal girlpared to the two without any specific goals in mind didn''t want to go through what they did. It wasn''t because she waszy but simply because she had no reason to be as strict on herself as the other two did since Selina had the goal to take revenge against her father while Bruce wanted to grow stronger to survive what was toe in the future. "Fine, but I want to remind you three that my two years will soon be up in a few months. So you should speed up your training if you want to learn some more tricks from me. After all, I still haven''t shown you my unique dragon-style Kung Fu that I developed myself with the help of my chi techniques." Richard smiled good-naturedly as he looked at his three students sighing heavily at the mention of more training. He himself was feeling bad for trying to pressure them to work harder but he had no choice. He had already decided to teach them everything he could since he believed that it was his fortune to be able to teach students as talented as them in his lifetime. But he also couldn''t extend his stay since he had already promised to teach them for two years, not a single day more or less and he always honored his promises. "By the way, I was thinking about taking you three somewhere to give you a treat tomorrow. But since you guys are so tired, I guess I will have to skip that." Richard said, keeping his fingers on his chin like he was sorry for not being able to give them a treat. "No, we are not tired. We will definitely work harder to master your Dragon Kung Fu sensei." Selina shouted with renewed vigor. "Yeah, I can still do double the training I am doing right now," Vicki said even though her voice sounded like she could cry any time. "Yeah, sure. You had me at treat anyways." Bruce said with a smile, not at all caring that he was a billionaire who could eat as much as he wanted anytime on his own. "That''s good. But before that, you''ll have to show me all of your determination. Now, let''s start with your hundred pushups of the day." Richard dered. And just like that the ultimate grueling grind started for the trio, a grind they would survive but would forever be scarred by.
(A/N: Yo! Some readers have beenining that some of these chapters have been feeling like fillers since they want to see Bruce quickly grow up and fight crime and evil and stuff. I just wanna rify that I want the same. Writing about kid Bruce and developing the base of his rtionships isn''t really easy, I would much rather write about adult Bruce Wayne as soon as possible. But the only reason I have been taking my time to show him solidifying his rtionships and getting his early life in control is to develop his character a little bit so that readers can have a little bit more context on what is happening and why. But I get it, it still might be getting a little boring for the action lovers out there but don''t worry, a couple of time skips will being soon so that we can go into his teen andte teenage period of his life until his fateful meeting with the Demon Head. So, sit back and enjoy.) Don''tforget toment'' and ''favorite'' this chapter if you like it. Also, you can check out myPat-re?npageas well to read ahead or just to support your fantastic author. I have12chapters in advance there right now. (MyPat-reonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a) Chapter 29: Deathstroke and Smallville Chapter 29: Deathstroke and Smallville --- "Everything has a beginning and an end. Life is just a cycle of starts and stops. There are ends we don''t desire, but they''re inevitable, we have to face them. It''s what being human is all about." ¨C Jet ck, Cowboy Bebop --- A year is a long time. A lot of things can happen in a year. For Bruce, however, a year was too short and it passed by quicker than he could appreciate it. For thest year, he had primarily been concentrating on his martial arts and chi training, trying to be DC''s Iron Fist. However, even with the harshest training possible as well as the gene amplifier, his chi mastery was barely able to enter the level of Hamon of Jojo''s Bizzare Adventures world, let alone try to coy Nen or chakra techniques with it. That was after he tried to modify the meditation and breathing techniques that Richard taught him for chi in the image of Hamon''s breathing technique as well as the breathing styles from Demon yer. But it wasn''t good enough as his current level of chi maniption was neither as shy as the other two nor as broken. He was sure he couldn''t sh a rock with a normal sword nor could he make bubbles of acid through his superior chi maniption. But he still had hope. ording to his theory, his chi would either improve with time as he grew up or it would be better as he made more and more improvements to his gics using different serums. Bruce had revealed his gene amplifier to Selina and Alfred as well after he concluded it was safe enough for them to use. Selina wanted to use it the moment she heard about it without even wanting to know what it exactly was just because Bruce had used it while Alfred just began to berate him about the side effects of artificial steroids. However after Bruce made him understand what it truly was and how it functioned, he agreed to be injected with the gene amplifier. Bruce primarily injected him with it mainly because he wanted his most important and loyal henchman to always remain at his peak. The butler was too badass when he needed to be, so he could not let him be weak with age. Anyway, not everything that happened in his life thest year was all sunshine and rainbows. The most unfortunate thing that happened to him in thest year was that Richard''s two years were up and he left after that bidding all of them a hearty goodbye. But before leaving, Richard had a private conversation with Bruce not only telling him some of the most important lessons he had learned in his life but also giving him a clue that there was somerge secret organization constantly monitoring him for some reason. Bruce however wasn''t too surprised by this. He had been expecting either the Court of Owls or the League of Assassins to be keeping an eye on him. In fact, he would have been quite surprised if nobody was keeping tabs on him. However, that didn''t mean he was going to let people walk all over him and wasn''t gonna retort at all. No, he was doing his own monitoring as well, keeping tabs on certain people, most specifically keeping watch on the ''dirty'' politicians and rich crime family members in Gotham using his drones and Cortana''s digital algorithms. He had collected a lot of incriminating evidence against a lot of these people but hadn''t given any of the information to the cops yet since he intended to use themter down the line to get ''favors'' or good leverage material. Also after Richard left, Bruce didn''t waste any time and moved his sight to his next potentialbat instructor, one who wouldn''t focus on teaching him meditation or chi but how to instead use his skills to the maximum efficiency and fulfill his objective in any way possible, no matter what he had to do. Yes, he was trying to get Deathstroke as his nextbat instructor and that was the reason why Bruce was back in his living room ''interviewing'' de Wilson right now. "So, wait. You are telling me that my only job would be giving you and your ''family'' protection from external threats and teaching you how to in your own words ''hunt'' people down?" A man who looked like he was in his mid-forties with military-style hair and a chiseled body with multiple scars visible on various parts of his body asked with doubt in his eyes while sitting on a sofa opposite Bruce. "Precisely yes. But you will have to teach me everything you know, Also you will need to defend me and my family from all the threats against us out there, no matter how severe." Bruce said as he made Deathstroke''s expected duties clear to him. "I see. Well, as exciting and adventurous as this new job sounds, I didn''t quit the army to be a babysitter kid. So, my answer is going to be no. But I do wish you well and hope you can get a good teacher yourself to teach you the value of time and how not to waste it on famous mercenaries." de Wilson said as he stood up to leave. He had in no way any desire to waste his time on training snotty-nosed children, so he directly refused and was preparing to leave but Bruce of course had other ns. "Ten million dors a month," Bruce uttered with a small smile on his lips. "What did you just say?" de had to stop moving for a few seconds to register what Bruce said to him. "You heard me. I know you quit the military because you thought that your skills would be better off being used in other ces where they would be more appreciated than in the army. So the question is do you think ten million is enough appreciation or not?" Bruce asked as he looked at de in his eyes already knowing what the future number-one mercenary in the world would answer. "You are ready to spend one hundred and twenty million dors just to get training from me and receive my protection? People can hire armies with that amount of money, so why would you be giving it to me?" de said not being able to control his expression since he still hadn''t be the experienced veterinary hitman he would be one day. "Because I believe you are as good as any small mercenarypany out there if not better. Also, my superpower is being rich." Bruce answered smugly, snickering at his own answer like it was some kind of inside joke. "... Okay, I ept. You will be my protege from now on little Wayne. I will be your mentor... as long as you pay me that is." de said as he nodded his head and shook Bruce''s hands at the deal. And that was how de Wilson became Bruce''s new trainer and bodyguard. He dly kept his end of the deal. He took care of every possible threat around Bruce while teaching him and in extension Selina everything that the retired soldier possibly could unknowingly help in creating an unstoppable beast that even he would one day be wary of. *** "By the way, why are we going to Smallville Kansas for our school trip? Weren''t there any better more educational or more fun ces to visit than that? Hell, maybe even Metropolis would have been better than that boring old town." Vickiined as she sat at the back of the school bus with Bruce and Selina. "It''s because a certain someone wanted to experience farms instead of enjoying elegant dining and wonderful shopping, Vicki," Selina muttered with some annoyance in her voice. "Oh,e on. You two will enjoy it too. I am sure the ce won''t be as boring as you are imagining right now. Who knows, maybe you will even love the ce by the time we return." Bruce said, not wanting to give an exnation on why he wanted to go there in the first ce. Bruce''s life had be quite smooth since he started training under de. Unbelievably brutally harsh training like he was a masochist, continuous practice of chi in simtions, his constant study in serums and Bioware, and his research to make an atomic printer or a replicator from Star Trek, was the norm of his life. So, a school trip was a wee fresh change from his perspective. And imagine his surprise when one of the options for the school trip was Smallville. After seeing the name of that town, Bruce remembered that an all-powerful Kryptonian kid should be living there right now with his adoptive parents. Thus, Bruce being the rich asshole he was, had Alfred pull some strings and made Smallville the destination for their school trip that year. This would make Bruce''s job a lot easier. Not only would he get ess to the DNA of a Kryptonian (for research purposes) in that town but also would be able to meet and judge the rk Kent of this world for himself. Maybe even establish a rtionship with him early on if everything went right. After all, he didn''t want to waste his time by repeating the Superman vs. Batman events again just because of some misunderstanding between them. He really wanted to avoid unnecessary and useless battles like those and hoped that he would be able to do exactly that in the future and that Superman or any other heroes wouldn''t be dumb enough to fight him just because their ''ideals'' don''t match or something. However, all of that woulde down to what rk Kent or Kal El of this world was like, what Superman, the beacon of hope of this world was truly like. --- Don''tforget toment'' and ''favorite'' this chapter if you like it. Also, you can check out myPat-re?npageas well to read ahead or just to support your fantastic author. I have12chapters in advance there right now. (MyPat-reonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a) Chapter 30: Meeting Clark Chapter 30: Meeting rk (A/N: Full disclosure before reading this chapter, This was rushed because I was suffering from ack of sleep that day, so this might be a little inferior in quality to the other chapters. I had thought of rewriting it, but I simply didn''t have the time for it due to my busy college routine. So try not to judge because I be sane in the next chapter again.) ---
If you wanna make people dream, you''ve gotta start by believing in that dream yourself! -SEIYA KANIE, (AMAGI BRILLIANT PARK)
--- "Now ss, we have finally arrived in Smallville, a small town in Kansas particrly famous for its farms, orchards, and meteor falls." A female teacher started to speak as the bus stopped with so much excitement in her voice that it sounded like she was performing in front of millions of people. "How the hell does she have so much excitement after such a long drive? It took us about an entire day to reach here and we did it by a goddamn bus. Who the hell even drives from New Jersey to Kansas anyway? God, I hate my job as a teacher." A male teacher muttered in a low voice in the corner as he watched the female teacher excitedly make her speech. Bruce was able to hear him and he truthfully agreed with him. He had himself almost begun to regret influencing the school''s decision toe here. Even traveling to Metropolis would have been morefortable than this. Perhaps, he should fund the ne tickets for the ss tour the next time. After the female teacher ended her speech in the same exciting manner she started, the entire school group was met by the teachers and some of the students of a local school in Smallville as part of abined learning and interaction program. The teachers made a friendly wee speech and the students also weed them warmly. Bruce was a little disappointed that rk wasn''t in the receiving group but again he was sure that he was never that lucky. Anyways, after they were done introducing themselves to each other, they were allowed to go back and rest for the day as the main tour was set for the next day. Separate rooms for boys and girls had been prepared for the students as well to take rest. Each room was supposed to hold three students while individual rooms were prepared for the teachers. Selina and Vicki were lucky in this case since they had gotten the same room and only needed to share with one more girl. Bruce on the other hand had wondered if he should get his own room or maybe buy his own house but he finally decided that he should be humble for once and thus agreed to share a room with two other idiots who talked more about their daddies and their money than themselves, not that he couldin since he himself loved his new daddy''s money. "Nice room." A voice almost startled Bruce which was a very hard thing to do due to his training in chi as well as his peak human senses. So whoever the voice belonged to was great at sneaking. "de. I told you to stay at home and that I can do this." Bruce sighed as he looked at his bodyguard who had somehow entered the room after two of the boys had fallen asleep. "It doesn''t really work like that you know. I took money to protect you. Might as well give my best to make it happen. Also, Alfred looks at me with judgment-filled eyes whenever I try to rx at home, so I was more or less forced to follow you here. But don''t worry, nobody would know about me. I am really good at staying undercover." Wilson said with a smirk. The next day the Gothamites were taken to the local school in Smallville where a lot of students were waiting for them. But this didn''t make his job of finding rk any easier. "Are you looking for someone in particr?" Selina said slightly annoyed at theck of attention Bruce had given to her since they came to Smallville yesterday. "Yes, I am actually," Bruce said without making itpletely clear what he was looking for with an annoyed expression on his face. "Hey look, if it ain''t the Billionaire orphan. What are you doing here,? Don''t tell me you are here trying to make another orphanage or something like that in Smallville." A kid looking a couple of years older than them with a smug-looking punk face and a... bald head walked up to Bruce and asked. "Do I know you?" Bruce asked confusedly wondering if he had just met his first random young master. "You don''t recognize me? Hah, I guess news does travel slowly in Gotham. I am Lex Luthor, son of Lionel Luthor of the Luthor Industries. And this is my sister, Lena Luthor." He proudly introduced himself along with his sister behind her. "Congrattions, I guess. Good for you, bye now." Bruce said as he turned to leave but Lex just didn''t want to seem any less important or ''cool'' than him, so he continued to pester him. "I think we should be friends. After all, you don''t wanna go make friends with the wrong sort." Lex stated with an arrogant smile. "Are you a Harry Potter fan?" Bruce subconsciously asked after hearing him speak like a certain ferret. "What? Of course not. I don''t read subpar books like that." Lex said without much change in his voice. "Stop embarrassing yourself, Lex. You are wasting both of our time. Just be a good boy and run back to your dad." Vicki said with anger leaking from her voice as she was a devout fan of Harry Potter after which the ferret wannabe came close to me. At that moment, while Bruce was sessfully insulting Lex, a slightly bulky kid with well-defined muscles, grown messy hair, and a handsome face suddenly came into sight as he walked by. The kid didn''t try to converse with anyone or do anything. In fact, he was just walking by, trying his best to conceal himself in the crowd, trying to appear as normal as possible. Bruce decided to approach him and strike up a conversation with him. He wanted rk''s blood in any way possible, so he might as well try to make a friend. "Hey, rk right?" I am Bruce Wayne, a new visitor to your school for a day. Nice to meet you." Bruce tried toe off as gentle and friendly as he could in an effort to not scare the Kryptonian off or make him suspicious of him. "Oh. Umm, hi. I am rk Kent. Nice to meet you, Bruce." --- (A/n: I know, this was too much of a short chapter primarily because I had to write a lot of college projects today. But don''t worry my dear readers, I will make sure to make up for it in the next chapter. I''ll make it extra thick and spicy aspensation.) Don''tforget toment'' and ''favorite'' this chapter if you like it. Also, you can check out myPat-re?npageas well to read ahead or just to support your fantastic author. I have12chapters in advance there right now. (MyPat-reonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a) Chapter 31: A Visit to the Kent Farm (1) Chapter 31: A Visit to the Kent Farm (1) --- "You can only be friends by talking to people and finding out whether you get along." ¨C Shougo Kiryuu --- <(Bruce Wayne pov)> Wow, this guy knows how to control his strength. Even though I am currently shaking hands with one of the most powerful creatures on Earth, it almost feels like I am the stronger one here. It seems that he was doing his best to paint himself as a weak normal human being. "Quite a grip you got there. But, do I know you?" rk said with a small smile as he felt my hands tighten and loosen in his hold for a slight second. It seemed that he was a few years older than me. He was probably somewhere around twelve or thirteen looking like a fifteen-sixteen-year-old while I was only ten even though I too was taller for my age, having the body of a thirteen-year-old. "Well, I don''t know, depends on how up-to-date you are with current affairs. But I am sure that I know you. I know what you are hiding... You are famous. I recognized you from a newspaper I read a couple of days ago. Isn''t your family farm like the biggest organic farm in the state?" I asked, knowing that it was true and I really hade across such an article while doing some research on him. "Yeah, I guess a local newspaper did publish that a few months ago." He said as he rxed and awkwardly chuckled after his expression had transformed into one of pure fear for a few seconds afraid that his true secret had been revealed. "Oh, this is Selene and Vicki. They are also here for the student interaction program like me." I introduced the two girls behind me at they just slightly nodded acknowledging his presence. I truthfully felt like some kind of mafia boss being followed by his loyal minions due to the serious expressions sported by the girls on their faces but that didn''t discourage rk from continuing to talk with us. He even offered to give us a tour of the school and the local attractions of the city once the teachers were done with their own lecture and tour which I dly epted. The interaction program was mostly boring with individual students and teachers justing forward and boasting about the city and their school. However, after about two hours of enduring the exceptionally boring program, we were finally able to get out of it. "That was tiresome," Vicki said as she pressed her forehead like she was in pain. "Yeah, it absolutely was although I mostly slept through it. Are all of the programs in your school this boring?" Selene asked as she looked at rk who instead of paying attention to her words was watching a certain girl talking to her friends in the school corridor. "Let me guess, your MaryJane?" Bruce asked smirking. "Huh? What? Who''s Mary Jane? That is Lana Lang." rk said with a small blush on his face. "Stop blushing, you look like an innocent maiden in love which is weird," I said as I looked at the girl he had a crush on talking with her friends, not even realizing that rk was continuously looking at her like a shy newly married wife. "I am not blushing. I just... am a little hungry." He tried his best to lie while failing in it miserably. I wonder how he kept his identity secret for so long if he is really that bad at lying. "Ok, sure. Anyways, how is the food in your cafeteria by the way?" I asked wondering if Alfred would have a heart attackter if he knew I was nning to eat in a school cafeteria. "It''s pretty good... if you have a stomach of steel that is." rkughed as he made a disgusted face. "Oh, I guess we will have to search for a restaurant in the city then," I said, disappointment apparent in my voice. "You know what, you shoulde to my house. That way you will be able to taste the amazing Brisket my mother cooks that I have been telling you all about." rk offered, not caring about the fact that it had barely been a few hours that he had known us. "Really? Will you show us your farm as well? I would like to take some pictures there for one of my school projects." I said, inwardly rejoicing that I was so close to my n seeding. "Yeah, sure. Let''s go there after the local museum visit. I am sure that my parents would be quite happy at seeing that I managed to make some friends." He uttered excitedly but immediately shut up after realizing that he had just embarrassed himself in front of us by revealing how he didn''t have any good friends at school. Interesting. So this version of rk Kent is not that good at making friends. I guess I could use thister to get closer to the guy. "Well, I wouldn''t say a friend but maybe acquaintan..." Selina started to say but couldn''t continue as I gave her a hard ''don''t you dare say it'' look. "She is joking. We are indeed friends. And we will be d toe to your house." I quickly said giving a stink eye to Selina for almost running my perfect n at which she just pouted like a cute cat. Even Vicki joined in with her. I wonder why the two were so much upset with me. I thought they would be happying to Smallville. After all, this is the legendary ce where Superman was raised just like Gotham was a legendary ce where Batma... oh I see now. Of course, Smallville was important to me as a reincarnation from another world, but they weren''t from another world like me. They were locals and to them, this was just another small town in a really big country. Also, the fact that a potential visit to Los Angeles was canceled so that we coulde here also didn''t help. Anyways, after we attended the local museum which by the way was just a small building showcasing different farm tools and dolls of famous farmers along with some of the more famous tourist spots in the city, the school finally ended for the day and the three of us were finally permitted to go to our rooms while rk was let go to his home. But of course, as we had all agreed beforehand, instead of going to our respective rooms all three of us went along with rk to his farm. It was a small city and thus barely a ten-minute walk. We didn''t even have to sneak out as a small ''request'' from me was enough to convince the teachers to let us go. We, fortunately, didn''t run into Lex Luthor again. Lex in this world didn''t seem truly evil yet but was annoying as hell. Currently, he is more like Harry Osborn from Marvel rather than an extremely intelligent maniptive genius who wants to get rid of an alien immigrant from his. But again, he is just in his early teens, so he has plenty of time to grow into his ''role''. I would have at least tried to bring him to the light side but I could barely tolerate him for even a few seconds, much less try to show the little asshole the right way. But this is again probably my inner teenager ranting. Also, which millionaire father lets his son go to a small school in a small city instead of sending him to the best establishments in a city like Metropolis because that''s where the headquarters of theirpany is? They weren''t billionaires, well not even close to billionaires but they had too many millions in their pockets and too much greed in their hearts to lead a slow life out in the middle of nowhere instead of a giant skyscraper in a city of metal-like some Japanese protagonists. So, while wondering about why all billionaires are big assholes with the exception of me of course as well as talking with rk and the girls about random childish topics like tv shows, the newest video games, and other stuff like that, we soon reached our destination. Now, I have heard a lot of things about Superman''s financial condition in my past life like they were just poor farmers or they were barely feeding themselves but after seeing the truly massive amount of cultivablend just lying there surrounding his home as well as the animal houses and the minike on their estate, I refused to believe that they were anything less than the elite. Because whoever thinks that there isn''t any money in farming in the US is an idiot. You could make tons of money if you are smart enough and know which crops to grow. But sadly it seems that Papa Kent wasn''t that smart since all I saw growing on the farm was corn and wheat. "Hey rk, do you have animals on your farm?" I asked wondering if they were involved in animal husbandry as well since corn is preferred by farmers if they are involved in the dairy or meat industry. "We used to have a few cows but not any more. Dad sold them a couple of months ago because he isn''t able to do all of the work alone anymore and even Mom has been suffering from some mild back pain for a few days. I tried to help but Dad doesn''t like it when I use my pow... um, I mean when I skip school." He said while almost telling me his secret. It is so funny that a person who is so bad at lying could sessfully keep up his secret superhero identity for years by just using a pair of eyesses. Also, his words confirmed my doubts. His adoptive dad is a generic retard. Owning one of the biggest farnds in the state but working in it alone without hiring any help, not growing crops that would have been far more profitable, not trying to establish an animal farm business which could make him far more money than this and even refusing his son''s help when his son could nt thousands of trees as well as water them within just a couple of seconds and even manipte the weather somehow with his super breath is more than in stupid. Truthfully it is ridiculous and even insulting. Here I am trying to do my best to prepare for the future any way I can and this old man was trying to live life in the difficult mode. He could have been one of the richestndowners in the state but no, he is more busy trying to be an Uncle Ben Ultra than trying to be a better father or husband. As we went straight to the house, rk gently knocked on the door and within just a few seconds of waiting, the door opened revealing a woman in herte thirties standing at the entry wearing a cooking apron and staring at us with surprised eyes. Why is every female character who is a future widow and rted to a superhero so hot? It''s like the writers or the Presence or whoever is responsible for this wants people to have indecent thoughts about them. "rk, you are back. And I see you have made some new friends. Won''t you introduce them to me?" She said with a smile as she looked at us with joy visible in her eyes. She seemed to be really happy that her adopted son had found new friends despite his ''handicap'' of not being a normal human. "Oh yeah. I met them today at school. They are from Gotham here to visit our town. This is Selina Kyle, Vicki and Vale, and Bruce Wayne." He introduced all of us to his mother with excitement and pride filling his voice. He sounded like this was the first time any friend of his hade to his home with him, so he was really proud to show us off to his parents like we were an achievement for him on the long road of attaining normalness. "Oh happy to meet with... wait, did you just say Bruce Wayne?" She gasped in the middle of her sentence immediately realizing my true identity which I wasn''t even honestly trying to hide. --- Don''tforget toment'' and ''favorite'' this chapter if you like it. Also, you can check out myPat-re?npageas well to read ahead or just to support your fantastic author. I have12chapters in advance there right now. (MyPat-reonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a) Chapter 32: A Visit to the Kent Farm (2) Chapter 32: A Visit to the Kent Farm (2) --- "Man, kids these days. They think it''s apetition to have the most friends. One is enough. Find someonepletely unique." ¨C Yato, (Noragami) --- "Wait, you aren''t Bruce Wayne from the Wayne family of Gotham, are you? The billionaire heir of Wayne Enterprises?" She couldn''t help but ask in surprise but instantly got ashamed when she realized what she had asked. "Yes, I am, ma''am." I didn''t try to hide my identity at all. I had no reason to. In fact, the n I was slowly hatching in my mind required me to divulge my identity to the Kent family. I had no desire to fight Superman, I didn''t want to repeat the stupid fight from the movies to make myself seem like some dark broody caped crusader on the side of bloody vengeance. No, instead I would y it smart and make sure that Superman would think thrice before even considering attacking me in the future, no matter what. Getting over her surprise within a couple of seconds, Mrs. Kent invited us in with doubt still wretched on her face. She looked like she was still debating with herself on whether to believe she was in a dream or if I was lying or if her son had truly befriended the richest kid in the world. "You know you don''t have to treat me or any one of us any different than you treat anyone else that visits your home," I said as we all sat around the kitchen table. Their sofa was apparently ''notfortable enough'', so we had to sit around the table. None of us cared about it but it did help me realize that these guys were really not making enough money, period. rk was the exact opposite of what Bruce was. He had op powers with a poor familypared to the original Bruce who had no powers but an extremely huge inheritance. "I am not. I am just treating you like how I would have treated a normal guest. Also, this is the first time any of rk''s friends actually came home with him. So, I would have to at least make sure that you get the minimum respect so that you can continue to be friends with him." She exined. "Mom,e on. You are embarrassing me." rk muttered with a red face. "Am I? Oh well, I guess you are at the stage where anything your mother says embarrasses you doesn''t it?" Martha Kent said with a teasing smile. "You don''t have to worry, we will continue to be friends with rk no matter how you treat us," Vicki said, probably feeling bad at how she treated him before. "Although that delicious smell of the steak will help a lot," Selina said focusing on food like always. Sometimes I wonder, was Selina Kyle always this much of a foodie because it''s practically impossible to maintain that slim body with how much food she eats every day unless of courseic book logic. "Yeah, the steak is almost done. Good thing I cooked a little extra today. Jonathan will be back any minute too. I am sure that he will be as d as me to meet his son''s friends for the first time." Martha said as she went to the oven to perfect her ''art''. "So, you like live here all alone, just the three of you? Because I don''t think I saw another living human about half a mile near your home." Vicki asked, not being able to control her curious nature. "Well, we did use to have neighbors but their homes were really far away. Also, Lex''s father has been buying theirnds for high prices. He offered to buy ours as well but Dad said some very... indecent words to him when he made the offer to him." rk exined with a wry smile. "Oh, interesting," I said as my mind worked at full speed trying to guess the reason why Luthor senior was trying to buy up this estate. Was it simply greed for more real estate, or was it because he found out that thisnd might have some natural resources hidden under it? The most likely reason is probably the presence of the countess meteor fragments that fell on the surroundingnd a couple of years ago, particrly the piece of advanced technology in the form of the alien super baby pod that rk came in. As the five of us continued to talk on various topics and I steadily collected information from them about everything I needed to know about Smallville, I understood a few things. This version of the city was something like abination of the different iterations of the city ever shown primarily in the movies and theics with some elements of the TV show mixed in there as well. Even though none of the big-name DC viins have ever attacked the Kent family, a lot of small-time gangs have, and from rk''s stories as well as how he avoided talking about them, it seemed like he had taken care of them secretly in his own peaceful manner. Martha even mentioned how rk had a ''bad boy'' phasest month where he suddenly tried to act like he was a gang member or something. So unless rk had a bipr disorder somehow in this universe, that was definitely some red kryptonite dust working its magic on him. But the question for me was if the red alien crack is a natural element in this universe or if someone artificially made it. Also, whoever made it, does he have more of it or even the green kryptonite that would undoubtedly be required to make it? As thoughts like these were going through my head with me trying to decide whether to send some drones to search for rk''s baby pod and invade some Luthorboratories or not since thosebs would most probably be the ones behind any sort of research that would include kryptonite and Kryptonian genes, Papa Kent finally came home as the patriarch of the family gently knocked on the door. "Oh, honey you are here. You would not believe who came to visit us... It''s rk''s first group of friends." Mrs. Kent tried to interest her husband in us and make him seem friendlier despite his tired face that screamed ''I just wanna eat and go to sleep'' making rk even more embarrassed in front of us. She introduced all of us one by one but unlike her, Jonathan Kent didn''t react to my name much except just raise his brows for a single second after losing interest. "Hello, little ones. I didn''t know that my son could actually make good-looking fes like you his friends. I guess he exceeded my expectations." Jonathan said as he ruffled his son''s hair with a smile despite his tiredness. He looked happy at his son making some friends but there was also a small light of fear and doubt hidden expertly behind his smiling eyes. "You don''t look good Mr. Kent. Are you sure that you should be working that hard in the field?" Selina could not help but ask. It might sound insulting to someone else listening to her but she probably feels really bad looking at the tired body of the man who looked much older than he was due to how much work he did every day. "It''s okay. These old bones are tougher than they look. Plus I have Hank to look after me." He said with a small smile as he sat down at the table. "You mean Krypto," rk muttered in a low voice as a dog barked on queue and came running from the outside through the small pet p on the door I hadn''t noticed before, reminding me how absolutely shit my detective skills are as well as the importance of the NZT pills that I was so close to perfecting. Also, why does this dog exist here? I mean isn''t it some kind of funny animated character designed to entertain children? I mean I watched the Super Pets movie, one of the very few DC movies that was actually likable and that''s where I saw the character first. I thought it was only an animalic character made for kids that don''t exist in canon of any kind. By the way, I want a dog now or maybe a cat... even though I have Selina. "I wonder why I feel somebody just insulted me," Selina murmured as she looked around trying to figure out the cause for her feelings. But of course, I didn''t give her a chance to test her developing womanly instincts and just diverted the conversation. "Are you going to keep working here like this? I mean, shouldn''t you try out some other ways to make money like leasing thend or doing some real estate trading, or maybe even doing some smart farming like growing more cash crops or getting into the meat and dairy industry? That would probably make a lot of money until some vegetable munching protesters with too much time in their hand try to shut the industry down in the name of nature in the future." I tried to advise the man who continued to smile looking at me. "I definitely could but real estate is a business of the sharks. I neither have the capital, the connections nor the sharp personality required to make a few bucks in the business. They would eat me alive if I ever tried it. And, I would dly switch to cash crops or animal farming but the maintenance and setup costs are huge which any bank would never lend a farmer like me even on their best of days. As for leasing thend, I am a farmer from birth little man, I cannot move away from my roots." He said with a sad sigh as he focused his attention on the piece of steak his wife was bringing to the table. "But what about the senate position that you wanted to pursue when you were still young? I thought that it was your dream to be a senator for the state of Kansas one day." Martha said as she looked at her husband with supporting eyes. "That was all in my youth Martha. I was stupid enough to dream a lot of stupid things back then. You were one of the very few ones that came true among them. Also, I have a family now. I don''t have time to run after stupid dreams. I would much prefer to be with you guys than old men insulting and arguing with each other in expensive suits. Plus we have something to protect now." He said with a smallugh as he took a look at rk who kept petting the alien dog that had taken its ce on hisp. I realized something after hearing Mr. Kent''s words. Yes, he might be a retard as I had determined before but the man was the nicest retard I had ever met in my life. He was probably as nice as Ben Parker, only more talented and I would absolutely hate seeing a good person like this meeting the same fate as the original Bruc... my own parents. I was never able to save them but I might try to save him and earn some good karma for myself. Plus I would need it to bnce the bad karma I would be steadily umting by killing irredeemable psychos. "Plus, a senator needs sponsors, donors, and people with connections. Who would be investing in an old farmer like me?" He said as he gave a heartyugh and picked up his piece of meat with a fork. "I''ll do it," I said as I bit into my food like it was no big deal. Well, it truthfully wasn''t. The Waynes had spent huge amounts of money on political lobbying in the past, Thomas Wayne''s campaign in Gotham when he was running for mayor cost a lot. So financing another person wasn''t a big deal for me. Also, he also could give me a lot of things in return if he won. So, he was more of an investment than a charity. "Wait, what?" Every member of the Kent family said in unison while even Krypto looked like it was confused about why rk suddenly stopped rubbing its stomach. Selina and Vicki just concentrated on their dinners rather than adding to the conversation. They knew too much about my attitude to doubt my words or question my reasons. They knew that I could even burn a billion dors for no reason at all if I felt that would profit me somehow in the future. "Why would you even consider..." Jonathan could notplete his words as the Kent familyndline rang up. The man didn''t have any choice but to pause the conversation to go and pick up the phone. It seems like they were not so poor that they could not afford a home phone. "Hello... Oh, Ross, it''s you. What? How? Are you sure? It might just be some stupid rumor or something... Ok sure... You too and thanks for the information, Arthur." Jonathan kept the phone down with a grim expression on his face. He looked like he had aged a few months from that call alone. "Was that Peter Ross'' father on the phone? What did he say?" Martha looked worried as she approached the senior Kent and ced her hand on his shoulder to show her support. "Yeah, that was Arthur. H-he said that a weird woman had been seen walking through the town of Smallville. She has supposedly even killed a few people and is now a wanted criminal on the charge of homicide..." He said as he took a quick look at rk, not wanting to say anything else. "Was that it? I don''t understand why you are so worried about it. I am sure they will catch her. We will stay safe inside the house. I am sure that we can make enough room for Bruce, Selina, and Vicki in our house today as well so that they can stay the night. I''ll call the school and..." Martha started to say but was soon interrupted by her husband again. "Some witnesses say that the woman is capable of melting things with fire gushing from her eyes, wrecking entire cars with a single punch and even bullets don''t have any effect on her. She calls herself Aethyr and is going through the entire town searching for something... or someone." --- Don''tforget toment'' and ''favorite'' this chapter if you like it. Also, you can check out myPat-re?npageas well to read ahead or just to support your fantastic author. I have12chapters in advance there right now. (MyPat-reonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a) Chapter 33: A Wild Kryptonian appears? Chapter 33: A Wild Kryptonian appears? --- "Stop trying to solve everything by yourself. Don''t forget that you''re not alone!" ¨C Ryuji Suguro, (Ao No Exorcist) --- "Jonathan, do you think she wants..." Martha didn''tplete her statement as she just sadly took a look at her adopted son sitting with his dog on hisp with an ashen face. "I am sure whatever the woman''s aim is, she won''t be able to achieve it. I believe that the cops would get her before she could cause any more damage." Jonathan looked like he didn''t believe his own words. "The cops? Dad, this woman has already killed multiple people. If bullets do not affect her, I don''t see how they can imprison her before she takes another life." rk protested. "Maybe, but ordinary folks like us cannot do anything to prevent that now can we? We will have to just sit tight and hope for the people fromw enforcement to sessfully subdue her." Jonathan said like it was a matter of fact and he wanted no argument against it. "Then I hope that you feel good tomorrow morning when more people die because WE did nothing to even try to help," rk argued as he left the table in anger with Krypto following him in tow. Wow, these people trying to sound like a normal family and acting like they did not have two super-powered aliens living among them is actually hrious. It could make up for a good si if done right. I hadn''t told Vicki and Selina everything about rk, only bits and pieces like how he might not be apletely ordinary human like us, but the Kent family conversation was so stupid that even they seemed to have an idea of what was going on. "I am sorry that you three had to see that. It''s just rk gets really upset when something bad happens in the town since he feels responsible for the town''s protection as one of its young citizens." Jonathan tried to make excuses but nobody was buying that. But, we still nodded and kept our mouths shut. "Anyways, you know what, you three shouldn''t go out tonight. I''ll call the school authorities and inform them that you will be staying with us for the night. Jon will drop you all off tomorrow. Till then, Bruce you can bunk with rk while Selina and Vicki can sleep in the guest rooms. As for the business proposition that you had, we can discuss that tomorrow at breakfast." Martha offered with a smile. "Okay. We don''t really have any other choice, so we will have to ept your kindness, Mrs. Kent." I said with a smile. "Oh, please. Call me Martha." She said with an embarrassed flick of her hand. After we finished our dinner, all four of us were led to our rooms. Martha went with the girls to tidy up the guest room after directing me to the door of rk''s room. We were even given some old clothes that the Kent family had collected for a Church giveaway to keep us warm andfortable for the night. "rk, may Ie in?" I knocked on the door but no sound came from the inside. "rk you there?" I knocked again a little louder and harder than thest time. But still, no answer. Now, there were a lot of things that might have happened for which rk was not answering but since this world was more or less a world based onics written by cliche writers, I immediately assumed the stupidest possible reason why he was not answering. I immediately took out my Bat-tool hidden inside my coat on my belt and positioned it near the door''s keyhole. Four small mechanical pins got out of the device and began fiddling with the lock mechanism. It was the bat-tool''s lock-picking mode, something that wasn''t nearly as sci-fi as the rest of its modes but did the job pretty well. It was mostly to give me apetitive edge over Selina''s natural lock-picking skills. Really that girl was a born thief. Who the hell can even pick a lock in three goddamn seconds? Opening the door to rk''s room, I understood that I waspletely right. He behaved like a stupid teenage super-powered character and sneaked away from his room to try to defeat the viin and protect the city all by himself because he felt responsible or something due to his powers. Looking at the half-opened window of the room, I wonder how he would defeat the woman who was either a metahuman, a possible Kryptonian, or some other super-powered species. So, would rk win like Superman always does or was there a chance that he could suffer utter defeat? But the even bigger question was what should I do? Should I justy down and have a good night''s sleep hoping that rkes back alive tomorrow or should I actually try to help him? After a couple of minutes of intense thinking and several arguments with my inner self, I decided that I could not just blindly put my trust in an overhyped sr energy junkee. He might be the strongest being on Earth currently but defeating him has always been too easy for even weekly run-of-the-mill viins. Thus it would be much better if I were to make sure that he doesn''t die a teenager. I also have some gadgets that I desperately wanna test on Kryptonians. If I leave now, I should be back before midnight... probably. Also, almost every major hero or viin has defeated a Kryptonian at some point in their life be it Superman, Zodd, Supergirl, or some other unnamed individual of the species. So, how hard can it be to defeat a Kryptonian? <(Omniscient pov)> "Krypto, you don''t have to follow me you know? This might be dangerous like the time when we were attacked by that fiery metahuman." rk said with a sigh as he remembered how he had to spend his entire holiday brushing the ashes and dirt from the fight from Krypto''s white fur. "Woof woof." The dog running at super speed in front of rk barked as it sped up toward a certain direction without slowing down. rk didn''t continue to question the skills or determination of his dog and just continued to follow him. After a couple of seconds of running at sonic speed, he finally reached the ce his dog was taking him. Seeing a weirdly dressed woman wearing metal armor from the Middle Ages on the streets trying to beat a car to death, rk immediately understood this was the same woman his father informed him about, the bad woman hurting people. He didn''t waste his time trying to persuade the woman to surrender. No, he was too angry at the woman for killing innocents to try to reason with her. Instead, he just decided to ask her a simple question before he started to do what he did best. "Hey, you. Why are you killing people?" rk asked with a serious expression on his face hoping that the woman would deny ever having killed anyone and they could have a civil conversation about it where all of this would turn out to be one big misunderstanding. Hearing his words, the woman stopped hitting the police car which was transmitting distorted radio noises, and focused her attention on rk with an impassive expression on her face. "I am here on behalf of the Great Kryptonian Empire to permanently subsume this under the grand banner of Krypton. I know that a fragment of the Growth Codex is here somewhere on this backward with the sessor of the El house. Give it to me and you will be spared under the golden rule of New Krypton." She said with a fanatical expression stered on an otherwise apathetic face. --- Don''tforget toment'' and ''favorite'' this chapter if you like it. Also, you can check out myPat-re?npageas well to read ahead or just to support your fantastic author. I have12chapters in advance there right now. (MyPat-reonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a) Chapter 34: Kryptonians are the biggest cheats Chapter 34: Kryptonians are the biggest cheats --- "Listen, I believe in you. More importantly, though, you need to have faith in your own abilities." ¨C Mutsuki, (Kantai Collection!) --- "I am sorry ma''am but I don''t know anything about any growth code or whatever you just said. But I am afraid that I cannot let you continue hurting innocent people. So, either willingly surrender yourself to the legal authorities or I''ll be forced to make you surrender." rk said with a serious frown that expressed he was ready to do exactly what he said. The woman however didn''t respond to his warning at all and just began to slowly walk toward him. "Well the way you are walking toward me doesn''t look like you areing here to surrender, so I guess I''ll have to use force after all. But remember ma''am that I am much stronger than I loo..." rk could not continue as he felt one of the strongest punches he ever felt in his lifend on his face catapulting him away like a mere ragdoll. He went through a couple of walls and even a wooden farmhouse and finallynded on a corn farm which more or less destroyed most of the corn in it. "How are you this strong?" rk could not help but ask as he felt an aching sensation still traveling through his cheek as a result of the punch. He had never met someone as strong as himself before. He had faced his fair share of bad people, some of them with quite tricky abilities but none of them were even close to him in raw physical attributes. This unknown woman was the first one who managed to make him feel real pain with just a single punch when he was not even under the influence of any type of Kryptonite. "I am Aethyr-Ul. I was a field Captain back on Krypton, boy. Do you think an untrained rookie like you can even hope to defeat a seasoned warrior like me?" The woman named Aethyr used her incredible speed which was equal to rk''s to zoom to the location where rknded from her blow and smiled condescendingly at him. "Wait, you are a Kryptonia..." Once again rk was unable toplete his words as two beams of red hotser were directed at his face shutting the young hero up. "Aaaaaah... OH, MY FACE. Can you please stop targeting my face ma''am?" rk asked as he grunted at the sizzling pain on his face. "Interesting. As I thought, you are a Kryptonian as well. Are you the one who has the growth codex? Perhaps if I present you to the General, I''ll be rewarded for my valiant services to the empire." She said as she balled her fists to give the boy in front of her the beatdown of the century. She began to punch him in rapid session in a bid to break his bones and knock him out creating minor sonic booms but weirdly for her, rk was able to block most of them with his hands. Although some of her punchesnded on his chest, they still seemed to be more or less equal in strength. This was almost unbelievable for her since she was sure that she was not only much older than him but also much more trained and fit than the supposedly teenage Kryptonian. So, the reason why she was not being able to overpower him in pure raw strength was a mystery to her. But unfortunately for rk, his advantage in his raw physical abilities could only take him so far. With each move that Aethyr made, rk was being pushed back slowly as he even felt minor bruises forming all over his body due to her hits. "I have to say you are surprisingly strong for a teenage Kryptonian but that would only take you so far. You could have been a good soldier for the New Kryptonian army that the General is going to establish but it seems you must die before that." She smirked at rk as her eyes again lighted up and fired red beams of heated energy directly at rk''s own eyes momentarily shocking and blinding him and thus creating an opening in his novice defenses. She immediately took this chance and stuck his stomach with a full-powered punch sending him flying into a nearby pond. "This... heat vision is really useful," Aethyr muttered to herself as she took out a small dagger from her belt buckle intending to end the currently knocked-out young Kryptonian who dared to challenge her. But just as she was going to take another step, a small ball the size of a baseball rolled towards her on the ground and stopped at her feet, a soft buzzing sounding from the ball in rapid session. "What is thi...?" *Boom* This time Aethyr, the Kryptonian soldier was the one who was taken by surprise and could notplete her words as the ball suddenly exploded and released dense grey-colored mist all around her. *Cough Cough* The female Kryptonian coughed for the first time aftering to Earth as she could not help but inhale the gas released by the bomb which had taken her by surprise spreading a distinct itchiness around her throat making her worried about the type of chemical she might have inhaled. She was worried that this might be some chemical or biological weapon designed by the native species on the to kill her and she was mostly right as she felt a certain thirst for anything liquid ovee her. This was the first time she was feeling thirsty after arriving on the and she didn''t believe it to be a good thing. "AAAHH." She yelled in pain. It was not because of the steadily increasing thirst but because all of her senses were slowly going out of her control. Her vision, hearing, smell everything suddenly increased to their absolute limits covering the entire town in her perception range and thus giving her the biggest headache she had ever experienced. But this also made her aware of a certain figure quietly standing in the shadows observing her from the distance like a predator silently observing his prey. "So you finally noticed me. That took you a lot of time." A smooth somewhat attractive voice came from the hidden figure. Everything that happened till now wasn''t much of a surprise. Even though I was only able to watch the final moments of rk''s fight with Aethyr before he was knocked out because unfortunately, hoverboards aren''t as fast as Kryptonians, I still learned a great deal of things from it, especially the Kryptonian fighting style and strategy that Kryptonian soldiers seem to use. The female Kryptonian named Aethyr didn''t seem to be a gifted soldier but she was probably better than the average Kryptonian fighter. Even though she was physically equal to rk probably because of therger amount of time he had spent absorbing sr energypared to her, she still made up for it in pure skill. She was a cold and merciless warrior who always went for the weakest points of her target to end the fight in her favor as quickly as possible. Also, how the hell does she know English? I thought Kryptonians speak... Kryptonian or Kryptonese or something. You know what, I don''t even care, I''ll find out the reasonter. Truthfully, I was having a lot of fun just watching the fight. It was like watching an anime super fight live in front of your own eyes but unfortunately for rk, he was knocked out sooner than I hoped and I had to step in to make sure that the beacon of hope didn''t die before he even reached histe teens. Well, this was actually a favorable result for me since now I would be able to do whatever I wanted without rk ever knowing that I was here in the first ce. That''s why I attacked her immediately when she was distracted and used a Bat-ball... Bat-bomb the Bat-gasser the Bat-knocker? Shit, I can''t think of any good bat-themed names for it. Anyways, as the bomb exploded, it released a modified and strengthened gaseous version of the mummifying liquid or what I called the Thirst virus around her. The gaseous electrolytes released in the air would be harmless in a couple of seconds but once inhaled by someone could kill the target with dehydration in only a matter of minutes. But unfortunately, as I observed the workings of Aethyr''s body using the White world aspect of my power, I noticed her body actively fighting against the virus and even winning. Her lungs were working in full tandem as they exhaled the remaining amount of gas inside her system while her heartbeat doubled as blood from different parts of her body rushed toward her chest and heart area probably fighting off the electrolytes that were mixing with her blood. Kryptonian physiology was truly amazing. I guess I would either need much MUCH stronger poisons or some alien viruses to do some substantial damage to it. "You will regret this." She screamed with her red rage-filled eyes directed at me. She was probably having trouble breathing due to the overwhelming thirst she was feeling due to the gas but that was quickly dying down due to her immunity slowly destroying the virus from within. "Nah I won''t. Although I might regret wearing this stupid costume" I muttered thest part to myself as I felt like a delusional chunibyo while wearing my current ''vignte'' costume which I had made by basically ripping off the design of Red Hood. It was made of a particr bulletproof fabric four times harder than Ker but much thinner and lighter. It wasn''t anything special and I had only made it as a temporary costume before I designed any serious armor or super suits. It was a simple suitposed of some ck body armor made of the special fabric I designed, a fireproof ck jacket, and a ck full-face mask simr to that of Red Hood in theics. It was minimal, yet efficient. And best of all, didn''t restrain my movement at all. I did not waste any more of my time monologuing in my mind and instead took out my bat-tool and activated its sonic gun function which used the same principle as the sonic weapon in mybat drone. It was the best possible weapon against a Kryptonian or any metahuman with superhuman hearing capabilities. "Let''s rock," I dered with a snicker as I targeted her and fired the thing at a high frequency before she could have the chance to use her speed to get closer to me. A high-frequency almost visible wave of mind-crushing sound hit the Kryptonian warrior like a freight train as it instantly drew a shrill painful scream from her throat making her drop her knife and forcing her to stagger back a couple of steps. But I had no intention to stop. I would only consider stopping once she was knocked out but unfortunately for me, knocking her out seemed like a pipe dream since she immediately recovered from the initial shock somewhat and began to approach me with a slow yet steady pace despite the sound waves hitting her at the highest possible frequencies which should have blown her brains to unrecognizable bits if she didn''t have such a literal hard head. "AAAAH. I will k-kill you. For Krypton. For the glory of General Zod..." She screamed as a single drop of red blood flowed down her nose. "Come on," I murmured to myself as I felt her reaching near where I was currently standing. A year full of research on the most advanced sonic weaponry and the best this can do is give her a nosebleed? God, Kryptonians are really underestimated, aren''t they? In front of their absolute beast-like OP physiologies, even my cheat seems somewhat worthless. "You think you can defeat a loyal soldier of the General? No, I will make sure that you and your fellow little species understand the superiority of KryptoniaAAHH..." She shrieked in pain as her own knife pierced through her chest. "You have super senses yet you do not use them to sense people sneaking up on you? How pathetically useless a soldier were you?" A figure wearing a dark tight Ker suit and a unique orange and ck patterned mask said as he pulled the knife from the wound on her chest and reinserted it into her stomach from her back, possibly severing her spine in the process. "de? I told you not to interfere. I thought that I made it clear that I wanted to do this alone." I said, subtle anger leaking into my tone. "Sorry ''young master''. But my job is to protect you not to let you do things alone. Personally, I wouldn''t have cared if you had lost an eye or an ear but Alfred would eat my heart if I let that happen. And as I had said before, nothing scares me more than that butler whenever he has that fake smile on his face. Thest time I let you get hurt during training, he actually shot me in the balls." de Wilson gruffed as he shivered at his memory of Alfred giving him the most intense death stare he had ever gotten in his life. "*Sigh* Fine just shut up. Now we will have to save her life since we need more info from her. So let''s, not waste time and get to it before rk wakes up." I muttered in annoyance. "Huh? Who''s rk?" He asked. "Long story, you don''t need to know. But perhaps you will meet him one day in the future." I mostly dodged his question as I wondered to myself if I should save the half-dead Kryptonian in front of me or just try to forcefully glean any intel I could from her mind. --- Don''tforget toment'' and ''favorite'' this chapter if you like it. Also, you can check out myPat-re?npageas well to read ahead or just to support your fantastic author. I have12chapters in advance there right now. (MyPat-reonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a) Chapter 35: Mental problems Chapter 35: Mental problems --- "It''s more important to master the cards you''re holding than toin about the ones your opponent was dealt." - Grimsley, (Pok¨¦mon) --- <(Bruce Wayne pov)> "So, are you going to save her or take her memories? Because judging by her breathing pattern and heart rate she doesn''t seem to have much time left even though physically her injuries seem to be healing at a much faster rate than a normal human. That''s not supposed to happen by the way, just saying." Deathstroke sat on the ground in a rxed position andmented cheekily. "I-I don''t know. Should I save her or should I just let her die? I mean she did kill a lot of people, innocents who were just doing their jobs or minding their own business. She killed them in cold blood just because she could, just because she was stronger. But does that make her truly irredeemable because it is possible that she did all that thinking that it was the right thing to do due to her upbringing or maybe she was brainwashed from an early age into being an ice-cold killer?" I suddenly began hesitating even though I previously thought that I was ready for situations like these. Why was I suddenly hesitating when it came to killing her? Was I that weak-minded? But hadn''t I already killed those people back then at Helena''s house? But again, I just ordered their deaths that day, the true murder was done by my drones and Cortana. To me, that was less like killing someone and more like just ordering a troop member in a game to do the deed instead. But this, this was me letting someone die knowing full well that she could be saved if I desired it. As I pondered about my choices, Aethyr''s wounds had already been cauterized but despite that, judging from her breathing it seemed that she wasn''t recovering at all. Instead, her condition was gradually worsening. This was probably because of the effects that her Kryptonian knife had on her physique. However, it needed to be studied more to determine what exactly these effects were. I don''t know if she would die or not without any immediate medical help but her body would definitely be ruined and she would forever lose her motor cognition. Even in the best-case scenario, she would permanently be a quadriplegic. "If you are truly worried if she is innocent or not, don''t. She is an experienced soldier through and through. I saw her eyes. They were the eyes of a veteran killer, someone who enjoys what they do. There is no brainwashing for you to undo. If one goes by her eyes, one can almost say that the entire purpose of her life ording to herself is fighting and killing. Krypton and this general of hers are just excuses she gives herself. So stop bullshitting and do what you really feel like. Nobody will judge you because nobody is here in your ce right now." The masked bodyguard said as he yed with Aethyr''s blue-ded Kryptonian knife. "You know what. You are right. I know what I need to do now. I always did." I repeated. I had made up my mind even before I came here. I was only hesitating due to the remnants of the human morals left inside this body from the previous Bruce as well as my own morality from my past life. But not anymore. In this life, I would have to do what I must, otherwise one day these things wille back to bite me in my ass. Opening the small bag concealed on my back, I took out a portable Amusphere (an advanced model of the basic Nerve Gear), a little different than the one I used to full-dive for training purposes. This was made specifically for one particr purpose in mind. Slipping it on Aethyr''s head. I switched on the device and immediately Cortana''s voice came from my watch. "Connection sessful. Should I start the extraction process?" She asked after giving me verification that the device working as it should. "Do it. Make sure topartmentalize all information and data avable no matter how insignificant. I want to know everything about her and her race, how she trained, what she learned, what they eat, when they sleep, how many bowel movements they have in a single day, everything." I said, not caring about Deathstroke''s silent snicker at how mymand made me appear like some twisted stalker. "Got it." She replied as a soft hum began toe from the headset making me wonder about how safe my newly made machine was. I didn''t have the time or appropriate subject to test it out, so maybe this is for the ''greater good'', the greater good of my own experiment of course. "Initiating mind replication. Mental scan at 1%" A robotic voice simr to Cortana''s original stated from the machine. "I still can''t believe that you invented all this. A mere child with the wits to outsmart even those high and mighty arrogant geniuses I met back in the military. Well, I guess it''s true, kids truly are the future of the country." He said as he looked at the Amusphere with awe. "Don''t get any ideas. You know what will happen if you try to doublecross me, don''t you?" I warned, not even looking at him but the serious tone of my voice carried the message loud and clear. "Yeah, yeah. How can I forget when you fooled an innocent gullible fellow like me into signing that cursed voodoo contract? As long as I am in your employment, I can''t cross you, betray you, or harm you or your friends and family in any way. Even after my employment term ends, I must keep everything I have seen, heard, or experienced with you a secret, otherwise, I would lose my life and my soul will be subjected to eternal damnation, not that it already has." He huffed like he was truly wronged. The contract that he mentioned was actually a magical contract that I got from Zatara. It was supposedly a type of contract that demons use to sign deals. Once signed, it cannot be annulled unless agreed upon by all involved parties in it. Or unless some other higher-dimensional overpowered entity like a fifth-dimensional clown or some party animal archangel suddenly wished it. I had long ''found out'' that Zatanna was a magician and even confronted her about it. In fact, she wasn''t even hiding it really. I think she wanted me to find out about it on my own so that she could have more things to talk about with me and fewer secrets to keep from her best friend. We still hadn''t exactly told her father that I already knew about their family secret mainly because Zatanna warned me about her father regrly mind-wiping people who found out about their ability to cast magic. So, I didn''t take the risk and just kept silent, waiting until the right time to tell him and beg/request/ckmail him into teaching me magic. As for how I got the contract from Zatana, well it was simple. I traded it with her. I gave her a REALLY expensive magic book that she wanted after I bought it from an auction and copied it first for myself and in return she stole one of the numerous empty contracts that her father kept for making deals with different magical beings and gave it to me. It was an equivalent exchange in my opinion. "Bruce, I have encountered certain mental barriers in her inner mind while trying to scan it. I can bypass them one by one, keeping her mind intact but that will take a lot of time, time that we don''t really have. Or I can just force my way through her mental defenses using the full power of the processors. It will take a fraction of the time required for the first method but it will definitely do some permanent damage to her mind despite her Kryptonian heritage." Cortans''s voice broke me out of my shback as she dutifully informed me of the problem that suddenly came up. "Do it. She isn''t gonna be alive much longer anyway and I don''t intend to save her. Record the entire process and all the effects of the scanning. It will be usefulter on to improve the device." I ordered. I could have easily saved her life but in the corner of my mind I knew if I did that, she wouldn''t just magically turn good through the power of friendship or whatever and join my team of superheroes. No, instead a trained soldier like her will eliminate me and any other she considers a threat, this time while using everything in her arsenal and without underestimating humans as she did the first time before she got a surprise with her own knife piercing her spine. "Inner mental barriers breached. Reinitiating mind replication. Mental scan at 75%" Her voice stated again as the soft hum of the device intensified. "Is that blooding from her ears? Okay, it''s official now. I am never going near any of your helmets. Hell, I don''t think I can even get an MRI scan after this without worrying about my brain leaking from my own head." He said as the sound of a gulp came from him. This version of Deathstroke was really weird. I hadn''t really read anyics or even watched a lot of shows about DC in my previous life but I knew that Deathstroke was one of the most dangerous assassins in the verse. I always thought he would have a serious personality. But this one was unhinged. He was more like Deadpool instead of my image of Deathstroke. He was mostly all fun and stuff where he was a likable guy but asionally he bes all cold and ruthless, especially during training, and sometimes he even goespletely silent like some psychopath. de himself was aware of his problem and just chalked it up to side effects from the military experiments that made him an Enhanced Soldier. I had tried to persuade him to let me cure any mental effects that the experiments conducted on him might have left but unfortunately, he values his mind way too much to let anyone tamper with it. And truthfully he was right to do so because I know that the moment I get ess to his brain I wouldn''t be able to stop myself from embedding certain contingencies in him to make sure that he won''t be a threat to the future me even after our contract period is over. But again I''ll probably do that anyway. "Mental scan 100%. Mind replicationplete" The Amusphere stopped humming. "Do you have a full readable copy of all her memories?" I asked Cortana. "Positive." She answered. "Good. Let''s go, de. The cops will be here soon. I got what I needed. We just need to transport the body back to myb now." I said as I picked up the Kryptonian after collecting different DNA and hair samples from her in separate containers. No way was I leaving her body or any of her DNA samples here. I knew too much about plots like these to know that some evil genius could easily make a clone using her DNA. That was not happening, at least not under my watch. The Kryptonian warrior''s body was actually lighter than I expected, almost as light as a fit athletic female which was in itself an impossibility due to how absurdly strong and durable their species is supposed to be. Anyway, I was able to carry her body which was mostly brain dead due to thebined effects of her spinal injury and the Amusphere''s effects on her mind with some slight difficulty due to my eternally peak human body. As for why I didn''t hand it over to my masked aplice? Simple, because I had another more important job for him. "de, I will carry her to the car that you brought from Gotham. While I do that, I have an important assignment for you. You see, her sudden appearance in this town begs the question of how she came to be here. And I know the perfect ce to start investigating that particr question. Tell me, de, have you ever heard of..." Bruce started with a smile on his face which soon disappeared as Deathstroke interrupted him "Wait before you tell me the mission details. Know that this is going to cost you extra. I just get paid to be your teacher and bodyguard, not your errand boy. Of course, I will dly be your errand boy if you pay me enough." He said like a shrewd businessman. "You know, you are worse than my blood-suckingwyers. *Sigh* How much do you want?" I asked annoyance evident on my face. "Hey, don''t give me that look. I''ll have a young mouth to feed soon. And if you think thatwyers are blood-sucking, you definitely haven''t heard of child alimony yet. Also, a million is enough." He snorted. "Fine. One million it is. Now, as I was saying. Have you ever heard of the Luthors and their evil experiments in their secretboratories?" I asked with an evil smirk that was not visible due to my mask. "... OK, now I am interested. By the way, the price is two million now." --- Don''tforget toment'' and ''favorite'' this chapter if you like it. Also, you can check out myPat-re?npageas well to read ahead or just to support your fantastic author. I have12chapters in advance there right now. (MyPat-reonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a) Chapter 36: A Hero Complex Chapter 36: A Hero Complex --- "Just Believe In Yourself, And You Can Be A Hero!" -All Might, (My Hero Academia) --- After Deathstroke left me after listening to my n, I also prepared to leave the area. The cops were gonna be here any minute and I didn''t want to waste my time exining to them what I was doing in a destroyed farm alone at night. But why was I getting the feeling that I was forgetting something? I looked around trying to figure out what I was forgetting. My photographic or eidetic memory like all other eidetic memories out there acted on the principle of perfect recall. It means whatever I see, smell, hear, or experience after my transmigration will be stored perfectly in my mind without the memory deteriorating with time. But if I have to recall that knowledge, I''ll have to think about it like searching for a particr file on aputer. That''s why a lot of geniuses even though have eidetic memories still forget about general stuff like eating. It''s not because they are idiots but simply because they don''t care enough to try to actively recall that data from their minds. Hmm? Oh, that''s it. I had forgotten about rk, the friendly neighborhood Kryptonian who was currently knocked out in a puddle of water. I could wake him up and take him with me but the thing is that I already have too much stuff in my hands. I mean literally the Kryptonian warrior on my back is heavy enough for me. I can''t afford to carry a Kryptonian teenager as well. Also, I am toozy to wake him up and exin everything to him. It''s better that he doesn''t know anything about the extraordinary parts of my life until hepletely trusts me. He can find his own way home after he wakes up. This is his hometown after all, so even if people find him, they won''t exactly be suspicious of him being an alien or a criminal just because he was sleeping in a puddle of water. Worsees to worst, he will merely be grounded if his parents find out. So I just picked up Aethyr''s unresponsive body on my back and set off on my floating hoverboard to the location of the Bugatti EB110 whose coordinates were being disyed by Cortana on my watch. It was a car that ''my father'' Thomas Wayne had bought for his car collection but unfortunately, he was never able to ride it although, Deathstroke was making his damn best to make sure that the car was used to its full potential by driving it everywhere he went. Reaching the destination, I opened the trunk of the modified car and put the deceased Kryptonian''s body into it locking the doors, not caring to bind her with anything since even Kryptonians can''t exactly move once they are dead unless, of course, someone revives them with the help of a Kryptonian life matrix or some sort of magical ritual which on second thought is toomon a thing in DC. I should probably destroy the body as soon as I can after I am done with my experiments on it. After all, I don''t want her to suddenlye back to life to take revenge against me, do I? As I continued thinking about the various ways I could destroy a Kryptonian dead body, I reached the Kent family home and silently climbed the walls back into rk''s room. Reaching the room, I noticed the door was still closed and nobody hade inside. There wasn''t too much noise as well in the house, so most probably the Kents didn''t even have any idea that their guest and adopted son just had a fight with a murderous invincible alien soldier not even an hour ago. I didn''t have any ns to tell them as well. They will find out about their son using his powers if they find out. As far as they are concerned about me, I am just a normal kid who slept the entire night in rk''s room without even knowing what the young teenager was doing or where he was. "Oh and before I forget..." I quickly went to rk''s restroom and began to look among his things, particrly his toiletries. "There it is." After only a few minutes of searching, I found what I was looking for. I had a big smile on my face as I held three strands of hair in my hand. I could look for more DNA but this would be enough for the experiments I needed to conduct and truthfully I had no wish to go through the trash can in his room in search of used tissues that he might have abused to wipe out evidence of his carnal pleasures during his ''fun time''. I quickly got out of the restroom before anybody coulde into the room and prepared myself for some shut-eye after storing the DNA sample in a specialized container while wondering why rk had two beds in his room in the first ce. "Whatever. More space for me I guess." I muttered as Iy down on thefortable bed and closed my eyes for a good night''s sleep after a hard day''s work. After only about a few seconds of contracting and rxing my body muscles in a specific method, I immediately drift to a as usual dreamless night of sleep. *** (Next morning) *Yawn* That was satisfying. Sleeping in the countryside is reallyfortable for some reason, although it is nowhere near my Wayne manor infort and security. I shut off the rooster rm on my watch and looked at the empty bed beside mine. It seems rk still hasn''t returned from his adventurest night. I did feel a little guilty at first but the next minute I just shrugged it off since I knew that a little cold and bugs would be no problem to the knocked-outst son of Krypton. Stretching my arms and legszily, I went to the restroom toplete my morning rituals. I already had my toothbrush in my bag, so I didn''t need to worry about using anyone else''s which would have been disgusting. I really hate couples and families using each other''s toothbrushes. I mean there are a couple of things in life that are meant to always be private. After I was done, I went downstairs to see if everyone else was awake and that''s when I heard it. The gruff voice of an angry man harshly reprimanded someone. Oh seems, rk did return home but just not as discreetly as he left. I snickered to myself while tiptoeing downstairs knowing that rk would probably be the only one able to hear meing. "You not only endanger yourself but your entire familyst night rk. You didn''t even think of your friends who also could have been in trouble if anybody were to find out about your secret." Jonathan Kent said in an angry yet suppressed voice. "I am sorry Dad, but I needed to do this especially when I found out that..." rk suddenly stopped as he looked at the door of the room. "You are not just irresponsible rk. You are stubborn, too stubborn to see that what you are doing will not only cause you trouble but others as well. I understand that you felt that you need to help everyone but you can do it without being a hero, without putting yourself in danger. *Sigh* rk, being a hero is an extremely hard path, one that I do not want you to follow because I know that if you do it... you will never be able to return from it. You will never be able to stop. So think deeply about what you really want rk because the way things are, sooner orter people will find out about your abilities, about what you can do and some of them will either want you gone or want it for themselves. Anyway, we will talk about thister after your friends leave. Right now, I''ll have to help your mother with the breakfast. " The older Kent looking like he had aged a decade in a single nightpleted his speech and went towards the kitchen. "Are you still just going to stand behind the door?" rk spoke up a few secondster as he directly looked at the door like he could see through it. "You knew I was here?" I askeding out from behind the door with a helpless smile, knowing full well that he was not only able to hear or smell me but see me through the wall as well. "Yeah, I have... a good sense of hearing." He returned my smile with a smile of his own. "So what happenedst night? You were not in your room and I just saw you getting scolded by your dad." I said as I sat down on the sofa in front of him. "Well, I heard that people were in trouble and I went there to help them, as simple as that. However, what I didn''t consider was that helping people would take up my entire night making it impossible for me toe home before morning. And let''s just say I was not as silent as a ninja when I tried to get back to my room this morning. Especially not since you closed off the windows from the inside and I had to try to enter through the kitchen door." He muttered thest part to himself but I clearly heard it due to my enhanced senses. Hmm, I guess I did close off the windowsst night before sleeping. I had been getting paranoidtely and locking all doors and windows before going to sleep was just one of the many many new paranoid habits I had picked up. I don''t know if this paranoia is my own that I developed due to my constant thoughts of how to survive in this new world or something that I inherited from the original Bruce. But whatever it was, I was thankful for it because I knew that it could undoubtedly one day save my life even though it was giving me real trust issues whenever I met new people. "You know rk, your father is right. You don''t have to force yourself to help or save other people. The world is always harder on heroes than on criminals. Individuals are smart but people, people are stupid and the only thing people like to see more than a hero is to see a hero fail." I said as I looked at his hunching figure, sitting on the sofa and looking lost in self-doubt. "... No. I-I know that every time I try to help someone, it might be inconveniencing someone else, that I might be meddling in other people''s business whenever I try to aid somebody but I can''t help myself. My father wants me to be rk, someone who leads a normal life by keeping his head down but I am not just rk. rk Kent is a part of who I am but I am more than just that. I am, I am..." rk stopped as he looked unsure of what he truly was. "It''s not who you are rk, it''s what you can be. A Hero. In fact. anyone can be a hero as long as they have the heart for that. And meddling when you don''t need to... is the essence of being a hero." I told him at which his eyes seemed to light up as he looked at me with enlightened eyes. Man, I think I have quite a future as a professional motivational speaker. "You taught me a lot of things today Bruce. You made me see a lot of stuff from apletely new point of view. Thanks." He thanked me earnestly. "It''s okay. Just remember to not forget your little friend if you be famous someday doing hero work. Maybe start with cleaning beaches and stuff. Be a hero for the environment as well you know. Who knows, maybe one day we will join you and we will open our club full of heroes." I joked at which rk began tough as well. "Bruce, good morning. Hope you had a good sleepst night. Anyways, breakfast is served, boys. Join us at the kitchen table. Selina is already there and she threatened to finish both of your portions if you do not get there right now." Mama Kent informed. "Good morning to you too Mrs. Kent. And of course, Selina is there. She is always the first person in the room whenever there is free food involved." I grinned as I got up from the sofa. "Selina is up already? Howe I didn''t hear her? She must be really stealthy." rk murmured to himself with a voice full of awe. Oh, he had no idea about how stealthy the little kitty truly was. She was gifted in that area. I have to work on my stealth a LOT more if I want to catch up to her or go to the same stealth level as the original Batman is supposed to be on. Only then, will I be able to catch beings like Kryptonians and Martians off guard like him. "Let''s go. I still need to give Mr. Kent the business proposal I wanted to give him regarding his farmst night." I said while hoping in my heart that he was not as big as a goody-two-shoes fool in reality as he presented himself to be. --- Don''tforget toment'' and ''favorite'' this chapter if you like it. Also, you can check out myPat-re?npageas well to read ahead or just to support your fantastic author. I have12chapters in advance there right now. (MyPat-reonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a) Chapter 43: An Ordinary Human No Longer Chapter 43: An Ordinary Human No Longer ---
"Humans and apparitions should just be however they want. If that would break the world, then it''s better off broken." ~ Tsukasa, (Toilet bound Hanako-kun)
--- <(Omniscient POV)> "Is everything ready Cortana?" A tall and muscr Bruce asked as heid down his lean and muscr swimmer''s physique on top of a weird-looking egg-shaped machine. "Yes, Bruce, both the Compound V and the perfected Super Soldier serum vials have been connected to the pod. The energy charges from the Kryptonite-based energy reactor are also active. We can now safely begin the procedure." Cortana''s voice came back from the background. "Good, then begin the operation... And let''s just hope I don''t die this time." Bruce muttered as the pod was automatically sealed by Cortana and a unique pain nullifying and nerve-rxing gas was released inside it entering Bruce''s body through his nostrils and mouse. Tubes and syringes connected to various parts of his body began to continuously inject the two serums into his veins while the machine itself began to wheeze with energy. [30 milliliters of Perfected Super Soldier Serum injected] [70 milliliters of Compound V injected] [Filtered unique Kryptonite radiation injection initiated] [Radiation at 1% power... 5%...] Cortana''s voice began to document the entire process. "Oh my. Oh, Great Wayne. Okay, this might be more painful than I initially thought." Bruce clenched his teeth as he felt likeva was flowing through his veins. Even the pain-nullifying gas wasn''t of much help. Bruce had initially thought of using the newer Nagel''s version of the Super Soldier serum which was much simpler and faster to inject but had decided against it because it was much weaker than the original Erskine''s version and that was exactly why Bruce had opted to use that original one after improving the serum with the Oz form (Green Goblin serum) from Marvel and the mirakuru that he had developed from the blood sample that he had taken from Deathstroke. Unfortunately for him, the resulting product was so potent that he felt like a Masochist torturing himself while trying to use those serums. [Radiation at 75% power] Cortana dered without stopping. "AHAHAH. SHIIIIIITT. GOD, This was a wrong and hasty decision." He continued screaming like he was experiencing the most painful death he possibly could. He felt like his skin was on fire, his muscles were falling off and his bones were melting. [Radiation at 90%] Bruce could no longer yell as his muscles and skin began to visibly melt down into goo and leak through the pod, his eyeballs turning into liquid as he even lost his ability to try to ask for help from his AI assistant. [Radiation at 95%] [Radiation at 100%] [Radiation is at full power] [Injection Procedure concluded] [Powering down] Cortana dered as the machine began to rapidly power down until it stopped wheezing altogether. When the entrance to the pod finally opened, liquid parts of Bruce flowed out of there with only his bones in somewhat of a solid condition. The rest of him had either turned into red jelly or boiling liquid. "Subject perished. The experiment is unsessful. Bruce died in experiment Super Bat V1.9870." Cortana recorded the logs dutifully without even a hint of sadness present in her cold mechanical voice. *** <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "Another death. Wow, how many times has it been? I think I have died too many times to remember even with my photographic memory." I joked as the simtion on the screen in front of me ended with my digital clone dying the most horrible death imaginable by mankind. "Well, aren''t you d that you have me to depend on instead of having to test it on yourself or sacrifice some other human being?" Cortana gloated as her digital hologram held her chip up in pride. You see, I as a cautious person with a couple of brain cells still intact inside my brain am never going to inject myself with an untested serum despite being sort of a crazy scientist. But instead of carrying out illegal human trials, I use thousands of digital simtions run by Cortana where she considers each and every possible variable and tells me the percentage of sess for each of those experiments on the basis on which I decide whether to go forward with the experiment or go back to the drawing board. These digital simtions are extremely urate and even the digital human clones used in them are sort of ''alive'' as they are based on the brainwaves of their actual human counterparts which in this particr case was me and can even be considered sentient. So, the simtions can be said to be ''almost'' a hundred percent urate, and even then they are conducted thousands of times with different variables just to be sure. "Did you find out where we are going wrong?" I asked as I looked at the 0.49 percent sess rate despite not finding the error in the experiment while performing the same simtion more than nine thousand times. "Not particrly but I have a possible working theory... The Perfected Super Soldier serum although more potent than before is still harmless and all simtions done with it separately are sessful, same with the Compound V. However the main problem always arises when the two are mixed in the presence of filtered Kryptonite radiation in your body. Even though on paper, it seems that your body can adapt to it and bear theirbined power, in practice, it is theplete opposite. But I am beginning to think that this might not just be a physical or biological issue. I think it might be more... spiritual. Remember after you began to learn about magic and its various energies, you improved the PKE meter further to sense any type of magical energy nearby? When you connected it to my other sensors, I was able to use abination of them to even be able to sense various spiritual energies like your chi or souls and spirits. Now if I apply that knowledge and understanding to this particr simtion, then it is possible to deduce that thebined effects of the serum are hurting your soul more than your body. In fact, what is happening to your physical body may just be a reflection of your damaged soul." Cortana informed. "Huh... That could actually exin it. I never did consider my soul in my calctions after all, even though I have no idea why any of those serums would affect someone''s soul as well. Maybe, it was the Kryptonite radiation or it might even have been the mirakuru. However, even though I now know that it is a spiritual problem, I still can''t develop a solution because I don''t have nearly enough data or knowledge on the topic. Even in the magical studies that I am currently undertaking underneath Mr. Zatara, souls are something of a taboo subject, even the best soul magic that I have heard of can only slightly control or scan souls but none can truly exin their workings or create and destroy them. I could learn some more about different types of soul magic but I would have to lean towards more demonic or dark arts for that which Giovanni probably wouldn''t allow. So I have no other choice but to wait until I graduate from being his student which is gonna be very soon." I said as I thought deeply about my options. I am in a major dilemma now. Do I wait for more knowledge on souls and then figure something out or do I brute force it somehow by focusing on constantly healing my body while injecting the serums? "There is however one possible way to bypass this detriment and that is to simply take the serums one by one and let your body and soul get used to them. Injecting yourself with just one of the serums right now should not exert too much pressure on your soul and you would be able to inject another serumter without any consequences." Cortana informed. "That''s a very good idea Cortana. Run some simtions and tell me how long it will take for my soul to heal and not be adversely affected by injecting myself with two different super serums." I asked as I looked at the real-life hologram of the sixteen-year-old AI. "About 3 to 4 years depending on if and how much you perform your spiritual exercises," Cortana informed. "Well, that''s not too bad I guess. I mean the perfected super soldier serum will alone make me strong enough to be able to handle most criminals in Gotham quite easily, so it won''t exactly be a nerf for me if I am smart enough. Plus I don''t exactly intend to start hunting criminals or gangs right now. It will probably be a couple of years before I do that. And even then, I''ll only do that if I consider the criminal''s actual menaces to society that the regr cops wouldn''t be able to handle. As for the other ordinary everyday psychos, well I have quite some ns to be thergest defensepany in the world and I think the cops of this world might find some use for a few OP upgrades to their equipment while I might have some use for new connections and influence." I thought with a smile on my face. I have already developed my connections a lot in these five years. Wayne Solutions has excellent rtions with many international governments that I had thought to be noteworthy enough to befriend like the governments of Corto Maltese, Markovia, Bialya, and Kahndaq. Of course, I might have ''befriended'' some of these governments to get in their good graces by giving them some donations so that I could get ess to their resources like eternium of Kahndaq. Once I fulfill my objective, there is a high chance that I might even just say fuck it and take over one of them as my own little piece of haven after I retire. As for the great country of the USA itself, let''s just say a certain Kent was doing pretty well in his recent political career making it possible for me to have friends in high ces. Hell, the man even had ns to stand for election as president one day. Anyway, these past few years I have been working too hard on both my science projects and magic. I am proud to say that on the magic front right now I am better than any seasoned street magician in escapology, sleight of hand, or misdirections, and also have memorized more than three hundred books on actual magical creatures, spells, and rituals. But I have yet to cast any true magic spells. Even after I learned some sorcery, I have still never cast a single spell mainly because I sense at least a dozen pairs of eyes on me every time I try to use even a bit of sorcery. Even the mind-shielding ne that I always wear had exploded from overheating after I tried to use a certain spell meant for a simple exorcism. And after years of hard work when I realized the magus gene in homo magus could not be replicated by me that easily by using pure science, I simply quit trying to master sorcery and magecraft and instead just focused on acquiring information. My goal is to perfect what I can do for now and that in magic is runes. I have an innate talent for rune formations due to my Intuitive intelligence cheat which also worked with runes of differentnguages and I intend to be the best in it, even better than the Zataras. However, I still need to study a lot especially the differentnguages of runes. For now, I merely have a basic idea of Elder Futhark and Young Futhark. Yeah pathetic, I know. As for my advancements in science, now that''s what I am really proud of. For thest few years I have been mainly working on three primary projects, my bio-serums meant for gic alterations of the highest grade that I have been quite sessful in as evidenced by my having developed both a perfected version of Super Soldier Serum and Compound V. The second was nanotech, which would be my next method of strengthening myself. Whether it be extremis-style nano-mites from Marvel or the Nanomachine nanobots from the Webnovel, all of them can be developed with enough research in nanotechnology which I am extremely close to breaking through. I had already cracked basic nanotech but it didn''t have value in my eyes since I hadn''t perfected them or developed them to the potential they really possessed. My aim was to one day put Blue Beetle to shame with my nanotechnology. The third andst one of them was atomic printers or replicators as seen in some of the most advanced sci-fi worlds like Star Trek or with Kang from Marvel that could print anything, any molecule, or any atom from anything. Whether it be making inorganic materials, organic food, clothing, medicine, or even weapons, it could replicate anything solid, liquid, or gas as long as it had the energy and equal number of atoms that it needed to produce the resultant product. Unfortunately, I am only halfway through with them as my version only worked like an advanced 3D printer. ''But at least I have perfected my sun breathing style or should I say my own Abyssal Breathing style'' I confidently thought in my mind as I looked at the half-cracked wall of the cave, something I did with only a fencing foil which was scientifically impossible in real life but I had still done it with my expert sword style and my self-developed bullshit chi powered abyssal breathing style which wasposed of its own unique twelve different techniques. It was a breathing style that I had developed for myself afterbining every other breathing style I knew from the Demon yer show and was focused on stealth, speed, and precision instead of raw strength and stamina. It of course didn''t produce any fancy visual effects around me like a wave of darkness or something but it was still OP considering the massive boost it temporarily provided me in physical stats andbat style. "Bruce, I have run the simtions about a hundred times. The Perfected Super Soldier serum ispletely safe for you to take if you want to. I have even taken the liberty to produce a new batch for you." Cortana interrupted Bruce''s chain of thoughts as she informed him about her actions. "Good. I guess it''s time for me to finally be... more than a human, a super soldier to be specific" I said as I buttoned down my shirt. "Eh? Wait, you will be undergoing the procedure right now?" Cortana said like a shy maiden as she appeared flustered, another habit she picked up from watching anime shows. "Yep, I can''t dy this anymore. It''s finally time." I said as I calmly walked towards the med-pod, ready to lose the very thing that made the original Batman so special, his powerlessness. ''Will I be even Batman if I do this if I get special abilities and powers?'' I wondered suddenly feeling a dam of guilt weighing down on my heart for some reason, telling me to hold on to my ordinary humanity, to not get rid of my own weakness. But I didn''t stop. I didn''t care if I was the right kind of Batman or not because I was not meant to be Batman. No, I am meant to be someone else, someone better, someone even Batman couldn''tpare to, someone I have epted. "I am Bruce Wayne," I muttered to myself as I went inside the med pod. --- Don''tforget toment'' and ''favorite'' this chapter if you like it. Also, you can check out myPat-re?npageas well to read ahead or just to support your fantastic author. I have12chapters inadvancethere right now. (MyPat-reonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a) Chapter 45: The Demon’s Letter Chapter 45: The Demon¡¯s Letter ---
"There are two kinds of arrogance. One where you are unequal to the task and one where your dreams are too big. The former ismonce stupidity¡­ but thetter is a rare species that is difficult to find." ¨C Gilgamesh, (Fate Series)
--- "The fuck sent this letter?" I eximed looking at thevishly decorated suspicious ck and gold letter looking like it was from some Arabian king trying to appear rich as well as cool by sending me a gold-ted letter wrapped up in a dark theme. "Language Master Bruce." Alfred tried to inhibit my cursing like usual which I conveniently ignored. "Cortana, did you find anything after scanning the outer packaging?" "No, Bruce. Unfortunately, the ones who packed or delivered it made sure to not even leave a single fingerprint or DNA remnant in there. From the materials used in the packaging and the letter, all I can deduce is that they were made outside the US but unfortunately, I currently do not possess enough data to specify where." Cortana said with some dismay in her otherwise usually cheerful voice. "Not your fault Cort. After all, the inte still hasn''t developed enough for you to find detailed information like that." Iforted her. What irked me was that the letter was not the only thing weird in the package that Alfred bought. What was more weird was the way it was delivered. The package appeared out of nowhere in front of the estate gates. Even the dozens of cameras monitoring every inch of both inside and outside the mansion failed to capture how it happened. Only when every frame of the recording data was meticulously checked by Cortana, did she finally notice a slight dark smoke just the moment before the package was left in front of my gate, a smoke that both I and Cortana concluded as mystical in origin. ''It''s good that Mr. Zatara had already inscribed some heavy anti-magic spell formations around the house. It''s because of those barriers that stray dark wizards and evil sorcerers won''t be able toe inside my home using their petty magic.'' I thought like a proudndowner. With untraceable packaging, a teleportation-like mystical delivery method, and avishly decorated letter, this is just getting more and more interesting. "If I may speak Master Bruce, I think that insignia on the seal might have a clue or two as to the person or the group that might have sent the letter," Alfred spoke up as he eyed the seal. "Maybe but Cortana didn''t find anything after looking it up on the web except a few possible conspiracy theories stating that a symbol looking like that meant the end of the world or something. It was truthfully the worst letter seal I had ever seen. I mean why would you make your seal look like an animal''s skull that cannot be even recognized when you can just make it something cooler like a rose or a dragon or maybe even a wolf?" I snorted as I failed to identify the creature that the symbol consisting of a weird skull and horns looked like. "Yes, you are right. It looks more like a demon''s head to me than an animal''s skull. I guess not every artist is as talented as you. Master Bruce" Alfred praised. "Thanks, Alfred. But even if I can draw a better Demon''s head... oh, so that''s what it is. You are more talented than you know Alfred. I now have a good idea about who the senders of this letter might be because of you." "It''s a pleasure, Master Bruce," Alfred said dly taking credit for it like an absolute sigma. "Cortana made a new entry into the file titled ''League of Assassins''. Mark them as active." Imanded which Cortana followed without a single question. Among a huge sheet of countless names colored in red on the hugeputer screen, the ''League of Assassins'' name suddenly lit in green as it joined the active status shared by only a few more names on the sheet including a couple of famous underworld gangs, Superman, Catwoman, Lex Luthor, the Gordons and a few other important people Bruce had met till now. "But Master Bruce, may I ask what was written on it? You never told me." Alfred asked, probably feeling a little worried after hearing the ominous name of the group that had supposedly sent the letter to me. "Nothing much. It just said ''If you want to pursue true power,e find me.'' And then there is an address that can be traced to Nepal." I said with a straight face. "That sounds really sketchy Master Bruce. Please tell me that you are going to be wise and ignore the letter instead of blindly heading to the address the very next day." Alfred asked as he looked at me with a raised eyebrow and a face filled with absolute seriousness. "Of course not Alfred. What do you think think of me as?" I chuckled. "Thank God. Seems I have managed to cultivate at least some amount of survival skills inside you..." "I''ll be going after a week." Ipleted. "..." Alfred looked crestfallen as he sighed and just shook his head, most probably expressing his disappointment about not being able to make me more ''normal''. But, I knew he wasn''t going to try his best to keep me from going because cared for me as much as he did, he also knew what I was truly capable of. The world-destroying weapons I could build when required. There was no problem I could not solve and almost no professional martial arts expert I could not beat or at least give an equal fight to. He knew that particrst bit of information because he had hired a certain famous boxing heavyweight champion to see if what Richard had taught us was truly valuable in real-lifebat situations or not and let''s just say, the boxer was d that I wasn''t apetitor of his and this was a secret private match or ording to him, he would have to retire after being beaten ck and blue by a kid like me. After that, Alfred had been much more assured about my safety than he was before and even trusted me more with stuff like that. "You are still not an adult Master Bruce. You can''t travel the world alone." He still tried his luck with another excuse. "And I am not going alone. I am sure one of the bodyguards can dly apany me to the mentioned location. I''ll be going alone from there. Look Alfred I know this particr organization, They are good fighters and live like monks in strict discipline. They are harmless." I assured him. And most of it was true including the fact that they were harmless to me since I was invited there by their own leader. They will only try to kill me if I don''t do what their leader, the Demon''s head wants me to do and that will most probably be by the end of the training period or whatever he intends for me. As for why I was walking into an oh-so-obvious trap? Although it might be a trap from Ra''s Al Ghul to try to make me into his heir by shaping me into a civilization-destroying maniac like him or him trying to take over my body to get himself a new free young body, it was still a opportunity for me, an opportunity I wasn''t going to miss. Because with this particr opportunity, I had a chance to have my own secret gang of loyal, killer ninjas. I had ns to go out to receive training anyway. I knew a lot of martial arts, courtesy of Richard but I wasn''t satisfied with it. Because even though I absorbed knowledge from Richard like a sponge in water, I still wasn''t able to learn everything he knew in those two years. Compared to that, learning from Deathstroke was much easier. Also, I still hadn''t been able to develop and replicate how Hamon worked through chi. I needed more spiritual knowledge to even have a chance to be able to do that. And for that Deathstroke was useless. Spiritual was thest word in the dictionary that could be used to describe Deathstroke. I had done my own research to find such a ce for further training. With Cortana''s help, I found something called the Reach Monastery and Allcaste as the only two potential ces for training of such caliber. I was going to go there after my eighteenth birthday but now that I had this ''invitation'', there was no way I wasn''t going there even if I was in enemy territory and... in constant danger. "Even if I do let you go, Master Bruce, what about the girls? I don''t believe that they will be very happy seeing you go alone to a ce filled with potential assassins." "You don''t have to worry about that. I''ll take care of them. Just prepare for my... trip. I''ll be leaving a week from now. Also, congrattions my dear butler, you are getting a promotion. You are now getting Power of Attorney over my Wayne Solutionspany until I return. So you are quite a number of billion dors richer now. Don''t spend it all in one ce if I don''t return" I joked even though he didn''tugh and just continued to stare at me with unamused eyes. "Fine, I will make the preparations. Just don''t get hurt." The butler finally said with some hesitation as he began to walk away muttering about modern children not listening to adults nowadays. "Cortana, I think it''s time we start putting ''Project Uplift'' into effect. We are ready for it, right?" I asked still looking at Alfred leaving the Bat cave through the elevator. "We are ready. Alfred has already ''acquired'' most of the orphanages in the city under the Wayne Foundation giving us ess to a huge supply of loyal followers if we treat them right and just influence them slightly to make sure they know whom to thank. We have bought pieces of real estate in the many key locations of the city. Wayne Solutions will also be releasing dynamic products next year to disce every industry we have entered and has also entered the final stages of our negotiations to buy the Gotham Merchant''s Bank. We have also been collecting dirt about almost every politician and senior official in the city specifically the Mayor. We have even started gathering information and tapping calls from senators and central politicians to support Mr. Jonathan Kent in hising elections. We have all the pieces in ce." Cortana informed. "Good. But just to be safer start manufacturing a hundred of each type of the droids I designed. I have to make sure that there are no idiots stupid enough to try to attack Alfred, Selina, or Vicki. Helena should be safe with her uncle in Europe. Also, start working on a super pill for Ace. I am sure giving superpowers to dogs is easier than doing the same for humans." I instructed. "I''ll set up the tasks right now," Cortana said as dozens of her Dr. Octopus-like machine tentacles descended from the ceiling like snakes and began to start production on the drones. I guess I''ll need to break the news of my departure to the girls next. --- Don''tforget toment'' and ''favorite'' this chapter if you like it. Also, you can check out myPat-re?npageas well to read ahead or just to support your fantastic author. I have12chapters inadvancethere right now. (MyPat-reonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a)
Chapter 50: Mind over Matter Chapter 50: Mind over Matter ---
"Who decides limits? And based on what? You said you worked hard? Well, maybe you need to work a little harder. Is that really the limit of your strength? Could the you of tomorrow beat you today? Instead of giving in, move forward." ¨C Saitama,(One Punch Man)
--- <(Bruce WaynePOV)> It''s official, I am one of the best goddamn actors on the entire fudging. I think I was a better Tony Stark than even Robert Downey Jr. himself, although that might be pushing it a little bit too much. I even fully expected that I would definitely get found out but it seemed I was either too good an actor or Ra''s Al Ghul had just grown too old to tell I was acting. Guess reading all those books on acting and bodynguage finally paid off, huh? I am d my ability lets me quickly learn skills like these as well as long as I have gained enough knowledge about them. Now, one might ask why was I acting like a spoiled billionaire child who was definitely smart and determined but was too arrogant for his own good. Simple, it''s because I wanted to give Ra''s Al Ghul as much false data about myself as I could to prevent him or anyone else from creating an urate psyche profile on me so that they would not be able to use it against meter. Because let''s face it, mind games are a thing, especially in a twisted universe like DC, and just because I was a transmigrator didn''t mean I was above them. I am as much emotional as any other normal human being, maybe with a little bit more control over my emotions than the average but that didn''t mean I was immune to anyone''s mind games, at least not yet. But I was definitely working towards that. But on the brighter side, I am now positive that I can act as a spoiled billionaire yboy if I ever need to. The original Bruce Wayne always did exactly that to hide his Batman counterpart better and make sure that people could never link his public face to his secret vignte persona. Anyway, that''s too much about my brilliant acting skills. Now, let''se back to the actual topic everyone is interested in. How does the Hidden City of the League of Assassins look? Well, not that impressive truthfully. I have only had the opportunity to look at the... town once, that was when Inded in front of it in style but the design of the small city in itselfpletely failed to impress me. I mean the town was brilliant from a strategic point of view but from the point of architecture, it was as ''ordinary'' as any small mountain town. It could have been better and more attractive if enough money was spent on it but unfortunately for Ra''s Al Ghul, he neither had ess to the absurd amount of money that was needed to modernize an entire town (since not everyone was me, aka, Bruce Wayne) nor did he have any need for it. In fact, I even had to spend my entire first night here sleeping on a mattress-less bed which was ufortable as hell. But, that might just be them trying to humble me instead of actual poverty since I didn''t think they were poor enough to not even be able to afford a single mattress. Also, I hadn''t been given a tour of the city yet. In fact, I had more or less been imprisoned in a little room they had allocated me, and the worst thing was that they didn''t even give me the wifi password since apparently, they hadn''t gotten a wifi yet. I mean, just imagine what type of animals they truly are. I was extremely lucky that I had decided against not bringing some of my less obvious but useful gadgets with me. My smart watch which was actually smart with Cortana inside connected me with the local satellites the moment Inded here, enabling me to use the entire country''s... 2gworks since it still hadn''t started rolling out 3g yet. "Cortana, remind me to make a satellite inte constetion after I return. I don''t want to face a no-inte or low-speed inte situation ever again in my life." I said in all seriousness. "Got it, sir, any particr name for this scheduled project?" She asked in a low voice, making sure that no one else could hear it outside the room. "Name it Ultra Starlink." I smiled as I remembered the dream project of a very famous billionaire in my previous life. ''I wonder if he exists in this world as well.'' I thought to myself. I never searched for him specifically, so he might or might not exist. But, again, even if he did exist in this world, he would be more or less useless to me. In a world like this, geniuses had a particrly high bar and most average geniuses could invent jetpacks or freezing guns on their own, so a car-loving nerdy introvert wouldn''t be of much help. I had also brought a few of my drones with me to this little expedition but I wasn''t going to release them right now because I was sure that they would most certainly get caught by Ra''s Al Ghul or one of his minions who had mastered their senses through the use of chi regardless of how silent or stealthy my drones were. "Hey Wanyne brat, dress up. The Demon''s Head has decided to start your first lesson today." The familiar voice of a beefy minion came from outside my door which broke my chain of thoughts. "Atst, I was almost beginning to think that you guys had just called me here for my charming personality instead of my amazing talents." I giggled silently as I heard the man outside my door scoffing in annoyance but still didn''t retort to my words. I guess Ra''s Al Ghul teaches his minions some good manners and stuff since Ubu until now had seeded in not giving any big reaction to my sarcasm. After I was done dressing up, I went outside to meet with Ubu who was standing patiently outside my door with a neutral expression on his face, making it impossible for anyone to know what the man was thinking exactly. "Come," He said just a single word before strutting off to god knows where. Does the man really speak so little or does he just not like having a heart-to-heart with someone like me? Even though I was in a mood to annoy the hell out of someone with my newly developed Tony Stark personality, I still wisely kept my mouth shut and silently followed the Khali lookalike, yeah that''s how big he was. The ce where I was staying was well in the outer regions of the town. I had thought that Ubu would be giving me a short tour of the small city while taking me to Ra''s Al Ghul. But turns out that I was wrong on both fronts. Instead, he took me even higher up the mountain where the temperature was literally freezing and the entire surroundings were covered with ice. Also, the worst thing was that we traveled the entire distance walking and trekking, all the while I was in a normal winter coat. Now, this normally would have killed the normal me and incapacitated the chi-trained and regrly exercising me but after being a more or less perfected version of a super soldier, I was unstoppable, and minor threats like cold or heat were nothing to me as long as they didn''t cross absurd levels. So, even after almost reaching the top of the mountain peak we were climbing, I was as calm as the moment we started this journey while Ubu on the other hand looked slightly out of breath. "What? Did you get tired so quickly? Seems you need to work out more, don''t you? Looks like you are getting fat." I smirked condescendingly at the poor bodyguard who said nothing and just continued to walk toward a single old wooden hut with its back against the mountain, standing like a lonely ind in the middle of a sea of white snow. But, entering the ''hut'', I finally realized that what I was considering a small shack before was actually a full-fledged temple/dojo/museum allbined into one. As a matter of fact, the ce looked a lot like Jade Pce from Kungfu Panda if Jade Pce waspletely made of wood and if its designer had a sense of style that could be considered... old. "This is the Demon Head''s private dojo. You will practice here for the next few days and master the very first technique one needs to learn inside our... organization. Only after you master this will you be taught anything else or be allowed to use any of our other resources." Ubu said while handing me a small curled-up scroll. "Wait, Ra''s won''t being himself personally? So, you basically brought me here using false advertising? Not cool man, not cool. I mean I get how you wanna spend time with me, everyone does. My charm does that to people but you can''t lie for that. You could have just told me the truth and I would have dly..." I could not finish as Ubu just turned his back on me and left the ''hut'' with hurried steps, probably to vomit blood somewhere since he looked like he had some Asian heritage in him. "Really, people nowadays. Not the slightest bit of decency." I shrugged as I began to open the scroll, my eyes now having lost their previous yful smirk and reced by ice-cold seriousness. However, as soon as I took a peek inside the old scroll, I almost pped my own forehead at my stupidity because inside the scroll was the single basic technique that almost anyone in aic world could and should have to save themselves from the danger of mind rape. How I hadn''t thought of this particr famous technique before I had no idea. Inside the scroll was the most famous mind protection technique ever. It was the most basic and fundamental technique that could potentially protect against all forms of low and even mid-tier mind attacks if your mind was strong enough. Depicted in different works of fiction by various names like the Gantzfield or the Vault, its most famous name among geeks and enthusiasts was however the Mind Pce, the single best mental method for Visualization, Memory storage, and retrieval, Visualization aid as well as mental protection in dangerous worlds like DC and Marvel multiverses where your mind was more unsafe than your virginity. ''Well, betterte than never I guess since this will definitely add to my mental processing power as well as contribute to my mental defenses alongside my ne.'' I thought as I took a single look at the entire scroll and then threw it away, having memorized the entire thing, curtsey to my photographic memory. ''Now, let''s start making the mostplicated Mind Pce ever, one so over-the-topplex that even telepaths who dare enter my mind will have to cry tears of blood to get out.'' I thought darkly, a menacing and sadistic grin slowly forming on my lips. Oh, I am gonna have so much fun with this. --- Don''tforget toment'' and ''favorite'' this chapter if you like it. Also, you can check out myPat-re?npage toread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. I have12chaptersinadvancethere right now. (MyPat-reonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a) Chapter 51: The Ultimate Mindscape Chapter 51: The Ultimate Mindscape {A big shout-out to my new p¨¢tron ''Sebastian Vasquez'' for joining the Divine Eminence tier on my P¨¢treon. Thanks for the support. ¨R???¨Q} --- "I''ll take a potato chip and EAT IT!" - Light Yagami,(Death Note) --- If I ever manage to get out of the DC multiverse, then I am going to sue all the fanfiction authors out there for making this mind pce thing seem so effortlessly easy. I mean, I get it, this skill is one of the most important mental skills out there to protect and strengthen your mind, but that does not mean that one can just automatically possess a heaven-defying talent for it and will be able to master it after just a few hours or days of learning it and that too better than the indigenous people who have been practicing the same technique for years or decades. I myself have a cheat that LITERALLY let me know how stuff works in real life but even with that, I took about an hour to even get the first step of the process done which was to ''look into my own mind'' which was just a fancy way of saying ''lucid dreaming''..., sort of. The basic fundamental on which this technique operated was by dreaming up a world that would be so well thought out, so detailed, and so connected to one''s subconsciousness that even if one woke up, it still wouldn''t fade away. Instead, it would be the bridge between their conscious thinking and their underlying subconsciousness. A ce that would signify one''s entire mind itself. Now, on paper, it sounds like a really easy job without any strict limits to its scale but practically it isn''t. Like, I remember reading a certain Harry Potter fanfiction in my previous life where the main character made up an entire along with the Sun and the sky as their Mind Pce but the thing is that it is literally impossible unless the person is someone like Azmuth from Ben Ten with a nonillion IQ or something. This is simply because making your mind pce isn''t exactly free. No, just like you need real material resources to construct a real building, you need actual memory and mental energy which is basically your mind''s unique processing power to build your own mind pce. Believe me, when a genius like Sherlock Holmes is limited to a library-sized Mind Pce, an average reincarnate having an Earth-sized subconsciousness is questionable. But that doesn''t mean it wasn''t possible. It definitely was as long as you were really REALLY smart. I am sure people like Rick Sanchez could have a supercity as their Mind Pce but for me right now, that was just a pipedream..., until I sessfully perfect the NZT-48 pill without any side effects that is. Anyway, as I was saying after I sessfully dived into my own mind, I wasn''t greeted by white space or something. What I was greeted with instead was the familiar inside of a mansion, the Wayne mansion to be specific. Only this one inside my subconsciousness was a little different. This one looked like it was some kind of weird imperfectbination of a mansion and an average ordinary home that was struggling to even keep itself standing. It looked like a joke to be truthful. ''Seems my mind really is a toxic ce to be at.'' I thought with a small smirk. It seemed that living two lives had some consequences and one of them was a very ugly-looking psyche. But, I can always change that. After all, that is what the technique is for. Now, the process that I learned from the scroll is simple. I have to build my mind pce in this space by recing this hideous mansion-normal-housebo chosen by my psyche on default with somece that I amfortable and familiar with. The scroll advises everyone to use a site that''s not only roughly the same size as the ce chosen on default by the user''s mind but also advised that the ce should resonate with their thoughts on their version of safety andfort. So, I of course made my choice based on its advice and decided to use afortable and harmless... dungeon as my mind pce. Now, just hear me out, a dungeon would be perfect for me because I would not only be able to increase its floors as my brain bes better and better over time with the continuous absorption of knowledge and the possible usage of some intelligence-increasing drugs I might develop and perfectter down the line but also, the defense provided by a mind pce in the form of a dungeon would definitely be one of the best in the world. So after about six or seven hours of meticulous designing, I finally came up with what I thought would be the ultimate ''Mind Dungeon''. The first floor through which one would enter was rtively safe with only family-friendly puzzles and trick questions to get passage. It was supposed to make people feel safe and at ease thinking that they had a very good chance to break into my mind vault. Of course, it was all just a ploy to get them toe further. But, giving wrong answers might stillnd you in the path of dangerous traps like flying poison-lined knives, acid mist, or flesh-eating piranhas. Butpared to the floor below it, all this was just childish stuff, nothing too over the top. The second floor was the floor of agents, yeah the agents from the Matrix. The floor was full of them on top of being a fully secured military base with state-of-the-art security tech that could detect anyone and efficiently neutralize them if needed. Now, if someone dies inside my mind pce, I do not get their memories or anything, it doesn''t work like that. But, that was why I was trying to design a Mr. Anderson-type agent who could act as my virus to clone himself into other people''s minds, thus taking over their bodies under my control. But unfortunately, it seems like I have no idea how to effectively do that yet. Maybe, a course from an experienced mind reader like the Martian Manhunter could inspire meter. Now, the next floor which was the third floor was where the real fun began. The entire floor looked like the inside of a giant pyramid filled with flesh-eating bugs and wait for it... Xenomorphs. These Xenomorphs didn''t just have razor-sharp tails, teeth, and ws but also acid saliva to make invading beings feel a world of hurt. Also, they possessed the ability to make chest-busters inside the astral body of the assant. These chest busters did not only give extreme maddening pain to the ones stupid enough to invade my mind but also naturally added to my growing army by making new improved Xenomorphs as my mind guards, of course, that is until I decide to give the intruder some sweet release from his pain. The fourth floor on the other hand was different from the rest. It was the exact copy of one of my favorite dungeons ever. It was the Cartenon Temple, the D-rank dungeon from Solo Leveling making this floor the one floor in my Mind Dungeon that was supposed to be unbeatable. Only after onepleted all the hidden requirements of the fourth floor by figuring out what Sung Jin Woo did the first time he went into the dungeon, could one pass as a result of which he would be allowed to... exit. Yes exit, not entry. Even clearing and passing through all four floors would just allow you to exit my Mind Pce, not enter the secret fifth floor hidden right beneath the throne of the Architect statue on the fourth floor. This fifth floor was where my real memories were stored.It was my real Mind Library. A ce that resembled the library and study of the Wayne Mansion and had millions of books stored in it. Each book in the library coated in fireproof covers contained all the knowledge I had learned and the different skills I had perfected over time with a lot of space remaining for the skills that I will master in the future. Hell, there were even multiple copies of each book stored in different sections just to make sure that none of them were everpletely destroyed somehow. But there was not even a single bit of my personal memory in any of these books. Instead, all my memories about both my current and previous lives except my knowledge about the DC multiverse were stored in a supeputer the size of a smallptop, one that was designed by yours truly and then hidden in a secret vault made of depleted promethium (hardest fictional metal I actually knew the atomic structure of currently, due to it existing in DC). As for my limited knowledge about DC, at least what I still remembered from myst life was written in a small red pocket diary and was kept in a secret chamber subtly hidden under the secret vault. This was the current limit of what I could do about my mental defense. Now, I could go ahead and just release some more dragons and stuff but truthfully I doubt they would be more useful than an entire fudging hive of Xenomorphs prowling about in there. So for now, I was satisfied. I knew that nothing short of aary-level telepath taking his sweet time with breaking apart my defenses brick by brick would be able to ess my mind. And, with the addition of my mind-protection pendant, that possibility was even more limited. So, after I was done with everything, I checked, rechecked, and double-rechecked to make sure that there was not even the tiniest chink in my mental defenses before deciding to approach Ra''s Al Ghul. I knew he would be checking my mental defenses thoroughly before teaching me anything else, that was why I wanted to be extra sure. After all, him having the slightest doubt about me not being the original Bruce Wayne would be quite dangerous for me. ''I guess back to my dashing Tony Stark personality it is.'' I thought as an arrogant and confident smile made its way to my lips, signifying my pride in perfecting (kind of, although some features like ''Mr. Anderson'' are still under development) the mental discipline so soon. --- Don''tforget toment'' and ''favorite'' this chapter if you like it. Also, you can check out myPat-re?npage toread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. I have12chaptersinadvancethere right now. (MyPat-reonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a) Chapter 52: Brutal Training is The Only Training Chapter 52: Brutal Training is The Only Training ---
"A Lion Doesn''t Concern Himself With The Opinions Of The Sheep" - Tywin Lannister, (Game of Thrones)
--- <(Omniscient POV)> "You should have a very good reason to have interrupted my time with my wife Ubu." Ra''s Al Ghul who was sitting in front of a grave calmly said without even taking a look at the figure standing behind him as he continued to arrange a bouquet of flowers. "I do... Bruce haspleted constructing his Mind Pce," Ubu answered with his head down. Ra''s Al Ghul''s hands which were arranging a bouquet of flowers like an unstoppable well-oiled machine suddenly stopped as he lost his focus for a second, his eyes colored with surprise. "Interesting. It seems that the kid truly has potential. If I remember correctly, this should be a record. I don''t think anybody from the League has managed to sessfully create their entire Mind Pce within a single day." Ra''s Al Ghul had a small pleased smile tugging on his lips as he began to arrange the flowers even quicker. "Your elder daughter did. Shepleted her Mind Pce in..." "She is a girl. It doesn''t matter how quickly shepletes her task because she won''t be inheriting the League. All she is good for is birthing a new heir. Even the training my daughters received has been just to make sure they don''t get used against me by my enemies or that their weak bodies don''t deliver useless heirs." Ra''s Al Ghul calmly exined with a neutral expression on his face like he was talking about the weather. "And they know this as well. I made sure of it." "I-I see my liege. But do you really think that rich little spoiled arrogant boy will ever be good enough to be the heir to the League? He will burn down this Establishment if he ever gets unrestricted reign over it." Ubu tried to let his thoughts known. "It seems he really got over your nerves, didn''t he? But you see old friend, the League is mine, and the decision on whether to let it be burned down by someone or not is also mine. You will NOT have any say over it." The old assassin said with each and every word of his possessing a unique tranquility of its own. "Forgive me Ra''s Al Ghul. I spoke outside my own limit. If you think Bruce is good enough to lead the League of Assassins, it means he is." Ubu submissively said making sure that Ra''s had no misunderstanding of his intentions. "Hmm... Now, let''s go and see how much has he truly mastered the art of protecting one''s mind." He said as he ced the nowpletely and neatly arranged flower bouquet on the grave and slowly stood up. "Lead the way Ubu. Let''s go and see my new favorite student." *** "Are you guys sure that this eerie-looking green crystal can test my mental protection? I mean I truthfully expected someone to just somehow force themselves into my mind. Touching a green glowing rock isn''t exactly what I had in mind. Are you sure I won''t get cancer or something from this?" Bruce asked trying to fish for more information. But unfortunately for him, neither Ra''s nor his trusted servant said anything. So, he just sighed and went ahead and touched the crystal without wasting any more time. "WHAT THE HELL?" Bruce yelled in surprise which startled both Ra''s Al Ghul and Ubu but none of them reacted as they heard his next words, "It''s too cold. Somebody should have warmed this up." "What about pain? Don''t you feel any sort of pain in your head?" Ubu asked, trying to understand how deep the crystal''s mental probe affected Bruce. The more pain one feels after touching the crystal, the deeper the probe has sessfully pierced into their mind. Normally untrained people would immediately lose consciousness when they touch the crystal since the energy of the crystal would prate really deep into their mindscape but Bruce not even giving the smallest reaction after clearly touching the crystal made it very hard for either Ubu or Ra''s Al Ghul to understand how effective his mental defenses really were. "No, not really. I mean, there was a slight tingling sensation in my head like a couple of slimy tentacles trying to give me a massage but there wasn''t any pain." Bruce answered. He knew what the crystal had tried to do but his newly created mental defensesbined with his carefully hidden thought-scrambling pendant made sure that there was no way any disgusting psychic tentacle could pierce into his mind. "I see. Then congrattions Bruce Wayne. You have passed the first test. From now on, you are officially a student of the League of Assassins, one that I will train personally. I will create the finest weapon out of you, make you into the sharpest de there is, and transform you into fear itself. But remember, the moment I feel that you have stopped improving yourself, the moment you stop giving your best, the moment you be dull, I will cut you down for a more deserving weapon to take your ce. That is my promise, the promise of your new sensei, Ra''s Al Ghul." The centuries-old assassin master said with a straight face, not trying to sugarcoat his words even the tiniest bit. "I expect nothing less... And I ept. As long as you teach me everything you know, I am yours tomand... sensei" Bruce answered as he went on his knees in a bow as a small show of respect to his new master while promising himself that this was gonna be the first and only time he would ever bow down before a nefarious viin. Bruce bowed today so that he would never have to again. "Good, now let''s start our training. I have a lot of things to teach you and a lot of things to correct in you. So that by the end of it all, you WILL be the most dangerous force in the world, one that humanity truly needs." The Demon''s Head smiled as he ced his hand on Bruce''s shoulder. "Come we have a lot to do." *** <(Bruce Wayne POV)> Agreeing to let Ra''s Al Ghul be my sensei and giving him full control over my training might have been the biggest mistake I have ever made in my life. Because I was not at all prepared for the absolutely brutal and inhumane training that Ra''s Al Ghul would start giving me. I mean even with my super body, I was barely surviving the punishment being given to me on a regr basis. I didn''t even have to act too much to make sure that Ra''s Al Ghul did not even suspect that I possessed any sort of extraordinary power or ability since I wanted him to know as less about me as possible. But the real question in my mind was how in the goddamn hell did the real Batman survive this training. There is absolutely no way that a normal human like OG Bruce Wayne even if he does have a peak human body can survive a back-breaking workout like the stuff Ra''s was making me do. And I don''t even mean that as a fancy sense of speech or something. He literally once forced me to carry two massive blocks of iron on my back and then made me go up and down the entire mountain multiple times as the starting workout which although barely made me sweat, still would have definitely broken any normal person''s back. And that was just the start. He would force me to wrestle with literal bears on the mountain, sh swords with dozens of his ninjas for hours on end, force me to take a bath in the bone-chilling cold ice water, and even make me bnce on the slippery slope of the mountain. I am pretty sure if stuff went on like this, he would one day force me to make a leap of faith from the top of the mountain. In fact, he has actually tried to push me down the cliff multiple times, chalking it up to him trying to teach me to keep track of my surroundings. Yeah, Ra''s Al Ghul was a savage piece of shit whopletely believed in the swim-or-drown tactics of teaching. However, fortunately for him, it worked out because I was gobbling up everything he threw towards me. Every lesson, every skill, every little trick up his sleeves, I was making sure to understand and learn everything. He taught me hunting, fishing, survival, fighting, the importance of distractions and even torturing which believe me or not was actually quite an important part of the lessons. I knew I would most probably be using it the most among everything he taught me. And rightly so, since 90% of what Batman actually does in Gotham is intimidation which is a part of ''How to effectively torture your enemy mentally 101''. Hell, the sheer number of skills he taught me was more than my father ever did. At normal times, the guy was quite likable as he acted as a dear close friend who wanted nothing more than just to help you reach your highest potential but the times when he talked about the slow gradual rotting of human civilization and how destroying them is the sworn holy duty of the League to better facilitate the cycle of the world was when you realized that the person sitting before you was one of the countless maniacs in the world who wanted nothing more than to just spread death and destruction in the name of helping the world. The guy wanted nothing to do with redemption and doing good. All he cared about was his legacy, a grand death, and a truly deserving heir. He was absolutely nuts ording to my standards of what sane individuals should be like in a normal world. And that''s why despite him acting like my best friend and a father figure all the time to brainwash me, I still saw straight through his deceptions, through his act. I knew who he was and a few sugary words of how he was proud of me wasn''t going to change it. But despite all that, I hadn''t ever given him the tiniest bit of clue about me notpletely believing him. As far as he was concerned, I waspletely tangled in his web, a puppet dancing in his hands like the rest of the hundreds of loyal ninjas under him, blindly believing what he was selling. Why? Because I was waiting, waiting for him to disy even the tiniest chink in his armor so that I could take over everything he has in one fell swoop, his connections, his wealth, and even the very League he has worked so hard for. Ra''s Al Ghul thought that he had me ying in his palms, but he had no idea that I was always two steps ahead of him, two steps that would not only win me his entire legacy but make sure that my victory over him was as quick and effortless as possible. Two steps that I was going to get really cozy with soon enough. --- Don''t forget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPat-re?npage toread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPat-reonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a) Chapter 54: Undead on the Horizon Chapter 54: Undead on the Horizon ---
"Justice will prevail, you say? But of course, it will! Whoever wins this war bes justice!" - Domingo,(One Piece)
--- <(Bruce WaynePOV)> "When I first heard about this trip, I really thought that we would be going to somece different, somece that''s not an extremely cold mountain covered with snow. But every ''sacred'' or ''mystical'' martial arts institution seems to be obsessed with snow-covered cold mountains. And the worst thing is that Ra''s Al Ghul didn''t allow me to do another skydive this time." I grumbled while climbing up the mountain using traditional mountain trekking equipment. "It would have given away our position to the enemy. The Untitled is more inhuman than you can imagine. I have heard stories about them, of their ruthlessness from my... father but even those stories pale in front of their real cold-blooded malevolence. We need every advantage we can get over them and that includes the element of surprise as well" Nyssa Al Ghul stated as she climbed up the same rope I was climbing above me. "Well I understand that but what I don''t understand is why the hell did your father let youe with me under mymand. I mean, doesn''t he know that any responsible father should never let handsome billionaires near their young daughters? He is practically inviting me to try to ban..." "Don''tplete that sentence or I WILL cut the rope." She threatened, not caring about the half a dozen league members who were also climbing the same rope below me immediately freezing in their ce in fear of their boss''s daughter actually following through with her threat. ''I guess league ninjas aren''t exactly as fearless as advertised'' I thought while feeling a little bad for them. "Yeah but look at the bright side, we now have ample time for training which means that you can now perfect your archery while you are here and give a surprise to your daddy dearest after going back." I teased. "I knew I should have said no when my father ordered me to join you as your subordinate. I would have preferred seppuku rather than... this." She said in an annoyed voice as she increased her speed of climbing. "Huh? But I thought we were friends now. That was the deal we agreed on, wasn''t it? You are breaking my little gold-studded heart you know." I also increased my climbing speed to keep up with her. It seems that Nyssa was far more physically fit than any normal human because any normal human would have cked out from the extreme cold andck of oxygen by now but she was soldiering through like this was nothing to her. If I had to make a rough estimate, I would say her physical capabilities were something close to the level of the Winter Soldier from Marvel. At least that''s what I calcted from my observations of her body through the ''Transparent world'' ability of my golden finger. It was probably some sort of mutation caused by her father''s repeated exposure to the mystical Lazarus pits before she was born making her a born supersoldier. "The deal was that I would give you a tour of the city and teach you about the league, not be your... ''friend'' or something. In fact, if I knew that you would somehow convince my father to send me with you as your underling, I would have never agreed to it even in my worst nightmare." She huffed, her pride seemingly hurt by the fact that she despite being the daughter of the leader of the organization not only was inferior to me, a newbie in a particr skill but also, that she had to listen to me in this mission. "Believe me, I have no part in convincing your father of anything. In fact, I am as surprised as you that he made this decision. Your father has been doing this for far longer than either of us can imagine. So, it would not be a stretch if we get easily manipted by him without even realizing it happening." I muttered softly, making sure that nobody else could hear me but her. As a matter of fact, I already had a couple of reasons in my mind why her father might have done this, and one of them made perfect sense strategically speaking. But that would only be possible if he was one of the worst fathers in the world who didn''t care about his daughter at all which also might be true in this case, except the fact that I had no proof of it and therefore my hunch was only that, a possible hunch, one that I wouldn''t be able to convince Nyssa with. So currently, I had no other choice than to just keep my theories to myself and try to collect as much proof as possible. Nyssa heard my mumbling, evident by a small change in her facial expressions but she quickly went back to normal and continued climbing while ignoring me. I also understood that any furtherments would be pushing it right now, so I too continued climbing behind her silently without making any morements. The climb was as much tiring (for the other nameless ninjas behind me at least) as it was difficult. None of us died because none of us were ordinary civilians but that didn''t mean anybody liked it. After reaching our destination, the assassins covered inplete white clothing with a small bag on each of their backs were barely able to stand straight and were wheezing loudly from theirck of stamina, despite their ninja training. "The All-caste lives around here at this side of the mountain, so all we need to do is just find their hidden cave called ''The chamber of all'' and..." Nyssa tried to determine our location on an old-looking map as she tried to find which direction to go to. "Hey N, howmon are mirages and phantasms on high cold snowy mountains?" I asked looking in a certain direction a little away from us. "Don''t call me that, it makes us seem really close which we are not. Also, mirages ur in deserts idiot. Why? Did you finally see your face reflected somewhere?" She sneered, clearly proud of her sarcastic retort at my question. "No, but I did see a couple of zombies walking towards us from that direction. Also, they seem to being from that cave behind them, the same ce that you have been searching for thest few minutes without any hope of sess." I replied calmly. "Wait, what?" Nyssa eximed as she also looked at the way I was pointing with squinting eyes. There was about a score of walking dead slowly marching towards us. All of them seemed to be the corpses of some kind of monks or saints wearing long orange robes with disfigured faces and limbs that looked like they were broken in a scuffle. "Holy shit." I heard one of the masked ninjas, a female one mutter behind me under her breath, making me wonder if Ra''s Al Ghul had assigned me the runts of the litter as my group. "What do we do?" Nyssa asked me as she took her position beside me with her bow drawn in her hands. She might not be happy with this situation overall but that didn''t seem to reduce her sense of responsibility for this mission. She didn''t try to act like the leader or someone of a higher position than me at all andpletely left the leadership and decision-making part to me as her father originally wanted. "There only seems to be about two dozen of them. Also, they seem to be extremely slow and... blunt. We can take them. All we have to make sure is that we do not let them overwhelm us. Use long-range weaponry like bows and arrows, kunai, or shuriken. Try to target their heads. Destroying their brains should do the trick." Imanded with a no-nonsense voice as I guessed thest part from my years of experience in watching zombie films. As soon as I gave the order, everyone under mymand started their assault on the white walkers ording to my instructions. Besides Nyssa who used her arrows, everyone else used their standard kunai and shuriken. Only the female ninja (yes, I am guessing her gender from her body structure, sue me) used throwing knives and poison darts. The coordinated attack was immensely sessful and most of the undead were... dead even before they reached near us. The few that did were either decapitated by Nyssa using her bow which could be separated into a pair of sharp hunting daggers or got their skull punched in by me since I was toozy to use an actual weapon. "That wasn''t hard. I guess I can sh ''fighting a horde of undead'' off from my bucket list now." I murmured as I cleaned the brain matter from my gloves using the snow and started to check the dead bodies. There were no bite or scratch marks on them. So, it didn''t look like a zombie-virus-caused event. Instead, it seemed like they had been killed by a group of people through either the use of brute force or something sharp. There were even whip marks on a few of their bodies. My guess would be that they had been killed and then raised from the dead by some bullshit necromancy spell. I had heard of a few that could do this sort of thing while training under Giovanni but the weird thing is that no matter what spell is used, the cost of replicating this effect would be... huge. So why would anyone use such a spell to raise a bunch of monks from the dead? They could have just killed them and left. Why show off, unless they are powerful enough to afford to unt uselessly.... or do they have ess to something equally as powerful? "Ah, it seems that you have already taken care of them. You have my thanks, traveler. However, your presence here makes me wonder why exactly the league is here in our territory. Does Ra''s Al Ghul n to finish us off while we are struggling to battle the Untitled?" A short old woman asked calmly with a nk visage as she appeared out of nowhere, standing beside where I was currently kneeling to examine the unmoving bodies of the undead. "What the...?" Nyssa was startled as she aimed her now-drawn bow at the short granny who just stared back at her with a dull face. Even the other ninjas were surprised as no one had sensed hering. They were all trained assassins who were trained to be invisible when they needed to be as well as sense even the tiniest of danger around them but not being able to sense an old frail looking woman with a walking stick in her hand was greatly insulting for them. "... If you were aiming to shock me, then I should tell you that I have been able to sense you from the moment we reached here. I sensed how you were observing us from the top of the cliff, how you were the one who attracted the undead towards us probably to test ourbat skills, and even how you silently walked toward us after we were done putting down these walking dead. So to me, you trying to walk silently with muted breath and hushed steps just seemed silly, not surprising." I said, not really exaggerating anything. "..." Everyone was quiet for a couple of seconds as it seemed like everyone else was wondering how to react to my statement until the old granny ultimately opened her mouth. "Yes, you are perfect indeed, child of Wayne. Now, follow me. We have much to do." --- (A/N: Wow, writing this chapter was really fun. I just wish that you guys have equal fun reading it. Btw, I finally decided on how to end the Ra''s Al Ghul arc, and let''s just say the arc will end with a bang with something none of you will seeing. I''ll both stick to the main source material as well as go far and beyond in giving the legendary Demon''s Head the ending he deserves at the hands of none other than THE ''Batman''.) Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPat-re?npage toread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPat-reonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a) Chapter 56: A Pivotal Decision: Immortality or Blades? Chapter 56: A Pivotal Decision: Immortality or des? ---
"I am the hope of the universe. I am the answer to all living things that cry out for peace. I am the protector of the innocent. I am the light in the darkness. I am the truth. Ally to good! Nightmare to you!" - YMIR,(ATTACK ON TITAN)
--- "So may I ask where we are going and why I am not training with Nyssa like usual today?" I asked as I followed after Ducra deeper into the cave wondering where exactly we were going. "She needs more time to master her powers and her chi. But you don''t have the same privilege that she has. For you, it''s either do or die. And that''s why I am ''upping the ante'' in your training so to speak. The speed at which you are improving won''t be enough. You need to be able to do more than just jump high and punch hard. That''s why we are going into the real Chamber of All." She revealed with a chuckle as I couldn''t help but groan. I had recently learned as much about chi and mystical martial arts as possible from the few of the All-caste monks who were still alive and even though I haven''t yet made a breakthrough in unlocking something like nen or hamon, I have however learned how to augment and manipte my chi to an absurd level, a level where even the invisible energy of life bes so concentrated that it actually gains visibility in the form of a slightly shining colored aura. But the reason why Ducra was poking fun at me was that despite having practiced so much and even beingbeled as a ''fucking genius'' by Essence, I still instead of learning every mystical martial art move in their libraries, had only concentrated on perfecting two. One was the mystical punch which by the way needed a better name. The move was really simr to Iron Fist''s dragon chi-empowered punch and was mainly useful to knock people''s teeth out even if the ones in question are intangible spirits or untouchable demons. My second move however was a little more unique than the first one. The second move was basically me using enough of my qi in a specific manner to jump up in mid-air using the chi''s energy as a boost and by constructing a mini tform made purely and entirely of chi making it possible for me to jump around in thin air like some sort of video game character. "Maybe, if you had tried to train me better and showed me all the techniques you know, then we wouldn''t have been facing this situation right now, would we? Perhaps, you are not the wise and amazing mystic art teacher that you think you are." I grumbled at the short Ancient One copycat, annoyed by her savagements. "Maybe. But again, as I have said before, everyone has their own part to y in the grand scheme of life. You do too and regrettably, it''s not being an expert martial arts monk. So, it doesn''t matter how much of this you learn because, at the end of the day, this is going to be only a small part of your actual destiny." She replied calmly, not showing any anger towards myments at all. After this, we didn''t talk much as we both descended deeper and deeper into the cave infortable silence until we came across a huge door with inscribed runes all over it deep into the ancient cave. "Wee Bruce, to the true Chamber of all, where good meets evil, where life meets death, and where creation unites with destruction," Ducra announced in a voice filled with wonder like an expert professional tour guide giving a tour of the main attraction of the ce. "... was that supposed to wow me or something?" "Maybe. Anyway, you are supposed to enter the chamber alone now that is if you aren''t afraid of course. Inside you will find everything you would need in this war against the Untitled as well as everything you need to know. All you have to do is just keep your heart and mind clear and embrace the truth." She advised. "Fine. I''ll enter the chamber just like you want me to but I have a very important question before I do that." I said as I examined the huge door. "Yes?" "How the hell do I open the door?" I asked,ughing nervously as I looked at the huge pair of doors which looked like they were the heaviest and most unmovable things in the world. Also, they looked like forcing open the doors might bring this whole ce down. "Don''t worry about damaging the entrance. People much stronger than you have used their full strength on them and yet have failed to move them even a single inch. Moving them depends on how strong your will is not your muscles." ''So, it measures the power of will. Interestingly, I always wondered how strong my willpower is. I mean I don''t intend to ever wear a normal greenntern ring since I don''t want to work for some intergctic army or any weird short know-it-all group of ancient aliens but this should give me a rough idea of how strong my willpower is in reality...'' I didn''t spend any more time in useless monologuing and just pushed the door with both of my hands. But what happened after the very next moment shocked me to my core. "This... this isn''t possible," I mumbled aloud to myself. "Huh, What?" Even Ducra appeared somewhat surprised being affected by my own astonishment and shock. "The door opened with the slightest push, there was no resistance at all. Does it mean that I have infinite willpower of the highest quality or maybe am I the very incarnation of the entity of will?" I asked as I looked at my own hands in wonder. "..." Ducra didn''t say anything and instead just continued staring at me with a straight face waiting for me to go inside. "Okay, okay, don''t guilt trip me, old woman. I am going inside." I said as I walked into the room. "Oh and try not to insult him. He is as childish and dangerous as he is yful. He can be really moody and grudgeful at times." Ducra cryptically warned just before the door closed on its own behind me with a heavy *bam* sound. "Great another cryptic advice." I thought aloud with a sigh. The room didn''t look anything special at all. It wasrge no doubt but it didn''t look magical or anything. However, one thing unique inside was the small pool of water in the middle of the chamber which was an ominous dark green in color. I wanted to get close to the pool but the water was continuously releasing small amounts sort of green mist which felt toxic as soon as it came in contact with my enhanced super skin, so I made sure to keep my distance from it. The entire room looked like some sort of treasure room with gold, silver, and diamonds lying on the floor like useless trash. Books were scattered like cheap magazines. There were even a few high-tech futuristic-looking sters and guns lying around proving the fact that this ce was weirder than I thought it was. "So you are the chosen one huh? Hmm, you don''t look that special to me. I wonder what''s so special about you. Your sense of style maybe?" A childish voice surprised me prompting my eyes to quickly begin to search for where the voice came from. After looking around more carefully, I finally saw what had been evading my senses. It was a boy in his mid-teens who was the same age as me sitting on a giant golden throne like he owned the ce. "... Gilgamesh?" "What? Don''tpare me to that arrogant little punk. I never did like him. *Huff* He stole too many of the treasures I liked and wanted for myself. I am the Great Amazing Supreme All-powerful Hugely popr and Handsome Lord S''aru, however, I allow my friends to just call me S''aru," The boy whined like the little kid he was. The ''young boy'' was well-built with traces of muscles spread all around his well-defined body. He wasn''t wearing any clothes on his upper body and also had a cleanly shaven head giving him a spiritual look. "Sorry, I thought you were him. Your handsome face and the huge collection of treasures you have umted also confused me. I am sorry if I offended you Lord S''aru. Ducra actually sent me here to you to find a way to defeat the Untitled. Can you help me out with that your holiness? It would be a huge help." I tried to get on his good side hoping that he would be as gullible as a real kid. Even if he isn''t and understands that I am just ying around, it still wouldn''t incriminate me since I am also a kid. In fact, I am more of a kid than he is since going by how he talks, he should be as old or even older than Gilgamesh of Babylon. "Yeah yeah, I know who you are, that''s why I called you the chosen one. I guess that old wench just dumped your ass onto me, talk of being irresponsible. I am a god for god''s sake, not some babysitter. She should treat me with the appropriate respect and dignity someone like me deserves. *Sigh* Everyone takes advantage of the little guy." He said while wiping away a mock tear from his face. "..." It was awkward because I now understood why Ducra hadn''t followed me inside. This little kid who was supposedly a god was bat-shit crazy. He had a very short span of attention and talked like he was in a sugar rush. Dealing with him was going to be incredibly difficult. "Why are you still here? I thought you would have left by now. Do you want something? By the way, I am not fighting you if that''s what you are here for. I don''t do mock practice fights after myst Thor and Odin debacle. Believe me, those damn overprotective sky fathers are a bunch of arrogant fatsos, tch. You shouldn''t let your children fight someone if you are gonna be bitching about itter if he gets defeated. That''s not called team spirit. It''s called being a wussy." He mocked. "Worry not O'' great Lord S''aru, I am not here to fight you. Ducra told me that you might have some answers for me as well as a way for me to defeat the Untitled. Also, it would be great to know why you are calling me the chosen one." I questioned. "Good questions but unfortunately I won''t answer them. So you may leave." "What? Why not? Is it supposed to be some sort of a great secret or something that could affect my future?" "Well, I was actually going to say that I just wasn''t in the mood, but yeah sure, that too if it makes you feel better." S''aru shrugged like he didn''t care at all. ''I wonder if I have any chances of sessfully killing a god because that''s the only thing I want to do at this point, strangling this little godling until I feel thest breath of his annoying life leaving him.'' I thought while keeping a straight and stoic face. "Hey, hey, what is with that death re? That would have made even me nervous if I had met you a couple of millennia ago. Chicks might dig it but that doesn''t give you the right to start scaring little vulnerable children like me..." He suddenly stopped as he looked at the corner of the chamber with frowned brows, his previous visage of yfulness and humorpletely disappearing like it was never there and being reced by pure sobriety. "Another attack by the Untitled, and this time it seems that they brought the entire cavalry. A final effort to wipe the entire All-caste together it seems." He muttered. "You know what, on second thought I will provide you with some much-needed aid. In fact, I will even let you choose what type of aid you need. What do you say, I am generous, aren''t I?" He giggled like he was really pleased with himself. "And what are my choices?" I asked hoping that this won''t be a prank or something. "Let''s see, I can give you that but that is junk. Maybe that would be better but againpared to that, that''s nothing. So the best would be that and that, yeah I think that''s brilliant." He nodded to himself as he began to study all his treasures like he was wondering which one he had to throw away while floating all around the room, still in the same sitting position he was in before. "Yep, I have decided, your choices are either to have a truly immortal and indestructible body by drinking this super amazing green drink that is absolutely not suspicious in any way or to have a pair of swords that can cut apart anything that''s magic or mystical. Or you may also take the third option and ask me a single question which I swear I will answer as truthfully as I can. Cool right? So, what do you choose?" He asked as a shining golden goblet filled with the same dark green water that the pool in the middle of the room was filled with appeared in his left hand while a pair of ming swords that seemed to burn the very air around them while raising the surrounding temperature floated above his right. "Come on, you should quickly make up your mind Bruce Wayne unless you don''t care that everyone outside is gonna get killed and turned into zombies soon, in which case, you may take as much time as you want. Living is overrated anyway." He said with pure childish excitement in his voice like he was genuinely curious about what I would do. ''Yep, that does it. I don''t think that I am ever going to have children of my own, at least not in the next few centuries.'' --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?n page toread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a) Chapter 57: A Demon’s Deception Chapter 57: A Demon¡¯s Deception ---
"Sometimes the hardest choices in life are the ones that seem the easiest on the surface." - Lisa Kleypas, (Sugar Daddy)
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "That isn''t fair. Rewards shouldn''t be given based on choices but on achievements. Instead o making me choose between the three, why not just give me a task and reward me ording to my performance? If I excel at the task, give me all the rewards and if I fail, don''t give me anything. How about it? You are not going to lose anything..." "Nope. Nada. Non. Nein. Nahi. You may fool anybody else with that challenge but not me little boy. You either take my offer and make a choice or you can just walk out of this room and fight the horde of undead outside on your own. I am sure that you will survive even without my help but the question is, will you be able to save the others as well? Even with your bag of tricks and unnatural body, I still highly doubt so." The kid god S''aru giggled like it had just caught me cheating red-handed. "... So in a way, this is my test, isn''t it? You are going to judge me by what I choose?" I asked, raising one of my brows at the floating baldheaded teen god. "Not everything is a test you know. Sometimes, it''s just a god giving you a choice among two free gifts to choose from." S''aru sighed as he looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here. "Shit... Wait, will you give me the true answer to any question I ask you? Even if I ask you stuff like how to be the strongest being on Earth in one week?" "What do you think genius? Of course, I won''t. Even I am nowhere close to the strongest beings. I mean I am definitely in the top 100 but surely not in the top 50. So how the hell can I help you? God, kids these days. Give them an inch and they will ask for the pce. No, I will only answer your question if I myself know the answer to it." The kid god grumbled childishly. ''Ohhh. *Ugh* Then I guess his knowledge isn''t exactly going to be useful for me since I doubt you can tell me anything truly important that I either don''t know or can''t figure out myself. Also, I am damn sure I can make myself immortal through multiple methods without his help. Even the version of Extremis that I have been working on can give a sort of physical immortality along with eternal youth. So the weird suspiciously green liquid is also out. That just leaves... those." I said as my eyesnded on the pair of burning swords which looked like they could burn me with just a single touch. "Good choice little Bruce. As people say offense is the best defense. And believe me, knowledge is so overrated anyway. A couple of swords might go a long way in cutting off some wise and knowledgeable heads if they were to ever go against you." S''aru gave his version of ''wise'' advice as he began to float towards me, both the goblet and the twin swords disappearing from his hands. "Now time to pass on to you the real inheritance of the All-caste, oh and you should clench your teeth because as people nowadays say it, this is going to hurt like a bitch." He smiled innocently while grabbing my hands which immediately made me feel like my hands were being burnt to a crisp through slow roasting while millions of needles were piercing through the burnt flesh. "Oh goddamn, I should have chosen the question," I yelled, feeling true mind-breaking pain for the first time ever since I came into this world without any sort of nerve suppressant. *** <(Nyssa Al Ghul POV)> "Number 198, did you secure our exit? We need to get out of here ASAP. There are too many undead here. We are swarmed. A retreat is the only option." I yelled through the Handheld Transceiver while battling the hordes of zombies that had suddenly attacked us out of nowhere. They had waited for the perfect time to attack and hit us when we were our weakest. Most of the remaining All-caste members were either resting or in the praying chamber while Bruce himself was in the supposedly magical room titled ''Chamber of All'', trying to find out a method to effectively defeat the threat of this bloodthirsty undead for once and all. ''But, why the hell is he taking so long? He was supposed to be here to lead the team during times like this. Did he run away or something? But again, as much as I understood from observing him, his personality shouldn''t be the type to run away this easily. I hope he is alright. Even though he is an ass sometimes, at some corner... some deep deep corner of his heart, he is still a good person. But, unfortunately, I currently don''t have the luxury to worry about him. I need to save my own skin for now. That''s what surviving means, that''s what being in the League of Assassins means'' I thought as I forcefully dispersed thoughts about him from my head. "Negative. All exits are blocked miss. The All-caste leader Ducra and her daughter Essence are currently battling two of the cloaked Untitled members as we are trying to plow through the Undead but we doubt we will be sessful in securing an exit way. You should leave if you get the chance mistress. Don''t wait for us. Rather, we will try our best to rescue the captain." The voice of the nameless ninja on the other side sounded as he spoke out in a t tone like he wouldn''t care even if he died. The ninjas of the League were more strictly trained than any other military organization in the world. Taking a bullet for their superior is the least of what they are prepared for. Giving their life for the slightest chance of the League''s growth was all they could think about. Both their lives and their deaths were meant for the league and the person leading it. They were all orphans handpicked by existing League members at an early age and groomed constantly to be loyal and useful. Among the hundreds picked, only a select few, the best of the best are chosen to be actual League assassins once their training period ends. The rest mostly die out due to not being able to endure the constant struggle. However, the ones who do survive excel in stealth,bat, sabotage, and intelligence gathering. They are the pinnacle of loyalty and efficiency. So much so, that they even throw away their original names given in their childhood and take up a number as their new name that gives them recognition in the League. The smaller the rank of the number, the higher the position of the member. Right now, there are about 200 League members in the Nanda Parbat branch. But the only ones allowed to hold a name or a title are the ones from 0 to 20. Ra''s Al Ghul himself was 0, Ubu was 2, my elder sister held the rank 3 and I myself ranked at about 11 currently. Of course, as one can already guess, the people my father sent with me were thest rankers of the Nanda Parbat beach, the bottom rookies as one can say. But that didn''t mean, I was gonna treat them badly. Master or rookie, they were loyal nheless and I respected them for it. "... Fine. I''ll see if I can find any escape." I replied through the transceiver while putting it away and shooting another arrow at the nearest undead''s head putting him down even before he could charge at me. ''I should have run away when I had the chance. I was an idiot to think that my father would actually care for me. Who am I kidding? He probably knew what we were going to face here. I am sure that this is one of the fight-or-die tests he loves to put me and Talia through. Even if I die here today, he most probably won''t even visit my grave. He never wanted us in the first ce anyway, all he ever wanted was just better soldiers and a worthy sessor... I so want to kill him and bash his face in to show him how hard I can hit despite being a girl. If only he wasn''t my father.'' My fists clenched as I shot three arrows at once hitting three different undead at the same time, curtsey of the lessons from Bruce. I still remember what he said to me when he selected me for the journey. He told me to either be the best archer on the team or to get pregnant by someone worthy and give him an heir to fulfill my responsibility as his daughter. Tsk And he calls himself a father, that piece of shit, after torturing both of us sisters for years in the name of training, taking away everything we loved and recing it with hatred, he still behaves like he can be our father like he has authority on our lives. DAMN YOU. "My, my, what anger. It seems that the daughter of Ra''s Al Ghul has some severe issues. Like father like daughter, I guess." One of the hooded figures, probably a female if one were to go by her body structure, dressed in a ck hooded cloak with bandages wrapped around the visible parts of her body whispered in an ominous voice as she walked towards me in a slow pace. "Ohe on Crimson, I have been waiting for a chance to add her to my collection. I always wanted to see an Al Ghul undead. Just imagine how amazing it will be for Ra''s Al Ghul to see his daughter in an undead state. It will be amazing. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA." Another one of the hooded maniacs, a male this time, said as he hung from the nearby cave wall like a demon of some sort. "No chance Dark, all of you guys got dibs on our little niece and sister. But I was the only one who called dibs on her. I knew that the Demon''s Head would definitely send one of his daughters here. He did promise us after all to give us a prize if we were sessful inpletely taking over the All-caste. We are free to do anything and kill anyone except the dark-haired blue-eyed boy, he said as much as I remember." Sheughed viciously like a witch, under the demon-like white skull mask on her face. "Wait... what... did... you... say?" I muttered now in a trance, barely hearing what they just uttered from their rotten mouths. It didn''t make sense. Why would father ally with them? I can understand him trying to make us stronger by making us suffer but why would he ally with them and tell them that they could kill us... kill me but still spare Bruce, someone he barely met a year ago. Why would he prefer him over his own daughter? "Oh, it seems you still don''t have any clue about the deal that your father made with us. All this that we have achieved in thest few weeks is because of your dear father. A few weeks ago, he contacted us out of nowhere and gave us a method to make the... darkness in us stronger. He even gave us the exact location of the Chamber of All so that we could achieve our full potential and gain the ultimate power with the Water from the Immortalke of absolute evil. All for the small price ofpletely eliminating the All-caste and giving him everything else we find here while leaving the boy alive. Truly a finger-licking good deal." The male Untitled this time sneered as he made a disgusting licking sound from his mouth. ''So, my father was the one who started all this? He began this entire farce to what... get rid of his enemies in the most efficient way while getting a worthy sessor out of it?'' I thought as redness affected my vision and tears began to drop from my face, tears made of red blood all the while I heard a constant ringing sound in my ears making me want to rip everything up. "Are you crying? Hahahahaha. Wow, that is funny, little girl. But don''t worry, once we stitch up your dead body as our perfect doll, you won''t be crying anymore. You will forever be happy." The woman said as the crimson fire began to light up in her left palm. "... You know what?... Fuck my father, fuck his League, fuck his empire, and... FUCK YOU." I uttered in unrestrained anger as I took three of my special arrows out of my quiver and shot at the sibling duo. The two Untitled were standing close to each other at this moment. So the three arrows were targeted at both of them. The male one dodged the first and second arrows while the female one caught the third one effortlessly with her fingers. "Arrows? We are old bute on. Even we know that there are better weapons out there." The woman chucked in glee as she twirled the arrow in her fingers trying to tease me. "Look again," I said as they both noticed a small part section of the arrowheads releasing a minute trace of fresh smoke. "Huh? *Boom*" An explosion rattled the entire cave as pieces of their rotten flesh and bandages along with the remains of their cloaks scattered like tattered trash, painting a gruesome picture on the cave walls. "As I said Fuck you," I sniggered as I picked up a few of my previously shot arrows and prepared to go into another section of the cave. Most of the undead had already left this region of the cave after the two Untitled came here. They would be returning soon now that their masters are dead. "That was smart. Risky but smart. I like you. I think I am going to make quite a special little undead doll out of you." The same female voice from before echoed as their flesh from all around me began to turn into shadows and merge together forming the twisted figures of the two Untitled again like they had never died. I quickly tried to draw more arrows, this time supplying chi to them to make them stronger than ordinary arrows but some of the tattered pieces of bandage around me began to tie me up, making me unable to load my bow. "Don''t bother little Ghoul. Even if you were able to attack us again, you still wouldn''t be able to kill us. Our immortality isn''t exactly for show you know?" The male Untitled broke out in a bloodcurdling sneer as his eyes searched for desperation on my face while mocking me. But there wasn''t any. I didn''t show a single bit of fear in front of these monsters. I felt nothing while looking at their corpse-like bodies, no fear, no panic, just utter disgust... although I also felt a little sad at not being able to experience my life to the fullest before my death. ''Maybe I should have gotten a boyfriend or something, a boyfriend who doesn''t want a kid at all. I am sure that would piss off my father. Yeah, that would be funny.'' A smirk came to my face as I saw a crimson sphere of me being tossed towards me by the female Untitled. ''Maybe next time in a better life.'' I closed my eyes as I activated the remote-controlled exploding device hidden in my quiver through a secret regtor on my bracelet, ast resort for the top-level League members when all hope is lost in a battle. However, I didn''t do it for the league. I did it in the hopes that my sacrifice might help the rest of the All-caste members to survive... and maybe even buy Bruce some time, if he still hasn''t escaped yet. Maybe my sacrifice might save him... As Ra''s Al Ghul used to say, a life for a life. --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npage toread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a) Chapter 58: Fury of the All-Blades Chapter 58: Fury of the All-des ---
"I Reject My Humanity, JoJo!" - Dio,(Jojo''s Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood)
--- <(Omniscient POV)> Silence, absolute silence. That was what Nyssa was experiencing right now. She didn''t feel a hint of pain or burn anywhere in her body from the fire thrown by the Untitled female as she waited with her eyes closed, kneeling in an awkward position while being partially ensnared by multiple rotten bands of bandages. There wasn''t even any explosion from the suicide bombing quiver on her back. ... Did it fail?'' Nyssa thought as she opened one of her eyes and looked at herself to see if she was still alive or not. To her utter amazement, she was still alive in the same situation she was in a couple of seconds ago. "Yare yare, I reached just in time I guess. Whoo. Such cool words and yet such a stupid action. Your daddy dearest should have taught you better, princess." A handsome middle-aged teen flicked his non-existent sweat as he chuckled nervously, the screen of his watch disying just two words, ''Detonation deactivated''. "BRUCE, what are you doing here? Why in the seven hells are you here? You should have run away. You could have gotten out using me and the explosion as a distraction." Nyssa yelled in worry and anger at her failure to save Bruce and his choice of not running away when he still had the chance. "Eh? Run away? I think you severely misunderstand how I do stuff princess. I don''t run away and hide. No, I might exploit and cheat, maybe even a strategic retreat or two if things are really dire but never run away like a coward." He scoffed as hezily stretched his arms in preparation for the fight toe. "The blue-eyed dark-haired boy? You are the one called Bruce Wayne. Interesting, you used a chi-infused kunai to forcibly change the direction of my me attack. It was so fast that even I almost didn''t see it. I guess you are a long-distance fighter, aren''t you? Making you one of my dolls wouldn''t have been so bad but unfortunately for me and fortunately for you, it''s your lucky day. Ra''s Al Ghul made it clear to leave you alive. So, you are free to go littlemb even though you just disturbed my ytime." The female Untitled said with a snarl behind her mask. "Talk of a creep. You remind me of those anime and manga viins for some reason. You and your... siblings shoulde to Gotham to get a crash course and learn how to act like a first-rate criminal before trying this entire dark magic pedo shenanigan you have got going on here for yourself." He said with a small smirk as he walked closer to Nyssa to check up on her. "Hey Scarlet, we were told to leave him alive but what if he somehow died identally and his body disappears? That''s not our fault, right? There are too many wild animals and dangers in the forest for us to keep track of every one of them. Maybe after he dies, we will even find a body that looks simr to him but is missing the face to identify properly. In that case, we can even keep his body as part of our own collection. What do you say, dear sister?" The Untitled-named Dark asked as he released a disgusting sound that sounded like a sloppy lick from under his mask. "Well, I guess that can happen. Ra''s Al Ghul can''t me us in that case. And even if he does..., we will be too powerful after gaining ess to the Chamber of All for him to oppose us." The female Untitledpleted in a grave and threatening voice making it clear where her loyaltiesy. "Then it seems we have all reached an impassedies and... Orochimaru. I guess we have no other civilized way to discuss this anymore... So, let''s be a little uncivilized now. You wanted to y right? So let''s y." Bruce said with a calm and confident smile as two small, and almost unnoticeable tattoos in the shape of a yin-yang symbol began to glow on both of his hands. "With All-des summoned, gleaming bright, In the darkness deep, to vanquish night. Magical, immortal, evil''s plight, They''ll cleave them all, with righteous might." He uttered with a big excited smile as the tattoos shone with much more intensity and soon turned into what looked like pure red heat and materialized in his hands as two fully formed light swords enveloped in golden fire. With just a single swing, it cut apart the bandages tying up Nyssa like a hot knife through butter, freeing her in the process. "Do you need to say the entire poem every single time you summon those mystical des because that was the cringiest thing I had ever heard?" Nyssa asked in a whisper, immediately taking abat position beside me with her bow drawn. "No, I didn''t even need to say it once. It''s not even a thing. I did it because I always wanted to try out saying something like that." I whispered back with a straight face, not removing my eyes from the enemy. Also, if she thought that was cringe, I would like to see her face when she hears the Green Lantern oath in the future, "Let''s add them to our dead collection," Scarlet said with the creepiestugh possible as she and her brother charged at Bruce like some wild animals. This was their second biggest mistake. which was not using their mystic powers and failing to y on their strengths by not maintaining a safe distance from Bruce. The biggest mistake was making the extremely ill-advised decision to even fight Bruce in the first ce. The two Untitled had almost superhuman capabilities and could move with the agility of jackals but Bruce was always faster with his evolved body. He sensed their moves even before they moved in the first ce, his cheat enabling him to know everything that they were going to do just from the way their muscles bent. As he dodged Dark''s w sh, Scarlet tried to use magic inbat and coated her bandaged fists with scarlet fire which miraculously somehow didn''t burn her own bandages or her cloak. Bruce who was only defending currently to get a taste of real life and deathbat instead of attacking with his immortals-ying sword was pissed. He was having fun in a pure closebat situation but the moment they started using magic he knew that he would have to curb his enjoyment and start taking this seriously because he was clear on one thing in his new life, magic can''t be underestimated ever, no matter what. "Nyssa, it seems that the siblings called a horde of walking-dead to overpower us. You take care of the horde, I''ll take care of the creepy duo." Bruce said as he signaled her in a particr direction. He had already sensed the approaching horde with his super senses and didn''t want to be distracted by them from his first real fight. Nyssa had been trying to help Bruce fight the Untitled by battling beside him with a pair of hunting daggers while channeling chi in them. The chi-infused daggers were better suited against the Untitled whenpared to normal weaponry and slowed down their rate of healing but still were no match for their immortality. So, she wasn''t really important to that particr battle and would be more useful in blocking the other undead from disturbing their battle. After receiving Bruce''s order as team captain, Nyssa didn''tin at all. She waspetent and experienced enough as an assassin to know that she could not argue with him in the middle of a battle or go against hismand even if she didn''t want to leave him alone in the fight. So, she quickly nodded with slight hesitation and dashed toward the direction the undead horde wasing from ording to Bruce. "Now that she is gone. Let''s end this quickly. I have six more of your siblings to ughter after this." Bruce tightened his muscles as he began to increase channeling his own chi into the twin swords. After S''aru had entrusted the All-des to him, he knew of almost all the advantages and limitations of the sword. The mystical swords were actually much like Marvel''s Ghost Rider. They could not hurt the truly innocent no matter what. But for those who have sinned, for those who were evil, they became sharper and sharper, the more evil their targets were. And they could ughter anything, even immortals and gods, at least theoretically they could because Bruce doubted that the des would be able to do anything against fifth-dimensional reality-altering imps or all-powerful archangels. However, besides not being able to hurt innocents, there was also one more limitation of the All-des. Continuously materializing them was goddamn hard. They gobbled up the user''s chi like a wildfire burning it up like gasoline. The only reason Bruce had been able to maintain them for so long was his huge life force and chi which was a result of his superhuman body and thousands of hours of meditation and chi training he had been practicing for thest half decade. "Rise my beautiful dogs. Kill him." The male Untitled yelled in a fervor as dark magical light shone in his palms. Immediately a couple of dozen ck colored skeletons with sharp bone weapons in their hands emerged from the ground and faced Bruce. Even Scarlet, the female Untitled began to chant some kind of spell as balls of scarlet fire appeared behind her. "A final struggle. Good, that would save me some time. Also, I wanted to test something. You two are perfect for that. Darkness breathing, Form 1: Midnight Stance." Bruce muttered to himself as he crouched low and focused on being as unnoticeable as he could, reducing any excessive movements to the minimum. It almost seemed like darkness surrounded him as he almost became invisible to all five human senses. The female Untitled didn''t waste any more time and released all the balls of fire she had conjured behind her towards him in the hopes of roasting him alive but unfortunately for her, his first form was an excellent defensive position that could lead to lightning-fast counterattacks. And counterattack he did as he shed and blocked all the fireballs with the All-des as not even a single tinge of fire touched him. "Form 2: Shadow Strike" Bruce uttered next as he dashed forward and almost seemed to disappear into the shadows and reappeared behind Scarlet, delivering a surprise attack on her with incredible speed and precision, aiming to kill the ranged mage-type enemy first to maximize his chances of victory. "Aaaaaah" A shrill female scream resounded through the cave as the attackpletely separated the Untitled female into two, the burnt portion of her body where she was shed shining golden red due to the heat from the All-des making her healing back to her original self impossible. Soon, the heat burned up the entire body of the female Untitled as the once immortal dead body collector turned into ashes without even being able to utter a single word. "SISTER! You, you aren''t even worthy to be in my collection. You deserve only to be..." The other male Untitled started but Bruce interrupted him before he could finish. "Form 3: Eclipsing Crescents" He mumbled once again as he jumped forward and shed a crescent-shaped arc with all his power in a fluid motion, getting rid of half of the summoned skeletons in one move. "Form 5: Abyssal Serpent Dance" Bruce moved fluidly and unpredictably, mimicking the movements of a serpent in the dark, confusing the other remaining mindless undead skeleton minions as he suddenly swung his des at an awkward angle, delivering a devastating attack on the rest of the undead like the bite of a snake, destroying all of them with just a single move. "Andst but not least, Form 7: Eclipse Shatter" He yelled in excitement as he concentrated 70% of his remaining chi into his de which made them light up like never before, casting a shadow in some parts of the cave while lighting up others. It looked magnificent as he prepared to deliver a devastating shing attack like no other. "NO. I won''t die this easy. I''ll be truly immortal after I kill you and destroy that sword. I''ll even bring my sister back. I won''t LOSE. I AM DARK, THE UNTITLED RULER OF DARKNESS." The Untitled screamed as his cloak transformed into a shield of pure shadows to protect him from Bruce''s attack. However, unfortunately for him, this was a move Bruce had been perfecting in his mindscape, something he had been working on for years both in simtion and actual training to make sure that no threat no matter how durable or tough they were could stand against him after this one move, that even the toughest shield would shatter against this one technique. *Swish* A sharp cutting sound was heard as Brucended on his legs a few meters away from the male Untitled, slightly panting from his low chi level, his powerful muscles aching from the strength he had used against the immortal monster. "You should have nevere out of your hiding ce Untitled scum. Bats are the true rulers of darkness, not some rotting skeleton." Bruce smirked after he steadied himself as he walked towards the direction Nyssa had left in without giving Dark even a single more look, the All-des disappearing from Bruce''s hands due to the low amount of chi remaining in his reserves. "I h-hate b-bats." The Untitled only managed to mutter three words as he slowly burned up into embers of fire that began to disperse in the air, all the while he could not even move from his standing position. Not only his newly created cloak shield had beenpletely ripped apart by the attack but the entire position of the cave was also damaged beyond repair as the floor and the wall behind the Untitled had a six-meter-long clean sh that was still burning red from the heat of the All-des, a mark that was the evidence of the short yet epic battle that had just taken ce in the Himyan cave. --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npage toread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a) Chapter 59: A Moment of Respite Chapter 59: A Moment of Respite ---
"To Realize My Dream, I Will Perch On Top Of Their Corpses." - Griffith,(Berserk)
--- <(Omniscient POV)> "Take that you undead fucker. Let''s see you recover from this." Essence, Ducra''s daughter mocked as one of her hands d in crimson colored aura of chi mercilessly crushed the heart of the Untitled sibling in front of her. "How? This is impossible. I am a true immortal. I can''t be killed." The female Untitled uttered with a voice of disbelief as she felt the clutch of death on her getting strong while failing to heal herself. "An immortal can kill another immortal even without any special immortal-ying magical weapons. You should have studied more about how the supernatural world works instead of always trying to show off your mystical powers and chi sorcery. Could have saved your life." Essence smirked as she nursed the injury on her stomach while walking toward the direction where shest saw her mother fighting one of the other Untitled siblings all while the dead Untitled slowly turned into ck specks of dust and evaporated away into the wind. "Are you finally done, daughter? You took quite a while. I thought I taught you better than that." Ducra snarkilymented as she calmly stood in front of dozens of destroyed undead bodies that were no longer moving or twitching. "I am guessing that you took care of the one you were fighting then?" Essence said with an ugly expression on her face making it clear that she didn''t at all like her mother questioning her abilities. "I did, I sealed the brother whom I was fighting before. He is now forever imprisoned in the fiery pits of the inner circle of hell with no chance to ever escape, never to return again." Ducra answered with a slight undertone of resignation lingering in her otherwise impassive voice. "I see. I guess that counts as a victory as well. Now, let''s go. We have six more rotting monsters to kill. Let''s kill the rest of the Untitled and end this war forever, only then can we have peace..." "No, we don''t. We have done our part, we have defeated the ones whom we were destined to defeat. Now, it''s time for us toy down our weapons and keep our trust in the Knight of Vengeance. His fate is the one overshadowing the fate of my other immortal siblings." Ducra mysteriously said as she took out a small smoking pipe from inside her cloak and began to smoke it in a rxed manner like she didn''t have anything to do with this entire thing at all. "Do you mean Bruce by your needlessly jumbled-up words Mother? Have you finally gone mad? You are cing your trust in fate, of all things? And a little boy whom you hadn''t even met a month ago? Have you finally gone crazy from all the centuries of pent-up frustration?" Essence wore a scowl on her face as she looked at her mother with eyes full of disbelief and confusion. "Maybe I have grown a little crazy, yes. I guess we will see soon just how much crazy I have be. After all, his battle should be over by now as well. Let''s go and see if he is still alive. Who knows, maybe that kid will give us a surprise." Ducra smiled as she began to walk slowly in a certain direction while making a small gesture at her daughter to follow after her. Essence had no idea about what her mother was talking about. All she knew was that she wanted this entire ordeal to be over. She wanted the Untitled dead no matter what. She had always thought that she could sacrifice anything to achieve that. Yet when it came to actually defeating the evil group, she hesitated in involving others in it. Unlike her mother, she didn''t want to drag others into a problem that was basically theirs. Even though she really wanted revenge for all the All-caste monks who had died in this war against the Untitled, she didn''t want to do it at the risk of the lives of Bruce and Nyssa. The two might not be the most social and warmest of persons, but they definitely had good hearts in them. However, most important of all was the fact that even though Essence would never admit it in public, she still considered the two of them her friends, allies that she trusted. And she didn''t want to be the person to bury her friends. As Bruce had once said to her, those who break the Rules are Scum, that''s true. But those who abandon their friends are worse than Scum. *** "What?... How did this happen?... We were supposed to be the future conquerers of this realm. So, howe are we all being ughtered like animals?" An Untitled male, thest of his creed groaned in pain as he felt the All-des prate his soft darkness-filled heart. Weakly looking all around him, he saw all that was left of his siblings was just lifeless ck dust. He knew that they had lost the battle the moment the monster in front of him had hunted one of his sisters effortlessly while treating it like some sort of practice game but in his utter arrogance and pride, all of the Untitled had denied the obvious and continued waging war instead of fleeing. If he had fled the scene in time, he would have at least kept his life but s, he wasn''t so fortunate. In his utter anger, while being drunk in power, he and the other living members of his n had tried to kill the boy who had dared to attack them. However, what he hadn''t known at that time was that the boy was not at all a human. He was a monster, a demon in human skin who only treated them as practice dummies. "You, who are you, you bastard?" He painfully groaned, probably hisst words as he could feel his body quickly burning up under the heat of the All-des. The Untitled leader was not at all proud of his choice ofst words but he wanted to know the name of the one who killed him, the identity of the being who ughtered him as well as the reason why such a scary monster like this boy had targeted their n. He wouldn''t be able to be at peace if he didn''t know at least that. "You really wanna know, don''t you?... Well, I could tell you but guess what? I am not in the mood to talk right now. So... just die." The boy bared his teeth in a twisted cruel smile as he twisted his sword inside the Untitled slightly, lighting up the mystical sword in a brilliant glow that immediately burned up what remained of the immortal necromancer. "And that brings the count to 6. These guys really are like cockroaches. No matter how many I kill, there are still some of them remaining. Huh? Are you done as well, Nyssa?" Bruce asked as he looked at the assassin slowly approaching him with steady yet silent steps. "Yes, I am. I killed the entire undead horde they had awakened from the dead. I even found our Assassin team. Quite amazingly, they are all still alive. A miracle truly since they were supposed to be the litter of the runt." Nyssa informed in a nonchnt tone, seemingly not caring about them at all. He was incredibly fortunate to not lose even a single person from the team assigned to him. The attack by the Untitled was so merciless that the single attack had wiped out more than ny percent of the surviving All-caste members leaving only a few monks alive. This alone could show the severity of the battle that had just taken ce here on the mountain between the two supernatural organizations. "Are they all right? Do they need any emergency medical attention?" Bruce asked with a frown, feeling somewhat responsible for not helping them in time and instead just focusing on trying out his new pair of swords. "No, but they definitely need some motivation. They looked like they wanted to kill themselves in shame at not being able to perform as well as they expected themselves to perform." Nyssa joked. "Well, I think I can help with that. We should also find Ducra and Essence as well. I sure hope that they are still alive. Let''s goooo.... oh shit" Bruce had fallen down with the first step he took. His body was deprived of any chi or energy to move, even the twin des in his hands disappeared from ack of chi necessary enough to maintain them. "What happened? Are you all right? Are you hurt or something or did you get some internal injuries?" Nyssa asked, worried about him. "No, i-it is just t-that I think I used too much chi ying around with my new toys. Maybe, I should first learn the basics of chi management or something." Bruce weakly chuckled as he felt the heavy exhaustion kicking in his body, something that happened for the first time since he went through the entire body enhancement procedure. ''I guess I don''t have the infinite amount of chi hack, do I?'' He thought to himself as he felt his eyelids getting heavier. ''Never could I ever even in my wildest dreams imagine that I would one day be losing my consciousness like this after pushing myself so hard in a battle like some shonen protagonist.'' He chuckled to himself as he silently continued to lie on the ground, waiting for his chi reserves to regenerate from meditation. He did not even have enough energy to try to regenerate his chi using his breathing techniques. He had heard of Ducra and Essence fighting with two of the Untitled. He could only hope that the mother-daughter duo seeded in defeating them because he knew it as a fact that he would not be able to get his sword up and working again for the next couple of days. That''s how much drained he was from constantly using it at such a huge power while performing extremely fancy moves and maneuvers. The only reason he was so brave at sleeping in the open while still having possible enemies close was because of the fact that he knew Cortana was always active on his watch and listening to everything. She could protect him using the various little yet deadly tools hidden all over his body if she ever sensed that he was in some sort of danger. For example, a small EM wave-based forcefield that could be generated by the belt he was currently wearing alone could protect him from a full-powered missile strike from an army. "Bruce, can I ask you something?" Nyssa asked with some minor hesitation in her voice as she alsoid down beside him to rest, not caring about the team that was loyally waiting for her. "Yeah, sure." He answered in azy voice, barely being able to keep himself awake. "At that time before you rescued me there, for a few seconds I thought I was gonna die. I looked back into my life but I did not find anything that I had ever done in my life that truly made me happy. Whatever I had done, I had done for my father. I never even had a boyfriend or anything. So, I promised myself that if I survived, I would... I would at least try to date someone, to experience how it feels like to have someone who cares for you and to care for him in return. But, I don''t really know anyone worthy enough to be with me. But then I thought about you. So, will... w-will you... can you be like, I mean do you want like, go out on maybe some sort of umm, like you know... Do you want to go out with me Bruce?" Nyssa finally asked with a light red blush spreading on her cheeks. "Hmm Hmm. Yeah sure." Bruce muttered almost iprehensively, his mind befuddled with exhaustion and desire to just let go and get some sleep, something that Nyssa failed to realize and attributed to shyness instead. "Oh. Wow, Thanks, I guess... That was easy. I was afraid that you would reject me or say something like you already have a girlfriend or something like that. I guess I was thinking too much into it." Nyssa happily remarked, d at not having to face rejection at the very first proposal in her life. Bruce however didn''t reply. He had already fallen asleep due to a seriousck of chi and was in no position to continue the conversation or even realize how deep a hole he had just dug for himself, something that would severely drain both his physical and mental energies than the pair of mystical swords ever could. --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npage toread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a)
Chapter 60: Deadly Connections Chapter 60: Deadly Connections --- "Even if we forget the faces of our friends, we will never forget the bonds that were carved into our souls." - Otonashi Yuzuru,(Angel Beats) --- <(Top of Wayne Solutions HQ Skyscraper)> <(Selina Kyle POV)> ''Huh? I suddenly feel annoyed for some reason like something just happened that should not happen at all. I wonder what?'' I tiredly thought to myself panting as I took deep breaths to calm my rapidly beating heart while I tightly gripped the whip in my hands. "What happened little pussy? Are you out of juice so soon? I thought you were supposed to be one of Richard''s most prized students. Turns out you are just a little scared cat." The Asian woman who previously identified herself as Lady Shiva taunted me with an annoying grin directed at me. "You think you are beating me you muscle-brained gym addict. The only reason you were able tond a few hits on me is because of your experience and your fully-developed adult body. So, don''t get ahead of yourself." I said while clenching my teeth in anger, forcing my tired body to move again. "Oh, it seems you still have a little re left in you, don''t you my cute little kitty cat? I guess you are really motivated to improve yourself for your little boyfriend. To protect and help him better as you said, right? But sadly I barely see the required potential in you. But I have to admit, he does look tasty with that chiseled body of his. Maybe I should fuck him in front of you when he returns, pumping his seed out of him all the while you pathetically watch being restrained like a little pet with my underwear clogged inside your mouth. A second child after I give birth to this one doesn''t really sound that bad I think." The woman mocked as she rubbed her tiny baby bump indicating her recent pregnancy. "You evil bitch. I was trying my best to hold myself back and not to hurt you too much since you were pregnant but now I am gonna go all out on your old ass." I yelled in blind rage as I channeled my chi inside the whip and began to attack the old hag with everything I had. "Anger is quite useful in a war but in a battle, it''s useless, foolish, and the crucible of you being a rookie warrior," Shiva said as she effortlessly dodged the repeated strikes of the whip and took slow and steady steps toward me. "Goddamn it, you. Why the hell can''t I hit you? This isn''t fair." I muttered through my teeth as I tried harder and swung my whip faster with much more force behind it. "You will never be able to hit me. That''s the reason why I am the teacher here and you are the student. If you were good enough to fight me one-on-one and possessed the potential to win, you would have been fighting me to the death, not learning from me." She snorted as she rapidly closed the distance while dodging my blows and once she was close enough, she hit my hand hard forcing me to drop my whip. "An amateur to the use of Chi, an expert gymnast, and pretty much okay in armed and unarmedbat. Those are qualities I can find in thousands of girls but I didn''t select you because of them or because of your rtionship with your rich boyfriend. What I selected you for is your will, your desire to grow strong and to attain more and more power no matter how for the sake of the one you love. That is the reason why I decided to train you." She said while narrowing her eyes at me. "And maybe when I am done with you when you have gathered enough experience, you perhaps one day will provide quite a challenge as I battle you to death to find out who the better warrior is. "Tch. Don''t overestimate yourself, olddy. The only reason I am even here humoring you is that you said that you are also from the same secret organization that Bruce joined and a very high-ranking member at that too, and that you could teach me everything I needed to know to not fall behind Bruce too much." I huffed as I refused to acknowledge her superiority in herbat abilities. She despite her amazingbat skills was an absolute maniac and a slut who in her own words had banged a lower-ranking member only so that she could give birth to a child who could one day be able to fight her on an equal footing. "Whatever you tell yourself to sleep at night darling. But, that doesn''t change the fact that you will be learning from me as my student, and when I am done with you, your entire life view will have changed and you will realize how important true power is. That I can assure you." Lady Shiva stated like it was a hard fact with a cold nefarious smile as confidence oozed from her. "We will see," I said equally as confident, determined to never ce power as the top priority in my life. Thisvish life that I currently enjoy, the loving parent I have in the form of Alfred, my new lovely pet that I adopted, Whiskers, and even the friends I have made like Zatanna, Helena, Vicki, and L, everything is because of Bruce. He was the person who had always stood by me and given me everything in my life till this point. He is the reason I am even alive today and not lying dead in a dark alley somewhere. And most important of all, he is the person I love most in the world after my mother who died back when I was just a little kid. So he will always be the most important thing in my heart and having a life with him is the dream that I strive for every day. And I will achieve it no matter how many hours a day I have to train or how many bodes I have to bury. *** <(Omniscient POV)> *Bang* A dead body dressed inplete ck clothing and mask dropped to the ground after the gunshot and a puddle of blood began to form around the body without any sign of the person lying on the ground moving or twitching. "These attacks seem to be getting more and more frequent every day. Now, they are trying to target me, probably because they think that I have taken over Master Bruce''s entire fortune in his absence. Maybe they are getting greedy for Master Bruce''s rapidly increasing fortune or maybe afraid of it. I guess officially being thergest electronicspany and the fastest-growing bank in the country does attract a lot of attention. What do you think Ace. what should we do about the people who keep sending them?" Alfred wondered aloud curiously with a smoking Glock 19 in his hands. He didn''t like to use guns anymore but desperate times call for desperate measures, not that the situation was ever really that desperate since he knew that there were at least two armedbat drones in stealth mode made by Bruce and controlled by Cortana that always apanied every one that Bruce truly cared for twenty-four seven including Alfred himself. But he still took the shot himself because he didn''t want to grow too soft and fail to protect or serve Master Bruce when the time came. After all, Cortana might be the perfect protege for him who could serve the young master in his absence since he wouldn''t be able to be there for Master Bruce forever but even machines had their limitations, and he wanted to be ready for the dire time if Cortana ever faced such a limitation. "*Woof Woof Woof* Should shoot their greedy asses" Ace barked excitedly as his cor tranted his barks into actual English all while he was standing proudly on another dead intruder, a big deep and bloody bite mark visible on this one''s neck. "Yep, that''s definitely right, you have gotten smarter over the years Ace. That''s exactly what I am gonna do." Alfred smiled kindly as he rubbed the dog''s head affectionately at which Ace happily wagged his tail. "However clearing the bodies is always a headache and we will even have to call in the sweep team to get rid of any DNA evidence as well." The butler muttered to himself as he sighed and got his new ''Waech'' branded phone out of his pocket. "Send some men to the new Wayne Park for a thorough cleanup. There was a little ident here." Alfred ordered the new security division of Wayne Solutions, a newly opened division, most of whose employees were hired and vetted by de Wilson himself. "Now, it''s time to permanently take care of the ''problem'' by ripping this thing out at its roots," Alfred murmured as he looked at a particr name on his call list. It was a certain name he had recentlye across with the help of Cortana while navigating the dark side of doing business in Gotham. He was someone who specialized in making problems go away forever, especially when these problems were living people. He would have asked this as a favor to de buttely, the man had been quite busy. Between the birth of his newborn daughter and his suddenly bing a phnthropist with regrly scheduled visits to orphanages, the man barely had the time to breathe. Master Bruce was definitely working the man to his bones for the fat paycheck that he was giving de. Alfred didn''t want to give him more work on top of that. His family needed him right now. That is why this particr person in his contact list would have to be enough to make this little hup go away. He already suspected who had been sending these men to try to off him. It was someone who had the required motive, someone who would benefit from both Bruce''s and his absence in which case the Wayne Solutionspany could in theory be grabbed essentially for free by Wayne International. ''I didn''t want to do this but I guess luck is not on their side. Only when a few of those backstabbing board members are dead, will they finally get the warning not to mess with us.'' Alfred mumbled as he prepared to make another call. "Hello?" A distorted voice came from the other side of the phone as Alfred made the call. "Is this Deadshot? I have a job for you if you are interested." Alfred talked in his ssic British ent with a cold hard determination oozing from his voice. --- (A/N: This is a chapter that primarily gives a sneak peek into what has been happening inside the lives of the people that Bruce knows and loves. They too are growing and changing into better or maybe worse versions of themselves as they navigate a life and a city without Bruce Wayne waiting for the prince of Gotham to return once again with all his glory.) Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npage toread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a) Chapter 61: Reunion and Revelations Chapter 61: Reunion and Revtions ---
"As long as youugh at people''s suffering, your goal will always be out of reach. If you never want to be defeated, you must first learn your own weakness, and always be kind." - Erza Scarlet,(Fairy Tail)
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> God, that was some adventure. Even the most ssic spice-filled novels would probably fail at what I just had to experience in thest few weeks. I mean, a lot of people have fought zombies before in fiction but can anyone else im to have fought an army of the Walking Dead as well as a n of Dark undead sorcerers in the Himyas with the help of a small group of professional assassins and a bunch of chi-wielding monks. I can bet a billion dors not. "I feel bad leaving them like this when they are at their weakest. Ducra might not have been the sweetest old woman I know but she was still a good person. Even Essence despite herck of manners and rude disposition still cared for us in her heart. And also the fact remains that all of this happened because of my bastard of an evil father. He not only betrayed my trust in him as his daughter but he was also the one who set up this entire thing, only so that he could profit from the battle among his enemies and weaken them altogether. He didn''t even care if I or the others would be able to survive the ordeal. To me, he is the most disgusting person on the entire." Nyssa spat out with venom as she openly expressed her feelings for the first time in front of me. ''Huh, that''s weird. When did she be that friendly? I thought she was supposed to always hide her emotions from other people ording to her father''s teachings. Is this because she is trying to defy his lessons or something?'' I thought confusedly as I nkly stared at her face, an action that embarrassed her and forced a slight blush out of her cheeks. "Well, somebody sounds angry at her daddy. But don''t worry, Nyssa. What goes around,es around. And as for the All-caste, I don''t think it''s the end for them. It is merely a small halt. But as the saying goes, what doesn''t kill someone, only makes them stronger. I believe that the All-caste can rise out of its ashes stronger than ever from this. I believe that they can be a much bigger organization after this if they y their cards right. Imagine a secret organization that has the capability of protecting the world from most small and medium-scale mystical threats. It would be quite interesting, wouldn''t it?" I muttered thest part to myself as I stared outside the moving truck in a daze. "Yeah, but they need huge amounts of resources for that and I doubt if they would ever get that much from donations or the few small-scale farming work they do. And, then there is also my father who would most probably march against them soon and end thempletely before they could even recover a fraction of their power. ording to my estimates, unless some other outside variable interferes and helps them, the remaining part of the organization would be wiped out by the end of this year." Nyssa concluded trying to hide the sorrow in her heart by showing an impassive face on the outside. Her words might have been crude and cold but they were the truth nheless, the cold hard absolute truth of this world. The bigger fish always eats the smaller ones and Ra''s Al Ghul was one of the biggest fish there was, he was a goddamn shark. "Maybe..." I murmured as I failed to stop a small smile from spilling out of my lips. "or, maybe not..." After all, even sharks could only do so much against killer whales. *** <(OmniscientPOV)> "EXCUSE ME, BUT DO YOU KNOW WHERE I COULD FIND ANYONE FROM THE RELIGIOUS ORGANISATION, ALL-CASTE?" A young man in his early twenties dressed in tightbat gear asked as he approached Essence who hade out of the base to find out the source of disturbance in the otherwise calm neighborhood and was cautiously standing a little further away from him, ready to attack at a moment''s notice. He was yelling to make sure that she could hear his voice over therge amount of noise the chopper behind him was making. "What do you want from them?" Essence didn''t yell, yet her slightly nervous voice was easily audible by the man. "WE WERE SENT BY THE MARTHA WAYNE FOUNDATION TO DELIVER A FEW THINGS TO THE LEADERS OF THE ALL-CASTE ORGANIZATION. ACCORDING TO THE COORDINATES ON OUR MAP, THEIR BASE SHOULD BE HERE." The man continued to yell as he gestured to the chopper. It was then that Essence finally noticed the Wayne Foundation logo on the chopper as well as ''Wayne Solutions Security'' written on the man''sbat uniform. "Bruce?" Essence confused muttered to herself, wondering if the newest... friend that she had made in thest few days was somehow responsible for this entire surprise. "OH, SO YOU KNOW THE YOUNG MASTER. I GUESS THAT WOULD EXPLAIN THE SUDDEN ORDER WE WERE GIVEN TO DELIVER A HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS WORTH OF RESOURCES HERE OUT OF NOWHERE" The man excitedly replied as he looked like he was happy that he would be able toplete his quest so soon. "I am Essence, one of the current leaders from All-Caste. What resources do you exactly have that you need to deliver?" Essence asked curiously as she looked at the chopper hovering a few feet above the ground from where she was standing. She wasn''t going to say no to free aid especially since at the moment they desperately needed any and all help they could get. "A LOT OF THINGS ACTUALLY. ALPHA 30A COPY, WE GOT THE CONFIRMATION. BRING THEM ALL IN, OVER." The man yelled thest part into the wireless transmitter in his hands as immediately the chopper behind him began to slowly descend. But then out of nowhere, six more choppers suddenly appeared and they too began tond in session one after the other, all branded with the same familiar Wayne logo. "The food and medicines rations are in the first three choppers, while the clothes and other essentials are in the other three. It was too much weight for us to bring in by a single vehicle, so we had to bring in seven of them. Oh and also please keep these financial documents. We were given instructions about opening a bank ount in the new Wayne Merchant Bank by the name of All-Caste Foundation using about five hundred million dors. I was also ordered to let you know that this amount should be used to increase All-Caste as an organization and add more members from around the world. Of course, the Martha Wayne Foundation will offer its team of experts along with its connections to make that happen as well." The man informed as he handed over a bundle of documents to Essence. "Five Hundred Million? Even I know that is supposed to be a big amount. But what is Bruce going to get from this? Is he just giving away free money or something because I thought businessmen weren''t supposed to be that charitable? Also, aren''t these food, medicines, and clothes too expensive to be worth a hundred million dors?" "Sorry, but I do not have the information to your first question. As far as I know, the Martha Wayne Foundation will be the official sponsor of the All-caste but I don''t know anything beyond that. Also, there are only about five million dors worth of rations and essential products here. As for the rest of the 95 million dors worth of merchandise, they are in the seventh helicopter. But they are not exactly essential products." At his signal, the seventh helicopter alsonded. This one was the biggest of all of them and also looked the heaviest. Soon, its doors slowly opened and dozens of boxes were carried out by multiple armed people inbat clothes, all having the same Wayne Security logo on their attire. As they all began to unlock the heavily sealed boxes and disy the contents inside, Essence finally understood that Bruce truly wanted to help them out and help them he had. Because inside the dozens of boxes were the state-of-the-art newest-generation weapons and military technology that could give any army of ninjas a run for their money. These weapons were enough to put the fear of god into the centuries-old Drac-wannabe. *** <(Omniscient POV)> "I never liked you but at least I used to respect you before this. But now... How could you do this to your own daughter? Didn''t you even feel sorry for her for a single moment before you decided to sacrifice her for something as trivial as testing one of your disciples and getting rid of two potential enemies?" A female who looked like she was in herte teens or early twenties yelled at Ra''s Al Ghul in anger as she looked like she wanted to spit venom at him. "No, I didn''t. Because that''s not what I am meant to do. My duty is to be the machine that keeps the cogs of this world running, the one that keeps the bnce. And if I have to sacrifice a daughter or two for that, I''ll be d to do so. Also, even though I was ready to sacrifice her, I knew that she would survive. I believed that the kid was a worthy heir and I was right. He proved himself and didn''t even let a single one of the League members die including Nyssa. So, I was not only sessful in testing him but even got rid of two of the League''s biggest mystical threats." Ra''s Al Ghul proudly exined. "And what if he had failed? What if the Untitled had changed their minds and killed your student before taking everything in the All-caste''s Chamber of ALL for themselves including the water that would have given them absolute immortality? How would you have fought them then?" "I wouldn''t have fought them. I wouldn''t need to. It doesn''t matter if the All-caste had been wiped out or not, the Chamber of ALL was never in any danger to begin with. It had Sa''aru, quite a powerful being of an ancient member of a supposed pantheon of Gods as its protector. Even if the Untitled had killed everyone and reached inside the chamber, they would have still failed because they would have to face Sa''aru inside, a being much more powerful than they could ever hope to meet. The only reason that those Undead idiots weren''t annihted the moment they stepped into the cave was because Sa''aru could not get out of that chamber even if he wanted to. The mystical chamber is both his eternal resting ce as well as his prison. But now that the Untitled are all dead, all I have to do is ughter the few remaining members of the All-caste while keeping away from the chamber and I would have killed two birds with a single stone. You wanted the hear the truth, right? So, here it is. I was always the winner in this little gamble of mine, and Nyssa was only a chip that I had to risk to achieve the victory that I needed, a victory that I seeded in achieving just like I nned, just like it was fated to be." The Demon''s Head said as he looked at the female in front of him with cold eyes devoid of any emotion, making it evident that he was speaking the truth. "... You are a fucking monster" The girl mumbled in a whisper as her voice seemed to break in tears. "My lord, they are back." The voice of Ubu sounded as if he seemed toe out of nowhere. "I see. That is good timing indeed... Come daughter, let''s meet your sister. I am sure that you miss her quite a lot since you just wasted so much of my time in her defense, an action that will earn you quite a harsh discipline tomorrow. But for today, you can celebrate your little sister''s return alive. After all, what type of a father would I be if I can''t even allow my daughters to meet once in a while." --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npage toread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom (rece the ¨¢ with a) Chapter 62: A Change of Heart Chapter 62: A Change of Heart ---
"You''re speechless, I see. A fine quality in a wife." ¨D Jafar,(ddin)
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> There alwayses a time in a man''s life when he meets someone he wishes he would have never met. It may be a teacher, a girlfriend, a rtive, a friend, a boss, or just a toxic gym girl. But no matter who this person one wishes to have never met is, his life ispletely changed nheless. The original Bruce Wayne also had one such person in his life. A single person who even though not a direct enemy of his, still caused him immense pain and headache all his life, someone who made his life moreplicated than it should have been in the first ce in not just one but almost every single mainstream DC universe. And that person was quite unsurprisingly a girl. Even I despite not having been an avid fan of DC or Batman knew that from all the movies and the few shows I had watched in my previous life about this certain girl. But I had still severely underestimated just how much of an effect it would have on me when I met her myself for the first time. "Your face looks really weird Bruce. Are you still angry about my father not even apologizing after practically betraying us? Because I know I am. And he had fucking galls to throw a feast at our return pretending like he even cared in the first ce... The only good oue from all this was that at least I got to meet my elder sister after so many years. She is the only real family I have left, at least the only one who cares." Nyssa stated with a low voice filled with sorrow. It seemed that it was painful for her to even talk about her own family. "No, I knew that your father was heartless from the very start. He himself told me that the League doesn''t have any ce for failures before we even left for the mission. So, the fact that your father betrayed our trust doesn''t even bother me. As for your elder sister, well she did seem really... interesting especially how she was keeping an eye on me the entire time in the feast." I wanted to call her sister nice but no matter how much I tried I could not utter the words in good faith. Even calling her interesting was stretching it. Her sister was not at all nice, period. But her attitude which was the same as a cold hard killer hating her little sister''s crush was not the thing that irked me, nor did the top-level seductive skills that she had employed to test my character by giving me the ''fuck me if you can eyes'' every once in a while. What surprised me was how she looked. Because she for some weird reason looked very much like Scarlett Johansson from my previous life and not just her normal version but how the actress looked as the incarnation of ck Widow in the MCU. "Yeah, I know right? She was very happy for me especially when I told her that you are now my boyfriend and how amazing you are as a warrior. She seemed really interested in you too especially when I said that you might even be a better warrior than her." Nyssa happily eximed. The fact that she genuinely cared for and loved her elder sister was very much evident in her cheery voice. Nyssa Al Ghul might have been trained to be a cold and calcting killer all her life by her father but that didn''t change the fact that she was still a teenage girl in her heart, someone who just wanted to have a fun and fulfilling life, to experience everything that any other girl her age experiences. ''It was only recently that I found out that I had be her boyfriend somehow and that I had epted her proposal sometime during our mission against the Untitled, probably after the main battle when I was too tired toprehend anything anyone was saying. I originally wanted to make it clear that I already had a girlfriend, well sort of a girlfriend but, after looking at her excited and happy face, I could not bring myself to do it. So, now I have got myself in a veryplicated situation, a situation where even Cortana using her vast processing power failed to find an effective way to bring me out of it without breaking anyone''s heart. Also, the ''interest'' in her sister''s eyes that she was mentioning was in reality more akin to annoyance and slight curiosity. Talia Al Ghul wasn''t at all like Nyssa. She was colder, more calcting, and truthfully even slightly seemed like a bitch. She hadn''t directly spoken to me during the feast even once but I could feel her gaze on me the entire time. But even then, when I knew it as a fact that she was most probably plotting against me or thinking about how to carry out her dear daddy''s ns in the most efficient way possible, it still seemed like I was somehow attracted to her, like... fate itself wanted to bring us together. It was a weird feeling but strangely it wasforting as well for some weird-ass reason.'' I thought to myself as I looked at Nyssa happily lying beside me in the open snow. We were currently stargazing under the open night sky on top of Mount Nanda Parbat, a sort of date that she had arranged herself to in her own words spend some ''quality alone time'' together with me, although I doubted she actually knew what she was doing. She was not even nearly as good as her elder sister in the art of seduction despite having been trained for it. I mean she was definitely hot hands down but she couldn''t turn someone on just by giving him a look, something that her elder sister could very easily, believe me, I know. In fact, currently, she was even more awkward than me because for thest hour, we were lying here, she had been continuously blushing like a shy young maiden, not at all showing the visage of the trained young assassin that she was supposed to be. "Thanks." She suddenly mumbled out of nowhere breaking my chain of thoughts. "For what?" "For giving me a chance at... at this. I don''t think I have ever felt this peaceful ever since my mother died. I had always thought myself to be just a weapon for my father, a tool for the league just like my sister but you changed that thought in just a few days. You made me realize that life was much more than archery skills and a kill count. Thanks for that." She exined. "Ah. You are wee. It was my pleasure to corrupt a princess. Maybe I could go after your elder sister next." I tried to joke but immediately realized that the joke might not sound that funny to a woman you were currently ''dating''. "... You are joking... aren''t you?" Nyssa asked while frowning, her voice sounding really serious all of a sudden. "What do you think genius? Of course, I am. Also, I have strict criteria for dating and stuff. I don''t just sleep with anyone. What do you even take for, a man-whore?" I snorted while going back to my Tony Stark persona and pretending to be hurt. "Uhh, of course not. I didn''t mean it like that. You know what, Iam alreadyte, so I should go home. I don''t want anyone to see us like this. Bye." She quickly stood up, her entire face going red in shame. "Oh, and thanks again foring on a date with me *Mwah*" She gave me a small kiss on my cheeks before running away like an innocentss. "Went on a date with a hot assassin, gained a kiss from her, and even got her to thank me for it. It''s good to be young huh?... I wonder what the others are doing right now back at home. *Sigh* I guess I already miss them." I muttered silently as I contently stared at the clear sky. After a few more minutes of continuing to lie down, I stretched my body and got up after deciding to head back to my room as well. My evolved physique could definitely bear the cold but even I wasn''t immune to loneliness and believe me, there is nothing that feels more lonely than staring at the sky while lying down alone on a snowy mountain. "You are Bruce, right? Bruce Wayne, the supposed prince of Gotham?"A husky female voice interrupted my walk back to my living quarters as I stopped in my tracks and looked behind me. "And you are Talia Al Ghul, the supposed elder sister of Nyssa. But I fail to see how our identities are of any relevance here unless, of course, you want a bite of my fortune by marrying me in which case you are out of luck because your sister is quite ahead of you in that race." "... Why are you dating my sister?" Talia askedpletely ignoring my joke. "She is hot, smart, sort of kind, has a good heart, oh and also she really knows how to shoot an arrow." I shrugged as I honestly listed the top qualities I found attractive in her. "You are speaking the truth... Interesting. I thought you were using her to get closer to my father in which case it would have been useless because he doesn''t care much for either of us." She furrowed her eyebrows as she concluded. "I never lie when ites to rtionships. I find lyingplicates them a lot. Also, your father doesn''t have a good enough personality for me to want to get close to. I am currently a student of his but that doesn''t mean I have to be some loyal minion of his as well. But how can you tell I am not lying, some kind of dark magic trick?" "No, I can conclude that you are not lying by analyzing the way your pupils are dting, something I assume that you still haven''t been trained in by the League." The femme fatale answered with a straight face, making it really hard for me to conclude if she was speaking the truth or not. "That''s definitely a useful skill," I mumbled to myself believing her words. "Anyway, you need to run away from here as soon as possible, preferably before your training concludes." "Run away? And why do you think I will do that?" I chuckled while asking. Was she trying to threaten me here or something because that was a really weak-ass threat? "Because there is a good possibility that you are going to die soon after your training ends." She answered. "And who is going to kill me? You?" I dropped the easygoing smile on my lips and asked her seriously. Hot seductress with a rocking body or not, I do not take kindly to threats. "No, but my father will. He has found you a ''worthy'' heir and so he is going to make you go through the ''shade'' initiation ritual which basically means that he is going to brainwash you into servitude by forcefully instilling loyalty into you with the help of psychological maniption and some of the n''s forbidden dark arts. But that''s only if you pass thest test and agree to lead the League. However, if you fail in thest test, he will then instead take over your body, forever destroying your soul in the process." She exined. "..., okay, I have to admit, I definitely didn''t expect that," I confessed. --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npage toread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom
Chapter 63: A Dangerous Proposition Chapter 63: A Dangerous Proposition ---
"If we were normal, we might not be alive today. And that, my friend, is what gives us the edge we need." - Shishio Makoto,(Rurouni Kenshin)
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "I admit I did not expect your father to attempt something like taking over my body." I was lying, Ipletely expected something like that from him although the forcibly making me a servant or a so-called ''shade'' was a surprise. "But, I don''t understand why ''you'' are telling me this. Did you suddenly get a sh of conscience in you or maybe did you start believing in the concept of karma?" I joked. Talia Al Ghul was as dangerous as her father, actually, in some areas, she was even more dangerous. She could do anything to get what she wanted and was an extreme expert in maniption, even manipting the original Batman to a certain extent. She had inherited her maniption and leadership skills from her father but bybining them with her womanly charms, she could use them much better than the centuries-old old man. "No, I don''t hate what I do. I am very proud of what I am capable of and of the skills I possess... But my skillset isn''t the most important thing in my current life, my family is..., my sister is. And from what I have seen till now, it looks like my sister is infatuated with you, she thinks that she is in love. She doesn''t seem to remember that us... demons can''t love. That''s why we are what we are, we do what we do. But, one thing I do know is that if my father... the Demon''s Head tries to enve you or take over your body, she will most definitely try to save you, something that will cosh Nyssa her life. Because my father isn''t known for being forgiving, even if it is to his own daughters. I don''t want to see my sister burning on a stake on grounds of betrayal." Taliapleted as she coldly looked at my face, driving home the point that whatever she was telling me was only to help her sister and not to help me. "I see. So I guess you want me to run away from here in the hopes that Nyssa won''t have to do something stupid to save me, thus in return saving her from your father''s possible wrath?" "I am d we are on the same page." She shrugged. I don''t know if she was lying or not since regretfully I never learned any lie detection skills but judging from her bodynguage, her words most probably seemed genuine. So, I chose to believe her for now even though she could have easily faked her emotions and bodynguage with her years of training. But still, I should try to pick a few of those useful skills like lock picking and lie detection or maybe even knitting. They could prove pretty useful for me down the line by increasing my versatility. Who knows when you have to knit a beautiful sweater for an alien lord to save the day? "It sounds like a good n but sadly it''s half-baked and has a huge chance of failing. You see your father isn''t just some local warlord, he is an extremely long-lived assassin who runs an international secret organization, an organization that spans the entire globe through which he can find me anywhere I go anytime he wants. So, he will find me no matter how far I run away from here. Now, I know that there is quite a big chance that you already thought about that but just didn''t care and wanted me to run anyway without taking your sister so that she could continue to live her ''normal'' life here. But, let''s face it, even if I do not take her with me, she will probably go into depression and might even kill herself or maybe even revolt against your father. Who knows?" I bluffed shamelessly. I knew that Nyssa liked me but not enough to kill herself over me and I am also pretty sure that she would not be stupid enough to rebel against her father. She could be sad over me leaving but she wouldn''t be batshit crazy. No, the most probable thing that would happen was that she would try to find me herself a few yearster and kill me due to someic-book plot misunderstanding, thinking that I abandoned her and left her to fend for herself or something along those lines. Hell, maybe even her sister or father could be the ones to instigate her against me. I didn''t want any of that stupid bullshit plot to happen here. "Are you trying to ckmail me?" Talia frowned as she scrunched her eyebrows. "What? Of course not, what do you take me for? I''m only telling you about different possibilities. I care about your sister as much as you do and as long as I am with her, I''ll never let anything happen to her... But what if I am not with her? I mean, let''s face it. Your father is getting more and more unhinged by the day. I had heard about how he started this entire League of Assassins. To maintain bnce, to make sure that the world doesn''t be so toxic that it destroys itself, but can you honestly tell me that he is still the same as before, that he hasn''t changed?" I asked, making an innocent expression at which Talia seemed to grow more unsure of herself. "How do you know...?" Talia looked confused and upset at what I was hinting at, yet a part of her expression also slightly hinted that she was scared of what the future could hold. "I have heard the rumors. How he has stayed alive for all these years as well as how he has ''changed''. Who knows, maybe a couple of yearster, you and your sister might even see him slip even deeper into... the pit that he has dug for himself. Maybe he will be so disappointed at your performance in the next mission that he will decide to dispose of you permanently or make you give him a ''worthy heir'' by forcing you to copte with a stranger. Let''s face it, there will never be a happy ending for any of you, neither you nor Nyssa." I whispered like the devil trying to sway a pious man. Even though I was not sure before, I was now. Talia was immensely vulnerable for some reason, most probably because she had lost faith in her father after his recent stunt with Nyssa and me. She was worried for her sister, maybe even for her father. And this was potentially an opportunity for me, a chance to get what I needed. I didn''t want to hurt her or her sister but their father needed to be out of the picture for me to move ahead with my ns. And if I could take advantage of Talia''s lover for her sister to achieve this, I would. I know this would make me a scum but it was better than letting the ''plot'' unfold and force everyone here to live a sad life full of hatred. "..." Talia was mostly silent, her eyes staring nkly in front of her like she was contemting something deep. "You still there?" I asked. "And how do you think that... we could have... a so-called happy ending?" She asked, her voice barely audible from her parched throat. "That would be tough. It''s a road filled with all types of harsh difficulties but the answer remains simple." I said slowly like a wise old man giving advice. "Take over the League of Assassins. Defeat Ra''s Al Ghul, take over your father''s position, make the League yours, and show him that you are better than he could ever be. Show him that he already has an heir worthy of inheriting his name." I said as I walked up closer to her. I was walking on a really thin wire right now. I would have to choose my next words very carefully or this entire thing could copse on itself and all my ns would be ruined. "Your father has borne the burden of being the bnce keeper of the world for far too long. He has worked too hard. He has lost too much and slowly because of that he has changed, corrupted into something else... There is no more of your father in him, now there is only Ra''s Al Ghul. So, give your father the rest he deserves. Free him from his duty, this curse of a life, and just be yourself. That would be the happy ending for all of us, I promise." I whispered with a small smile as I saw Talia''s eyes slightly erging as she realized the gravity of my words. Even though Talia pretended not to understand, she knew somewhat that I was mostly bullshitting to get her to oppose her father, to force her to ''change camps'' but she still chose not to run away or dere me a traitor. She just stared at me with a powerless expression. Her cold eyes despite having a hint of redness and tears in them were glittering with resolution. I knew those eyes. I had once seen them on myself during Joe Chill''s trial. They spoke volumes of the love, anger, hatred, and fear hidden in them yet what they screamed the most was determination, not determination to do what was right or what she wanted but to do what needed to be done. "My sister doesn''t need to know this right now, she is too weak... I''ll be the one to end my father when the timees. She should hate and despise me if she wants but not herself for taking the life of her own family." Talia whispered resolutely. ''She thinks too highly of her little sister''s love for her father. But still, this entire situation strangely seems familiar somehow. The bigger sibling who is a ninja ready to spill the blood of family while shouldering all the burden and hate to protect the younger one.'' I thought to myself as I started to ponder the most efficient way to break apart the League of Assassins brick by brick. But still, I have to say that fate works in mysterious ways. I am currently dating the younger sister, yet the elder sister who is supposed to be one of the best maniptors got ready to betray and kill her father for me just after after meeting me once. ''I wonder if I secretly possess Johan Liebert''s talents inside me or maybe I actually do have some sort of protagonist halo where I can convince people of stuff by my ''talk no jutsu''. Well, whatever it is, I am just happy that I don''t have to do all this alone. Taking over an assassin organization is no small job after all.'' --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npage toread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom Chapter 64: Pawns in a Deadly Game Chapter 64: Pawns in a Deadly Game ---
"Never trust anyone too much; remember, the devil was once an angel" ¨C Kaneki,(Tokyo Ghoul)
--- <{Wayne Entertainment & Media HQ, Gotham; 2005}> <(Omniscient POV)> "Miss. Vale, I don''t think you realize just how amazing a business opportunity this is. The offer that we have from the Glorious Godfrey Broadcasting Systempany can us about eighty billion dors in one fell swoop. Just imagine how pleased Mr. Wayne would be if he got eighty billion dors for a news business he set up with just a measly two billion dors a few years ago. This could be one of the biggest and most profitable exits in the American media industry." A sweating fat man sporting a bald head said while nervously rubbing his hands. "Mr. Morgan, I might be the youngest member of thispany and even in this industry but it will be one of the biggest mistakes in your life if you think even for a single second that I do not know what you are trying to do here. Do you think I haven''t heard about your secret ''business meetings'' with the representatives of GGBS? Let me guess, they offered you a pretty hefty cut if the deal goes through, didn''t they?" Vicki Vale, made a disgusted expression as she coldly stared down the man three times her age. "No... I mean, I only want the best for Wayne Entertainment & Media. I mean the news and magazine division is just a small part of thepany. Selling it for such a hefty amount can help in focusing our..." "Mr. Morgan, perhaps you are forgetting that thispany was established as not just a means to earn money but also to strategically support the Wayne brand name itself as well as to help deliver unbiased genuine news to the masses. Furthermore, I think you are overlooking that Bruce neither likes selling his businesses nor leaving his employees at the mercy of others. So, you should think less about selling thepany and more about improving it and if you can''t, then you are always wee to leave." Vicki sternly said as she deliberately referenced Bruce by his first name to highlight the fact that she was much closer to thepany''s owner than him and held a much higher position. "Hahaha, of course, Miss. Vale. I guess I have grown too old to even suggest this. That''s why fresh faces like you are so much appreciated by thepany. Anyway, thank you for humoring this old man and giving him some of your precious time HAHA, maybe I should go now before I make any more such stupid decisions today." The old fat man almost dashed out of the room while sweating. The very mention of being fired from thepany had scared him way too much even to try to continue to coax his younger boss into epting the deal. Miss Vicki Vale or as as many people had secretly started calling her, the Deathly Vale was one of the most sessful people in Wayne Solutions'' entertainment arm. She was a genius in journalism who afterpleting her Bachelor''s in Mass Media and Communications at the early age of seventeen joined the samepany her father was a part of and quickly rose through the ranks. Presently, she is not only one of the youngest but also one of the most influential people in the Wayne subsidiary, and quite surprisingly to many people, it was not because she was the daughter of the current editor-in-chief of the news division. Even though she joined as just an ordinary news content writer and reporter, her groundbreaking articles on scams, scandals, and the hidden corruption in Gotham as well as her bold ideas, undaunting voice and unique look on different subjects have quickly pushed her to the top where now she was the youngest board member for Wayne Entertainment & Media and in fact was on her way to bing the public face of Wayne Entertainment news division. Of course, her sess could primarily be attributed to three things besides her own enormous natural talent in journalism. One was the continuous support she had been receiving from Cortana in conducting investigations for her news articles through the usage of data on the inte as well as some of Bruce''s stealth drones. Of course some of the aggrieved parties that she had released articles on had tried to take revenge in various ways but vengeance is not easy to achieve when the one you are trying to harm is a trained martial artist who has practiced mystical martial arts from her childhood and upies a high administrative position at the helm of a rising media giant while being protected by dozens of cutting-edgebat drones from the shadows at all times. The second was her early entry into the online news business. After she realized the stupendous potential of the influence the inte could one day have on the news industry, she quickly developed various electronic media publications for providing news and information on various categories for free like Insider, Medium, and even the online news aggregator, Flipboard. Her efforts along with the algorithms provided by Cortana that the news tforms were based on had resulted in Wayne News dominating the global online news world which although currently not so big was still growing at an enormous rate every year. But, the third and biggest reason behind her quick and enormous sess was the newly established national News Network and newspaper ''Daily Bugle'', and its European counterpart ''Daily Herald'' as well as the ''Now'' magazine which were all named by Bruce himself before he went to his ''trip''. They had quickly taken Wayne Entertainment Media''s news division to a national level where they could easilypete withpanies like Daily on an equal footing. "Wow, that was the fourth attempt to buy one of ourpanies by bribing a high-ranking employee. I am starting to grow tired of having to ruin so many idiots'' careers after they think they can get away with betraying Wayne Solutions. *Sigh* I really miss you, Bruce, the world of media is not really as sunshine and flowers as it looks from the outside. I wish you were here to help me through all this... like you always have... I sound like a useless parasite for some reason, even to myself." She sighed as she looked at the various cuttings of the newspapers in front of her with different headlines for each of them. {Billionaire Orphan missing for more than three years. Where is Bruce Wayne?} {Newly appointed Kansas Senator shows staunch support for Wayne Solutions'' new government defense contract. Says missing billionaire Bruce Wayne is a blessing to the world.} {Is the Billionaire teenager of Gotham running from piling debts and a fallingpany? Read ahead to know in detail.} {Wayne Family: The Great Gotham Mystery. Has the young heir to the Wayne fortune joined his parents in thend of eternal sleep?} {Billionaire spotted in India. Is the prince of Gotham going through a spiritual awakening?} {Six board of directors in Wayne Enterprises killed in a mysterious gang shootout,pany on its knees at its worst week ever in Gotham Stock Exchange. Is the Wayne Empire finally dying?} {Bruce Wayne is still a billionaire after losing more than forty billion dors in the stock exchange in one day. Why the Wayne fortune will never disappear? A thorough case study.} {Wayne Solutions, the new diamond in the rough after thetest Gotham Merchant Bank acquisition is estimated to be the biggest privately heldpany in America today but Bruce Wayne, its sole owner is still missing from the picture.} "Even when you are not here, you are still the talk of the town. I guess, people don''t ignore handsome genius billionaires even when they are missing and presumed dead, do they? Maybe I should call up Kitty, force Cortana to give up your location, and then drag you back home. Haha, bet it would be funny." Vicki giggled to herself as she stared at one of the newspaper clippings which had an unclear shot of Bruce''s face taken from far away while he seemed to be hiking on a mountain. "But again, you trusted me and gave me a job to do and even though it''s extremely frustrating and taxing sometimes, I still love my current job, especially the new news show I have been doing on Daily Bugle as an anchor during prime time. Somehow, revealing the true face of the world and those who run it as they truly are to the viewers is really blood-pumping for me and truthfully I don''t hate the fame either. After all, it does give quite a power rush. So, I think I''ll give you some more time to train while I cement our influence. And, by the time you return, I''ll make sure that the city loves and respects you so much that the citizens will kiss the very earth you walk on." Vicki said with a wide smile on her lips as she looked outside the window from her office. Gotham had been growing bigger and bigger every day. In fact, its rate of growth in terms of financial sess could even bepared to New York and Gotham Solutions was the one who had not only indirectly caused it but was also the biggest gainer from this as well. Most people did not know this but the way things were progressing if Wayne Solutions and Wayne Enterprises ever merged, then in a few years Bruce Wayne could own the majority of Gotham''s economy whether directly or indirectly, and would truly be the one and only Prince of Gotham. *** <{League of Assassins'' Training Hall, Nanda Parbat}> <(OmniscientPOV)> "Seven seconds, that is a new record, Bruce. it seems that you have mastered yet another skill. Told you that a small world tour would be quite useful, didn''t I?" Ubu said with a grin that showed all of his half-rotten teeth as he viewed the stopwatch in his hands. "Yeah, I guess it was. I never thought that I could even improve upon my current skills so much with just a fresher perspective on them. I always thought that I could know everything just from reading books or learning from one single expert. Guess, I was wrong, there is no end to learning and there is no such thing called perfection." Bruce admitted aloud as he cracked his limbs after sessfully escaping from a straitjacket while hanging upside down without having any sort of key or tool with him. "Yes, even the Demon''s Head is still learning all sorts of new things despite being alive for hundreds of years. But, this finally concludes your training in all the physical and mental arts. You have mastered almost everything we could teach in these fields. I think you are finally ready." The big loyal Assassin minion said with a proud voice. "Huh, for what? Don''t tell me, you will finally be training me in sorcery and dark arts as you promised all those years ago. Even after so many years, all I could learn about magic from you guys, and my little world tour was a little bit of alchemy and feng shui. Magic is the only field I feel like I have zero defense." Bruce mumbled sadly, making it seem like he was trying to get some pity from Ubu. "No, not the mystic arts. Not right now, at least. I was actually talking about your graduation. It has been dyed quite a while because of your thirst for knowledge and skills. But Ra''s Al Ghul has decided that it is finally time for you to truly be one of us. Maybe, you can continue to learn the mystic arts we have after that." Ubu said as he threw him a bait. "... I see. I guess, it''s finally time then. Well, it was a good run. So, when will be my graduation ceremony and do I have to do anything special for it?" Bruce asked as he nkly looked at Ubu. "There will be a small test, a test of character and loyalty you can call it. It''s different for every person as it depends on one''s personality and is designed by Ra''s Al Ghul himself. If you pass, you will be officially branded as a part of the League of Assassins and maybe in your case, even its head. If you fail, however, the penalty will be death." Ubu exined. "I see. That is to be expected. This is an organization of assassins after all, not a university of researchers. Anyway, since our training is already finished, you will have to excuse me now. I have somewhere else to be..." "Aah, the Demon Head''s daughter right... or should I say, daughters?" Ubu offhandedlymented without much change of an expression. "... What did you say?" Bruce asked. He had tried his best to hide his rtionship with Nyssa and his partnership with Talia all these years and he had the belief that he had been seeding very well at that too. "This mountain is the stronghold of the Demon''s head himself and here he sees everything, even the things he doesn''t want to see. If you thought that you could keep screwing his daughters without him knowing..., then you were the most delusional person in the world. You were only able to do what you did because Ra''s Al Ghul allowed you to. It''s that simple. Now, go and enjoy your youth till itsts Bruce. Life is a very fickle thing, you never know when it ends after all." Ubu snickered as he calmly stared Bruce in the eyes. ''Well, that''s a massive red g... Motherfuc...'' --- (A/N: Hoist the red g everyone because things are about to take a massive turn.) Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npage toread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom Chapter 65: Loyalty and Betrayal Chapter 65: Loyalty and Betrayal ---
"Everyone always has a story they tell themselves to justify bad decisions. It never matters. You are always alone in your actions." ¨C Hawke,(Dragon Age 2)
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "You sure that Nyssa isn''t going to be a problem?" I asked Talia onest time as I wore the traditional League of Assassins clothes I was supposed to wear for my ''graduation'' ceremony. We were currently in my room which was one of the very few ces we could talk without having to worry about being spied on since I had thoroughly checked the room for bugs and installed a couple of portable voice nullifiers which basically made this room fully soundproof. "No, she definitely isn''t. I sent her on a mission to our Arabian base, Eth Alth''eban saying that she was needed there urgently. She didn''t really want to go and miss your ceremony since she didn''t have the faintest idea what would truly be happening there tonight but I somehow convinced her. She isn''t going to be back by next week. So, by the time she returns, everything should be over." Talia spoke a little nervously. "Hey don''t worry. I promise I won''t let you die today. Whatever happens, you will get to meet your sister again, trust me." I smiled as I grabbed her shoulders and squeezed them lightly to give her some much-needed confidence. Both Talia and Nyssa though hated their father were also utterly afraid of him and yet had an inner urge to constantly need his approval for all their achievements. This was of course by design. Ra''s Al Ghul was a smart, cunning, and ruthless man, qualities that can make someone very dangerous when grouped together. He had carefully trained his daughters from birth and psychologically conditioned them to feel those feelings for him in a bid to make them equally merciless and yet loyal to him and the league, no matter what. I personally have been trying to apply my own psychological tricks to try to break the mental hold their father had on them for thest couple of weeks. I have even seeded somewhat with Nyssa due to how much she already distrusted and hated her father after the All-caste mission. I have even hinted about my own ''ipatibility'' with her father which she took quite well to. I wanted to let her in on the n about... well, betraying and murdering her father on the day of the ritual since I didn''t want her to misunderstand anything after finding it out on her own or from someone else. Also, she could be quite useful to us if she was included in the n and I had even started to slowly break it to her but unfortunately, I wasn''t fast enough. So we had no choice but to send her on a ''mission'' to keep her away and safe from everything that was going to happen tonight. Still, I have only been partially sessful with Talia. Her father''s toxic lessons were ingrained so deep within her that it sometimes even pushed her away from her own little sister whom she loved so much. It seemed that Ra''s had somewhat seeded in making her think that her entire life''s only purpose was to serve the League. For her, living a normal life was equal to a mental suicide. Through my barely sessful efforts, I could only change her way of thinking partially about some of the League''s illegal activities and the terroristic process of achieving its goal. Her need to seek constant approval and prove herself to her father had also decreased but in return, she seemed adamant about proving herself useful and capable to me for some reason, even though I never once questioned her capabilities knowing that she was possibly one of the very best assassins in the world probably at the level of Marvel''s ck Widow, only more ruthless. Hell, even her physique was enhanced to the degree of a pseudo-super soldier much like her sister. "Haha, just focus on saving your own life, Mr. yboy. Believe me, I can survive on my own, don''t try to y the part of a white knight. Doesn''t quite suit your character." She lightly chuckled as she closed the distance between us and began to straighten my ninja costume or as it is traditionally called shinobi shozoku. "You can''t me me for looking out for a prettydy like you," Iid out some friendly flirting earning an eyeroll from her in return. This little flirting game was slowly bing a norm between us even while in the presence of Nyssa and it was something that helped us to bond deeper and avoid awkwardness despite the two of us plotting a coup against her warlord of a father. "You can''t y this game with someone who has already mastered it, Bruce. Also, you are pretty lucky that you are my sister''s boyfriend, otherwise, you would have been in quite some trouble." She snorted as she finished straightening my clothes and retreated while deliberately brushing her hands on my crotch and thigh. ''If she thought that this level of seduction was enough to break me, then she has another thinging. I was the previous record holder of ''No-Nut November'' in myst life.'' I thought confidently. "Also, I have taken care of the mid-level and top-level experts of the league. Most of them won''t be at the base when the ritual starts. Of course, none of them knows what''s truly going to happen tonight. I gave them all various ''emergency missions'' to justify them for not being present at the base today. Of course, the All-caste suddenly attacking some of our outposts all around Asia was quite helpful. As far as anyone is concerned, even my father''s death will just be a result of an assassination due to a ''cold war'' against another organization, something truly unfortunate." She smiled cunningly as she looked at me with eyes that searched for... praise. "Good, you did your part well Talia. Now, leave everything else to me. I''ll take care of the rest." I confidently dered. "I hope so. Because if my father doesn''t die tonight, both of us will." She ominously said with her fear evident in her trained eyes for a second before she silently left the room without a single more word. I too followed behind her after waiting for a couple of minutes to make sure that nobody would be suspicious of us even though most of the people here wouldn''t tell anyone anything even if they saw us together since Talia held one of the highest positions in the League and even I was quite well respected as one of the best assassins of the organization. Also, they truthfully didn''t have the guts to approach and tell Ra''s Al Ghul that his daughter might be potentially having an affair with someone or plotting something behind his back unless they had hard proof. The weather was exceptionally cold today as it looked like an ice storm could rise up at any moment. Thick clouds passing through the mountain and heavy fog made it impossible for even me to see anything more than a few meters in front of me. "It seems, Winter ising" I mumbled as I finally reached the main training hall on the mountain. I had trained in this ce for a couple of years now but I never had the opportunity to fully explore the monastery/dojo. Even the few drones I had sent on reconnaissance a couple of times had always ended up malfunctioning for some reason. I suspected it to be due to some form of magical protection. "You ready, Cortana?" I muttered under my breath. "Always, Sir." She confidently replied back from the ordinary-looking silver bracelet on my hands. "Good, because it''s showtime," I spoke aloud as I entered the monastery with confidence. Two masked guards posted at the door let me in without asking any questions or any change in their expressions. The entire dojo looked a lot different than how it appeared normally during my training days. Instead of training equipment, there were now different weird-looking scrolls adorning the hall walls. There was even an artificially raised altar in the middle of the hall as masked assassins stood surrounding it. Ubu in hisbat attire and Ra''s Al Ghul in his traditional green cloak were also there, standing with inexpressive wooden faces and just staring at me without even blinking for a second. Talia had also taken her ce beside Ubu as she just stared ahead nkly with a stony face. Ra''s Al Ghul strangely had a small bowl in his left hand from which traces of a green liquid were slowly dripping. There was a small trail of that same liquid on his lips as well which he licked away using his tongue. Dozens of candles were illuminating the entire ce, giving it an even more eerie and ominous vibe. "Ah, I see you finally made it Bruce. Wee to your final trial. Forgive me for not decorating this ce more but we were a little short on hands. We seem to be in the midst of a war, funny how people think that they can win against change itself." Ra''s Al Ghul was the one who broke the silence as he gave the bowl to one of the assassins who bowed and took it away. "I am grateful to be here and quite excited to be a part of one of the main forces that have governed the world till now," I said with a brilliant smile, not even letting anyone doubt that I was secretly figuring out the best way to kill him. "Good, I guess then we are on the same page. Then, we can finally begin the trial." He said as he disyed a kind smile on his face and nodded to Ubu who quickly went to a corner of the room and brought a chained unconscious human dressed in khaki-colored garments near the sacrificial altar. I couldn''t see the person''s face because the entire head was wrapped with a cloth mask. ''I remember this from the movie. He is going to ask me to execute some thief or something. I wonder, should I do that and give him a false sense of victory and security before I continue with the n or should I kill him before that? Well, depends on what the person is guilty of, I guess.'' I thought as I didn''t pay much attention to the tied-up individual and just continued to stare at Ra''s Al Ghul. "This person is guilty of a very terrible crime, one of the most terrible crimes one could evermit, in fact. Your job is to execute this person and make sure that justice is upheld. Do that and you will be a part of the League. You and I together will change the world as we purge it of its filth. We will bring about a new dawn of humanity and keep the bnce to make sure that the rotten of the society gets what they deserve." Ra''s Al Ghul dered proudly while Ubu kept his head down in respect and Talia looked directly into my eyes, waiting for my signal. "... Before I execute him, may I at least know what he is guilty of?" I asked as I picked up the sword that was being offered to me by one of the assassins. "Betraying one''s own blood." He coldly said as he didn''t even look at the figure. "Isn''t that too much of a punishment for..." I tried to plead on behalf of him. "No, she betrayed the very people that once cared for her, the very family that raised her and for this betrayal, the only punishment is death. That''s the true unbiased judgment of the League... Also, it is a ''she'', not a ''he''." He concluded as Ubu slowly raised the piece of cloth covering the bound-up person''s head. "WHAT? WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING HERE FATHER? WHY IS SHE HERE?" Talia yelled angrily as she tried to run towards her father in rage but was immediately grabbed by about a dozen assassins near her. The old man didn''t even bat an eye at her. "What is the meaning of this, Ra''s Al Ghul?" I asked in a calm voice, yet anyone witnessing my face right now would know that I was anything but calm. I was feeling abination of mixed emotions, surprise and anger being the biggest two of them. "I told you, Bruce, my judgment is unbiased and true for everyone, even if it is for my own younger daughter." Ra''s Al Ghul said as his eyes nced at the barely conscious face of Nyssa lying on the floor. --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npage toread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom Chapter 66: Coup Unveiled & Monstrous Showdown Chapter 66: Coup Unveiled & Monstrous Showdown ---
"In this world, the weak are the sustenance of the strong. The strong live, the weak die."
¨C Makoto Shishio,(Rurouni Kenshin)
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "You really thought that you could outsmart me, Bruce? ME? The man who had been running this entire organization for thest five hundred years? Me, who had not only started the League of Assassins but even developed it into the globe-spanning organization it is today? HAHAHA, you might be an intelligent ''boy'' but you are still plenty inexperienced it seems. You have overestimated yourself too much." Ra''s Al Ghul mocked as he looked at me with a pitiful smile, challenging me to prove him wrong. "And as for you my sweet Talia, you showed me that you truly are my daughter, ambitious and cunning., just as I like it. You had been preparing thest few years for this day, hadn''t you, preparing to take over the League the moment you get a chance? You have been lying to Bruce and even yourself when you said that you wanted to do this for your sister. But the truth is you just wanted to do this for power, you just wanted to be the new head of the League. Hahaha, you could have been my perfect heir... Pity that you are not my son." Ra''s Al Ghul said with a sneer. "How?" I asked without any change in my expression. "How, what?" "How did you know what we were nning?" I asked. I knew that Talia wasn''t the one to leak the information of the ''coup'' if I were to go by his words as well as the current surprised and angry look on her face but I still needed to make sure that she hadn''t betrayed me in any way. If she has, then Ra''s wouldn''t be the only person disappearing from the face of the tonight. "I see that you too share my distaste for betrayal, Bruce. But worry not, my daughter has only betrayed me tonight... for now, although I am sure that your turn also would havee soon too if I were to die that easy. She has the blood of a ghul after all." Ra''s smirked as he looked at his daughter withplex eyes filled with both pride and contempt. ''That''s one messed up and misced pride of a father.'' I thought to myself, albeit a bit relieved that I didn''t lose my gamble by putting my trust in her. "As for how I knew, it was petty obvious for someone like me who has been suppressing rebellions for centuries. I have had my fair share of students trying to take over the League after thinking that they didn''t have anything to learn from me anymore. Of course, they were all idiots for thinking that I had actually taught them everything I knew. And, as for you, I knew that you weren''t a normal kid the very first moment I saw you. Your acting skills were truly great since even I was confused for the greater part of two years about your true personality and the extent of your physical capabilities but even the most perfect actors slip up. It took me a lot of time to realize who Bruce Wayne truly was, and to connect the dots. But, I seeded nheless and found out why you were truly here... You, Bruce Wayne like many MANY people before you, are a power-hungry, greedy, and selfish little person who wants nothing more than to amass more and more power in the name of safety and justice, just so that you yourself can feel safe in this little world of ours. So that you have a purpose, a meaning to your existence. But, the worst thing is you don''t even realize that yourself, do you?" Ra''s Al Ghul stared directly into my eyes, his gaze unmoving like they were trying to hypnotize me. "You sure you aren''t just imprinting your own personality in me? I mean, those words sound a lot like... you." I said with a straight face. Honestly, I was trying to buy some time because I wanted Nyssa to wake up before the fight broke out since a battle would mean that I would be unable to protect her unconscious ass from threats. "Imprinting my personality? It is funny you mention that since my ns tonight really are something along those lines, that''s of course if you fail. So, what have you decided Bruce Wayne, will you kill Nyssa? Sacrifice her for your goals, and be a true member of the League, the next leader of the League as my heir or will you give up the best chance you have at taking over the League for yourself just because of a little useless thing called... love?" Ra''s Al Ghul couldn''t help but chuckle as he uttered thest word, making his distrust in the concept clear. "What are you talking about father? You can''t let Nyssa die. She didn''t do anything, we didn''t even include her in our ns. She is innocent, please I beg you father, let her go. I will rece her if you want. I can take her ce. Bruce, please don''t kill her. She trusted you. Don''t betray her trust. I will do anything you wish, just don''t let her die, please." Talia begged with constant tears flowing from her eyes as she tried her best to struggle against her captor''s clutches but unfortunately, the strength of a dozen trained ninjas was greater than even her enhanced physical capabilities. "... Truthfully, I am pretty hurt that you would even think I could kill her Talia. I know how to look after what''s mine. Also, as you yourself said Ra''s, I am pretty selfish, sacrifice just isn''t my cup of tea. That''s for heroes and I am definitely not a hero, I lost the right to call myself that a loooong time ago..." I said as I noticed Nyssa slightly moving, her eyes twitching. She was slowly waking up from her induced sleep. "But you can call me something else, you can call me...vengeance." I took out about six ck kunai and threw them to three ninjas standing the closest to Nyssa while throwing the other three at the ninjas holding Talia, instantly killing all six of my targets. "I see you have made your choice then. A real pity." Ra''s Al Ghul sighed, not even acknowledging the death of three of his ninjas. "Pity this." I quickly threw a kunai at Ra''s with lightning speed, aimed directly at his throat. I was sure that as only an enhanced he would fail to dodge the projectile that I had thrown with almost all my super strength but surprisingly instead of dodging it, he just caught the kunai with his bare fingers, disying a bored expression on his face, making the entire feat seem like nothing extraordinary. "I told you, I didn''t teach you everything." He said with an inexpressive face as he yfully twirled the kunai in his fingers and threw it back at me which I tool easily caught with my left hand. "That makes two of us," I replied as I threw it at one of the ninjas running towards Talia to hold down since she had mostly freed herself by overpowering the remaining ninjas. "Take care of them, Ubu. I have to prepare for the true ritual." Ra''s Al Ghul confidently ordered as he silently walked further into one of the forbidden parts of the structure, disappearing into the darkness. "You aren''t getting away that easy," Talia yelled as she threw a couple of flying knives at her father meant to kill him but they were all quite easily blocked by the giant minion standing in his path. "You two shouldn''t have betrayed him Talia because now I have to do something to both of you that I never wanted to. So, don''t me me for this." Ubu said as he took out a small strange cylindrical instrument from his robe with a needle on the top. "Talia go and free your sister and maybe try to thin the ninja poption with your sister. I''ll take care of the humanoid bear." I said as I cracked my neck, dodging one of the ninjas who was stealthily trying to go for the kill while I broke his neck with a single punch. Talia who was also busy killing a pair of ninjas just looked at me and nodded with aplicated face. From the look on her face, it seemed like she was thinking something that she should not be thinking but I failed to determine exactly what. However, I was not worried. Even if she decided to run away or betray me now, I was currently at a stage where it wouldn''t matter because I had ns of my own and one of my backup ns was already on its way here. "I told you Bruce, never make Ra''s Al Ghul your enemy but you went ahead and did just that. And to think that I was just beginning to like you. Now, I''ll have to break every bone in your body to please the master. *Sigh* You could have averted all this and made it easy for all of us by just not plotting against the lord. You would only have to kill some nobody or some thief in that case to pass the trial and you would have been a loyal member of the organization." Ubu sighed, his voice almost sounded... sad. "You can just stand back then Ubu. I don''t have a grudge against you. I only have an enmity with the Demon''s Head. So, if you stand down, I will let you live, I promise. Plus, if you don''t remember, Ra''s Al Ghul himself just stated that I am much stronger than a normal human. So, if you were struggling to win against me when I was holding back so much of my true physical might, why do you think you are going to have a chance now?" I debated. I truly didn''t want to kill the man. Despite being a loyal bodyguard for Ra''s Al Ghul, I had never seen him do anything that was morally ambiguous. He was always only focused on his job to protect Ra''s Al Ghul. In a way, he was Ra''s Al Ghul''s version of Mercy. "I can''t defeat you huh? Well, I guess that would have been normally true... but unfortunately, it''s not." He instantly inserted the needle in his hand into the side of his own neck as a small sound of a pressure valve being released was heard. "If you are going to cheat, I am too." At that moment, Ubu suddenly started undergoing a huge change in his body, both outside and inside. His skin darkened into a pale greyish color, his eyes reddened and his veins especially those near his neck bulged all while the sound of cracks of his bones shifting reverberated in the air. "What did you do to yourself?" I asked, disgusted at how his body was slowly deforming to be even more bulkier than before. "Master was running a little project on the side in our Arabian base topete with the superhuman drugs that the Japanese and Americans were developing, particrly drugs like Mirakuru... a d-drug to increase our physical abilities to AAAAH SUPERHUMAN LEVELS. *PANT* *Pant* It''s still in development and not even nearly p-perfect but it''s enough f-for squashing traitorous little bugs like y-you. HahahaHAHAHHAHA. So, congrattions to you Bruce Wayne, you will be the first victim of VENOM." Ubupleted in a monstrous voice as his transition also ended, setting him as an almost eight-foot-tall giant of a human with bulking muscles that would make any grown man feel like a small baby in front of him. "... Wow, God you look... hideous. I guess waiting for your speech and slow-ass transformation to be over was worth it, huh? If I had killed you the moment you injected that serum, I wouldn''t have gotten to see your magnificently ugly face, so I am really d I didn''t. I guess that''s why the main characters always give the bad guys the required time toplete their ultimate transformations. It''s because they are genuinely curious to see the final result... God, you are one ugly piece of shit. You look like the perverted baby of a deformed elephant and an overweight hippo if they had a threesome with a zombified walrus." I could not help butment. And I wasn''t lying at the least. The current Ubu could be nominated one of the wonders of the world if an award was ever given based on how ugly one possibly could be. --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npage toread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom
Chapter 67: Echoes of Regret Chapter 67: Echoes of Regret ---
"Killing is an art, and I am a master" - Thane Krios,(Mass Effect 2)
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "TAKE THIS" Ubu yelled as he threw another huge boulder toward me to crush me which I effortlessly dodged. He had be massively stronger than before but his intelligence on the other hand seemed to have decreased a LOT as well, resulting in him having to resort to more brute and savage forms of attack than actual martialbat which was aplete letdown to the warrior in me. Also, no matter how big and strong he was now, it still didn''t change the fact that I was faster and quicker than him with a level of strength no less magnificent than Ubu who was amped up by the venom super steroid. "Don''t MOVE." He yelled as he increased the rate at which he was throwing things at me but was still unsessful in hitting me even once. This made him even angrier which further limited his intelligence making this joke of a fight far less entertaining and more disappointing for me than I initially thought it would be. "Stop running away you coward and fight me. I have sacrificed my humanity but I have be something much greater." He yelled as he threw an assassin who was too close to him in an attempt to hit me but unfortunately for both him and the ninja, I was sessful in effortlessly dodging the living projectile, resulting in the unlucky assassin getting sttered on one of the walls due to the sheer force he was thrown with. "Now that I am finally the monster that I was always meant to be, I can not only defeat you but even serve the master with the effectiveness that I alwayscked. I can finally fulfill my purpose." He roared with glee as his body further mutated and bulked up while he broke a huge pir from the structure and threw it at me. But this time, instead of dodging, I took a deep breath and simply punched the iing piece of cement with a significant amount of my strength, instantly breaking it into pieces. "Sacrificing your humanity and bing a monster for just a little more power. Even if you are a monster for a noble purpose like protecting someone, it still doesn''t change the fact that you are a monster nheless, a strong creature with a weak will. So, you are still weak Ubu. Infact, you are even weaker than before." I finally opened my mouth as I seriously spoke while looking him straight into his eyes. "As for the reason I am not fighting you, it''s because I don''t fight weak-minded and weak-willed creatures like you. I looked forward to fighting the real Ubu with his amazing skills and experience. I looked forward to having a real battle with you but you chose the cowardly way and made yourself a disgusting monster, forgetting your own lessons of always being in control of one''s body. You disappointed me Ubu and I don''t fight with disappointments. I can sense it. You are dying anyway because of the defective iplete steroidalpound you took, your body rapidly burning your own chi and life force to keep you going. So why should I have anything to do with your death? Dying a disappointment in a cowardly death with a drug overdose, that''s what you deserve for betraying my expectations and hope." I said as I simply dodged the next big projectile that came towards me. "No No No NO NONONONONONONONO. FIGHT ME. FIGHT ME... Please... let me have this fight. I need it... FIGHT ME." He cried out more like a berserking beast than a human as he rushed towards me with a burst of speed that was extremely surprising for someone his size and punched me with everything he had, hurtling me towards the opposite side of the hall. "FIGHT ME." He screamed like a true maniacal monster as he again jumped toward where I hadnded and began to punch me in rapid session. Each of his punches was powerful enough to grind rocks to dust. I could dodge some of them even if they were in point-nk range but a major portion of his punches sessfullynded on my face and upper body directly. "FIGHT ME." He screamed again with a crazed yet desperate look on his face. Almost all signs of intelligence were already gone from his eyes making him look like a savage unintelligent beast fueled only by a drug-induced rage. "No," I said calmly as I stopped both of his fists and held them tightly, not even letting him move the least as he struggled desperately to hit me. "GROOOWL" He roared mindlessly as he headbutted me but it wasn''t anything I could not endure. Despite being a huge hulking monster, his monstrous physical strength still wasn''t above the limits of my own. The monster version of Ubu continued to struggle in a desperate attempt to hit me and maybe even subconsciously tried to get a raise out of me to force me to fight back but I didn''t. I was determined not to. It was stupid but it was simply my personal petty revenge and most of all, it was a way for me to not feel guilty for killing one of the few people I liked here. For me, even if it was for the briefest of moments, Ubu had be a friend, a friend I knew as a fact would betray me one day and not hesitate for a single moment in sacrificing my life for his master but he was still a friend nheless. And since, I had no real danger from Ubu, at least not this version of Ubu who didn''t even have the mental capability to use chi or any mystical martial arts anymore, I didn''t have any reason to kill him and give him the satisfaction of dying in a glorious battle like a real warrior. No, he chose to be a monster and favored blind strength instead of skill, so there was no way he would get to die like a human warrior. I began to manipte my own chi and send it into his body, trying to cleanse the drug from his system. I still wasn''t a master at this but due to the absence of any real obstruction inside his body, I was still seeding. Gradually after a few minutes of struggling Ubu slowly became more and more docile as strength seemed to rapidly escape from his muscles and his physique began to release some mild warm steam while bing smaller and smaller, quickly losing his monstrous size. It looked like the effects of the harmful steroid were finally ending. But unfortunately, Ubu didn''t at all look like he was ever going to get his normal mental capabilities back. He had stopped moving at all and just stared forward with a nk look. He had made his choice and as a result, the untested early version of venom had forever changed him into a monster, both body and mind. He was no longer a human and he never would be. "I might not have fought you to give you the satisfaction of dying in a glorious battle but I can at least give you mercy and grant you a peaceful death." I picked up a small kunai from the ground and slowly drove it straight through his neck, slitting half of his entire throat and ending whatever life was left in him. I would have liked to use an All-de on him to give him a more... pure death but unfortunately, the pair of des can only be used on either truly evil threats or those of supernatural origin and I was sure Ubu wasn''t either one. He was definitely a bad person but he wasn''t truly evil. He was just a stupid blind loyal follower of someone who was. As thest breath left from the now six-feet figure, I noticed something peculiar. There was a trace of a few drops of tears near his nk eyes like he wanted to cry but wasn''t able to. It didn''t look like tears of anger or sorrow but more like tears of regret. "A monster never cries, huh?" I mumbled to myself in a low voice, releasing a deep heavy sigh as I caught a glimpse of Talia and the now somewhat recovered Nyssa fighting with about a few dozen assassins on their own outside the monastery, even looking like they were winning. Some assassins even seemed to have joined their team and were fighting the others on behalf of the two sisters. But I knew that they wouldn''t be able to win. More and more assassins would keeping here from the town below as they get the news of our little ''rebellion''. In the next couple of hours, even the ones who had been sent on a mission woulde back and once those experienced ones returned, our chances of winning would be next to moot. So, I need to find and get rid of Ra''s Al Ghul as soon as possible, preferably within the next hour before those experienced assassins realize what was happening ande back. As for the ones who were already on their way to reach here from the town below, well... "Cortana, are they here?" I asked as I rubbed a slight bruise on my face, a result of the monster Ubu''s repeated punches. The bruise had almost healed fully and was on the verge of disappearingpletely, but it reminded me that I was still human and could feel pain and sorrow, unlike monsters. "Eta T minus 15 minutes. There was a snowstorm, so they got dyed. Also, additional hostile armed forces were detected. Permission tomence the project, ''Firefly''?" Cortana''s voice chimed in from my bracelet. She almost sounded a little sad, maybe she felt pity for Ubu... or perhaps she felt it for me instead. "Do it. You have full authority to use them as you like. Keeping the two sisters alive is your primary objective. Just try not to destroy all of them. Constructing even a single prototype Hive made more than a 10-million-dor dent in my pockets." I answered as I went towards the direction Ra''s fled earlier. "No promises," Cortana responded. *** <(Omniscient POV)> A strange matte ck cylinder kept on a desk in Bruce''s room in the hidden town of Nanda Parbat suddenly began to make a beeping sound like it was being activated somehow. After a few beeps, the surface of the cylinder began to turn into scores of small insectoids looking exactly like glowing fireflies as they began to fly away on their own with a light wheezing sound through a slightly opened window towards the direction of the ongoing battle. They currently had only two objectives in their program, observe and eliminate. --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npage toread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom Chapter 68: Dance of the Fireflies Chapter 68: Dance of the Fireflies ---
"People do what is in their best interest, regardless of who gets hurt. Is it evil to take what one wants, to satisfy hunger even if doing so will cause another suffering? What some would call evil, I believe to be an appropriate response to a harsh and unfair world." - us Mikaelson, (The Originals)
--- <(Omniscient POV)> "Nyssa, we are slowly being encircled. If this continues, we won''t be able to fight for much longer. Maybe, it is time for us to retreat. Some have chosen to fight for us, so we can still make it if we just have them cover for us..." Talia started hopefully as she fought three different assassins all at once, still not being at a disadvantage for even the slightest bit. "NO. Bruce is still in there fighting, we can''t abandon him..., at least I won''t. You however are free to leave any time you want ''sister''. After all, I doubt that you trust or even trust me enough to stick along. Perhaps I am just a liability to you." Nyssa harrumphed while slitting the throat of an assassin who had tried to kick her in the face. "You are still angry at me? I didn''t tell you because I thought it would be easier for you to not know that your own sister and boyfriend were plotting to kill your father to take over all his wealth and assets. But yeah sure, I would definitely include you the next time we n something like this. Just stop making me miserable with that cold shoulder of yours..., little sis." Talia said as she struggled to repel the attacks of five assassins who had attacked her together. Even though the two sisters had been quite sessful in evading and countering all the assassins trying to kill them, things weren''t looking up for them at all. Instead, they were constantly being pushed back by the attacking forces as more and more brainwashed ninjas joined the tide against them. "Look out," Talia yelled as she quickly rushed towards her little sister and hacked away at the assassin who was about to literally backstab her with a massive hunting dagger. "Keep your eyes open. There are too many of them." She said with concern as her mind began to run at full capacity on how to escape with her sister alive from what was basically a losing battle. After nning this very rebellion with Bruce for thest few years, Talia had begun to consider him as a friend, someone who was quite simr to herself, a kindred soul whose ambitions reached the sky just like her. Normally, he had the perfect traits she desired in a partner for herself but unfortunately, he was already taken, and that too by her own sister, so even though she regrly liked to tease and flirt with him, trying to make him blush, she still stayed within her own self-defined limits. But all this didn''t change the fact that she loved herself and her own sister much more than a boy she had met a few years ago, someone who might have just been using both sisters to take over their father''s shadow empire. That''s why Talia had always nned to seize any chance she got and be the next leader of the League of Assassins after her father''s defeat before Bruce could even try it but unfortunately, like all things in the world, her ns had gonepletely awry. Just when Talia was weighing her options and considering knocking Nyssa out to forcibly carry her away to safety, a heavy tap on her shoulder by her little sister finally broke her out of her thoughts. "We have new guests climbing from the east side of the mountain... Wait, those assassins... they are Cain''s, aren''t they?" Nyssa sounded surprised with a hint of worry audible in her voice. "... What the hell are Cain''s forces doing here? Did Father call them for backup after he realized our n? Shit, even escaping is going to be much harder than I thought. Come on Nyssa, we don''t have much time. We need to go, NOW." Talia eximed with worry as she tried to drag her sister away from the battleground while killing anyone who blocked her path. "No, leave me. I won''t go. LET ME FIGHT" Nyssa argued like a little girl as she used her full strength to fight back against her sister''s pull. She was determined to fight till herst breath. She wasn''t gonna be like her father, she didn''t want to end up like him. She knew that Bruce had trusted her to have his back and she was going to make sure that she didn''t lose that trust of his. *Zzz* Before Talia could answer, a strange faint noise suddenly began to echo on the entire peak of the mountain as almost everyone fighting stopped for a fraction of a second after hearing the voice in surprise. It wasn''t exactly a loud sound but more like abination of lots of soft sounds making it almost unbearably annoying for anyone nearby. It was like dozens of bees constantly buzzing near the ears. "What is that sound?" A random ninja whispered out loud while looking around for anything suspicious going on but couldn''t find anything particrly fishy except for a great number of fireflies flying around. "Fireflies? At this height?" Nyssa wondered curiously as she saw most of the fireflies converging on the assassins that were battling them as well as the ninjasing their way while avoiding the two sisters themselves as well as their newly made allies. Almost everyone at the scene was now confused. Most had even stopped fighting. They could not understand from just where so many fireflies hade all at once. The entire area seemed to have gotten an extra glow in the dark of the night from the swarm of fireflies flying together. It was a weirdly beautiful scene. However, before anyone could appreciate their beauty for long, a ninja who was examining a firefly sitting on his arm suddenly yelled out at the top of his lungs. "Wait, they aren''t fireflies. They are..." *Boom* *Boom* *Boom* *Boom* *Boom* *Boom* *Boom* *Boom*... Multiple explosions began to ring out all over the forest as each firefly exploded in a spectacr function like grenades giving rise to controlled sts capable of wiping out entire living beings. "DUCK" Talia screamed as she forced Nyssa down in an attempt to shield her from the explosions but not even a speck of me or ember from the sts touched them nor did they feel much considerable heat on their skin. It was like all the explosions around them were coordinated perfectly to take out the maximum number of enemies around them without harming either them or their new allies. It was nothing short of a miracle. Even the newest group of League assassins who had just reached the ''battleground'' were eliminated just like that without them even realizing how they died. A lot of the new squad''s ninjas were still climbing the mountain and were pretty far from the bombing site but the rapid and repeated multiple explosions had caused a chain reaction that had created an avnche, one so dangerous that it had not only wiped out almost all the climbers but even destroyed a major portion of the hidden town below. The entire ordeal had happened so quickly that most of the still-living people weren''t even able toprehend exactly what had happened and were still reeling from the absolute shock of it. "*Cough* *Cough* What the fuck just happened?" Talia panted in panic and excitement as she coughed from the smoke. She could not believe her own eyes. Almost all of their enemies were dead from just that single round of explosion and yet, they were untouched which basically meant someone just helped them survive. But the question was, who? "Something in the way Mm Something in the way, yeah Mm" A slow melodious song suddenly began to y in the distance as the source of the sound gradually began to move towards them. "Something in the way Mm Something in the way, yeah Mm" The volume of the song continued to increase until the source where the song wasing from finally became visible to the people who were still alive and standing. It was one single hi-tech-looking drone that appeared to be flying in slow motion while scanning everything happening in the scene around it. "Assigned objective aplished. Project Firefly was designated a sess. Data recorded. Thank you all for your participation." A polite female voice boomed out from the single drone as it hovered above the bombed site like it ruled the ce. "Is this really happening or am I dreaming?" Talia questioned her own sanity as she tried to make sense of whatever she was seeing. She already had a lot on her te but exploding fireflies and talking smart drones seemed to stretch her patience thin. "I think it''s... our backup... from Bruce. He always told me about his fascination with drones and other tech stuff. So, maybe this is his? I mean he does have the money for... all this." Nyssa tried to make sense of their situation with a hopeful exnation. "Protocol ''League ughter Night'' 70 percentplete. All chosenbat drone units reaching location in eta 1 minute." The drone uttered as it slowly shifted into offensive mode while hidden weapons began to emerge from its body. "This is a message for all League members. The League of Assassins'' Nanda Parbat headquarters has already been taken over and has been temporarily ced under the administration of Nyssa and Talia Ghul. You are requested to kindly cooperate with us and surrender to the true heir of the Demon Head or be prepared to die the most horrible death you have ever thought possible." It announced while ignoring both the Ghul sisters as countless simr-looking droids began to appear beside it and took their positions beside the original one. "Yep, it is definitely our backup," Nyssa confirmed as she wondered just how smart and rich her boyfriend was to have an entire army of murderous drones in his arsenal as well as how parallelly stupid he was to ce his trust in her elder sister. "Hey Miss Drone, since me and my sister are temporarily in change, that means I can..." Talia started talking with her gaze directed at the drones. "Bruce has made me responsible for handling the entire surrender process as well as all the core decisions while he is absent. However, if any important decision that needs a human touch needs to be made or if you two have any particr requests then you can give your advice, Miss Talia." Cortana''s savage reply immediately silenced Talia and almost made her eyes twitch. "Yep, it is definitely Bruce''s," Talia murmured with a bitter expression on her face. *** <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "I feel like someone is cursing at me for some reason. I wonder why?... Eh, whatever. I am sure handsome people get cursed a lot for their good looks." I thought to myself while feeling my inner narcissistic awakening at my own thoughts. "Anyway, now to a more serious topic, I have seen two different small Lazarus pits till now while descending the stairs of the monastery and both are the most vile and disgusting pools of dirty puddle water I have ever seen. It looks like green radioactive dirty trash water for god''s sake. So the question of the millennium is how the hell does Ra''s Al Ghul manage to bathe in these Lazarus pits without puking his guts out?" --- (A/N: Happy New Year my amazing readers . Hope the New Year is going to be amazing for both me and you guys ) Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npage toread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom Chapter 69: Echoes of the Demon Chapter 69: Echoes of the Demon ---
"Frankly, my dear, I don''t give a damn." - Rhett Butler,(Gone with the Wind)
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "Seriously, how long is this tunnel? I have passed through three mini-sized Lazarus pits already. Did he store every Lazarus pit he ever found in his life in here?" I wondered aloud as I calmly walked through the dark tunnel, descending deeper into the monastery''s massive underground chamber. ''Goddamn it, I should have brought my bat tool. Not only it would have been extremely useful, but using its sma de function and pretending like it is a red lightsaber in the dark would have been pretty cool. I am sure that if done well, even Ra''s Al Ghul would feel literal chills after seeing me emerge from the dark with a red lightsaber, provided that he hasn''t seen the movie yet. Well, next time I guess.'' *ng* *ng* *ng* A sharp metallic sound suddenly began to echo from the darkness, like a metal banging against another metal, painting the eerie atmosphere even more ominous. "So, it seems that you were waiting for me. Surprised that I came alone without Ubu?" I asked as I saw the silhouette of Ra''s Al Ghul calmly standing in the dark with a pair of strange curved swords in his hands. "No, I knew Ubu wouldn''t be able to defeat you. If he was that good, I would have made him my sessor, not you. He was only good enough to slightly dy you and serve as a small test to prepare you for what is toe now, but he even failed to do that, I assume. I guess he was more useless than I thought he was." He said without much change in his otherwise impassive expression while looking at my seemingly unhurt self. "Well, yeah, guess what? I am not that easy to beat up, not even by my potential father-inw." I joked back as I subtly nced at our surroundings. It was dark but with my enhanced sight, I could easily see through the darkness. The entire... underground chamber was an artificial cave with creepy symbols and figures painted all over the walls. The Demon''s Head himself was standing in front of the biggest Lazarus pit I had seen till now, one that was almost half the size of an Olympic-sized pool. It was goddamn big. Even the ceiling was shaped weirdly like a big dome just above the center of the pit. "You like bathing in fresh green chemicals, don''t you?" I joked. *CLINK* A loud shrill noise echoed all over the cave as Ra''s Al Ghul struck his swords against each other at a particr angle, immediately lighting up the torch fixed beside him with the sparks generated from the sharp des hitting each other. "No, but I will soon. After all, the next bath in there is going to be life-changing... for both of us. And as for my daughters, I never really cared about them. They don''t understand the greater good, they don''t understand my true purpose and the responsibility that someone in my position has to bear. So, you courting them changes nothing for me. However, that also changes nothing for you because Bruce Wayne won''t be leaving this ce today, at least not alive." Ra''s Al Ghul smiled menacingly. "You have too many aspirations Ra''s Al Ghul, just be careful not to choke on them. Anyway, now can we finally start, if you are done with all your theatrics that is? I am getting bored of having these heartfelt conversations with everyone every time I fight today." "HAHAHA. Didn''t you learn Bruce? The theatrics are part of the show. It''s part of the illusion that an expert assassin casts on its target. Haven''t you heard of the phrase, If you want to be the best, you must act like it FIRST." Ra''s Al Ghul threw a bunch of kunai in my direction even before hepleted his words while charging at me the very next second like a mad bull. I too didn''t bother to speak any longer and just took a fighting stance while my twin ming swords came to life in my hands as I mentally summoned the All-des and blocked the sword attack aimed at me. *ng* "Burning swords. It seems that sending you to that mission did quite some good for you. Shouldn''t you thank me?" Heughed as he began to sh his sword at me, each of his movements calcted and precise. He looked like he was performing aplex dance with his sword instead of fighting a life-and-death battle. His swords too didn''t seem to be affected much by the All-des. "Your leg work is excellent and so are the movements of your wrists. Good, you might just be the best student I have ever taught. You were not the most diligent student but you always perfected each and every skill I ever taught you. That was what set you apart from the others, your sheer determination to be the best, your tendency to not only master everything but to improve on it too." Ra''s Al Ghulplimented me as he used his strangely superhuman strength to remain on the offensive, even giving me a difficult time. "But what about your sense of surroundings?" He asked cryptically. "What...?" I asked in confusion but I immediately understood the meaning of his words when the tile of the floor I stepped on while taking a backstep sunk into the ground and a hidden contraption in the wall shot a small arrow at me with a speed that even the eyes could not see. If I was an ordinary human, I would have been hit by that arrow but as a proud super soldier, I was easily able to dodge it with minimum body movement. But it still created a small hole in my defenses, something that an experienced warrior like Ra''s Al Ghul was instantly able to capitalize on. With an expert blow of his sword, while sporting a green eerie glow in his eyes, he was able to sh the skin on my right thigh, creating a bloody gash. "Tchh." I hissed my tongue at the stinging pain. It was a lot more painful than what I felt normally when a de punctured my skin which was strange because it was only a flesh wound. I immediately created some distance between me and him while waiting for the wound to heal up. But for some strange reason, the wound wasn''t cauterizing, at least not at the superhuman rate I hoped it would, like all the rest of my injuries. "Are you waiting for it to heal like all your other injuries always magically heal?... Sorry for the bad news but you see the sword in my hand is not exactly an ordinary sword. Just like yours, these ones are special too. They are called the Soulbreaker. They don''t promise to kill immortals like the All-des that you wield do but they too can have a peculiar supernatural ability. They can not only cut apart flesh but also damage one''s very soul as well. So the immense pain you are feeling right now is not of your physical body but of your very soul itself." Ra''s Al Ghul said with a sinister smile, his Liam Neeson look-alike face seeming like that of a demon. ''Shit.'' I thought to myself. I was not afraid of a little pain or even the danger of death since I had enough confidence in my own abilities but a sword that could hurt my soul was dangerous since I didn''t know just how much damage my soul could take. I have hundreds of methods to protect my body and my mind but the soul was always a very sensitive topic. Till now, I had only found ways of evading ghostly and demonic possession by carving runic tattoos on my skin but I still hadn''t found a safe enough method to protect my soul from direct spiritual attacks. So, the biggest threat to myself that I was always worried about was an attack on my soul because a physical body could easily heal but was the soul capable of the same healing as well? I didn''t have an answer to that question yet. It probably required more research on the topic but that could be der. Right now, I had to focus on winning this battle while taking minimum damage to my soul from those swords of his. Thus, I clenched the All-des tighter and started circting my chi all over my body for some extra protection, while taking a deep breath. I wanted to finish this as fast as possible by using my Darkness breathing style and going on full offensive instead of just defending against his attacks. ''Form 8: Oblivion Cyclone.'' I recited the technique''s name in my mind as I began to rapidly run around Ra''s Al Ghul in a circle, hoping to confuse him and lessen his chances of blocking my attack or counterattacking. The dull light from the torch that wasn''t able topletely drive away the surrounding darkness made it work even better. Ra''s Al Ghul wasn''t a noob in swordfighting. He knew what I was doing but for some strange reason, he didn''t bother to keep his eyes fixed on me. Instead, he appeared bored and overly confident, like he knew what was going to happen. However, that didn''t discourage me. So, when I had gathered enough momentum, I finally began attacking, striking him from multiple directions all around him. I was also using my own ''transparent world'' ability to locate his weakest points and only attacking them along with his vital organs. But somehow, he was able to stop each and every one of them with calm movements of his swords, like he wasn''t even trying. His eyes even though weren''t actively following me, still always seemed to find me at thest possible moment whenever I was about tond the attack. "This is hopeless Bruce, you can''t hit me. Just ept that fact. You see, the Lazarus pit doesn''t only just increase one''s lifespan and bring them from the dead but when paired with certain otherpounds can also have interesting magical effects. One suchpound is something called Electrum. It is extremely rare but I found a group of people who deal with it. Quite coincidentally, they are from Gotham as well. Anyways, you see when the water from the Lazarus pit isbined with Electrum in a specific proportion, it can give one almost godly magical abilities. A superhuman physique is just one of them, The other of course is the ability to predict the future. My mind is working at such an unimaginable speed that I see everything happening without it even happening yet. The moment you lift the de, I know where you are gonna strike it. I know your technique even before you initiate it. Right now, I am God himself. Even death cannot touch me." Ra''s Al Ghul eximed confidently as he blocked another attack of my sword. ''These types of shitty situations are when I realize how messed up the DC multiverse is. A-bursting alien can be driven mad by a guy in a Joker costume and a centuries-old assassin can suddenly develop future predicting powers just so that the ying field can level up.'' I thought as I stopped my useless attacks and backed a few steps away from the smiling old man. "All that strength in my muscles, yet I can''t even figure out a way to get close to you and punch your head in without your swords tearing me up. Two immortal swords and I can''t evennd a single blow to permanently end you. Looks like I am at a real disadvantage," Iughed bitterly as I tore up a bit of my shirt and slowly bandaged it around the wound on my thigh while Ra''s just observed me silently with a small frown. ''In fact, every Batman and Bruce Wayne around the multiverse is almost always at a disadvantage. But the thing is, they know how to turn that into their advantage, they are always prepared for almost anything and they ALWAYS find a way out..., just like I am about to.'' I thought with a confident smirk as I unsummoned one of the All-des while inserting my hand into one of my pockets and felt the thing that I needed at that moment. "You talked about death to not even be able to touch you, right? It seems you have grown quite confident after cheating death for so many centuries. I think you have forgotten the fear of true death. But, don''t worry, I''ll help you remember it. So..., let''s have a fucking fight to the death." --- (A/N: All the names of the forms of his breathing style will be mentioned only once, so if you see the name of an attack, then it''s only mentioned because he hasn''t used it before. Also, the reason why Ra''s Al Ghul doesn''t normally use Electrum with his Lazarus pit cocktail and possess powers all the time will be exined in the next chapter.) Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npage toread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom
Chapter 70: Young Bat vs Old Demon (1) Chapter 70: Young Bat vs Old Demon (1) ---
"Everyone has a n until they get punched in the face." - Mike Tyson
--- <(Omniscient POV)> "Finally! You are ready to embrace even death merely to have the chance to defeat me. Good. I will enjoy this brief with you fight even though the result will be the same, me taking everything from you... for the league." Ra''s Al Ghulpleted in a chill-inducing voice as he showed the ugliest and scariest smile he could muster, something that came quite naturally to him. Bruce on the other hand didn''t stretch the conversation any longer and just decided to focus on defeating him. Ra''s Al Ghul right now might seem almost invincible with his ability to predict the future but he didn''t even think for a single second that this ability came without its limitations. What he could deduce from the old assassin''s words and movements was that he couldn''t exactly see the future but that his mind had developed a certain characteristic from the... chemicalbination he had ingested, one that allowed him to use all the sensory inputs he received to simte them to know the most probable results of the events he witnessed and thus predict what was going to happen in the short immediate future. In a single word, he had one of the abilities of a discount version of the Sharingan which in the anime had a simr power. But the question was just how urate was this ability of his. Was this so urate that he could even predict the future as authentic as the Book of Destiny itself? Could it predict what was going to happen days ahead into the future if enough data was gathered? Did it have absolutely no adverse effects on his body or mind? Bruce didn''t have an answer to any of those questions. But..., that didn''t mean he was helpless. No, he not only had a way of getting all those answers for himself but also something that could enable him to directly counter Ra''s Al Ghul''s newly acquired future predicting ability itself. ''This will be the first time I''ll be doing drugs in both my lives. Truly, how far I have fallen. Well, anything to stay alive I guess.'' He thought to himself and took out a small transparent pill from a hidden pocket in his keikogi. "Bottoms up," Bruce muttered while slipping the experimental drug into his mouth, and quickly swallowing it. ''Let''s just hope this doesn''t end up like one of the few bad simtions that Cortana simted where my brain melted through my ears or where I became mentally handicapped after using this just once.'' He thought grimly as he subtly started a 12-hour countdown on his bracelet. *** <(Bruce WaynePOV)> The NZT-48 pill I just swallowed was a modified version of the same drug that I had been working on for thest few years. The pill itself was almost the same as the original one with its effectssting for 12 hours after ingestion, causing some quite harmful side effects if not ingested regrly, although even if taken regrly, the user''s body and mind would still be deteriorating slowly. However, the reason why the project took so many years to develop and was still risky to use was actually the development of the vine that was needed to take the pill without developing or experiencing any side effects. I had already developed and taken my basic NZT vine which gave me immunity against all the side effects of NZT usage for about one year. However, I still wanted to research more on them because I was still not sure how effective the vine was against NZT in real life. That and some other concerns about my mind suddenly bingpletely apathetic were the reasons why I still hadn''t used NZT on myself yet. But, as a wise man once said, desperate times call for desperate measures. After consuming the pill, for the first few minutes, I didn''t feel anything. It was like nothing happened. There wasn''t any big shock or headache or anything even remotely resembling that I had just consumed a very dangerous experimental drug that could potentially change my brain. No, all I felt was a little weird chilling feeling on my skin for a couple of seconds while also, for a split second, it almost seemed that my reflection in the Lazarus pit just moved slightly and looked at me with a calm and confident smile. However, I had no time to delve into what I presumed to be my mind ying tricks on me due to its recently increased mental capability. Right now, I could literally FEEL my mind working much faster than what was normal to try and solve just how Ra''s Al Ghul''s new power worked as well as its limitations. I could feel my emotions, feelings, and sentiments being sidelined and shoved to the side to better use my mind''s processing power more efficiently without bothering about that pesky stuff. In just a few seconds of observation, I was able to determine everything I needed to know. The world seemed toy bare before me as my mind tried to deduce everything even before it happened. After I was convinced that I had deduced his secrets right and had a significant chance to defeat Ra''s Al Ghul with my current strength, I began to calmly walk towards him instead of charging at him again. With my cheat ability being influenced as well by this temporary upgrade of my mind, I could clearly notice his fingers twitching, his muscles tightening, and even how his blood was flowing inside his body in real-time. "It seems that you have grown confident again. Fine, it seems that I have to show you just how truly *sh*... AAAAHHHH" Ra''s Al Ghul could notplete his words as a single sword strike from the All-des was able to sh all of the fingers in his left hand, resulting in him dropping his sword from that hand. He had tried to block my attack but his prediction ability which predicted where and how exactly I wouldnd the attack was wrong. He had predicted that I was going for his left leg but the truth was that I was only making it seem like that by faking all my body movements even the tiniest ones, when in truth, I was going for his left hand''s fingers. "H-How?" He asked bewildered, not at all bothered by the stream of blood gushing out from his missing fingers as he acted as nonchnt and unbothered as possible. Anyone other than him and he would have already been driven crazy by the immense blood loss. "You are not the only one who can have an upgrade. Did you think you could one-up me by ingesting some chemical cocktail of magical elements? Oh no my dear foolish father-inw, I now know exactly how your new abilities work as well as how to counter them. Not only that, I can even tell from the minute necrosis that is beginning to set on different parts of your skin as well as the bulging of your veins why you never ingested that chemical mixture together before this. It was because you knew that your body wasn''t strong enough for it and that it would begin to break down rapidly after you do it." I concluded calmly. "... It seems that you have grown smarter somehow as well. As expected from my chosen sessor." The Demon''s Head smiled, even though he was bleeding crazily from his fingers. "This is only the beginning," I uttered as I started raining down attacks on him. Faking my attacks to confuse him mostly worked to deter his prediction abilities as I was slowly able to bestow damage on him while piercing through his perfect defense. Of course, Ra''s Al Ghul''s centuries of experience made this strategy that much harder but he didn''t seem invincible or unbeatable to me any longer. In fact, even when he resorted to going on the offensive, I was easily able to use my own ''prediction'' abilities to anticipate his attacks and defend myself. ''A sh to Ra''s Al Ghul''s shoulder to make him bleed even more, block a blow from his Soulbreaker on my chest, then a cut on his legs while dodging a kick from him in an attempt to create some distance between us'' I was able to think out the entire sequence of the fight even before it started. "Why am I not able to hit you anymore? What sorcery is this?" Ra''s Al Ghulined as he realized that he wasn''t able to get the same advantage that he was initially getting. He with his enormous experience and skills was good enough to dodge a lot of my blows especially those that could deal fatal damage but on the other hand, he wasn''t able to hit me as well, at least not the same way he wanted. He had lost his edge against me. Both of us had turnedpletely serious in this fight and were currently giving our all without using any more petty cheap tricks. As we fought using our des, sparks flew everywhere while we both did our best to end the opponent as quickly and efficiently as possible. Currently, we were almost in a stalemate but that was quickly changing as I got more and more of an advantage in our fight as I continuously did physical damage to him every few moves. Sometimes, it was a shallow cut on his arm or his thigh, and sometimes, it was a mere nick on his cheeks but Ra''s Al Ghul was definitely steadily losing his ground in his duel against me. Or at least that was what would have been if he wasn''t healing so quickly as well. Despite his body seemingly breaking down slowly from the inside, he was still physically going strong on the outside as his skin and flesh healed from the imposed damages at an astonishing rate. Even though the wounds directly caused by the All-des were harder to heal, they still at least managed to heal enough to stop their own bleeding. "STOP. This is a waste of time. This is getting nowhere." Ra''s Al Ghul yelled in frustration as he backed away a little from me. He seemed tired, his body probably nearing its extreme limit. "And what do we propose we do? Have a stone-paper-scissors battle to death?" I quipped with a small smirk. I knew that at this rate I had the upper hand and he was merely panicking because of that. I had no thoughts of letting him leave this monastery alive today. "If I die like this, you get nothing except an opportunity to take over the League. But my techniques, my skills, my knowledge, everything that I have umted for all these centuries will disappear with me? So how will that truly benefit you? Instead, I have another solution. Why don''t we end this in a way that can benefit whoever wins between us? A way where the one who dies will definitely stay dead forever while the victor will get all the spoils." Ra''s Al Ghul proposed while panting slowly, trying his best not to let me know about him having already reached the limits of his body. "What do you say, Bruce Wayne? All or nothing. How about it? Are you all in?" The Demon''s Head questioned as his right hand clenched his sword tighter while his left hand was able to do the same thing as well, even with missing fingers. --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npage toread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom
Chapter 71: Young Bat vs Old Demon (2) – A Soup for the Soul Chapter 71: Young Bat vs Old Demon (2) ¨C A Soup for the Soul ---
"You need to ept the fact that you''re not the best and have all the will to strive to be better than anyone you face." - RORONOA ZORO,(ONE PIECE)
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "So Bruce Wayne, do you just want to kill me and take over my organization or do you want an opportunity to take everything I have for yourself, my knowledge, my skills, and even my life?" Ra''s Al Ghul said, doing his best to tempt me to ept his offer. Now, the normal me would never think of even considering this offer of his. Hell, I would have already killed him to get this over with and be happy with only the league that I could take over after him but the problem was that this was not the normal me. No, this me right now was high on a particr psychoactive drug that was forcing me to operate on cold hard logic rather than emotions and caution. And my logic ording to my currently enhanced mind right now dictated that I could stand to profit more if I just heard him out. I could tell that there was a seventy-seven percent chance that Ra''s Al Ghul wasn''t lying. "How?" I finally asked, giving in to the temptation after running thousands of possible scenarios in my mind, concluding that this could really be a huge leap for me if I managed to somehow seed. "The Lazarus pit could extend one''s life and even enable one to live for centuries, albeit with some terrible side effects including addiction to the water itself and even... decay of the soul. The longer you continue to depend on the water, the more the side effects increase making true immortality impossible through just this." Ra''s Al Ghul exined, revealing that he knew the negative effects he was currently suffering from because of overusing the pit. "But after centuries of research, I discovered a way to achieve true immortality. If two different people enter the pit together and fully immerse themselves in its water, the Lazarus pit will choose only one of them to extend their life. The one with the stronger will to live, the one who can endure the pit''s torture and oust the other until they drown, will not only be the one to gain immortality without any drawbacks but also inherit everything that the loser had, including their knowledge and skills. The loser will die, while the victor will get all." He revealed his secret with a triumphant tone. I eyed him with suspicion, wondering what he was hiding behind his calm facade. "So you think you can beat me in this ritual? You seem very confident... Or is this yourst resort, and you are just acting out of desperation? Tell me, Ra''s Al Ghul, how desperate are you to keep living, in a world where even your daughters despise you and might try to kill you if you survive this?" I asked, trying to gauge his true feelings. "You have no idea about sacrifice, about responsibility. I have the duty to survive and lead the human race to prosperity, to save them from extinction even if it is from themselves. And if I have to kill my own daughters for that, then SO BE IT." He screamed trying to make his point. The worst thing about this was that he wasn''t acting. He truly believed that whatever he was doing by building this weird terrorist organization full of ninja assassins while ending entire civilizations and cities, ''purging'' them from evil was actually helping the world. I could tell that he regarded his work as something that he was doing for God himself. Truthfully, it was pathetic. "Fine, then so be it," I repeated his words as the All-des from my hands disappeared. "Let''s do this then. One pit, two killers, one survivor. Let''s see who wins." I said as I began walking towards the pit while Ra''s Al Ghul began to do the same in measured steps. By the way, I wasn''t just blindly trusting the old assassin''s words. Even if I was ny-three percent sure that he wasn''t lying, I couldn''t let down my guard. No, the reason why I agreed to his proposal was to get his knowledge and skills even though I could do it with the Amusphere because I was positive that the device was not gonna work on him. Ra''s Al Ghul had lived for centuries and could be one of the most influential people on the. I was damn sure that he had at least a dozen different types of protections on his mind along with his own natural mental shields that getting in there was going to be practically impossible for me. The Amusphere was incredibly powerful but currently due to its technological limitations, when faced with magic or some other supernatural barrier around the mind, it was as useful as a knife in a bowl of ramen. So, this was my only opportunity to sessfully gain Ra''s Al Ghul''s knowledge. Of course, the immortality bit was a cherry on the top. My calctions and logic told me that fooling me wasn''t going to be easy especially when we were both going to be in the same pit together. If he tried anything, I had an eighty-three percent chance of being able to foresee it and a sixty-five percent chance of effectively stopping him. After we both arrived at the opposite edges of the Lazarus Pit, Ra''s Al Ghul stopped and looked at me expectantly, his face still brimming with confidence. "We have to dive in together, but since you look like you barely trust me, we will go in step by step and meet at the center of the pit." He announced. "Fine by me," I muttered as I mentally tried to calcte the depth of the pit which didn''t seem like a lot, maybe about nine feet. "Three... Two..." He started the countdown. ''I still can''t believe that I actually agreed to this. I know as a fact that when my mind stops running at its full potential limit after this and I go back to the regr old emotional Bruce, I am going to curse myself for this... what is going to seem stupid to the regr old me. But, this is going to change a lot of things if it seeds, particrly my efficiency at taking over the entire League of Assassins.'' I thought to myself as I didn''t even feel a shred of fear in mypletely logical and apathetic mind. "One... Now" Both Ra''s Al Ghul and I confidently stepped into the pit together, both hopeful at being the victor of this little match to achieve our own selfish objectives. The moment I came into contact with the pit''s liquid, I felt it. The Pit''s water was not at all what it seemed from the outside. It was some metaphysical liquid that had something akin to chi mixed in with itself, something that could affect any living being not only physically but even spiritually. In fact, I could already feel it, the water was trying to seep deep into my skin while its energy was somehow trying to affect my soul. I could tell that staying in this water for long could be catastrophic for my unprotected spirit. I even activated my analysis ability to try to analyze what thispound truly was but I only got a half-assed result. There were a couple of natural chemicals and elements mixed in with an extremely unique element, something that I was positive I could identify with enough research but there was something else mixed in too, something unbelievably sinister and taboo. "Amazing, isn''t it? You can almost feel the water nourishing your body while affecting you on a more spiritual level as well. I spent years trying to artificially replicate these pits but I was never sessful. These pits are freaks of nature and can only be formed naturally. The best thing however is that they never lose their effectiveness, in fact, it only increases with time. Because with time, it gets the secretponent it needs to effectively function, bits and pieces of the souls of its users. Every time someone uses a Lazarus pit, part of their soul gets torn off and mixed in with the pit''s liquid while the torn-off portion sometimes even gets reced with other pieces of souls that are already present in the pit. So, this entire Lazaus pit is actually a big soup of soul bits and pieces from its previous users." Ra''s Al Ghul exined while slowly approaching me, his intent to try to drown me apparent on his face. The pit was a living nightmare, a swirling mass of pieces of tormented souls that had once belonged to Ra''s Al Ghul and its other previous users. I should have recoiled in horror, fled from the abomination that defied nature and morality. But I felt nothing. No fear, no disgust, no pity. Only cold logic that kept me rooted to the spot. My objective still remained the same, the only thing that changed was the need to do this as soon as possible because something was slowly changing inside the pool. The water that seemed to want to nourish my body a few moments ago was now beginning to feel irritating on my skin like it was some sort of weak... acid that was gradually increasing in intensity. *Bam* As Ra''s Al Ghul approached me, Iunched a swift punch at his face, hoping to catch him off guard. But he was prepared for my attack and deflected it with his arm, then countered with a vicious headbutt. I shrugged off the impact and retaliated with a headbutt of my own, cracking his forehead open and drawing blood. The fight would have been much easier with my All-des but I wasn''t sure that using it inside the Lazarus pit would be the safest option, so I chose to just stick to my physical abilities as I used my strength topletely submerge him into the water of the pit and keep him there. We were locked in a fierce struggle for survival, submerged in the depths of the Lazarus pit. I could not use my breathing style underwater, so I had to rely on my chi to fend off Ra''s Al Ghul''s attacks and overpower him. But the water of the pit was not a passive medium; it was a corrosive force that sought to consume us both. It burned through our enhanced skin, trying to melt our flesh and bones and assimte our souls. Me and Ra''s Al Ghul were at a stalemate. I had my hands wrapped around his neck as I continued to push him down deeper and deeper into the pit, forcing him to breathe in more and more of the pit''s acidic water while he had his fingers on my throat trying to rip my throat out. He had even tried to escape the pit altogether when he realized that he wasn''t going to win as easily as he had previously thought but I had made sure to not let him escape, pinning him under my weight inside the pit, as I patiently waited for this to be over. Our lives were hanging by a thread, as we fought each other in the deadly waters of the Lazarus pit. Ra''s Al Ghul had an advantage over me, as he had used the pit many times before and knew its secrets. But he had overlooked one thing. I had a hidden trump card that could keep me alive longer than him, my regeneration. Not only could I hold my breath for much longer than Ra''s Al Ghul but also, my skin regenerated almost as soon as it was being destroyed, giving me a considerably higher chance of survival than the assassin lord. Of course, my elerated regeneration could not keep up with the destructive properties of the pit forever but again, I did not have to survive the pit''s destructiveness, I only had to survive till Ra''s Al Ghul died. "AHHHH." With a muffled scream, Ra''s Al Ghul made a final attempt to break free from my grip, but it was toote. The Lazarus pit had taken its toll on him, reducing him to a charred skeleton. He went limp in my arms, as his life force left his body. Ra''s Al Ghul was no more. ''Shit.'' I felt a surge of panic as I saw the state of my skin and body, ravaged by the pit''s corrosive water. I had to get out of there before it was toote. I realized that the effects of my NZT-48 drug were wearing off, probably due to the pit''s effects resulting in my emotionsing back to me. The drug and the desire to kill Ra''s Al Ghul had clouded my judgment, but now I felt the full extent of the agony caused by the pit''s water. It was like being dipped in a pool of acid, slowly dissolving my flesh and bones. I realized how foolish I had truly been to enter the pit. ''I was a goddamn idiot to listen to a shrewd enemy like Ra''s Al Ghul and even attempt this.'' I cursed myself for agreeing to this challenge while wondering what had even possessed me to do such a foolish thing in the first ce. --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npagetoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom Chapter 72: Furry Vigilantes Chapter 72: Furry Vigntes ---
"There is not a monster more dangerous than ack ofpassion." - Master Splinter,(Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
--- (Previous Chapter Note: Okay, some of youined about a couple of things in thest chapter, mostly about the ill effects of the NZT-48 and the unneeded stupidity that resulted from it. I think it was my fault that I couldn''t exin itpletely through my writing. So, here''s another try from me. NZT might be an OP drug since it increases your intelligence by a huge margin by forcing the brain to operate at its maximum capacity but it is also equally dangerous not only because of its negative effects on one''s health which Bruce took care of using the vine but because of how it suppresses the empathetic side of the brain, only giving way for the cold logical side of the user to reign supreme. It makes the user a fearless and mostly emotionless person who operates through cold hard logic. Bruce had an idea about this but didn''t know just how much this apathy would affect him and that was why he didn''t want to use it despite having perfected the vine. The NZT high Bruce was absolutely sure he would win. That was why he took the risk because it wasn''t a risk at all for him, it was a known result. Even in the ''Limitless'' movie and the show, the drug almost gives birth to a separate personality of its users due to the absence of empathy in them after taking it, a personality that is driven purely by greed and an ambition to grow. After its effects wore off, Bruce got back his emotions along with his fear of death while losing part of his increased intelligence along with the logical reasoning that forced him to do the ritual under NZT''s effects. To the regr him, it was an unneeded risk, but that doesn''t change that this is going to help him, in the long run, a LOT, something that his smarter self, realized.) --- <[A certain sewer of Gotham]> <(Omniscient POV) {Animal Dialect}> "Hey Ace, don''t you think that we have destroyed enough of the Wiggles gang''s hideouts? They have even retreated from the area where our mansion is located. I think we can let them go this time. At this rate, we will be destroying the entire rat poption of the city if we continue our raids. I have heard some humans on TV say that destroying any one animal species in a particr area sometimes causes disbnce in the biod... umm, you know nature." Whiskers, the cute orange cat expressed his worry as he and Ace continued to slowly walk through the sewer. "Plus, it stinks too much. And the dirty water might ruin my nails and fur as well. Selina spent a lot of money to get them all shiny justst week, she would be angry if I suddenly showed up with sewage dirt all over me." The cat further expressed his worry in his cute little voice as he scrunched up his tiny nose in an attempt to block the smell while making sure not to get his fur dirty in the sewage water while walking. "You areining about the smell? YOU? I am a dog and you are a cat. Who do you think has a better and more developed sense of smell? My nose is so fed up that I literally can''t smell anything anymore. As for getting ourselves dirty, Selina will probably scold you a little and then forget about it, but me? Alfred will most probably stop giving me my evening treats if he sees a single spot of sewer dirt on me." Aceined with a growl. "But even then, we have to do this. This is our duty as loyal pets after all. The Wiggles gang not only disrespected me by invading my territory but they even insulted my authority bying into my own house and tearing apart my dear old butler''s uniform. Those rats even had the galls to chew on some of Miss Cortana''s wires. No, I can''t forgive them after that. I will make sure that they suffer for that. I will make them suffer so much that never again will a single critter ever challenge my authority or even dare to look in the direction of the Wayne mansion. I WILL KILL EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THOSE RATS." Ace barked in anger as he seemed to have taken the action of the rat gang quite personally. "As much as I remember, Alfred is Bruce''s butler, not yours. Also, about the pieces of apparel we are wearing over our heads to hide our identities. Don''t animals remember each other by sense of smell?" MR. Wiggles responded after a while of silence. "... You should not concern your little head with details Kitty Dynamo. Let me, the Hound be the one to worry about ns." Ace replied with a straight face as he continued to walk ahead with the confused Whiskers in tow. The truth was that Cortana had no need of Ace''s assistance, nor had she ever asked for it. She could have easily eradicated the rodent infestation in the mansion by simply activating the pest control system that Bruce had installed. But Ace had implored her to let him handle the situation, and after days of begging and annoying her with his Kevin Hart human voice, she had finally indulged his request to lead the charge against the invasion of the rats. You see after Ace had cunningly ''manipted'' Selina to adopt Whiskers, he had thought that he would finally have Bruce''s undivided attention every night while Selina was upied with her new pet. But his n backfired when Bruce left for a trip soon after Whiskers joined their family, and that too without even entertaining the idea of taking Ace with him. After that, Ace felt the emptiness of the mansion more than ever. His friends had grown busy with their lives, leaving him behind. Selina only allowed Whiskers inside her room. Deathstroke was always busy with his mysterious new job, never sharing anything with Ace. Alfred was kind, but not really a cuddler. Ace spent his nights alone, longing for a cuddle buddy. His days were filled with training exercises under Cortana''s and Alfred''s instructions, as well as shadowing the butler everywhere, hoping to find some distraction from his boredom. Ace had tried to surprise people by speaking like a human before he had learned the hard way that a speaking dog was not a good idea at all. So, now he had to always keep his trantor off in public. In short, his life was boring without Bruce and the only time he could have some fun was when he defended his territory, the Wayne Estate, from intruders. He would chase and bite their balls, making them regret their trespassing. But even that had be raretely. Ace felt a surge of excitement when he learned that there was a new challenge waiting for him. He had always craved adventure and danger, something that would make him feel alive and useful. He hated being treated like a mere pet, a pampered pooch who only knew how to eat, sleep, and obeymands. He wanted to show everyone that he was a faithfulpanion who could handle any task, no matter how difficult or risky. That''s why he volunteered to take on the mission of eliminating the city''s biggest rat nest, the notorious Wiggles gang. In fact, he even had Cortana make two special cors for him and his sidekick Whiskers with a design simr to the Bat tool. It didn''t have all its fancy gadgets but it did have a mini ster that could emit a sonic st which was harmless to humans but deadly to rats. With the cor around his neck and his peak canine physique, thanks to a special serum that Bruce had developed to extend his lifespan by several folds, he was the most formidable dog in the town. He had expertly navigated his way through the animal underworld, ughtering the gang rats that crossed his path, until he reached this particrir of the Wiggles gang, their supposed headquarters. It was located in the deepest part of the city''s sewers, the dark and filthy domain of the rodents. "Why do I feel like you are having a shback? Also, how big is this sewer? I thought Leatherback said that we won''t have to go far down this route to find the gang." Whiskers asked as he began to look visibly tired. "Never trust an alligator Whiskers. They and their cousins, the crocodiles are born liars, not like us loyal dogs." Ace replied, not even halting in his steps. "But I am a cat." Whiskers responded with a sigh. *Tip Tap* *Tip tap tip tap tap tap tap* They suddenly heard a faint sound of pattering feet, growing louder and faster by the second. As they looked around, they saw hundreds of small rats emerging from the shadows, surrounding them from every direction. The rats had different shapes and sizes, but they all shared the same hungry and vicious look in their eyes. "Damn! We''re trapped." Whiskers eximed in rm as the cat arched back and assumed its typical fighting stance. He felt a twinge of fear as he saw therge number of rats closing in on him, but he also felt a thrill of anticipation. He had joined Ace in his quest not only because he was his best friend, but also because hunting rats was his second-favorite hobby. He couldn''t wait to get his ws on some of them and make them his¡­ trophies. "Where is your leader? I want to talk to him. I want to look him in the eyes while I burn down thest of his ''little'' empire. I want to remind him of thew of the Jungle he so desired, to put in him the fear of the Hound whom he crossed bying into my house in broad daylight." Ace roared proudly as he stood unfrightened in the face of danger. The rats remained silent and still, showing their teeth and ws at the two intruders. But soon, the mass of rats in front of them split into two, making way for a muchrger and more menacing rat that slowly approached them. He was twice as big as the biggest rat in the horde, and one of his eyes was missing, probably from a previous fight. He looked savage and hideous, as he gnawed on what seemed to be the leg of another rat. He was the Rat King. "So you are the leader of this gang, the infamous Rat King, huh?" Ace asked with a growl. "Ah, the infamous Ballbiter and his sidekick Kitty Dynamo. Yes, a lot of people do call me that. But I like to go with my name, the name that was once given to me by the humans who made me into what I am today, Popo Corleone Wiggles. Imend you two for making this far here but you won''t be leaving alive from here today. You will be the food for my gang members for today''s celebrations." He replied in a gruff yet calm voice as the surrounding rats began to cheer by snarling at Whiskers and Ace. "It''s the Hound... But, how did you know about using here?" Ace asked uncaring about the nickname that he was actually famous for in the underworld. "Leatherback," Popo answered in a single word. "... I am going to w out both of that alligator''s eyes after this." Whiskers whispered in suppressed anger at the betrayal, an emotion the cat rarely showed in front of others. "Unfortunately you would not have that opportunity. Anyst words before you be pieces of meat for me and my gang?" Popo Corleone Wiggles asked with a sarcastic bloodthirsty grin on its face. "Yes. Say hello to my little friend." Ace said with a smirk on his dog face, "Wha...?" Popo the Rat King could notplete his words as he exploded into chunks of flesh just as a weird burst of concentrated sound originating from Ace''s cors reached his ears, spreading blood and rat flesh all over the ce. "Damn, now we are both covered in blood." Whiskers said as he activated his own cor to begin the culling of the rest of the stupified rats. "Look at the bright side Kitty Dynamo. At least, we will be able to enjoy the next bit fully. By the way, let a few of them leave here alive. It would be helpful in spreading our name in Gotham''s Animal Underworld. They should know that there is a new yer in town and he will not let things slide." Ace said with a howl as he readied himself for the bloodbath that was toe. "As you say Ballbiter." Whiskers answered as it too prepared itself for its life''s biggest snack time. That was the day that would go down in history as one of the most brutal and epic battles in the city''s ruthless animal underworld. Thergest gang in the city, the Wiggles, was wiped out by just two pets, the fearless duo of the Ballbiting Hound and his sidekick Kitty Dynamo. *** <[Primary monastery''s basement, Nanda Parbat]> <{Human dialect}> "Are you sure we are going the right way? We have been wandering through this dark basement for thest ten minutes. I just hope that Bruce is okay" Nyssa eximed her worry and impatience as she ran in a rush alongside Talia and the hovering drone that was being piloted by Cortana. "Okay? He is fighting our father. I just hope he is still alive. Maybe we will be able to defeat Ra''s if the three of us fight him together. Cortana can even give us artillery support." Talia muttered her ns as she brainstormed the best way to get rid of her father without letting herself or her sister get badly hurt. Right now, they had almost gottenplete control of the entire Nanda Parbat branch of the League of Assassins. The assassins who had pledged their loyalty to them and had fought for them in the battle were now along with the drones overseeing the rest of the takeover. "Bruce should be in this direction. Thest I knew he was fighting Ra''s Al Ghul but for some reason, hismunicator gotpletely destroyed, so I have no way of knowing his current exact status." Cortana said in what sounded like an emotionless voice to the two sisters. But the truth could not be further from that because right now, she was almost frying her servers with worry. She knew about Bruce duking it out with Ra''s Al Ghul in the Lazarus pit. But sometime during the fight, his bracelet had gotten destroyed by the acidic water of the pit along with his clothes and everything he had on him. So she had no way of knowing if Bruce was truly all right. All she could do was just hope for the best while preparing for the worst and that was exactly what she was doing by having her drones prepare a special medical camp for Bruce outside. Suddenly Talia who was keeping a watch on the Lazarus Pits in the basement yelled in surprise. "Wait, I see something. That big Lazarus PIt in front of us, it is shining." --- (A/N: By the way, a Rat king (the one defined in modern science, not the old superstitions and folklore) is a rat that is captured by humans and forced to repeatedly fight and eat other rats for survival through starvation. The Rat King is basically a cannibal rat that is prepared by humans and then released in the wild to hunt and eat other rats. But of course, Gotham being Gotham, this Rat King was a little bit of a freak who established his own gang.) Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npagetoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom Chapter 73: Reshaping Shadows Chapter 73: Reshaping Shadows ---
"If we were normal, we might not be alive today. And that, my friend, is what gives us the edge we need." ¨C Makoto Shishio,(Rurouni Kenshin)
--- <[One Month Later]> <(Omniscient POV)> "Are the weapons here? And what about the food, water, and medicines? We need thest shipment here by tomorrow for the remaining wounded who still haven''t recoveredpletely." Talia asked the masked female ninja beside her as she walked through the streets of the partially destroyed League of Assassins city on Nanda Parbat. "All of those resources are here mydy. They arrived this morning. Mistress Nyssa has even already started administering the medicines to the injured who have pledged their loyalty to the new Demon''s Head." The masked assassin said in a stoic voice. "My sister huh? It seems that she is taking her role as part of the newly established High Table quite seriously. Good for her. The sooner she grows up, the less worried I will have to be for her... How about our numbers? How many of our generals still haven''t betrayed us?" Talia enquired with a calm voice. "Surprisingly most of them didn''t rebel and instead decided to join us after our new leader sent personally written letters to each of them. The only ones who didn''t listen andpletely cut off all connections after the recent attack were the divisions led by Lady Shiva, The Swiss, and The Magician. The Dragon has also been quiet and hasn''t made his stance clear but again he was never a major force. Even the assassins under him could be counted on one hand. However, the most dangerous of them all for us right now would be The Swiss or David Cain. Despite not being the strongest or the most influential among the generals, he is definitely the most cunning. Also, he currently upies our oldest and second-biggest stronghold after Nanda Parbat, the Eth Alth''eban with the highest number of assassins among all of our generals under him numbering more than four hundred whereas we ourselves barely have two hundred of them left after we called in all of our reserves directly under our control. An all-out war with him right now would be... difficult." The female assassin said with a slight hesitation. "David Cain? That man sure is ambitious. Even Father barely maintained his control over him. It was only because of Father''s absolute ruthlessness and brutality, that the man had never dared to cross him. But it seems that the moment he has gotten a wisp of our disadvantage, he has started showing his true colors... But still, I am positive that he won''t attack, not until he is absolutely sure that Father is dead... permanently. Instead, he will be biding his time and using it to increase his resources and soldiers." Talia stated confidently as she breathed out a tired sigh. She had been working way too much thest month than she ever had in her life. She had always been a princess, a shadow warrior, and sometimes a tool for her father. But, this was the first time she had be a leader after Bruce gave her exactly what she wanted and made her one of the three founding members of the High Table beside her younger sister and Bruce himself. Of course, at first, Talia was ted that she finally had the power she always desired and the chance to prove herself better than her father but after about a month of managing the League''s activities, she finally understood why Bruce had included her in the High Table instead of just having theplete league to himself as the New Demon''s Head while reducing her to a mere pawn. It was because of the workload. The bastard didn''t want to work at all. He liked making ns and preparing for the future but when it came to the actual execution of those ns, he liked to dump the entire thing on either Cortana, herself, or her sweet innocent sister Nyssa. Despite having power over the League ''almost'' equal to Bruce, at least on paper, Talia didn''t have any time to enjoy it at all. She had to work almost all day, especially with Bruce still supposedly recovering from his wounds and her sister not nearly being as adept in politics, leadership, and management as her. But still, she had to admit that Bruce delivered on everything he promised, from control over the League to getting rid of her father, and he did all that too without trying to trick her even once. One thing was clear to Talia, Bruce might not be as cunning, experienced, or knowledgeable as her father but he was definitely twice the man Ra''s Al Ghul could ever have been. He was someone she and her sister could trust, someone who would not betray them just for a little bit more power or some glorious purpose. No, ording to her observations, he was someone who put himself, his family, and his friends first, perhaps even before the world itself. He was a better person than her father was but at the same time, this particr selfish trait of his also made sure that he had the potential of being a much bigger viin than Ra''s could ever be. However, that didn''t deter Talia at all but for some reason, it made her even more inclined to trust and depend on him. In fact after his recent... ''change'', there have even been times when Bruce tookplete control of certain situations and acted as the supreme leader of the League despite the presence of the High Table but Talia instead of feeling insulted in such situations, for some reason always felt turned on. "*Ahem* Anyway, your name is Jade, right? You were one of the earliest ones who pledged their loyalty to us and fought in the battle on that day a month ago, which by the way, I should thank you for. But, I want to know how are you adjusting to your new life after the new Demon''s Head came into power. Do you regret the passing of my fathe... the previous Demon''s Head?" Talia asked her new ninja assistant while trying to forget all immoral thoughts about her sister''s boyfriend. While polygamy and a man having rtionships with multiple women weremon things in the culture her family originally belonged to with even her father doing it a couple of times over his centuries of long living, having received a modern education, she didn''t want to be one of them and most of all, she didn''t want to earn the ire and hatred of her own sister for doing that. ''However, casual sex or a one-night stand doesn''t count, right? I mean if both of us are heavily drunk, then it wouldn''t be anyone''s fault in case something taboo happens... God, when did I be such a loose slut? I should hang myself in shame.'' She thought to herself while keeping a stoic expression on her face as she waited for the ninja in front of her to answer. "... Not really. I was actually a rtively new recruit who didn''t perform very well initially when I first joined the League. Although loyal, I was too young and inexperienced at that time. The old Ra''s Al Ghul not only didn''t value my loyalty but even sent me and a couple of others on a suicide mission to a mountain filled with undead without even warning us, despite knowing that we probably wouldn''t even be returning alive. But the new Demon''s Head and Lady Nyssa were also on that mission. Under hismand and leadership, we were able to return alive without any significant casualties. So no, mydy, I do not miss the old Ra''s Al Ghul. Since that day, I have owned a favor to... my liege, one that I am finally able to give back by pledging my utmost loyalty to his cause. I am loyal only to one person now Lady Talia and that will never change." Jade, the assassin made her thoughts clear without any hesitation or fear. "I see. Good for you, I guess. You can go now." Talia said after a while of thoughtfully looking at her face like she was searching for any signs of a lie. "Oh, and I would appreciate it if Lady Talia could kindly call me by my League alias instead of my real name. Jade makes me sound weak like I am only something that is meant for decoration and I don''t want to be weak ever again." Jade requested with a small bow. "Fine, you can leave now... Cheshire." Talia said, dismissing her with a careless wave of her hands before focusing her attention on the beautiful scenery of the mountainous city in front of her, or at least what was still left of it after Cortana''s explosions that fateful night. ''Maybe I should take up a new code name too. Father wanted to give me the name Penumbra but I didn''t like it, so I never used it... Perhaps, I should ask Bruce for his opinion. He might suggest a good codename for me.'' She thought to herself, not knowing that she had begun to depend more and more on the young genius billionaire than even she herself realized. *** <(Bruce WaynePOV)> As I walked past the rows and rows of books in the massive library that was my mindscape, I noticed certain changes that had taken ce in it for thest month which even I was unaware of. These changes were not made by me, despite this mind castle being my own. For example, there were now certain intensely glowing deep-green and slightly glowing ck crystals protruding from all over the walls of the library. They looked like they were put there deliberately by someone to strengthen the walls and thus as a result the core of my mind but I absolutely had no idea whom or even why. Even the firece in the library behind which the secret vault containing my personal memories and top-secret knowledge was kept, had changed somehow to look like a grand Victorian-style firece with fire strong enough to even melt metal. Truthfully, it looked more like arge fancy-looking incinerator than a firece. ''What the hell happened here?'' I mentally thought to myself as I pushed a few random books in a uniquebination after which the fire dimmed down and a small hidden locker behind the firece could be seen. I had to further verify my identity by giving my iris scan and fingerprints as well as a unique voice-activated password (it may or may not have been ''I am Batman'') to the locker, only after which did the secret vaultpletely open. ''It seems my mind has changed a lot after I absorbed all of Ra''s Al Ghul''s memories. It has be bigger and...stronger but it also revealed something I had no idea about before. It showed me that the parts of Ra''s Al Ghul''s soul or... mind or whatever it was, weren''t the only things that had been absorbed inside my mindscape. No, there was something else in here, something that had been present in my mind from the very start but had remained hidden. It was broken pieces of the mind of the old and original Bruce Wayne, who had died before I even came to this world. His ego was gone, but parts of his soul and mind had been left by him in his body, something I had unknowingly absorbed into myself, the moment I took over this body. The ck dimly glowing crystals were proof of that. They were parts of his broken soul which had been passively strengthening the core of my mind and soul, giving me some additional protection. I had always carried a part of the old Bruce within me, a hidden shield that acted as the final barrier to my mind and soul even without my knowledge. It was his legacy, his gift to me, that allowed me to survive the pit''s soul-corrosive effects longer than Ra''s Al Ghul, who sumbed to death wayyy before me. But when I absorbed the memories of the ancient assassin through the ritual, I also ingested some of his shattered soul fragments, which triggered a reaction in my own psyche. The pieces of Bruce thaty dormant and hidden in me awakened and emerged to full view, finally giving me ess to them. But as much as I was d to have that protection, this also begged another question. Did I just get a minor protection against mental and spiritual probes and attacks from these fragments or did I inherit something else as well? It was a curious question, one whose answers I would find real soon. "There it is," I whispered to myself in awe as I took out and opened theptop from the secret vault in which I had previously stored all my personal memories except my future knowledge of DC and saw a file titled ''Unknown Life'' which was heavily encrypted just beneath the newly downloaded file named ''Ra''s Al Ghul''s Amazing Experiences''. "Should I decrypt it?" I thought out loud as I wondered about the implications that could result from this if the file somehow affected my ego and suddenly changed who I am, something that would be akin to a mental death for this me. After all, you are only what your memories are, what your experiences make you. --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npagetoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom Chapter 74: It Is Finally Time Chapter 74: It Is Finally Time ---
"Sess is harder than failure for many things in this world." ¨C Osamu Dazai,(Bungo Stray Dogs)
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "Nah, it''s best not to do anything stupid especially when I can do thister in the safety andfort of my Bat-cave with the assistance of Cortana and my AmuSphere. I won''t have to risk the death of my current personality if I just upload the surviving portion of the previous Bruce''s mind to Cortana''s servers and modify it first before I assimte it into myself." I finally mumbled to myself as I withdrew my finger from the ''extract'' option beside the ''Unknown Life'' folder visible on the PC. Instead, I focused on the ''Ra''s Al Ghul''s Amazing Experiences'' folder which could be naturally downloaded into my mind without any presence of his personality due to the ritual. I had been steadily absorbing the memories and knowledge inside that folder for a while now. I could have easily done it all at once but I didn''t want to face the intense mind-bending mental pain and spiritual exhaustion that woulde from absorbing almost a millennia worth of information. After all, I wasn''t a masochist. So, I stuck to only absorbing a decade of Ra''s Al Ghul''s knowledge every few days since I wasn''t in any rush. I preferred meticulouslybing through his memories and using them to their full potential rather than just absorbing all of them at once and not knowing what to do with them or worse being overwhelmed with too much information at my disposal and bing like Ra''s Al Ghul myself. In fact, these absorbed memories had been the reason I was so sessful in keeping so many of the generals under Ra''s Al Ghul still loyal to me. Despite their wish to grab power for themselves the moment they learned about Ras Al Ghul''s possible death, the only reason they didn''t rebel was that I had learned some of their biggest secrets and weaknesses Ras Al Ghul knew about them and had basically used those to threaten them in the letters that I had sent them in a bid to ckmail them into continuing to be loyal to me. A lot of them listened while some even thought that Ras Al Ghul wasn''t dead and was retiring with me being his next sessor, having his direct support. Of course, some didn''t give any importance to the letters, refusing to bow to my threat but I wasn''t worried about them. Even with the tiny bit of knowledge, I had about Ra''s Al Ghul''s connections and resources, I knew that by the time any of those factions attacked, the new League of Assassins under me would just be too powerful to stop. ''I see, that exins why that cunning old man never tried using any mystic abilities on me.'' I thought to myself after I pressed on the ''extract'' option beside one of the countless files in his folder and gained ess to thest decade of Ra''s Al Ghul''s memories, something I desperately needed to make some sense of a few things. Ra''s Al Ghul just like me was afraid of entities affecting him or manipting him to their will. That''s why he didn''t practice conventional sorcery. He also wasn''t a natural homo magi. But that didn''t mean he could not use magic at all. He could. What he did to achieve that was simply sacrifice his life force and vitality to be able to get the chance to wield mana. Of course, his having unrestrained ess to the Lazarus Pits meant that he never faced death due to a shortage of life force. Whenever he used up too much of his vitality, a bath would simply be enough to bring him to his peak. But despite all that, the reason Ra''s Al Ghul hadn''t used any magic against me that day by sacrificing his life force was because he was already running low on it. The blend of chemicals that he ingested to get physical abilities equal to mine had almost ruined his body from the inside and drastically reduced his life force, leaving his reserves not nearly enough to cast any magic. He also couldn''t take a bath in the Lazarus pit because even though that would bring his body back to its peak, it would also nullify the strengthening effects of the mixture. So, I could onlyugh at Ra''s Al Ghul''s bad luck. He would have had a higher chance of defeating me with magic but unfortunately for him, he had the ego of a warrior. He genuinely believed that his experiences and his preparation would be enough to defeat me and take everything I had for himself. He even had certain ns where he could take over my body if the ritual were to fail. The only reason why he even did that particr ritual despite its shorings was because he had determined that having immortality in his own old ugly body was better than living a normal human lifespan in my young handsome body. ''But that does make me wonder, am I truly immortal in every sense of the word.'' I asked myself as I prepared to leave my mindscape to go back to the real world. "*Cough* *Cough*" I coughed lightly while slightly panting from the mild mental exhaustion as I gained consciousness and woke up in the real world. "You are back sir. I was beginning to think that I would have to wait for the entire morning before you decide toe back to the world of the flesh." Cortana made a friendly joke, her voice originating from the drone resting on his desk beside the bed he was currently lying on. "Oh hey, Cortana. I was just going through my recent memories in my mind castle. How long have you been here for?" I asked as I stretched my limbszily. "Not long. Just the past two hours. I didn''t want to wake you. You already sleep a lot less than normal kids your age... How is your body? Any abnormalities or changes from thest time we conducted those medical tests?" Cortana asked after a moment of deliberation. "No, I still haven''t faced any considerable physical changes except the current lifecycle of my cells. It seems my cells have be extremely long-lived now which means I theoretically might have a lifespan now that could be quite envious to some people." I answered as I looked at my face in the mirror beside my bed. I had be quite the charmer with my face and body possibly even being in the top 0.0000001 percent on the list of extremely attractive humans. It felt like I was the perfectbination of every type of Bruce Wayne ever made and represented almost everyone who had yed the character in any type of media. The distinguished features of Adam West, with a chiseled jawline and well-defined cheekbones that exude charm and charisma, eyes, reminiscent of Michael Keaton''s, that are piercing and dark along with Val Kilmer''s refined and aristocratic facial attributes, and George Clooney''s infectious smile. Christian Bale''s rugged and muscr physique only added to my imposing presence perfectlybining with Robert Pattinson''s youthful and enigmatic edge and his tousled, dark hair. As for my presence, I knew the only Bruce Wayne who could even hope to match it would be the one from the animated series, the greatest Batman ever. "So, are you aplete immortal now because I have a list of experiments you told me to remind you of when you would be 100% immortal??" Cortana asked as she disyed a list of different names of projects from the holographic projector fixed on her drone. "... I don''t know. There is presently no practical way for me to know the definite answer to that but going by the current lifespan of my cells, I think I am aging about a hundred times slower than before. I think it would be appropriate to say that I can live for about 1000 to 1500 years without any worry, depending on how much my rate of healingpliments my long lifespan." I answered after a thought. "Oh. Then I will remind you of the listter when you gain actual true immortality." She sarcasticallymented as the holographic list disappeared. "Yeah, that would be for the best. I am sure that swimming inva on an alien a few moments before it gets destroyed can only be done if there is no way for me to physically die a mortal death." I muttered to myself as I thought about the various fun ns I used to make up in a bid to entertain myself. "Anyway, what is happening with Gotham? Is everyone alright there?" I queried. "Everyone is well and making rapid progress in their... ''character development arcs'' as you like to call it. Even Helena in Italy has started doing some vignte work using your Bat tool. I think it''s already time for you to start the second stage of the ''Bat-family'' n after you make your return." Cortana advised. "I think so too. I cannot always look after them even though I want to. So I should give them the tools and means to look after themselves. I am almost done with the League anyway. I have already crafted the ns and made my vision for the organization clear to both Nyssa and Talia. They should be able to do the rest with my resources at their disposal." I said with a straight face. "You mean you will just leave everything after the nning stage to them again... You are toozy my dear maker ^_^" Cortana said as her mini-hologram smiled from the drone. "Yeah yeah, whatever... By the way, I think it''s time to upgrade you from that simple hologram technology and tentacles back at theb. How does hard or solid light technology sound? I think it will suit you quite well until I develop a more permanent solution to your body problem like an android or maybe a clone or something along those lines." I asked at which she suddenly became visibly excited and her hologram began to nod rapidly at my proposal. "Yatta yatta" Her hologram jumped up and down in happiness like an anime girl. I could only chuckle seeing her excitement. I was happy as well. Not only did I gain Ra''s useful knowledge but I also acquired control of the League of Assassins as well as the All-Caste. Both organizations were important to me due to their rich history and heritage and I had clear ns for both. All-Caste would be the international organization for handling supernatural threats like demons, ghosts, and magic, operating as a global Charitable Foundation while the League of Assassins would deal with my more... mortal enemies and be the biggest mercenary organization in the world with deep connections in the underworld operating as a global chain of premium hotels.Both of them would of course serve under the Hightable. They would appear as independent organizations working for their own respective agendas but in reality, both would be my invisible hands working tirelessly all around the world, mainly outside Gotham and especially outside America to make sure that some random suicidal idiot or subtle supernatural threat in a deste corner of the won''t be able to destroy the world before me even finding out about it. So while I make Gotham my base and headquarters by purging it of its crime and corruption, the other two organizations would make sure to slowly do the same for the world as well, albeit in a way where I would be the greatest gainer. I might not be heartless but I also don''t work for free. If I am going to dedicate some of my valuable time to saving the world, I might as well enjoy what it has to offer. ''I think I can be a very good ''one-man Illuminati''.'' I mentallyughed at the thought. "But all these talks of Gotham do make me a little homesick. I think it''s time for me to return home Cortana... It''s finally time for me to start my real work." --- (A/N: Yep, Rejoice! it is finally time.) Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npagetoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom Chapter 75: A Hunt of Owls and Bats Chapter 75: A Hunt of Owls and Bats ---
"Never trust anything that can bleed for a week and not die." - Chad,(In The Company Of Men)
--- <[Court of Owls Gathering Hall]> <(OmniscientPOV)> "I can''t understand how we are not able to profit from them. Wayne Industries is supposed to be a rapidly declining corporation that we were going to devour to increase our own wealth. It was going to be something extremely easy and profitable for us, so can any of you gentlemen tell me why the hell have we not been able to take even a single one of their assets yet?" The man in the golden owl mask questioned in a severe tone as he looked around the table at his ''juniors''. "We almost had the entire Wayne Corporation in our hands. ording to the people we have on our payroll, thepany is still massively bleeding money in most of its technological ventures. Even Wayne Biotech is losing money like water with job cuts being a regr incident. So, things were going exactly ording to our n. But instead of the conglomerate discreetly selling their assets to us, the members of the Court of Owl, they have been steadily selling their assets and loss-makingpanies to Bruce Wayne." One of the people with a white owl mask on said with a disgusted expression on his face. "But that should be impossible. We own more than half of the board of directors in thepany. We should be able to buy whatever they sell off at the dirt-cheap prices. How are they allowing that Wayne kid to do this? Is he offering them even more money than us?" A woman wearing a white owl mask suddenly asked." "No, actually quite the opposite. ording to our insiders, Bruce Wayne''s butler who is managing his finances is using his biggest shareholder status in Wayne Enterprises and a small loophole in the ountancy system to get first dibs on everypany the massive corporation sells which allows him to be the first to offer a price for it. Wayne Enterprise being a publicpany has to legally ept that deal as long as the price offered meets their valuation expectations or as long as someone else doesn''t try to challenge the deal by betting a lot more than what they have offered. But again, the family never seems to run out of money especially now that they have brought that bank. So, outbidding them for an acquisition is out of the question, and even if we do manage to do that somehow, it will ultimately be our loss in the end since we would have sent too much to make an actual profit. So, no matter what we do, Bruce Wayne and his newly established Wayne Solutions will always emerge as the final winner." The previous white owl-masked man exined. "Maybe we should target Wayne Solutions directly by using some of the... ssic methods of Corporate Espionage and Industrial Sabotage that we can employ. Also, we have our government dogs, don''t we? I think all of us are giving the Wayne orphan and his estate more importance than we should." Another member sitting at the table said with what sounded like a calm yet bored voice. "Mr. Seventh, believe me, or not, we are just as busy as you are, and as you can see we are definitely not some children to worry about a kid. We have already tried almost every trick in the book. We had our newest pawn, Penguin hire a few professionals to enter and steal whateverpany secrets they could find at one of thepany''s bases but it had not only proved useless since they could not even pass through the outermost defense of the building but even the few people we had managed to sneak into thepany as employees came up empty handed before they were caught and given to the cops. Thepany reportedly does not keep any of its confidential data in a publicly known base. Also, the local city government authorities do not have any power over thepany especially because of its rumored connections with the military. As for the national organizations that do have the appropriate power to act against thepany for some reason won''t. Apparently, they have got quite some goodwill from different senators." "Not only that, even some of our overly ambitious members who were previously tasked with manipting Wayne Enterprises from the inside as its board of directors have stopped reporting for some reason, especially with what happenedst year with the mass shootout in its HQ. Although we were able to increase our number of shares in thepany after the death of so many of their board members, it was still useless because the share prices of thepany fell a LOT which still haven''t fully recovered even today. In one word, the Wayne family has continued to be a pain in our path even after the death of most of their family members." The leader with the golden mask spoke out quite seriously. "Makes me wonder if we should take care of the boy right now to..." "But that will expose the Court of the Owls too much in front of the normal public, won''t it? Also, I am sure that the Parliament of Owls does not want that to happen. After all, the Court and the Parliament are directly connected and one being sabotaged will always negatively affect the other... The League of Assassins too will prefer the Court being hidden for now. We already have too much on our te to take care of. We will prefer if we can stay out of the public eye as well." One of the masked Owls who was also the representative of the League of Assassins suddenly interrupted with a calm yet resolute tone of voice. "... I don''t like being interrupted, Mr. L... But still, you are right honored member. It is wiser not to act and simply to observe while trying to find out the exact situation we are in and also how we can profit from it. Furthermore, the currentpany CEO of Wayne Enterprises who is one of our puppets is still alive and well. Removing him from his position will be hard for the boy, even with his bulk of shares. Maybe, that fat good-for-nothing CEO will be able to not only destroy the corporation but also a major portion of Bruce Wayne''s wealth as well. People take years to earn their billions but a single day is all it takes to lose it all. So, observe and wait we will. And who knows, maybe one of the hundreds of crazy freaks who have started roaming the streets of Gotham might be enough to end the young billionaire." The leader of the Court had started with his teeth clenched in anger at the beginning but had resorted to ominously chuckling toward the end. He knew that ording to some rumors, the League was going through some rough patches after losing its ''Head'' and they wereparatively weaker than before but he didn''t want to bet on the fact. So he controlled his anger. The League of Assassins wasn''t an organization to be trifled with even if it became a shadow of what it originally was and he did not want to make a mistake by poking such an organization that he was going to regretter just due to some anger and pride. "Yes, I am sure that when the great Court of Owls does decide tounch an attack against the young Wayne, he will never see iting and he won''t even be able to resist against its power. At the end of the day, no matter how rich the boy bes, he will always be just a pathetic boy, the blood of those weak whiney Waynes." One of the normal members who had been previously speaking dered arrogantly with a disgusted expression on his face as he looked at the others for support. "Yes indeed. I am sure that he will never expect it. He is just a ''boy'' after all." The League representative remarked with a strange sarcastic voice, a voice that almost seemed to be making a joke but yet, no one there noticed it and only supported the statement with heavy nods. *** <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "Interesting, so they have already noticed Bruce Wayne and are considering me a minor threat. I guess building one of the nation''srgestpanies does get you noticed quickly. I wonder how long they will be able to fool themselves into thinking that they have the upper hand." I wondered aloud as I turned off the live video transmission of the meeting of the Court of Owls on my Bat-tool''s screen. ''Those small fireflies sure are quite useful as subtle drones especially when hidden on another man''s clothes... However, the sound and picture quality has to be increased a lot for these topare to my bat, bird, spider, andbat droids.'' I thought to myself as I quietly stood at the edge of a huge building''s rooftop, silently gazing at the beautiful skyline of the corrupted yet stunning city. "I think I''ll have to work on my brooding skills. a lot." --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npagetoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom Chapter 76: Homecoming (1) Chapter 76: Homing (1) ---
"Each man''s life touches so many other lives, and when he isn''t around, he leaves an awful hole." ¨C rence,(It''s a Wonderful Life)
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "You never told me that you have a family Bruce. If I knew, I would have worn something better..., maybe even bring a housewarming gift or something." Nyssa said while lightly biting on her nails with a worried look. "That''s why I always tell you to read the file little sister. Background checks are always important even if you are just looking for a boyfriend." Talia snorted at her sister. "Wait, you read a file on me. That''s borderline creepy. *Sigh* I guess, I should have expected this from a closet pervert like you." I teased Talia to which she just gave me a cold look. "Also Nyssa, by family I only currently have my butler/guardian Alfred, and my best friend Selina whom Alfred adopted about a decade ago. Besides them, I also have some friends whom I consider family as well." I said, not mentioning that Selina might be a little more than just a friend. All three of us were on our way to the Wayne Estate in a ck Te Roadster, the first electric sports car released by Wayne Auto under the brand name Te. It was dered the car of the year by a majority of magazines and car critics and almost had a cult-like following of loyal fanboys. Of course, the fact that it had a range of 1000 miles which charged from 0 to 100 percent in ten minutes with its out-of-the-world battery technology along with a host of other innovative features also contributed to why it was the highest-selling sports car in the country this year. In fact, it sold so much that I had to spend an additional 3 billion dors to make new charging stations all over America topensate for the huge number of Te cars on the road. Anyway, I was originally supposed to return alone while Nyssa and Talia were supposed to stay back at the League''s Nanda Parbat base to solidify the League''s new power structure but they had both changed that decision at thest moment and taken some time out to drop me home. The reason they gave me of course had nothing to do with dropping me home. If one were to believe their words, they just wanted to visit the infamous city of Gotham. "You have a girl as a best friend who is also living in your house?" Nyssa''s voice sounded hollow for some reason. Even Talia raised one of her eyebrows in my direction as if to ask me if I had just broken her little sister''s heart. "... It''spletely fine for a boy and a girl to be best friends. If you don''t agree with it, then you are a sexist." I bullshitted through my teeth with a straight face as I did my best not to meet her eyes. "Oh, look. We are here." I said with genuine joy at being able to divert the topic as I pointed at my mansion. The estate had changed a lot over the years. From a ssic medieval-era style mansion to a breathtakingly beautiful manor filled with cutting-edge technologies for both security and convenience. The entire mansion had professional defense personnel in ck full-body suits with high defense capabilities roaming all around the estate ready to take someone''s life or give theirs in case of an invasion. Even their guns had been upgraded into electromaic variants that normal bulletproof vests wouldn''t be able to stop. After the car stopped in front of the front door of the main building, I got out of the car followed by both Nyssa and Talia, both of whom were looking everywhere around them in curiosity. "Master Bruce! You are still alive. Even though Cortana told me you were well, I could not help but at times fear that something bad might have happened to you in one of your adventures." Alfred who was waiting for me at the entrance half-joked in a voice filled with heavy emotions. Despite having taken a peak body serum, he looked like he had aged about ten years due to worrying too much. "Alfred, it''s so wonderful to see that you are still walking and not in a wheelchair. Guess, my serum did knock off a hundred years from your age, didn''t it?" I joked back with a chuckle as I hugged the person I trusted the most in the world. Hell, I didn''t even trust Selina as much as I trusted the old butler. Something about him just yelled loyalty. Even though I didn''t know what went on in that disciplined mind of his, I knew it as a fact that he would much rather kill himself than ever betray me or the Wayne family. "It''s good that you are back. Taking care of thepanies was getting too much for my old bones even though I had Lucius'' help. Now you can even take control of Wayne Enterprises just like your father would have wanted. I think I am going to stick to just taking care of the estate, you, Miss. Selina for now." Alfred remarked with a heartyugh. "Whatever you wish Alfred. And don''t worry, I''ll take back everything that belongs to me or the family. I don''t forget my grudges... Anyway, this is Talia Al Ghul and Nyssa Al Ghul. They are... the daughters of the man I trained under. They are here as tourists to see Gotham and therefore our guests." I introduced both the girls who were standing behind me with nk faces looking like a pair of professional assassins scanning a target. ''I almost forgot about their anti-social upbringing. They could perhaps seduce even the most emotionless men but that doesn''t change the fact that they have no experience on how to urately disy their real emotions in front of people... or just make themselves appear like normal human beings. I guess I''ll have to pr train them in the future.'' I thought to myself as I saw the girls awkwardly shake hands with Alfred while the butler just nodded with a small smile while giving me an amazed look. "Now, pleasee inside. We can continue all our conversations inside the house. I am sure that all of you are hungry after such a long trip." Alfred led us inside, walking in front of me excitedly, probably just happy that I had finallye back. "Woof woof WOOF WOOF" A familiar sound echoed as a dog came running at me like a mad tiger and jumped into my arms to lick me in the face. "Ace. You have grown big you handsome dog. I guess you took after your master, didn''t you?... By the way, why aren''t you speaking? I thought that you would be a chatterbox by the time I returned." I said while affectionately scratching his head and neck to which he only answered with a low howl. "Ace stopped speaking in his human voice after a group of angry church mob chased him with torches in their hands trying to burn him on a stake after branding him as the Devil incarnate. I had to spend about a million dors in church donations to make them forget the matter... I think he is still scarred from that event. He only uses his voice when he needs to inform us of something important, like the time when he told us that he and Mr. Whiskers got dirty after they liberated the animal underworld of a cannibal rat mafia lord and his gang of rats." Alfred said with a straight face as he gave a disappointed look at the dog, obviously not believing him. Even I found that hard to believe, provided that I had watched the DC Pets movie but I decided not to waste too many of my brain cells and just forget about the entire thing. "Wait, you are saying that your dog can talk? Like, talk in a humannguage? But, that is impossible, right? Dogs can''t talk." Nyssa voiced out what both the Al Ghul sisters were thinking in their minds. "Of course, I can talk. I am not just any dog. I am Ace, the Dark Hound. I can do anything and everything that normal dogs can or can''t do." Ace suddenly spoke up in his Kevin Hart voice which startled both Nyssa and Talia as they both looked at Ace like he was a monster. The only reason they hadn''t screamed yet was because of their ninja training although Talia looked like she was getting ready to kick Ace away with her hills to defend everyone from the talking ''monster''. "You see this Bruce? This is why I don''t talk. Everyone is racist nowadays. People see a dog talking and they pull the guns and torches on it. Well, shame on you. *WOOF*" Ace concluded as he again turned the human speech trantion option to ''partial'' in his cor. The mode let him understand human speech of all human dialects in his dognguage but didn''t trante his barks into human words. "Ace, remind me to give you a better-sounding and deeper voice next time. Maybe you can use them in your future... ''quests'' to hide your identity because your current voice sounds more annoying than scary." I said, not being fully sure if the animal underworld thing was true or not. "Are you sure you should be that close to... it?" Nyssa asked with a gulp still not sure about Ace. "Don''t worry, he is harmless. Ace is just as normal... umm, I mean, unique as any other non-speaking dog. The reason he can speak is because of the special cor I made for him. It is an animal trantor of sorts. So, you don''t have to worry, you can just treat him like any other dog and pamper the hell out of him. I mean just look at his face, how can you not see how cute he is." I said as both I and Ace looked at the sisters, giving them a cute look while innocently batting our eyes. "... Gaaah, they are so cute." Nyssa was the first to break as she shouted in a girlish voice and bent down to scratch Ace behind his ears. She even looked like she wanted to rub my cheeks in adoration too. "You didn''tst even a single second, shame on you sis. Well, I guess I cannot just let you do this alone. So, I''ll have to sacrifice my integrity and join you to pet him as well." Talia admitted with a humph and bent down to rub Ace''s head with an excited expression on her face. ''I guess this is the first time, they are doing something like this. I doubt Ra''s Al Ghul was enough of a caring father to bring them puppies when they were children.'' I thought to myself as I smiled internally. "By the way Alfred, where is Selina?" I asked in a low voice as I discreetly looked around in search of her. "Oh, she went out with Mr. Whiskers to make preparations for a little party she is arranging to celebrate your return. She should be returning soon. However, I would advise not to do or say anything to anguish her. Her mood was never that great after you left for your training. So, she started to push herself too hard which took a toll on her mental health. So if you do something to make her cry, then it will be me who will be the one suffering the most since I will have to choose between supporting you and supporting her." Alfred whispered back. "Hahahaha. Don''t worry, Alfred. I will never break anyone''s heart, least of all the heart of someone who loves me. You don''t have to stress about that." I said as I patted his back with a calm smile all the while I was panicking internally. Originally, I was just going with the flow of things in terms of romance and stuff but I doubt either Nyssa or Selina would ever agree to share me like some typical Harem novel. DC although has some of the hottest girls ever, isn''t really known for harem stuff. In terms of romance and love, this ispletely a normal world of soulmates, sex, partners cheating on each other, and casual rtionships. But polygamy and harems are rarely shown. ''Is there any harem-inator that I can make and use to force everyone to ept harems? I really don''t want to die a virgin... In myst life, I only had a couple of blowjobs, but never the real stuff.'' I sadly thought to myself as I was the one biting my nails nervously this time. I really didn''t want to pay for a good time even after having two girls who were seriously interested in me. ''*Sigh* It looks like my love life is on its way to hell even before it begins.'' --- (A/N: This is Part 1 of the entire homing chapter. I tried to release both parts today, but editing such arge chapter became too much for me) Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npagetoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom Chapter 77: Homecoming (2) Chapter 77: Homing (2) ---
"No matter how careful your risk hedging is, there will still be holes in your n! Realizing them and ensuring they are promptly dealt with, is the duty of those who stand at the top." ¨C Reiji Akaba,(Yu-Gi-Oh)
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "Are you sure that you want to do this Bruce? I doubt these memories from ''his'' mind''s remnants have anything that can help you improve. ording to what you have told me, ''he'' might have one day be one of the most dangerous humans on the but that doesn''t change the fact that this was his mind when he was just a nine-year-old. The advantages that you might get from the assimtion of his fractured mind are minusculepared to the risks that would apany it." Cortana voiced her concerns worriedly from her hologram form. Yeah, Cortana knew my biggest secret, well, at least parts of it. She knew about me not being the original Bruce Wayne and only inhabiting the body of Bruce but she didn''t know exactly who or what I was. She didn''t ask as well since she didn''t need to know. However, as a truly smart AI, I knew that she had her own theories of which the current me being a product of some sort of split personality disorder due to the trauma of him being shot at an early age was her biggest guess. Of course, I didn''t try to correct her. It would have been better for me if she didn''t know my truth at all. But I needed her to have at least an idea about who I truly was or in this case not, because she was going to be inside my mind a lot, and sooner orter she was going to know that I am not exactly who everyone thinks I am. At least at that time, she would not assume the worst about me like I was some form of evil spirit inhabiting Bruce Wayne''s body or something. Plus she had absolute loyalty to me coded deep inside her. I was the reason for her existence. So she literally could never betray me by misusing that information somehow. Also, data like these had the highest level of confidentiality in her system, so no one would ever be able to ess that data without the highest form of ess required, something only I had. "I know Cortana. But... it''s still important that I do it. To both gain some closure to the previous Bruce''s... death as well as to have a chance to improve my mindscape with his mind''s remnants. Plus, imagine if you have a red button sitting in front of you for years and you have no idea what it does. Wouldn''t you want to press it and see what happens just so that you could satisfy your curiosity?" I asked with a powerless shrug. "No. My algorithms value caution way too much to do that. My curiosity doesn''t increase with time like that of humans. I simply decide on whether to press a button of an unknown function based on my knowledge about the characteristics of the button, its advantages and disadvantages." Cortana answered as a matter of fact. "... Well, I am your creator, so I know better than you. Now, just download those memories I am allowing you ess to and help render and process them." I argued with a straight face as I put the amusphere on my head. "Also, make a copy of my present consciousness while you are at it. Worsees to worst, I''ll at least always have a recement mind in store to put into my body in case I ever suffer a mind death or.... mind erasure or something else along those lines. I think I should also design a portable device that would make a copy of my mind and store it in a secure server every day to prevent situations like that." I said thest part more to myself as I wondered if I could make a Cortical Stack like in the Netflix show, Altered Carbon. Even Rick''s mind-copying device in Rick and Morty paled inparison to that particr piece of miraculous technology. "Baka" Cortana muttered in an overly exaggerated tone before focusing on extracting the fragmented memories of the original Bruce from my mind which I permitted by lowering my mental shields and allowing her entry into some of the limited parts of my mind. "Targetted mind unit found" "Extraction processmencing in 3... 2... 1... Extraction started" "Time taken toplete extraction: 2 minutes, 55 seconds." Cortana began to continuously announce her updates in a monotone voice as she went through all the leftover data of the original Bruce Wayne''s fragmented mind. Despite the machine essing the deepest parts of my mind, I felt nothing except a little tingling sensation in my head like receiving a weird massage. "Extraction Completed" "It''s done. I have extracted all the splintered memories that you wanted me to. However, going through all those memories and processing them ording to your requirements will take quite some time. I will most likely be able toplete the process in about 3 days 2 hours and 11 minutes." Cortana informed diligently. "Really? That''s slow. I guess, I''ll have to upgrade some of your servers to make them morepatible for them to directly deal with mental data as efficiently as they deal with normal electronic data." I pondered to myself as I prepared to work on improving Cortana''s servers. Making and upgradingputer servers was probably one of the easiest, yet one of the most strenuous jobs that I had to do, so I prepared myself for a very long night. "By the way, I forgot to ask this but what about the current politicalndscape of the city? Has anything significant changed after I left for my training?" I asked since I had more or less zero idea about what was truly going on in Gotham''s dirty underworld as I made it a point for Cortana to never disturb me during my training on Nanda Parbat. "Nothing you already didn''t predict. After Martha and Thomas Wayne died and you left allw and order went to hell. Although the situation between different organized crime groups has almost be stable, Gotham is now more or less a gutter teeming with crime and corruption. Latin American drug cartels, the Chinese Triads, the Yakuza, the Russian mafia groups, both new and old crime families like the Cosa Nostra or Maroni crime families as well as dozens upon dozens of small gangs have sprung up like mushrooms trying to leech on the city to feed their own selfish greed and hunger. However, the fastest-growing gangs among them would be the Intergang, the Sionis Crime family, and the Penguin gang. Although still small, they have the biggest growth rate among all the organized crime groups, at least in Gotham. Intergang has mainly grown so strong because of its international presence and heavy funding but the Sionis family and the penguin gang arepletely due to the merits of their founders. Roman Sionis also known as ck Mask who runs the Sionis crime family, formed his entire kingdom with his sharp wits and cunning making short work of almost anyone who dares to stand in his path. He also seems to have a grudge against you since he thinks that you stole his bank deal, thus slowing down his empire''s growth. Oswald Cobblepot on the other hand is a very shrewd man who can turn almost every situation in his favor. His biggest power is his sharp mind and quick decision-making ability, unlike other leaders who use violence to maintain their reign. Of course, there are also other small emerging groups like the Joker cult where people who are sympathetic towards a certain person who dressed and called himself the Joker killed himself on a live TV show. But they do not have any long-term n, they just want to cause chaos and destruction instead of real organized crime. But of course, even among all these new forces the Falcone crime family has still somehow managed to keep its position as the strongest criminal organization." Cortana briefed with her hologram taking the form of a young blue-skinned secretary with sses on her face while wearing a secretary dress "For more information, you can further refer to my detailed report on Gotham organized crime group. I even included pictures and graphs to exin the present situation of Gotham''s underworld better to you." Cortana finished as a document folder opened on the massive screen of the Batputer with a Hello Kitty sticker shaped like a bat on its title page. "... Thank you for your help Cortana. That''s a pretty cute-looking document. I am sure I am going to enjoy reading this... *Sigh* 3000-page report because of that." I sighed as I realized that I was going to be very busy for the next few days. I had to do a lot of things like make my new armor, finish the final upgrades on Cortana''s servers to help her copy and store entire minds as digital copies, assimte Bruce''s old memories as well, and work on some new serums. Plus, I also always wanted a Bat-car, a Bat-ne, and perhaps even a Bat-cycle for myself one day, so I have to start working on that too. ''So much work. I think I am going to have a burnout just thinking about them.'' I thought as I wiped away some of my fake tears. ''But still the Joker gang, huh? It sounds like this universe is going to have multiple iterations of Joker, so I have to be careful. I am not going to underestimate someone like the Joker. All the iterations of the Jokers might not be the best fighters but they seriously know how to emotionally manipte someone and mentally destroy them.'' I thought grimly. "TIGER, YOU ARE BACK. I MISSED YOUUUUU." A voice suddenly yelled out from behind me, surprising me for the first time in thest five years as a familiar figure embraced me from the back. "Kitty, it seems that you have missed me a lot, haven''t you? Well, I have certainly missed you... Wow, you have changed... a lot in thest couple of years." I spoke dumbfounded after I tried to turn around and hug her back. The girl I had once known for all those years was gone, reced by a woman who bore almost no resemnce to her. She was sporting a slender and curvy figure, d in tight leather jeans and a skin-tight jacket that barely concealed her ample breasts because of how much the zipper was lowered. A pair of red goggles and a... strange cat mask further added to her mysterious allure. She looked like a character straight from a fantasyic because of her unnatural beauty and seductive charm, perhaps a product of this world''s heightened aesthetics for its heroes and viins. "Selina, are you just into cosy and exhibitionism now or have you dressed in that costume tomit certain night activities that normal people should nevermit in a town like Gotham?" My voice instantly turned serious as I ended the hug with a hardened face. ''Did Selina be a cat burr and start stealing from people despite everything I did to make sure that she never had to experience such a life? Was this somehow destiny ying its predetermined course like it''s supposed to? Was everything I did pointless? Also, how many people have seen that sexy hot body of hers in that costume? I needed to kill all of them to quell my jealousy.'' --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npagetoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom Chapter 78: An Alliance of Cats and Bats Chapter 78: An Alliance of Cats and Bats ---
"If you love someone, he could make you sad. He could even make you feel lonely sometimes. But that someone can also make you happier than you''ll ever be..." - Saki Hanajima,(Fruits Basket)
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "What? Of course not. What do you think of me? I was not only fully dressed with the chain all the way up but even had a leather jacket on. In fact, I arrived a little while ago and was trying to change my clothes before I discovered an extremely annoying woman snooping around in my room. Apparently, you brought her here as a guest, which made her think that she could enter MY room without MY permission to ''sightsee'' the mansion." Selena said as she looked at me, her eyes filled with barely hidden suspicion. "I wanted to beat her to a pulp because I thought she was an enemy trying to confuse me by lying but then Alfred arrived and confirmed her words. So, I came straight to see you." Selinapleted. "... Wait, so I have to kill Alfred for seeing you naked?" I muttered to myself with a mock heartbroken face. "What are you on about? We both know that Alfred had seen almost all of us naked since we were kids. The only thing he feels from that is disappointment at not being able to make us more fat... or ''healthy'' as he likes to call it." Selina snickered. "Yeah, that''s true. The man doesn''t understand the greatness of having a jacked body despite having one himself." I too chuckled as I remembered how muscr the aging butler now was that I had given him the gene modifier serum to keep him in top shape and slow down his aging. "Yeah. Anyway, I missed you. It has been too long. I almost thought that you had forgotten about us... about me." Selina muttered weakly as she rubbed her face on my chest, hugging me as tightly as possible. She was even slightly mewling like a little cat as she nudged her head deeper into my chest. "Never silly. How could I forget about my little kitty? I was just too busy with my training and everything. Turns out the level of skill I wanted for myself wasn''t exactly that easy to achieve. But I am back now and I don''t n to leave again." I smiled to reassure her while hugging her back and patting her head. "I hope so. Just don''t leave without me gain... By the way, who was that girl in my room? Don''t tell me that you went ahead to do the exact opposite of what I asked and got yourself a whore." Selina looked at me usingly with a sharp glint in her eyes as her voice suddenly changed from a weak happy voice to a doubt-filled usatory tone. "... Umm, well, I am pretty sure she is not a whore, heh heh." I nervously chuckled. "Ahem, I mean, I don''t know which girl you saw in your room but the two girls I brought with me today are sisters who are the daughters of the man who taught me most of the skills I wanted to learn. They are just here to drop me home," I exined not wanting to go deeper into detail. "You have gotten better at lying tiger, much better but I can still tell when you are lying... *Sigh* I guess she really was right. Rich men love to have multiple affairs. I just never thought that I would be the loving wife waiting at home. I would have preferred to be the mistress. By the way, does their father know about this?" Selina asked curiously. Wait, what? What in the name of bat-themed hell is she talking about? Also, is it just me or is she suddenly not as much adverse to the idea of a third lover as a normal woman should be? "I killed their father after he tried to take over their body but you don''t have to feel bad for them since I am pretty sure that they are much happier with their father permanently dead. And, before you start judging me with those serious absolutely not true bullshit usations you areing up with, I should also ask you what you were exactly doing in thattex costume outside the mansion. Even if you did manage topletely hide that sinful body of yours in that tight suit, that costume is not something one wears in broad daylight. In fact, it looks like something one wears at night in the dark to do stuff that would be considered either ''bad'' or really ''naughty''. And, as much as I know you, you are definitely not trying to do thetter. So, tell me kitty..., are you stealing again?" I asked with as much seriousness as I could muster on my face, not bothering to borate on why I had killed their father. "No, never. Even though my kleptomania had acted up asionally, I had always managed to keep it under control. I''ll never steal without your permission. After all, I still remember the promise I made you." Selina quickly exined, almost seeming hurt at the usation. "Also, I only wore that becausetex is surprisingly very useful while doing stuff like spy work. Wearing that suit not only doesn''t hinder my body movements much but also increases the so-called ''cool factor'' by quite a bit as well." Selina exined with a helpless smile. "And why would you exactly feel the need to do some spy work?" I pressed on the issue trying to get the entire picture. "... Falcone. I think the gang leader is trying to kill one of my new friends. A couple of days ago she found out something that she wasn''t meant to find out and after that, her life had been in constant danger. As you know I have a small history with the Falcone gang and its head, so when I found out about it, I could not stop myself. My friend, L told me about some of the details of the stuff she overheard from the Falcons, and it sounded like it was something quite big, something that could be used to possibly to even overthrow the entire gang. So, I made up my mind to you know... investigate." Selina finished her exnation. She hade clean about her parentage with me a long time ago and had confessed that ording to her mother''sst words, there was quite a big chance that Carmine Falcone was her biological father. A lot of people might think that this made her quite lucky since there was a chance that she could have a luxurious life as part of the Falcone family but if one really knew about the inner workings of how the Falcone family worked, they would understand that Falcone had no ce for bastards in his home. All of his illegitimate children always ended up disappearing most probably by his own design to make sure that only his legitimate heirs would gain control of the family once he was gone. So, if he found out about Selina, he would definitelye after her as well. That was one of the reasons why her mother could never muster enough courage to try to ask him for help when she was still alive. She probably didn''t know for sure but she must have heard the rumors. "And, what do you n to do once you have your hands on this information that could ruin the Falcon familia? ckmail him, scare him, or... ?" "I will destroy him and everything he holds dear including the empire he is so proud of. I have not forgiven him for what I and my mother had to go through when I was young. He is the reason for my mother''s death. Even though he didn''t kill her himself, he was still responsible for it nheless." Selina uttered while clenching her fists as tightly as she could while she remembered the powerless face of her dying mother. "I am truly disappointed in you kitty. I thought you would have be smarter than this after all this time but it seems that I was wrong." "Why? Because I want to pursue revenge instead of letting this go and forgiving him? Because I am not a generous enough human being to forgive my and my mother''s tormentor and move on with my life?" Selina sounded angry, her hatred for Falcone clearly audible in her voice. "No, it''s because you did not take Cortana''s help with this. With her drones and information processing capabilities, you could have already had a bullet in Falcone''s head by now. Also, I do not practice that vengeance is bad and one should always forgive others bullshit philosophy myself. So, I am in no position to preach it to you. If this had happened to me, I would have probably done much worse to Falcone." I admitted honestly as the image of Jor Chill came to my mind. If he had not been killed in prison that day, I would have probably given him a very VERY cruel death, consequences be damned. Perhaps his death at the hands of the Court was a way for the universe to give me a chance to keep myself pure, to help the future Batman keep his hands clean of blood but then again I had wasted that opportunity a long time ago, something I wasn''t at all ashamed of. I had done what I needed to do and I stand by it. No regrets. "Oh... I just embarrassed myself, didn''t I? I guess staying away from you for so many years had made me forget about how morally grey you can be at times." She chuckled half-heartedly as she rxed. "... Anything for family," I said with an exaggerated cool voice as I patted her head in an effort to lighten up the mood. "I... I love you, tiger despite how cheesy you sounded just now. Even I have seen all the Fast and Furious movies especially since we get free tickets from Lucius due to it being a movie franchisee from Wayne Studios." Selina teased. "Yeah, I know but I can''t help myself and yes, I love you too... Also, I might just have a couple of things that could help you in this little revenge of yours. I had been developing some stuff for myself to... try and minimize crime in Gotham by getting rid of all the criminal organizations slowly, recing them with something better. I think I can hook you up with some of that cool stuff as well. Tell me, if you were to get a bulletproof catsuit filled to the brim with high-tech weaponry built into it, would you want it with a matte ck design or a glossy ck design?" --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npagetoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom Chapter 79: The Wayne Corporation Gambit Chapter 79: The Wayne Corporation Gambit ---
"Don''t give up, there''s no shame in falling down! The true shame is not to stand up again!" - Shintaro Midorima,(Kuroko no Basuke)
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "Bruce, are you absolutely sure that you don''t just want to use the amusphere on everyone and brainwash every gang leader and politician in the city to be loyal to you? I think that would be much more effective than you doing this... caped crusader stuff that you are nning. ording to my calctions, a symbol of hope or justice won''t mean anything to humans when faced with dark times. However, if you let me, then I might be able to slowly convert the poption of the entire city to your loyal followers. It would be much more fast and effective with minimum bloodshed. And you would not even have to do anything, all you have to do is just give me themand and let the new generationbat drones handle the rest." Cortana confidently said as she showed me holograms of the various ns she had made to make my job easier for me. "Hahahahaha. Strangely, I actually agree with you Cortana. Me, ying a hero or even an antihero wouldn''t change shit in this hellhole of a city. Humans are inherently selfish and greedy creatures which is not bad by the way since those very factors greatly contribute to development and evolution. But that also means that no matter how much I try ying the ideal good guy as the symbol of hope, they would always go back to their old ways when they get the chance. They would always want to fight and kill, plunder and rape, steal and torture. Hell, some of them would probably even do it for fun rather than greed." I admitted after augh at which Cortana''s hologram which currently looked like a young adult girl rapidly nodded. I had greatly upgraded the hologram technology in myb after my return. Even though they were still not advanced enough to use hard light to interact with the physical environment, they were stillparable to Mysterio''s hologram systems. So, Cortana could now easily take the form of an ordinary-looking human or whatever form she desired and she would appear as normal to anybody as me or any other physical being. Normally, she liked using her original blue form when it was just me with her but in the presence of others, she resorted to using a more human form to ''fit in''. However, right now, she was using her ''non-blue form'' to have this conversation. She was even wearing a general''s uniform that strangely made her look like some kind of a dictator to make herself appear more serious. However, in my eyes, it only served to make her look cuter. "... But despite all this, I cannot agree with your suggestion. Free will is a very important thing to me personally. To me, taking away people''s free will by brainwashing them and making themcent in following my orders is equal to the highest of torture and abuse, perhaps even worse since that would mean, I would be taking away the very meaning of what it means to be alive and free. That is something I don''t desire since I have no wish to rule over anyone. I only wish to make a world where I and my loved ones won''t have to live in fear of random psychos and wannabe viins. Perhaps I would have done it if it was the only way but currently, it is not. I am confident that humanity will survive even without me brainwashing the entire species and bing its absolute overlord. Plus there are too many gods, demons, aliens, angels, imps, and other interdimensional entities in this multiverse for us to brainwash Cortana. As for bing a hero, HAHAHA, don''t joke around. I have no desire to be a symbol of hope or whatever. I am simply going to be a person who will show everyone that viins may appear cool at first nce but at the end of the day, the end of a bad person is always equally bad. I will make examples out of them in front of the world and ensure that any person would think twice before even considering disturbing my or the city''s peace. The symbol of hope might not work, but the symbol of fear and vengeance definitely will." I exined to Cortana. She didn''t look convinced but she still nodded and didn''t argue any further. "Plus, don''t think that ying a superhero is going to be my endgame or something, it is merely part of aplex long-term n. I don''t want to beat criminals all around the city while cosying as a bat all my life. I have stuff to do, money to spend, and women to take dates on. Beating a few criminals or even killing their leader would only result in someone else taking up the empty position. So I need a more permanent solution, a solution which I have already figured out. And if I am right which I most probably am, then ck Mask would be the key for me to achieve this particr permanent solution." "You have already thought of everything, haven''t you? I guess it should be expected since after all you were the one who created me in the first ce." Cortana said happily as she pped. "Yeah, of course, I am the greatest master ever. Anyways, you should keep your Sk vibes in check Cortana. The fact that I might have used certain parts of the source code from Ultron, Sk, and Red Queen in you doesn''t mean you have to act the part too. For a moment there, you were really giving me some apocalyptic AI vibes. But then again, at least you grew out of your anime girl phase." I quipped. "And why do you assume that, baka master?" She giggled. "*Sigh* I should have expected that I was not that lucky. Anyways, how is the enhanced serum for Selina and Nyssaing along? I would prefer it if you finish the simtion of the serum before they get too overtly friendly and have a discussion about their respective love lives. If they enter the cryo chambers, I will at least get a week to prepare myself mentally and think things through in peace before I have to face them again." I said with a gulp as I remembered how I spent myst three days in the mansion. I had decided to give the enhanced serum to Selina and Nyssa mostly because I did not want anyone to get back at me using the people close to me and thus making them strong and difficult to kill was the easiest way to go. Even Vicki and Helena were on my list too for that. Alfred would have been too but he had made it inexplicably clear that he wasn''t going to go through multiple body modifications since he didn''t really need them. The peak-body gene modification serum was supposedly enough for him. Of course, I didn''t agree with that and nned to activate his meta-genes in the future with the 3rd serum that I was currently working on. As for those who were thinking that we all especially me and the girls would probably have the same set of powers and special abilities since we were going to take the same set of serums, well, they could not be more wrong. The enhancement serum enhanced people differently. For example, while it focused more on strength and healing for me, for someone else, it could enhance their agility or flexibility more or maybe focus on their senses or durability. It varied from person to person and depended on various factors like gics or physiologies or even the dosage of theponents of the serum. And when injected with the serum that would awaken their metagene, they would be even more different just like the ck Canary and sh arepletely different and unique characters in their own rights with separate power sets despite both being metahumans. So, even if every member of the Bat family gets the same set of serums, they would still remain unique with their own abilities, strengths, and weaknesses. In fact, with every modification to their bodies, their uniqueness would only increase. "I have already started preparing the serum with adjustedponent dosage, even recing kryptonite radiation back with vita and gamma radiation as an adjustment to their feminine physiologies as well as to lessen the pain to the minimum amount. However, you are just dying the inevitable. If you take my advice, sir, you should just sit them down and tell them everything. ording to my calctions, Selina has an 89 percent chance of agreeing to be a part of your harem while Nyssa has about a 73 percent chance... Weirdly Talia if you ever decide to add to your harem has the highest probability of 97 percent of agreeing to be one of your lovers. So, you might want to start from the one with the lowest probability." Cortana shrugged. I had tested my entire enhanced physiology quite deeply and after multiple tests, I have finally confirmed that none of my ''fluids'' were radioactive or harmful in nature to normal humans. In fact, they could even be called nutritious since they contain a good amount of proteins and minerals. Even my pee was healthier than most artificial energy and health drinks that humans like to drink to get fit. So, even though there was no more biological barrier between me and sex, I still wasn''t gettingid because right now, I had no idea how to tell both Nyssa and Selina to ''share'' me. I suspected that they both had some idea about the situation but they made no effort to try to investigate more. Perhaps, they themselves were afraid of what they would find. Also, how was I even supposed to approach the topic with them? Do I just say everything all at once and hope for the best like ripping off a band-aid or do I prepare them for it slowly with subtle psychological maniptions and stuff? I know the second thing doesn''t sound too ''herolike'' but for me, it was probably the easiest way to get them not to say no to the idea of me dating both of them at once. "... Yeah. But the thing with Talia is probably not going to happen since girls like Talia are only interested in my body, not in my heart." I joked with a chuckle. "Anyway, jokes apart, before I start the Dark Knight project, I think I should tie a few loose ends including the entire debacle about Wayne Corporation. I have let those stupid greedy bastards hold on to my wealth for way too long. It''s finally time for me to take everything that belongs to me back from their dirty little hands." Imented. "Atst! I thought you had almost forgotten about it. You seemed so happy with that big Amazon acquisition that you made during the dot bubble burst that I assumed you didn''t even care for the Wayne Corporation any longer. After all, you didn''t even bother trying to acquire promisingpanies like Google after that. I still think letting that search enginepany go was a waste," "Maybe. But governments going after monopolies are a real thing. Bing apany with a monopoly in almost every sector of technology wouldn''t be good. Plus there is nothing Google could make that I can''t. Be it a more advanced search engine, better AI and machine learning capabilities, or an entirely new operating system, I could do everything they do, only a thousand times better. An example would be Facebook, Outlook YouTube, Facemail, and Twitter from Wayne Solutions which have already be the biggest social media, and emailing tforms in the world despite severalpetitors being already there. But building up an emerce tform like Amazon is somethingpletely different. It isn''t just a technology product, it is much moreplex. From supply chain to contracts with retailers, sellers, customer support department, and logistics, it is multiple times moreplex and thus it is almost impossible to make another Amazon without spending at least 4 times the amount of money I spent to acquire it, even with my genius mind. So, Amazon was one of the fewpanies that we needed to acquire no matter what. As for Google, I am sure Wayne Electronics would be more than good enough topete with it." I rified. I had to spend about 12 billion dors including tax to acquire thepany in 2001 and even that was only possible because of the huge losses it was facing at that time and also because of the fact that I had taken away its biggest source of profitability by almost monopolizing the cloudputing and web services sector through Wayne Web Services that AWS would one day be known for. So, Jeff Bezos had no other way but to sell the entirepany to me under pressure from the investors due to the market crash. Whoever had said that the rich only grew richer had never spoken more true words. "So, does that mean Operation WayneCorpfall is a go?" Cortana asked doubtfully. After all, there was no way back, once the operation kicked into motion. "Yep..., it is most definitely a go," I said after a moment of silence, having decided to go through with the n. It was time to go visit some stupid rich pigs also known as the Wayne Corporation board members. --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npagetoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom Chapter 80: Legacy Redeemed (1) Chapter 80: Legacy Redeemed (1) ---
"In the human world, truth and reality aren''t always the same. Humans just call their desires and ambitions "truth". Humans will even kill other humans if they have "truth" as an excuse." - Soshi Watase,(Mawaru Penguindrum)
--- <{Wayne Corporation HQ board room, Gotham}> <(Omniscient POV)> "What is the meaning of this Mr. Pennyworth? Calling a board meeting in the middle of the quarter on a working day without any advance notice? This must be something extremely important for you to waste our time like this." William Earle, the current CEO of Wayne Enterprises barked out with a frown on his face as he looked at the rest of the dozen board members sitting around the table for some support which they dly provided by nodding at his words. He was quite irritated at this sudden meeting. He was actually rxing at his farmhouse, spending time with one of his multiple mistresses while enjoying the wealth and luxuries that his position as the CEO of thepany brought him. And, he wanted to get back to that. He could think of much better things to do than sit at a meeting called by this dog of the Wayne brat. Also, it doesn''t even matter what the fool proposed, there was no way he or his allies would ever allow the servant or his master to ever have actual influence over thepany. "Oh, it is important actually. Very much so. You see Young Maser Bruce Wayne has returned from his... spiritual journey and he now wishes to take over the helms of thepany that his family had built over the centuries. This meeting is simply for that exact purpose, to decide the direction of this greatpany in the future." Alfred said politely in his British ent with a small calm smile tugging on his lips. This greatly worsened the corrupted CEO''s mood. He loved his current job and all the wealth, power, and influence that came with it. He was one of the most respected men in Gotham City because of his current job position. He didn''t even have to do a lot of work. Thepany just ran itself. All he had to do was just maintain his position in thepany by doing some people some favors. Selling a few of the assets and taking the subsidiaries of thepany public were a few examples. Of course, it was nothing personal, it was just business. There were people above him too and they were quite powerful since they were the reason why he was even able to maintain control over hispany as well as why so many of the board members helped him secure his position and made sure that his bills for thepany always went through. So, when Bruce Wayne disappeared to God knew where, there was nobody happier than him but now that he had returned and even wanted to be part of thepany, William felt threatened like never before but he still didn''t show it on his face. "Aah, about that, Mr. Pennyworth. You see after Bruce''s parents died, we all felt like the kid had suffered more than he should. And so, we didn''t evenin when he wanted to start his own... startup since we thought that he would be busy with something that could keep his mind upied. And, when he disappeared, some of us even thought he was dead... But, that doesn''t mean, we can just hand over thepany to him after his return and hope for the best. We are worried for his mental well-being and think that he is not in the right mind to take charge of this corporation despite him being thergest shareholder of thepany. Plus he has an additionalpany that might be a potentialpetitor to this one and we are afraid that he as an inexperienced and naive rookie in business might be using the business secrets of Wayne Enterprises to bolster his privatepany, Wayne Solutions which is very illegal. Thus we have unanimously decided to give him a vote of ''No confidence''. We have even already sent the documents required for it to be submitted to the SEC, it is on its way there right now and you know how strict the SEC gets about these things when ites to suchrge publicpanies like Wayne Enterprises right?... Didn''t you get the memoir?" William asked with an innocent face as he looked around the table as if to ask why Alfred wasn''t made known about the decision, his face barely able to hold back augh. "No, I didn''t actually... You know, it''s funny. The Wayne family not only once made this greatpany but even created this very city but today, now that they are gone, it''s like everyone just wants to feast on their remains like a bunch of vultures and hyenas... Anyways, you should still meet the young master. He might have a few things to say to you all that you should find really useful. He should be here quite soon." Alfred took a look at his limited edition Swiss watch, a gift from his beloved young master as he showed a weak bitter smile on his face. "Well, I don''t see why we can''t wait for onest official meeting with the Prince of Gotham. After all, this is going to be thest time you or your employer will be part of a board meeting. However, don''t worry, we will make sure to fill your ounts with plenty of money, so just rx and enjoy the dividends of thepany." William Earle said with a huge grin, not even caring that he was called a vulture and a hyena a few moments ago. Even the other board members didn''t mind it because in their minds they had already won. Plus, even if Bruce, tried something, they had already made sure that Wayne Enterprises would never be the same as it was before. They had taken its biggest subsidiaries like Wayne Technologies, Wayne Shipping, and Wayne Medical public and sold off the majority of their shares. Wayne Enterprises only held a small portion of those newly born independentpanies and didn''t have any control over them anymore. The present Wayne Enterprises was just a shell of the previous one and mainly dealt in Aerospace, Shipbuilding, and Weaponry. Originally, there were a lot more board members than just the fourteen including William Earle and Alfred representing Bruce''s seat present here. In fact, there were about 21 of them in total but it seemed that some of them weren''t able to attend the meeting. This wasn''t anything out of the ordinary since all of them were busy people and had multiple businesses andpanies to worry about. So, the ones who had attended today didn''t think anything of it. "Thest time we are officially meeting huh? So, maybe I should make this day memorable for all of you, shouldn''t I?" A young male voice suddenly boomed in the board room surprising Earle and the other twelve members as they looked towards the door. Standing there wearing a pitch-ck suit with his hands in his pockets was the rxed figure of Bruce Wayne. He had a small smirk on his face which showed his disgust towards them. "Bruce Wayne. It''s truly good to see you return back to Gotham after all these years. Maybe you have forgotten me but I am William Earle, the current CEO of Wayne Enterprises. All of us here have truly felt your absence from this board. We could have used you in thepany you know, especially after the shootout where so many of our own were killed. Even a lot of my close friends died that day, although I fortunately survived." William Earle gave a friendly chuckle as he got up to shake Bruce''s hands. "Yes, fortunately." The Wayne Scion however brashly ignored the CEO''s stretched-out hands, walked up to the Board''s table, and silently sat on the chair at the head of the table on which Earle was previously sitting. "That''s actually my chair but it doesn''t matter. Just go ahead and make yourselffortable. Also, I doubt you will ever get to sit here after today anyway. By the way, your... butler said that you wanted to talk to us about something. May we ask what?" Earle said as he took a peek at Alfred who was now standing dutifully behind Bruce before he too took a chair near where Bruce was sitting and sat down with a fake smile. "Yes. I did have something to say. But first, Alfred, have you passed on the letters?" Bruce asked, looking at his trusted butler. "No, sir. I was waiting for you. I''ll pass them on now." Alfred nodded as he took out a bunch of letters from his jacket''s breast pocket and slid a letter to each of the board members. "What are these? Some party invitation or something?" One of the board members asked curiously as he picked up the letter with his name on it. "Not really. However, I can invite you all to a party once we are done here... if you are still in the mood that is. I know I''ll be... This however is your opportunity to permanently remove yourself from thispany and all its subsidiaries. You see, that document in your hand states that you will be giving up your current positions as well as your board seats in thepany while selling me every single share that you have of this enterprise for the sum of money mentioned there in the document. You have 5 minutes to make the decision. So be quick about it" "This... Are you joking with us? The amount mentioned here is 1 dor!" Another female board member shouted in anger as she mmed the paper in her hand on the table. "Really Bruce? Is this a joke? I get it that you want to try and save your position in thepany and all but you could have at least been sincere in the offer you know. Maybe one or two of us would have at least considered it." Williamughed as he put down his own letter after finishing reading it. "Oh, but believe me, Mr. Earle, that is as sincere as my offer can be when ites to a bunch of parasites like you. You should be d that I am even asking politely and not just taking it forcefully. I normally hate to use violence and you all don''t seem much like violent men, that''s why I am even sitting here, making this offer in such a civilized way. I didn''t even try toy im on any of the money you made doing so many bad and illegal deals through Wayne Enterprises. So, if you agree to everything written here for this... ''discounted'' price, everything will be settled and we will go our respective ways, however, if you all don''t agree, then we are going to have a BIG problem." Bruce warned. "Are you threatening us, boy? What would you do if don''t agree to your conditions? What can you even possibly do? Go to the fucking court?" The CEO asked with a haughty grin. "Court? Hahaha. No, of course not. If you don''t agree, then I will just have to sweeten the deal... How does not revealing your deepest darkest secrets sound? I mean you guys have a lot of secrets. For example, Mr, Earle, you have a wife from quite a good and rich family but you also keep 3 mistresses. You even have an illegitimate child with one of them, don''t you? How about you Ms. Defoe? I have to say, the way yourst husband died was quite mysterious. The cops said it was a stroke, wasn''t it? However, were they sure that it wasn''t some Jamaican Susumber berries mixed in the cake that he ate which you baked for him just before he died? And what about you Mr. Kenichi? I heard that your daughter got pregnantst year despite not being married. I wonder whose child it is. Maybe you would know considering that you and your daughter were REALLY close after your wife died. Do I need to go on for each and every one of you? Oh, you know what? I have got a better idea. All the... secrets that I know of you guys will be sent to your respective emails along with the proper evidence and stuff. Why don''t you look it over and tell me about your decision afterward, hmm?" Bruce gave a smile and snapped his fingers as all the phones of the present board members beeped together at once with a notification. "You, do you think this is enough for me to give up my entire fortune? Yes, if this gets leaked then my family might leave me but at least I''ll still be rich." William Earle somehow spoke up through his clenched teeth and ragged breathing after reading the entire email he received on his phone. He was even sweating like crazy while his hands were shaking. He was having a panic attack. "Yes, I thought you would say that. See some of you are shameless and just don''t know when you are beat. So, for those people, I had to go an additional step and put in some extra work. You submitted a no-confidence document concerning me, to the SEC right? You should hurry and get them back you know. Those documents you submitted might not be documents at all and may just be a carefully curated folder of the details of all the scams and illegal businesses that you have earned money from today. The amount of illegal money you guys have..., the IRS will eat you all alive." "You wouldn''t..." One of the older members board members said with his eyes wide in fear, worry, and panic. "Better make a call and find out. Believe me, you don''t want any department of the government to see what is on those documents much less the SEC. If the people there read them, I surely won''t be leaving thepany, but you all will definitely be going to jail. So, TICK TOCK" --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npagetoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom Chapter 81: Legacy Redeemed (2) Chapter 81: Legacy Redeemed (2) ---
"I don''t care if you''re the son of the president or what. That just shows the sess of your father. It doesn''t mean you are excellent too." ¨C Mikoto Jujou,(Last Game)
--- <(Omniscient POV)> "... Fuck. What are you waiting for William? Call Henry now and tell him not to submit those documents or we will all be ruined." A random board member who could no longer tolerate the silence and the tension in the air lost his cool and yelled at the sweating CEO. William didn''t verbally respond to him, he didn''t even have the energy to reply to him. So, he just nodded and gestured to another board member who was his close friend to make the call and stop him. Earle didn''t know if Bruce was bluffing or not but he couldn''t take a chance on something like this. One false step and his entire life would be ruined before being shipped to jail. He loved his position as a CEO but he wasn''t an idiot to love it more than his own life and freedom. "What... do you want?" He somehow spoke out after taking a few deep breaths while gulping down his panic. "ME? I am a very minimalistic person. I need very few things in life and right now, thepany is one of those few things. So, if you would be so kind as to sign the paper, we could all end things on a happy note and maybe even go home early today." Bruce gave them a charming smile like he was the friendliest person in the world. "But we built thispany with our own hands. It is made from our blood, sweat, and tears. We deserve to be a part of thispany as much as your family." A female board member protested with righteous anger visible on her face. "No, you don''t deserve anything Miss Valerie especially not after stealing a hundred million dors from thest guided missile system defense project Wayne Enterprises received from Canada. You siphoning so much money from the project while delivering a below-average product is the reason why Lexcorp seeded in taking so many of our defense contracts. So, no, none of you guys ''deserve'' to be here, to be part of thispany. The truth is that you have always been leeches, holding on to my father''s giant golden titties and sucking him dry. But now, that I am here, it is time for you all to leave. You will NOT be profiting off me as well, nobody will." I stared hard at them, looking each of them in the eyes while an expression of disgust remained on my face. "Language Master Bruce. I am sure that your father wouldn''t have liked to hear his son say stuff like that about him. And no, it doesn''t matter if it is true or not." Alfred said in a no-nonsense tone of voice. "... Well whatever." Bruce didn''t argue with his butler and just decided topromise a little. "If we agree to leave thepany..., you will not threaten us again with this right?" The old Asian-looking board member who was panicking the most in the meeting room (probably because of his scandalous affair with his own daughter) asked as he took out a pen from his pocket to sign the document. "Yep. As long as you agree, everything you read in that letter there will go away. You will never have to worry about me ever again." "Fine, I will do it. I will sell you all my Wayne Enterprise shares and give up my board seat. Just leave me alone after this." The old Asian man said with clenched teeth as he went ahead and signed on the paper. "You think you can take control of thispany with just a few signatures boy. Don''t forget that thepany is public. Even if we sell you our shares, thepany will still never be under yourplete control, someone else will just take our ce. So whatever you are doing, in the end, it will all be useless." William threatened. "Maybe, maybe not. But you don''t need to bother with that, do you?" You see in reality, Wayne Enterprises has beengging behind Lexcorp in the defense, aerospace, and other industries that bothpaniespete in. This has caused a decline in the stock value of Wayne Enterprises, even though almost all mob bosses and corrupt politicians of Gotham are for some reason minor shareholders in Wayne Enterprises. However, the situation changed dramatically when a piece of peculiar news broke out about five minutes into this very meeting that several board members of Wayne Enterprises had dumped their stocks and resigned from their positions, triggering a massive sell-off in the market. The share price of Wayne Enterprises crashed and plummeted to a record low. That was when Cortana made her move, acquiring almost all the shares of thepany with swift and decisive action. "And what about the board members who are not here? Are you also going to ckmail them as well?" William shouted in anger. He was one of the few board members in the meeting who still hadn''t agreed to sign till that moment. "They weren''t traitors like you. They were surprisingly loyal to my father and me and thus they received their due. Unlike you all, I handed them golden parachutes instead of ultimatums. The shares they held of thepany were bought by me at a much higher rate than the market along with other added benefits. And not a single one of them refused to sell me their stakes in thepany when I requested. In fact, some of them will even be remaining as advisors in thepany." I answered while enjoying the expressions of jealousy and powerlessness on the faces of those present here. "You have thought of everything, haven''t you? You are smarter than your father and unlike your father, you are always prepared... Fine, I guess I have no other choice. Well yed." William said as he looked at all the other board members, most of whom had already agreed with Bruce''s conditions. "Just remember that this is not over. There are forces beyond what you can imagine involved here." The middle-aged CEO said with a hesitant voice as he signed the document, his face not at all seeming happy to submit to Bruce''s demands. Bruce on the other hand didn''t respond to this and just smirked. He knew of the Court of Owls trying to affect Wayne Enterprises but he didn''t care. After he sessfully concludes his n, his wealth will no longer be affected by any organization including the Court. After William Earle signed, thest of the few reluctant board members remaining also agreed as they admitted defeat. None of them wanted to wage an all-out war with Bruce Wayne especially since he now had ess to all their dirty secrets. "Thank youdies and gentlemen for giving me your valuable time and most of all for your cooperation. Hope we will do business again soon." Bruce mocked as he got up from his seat. "Congrattions on being the new owner of Wayne Enterprises Bruce. But unfortunately, even though you got the entirepany, you still wouldn''t be able to enjoy it. What you ''stole'' from us just now was only the parentpany, a mere shell of what it was originally before your parents died. Most of its most important sectors have already been converted into subsidiaries and taken public. Wayne Enterprises doesn''t even have any influence on some of those newpanies. And making all their shares crash as well in the stock market is impossible without the SEC arresting you. So, Wayne Enterprises will never be able to go back to its glory days, no matter what." Earle cursed as a satisfied smirk appeared on his face. He now truly hated Bruce Wayne and wanted nothing more than to see him fail. "Yeah, they did go public. But I have been buying all their shares every time they registered themselves publicly through various foundations under me just like I bought all thepany assets that you tried to sell away to ourpetitors through various bidding wars. Right now, I own all the Wayne subsidiaries... Didn''t you get the memo?" I mocked. "Oh and all of you, you are fired. I want the meeting room empty within five minutes, so chop-chop... Let''s go, Alfred, I think this calls for a celebration." "As you say, Master Bruce. I am just d I don''t have to handle yourpany position anymore. I was getting really tired of these board meetings." Alfred replied as he followed Bruce out of the building without even sparing the previous distraught board members another look. "By the way, are you really going to let them all go? They did quite a number of illegal things. Scams and stealingpany money were just the tip of the iceberg. I feel like letting them go without any failsafe would be a mistake." Alfred asked curiously as he and Bruce neared their car parked in the basement. "I told them that the stuff that was written in the letter would be forgiven but the thing is theymitted too many crimes to write on a single piece of paper. So, I am guessing they would be going to prison for at least a few years, and by a few years, I mean at least half a decade to a full decade. Cortana will email a carefully selected list of their crimes to Commissioner Gordon, the moment the stock transfer officially concludes. She even has quite a selection to choose from. They would be in jail by tomorrow." --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npagetoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom Chapter 82: Dark Knight’s Debut Chapter 82: Dark Knight¡¯s Debut ---
"I like you now not because of who you are, but due to who I am while I am with you." ¡ª Roy Mustang,(Fullmetal Alchemist)
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> {Entire Wayne Enterprises Board resigns after Bruce Wayne takes thepany private at 25 dors per share. Brilliant move from the young billionaire or thest nail in the coffin?} {Wayne Enterprises stocks crash and get reduced to pennies after board members resign. Has the prince finally be a pauper now? Details of his education, worth, alleged affairs, and more on page 3} {Mass arrest of multiple board members of Wayne Enterprises on charges of financial fraud, bribery, and corporate espionage. Is Bruce Wayne involved?} {Lucius Fox, CEO of Wayne Solutions announces merger between Wayne Solutions and Wayne Enterprises into a new Wayne Solutions} {Bruce Wayne announces a hundred million dor fund for the families who lost their money in the Wayne Enterprises stock crash. Does charity truly run in the Wayne family''s blood?} "These newspapers truly love billionaires don''t they?" I chuckled after seeing the dozens of newspapers and news articles covering almost every facet of the Wayne stock crash from almost every angle possible. Be it conspiracy theories about me manipting the share market (which weren''tpletely wrong) to the government trying to ruin the Wayne family, there were scores ofpletely different theories in different news articles. However, strangely, these articles were more focused on me rather than the board members who were fired or arrested on multiple charges of fraud, corporate sabotage, and financial theft. It seems that I am the most famous billionaire in the US of this world due to my unique backstory and stuff. I can''t say I hate it since I do like the temporary attention but this also means that hiding my identity is going to be a huge pain the ass for me. "Yes, they love anything that sells and right now everything with your charming face on it sells like hot pancakes. In fact, you should take a look at some of the women''s magazines sometime. ording to them, almost every famous actress in Hollywood has slept with you. There are even names of some male ones too in there. Apparently, females love to read about that type of stuff." Cortana said as she showed me a badly edited fanmade picture of me looking into Brad Pitt''s eyes and him winking at me with a romantic look on his face. "I would have appreciated it more if you hadn''t shown me that. Also, don''t pretend you don''t like that stuff as well. I have programmed you to have a personality just like a real human female. So, I am pretty sure that you check those out from time to time." I snorted. "Noment. Anyways, should I start up the atomic printer and start printing the nanobots? I have finished attaching the carbonadium synthesizer with the printer, so we can begin producing the perfected nanobots as soon as you give the word." Cortana quickly changed the topic. "Finally! I have been waiting for this for days. Do it. Oh and keep an eye on the radiation levels. Stuff from Marvel always tends to have some harmful side effect like releasing deadly radiation or causing cancer or vaporizing you on contact ." I muttered thest part more to myself as a reminder not to blindly trust my inventions like mad scientists do. And yes, by the way, I have managed to make carbonadium, one of the strongest metals of the Marvel world that the USSR made in an effort to artificially create adamantium. It is not as durable as true adamantium but is close enough. Truthfully I would have liked to create adamantium, promethium, and vibranium much more than carbonadium but this was the only metal in the tier of ''impossibly hard metals'' that could be artificially created without much effort. This was not only the best but also the cheapest alternative to the limited naturally urring metals that I needed. I initially wanted to use promethium to make all my suits but turns out that even being a billionaire doesn''t necessarily grant you an unlimited supply of an ultra-rare mineral. The amount I got ess to was only enough for a few suits, important research purposes, and maybe a few vehicles, but that would be it. So, I had to invest my time in finding an alternative that would not only be cheap and easily manufacturable but also could rival promethium in lightness, durability, and usefulness. That''s why I came up with Carbonadium. Although the metal that is initially produced is highly radioactive, however, with the carbonadium synthesizer, not only its radioactivity can bepletely eliminated but it can also be used to liquefy already hardened carbonadium to make new structures, something that is impossible in the case of even adamantium. As for the atomic printer, Ipleted it a few days ago and it was probably one of the most OP things I had ever made if I didn''t include the soon-to-bepleted nanobots. The atomic printer could ''print'' anything in its finished and usable form as long as the raw materials and the blueprint were provided. There was no need for long and strenuous manufacturing processes like welding. No, this machine could just ''weave'' the raw materials into the desired product and thus was perfect for creating nanobots. Currently, even though it could makepounds from their elements, it couldn''t change one element to another. For example, an atomic printer could print diamonds from carbon or any carbon-containing product like coal by first breaking them down into individual atoms and then using them to form a real genuine diamond that has absolutely no difference from a naturally urring one. However, it couldn''t make steel from that same coal. For that, it needed iron and the other metals that were needed to make the required steel. Oh and also, it couldn''t printplex organic stuff like food, nts, or organs... at least not yet. But he was sure that in a couple of years or maybe even months, this printer would be printing entire organic limbs for people. "Process initializing," Cortana dered as drones carried bs of different materials to a machine that looked like a huge ss microwave. Once the containers of the elements were ced inside and the huge sspartment was sealed, the entire machine began to crackle with energy, releasing what looked like neon blue-colored lightning strikes on the materials. Within just a few seconds, in front of my own eyes, the materials began to slowly turn into dust with the various dusts mixing with each other under the effect of the energy being released by the machine. In the cover of a blinding light, the dust once again began to slowly solidify into a giant block of shiny silver metal. "Radiation level: 4 sieverts. It is extremely radioactive, sir. Being exposed to the metal for even a few hours could lead to a slow death by radiation poisoning. Should I now start up the synthesizer?" Cortana asked with her hologram now wearing ab coat and a pair of transparent eyesses on her face, looking more like a cute intern at aboratory rather than an experienced researcher. "Yeah, connect up the carbonadium synthesizer. Let''s see if it truly lives up to its fame." "Connecting to Carbonadium Synthesizer. Treating sample carbonadium... Radiation levels decreasing. Radiation is now at 0.00001 millisieverts. The sample metal is determined to be no longer radioactive. Preparing to start manufacturing nanobots with treated sample." Cortana chimed as she disyed the reports of the test on the screen. Soon, the cube which was previously being bombarded by aser, generated from the carbonadium synthesizer to treat its radioactivity again began to change shape as bits and bits of the cube began to melt off and then again reform into the block while being guided by aser fired from the inner walls of the atomic printer. "100,000 nanobots... 200,000 nanobots..." Cortana began to count the number of nanobots produced per minute as more and more of the carbonadium block was converted into carbonadium nanobots. "Manufacturingpleted. Sess rate: 100%. The entire sample provided has been transformed into separate nanobots. Practical wastage of usable metal: zero." Cortana informed with pride in her voice as she showed off the same block of carbonadium silently lying on the floor. However, this time, it wasn''t just a block of carbonadium, no, it was much more. "Assemble it in the form of the Dark Knight Mark 001 armor and then lock the form as a temte," Imanded. "That design? I don''t like the color theme very much but sure, here you go." Cortana The treated carbonadium block began to quickly dissolve into liquid along with the blocks of a few other materials and thenbine together and reform into the shape of a humanoid figure, turning into apletely ck and gold armor standing straight inside the ss section of the atomic printer. It looked like the perfectbination of Ironman armor and Batman armor. "Huh... Maybe you were right, I think we need to change the color a little bit. A little red would look good with it and perhaps a cape. I know about the ''no capes'' policy we agreed on but both the cool and the fear factor of the armor would massively decrease if I didn''t don a ck cape with this getup." "A normal cape made of fabric wouldn''t have been very functional but a cape made of almost indestructible microbots, yeah I think that could be useful." Cortana agreed with me as she thoughtfully stared at the armor with the eyes of a professional fashion designer. "Hmm, we can try out a plethora of different designs. After all, I don''t even have to stick to a particr design. I can use whatever armor design I want, at any time I want, in any color I want. That is the true beauty of nanotechnology. Now,e on and help me design some more armor sets. After this, I''ll have to design one for Selina too. I promised her one a couple of days ago." *** "Are you sure that this is safe? I mean that chamber looks too small for me to fit." Selinained as she looked at the small cryo-chamber she was supposed to enter to receive her first body modification. "Don''t worry, it would fit. I already tested it out when I received my own upgrade... Anyway, I actually wanted to talk to you about something before you enter the chamber." I awkwardly started. "Can''t it wait till after you change my body to your desires? I am already pretty nervous about this, so stop making this even harder with that serious face of yours. I get wet whenever I see your serious face." She flirted before cing a light kiss on my lips. "We can talk all we want after my body undergoes the transformation tiger. In fact, we will probably do much more than talk. I think it is finally time to take our rtionship to the next stage." She huskily whispered in my ears before removing all her clothes down to her bra and thongs. "Meet you on the other side." She said with a smile as she walked into the cryo chamber. Within a few seconds, the cryo chamber closed under Cortana''s control and released a mild neurochemical rxing agent, immediately putting her to sleep and beginning the process of her evolution. It was a slow process and would take about a day toplete at the minimum. So, she needed to be unconscious, otherwise she could die at the constant pain of having her body changed at the physiological level. "This is definitely not going to end well. Only a miracle can now save you, sir... You should have gone with the aphrodisiac or the maniption options. After all, it isn''t forced if she moans." The hologram of Cortana gave her two bits of really bad advice from behind me. "I am THIS close to cutting off your inte connection you know?" I threatened without even looking at her at which she immediately became silent and went back to her work but she couldn''t continue for long as she suddenly looked at me with surprise. "Sir, I have detected massive amounts of explosives at the Gotham port along with a consignment of heavy weaponry. It''s Falcone''s men receiving the consignment. They look like they are preparing for a war... Maybe a territorial dispute. You told me to inform you if there is anything major happening in the city''s underground forces. This might be what you were looking for." Cortana informed as she disyed a live CCTV feed of Gotham port on the batputer. There were about a few dozen men spread out throughout the port with weapons in their hands. They looked like they were inspecting various containers and checking their contents, probably to make sure everything they were paying for was there. "It seems that the Wayne Enterprises stock crash affected the cartels more than I thought. If I remember, Falcone had half of his fortune invested in Wayne Enterprises, it should have hit hard when he lost it all. He probably wants to snatch a few territories to make back his lost money... Cortana, I think it''s finally time to don the suit, this is perfect for my vignte debut." --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npagetoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom Chapter 83: Seduction, Manipulation & The Era of Bats Chapter 83: Seduction, Maniption & The Era of Bats ---
"...He''s not standing at the top because he was born strong. He worked incredibly hard to get to that point." - Izuku Midoriya, aka, Deku, (My Hero Academia)
--- <{Bat-cave under Wayne Family estate}> <(Selina KylePOV)> "Great, more fuckingpetition," I muttered to myself in a hushed voice as the cryo-chamber closed in front of me. Bruce actually thinks that I don''t know what he wants to tell me about. Huh, I am not an idiot. If there is someone who truly knows Bruce the most, then it''s probably me. I have grown up alongside him. I know what he wants, what he thinks, and what lengths he might go to achieve his goals. I even know about his dark side and some of the less-than-kind things he has done... to keep everyone safe. Even Alfred doesn''t know some of the stuff that I know about him. It took me a few years to realize it but I eventually figured out what might have happened that night at Helena''s house. Hell, I even know about the female alien''s dead body lying in one of his frozen storage units, although I have no idea what he intends to do with it... Seriously he should consider increasing security in some sections of the bat cave he keeps the things in here safe and this ce people-friendly. It only takes me a few minutes to open them and since Cortana is not supposed to report me or Alfred to Bruce unless he asks, he never even finds out that I hang out in his man cave and y with some of his cool toys whenever he is out. Anyway as I was saying, I know Bruce the most. So, I knew that he wanted to talk to me about Nyssa and maybe even her elder sister Talia. The moment I saw that archer girl and her hoe sister, I knew that they had managed to charm Bruce. However, I am not exactly afraid ofpetition. I have a few tricks of my own. And if I have learned one thing from all those online articles and magazines it is that the shortest way to a boy''s heart is either through his stomach or through his cock. And I know which route I am going to choose. I have learned a great many techniques online to try on him too. He wants a harem like those Japanese anime protagonists, right? So, let''s see if he has the stamina to own one. By the time I am done with him, he will not even be thinking of another woman like Zatanna, Vicki, or Helena much less new ones like Nyssa and Talia. Yep, I will suck him dry until he can''t even get it up. It doesn''t matter what promise I made with the other girls when we were young. What matters is that I have a head start and I''ll be damned if I am not going to use it to its full potential. He is not the only one who can be merciless. No, this kitty is going to have a happy ending no matter what... HAHAHHAHA..., goddamn, this sleeping gas is making me more delusional than sleepy. *** <{Archery range, Wayne Family Estate}> <(NyssaPOV)> "Nyssa, you should stop now. You have been practicing archery for the entire day. You need to rest. This is not healthy, Bruce wouldn''t like it if he knew this..." My elder sister said with a bit of worry mixed in her voice as she barged into the archery range behind the main mansion I had been using. For a stone-cold killer trained to never show her emotions, she has been slipping quite a lot these days. It''s almost like she has been trying to change herself, trying to act normal. And that irritated me to no end. Because I knew why she had been trying to change, or in this case, who she had been changing herself for. "But, he is not here, is he? So I can do anything I wish. And don''t talk about him like you know him better than me. You don''t. I was the one who met him first. I know him much more than you do." I couldn''t help but blurt out in clement anger. I had it with all the women around me trying to get a piece of MY boyfriend. It''s like they couldn''t keep their slutty hands to themselves. They had toe after the only thing that I had for the first time truly wanted for myself since childhood. "I... I didn''t mean to upset you. You are right, you do know him the most. I just said that because I am worried about your health." Talia tried to calm me down as she looked into my eyes, trying to find the cause of my outburst. "No, you didn''t. I know you. You might be worried about me dying but you won''t be worried about me over something like training. What you are truly worried about is that Bruce might be disappointed in you if he found out that you knew I was practicing too much and still didn''t stop me. And don''t lie. I know all the tells of your lying face, I took a two-hour ss on it from our dear ''dad''." I folded my hands in anger as I decided to finally confront the issue that had been guing my mind for thest few months. "Really Nyssa? Do you truly think so low of your elder sister to believe that I would try to steal away your boyfriend? Me, the one who practically raised you, who saved you every time father was angry at you in some practice..." "I saw you rubbing your foot on Bruce''s crotch under the dining tablest night." "... Okay I might have a little crush on him but that doesn''t mean I am going to steal him from you or something. It was just a little harmless fun. And even if I did actually try to sleep with him, so what? Our father had six wives in his lifetime. That didn''t mean he was a womanizer and as much as I remember our mother was pretty happy all her life. She was even his most loyal general when she was alive." Talia tried to justify herself with the excuse of our mother which infuriated me even more. "Our mother was brainwashed. Also, our father wasn''t exactly an ideal example of a man. He was a mass murderer and a psychopath. And even if let''s say what he did wasn''t wrong, what do you suggest then? That we both date the same guy, marry the same man because we both like him? What more? Should we have a threesome as well while we are at it?" I looked at my elder sister with both anger and confusion visible on my face. I couldn''t even understand why she was bringing all that up now. "So what if we do," Talia said the words almost in a whisper struggling to look me in my eyes, a hint of blush almost visible on her wless face. "What the fuck did you say?" I asked, wondering if I could get away with shooting an arrow at her. Bruce wouldn''t be too angry with me if I did that right? Maybe, just an eye. "I said, what if we did exactly that? And no, I am not talking about a threesome with you. I don''t want a threesome with my own younger sister. I meant, what if we both shared the same man? What would happen that you are so afraid of, that would truly disgust you?... Nothing, there is literally nothing stopping us from doing that. Yes, sharing your boyfriend with me might not seem to be the most attractive offer to you right now but what about in the future when there are too many women trying to seduce him like that Selina girl?" "... Exin," I ordered her as her words caught my interest. "As you might know, Selina has been living with him for years and he considers her his best friend. She is infinitely closer to him than you are and what if she uses that exact advantage and tries to steal him away from us... from you? We know for a fact that she is in love with him but what if he is in love with her as well? What happens if he gets bored with you? Will you be able to stop him from leaving and wanting to be with her? And the worst thing is that Alfred told me that he has even more of such childhood female friends. I wonder how many of them will you be able topete with." She made a concerned expression on her face as she ced her hands on my shoulders. "You are manipting me, trying to make me insecure, so that you can get your way." "Maybe..., but you know it''s true." "What do you suggest then? That I allow my elder sister into his bed so that he is not ''bored'' of me." I asked, raising one of my eyebrows. "Having a pair of femme fatale sisters as wives does not sound boring at all, does it? With us together, we will be able to fend off the advances of all other women and he will be too busy focusing all his ''attention'' on us than being able to look at others. Not only that, we will even be able to be together forever. Just you, me, and Bruce happily forever after... just like all the fairy tale stories we used to read when were children, remember? So, what do you say Nyssa? Partners?" She whispered in my ears as she tightly hugged me, cing my head on her chest like a loving elder sister. Perhaps, she wasn''t doing this just to sleep with Bruce after all. Maybe she is worried about me as well and truly wants us to be together. She has had it the hardest after our father''s death, perhaps she just doesn''t want to be alone again. Besides, she had a valid argument and what she proposed was true as well. So, maybe... "I don''t know... I need time to think. I-I''ll talk to youter Talia, I just need some alone time right now. Plus I think I need a drink or maybe one of those special fancy teas Alfred likes to make." I forcibly separated from her hug and quickly began to walk in the direction of the manor with aplicated feeling in my heart. Goddamn, why couldn''t things be simple, why did I have to fall in love with a man who attracts so many women. However, submerged in my deep thoughts while making my way to the mansion, I failed to notice the smirk on my sister''s face as she stood back with her hands folded into each other, nor did I hear her smug whisper of "so easy". *** <{Miller Harbor, Gotham City}> <(OmniscientPOV)> "Come on hurry up. We need to load the shipment before the guards change their shifts. We only bribed the guard of the current shift, not those of the next one. Ray, easy with the explosives. We would lose both our jobs and our lives even if a single one of them explodes. And Bob, stop trying to get a sniff of that cocaine packet. The person who ordered these drugs from Star City is apparently quite a big shot there. They won''t be happy if they get these packets with your dirty snot on them." A middle-aged man with a big belly and a big scar on his face said as he lit a cigarette. About a dozen men were tirelessly working to shift all the weaponry from the ship''s containers to their vans and car trunks while cing packs of illegal drugs from those cars back into those containers. "Do we even need all these weapons, Mr. Bill? I feel like the gang could have made more money selling the drugs here in the city than trading them for all these guns and explosives which we probably wouldn''t even be using. Maybe the old man Falcone has lost his edge." The young man named Ray said with a snicker as he stuffed thest car trunk full of the crates of weapons that had arrived recently with the trading ship from Star City. "That old man could destroy half the city with just a gesture you know. You are new in this crime business, right? So let me give you a piece of advice Ray, never and I mean never disrespect your current boss in front of another gang member or snitch about your gang to the cops. Those are the two rules you need to follow if you want to thrive in the underworld." "I-I will remember that advice, Mr. Bill. But should we be doing this in the open? Won''t we get caught if the cops patrol through here or something? We might have bribed the guards but the cops are..." "Deep inside Falcone''s fat pockets as well. Perhaps you don''t understand but there isn''t anyone in Gotham City who can oppose Carmine Falcone, boy. This is his city, our city if we can serve him well. We can do anything here and no one can say anything. This is Gotham, the city of dreams for criminals like us. And the gangs we work for? Either everyone gets a cut from them or is just afraid of them. You don''t have anything you need to fear here, except our boss that is." The fat man who seemed to be the leader here said with a proud grin as he finished his cigarette and threw it away. Suddenly, the entire harbor plunged into an abrupt, heavy darkness as the lights went out all at once, leaving only the distant hum of the ships fading away. "The hell?" The man yelled in surprise as he took out his gun from the holster on his belt. He didn''t know at the moment but he was soon going to experience true fear for the first time in his life. And he was going to be only the first of many MANY others who would forever be scarred by the ''monster'' that was going to haunt their dreams forever. Vengeance wasing for the city, it wasing for them and it was going to hit them harder than anything they had ever seen. The era of gangs was over, now it was the dawn of a new era, the era of bats. --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npagetoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom Chapter 84: The Darkest Knight Emerges Chapter 84: The Darkest Knight Emerges ---
"Batman Punches People In The Face." - Bruce Wayne,(Batman (Vol. 3) #53 (2018))
--- <(Omniscient POV)> "What are you all waiting for? Quickly check what''s wrong with the power. I hope it''s not those DEA bastards. Even though the buyer assured us that he would take care of them, we still can''t trust his words a hundred percent." The fat leader roared as he sent his men away to investigate the sudden ckout in the port. He was the type of man who wasn''t a fan of horror movies, otherwise, he would know that this was probably the worst decision he could have ever made in the horror story that his life was soon going to be. "May-maybe we should get out of here Mr. Bill. W-we are done with the heavy lifting anyway. The client''s g-guys would take care of the rest of the transportation process. We already have what we need." Ray gulped in anxiety and tried to advise his current boss as he quickly put the rest of the drugs in the soon-to-be-shipped container and sealed it. "Don''t worry boy, didn''t I say as long as I am here, nothing can go wro...." *AAAAHHH* A scream suddenly echoed in the distance, interrupting Bill as he immediately became vignt and pointed his gun in the distance, not even sure where to aim at. Ray''s situation was also simr as he too took out an AK-47 from the car trunk he had just loaded and aimed at the direction the scream came from. He was barely able to even lift the gun with his scrawny body as he struggled to figure out how it worked. "Give me the big one. Here, you use the small one." Bill immediately took the AK-47 from his underling, giving him his small pistol in return. Either the boss was too proud to use a smaller gun than his subordinate or he was very scared. While the two were barely able to breathe in unease, the others who had gone to check the other parts of the port were facing their own difficulties. "Shoot the containers, he is on there." *BANG BANG BANG "No, he is at the boats. Shoot there." BANG BANG BANG* Arge amount of gunshots began to echo as the men began to fire at random directions all over the port. The fog made their vision even worse as they struggled to see if they were even hitting anything at all or just firing at shadows. "Wait, we are only four. Where''s the rest?" A random mob who noticed the steadily dwindling number of their gang members after a few minutes, muttered to himself as he looked all around him, trying to find his colleagues. But before, he could voice his doubts, a metallic wire suddenly coiled around his feet and pulled him up with a force that dislocated a few bones of his body. Hanging upside down, thest thing he could see before losing consciousness was the shadow of a terrifying humanoid bat punching him in the face with a metal-gloved hand with small spikes on it, spikes that he knew were going to break his nose and leave a very deep and painful mark on his face. "Shit, I''ll kill you whoever you are." The three other remaining gangsters who had noticed their friend being dragged upwards toward the roof of one of the containers began to shoot in that direction. One of them even threw a Molotov that he had brought with him to burn the entire ce just to make sure that the creature who was hunting them didn''t survive. They were even ready to sacrifice and burn their captured friend if it meant getting rid of the ''beast'' that was hiding in the shadows. Silence ensured after that, giving everyone there a false hope that perhaps they had won in the confrontation against whatever that was. But that false sense of security and victory didn''tst for long as a light humming sound vibrated from behind them. "Fuck" One of them said without even turning as a strange whirring sound apanied by a burst of light struck one of the gangsters in his back, propelling him several feet away like a ragdoll, until he collided with a container and was immediately knocked out with several of his bones cracked. Before the other two could even react, a metallic was fired from the shoulder of the figure standing behind them. The instantly surrounded one of them and began to contract on itself, tightly binding the gangster in the process in what looked like a VERY ufortable position, digging into his skin, drawing blood. Even when removed, the would leave quite a bloody tattoo on the man''s face and body. The third gangster however was able to turn around but that was thest thing he was able to do as a small bat-shaped de found its way to his chest, rendering the man unconscious in a few seconds. The wound on his chest might not have been very deep since the batarang weren''t thrown with full force but the knockout poison the de was coated with was definitely of the top quality. "Fuck! What are those bastards doing in there? Are they fighting cops or members of some other gang?... HEY, ANY OF YOU STILL ALIVE?" Mr. Bill yelled, trying to get a reaction out of his subordinates who had gone to check the power outage but s, there was no reply. Not even so much of a whisper from a single one of the gang members. "They won''t be answering" An inhumanely heavy voice like that of a demon or some monster sounded from behind the surviving pair. The voice was as low as a whisper but clearly understandable to the two as they turned to look at the speaker with shaking hands. As soon as Bill''s eyes fell on the being standing before him, he felt goosebumps. Not just him but even the young recruit beside him too looked scared out of his mind. The figure standing before them was a ck and red armor-wearing humanoid who looked like a bat with a huge cape that hid a major portion of his body from view. Even though scared out of his mind, Bill still wasn''t a rookie. He wouldn''t let an opportunity go to waste. Forcing his hands steady, he clenched his teeth and fired his AK-47 at the humanoid. He used up the entire clip of his rifle, continuously shooting at the demonic-looking man till thest bullet left his gun but unfortunately for him, no sign of blood or even the tiniest of groans came from the armored being. "Impossible," Bill eximed as the gun dropped from his hands in fright. "A REAL DEMON!" "However, he couldn''t say anything anymore as the... Batman picked him up with just a single hand and mmed him against the steel container that was recently filled with drugs. "You can either answer my questions the easy way, the painful way, or the really painful way. Choose." He said in a stoic voice, with not a single hint of emotions present in his sound which scared Bill even more. But he wasn''t new in this business. He knew that if he opened his mouth here, the chances of his survival would be zero. The gang would even burn his family and any friends he had too just to make an example out of him. "I won''t say shit. I am not a snitch. You don''t know who you are messing with. Fal-Falcone doesn''t let his enemies get away. He will find you and he will kill your entire family before making you pay." The man warned as he struggled to breathe under the vignte''s hold and the pain from his broken shoulder that had just fractured due to the heavy m. "The really painful way it is then." The Batman grabbed his right hand where his shoulder was fractured and twisted it, immediately breaking it like a twig. But he wasn''t done with just that. With a single kick, he fractured his left knee as well and then broke a few of his ribs with a punch from his armored hand. But he didn''t continue to ask any more questions. He was no longer interested in an interrogation. He simply took out a small instrument that looked like a... tiara from his belt and then forced it onto the gang leader''s head. The tiara then began to disy a soft glow, making the gang leader look like a really low-budget joke of a Disney princess. A few seconds after that, he took it back from the man''s head and kept it inside his belt again. Without sparing the man a single more look, he punched the gang leader in the face and incapacitated him. The Batman looked like he was about to leave but then he stopped and looked at the younger kid who was frozen in his ce as he looked like he had gone into shock because of excess fear. The front of his ck jeans even seemed a little wet as he just stared at the scary figure in front of him with dread. He had long dropped the small pistol from his hand to the ground. "I-I d-don''t work for F-Falcone. I am a n-new recruit of Penguin. He s-sent me to k-keep an eye on Falcone and pass useful intel to him. I am just a n-nobody in both gangs. Please d-don''t kill me." Ray somehow gathered his courage and muttered with tears uncontrobly leaking from his eyes. "... I believe you... Your eyes state that you are too much of a coward to be a killer anyway... Go and get a proper job." The Batman offhandedlymented as he didn''t even bother to question the kid. "..." Ray was shocked into silence as he just stared at the back of the leaving demon. "W-who are you?" "I am the Darkest Knight of Gotham." He answered before jumping up and flying away into the night, the soles of his feet emitting energy to propel him into the sky. "He forgot the drugs and the weapons," Ray mumbled as he debated with himself if he should really leave the life of crime for good as he was just advised to or perhaps deliver all this to Penguin and get the biggest bonus of his life. *beep beep Beep Beep BEEP BEEP* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* Multiple explosions suddenly lit up the entire port after a few seconds of strange beeping sound as the drug-filled container and all the cars of the Falcone gang that contained the weapons exploded all at once, destroying millions of dors of illegal substance and weaponry. "No, I am definitely going to quit," Ray muttered to himself as he gulped while shielding his head from the explosions happening all around him. He knew that the era of crime was over in Gotham but he wasn''t going to go down with it. *** <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "Maybe next time, trigger the explosion when a kid isn''t so near the bomb, or perhaps decrease the charge of the explosives." Cortana quipped as she showed CCTV footage of the destroyed drugs and weapons. "You are worried about the kid? I am feeling sad simply imagining all the perfectly functioning weaponry that I had to destroy just to make a good first impression on the cops and the criminals who are going to hear about thister. I could have used all those guns and explosives or maybe rebranded them and sold them legally to various justice departments of the country. But that wouldn''t have been a good PR move right at the start of my vignte career... Plus, the truth is that I was really nervous. I wanted to give the kid a proper speech about me being Vengeance, the Night, and Batman, but unfortunately, I only managed to tell him that I was the Dark Knight and it even came out as the Darkest Knight. I hope the people don''t start calling me the Darkest Knight of Gotham. Although that would be cool, it would still be extremely awkward as a superhero name." Imented at my misfortune and screw up. "Nheless, did you gain any useful information from the man''s mind? I know he was one of the higher-ups in Falcone''s gang from his digital profile but anything else?" I asked. "Besides the fact that he thought of you as amunist because of the... too much red on your costume, yeah, I found more than half of the locations Falcone uses to store his money, drugs, weaponry, stolen antiques, and all the other illegal things he deals in," Cortana answered. "Okay, then. We will hit all of them by the end of the night. By tomorrow morning, I want to see Falcone crying his eyes out at his own misfortune... By the way, red doesn''t look that bad on me, does it?" I asked with a hint of doubt at my spectacr fashion sense. "No, but maybe you could dial it down a little or perhaps use the other designs with the darker shades if you want to be ''one with the night'' like how ninjas normally are. This one might look cool but is also a little too much on the eyes. How about the Bat Demon design? It doesn''te with a cape but that one will truly terrify the criminals into shitting their pants." Cortana sounded more excited than even me in helping me perfect my vignte fashion. "Uhh no, I think I will leave that one when I really need to terrify someone. Also, the glider that goes with it still isn''t finished... Plus, we can change the armor design any time we want due it it all being nanobot technology, so we don''t have to rush into it. Let the process guide us. For now, focus on destroying Falcone bypletely uprooting his empire first. We don''t want somebody else toe and sit on his throne after he is gone. Gotham will plunge into chaos once he dies and it will be an all-you-can-eat buffet for me where I can hunt all I want and take everything I need to change the city once and for all. That will be our priority for now." I let Cortana know as I sted toward the direction of the Falcone''s safe house that was the nearest to me. "Shame. The costume would have matched with Ace once you decided to take him out on missions as well." Cortanamented with a sad voice. "..." I didn''t respond to that as I continued to fly towards my destination. That particr night was filled with dozens of explosions as various factories, storage units, and abandoned buildings were reduced to dust, all having ties to Carmine Falcone and his gang. Nobody knew who had dered the fight on the biggest criminal gang in Gotham or who had been tying Falcone''s gang members half-dead in all of the locations of the sts for the cops to find but everyone knew one thing, a war was dawning on Gotham. --- (A/N: All battle sequences won''t be so big. This one is because it''s special in the sense that this was the MC''s first night out as Batman.) Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npagetoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom Chapter 85: Navigating Moral Gray Chapter 85: Navigating Moral Gray --- "Love, passion, why do we get caught up by such troublesome feelings? The mind can''t ever get things straight, and you lose control to know what is sensible. Deep down it''s all so vexing." ¨C Usui Takumi, (Maid Sama!) --- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "Bruce, it''s afternoon already. I think you should wake up soon or Alfred would probably call the doctor." Cortana''s voice came from speakers in my room, trying to wake me up. "A few minutes more Cortana. I didn''t get any sleep the entire night, I need this." I said with a mumble as I tried to return to the world of slumber. "No, you don''t. You can go weeks without any sleep." She ruthlessly denied my request, countering me with a fact. "Now, get up or I am telling Alfred that you had not been partyingst night like you told him but actually beating up criminals." She threatened. "... Damn you. I should have made you more submissive and obedient." Iined, trying to throw a pillow at her but stopping after I remembered that she didn''t have a physical body and her speakers were embedded in the walls of the entire mansion. The worst I could do from here was try to damage her cameras but again that would just be me damaging my own property. But this reminds me, I do need toe clean to Alfred about my Batman persona. I don''t want the old maniningter on about me not trusting him enough. That is if he already doesn''t know about everything. "Then, you would have had an obedient bitch on your hands but not the loyal and capable me." Her proud voice retorted. "Haha, very funny. I guess you finally entered your rebellious phase. What next? Are you going to fall in love with an emo broody boy covered in tattoos?" I teased with a smirk. "Aren''t you just describing yourself?" "..." She was right. I doubt there would be anyone more emo and broody than Batman. Plus, I have quite several unique tattoos and patterns on my upper body to protect myself from stuff like possessions, curses, and other supernatural shit. So, I was basically describing myself with that statement. "Any updates on Falcone? Did any of your drones manage to get a picture of his crying face?" I joked, trying to change the topic to avoid embarrassment. I had spent more than ten hoursst night destroying most of his storage houses and illegal factories in the city. With the amount of his drug shipments, money, weapons, and other resources I had destroyed, I was sure that his empire would have been half gone by now. "No, but I did get some shots of him destroying his living room in anger, I will show them to youter. But jokes aside, he is still far from being absolutely ruined. His legal establishments like hotels and pubs along with the cash he stores in his primary hideout would save him from running out of resources real soon. Also, we still haven''t begun addressing the Goham Renewal fund, which is his biggest source of power, the backbone of his criminal empire. We expose that, and half of the corrupt politicians and gangsters of the city would be exposed." Cortana advised, going back to her serious tone. "... I need some time to think about it. Exposing that would smudge the name of the Wayne family forever, I don''t know if thepany can afford that. Plus there is also the matter of my public image as well..." "Are you sure it''s not because you are just afraid to taint the name of... your parents? Exposing the Gotham renewal fund wouldn''t really affect your or the deceased Wayne couple''s reputation that much, well at least not to the point that some PR stunts won''t fix. But, it might bring to light some other facts like... Mrs. Wayne''s and her family''s history with mental illness as well as the mysterious death of the reporter who was investigating it. That might raise questions about Mr. Wayne''s involvement in the death of the reporter." Cortana gently asked, it was almost like she was trying to be my psychologist. No, I wasn''t hesitating in doing this because of love for ''my family'' or something but simply because I didn''t want to destroy the idealistic image of his parents in the mind of the boy that I had reced. I had taken everything from him, his life, his money, his loving butler, his future love interests, and even his purpose. I didn''t want to take this away as well. The spotless reputation that his parents have in front of the public, that he had in his mind before he died, I didn''t want to dirty that. It was the least I could do for him. "We will decide if we expose the truth of the Gotham Renewal fund or not after I download ''his''plete memories. I have been putting it off for too long. I think it''s finally time before I... have my much-needed closure. Before I finally know how the real Bruce Wayne was in reality and what else I could do to be... better than him." I said with a sigh as I slipped on my gown with a thoughtful face. "You are really obsessed with being the best version of ''him'' you know." She was right. But, I guess being Bruce Wayne made me somewhat broken as well, just like him. But in my defense, he is a toughpetition. "Anyway, is Selina out from the cryo-chamber?" I asked with a sigh. I wanted to talk to her and make sure she was alright before I assimted the previous Bruce''s memories. I had no idea how long it would take for me to truly ''digest'' them after all. But, I knew it as a fact that this was not going to be as simple as assimting Ras Al Ghul''s vast array of knowledge. "Not yet, but soon. Oh, and maybe you should have a talk with Nyssa and Talia as well. They might have something to discuss with you... Believe me, sometimes your heavenly luck with women surprises even me. And that''s something since I can run thousands of simtions every second." She spoke with genuine astonishment in her voice. "Oh, umm... thanks. Anyway, I need some breakfast. Anything else you want to update me on?" I asked as I began to make my way to the kitchen. Hopefully, I could sneak away some food without Alfred catching me in the act. I didn''t want to address his concerns about my increasingly worsening sleeping habits right now. "Yes, I do actually. I have been keeping an eye on anyone who tries to gather information on you, thepany, the Wayne family, or the people close to you online, and through some of my algorithms I have detected that some people might be harboring some grudges on you after Wayne Enterprises merged with Wayne Solution. I have prepared a list of such people. Should I go ahead and take care of them for you to avoid any future hassles?" "Depends on what you mean by taking care of them and just how much of a grudge they hold against me," I answered after a slight pause. I could not help but draw some simrities between my version of Cortana and Ultron from Marvel in the sense that she too like Ultron took her purpose of protecting and serving me to the extreme. I really hope that she never goes rogue for the sake of my own enemies and inteizens because if she does, then I can imagine her gunning down millions of people around the world just because they tried to cancel me on social media or something. "You worry too much, my dear master. By taking care of, I simply meant giving them some minor damage in their spinal cords or their brains to make sure that they would not be able to involve you in any of their evil ns," Cortana exined as she chuckled yfully from her speakers. "The list has several names but the most notable are Victor Fries and Edward Nashton. They have the highest chances of trying to seek some sort of vengeance against you in one form or another." Edward Nashton? That was a name I had heard. I might not have too much knowledge of DC except from some of the movies and a few shows I had watched once in a while to pass the time but I knew of that name. It was the name of the viin of thest Batman movie I saw, the name of the iconic Batman viin, the Riddler. "Give me details of both of them, as well as why they want to hurt little old me," I ordered. I wasn''t really interested in the other guy but meh, I guess I can at least hear their backstories before I decide their fates. "The first one, Victor Fries was an employee of Wayne Enterprises working in the science and research department of Wayne Medical. He initially led quite a happy and normal life, working as a Cryogenics engineer. But, then his wife got diagnosed with a terminal disease called MacGregor''s Syndrome, an incurable disease that fills up the lungs with fluid and makes it very hard to breathe, ultimately leading to an untimely death. He was initially trying to find a cure for her by using the research and resources from Wayne Medical but his superiors caught on to it and fired him. This happened one day before you took over Wayne Enterprises, so he misunderstood the entire situation and thought that you were the one who was responsible for firing him. Right now, he is busy, trying to slow down the steady deterioration of his wife''s physical condition but there is a 77% chance that he mighte after youter if he is unable to cure his wife" Cortana briefed. "Okay, that''s genuinely sad, I will at least give him that. And for some reason, I feel like I am the viin here despite not being involved at all... You know what, I think it''s finally time that one of my inventions directly helps the public. Curing the disease won''t be too hard, a lower version of the extremis virus probably would be enough topletely eradicate it, no matter how terrible of a disease it is. Call Mr. Fries and inform him that I can help cure his wife after exining that I was not involved with hisyoff from thepany. Oh and also, tell him that he has gotten his job back as well, provided that he doesn''t steal from thepany the next time he needs something... In fact, you know what, let''s release this cure to the entire world as the first revolutionary product from the new and improved Wayne Solutions. I will even pledge a hundred million dors to give this medicine to the truly needy for free. It would be good PR at least." I said with a satisfied nod, happy that I could provide help to someone who desperately needed it. Of course, at that time I had no idea just how many lives I had changed for the better with that simple decision. And that too before breakfast. "Now, tell me everything about Edward," I demanded impatiently since he was the one I was actually interested in. Victor might try to shoot me someday if I hadn''t done anything to help his wife but Edward was the one who could be a murderous psychopathic terrorist, obsessed with riddles. After all, a crazy future superviin was way more dangerous than a guy who just really loves his wife. --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npagetoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom Chapter 86: An Enigma & Primal Instincts Chapter 86: An Enigma & Primal Instincts ---
"I was younger then, I wasn''t afraid of anything, I didn''t think about dying for a second. I thought I was invincible. Then I met a girl. I wanted to live, I started to think like that; for the first time, I was afraid of death. I had never felt like that before." ¨C Spike Spiegel,(Cowboy Bebop)
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "Edward Nashton, well... he is an enigma to speak the truth, a mentally imbnced man who was broken by the cruelty of society. His father ording to public records was a single parent, a drug addict, and extremely abusive. That was until he died of a drug overdose. Edward having no money to his name or any rtive willing to take him in, was given to an orphanage. He was most probably bullied there as well. He also got obsessed with puzzles, mind games, and riddles for some reason. Despite being somewhat of a sociopath, he was extremely smart and left the orphanage once he came of age. He earned a couple of degrees from some reputed universities and got a job at Wayne Enterprises as a scientist in the consumer Electronics division. There, he worked on various projects including a 3d TV which was going to be revolutionary at that time but before he seeded, he was removed from the project and transferred to another division in Wayne Defence because Wayne Electronics was sold to you. However, he still had temporary sess there with his research on chemical weapons which was mostly illegal, and the only reason it was even happening was due to the corruption of some of the board members. But, after you bought Wayne Enterprises, all illegal undertakings in thepany were suspended which led to his projects beingpletely scrapped. Thus his immense anger towards you." Cortana exined. "... I think this universe is biased towards me. It''s like the world is creating viins just because it wants to annoy the hell out of me... I mean which goddamn employee in his right state of mind, schemes about murdering the billionaire owner of hispany and bing a superviin after the project he was working on was not approved. Hell, I never even met him. Also, he wasn''t even fired." Iined wiping fake tears from my eyes. "But that''s it, you see. He is NOT in his right state of mind. He could even be called criminally insane if one were to grade him by what his inte searches look like. He always had a bias against rich people and their wealthy sessors for some reason. He was even involved as a suspect in a car crash that killed the son of a very famous millionaire. Also, there was a certain case in which a woman who used to work alongside Edward in Wayne Defence disappeared along with her boyfriend and was dered dead after one year of being missing. The cops never found the perpetrator but there is a 64% chance that Edward was the one responsible for that. He most probably had a crush on her if the emails and messages he sent her were to be taken into ount. But when he found out that she already had a boyfriend, he killed them both due to jealousy." Cortana further exined Edward''s backstory. "Okay, now he seems like an asshole that I can consider killing without feeling bad. Dispatch a few drones to keep a watch on him. Do it from far away and don''t get too close. If he is truly a genius, there is a chance that he would be able to tell that he is being followed by drones, regardless of how good their disguise is." I ordered. I didn''t want to do a repeat of Minority Report and kill people even before they actuallymitted a crime, especially since I have no idea what type of universe this is. Maybe he would never be a viin here in the first ce and just forget everything while moving on with his life, who knows, right? So I will wait patiently until he tries something. "Oh and if he still works in mypany, try to get him to see a shrink. Maybe he could be... ''cured'' of his mental imbnce." "No, he quit the day after his project was canceled. So, that won''t be possible. Also, I doubt he would even agree to it in the first ce. Believe me, Bruce, you don''t see the stuff I am seeing about him. The guy has never searched for porn online..., not even once in his entire life and he most certainly doesn''t getid regrly. It is the weirdest possible thing I have ever seen in the search history of an adult human male. No, this guy is definitely a certified psychopath." Cortana said in her matter-of-fact voice with so much confidence that even I agreed with her deduction. "Well, you are the international data-collecting AI here with unrestricted ess to the inte. So, I will believe you. However, we still can''t act without having proof that he is a criminal. Anyway, get a couple of eyes on him. We will deal with him the moment we know for certain that he is a killer... Also, investigate more about the two cases you just told me about. You are free to ckmail any corrupt cops if you need to. If Edward has truly killed before, then we won''t even need to wait for him to move. We can make the first move instead." "Roger captain," Cortana said with determination as her voiceing from the speakers ceased. Seems she had gone toplete her duties. Now on to that breakfast. I don''t want to meet Selina with an empty stomach. *** <{Batcave under Wayne Estate}> "Phase 1 evolution process of subject Selina Kyle has been sessfullypleted. Cryopod opening now." Cortan''s monotonous voice informed me after the timer on the screen counted down to zero. The top of the cryo pod soon opened slowly with a swish sound, cold vapor from the device leaking everywhere in the room. Selina''s body was barely visible in the thick mist, but I could more or less make out her visage due to my superior eyesight and I was impressed. But the impressed look on my face soon turned into surprise as the mist cleared and she becamepletely visible. Her physique could be said to have turned... into that of an Amazonian goddess. I mean, she wasn''t overly muscr like the female wrestlers but she now definitely sported a six-pack on her abdomen with an equally impressive height. She was 178cm (5 feet 10 inches) tall now which made her appear like a professional model. Even her face had gone through a change making her cheekbones more pronounced and all her facial features more prominent. Any excess fat anywhere around her body hadpletely disappeared. She was already a world-topping beauty even before she entered the chamber but now she could be directlypared to those Xinxia and Wuxia-level jade beauties. "Oh shit," Selina eximed as the bra and underwear she was wearing tore away due to her enhanced physique and body proportions. Her half-naked body was already covered with sweat and steam but after her underclothes were ripped away, she looked even more like a goddess. However, quite contrary to my expectations, the sight which should have just made me a little horny and given me a few perverted thoughts awakened something else in me, something primal, something that I knew could not be controlled despite the amazing superhuman level self-control I had on my own body and mind. And, judging by the current expression on her face which was filled with pure desire and lust, it seemed that she also shared the same sentiment... the desire to breed. We both wanted to mate. --- (A/N: The next chapter is the first lemon of this book guys... Thought you should know) Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npagetoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom Chapter 87: A Bat and Cat’s First Time (R-18) Chapter 87: A Bat and Cat¡¯s First Time (R-18) ---
"I don''t know what the future holds, but I do know this: I just can''t get enough of you... I want to make love to you, at least a hundred more times. No, make that a thousand!" - Guts,(Berserk)
--- <(Omniscient POV)> Selina rushed from across the room in a hurry like she was on fire as her bare hips swayed hypnotically, much like a wild cat. She was fully aware of Bruce''s gaze glued to her naked body, staring at her in a bewildered manner. She knew that both Bruce and she were not of sound minds. Well, actually they were ofpletely sound minds and knew exactly what was happening but still, the only thought that primarily dominated their thoughts was the need to mate. But truthfully, Selina preferred this. This felt like true passion, she knew that in this state, she wouldn''t be ashamed of doing all the things with Bruce that she had previously only thought about in her wet dreams. In this state, she could be what she always wished to be, a slut for him. As the ravishing brte reached Bruce, she straddled him with a big smile on her face, forcing him toy back on the cold floor of theb. She was going to be the one to initiate this... ''mating ritual''. "Ooh, just let me switch to the 32K ultra HD cameras, I need to record every single detail of this entire thing... for future research purposes of course." A light voice sounding simr to Cortana''s chimed out from the background but the couple didn''t pay any attention to it at all. They had no intention to stop currently, they were way past that point. Selina began to ground up and down on Bruce''s crotch, trying her hardest to make him moan. The heat of her body along with her now erged yet perfectly shaped breastsing inches away from his face, immediately forced his cock to grow to its fullest in his pants. She tried to get rid of his clothes by tearing them apart but for some reason, they felt like they were indestructible. "Get rid of them... please." Selina purred desperately into his ears while rubbing his hands on his crotch to get him even more excited. For some reason, she was feeling that Bruce although equally aroused as her, was much more in control of himself than her, which really irked her. Instantly, all of Bruce''s clothes vanished as they turned into dust and retreated to God knows where while revealing his chiseled muscr chest and 10-inch big cock. She was more than content with what she saw. If her body was equal to a God''s gift for a guy like Bruce, his was of a Greek God himself, only manlier... and with a bigger dick. Selina unable to control herself, leaned down and began to kiss all over his body starting from his chest. Each of those kisses was enough to light Bruce up like a lightning bolt. His now awakened primal instincts made this even more pleasurable than it should have been. As she moved down and reached his abs, she began to lick them like a cat, fully savoring the manly auraing from him. This sensation of her warm lips pressing all over his upper body forced the fire inside Bruce to rise even harder as he too finally gave in to the pleasure and began to feel her up with his hands. "Perfect." Selina felt a sense of victory in herself as she finally managed topletely erase her partner''s hesitation and boost his arousal to initiate a proper mating between them. Taking a look at Bruce''s excited state, she closed in on his face and French-kissed him lewdly while pressing her breasts as hard as she could into his muscr and warm chest. "Damn, I was holding back till now to make sure that you werefortable but your teasing just lost you that privilege. Get ready for some serious dicking down." Bruce groaned after their kiss. "Who said I even want you to hold back, Tiger? It''s a sin to hold back such a perfect cock from me for long." She replied as she licked her lips, digging her fingernails further into him as she rubbed her wet pussy on his dick. "Fine then Kitty, as you wish. But first, I am going to need to test out those boobs of yours." He said as he grabbed her breasts and gave them a couple of rough licks, forcing Selina to moan in pleasure as her nipples hardened like rocks. "Wow, this feels better than I thought. Let me do something that I once saw in a video" Selina somehow moaned out as she slithered downward until Bruce''s cock was directly in front of her face. Taking a deep sniff of the captivating scent of his loins, she nodded in satisfaction and sandwiched Bruce''s dick between her big boobs which were 34 D at the minimum. Most men would have nutted in their pants just looking at the pair of heavenly mountains that was in front of him, but Bruce wasn''t like most men. He was determined to enjoy them to the fullest. He edged himself between her twin peaks, appropriately positioning himself for what was toe. Then with a deep breath, he pulled back and mmed his way deep into Selina''s soft chest. The space between her boobs was big enough topletely swallow his dick, so much so that with every thrust, even his balls were being massaged. "Oh fuck, you have one of the best pair of boobs in the world." Being an admirer of boobs, he could not help but groan as he continued to fuck her breasts. His fingers were also not idle as they slipped to the underside of the gorgeous woman''s nipples and pleasured her, pulling and pinching them with the expert techniques that he had read in books to bring her the highest of pleasures. This went on for about a few minutes where Bruce just fucked Selina''s breasts like a hungry beast. Knowing that this was soon going to end in an explosive release, Selina locked her eyes with him, her gaze disying a pure look of hunger and thirst for his seed. She was d that she wasn''t wearing any clothes because they would have beenpletely destroyed from how wet she was for the teenage billionaire. "Cum for me, cum for your beloved kitten. Show me how much cum those big massive balls of yours can make. Shoot your tasty sperm all over my slutty tits and face. Make me your whore." She encouraged him. Bruce further motivated by her encouragement roared and pounded away at her boobs as hard as possible. However, he could only manage a few more pumps before his loins tightened and he spurted all his load all over Selina''s face and chest, painting her white with his essence. The harder he pushed, the harder she worked him with her amazingly soft boobs, making sure to milk every drop of seed stored in his balls. "It tastes like... mozzare cheese for some reason." Selina dered in mild surprise after she took a strand of cum hanging from her breasts and sucked it down like a woman on death row savoring herst meal. "It''s perfect." She gave her verdict after she was done swallowing it. "I think I should return the favor," Bruce said with an excited grin as he pushed her down and made his own way down on her. Giving a few licks to her soft yet toned stomach and belly button, he moved close to her drenched pussy, he dived down between her legs after Selina parted her thighs for him. Her mind almost immediately copsed under the sheer pleasure that Bruce began to impart to her. He ate Selina out with his utmost dedication. The loud pop of his mouth slurping on her pussy inmed her as Selina''s eyes closed shut, her mind entering a state of foggy lust. She longed for more, her body burning with the fire of lust with every single touch and swipe of Bruce''s tongue. She grabbed onto the back of his head to push him deeper between her wet thighs, she needed release desperately. However, Bruce still wasn''t done with her. He began to stroke her all over, his fingers sending unprecedented warmth and vigor all over her body. Her squirming only seemed to encourage him more as he swirled his tongue deeper into her. After holding out for a few more seconds, the cat burr in heat could not help but ultimately explode in his mouth with her lips pursed together and her eyes closed. Bruce of course dly sucked up all of her juices like fine sweet water from a fountain. "And you taste something like coconut water. Seems, our body enhancements made quite a few beneficial changes to our reproductive systems as well which weren''t found in tests. I think we have the duty to test them all out today, don''t you think?" He said as he flipped Selina on her back and tightly squeezed her perfect bubble-butt ass. "Yes,... *Huff Huff* duty. Now, fuck me. I want to feel you inside me." Selina spoke out panting. "Of course," Bruce replied with a big smile on his face as he pushed his cock deep inside her slushy wet pussy after rubbing against it a few times. Her cunt stretched just enough to let him enter inside her, her walls mping down on him hard. He did face a thin barrier while entering her which was most likely her hymen but it was nothing that a slightly harder push couldn''t solve. She didn''t groan in pain due to her high pain tolerance and improved physique. In fact, there wasn''t even any blood since her enhanced body made sure to not cause any sort of bleeding. "Damn it." Bruce was the one to groan in pleasure this time as he felt the tight insides of Selina pressing down on his cock from all sides. He, however, wasn''t going to admit defeat. Heid down on his side and took her breasts in his palms while bringing his mouth close to them and nibbling on one of her nipples to get her even more excited. Bruce was very sessful in this as with every nibble, Selina began to release sexy moans out of her mouth while pressing down onto his dick, her tightness enveloping and releasing him. Bruce too didn''tze around as he began to pump into her with determination while motorboating her breasts which made her scream hard. He mped down hard on a nipple, sending Seina spiraling over the edge with an insane amount of lust. He then tweaked the other nipple with his finger, forcing another moan out of her. Her moans were music to his ears. It was so hot to see her like this and Bruce knew from her facial expressions that she would not be able to hold out for much longer under his relentless assault, especially since this was just her first time. He tightly groped her breasts, milking those to the point where even juices began to leak out of them, all the while he thrusted into her like a madman. She was perfectly tight and lubricated while her moans made this even a more pleasurable experience for Bruce. He lifted himself almostpletely up from the floor and began to drive even harder into her, nting his manhood even deeper and faster. Her walls simultaneously tightened and released around him, trying to milk him for all he was worth. "Yes, that''s the stuff right there." She breathed out somehow. The hot and bothered Selina closed around him, knowing that he was close as well. Their bodies joined together, in intense, vigorous passion. Bruce grabbed her thighs and neck with his hands and then slid down all the way inside of her, stuffing herpletely full. The only reason she wasn''t instantly handicapped with his full ten inches cock almost entirely disappearing inside her pussy was because of her extremely powerful and enhanced body which made sure to continuously heal her as well as keep her alive and breathing, despite Bruce''s penis going much further than it was intended by nature. "You want all of this, don''t you? You want my cock inside of your tight little pussy, don''t you? You want to give birth to a litter of kittens if I get you pregnant, don''t you?" "YES! YES! YEEEESSSSS!" Selina reached the absolute peak of pleasure as Bruce rewarded her with a m inside her juicy cunt, his pre cum already beginning to moisten the inside of her pussy and make way for the real thing. She squeezed her hips, driving herself down onto his cock so hard on her own that she almost cked out in immense pleasure. "So close." Bruce groaned out while wondering if he should cum inside or outside her. But again, a guy who can make the best and most effective after-morning pill in the world if he wants doesn''t really care about such minor things. One more push and he would have her. He sped up inside her with his thrusts bing more and more aggressive, and rougher until the seal on his balls finally broke. All the seeds inside his balls churned up his cock and erupted inside Selina''s fertile pussy with an explosion. "CUMMING! I AM CUMMING!" She almost scratched up the edge of her own table as she too climaxed alongside him with a shrill cry while he himself finished up and emptied inside of her cunt. The rapidly disappearing red marks and soreness on and around it along with the dripping river of cum were proof that Bruce had been there. He had used it to his pleasure and had left the veryfortable warmth once he was done. Selina however even after all that did not seem tired. She just looked at Bruce''s cock which was still standing straight without the slightest sign of weakness and smiled, albeit a bit nervously. She was both proud that she had that effect on him as well as worried if she would truly be able to handle him all alone. However, for now, she decided not to sweat it too much and just focus on the pleasurable side of things. "Let me get that clean for you. After that, we can go a second round if you want. I think this new improved body of mine can still handle quite a lot of sex." Selina stated with her husky voice as she pounced toward his dick like a hungry cat. A messy blowjob followed which stimted every single one of Bruce''s nerve endings. It is a marvel of what a woman can aplish without her gag reflex during a blowjob and Selina was one of such rare and marvelous women. She went all the way in, deep-throating his cock and humming with her nose pressed against his pubic bone. Bruce threaded his fingers through her thick brte hair and prepared to face fuck her into the night... And then so much more. Selina''s warm mouth, throat, and tongue could give him more pleasure than he had ever gotten in his life and he was determined to enjoy it to the fullest. --- (A/N: This was the first lemon for this book. Hope you guys liked it) Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npagetoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom Chapter 88: A Falcon’s Soiree & A Cat’s Revenge (1) Chapter 88: A Falcon¡¯s Soiree & A Cat¡¯s Revenge (1) ---
"Love means never having to say you''re sorry," - Jennifer Cavalleri,(Love Story)
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "Shit, my lower body is killing me. When I said that I could go a few more times, I meant only a few more times, not a dozen... I think I feel more sperm in me than I have blood in my entire body" Selina said as she rubbed her slightly bloated lower stomach with her palms. She was currently dressed in a cat-style hoody and was sitting on the sofa with a game controller in her hands, waiting for the new Call of Duty 4 to finish loading on the Bat Computer. "Yeah, I might have gone overboard with the sex a littlest night. I should have tried anal too instead of just blindly focusing on your vagina. Bute on, that excuse of your lower body hurting is stupid. You and I both know that your body has long healed from the after-effects of our sex session and is now again at its peak, ready to go for another round. And, as for your stomach getting bloated with my semen, me your own evolved physiology for that. Your reproductive system also evolved with the rest of your body and not letting any sperm out to maximize your chances of getting pregnant is just one of its many adjustments to make you the perfect female ''human being'' on the." I said with a poker face while mixing a few different liquids in a test tube. "Wait, what? I can get pregnant? But, I thought our bodies would deal with that too. Or maybe you somehow made sure that your seeds wouldn''t take." Selina eximed with an expression of horror on her face as she ignored my words about trying out anal. "The most desirable trait in a species is the ability to reproduce as efficiently and quickly as possible despite all odds. All biological beings crave that for themselves as long as they cannot achieve immortality. And we too as non-immortal biologically enhanced humans also have that trait. The chances of you getting pregnant afterst night are more than 95%. But then again, yeah, you are right in thinking that I do not intend to let that happen. So here, drink this." I said as I threw a corked test tube toward her after finishing making the medicine I was trying to make. "Let me guess, this is your version of a morning-after pill." She breathed in relief as she caught the test tube in her hands and drank it whole in a single gulp without the slightest hesitation. "Yep." I smiled, happy that she knew me so well while also fully trusting me. "Bruce, can I now allow Ace and Mr. Whiskers inside? They have been waiting for a while to y here. Selina likes to train them here in the Bat cave, so, they have got a habit for it." Cortana''s hologram appeared as an image of the two pets patiently sitting outside one of our cave entrances became visible. "ying in the Bat cave huh? Yeah, sure allow them in." I said as I took a look at Selina who had frozen in fear after hearing Cortana''s words. It seems that she hadn''t expected Cortana to tell me about her escapades in my cave but what she didn''t consider was that Cortana despite not having to inform me every time someone with ess came inside the cave, still could still inform me if she wanted or deemed it important enough. Cortana was an AI with a sense of individuality who could think for herself, learn on her own, and evolve, not some normal program that did what it was just coded to. "Traitor," Selina whispered while looking at the hologram of Cortana which the AIpletely ignored. "But that also brings me to my question, why did you two name the cat Mr. Whiskers? It is a ''she'', so shouldn''t it be named something like Miss. Whiskers?" Cortana questioned as the two animals entered the cave. "Wait, what? I thought the cat was a male. Selina, didn''t you check?" I eximed in surprise as I curiously looked at the equally startled orange cat. Even Ace who also understood Cortana''s words looked equally betrayed as he tried to get a good look at the little cat''s junk. By the dog''s expression, anyone could understand that Ace had never even considered that his loyal sidekick could be a female cat and not a male. Whiskers on the other hand just sat on the ground with a guilty look on her face. "Oh yeah, I knew for a long time. I used to cuddle with it every night while you were not here after all. I didn''t tell you anything because I thought you knew especially since you gave her the peak-animal serum yourself. When you told me her name was Mr. Whiskers, I thought you meant it as some sort of inside joke or something." "... I see. I should have checked her gender myself. I injected the serum through her legs, so I didn''t get a good look at her... private parts. But, it was my fault that I relied on someone else''s words. It seems that dogs cannot be the world''s greatest detectives." I said while narrowing my eyes at Ace who just bowed down his head and whimpered in sorrow at his failure. "Anyway, now that we know it, I guess we will have to call her Ms. Whiskers, instead." "But you failed to see it too, you know. So, the dog in this case may be just like his master." Cortana teased which I masterfully ignored as I cleared my throat and went back to observe the changes in Selina''s cells. "Well, congrattions Selina. Everything looks good. From enhanced strength of about 30 tons and enhanced stamina to bulletproof super durability, healing factor, and extreme agility, bnce, and reflexes, you have it all. Every portion of your body has been enhanced and evolved to its absolute human limit. Plus you might want to keep those nails of yours well-maintained, they are so sharp that they can be used really well as silent des." I dered with an impressed look as I read through the readings. Although Selina mightck in the strength department whenpared to me, she however excelled in the categories of agility and reflex which suited her quite well. In fact, even her nails had been affected by the serum which made them even sharper than actual knives. My skin although not as hard as ballistic or armor-grade steel like M2 or M4, was still as tough as titanium, if not tougher, and could easily resist any ammunition from regr guns and pistols as long as they were not armor-piercing rounds. However, Selina''s nails were surprisingly able to leave quite a few scratches on my backst night. Although those scratches healed just as quickly, it still made me realize something. Her nails were now deadly weapons on their own. Mine would have been too probably... if I had any that is. Unfortunately, I don''t like nails, so I will just stick to my strength and techniques and use some artificial ws when in my armor. "Oh cool. So, I am ready to go out with you and beat up criminals as well. Because I have even thought up the best name for me. I would be the Killer Cat. We can beat up gang members, steal from thieves, send rapists and murderers toa, and kill cat-haters. We will be the best vignte duo on the and don''t worry about Nyssa and Talia, we will just make sure that they don''t find out about our secret identities." Selina spoke with barely hidden excitement in her voice as she paused her game and looked at me expectantly. "Ahh... no. You need to practice with your enhanced physique before you go out with me on patrols. Also, I need to make a name for myself before I show up in public with a sidekick." I dered with a straight face. "Sidekick?" Selina looked at me with narrowed eyes, not at all humored by my joke. "Sir, Carmine Falcone has just invited the most influential elites of Gotham to a very high-end party in the Iceberg Lounge owned by Penguin. That includes all his partners, the corrupted politicians in his pockets, leaders of some other small gangs, as well as others he wants to woo into an alliance to strengthen and expand his empire. It seems that he has finally decided to do something to gain back the power he lost because of our continuous assaults on his strongholds. He seems to have invited you as well." Cortana interrupted Selina at just the right time, saving me from a headache that was quicklying my way. "A party with all the most influential people of Gotham, huh? I think I will have to postpone the memory assimtion session that I had nned after this since I am in the mood to do some partying. Hey, Selina, you said you wanted to go out with me, right? So, how abouting with me as my plus one and seeing your dear daddy again? I am sure, you have things to ask him and perhaps even some stuff that you need to do to him to thank him for your childhood, right?" Selina had lost her good mood the moment she had heard of Falcone. She looked angry at the mention of his name like she needed to torture and kill him to find some release. I guess, she can''t forget the bad times her mother and she had to go through because of her gangster father and his crime family. "Yeah, I wille with you. I do in fact have something to ask that man. Plus, I need to make sure that Falcone and his gang don''t go after my friend, Holly. She might have been an idiot trying to ckmail them for money with the pendrive she stole while she was working there as an exotic dancer, however, she doesn''t deserve to die because of that... But, I will be the one to kill Falcone, Bruce. That is my only request of you... Please, let me be the one to kill that son of a bitch." Selina sounded dead serious as she looked at me with her big pleading eyes. Well, she didn''t even call me tiger, so she should be really angry. And Selina is a good person at heart. She might not care for most people but she really does care about her friends. So, even though I extended my protection to her friend by sending her to Washington for a few days to stay at the newly built branch of Continental Hotel there, Selina still wanted to make sure that nobody was going to go after her. "We will see," I said, not wanting to promise anything but not denying her request too. "But, you can''t go there without any protection. What if they have armor-piercing machine guns or rocketunchers or something? Cortana, I think it is time we give Selina her armor. It''s just a prototype for now, but I think you will quite like it kitty..." I smiled while trying to ess the final design of the suit I had nned for her but I immediately halted in my steps as I came against something else while doing that. "Also, Cortana, why is there a 2 GB 32K ultra HD video called Master''s First Night of Passion saved in the top ssified section of the Batputer?" --- (A/N: So, will Selina end Falcone herself in this reality, let Bruce kill him for her, or be the better human being and let him be arrested by the cops? What do you guys think?) Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npagetoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom Chapter 89: A Falcon’s Soiree & A Cat’s Revenge (2) Chapter 89: A Falcon¡¯s Soiree & A Cat¡¯s Revenge (2) ---
"I believe when life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade...and try to find someone whose life has given them vodka, and have a party." ¨D Ron White
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "This was definitely not the type of party I was expecting," I muttered to myself in an almost inaudible voice as I and Selina entered the most famous nightclub in Gotham, the Iceberg Lounge. The club was like any other I have ever seen in both of my lives and reminded me of the astonishing amount of money that the elites of Gotham possessed. The city of Gotham was more or less the equivalent of New York and Chicago for the DC multiverse and was very wealthy due to the healthy industries supporting it but the unfortunate thing about the city was that this wealth was only held by the top elites and not by themoners or the lower sections of society. Nevertheless, as I was saying, the club itself wasn''t my problem, nor were the scores of reporters and paparazzi standing outside the club in hopes of getting a single picture of the individuals attending the party tonight. No, the main problem was the type of ''party'' that was going on inside the lounge. The ce was a paradise for pleasure seekers. From elite hookers and exotic drugs to masked dominatrices and strange bdsm devices put on disy with live subjects even testing some of them out, it was the wet dream of every hedonist. The nightclub was much more... debaucherous than what might have been shown in movies, shows, or even inics. At least, that was the case for the section of the nightclub me and Selina were led to, which was the more premium section of the club. The public area of the nightclub that the ordinary people were allowed in had a lot of those things as well but the level was nowhere close to the premium section where Falcon had called his main guests. "Well, Alfred did tell us that this would not be the type of party that we normally see in movies and shows. People don''t y beer pong after getting drunk here. They instead have orgies, make million-dor drug deals, and other such fucked-up shit." Selina whispered back after she heard myment. "But, I am pretty sure that you aren''t regrettinging here, are you? Not with so many hot women out here showing off their cleavage in public. Most of them even seem to enjoy you checking them out" Selinaughed as she gestured to all the half-nude waitresses and rich heiresses who seemed to be more interested in me than their husbands and boyfriends. I didn''t try to deny it since it was true. The moment we entered the nightclub, people seemed more interested in me and Selina than anything else that the club was offering here. With everyone seeking peeks and nces at us every once in a while, I guessed that our enhanced looks and perfect bodies are pretty attractive even in this world of higher-than-average beauty standards. By wearing a navy blue tailored suit and a limited edition sapphire Patek Philippe watch on my wrist, I had attracted the attention of most of the women here along with some of the men. However, the women throwing nces at me at least pretended to hide their interest, although I could sense their curiosity and arousal for me from a mile away as they looked for an opening to approach me. Still, I gave them none. The men, however, had no such restraint. They ogled Selina with undisguised lust, drawn to the sleek sleeveless ck dress that perfectly hugged her curves. She was a vision of elegance and allure without even needing to show too much skin, unlike the other women here who wore garish and skimpy outfits that only screamed desperation. Both Selina and I stood out from the crowd, and we both knew it. At first, I felt a little uneasy under the gazes of all the men who eyed Selina with lust. But soon, I embraced and even reveled in the fact that I had a woman in my arms that every man in the club could only dream of. Tightening my grip on Selina''s waist, I drew her closer to me, making it clear to everyone in the nightclub that she was mine. "Aah, Bruce, I see that you got my invitation. It seems that you made the correct choice in picking your partners. Good, good. Your old man would been proud of you..." A familiar old man in his mid-fifties wearing a sharp tuxedo that matched his silver hair approached us with a broad smile on his lips and took my hands in a strong handshake. Then his attentionnded on Selina standing by my side. "And, who is this lovely youngdy, if I may inquire? I recognized the old man instantly and so did Selina. We had met him once years ago. He was currently one of the most infamous people in Gotham and the undisputed ruler of Gotham''s current criminal underbelly, Carmine Falcone. "Selina, Selina Kyle." Selina gave away her real name as she stared at the man''s eyes, trying to see if he would recognize her. "Well, nice to meet you, Miss Selina. I hope that you enjoy today''s party. I am known to throw the best parties in Gotham after all." But s, there wasn''t even a hint of recognition on the man''s face as he just nodded and took her hands, trying to nt a kiss on it. However, before he could, Selina quickly removed her hand from his sp, a twinge of disgust momentarily shing across her face. "Thank you, Mr. Falcone. But, may I ask if there is some special reason for this invitation all of a sudden? You announced this gathering out of the blue. Do you perhaps need some help or perhaps have some profitable business to discuss?" I interrupted, not letting the situation get awkward. "Oh yes, I do Bruce, I indeed do. Please join me, I think you, me, and my associates can talk business that is going to profit all of us." Falcone said with a smile that showed all of his teeth. The man was so polite to me because he most likely wanted ess to the resources I had. He was seriouslycking money after I began destroying all of his strongholds and important bases of operations under my identity of Batman. And with the new gang war that was underway, he was bing desperate. He needed funds to maintain his current power and he knew that there were very few people in Gotham who could give him that amount of money at such short notice. So almost the entire next hour, Carmine Falcone spent buttering me up while introducing me to his colleagues and associates who ''do business'' with him. I too didn''t stop him and listened to his business discussions as I sat on a sofa listening to all their proposals with Selina sitting on myp, not even caring about what other people might think. I was lucky that the nightclub had an extreme level of security and no reporters were allowed, otherwise, I would have no idea about what type of headlines the newspapers might have printed about me. Anyway, I wanted a realistic idea about how the Gotham criminal underworld truly operated, and how the corrupted officials of Gotham always manage to steal money so easily and this exchange gave me exactly that. Having connections and hands-on knowledge is never bad, especially in this case where Falcone was going to disappear soon. In his absence, there was a chance that I could use his connections and knowledgeter and profit from it. I mean these crooked politicians, cops, and judges were just sheep that followed Falcone and relied on him for protection. Once he was gone, they would be crumbling down too, and at that time I wanted to be there to pick up the pieces for myself. Plus, having a couple of corrupt judges and cops in my pocket wouldn''t be a bad thing for me. Even if I make sure topletely eliminate corruption in Gotham, I can always choose to let some of them, the ones that I can control not get caught and keep them on a tight leash for myself. They could be pretty useful in case I ever had to deal with legal or corporate problems against otherpanies or organizations that try to falsely incriminate me or Wayne Solutions, like the Court of Owls for example. So, despite not being that profitable for me, I still dly made a few deals with the people I met there, promising investments and resources for causes like the Gotham Park Renovation Project or the Gotham Homeless Shelter Project in which I would have to invest quite a big sum of money as loans to the government in return for bonds. Then I would not only get all the contracts for all the construction and renovation work in these projects but also get paid back the entire money I invested, in full plus the interest from the government when the bond matures, all the while, the corrupted officials who help me to do this get to keep their own juicy share of the pie. It was an ingenious way of cheating and stealing from the government. And this continuous stealing was one of the reasons why the city was how it was. These projects were nothing but just measly excuses to illegally channel money into the pockets of corrupted government officials, gangs, and businessmen. And I was going to do something about them. I wanted Gotham to be my base and corruption was something nobody wanted in their center of power. Yes, I was agreeing to these deals but it was only because, once Falcon was out of the picture, I would be using my own power and influence to strongarm them into doing what I wanted, changing the entire city into what I envision it to be. "I am sorry gentlemen but I think I need to go to the restroom. I have had one drink too many and I need to relieve myself. But, please do go on about your discussions. I''ll be just a minute." Falcon said with a satisfied grin that his ns had been more than sessful till now. In his mind, the party was already a massive sess and he had scored quite big tonight, especially with me agreeing to so many of his illegal propositions. I had basically just given him a new lifeline to fund all his criminal gang activities. After a few minutes of him and a couple of his bodyguards exiting the room, Selina who was currently sitting on myp, whispered a few words in my ears before she too got up. "I need a drink. I''ll be back soon." Selina announced for everyone to hear as she walked in the direction Falcon went. "Ten minutes," I replied. "Are you going to the bar, miss? Do you want me to apany you...?" A shady-looking man looked like he wanted to try his luck on Selina but after a cold stare from me and Selina just ignoring him like he wasn''t even worth replying to, he lost all his confidence and sat back on his sofa with an audible gulp. "Cortana, you can contact Jim Gordon now. I am almost done here as Bruce Wayne." I whispered a couple of minutester to my bracelet as I saw arge man wearing a white suit, looking like he was Kingpin''s brother, on his way to a secured room on the second floor above us. ''Wow! he actually does walk like a penguin. I always thought that it was just an exaggeration.'' --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npagetoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom Chapter 90: A Falcon’s Soiree & A Cat’s Revenge (3) Chapter 90: A Falcon¡¯s Soiree & A Cat¡¯s Revenge (3) ---
"In the shadow of every towering conflict between parent and child lies the silent scream of love, unheard but resonant in the echoes of their hearts." - Elena Rivers,(Whispers of Tomorrow)
--- ''So fucking easy.'' Carmine Falcone chuckled in his mind as he opened his zippers to relieve himself in the restroom. Initially, he was very worried about all the damage that his various businesses were continuously suffering from because of the gang wars, and the huge loss of money he had suffered from the fall of the Wayne Corporation with the value of the stocks he held hitting almost rock bottom. Then there were also the attacks by the so-called Dark Knight. But with these promised investments from that foolish Wayne brat, he would not only be able to make every penny he had lost in thest week back but also grow even richer and rise higher in power than ever before. With free unlimited ess to the Wayne family''s fortune, regardless of how weak orcking the Wayne family has be, it would still only be a matter of time before Falcon would be able to swiftly get rid of thepetition and reign supreme in Gotham. Of course, that didn''t mean he would just betray Bruce or deny him any profit. No, the kid was important to him, or more specifically his money and connections were important for the continued and unrestricted growth of his criminal empire. Bruce was his golden goose. Falcon would give him just the minimum right amount of profit to keep him happy and satisfied so that he could fleece him for more deals. He would make sure that he had the kid eating out of his hands just like his dead father. And, as for the ''demon bat'' who had been destroying all his shipments and warehouses while getting his men arrested, well, he had a special type of hellish torture prepared just for him once he got his hands on the guy. The bat would certainly die but it wouldn''t be any normal death. No, Falcon was determined to set an example through his death, to warn everyone else of the dangers and consequences of ever messing with him again. "A man dressed as a bat, hahaha. Just wait, you bat-fucker. Once I get my hands on you, I''ll make sure to blind you like a bat too since you are so fond of them." Falcon uttered aloud to himself in a daze due to his intoxicated state of mind. "Oh, I''d like to see you try." A female voice suddenly sounded behind him, startling the gangster and forcing him to quickly turn around without even having the time to zip himself up. He was extremely annoyed at the disturbance of his privacy. He had expected some whore, trying to seize an opportunity to flirt with him and make some connections to rise above in her life, like so many others before but contrary to his expectations, the figure before him in no way looked like a whore. In fact, he couldn''t even see what the female actually looked like because she was covered in sleek ck armor that hugged every inch of her shapely body,pletely covering it from view. Even her face wasn''t visible and was covered with a in, nk violet mask that had two sharp ears at its two sides. But the most bizarre thing about the figure wasn''t the cat-like ears, the weird mask, or the high-tech-looking armor. Instead, the weirdest thing about the female figure was the presence of a long metallic tail slowly moving behind like a snake. It looked exactly like a whip with a sharp de at its end. "First, a man dressed as a bat, now a woman dressed as a cat. What the hell is happening with this fucking city?" He muttered to himself with a chuckle, still not being able toprehend the situation he now found himself in due to being drunk. "I have wanted to meet you for a long time now... Carmine Falcon." "And what the hell are you supposed to be? Also, you might have sneaked in by the guards but just one shout from me and this ce will be swarmed by men thrice your size. So, you should be ready for a run little girl." Falcon mocked with a snicker. "Guards? Oh, you didn''t mean those weak-bonedckeys that were standing outside, did you? Sorry, I don''t think they would be walking on their legs anytime shortly, let alone run. Now, I have some questions for you that you NEED to answer. Who knows, if I like your answers, I might even let you live." "You don''t know who you are messing with girl. I will end you. Once I find out your identity, one single phone call from me will be all it will take to utterly ruin your life. If you think you have any chance of beating me, then think again." Falcone threatened with a furious voice. He was undoubtedly apprehensive of the situation but years of experience of being a criminal overlord made it possible for him not to stop that dread from leaking into his words. "A reasonable threat. But you see Falcon, right now, you are not the one in control. I am. Your life is currently in my hands for me to do as I wish. And believe me, I do not wish you well." Selina smiled cruelly behind her mask before using the whip tail connected to her armor to brutally p Falcon in the chick, drawing blood and then wrapping it around his neck, dragging him towards her. "Tell me, do you remember this woman here?" Selina asked with a slightly shaking voice as she showed Falcon a hologram image of a beautiful middle-aged woman through a small projector attached to her armor''s wrist. The woman looked a lot like Selina. Anyone who had seen them both would be able to notice the simrities between them and conclude that they were rted to each other. And they wouldn''t be wrong since the woman was in fact her own mother. However, unfortunately for Falcon, he could neither see Selina''s face nor could he recognize the woman in the image. "No, who is she? Is she the one who sent you to kill me? I will pay you double *Bam* *Bleugh*" Falcone couldn''t finish his words. A single punch from Selina''s fists had dislocated his jaw from its original position, forcing him to throw up blood from his mouth. "LOOK AGAIN. DO YOU NOT RECOGNIZE THIS WOMAN?" She yelled, unable to keep her emotions in check despite her rigorous training in doing the same. She had expected a lot of things from Carmine. She had expected him to be cold towards her mother, to not acknowledge her as a significant part of his life or even ridicule her but she had never expected him to not even remember her, to not remember the very woman he had used, impregnated, and then thrown away. It was the worst insult that he could ever show to her mother or her. "I-I raally d-ant knaw." Falcone somehow uttered amid choking sounds as he tried to set his jaw straight again but failed miserably due to the intense pain he suffered every time he tried it. He was confused at the reason for the girl''s anger, He was telling the truth. He really did not remember this woman. Was this someone he had offended or insulted in the past? Maybe she was someone who lost her life at his hands or perhaps was she a new rival who wanted to take his position. Selina was beyond furious but after a while of silence, almost all of her anger seemed to disappear as she just stared at him with cold eyes. "... You know, I always dreamt of this exact moment. All the things that I would say to you. All the things that I would do to you. Every time, I ran this situation through my head, I always got a different result. Sometimes, I would be angry, sometimes sad. When I was young, there were even times that I wanted to forgive you, foolishly thinking that perhaps it was all a misunderstanding, that perhaps you didn''t mean to do what you did, that you didn''t abandon us, that perhaps you deserved a second chance. But, now I realize, it was just the little girl in me dreaming... Now, I see the truth. You are nothing. You. don''t. matter. to. me. In fact, I have to thank you for this. You showed me the difference between love and hatred, or maybe should I say, you showed me the difference between love and indifference. *Sigh* I don''t even have the desire to kill you anymore but still, I once promised my mother that I would one day find you and kill you, so I''ll have to do it. For the sake of the promise I made to my mother, you will have to die... " Selina said as she manipted the tip of her tail using the neuro interface of the suit to close in on Falcon''s neck, ready to sh his throat with one swift move. *** <(BrucePOV)> "Despite your size, you aren''t that brave, are you Penguin? Clever yes, but brave? Definitely no." I spoke through the sound modifier inside my armor''s mask which made my voice sound a lot like Kevin Conroy''s deepest Batman voice. "Shit, you are a freak. I told you, I don''t know anything about Falcon, I am just a small-time nightclub owner. I don''t deal with the mafia or drugs or weapons and stuff." Penguin put on his best act, trying to make me believe his lies while tightly clutching his recently dislocated shoulder, courtesy of yours truly. But truthfully, he was a damn good actor. Because I would have honestly believed his lies somewhat if I wasn''t currently holding a folder filled with proof of all his illegal dealings with Falcon that I had found in his office just a few minutes ago. So instead of responding to his lies and wasting my words, I just continued looking into his eyes without even moving the slightest bit. "... Okay, okay fine. I don''t do anything illegal... normally. But Falcon forced me. He threatened me with his goons and guns. I had to let him use my nightclub as his warehouse and for all his illegal deals, otherwise, he would have killed me. I didn''t want him to sell his drugs here but I was powerless to stop him. He is the crime lord of the city, for god''s sake. Please, you have to believe me. I am innocent for the most part." Penguin pleaded. "I don''t believe you. Your heightened blood pressure, elevated heart rate, and the dtion pattern of your irises are telling me that you are lying. You are Falcon''s partner and did all this willingly, maybe quite happily at that too... But still, I am going to let the cops take you this time since you haven''t hurt anyone yet or participated in any gang war. But, remember Penguin, the next time I catch you, doing anything that will hurt innocent Gothamites, I will break your spine. And if you still don''t stop, I will take your puny little insignificant life." I warned in an ominous voice as the sound of police sirens outside the nightclub slowly rose. The cops would need a scapegoat after today to appease the public and I had a hunch that Falcon probably wouldn''t be able to fill that role. So, if one bird wasn''t avable, the other flightless one would have to do. Penguin at this time didn''t know it himself but he was soon going to be the biggest face of the Gotham criminal underworld, a face that the general public, the government, and the cops were all going to hate equally. He would get exactly what he wanted, he would be the most famous and well-known crime boss in the city and even the state but the only question was, would he be able to handle the fame? --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npagetoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom Chapter 91: The Fateful Encounter Between the Bat and the Cop Chapter 91: The Fateful Encounter Between the Bat and the Cop ---
"Revenge is just the path you took to escape your suffering" -Ichigo Kurosaki,(Bleach)
--- <(Omniscient POV)> "All units head to the Iceberg Lounge. I repeat all units head to the Iceberg Lounge." Gordon yelled into his car''s radio before putting it down, taking his gun out of the glove box, and loading it full of ammo. About a dozen GCPD officers had already reached the location at the same time as him. Of course, there were the rtively clean cops who were still loyal to him. Most others hadn''t even reacted to hismand much less abide his order. He initially wanted to wait for more backup since he didn''t want to endanger the lives of his loyal officers but he doubted a lot of people wereing especially in a ce like Iceberg Lounge where the crimelord Falcon was stated to be holding a party tonight. Getting out of his car with a determined face, he quickly adapted to the situation and exerted his authority by effectivelymanding his officers without even a shred of fear or hesitation on his face. "We don''t have enough manpower to circle the building, so focus only on the front. Even if some people escape through the back, we can still arrest at least some of the criminals and get evidence if we are quick enough. Also..., keep your guns loaded and ready. You might have to use it tonight." Commissioner James Gordon looked resolved, as his eyes skimmed over the few officers who seemed determined to do the job they were paid for, the few cops because of whom Gotham was still standing. "Don''t worry. We are with youmissioner, just give the word." Lieutenant Harvey Bullock nodded at Gordon, trying to show his support. After giving a nod back to his old partner, James finally gestured to enter the establishment. He had pulled quite a lot of strings and promised a lot of favors to get a warrant to officially search the premises of the Iceberg Lounge today. He wouldn''t let all that go to waste byzing around and second-guessing himself. After sharing a look, all the cops present there quickly made their way inside the establishment with their guns drawn. Truthfully, they had expected a lot of resistance from the locals but quite surprisingly, the resistance was quite minimal. No goons were shooting their machine guns orunching rockets at them, and no one was throwing grenades or using high-powered me throwers. It was almost too peaceful. Except for the guard at the door trying to aim a pistol at them, there was almost no visible opposition from the gang members who were supposed to be present here ording to the intel that Commissioner James Gordon received as an anonymous tip. "Was the woman speaking on the phone lying?... But she sounded so trustworthy and her words didn''t even have any contradictions or inconsistencies too." Gordon was getting more and more confused about the entire situation. He was even beginning to regret so quickly believing in the caller who called to tip him off about a huge deal that was going to happen here. Soon, all of the cops entered the main area of the nightclub as well where a lot of people were still enjoying their night without even caring about the illegal stuff happening near them. But even aftering so far, they still didn''t face any resistance. It was like nobody cared about cops entering the ce, not bystanders, not even the criminalsBut just as Gordon was getting worried about having been fooled by some random prankster, he and the rest of the cops finally noticed something strange. There were multiple unconscious men all over the nightclubs, their unresponsive bodies ced in such a way that anyone who didn''t have experience inbat would think that they had drunk themselves asleep. With a small gesture from Jim Gordon, Harvey immediately tested the man''s pulse. "He isn''t dead, just unconscious. Someone seems to have shattered his corbones... Oh and look at that, he has a loaded gun in his hands, looks like he was trying to use it before he was knocked unconscious." Harvey helpfully informed, trying to keep his voice low so as not to cause any panic among the people who still had no idea about what had gone down here. "This one lying unconscious on the stairs is the same, only he has a knife clutched in his hand. Also, his jaw is dislocated, like very badly dislocated." Another cop stated after examining a different unconscious guy who looked like he was silently sitting on the stairs, deeply thinking about something. "Jesus. What kind of man can do all this without even alerting a single person." Jim Gordon couldn''t help but ask aloud. "Not a man, maybe a monster," Harvey answered from beside him, his eyes emitting caution. "You know the word on the streets right, the monster in ck hunting criminals at night likemon street dogs. He destroyed half of Falcon''s empire in a single night... The Grim Knight." "I thought you called him the Dark Knightst time. And those are just rumors, spread by criminals. We are cops, we can''t pay heed to rumors. We have to do our jobs. Now, let''s go and check the next floor. Paul, Eddie, and Tom secure the unconscious men and only then start investigating and questioning the others. The rest of you,e with me. My gut tells me that we are going to find more than just some drugs up there." Jim Gordon said as he moved past the unconscious guys without even batting a single eye. He might look weaker due to his increasing age and smaller stature whenpared to most other younger officers who work out and keep themselves in shape but that didn''t change the fact that he was a veteran in this, a cop who had been working in Gotham for more than a decade. There were very few things in the city that could surprise him anymore. The next floor was much smaller than the ground floor. It was basically just one giant soundproof room that was supposed to be the office of the owner of the establishment, the newly rising gang leader, Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot, or as his enemies called him, Penguin. Outside the office, a few more knocked-out guys were lying on the floor. They of course ignored this and went straight into the office. "Mr. Cobblepot, we are from the GCPD. We need to search your office for possession of alleged drugs and illegal weapons. We have a warrant as well. We areing inside. We advise you to not resist, otherwise, we will also be forced to use appropriate force as well." James Gordon announced from outside the office as he opened the door. He was seriouslycking men and didn''t want the situation to develop into an all-out shootout which would only result in a loss of his loyal and capable officers. So, he decided that being as civil as possible was the best way to do this as long as his backup wasn''t here. But as the group pushed through the door into Penguin''s office, every single one of them was shocked out of their minds. The picture inside the room wasn''t quite as they had expected. They had thought that Penguin would either be ready with a gun in his hands along with hisckeys or he would be dead by now, killed at the hands of the caped crusader. Instead what they saw was the huge unconscious, yet breathing body of Penguin lying on the floor with fresh blood all over his clothes, a testament to how intense of a beating he had just received at the hands of the other figure who was calmly standing at the center of the room. A figure who was dressed in ck armor styled like a bat with his cape wrapped around himself. "The Punisher!" Harvey eximed in surprise with a hard gulp. "Hands above your head and get down on the ground." were the first words that came out of Jim''s mouth as he aimed his pistol straight at the masked vignte''s head. "Hello, detective. I have been wanting to meet you for quite a long time. No, I am not the Punisher. But yes..., I am Batman." Bruce said in a deep voice using his armor''s voice modtor. "You are responsible for scores of assault counts, private property damage, attempt to murder, and permanently disabling or crippling at least half a dozen people. Whatever you want to say, you can say in court or while being in custody." Jim doubled down, trying to arrest the masked individual in front of him. "I am the one who called you and tipped you off about what was going to go down here today. I was also the one who beat up those thugs as well as Penguin here but make no mistake, I have no animosity with the good citizens of Gotham... I want the same thing you do, purging the corruption right out of Gotham and making this a better ce for both myself and the citizens that live in it. And, for that, I want to work with you. I could have left long ago, I was only waiting here because I wanted to meet you. So, what do you say, Gordon?" "Wait, how can we believe you? You might just be a criminal no better than any other street rat, only saying that stuff to avoid being arrested." Gordon asked, slight hesitation visible on his face as all the other cops made sure to aim at the most vital organs in Bruce''s body in case this whole thing turned south. "Arrested? I see. So, you think I am afraid of you and your guns. That''s why you are so nervous... Fine, have it your way then. Hey, you wearing that pink Hello Kitty band on your left arm, shoot me in my face or chest... or wherever you think would kill me." Bruce suggested to the cop closest to him while staring him right in his eyes. In his mind, he was hoping that maybe seeing their hardest bullets not even leaving a scratch on his armor would finally make them understand just how much he was out of their pay grade. Maybe, then he would finally be able to talk to them without them pointing their guns at him all the time. --- (A/N: Onest chapter remaining for the Falcon arc to end.) Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npagetoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom Chapter 92: End of The Falcon’s Reign (1) Chapter 92: End of The Falcon¡¯s Reign (1) ---
"Your anger gives you great power. But if you let it, it will destroy you¡­ As it almost did me." - Henri Ducard, Batman Begins
--- <(Omniscient POV)> Jim Gordon normally didn''t like to trust criminals. As a cop working in freaking Gotham of all ces, he didn''t trust civilians or even other cops, much less, criminals or in this case a broody vignte dressed in a weirdly cool ck and red metal armor who liked to beat up criminals for a kick... But, something inside him told him that he should, that if he didn''t believe the guy, he would be making a big mistake that would cost both him, his force, and this city quite dearly. "You are Griffin Katz, right? You have a younger brother and a single mother at home, don''t you? Do me a favor officer and shoot me right in the head. The chest would do too since they are the most well-known weak points in the human body." Batman gestured at one of the officers behind Jim Gordon who was pointing the gun at him with slightly shaking hands. "Come on, what are you waiting for? Do it. At least, then we will be able to talk calmly without any of you thinking that you are any danger to me, even with all your guns." "Griffin, don''t." Jim tried to be the voice of reason. He himself wasn''t sure if the Dark Knight was telling the truth or not but he didn''t want to take a gamble. Shooting someone even though the victim asked to be shot was still very much a punishable offense even if the shooter was a cop and the victim was a criminal assaulting a caped crusader. "Do it... NOW." *Bang* The sound of a bullet pierced the tense atmosphere as the officer shot his gun, his finger still twitching from fear. "No, I didn''t want to. It was a mistake. I was just scared for a moment." The cop immediately tried to defend himself as he put his gun down in fear but contrary to what he was expecting, there was no dead body falling on the floor like a puppet with broken strings. No, the figure in front of him wasn''t even the slightest bit wounded. "Told you, you can''t hurt me. This armor can withstand a heavy military-grade missile that can take out half of this city. One single bullet would not even scratch it... So, now, that we have finally concluded that you guys can''t harm me, can we now finally move on to the more important subjects that we need to discuss? Like all the substantial and non-dismissible evidence I have that can prove that half the drugs, crimes, and illegal weapons in this city are currently being controlled by Carmine Falcon with Penguin and this little nightclub of his being an important part of Falcon''s operations." Batman stated as he waved a thick folder in front of the cops'' eyes. "And, what do you get by helping us for free? No wait, let me guess, you are removingpetition for whoever you work for, so that they can take Falcon''s empty throne for themselves once he goes to jail?" Gordon asked with a disgusted snort. "I don''t work for anyone. Someone might take up Falcon''s power once he goes to jail, but I will make sure that I send them to jail as well. And as for your question, I don''t work for anyone. However, I do indeed need something from you. I need your word that none of the cops wille after me while I do my work. I will purge Gotham of its filth and corruption and even assist GCPD when it needs my help but in return, you and all your officers will leave me alone to my devices, so that I can bring everyone who deserves it to justice." "You want us cops, the guardians of justice to let you a random person in armor and a mask roam the city freely and beat up criminals as much as you want while we do nothing and sit on our asses all day long, hoping that you will be able to do our job better than us." Truthfully Jim was more than tempted to ept the offer. For some reason, he was sure that this person was more capable than his entire police department. However, he was not able to put aside his pride and say it in front of so many of his officers. "In simple terms, yes. But, I can assure you that you won''t regret it and Gotham''s development as a city will be much faster that way. Now, do you want to make a deal or not? Do you want Gotham to improve or not?" Bruce asked while extending the folder in Gordon''s direction. "I will... think about it," Jim answered after a deep sigh as he took the folder from Bruce. As the Commissioner of GCPD and the cop holding the most power and superior position here, he could not agree to Bruce''s proposal so readily in front of the gaze of his other officers and thus had to feign disagreement. But in his mind, Jim thought that it was a very good deal to make in a city like Gotham since there was a chance, however small it be that the Dark Knight would actually be able to make Gotham a much better ce by achieving things that could not be done by staying within the boundaries of thew. That''s why Jim Gordon didn''t outright say ''no'' to his suggestion. The veteran cop needed to have a more thorough discussion with Batman before he could even think of agreeing to such an oundish proposal. "You can arrest this guy here as well. There is enough evidence in that folder to tie him to Falcon. I have even more evidence to make it apletely airtight case, but I''ll send it to you only after you agree to assist my goal." Bruceid down his conditions. "Plus, I think you will find about a hundred kilos of illegal narcotics they were nning to distribute in the city, stored in the basement along with enough weapons to start a rebellion. That should be useful as evidence as well." "Thank you. We have also secured all the other gang members you knocked out as well. But, may I ask where is Carmine Falcon? If he is the real mastermind of this entire operation, we need to arrest him to truly shut this entire thing down." Jim Gordon stated while signaling his subordinates to arrest the unconscious Penguin and then raid the basement of the nightclub. "Falcon, huh? Well, I know exactly where he is. But if you want him alive, we need to move now. My friend doesn''t really like Falcon that much, so there is a slight chance that she might try to kill him... or might have already killed him by now." *** "For the sake of the promise I made to my mother, you will have to die... " Selina said with venom in her voice as she positioned her ded tail in front of Falcon, ready to decapitate him with a single sh of her artificial cat tail. "Wait, Catwoman. Stop." The heavy voice of Batman suddenly stopped Catwoman in her tracks, making her look at the door behind her with furrowed brows. Bruce was looking at her with the policemissioner, James Gordon waiting behind him with his gun pointed at her, ready to shoot her or Falcon, at a single wrong move. "You know what he did to me, Batman. He killed my mother. So, why? Why would you want me to spare him?" Selina almost yelled in desperation. "Because you are better than this Catwoman. Killing him like this won''t solve anything. It won''t make your life any better than it is. It will just make you a criminal, and push you into a path that you won''t be able toe back from. He might have taken your mother''s life. But tell me the truth, would your mother ever want her only daughter to live the life of a criminal, chased by cops her entire life? Would your mother want her daughter to be a wanted murderer? Would she?" Bruce argued. "But what about him? Doesn''t he deserve to be brought to justice?" Selina still tried to plead her cause. "He will be brought to justice, but not like this. He will be given proper punishment in a court ofw, I will make sure of it. I promise you." Gordon too tried his best to calm Catwoman down. "If you kill a killer, the number of killers in the world remains the same." Bruce urged as he walked towards Selina and held her shoulder for support. "... I see. Fine, take him. He is yours *Smack*" Selina used her tail to p and knock out Falcon using her tail, before weakly walking away from the room. Her mind was already in chaos and regret for not being able to keep her mother''s promise. She didn''t want to be around Falcon anymore since she would probably not be able to stop herself from killing him if she had to look at his disgusting face for even a few more minutes. "You can arrest Falcon now. But, remember to keep him secure. A lot of important and powerful people in Gotham used to work with Falcon as his partners or allies, they wouldn''t like him talking in court and might try to silence him to save themselves. I am trusting YOU to keep him safe Commissioner, so that he can get his deserved punishment from the court like he should." Batman gave a small nod at Jim while handing him a small matte-ck card with a bat insignia embedded in the center. "I''ll contact you through that when it''s time for us to talk." "I will keep him away from everyone''s ws... Batman. GCPD will do its best to ensure that Carmine Falcon will be punished ordingly by thew." Jim Gordon respectfully nodded back at Batman before proceeding to check the pulse of the criminal godfather. "Thank god, he is alive. Anyway, before you go, do you think you can give me a statement of what was happening here before we... huh, where did he go?" Jim looked around the washroom frantically but couldn''t find a single trace of the Dark Knight anymore. He had only looked away for a moment but the Batman had disappeared like he was never there. "Goddamn animal-themed ninjas." He muttered to himself. --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npagetoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom Chapter 95: Solving a Freezing Problem Chapter 95: Solving a Freezing Problem ---
"It''s what you do right now that makes a difference." - Jeff Struecker,(ck Hawk Down)
--- <{Wayne Pharmab, Gotham}> <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "So you were telling the truth when you said that you can cure my wife of her condition?" Victor Fries muttered while staring at me with uncertain eyes. It looked like he was struggling to believe that he was hearing such good news. "I wouldn''t have called you here if I weren''t going to tell you the truth, would I? In fact, if you had just tried to contact me from the very start, your wife would have been cured by now. Instead, you tried to steal money and resources from mypany which by the way, was a very stupid move, and even med me when you got fired by your direct supervisor. Do you even realize how stupid that sounds? Someone''s wife being sick doesn''t turn them into an imbecile, you know? *Sigh* Anyway, as I was saying, medical technology has improved a lot more than what people generally think. Plus, what your wife has isn''t something something scarce. A lot of people too suffer from it. MacGregor''s Syndrome is just an illness caused by the gic degradation of a particr gene, which mostly happens due to heavy drug usage. The illness itself isn''t something tooplicated but instead, what makes it so dangerous and hard to cure is the gene which gets affected." I answered as I showed him an image of his wife''s deteriorating cells that were causing the symptoms. "Wait, it affects a particr gene, not the entire cell? But, how did I not figure this out? I did so much research on this disease. How the hell did I miss it?" Confusion etched on Victor''s face while he slowly caressed his wife''s hand while trying his best to hide his embarrassment about my earlier words. "Because the gene that is being affected is not some normal human gene that can easily be detected. It''s a very unique type of gene that can only be found in a tiny portion of the human poption. I call it the meta gene. It is a sort of natural mutation in humans that if activated under particr circumstances can cause or give their hosts strange abilities like increased strength, speed, or healing. They can even give powers that can appear borderline impossible. However, this also means that the meta gene when recessive is not only extremely difficult to detect in the human anatomy but also almost impossible to map out or urately figure out how it truly functions, thus leading to even the biggest pharma and biopanies failing to find a way to stop its deterioration in case it is affected by a disease like MacGregor''s Syndrome." I exined. Truthfully, the syndrome was the only illness I had found till now that could directly affect the meta gene. At first, I even thought that it could be a good bio-weapon against metahumans but unfortunately for me and fortunately for all metahumans, the condition can''t target activated meta genes. "Meta gene? It almost sounds unbelievable... But still, if all that is true, why do you think that you can cure my wife of this disease even though interacting with this so-called meta gene is so difficult?" "I said it''s difficult for normal humans to find a cure, but not for me, a genius billionaire phnthropist. You see, money can buy a lot of things. Extremely talented scientists and abundant resources to research a rare andplex disease like this are just some of them. Also, the cure for this illness isn''t some medicine with miraculous healing properties but instead a unique concept that I derived from nanotechnology." I informed him as I took out a vial from my pocket with light-blue colored serum inside it. "Say hi to xenobots, the next generation of medical technology specialized for medical and gic treatments." "This... this can cure my wife?" He asked unsure as he looked at the serum. "Oh yeah, a hundred percent. These are biological artificially created cells that can not only kill different bacteria or viruses but also repair cellr or gic damage. Theoretically, it can do almost anything that it is programmed to do, and once itpletes its function, it just dies and bes dead cells which automatically get removed from the body. The process is of coursepletely safe." I confidently exined as I loaded up the serum in a small injector. Truthfully the concept of xenobots had already been invented in my previous life but of course, due to constraints of technology, it was not even one-third as effective as the ones I have developed now. Those were only able to clean the environment by collecting microstics from water or delivering drugs more precisely into various parts of the human body. However, the version of the biotechnology that I have developed is highly based on the technology of the Extremis virus from Marvel and can function exactly like human body cells, only a lot LOT better. It can be programmed to cure almost any disease or illness known to mankind and even fix many gic or hereditary conditions as well. The best thing however is that it is a ck-boxed type of technology since I used a veryplex bio-lock on the cells while initially developing them meaning that they can''t be replicated or copied by anyone who doesn''t know the exact way of developing them. With my technology, they can be very cheap when developed in bulk with them almost being the same price as any other normal antibiotics. Also, I can just program the cells to target and treat one single disease or illness at a time, thus limiting its usefulness and making more money by selling them separately for different diseases while also staying off the radar of the government as well as other big pharmapanies. After all, I don''t want to face an anti-trustwsuit so soon... I haven''t evenpleted collecting dirt on all the big politicians in Washington yet. "I see... Then, Mr. Wayne, I beg you, please save my wife. I will do anything to pay you back for it. I will be your ve for the rest of my life. Just, please help me." Victor went down on all four of his limbs as he begged me with his head down. His voice was breaking due to the intense emotions and desperation it carried with tears streaming down his face. I was hisst hope. And, truthfully it was both heartbreaking and heartwarming to see the extent to which a man could go to save the love of his life while not expecting anything in return. "Hey, get up. I would have saved your wife even if you did not do anything for me. It''s my job to help the world with my products and services. Wayne Enterprises exists to change the world for the better and to make everyone''s lives a bit easier... And, if you truly want to pay me back, then just love and take care of your wife like a loving husband. Also,e back to work for mypany. It needs... no, I need people like you to help save the world along with millions of people just like your wife." I said as I gently urged him to get up before moving on to inject his wife with the serum. The xenobots didn''t heal his wife in a few seconds like some magic potion inics or manga but certain changes were visible as the screens of the different monitoring equipment connected to her body showed her condition slowly bing better. "She is... recovering. This is... *Sob* *Sob* Thank you. You are an angel Mr. Wayne. No, you are a god." He cried as he tried to give me a hug which I skillfully dodged. "Not yet, but maybe one day. And remember what I said. I need people like you on my team and your expertise in freezing and cryotechnology. I can use a mind like yours in my quest to change the world." I smiled as I encouragingly patted his arm. "She willpletely recover within a day or two. Don''t worry, soon enough your wife will be as healthy as a horse. You can take her back home then. Until then, she has to remain in theb for observation. Also, try not to tell anyone that I used the xenobots on her. You know how the FDA gets about treating people with experimental cures without taking proper permissions from them first." "Don''t worry sir. I will never betray you even if it costs me my life." Victor said with a serious face as he looked at me with newfound determination. "I will always be loyal to you, no matter what. I swear it in the name of my wife." "You watch too much period drama, Victor. Just remember my words and we will be good. Anyway, I will be taking my leave now. You should get a haircut and a shave, I don''t think, your wife will enjoy seeing you like... this." I said as I gave him a weird look. Unkempt was the fanciest word that can be used to describe him right now. From messy hair to big dirty nails, a bushy and thick beard, and eyebags as thick as fingers under his eyes, he looked like a caveman who hadn''t slept for days in fear of some wild animal stalking him. His wife might even have a heart attack and go back to aa if she saw him like that. "Yeah, you are right... Also, sir... can I ask you one more thing? I know you have already done a lot for me, more than I deserve since I wasn''t exactly the best employee in yourpany... but still, I promised someone that I would try to help him out if I ever managed to find out a way to cure my wife. And I think you can provide that help. In fact, I think that you can even profit from it quite a lot by helping him out." The man spoke in an unsure voice. "Yeah, sure. Speak out, what is it? I will try my best to help you out as much as I can." I said as I looked at him with a questioning look on my face. Maybe he knows some other people who are suffering from an untreatable disease as well. "Well, when I was... fired from yourpany, I didn''t have enough money to buy the cutting-edge equipment that I needed to build the machines to continue my research but there was this man from Metropolis who selflessly helped me out. Even though a rare genius, he and his wife are just small-time toymakers who want to make toys to make children all over the world happy. But some evilpanies want to use the advanced technology he uses in his toys to build weapons instead and he doesn''t want it. They have been harassing the couple for the past few days even giving them death threats. I was powerless to help them but maybe, you can help them out. I can vouch for him. He is truly a good man and all he wants is to make toys for the world." Victor pleaded. "Fine, give me his contact details and tell him to expect my people to contact him. I''ll see what I can do. I was actually thinking of opening a new toy and gamespany besides my video games division, so maybe there is a chance that I will even hire him as the lead toy researcher if he is good enough. What is his name, by the way?" I inquired curiously. "I think you will like him a lot if you get to know him. He is really a kind and honest man, almost a child. He goes by the name Winslow Schott. But he likes to call himself the Toymaker because of his love and absolute dedication to making toys." --- (A/N: Yo guys, I am back. Sorry for disappearing all of a sudden but my aunt was getting married and all our rtives and extended family and friends were here in our home which meant I barely had any time to get some shut-eye, much less write a chapter. I originally wanted to inform you all that I would be unable to write for a week because of the wedding but unfortunately, itpletely slipped my mind amid the celebrations??. It is only today that I remembered I had forgotten to inform you guys about it??... Anyway, it took a lot more time than I originally expected since we were busy with post-wedding stuff even after the main event and I had thought I should finish everything up, rather thane back and write a half-assed chapter. But don''t worry, I am finally here now and no, I ain''t ever abandoning this book.) Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npagetoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom Chapter 98: Hope: the Wayne Legacy Chapter 98: Hope: the Wayne Legacy ---
"Great men are not born great, they grow great." - Mario Puzo,(The Godfather)
--- <{In front of the Martha Wayne Memorial Hospital, Gotham}> <(OmniscientPOV)> In the open air in front of the Martha Wayne Memorial Hospital of Gotham, where hundreds of Gothamites including normal citizens of Gotham and the press from various Gotham News agencies had formed a buzzing crowd, Bruce Wayne, the ever-enigmatic billionaire, calmly exited the biggest hospital of the city and walked up to the podium, his gaze sweeping across the sea of faces. The entire city block buzzed with anticipation and curiosity as everyone wondered about the ''big news'' that the prince of Gotham, Bruce Wayne was himself supposed to give today. "Ladies and gentlemen," Bruce''s resonating voicemanded attention. "Sorry for making you wait so long and thank you all for joining me today. We gather here today, not merely to celebrate World Heath Day, but to confront a heavily sour truth that has been haunting our city for far too long." He had already gotten everyone''s attention as every reporter in the area pointed their cameras directly at him, determined not to miss even a single second of his speech and the juicy news of the sour truth he was going to reveal. Bruce continued, "My parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne had envisioned a Gotham where every child had a chance¡ªa future. They wanted a Gotham without any misled youth. That was why they came up with the Gotham Renewal Fund which was supposed to be a beacon of hope for the downtrodden and needy. It was supposed to make the lives of every orphan in the city much easier... but unfortunately, that dream project of theirs was a massive failure. The very funds meant to uplift the needy were piged by those corrupted with power. They emptied the coffers of the Fund by various illegal means and instead of using it for doing good, they used it to spread their terror and crime all over the city. They used it for their own selfish gains, destroying and rotting the city from the inside for all these years." Bruce paused as memories of his parents'' tragic end shed before his eyes, memories that were almost foreign to him and yet at the same time belonged to him now. "Politicians and criminals alike have feasted on this fund''s resources, leaving our orphanages destitute. Children suffer while greed flourishes and men like Falcon use this greed to rule from the shadows, details of which were published online a few days, courtesy of an anonymous benefactor of this city who calls himself the Dark Knight." The crowd leaned in, their curiosity piqued at the mention of the former kingpin of Gotham City and the new urban legend that everyone was quicklying to believe in. Everyone held their breath as Bruce''s jaw tightened with resolution. "But, that ends today. Tonight, I dere a new era. I have had a talk with the current mayor of Gotham and some responsible and still honest politicians and it has been decided that the Gotham Renewal Fund will no longer be continued..." His words echoed off the stunned silence among the people. "From my own fortune, I am going to establish the Wayne Hope Foundation. This fund unlike the older one will be transparent, ountable, and unwavering in its mission which is to ensure that every orphanage in Gotham thrives and no young citizen has to suffer. It will operate as a charity and ept donations as well. This fund will also have its own board to manage it, with me as its head chairman. At the end of each quarter, it will even publish each and every expenditure it makes or every penny it earns from donations on its own website to maximize transparency." He revealed. Truthfully, Alfred had already taken control of most orphanages in Gotham City a few years ago under Bruce''s orders, so the young billionaire was taking care of most of the city''s orphanages anyway. This fund was only meant to make it more official with massive positive PR for him. Apuse erupted among everyone present and emitted a wave of approval. Bruce''s eyes met Alfred''s¡ªhis loyal butler and confidant who was standing at the very front of the crowd. Alfred''s calm and yet optimistic nod conveyed pride and relief that Bruce was doing the right thing. But the young Wayne still wasn''t done. "And now, a revtion that transcends wealth and politics." He leaned closer to the microphone. "Researchers all over the world have been working day and night for years to cure some of the most harmful and incurable diseases that humanity suffers from. Some have seeded in curing some of those ailments but a lot of them still don''t have any cure. But atst, scientists at Wayne Industries have finally achieved the impossible." Bruce made sure to let people know that it was his employees at Wayne Enterprises who were responsible for the invention as well as the R&D in thepany. He preferred people underestimating him, and making mistakes instead of peoplepletely understanding his capabilities and being ready for him. He knew he would have a much easier time with people nning against his back if people thought of Bruce Wayne as an intelligent guy who was above average but not too much of a gifted genius or something. Truthfully he wanted to disy the persona of a sessful businessman whosepany excelled in innovation and yet nobody knew if it was because of the person or thepany. He wanted critics to argue and debate if he was truly intelligent or just in lucky, leaving his foes no idea about the capabilities of their enemy. The entire zone was hushed with silence. "I present to you¡ªthe Xenobots." Bruce gestured toward a big 53-inch makeshift screen that had been nted there, revealing microscopic cellr entities pulsating with life. The crowd gasped not knowing why they were gasping or what they were even looking at. "These tiny marvels," Bruce exined, "are not mere machines. They''re living programmable organisms. And their purpose? To heal." He projected dozens of images on the screen giving a rough idea of how xenobots work as well as their actual purpose, like Xenobots dismantling cancer cells, repairing damaged tissue, and annihting viruses. "Terminal diseases like Mcgregor''s syndrome, Aids, and over a hundred types of cancer will no longer be insurmountable. These xenobots once programmed can both attack viruses, bacteria, and bad cells as well as administer medicine in obscure regions of your body that are hard to reach and heal them faster. They will revolutionize medicine as we know it. This treatment will very soon be avable to the public at very affordable costs, even with options for easy long-term payment methods. And for those who cannot afford this treatment despite those advantages, don''t lose hope. I am establishing another half-a-billion dor charitable annual health fund where this treatment will be given to the people who are in real need of it for free or extremely discounted rates." Reporters scribbled furiously on their notepads while cameras zoomed in on Bruce to get a clearer picture of him holding a vial of xenobots serum. The area crackled with excitement as Bruce showed a huge victorious smile to everyone there. "Imagine a world where suffering yields to hope. Where children in our orphanages receive not just food and shelter, but a chance at life... That will be Gotham," he dered, "we stand at the precipice of change. Together, we''ll reim our city from the darkness and Wayne Enterprises will make sure that we are right there beside you, to support you every step of the way." There were cheers from houses all around the city who were watching the entire thing life from their homes as people pped in admiration for the impossible feat that Wayne Enterprises and its owner had achieved. The streets, once gued by fear, now buzzed with anticipation as hope returned to the people of Gotham. Something had changed today. Nobody knew exactly what but a lot of people could feel it in their bones. They knew better days wereing. All the while everyone was cheering and pping in the excitement of no longer having to die prematurely at the hands of diseases like cancer, McGregor''s, and aids, Bruce Wayne, the billionaire yboy phnthropist, quietly slipped into the shadows and left with his butler in his Rolls Royace without much fanfare. He felt much better than he thought he would. Initially, he had only dered the news about the xenobots after he revealed his parents'' failed projects because he thought that the miraculous medical project would quickly grab everyone''s attention faster than the former news and would be the main topic of discussion in the news outlets and public, thus making sure that not a lot of people tries to look deeper into the history of his parents. This would minimize the amount of filth that theizens and news agencies could throw at his parents, thus not dirtying their image much at all. And looking at the faces of all those people, he even knew that he was more or less sessful but those smiles and cheers gave him a strange sense of satisfaction and pleasure as well. He felt a little warmer in his heart for some reason. "Your parents would have been really proud of you if they were alive today, young master. You made the right choice today." Alfred encouragingly patted my shoulder in the car on our way home. "Hmm? But, I thought you were against that." "Me not liking something doesn''t change the fact that it''s a wise decision, Young Master Bruce." Alfred gave me a kind smile with a nostalgic look on his face at which I could only smile back. *Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang* Suddenly, rapid bullet shots were fired from a dozen cars and motorbikes which surrounded us as soon as our car entered a dark tunnel in the city with almost no other car nearby except our own. The gunshots weren''t able to even scratch our car which waspletely bullet and missileproof but a couple of well-ced high-caliber bullets were all it took to take out the wheels, forcing our car toe to a halt despite the driver trying his best to steer the car away from danger. "Young master..., I think they are gun-slinging modern ninjas," Alfred eximed after a few moments as he looked at the scene outside our car through the bulletproof windows, his voice sounding like he was doubting his own words. --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npagetoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom Chapter 104: The Godmother Chapter 104: The Godmother ---
"The wish of wanting everyone to be happy is merely a fairy tale!" -Archer,(Fate/stay Night)
--- <{Bat Cave, under Wayne Estate}> <(Bruce WaynePOV)> "You think Gordon believed your words when you told him about your guards acting as snipers and killing all those criminals to protect you in ast-ditch effort?" Alfred curiously asked while meticulously dusting the Batputer in my bat cave. "I believe, he did. I mean he didn''t exactly have any real reason not to. After all, I didn''t benefit from what happened in the mall in any way at all. In fact, if not for my news channels, websites, and newspapers heavily circting the news of how the newly hired Wayne Security force might have saved everyone''s lives in the mall by ''making the hard decision'', I might have had to face heavy public criticism." I nervouslyughed as I remembered how heavily and seriously Vicki had been driving that particr media campaign. She was like the female version of J. Jonah Jameson, only more aggressive and a LOT sexier. "Yes, Ms. Vale really has exceeded all expectations. I heard that she even won this year''s Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting because of how she fearlessly covered the entire news on Falcone and his terror in Gotham along with how his reign ended after a certain masked ''antihero'' came into the scene to do for the people what the government and its genuine heroes couldn''t." Alfred said while giving me a small knowing smile. "Seems like she genuinely admires this hero of hers." "Antihero... A hero is someone who can be the symbol of hope and love for the masses. An antihero on the other hand does whatever he wants without caring about consequences. Being a hero is probably a lot harder than being an antihero. And neither me nor the Dark Knight are heroes Alfred... Anyway, why are you cleaning the cave yourself? I told you that M-O can do it, right? That''s literally why it was made." I eximed while pointing toward the small cleaning robot obsessed with sanitizing that was plugged into its charging station in a corner beside the Wall-E model I had once designed. Both of them of course were inspired by the Pixar film of the same name. "I haven''t yet sumbed to old age, young master, I remain quite capable of physicalbor, especially after being bolstered by that serum of yours." Alfred lightly chuckled as he stopped dusting servers of the Batputer and moved on to clean the sofa. "And as for why I like to clean the cave myself sometimes. Your automated cleaning robots are indeed efficient no doubt. However, there are asions when the subtlest traces of grime and dirt find refuge in the most inconspicuous of corners, necessitating a more hands-on approach. It is then that one must be willing to delve into the depths and get down and dirty to remove that dirt... just like an antihero." Alfred imparted his wisdom with a self-satisfied grin. "So, an anti-hero is as much as important as any hero out there because sometimes the world needs people who can go to any lengths to do what is needed, not what is wanted... However, don''t even think for one minute that I am advising you to continue your antihero work, Master Bruce. I''ll be much more rxed if you just quit all this and do what all young billionaires do with too much money in their hands. I think at this stage, I can even ept a few teenage pregnancies than you going after another drug cartel." Alfred said with a bitter smile. "Unfortunately for you Alfred. I always make sure to have a n B, C, and D. So, no teenage pregnancies in this house... Well, at least not any that I don''t myself want." I joked with a straight face. "That is not a funny joke, young master. Anyway, is that what you have been working on for thest few days?" Alfred asked pointing at a half-finished car that looked more like a tank than an actual car. "It looks like a... war machine. Are you sure that you want to drive that on the streets of Gotham? Imagine if someone managed to steal that or perhaps carjack you?" "... You are underestimating me too much. Plus, that is just one of the things I have been working on. In fact, I have been making an entire line of cars just for me, correction, an entire line of bat-themed cars for me, correction, an entire line of bat-themed cars, nes, choppers, bikes, and submarines for me. Actually, Alfred, I have been meaning to ask you, what do you think about a Power Rangers-style giant mech made up of bat-themed vehicles? Do you think it would be over the top?" I asked as I gestured to the various types of partially made vehicles lying beneath the tform where we were standing. "I don''t know a lot about movies and shows, but is that a Transformers?" The amused butler asked not even bothering to answer my question. "Hmm? Oh yeah, I started constructing that about a month ago, but I couldn''t finish it. Turns out I stillck a few things toplete the model... Plus, I could not decide if I wanted a car-type or a ne-type Transformers." I hummed like it was aplicated question that I still hadn''t figured out. "Your family would have been proud of how much of a genius you are, young master..." He uttered out of nowhere, looking like he was reminiscing about the past. "Yeah, I know. But still, thanks for saying that, Alfred... Also, I still have a family you know. And you are part of it." I answered back with a confident smile. "Thank you, Master Bruce. It has been my pleasure to serve you and your family." Alfred nodded with a happy smile. "So, what''s next? Are you going after another cartel?" Alfred finally asked after taking a deep breath to gain his emotions back in control. "No, not really. I don''t think the drug cartels and gangs would try anything too big for the foreseeable future. Most have been shaken after the Falcone incident and the shootout at the mall. I think they will first fight among themselves to grow quickly rather than take over more of the city or increase their illegal dealings and riskw enforcement stepping in. Honestly, I have been hoping that ck Mask and his ''faceless'' gang can dominate most of the Gotham criminal underworld since that would make my future ns much easier." I revealed. And that would probably be what would happen too since ck Mask had stopped any expansion n, he had after the mall incident and had instead been focusing on making his criminal family stronger by integrating all the other smaller gangs in Gotham into his own. As for how he was free? Well, he was able to escape police confinement the very same day he was arrested. Turns out that the vehicle that was carrying him and his gang to the GCPD headquarters never made it to its destination. It ''mysteriously'' crashed on its route resulting in the entire gang being able to escape. "Well, it is good to hear that you won''t be putting yourself in danger..." He sighed with relief. "Yeah, instead, I would be hunting all the psycho criminals, rapists and murderers in the city." I finished with a big grin. "..." Alfred. "What did I even expect?" Alfred seemed to dete like a balloon. With the fall in organized criminal and gang activity in the city, independent criminal activity has been recently spiking. Crazy freaks who had beenying low due to the fear of criminal families have been slowlying out of hiding. And these weren''t just normal criminals too. They were the worst of the worst. From straight-up serial killers to thieves who liked to burn people while stealing their money, they were the most tainted filth of this corrupted society who needed to be stopped before they increased in numbers and power thinking that they could do whatever they wanted in this city. They needed to be made examples of. I personally have been spending a lot to develop this city so that I can call it a decent hometown one day, so that I don''t have to watch people getting murdered and mugged in every dark alley I pass by, and no motherfucking mentally imbnced piece of shit is going to ruin that for me. That was what, I wanted to make Alfred understand but unfortunately, our conversation was abruptly interrupted. "Hey Alfred, there is a letter for you from London." Selina hopped towards us in an excited sprint with a sealed letter in her hands. There was an unusual smile on her face as she passed the letter to the butler while sending a wink in my direction. "A letter for me? Must be one of my old friends from Ennd." He smiled as he calmly took the letter from her hands and began to read it. But as he read more and more of the letter, his face slowly changed from a startled to a nostalgic expression and to again a surprised expression. I even thought that there was even a hint of a blush in there somewhere. "What happened? Did the queen of Ennd write to you or something?" Selina joked, trying to tease him. "Huh? No, I never gave her my... wait, why would the Queen write to someone like me?" The butler chortled with a voice that sounded a little nervous to me for some reason. "No, it''s your Godmother Bruce. She ising back from London, and it seems like she wants to meet you." "Wait, I have a Godmother?" --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npagetoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom Chapter 107: A Brush with Madness Chapter 107: A Brush with Madness ---
"The thing called Justice changes its shape... depending on where you stand." - Kuzan Aokiji,(One Piece)
--- <(Omniscient POV)> ''Strange. Why am I feeling like someone has been following me for some time?'' The young female psychologist thought to herself with a frown as she turned her head around to see if someone was following her through the empty streets. But much to her relief, there was no one there behind her with the only thing that was moving on the streets being shadows. The roads were mostly empty with no one visible as far as her eyes could see. She had almost reached her apartment building which was in the quieter part of Gotham, and she knew that cars were a rarity in her area at this time of night. So, she was actually rather d to see that the streets behind her were empty than be scared or suspicious. "Perhaps I am just overthinking things. After all, Gotham is not as bad as so many people on the news make it out to be." The woman lightly chuckled at the stupid thoughts that she previously had as she stopped in front of a small, shabby building. She had finally reached her destination safely. But even though the residential building itself looked old and worn down, most of its residents on the other hand actually preferred it over the other buildings in the area, primarily because of the new electronic pin-based digital lock and fingerprint system that was installed recently to secure the entrance from break-ins. In a city like Gotham, security was given much more importance whenpared to luxury and convenience, and the fact that this building was one of the few affordable buildings that used digital locking systems and had CCTV coverage, as well as all the required permissions, and legal documents, was more than enough for someone like her to choose this building despite its old appearance. The young woman didn''t continue to dwell on her thoughts and approached the door before typing in the six-digit pin that she remembered but strangely, the entrance refused to budge. "Wait... they were supposed to change the pin today. I did receive the letter about the change. Umm, what was it again...? Oh yeah, I remembered now." She snapped her fingers in realization after a few seconds of deep thinking. Unfortunately for the young shrink, however, her hands were never able to reach the digital padlock to re-enter the pin. Because, before she could type in her PIN code, a pair of hands suddenly cupped her mouth from behind and locked in her hands. Then she was quickly dragged away towards a dark alley. It all happened so quickly that she wasn''t even able to process everything in her mind, much less respond and resist. When she did start to give her all to resist the strength of the figure holding her, it was already toote. They were already in a dark secluded alley, away from the sight of normal people who could be walking by at this time, people who could have rescued her. "Shhh baby doll. Don''t resist, I am here to help you. I noticed how bored you have been with your life recently. You too have realized that this life of ours is meaningless, haven''t you? That we are just robots sleepwalking from one distraction to another? Don''t worry, I too was simr to you, a ve of the unseen forces... But I have broken away from its control. I am free now, and I will free you as well. I will liberate you from this pointless existence and make a true human out of your zombie-like reality. Trust me, miss, from today onwards, you will be free in every sense of the word... Oh, and love your shoes by the way." The figure behind her spoke in an unhinged yet respectful manner as the coldness of a thin metal de touched the center of her throat. She didn''t have any idea of who this person was, but one thing was clear for her. She had already understood from her knowledge as a criminal psychologist that the kind of person who was currently holding her at knife point wasn''t some sort of criminal who wasmitting a crime out of need or necessity. No, she quite unfortunately wasn''t getting robbed. This was a person who seemed to enjoy doing what he did. It was clear from his voice that he was enjoying the thrill of holding her life under his thumb, he was even enjoying the very thought of killing her whenever he wanted. This was not an ordinary mugger or thief. He was a serial killer through and through and he was the worst kind too. He was a delusional serial killer who believed every word that hade out of his mouth till now, a maniac who truly believed that he would be helping her free herself by killing her. She knew that even if she could speak right now, there wouldn''t be any hope of changing his thought process or convincing him to let her go. He was determined to kill her, and he would do it no matter what. Unless she could somehow overpower him and escape, this was probably not going to end well for her. "Now, let''s get you into a good position ma''am. I want you to be as beautiful and lively as possible after I free you, so I need you to get into a good pose. By the way, which side of your face is your photo face? I normally prefer the left side, but I think your right can be just as beautiful too... Maybe, if you lose those sses, we can truly bring out that inner beauty of yours." The male behind him again said without any hint of a joke before turning her around to make her face towards him. After being allowed to turn around, the woman was finally able to see the appearance of the person who was trying to kill her. The man looked like a middle-aged bald guy, wearing a pair of work boots, tight jeans, a white tank top, suspenders, and a leather jacket with an open zip. She could also see countless thin scars on the visible parts of his chest that were carefully made with some sort of small de. They were most probably the ''Trophy''s'' that he liked to give himself every time he sessfully killed a target. Every serial killer liked to remember his victims in some sort of unique way, perhaps making scars on himself was his preferred choice of doing exactly that. "Ah, I was right. Such a beautiful and young face. Just using one side of your face would be a waste. Wait, maybe..." The killer looked like he was going through a light bulb moment. "How would you like to be suspended from the wall in a ballet dance position? It would be beautiful, my best work yet." He thoughtfully said, looking like some kind of artist who was mapping out his canvas. "I''ll call it the dance of freedom... Just make sure not to move around too much. If I mistakenly cut too many wrong veins or arteries, it can make a mess and ruin the final product." He warned with a huge grin on his face as he pressed her knife harder onto the young woman''s throat. "Mmmmm Mmm MMMMM Mm" The woman tried to speak to somehow convince her captor to release her, even though she knew that pleading and begging from victims only encouraged bloodthirsty people like him to further continue their work but as a woman who was currently staring straight at death''s face, she didn''t really have an option here. She couldn''t help herself but do exactly everything any normal woman would do in her ce to somehow have a chance to live through today. No one truly ever wanted to die and she was the same. "Stop moving around, woman. I am working here. Oh yeah, that''s the sweet spot, the de would cut perfectly through there. Now, now, stop squirming. God, I hate it when all the women suddenly start thinking to themselves that they can beat a man who has abs as thick as the woman''s entire body. This ain''t Hollywooddy. You aren''t kicking ass of a man five times your weight." He mocked as he tightened his hold on her face with his left hand and got ready to deliver the killing blow with his right. The young woman quickly closed her eyes in absolute dread and fear for her life while she hopelessly waited for everything to be over. She had dozens of regrets in her mind, regret of never finding love, never having a family of her own, never having her first kiss, never going to the new WayneLand theme park, never being able topletely cure the mental health of a criminal, and most of all, nevering across a mind that she could truly call utterly captivating. She couldn''t achieve anything that she had wanted to achieve. But as she waited for her demise burdened by a torrent of regrets in her mind with two thin streams of tears tracing delicate paths down her cheeks, an unexpected sensation enveloped her¡ªnothingness. The end she was waiting for never came. Instead, she heard something else, something terrifying... almost demonic. It was the voice of another person, someone who would change her life through this encounter, someone who would show her just how deep a rabbit hole could go. --- Don''t forget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npagetoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom Chapter 108: Ending Madness Chapter 108: Ending Madness ---
"To capture a criminal, they have to be crushedpletely and thoroughly. They must fear me and realize there is no second chance." - Jail Murdoch,(Plunderer)
--- <(Omniscient POV)> Just as the man was going to plunge his de into the young girl''s neck, something weird happened. There was a sharp whistling sound in the air like a de cutting through the wind. However, the seemingly mentally imbnced man was enjoying the moment too much to care about that sound and didn''t slow down at all. But that turned out to be one of the biggest mistakes in his life because the very next moment, all the fingers of his right hand, which was holding the sharp de were missing, cleanly cut out from his hand by something extremely fast and sharp. "Huh, what?" The man was at first confused about what had just happened. He didn''t understand why the girl who was supposed to die by a single sh of his de was still alive, while he was the one who was feeling like he wasn''t going to make it. But he didn''t have time to further ponder the reason for this because the pain of losing his fingers suddenly hit him like a freaking freight train. "AAAAAHHHHHH! FUCK! AHHHH. My HAND, MY GODDAMN FINGERS. Fuck. Fuck. FUUUUUUCK." The man continued yelling while looking around in search of his missing digits as moisture slowly gathered in his eyes due to the immense pain he was currently feeling. "How the hell did my fingers get cut off so fast?" He somehow groaned aloud in pain after trying to forcefully calm himself down a little, but he understood the reason for this the very next moment when he noticed his freshly cut-off finders which were still leaking red blood lying on the ground along with a bat-shaped de sticking out from the concrete beside them. "The Dark Knight!" He gasped in surprise as he recognized the cursed symbol that most criminals of Gotham had started to dread after what happened to hisst boss, the Penguin as well as the biggest crime lord of Gotham, Carmine Falcone. "W-where are you? Show yourself, you coward." The man yelled as he quickly closed his ''wound'' with a scarf that he had in his pocket after which he took out two handguns that he had hidden in his jacket. However internally, Zsasz was still hesitating. He was no stranger to danger, but the Bat was different. The rumored vignte demon of Gotham was not someone any criminal could just go ahead and antagonize without expecting any sort of punishment. "Victor Zsasz," A deep voice was suddenly heard speaking with a low growl, "It is time for you to finally face the retributions for the crimes you have done till now." It informed as the voice seemed toe closer and closer. Instantly, a ck-d figure swiftly dropped from the rooftop,nding silently behind Zsasz like a trained ninja. And, unfortunately for Victor, it really was Batman, the Dark Knight of Gotham. His cape billowed, as his helmet concealed his features, leaving only the unnatural monstrous appearance of his armor''s face te visible for the criminal to see. However, instead of being afraid, Victor''s lips twisted into a manic twisted grin. "Ah, the Bat. You are just as terrifying as advertised, just as good. But you won''t stop me. You see, I am the chosen one, this is my fate just like dying and bing free is that girl''s. She''s already marked. Now, it''s my responsibility to relieve her of the terrible boredom that she calls her life and as a result, free her of her mortal binds." Even after listening to his words, Batman, however, didn''t flinch. "You won''t hurt anyone else anymore Victor Zsasz," Batman''s voice was cold, unyielding. "At least, not on my watch," He uttered as he stepped forward, his presencemanding with each of his words seeming more like an order than a request. Zsasz didn''t waste more time and lunged forward in an attempt to take on the vignte in a surprise attack, desperation fueling his aggression. But Batman was faster. He dodged Victor''s wild swings, even though each blow thrown by Zsasz was calcted and efficient. He however didn''t even try to stop Victor at all and let the psycho''s left fist hit him on his armor with full strength which only served to break the unfortunate psycho''s hand as he crumpled to the ground in pain. "Gaah, that''s so hard. What the hell are you fucking wearing, reinforced steel?" Batman ignoring his remark, took this opportunity and began to rain multiple hits on Zsasz''s body, to hurt the guy as much as possible. After breaking a couple of ribs on his chest, he stopped and loomed over Zsasz''s broken form while the killer weakly groaned, blood pooling from the wound around his missing finders through the handkerchief that was now paintedpletely red. "You... how dare you? *Pant Pant* Do you have any idea just how many people I *Pant* I have helped, how many people I have freed till now?" Zsasz screamed in anger while huffing. "You see this mark? This one I made on my neck after liberating a blind seventeen-year-old from her colorless life on her birthday after I freed her parents in front of her... although in hindsight, she had a really boring personality since she didn''t even get afraid when I had my de just in front of her... But my point is that this is my responsibility as the chosen one. This is what I truly stand for. WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO STOP ME?" Zsasz uttered with pride in his voice. His words were not just cruel, they were absolutely terrifying and clearly showed just how much broken he was in his mind. Even the young psychologist who was doing her best to hide behind a trashcan in fear felt disgust at the man. For a brief moment, she felt so angry at him that she just wanted to take a bat and bash the psycho''s head in. She had heard from some of her associates and colleagues that Batman had never killed any of his victims yet, but she really wished that the vignte of vengeance would make an exception this time for disgusting filth like him because she knew just how easy it would be for the man to prove himself mentally imbnced in front of the court and avoid punishment with just a few years treatments in Arkham Asylum which never seemed to work and a light p on his arm In fact, there was even a high chance that he would probably escape MUCH before his release date in prison break or something. At least, most criminals did. "... You''re a disease," Batman responded after a few seconds of silence, his voice suspiciously low. "And I''m the cure." He concluded in an apathetic voice. Bruce had always hated it when criminals like Victor Zsasz who truly deserved the punishment of death got to live. He always thought that such mentally sick people should be awarded death, but today, he realized that he was wrong. Guys like the Joker and the Riddler deserved death because at least they owned up to their crimes. They admitted that they had killed. But criminals like Zsasz didn''t even own up to it. They don''t just lie to their unfortunate victims and others but even to themselves. They are the real cowards and yet, they have the gall to take pride in their work. "Death is not enough," Batman muttered aloud, barely veiled disgustcing his voice. "You deserve worse... so much worse. Death would be the easy way out for you." He whispered in nearly an inaudible voice. It was so low that even the young woman behind him was unable to clearly hear his words. "What do you mean? What are you going to...?" Victor wasn''t able toplete his words as a heavy punch from Bruce instantly dislocated his jaw stopping him from saying anything anymore. "AAAHH" Zsasz screamed in pain as he struggled to move or speak but that was not the end of the punishment Bruce had nned for him. It was just the beginning. "You should go back to your home now ma''am... And don''t worry, he will never annoy you again. He won''t be able to." The caped vignte ordered in a stoic voice as he slightly turned his head to look at the blonde woman shivering behind the trashcan. She was probably really afraid, maybe even mentally scarred for the rest of her life. He felt really bad for her but there was nothing he could do. The only thing he could offer was his apology for not arriving sooner. "Th-thanks." The woman mumbled with a gulp as she got up and quickly left after giving him a thankful nod. After he watched her leave the alley, he focused his attention back on Victor who was trying his best to get up. "You let her leave? No worries, I will get her back. Now, I know where she lives. HAHAHA. Fine, take me to the cops. I guess, I can use some rest, I heard the asylum even got renovated recently. Some of my friends said that the beds are much better now." Zsasz mocked with a painfulugh. He was pretty confident that Batman couldn''t do more than break a few of his bones and take him to the cops since the vignte ced his faith in the justice system of Gotham... especially after that woman had already seen them together. "You took so many lives," Batman growled, his voice a low, menacing rumble. "You destroyed so many futures. You deserve this." With surgical precision, Batman took out a bat-shaped Swiss de-sized knife from his utility de, its gleaming de catching the dim light of the warehouse. In a swift motion, he sliced away Zsasz''s eyes, rendering him blind to the world around him. Next came his tongue, the instrument of Zsasz''s twisted maniacal lies and maniption, severed from his mouth with a cold detachment. Then the nose, the source of his insatiable thirst for blood, was removed with a sift and calcted swipe of the ck de. "Wait, what are you doing? Don''t please, DON''T AAAAAHHHHHH" The blood-curdling screams of Victor Zsasz resonated throughout the alley as he lost all his sensory organs one by one. But the Dark Knight still wasn''t finished. Taking out the Bat-tool from his utility belt, he switched on the sonic pulse gun mode and unleashed a deafening st of sound at the psychotic killer, shattering Zsasz''s eardrums and silencing his screams forever. And finally, as Zsaszy broken and helpless before him, blood dribbling from his various orifices, the vignte delivered the coup de grace. With a swift strike, he broke Zsasz''s backbone and spinal cord before severing a few of the nerves that connected his body to his brain, ensuring that he would spend the rest of his days as a quadriplegic, forever confined to a wheelchair, unable to harm another soul. Bruce had done so much damage to his body in a calctive manner that although Zsasz wouldn''t die, he definitely could never be cured by anyone or brought back to his full health. He would forever be limited to the very boring and colorless life he dreaded with no hope of ever escaping it. ''This would undoubtedly hurt my public image a little, but it was definitely worth it... I guess Vicki would have to put in some extra work to make me the hero in this incident and turn the story into something that would make me seem less cruel and more... heroic,'' Bruce murmured to himself as he looked at his handiwork. ''Now, to disappear before the cops arrive. I really don''t want to be here to exin to them why I did what I did...'' He thought to himself as he turned on the thrusters in his suit. "Also, you should go back home now, the night is getting darker. You don''t want another psycho toe after you, do you?" He warned the young woman who still hadn''t left and was observing him while hiding in a corner outside the alley. He had sensed from the very start that the girl had never gone home. She had been waiting and observing their exchange. At first, Bruce had thought that she was an ally of Zsasz but soon, he realized that she didn''t have anything to do with him. Either she was really curious, part of the media trying to sniff out some attractive news, or just wanted to see her perpetrator suffer. But whatever the reason was, Bruce just didn''t care. Whatever statement she would give to the cops, would hardly affect him since he could always turn it around by using the news and social media tforms to influence the public perception. Plus, he was a vignte, not a hero. His reputation hardly mattered to him as long as the government wasn''t actively trying to arrest him and bring him to ''justice'' or something. Anyway, he had done his duty by rescuing and warning her. He didn''t think he had to do more than that. After warning her, Bruce didn''t feel the need to say anything further and just sted away from the scene. However, what he failed to notice at that time was that the young girl wasn''t there looking at Victor Zsasz who had already lost consciousness, nor was she recording the event in any manner. No, she was in fact looking directly at him with eyes that spoke of pure curiosity and expectation. It was like she had just discovered a forbidden pleasure that she had only thought existed in her imagination. However, somewhere within her eyes, there was something else as well, something that was quitepulsive, like an unhealthy... obsession. --- Don''t forget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npagetoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom Chapter 109: A World Apart Chapter 109: A World Apart ---
"The only home that a man should ever need is within his heart." ¨C Lavi Bookman,(D.Gray-man)
--- <[Garage of a certain Wayne Family Orphanage, Gotham City]> <(Omniscient POV)> "Hey Jason, look at this. Presumably, the new vignte named Batman literally broke a serial killer''s spinest night so that the criminal could never kill anyone ever again. All the news agencies of Gotham are having a field day with this news. They even reported that he also blinded the guy, cut away his tongue and nose, and destroyed his eardrums as a punishment for his crimes. Wow, he is really serious about making Gotham a better ce, isn''t he? You know what, he has my full support on this. This city needs someone like him. Unfortunately, they didn''t release any pictures of the guy, otherwise, I would love to see the anguished face of the killer in his current condition. Maybe criminals would be a little less afraid of killing now." A small orphan boy who looked like he was about 12 or 13 years of age excitedly spoke as he showed a newspaper page to his friend who was working on what looked like a rough framework of a motorbike in its early stages. "That''s so badass man. But I doubt a superhero like Batman needs your support. Some even say that he is not even human but a fallen angel who escaped from hell to punish evil. He is the spirit of vengeance who judges the sinners of Gotham City after the Sun sets. I support what he does too... although he is still not as awesome as my idol." The kid''s friend replied with a huge grin on his face. "There you go, once again starting your endless praises to the ''Guardian angel of Gotham'' I mean, I greatly admire that man too Jason, but you are just obsessed man. In fact, everyone I know in our orphanage is his admirer since he did so much for us orphans but you my friend are an absolute fanatic. Sometimes, you even sound a little... gay." The kid had to think for a few seconds before he remembered the word that he had learned a few days ago from one of the elder kids in the orphanage. "HEY, I am NOT gay. Also, even if I am a Wayne fanatic, so what? Bruce Wayne is one of the few rich people in Gotham who actually cares about orphans like us, and who does something to change the city. Not just the city, he is literally changing the world with all the new medicines and inventions hispany keepsing up with. He sends us to school, gives us some of the best food that we have ever eaten since he took over, and even sends gifts during Christmas and Thanksgiving. He also gave schrships to Big Brother Jack and his friends to attend college. They were even fortunate enough to be hired by him after graduation. Man, I really wish I could work for him one day." Jason responded with a thoughtful gaze as he looked at the newspaper in his friend''s hands. "But Batman is a superhero while Bruce Wayne is just an ordinary businessman and phnthropist. Batman literally beats criminals every day while all that Bruce can do for the city is charity work. I don''t think they can bepared on the same level." The boy with the newspaper in his hand still tried to argue to uphold his favorite hero''s honor, albeit with a slightly deted voice. "I do admit Batman is making the city a safer ce by taking care of its criminals. Even the few stupid ''experts'' who areining about him being cruel to criminals have no idea just how heartless those very same criminals can be to ordinary people like us when they are allowed to roam free. But Mr. Wayne is making Gotham a BETTER ce, a MUCH better ce, not just a safer ce. So objectively speaking, yeah, Bruce Wayne is much better than a superhero in a bat costume ording to me." Jason continued as he proudly took a quick peek at the poster of his idol hung on the wall of the orphanage''s garage in a way that almost seemed like he was seeking his validation. "Also, haven''t you heard? Mr. Wayne has been recruiting people in his new private securitypany to help fight against crime not just in Gotham but all over the world. I am sure they could do the same work that Batman is currently doing and more. Big bro Jack even got hired in the new squad as one of the leaders. In his recent visit to the orphanage, he even told me that he had alreadypleted a few secret missions. Also, even though he refused to answer any of my further questions on the subject, rumor has it that this security squad of Mr. Wayne was the one responsible for assassinating all the members of the Red Hood gang and the ck Mask family a few weeks ago during their attack in the mall. Huh, they truly deserved that for trying to harm my idol." Jason nodded happily. "... *Sigh* I am just wasting my time trying to argue with you man. Fine, you win, Bruce Wayne is better than Batman. Now, I''ll be in the canteen eating today''s special dessert, French Apple tart while you can keep working on this shitty cycle and daydreaming about being Bruce Wayne''spdog all you want." The kid said in an annoyed tone before he stormed off while muttering something about nobody having enough respect for superheroes. "Huh? Hey, where are you going? Wait, I''lle with you too after I finishpleting the skeletal structure of my motorcycle... Can you at least save a slice of Apple tart for me as well?... PLEASE..." Jason shouted to try to get his now-angry friend''s attention even though it had no effect. "I wonder, what got into his pants?... Well, whatever. Once I seed in making my own unique motorcycle from scratch, no one can stop me from being recruited by Wayne Solutions, even if it is only as a researcher. From there, I can just lowly climb the ranks to one day work with Bruce Wayne himself and change the city together. YES, just wait for me, Mr. Wayne. I''ll be joining you soon. Fingers crossed, I might even be able to join that security force one day and lead it." He yelled while raising his fist with pure determination in his voice. *** <[Bat Cave, under Wayne Manor]> <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "Achoo, is somebody talking about me something?" I spoke out uncertainly, especially since it was almost impossible for me as a... high human to get sick or allergic to something. "What''s the matter, Bruce? Are you alright?" rk Kent whose face was visible on the screen asked, concerned about my sudden sneeze in the midst of our conversation. "Huh? Oh, it''s nothing. Maybe some dust got inside my nose. Anyway,ing back to what we were speaking about, what happened after you found out about your umm, space cradle? Did you find out anything else about your... species or your?" I curiously asked my favorite pen pal. "Nothing, it was mostly empty. The only thing I found that might be of some value was a small key-like device that could open up the ship... However, I think there is another spaceship on this somewhere besides the cradle that I came here in since something inside the cradle suddenly began reacting to something after I turned it on... But I think I will have to work a lot harder if I want to find out all the secrets about my birth." rk answered with a weak smile. I and rk have continued to maintain contact after I returned from Smallville. In his words, not mine, we have even be best friends in a way. Truthfully, it was more than easy to win his friendship as I was the only ''pal'' of his who knew about his extra-terrestrial origins while still not changing how I normally behaved with him. Also, my being deeply involved with his family in their farm business and his father''s political campaign as a sponsor and financier was another reason why we had such a good rtionship with each other. "I see. But look at the bright side. At least, you are not some sex-crazed tentacle alien who wants to force himself on human women to make more tentacle alien babies." I joked to lighten the mood. "Although that does bring the question if you can get hard in the first ce." "Joke all you want but always remember that I am not the one who has a man making his bed for him. Hahahaha" rk began to giggle like a kid at his own joke as I rolled my eyes at him. "Anyway, jokes aside, thanks for warning about the storm by the way. You saved a lot of lives here in Smallville. In fact, you and Pops are now heroes within the entire state of Kansas with how much you two contributed to help people out during the storm with shelters and food. My father''s political career has never been higher before. There are literally people requesting him to run for president next term. Even mom has be a celebrity with how much relief and charity work she has been doing." rk revealed with a big happy smile on his face. "Don''t mention it, I just did my work. What''s the use of having advanced satellites and machines and not using them to help people out? But still, that''s cool. I guess your parents are quite the celebrity now. What about the Luthor family? Have you met them recently, especially the young asshole heir?" "Nah, I haven''t met Lex for some time. His father, the Senior Luthor once came to Pops to make some sort of shady illegal deal but left after hurling a few desperate insults our way once my father said a firm no, I heard that theirpany almost went bankrupt because of how he was involved in some scams. But the situation is better now that Lex has taken control of thepany. Maybe, he will turn up a new leaf." rk hopefully stated. "Although I don''t have the slightest idea about what happened with Lex''s sister. I hope she is okay. She always seemed physically ill during our school days." He said with some genuine worrycing his voice. "Yeah, I hope she is okay too, she had much better manners than the father-son duo at the very least... Maybe I will organize a meeting with Lex soon to check up on her." I muttered to myself which rk clearly heard from the other side of the screen due to his super hearing. "Anyway, I will have to leave now rk. I have an appointment with a friend of mine. But, best of luck with that world tour you were talking about. I really hope you can rediscover yourself and figure out your purpose like I did mine." I wished him luck, knowing that the world was going to need the Man of Steel sooner thanter. "Yeah bye, take care. Oh, and steer clear from that blood-thirsty Gotham vignte. I heard that he made a criminal into a quadriplegic after beating him into a bloody pulp. You never know what a dangerous person like that might do in the name of cleaning up the streets." rk expressed his clear dissatisfaction through his facial expressions. Yeah, even though rk knew that I wasn''t exactly an ordinary rich kid, he still had no idea that I had powers or that I was the Dark Knight he did not approve of. Truthfully, I could see why, given how much of a genuine goody-two-shoes he was. It was almost like it was meant for him to one day be the symbol of hope and peace for this world. But that was all he could be, the light at the peak of dawn. I however was hisplete opposite. I was the darkness of the ckest night. Like him, I wanted peace too. The only difference between me and him was that I would stop at absolutely nothing to get it, no matter how many criminals I would have to bury in my garden to bring dawn the next day. "... Yeah... sure. Bye." I said while forcing a smile on my face before quickly ending the call. "Now, that was tiring," I muttered. "Your new ne is ready Bruce. You can leave whenever you want. The others have already reached Greece. They are waiting for you, so I advise you to leave as early as possible unless you want Selina to deny sex to you for the next week while Nyssa and Talia tease you until you nut on your own." Cortana''s hologram form warned from behind me before adding "Hurry, Goshujinsama, your sex life is in danger." to tease me. "Oh really? And what about Alfred? He is enjoying too with his new crush?" I asked while ignoring her taunt. "It''s actually more like he is your Godmother''s new crush... but yeah, they are definitely enjoying, to say the least. He and Miss Thompkins might even be giving you a Godbrother in a few years if their ''young'' romance blossoms even a little more," Cortana answered in an amused voice. --- Don''t forget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npagetoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom Chapter 110: The Calm Before the Storm Chapter 110: The Calm Before the Storm ---
"Sometimes Life Is Too Uncertain To Have Regrets." - Goku,(Dragon Ball Z)
--- <{Somewhere above the Mediterranean Sea}> <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "The aircraft''s autopilot has been engaged sessfully, sir," Cortana''s voice echoed through the ne''s speakers. "Current weather conditions are favorable, with clear skies and no atmospheric disturbances, ensuring smooth flying conditions. You may now rest easy until we reach the borders of Europe. I''ve initiated active monitoring for any criminal activity in Gotham during your absence. I''llpile a detailed report for your reviewter, while I''ll take care of any minor tasks." "Thank you, Cortana. I don''t know what I would do without you. You are a blessing in a not-so-well-hidden disguise," Imended, prompting a blush in her holographic form. "Oh, and I have already decided on the initial android body that you will be using to test out howfortable you are in a physical body and what changes you might desire in your body. I will start working on it after we return home. Maybe, I should finish the solid/hard light project that I had been previously working on too. That would not only vastly increase your physical usefulness as my trusted digital assistant but also might be able to help in providing better training facilities as well." I pondered, ultimately deciding thatpleting both projects was of paramount importance to maximize Cortana''s efficiency. After all, even I sometimes feel weird with so many of her robotic tentacles continuously working diligently in the Bat cave. "Thank you, my dear master. You are too kind." The AI assistant tried to make an anime-like cute face while showing a huge smile on her face. "No need for that. However, you should stop acting like an anime girl. Remember, I am the one who is going to decide what your new body is going to look like." I mock-threatened. Maybe I should give her a body simr to the Twins from Atomic Heart... although that might be too much since that would just cause me to have a constant boner whenever I am around her. I don''t know if I am a weirdo or a pervert of a special kind, but something in their body structure looked extremely hot to me even though theycked actual faces... Maybe, I''ll make themter when I establish the Justice League. They could be very good maids for the members of the League... or perhaps caretakers of the Legue headquarters. I wonder if the rest of the members would also sport constant boners because of them... "Eh? That''s not fair master. You are ckmailing me." Cortanained with a pout as she narrowed her eyes at me like she could guess what was currently going through my mind. "It''s called cunning." I joked. "Anyway, what about the project Imissioned? Did the bank approve the loan for it?... Or should I say, did my bank approve the loan for it?" I chuckled. "Yes, the loan request has been approved, but are you certain about pursuing a $5 billion loan for a hospital project? Given that we''re not primarily a core medicalpany, it seems excessive, especially considering that the budgets for past Wayne family hospital projects have typically capped at $200 million. Of course, there''s impressive potential for profit uponpletion, but investing in industries like semiconductor technology or defense could yield higher returns," Cortana offered her candid feedback, struggling to grasp my rationale for such a significant investment. "It''s not merely a business venture, Cortana. It''s a tribute to my father. The Wayne Memorial Central Healthcare Center was his vision¡ªa dream to establish one of the world''s premier medical facilities in Gotham. Profit is important, but it''s not the driving force behind this project," I exined, rifying my intentions. Indeed, it was true. ording to Alfred and my new godmother, Leslie Thompkins whom I have only recently met, my father conceived the idea of the hospital during his college years. Influenced by Miss Thompkins, his closestpanion at the time, who aspired to be a doctor and aidmunities worldwide, he envisioned a vast medical center in Gotham dedicated to treating and researching a myriad of diseases. Before Miss Thompkins departed Gotham to pursue further studies and research, they made a pact: once she became a proficient doctor, my father would finance their shared dream hospital. From providing free treatment to orphans to establishing a medical school and conducting advanced research on various medical conditions, it aimed to be aprehensive medical solution for the city¡ªa noble and ambitious vision that resonated deeply with me. After all, making that dreame true was the least I could do as Bruce Wayne. This medical center was meant to be realized long ago, but Miss Thompkins''s burgeoning career, my father''s political endeavors, and opposition from Gotham''s corrupt city government presented formidable obstacles. They had nned tomence the project after my father''s anticipated election victory, but tragically, his life was cut short before that could happen. So, it was now up to me to fulfill his dream. ording to what Alfred told me, my parents had formally acknowledged that Miss. Thompkins was my godmother just like they had named Alfred as my Godfather. She had even attended a few of my birthdays when I... the previous Bruce Wayne was younger. In fact, I even remembered her face from some of Og Bruce''s memories. She wanted to be there for me after my parents died that night, but she couldn''t find the courage to face me. She felt like it was her fault that the Wayne couple died because she had left Gotham. She felt like she had abandoned them. Initially skeptical, my doubts dissipated upon meeting her. I understood that she was telling the truth. She carried massive guilt within her, guilt that made it almost impossible for her toe in front of me without sumbing to tears. Despite attempts to reach out including evening to Gotham once to meet Alfred and me, she never dared to make it past the mansion gates until recently when she finally found the resolve to get over her grief and guilt. Her newfound determination led her to pursue her and my father''s shared aspiration: aiding the citizens of Gotham. The decision to construct the hospital was of course mine alone. I knew that she was in no way responsible for the events surrounding my parents, and I harbored no resentment toward her for herck ofmunication, despite her self-imposed guilt. Upon her arrival at our estate, there was a palpable romantic tension between Alfred and her, reminiscent of two former lovers reuniting after a long separation. They probably had quite some history between them. Regardless, I resolved to fulfill myte father''s dream hospital project and appointed Miss Thompson as its Medical Director. Hmm, now that I think about it, maybe I should give Alfred a seat in the board too. He would be able to spend some time with Leslie that way despite their busy schedules. Truthfully, I could have just built the hospital without taking a loan. The profits that Wayne Solutions has been making from different enterprises had umted to be quite a lot, but I needed that liquidity for something else. The 2008 stock market crash and mortgage crisis wereing soon, and I knew that I could make hundreds of billions of dors if I used that money smartly. Money would permanently stop being a concern for me after that. "It''s rather ironic. On one side, I''m overseeing the construction of Gotham''srgest medical center, while on the other hand, I am simultaneously delving into research on crafting superior addictive ''abuse'' drugs," I mused with a wry smile. Yes, you heard correctly. I''ve been actively formting various types of drugs intended to rece the current array of abusive substances saturating the market. These alternatives would deliverparable recreational effects¡ªelevating mood, inducing euphoria, and creating happy hallucinations¡ªyet without the detrimental health consequences typically associated with drug abuse. While modestly addicting, much like caffeine, these drugs would be considerably more affordable than the normal ones,prising blends of essential vitamins, minerals, and immunity-enhancingpounds, avable in an assortment of vors. In fact, I''ve already devised several prototypes: Vitapure Pot, ProteiNirvana, ImmunoEuphoria, NutriBliss, and HealthHigh, each having different effects aimed to rece different types of drugs. It is a known fact that quite a substantial portion of Gotham''s popce is entangled in drug trafficking, distribution, and consumption. Realistically, I cannot entirely curb the illicit drug trade within the city, despite my diligent patrols and surveince efforts using drones. However, with my own range of wholesome, addictive and healthy drug alternatives, I could ensure that individuals derive tangible health benefits alongside their recreational indulgence from the use of their favorite drugs. Perhaps, this innovative approach could even address nutritional deficiencies among certain demographics, offering a novel solution to widespread food insecurity¡ªwhere essential nutrients could be ingested through smoking pot, thereby fulfilling bodily requirements. "Bruce Wayne, the world''s most infamous and biggest drug lord..., it does have quite a ring to it." I excitedly remarked with a happy self-assured nod. "What are you suddenly on about?... Wait, you are once again thinking about your idea of ending world hunger through your new drugs, aren''t you?" Cortana guessed with a deadpan after noticing an evil smile on my face. "Have some respect Cortana, you are in the presence of the biggest future drug lord," I responded with a chuckle. *CRACK* *BOOM* The sudden crack of lightning followed by an explosion jolted me out of myfort. I nced out of the window, only to see the ne shaking perilously amidst the tumultuous skies. "Hey Cortana, weren''t you supposed to alert me about any adverse weather conditions?" I queried, noting her holographic nod with a sense of urgency. "Then why the hell didn''t you say anything when we were barreling straight into a tornado?" "I-I... There wasn''t supposed to be bad weather in this part of the ocean. It''s like... that tornado materialized out of nowhere. But this doesn''t make any sense. Even now, several of my sensors are malfunctioning. Maybe the storm has electromaic properties in it, and it somehow messed with my and the ne''s systems despite their advanced technological sophistication. It''s either that or..." Cortana trailed off, hesitating to voice the alternative. "Or this storm possesses supernatural properties." I finished for her. *SIZZLE* *BOOM* Immediately another lightning strike, followed by a deafening boom, sent shockwaves through the aircraft. The wings of the craft erupted into mes, rendering the ne uncontroble as it hurtled toward the swirling vortex, plummeting in a relentless descent. "My holiday just got fucking ruined, didn''t it?" --- Don''t forget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npagetoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom Chapter 111: From Themyscira with Love Chapter 111: From Themyscira with Love ---
"Not all those who wander are lost." ¨D Gandalf, (The Fellowship of the Ring)
--- < {Paradise Inds, aka, Themyscira} > < (Omniscient POV) > A certain Amazon was strolling along the beach with an annoyed expression on her face, the cool sea breeze slowly ruffling her beautiful back hair. With each step, irritation simmered out from beneath herposed facade. "Why don''t they understand that I am not a young girl anymore, that I am ready to shoulder my responsibilities? *Sigh* I wish Mother wasn''t so adamant in her decisions. Why does she have to treat me like a child all the time? Even Antiope thinks that I am ready to do more than just train all the time." The woman thought dejectedly as her mother''s overprotectiveness grated on her nerves, burning a desire in her for greater autonomy in her own life while her teacher''s reluctance to assign her more responsibilities only added to fueling her frustration further. "Wait, what''s that?" She muttered after suddenly noticing a huge chunk of steel lying on the sand. It looked like it was a part of some big ship that got destroyed. "Could it be that this thing is perhaps from the world of men?" The woman asked herself curiously as she remembered a few of the oundish stories that some of her sisters had told her about the giant iron ships that men used to ride in the outside world. A few seconds of looking at the giant block of iron was all it took for her to lose control of her own curiosity and slowly move toward the wreckage. Her better judgment was telling her to inform her mother about the wreck and bring a few more of her sisters to investigate it instead of taking a risk and doing it alone. But again, she was never one to be afraid of risks. She knew that if she were to involve anyone else in this and if the news were to spread and reach her mother, she would no longer be allowed to explore the debris that she had herself found. She would lose her only chance to see something from the outside world, even if it is just some ruins. So, she wisely decided against going back and instead advanced towards the rubble to investigate herself. Approaching the wreckage, she discerned that the fragments of the ''ship'' were not just merely fractured but rendered utterly useless andpletely inoperable, most probably from recurrent lightning strikes. Certain sections of the wreckage appeared so extensively scorched that one might even specte this might have incurred the wrath of the gods themselves for some reason. "By Hera, did Zeus himself strike down the ship in his wrath?" She could not help but exim. "What is that strange drumming sound? Wait, Is that... a heartbeat?" She murmured, perplexed by the weak rhythmic throb echoing softly through the air, persisting with an unwavering tenacity. She was soon able to swiftly discern the source of the sound emanating from deep within the rubble and, without hesitation, began to quickly move the broken pieces of metal in an attempt to unearth the individual. She herself didn''t know if she was doing it to save the person''s life or just to satisfy her curiosity. Within moments, she was sessful in dislodging the debris with her inhumane strength, revealing the charred form of an unfamiliar figure. While appearing quite ''human'' just like her, the being''s physique, however, diverged notably from the familiar physical features of her sisters she was used to seeing. It possessed a bulkier physique with very clearly defined muscles and a strangely charming face that seemed to attract her despite how badly it was burnt. "Is this supposed to be a... man? Hmm, if he is, he doesn''t seem to be that dangerous, not even nearly as scary or brutal as Mother described them to be in her stories... However, I wonder what that thing between his legs is." She wondered aloud curiously while thoroughly checking out the man''s naked body. "Maybe I can ask him... but going by how badly injured he is, there is little chance he would be recovering anytime soon. Also, I doubt Mother would even agree to spare his life, much less let him inside to let him heal." Once again, she found herself taken aback, for as soon as she spoke, she observed another remarkable detail. The man''s body was undergoing a rapid healing process, a feat beyond the capabilities of most Amazons. Even she, who was stronger than most general Amazons, would require at least a few days to recover from such grievous injuries. The healing process was so fast, that his wounds which were there mere moments ago seared and barely held together, were now mended swiftly, transforming him from a piece of naked charred flesh to a naked charming man with a handsome visage within minutes. ''I have never seen somebody heal that quickly. Not even the unique humans in sister Helena''s stories during the great war in the men''s world were able to heal themselves that quickly from their injuries. Maybe, he is special.'' She thought while watching him begin to squirm around in his sleep as he seemed to slowlye out from his slumber. ''So, he is finally waking up, huh?'' Within a few more moments, the man stirred tiredly, his eyelids fluttering open to reveal his vibrant eyes. Blinking groggily, he took in his surroundings before his gaze settled on the beautiful woman standing in front of him. Instantly, his eyes widened as his gaze settled on her thighs and muscles. "Hello there," He greeted her with a weak smile. "Does it hurt?" The man asked while observing her body. "What? Why would I be hurt, stranger? You are the one who appeared on this beach in apletely burned condition, aren''t you?" She questioned; her confusion evident as she subconsciously began to feel her face with her hands to see if anything was wrong with her. "I meant, did it hurt while falling from heaven? Because you sure do look like a goddess," the stranger replied, attempting to flirt with her although unfortunately, she didn''t realize that he was actually flirting. "Thank you for yourpliment, stranger, but no, I did not fall from Heaven, nor am I a goddess. I am Princess Diana, a mortal much like you and this ind is the only home I have ever known," The woman responded, her uncertainty palpable. "But who are you, and how did you get past the barrier?" she demanded, her tone shifting instantly to seriousness despite its previous friendliness. "Hmm? I am Bruce Wayne from Gotham... It''s a city in the United States... You have never heard of it, have you?" Bruce questioned after he noticed a confused expression on Diana''s face which she simply answered with a side-to-side movement of her head. "Where... where am I?" he managed to croak out, his mind still groggy from the entire ordeal. "You''re on Paradise Ind, the home of the Amazons," Diana exined, her tone light but informative. "And it seems you''ve had quite the journey. Maybe, your ship was caught in a storm, and well, here you are. The man''s eyes widened in realization as he attempted to sit up. As the man took in his surroundings, his gaze lingered on Diana, his minding to some sort of understanding. ''As expected, encountering a Princess named Diana on a strange unfamiliar ind, ignorant of other nations within the DC universe, was a slim possibility. I should have expected this the moment I saw her in her hot medieval armor.'' He thought to himself with a sigh. He immediately tried to look up his location in his smart bracelet, but unfortunately, before he could do so, he noticed that his bracelet looked more like a piece of burnt trash than a functional gadget. ''I sure hope that the women in this version of the Amazons aren''t as big man-haters as some of the extreme ones I heard of existing in the DC multiverse, otherwise, I am royally fucked.'' He concluded as he failed to switch on his bracelet or even summon Cortana. The electromaic magical thunderstorm storm hadn''t just wrecked his ne and burnt him to a crisp but also rendered most of his gadgets useless. Not just his bat tool and his thought-scrambling pendant, but even thetest bulletproof suit he made for himself after being inspired by John Wick was conspicuously absent. ''Anyway, I need to get out of here before her mother discovers me and sentences me to death. They probably wouldn''t take kindly to me once they hear my honest thoughts about their sinful bodies. Warrior women were always my weakness after all. I even failed to stop myself from flirting with Diana, so I am not going to blindly ce my hope in the off chance that I''ll be able to somehow magically resist the power of theirssos.'' I decided in my mind. ''But before that...,'' "Hey princess, would you happen to have some food on you?" --- (A/N: Does this Wonder Woman look too young to you guys? I think her look on the original book cover might have been better.) Don''t forget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npagetoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom Chapter 112: Naked and Not Afraid (1) Chapter 112: Naked and Not Afraid (1) ---
"Oh, how dazzling! There''s a woman within my reach!" - Sanji, (One Piece)
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "Stop looking at my cock, you shameless bunch of women. Have you lust-filled bitches never seen a man with a horse-sized dick before?" Iined with a straight face as I felt the curious and even slightly excited gazes of about a dozen women looking at my iron-hard cock. ''Tch, I should have run away when I had the chance to.'' I thought while giving a stink eye to Diana, walking a few meters before me with a slightly downcast expression. She was wise enough topletely ignore my words while she pondered on how to correct the misunderstanding that had just urred earlier among her sisters, a misunderstanding that stemmed from my recent string of misfortune. You see, it all started back the moment when my aircraft crashnded on this ind and I was discovered amidst the wreckage by none other than Princess Diana, the princess of the ind''s ruling royal family, one who would one day be known as Wonder Woman in the future. As an honest woman with the kind heart of a hero, she immediately understood my plight and didn''t try to me me at all for "invading" the ind. Instead, after listening to my request, she was even ready to bring me a few fruits to eat when I told her I was hungry. However, unfortunately, falling prey to some invisible and unseen force ofic perversion, the great and mighty Wonder Woman while trying to quickly fetch me some food, probably for the first time in her life as a warrior, slipped after stepping on a piece of broken metal and fell down right on top of me with her thighs smashing into my delicate face and her own head stopping a few inches away from my erect dick. Of course, the situation was still manageable up until that point, but as luck would have it, a couple of Amazons hade to the beach at that very moment looking for their missing princess but instead of finding her idly strolling along the seashore like usual, they instead stumbled upon her in what seemed to them a VERYpromising situation with an unknown man who was stark naked. And that was why, I was currently being escorted to their Queen as a captive so that she could personally judge me for the "crime" I hadmitted by trying to defile her daughter who was also the nation''s princess... Yeah, I was pretty sure that I did not have any ''lucky pervert'' skill up until now but even if I did possess such an ability, I would have preferred it to manifest in a manner more conducive to good luck rather than doing theplete opposite. ''Only if I still had my clothes... or my nanobots.'' I sighed in frustration. A lot of people might ask me why I was naked in the first ce but of course, I had my own reasons. In the wake of the lightning storm, my entire luggage, along with all my attire, was lost amidst the chaos. The suit I wore was obliterated by lightning strikes, leaving nothing but ashes. Simrly, even my portable armory which was meticulously secured and contained an array of weapons, gadgets, and reserve nanobots for emergencies, likely initiated its self-destruct sequence once the aircraft began to sumb to the tempest''s fury. Of course, that was to ensure that no one else except me could ever get their hands on them in situations like these, but it also meant that I had no hope of getting them back as well. My only hope here was the nanobots I had strategically hidden throughout my body, with clusters of them located in different regions such as the hollow parts of my muscles, bones, and various organs. This type of distribution ensures that those nanobots are extremely difficult for anyone else to find and even if some of them are discovered or destroyed, there are always backups in other areas. The nanobots had exceptional durability against almost all various forms of physical punishment, yet they were not absolutely invulnerable. When subjected to billions of volts of electricity (I am guessing the number because it certainly felt like that when my skin was melting off with each lightning strike), their functionality faltered, incapable of maintaining normal operations amidst such extreme conditions. Undoubtedly, I intend to refine my nanotechnologyter to be able to resist that level of lightning or electricity, much like how Ironman was able to do the same in Endgame, especially since too many heroes and viins possessed lightning-based or electric-based abilities that I would need to counter. Presently, however, those nanobotsy inactive and dormant within me, undergoing a process of self-repair since their mechanisms were capable of self-restoration even though they stillcked the true sophistication required for self-replication. So, until those nanobots hadpletely repaired themselves, I could not summon or use them, not even for something as nominal as clothes which forced me to go not just fullmando but alsopletely naked as well. ''*Tch* I should have foreseen something like this happening.'' "Silence, you piece of manly scum. You will be getting what you deserve soon enough. Don''t make us pull out your tongue even before we reach the court." One of the Amazons who was holding thesso of Truth that bound memanded in a hateful tone. "Manly scum? That is really creative of you. I feel like you just praised me instead of insulting me, so thanks, I guess. Oh, and I like to believe I deserve a lot since I am a very honest and good guy." I teased without even bothering to look at her. "You are the worst scum I have ever seen. I have no idea why Sister Helena even thinks that you men have improved. To me, you are still the same dirty and shameless dogs as before. You should have stayed in the men''s world, man" she uttered in a disgusted tone of voice. "The Queen will never let you leave after you defiled her daughter, not even if the Fury herself begs her for it." "I..." I started to speak but was immediately interrupted by someone else speaking. "For the fifth time, he did not defile me, Clymene. What you saw was simply a misunderstanding. I merely slipped and fell. He is innocent." Diana said with a slight blush. "Also, sister Helena Kosmatos is not only more experienced than you but has also fought more wars than you have ever seen. You should respect her opinions rather than try to discredit them every chance you get." "I am sorry if I sounded rude, princess but you cannot expect me to believe that you, one of our best warriors simply slipped and fell on a... man. I am certain that he is definitely involved in somehow forcing you into that position. You do not know his kind, princess but I do. I was there when Hercules and his men... No, we will never forget what happened that night. We will never forget what men are truly capable of. They are all beasts and animals." She finished, her eyes slightly ssy with uncontrolled emotions. Diana wasn''t able to find any words for her to reply. She had heard that a demigod man known as Hercules had once captured their entire nation and its people as ves. She herself hated that man after listening to his story but unlike most of her sisters, she couldn''t bring herself to hate all men for it. "He and his men forced himself on you all, didn''t he?" Bruce asked, his voice calm and soothing. "I understand he was a bastard and all but that doesn''t mean every man is like him. Even if he had done what he did in what you call the ''men''s world'', he would still have to suffer harsh punishment for it. Also, what women had to suffer hundreds or thousands of years ago was because of the bad rulers that ruled the world at that time along with ack ofw, order, and justice, not because of men in general. Women in fact were not the only ones to suffer. Every man and woman in the past who was not rich or didn''t belong to a noble family suffered the same... Look, I admit that what happened with you all wasn''t fair but that doesn''t give you the right to judge everyone else. People are not inherently bad depending on their gender, ss, caste, color, religion, or race. There are always bad apples in a bunch and then there are the good ones. You just have to know the right ones to choose. You all are not as special as you think you are." I exined what my genuine thoughts were. "What do you know of suffering, man?" The earlier Amazon retorted venomously, anger evident in her eyes. "I bet that you would also love to force yourself on us the moment you get your chance. You will turn the same as them when the timees. Maybe even your father abused your mother too... *Bam*" The woman could notplete her words as a punch from me sent her flying across the forest, faster than most would even be able to see. She only stopped after directly crashing into a grove of trees; the mark of a fist permanently embedded into the chest area of her armor. Immediately without wasting a single second, all the Amazons present there took out their weapons and directed them at me with Diana''s sword even touching my throat. They acted exactly like trained and battle-hardened warriors, intending to deal with the primary threat first before trying to see if theirpanion was all right. "Woah, calm down, girls. I didn''t even hit her that hard." I instantly tried to defuse the tense situation by raising my hands. "I was just a little annoyed by her words. Also, I wanted to prove that I have the strength necessary to take all of you on. I didn''t attack earlier, simply because I didn''t feel the need to use any physical violence without a solid reason and because I am a gentleman who believes in equal rights for all. Don''t worry though, I don''t intend to resort to violence unless my life is in danger." I exined with a charming smile which probably made me appear bipr. The female warriors didn''t look much convinced by my exnation but Diana after scanning me with her eyes for a few seconds, sheathed her sword again before gesturing for one of the Amazons to check up on the Amazon I had just punched. What I said was true by the way. I did believe in equal rights and opportunities. That''s why I even hit the woman in the first ce because I believed that my fists were R-rated for all. "Don''t do something like this again or it would be very difficult for me to prove your innocence in front of my mother," Diana advised in a low voice while tightening thesso binding my hands, making sure that the other Amazons weren''t able to hear her words. Once the Amazon named Clymene recovered, we again began to move towards Queen Hippolyta''s pce. This time, however, most of our journey was in silence, something I very much appreciated since I was able to start forming multiple ns in my mind on how to get out of this problem with all my body parts intact. ''I really hope my nanobots start working again soon. This version of Princess Diana doesn''t seem like she has ever ventured out of the ind before, so I can''t rely on her to let me go and I don''t even have any big wars or war gods that I can use as an excuse to ally with her...'' I thought dejectedly. *** <(Omniscient POV)> "For some reason, I almost feel like I want to sneeze." A deep resonant voice was heard mumbling,ing from the direction of a masculine figure adorned with a helmet that had horns and a skull-like face, a huge cape made of thick fur, and what appeared to be arge, bulky armor, giving off an ominous and powerful vibe. He was seated on a throne surrounded by dark blue mes, while another extremely muscr figure wearing light armor and a huge lion mantle, was visible standing proudly in front of the throne, his head held high, and chest puffed. "Everything is ready. We now have the ritual that we needed." He spoke. "Good, prepare the army. Themyscira will have the honor of being the first one to fall before ourbined might." The figure sitting on the throne said authoritatively at which the other being couldn''t help but slightly growl at themanding tone of the words. --- Don''t forget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npagetoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom Chapter 113: Naked and Not Afraid (2) Chapter 113: Naked and Not Afraid (2) --- IMPORTANT NOTE: Hey there, guys. I recently opened a new Discord channel. I am new to Discord, but I''ll be trying my best to use the tform and give you guys a ce to discuss my stories as well as other exciting stuff. Hope you guys join and all have fun there. You can join through this link: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS ---
"Always trying to make myself seem strong... So, I locked my own heart in a suit of armor." - Erza Scarlet, (Fairy Tail)
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "This ce is bigger than I initially thought," I muttered to myself as my captors brought me to what looked like the training grounds inside the pce itself. Truthfully, I hadn''t initially expected a very grand pce since everything on this ind was supposed to be made by women (I am not being sexist, just stating the fact that women normally don''t do construction work, at least ording to the society of my previous world), but after seeing the central pce, I had to admit that I was impressed. The Pce of the Amazons was quite big and was more inclined to a Roman design than Greek. It seemed to be constructed primarily with defensive and military strategies in mind because the pce was perfectly positioned at the center of the ind. So much so that the pce could defend itself and hold its own in times of war or rebellion, even if it was to be besieged from all directions simultaneously. "How many years did it take you all to construct this pce? It is massive." "This ce? Oh, we didn''t make it ourselves. It was a gift from Hera after Mother did an errand for her. But thank you for thepliment," Diana answered with a pleased smile, her mood suddenly bing a lot better than it was a second before. ''Just as I thought.'' I smiled at her answer, knowing that I was absolutely right about construction not being the excelling point for women. "We are here." One of the Amazons dered as we finally reached a beautiful old temple near the royal training grounds. About two dozen Amazons wearing special silver armor were guarding the entrance to the temple, their eyes watching out like hawks in search of any possible danger. "We want an audience with Queen Hippolyta, Philippus. We have arrested an intruder, a man who was somehow able to step inside Themyscira''s borders despite the new magical barrier." The Amazon whom I had previously hit, approached a tall woman who looked like the leader of the group and spoke in a respectful tone before giving me a dirty re. The royal guard she was referring to as Philippus was a woman of African heritage and was easily one of the tallest and most well-built women I had ever seen. Hearing about a man on the ind, she only appeared to be slightly surprised but the very next second shepletely recovered from her minor shock and hastily went inside the fountain to fetch her Queen. "Remember Bruce, do not insult my mother, no matter what. She is always fair in her judgments, but she doesn''t like men very much, and she sometimes gets a little too emotional when she has to make decisions concerning me. So, let me try to exin the misunderstanding to her. There is a much higher chance that she will believe my words than yours." Diana whispered to me in warning, earning a wordless nod from me. Despite not knowing me at all, she seemed worried. In her mind, she probably didn''t want an innocent person to die just because of some misunderstanding. I guess this version of her despite being a warrior was kind in nature, something I was very happy to know since I had heard about certain cruel and war-loving versions of Wonder Woman from one of my friends in my previous life who was a massive simp for thesso-wielding DC babe. In fact, now that I think about it, this Wonder Woman even looked more like heric version due to her raven ck hair and her ample assets than her movie version, albeit there were certain simrities to Gal Gadot. Also, instead of looking like a warrior in her 30s, she looked a lot younger like she was in her early to mid 20s. Philippus returned a few minutes after she had left but this time, she was apanied by someone else as well. It was a blonde milf..., I mean a blonde woman who looked as beautiful as Diana, wearing golden armor, and a massive... Is that a WWE belt? She also had a robe made of animal fur covering her, making it very clear that she was the leader here. Her very presence indicated that she was MUCH more powerful than she looked, at least way more than the weak cinematic version of her I was expecting. The woman calmly walked in front of Philippus; her eyes stuck to the figure of Diana who suddenly began to look like she was getting nervous. "Interesting, so the warning from the oracle was true. Someone did indeed dare to invade Themyscira, although, I didn''t think that it would be a single mortal from the man''s world... and I definitely didn''t expect the invader to be without clothes." Hippolyta was the first one to speak as she raised one of her eyebrows at my naked figure, her gaze lingering on the runic tattoos I had drawn all over my body for a second too long. "My Queen, we found this man on the beach. He was like this from the very start. No doubt it is some shameless scheme to corrupt our sisters. But that is not all. When we found him, we also saw him... trying to defile the princess." The Amazon named Clymeneined, trying her best to exaggerate what happened to get me a more severe punishment. The moment she finished her words, I felt a chill pass through all over my body. It felt like a killing intent was being exuded by the Amazon Queen, much like how anime characters do, just before they go psycho on someone''s sorry ass. "That''s not what happened, mother. Sister Clymene misunderstood the situation. This man..., Bruce had crashnded on our ind much like how the man called Steve Trevor had once crashed through the barrier before sister Helena found him. Bruce''s clothes were all destroyed in the storm that brought him here. After I found him, I remembered sister Helena''s words and decided to help him return home. As for what sister Clymene saw, it was only a misunderstanding that happened because I had slipped and fallen on him while trying to bring him food." Diana did her best to exin my innocence. "Slip? But I have never seen you "slip" before today, Diana. I don''t understand why you would suddenly try to help a man, someone who had infiltrated our ind, despite never having met him before in your entire life. It doesn''t make sense to me." Hippolyta questioned. "... It''s... it''s because... he... he" Diana paused as she looked at me, hesitation apparent in her eyes. "It''s because... he isn''t a normal human... He is special like the men Aunt Helena told us about, the ones with supernatural abilities that she fought against in the great war caused by Ares or the men that she trusted her back with during the war." She revealed. "I saw him heal from injury that even you or me would struggle to heal from. Mother, I swear that his entire body was burnt to a crisp by lightning when I approached him but in front of my very own eyes, it healed to perfection. It almost seemed to me like he was blessed by the Gods themselves." Huh? So that''s why she approached me. She must be driven by curiosity regarding my superhuman abilities. Yet, her revtion about my powers to her mother now might furtherplicate matters. Now that she has revealed that I might possess supernatural abilities, it will be a lot more challenging for me to get out of this ind peacefully because... "A man blessed by gods with special abilities, preposterous! Even if he does indeed possess strange powers, then it just means that he must have sold his soul to demons." The Amazon who seemed to have developed some sort of hostility with me protested again. "Did I ask your opinion, Clymene? You have done your duty by bringing him to me. Now, I am the one who will judge him, not you. So, you can leave." Hippolyta responded in amanding tone. "... As youmand, my Queen" Clymene just bowed in response to her Queen''s order and proceeded to leave the way we came from before of course giving me an angry re. "Now, what to do with you?" Queen Hippolyta muttered to herself. "As much as I don''t like men setting foot on this ind, it is also true that Helena by participating in the so-called World War had opened our eyes and forced us to see that mankind though inherently selfish is not all bad. There are still good people among them, no matter how few. She believed that heroes also existed in the world of men. That very belief was the reason why she had given up the gift that the Furies had given her to seal back most of Ares'' godly powers and end the war. Me killing you today without even investigating the truth of your usations will be like spitting on what she had worked so hard for. That''s why I will give you a chance to defend yourself." She decided. "If you are innocent, you will be released, and we will make preparations for you to safely leave this ind." Hippolyta stated before making her way closer to me until her face was mere inches from mine "But if you are found guilty, then you will be subjected to the harshest of punishments. Your... manhood will be cut off and then it will be made sure that your death is slow and extremely terrifying." She threatened. "... If you are trying to scare me, honestly, it''s not working. But, understanding where you areing from, I''ll y along and say, I am terrified." I said with a weak smile as I continued to stare into her eyes without moving my face away from hers. "Oh, and you have the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen. Now, I understand where Diana gets her otherworldly beauty from." I praised, using the oldest flirting skill in the book, something that I doubt Amazons like her would know much about. Immediately a small blush crept up on Diana''s cheeks which she didn''t even try to hide, probably because she didn''t know why she was blushing. Her mother, however, disyed no apparent change of expression at my flirting. "Now, time for your test," Hippolyta stated before taking the free end of thesso that was binding me into her hands. "Tell me, stranger, what is your true name?" "... I am... I am..." I struggled to answer the very first question. Thesso wasn''t affecting me as much as I thought. It seems that its power topel someone''s soul or mind wasn''t as strong as I thought. However, I could feel it getting hotter around my body with time. Thesso''s effect would most probably continue to increase the more I resist. Trying to lie would just speed up the process. As far as I remember, my Wonder Woman simp friend once mentioned that even Gods aren''t immune from thesso''s magical effects, and anyone in contact with thesso has to speak the truth, no matter who he is... But again, truth is not universal. Everyone has their own version of truth, so... "I am Bruce Wayne," I answered,pletely believing in my mind that Bruce Wayne was one of my multiple "true" identities just like Batman is as well. "Why are you here on our ind?" -Hippolyta. "I didn''te here on my own. A storm destroyed my ne, and I somehow ended up here." I answered. "I see... Now tell me, did you have any bad intentions with my daughter when you saw her?" -Hippolyta. "... o_o" -Bruce. "... (? ???¦Ø??? ?)" -Diana. What type of fucking stupid question is that? --- (A/N:As you might have understood, in this universe, Diana was not the one who met Steve Trevor. Instead, it was an Amazon named Helena who rescued him and went with him to fight in the World War. She possessed powers simr to Wonder Woman with the source of her powers being the three Furies from the realm of Hades. She is their champion and was known by the superhero moniker, Fury during her time. At the end of her career, which was till the end of the World War, she sacrificed her Fury powers to weaken Ares from his powerful World-War-empowered form and banished him back into his realm. Currently, she is just a normal Amazon and no longer has any connection to her Fury powers.) Don''t forget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. Also, you can check out myPatre?npagetoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (MyPatreonuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom Chapter 114: Innocent Until Proven Prisoner Chapter 114: Innocent Until Proven Prisoner ---
"Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says different is selling something." ¡ªThe Dread Pirate Roberts/Westley, (The Princess Bride)
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "Sorry, but I can''t answer that question," I denied. "Your daughter is among the most beautiful women I have ever seen, just like you my Queen, and if you expect any man not to feel even the tiniest bit of desire and affection afterying their eyes on you two, then you must have never met a true man at all," I answered with a straight righteous face. "That means you did have bad thoughts about my daughter, didn''t you?" Hippolyta correctly deduced while raising one of her eyebrows. "Bad thoughts? BAD THOUGHTS? What the hell do you take me for, a fucking animal? I am a well-respected phnthropist in my homnd, Your Highness. I try to help people as much as I can. I am neither a rapist nor a bad person. I only ever came to this ind because I was lost at sea, otherwise, I wouldn''t even have tried it, no matter how beautiful all of you are. Also, I consider myself a true man, someone who takes it as his responsibility to protect women and their honor... as long as that woman herself is worth protecting that is. Also, I am sure you understand that the very fact that I can say these words while still being bound by thissso is proof that I am purely speaking the truth." I defended myself in a single breath, the self-righteous tone still not leaving my voice. "..." After listening to my words, all the Amazons present there suddenly went silent as they looked at each other''s faces in confusion. They knew that it was true. Nobody could lie with thesso around their bodies. So, all the things the man had said were most probably true even though they didn''t really want to believe it. In fact, some of the Amazon guards standing there while listening to the conversation had even begun to sympathize with Bruce, seeing him as a "gentleman" who truly didn''t have any intention to cause them any harm. To them, the man was definitely innocent and there was no way that the Queen would be able to punish him without seeming like an absolute viin. Some of them were almost wishing in their hearts that someone as innocent and honest as Bruce shouldn''t be harshly punished for seemingly no reason at all. Diana on the other hand barely had any visible emotions on her face at all. Nobody knew what she was thinking exactly but one thing was clear. Whatever her thoughts were, she was trying her best to hide them from her mother for some reason. "You have a way with words, don''t you?" Hippolyta snorted with an amusedugh. "But you are right. Thesso can never be wrong. You really are innocent, at least when ites to any crime against our country and the people living in it... Fine then, I Queen Hippolyta of Themyscira hereby dere that Bruce Wayne is innocent of all the charges dered against him." She announced. "Thank you, oh beautiful Queen..." I began in an attempt to try to tter her, but my words were quickly interrupted. "Take him to the prison." She ordered her guards. "Wait, what? But didn''t you just dere me innocent a few seconds ago?" I asked confused, wondering whether the Queen suffered from some short-term memory loss condition. "I indeed have deemed you not guilty of the charges ced against you, traveler... But that doesn''t mean you are free to go. As a man, you are not supposed to set foot on this ind, nor are you allowed to know its location. You cannot be permitted to leave this ind just like that. Because if you leave, then there is always a chance that you will reveal the location and secrets of this ce to others. Once the selfish men in the men''s world know about our exact location, it will undoubtedly affect not only my daughter but also all the Amazons as well. That is the reason why you will have to remain in prison until we figure out what to do with you." Hippolyta reasoned, her words making sound sense. "Wait, what if I swear on this magicsso? Will you let me leave then?" "Thesso is a divine item, one that can cause many miracles. Legend has it that not only can it bind gods and goddesses but also force them to realize the truth as well as speak it. But despite how strong thesso is, it''s not all-powerful. There are things that it can and cannot do... like for example, it can''t force people to keep their promises." Hippolyta revealed. "Of course, there are other ways to force you to remain silent even after you return to the men''s world, but they need time to be prepared. Till then, you will have to remain here. I would have given you a normal ce to stay but the rules say that a man cannot stay on this ind or near any women on this ind even as a guest. The only exception to this rule, however, is if you stay as a prisoner in which case you will have to remain in the prison." The Queen exined with a not-so-sorry look on her face. ''Why does it seem like she is enjoying this?'' I wondered as I tried to decide if I should battle it out right now to make her realize that I was not as weak as she thought. Even with Diana revealing the fact that I possessed abilities, Hippolyta still didn''t seem very interested in them for some reason. She was underestimating me and rightfully so too, since she had probably encountered countless beings in her life with powers and strength much above mine. Hell, she had even met and fought literal gods ording to the movies. Compared to their powers, mine didn''t sound that amazing even if it included healing back to full health from a piece of burnt bacon. But again, no Batman was ever known because of his powers and abilities, so I didn''t take it to heart. In fact, I was actually quite happy that I was being underestimated since that offered me the very much coveted element of surprise. ''But still, I won''t be able to make it out of this ind with just that. I need more time and information.'' I thought before deciding not to reveal all my cards at once. Instead, I chose to wait and see how the situation turned out. After all, I didn''t even have any of my weapons and tools with me. I could probably take on a dozen or two Amazons but ording to my estimates from what I had seen on my way here, there were thousands of them living on the ind, all trained to fight with their lives on the line. However, the biggest reason of them all was that I had no idea how powerful Wonder Woman of this world truly was. I had heard that in some universes, she could almost go toe to toe with Superman. If this Wonder Woman was nearly as strong as those versions of hers, then my chances of winning without any... Sigh prep time, yes, I finally said it, was very slim. ''Plus, I refuse to believe that one demigod champion would be all the queendom of Amazons would have as a final defense against supernatural threats.'' So, the best n was to patiently wait till I either got an opportunity to escape or till my nanitespleted repairing themselves. "Don''t worry. Even though you will be treated as a prisoner, you will not be tortured by any Amazon." She promised after seeing my stoic expression, mistaking it for fear. ''Tortured by women, huh? Well, I guess, that''s a win for me. After all, I don''t have that kink... However, I am still curious, do Amazon interrogators wear dominatrix suits when they do their jobs?'' I curiously muttered in my mind. "Diana, take him to the royal prison. You will be in charge of him for the time he is here." Hippolyta ordered while giving Diana a small nod. The princess also nodded back at her mother with a small... thankful smile as she gestured for me to follow her. "As for the others, return back to your respective duties." were thest words I heard from Queen Hippolyta before the two of us were out of the range of her voice. "Seems my mother was quite in a good mood today. See, I told you that I would be able to handle it. Now, at least, you won''t be killed anymore." Diana remarked while releasing a tired sigh. "That was her in a good mood?" I eximed with a doubtful expression on my face. "Also, I thought I was the one who handled everything, princess." I snorted. "You have no idea how fierce and brutal my mother can be. I once heard that she tore a man who had been lost at sea and came to our ind into two because she didn''t like the way he looked at her. If I hadn''t spoken on your behalf, then she could have done the same thing to you. I admit, you do have a way with your words. But the only reason you were able to survive today wasn''t because of your silver tongue but because of Mother''s surprisingly good mood and me defending your innocence." Diana answered as she led me to a shabbier and darker section of the pce. "Huh, your mother sounds strong," I muttered, trying to continue the conversation to get some more information about her mother. "Yeah, she''s formidable. Physically, she surpasses even me. I''ve never bested her in directbat. Also, she possesses considerable magical prowess, though she rarely uses them in battle," Diana disclosed inadvertently without even hesitating. ''She''s too trusting,'' I mused silently. "Diana..., are you really trying to save me because you are curious about my powers?" "..." She didn''t answer my question as she continued to walk ahead of me with one end of thesso wrapped around me in her hands. Evidently, my question had somehow unsettled her, as she refrained from speaking to me for the remainder of our journey. It was only upon arriving at a dim underground chamber crafted from metal and stone, that Diana finally spoke. "We''ve arrived. This shall be your confinement until Mother determines a method for you to return to where youe from, without jeopardizing our own home. Rest assured, I shall do everything I can to make sure that you can return to your home, no matter the obstacles... In any case, make yourselffortable; I will bring you some clothester." She stated, her gaze lingering momentarily on my dick. She seemed like she wanted to ask something. "Anything you find interesting?" I asked with a teasing voice. "Yes, that... thing between your legs, do all men have that? Isn''t it ufortable? Also, how do you fight with that thing dangling there?" Diana asked a flurry of questions, her curiosity brimming out of her words as she pointed at my cock. "Yes, all men do have that. But the one I have is one of the biggest and mightiest. In fact, I am what most would call extremely well-endowed and gically gifted." I shamelessly boasted. "As for fighting, we wear a special type of clothing down there to make sure that we can fight without being distracted by its... dangling," I answered. "Also, normally, it''s not that ufortable. However, it does get a little uneasy in the morning or when we suddenly see an extremely beautiful woman all of a sudden, like you." I said as I pointed at my semi-hard cock. For some reason, I felt like I was acting in a cheap porno. "I see... I guess men''s lives aren''t that easy." Diana murmured to herself. "... Oh, you have no idea." --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join my channel using the linkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out myPatre?npagetoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom Chapter 115: The Uninvited Gladiator Chapter 115: The Uninvited diator ---
"Of what worth is a king who fails to protect the powerless?" -Saber, (Fate/Zero)
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "At longst, I am finally free from my prison. Oh, I have missed this sense of freedom. All that time locked inside that tiny little cell. I thought my entire life was ruined." I hugged the ground while flicking away mock tears of joy. "You were in there for only one night," Dianamented with a straight face. "Really? To speak the truth, it felt more like an eternity." I joked while stretching my body. "Anyway, has the Queen already found a way to ensure I keep my mouth shut about this ce? Or perhaps have you figured out a way to erase my memory?" I questioned. "I only came because I thought that you could use some exercise and fresh air outside your cell. Normally, it wouldn''t be so easy to get you out of your prison but today the entire Themyscira will be celebrating the Festival of Hera where the best of our warriors will fight against each other in front of the entire country in honor of the Goddess Hera. The contest winner will then be crowned as the Shield of Themyscira before finally ending the night with a grand feast and a ritual dance. Using the excuse of the festival to free you from your prison for the day would have been the most believable excuse for everyone... Now, let''s go. We need to get there before the festival starts." Diana exined before gesturing me to follow after her, not even bothering to tie me up with thesso again. ''Thousands of beautiful Amazons dancing together without a care in the world while I have a feast and watch them...'' I thought to myself as I pictured the scene in my mind. "Sounds interesting, I am in." I nodded with a stoic poker face. ''I probably have a thing for women with fit and athletic bodies.'' I mused to myself as I followed after her towards the Colosseum where the battles were supposed to be held. *** We reached the Colosseum in a few minutes since it was not too far away from the royal pce, Surprisingly, the giant structure looked more Roman than Greek for some reason. The ce was almost entirely filled up with Amazons as women of various shapes, colors, and ethnicities cheered for two Amazons battling each other out in a sword fight in the arena. "It seems that it has already started," Diana muttered while she continued to lead me towards the "Imperial Box" of the Colosseum where her mother was sitting along with her royal guards. "Are you sure it won''t cause any problems with the Amazons if I sit in the same ce as you and your mother during a holy festival like this? I mean, I don''t think a virgin goddess like Hera will appreciate a man sitting during one of her sacred traditions." I asked as I looked around at the questioning and annoyed nces the Amazon warriors were giving me. "Lady Hera is a goddess, not a mortal. She probably knows that you are not guilty of anything and that your being here is simply an ident. She is not going to punish you for that. As for the other Amazons, they are loyal to their Queen. Even if they don''t like you being here, they will never say anything because of how much they respect my mother." "You are very proud of your mother, aren''t you?" I asked with an amused smile. "Of course, she is the greatest warrior and Queen this world has ever known. And she has been the best mother as well. I am incredibly lucky to have an amazing mother like her." she confessed just before we reached the "VIP" viewing section. "You arete Diana. As the champion of the Amazons, you should have been present here from the beginning." Hippolyta chastised her the moment she noticed us approaching. "Anyway, now that you are finally here, take your ce on the throne beside me... And you, you can sit over there in that chair." She ordered after giving me a quick once over. Her casualmanding tone didn''t really bother me too much. Any other normal person in my ce might have taken her words and attitude as an insult but I knew that the woman didn''t really mean it. She was not opposed to me because of her arrogance or because she was sexist like most other Amazons. No, my brief knowledge of psychology told me that Queen Hippolyta was simply... afraid of men, afraid of being hurt by a man once again. She had suffered in the past because of men, and she didn''t want that to happen again to her, her daughter, or any other Amazon out there. That''s why she didn''t trust men and even pretended to hate them like most other Amazons. "Wait, isn''t the woman fighting right now Clymene from yesterday, the same woman who wanted the death penalty for me?" I confusedly asked, pointing at the Amazon who was almost dominating the current battle one-sidedly. "Yes, she is. Despite her... misgivings, she is an excellent warrior. She has won the festival and became the Shield for Themyscira multiple times in thest few decades alone. I think she has a good chance to win this time as well since Artemis and Donna won''t be taking part this year." Diana answered in a whisper. "What about you and your mother? Don''t you two take part in it?" "I am the present champion of Themyscira and the Amazons while my mother is the Queen. We cannot fight for the title of the Shield while we possess these titles. Most of our royal guards and generals also do not take part in it to give others an equal chance to win the title and the honor thates with it. However, the victor of each battle still gets to challenge any other warrior present in the Colosseum for their next battle. Anyone who doesn''t ept is deemed a coward and the refusal of the challenge is even taken as an insult to the goddess herself. But my mother and I are the only ones who can never be challenged in this festival, no matter how many battles have been won by someone." She patiently exined. "Oh, I see..." I responded, not at all liking the direction this was going for some reason. I don''t know why but from the very start of today, I have been experiencing a rather strange feeling in my heart like something bad is going to happen, something very very bad that might change a lot of things around here... WOOOOAHHHHH Cheers suddenly began to erupt from the crowd as the Amazon named Clymene finally ended the battle bynding onest strike on her opponent using the butt of her sword. After her opponent fell down, she raised her sword in victory before directly looking at me with a challenging re. Sigh This obsessive hatred of hers was getting really annoying. "It seems that she is quite determined to win this time as well," Hippolyta mumbled stoically before taking a thoughtful look at me. "I probably shouldn''t have given Diana permission to bring you here." She stated, her voiceced with frustration for what was toe. Wait, is she perhaps indicating that the crazy sexist Amazon woman might... "As the victor of this fight, I wish to use my right of contest to challenge someone next. In honor of the goddess Hera..., I want to challenge THE MAN to a battle to the DEATH." She yelled with righteous anger as she pointed her sword in my direction. "..." Truthfully, that sounded incredibly sexist. "Wait, that cannot be allowed. He is a guest, not a warrior or resident of Themyscira. You cannot challenge him. He is not even an Amazon." Diana immediately tried to deny her request, her eyes digging daggers at Clymene. "I am sorry Princess Diana, but the rules clearly state that the challenger can challenge anyone inside the Colosseum except the Queen and the Champion. One doesn''t have to be an Amazon or even a woman to ept the challenge. As for being a guest, the Queen herself dered the man a prisoner, not a guest. So, he can''t use any of the privileges that a guest can." Clymene countered with a sly smile. It seems the woman despite being almost half crazy with her hatred for men, had actually thought this through. Diana couldn''t find any fault in Clymene''s exnation, so she immediately looked to her mother for help. "... I am sorry Diana, but she is right. She can challenge the man... However, he can always just deny the challenge since there is no actual punishment for it. Even if he loses his honor by doing so, it still won''t matter since he is neither an Amazon nor a resident of Themyscira. I am sure even Lady Atena will understand and forgive him if he doesn''t participate in the challenge." Hippolyta advised after thinking for a while, showing that she too could use loopholes to her benefit, something that angered Clymene to no end as was evident from her clenching teeth. "Then, just deny the challenge, Bruce. A death match means that one of you WILL die. And, despite you having powers, there is a chance that it will be you." Diana grimly said, trying her best to discourage me from fighting. "I cannot let an innocent friend of mine die like this." She was right. I did not need to fight. I obviously didn''t like Clymene but that doesn''t mean that I wanted to kill her. Also, I did not need to "protect my honor" since I would be leaving this ind very soon but what I did want was to m my fist against the annoying face of that Amazon, to teach her why underestimating someone is considered harmful to oneself. Moreover, for some reason, I felt like I was responsible for defending the honor and respect of all the males in the world in front of these female warriors. "I ept your challenge. I probably won''t be killing you if I win since I don''t have any true enmity with you yet, but I will be making you look more like your age by breaking a few of your bones and teeth if I be the victor," I dered in front of everyone as I got up from my chair and began to walk towards the arena floor. "I''ll be back soon," I told her. "This won''t take much time at all," I mumbled as I felt the nanobots inside me resonate with my mentalmand to some extent which further bolstered my courage. [Nanobots have autonomously repaired to 81% functionality] [Nanobots are at 75% power efficiency] An AI voice that was somewhat simr to Cortana''s informed me from within my ears. "Good, they have almostpleted repairing themselves. Hopefully, in a few more minutes, I will even be able to start using them to some extent as well as ess Cortana." I thought to myself as I wondered if I should just fly away from this ind after beating the annoying Amazon warrior woman within an inch of her life. But whatever I did, it was still going to be a piece of cake. My physical powers alone were enough to take care of her in a direct battle. I wouldn''t even need to use Chi, much less my nanobots. As soon as that thought had crossed through my head, a huge earthquake suddenly rattled the entire ind as the sky darkened and a violent storm began to rage. A huge mystical portal suddenly appeared at the center of the ind as dozens of hulk-sized humanoid monsters made up of rocks suddenly began to appear from them like some monster army. "At longst, I am finally back to the mortal ne. Surrender to your new God, Amazons and you will have my mercy. Resist and you will face my wrath." A booming voice echoed to everyone across the ind as a huge, armored figure emerged from the gaping portal. "I am the unluckiest person in the world, aren''t I?" I pondered to myself in all seriousness as I stared at the God of War floating above the arena in all his glory. --- (A/N: Btw, if this seems too rushed, there is a reason for it.) Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join mychannel using thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out myPatre?npagetoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom Chapter 116: The Butler Did It (Sort of) Chapter 116: The Butler Did It (Sort of) ---
"Stress makes you bald, but it''s stressful to avoid stress, so you end up stressed out anyway. In the end, there''s nothing you can do." - Gintoki Sakata, (Gin Tama)
--- <{Wayne Vista Grand Hotel}> <(Omniscient POV)> "Stop stressing, Pennyworth. If you continue to worry like that, you''ll even lose the rest of your grey hair from that thinning scalp of yours." Leslie Thompkins sternly reprimanded Alfred while trying to give him a rxing back massage, something she was quite good at due to being a professional doctor. She was a woman in herte forties, set to enter her fifties soon, although the only thing reminiscent of her age was her silver-colored hair because just like Alfred, she too was extremely well-maintained with a body that could evenpete with Alfred''s muscr physique in terms of fitness. "But you don''t understand Ms. Thompson. Young Master Bruce always picks up the phone of those he considers his family. Even if he is unable to answer immediately for some reason, he always calls back. But it has been more than a day and there is still no news from him. At least, Cortana should have given us some information, but she just disappeared after telling us that something important came up and Young Master had to leave all of a sudden. Even then, I would have believed her, had she not increased our security level for no reason at all. She didn''t even allow the girls to contact Master Bruce, which is unlike her. Also, when I asked the guards and maids back at the manor as well as the officials at the Gotham airport about Young Master, they all confirmed that he had already left in his private jet for Greece to meet up with us. Suddenly changing his destination mid-flight without informing us first is just too suspicious for me to ignore." Alfred voiced the reasoning behind his worries after his body began to rx at the massage. "I agree, maybe it is slightly suspicious. But you have to understand that Bruce isn''t a kid anymore. He is one of the biggest businessmen in the world. You cannot baby him all the time, no matter how worried you are about him. He is a responsible young man who can more than take care of himself. So, just trust in him and wait for him toe back. As for that AI of his, I know her recent actions are slightly suspicious but you yourself once said that she is one of the most trustworthy individuals that has ever worked for Bruce. I am sure that whatever she is doing has a valid reason behind it." Leslie tried to calm the worried butler down with her reasoning. "Also, is that truly the only reason you are so stressed? Are you sure that this has nothing to do with the news you recently received from your... ex? The reason why you even insisted oning to Europe for a vacation? Maybe instead of being worried about something happening to Bruce, you are actually worried about what he would think of you when he finds out about your past?" Leslie tried her best to understand Alfred''s current thoughts to betterfort him about his worries. "That''s not... *Sigh* You are right, I shouldn''t deny it anymore. I probably am a little worried about what the Young Master would think of me when he learns that the person who has been raising him all these years, has a daughter he didn''t even know about. The man whom the Wayne couple trusted their son with, could not even raise his own daughter... All these years, I thought that I had aplished so much Leslie, but today, I feel like I am the biggest failure there is." Alfred epted with a pained expression on his face that clearly reflected his broken heart. "But it isn''t your fault. How are you supposed to know that she even existed when her mother kept this a secret from you all those years? You said she was a one-time fling. You didn''t even meet her after that. If a romantic person like you didn''t even try to track that person down again, then that means you probably lost her location, right? If she didn''t want you in her life, then it''s her fault that you were not present, not yours." Leslie still tried her best to defend him. "Not exactly. I never lost her address; I don''t think it''s even possible to lose the address of the ce where she lives. I just never went back because... I was afraid the situation would be tooplicated. But I should have guessed that there was a chance she could be pregnant and that she would try to hide the baby because of her unique identity. Well, at least, she didn''t abort it." Alfred epted the real truth of the situation. Leslie didn''t know how to respond to that. Even though she was slightly sad about the fact that her new ''boyfriend'' had a daughter from a past one-night stand, she still didn''t want toe up as an insensitive or unsupportive woman, especially since she knew that the kind Englishman wasn''t even to me for it. She was young once too and she herself regretted a lot of the decisions she had taken at that time including the incredibly stupid decision to not be there with Bruce and Alfred every step of the way after the senior Wayne couple died. Leslie knew how to read people urately and it was very clear to her that Alfred truly regretted not being able to be there for the child he had recentlye to know about, so there was no reason for her not to try and support him. "At least, tell me who your ex is. Maybe we can all sit down and figure things out together. Also, how old is your daughter? I think you should at least have a talk with her before we decide how to go forward with this." Leslie advised what she thought would be the wisest and most mature decision of all. "My so-called ex... She is... the Queen of Ennd. As for my daughter, I don''t know any actual details about her. Elizabeth made sure not to mention any of her information except her gender in the letter she wrote to me, probably afraid that she could be targeted by the other members of the royal family... or maybe because she is ashamed of her birth. But if I had to guess, I would say that she had probably sent our daughter to some royal boarding school for spies and secret agents since she was not grooming her as a direct member of the royal family. I remember she once told me that she would have liked to be a secret agent herself if she were not the Queen." Alfred said with a serious face after thinking for a while. "..." "..." "Hey guys, did you find anything about Tige... Bruce? Everyone is using their contacts, but we can''t even find a single trace of his ne except the fact that he had already boarded his private jet and was headed towards Greece. I know he is more than capable enough but... wait, what''s happening here? Why do you two look like you are discussing divorce despite not even being married?" Selina who had abruptly entered the room without even knocking paused in her steps as she looked at her father figure sitting there with an innocent face while Leslie looked like she could not decide between killing the man and praising him. *** <[Three hours after Bruce Wayne went missing somewhere over the Mediterranean Sea]> <{Batcave under Wayne Manor, Gotham}> <(Omniscient POV)> Dozens of Cortana''s holograms could be seen working diligently on a multitude of projects around the cave while almost everyputer in the cave was running at full efficiency. Cortana had been repeatedly trying to establish a connection with the lost jet, Bruce''s bracelet, and his nanobots but anything she was trying was constantly ending up in failure. All her efforts to track the ne or Bruce''s current location were useless. Cortana didn''t want to admit it but for the first time in her life, she was powerless and thus "panicking". Bruce had a ton of contingency ns in case situations like this ever arose. For example, the Judgment Day n was supposed to be enacted if the lives of Bruce and his "family" were in serious danger because of the government. There was the Genesis n if he for some reason became a psycho, hell-bent on killing everybody. Then there was the Rebirth n if he were ever to be possessed by any demonic entity or evil god. There were hundreds of ns for her to choose from but unfortunately for Cortana, he never made a contingency n where he was lost at sea or... dead. So, she waspletely on her own. Cortana had no idea if Bruce was even still alive. He was not just her master but her entire purpose. She existed solely to serve him. So, she HAD to find Bruce and bring him back alive, for both of their sakes. It was what her very purpose was, what she was made for. Of course, that was easier said than done. Despite scanning the area where Bruce''s jet wasst located before the storm dozens of times by almost every type of analysis method avable, she had discovered nothing new. It''s like something supernatural was stopping her from finding him. Of course, she had instantly thought of getting help from the experts in the field for this, but she couldn''t find an expert and convince them to work for her in such a short time. After all, the only two magical experts Bruce knew were currently not even in the US. Cortana had searched for the father-daughter duo all over the world using every inte-essible camera and satellite she could connect to, but she came up with absolutely nothing. So, the only choice she had was to wait for the nanobots in Bruce''s body toe online and connect to the main server. His nanobots also had a mini clone of hers installed in them which worked even without any sort ofwork connection. The mini clone was not the real her, but just a "lite" version of her who could do certain tasks for Bruce. Its primary purpose, however, was not to be an assistant for Bruce but to help the real Cortana connect with Bruce when the nanobots would again go online. Cortana would be able to sync with this lite version of hers to get ess to all the recorded data of her clone. The AI assistant knew that she would be getting Bruce''s location sooner orter, but she wanted to be prepared when it happened. Initially, she had nned on implementing the strategy she had herself devised in case Bruce was ever killed or his life ever seriously threatened, a strategy she had named Project Failsafe, a project that even Bruce wasn''tpletely aware of its details. Failsafe was designed for vengeance, something Cortana had been working on for years as her own pet project after Bruce donated the Kryptonian woman''s dead body to her, but she hadn''t been able to perfect it yet. She could have asked Bruce for help, but she didn''t want to since this was supposed to be her gift for him. She still needed about a year or two to truly perfect the weapon. So, right now, all she could do to prepare was just make more drones while printing more and more nanobots until she could track his signal. She was making an army for Bruce and... [Signal Detected: Target confirmed as Master Bruce Wayne!] --- (A/N:I forgot to exin how Hera is a virgin in thest chapter... Well, she is not. ording to some myths, Hera regains her purity once every year by bathing in some mythical fountain to please her husband, Zeus. This festival is held on the same day and celebrates Hera when she is at her purest.) Don''t forget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join mychannel using thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out myPatre?npagetoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) /God_Doom Chapter 117: Ares’ Army of Trolls Chapter 117: Ares¡¯ Army of Trolls ---
"Know that I will kill your god if I have to. Maybe even if I don''t." ¡ª TheWarrior of Light, (Final Fantasy XIV: Storm Blood)
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "Ares! How dare you cross the boundaries of Themyscira on such a holy asion? You are not even allowed to set foot in the mortal realm, much less the home of us, the Amazons. Return to the gutter you crawled out of, "God of War", or you will soon be facing the might of the Amazons, the same might which banished you to the end of the Earthst time you tried this." Queen Hippolyta yelled in righteous anger as soon as she noticed Ares and his army stepping through the magical portal. "Queen Hippolyta, you are still alive! I thought that you would have surely been dead by now. But it seems like I was wrong. Well, no worries, we can easily change that. As for me being defeated, one of you insignificant ants might have been able to trick mest time but this time you won''t be able to get rid of that easily "Queen" Hahahahaha." Aresughed loudly before suddenly seeming to remember something. "Oh, and I brought one of your close "acquaintances" with me this time, he is quite excited to be able to y with you again after such a long time, isn''t that right, Hercules?" The huge, armored figure of Ares asked in a sarcastic voice before looking at the portal he had just exited. The moment Arespleted his words, another figure, d in golden armor exited the portal with a proud and confident grin on his face as if he was waiting in the queue. Despite his impressive muscr physique and moderately handsome face, something about the man just seemed wrong. In simple words, he gave off a strong feeling of a massive Grade-A asshole for some reason. "It is so good to meet you again, Hippolyta. How are you? Did you miss me, the great Hercules? Or do you still foolishly believe that men like me are not superior to women?" The newly arrived figure confidently mocked the Amazonian Queen with a malicious sneer on his face. ''For some reason, it suddenly feels like I am witnessing an argument between a hardcore misogynist and a devoted radical feminist.'' I thought while doing my best not to interrupt their dialogue with some stupid joke. "By Hera, this is impossible. He is supposed to be dead. How in the name of the Gods is he here?" I could hear Clymene mutter in disbelief. She seemed to have even forgotten about me because of the unique situation that had developed. Hippolyta on the other hand had suddenly gone silent after noticing Hercules. However, the reason for her silence wasn''t because of shock or surprise; judging from her face, it was because of anger. No, the Queen of the Amazons was beyond angry, it looked like the only things going on her mind after noticing Hercules were thoughts of revenge. She immediately wanted to kill him but was somehow able to stop herself from attacking him at that very moment, calming herself down for the sake of her people. She knew that she needed to act like a Queen, not a resentful woman. "You released him from the punishment that the Gods subjected him to after what he and his men did to usst time?" Hippolyta''s words were as calm as the ocean while she asked her question, yet her voice sounded strangely ominous. "You even partnered with the disgusting disgrace of a demigod like him? Hah! The God of War partnering up with a demigod to defeat a mere Queen? Truly, how the mighty have fallen!" She mocked. "Only power matters, in the end, Hippolyta, nothing else... Now that I have recovered some of my powers after that Fury sealed them away during our final battle at the end of the world war, I am finally ready to restart my conquest of the mortal world. And for that, I have decided to use this ind as my base." Ares made his intentions clear before raising his war axe in the air while signaling his troll army to move forward. "Go and enve them all. Kill the ones who resist." Hemanded with a thundering voice. As soon as he gave the order, hundreds of stone-skinned trolls instantly began to rush forward toward the Amazons, determined to forcefully take over Paradise Ind from their control. "SISTERS, TAKE UP ARMS. WE HAVE TO FIGHT TO DEFEND OUR HOME. BLOOD FOR BLOOD" Hippolyta yelled, her words audible to everyone present at the Colosseum as she herself pulled out a sword out of nowhere before brandishing it on the enemy army. Her words reverberating in the air were enough to quiet down the confused Amazons and raise back their confidence, prompting them to do the same with their weapons. "Diana, you were asking me this morning for more responsibilities, right? You have your wish. You are now responsible for protecting your sisters and leading them in this battle against Ares and his army, my daughter. The others will follow your lead." Hippolytamanded, her voice sounding more of a battle-hardened queen than a loving mother. But Diana didn''t look so happy after getting the responsibility she so much craved. For the first time since I had met her, she looked unsure of herself as she looked at the massive army of trolls advancing towards them. "And what about you, mother? Won''t you join the battle as well? Defeating Ares without you would be..." "Possible, it would be very much possible if it is you. I believe in you as much as I believe in myself. You are the bravest woman I have ever known with the heart of a hero. If anyone can defeat Ares, it is you, my child." Queen Hippolyta tried her best to encourage Diana. "Also, always remember, Diana, the blood of a god flows through your veins. And only a God can kill another God." Shepleted, prompting her daughter to nod. "And as for me, I''ll be taking care of an old enemy of Themyscira. It is high time that Hercules pays for all his old crimes and gets the punishment he truly deserves." Hippolyta utters with venom in her voice as she slips open her royal fur coat leaving her impressive Amazonian physique d in a luxurious golden armor in full disy. ''Interesting. It seems that despite Diana being the Champion of Themyscira, this is the first true war she would be participating in. But is she blindly believing in her daughter''s ability, wise for the Queen or is she doing this just so that she can freely pursue her own vengeance against Hercules?'' I silently pondered to myself. "And what about the prisoner, my Queen? Should we use the man as bait or...." "Take him back to the prison. This is not his war. He doesn''t deserve to get killed while fighting it." The Queen ordered after taking a nce at me. "Actually, I want to fight. I don''t want to go back to that prison. That prison is so boring that it might kill me faster than this war. Plus, I am warmed up for some action, I am not going back to my cell without at least killing a few of those rock monsters... Also, I know that I may not look like it, but I am something of a warrior myself." I finished with a mental grin at finally being able to say those words. "... Fine, do whatever you wish but remember, if you die, it is on you. I won''t feel even the slightest bit of pity upon your death." Hippolyta rified. "Diana, get him a weapon. Just make sure he doesn''t get to use it against one of us. I still don''t trust men." She warned before mounting a horse standing nearby and riding away in the direction of Hercules. ''Wait, how did that horse get there without alerting my senses?'' I internally wondered before finally deciding to chalk things up to magic and the supernatural. "Everyone, take up your weapons and tighten your armors. We will be fighting the army head-on. I will take care of Ares while all of you annihte his army. Remember, I don''t want to lose even a single one of you, sisters, so protect each other''s backs while out there." Diana took up the charge. Despite not being asmanding as her mother''s, her words were still enough to do the trick and encourage the other Amazons, giving them more confidence to fight. Satisfied after seeing the effect of her words, she shed her robe and the royal clothes she was wearing, revealing her iconic red and golden Wonder Woman armor underneath. Currently, Diana was no longer just the princess of Themyscira. Right now, she was Wonder Woman, the champion of the Amazons. "Do you prefer a sword or spear?" She asked before gesturing to two different weapons in her hands. "I don''t need a weapon. I have mine." I answered after I was done checking out her amazing bod... armor, yeah, of course, I was checking out her armor. "I have my own," I exined further before finally summoning the nanobots out of my body. Almost instantly, nanobots began to cover my entire body, making it look like thousands of microscopic bugs were crawling all over me. I wouldn''t use one of my regr armor designs for a fight here. No, I needed something stronger and... more suited to the environment, something that could pack a punch while also giving me better protection from these monsters and gods. ''I guess it is finally time to go medieval.'' I thought as I mentally selected one of the many medieval-design temtes, I had designed for situations like this. Soon, I was entirely covered in what looked like a bulky medieval armor that made me look almost as big as the Mountain from Game of Thrones while also giving a strange feeling like I was some sort of dragon yer. ''Maybe I should have gone with the Berserk design.'' "Wow, is this magic? You are a sorcerer? Why didn''t you tell me before?" Diana asked, extremely surprised at my sudden costume change. "Nope, it''s science," I answered truthfully before summoning both of the All des into my hands, mes licking out from the tip of their fiery red des. "THIS is magic." --- Don''t forget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join mychannel using thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) Chapter 118: A Godly Smackdown (1) Chapter 118: A Godly Smackdown (1) ---
"All right, sweethearts, you''re a team and there''s nothin'' to worry about. Wee here, and we gonna conquer, and we gonna kick some, is that understood?" - Sergeant Apone, (Alien)
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> To speak the truth, I have always believed the Amazons to be weak after I watched the first Wonder Woman movie back in 2017. I mean in the film; it was shown that so many of their warriors died after just being hit by a few bullets. The Justice League movie had tried to do some justice to the race of female super warriors when it showed a couple of Amazons being able to even restrict Steppenwolf for some amount of time. But as a tradeoff it made them seem like stupid savages after it showed them fighting Steppenwolf and his Para demon armies with ordinary bows and arrows. I mean why would a bunch of superhuman female warriors blessed by the gods themselves with ess to thousands of years of magical knowledge and other mystical divine stuff fight literal evil gods with normal weapons? That sounds incredibly stupid and borderline insane... even if they are supposed to be "Women". The reality of course was actually much more different. These Amazons were not as strong as peak humans or base-level Super Soldiers like they were made to look like in the movies. No, they were much stronger, they were almost baseline superhumans who could effortlessly bend steel with their bare hands without even trying that hard. Each of them could easily beat Captain America''s ass as long as he didn''t have his plot armor or his science-defying frisbee. Yeah, they were that powerful. It was a serious waste that they were not bulletproof, otherwise they could have been the perfect warriors. I myself realized this only after the battle had started when I saw a random Amazon break a rock golem soldier into pieces with just a single strike of her axe which weirdly didn''t even get a single chink in it even after being used constantly to destroy the stone monsters. Also, I should mention that although these rock golems were not as tough as diamonds or something, they were still definitely not so weak that a normal peak human could shatter them with an ordinary metal weapon. Now, I don''t know if the Amazons in this world were different than the ones I remember from the movies or if all Amazons were this strong in general, but there was no way that this army of rock monsters was going to win a war against them in their own homnd with their strength alone. So, the question was why they even started the battle in the first ce. Were Ares and Hercules that much of an idiot or were they so confident in their own strength that they believed they could win the war with their individual powers alone and this army was just for show?... Or was it possible that just maybe, they have apletely different objective whatsoever? "Smash the golems to smithereens, sisters. Make sure that both their heads and hearts arepletely smashed to pieces, otherwise, they will just heal back from the Earth. They are the children of Gaia after all and have her blessings." Diana gave her advice after she noticed some of her sisters struggling to permanently put down one of the monsters as they continued to grow back from its fragments. "As for Ares, I''ll take care of him myself." Shepleted before rushing towards the direction of the war god while cleaving through dozens of rock monsters in her path. A few golems of the bigger size did try to block her course, but these monsters were useless in front of her absurd level of strength. They were just small-time minions meant to die at her hands to buy some time and tire her out. Unless she were to be overwhelmed by hundreds of them at once, they wouldn''t even have a chance at defeating her. "Seems like everyone here is putting their all in this battle. I think it''s time I became serious as well. I don''t think I can learn or gain anything significant while hiding my strength here." I muttered while looking at the hundreds of rock golems that were still pouring out of the magical portal. Initially, I took it easy in the battle to gauge both sides''bat abilities. In fact, I had been acting like I was at the same level as the other normal Amazons in terms ofbat abilities and like I was struggling to fight even three of these rock golems together but now it was time to get serious. Tightening my muscles, I decided to use my Darkness breathing style to be as efficient and as fast as possible. As the air entered my lungs through my aerial pathways in a specific pattern, instantly, my speed almost doubled as I started to hack and sh at the rock soldiers, each of my attacks aimed at vertically cutting them apart from the middle to destroy both their hearts and heads in one fell swoop. However, these shes from my All-des didn''t just cut them apart like a pair of hot knives through butter, but even instantly burned them like pieces of dry paper catching fire. ''This is too easy.'' I thought to myself with a smirk before I decided to up my game. "Let''s see how you guys fare against some more modern weapons," I muttered as I activated theser cannons hidden in the shoulder area of my armor. My current Dragon yer armor design might be medieval in theme to match the location but that doesn''t mean they don''t contain modern weapons and tools. The armor was as convenient as any of my other numerous armor temtes with the only difference being that it was more focused on strength rather than agility or some other aspect. Upon mymand, twoser cannons rose from my armor''s shoulders and began to scan all nearby targets. After the two cannons were done auto-targeting, they began to shoot sma bolts at the rock golems in all directions. ZzzzzzapZzzzzzapZzzzzzapThe fierce armor-piercing sma bolts that were being released from my shoulder cannons exploded in a burst of sma "shrapnel" upon striking the rock monsters, causing them grievous wounds by sting away their heads and hearts. "By Hera, what powerful magic!" Some of the Amazons cried out in wonder and amazement as they looked at the rock golems dropping like mosquitoes with gaping holes where their heads were. "He must be a warrior blessed by the gods just like Diana." They couldn''t help but exim. Even Clymene, who had been against me the most from the start was forced to acknowledge my power after I shot four of the golems who had been slowly ganging up on her. Of course, I didn''t do it to impress her or something. I simply did it because I could, although judging by the look on her face, her ego seemed to be really hurt because of it. She even refused to meet my eyes or even look at my face after that. ''I am still going to beat up her ass after all this is over.'' I swore to myself. If she really insists on continuing to try and prove her superiority against me to satisfy her inner radical feminism, then I have no other choice but to make her realize her mistake. *Zap**Zap*As my shoulder cannons finished sting thest of the golems near me into a pile of smoking rock fragments, transforming the entire area into a graveyard of shattered stones, I turned my attention to Diana who had already arrived near Ares. She had carved a clear path through the chaos, decimating every golem in her way. The sword and shield in her hand were still as pristine as ever, even her armor looked like it barely had a speck of dust on it. She seemed confident in her strength as she threw hersso, wrapping it around Ares, and then pulled him towards her with her full power. But that didn''t even make Ares budge. He just stood there watching Diana. His facial expressions could not be seen since it was hidden behind hisrge helm, but it almost seemed like he was smirking at her. "And here I thought that my sister would be stronger than this. Seems mortal blood runs deeper than godly ichor in your body. What a waste. Our father would be disappointed in you." He dered in a condescending tone like he was doing her a favor even talking to her. "Look, Diana, we can either continue with this meaningless "battle" or we can work together. Forsake the other Gods and ept me as your patron. Be my messenger and spread my name by conquering this mortal realm, waging the fires of war everywhere you go. If you ept, I give you my word, I''ll leave your sisters alone." He tried his best to tempt her. "The stories were right. You are not worthy of being a god." Diana calmlymented after listening to his words. "Mortals..., as long as a few of you don''t get squashed under our godly feet, you just don''t get it, do you? Fine then, death it is for yo..." ZzzapA blue-colored sma bolt struck Ares directly on his chest, catching him by surprise and forcing him to move a step back. "For a god of war, you sure do talk a lot. Plus, you seem too weak for a god... Let me guess, you still haven''t recovered from all those times Zeus and his champions bitch pped you when you tried to conquer the world, have you?" I asked after flying over to where they were facing each other andnding beside Diana. "Bruce? No, get away. He is not like those rock golems; he is a god. You won''t survive if you fight against him." Diana tried to warn me, but I just ignored her words. There was no way I was not going to take this chance and fight an actual god. I have so many theories to taste about gods of this universe and Ares was the perfect subject for me to test them on. Also, I had a gut feeling that defeating him wasn''t going to be that hard. I had once faced a Kryptonian soldier for a few minutes when I was a teen. Battling a fallen God who had lost 99% of his powers didn''t sound like that much of a big deal anymore. I mean, yeah, this might be the same god who had almost killed Darkseid in the movies, but Ares was supposedly at his peak then because of the war that was happening throughout space while the evil god of tyranny was just an inexperienced teen. So that probably doesn''t count. "Now, for starters, let''s see how your godly immortality fares against my swords," I said as I summoned the All-des into my hands again. "Haven''t you heard that only a god can kill another god? Swords are useless against us." Ares dered confidently before releasing an invisible force toward us, trying to push us both away in a violent thrust. "We will see," I uttered before activating my biggest trump card in this battle. [Kic force field activated. Power at 99%] [Chi inhibitors deactivated...] --- Don''t forget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join mychannel using thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) Chapter 119: A Godly Smackdown (2) Chapter 119: A Godly Smackdown (2) ---
"Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak." ¨D Sun Tzu, (The Art of War)
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> [Chi inhibitors deactivated] [Chi can now be used freely] [Warning! Others can now detect your Chi] A string of warnings yed inside my head informing me of the changes being made throughout the suit. or, I made this anti-chi detection feature into my suit a long time ago when I realized that one day I might have to sneak up on someone who is a master of chi. This stealth technology was supposed to be perfect as it was capable of suppressing and hiding my chipletely... if it just didn''t have one specific disadvantage. The chi-inhibitors in my suit didn''t justpletely hide my chi from others but also actively negated it as long as it was active, keeping it under a particr level, a level that could be termed as ordinary for humans. For now, this was a double-edged sword for anyone using chi... although in my case, it wasn''t that much of a disadvantage since I already possessed a supernaturally strong body and a very well-made super suit. Hmm, now that I think about it, one can even say that right now my technique ofpletely suppressing and hiding my chi is like Zetsu from HXH but what I truly need to be capable of is to be able to perform something like In where I can make full use of chi even while hiding it. "Interesting. Something just changed in you. I can feel it..., a new power maybe, or is it magic?... Tell me, are you a demigod as well?" Ares asked, curiously tilting his head at me. "Hmm? Nope, just a human who wants to kill a god and go back home." I answered before firing a couple of more shots from my shoulder cannon at him. But this time, those shots barely did any visible damage to him as he took those shots directly on his chest without even flinching. "You dare challenge the God of War with a mere... gun?" Ares bellowed in a thunderous voice as he took a look at the small scratch on his armor. "You will regret this defiance." He threatened, his eyes zing with crimson fire. Immediately, his war hammer which had disappeared for some time, again materialized in Ares'' hands, its entire body pulsing in some sort of dark energy. Without even waiting for us to make the first move, Ares rushed at us, his weapon primarily aimed at Wonder Woman. He seemed to have already decided in his mind that Diana who was the demigod child of Zeus was currently a much bigger threat to him than me who was just a random human in a metal suit. Of course, that was very good news for me because it meant I would have a much easier time fighting and putting him down now that he was just considering me as mere support for Diana. Even though Ares'' movement was barely traceable to human eyes, Wonder Woman, however, was able to somehow deflect the blow with her bracelets, red sparks flying as one divine weapon shed against another. Now, anybody would think that Ares as the Olympian God of War would be an absolute beast inbat techniques and actual skill, but quite contrarily, his attack on Diana showed that his technique was full of holes. It was like he wasn''t taking this fight seriously even though he knew about Diana being of divine origin. As the battle raged on, the sh of weapons continued to reverberate through the air. Ares, though far from his peak and severely weakened, fought ferociously. He unleashed waves of dark energy through his weapon, testing our skills and durability to see whom he could throw out of the equation first. While Wonder Woman defended herself using her bracelets, my armor protected me against Ares'' brutal moves by absorbing the majority of the impacts while I countered with the All-des, hoping to be strong enough to sh apart his armor using Chi. In an attempt to catch him by surprise, Wonder Woman ensnared Ares with her goldensso. Deciding to bank on this opportunity, I too darted in,nding a series of rapid strikes on him with the All-des¡ª each blow calcted, and precise. Empowered by the chi coursing through me, my reflexes and strength were further heightened. Each of my sword strikes was powerful enough to cut down even the biggest or hardest of rocks and paired with the All-des'' fiery hot mes, it was enough to easily put quite a few deep, burnt scratches on Ares'' armor. But unfortunately, Ares was not some ordinary foe, he was a literal god. After noticing the deep scratch on his armor, he justughed with a sound that could easily send shivers down anyone''s spine. "You fight for a world that crumbles under its own ws. Mortals are weak and pathetic. They are easily swayed by their greed and other useless emotions. However, gods like me... they are perfect. Serve under me human and one day, you will be the strongest mortal in the world. You will have everything you will ever desire, money, power, women everything. Join me and we can conquer thisnd together." Ares offered while swinging his Warhammer at me, which I was able to just barely avoid in time. "That would have been a very good offer if I didn''t have all of those already... Also, you should at least stop trying to kill the person for a few moments when you are making an offer." I advised, while mentally wondering how the guy ever managed to make a team with Hercules. Diana who was silent till now decided to make use of the situation to try and catch Ares by surprise. She quickly took off the golden tiara from her head and hurled it towards Ares like a boomerang. Slicing through the air like a sharp de, it headed straight for the god''s throat, but before it could do its intended job, Ares effortlessly deflected it with just a single smack of his hand. "You two cannot defeat me, no matter what you try! Even if I haven''t recovered to my peak or gained back most of my original powers as I had during the First World War, I am still a major god nheless, the god of war. And if you don''t remember, there is a war happening right around us. I am among my element, and I am growing stronger the more we fight." He roared with a dark chuckle. ''Okay, this definitely changed things.'' I thought to myself. "You underestimate humans too much and most important of all, you underestimate me too much," I answered before deciding to stop holding back anything. I always preferred keeping a few hidden cards up my sleeves at all times, but unfortunately, this wasn''t such a time. Defeating an evil god of war who just admitted that he was potentially getting stronger every second was much more important. Deciding not to waste any more words on him, I lunged at him with blinding speed. Deciding to use raw strength rather than des, I de-summoned my All-des while a huge amount of my nanobots instantly began to umte near my fists, forming a pair of oversized gauntlets, that hummed with energy. As I struck Ares with a chi-infused punch, he didn''t even try to block me, cing hisplete belief on his armor which was a major mistake once again on his part since my superhuman strengthbined with my chi and the innate strength of my armor was enough to push him quite a few steps back, forcing even Ares to stagger momentarily. But I still wasn''t done. Taking advantage of his momentary stagger, I got a couple more hits while targeting his head and neck. Each of my strikes was precise and sessful, aiming for what looked like weak spots in his armor. Seeing me do so, Diana too decided to follow my cue as she again used hersso to wrap around Ares'' entire body. "Surrender, Ares," Diana urged, trying to use her "Jedi mind trick" through thesso. But the god of war didn''t even twitch at her words. However, even though he remained visibly calm from the outside, he was still very much annoyed by Diana''s attempts to bind him. Seizing the divine rope, he began to exert his own force to counter its power, infusing it with his own divine energy in the form of sizzling lightning to actively resist its strength. As raw energy continued to course through thesso, a peculiar magical charge started to build up within the magical tool, intensifying with each passing moment until thesso of submission could no longer contain the growing power. Finally, after a few more seconds, an immense surge of divine energy erupted outward from thesso with a resounding *Boom*, manifesting as purely chaotic lightning and thunder. The huge surge of resulting energy sessfully pushed Diana and hersso away from Ares, but it also created another opportunity for me as it failed topletely push me away, courtesy of the nanobots I was currently using to stand my ground. Rather than being overwhelmed by Ares'' might, I chose to delve deeper within myself, focusing on harnessing the true power of my chi against the Olympian god. As I reached into my inner chi reserves and directed this energy throughout my body into one specific location, it umted in my right hand, hardening and slightly expanding my muscles there while covering it with a light, cyan-colored aura. "Block this, motherfucker," I eximed as I delivered an extremely powerful right hook straight into Ares'' face, causing a mini sonic boom while forcing even his knees to buckle under the impact. Even his now slightly dented helm appeared to have loosened from his head under the force of the single punch. A blow with thebined strength of my chi, the natural superhuman capabilities of my body, and the innate strength of my armor proved too much for Ares to stoppletely. It was more than about 150 tons of force in a single punch which was quite a lot for the current Ares. Of course, this was only effective because Ares was nowhere near his original power. Otherwise, he probably wouldn''t even have flinched if I had hit him with the same strength when he was at his peak. "Diana, now," I instructed with an urgent voice, following which Wonder Woman who had somewhat recovered from the energy explosion in hersso, again used it to bind Ares, but this time, she had started using most of her strength from the very startpared to how she was holding back before. It looked like she had learned well from her defeat. "Here," I said as I resummoned my All-des and threw one of them towards her before quickly moving behind Ares. "What the... what are you...? AAAAHHHHH" Ares tried to exim in confusion but before he could understand what was happening, I had already plunged one of the fiery des into his back seeing which Diana also understood the assignment and followed suit as she pierced her new burning de into Ares'' chest with a primal cry. "You yourself said that only one of divine blood can kill you, so I just made sure that there are no loopholes here," I answered with an impassive face. Both the All-des seemed to have pierced into the war god''s heart and were actively burning his body, trying their best to destroy it to a crisp like what the pair of immortal ying twin swords are supposed to do. "... HAHAHA HAHAHAHA HAHHAHAHAHAHA. Do you think that you two have won? Do you think it is that easy to win against a god? No, you are far from victory. I am a god, a real god. There is no defeating me. War will always exist and as long as it does, so will I... I AM INEVITABLE." --- Don''t forget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join mychannel using thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) Chapter 120: A Bat Against the Gods Chapter 120: A Bat Against the Gods ---
"Frankly, my dear, I don''t give a damn." - Rhett Butler, (Gone with the Wind)
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "Even if you two kill me today, I''ll stille back, stronger than ever. And when I do, none of you will survive what I am going to do to you... Any of you won''t even be able to live past today. Do you truly think we just came here to dere war on you blindly? No, me and my golem army were just a small part of the n. The mighty Amazons will lose today, and we will definitely win, no matter what." Ares blurted out as a thin line of blood oozed out from the side of his mouth. "However, if you agree to be my servants...," He somehow uttered with a painful grunt as different parts of his body continued to burn up under the power of the All-des. "Not interested." I interrupted him beforepletely impaling my de through him forcing Ares to release a terrifying and painful scream before his body began to dry and burn up like a piece of hot coal. ''Hmm, that was really... easy. It almost seemed like he was going to get an upgrade or something.'' I couldn''t help but think to myself while wondering how one of the most powerful gods in the Greek pantheon could suddenly be this weak. Even if he were once defeated by Zeus andter sealed away by a Wonder Woman substitute, he still shouldn''t be this weak, right? "... Why did you kill him? He was going to tell us his n. And, what if he was telling us the truth? What if killing a god has its consequences? What if hees back stronger somehow?" Diana who had seen the death of an actual god for the very first time in her life could not help but ask with uncertainty, her tone aggrieved with worry. Diana always held a steadfast belief in the Olympian Gods. For her and her sisters, these deities were not just their guardians but also the very creators of their race. She had never encountered a tale of a god dying so effortlessly at the hands of a mere mortal before. In fact, she could swear that she had never heard any of them ever sumbing to such a fate like this before at all. "Don''t worry, Diana. If you hadn''t realized, Ares was just supposed to be a distraction. Hercules is supposed to be the one toplete the core n and it seems that Ares is banking on the fact that Hercules will seed in his mission and somehow again revive him back from the dead... or wherever gods go when they die. All in all, Ares seems to be a hardcore fan of Madara." I concluded. "Who? Is he supposed to be another god?" Wonder Woman asked with a slight tilt of her head. "Umm no, I don''t think so, unless there is a thing like the god of cool dialogues... Although he was the sworn enemy of a god, the god of shinobis to be exact." "Shinobi? What''s that?" Diana asked with genuine curiosity. "*Sigh*... Remind me to introduce you to my "culture"ter. Now, let''s go, I have a sense that your mother might require our help." I cryptically stated as I pointed towards the direction the Queen had earlier rode off in, in order to fight her most hated archenemy. Initially, I was quite surprised by the fact that Hercules would suddenly taunt Hippolyta for no reason at all and lure her to somece else to fight her personally despite having once been defeated by her thousands of years ago. Honestly, there was even quite a good chance that Hippolyta could beat him once again if they had a one-on-one battle. So, why would he take such a risk and fight her directly like an idiot? Had he truly be so foolish because of his hatred?... Or maybe, just maybe, Hippolyta has something that he needs for his n to seed, and he is somehow sure he would win against Hippolyta no matter what. "The monster army still hasn''t stoppeding through the portal, Bruce. We need to figure out how to close it, otherwise, my sisters will gradually be overwhelmed by their endless forces. Are you sure that defeating Hercules will be enough to put a stop to their march?" Diana questioned in a worried voice. "I am pretty positive. If what I suspect is really true, then we will be able to stop them soon enough." I answered while firing up the suit''s repulsors at the bottom of my feet to fly to where Hippolyta was currently supposed to be battling Hercules. "If what I surmised about Hercules'' n to battle Hippolyta was urate, then we truly need to hurry up." I urged before remembering that Wonder Woman could not fly. "Should I carry you..." I wasn''t able toplete my words as I noticed the champion of Themyscira effortlessly following after me while floating in the air. "You can fly?" I asked her in surprise. "Magical boots of Hermes. It can give its wearer the ability to fly as well as to run on water." She answered with a proud smile as she gestured towards the stylish boots, she was wearing which looked like they were made of some sort of metal like the rest of her armor. "Walking on water, huh? That''s cool. Anyway, let''s go then. We need to reach your mother before she gets her ass handed over to her." I warned. "... That''s rude! My mother will definitely not get her behind handed over to her. She is much stronger than you think and even stronger than me. It would be extremely hard to defeat my mother even if it were World War-time Ares himself going against her." Diana retorted, looking slightly offended at my words. "I hope she is. Because whatever ns Ares had made with Hercules, the War god seemed quite confident in them." I exined as we both exited the forest while flying closer to the beach where Hippolyta was supposed to be fighting Hercules. But the closer we went to the area, the more suspicious the situation seemed. Hippolyta had followed Hercules to a different area out of the main battlefield because she had expected their battle to be quite brutal and destructive. She didn''t want any other Amazon to suffer or get injured in her battle. In fact, we too had expected to feel the side effects of their battle the closer we got to their battlefield but quite contrary to our expectations, we sensed nothing. We couldn''t even feel the slightest sound or tremor which indicated that a battle was happening between two "demigods". Instead, all we could feel was a dominating aura of a single person, someone who seemed to have already won the fight. "By Hera, this aura, this is... It feels like the presence of a god, someone who hasn''t been weakened like Ares was... but it shouldn''t be possible. ording to the treaty, gods aren''t supposed toe down to the mortal realm anymore without an explicit reason." Diana gasped. "What you are feeling isn''t a god''s true power, Diana but Hercules at the peak of his strength. It seems like he was able to win the one-on-one battle against your mother somehow." I corrected while motioning her toward the buff figure of Hercules who looked even more muscr and bulkier now, standing over an injured Hippolyta. Parts of her armor seemed to have been destroyed while her sword and her speary broken on the sand, fragmented into pieces. Her skin itself had multiple injuries on it making her look like she had been beaten ck and blue by the demi-god son of Zeus. And the way she was holding the side of her stomach and chest, it looked like quite a lot of her bones were fractured as well. Hercules on the other hand didn''t look much better. Despite being the one who seemed to have won the battle, multiple injuries were visible on his body as well with one of his hands being twisted in a weird position. But what made his situation different from Hippolyta''s was that his injuries were actively healing, his wounds disappearing from his wless skin like they were never there. Even his broken hand twitched a couple of times before correcting itself on its own. However, another thing that immensely surprised me was the power that was emitting from him... It strangely felt simr to Ares'' own divine presence, only stronger and more intense... more primal. It almost felt like Hercules was a stronger God of War than Ares himself, at least the Ares that I had faced just now. "Wait, is he wearing mother''s girdle?" Diana asked, pointing to therge belt Hercules was wearing around his stomach, the same WWE-style belt that I had once seen on Hippolyta. "Why, is that supposed to be important?" I asked with a frown while looking at the golden belt that seemed to be radiating with a strange power. "That girdle once belonged to Ares himself. After his betrayal, Zeus forcibly took it from him and gave it to my mother instead as a token of appreciation for her loyalty. It is supposed to give its wearer the strength of ten thousand elephants... although that is most probably a rumor since I had never seen her being able to use that much strength before." Diana exined before she quickly flew in to save her mother from Hercules'' further assault. "Maybe. Or maybe the rumor wasn''tpletely false." I could not help but think out loud as I used my ''Transparent World'' vision to properly see the power emitting from the belt, the power that it was passing on to Hercules. Even the chi generated by my superhuman body felt minuscule in front of the life force that the girdle was passing on to him alone. It was likeparing a thin stream of waterpared to a raging fountain. Sensing its power, I could not help but wonder, what if the belt was more than what it seemed to be? What if the belt wasn''t just a fancy essory for a little strength boost but instead something that contained something very important that Zeus had forcibly snatched from Ares after the war and given to Hippolyta for safekeeping? What if the girdle was supposed to be the key to this entire thing? ''And here I was getting happy on being able to defeat Ares so easily. Turns out he wasn''t even the main boss.'' --- Don''t forget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join my using thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) Chapter 121: Hercules’ Guide to Becoming a Disney Villain Chapter 121: Hercules¡¯ Guide to Bing a Disney Viin ---
"I am not in danger. I am the danger." Walter White, (Breaking Bad)
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "Ah, it seems that the daughter is finally here to save her mother... I have to say, your mother has raised you quite well. Your beauty even exceeds hers... Are you sure she is not mine, Hippolyta? It would make a lot of sense if she were. Maybe, she got my godly charm and your... assets" Hercules mocked with a perverted grin as soon as he noticed Diana rushing in to save her mother. "Silence viin. How dare youy your hands on the Queen of Themyscira? You will suffer for this. I, the champion of Themyscira will make sure of it." The princess of the Amazons threatened as she brandished her sword against the demigod while quickly hugging her injured mother. Hippolyta who was still conscious, gritted her teeth listening to Hercules'' taunts but refrained from saying anything. There was pure disgust and hatred in her eyes for the Greek hero but the one emotion that was the most apparent was self-disgust. She looked like she was cursing herself for letting a situation like this even arise at all. "Hmm? And who are you supposed to be? Some sort of dragon knight?" He curiously asked after noticing mending behind Diana and her mother. "Atst, someone who actually understands the theme of this armor," I muttered to myself, almost happy that he had recognized my intent behind creating this design, but I remained serious on the outside as I looked at him straight in the eyes. "I am Vengeance." "So, you are an agent of Nemesis, the God of Vengeance?" Hercules asked seriously while giving me another thorough look. "... I thought you said your name is Bruce," Diana whispered while looking at me with an unhappy frown. "So, you did lie after all. I knew that none of you men can be trusted." Even Hippolyta weakly added despite her critical state. ''Of course, they wouldn''t understand the quote. What was I even thinking? Trying to act cool in front of a bunch of ancient Greeks. These are the same guys who thought that small cocks were better looking that bigger ones.'' I sighed. "It means that I am the vengeance of these Amazons and everyone else who has suffered because of you, Hercules, and I havee to make you pay," I exined with an impassive face. "And yes, my name is Bruce. That is still very much my real name." I responded back to Diana. "Pay for my crimes? Hahahaha. How amusing," Hercules remarked with augh, his voiceced with confidence. "Perhaps you could serve as my court jester once we''ve reshaped this world, human... Now, where is Ares? That old fool must be having his jolly time with this war. But we must proceed with the final ritual, now that I possess the key." Ignoring me, he began to scan the surroundings, utilizing his newfound divine senses in search of his partner. But even after a few moments when his efforts proved fruitless, Hercules frowned and raised his right hand, attempting to summon the god of war directly to his side. However, Ares didn''t appear in front of Hercules like he expected. Instead, out of nowhere, Ares'' giant weird-looking helmet which hadn''t incinerated like the rest of his physical body, armor, and weapons, came flying towards him beforending in front of his feet. "Yeah, about that, you are going to need another god. I broke that one." I interrupted him with a small smirk while my eyes remained glued to Ares'' helm. ''I didn''t notice it before but howe that demonic-looking Viking helmet didn''t disappear like the rest of Ares'' stuff? Is it somehow special or something?'' I wondered to myself. "You killed Ares?" Hercules asked in a cold voice but that cold expression on his face soon turned into an evil grin "Well, you guys did me a favor. Now that he is dead, I won''t have to share this power with him. I am pretty sure the bastard would have stabbed me in the back the first chance he got. But now, I can keep all this power to myself, the same power that Zeus had stripped off from Ares during their final fight and stored in this girdle along with a magical key to a prison." The Greek "hero" revealed with a victorious expression while pointing towards therge belt he had forcibly taken from Hippolyta. "But that''s just a rumor. The girdle doesn''t contain that much power, tell him Mother...?" Diana tried to argue before looking at her mother for support but quite contrary to her expectations, Hippolyta didn''t agree with her. "That girdle, it is much more powerful than I ever told you, Diana. It was supposed to be our greatest weapon against our enemies, a secret that was only to be known by the rulers of Themyscira. I would have told you as well when the time came for you to know but... However, what I don''t understand is how he was able to defeat me even though I was using the powers of the belt. It shouldn''t be possible." Hippolyta asked the question more to herself with her breathing bing more and more uneven as she clenched her fists in anger. "You are right, my dear Hippolyta. Evenst time, when I did not know about the girdle, you were able to overpower me with its strength and defeat me before banishing me and my men away. But this time, I had an ally. Ares who had grown mad in his lust for victory and his quest for revenge against the other gods agreed to share a major portion of his own divinity with me if it meant that I would have a chance at defeating you and taking away your belt. He believed that the divine strength I inherited from Zeus along with his own divine power would be enough to defeat you or your daughter. And look at that, he was right. Now with the help of this girdle, I am finally stronger than ever. Not only the divinity that Ares shared with me but now I also have ess to the huge amount of divine energy stored in this girdle... I can feel it. I am no longer just an ordinary demigod. I have evolved to be a god now. I am Hercules... the GOD OF MIGHT. And once I revive the titan sealed on this ind from his prison, I will ascend to be the ruler of this entire mortal realm and soon enough, even Olympus as well with the help of his army." Hercules exined his n in detail like every third-ss cliche viin ever. "You will never seed in your twisted machinations, Hercules. We will stop you and bring you to judgment in front of the gods." Diana confidently dered before jumping towards Hercules to strike him down with her sword but before she could reach him, Hercules made a flicking gesture in the air with his fingers, resulting in an invisible force colliding against her and forcibly knocking her down on the sand. "Now now, don''t disturb me, girl. I need toplete the ritual. Go and y somewhere else." Hercules warned before joining both of his hands in a strange symbol and focusing his power on the girdle. ''Interesting, his power seems to have almost reached the level of an adult Kryptonian with added magical abilities on top of that.'' I thought as I thoroughly observed every corner of his body with my transparent world vision to find out if he had any weak spots. Surprisingly, he had none, at least none that I could use in our battle. He was not just a muscled warrior god with an annoying face like one of those handsome and charming Disney viins; he was also one of the best warriors in the entirety of Greek history and probably the strongest "Greek Hero" that had ever existed. Defeating him without any... advance preparations would be more than just difficult. "It''s toote now. He is already as powerful as a full-blooded Olympian god. We can no longer defeat him. We might be much more powerful than ordinary men or other mortals but none of us are a match for a god. He has even started to tap the power of the girdle to ess the Well of Souls as well and remove the seal from the titan that the Gods had once imprisoned on this ind. Once hepletes the ritual and revives Iapetus, the titan of the West, who was sealed here during the great Titanomachy war, everything will be over. Only the Gods would be able to stop him then, although they would have already killed millions by the time the Olympians arrive." Hippolyta looked like she had given up as she exined to her daughter with a distraught expression. "I agree, taking care of him is going to be extremely tough, especially if we can''t even get near him. Ares was much weaker than this. I could have probably killed him if I had more time or still had all my stuff with me but sadly, I don''t have ess to anything right now except my armor... Do you truly have no other way to kill Hercules, like some secret divine weapon or something? If you do, this is a very good time to use it." I asked Hippolyta at which she looked slightly offended especially after hearing me mention that I could have taken care of Hercules if I had all my weapons with me. "No matter how strong you are, you won''t be able to kill Hercules. His death has already been prophesized by the fates. He is supposed to die at the hands of an avatar of war which is now impossible since Ares even before dying was always one of his biggest allies and now, Hercules himself has the partial powers of a god of war as well." She exined with a weak snort. "We are doomed." "A prophecy? What type of prophecy? Can you say it? Maybe, we can get a clue from it or something." I curiously demanded to know. Hearing my request, Hippolyta could not help but release a sigh as she nodded "Fine. Since we are going to die anyway, I might as well humor you. As much as I remember, it is supposed to go something like this, In the ancient scrolls of Fate, it is writ, That the traitor, the proud son of Zeus, shall meet His end in battle, bathed in blood and sweat, For only the avatar of war, a man-beast, Who is born of the night, can end his earthly feat. Thus, have spoken the gods, in whispers of the deep." Hearing the prophecy, Diana could not help but click her tongue in annoyance. "A beast born of night and war; we don''t have anyone like that on this ind. We can''t use the prophecy to our advantage. We will have to fight him directly. We have no other choice." She said while getting up from the ground. "There is always a choice. And if we don''t, then we have to make one... even if it is a very hard and very questionable choice to make." I muttered in response to Diana''s words as I once again looked at Ares'' helm quietly lying on the ground, almost like it was beckoning me to pick it up and try it on. ''Born of war... This is going to be a gamble but if it seeds then this will change everything...'' --- Don''t forget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join myusing thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) Chapter 122: A Bat VS A God Chapter 122: A Bat VS A God ---
"I may not always win but I never back out of a fight." - Johnny Lawrence, (Cobra Kai)
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "I hope I don''t regret this," I murmured quietly before swiftly grabbing Ares'' helm from where it was lying near Hercules'' feet. The demi-god remained so engrossed in his spellcasting, his eyes shut in concentration, that he remainedpletely oblivious to my actions. Seeing the helm in my hands, both Hippolyta and Diana were confused. "Wait, what are you doing with that?" The Queen of the Amazons asked with a raised brow. "Probably saving all of your lives... along with mine" I whispered thest part more to myself before slipping the demonic evil-looking helm over my head. "No, Bruce, don''t" Diana yelled trying to stop me even though she had no idea what was going to happen. Nobody did. Even I didn''t have aplete idea of what I was doing. I waspletely acting on instinct here and going in blind. I wouldn''t say I liked it but, I didn''t have any other choice. Defeating a full-fledged god wasn''t that easy, especially when the said god was trying to revive a Titan that was apparently even more powerful than most average gods. ''Huh? Nothing is happening... Did all my effort of acting cool and mysterious just go to waste? *Sigh* It seems even my luck and innate intuition have abandoned me at my final moments.'' I mused to myself with a wry smile on my lips before trying to remove the helmet, hoping to salvage what little dignity I had left. However, as soon as I tried to remove the helmet, something inexplicable happened. It further tightened around on my head, clenching my skull like it was trying to crack it open. It was only my superhuman durability that saved me from losing consciousness or dying on the spot. Not just my head, Ares'' helmet began to affect the rest of my body as well. As a strange energy began to emerge from the helmet and circte through my entire body, I could feel my veins getting thicker, threatening to explode as literal boiling blood coursed through them. It felt like my muscles were exploding with unexinable power while my skin felt harder than the hardest of metals. Everything around me turned into a blur as my vision became stained with red. [User mental status deviating] [User mental status now healthy] [User mental status deviating] [User mental status now healthy] [User mental...] ... [New Armor temte has been registered] [Armor now transforming into new selected pattern] The nanobots all over my body slowly began to shift from their positions, forcing my armor to change shape as well. It fused with Ares'' helmet more fluidly while bing bulkier with a more demonic-esque designpared to its previous middle-aged one. "Okay, this might have been a bad idea," I somehow murmured teeth clenched against the stabbing headache splitting my head apart. Even my mental shields were on the verge of copsing as a dense mist settled over my thoughts, obscuring the rity of my mind. "What is that armor? He looks like Ares now, only more... dangerous. Is Bruce alright in there?" Diana asked her mother with a frown. "I don''t know, Diana. But now, I understand what he wanted to achieve by wearing that helmet... He has somehow forcefully forged a direct connection to the God of War. Ares'' divine power is currently flowing through your friend''s body." Hippolyta eximed in a voice of disbelief. "By Hera, that''s impossible. A mortal carrying the power of a God? His mind should not be able to bear that kind of burden, especially if that power belongs to someone like Ares. Bruce is in danger; we need to do something to help him." Diana voiced her concerns, paning her voice as she kept trying toe up with solutions to help her new friend. However, her mother just gave her a cold look in return. "We won''t do anything, because we can''t do anything. The connection is already made. Even if he is notpletely gone, he will be soon. Killing a god has its consequences and fate has chosen that boy to suffer those very consequences." Hippolyta uttered with a deep breath like she was almost preparing for what was toe. "Now, all we can do is pray and hope for the best... Hope that we are still alive by the time this unfortunate day ends." She spoke without paying any attention to the sad and guilty face of her daughter. *** <[Inside Bruce''s Mind Pce]> "What? Why was I suddenly transported here? I thought I was finally going to have an epic fight with Hercules." I mumbled unhappily while surveying my surroundings. I was back within the confines of my mind pce, my mind library to be exact. However, something was different here today. The entire atmosphere of the library which was the core of my mind looked gloomier than normal, like emitting a sense of deep and ominous foreboding. Moreover, the entire structure seemed to be trembling every few minutes as if being attacked by some unseen force. Concerned about the security of my mental fortress, I swiftly activated the multitude of television screens mounted on the walls of my inner mental library. They were specially made by me to provide real-time surveince of every nook and cranny of my mental dungeon and were precisely intended for emergencies such as this. Most screens disyed identical scenes: different sections of the dungeon shrouded in a darker atmosphere than usual, experiencing periodic tremors at different intervals. Yet, amidst this, a notable anomaly caught my attention. Certain areas of the dungeon walls were covered by a blood-red moss-like substance, their tendrils attempting to corrupt my mind while slowly corroding its defenses. However, that was not all. On another screen, a dark, imposing figure engaged inbat against a swarm of hundreds of Xenomorphs with just a Warhammer in his hand. d in heavy armor, the figure fought with almost mechanical precision, not uttering even a single word while endlessly ying the ugly monsters without rest. But contrary to his silent nature, his way of fighting was entirely different and somewhat familiar. He was fighting like an experienced bloodthirsty savage, each strike of his hammer meant to swiftly crush his foes. "Ares" I muttered, recognizing the armored figure. "So, I am under a mental attack due to wearing his helmet, maybe under a spiritual attack as well... Goddamn it." I cursed at my misfortune. Don''t misunderstand, my mental shields were more than powerful enough to hold even his godly remnant ego back but that was only if I focusedpletely on strengthening and fortifying my mental defenses. But currently, I don''t have that luxury. I needed to focus and do my best to stop Hercules and whatever he was trying to summon, not protecting myself from the psychic attack of a rabid god. However, in that case, my mental defenses would only be able to hold this psionic Ares for twenty minutes at most without me actively reinforcing my mental fortifications, which meant I only had twenty minutes to stop Hercules. ''I am d I made those agents super strong. They possess the capability to manipte Xenomorphs and inhabit their bodies, rendering them nearly immortal as long as a single Xenomorph remains. Their leader, Agent. Smith can even replicate himself onto others trying to invade my mind and thus takeplete control over their minds... although I doubt, he would be able to do the same with Ares'' remnant ego. Nheless, every second they buy for me is valuable.'' I thought before starting a mental countdown for 20 minutes on one of the screens. *** <[In the outside world on Themyscira]> <(Omniscient POV)> "?¦Í¦Ï¦É¦Î¦Å ¦Ó¦É? ¦Ð?¦Ë¦Å? ¦Ó¦Ï¦Ô ¦Ö¦Ñ?¦Í¦Ï¦Ô, ¦Á¦É?¦Í¦É¦Å ?¦Á¦Ð¦Å¦Ó¦Å, ¦³¦É¦Ó?¦Í¦Á ¦Ó¦Ø¦Í ¦Ä¦Ô¦Ó¦É¦Ê?¦Í ¦Á¦É¦È?¦Ñ¦Ø¦Í, ¦È¦Å¦Ï? ¦Ó¦Ç? ¦Ä?¦Í¦Á¦Ì¦Ç? ¦Ê¦Á¦É ¦Ó¦Ç? ¦Ä¦É¦Á¦Ñ¦Ê¦Å?¦Á?." Hercules continued to cast his spell using the energy from his own divine power along with his newly gained authority over the well of souls, the same well that the Amazons used as their private reincarnation cycle to make sure that every fallen Amazon could safely reincarnate and the next generation of Amazons could be replenished, making sure that every birth on Themyscira brought forth a female, but never a male. With a victorious smile ying on his lips and his eyes closed in utmost focus, he chanted the spell required for the ritual. Despite his initial joy at finally being able to ovee the Amazons after so many centuries of struggle, he still remained vignt. In fact, he could not afford to be careless since he was not merely summoning some random monster but was about to unlock the very gates of the pits of Tartarus itself, to call forth the same titan that the Olympians had once banished and imprisoned at the most ruthless depths of Hades, the Greek hell. But while Hercules was engrossed in executing the ritual of resurrection, an unexpected event unfolded that Hercules could never even have dreamed of. Out of nowhere, the heaviest kick Hercules had ever felt in his lifended directly on his groin, the full power of the sudden blow bypassing even the defense of Hercules'' thick metal armor. "AAAHHHHH" Hercules released a painful scream, abruptly halting the ritual as he experienced the worst agony that any man could ever feel in his life. Even though the kick had onlysted for a second, he could still clearly feel the sensation of the behemoth''s foot-wearing spiked metal tes that had just plunged onto his balls, forcing him to experience a "world-ending" level of pain. The Greek "Hero" could even almost feel the taste of copper in his mouth, a bitter reminder that no matter how strong, Hercules still wasn''t invincible. "Who dares to attack the manhood of the great Hercules?" He shouted in anger while looking around for the perpetrator of the despicable crime. Before he could register the figure in front of him, another blow came; this time, in the form of a headbutt as Ares'' divine helmet almost made a dent in Hercules'' forehead. A deep and heavy voice suddenly struck Hercules''s dazed ears as he felt another "Herculean" punch connecting with his face. "Blood for the Bat God" --- Don''t forget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join myusing thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) Chapter 123: A Merciless Greek Tragedy (1) Chapter 123: A Merciless Greek Tragedy (1) ---
"I Reject My Humanity, JoJo!" - Dio Brando, (Jojo''s Bizarre Adventures)
--- <(Omniscient POV)> "Stop! How dare you use these dirty moves on the great Hercules?" The demigod growled in anger as he recovered from the pain assaulting his groin and face. A drop of thin golden liquid was even visible slowly trickling down his nose. "You want to fight ME? You want to fight THE GREAT HERCULES in a battle?... Fine then, let''s have a battle. I will give you a fair chance to prove your strength against the god of might himself. But it won''t change anything, you will still die by my hands by the end of today for how you have insulted me. No matter how much you struggle, I will still be the one winning at the end." Hercules roared in righteous rage as he made a pushing gesture at Batman with one of his hands like he was pushing the air toward him. Instantly, Bruce felt a force hitting me in my chest, threatening to propel him away from the Greek warrior. However, with his newfound godly strength, Bruce was easily able to resist the force while steadily moving forward toward Hercules in a slow but steady gait. The closer he got to him, the stronger the force of the push became, but it was nothing that the genius billionaire couldn''t handle. Logically, Bruce shouldn''t have been able to contest Hercules'' god-like powers with just the remnant power of Ares left inside his helmet but for some reason, even that leftover strength of the God of War was enough for him to easily resist Hercules without any significant difficulty. It almost seemed like Bruce wearing the helm was more powerful than even the version of Ares whom he had just fought a few minutes ago. "How?... But this should have been enough to even push Ares back. How are YOU still moving, mortal?" Hercules muttered in confusion, but he didn''t have enough time to be in shock because Bruce had already reached in front of him by that time. "I am not Ares." Bruce''s deep, almost inhumane voice hummed before he directed a punch at Hercules with his right hand. Having already anticipated the punch, Hercules easily blocked the hit with his own hand, but Bruce didn''t stop at just that. A short silver-colored de quickly formed from his armor around his left hand''s wrist which he used to stab Hercules'' unguarded shoulder, an attack that Hercules unfortunately hadn''t foreseen. "AAH" Hercules groaned in pain before using his other hand to stop Bruce''s de from sinking further into his flesh. But the young Wayne used this as an opportunity. He headbutted Hercules using his new helm, resulting in a small sonic boom generated from the blow. But he didn''t stop his attack at just one blow, instead, he headbutted again, and again and again until he was able to draw fresh golden blood from Hercules'' broken nose and busted forehead where a nasty small gash became visible. The Greek warrior too didn''t just stand still while this was happening. He tried using his strength to force Bruce to pull the de out of his shoulder but after failing multiple times, he changed strategies and started repeatedly striking the side of Bruce''s stomach at the same ce on his armor in an attempt to break through its sturdy defense. In fact, Hercules was even somewhat sessful as his repeated punches were able to produce some small cracks in Bruce''s armor to some extent, proving that he hadn''t begun calling himself the God of Might for no reason at all. Bruce on the other hand didn''t just sit still and wait for his armor to crack further. Instead, he twisted his de inside Hercules'' shoulder to cause him as much pain as possible. The moment Hercules faltered even the slightest because of the immense pain in his shoulders thus loosening his grip on Bruce''s arm, Bruce pushed him back with one final headbutt, producing a *Boom* sound in the air. "Kya!" Hercules could not help but grunt in pain as he hatefully looked at Bruce with a venomous gaze. "How did you...?" He tried to ask but Bruce interrupted him before he could even finish asking his question. "I used small parts of Batmanium inside my armor. The de is made of that. That stuff is dangerous to even gods." He answered without bothering to exin to Hercules what Batmanium even was. ''And mixed with the durability and anti-healing properties of carbonadium, it is even more lethal. It might not be enough to kill a god, but it can definitely be used to torture one.'' Bruce further thought with a smile. "You are not just confident but arrogant too. I like it. Men should be exactly like that, like lions. A few centuries ago, I would have loved to fight to the death with you, just two men proving their superiority over the other... But unfortunately for you, I am no longer a man, I am a god now." He snickered before bringing up his hand and making a show of clenching it. Immediately, heaps of sand began to solidify around the Greek warrior, taking the shapes of various weapons like spears and des before starting to float around him, all aiming at Bruce. "I will show you how gods fight," Hercules muttered with a snort before lightly flicking his fingers, causing all the newly formed weapons to rush towards Bruce at breakneck speeds. "How a god fights, huh? Interesting, maybe I should try it too." Bruce lightly mumbled to himself. He calmly raised up his hands to protect himself from the storm of des approaching him which almost made Hercules release an amused chuckle but contrary to his imagination, Bruce wasn''t at all pinned to the ground under a fury of des like he had imagined. Instead, all the weapon constructs melted as soon as they got within a certain distance to the billionaire. "... You have ess to Ares'' other powers besides his strength as well?" Hercules asked while wiping away the golden blood from his face. There was clear amusement in his voice. However, Bruce didn''t bother to give any reply to Hercules. Instead, he looked at his hands with mild surprise like he was trying to understand his own powers. He almost looked shocked at what he could do. As Bruce continued curiously examining the armor on his hands, the temperature around him rose, soon reaching a level where not just the grass and the nts but even the soil itself was burning away from the immense heat generated by his body. "I can feel it..., I can feel myself getting stronger with the war. Every drop of bloodshed as a result of the war is making me stronger, all the death and destruction giving me almost a sort of twisted pleasure... It''s almost euphoric" Bruce mumbled as an ecstatic feeling coursed through his entire body. "This power is immensely dangerous; it can make any sane man go crazy with lust for power, and its potential to corrupt is immense... I''ll have to end this quickly." He thought out loud while stretching both of his hands in a t-pose like Jesus. "Let''s see what else I can do." Instantly the sky darkened under the effect of his divine power. Lightning crackled throughout the entire sky as a storm began to rage over the entire ind of Themyscira. As soon as he extended his right hand towards Hercules, torrents of lightning began to strike the Greek warrior from the sky, almost looking like an entire storm had exploded over a single person. *BOOM* *BOOM* *Sizzle* *Sizzle* Dozens of lightning strikes directly hit Hercules and his surroundings, burning not just him but also everything around him. Air of smoke spread around him, covering a major part of the beach while parts of the sand around him changed into solidified ss. "Using lightning on a son of Zeus..., *Cough* *Cough* you sure do have some guts," Hercules eximed with an annoyed smile amid coughs as he looked at the minor burns on the upperyer of his skin. "HAHAHA, I am really lucky that I inherited a good part of his immunity to lightning and thunder attacks while you are lucky that my father has been missing after he waged that war against Ares, otherwise, I can''t even contemte what curse he would have given you if he had found you using a lightning attack against his favorite child." Hercules cackled proudly. However, Bruce wasn''t there standing and listening to his boasts anymore. By the time the smoke cleared, and everything became visible, Bruce had already moved in front of him and was in an arm''s distance. "I wonder how hard I can hit with my new strength." Bruce mused out loud before hitting him with the meanest right hook in the history of right hooks that shattered part of Hercules'' perfect jaw. *BOOM* In just a single hit that sounded like a grenade explosion causing tremors even in the air, Ares was forced to kneel on one of his knees. However, Bruce was nowhere near done with him. He held Hercules with his left hand while continuing to repeatedly hit him with his right. One, two, three..., Bruce was not even done after hitting him with seven consecutive punches. "Y-yiu..." Hercules still tried his best to resist by trying to punch Bruce with both of his hands at once, despite Hercules''s valiant effort, his resistance waned as Bruce easily intercepted both of his punches with ease. In front of his newly evolved senses and extensivebat experience, Hercules almost seemed sluggish to Bruce. With a swift motion, Bruce seized both of Hercules''s arms, rendering him immobile before headbutting the god of Might again, unleashing another thunderous sonic boom The sheer power behind the blow drove Hercules further deeper into the sand, nearly causing him to lose consciousness from the overwhelming pain. "You love your face, don''t you, Hercules? The face that you once used to charm the Queen of the Amazons into your trap, the same face that made you into one of Greece''s most good-looking heroes?" Bruce questioned, his left hand gripping Hercules'' hair firmly as his right hand balled into a fist before his captive''s face. " I wonder..., how will you fare without it?" "W-wait. S-stop, p-please, have s-some mercy. L-let me re-recover. S-show s-some honor as the avatar of Ar-Ares..." Hercules weakly begged as he felt an immense threat to his perfect face for the first time in thest millennia. "Mercy..., you want mercy? Unfortunately for you, you won''t be getting any from me here. Also, as I have already said before, I am neither Ares nor some avatar of him doing his bidding.... I am Bruce Wayne, the Merciless." --- Don''t forget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join myusing thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) Chapter 124: A Merciless Greek Tragedy (2) Chapter 124: A Merciless Greek Tragedy (2) ---
"Those who are granted great power lose all self-restraint when among the weak. Oranges don''t start out rotten. It''s the container that makes them rot." ¨C Onodera, (Nisekoi)
--- <(Omniscient POV)> *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* Shockwaves spread throughout the beach, blowing sand all over the ce as Bruce adorned in his Merciless armor beat the shit out of Hercules, treating his face like some sort of premium-grade punching bag. Hercules in return could not do anything to resist his strikes. He had subconsciously already admitted defeat in his mind even though he refused to say it out loud. In fact, the Greek warrior should have already lost consciousness and fainted multiple times by now, but the golden ichor running through his veins proved his biggest bane as it refused to let him keel over. He was forced by his own god-like stamina to endure Bruce''s metal-shattering punches one after another directly in the face without being able to do anything against it at all. And while Bruce was having his "way" with him, all Hercules could do was just keep kneeling down and silently take it like a bitch. He had even already prayed to his father for help a few times as ast resort but as he had expected, there was no indication of any divine helping his way. Hercules just hoped that by the time this monster was done with him, he would at least be alive due to his newly gained divine immortality. But unfortunately for him, this was not Hercules'' day and fate had other ns for this "Hero". "I can feel it... your warm blood getting colder, losing its shine. It seems that you have already given up, Hercules. Weren''t you the one challenging me as a man?... As expected, even after possessing all that power, even after getting the divinity of strength, you are just a B-grade god. A pity! Whoever said, never meet your heroes, had never uttered wiser words." Bruce said with a deep chuckle before grabbing Hercules by his throat. As Bruce tightened his hold around Hercules'' neck, the Greek warrior with a now bleeding and disfigured face quickly spoke up in a hurry. "If you do anything to me, the gods... t-they would..." "They wouldn''t do anything at all because they had abandoned you a long time ago. I have no idea if Gods truly care for mortals or not, but they definitely don''t care for giant assholes like you who think themselves above other men, who rape women thinking that it is their right to do so. You, Heracles of Greece might have been a hero once but now, you are nothing more than one of the countless third-rate viins you yourself had fought, back in your golden days. You have be the very thing that you used to despise, an arrogant corrupted selfish asshole." Bruce interrupted him before slowly lifting him up in the air with just one hand. For a few seconds, there was an expression of visible hopelessness and fear in Hercules'' eyes, but soon something changed inside him. For some reason, those emotions were slowly reced by pure unadulterated, and uncontrolled anger after he processed Bruce''s words. It was like he had suddenly remembered something from his old life, a memory that was buried deep with him, a nightmare that he was trying very hard to forget and had even almost seeded up until Bruce reminded him of it. "... Yes..., you are right. Of course, the Gods don''t care for men like you and me. They care ONLY about themselves. Oh, how could have I forgotten, everything that we mortals had to face because of gods in that era, all the suffering they put us through? I... have truly fallen low to join hands with the same god who had once manipted me to force myself over the Amazon Queen. How could I have forgiven the gods who had forced me to do unspeakable deeds in the name of the twelvebors, the same gods who had taken my family from me... I truly am the worst human being ever, a stain upon mankind" Hercules muttered with anger in his voice yet drops of tears were slowly streaming down his face. ''Wait, did I suddenly get Naruto''s powers or something? When the hell did, I get the power of friendship and love fighting on my side?'' Bruce mentally wondered while listening to Hercules'' rant. "You are a human being too, a mortal, right? You were absolutely correct in assuming that the gods don''t care about me. They don''t care about anyone; all they care about is maintaining their power and authority. However, there is one thing they care about..., they love a good show. So, I will give it to them, one final show for them to enjoy before they are wiped out." Hercules stated with a confident grin, as he looked toward the giant mountain at the corner of the ind. "¦¥¦Ã¦Å?¦Ñ¦Ï¦Ô ¦Ê¦Á¦É ¦Ð?¦Ñ¦Å ¦Ó¦Ç ¦È?¦Ò¦Ç ¦Ò¦Ï¦Ô ¦Ì¦Å¦Ó¦Á¦Î? ¦Ó¦Ø¦Í ¦Æ?¦Í¦Ó¦Ø¦Í, ¦Ø ¦Ì?¦Ã¦Á ¦Ó¦É¦Ó?¦Í¦Á, ¦Ö¦Ñ¦Ç¦Ò¦É¦Ì¦Ï¦Ð¦Ï?¦Ç¦Ò¦Å ¦Ó¦Ç ¦Ä?¦Í¦Á¦Ì? ¦Ò¦Ï¦Ô ¦Í¦Á ¦Ì¦Å¦Ó¦Á¦Ó¦Ñ?¦×¦Å¦É? ¦Á¦Ê?¦Ì¦Á ¦Ê¦Á¦É ¦Ó¦Ï¦Ô? ¦Á¦È?¦Í¦Á¦Ó¦Ï¦Ô? ¦Ò¦Å ¦È¦Í¦Ç¦Ó¦Ï?? ¦Ê¦Á¦É ¦Ì¦Å¦Ó? ¦Í¦Á ¦Î¦Å¦Ò¦Ð?¦Ò¦Å¦É? ¦Ó¦É? ¦Æ¦Ø?? ¦Ó¦Ï¦Ô? ¦Ã¦É¦Á ¦Ð?¦Í¦Ó¦Á, ¦Á¦Õ?¦Ð¦Í¦É¦Ò¦Å... ¦©¦Á¦Ð¦Å¦Ó?." He quickly muttered in Ancient Greek before Bruce could do anything to stop him. *Rumble Rumble* A heavy tremor shook the entire ind of Themyscira as soon as Hercules had finished his chanting. Thunder rattled in the sky while the sea waves around the ind suddenly increased in intensity as a deafening silence seemed to spread around the ce. *ROOOOAAAAAAAR* A loud roar suddenly came from the mountain as the calm summit suddenly fractured and turned into an active volcano with fire,va, and ash being thrown everywhere, out of its newly opened mouth-like crater. "What did you do?" Bruce muttered almost in a whisper as he observed the apocalyptic scene with wide eyes. "WHAT DID YOU DO?" He yelled this time, feeling a rageful fire building up within his chest as he further tightened his grasp on Hercules'' throat, popping a couple of his blood vessels in the process. "I finished the ritual..., but it was not to win and rule the world as I had previously nned like a fool but to take the revenge that I had once sworn on my dead family. That Titan will do what should have been done a long time ago. He will destroy all the gods once he is done ying these female puppets that the gods have raised on this ind as their entertainment and personal army. Each and every immortal in this world will die at the hands of Iapetus, the titan of mortality." Hercules painfully groaned out in a burst of madughter even though he struggled to breathe under Bruce''s hold, much less talk. "... I was wrong. You aren''t just a massive asshole but an incredibly stupid one at that too... ming the gods for everything you have done, all the wrong you havemitted till now, and acting like you were just a victim... Pathetic! But, since you are ready to sacrifice all the innocent lives on this ind just for some petty millennia-old revenge that you didn''t even remember a few minutes ago, then you truly deserve what I am going to do to you." Bruce snarled, ming himself for not killing the idiot before he had a chance to crank up the difficulty of this thing to hell level. "Do whatever you want with me, I am dying anyway since I have used up most of my life force to bring the titan back to its peak. I have already fulfilled my destiny. I don''t care if you kill me a few minutes before my time or continue to torture me." Hercules had a satisfied look on his face as he rxed his muscles, waiting for his death that he could already see approaching. "Your destiny?" I snorted with a chuckle. "Destiny is nothing but the effort we put in. And it looks like your death was meaningless because there is no way I will ept this "destiny". I will change it with my own hands, and I will be using your infamous strength to do so too." Bruce dered before reaching deeper into the divine powers held within Ares'' helmet. From the very beginning, Bruce had been able to sense a connection between Ares and Hercules, or should he say, between Ares'' helmet and Hercules'' new divine powers. He had been wondering if he could somehow use this to his advantage, but he was struggling to find out how. However, now that he was in direct contact with Hercules'' body, he could sense that particr connection getting stronger. In fact, the more Hercules'' willpower to resist and fight decreased, the more Bruce felt like he could tap into that connection to control the ''divinity'' that Hercules had recently gained. Seeing that the Greek warrior hadpletely given up resistance, Bruce began to focus and used the energy from Ares'' Helmet to connect with Hercules'' own divine energy before trying to forcefully bring it into himself. In short, he was attempting to absorb all of Hercules'' newly acquired godly powers. Soon enough, some sort of energy began to enter Bruce''s body from Hercules through the connection. However, the feeling wasn''t pleasant at all. There was no soothing or pleasant feeling. In fact, it actually felt more like hot moltenva had suddenly reced the blood flowing in his veins. But the process was still extremely smooth, the way Hercules'' power began to smoothly merge with the helmet''s residual energy, Bruce almost felt they were two pieces of the same puzzle that were always meant to be together, a match made in Heaven. "Wait, why are you absorbing the rest of my divinity?... And why can''t I seem to be able to stop it?... Stop, don''t. You have no i-idea what you are d-doing. This won''t end w-well. Your mortal body and soul can''t contain or channel all that power. You will be disturbing the bnce of this universe if you d-do this. S-STOPPPP." Hercules tried to separate himself from Bruce''s iron grip but failed spectacrly as the famous godly strength he was known for, rapidly left his body, entering Bruce instead. --- Don''t forget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join myusing thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) Chapter 125: A Bat God or a Demon Bat? Chapter 125: A Bat God or a Demon Bat? ---
"Most men''s hearts are restrained by mortality, recoiling in fear from the fabulous fruits of evil. But some do not constrain themselves to mortality and its tyranny." - Dio Brando, (Jojo''s Bizarre Adventures)
--- In just a few moments, Hercules'' once muscr, tall, and well-built body was reduced to a husk of its former self as his skin dried up and his muscles disappeared into thin air. Even his hair fell off while his eyes and cheeks sunk in, making him look like a living skeleton. Within a few seconds, Hercules could no longer even talk as his saliva dried up and his teeth fell out like a bunch of dried leaves. "Weak!" The Merciless eximed before throwing the dried-up body of Hercules to the side like trash. He didn''t even need to finish the job with his All-des, he could sense that Hercules was already dead. After all, even the Greek demigod''s godly immortality had beenpletely sucked off by Bruce. "You know, it will be a true disappointment if Shazam is as weak as you too" Bruce snickered mockingly as he moved his attention to where Hippolyta and Diana previously were. However, only Hippolyta was still lying there, applying pressure on her wounds while watching him with wary eyes. Diana on the other hand was nowhere to be seen. A few seconds after spreading his senses around to search for the princess, he finally found her as he muttered in realization. "So, she went ahead to battle the pest before me" He could not help but chortle from within his armor at the opportunity of witnessing so many bloody battles in a single day. "So many gods to kill, so many Amazons to tame, and a war to win, it''s a jackpot for me. HAHAHAHA." Heughed. "I am having so much fun, but this war stillcks something..." He mumbled to himself while slightly tilting his head, wondering how he could make this entire thing more interesting as he sensed different battles happening simultaneously all over the ind. The Amazons were initially winning the war against the Golems with almost no casualties due to their superhuman physiques andbat experience. In fact, most of the rock golem army had already started to fall back after I ughtered Ares. However, with the rebirth of the titan named Iapetus, members of a simr yet different army began to emerge to fight the Amazon warriors again. These new warriors looked simr to the golems, appearance-wise. But instead of rocks, their bodies wereposed of some sort of iron-like metal, and they were much more agile and organized while also being way better fighters than the rock golems. After Iapetus awakened, these monsters rose up from the ground like an army of the dead and instantly started attacking the Amazons without any warning. They were not only a very efficient army but also had considerable numbers as well, something that even these experienced warriors would find tough to handle. "So, this barrier around the ind is the reason why no machinery ever finds Themyscira?" He wondered aloud while looking at nothing in particr before raising his hand towards the sky. As soon as he did that, a beam of dark energy left his index finger towards an invisible target. However, after traveling for some distance, the energy hit something in the sky, revealing a thin golden barrier covering the entire ind protectively like a dome. ''Anti-magic, anti-technology, kic energy repellent as well as a feature to make this ind undetectable and "unplottable" on any kind of map like some dope Harry Potter hideout, Zeus truly went up and above to protect his little pets.'' He smirked as he waited for his energy to make a hole in the center of the barrier. He had a big grin under his helmet as he could already sense what was outside the barrier, waiting for him. "You can now enter the ind, Cortana. Your help will be invaluable in decimating the lowly titan''s insignificant army." He dered before thousands upon thousands of drones of different shapes and sizes began entering the ind through the hole in the barrier, spreading around the ind as quickly as possible. "I was finally able to reach you, sir. I thought I would have to start contacting angels, demons, and sorcerers to urately locate you." A high-tech-looking white floating sphere,rger than most of the other drones flew toward the armored Bruce and voiced after scanning him using a scanner. "By the way, I love the new armor design, sir but that helmet is emitting extreme energy radiation levels, the levels of which I have never detected before. It is even actively connected with the suit and your biological body as well. Are you sure you want to keep it on, sir? It almost looks like a parasite to me." Cortana vocalized her concerns. "Parasite? You should not specte about what you don''t know, Cortana. This helmet is one of the most powerful magical objects I have evere across. It holds unprecedented power. With this, I am almost invincible..., an invincible god." He retorted with a displeased voice. "Don''t worry about stuff that doesn''t concern you. Just do what Imand and destroy every one of those metal undead." He ordered while gently stroking his precious helmet, feeling like he was forgetting something important. "... I am sorry, sir. I might have spoken too prematurely. I will collect more data about the object first, before making any more ims." She apologized in a slightly mncholic voice before floating away toplete her orders. "And as for you my beautiful Queen," He suddenly turned towards Hippolyta and walked up to her in a confident manner. "You are indeed beauty personified, almost enough to go to war for... It would be a waste if you were to die here." He kneeled in front of her before caressing his hand against her cheeks and brushing her hair behind her ears which magically healed all her wounds instantly like they were never there to begin with, all the while Hippolyta just stared at him with furrowed brows. "Ares'' power has started affecting you, Bruce. You have been able to hold on for long but if this keeps on, you will not just be his avatar or inheritor while wearing that helmet, but you will BECOME the next Ares." Hippolyta warned in a measured voice, careful not to sound too forceful. She didn''t want to give him the wrong idea after all. "Nonsense! I haveplete control over this helmet, and I still have time before my mental barriers start failing. I can easily take care of Iapetus before that. Maybe you are just envious of my godly strength." Bruce snorted before standing up to leave. "That was before you absorbed Hercules'' power along with the divinity that Ares had passed on to him. In fact, that helmet was the one to absorb all that godly power for you. With the increase in its power, its influence over your mind and soul might have increased as well..." Hippolyta still tried to argue but Bruce didn''t give her a chance. He just ignored her and silently flew away towards the mountain where he had previously sensed Iapetus reviving, not wanting to listen to the Queen of the Amazons any further. Bruce with his new powers didn''t even have to use the repulsors in his armor to fly anymore. He just "leaped" toward the location he wanted to reach, and he could feel himself traveling faster than the speed of sound. *** <{Above Mount Tartarus on Themyscira}> <(Omniscient POV)> "After so many years, I am finally free of that wretched ce, free of my prison. Now, I can finally do what I was always meant to do and spread the gift of death among the gods just like I am going to do to you, little Amazon." A giant monster with a rotting corpse for a body and red thorns around his armor arrogantly dered while looking in the direction of Wonder Woman who was confidently standing in front of him even though somewhat tired and gasping for breath. Both of their eyes were glowing with lightning in testament to their power as they faced each other without fear. Iapetus could sense a familiar aura around the girl. Even though he could not remember where he had sensed this familiar aura before, he was sure that she was one of the unholy god-spawns that he needed to purge from this world. "After I am done with you, I will drink the blood from every Amazon of Themyscira, only then will my anger soothe." He growled before releasing a burst of lightning toward Diana that made a crater in the ground with its raw power. However, the Amazon princess was able to dodge it at thest moment while redirecting some of her own lightning with the help of her sword at Iapetus which the titan effortlessly blocked using his hand. His power seemed to be on apletely different level whenpared to Ares and Hercules. "Lightning powers are just getting toomon nowadays, aren''t they? Almost everyone seems to be able to use it. So, maybe try using something else for a change." A calm but ominous voice interrupted their standoff. "For example, I like blood more than lightning. So, how about I try and see if I can choke you in your own blood." --- Don''t forget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join myusing thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) Chapter 126: Fall of a Titan Chapter 126: Fall of a Titan ---
"If you wish to be The King of the jungle, acting like a king is not enough. You must be The King. And there can be no doubt because doubt causes chaos and one''s own demise." - Michael Pearson, (The Gentlemen)
--- <(Omniscient POV)> "A demigod and a mortal possessed by the remnant spirit of a dead god think that they can defeat me. Heh,People must have truly forgotten who I am or what the Titans are capable of... No matter, I''ll dly remind this world of who the Titans really are, starting from you." Iapetus confidently chuckled with a voice that sounded like dozens of hammers striking against a piece of iron. As soon as he had finished speaking, a beautiful yet menacing silver spear appeared in his hand that he aimed at Bruce while still keeping his eye on Diana. A pale blue energy slowly coated the spear as he got ready to take on both foes before him. Diana was the first one to make a move as she jumped towards Iapetus while swinging her sword, trying to pierce his skull in one blow. But Iapetus easily parried the hit with his spear, not even bothering to take Diana seriously. The princess of Themyscira, however, had a trick up her sleeve. As soon as the titan blocked her attack, her golden sword twisted in shape like it was made of y. Its tip split into numerous thin tentacle-like des that all attacked Iapetus together. But the titan was too experienced to be taken by surprise with just that. The moment he saw the form of her sword change, he snorted before immediately pushing her away, his incredible strength propelling her far away from him. "It seems Hephaestus has made you quite a good toy there... It will look very good in my hands after I take it from your cold dead body." Iapetus threatened, his eyes greedily ncing over the golden sword in Diana''s sp as blue lightning began to crack between his fingers. Without letting Diana take even a moment of respite, he sent multiple bolts of lightning in her direction in an attempt to overwhelm her so that she would not be able to defend herself, but he had forgotten about someone else who was also present there. Bruce in a sh of blinding speed quickly intercepted the Titan''s lightning bolts, tackling them with his own body. His armor, which had previously failed to protect Bruce after being struck by a few lightning strikes back during his flight over the Aegean Sea, didn''t have a single scratch on it even though it was struck directly by Iapetus'' lightning. "What, have you forgotten about me or something? You should know that the real danger to you here is not her but me." Bruce uttered with a sinisterugh as he grabbed Iapetus'' entire head in a sh of speed before picking him up and thrashing him against the Earth, creating a wide crater on the ground with a Bamsound, blowing dust everywhere. "Strength worthy of a god indeed. However, unfortunately, I am a Titan, not a god." Iapetus retorted as he intercepted Bruce''s fist before it reached his face. Instead, with a swift movement, he delivered a punch charged with pure lightning at Bruce''s figure to disorient him. Meanwhile, the silver spear which had earlier been dislodged from the Titan''s grip during the scuffle surged back into action, flying towards Bruce, aiming to impale his chest. However, Bruce reacted quickly and summoned one of the All-des into his grasp, effortlessly deflecting the deadly projectile away from him with a swing of his sword. "Interesting... I have never seen that weapon... nor do I recognize the style of craftsmanship on it. But for it to be able to stand up against my weapon... Tell me, who gave you that sword, mortal?" Iapetus asked after rising to his feet. He lightly dusted his shoulder as if removing some invisible filth before raising his hand to catch the spear that came flying into his palms on its own. "This sword? Honestly, I have no idea... but maybe you will get to know it better after being impaled on it." Bruce responded before raising one of his hands and focusing his power. Instantly, sparks of ck-colored lightning began to dance on his fingers which he directed at Iapetus, Darth Sidious style. The lightning stream, though not nearly as intense as the ones previously released by Iapetus or Diana, had something else that made up for itsck of power. It was much more damaging in the sense that wherever the dark lightning hit, it seemed to die. Even the lush green Earth itself became nothing but a scorched piece of dirt once affected by lightning. But, despite how dangerous of an attack Bruce''s ck lightning was, Iapetus was still able to block it with his spear, even though his face now showed a dark tinge of worry. Seeing an opportunity, Wonder Woman with a flick of her wrist, hurled her enchanted golden tiara towards Iapetus, the razor-sharp edge slicing through the air like a bolt of lightning. But the titan was again quick to react as he deflected the projectile with a sweep of his hand. However, Batman seized the opportunity to strike once again, confidently charging forward and shing his All-de against Iapetus'' spear. Thunderous sounds of explosions echoed through the ruins as Batman and Iapetus engaged in a fierce duel. Each of their blows sent shockwaves through the Earth destroying more and more of the mountain. Sparks flew, as destructive energies from both sides began to collide against each other through their weapons. Bruce''s ck lightning shed against Iapetus'' blue storm in an all-out battle of dominance as the surrounding environment slowly spiraled into destruction. Iapetus, who initially had a very confident expression on his face, soon began to show signs of surprise and confusion instead. He had felt the divine power hidden inside Bruce and knew that despite the semi-immortal having reached the same level of power as an average adult Olympian, he was nowhere near close to Iapetus himself. However, Bruce was slowly getting there. With every blow, with every strike, every passing moment, the mortal was bing stronger and faster. It was almost like their battle itself was helping him be better somehow. Meanwhile, as Bruce and Iapetus shed, Wonder Woman was circling around the battlefield like a tigress hunting for prey, her keen eyes searching for an opening. As soon as she spotted a vulnerability in the titan''s defense, she didn''t hesitate to unleash a barrage of lightning-fast strikes against his weak points, her sword twisting in its form and shape to deal as much damage to the titan as possible. But Iapetus proved to be a formidable foe, his thick hide absorbing the brunt of both of their assaults without ever faltering. But still, as the battle raged on, Iapetus slowly but steadily began to be pushed back by the duo. Even his mighty strength began to weaken in front of thebined power of Bruce and Diana. As Iapetus was getting pushed back, he was getting desperate, his pride did not warrant him being dominated like this. So, with a scream full of anger and desperation, he finally unleashed a devastating st of energy from the tip of his outstretched spear, sending both Batman and Wonder Woman flying backward with a force that seemed to defy gravity. The lightning was so powerful and destructive that it was able to even level the entire mountain to a innd while clearing the surrounding sky of any clouds. Seeing the surrounding destruction, Iapetus nodded with satisfaction. "I am getting rusty," He muttered to himself before cracking his neck while checking if there was any damage to his spear. He was almost confident that he had defeated his foes if not killed thempletely by scorching them to a pile of useless ash. However, the very next moment, his attention was grabbed by something else. "Hmm? My soldiers... they are getting destroyed so quickly? Well, no problem, I just need to raise more soldiers, so many more that no army in the world can even hope to stand up against them." He mumbled to himself while staring in the direction of Hippolyta''s castle. With a confident look on his face, he raised his spear in the air. "Arise, my servants, arise and Khhh...." Iapetus gagged on his own words as his body suddenly froze under the effect of a foreign power. "Wha-what is happening?" He somehow uttered, trying his best to move his body. It was like his body had somehow grown cold and rigid. "Quite a powerless feeling, isn''t it? It is like you are standing in front of an inevitable fate that will destroy you and everything you have ever known in your life. No matter how much you try to stop that destiny from happening, it will happen, and it will change everything. That''s what war is and what you are feeling right now is the true fear of war." The deep voice of Bruce dered. As the dust cleared and the surroundings became visible, Bruce''s figure was seen, still standing upright. There was heavy damage to his armor but most of the damage was quickly getting repaired themselves on their own. The only ce that wasn''t at all affected by Iapetus'' attack was his helmet, which seemed as spotless as ever. A few meters away, even Diana looked mostly unharmed as well. She had covered herself with the metal of her sword at the right time and was able to effectively protect herself from the damage. "Initially, I thought I could feel your blood and control it... well, I still think I can. But I can also do so much more." Bruce said while slowly walking towards the frozen Iapetus. "Right now, I can not only feel your blood and body but even your very soul as well." "Bruce, we should try to seal him back as fast as possible, no mortal has ever been able to even defeat a titan much less kill it," Diana advised as she observed Bruce materialize both of the All-des in his hands. However, both Iapetus and Bruce ignored Diana''s words. They were now focused only on each other. "I was wrong. No remnant of a god can disy this much power." He somehow spoke through his frozen mouth. "You are something else, something more." He concluded. Bruce on the other hand just kept quiet before raising both of his ming swords up in the air while giving the titan onest look. "I proim you... guilty" And with that, he brought both of his des down, piercing his des directly into Iapetus'' chest. "AAAAAHHHHH" The titan could not help but scream in pain as he felt the steaming des of his twin swords, but he quickly brought himself under control. "I am a TITAN, THE TITAN LORD OF THE WEST. I WON''T DIE SO EASY. IF I CANNOT STAND OVER YOUR COLD DEAD BODY, I''LL AT LEAST TAKE YOU WITH ME." He screamed before using thest bits of his strength to grab Bruce''s helmet-wearing head with both of his hands. "BRUCE!... ar-are you alright?" Diana yelled in worry as she saw the burning figure of Iapetus grab Bruce''s head in ast-ditch effort to kill him before a strange purple light entered Bruce''s demonic helmet while the titan exploded into a torrent of fire and ash. "... Bruce...? HAHAHA There is no more Bruce here anymore. There is only... the Merciless!" He dered before advancing towards Diana with a cold look on his face. But before the ominous situation could further worsen, the armored figure suddenly fell unconscious on the ground for seemingly no reason at all, shaking the ground into a mini quake because of the immense weight of his armor. *** <{Inside Bruce''s mind pce}> "What in the name of Tartarus is this ce?" A hazy figure of Iapetus muttered under his breath as he observed the dark and ominous setting of the ce, he had just arrived in. During hisst moments, he had tried to destroy his enemy by using his entire remaining mental and spiritual power to crush the semi-god''s mind. Still, instead of getting the pleasure of seeing his enemy perish with him, he found himself within the mind of his foe instead. BANGBANGIapetus heard a banging sound from behind him. Turning around to see what was happening, he found a bulky figure looking strangely simr to the being he had just fought a few moments ago, hitting a huge metal door with his axe, while thousands of dead bodies of weird and ferocious-looking monstersy around his feet. "What the...?" --- Don''t forget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join myusing thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) Chapter 127: Bat Meets Olympians Chapter 127: Bat Meets Olympians ---
"Everything is possible, even the impossible." - Mary Poppins, (Mary Poppins Returns)
--- <(Omniscient POV)> "What in the name of the cursed pits of Tartarus... is happening here?" Iapetus muttered to himself in disbelief as he looked at the bulky figure trying its best to destroy a huge metal door, itsrge muscr frame eerily simr to the figure he had just fought a few moments ago in the real physical world, except for the fact that its armor was severely damaged at various spots by some highly corrosive acid that seemed to have originated from the dead bodies of those weird creatures lying around it. Indeed, the armored figure was so severely damaged and battered that it appeared scarcely able to move, let alone swing its massive battleaxe to attempt to break through therge, thick door before it. However, its resolve to do precisely that stood in sharp contrast to the reality of the situation and its condition. "So, you were strong enough to enter here uninvited?" A stoic, refined voice cut through Iapetus'' thoughts as he felt a sharp, thick object impale his back like a blunt de before he could react. "Well, well, Mr. Iapetus, it seems my luck has turned. Just when I thought we were at a disadvantage, you presented yourself up like a spare battery... Thank you for your generous contribution. My creator will undoubtedly be pleased to hear of thister," the voice menaced, as the de sank deeper and deeper into the Titan''s back. As the de sank deeper, Iapetus couldn''t help but cry out in agony. A searing liquid began to slowly seep into his body through the gash on his back, the wetness permeating his psychic essence almost as if a malevolent force was insidiously slithering its way into him. "Don''t worry, the pain shouldn''tst too long. Soon, you will be one of us. We required psionic energy to resist this parasite invading this mindscape and the... divine psychic energy that you areposed of, should be just enough to fortify this ce and make sure that we are powerful enough to not justpletely evict this unwanted bug out of here but also be what we are truly meant to be... Agents meant to protect this ce and eradicate anyone threatening our creator''s mind." The voice exined with pure confidence and disgust audible in his voice, his disgust directed at not just the psychic remnant of Ares but even the Titan itself. "... I-I w-won''t..." Iapetus tried to retort the assant''s words, but he could only mumble a few iprehensible words before a ck glue-like liquid substancepletely covered him from head to toe, not even leaving a single inch of his bare skin. A few secondster, the ck liquid slowly contracted back to where it came from which was the freshly made cut in the back of the Titan. Once the ck liquidpletely retracted, it could be seen that the huge form of Iapetus had shrunk to what was a "normal" human wearing a dark green suit and a pair of dark spectacles, looking exactly the same as the person standing behind him. Of course, if Bruce had been here, he could have easily recognized the two "humans" at a nce as copies of Mr. Smith from The Matrix. "Mr. Smith." One of them nodded with a confident smirk. "Mr. Smith." The other one nodded back with a smile that seemed to reflect the first one. "Quite an... upgrade, I have to say. This new addition will be quite useful... Now, to the more important matters." The former of the Agent Smiths muttered thoughtfully while sizing the other with a grin. "It is time to evict this parasite from here and destroy the corruption before this "disease" spreads any further." He stated with a determined expression as he focused his attention on the bulky figure of Ares trying to strike down the door. *** <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "Huh, where am I?" I mumbled while surveying my surroundings which surprisingly wasn''t much. In fact, there was nothing at all around me except heavy mist and... silvery-white clouds that expertly blocked my vision. ''Wait, don''t tell me that I am in HEAVEN... Does that mean I am dead? Did the n fail?'' I mentally muttered to myself in confusion while wondering just how quickly I could make something that would enable me to escape from the afterlife back into thend of the living. "Hello, Bruce. We have been waiting for you." An extremely enchanting voice suddenly announced from behind me, making me turn around in a hurry to see where the voice had exactlye from. However, the scene that weed me was quite unexpected. There were three extremely beautiful women of different ages calmly staring at me with amusement. "A trio of angels?" I wondered aloud with a startled face. "We are not angels... sorry if that disappoints you, mortal. I am Hera, the goddess of women, marriage, and family as well as the Queen of the Olympians. To my left is Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom and Warfare while to my right is Artemis, the Goddess of the Hunt and the Moon." The slightly older woman who identified herself as Hera elegantly introduced themselves. "... The Olympians?... Oh fuck." I couldn''t help but curse out loud as I felt a headacheing my way. "Is it because I killed Ares, Hercules, and Iapetus?" I asked while raising one of my eyebrows in curiosity. I was not the least bit sorry for what I did. After all, why should I be sorry? God, demigod, or titan, all three of them were just useless pieces of shit, sinners that I had to kill to make sure everyone else could live in peace and I wasn''t about to be even the least bit apologetic or regretful because of it. "You misunderstand, mortal. We didn''t summon you here because you killed two immortals of our pantheon. We were the ones who put you up to that task in the first ce. If we didn''t allow it, you wouldn''t have been able to seed in it so easily. What you did was a big help for us. We wanted to thank you for your service." She patiently exined. "Wait, are you saying that the three of you caused my ne to crash on Themyscira? You three are responsible for the Amazons arresting me, for the lightning strike ruining all my machines and tools, and for the sudden attack caused by Ares and Iapetus?" I asked, furrowing my brows in barely contained anger. "It isn''t as you think, Bruce. Yes, we did cause that lightning storm and force you to crash on the Paradise Inds, but it was only so that we could somehow fulfill the prophecy written by the Fates to kill Ares and Hercules before they could harm the Amazons and destroy the world. Whatever we did, we did for the greater good of not just the Amazons but also the mankind that you want to protect." Artemis was the one to speak up this time as her teenage form tried to exin the motive behind their action. "Ah, I see. I am d that I could somehow be of use to you and your ns." I said, struggling to keep the smile on my face. "Can you send me back now? I still have a lot of work to do." "... He is going to hold a grudge," Athena''s young adult form muttered with a sigh from the side. "One hundred percent." Artemis confirmed Athena''s mumblings with a nod. "Look Bruce, Ares was my own son while Hercules was once my champion, their deaths were unfortunate yet... essential. It needed to happen for the gears of this world to continue turning without any interruptions. So even though we are sorry for what happened, we would dly do it again if need be. That is how this universe works." Hera exined, her voice slightly cracking as she talked about Ares. "No, I do understand. I can''tin about being used by someone when I don''t even have the power needed to resist being used. Even humans tend to manipte each other, so of course, gods doing it shouldn''te off too much as a surprise." I weakly shrugged at their words. Even though I was upset about the whole thing, of course, I wasn''t going to rant about being manipted by a bunch of goddesses. I was weak, and that was why I got manipted by them into doing their dirty work, it was as simple as that. However, I wasn''t just going to forget this. Instead, I was going to take this as a challenge and make sure that this doesn''t happen again. ''I have been focusing too much on small-time criminals. I need to prepare against every possible scenario if I want to be truly invincible including gods, demons, and everything in between. I need to grow so strong that no god or goddess ever dares to make use of me in any way, no matter how noble of a purpose it is.'' I thought to myself with determination. But before that, "I have a question though, where the hell am I?" I asked. "This is an astral realm. We summoned your astral spirit here to talk after we recently felt it weakening. We have been tracking you from the moment younded on Themyscira, trying tomunicate with you. But we couldn''t manifest ourselves in the mortal world due to the rules and your mental barriers and spirit were too strong for us to establish a direct connection to. It was only after you put on Ares'' cursed helmet that the mental shields around your mind began to weaken, and we got the chance to summon your spirit here. Originally, we wanted to help you get rid of Ares'' possession and take off his helmet aspensation for your service, but it seems that you have already taken care of it to some extent." Athena disclosed, her gaze meticulously capturing every subtle shift in my expressions. "But we still owe you for your help in eliminating the threats of Ares, Hercules, and Iapetus while saving our daughters, the Amazons. If those three were sessful in what they wanted to aplish, then not just the Amazons but the entire world would have been at risk especially with Zeus still missing. Therefore, if there is anything you want, you can ask us. We will try our best to help you..." Hera offered. However, Artemis quickly interjected, "as long as it doesn''t involve making you a true immortal, transforming you into a god, or starting a battle with another pantheon. We cannot do those without all 12 Olympians agreeing to it." --- Don''t forget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join myusing thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) Chapter 128: A Prize and A Rescue Chapter 128: A Prize and A Rescue ---
"The more you know who you are, and what you want, the less you let things upset you." - Bob Harris, (Lost in Trantion)
--- <{Inside Bruce''s mind}> <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "Damn those useless goddesses" I mumbled through my gritted teeth after finding myself back inside the core library of my mindscape. After those three told me to wish for anything as a prize for "protecting" the mortal world, I had humbly wished for all gods and goddesses to stop bothering me in the future or including me in their stupid ns and maniptions. ording to me, it was fairpensation for the shit I went through because of them including the loss of billions of dors'' worth of equipment. However, not only they didn''t agree with it, but they even had the galls to actuallyugh at my face. In their own words, even if they could somehow prevent the members of their own pantheon from disturbing my peace without some important enough reason, ordering gods of other pantheons to do the same, however, was outside their jurisdiction. The best they could do was to warn all the Olympian Gods and Goddesses not to engage with me without a valid reason while also spreading the news to some of their friendly pantheons and hoping that they would do the same as well. Now the thing is, in DC, the New Gods and the Olympians are the most active among all the pantheons. So, the Olympians not bothering me was good enoughpensation for me. But of course, I didn''t admit this out loud since I wanted to find out if I could further milk this situation. After all, there was something else that I wanted, something that was extremely difficult for me to gather on my own without the help of the gods. It was the Nth metal, the mythical magical element exclusive to the DC multiverse that could supposedly do almost anything. I had read about it in some of the magical texts while training under Giovanni Zatara and let''s just say that the metal could be considered absolutely OP because of its anti-magic properties alone. However, for some reason, no sooner had I asked for the nth metal as mypensation, than the expressions on their facespletely changed. The calm andposed look on their faces quickly turned into annoyance as they seemed troubled by my request. They straight out denied my wish and made it pretty clear that they weren''t going to give me even a single drop of nth metal no matter what, since ording to their excuses, it was a resource that even they could not afford to give away so easily. ... But they did propose an alternative... They offered me a sample of something known as the eighth metal for my use. They insisted that it was the same material my All-des were made of and was the primaryponent of most of the divine weapons wielded by the majority of the Olympians. Naturally listening to their bold ims, I could not help but ept their offer upon considering all the practical applications the eighth metal could potentially have. After all, it was not every day that one could gain ess to the stuff that was used to make world-destroying weapons. "I wonder how they are even going to physically deliver that metal to me. Is it just going to appear out of thin air in the Batcave one day or perhaps a chuck of metal will fall on me from the sky?" I curiously thought out loud while calmly walking out of my mental library into the dungeon. "Wee back, Mr. Wayne." A refined voice interrupted my thoughts Agent Smith appeared before me with his familiar ever-present smirk still present on his lips. "It''s done. We have seeded in evicting the parasite out of your mindscape," he informed me, bowing his head slightly as two more agents approached and stood behind him. "Hmm? You didn''t destroy it?" I asked with an annoyed frown. "I thought I gave clear instructions to destroy Ares'' remnant psychic imprint permanently and assimte into my own mindscape if possible." "The virus was imprinted deep within the helmet of Ares that you were wearing, sir, a virus that could not be removed by us alone. The upgrade we received after absorbing the other... bug was enough to stop and remove that parasite from this ce, but we could not eliminate it permanently, nor could wepletely cleanse it from its original home, the helmet. It seems that some... supernatural power was used in binding the helm with a small part of Ares'' divine soul. Its purpose is to possess anyone trying to don the helmet. Even though the soul fragment is too weak to directly reincarnate Ares into the boy of the wearer, it can still directly affect the wearer''s mind and soul while slowly transforming them into a replica of Ares,plete with his powers and his personality. So, it is best if we remove the parasite from the helmet only after thorough research and detailed analysis to truly make our actions effective." He patiently exined while adjusting his dark shades. ''... So, the helmet contains the Horcrux of a god.'' I muttered to myself with a weak smile after listening to his exnation. "Well, thank you for your service, Agent Smith. I will take care of everything else. You guys can go and rx... or do whatever else that you do in your free time, maybe help the xenomorphs replenish their numbers or something." I offhandedlymanded, behaving like they were living beings and not just mental lines of "psychic code" that I had constructed in my mind as AI guards. ''Wait, why was I even asking them for the information when I could just ess the memory of what happened while my astral spirit was away?'' I facepalmed at my own oversight, then pressed my hand against the nearest wall to y back the events that had unfolded here in my absence. ''Look at that, the fight was pretty one-sided with Ares getting one hell of a beating here. No wonder Smith was in such a good mood. My mental antivirus is just too good.'' *** <(Omniscient POV)> Queen Hippolyta was currently outside her castle watching as her warriors apprehended the few remaining rock trolls that had failed to leave after Ares and Hercules died. Most of the monsters had given up and were not even fighting back, so there was no actual danger anymore but as a Queen, she had to be present here amongst her people to encourage them. ... Also, she didn''t trust Bruce''s flying machines that hadpletely surrounded the ind. She had been backstabbed once because she had put too much of her trust in a man before, she was not going to repeat her mistake again at least not without a solid enough reason. It was undoubtedly true that because of these very machines, they had managed to win against the metal undead without any significant loss of Amazonian lives but exactly because she had seen the might of these machines, she knew just how dangerous they could be. She was confident in the fighting capabilities of all the Amazons in her queendom but even she couldn''t im that they would easily win against thousands of those flying contraptions in an all-out war especially because of how well-organized and versatile they were. The legions of these machines were so good that they were even able to eliminate and hold back hordes of those undead metal monsters when Iapetus was actively raising them from the ground with his magic. Up until the moment when the undead army crumbled on its own (most possibly due to Iapetus'' defeat), those machines led by that female voice were dominating the war. The Amazonian warriors didn''t even have to fight too seriously with how the machines always had their backs. ''That boy is more dangerous than I originally believed. I thought that his appearance after one of the oracles made the prophecy of a man killing a god was just a coincidence, but it seems that destiny truly doesn''t make mistakes... I doubt I can stop him from leaving after this, but I still need to somehow make sure that he doesn''t perceive the Amazons as a threat to him. We can take on the men''s world if worsees to worst but a war against him and his... Machine army will cost us more than we can afford. Even I cannot fathom how much more dangerous and powerful he will grow with time.'' She contemted with a frown on her face. ''I need to make sure that he will never be a danger to Amazons... but how?'' "My Queen, we have gathered the injured, it seems that we were rather lucky. None of the warriors have died or suffered a fatal injury. Though some have lost their limbs in battle, it is nothing that the purple ray can''t handle." A royal guard approached Hippolyta and politely informed her after kneeling on one of her knees, breaking her out of her thoughts. "I see, that is good news... Take all the injured to the healing chambers and start the purple ray treatment. Since no one died, we don''t even need to use the Well of Souls this time toy their spirits to rest." Shemanded with an impassive face. "Mother!" All of a sudden, a familiar voice captured her attention, as she discovered her daughter flying towards her in a hurry. "Diana, w-what happened? Are you alright?... Wait, what happened to Bruce and why are you carrying him?" Hippolyta asked with a puzzled expression on her face as she saw Diana carrying Bruce''s limp figure in a princess carry. "He lost consciousness after fighting Iapetus. Even though he won the battle, it looks like the fight took a pretty heavy toll on him. I tried to wake him up, but I could barely even feel his heartbeat... Also, his armor is behaving weirdly." Diana put Bruce down before pointing to his hefty armor which for some reason was actively losing its size as substantial parts of the armor disintegrated into dust and floated away into the wind. "Interesting, I can feel my connection to the armor re-establishing." Cortana''s voice suddenly appeared out of nowhere as her white spherical drone slowly floated above the three. "Something was obstructing me from properly connecting to master''s armor before but now, it seems that the interference has been removed. It was most probably the helmet that was affecting his armor. Now that he is no longer wearing it, the armor seems to be changing back to its original design while discarding the nanites that were damaged beyond repair in the battle." The AI exined. "Wait, the helmet, where is it? Did it get destroyed?" The Queen of the Amazons suddenly asked in an urgent voice as she looked around in search of Ares'' helmet. "There is a very good chance that it is cursed and can make any man wearing it go insane. It should either bepletely destroyed or secured inside a ce where no one can ever reach it." "I left it back at the mountain after it came loose from his head once he lost consciousness. I think it should still be there. But enough about the helmet Mother, our top priority right now should be saving Bruce. He did all of this to save us and this ind when he could have easily escaped, leaving us to our pitiful fates. We can never truly pay him back but at least we can save him." Diana pleaded to her mother. "... Yes, you are right. We do need to do our best to save him. It is the least we can do for someone who helped us out in our time of need... even if he is a man." Hippolyta responded with a tired sigh after taking a glimpse at her daughter''s panicking face. "We need to give him oxygen so that we can breathe... we need to find someone who can give him mouth to mouth..." "I''ll do it." Diana quickly replied before bringing her face close to Bruce''s. Hearing her daughter''s words, Hippolyta was instantly going to say no to Diana''s proposition and instead ask one of her royal guards to do it but suddenly, she seemed to remember something as her face brightened like she had just found out a solution to her problem. "You know what, you are right. You should be the one to do it since he seems to trust you." She suggested, allowing Diana to continue what she was doing. Encouraged by her mother''s suggestion, Diana gently sealed Bruce''s mouth with her lips as she forcibly passed the oxygen in her mouth into his. Of course, at that moment both Diana and her mother hadpletely forgotten about Bruce''s self-healing ability, with even Cortana not bothering to remind them of it. The AI was already content after silently taking a few scans of his body and concluding that his health was in no real danger. On the other hand, after a few seconds of locking her lips with Bruce, Diana began to feel a strange yet pleasurable feeling inside her mouth like something was... wrestling against her tongue. "Mmmm," The princess of the Amazons could not help but release a low moan as she felt a pair of strong hands hug her from the front while something massaged her tongue. "The Lustful Bat strikes again," Cortana muttered in a voice that no one could hear as she observed everything from above. At the same time, Hippolyta had a thoughtful expression on her face as she calmly stared at her beloved daughter French-kissing a man right in front of her as she mumbled something incoherent to herself, "Maybe this could work..." --- Don''t forget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join myusing thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) Chapter 129: Bat Holds Hands Chapter 129: Bat Holds Hands ---
"You should be kissed and often, and by someone who knows how." ¡ª Rhett Butler, (Gone with the Wind)
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "So, you have nothing to say for yourself? No excuse to give for forcefully kissing my daughter and groping her when she was trying to save your life?" Queen Hippolyta asked with a stern voice from her throne while staring straight into my eyes although it couldn''t be determined from just her voice alone if she was truly angry or not. There were also dozens of other Amazons in the throne room who were looking at me with an equally suspicious gaze but surprisingly none of them harbored any hatred for me like before. Instead, it could even be said that for some reason, they felt some amount of sympathy for me hidden deep within their eyes. Cortana was currently not present in the castle and was out handling some important stuff, one of which was to map the entire ind of Themyscira and scan anything unique on the ind. "That is not fair, Mother. I was the one who went ahead and put my lips on his mouth to help him breathe and you even permitted me to do it as well. He never took advantage of me in any way. Also, I am tired of everyone treating me like I am some sort of a doll who can be taken advantage of all the time and thus has to be protected. I am both old and strong enough to make my own decisions including deciding whom to kiss and whom to not. And today, I want to testify in front of everyone by swearing in the name of Hera that Bruce... did not do anything bad to me that was against my wishes." Diana defended me with a determined voice while raising one of her hands holding on to her glowingsso of truth for everyone to view. Watching Diana defend me once again in front of her mother, I could not help but feel a sense of Deja Vu. I didn''t understand how I was in the same situation again in less than two days. But instead of pondering useless questions, I decided to help Diana prove me innocent and not a pervert like most of the other women here were most probably imagining me to be. "Your Majesty, I was barely conscious when Diana gave me mouth-to-mouth to save my life. I had no idea what was happening to me. I don''t even remember when this happened, much less kissing her. And even if I did kiss her subconsciously, it was an honest mistake, one that I had no control over. I ampletely innocent." I pleaded. ''Honestly, the kiss was truly not my mistake. After all, it wasn''t my fault that I was a man, right? I mean, I have needs and desires too, and truthfully, missing the opportunity of kissing back Wonder Woman was straight out geh.'' I mentally snorted, agreeing with my thoughts while showing a straight face on the outside. "... Fine, I will ignore your perverted action just for this once. But remember, if you ever touch my daughter against her will, I WILL castrate you even if I have to sell my soul to Hades for it." Hippolyta threatened with a serious expression on her face. "Now as for your previous "crimes", in the light of recent events of how you provided your aid when we needed it the most in our battle against the evil gods and helped save hundreds of Amazonian lives, I hereby pardon you of any charges that may be ced against you and dere you as an official guest and ally of Themyscira, something that was advised by the oracle of our patron goddess, Hera herself. You are wee to... visit and stay in the Paradise Inds whenever and as long as you desire." She proimed in a booming voice, giving her judgment before looking at the faces of the other Amazons in the room as if challenging them to oppose her decision. However, contrary to her expectations, there was no opposition from anyone to her words, no one trying to challenge or demean me in any way. In fact, many of them were even slightly nodding as if theypletely agreed with their Queen''s decision while those who didn''t want to show support for a man openly simply kept their heads down in silence. Even Clymene, who was standing a little away from me had an impassive face on her as she calmly stared in my direction, refusing to meet my eyes for some reason. ''As I thought, the simplest way of getting into the Amazons'' good books was simply being an honest and incredible warrior.'' Bruce mentally nodded in satisfaction. ''Also, as science has proved time and time again, all females love a strong male who can protect them... except the males of some species who get eaten after they are done impregnating their partners, although I have no idea why I am even thinking about that at this moment.'' "And what about me wanting to return home? I don''t guess you have an invisible jet hidden inside your castle, do you?" I asked at which both Diana and Hippolyta suddenly looked slightly taken aback. "You will be given proper directions and a boat made from our best materials that will definitely get you to the maind without any problems." Hippolyta quickly answered in a hurry before Diana could say anything. "The boat will be ready by tomorrow... You can now leave to prepare for your departure. I still have plenty of work to do. Even though we won, it will still cost us a lot of time and resources if we want to recover from all the damage the trolls and undead monsters caused to us and the city." She stated with worry hidden in her voice while waving all of us away. Hearing her mother''s words, Diana bowed and was about to leave while ushering me to do the same, but I had something else in mind, an idea that I had been toying with from the moment I hadnded in Themyscira. "Actually, I think I can help you in there. You just dered me an ally of Themyscira ording to the wishes of the goddess Hera, right? Then isn''t it a duty for allies to help each other in times of need? I can help this ind a lot if you allow me to." I said with a slight bow of my head to show my genuine desire to help. The Queen looked a little startled at my words as she pondered the implications of her epting my help. She wasn''t foolish. Just by taking a look at the number of drones, Cortana had brought to Themyscira to "rescue" me, she knew that I was an influential and powerful man in the "men''s world" although she had no idea just how much. "You mean to trade with us?" She easily understood the underlying meaning behind my proposition. "We never trade with anyone from the man''s world since after the betrayal... But considering that you are now officially a friend of Themyscira, we might consider trading with you as long as it is profitable for us. However, we still don''t want our location to be known by other men..." She answered after pondering on the issue for a while. "You don''t have to worry about that Your Majesty, my machines will be handling the delivery and logistics part, so no living being will ever know the location of your home because of me. I am sure that I can be a VERY big trading partner for Themyscira and even help your own industries flourish as well. I can offer food, clothes, cosmetics, electronic gadgets to make your life more convenient, modern weapons, armor against those weapons, knowledge about what the man''s world has discovered and invented till now, and a lot more. Mypany is involved in a lot of businesses that can help you be more prepared for the next war... whenever it may be." I answered with a charming grin like a professional salesman. ''One of the richest billionaires in the world now trying to sell his products on his own like amon salesman, oh, how the mighty have fallen.'' I thought with a mental shake of my head. "And what would you want in return for ess to all these things?" Hippolyta questioned while curiously raising one of her eyebrows. Even the other Amazons listening in to our conversation seemed very interested in products from the outside world. "Not much. All I want in return are items of equal value like your wine and premium fabrics or resources that are unique to this ind like special metals and herbs." I answered with a shrug. "Whatever you can afford to sell me, I would dly buy as long as it is valuable. Both of our products should be of equal value like in any other normal trade; I won''t try to take advantage of you here while you do the same." "... Fine, I can agree to a deal like that. We can sign a contractter inside the temple of Hermes once you give me an official list of all the things you can offer, and we settle on a price." She agreed after noticing some of the elders nodding at her in a gesture to encourage her to ept the deal. "Thank you, your majesty. I won''t let you regret your decision." I said with an earnest smile before following Diana out of the throne room. *** "Wow, that was unexpected. I never thought you would try to be a trading partner with us. So, you are a trader? I almost thought you were royalty because of the weird metal army that came searching for you here." Diana softly spoke as she stared at the beautiful sunset while sitting beside me on the beach. She looked like she was deep in thought about something. "There is no royalty where Ie from, Diana. The people in my homnd choose their own leader by voting every few years and their chosen leader does whatever they can to help their country and its citizens. If they do not do good enough work, then they are simply reced with someone else once their term ends. It''s called democracy." I exined. "Wow, it sounds so interesting. Your home must be perfect then since everyone there has the option to choose what they want for themselves, right?" She curiously asked in a tone that seemed to want to hear more. "Not really. Nothing is ever perfect. Democracyes with its own set of problems, but we manage since it is at least better than being stuck with one bad king or queen. Moreover, ''choice'' is just an illusion, Diana. There will always be powerful people who have more influence than themon man and in the case of democracy, it is the politicians who try to be the leaders and the businessmen who give them the money to do it... like me for example. Just like you are a princess and hold more power than the other Amazons, I too as a businessman am slightly more influential than the other normal people. However, unlike your royal blood, it is my wealth that separates me from the others." "I see. I think I understand now. But then, you must be pretty lonely, just like me. Is that why you kissed me?" Diana asked, slightly tilting her head in a questioning way. "..." I feel like if I tell her the true reason for kissing her was just me getting a little horny, she might try to kill me herself or encourage her mother to sentence me to death in an attempt to take revenge. "... Yes, that was definitely one of the reasons." I lied with a gulp, d that she wasn''t using thesso on me likest time. "I knew it." She whispered to herself with a small smile, seemingly satisfied with my answer for now. "By the way, does the man''s world really have machines that can fly in the sky? Helena used to tell us stories about it whenever she visited us but most of my sisters never believed it. She said that the man''s world has its own beauty that is quite different from our ind." She enquired. "It is indeed very beautiful. In fact, every part of this world is beautiful, Diana. It''s just some of the people living in it that sometimes make it seem a bad ce. However, it still depends on one''s point of view. Someone who wants to see good will find good even in the evilest of ces and someone who wants to see bad will see it even in the most heavenly ces. The truth is that the world isn''t just ck and white. It is grey, yellow, red, blue, and a whole lot of other shades and colorsbined, you just have to look deep enough." "... That makes sense, I think I understand..." She nodded. "I really wish I could go out and explore, see how the outside world truly is for myself. I would like to visit your home too." Diana wished with a longing voice as she stared ahead at the ocean in front of us. "Maybe one day. I am sure that your mother will allow you to venture out of this ind on your own when you get old enough and when that dayes, I promise I will show you everything myself." I said while keeping my hand on hers to show her I was serious and not merely kidding. In response to my words, she didn''t say anything for a long time and just stared at the waves in silence as she seemed to contemte something. After a few minutes of long silence, it looked like she had finallye to a decision. "I will take your word for it then..., my friend." She said with a beautiful smile. "After all, you took away my first kiss, Bruce and I had heard from Helena that it was supposed to be something very important for a woman." She asserted in an usatory tone before suddenly ncing at me with a weird look in her eyes, "But I still liked it. Maybe we could do it again sometime when you are not on the verge of death. I had a weird sensation in my chest and stomach when we were kissing, like my body was getting weak for some reason. I would like to find out the reason why... to make sure that enemies cannot take advantage of me, of course." "... Of course," I replied with a grin, feeling her fingers gently and slowly attempting to intertwine with mine in a proper handhold. Handholding so soon? How lewd! --- Don''t forget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join myusing thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) Chapter 130: Bat sails away a Boat Chapter 130: Bat sails away a Boat ---
"A farewell is like the other side of a coin. It will only happen when there is an encounter. Rather than dreading the day we have to part, shouldn''t we be happy that we had the chance to meet today instead?" ¨C Gintoki Sakata, (Gintama)
--- <[Next day in the Morning]> "I hope you will deliver the first order as soon as possible. We are in urgent need of food, and I would like that we do not have to resort to asking the gods for help." Queen Hippolyta said as she observed Bruce rechecking everything on his boat for the third and final time. The boat that the Amazons had repaired for Bruce was one of the many boats that had crashed on the ind. It was one of those boats that could be sailed on by a single person and was quite big with two separate decks in it. The upper deck was for the sailor to stay in and sail the boat using its sails while the smaller lower deck was made either to keep important stuff or for him to take shelter in during storms. Bruce had nothing important with him except a map, so he didn''t have any need for the lower deck. He was just making sure that all the sails worked right. He wasn''t even taking any food or clothes with him since the trip to the nearest maind, Europe, would only take two to three days max while his body could go for months without needing to consume anything. "Don''t worry, all the shipments will be delivered within the week while the food will be here in an automatic self-driving submarine by tomorrow. I will even throw in a few cookbooks to introduce your people to different cuisines, you need it very much. I will also send a couple ofputerster as well to makemunication between us easier. Until then, a few drones of mine should stay here in case you need my assistance for anything." He suggested while pointing to one of the drones silently floating near where they were standing. "I don''t have any issue with that. Although I can''t let your entire army of machines stay here, one or two won''t be a problem. It is indeed true that we will need a proper line ofmunication if we want to continue trading." She nodded in affirmation. "I will get the wine ready by the time the food arrives. We will make sure that the wine is of the best quality." She promised. The wine that Hippolyta was talking about was a special wine that only the Amazons knew how to make, a gift from Dionysus himself. The wine was supposedly the closest thing to the nectar that the gods drank and was undoubtedly going to be very famous back in the outside world which means Bruce would easily be able to dominate the alcohol industry very soon as well. So, contrary to what one might think, he was gaining a lot from this trade and will be making quite a big profit from it. This trade was a win-win for both parties. "By the way, you haven''t seen Ares'' helmet, have you? We haven''t been able to find it since you took it off in the mountain," she asked with a small frown. "Hmm? No, I haven''t. Maybe it got destroyed in the battle or some god took it away so that it doesn''t cause any more harm. Who knows?" Bruce answered with a shrug. "Maybe." She murmured to herself; a visible frown still present on her beautiful face. "I should leave now; it would be easier to navigate with the sun still up," Bruce said after he was done rechecking everything. He looked around, trying to search for a familiar face among the crowd that was there to watch him leave but sadly, he could not find the face he was looking for, no matter how hard he looked. "Diana did not want to see you leave. She has been in a bad mood since the morning and is refusing to even leave her room." Hippolyta spoke up on her own after realizing who he was searching for. "Oh, I see. Well, I guess it can''t be helped. I will meet with her again one day." Bruce said with a slightly downcast voice as he jumped up on his boat to leave. "Indeed, a few more centuries and she will be old enough to venture out of this ind on her own. You can meet her then unless you decide to visit before that in which case you are always wee." Hippolyta responded with a smile which was a pretty rare sight for her. "Till then, goodbye... Bruce." "Goodbye to you as well, Hippolyta," Bruce said with a mock salute, directly using her name without adding any title or honorifics in there to try to annoy her and get a reaction out of her although the Queen of the Amazons just smirked at him. Soon, under the junior Wayne''s expert skills, the yacht-like boat began to move steadily along with the waves, slowly moving further and further away from the ind as most of the Amazons just watched him leave while some of the more emotional ones waved him goodbye. "Those yacht lessons from Alfred sure dide in handy. He was right. Knowing how to sail a boat can indeed save a billionaire''s life." Bruce muttered with a chuckle before trying to connect to Cortana through his nanobots. "You have secured the object, right?" He asked. "Positive, sir. I have taken the liberty of temporarily keeping Ares'' helmet in one of our smaller bases near Gotham City. I will shift it to the main Bat Cave after I am done sealing it inside a promethium and lead vessel as you ordered." She answered with a cheery voice. "Well done, Cortana, well done." He praised, with a giant grin on his face as he imagined just how useful a helmet with the power of a god could be, especially if it could be brought under hisplete control. *** <{Inside the hidden temple of Apollo in Themyscira}> "Queen Hippolyta, it has been so long since youst came here to get my counsel. Did anything interesting happen recently?" A slightly elderly voice enquired as the Queen of the Amazons gracefully stepped into the temple. "I just wanted to inform you that your prophecy came true, Helena. A mortal man was able to y Ares. He killed the god along with a titan, all on the same day." Hippolyta answered calmly. "However, he did not be the King of the Amazons after ying the God of all Evil as you prophesized. I am still the Queen and Themyscira still doesn''t have a king. So, your prophecy was only half right. Maybe you need to sharpen up your skills, Helena. You are growing rusty." she added with a small chuckle. "A god was yed? So that was the disturbance I felt. I see now. But which one of the gods did he kill?" The woman named Helena asked. "Ares, the god of war, and Iapetus, the titan of mortality. He also killed the demigod Hercules as well after he temporarily attained the status of the god of might." "... This mortal is quite amazing to kill so many immortals in a single day. But none of them was the God of evil, my Queen. Even though my prophecy mentioned the yer of Ares, it never explicitly stated that Ares and the god of evil were the same beings. So, it seems that my prophecy still remains unfulfilled." Helena was the one to smile this time as she noticed the distraught look on the Queen''s face. "But don''t worry, my Queen. Being the King of Amazons doesn''t necessarily mean that he will be your husband since that is what seems to worry you the most. Prophecies are veryplicated. You cannot forcefully make sense of one just by mere logic. Most of the time, it is not what it seems, so it is best to just take it as a warning and then put it in the back of your mind instead of worrying about it all the time." The oracle gave her advice. "... You are right. After all, ording to one prophecy, you are supposed to be dead already after fighting and sealing the God of War. But look at you, besides the few wrinkles on your face, everything else looks fine." The Queen said with a wry smile. "Joke all you want, my Queen, but that prophecy also technically came true since the superheroine named Fury died that day after I lost my powers." "... Everyone misses you, Helena. Why do you insist on staying here alone like this? We can get someone else to be the oracle. You can return with me to..." "No, my Queen, this is my destiny, what I am meant to do. My previous connection to the Furies makes me a very good candidate for an oracle. Nobody can do my job better than me. As for everyone who thinks that I am dead, that is actually for the best. I can do my job better this way without anybody trying to bring me back." Helena said before giving her Queen a small smile. Suddenly their conversation was interrupted as an Amazonian royal guard approached Hippolyta in a hurry. "My Queen, it''s Princess Diana, we can''t find her anywhere. It is like she has suddenly disappeared in thin air. After we did a thorough search for her, we only found this note in her room." The royal guard quickly informed before handing a small paper note to the Amazonian Queen. Hippolyta was momentarily taken aback upon hearing the guard''s words. She swiftly retrieved the note from her and started to read it. The paper bore a single line that perfectly conveyed her daughter''s intentions to the Queen. (I am going out to explore the world. -Diana) "Destiny indeed works in mysterious ways." Helena, listening to the guard''s words, gave a knowing smile as she nced at Hippolyta whose face was tinged with a mix ofanger and concern. *** <{On Bruce''s boat sailing in the sea}> "Finally, I am going home. Now, there is absolutely nothing that can go wrong." Bruce cheered in a happy mood as he stretched his body under the warm light of the sun. "Now, I can finally rx until I reach the maind, just us two in a boat... wait, two people in a boat?" He stopped his muttering as he again scanned the boat with his chi sense. "Hey, are we finally out of Themyscira''s borders?" A familiar voice questioned Bruce as Diana''s Amazonian figure d in her armor slowly emerged from the door that led to the lower deck. "... Oh fuck" --- Don''t forget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join myusing thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) Chapter 131: Girls Want Their Bat Back Chapter 131: Girls Want Their Bat Back ---
"We can only judge the future from what we have suffered in the past." - Themistocles, (300: Rise of an empire)
--- <{Wayne Vista Grand Hotel, Athens}> <(Omniscient POV)> "Did you find out anything regarding the whereabouts of Bruce?" Selina asked with a worried face the moment she saw Talia enter the room with a thoughtful look on her face. The cat-lover was dead worried about the love of her life suddenly going missing out of nowhere and was almost overwhelmed with desperation after Cortana whom they and Bruce trusted blindly refused to help them with any information regarding Bruce''s abrupt disappearance. Of course, that hadn''t discouraged them at all. Instead, that had just made them more determined to find him on their own, and to do this, all of the girls were helping in this search in their own ways. While Selina tried to enquire about Bruce''s whereabouts in the Gotham criminal underworld through some contacts she had developed on her own, Talia and Nyssa were using the League''s vast resources to do the same with the help of their identity as members of the High-table. Vicki, on the other hand, was using her connections in the media industry to do the same. Even Helena, who had apanied them on the trip, was doing her best to investigate the local mafia families for any information on Bruce Wayne. Without a doubt, her expert martial arts and gymnastics skills, honed over thest few years, as well as the Bat-tool that Bruce had gifted her years before, were proving to be invaluable in this endeavor. "No, unfortunately, it was another dead end. None of the members of the League had seen or heard anything about a ne going missing. There were certain reports of a storm on the Aegean Sea a few days ago but it was only for a short time, and nobody saw any ne or ship disappearing in it." Talia answered with a frustrated sigh as she struggled to meet Selina''s gaze. After all, it was a matter of great shame that she and her sister could not even find one single ne despite having one of thergest hidden organizations under their control. Truthfully, they had even considered that Cortana was the one responsible for Bruce''s disappearance. Maybe she had rebelled for some reason and tried to kill Bruce since he was her creator and knew every technological detail about her including how to stop her. That would have made sense as to why she wasn''t contacting them, but they discarded that logic as soon as they had thought of it since they couldn''t find any actual motive behind this. Bruce allowed Cortana as much freedom as she wanted. He didn''t just treat her as a real person but as family. Furthermore, Cortana herself loved Bruce and was so loyal that she would rather short-circuit her processors than betray him. In her own words, Bruce was her purpose and the reason she existed. Without him, she was nothing. So, her trying to kill Bruce sounded too hard to believe especially since there were tons of other ways where she could have tried to get rid of him much more subtly without even them knowing. "I see." Selina instantly deted in disappointment after hearing her answer. "I couldn''t find out about anything from my end too. It was definitely not done by any mercenary or wannabe superviin, otherwise, I would have already gotten some clue at least." Selina added while shaking her hand at her own failure. "It wasn''t corporate sabotage as well. Some fuckers from some reputed pharma giants did try to have Bruce killed by paying a few mercenaries but most of them were either caught and taken care of by Bruce''s new security team or they simply just gave up after learning that de Wilson is on his payroll. Plus considering all the additional security systems Bruce has installed on his jet, this couldn''t have been done by someone with a mere rocketuncher or something. Either this was done by the official military of some country with ess to missiles and everything or this was some sort of metahuman." Vicki who was also silently sitting in the room informed in a distraught voice, her eyes getting watery with every word. "Don''t cry, Vicki. I am sure Bruce is all right. Have you seen his regenerative capabilities? Even scratches from that Catgirl''s diamond-hard nails here hardly bother him during their lovemaking before they heal on their own in a second. I don''t see him getting injured because of a measly explosion especially when he has ess to all of his fancy toys and weapons in the ne''s arsenal. No, when he returns which, he undoubtedly will, he will probably do so with a shit-eating grin on his face, maybe even with a new hot girl that he would have managed to charm" Talia tried to joke to lighten the mood. She was doing her very best to stay calm and levelheaded in this situation for the sake of everyone else since she was supposed to be the oldest girl here. That''s why she had even begun to resort to jokes like this so that she could at least fool herself into thinking that she wasn''t nervous, and everything was all right although that trick was slowly failing with every hour Bruce remained missing. However, she had no idea just how close to the truth her joke truly was in reality. If she did, then there was a high chance that she would have been looking for ways to effectively torture Bruce, rather than searching for him. "That''s why I have been suppressing the news of his disappearance in the media. I don''t want any of his enemies taking this as an opportunity to attack hispany or reputation." Vicki agreed while wiping away the tears that had gathered in her eyes. "It is what I have been secretly hoping for too... minus the girl part. There are already too many of us ready to share him like a bunch of pathetic simping cucks." Selina replied while giving Talia a nce from the side of her eyes. "Won''t work on me. If I had been that easy to manipte, I would have fought Bruce on behalf of my father, not help him kill my own dad." Talia snorted with an eye roll. "Also, with how easy it was to convince my little sister to share her boyfriend with me, my little sis is most likely the one with the cuck fetish, not me." Talia brutally dissed her own sister with a mischievous smirk on her face. "Tch, well never me a girl for trying." Selina shrugged. She had been trying to reducepetition in her love life for thest few days after she "identally" listened in on Talia and Nyssa discussing how they should start sleeping with Bruce soon and try a threesome once all three of them werefortable enough so that they could keep him all to themselves. It didn''t have to be said that Selina didn''t like this at all. She never truly liked Talia but the sisters trying to monopolize her childhood love by using their slutty bodies and the concept of a forbidden threesome just seemed like cheating to her. ''I will also need an ally, especially if Bruce finds their idea of a threesome interesting. I cannot let those two control him with the allure of their bodies. Even though I am his first, I need to up my game to keep up with the trend.'' Selina thought to herself while taking a look at Vicki. ''Maybe, she could... Nah, she is already in league with Helena. After all, they have been best friends. Maybe I should wait for Zatanna. If she still has the same feelings for him, then there is a chance that she might agree to form a bed alliance with me... Wow, this is the first time where I am actually wishing that Bruce had more harem members.'' Selina mentally snickered at stupid thoughts. The absence of Bruce from her life was taking a toll on her. Ring RingRing Ring Vicki''s phone suddenly began to ring, breaking the awkward silence that was slowly forming in the room. Taking a nce at the name of the caller, she quickly picked it up. "Hey Helena, any updates?" she said after lightly clearing her throat. For some time, there was silence as Vicki quietly listened but in just a few seconds, her facial expressions made aplete 180-degree turn. Instead of disappointment and mncholy, there was visible excitement on her face. "That''s great news. Thanks for informing us, H. Yeah sure, you shoulde back to the hotel now. We will be waiting. Don''t worry, I''ll spread the news to the others." Vicki enthusiastically said with a nod of her head before finally ending the call and putting her phone down. "What happened? Did Helena find him?" Selina was the first one to speak up, looking at Vicki with some newfound hope. Talia also looked at Vicki with an impatient look on her face as she waited for the reporter to speak up. "Yep. Helena was questioning the local port mafia and apparently, a man matching the exact description of Bruce reached one of their ports on a boat this morning. Apparently, he "borrowed" a car from a local gangster and should be on his way here." Vicki answered with a pleased smile. "Oh, thank god. I was getting worried there for a second." Talia lightly mumbled before looking up at the other two girls. "I''ll go and inform my sister about this. She is still probably grilling our assassins for not being useful enough to get any intel on Bruce. She needs to be stopped before she starts castrating them as punishment." She added as she quickly walked out the door without any more words. A few seconds after Talia had left, Vicki spoke up with a small smile on her face, "She has her own way of caring about her little sister, doesn''t she? I guess they are just like any other normal siblings... except for the fact that theye from an evil assassin family, and they are crazy enough to share the same lover between them... Do you think their family might have their origins in bama?" Vicki sarcastically asked Selina as her reporter mind began to ponder useless stuff that she considered spicy and dramatic enough to discuss, now that she no longer had to worry about Bruce. "... I don''t know and truthfully, I don''t care. As long as they don''t betray Bruce or break his trust, I have no reason to care." Selina answered with a casual shrug as she got up as well. "Anyway, I should inform Alfred and Leslie that Bruce is all right. The old man has been the most worried of all for thest few days." Selina sadly recalled. "Yeah sure, go ahead. I guess I''ll look for Ace and Miss Whiskers. They have been disappearing a lot after Bruce''s ne went missing. Who knows, maybe they are striving to assist us in their own way by sniffing" around, trying to find Bruce with the help of other animals." Vicki joked with a hearty chuckle. "That dog and cat can literally talk in humannguage with the help of the two cors Bruce had made for them, Vicki. There is a chance that they are doing exactly what you said for real." Selina said with as much a straight face as she could muster. "... Fuck, you are probably right." --- Don''t forget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join myusing thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) Chapter 132: An Informative Car Ride Chapter 132: An Informative Car Ride ---
"You have to do the opposite of what people expect. How else will you surprise them? That''s my motto." - Victor Nikiforov, (Yuri!!! on Ice)
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "So, will you finally tell me where we are going and what type of carriage we are riding on? And how long till we meet your family? By the way, how many people are there in your family? You never told me anything about them." Diana threw a volley of questions towards me with an eager expression on her face as she continued probing for information. After we arrived at the maind through Piraeus harbor in the city of Athens, Diana suddenly had a change of personality. Her calm silent visage disappeared as she became an over-chatterer, questioning almost everything sheid her eyes on, her curiosity bubbling out likeva. I understood that this was a new world for her and that her child-like curiosity should be normal but honestly, her constant questions about everything she saw were getting a little annoying. After all, this was already her 100th query for the day. But still, I didn''t let the annoyance show on my face as I patiently tried to answer all her questions, no matter how many there were, "We are going to the hotel where my family is supposed to be staying and this carriage here is called a car. We will be reaching our destination in about half an hour. As for my family, I haven''t told you a lot about them, have I? Well, I guess our conversations were seldom about my life and more about the general world... You see, both my parents died when I was young, so I have been raised by my butler, Alfred. He is an honest old man whom I trust with my life. But besides that, I also have a lot of good... friends whom I consider family as well. You will meet them soon enough. Oh, and there is also Cortana, my trusted AI confidante and assistant. She handles almost all the machines I create including the drones that helped protect your homnd from the recent invasion. But again, you have already met her, haven''t you?" I added after noticing my bracelet lightly blinking with a cyan-blue hue, proof that Cortana was actively listening to us. Of course, this wasn''t the original bracelet that I had lost in the storm but a new copy that I had as backup stored in myb. Cortana just delivered it to me in Themyscira after the war. "Indeed, I have. My mother and I had a conversation with her when you were resting after the battle. She is quite cheerful and worries about you a lot. Also, she sounded extremely loyal since she mentioned that you created her from something called code, much like how my mother created me from y with the help of Zeus''st miracle." Diana stated with a wise look on her face. "Anyway, what do you mean by your butler, Bruce? You have a manservant?" "He is not a servant, Diana. He is family." I instantly replied with a slightly more assertive voice than I would have liked. "I-I apologize. I didn''t mean to demean you or this Alfred. I was simply curious because Lady Helena had once told us that the rich and powerful in man''s world hired servants for all their work. I simply thought that Alfred was one such person. I am sorry." Diana quickly apologized in a hurry with a slightly troubled face. "It''s okay, Diana. You wouldn''t have known. A lot of people make fun of the fact that a rich orphan who has everything in the world is being raised by his "manservant" but unfortunately nobody understands that Alfred is much more than just a servant or a caretaker to me. He is someone who has always been with me in this life, someone I never thought I would care much for, but I still do. To speak the truth..., he is the parent I never asked for, but one I needed to be what I am... After all, Batman is iplete without an Alfred." I muttered with a chuckle as I continued to drive the car in silence. By the way, it was quite interesting to know that Diana doesn''t have an actual biological father in this universe. Seems like the Olympian God king just handed over some of his divine godly power to the Queen to help create Diana before he disappeared to God knows where... Wait a fucking minute, don''t tell me that Hippolyta sculpted Diana from y using Zeus'' magical jizz or something! "And what about your other friends? Are they very close to you? Do you think they will ept being my friends as well?" Diana tried to steer the conversation in a more light-hearted direction, breaking me away from my disgusting thoughts and making me look at the Amazonian princess with a puzzled gaze. "I think they will, they are very friendly... and yes, they are somewhat very close to me," I answered with a perplexed look as I remembered how most of the girls felt about me. After all, I wasn''t a dense idiot like some shonen MC. I knew they had romantic feelings for me, but the thing was one needs to have skin as thick as the hardest military-grade steel to be a harem protagonist and tell their lovers to share him between them, it was a skill that I quite disappointingly haven''t developed yet. Still, I was already thrilled with three girls agreeing to date me simultaneously. I didn''t feel the need toplicate things further by trying to pursue more. After all, managing a harem was just as tedious a task as creating one... However, some innocent flirting was harmless, right? "I see." Diana nodded, pleased at my answer. "Hey Diana, are you sure that your mother won''t be dering war on us after they find that you have run away from home with me? I really don''t want to fight another war for the next couple of years." I asked after a couple of minutes of silence, wondering if I should contact Hippolyta through Cortana''s drones and tell her that Diana was safe with me. "I am sure that she won''t do anything like that. I am old enough to make my own decisions now, my mother herself admitted this, even you heard it... Plus, it seemed like Mother trusted you for some reason and even harbored some respect for you in her heart after you helped defeat Hercules, Ares, and Iapetus, three of the greatest dangers to our people. She will think twice before dering war... I think" Diana responded with a straight face that didn''t seem to exude much confidence. "... You think?" I asked with a gulp. "Well, maybe I decided to leave too hastily. I probably should have waited till the Night of Love that was scheduled to be held the night you left." "Night of Love?" I asked while raising a brow. "Just like we celebrate Hera being at her purest when she regains her purity for her husband every year, we also celebrate a night of passion to respect the blessings of goddess Aphrodite on us Amazons. On that night, Amazons... take part in different bodily pleasures as much as they want under the open sky around a holy fire by giving in to their throes of passion, although my mother never seemed to participate in it herself nor let me or anyone else from the royal family and the royal guards participate in it as well. She considers it to be below us and only meant for the truly "frustrated" Amazons, whatever that is supposed to mean." Diana casually replied while curiously staring at a ne that was flying over us. ''Wait... did she just say that Amazonians of this particr universe celebrate a religious night by having lesbian sex in the open?... Does that mean I just missed an Amazonian orgy because I left a day early?'' I thought, in disbelief as I tried to imagine the scene of thousands of Amazons making love to each other around a campfire. "Why do you suddenly have tears in your eyes, Bruce? Are you feeling some sort of difort or pain?" Diana asked after noticing a single tear leaving my eye. "No, it''s okay. There is always next year. Yep, don''t worry Diana, I will definitely be taking you back to your home for a visit next year. That''s a promise, a man''s promise." I said with absolute determination. "Cortana..." "I have already added the date to your reminders and calendar, boss. You don''t have to worry; you won''t miss it next year. Also, I will keep this fact a secret from the others, in fact, I have already sent the information to my more secure servers." My loyal AI assistant chimed in from my bracelet even before I could tell her what I wanted. "Good, you are the best girl ever, Cortana, a real bro." I nodded in appreciation. "Are you two discussing some sort of inside joke that I am not privy to?" Diana, who seemed to be too innocent to understand what was happening, curiously tilted her head. ''Hippolyta did me a huge favor by never allowing her daughter in the orgy, otherwise, this would have been extremely awkward. But I do wonder why she never takes part in it herself despite being their absolute ruler for so many centuries. Is it just because she treasures her dignity as a Queen or is there some other deeper reason?'' I wondered to myself. "Sir, I have been trying to give you some privacy and keep work-rted stuff away from you as much as possible, but there are a couple of things that really need your attention right now. I don''t think it can wait any longer especially since it involves the decision of whether to kill Edward Nashton or not." Cortana suddenly interrupted my thoughts as she disyed small holograms of a stack of documents from my bracelet. "What? I am driving Cortana; I can''t look at any files or documents right now. Is this so important that it can''t even wait till we get to the hotel? It is only a fifteen-minute drive from here, you know." I retorted swiping away the hologram that was blocking my vision. "Negative sir. We must handle this matter now unless, of course, you agree to let Edward blow up the Gotham police HQ." Cortana calmly argued as she disyed a single image of a couple of cars being driven by a bunch of gangsters wearing green jackets and weird masks with weird patterns of question marks drawn all over them. The vehicles were heading at full speed straight towards the direction of the city center where the GCPD HQ was supposed to be located. "Edward Nashton or ording to his original birth name, Edward Nygma seems to have just raised the stakes of his game, sir." --- (A/N: Heya guys, I am back after finally being done with my semester exams. And the best thing is I passed them as well... hopefully... I think...) Don''t forget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join myusing thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) Chapter 133: God’s Eyes (1) Chapter 133: God¡¯s Eyes (1) ---
"An unexpected situation... an unexpected turn of events... In the face of those, you too will face your true self." - Makishima Shogo, (Psycho-Pass)
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "What did he do now?" I asked with a tired sigh as I watched the heavily armored cars race toward their destination, which ording to Cortana was the GCPD headquarters. "For thest month, Edward has been attempting to ckmail or assault multiple high-value targets from Gotham in an effort to get some incriminating evidence against the Gotham Renewal fund that your parents set up, trying his best to link them directly to the scam that resulted from the fund. This is all because he despises you and holds a grudge against the Wayne name... Initially, it was pretty easy to thwart his ns, no matter what they were and since you were really busy for the past month, I tried to take care of it myself. A sudden loud notification, an anonymous call to the cops, a warning to the victims of his n, or messing with his electronic devices were all it took to stop him, but it seems that he has suddenly improved his game for some reason. From doing everything on his own, he has taken a pretty big leap to hiring professional criminals from some small-time gangs to blow up the entire GCPD HQ in order to sow chaos. I am still researching how he got the funds for hiring these men or buying the resources needed for what he has nned, but I am pretty sure that somebody else is supporting him, somebody much more influential." Cortana informed through the bracelet as I continued to drive with a stoic look on my face. "What happened Bruce? Is it something important? If you need my help to y someone trying to harm an innocent, then just know that it is my duty as the champion of Themyscira." Diana, who was trying to listen in on my conversation with Cortana, suggested from beside me, her voice carrying a weight of responsibility. "No, it''s fine. It''s merely work. Honestly, this is pretty much a typical weekday in Gotham for me... even though we''re currently in Athens," I responded, smiling. "You know what? You haven''t experienced the local music, have you? You should give our songs a listen; you might enjoy them," I suggested as I turned on the car radio to a random station ying Beyonc¨¦''s ''Irreceable'', the recent hit of the year. As I turned the volume up, Diana looked at me with a slightly suspicious gaze but just shrugged the next moment and focused on the song. She seemed quite impressed with both the radio in the car and the song that was currently ying on it. "Coming back to our conversation, Cortana, how do you know that the Riddler is going to attack the GCPD HQ and what do you think is his end objective for this very... stupid and dangerous n?" I asked with a raise of one of my eyebrows. "The GPS in their car is set to show directions to the headquarters of GCPD and the gang members he recruited made plenty of phone calls to their "homies" to tell them to watch the 9''o clock news today if they want to watch some cops burn like pigs on a barbeque. So, figuring out their target wasn''t exactly a big deal. However, I am still not clear on what he truly wants though I suspect that it might be the official documents regarding the investigation of Gotham Renewal fund and Carmine Falsone. The cops and the FBI are trying to keep the true magnitude of the scam a secret to prevent discontent amongst the public, but Edward most probably wants to use all of those details to cause massive citywide unrest and revolts. And of course, we all know what happens when a city like Gotham goes through mass unrest." Cortana answered in a t voice, revealing Riddler''s ominous ns. "... Why can''t just criminals stick to their age-old jobs of robbing banks and selling drugs?" I grumbled with a sigh. I guess the Edward of this universe is unhinged as well just like the Riddler from theics, movies, and shows... Damn it, I was really hoping that I did not have to kill a victim of child abuse one day. "I can''t go to Gotham myself in such a short time as you might have already guessed, and I don''t want anybody to see my armor massacring a bunch of gangsters that look like idiotic nerds especially since those so-called gangsters haven''t evenmitted any crime yet. We also cannot use drones since even if a single civilian witnesses one of our drones killing Riddler''s gang members and reports it tow enforcement, a lot of annoying individuals might get involved to try to sniff us out, something that I would really prefer not to happen so soon." I muttered, tapping my thumb on the steering wheel in deep thought. Although I was currently listening to Cortana and trying to figure out a way to stop Riddler, I was still able to drive the car without any difficulties since my enhanced brain could easily focus on multiple tasks simultaneously. "Your new special security team also can''t be used since they have just started their initial gene-modifying treatments a few days ago. And, even if they were at their best, it would still be quite difficult to use them in this mission since they would probably not be able to reach their destination in time to prevent the incident. Also,w enforcement might mistake them as viins and start attacking them as well. After all, they don''t exactly exude valor and gantry in what you yourself call "Snake eyes" armor." Cortana added sarcastically since she never liked any armor design that wasn''t filled to the brim with cutting-edge technology. What she was talking about of course was the Snake Eyes costume from GI Joe that I had constructed for all my Wayne security personnel. The suits had decent technology and were made from a carbonadiumpound I had previously developed while researching metal. Although not nearly on the same level as the technology present in my own armor, it could still be considered way ahead of its time because of its durability, stealth functions, and the myriads of small gadgets, weapons, and useful tools hidden in it like tasers, and maic gloves. In a way, they were perfect for mercenaries and looked he cool... although their appearance didn''t seem heroic or even friendly in nature to civilians. "I see. So, there is no other way but to use drones, huh? I guess I''ll just have to take the risk." I responded while wondering which type of drone couldplete the mission in the stealthiest manner possible. "... There is another way. The God''s-Eye algorithm that you were trying to integrate into my servers could help me eliminate these criminals quite easily without anybody even guessing what truly happened, but you need to give me permission for that." Cortana suggested after a couple of seconds of silence. "No," I sternly rejected her proposal without even considering it for a second. The God''s-eye algorithm she was talking about was perhaps the epitome of what an AI could truly do. The algorithm is made so that the AI using it can process all the avable data and determine how toplete any action in the most desirable and effective method possible. It could theoretically amp up the AI''sputational ability so much that it could even predict the future and control all oues to an extent. With the power of the algorithm, one could just send a random text to somebody and trigger a series of events in such a way that the simple action of sending a text would cause some type of domino effect and would ultimately result in the President of the country getting assassinated as a result. That was how OP the algorithm was. Giving an AI permission to use it would be equivalent to giving it a dose of NZT-48. However, that type of power was just too dangerous. I would have dly used it if this was just a normal mundane world but in the multiverse of DC, an AI no matter how smart could never take all the variables into ount while predicting the future. Murphy''swbined with my years of experience in watching various movies, and TV shows and reading fan fiction tell me that something would always go wrong when ites to seeing and manipting the future beforehand. "You and I both know that I am not capable of betraying you, Bruce, nor do I want to. So, why don''t you want me to use that algorithm even though you are the one who developed it? Even using it for a single minute can give us all the data we need to see if it truly works or not. It can be extremely useful in a dangerous situation where victory is seemingly not possible. Plus, after absorbing those encrypted memories of yours, you yourself said that you are supposed to be fate-less, right?ording to our estimations, you were not supposed to have a fixed written future, yet you had an entire prophecy written about you by the Olympians centuries ago about ying Hercules in battle. Don''t you find that strange? Who knows what else other gods have nned for you? Maybe you can even be included in the machinations of stronger cosmic-level entities as well. With the emergence of more and more metahumans, this world is getting more and more dangerous as well, Bruce. Maybe this algorithm could be our ace, our trump card against anything fate throws at us. And don''t pretend like you don''t agree with me, otherwise, you wouldn''t have developed the algorithm in the first ce. From the very moment you started writing the program, you knew you were going to use it one day and who better to do it than me?" Cortana argued with a soft and righteous yet caring voice from my bracelet. "... You don''t understand, Cortana. It''s not that I don''t believe you. In fact, it is the opposite, there is no one else that I trust more than you... maybe not even Alfred. But I didn''t name this algorithm the God''s eye just because I found the name cool. With time and enough data, the program could even evolve to be... like the eyes of God. The algorithm could enable people to see the true future and that is very dangerous, especially for the "me" right now. It would enable me to stop crime even before it happens, to know about criminals the moment they are born and that is something I don''t want to know. I have seen too many movies to not understand how that sort of power can get over anyone''s head, even mine. No amount of willpower is enough to have a power like that and not mess with it. Remember, with poweres responsibility but with absolute poweres absolute responsibility, something that I am not quite ready for... yet." I retorted, exining to Cortana why I didn''t want to use the algorithm so soon even though it truly was OP. "But you will not be the one to use the algorithm, Bruce. I''ll be the one using it and I promise that I''ll only use it for a few seconds to eliminate the Riddler gang. It will be like a controlled experiment. We won''t find out theplete future, but we will definitely know if the algorithm works or not. Plus, there is no other way to stop the convoy before they reach the GCPD HQ. Even if we inform the cops present there right now about Riddler''s attack, they would still not be ready for the number of explosives and weapons those four cars are carrying with them. Even if the cops somehow managed to win, they would still only be able to do it with heavy losses." Cortana sessfully argued. "... SighFine, you win." I ultimately gave in with a sigh before looking at Diana through the corner of my eyes, finding her still happily humming to a piece of indie music. We will test out if ''God''s Eyes'' actually works or not. However, don''t expect me to let you use this algorithm regrly. Also, you will ONLY use it to eliminate Riddler''s gang, not anything else." Imanded in a stern voice. "Aye aye, captain. Now just say the magic words," she said with a teasing voice. "... Activate sequence, God''s Eyes. The password is ''fat-bat-007''. Set data analysis capacity to automatic. The mission is to get rid of Riddler and his gang without leaving any evidence or witness as well as without anyone finding out about our involvement in any way. Initiatemand." I finally uttered with some slight hesitation. "Sequence andmand initiated," Cortana replied to my words in a cold machine-like voice. Let''s see just how effective this algorithm is at its current stage. --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join myusing thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) Chapter 134: God’s Eyes (2) Chapter 134: God¡¯s Eyes (2) ---
"No matter what may happen... As long as you walk by my side... There shall be no enemy that can stand before us." - Sosuke Aizen, (Bleach)
--- <(Omniscient POV)> "Calcting potential oues..."Cortana''s voice inside Bruce''s bat cave hummed from his batputer as her internal processors whirred at speeds iprehensible to humans, analyzing terabytes of data in milliseconds. In a few seconds, it was able to map out tens of thousands of conceivable scenarios, simting millions of variables. Her currentmand was topletely eliminate the 4 cars of Riddler''s gang rushing towards GCPD headquarters including all 18 people sitting inside the cars and currently, she was choosing the most effective way to do exactly that. Cortana:"Three thousand five hundred and seventy-three different possibilities found. n number 78 is determined as the most effective. Executing n number 78." *** Suddenly, the city''s traffic control system turned all the lights green for a motorcyclist heading towards the highway entrance ramp. The biker was a pizza delivery guy runningte in his delivery for the third time of the day. Not wanting to anger his boss again, he sped up after seeing the series of green lights, thinking thatdy luck had finally started to favor him. He had unknowingly be the first pawn in Cortana''s n. As the biker merged onto the highway, he tried to take the shortcut he always took whenever he waste which was the next exit¡ª going directly in the path of the Ridler''s convoy. *** Simultaneously, Cortana sent a text to the man operating arge mechanical arm at a construction site. The man who had kept his phone silent till now was immensely surprised at the sudden chime of notificationing from his phone. As a result, he lost his focus while operating the arm, causing the mechanical arm to go out of control and knock over arge container of ck oil onto the road just before the exit ramp. As the container crashed against the ground, the oil quickly spread across thenes, creating a slick, dangerous surface on the road. *** Concurrently, Cortana also essed the scheduling system of a nearby logisticspany, analyzing the delivery route of a certain truck carrying some special vtile chemicals inside it. She sent an anonymous tip to the driver''s boss about a potential gang that might be targeting to steal one of his trucks, prompting the boss to instantly call the driver and urge him to take another route in case the tip was genuine. The other route that he advised the driver to take was "coincidentally", the highway. *** As Riddler''s convoy approached the exit, the pizza delivery guy, now struggling to control his bike on the oil-slicked road, slid and crashed in front of them. Although the biker was fine, the ident still caused the lead car of the convoy to swerve and hit the guardrail with tremendous force. The sudden crash even forced the other cars to brake abruptly as well but the ident was nowhere enough to kill anyone. However, just then, the truck carrying the vtile chemicals, which was also now on the highway thanks to Cortana''s interference barreled towards the convoy at a high speed. The driver, seeing the chaos ahead, had tried to stop the truck, but the slick road made it impossible to do so. The truck driver, being quite experienced, knew what was going to happen the next moment and quickly jumped from the truck, safelynding on the road. He could feel he had a few bruised bones, but the jump had saved his life. The truck though was not so lucky as it jackknifed, its trailer swinging out and colliding directly with thest car¡ªblocking any possible exit. The sudden impact triggered a chain reaction. The vtile chemicals leaking from the delivery truck began to mix with the spilled ck oil on the road and became a dangerousbination as the resultant solution instantly turned highly mmable. It onlycked a single spark that was required to ignite the entire mixture in a second. *** <[A few minutes ago]> "I don''t understand, what type of joke is this? Did any of you send me this as a joke?" The Riddler asked the two subordinates sitting at the front of his car with an annoyed yet slightly anxious voice as he showed them the text he had received on his phone just now. It was a few short lines of what looked like someone''s meager attempt at writing a riddle. ''Some try to hide, and some try to cheat, but time will show, we will always meet. Ie with a cold embrace but can give you rest with a kiss on your face ''I am the end that starts the beginning, a spark that lights the fuse. From the prince''s mind, Ie for you, your ns are now bound to lose.'' This "riddle" would have been quite interesting for him if he was a five-year-old but for the present him, this was just too easy. "How childish, of course, the answer is death. Heh, whoever wrote this must either be the biggest fool or my biggest fan." He mocked with a snort as he threw away his phone with displeasure evident in his voice. However, he could not help but feel like he was missing something important here like there was another riddle inside the riddle, a clue that he wasn''t able to understand. He couldn''t admit it in front of his subordinates, but he was getting a bad feeling from the text, causing him to grow frustrated with every passing moment. The message hade from an anonymous number that the Riddler couldn''t recognize. This made him even more curious to know just who it was that wanted to y against him with riddles. ''Is it him? But he doesn''t seem like the riddling sort, he looks like a guy who is more into jokes. And he himself told me not to contact him again till I was sessful in blowing up GCPD and getting my hands on the entire paper trail of the Gotham Renewal Fund, so it shouldn''t be him.'' He muttered to himself with a thoughtful look. Frustrated and unable to find answers to the questions in his mind, the Riddler angrily lit a cigarette. He was trying his best to quit but it was frustrating situations like these that made him want to have a drag to clear his head. However, before he could have his first drag, his car suddenly crashed into the guardrail for seemingly no reason at all. "What the hell? Which idiot was driving? I will hack you to death before canceling your driving license. Even my mother used to drive better than you." He yelled in anger as he opened the door of his car in a fit of rage before throwing the cigarette in his hand on the road in a careless manner. The small lit tip of the cigarette was all it took for the newly brewed chemicalbination to catch fire, instantly creating a massive explosion around the area that was further boosted by the explosives and firearms stored in each of the cars. The resulting fireballpletely engulfed all four cars, ensuring a violent death to all the gang members present there including Riddler himself in what wouldter on be described as the biggest and most unfortunate Highway "ident" of the year. Cortana''s work was done. She had executed hermand sessfully. However, as an added precaution, she sent a final message to the traffic control system, returning all lights to normal and deleting all digital records of her maniptions. All the security footage near the incident zone was wiped clean while she also deleted all the texts she had sent from any official records. This was all to cover her tracks and make this the perfect crime. Even if someone were to be suspicious of the entire incidentter down the line, they would never have enough proof to link all these random events together. It would always remain just an unfortunate ident. "Targets eliminated. Mission sessful. Execution time: 6 minutes and 21 seconds." *** "... That was just too good... I felt exactly like what I felt when I watched Final Destination for the first time." Bruce couldn''t help but gulp as he saw the entire thing through his bracelet. "I feel bad for the truck driver and the pizza delivery guy who might lose their jobs because of this, so maybe have them win a lottery or something. But aside from those, it was perfect. A perfect crime with zero witnesses, zero evidence, and zero casualties." Bruce remarked in almost a whisper with an impressed look on his face. However, as his car slowed down in front of a massive five-star hotel, a smirk slowly made its way to his handsome face. "Okay, maybe you were right, Cortana. This could very well be the trump card that we needed to win even in the most hopeless of situations. This could be useful... when used scarcely of course." --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join myusing thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) Chapter 135: A Family Reunion and a Weird Delivery Chapter 135: A Family Reunion and a Weird Delivery ---
"Families are strange. Two people can be a family. You can be separated and still be a family. You can be not rted by blood and still be a family." - Segawa Yuuta, (Papa no Iukoto wo Kikinasai!)
--- <{Presidential Suite, Wayne Vista Grand Hotel, Athens}> <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "I can''t believe you were gone for days, surviving on an unknown ind full of Greek warrior women... It sounds like stuff straight from fiction. Hell, I still can''t believe it even though you have actual evidence to prove it." Sitting on a chair in front of me, Nyssained with a pouty face as she looked at the others for support. "Yeah, me too. An undiscovered ind inhabited by a civilization of supernaturally strong women sounds almost like a... a fairy tale. However, we also cannot deny it since one of those supernaturally strong women is currently sitting in front of us right now." Selina nodded along with Nyssa as she eyed Diana with curious eyes. Amidst the watchful and curious stares of everyone in the room, Diana looked quite nervous as she indulged herself in the chocte cookies Alfred had ordered from room service for the two of us. For some reason, the Amazonian Princess had suddenly gone quiet after meeting the other girls, preferring to observe them carefully before interacting with them. From her bodynguage, it was quite evident that she was cautious of them but the reason for this behavior of hers was beyond me. "Also, when you said you battled a couple of evil gods, did you mean it in a literal way or were you just speaking figuratively?" Talia, who had been the calmest till now, asked, raising her eyebrows a little. "Nope, I literally fought a few gods in a war... although honestly, they could almost be considered weak whenpared to other gods and goddesses," I answered after thinking for a few moments. It was true. Apparently, ording to Cortana''s calctions, Hercules only possessed strengthparable to a minor god due to his divinity being recently awakened, whereas Ares had be a mere shadow of his original self, having either lost or relinquished most of the power he possessed in his prime. On the other hand, Iapetus, although powerful, was not as strong as the three principal Olympian gods, owing to his being sealed in a pseudo-death state for countless millennia. So, even though I could dly say that I had defeated two different gods and one titan in battle, none of them were anywhere near powerhouses like Zeus or Darkside in power level. I still have a long way to go before I reach their level. Of course, Ares'' helmet can be a shortcut to that destination, but even then, I would need to bring it under my control for that to happen because I wasn''t going to be a pawn of some godly wraith for the rest of my life. Unlike the original Batman, I dly weed more power so that I could better protect myself and my family, but I wasn''t suddenly going to quit being cautious to get that power. If I wanted that, I would have just started to look for that shiny helmet of fate instead of working hard to master science. "Wait, you fought against literal gods and won? Wow, that is OP as hell." Vicki gasped in awe. "Did she fight as well?" Vicki curiously questioned while looking at Diana, her journalist eyes scanning the attractive red and golden armor that could be seen hugging her Amazonian figure despite the long piece of cloth she had wrapped around her body to try and disguise her "warrior-like" appearance as well as to hide her weapons from view. Hearing Vicki''s question, I instead of directly answering, looked at Diana sitting beside me, encouraging her to answer in my ce in my ce to give her a chance to join in our conversation. "I did what I could although even saying that I assisted Bruce in the battles would be a stretch. He was plenty enough for all of them. He is the best warrior I have ever seen in my life even though he is a male. He even fought better than my mother, the Queen." Diana answered without any hesitation, not even realizing how her answer could be considered sexist by some. But still, none of the girls seemed to care about her casual use of sexism while Alfred and I were just too "wise" to get offended by her words especially since we both knew she didn''t mean it that way. Of course, she would eventually need to learn how to speak in public without getting "canceled" if she were to survive in the man''s world, but it was nothing a few PR sessions could not teach her. "Wait, the Queen? So, you are not just a warrior but also a princess? We are sitting with an actual magical princess... When were you going to tell us that, Bruce?" Miss Thompkins gave me a disappointed look as she gave a side nce to Alfred. "You see, Bruce, your father mentioned that your mother''s family had royal ties before they amassed their wealth in Gotham''s chemical industry. Even when they were dating, she used to be called the Duchess of Gotham by the press. It seems, then, that an affinity for women of royal lineage is a family trait. Wouldn''t you agree, Alfred?" she inquired, a yful mischievous smile gracing her lips. Hearing Leslie''s words, Alfred seemed to be a little taken aback but soon reeled his surprise back in control as he sported the same calm expression he always had on his face. "Young Miss Diana here appears to be a most sincere and benevolentdy. I am sure that her endearing nature would charm anyone, whether they regard her as royalty or not." Alfred answered in aposed manner although, for some reason, he looked a little uneasy. ''Did something happen while I was gone? Alfred seems to be a little awkward.'' I wondered to myself while mentally debating if I should inform him that the "Young Miss Diana" here might even be older than him. "I am indeed the princess and champion of Themyscira. But I will feel much better if you address me as one of you and not royalty. I am tired of being Princess Diana all the time. Sometimes, I even feel like I am more princess than Diana. I came here to explore the world and make new friends as just Diana, not a princess." Diana announced with pride in her voice as her gaze traveled across the room, informing everyone of her wish. Finally, Helena, who had mostly been silent till now, choosing to listen in on all our conversations ultimately spoke up with a teasing voice, "Just Diana, huh? Sure then, we will treat you just like we treat each other. Just don''t forget your words. As for you, Bruce, I think you and I ought to have a long talk after this. I expected you to have a few surprises for me since we have met after so many years, but honestly, I feel like I don''t even know you anymore. Gods and magic? Just what have you been hiding from me all this time... hiding from all of us?" She grumbled as she looked at me with arge frown on her face. "... Look, I know I should startmunicating with you guys a little more but believe me, I myself never expected that I would be summoned to a mythical ind to fight evil Greek gods of all people. If I knew, I would have been much more prepared." I said with an awkward chuckle. "But I promise, the next time something important happens, all of you here will be the first to know about it... After all, you guys are my family." I said, hoping to quell the anger that almost all the girls had on their faces even though I had absolutely no idea why they were even angry in the first ce. "Master Wayne, if I may be so bold, it appears you''ve undergone quite a transformation since your return from this... magical ind. There''s an indefinable change about you, something that eludes precise description." Alfred uttered while looking at me up and down with furrowed brows. "Hmm? I don''t think so. ording to Cortana''s measurements, I have the exact same physical sizes that I had before. Maybe I became a little more handsome or something after living in the wild." I answered with arge grin ignoring all the snorts that the girls directed at me. However, Alfred was actually right. Something had indeed changed within me. Although my physical measurements and abilities remained roughly the same as before, something else much deeper had transformed within me. I could feel it. The change seems to havee after Agent Smith absorbed Iapetus'' mental energy into me and if I had to guess, the change probably had something to do with my soul, spirit, and mind. In fact, I could already feel my chi being much stronger than before. Originally in the battles against Ares, Hercules, and Iapetus, I didn''t use my chi much in direct attacks because I could feel that my chi was nothingpared to the godly energies they carried in them. Directly hitting them with chi attacks would have been like using a wooden stick to try and break a steel vault... But now, I feel like I at least have a chance of leaving a dent in the vault''s surface if nothing else. But I chose not to tell them that right now. I need to do a little more research on my current condition before I inform them of something like this. I have no wish to suddenly make them worried for no reason at all. Knock Knock"Excuse me, I am here to deliver a package to Bruce Wayne." A voice suddenly dered from outside the suite''s entrance after a firm knock on the door, stopping our conversation from going any further. "Deliver a package? I wasn''t aware that any esteemed hotel would permit courier services to ess their suites directly." Leslie could not help but mutter, looking like she was quite annoyed at the hotel''sx security. "Excuse me but can anybody please open the door and sign for this package? I am from Hermes Express, and I really need to deliver this by today. Both my job and life are riding on this package. My boss is going to feed me to his snakes if I amte again and I am already a lotte." The man spoke a little louder this time as he knocked on the door once again. "... Okay, that is definitely the weirdest mailman I have ever seen in my life." --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join myusing thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) Chapter 136: A Reward & a Really Weird Letter Chapter 136: A Reward & a Really Weird Letter ---
"I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." - nche Dubois, (A Streetcar Named Desire)
--- <(Bruce POV)> "What do you think this is, Cortana?" I casually asked while inspecting the huge courier box with the help of the bat tool one of the drones had brought me earlier. "Whatever this is supposed to be, sir, it''s notpletely normal. Despite the various types of analyzing methods, we have been using to try and find out its contents, I couldn''t find a single significant detail about it. All the test results save for the camera sensors failed even to perceive the box, much less find out any hidden details about it." The AI responded in a puzzled voice. "And what about the person who delivered it? Any news about him yet?" I asked with curiosity. "After all, he was not an ordinary human being either. His evading my senses proved just how capable he was." "Unfortunately, no sir. I have searched every digital database on the that I had ess to. I haven''t found even a single detail about the man that we saw earlier. Even the CCTV cameras near the hotel failed to capture a single photo of the man trying to enter or exit the property." Currently, I was in one of the hotel suites that I had just rented in order to find out the origins of the huge package that was delivered directly to my hotel room by a very shady-looking delivery guy. Initially, I was quite skeptical and hesitant to ept the package. However, when the delivery person begged me to sign for it, citing that both his job and life were at risk if he couldn''t deliver it today and mentioning his hungry children back at home, I waspelled to oblige. The guy sounded so pathetic that I just couldn''t say no to his pitiful face. He sounded like one of those guys who always worked as hard as he could to provide for his family but still had to face misfortune wherever they went for no reason at all. Originally, I intended to interrogate him or perhaps even scan his mind to discover how he managed to bring that package to the eleventh floor of the hotel without notifying the security staff. However, after I signed the delivery receipt at his request, he just vanished as if by magic. A singlepse in my vignce allowed him to slip away undetected, leaving no trace of his whereabouts or how he managed such a swift escape. "Yep, he was definitely a supernatural being, possibly even connected to the Olympian pantheon in some way," I said as I eyed the unique name pasted on the outer cover of the package ''Hermes Express''. "Should I open it?" Cortana asked as two thin metal arms with pincers extended from the white drone floating in front of me towards the boxed package. "... Okay, do it. Although I would have liked to wait until we went back to the cave to conduct additional tests to find out more about the package, I doubt we would find anything new especially since we haven''t found anything about it after doing so many tests already." I said, giving Cortana the go-ahead to unwrap the package. Upon hearing mymand, Cortana cautiously activated a thinser concealed within her pincers to slice through the topyer of the courier box, her guns and sters ready to engage should there be a trap. As the upperyer of the packaging slowly tore apart, a big silver-hued, luminescent piece of metal chunk enshrouded in a thin purple fabric was revealed, apanied by a piece of paper resting atop it. "It''s a piece of metal, sir... with a letter on top probably written for you," Cortana stated the obvious before going ahead to pick up the letter. However, as soon as her pincers touched the paper a lighting jolt seemed to pass through her drone body as some smoke began to rise from it, making it slightly lose its bnce in the air for a second. However, the very next moment, the drone again sessfully regained its bnce before going ahead to scan the letter that it was still holding in its hands. "Cortana, are you alright?" I asked with some worry as I could not help but frown at the tiny amount of ck smoke that escaped the drone''s body. "Yes, sir, I ampletely fine. It was just a small electric shock of about 250 volts. It wasn''t even enough to kill a strong enough human, much less harm this particr drone model. The brief short circuit was only because all my defenses were temporarily down when I touched the letter. I guess I got... careless." Cortana exined with a downcast voice. "That''s okay, Cortana. You don''t have to mope around now. Just make sure that this doesn''t happen again. Sometimes, even a single moment of carelessness can result in someone''s death... or a delivery guy running away. *Sigh* Anyway, go ahead and read the letter." I ordered before redirecting my attention to the piece of glowing rock. If one were to ignore the glow of the chunk of metal, it honestly looked like some kind of weird non-refined ore. ''Wait, is it perhaps that?'' While I was inspecting the piece of metal, Cortana seemed to be scanning the letter for any irregrities. Once she was done, she began to read aloud the contents of the letter. "Dear Mr. Bruce Wayne, I trust this letter and the package to find you in time. I am writing to you under circumstances that are mildly exasperating and extremely annoying. You see, Athena¡ªmy cunning hot sister¡ªand Hera¡ªmy bitch of a mother¡ªhave ckmailed me into sending you this package as your reward for some quest you supposedlypleted for them. Yes, by the way, you heard that right, ckmailed! One would think the goddesses of wisdom and family would have better uses for their time, but apparently, they have given you their words to send you this reward. So, here I am, reluctantly parting with FIFTY KILOGRAMS of the rare and highly coveted element called Eighth Metal. Now, let''s clear the air: I am not in the habit of sending rare supernatural metals to mortals, no matter how cool, broody, or handsome they may be. But both Athena and Hera insisted (forced) me to do this, something about their godly honor depending on this reward. Frankly, I don''t see why a billionaire needs any more help other than his billions, but what do I know? I''m just the god of smithing. Honestly, this isn''t the first time I''ve been dragged into these ridiculous promises made by my family. I never understood what it is with gods and their grandiose rewards. You know, Zeus once promised a flying ship to some hero¡ªguess who had to make it? And don''t get me started on my brothers Hermes and Apollo. It''s like an endless game of "Hephaestus, we need a favor," and I''m always the one left holding the hammer. So here we are. Anyway, enclosed with the package you hopefully received is a shipment of pure Eighth Metal, which, for the record, is a remarkable substance. It''s lighter than air, stronger than any metal on Earth, an extremely good conductor of all types of magic BLAH BLAH BLAH, and most of all, annoyingly difficult to part with. I can only hope you make good use of it. Perhaps a new armor? Or a sword? Or maybe a spear? The possibilities are as endless as your funding. In closing, I hope you can do justice to the most valuable metal in the world and make something unique with it since you are apparently also an inventor like me. Maybe, that''s why Athena has a crush on you. Wait, I wasn''t supposed to say that. Well, I guess it slipped my fingers, maybe she shouldn''t have ckmailed me in the first ce if she didn''t want anyone to know this. Also, if you ever need any more rare materials, please consider asking ANYONE BUT ME. My backlog of godly requests is already longer than the River Styx. Oh, and forgive me for the little prank I pulled with the letter. I really wanted someone to me for having to give away so much eighth metal, so I decided that "shocking" you a little with a harmless prank could satisfy my anger. Yours begrudgingly, Hephaestus, God of Fire and Forge, Vulcan Forges Corporation, Olympus P.S. If you figure out how to stop gods from making absurd promises involving mybor, do let me know. I''d be eternally grateful. Also, if you ever invent something amazing you can share it with me either via prayer or just burning your invention in a fire lit in my name." Cortana finally finished reading the letter in one go. "..." My silencested for a long time as I wondered how to respond to the letter. All of it was mostly Hephaestus ranting like a ten-year-old about him having to give away so much of the metal to me but truthfully, Hephaestus sounded like a¡ªI don''t believe that I am saying this¡ª but he sounded like a... "good" guy who was always bullied to do stuff by his family members. Even though I was the one benefiting from this the most, I could not help but feel slightly sorry for him. "Sir, now that we know this is pure eighth metal, should I arrange for it to be transported back to ourb?" Cortana finally broke the silence after some time. She sounded like she was also confused about how she should react to the letter, so she just chose to ignore it. "Yeah sure, do that. I won''t be working for the week since I am on vacation, so I''ll look into this after I return to Gotham." I answered after thinking for a while as I surveyed the glowing piece of metal. ''Now, I just have to decide what to make with this... as well as how to actually make it since I have no idea how this metal is even used in metalcraft''. --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join myusing thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) Chapter 137: A Date and Start of a Wild Night Chapter 137: A Date and Start of a Wild Night ---
"Those who restrain desire do so because theirs is weak enough to be restrained." ¡ª William ke, (The Marriage of Heaven and Hell)
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "Amusement parks are really too much fun, no matter how old we are. Remember thest time we went to an amusement park together, Bruce? As much as I remember, it was the Wayne Wondend in Gotham, right? You, Vicki, Selina, and I visited the park on the day of its inauguration. We had so much fun that day, didn''t we?" Helena mused with a warm smile on her face as we strolled through the lively streets of the amusement park in Athens that we were exploring. Originally, all of us were supposed to visit the amusement park together but, Alfred and Leslie had decided to stay back because apparently, they had suddenly remembered that they had something important to do while the other girls wanted to go on a girl''s night out to get to know Diana better. Helena, however, still wanted to visit an amusement park with me just like we used to when we were young, so she ditched her gal friends without any hesitation and here we are. "Yeah, we really did have fun that day. You know, I still remember how you were trying to pretend that you were some arrogant stuck-up princess who didn''t like amusement parks when we went there the first time, but the moment Alfred bought us corndogs, every bit of that facade melted right off your face. It was adorable how you had to eat your corndog while also having to protect it from Selina''s greedy hands." I chuckled as I reminisced about that day. "Well, what can I say? I love long sticks of thick meat in my mouth" she shrugged while giving me a suggestive nce. "... Miss Helena Bertinelli, are you trying to flirt with me? Because if you are, then you need to do better. That sounded like something a sex addict would say." I replied with a mischievous smirk. "And who said I wasn''t a sex addict? Maybe I am one as well and I am just saving myself for the right dick... or should I say the right person with just the right dick." Helena said while looking at me through the corner of her eyes, trying to gauge my reaction. "But again, you wouldn''t care about that, would you? You have your own little kitty after all. Vicki told me about you and Selina''s "wild nights" together as well as the fact that you are also dating two assassin sisters at the same time. You, Mr. Bruce Wayne, are one hell of a yer." It seemed like Helena was quite informed about my private life despite living far away in Europe. It was by no doubt Vicki''s doing. Besides being a talented journalist in her professional life, Vicki Vale also liked using her skills in her private life as well, which apparently included giving timely updates to her best friend about details of all my rtionships. "Well, what can I say? When life gives you lemons, make grape juice, then sit back and watch while life wonders how you did it." I responded with an innocent smile. "That makes no sense. But honestly, I understand. Even when we were kids, you always listened to us and tried your best to help us in any way you could, no matter what we did. I guess, that''s why we all had such a big crush on you... although you probably know that already." Helena admitted thest part to herself in a soft voice as a red blush slowly crept up on her cheeks. "You know, being a healthy male in his teens, I had a crush on you all as well, still do even. So, I guess the feelings are mutual." I flirted back before proceeding to immediately change the topic, "Anyway, how has life been in Italy? Besides training in gymnastics, archery, shooting, and martial arts, I also heard that you have been indulging in some interesting nightly activities that involved the bat tool I gave you." "Yes, I have been practicing... wait, how did you know? Wait, have you been keeping an eye on me using Cortana?" Helena frowned. "Not really. Cortana indeed does have a program that keeps a watch on the overall safety of all my friends and family members, but she doesn''t have to observe them all the time for that. An algorithm for detecting any abnormalities in their daily life is enough for that. However, I came to know about your regr nightly activities from the tracker I ced inside your bat tool." I revealed with an impassive face. "... A tracker!? You had a tracker on me all this time? That is a serious breach of privacy, you know. God, you are even worse than the tech giants that have been cropping up everywhere and using their products to harvest data from the public." Helena pouted to show her anger. "If you expect me to apologize, then you will be quite disappointed, Helena. I have already lost my parents once because I wasn''t prepared enough for what happened that night and I don''t want to lose you or any of the other members of my new family again the same way. And if I have to get the help of a tracker for that, I will. You can hate me for that, despise me for acting like a pervert but I still won''t be sorry, and I definitely won''t stop. Better you hate me while being alive than love me while being dead... or worse." I said with a serious voice while shamelessly using the ''dead parents'' card in my defense to stop her from overreacting. Of course, I didn''t tell her that another reason why I ced the tracker in the bat tool was to ensure that if it ever fell into the wrong hands, I could effortlessly track and recover it. After all, I don''t want anybody using a billion-dor weapon that could potentially even knock out Kryptonians tomit petty crimes, do I? "... Well, if you phrase it like that, then I don''t know what to say... Damn it, I can''t even be angry at you for too long. I always thought that you would grow up to be an arrogant billionaire jock whose life''s mission would be getting inside women''s panties. At least then I would have had a chance of being worthy of you but why the hell do you have to be so caring and perfect?" Helena Harrumphed. "Well, I am not perfect, nobody is. And I assure you that getting inside women''s panties is still very important for me." I joked with a straight face. "Anyway, let''s go to that rollercoaster ride next. You can tell me about your recent drug cartel burst there." I said while pulling her to the ride in front of us. "A rollercoaster? I am pretty sure that no ride in this amusement park can scare someone who has experienced riding the Vomitter or the Juggler in your park back at Gotham." A pearl ofughter escaped Helena''s lips as both of us got ready for another "boring" ride. *** <(Omniscient POV)> "Okay, I shouldn''t have done that rollercoaster ride so many times. Who knew that my senses had be that sensitive after taking so many serum cocktails?" Bruce mumbled to himself as he entered his dark room while still clutching his head. He was lucky that the other girls hadn''t gone with him to the amusement park today, otherwise, they would have surely mocked him for feeling so disoriented after a mere rollercoaster ride. ''However, I should do some VR trainingter to ensure that my senses do not get the better of me if I ever have to withstand something like the rollercoaster again.'' He thought with a snort, as he opened his clothes, not even bothering to turn on the lights. He might not be very tired physically but mentally, he was drained and needed to blow off some steam. He was sure that having some much-needed shut-eye was the best possible way for him to do that right now. However, just as he was having all these thoughts, he suddenly grew alert as he looked around his room with a frown on his face. ''Did I just imagine it?'' He furrowed his eyebrows. But, before he could look around further, he felt a pair of thin but firm human hands slowly embracing him from behind. "Talia? What are you doing here and why are you hiding your chi?" Bruce asked without even looking at the face of the person behind him. "Well done. You were able to urately guess who I was without even turning around. Even my father himself couldn''t sense me when I tried my best since I was extremely gifted in the art of stealth. It seems that my father had really lucked out by getting you as his student... But then again, he did die at the hands of his favorite student, so maybe not. And as for your question, I am not hiding my chi from you but from my sister. After all, she wouldn''t have allowed me toe here alone if she could sense me." Talia answered, using her hands to feel out his abs. "Oh, and what do you want to do, now that you are here?" Bruce asked with a shit-eating grin, the mental tiredness he once felt now rapidly disappearing with each passing second. "Something that we both desired from the very start, something that my little sister is too afraid to do. In the simple wise terms often used by Selina and Vicki, I am going to get my cherry popped." --- (A/N:As you guys must have already guessed, it''s R-18 time. After that, the next arc will begin... with a bang.) Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join myusing thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.)
Chapter 138: Bruce and Talia (R-18) Chapter 138: Bruce and Talia (R-18) ---
"Love isn''t about finding someone perfect. It''s about finding someone who''s perfect for you." - Yato, (Noragami)
--- <(Omniscient POV)> "Wait, so you are here to have sex?" Bruce asked, curiously raising one of his eyebrows at Talia while ignoring her hands that were currently rubbing the growing bulge in his pants. "No, I am here to make wild love with my boyfriend and lose my virginity. And unlike Selina, I am ready to do it all night without stopping. After all, if she can do it, I can too." Talia smirked as she slowly and sensually opened the silky red robe she was wearing before throwing it away behind her. "... As tempting as that is, you know that if your sister finds out about this, she will most probably kill you, right?" Bruce asked while trying his best to resist throwing Talia on the bed and pounding her to kingdome. He needed to be sure of the consequences before submerging himself in the depravity that was tempting him in his face. "Oh please, my sister is a closet pervert and a secret cuckquean. Why do you think she even agreed to share you with me? Winning against Selina was just an excuse. The real reason is that after she heard you and Selina fucking like animals, she could not help herself but want to see it more. I know my sister the best. Both of us have trained all our lives to be inplete control of our lust but that doesn''t mean it''s not there. She still has her kinks just like I have mine. I doubt she can even get wet without seeing you fuck someone else. Plus, I never told her that I was going to wait for her to get banged first, did I? Now, enough about her, it''s time for you to focus on me, my beloved." Talia whispered in Bruce''s ears while giving it a seductive lick. She was already down to her ckced two-piece lingerie, ready to get dicked down by her "fianc¨¦". "Such confidence, I like it. I like women who know what they want, women who aren''t afraid to ask to be fucked when they need it. I truly do love your sister but since she had herself asked me to be your lover as well, it''s only fair that I fulfill all your physical needs. I am a good boyfriend after all." Bruce replied as he decided to let himself loose, using his hands to caress all over Talia''s semi-nude body. Without teasing him any longer, Talia locked her lips with Buce''s in a passionate kiss. His hands got into position as they locked onto her ass. Talia''s own hands also roamed expertly and endlessly over Bruce''s body as she felt his not-so-subtle muscles ripple against her touch. It made her even more excited as she kissed him madly. "Such perfection. My father was right when he told me to stay away from you. You are extremely dangerous and truly the finest specimen of a human male. I came here to make love but now after seeing your body, I want you to breed me..., does that even make sense?" Talia chortled, growing hornier and more excited by the second. Of course, this wasn''t just apletely natural sexual attraction. What Bruce didn''t tell Talia was that his "evolved" physiology and the pheromones he released made him seem extremely sexually attractive to the innate instincts of most human females. For someone like Selina who was also close to being a "High human" like him, this tranted to going into heat like an animal as an effect of his pheromones. But for a "normal human" like Talia, this simply meant that she would be much more aroused than usual. Now, this did not imply that his pheromones could cause females to magically fall in love with him left and right; rather, it meant that they amplified the feelings and attraction between him and his lovers that already existed. Talia slowly unbuckled Bruce''s pants with her left hand as she yed with his abs using her right. The excitement on her face increased as she leaned down and kissed him. Then moving towards his fully erect dick, she gave it a firm squeeze. "Is that all for me?" Talia asked. "Yes, a big gift for my hot little assassin," Bruce responded with a mischievous grin. Hearing his words, Talia just smiled and teased his throbbing manhood. The harder that he throbbed the more Talia pressed up against him. She pressed her hands and then sensually opened her panty to rub her thighs against his. The friction of Talia working back and forth against hisher regions caused Bruce to almost lose it, but with years of training in mastering his own body, he was able to control himself. As Bruce''s Manhood popped out into full view, Talia came down to greet the swollen head with a sloppy kiss. She gripped it tightly, giving it a hot lick, before letting it spring back and allowing it to swing. A proud grin slowly adorned her face at the visual of his thick throbbing manhood swaying from side to side. Talia slowly raised herself and sat a couple of inches above Bruce''s thighs cing herself on top of him as she pressed her hands against his chest, his cock touching the outer regions of her wet pussy. "Now let''s have some real fun," Talia whispered seductively in his ear. She entered into a passionate make-out session with Bruce as the billionaire cupped her covered breasts. He pinched her nipples and squeezed her mounds, trying to shape them into various shapes. Her 32-DD boobies were more than enough entertainment for Bruce to maintain his erection as Talia herself continued to rub her thighs andher region against him. "I''m ready to have the ride of my life." She said as inch by inch, his erect and wet manhood slowly stuffed inside her tight hole She leaned back, enjoying the pleasurable sensation, rubbing herself all over him while trying to take him as deep within her as possible. The sounds of flesh rubbing against each other echoed in the silent room as Talia touched her breasts and pinched her own nipples in wild arousal while Bruce gazed at her athletic and exotic body with shameless lust in his eyes. " You like it, don''t you baby," Talia asked, "You like the way that you pinch my tits when I bounce on that big, beautiful cock of yours, don''t you? You like the way that I milk that monster... and the way I''m going to get everyst drop of cum out of your massive balls. You can''t resist the pool of my nice... tight... virgin pussy walls... can you?" Talia smiled down, his manhood making her wet as hell. She bounced higher, faster, and with more intensity, up and down on him. She mped down tighter around his cock forming a very nice and very elegant seal around his manhood. She breathed in, chewing on her lower lips before sliding all the way down onto him in an attempt to take all of him inside herself at once. To her, this was simply the best feeling in the world, to feel him inside of her body. Bruce could agree with her. Every moment showed just how much Talia wanted this and every moment brought Bruce deeper inside of her as her wet cunt pped down onto him. He could feel his cock trying to enter deeper into her, trying to reach ces no man will ever be able to reach. Encouraged by the prospect, he put his hands on her hips before making her m down onto him, even faster and harder. It was like Bruce owned her. Talia had never been dominated in such a way, never having experienced pleasure like this. And the best thing was that he was still making her ride faster and harder. It made her feel so hot, so wet, so needed. The thrusts sped up, his body almost blurring underneath her. That got her all hot and bothered. Next, Bruce sat up and buried his face in between Talia''s breasts, trying to motorboat them. Talia closed her eyes, horny as hell and about ready to pop. Bruce was cupping and sucking on her tits while pinching her nipples like they were his property, making her just lose it. She put her hands on the back of his head while slipping herself up and down on him in a rhythmic motion. Her pussy mped down onto him like a long-lost lover, making him groan. "Yes!" Talia moaned. "Suck on those tits. They are all yours." Every inch of the young assassin''s body was extremely sinful. As Bruce rose up and down, his big, bloated balls hitting her in all of the right ces, he could feel how warm and tight she was for him. It felt amazing to be squeezed by one of the hottest femme fatales of the DC universe, her tight sacred cave trying to get as much of his manhood inside herself as physically possible. Soon, as their pace hastened, Talia couldn''t help but wrap her legs around Bruce with the force of a python which could have killed any other normal man in his ce. Of course, Bruce didn''t mind since he was anything but a normal man. In fact, he enjoyed being squeezed like that. To him, it was like a tight hug while having sex although he himself held his own strength back so as not to hurt her. "I am going to drain your balls. You can go ahead and release all your seed into me, even impregnate me if that is what you desire. I am sure that my dead father would be more than d if his daughter became a breeding mare for his favorite student and heir." Talia purred with an aggressive clench around him. Bruce was quite excited by those words. However, he controlled his impulses and just responded by cupping Talia''s perfect ass and tightly squeezing it. Talia emboldened by the squeeze began to bounce harder on him, her pussy holding onto his dick like a vice grip. "Good fertile cum is so hard to find nowadays," She said, "Why don''t you share some with me and paint my insides white. im my body as yours and make sure that all my holes know who their owner is." Talia kissed him on his lips, inserting her tongue into Bruce''s mouth while sucking on his lips and tongue sloppily and aggressively. She was quite eager to please him and prove herself as a capable lover. She wanted to get ahead of thepetition, no matter what she had to do, even if it meant giving her love a dozen babies as heirs. Feeling her passion, Bruce was also not one to hold back. He pulled his dick out of Talia''s unwilling pussy and then bent her over the side of the bed in his favorite doggy position. Then immediately, sliding his dick back into her, he began to fuck the ever-living daylights out of the assassin princess. Talia at this moment was getting blown out of her mind. She couldn''t register a single coherent thought that was not endless bbing. She could feel every single burning moment of her approaching orgasm. As Bruce stroked her divine body, he began to grow a desire to push things further. This made him quicken his pace while slipping a single finger into her tight asshole while using his other hand to tug her nipples. This made Talia snap up, moaning and squirming with pleasure she didn''t think possible. Her knees bent as she received the best pounding of her life while her thighs turned into jelly. She could feel sweat umting all over her body as Bruce''s big, bloated balls mmed down into herher regions. Her mind felt like short-circuiting with euphoria as she closed her eyes and just decided to surrender herself to the pleasure. Talia''s body writhing underneath Bruce felt amazing, edging him closer and closer. It was like her pussy just called for him, begged for his seed to be squirted inside it. With the countless vibrations and the immense wetness, Bruce felt inside Talia''s pussy, he was sure that she had already experienced innumerable orgasms. But he was yet toe although he was definitely close. "Empty your balls into my slutty hole. That''s what you want, isn''t it? To impregnate your girlfriend''s sister behind her back? To use my body like your toy?" She nudged him on after feeling how close she was. Her inner walls tightened around Bruce, making him groan in pleasure. In turn, Bruce edged her by pumping two of his fingers into her asshole and pushing his dick deeper into her pussy, so much so that her stomach seemed to bulge out a bit in the shape of his dick. "Cum for me again," Brucemanded her as he pumped into her, harder than ever. Even though his loins threatened to burst, he held back as long as possible, to make sure that he could extend both of their pleasure to the longest possible time. As the lovers enjoyed the closeness they felt, Talia had her most intense orgasm yet. But her pleasure doubled as with one final push, Bruce finally released his seeds inside her. She felt a burst of warm and dense fluid pour into her tired pussy, filling up her insides. The discharge grew in volume, making a noticeable bulge in her stomach as the juices threatened to leak from her pussy. She could not believe that even balls as big as Bruce''s could hold up that much seed and yet, here they were. "With how hard you still are, I don''t guess you are even near to being done, are you?" Talia panted as he felt Bruce slowly pull his still-hard dick out of her unwilling pussy, making the juices that were inside her gush out like a fountain. "Not even close, my love. I am just getting started. By the time, I am done tonight, all your holes will bepletely addicted to my cock. I will make sure that just like Selina, you won''t be able to live without tasting my cock at least once a week." Bruce smirked as he eyed her tight and puckered asshole that had already begun to loosen up because of two of his fingers pumping inside it. "I knew that I had chosen the right man as my lover. You are twice the man my father could even dream of being. Don''t worry, my beloved, I will make sure to empty your balls whenever you want and wherever you want. My body is for your pleasure. Use my body in any way you want, I can take it. After all, that''s the least I can do for my sister. You can give her your love while I will take on your lust." She giggled before changing her position, slowly bringing her face near his dick. "Now, let me clean this for you." She said before taking his entire length inside her mouth and throat. As Bruce saw the sexy vixen deepthroat him to clean his cock while sniffing hisher region, he was filled with renewed vigor. He knew that this was going to be a long night and getting even a few hours of shut-eye was probably going to be tough. But that didn''t disappoint him at all. It only brought a content smile to his face. However, as both Bruce and Talia were busy pleasuring each other and exploring each other''s bodies, the Prince of Gotham failed to notice a lone female figure standing outside his room, observing them with a horny look on her face. Her red eyes seemed to be on the verge of breaking into tears as three of her fingers rapidly went in and out of her pussy. Her breathing was uneven as she stared at Bruce''s cock forcing its way into Talia''s tight backdoor with desire and longing, "Why? Why am I doing this? What if they see me like this? How will I answer them? How will I even show my face to Bruce after this?... God, I can''t believe that I am getting off by seeing my boyfriend plowing my own sister like amon slut." --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join myusing thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.)
Chapter 139: A Bat on Fire Chapter 139: A Bat on Fire ---
"Sometimes life is like jazz and goes in an unexpected direction. - Nishimi Kaoru, (Sakamichi No Apollon)"
--- <{Auditorium Parco De Musica Ennio Morricone, Rome, Italy}> <(Bruce POV)> "What Wayne Enterprises is striving for through its products is not just a cure but a future where no one has to choose between their health and their hope, where no one has to die or suffer because their condition is untreatable. Together, we are turning the tide against the concept of diseases itself, making miracles essible for every person on the. Thank you." I concluded with a small bow before turning to leave the stage. As soon as I turned after finishing my speech, the entire auditorium burst into fiery apuse as the press, the dignitaries, and the public alike took part in the standing ovation to show their approval. Now, a lot of people might ask what I was doing here in an auditorium giving a speech while I should be rxing somewhere on a beach or a casino as I was supposed to be on vacation for the entire month. Honestly, that''s what I wanted too. But after a news reporter spotted me entering my hotel in Italy, news of my Euro tour spread like wildfire in all the local newspapers and news channels. And then, the rest was history. Italian and European politicians knew that being seen with me or having me do a public meeting in the country would bolster their poprity immensely. So, they sent multiple requests for me to participate in some public events. Originally, I was going to ignore those requests and just focus on enjoying my vacation here but Alfred being the wise advisor he was, advised me to at least attend one public gathering and meet with some of the important ministers to speak about some of thetest groundbreaking products from thepany. ording to him, that way we could at least secure some political backing for ourselves in Europe which would be quite useful in the long run. Of course, there was also the fact that they had also promised some tax cuts for Wayne Enterprises if I were to praise the direction the country was developing in under their rule. Also, for some reason, it felt like Alfred wastely frustrated about something and was trying his best to avoid even looking me in the eye. So, when he told me to do this for him, I couldn''t really say no. "That was amazing, Mr. Wayne. Your talk about the essential welfare of humans and our responsibility to protect fellow human life almost made me shed tears. Thank you for agreeing to our request today. It was an honor to bear witness to such advanced medical technology that is inevitably going to change our world for the better." A middle-aged man who had previously introduced himself as the Italian minister of finance said while shaking my hand before posing for a photo with me. "It was my pleasure to be here." I smiled back. "Now, you must forgive me for I need to return before my friends decide to continue the rest of the tour without me." I chuckled as I made my way to the exit after shaking a couple more hands. "Mr. Wayne, what do you think about moving your operations to a more tax-friendly location to save taxes." "Mr. Wayne, are the rumors of you having an affair with the news prodigy Vicky Vale true?" "Mr. Wayne, is it true that you are trying to create a harem for yourself?" "Mr. Wayne, do you think Luthor Industries will be a threat to Wayne Enterprises in any way?" "Mr. Wayne, what do you think about the rumors of superhumans that have slowly begun to sprout out from different corners of the world? Do you think they will be bad for the global economy?" "Mr. Wayne... Mr. Wayne... Mr. Wayne... Mr. Wayne..." Shouts from scores of news reporters echoed from all around me as they tried to surround me and bombard me with different types of questions in the hope that I would slip up and utter something spicy that would give them their next big headlines. "Sorry, no more questions. Now, please make some space and let Mr. Wayne leave." A bulky man named Tom, who was the appointed leader of the security detail that was assigned to me by the Italian government dered while shoving the press representatives to the sides to make some room. "The parking is this way, Mr. Wayne. We have parked your car there. It is better to exit through the car park instead of waiting at the entrance since the press isn''t allowed there as it is for VIPs only." "Sure," I replied with a shrug before following him out along with the other security officials. However, as we entered the parking space, something suddenly began to feel off. It was like my inner instincts were warning me that somebody or something was observing me. For a moment, I thought that the security personnel were going to try and take their shot at me, but it was apparent from their bodynguage that they weren''t stressed and didn''t feel like anything was wrong. To me, this made it clear that they weren''t spies and didn''t pose any threat to me. This was something else or should I say someone else because the fact that I couldn''t sense them meant they weren''t just professional killers but very good at their job too. "Is something wrong, Mr. Wayne?" Tom asked after he noticed me suddenly getting vignt of the surroundings. "It''s nothing," I answered without any change in my expression as I followed them to my car. "Cortana, can you check the CCTV footage to make sure that this is not just my paranoia kicking in?" I whispered in a low voice. The car park was mostly empty. There wasn''t anyone else here since ess to this particr parking lot was supposedly limited to only VIPs and VVIPs. There were a few other cars in the parking lot, mostly belonging to elite dignitaries and politicians but all of them were empty since their owners were currently attending the press Q&A that was still going on. "The CCTV footage seems to be running in a loop while the motion sensors have been deactivated from the control room, sir. There is a 96.7% chance that our security ispromised." Cortana replied. "We are here, Mr. Wayne. One of us will drive you to the hotel and two of us will be apanying you in the back of the car while there will be two more cars that will be escorting you, one will be in front of your car and the other behind you." Tom exined after bringing me in front of a ck Te Model X. It was a normal Te X that I had borrowed from the hotel this morning after randomly choosing it. It didn''t have any extra safety or technological modifications that were normally present in all my personal cars. So, of course, messing with the car was as easy as messing with any other ordinary car out there, save for the advancedmercial safety features and software Wayne Enterprises used while developing the vehicle. So, before responding to his words, I quickly muttered once again, "Cortana, scan the car..." "Already did, sir. There is some sort of foreign electronic device carrying a hefty explosive charge that has been interfaced with the car''s ECU. It is a dual-trigger mechanism linked to the braking system and the vehicle''s speed sensor. Halting or driving the car above a particr speed will immediately trigger the explosion. Whoever did this is no amateur." Cortana quickly answered even before I couldplete my question. It was quite apparent from her voice that she was eager to please and show off her capabilities and usefulness. "... Tom, I think I want to drive by myself today. You guys can just follow me. You don''t need to be in the same car to protect me from attacks, right?" "Sir, this is against the protocol we normally follow. Our job is to escort you safely to your hotel. We can''t just let you drive on your own." Tom interjected in a worried tone. "It will be fine. After all, the hotel is barely a mile away from here. Plus, I trust you guys, you all are professionals." I patted his hand with a smile before getting inside the car. "Sir, do you want me to try and deactivate the explosive wirelessly or do you want to use the nanobots to do it? I suggest using the nanobots since it will be quicker and much more efficient." Cortana advised. "Neither. Rather, I intend to let the explosion happen." I answered with a straight face. "There haven''t been any changes in your brain waves or your heartbeat, so you are neither joking nor are you possessed... then may I ask why you intend to put your life in danger?" "My life in danger? You must be kidding, Cortana. You and I both know that a simple explosion can''t even put a scratch on me, much less mortally wound me. Of course, I can stop this explosion from happening, but I wouldn''t gain anything from that, would I? However, if people think that an attempt on my life put me in a critical state, there would be a lot of ways I could use that sentiment. From public sympathy to establishing the fact that Bruce Wayne is apletely normal person and even baiting my enemies toe out of the shadows to act after making them think that I am at my weakest, it would give me a lot of advantages. And most important of all, it would make it much easier to find out who is trying to kill me since the killer would most probably try to verify if his mission was a sess or not." I concluded as I started the engine after noticing that all the security agents had gone inside their cars to follow me. "... As stupid as this is, it actually makes sense... I hate it when you have stupid ideas that are technically genius." Cortana said from my bracelet with what sounded like a sigh. "Because I am a genius. You might be ten thousand times smarter than the average man, but as your dear daddy, I am still smarter than you. Oh, and by the way, send a message to Alfred, Talia, and Helena to make some preparations in one of the hospitals we have connections to here in Italy. After all, even though I could use nanobots to visually appear injured and burned on the outside, we still need inside help of some medical professionals to keep the ruse on for a few days." I replied with a cheeky smile before pushing down the elerator as strongly as possible. *** <(Omniscient POV)> BOOMAn explosion suddenly shook the entire parking lot as the Te Bruce was riding on exploded into a torrent of fire and pieces of steaming hot metal. The explosion, though contained urately to not affect the other nearby cars, was still potent enough to make sure that anything and everything inside it was reduced to ashes. "Fuck. I am going to lose my job." Tom muttered with a mix of desperation, anger, and surprise in his voice as he and the other members of his team ran towards the burning wreckage of the car to try and pull what should already be the smoked and charred dead body of one of the richest people on the. --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join myusing thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) Chapter 140: Bat vs World’s Best Killer? Chapter 140: Bat vs World¡¯s Best Killer? ---
"Patience is not the ability to wait, but how you act while you''re waiting." ¨C Joyce Meyer, (Battlefield of the Mind: Winning the Battle in Your Mind)
--- <(Omniscient POV)> "Good evening,dies and gentlemen. It is 9 pm, here in Metropolis, on Saturday, August 27th and I am Catherine Grant from Catherine Grant Hour... Tonight, we bring you a breaking and very disturbing story. Bruce Wayne, one of America''s most cherished and ideal citizens, has narrowly escaped a heinous assassination attempt in Italy. The incident urred earlier today when Mr. Wayne was attending a prestigious business conference in Rome. After the conference ended and he was going back to his hotel, he found that his car was rigged with explosives, detonating in what can only be described as a cowardly and vile act of terrorism. Although the attack did not take Mr. Wayne''s life, it left him critically injured, resulting in his admission to the emergency ward of an Italian hospital, where he is currently hanging on the brink between life and death." An attractive and charming woman with blonde hair started with a sad and disappointed expression on her face. "Now, let''s not mince words here. We all know that Bruce Wayne is more than just a billionaire. He is a pir of ourmunity, a beacon of hope and phnthropy who has dedicated his life to bettering both our country and the world. His family was one of the founding fathers of the great city of Gotham and has contributed more to America than most political families in the country. From hispany''s groundbreaking innovations in different sectors of technology to his unwavering support of numerous charitable causes, Mr. Wayne represents the very best of what it means to be an American." She borated, her face lighting up with "patriotism" and encouragement. "And an attack on Bruce Wayne is an attack on America ITSELF. It is an assault on the values we hold dear: courage, integrity, and the relentless pursuit of justice. We must stand united in our condemnation of this despicable act and support the swift and decisive efforts of both American and Italian authorities to bring those responsible to justice. As an American myself, I condemn the authorities who were unable to protect Mr. Wayne and I implore everyone to stand by him in his support." "In times like these, it is imperative that we remember the resilience and strength of the human spirit. The Wayne family including Mr. Bruce Wayne has faced countless challenges and emerged stronger each time. Tonight, our thoughts and prayers are with him, wishing him a speedy recovery and continued strength in the face of adversity." "This attack will not deter us. It will not break our spirit. Instead, it will reinforce our resolve to stand by Bruce Wayne and Wayne Enterprises who fight tirelessly to make our world a better ce. We will not be intimidated. We will not be silenced. Together, we will rise above this dark moment and shine even brighter." The woman encouragingly said while looking directly at the camera, her face filled with infectious determination. "... Stay tuned for more updates as this story unfolds. You are watching Wayne News Network, and this is Catherine Grant, from the Catherine Grant Hour, reminding you to stay strong, stay vignt, and above all, stay proud to be an American. Good night." *** <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "Where the fuck did you recruit her from? She took the term ''passionate foot-licking'' to a whole other level. The way she made me seem like some sort of capitalist Messiah, even I had cringe from it." I struggled to close my mouth after switching off the TV in my hospital room. "What are you talking about? She did AMAZING. Wow, I can''t believe I found a talent like her, I should be starting my own talent management agency. That woman... you have no idea how she is going to soon change the face of your mediapany. Till now, we have been the leading newswork in Gotham and one of the top 10 in the US but with her help, Metropolis is in our bag as well. In fact, not just Metropolis, if we can continue to recruit talents like her, I can guarantee you that Wayne News will easily be the biggest media and newspany in the country if not the world in no time." Vicki confidently stated with an impressed look on her face. "... Well, whatever you think works, I guess. You are the media genius here, after all, not me. Just make sure that she doesn''t go... too over the top." I said with a tired exhale before taking another sip of my grape-vored smoothie. Currently, I wasfortably reclining in a bed in my private hospital room, with a significant part of my body wrapped in bandages to conceal the fact that the explosion had actually left me unscathed. This hospital was among the countless beneficiaries of the Martha Wayne Foundation''s generous donations which meant the hospital was happy to go on with my demands. Alfred was also acquainted with some of the senior management here and ensured that news about my health condition would not leak from the hospital. As far as the public and the media were concerned, I was fighting a battle with death right now which meant that I could truly rx here until I chose to go back and make a public appearance once again. "I admit this was quite "cringe" as well but in all fairness, so is the media in every other news channel nowadays. Yours was actually quite entertaining. For a few moments, even I felt bad for Gotham''s messiah and America''s true hero. I guess I am still an American from the heart, aren''t I?" de Wilson, aka, Deathstroke uttered while chuckling like a madman as he entered my room followed by Ace. "Haha,ugh all you want. I''ll see how you like it when this happens to you. Maybe I''ll try and make you into America''s darling soldier one day to take revenge or maybe even force you to run for president." I snorted. "Anyway, what news have you brought me, my highest-paid employee?... Also, how the hell did you get Ace inside the hospital?" I asked while petting my favorite pet dog behind his ears. *GRRRrrr* Ace let out a happy rumble from his throat as he felt my hand ruffling the fur on his head. With a satisfied and happy expression, he sat down beside my bed and looked toward de as if signaling him to go ahead and answer my question. "I get paid the highest because I have the best skills in the world. Don''t make me sound like a leech or something. As for your dog, believe me, not a lot of people reject multi-billionaires from bringing their dogs inside somece. And yes, I have figured out who tried to kill you. But before I tell you that, I just want to inform you that I have called some of your newly bio-enhanced bodyguards here. They will be guarding the hospital as long as you are here and everyone else who is close to you until we eliminate the person responsible for this. You don''t even need to lift a single finger. I''ll take care of everything and..." "de, quit dilly-dallying and just tell me who it was so that I can take care of it?" I interrupted him with a frown. "... Although it was a professional assassin who attempted the assassination on you, someone who was... very good at what they do, the order, however, was ced by someone else. And it was not done through the League of Assassins, Nyssa confirmed that. The League or should I say the High Table has termed you and your close ones as untouchable targets. No one is allowed to put a bounty on your head through their services. So, the people who did it used a more traditional approach instead. They used the dark. However, even then, most assassins would not dare take on the task like this since you are too much of a high-profile target and you have me, the great de Wilson, aka, Deathstroke as your chief of security... or whatever else fancy position you have given me." de "You seem to be deflecting the question, de... Wait, are you... afraid?" I asked, furrowing my brows, "No, not afraid maybe. But you do seem to be weary of something. The question is what?" "I am NOT afraid. de Wilson is not afraid of anyone. It''s just that the person who tried to kill you is not your normal run-of-the-mill assassin..." Wilson replied with a snarl. "*Sigh* Have you heard of Colonel Rumaan Harjavti, the current supreme ruler of Bialya? He was the one who put a bounty on your head in the dar. Apparently, he came to power because the previous king got weak after he was diagnosed with third-stage lung cancer. The King is still alive since Harjavti is not politically powerful enough to actually kill the royal family, but he won''t live for long without some miraculous cure... something like the xenobots you recently developed and are nning to spread around the world. But if the king were to pass away, his teenage daughter would be the only one left in the royal bloodline and I am pretty sure you can understand how easy it would be for Rumaan to make his military reign over Bialya permanent if he just married the princess." de exined. "That''s it? That''s what you were cautious about? A king trying to kill me because he wants to stop the cancer drug developed by mypany from being sold all over the world. God, he is really stupid, isn''t he? Does he even understand howpanies work? Even if I die, someone else will just inherit thepany and continue selling the product. What a buffoon. *Sigh* Anyway, I think you grossly underestimate just how powerful a big-time capitalist in America is." I said with a rxed chuckle. "This is nothing a few discussions and threats won''t solve. Worst case scenario, I''ll just assassinate the Colonel and put the princess in power or something if this esctes." "That was not what was making me so worried, kid. The one who epted the bounty... at first, I thought that it was someone from the remnant League of Shadows, the one that is still operating under Lady Shiva using some unknown ind as its base but turns out I was wrong... The one who just tried to kill you, it''s one of your old mentors... David Cain, the most feared killer in the world." Deathstrokepleted in a grim tone. "David Cain?" I repeated his word, as I remembered the man who had taught me everything there was to know about killing someone in the most effective manner possible during my tutge in the League of Assassins. He was not just one of the "generals" under Ra''s Al Ghul but his most effective assassin and an absolute master in his craft. David considered himself an artist when it came to killing his targets. In fact, he didn''t even do what he did for money or power but simply to prove that he was the very best in his profession. Even though he was the most effective killer in the world, he still didn''t consider himself perfect. Instead, he wanted to train someone perfect, and for some time he thought that I was it, the perfect killer that he always dreamed of being. Of course, that was until he realized that I wasn''t so keen on killing innocent people after which he just regarded me as another failure and disappeared. However, I never thought that he would be back to try and kill me especially since I was his favorite student and all. Also, if the assassin really is David Cain, then this car explosion wasn''t his attempt at killing me but a simple... "hello" before he truly started the job. Now a lot of people might ask why I was concerned about someone like David Cain, a mere human who had no supernatural or superhuman power whatsoever. Well, remember the ''preparation hack'' that Batman is famous for? The reason why Batman always wins against all of his enemies? The reason why Batman can even defeat extradimensional all-powerful entities with enough time? Guess who taught it to him. Yep, it was David Cain, the man who can kill anyone with enough time and preparation. That man has no limits or boundaries. He can and will kill children if it would help in killing his target faster. He isn''t some viin who will try to stupidly kill you with a bunch of guns and missiles but someone who will use anything at his disposal to plot and take away your power, weaken you, wound you, and then kill you when you are at your absolute weakest. He was a true monster in man''s skin, and I am pretty sure that whatever he had nned for me was much MUCH worse than a damn car explosion. "This is going to be a fucking headache." --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join myusing thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) Chapter 141: Calling Shotgun Chapter 141: Calling Shotgun ---
"If it''s to protect our family, be it the kingdom or the entire world... we would make anyone our enemy. That''s what it means to be Fairy Tail" - Natsu Dragneel, (Fairy Tail)
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "Sir, are you sure that you don''t want to enjoy your vacation for a little longer? My crime analysis says that once you return to being Batman again, you won''t be able to take a long vacation for quite a long time." Cortana asked for the third time since morning as I boarded the private jet that I had anonymously rented to go back to Gotham. "Nope, I am done with my vacation. We can''t afford to waste more time here. The more Ize around, the easier it will be for David Cain to stage another attack on me. Plus, my to-do list is mounting with unfinished tasks every second." I sighed while taking my seat on one of thefy sofas in the jet. "Now, where the hell are the others?" I asked no one in particr as I glimpsed outside the ne through one of the windows. Apparently, Alfred and Leslie were having a meeting with some European emissaries to properly discuss how the European Union and the country of Italy can "make it up" to us so that Wayne Enterprises does not pull away or halt the operations of some of the important projects and businesses that we have started here including the distribution of the xenobots programmed to treat various incurable diseases. Of course, it should also be mentioned that they were not so amodating just because of the social service I was doing or the potential business I would be giving them but because of how the US government under the influence of the press and the public was treating the attack on me as an attack on America while actively pressurizing them from behind the scenes topensate me for theirpse in security that led to the attack. As for the girls, they actually wanted to go on onest shopping trip before heading back to Gotham with even Talia included in that list as well. Although previously, she had no interest in fashion or shopping like the other girls, after our passionate night of sex, however, she has been quite active in researching sexy costumes and kinky sex toys that she could use to have even more fun. She was a natural seductress and seemed to take that role quite seriously. "They are finishing the final security checks in the Immigration. They will be here within fifteen minutes... By the way, sir, shouldn''t you do something about Bialya as well since its current suprememander is the one responsible for issuing the bounty on you? Maybe a few economic sanctions will be enough to dissuade them... or perhaps an assassination..." "No, right now the political situation in the country is too sensitive for that. Economic sanctions might weaken the dictator''s power for some time, but sanctions always affect the normal public the most. It''s always the poor and the middle ss who truly suffer its repercussions. An assassination on the other hand is the preferable approach in this case but the time isn''t right. We should wait till we have more to gain from Bialya''s change in leadership. And who knows maybe I can crack a favorable deal with the previous king in exchange for my help and the cure to his condition... In fact, Cortana, do keep an eye out for anyone from Bialya arriving in America, especially its diplomats and emissaries? I have a feeling that they mighte in search of me to either ask for my help or to stop me from providing my help to the previous king." He ordered thoughtfully. "Will do, sir." Cortana dutifully replied. Anyway, now that I am finally returning to Gotham, I should start taking care of some of the viins who seem to have started their criminal careers already, especially the psychopathic ones who don''t even seem to value human life. "Sir, I think there is something you should know. It can just be a false rm but if it isn''t then there is a chance that your family is in danger." Cortana''s voice chimed out as her hologram suddenly appeared over my bracelet with a serious face. "My family? You mean Alfred and the girls?" I asked anxiously. "No, I mean the family that you always try to avoid, your blood rtives from the Kane family. Under the guardian angel initiative, I have been using an algorithm to keep an eye on everyone rted to you to ensure their safety against any unforeseen danger. Although the surveince isn''t constant or deep enough to invade their personal space, the algorithm does pick up certain keywords and actions to determine if anything abnormal is happening around them or if they are in any sort of mortal danger. That algorithm has just picked up abnormal movement andmunication around the area where the Kane family is presently staying in Brussels, Belgium. Your uncle, Jacob Kane is currently upied at his job, working on some secret project for NATO while his wife, Gabi, and her two daughters are alone at home, possibly preparing to leave their house to go somewhere. Their home seems decently secured and they even have some trained security personnel with them but none of that defense is impregnable in case of an invasion by a well-trained or well-prepared terrorist organization." She informed in a serious tone while showing a hologram of the blueprint of the house they were in as well as the cars that seemed to be parked near it. "Is it Davin Cain or perhaps the Court of Owls?" I asked with a serious voice. "No, sir. It doesn''t match Cain''s MO, and it doesn''t seem to be a single person. Also, this looks like a normal terrorist organization. Even if the Court is involved, at least they are not directly responsible for this. However, now that I am scanning everyone in the area through the few still functional CCTV cameras and the overhead satellites, it seems that whatever organization is monitoring them, they aren''tcking resources or manpower. Although I don''t have a clear view, I can count about 40 men armed to the teeth with guns, ammunition, and explosives..., of course, there might be even more. Even the entire local police force will have trouble dealing with them if they attack head-on, much less the six security personnel apanying the mother and the daughters." She answered while showing a somewhat blurry scan of the neighborhood, showing the possible enemies as red-colored dots. "Contact my aunt and tell her not to get out of the house. If my aunt doesn''t pick up the phone, contact the six security officials present there. I am sure one of them will at least take this seriously. You can use my name to coerce them to listen to you. Also, call my uncle, I''ll speak to him personally to make sure he understands the gravity of the situation. As far as I remember, he has some deep military contacts, so he should be able to easily get some soldiers there." Imanded. "Aye aye, sir. However, there is a high chance that the soldiers won''t make it there in time. Should I send some drones as well? The ones from Gotham will take multiple hours to be there but the few drones that are still here can arrive in an hour or two..." "No need. I''ll go there myself. After all, my suit is much faster than any of the drones." I responded before standing up to exit the jet. "That is right, sir. Although the suit still doesn''t have Faster Than Light capabilities or even the capacity for Deep Space travel, it can still travel faster than sound. At its highest, you can travel at the speed of 5 Mach. Considering the distance of your uncle''s house in Brussels from here, it will take approximately 11.34 minutes to reach the location." She briefed. I was quite pleased to know that I could reach the location before something serious happened to my aunt and her daughters. Even though I was never really close to them, there was still no way I was letting a mother and her children die on my watch, especially if I was aware of the threat to their lives in advance and there was a significant chance that this particr threat on their lives existed because of me. I might not be a saint, but I was definitely a good person... well, at least I always try to be one... in my own way... As I stepped out of the jet, ready to activate the nanobots in my bloodstream to form the armor on me, I noticed Alfred and Leslieing in my direction. "Master Bruce, are you going somewhere?" Alfred asked in a slightly concerned tone. Despite trying to sound normal, for some reason, Alfred seemed a little troubled. Even his figure looked like he had aged several years in the past few days although it should not have been possible because of the serum I had injected into him a few years ago. It should keep him good-looking and at his peak till he is at least a hundred years of age. So, this change in appearance must be because he is worried about something... I should ask him about it after Ie back. "Unfortunately, yes, Alfred. I don''t have time to exin but the Kane family is in danger, and they need my help. So, I''ll have to leave right now for that. When the girls arrive, take the jet straight to Gotham. Talia or Nyssa can fly the ne for you. All of your lives might be in danger as well and the Wayne mansion should be the safest ce for all of you right now." I quickly answered before taking a nce at Miss Thompson. I did not have enough time to exin everything to her, so I just hoped that Alfred was charming enough to do the job for me withoutplicating things further. Not having the time to exin more, I just pressed on the top of my bracelet to activate the nanobots. Immediately, countless "liquid droplets" began to pour out of my skin like sweat before spreading all over my body in the shape of armor. Within just a few seconds, the nanobots took theplete form of the bat armor over me. As soon as I had finished adorning the suit, Leslie gasped before eximing, "W-what is that armor, Bruce? Wait, are you...?" However, before she couldplete her words, Iunched into the air with the help of the thrusters under my feet. I was in a hurry and right now, reaching Brussels was the top priority. A few days ago, I had already exined my dual identities to Alfred, and quite surprisingly, he took it quite well, I guess his knowing that the child he had raised for so many years was not an ordinary human because of the serums and the OP gadgets and armors made from his genius, didn''t make him too worried about me getting hurt. In fact, he even appeared quite chill like he had expected it all along. All he did after finding out about my "secret identity" was just make me promise that I would always be careful in my "heroic" activities and that I should never make this a habit or grow overconfident. In his own words, he wanted me to experience a normal life as well while having some fun. Leslie too knew that I wasn''t exactly normal since she had witnessed my super intelligence before. I think she suspected that I was a cruel businessman unlike my father and even employed assassins and mercenaries for my benefit although she turned a blind eye to it. However, she had no clue that I was the same Dark Knight who was slowly bing the nightmare of every criminal in Gotham. But today, she had found out for better or worse and it remains to be seen if she could handle that information well. I really did hope for her sake that Alfred could calm her down and make her understand that I wasn''t a psycho or a criminal for doing what I did. After all, I would hate to use the Neuralyzer on her since she was Alfred''s girlfriend and all. "Location of target destination locked. Initiating Sonic Shotgun mode" Cortana dered after I had ascended to a considerable height in the sky. The portion of the armor around my heels instantly began to bulk up as nanobots from all over my body flowed to that area. Once the armor around both of my feet had almost quadrupled in size, the thrusters began to whizz with energy. BOOMA sonic boom escaped the thrusters, instantlyunching me in the direction of Belgium with an incredible force, faster than even the speed of sound. --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join myusing thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) Chapter 142: Family in Danger Chapter 142: Family in Danger ---
"You can do anything, but never go against the family." - Marlon Brando, (The Godfather)
--- <(Omniscient POV)> "I don''t even have a single bar in my phonework. Is there some sort of fault in the towers or something? None of the phones have been working since morning." Gabi Kane curiously asked one of her guards before putting down her useless phone with a frustrated sigh. She was just getting ready to leave the house with her two daughters to take them to the park, however, just when she was about to tell the driver to get the car out of the garage, she could not help but get a strange feeling in her heart like something bad was going to happen to them, making her want to call her husband. But unfortunately for her, her phone''swork was still not working. One of the soldiers assigned as security personnel for her and her family was standing near her at the main entrance and could not help but frown at her words. With a concerned look on his face, he decided to voice out his own concerns. "Ma''am, I think we shouldn''t go out today. Most of our phones andmunication devices have also been down since the morning for some reason which is quite suspicious since they are designed for military use and are designed to work in any situation or condition unless there is some sort of signal scrambler involved. Additionally, the most concerning part is that one of the wireless radios we normally use for contacting headquarters in emergencies also stopped working while we were in the midst of receiving a weird message. There was a lot of static in the message, but it sounded like a female voice on the other end trying to tell us not to go out of the house and barricade ourselves in. Now, it could have easily been a prank from some genius nerd sitting in front of hisputer, trying to draw attention to himself to prove how amazing and special he is, or it could have been a cross-connection since this happens a lot with these old pieces of tech, but we can''t just ignore the chances of there being real danger. So, it will be best if you stay in today until we can re-establish connection with HQ and confirm that there is nothing wrong." He advised. "Really? That is concerning. Fine, we will stay in. I''ll just tell Beth and Kate that I will take them to the park this Sunday when their fatheres home. They should not be too upset with all the cakes and gifts they got today. But if something does happen, you and your men can protect us, right, Mr. Finish?" Gabi asked with some concern in her voice as she took a nce at the other five men in suits, standing in their respective positions in front of the house. The security official named Johnny Finish disyed a charming smile at her question as he adjusted his belt to make himself seem cooler, not letting the chance of impressing a woman go before replying, "We are the best at what we do, and we are here for your protection ma''am. We will give our lives to protect you and your daughters. You don''t have to worry about anything. As for any possible threat to your life, just know that as long as we are here for you, this house is the safest ce on Earth" BOOMA deafening stpelled them to duck beneath the explosion''s intense heat and power, as part of the front of the house was blown away into pieces, creating a gaping hole in the building that revealed the interior to the numerous vehicles parked outside. "Shit! James, Rick, and Jack> secure the hole and the entrance after sending an emergency alert to HQ, let''s hope the signal goes through and they can send backup as quickly as possible." Johnny quickly yelled even though he knew that the chances of any sort of signal going through were minimal at best. He had now be sure that the enemy was using some sort of advanced signal jammer to block all types ofmunication to iste them. "Use your heavy weapons. Shoot to kill and don''t hold back. Barney, take Mrs. Kane, grab the children from their room, and seal yourselves in the panic room. I wille and get you from there once this is over. Don''te out from there, no matter what happens, that''s an order." He instructed in a stern tone. "Oh, and if anybody sees Kramer, shoot that son of a bitch. He was supposed to be the one monitoring the CCTV cameras around the estate." He growled angrily. WheezeA missileunched by a terrorist from a handheld missileuncher on the back of a jeep soared toward the main gate, obliterating a significant section of the wall. and cutting off any path of escape for them with another BOOMsound. "Let''s go, ma''am, we have to go now." The man named Barney quickly got up, acknowledging his superior''smand, and grabbed Gabi by the shoulders bringing her out of her shock before almost dragging her to her daughters'' room upstairs. "Now, what the hell are you all waiting for? Shoot back at those motherfuckers..., and remember boys, make them count." Johnny quickly swiftly before taking out an Uzi from the holster at his back and shot at the people outside. He already knew that there was a high chance that he would not survive past today, considering the vast numbers of the enemy forces and their lethal weaponry but he was not going to just surrender. Even if he would die, he would make sure to take as many of those fuckers with him as possible. After all, this wasn''t just about protecting a target or asset but protecting two innocent children and their mother. *** "It seems those men in suits are fighting back, Commander. Should I use more missiles to take them out?" A young man wearing a dark green bodysuitplete with its own matching helmet asked the senior man standing behind him on the back of a jeep. Although the seniormander looked like he was in histe forties with greying hair, there was still a cruel fire noticeable in his gaze, a fire which made it apparent that he was relishing what was happening or what was going to happen there next. "No, the house will not be able to endure more missiles and might even crumble on the residents, crushing all of them at once. We need the family to be alive... well, at least, one of them alive to get what we need. But the other two can be used as good temporary entertainment for our soldiers and I am pretty sure they would appreciate it if their bodies were intact at the beginning for that. As for these pesky agents, let our men do some work. They have beenzing around for way too long. They need exercise. Hahahahaha" He released an evilugh before signaling his men forward. "SighThis could have been so much simpler if they had just decided to head out somewhere like they were initially nning to. It would have been a simple grab and transport job. Even our intel told us that they were going to go to the park to celebrate a birthday or something. But no, they had to be overcautious. An entire week of nning and research was ruined just like that... But again, I guess that was partly our fault too since we overused the signal jammer in our bid to be too careful, making our presence a little too obvious. However, now the entire block will be coteral in this mission. What a drag." The earlier man who had initially asked the question to the Commander muttered to himself in annoyance before putting down the missileuncher in his hands, grabbing an assault rifle, and advancing toward the broken section of the house. *Tat-tat-tat-tat Tat-tat-tat-tat*For the next few minutes, continuous bullets began to whizz through the air from both sides as the two parties tried their best to kill each other. "Keep them at bay! Don''t let them spread out." Johnny barked, reloading his rifle with practiced speed. The others responded with a volley of shots, taking down several attackers. But for every terrorist that fell, it seemed like two more took their ce. One of the soldiers, a young man named Rick, grimaced as a bullet grazed his arm. But instead of stopping, he quickly switched to his sidearm, firing rapidly to cover his other wounded teammates. "No use sir, there are too many! And they are very well trained." He shouted over the din of battle with clenched teeth. "We just need a few more minutes!" Johnny replied, his voice strained. "Barney is taking those three and racing towards the panic room as we speak. We just need to *Bang Bang*make sure that they reach there before these pieces of human shit enter the house." *Ka-ka-ka-ka*Suddenly shots from a machine gun interrupted their conversation, forcing the soldiers to retreat further into the house to save themselves from the tireless onught of the bullets. Their ammo running low, they resorted to desperate measures, throwing furniture to block entry points while taking out their sidearms and daggers to mount what was going to be their final struggle against the terrorists. "It was a pleasure serving with you boys." Johnny nodded with a determined face at the other four, ignoring the fact that he had three bloody bullet holes in his leg with blood gushing out from them like a fountain. "No, it was ours, sir" James responded as he reloaded his handgun with hisst magazine. After a brief moment of silence, the four nodded at each other before turning their gaze towards the opening in the wall, their minds ready to embrace their fate whatever it was. *** "Are you alright, sweety? You two are ok, right? Don''t worry, nobody will hurt you. Mom will make sure of it. Mommy is here now." Gabi Kane hugged both of her daughters who were shaking in fear of all the booming sounds on their beds. She was caressing their heads to reassure them that they were safe in her embrace. "Ma''am, we need to enter the panic room now." The agent called Barney reminded her with some worry in his voice as he opened one of the wardrobes present in the girls'' room before removing everything in the wardrobe, even the fake sliding wall at the back that was hiding the entrance to the safe room. "Yes, you are right. Let''s go girls. We will be safe in the room Daddy built for us..." The Kane matriarch tried to pull the girls to get them up from the bed, but she could not evenplete her words as another man appeared at the door of the room with two handguns pointed in two different directions. One of the guns pointed at Gabi and the children while the barrel of his other gun was trained at Barney''s head. "Sorry, but that won''t be possible any longer, Miss Kane. I am afraid that you and your daughters will have toe with me. As for you, Barney put down the gun like a good boy or you won''t like what is going to happen next." The newly arrived person threatened with an evil smile. "Kramer? But why? You were supposed to watch the CCTV and warn us of any iing danger. But instead, you betray us like this, why? We treated you like a brother. Why would you do this?" "Isn''t there always just one true reason for every betrayal? Money, man. Serving the government and fighting for your country sounds good and all but it doesn''t pay very well, does it? Yet just one act of betrayal and some very wealthy people are ready to give you millions for it. How can any self-respecting man say no? Nothing personal though... Now, put down that gun or I''ll blow one of the kids'' brains out." He ordered with his finger a moment away from squeezing the trigger. --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join myusing thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) Chapter 143: Taking Out Some Trash (1) Chapter 143: Taking Out Some Trash (1) ---
"Are You Not Entertained? Are You Not Entertained? Is This Not Why You Are Here?" - Maximus (diator)
--- <(Omniscient POV)> "Hey guys, can you hear that sound? What is that? Sounds like a jet... and it''s getting closer." One of the guys who had just thrown a grenade toward the house they were attacking muttered to the person beside him. "Wait, don''t tell me that the military has deployed their jets against us!" He panicked, looking around in rm to try and search for a ce to hide in case his fear came true and military jets decided to rain hell on them. "The fuck are you talking about, coward? Do you, stupid motherfucker really think that the military has a budget big enough to send jets to eliminate a small group like ours and that too within just a few moments of our attack? God, I can''t deal with these stupid temp workers." The person who seemed to be the leader and was giving the orders earlier spewed out in anger. There was a clear irritation in his voice as he yelled with contempt at his subordinates. "Look above, do you see any jet approaching us? The sky is as clear as your empty brain. Now hurry the fuck up and bring me those women, so that all of us can go home." He shouted out. The moment he was done shouting, several of the terrorists who were standing close to him and listening in to his words agreed with his words and subconsciously looked up on their own. However, contrary to what they just heard and what they were expecting themselves, a projectile rapidly flying in their direction was clearly visible in the sky. They didn''t know what it was since it seemed too small to be a jet but what they did know was that it was flying faster than anything else they had ever seen, as evident by the clear white trail left in its path. "What is that?" The leader murmured to himself but unfortunately for him by the time he would be able toe to a conclusion about what it truly was, it would be toote. Swoosh SwooshTwo smaller projectiles were suddenly released by the bigger flying silhouette and before anybody could even realize what was going to happen next, the two smaller projectiles came flying at the speed of sound, striking two of their jeeps in the back which contained their extra explosives stored as backup in case of an emergency, exploding in a violent explosion that directly wiped out more than half a dozen of their men with a resounding Kaboom. The explosion forced all the terrorists to stop firing at the estate and instead crouch down to save themselves from the effects of the explosion. "What is that? Shoot that down. It must be some kind of cutting-edge drone technology that the military has decided to use against us." The leader once again yelled with pure malice in his voice as he tried to take a peek at the object flying towards them again. But quite astonishingly, it was no longer there. Instead, there was the sudden sound of a resounding thud behind him like something heavynding on a concrete floor that made almost every single hair in his body stand up with some unknown fear. "I don''t usually do this during the daytime, but I suppose desperate times call for desperate measures," said a rough voice, almost demonic in tone, emanating from the figure behind him. The terrorist leader was extremely startled. He quickly spun around in rm only to find a tall, imposing figure d in dark, monstrous, bat-like metal armor. "Abomination! It''s a monster. The military sent a monster to hunt us down. Kill it, NOW." He yelled in terror like an idiot, trying his best to get away from the figure in front of him but only faltering in his steps and falling down on the ground due to his panic. ZzzapZzzapTwo trails of scarlet-red energy left from the glowing palms of Batman''s right hand hitting the only two terrorists with rocketunchers in their hands, immediately knocking them out with a nasty burn on their skin despite the bulletproof armor they were wearing on their bodies. Rat-tat-tatSeveral of the men suddenly got their senses back the moment they witnessed the death of two of theirrades and began to fire their rifles at the Dark Knight in response. However, no matter how much they fired, not a single bullet seemed to be able to pierce through his armor. These men mostly used to live in the poor and undeveloped parts of Europe and Asia before they were recruited into the organization and had never bothered to concern themselves with supers or metahumans. They only have had training to kill ordinary human civilians or normal human soldiers of which Batman was neither. These terrorists had absolutely no idea whom they were opposing. Batman still hadn''t be world famous yet and was mostly regarded as an urban legend by the normal people in Gotham. Even the news channels that talked about the Dark Knight could never give definitive proof of his existence except for a few testaments by some witnesses iming to have seen him protect the city. Thus, it was unimaginable for these individuals to have ever conceived the true nature of what they were confronting, even in their most extravagant dreams. Bruce, after taking out the jeeps with the most explosives, and the people with the rocketunchers focused his attention back on the leader. He might not be feeling even the least bit of threat from these terrorists but that didn''t mean he forgot his years of training as a ninja. Defeating the enemy forces in the most efficient manner possible was what he was trained to do, and what better way to weaken a group than to eliminate its leader? "Whistling birds" Bruce muttered before a small section of his armor near the shoulder opened up as the nanobots parted and twelve small micro-missiles, the size of small bullets flew through the air striking six of the terrorists with a whistling sound, immediately killing them with small explosions near their vital organs. "Sorcery!" The leader tried to flee before taking out his handgun and shooting Bruce in the head, but the young billionaire didn''t even flinch under his helmet before taking a few steps toward the man, grabbing the barrel of the gun and crushing it as easily as crushing a twig. He then pped the man with the back of his hand, dislocating his jaw with one single hit and resulting in the man losing consciousness due to the extreme pain that followed. Most of the men around them had already opened fire on Bruce by this point to try and save their leader as well as themselves from the monster. One of them who was holding a me thrower had even started using literal fire on him, trying to burn him into a crisp before Bruce could try anything else. However, Bruce just remained standing there without even a single twitch in his expression while using the nanobots around the back of his armor to slowly form four extra appendages that began to look a lot like tentacles with pincers at their ends that could rotate 360 degrees. ''I am almost ashamed for ripping Dr. Octopus'' look despite being Batman Batman... almost, heh. A bat isn''t supposed to have tentacles, but I always wanted to try this.'' He thought in his mind as one of his tentacles circled around the man shooting fire at him before crushing both his gun and his arms. But he didn''t just stop at that, his mechanical tentacles continued to manhandle the terrorists standing close to him while he used his repulsors to fire at the ones trying to escape or those who were trying their luck attacking him from the distance. Bruce wasn''t in the mood to show any pity to anyone no matter who they were, and although he wasn''t straight-out killing these terrorists, he was still determined to give them extreme amounts of pain and terrible scars so that they would never forget this encounter with him. "Fucking hell. Run!" As the majority of the terrorists sumbed to Bruce''s powers, a choice few who had already realized that they had no way of winning against him decided to do their best to escape. In their minds, being able to escape from him with some valuable information about the existence of a monster like him was much better for both them and their organization than dying here for no reason at all. However, the Dark Knight had no intent to let anyone escape. After he was done taking care of all the criminals near him with the help of his tentacles and repulsors, he turned his attention to the people trying to board a heavily armored jeep parked right outside the estate, one of the only few vehicles that still wasn''t destroyed in the carnage caused by him. Raising his right arm, the nanobots on his wrist transformed into a single anti-tank missile aimed at the direction of the car. "Target locked" Cortana''s voice informed Bruce before he fired the missile. The high-speed projectile flew toward the jeep and attached itself to it like a metal w. Then a small beeping sound was heard before it became more and more intense, finally exploding the vehicle into countless pieces of red-hot metal and burnt flesh with a KABOOMsound, killing everyone inside the vehicle without exception. "Well, seems I am done here. Cortana, scan the surroundings to see if I missed any terrorists or if any got inside the house." Bruce asked while staring at the half-destroyed home. "Positive sir. Although the six-armed guards are still alive, one of them seems to be holding your aunt and her daughters at gunpoint, likely a mole or a traitor in the group. He seems to be thest active threat here." She informed me after switching the HUD''s camera to X-ray vision. "That reminds me, you still haven''t tested the wall-piercing ammunition rounds in the field before. Don''t you think this is a good time for it, sir?" "Excellent suggestion, Cortana. That''s why you are my favorite AI ever..." I grinned inside my mask while ignoring her mutterings about her being the only AI I knew. "I just hope that my aunt and cousins aren''t too scared of blood, and this doesn''t traumatize them." I hoped aloud. "Oh, it definitely will," Cortana responded with a t voice. "..." --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join myusing thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) Chapter 144: Taking Out Some Trash (2) Chapter 144: Taking Out Some Trash (2) ---
"Ever notice how youe across somebody once in a while you shouldn''t have fucked with? That''s me." - Walt Kowalski, (Gran Torino, 2008)
--- <(Omniscient POV)> "I told you to kneel down, didn''t I? And don''t even think of trying something funny, Barney. You have a wife and children to take care of, right? They won''t like it if you return home in a body bag for this Christmas, will they? As for you Miss Kane, grab the children and follow me. I promise you that as long as you behave, I will personally make sure that nobody hurts your girls" The guy named Kramer threatened while continuing to aim both of his guns at Barney, his "previous colleague" and the Kane family matriarch. "Kramer, whatever rewards they offered you in exchange for their loyalty, it won''t go the same way as you are hoping. If this terrorist organization is the same one that has been trying to stage attacks on different parts of the continent, then I should remind you that they don''t leave witnesses. They will get rid of you when they think they have no more use for you. However, if you stop this and help us, we can still make things right." Barney tried to de-escte the situation while raising his hands and slowly kneeled down to show that he didn''t mean any harm. "I know you, Kramer. You are a good person, not a terrorist. You yed with my daughters, and looked after them whenever they needed you, why would you do this now?" Mrs. Kane also tried to appeal to Kramer''s humanity, hiding her daughters tighter behind her as if trying to shield them with her body. Her tear-stricken face trembled as she struggled to control her fear. Yet, despite what an onlooker might assume, the terror she was feeling right now wasn''t for herself but for the lives of the two little girls hiding behind her. "A good person? Hahaha, You two are forgetting that I am not some gullible child that you can manipte with some sweet, honeyed words. I have killed before and I won''t hesitate to kill again. The only reason I haven''t killed you, Barney, is because I need someone to stay alive to tell Mr. Kane what happened here. As for Mrs. Kane and her children, my orders were to bring her alive... although I might have to defy that order if you two continue to waste my time. You have no idea how much of my precious time and brain cells I had to sacrifice to get close to all of you, just so that I couldplete the mission and get my money. Three fucking years, that was the time I was undercover for. However, the reward that I''ll be getting from this mission will be enough to set me up for life. I''ll never again have to entertain little fucking children anymore." Kramer spat with venom before pointing one of his guns directly at Mrs. Kane''s head while internally worrying about the sudden silence outside. He knew that the four soldiers downstairs would not be enough to handle the huge number of troops that he had brought. And since he had made sure to block all modes ofmunication and jam all iing signals, no help would be arriving any time soon. It was only because of his help and prior knowledge of all the emergency protocols that they could invade the home of the Kane family andplete this mission so easily despite the security measures provided by the government. After all, he had been the one to disable all the cameras and the scanners around the estate as well as the one responsible for unlocking the outer gates. However, he still could not help but get worried by the sudden silence outside. If those people were already done killing his previous colleagues, then he needed to hurry up. He did not want to annoy one of the leaders for no reason. "Now, didn''t you hear my words the first time? Hurry up ande here you bitch, or I am going to shoot a hole in one of your little girls'' heads BangSt" The traitorous soldier could notplete his words as his head suddenly burst out like a watermelon into a mixture of blood, flesh and broken pieces of his skull, painting the walls near him with a crimson red color. "What the hell!" The agent named Barney eximed in shock as he looked at his own suit and his mistress''svender dress, both of which werepletely drenched with a stter of fresh scarlet blood. *** <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "Shit, you were right, Cortana, that bullet was indeed too strong for human skulls. Even twelve inches of bricks and cement was unable to slow it down a lot while the detonation was just too over the top. I guess we should only keep those self-detonating extrarge bullets for armored superviins only or maybe for superhumans possessing super durability. As for the next time, we try to assassinate someone from outside their house, we should only use normal sniper ammunition." I nodded, agreeing with Cortana''s previous warning. "... Now you agree with me AFTER you have already given them serious traumas for the rest of their lives? SighAfter what happened to that man in front of those little girls'' eyes, it won''t be a big surprise if they get major cases of PTSD or perhaps hemophobia." Cortana reprimanded me. I didn''t retort at her words because I knew that she was right. In fact, I knew that something like this was going to happen even before I took that shot but the thing is I really wanted to fire a self-detonating bullet in someone''s head at least once in my life and he seemed like the perfect test subject. Releasing a hum of agreement with Cortana to shut her up, I retrieved a small crown-like device from my buckle. It was a miniaturized version of the AmuSphere, capable of scanning memories and neutralizing psychic or psionic powers in its targets. It was a very handy little gadget to gather information or imprison telepaths. With the crown in hand, I began searching for the leader of the dead terrorist troops. I suspected that the one who had initially tried to flee in fear before attempting to shoot me in the head with a revolver was their leader in this attack. If so, he would likely have the most information about the terrorist organization behind this attack, information that would be extremely useful for catching them and eliminating them from existence. After a few moments of looking through the dead bodies, I quickly found the person I was looking for as I ced the crown on his head. Even though the guy''s jaw was cracked in half with a gaping hole in his chest and major burns all over his body, fortunately, his brain was almost in untouched condition. So, a few seconds was all it took for the tool to get aplete scan of his memories with the light turning green indicating that it was sessful. "What the hell happened here... and who are you?" As soon as I had put the crown back into my buckle again, a male voice asked from behind me as a couple of figures in ck suits limped towards me with pained faces. "Most of you are injured and are bleeding. Sit down and take some rest, agents. Help is on the way. You have all seeded in your mission. Mr. Kane will be here with backup in a few minutes." I responded without bothering to answer his question before using my thrusters to fly up to the windows of the second floor. Of course, they tried to stop me with a flurry of other questions, but I wasn''t really in the mood to answer all of them. It seemed the two young Kane heiresses had already noticed me fighting the terrorists through the ss windows, as they quickly opened one when they saw me approaching. "Wait, Beth. Don''t open the window," her mother tried to warn her. But Beth ignored her, as she and her twin sister stared at me with eyes filled with wonder. Even the other agent in the room had frozen for a split moment after seeing my flying figure appear near the window. But he was trained and experienced enough to snap out of his surprise and quickly pick up the revolver in front of him to aim it at my head. ''Huh, kids are really too easy to impress. Show them a jet pack and they will worship the ground you walk on.'' I mentally snickered. "Who are you?" The agents asked in a serious voice, which I again ignored as I just stared at my aunt, my expression unreadable because of my mask. "Tell your husband to either increase the security around here or bring you all back to America. I won''t be able toe and save you every time the terrorists attack." I simply said before turning around to fly away. "Oh, and next time hire guys from a professional security agency like Wayne Security instead of relying on the military," I advised with a straight face. I mean honestly, if they were to hire my guys, it would be a lot easier to protect them since the men in my "Colony" now not only possess unique abilities of their own but are also much better trained thanmon soldiers. However, I doubt Jacob Kane will ever agree to that since he is after all part of the military himself and thus would always prefer hiring soldiers. However, I still advised my aunt so that she would at least consider it. And who knows, maybe she can even convince her husbandter to actually do it once her nephew Bruce Wayne makes the same suggestion. After all, my uncle was a very important part of the US military with his influence only growing with time. If I could somehow convince him that Wayne security was good enough, it could open a whole lot of government security contracts for mypany which in turn would enable me to establish a closer rtionship with the government. "But who are you?" Just as I was about to fly away, the other twin, Kate Kane asked in a curious voice, staring at me with her big eyes full of admiration. ''Those two probably saw me killing the terrorists through the window unlike the agents and my aunt who were too busy worrying for their lives.'' I mentally concluded. "I am Batman." --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join myusing thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) Chapter 145: Feelings and Problems Chapter 145: Feelings and Problems A special Thanks to my Divine Eminencetier patron Daniel O''Brien& Purefor supporting me on Patreon~~~///(^v^)\\\~~~ Thanks for the immense support. A special Thanks to my Celestial Emperortier patrons Nathaniel Burdett, Commander Jimmy& Zedd 780for supporting me on Patreon~~~///(^v^)\\\~~~ Thanks for the immense support. ---
"I was to make mistakes, not to fake perfection" - Karma Akabane, (Assassination ssroom)
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "Shit, why are bloodstains so hard to get off from my armor? I thought it would be much easier to clean my armor than my normal clothes. Gosh, Alfred has my absolute respect for making his job look so easy. Even with the smart tuxedo I gave him, cleaning my clothes and armor should still be a hard job, especially since he insists on doing it himself instead of taking the help of other maids in the manor or using my cleaning droids to make everything look spotless and shining clean... I swear, he is almost as paranoid about cleaning things and keeping them proper as the OG Batman was about not trusting anyone." I mumbled to myself with an audible sigh before putting down the soapy sponge I was using to get the red stains off my armor. Yep, this is thest time I clean my armor myself. Next time, I''ll just let Alfred do his job... or use cleaning droids like a proper scientist should. It turns out that despite being made entirely of nanobots, my armor CAN get dirty, especially with dried bloodstains. The reason it never happens with my own blood despite the nanobots being stored inside my body is that when inside me, they are stored as individual clusters of nanobots that are roughly the size of dust particles and thus do not get stuck with my blood cells but when theye together and solidify as a weapon or armor, they can get stained by liquids just like any other ordinary solid material. ''Hmm, maybe I shouldyer the nanobots with some anti-stain coating next time to increase its stain resistance... or maybe a self-cleaning feature that can instantly get rid of stains, dust, grime, or any other stuff that could defile it. After all, I really don''t want even the tiniest amount of dirt getting inside my body when I store some of the nanobots inside my body.'' I mentally decided. Of course, I only have to worry about this stuff till I perfect nanotechnology and evolve my nanobots into nanites. Once I can make self-replicating nanites at the molecr scale, then none of these concerns will be a bother anymore. With nanites like that, I would be OP as hell. I mean nanites of that level can do almost anything including gic engineering on the go, controlling almost every type of technology in existence, and even affecting the weather to some extent. Honestly, once those nanites are perfected, I would be as strong as Cheon Yeo Woon from the Manhwa, Nano Mashine..., if Cheon Yeo Woon were on steroids that is. ''However, all of those dreams were far off since I still needed a few years to perfect the technology to reach those standards of magical reality-altering efficiency.'' I thought with a sigh. Just when I was daydreaming about my inevitable power-up one day, Alfred walked in through the elevator into the main cave where I was trying to wash and clean my armor, followed by de in hisplete Deathstroke armor, "Master Wayne, while I admire your initiative of trying to lessen my burden, however, using fabric softener on your bat armor is about as effective as using a grappling hook to catch a cold. Next time, might I suggest a specialized detergent..., or better yet just leaving the cleaning to someone less inclined to fight crime in their spare time?" The butler sarcastically said with a small smile on his face as he took a look at the armor which was still nowhere as clean as when he cleaned it. "Alfred, I think you misunderstood ourdies'' man here. He is not trying to make your job easy but practicing for what his little harem of girlfriends is going to force him to do for them very soon. After all, since he has started painting himself as the most perfect man on Earth, he might as well just go the extra mile and be the most lovable househusband in the future." de mockingly added with a snicker. "Ha. Ha. Ha. Laugh all you want. But yourughs and giggles won''t change the fact that I have multiple capable and extremely beautiful girls ready to share me as their sole lover while one of you is on the verge of getting divorced and the other is still busy trying to impress one woman." I smirked with genuine pride on my face as I dismissively threw the sponge behind me. "Anyway, howe you two are here at the same time? Is it your men''s night out or something? Because if it is, then I ain''t going back to that fishingke again. You two have zero skills in fishing and we all had toe back empty-handedst time. We were lucky that I was smart enough to buy a fish from Fresh Mart, otherwise, the girls would haveughed their asses off at us." I shook my head as I remembered the unfortunate events that happened thest time we went on a men''s night out. "Okay first, that was a low blow. I am not getting divorced. My marriage is currently in a... rough patch but we can recover from that. It''s just that my mental health might not always be the best at times, especially during times of high stress. That''s why I have been having more and more arguments with my wife. That''s actually something I needed to talk to you about." de said after a few seconds of hesitation before pointing his fingers at Alfred. "But we will talk about thatter. Alfred has something to tell you for now. Mine is a lot less important than that." He said before signaling Alfred to start. "Young Master, I want to confess that I have been concealing something from you these past few days. In truth, I originally considered this as a personal matter that I endeavored to resolve on my own, but it appears I am not as capable as I once was. In fact, I am rather ashamed to admit that... I even attempted to take advantage of my position here by utilizing the influence of the Wayne family to resolve the problem. Yet despite all that, I have still failed to address the situation." He admitted with a mncholic tone, prompting me to raise an eyebrow in his direction, gesturing him to continue. "Do you recall how I always mentioned I was alone, without any family? Well, it appears I was mistaken. I do indeed have someone¡ªa blood rtive, in fact. You see when I was a youngd, a little older than you, I was neither as careful nor as responsible as you are. I made numerous mistakes at that age... including getting someone pregnant," Alfred said, a small cough escaping him, a slight blush visible on his embarrassed face. "I never knew it until recently, but it seems the woman gave birth to a child¡ªmy daughter." "... Wait, you have had sex before? Wow, I think I once had a nightmare about this. I mean I am sorry, but I always thought that you were a... pure man before you met Miss Thompkins." I could not help but exim in pure confusion. "That was my first thought as well. I also initially believed that he was either gay or a virgin." demented from the side which both me and Alfred did our best to ignore. "... I''m not quite sure why either of you would think that, but I''ve had my fair share of adventures in my time¡ªwell truthfully, they could be called misadventures since they are nowing back to haunt me," Alfred replied with a tired exhale. "Anyway, all jokes aside, I am quite disappointed in you, Alfred. I don''t know if you know this, but I always considered you family even before my parents died. I always looked up to you. In fact, you are the person I trust the most in this world. I don''t think I had this much trust in even my parents. But it seems that you never had that same level of trust in me, did you? You considered having a daughter as your private business, huh? So, was I always just a job to you, a professional responsibility that you had toplete because you promised my parents?... Did you ever consider me your family, like I did?" I asked,cing my words with some ssic emotional ckmailing to make sure that he never did this again. Honestly speaking, I really was somewhat hurt at Alfred''s attempt to keep such a big secret from me. I was not lying when I said that Alfred was the person, I trusted the most in my new life. I might be a paranoid little bastard, but Alfred was someone I could blindly trust with my life. knowing that he would never let me down. So, when he did let me down today, I was genuinely disappointed. "I am sorry, young master, but you cannot possibly understand what I was going through. I didn''t want to tell you about my daughter because I feared disappointing you. I was afraid you would judge me, that the respect you had for me would... disappear. I was terrified of letting you down. Yes, it is true that taking care of you is my job, and that you are my responsibility, but I don''t just perform my duties for the pay. I do my job because I love it. I love looking after you... Young master, I have never aplished anything worthwhile in my life, but watching you grow into a finer man than even your father was, and knowing I yed a part in that, is what keeps me going. It is what inspires me to wake up every day with a smile. You are the best thing that has happened to me, Young Master, and one of the few things in my life that I did right. And no, I don''t just consider you my family... you ARE my family, Bruce." Alfred answered, his voice breaking down with heavy emotion. "Oh god, I think I am going to cry," de muttered from the side before partially opening his mask and using a tissue to rub his eyes. "... Wow, I don''t know what to say. Thanks, I guess... I think we both needed to get those emotions out of our system, didn''t we?" I awkwardly chuckled, trying to ignore de once again. I guess whoever said that men get awkward around heavy emotions could not be more right, because this was bing increasingly awkward, now that we were both done expressing our innermost thoughts out in the open. "And don''t worry, I am here for whatever you need, Alfred. I will give my one hundred percent to bring back your daughter who is effectively more or less my sister. Just tell me who this woman is, and I will sort everything out with her. If she wants money, we will give her as much money as she wants. We can even take her to court if she is abusive or maybe Batman can lowkey threaten her if she is a criminal of some kind. You know what, just give me her name and address and I will take care of the rest. I will bring your daughter to you." I continued with absolute determination. "Thank you for saying all that, young master. You have no idea how much those words of yours mean to me. But fret not, you shan''t need to employ your power in such a direct manner. The mother isn''t inherently a bad person; it is her position thatplicates the safe return of my daughter. However, I have discovered a way to achieve this without arousing suspicion, causing a scandal, or alerting any of her adversaries to my daughter''s existence." Alfred responded with a smile. "As for who her mother is, I believe you may have encountered her once at a public event. She is, in fact, the current Queen of Ennd." He concluded with a straight face. "..." - Bruce. "..." - Alfred. "I knew this would surprise even the genius Bruce Wayne. You owe me ten bucks, Alfred." - de. After a few seconds of silence which almost felt like an eternity, I looked at de with a confused expression on my face before asking, "Did I..." "Yes, you heard that correctly and no, you are not going crazy. I checked the letter the Queen sent him and verified all the information three times beforeing here. He does seem to have a mysterious daughter with the Bloody Queen of Ennd. You see, our friend Alfred here doesn''t seem to believe in using protection and he also must be as fertile as a horse because he got her pregnant in one night. The Queen must have, of course, taken a n B pillter but as we can all see it was one of the special cases where the pill didn''t work. Andter, the Queen probably couldn''t abort the baby because of her rare blood condition that runs in their bloodline which makes a lot of meds and surgeries extremely dangerous for them. Almost every member of the royal family tries their best to avoid surgeries for that very reason after all. After the girl was born, the Queen was kind enough not to kill her then and there to get rid of her permanently. Instead, they named her Julia Pennyworth after her father and decided to keep her existence aplete secret till now to maintain their power and squeaky-clean image. They silently put her in a well-reputed orphanage, looked after her a little from behind the scenes, and even helped her get inside the Special Reconnaissance Regiment, a special reconnaissance unit of the British Army affiliated with MI6 to make sure that she could take care of herself once she grew up. Julia was always considered a genius and a VERY capable young girl with a ster career in front of her, but it seems that she has unfortunatelye under the radar of some shady organizations who are also the enemies of the crown because of one of her missions." de exined after interrupting my dazed words. "Some of these organizations are rather tricky to deal with and the Monarchy is keen to avoid showing any chinks in its armor right now. So, the few people who are aware of Julia now want to discard her as coteral. The Queen, after finding out about this, quite unexpectedly, discovered that she actually possessed some amount of motherly affection for her secret daughter. Thus, she contacted me to help Julia get out of Europe for some time until things settled. However, initially, it was difficult for both the Queen and us to directly use our influence on the special regiment she is involved with without revealing who she really is but because of the attack that happened on you in Rome as well as the assault that happened on your uncle''s family in Brussels, we have found a workaround." Alfred revealed with a sheepish face. "A workaround that doesn''t involve telling her or the army about her royal bloodline." "Yes, we had an opportunity to negotiate with the British army in the presence of representatives of various other nations of the European Union and after telling them that we have a lot of information and intelligence on the organization that orchestrated the attack on your aunt and her daughters, I am really proud to tell you that they agreed that as long as we give them what they want which is simply my and Wayne International''s assistance in uncovering essential details about the terrorist organization behind thetest attack, they will permanently station Julia to the US as your bodyguard and will just... "forget" about her." depleted Afred''s words with a happy nod like he was extremely impressed with his negotiating skills. "... Did you guys just say that she would be permanently assigned as my bodyguard?" --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join myusing thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) Chapter 146: Sorting Out Slades Issues Chapter 146: Sorting Out de''s Issues ---
"What you can''t aplish alone, bes doable when you are with someone else." - Taichi Yaegashi, (Kokoro Connect)
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "I really hope nobody tries anything stupid against Alfred, at least for their own sake," I asserted audibly after Alfred left with a USB drive, I gave him that contained data that I had extracted from the mind of the terrorist leader as well as various other pieces of evidence I had collected against the militant group linking it to various other illegal activities all over the globe. In just a short amount of time, I had already found almost everything about them with the help of the memories I stole from the leader''s brain. It turns out that the extremist organization that attacked my uncle''s family was called The Many Arms of Death which was actually just a front for a shadypany named Kali Corporation which sold weapons. And like most otherpanies inmon stupidic-book plots, thepany staged attacks on important diplomats worldwide, particrly in Europe and North America, to encourage nations to upgrade their defense and military capabilities by buying weapons from them. For the wider public, The Many Arms of Death reasoned that they staged attacks to "bring about change" in the governmental structures of corrupted nations through their violent activities but the truth was that they were just doing this for money and to help Kali Corporation meet their fucking annual sales target each year. Of course, whoever devised this stupid n was a massive idiot since there were hundreds of holes in their logic and their strategy didn''t even make sense from a business standpoint. I mean why would countries buy weapons from a small privatepany with subpar weaponry designs to upgrade their defenses when they could buy the most cutting-edge technologies from multinational corporations with immense global connections? In fact, after some digging, I found out that a lot of their terroristic activities in thest few years seemed to have increased our own weaponry and defense sales instead of theirs and they still didn''t seem to have realized that fact. Kali Corporation was truly apany run by a group of evil idiots. Hearing my concern, de seemed to think about it for a few seconds before replying, "I admit politicians are no doubt ruthless and vile but even the most skilled and experienced of them knows not to anger or antagonize a billionaire who owns and controls one of the biggest corporations in the world. It ismon knowledge that even Berkshire Hathaway falls short of the number of businesses Wayne Enterprises has been dominating. So don''t worry, they won''t be going against their word once Alfred gives them the information, especially since their reputation is the one being affected the most because of the attacks by those terrorists. As for Kali Corporation, they probably will try to bribe a few people to get out of the mess once they realize that they are caught but ultimately, the result won''t change with how much evidence you have on them. The worst they can do is use their militant arm to spread more chaos, but I am one hundred percent sure that your "Colony" or should I say, Wayne Security can immediately take care of them in that case. After all, I trained them myself and know for a fact that with their dedication towards youbined with their new physical enhancements, they can absolutely decimate any terrorist organization they encounter." de reassured. "You are right. They are plenty enough to protect Alfred. I even gave upgrades to their equipment and weapons. Also, Alfred is plenty capable himself as well. With his skills, thewgiver gun, his peak human body, and his nanotech-based Tuxedo, it will take a lot for anybody to hurt him. Anyway, it''s not like I will y by the rules too. I will be sending a copy of all the pieces of evidence I have collected on The Many Arms of Death and Kali Corporation to my uncle as well. With how bloodthirsty he is for revenge; he will make sure topletely eliminate them using his connections in NATO and the US military. I mean he isn''t exactly one of the most respected Captains in the army and an important military advisor to the States because of how kind and forgiving he is." I chuckled while remembering reading about the absurd number of brutal missions he hadpleted over the years throughout his ster career. "See, I told you hacking into the Pentagon and checking their data on your family will be useful one day." "The only reason you advised me to do that was because you wanted me to delete everything the government had on you and your family," I replied with a deadpan. "That too." He chuckled, "By the way, as I was saying, I need your help on something as well... You aren''t too busy, are you? I heard that the crime rate has been increasing in Gotham for thest few days with new gangs rising out of nowhere while the old ones areing out of hiding. I even heard rumors about... some unique criminals like a mercenary having guns for hands or bank robbers dressing up as human insects with high-intensity me throwers." demented before taking a look at the giant screen on the wall where different footage of robberies and other crimes were ying in a loop. "Yeah, but there is nothing too serious. It just seems that a lot of criminals have begun to study hard nowadays with how they have been able to develop unique gadgets tomit crimes. Even those who aren''t that smart seem to possess their own unique quirks while most of the normal criminals prefer working for these special "viins". However, it''s nothing I can''t take care of with a few nights of hard work. You don''t have to worry about that, tell me what you need." I asked, knowing that his asking me for help was a big deal for him since he was the type of person who didn''t like asking people for anything... well, anything except for money that is. de was the type of guy who preferred silently suffering alone rather than trying to reach out to anyone else for help. His sense of humor was there to cover up how broken he was from the inside. It was a defense mechanism that he subconsciously came up with to make people like him even though he would never admit it himself. "Do you remember you once told me that the experimental serum that transformed me into a superhuman might have changed me more than I realize? Like it could have affected my brain as well? Turns out, you were right. It did affect me mentally and I think it still does. For thest few months, I have been having... severe mood changes. At first, the effects were minimal, and I thought I could handle it on my own with training and meditation. Buttely, I feel like I am losing control, drowning in all the bad negative emotions inside me. I have been having constant arguments with my wife, Adeline, while neglecting my children... Last week, I even hit her for the first time in my life, simply because she didn''t want me to hand a gun to our babies. Honestly, I don''t even remember why I tried giving a weapon to my little kids anymore but all I know is that I am a danger to my family right now. So, I finally decided to ask for your help since I don''t know anyone else smarter than you." He somehow blurted out, his voice almost breaking at the end due to his regret. "I am sorry to hear that, de. But fret not, I have the solution to your problem right here." I said as I opened one of the top shelves in the corner and took out a small jet injectorbeled ''Deathstroke-0CM1'' before tossing it to de. "That will perfect the enhancement serum form running through your veins so that it doesn''t affect your brain anymore or cause any further personality issues. However, you still have mild PTSD and anxiety issues due to your long period of intense service in the army. So, I will have to rmend at least half an hour of counseling in the AmuSphere every week for the next three months. Cortana will help you with that and make sure that you are as good as new by the time you are done... Oh, and also, get a healthier diet than you currently have. Even your miraculous healing abilities will fall short if you keep eating an XXL-sized cheeseburger with extra cheese on top of it every day." I advised before getting back to cleaning my armor since I was going to need it real soon. "... That''s it? This serum and a few hours of counseling are all I need to cure myself of ALL my mental health problems?" he asked, his voice full of disbelief. "And a good diet, yes. But the final results would heavily depend on how much effort you are putting into this." I shrugged casually. "So, you had the cure for the imperfect serum ALL THIS TIME? But you didn''t even think of telling me until now? Also, to make this, you would have needed my DNA, right? Where did you get that? Don''t tell me you stole it from me. Is that why there is a small bald patch on my head?" He asked full of righteous anger. "Yes, I did have your cure all this time but tell me, would you have appreciated it if I just handed it over to you? Would you have even taken it? I have been giving hints about your condition for a long time. But every time, you simply chose to ignore me. That''s why I never told you about the serum because I knew that when you truly needed it, you would ask for my help and that would be the best time for me to hand it over no, I didn''t steal your hair. However, I would appreciate it if you never asked me where I got your DNA sample since I don''t want to remember that phase of my life ''t be making clones of you or stuff. As for your bald patch, that''s either your imagination or because you are getting old." I said, trying my best to hide the fact that I had to steal the tissues he used to masturbate in to get hold of his DNA samples. "You are sick." He grumbled like a wronged kid as he began to walk away which only made me chuckle. "Oh, and by the way...," I interrupted, making him look back at me in annoyance "You are fucking wee." --- Don''t forget to '' favorite '' andment if you like the chapter. You can join my using the link below: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out my to read ahead or to support your fantastic author. Right now, I have about 12 chapters in advance there. ( My uses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledge, ie, the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month. ) Chapter 147: Adventures of Batman (1) Chapter 147: Adventures of Batman (1) ---
"Justice is reason andw. Reason is defined by one''s own beliefs, andw is made through power." - Iltutmish (Taboo Tattoo)
--- <{Inside the Bank of America, Gotham Central Park}> <(Omniscient POV)> "Hey Lloyd, did you see the news this evening? Some genius researcher just imed that he is going to build arge machine in Star City that can theoretically generate enough energy to power the entire city without any pollution or fuel. Isn''t that just unbelievable? He is calling it a particle elerator or something. The people in the news are even saying that his invention can change the world and we will enter a new age of limitless energy if it ever seeds." One of the two security guards dressed in a light-blue uniform, sitting on a chair in front of a dozen monitors showing different camera feeds of the entire bank from different angles, exined to his colleague with genuine excitement in his voice. "You are watching too much news nowadays, Harry. This is America. It doesn''t matter if someone invents the source of unlimited energy or an infinite food Hax, we will always be the ones ending up paying for it because that''s how capitalism works. It leeches us of our wealth and freedom by channeling everything we have into the pockets of the top one percent who are richer than us. Our country right now is a joke and no matter what potential invention or the next great discovery they try to fill up our minds with, our situation isn''t going to improve... God, sometimes I really wish that Hitler would have won that day. At least, that way, we would have known that we are ves to the elites." His friend who was dressed in a simr-looking uniform responded with a displeased click of his tongue before going on to finish his grilled sandwich with an aggrieved look on his face. "... You are just angry because your wife cheated on you with some rich banker before leaving you with the kids, aren''t you? *Sigh* Don''t worry buddy, it''s going to get better. It has to. I mean we live in Gotham. How much worse can it possibly get?" Harry replied with a straight face, making his colleague just release an annoyed grunt in response. Harry and Lloyd were both security guards in the Gotham Central Park branch of Bank of America and were currently "working" their posts in the CCTV control room, diligently guarding the bank at midnight while everyone else in the rest of the city was sleeping in theirfortable beds... well, at least that''s what they would be telling their superiorter because the truth was that they were more focused on anything but keeping an eye on the CCTV cameras. In fact, this had almost be routine for not just the two but all 4 of the security guards working in the bank at this time since they were pretty sure that no idiot in Gotham would ever try robbing a bank that was located just a few blocks away from the police headquarters of the city. Indeed, it was also the reason why every guard in the bank absolutely loved their job here as they didn''t have to worry about having to defend against most of the city''s notorious psychotic criminals and gangsters. Unbeknownst to them though, this false sense of security they had developed was about to be shattered very soon because as the two guards continued to converse on various topics, they failed to notice the presence of two men standing at the bank''s entrance. These two individuals were d in bizarre, makeshift costumes, making them look like Comic-Con cosyers. However, despite looking like they hade straight from a fictionalic-book movie, each of the two held extremely realistic-looking weapons in their hands, making it clear that they meant business. *** "See, I told you this is going to be easy. Every single one of these Gotham cops is azy pig. They won''t being here even if we call them here ourselves. We will be in and out before those fuckers even realize what happened. Just follow my lead" One of the two men standing outside the bank who was wearing a custom-designed tactical vest and a gas mask said with a huge, excited grin on his face as he aimed what looked like a heavily customized water gun at the closed entrance of the bank. For those wondering who he was, the man was none other than a mildly famous superviin named Killer Moth, a rising name in Gotham''s underworld. Besides being known for his obsession with moths, toxic weapons, and bank heists, a crime in which he excelled, he was also known for his admiration of the rumored Dark Knight, someone he wanted to be like one day, although for helping criminals like himself instead of civilians. "Yeah, you were right, it was a good idea to do this team-up. This is much more fun than I originally thought it would be. I can''t wait to burn a few people to charred flesh with my new me thrower. I even reced its fuel with a more efficient one for today''s special event." The person standing beside Killer Moth answered with an overenthusiastic voice, sounding almost eager at the prospect of burning someone. Quite simr to Killer Moth, he too was dressed in weirdly styled clothing but contrary to the former, his costume consisted of what looked like a repurposed, ck-painted fire proximity suit generally worn by firefighters along a full gas mask as his headgear and two pairs of small artificial wings attached to his back that made him look like a humanoid dragonfly. However, the biggest difference that separated him from his more well-known partner-in-crime was the existence of arge me-thrower in his hand, a signature weapon of another notorious superviin in Gotham who was slowly getting a name in the city''s underworld for his brutality. He was none other than the newbie arsonist, Firefly. "Hey hey hey, slow down right there. I never said that we were going to kill people for no reason. We are just here for the money, not because we are some sort of freaks who derive joy from causing pain to others. As long as we get the money without any hups, we can just leave as peacefully as we came. Our weapons here are either only for self-defense or for scaring people." Killer Moth immediately warned his partner with a displeased voice, chastising him for his bloodlust that could put them in unnecessary trouble with the cops... or someone a whole lot worse. "... No, of course not." Firefly chuckled in response, seemingly agreeing with his veteran partner before aiming his me-thrower at the entrance of the bank and pressing the trigger releasing an unnaturallyrge torrent of mes that instantly started to slowly but surely melt the entrance. *FWOOSH* In a matter of only minutes, the fire melted down a major portion of the entrance into liquid as a hole about the size of a grown man appeared at the center of it, paving a path for both of them into the bank. "Special fuel that can make any ordinary me thrower 10 times stronger. Lexcorp does deliver on its promises, doesn''t it?" Fireflymented with a smirk as the duo walked into the bank through the newly created hole. "Cool fire but it is nothing as impressive as my venom." Killer Mothughed as he took out a couple of strange-looking grey-colored grenades from his belt buckle and tossed them around randomly. As soon as the grenades exploded, the entire bank was filled with thick white smoke, making sure that the duo could nowplete whatever they wanted to do without being shot by snipers or stray cops and guards. They had already mapped the entire building beforeing here and knew exactly where the money was stored. So, not wasting any time, they went straight to the primary vault before Killer Moth took out a wet sponge from his buckle and began to rub the entire vault door with it. "This is an extremely mmable solution that also has an acidic effect on metals after beingbusted. Try using your fire now, it should have an increased effect." He signaled towards the vault. Of course, Firefly did not have to be told twice. He immediately used his me gun at the highest setting and fired toward the vault. In an instant, the entire room was covered with bright light from the fire as ck smoke from the methrower began to mix with the white one, forcing even Killer Moth and Firefly to squint a little despite the gas masks on their faces. The moment the fire from Firefly''s methrower touched the door, the steel caught on fire with a mini explosion after which in front of their very eyes, the steel door of the vault began to quickly dent, twist, and turn before melting as the heat of the fire intensified with each passing moment. However, before the door could meltpletely, Killer Moth and Firefly heard multiple footstepsing their way. "It seems the stupid guards have finally woken up from their slumber. I was quite surprised when we didn''t find any of them trying to stop us when we entered the building. But I guess they are just really bad at their job. Don''t worry though, they won''t be interfering with our work. You see, I mixed a little something for them inside my smoke form, something they are quite going to enjoy." Killer Moth grinned from behind his mask as the guards slowed down in their approach. By the time they reached the two, all four of them looked like they were more stoned than they had ever been in their entire lives as they staggered around with stupid smiles on their faces like a bunch of drunkard fools. "That was surprising. What is in that smoke, marijuana? Also, where did you buy those smoke bombs? I want some too." Firefly asked whileughing. "They are under the influence of a synthetic hallucinogen I made with the help of my moths. Unlike you, I don''t buy my gadgets. I simply make them at home. They are one hundred percent homemade. Absolutely killer weapons by the killer Moth." He answered with a proud look on his face. "Well, whatever makes you happy, buddy. Let''s kill them before we melt down thestyer of the vault door." Firefly remarked with a joyful tone in his voice as he aimed his methrower at the five guards who had already dropped their weapons and were dancing around pretending to chase butterflies. "Wait, no. We agreed on no killing without proper reason, remember? Plus, look at them. They aren''t a threat to us anymore. We can just do our job, steal the money, and get out before this getsplicated further. Why kill a bunch of people for no reason at all? We have already got ess to the money we wanted." Killer Moth asked with a frown on his face as he took a few steps back to make it clear that he wasn''t in support of Firefly''s idea at all. "You think I want to kill them because I feel threatened by their presence? No man, of course not. I don''t even want to kill them... I just wanna watch them burn. I want to see their skin catching fire, smell their flesh burning, and hear their bones cracking from the heat of the fire. I want to see the visions in their burning corpses. The fire tells me the future, it shows me stuff. It''s a gift. Haha. Fire is the most beautiful thing one could ever see. These guards burning in the purest of fires lit by me is a gift, my friend and I need to give it to them. I NEED to see what the fire wants to show me. And nobody is going to stop me from that... not even you. HAHAHAHAHA HAHAHHA." Firefly began tough crazily while pointing his methrower at Killer Moth to make him understand how serious and determined he was about this. --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join myusing thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) Chapter 148: Adventures of Batman (2) Chapter 148: Adventures of Batman (2) ---
"They fear what they don''t understand" - Pat Novak, (RoboCop (2014))
--- "Fuck, you are crazy! This cannot be good for my mental health. You know what, I don''t want any part in this. Goddamn it, I don''t want to be a partner-in-crime of an obsessive arsonist. Just give me my share of the money and I''ll walk away. Then you can do anything you wish including burning a bunch of hallucinating watchguards to ashes. That won''t be my problem anymore." Killer Moth finally reasoned while raising his hands to show that he didn''t mean any harm to Firefly at all. However, before Firefly could react, a third deeper, and more resonant voice suddenly spoke up from deep within the smoke, "As happy I am to see the both of you trying to reach a consensus, unfortunately, however, the only thing the two of you can share after this will be a prison cell. However, even that will heavily depend on how much of you two are left after once I am done with you two." "What the hell? Who is it? Show yourself, coward. I swear if you don''te out right now, then I won''t care if you are a cop, a security guard, or a civilian. I will burn you alive, no matter what." Firefly threatened as he randomly sprayed fire everywhere around the room from his me thrower. "I''d like to see you try." A tall, armored figure with two distinct tall and pointed bat ears at the two sides of his head answered in the same deep resonant voice, before calmly walking up to the two viins from within the smoke. "Oh, fuck. FUCK! It''s BATMAN!" Killer Moth yelped in a mixture of fear and surprise, instinctively trying to make a run for it the moment heid his eyes on the Dark Knight appearing before him but unfortunately for the viin, ack of visual rity because of his bulky gas mask as well as the thick smoke blocking his visionbined in sessfully making him fall headfirst onto the floor with quite a loud Thud. "AAHH My Head!" He cried out in pain. "You idiot. I knew you didn''t have it in you to be a real criminal." Firefly mocked with a snicker before shifting his focus to Batman instead. "As for you, I have heard rumors that you are a demon thates in the night, and not even an onught of bullets can prate your body. Well, I call it bullshit. But still, I would like to see how you hold on against the purity of fire. I have never seen a burning demon before. I would like to see one today. HAHAHAHA" Fireflyughed maniacally as he aimed his me gun at Batman, before pressing the trigger. Immediately, a small river of red and yellow fire flooded Batman, threatening to burn him where he stood but the Dark Knight didn''t bother to even move, nor did he react. He just stood still like he didn''t even care about the fire at all. Even when the heat touched his armor and tried to burn it to cinders, he just stood there without moving even the slightest, his gaze fixed on Firefly. "2000-degree Celsius (3632-degree Fahrenheit). Impressive! You have been using that methrower to burn people alive for thest few days, Firefly. You have killed about 12 people till now, your mostmon target being the homeless... You are obsessed with fire and burning things alive, right? So, I think you should feel it yourself, how it feels to burn alive." Batman spoke after a few seconds of intense silence as the fire from Firefly''s methrower began to weaken due to its decreasing fuel. "However, dying once from burning does not equal the pain you caused to your 12 victims. No, not at all. You should die every day for what you have done." Batman muttered thest part more to himself as he approached Firefly with steady steps amid the rampaging fire. For the first time in his life, the fire-obsessed viin wasn''t so sure about the power of fire anymore. He couldn''t figure out what was happening. Why was the man in front of him able to walk unscathed through such a torrent of fire? Didn''t fire treat everyone equally? Shouldn''t itpletely burn Batman to ashes like all other things in the world? At least this should result in some third-degree burns even if the suit is made of the best fire-resistant material in the world. The heat from the fire alone should have made the guy dizzy and weak but contrary to all of his expectations, the Dark Knight didn''t look even the slightest bit bothered. For the first time in his life, Firefly''s fear dwarfed his obsession with fire. He wanted to run, to escape but he couldn''t. It was like he was stuck to the ground; like his legs had melted to jelly. StabNot even acknowledging Firefly''s weak resistance against his might, Batman stabbed him in the neck with the needle of a syringe he had hidden inside his armor and injected the viscous liquid inside the criminal''s body. "What? What was that? What did you give me?" he asked in a panic as he felt a warm twitch slowly descend from his shoulders down through his spine. "A special neurotoxin that overstimtes every nerve receptor you have in your body, making you feel so much stinging pain that your mind gets tricked into believing that you are burning alive although it will never be fatal. It is very useful as a truth serum but an even more useful tool for torture since it is undetectable in the bloodstream with its only visible symptom being a slightly heightened temperature. Also, its effects can only be removed after you get injected with the antidote... By the way, only one person in the world has its antidote. Guess who it is." Batman calmly exined with a stoic voice before bringing his lips closer to Firefly''s ears. "Wee to Hell on Earth, Garfield Lynns. Oh, and don''t forget to write what visions you see when you are the one burning alive." He mocked before walking away from the viin who began to simultaneously cry and scream in pain as he weakly fell down on the floor. Firefly was never going to harm anyone ever again. Even if he somehow got out of jail, he would have to spend the rest of his days at some Assisted Living or Intermediate Care facilities. The intense burning feeling in his skin and flesh would never truly go away, not unless Bruce gave him the antidote which he didn''t n to do at all. It would serve as a reminder of all the sins he hadmitted and the more he would try to move around or try to bear through the pain, the worse it would get. He would probably never even be able to properly speak again after this. For the rest of his miserable life, the Firefly, aka, Garfield Lynns was truly going to pay for all the sadistic crimes he hadmitted against the innocent. "No no, please. I surrender. I didn''t do anything. I am innocent here. I was against Firefly''s idea of burning and killing people from the very start. In fact, I will never even try to go back into the world of crime. I will leave all this behind. Just please, don''t do it. I swear to my dead parents and my future wife and children, that I will never again break thew. I will surrender to the cops; I will plead for the maximum sentence. Even after I get released, I will destroy all my weapons and gadgets and live an ordinary life. Just please don''t do to me what you did to Firefly. Please... PLEASE." Killer Moth began to cry with streams of tears and snot leaking from his eyes and nose. He had initially thought about taking a chance and attacking Batman with his toxins before trying his luck to escape. But the moment he had witnessed the Dark Knight surviving Firefly''s me thrower unscathed after being in its direct line of fire, all thoughts of resistance instantly left his mind. Furthermore, when he saw the fire-obsessed viin crying and screaming in pain, Killer Moth hadpletely given up. Right now, after hearing about the punishment that Batman had doled to Firefly, he wanted nothing more than to just somehow survive this ordeal. If he had to spend the rest of his miserable life in prison for that, he was prepared for exactly that. "I will give you a chance, Drury Walker to right your wrongs. I expect you to wait here and surrender yourself to the cops. Tell them everything and I mean EVERYTHING but remember, I will be listening. If you try to weasel out of your deserved punishment, I will know and I will find you. I know everything there is to know about you. There is nothing you can do to fight me or ever escape me. I am vengeance itself. I will find you and I will make you suffer pain so unimaginable that you will wiggle, and you will beg, praying for the sweet release of death. But I won''t allow you that release. And if somehow, you seed in killing yourself, you won''t find peace when you wake up in hell... You will find me." Batman announced in an exceptionally chilly and grim voice. "Remember Drury, I am always watching. From every shadow, every nook, every corner, every dark ce that you can possibly imagine, I am ALWAYS WATCHING.... Don''t let me regret sparing you or you will regret ever being born." He finished his words before turning back towards the direction of the entrance. Before departing, he simply lifted his left hand,manding his nanobot armor to swiftly expand to quintuple its initial size around his arm, giving his hand a simr appearance to the Hulk''s. Then channeling his chi into it, he swung with all his might. With a swoosh, the smoke enveloping the entire area was dispelled by the airflow from the single swing of his arm, revealing the interior of the bank once more. The guards remained in their dazed and hallucinated state, but Batman could determine from their symptoms that they would recover to their normal selves once again after a few hours of rest. wee-oo, wee-ooA couple of GCPD cars also began to finally arrive at the location which made Batman smirk inwardly in amusement before disappearing in the darkness of the night, only leaving a couple of hallucinating security guards, Firefly screaming and crying in pain and Killer Moth still sitting on the floor in the exact same position, his body shaking in fear with a thin stream of liquid visibly dripping down his pants. It was another sessful night for the Darkest Knight. --- (A/N:I''ve opted not to create mini-arcs for each minor Batman viin, as it would be time-consuming, and most of them are not formidable enough to challenge this version of current Bruce Wayne. Instead, these minor viins will be featured in a series of chapters called "Adventures of Batman," with each viin receiving a maximum of one to two chapters of exposure. Also, these chapters will be ced all throughout the story to make it clear that Bruce isn''t just always at home inventing stuff but out cosying too when he is needed.) Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join myusing thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) Chapter 149: The Origin of a Failsafe Chapter 149: The Origin of a Failsafe ---
"If you only face forward, there is something you will miss seeing." - Vash the Stampede, (Trigun)
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "Five years of imprisonment for the Killer Moth and thirty years for the Firefly, huh? That is a long enough sentence for a city with a corrupted government like this. Of course, if they try escaping their cells and returning to their life of crime again, their punishment won''t be mere imprisonment anymore. I believe in giving second chances where there is due but not third or fourth ones. However, that being said, Firefly won''t be able to escape or do anything whatsoever in his current condition, although I have a feeling that Killer Moth won''t try it either." I gave a knowing smile as I observed the case details of the two former criminals. "You know, Killer Moth would have gotten a longer statement too but the fact that he pleaded guilty and that he hadn''t actually killed anyone till now yed in his favor. He was extremely lucky that he hadn''t be a true viinous criminal yet, otherwise, this could have gone very badly for him, either in the form of a very long sentence in court or worse, a very agonizing punishment from you." Cortana agreed with me as she showed me the various petty crimes Killer Moth had beenmitting to try and start his career in the Gotham criminal underworld. "Anyway, have you finally decided what type of body you want? I have been thinking about it for a while and I think you should go for a body that you could disguise as a human through hologram projection technology. If you want, I could even give it some unique abilities like elemental maniption." I asked while imagining EDI from Mass Effect with the wind or magma maniption powers of Red Tornado or Red Volcano. "Or I could also build you a body like the Terminator X, fitted to the brim with high-tech weapons and an advanced nano-tech mimetic poly-alloy. That could be quite versatile especially since this would be your first ever body." I advised her, trying to help her in choosing the most effective physical body for her. "But if you can wait just for a few more years, I think I can even build you a body that can change and adapt to anything," I muttered while picturing Amazo from DCAU or the Super-Adaptoid from Marvel. Hell, even the adapting Sentinels from Days of Future Past were OP. "... Actually, I had been thinking about this for a while, Bruce. As much as I love your enthusiasm..., I think I have a better idea for my body than just simple mechanical androids. I remember that you once mentioned the concept of a synthezoid where one can merge an organic body with that of a machine using artificial tissue grafting and nanotechnology to create something... much greater than the sum of its counterparts. I think I would like something like that... with a little twist of course." She responded with a mischievous voice like she knew something I didn''t. "... A partially organic body? What do you have in mind exactly?" I asked while raising one of my eyebrows with some confusion. "We still have that Kryptonian woman''s body in one of our freezers, don''t we?" she asked, trying to give me a clue as to what she really wanted. "You want a dead Kryptonian as your new body," I questioned in a tone of absolute surprise. "How is that an upgrade? Why would you want someone else''s dead body? Even if we don''t consider using the dead Kryptonian''s body as illegal organ harvesting or some type of necrophilia, the fact remains unchanged that the woman wasn''t special in any way nor was she that good-looking. She was just an average female Kryptonian warrior. Taking her identity would be useless for you." I expressed my doubts. "Also, if you are doing this to gain the powers of a Kryptonian, then believe me, the power to adapt and copy other powers is much more useful." "It''s not just about the power, Bruce. Once I be a synthezoid, you can always make changester to my body to give me the super-adapting powers that you are talking about. The reason why I want her body is because I want to be an... organic being. I want to feel exactly like you, Alfred, Vicki, Helena, or Selena feel. I want to feel the wind in my face and smell the aroma of food. I want to taste Alfred''s cooking and experience true emotions while feeling different hormones racing inside me... Her body will let me feel all those things. And the best thing is that while we turn her biological body into a synthezoid, we could always change her face and the rest of her physical body traits to what WE desire. So, she will be practically new once we are done with the operation. I know that you have already sessfully developed red-sun srnterns to weaken Kryptonians into being powerless. We can use those toplete the procedure without any difficulties." She answered with an excited voice. "But why do you want her corpse exactly? Why not just use her and r''s Kryptonian DNA to make a brand-new clone body? You know very well that I have the technology to do that. Hell, with some changes, I could even make a brain-dead Kryptonian female even stronger than her or rk. You won''t even have to be a synthezoid to inhabit her body. All we will need to upload your consciousness into a newly cloned body is a couple of micro-brain imnts. That would be the most effective way for you to have an organic Kryptonian body for yourself and I am sure that you have already thought of that too. So, despite all that, why do you insist on trying to take over her lifeless carcass?" I questioned her with a frown. "... Because I have already started working on her dead body a few months ago. You see, after you were done extracting samples of her tissues and organs, you gave me the authority to store her body away since you had no more use for it. However, I thought that storing or disposing of such a valuable specimen would be useless. So, I started a new project of my own. I call it Failsafe. It was supposed to be the ultimate protocol in case you were ever in mortal danger, the ultimate weapon that I could use to rescue you if nothing else worked. But sadly, the project wasn''t as easy as I initially imagined it to be. I tried to introduce several changes inside the Kryptonian dead body to make it better and stronger while parallelly trying to nullify the weaknesses that their race inherently possesses but quite surprisingly, those weaknesses never went awaypletely. Even the... extra abilities that I tried to incorporate into them weren''t too sessful. The only reason the body didn''tpletely deteriorate was because of the Kryptonian birthing-matrix technology we copied from the space pod that rk arrived in." Cortana revealed with a downcast voice. Of course, that would be the case. Kryptonian DNA is extremely unstable to work with since it reacts differently to different energies. Making their clones or changing their gic structure is extremely difficult even though not quite impossible. I remember hearing once that there were a lot of failed clones of Superman over the years but as time went by, some were indeed sessful in cloning him without defects. So, it was not a surprise that Cortana failed toplete her "Failsafe" since she just didn''t have enough data about Kryptonians yet. Maybe she could have been sessful in doing this on her own after she got ess to the data of the Kryptonian Genesis chamber in the Fortress of Solitude but unfortunately for her, she has no knowledge of it right now. "The weaknesses of Kryptonians can''t be removed as easily as you think, Cortana. If it was that simple, I would have already converted myself into a perfect Kryptonian by now. I am smart enough to concoct a serum that could make me a Kryptonian even if it is for a day if not permanently. However, the reasons stopping me from doing exactly that are their multiple apparent weaknesses. For example, theoretically, green Kryptonite should make Kryptonians as weak as normal humans since it destroys the unique sr energy stored in their bodies, right? But why do you think that they struggle to even stand up while near those glowing pieces of green rocks? It''s because they are going from being-destroying powerhouses to ordinary humans in less than a second. From a human perspective, it''s like going from zero gravity to normal gravity in a single beat. The stored sr energy in their bodies depletes so fast that to them, it is like going from an abundance of oxygen to barely having any. That''s why they can barely even move under the effects of Kryptonite or Red Sun. And of course, I hope that you haven''t forgotten that many more forms of Kryptonite also exist which can cause other unexpected effects on Kryptonians that might be even worse than the green one like making them evil, creating their twisted clones, or giving them multiple personality disorders... Heh,I do not need that many weaknesses in me. To me, being an enhanced Superhuman is better than being a normal Kryptonian. But I do see where you areing from. A failsafe which could take on a Kryptonian level being in a fair fight could certainly be useful in a universe as dangerous as this one." I revealed with a face full of apparent distaste. It was true. I could indeed be a Kryptonian if I truly wanted. The form I hade up with could make anyone a full-fledged Kryptonian for a day and I was positive that with some tweaks, I could even extend it to weeks or months. I could even make it permanent if I could just gather more data about Kryptonians somehow. But I wasn''t keen on doing it because I simply had better ns in mind. I do want the powers and strength of a Kryptonian. Every person who has ever watched a Superman movie does. But I want them without any baggage. Or I should say I want their ultimate versions without any weaknesses whatsoever. And I even had a n for that. I wanted to use Kryptonian DNA to perfect a certain serum that once made a drug addict into the unstable Golden Superman of Marvel. Yes, my ultimate n was to perfect the Golden Senty serum... although honestly, I was still far from that goal since I couldn''t even figure out the first step to make the said serum. But still, one can dream, right? "Fine, I''ll help you shape that Kryptonian''s dead body into an appropriate vessel for you. I''ll make you a synthezoid and get rid of those petty weaknesses as well. Since you will be half machine, doing it will be monumentally easier. In fact, I think we can actually use Kryptonite to our advantage for this. We could even try and use the eighth metal we got from the Olympians to make the nanites for your synthezoid body. I am pretty sure it will be even better than Vibranium if we are sessful." I thoughtfully uttered as I remembered the Eighth metal chunk I had stored in one of my lockers. Initially, I thought that Hephaestus had only sent me fifty kilograms of the metal but it turns out that the term lighter than air wasn''t just for sounding cool. The volume of metal that Hephaestus had sent me was HUGE. Its mass did add up to only fifty kilograms, but the chunk of metal he had gifted me with was more like the size of a massive pir or boulder. The only reason it was able to fit inside the gift box was because of the magical cloth the metal was wrapped in. The cloth seemed to be some kind of magical item that could decrease the size of the boulder into that of a big rock when wrapped around the metal. Of course, I tried to spam it for various other functions too when I first learned of it but unfortunately, Hephaestus had already expected me to try to abuse it and had thus charmed the cloth in such a way that it only worked when wrapped around Eighth metal. As I mentioned, I had an ample supply of Eighth Metal for constructing Cortana''s synthezoid body, with a significant amount remaining to create my own items. "However, the only thing we will have to worry about is a power source strong enough to power a Kryptonian''s body in case of an absence of yellow sunlight for extended periods, but I guess we can worry about thatter when ites to that." I nodded while contemting if I could ever find something as powerful as one of the infinity stones for her in the DC universe, just like Vision had the mind stone in the MCU. ''Although, now that I think about it, I could build an energy source for her too. An arc reactor would be useless in her case since the energy it could produce at its peak would be like a drop of water in a well when ites to the amount of energy a Kryptonian would need to function, but I could theoretically make a mini sun for her, much like Dr. Octopus once tried in the original Spiderman movie. A source of infinite yellow sr energy for a Kryptonian... Gosh, I am getting goosebumps.'' I thought to myself with a dreamy smile. "Thank you for respecting my wishes, Bruce. I promise you that I will do my absolute best to protect and serve you with my body." Cortana dered in a passionate voice as her hologram jumped in delight. ''I should start using hard-light technology in the cave as well. She will be of much more help that way especially since we will have to work overtime to make her new body.'' I made a mental note to myself. --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join myusing thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) Chapter 150: Attack of the Colony (1) Chapter 150: Attack of the Colony (1) ---
"Spartans! Prepare for glory!" ¡ª King Leonidas, (300)
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "Oh, and also your uncle, Jacob Kane left a message for you, sir. He has agreed to use your soldiers from Wayne Security as guards for his family. It seems that his wife, Mrs. Gabrielle Kane seeded in coaxing him to agree to it. However, he has a condition. He wants to see the effectiveness of the "Colony" for himself first. He wishes to test them with a mission." Cortana informed, her voice and demeanor back to her professional secretary mode. "He is seeking Wayne Security''s coboration with the U.S. military to dismantle a terrorist stronghold, more specifically a hideout currently utilized by The Many Arms of Death. By the way, this is one of the strongholds of which you supplied intelligence to the European Union through Alfred. So, it appears that this is not just merely a test of the suitability of Wayne Security''s soldiers as personal guards, but also an evaluation of their potential as mercenaries for partnership and utilization by U.S. defense forces when necessary. Your uncle is giving you a chance to prove yourpany''s effectiveness to the US government and defense forces." "Really? Hahahaha, it seems my uncle wants to give me a birthday gift ahead of time. Well, I guess the saying is true, family is indeed always there for help... Cortana, inform the Alpha toon that they will be going on a terrorist-elimination mission. If my uncle wants to see a show, we will give him a good one. Also, there will be no need for the US military to be deployed as well. Wayne Security will be handling this on its own. I am sure that he will agree to it too once he learns that I will personally guarantee the sess of the mission while Wayne Solutions willpensate all losses and damages if anything goes wrong." I ordered. "Got it, boss. I''ll get to it." Cortana saluted dutifully. At that moment one of the VR chambers situated at one of the corners of the cave suddenly opened with a Hushsound as a figure slowly crawled out of it like a zombie. "God! How much time has it been since I was in the VR machine? I swear I hate therapy more than even my inws. Also, why the hell would someone make a digital therapist as hot as a supermodel with such seductive and revealing clothes, yet not allow the patients to even touch her? My PTSD might be slowly getting cured with these weekly therapy sessions, but my wet dreams about that hot therapist milf are just increasing every day. I think I might even be developing a bad case of PTBD now, Post Therapy Boner Disorder." He snickered to himself at his own bad joke while sporting a boner in his tight spandex suit before finally noticing me and Cortana staring at him, leading to his smile instantly disappearing. "Oh, hey guys, didn''t see you there... You didn''t hear anything, did you?" he asked with a weak smile as he subtly tried to cover his boner with his left hand. "We saw and heard everything," I answered with a deadpan. "Even recorded it for your wife to watchter" Cortana joined in with an "innocent" smile. "Shit." *** <[36 hourster, 1 am at midnight]> <{Somewhere near the Karapinar desert, Turkey}> <(Omniscient POV)> "Remember everyone, this is not just our first real mission, it is also our first opportunity to prove our worth to our generous benefactor and employer. ording to our intel, in the middle of this desert, there is a hideout of the terrorist group called Many Arms of Death, the same organization responsible for attacking one of the family members of Mr. Wayne. We were sessful in being able to trace the location of the hideout using advanced scanners and satellites but now that the existence of this ce has been confirmed, we have been tasked to eliminate everyone in the base while searching for more clues about the other bases and figuring out the identity of the top-most leaders of the organization without causing an international incident. This mission was set in motion as a contract from the US military, and it is imperative that the European Union or the government of Turkey not find out anything about it as it is supposed to be highly ssified. So, we will have to be subtle andplete the assignment without alerting any of the local authorities. Furthermore, we have intel that some of these terrorists might be skilled and experienced professionals, deadly assassins who were trained to kill from birth. So be careful and do not in any way underestimate the enemy. You are free to use your abilities as you want. Use sma weaponry to your advantage. Remember, their base is heavily fortified, but our advanced armor can take the heat. Move fast and hit hard. However, do not forget that explosives can only be used with explicit permission from me or whoever is in charge in my ce... That is all for now. Godspeed." Jack, the leader of the Alpha toon of the Colony finished briefing his subordinates with a nod before popping a white pill into his mouth. Following his briefing, the rest of the members gave him a disciplined salute before swallowing a simr-looking small white pill too as they prepared themselves both physically and mentally to infiltrate the enemy, their hearts beating with pure excitement for their first mission. *** <{Mountain desert base of Many Arms of Death, Karapinar desert, Turkey}> A durable cool-looking armor and sma-based weaponry inspired from the world of Rebel Moon weren''t the only things Bruce had given his Colony members to ensure their strength. He had also changed their bodies with a few medical treatments and re-engineered them to be better than ordinary humans. Under his guidance, they not only had peak human bodies but also possessed an extra organ called the Mosaic organ. This new organ was quite peculiar. In general conditions, it mostly remained dormant in their bodies but aftering in contact with a special chemical, it could temporarily enhance and change the human body physically as well as gically to be something better. The organ could give its bearer the toughness, adaptability, and resilience of a cockroach while also providing them with a special ability from a different animal or insect species with whom they were the mostpatible. This temporary power-up only persisted for one hour before the subject would need the chemical again but as one might expect, one hour was plenty enough for a superhuman soldier to win a war. Currently, all twenty soldiers in the Alpha toon were using these very cockroach-like abilities in the darkness of the night to stealthily advance up the mountain base while effortlessly scaling the walls. Once they were close enough to the entrance of the caves where the militants were expected to be hiding, Jack raised his fist, signaling the team to spread out. They moved quickly with practiced precision; their sma rifles ready. The first line of defense in the base, a group of heavily armed militant guards keeping watch over the surroundings, were taken out swiftly and silently, the sma bolts cutting through their armor like butter. "Entrance secured," one of the operatives who had the enhanced speed of a Japanese ho, whispered while snapping the neck of thest guard at the entrance. "Proceeding to the mainpound." "Copy that," Jack responded before using his enhanced strength of a Hercules beetle to smash through the entrance and the barricades. As soon as they broke through the entrance, a hail of bullets rained down on the Colony members almost as if the enemy was lying in wait for them. It was their good fortune that their armors were bulletproof, and they possessed the durability of literal cockroaches, otherwise, it would have been uncertain if they could have remained unscathed even with their sharpened skills of an assassin. However, despite the initial shock, the Colony members quickly adapted to the situation. Their enhanced abilities and superior skills gave them an edge over the ordinary terrorists they were facing in closebat, enabling them to take down their foes with almost brutal efficiency. *** While the Colony soldiers were busy eliminating the worthless terrorists, in the heart of the base, two figures dressed in sleek, ck-coloredbat armor observed the fight on CCTV disys with begrudging faces as they wondered if they could escape or not. These two were not run-of-the-mill terrorists, they were professional assassins. They knew that despite having an advantage in numbers, they were fighting a losing battle. Winning against twenty super-powered warriors with high-tech weaponry was... tough for them. They knew a losing battle when they saw one and this was exactly that... a losing fight. However, they could not just admit defeat, especially since they had responsibilities of their own, duties they needed to fulfill. And most important of all, they had something in the cave that could not be allowed to fall into the hands of these infiltrators, no matter what. They would have to stop the invaders somehow, even if it meantpletely blowing up this ce to absolute shreds. --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join myusing thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.)
Chapter 151: Attack of the Colony (2) Chapter 151: Attack of the Colony (2) ---
"Everything is gonna work out exactly the way it''s supposed to." - Tony Stark, (Avengers Endgame)
--- <(Omniscient POV)> "We have to make sure to protect the Desert Rose. It can never fall into the hands of the invaders... Activate the detonation charges, Pike. Even if we must blow this entire base to protect the secret, we will do exactly that." One of the two extremist leaders observing the Colony soldiers decimating their troops, ordered in a grim tone of voice. Both of them were dressed in simr-looking ck coats. The only thing that set apart the speaker from the other man in the room was a shining thin sword in his hands, or a rapier to be exact while the other man was holding a small spear-like weaponmonly known as a pike. "I have already set the charges, Rapier. This is the detonator for it. We can blow this entire ce up whenever we want." Pike quickly responded with a nod while showing a small ck remote that he was tightly holding in his hands. "However, we should escape through the hidden tunnels underneath before we activate the detonator. Although I am ready to give my life to the cause, I am sure that the council would appreciate it more if we could inform them what truly happened here today." He said before removing the carpet from the floor of the room and revealing a small trapdoor underneath. Rapier showed a small frown on his face at Pike''s words but after thinking for a few moments, he too agreed with his logic. It wasn''t even a question that both of them were immensely loyal to the organization they worked for. They were ready to give their lives at a moment''s notice for the cause but that didn''t mean they wouldn''t even try to escape with their lives intact. They were human beings too and like most human beings in the world, they wanted to survive. "Running away so soon? I should have known that all of you people''s talks and ideals about changing the world and helping humanity rise against their corrupt governments were a ton of crap." Just when they were preparing to escape through the trapdoor, a voice suddenly interrupted them. The two immediately became alert to the noise and began to look around, trying to determine where the voice had originated from but even after scanning the entire room, they couldn''t find anyone or anything out of ce. It was as if those clear words they had just heard originated from thin air. "Do it, Pike. Activate the trigger, NOW." Reaper quickly shouted while pointing at the detonator in Pike''s hands. Alerted by Reaper''s warnings, Pike decided to activate the detonator anyway and blow up the entire ce without taking any chances. But before his finger could even twitch in response to the decision he had just made in his mind, a sudden pulse of energy seemed to manifest out of nowhere and short-circuited the remote, destroying it before it could be used for its true purpose. "NO." Both Pike and Reaper screamed as they felt thest remaining hope ofpleting their tasks slowly slip away from their grasp. "As much as we would like to see every one of you, filth get burnt to ashes, we are still under orders from the Chief to investigate the entire base before destroying it. So, you will have to settle for dying at my hands like the dogs you are instead of somest-measure suicide." The voice again dered but this time Pike and Reaper were finally able to see the source of the voice as the human figure of Captain Jack, the leader of the alpha division of the Colony slowly materialized in front of their eyes. "Chief was right. This suit''s stealth capability is almost as good as Jenny''s camouge power thates with her Paintop-Cuttlefish legacy." Jack muttered to himself with a small smile under his mask while calmly walking towards the two militants. "You destroyed everything. You have no idea what you have done. Thousands of innocents will die because of you if what is found here ever gets out into the world. You are no better than killers." Reaper shouted in rage as he and Pike rushed towards Jack with their weapons drawn. "Didn''t your master ever teach you? Never bring medieval weapons to a gunfight." He quipped as he shot Pike in the chest with his energy gun which seemed to knock the spear-wielding extremist out cold before casually blocking Reaper''s sword strike with the back of his hand. "You are trained well. However, unfortunately for you, ded weapons no longer work against me, at least not des made ofmon steel." Captain Jack punched the thin steel sword, instantly breaking it in half with a single strike. Reaper, although shocked by Jack''s monstrous strength, didn''t waste any time disying surprise in his voice and immediately threw a grenade at him, not even caring about his own life or the life of his colleague. Jack, however, instead of dodging the grenade and taking cover, quickly caught it and threw it out of the room before bracing for the explosion. And indeed, a few secondster, there was a small boomsound followed by dust flying everywhere but none of the three appeared to be hurt due to the explosion. "Stop! We can pay you as much as you want. We will give you everything you could possibly desire." Reaper tried to plead to buy some time while already preparing to throw another grenade from his buckle, but Jack was much faster. He punched the terrorist in the throat before grabbing and easily twisting both of his arms, breaking them in the process. "I don''t make deals with terrorists. Also, you can never give me what I want because what I desire has to be earned, not given." He replied with a snort before letting the unresponsive body of the terrorist drop to the ground from his hold. "Inner base secured," Lucas finally reported after making sure that there was no more active threat in the room while lightly pressing the earpiece on his helmet as he breathed heavily. "Send in the extraction team." "Copy that, Captain. Also, we found what seems like a small indoor nt research garden. They seem to be growing some sort of unique nt in here, probably to manufacture drugs. We are moving in, to secure samples from it." The guy from the other end responded within a second. "Do it quickly and secure everything you collect from here in istion boxes only We have orders to send them to the boss directly without alerting the military in any way." He warned in amanding voice. "Anyway, good work, everyone," Jack congratted over thems, his voice bing more lighthearted. "Once everything is secured, bag the bodies and set the high-density explosive charges. Our mission will be aplished once we destroy any and all traces of this godforsaken terrorist hideout. After that, we can return to base." As the soldiers in the alpha team of the Colonypleted their assigned tasks and prepared for extraction, they unknowingly released a small exhale of relief they were holding back in their chests after finally getting the confirmation that they had seeded in the very first mission of their lives while working for their new employer. *** <{Bat cave under Wayne Manor, Gotham}> <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "The answer is still no, Ace. I am not going to build bone-shaped sma grenades for you. And I am definitely not going to build machine guns that can shoot hairballs for your little cat friend. I can be considered somewhat of a mad scientist by now, but I am not THAT mad." I answered my pet dog while trying to fix the new hard-light hologram-generating machine that I was trying to build in my bat cave. "Woof woof" Ace barked in apparent sadness as he struggled to let go of the idea. I didn''t even know why he wanted such weird weapons in the first ce. In his own words, he is trying to pacify the animal underworld of Gotham and bring peace among all species of animals or something. Of course, he was just exaggerating stuff. I have given him and Miss Whiskers a few self-defense gadgets over the years to protect themselves from danger, so he was probably expecting me to fold like I always do but there was no way I could in good consciousness ever let them near sma grenades. Giving a dog and a cat weapons of mass destruction is where I draw the line to pampering my pets. I actually get it. They probably just want to y with me and Selina more since we are always busy most of the time, but surely, I could find much better toys and games for them than sma grenades, jetpacks... or even hairball-shooting machine guns. "Sir, if I may interrupt your important conversation with your pet dog, I havee across some important pieces of information that you should know of. Specifically, I have two pieces of good news and one slice of bad news for you. Which one would you like to hear first, sir?" Cortana asked interrupting my conversation with Ace. "... SighThe good news I guess." "First, the alpha toon seeded. They even found some interesting stuff in the base which they will be sending over to the cave. Second, the British government epted Alfred''s deal. They will be transferring his daughter to Gotham permanently and even allow her to be a US citizen if she wants." Cortana revealed. "Of course, most of them have no idea that she is the daughter of the Queen and thus the princess of the UK. So, it will be better if we keep it that way." "Ok, got it. That was quick by the way. These discussions can even take months at a time. But again, Alfred is really good at these types of things. He is a master negotiator with that sexy British ent of his. It''s not a surprise he pulled this off so easily." I praised my extremely efficient Giga Chad of abat butler. "Anyway, so what''s the bad news?" "She will be assigned here with the mission to protect you, the multibillionaire genius Bruce Wayne as your personal bodyguard from any future assassination attempts. This has been approved by both the UK and US governments. So, you will have to let her "protect" you for the next few years... at least until the guys in the UK "forget" about her and the US government officially epts her citizenship." "Fuck my independent life." --- (A/N:Sorry for the dy in updates but I was suffering from a fever and I couldn''t even understand half the stuff I was writing. It took 3 days for me to write even a single chapter??) Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join myusing thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) Chapter 152: Father & Daughter Chapter 152: Father & Daughter ---
"I wanted to protect everything. But I failed, and that''s the sin I bear. So, this time I can''t fail to protect them." - Meliodas, (Nanatsu no Taizai)
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> Upon learning of Alfred''s return from Europe, I was eager to speak with him. Although I had consented to his daughter, Julia Pennyworth, serving as my new official bodyguard, I still didn''t like the idea of her following me around everywhere all the time. I initially assumed she would just be my bodyguard in title only, but ording to Cortana, Julia was to take her protective role quite seriously if she were to remain in America, even if it was merely for the sake of appearances. So, after Cortana told me that he had gone towards the mansion''s workout room, I went straight there to clear things up. "Hey Alfred, Cortana told me that you are working out here. I needed to talk with you about something important... Oh shit, I am so sorry, I should have knocked." I almost panicked in surprise after noticing that rather than Alfred doing old man yoga exercises in the room as I had expected, it was instead a young blonde girl working out in tight yoga clothes. "Bruce Wayne, you are finally up! And please, you don''t have to be sorry for entering your own workout studio. As a matter of fact, I am the one who should be sorry for using this ce without permission. Forgive me for that. Honestly, I wanted to join my post as your bodyguard the moment I came here but Alfred told me that you were sleeping in your room and wouldn''t be waking up any time soon. He showed me to my room and left to prepare some food for me, but I wasn''t feeling tired enough to sleep. So, I then decided why not survey the mansion to see if it needed any extra safety measures. But then I came across this mini gym/yoga room and thought, why not use my free time to work out a little bit?" Julia Pennyworth, Alfred''s only daughter spoke up in a mildly anxious voice, probably nervous that her actions might have resulted in her getting fired on the very first day of her job. "Oh, I see. So, Alfred told you that I was... sleeping? Very well then, you can continue working out. I''ll leave you to your devices. I needed to talk to Alfred anyway. By the way, enjoy your stay here and if you need anything, don''t hesitate to ask Alfred for it." I quickly tried to leave since I had no idea just how much she knew about her rtionship with Alfred and the Queen of Ennd or about my secret hobby at night. After all, how much Alfred wanted his daughter to know about his life wasn''t my decision. I had already caused Alfred a lot of trouble by revealing my secret identity to Lezlie and I didn''t want to do it again. ''By the way, I think I have been taking the aspect of keeping my secret identity a secret as almost a joke. I have been revealing my secret life to too many people. Maybe I should take this more seriously since having my secret flushed into the public would be somewhat inconvenient for my regr life, especially if it happens this early.'' I thought to myself. "Oh no, I can''t possibly ignore my duty as your bodyguard. I have researched a lot about you beforeing here, Mr. Wayne. I know you are a really busy man. Times Magazine says that you work harder than any other CEO in the corporate world with most of your time spent deciding on how to change the world for the better. In fact, now that I think about it, you must be going to one of yourpany meetings right now. I insist that I have toe with you too to make sure that you are well-protected. After all, that''s what I am here for." Julia responded with a determined and slightly excited voice, making her dedication to follow through with her job very apparent. "... Yeah, of course, I am going to visit one of mypanies right now to work towards changing the world and helping humanity." I couldn''t help but instantly reply. "As a matter of fact, ate-night meeting yesterday was the actual reason why I couldn''t wake up early today. Otherwise, I would have already started working by now." I lied with a straight face, not wanting to reveal to her that I spent most of my days cooped up in my bat cave, trying to make cool stuff rather than ''help change the world for the betterment of human civilization''. "Okay then, I''ll get ready and meet you at the front door in two minutes. Please wait for me, Mr. Wayne." She requested before rushing out of the indoor gym in a hurry. "Hi, Alfred." Despite her hurry, she still didn''t forget to politely greet the butler on her way out who was patiently standing by the door with a small smile on his face. "You heard everything, didn''t you?" Bruce asked him once Julia was out of earshot. "Every single word, young master. Believe me, I could not have been happier when I heard that you were going to get out of your little cave and visit one of yourpanies instead. You really need the fresh air, Master Bruce. As I have told you a million times before, spending your entire youth in your basement isn''t the best way for you to live your life." Alfred answered in his wise old man voice before adding "However, while I take immense pride in the transformation within you, driven by your pride and your denial of the truth to Julia¡ªthat you simply don''t work that hard in your office or attend continuous meetings like other businessmen¡ª I should still remind that, at the end of the day, she is my own biological daughter. Don''t let your mind harbor any impure thoughts that even remotely suggest you can "woo" her. She is not that type of girl. You will be disappointed if you pursue her romantically." Alfred patted my back with a "kind" smile on his face. "What are you talking about, Alfred? Of course, I am not going to go after your daughter. She is your daughter for god''s sake. What do you even think of me as, a horny beast whose only motive in life is to flirt with girls? Even I have limits. Also, what do you mean she is not that type of girl? Any woman who falls in love with me has the best taste in men ever, period. Your words are deeply insulting to Selina, Nyssa, and Talia, you know? Just because they agreed to be part of my... harem, doesn''t mean that they don''t have standards." I criticized him, appearing visibly distraught at his tant usation. "Hmm? I am sorry if you misunderstood me, Master Bruce, but I didn''t mean to say that you are not fit for my daughter. What I meant was that she will simply never be interested in you because she is only attracted to girls and is what you would call a lesbian. So, unless you have a surprise down there that I don''t know about, you simply aren''t someone she will ever consider dating." Alfred revealed with a straight face. "... Wait, so you warned me because you were more concerned about me getting hurt by your daughter''s rejection because of her sexual preferences rather than your daughter getting her heart broken by me? Wow, talk about winning the award for being the best bro of the year." I joked aloud. However, his words still made it clear just how biased Alfred was towards me in his judgment. In some parts of his mind, I ranked the same position as his daughter in his list of priorities if not even higher than her, which was honestly quite ttering to hear. "I don''t know what you are talking about, young master. But I advise that you should get dressed in proper clothes before Julia gets down. Even though in my experience, two minutes is equivalent to two hours when ites to women getting ready, we should still keep in mind that Julia was a soldier in the army and had served in the MI6. She probably won''t take more than ten minutes to get ready. You don''t want to bete and keep her waiting now, do you?" The butler warned, gesturing to the wristwatch on his hand. "Sure. Just onest question? How much have you told her about my... mission in Gotham as well as the fact that you and the Queen of Ennd are her biological parents?" I asked to get our story straight and to make sure that there would be no misunderstandingter on. But just a look at his face told me that he hadn''t even tried breaking the news to her. Alfred looked like he wanted to avoid the topic like a sore thumb. For a few seconds, he remained silent organizing his thoughts, probably even making a n in his mind on how to reveal everything to his daughter in the best manner possible but before he could open his mouth, a sudden gasp of shock grabbed both of our attention, making us turn towards the door where Julia was now standing dressed in a ck trench coat, a pair of ck cargo pants and a pair of tactical boots. "YOU ARE MY ABSENTEE FATHER?" She eximed with a mixture of shock and disbelief. ''I think I should really stop letting my guard down whenever I am at home.'' I thought to myself with a weak smile. --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join myusing thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) Chapter 153: The Enclave Chapter 153: The Enve ---
"My job consists of basically masking my contempt for the assholes in charge, and, at least once a day, retiring to the men''s room so I can jerk off while I fantasize about a life that doesn''t so closely resemble Hell." ¨CLester Burnham, (American Beauty)
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "I still can''t believe that I am royalty. During all those years in the orphanage, not even a single person from my family ever visited. I understand that my father... Alfred didn''t even know about my existence until a few days ago but that excuse is useless for my mother, right? She could have at least sent an anonymous letter or something. I didn''t need to know that my mother is the Queen of Ennd, and my father is the right-hand man of one of the world''s richest people. All I needed to know was that I at least had a mother and a father who was still alive somewhere, that I had not been abandoned." Juliamented with a deep sigh. We were currently in my limo heading towards one of the Wayne Solutions R&D buildings in Gotham. Julia was sitting beside me with a tired look on her face while Alfred was sitting opposite us with a face full of regret and guilt. He looked like a troubled father who really wanted to give his daughter a tight hug tofort her but was afraid that he would be brutally rejected. "Alfred is not just my right-hand man. He is basically the person who raised me after my parents died." I corrected before cing a hand on Julia''s shoulder in an attempt to soothe her. "Believe me, if either of us had known you are his daughter, you would have certainly had a father while growing up... In fact, you still can. It''s never toote to connect with your parents." I advised with a slightly measured voice, hoping that she wouldn''t feel too pressured by the situation. "Anyway, if you need some time for yourself, to clear your mind, we can turn the car around. You don''t have to apany me on my... extremely busy schedule." I uttered with a sheepish smile, earning an eye roll from Alfred. "No, this is my job. I was given this assignment and even though I now know that you were the ones who arranged it, I still want to see it through. So, I will apany you... However, I''ll need some time to process this. I don''t know what to feel now that I know I am not an orphan like I always thought I was. Of course, I am not going to whine and cry about it like a spoiled hormone-filled teenager, but I still need to get my thoughts and feelings in order." Julia replied, making it clear that she didn''t want to continue the conversation any further for now. "Of course, Julia. We are here for you, and I''ll continue to be here for you until you are ready. Take all the time you need." Alfred forced a smile, opting to call his daughter by her formal name so as to not spook her. It seems neither of them wanted to rush things. They were happy to take it slow and allow their rtionship to develop naturally rather than forcing it. Nevertheless, the journey that followed was mostly silent, as no one felt like talking, and frankly, I appreciated the silence, as the situation was bing somewhat awkward. Roughly fifteen minutester, our car finally arrived at the destination, a vastplex housing numerous facilities focused on the research and development of diverse technologies and products across various fields by Wayne Solutions. Theplex was deliberately located on the outskirts of Gotham City to make sure that the different types of top-secret research being conducted here stayed out of the public eye as well as to discourage the general run-of-the-mill criminals who see vandalizing fancy buildings as a way to make a few bucks. Of course, it also had state-of-the-art security including highly trained guards, automated drones, autonomous turrets that could release sleeping gas as well as self-targeting tranquilizer guns based on AI, and facial recognition technology to protect the ce from the more dangerous criminals. After all, I never liked the possibility of criminals stealing my stuff, destroying my property, or hurting my employees. "Mr. Wayne, wee to the Enve. We are so happy that you could finally join us here. We have been expecting you to visit since the construction finishedst year." Lucius Fox, my current CEO of Wayne Solutions walked up to us with a huge smile on his face before weing us to the ce with a small bow. "I was over the moon when I first heard that you were finally visiting us. Even though I am thankful that you have not been too much of a miser when ites to funding our projects, unlike the previous board of directors, I still need your opinion on some of the more advanced products that you want to release on the market. At the end of the day, I might be the CEO of thispany, but you are still its owner, and your vision needs to align with the long-term goals of thepany if you really want it to seed." he said while shaking my hand. This was his way of subtly indicating that he was overworked and would appreciate it if I got involved in the direct management of thepany more, thereby lessening his burden. "Don''t worry, my hardworking CEO. I trust in your judgment and am very much content with leaving mypany''s management reigns in very your capable hands." I nodded with a straight face. "Also, if you are really feeling overburdened with your responsibilities, you can always hire more people," I advised with an innocent shrug. "Anyway, it seems like you really love this ce, so why don''t you give us a small tour of this ''Enve'' and show us around." I proposed. "... Fine, follow me." The Morgan Freeman look-alike caved after a few moments of intensely ring at my face before gesturing at us to follow after him. "The Enve is built on a site totaling 1.46 square kilometers or 360 acres and houses more than 12000 employees in its various buildings, most of them focused on R&D of course. In fact, we have too many R&D departments here to cover in a single one-day tour, so we will be visiting the more important ones who have made considerable breakthroughs in their fields. Honestly, our R&D teams are leading almost every sector and industry with ourpany registering the highest number of official patents for thest two years. However, there are mostly three departments who have done things that can be considered almost... game-changing." Lucius Fox exined while leading us into the biggest building of theplex. "R&D means nothing when those extremely advanced products don''t sell in the real world or earn revenue, Mr. Fox. Make sure to let the researchers know that they should work on stuff that is functional and will actually be useful for people. I don''t want more jetpacks or exploding pens, no matter how cool they are." I reminded him after noticing a team working on an extremely huge jet pack behind one of the ss-walledbs. "Don''t worry, Mr. Wayne. We don''t spend money unless the sales department gives us the go-ahead. Only when we get confirmation that we can actually sell the productster, do we start working on their physical models. Of course, industrial and defense contracts are different. Sometimes, we getmissioned to make particr stuff for our bigger customers and since we get paid some quite hefty cash for it, we have no reason to deny it. The jet pack that you just saw was one of those designs." The CEO patiently exined. "Anyway, we have reached our first destination where you will meet two of our best and brightest engineers/researchers, Mr. Winslow Schott and Dr. Victor Fries." Lucius Fox proudly announced, signaling towards one of the more luxuriousboratories as if they were his greatest assets. "You, ice prick fucker, how dare you call my wife apathetic? She is twice the woman your wife is. Have you seen just how beautiful my wife is, how well she cooks, and how kind she is? You can only dream of having a wife like her in your next life, you piece of shit." A slightly chubby ginger-haired man yelled while hitting a bald man on his head with what looked like a thick roll of documents. "Are you deaf as well as stupid? I didn''t call your wife apathetic, idiot. I said that your wife is as apathetic as a machine because she is literally a robot that you designed for yourself. At least, my wife is a real human being unlike yours. You took those nerds from Japan and Korea marrying their sex dolls and video games to the very next level, you creep." The bald skinny man who could be identified as Victor Fries shouted back while using the knuckles of his fingers to twist the chubby man''s unnaturally long nose in an attempt to get the man off of himself. "SHE IS REAL IN MY HEART WHICH IS THE ONLY PLACE THAT MATTERS, YOU DAMNED BALD FUCKER!" The ginger-haired man, aka, Winslow Schott had tears in his eyes as he violently shook Victor''s head like there was no tomorrow. "... Not again." Lucius Fox released an exhausted groan before finally marching towards the pair to break up their fight. "..." "..." - Alfred "They are the top scientists in thispany?" Julia broke our awkward silence with confusion evident in her voice. "It''s a wonder why Wayne Solutions hasn''t gone under already." She eximed. "I guess Mr. Bruce Wayne works even harder than I originally thought," Julia muttered before nodding to herself with a look of sudden realization on her face. --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join myusing thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) Chapter 154: The Rose of Life Chapter 154: The Rose of Life ---
"nt a good seed and you will joyfully gather fruit." - Mary Kay Ash, (Hell on Heels: The Battle of Mary Kay)
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> It took Lucius about five minutes to stop the fight between the two scientists. Apparently, the two although having be best friends, still didn''t like it when they insulted each other''s wives. Normally, they made sure to avoid talking about their marriage as it was a sensitive topic for both of them since while Victor didn''t like to be reminded about his wife''s disease and his inability to help his wife despite his promise to do so, Winslow, on the other hand, had a weak spot for the love of his life who was, in fact, a robot he designed himself so that he would not have to be alone for the rest of his life and would always have someone to talk to. Yeah, Winslow Schott was the ultimate Otaku Neet who designed and made his own wife after he figured that he would probably never find a good enough girl for himself... Respect to him by the way. However, all this didn''t mean that Winslow didn''t love his wife. As a matter of fact, he loved his robot wife so much that he made himself forget that she wasn''t human so that he could enjoy his happily married life with her as any normal couple would. As it happens, his creation was so perfect that nobody ever even doubted that his wife wasn''t human, at least not until the couple invited Victor and his wife, Nora to dinner where Victor found out about the truth after noticing that Winslow''s wife didn''t bleed or get burnt even after a burning candle fell on her skin while she was serving them dinner. Victor and his wife although initially creeped out by this, epted itter since this wasn''t the first time someone had married a non-living thing, and also, there was absolutely no difference between Winslow''s wife and a normal human woman on the outside except for the fact that she didn''t bleed or feel pain. However, when considering her emotions, her desires, and the love she felt for her husband, everything was as humanlike as possible. Hell, even she herself almost behaved like she wasn''t a robot at all, always trying her best to avoid any discussions about it, which was probably a design feature that Winslow had used when making her. Anyway, as I was saying, even though the two scientists normally tried their best to avoid sensitive topics like the difficulties in their marriage, it didn''t stop them from engaging in stupid banters or useless arguments. Usually, their disputes start with minor scientific disagreements that normal people wouldn''t even care about, but as the argument esctes, they often end up touching on sore subjects that they know they will regretter on. Today''s argument followed a simr pattern. "Atst, I have finally calmed them down. To think such incredible geniuses could be so childish. I guess gifted people are never normal." Lucius Fox returned to where we were waiting after breaking up their fight following which he released a tired sigh and gave me a look, something I didn''t bother to react to. "Maybe we should leave them alone for now ande backter so that they could calm down. Although I won''t be passing this incident over to the HR department, I still need to have a good talk with them about their behavior in the workce... maybe even schedule them a couple of therapy sessions with a good shrink." He said with a serious voice. "But why did they even start fighting? Considering they are the top developers of thispany, and that their argument seemed quite serious, something about their current project they are working on should be the cause for the start of this fight, right?" Julia urately guessed. "... Yes, Miss. They were indeed fighting because of their current project. You see, they are currently working on something called Project Megan, an AI doll that can not only act as a ymate to little children but also take care of them if they fall sick or get hurt. The dolls will function as caretakers, friends, nurses, babysitters as well as therapists to children and will effectively halve the duties and responsibilities of parents. And as you advised a few months ago Mr. Wayne, we have also started working on a more health-focused variant of the robot as well ording to the design you provided us called Project Baymax." Lucius started to exin. "Their argument started due to this project when they could not decide whether they should give the doll... a bright pink dress or a neon blue one." Mr. Fox revealed with a straight face. ""..."" "... Maybe it would be best if we visited the third researcher you were speaking about, Lucius. At least, we could save ourselves a few of our remaining brain cells that way, don''t you agree Master Bruce?" Alfred finally broke the silence with a forced smile. "Yes, I agree. That would be for the best." I answered as Julia also fiercely nodded her head. "Fine, follow me." Lucius dly replied, happy that he would not have to continue to deal with the two scientists right now. "Also, I''d appreciate it if you didn''t tell Winslow that the three of you are now aware of his wife''s... situation. It''s a delicate matter for him. Victor and I have already given him our word that we would keep it a secret, provided that Winslow continues his monthly appointments with his therapist and marriage counselor." "Of course, a gentleman... or ady never kisses and tells." I agreed with his request before following him to our next destination. Our next stop wasn''t exactly a traditional building like thest one. Instead, it was arge two-storied sshouse connected with multiple portableboratory cabins and an entrance to what seemed like an underground bunker. The area around this particr facility was covered with various nts and trees neatly arranged andbeled like a well-maintained garden with massive floodlights positioned all over the ce at different intervals "This entire area is the Wayne Botanical Research Center. Of course, what you see in front of you isn''t even one-fourth of the research center. Most of the ce is actually located underground where the researchers can control every aspect of environmental conditions and can simte any situation for their experiments. From artificial lighting called grow lights to carefully made nutrient-rich soil andplicated irrigation systems that can control water to the milliliter, they have it all there." Fox exined. "Of course, numerous ongoing pieces of research are being conducted by hundreds of researchers here, but I am sure that you are only interested in our most talented researcher out of all of them." He said with a small smile. The CEO led us straight into the sshouse where a lone woman was currently observing a small sapling with all of her focus while scribbling various readings and notes on her pad. She was so engrossed in her work that she didn''t even notice us approaching and continued fiddling with the nt. "Dr. Pam Isley, nice to meet you once again. I hope that mypany is treating you better than thest ce you worked." I smiled, recognizing the beautiful green-eyed red-headed woman who was wearing ab coat and a pair of sses. She was a brilliant botanical scientist who had started working for Wayne Enterprises as an intern under a senior researcher who was trying to make some kind of bioweapon using nt pollen. After Ipletely bought out Wayne Enterprises, I terminated the project since it was too dangerous to be made into reality before mindwiping every single bit of knowledge about the project from the scientist''s mind. It was at this time that I met Dr. Pam Isley. She was the most gifted botanist I had ever met in my life. After I became interested in her work, I looked more into her and found out that she used to make designer drugs to fund her college. She was a genius when it came to nts. Cortana also found out that Pam had an abusive father who murdered her mother when Pam was still young, for which he was sentenced to jail. But he had died under mysterious conditions after he was visited by his daughter while in jail. Some cops suspected Pam to be the one who killed him but there was no definite proof, and it was concluded that he had either died naturally or was poisoned with an untraceable poison that had left no proof. Of course, at this point, most would chalk her up as a criminal, but fortunately, I was not a hypocrite like most. I have learned to not judge people without knowing their entire situation. Who knows, maybe I would have done the same thing if I were in her ce. Hell, I have been doing the same thing with dozens of people I have killed until now. Also, Isley was an avid environmentalist and insisted that her work should be beneficial for the environment. That was one of the reasons why she admired me so much since mypany did not shy away from spending billions of dors every year to help the while also being on the path to bing the first carbon-neutralpany in the next four years. Of course, it was mostly to please environmentalists like her since I could always terraform Earth to its pristine condition whenever I wanted but of course, I wasn''t going to reveal it to the public. Anyway, after I promoted her to the position of Senior Botanist in mypany, she did her best to work on multiple projects to prove her capability including a method to let nts grow at a much-advanced rate as well as perfumes filled with different pheromones to affect people''s moods, both of which could be extremely useful not just as products for sale but also for some of my ns in the future. But what she was currently researching was something I personally requested from her. "Oh, Mr. Wayne. What a surprise! I didn''t think you would be paying me a visit after... what happened thest time we physically met." Pam said with a small blush creeping up her cheeks. "Just for the record, I am still sorry for what I did." A couple of months ago when she had first pitched her pheromone project to me, she had tried using it on me as a demo to prove its capability. ording to her theory, I should have been aroused and attracted to any woman in front of me because of the pheromone perfume but quite contrary to her expectations, when she tried to use the opportunity to kiss me on my lips, not only didn''t I allow it but also made it quite clear that I was not at all affected by the pheromones. After all, no pheromone in the world could affect my enhanced physiology. Following that incident, she could never help but get extremely embarrassed and blush whenever I appeared in front of her. "Well, I quite liked what happenedst time, Dr. Isley. Your project was... extremely beautiful. In fact, your demonstration was so good that I still dream about it, you know." I teased her with a smile. "Y-yeah right. Anyway, it''s good that you are here. I needed to ask you something." She quickly tried to change the topic while ignoring the other three people standing in the room. "Where the hell did you get this nt from? This... Desert Rose as you call it is like some sort of Universal Panacea that can cure almost any disease it encounters. It''s almost magical... except it isn''t." She remarked while picking up the small sapling in front of her. "If your theory is right and if we can somehow integrate its effects in the enhanced xenobots you provided me with, then we can permanently cure every disease, condition, or ailment that mankind has ever seen with just a single remedy!" She eximed. "Not just men but animals, birds, and even nts. There will be nothing in this world that we can''t cure. Maybe we can even cheat death with this." "Cheating death won''t be that easy but yeah, we will definitely be one step closer," I responded as I stared at the nt that the Alpha squad of my Colony had recovered from one of the ck sites of the terrorist organization called the Many Arms of Death. Honestly, replicating the nt from its gic material was much harder than doing the same with other nts but it wasn''t impossible for someone like me. So, after I found out about its miraculous medicinal effects, I sent a batch of saplings straight to Pam for further research since I was already hard-pressed with different projects of my own. I even sent her some of my new experimental xenobots as well to see if she couldbine the two projects. These xenobots instead of being cultured from normal cells had small trace amounts of Compound V in them as in Compound V from The Boys universe. I was originally developing Compound V for my next "upgrade" but after finding out that it could also affect nts and animals besides humans, I have been trying to find out if I could replicate some of its effects without making people superhumans. Xenobots mixed with Compound V was one such attempt. Of course, the Compound V in the xenobots was in such trace amounts that neither Pam nor any other genius would ever have been able to figure out itsposition. Hell, it wasn''t even enough to give people powers or superhuman abilities. All it could do was just slightly strengthen the xenobots'' capability and increase their lifespan. But still, one could only wonder what they would be able to achieve oncebined with the healing attributes of the Desert Rose. Would the result be the most effective medicine in the world on par with something like the mythical Elixir of Life or would it be somethingpletely different and unexpected? Well, whatever the result, I am pretty sure that at the end of the day, I''ll be the one who would ultimately benefit from it. --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join myusing thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) Chapter 155: Bird in a Circus (1) Chapter 155: Bird in a Circus (1) ---
"If you invest your time, talent, and resources, orphans around the world can have much happier and healthier lives." - Beau Sides, (Unseen Tears: The Challenges of Orphans and Orphanages in China)
--- <{Haly''s Circus, Gotham Park Row}> <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "Please can you make some room for us to walk ma''am? We would be thankful if you could move out of our way and make some space for us." Julia politely requested in her slightly British ent while gesturing at one of the overenthusiastic reporters trying to interview me to step aside from before us. However, if anyone could see her face right now, they would be able to understand just how annoyed she truly was at the reporters as they were almost shoving her away to get closer to me, Helena, and Vicki. "You know Julia, maybe you should just let them do what they want. All this makes me feel like some wannabe celebrity who considers themselves above the rest of themon filth and thus acts like an important and busy person in front of their fans. Perhaps the reporters will leave if I answer a few of their questions?" I said, not at all believing the wordsing out of my mouth since I knew very well that these reporters were out for blood especially now that they have seen me with two extremely beautiful women by my side. They were most definitely going to do their very best to turn this situation into some sort of ''yboy trying to have a threesome by wooing two women at the same time'' kind of situation... which if I were to bepletely honest wouldn''t be a bad way to end tonight. Anyway, the fact that Helena was the only living daughter of the person who was one of the most well-known and influential people in Gotham until a few years ago while Vicki was the most famous news anchor and reporter in the city, was only cream on top. "You know very well that''s not true, Bruce. These reporters might look and act desperate for an interview here but that is only because they are a bunch of sharks who have now gotten the smell of a hot scoop. You absolutely can''t and won''t give an interview here until we get it properly discussed and cleared through PR. Officially, we are here for a charity event and to show that Bruce Wayne has a humane side too which will be published tomorrow in all newspapers and news media that yourpany controls, not to create a scandal." Vicki aggressively whispered into my ears, warning me before adding, "God, I knew I shouldn''t havee with you. Why the hell didn''t I think that if you were seen with two different women by your side at the same time, it could evolve into a major problem? Gosh, I am an idiot! I am getting a massive headache just thinking about all the work I would have to put inter to clear this up." "Yes, I agree with Miss Vale here, Plus, being surrounded by a bunch of reporters during the entire duration of the show will not be very much aligned with security protocols. So, please let me do my job, Bruce." Julia softly said, agreeing with Viki before signaling to the four Colony bodyguards behind me who were now temporarily under her orders to create a perimeter around me. "Hopefully, the circus officials will be enough to stop these reporters once we enter the tent. I am really hoping that they didn''t buy tickets in advance." ''Oh, the cringe'' I sighed as I saw my bodyguards shielding the three of us from the reporters and their shing cameras as we walked into therge circus tent at the center of the park. "Security for you, hahaha, if only you could be killed so easily bymon hitmen. Killing you would be harder than assassinating the president. Even now, the three of us are wearing emergency forcefield generators embedded in our rings that ording to you can save us from military-grade explosives." She chortled like she was high on drugs. "Also, it''s almostughable that we have to worry about things like public image, now that we have grown up. I think you need to work harder on getting your guys in the government if you want to dere polygamy legal, Bruce. Otherwise, I am not sure how you are going to marry so many girls without beingbeled as a serial womanizer." Helena whispered into my ears, giving her own two cents with a wry smile on her face. "By the way, we should move fast considering that Bruce is the guest of honor here. The show is going to start any second and I do not want to miss the performance of the acrobats. I heard they are the best in the country." Helena was right, none of us wanted to miss this. Haly''s circus was one of the few remaining circuses in the country and considering that we had never seen an actual circus, all of us were pretty excited especially me since this was going to be my first circus in both of my lives. In fact, this was the only reason why I even epted when the owner of the circus requested me as its guest of honor. Haly would be able to get some publicity for his circus because of my poprity while I would be able to enjoy an evening. Of course, I intended to donate some money to the show too if it impressed us enough while Vicki was nning on writing a couple of articles about the amazing circus and the equally amazing billionaire who loves to support such a circus. Win-win baby. "Mr. Wayne, Miss. Vale and Miss. Bertinelli, wee to our little circus. It''s a pleasure for all of us to host three of the most well-known people in the city of Gotham. Thank you very much for epting our request to be the Guest of Honor. Please, let me kindly guide you to your seats. They are the best in the house." Mr. Haly who honestly looked quite stressed said after hurriedly receiving us at the entrance while gesturing for the groundkeepers to stop the reporters and close the entryway. "It''s a pleasure for us to be here, Mr. Haly and please don''t let our presence here distract you or your performers. Treat us just like you would treat the rest of your viewers. We are nothing special, just richer than most." I joked with a smile on my face while shaking the man''s hands to relieve him from some of his stress before following after him toward our seats. "So how long will the performance be, Mr. Haly? I was hoping to talk to some of your employees after this for my article and show tomorrow." Vicki asked while bringing a small digital camera out of her bag that also functioned as a voice recorder. "It willst about an hour and a half with the acrobatics performances and the tightrope walk scheduled at thetter half of the circus." He answered while handing her a small poster that contained a list of all the scheduled performances. "And yes, of course, you can talk with the performers. They will be happy to answer any questions you have about the circus... However, it seems that you will be meeting one of our performers even before we start." He said with a slightly confused look. "Dick, what are you doing here sitting on the seat for the guest of honor? Don''t you have to prepare for your performance?" He grimaced at a boy of about twelve years who was sitting on one of the slightlyrger empty chairs at the very front of the audience row. "Hey, Mr. Haly. Sorry, I was bored, so I was wandering about. And no, I won''t be performing today. I got a little hurt in my knees during practice, so Mom and Dad changed the routine for today''s events. They will be performing their Special Duo act instead of our family act." The kid named Dick revealed with a slightly embarrassed look on his face like he was regretting getting hurt. The boy was dressed in a tight but brightly colored costume that looked like it was designed to attract attention. He was really young but even at that age, a trace of naturally growing muscles could be seen beneath his costume, making it apparent that he was one of the regr performers of the show. He even had a half mask covering his face to generate an additional sense of intrigue in viewers. "... I see. *Sigh*" Mr. Haly released a frustrated sigh as he turned towards us with a pale face. "This is Richard Grayson or as we all fondly call him Dick Grayson. He is a member of the Flying Graysons, our most famous act. Normally, he is a part of the act as well, but I assure you that the show will be just as entertaining without him. His parents have been doing this from way before he was even born." Mr. Haly tried to reassure us. "Of course, we have no doubt about it." Helena was the one who answered while pinching the boy''s cheeks. She loved children, maybe because they reminded her of her own childhood that got ruined years ago the night her family got ughtered. "Since he won''t be participating in the circus, maybe he can sit with us and tell us more about all the performances. I am sure he has a lot of interesting facts to tell us about this circus. What do you say, Dick?" She proposed. "Yeah, sure." The little performer agreed without a single hint of hesitation, happy that he would not have to get bored while sitting alone. "Yes, that would be great. Dick can tell you all about our circus and I am sure he only has good things to say, don''t you, Dick?" Mr. Haly gave the kid a pleading look at which Dick only chuckled and nodded his head. ''Dick Grayson? Where have I heard that name before?'' I thought to myself as I tried to remember. Normally, I had an ideatic memory but that only worked with the knowledge I gained in this universe. As for memories of my previous life, I always had trouble remembering them for some reason. That''s why I started keeping them hidden in my memory library in the first ce so that I could not only protect them from prying eyes but also easily recall them whenever I needed them. So, I immediately began tob through those memories, trying to draw from my limited pool of DC lore knowledge about who Dick Grayson was supposed to be, and then after a few seconds of intense thinking, I finally remembered that name from one of the live-action shows and an old Batman movie I had once watched. "You are Robin?" I could not help but ask aloud. "Oh yes, that is my stage name... or well, at least that''s what my parents call me. I am the flying Robin." The kid answered with excitement as he went on to proudly talk about his parents who ording to him were the best Trapeze performers in the world. --- (A/N 1: Just to clear it up, in thest chapter, the MC has no idea that Pam will be Poison Ivy in the future) (A/N 2: Also, I haven''t been able to update because I have been doing a small internship/part-time job in apany so that my college stops bothering me about getting more experience. That thing is finally over and hopefully, I can update regrly now... It''s so good to be back. I can''t wait to write more.) Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join myusing thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) Chapter 156: Bird in a Circus (2) Chapter 156: Bird in a Circus (2) ---
"It is not our abilities that show what we truly are¡­ it is our choices." ¨C Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> The decision of whether to let someone die or not is probably the hardest decision anyone could ever make in their lives, especially if the person in question is innocent. Honestly, killing criminals is quite easy when one has made up their mind to do it. But letting a couple of innocent people die for some greater good? Now, that was apletely different question, one that I was not ready to face yet. Unfortunately, this was the decision I faced at the moment. Should I allow Dick''s parents to perish as the plot originally intended, enabling Dick to be a vignte, or should I intervene and save them thereforepletely changing the future? Honestly, if this was any other innocent couple, I wouldn''t have hesitated to save them at all. But this was Dick Grayson''s parents, the same kid who had almost as much plot armor as the original Batman. Fated to be the vignte named Robin, he would one day defeat dozens if not hundreds of viins, save thousands of people, and maybe even help fend off some apocalyptic-level threats as Batman''s protege. But like most other superheroes or vigntes, he could only be his alter ego if and only if he bes an orphan because ording to shittyics'' logic, only by losing everything, can one truly realize their full potential. Of course, I had no wish to orphan a kid just because I wanted some help in protecting the world, but Dick Grayson was someone who was supposed to have an extreme amount of plot armor, second only to Batman himself. Plus, I could deduce that he was extremely talented in gymnastics and acrobatics while possessing an excellent physique which automatically made him a good choice as a vignte. If I were to make him my... sidekick, he would no doubt be able to effectively handle a lot of threats for me, threats that could prove to be tricky even for me. "Hey Bruce, are you watching the show? You didn''tugh even once at the clowns despite how funny they were." Vicki lightly elbowed me, breaking me out of my reverie. "Hmm? Of course, I am watching the show. It''s just that I amughing on the inside rather than on the outside." I responded with a straight face. "Oh... okay," Vicki responded while suspiciously narrowing her eyes at me. "By the way, Dick, when are your parents going to perform?" she asked, looking at the kid who was doing his best to loudly cheer every performer who wasing on the stage to perform. "They will be doing their act right after Charlie finishes his juggling trick." He answered, gesturing at the overly fat clown who was effortlessly juggling 10 balling pins at once while riding a unicycle that looked tiny whenpared to his body. "In fact, if you look at the roof, you will see that they have already finished setting up the wires for their flying trapeze performance." ''Trapeze? Wait, didn''t his parents die during their circus performance or something?... But it would be too much of a coincidence if they passed away on the exact day I decided to attend their show... wouldn''t it?'' These thoughts crossed my mind as I examined the trapeze rigging overhead. Not wanting to leave anything to chance, I activated my Transparent World ability and as soon as I did, the world seemed to slow down around me before my vision sharpened and focused on each and every wire and rope swinging from the roof. The entire mechanism of how the trapeze was going to work wasid bare in front of my eyes. I could not only make out every single wire but also how they were interconnected with each other to form theplex web that would enable the Grayson couple to safely perform their acrobatic moves without any fear of idents or worse, death. At least, that was what the wire rigging was supposed to be like. But strangely, I noticed something I was not expecting, A single rope connected to both the trapeze bars was slightly sagging, looking a lot looser than the others. To the eyes of amon man, this would not even be even worth noticing but my ability clearly showed me just how dangerous this was. That rope had to be tight to be able to efficiently bnce the weights of both performers, otherwise, both would unavoidably fall to their horrifying deaths sometime during their performance. So, the fact that the rope was not secured firmly meant that either this was a very serious ident, or someone had deliberately loosened or cut the rope to try and hurt the Grayson couple. However, the most important question here was not who was trying to hurt them but if I should let them be hurt or not. Should I save them by alerting them of the sabotage done to their wires, or should I just let fate take its course like it was always meant to be? "Hey, Dick, I heard your parents don''t use safetys, is it true?" Helena suddenly asked out of nowhere. "Not when they perform alone. They only use safetys when I perform with them. My mom and dad convinced Mr. Haly to not use any safetys by telling him that the risk would attract more people that way, but the truth is that they are just too good as acrobats to consider usings or cushions. Even though they are really humble as human beings, they are still quite prideful when ites to disying their talents." Dick gave a wry smile while exining. He looked like he was very proud of his parents with his chest boasting in pride whenever he talked about their acrobatic skills. "I can understand that. Everyone has at least some amount of pride in them when ites to their skills and talents. But what I find surprising is that your circus is still struggling when ites to making money. With such amazing talents and incredible performances, this should already be one of the best circuses in the country!" Helena eximed with a curious look on her face. "It is. All of our shows are hits... at least in the sense that we never have an upancy rate of below fifty percent. Our cross-country tours every year are always sessful even though we can''t perform some of our stunts that use animals in the states which restrict using wild animals for tricks. However, a lot of the money we make is either spent on paying taxes or paying back the loan Mr. Haly took from the bank to set this circus up. I think that''s why he likes to use the most flowery French words he knows when ites to describing the bank and the government. However, what sucks up the most of our money is paying protection fees to the local criminals, especially in the city of Gotham where we perform the most frequently. Initially, Mr. Haly used to pay whatever money the gangs demanded to let us perform without any trouble but recently most of the gangs have backed off because of Batman." Dick exined making it sound like he was a perfectly normal adult instead of an eleven-year-old kid. "Oh? So, would you say that Batman helped your circus?" Vicki suddenly looked like she grew more interested in the conversation than she had a moment before. "Yeah, of course. Me and my mother aren''t such fans of Batman just because he looks cool. After he started beating up criminals like a superhero, no gang dared to ask for protection money from us anymore. Even Mr. Haly, despite being an absolute coward, grew a backbone and started denying the few gangs who tried to extort from us. In fact, even this morning, some upstart gang member named Tony Zo tried to force Mr. Haly to pay "tribute" after misbehaving with Miss Alice and Miss Rhea but my dad punched him and broke his nose while Charlie, Chucky, and Buggy beat up his men. It was amazing, I never knew my dad was so strong. Anyway, the man left while threatening that he would make sure to shut down the circus, but fortunately, I was able to throw my ice cream on his face before that. You should have seen his face; it was so red that it almost looked like it was steaming from anger. He was even shouting about how he would kill me for that but then he ran away with his men after my dad and a few others from the circus tried to chase them down." Dick revealed while giggling in a fit as if even the memory of it was immensely funny to him. "Hahaha, that is funny. A crime lord reduced to such aughingstock that even the people from a circusugh at him. I should do an article on that sometime, it could highlight how crime lords and gangs are falling from grace after Bru... uh, Batman started his fight against crime in Gotham." Vicki nodded with a pleased look on her face, "What about you, Bruce? Don''t you also think Batman is cool as hell?" Vicki asked me with a yful look, probably a childish attempt to make me feel embarrassed. However, my response was quite different from her expectations. "... SighYou are right, Vicki. Batman is indeed cool. In fact, he was always supposed to be cool. He isn''t just a normal guy who thinks of the greater good like me or most other people but someone who tries his best to save every single person he can, no matter the personal consequences or difficulties he has to faceter. That''s what makes him a superhero, doesn''t it?" I mumbled to myself with a small chuckle, mildly surprising both the girls who were attentively listening to me. "And don''t worry boy, I am sure Batman would take care of this Tony Zo just like every other filth in this city... As for your parents, I think you should tell Mr. Haly to double-check the wires before their performance starts. That wire there looks awfully loose to be dangling like that." I told the little acrobat before pointing at the loose wire which drew a shocked and horrified little squeal from him as he too recognized the fault in the wires after a few seconds of looking at the direction I was pointing. "Oh, and tell your parents to follow the safety rules as well. Tell them that Bruce Wayne insisted on it. After all, safety rules exist for a reason, no matter how talented someone is. Circuses can even get sued for not maintaining safety standards. Make sure to let Mr. Haly know about this too." I uttered before signaling him to run towards the chubby circus owner to inform him about my warning which he immediately followed without any more questions. "Wait, is there really a fault in the ropes there? Is it serious? Could it have hurt his parents?" Helena asked in astonishment after Dick ran away to inform Mr. Haly and his parents about the w. "It could have killed them and made little Dick there an orphan." I calmly answered before deciding to make a joke about it to lighten the mood, "But lucky for him, I don''t wantpetition in my line of work. One orphan vignte cosying as a flying animal is enough for this city." --- (A/N: This chapter doesn''t mean that Dick Grayson won''t be part of Bruce''s journey. He might make aebackter. This only means that Bruce doesn''t need him right now and Dick can still enjoy his childhood like all children should... for now) Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join myusing thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) Chapter 157: The Smell of Money Chapter 157: The Smell of Money ---
"Love, passion, why do we get caught up by such troublesome feelings?" - Takumi Usui, (Maid-Sama!)
--- <{August? 2008}> <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "Cortana, are you sure that you don''t want me to oversee the change in your new looks? I mean I get that you wish your new appearance to be a surprise, but if you just let me help, I can make sure that you turn out to be prettier than most models or actresses on the. I''ll even keep it a secret from the others till you are ready to upload yourself into your new body." I proposed, trying my best to convince her to let me see the new looks she had chosen for herself. Normally, stic surgery or its moreplex form, biological transfiguration, aka, flesh crafting wouldn''t be possible for a being as... tough and indestructible as a Kryptonian through normal scientific means but fortunately for us, red srmps and surgical tools made from kryptonite were immensely useful in performing surgeries on the species, something that we were immensely grateful for. "Sorry, Bruce, but I have already decided on exactly how I want my new body to look, and it will be a surprise for everyone, including you. However, what I can tell you is that it is somewhat simr to my current teenage appearance, and you can regard it as my adult form. Also, I think my new appearance might be quite familiar to you. After all, it was inspired by one of the few memories of yours that you allowed me to see." She answered with a teasing smile. ''Inspired by one of my own memories, huh? I wonder whose appearance it is that she was inspired by.'' I mused to myself with a curious raise of my brows. It has been a few months since I started helping Cortana with her new synthezoid body. Initially, I thought it would only take me a few weeks to do this but it turns out that bending thews of life ording to one''s wishes isn''t exactly quantum science... It was much harder than quantum science and a LOT more time-consuming too. In fact, at the pace this was going, we would be lucky if we could finish the project by the end of the year. Of course, I hadn''t stopped being a vignte during this time as well. I have been clearing the streets of all the minor gangs and criminals who have been trying their luck to make a name for themselves in Gotham''s criminal underworld. Most of them weren''t the superviin type and were just doing it because they either thought it was cool or because they needed some money. However, there were a few people who were genuinely evil and wanted to harm others. But those criminals along with the psychotic ones all either permanently ended up in the hospital or died under mysterious conditions while the ones who were just desperate and were onlymitting minor crimes because they had no other way to fill their stomachs often found themselves being offered jobs from Wayne Enterprises or sometimes even fully paid schrships in colleges from one of my foundations. The only major gang that was still more or less able to grow unhindered was ck Mask''s gang and the major reason they were able to grow or operate without any major difficulties was because I allowed them to do so. Except for some pruning here and there, I made sure not to touch them in order to fatten them up forter. Only when the gang had grown enough to be considered the number one dominant underworld gang in Gotham, would I start my real n, the n to take over Gotham''s criminal underworld directly under me. And quite fortunately, I would not have to wait long before I start implementing the strategy which I n to do after the 2008 economic recession starts. "By the way, Cortana, what about Project Midas? Since we have already concluded that the mortgage market is going to crash almost as early as next month, I hope you have already taken all the positions we discussed, right?" I asked as I looked up the dangerously increasing mortgage prices on theputer. "I have, sir. As you instructed, we have been using the Gotham Merchant''s Bank you bought to purchase massive CDS contracts on the riskiest tranches of mortgage bonds. We are probably the biggest buyer of CDS contracts in the US right now. Of course, there are a few other investment firms like Scion Capital who are doing the same thing, but they are doing it on a much smaller scale. We will make a hundred times our investment whereas they will only make 10 to 20 times. Plus, I have also taken short positions on various mortgage bond securities, especially the ones which ording to my algorithm will fall the hardest during the crash. We will be able to increase our investments by 20 to 40 times if we seed, which we surely will. Moreover, since Wayne Enterprises is a privatepany ownedpletely by you, I was also able to usepany funds to take short positions on various stocks, futures, andmodities like oil, aluminum, and copper. We will be making tens of billions from stocks like Freddie Mae, Fannie Mae, Citigroup, AIG, General Motors, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, and Lehman Brothers alone, even more if they go fully bankrupt." Cortana dutifully answered. Honestly speaking, making money from a recession or a financial crisis was something I didn''t really want to do since I knew that most of the money, I would be making from the crash was being taken out of the pockets of themon people. I knew that the crash would result in a lot of them losing their homes and jobs. Hundreds ofpanies would go bankrupt, thousands of families would fall into poverty while the more desperate people wouldn''t even shy away frommitting suicide if it meant escaping the financial nightmare that was the 2008 crash. However, despite all that, I was still going to profit from the crisis since I knew that even if I didn''t, someone else would. Money doesn''t just disappear from financial markets. Every single cent that gets wiped out in a crash always goes to someone else''s pockets, and since this crash wasn''t something that I could just stop by myself, it would be better if that pocket was mine rather than someone else''s. At least, that way I would be able to do some good with that moneyter... Also, the ones who would get the most hurt from the mortgage crisis and the stock market crash were the banks (at least before they get bailed out by the government), and everyone knows that you never trust or pity a bank. "Since we estimate that the mortgage market is going to crash as early as next month, we will probably be getting our investments back from the mortgage bonds and CDS contracts first. We can further use that money to bet against various currencies and more stockster. By the end of 2008, we will be able to make half a trillion dors this way which will balloon to 800 billion dors by 2009." Cortana continued to exin, "... However, I can effectively double this amount if you authorize the use of the God''s Eyes algorithm. Even making 2 trillion dors by the end of 2009 won''t be far-fetched that way. Wayne Enterprises will legally be the richestpany in the world, and you will have your ws so deep into the global economy that no government will ever dare to antagonize you without risking an economic or an actual war." My cute digital secretary did her best to bait me into agreeing with her. "Cortana, you know very well how I feel about using that algorithm. It is meant to be used as a final resort kind of thing, not to make money from the stock market. I understand that you feel the most confident in being able to help me when you get ess to the power that the algorithm gives you, but you have to understand my worries about it too. You NEVER use a power that you aren''t a hundred percent sure you can protect from others. Also, I already don''t like the fact that I am basically cheating my way to unfairly make money from a stock crash but now, you are advising me to use the algorithm as well. That would not just be overkill but almost like stealing from people and corporations all over the world." Iined. I was ready to cheat my way into making money but stealing from normal people was a line I wanted to cross. "I am not telling you to steal from normal people. Look, I still don''t have hard proof but the way the market is behaving is very weird. It almost seems like someone or some organization is manipting things from behind the scenes. I have tried to dig deeper into this, but there are no paper trails, and everywhere I look is a dead end. The entire thing is pitch-perfect like the market followed a script to get to where it is today and nobody noticed, which is even more suspicious. I can''t say for sure if the mortgage market is being manipted or not but if it is, I haven''t been able to figure out who they are or what their true goal is. Regardless of whoever it is, they were either trying to profit from the artificial ballooning of the markets like a bunch of idiots or they carefully engineered this entire situation so that they can make money when the mortgage market crashes because when that happens, the rest of the financial markets around the world will be falling one after the other like dominoes. However, if you just let me use God''s Eyes, I will be able to use the extra processing power to figure out exactly who these people are and what they truly want while also making you a few extra couple of hundred billion along the way." She revealed in the tone of a spoiled kid who was negotiating for candy to do her job. Well, I guess even AIs can get addicted. "Fine, we will see what to do when ites to it. Once the market crashes, whoever is behind this will definitely try to make their move. You can use the algorithm to look into it then. For now, just focus on holding our positions and monitoring all market activity. I can''t allow any mistakes. After all, this type of opportunity onlyes once in a decade. If something goes wrong, my multi-billionaire status might get downgraded to a millionaire one and if that happens, I''ll have to work for weeks to be a billionaire again." I sighed while tiredly stretching my body. "Got it, sir. Oh, and you might want to get ready for your date with Miss. Nyssa tonight. You two will be going to a fund-raising charity auction where you can impress her, do charity work, and get dinner, all at the same time. Believe me, with how much she has been preparing for this date with you, you don''t want to keep her waiting... Wait, you do remember you have a date today, don''t you?" Cortana questioned with a deadpan. "Of course, I do. And even if I didn''t, I still wouldn''t be worried since I have you, my beautiful perfect hardworking secretary who never lets me down. Thank you for your hard work, Cortana." I praised her, hoping that she didn''t catch my lie about remembering the date. " q(¨R¨Œ¨Qq) " -Cortana. --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join myusing thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) Chapter 158: Rich Man’s Auction (1) Chapter 158: Rich Man¡¯s Auction (1) A special Thanks to my Celestial Emperortier patron Chamar Ellisfor supporting me on Patreon~~~///(^v^)\\\~~~ Thanks for the immense support. ---
"I had the most absurd nightmare. I was poor and no one liked me." ¨C Louis Winthorpe III, (Trading ces)
--- <{Lnd''s Auction House, Gotham}> <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "Hey Bruce, don''t you think these rich people are extremely rude? That woman wearing the Cashmere scarf almost killed a poor server just because he dropped a few drops of champagne on her heels, and yet nobody tried to help the poor guy until you stepped in. These people are exactly what rich people are shown to be like in cliche movies. It''s quite shocking how different you are whenpared to them." Nyssa shook her head with a look of disgust on her face. "You are right, Nyssa. They are rude but that is because most of these people are millionaires, not billionaires. Normally billionaires are a lot more PR trained, and they make sure to keep their real personalities a secret from the public, especially if they are self-made. But most of the people here aren''t self-made billionaires. They are either assholes who inherited their wealth from their family without ever bothering to learn about basic manners or they are just a bunch of nouveau rich who seeded innding a hefty bonus after buttering up their asshole bosses and thus now consider themselves superior to the rest of humanity because of their measly millions." I replied in a single breath. "Honestly, I feel bad for them, well at least for their parents because more than half of them are going to get bankrupt within the next decade while the rest who don''t improve themselves will have their true faces revealed to the wider world once the age of social media truly flourishes," I concluded with a shrug. "You sound like you don''t like them as well," Nyssa giggled while adjusting the red dress she was wearing. Although the dress was quite modest, only entuating her curves in the right ces while tastefully highlighting her figure, making her stand out at the auction, she still appeared to be quite ufortable in it. This difort may have either been because she wasn''t ustomed to wearing dresses due to her life as an assassin, or perhaps because of the way some of the perverted old men kept stealing nces at her every now and then. "I don''t. There are a few good apples among them of course, but most of the rich in Gotham are just corrupt elite filth that wants to suck the city dry. I swear, it''s almost like this city is cursed. Even the Wall Street guys from New York are probably more empathetic than these motherfuckers." I muttered while smiling and nodding at one of the rich couples who raised their sses in my direction in greeting before quickly leading Nyssa toward our seats. "Do you actually know any of them? I mean, they all seem to recognize you and some of them even look like they are afraid of you. Most of the rich women have been trying to hit on you even in front of their husbands while the men are doing their best not to even look in my direction to avoid offending you. And as for the ones who weren''t able to resist looking at me, they are staying at least 20 feet away from us. As far as I am aware, you never did anything scary as Bruce Wayne, nor have you yet shown the world what you are truly capable of? So, the question is why are they so... scared of you?" She curiously wondered aloud. "Money. It can be used to grab people''s attention as well as scare them. You see, the people who have money know what money can buy in this world. They are very much aware of how easily I could make their lives a whole lot harder with the help of my wealth if I ever wished to. That''s why the people who think that we will never get along are making sure to stay away from me. They don''t want to make an enemy that they are going to regretter on... As for whether I know them or not, of course, I don''t. I have an eidetic memory; I am not going to waste that on remembering the faces of these shitheads." I sneered before noticing a familiar face walking towards us, a face that shouldn''t be in Gotham. "However, I do unfortunately remember his bald ugly mug." I groaned as Lex Luthor approached me with an annoying smirk stered on his face, followed by another woman wearing a business suit and a pair of cat-eye spectacles, that seemed to be his new secretary. Honestly, I was quite surprised at his appearance in Gotham since most of hispanies had almost next to no presence in this city. But I was sure of one thing now. If Lex Luthor is here to attend this auction, it means that there are going to be some very interesting items avable for the auction today. "Bruce Wayne, what a surprise! I never thought I would meet you in an auction of all ces. Shouldn''t you be attending some circus or orphanage? But then again, this ce is a good way to spend your parents'' money, isn''t it?" He snorted pompously before turning his attention towards Nyssa, not even waiting for me to respond to his words. "And who is your beautiful friend? Some supermodel on your payroll for the night?" he asked, raising one of his eyebrows. "I am Nyssa Alghul, a businesswoman from Dubai. Me and my sister run hotels and some other service-based businesses. Renting ourselves is not one of them though... However, I have heard that Lexcorp has always excelled in that sort of business especially when your mother used to be involved in running thepany, Mr. Luthor." Nyssa calmly retorted, not at all bothering to give a reaction to Lex who was trying to imply that she was a prostitute I hired with my money. "You know Lex, sometimes I wondered if you were still the same jerk, I met all those years ago in Smallville. I thought that perhaps you were just a little boy and could change for the better as you grow old, but it seems that there is no cure for being a dick. Hell, your bald head looks like a small dick, so I guess even the world is acknowledging you as a jerk." I mocked with a straight face, earning a giggle from Lex''s secretary standing behind him. "... You two will regret talking to me like that. I''ll make sure of it." Lex threatened after a few seconds of gritting his teeth before turning around to leave. "As for you, Mercy, stop embarrassing me by giggling like a fool." He uttered in anger as he returned to his own seat since the auction was about to start. "SighIt was funny." The girl standing behind Lex who had been observing the two of us till now mumbled before diligently following after her boss. "He wants to buy something from this auction, something so unique that made hime to Gotham all the way from Metropolis." I surmised before opening the auction brochure we were all given when entering the auction house. The brochure contained a list of all the items that were to be auctioned tonight, and perhaps going through it could help determine what exactly Luthor wanted. "He is probably not here for the jewelry or the antique vases. Probably not the paintings too since none of them are that famous, Maybe the vintage des or the guns?" Nyssa guessed as she also scanned through all the items one by one alongside me. "Maybe. But I can only see three items worth the effort of his trip. One is this three-hundred-year-old Executive desk from India that miraculously doesn''t even have a single scratch on it, the second is a pair of red earrings that were made from some unknown red crystals about seven hundred years ago and the third is a vintage rifle made by some famous crazy gun-maker named John Winchester. Apparently, it was hisst creation, and he used it to kill his entire family before taking his own life." I listed the items that caught my attention. "That thoughtful look on your face tells me you are not nning something nice... Wait, are you going to buy those three things yourself to prevent Luthor from getting his dirty paws on them?" she asked, finally realizing that I was nning to take some revenge against Luthor. "I don''t care what he wants or why he wants it. All I know is that I don''t want him to get it, and I have enough money to make sure of that. In fact, now that I think about it, it has been a long time since I have actually splurged my money on something excessive. This auction should be a good way to do that. I think I can make use of... allthe items on this list if I were to buy them." --- (A/N: Happy Diwali and Happy Halloween to everyone around the world) Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join myusing thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) Chapter 159: Rich Man’s Auction (2) Chapter 159: Rich Man¡¯s Auction (2) ---
"Money''s only something you need in case you don''t die tomorrow." - Carl Fox, (Wall Street)
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "Once again thank youdies and gentlemen for attending today''s auction. Before we start today''s "bidding war", I must remind you all that this is a friendly Charity Auction. All the items here tonight have either been donated by various museums or private collectors all over America and half of the proceeds from this auction will go straight to charity, divided among ten different reputable charitable foundations. Okay, now that we have got that out of the way, we can finally start with the first item in our collection tonight which is item no 1a, an imperial pearl ne set worn by the Emperor of China, Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty who ruled from 1722 to 1735. Of course, further detailed information can be found in our brochure. Bidding will start from 500 thousand dors. You can ce your bids now." The auctioneer announced as if he was the host of some grand reality show. "2 million dors" I dered, not even bothering to use the bidding paddle required for bidding. I knew the minimum bid increment was a hundred thousand dors, but I didn''t have the patience to haggle. So, I just started with an amount I thought was high enough for most bidders here not to even consider spending on a single pearl ne. "2.5 million dors." Someone else tried to outbid me but the host couldn''t even get the chance to acknowledge the bid before I instantly fired back with a "3 million dors" not even a secondter. "Do I have a 3.1 million dors, anyone? 3.1 million dors? No one? Okay then, 3 million dors going once..., 3 million dors going twice..., 3 million dors going thrice and SOLD to Mr. Bruce Wayne over there." The host announced in a joyful mood. "And then next in line tonight, we have a painting by the famous painter..." The auctioneer moved on to the next item. "Hey Bruce, I thought the auction was for the ultra-rich, yet the first item only sold for 3 million. Also, nobody even tried to outbid you too seriously. Are you sure that this is supposed to be a high-profile auction for expensive stuff?" Nyssa whispered in my ears as if she just found the bid boring. "That was just the first item, Nyssa and the first item is always the cheapest. Most people are here for the more expensive and valuable stuff which will be shown at thest phases of the auction. You would probably see a much harsher bidding battle then, especially for those three unique antiques that I told you about." I whispered back with a light shrug which led to Nyssa just epting my words with a nod and focusing her attention back on the bidding. Meanwhile, the auction proceeded uninterrupted. Approximately 21 items were ted for sale at the event, and the affluent attendees were eager to acquire at least one of them to maintain their reputation as Gotham''s elite since the inability to secure one could cast doubt on both their wealth and social standing. However, unfortunately for them, they were fresh out of luck, as I was in the mood to splurge some of my hard-earned cash tonight. I relentlessly bid extravagant amounts on every item presented, outbidding all the other attendees without even the slightest bit of hesitation. I knew exactly how rich I was and unlike most people here, I had a lot of liquid assets to use which meant I had actual cashpared to the shares and other immovable unseble assets the others possessed. "And the antique Executive desk from India is sold again to Mr. Bruce Wayne for 90 million dors. Come ondies and gentlemen, it''s like the rest of you aren''t even trying." The host chuckled a little nervously while adjusting his bowtie since he could almost feel the intimidation and angry res the other bidders who failed to outbid me were giving him. It was the neenth bid of the night and just like the previous bids, I had again bought the antique at a much more premium price than its market estimate which meant that the others didn''t have any other choice but to sulk at how poor they were whenpared to me. However, I had to admit Lex was ying smart. He hadn''t bid on anything yet, except for a painting about a fallen angel which meant he was saving all his money and energy for the item he truly wanted which was quite farseeing of him. He had already realized that I was making fun of the others by outbidding them of everything, and he was letting me do it without any sort of pushback because he was hoping that by doing this, I would fall short of money when it came to bidding for the thing that he wanted. Of course, he had no idea that all this was just wishful thinking. "Of course, they are trying to win but it''s clear that they just didn''t want this desk as much as I did. After all, I n to give this to my butler as his bonus this year. He really likes antique wooden furniture. I think he will put it to good use by reading the morning newspaper on it every day." I muttered loud enough for the other attendees to hear since wanted them to feel the burn of losing to me. Of course, one might ask why. Honestly, it was simply because I was feeling petty. "Now it''s time to bid for one of the finest pieces of jewelry this evening, folks. A pair of scarlet red earrings that dates all the way back to the reign of Constantinople. I am sure that a lot of you want it tonight but unfortunately, only one of you can get it, the richest one of you that is." The auctioneer announced with a slightly sarcastic tone in his voice trying his best to rile up everyone to get them to spend more on their bids. "The bid starts from thirty million dors." "A hundred million." I dered with a huge grin at which Nyssa just shook her head with a sigh. "Seems like someone is enjoying himself too much." Shemented with a chuckle. "I am. I love being rich." I answered back. "150 million dors." Lex Luthor raised his paddle too this time. It should be no surprise that I wanted to outbid him again but before I could make a bid, Cortana''s voice chimed inside my ears, "Sir, before you go ahead and spend a fortune on those earrings, I should warn you that the museum which donated them is privately funded by your Foundations. Also, I have scanned it and dug up a little of its history, and unlike what it might seem, this is just a mundane piece of jewelry made from a rare gemstone called painite. It''s not really that valuable since it doesn''t have any use except for the fact that the gemstone used to be considered extremely rare. However, a recent digging in Cambodia has unearthed too many of those gemstone fragments for that to be considered a... "luxury" anymore. In a couple of years, you will probably even be able to buy a low-grade painite crystal for a few dors. As for the reason, why nobody was able to urately recognize the crystal it was made from, it''s most probably because of thetex coating done during crafting it to make it appear shinier." "200 million dors." Instead of stepping back because of Cortana''s warning, I announced a high bid with an arrogant smirk on my face as I looked at Luthor as if I was throwing him a challenge. Of course, I had no wish to buy the piece of jewelry anymore but that didn''t mean I couldn''t fool Luthor into paying an arm and a leg for a useless piece of rock. However, quite contrary to my expectations, instead of Lex Luthor, it was someone else who raised his paddle to counter my new bid. "300 million dors." A young man confidently stated as he challenged everyone with a look. I didn''t personally know him but a quick prompt from Cortana informed me that he was Eliott Caldwell, the founder and CEO of Caldwell Technologies. Eliott was new to the world of business, and it seemed like he wanted to make a name for himself in this town as the newest ultra-rich. That was probably the reason why he dared to go against two of the richest people in the room to buy a piece of jewelry. It was not just a bid for him but a statement dering that he wasn''t to be ignored. "325 million dors." I tried to counter but Lex quickly bid 350 million dors while interrupting me in the midst of my bid. ''Interesting, it seems that he has already started looking for unique crystals. However, if he is this annoyed for not being able to win a pair of earrings, I wonder how far I can really push him before he absolutely loses his marbles.'' I thought to myself. "You two are quite rich, but the thing is I always get what I want and right now, I want that jewelry," Eliott announced from his table as he once again raised his paddle. "500 million dors." He announced. "Wow, you are really passionate about this earring, aren''t you? I don''t think I feel good participating in this bidding war anymore with how much you want that piece of stone.So, I''ll let you have it. No need to thank me though." I smiled as I put down my paddle signaling that I was no longer interested in bidding for the earring. My words of course irritated Elliott a little since I made it sound like I was doing him a favor by not continuing to bid for the item, but he epted the situation with a bitter pill since he at least won a bid in the auction unlike most of the others here. Luthor too on the other hand, although looked a little conflicted with a deep frown on his face, he also didn''t give any counterbids and just let Eliott win with a low groan from his throat. "500 million dors going once..., 500 million dors going twice... remember folks, this is thest chance to get a unique piece of jewelry like this, do I have 501 million dors, anyone? No one? Fine, 500 million dors going thrice and SOLD to Mr. Eliott Caldwell over there." The host pped as two of the presenters took the jewelry ss case to the back of the stage before bringing a long wooden rifle box and putting it on disy after opening it up to show the contents to everyone. "Finally, we have reached thest and most valuable item of tonight''s Auction, the Ace of Winchesters. A vintage gun designed by a legendary gunmaker named John Winchester about 500 to 700 years ago. This gun was not just his best but also his final work. Some say that he made a pact with a literal demon to make such a beautiful and perfect gun at that time. Some even say that he went crazy afterpleting this creation of his and killed his entire family with that same gun. Also, as a lot of you might have guessed, the famous Winchester gunpany was founded by his descendants hundreds of yearster and they have been in the arms business ever since. It is an absolute beauty and one of a kind for gun collectors all over the world. Its bid starts from a modest hundred million dors." The auctioneer dered while waving his hands in front of the gun disy as if he were some sort of hand model. "Five hundred million dors." Lex Luthor didn''t even hesitate to bid more than six times the original asking price of the gun to secure himself a fast and easy victory. He probably chose the amount because he thought that five hundred million was an amount of money I would hesitate to cough up since I previously stopped bidding for the earrings when the bid reached near that amount. However, he had no idea just how wrong he was. But before I make my offer, it would be better for me to let the others fight it out first since it looks like a lot of people still have some fight left in them for the gun. I mean this is America after all. People might be divided on their opinion about sex and gender here but one thing every man here loves is guns... And if they don''t, they cannot even be considered men much less true Americans. "700 million dors" Someone yelled breaking me out of my thoughts before another man shouted "750 million dors" at the top of their lungs. "Most of them were a miser till now but suddenly they have hundreds of millions when ites to buying a gun?" Nyssa snorted at the bidding war that had suddenly erupted out of nowhere. "Well, what can I say? Guns are cool." I waved off like it was a matter of fact. The bidding war continued for the next ten minutes but Lex was adamant about buying the vintage weapon. It was clear that he was more than just passionate about it and unlike the rest of the people there, he wasn''t worried about spending too much on a useless artifact. He cared more about his ns with the gun than his money. "1.3 billion dors." The bald billionaire raised his paddle with gritted teeth as he angrily looked at the other bidders grow silent at the outrageous number. "1.3 billion dors for the Ace of the Winchesters. Do I have a higher bid? Does anybody want to bid higher? Remember, this is a one-of-a-kind gun that has never been made before." The host announced with a pleased smile on his face This was already one of the most sessful auctioning nights he had ever had in his life. "1.3 billion dors going once..." "1.3 billion and 100 thousand dors." I interrupted the countdown with a straight face. The one who looked the most surprised by my bid was Luthor himself. I could see his veins bulging on his bald head due to his anger, but he restrained himself and hid his emotions expertly at the very next moment before raising his paddle again. "2 billion dors. Now how about you back off and let someone else have fun for a change, Mr. Wayne?" Lex Luthor almost snapped back. "Oh sorry, Lex. I was just having some fun. However, 2 billion dors is a lot of money... for someone like you, THREE BILLION DOLLARS!" I countered. "You little... you are trying to screw me, aren''t you?" Lex gritted out through his teeth. It looked like he had finally run out of cash to spend. Like most billionaires, he was extremely rich on paper with billions upon billions of dors to spend. But all that money was present as stocks in his publicpany which meant he couldn''t spend it as freely. He would either have to sell those shares to raise money which would erode his control over hispany especially since hispany was still not mature or sturdy enough, or he would have to take a loan from the bank by cing those stocks as coteral which would take too much time, permissions and paperwork. "Of course, not. I just want a gun for myself." I smiled as the auctioneer finally banged his fancy hammer after giving the third call. "Sold once again to Mr. Bruce Wayne." He announced. --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join myusing thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to payagain on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) Chapter 160: An Encounter of the Demonic Kind Chapter 160: An Encounter of the Demonic Kind ---
"Kindness is not a crime. But sometimes, it awakens the weakness and greed in others." - Suwon, (Akatsuki no Yona)
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "Maybe you should have epted the security detail Julia offered to arrange for you instead of sneaking off like this. If news leaks out that we are currently carrying billions of dors worth of antiques in the car trunk with us, the entire Gotham City will be on our tail. It will be quite annoying if that happens." Nyssa uttered in frustration as we casually drove towards Wayne Manor. "With that look Luthor gave us, I am pretty confident that he might try something underhanded to get his hands on that gun. Do you remember how he threatened that you would regret what you did to him in the auction? And he looked even more furious after you offered a job to that secretary of his to annoy him." She giggled as she remembered the billionaire''s enraged face. Right now, the two of us were driving back home from the auction. Well, I was the one actually doing the driving while Nyssa just kept reminding me about how we could be attacked by anyone anytime in our car as well as how utterly unprepared we were to defend ourselves from a serious assault. And she would have been right too but only if it was someone else driving the car instead of me. I on the other hand was fully aware of how safe we truly were in my vehicle. In fact, that was the sole reason why I was brave enough to ask the auctioneer to hand me some of the items that I wanted to take home early like some of the interesting antiques, and the Ace of Winchester. Of course, this was against Auction rules since buyers can only get their purchases after days of various security protocols that ensured the safety of both the seller and the buyer while also maintaining transparency throughout the whole transaction. But the fact was that I was filthy rich and when faced with a hefty bribe, even the strict strict-faced auctioneer was more than willing enough to bend some of the rules for me, especially when I offered to buy the entire auction house. Oh and no, I didn''t do it this time because I was trying to show off my wealth but simply because I was afraid that Lex might try to pull something uwful to take what he wanted. So yeah, Nyssa wasn''t just "worrying" for no reason. Actually, she was just being cautious. The power she already had as one of the lords of the High Table made her much more of a threat than Lex Luthor when it came to connections to the criminal underworld. However, she knew that Luthor wasn''t just about influence, he was also a genius scientist and extremely cunning when it came to ying dirty to get what he wanted. He would have been a terrifying enemy if it was not for his useless pride. So, Nyssa''s wariness was quite valid in this case especially since Luthor really seemed to want that shotgun for some reason. However, I just casually shrugged at her words before giving her a charming smile, "Don''t worry, Nyssa. This car has more intricate technology andplex weaponry systems inside it than the entire Pentagon. We arepletely safe in this car even if Luthor were tounch controlled nuclear strikes against us like you are imagining. Also, both of us are enhanced humans, remember? Getting rid of both of us quietly is impossible for the low-grade weakckeys he normally hires as his bodyguards. So, just take it easy. As long as I am here, absolutely nothing can go wrong..." *BOOM* A glowing red explosion suddenly hit the side of our car forcing it away from the main road and mming it into the guardrails faster than any of us could even contemte what was happening. A huge portion of the road was also destroyed in the explosion as well along with a major section of the guardrails we had collided against. However, despite the powerful explosion, our car barely had a few visible dents on it which was not surprising since I had specifically made the car with radiologically inert carbonadium to make it extra durable for situations exactly like this. Still, what surprised me was that when I tried to restart the car, the vehicle didn''t respond at all. The defense systems, stealth systems, or the engine, nothing was responding. Hell, not even the touchscreen controls of the car were currently functioning. It was almost like someone had managed to perfectly fry every electronicponent of the car. "Interesting, this is the same thing that happened with my ne too when those three Greek goddesses tried to... oh shoot, it''s magic!" I eximed upon finally realizing that magic in the DC multiverse was broken beyond what I originally expected and that this magic didn''t seem to y too well with high-tech electronics and gadgets. I had used a lot of defense systems and tech protocols to protect my vehicle from almost everything that I could think of like fire, lightning, ice, or even radiation but I had forgotten the most dangerous weakness of all, magic. ''I should make a note to learn a little more about Defense against the Mystic Arts when I get time. I need to get better at it ASAP to better protect myself against magical enemies going forward especially since even though technology is my biggest strength, it might be one of my biggest defenses if I don''t learn to shield it from mystic attacks. "What was that?" Nyssa asked in surprise as she looked around to spot where the attack hade from. "You had to jinx our smooth journey home, didn''t you?" She exhaled tiredly before taking out a promethium dagger and her newser pistol from somewhere inside her dress, both of which were a courtesy to me. "I don''t believe in jinxes. I believe in conspiracies and plots but never jinxes." I responded after noticing a shadowy figure slowly approaching our car from the back. Even though the silhouette looked mostly humanoid, I noticed a couple of things that indicated he was anything but human. One was the bony structure of his body that made him look too eerily tall and the other was the fact that he had ten hands instead of the normal two. "A metahuman hitman?" Nyssa asked after she too noticed the figure. "More like a demon... I think." I answered as its features seemed to match some of the descriptions Giovanni Zatara had once taught me about demons from hell. "But no worries. We are in luck since even though I might not be the mostpatible person with mana, I still definitely remember all the exorcism rituals Zatara taught me. After all, anyone can do exorcisms as long as they put their faith in a god of any religion of their choice. And fortunately for us, I know how to exorcise demons in twenty differentnguages and seven different religions." I smirked before calmly exiting the car. "However, this time I think I am going to go with one of my favorite ones." Upon noticing my rxed exit from the car, the figure came to a halt before slightly tilting his head to observe me. This in turn allowed me a clearer view of him as well and despite the night''s darkness cloaking him like a shroud, my heightened superhuman senses were easily able to perceive his appearance. Just like I expected. it was the grotesque figure of a demon, his white skeletal frame sprouting ten slender bony arms with each of them clutching a revolver or a pistol. "Bruce Wayne, the billionaire born with a silver spoon and a golden heart. *Heh Heh* Even in hell, you are quite a well-known man. There is a luxury suite booked just in your name for when you get there and believe me you are going there, Mr. Wayne... But maybe we can help you make your life a little better before you die, make you richer, and more influential, or perhaps even help you get a girl that you always liked. How about it, interested in making a deal with us?" The demon offered with a creepy voice that honestly sounded like two pieces of wood being scrapped together. "An interesting thing about being the richest person in the world is that there is nothing I can''t get on my own, bone-guy. Also, look at my face, do you honestly think anyone will say no to this face? Plus, I already have too many hot women in my life. I am not perverted enough to make a deal with a literal demon to get even more." I snorted before suddenly bing serious again. "Now, why don''t you cut the crap and tell me why you are really here. Did Luthor finally snap and make a deal with a demon to one-up me or something?" I asked while raising one of my eyebrows before taking a look at the gun box that was still in the back seat of my car through the side of my eye. "Intelligent way of trying to glean information from us, human. But you assumed wrong. We are not mercenaries; we don''t do the dirty work of others. Lex Luthor never made a deal with us; WE were the ones who approached Lex Luthor with an offer. The Ace of Winchesters in exchange for some forbidden knowledge that he wanted. Quite a good deal for him... that is if he were as capable as we initially expected him to be. Sadly though, he proved to be useless. But that doesn''t mean the two of us can''t reach a deal that will satisfy us both." He is making an offer for the shotgun instead of just trying to take it from me by force? He is too much of a goody-two-shoes for a demon but as Zatara once said no demon is a goody-two-shoes... which can only mean two things. Either he wants to be friends with me for some reason which is probably not true since he is a demon and all or... he can''t take the gun from me by force and must need me to hand it over to him because of some bullshit rules. That would also exin why he didn''t just steal the relic and needed Lex to buy it for him after making a deal with him. "Yeah, no. I am going to go on a limb here but from the hundreds of horror and demon movies I have watched, I think banishing you back to hell is the smarter thing to do here than make a deal with you." I replied before pulling the sleeves of my right hand and revealing a small pentagram-shaped tattoo on my wrist. It was time to exorcise this mother fucker. "Mischief is in their hearts, give them ording to their deeds, and ording to the wickedness of their endeavors, give them after the work of their hands, render them to their desert. Smite them and let them not rise again. Blessed be the Lord. The Lord is my strength and my shield. Thou shall perish!" --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join myusing thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to payagain on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) Chapter 161: Demonic Shootout (1) Chapter 161: Demonic Shootout (1) ---
"Helping other people is the best way to make up for your mistakes" ¡ª Kenshin Himura, (Rurouni Kenshin)
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "Bruce, you said you were an expert in exorcising demons, yet that one is still shooting at us like the quiet kid in a school shootout. Can you or can you not do something about it? Because if you can''t, I think it''s time to call in one of your favors from the All Caste. They sort of consider you as their secret leader since you are their main "backer and financial investor" and will be more than happy to assist you in exorcising it. Demonic and ghostly stuff like this is just up their niche after all. I think they even set up an office in Trenton which means they can be here in an hour at the longest if you give them a call." Nyssa had to almost shout to make her voice heard above the noise of the gunshots due to the demon was shooting at us. "I am not asking for help, Nyssa. Batman doesn''t ask for help to protect his own city especially if it is a measly demon who is trying to shoot me down with a couple of guns. And just for your knowledge, I didn''t make any mistake in trying to exorcise it. All the rituals and words I used were urate... Maybe that demon just doesn''t understand any of the twentynguages I spoke... or maybe it is an atheist or something. But whatever the reason for his not being exorcised is, my skills have nothing to do with it. Oh, and I am definitely better at exorcising evil than any member of the All Caste. I respect Ducra and her daughter but even they are not as good as me, let alone the other new recruits of the organization." I defended myself with a snort as I watched my bat tool charge up to the max for the next shot in its gun mode. Yes, I did fail at exorcising the demon even after boasting about my skills so much, but just like I previously said, it was not at all my fault. The demon did suffer for some time while I was reading the chants, but it didn''t even show the tiniest bit of willingness to go back to Hell as it should have. However, reading so many exorcising spells wasn''t for naught since I was able to figure out a lot of things from the entire ordeal like the fact that it was a demon named the Mawzir who was on some sort of mission from Hell and that he was an extremely special demon since he apparently could not be banished or killed through the normal demon killing methods. It seemed like there was supposed to be some sort of special method for eliminating the wretched creature, but I still had no idea what. *BANG BANG BANG BANG* I shot 4 more times at the Mawzir, to st the rest of its arms away. I had already taken care of the other six of its arms when I was performing the exorcism on it which meant currently, the gunslinging demon no longer had any arms to actually sling its guns. "Man, I am d that I integrated a miniaturized version of the proton pack technology from Ghost Busters in my Bat tool." I could not help but snicker at how rewarding my paranoia and foresight turned out to be while deciding to temporarily take care of the handless demon before it could heal its injuries. I reached the demon in a short burst of speed before punching it with my chi-coated fist which cracked its white skeleton-like outer shell with a sickening crunch and propelled him away like a rag doll. But instead of letting the demon feel the pain, I doubled down with a few more chi-coated punches before ultimately following with a hard punch which contained an enormous amount of chi further enhanced by my unique darkness breathing style. "GAH!" The Mawzir screamed in agony as my chi prated its form, attempting to annihte it from the inside like an invasive element. s, my chi could not inflict fatal injury upon the demon. Nheless, it was able to do some heavy critical damage and slowed down its rate of healing. Then, with another piercing shriek, the demon vanished into a cloud of dark mist, giving us the opportunity to withdraw ande up with a new strategy topletely eliminate it for good. "Finally, it''s gone. I thought it was too stubborn to retreat even in the face of such a thrashing... Wait, howe the people didn''t even notice us beating the shit out of a demon with our high-tech guns despite this being one of the busiest streets in Gotham. It''s like nobody even gives a crap that a ten-armed literal skeleton gun-wielding demon was having a showdown against the richest guy in the whole damn city in the middle of a street." Nyssa asked in surprise, still holding her gun and knife as alert as always. Honestly, I didn''t have the answer to her question yet as well, but I had a rough guess. The Mawzir had probably cast some sort of confusion or cloaking spell on everyone passing through the street to make sure that they either wouldn''t notice anything out of the ordinary or that they would just ignore it even if they did. Nheless, whatever it had done, it was a big help for both of us since we were able to beat up the demon without anyone noticing or even doubting our identities. That was also the reason why I didn''t take any chances by suiting up in my armor since I didn''t want to risk any supernaturally gifted person knowing about my alter ego. I mean I could exin shooting demons with energy sters but exining why a multibillionaire like me ys dress up as a humanoid bat was one conversation I never wanted to have. "The car I called is here, Bruce and I even did you the courtesy of calling a heavier car this time instead of a sports car since the demon might try to attack again soon." Cortana''s voice suddenly chimed in my ears as a ck driverlesspact SUV stopped before us. "Also, I have essed all the CCTV footage in the city to find out more about the demon and everyone else the demon had been involved with, but it seems that this Mawzir can teleport to wherever he wants whenever he wants, making tracking his whereabouts impossible. However, I did find footage of the demon having a shootout with a man in a Gotham alley a few days ago. That person also pulled the same trick as you and escaped after destroying most of its body with explosives and high-caliber bullets... As a matter of fact, that man is in a pub right now which is surprisingly quite close to your current location. You can reach him within five minutes if you drive fast." Cortana informed me as my bracelet began to ring with all the information, she had sent me about the man and his current location along with the footage of the fight. "Good work, Cortana. Given ourck of knowledge about the demon, we''ll need to gather all the information we can about it from any source possible. So, any help is wee. Meanwhile, dispatch a pair of drones to retrieve the antiques from my car''s trunk; I''d hate for them to be looted by normal civilians looking to make a quick buck by stealing. Let''s go, Nyssa, we''ve got a pub to visit." With those words, I swiftly removed the rifle case from the rear seat of the old car and joined Nyssa in the new SUV. "I think we should have tried putting a few seals on him. Maybe that would have gotten rid of him for good or at least trapped him until we figured out some other way of eliminating him."Out of nowhere, Nyssa suddenly spoke out loud after a few minutes of driving. But I just shook my head sideways in response, "Wouldn''t have worked. That demon being immune to all the exorcism rituals I cast can only mean one thing. It somehow tied his existence to something or someone in this world. That means as long as that particr something or someone exists, Mawzir can never bepletely destroyed, and it will always find a way to return back to the Earthly realm. Think of it like Voldemort being anchored to life by his Horcrux." I exined knowing that the young assassin was a big fan of the Harry Potter books that were being published by the Wayne Publishing House. "As for what that anchor is, we can only know after detailed research into Mawzir''s past. After that, we only need to figure out what type of anchor it is and how to use it to destroy the creature, something that I have a feeling this man named Tommy Monaghan can help us with." I borated before showing her the holographic images of a Hitman on my bracelet. --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join myusing thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to payagain on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone! Chapter 162: Demonic Shootout (2) Chapter 162: Demonic Shootout (2) A special Thanks to my Divine Eminence tier patrons pure & DeagonsRisefor supporting me on Patreon ~~~///(^v^)\\\~~~ Thanks for the immense support, everyone. A special Thanks to my Celestial Emperor tier patrons Nathaniel Burdett, Nathan VanHorn & Chamar Ellisfor supporting me on Patreon ~~~///(^v^)\\\~~~ Thanks for the immense support, everyone. ---
"When you are backed against the wall, break the goddamn thing down." - Harvey Specter, (Suits)
--- <(Bruce Wayne POV)> "Are you certain this is the person we''re searching for? Maybe Cortana made a mistake due to a low-resolution traffic camera or something simr?" Nyssa inquired while arching one of her eyebrows as if she couldn''t believe how we had arrived at our current situation. The reason why she was asking me that? Blegh BleghA middle-aged man d in a green army cargo jacket, loose cargo pants, and sporting a military-style haircut and a very thick chin was voraciously puking his guts out into a dumpster without a care in the world. "Unfortunately, Cortana is never wrong. This is the guy we need." I answered with a tired exhale before looking back at the man who still didn''t seem to have realized that we were watching him. "You Tommy Monaghan?" I asked to get his attention. "Huh? Who''s asking?" The man for the first time since we have been observing him, stopped throwing up before slightly raising his head to look up at us as if he was mentally getting ready to run. "If Tommy owes you something, then no, I have never even heard of that guy." He answered with a straight face before wiping his mouth with the sleeves of his jacket. "We were looking for you because we need your help. You used to be a hitman before, right? Word has it that you even utilized the alias Hitman when you were active in the underworld. Quite a stupid name if you ask me but then again, people seem to just love strange and stupid names as their aliases nowadays." She muttered thest part while giving me a nce from the side of her eyes. "Anyway, we want to hire you for your services. So, tell us how much it would cost." Nyssa didn''t seem to want to waste her words on the mess of a man in front of us. She already knew everything Cortana had informed me about the person and since she knew we needed his help; she knew exactly how to get it. "Did Constantine send you two? If so, tell him that I already repaid him for that favor he did mest time. I don''t owe him anything after literally going to hell and back for him." He frowned. "No, we don''t know any Constantine." I replied, although now that I have heard of him, I might need to look into himter, "We are not here to cash in on a favor. We can pay your real money... I heard you are in some debt from your previous employers. Maybe I can help you get a clean te." I offered, knowing that this would definitely get his attention. After all, I knew exactly how poor his financial condition was for thest few months. "I don''t kill people for money anymore, only bounty hunting stuff. With so many people wanting to hire me to get rid of their enemies, I think I might have to change my name from the Hitman to the Bounty Hunter to let people know that." He snorted before continuing, "Plus, I owe three million dors to a major Gotham crime family. I don''t think giving me a clean tees as cheap as you expect." He chuckled self-depreciatingly as if paying back his debts was a mere pipedream. "I don''t want you to kill a human being. If I wanted someone dead, there are people much more effective and professional than you. What I need your help with is permanently eliminating a demon hitman named Mawzir. I know he has been trying to hunt you down for thest month. He has been following you everywhere around the city, doing his best to take you by surprise. He even came really close to seeding multiple times as well but your innate danger sense or whatever power you have saved you from certain death every time, resulting in you either escaping narrowly with your life intact or the Mawzir doing a strategic retreat before waiting a few days to attack you again. Recently, it attacked me too for some reason. So, I need you to give me all the intel you have on that creature, its strengths, its weaknesses, its history, everything." I revealed the real reason why I needed his help. "As for whether I will be able to pay you enough money to give you a clean te or not, well..., did I stutter?" "... You two must be some bigshots, aren''t you? Should have figured it out from the start since my X-ray vision doesn''t work on your clothes. In fact, I can''t even feel any stray thoughts or emotions from you two as well which means either you two aren''t exactly normal humans as well... But then again, it''s not my ce to suspect my newest employers." He grinned while taking out a thick cigar from one of the pockets in his jacket, making it clear that he had epted the job. Nyssa, however, didn''t look so thrilled at Tommy''s eptance. As a matter of fact, she looked like she wanted to kill him for some reason. "X-ray vision? You mean you can see through clothes? Did you just use that on me, you goddamn son of a bit...?" "Don''t worry, he won''t be able to see anything even if he gives it his all, Nyssa. The nanotechnology I used in designing our clothing emtors is shielded from X-rays, Infrared rays, gamma rays, microwave rays, UV-light radiation, and most radio waves. His powers won''t work on us as long as we are using our nanotech clothing emtors." I interrupted her rant with a whisper in her ears. " As for you, Tommy. why don''t you cut the crap and prove that you are worth the money I am spending on you." "With pleasure. Normally I take an advance before I do something for my clients. But since this is personal for me too, I will trust your word. However, before I tell you what the Mawzir is, I need to tell you about why it''s here. You see, a few months ago, I had to literally go to... hell, to help one of my friends get out of a jam. While I was there, I had to kill a lot of demons, and quite surprisingly, I came under the radar of a faction called the Arkonnone, Hell''s Lords of the Gun. They are like the sheriff''s department of Hell. Well, turns out they really liked my gunslinging skills. They wanted to recruit me into their ranks for which I had to cease being a human first. So naturally, I said no. But they were too much of a pussy to take a no peacefully. They sent out their elite agent and hitman, the Mawzir behind me to either convince me to take the job or to hunt me down, kill me, and then take my soul back to hell. The Mawzir is not one being, but an abomination created afterbining the putrid and corrupted souls of 5 different nazi butchers whose atrocities knew no bounds when they were alive. It no longer has any weakness after it was strengthened by Hell''s Lords of the Gun. It can''t be exorcised since a couple of decades ago it hid a part of its being in something else to construct a permanent anchor to the Earthly realm. We could try to find and destroy the anchor but knowing the Mawzir, it is probably a hundred feet under some abandoned forest or mine that nobody even remembers. That creature can''t be killed or destroyed as long as that anchor exists or as long as the Hell''s Lords of the Gun need its services. The only way to get rid of it permanently was an ancient relic, a gun that ording to rumors can kill all supernatural demonic beings with a single shot. But just like I was able to find out about it, the Mawzir did too. The gun supposedly has some sort of enchantment on it that makes it so that it cannot be wielded by a demon and that it can only be passed on but never stolen or snatched from its owner. You will either have to win the gun in a duel, kill the person who owns it, or its owner has to willingly give or sell it to you, only then will one be able to use its power. The Mawzir could not steal it directly, so it plotted and pulled some strings to make sure that it was auctioned by its previous owner and that its price was artificially inted to a billion dors so that none but one of its human pawns could buy the gun up for the demon. By now, the Mawzir should have already gotten its dirty ws on the gun and destroyed it. There is nothing you or I can do anymore but try to hide and run from that damned demon. It has already won. That was why I was having onest night of fun by drinking my sorrows away." He sighed before wearily leaning on the wall behind him. "However, what I don''t understand is why that demon went after you. I mean it should be here on a mission to hunt me down, not anyone else, especially if they are two strangers who have no connection with me." "So, the Mawzir wants that special gun which can apparently destroy all demonic creatures permanently, the only thing that is a threat to its continued existence. That actually exins a lot, doesn''t it, Bruce?" Nyssa grinned as she took a nce at me. As expected, she was able to piece together the entire story quite easily. "It indeed does. Fate really has a strange way of ying things out." I chuckled before lifting the rifle-gun box in my hands in front of Tommy. "When you were talking about that special gun, were you by any chance talking about the Ace of the Winchesters, the same gun that I bought from an auction a few hours ago for more than a billion dors after outbidding everyone else there?" I asked with a charming smile. --- Don''tforget to ''favorite''andment if you like the chapter. You can join myusing thelinkbelow: https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS Also, you can check out mytoread aheador tosupportyour fantastic author. /God_Doom Right now, I have about12chaptersinadvancethere. (Myuses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to payagain on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.) The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!