"Haven't you been begging me to leave for months?" I argued. My uncle wasn't taking the news that I was moving out well. We'd been arguing for at least half an hour.
"I just don't understand," my uncle told me. "This decision came out of nowhere, and as far as I'm concerned, you've never really liked Byron Wayne."
"Oh, why do you care so much? You wanted me to start surviving on my own, become financially independent, and leave ConnCorp to someone who would actually take the job seriously. I don't see why this is such a problem for you." My uncle is a great guy; he's just always been too… overprotective. But there was nothing that he could do about this. I was already half moved out. My uncle sighed in defeat. He knew I was right.
Now, I've never been a super emotional person either. I guess I kind of get that from him. So when he came over and hugged me, I wanted to rip his arms off. But I kept my cool. After all, I didn't know when I would see him again out of a work environment.
I drove back to Wayne Manor. Most of my possessions were already being put away. Byron was directing people and shouting instructions. It was weird to think that Wayne Manor would be my home, but I can't say that I didn't like the idea. I helped him, and it took several hours to make sure that everything was moved in properly.
Once all was done, Henry provided us with some supper. I could easily get used to his cooking. It was the best.
"So, Ryan," Byron said, as we were finishing dinner. "Are you going to go out on the town tonight?" I froze.
"Um, what?" I asked. I was a bit surprised. "I thought you didn't really approve of my whole party boy attitude?" How's that for understatement of the year? Byron just laughed.
"When I say go out, I don't mean as yourself," he said, his eyes glinting. I quickly picked up on his meaning. My heart was pounding. I didn't think I could get so excited about something like this. "Just don't stay out too late, huh? Get a feel for the town, learn what you can, and come back."
This was it. I was really going to do it. I walked quickly through the Batcave. Luckily, it wasn't too cold down here. The material that the bat-suit was made of felt strange. It was cool and smooth, but yet sturdy feeling. It fit snugly, but was easy to move in. I wished all my regular clothes fit like this.
Getting used to the suit was the easy part. Actually using it turned out to be more of a challenge. I fumbled for the first few minutes, struggling to memorize where things were. I did manage to observe things I had never noticed before. Gotham was terrible. Worse than I had originally thought it to be. And I hadn't noticed half the crimes going on in the city. I knew I needed to change things, and fast. But, still, a part of me knew I couldn't do this by myself. I needed someone else, someone who would stick by me. Finding a partner was something Byron had failed to mention.
I need a Robin, I thought. Where the hell was I going to find one of those?