I knew I could open a new dungeon right after I defeated Victor. I didn't know what triggered it. Achievements? Time spent after the dungeon? Mastery of the gifts from the last dungeon? Or something else entirely? However, I knew a pattern would emerge as I gained more dungeons.
I wanted to open it right away. But I managed to reign myself in, I had no more lives left that day. I spent the rest of the day in my room preparing for the next dungeon. Creating seals I will need and packing my storage seals with items I would have liked having on me during the last dungeon. I didn't know what kind of world I would end up in. I ended up looting our Kitchen and knew my dad won't notice.
—
The next day. I woke up with all my lives restored. I left a note for my dad. Stored my running shoes and schoolbag in a seal and went back upstairs.
I pressed the trigger to start the dungeon and just like last time, a white pentagonal portal, large enough for me to walk through opens up in front of me. And five options appear on the five ends of the portal.
Survive
Slaughter
Save
Solve
Steal
Survive was greyed out. But I could tell that it would come back, sometime. I hovered my fingers over Slaughter. But I withdraw. I wanted to do something good. Feel like a hero. So I pressed [Save], and the portal grew and swallowed me.
—
[Save]
I woke up behind the counter of what looked like a cafe. It looked charmingly rustic. I couldn't tell what the tables and chairs were made of but I knew they were very expensive. The lights were on and the place smelled wonderful. Freshly baked cookies lined the display shelf. I looked around and saw that there were more cooking in the oven.
The place looked like the idea of cosiness distilled into a cafe. I never understood Emma when I heard her brag about going to this expensive cafe or another. But standing in this little shop I understood something about why people visited places like these.
Suddenly "What A Wonderful World" started playing and woke me up from my haze. I was suddenly aware that I was a cape in full costume standing in a cafe. I sharply looked around to see if anyone was standing in front of me. Then I looked to see if there were any security cameras, but to my surprise, I could find none.
I heard the chime of a bell announcing someone walking into the store and before I could think, I ducked.
"Mrs Hebert, You are having a very good morning, I hope. It has been some time since I last visited the establishment." Said the person who had just walked in. He sounded very British.
Hebert? How does he know my name?
"Mrs Hebert? I could have sworn I saw someone in the store. Hello there, is someone here?" continued the British man.
"Yes. I am. I am just cleaning something here. Give me a second." I replied as I hurriedly took off my Jacket, mask and everything that made me stand out as a cape. I swept my hair and stood up, hoping that I could bluff my way out of this situation, I wanted to know why he was calling for Mrs Hebert.
I didn't want to hope. I calmed my heart, put on my best smile and spoke.
"Hello, sir. How may I help you?"
The man I was talking to was a butler. He wore the most stereotypical butler uniform I could imagine, He was the exact right age that came to my mind when I thought of a butler, spoke in the same cadence and accent I've always associated with a butler from a fantasy novel. Like the cafe, I was standing in was the very essence of a cosy cafe distilled into one, so was the person the very essence of a butler distilled into a man.
"Huh. Please do not take this the wrong way, but you are not who I was expecting. Would you perchance happen to know Mrs Hebert who used to run this quaint place? I happen to be an old acquaintance of hers." Spoke the butler.
"You know Mom?" Slipped out from my tongue.
"Mom? Don't tell me you are the famous Motormouth, Wonder Woman fan, and Cookie hater that Annette would talk about for hours. Miss… Taylor, isn't that right? I can't believe we've never had a chance to meet each other. Though I must admit a lot of that is my fault, I stopped coming here a few years ago."
"You know my name too. How?"
"Silly girl. I used to visit here all the time. A good butler shouldn't only drink his own tea. Sometimes he wants something different. And why not go to the best Cafe in the city? I loved coming here. And every time I visited, your Mom couldn't stop talking about you. Speaking of your Mom, Where is she? It has been so long since we spoke."
I was at a loss for words. I didn't know what to say, I was not expecting this. I need some time to take it all in, so I decided to make some.
"Please sit down at one of the tables. We can speak about my mother in a minute, I was in the middle of doing something. That is if you aren't in a hurry."
"That will be perfectly fine, young lady. You do whatever you were doing, I will be sitting on that table." He continues to speak as he moves towards a table.
"I have to confess, you have kept this location remarkably tidy. And dear, did you bake those? They smell just like I remember." The man kept on speaking as I ducked down to calm my nerves. I wanted answers and as polite as he was being I was this close to demanding answers.
"Oh dear—that's not good. I am so sorry, I never learned that—" He trails off. And then there is a shift in his tone. "Oh no."
"What's going on?" I walked out of the counter, unable to hide my curiosity and before I could react, a gun showed up at my temple.
An unknown old man had me at the gunpoint. Let me reiterate, who had dodged multiple people shooting guns at me was now held at gunpoint by an old man who looked like he was in his late 60s. How off my game was I?
"Now, now. I don't know what game you are playing, but I do not appreciate being lied to. And about something so heinous. What are you?"
"Lied? I didn't lie. I am Taylor Hebert." I replied, trying to figure out what was happening.
"Oh please, I am old, not senile. If you are Taylor Hebert, then explain that." he points towards the wall where a photo of Me, My dad and my Mom lay hanging. I looked like I was fourteen and I was a lot happier in the photo than I had ever been at fourteen. My dad looked healthier, not as thin as he was these days and Mom—Mom looked the most different. For one, she wasn't wearing glasses, instead, it looked like she was wearing contacts, She was heavier than she used to be, we all were in the photo. She had a mole on her cheek, But what stood out the most was that she was visibly pregnant.
"Mom? She is alive? Oh my God." My breath was coming shallow. My mind swimming. I didn't—
"What? No, look below." Spoke the man, his voice tinged with confusion and something else.
And I did.
"In loving memory of Daniel Hebert, Annette Hebert and Taylor Hebert." Each word turning the world around me hazier.
"So cough up young lady, if that's what you are. A martian, a metahuman, a mage or whatever you are, I encourage you to drop your act. These old bones still have—"
And before I could take any of it in, about the fact that there was a Hebert family here, or that we were supposed to be dead, or the cafe, the old man, the gun to my temple, him speaking of Martians and fairies, any of that. The world decided that I was being given too much time to think and it started shaking. Not earthquake shaking, but Lung is angry and throwing around a parahuman, shaking.
"What now." said the butler.
I was thankful because now I had something to focus on. I slip out of the distracted butler's gunpoint following my instincts on how to escape someone who had a kunai at his throat. And rush out of the store to see what was going on.
I think I knew what the mission was.
—
The tinker tech suit wasn't anything like what I had seen before. And I was from a city whose PRT team had two tinkers. Armsmaster's suits were always the opposite of what this bulking monstrosity of a suit was designed for. His was sleek, agile and made to be worn like a knight wore armour. This was black, and bulky and was designed to take and give heavy punishments. It reminded me of what I've seen in videos of Dragon's fights. However, this went for the humanoid approach and not draconic like hers.
The suit was fighting a female cape. She wore blue star-covered shorts, a red bustier with a golden eagle on the front, A headband that looked like an upside-down crown and a metallic choker. It was hands down the best costume I had ever seen.
I should also mention that she wore no mask and had a sword strapped to her belt.
Who is she?
The two fought like they didn't know what collateral damage meant. It looked like she wanted to kill the tinker. Each time they met they created shockwaves. Deafening shockwaves.
Hordes of people were running away from the fight scene. And now that I looked closer, I could see that only the brute was acting without a care for the evacuating people or the buildings being damaged.
"What are you doing young lady? run." Said the butler who had somehow managed to sneak up on me, again.
I spoke of the first thing that came to my mind. "I have to save the cafe. They will wreck it otherwise."
"The—cafe? Forget about the cafe. Evacuate, before the fight gets here." He manages to speak through the deafening clashes.
"There are people that need help. The capes are going to kill way too many if this goes on." I spoke, my heart thundering in my ribs.
"Are you suicidal? That's—"
I went back in to get my equipment cafe to get my jacket and my mask. I can always track down the butler to keep my identity a secret. Knowing his name would be good though.
He was talking into an earphone and standing there watching the fight. All that after he told me to run away.
"Before I go, what's your name Mr Butler?"
"I can't believe I didn't introduce myself. However, If you are hellbent on this insanity then I prefer not to give my name to a soon-to-be-dead foolish girl. I once again urge you, please—"
So be it. I will find it out somehow. I throw my first Kunai teleport to it and ran towards the fight.
—
Now don't get me wrong, I was under no impression that I would be able to make a difference in the ongoing fight. I loved my powers but it wasn't enough for me to get involved in this battle between Not!Alexandria and Not!Hero. I would be knocked away by the shockwaves alone If I tried to get near those two.
Not to mention that I didn't know who was the good guy. The black suit looked menacing, but maybe he just liked black.
What I should have done was go around helping people evacuate, but would I be any better at it than any other heroes this city has? The people that know what to do in this case? The cops or the PRT equivalent?
My mission was simple. Save. I didn't know what exactly I was meant to save. I felt like it was the cafe. But looking around, what if what I have to save is the people, What if it's not a single thing, What if I had to reach a quota on the number of people/things I had to save? But at this moment what I was meant to save didn't matter. I knew what I would.
The lady picked up a car and threw it at the Tinker. The tinker dodged the incoming car and continued the fight, the thrown car was rushing towards the people running away. I threw my teleport kunai to the car, intercepted it and right as I was on top of the flying car activated my wind kunai, caught up my teleportation one and teleported back to the other one before the wind bomb went off, throwing the car back towards the two who were fighting.
I didn't stay in any one place, instead, I moved and looked for anyone that needed a helping hand. The more I saw of the fight the more I was coming to a realization that the black suit tinker was manoeuvring the fight away from places that would cause the most harm, whereas the Lady was fighting free without any consideration of who she might hurt.
"Diana, You have to fight through whatever this is, tell me who did this to you." Rumbles a speaker on the suit.
So he knows her? Is she being mastered?
"Maybe no one did this to me, Bruce. Did you ever think of that? Maybe I just hate you. We all do. And this is simply the end." Replied the Woman as she took out her sword. I wondered how much difference a sword would make when her brute powers only managed to put her even with the tinker.
"And You can hide in that suit, but chain mail, kevlar, there is no armour in existence I haven't cut through." She leaps at the Tinker.
I notice that the Tinker had also bought up something. A silver rope. The suit moves back as he lets go of the rope. The Woman ignores this and rushes forward but the second the rope touches her she stops.
Now I am very confused.
"Huh, Would someone explain what just happened?" I speak from my vantage point. I wanted to know who to coordinate with for disaster relief and I didn't see any PRT-esque organization approaching so I decided that will meet the person in the mech suit. I left a teleport kunai and jumped down.
"Hello there, Mr Tinker, What should I do if I have to contribute to disaster relief?" I screamed my question at the mech suit.
"What are you doing here? Run." Replied the suit.
"Look I have powers, I can help. Just tell me what to—"
The next part happens in less than a second. Something picks me up and my world blurs. Physics breaks down. I can't tell if I am going faster than light or slower than a snail. Lighting sparks all around me but none touch me. My mind registers that someone—a mover was running with me dragging behind him. His breaker state protecting me and not, acting like a force fighting against itself.
After the second time victor killed me, I was furious at him. After raging in my room thinking of his hypocrisy and screaming into my pillow I thought about how I could have gotten out of that situation, and my answer made me want to punch myself.
Before my last attempt, I spent an entire day training. It was mostly focused on training and testing my Fuinjustu since that was what had the most growth potential but I also spent a considerable amount of time on training a single sequence of actions, I trained to make it instinctive. I wrote it into my brain so that I don't ever die like I did when Victor pulled that pin. And it was so simple.
I teleported back to my first kunai, leaving behind only one item. And at the same time, I sent the command for an explosion. I saw from the teleportation point on top of the building how the explosion knocked out the speedster. If I had a second more to think, it would have been a wind trap instead. I could only hope that his breaker point kept him from dying.
I didn't know why he didn't just splatter me instead of picking me up if he was velocity but without any mass restrictions to his power. Possibly to use me against the Tinker, somehow.
I take a deep breath, then another, I look down and see my bleeding leg. It only happened for less than a few seconds but he dragged me through the road at his absurd speed and whatever protection his breaker state had given me wasn't complete.
My pants were torn. But I had to try and stand up. There was another lunatic here to fight the Tinker.
He was blonde, wore a bright orange fish scale armour and green skin-hugging pants, Had an ostentatious-looking trident and spoke as if he walked out of an Arthurian legend. Oh, and did I mention he was flying?
"Enough with your tricks and gadgets, Bruce. Now turn and face me like you have some damn honour and I—"
He was cut off when a pink containment foam exploded in his face. It expanded and covered the new cape. The cape dropped down.
"That's the thing, Arthur, there is no honour in a street fight." Spoke the machine. I hope he meant street fight as in the attitude they were taking towards the fight and not that this is how an average street fight went in this world. If it's the latter I don't see this world lasting for too long.
"The Foam is made up of powdered magnesium carbonate. The most absorbent substance in the world. The more you struggle, the more moisture it saps from your body. Now tell me who did this to you?" Continued the Tinker.
So they were mastered. Does that mean the person I threw off with the explosion was a hero too? Now I really hope he is fine.
I check my anti-master power to see if is being probed somehow. And since I wasn't getting any feedback I assumed that it wasn't.
I hope that was the last of them. And just as if something heard my prayer and decided to do the opposite, I heard the tinker speak out loud.
"No, not him."
A sound that reminded me of a jet taking off comes up from the sky. I look up to see a red streak that looked like a meteor coming down. And before I can try to run, it speeds up, burning the air around it as it slammed into the Tinker suit. The tinker had bought up some sort of a forcefield, but the slam broke it and threw him from where he was standing all the way to what looked like the dome of a theatre a few blocks away.
I wanted to see what was happening so I followed.
—
Someone that reminded me of Scion and Alexandria floated over the almost wreckage of the Tinker suit. There was a large hole through what looked like a theatre through which the tinker had been thrown. And for some reason, the flying cape decided to go into the theatre through another hole he made on top. I got there just in time to hear the tail end of their conversation.
"Superman—" That's a really good name. "Listen to me. Who did this to you." Spoke the suit.
"Who? Well, Bruce." As he speaks his demeanour changes. A sadistic glee enters his voice."Telling you who, that wouldn't be funny now, would it?"
His face splits into a perversion of a smile. Unnaturally stretching his face. His lips turning bright red and his face paling like a zombie. He continues.
"And no one's going to save you this time. Haha haha haha ha haha haha haha—"
I wasn't just there to watch. It was clear by this point what was happening. These guys were friends, maybe on a team. Some villain—maybe this world's version of heartbreaker—had successfully mastered everyone except for the tinker. I still had questions, like why the team didn't have master-stranger protocols to avoid something like this happening, If it would have helped, what the specifics of the mastering was, why the tinker wasn't mastered and why the master decided to abandon all subtility when it came to the tinker. But the path to stopping this rampage was clear. I threw three of my kunai at the floating mastered hero, Only one was aimed at him and he caught it.
"Bruce, you didn't tell me you took in a new stray. I can't believe you hid something so important from your best friend." Said the floating hero as he slowly turned towards me.
"Leave her alone Cl—Superman." Replied the tinker whose suit was starting to get up.
"Ah Brucy, don't want to see another one of your kids die? I can—" He stops, looks at the kunai, comes to some realizations and turns towards the Tinker. "This isn't one of your gadgets. The Kid's not your's is it?" He turns furious. Somehow not being a prop to torture the tinker with making him angry at me. "If it's not your's then what's the point."
I activate my teleport the second I see a red hue build up in his eyes. The beacon was one of the kunai that I threw, it was right on top of the floating hero. I kick from the ceiling and drop on top of the floating hero. And wrap my hands around his head. He lets me do it all for some reason.
"Not a very bright one is it." Said the Hero as he lifted his hands to crush me. I activate the storage seal in my pocket and from it dropped the rarest item I had gotten from my last dungeon. The [Fūinjutsu Trap] was a scroll and the condition to seal someone within it was to press the inside of the scroll on anyone you had to seal away.
The scroll touched the hero and just before he could crush my head he was gone.
I fell down. The floor wasn't too far down so I didn't break all the bones in my body, though I did break some.
—
I still felt pain, but it was muted after the first time I died. And with each subsequent death, I was growing numb to it.
"What did you do? Who are you? What did you do to Superman?"
Asked the Tinker from the hulking machine.
"I will explain, but I have to do something about—Superman. He is trying to break out and the seal can't hold him for too long."
"Seal? Magic? I see. I might have a solution, Tell me how does the—seal work?"
I tilt my head. "It's a seal. It seals things in."
"Yes, I understand. I am asking for the specifics. Is it one way, one time, can you open the seal in such a way that you can put something else into it without risking him coming back through the path we open?"
I think for a second and I nod. "The trigger for pushing things in is different from the one for pulling them in."
"I suspected, Good. Now open the gate for going in." He says that as he lights up the arms of his suit. An unnaturally red light comes out of the arms of the mech. The mech that was thrice my size had tiny globes that shone a red light on its knuckles, lighting up the room in the worst shade of red that I had ever encountered.
"Ahh… What is that?"
"Each pod contains microscopic red suns collected from a dead solar system. Superman is a Kryptonian thus his biology is weak towards red sun radiation. do you feel as if his struggles are growing weaker?"
He was right. From the second the red light started shining, he had started growing weaker. But that doesn't mean I was going to let what he had just said slide. It was something for me to focus on while I kept an eye for the next guy who would come rushing in.
"Look I may not be a Tinker. And I admit science is not my strongest subject. But even I know how utterly stupid what you just said was. Microscopic red suns collected from outer space? If what you just said is true then the only thing standing between the annihilation of this planet and a few suns being unleashed on it is a globe of glass."
Tinkers should just have their tinker babble be nonsensical. Not make half-sense and then not make any sense.
"You might be right. But please tell me, why would I tell a stranger how to synthesize a material to hurt Superman?"
"Look I wasn't asking how to hurt your friend. Also, I think, and this is my power instincts talking, that the seal continuously applies some sort of pressure on people stored there. Would he be ok?"
It was those instincts that stopped me from using the seal on Victor. If he was still sealed when his power ran out then depending upon the pressure he would have gone pop.
"Let me check." Said the Tinker, bringing up a... leaf? He touches the leaf on the scroll, looks at its colour and tells me that he will be fine.
What?
I didn't know where to begin with that so I switched tracks "How long do you have the means to keep running the redlight thingy? Should I be concerned?"
"I have the means to continue producing the light till I find a cure."
"Great! So is it here or somewhere else?"
"It is in my Lab."
"Oh?" The question was if I could trust the tinker with my arguably most valuable item. He had fought against his friends and tried to reduce casualties and keep collateral damages to a minimum. However—
"You are taking me to the Lab. That scroll right there is the most valuable thing I own. I am not letting you keep it."
The suit doesn't reply. Instead, a great hum comes from the suit and I get ready for action or to teleport away.
To my surprise, the suit opens up and the tinker who was already in a mask walks out. He had a black cowl on, his mask was black, he wore a grey shirt and pants and had a bat symbol on his chest. So they do try to hide their identity here.
There was something else. A [Skill] in my repository, for lack of a better word, vibrated when he got near. Like it wanted to be used. I did not know why it was so I kept a lid on it.
"So full disclosure. I heard your name was Bruce, I didn't mean to, but your Mastered friends couldn't stop calling you that. This doesn't mean I have to give you my name, does it?"
"No. I will have to ask you to keep my name a secret and the other ones that were said during the fight before you were noticed. However, I have to thank you for helping me disable The Flash and Superman." His voice sounded gritty like you could grate cheese on it.
I wasn't expecting him to thank me, not with the whole theme he had going on. It felt nice.
"No problem. Now about the scroll."
"I can take you to my lab. But the location of my lab is a secret, You will have to agree to be blindfolded."
That's—that's an appropriate compromise, right? I don't know enough about superhero politics to tell so I just nod. Then I stop myself.
"I will do it if you keep me in the loop about this villain. You are going to do something about your friends being mind-controlled, right?"
"Absolutely. I can agree to keep you 'in the loop'. You are very understanding, I thank you again."
That felt good. I smiled.
"Sure. How are we getting there?"
"How else? Come on." He points towards the mech. I could almost not believe it. I always wondered how it would feel like in a tinker tech suit.
"Before we go one thing." He turns toward me urging me to go on.
"What's your name?"
Then there is silence as he stares at me.
"You know like your superhero name? Not really that big into superhero stuff—you know?"
"I see. I am Batman. And what's your superhero name?"
"Agent Fox" I spoke the name I had chosen.
"Agent—Fox?" He asked looking at my costume.
"Ah, I see. You are confused by my costume not having any Fox symbols on it? I came up with it because of my—origin story. I haven't had much time to work on my costume. I will get to adding the symbols, soon."
It looked like he had more questions about my superhero name. Rude. I hadn't asked him why he had too much of that bat aesthetic going on. At some point in designing your costume, you have to tell yourself that it's enough. And that point for the guy was when he added those bat ears.
"Come on, I don't have much time. This is not the extent of The Joker's plans."
"Coming, let me just pick up my kunai. I don't have infinite resources as you seem to have."
I deliberately didn't pick up the teleportation kunai I had left on top of the building I was standing on.
—
"Penny-2 we have a guest. Get Nightwing to collect the other Justice League members, I have superman in an extra-planar seal, Magical-Possibly related to the Great Ten, prepare red sun containment."
Flying in a giant mech suit while sitting in a cramped cockpit which was clearly only meant for one person was not particularly fun. I was blindfolded and I could feel Batman's eyes on me every time I shifted.
I could tell we were landing from the sounds. Finally. The pit was starting to smell like my dad when he came back after a day when he joined in on the physical work.
"Can I remove my blindfold?"
"Go ahead, Agent Fox."
Now that he said that in a sentence I felt like changing my name. Or maybe not—no more unsure of herself Taylor, super Taylor from now on out.
I walk down through a ladder that dropped from the mech.
It looked like we were in some large cave. It was well-lit and had a certain ambience to it. There were no other suits next to where the Mech was parked, There was something that looked like a suit being built but that was it. What was there were Vehicles. And I mean heavily armoured tinker tech vehicles, from cars to jeeps, bikes and even a plane.
What's this guy's speciality? I thought it was mechs with how well the giant suit worked, but it might be something less obvious. Can is ask him? Is it against the "unwritten law" of this world? Is that an unwritten law of ours?
I was thoroughly overwhelmed. Batman threw a hook from a gun he pulled up and picked up the scroll from the still-shining lights of the Mech.
"Any issues with collecting them?"
"No, Sir." Said a girl I didn't see coming since I was too preoccupied looking at the Tinkertech marvel. I doubt Armsmaster has these many things. I doubt the entire Brockton Bay PRT could afford all of these.
The girl who appeared looked like she was in her twenties, She was a black girl wearing the most normal clothes I had seen someone wear outside of the running civilians. She wore a jacket and pants. She was pushing what looked like a coffin she opened it for it to emit the same bright light as the mech. Batman placed the scroll in the coffin and turned.
"Is that a coffin?" I asked.
"It was based on a tanning machine but came out looking like a coffin. Nothing here is allowed to be not-edgy" said the girl.
"Penny here's our guest. She is wounded, please administer some medical help. I think I know where I can find a clue to where the Joker is."
"Wait, you know? I am coming too."
"No, the Joker is too dangerous for a new Hero."
I couldn't believe the guy. He saw me take down two strong capes already, how much more dangerous can a master be?
"You can't be serious. You fucking promised. I took down those two capes, you saw me do it. I am not someone who has to be protected from a Master, I have the powers to counter them." I said, agitated.
Batman didn't look phased. He actually radiated whatever the opposite of being phased was. Like he had seen this all before. It pissed me off.
Before I could continue, he slowly placed a hand on my shoulder.
"Please calm down, Agent Fox. I can use your help once I know his location. I promised to keep you 'in the loop' and I will do that. Leave the detective work to me unless you think you have any relevant skills that might help"
He pauses to let me speak and then continues as he gives me something.
"Here, you can listen to what I find as I work on the case. Till then, get your injuries sufficiently healed."
He handed me a small earbud that looked like it could be a communicator. Just before I could put on the communicator, I heard someone gasp.
"Blimey, is that you Miss Hebert?"
How the?
I look towards where the sound was coming from and it was the British butler.
"Great! Now you know my name. How did you find me, unnamed butler?" I asked him as he came down the steps.
"A gentleman has his means." I quirked my eyebrows. He smiles at that and continues. "No, not really, I work for Master Bruce over here." I started to get a bit suspicious, but surely not? He had no reason to reveal himself if this was all a big plan for—something.
Also, Master?
I missed the mistake he made at that moment. I was too high on dopamine after the fight. A hero praising me for my superhero work, thanking me and trusting me with helping them to notice it.
"So what are you, Miss Hebert? I never got an answer, A martian, A Fairy, A mage, A metahuman, A time-traveller, a Dimension hopper?"
"A magic user. Non-standard." Replied bruce for me. I don't think about the can of worms those two questions asked by two people who have been sane-ish so far. And it's not like I haven't seen alternate forms of superpowers in a different society. I use one.
The thing that keeps tripping me up is that this is a modern society from what I saw outside. The only big difference was how—gothic all of the architecture looked. All modern societies I've heard of eventually evolves (probably the wrong word) to have superpowers at some point a bit after industrialisation. Bet did, Aleph has superheroes even if it's a smaller number than in bet and I heard people (Greg) talk about how Professor Haywire had made contact with other worlds that had supers of their own.
I have been trying to not show my ignorance. Not a good job but still trying. But I have deserved this question at least, I hope.
"Ok don't freak out, but what's today's date?"
Bruce who was changing his costume and Alfred exchange a glance. Something unsaid passes over them.
"July 13th."
Not the same timestream then. Ok here goes nothing.
"And the year?"
"2014."
So, three years in the future. I feel like it should be a larger revelation but it makes me feel nothing. This is not as much of a shock as the last world I visited. I believe the world will have to do something drastic to get me surprised after the giant fox.
"You are allowed to keep your secrets, Miss Hebert. But once this is all done, we need to have a serious talk about your powers and background. I will speak about myself and how you can help Gotham going forward." Said bruce as he put on his mask again.
I saw that Penny-2 had come back with—mundane medicine. Well, that's a bummer. I was expecting more after seeing everything else.
"Miss Hebert, please remove your pants, I have to apply this and I don't want any dirt or threads being mixed in there when I do it."
"How do you know my name?"
"I have these fascinating organs called ears. Now, would you do it here or do you want to go to the ladies' room?"
"Ladies' room. I am not getting naked here. God."
She leads me to the lady's room as Bruce walks towards his car.
"Hey, Batman, Where are you going first?"
"The Arkham Asylum."
—
"So anything I should know about your physiology or are you fine with me considering you human?" Asked the girl as she was prepping to clean my wounds.
"I am a 100% human. Do you get non-humans? How do you treat them?" I asked and I couldn't suppress the fascination in my voice. I was open-minded enough that I didn't want to conclude this world followed the same rules as Bet. No matter how much the costumes and violence made me think this was a normal world.
"I've helped the occasional alien or mutant. Generally, they have access to their personal sources for medication and just need help or moral support as they apply it. There was one case where we couldn't find anything to help them so we had to send them to a Mage."
"A mage?"
"You are asking questions as if you want to learn everything about superheroing in a single day. Just take it easy for a bit." She said as she poured something on the wound. "Let's talk about something simpler."
"Simpler? I don't like the sound of that, this is not going to become an interrogation session is it?"
"We'll not talk about anything you don't want to. I can't force you to." Said Penny, shrugging. "Want to play twenty questions?" She asked.
"If I can ask questions to the butler man," I said. Now that I had a second to breathe, I had questions for him. So many questions.
"The Butler Man?" She said as she started laughing.
"That's a good one. I will get him. Wait and don't move, you've just been bandaged, give it a few minutes."
She left to get the Butler. It would be nice if she could tell me what his name was.
I was feeling tired. There was something out there that smelled funny, but I didn't have it in me to go check on it. I let out a yawn. I was more tired than I expected. I close my eyes because I felt like it and I fell asleep.
—
AN: The second dungeon is a DC universe. Though not any specific continuity or a show. This particular arc is based on the comic Batman: Endgame(2014), though not entirely since I could not make sense of the time and space surrounding the events happening in that comic, so I had to cut and splice the story a bit. I am sure it will be fun.
