DLC Gamer in DC 1

Did you ever have one of those days where an incomprehensible being, often known as a R.O.B., offers to make you a Gamer but you have to purchase most of the Gamer ability in pieces?

I didn't think so, but it happened to me.

People talk about meeting extra dimensional beings like it's Fred from down at the barber shop, but the reality is nothing like that.

Or maybe… maybe the fact that I don't have Gamer's Mind was to blame. All I know is there was a lot of existential dread and confusion before I woke up with blood dripping from all the holes in my head and someone screaming.

Oh wait, the person screaming was me. Well, not just me. The kids around me and some lady in a dress was screaming as well.

It's nice to be part of a group activity.

I guess I passed out at some point, because I woke up feeling a lot better on a very soft bed without blood leaking from anywhere and some basic knowledge.

My name is Adam Doe, I'm six years old, I live in the Martha Wayne Orphanage for young boys in Gotham and I really, really, really, really need to get out of here!

Oh, and I have the Gamer System… Well, I have bits of it. I have the rest to recover full health and remove status effects section along with the 'acquire skills by doing things' bit and finally I have an inventory.

I have to admit if there were three bits of the gamer I really wanted those would be the top three.

Did I choose them? Don't know, but I have them.

Can I get more? Presumably.

Do I know how to get more? No fucking clue!

Of course none of that really matters, because what really matters is getting out of Gotham before the Joker gasses the orphanage.

How do I know he's going to gas the orphanage? He's the Joker.

I look at my inventory, lots of empty boxes and a clothes doll. That's helpful… Hopefully my inventory isn't based on strength.

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"Adam… Where's the bed?" a nurse asked in confusion.

The young boy shrugged. "I just woke up."

The nurse looked around the room as if she could have missed a full sized hospital bed the first time she'd looked. "I'll… go get the doctor, you just wait right here, alright?"

"Yes, ma'am," the young boy replied politely.

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Good news, my inventory does not depend on my strength. Which is also good because I don't have a stat sheet so I don't know what my stats are.

They barely questioned me about where the hospital bed went because who in their right mind would expect a six year old to know anything?

Of course this is Gotham, so maybe I got lucky.

After I was determined to be fine, I was given back my clothes, bloodstains and all, and returned to the orphanage.

I made my first escape attempt that night… I did not even make it off the grounds. It took me over three months before I successfully made it into the city proper…

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"Hey Adam," the little red haired boy greeted him cheerfully as he was returned to his room and his cuffs were undone.

"Hey Alex," he replied, rubbing his wrists.

"How far did you make it this time?" Alex asked eagerly.

The door to their room closed with a heavy thunk as the electromagnet engaged to lock them in.

"Not even to the outskirts of town," he admitted with a sigh.

"Well, I'm glad you're back even if you don't want to be," Alex told him.

Adam smiled. "Try and get adopted, preferably by a family that doesn't live in Gotham."

"I know," Alex said. "You've told me a lot. They let me play with some of the broken electronics and I got an Atari working. Wanna play pong?"

"Sure," Adam agreed. "You've got a knack with electronics."

"Mostly stuff you showed me," Alex reminded him as he set up the videogame system, "before they realized that's where you were getting all the wires you used to make lockpicks."

"They can't prove that," he said, accepting a controller.

"I still don't know how you hide them so well that they can't find them with a metal detector," the red haired boy said with a giggle.

"They are three dimensional objects that I hide in two dimensional space," Adam told him with a smirk. "Which reminds me, I got you something."

"Really?" Alex asked excitedly.

"Nothing up my sleeves," Adam said, showing his right hand was empty before making a fist and turning it over before opening his hand to reveal a small plastic oval dence on a keychain.

"What is it?" Alex asked excitedly as he examined it.

"It's a Tamagotchi," Adam replied. "It's an electronic pet."

"Cool," Alex said as he figured out how to work it, "I'm going to name him Kenny!"

The two young boys played for nearly an hour before the intercom announced it was time for lights out and they changed into their pajamas and gas masks.

"Night Adam."

"Night Alex."

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The staff of the orphanage may find it strange that I insist on sleeping in a gas mask, but they humor my delusion that a clown is going to gas everyone and my roommate Alex listens to me enough to wear one as well.

Where did I get them? Shoplifted them from a military surplus store that I snuck into right before it closed for the night. I also have a large amount of camping supplies, survival manuals, and a couple of pallets of MREs.

I love my inventory.

I've been grinding my skills, which only ever go up, even if I have no idea what I'm doing and don't get skill up notifications, mostly sneak, pick lock, and hide in shadows.

Despite all that, I often get caught and returned to the orphanage within a day or two because a six year old boy alone draws a lot of attention.

I rarely try to escape twice in the same day, but today I'm feeling froggy so I wait for the inevitable brown out when the electromagnet holding the door shut stops humming so I can make my move.

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*click*

Adam slid out of bed silently, quickly bunching up his pillows and blankets, sticking the mask in place so even if they used a flashlight to check on him they wouldn't know he was gone.

He dragged a set of dark clothing to his clothes doll and dropped them into place, changing instantly with his pajamas popping into a free slot in his inventory.

Even in the dark it took him less than a second to pick the lock on the door and vanish into the darkened hall.

Sliding from shadow to shadow he avoided security and night staff alike, jumping out a second story window and hitting the ground at a roll to bleed off momentum.

The staff still thought he was sneaking out one of the lower entrances and he'd let himself be caught doing so a couple of times to keep up the illusion because none of them had figured out that a two story drop was nothing to him and he wanted to keep it that way.

He'd only made it two blocks before a voice came out of the darkness asking, "What are you doing out this late at night?"

"Catching the first bus out of town," Adam replied, tensing up just in case he was going to have to fight his way out of the situation.

A dark cowled figure stepped out of the shadows.

"Simple beat cops aren't enough? Now I gotta deal with the fucking Batman?!" Adam complained.

"Language," Batman chided him.

"English," Adam replied dryly.

Batman just stared for a moment, surprised at the comeback before a flash of light in the sky caught both their attention.

"Well, that's the bat signal, so I'll just be on my way while you go deal with that," Adam said politely and turned to walk away.

Batman swept him up with one arm and launched a grapple with the other, sending the pair into the night sky. To his surprise the young boy didn't struggle, didn't scream or pass out, he just sighed like an old man who was done with the day.

It took less than five minutes to reach the source of the bat signal, the roof of Gotham Central PD where Commissioner Gordon was waiting.

"Made a collar?" Gordon asked, before seeing who it was. "Pass him here."

Batman handed the child over to the commissioner who proceeded to use three pairs of handcuffs and a couple of zip ties on the young boy before setting him down.

"That seems excessive," Batman noted, surprised at Gordon's reaction.

"It's really not," the commissioner responded dryly. "Now, I called you because-"

*tink*

The pair turned and found the small boy looking a bit embarrassed as he'd dropped one of the sets of handcuffs. "I'm still a bit dizzy from the ride over," he complained, hands filled with everything that had been used to bind him.

Commissioner Gordon sighed. "Adam, I'm dealing with a serious matter here, can I have your parole?"

"Yeah, I'll just go chase down Bullock," Adam agreed, handing back everything to Gordon before entering the stairway down.

"How the hell'd you get up there?" Henry Bullock asked, having been waiting at the bottom of the stairway. "And why?"

"Ran into a man with a bat fetish before the commish signalled for him," Adam replied.

Bullock chuckled.

"I gave my parole, so let me grab a couple of donuts and a cup of coffee before you send me back," Adam said.

"Coffee will stunt your growth kid," Bullock said and led him to the breakroom.

"That's a lie," Adam said. "Your parents only told you that when you were a kid because they didn't want you drinking all their coffee. Coke has six times the amount of caffeine and god only knows how much sugar."

"I'll have to look that up," Bullock said as they entered the breakroom.

"Back again Adam?" one of the female officers asked with a grin.

"He got caught by the Bat," Bullock said, amused.

"What were you doing?" she asked, surprised.

"Slinking in the shadows while underage," Adam replied as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

"You really should stay in," she said with a sigh.

"I don't want to die, so that's out," the young boy told her.

"The Joker doesn't gas orphanages," she said, knowing of his fear as he was completely open about his reasons for running.

"Yet," Adam replied. "The word you left off was 'yet'. The Joker is a lunatic who always ups the stakes so it's only a matter of time and I don't want to end up a statistic."

"You really don't talk like a kid," an officer noted.

"I don't feel like one either," Adam replied.

"You're more likely to end up a statistic wandering the streets of Gotham at night than being gassed by the Joker," Bullock said, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

"Life is full of risks and I'm not going to stop until I escape Gotham," Adam said.

"If you get caught in another city, they'll just send you back here," she pointed out.

"If," Adam said and ate a donut.

"Alverez we've got his parole so he'll behave until he's turned over to the orphanage, try not to take all night."

"We'll take my car," she said, getting up.

"Thanks for the coffee," Adam said, throwing the empty cup away.

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Can't believe I was caught by Batman. What are the odds?

Next time I think I'll try for the train yard. Get a good look at how it runs and try and get a copy of the schedules.

I'm small enough I can fit in places they wouldn't look for hobos and they make better time than buses anyway.

I'd tried buses before, but the security is too tight since the police monitor them to watch for runaways both to and from Gotham as well as drug smugglers.

Why would someone run away to Gotham?

Because it's easy to get lost in the crowd here… provided you aren't six years old.

I almost made it on a plane once, having managed to scrounge up the appropriate clothes and stole a ticket from a man who had to rush off for some emergency, but I'd run into a midget who'd seen through my disguise.

She'd been very upset, wouldn't listen to my excuses and now airport security knows to look for me so I can't pull that trick again.

Yeah, trains are looking to be my best bet. Not sure if passenger or cargo trains are better, I guess I'll just have to play it by ear… and I swear to god if I run into Batman again, his shins are going to feel my wrath!

Typing By: Abyssal Angel

Beta By: Abyssal Angel, Mist of Shadows, Frog_22