《Swallowing The Spider》 Chapter -1 - More Chapters On *******! Get more chapters on Pa treon! (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper Come support me, I would really appreciate it. Thank you! Chapter -2 - IF YOUR ANNOYED BY THE CHAPTER LAYOUT!!!! If you are annoyed by how the chapters are layer out with the [AT] and [BT] stuff then I''ll explain it to you. *SPOILERS* If you don''t like it you can read it however you want it. You can read only marvel world(BT) and then read the dc world(AT) once this volume is finished or just read the dc world. I upload for 2 days then skip 2 days and then upload for two days etc. So it is only technically a three day gap between the chapters for people who only want to read a single transition. YOU CAN READ THIS NOVEL HOWEVER YOU WANT TO, THAT IS WHY AT AND BT ARE IN THE CHAPTER TITLES. Though I prefer the way I have laid it out as I like how it''s not linear. Though I will warn you that In volume two people from the marvel world will still have an impact on the mc while he''s in dc and will still be a big factor. So nothing I''m writing is pointless, it is kinda like the arrow tv show where the stuff from his past will affect him in the future. Chapter -3 - READ TO UNDERSTAND STORY AT- means after transition from marvel to DC BT- mean before the transition from marvel to DC The chapters will start with one AT and then one BT starting from when he arrives in DC and when he is reincarnated into marvel and so on and so forth. I think this will make for a really interesting dynamic. I might switch up the AT and BT a bit if I feel like it but the concept will remain largely the same. Chapter 1 - [AT] Finally In DC! :After Transition: Seemingly appearing out of nowhere, I show up on a Gotham rooftop. Well that was unexpected, I wish I could have had more time to.. No it doesn''t matter, I''m here now that''s all that counts. Quickly checking my body to make sure I am okay. Yep still a fairly built Caucasian man with a swimmers body, black hair, emerald green eyes and a faint scar on my right cheek. I''m still Nicholas James and I''ve just transitioned here from the Marvel universe. Taking a metallic memory stick out of my pocket, I stare at it for a moment in thought. Don''t panic, I''ve made plans for this, all I need to do is find a computer and then I can get started with my plans. It should be fairly sim- A black blur suddenly crashes into me throwing us both to the ground and resulting in me grunting and the blur yelping. Shit, it''s the batman, of course he would scan for energy readings in goth- Wait.. Batman doesn''t yelp. Getting to my feet I look at the cat themed woman covered in leather before me, she''s surrounded by jewels scattered on the ground. Watching her get up and getting a delicious view of her derri¨¨re, "Woman, watch where you''re goin-". Suddenly a dangerously sharp finger is thrusted into my face, of course her fingers are claw tipped. "NO, this isn''t my fault. You were the one just standing on the top of a Gotham rooftop, now get out of my way. The bats going to be here soon and I''m rather attached to my new jewellery", she then turns around to collect her stolen goods. "Chill out lady, a simple sorry would have been easier, though getting a closer look I wouldn''t mind bumping into you again", I think that was pretty- she snorts- smooth. Guess not. After collecting her ill gotten gains, " listen honey, I wouldn''t mind flirting with you, your quite the looker yourself but I haven''t got the time. Batman''s been getting more active and I don''t want to part with my new stuff". She turns around. Pats me on the cheek, "See you layer sweetie" and sprints of the building into the night. I would have liked to talk to her a bit more but watching her go ain''t all that bad, she''s got a nice behind. No, don''t get distracted. I still have to get myself situated in this new universe. I also shouldn''t rebound so quickly, I should think over how my last relationship went wrong, I really don''t know what happened. No, your getting distracted again, just get the memory stick and... Where''s my memory stick? Oh my god what do I do that had everything I need I need to find it or else I''m screwed. Okay, think calmly, you had it in your hand and then the s.e.xy cat burglar made an appearance and then skedaddled. Of course she f.u.c.k.i.n.g took it, she probably got it when she was picking up her jewels and took it by accident. Brilliant... so all I have to do is find her, which shouldn''t be too hard. If I remember correctly Selina is high class and funds a lot of animal charities and sanctuaries, it should be easy to find out where she lives. I wonder if this universe has the yellow pages... Getting down from the rooftop was pretty easy with spider powers but there was a whole lot of other stuff I was finding difficult. Gotham isn''t loud but it also isn''t quiet, around every 10 minutes there would be a gunshot, a scream or some screeching tires and it was taking every fibre of my being to not get involved. I wasn''t being heartless or anything, it''s just that I don''t have a way to navigate Gotham, I''m just not that mobile yet, maybe after I make some web fluid. I''m also don''t know the terrain and by the time I get to the crime scene they would be long gone. I should just focus on helping myself right now. If I can''t help myself, how can I help others. You know what, I think that''s going to be my motto, it seems like every person with spider powers has one so this is mine. If my current situation is fine then I should help others with their situations. I like it, it''s not self righteous but it also isn''t self sacrificing. I''ve made it to the Gotham library using a map I found, but it''s night and it''s closed. No worries, spider powers were made for situations like this, just need to find a vent that''s most likely on the roof. And would you look at that, it''s already open and it looks like a clean job as well, It was probably batman or some other super that forgot to close it back up. Making my way through the vents I come out in the main hall. I make my way to the computers, old things not worth stealing, and boot it up. First things first, gotta make sure this is a standard DC universe and not a Justice Lords or Crime Syndicate world. Everything looks good, Bruce Wayne returned to Gotham a while ago and batman appeared, superman''s been active for a while, the flash (really hope it''s Wally West) is also active. There''s also been some sightings of various other heroes but there doesn''t seem to be a justice league, which means this world is probably going to be invaded soon and there''s a good chance metropolis will be ground zero and I need to make sure I''m prepared. Right, searching Selina Kyle. She''s really into charities and animal sanctuaries, at least I know that her thefts are going towards a good cause. A bit more searching and minimal hacking and I''ve found her home address, it''s a condo and it''s in the good part of Gotham. Though is that where she hides her loot? She probably keeps small stuff there which would include my memory stick. Right time to pay the cat a visit. [][][][] Once outside her condo I used my wall sticking powers to get to her floor and entered through a hallway window. I''m not sneaking into her condo because she probably has traps set up, I know I would. Making my way to the door I knock... and I knock again. It opens to reveal a s.e.xy woman with short black hair and green eyes, hello Selina Kyle. "Can I help you?" Apart from the widening of the eyes a little I wouldn''t be able to tell she recognised me, she played it of pretty well. "Hi, we bumped into each other earlier on a rooftop and flirted a little bit but I think you might have picked up something that belongs to me when you were collecting your jewels" She gives me a blank stare, "I''m sorry, I don''t know what your-". I cut her off, "That thing of mine you picked up has a tracker in it and the signals coming from your apart-" and then she cuts me of and drags me inside. So far this is going swimmingly, I really thought we were going to- spider sense- lean back- tilt head. Avoiding her high kick I jump back away from her. I spoke too soon... Chapter 2 - [BT] Reincarnation :Before Transition: Reincarnation is weird. You always think about what''s going to happen after death, and you contemplate quite a lot of different things. Heaven, hell, purgatory, rebirth, and reincarnation. I thought it could be any of these and I was right, just not exactly right. My name is now Nicholas James and I reincarnated into the Marvel universe. It''s weird being reincarnated into a fictional reality and realising your a bug in a world of gods. I would have rather been reincarnated in a DC universe, there''s no real reason why, I just prefer it. Life started out alright, I was born to a wealthy family who had a fairly large stake in Stark Industries, around like 30% I think. I grew up with pretty much whatever I wanted and what I wanted was knowledge. My parents pretty much gave me a entire library of books to study, with works from the veritable minds of Reed Richards, Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, Otto Octavius and so many more people. When I was three my mother had read a story to me about Captain America, I took the opportunity to convince them I wanted to be like him and managed to get some trainers to build me up. Of course the first few weren''t cutting it but eventually they hired a butler by the name of Earl Grey. He was British and a retired Shield Agent, he also wasn''t quite all there and that''s why he actually gave me the training they use on shield recruits. He knew I was smarter than I let on but as a former agent he''d probably seen weirder shit, though we both kept what we really got up to from my parents. Life was good, and it seemed to just keep getting better. I realised that I had a genius IQ and eidetic memory but also peculiarly that I healed about 4 times faster than the rest of humanity and that I never got sick. It caused some worry for my parents, but eventually they just ignored it. I theorised that all my new advantages came from having more soul than anyone else. If I reincarnated here than I brought my soul along and if we assume that a persons soul grows from birth to a.d.u.l.thood than I have quite the advantage. I was born with an a.d.u.l.t soul and until I reached a.d.u.l.thood it would continue to grow. No, that probably isn''t right. If it continued to grow then I might just implode, what''s most probable is that from birth to a.d.u.l.thood my original soul will be purified or refined, which means my healing and intelligence will only get better. This is just a theory, for all I know I could be part alien or a mutant. It''s probably best to not question it and be grateful for the advantages I have, and be grateful for my second chance at life though my memories are a little faded. My parents sometimes bring their work home with them so I regularly get to see some blueprints for Starks inventions. Each new blueprint I see I understand just a little more. My parents know I look at their stuff but they don''t mind, I''m actually warming up to them. Originally, my goal was to find some way to get to the DC universe, I guess I just relate more with DC for some reason. Though I quite like my life right now, I''m 9 years old and I''m understanding about 70% of Starks blueprints, Earl also says that I''m getting pretty good at hacking and espionage but I''m still too young for proper physical conditioning so all I''ve been doing is learning martial arts and minimal conditioning. I don''t think I will try to go to the DC universe anymore, at least not so urgently. I like my parents, they could never replace my old parents but each day I get a little bit closer to them. I can still study and train but I could probably relax and spend more time with my parents. [][][][] I''m 12 now, I''m m.a.t.u.r.e but I have the emotional quality of a 12 year old, hormones do come from the brain and my brain is 12 years old though I look around 14. Earl says I''m doing well in my training and I now understand about 90% of the blueprints that Tony Stark makes. I''m a genius but I don''t want to make any waves so I''m not skipping any grades but that doesn''t mean I can''t make friends. The only real friend I''ve made is Gwendolyn Stacey and that''s only because we are much more intelligent then the other children, we hang out a lot and I''m pretty sure that she has a crush on me but I don''t really have the hormones to do anything about that at the moment. Anyway I''m currently hanging out with Gwen and we''re talking about SCIENCE! Though she doesn''t believe half the things I talk about. "I''m telling you Gwen, I''m going to build a machine that takes you to other dimensions, imagine how cool it would be. We could find an uninhabited earth and mine resources from there, isn''t that amazing and who knows what else is out there!" Gwen shakes her head. "I''m not doubting that there are other dimensions and universes out there, the multiverse theory has been talked about and debated for years. I''m doubting that you''re the one whose going to be the first to make a machine to travel to those universes. We are just 12 year olds and admittedly we''re clever but it just seems like dimension hopping is something that Reed Richards will probably achieve first, that''s what most of his papers are actually about." I shoot to my feet and start to mess with her. "You don''t think I could do it? I''ll show you, I''ll start right now and crack dimension hopping way before Richards ever does!" I shout with righteous indignation. Gwen starts to visibly panic. "I- I d- I didn''t mean to say that you couldn''t do it, I just meant that most of Reed Richards entire career has been focused on different dimensions and that he is probably close to cracking it. I- I think you could totally make the machine, it''s just that Dr. Richards has a 20 year head start otherwise you would probably be the first." I know she''s just pandering to me but it feels nice. She''s only doing this because we are each other''s only friends, people haven''t noticed her beauty yet and I''m grateful for it, I wouldn''t have my best friend otherwise. I''m still going to mess with her though. "It''s too late Gwen. You doubted me and for that you must be punished! You will have your reckoning!" I start creep up on her and she''s starting to look a little scared. "I sentence you to death by TICKLING!" I proceed to jump on to her and start tickling her, paying no heed to her wallowing pleas to be freed from my brutal torture. Suddenly the door bursts open. It''s Earl and he looks panicked. "Sir... I''m afraid we must depart for the hospital. It''s your parents.. there''s been an incident." And my world comes crashing down... Chapter 3 - [AT] Cat Fight! :After Transition: "I''m don''t usually kill people but you know my identity and I can''t let it get out!" She proceeds to pounce towards me. It was quick thinking on my part to say that the memory stick had a tracker in it otherwise I wouldn''t be able to explain how I found her. "Stop dodging you slippery bastard! Your worse than the bat!" She is continually attacking me but with my advanced spider senses and my Shield training provided by Earl I keep dodging her. Honestly it''s mostly my spider senses, I may have training and mastered a few martial arts but I don''t have the actual experience and my supernatural senses are making up for that. Leaning back from a hand swipe that looked like it would have hurt. "Listen, miss Kyle I won''t tell anyone about your identity, I just really need that memory stick, MY LIFE DEPENDS ON IT!" Oh shit, she just tried to kick my BALLS in! "How would I be able to trust you!" She makes a fair point, quick think, how can I get her to trust me. "I don''t have a way for you to fully trust me but if you help me I could point you towards a big score, it will certainly raise a lot of money for your charities." Human greed is universal... right? Oh.. It seems to be working, she''s stopped. Wait, she''s taking her belt off.. Is she trying to seduce me? It might wo- OUCH WHAT THE F.U.C.K, THATS NOT A BELT ITS A F.U.C.K.I.N.G WHIP! That didn''t work and now my face is f.u.c.k.i.n.g stinging. I keep trying to talk to her but she just keeps swinging her whip, I''ve travelled through most of her condo and she''s corralled me towards a corner with only a singular door behind me which I''ve been forced into. Back flipping into a corner of the room, I take a moment to observe it. It seems to be her bedroom and has all the items you''d expect of an ''uptown girl'', there also seems to be some really s.e.xy lingerie laid out across her bed. "You like my new lingerie hmmm" Oh shit, I didn''t even realise she was standing at the door. "You know, you''ve given me a way to trust you, if only a little. It would only be fair if I come up with a way for you to trust me." She begins to walk to her dresser and rifle through her makeup. "What do you say? Are you up for it big boy?" She questions while walking towards me. She''s applying some delicious strawberry lipstick to her lips. "I think we should start.. Trusting.. each other, do you agree?" She''s right in front of me now and I''m star struck, I can''t speak. She takes of her top and shows me her bra covered b.r.e.a.s.ts. She grabs me by the sides of my head and draws me closer to her, she repeats her question "Do you agree?". I go to speak but it''s too late, she''s already kissing me and I don''t want her to stop. Suddenly she backs off and I''m confused. "I thought we were starting to.. Trust.. each other?" I question but she just smiles at me and says "Have a nice nap". Wait... What does she- I begin to stumble and just before everything fades to black I see her pulling her lipstick out. [][][][] God damn it. She just drugged me using her lipstick. F.u.c.k.i.n.g rookie mistake. Where am I? I look up and see her sitting at a computer, I try to get up silently but I can''t. She''s put me on her bed and she''s used ropes to tie me to the four bed posts, I''m also completely n.a.k.e.d for some reason with no cover. She looks up, she heard me straining the rope and pulling the post. "Your up quick. That usually lasts longer" She turns around and starts to walk towards me. "What can I say s.e.xy, I''m a better starter than most" I start to flirt to see if I can distract her. She just looks mildly amused "Cute. What ever happened to ''miss Kyle''?" I nod towards my nethers "I think we''re past that point in our relationship. In fact, I think we''re way past it" She just smiles. It''s getting silent, I don''t do well with silence. "Can you let me go? I won''t tell anyone anything, I won''t say anything about you taking advantage of me while I slept!" Huh. I guess Peter rubbed off on me more than I thought if I''m starting to make crappy jokes, I suppose I should call them quips. Heh. She ignores what I said. "I took off your clothes to make sure you didn''t have anything in you. Like a tracker." Oh. " I''ve also found that memory stick you were talking about but there''s a password and I can''t get into it." Shit I can''t tell her the password. "I''m not telling you the password. I can''t let anyone have the information on that stick." She just squints her eyes at me. "I guess we are at an impasse then and I''m going to have to get rid of you" Shit, quick think. What does a kleptomaniac want most? "Wait.. Your a cat burglar right? And your a lone wolf, surely there''s some places you wouldn''t be able to rob on your own. I can help you, I could even serve as a distraction!" She looks bewildered. "W- What?" She questions. I press on. "Yeah, you know I''m capable. I''m stronger than a normal human, I''m more flexible, I''m trained and I can stick to walls! I should be able to help you, and this way you can get some dirt on me as well and I can get my memory stick back!" Don''t you just love it when a plan comes together. She takes a few minutes to mull it over. "Okay, I do have my eye on something and I could do with some help but you ain''t gonna get a cut. Your only getting the memory stick back" Great. "That''s fine I only want the memory stick" she walks towards her wardrobe and starts to undress. "Hey, not that I mind but what are you doing?" She starts putting her Catwoman costume on. "I''m going to put this memory stick somewhere where it won''t be able to send out a signal so you won''t betray me when I let you go." Right. I said it has a tracker in it. I quickly stop her when she goes to leave through the window. "Wait, I need you to bring me some things so I can help you steal whatever it is your going to steal. I just need some old watches, some equipment(basically a chemistry set) and some chemicals which can be found in household appliances." I then begin to list the chemicals. She starts to go to the window again and asks me a question. "Where do you think I''m going to find a bunch of old watches?" I stare at her blankly. "Because your a thief, you probably have a whole box full of stolen watches!" She doesn''t refute it. Before she goes I ask another question. "Who are we robbing then?" She smirks at me. "We''re robbing Gotham''s most ill.u.s.trious playboy billionaire. Bruce Wayne." And then she jumps out the window like she didn''t say she''s going to rob the F.U.C.K.I.N.G BATMAN IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS! F.u.c.k... Chapter 4 - [BT] Orphan... :Before Transition: My parents are dead and... It''s my fault. They both took a day off from work to spend time with me. But I had already invited Gwen over so I told them to use the time for themselves, maybe have a date. They didn''t want to, they thought that they should get back to work but I didn''t want them to. They love me so much and I thought it would be good to have some time for themselves so I bought two tickets for a romantic movie and forced them to go to it. They didn''t even make it to the movie theatre. It was broad daylight and some jackass was drinking at 2 in the afternoon, he veered off of the road and crushed my fathers insides against a lamppost. My mother meanwhile had her torso peppered with shards of glass, she bled out slowly on the sidewalk. I don''t even have someone to blame, the driver also died in the incident. He didn''t have any family and had just been fired from his job as a janitor. What am I supposed to do, vow to rid the city of drunk driving?! I have all this RAGE and HATRED built up inside me and I have nowhere for it to go. I loved them... They spent 12 years loving me unconditionally, if you don''t end up reciprocating that then your a heartless bastard.. and I''m not heartless. This was my fault. I sent them to their deaths. I shouldn''t even exist. If I didn''t exist they would still be alive. Whose to say that I ain''t a bad omen. I''ll probably bring death to anyone else I get closed to. GWEN! Gwen is gonna die from being exposed to my unnatural presence. When my soul came here I probably bought something with me. No one just dies and comes back to life Scot free, there is always some price to pay. My price is that all of my loved ones in this universe will probably die. I know it''s irrational and illogical but the thought won''t leave my brain. Wait... THIS UNIVERSE! What if I went to another universe? The laws and physics of universes differ but the marvel universes are too similar, I would need to go to a completely different multiverse. I''ve always wanted to go to the DC universe and now seems like a good time to start preparing. There''s not much left for me here anyway. I''m going to build a machine to cross universes and I''m going to start now. I don''t know how long it will take but I will never be able to have a proper life in this universe. I have seen many different versions of dimensional travel in my last life in forms of fiction and everyday I get stronger and smarter, surely I''ll be able to make a machine with all these references inside my head. [][][][] It''s been 3 years and I am in my second year of high school and I have no friends. I''m just that weird loner who aces all his classes, skips most of his classes and doesn''t talk to anyone and just glares at them. People tried to bully me in my first year but I put a stop to that straight away, what''s funny is that even though I don''t talk and ignore everyone, most of my day is spent with Peter Parker. He tries to talk to me but I just ignore him, he only sticks around me because Flash is scared of me after I kicked his arse in the first year. That''s why I don''t call him a friend, he just uses me as a buffer zone between me and his bullies except for when I''m skiving off. That doesn''t mean he''s not trying to be my friend, he spends most of the time with me talking about science and his ideas which I listen to, he''s even told me how he''s making a super adhesive which I know will be web fluid in the future. Because I don''t talk to anyone he''s a lot more confident around me and he''s confident to tell dumb jokes which he doesn''t have the confidence to say out loud to anyone else. Who knew that it wasn''t the spider bite that gave him his bad sense of humour. After my parents died.. Earl was my new guardian and in charge of all my assets but Earl is loyal and listens to me. I ordered him to sell everything we own, even the mansion and all our assets for the highest price possible. I kept the stock in Stark Industries though I did sell 11% for the highest price possible back to Tony Stark, effectively giving him the majority in the company(which boosted the price a lot) and keeping 25%. The quarter of Stark Industries I own will continue to generate money and give me a stable income so I don''t have to worry about anything and focus on my research. We bought a little house in Queens which had a secret bas.e.m.e.nt where I do all my experiments. I sold it all because making a machine, that breaches the barriers between dimensions, costs money. Gwen.. Gwen and me don''t hang out much these days. We are still... I don''t know what we are. For the last three years she has been coming to my house and dragging me away from my research to get fresh air. In my first year of high school she came over one time and we ended up having s.e.x and losing our v.i.r.g.i.nities to each other. We never defined what we were but we had s.e.x pretty regularly for the rest of that year. But at the end of the year she told me that she tested out of school and aced all her exams, she was going to ESU. She went to ESU while I started my second year at Midtown, since then we don''t see each other that much, but she still comes over every once in a while and we have s.e.x. I don''t know what we are, but I don''t think it''s serious. I''ve gotten stronger over the last 3 years, I''ve completed all of the training Earl gave me and he says he has nothing left to teach me. I''ve really cracked down in the last 3 years, my body is at the physical peak that it is capable of and thanks to my weirdness I can heal ten times faster than the average human. My IQ has also increased tremendously, I understand all of the things that Peter talks at me about and can even see where he''s made some mistakes and apparently Peter is one of the smartest people in the entire Marvel Multiverse. It''s to be expected that I''m this clever, I spend most of my time trying to crack dimensional travel that spans from one multiverse to a completely a completely different one. A lot of knowledge of different subjects is needed for that but I do it, I even make sure that I''m not getting behind in other subjects and I can safely say that I am outclassing Tony Stark when he was my age and that too with a broader knowledge base. I almost forgot, one of the reasons Peter sits near me is because Mary Jane Watson has a crush on me and regularly comes over to chat with me and sit with me though she doesn''t get much response. Thought if there''s one thing I''ve learnt about MJ it''s that she''s stubborn and persistent, she''s made it her life goal to make me show more emotions through any means necessary, even up to flashing me a bit of cleavage every once in a while though that affects Peter more than it does me. I''ve really m.a.t.u.r.ed after my parents death, it put things in perspective. Anyway today we are going to Oscorp, it''s the failed day that Peter is going to be bitten by a spider and become the Spider-Man. I''m not planning to interfere with it, I think every Marvel universe needs a Spider-Man preferably Peter Parker. I might snag the spider at the end though to do some experiments in, I mean it gives powers through a bite, of course I''m gonna get curious. I''m currently on the bus next to Peter who is currently talking about some new Lego models that are out or something and I''m sat across from MJ who peers over some times and gives me a sultry smirk. Sigh... It''s gonna be a long day... Chapter 5 - [AT] Starting To Use My Brain [After Transition] After Selina jumped out the window I took some time to review my recent actions. Overall I have been seriously slacking. The drugged lipstick and the whip to the face I should have avoided especially with my spider sense but for some reason it''s being quite particular. My spider sense is on the fritz and it''s probably due to the residual temporal energy from the transition. Since I got my spider powers I have been relying on my spider sense too much, this just proves that it is a crutch and I have to train myself to react to things with my other senses as well. Sitting up on the bed I flex my arms and legs and the ropes snap, I then get to my feet and try to locate my clothes. Why didn''t I do this earlier and snatch the memory stick off of Catwoman? Selina tricks the Batman regularly and I am not as diligent as the Batman. Plus there was no guarantee that that was actually my memory stick and I don''t doubt that someone who evaded the Batman on the regular wouldn''t have contingency plans. Who knows what she did to me while I was asleep, a slow acting poison to which only she had the antidote or a tiny bomb at the base of my skull, they did it to the Suicide Squad so I know it''s possible. It was too much of a risk to confront her and it''s better to make allies than enemies. Finding my clothes I begin to put them on. A red t-shirt, blue jeans, brown boots and a brown leather jacket. What to do now? I guess I should check the computer, it''s pretty b.a.r.e and there''s not much on it, I guess she doesn''t really need to keep a database or something when all she does is steal things. Now that there''s nothing urgent I need to attend to I can start to do a deep search and hacking to find more information about my new reality. [][][][] The search proved to be very fruitful, it turns out there wasn''t much superhero influence in World War Two from what I can see, there were superheroes that helped out but Wonder Woman was not one of them. She should still be in Themyscira and the upcoming event that will bring the Justice League together should be what brings her to Man''s World. But to draw Wonder Woman from that far away, it must be something big, Darkseid Big. Hope for the best, Prepare for the worst... Anyway my research finds me a lot of interesting information but there''s not much I can act on right now and I have nothing else to do. I should have prepared better, but my decision to come here was an impulse out of rage and confusion and I only had the memory card and the memory stick with me. This will teach me to control my emotions better in the future. Anyway with not much else to do I''ve been watching the television in Selina''s condo and I''ve also been playing with her cat who I believe is called Isis. It seems that all the entertainment from my original earth still exists here with some changes here and there. I found that this is a constant in every universe that I''ve been to. In the Marvel universe there were all the entertainment I was used to with some changes here and there, even DC comics existed there, only Marvel comics didn''t exist there. The same applies in this DC universe, there are no DC comics but there is Marvel comics. This actually makes me wonder if my original universe wasn''t as mundane as it appeared to be, if there was a secret society or something in my world and it has been written as a form of fiction in this world. Of course I will never know, there are too many fictions with secret society''s to check if one of them might have been my original world and I suppose in the long run it doesn''t really matter, I won''t be going back there anyway. Suddenly the door to Selina''s bedroom bursts open and out she comes still in uniform. She immediately questions "HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET OUT HERE!" Rudely interrupting the very enjoyable episode of ''Its Always Sunny In Philadelphia'' that I was watching. "I told you that I was stronger than the average human, I snapped the ropes." I say with no small amount of smug. "If you could snap them why didn''t you do that earlier and try to take the memory stick off of me?" She questions but I really think that she''s just fishing for information on my abilities or my personality. "I didn''t know if that was actually my memory stick you had in your hand and I didn''t know how long I was unconscious. During that time you could have done any number of things to me including poisoning me or implanting an explosive in me." I tell her. She looks at me amused. "Where would I get a bomb small enough and have the time to cut you open?" I shrug. "It doesn''t hurt to be cautious. Anyway, did you bring the stuff I asked for?" She turns around and goes back into her room before coming back out with a full plastic bag and a box of old watches which she dumps on the coffee table where I was resting my legs. "So, what do you need all this stuff for anyway?" Beginning to get to work using the equipment to break apart the watches and start welding them together. "I am going to make a device that will go on my wrist which will be able to eject various different things at a high intensity of speed, I am also going to be using the chemicals to make a super adhesive polymer which is has a higher durability and tensile strength than steel. I am capable of making it dissolve after varying lengths of time and this fluid will be what the device I am making will eject." I then proceed to go into more detail for a few minutes. "Right..." I guess that was too much for her. "It''s basically a device that will allow me to shoot an incredibly strong and sticky rope that will improve my mobility and allow me to bring things to me or drag myself to places, it is also quite useful in combat." "So it''s basically a complicated grapple gun." What, does she not get it, whatever. "Yes, at its most basic state I guess that is an ample description though it''s a lot more than that." She turns towards her room. "Whatever, I''m going to bed now, you can sleep on the couch. DON''T try to come into my room, I can assure you that you will regret it!" "I wouldn''t dare. Cross my heart and hope to die." I reply while continuing my work, my only response is the slam of her door. Well I guess it''s time to buckle down and get to work, I''m glad I told her to bring me more then I needed. With this I should be able to create a variety of different webs and be prepared for whatever comes my way... Chapter 6 - [BT] Swallowing The Spider! [Before Transition] We''ve been on the bus for a while now and I suspect that we will soon arrive at Oscorp. Peter is sitting in the window seat and using me as a barricade against everyone else in the bus. He''s been pretty silent and so has MJ, I think people are finally getting the message that I don''t want to- MJ turns towards me- talk to them. I guess I spoke too soon. "Hey, are you gay?" W- What the- Why would She. "No, I am not gay." I reply, do people think I''m gay, do they think that''s why I hang out with Peter? Oh God No... "Ha, I finally made you talk!" Oh she was just trying to get a response from me, at least people don''t think I''m gay. "I''ve never heard you talk before, I like your accent, are you from Britain?" Not in this reality. I can''t just tell people that before I was born I used to be a a British National. Thankfully I have prepared for this question. "I''m American, born and raised. My butler is from England and that''s where I picked the accent up from." That doesn''t really explain my full British accent but I doubt people will look further into it. I then realised that most of the other students in my immediate vicinity are looking at me, even Peter. I guess they''ve never heard me speak before and they''re kind of astonished about it. Well that''s all they''re gonna get, I''m kind of impressed that Mary Jane managed to get me to talk by sheer shock factor. For the rest of the journey I''m going to be silent. [][][][] We have finally arrived at Oscorp where the fated origin story of the Spider-Man will begin but for me, this day will be mostly full of boredom. Alighting from the bus with Peter, we are basically the last ones off, we start to follow the rest of the students when a black limo parks up right next to us. Exiting the limo is one Harry Osborn and following him out is his father Norman Osborn, AKA the future Green Goblin. Spotting us Norman starts to walk towards us dragging Harry with him by the elbow. Osborn ignores me and starts to talk to Peter, apparently I''m below his notice not that I mind, I really don''t want to have any interaction with him at all. "Peter my boy, it''s good to see you, how are you''re aunt and uncle, well I hope?" He really is quite charismatic. Peter looks like he idolises him. "Hi Mr Osborn, Aunt May and Uncle Ben are both fine?" Norman gets a glint in his eye. "Good good, I had heard that they were having some financial problems. Do you need my help? I would be happy to provide it." It seems like Norman is trying to get a genius like Peter in his pocket, I wouldn''t be surprised if he was the cause of the Parkers financial troubles. Peter tenses. "No sir, though we may have some problems it''s nothing we can''t handle, I appreciate the offer though, it is very generous of you." Osborn just looks mildly annoyed that Peter didn''t go for the bait. "Do you see this Harry, this is a boy who''s going places, he''s gonna get somewhere. He''s standing on his own two feet, you could learn something from him Harry." Harry looks positively apoplectic but manages to hide it from his father but I don''t think Norman cares either way. Oh wait.. Norman actually saw Harry''s expression and.. he looks pleased. Huh. I guess he trying to make Harry angry and jealous for some reason. Whatever, it''s nothing to do with me. "Okay Peter, remember if you ever need my help just call. Keep helping Harry with his studies and look out for him for me, alright son.." Norman starts to wrap up the conversation. "W- Will do, Mr Osborn" Peter acquiesces, you could tell he was reluctant, Norman ignored it though. They both said there goodbyes and than Norman hugged Harry, kissed him on the forehead then got in his limo and left. He left behind an awkward silence which was swiftly sliced by Harry. He looked like he was about to say something but settled for just glaring in annoyance at Peter and just warily looked at me with caution, then he just ran off to catch up with Flash. Harry in this universe hates Peter. Originally Peter would have found a friend in Harry by helping him with his studies and in return Harry would make the bullies ease off of Peter. It was a transaction that Harry made on his own and without using anything of his fathers. But in this universe Peter is hardly ever bullied because of me shielding him, this means that while Peter still tutors Harry, his father is paying Peter for it. It also doesn''t help that Norman keeps comparing Harry to Peter and making him feel like shit. Anyway, I''m getting too involved with other people''s business. I just have to stay on task and build my machine. [][][][] Something unexpected happened, I really didn''t expect her to be here. She began leading us to another section of the building where she would hand us off to another scientist who would explain his work. It was around an hour later where she was leading us to an exhibit that contained the spiders. Peter had forgotten about shielding himself using me, he was so enthralled by all the science, and was near the front of the class while I was at the very back. Gwen waited at the doors and was shuffling us all in, but when I was walking past her she grabbed me by the hand. "Follow me" She said before I could do anything and then dragged me off. She stopped outside of a door and then proceeded to open it and push me in. It seems to be a utility closet. "Gwen, what are you doing?" She takes of her lab coat and then her top. "I think you can figure it out" She says sultrily while hiking up her skirt and showing me her p.a.n.t.i.e.s. "Gwen, the exhibitions so far have been 15 minutes, we don''t have enough time" She turns around and braces herself with her hands against the wall with her a.s.s sticking out. "The next scientist is a bore, we have around half an hour to have some fun" Well then... I have been sufficiently persuaded, I step forward and draw her p.a.n.t.i.e.s down a little and then begin to unzip my pants... [][][][] Goddamn I need that. I really had built up too much stress and needed a release, I should probably start having s.e.x more regularly or else I''m probably going to end up developing some other bad vices. I exit the utility closet and come face to face with Mary Jane Watson. "Hey Nick, I realised that you were missing so I came to look for you. What were you doing in a...-" Gwen comes out of the door behind me while pulling her lab coat back on "-...utility.. closet." There''s a few more seconds of awkward silence before I also begin to walk back to the tour group with MJ trailing behind me. After a few moments "Who was she? Why did you... I''ve been trying to talk to you since the school year started but after an hour with that blonde your already shacking up? That... feels really unfair." This is getting annoying. "She was an old friend but we''re not dating" We enter the spider exhibition. "And I hardly see how that''s any of your business" I see Peter and he seems to be looking at a spider on his hand. I guess I get to see the legendary moment in person then. "I understand that you feel that way and I''m sorry, but I''m not in the right place for a relationship right now. I have a lot going on." The spider bites Peter and he gets a real shock. Peter, surprised flings his hand in my direction to get rid of the spider. It''s heading towards me, I''m going to catch it and find out how it gives people spider powers, it could be useful in the future. I reach out my hand, the spiders trajectory is heading right for my palm, it''s nearly here. Suddenly MJ bumps into me from behind "Hey, why''d you stop?" She questions but I can''t answer, I''m choking... She then decides to push me "Cmon Nick, move!" And that forces me to swallow. H- Holy SHIT. I- IVE SWALLOWED THE F.U.C.KIN SPIDER! Chapter 7 - [AT] Cats Plan... [After Transition] I''m not worried about Selina copying my tech or selling it to others. A lot of the stuff I just told her was way too detailed and went straight over her head. I also got her to bring a bunch of different chemicals, some of which I don''t even need but I''m sure I can find a use for them. By doing this she doesn''t know the exact components of my tech and even if she told others it''d be too hard to figure out. The only person I could see her telling that may be able to figure out the formula is Batman. But seeing as we are going to be robbing his alter ego I doubt that he''ll give her the time of day, but batman could probably find out the formula from some samples. That''s why this batch of web fluid I''m making will be quick dissolving, it will dissolve after thirty seconds and leave no trace. Hopefully there will be no confrontations and Batman will be patrolling, but if I do need to fight I won''t be using the webs. They''re too eye catching and recognisable, if batman sees it once then he''ll have it in a database and if he sees me using it in the future, which I will (they are too useful), he will make the connection and know I robbed him. That''s why I made Selina bring me the other stuff. With the other resources Selina brought me, I''m going to be making a high voltage taser that will fit into the front of the web shooter. It will have three settings, stun, armour penetrating and fry bastard fry for the really tough guys. What I''m making is not really a taser, it''s basically a funnel for my ''Venom Strike'' ability, this is so that it doesn''t produce the lightning, my lightning is blue though so it won''t look weird coming out of the taser. The taser is also there so I can output a precise amount and not risk frying anyone, usually I have a handle on all my abilities but the transition messed with my spider sense so it might have messed with my other abilities as well, it''s better to be safe than sorry. Anyway, I''m going to finish building all my devices and tech for tomorrow and then I''m going to get a good nights rest on the sofa. [][][][] I awoke to the feeling of something heavy on my c.h.e.s.t. Huh.. Maybe Selina got lonely during the night, I wouldn''t mind it if she did. I squint my eyes open and wipe the crust from my eyes, I then look down at my c.h.e.s.t. It seems the cat did join me on the couch. Isis is cutely sleeping curled up on my c.h.e.s.t, at least one of the cats in this house likes me. I look around the room and spot Selina sitting at the kitchen table, our eyes meet from across the room. "You know, Isis doesn''t usually warm up to other people this quickly." I sit up while making sure to carefully pick Isis up and put her on the couch. "What can I say, I''m just that cute and cuddly." I walk over to the kitchen counter and began to pour myself some of the same coffee that Selina''s currently drinking. "I guess you two do have something in common, you''re both freeloaders, at least Isis gets rid of the rodents." "Hey, I''m going to help you rob Gotham''s most affluent bachelor. And speaking of Brucie, what are we stealing and why are we stealing from him?" I question as I drink my coffee. According to my knowledge, Selina robs from the greedy high class and other criminals but Bruce Wayne does a lot of charity work, so I would assume that would take him of her list of possible victims. Her eyes narrow and she clenches her cup. "Usually I leave the more charitable wealthy men and women of Gotham alone, but Bruce, Bruce goes above and beyond the others and does a lot of charity work. So much so in fact that I asked him to accompany me to a gala as my date." I eye her curiously. "I''m taking it that something went wrong?" She continues "The gala was going great until Two-Face and his goons show up to rob the joint. It didn''t really ruin the evening, this was just standard for Gotham. What really got on my nerves was what Bruce did, as soon as Two-Face barged in Bruce ran to the back exit and left. I know that Bruce is just a normal man and I can''t fault him for running but there was no reason to not take me with him, as far as he knew he was leaving me to my death." Oh shit, it seems like Spidermen aren''t the only ones with relationship problems. Selina continues to rant. "What makes it worse is that when the police went to question him about the events he said he left a bit earlier in the evening before the attack. He didn''t even try to make it up to me or even make any exudes, he just asked if I wanted to go to anymore galas with him. He''s such a arrogant, Pompous A.S.SHOLE!" I allow her a moment to catch her breath. "And that''s why we''re robbing him?" She relaxes. "That''s right. Wayne industries is making a highly advanced, state of the art security system and you can bet that most of the rich and bad of Gotham will be buying it to g protect their homes and goodies. I know that in Wayne''s office he has all his work, including the blueprints to the brand new security system. If I can get my hands on that blueprint, I can figure out how to break through the new security systems and then when everyone buys them and thinks their valuables are safe, I can just waltz in and take what I want." If you''re going to be a cat burglar then knowing the security of the place your robbing would help out a lot. "It all seems pretty simple, so why do you need me then?" I question. "Wayne manor is built on a cliff and the place is locked up tight, it would cost me a lot of money to get the tools to break through its defences but it just isn''t worth it. But there are no defences coming from the cliffs direction. The cliff is constantly getting eroded from the massive waves crashing into it so there''s no hand holds and the Rock it''s made out of is too hard to let a grapple gun or hook get into it. Plus the rocks are constantly wet from the waves crashing into it so we can''t climb it from the bottom of the cliff and that''s where you come in." This is actually quite intriguing. "And how exactly do I help here?" I think I''ve pretty much figured out her plan. "Your job will be to climb the cliff. Your super strong and can stick to walls right? Well the plan is that I''m going to climb on your back and your going to climb down from a road that''s on the cliffs edge . Your going to stick to the wall and climb across from about halfway down the cliff using your powers to get right under Wayne manor and then climb up into the manor gardens. From there we approach the manor and the rest is history." All in all its not a bad plan. Selina suddenly stands up and slams a handful of bills down and the table. "Now, I''ve got some business to attend to. Here''s some money, go get yourself some clothes to wear to cover your face and get some durable shoes to use when climbing across the cliff." Finished, she moves to the door- "Be back here by 8pm, that''s when we''ll be setting off for the cliff."- and exits the apartment. "Well"- I look over to Isis who has woken up and is making her way towards the window- "I guess it''s just me and you then." Isis turns her head to look at me for a moment before jumping out of the window and onto the fire escape before leaving. I guess it''s just me then... Chapter 8 - [BT] Spiders Aren’t Meant To Be Swallowed! [Before Transition] "Hey Nick, are you alright? You''re kinda blanking out.." Mary Jane questions but I''m too shocked to respond. I''ve swallowed a spider, that alone would be enough to freak me out but it''s not just any spider, it''s a F.U.C.K.I.N.G RADIOACTIVE SPIDER! I turn without giving MJ anther glance and sprint out of the room, coming into the hallway I look around until I spot an exit and proceed to run to it. I barge out into an alleyway and pull out my phone and unlock it and- HOly ShIT EVERYthinG Is BluRry. I collapse to the floor dropping my phone as well. I- I try to move but I can''t. My fingers just twitch, i try to bring my fingers to my mouth to make myself vomit but they just won''t move. I- I''m going to die... "N- Nick, a- are you alright? Wait here, I''m going to get some help!" It seems that MJ followed me and has found me collapsed on the floor. She tries to leave but I muster enough strength to talk to her. "M- MJ, m- my phone, it''s unl- unlocked. Call E- Earl Grey, t- tell him it''s a- a MUTATE SITUATION, okay?" MJ is starting to panic. "No Nick, you need to get to the hospital. I''m going to get the teacher!" I can''t go to the hospital, this incident will be on record and will leave a trail, I can''t have Osborn taking an interest in me as well as Peter. "No!" I shout "JUST CAll Earl, no.. Hospi.. tals....." I black out.. [][][][] I''ve been waking up then blacking out for sometime, I can''t tell how long it''s been. I open my eyes and look around. I''m in the bas.e.m.e.nt where I do all my research, I''m on a gurney and there''s some stuff hooked up to me, I manage to get a glimpse of Earl before I pass out again... I open my eyes and see Mary Jane, she''s placing a wet cloth on my forehead, it stings, our eyes meet before I pass out again... I open my eyes and immediately my ears are hurting, I see Mary Jane and Earl across the room. They are shouting at each other, MJ wants to take me to the hospital but Earl won''t allow it. My eyelids begin to close... Each time I wake up some other part of my body is hurting constantly, each part feels like it''s constantly tearing itself apart and the sensory input I''m getting is all messed up... [][][][] I''ve continued to wake up and black out countless times and my whole body is in pain. My entire being is a facsimile of oblivion until it just wasn''t anymore. I wake up and I''m not in pain anymore, no more oblivion. I open my eyes and everything''s different, I see so much more now. I can focus on a tiny minuscule crack in the ceiling and I can hear a fly buzzing around in another part of the house. All my senses are jacked up to eleven and it''s gonna take some getting used to. I''m going to need to test my abilities but first I need to know how long I was out. I really hope it wasn''t more than a month, that would mean I lost a lot of time I could be researching. I shout out for Earl and he hears me and comes into the bas.e.m.e.nt. "Earl, how long have i been out?" He looks relieved to see me awake. "It''s been a week Master Nicholas, I''ve already contacted your school and told them that you were sick but you gave us all quite the fright." "All?" I question. "Yes, myself and miss Watson. When I came to the alleyway to bring you home she insisted that she come along." Right, I remember seeing her a few times when I woke up. "She has been especially worried, she has been coming here everyday after school to look after you. And every day we would always have an argument about taking you to the hospital. I''m actually quite glad that you''ve awoken, I don''t know how much longer I could have resisted her constant badgering." Yes Mary Jane can be quite persistent. "And what about me? Is there anything wrong with me? What did you do to look after me during the week?" I question, wondering how I survived swallowing the spider. The spider bite that Peter got only was injected a small amount of radioactive spider venom into him, I swallowed the irradiated spider along with its entire venom sac, I really should have died and I don''t know why I didn''t. "Sir, I didn''t know what to do, I checked you over and I couldn''t find the problem but you were burning up. I knew it was a mutate situation but there is no protocol on how to deal with such things and a hospital wouldn''t help you, I thought it prudent to keep you here and regularly wipe you down and feed you with IV bags. I don''t know why but you were constantly in a state of starvation, there had to be a IV bag hooked to you constantly, we ended up using 150 IV bags alone to keep you satiated and you started to wake up more frequently so I thought it was fine to continue on doing so." 150 IV bags? I must have been using all of my bodies energy to acclimate to the changes and needed more nutrients to do so fully. I don''t think any other baseline human in the planet would be able to survive this, thankfully due to my enhanced soul my body was able to eventually adapt but the energy wouldn''t just come from anywhere, that''s what the 150 IV bags were for. "Thank you for your help Earl, it is most appreciated." Earl looks pleased. "Do not forget to thank miss Watson as well, her help was invaluable in keeping you healthy, she also helped with your catheter and sponge baths as well." Huh, I guess Mary Jane managed to get into my pants after all. This means I will have to start interacting with her from now on, I am grateful for her help. "I will be sure to do that Earl, I am not an ungrateful person." "I didn''t say you were master Nicholas, I have the utmost assurance of your strength of character. You were raised to have a great moral strength, I saw that you had that and that''s why I gave you my training though the practical aspects haven''t been so great due to my advanced age." Earl is actually really old, he was one of the first people to join shield and he had worked there for 60 years improving his skill sets. The first half of his career was as a field agent until he got a debilitating injury (I don''t know what it is, he doesn''t want to share that), and then he spent the rest of his career gathering intelligence and worked as an operator. Admittedly he is quite rusty in the physical department and my martial prowess isn''t the greatest but his help has been invaluable. "Earl, you have raised me to the best of your ability and I am grateful. I don''t know what I would do without you... Anyway, I will have to start testing my abilities and finding my limits but first I need to have a shower and get something to eat." I stand up and begin to walk to the stairs out of the bas.e.m.e.nt. "Sir, if I may ask, how did the mutate situation occur? I''m afraid I do not know the full circ.u.mstances." I pause at the base of the stairs and turn to look at him. " I ingested a radioactive spider that had been experimented on by Oscorp scientists in an effort to replicate the Super Soldier Serum which powered Captain America.." He looks thoroughly bewildered and that''s my cue to start making my way up the stairs. I hear him whisper to himself. "You swallowed a spider and got super powers..." Chapter 9 - [AT] Gotham University Library [After Transition] It''s been a few hours and so far, I can say that Gotham isn''t that bad. In the daytime at least and I have no idea whether yesterday night was a slow one. In fact I can''t really say whether today had been a slow one, well the days not over yet, maybe I''ll have a cliche meeting with a villain while going about my errands. Anyway, as I''ve been traversing the city I''ve noticed that most of the crimes that have been happening are in the dark alleyways. And even if other people hear noises or a scream from an alleyway, they''ll either ignore it or walk a bit further and make an anonymous call to the police and go about their day. All in all I can say without a doubt that Gotham is still a pot of crime but it''s just covered by an illusion of civility, you need to know where to look to find the cracks. I guess all the criminals in Gotham adapted to the Batman, keep things quite, don''t take unnecessary actions and premeditate your crimes to make a quick getaway hopefully before the bat gets there. The criminals I''ve subdued so far have swiftly been availed of their wallets to which I helped myself to their funds, after all I have no idea when I''m going to be able to get a good source of income and these acts of ''borrowing'' are taking care of all my short term needs. At least until I get my memory stick back. I''ve so far done what Catwoman wanted me to do, which is get myself an attire fit for my job that will occurring later today. I have so far picked out a black combat trousers, a skin tight black shirt with a Kakashi-esque mask to cover my face, a pair of skin tight black gloves that allow my sticking powers to work through them, some black sun glasses with very dark lenses and a black cap to cover my head. My sticking to wall powers work all over my body so that means I will be keeping all my clothes stuck to my body so I don''t reveal my identity. I''m currently picking out my boots which should be able to let my sticking powers work through them. It took a while but I''ve found a a pair of ''VivoBearFoot'' boots that are pitch black. Apparently these shoes are made so that the bottoms are really thin or something which makes it feel like your b.a.r.e foot, which will work perfect for me. I''ve also taken the time to buy some makeup, which felt kind of awkward with all the women around and giving me advice on it, but I''ve acquired some to add another layer to my disguise. Most of my face will be covered by my cap, my glasses and my ''Kakashi Mask''. Actually all of my body will be covered except for the parts around the glasses, above the mask and below the cap. That is why I''ve bought some makeup to darken my skin in those areas so that even if Batman sees my abilities he will not have an accurate description of me that will affect me in the future. With that done I don''t have much else to do before I have to be back at Selina''s condo. I''ve got quite a bit of money left but I don''t think I''ll spend it except on some food, I''ve already had breakfast at a coffee shop and I''ll probably get something else before I go back to the condo. I''ve just realised that I don''t really have any hobbies, most of my life I''ve been researching and building my machine but I''ve not done anything else. And I''ve completed my goal and I.. I''m glad about it but it feels a little lackl.u.s.tre, like I''ve given up something or left something behind and I know what it is. Or rather who it is, but it would never work between me and her and it''s better this way. I guess science is my love now and I might as well visit the library again and try to get an image of this universes technology standards and see if I can find anything useful. [][][][] It turns out that the library I went to yesterday is not actually the best library in Gotham, it is actually the official library of Gotham but because of all the corruption in Gotham the funds that were supposed to be used for it went missing. This means that the library is not well kept and most of its books are no longer factual and have no relevance, people still use that library but it''s mostly the homeless and people who really want to learn but can''t get to the best library. The best library in Gotham is actually the Gotham University library, which I suppose makes sense. It''s rather hard to be corrupt and hide it when educating students. Everyone uses this library and the university has allowed it but if you want to take books from the library you have to buy membership and if they find the books damaged you will have to pay more than the actual book price for it. Anyway, I''ve just entered the library and have approached its receptionist, which just happens to be a fetching dark skinned woman by the name of Jaina. I guess s.e.x is my vice and I don''t really have any hobbies, I guess seducing women can be my new hobby. After asking Jaina about the science isles I started to flirt with her. She is quite shy but she is actually very receptive to my advances, after a few minutes flirting I make my way to the science isles. [][][][] After an hour of going through the aisles and checking various books, I can conclude that the overall technology level of this universe is fairly similar to my original universe with a few Anomalies here and there. The laws of the universe are the same as well but I suspect that I''ll eventually find some differences in the future. But like I was saying, the technology level is lower than marvels, that''s not to say that the technology is worse it''s just that most of the advanced stuff is being horded by the rich and the stuff you can buy is too expensive. Companies like Wayne Industries, Queen Industries and surprisingly Lexcorp are trying to make new technologies more accessible but its gonna take a while. I''m a little surprised by Lexcorp but I suppose it makes a little sense, Lex Luther only really hates aliens like superman or has issues with trusting them and has some aversion to them but he is actually quite the humanitarian apart from that. That is why he is so well received by the public (and managed to become the president in a few realities), but he keeps making more weapons and tests them on superman and that''s why superheroes don''t like him, he is making weapons to try to kill superman. Anyway, I''m currently reading a new book written by Doctor Ray Palmer about atoms and molecules and in it, his new discoveries. I''m guessing due to this book he already has the technology which made him into the Atom or he''s currently developing it, he might already be doing some superheroing, it''s kind of hard to spot a guy who can shrink. I''m coming towards the end of the book when someone enters my peripheral vision. I look up and standing before me is a stunning redhead who has stunning green eyes which are covered by a pair of glasses which give her an intelligent look, she''s absolutely gorgeous and her perfect pink lips begin to open. "Excuse me, are you done with that book? The library is closing soon and I need to sign it out for my thesis, can I have it please?" Damn I nearly didn''t hear what she was saying she''s so beautiful, I really have a thing for redheads and her glasses just make it better. I close the book and go to answer her... Chapter 10 - [BT] The Difference! [Before Transition] After having a shower and getting something to eat, Earl makes a mean English breakfast, I thought about the things which I needed to test and what tests I already had on file so I can create a baseline. I currently have on file, a 135M ball throw, a 5.5 second 50M dash, a 500KG grip test, a 4M long jump, 200 repeated side steps in a minute, running 25 miles in 1 and a half hours, 30 toe touches in a minute and 87 sit-ups in a minute. This is my most recently updated tests around a week before I swallowed the spider. I''m sure these results are around the level of a peak professional athlete from my last world, though this is the Marvel universe so there are bound to be baseline humans who have better results than this. I saw this set of tests in a TV show on my original earth, I can''t really remember which one but I know this was called an apprehension test. Honestly I have other tests but these are easy tests which I can do easily and get an idea of my strength. Well I guess it''s time to get the tests started, I have a big abandoned site where I can do all the tests, it''s a old abandoned land fill where no one goes anymore as it''s already filled and covered but it''s big and empty. Perfect for me. [][][][] The sites not too far away from queens and I was easily able to do some of the tests at home, I only need this place to do the ball throw, the 50M dash, the long distance run and the standing long jump. I have already done the repeated side steps, the sit-ups, the grip test and the toe touches. Repeated side steps in a minute- 1800 Sit-ups in a minute- 783 Grip test- 4500KG Toe touches in a minute- 270 If I remember correctly Spider-Man could lift around ten tons, that''s around three times as much as the worlds strongest human. So if Spider-Man is consistently three times stronger than the strongest human in all areas than I am 3 times stronger than that, three times stronger than Spider-Man in all areas according to my results. Anyway I should start with the last four tests. [][][][] I have just come back to the house after completing my last four tests. I can say that the tests were enlightening and quite shocking. The last four tests were the ball throw, the 50M dash, the standing long jump and the long distance run. Ball throw- 1215 Meters 50 Meter dash- 0.6 seconds long distance run- running 25 miles in 10 minutes. Overall I can estimate that I am around three times stronger than Spider-Man, this means that I am around ten times stronger than the strongest baseline human. These are my end results: Ball Throw - 1215 Meters 50 Meter Dash. - 0.6 seconds Grip test - 4500 KG Standing Long Jump - 36 Meters Repeated side steps(1 min) - 1800 Sit-ups(1 min) - 783 Toe-Touches(1 min) - 270 Here''s how they compare to my baseline results: (Old results//New results) Ball Throw - (135M//1215M) 50M Dash - (5.5secs//0.6secs) Grip Test - (500KG//4500KG) Long Jump - (4M//36M) Sidesteps(1min) - (200//1800) Sit-ups(1min) - (87//783) Toe-Touches(1min) - (30//270) It''s quite this difference, about 10 times difference. But this doesn''t count the amount I can lift, it is said that Spider-Man can lift 170 times his body weight which is the proportionate strength of a spider. Peter is around 76Kg that means he should be able to lift around 12,920KG which is equal to around 14 tons which I guess is fairly accurate. My weight is around 85KG that means I should be able to lift around 14,450KG which is equal to around 16 tons. But it''s good to remember that Peter has the proportionate strength of a spider, while I have the proportionate strength of a radioactive spider. Who knows what the difference is but I''m guessing that I should be able to lift more than 16 tons. Going by my test results and following the trend I am three times as strong as Peter, if he has the proportionate strength of a spider I should have the proportionate strength of three spiders which means I can lift (510xBodyWeight) around 48 tons. Again all of this is a guess, an educated guess but a guess none the less. Right, now I''ve finished my test I''ve come home, as soon as I''ve come inside and into the kitchen I take of my sweaty tank top and throw it onto the laundry pile. I make my way to the fridge and open it up and get a jug of milk which I immediately start to chug. With a bit of milk dribbling down the side of my mouth I put the milk back, close the fridge and start to wipe my mouth. As I''m doing so I look across the kitchen to the dining table and see MJ sat there watching me. She is watching me like a predator watches prey, her eyes are dazed and her mouth is open and I think she is salivating quite a bit. That''s weird why would she- and I suddenly look down at myself and realise why. Before my transformation I was pretty ripped but now, now I''m really jacked. I have an eight-pack and a muscular body, I am 6ft of wiry muscle all compounded into my lithe form, my body has loads of contours and I look like a Greek god. No wonder she is salivating, I do take pride in my appearance. Earl did say that she was coming over to check on me everyday so it''s not that weird that she is here and Earl has already probably told her that I''m awake. Well, this works out fine, I do need to thank her for looking after me while I was out and not telling anyone about my condition. "Hey MJ, thanks for calling Earl and not taking me to the hospital, I really appreciate it." Mary Jane seems to snap out of the trance that she was in. "No problem Nick, I was really worried for you. What happened anyway, you suddenly ran out of Oscorp, why were you ill?" Oh shit, what do I tell her? The less people knowing about my powers the better. "It was nothing MJ, I just had a allergic reaction to one of the chemical in the lab and I needed to get out of there." She smiles. "Do I look like an idiot Nick?" W-What... "Mary Jane, what do you mean?" I hope she''s not caught on. "Nick, I may not be the smartest but I''m not an idiot. When you told me to call your butler you told me to tell him it was a ''Mutate Situation''!" Oh shit, did I? I was kinda out of it and can''t really remember much. "Mary Jane, I was clearly having a reaction to my allergy, I was really out of it and was spouting gibberish. My butler probably only came because he was worried and you called from my phone." I think I saved it, nice one Nick. Oh wait, she looks kinda angry. "Don''t lie to me Nick!" Her eyes narrow. "You said ''Mutate Situation'', you''re one of those mutants who have powers aren''t you? Like the X-Men or that terrorist dude who can CONTROL METAL!" Shit, she''s not an idiot and she''s gotten kinda close. And even if I''m not a mutant she is still right that I''ve got powers. She arches an eyebrow. "Well?" She questions. I don''t see anyway out of this, I might just have to come clean and make sure she doesn''t tell anyone about this. I can''t really do anything to her and I don''t know any technology that can wipe her mind. I''m definitely not a murderer, especially of girls who look after you for a week. I guess I''ve just got to trust her, tell her and hope for the best... Chapter 11 - [AT] Preparations Made! [After Transition] "Hello there, miss.." I finish open-ended hoping to get her name. "Gordon, Barbara Gordon." Ahhh, the ill.u.s.trious Batgirl also a veritable genius with an eidetic memory. Making her acquaintance could prove to be quite profitable, in more ways than one. "Hello miss Gordon-" "You can call me Barbara." She interjects. "Hello Barbara, I''m Nicholas James, you can call me Nick. What course do you need the book for?" I question hoping to get some more information from her, I wonder if she is already going on her nightly escapades. "Hi Nick, I need the book for my chemistry course. I''ve been really busy lately and all the other books have been checked out, the library is closing soon and I really need that book. Please.." She informs me with too much information, she must be worried that I''m going to check out the book and is making a point of how much she needs the book. "The library''s going to close? Do you mind telling me the time?" I guess I lost track of time, I hope I have enough time to get something to eat before going back to Selina''s. "It''s 5:50pm, the library closes at 6, so it''s getting pretty close, I wouldn''t have bothered you otherwise." Oh, I''ve spent most of my time here then. I stand up and walk around the table to her. "I don''t mind being interrupted by a beautiful woman and I just finished the book, here you are." I hand her the book. "Do you mind if I walk with you? Presuming that we are both going back to the entrance?" She looks surprised but not at all adverse to the idea. "No, I don''t mind at all. So.. are you a new student here? I haven''t seen you around before." She asks. "I''m afraid not, which I''m quite upset about as it will be quite hard to bump into you again." I start to flirt but she just smiles at me. "So how come your getting to this so late, you strike me as someone quite diligent, so it must be something important to call your attention away from your studies." Her sleeve has ridden up and I can make out a bruise on her forearm. "And it must be quite treacherous going by that bruise on your arm, are you ok?" She quickly pulls down her sleeve. "Y-yeah, I''m fine. Most of my times been going to practicing my gymnastics, I''m going to the regional finals and I really want to win so I haven''t had much time to do my assignments. That''s where I got the bruise, I guess I''ve been practicing too hard." It makes sense but it could be covering up her secret activities, it''s hard to tell. We are nearing the entrance now and it''s now 5:55pm. "It was nice meeting you, but the library''s closing now and I''ve got to quickly go sign out this book. Thanks for this Nick, bye!" She turns and starts to go to the reception. "Bye Barbara, I hope to see you around some time." She looks back over her shoulder, smiles and waves goodbye at me. I pull back slightly into the aisle and watches she goes towards Jaina to sign out the book and then leave the library. I want to flirt some more with Jaina but not in front of Barbara, I imagine that that would ruin my chances with her. With Barbara gone now I head over to Jaina to talk to her. "Hey there Jaina, I was gone for quite a bit wasn''t I." She looks pleased to see me again. "Hi Nick, you were gone for a while, yes. Do you want me to sign you up for membership and sign you out a book?" I did ask quite a lot of questions when I got here so it''s obvious I don''t have a membership. "That''s ok Jaina, I''ve read quite enough today and I mostly came to the reception for the company." I start to flirt with her. "I know your closing up now and I''m going to grab a bite to eat, do you wanna come with me? My treat." Her gaze starts to smoulder and- MY SPIDER SENSE GOES OFF. It''s slight but it''s there, I start to covertly look around but I can''t spot anything. "I would love to Nick, I just need to get my stuff from the staff room. Would you mind going around the building and locking up everything while I get my stuff?" I can''t spot anything, man.. my spider sense is really on the fritz. "Yeah, I don''t mind locking up the building for you." I agree to her request. "Great, thanks Nick, here''s the keys." She then proceeds to tell me what each key is for and then leaves to go to the staff room, she started acting really sultrily which is quite a big difference from earlier in the day. Anyway I start to go around the building and lock up the windows, lock the toilets and lock the doors, Jaina has the key for the staff room. I''ve just finished locking the front door, I''ll open it when we go, and start waiting for Jaina. It''s been five minutes and I''m getting worried, my spider sense had been going off slightly every minute or so and it''s bugging me. I know it''s bugging out but I''ve conditioned myself to go alert and start to worry in response to it. I''ve decided to go to the staff room and search for Jaina, I hope nothings happened to her. I''m outside the door and I begin to knock for her. "Jaina, are you in there? I''ve locked everything up." When I knock the door goes slightly ajar, I''m about to enter when Jaina responds. "Yeah Nick, I''m in here. Come on in and join me..." I guess she''s decent then. I push open the door and Holy- She is not decent, not decent at all. She''s standing in the middle of the room with her hands on her h.i.p.s, posing in nothing but her black u.n.d.e.r.w.e.a.r and her black high heels. "Hey there slick, what are you waiting for? She looks at me with barely restrained animalistic l.u.s.t and it arouses me and scares me a bit at the same time. I try to respond but nothing comes out, I was not expecting this at all, she was so shy earlier but now she is a s.e.xy little minx. While I couldn''t find the words she strides across the room oozing s.e.xiness and pulls me in by the shirt- "Let''s have some fun together!"- and closes the door behind me. Oh boy.. I wasn''t expecting to get laid so soon, not that I''m complaining... [][][][] Damn that was good and also a little weird at the same time. She was like an animal, that was like the roughest s.e.x I''ve ever had. She kept making me call her bunny and say other rabbit themed expletives throughout, she must really like rabbits. That was great, weird, kinky and hot as hell, all at the same time. We left the library about an hour later and she left in her car, stating that she had to open the library early tomorrow. She wanted to give me her number but I told her that I''m getting a new phone in a few days and I''ll come visit her then. We finished around 7 so I have around an hour to get something to eat before going back to Selina''s. All in all I really enjoyed that little escapade, though it was quite confusing. My spider sense kept going off for no reason and I kept seeing things. I don''t know if I was fantasising or something but I could swear that her hair was white and her eyes were pink sometimes. But I''d look back the next second and it''d be back to black hair and mesmerising green eyes. This just confirms one thing for me, I''ll definitely be seeing Jaina Hudson in the future. [][][][] After getting a meal at a ''Big Belly Burger'', I have come back to the condo. It''s about ten to eight now and I''ve just got back, I walk through the door with my bounty from my outing but I don''t see anyone inside except for Isis. She''s just sleeping on the couch, the lazy thing. Selina walls out of her bedroom dressed as the ''Carnivorous Catwoman''. Huh, I think adjectives only work for spider themed individuals. She looks me over and smiles when she sees my bag and that I''ve brought all black clothes with me for this operation. "Get dressed, we leave in ten. You better not mess this up for me." She eyes me dangerously. I won''t mess this up for her, I really need the memory stick. Without it I can''t start my life in this new reality. I can''t afford to fail... Chapter 12 - [BT] Coming Clean... [Before Transition] If there''s one thing I''ve learned about Mary Jane Watson since she started to pursue me at the beginning of this year, it''s that she''s persistent and stubborn. She''s like the classic definition of a fiery redhead, a spitfire who won''t take no shit. It''s attractive but annoying when your on the other side of it, I know that even if I stave her off today she''ll remember. She''ll remember and try to find evidence or catch me out, and who knows what trails she''ll leave behind following me or gets someone''s help. It would be better to just tell her, ''stop the leak'' so to say. "Mary Jane.. Your right, I do have powers.. but I''m not a mutant. A mutant is someone who has an activated X-gene, I don''t know if I have it but what happened to me is definitely not mutant related." MJ narrows her eyes. "So, your not gonna go crazy and become a terrorist like that weapon controlling dude?" She questions. "No MJ, I''m not. Plus mutants aren''t crazy or evil or anything, they''ve just got something a little different in them and because of that get a bad wrap from the media and the facist government. And that terrorist dude you were talking about, his names Magneto and he doesn''t control weapons, he controls magnetism which lets him control metal, which most guns are made of. He''s actually one of the reasons that mutants get ostracised and feared." I finish informing her. I don''t want a person I genuinely respect to have twisted views on something like this (Mutants), so it''s best to set the record straight now. MJ looks kinda ashamed for her previous assumption but I think she''s glad that she knows now. "Thanks for telling me that Nick, I don''t want to be a racist or anything, it''s just that the media mostly shows negative incidents concerning the Mutants. Anyway I''m not bothered about that right now, I want to know about you, what''s a ''Mutate Situation''?" I take a moment to figure out my words. "A ''Mutate Situation'' is what you call it when an otherwise normal person is affected by something or is in an accident which results in them gaining power. They are called a ''Mutate'' as they are someone who would not gain powers naturally, technically Captain America is also a ''Mutate'' as he was affected by a serum that enhanced him in ways he would not naturally have gained. There are also the mystically empowered, which are people who use magic or are empowered by a god or a totem of some kind, some people believe that there was an element of magic that was involved in Steve Rogers transformation but it''s never been confirmed." I finish, it''s better to just tell her stuff like this now so she doesn''t ask me later. "WAIT!" She suddenly starts. "What happened to you to gain your powers, you were in the utility closet with that blonde hussy and were only in the exhibition room for less than a minute before you ran out. How did you become a Mutate?" She caught on quite quickly, I guess there were some versions of MJ where she became a journalist instead of a Model, and even when she became a Model she eventually went into business and set up an organisation or even became Tony Stark''s assistant in one reality taking Peppers role. Though I don''t particularly like that reality because Tony Stark is a bigger arsehole than he usually is in it. But what do I tell her though, if I tell her the actual version of events she''s gonna know that Peter is Spider-Man in a few weeks and I don''t want to do that. It could mess all sorts of stuff up, especially when he''s just starting out and one slip up and he''s dead. I think I''ll tell her an altered version of the event. "Well after my little rendezvous with Gwen I went back to the exhibition, when I entered I noticed that there was a spider in my hand. I stopped and started to bring my hand closer to my face to get a good look at it because it was shining some weird psychosomatic colours. Unfortunately that''s when you bumped into the back of me, and I jerked my hand towards my face and the spider came off of my hand..." She looks intrigued. "Well, what happened then?" She questions, I smile at her. "The spider flew into the back of my mouth, the situation could still have been resolved then, but.. You asked why I had stopped and then you pushed me forward jostling the spider in my mouth and forcing me to swallow the spider. That''s how the ''Mutate Situation'' occurred..." She looks at me bewildered and a bit guilty. "S-sorry about that. B-but y-you swallowed a spider and got super powers? H-how does that work? There must be loads of people who have swallowed and eaten spiders before, how come you got super powers from it?" It''s not actually a bad question, she doesn''t know that it was a radioactive spider. "I believe that the exhibition we were visiting has something to do with that. If I remember correctly the exhibition was showing spiders and the boring scientist was explaining that they were doing experiments with radiation on them. I can only assume that the spider I swallowed was radioactive, I''m quite lucky to actually be alive!" I''m not going to tell her that those spiders were also being experiment on in a bid to create a super soldier serum, less complicated that way. "Again, sorry but... Wow... So, you have some kind of spider powers now, how does that work?" She certainly doesn''t waste any time. "I''ve just woken up Mary Jane, I haven''t had time to see what kind of powers I''ve acquired. Though I have noticed that I''m stronger now and all my sense are dialled up to the wazoo, I''m sure that there is more discoveries to come. And as soon as I''ve tested and found my new abilities and there limits, I promise that you will be the first one I tell." She actually brings up a good point, so far I''ve only tested my physical limitations. I haven''t yet tried wall crawling or tested if I can spray webs out of my wrists (it''s possible that this is a universe where Spider-Man has web powers). Also since I''ve been enhanced more than Peter, who knows what kind of abilities I have developed, I would actually quite like those stingers that he got in one of the comic books. If I recall it was something to do with becoming more animalistic and something called ''The Other'' or something, I also recall Peter being killed by an inheritor and then coming back from the dead. These are spider powers which I could possibly have, I will have to take another week off of school to figure out my new abilities. "So... Do you wanna get something to eat? I know a great pizza place, my treat." I question, I feel grateful for her taking care of me, I can at least buy her some food. "Yeah, that would be great!" She can at least try and look at least a little less excited. I put on a nearby shirt and grab my wallet of the counter while she puts her jackets on. I walk towards the sore and open it for her. "What about Tony Stark then, is he a Mutate, he has that glowing blue thing in his c.h.e.s.t?" Does the arc reactor in his c.h.e.s.t affect him? "No, Ironman is just an arsehole with a lot of tech. The Ark Reactor in his c.h.e.s.t is just there to keep his heart going and stop any the shrapnel in his c.h.e.s.t from going near it." She steps past me and out the door and I follow behind her. "You know who are Mutates though? The fantastic Four. They were hit by a cosmic wave that genetically altered their DNA and it''s quite interesting because..." We make our way down the path towards delicious pizza... Chapter 13 - [AT] Starting The Operation. [After Transition] We are standing on an cliffs edge about half a kilometre away from Wayne Manor. Getting here was just a matter of Selina jumping and using her whip on rooftops and me jumping and NOT USING MY WEBS, I just make big jumps and sticks to buildings and run up them, it''s quite a bit more covert than swinging in a web. I''m not using my webs if I don''t have to, less chance of people making a connection to me when I use my webs publicly. After we got close to Wayne manor there were less things to jump on so we just ran while making sure to stay out of site, I actually ended up carrying her as it was quicker. That''s right there''s no Catmobile or KittyCar, I guess if you wanna lay low you won''t use a cat themed vehicle. Anyway, we are now at the cliffs edge and all looks good so far, it''s not even raining. Im wearing the clothes that I bought earlier today. They consist of a black skin tight shirt, thin black skin tight gloves, black combat pants, thin black ''VivoBear'' shoes, the skin black Kakashi mask finishing with a plain black cap and a pair of black sunglasses making sure that each of my articles of clothing are sticking to my body. I applied the makeup as well, not in front of Selina though, I made sure to apply on my exposed skin and also a bit further where my clothes cover my skin just in case. Though she did look bemused when I walked out and my skin was darker than it was before. Selina struts back over to me from where she was using her binoculars to scope out Wayne Manor and begins to talk to me. "Alright, everything seems okay and we should be good to go. The Batman won''t be on patrol till later tonight so we''ll likely be skirting beneath his notice, that''s why we''re doing this now." Wait... Batmans not on patrol yet... are we going to be breaking into his mansion.. WHILE HE''S HOME.. "Selina.. Wayne isn''t at the house right now... Right? Because it might make things harder with the ponce around." I need to make sure. She arches an eyebrow. "I''m a professional thief. What do you take me for?" I blankly state back. "The black hearted seductress who stole my only worthwhile possession and is making me commit a crime to get it back..." She looks back unamused. "I guess that''s one way of looking at it." I quickly offer my rebuttal. "Seems like the only way of looking at it." She looks a bit irritated now. "Right.. We don''t have time for this. Wayne has just arrived at a gala and brought some skank with him, it''s probably going to get shot up in an hour or so by some masked lunatic so we only have around an hour and a half before Wayne comes back. The only one at the mansion right now is his butler but it should be easy to avoid him." Alfred Pennyworth is home, that could make things a bit difficult. He is a trained man and is also someone the Batman looks to for guidance, he might catch us in the act and if we injure him we could get a very angry bat after us, Alfred is practically like a Father to Bruce. I''ll have to do my utmost to avoid the butler and if that is unavoidable make sure that he is knocked out with minimal force, I''m glad I made my taser now. I lower myself using my wall crawling powers making sure to face upwards, I don''t want to risk going upside down and Catwoman consequently falling off and to her death. That''s why I''m only going to climb facing upwards and sideways, it might take a bit longer but it is infinitely safer. I made sure to tell her about this while we were running on the rooftops, she was a bit annoyed but would much rather that she didn''t fall into the cascading ocean. I''m about halfway down the cliff now and it''s time to start going sideways towards the manor. The sideways crawling took a bit before we started to speed up, Selina needed to adjust herself to make sure she''s got a good grip, this also meant she pressed herself into me even more which I had to adjust to before I could ignore it. I''ve been crawling for a while and it''s getting pretty monotonous, all I''ve had to entertain me so far is the waves crashing into the cliff face and causing water to just about reach high enough to spray a little water on us, nothing to be worried about though and the sounds of the waves crashing are actually quite soothing and relaxing. Selina starts to talk into my ear after a while longer, I guess she was getting a bit bored too. "You know, your skill set is quite useful for my profession. How did you manage to acquire your abilities, they are spectacular." I guess my wall crawling ability is pretty useful for sneaking around. "I''m not going to tell you that. I don''t want that information to get out, it is also quite personal. But more importantly if it does get out, there''s going to be every idiot plus there mother out there whose going to try recreating it and end up killing themselves. And knowing my luck, some assholes going to end up gaining powers but with some serious side effects and blame me for it and start hunting me down for revenge. Or some asshole actually manages to replicate my abilities (or even make them stronger) and starts to hunt me down to fight me and prove that he''s better than the original. Either that or some kid is gonna do some experiments in his garage with his chemistry set and get powers and then he''s comes to me and I''ll have to take him on to make sure he doesn''t hurt himself or turn into a super villain. I don''t dare try and think of the worst possibility." "Oh, and what''s the worst possibility?" Selina looks intrigued. "The worst possibility is that some obsessed fan woman of mine manages to replicate my abilities and then tries to hook up with me but I''m weirded out by her and she ends up resenting me and trying to kill me. But she''s still obsessed with me and helps me out a lot, eventually in a moment of weakness I''ll end up sleeping with her, which I''ll regret and she''ll end up reaffirming her belief that we should be together, and then she disappears. But she''s not really disappeared, it actually turns out she was aiming for and actually got pregnant and eight years later my super powered spawn resents me for leaving their mother and tries to kick my a.s.s and I''ll eventually have to take in the child and begin raising them to not turn into a super villain." "That... was oddly specific." Well, I guess I''m just basing that stuff of how some actual comic characters appeared. "I''m just thinking of all the possibilities, it doesn''t hurt to be cautious." She probably thinks I''ve went through one of those scenarios due to how specific I was. "Riiiiight.." We are now closing in on Wayne Manor, soon I''ll have to start climbing upwards. Suddenly the cliff I''m climbing on starts to cracks open a little, it stops after a few second but quite a few cracks in the cliff face have opened up. I think I''ll go a bit further before I start climbing up- HUNDREDS OF SCREECHES SCREAM OUT INTO THE AIR AND HUNDREDS OF BATS START TO FLY OUT OF THE CRACKS. I make sure to stick close to the wall and close my eyes while waiting for the swarm to leave, I guess that the Batcave is inside this cliff. Suddenly a scream tears through the air and I notice the distinct lack of limbs wrapped around me. Ohagitohf.u.c.kshesf.u.c.k.i.n.gfallenoff. I look down and spot Selina Kyle falling to her death... Why can''t things just go right for once. I bet when that spider bit Peter it drained some of his blood and when I swallowed it, I inherited the legendary Parker luck. Chapter 14 - [BT] Abilities and Back to Work. [Before Transition] It''s been a week and I do exactly what i said I would do, I have been discovering my abilities and finding their limits. At least when I am not being bugged by MJ when she comes over after school, she makes us go out to eat and watch movies and other social activities. She says it''s because I almost died and since it was her fault that she was going to make sure that I spent the rest of my life making the most of it and having fun. I personally think that her reasoning is only part of the equation and that she mainly wants to get to know me better and it''s actually working, I''m having a bit of fun and she''s has managed to coax out of me quite a lot of information about myself. Anyway, I was talking about my abilities. The first thing I tried was my wall crawling, it''s pretty standard except that I can use my whole body to stick to things and I don''t know if the original spider can do that. Though I do think that if someone try to rip me of whatever I''m holding it is more likely that the object will break, either that or my fingers are going to be torn off that''s how powerful my sticking ability is. I''ve been training to turn it on and off at an instance and I''ve also been sticking my hand on the blades of a fan which Earl has the controls to, he will randomly turn it on and I will have to turn of my sticky powers straight away or my hand starts making circles. It''s the best training I could think of in such short notice to make sure my ability is more useful than harmful. I tried to shoot webs by sitting on the couch and trying to shoot webs at the TV remote to bring it towards me otherwise I couldn''t watch TV. I tried for around an hour but nothing happened, if need wasn''t making me shoot webs than I could only conclude that I don''t have web powers. I''m actually quite glad that I don''t have web powers as i find it a bit weird to be producing and shooting white gunk out of my wrist, plus the web shooters are so much more versatile and can have a great variety of different types of webs. The only downside to web shooters is the limited capacity in them but I don''t think that will be a problem in the foreseeable future, I don''t have time to be a Superhero as I need to focus on making my machine. I actually only discovered my next ability when I was out with Mary Jane, her annoying me actually turned out to be useful. We had just finished watching a movie and we were coming out of the cinema (not theatre as I was originally an Englishman), some dude came up and started hitting on MJ and i wasn''t really bothered about it as she''s only a friend to me. She rejected him but the guy started to get pushy and I eventually had to step in and tell the guy to sling his hook, he did but not before he said some terribly rude things to Mary Jane. When he turned around and stared to walk away I got incredibly angry and clenched my fists hard as I was about to kick this guys a.s.s. The only thing that stopped me was MJ''s gasp and when I followed her line of sight I knew why. Extending out of my fists were three claws with the same positioning as wolverines(between the index finger, the middle finger, the ring finger and the little finger) but that was about the only similarity. The claws were made of black bone, straight and they curved at the end kinda like a tigers. The two outer ones extended about twenty centimetres with the middle one being about a third of that. They were a dull black and looked quite intimidating, when I saw them I was shocked and unclenches my hand which made them disappear. Unfortunately the asshat had already left by then. After further testing with the claws I have discovered that I can activate them by thinking like I want to cut someone to pieces, I also have to be clenching my fist for it to happen and have furthered my control to be able to call them out at an instance and bring out the claws on each hand individually. After even more testing I have figured out my claws strength, they are able to cut through stone but they just about manage to make some indents and small cuts on iron. It would take around an half an hour to cut through iron, though I imagine that if they are iron bars that the time will be cut down immensely. when my claws come out my hand bleeds a little but it''s nothing I can''t handle and also when I put my claws away, the holes left in my hand heal up n the next thirty seconds. Unfortunately this rate of healing does not extend to the rest of my body, though I heal bruises and cuts in minutes. I have also notice that I can see in the dark so I guess I have night vision. Another curious thing I noticed while I was eating was that my teeth are sharper and after a bit of checking I have found out that my teeth are sharper with my incisors being a tiny bit longer. They are not sharp enough to cut anything on contact but if I apply a lot of pressure I could probably gnaw through quite a lot of stuff. I have also found that i can talk to spider and communicate with them though it is quite hard to understand them, if I concentrate I can sense spiders and I have at one time managed to see through their eyes, this could be quite useful and requires further training to hone this ability. I am also incredibly flexible and have found that I can build up immunity to poisons and other stuff far faster than a regular human. After a poison has been used on me it is far less effective the second time. A staple of Spider powered people is the spider sense, I know I have it as I managed to dodge a plant that had been dropped from above when I was going to get some food. I haven''t really been able to see how it compares to a normal Spider-Man''s as I don''t get into a lot of dangerous situations but I can guess that it is better than his in some way. I guess I will find out about it in the future. The final ability that I have discovered so far is the ''Venom Blast''. it is pretty similar to the ''Venom Blast'' used by other spider powered people except that mine is an electric blue and the intensity and voltage is so high that it can fry a person. I will have to spend a great deal of time to get this under control and control my output, I don''t want to accidentally murder people. I didn''t really have much time for anything else as I have started going back to school, there are a lot of tests I want to do but I think I will start going slower with them as I have to start getting back to my research. I wonder how Peter has been doing, I bet he has already started to find out how to make money using them. I wouldn''t be surprised if he has entered that wrestling completion that most of his origins do. I wonder if my being here has changed anything about his origin story... Will he even become Spider-Man... Chapter 15 - [AT] Frightening Fall... [After Transition] Turning around so I am facing the ocean, I squat against the cliff then using all my strength like a spring I pounce off the rock face downwards towards the ocean. This is the only way I could see that would allow me to catch up to her even though it risks more of the cliff crumbling but I don''t want to do a Gwen Stacy and snap Selina''s neck. Honestly Selina is an experienced person and might survive falling into the sea and that has a better probability than me catching her with my webs. I hear the cliff crumbling behind me and some chunks of rock tumbling down behind me, I hope it''s only some debris and no massive rock or else I''m kinda screwed. I can see that Selina has seen me coming for her and changed her posture so that she will fall more slowly and make time for me to get closer, I don''t think I''ll reach her in time tho- F.U.C.K THAT HURTS! Goddamn it a f.u.c.k.i.n.g BOULDER JUST CRASHED INTO MY BACK, where the f.u.c.k is my spider sense warning me about this shit. As soon as we are done here and I''ve got my memory stick back I am gonna do some F.U.C.KIN'' tests to sort this shit out! Though this does have a silver lining, the boulder hurt but it hasn''t really impeded my abilities. I will have a nasty bruise later but my bones have already started to mend and I am kinda glad that it got me. As the boulder goes past me after hitting my back I quickly manage to snag my right hand onto it and then proceed to press my entire self into it and stick to it. I don''t know whether I would have made it to Selina before but now with the heavy boulder dragging me down I will make it to her with time to spare. The boulder is getting faster and faster every second and it won''t be long before I catch up with Catwoman, suddenly I hear her squawk. "MOOOVVVEEE THHHEEE FUUUCCCKIING BOOOUULLLDDDERRRRRRR!!!" Move the boulder? I start to manouvere myself around the boulder and get a clear view down and I suddenly realise why she''s complaining. The boulder is heading straight for her and it''s getting faster by the second. Thinking quick I walk crawl around the boulder so I am underneath it with my back towards the ocean, I angle myself slightly to the right and then proceed to press my entire being into it. I gather all my strength and push away from the boulder while making sure to disengage my sticky fingers. Due to doing this by angling to the right I am pushed further towards Selina and the boulder is pushed further away so that it would miss us both, I turn around, straighten out and head for Selina. I have caught up with her and suddenly hit her from behind, taking a few seconds to adjust myself and make sure I am holding her secure I stick my arm out towards the left making sure to angle it upwards and press down into the middle of my palm with my ring and middle finger. And a strand of webbing shoots out which connects with the rock face, I grasp it with my entire hand and we are still heading downwards. Then the webbing pulls taut and we begin to swing with full momentum, at that exact moment another wave hits the cliff and a spray of water shoots up at us. It sprays onto us and onto the web and I can''t help but worry that it will make the web dissolve. Gravity takes affect and the water starts to head back down towards the ocean while some droplets stick to the cliff and to us. Thankfully the web is still strong and we are starting to head upwards, as soon as we are at the peak of the swing I release and jump further up so that I won''t be landing on a wet rock and risk slipping. At the very peak of my jump when my inertia is mostly gone my left arm and leg shoot out and connect to the cliff and they stick to it. Taking a moment to breath in I just hang there from my left arm and leg with my right arm wrapped tightly around the Captivating Catwoman. Huh, I think that works. I guess you''ve got to have an alliteration and good adjective to make a good name and ''Captivating'' is a pretty apt description. "T-Thanks for catching me, not many people would risk their life for someone like me, especially not someone I was blackmailing..." She looks up at me and I can see the gratitude within her eyes. "Blackmailing, huh? Well I can''t let you fall to your death, after all you would take the secret of where my memory stick is to the grave with you." I smirk at her but I don''t think she can tell because of my Kakashi mask. She looks pensive for a moment. "Well, I''m sorry about that but I still can''t give it you till we''re done here. That way I will have dirt on you and you won''t reveal my identity but I am willing to give you a cut from the first robbery I commit using the security blueprints but that''s it." After we both get a sufficient moment to calm down Selina starts to wrap herself around me again and then takes a moment to make sure she''s holding on tight. This has the added effect of being more enjoyable for me but I shrug it off a moment later when she signals to me that I can start climbing again, I don''t want another incident like that to happen again. We are directly under the Wayne Manor now and I don''t want to have anymore incidents so I make sure to take my time and crawl up while checking each of the places I put my limbs is stable. Selina doesn''t seem to be complaining so I guess that she would rather avoid falling again as well. We are now approaching the top of the cliff and I am making sure to look out for any traps or surveillance, after all even if this is just a cliff, it''s the Batman''s cliff and most of Batman''s stuff is ten times cooler and deadlier than anyone else''s, even a cliff. I have not spotted anything but I suppose that it makes sense. Why would Bruce Wayne need serious security on a cliff, it''s not like he has anything to hide or has any enemies. Look underneath the underneath. Batman might need security like that because he''s paranoid but Bruce Wayne is a happy go lucky playboy, the mansion will have some defences but not as many as there are in the Batcave. We are not breaking into Batman''s house, we are breaking into Bruce Wayne''s house. Some times the best defence is pretending that you have no need to defend. I pull myself up the cliffs edge and proceed to stand on the grass while Catwoman pulls herself of off me and looks towards the mansion. "C''mon lets go, it''s easy sailing from here!" I f.u.c.k.i.n.g hope so but some how I don''t think it will be. Does Bruce Wayne have Batdogs... Maybe one of the Robins are home... Maybe I''m just trying to stall... Well.. Lets get this show on the road... Chapter 16 - [BT] Genius Going Public... [Before Transition] Going back to school was pretty easy, I didn''t really talk or interact with other people so keeping my new abilities hidden wasn''t a problem. I have mixed feelings about this, I''ve realised that I don''t really have people who care about me and while it doesn''t really bother me that much I am still human. I need human interaction and Earl has been that interaction but recently he has been less responsive and it just makes it clear how much I rely on him. I guess Mary Jane bugging me is a good thing, I can''t help but look fondly over the times she annoys me into going out. Anyway not much has changed but what has changed is Peter Benjamin Parker. I haven''t really spoke to him lately, don''t get me wrong he still uses me as a meat shield and sits next to me but he doesn''t talk and spends most of the day writing down things in his sketchbook. The only time he''s away from it is when Mary Jane has come to bug me but Peter doesn''t talk to me he talks to Mary Jane which I think she finds kind of annoying. I''ve gotten a few glimpses over his shoulder and I''ve seen what he''s been writing in his notebook, he''s been doing sketches of different suits and I even saw the iconic red and blue suit. I''ve also seen lots of different chemical formulas written down and I''ve made sure to remember them, I''m pretty sure they are different configurations of webbing. I could design and make this stuff myself and it wouldn''t even take that long but it would still take me away from my machine. I can''t be away from my machine I have to make it.. for my parents. I remember the day my parents die and the conversation I was having with Gwen, I had that same conversation many times before and I even had it with my parents. The only difference between the conversation with Gwen and the conversation with my parents was the belief. Gwen doubted that I could do it and I don''t really mind, I didn''t think I could do it either but my parents, when I had the conversation with them they''re response astounded me. When I first reincarnated into the Marvel Universe I was amazed not just that I reincarnated but in a world I believed to be fiction. The implications are massive, if the Marvel Universe is real than it only stands to reason that other fictitious works existed as real universes out there and I couldn''t help but wonder about them. In my last life I was just a boring guy who just finished high school and was spending his now free time being listless and staying at home until I died, I don''t want to be like that again. I want adventure I want to experience all that the world had to offer, not just this world but all the worlds I read about in my first life, I wanted to see them. But in the end it didn''t matter, I had a second chance at life and I''m not going to waste it. But remember that I was a child and I had all these awesome thoughts and dreams, I couldn''t keep it bottled up and I told my parents. I want to travel to different worlds, explore different universes and travel to entirely different multiverses. These were the dreams I told my parents about even if I knew I wasn''t going to do them but my parents believed in me. They had seen the intelligence I had shown and knew I was a genius and they told me they believe in me and that they would support me with their all to help me complete my dreams, it made me cry that they believed in me so genuinely. I wouldn''t accomplish these dreams but I would definitely make them proud in the future, this I promised. They died and they died with the belief that I would travel to different universes, in their will especially directed to me was the message to follow through on my dreams. ''Son, we know that it will be difficult with us gone but we believe in you. We have given you everything we own and given guardianship of you to Earl. We give you our permission to use everything we have given you to accomplish your dreams, to travel to other dimensions. We believe in you, we don''t care if the entire inheritance we have left to you is squandered so long as you use it to accomplish your dreams. We want our son to be a ''Dimensional Traveler'' or even better an ''Universal Explorer'' and to explore worlds unknown. Make us proud son..'' I promised to make them proud and they believed in my dream to travel and experience other universes, to do anything less would be an insult to my beloved parents. That''s why I focus all my time on my machine and want to go to another universe, to prove I am worthy of their belief in me to show that the time I spent with them was not meaningless, I loved them. But I realised that they wanted me to have adventure and focusing all my time on the machine is not living the life they gave me. I''ll try to go out more and make more friends, after all I have the rest of my life to travel other universes and it''s good to take a breather every once in a while. That doesn''t mean I''m going to stop working on my machine I''m going to try and make it as soon as possible and then I''m going to explore this world before leaving to another universe. But I''ve realised something, I''ve stagnated no matter how much I research and brainstorm I''m not having any breakthroughs, I haven''t progressed in six months and I have realised I haven''t gone all in on this. There is an entire world of mad geniuses out there who all probably have some research into dimensions and universes, getting that research is probably going to be the most beneficial to making my machines. I don''t want to endanger myself though by approaching a mad scientist villain so there is only one place I can go to get that kind of information and it''s could be just as dangerous. After having spent most the school day being quite and having a silent retrospection of my life so far which ended in my new resolve, the school bell has rang and school is over. I am currently walking with Mary Jane towards the car park, I have promised to go catch a movie with her after school. We are both waking but we seem to have picked up a stray along the way, Peter is talking to Mary Jane and is making quite the fool of himself. I am glad that I am not an awkward teenager anymore, I went through that in my last life and don''t need to deal with that here. "Where are you guys going? Can I come with? I don''t really have much to do and I finished my homework during lunch so I''m pretty free." He questions with a bit of desperation. Mary Jane responds. "Sorry Pete, we are going to the movies and we only have two tickets. The movie is really popular and it''s been sold out but maybe you can come next time." She let him down gently but I don''t think she saw it like that, I''m pretty sure Petey here is in the friend zone. "Ahh, Yeah, no problem I actually have some homework I have to finish so this actually works out.. pretty well." He finished awkwardly like he didn''t just say thirty seconds ago that he finished all his homework at lunch. Both MJ and myself ignore that though and bid him goodbye, then I start to drive away. While I am driving away I hear Peter mumbling something. "Nick has a really cool car, I bet if I had a cool car Mary Jane would hang out with me more. But where am I going to get the money for a car?" But I don''t pay it any attention. I am trying to think about my future course of action, go home and get Earl to make it so I can do all my high school exams, pass with top marks and then become an intern at the Baxter Building. There are probably a few other things I need to do but those are the main ones which will get me closer To my goal. The Baxter Building. Home of the Fantastic Four and Dr Reed Richards the lead scientist in different dimensions. Time to infiltrate a super hero team.. I just hope that none of the weird shit they get up to affects me.. I really don''t want to go with them on their adventures. It''s time to show my genius... Chapter 17 - [AT] Throw Away The Plan... [After Transition] We are making our way from the cliffs edge to the mansion, we are passing by a lot of hedges that are neatly cut or are designed to resemble something. I even passed by one that resembled a certain masked crusader, I wonder if that some kind of secret entrance to the Batcave or just a play to Bruce''s ego. Bruce might not even know he has this and Alfred has it done for fun, Alfred is known for his blank sense of humour.. oh... shit. I hope this isn''t one of those universes where the Joker died and Alfred Pennyworth pretended to be him because he knew that Batman needed a archenemy and took it upon himself to fulfil that role. If it is that then we would be in serious danger in there though I doubt it as that only happened in one continuity but you can''t help but ask right. I mean I pretty much traveled to the DC Multiverse but the universe itself that I transitioned to was randomised, I don''t know what is happening here so it is best not to make assumptions, Alfred Pennyworth is just a former soldier, a former actor, a former teacher of espionage for the MI5... its best to be cautious. We are now closing in on the outdoor pool because of course Bruce Wayne would have one, he''s a playboy bachelor who is horndog, that''s the narrative at least. I am letting Selina take the lead as she is more familiar with security measures and how to bypass them, I don''t have much experience with anything aside from my knowledge on trans-dimesional energies and dimensions. I have only picked up a few bits and bobs along the way, building a machine to travel to different universes isn''t easy and requires most of your time, I don''t have time to use my powers or build cool shit and make contingency plans. Before I was reincarnated I was just an average joe and though my intelligence is way higher now and I can understand nearly everything I still think how I used to which means I am not the best at utilising my intelligence and make some mistakes, I will resolve this in the future. It looks like Selina has just pick locked the back door or something, I honestly wasn''t paying that much attention. She''s signalling me to come inside with her and I subsequently oblige, she walks with a purpose and seems to know where she''s going so I''m just going to follow her. We are about to walk around a corner before my enhanced sense pick something up and I quickly pull Selina back and quickly covered her mouth when she was going to scream in surprise. I quickly drag ourselves backwards and around another corner where I then let her go, I then put a finger to my lips and make a shushing sound. I peak around the corner and she soon follows me in action. Rounding the corner is one Alfred Pennyworth, honestly my sense just barely pick up the sound of his shoes tapping against the floor which I guess make sense due to his background in spying. A good servant is seen and not heard or a butler in this case, he stops in the middle of the hall and looks both ways and checks every inch of the hallway. I make sure to pull myself and Selina backwards before he spots us, after making sure that everything is as it should be he turns on his heel and stalks off down the corridor and around another corner. That was close, we should be careful, a good butler knows every inch of his household and will be able to tell if something is off and Alfred Pennyworth is the very ideal of a good butler. After waiting a few seconds to make sure he''s not coming back Selina once more takes the lead and starts to head down the hall that Alfred appeared from, I follow her as she traverse down a few different corridors and turns a few corners before we finally stop outside of a door no different than the rest in the manor. She proceeds to prod and check the door a few times before kneeling before the lock and starts to pick it using one of the claws extended from her fingertip, I guess that''s what I missed when she was opening our entrance point. A click resounds in the silent corridor before she stands back up and opens the door before pulling me in with her and immediately closing it behind us. She starts to look around the room for a seconds for a few seconds before alighting to the desk in the middle of the room, I guess this is Wayne''s office and it''s pretty threadbare and plain. "Good job avoiding the butler, I didn''t even hear him approaching he was so silent. Wayne''s an idiot and he''s left the blueprints on the table, I''ll just quickly nab this and we can leave, I doubt that the pig will notice." She extends a hand for the blueprint but my own hand quickly shoots out and grasps hers before she can touch it, Bruce Wayne may project himself as a buffoon but he''s as sharp as a door nail and would definitely notice the blueprints gone and it wouldn''t take him long before he links it to the Catwoman. Normally since Selina is kinda screwing me(not the good kind of screwing) I would just let that happen and wipe my hands of the situation but if he catches Selina she will undoubtably reveal me and that leaves a trail which batman will definitely follow through on. It''s better that we do this as clean as possible and leave no trace behind so that this won''t lead to me in the future,so that I don''t have a Bat on my a.s.s. "Wayne may be an idiot but his butler and the people around him aren''t and eventually someone will see that the blueprints are gone, they will then proceed to make changes or scrap this security immediately which will make these blueprints worthless and we will have essentially wasted our time for a few easy robberies. Here''s a camera I picked up during my day out on the town, snap a few pictures and we can sneak out of here and no one will be none the wiser." I hand over a mini camera which I procured from my back pocket, you never know when you will chance upon something juicy and wish you had a camera. I am not above blackmailing others if they are a bastard and deserve it plus sometimes a little blackmail comes in hand, as a great old man once said ''For The Greater Good'' which sometimes proves to also be beneficial to me. She paused for a few seconds but doesn''t deign to comment, she just takes the camera out of my hands and starts to photograph the blueprints making sure to capture the entirety of the different pages before she puts all the blueprints back in the same place. That''s fine but I don''t doubt that batman will be able to tell that something is a bit off, I quickly move towards the desk and put the blueprints back int the order that it was in before placing each page individually in the desk layering them and making sure that they were placed exactly as they were before we had entered the office. I turn around and Selina arches an eyebrow at me in question. "I''m just making sure that the room is as it was before we entered it, I told you I want to do this as cleanly as possible without leaving any evidence. Now let''s get out of here before the butler comes back." I quickly make my way towards the door and pull it open only to have the barrel of a shotgun pointed towards my face... I stare down the barrel into the face of one Alfred Pennyworth and he doesn''t look horribly pleased... "Hello uninvited guest, I always love to entertain people but I do believe that you have overstayed your welcome.." Well f.u.c.k... ''Make the plan. Execute the plan. Expect the plan to go off the rails. Throw away the plan.'' The plan just went off the rails.. It''s time to throw away the plan... Chapter 18 - [BT] Project: MMMM... [Before Transition] It has now been a week since I had last attended lessons at midtown high school and it''s has not been slow, during this week I have done all my tests and exams to finish high school and I have aced them all with 100%. Memorisation isn''t hard for me and high school is way below my level but with getting a complete 100% and making sure to go into way too much detail for each answer and going above and beyond will only help with getting people to take notice of me. Some of the people who take notice will not have good intentions but if I quickly become an intern at the Baxter Building then they will back off, I''m much too worthless to go against the Fantastic Four for. I don''t know if I will be able to get their attention with this but I already have a few other alternatives to get inside that building but some are more tedious than others, namely one ''Jonathan Lowell Spencer Storm'' AKA Johnny Storm the ''Human Torch'' is my current Plan B. If the exam results don''t exactly catch their attention, which it should as I made sure to go into extraneous detail on Biology, Physics, Mechanics and Chemistry which they all share some interests in, I also made sure to add some innovative and clever ideas to really get their attention. Alas there is no guarantee that they will even find out about it, that is why we have other plans. Johnny when not gallivanting around as the ''Human Torch'' does some extracurricular activities such as acting(TV commercials using his likeness), driving race cars, doing some mechanic work and picking up chicks at some bars(he does this one quite often). It won''t be too hard to become friends with him and eventually be invited into the Baxter Building where I will use the opportunity to show my genius and help them with something(they''ve always got some kind of problem) and eventually get free access to the building so I can hang out and help them out(NOT superheroing just some science oriented help). Once I have access to the building I will be able to access Reed Richards research files to further my own research, I can even ask him some questions and he likely won''t even wonder why I''m asking them, he doesn''t much care except for furthering his science and the like. It looks like everything is coming- MJ walls in and does not look happy- together.. Well I did think that I would have to deal with this at some point after ghosting her for a week. I am currently sitting in the living room sitting on the couch watching some news on the TV, it doesn''t hurt to be informed you never know what could be on the news that could benefit you in some way or it would help to be aware off. "Hello Mary Jane, I suppose you are here because we haven''t seen each other in a week and you have been wondering what I''m up to." She looks aggravated. "You''re DAMN right I''m here because of that, you haven''t been responding to my texts or calls and you haven''t showed up for school in a week though I know why you haven''t showed up for school. I was in class and when the teacher was doing the attendance I noticed that she didn''t call out your name, in fact she hadn''t called out your name for a few days and so I asked her why that is and I had to find out from her that you had done all your tests and left midtown high school.." I suppose when you put it that way it does seem a little bad. "Sorry Mary Jane, most of my time this last week was spent on studying up on my subjects and then taking the tests and exams for them and other stuff like hanging out with you skipped my mind." I didn''t study for the tests as I really didn''t need to as it was just basic stuff for me. What I actually spent most my time this week doing was hunkering down and focusing on my machine, putting all my energy towards it to see if I could have a breakthrough to see if I really needed to involve myself with dangerous people(the Fantastic Four are very dangerous people, at least the things they do are insanely dangerous). Turns out that connecting to other dimensions and universes is fine and all but navigating them and going where you actually want to go is very difficult, not to mention connecting to other multiverses is insanely more difficult to do and I think I''ll be the first to branch out in that direction but to do that I really need to use other peoples research to hurry up my own. "Right, I guess you did take all your exams in a week and had to focus to make sure you aced them all even if you are some kind of genius. All I''m saying is it wouldn''t of hurt for a heads up of some kind so I wouldn''t have to worry about you so much, I mean we spend quite a lot of time together each week and then for an entire week we didn''t have any contact, I couldn''t help but worry that something was wrong!" Do we really spend that much time together? I hadn''t really thought about it that much but I guess we do hang out quite a bit and she usually pops in whenever she wants to.. Wait, why didn''t she pop in during the week? "Yeah, I''m hindsight I can see why that would worry you but don''t worry if I''m going to completely cut off all contact suddenly I will definitely let you know. Anyway you usually pop in whenever you want so how come you didn''t check in over the last week?" She looks at me and again she looks a little frustrated, what did I do this time? "Come on Nick, I told you about this. I''ve been auditioning for the part of ''Juliet'' in the ''Romeo and Juliet'' school play midtown is putting on and I''ve been practicing with my friends and my aunt Anna has also been helping me out, I''ve been practicing all week." Oh.. Did she tell me about this? Probably but I don''t really remember, I''ve had stuff in my mind much more important than high school. "Right, I''ve been a bit busy so I must''ve forgot, so did you get the part? I never knew that you wanted to be an actress Mary Jane and that''s great though I will tell you that there''s a lot of back room dealing and the ''Casting Couch'' is very much still in action." I don''t want my friend to start to invest in this career and then get a nasty shock but it''s too late to turn back and she has to do what she has to do. I want her to know what she is getting in to. MJ looks a bit wary and annoyed now. "I did get casted as ''Juliet'' but it doesn''t matter anymore, I quit after a bit and learning who I was working with. Harry Osborn was cast as ''Romeo'' and we found out we had to do some kiss scenes, I wasn''t really bothered about it but Harry started to shove it in my face and was being a massive douche about it. I didn''t want to do it the play with him anymore but I knew there was no way he was going to leave, his father is rich so even if I complained about him nothing would happen as the teacher wouldn''t want to offend him so I quit. And considering what you just told me I don''t think I will pursue the career anymore which is a shame as I liked acting, I was good at it." I know I shouldn''t say this but I''m glad this MJ is not going to be the actor/model version as I don''t think we''d continue being friends if she was but I also don''t want her to be bummed out. "Just because you aren''t going to be an actor anymore doesn''t mean you can''t act, there are all sorts of profession where you can act as that is a very useful talent." She looks intrigued. "Yeah, like what?" "Mary Jane you are a smart young woman but you spend most of your time on extracurricular activities and hobbies and not you classes. If you focused and studied you could definitely become a business woman, you could make your own fashion company and design clothes, that seems right up your alley. Hey, I''ve got a bunch of money that my parents left for me to use and I could invest some of it in your business but that''s only going to happen if you start taking your subjects seriously." She is my friend so I want her to live the best life she could possibly live. She looks thoughtful now but also grateful. "Nick I''m thankful that you would be willing to do that for me but you''d be wasting your money for nothing, I don''t think I would be capable of running a company let alone making one of my own.." "Well you don''t have to worry about any of that for now but you are going to start to study and improve your grades or else I''m going to stop hanging out with you. Now grab your stuff and follow me, we are going to get something to eat and work out a study schedule for you where I will start tutoring you on the hard stuff." She looks bewildered but I don''t wait for her to respond and I start to walk off. "W-Wait.." I''m already at the door and opening it when she picks up her jaw and starts to follow me. I''m going to make her the best Mary Jane Watson in the multiverse, so much better than the other ones, I''ll make her smarter and give her better ambitions and career aspirations. Commence ''Project: Most Magnificent Mary in the Multiverse''... Chapter 19 - [AT] Gettin’ The F*ck Out of Dodge! [After Transition] So.. What do I do now.. Let''s review the current situation. In front of me is a pissed of butler who is pointing a 12-Gauge(I don''t actually know what kind of shotgun it is, all I now is it''s going to riddle me with shells and fill my body with holes) at me and currently has his finger on the trigger. Due to this my hands are in the air next to my head, why does my F.U.C.KIN spider sense not work anymore, god f.u.c.kin dammit. Selina meanwhile is about two meters to the left of me and she is currently out of site and Alfred isn''t able to spot her, he only sees me so he possibly doesn''t know that another person is in the room. So one of my options is to calmly comply with whatever Alfred wants me to do(his finger is still on the trigger, all it would take is a twitch and I''d be a goner) and wait for Selina to take him out when he isn''t expecting it but this comes with a lot of risks. Selina might actually leave me here as she already has what she wants(she still has the camera with her), I mean it would be stupid of her to do that as I know her secret identity and could easily sell her out but I can''t rule out that she wouldn''t do it. It''s time I started to sort my shit out and stop moping over what happened before I left the Marvel Multiverse, all I''ve been doing since I came here is reacting and it''s time to start acting, literally. I make sure I have my best American(Southern) accent ready, though Earl was rusty and he did his best teaching me to fight he mostly taught me espionage and spying, things like misdirection and accents and the lot, things that are very useful especially now. "Excuse me Mr butler but I don''t take kindly to folks sticking guns in my face. If you could be so kind as to lower your weapon and I can just up and skedaddle on out of here without harming no one. No need for violence I''m just a god fearing man like anybody else." God damn my accent is good, I got all the slang, mannerisms and articulation of a southerner. This will just help add to the misdirection that stops Batman from finding out my real activity, all I''ve shown so far is my height, build, dark skin and my South American accent. No one is gonna connect it to me with my similar build but with lighter skin and an English accent, there is also no reason to connect the two so I think I''m in the clear so far. He raises an eyebrow in question. "And why should I lower my weapon against a intruder such as yourself? Please, enlighten me." Wow Alfred sure does a lot of sarcasm, I guess you can only do so much humour when your master goes around fighting criminal nut jobs dressed as a bat. "I am unarmed, I ain''t no threat to you and if you let me go nobody ain''t gon find me anywhere. I swear I won''t come back, I learnt my lesson I swear." I''ve just gotta keep talking for now, lead him into a false sense of security. Make him think that he has the upper hand. He steadies his grip on his shotgun and lowers it till it''s pointing at my c.h.e.s.t rather than my face but his finger is still on the trigger. "You aren''t a threat to me? I''m just a frail old man, just a butler, how do you expect me to defend myself from a strapping young man like yourself?" I just look at him and answer. "I can see how your holding that their gun, your steady, calm. The type of calm that can only come from experience and on account of your age I can only assume that it is a well of experience, something that I wouldn''t be able to handle." That''s right make him think I''m weak and cautious, this just further cements the scenario I''m trying to force onto him. He regards me evenly. "What you say is correct. Even so I will not lower my weapon, we will wait here till the police arrive and only then will I do so." We then descend into silence as he finishes talking with me but I don''t let the silence last for long. He believes me weak and cowardly, that he has the upper hand and only needs to wait for the police to arrive to be done away with me. Now is the perfect time to act, I quickly think about the taser I made and make sure that I set it to the lowest setting which is stun, I don''t think Alfred would survive the higher settings. And then I act like a viper striking its prey at the most opportune moment. At a speed that the butler can''t keep up with, my left hand quickly snakes out and takes a firm grip on the barrel of his shotgun before pushing it up and towards the left just in case he manages to fire it. My other hand also strikes- his finger twitches and he manages to fire of his shotgun but it is already pointed away from me- it moves at a speed he can''t react to and settles on his right shoulder. I risk a quick "Sorry!" towards him before activating my taser and funnelling my ''Venom Shock'' into it. Blue electricity flashes for a moment before it dies down. I look towards Alfred and see that his eyes are whited out, he proceeds to let go of his shotgun(I let go of it at the same time) and it falls clattering on the floor. My hand is still gripped on to him and I can feel his start to lose his balance and collapse on the floor, I quickly use my now free hand to help me steady him and lay him gently on the ground. It wouldn''t do for him to fall and crack his skull open, that sounds like a good way to have a vengeful bat come after you with a vengeance(though I think this will still get a angry bat to try finding us). I walk back into the office. "The butler knows we were in here(knows at least that I was in here) and when he wakes up so will everyone else. We have to cover our tracks so they don''t know what we came here to steal, starting trashing the place with me. If you see anything valuable take it, it will provide a different reason for being her than the blueprints and so won''t lead to us in the future." We both start to trash the office with Selina taking anything she thinks might be valuable. After a few minutes trashing the place I remove a painting from the wall and throw it to the floor, behind it is a safe. "Hey Cat, how long would it take you to break into this safe?" I question, she walks over and starts to examine it. "Hmm, I''d say about ten minutes" That would take to long, without bothering to give her a response I quickly go up to the safe and rip the safe door of it hinges and throw it to a random direction. There are a lot of strength enhanced guys around so it wouldn''t be too much of a problem to reveal my strength, this also wouldn''t reveal the limit of my strength which is good. Peering into the safe I quickly pull out the contents and begging to pour them into a burlap sack, apparently Selina just carries these around with her but I guess she is a kleptomaniac and does need to have somewhere to store the stuff she steals temporarily. At least she is better prepared than other kleptomaniacs. With one more sweep around them room to make sure we didn''t miss anything and that the blueprints are scattered beneath the desk we flipped over to portray that we didn''t care about them. Quickly checking and making sure that Alfred is still knocked out we start to make our escape, leaving the same way we came in. It''s been less than an hour so we don''t have to worry about the Batman at the moment but it doesn''t hurt to be cautious. I better get my f.u.c.kin memory stick once we''re back at her apartment it or I swear imma beat the shit out of her. What.. I''m all for gender equality. I will kick the shit out her just like I would to anyone else that pissed me off no matter the gender... Wow, I''m really progressive... Chapter 20 - [BT] Arranging to Meet Johnny. A Yellow Car... [Before Transition] It''s been around about a week since I started ''Project: Most Magnificent Mary in The Multiverse'' and it hasn''t really lifted off yet, I''ve started slow and have been making her study at my house and she can ask me about anything she has difficulty with and I''ll explain it to her so she can understand(I used to be an average joe so I know how to tell her the information in a way she would understand). I''m not seeing any immediate results as she hasn''t had any tests at school yet and she hasn''t had to hand in any of the assignments for her classes but from what I can see she asks me a few times to help her with the same type of problem but after that she pretty much has it down to a point and doesn''t really need my help with that thing again. I''m starting slow with her, what I''m doing is some low grade mental manipulation. While studying with her I''m subtly telling and mentioning things to her and slowly changing her views, I''m talking about the current politics and explaining my views regarding them, the current economy, different businesses and scandals and all starts of stuff. I''m broadening the horizons of her mind and subtly making her think about different things as well as making her more cunning while talking about politics(explaining that shit is really tiresome but if you can understand all the little intricacies and ''See Underneath The Underneath'' you will be very good at anything social and separating bullshit from truth), I''m also talking about different women who have achieved great things and the difficulties they went through. I am telling her about Emma Frost(successful woman, chairperson and chief executive of Frost International as well as Headmistress of Massachusetts Academy) as well as V.i.r.g.i.nia Potts AKA Pepper Potts a former secretary and personal assistant of Tony Stark(which is probably the hardest job on the planet, dealing with that arrogant smart a.s.s), executive and current CEO of Stark Industries as Tony couldn''t be bothered doing it anymore and gave it to her. I am introducing her to a lot of strong female women who have many big accomplishments and making sure to get her to idolise them instead of the stupid actors and models she used to idolise. I want her to idolise Pepper Potts in particular, a fiery no nonsense redhead who regularly deals with Tony Stark(The world may only see his heroic actions but I know from my meta knowledge how much he f.u.c.ks everything up and keeping him from ruining the world is a hard job) and the current CEO of Stark Industries, to go from being a assistant and secretary to running a company(though admittedly Tony only wanted the best) will show Mary Jane that anything is possible, I won''t tell her about Pepper Potts grades and achievements before starting to work for Tony Stark as this way it means a lot more for her. Anyway it''s been a few days and I''m beginning to worry that the Fantastic Four aren''t going to take any notice of me so I have decided to start my plan B, to make friends with Johnny storm but I have to do it in a believable way. Sadly that believable way is going to cost me quite a bit, I really don''t want to do this but it is for my dream. I will apologise to my baby later, if I have time I will give her a really good upgrade and pimp the shit out of her. It is currently 9pm and I am travelling to the less respectable part of New York and not quite Hells Kitchen but no where near Queens, it''s where the rent is low and the streets are alright but there are some hoodlums and gang members hanging around providing some danger to the neighbour hood. It is pedestrian for my current objective, if only my current objective wasn''t such a sad and regrettable one but it has to be done for my dreams. I am now in the heart of the neighbourhood and find an empty street to park on, once my beautiful Audi R8 is parked up I lock it and start walking away. This is all part of my plan, I need a way to meet Johnny without it being questionable so they don''t start to get suspicious of how we met, I need a legitimate way to meet and befriend him. This is the only way I can currently see to do that and not look suspicious. The plan is to leave my beautiful car in this bad neighbourhood and take a walk maybe go to a convenience store and buy a drink, while I''m doing this my poor defenceless car will be waiting on this street and surely some hoodlums will see my bewitching car and seeing that it is defenceless they will force themselves upon it and have their wicked way with it. Luckily and coincidentally just before coming here I attached a steel plate to the underside of my dashboard underneath the wheel preventing the thugs from getting to the wiring and highjacking my car, I also made sure that no f.u.c.kin screwdriver or something will be able to start it from the ignition. Also bravery coincidentally attached to the steel plate will be a note that shoves the fact that they can''t take the car in their face while also making sure to insult them in various ways and laugh at them. I chose this neighbourhood for a reason, the gangs here mostly used baseball bats, crowbars and shit, they have guns but hardly use them. Seeing my note they are likely to get angry and proceed to use their various melee weapons to take out their anger on my poor little car(I''m already regretting this) and my car will no longer be in workable condition. All this will help in my plan to meet Johnny. The things I do for my dream, sometimes I question if it is all worth it especially you my gorgeous car. I''ve been walking for while now and I see a convenience store, I quickly go in and browse for a bit before leaving with a bottle of coke and some tic-tacs(everybody likes a tic-tac). After leaving the store I turn around and begin to head back to my car this should be enough time for some punks to trash it, I might just try and track them down in the future to have a little payback even though I want this to happen. I walked by a noisier building and after asking a few people leaving the building I learn that apparently it is a pro wrestling match which is taking challengers, I contemplate for a few seconds whether or not to enter and have a go myself before someone told me that the event is over and that some short guy in red and blue won it. Around five minutes later I am getting closer to the block my car is on, I am currently walking by a library and up ahead I seem to see some kind of altercation. Up ahead there seem to be a a scruffy looking guy holding a sack that looks a bit heavy, he is currently knocking on the window of a yellow car and shouting at whoever''s inside and telling them to get out. It''s curious but it should just be a regular mugging and if whoever''s inside goes along with it than they should be alright, I''ll keep watching to make sure it doesn''t get out of hand. Getting involved in this kind of thing and giving a statement to the police will help add to the story I''m trying to create. Slowly an old man gets out of the car but he seems to be trying to talk to the scruffy man and trying to make him reconsider and not do whatever it is he wants to do, apparently scruffy has had enough and starts to shout at him getting a bit physical with the old man and yet the old man refuses to move. I think I am going to have to get involved, I start to make my way towards them at a leisurely pace. Suddenly it all escalates before I can do so much as blink, the old man is pushed backwards onto the car and the scruffy guy reaches his hand into the back of his pants. He draws out a gun and begins to point it at the old man... Chapter 21 - [AT] Getting My Stick. [After Transition] Escaping from Wayne Manor wasn''t all that hard, we just went the way we came though I think that in the future such an avenue won''t be possible again. After wall crawling along the cliff face with an excitable cat on my back and making our way back to the road it was just a matter of skulking along the rooftops with a variety of leaps and bounds till we reached back to Selina''s condo. We were just nearing Selina''s condo when she decided to stop on a nearby rooftop, well this should be interesting. "Listen slick, I need to drop this off at my stash and I don''t quite trust you enough to show you where that is so why don''t you wait for me at the condo, hmm?" She turns around and says. I proceed to walk past her to the edge of the rooftop. "Just make sure you have my memory stick when you get back, that''s all I''m bothered about." I tell her without looking at her, I then leap off the edge of the building without waiting for a response and round a corner till I''m out of sight. As soon as she can no longer see me I bound up the building and land on the rooftop, I slink towards the edge of the rooftop and look for Selina. She''s still at the rooftop and is looking off into the direction I left, after a few seconds she turns away and pounces off in the direction we just came from. Of course she would try to mislead me about the possible location of her stash, we probably already went past it and she didn''t want to drop off her I''ll gotten gains with me still around. Well too bad that I''m gonna follow her to her stash, I can''t trust that she would actually give me my memory stick so I''m gonna follow her to her stash and hope that it''s there. If it isn''t I can just steal her stash and ransom it for my memory stick, all is fair in love and war and this isn''t either so I caan be brutally unfair. I have been following her for a while and she doesn''t expect a thing, though my training with Earl wasn''t exactly great in reference to fighting(he was a 70- closing in on 80- year old man, there was only so much he could do to teach me) the other subjects he taught me he could still easily do. That means he was easily able to teach and transfer those skills to me with the utmost ability as it required minimal physical effort from him. Now I may be proficient in such skills but I don''t have much experience with them, what this means is that I can easily do such things but I don''t know when to exactly apply them. I am inexperienced and apart from my brief superheroic stint with the Fantastic Four(which isn''t really applicable as we were dealing with stuff that isn''t really humanoid and alien technology which I didn''t really have a handle on) and every situation that I came across that one of my skills might have been applicable there was always someone else who could do it faster and better(Reed Richards, Susan Storm and various other people I had the p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e of working with). Now I''m on my own in this universe with no such support and I''m either gonna succeed or I''m gonna die, fight or flight, ride or die you get the idea, I''m basically gonna fake it till I make it. After a few more minutes she finally slows down at a rundown neighbourhood(which a sign I spot identifies as Park Row) and after looking around to make sure no one is looking she quickly pounces up the side of a rundown building and through a tiny window. The building from the outside is broken down and demolished and from other angles it looks like on the other side of the window she just scurried through is only debris and you can see the window, though curiously there do seem to be quite a few stray cats around, curious indeed. I quickly scuttle up the side of the building using my stick''em powers and using my nimble spider enhanced body to slip through the window, immediately on the other side is just debris but using my night vision(one of my lesser spider powers) I can see that there is a narrow shaft going directly down with pipes and debris jutting out of it. Only someone with a nimble body would be able to fit down there, which means Batman and pretty much the rest of his rogue gallery wouldn''t be able to do it. This is quite the clever place to hide your valuables as only Selina would be able to get through, Harley Quinn might be able to do it but she is friends with Catwoman and has no reason to. That reminds me though I''ve researched the heroes in this universe I haven''t researched the villains which is a big oversight as they are the most likely to be the ones to force me to act, like the current situation with Selina, case and point. I have no idea what villains are currently active and if the Joker is up and about, well I don''t think I will be sticking around in Gotham for much longer. I have been travelling down the shaft and it is quite precarious, we are definitely underneath street level now so her stash must be in the bas.e.m.e.nt that most likely is no longer accessible from the surface(except the window). Honestly I think that i might never have discovered this place if I didn''t follow her here, you know what they say, cats and their crevices. Or I might have just made that up, the point still stands cats can get just about anywhere if they put their mind to it. There''s a reason why they''re called ''Cat Burglars'', or is it just s.e.xy thief''s who are called ''Cat Burglars''. Unfortunately for this ''Cat Burglar'', I swallowed a spider when I was fifteen. ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and their are already some advanced chapters on there, take a look. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) Chapter 22 - [BT] Saving Uncle Ben.. [Before Transition] Everything slows down and starts to move at a snails pace, I can see the scruffy man''s hand holding the gun and slowly bringing it up to point it at the old man. I can see the old mans face slowly morph into an expression of fear and regret and I can''t tell if he regrets not letting the scruffy man take his car or he regrets the scruffy man''s chosen actions and the path he''s chosen to take, either way the situation is looking bad for the old guy. I can start to see the situation closer and closer and for a second I entertain the idea that this is a new power I''ve awoken, that I''ve gained the ability to zoom in on things with my eyes. It is only when I notice that my field of view is the same that I realise that I haven''t awoken a new power, I haven''t zoomed in on the situation. I''m physically moving closer to the ongoing altercation that looks like it''s going to end in a few seconds. I don''t know why I''m moving closer, why I''m risking my life to save this old man, why I''ve suddenly had this bout of heroics. I just AM. It''s akin to a man walking down the street and seeing a pram in the middle of the road, there are no cars coming from either end of the road and the man can''t tell if there is an infant in the pram or not. Regardless of anything the man would walk to the pram and check if there is an infant inside of it and whether there is or is not an infant in the pram the man would still move it to the side of the road so it won''t endanger anyone. The man loses nothing for doing this, it''s an insignificant action for the man but it may be end up being a significant action for the child inside the pram or the person inside the car that ends up hitting the pram. Either way there is no danger involved for the man and no risk to him, he can easily do this action and then go about his day, what reason is there not to. This old man is in the middle of the road and the road is actually the scruffy man, he poses no danger to me with my spider sense, my enhanced reflexes and speed but he poses a danger to the old man. I am simply going to move the old man out of the road but there is a car(a gun) traveling towards the old man and I have to act quickly, I am an enhance individual and I can easily outrun a car. What I just thought probably makes no sense but it makes sense to me and that''s all that matters, a gun doesn''t much scare me anymore and what is the point of having power if you don''t use it and I would much rather use it to help people then hurt them, when applicable of course. These are the thoughts that flicker through my mind in the mind numbingly slow state I am in where I can see all the micro expressions on the faces of the two men and I can see the gun raising and getting closer and closer to releasing the bullet of death from its merciless cylinder. I don''t know if this slow state I''m in is some kind of power of mine or if I''m just hopped up on adrenaline and ultimately it doesn''t matter, all that matters is saving this foolishly noble old man. It''s at this point that I realise something devastating, I started to run too late and I might not make it in time to get the old man out of the way. The pram(old man) is in the middle of the road and the car(the gun) is going to get to it before I can, I won''t be able to get it out of the way in time. It''s also at this point that I realise that in reference to the metaphor that if the old man is the pram and the gun is the car, what am I? I''m not a man in this metaphor, I''m a f.u.c.k.i.n.g TRUCK! I won''t be able to get the pram out of the way in time but I can sure as hell ram the shit out of the car and change its trajectory so that it misses the pram. I put all my focus on the scruffy man and start to rush full pelt at him, ready to barge him. Reality snaps back into place, everything going fast again, too fast. Suddenly it''s all a blur, I shoot off and tackle the man just as he raise his gun halfway towards the old man, the gun discharges as I impact him but I don''t have the time to worry about that. I realise I underestimated my strength, I''m not a truck, I''m a f.u.c.kin BULLDOZER! I can feel the scruffy man''s body crumple and deform around my charging form, I can hear and feel the bones in the man''s body break and fracture and I worry for a moment that I''ve killed him. The man''s body flattens underneath me and I go flying over him and end up tumbling a few meters away, I lay on the ground for a moment before picking myself up and beginning to turn around to see what my actions have wrought, is the old man alive? Is the scruffy man dead? I dearly hope I didn''t.. kill him. The scruffy man is laying on the ground quietly m.o.a.ning in pain and I''m fraught with fear when I look at him. His right arm, the arm he was using to point the gun and the arm I first impacted, it''s... It''s twisted, it''s clearly broken in quite a few places and I can see some bones jutting out through the flesh on his arm. His shoulder... His shoulder looks like it has a dent in it, I just can''t believe that I''ve actually done this to someone and then I notice something else on the pavement. This scarlet red liquid pooling on the pavement, the life blood spreading itself on the pavement like jam on bread. I worry that I''ve killed him, that I''ve become a murderer... And then I realise that although the blood is pooling near the scruffy man it''s not actually touching him, he has some blood on him but he himself is not connected to it and I can''t help but be frightened at what that means. My eyes slowly trail along the blood across the cracks and marks on the pavement, like the maze that you sometimes get on the back of a cereal box I follow it back to the entrance... or in this case.. Wound.. I go stark still as i lay my eyes on the body laying across the cold stone floor with blood pouring out of it but maybe it''s not even a body anymore, the word corpse comes to mind. I stay there for a moment just staring at him, I''m not thinking, I''m not even sure I''m breathing. I just stare. I continue like that till the scream of a nearby women breaks me from my trance and I can''t help but wonder if the scene this women alighted upon could have been different, if I just made it worse.. A cough.. It''s small but I hear it.. And with that cough.. With the splutter of blood that spews from the old man''s mouth.. My hope comes rushing back... Chapter 23 - [AT] Behind The Brick Wall... [After Transition] My feet land on the floor and I then endeavour to take in my surroundings, I''m surrounded on all sides by crap, crap, junk and garbage with what looks like a hefty pile of rat carcasses in the corner. With the amount of cats around here I can tell what the rat pile is doing here and I suppose it''s good for Selina to have all these cats around, stops the rats nibbling and ruining her stash(rats can chew through anything if they go long and hard enough at it. Unfortunately there seems to be quite a lot of cats in the bas.e.m.e.nt and I''ve no doubt that if they''re able they will yowl(do cats yowl?) if they see me, it''s Selina''s personal alarm system and I bet it''s part of the reason she''s chosen this location for her stash. I look around but I can''t tell where Selina''s gone, there''s too much garbage and debris down here for me to tell and I have to be careful not to gain the various cats attention. I carefully eye my surroundings to see if there is anything out of place, if there is some kind of clue and I find it. It''s something that would be easy to see if it was daylight and there wasn''t so much crap strewn about but that doesn''t matter because I have night vision and can see in the dark, I can clearly make it out. There are scratches on the floor to the left of me, scuff marks as if something has been dragged back and forth numerous times and I can wager a guess as to what that certain object is. As soon as I landed I was facing debris with a brick wall behind me with some stuff up against it including a little bedside drawer, the reason I took a while to find out where Catwoman went is because I was looking in the wrong direction. The scratch marks on the floor are directly beneath my feet and that''s why it took me a while to find it, the entrance to cats stash isn''t in this bas.e.m.e.nt it''s in the bas.e.m.e.nt next door which also is collapsed and has no entrance. I turn around and gently grab the little bedside drawer and I start to carefully pull it back making sure not to make any noise, wouldn''t want to alert Selina that something is wrong. Once the bedside drawer is removed I can clearly see what it is covering up and I can''t help but be impressed at Selina''s ingenuity, behind the drawer is a brick wall but certain bricks look like they have been hammered out to make a narrow hole that only someone nimble would be able to get to. No man would be able to fit through there, no ordinary man at least and The Batman would also find it tricky without risking the structural integrity of the wall but that''s why he has Robin. Robin is small(because he is a child, at least most versions of Robin) and is able to get to places that The Batman can''t, sometimes I think that that may be the reason why Batman actually has a Robin so that he can be more effective with a sidekick that covers some of his weaknesses. I quietly crawl through the narrow hole in the wall, once through I slowly turn around and gently pull the little bedside drawer back to its original position to cover my tracks. I then turn around and once more take note of my new surroundings and I can say that it''s definitely different from its neighbour, I. The fact that there is no debris or garbage, just a lot of dust and a hole bunch of old furniture. I guess whoever used to own this stuff didn''t care enough to try to get it back when the building collapsed, either that or they were inside the building when it collapsed and if it''s that then they have a whole lot of other problems to worry about then their old furniture. This room is equally dark as the other and there are no sources of light, I have to be extra careful now as I know that Catwoman is lurking somewhere around here and she has night vision goggles on. How else do you expect a thief to rob efficiently, they can''t just go and turn on all the lights in the house they''re robbing, that seems like it would alert someone. I start to look around the room and after making sure that this bas.e.m.e.nt is in fairly good condition and the walls were stable I began to wall crawl on them to explore the rest of the bas.e.m.e.nt, people hardly ever look up when they think that someone is after them they''re always looking around for someone on the ground. Silently crawling along the ceiling of the bas.e.m.e.nt making sure to look where I''m going to place my hand before I do so, I''ve already had one dangerous fall today and I don''t won''t another, I finally spot Selina. She has pulled the white tarp off of what looks like an old c.h.e.s.t(c.h.e.s.ts are sturdy and can survive quite a lot before they break), and is placing all the stuff we stole inside it while also making sure to go through the other contents of the c.h.e.s.t and make sure everything is accounted for. And then I spot it, my precious memory stick, my memory stick that will make my life here infinitely easier. I''m glad I at least had the sense to grab it when I was having my little meltdown and decided to leave the Marvel universe. It seems like she has placed it on the ground to the side while she continues to take inventory of all her I''ll gotten gains while making sure to put her new stolen good in the c.h.e.s.t as well, she is quite organised for a burglar. The fact that she has it out might mean that she actually intends to give it back to me and I am kinda grateful that it looks like she is sticking to the deal, a lot of the people I''ve met(some of them aren''t even criminals) don''t even do that. Unfortunately, I can''t take the chance that she is sticking to the deal, that memory stick is too important for that. Too important to leave such things to chance and I''m not going to risk my memory stick on the chance that a notorious thief is going to stick to a deal. Sorry Cat but it looks like you are about to lose you''re only leverage on me.. Actually, I''m not sorry, not sorry at all... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and their are already some advanced chapters on there, take a look. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) Chapter 24 - [BT] Starring in an Origin Story... [Before Transition] I waste no time, I can''t have this foolish old man''s death on my hands and that''s definitely gonna happen if I keep standing around like a buffoon. I sprint towards the man and drop on my knees, skidding the last few centimetres towards him(I''ll always be British and use the metric system, nothing will stop me), no doubt scuffing up my jeans in the process and scraping some skin off of my knees. But it doesn''t matter, I have to save him and I only have basic medical training from Earl(keep yourself alive from some bullet wounds and cuts till you can get to a real doctor kind of training) so I don''t have time to waste on insignificant things like that, every second counts. Now that I''m next to the old man I can clearly see that his wide open eyes though they are looking a little cloudy like he doesn''t understand what is happening to him but I don''t have time for that, I quickly locate the bullet wound and see that it is on his stomach, just a few centimetres beneath his belly button. I swiftly take hold of both sides of his shirt and pull my arms wide ripping the shirt in two but I fail to notice that my hand was also gripping the white vest beneath his shirt, buttons go flying everywhere and the white vest is also torn in two. I don''t have time to worry about the old man''s torn clothes, if it turns out that he gets bothered about it I''ll pay to have it replaced but I rather that he would be alive to complain about it then not. I can clearly see the bullet wound on his stomach now and I''m now realising just how much I''m out of my depth, blood red... Blood..I guess, just keeps leaking out, it''s like someone popped a hole in the bottom of a water bottle and the water just keeps pouring out without stop, except this is blood and is very much supposed to stay in the body. I may know some stuff due to my basic medical training but it''s just that, basic. I don''t have any experience, I don''t know if what I''m doing is helping or worsening his condition and I''m afraid that more intervention on my part will just kill the man, just like when I see involved myself in this situation. For all I know the scruffy man was only gonna threaten the man for his car with his gun, he might not have even hurt the old man if it wasn''t for me intervening and I just escalated the situation-. Suddenly I hear a car come to life, I quickly whip my body around so fast that my neck might just snap and quickly see the cause of the disruption and I can''t help but feel the burn of rage fill the fiery depths of my stomach. That F.U.C.K.I.N.G SCRUFFY BASTARD, he''s somehow managed to get himself into the old man''s car when I wasn''t looking, the old man must''ve left the key in the ignition and the SCRUFFY BASTARD just turned the f.u.c.kin key. The bastard must''ve put the pedal to the metal as the tires start to f.u.c.kin turn and emit an awful screeching noise while kicking up some black smoke, the yellow car. The yellow Oldsmobile Delta 88 and I only recognise the car because it''s the same car that Ash drives in ''The Evil Dead'' movie starts to burn rubber and shoots off down the road. I''m no doctor. I wouldn''t be able to save this old man, I just don''t have the capability but I bet I could catch that criminal, I won''t be able to save the old man but I would definitely be able to avenge him. I could easily catch up to that guy, a few jumps and I could be directly on top of his car and drag the bastard out by his hair kicking and screaming. I could help this old man live peacefully in the after- "HELLO, A.. A MANS BEEN SHOT.. THE STREET IS-" the woman who screamed earlier seems to have called 911 and I berate myself for not doing that myself instead of thinking of going off on a crusade. I watch the yellow Oldsmobile turn a corner and then I don''t spare it another thought, I''m not a superhero and I''m not gonna go catch a criminal but what I can do is try to save this old man which is the duty of any citizen, to help his fellow man. I don''t know if I should move his body at all or something, I don''t know if that would make it worse but I''m all out of f.u.c.ks, no more p.u.s.s.yfooting around. I gently move the old man to the side a little to get a view of his backside and I can see that the bullet didn''t go all the way though, which is great.. I think. It at least means that there aren''t two holes in him for blood to leak out of but it also means that the bullet is still in his body and might''ve hit a vital organ and I don''t know how to deal with that so the best thing I could do would be to tend to the wound and try to stop the bleeding. I frantically pull at my shirt eventually managing to take it off and press it onto his bullet wound, I press down tight and hope for the best. There isn''t much I can do now so I just start to talk to the man, try to keep him talking and awake and hope that he survives. I start to talk to the old man.. to Ben about his life and keep asking him questions, he hoarsely continues to speak with me sometimes finding it difficult to get his words out. Ben here has a wife called May who he says is the love of his life and an amazing woman, he also has a nephew called Peter who is a genius and the apple of his and his wife''s eye. So it turns out this is Ben Parker, the uncle of Peter Parker, the wise voice behind the words ''With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility'' and also the driving force behind Peters reason to become a superhero. I somehow got involved with Peter''s origin story and I don''t know how I feel about that. But with this revelation I realise I have more to talk about with Ben, stuff we can relate to, so we begin to talk about Peter and I can tell that Ben really loves him. A few minutes in and a nearby police officer arrives at the scene, he sees what I''m doing and start to ask the surrounding people about the situation, we''ve built up quite the crowd. He eventually makes his way to me and asks me what happened, I tell him that Ben was getting carjacked and I tried to help him but Ben ended up getting shot. I also tell him the colour, make and model of Ben''s car that the scruffy man took, the police man quickly grabs a hold of his radio and quickly starts to talk into it, I don''t really pay attention as I''m more focused on Ben but I suspect that he just sent out an APB for the scruffy man''s arrest. He also tells me that he will take my statement properly after the ambulance has arrived as I am currently preoccupied with Ben but he also informs me that the ambulance will be here soon. About two minutes later and an ambulance has pulled up, the paramedics quickly rush out and start to talk to and inspect Ben. After a few questions directed at me I am quickly pushed to the wayside so they can get on with their jobs, a stretcher is then quickly brought out of the ambulance to put Ben into, which I begin to help with while another paramedic starts to get the respirator or something started in the back of the ambulance. I am helping to get Ben onto the stretcher when I suddenly hear a heart wrenching scream rip through the night air. "UNCLE BENN!!!" And I spot a red faced Peter Parker trying to break through the crowd and scramble towards his uncle. Well... It wouldn''t be much of an origin story if the main character wasn''t here... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and their are already some chapters on there, please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) Chapter 25 - [AT] Rat Problems... [After Transition] Seeing that she has the memory stick out is great and all but how do I get it? It''s on the ground right next to her while she rifles through her ''treasure'' c.h.e.s.t, she would surely notice something if I tried to take it now even if I used my stealth related abilities she would surely notice something. So I need to find a way to distract her so I can get my hands on the memory stick(not a hard drive because I''m British and I''ll be British forever) then replace that memory stick with one I bought while I was on my little shopping spree. The memory stick is just plain metallic grey and can be easily bought from anywhere so I bought one while I was out in case I got the opportunity to get my hands on the original memory stick and I might need to replace it to buy myself sometime(it''s always good to have fakes, just in case). I take the time to once again search my surroundings to see if there is anything I can use to my advantage, anything that might help me in my endeavours. I only see a lot of old furniture, most of it covered by dusty old white tarps though there are some bite marks in some of them which means that there are definitely some rats around here somewhere. Looking around I manage to identify the area with the most half bitten shit in it, concluding that that''s where the rats are most likely hiding I crawl across the ceiling towards it to get a better view but boy is that view ugly. There are a f.u.c.kton of rats here, a literal f.u.c.kton that have decided to make their home in this particular back corner of the bas.e.m.e.nt. This area of the bas.e.m.e.nt is a whole lot more dusty than the rest of it so I can only conclude that after the first initial once over of the bas.e.m.e.nt Selina most likely never ventured back here as her c.h.e.s.t is closer to the entrance and boy was that a mistake. This particular corner of the bas.e.m.e.nt is made up of a lot of cardboard boxes, most likely things that the former occupier wanted to keep but unfortunately for him these cardboard boxes are now home to a society of rats. Every open cardboard box that I can see has a rat nest in it, the rat nests themselves are home to around 5-10 rats each and there are about 15-20 cardboard boxes back here which could mean up to a maximum of around 200 rats. I suppose that these rats could be just the thing I was looking for, a distraction and I''m feeling pretty vengeful over how Catwoman got one over me but I bet she''s gonna freak the f.u.c.k out when she sees a hundred f.u.c.k.i.n.g rats running at her. I suppose that this bas.e.m.e.nt is the perfect spot for a nest as outside there are cats everywhere that would eat them all up and there are no entrances into here that aren''t rat sized apart from the one I entered from and Selina keeps that blocked up all the time except for when she comes to add or take from her stash. Selina certainly chose a good stash spot but nothing is safe from rodents, I bet that they could probably eventually chew their way through kryptonite. Now the only question is how do I motivate them to move and start making some disruptions, I guess I will need to search the bas.e.m.e.nt for anything that might be useful. I search quickly while scuttling around on the bas.e.m.e.nt ceiling and I finally make my way to an area that seem to be covered in shelves with a whole lot of things stored on them, things that might prove useful to me. I spend about a minute looking through the shelves and I find some stuff that might be useful, I find some bottles of bleach, some bottles of vinegar and a whole lot of different kinds of oils, I guess the former owner was either a masseuse or had a lot of motor function problems that the oils helped with. I quickly find some empty bottles and started emptying the bleach, vinegar and oil bottles into them till they were only a little less than half full I then close them back up and take them with me as I scuttle back on to the ceiling and across it towards where the rats are till I am directly on top of them. With all these half filled bottles(glass bottles that I have ripped all the label off of) I have more then enough to enact my plan and make my evil plans come to fruition, MUHAHAHA... I guess I''m really getting into this on account of getting a little payback on Selina by way of scaring the shit out of her, I''ll try to cut back on the evil laugh and diabolical monologues. It takes me a while to figure out how I am going to this, thinking about if I should web each individual bottle to the ceiling with the caps off so they slowly release the liquid on top of the rats, how I would trigger it while above Catwoman ready to replace the memory stick when she gets distracted and all sorts of other plans. Eventually I decide to f.u.c.k it and go with a simple plan, it''s always best to stick to KISS, ''Keep It Simple Stupid'' especially when it comes to HUGS, ''How You Get Satisfaction'' and this distraction is going to bring me a lot of satisfaction. Eventually I decide to take all the caps(lids whatever you wanna call them) off of the bottles I then wrap the bottles standing up together with my one minute webs, I then create a web bag using the 30 second webs and attach that to the ceiling directly above the rat nest making sure that the glass bottles are still upright. Some may say that this plan is overly convoluted and I can simply knock something over elsewhere in the bas.e.m.e.nt that will provide a two second distraction which I can use to quickly swap out the memory sticks it but that would stick in her mind and I know you don''t become a person who dresses up and jumps around rooftops without being a little paranoid. My method will make her hear a crash and then a storm of rats rush out to distract her, she will be so overwhelmed by the rats and her fear of them that she will probably forget about the crash and just assume the rats knocked something over and this way she won''t suspect anything as who would take the time to make a rat stampede.. Sigh, let''s just get this over with. After making sure the 30 second web bag is attached to the ceiling above the rat nest I quickly scuttle back across the ceiling till I am back over Selina, she is still rifling through her c.h.e.s.t and putting all her new stuff away and she looks quite happy while doing so. Well, not for long.. And then I hear it.. And let the onslaught commence... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and their are already some chapters on there, please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) Chapter 26 - [BT] The Origin Story Must go on. [Before Transition] So Peter came by and I pretty much got pushed to the wayside, he took my place and started helping the paramedics take Ben into the ambulance while I took the opportunity to sink back into the crowd. I listened to their conversation though, spider powers for the win but it wasn''t much of a conversation since Ben was pretty much out of it and it was pretty much just Peter crying and saying ''Uncle Ben''. It started like this though. With my enhanced senses I could pretty much tell when Peter first arrived on the scene and I started to pay attention to his actions, he first approached here when he saw the ambulance and started to get curious. "You gotta get back." A police officer said to him as Ben didn''t need even more people crowding him and tried to get Peter to move on. Peter refuses to leave though and tries to get more answers, I guess he''s got a gut feeling that something bad happened in relation to him. "I can''t see, what happened?" He asks but the police officer just gives him a stone face making it clear that they didn''t need more layabouts crowding the injured man. Fortunately one of the people in the crowd heard his question and took it upon themselves to inform Peter. "Old dude, man.." He says as if that explains the entire situation but it was clear from his words that an old man is involved in something that drew the crowd and most likely needs medical attention and an ambulance. It''s at this point that the police officers that are trying to stop the people crowding Ben start to try to disperse the crowd as the paramedics and me have already put Ben on the stretcher and are ready to move him to the inside of the ambulance. "Come on, folks. Keep moving, please." The police officers on the scene tell the crowd and it works as some of them are backing up and a few are leaving, except Peter is still standing there and he is blocking the other people from moving and slowing the process down. A police officer takes notice of this and walks towards Peter to try to get him to move and leave the area. "Keep moving. Let''s go!" The police officer tells him and motions Peter to leave but Peter is still standing there and refusing to move, Peters clever and he probably already has a bad inkling and has already put it together quite quickly in his mind but is trying to convince himself that it isn''t true. Peter decides to question the police officer in a last bid to deny the theory that he has thought up in his mind. "What happened?" He questions but I can sense the dread in his voice, as if he already knows the answer but is just hoping to God that it isn''t even remotely true. The police officer clearly wants Peter to move so he tells him some of the details or rather a singular detail just to get him to move on. "Someone got hurt." The police officer says and Peter can no longer deny the truth that he dreads, he knew that his Uncle would be waiting for him here and then his face hardens into resolve and he makes a decision. He bursts past the police officer and clearly the officer didn''t expect it and he doesn''t mange to catch him in time. "Excuse me." Peter blurts out as he went past the police officer and proceeded to barge through the rest of the crowd trying to get to the paramedics in the middle. "Excuse me." Peter continues to blurt out as he barges past person after person but his barging finally comes to an end. "Excuse me." But this time they don''t excuse him, two of the cops right before the paramedics manage to get their hands on Peter and try to hold him back from getting to his Uncle Ben. The police officers are struggling to keep Peter back with his enhanced strength and Peter clearly doesn''t want to hurt them so he doesn''t use all his strength. "Stay back." The police officers say but it clearly doesn''t work as Peter tries a bit more of his strength and the police officers start to sweat at the strain of keeping him back. "Stay back!" They shout this time as the struggle to contain Peter becomes that much harder, they will probably think it was adrenaline after this incident is over and not think much of it as the boy''s Uncle had been shot. Peter manages to see past the two police officers and catches a glimpse of His Uncle Ben as me and the paramedics are lifting up the stretcher, realising that he won''t be able to get through with his current method he tries another way. "That''s my uncle!" He shouts in a bid to get the police officers to let him go and let him go they do, the strain was obviously becoming too much for them and the words Peters shouted were all the excuse they needed to let him go and stop holding back the surprisingly strong teen. Peter makes his way over to the stretcher and he spots me, he is clearly confused as to why I''m here but decides that it''s not important and quickly asks me a question. "W- What happened?" He says to me and I don''t want to get too into the conversation so I give him a short answer. "Carjacker. He''s been shot." I say to him as I don''t want to say too much, I don''t want the Spider Man to not exist so I have to minimise my contact from here on. Every Marvel Universe needs a Spider Man, Peter needs to fulfill his destiny, he needs to complete his origin story and I am an unknown variable, I have already changed too much as it is. The paramedics understand that Peter must be related to the victim and start to talk to him as they carry Ben to the back of the ambulance. "We are taking Ben here to the closest hospital which is the ''New York-Presbyterian Hospital'' and it is close by so we should get him there In time to get him through to the ER(emergency room)." They tell Peter trying to reassure him and keep him calm. Peter moves closer to his uncle and starts to try to talk to him, I take the opportunity to relinquish my place next to Ben to Peter and slink off to the side into the crowd. "Uncle Ben?" He questions and Ben opens his eyes but Ben is looking straight up into the sky and doesn''t see Peter. "Uncle Ben." Peter says and this time Bens eyes move toward Peter and sees him, there is obviously recognition in his eyes but he doesn''t manage to say anything but not for lack of trying. "Uncle Ben?" Peter questions again with some fear in his voice and this time Ben manages a response. Peter is glad that his Uncle is responding and it adds a little hope to his heart. "Peter." Ben manages to hoarsely rasp out and it means the world to Peter that he does. "I''m here, Uncle Ben." Peter says firmly with some tears leaking from his eyes as he does so, Ben then lifts his hand and tremblingly puts it on the side of Peter''s face c.a.r.e.s.sing it gently. "Peter." He repeats and that is the exact moment that the paramedics start to load Ben into the back of the ambulance making his hand lose contact with Peter''s face. The paramedics have loaded him in and then look at him questioningly, silently asking if Peter is going to come with his Uncle by keeping the door open for him and Peter is just about to enter when something stops him. "They got the shooter... He''s headed south on Fifth... We got cars in pursuit." A police officers radio informs him and I hear it with my enhanced senses and I can only assume that Peter hears it too with his own enhanced senses on account of him stopping his action to get into the back of the ambulance. Peter quickly takes a second to think over his options before he goes to reply to the paramedics. "I''m going to get my aunt first and then we''ll go to the hospital." He informs the paramedics before he wh.i.p.s himself around and sprints down the street breaking through the crowd and then quickly turning into an alley and I can''t help but notice the backpack on his back with some red and blue fabric sticking out of where it wasn''t properly zipped. I then watch the ambulance shoot off down the opposite end of the road, no doubt trying to get Ben to the hospital as quickly as possible. Sigh.. I guess the origin story is going to happen.. It''s his destiny... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and their are already some chapters on there, please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) Chapter 27 - [AT] Hiding in Plain Sight! [After Transition] With an almighty crash I knew that my plan had been set into action, all that was left to do now was sit back and enjoy the show. At the sound of the crash Selina''s head shoots up out of her ''treasure'' c.h.e.s.t and she quickly closes it and locks it before turning around and looking in the direction where the sound came from, I guess a thief''s priority is making that her valuables are secure in such a situation. With Selina looking of in the direction of the rats nest and cautiously walking towards it I quickly take the opportunity to get my memory stick, I stop the sticking effect my hands and feet are having on the ceiling and begin to fall to the floor facing upwards. I flip midair as I''m falling and turn so that my feet will land on the floor, my feet then land on the floor and I crouch slightly as they do so as to silently land on the ground and not alert Selina as to the situation occurring behind her. I take a moment to glance at her and make sure that she doesn''t suspect anything before moving towards the memory stick on the ground, I begin to hear the slight rumbling of something heading in this direction and with my enhanced senses I can hear the pitter pattering of hundreds of rat feet as they head in this direction to cause general mayhem. With the rats heading here I don''t have much time, if they get here before I can get my memory stick it will be lost beneath the hundreds of rats and I will have missed my opportunity to retrieve it. I still walk slowly and silently though as this is too important to mess up by rushing it, I don''t want to lose this memory stick and I don''t want Selina knowing that I was here either. I finally reach the memory stick on the ground just when the first rat comes into view and then another and another and suddenly there''s too many to count, Selina is standing there shocked and isn''t able to move which is convenient for me. My hand which is clutching the fake memory stick snakes out towards the floor and picks up my memory stick, in the same motion replacing it with the fake memory stick and completing my objective. I look up and the rats are stampeding towards Selina, she starts to stumble backwards a little and I can tell she is about to turn around so I quickly leap upwards and attach myself to the ceiling again and get ready to lay back and watch the little payback I had in store for Selina. I did so just in time too as instead of Selina turning around like I thought she was going to she begins to do a series of back handsprings and on the last one she presses down with all her might and then her arm contacts sending her into the air where she does several backflips before finally landing on the top of her ''treasure'' c.h.e.s.t where it seems she will be waiting out the tide of rats. I worry for a moment that as a result of the back handsprings she might of saw me on the ceiling but I conclude that she was going too fast and was too frightful of the rats to take such details into account, she wouldn''t have clearly seen me anyway as I am fully wearing black and am blending into the darkness. She has been stationary on the c.h.e.s.t for a few seconds and she is now watching the rat mob slowly encroach towards it, suddenly her eye catches the glint of something metallic on the ground and she spots the fake memory stick on the ground just as the mosh pit of rats start to surround the c.h.e.s.t. She quickly lays down flat on the c.h.e.s.t but it is not big enough for that so she unintentionally ends up doing a plank, she stretches her arm out in a bid to get the memory stick and it doesn''t look like she''ll be able to make it as the memory stick is about to be swallowed by the sea of rats. Just then she quickly extends the claws out of the tips of her fingers and manages to pull the memory stick into the air by the key ring attached to it(it is just a generic metal key ring that I affixed to it in attempt to make it look like the original memory stick) just before the entire surroundings of the c.h.e.s.t is swallowed by the sea of rats and there is no spot you can see on the floor that isn''t occupied by a rat. She manages to eventually get herself out of the plank that she had positioned herself into, until then she was face to face with the ocean of rats and was just watching them go by as she pretty much just stayed there kinda petrified and it amused me greatly. Once she manages to straighten herself out and she is once more standing stably on top of the c.h.e.s.t she decides to sit down crossed legged atop of it. I am just waiting on the ceiling to see the full entirety of my payback on her, suddenly Selina places her hands on to the c.h.e.s.t behind her back and leans backwards and tilts her head upwards and suddenly she is staring directly at me. She is looking directly at me and I can''t help but worry that the game is over and that I will have made a enemy for life(women are always some of the worst enemies, you should have seen what Black Cat does in the comics to Peter after he get his body back from Doc Ock, it is not pretty) and there is no way to avoid it. I wait there sticking to the ceiling for a few seconds with her just staring up at me before I realise just how much of an idiot I am, she''s staring at the ceiling and not me, she can''t see me due to my spider invisibility that must have automatically activated when she began to look up. Some of my abilities haven''t been working since I came to this world and I can only conclude that it is due to the residual energy that attached itself to me as I made my transition to this universe. I remember when I first discovered my spider powers and tried to work out all of my abilities, boy was I in for a surprise when I started to discover a lot more different powers after a while that only showed themselves when I was in dire need of them. I still remember how I discovered my ability to go invisible and it happens to be due to an altercation I had with a certain member of the Fantastic Four but that''s a story for another day, just remembering it makes me a little embarrassed as well as grateful for the memory. Well I''ve wasted too much of my time on this ceiling thinking of the past, I need to get out of her and back to Selina''s condo before she gets back there. I take one last glance at Selina who is just sitting on top of her ''treasure'' c.h.e.s.t and notice that the crowd of rats is starting to thin out and disperse, I quickly crawl across the ceiling back towards the entrance all the while using my invisibility and hoping to hell that it doesn''t start to bug out on me. Now above the hole in the wall I look around to make sure that Selina isn''t heading this way and that there are no rats near this location, once confirming that I drop to the ground and reach through the hole in the wall to begin to move the little bedside draw. It''s time to head back to the Cat Condo... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and their are already some chapters on there, please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) Chapter 28 - [BT] Vandalism is no Laughing Matter... [Before Transition] Well.. That was certainly eventful but I''m glad that it is over now, I don''t think I could handle being so close to an event that would shape the future of one of the worlds greatest heroes. Hell I''m still kinda worried about it, what if something goes wrong because I interfered with Uncle Bens death and what if Peter blames me and becomes some sort of vengeful Spider-Man that has it out for me and he eventually just spirals into a whirlpool of villainy and evil. Whelp, what''s done is done, no point worrying about it now. I''ve already interfered so I might as well keep interfering and try to make sure that the world stays on course to be the golden age of heroes but first I''ve got to deal with the aftermath of this incident. For the last half hour I''ve been talking to Officer Cole, Kevin Cole but he told me to call him Kasper after learning of my attempt to save Uncle Ben but I don''t think I deserve that respect as I may have just f.u.c.k.e.d up the origin story of one of the most arguably greatest heroes in the marvel universe. Anyway I''ve been talking to Officer Cole for the last half hour telling him all the details of my encounter with the two men and the yellow car, but I don''t mention how I mangled the Scruffy man''s arm as I don''t want the attention or the hassle and I''m pretty sure that the scruffy man is going to be dead before the night ends so hopefully they can assume that the mangled arm happened during his death. Officer Cole puts away his notebook after taking down my story, do all officers have a notebook on them? Is it a requirement? "That will be all Nick, it was a mighty brave thing you did helping Mr Parker like that. You might just''ve saved the old man''s life!" He says to me with respect in his eyes and I can''t help but think that that respect is unearned, I could''ve messed up the entire timeline and I have no idea how this is gonna effect the Web Of Life and what might the Master Weaver might do and that reminds me. Am I now connected to the web of life? Questions for another day. I face Officer Cole. "I don''t know, I might''ve just made things worse. That guy might never have fired a bullet and hurt Mr Parker if it wasn''t for me Officer Co-" He cuts me off and puts a strong hand on my shoulder. "What did I say, you can call me Kasper or Kevin if you prefer and it doesn''t matter what might''ve happened. You saw someone in trouble and tried to help which is more than I can say for most people in this city, hell.. more than I can say for half the guys on the force, the world needs more people like you Nick. So don''t feel bad okay, you''re a good kid and not one of those douchey kids that are so self absorbed and full of angst... So chin up!" You can tell why people call him Kasper, Officer Cole is by no doubt an African American Male but he is also very light skinned which obviously played a part in the acquisition of his nickname. He removes his hand from my shoulder and reaches into his pocket and pulls out a card. "Here kid, call me if you have anymore information or you remember something and if you ever get in trouble with the cops make sure to ask for me. Or call me, some of the guys on the force are real assholes." He hands me the card and starts to walk away, heading for his patrol car. "Thanks Offi- Kevin." He waves a hand in the air without looking back, this guys certainly got style. "No trouble kid, it was a p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e. Think about a career in law enforcement, we could sure use more guys like you on the force." He gets in his police car and drives off. Now it''s just a long walk back to my car, which is hopefully vandalised. Shouldn''t forget the reason I''m out here in the first place.. [][][][] O- Oh My God... My Baby.. Wha- What have they... Done to you. I knew that my car was gonna get vandalised but god damn it. Do those bastards have no heart, how could they desecrate something so beautiful in such a wicked way. I am currently staring at my car and its is f.u.c.k.e.d up beyond recognition, I didn''t think that they would get so angry at the little note I left them, I guess some people just can''t handle a joke. My grey Audi R8 is battered beyond recognition and.. it''s no longer grey. First of all it is on bricks now and the wheels are nowhere to be seen so I guess some crooks are going to be making a pretty penny of some rubber tires and some metal alloys, I payed top dollar for that stuff as well that I''m kinda regretting taking this course of action. The windows are all smashed to bits with half of the wind shield popping out the front of the car and the wing mirrors dangling from some wires but that not the worst of it, not by a long shot. The body of my car is dinged up to high hell, there are dings, dents and scr.a.p.es all over it and one of them somehow managed to rip a bit of the roof up a little bit, which f.u.c.k.i.n.g sucks because of what they did next. They have done all sorts of graffiti all over my car and used a frightening amount of expletives and vocabulary that some I can''t help but be impressed at the use of but that is all mostly covered up by their next action. They got pink paint from somewhere and proceeds to pour it out all over my car giving it a bright pink paint job, I mean.. these a two bit crooks, hoodlums, gangsters, why the hell would any of them have some pink paint on hand, what the f.u.c.k do they get up to. Because my roof was ripped of by a little bit quite a lot of the pink paint dropped down into the interior and doused the entire inside in pink paint including the black leather seats, which didn''t really matter much as they were already slashed up and cut so much that you might think that Edward Scissor Hands might have got inside the car. I quickly reach inside the car and check under the dashboard and seeing that everything there was as I left it aside from some pink paint, I rip the note I left on top of the steel plate off and then proceed to get my screwdriver. I then unscrew the screws holding the steel plate in place and then take all the screws, the steel plate, the screwdriver and the note with me as I begin to walk into an alley. After finding a sufficient dumpster I rip the note into little pieces and lift a few trash bags up using my free hand to scatter the pieces of the note in the dumpster along with the other items before I put the trash bags back and walk back to my car. I pull out the card that Officer Cole gave to me earlier and take note of the number on it and proceed to dial it with my own phone. "Hi, Off- Kevin, are you still in the neighbourhood.. No, it isn''t related to a the shooting... Great, because I have a crime to report..." ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and their are already some chapters on there, please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) Chapter 29 - [AT] Pre-Batshit CRAZY Quinn! [After Transition] After leaving the bas.e.m.e.nt I made a straight shot towards Selina''s condo, the ''Kitty Condo'' home to the ''Carnal Cat'', I''m getting really good with alliteration and I''m wondering if being an author is what I should make my new occupation in this universe after all I''m going to need an excuse for all the money I''m about to come into. This memory stick is too powerful and is a single use item, I really lucked into this and it was a once in a lifetime opportunity I mean how often do you stumble onto a mind controlled Tony Stark, Reed Richards, Charles Xavier and Stephen Strange. They used all of their knowledge for this memory stick combining their technology, magic and knowledge of the psyche to make it, unfortunately the window was small so some concessions had to be made during its creation but I made sure that they had their memories of this particular event erased so as to not come and bite me on the a.s.s later. This memory stick is the key to omni-versal travel without all the problems that come with it, particularly from the natives but this memory stick would resolve all of that. I only wish I would be able to analyse it and figure it out, I might be a genius but I''m not that much of a genius, this is way too advanced for me to be able to even get a slight understanding of it, I also think I''m not that magically talented. The only way that the creation of this was even possible was because I had Charles Xavier link all four of their minds so that they could share knowledge instantaneously and work together seamlessly to create this brilliant blend of technology and magic, I also used Xavier to erase their memories of this event. Even I am astonished at what they managed to create, I guess I''m really lucky sometimes. After arriving on top of the roof of Selina''s condo I quickly jump to the building next to it and quickly open a vent on the roof and web my memory stick to the roof of the inside of the vent where it would be out of sight and then sealing the vent back up, it doesn''t hurt to be cautious but this time with what minimal supplies I managed to get yesterday I created a tracker(kinda ripped of the spider-trackers Peter made that only costed him $16) which I attached to the inside of the cap of the memory stick. I have no doubt that a skilled thief such as Selina would be able to tell exactly what people have in their pockets just by looking at them and I don''t want to take the chance that Selina is gonna realise that I for some reason have a memory stick on me. I am glad that I hid the fake memory stick inside the black cap I wore which I made stick to my head with my stick''em powers. Now that that was sorted all I had to do was sit back and relax till Selina gets back and hopefully not let on that something is off, I guess I will just watch some television shows and maybe research a bit on the villains of this world. Which is one of the first things I should''ve done after researching the super heroes. I quickly leap back onto Selina''s building and then crawl down it making sure to avoid any windows till I am at Selina''s window through which I enter her condo. After getting out of my clothes and back into the ones I was wearing when I first appeared in this universe I quickly gathered up all of my belongings and placed them into some plastic bags(remnants from my shopping) which I then left next to Selina''s front door. I then quickly located her laptop and sat down at the coffee table with it and then realised that the episode of ''It''s Always Sunny In Philadelphia'' that I was watching before Selina interrupted me the other day was still on the televisions screen and decided that I should at least finish watching it. Right.. [][][][] Like I said before, the entertainment of this universe is similar to my own original earths entertainment except with a few twists, a different name here, a different person there and maybe that particular piece of fiction doesn''t exist anywhere within this dimension but there is something similar and a thousand times shittier. Like with this show I''m watching, instead of Charlie being called Charlie he is called Melvin and this is because the actor that plays him isn''t called Charlie Dee, he is called Melvin Dee. Just the small change of that actor having a different name in this universe and the TV characters name changes as well and not only that, that character has changed a lot as well. Instead of him being a dyslexic in this universe he has dyscalculia, which means he has problems with numbers and calculations which makes the show a very different show from the original such as when ''Melvin'' keeps having trouble tending the bar and not charging the correct amount. Such changes like these are why I am watching this show again in another universe as it is a very different experience. Anyway after finishing that episode and cheekily watching another one about 25 minutes had past and Selina was still not back yet so I decided to do some research on the villains in this universe and boy was that a doozy. There were most of the villains that you would expect in such a universe but there were a few differences, there is currently no Harley Quinn to aid the Joker at the moment which means that she either doesn''t exist, something went different here or we just haven''t got to that part yet. After searching for Harley Quinn on the internet I pulled up the equivalent of her Facebook account(here it''s called Facebank) and found out that she had finished getting her qualifications a while ago and was due to start her first job working as an intern psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum next week so I guess it might not be too long before she starts her villainous career. Apart from that a lot of it is what you would expect, there have been no major team ups between villains yet, which I think will start to happen after the Justice League is made and a few villains haven''t made their debuts yet but it is only a matter of time before they do. Lex Luthor is seen as a respectable business man but there are a few rumours on the Internet that he is a little nefarious and the Joker, well I guess you can say that there is no misinformation about the Joker. It''s the 100% confirmed and frankly disgusting truth about the types of things he''s done with a lot of hate on the forums for him, but where there is hate there is defence and I can''t understand that there are actually people out there who defend him for various reasons, f.u.c.kin keyboard warriors. A hand traipses across my shoulder and rubs it seductively. "What are you looking at? I hope I didn''t catch you doing something. Naughty.." I guess the cat has returned to her chateau... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and their are already some chapters on there, please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) Chapter 30 - [BT] Ludlow’s Garage. [Before Transition] "I didn''t expect to be seeing you again tonight.. I guess what they say is true, when it rains it pours." Officer Cole just sighs and puts away his notebook, I guess I have caused quite a bit of trouble for him tonight. First he has to deal with Uncle Bens shooting and then he has to come over here so I can report the vandalisation of my car, I guess he is only frustrated because he has a lot of paperwork to do now because of this. I have just finished reporting this incident to him and I guess he was a bit tired as he didn''t ask a lot of follow up questions which was fine with me, I''m just glad he didn''t ask why my car wasn''t stolen and was just vandalised because I wouldn''t know how to answer that one. "Yeah.. Sorry for dragging you back out here again, I guess I''m making a lot of paperwork for you to do right? It''s just you told me to call you if I had any problems and well, this is kinda a big problem for me.." I am trying to establish a friendship with this man, after all it doesn''t hurt to have friends in the department as it could come in handy. It''s like in Breaking Bad, Walter White would have been caught out, captured and maybe even killed if it wasn''t for his brother-in-law Hank Schrader who unwittingly kept feeding him information that helped Walt escape law enforcement as well as stay alive. I''m not saying I''m going to start wearing a black pork pie hat and a pair of black wayfarer sunglasses and start cooking out of a ratty RV with my sidekick Peter Parker who keeps shouting SCIENCE BITCH! It would just be another avenue of getting information, maybe hear something interesting every once in a while, maybe get some favours. Officer Cole just waves me off. "It''s fine kid, this is the reason I gave you the card after all. I just didn''t expect for you to have to use it so soon, I guess crime in New York is really getting worse lately and guys like Iron Man and the Fantastic Four are too busy protecting the earth from all kinds of crazy shit that the guys on the ground floor are starting to get a little brazen. So kid, what are you gonna do now? Do you need a ride or do you want me to call a tow truck for you?" Officer Cole will be real happy soon, I have it on good authority that a certain web slinging menace will start to make this neighbourhood friendly again. "It''s fine Kevin, I called a tow truck while I was waiting for you to arrive and it should be arriving soon so you can get going. Hey.. Uh before you go.. Did you catch that.. That carjacker from earlier?" I ask him, it has been around half an hour to an hour since the incident ended and I''m guessing that Peter should have catched up with the thief by now and I''m really hoping that everything went the way it should, if not I''m going to be worrying about all the different outcomes that could result from this. He stops at the door of his car after pulling it open and turns around to look at me. "Hmm.. Ah right.. That guy. Yeah we cornered him in an abandoned building after a while and we had him surrounded, strangest thing is though.. A few minutes after we had him surrounded he fell out of the window and to his death, most of us choked it up to a suicide and that the guy was at the end of his rope and had nowhere to go though a few of the guys who were there swear that he fell out of the window backwards and that there was a red silhouette standing in the window where he fell from. We searched the building but there was no one there so those guys must''ve seen a trick of the light, anyway I''m glad it was resolved and that old man got some justice." He begins to get into his car and starts to close the door. He rolls down his window and pokes his head out to leave me with some parting words. "The bastard died on impact, fell on his neck but I heard that his right side and specifically his right arm was shattered from the fall. Just goes to show that crime doesn''t pay, what goes around comes around. Remember that kid, see ya later..." His patrol car shoots of down the street and slowly fades out of sight but not without leaving me without some thoughts, mostly relieve. I am truly glad that this is the way the Spider-Man of this universes origin story goes, if it was the one that ended with a heart attack the damage that had happened to his right side would come under suspicion and they would definitely question me, the last known person to have any contact with the man. I''m lucky that the cameras on the street we were on we''re in a state of disrepair so they didn''t capture the incident, chalk one up to the corrupt government stooges who take the money that was meant to fix those cameras into their own pockets. Well I guess all that''s left to do now is wait for that tow truck to arrive, this is just the type of situation that time wasting apps on your phone were made for. [][][][] Well the tow truck came and I payed him to take it to a nearby mechanics that would open in the morning, this garage actually had a bit of fame as it was once featured in a magazine, it is called Ludlow''s Garage. Apparently Johnny Storm once came here to pose for a model photographer while doing some mechanic work, he supposedly liked the place so much that he ended up spending quite a bit of his time there fixing up and repairing cars. This was my plan all along, I parked my car here to get vandalised as it was close to Ludlow''s Garage and now it would be taken to the garage and I would have to go there tomorrow to sort everything out, coincidently Johnny Storm would also be there to do some work on some cars. Johnny frequents the place so much and so consistently that someone could hypothetically take note of all the times he has worked there and manage to figure out a pattern to his appearances that coincides with the rest of his daily life. I''m not a stalker, it is only stalking if you are doing it on the gender you like and I most certainly do not like males. At least I think that''s what stalking means, ah who cares. Now I''ve just got to call Earl to come and pick me up.. Hopefully he doesn''t get angry about the car, he was quite fond of it... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and their are already some chapters on there, please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Chapter 31 - 31 [AT] Dominating the Cat [R.-.1.8] [After Transition] I turn around and Selina is there, still dressed in her Catwoman outfit and goddamn if that isn''t distracting especially with it zipped down halfway down her bust. After taking a quick second to do my customary check and body appreciation I quickly focus on her eyes. "Hey Selina, sure took you a while to get back here and I can''t help but notice that the goods retrieved from the Wayne Manor are no longer in your possession. Can I assume that you spent all that time hiding your new possessions, I don''t really care though, all I really want is what''s mine aside from that I could give a tiny rats a.s.s." Selina slowly takes out the arm that was hidden behind her back and reveals my memory stick- correction, my fake memory stick- and holds it out for me to take. "Ohh, you don''t want to play with me anymore, you just want take whatever you want and leave. That''s not very nice and especially when I''ve been such a good host, such a rude guest you are." While she was talking my hand was slowly reaching out for the memory stick and just as my fingers were about to grasp it the memory stick was quickly pulled out of my reach with a infuriatingly cute giggle from Selina. "Ah, ah, ahh. Did you really just expect it to be that easy, surely not." She sultrily smirks at me but I am too caught up in my rage at the fact that she won''t complete her end of the bargain even if the deal is obsolete now, it''s the principal of the matter. I got her what she wanted and now she should give me what I wanted, though I already have it but that doesn''t matter she doesn''t know that. "What are you playing at.. Give me the memory stick and I will be on my merry way, there''s no need for us to part ways on unfriendly terms..." I stare at her with dead eyes, I hold all the cards now but I at least have to try to get the fake memory stick just so she doesn''t suspect anything. Selina starts to slowly back away while I begin to get up from my seat and trounce towards her. "My thoughts exactly slick, there''s no need to part on unfriendly terms. If you want this little memory stick here than your going to have to catch me for it, I just love to play with my toys.." She quickly manoeuvres into a series of back springs and other various aerial manoeuvres before disappearing into her bedroom closing the door behind her while I proceed to just leap the distance from where I was to her bedroom door and shout as I burst through it. "Selina, I really don''t want to get rough with you but I will if I have to so don''t make me!" After bursting through I stop and just stare in a state of bewilderment for a few seconds, I didn''t think this was what was awaiting me on the other side but I can''t bring myself to deny what''s in front of me and neither do I want to. The room is only lighted by candles- scented and her bed is covered in red satin sheets that look expensive as crap, not only that but there seems to be a video camera set up in the corner pointing at her comfortable looking bed, she is really kinky. "Oh, but I really want you to get rough, I just love it rough." Selina is standing next to the bed and she still has her entire ensemble on but I now notice the makeup and lipstick she has on while she c.a.r.e.s.ses her hands against the curves and lines of her own body and I can''t help but dull my simmering rage though I make great effort to hold on to it. "Selina what''s going on here, I don''t see what I''ve done to warrant such a welcome. Honestly all I need is the memory stick and I''ll be on my way." I say trying to keep some control of the situation but it just didn''t seem possible, not with her. "Like you said slick, I don''t want to end this on unfriendly terms, I''d rather we end it in friendly terms. You want this memory stick don''t you, well, you''ll just have to come and get it.." She takes the fake memory stick and drops it into the depths between her b.r.e.a.s.ts, forever lost to the chasm and I knew of only one way to get it back and I would hesitate no more. [R.-.1.8] I sprung at her with sped she didn''t expect and slammed her against the brick wall so hard She lost her breath for a second. "Like it rough as well, slick?" She gasped as air seemed to refuse to fill her lungs. I pinned her wrists above her head, gripping them hard enough that I knew they''d bruise."Isn''t this what you wanted, Selina?" "I was expecting to have more control than I do at the moment." She said, her voice getting more hoarse with each word. I kissed her then, my lips pressing urgently against hers before I pulled my head away. "Your not going to have any control here" I warned, my voice harsh. But I''d already heard it, that low rattle of d.e.s.i.r.e at the end of my speech that seemed to appear in her at my dominance. She laughed low, arching her body towards me, her b.r.e.a.s.ts brushing against my c.h.e.s.t. "I can work with that. You''re getting me all worked up here, slick." "It''s not like you have any choice in the matter anyway." I ground the words out through my teeth and spit them out at her, I didn''t like that she still thought she was in control. My grip tightened and I moved closer to her . "I''m in control here" And there was no question about it and if there were any I''d smother them out. "Why don''t you show me then, huh." She purred. "Why don''t you show me how much of a man you are then?" Her breath was coming harder now, her body pressing almost painfully against mine and I was so close to losing control. "Show me how rough you can get then, slick." She whispered as she began to place kisses on my exposed jawline and I didn''t stop her or pull away. Both of our d.e.s.i.r.es were winning out. My head moved down and I found her lips in the dim light. It was hard, intense. My tongue invaded her mouth and demanded submission. I wanted my control back. I released her hands and she then wrapped her arms around my neck, crushing her lips to mine. Every nerve in my body seemed connected to my crotch and jolt after jolt of fire coursed through me like molten lava. My hands gripped her a.s.s and I pulled her off the wall for a brief few moments, her legs wrapped around mine like a vice. "Is this what you want?" I demanded as i yanked the zipper of her catsuit down. My lips were everywhere - her neck, her collarbone, the tops of her b.r.e.a.s.ts. My heart was pounding as my fingers became entwined with her soft delectable skin. How I loved to feel her skin, to roughly rake my fingers down her back while I kissed her sweet lips. My fingers found the zipper of her left boot and I ripped it from her body with little ceremony. The catsuit followed and she was left wearing nothing but her cowl, goggles, bra, u.n.d.e.r.w.e.a.r, and right boot, the catsuit dangling from her leg as i picked her up again, her legs around my h.i.p.s once more. I nipped her neck and lathed every inch of her skin with my tongue as she was messing around with my clothes and trying to get them off. She g.r.o.a.n.e.d softly when she felt my d.i.c.k nudging against her centre through the wet cotton of her p.a.n.t.i.e.s. "This what you want?" I growled again, grinding my h.i.p.s, the cotton pushing against me. I could feel how wet she was. How wet she was for me. I kissed her and reached down between us to pull her p.a.n.t.i.e.s to the side. She m.o.a.n.e.d and mewled through her pressed lips when the swollen head of my c.o.c.k made contact with her p.u.s.s.y for the first time and with one thrust i was inside her. We both gasped as she tightened around me. She was wet, hot and tight and I wasted no time pounding into her like a man on a mission. She tightened around me and relished in my b.a.r.e c.o.c.k inside her - bareback, But I''m too hot, frustrated and pissed off to worry about that though. I continued to ram into her hard and fast, her back rubbing against the brick wall, I could hear the scr.a.p.es breaking out over the back of her skin as I continued to thrust into her again and again. She gripped my shoulders hard and bit down on my lower lip to keep from making any noise. It was futile. It was too good. Her m.o.a.ns were in my throat, tiny sounds of p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e caught in the night. We both knew that there was a perfectly comfortable bed besides us but rutting against the rough brick wall made the s.e.x more intense. Even I couldn''t keep completely silent. I grunted when she tightened her muscles around me before silencing us both with a kiss. Her breathing quickened and so did mine, I knew we were both close. "Yes," She whispered as she squeezed me with her internal muscles. She matched the motion with her t.h.i.g.h muscles, squeezing me so tightly I knew she''d feel it in the morning. I began to release my white essence into her and stifled my groan by biting the crook of her neck. Hard. The bite turned into a long, soft kiss as I finally stopped pulsating within her warm crevice. I raised my head and looked at her , my lips twitching with some anger over what she''d put me through over the last few days. I roughly threw her onto the bed without much care and proceeded to follow her to it, this night is far from over... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and their are already some chapters on there, please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) Chapter 32 - [BT] Egotistic! [Before Transition] It''s the day after the vandalisation of my car as well as the shooting of one Benjamin Parker who I''ve heard through the news is currently in hospital and its looking like he''s going to pull through though I can''t say the same thing for the rest of the Parkers, the medical bills for Ben will undoubtably be too much for them to pay, especially with Ben in the hospital now but maybe I could help with that? Anyway I''m currently in the backseat of the black limo which Earl drives when I need to got to formal occasions which is not often but Earl says that he can''t be a good butler without a limo and I don''t like to argue with him, we are just pulling up outside of Ludlow''s Garage and I can see my trashed pink Audi R8 collapsed in the parking lot, just to say sorry to my baby I''m going to make sure that she flies when I get her fixed which shouldn''t be too hard if my plan works out. Now that the limo is parked outside the garage I make sure I have my wallet and phone and then open the door. "Hey Earl, will you be able to pick me up later or are you going to be busy?" I look at Earl and ask before I exit through the door but he doesn''t deign to answer me. "Okay I guess I''ll get a cab back or something see you later Earl.." So, yeah... Earls a little mad at me, mainly because today is the today I usually let him have off for whatever it is he does in his own time but I delayed his plans because of the vandalisation and he''s a bit annoyed at me about it, I make Earl work quite hard keeping up with my nonsense and he gets this one time a month to head down to Westc.h.e.s.ter New York for some reason but I got him late this time. Earl works hard so I''m not gonna question what he does in his free time though I did to a little check, he didn''t tell me anything about what he does on his day off but I had to make sure he wasn''t working for someone else on the side or something so I made sure to follow him one time. I followed him to some coffee place in Westc.h.e.s.ter that was called ''Coffee-A-Go-Go'' where he just stayed pretty much the entire day drinking coffee and talking to some old lady that worked there, I honestly didn''t stick around too long as I felt that I was betraying Earls trust by following him like that. The only reason I actually followed him was because he was a former shield agent and I couldn''t help but be a little bit suspicious of him because of that though I now know that it was nonsense to be suspicious of him, Earl is a retired old man that joined shield when it was first created and got injured and then proceeded to be technical support- for lack of a better term- for the rest of his shield career and he wasn''t around when Fury finally became director so it''s unlikely that he would still be working for shield, if anything he might hold a grudge against them as he got a debilitating injury, was made into ''technical support'' and eventually had to leave as they said he want fit enough to be a shield agent anymore and left him without any financial support whatsoever. Earl is definitely most loyal to only me under the sun and whatever he does in his spare time I trust him to not be working against my best interests, after all he has been immensely useful to me since the death of my parents and even helped me become emancipated (grease the right hands and you could get away with murder, most do). Earl just nods at me and once I get out of the car he just drives away, he can be a real grouchy old man when he wants to be but I don''t mind it too much, helps token my balanced and not a total asshole with a massive ego. Now I just have to get my new car sorted out and hopefully become friends with one Johnny Storm, hopefully he isn''t as much of a douche as he is made out to be and I at least know that there is someone heroic in there so that should make this easier. I begin to walk up to the garage and pass by my facsimile of a vehicle and proceed to head further in and go into the garage and take a quick look around the place before spotting one Johnny Storm. The rest of mechanics and workers in here are either working on cars or are outside having a smoke break but Johnny here is doing something entirely different, he is talking to a woman sat at the receptionist desk and is flirting with her quite well might I add while ignoring all the other people in the building making some of the other mechanics in the garage give him dirty eyes. See there is a reason why I made sure my Audi R8 was vandalised and not some random cat that wasn''t worth much, it''s because Johnny only works on cool or expensive cars that come through here which makes a lot of problems with his co-workers but he gets away with it because of the publicity he brings to the garage. He also only works on disasters, cars that look beyond repair and would be better off scrapped because apparently he likes a challenge. So today I have brought him a cool expensive Audi R8 that looks like it is wrecked beyond repair, Johnny would surely like to work his magic on it and I can''t help but feel some anticipation for the work he will do on it as everyone knows that Johnny loves to work on cars and will probably give my baby a sweet upgrade. One can only hope.. I begin to make my way over to them and I overhear some of their conversation, it is honestly quite boring and it''s basically Johnny trying to charm her over and the woman being angry because she slept with him and they then set up a date and he was a no show and isn''t giving him another chance. I would probably be worried about this stopping him from wanting to work on my car if he hadn''t already slept with her, he''s already had his taster sample and is most likely to want to work on my car then try to get back into this chicks pants though I can''t dismiss the possibility that he might just forgo working on my car anyway. Let''s just hope that he won''t see his quest for women to be more important than working on my car.. I may not have thought out his priorities correctly, I can only hope that this woman continues to reject him, I''m rooting for you receptionist lady who, now that I look and see the ring on her finger is clearly married. I walk up and wait for a mull in there conversation before tapping him on the shoulder and interjecting. "Hey there buddy, I was wondering if you could help me out. You se-" but my words are put to a stop abruptly by the annoyed looking Johnny who turns around and interrupts me. "Listen buddy I can''t sign autographs right now as I''m currently trying to win the hand of this foxy piece of a.s.s right here so could you come back later, I''d really appreciate it." God give me strength.. I might just end up murdering this egotistic piece of shit... Chapter 33 - [AT] Sneaking Out... [After Transition] I wake up staring at an unfamiliar ceiling with a soft body moulded up against mine and suddenly I realise where I am and what I''ve done or rather who I''ve done. I''ve just slept with Selina Kyle AKA Catwoman and I don''t regret it at all, she is one kinky woman and if she had a skill level for all her skills I wouldn''t be able to tell whether stealing or ''s.e.x.u.a.l activities'' are her highest levelled skill and she is a world class thief. It truly was a night that really widened my horizons and broadened my mind, eventually after I got all that anger out of my system I let her take the lead a bit and she did things you wouldn''t believe, things I still can''t believe and I kinda don''t want to leave this bed in the hope that I''ll get some morning s.e.x as well but I know that I can''t wait around. Oh well, can''t laze around here forever and the first thing I have to do is figure out a way to get out of this bed and this condo without waking Selina up and that''s going to be particularly difficult with Selina asleep on my arm, thankfully watching a show called ''Friends'' has prepared me for such a situation and man am I glad I watched that show now. It is time for the ol'' ''Hug and Roll'', since Selina is asleep on my arm and we are currently cuddling this manoeuvre consists of two parts, part 1- I will first slowly and gently hug Selina from behind making sure to stay in this position for a while as to not immediately wake her up, I made sure to thoroughly tire her out the night before but I have to try to do this as quietly and efficiently as possible. I will then hug her more tightly and slowly begins to hug her and roll towards her making sure that she is traveling down along the length of my arm as I do, again making sure to do this as slowly as possible, then it''s time for the next step. Step 2- immediately after hugging her and moving her down the length of my arm I quickly and smoothly roll away from her making sure to pull my arm out from underneath as I do so, I take a moment just laying there on the bed to make sure she''s not going to wake up before I start to get ready to leave. After making sure that she was still asleep I quickly and quietly started to move around the room getting dressed up in my clothes which consists of my blue jeans, my brown boots, my red T-shirt and my brown leather jacket but that''s not all that I collect from the floor because I spot a pair of black lace p.a.n.t.i.e.s on the floor amidst the mess on the floor created by our deeds from the night before. Now I know what most people would be thinking because I''m zeroing in on a pair of p.a.n.t.i.e.s on the floor that belong to the woman that I had just bedded but they could not be farther from the truth, I mean yes back in the Marvel Universe I had amassed quite a collection of p.a.n.t.i.e.s but that''s not because I stole them off of women after I bedded them, they gave them to me as something to be remembered by before they left and I just ended up keeping them for some reason(they were gifts and it''s rude to run down gifts or get rid of them). I now that the amount of p.a.n.t.i.e.s I had am asked in the Marvel universe had defiantly surpassed fifty and I''m pretty sure that I was closing in on a hundred which is making the completion it''s in me go a bit story crazy. Oh well, I guess I''ll just start a new collection in this universe. ''The Panty Collections: Detective Comics Edition''. Anyway it''s not the p.a.n.t.i.e.s that I''m focusing on(okay well, maybe a little) it''s the thing that is underneath the black lace p.a.n.t.i.e.s, it''s the fake memory stick and for a moment I nearly forgot it and left it here which would have been a big mistake as it would alert Selina to the fact that everything wasn''t as kosher(is that the correct way to use kosher? Or am I calling a situation okay to eat because I guess that works too) as it seemed which I defiantly don''t want, cat themed people can be quite petty and vengeful, they can also hold a mean grudge( Felicia certainly did, at least for a while). I quickly grab the black lace p.a.n.t.i.e.s and the fake memory stick underneath it before placing the p.a.n.t.i.e.s back on the floor, I''d rather be given it then take it cause that makes me feel kinda sc.u.mmy, after that I quickly make my way to the exit of Selina''s bedroom but I stop at the doorway while opening the door because I hear what suspiciously sounds like a snort from behind me. I glance behind me and stare at Selina for a little while before I ultimately choke it up to her just snoring a little bit in her sleep, maybe she has a bit of blockage after all I was clogging up quite a lot of her airways last night and I can''t stop myself from smiling a bit smugly at the thought of it. I silently close the bedroom door and make my way to the front door where I left all my stuff yesterday and I spot Isis the black cat on my way, I take a quick little detour to give her a few scratches on the head and then I''m out the door with my bag of belongings on my back with no clue where I''m going but hey, that''s part of the journey. I then make my way on to the top of the rooftop and make sure that no one is around before jumping on to the building next to this one and head towards the vent where I left the real memory stick yesterday night. Pulling of the vent I immediately spot the memory stick laying on the bottom of the vent but I could have sworn that I had webbed it to the top of the vent to make it less easier to spot, I put my hand inside and feel around the top of the vent for my webs but I can''t find anything which makes me doubt myself. Maybe I accidentally used a timed web instead of the permanent web to hold it up and it eventually dissolved and the memory stick fell to the ground, I really should get around to making a proper web-shooter so that I can memorise the compartments which hold specific webs instead of this temporary one I put together a few days ago. I don''t actually know if any Peter Parker in the infinite universes out there actually made a permanent version of the webs but I certainly did, comes in handy when you wanna stick something back together and it''s cheaper than a quality super glue. I actually experiment a lot with Peters creation in my spare time and came up with a lot of different stuff using it, I even managed to change the formula and make a very adhesive superglue that is stronger than anything else out there and would have made a bomb with all of the uses for it especially with construction but I would feel quite sc.u.mmy for doing that using Peters creation. Thankfully there is no Peter Parker in this universe so I wouldn''t feel so bad marketing my special super glue ''BlueGlue'' that comes in the form of a tube that expels a blue glue(Walter White made blue meth and that was a hit, maybe that will translate to blue glue) that will stick anything together, there is no dissolving solution that comes with it(don''t want anyone using a dissolving solution to get rid of my webs or bring down the buildings that this will be used on) so use cautiously because ''once you use blue, there''s nothing to undo''. Is that a good slogan, I think I feel a plan coming together to acquire some funds in this universe. Anyway, I pick up my memory stick and stow it in my pocket as opposed to the fake memory stick which I have put in my bag, now I just need to find a computer with a secure line to finally use it and I think I know just where. It''s time I go pay Jaina Hudson''s workplace another visit... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and their are already some chapters on there, please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) Chapter 34 - [BT] Pitiful Pickup Lines... [Before Transition] Johnny then just continues to talk to the supposed married lady trying to get in her pants with her just trying to ignore him and arguing with him, meanwhile I''m left on the sidelines standing around like a f.u.c.k.i.n.g idiot holding his d.i.c.k(I''m not actually holding my d.i.c.k, it''s just an expression). I''ve tried to get a word in a few times to the pompous douchebag but he has just settled on ignoring me so I have to find another way to get him to talk to me and it seems to me that I have to get rid of the thing that''s distracting him and right now it''s this married lady who seems to have cheated on her husband, I have to take her out of the equation and I only see one way of doing that right now and that''s to seduce her myself but that''s most likely because Johnny wants her and Johnny was just an asshole to me so I''m going to give him a nice f.u.c.k you(show him who wants an autograph). "Excuse me.." I lean in to get a look at her name tag which is on the front of her desk. "Chloe, but I just came in here to get some help with my car but then I saw you and I just had to come over here. It''s just.. You look so familiar, did we take a class together? Cause I could''ve sworn we had chemistry." I finish with a smooth smile and it''s in the bag, I have to say that this is the best pickup line I could think of on the spot and it is a great one, that''s right Johnny boy watch the master. Chloe the receptionist looks at me bewildered and then just shakes her head and says. "Talk to one of the mechanics here and they''ll help you with your car, now both of you leave me alone so I can get back to work and not waste my time on idiots like you!" And she shoots me down without mercy. "Haha dude.. You were shot down hard, ''did we have a class together because I could''ve sworn we had chemistry'', ha classic. That was actually a pretty good line but your shit out of luck since I''ve been gnawing her down all this time." Johnny looks at me and starts to snigger, though he does complement my pickup line which I understand, it''s a badass pickup line e after all. "Shut up man, you weren''t doing any better. From what I could see your tactic was just to annoy her till she couldn''t take it anymore until she just gives you a pity date, which from where I''m standing is worse then no date at all. At least I''m not a simp that is constantly trying to get in a girls pants when she''s shot you down countless times, I''m gonna take no for an answer and leave it alone because after all there are plenty of fishes in the sea." I try to rile him up by calling him a simp, who does he think he is laughing at me. "Did you just call me a simp?" Johnny questions affronted. "I ain''t no simp, watch me now. I''m going to go straight up to her and ask her out and this time she isn''t gonna say no because this time I''m bringing all the Johnny charm! Watch the master at work while you just stand there like an idiot!" Johnny laughs and turn towards the desk. "Hey Chlo...E?" But she isn''t there, it seems like she took the opportunity to leave while me and Johnny argued over her and I don''t blame her. Johnny obviously scared her away when he started talking about asking her out again and she must have been blinded by my brilliance and run away..sigh, who am I kidding I obviously f.u.c.k.e.d up here but that''s not entirely my fault. I''ve only ever been with Gwen Stacey and that''s it, I''ve ignored everyone else and it''s just recently that I''ve started to pay attention to Mary Jane. I spend all my time researching and being anti-social so I''m not great at doing this sort of stuff, well at least I tried and that''s all anyone can ask for, right? Johnny just sighs and then looks at me, he seems a bit annoyed. "Alright dude, what do you want? The faster I sort you out the faster you can get out of here and stop ruining my chances with the ladies, so what is it that you want? Johnny questions and I''m glad that at least I''ve got his attention even if I did have to get shot down to get it, that''s Gotta be worth something at least. "Yeah, my car was vandalised late last night and I paid a tow truck driver to drop it of here in the parking lot. It''s there right now and I want to get it-" Johnny cuts me off. "Wait! That pink disaster out front is yours? That thing that used to be a sleek Audi R8? Well what are we waiting for, let''s go and see this thing. I always love working on cars that look to be hopeless and unrepairable and I''ve been eyeing that pink monstrosity all morning!" Johnny exclaims and we begin to walk towards the car and hopefully the beginning of a beautiful relationship, at least before he runs out of uses for me. Johnny begins to walk backwards in front of me on our way to the car, he begins to ask about my beautiful baby which has been wrecked beyond recognition. "So.. How exactly did this happen to your car? It didn''t just happen overnight or something right, because you called it in at late night so it must''ve been done yesterday and you came back to find it." He deduces, I guess spending all that time surrounded by geniuses and some of was bound to rub off on him eventually. "I parked up last night and then walked a few blocks to a nearby convenience store for a drink and when I came back it was like this, I was devastated when I found it." We have arrived in front of my car now and he looks at me a bit suspiciously, like I''m sus. "Wait that can''t be all, it must''ve taken you like ten to fifteen minutes to go to the convenience store and then get back to your car. That isn''t near enough time for them to be able to do all of this to your car so there must''ve been something else that held you up." He gestures to my car in question. I guess I''ve got to tell him about the carjacking incident, even though it''s unfortunate that it happened I can''t help but be a bit glad that it did as it gives me a reason why i took so long getting back to my car. If I find out tomorrow that Ben died in the hospital I''m going to hate myself for thinking that. "Your right, on my way back I spotted a yellow car parked up on the road ahead of me and there seemed to be some kind of.." ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and their are already some chapters on there, please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. A special thank you to my patrons Omar Amurrio, Julian Rocamora and Tim Brown. Thank you for the support. Chapter 35 - [AT] Inappropriate Conduct in the Library! [After Transition] So here I am once again, the Gotham University Library home to a massive library and more importantly a set advanced computers with a greater connection to the World Wide Web which is exactly what I need for my memory stick to work to its utmost capability, soon the memory sticks contents(consisting of both science and magic) will be spread all over the world and my integration to this universe will be seamless. I left Selina''s place very early in the morning so there is hardly anybody at the library at this time except for the really dedicated students who don''t have time later on in the day to study and the weirdos who don''t want anyone to see what they are researching, I guess I technically class as the second one since I''m not a student and I also don''t want anyone to see what I''m doing so, I guess I''ll embrace it. I walk through the entrance and quickly look to the receptionist area but unfortunately Jaina isn''t there and it seems to be some sleepy woman with her head down against the desk so I decide to just sneak on by without getting noticed, the less people see me here the better as if I''m caught I''m going to probably be in a lot of trouble and there''s a chance I might be caught if the magical people are on point enough to immediately locate the source of the disturbance but that will be difficult as there will be slight magical waves all over the world so they will have to be quick if they want to locate me. I made sure to have my little fortunate mind controlled brain trust make this with subtlety in mind but you can only be so subtle when doing something like this on a scale that encompasses the entire world and a slight chance that it might affect other places in the universe but who gives a crap, you can''t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs and I''m making myself a full English breakfast. After sneaking on by the half asleep receptionist which wasn''t very hard I made my way over to the computer area and found it pretty empty apart from a thirteen year old boy that seemed to be doing some research on the computer whilst being surrounded by a mountain of books, unfortunately for me he has seated himself at a spot that is going to make my job a little bit more annoying but it doesn''t really matter in the long haul. There are two rows of desks with a length of computers on both sides of the desks so that they are making the most of the space, I can''t sit on the first row as that is facing towards the entrance and people might possibly see what I''m doing on the computer and I can''t sit on the second row as that''s the row behind the boy and if he turns around he could also see what I''m up to. I also can''t sit on the same row as that boy as he might get up to get another book and might possibly see what id doing on the computer so the only option left is the fourth row, fortunately for me the computer area is in one of the corners of the library so behind the fourth row is just walls which is great for me. I make my way to the fourth row and begin to walk along its length to the very last computer on the row which is in the exact corner of the library and coincidently on the opposite side of the 13 year old kid who just raises his head to look at me for a second before he puts his head back down to get to work and I know that it seems a bit weird to sit on the opposite side of the kid after just going through my options to make sure that no one might see my screen but I did it for a reason and that reason is this, I needed the corner computer. I needed the corner computer for the single fact that it will give me the most cover incase someone decides to sit on the row that I am currently on, if I don''t sit in the corner and someone sits near me I would have to turn my screen to face the other way to stop them looking at it but what if there are people on both of my sides and that is why I chose the corner even if the kid is sitting opposite to me, I can just turn my screen to face the wall if someone sits on my row and there will be no chance of someone being able to see my screen aside from blatantly getting up and coming to look at it. I sit down at the computer and easily manage to log into it as the security for these computers aren''t the greatest, I quickly go through the computers settings and turn of anything that monitors the computers access or restricts it, I then do a quick check around to make sure that no one is paying attention to me before I reach into my pocket and pull out the memory stick and insert it into the computer. I go to the section that shows my memory stick and I click on it and a pop up immediately comes up asking if I want to open it but this immediately sends of alarm bells in my head as there is nothing asking for a password and I''m pretty sure my memory stick asks for a password, so this is definitely not my memory stick but that brings up the question of what is actually going on and where is my real memory stick. I decide to that the easiest way to get answers would be to open this memory stick and just rip the band aid off so I click open and a video file pops up, I quickly lower the volume so that it can can''t be heard by normal human ears(unfortunately I don''t have any earphones with me) but with my advanced senses I will be able to pick it up. I click play and the video immediately starts up and reveals Selina in all her glory sitting at her coffee desk looking into the camera with a sultry smirk. "Hey there slick, your probably a bit confused as to what is going on here and your probably quite angry right now but don''t worry cause I''ll explain it to you. You see my goggles are special and not only do they see in the dark but they also have thermal vision so that night where you followed me to my stash and I looked up at the ceiling and you were invisible, yeah I had my thermal vision turned on and could see you clinging to the top of the ceiling so I figured out that you took the real memory stick and replaced it with a fake. I can respect that, you couldn''t trust me a known thief so you decide to make sure that I fulfil my half of the deal whether I liked it or not and I can''t blame you for it. Actually you went above and beyond for me tonight so I decided to give you a special gift, I managed to find out where you put the real memory stick(I''m a world class thief so it wasn''t that hard to figure out) and I switched it with the fake one before going back to my condo which means that memory stick you picked up that I left underneath my p.a.n.t.i.e.s is your original memory stick." My eye begins to twitch at the sheer annoyance she has instilled in me with her actions and I can''t help but let out a sigh of tiredness, if I left that memory stick at her apartment I would be kinda screwed and it would be a bit awkward to go back and get it after I sneaked out of there. " I kinda hope you''ll take the p.a.n.t.i.e.s as well but I won''t know till you leave later, anyway since you helped me out and even saved my life I thought I''d give you this gift to remember our time together. See ya later slick, it''s been fun. Enjoy the video..." She finishes with a sly smirk and I can''t help but dread what is about to happen as I can guess what she is talking about, I quickly try to press X on the video file but I''m too late. "HARDER YOU BASTARD, HARDER!!!" I just press X before it manages to go any further but the damage has already been done, she gifted me a s.e.x tape of our time together and it has just embarrassed me in this very public place. The voice was low yes but trust me when I say that that was Selina screaming at the top of her voice and the library is dead silent right now, so the boy sitting across from me defiantly heard that. I see the 13 year old slowly lift his head over the top of the computer and stare at me with wide bewilders eyes, eyes that hold shock but I can also detect a hint of regret that he didn''t get to hear more. "Pop ups, adverts and clickbait is so bad nowadays that you can never known where cl.i.c.k.i.n.g on a link will take you when you are trying to do some serious work.. Such a shame that we live in such a shameless society... What''s up kid, do you perhaps want the link?" Trying to tease this kid into going back to doing his work is my only course of action.. Sigh, what has your life become when your trying to dissuade a kid from asking questions about your s.e.x tape that you made with a voluptuous cat burglar... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and their are already some chapters on there, please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. A special thank you to my patrons Omar Amurrio, Julian Rocamora and Tim Brown. Thank you for the support. Chapter 36 - [BT] Collaborating on Charlotte! [Before Transition] After finishing telling Johnny what happened yesterday we just sat on top of my broken down Audi R8 in silence, well Johnny was sat in silence and I was just looking at him wondering what he''s thinking and if he''s gonna point out that what I did was idiotic and stupid but I probably deserve it as an old man is in hospital with his fate unknown because of me. I continue to just sit there in silence and look at his face for a clue to what he''s thinking before I can''t take the silence any longer and go to speak, let me tell you it''s weird when a guy like Johnny whose a.s.s is so far up his own arse he can see his own heart is just sitting there silent and it''s just unnatural and abnormal for a guy like him. "I know what you''re thinking, I interfered and I ended up putting that old man in hospital right? I did the wrong thing as the carjacker could have been just using his gun to threaten Mr Parker and because I tackled him he ended up firing his gun and shooting the old man. I f.u.c.k.e.d up didn''t I? I shouldn''t ha-" I start to have a word vomit and I just can''t stop till Johnny interrupts me. "NO! What you did was the right thing to do and you shouldn''t think any different, because of you that old man has the chance to live and we don''t know if he would have had that if you didn''t interfere. You probably don''t know who I am on account of not freakin'' out when you met me but let me tell you that that means a lot coming from me as I am a member of The Fantastic Four, the one and only Terrific To-" This time I interrupt him in the middle of his speech. "I know who you are volcano breath and I''m not gonna treat you any different because of it, I mean what did you expect me to do when I met you? Get down on my hands and knees and start kissing your feet? Talk about being full of yourself, you need to get that sorted out soon or people are gonna start comparing you to Tony Stark with the massive ego that sits atop your shoulders." I tell him, mainly because he has just got in my good book for saying that and I would rather he didn''t become such a douche in the future and maybe I could help him with that. "Hey I ain''t as bad as Tony Stark, though I wouldn''t mind having all his cash or cars, man does that guy have some nice cars. And I don''t expect anyone to kiss my feet or anything, maybe just a ''You''re doing a great job man, keep it up'' from the guys and maybe a smooch on the cheek from the girls but that''s it I swear. Do I really come off as that much of a douche?" I pat him on the shoulder. "Nah man I''m just messin with ya, though you do kinda come off as a douche but I can tell that you''re a genuine guy underneath all that doucheyness,even if it is quite a lot of douche to dig through before you find that great genuine guy. What you just said to me proves that there''s a heart in there somewhere and I really appreciate what you said, it means a lot to me and I guess I just needed to hear that. All this mushy stuff isn''t good for my heart so can we get back to talking about the car? How long till its fixed and can you improve on it, money isn''t an issue of that you can be assured. I am willing to spend as much as I need to get this baby repaired and even improved upon, Chantelle(that''s right, every good car deserves a name and mines Chantelle) deserves at least that much." I no longer want to get this mushy with a guy I just met so I change the topic of the conversation back to my car. Johnny coughs a little to rid himself of some of his embarrassment before he gets down to brass tax. "Yeah, so money isn''t an issue and you want to get ''Chantelle'' fully repaired and then fully knitted out on top of that?" He finishes in question to which I just give a firm nod, I need to make it up to Chantelle for treating her so bad. "Well we can do that but it''s gonna take a few weeks to get it finished and we''re gonna have to keep ringing you up to find out what you want done on it but yeah that should be fine, anything else you want?" He questions and there is something I want, me an Johnny just had a heart to heart but that''s not enough to to gain access to the Baxter Building so what I''m about to ask next should help on that front. "Yeah, I was wondering if I could come by and help work on the car with you , I''ll still pay full price it''s just that I want to be involved in the process of bringing my girl back to full health and I don''t have much else to do these days so I thought it would be fun." Johnny just quirks his eyebrow a little before asking me. "Are you sure? Don''t you have a job or university to go to? I mean I don''t mind I always work on my own car so I can get why you would want to work on your own car but are you sure you want to come down here everyday and get your hands greasy working on it? It''s gonna be a lotta hard work and you goths be prepared to do it everyday." I give Johnny a thumbs up and a bright smile(Naruto mode: Believe It!). Don''t worry I''m prepared to do the graft and I''m making money every second as I own some stakes in some businesses so I have a lot of spare time, I''m ready to help bring my baby back to the peak of perfection and I wanna be part of the process!" Johnny smiles back at me like he understands, we both love cars and this is something I can use to befriend Johnny. Johnny jumps up from his sitting position on my car and pats me on the back. "Alright man, come back here tomorrow at 9 in the morning and we''ll get started, we will work from 9 till around 3 each time we do but be warned that we won''t be able to work on the car everyday or for the same amount of time, I still have the hero thing to do after all and the hours can be quite sporadic, it''s pretty much an all the time job so I''ll have to cut the session short sometimes. Anyway I''ll se you tomorrow okay, I''m going to go talk to Chloe again and see if there''s anything still there to salvage, see ya later Nicky boy!" And he just walk away back to his man whoring ways,my key to the Baxter building is in this garage but that can wait for another day. Right now I''ve got somewhere to be, specifically the New York Presbyterian Hospital. It''s time I checked up on Ben and the rest of the Parker family and hopefully everything will be alright there.. Though somehow I doubt it will be... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and their are already some chapters on there, please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) Chapter 37 - [AT] The Death Knell of my Past... [After Transition] The boy across from me is dumbfounded and his face quickly heats up to a volcanic red. "W-what.." He sputters unable to say anything else, that''s right just keep him off his feet and eventually chase him off through overwhelming bullshit. "I said, do you want the link to it? I actually closed it as quick as I could but it should be in the search history which I am about to delete, so speak now or forever hold your peace.." I catch him off guard and try to make him seem like a little pervert, that''s right I''m not the one in the wrong here, I just accidentally clicked on a pop-up while you ya little pervert are trying to find out the website link, to think children are so corrupt nowadays and they just keep getting younger and younger. The boy''s face quickly crumbles into a grimace and he quickly tries to correct the supposed mistake. "W-what? No, I DON''T want the link! Why would you even think that?" Now to hit him with some confusion and make him question himself, I''ll have him questioning his s.e.x.u.a.lity in another ten minutes if he doesn''t give up after this(that came out wrong, I''ll make him think about his s.e.x.u.a.l preferences by questioning why he doesn''t want the link, not by showing of my bodacious body and irresistible charm). "Dude, you don''t have to lie to me, there''s no one around and I could literally see you drooling. In fact(did you know?) you still have some drool on your face, right here." I point with my pointer finger(that''s what the finger is for, pointing) to my chin, just under my mouth. He probably hasn''t had the time to fully process what I just said before he''s wiping away at his mouth, when someone(most likely people older than you or authority figures) questions your hygiene or cleanliness in public more often than not your first response is to automatically try to correct what they just critiqued about your appearance. In this case the boy automatically wiped his mouth without checking if I was even telling the truth and probably even feels some wetness on his hand(physiologically that is, the mind is often the greatest wonder of all and that is something that Charles Xavier would probably say), he looks down at his hand for a moment before he looks back up and is about to try to continue the conversation with a retort, I have him on the ropes so I press my advantage. "Listen kid, even if you do want it I''m not gonna give it to you because you shouldn''t be wasting your time on this stuff yet. You should focus on studying and doing your chores and you can waste your time on this stuff when your older, cool kid?" He opens his mouth to try to get a word in but I just continue anyway. "Great! Good talk kid but maybe next time you should have a conversation like this with a family member or something and not a stranger in the library. So remember, don''t do drugs and stay in school! Words to live by." I finish with a big thumbs up in is direction along with a giant megawatt grin(Naruto mode) and then go back to my computer screen. I start to just randomly click on stuff on my computer screen, opening up all sorts of applications and closing them and then opening up search engines and searching random questions(does batman f.u.c.k bats? Why does super an wear his u.n.d.e.r.w.e.a.r o he outside of his clothes?) all the while keeping an eye on him through the corner of my eye hoping that he will just let bygones be bygones and just let the conversation go. He opens his mouth a few times and tries to spit some words out but it seems like he doesn''t know where to begin and is frankly quite confused, which works out perfectly for me. Eventually he just shakes his head and dives back into his work hoping to forget this conversation ever happened, I don''t think it was too weird a conversation as I''ve certainly had weirder ones in the marvel universe like the time I met Deadpool and we started a weird conversation about comics and the forth wall and it''s weirdly a conversation that I can''t fully recall. Anyway with the boy out of my hair it was time to get down to business, I reached into my backpack which I had place on the floor below the desk when I first sat down and pulled out the real memory stick which I then insert into the computer and remove the s.e.x tape memory stick. I take a moment to look down at this sinful memory stick in my hand before I place it safely into my backpack in a secret zip on the inside of the bag, I wouldn''t want this to get in the wrong hands and potentially mess things up for Selina and it''s not because of some other sort of sordid reasoning that I''m choosing to keep it, of course. With the real memory stick now inserted in the computer I quickly opened it up and sighed in relief when it asked for a password but then my face set into a grimace because of what my password actually is. This memory stick has incredible potential and if all that was protecting(it''s encrypted but just having the password would open the contents) it was a password then I had to make it something that only I would think off and that nobody else would know and I chose one of my most darkest secrets from my time in the Marvel universe. I checked left and right before slowly entering the password with great anticipation to forget about the password afterwards and what would occur after I typed it in, I typed in ''ImTheOneWhoMurderedMW'' and its true, I had to for her, before he could hurt her.{AN:Can you guess who M W is? It''s like in breaking bad where W W is Walter White} After I tap enter everything changes, I will have everything I need to successfully blend into the DC universe taken care of and then I won''t have to worry about it anymore. No fear of someone suddenly showing up like Dr Fate and banishing me to another realm because I don''t belong here. I don''t have to worry about the Batman investigating my origins and coming up empty, I don''t have to worry about lying to superman about where I come from and him being able to tell I''m lying by listening to the rate of my heart beats. With just a tap of the enter key everything changes, I will become just as invested in this world as I was with the Marvel universe maybe even more so. This will not only change the entire world but this will change me as well, on an emotional, intellectual and maybe even physical level. I will become seamlessly become a part of the DC universe and no one will ever be able to tell any different, maybe not even myself which is a slight possibility. I could end up with scars, with new knowledge and a minuscule chance that I will have new powers from what I am going to do, ad I''m ready to do it. With not a single bit of hesitance my finger smashes down on the enter key and that little click ring out like a death knell to every thing I used to know... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and their are already some chapters on there, please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Julian Rocamora, Tim Brown and Stormrall. Thank you for the support. Chapter 38 - [BT] Bens Fine But Peter is Angry... [Before Transition] Finding Ben''s room number was pretty easy but the nurse wouldn''t tell me which room because I wasn''t family(one of those nurses who was just tired and didn''t have time for anyone who came here and was not looking to be a patient), in fact it was too easy because all I had to do was wait for the nurse to go deal with something else and then I just turned her screen around on her desk and searched Ben''s name. Someone should really make places like this more secure as it was way too easy to find out where someone is in the building but then again this is a hospital not witness protection, though some people who are injured and need treatment at the hospital will undoubtably be wanted dead by powerful people(hospital assassinations are quite regular and most the time they will just choke it up to heart failure or something, not the stuff that was injected into his IV). After climbing some flights of stairs I finally make it to his floor and journey on towards his room, before entering though I take a moment to look in through the window and make sure that Ben is well enough to have visitors because I don''t wanna upset the hospital or the rest of the Parkers(vengeful/evil Peter can be quite scary with that high intelligence of his, I''d be scared to see what he can do when he decides to get rid of his humour and be utterly ruthless) don''t wanna have a to deal with a weeping May Parker. Looking through the window I can see that it is just Ben in the room at the moment but I can see some jackets/cardigans on the chairs inside the room so I assume that Peter and May are also here but they have popped out for a little for some reason or another, which is great for me as I would like to talk to Ben privately and I can see that Ben has spotted me looking through the window and he is waving for me to come in. I gently open the door and pop my head through it and see Ben looking at me with a slight smile on his face. "It''s good to see you again kid, come on in and take a seat. I''m afraid I didn''t quite catch your name the last time we met, you know on account of all the being shot and bleeding out on the pavement I was doing." He says with a chuckle, I guess I know where Peter got his humour from, Ben certainly isn''t letting a bullet through his body get him down. "Ah, it''s Nicholas James but you can call me Nick Mr Parker. How are you feeling? Are you okay? There''s no permanent damage is there?" I begin asking him in worry. "Hey kid, I was a U.S soldier in the army so I can handle a bullet wound okay. This little hole ain''t gonna keep me down, I''ve still gotta mow the lawn and look after my family and till they''re fine I''m not gonna be laying down for a single moment." He says with another chuckle and a smile on his face but I can see the glint of determination in his eyes and the conviction in his voice, this is a man who''s had a brush with death and doesn''t wanna leave his family unprepared for life without him. I didn''t really know what I was gonna say when I decide to visit Ben in the hospital but now I have too much to say, I take a breath before I just start spurting out words. "I- I''m sorry for what happened to you, it was my fault that you got shot. If I didn''t try to be a hero and help you that guy would have just threatened you with his gun and you would have let him take your care and you wouldn''t have been shot, this is all my fault. I''m so sorry and I will do anything to make it up to you, anything at all just name it and I will do my best!" I end up startling Ben with my word vomit and he looks a bit bewildered before he tries to speak to me. "Listen kid, I-" But just at that moment Peter bursts through the door clenching his fists with May Parker following him in, I guess he was listening from outside the door. "THIS IS YOUR FAULT!" He shouts as he strides across the room and grabs me by the collar slightly tearing my shirt with his supernatural strength, May grabs onto his shoulder from behind and it looks like she''s about to say something but Peter isn''t near finished with his rant. "IT''S YOUR FAULT MY UNCLE BEN WAS SHOT AND THATS HE''S IN THE HOSPITAL NOW, WHY COULDN''T YOU JUST LEAVE WELL ENOUGH ALONE! ITS BECAUSE OF YOU THAT HE''S IN HERE, IF IT WASN''T FOR YOU HE WOULD STILL BE ABLE TO USE HIS LEGS!!" He finishes with a literary blow that I wasn''t prepared for and threatens to knock me out. "Y-You, your legs- You, you can''t walk anymore?" I question in anguish, I made this man into a cripple and it''s my fault that he will never walk again. It seems my question makes everyone momentarily forget that Peter is still grabbing me by the shirt though that could be because I''m so big and built while Peter is still seemingly scrawny that they''re not worried that Peter is gonna hurt me but that I''m gonna decide to hurt Peter. "That''s right kid, I''m paralysed from the waist down because the bullet hit my spine and the doctors say that I''ll never be able to walk again but that isn''t your fault Nick it''s that shooters fault." Ben begins to tell me but I can''t help but have my doubts. It''s because of me that he got shot in the first place, if I didn''t interfere he might never have got shot in the first place and I decide to make my opinion known. "But if I didn''t try to stop that carjacker then he might never have even fired his gun in the first place, for all we know he could have just wanted to threaten you with the gun but because of me tackling him he ended up shooting you! I fail to see how your condition isn''t my fault, as far as I can tell it seems to be almost entirely my fault!" I tell him. Peter face begins to morph into a picture of rage as he snarls at me but before he can get any words out Ben begins to speak again. "That''s pure bullshit! I''m an old man son, you don''t think that he couldn''t have just pushed me out the way and stolen my car and that he couldn''t have just locked me out and made off with my car. No, that man wasn''t thinking clearly, he was panicking and was in a rush because he had just committed a crime." Peters face settles into a frown at that and I can see the guilt on his face. "That man got out his gun for no others reason then to use it, he could have just pushed me out of the way but he decided to pull his gun out on me instead because he was in a rush. I was going to get shot either way and whose to say I wouldn''t have been shot directly in the head, the way I see it you saved me kid. You saw someone in trouble and instead of just watching or filming it on your phones like any other kid would have done you decided to help me, you decided to risk your own life to help an old man and I can''t help but be grateful to you for it. You truly are a remarkable young man.." Ben smiles gently at me and I can hear May sob slightly while smiling tearily at me but it isn''t quite the same for Peter. Peter loosens his grip and his arms fall down to his sides but I can see the despondent look on his face and that''s when I realise that Peter hasn''t yet gotten the responsibility speech, right now he is just a boy who ended up letting a criminal run and eventually shoot his Uncle Ben while opposite to him is me who his uncle has just praised as a remarkable young man and he can''t help but feel depressed at it. At this rate Spider-Man might not exist and I can''t allow that to happen, there has got to be something I can do to put him back on the right track... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and their are already some chapters on there, please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. A special thank you to my patrons Julian Rocamora, Tim Brown and Stormrall. Thank you for the support. Chapter 39 - [AT] A Brand New Me! [After Transition] This memory stick was created by the greatest minds in the marvel universe, the minds of Reed Richards, Tony Stark, Stephen Strange and Charles Xavier and all their knowledge regarding technology, magic and the human mind were used to create this memory stick which can change reality. I remember that in one of the Spider-Man comics after the events of ''Civil War'' where he reveals his identity and ''One More Day'' where Peter makes a deal with Mephistopheles to bring back his Aunt May and ends up changing history making it so that he never marries MJ, that Peter''s identity is restored due to his deal but in a way so that he forgets he ever made a deal with Mephisto. It is explained that Peter still revealed his identity during Civil War but afterwards he goes to Stephen Strange to beg him to help him restore his secret identity, Strange contacts Reed Richards and Charles Xavier(not Tony Stark because it''s Tony who made him reveal his identity in the first place) and they work together to do some technology/magic voodoo to change reality and make everyone forget Spider-Man''s identity as well as removing some of the things that would point to his true identity, at least that''s how I think it went as its been a long time and I can''t remember it that well. Anyway when I came across those geniuses who were being mind controlled and were left to look after them and try to snap them out of it, I decided to use the opportunity to my advantage and have them help me create something based on what they did for Peter in the comics. I had Xavier connect all their minds and share all their knowledge between them so they all had each others knowledge on tech, magic and the mind and then had them work together to help me create something that would act similar to how they hid Peter''s identity by changing reality. Though they all had the same knowledge they all had different ideas and approaches to fulfilling my request and by working together and discussing amongst themselves they managed to create the memory stick which would work better than I could of managed. I had to rush them a bit though as the others could have come back at anytime so I didn''t get everything I wanted in it and the memory stick became a one use item which I wanted to study over the years and see if I could replicate it but since the suddenness of my trip here I have decided to just use it and if I need another one in the future I''m sure I can find some geniuses to mind control and have them work together to create another(maybe an even better one since I won''t have to rush them). This memory stick after being plugged into a global network like the Internet will change reality to suit my needs(unfortunately preprogrammed by the geniuses from marvel with a slight randomness) and effectively write me into existence so that my existence here blends in seamlessly and no one will be able to tell that I don''t belong to this universe because I will be written into this realities source code so I will belong here and it will be part of the natural order. Through the use of technology the contents of the memory stick will be spread around the entire earth and even the universe(because there will definitely be some contact of planet) and through the use of technology and magic reality will change so that I will have always been here and the only ones that might not be effected will be The Seven Endless and The Source but they don''t usually interact with the world much and if they do they will probably just find it interesting. There are some positives and negatives to this method though, I will be part of this reality and people will remember me and I will have a social security number as well as all other sorts of things that a person would collect while growing up in a world but there are some downsides. Because I changed reality that means that there will have been a version of me living in this universe(I won''t know if he was reincarnated or just a normal dude with a normal life) and I will get all of his memories and being once the memory stick finishes what it''s doing. This means I will have memories of living in this world, growing up in it and all having experiences in it and interacting with the people in it along with my memories from marvel which may change my personality slightly until I have adjusted, there is also the chance that the version of me that lived in the DC world will have maybe gained a superpower or something which will be added upon my spider powers now. I will effectively be creating and merging another version of me with myself(making another me and letting him live a full life before I devour him kinda) which makes me feel a bit weird but he''s me so I guess he would be alright with it. This means that I will also gain all the things the me in this reality owned along with his experiences and his connections/emotional bonds which means there is a slight chance that I end up with a family but I doubt it. The geniuses said they could not confirm what would happen for sure but they could sway it slightly to get the best conditions and I told them my conditions. So the moment I pressed the enter key this procedure was put into motion and there is no way to stop it, with how fast it is able to travel through the Internet and how long it would take fore it to do its magic I have no clue how long it will take, it could be instant or it could take like an hour or something, the geniuses said it would definitely be less than 24 hours. With that done I take out the now useless memory stick from the computer and put it in my pocket, I then proceed to close down all the tabs on the computer before opening up the Internet and opening a page on the latest scientific discoveries just incase anyone comes snooping and this reality change might end up knocking me out(gaining new memories or something like it usually isn''t known to be very relaxing). I breathe out a sigh of relief, after all this time I finally did it and now I''ve just gotta wait for the voodoo to happen before I have to do anything else. I think I deserve a breather, I fold my arms across the desk and lay my head down on them while closing my eyes, after a few seconds I open my eyes again and... I''m so excited, today I turn five and the matron says that if I''m good today I''ll be able to have a muffin.. I just hope none of the older boys steal it from me... {AN: I know that a few of you will be a bit confused at the end of this chapter but don''t worry, you will understand in the next chapter as all will be revealed then.} ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and their are already some chapters on there, please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Julian Rocamora, Tim Brown and Stormrall. Thank you for the support. Chapter 40 - [BT] There Must also Come... [Before Transition] I turn towards Ben and look at him sadly. "That''s great and all Ben but what if you did get shot in the head when I tackled him? What if there was a child there and I tackled him and the child ended up shot!? What then!? I''m grateful for your words Ben but at the end of the day I''m just a kid who got in over his head and I''m not like Iron Man or Mr Fantastic, I don''t have any powers!" I start my new rant which is coincidently about power, I wonder what Ben might say in response to this. Ben still has the same look on his face and his expression is calm. "You don''t need powers to be a hero son, you just need to want to help people and that''s it." He tells me,I guess that''s the veteran finally showing his face. "But powers would sure help, there was a million and one ways for that incident to go wrong and if you ask me we were lucky that you were only paralysed from the waist down because it could have gone a hell of a lot worse than it did, I''m sorry if my words are a bit harsh but it''s the truth!" May looks a bit angry at my words along with Peter but Ben starts to speak before they can express their anger. "You might be right son but, now I''m not much of a religious man but there is one thing that stuck with me, ''All it takes for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing''. Do you know what that means? It''s about doing nothing when bad things happen, that guy was gonna shoot me and you didn''t do nothing, you did something and that''s all anyone can ask for, the mark of a good man." Peter and May''s expressions deflate a bit at that but I can still tell they are a bit frustrated with me. Man Ben is a well of wisdom, I got a quote about good and evil out of him but it''s not the quote I''m fishing for so I''ve got to throw out my line one more time. "I suppose you are right but it''s about capability as well, I could try to help but I may just make things worse and no one wants that. It''s all good and well to want to help but if you don''t have the power or ability to help then you''ll just make things worse, it should be left to the professionals and superheroes to save people because that''s what they are trained for and they are good at it while I could just make things worse." Man, these guys must think I''m a bummer now but all I want is a specific word of wisdom from Ben. Ben nods at me. "Yes, that is true. There are people who are professionally trained to help people and they have the power and ability to help others especially with situations like I was in but that doesn''t mean what you did was wrong, even if I was shot in the head and died I wouldn''t blame you because you tried to help me and that all you can ask for. People like Mr Fantastic and Iron Man well, ''With Great Power There Must Also Come Great Responsibility'' and those people haven great power and they use it responsibly, they use it to help others because that''s what they are capable of with their super powers. Everyone has power no matter how small and it is up to them to use their power responsibly and in the best way possible, take Peter here for example. He may not look it but he has a great power!" Peter eyebrows shoot up and his eyes widen in shock thinking that his uncle Ben knows about his spider powers, I''m also wondering if Ben knows. "I- I do. I h-have a p- power? Stop kidding uncle Ben, I don''t have any powers." Peter starts to panic and tries to mitigate the situation but he''s not doing it very well, I guess he''ll learn to lie better after becoming Spider-Man but everyone will believe that Peter is just a coward who runs away from super villains, I guess that ''Great Responsibility'' isn''t all it''s cracked up to be. Ben just smiles softly at him and let''s out a little chuckle. "But you do have a power Peter and that power is your mind, I have no doubt that if Peter were to suddenly develop powers he would start to help people with them because me and May have raised him into a kind young man but Peter doesn''t need super powers to help others. Peter may look a little small and he might need to eat a lot of wheat cakes to grow up big and strong but that doesn''t matter because he can still help others. Peter has his brilliant mind and with it he could help thousands of people, he is a genius and wants to became a scientist that will develop things that will help others. That is his great power and I have no doubt that Peter will use it responsibly, you don''t need to be able to fly through the sky or have bulletproof skin to be a hero." He says while looking at Peter with pride but Peter turns his head away in embarrassment so no one can see him, at least that what the other parked think but I know better. I can see his fist clenched and I know that he feels guilty and ashamed at the fact that he hasn''t lived up to what his uncle believes him to be capable of which is great for me, Spider-Man was born out of shame and guilt for effectively getting his uncle who was like a father to him killed. The Spider-Man of this universe will be born out of shame and killed for effectively making his uncle a cripple and for not living up to his expectations. I can see the fire that has lit in peters eyes and I no longer need to worry about his path though it might be slightly different to the original spiders. Now that that is finished it time to complete what I came here to do, which is to use my money to get rid of some of this guilt which is weighing me down. "Okay Ben but I still feel bad for my part in putting you in this condition so the least you can do is let me pay your hospital fees and before you say anything I am no leaving this room till you agree to it. I know that the bill for this kind of treatment is out of your budget and it would put you so far in the red that you would think your drowning in Kool-Aid so I''m going to pay for it, don''t worry consider this me paying you back for all the help your son has given me in school with helping me study arm passing my exams." Peter hasn''t actually helped me at all but I''m expecting he''ll keep his mouth shut because he knows how much they need my help, especially considering they are living on a pension and they will be spending more on all sorts of stuff now that Ben''s a paraplegic. They were actually doing just fine financially before this but with Ben''s new situation they''ll be scraping by now, in the original universe when Ben dies May would only get part of his pension which would be enough for her and Peter to live on but they stayed in their house. It was probably expected that they would sell the house and move to a two person apartment or something but they stayed at the house because that was where they had all there memories and where they would remember Ben but this meant that they would begin to struggle for cash which forced Peter to get a job at the Bugle to help out his aunt. Now they would still be scrimping and scraping if they have to pay off this hospitals bill so the least I can do is help them out with this. ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall and Leonidas Simon. Thank you for the support. Chapter 41 - [AT] The Start of Life for Nicholas James. [After Transition] My name is Nicholas James and life didn''t start out great for me, actually it hasn''t been all that great even when I had gotten older and I guess that''s because I grew up on the mean streets of Gotham City. If you don''t get born into a well off family in Gotham than there''s a 95% chance that your gonna end up dead in a gutter before you reach the age of thirty(because you''ll either be getting robbed or be the thug that does the robbing) and if you''re in Gotham without a family then you''re pretty much screwed from the get go, unfortunately I was screwed from the get go because I was an orphan and the orphanage wasn''t a good place to grow up. The Gotham City Orphanage was built by Thomas Wayne and apparently it was a haven for orphans, at least it was before he up and died because after that it went to hell with no return ticket. Now the orphanage was heavily underfunded and people found ways to take advantage of that, after all human greed is limitless even to those whose job it is to look after children and I can only say that I''m glad I was put in that orphanage because it helped me leave this hell hole called Gotham, no matter how painful it was living in that orphanage. The matron of the orphanage used to be a kind elderly woman back when Thomas Wayne was alive but after his death she ended up leaving it and she was replaced by a plain looking middle aged woman who was really good at faking being pleasant, she was anything but but she knew how to give the kids the carrot and beat them with a stick. It turns out she was actually working for a lieutenant of the Falcone crime family and she was ordered to become the matron of this orphanage and it wasn''t out of the kindness of their hearts, it was because children make good drug mules and why wait for the kids to grow up before recruiting them when you could do the nurturing yourself and raise yourself a pack of drug mules who get paid in a little extra food at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Of course not all children were chosen for such special duties because half of them were to dumb to do it and the other half were too greedy to trust(children are clever little social animals that when given an inch will start running for a mile) so the only choice was the outcasts that were clever enough and desperate enough for the extra food, that specific category was the one I belonged to and I don''t know whether I am blessed or cursed because of it. The matron needed a specific type of kid but there wasn''t enough of that type of kid so she set out to create them by herself, she''d find a kid who she could tell was a bit smarter than the others and then she would tell the older kids to start bullying them and taking some of their food from them and she would reward them with a sweet or something of the like, then when the smart kid was at his most desperate she would come to him with an offer that they couldn''t refuse, she would stop the bullies from bullying them and even punish the bullies and she would reward the smart child with extra food and a few toys and all they had to do was deliver a package from one place to the other. It was on my fifth birthday when everything changed for me because the day before the matron came to me with an offer that she had brought to so many little kids before me and those kids disappeared when they reached the age of ten and the matron said that they were rewarded with a rich new family for helping her, so why wouldn''t I accept as it would stop the bully''s from bothering me and it would net me some extra food, how I pity my younger self for his naivety. I had accepted yesterday and since it was my birthday today the matron said she would give me a muffin as well if I help her properly, I didn''t know what I would be doing that morning but by the time that day ended I would have a very different outlook on life and I would be grateful for it eventually as it would help me through the rest of my life. The morning started of with breakfast where the matron had place an extra heap of food on my plate with a promise for more at every meal time if I do my job right, for the rest of day I just played around and observed my old bullies giving me a wide birth till the matron eventually came to get me and then she took me to the front of the orphanage where she stopped, dropped to her knees and held me by my shoulders. She told me exactly what my job for the day was and exactly what I was expected to do, I was expected to walk across the street to the man leaning against a lamppost and then I would rub my nose and cough, when I do that the man would drop a brown paper bag on the floor which I was then supposed to pick up. I was then to walk two blocks down the road to my right and stop at the building that had a smiley face grafted on the side of it, I was then supposed to enter that building and climb the stairs to the rooftop where I would find a pigeon coop and I was supposed to lift up some of the nesting in the pigeon coop and place the bag there before going back to the orphanage. I did exactly as I was told, I walked across the street, I coughed and rubbed my nose, I picked up the brown paper bag and proceeded to walk two block down the road to my right before stopping at the building with the smiley face, I entered the building and then made my way up to the rooftop, everything was going perfectly but unfortunately that was where things took a turn for the worse. I had made my way to the program coop and was trying to figure out how to open it up(I was a five year old and I''d never seen this type of locking mechanism before, hell sometimes I''m still confuse by weird gates even today), just as I managed to get the door to the pigeon coop open I heard the rooftop door behind me swing open and crash into the brick wall. I turned around and saw what seemed to be a very twitchy and skinny looking man, he was skinny to the point of almost looking malnourished and he was constantly moving his eyes in every which direction, eventually his erratic eyes landed on me or perhaps more specifically what I held within my hands and he started to walk towards me. I started to back away from the dangerously skinny man, clutching the brown paper bag to my c.h.e.s.t like a lifeline, I couldn''t let him take it as it was my job to make sure it goes into the pigeon coop and if it doesn''t it means no more extra food for me... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall and Leonidas Simon. Thank you for the support. Chapter 42 - [BT] Whether You Want it or Not... [Before Transition] Ben immediately replies without even taking a moment to deliberate about it, this man really wants to be someone who stands on his own two feet and capable of providing for his own family. "Sorry Nick but I''m afraid we''ll have to decline and I appreciate the offer but you don''t have to pay for my treatment, we Parkers are tough and we''ll figure out a way to get through this so don''t worry about us, okay Nick." This man is really making things difficult for me, I just wish he wasn''t so likeable so I could just shove the money down his throat and leave and I mean that figuratively of course. "Sorry Ben but I''m afraid I''ll have to refuse your declination and I can understand why you declined but I don''t care about that, you see Ben when I tried to save you it became my responsibility to make sure you are fine and that means financially as well so you see I can''t leave this hospital room without paying for your treatment as that would mean I am shirking of my responsibility. My power is all that money I have laying around doing nothing in a bank and I have to use that power responsibly and as far as I can see helping pay for your treatment is one of the best things I could do with the money that I have in amounts that u will never be able to fully spend, and if that doesn''t convince you I guess I''ll have to make this into a transaction and give you the money in a trade for something of equal value." I start with my speech about power and responsibility because Ben seems to really love those words but if that doesn''t work I can make a deal with them that will allow them to take the money without feeling to bad about it. But Ben is still adamant about his refusal. " I''m sorry son but we can''t ask you for that amount of money, it''s not about responsibility it''s a matter of principal and I highly doubt that we have something in our position that would be of equal value to the amount I owe to the hospital for my treatment." That''s what he says but he has something of incredible worth at the Parker house, in fact it is in this room at this very moment. "Oh but you do have something of equal value, in fact I would say it is of even greater value than the treatment money you owe to the hospital and I can tell that you would be happy with what the deal is." Peter interrupts at this point, curious as to what I mean because if the Parker family really have something so valuable in their possession then it could save them from a world of trouble. "And what is this so called valuable thing we possess, I don''t know if you know this but the most valuable thing we own is our George Forman grill!" He says that but I know for a fact that there is something much more valuable in the Parker household and I''m looking right at it. I just give it to him straight and cut the shit, I sliced that shit with a bloody chainsaw. "It''s you Peter." He immediate falters and begins to question if he heard that right. "I''m sorry I don''t think I heard you correctly and I also think my ears are filled with wax, you want me?" He questions and I just give a simple nod back to him, I''m already tired of this place and I want to leave as quickly as possible so I will just try to speed this up. "It''s great to know that I am worth that amount but I don''t think I can agree, first of all I don''t swing that way though I am flattered and I''m pretty sure that my aunt and uncle would have so pretty choice words about me selling my self and my purity!" Peter quickly says but I know that he''s just kidding around, at least I hope he is because if he isn''t then I am really going to have to review that''s kind of vibes I am putting out there. I straight away just ignored re what he said and just bulldoze straight ahead because I don''t want Ben and May to take what Peter just said as the truth and ruin my whole negotiation. "I own a stake in Stark Industries and since Mr Stark stopped the production of weapons(a choice that I am entirely behind) we are not making as much as we used to due to all our government contracts going to other companies and some of our employees going along with them, we are now in the business of inventing things that will help humanity instead and that''s why I want you Peter." They stare at me in confusion but before any of them can get a word out I continue my words. "You see Peter with all of our employees leaving we are in need of some new talented blood and I believe that new blood could be you Peter, I have sat next to you for the past year and I know how clever you are and Stark Industries would be proud to have you. You would be interning at Stark Industries and hopefully you will be joining Stark Industries once you have finished your education, I would essentially be paying you to send Peter to Stark Industries as we would potentially gain a brilliant scientist who could help invent countless new things for our company!" Of course Stark Industries isn''t really in that and of a situation, In fact I would say business is great but I had to exaggerate certain things in the hope it would convince them to accept the deal. They stay their stuck for a little while before Peter gets this really excited look on his face(I call it the nerdgasm) but before he could say anything Ben interrupts. "That sounds great and all Nick but I don''t know if we can agree to it, first of all we would need to ask Peter what he wants to do and secondly you are paying us to give our nephew an internship? I''m sorry but that doesn''t sound quite right." Ben questions with a lot more insight than I gave him credit for. But I''ve had enough namby panbying around and I want to leave now. "It doesn''t matter Ben, I paid for your hospital treatment before I even entered your room and I only asked you because I didn''t want it to seem like I enjoy splashing my cash around and showing off. I have already payed for your treatment and there isn''t anything you can do about that, I''m sorry but this is something I needed to do whether you wanted it or not. Peter, if you still want that internship talk to your neighbour Mary Jane Watson and she will help put you in contact with me, have a good afternoon Mr and Mrs Parker, Peter." And I promptly stride out of the room without looking back, I had already found Ben''s doctor before I went to his room and I had already paid for his treatment. I had gotten tired of playing around with them, making it seem like it was their choice to have me pay for the treatment and eventually I just got tired of it and decided to just mic drop and leave. I hope that they don''t get too angry about this, I know that people don''t like to get tricked even if it is beneficial... I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Leonidas Simon, Turtle and rivenaka hewa waduge. Thank you for the support. Chapter 43 - [AT] Life Changing Incident in a Gotham Alleyway... [After Transition] I start to question the man, why is he walking towards me? Why can''t he just leave me alone? But he just stays silent with his singular focus being on the brown bag within my hands, he continuously scratches his arms as he moves towards me and it''s like he is in a daze because he doesn''t respond to anything and it looks like he doesn''t know what''s even going on, all he knows is that he wants the bag in my hands but I''m not gonna say let him have it. With the man now getting dangerously close I begin to back away in the hopes that he will just leave me alone but it doesn''t look like that is going to happen, we continue with him closing in on me and me backing up to the edge of the roof and then I hit the roof ledge and that''s when it all kicks off. With me no longer having any space to back up I look behind me and the skinny man uses that chance to get closer, I turn my head around just in time to see him lunge at me for the bag and when he gets a firm grip on it my eyes widen as he begins to furiously tug at it. Him lunging at me made me go backwards and I end up sitting on the roof ledge with my back facing towards the dingy alleyway that is behind the building, we are both in a furious game of tug of war and we both intend to wings shown by us both pulling on the brown paper bag like our life depends on it and I know that I am about to lose. Getting desperate I make a last ditch effort, with my bottom on the roof ledge I kick both my legs out at the skinny man in the hopes of making him let go of the brown paper bag but I seriously overestimated myself. The man might be dangerously skinny to the point of looking almost malnourished but I am just a five year old child, a bit smarter than other children my age but I''m still just a tiny child in this city of monsters and when my feet finally connect with the man''s c.h.e.s.t and begin to push at him I can see him moving further away but then I realise it''s not him that moving away its me. Falling backwards I desperately clutch to the brown paper bag in the hopes that it will prevent me from falling of the ledge of the building but it was a foolish hope, a ripping noise breaks out into the cacophony that is Gotham at midday and with it my hopes are torn to shreds. Their is a sudden shower of little plastic bags with sugar inside them everywhere and I begin to feel as light as a bird, I start to fall backwards to the ground and suddenly it feels like everything is in slow motion and with my arms flying up into the sky I can see within my hands is a torn piece of the brown paper bag which I was so desperately clutching onto before. I stare at it for I don''t know how long before I just decide to let it go, I stare at the piece of brown paper bag as it begins to flutter in the wind and I can see it swiftly manoeuvring through the little plastic bags in the sky and eventually it has gotten past all of them and it begins to rise higher and higher into the sky but eventually it flutters away from the roof of the alleyway and I can no longer see it. With my focus no longer on the piece of brown paper bag I stare up at the beautiful blue sky with all the clouds floating without trouble and all the birds swooping by with no problems and for a moment I wish that I could be just like those birds, to fly with nothing weighing me down, to be like those clouds in the sky and float along without gravity pulling me down. Staring at the blue sky I began to feel a sense of peace and I feel tranquil like what all those sisters in the orphanage talk about with their yoga, and I''m not that afraid anymore and I know that that is a weird mindset for a five year old but I truly felt like that. But then something changed as I was staring at the wide expanse of the sky, slowly up my view of the blue sky began to shorten and I could see it slowly being replaced by the walls on either side of the alleyway and at that moment I had a realisation. I realised that I was a frog, one of the sisters told us a story once and I remember there being a frog being stuck at the bottom of the well and he though the sky was as big as what he could see from his world but it wasn''t and as I saw the sky rapidly being replaced by the walls of the alleyway I couldn''t help but think that I was in a well. I am a frog at the bottom of a well and for a moment I got to view the entirety of the sky and the feeling when I saw the entirety of the blue sky was euphoric and when that view began to slowly disappear I couldn''t help but feel mad, I don''t know specifically what changed in me that day but something did and I''m glad that it did. I watched as more and more of the blue sky began to disappear from my vision and I couldn''t help but feel some unwillingness in me at the sight but that quickly ended when I hit the ground signs sickening crunch and everything faded to black. [][][] Everything''s blurry when I open my eyes, I look around but I can''t see very much but what I can make out is the skinny man picking up all the little plastic packets of sugar spread around the alleyway and then he comes to me and his hand goes towards my c.h.e.s.t and I see him pulling a little plastic bag from on top of my c.h.e.s.t but for some reason this one is red, I wonder why that is. I try to speak to him but it''s like I suddenly get all my sense back and all I can feel is intense pain everywhere, it like every fibre of my being is gnawing and pulling at each other and I''m going to get pulled apart. As I''m writhing in pain I can hear sickening crunches in the air but I don''t know where they are coming from but it looks like the skinny man knows where they are coming from, he finally breaks out from the single minded focus he had and begins to look around. I can''t see very clearly but after a while I can just about make out the skinny man running down the alleyway dropping some little packets of sugar as he goes but he doesn''t stop to pick them up which is a little weird considering how much he wanted the before, as I watch the man flee from the alleyway my eyes slowly close and it fades to black again. [][][] My eyes shoot open as I sit up from my position laying down on the ground and I frantically begin to pat myself but I don''t find anything wrong with me, when I look down at myself I can see that I am covered in some sort of reddy brown liquid, in fact I am laying in a puddle of the reddy brown stuff. It must be some sort of magical red water or something because it saved me from going splat on the ground though it did hurt a lot(I was just a five year old at the time so I didn''t realise that it was my own blood, I didn''t have a cut in me so how could it be my blood?). I stand up and look down at my clothes that are no a dried brown reddy colour, the matron will be angry when she sees how dirty I have gotten my clothes but it has been a long and confusing day and I just want to go home and sleep. I begin to trudge off down the alleyway and back towards the orphanage without actually realising what had actually just occurred to me... I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Leonidas Simon and Turtle. Thank you for the support. Chapter 44 - [BT] Non Profit Organisation. [Before Transition] It''s been a few days since I met Johnny and visited the Parkers at the hospital and I''ve not had much to do since, I still try to research but I''m not really getting anywhere and I won''t until I gain access to Reed Richards files in the Baxter Building so I''m not left with much to do except for meeting Johnny in the mornings to work on my car and the occasional visit from Mary Jane to take me to some leisure activity. I''ve actually gone to the garage a few times since I''ve met Johnny and we have been working on my car ''Chantelle'' and I''m actually enjoying it, me and Johnny are starting to get along with each other and it won''t be long till we''re hanging out together in the Baxter Building where I will be taking quite a few toilet breaks(definitely not snooping around and trying to read confidential files, no not me). There have so far been two times where me and Johnny would be working on the car and he would have to ''Flame On'' early and go on some heroic adventure or something which I don''t really mind except for the fact that it means less time for me and him to develop our friendship, we mostly just focus on fixing the car but we also talk about different motor vehicles and I''ve asked him about some of his heroic exploits so we''re getting there but I don''t know how long it might take. Right now in fact we''ve managed to work from 9 in the morning till 2 which is a bit longer than what we usually manage and we have neglected to realise just what that means for our diet, so right now we are going to get some food and fill our stomachs. "So, why are we walking so far again?" I ask as we walk along the sidewalk to destinations Unknown, well Johnny knows but I don''t. "I told you, we''re going to get the best hot dogs in New York!" He exclaims with a fist in the air but I just ignore him, these super types like to do a lot of posturing and it''s a bit weird but you get used to it. "I get that, I just don''t understand we have to walk so far to get it." I say and it''s true, when we first began to walk it wasn''t that hungry yet but we''ve walked quite a few blocks now and my hunger is growing. Johnny frowns. "Well excuse me, I usually turn on the flame and get there in a few minutes! It''s not my fault that I''m stuck with you and your ordinary a.s.s goes the speed of a crippled snail!" He shouts in frustration, it''s not my fault that I have to slow down to his walking speed because if I was by myself with no one around I could go so much faster. "Hey man, I''ll have you know that I am solid rock and I don''t have to set myself on fire to kick a.s.s so watch your words or you''ll be getting extinguished!" I playfully say. Johnny begins to laugh out loud and points his finger at me. "You, kick my ass? Ha I''d like to see you try, you could probably be a better superhero than me as well right." He guffaws. "What''s your super hero name going to be? No no, wait let me guess.. Mr Civilian or.. Or Sir Pedestrian, how about Damsel because you''re always going to need rescuing?" He begins to spout various names that are ordinary themed except for the damsel one which I must say is quite clever for Johnny. "Yeah yeah laugh it up, at least I''m not named after a lighting device. All you''re good for is providing a little light for real superheroes, I mean you''re practically a discount glow stick. You''re named after a torch which is way too outdated, You could''ve named yourself something cool like The Red Inferno, Firestorm or Smoulder and not something lame like The Human Torch. It sounds like some maniac just set fire to you and proclaimed you a human torch, so not a cool name." I tell him and he doesn''t have a response except some mumbles under his breath about why he didn''t think of those cool names. We continue to walk for a while in silence but not a comfortable silence and equally not a awkward one, it''s somewhere in between which I can say is some great progress to say we only met less than a week ago. Eventually I stop though because I saw something interesting in a newsstand on the side of the street, I quickly pick up the newspaper, The Daily Bugle to be specific, and pay the owner of the stall for it. I can''t wait to read this as it looks quite interesting to say the least. I continue to walk reading the newspaper while lagging a bit behind Johnny, upon the front page is the title ''Spider Menace Ruins Rocket Launch For Astronaut John Jameson!'' Which is definitely an eye catching title. I begin to read through the article and digest it all, looking through all the bias in the report is quite difficult but I managed to find out a few facts that haven''t been tainted by the mind of one J. Jonah. Jameson. It turns out the rocket launch had been sabotaged by someone and Spider-Man took it upon himself to climb on to the rocket and break out the astronaut(John Jameson(coincidently the son of J.J.J but surely that wouldn''t result in any bias in the newspaper) and brought him safely back to the ground by weaving a web parachute. "Hey, I know that guy." I hear Johnny say over my shoulder, I didn''t notice him as I was absorbed in to reading the article. "You do?" I question in confusion, this is Spider-Man''s debut to the superhero scene so how has Johnny already met him. "Yeah he snuck into the Baxter Building through an open window but we managed to trap him in a plexiglass cage though he managed to escape from it, he tussled with me and the rest of the FF for a while before he left calling is ''Pickers'' whatever that means." Jonny replies nonchalantly. "What was he even doing there though?" I am honestly quite confused why Peter was there. "He was trying to get a job, wanted to join the Fantastic Four and make it into the Fantastic Five. At least he did before he found out it was a non profit organisation, then he just skedaddled on out of there and we couldn''t stop him, it''s like the guy knew what we would do before we even did it." That would be the spider sense, speaking of which mine is beginning to tingle like crazy! We are currently at a junction in the street and the ground begins to rumble and shake like crazy, it like there is an earthquake going off and the ground is beginning to crack and split up. People begin to panic and stumble everywhere, I manage to catch myself on a street light before I fall like so many of the other people on the street and I look towards the middle of the street which is beginning to crack and crumble more so than any other part of the road. Rising out of that cracks is some little ugly deformed midget that is dressed in brown robes, did I mention that he''s ugly and not just ugly but b.u.t.t ugly. "Oh shit, it''s The Mole Man!" Johnny shouts in recognition. "The f.u.c.k is a mole man?" ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Leonidas Simon and Turtle. Thank you for the support. Chapter 45 - [AT] The Life and Times of a Drug Mule. [After Transition] Life after getting pushed of a building by a crack head only got weirder, well to me it got weirder, I guess it''s subjection like they always say beauty is in the eye of the beholder but in this case it''s strangeness and I guess you could substitute any word in for beauty and it would still work. Anyway after getting up out of my own puddle of blood (not that I knew that at the time) and walking back to the orphanage the matron took one look at me drenched in dried blood and came to her own conclusions, I told her what I saw as the truth at the time. I fell into a big puddle of sticky red water, at least that was what I believed and what I told the matron when I got back to the orphanage. She grumbled for a moment about having to wash my clothes but apart from that she wasn''t really that bothered and looking back on it I can see why, we lived in Gotham and it would be weird if you didn''t see a puddle of blood or two every few blocks and if you lived in an area where there were no puddles of blood? Well that just means your in even greater danger because that means you have criminals that leave no evidence behind and they don''t like loose ends so you can only hope you don''t happen upon a crime in those neighbourhoods because they''ll end up cleaning your blood up as well. Life as a drug mule continued on from there for me, I''d go deliver drugs (which would slowly go up in class as I got older) to certain spots and sometimes there would be someone who seems me doing it who would like those drugs for themselves and would take me out of the equation just to get them. Those kinds of incident happened a lot so I eventually wised up and figured out that I couldn''t die and once when I was shot and left to bleed out I watched my bullet wound heal back up and make it look like I was never shot. I could regenerate super fast, even from fatal injuries like bullets to the head (had quite a few of those in my times, even got beheaded once). The matron would be quite angry whenever I tell her that I lost the drugs and she would take her anger out on me but I would heal right back up the next day not that she noticed, but a few of the other kids did and eventually the matron would as well. Afraid that they would discover my ability I tried to make the bruises, burns and lashes stay on me and eventually after years of being a drug mule (and getting countless injuries, wounds and definitely fatal blows) I would get the control of ability down to such a fine control that I would be able to make my wounds stay on the surface but be fully healed underneath and I could heal insanely fast but it would make me really tired. My ability and my fine control of it proved to be a great boon during my time as a drug mule as it kept me alive in many a perilous situations but eventually I got tired of dying, sure I would get right back up but the pain was still there and damn was the pain a butch so much so that I would sometimes see this ability as a curse. I evolved and adapted to my situation, I became the best ever drug mule that there ever was because I learned how to be constantly aware of my surroundings, to notice everything around me, to profile and analyse all those that surround me to check for threats, to read people as I ran into cops more than once (cops caught me quite a few times but it was always just a single officer and when they weren''t looking I would steal their gun and blow my brains out. The cop would just leave me there as letting a kid steal your gun and blow his own head of is career ending, I did this for a reason of course as I learned that those caught by the cops would be killed by dirty cops while in lockup, now I might not die but they would find out about my ability which could prove to be an even worse situation). I learned so much to survive on the treacherous streets of Gotham and I even learned to hone my instincts and fight, when those guys I met on my drug mulling adventures corned me and I knew that there was no way out but to die and then come back, well I wasn''t going to go down easy and I''m proud to say that whenever I came upon those situation nearing the end of my drug mule career I would always make sure to kill the bastard while taking fatal injuries (but they weren''t really fatal for me). Of course I would try to take them down with me as the bastards were trying to kill me and obviously I never manage to kill one of the bastards without taking fatal injuries myself no matter how non fatal they were to me because even though I have this ability I''m still just a child less than 10 years old. I was the best drug mule in the biz and they kept giving me a lot of work to do because of my good results and eventually they even had me dropping of handguns and weaponry and other such illegal things (which sometimes I used when the deal didn''t work out and I began to practice with them), I was truly the best and it showed in my results though the matron still used to beat and torture me whenever I made the smallest mistake. Eventually it had been 5 years since my fifth birthday and the day I became a drug mule, it was my tenth birthday and I had a five year long career as a drug mule and I had managed to survive longer than any of the other children that became drug mules. I still remember when I first became a drug mule on my fifth birthday (though I didn''t know that that was what I was going to be doing) and the matron told me that when I got to my tenth birthday I would be taken to a rich family in reward for all my hard work but I now knew that was probably a lie and that they would probably send me to some orphanage in metropolis and get rid of me. I thought that I was one of the ones in Gotham who knew how it worked, how to play the game and come out on top but after this day I would know that I was still underestimating Gotham and all its inhabitants, how naive I was. The day started with me going down to the cafeteria and having my big breakfast in comparison to the other orphans meals and enjoying the envious looks they were giving me, I was top dog around here and all of them knew it and even the older kids learned not to mess with my after I beat the shit out of them when they tried to hustle me. After breakfast the matron told everyone that I would be leaving to go live with a rich family and as they all looked at my with jealous eyes I knew that the matron was lying, I just didn''t know at the time how far away the lie was from the truth of what would be happening later today. The matron took me out of the building without delay, I asked about my belongings (no matter how little of my belongings there were) and she told me that she would send them to me later. Looking across the street I saw a white van parked up on the side of the road and in the driver seat was a very familiar man, the man that had stood at the street light for the last five years and given me the packages to deliver was in the driver seat of the van and was getting ready to drive me towards my new home. Walking across the street the matron pulled open the back of the van doors and practically chucked me in promptly slamming the door shut afterwards and I heard the distinct click of a locked I sat there in the pitch black back of the van. I don''t know why but I feel like this day is going to end drastically different from how I thought it would... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Leonidas Simon, Turtle and heller8284. Thank you for the support. Chapter 46 - [BT] Attack of The Shitty Market Budget Saibamen! [Before Transition] Before I could even tell what had happened Johnny had transformed into a man made of fire and flew off towards the mole man leaving me with the words ''Find some cover and hide!'' Which I believe is great advise and I will endeavour to do my best to follow it. I quickly took cover behind an overturned car that must have flipped over when the ground started to break open, taking a moment to look around I saw no other better spots with better protection than this so I decided to just keep safe behind the car. Peeking over the top of the car I could see that the situation was much worser than I thought it would be, I had previously thought it was just the small ugly midget in green spandex with a green cape that was attacking but getting a better look I could tell that things were much more serious. Springing out from the gaps between the broke up ground were small gangly little midgets that looked entirely alien, they were some kind of greedy brown and, well, I guess they kinda look like the Saibamen from Dragon Ball Z except without the plating/carapace and that they are a whole lot uglier and look about ten times slimier though I can''t blame them for that, it must be humid living underneath the ground. These creatures were popping up out of the ground and helping the mole man fight Johnny, at least most of them are helping the mole man while a few strays have taken it upon get themselves to terrorise some of the surrounding civilians. And as if that wasn''t bad enough, because of the ground cracking and breaking up there are some people trapped on a piece of ground with no way off of it and the ground doesn''t look stable enough to hold them till the authorities or superheroes arrive to help them. Taking another look around I can see a few cops fighting some of the stray creatures but they don''t seem to be doing that well and with the cops busy fighting the stray creatures there is no one to help the trapped civilians, I take another look at Johnny and I can see that he is getting swarmed by the creatures while fighting the mole man. With it looking like there''s no one to help those trapped civilians it falls to me to help them, I''m only doing it to show a heroic side to Johnny and earn some of his respect and no other reason at all, definitely not because I feel responsibility to help these people. Go damn you moral spouting propaganda from my previous life, screw you comics, screw you manga and anime and screw the superhero movies! Why did you have to teach me life lessons and give me good morals while I was growing up? Especially when it now applies to my exact situation, goddamn power and responsibility. After my little psych up session I began to look around for anything I could use, anything that could provide an alternative to using my powers because I don''t want to show them yet and only as a last resort. Standing up I move to a pipe I saw sitting not to far away from me and I pick it up, who knows where it came from all I care about is that it will help me beat off the creatures without exposing my powers. I will be using the minimal amount of strength possible because I don''t want to splatter these creatures on the sidewalk (probably gonna be some protesters getting angry at me for it for some reason or another if I do) but even the least amount of strength my blows will still be heavier than a regular humans, well let''s get to it. Now I want to avoid the creatures as much as possible and focus on rescuing the civilians without exposing my abilities, no sweat all I''ve gotta do is find a way to bridge the 1-2 meter gap between the ground for them to get across, no problem at all. There seems to be a family of three trapped the closest to me on a unstable piece of ground but there''s is quite a wide gap between them and safety and I have to find a way to bridge that gap. With everyone panicking and running away a few people got out of there cars to run as well and luckily for me they left their keys in the ignition. Getting in the closest four door car I turn the key in the ignition and thankfully it starts up without any problems, now I''ve just got to use it to bridge the gap between the massive abyss in the ground which shouldn''t be too difficult, right? The ground that the family of three seem to be on is lower than the street level so I should be able to drive the car of the edge of the gap and it should just about bridge it, hopefully. I slowly begin to accelerate the car to the gap going quite slow and I speed up just before I hit the gap and there''s a moment where I feel weightless like when you''re on a roller coaster and you can feel your guts getting jumbled around inside you, it''s like that. With a loud thunk I can hear the front of the car collide with the lowered ground all the while the back half of the car is perched on the street level ground creating a temporary rising bridge between them which should hopefully hold, hopefully being the key word in that sentence. I stall the car, fully lower my window and switch off the ignition before I grab my pipe and climb out of the window and onto the top of the car hoping to god that it''s stable, after a moment where I was sure I was going to plummet to my death I begin to move along the car and hop onto the land which holds the family of three. Making my way over to them I can see them looking at me in confusion. "Cmon, this ground is unstable and is liable to collapse at any moment! We have to climb along the car and get back to safe ground, quick!" I shout at them but they don''t seem to want to move, the man in the family of three opens his mouth and is about to spout his time consuming words but just before he does we hear a screech and the words die before they even leave his mouth. A creature, I''m just going to call them moles since they work for the mole man even if they don''t look like moles, jumps up out of nowhere and pounces towards the man but it''s like the mole is moving in slow motion and I can easily see it slowly advance towards the man. I''m fast enough to hit the mole in an instant but that would be suspicious so I first ready up my swing with the pipe and making sure to swing fast but not too fast enough to to be outside the human realm of speed I swing when the mole gets closer to the man and with a thus my makeshift bat makes contact with the makeshift baseball in the form of a dull green skull. I can''t lie but I feel pretty awesome at this moment and feel like shouting something silly such as ''Batters Up!'' or ''Homerun!'', I guess the idiocy and posterity just comes with the job that being a superhero is, not that I''m a superhero but I''m feeling pretty heroic right now. With a thud the mole goes flying backwards but he gets right back up after a few seconds, I guess I didn''t use enough strength so I''ll just slowly increase my strength till I find the sweet spot for these shitty Saibamen hopefully before I end up saying f.u.c.k it and giving them a team rocket blastoff. My musing is cut to an end when the little mole midget lets out a screech and if I''m not mistaken and from my experience playing games that sounds just like a.. Yep, the little shit just called for reinforcements. Two mole things jump down from a higher level of ground and land next the mole that called them, I look behind me at the family of three who look frightened before I tighten my grip on the pipe in my hands. "What are you waiting for? GO!" ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Leonidas Simon, Turtle and heller8284. Thank you for the support. Chapter 47 - [AT] Time To Grind... [After Transition] HOLY SHIT, HOLY SHIT WHAT DO I DO!? Where, where am I? WHERE THE F.U.C.K AM I!? Shit shit shit SHIT! Calm down Nick, just calm down and try to remember what happened and figure out where you are. That''s what I was thinking while running through the streets and I wasn''t even paying attention to where I was going or who was around me, I just wanted to get away from that place so badly that I didn''t think that I might be running some place worse. Just remembering that place gives me the creeps, not because of what I saw or anything but because of what I had heard and the implication of the words I eavesdropped because what they implicated was some seriously f.u.c.k.e.d up shit, really f.u.c.k.e.d up shit and I''m glad I had a hand in ending it in the future. What I was running away from back then was a huge mansion or manor or something, it was a frickin huge a.s.s fancy place and it was also terrifying as f.u.c.k. It came in at a close second on the list of f.u.c.k.e.d up things I''ve witnessed and I lived in Gotham, it wasn''t terrifying because of what happened but because of what could of happened and it only came in at a close second because the first is kinda related to it. Number one on my list, being the most f.u.c.k.e.d up thing I''ve ever witnessed was how I ended up at that f.u.c.k.i.n.g mansion (maybe because it was personal?) and trust me when I say that number one is traumatic as f.u.c.k, excuse my French (it must''ve been really traumatic as well because I talk to myself a lot now). Okay recap time, I had just finished my five years as a drug mule and the matron loaded me up into the back of a white van promising me I''ll be going to a rich family and well, she wasn''t wrong. Sitting in the back of that van was the most boring time of my life, I was sat in pitch darkness with nothing but the hum of the van to keep me company as I couldn''t hear the matron or the dealer in the front of the van and once I had felt the inside walls of the van I could tell why. The inside of the van was padded, no sound coming in and no sound coming out and that wasn''t really a good sign as once I found that out I began to think more and more about my situation and I realised that something was wrong, like really wrong, the ''I put rat poison in my cereal'' kind of wrong. Whilst sitting in the back of that van for hours on end I had nothing but time and I used that time to think, to think about my situation and to think about what was gonna happen when the van reached its destination and let me tell you that it was gonna be rainbows and puppies at the end of this trip. First of all, I got into the back of a white windowless van with none of my belongings (warning bells should have been ringing here) and second of all if I was going to a family why would a drug dealer be dropping me off and not a social worker (not that they even visit the orphanage that often). Yeah whatever was gonna happen to me it wasn''t gonna be anything good and after dealing with the streets of Gotham for five years I really should''ve expected something like this, it''s just that for the last five years I''ve been taking orders from these two and following them to the letter. 5 years (that was half of my life at that point) following their orders turned me into an obedient lackey even though I thought I had wizened up during my career as a drug mule but clearly I wasn''t as experienced as I thought. They told me to hop into the back of a windowless van and without even questioning or hesitating I did it because they had me tamed and trained to follow their instructions without even thinking about it, unfortunately for them they had left me in the pitch black for hours and I had nothing else to do but think. I thought about what I was gonna do when the van doors opened but as far as I could tell there was two of them against little old me, it''s not too hard to figure who comes out on top when you take into account the fact that I am little underfed ten year old. My best plan was to just fight back a least to hurt them a little even if I knew I wouldn''t win because f.u.c.k the, even if I were to die I would just regenerate and be right as rain anyway so what''s the harm. Man was I naive, that day was the today I learned that there were some fates that were worse than death. To cut a long story short when the van parked up and the van doors opened the first thing I saw was the matrons face which I promptly smashed my fist into and with a clatter she fell to the floor, I hopped out of the van and the dealer who was smoking turned towards my direction when he heard the matron fall to the ground before I swiftly kicked him in the balls with all my strength. Without waiting to see the results I started to spring away, I started to pelt it down the pathway of what looked to be a deserted factory or something but I didn''t get too far before I heard the crack of a gun and felt a bullet smash through the back of my knee and out the front of my knee and I clattered to the ground like a sack of shit. I laid there on the filthy ground for a while just crying because of the pain, I might be able to regenerate but f.u.c.k does it still hurt because I''m just a f.u.c.kin'' ten year old. Before I could even dry my eyes the dealer was already upon me, he kicked me hard in the stomach and dragged me up by my hair before spitting in my face and dragging me back to the van where he met up with the angry matron before they both dragged me into a abandoned factory building. At this point they threw me to the ground and the dealer started to monologue, basically saying by now he would''ve already put a bullet in my head before doing it but now he was gonna keep me awake for it, though I don''t know what ''it'' is, at least I didn''t before they dragged me kicking and screaming towards it. ''It'' being a massive meat grinder where the meat goes in the top and comes out the bottom meat and it didn''t take a genius to figure out that in this situation I was the meat, I was clawing the ground having my fingers torn apart as they pulled me towards the meat grinder because I knew that what awaited me was hell. I''ve regenerated from a bullet through the brain but if my brains turned to mush I don''t know if I''ll be able to come back from that or if I''ll come back but brain dead. The dealer chucked me into the meat grinder legs first while the matron turned it on and there wasn''t anything I could do to stop them, almost immediately my legs were minced into meat and I only had my torso left which I kept by desperately clutching onto the top edge of the meat grinder with all my might though both the matron and the dealer where trying to shove me back in. The pain was agonising, I completely lost control of my regeneration and it was going berserk working at full capacity, my legs were constantly being regenerated and at the same time being ripped to shreds and eventually I wished for death but the only thing empowering my grip on the meat grinder was the spite of not letting this be easy for the matron bitch and the dealer f.u.c.k. After I don''t know how long but it must''ve been at least five minutes, the dealer picked up a pipe and started smash my fingers to pieces and without my grip I was turned into mined meat by the meat grinder and let me tell you that it was the worst thing I have ever experienced in my life, worse than being beheaded (which I will be in the future). I don''t know how long I was out of it but eventually I woke up in some kind of plastic bag but it was ripped, oh and did I mention that I was at the bottom of a huge freezer (the big types in supermarkets just without the see through top) and was buried beneath half a f.u.c.k ton of bags of meat. Suddenly the freezer door opened and I went incredibly still while what looked like some kind of waiter started to pick up some bags of meat and take them out while talking with his co-worker and what they were talking about chilled me to the bone. I''d rather not think about it so long story short these guys were gonna deliver these bags of meat to a chef at the mansion who was going to cook it up and serve it to a lot of rich people but that wasn''t all they talked about, they said that this meat was apparently from some kind of exotic endangered animal and they only get deliveries like this one once every year. I nearly f.u.c.k.i.n.g puked, I was surrounded by human meat and some rich f.u.c.k are gonna eat it, I was f.u.c.k.i.n.g meat and I was gonna get eaten by some rich fat cannibalistic asshole. While having a f.u.c.k.i.n.g panic attack at the bottom of a fridge filled with human meat the waiters went outside the truck I was apparently stored in to go have a smoke. As soon as they left I clawed my way out through the human meat and out of the fridge before I jumped out of the truck and sprinted out the still open gat of the mansion with no one even spotting me. So there I was, an absolutely n.a.k.e.d ten year old sprinting down a series of different roads and always under the night sky, all the while covered in nothing but blood and a little plastic... I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Leonidas Simon, Turtle and heller8284. Thank you for the support. Chapter 48 - [BT] Smoking Fingers... [Before Transition] With the family of three running away and Johnny getting all the attention I can be a bit lenient with my restriction of my powers and so as quick as lightning I smash my pipe into all three of the moles heads and send them flying back into the abyss they crawled out of, I don''t think they were sentient so I don''t think I''ll feel too bad if they died or something once they reached the bottom. Looking back I can see the family of three still running towards the car and so I start to sprint towards them, I catch up to them and follow them to the car. Once we get there the man of the family has some issues with climbing onto the car to cross the dark chasm but I plainly tell him that he either waits till more mole things show up or the ground collapses, the man made the smart choice and decided to cross the car with his family but before they do I go to the front of the car and put my hands against it just in case the cars unstable and slips. The man gives me a look as if to say ''what''s that supposed to accomplish'' but I just reply with a shrug, he doesn''t know that I have super strength and my holding onto the front of this car makes it immensely more safe for him and his family. This is all quite a tedious process and it would be much easier to just wrap a scarf around my head and use my powers to save these people but I''m afraid that that will be a gateway to becoming a superhero so I would rather help as a normal but intelligent civilian, it doesn''t hurt that doing these heroic acts with my face out in the open will immensely improve the Fantastic Four''s opinion of me and make my access to the Baxter Building that much more likely. Anyway it takes a few minutes for the family to safely cross the car as they were being overly cautious, I mean they only had to cross a large chasm that I''m sure goes down thousands of meters, not that hard right. The mother of the family goes first, then the man climbs onto the top of the car with his child and helps the child across first before joining them on the other side, once the man is across he looks beck and holds his hand out and tells me to come over and I''m about to before I hear a series of familiar screeches. The mole things I knocked of the edge before are back and they were leaping at me, with my spider sense I had already leaned out of the way of all three of them and watched them fly past me. Unfortunately that was a big miscalculation on my side as instead of the creature doing a 180 and running at me again they began to run across the car towards the family of three. Luckily for me the family of three saw that the moles were coming and started to run away, with no one looking at me I was free to kick the side of the car that the moles were running across and dislodge it from its position. The car no longer being stable soon fell to the bottom of the chasm with the moles still holding onto the car, I do not wanna be the guy who owned that car as I''m pretty sure the insurance won''t payout for it. Oh well, it was a pretty nice car so I''m sure that the owner doesn''t have money problems, now I just have to get up out of here while making sure no one spots me using my powers which shouldn''t be too hard. My ears suddenly twitch and I hear a quite sniffle coming from some place behind me, I guess I''m gonna be staying on this rock for a little while longer and I was just getting used to the idea of getting as far away as I can from the weird Saibamen knockoffs. With the sniffles being pretty much nonstop and my enhanced hearing it didn''t take me long to find the source of the sniffles which seemed to be coming from behind a toppled over hot dog cart. Peering over the cart I came face to face with a little kid, couldn''t have been older then ten and he was looking pretty terrified. "Whatcha doin here kid? Where are your parents?" I question pretty casually hoping that my casualness might put him at ease but I can''t tell if it''s working. "M-my parents were on the- the other side of the street and I crossed to get a- a hot dog but, but the the p- the ground started to shake and- and I got stuck down here!" The kid chokes out through snot and tears while pawing at his face to rub the liquids away, which was just making a big mess which made me kinda not wanna touch him but alas I''m not that heartless. "Cmon then kid, I''ll help you get out of here and then maybe we can find your parents. That sound like a plan?" I say to the kid and reach out my hand to him and he takes my hand whilst nodding his head in affirmations though there was still snot and tears flying everywhere. We worked for quite a while as he was holding onto my hand, I was mainly looking for a way out of here without revealing my powers but there didn''t look to be a single viable option. I was getting close to just saying screw it and hopping the gap and hoping the kid wouldn''t question before once again I heard a familiar screeching but this time there were a lot more sources of the screeching, why can''t these guys just leave me alone. Up ahead three familiar mole minions popped out from behind some debris and slowly started to approach me and then a whole lot more mole things came out of the woodwork and started to follow the lead of those three, figures they would learn from our past two encounters and call in more reinforcements. "Kid just stay behind me, alright? Kid.." And that''s when I realise that I''m no longer holding the kids hand, I spin around and I can see the kid sprinting off back the way we came, I quickly run after him making sure to smack any of the minions with my pipe when they got in my way. I''m gradually catching up to the kid but all the minions are getting in my way and they''re slowing me down so I make sure to reward them with a pipe to the skull but that doesn''t seem to be discouraging the other minions, I can see that the kid is now running out of space to run and he''s closing in on a chasm. I have just catched up to the kid when I see a minion jump to from behind car and screech at him, getting startled the kid jerks backwards and slips and unfortunately there''s no ground behind him to catch him and he starts to fall into the abyss. Without worrying if anybody sees me I leap towards the kid and I manage to grab him while latching onto the edge of the ground with the ends of my fingers, I hug the kid close to my side in relief without caring anymore about the snot and tears he was producing. The kid just keeps crying and seems to be in shock, I''m getting ready to climb back onto solid ground when I look up and see a small army of mole minions peering over the edge at me. Well, this is just peachy. I''m definitely gonna have to use my powers in this situation because these rip off Saibamen are definitely gonna try to kick me down. I''m tensing my hand and getting ready to jump over the Mole minions when a blast of fire sails down and starts immolate them while also burning the shit out of the fingers I was using to hold onto the edge. "GODDAMN IT JOHNNY! LEARN HOW TO BLOODY AIM!!" ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Leonidas Simon, Turtle and heller8284. Thank you for the support. Chapter 49 - [AT] Red Moon in the Night... [After Transition] So when a 10 year old kid is sprinting fast as f.u.c.k down the roads and alleyways people tend to take notice, who knew? That shit definitely doesn''t happen in Gotham so I can''t be in Gotham, if I was in Gotham then no one would give two shits about me running down the streets n.a.k.e.d covered in blood in fact they were more liable to try and catch me and see if I was worth something. I guess quite a lot of people called the police and got a squad car sent out to capture me, well more like rescue then capture but hey, what''s the difference am I right. So there I was running down the street buck n.a.k.e.d when suddenly a pair of headlights are on me and I can see my shadow on the ground in front of me, then the siren of a police car fills the air and once I turn around my suspicions are proven right. Behind me was a squad car and my time in Gotham had made me particularly adverse to those so I legged it, turned to my right and bolted down the first alleyway I saw hoping that the cops were the stereotypical piggies who munched on donuts and would be to fat to catch me. Turns out the alleyway I headed down was a dead end as it was just there to provide access to delivery vans for the sh.i.p.s on either side of the alley, with no where to go and hearing the cops closing in on me fast I decided to do the only thing I could which was hide. I opened up one of the dumpsters in the alley and jumped right on in closing the lid behind me and I waited in silence making sipper to quieten my breathing, this wasn''t my first time in a dumpster in fact this dumpster was far better then all the other ones I had experienced. Usually when I did my drug mule shtick and ended up dead I would left there as the drop offs were in secluded spots but sometimes the killer would decide to move me and I''d wake up in a dumpster or something, one time I even woke up in the sewer which was really uncomfortable as I''m pretty sure some rodents were going to town on me plus it was really hard to get out of the sewers. Turns out that the police aren''t stupid and after investigating an alleyway they definitely saw me head down and finding no one there the next logical step would be to look for hiding places, so pretty much the first thing they did was open the dumpster I was hiding in and they were treated to the sight of of bloody ten year old covered in plastic and surrounded by garbage. I was not prepared for the situation at all as I was still in shock so the only thing I could do was just blankly stare at them and stay still, well that was till they started to try to ask if I was okay, trying to comfort me and ask me where I came from. For a minute there I forgot I wasn''t in Gotham and I''d done a runner because there was usually a 50% chance that an officer was in bed with the mob and a dirty cop would rather give you back to the people you ran from for a reward then help you. One of the police officers had picked me up and set me on the ground while they continued to ask me questions, I was about to answer one of them but suddenly had an epiphany. What was I going to tell them? I woke up at the bottom of a freezer that was full of human meat and ran away? They''d ask why I was in the freezer and I can''t tell them that, if I did tell them and they investigated the mansion the owners would probably get off scot free on account of their money and I would have a lot of people taking an interest in me for my abilities. I ultimately decided to stay quite, act as if I have trauma or something and keep my mouth shut while they fuss over me, hoping that with a little luck I would be able to get through this without trouble and leave everything in the past. I could always come back in the future for my revenge on the matron, the dealer and the people who bought my meat but for now I would bide my time and go with the flow, they''ll still be around in a few years when I am better able to do something about it. Eventually the police officers took me to the station and called social services (it would be weird if they didn''t on account of the n.a.k.e.d and bloody child wandering the streets at night) and till the social workers arrived they continued to ask me questions, to which I opened up a little and replied with ''I don''t know'' and ''I can''t remember'' but then they asked me what my name was. My name was Nicholas at the orphanage but I didn''t have a last name so people just called me Nick, I don''t want to lose my name but I also don''t want them connecting me to an orphan in Gotham so I looked around the room and looked at some of the name tag thingies on various police officers. There was a officer Charles, officer Jones, officer Jameson and a Mendez, with all these names to choose of and a split second to make a decision I decide to just spit out the first name that came to mind which was Nicholas Jameson but I ended up saying ''Nicholas James'' and couldn''t add the ''son'' no matter how hard I tried so I just gave up as the moment was over. Though the constipated look on my face as I tried to add the ''son'' added some credibility to my story as it looked like it was hard for me to remember my own name, also the name just felt right like anything else would be wrong and the more I thought about it the righter it felt. They continued to ask me questions with more hope after I told them my name but I continued with my traumatised child story (I probably was traumatised as I got fed to a meat grinder but I guess that just translated to a bit of insanity instead of memory loss), eventually the social worker arrived and I was taken away by them in their car with reassurances like ''your all right now'' and ''we''re gonna make sure you get a good home'' which was just fine with me. From there a whole load of tedious processes started but at the end of it I got a stable and better life which I was happy with yet I could not stop the burning flame of vengeance that was ignited in my heart. An eye for an eye, except my eye will come back and theirs won''t... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Leonidas Simon, Turtle and heller8284. Thank you for the support. Chapter 50 - [BT] The Invisible Storm... [Before Transition] "F.u.c.kin'' hell Johnny that bloody hurt! You burnt me bleedin'' fingers!" When I get into a highly emotional state the old dialect sometimes comes out, anyway while I was dangling off the edge of a cliff with a kid strapped to my c.h.e.s.t while a bunch of moloids (Johnny told me that''s what the knockoff Saibamen are actually called) were standing above us and The Human Torch came to the rescue in the ''nick'' of time (get it? because my names Nick and he saved me?). Yup he came swooping in and blasted the moloids with a wave of fire, the only thing he forgot about was that my fingers were on the top of the ledge and ended up getting charred to shit because of it. I actually let go of the ledge in shock when he burnt my fingers and started to fall to the bottom of the abyss with the kid coming along for the ride, luckily Johnny realised what had happened and quickly caught me but unfortunately it was my charred hand that he grabbed which brought me a lot of pain and agony. The whole fiasco with the Mole Man was apparently finished though I don''t really know what happened or why he attacked because I don''t really care about that, I was more focused on what I was doing rather then what Johnny was doing. After we got the kid back to his parents and Johnny helped anyone else that needed help we headed off to the Baxter building, Johnny was feeling pretty guilty on account of his melting my fingers so he decided to take me to the Baxter building to get me fixed up which actually works a lot in my favour though I could''ve done without the pain. I am actually currently sat in the lab of one Susan Storm AKA ''The Invisible Woman'' who is currently taking care of my medical needs and is applying some bandages around my right hand which was the unfortunate receiver of Johnny''s reckless flames. "I''m not a medical doctor Johnny, I''m a geneticist! Why did you even bring him here? You should''ve taken him to a hospital!" Susan says calmly but you can here the sternness in her voice, I''m pretty sure the only reason she isn''t more angry is because she''s focusing on treating my hand. "I brought him here because it''s my fault that he got hurt in the first place, plus if I took him to the hospital and the media found out about it it could ruin the public opinion of The Fantastic Four and people would start to lose faith in us and I couldn''t risk that!" Johnny frustratedly shouts at his sister who just ignores his outburst. "And you.. What were you thinking when you decide to go off and stat helping people when you can''t even help yourself? Johnny and the rest of The Fantastic Four have powers but you don''t." Susan questions me but I can''t exactly tell her that I did it to gain Johnny''s recognition and eventually access to the Baxter Building which has gone much better then I could''ve expected, I honestly couldn''t have asked for such good results and so soon as well as I''m sitting in the Baxter Building right now. "Johnny was starting to help people and if Johnny was doing it then I had to as well, I had no other option and if I didn''t help there was a chance that the four people I helped might not have made it." I say after formulating my response and coming up with a reasonable reason that although a bit silly matches up with what Johnny knows about me so far, if nothing else than Johnny is likely to like my reasoning. "You started to help people because Johnny was helping people? Why? What possible reason could you have to do that." Sue responds back exactly as I hoped she would opening me up for the response and reason I came up with. "Well Johnny maybe be a superhero but he''s also a sleaze ball and if a sleaze ball like Johnny was helping people then what other choice was I left with? I may not be the nicest guy out there but I''m definitely not worse than Johnny so I had to help, it''s only logical. Plus I recently had a talk with an old man who told me about power and responsibility, he also mentioned something along the lines of ''All it takes for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing'' and that kinda stuck with me no matter how cheesy it is." I replied with my answer, Johnny will know that I''m talking about Ben Parker as I''ve talked to him about Ben during the last few days. They both stay silent for a moment before Susan gives a slightly amused smile and says "Johnny is a little bit of a sleaze." which Johnny was instantly affronted at and let''s out a squawk. After that we had some regular chit chat about various subjects like how me and Johnny knew each other, what I''m currently up to and what Susan was currently researching, Johnny ended up just going on his phone and ignoring us as we talked about various scientific subjects and we ended up talking for over an hour after she finished my treatment. Johnny had left the room at some point but we were to engrossed in our talk about SCIENCE to even notice his departure though eventually I decided to take my leave as it was getting pretty late and I could tell that if we didn''t stop now we could take about science for the rest of the day, Susan was actually pretty sad that I had to go what with Johnny and Ben Grimm not knowing much about science and Reed Richards spending most of his time on his experiments and research this was the first proper conversation she had had about since in quite a long time. Before I left Susan recommended that I visit an actual hospital to get my injuries checked over but I told her that I had faith in her skill which she just amusedly scoffed at, obviously noticing my flattery of her and finding it funny. Leaving the Baxter building and making my way home I was feeling pretty darn great, I feel like I accomplished quite a lot today. Not only had I deepened my relationship with Johnny but I also became friends with his sister as well as gaining access to the Baxter building even if it is only the once but you know what they say, ''There is no harm in repeating a good thing'' and I am definitely a good thing, a s.e.xy thing actually. I couldn''t help but walk with a pep in my step, everything was working out. Everything''s coming up milhouse... I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Leonidas Simon, Turtle and heller8284. Thank you for the support. Chapter 51 - [AT] 6 Years of Stagnation... [After Transition] So it''s been a few years since the whole human meat freezer incident (not that it''s majorly impacted me or every facet of my life, of course not) and I am currently fifteen years old, after the incident I was put with a foster family in New York though I still had weekly checkups with social workers, therapists, psychologists and pretty much any kind of professional that worked with children or the human mind. It''s because they really want to know what could have happened to me that I''d end up covered in blood and run through the streets in the middle of the night with absolutely no recollection, apparently the government officials who deal with this stuff really want to know and maybe it''s because all the newspapers were reporting about my midnight escapades, who knows. Anyway it was pretty much weekly checkups till I was thirteen but I was still keeping my mouth shut so they eventually decided to just give up though I did still have to have checkups about once every month, I heard that they were worried that there''re more kids like me wherever I came from and they want to help them and now that I think about it there probably are which just makes my burning need for vengeance that much more justified. The family that''s currently fostering me and has been fostering me for the last five years are the Steins which consist of Nobel prize winning physicist Martin Stein and his wife Clarissa, because of Martin focusing too much on trying to build a new state of the art power plant or something Clarissa decided to try fostering as a means to help their marriage which was starting to fray though Martin didn''t much like the idea of taking me in. Though I''ve been living with them for five years I haven''t really managed to warm up to them, I mean I tried but I still had this burning need for revenge within my hurt and it wouldn''t rest till I saw the matron, the dealer and everyone at that mansion six feet under though that doesn''t mean I don''t like my foster family. Clarissa generally looked after me and took care of my every need, she was a very caring woman who with her husband working most the time decided to instead focus on me and my wellbeing though that changed when I hit 15. Martin wasn''t as receptive to my living in his house and was quite cold to me though he did eventually tolerate me but he was quite the hard a.s.s and as I was living in his house he made me study all sorts of subjects and regularly questioned me on them every once in a while, because he was a Nobel prize winning physicist he said that he wouldn''t be raising someone who couldn''t amount to anything or work hard so he made me study a whole lot and that pretty much killed any good feeling I had for him though I don''t hate him as the stuff he''s making me learn turns out to be pretty useful in the future. I''ve been going to school which is pretty mundane and because of Martin teaching me I was acing everything though he still manages to somehow find fault with me and my work while Clarissa is nothing but supporting which results in me and her having an affair, now I know what your thinking but it wasn''t really anyone''s fault. With Martin working all day everyday at the power plant his and Clarissa''s marriage was holding on by a thread and that thread was me, the only reason they hadn''t gotten divorced yet was because of Clarissa worrying about what would happen to me if they did divorce. When I was fifteen it was Clarissa''s birthday and Martin didn''t even notice as he spent all day at work and there was nothing special planned for her birthday which culminated in her crying and getting drunk that night, seeing her cry I comforted her as even though I didn''t see her as family she was a nice woman who cared about me. With her being depressed and drunk she even let me have some alcohol and as a teenager I wasn''t going to refuse, one thing led to another and through a culmination of alcohol, her sadness and my teenage hormones we ended up having s.e.x. We knew it was wrong and a drunken mistake so we decided to forget about it and move past it but with Martin no longer paying attention of caring much about her she needed some comfort and eventually came back to get it from me and I wasn''t going to refuse because she was a hot MILF plus my teenage hormones were out of control especially with my extreme regeneration. It happened more and more and we kept this affair going for quite a while with no one else none the wiser and I couldn''t really bring myself to feel bad about it on account of how dismissive Martin was of his wife and how lonely Clarissa was with how much she needed to feel wanted which I resolved for her. It was around the time when i was fifteen that I decided that I was never going to get my revenge if I didn''t start to better myself and I didn''t mean that in the academic respect, I realised that I had grown stagnant and I wasn''t progressing so i decided to start making some money by fighting in some underground cage matches. New York wasn''t as dark as Gotham but it wasn''t as bright as metropolis so there were quite a lot of seedy spots if you knew exactly where to look and if Gotham taught me anything it was where to look. My time fighting in those underground matches gave me experience and skill, with my regeneration I could fight forever though I had to make sure to leave the appearance of the bruises and the gashes on the surface of my skin though my regeneration didn''t mean I won all my matches. With time I got better and eventually became undefeated earning quite the amount of money by the time I was sixteen which also meant that my affair with Clarissa Stein had gone on for nearly a year. I was sixteen and because of my excellent grades I decided to graduate early but first I had quite a lot of stuff to sort out, firstly I used my contacts that I made at the underground cage matches to dig up some information on some local government officials. Greasing a few hand here and their net me the information I wanted and putting that information to good use I managed to get myself emancipated though I didn''t reveal that quite yet. I then went on to complete all my exams and graduate from high school with a scholarship to Metropolis University (I got offers from quite a lot of places even Gotham University but I wasn''t quite ready to go back there yet) but before I headed of there I needed to deal with one more thing, Clarissa. Talking to Clarissa was quite hard and ended in quite a few slaps for me and some goodbye s.e.x, the gist of it was me telling her that I had gotten myself legally emancipated, that I had graduated from high school and had gotten a scholarship to Metropolis University as well as me telling her that I needed to end our (our weird and quite sordid) relationship. I told her that I was leaving and that she should sue Martin for divorce and move on to another city with the money, start a brand new life and maybe even find love and raise a family (it really hurt me to get this soppy and emotional but I owed it to this woman). I told Martin that same evening that I had got emancipated, graduated and was heading for Metropolis University but he just gave me a ''that''s great'' and proceeded to continue his work, I think that maybe I would have maybe liked Martin if he wasn''t so focused on his work that he neglects everything else. With all that done and quite a hefty sum from all my underground cage matches (as well as blackmailing a few of those politicians) in my pocket I headed of for Metropolis University to continue my education, I was still planning to get my revenge but as they say ''For a nobleman to take revenge, ten years is not too long'' though I didn''t plan to take quite as long as ten years for it but after my revenge I still planned to have a life and getting some degrees from Metropolis University would be part of it. Off to metropolis where there have been reports of a blue blur appearing around the city... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) Chapter 52 - [BT] Gymnast Sisters You Say? [Before Transition] Well it''s been a few weeks now and not much has happened except for working on the car with Johnny and tutoring Mary Jane on her subjects, oh did I mention that I''m currently attending New York University (NYU) because that also ended up happening during the past few weeks. Yeah turns out that my butler Earl Grey wasn''t quite happy with me doing nothing since I graduated from Midtown High and showed it by giving me the silent treatment though I didn''t pick up on it for a while, I eventually noticed and I ended up having to compromise with him by agreeing to attend NYU though I am emancipated and don''t have to listen to anyone Earl is basically family and I don''t wanna upset him as he''s getting up there in age. So yeah I''ve been attending NYU for the last couple of weeks and I started a bit later than the rest of them though that doesn''t matter that much as I probably know more than the people in those classes, the plus side is that Gwendolyn Stacy is also attending NYU but she is a year above me and we have different classes so I don''t see her that much but the one time that I did see her she looked quite surprised. Gwen''s classes are more focused in chemistry and biology while my classes are more focused on mathematics, physics, engineering and some biochemistry just for good measure (I''m already quite knowledgable in these fields so the workload isn''t too bad for me), I don''t even attend most of the lectures as I know most of the stuff already except for biochemistry which I do mostly attend and I''m only doing this as it works to my advantages as I''m hoping to get an internship at the Baxter building. So yeah, I''ve already sent an application to the Baxter building for an internship which hopefully Susan will notice though I can''t rely on that and I''m currently working on the car with Johnny and we''ve just about finished, we''re currently wiping our dirty hands with some rags. "So how long till you think Chantelle is ready to go?" I ask starting a dialogue with Johnny. "Not much longer bro, soon our lovely Chantelle here will be out on the street though she can''t compare to the Fantasti-Car but that''s only because we have a lot of, lets says ''secret'' technology that we can''t use on normal everyday cars." Johnny starts bragging about the Fantasti-Car which is basically his baby in all but blood, flesh and anatomy. "Yeah dude, I can''t believe that I might get to see it up close soon, at least I''m hoping that I''ll be able to." I say to Johnny who looks at me a little weirdly though he soon reveals the reason for his expression. "I mean, sure dude. I could probably take you to the Baxter building and up to the floor for the Fantastic Four''s personal use but ahh. I would have to check with the rest of the team first, can''t be having unidentified visitors in the lab y''know.." Johnny tells me awkwardly clearly feeling a bit out of shape, he probably feels that I am trying to use him which I am but he doesn''t need to know that. "Ahh sorry dude, I didn''t mean it like that, y''know how I''m currently studying at NYU? Well I sent an application to the Baxter building in the hopes of getting an internship there and that''s what I meant when I said that I might get a chance to get a closer look at the Fantasti-Car, that''s cool right? You wouldn''t have a problem with me interning there would you?" Johnny rapidly shakes his head. "No I don''t have any problems, it''s just.. Well quite a lot of different companies and organisations have tried to use me to gain access to the Baxter building and I''m just being cautious though usually the corporate spies are cuter and female." Johnny scratches the back of his head. "Well I''m sorry I''m not that cute, you were just rejecting all the female spies so they sent me because they thought that your interest laid more with the masculine kind." I start laughing and joking with him and he laughs as well. "But why would you chose the Baxter building for an internship? There are companies like Oscorp and Stark Industries that aren''t as dangerous as the Baxter building so why wouldn''t you chose to go there instead.." He questions. "Ah well, I just thought that it would be cool to work there as I know some people and I have a friend who works there that I could hang out with, I thought it would be fun and to tell they truth the other day with the mole man gave me quite the rush so I''m looking forward to see what other crazy shit you get up to there." I tell him, Johnny doesn''t have many friends as most people can''t look past his slight arrogance and narcissism and those that do usually do it because he''s famous. Johnny''s actually a pretty good guy and he''s fun to hang out with. "That would be awesome dude, to have someone to hang out with at the Baxter building. Don''t get me wrong me and the rest of the team are like family but that''s just it, Reed and Sue are caught up in their research most of the time and Ben mostly mopes around feeling sorry for himself because of his appearance. I try to get him out of his funk by hanging out and playing pranks on him but he doesn''t really make it easy for me and it''s like we''re brothers that fight a lot. I just mean it would be great to have someone who I could hang out and bro down with." Johnny gets a little excited at the prospect of me interning at the Baxter building, no doubt he''s gonna try his best to get me the internship there. We end up slipping into a comfortable silence after that and we go get changed out of out jumpsuits into our casual clothing, we''re leaving the garage with Johnny locking it up when he suddenly asks me a question. "Hey Nick, I have a double date tonight and usually I would just trick Ben into coming with me and taking both of the girls home with me but Ben''s been getting pretty angry with me tricking him late so.. I was wondering if maybe you wanted to come with me and replace Ben on the double date, it''s sisters!" Johnny invites me out of the blue, I guess that little talk about friendship advance ours by quite a lot though I double dat espouses a but daunting. "I don''t know Johnny, I mean I''m not that experienced. I''ve only ever been in a relationship with one girl and even that didn''t really involve any dates or anything, I wouldn''t know what to do on a date let alone a double one." I express my doubts (pressing X) to Johnny, I''ve never really been on a date before. "That''s fine dude, just follow my lead. I''ll help you out and guide you through it, I''ll be your sensei in all things dating and seduction and soon you''ll be a pro. Who knows maybe by the end of the night I''ll only be taking one girl home, a man can hope." Johnny starts to reassure and joke with me. "I don''t know Johnny.." I tell him but he won''t take no for an answer. "Cmon dude, you''ll be doing me a solid." He opens his car door and is about to get in. "Cmon dude, if you don''t you''ll regret it. These two sisters are gymnasts, I bet they''re pretty flexible.." He hops in his car, starts the ignition and proceeds to roll down his window and wait for my answer. I mean, I am pretty stressed out from hitting a wall with my research and I hear some a,sing things about gymnasts. I walk around the car, open the passenger door and hop in while Johnny cheers and let''s out a few ''whoops''. You only live once (though this is my second time living once), right? [][][] I wake up staring at an unfamiliar ceiling, my eyes are blurry and I''m feeling pretty dizzy but I guess that''s what happens when you go out on a night on the town with Johnny Storm. I hear some mumbling and can feel someone tightening their arms around me, I look down and I notice a s.e.xy n.a.k.e.d blonde wrapping her arms around me. She''s laying on top of me and I can still feel myself inside of her.. Wait, I''m inside of her? I peek under the covers and lift her up slightly while trying not to wake her up, I take a moment to appreciate her nude form before looking down towards our nether regions and look at where we are connected, I only take a slight glance at the trimmed blonde garden. Thank god I am wearing a c.o.n.d.o.m... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) Chapter 53 - [AT] Big Bone Plays... [After Transition] It''s been two years, at this time I''m eighteen and I''m currently finishing my last year at Metropolis University where I studied biology, chemistry and computer science, I chose biology and chemistry mainly because of my rapid regeneration and I wanted to learn more about the body and what affects it. I chose computer science because I''d heard how much money hackers can make and well, I''m nothing if not an opportunist and it seems like knowledge about computers and codes would be useful in the future especially when it comes to stealing which I''ve recently taken a shine to. Why have I recently started stealing? Well there''s a perfectly normal explanation for that but the short version is that I wanted money, why else would I start to steal? Remember when I was in New York and I was participating in underground cage matches and I even participated in a few special events where an opponent was added every quarter of an hour and I managed to last for 10 hours earning a huge payday. Well all the money I earned back then ran out after my first year at university, I spent it all on a place to live, daily needs, clubbing, partying and girls so I ran out pretty fast and it was coming close to the beginning of my second year so I made a decision. I didn''t have to pay any money for my education because of my scholarship but I kinda splurged on where I lived but I mostly wasted all my money chasing women (which I enjoyed heavily and I must say was money well spent) so I was pretty much broke and blackmailing those government officials back in New York was more of a one time thing, I decided to turn to crime. People believed that it was Clarissa Clemens (formally Stein) who was paying for my apartment but in actual fact I haven''t seen Clarissa since I left her back when I was sixteen and I haven''t looked back since, I actually heard that her ex-husband Martin Stein died in a accident at the power plant or something but I don''t really care about him. I had my abilities and sure I was still participating in underground fights in New York because there aren''t many underground places in Metropolis but the drive from Metropolis to New York meant it wasn''t as lucrative as before and not as frequent, crime seemed to be my only options and I didn''t really care about morals after getting fed to a meat grinder so I went at it with full force. Superman was fighting against loads of super villains lately but I didn''t want to follow the trend even though I had powers, I just wanted to make some easy money and get out, if I put on a costume that would bring me to Superman''s attention and I didn''t want that. My first gig was through some old contacts back in New York who set me up with some thugs in metropolis who needed an extra man in a bank job, don''t worry I didn''t use my real identity or even my real face. Due to experimenting with my powers I learned that it was easy for me to hide things within body within the flesh and one time I even accidentally trapped a pencil between my skin and my muscles creating an outline on the surface on my skin (I didn''t have to worry about getting sick or disease thanks to my rapid healing factor) which ended up giving me an idea. Getting some animal bones was relatively easy and after sterilising (because even if I don''t get sick from it it''s still pretty gross) and whittling them down I managed (after pretty much slicing my face open though I''m not that bothered about that these days) to stick the bones underneath the skin on my face effectively giving me a different bone structure and an entirely new identity. This is what I did when I went to my underground matches and when I did my first bank job, I didn''t want any of this affecting real identity so I even took the precaution of using my newly gained computer skills to create an ID and fake background for myself. The first bank job I did went badly, everything was going fine we got all the money out of the vault and we''re ready to leave when Superman showed up and while the rest of the thugs were trying to fight him (one even took a hostage which took up most of Superman''s attention) I ran with the duffel bag of money I had on me. I went in the first alleyway I saw and cut my check while making sure to control my power to not let out any blood and removed the bones from my face and dumped them in a nearby dumpster with the duffel bag of money safely hidden at the bottom of the garbage after I stashed some in my pants pockets, I ran a few more blocks and dumped my outerwear in a different dumpster before returning to my home. I had enough money to last me for a while and I waited a few days before I went to the place where I dumped the duffel bag of money in the dumpster, luckily it wasn''t trash day yet so the dumpster was still there with the money hidden at the bottom of it which I promptly took out and took home with me, I scored around $50,000 that day and I got a taste for the money. Becoming more cautious after that first bank job I investigated superman and all of his possible abilities (even taking into account the fans sites) and I used some of the money to buy a large amount of animal bones which I used to change my facial structure to a different one for each and every gig I did since my first bank robbery, I would scout out a place to stash the money after each robbery (preferably with lead being naturally in the surroundings) and on the ride to each and every robbery I would slyly manipulate the rest of the crew by mentioning superman and how I knew a guy that managed to escape from him by holding a civilian hostage. All of this culminating in a bank job where I had a completely different facial structure even though I wore a mask (Superman has X-Ray vision but I doubt he looks too closely at the bones in people to notice the difference between animal and human bones), we would get the money and sometimes superman wouldn''t show as he was busy dealing with some super villain but when he did show the other members of the crew fight him and try to take hostages while I escaped with my money and promptly hid it in the scouted out spot before getting rid of my bone implants and going home, going back to collect the money a few days or maybe even weeks later. This worked out surprisingly well for me during my second and last year at Metropolis University though I ended up given it up nearing the end of my second year due to an article in The Daily Planet newspaper. I had so far done four bank jobs where superman showed up and I escaped with my money, one investigative journalist going by the name Lois Lane figured out a pattern where only one person got away scot free with the money each time and she began to question it, she wrote an article pointing this out and even questioned Superman on whether he thought it was the same person at each robbery and if so what he was going to do about it. Luckily for me Superman stated that when he went to each of those bank robberies he used his X-Ray vision to check for any weapons on the bank robbers and also managed to get a glimpse at there bone structure and he went on to confirm that each and every robber at every different bank robbery had a different facial structure so it couldn''t have been the same man. The article ended with Lois Lane saying that even though it may not be same man there were still seven successful bank robberies in the last year, she alluded that there was someone controlling crime behind the scenes and organising it which was obviously not true because I was just using those other idiots as meat shields. Even though they weren''t on to me they did get a little close so I decided to stop robbing banks and focus on finishing my degrees at Metropolis University as I''d built up quite the nice little nest egg over my year as a professional criminal. After finishing up and getting my degrees I decided it was time to go back to Gotham.. It was time for revenge... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, heller8284 and LPummill3. Thank you for the support. Chapter 54 - [BT] Bombshells Inbound... [Before Transition] How the hell did I end up here in bed with this strawberry blonde bombshell? The last thing I remember was going to some bar with Johnny and starting to drink while waiting for the gymnast sisters, is this one of the sisters then? And if so where''s Johnny? Is he with the other sister? Goddamit I''ve gotta get outta here, I''m dreading this girl waking up because I don''t know anything about her, not even her name. Though I wouldn''t mind laying here for another five minutes and enjoying the scenery, the s.e.xy scenery that is currently moulding itself to the side of my body, no Nick focus. You''ve gotta get out of here but how? Wait, I''m remembering a TV show from my last friends called ''Friends'' and if I remember correctly it tackled something quite similar to my situation. I''m just thankful that watching a show called ''Friends'' has prepared me for such a situation and man am I glad I watched that show now. It is time for the ol'' ''Hug and Roll'', since this hot blonde is still asleep on my arm and we are currently cuddling this manoeuvre consists of two parts, part 1- I will first slowly and gently hug, I''m gonna call her ''Strawberry'', from behind making sure to stay in this position for a while as to not immediately wake her up, I don''t know if she is a heavy sleeper or not, I don''t actually know anything about her so I have to try to do this as quietly and efficiently as possible. I will then hug her more tightly and slowly begins to hug her and roll towards her making sure that she is traveling down along the length of my arm as I do, again making sure to do this as slowly as possible, then it''s time for the next step. Step 2- immediately after hugging her and moving her down the length of my arm I quickly and smoothly roll away from her making sure to pull my arm out from underneath as I do so, I take a moment just laying there on the bed to make sure she''s not going to wake up before I start to get ready to leave. Standing next to the bed I look around the room, it looks like we are in some sleazy motel or something as it looks like a f.u.c.kin'' shithole, not caring anymore about the condition of the room I begin to look around for my clothes in the hopes of getting out of here as fast as possible. Spotting my u.n.d.e.r.w.e.a.r and trousers being the closest to me on the ground I pick them and put on my u.n.d.e.r.w.e.a.r before I try to put on the trousers but before I can they begin to buzz which jolts me a little before I realise that it''s just my in the pockets. Thanking my luck that it was set to vibrate I quickly picked up the rest of my clothes and belongings before quickly heading to the toilet making sure to open and close the door quietly behind me wincing a bit when the shitty motel door creaks like a motherf.u.c.ker, checking my phone I see that it''s Johnny calling so I answer in the hopes of maybe finding out this woman''s name just in case she wakes up. "Yo Nick, how''s it going man? Where''d you head off to last night because I didn''t see you after we left the bar." Johnny questions through the phone. "I don''t know I can''t remember anything, how much did you let me drink man? Anyway that doesn''t matter, what was the name of the gymnast sister that I was there to date?" I quickly ask Johnny who just lets out a confused "Why?" To which I scoff at, isn''t it obviously because I slept with her and I don''t know her name. "Just tell me quick Johnny, I need to know it before she wakes up!" I whisper shout through the phone but Johnny just awkwardly laughs through the phone. "Dude I hate to break it to you but you don''t need to know the name of the sister, after last night where you were drunk out of your mind both of the sisters decided to head home with me, the obviously best choice of their lives, and you left sometime before we did, so that girl who''s still asleep in your bed? I don''t know her name but kudos to you bro, it was your first time hitting the bar scene and you managed to head home with a girl though she probably isn''t that pretty considering that a certain someone was drunk as a skunk but still congratulations, even I didn''t mange to go home with a girl on my first time but that''s probably because I have standards but you do you bro." I pretty much faze out the rest of Johnny''s ramblings after he tells me that the girl in the bed isn''t one of the gymnast sisters but I just about manage to tune back in when he says that she''s probably ugly which I take offence to. "Hey man, I might not remember much from last night but the girl I woke up with this morning is a smoking hot blonde bombshell. The only problem is I don''t remember anything about her, not even her name" I tell Johnny through the phone bragging about the hot blonde I slept with though I can''t even remember it. "Wow, sucks to be you bro. That''s why I don''t drink too much on dates, what''s the point of going home with a girl if you''re too drunk to even remember the fun stuff the next night." He says laughing at me but all I''m thinking about is what he said about me being drunk, I guess spider powers don''t offer too much of a resistance towards alcohol which I wouldn''t know because Peter never drank in the comics, either that or I''m a lightweight and I can''t handle my drink. Suddenly someone knocks on the bathroom door. "Hey, you in there?" It''s the nameless blonde who was sleeping in the bed just a few minutes ago. "Sorry Johnny but I''ve got to go!" I say my goodbyes to him. "Wait, hol-" He tries to say something but I cut him off before he can then I just stand silently in the bathroom not knowing what to do as this is the first time I''ve ever been in this situation, at least that is until she knocks on the door again. "Hellooo~, I hope you haven''t fallen asleep on the toilet because that would kinda ruin last night for me." She says which triggers an instinctive response from me. "Hold on, I''m just washing up. I''ll be out in a minute!" I shout through the door "Okay I''ll be waiting out here, y''know I judged this motel on its terrible appearance but if it has running taps that don''t produce any sound at all then it must be more advanced then I thought." She chuckles and I can hear her walking away, I don''t have a respond to that and she just called me out so I''m just going to forget that she did that. I quickly put on my clothes making sure my stuff is still in my pockets before I turn on the taps and splash some water on my face in preparation for the no doubt difficult blonde outside the door. I walk out and I see her unashamedly laying on the bed n.a.k.e.d as the day she was born with absolutely nothing covering her, looking quite tempting with her stunning curves on full display. "Hey there.. Strawberry" I say with a pause because I don''t know her actual name, hoping that she won''t question the pet name I gave her. She just gives me a cheeky grin. "I like the pet name but It''s kinda obvious that you don''t remember anything about last night and who would expect you to, after all you were dead drunk last night which was great for me, it''s actually why I chose you to spend the night with. A pretty boy, hunky guy like you, too drunk to be capable of properly forcing yourself on me, not that you would but just in case. It was perfect for me to lose my v.i.r.g.i.n.i.t.y, after all I don''t wanna give it to the old bastard that I''m marrying tomorrow." She just casually drops half a dozen bombs on me out of nowhere. "Y-you.." I stutter out unable to say anything else. "Oh right, you still don''t know my name. Well, let me help you out with that.. The names Dodson.. Lorina Dodson... (AN: Lorina Dodson is an actual character in the Marvel universe, can anybody guess what her alter ego is? It''s the second character I''ve done in this fanfic with the same kind of theme.) ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, heller8284 and LPummill3. Thank you for the support. Chapter 55 - [AT] The End of Life for Nicholas James... [After Transition] It had been around a couple of months or so since I had graduated and left for Gotham, honestly that was just a guess because I don''t know how long it''s been and there''s a good reason for that. Since I''ve come to Gotham and I had a nice little nest egg I focused all my energy on my revenge, aside from the necessary things I had to do (eat, sleep, piss, shit, and f.u.c.k) I''ve been investigating my old orphanage and boy was that a shit show. The orphanage is the same as ever which is poorly funded, pretty broken down and a nesting place for the future thugs of Gotham though that is looking to be a bad future prospect on account of the crazy man in the bat suit running around, there was an older woman who looked to be passed her fifties but I could tell who it was the moment I set eyes on her, the same bitch that shoved me down a meat grinder. It took all the willpower I had not to rush the bitch and gouge her eyes out but I decided to hold off on that for the moment for the sole reason of my revenge being much sweeter when I had all the details planned out, I watched the orphanage till I saw a little kid come out and walk across the street and into an alleyway where he weirdly waited next to a couple of dumpsters but that when I saw it. A brown paper bag dropped from above into the dumpster which the kid then promptly dug out and ran off no doubt to deliver it, looking above the dumpster I saw the same dealer from all those years ago at ding on the fires ape of the building calmly watching the kid run off down the alley and from that moment on I watched the matron and the dealer like a hawk. I watched them day and night, where they went, who they talked to, where they lived, where they slept, their favourite restaurant, their favourite toilet to take a dump in and I took particular note of their families, the matron didn''t really have anyone which figures because she was the nastiest bitch in existence but the dealer had an ex-wife and a daughter, I actually watched him play in the park with his daughter but if he thinks that having a child rely on him will spare him from my wrath then he is dead wrong. For a few days I contemplated about making him suffer by making him watch me put his daughter into a meat grinder but I decided not to as his daughter doesn''t deserve to suffer for his mistakes, cutting his legs off and putting them through a meat grinder before feeding it to him (obviously cooked and seasoned, I''m not a monster) will suffice for now, honestly I''m not yet decided on how I shall punish them for now I will just continue to watch before I settle on the perfect revenge. And so I watched and eventually I collected information on their whole gang and their system, I collected evidence of their (and their gangs) wrong doings and eventually when one of their drug mules reached the age of ten I found out where they were sending all their quality human meat. They were delivering their quality goods to several different places in Gotham, New York and a dozen other places and honestly I can''t remember which place ''Human Meat Nick'' was sent to (trauma is a hell of a bitch) which means I''ve got to get all of these places as well, nobody ever said that revenge was easy. After a while more of watching them I figured that I wasn''t going to get anything else out of them so I decide to call it quits and prepare for the end game, knowing that it would be impossible for me to actually hunt down the entire gang (too much effort) as well as take down the people who were buying human meat so I compiled all my evidence into a file which I was secretly going to give to police commissioner Jim Gordon (who was only an officer back when I used to live in Gotham) who seemed to be an actual honest to god genuine police officer. Looking at the folder of evidence on my desk I reminisced about everything that lead me here to this very moment, I had everything in place to deal with the gang and the cannibals so all I had to do know was decide how I was going to capture the matron and the dealer and how I was going to slowly torture them to death but there are too many options to choose from with each having their own advantages and disadvantages. Feeling a bit upset about my indecisiveness on my torture method I decided to go up to the roof of the building to have a cigarette, I had rented an apartment in Gotham for the duration of my stay here and I went for an okay one which was in an okay neighbourhood, not rich enough to risk a robbery but not poor enough that I would feel sick living here. Opening the door to the roof I patted down my pockets to look for my cigarettes box but when I patted my back left pocket I had a minor panic attack at the lack of feeling in the pocket where I kept my wallet before I realised that I left it in the apartment with the rest of my belongings only taking my cigarettes with me. Reaching into my back right pocket I took out my cigarette box and took a single one out before lighting it and putting it in my mouth proceeding to take a deep drag, cigarettes became a vice of some kind for me due to all the stress I''ve been under which includes tangling with Superman, regenerating from quite a few different injuries as well as planning my revenge and holding back from just running at them which was super difficult for me. I doesn''t really matter though, my healing factor will just fix me so there''s no lung cancer or anything to worry about, I''ve actually tried almost every kind of drug out there during my university days because I knew that I wouldn''t die from it but unfortunately my regenerating is too good that it gets rid of my high after after a few minutes so it was kinda hard to enjoy so I don''t take drugs anymore. Stopping myself from healing the rest of my body is pretty easy for me but when it comes to the brain I don''t risk anything because I might regenerate but who knows if I will come back brain dead but unfortunately this means that my highs don''t last that long unless it''s a natural body reaction, I now just constantly smoke cigarettes, drink booze and have a f.u.c.k ton of s.e.x for fun which I ain''t complaining about, no lung failure for me. I go to take another drag from my cigarette but I don''t because my mouth opens wide in shock and my cigarettes falls to the floor, the reason for my shock is the f.u.c.k.i.n.g bright blue-green wormhole that just opened in front of me, I don''t know what the hell it is but it looks beautiful. It''s drawing me in, I can''t look away, it''s like this is my destiny. I feel an unstoppable need to go towards it and so I do, I''ve never been one to deny myself my d.e.s.i.r.es. I slowly inch forward towards the blue-green spectacle before my eyes with my heartbeat going absolutely insane seeming to beat in time with the pulses from the wormhole. I reach out my hand and it touches the shining wormhole before my eyes, just a slight touch but that''s all that was needed.. All that was needed for me to be s.u.c.k.e.d into it without even being able to let out a scream... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, heller8284 and LPummill3. Thank you for the support. Chapter 56 - [BT] Did I Just Get R*ped? [Before Transition] "What the actual F.U.C.K!?" I''m so confused right now, this woman Lorina Dodson just admitted to taking advantage of me last night which I don''t really mind (aside from the fact that I don''t remember much of it) but it still stings me that I was used in such a way. Any way I look at this it''s clear, ''R*pe. R*pe, r*pe. That''s a r*pe. This is what r*ping is. She''s a r*per and she''s r*ped me! THAT''S A R*PE! R*PE!!'' At least that is what one Charlie Day would say in this situation (at least that''s what he said in horrible bosses) but I can''t bring myself to feel violated, I''m not really bothered about what she''s done but I know that I enjoyed it even if I don''t remember it. I went to that bar last night to pick up a girl and that''s what I did plus she said she did it to lose her v.i.r.g.i.n.i.t.y because she was marrying an old man tomorrow and who wants to marry an old man, seriously. Wait, her v.i.r.g.i.n.i.t.y! She said that she did what she did last night to lose her v.i.r.g.i.n.i.t.y but as far as I can tell there''s no blood on those bedsheets, a whole lot of fluids but not a single drop of blood which means she''s not being totally honest with me. "Hey, you said that you slept with me last night to lose your v.i.r.g.i.n.i.t.y but from what I can see aside from some fluids there''s not a drop of blood on those sheets, so did we even have s.e.x?" I question wanting to get to the bottom of what I did last night. She looks at me with a bit of confusion till her face lights up in understanding. "Right, I remember now. I was going to that bar last night to find someone nice to lose my v.i.r.g.i.n.i.t.y to before my wedding the next day, just when I went to open the door you stumbled out and knocked me to the floor and it was obvious that you were drunk as a skunk but even then you were still a nice person. You helped me up and apologised even if it came out in a few drunken slurs so I decided to lose my v.i.r.g.i.n.i.t.y to you, my parents had probably sent someone out to look for me and you were there so I took the quickest option I had which was you. Anyway I grabbed you by the arm and started to drag you off towards a nearby motel while telling you that we were going to have s.e.x which you were happy to hear, so happy in fact that you couldn''t wait till we got to the hotel and I ended up losing my v.i.r.g.i.n.i.t.y in an alleyway, that''s why there''s no blood on the sheets." Oh shit, I know that a girls v.i.r.g.i.n.i.t.y is very important to them and I made it so that she lost hers in an alleyway. "I''m so sorry, I was very drunk last night so I don''t remember much of what happened. I''m sorry that you had to lose your v.i.r.g.i.n.i.t.y to me in an alleyway." A minute ago I was kinda angry and suspicious of her but somehow she''s managed to completely subvert my emotions so that I feel bad instead, either she is a very honest and sincere person or she is a great manipulator, honestly I''m not bothered enough about her to care which one. "Hey, don''t feel bad about it. I went out last night on a mission to lose my v.i.r.g.i.n.i.t.y which I did. Sure I lost it in an alleyway which isn''t that romantic but now I don''t have to lose it to that dirty old man so thank you, thank you for taking my v.i.r.g.i.n.i.t.y in an alleyway." After that we talked for a while and she told me about her situation, she was born into a rich family and she was a sheltered child, protected by overbearing parents intent on seeing their daughter become a proper lady. Finding solace in the many books of the family library, she was entranced by Lewis Carroll''s ''Alice in Wonderland''. Her parents decided that she was to be married off to a rich elderly man of eighty-two named Lewis, so in a final bid for a bit of freedom before her life as a trophy wife started she decide to go out and lose her v.i.r.g.i.n.i.t.y on her own terms which is how she ended up in bed with me. I talked about myself as well but didn''t reveal too much, just that I was an orphan, I am currently studying at Empire State University (AN: I changed the university to ESU) and I''m hoping to get an internship at the Baxter Building. "Y''know in a few hours I''m going to be a married woman, I even have my wedding dress here in my bag because I knew that I was going to spend the night with someone." She tells me but I don''t know what she''s getting at so I just arch an eyebrow in question. "How bout'' I put on my wedding dress and then you can f.u.c.k me, it''ll be another ''f.u.c.k you'' to my parents and that dirty old man, getting married in a dress I was just f.u.c.k.e.d in. Cmon you don''t remember much from last night, right? So now you can remember what s.e.x with me is actually like plus I''ll be able to see just how good you are in bed without all the alcohol inhibiting you, it''ll be fun." She tells me in a seductive purr and I do want to experience what I forgot last night, who am I kidding no man can refuse an offer like that. I start to throw of the clothes that I had just recently put on and started to stalk towards her. "Wait, at least let me put on the dress first!" [][][] Putting my clothes back on after a crazy session of fun with Lorina, I getting ready to leave when she decides to say something to me. "Hey, since I''m just going to be a trophy wife now I''m not gonna be having much fun after I''m married. I wouldn''t be adverse to continuing this tryst of ours after I''m married, the old man probably won''t be able to even get it up. What''d ya say, wanna be my ''Paramour''?" She asks me but I take a moment to consider what such a relationship would mean for me. "Sorry Lorina but I''m gonna be really busy with university and my internship so I wouldn''t be a very good ''Paramour'' for you but hey, here''s me number call me if you''re ever lonely or need someone to talk to." She looks a bit upset and frustrated at my rejection. "Yeah, you''re right. I''m just gonna be a toy for an old man now, who would want to be in a relationship with me, right?" She says in self depreciation which I am quite familiar with, I go over to her and put my hand on her shoulder. "Hey, cmon you said this dude is like eighty years old and he''s loaded. Think about it like this, he''ll be dead in less than ten years maybe from an heart attack which could happen from the slightest scare to people at his age and then you''ll be free and loaded, you can do whatever you want so just stick it out for a few years and then you''ll have limitless options. Either that or you can runaway before the wedding it''s up to you." I get up and walk to the motel door. "Bye Nick." I hear her mutter to me whilst in deep thought to which I reply "Bye Lorina, stay optimistic okay?" I close the door behind me but I can hear her mutter something yo herself before it fully closes. "A heart attack huh.." I''m glad that she''s looking to the future I think without realising the implication of those ominous words I just heard her say... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, heller8284 and LPummill3. Thank you for the support. Chapter 57 - [NAC] THE ILLNESS GOT ME! [Not A Chapter] Guys I''ve just got my test back and it turns out I''m positive for Corona Virus and the illness has taken hold of me. So I have Covid, I still have to do my college work even though I''m ill and all I wanna do is sleep which is what I''ll be doing most of the time now apart from when I''m doing my work. I''m gonna use this time to just stay in bed do my work and catch up on One Piece, I''m actually thinking about doing a One Piece Story but only after I''ve finished this volume so let me know what you think. I''m not gonna be uploading anything on until I''ve recovered but worry not as I''m still gonna keep writing but I''m just going to put it on my Pa Treon and once I''ve recovered I''ll start uploading to again. For those of you who are Pa Treon members I''ll still be writing and posting it on my Pa Treon but it might just be two chapters a week maybe stretching to a bit more if I feel better. I know that the rate at which I''m producing chapters will slow but you guys support me and I don''t want you to read at the same pace as those on when you support me so much which is while I''ll be exclusively posting on web novel till I''m better and my rate of writing gets better. Hopefully I''ll get better soon and I can return to posting on but don''t worry because when I return I''ll have a surplus of chapters which I can put out at a much faster rate than what I was doing before and hopefully that pace will keep. Wish me luck in getting better guys and I''m sorry that I''ll be stopping posting on till im better but I will try kick this shitty disease as soon as possible and get back to posting. Chapters will be a bit slower than usual on my Pa Treon but they''ll be exclusive as they won''t be going on till I''m better so if you can''t wait then join my Pa Treon to get chapters in advance. Sorry I got sick guys. ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) Chapter 57 - [AT] Changing Reality Doesnt Change Your Plans for Revenge [After Transition] I awaken from my slumber because of someone rustling me from my sleep by shaking my shoulder, I take a few moments to see who it is because I have a splitting headache which I swear hurts worse than getting shot in the head, trust me I know. Wait.. How the hell do I know how much it hurts to get shot in the head, duh it''s because I got shot in the head quite a few times during my five years as a drug mule. A drug mule? Why would I be a drug mule I was born to a rich family that owned a share of Wayne Industries, no not Wayne Industries it was Stark Industries and my family must''ve adopted me from the Gotham orphanage, no I was born in New York and I''m not an orphan. WHAT THE F.U.C.K IS WRONG WITH MY HEAD! IT F.U.C.KIN KILLLLS!!! "Excuse me, Nick right? Are you okay?" I hear a voice coming from my right, it seems to be the person who shook me from my sleep. Looking up from where my head was resting on the computer desk I''m rewarded with the beautiful vision that is one Barbara Gordon also known as the Batgirl, wait how the f.u.c.k do I know that? Oh I remember, I was investigating police commissioner Gordon to see if I could trust him with the evidence of human meat trafficking and that naturally included investigating his daughter who I knew to be batgirl, no I didn''t find that out when I was investigating her I read it in a comic. Are some rich arseholes profiting off of superheroes now and how the hell did they figure out the superheroes identities, making stories on Batman, Iron Man, Superman and Spider-Man for profit, what arseholes those are real people who risk there life. Wait, Iron Man and Spider-Man? They are from Marvel Comics while Batman and Superman are from Detective Comics which I read before I was reincarnated. Yes I remember now, I was reincarnated in the Marvel Universe and I grew up there with a rich family, I attended Empire State University and had an internship at the Baxter Building before I eventually decided to come to this universe for some reason. My memories are a bit confusing and muddled up so I can''t remember somethings, I can''t remember why I decided to leave the marvel universe but for some reason I know that it was because of hurt? I''m just feeling some strong negative emotions when I think about so I just won''t think about it, why would I have to anyways I have a life here now, a life thanks to the genius minds of the marvel universe. Somehow I got Reed Richards, Tony Stark, Stephen Strange and Charles Xavier to create some kind of magic memory stick that would rewrite reality so I could seamlessly blend into this new reality but it seems I underestimated just exactly what that meant, creating an entire new life, new memories and experiences and then mashing them into my head sure does hurt a f.u.c.k ton but not as much as it hurts to be fed to a meat grinder. I''m essentially a completely brand new person now made up from the Nicholas James of the DC Universe (without meta-knowledge), the Nicholas James from the Marvel Universe (with meta-knowledge) and the person I was before I reincarnated in marvel, which I can''t remember the name of. Why can''t I remember the name of who I was? I can''t actually remember much from before I reincarnated, I remember some crucial characters and their secret identities, I remember super villains and some storylines, i remember a few different universes but I can tell, I can tell that I don''t have as much meta knowledge as I used to. I guess changing reality to have an entire new existence shoved into your brain does have some serious side effects, for one I can''t remember much from before I was reincarnated, I''m also a bit fuzzy in some of the things I did while I was in the marvel universe except that I know that this information is somewhere in my head but for some reason it just doesn''t want to reveal itself, it doesn''t matter much though as its not like I''ll be returning to the marvel universe, at least not any time soon. Shit I''ve lost some of my meta knowledge but the thing is I don''t know if what I''ve forgotten is even all that crucial so I can''t really tell whether I''ve messed up really bad , oh well who needs meta knowledge when you can pretty much regenerate from anything, I bet I could even regenerate from an omega beam (I''m glad I at least remember some of the big baddies like Darkseid). Speaking of regeneration, how the f.u.c.k did I end up with a power like that, from the memories of living in this universe I can tell that Nicholas James pre merge didn''t even question it which is kinda stupid but then again he didn''t have any meta knowledge at all. It can''t be an X-Gene because we are not in the marvel universe anymore, it can''t be anything mystic, it can''t be an accident or experimentation since it happened in an alleyway, it can be cosmic power or some bullshit and it definitely isn''t related to my genes (maybe it is since I was an orphan in this universe and I don''t know my parents in this universe compared to the wealthy human parents I had in the marvel universe) and it probably isn''t anything to de with the Meta-Gene or reality changi- wait. Of course I''m an idiot, it because of the reality change when I rewrote my life into this reality and reality for the short instance became my bitch (the kind of bitch that says it loves you to your face and then when your not looking shoves you head first through a meat grinder all the while laughing at you). The memory stick was made with some specific specifications to be put in place once it was used, those conditions were to make sure that I could blend in seamlessly to this reality though they came with some serious side effects. They conditions were basically living to the present day (no point making a new identity in this universe and having it have died five years earlier), there are also a few other conditions that I''ve forgotten but it was basically to make sure the new me lived to present day safely without much harm. Except in the new reality I was in Gotham (pretty much the worst possible option available) so it would be pretty hard for the new me to survive with all the crime that festered in the city but it was realities job to make sure I loved so I did it in the best way possible, I granted the pre merge me the ability to heal from anything therefore ensuring that I would live to present day without so much as a scratch though that doesn''t mean my mind was left untouched, the universe sure found a f.u.c.k.i.n.g loop hole and discovered a way to f.u.c.k with me. I could have gotten any power to survive my time in Gotham, enhanced durability, intangibility, telekinesis, telepathy pretty much anything but reality chose the power that would come with enduring the worst pain possible. The universe chose to f.u.c.k with me because I messed with reality but I''m kinda grateful, regeneration might hurt but it sure is useful. "Hey, are you okay? You''re looking kind of out of it, should I call someone for you?" I hear Barbara say to me and I realise that I''ve been in a daze for the last couple of minutes contemplating my new circ.u.mstances. Now I just need to figure out what I''m going to do with the matron and the dealer, after all I remember what they did to me and my need for revenge still burns strong... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, heller8284, Wanous And Matthew Laird. Thank you for the support. Chapter 58 - [BT] Stop Speeding While Looking into my Eyes! [Before Transition] It''s been two days since my little drunken fling with Lorina Dodson and today was the first day back working on the car with Johnny since then, getting dropped off by Earl I walked up the path towards the garage entrance but became confused when I notice that the garage doors are still closed and Johnny isn''t here. Trying the door by futilely pulling on it in the hopes that it''s just jammed or something doesn''t pan out when I hear the door dangerously creak from me using a bit too much of my strength, deciding to not test my luck anymore I decide to just sit on the steps and wait for Johnny to come while maybe playing some time wasting apps on my phone (mind numbing activities to occupy your mind, a constant in every universe). After I don''t know how long of playing a variety of different apps on my phone I finally hear the rumbling of a vehicle approaching, looking up from my phone I look around in confusion because there is nothing in sight despite the motor noise and it is a bit befuddling. Eventually some kind of white vehicle slams to the ground on the street in front of me taking me by surprised from the suddenness of it, looking at the car or whatever it is I am momentarily speechless from what I am seeing mostly just because of how ridiculous it looks. Sitting neatly on the ground in front of me is some kind of weird contraption that is obviously meant to be some kind of vehicle, it is kinda circular in shape and there would not be that much difference when compared to a bathtub, it is fully white in colour with a big blue number 4 on the front of the white tub though the interior does look a little different from a bathtub. The inside of the weird vehicle is made up of three compartments, the first compartment that sits at the front of the vehicle is a comfortable seat where the driver sits along with all of the vehicle controls, the compartment behind that looks to be normal with two seats in it and then finally behind that one is a final compartment which looks to have just discarded the notion of a seat and made itself into a couch kind of like the booths you see at a restaurant. Sitting smugly in the front seat of the vehicle was Johnny looking like he was excited for some reason or the other and he just called out for me to come over to the car while relaxing himself in it acting like he wasn''t late for the appointed time to work on my car. I then got up from my makeshift seat on the steps and walked down the path to the street where Johnny was sitting in his weird jacuzzi-racer, getting closer to him I call out with some frustration in my voice. "Hey man, you were supposed to be here ages ago! What the hell took you so long and why aren''t we walking towards the garage right now?" I ask because given all intents and purposes we should be in there working on Chantelle right now no matter what, even if Johnny did decide to show up in a big white flying bathtub that''s no excuse to not work on bettering my baby. Johnny just self assuredly smirks at my query, sometimes this guy can be really annoying. "Don''t worry dude I know we were supposed to be working on the car but I have some good news. News which I think you''ll really like especially after that fiasco at the bar a few days I mean with how drunk you were it was a surprise to find out that you slept in a bed let alone with a girl." Johnny smiles at me. "We''re not going on another date are we? Because this time you shouldn''t let me drink so much, I mean what the hell you even lost track of me afterwards and didn''t give a crap!" I shout at him in annoyance, the thing annoying me the most being that he showed up late but I can''t show much anger for such a little thing so I decide to mention the other night to justify my anger even though I''m not that mad about it because I ended up getting laid. "No we''re not going to go on another date and I''m sorry I let you drink so much and then lost track of you but in my defence I was going to come and find you but the gymnast sisters wanted to go back to my place and I couldn''t let that opportunity go. Y''know how it is man, you can''t say you wouldn''t have done the same thing as me but I''ll promise the next time I''ll make sure you don''t drink so much that this would be another issue." He''s right goddamn it, I would have forgotten all about him if gymnast sisters were wanting to go home and get freaky with me so who could blame him, I know that he broke the bro code (ditching me) but one could say that I ditched him with the two dates and somehow he got lucky and it worked out for him which is pretty much what happened. "Fine, I''m not that angry about it anyway. If I didn''t end up spending the night with that hot blonde then I would be so much angrier right now but I did so I don''t really have anything to get upset about, just make sure I don''t drink so much next time, alright?" Johnny just smiles at me excitedly and bypasses what I just said. "Yeah no problem dude, I will totally make sure next time but right now you need to hop in so we can get going to the Baxter building, we wouldn''t want to be late for the surprise!" I proceed to hop into the middle compartment with the two seats and buckle myself into one of the seats, I''m pretty sure I know what the surprise is but assuming make an a.s.s out of you and me so I''ll hold judgement for now and just ask about the origin of this weird vehicle. "What the hell is this thing anyway? It looks like a glorified bathtub with a giant blue number four pasted on the front of it in equivalence to rubber ducky stickers stuck on a child''s bathtub, did I mention that it looks like a bathtub?" I ask as he starts up the vehicle from the drivers seat. "Well you said how much you wanted to see the Fantasti-car so I thought hey why not show Nick the ol'' girl.. Ta-dah, how''d you like the myth, the legend, THE FANTASTI-CAR!!!" He shouts in a grand dramatic fashion to which I am flabbergasted. "What the hell, this isn''t the bloody Fantasti-car this is a flying bathtub! I''ve seen the Fantasti-car on the news before and it looks nothing like this!" I shout in askance when he tells me what the vehicle is which I can''t believe, how can such a vehicle have the word ''fantastic'' in it. "Wow dude, why''re you shaming the car for. This is the original, the OG, this is The Fantasti-car MKI. I admit that it might not look too good at first glance but give it a chance and it''ll grow on ya, nothing beats a classic." Johnny says as het pats the front of the glorified bathtub, we are currently flying through the air in the Fantasti-car MKI. It might not look too good but you can''t say that the technology the went into making it wasn''t the best there was at the time, it''s so smooth that I didn''t even notice it take off and flying through the if while talking to Johnny (which might be more because of my lack of situational awareness but who cares). Johnny just looks back and gives me a thumbs up. "Don''t worry, you''ll be able to see the newer versions when we get to the Baxter Building and maybe with a little luck you can even help me with building a new one." Johnny reassures me but all I can think of is that we''re going to crash, he''s acting like this is a fast and furious movie and he''s speeding through the air while looking back at me, what the f.u.c.k Johnny watch the road. This isn''t a fast and furious movie and I''m not a s.e.xy Hispanic undercover agent that tasked you to infiltrate an underground organisation you asshole... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, heller8284, Wanous And Matthew Laird. Thank you for the support. Chapter 59 - [AT] Is That You Doctor Doom? [After Transition] "No, I''m fine, thanks though" I say to her wanting to stop all interaction as soon as possible as I want to sort out my head and my new memories even if that does mean stopping talking to this gorgeous redhead who I just want to force onto the floor and ravish no matter her pleas and then leave her there... Where the f.u.c.k did that come from, I''m not that kind of person what the f.u.c.k. "Are you sure Nick because you''re not looking too well, I can get some help if you want?" She ask in concern but all I want to do right now is rip of her top and piss on her t.i.t.s, what the f.u.c.k is wrong with me who the hell wants to piss on someone, what the f.u.c.k. Something is definitely wrong with me and I need to sort it out as soon as possible, before I end up doing something I regret to the friendly Barbara Gordon who just wants to help. "Nick, I think you really need help. Just wait here and let me call someone who can do that." She says as she pulls out her phone and begins to type in a number and I quickly stand up an slap the phone out of her hand before she can finish typing it in while shouting, "NO!", I don''t know who she was going to call but all I know is that I can''t let her do that as she''s the police commissioners daughter as well as Batgirl. Oh shit, what if she found out about my crimes using the Bat-Computer or something and she is gonna try to arrest me, I can''t go to prison, I''ll have to find some way to silence her maybe I can capture her and hold her prisoner till I can find a way to erase memories and if that doesn''t work I can always silence her indefinitely. "Nick?" I hear her question me and I look up into her eyes and all I can see is concern and kindness in them, she doesn''t know anything about my crimes and just wants to help me while all I could think about was kidnapping her, killing her and maybe even defiling her.. What the hell is wrong with me? I didn''t use to be like this, what the hell is happening to me and how can I make it stop. "Are you okay?" I hear Barbara ask kindly while reaching her arm out to gently touch my shoulder, acting like she is about to scold me with her digits I back off before reaching under the computer desk and grabbing my bag before running past her and out of the library while leaving her with a stuttered, "S-Sorry.." as I run past her. Getting out of the library I don''t realise that I''ve left a certain special memory stick inside the library because of my panic, all I can think about is getting as far away from the library as possible because of the fear that I will act upon the horrific intentions in my head. Without thinking I just continue to run and run, making my way through the deserted Gotham streets and back alleys with a familiarity that I shouldn''t have but I don''t question it and just continue to run without knowing where I''m going, trying to outrun the thoughts in my head but I can still feel them and they are now a part of me, a dark part of me that I can never escape. Eventually my feet stop and I look up to take in my surroundings and see just where my legs have taken me, looking around I just see another generic run down Gotham street though it''s not as bad as some of the other parts of Gotham but i can feel some familiarity with the street like I''ve been here before multiple times and in multiple situations. Looking at the building directly in front of me I realise exactly why that is, this is the building upon which I first found myself in this new reality on the roof and where I first encountered Catwoman but it also brings up some different memories for me. Memories such as my finding this building and talking to the owner to procure an apartment inside it, to spending days and days sitting inside and filing evidence on human meat traffickers and to heading up to the roof to look out at the city while enjoying a quiet smoke. I have separate memories about this building and I know that both sets don''t coincide except for one memory on the roof which is kind of fuzzy but I remember a blue-green portal appearing out of nowhere, heading inside the building I go up the stairs and continue to go up and up without knowing which floor I''m heading to but knowing that I''ll stop at the right one. While heading up one particular flight of stairs I bump into an old foreign woman who doesn''t look particularly happy but she has one of those faces that just look like they are incapable of doing anything else but frowning, I don''t understand much of what she says but from what I can manage to understand she wants me to pay my rent tomorrow but she doesn''t seem that urgent about it as she trust me to pay on time. I guess being a criminal means you want the least amount of attention as possible and should pay your bills on time to not get any trouble which is why this old lady doesn''t seem to hate me as much as the other residents in the building, I ignore her after she continues walking down the stairs and I continue my journey up the stairs till I stop on a particular floor and my eyes zero on to a particular door which I know belongs to me but I quickly realise that I don''t have a key to enter. Walking to the door I see a flirtatious woman walking down the hall and without thinking I bump into her and slyly take a hairpins from her hair without her notice, she just gives me a flirty look and offers me a good time to which I refuse, she must have been a p.r.o.s.t.i.t.u.t.e. Walking to my door I quickly take out the hairpin and reshape it with my hands into a particular shape before jamming it into the door and proceeding to unlock the door with skill I didn''t know I even had. I mean sure I trained on lock picking doors during my training with Earl but that was with actual lock picking tools and not with hairpins, I didn''t have much experience with unlocking doors so I can conclude that this particular skill has come from my less ethical counterpart in this universe. After unlocking the door quite smoothly without trouble I quickly enter the room and shut the door behind me and promptly look around the room which feels fairly familiar to me, the room itself is pretty plain with hardly any furniture in it except for a bed, a desk and chair and any other daily necessities though I notice a particular folder on top of the desk along with a wallet as well as a particular ratty bag in the corner. I ignore all that and flop down onto the bed to try and get some semblance of what had happened to me today but suddenly out of nowhere a being that looks to be made out of metal with a green cloak, not dissimilar to Doctor Doom, appears above me and looks down at me with cosmic powers practically leaking from its eyes... "MORTAL.." ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, heller8284, Wanous, Matthew Laird and Sage Honos. Thank you for the support. Chapter 60 - [BT] The Mysterious Top Five Floors... [Before Transition] Parking in the Fantastic Four''s hanger was lot more exciting than I thought it would be mainly because I was unsure where we would be parking the Fantasti-Car, granted I have been to the Baxter Building before but I only went to the medical lab which was on the 32nd floor and that too I only got there because Johnny flew me through the window when he burnt my hand and afterwards I was shown straight to the elevator where they activated it and sent me straight to to the 30th floor where the reception area manned by the robot Roberta who was an attractive blonde though that was only the top half the rest of her is just attached to the receptionist desk. Roberta opened the elevator for me which took me all the way down to the ground floor/the lobby which I promptly left and went home, not much is known about the Fantastic Four''s headquarters which is basically separate from the rest of the Baxter Building. The Baxter Building has 35 floors and everything about the building is pretty much public knowledge, well all except the top five floors which are exclusively for the use of the Fantastic Four. The lobby also known as the ground floor is pretty basic and contains several shops such as Abe Shoenstein''s snack shop, an optometrist''s shop and a visitors'' center, it also has elevator bank and the freight loading dock. The visitors'' center was as close as most people could get to the Fantastic Four as it showed a multimedia show on the Fantastic Four''s history and it was shown hourly from 9 to 4 while the floor directory listed building tenants such as Pierre Picolino (a famous abstract sculptor), the Ladies'' Canasta, Mah Jonng Society, and Fantastic Four Inc. At the elevator bank there are three elevators which serviced floors 1 through 30 which was just for the other non super-heroic residents of the building though the thirtieth floor was special as it had no residents but we''ll get to that floor later. The fourth elevator was marked by the Fantastic Four''s insignia which as everyone knows is a big blue 4 inside a blue circle sometimes seen on a white background. This was the express elevator to floors 30 (the floor with a specific purpose) through 35, the Fantastic Four''s headquarters. The elevator I learn later in the day could only be summoned by a solenoid activator such as were embedded in the Fantastic Four''s belt buckles (Johnny makes use of this particular feature to mess with me in the future). Normally this elevator stayed on these floors and only descended to street level when summoned and on the way up the elevator hidden scanners identified the passengers and checked them for hidden weapons or devices. If questionable material was found, the elevator would stop in midshaft until the Fantastic Four was prepared to deal with the intruder. All elevators doubled as freight elevators. You can access the thirtieth floor from all of the elevators though if a visitor chose to take one of the regular elevators he can only be taken to the 30th floor and no further. The bulk of the floor was occupied by the building''s mechanical systems (plumbing, ventilation, and elevator winches). Acoustic insulation kept the noise from affecting the Fantastic Four''s reception area. This floor also acted as a buffer zone to absorb damage from battles in the upper floors. It also contained the magnetic repulsion system. This system was designed to lift the upper floors away from the rest of the Baxter Building with the theory being that this way the rest of the building could have been protected from a particularly damaging battle. The system was designed as a compromise to placate the other residents of the building and their complaints and I later learn that it can only be controlled from the Computer Center on the 33rd floor. Not all of the thirtieth floor is used for this purpose though, there is a section of the floor where the elevator arrives that serves as a reception for Fantastic Four Inc. All the typical visitor saw on the 30th floor was the Fantastic Four''s reception area and said visitor would be greeted by Roberta, a usuform robot. Her visible half (above the waist) appeared to be an attractive blond in her 20s and I was tempted to flirt with her when I first saw her before I reached the desk and peered over and saw her lower half though I wouldn''t be opposed to wooing her if she gained proper sentience and feelings and the like though she would have to sort out her lower half as below the waist she was a pivoting arm attached directly to her desk but if she got a proper lower half I would definite hit that (though I do still wonder if I can get by with just the top half, food for thought). Roberta, I later learn, is tied directly to the Fantastic Four''s computer system and could monitor the entire building. Behind the receptionist desk is a door which leads to the rest of the thirtieth floor incase any of the mechanical systems need maintenance or improvement. The reception room is also filled with hidden scanners to probe visitors. If the visitor were hostile, the floor was rigged to deliver a stunning electrical shock. Once the visitor had been cleared and it was made sure that they were expected, a panel opened to reveal a lift to the 31st floor which is completely separate from the Fantastic Four''s express elevator. That is all the floors that are known about in the Baxter Building though I have supplemented it with my own knowledge which I have learnt about from Johnny when he gave me the grand tour, why did he give me the grand tour well it should be pretty obvious by now. I got the internship though I''ll get to talking about that later. Now where was I, ahh yes I was at the part where we arrived at the Baxter Buliding and entered through the hanger which I was very surprised about as the top of the Baxter Building is just a normal flat roof with domed windows in it that look down into the thirty fifth floor. My surprise was mostly because the roof was flat and featureless apart form a large Fantastic Four insignia, imagine my surprise when it turned out that that insignia marked the retractable hatch for launching and landing vehicles. Johnny explained to me that if a Fantastic Four vehicle approached, the hatch would open automatically. There were a series of observatory domes located at various spots on the roof. Through my own research of the Baxter Building (which I did when I decided to infiltrate the place and steal their research) originally a permanent dome was located on the corner opposite the rocket silo, yeah I know I was very surprised to find out that there is a rocket silo. The last dome was closer to the silo but retractable. The entire dome could be lowered through the floor to the 35th floor hangar. This left the roof completely clear for action and eliminated the only hiding place for a trespasser. The observatory equipment included a computer-linked telescope and twin telescopic cameras, I made sure to take note of them as I might have to make a hasty escape sometime in the future. Once we landed in the hanger I didn''t get much time to look around at it as Johnny took me by the arm and dragged me over to the elevator where we went down to the 34th floor and taken to a briefing room off to the side where I was in for a surprise, not really though but I did have to act like I was surprised for the sake of Johnny and the rest of the people in the room. Standing there in the room was Reed Richards AKA ''Mister Fantastic'', Susan Storm AKA ''The Invisible Woman'' and Benjamin Grimm AKA ''The Thing'' though my awe was understandably diminished when I noticed that Ben Grimm was moping about on a sofa in the corner of the room and Reed Richards was sat at the conferenced table in the middle of the room though he was constantly tapping away at a pad and looked like he hadn''t showered or eaten in days while Susan Storm was the only one being professional calmly sitting at the table while drinking a cup of coffee. Susan looks up at us when we enter through the door and she smiles kindly. "It''s good to see you again Nick, you''re probably wondering why you''ve been brought here. Well, we''ve decided to accept your internship, congratulations Nick. Welcome to Fantastic Four, Inc." Don''t you just love it when everything works out... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, heller8284, Wanous, Matthew Laird and Sage Honos. Thank you for the support. Chapter 61 - [AT] Sins Come to Light... [After Transition] F.u.c.k.. I can''t breathe... The power, it''s overwhelming... I''m suffocating... WHO THE F.U.C.K IS THIS GUY!? And why the hell is he here?.. Shit I really can''t breathe.. I''m going to die. "MORTAL, REPENT YOUR SINS!" What f.u.c.kin'' sins you asshole! I haven''t done shit... "WHY DO YOU LIE? YOU ARE GUILTY OF MANY THINGS, ENVY, JEALOUSY, THEFT AND MURDER AND EVEN THEN THEY ARE NOT YOUR MOST HEINOUS CRIMES!" F.u.c.k, this thing just continues to float above me and I can''t do shit about it also I''m pretty sure he read my mind but that shouldn''t be possible I took precautions against mind reader back in the Marvel Universe, even Charles Xavier and Jean Grey couldn''t read my mind so how the hell can he. "I AM ABOVE SUCH THINGS MORTAL, NOW REPENT FOR YOUR SINS!" He states in a deathly calm tone that seems to hold an ocean of rage being held back by a dam. My sins.? F.u.c.k, he even knows all my sins.. But in my defence the people that died in the fighting rings were fair play and I''m pretty sure they were all criminals so if anything I did the world a favour... "MORTAL, YOUR ACTIONS HAVE HARMED INNOCENTS AND FOR THAT YOU SHALL FEEL MY VENGEANCE!" He whispers but it resounds in my ears like thunder. I try to speak to refute his claims but his power is so overwhelming that I am paralysed, I have never harmed a single innocent and anything I''ve ever done has only resulted negatively for bad people so why am I being punished.. Why..? "MORTAL, EVEN NOW YOU REFUSE TO ADMIT YOUR SINS! YOU HAVE CONVINCED YOUR FORMER PARTNERS IN CRIME TO TAKE HOSTAGES WHILE COMMITTING YOUR THEFTS AND THEN LEFT THE SCENE BEFORE ITS CONCLUSION, YOUR ACTIONS HAVE RESULTED IN THE DEATH OF INNOCENTS!" His voice booms out. What, I.. I didn''t... No one died... Superman was there, he saved them... "THE SUPERMAN MAY HAVE POWERS BEYOND ANY OTHER MORTAL, YET HE IS STILL A MAN, A MORTAL! EVEN HE CANNOT SAVE EVERYONE!" That, that can''t be true... He didn''t save everyone.. That''s not possible... I would have heard about it, it would have been in the news... Your lying, you must be. "I HAVE NO NEED TO LIE MORTAL! WHILE YOU WERE USING YOU''RE ILL GOTTEN GAINS TO SINK AND DROWN IN A WHIRLPOOL OF SIN, L.U.S.T AND D.E.S.I.R.E, PEOPLE WERE IN MOURNING, MOURNING FOR THE LIVES LOST, THE LOVES YOU TOOK! SO REPENT!!!" He booms out. No, I.. I may have played some part in their deaths but I didn''t pull the trigger, it wasn''t my fault.. "THEN WHAT ABOUT YOUR PREMEDITATED MURDER, THE MURDER YOU COMMITTED! YOU TOOK THE LIFE OF AN OLD MAN WITH YOUR VERY OWN HANDS! SURELY EVEN YOU CAN NOT DENY THAT!!" That, that old man deserved it. He was depraved, sick in the head.. I found proof, I found his research and I knew what he was going to do... I had to stop him, he was going to hurt people I cared about! "INDEED, THAT MANS MIND WAS NOT RIGHT, ONE MIGHT EVEN GO AS FAR AS TO SAY HE WAS NOT HUMAN BUT HIS LIFE WAS NOT YOURS TO TAKE! THAT MAN HAD YOU TO COMMIT A SIN IN REGARDS TO THE RESEARCH AND PROOF YOU FOUND, HE WAS IN AN INTERNAL BATTLE TO WIN AGAINST HIS DEMONS BUT YOU TOOK THAT AWAY FROM HIM AND YOU HAD NO RIGHT" No right..? He was going to hurt someone I cared about, I knew he was going to. I had foreseen it. Was I supposed to just let him do it..? "THAT MAN HAD YET TO COMMIT SUCH A SIN THAT WOULD JUSTIFY YOUR ACTIONS, YOU HAD TIME, YOU COULD HAVE CONTACTED THE PROPER AUTHORITIES AND GOT HIM THE HELP HE NEEDED BUT INSTEAD YOU CHOSE TO RID HIM OF HIS LIFE! YOU HAD NO AUTHORITY TO TAKE SUCH ACTIONS, EVEN WITH YOUR OTHERWORLDLY KNOWLEDGE!" What, he knows about my meta-knowledge (even though I don''t have it anymore).. How..? Wait, the murder he''s talking about.. I committed it in the Marvel Universe, how does he know about it... "DO YOU THINK THAT BY TRAVELLING TO A DIFFERENT UNIVERSE YOU WOULD BE ABLE TO RUN AWAY FROM YOUR SINS, YOUR SINS FOLLOW YOU EVERYWHERE AND THERE IS NO GETTING RID OF THEM! AND THAT BRINGS ME TO YOUR MOST HEINOUS CRIME, YOU HAVE PERVERTED REALITY TO SUIT YOUR OWN WHIMS!" How- How does he know about that... It was made so as to not gain any attention from any higher beings.. It only let out a magic signature for a moment before reality changed and it was too late to do anything about it.. How does he know about it..? "MORTAL, I AM THE SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE! I GO AFTER THOSE WITH TOO MANY SINS AND GOTHAM IS A BREEDING GROUND FOR SINS AND EVIL, IT WAS YOUR MISFORTUNE THAT I WAS NEARBY AND FELT THE IMENSE MAGIC AND DECIDED TO INVESTIGATE, IT IS MY JOB TO STOP SUCH A WARPING OF REALITY!" Shit, he was there? If so how come I''m not dead already..? "I DO NOT KNOW HOW YOU CAME TO BE IN POSSESSION OF SUCH A MAGICALLY POWERFUL ARTEFACT, IT WAS MY MISFORTUNE THAT I GOT THERE TOO LATE AND FAILED TO STOP YOUR REALITY WARPING HOWEVER I DID MANAGE TO INTERFERE WITH IT!" Yo-You interfered with it.. How? As far as I can tell everything went nearly perfectly... "I MAY NOT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO STOP YOUR SORDID MAHIC BUT I WAS ABLE TO GET THERE IN TIME TO SEE YOUR TWO NEW SOULS MERGE INTO ONE, USING THAT CHANCE I DELVED INTO YOUR BEING AND DISCOVERED YOUR SHAMEFUL PAST AS WELL AS YOUR UNNATURAL KNOWLEDGE, I WOULD HAVE WROUGHT YOUR SOUL IN TWO RIGHT THERE IF NOT FOR YOU BEING IN A PUBLIC PLACE!" I- I could have died so easily.. I''ve been underestimating my new reality... "I PREFER FOR MY WORK TO BE DONE UNSEEN WITHOUT INTERFERENCE SO I WAS NOT ABLE TO END YOU RIGHT THERE BUT WHAT I COULD DO WAS DIRECT YOU TO RETURN TO YOUR ISOLATED HOME AFTER THE MERGING YET I COULD NOT TAKE THE CHANCE OF YOU USING YOUR UNNATURAL KNOWLEDGE TO DIVERT THE WORLD FROM ITS SET COURSE AND INTRODUCE CHAOS. THEREFORE I ALSO USED THE OPPORTUNITY TO WIPE ALL THE SORDID KNOWLEDGE FROM YOUR SOUL AND OBLITERATE IT!!" He-HE DESTROYED MY META-KNOWLEDGE! But.. It could have saved countless lives, he could have even taken the knowledge for himself and used it for good... I would have even preferred that than it being completely destroyed (in the hopes of one day getting it back)... "I ADMIT, SUCH KNOWLEDGE IS TEMPTING BUT SOME THINGS ARE ONLY SUPPOSED TO BE KNOWN BY THE ALMIGHTY AND THEREFORE I WIPED IT FROM EXISTENCE! IT IS NOW TIME FOR YOU TO SUFFER THE SAME FATE!" Shit.. He raises his palm to me and I can see the green energy coalesce into a thick miasma that proceeds to cover me entirely even going as far as to goi inside me and cover my insides as well, the green miasma of death was covering every fibre of my being and I could feel it tightening its grip on me. Soaking into me and getting in place, ready for its commander to order my death and destruction... "REPENT SINNER! FEEL SOME REMORSE BEFORE YOUR DEATH!" He commands. I can feel the energy beginning to erode away the very essence of myself, I can feel my very newly created (at least according to the vengeance spirit Doctor Doom lookalike) soul about to be ripped in twain and I can''t help but feel angry. I worked so hard to get here just to die.. WHAT KIND OF F.U.C.KIN'' JOKE IS THAT? "YOU REFUSE TO REPENT? VERY WELL, GOODBYE SINNER! I HOPE YOU FEEL INTE-" He suddenly quiets and I can feel the green miasma loosen its grip on me and begin to fade away as he drops his hand, I''m confused for a moment before I hear him whisper to himself. "WHY..." (AN: This chapter the paragraphs are a lot shorter and are usually made up of about one sentence or just some dialogue, I did this to stress the seriousness of the situation and the MC''s Shock so that is why this chapter is so different form my usual ones. Also all of the Doctor Doom lookalikes (can anyone guess who it''s actually is?) dialogue is in CAPS because he is a higher being. This is my first time writing this kind of chapter, tell me if there''s any way I could improve, thanks.) ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, heller8284, Wanous, Matthew Laird and Sage Honos. Thank you for the support. Chapter 62 - [BT] The Grand Tour... [Before Transition] My internship at ''Fantastic Four, Inc.'' has just been approved which I expected but it''s just that the method that they used to do it that confuses me, shouldn''t they have sent me a letter and set up an interview or something because all I''ve done is send them my application and that''s that. "Wow, thank you for the opportunity and all that but shouldn''t you have given me an internship first or something, not that I''m not ecstatic it''s just that I expected a lot more.. barriers to get through before I could be an intern here." I tell them, mainly just Susan and Johnny though because they''re the only only ones paying attention, my queries. Susan sighs before focusing on me again. "Yes that is a bit different from other companies internship applications but I''m sure you can agree that we aren''t an ordinary company, honestly we''ve never even thought of taking on an intern before and this came as a bit of a surprise for us even though we do get a lot of applications but we''ve never accepted them before. You see, ''Fantastic Four, Inc.'' is just a business we''ve set up to manage any patents we have (mainly reeds patents) and keep the Fantastic Four and our research funded, there was never any intention to actually take on new staff or interns and actually start functioning as a company." She tells me but I''m a little confused, honestly I never banked on the internship and was focusing on slowly gaining access to the building through Johnny because I''ve never heard of anyone gaining an internship here, "Right, sorry but why have I been accepted then if you didn''t plan on accepting any internsh.i.p.s not that I''m not grateful it just seems like this is coming out of the blue." I ask again as she didn''t give me a straight answer. "Honestly it''s because Johnny asked us to, he has been nagging us night and day and we finally gave in and accepted it to stop him annoying us." I expected this but I can''t help that it grates on my nerves, I mean I sent that application with Johnny convincing them to accept it in mind yet I can''t help but feel a bit angry that that''s the reason why they''re accepting me. I''m a genius (not in everything and I might not have much common sense but I still have a high IQ) and I graduated early, I have dozens of ideas whirling around my head and I''m top of my class at ESU, the fact that I had to rely on connections to have them accept my internship and not my intelligence is a bit grating, I look over to Johnny to thank him but I can''t seem to say the words. "No worries buddy, it''s the least I could do for a friend and now we can hang out all the time, it''ll be fun to have someone who knows hot to actually have fun in the building for once!" He finishes with a thumbs up which he points in my direction but that hand slowly drops when he sees the less than stellar expression on my own face an d he looks a little confused at why I''m not happy. This is what I was hoping for and I should be happy but I''m not and I don''t want them to think that the only reason I gained this opportunity is because I used Johnny (which is basically what I did), I looked up to these people in my last life and I don''t want them to think I''m a piece of shit which is why I protected Peter from bullies back in Midtown. "Johnny, I''m grateful for what you did for me but I don''t know if I''ll actually intern here, I mean.. I want to learn and even make advancements in the field of science and if I get my place here through connections and not my own merits and achievements, I don''t know if I can accept that." I planned for all this but now that I''m here I don''t want to go through with it because I don''t like the situation, goddamn it I should easily be able to get into the Baxter building using my intelligence and merit instead of using trickery and cunning. I may be an arsehole but I pride myself on my intelligence and I can''t accept getting an internship here through connections and not my worth, I can just sneak into the building using my new abilities and steal Reeds research (or even hire some super powered thug to do it, I have enough money). I''m about to decline and say goodbye when Reed interrupts. "Don''t worry son, I know exactly how you feel right now and all I can say is that you don''t have to worry about it, I made sure to check your application over before accepting your internship, Johnny might have nagged us into it but we wouldn''t have accepted just anyone to be an intern here. I made sure to gather information on you as thoroughly as possible and I can''t help but say I''m impressed by you, not about you graduating early or anything but what you have been posting on some science blogs I found while vetting you." He knows about those posts? Whenever I was stuck on my research I would browse through some science blogs on the Internet and talk to other people and solve problems to try and relax my brain or gain new insight, I had quite a lot of discussions with others and even solved a few problems but I made sure to not use my real name so how does Reed know about it. Reed chuckles when he sees the expression on my face. "You are probably wondering how I found that out as you didn''t use your real name, the Baxter Building has the most advanced technology in probably the whole world and when I vet someone I do so thoroughly. Don''t worry though I didn''t get too invasive and I''m sorry that I had to do that it''s just we''ve had quite a lot of spies trying to gain access to our floors and we have to be thorough, we even had a few female spies trying to seduce Johnny to gain access to the building." I feel a cold sweat go down my back, for a minute there I worried about him finding my p*rn stash (some quality suff on there). "No worries there then, Johnny''s not my type and I''m definitely interested in women." I wink at Sue here (mainly to f.u.c.k with Johnny) only to be punched on the arm by Johnny and receive chuckles from Reed and Sue, Reed didn''t even bat an eye at my flirting with Sue and it doesn''t look much like he was bothered by me flirting with her so I don''t know what is even happening over there between them. Ben just keeps moping around on the couch and doesn''t say anything, I can literally feel the depression wafting off of him, I mean I would also be depressed if I turned into a giant rock monster and lost my junk (or gained some rock junk that I wouldn''t even be able to use, I can''t tell which is worse). "Nick I''ve already spoken to ESU and they moved your timetable around so your lectures are on Monday and Tuesday while on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday you''ll be interning here, Johnny go give Nick the grand tour of the building and Nick please be here next Wednesday to start your internship." Sue says and before I can reply Johnny has already dragged me off to give me the so called grand tour. Johnny starts the grand tour with the 35th floor, the 35th floor contained the hangars for the Fantastic Four''s various vehicles, storage space, and a machine shop capable of building or repairing vehicles. A reinforced door in the corner led to the launching silo for the Fantastic Four''s rocketship. This passenger ICBM (The Intercontinental Passenger Missile is an ICBM/intercontinental ballistic missile that Reed Richards modified for either short space flights or fast transportation to remote parts of Earth) was launched and stored in a heavily muffled silo with vibration-asborbing walls and exhaust pipes leading all the way to the Hudson River. The other vehicles were on platforms that carried them around the floor and over to the launching hatch. We then went back to the 34th floor which could be considered the actual headquarters. The computer banks, monitor banks, communications center, and briefing room were all there, as well as the overflow from Reed''s laboratory below. This would be where I would find the information I need to advance my own research. We then went to the 33rd floor which contained Reed''s laboratory, according to Johnny the floor plan changed constantly as Reed added additional experiments and devices. In the Computer Center was a lever for activating the magnetic repellors on the 30th floor whatever they were for. We then went to the 32nd floor which contained some living areas for any guest or new residents, the medical lab, the library which I was definitely gonna check out, and the reference room which could prove useful. Then we went to the 31st floor which contained the Fantastic Four''s living quarters. There were suites for Reed and Sue, Ben, and Johnny though Johnny only showed me his, apparently Sue and Johnny used to commute before ending up using their suites when permanently while Reed and Ben have always been residents since the cosmic accident. Several guest rooms for other Fantastic Four members and the extended family, and the dining and living areas where me and Johnny will mainly be hanging out in the future and eating junk food. Johnny then took me to the 30th floor, the bulk of the floor was occupied by the building''s mechanical systems. Acoustic insulation kept the noise from affecting the Fantastic Four''s reception area. This floor also acted as a buffer zone to absorb damage from battles in the upper floors because apparently I''m gonna see a few of those in my time here. It also contained the magnetic repulsion system, I now know what the lever on the 33rd floor is for. This system was designed to lift the upper floors away from the rest of the Baxter Building with the theory being that this way the rest of the building could have been protected from a particularly damaging battle. I was greeted by Roberta, a usuform robot. Her visible half (above the waist) appeared to be an attractive blond in her 20s. Below the waist she was a pivoting arm attached directly to her desk. Roberta was tied directly to the Fantastic Four''s computer system and could monitor the entire building. The reception room was also filled with hidden scanners to probe visitors. If the visitor were hostile, the floor was rigged to deliver a stunning electrical shock. Once the visitor had been cleared, a panel opened to reveal a lift to the 31st floor. Johnny then asked me if I wanted some lunch and I said yes, he walked to an elevator and went in, I tried to follow him but he pushed me out ant told me it was the express elevator for the Fantastic Four only and that I would have to use the visitor entrance while smiling mischievously at me. Before I could say anything the the elevator had already shot off and I had to get Roberta to open the visitor entrance for me, it took over ten minuets for me to reach the lobby because of the elevator stopping at nearly every floor to pick up and drop off new passengers, I really hate Johnny for this. Next Wednesday I''m definitely asking permission to use the express elevator... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, heller8284, Wanous, Matthew Laird and Sage Honos. Thank you for the support. Chapter 63 - [AT] On The Verge of Damnation... [After Transition] I don''t know why the f.u.c.k this self proclaimed ''Spirit of Vengeance'' has stopped his execution of me and I''m not gonna risk it by asking him though he can easily read my mind, why is that, even Charles Xavier and Jean Grey (without the Phoenix though I didn''t risk being near her when she was in Phoenix mode) couldn''t read my mind so that must mean he is some kind of higher power to get past my defences. Wait, he can still read my mind, shit... Think good thoughts, think good thoughts, think good thoughts... It''s been a few minutes of me just thinking good thoughts and the green figure is still floating above me and I can feel that he has stopped using his power on me and that I''m no longer paralysed, even then I don''t dare move a muscle in fear of him deciding to kill me again and I don''t even think about fighting him for even a second, I would die before I even knew what happened. Shit, my position is kinda uncomfortable just being flopped down on my bed but I don''t move even an inch, I just hope that whatever revelations this arsehole is having he would hurry up and get to it already, I have things to be doing rather than cowering under this giant asshole. His eyes twitch and lock onto me in a second, I tense and just continue looking into the deep dark green abyss that is his eyes while hoping that he won''t be offended enough by my thoughts to go back to his former course of actions, dammit this is why I made sure to protect myself from mind readers back in marvel (gotta make sure that my defences are still in place here in the DC universe). Admittedly I did so to keep the telepathy from finding out about my future knowledge (even if that not applicable anymore) but if I''m being honest that was only a small reason, s good reason but still not the main one. My main reason for making sure my mind couldn''t be read (at least by mortals, didn''t think about higher beings on the level of celestials and whatever the similar level of being in this universe are) was because my thoughts are my own, you could be having to serve the person you hate most with a smile but at least you are able to talk shot about them in your own mind, what is life when you even have to be careful what you think. You can hold your tongue but you can''t hold your brain, my thoughts are my own and like hell I''m gonna let anyway have a subscription to it which is why I figured out a way to protect my mind but even that pisses me off. The fact that I had to come up with a way to keep my thoughts private, thoughts that shouldn''t ever be invaded by anyone else, makes me unbelievably angry, so angry in fact that I didn''t mind helping some of the most trustworthy people I knew to protect their own kids though I did take payment from them in whichever way they preferred (sometimes my payment depended on gender as well as charm). How much longer is it gonna take for this guy to hurry up, the suspense is killing me, I''d rather he just do whatever it is that he is going to do and just get it over with. I''m still staring into the deep abyss that is his eyes when I notice out of the corner of my eye that his hand has clenched and I take back what I said before about him hurrying up, he can take his time, he can take all the time in the world, In fact I''m pretty sure that I''ve got nowhere to be so I can just wait if that''s cool with you Mr Mindreader. The expression on his face doesn''t change, in fact his face and body haven''t changed a single bit since he appeared apart from the clenching of his hands, I mean he doesn''t even have pupils to look at me with but I could just tell somehow that he was looking at me, oh he''s unclench end his hand. Is that a good sign? "YOU AFE LUCKY MORTAL!" Holy shit I think it actually was a good sign! "A HIGHER POWER HAS SPOKEN AND YOU HAVE BEEN SPARED THOUGH DO NOT THINK THIS IS THE END, I WILL BE KEEPING MY EYE ON YOU..." F.u.c.k, now I have an all powerful pervert watching me (crap he''s reading my mind right now) and I mean pervert in the modern tongue which means higher being (great save), at least this means that I''m safe as long as I don''t commit any sins which should be pretty easy. "DON''T BE NAIVE MORTAL, SINS COME WITH EASE ESPECIALLY FOR ONE SUCH AS YOU!" He knocks me out of my relief with some prejudice, the hell does he mean ''one such as you''. "What do you mean, I admit in this new life in this new universe I may have not been a saint and even in my last universe I wasn''t the greatest but I at least wanted to help and worked with the best of intentions so why would sins come with ease for me?" I question him, why would it be easy for me to commit sins? "SINS COME WITH EASE, ONCE YOU COMMIT A SIN ONCE IT BECOMES EASIER TO COMMIT A SECOND TIME AND SO ON AND SO FORTH, EACH SIN MAKES A MARK ON YOUR SOUL AND DARKENS IT MAKING IT EASIER FOR YOU TO COMITT SINS AGAIN AND AGAIN. YOUR SOUL IN YOUR PREVIOUS UNIVERSE WAS GREY ON ACCOUNT OF YOUR SIN AND IN THIS NEW UNIVERSE YOUR SOUL WAS VERY DARK GREY ON THE PATH TO BECOMING PITCH BLACK, ONCE YOU MERGED BOTH OF YOUR SOULS THE TAINT AND SIN COMBINED AS WELL MAKING YOUR SOUL VERY DARK ON THE VERGE OF BECOMING BLACK." He tells me with a stoic face but I can''t help but feel that he is acting smug, something stopped him from killing me but it''s clear that he thinks I will commit a sin in the near future and then he will come to kill me which just pisses me off, I''m gonna become a f.u.c.kin'' Saint just to f.u.c.k with this asshole. If he read my thoughts he doesn''t show it as he just continues on with his little speech. "WITH YOUR SOUL ON THE VERGE OF BECOMING BLACK IT WOULD BE EASY FOR YOU TO COMITT A SIN AND CROSS THE BARRIER FROM WHICH YOU COULD NEVER RETURN, IF YOU WERE TO ENTER A SITUATION IN WHICH AN INNOCENT HAD CRUCIAL INFORMATION WHICH COULD RUIN YOUR LIFE RATHER THAN THINKING OF DIFFERENT SOLUTIONS YOUR FIRST THOUGHT WOULD BE TO JUST KILL HIM AND GET RID OF THE PROBLEM. THEREFORE ITS NOT A MATTER OF IF I AM GOING TO COME AND JUDGE YOU, ITS A MATTER OF WHEN!" My soul is nearly black? What the f.u.c.k... Well even if it would be easy to commit a sin the spirit has just told me of my of my problem, it may be easy for me to commit sins but I at least know what the sins are and if I can avoid them I should be able to get through this. If former killers like the Green Arrow and the Black Widow (who both have a very extensive list of victims) can turn it around and become heroes then why can''t I? I''m at least glad that my past is behind me now, I have left the Marvel universe behind and though I feel a bit sad about that there''s no point crying over spilt milk and I should just look to the future. "FOOLISH MORTAL!" Hmm, what the hell does this guy want now. "YOU THINK YOU''VE LEFT YOUR PAST BEHIND? YOUR PREVIOUS UNIVERSE AND THIS UNIVERSE WERE NEVER MEANT TO CONNECT AND NOW THAT THEY HAVE, THAT CONNECTION IS UNBREAKABLE. YOU ARE THE LINK BETWEEN THE TWO UNIVERSES HOLDING THE PATHWAY TOGETHER WHICH IS WHY I WANTED TO ERASE YOU, AS LONG AS YOU ARE ALIVE THESE TWO UNIVERSE WILL ALWAYS BE CONNECTED!" I''m.. I''m able to go back..? ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, heller8284, Wanous, Matthew Laird and Sage Honos. Thank you for the support. Chapter 64 - [BT] The Eventual Dance With No Pants... [Before Transition] It''s now the next week and it''s currently Wednesday, my first day at ''Fantastic Four, Inc'' and one can arguably say the first day of the rest of my life and though that''s corny it''s still technically correct (just like tomorrow will be the first day of the rest of my life and the day after that and so on and so on, etc. etc.). The days leading up to this monumental moment were quite frantic and full, first of all I had to make sure that my schedule at ESU was correct (I know Sue said it was but I''d still like to make sure that it''s correct), I went and got a new hair cut (pretty f.u.c.kin'' stylish if I do say so myself), went and bought new clothes for my first day (even if my reason for interning there is sinister I''d still like to give my all, it''s just who I am) and finally I had to have a conversation with Mary Jane about our ongoing tutoring and how to reschedule it so that it suits both of us and also have a review of where she currently is, though that''s not all she wanted to talk about. [][FlashBack][] I''ve sorted out my schedule at ESU, gotten a haircut and bought some brand new clothes for my first day at my internship, now all I''ve gotta do is have a chat with Mary Jane about the ongoing tutorship and how it''s going to change which is why I waited until we finished our current tutoring session at the ''Coffee Bean'' which is a coffee place that I conducted all our tutoring sessions in after the first few. Why did I start tutoring her here? I''m afraid it''s because it was my only option, our first few tutoring sessions were at my place (where we were largely undisturbed) and a few at her place (which she made sure to schedule when no one else was home) and during those sessions she continuously tried to seduce me, I don''t know if it was actually intentional on her part but I know that I was very tempted to just grab a hold of her and ravish her, though Mary Jane may not be the sharpest tool in the shed she is still hells beautiful and s.e.xy and I''m just a man who is a slave to his baser instincts. Eventually it got too close for comfort and I nearly kissed her but fortunately Earl chose that moment to interrupt and stop anything from happening though he wasn''t aware that he did, after that I began to schedule all of our sessions at the ''Coffee Bean'' where there wasn''t much opportunity for, as Borat would put it, ''S.e.xy Time''. Why did I do this? I mean she''s pretty goddamn hot and wants to do the ''hanky-panky'' with me but unfortunately that is not all she wants, I can tell that she wants a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship with me and if that was all I''d be fine to hit that a.s.s and then fall out with her, (once again) unfortunately ever since we''d begun to hang out I''ve come to really enjoy her friendship and companionship and I don''t want to throw that away over one night of p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e. Of course I''m gonna have s.e.x with her one day (she''s goddamn gorgeous, it''s hurting me to keep resisting now), it''s not a matter of if but a matter of when, but if I were to give in now she''d win (I don''t even know if we''re playing a game, I just don''t want to lose) not to mention the fact that she''d want a proper relationship which I just don''t have the time for and I don''t want to deal with all the drama, I at least wanna wait till she at least m.a.t.u.r.es a little bit (which is why I haven''t slept with any of the girls at Midtown High except for Liz Allen but that''s only because Flash Thompson was annoying me and it felt good to cuck him even though I know he becomes less of a d.i.c.k as he becomes older, though ESU is a different case all together) before we do ''The Dance With No Pants''. We are currently finishing our study session at the ''Coffee Bean'' when I decide to talk to her about my internship. She''s packing away her books and equipment into her backpack when I begin to talk. "Hey MJ, I wanna talk to you about something. It''s something I''ve been a bit scared to tell you about and I really wanna get it of my c.h.e.s.t, if that''s okay with you?" I tell her, I''m a bit scared to tell her because she really enjoys these tutoring sessions of ours as do I and now that my internship is starting were are gonna have to cut it back a bit which will not only cut out on how much we hang out but it will also have an affect on her grades and I don''t want all our effort to go to waste. She suddenly stops backing her things away and jumps around to point a finger at me letting out a triumphant "I knew it!", which makes me worry, what does she know? Does she think I''m confessing to her, I hope not because it''ll be really embarrassing for her when I explain what I actually want to tell her. "And what exactly is is that you know?" I question her curiously as I do in fact have quite a lot of secrets and I want to know what she thinks she discovered about me, I kinda want her to say some absurd shit just so I can laugh at it, something like ''You''re an alien aren''t you?'', that''d be hilarious. She leans in close to whisper in my ear and I can''t suppress the shiver that runs down my spine at the gentle breath on my ear. "You''re Spider-Man aren''t you?" The shiver that was running down my spine has promptly curled up and died, the f.u.c.k, where the hell did that even come from? "Where on earth did you get that idea? Am I currently in some stupid f.u.c.k.i.n.g red spandex and just haven''t noticed it?" I say in general absurd meant that she can connect me and Spider-Man together, no offence he''s a great guy and all but he''s currently a shrimp and awkward while I''m tall, handsome and only semi-awkward. She looks around the coffee place as if to make sure the no one is eavesdropping on us, woman that just makes you look just as suspicious as if you were wearing glasses, a cap and a hood indoors. "Well, it makes sense right? You end up swallowing some kind of genetically altered spider, which you called a ''Mutate Situation'', and then you get powers though I don''t actually know what powers you got. A few weeks later there''s a guy swinging around town in red and blue spandex calling himself ''Spider-Man'' and saving people, that can''t just be a coincidence can it." I regret making her smarter though I can''t help but be more attracted to her now that she''s using her brain, everything she said made sense and was solidly backed up, I''m proud of her. But shouldn''t she know that Peter is Spider-Man by now, she lives next to him and should have heard a noise late at night before seeing him crawl in through his window dressed as Spider-Man, or did that not happen because of me. Think, think why would that have not happened, it was late at night and she should have heard a noise, wait that''s it, she should have heard a noise. Originally Mary Jane should have just been relaxing in her room, heard a noise and then catch Peter in the act but know she actually study with headphones in which means that she didn''t hear the noise and witness Peter dressed up as Spider-Man, that''s why she suspects me instead and she close enough to me to actually confront me about it. "Mary Jane, I wouldn''t be caught dead in spandex. If I was gonna dress up and save people at night I''d do it dressed up in armour and a helmet. If it''s possible that I was given power by a genetically altered spider made by Oscorp then isn''t it possible that someone else was also given powers by a different genetically altered spider at Oscorp?" I tell her in a bit of a slightly condescending manner just to really sell it. Mary Jane now looks a bit confused. "I- I suppose, but if that isn''t what you wanted to tell me then what is?" She asks me fl.u.s.tered. "Oh, I just wanted to tell you that I now have a internship at the Baxter building with ''Fantastic Four, Inc'' and were are gonna have to cut back a bit on our tutoring sessions, no big deal." "WHAT!?" She screeches, I''m really gonna have to train that out of her. [][FlashBack End][] Suffice to say she was a bit startled at the news... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, heller8284, Wanous, Matthew Laird and Sage Honos. Thank you for the support. Chapter 65 - [AT] The All Mighty... [After Transition] Who gives a shit if I''m able to go back, what I''m worried about is that someone is going to follow me here, I thought I left it all behind when I was caught red handed but it just seems like the universe is out to get me or I guess two universes are out to get me now. Shit there are so many people back in the Marvel universe that are capable of traveling through dimensions both good and both, everyone knows that digging a tunnel is the hardest part but going through an already made tunnel someone else dug is relatively easy, in this analogy I''m the one that worked hard and built the tunnel while those other assholes can take it easy and just follow my path to get here. Shit, I don''t need those guys ruining my new life, this was supposed to be a fresh start. What the hell am I gonna do now? "MORTAL, I WOULD RATHER NOT TELL YOU THIS BUT SINCE A HIGHER POWER HAS SPOKEN I MUST. THE PATHWAY YOU CREATED IS A NEVER SEEN BEFORE PHENOMENON AND AS SUCH VERY DIFFICULT TO FIND, IT IS HIGHLY LIKELY THAT, UNLESS SOMEONE VERY CLEVER, VERY DEDICATED AND SOMEONE WHO KNOWS WHAT THEY ARE LOOKING FOR COMES ALONG, THE PATHWAY WOULD NEVER BE FOUND AND YOU WOULD DIE, CLOSING THE GATEWAY, BEFORE IT CAN BE DISCOVERED!" He very reluctantly, I can tell even though he''s very stoic, tells me about the situation. "But, I won''t ever die.. You''ve seen my memories you know about my crazy regeneration, it''s pretty much impossible for me to die so that pathway might never close..." I see a slight tilt of the spirits mouth, I think he''s smiling and it is highly disturbing. "UNTIL YOU COMMIT A SIN, THAT IS..." Oh shit, right. If I commit a sin this guys gonna come and reap my soul which, while closing the gateway, is not a solution which I much like. Oh well, I''ll just forget about it as the spirit seems to think it''s nearly impossible to find and I don''t think any of the people I left behind in the Marvel universe would try that hard to follow me. Shit, I feel like all my problems would be easily solved if I still had my meta-knowledge, I miss it so much. Shit it''s so hard to think, I''ve been able to ignore the pain in my head due to the immediate threat of death posed to me by the Spirit of Vengeance but now that I''m no longer in danger I can''t ignore it anymore, my head is so fuzzy and it hurts to think about anything to do with my past, how the hell am I gonna sort this out now? "MORTAL, IT IS MY FAULT THAT YOU EXPERIENCE SUCH CONFUSION, WHEN I WAS ERASING YOUR SO CALLED META-KNOWLEDGE I WAS LESS THAN GENTLE AND LEFT YOUR MIND IN A LESS THAN GOOD CONDITION. IT PAINS ME TO DO THIS BUT IT HAS BEEN ASKED OF ME THAT I REMEDY THE SITUATION, THEREFORE I WILL HEAL YOUR MIND AND RESTORE THE BALANCE!" "Wait, WHAT! NO DON''T DO ANYTHI-" Like hell in gonna let anyone mess with my mind, I can sort this mess out on my own. Unfortunately the Spirit doesn''t pay heed to my reluctance and he raises his palm letting the green miasma once again appear which begins to seep in through all seven orifices in my head, it''s pouring in through my mouth, my nostrils, my ears and the tear ducts in my eyes which hurts like a bitch, I manage to fight through the pain enough to look at the Spirit and I can tell that he is enjoying my suffering, even when he has to help me he finds a way to hurt me. Suddenly my mind clicks, it''s like my mind was a bunch of jigsaw pieces all mashed together in the wrong places and now it''s been sorted out and put together perfectly, actually it''s been glued together and given a nice varnish for that extra shine (even if that doesn''t make any sense?), both of my minds have been perfectly synced and merged to become a single whole yet I can tell the my life in the Marvel world is more prominent on account of the fact that it has more content than my life in the DC universe though that doesn''t mean that either of them will overwhelm the other. It''s like I lived both life simultaneously yet separately, it''s really weird, for example if I really hated rock and roll in the Marvel universe but I really loved it in the DC universe I would now like it but not more than other types of music, if that makes sense. I am taken out of my daze when the Spirit begins to speak in that stoic manner of his again. "IT IS DONE MORTAL, YOUR MIND HAS BEEN FULLY HEALED! MY FINAL DUTY IS TO TELL YOU THAT THOUGH YOUR SOUL IS ON THE VERGE OF BECOMING BLACK AND IT CAN NEVER BE WHITE AGAIN YOU CAN STILL REDEEM YOURSELF, YOUR SOUL CAN BECOME LIGHT GREY BY PERFORMING GOOD DEEDS AND ACTS IN WHICH CASE I WILL NIT BE ABLE TO TAKE YOUR LOFE, HOWEVER UNLIKELY IT IS THAT SOMEONE LIKE YOU COULD COME BACK FROM THE PIT OF DEPRAVITY YOU RESIDE IN. I WILL BE BACK IN THE NEAR FUTURE TO ERASE YOU WHEN YOU INEVITABLY COMITT A SIN AND YOUR SOUL BECOMES BLACK." He turn around and starts to sink into the floor while letting out a dark green yet somehow luminous miasma. "Wait! I thought you wanted to kill me, why the hell are you helping me now!?" He still sinking into the floor but his head turns and looks back at me. "THE ALL POWERFUL HAS SPOKEN AND WHO AM I TO REFUSE HIS ORDERS, I HAVE HOWEVER BEEN GIVEN REPRIEVE WITH THE FACT THAT I AM ABLE TO REAP YOUR LIFE IF YOUR SOUL EVER BECOMES BLACK. WHY THE ALL MIGHTY WOULD WASTE HIS TIME ON A DEPRAVED SOUL SUCH AS YOURS IS NKT FOR ME TO QUESTION..." And his head finally sinks through the floor with the final wisps of his green miasma following him leaving silence in the apartment and me alone with my thoughts. And my thoughts at the moment are confusion, anger and rage, rage which I promptly take out on the entire apartment around me. I smash the desks, kick in the bed, trash all sorts of furniture and end up eventually wrecking everything in the apartment in my mad rage fuelled temper tantrum. I''m pissed, my life was nearly taken like taking candy from a baby and I couldn''t do shit, the only reason I''m alive is because of this ''All Mighty Being'' whoever that is and why the hell is he saving me, what the f.u.c.k does he want from me. There''s just to much confusion to deal with now and I''m wondering what I''m supposed to do, I''m sitting with my back against the wall when I hear some very loud knocking at the door along with some very foreign sounding swears directed at me, I shout back and tell them that I''m fine and they should leave but it''s still several minutes till they eventually relent and I''m left to silence again. Sitting there with my back against the wall my gaze drifts to a folder on the floor, it must have gotten there during my stupid meltdown, I think the merge gave me some anger problems, another thing I''ve gotta deal with. With my newly reorganised mind I know exactly what the file is but I pick it up anyway and rifle through it looking through each piece of evidence I''ve gathered throughout the last few weeks and with each turn of a page my resolve hardens, I can deal with the rest of this shit for later but for now I should just but an end to that orphanage, the drug peddling and the human meat trafficking ring. I get up from my place on the ground and start to rifle through the apartment for my belongings such as my new wallet and keys all the while clutching the file in my hand. I can worry about this ''All Mighty Being'' later, I can later also try to figure out why I picture a tall blonde body builder with rabbit hair and an overly serious face in some kind of blue costume when I think of him. I think my newly reorganised mind has some software issues... I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, heller8284, Wanous, Matthew Laird and Sage Honos. Thank you for the support. Chapter 66 - [BT] Level 35 Access Granted... [Before Transition] So yeah, Mary Jane was a bit upset that I was gonna have less time to tutor her but most of the shock and surprise came from the fact that I was interning with The Fantastic Four, turns out that they are have very high celebrity status though I didn''t really pay much attention to that sort of stuff but it turns out that Ben Grimm (The Thing) is a big hit with the kids on account of him being a rock monster and clobbering stuff, Johnny Storm (The Human Torch) is adored by a veritable army of teen girls/girls in their twenties, Reed Richards (Mr Fantastic) doesn''t have as much of a following as the others but he is held in high regard in the scientific community while Susan Storm (The Invisible Woman) is a huge inspiration to women everywhere on account of her being one of the first female superheroes and kicking the shit out of guys on national television. I hadn''t really payed much attention to this sort of stuff as I was so focused on my research but I didn''t really think they would be this adored but I suppose it makes sense, they are the equivalent of celebrities in my old world but put on a much higher level (at least the popular superheroes are). It''s like when all those people in my previous world used to go crazy and cry at the fact that one of the members of the One Direction waved in their general direction or Justin Bieber looked at them, the popular superheroes are held in such regard in this world though not everyone is extreme as that but like all celebrities a superheroes reputation is affected by the news and media which (is why Tony Stark has people do PR for the avengers) can subvert public opinion and make everyone hate them, it''s a topsy-turvy situation which I would not like to be a part of. Anyway it''s my first day interning at Fantastic Four, Inc and I''ve just taken the visitor elevator up to the 30th floor where Roberts the robotic receptionist had to verify my identity which took quite a few minutes before I was allowed to use the other elevator up to the 34th floor where I came upon Susan clearly waiting for my arrival and without wasting any time she immediately got down to business. "Right, glad that your here Nick, now here is your pass to use the express Fantastic Four elevator up to any of the top five floors. It has a solenoid activator embedded in it such just like its embedded in our Fantastic Four uniform belt buckles, be was are that on the way up hidden scanners will identify the passengers and check them for hidden weapons or devices so make sure that only you use this elevator. If questionable material is found the elevator will stop in midshaft until the Fantastic Four are prepared to deal with the intruder so make sure not to have anything suspicious of dubious in your pockets when you come in to intern." She hands me my pass which is a bit chunky probably on account of the solenoid activator embedded inside. "Why are you giving me my own personal pass? Doesn''t this make me a security risk and a target for any super villains, I mean it''s easier to take my pass off of me then try to take it off of any of you four, are you sure I should have this?" I ask while scratching the back of my head, don''t get me wrong this will be great to make my espionage in the Fantastic Four easier but I don''t want it if it''s going to bring negative attention to me and make me a target. "Don''t worry about it, anybody that wants to get into this building and has the power to do so won''t try to use you or your pass as a way of entry, our express elevator to the top five floors double as a freight elevator to bring heavy tools, materials, parts and machinery up to the top floor and we get a lot of deliveries with all the work that Reed does so if anyone wanted to get in they''d use one of our deliveries to do it rather then going after you." Susan pats me on the back as she leads me to the elevator. "If someone does come for you to get your pass just give it to them or preferably run away while throwing your pass at them, you don''t have to worry, we''ve had quite a lot of intruders try to use the elevator to get in and we''ve made the necessary precaution in case someone tries to use them." We get into the elevator and Susan presses a button though I don''t pay attention to which one, I''m more focused on how some manage to get access to the elevator when the solenoid activator was in their belt buckles, my face must''ve showed my puzzled expression because Susan started to explain it during our trip in the elevator. "Back when we first became the Fantastic Four which was only a few years ago but feels like a lifetime ago our costumes weren''t as advanced as they are now, back then we also used passes to gain access to the top five floors and everything was fine, we all kept out passes safe and secure, of course all of us except for Johnny. Johnny was a real playboy even more so then he is now and he took advantage of his new fame to help him get dates with girls and more often then not he would end up losing his pass in those girls houses which would then somehow find their way into the hands of people who wanted access to the top five floors. After the first few times we began to come up with more security but Johnny kept on leaving his passes everywhere and even though those passes wouldn''t enable anyone to get to the top floor it was still an annoyance making Johnny new passes so we eventually just decided to put the solenoid activators in our uniforms belt buckles, Johnny would never forget his uniforms so it all worked out." Susan finishes her lengthy speech. "So this pass I have won''t work for anyone else except me?" I ask her. "That''s right, you see the express elevator works based on the fact that when 110 volt AC from the activator is converted to 24 volt dc and to a solenoid attached to a panel in the elevator which will activate the elevator and send it up. While the elevator is going up a series of other tests will be ran such as hidden scanners identifying the passengers and check them for hidden weapons, devices or questionable material and if it''s found the elevator would stop in mid shaft effectively stopping the intruder." Susan explains to me but I''m still a bit puzzled. I satisfy my curiously by asking Susan another question. "Why would you let the elevator go up, surely you would be able to identify them and stop them from going any higher once they entered the elevator?" Susan nods her head. "You see, each one of those tests that are ran while the elevator is going up sends an electrical impulse making the elevator continue to go up if any of those tests fail these electrical components fail and the system fails making the elevator stall. See the express elevator unlike the rest of the elevators in the building only has opening at the lobby and the top five floors so if the elevator is stopped halfway up there''s no where for the intruder to go which gives us time until the Fantastic Four are prepared to deal with the intruder." "Well, that has reassured me alright, I guess you guys wouldn''t be superheroes with a cool base if you didn''t have proper security." All the information she''s given to me about the security while interesting is ultimately useless since I have already been given a way to bypass those security features in the form of my pass but it does worry me because if that''s the security they have to get into to the building what security do they have to keep the inside safe? The elevator stops at our destination though I don''t know which exact floor that is, Susan looks at me as the elevator dings and the doors open. "Follow me Nick, I''ll be showing you where you will be working and what you''ll be working on." She then walks out of the elevator without looking back expecting me to follow. I''ll see if I can drag any more information out of Susan about the security of my new workplace... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, heller8284, Wanous, Matthew Laird and Sage Honos. Thank you for the support. Chapter 67 - [AT] Righteous Maniacal Anger... [After Transition] Right, so the option for revenge is strictly out of the question because it will turn my soul black and the Spectre will come back and reap it but that doesn''t mean I can''t serve out justice even if it isn''t the kind of dark justice I want to dish out, this burning anger won''t rest till I do something about the matron and the drug dealer and though this anger won''t go away with their arrest it will at least be satisfied a little. I can''t risk committing a sin until I''ve done a shit ton of good deeds (does doing good deeds just so you can eventually commit a sin count? Let''s hope so because I can''t handle being a goody two shoes forever) otherwise tall, dark and terrifying is gonna come and take my soul off of me which is why I''ve decided to go the Batman route and kick their asses (a small victory) before dumping them on the police with a f.u.c.k ton of evidence to make sure they never get out of prison (they literally grinder children into meat and fed it to people), I''m currently on the top of a rooftop a few streets down from the orphanage scoping out the place. I''ve chosen this spot for a variety of reasons, it''s far away enough for them not to be able to spot me and if people see me they won''t connect me to the orphanage s few streets away, a normal human wouldn''t be able to clearly see that far even with the orphanage being in their line of sight but I''m not an ordinary human, I''m a super, regenerating, spider powered handsome devil who can easily see that far. I''m standing at the edge of the building roof top with my hands leaning against the metal railing acting casual but I''m really focusing on the orphanage and its surroundings waiting to see the two people I hate most in the world and proceed with my non-sin committing plan. I''m watching the orphanage when I''m a bit befuddled when I see someone walk out of the alleyway across from the orphanage and lean against a lamppost, I can''t see his face as he''s not facing my direction and he has his had up but there''s no mistake who it is, I watched him lean there for five years straight and I can''t help but feel the rage bubble up within me, it''s that f.u.c.k.i.n.g drug dealer... I remember watching him and the matron for the past couple of weeks before the soul merge and I can remember the anger that I felt which seemed to burst from hell itself while watching them and I thought that because of the merge and the new memories that the hate would be somewhat dulled but it seems I was mistaken, I hate him just as much if not more than before ( I guess strong enough emotions stayed) and I haven''t even seen his face yet and I still have the undeniable urge to jump leap down the street and smash him to pieces. And that''s just the drug dealer, if the matron shows up then I don''t know what I''m gonna do because the person I hate more in the world than anyone is that greedy old bitch, the drug dealer is just that, a drug dealer and he doesn''t pretend to be anything other than what he is and I definitely want to kill him for what he did to me but the matron, there''s a special place in hell for people like her, the things she.. It''s at that moment that I see the front doors of the orphanage open and I realise why that piece of sc.u.m drug dealer had come to lean against the lamppost. I grit my teeth hard, so hard that I can practically feel my teeth being grinding to dust and I swear my clenched jaw broke though it was quickly healed and all because I saw her and more specifically what she was doing, she was leading a little five up year old child down the pathway to the street while pulling him by the arm and whispering her sweet little lies into his ears and my rage shoots up to heights I didn''t even know I was capable of. This is why I hate her the most, she is a matron who is in charge of countless children who look to her for guidance and love and she takes that trust and she spits on it and tramples it to the floor all the while hiding a kindly facade and feeding them to the wolves which is why I hate her the most. Betrayal is the worst emotion you can experience, you could be tortured, beaten, robbed or even duped out of everything you own but it could never compare to the pain and anger you feel from betrayal and that''s because of the very simple fact that true betrayal can only be felt when you are betrayed by someone you fully trust or love which is what happened to me. I grew up in that orphanage (in this universe) and I was raised by her, she was the only a.d.u.l.t in my life and the only person I trusted even if it was because she clothed and fed me (though she did it to the worst of her ability) and she was supposed to look after me but she turned me into a drug mule and even eventually shoved me through a meat grinder all for money and profit which is why I hate her even more than the drug dealer, because she betrayed me. I watch as she looks on as the five year old child crosses the street and picks up a brown paper bag which the drug dealer dropped before scurrying off and all I can feel now is a cold fury the refuses to be quelled, I''m snapped out of my single minded focus on her by a strange warping sounds and when I look down I can see that the metal railing that I was holding onto has warped around my clenched and shaking fist. I quickly let go of the railing and spin around to the opposite side of the orphanage all the while panting heavily out of breath, that was close, I almost gave in to my anger and was about to jump towards her to end her life which would be a sin that would result in my soul being taken, I have no idea if ''An Eye For An Eye'' would avail me of any wrong doing but I''m not willing to risk it. Even just standing here I know that she''s is a few streets down behind my back still doing the same thing she did to me all this years ago but to a whole new batch of children and I can''t help but feel that the sin would be worth it just to end her but I don''t want my life and journey to end here because of a bitch like her, like hell in gonna die for her. It''s quite clear now that I can''t take this matter into my own hands because I know that if I''m involved then I''m definitely going to kill the bitch matron and damn my soul and I just can''t take that risk which means that I will have to get someone else to deal with them because I don''t think I could live knowing that she and him were still alive doing the same old shit without consequences even if those consequences aren''t necessarily death. Naturally my first thought is to contact Commissioner Gordon and hand over all the evidence I''ve collected to him and let him and the rest of the Gotham City Police Department take care of it but then I realise that that''s a pipe dream and will never deal with the two pieces of shit. An operation like this that has gone on since I was five which is approximately 13 years doesn''t survive without inside help, they''ve got people inside the police force that tip them off and warn them if anyone is close to discovering them for which I''m sure those dirty cops get a nice little bit of spending money. I know that Commissioner James Gordon, detective Harvey Bullock and a few other officers are straight but I''m willing to bet that there are more dirty cops in Gotham then there are good which means I can''t trust this to the police to handle. It looks like I''m gonna be meeting the Bat soon after all... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, heller8284, Wanous, Matthew Laird and Sage Honos. Thank you for the support. Chapter 68 - [BT] One Month Deadline... [Before Transition] Before following Sue out of the elevator I take a look at the buttons on the side and see that the button 32 is lit up which must mean we are on the 32nd floor though I''m a bit confused why as Johnny told me this floor was basically just living areas and holds records, I don''t see why we are here. "Sue, why are we on the 32nd floor? Johnny said that this floor just held the living areas for guests and some boring old rooms like the library." I ask her but I stop speaking when I see the little bit of frustration that shows on her face, she''s clearly not happy for some reason or another. "I shouldn''t have let Johnny give you the grand tour, like always he somehow found a way to bungle it up. Listen, Johnny mainly only ever goes to the 30th floor, the 31st floor and the 35th floor where he works on vehicles and that''s why he hasn''t given you the most in depth tour so I''m gonna have to fill you in on a few things, mainly that nothing in our base is boring." She clearly took offence to my use of the word boring and if I remember correctly the medical lab where she sometimes works is on this floor so no wonder she got angry when I inadvertently told her Johnny called the space where she worked boring. "First of all the 30th floor is just a reception that is just there to check over any visitors and that''s about there, I don''t think you''ll have any need to go to that floor in the future considering that you now have your personal pass to get to the top five floors." She only told me that it''s a reception room, I guess Johnny wasn''t supposed to tell me about all the mechanics and shit that''s on that floor and I guess it makes sense as the less people know about the place where they have all the mechanics that make some of this buildings special features the less chance anyone''s going to target and destroy it. "The 31st floor is the place where mine and the rest of the fantastic fours rooms are so if you ever need one of us and can''t find us come knock on our doors but don''t just enter as we take privacy very seriously in this building. Apart from that it also holds the kitchen, the dining room, the lounge, the recreation room and the gymnasium so this is mainly the floor where you will be able to hang out and have lunch whenever you get the chance, you can also use the gymnasium free of charge as I can see that you obviously like to keep yourself in shape." Oh my, was that a glint of appreciation I just caught in her eyes, well I do have a pretty s.e.xy body so who could blame her. "There are also a few other rooms on this floor such as the Telestar-Continental-Local And Closed Circuit TV Monitors, the TV sending studio and the Radio Sending And Receiving Room which are all used to keep an eye out on any radio signals or news broadcasts that might acquire the attention of the Fantastic Four, you are not permitted to enter these rooms and if for any reason you have to please consult with us first as it is crucial that such rooms that could inform us about disasters and catastrophes be untouched." Right, she''s guessing that Johnny slacked off when he gave me the grand tour and I''ve gotta say that she''s right because she keeps mentioning rooms I has no idea about, she''s also setting boundaries and rules while I''m interning here. "The 32nd floor is the place that has living areas for any guests or new residents, it also holds a fairly large library and the reference room but that''s not all. This floor also has several labs such as the medical lab, the chemistry lab, the electronics lab, the biological research lab and finally the technological research lab which also functions as a machine shop, this is the floor where you will be spending most of your time but we can talk about what you''ll be doing later. The reason why Johnny didn''t inform you about these rooms is because they are ever hardly in use, Ben and Johnny definitely don''t use them and reed has his own floor where he does his work which is the 33rd floor and I spend most of my time helping Reed with his research while only occasionally using these labs for my own research." I guess most of the scientific research that happens in this building is Reeds and I suppose it makes sense, Reed regularly makes marketable products which keep the Fantastic Four funded so Reeds research should be the focus as it is the most profitable even if he does take whatever he creates and scales it down by the thousands before patenting it citing that the human race isn''t ready for such advanced technology and frankly I agree with him. "I''ve already told you that the 33rd floor is exclusively Reeds lab so we''ll just skip that floor but remember that you are not allowed on that floor unless given permission as there are multiple dangerous experiments going on up there, Reeds lab is always being modified to account for his new research and experiments so just be aware that it sometimes spills over onto the 34th floor so please try to avoid going near the spillover. The 34th floor is basically our headquarters and it holds the computer banks, the monitor banks, the communications centre, the briefing room, various conference rooms and the projection/theatre room. Finally on this floor there are two, technically three, rooms that you should stay away from unless told otherwise, these are the missile monitoring room and the missile ready room which holds the entrance to the launch pad where we can enter our ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile), be aware that the area that holds the ICBM runs through all five floors and you can even see the tip of the ICBM in the hangar in the form of a rocket silo." She''s telling me not to go to these rooms yet she is explaining each and every room to me which is kinda weird, I''m not gonna question it until she''s finished and hope that she''s doing it because she has full trust in me for whatever reason. "Now the 35 floor is the hangar which I''m guessing is all that Johnny told you about it? Well it is much more than that as it happens holds the vehicle maintenance shops, the storage and supply rooms as well as a few other miscellaneous rooms that we rarely use such as the photo analysis room for whatever reason we have that, the hangar also holds the entry to the observatory on the rooftop. The hangar holds our vehicles such as the Pogo-Orbit Plane, the Fantasti-Copter and the Fantastic-Car along with all of their previous iterations, you can visit this floor for any work you might need to do but please refrain from interacting with any of the vehicles without express permission from one of us." "Any work I have to do? I''m sorry but I thought I was only gonna be working on this floor and for that matter why have you told me about all the different rooms in this building? Even the rooms that you''ve told me not to enter you''ve given me information about." I ask her now confident that she''s given me all the information about the building that I''m ever gonna get from her. "When did I say you can''t enter those rooms, all I''ve said is that you would need permission first from us if you want to enter those specific rooms and as for why you might have to enter those rooms? Well that''s to do with your first job interning at ''Fantastic Four, Inc''." She tells me with a smile, we are now outside of the medical lab. "And what is my first job?" I ask quite curious, Susan smiles at me. "You have 1 month to come up with a marketable product that is feasible, it has to not only be a profitable product but it also has to be a product that will help the public and not bring any harm to the world so nothing that could be used as a weapon, okay. You have 1 month before you present it to us though I think you''ll mainly be presenting it to me and Reed, you can use any of the rooms in the building but make sure you ask permission to enter the restricted rooms. Good luck!" So I have a singular month to come up with an awesome, eco-friendly, profitable product. This place is definitely gonna challenge me... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, heller8284, Wanous, Matthew Laird and Sage Honos. Thank you for the support. Chapter 69 - [AT] Riding B*tch... [After Transition] It''s been a few days since I came to the conclusion that I couldn''t have any physical involvement with the justice that was coming to both of those shit stains and I''ve since realised that the best method to see those two get caught is to hand all the evidence that I''ve collected during my most recent stay in Gotham and hand it over to the Batman to handle, the only problem being how I would come into contact with the Bat,an to deliver the evidence to him and I eventually decided that to do that I had to bring the issue to Commissioner Gordon which might be difficult as he doesn''t just see anyone because he is a very busy man. Which is why for the last few days I''ve been going to the Gotham University library from opening time till closing time waiting for one Barbara Gordon who for some reason hasn''t been to the library for the last few days which is quite odd for such a bookworm like her, it''s close to closing time and I''m getting ready to leave when I hear a door burst open at the back of the library. Turning around I spot Barbara exiting the women''s toilets and and heading straight for the exit which is quite weird since I''ve been hear the entire day and I haven''t seen her inside the building at all, I guess she was on another one of her escapades as the brainy Batgirl and she decided to choose the library tonight as her place to switch back to her alter identity which is great for me considering that I''ve been waiting literal days for her and most importantly her connections which will help me greatly in my goals. I quickly step in front of her giving her enough of a distance to take notice of me and stop but clearly she''s in her head distracted at the moment as she bumps right into me before looking up at me in confusion. "Wha.. Nick? What are you doing here? The libraries about to close." She asks me in confusion. "I know it''s about to close, I''ve gotten very familiar with schedule of the place considering that I''ve been waiting here for you here the past few days." I smile at her but she just looks at me warily at the fact that I''ve been waiting for her. "Why have you been waiting for me?" She questions and not wanting her to think I''m a stalker or something I hasten to answer. "I''ve been waiting here the past for few days just to say, I''m sorry for freaking out on you the other day, you were just trying to be nice and I snapped at you for no reason so.. Sorry." I tell her considering that I might''ve been less than pleasant when I last saw her, well not that bad honestly but I''m mostly just feeling a bit sickened and guilty about the thoughts I had about her with my confused and messed up mind after the merging of my new soul. "Ah, that''s fine honestly, you didn''t need to apologise as I''m during you were having your own problems, matter of fact you certainly didn''t have to wait these past few days just to apologise to me. I appreciate the gesture Nick but I''m sorry, I''m really late as I spent quite a lot of time studying and I need to get home." She tries to rush past me but I again step in front of her and hold out my hand. "Right, I''ve been here pretty much the whole day just to apologise to you and I hadn''t seen you the entire time so it''s pretty weird that you came out of the toilets. I could''ve sworn that I kept a sharp eye on the entrance while waiting for you, i must''ve missed you, right?" I decide to play a little with her and make her panic. "Ah yes, I can be pretty invisible because I''m such a bookworm. So, can I go now or was there something else you needed?" "Don''t say that, you''re still one of the most beautiful girls around and it''s great that you''re a bookworm as it just means that you have brains as well as Beauty but I digress, I do have something else to ask you. I didn''t wait these past few days only to apologise to you, you''re Barbara Gordon daughter of Commissioner James Gordon, correct?" I ask her even though I know the answer, I notice that she is even more wary now. "Yes I am his daughter, why does that even matter?" Her fists are clenched and her body is tense, I guess that I''ve alarmed her just a little bit too much today so I should just come out and say it straight. "Great, can you please get me a meeting with him? It''s very important as I have some serious evidence and I can only give it to him as I don''t trust anyone else, can you please help me? It''s do to with some very bad people and I can''t risk anyone else hearing that I have this evidence as I suspect that they even have some dirty cops in the force. Can you help me Barbara?" I made sure to use the word help a lot because she''s a superhero who helps people and I also said that it involves bad people which should catch her interest because she''s a superhero and I mentioned dirty cops so that she know that it is serious as it takes some serious bank to keep police officers on the payroll. "Follow me, I''ll try and get you into a room with my dad but I can''t guarantee that he''ll be alone or that you''ll even get the meeting b put I can at least I can try." She tells me after thinking it over for a moment or so, most likely she trusted my words so much because she read my body language and I was being very truthful when I said I had evidence and I needed her dads help though I didn''t specify what kind of help. "Thank you so much Barbara, you don''t know how much this means to me. Who knew that aside form the brains and the beauty you also have kindness and compassion in spades, the man who marries you will be very lucky indeed." She just amusedly sighs at my words though is that a slight blush I detect on her cheeks, if it was it''s already gone so I can''t tell. We outside of the library and stop in front of a sleek black motorbike and I already know what it is, if I''m not mistaken there should be a button or some kind of contraption on the bike that when pressed will transform the bike into the infamous ''BatCycle'' though there are more than a few different types and versions. I watch Barbara climb onto the black motorbike and strap on a motorbike helmet before she reaches behind her and takes out another bike helmet which she promptly throws to me which I catch pretty easily with one hand before looking at her quizzically. "Put on the helmet and hop on." She says to me. I look down at the helmet in thought, on the one hand it might be a little weird and emasculating to hold onto a girl while she rides a motorcycle but on the other hand I''ll be holding tightly onto a girl while she rides a motorbike and its a beautiful curvy girl at that, why was I even hesitating? "Hurry up before I change my mind!" She shouts out after watching me look down at the helmet for a few moments, I quickly put on the motorbike helmet and strap it on before hopping onto the bike and grabbing onto her tightly from behind with a big smile. My smile wavers when she looks back at me and quirks an eyebrow at me which forces me to loosen my grip on her slightly before she smirks at me and starts the engine of her disguised ''BatCycle''. As we start to speed down the streets i grab onto her tightly again even when I feel her stiffen slightly before she relaxes again, if I''m gonna be made to ride bitch I''m gonna take advantage of it... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 10+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, heller8284, Wanous, Matthew Laird and Sage Honos. Thank you for the support. Chapter 70 - [BT] Stupid Gravitonium... [Before Transition] Susan begins to walk away but before she gets too far I call out to her. "Susan!" To which she turns around and waits for me to speak. "Sorry, it''s just that this isn''t exactly what I was expecting, not to say that I don''t like it. It''s just that when compared to internsh.i.p.s at Oscorp and Stark Industries this is pretty abnormal for an internship, I was just expecting to basically be a lab assistant helping you guys out with your experiments and research and pick stuff up along the way, it''s pretty trusting to just tell me to research whatever I want and get on with it. This is very different from internsh.i.p.s at other companies and I was just wondering why you''ve decided to do my internship like this, I''m quite excited about the task you''ve given to me but I imagine that to any other potential interns they would find the task quite daunting." I ask her, the answer she gives me might help me get into the heads of her and Reed. Susan thinks over my words for a second before figuring out how to respond. "We are ''Fantastic Four, Inc'' home to some of the most brilliant minds of the century even if that is only Reed and myself at the moment, well mostly Reed but even so we hold ourselves to a higher standard than the rest of the scientists at the other companies out there and because of that we must have the best and most nurturing internship available. Those other companies just want to get a bunch of drones that follow orders and develop weapons (even if Stark has stopped his production) but we don''t just wanna pump out a load of mediocre minds like the rest of them, we wanna take young minds and challenge them, nurture them and ultimately produce the next best minds of the century for future generations so that they can go on to make ground breaking discoveries that will help the world." Wow that was a whole thing right there, quite inspirational. "Wow, so I''m kinda a test run for you guys huh, trying to figure out how to teach properly." Sue just smiles at me. "Bingo! You see Reed has recently become discouraged by the various other scientists'' view of and applications of science which causes more problems, most of them just focusing of weapons. After this years Singularity Conference body of which Reed is a member he decided to-" I interrupt her at this point." Sorry but what is this Singularity Conference body thing?" I ask her, if I was more up to date with the outside world instead of focusing on my research all the time I would probably know this but who cares, that''s effort. Susan continues on after answering my question. "The Singularity Conference is held annually by Singularity University, the Global Summit gives leaders, entrepreneurs, and learners from around the world an opportunity to examine and discuss the latest developments in exponential technologies, the societal impacts of those technologies, and how to apply them to create positive change and achieve personal and worldwide progress. Reed attends every year and after this years Singularity Conference Reed was startled by how many of the newcomers ideas although brilliant were mostly focused on weapons and violence, it concerned him and therefore he began to think about putting together a new group of free thinking individuals to plan for a better future for all of humanity and Earth. Reed plans to mold a new young team so they will come up with solutions to the world''s problems and he won''t have to worry so much about the earths future." "So that''s why you accepted my internship. Am I being considered to be a part of this new venture of yours?" I ask intrigued by the premise of what she''s talking about. "That all depends on you, honestly Reed doesn''t think that the creation of this new team is all that urgent and he prefers to focus on his research until it looks like such a new team would be needed so we weren''t going to be doing anything about this new team or anything yet. Except that Johnny showed up one day and kept asking us to accept your internship and after a brief discussion we decided to accept it, the reason we accepted is because we decided to view this as a trial run for our future institute, to see if we are actually capable of teaching young minds." That kinda puts a sting in my crotch that I''m just a trial run but I suppose I can put up with it, after all I''m here to commit corporate espionage not learn. "So I''m just a trial run for this ''Foundation to secure the Future'' of yours?" Susan pats me on the shoulder. "Basically yeah but don''t be too upset by it, we wouldn''t let just anyone intern here, you were the best application we had. Your intelligent enough to hold a conversation with myself and Reed and your old enough to not be too affected by our teachings if it turns out we''re terrible at teaching, we''d rather not use an intelligent kid as it would risk ruining there future but with you we are assured that you''ll have a successful future regardless of our teachings." "Wow, that kinda high praise, thanks." Susan begins to walk away. "Don''t let the arrogance go to your head, we wouldn''t want you ending up like Johnny would we? Good luck on your project, I look coward to seeing it in a months time!" Right, my project which I only have a month to complete. [][][] So it''s been a week and everything carried on as usual with me fixing ''Chantelle'' on the weekend with Johnny, attending some lectures on Monday and Tuesday and working at the Baxter Building on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday with a smattering of some tutoring session for Math Jane throughout the week, everything is great except from the fact that I haven''t come up with a single thing and I only have around three weeks left before the deadline. I''m currently sat in the electronics lab because I''m required to be in the building for my internship even if I''m not actually doing anything productive which f.u.c.k.i.n.g sucks because I can''t think of anything. I''ve spent so long focused on my research that I can''t even think of anything else scientific that doesn''t involve my research and I can''t think up any new inventions, of course there is Peters web fluid but I wouldn''t feel right using that as he has already completed it, there''s a difference from taking inspiration and outright taking because I''ve seen all the formulas that Peter came up with and it would feel like I''m cheating if I used it (plus it would definitely be outed in the future). I''ve thought of all sorts of tech from the Marvel and the DC universe and how to profit off of it but no matter what I think of it can always also be used as a weapon, the best thing I''ve thought of so far is the ''Anti-Gravity Boots'' that the trickster made in the DC comics but I''ve also hit a wall with that, I have no idea how to go about making it, well at least not within the next three weeks, If this was the DC universe I may have a easier time but this is the Marvel universe. I could probably figure out how to make them within a couple of months but alas I only have one, I thought up a few ways to get around this and eventually came up with a schematic that used Gravitonium to create the same affect as the tricksters ''Anti-Gravity Boots'' but then I realised that it wouldn''t be profitable at all, I was originally thinking to use the tech on aeroplanes to make it easier for planes to crash land with minimal injuries or defend slowly )due to anti-gravity) but with the schematics I came up with I realised that it wasn''t feasible. Gravitonium is too rare a metal and very expensive, I lucked out when I found records and some samples of it in the Baxter Building and figured out how to do the anti-gravity but it''s too expensive, it''s not profitable or mass producible. So that was a bust and I spent an entire week on it, what am I gonna do... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 10+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) Chapter 71 - [AT] Im Her Boyfriend... [After Transition] The sleek black disguised ''BatCycle'' stops outside the Gotham City Police Department which looks a lot like you would expect it to except from the overwhelming amount of gargoyle and other such statues that are perched all over the building, what is with this city, you can''t cross the street without seeing a gargoyle or some other gruesome statue attached to a building, one things for certain once I get what I need to get done done then I''m outta here, Gotham just isn''t my kinda town. I''m broken out of my thoughts by a feminine ''Ahem'' which is the universal sound for politely reminding someone about something and I''m being reminded about the fact that we''ve been parked in front of the GCPD for more than a minute and I''m still holding tightly onto the delicious body of the red headed Barbara Gordon, I look towards her and I see that she is giving me the stink eye while gesturing with her eyes and head to the arms that are still wrapped around her. I give an awkward chuckle before untangling my arms from her supple waist and climbing off of the bike before unstrapping the helmet off of my head and handing it to her so that she can put it with her own that she had just taken off, after she had put the helmets away we both walked to the entrance with her leading in silence and me awkwardly trailing behind, I really need to stop getting lost in my thoughts and take more notice of my surroundings but I guess the little bit of insanity that was with previous Gotham Nick has also transferred over to me (can''t really forget being ripped to shreds in a meat grinder) though I could probably use a bit of crazy in this f.u.c.k.e.d up town. I follow Barbara in through the entrance and we are walking past the reception while she talks to the female officer who is currently on receptionist duty. "Hey Vanessa, is my father in?" Barbara speaks and Vanessa promptly replies. "Hey Barb, yeah your father is somewhere in the building though I don''t have a clue where." Barbara then thanks her for the information and grabs me by the arm and leading me up the stairs to where I presume she thinks her father is. "Listen to me, don''t make trouble here and don''t provoke anyone, some of these cops are worse than the criminals out there but unfortunately they cover their tracks so my father doesn''t have probable cause to investigate them fully. Just follow me and don''t say anything, okay?" She ask but it isn''t really a question so I just nod to her showing that I am taking her words very seriously by not responding verbally. She leads me up the stairs and then past a lot of desks that are occupied by police officers and detectives that are busy though some of them do take notice of us one of them being a broad caucasian man that has a serious case of beer belly and he''s wearing jeans, a white shirt and a long dark leather duster as well as a dark grey fedora hat, for a fat guy he sure does have a good sense of style (or my sense of style out of whack) but more importantly than that his eyes are like a hawk as he watches us with a keen eye as we walk across the floor to some destination unknown to me. He gets up seeming to want to catch up to us but decides to stop and finish his two glazed donuts before catching up to us but even while he engorges himself on his treats his eyes are still following us move across the room, that guy might be fat and lazy but there''s no doubt that he''s a good cop, I can just tell but it just irks me that in the back of my mind there''s a little itch telling me that I should know who that man is but I don''t and I know it''s because I''m missing my meta-knowledge. I''m at least glad that even though my meta-knowledge is gone I still got a tiny hunch that this guy is important and I should know him which is good in its own right as it will help me know if there''s more to the people I meet in the future then it seems, while I''m thinking this Barbara continues to lead me a cross the room by the arm no doubt leading me to her father and my assumption is confirmed when I notice that we are heading in the direction of an office that has the words ''Commissioner J. Gordon''s Office'' on the glass of the offices door though we stop outside and don''t enter. We don''t even knock and that''s because the blinds to the office are wide open and it''s easy to tell that the man we are looking for isn''t inside, Barbara lets out a sigh of frustration but I''m not too bothered as I know that the solution to our problem is heading our way now. "Hey there Barbara, how you doin kid? You lookin'' for the Commissioner?" The beer bellied man from earlier asks wiping away the donut crumbs left around his mouth. "Hi Harvey, I''m fine thank you but do you know where my father is?" Barbara proceeds to ask but ''Harvey'' ignores her question in favour of sizing me up with his beady eyes. "Who''s the spare?" He questions quite bluntly, Barbara goes to answer when I quickly wrap my arm around her shoulder and pull her closer to me before quickly answering in her stead. "I''m her boyfriend, Nicholas James but you can call me Nick, nice to meet you Mister?" I finish in askance, I felt Barbara tense up when I wrapped my arm around her and I know that I was very close to being judo flipped onto my back. "Detective Bullock to you kid, if you''re her boyfriend why on earth would you be looking for her father? That seems like the kind of thing you''d wanna avoid." He finishes his tricky question but luckily I have the perfect answer. "Well you see me and Barbie-" He snorts at my nickname for her. "-have been going out for a while and it''s about time I met her dad and what better place then in a police station surrounded by police officers where he definitely won''t be able to gut me or pipe me full of lead, the rest of the officers would be there to stop him if he feels like kicking my a.s.s." Harvey chuckles. "Either that or we''d be filing a missing persons report for you, us guys on the force are very loyal to the commissioner so instead of stopping him we''d probably help him hide the body. Anyway it''s your funeral, Jim is on the roof taking a break, puffing away like always. See ya later Barb." Harvey walks away all the while chuckling without waiting for us to respond and after he''d travelled a sufficient enough amount of distance away from us Barbara quickly stomps down hard onto my foot, very hard and I let go of her shoulder in surprise at the action. "Why the hell did you tell him you''re my boyfriend? Now he''s going to tell everyone else and my fathers going to ask me about it you asshole!" She whisper shouts at me. "I''m sorry okay, I told you that I have some serious information and I can''t trust anyone even some of the cops in here so it''s better that they think I''m your boyfriend rather than some guy whose come here to give evidence. I''m sorry but I can''t risk anyone finding out about this though for what it''s worth you could do a lot worse then me for a boyfriend, in fact I''m quite the catch." I apologise and flirt with her at the same time, Johnny really rubbed off on me huh. She rolls her eyes at me before once again grabbing me by the arm and leading me off in the direction of a set of green doors. "Come on idiot, we''re gonna take the stairs to the roof where your gonna get to meet my father and I swear if the information you give him is worthless and people end up thinking you''re my boyfriend then I''m gonna get pissed. I could do way better than you." She tells me but I reply with a smile. "There''s no doubt that you can do better then me especially with that gorgeous smile of yours." She pauses and turns to look at me. "What smile?" She questions and I smirk at her. "The one you''ve got on your face right now." I tell her and her face rapidly heats up and I can see that she''s blushing before she rapidly turns around, tightens her grip on my arm before pulling me along even faster than before, she''s really cute when she''s fl.u.s.tered. On we go to Commissioner James Gordon where I''ll set my plan into action but in the mean time I''ll continue to tease this hot redhead daughter of his... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 10+ Chapters. A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, heller8284, Wanous, Matthew Laird and Sage Honos. Thank you for the support. Chapter 72 - [BT] LegenDairy Assassination Device... [Before Transition] I thought of all sorts of inventions to make but no matter what I thought of it could still be used as a weapon, I thought of making a cold gun like the one captain cold used to help firefighters but it can be used as a weapon, I thought of making a device that could look into alternate realities to learn from them and not make the same mistakes but then I remember it''s devices like this that cause civil war but unfortunately before I had that thought I also came up with a probability machine that worked by using a quantum computer that incorporates my alternate reality viewer and cycling throughout all known universe to come up with a percentage rate to any and all questions slash scenarios but then I realised that this kind of device is what started civil war number two even though that was an inhuman. I kept thinking of so many different inventions and technologies but no matter how many I thought of I could always come up with a way for it to be used as a weapon, hell I was so desperate that I came up with the schematics for a device that could automatically milk cows by controlling the milk inside of them and bringing it out but when I made it and tested it I realised that the device could control all dairy products which is fine and dandy as there''s no way that such a device could possibly be used as a weapon but then I thought that nearly all humans eat dairy products, what if someone used this device on humans and made them choke on some yogurt that they ate earlier or took some cheese that they ate and use it to attack the brain from inside the body turning them into a vegetable before returning the cheese to their stomach effectively getting rid of the evidence. It''s practically the best ever assassination device and I don''t know if it''s a problem with me or what but every device or technology I come up with I can find a way that it can be used as a weapon (though I''m definitely going to keep this device a secret and possibly use it myself, never know when you might need to make someone choke on their own ingested dairy products) and I spent practically a whole week wasting my time on these products that ultimately proved to be a waste of time since they can be used as weapons, Susan really gave me a hard task make something that can''t be used as a weapon I mean even a spoon can be used to dig out someone''s eyes, how the hell am I supposed to come up with a device that can''t be used as a weapon? Maybe that''s just it, I''m not supposed to create a device that can''t be used as a weapon but something that can negate weapons or more specifically human weapons also known as those with superpowers, maybe instead of building something that will physically help the public maybe I can build something that will help the public by keeping threats and powered people detained after all there are a huge amount of causalities when the big supers decide to duke it out, if I can build a device that can stop those big baddies from using there powers then it will definitively help the entire world. Even if technically this device can still be used on superheroes as well as super villains it''s fine after all it would only remove their powers though I suppose if it is used on a superhero by a villain than that could be quite bad unless I make it an area of effect kind of device that way even if it''s used it would remove the powers of all within a certain radius making it more fair on the superheroes, I just hope if ever the day comes that it is used on a superhero then it is used on one that doesn''t rely on their powers and one that actually has skills and combat prowess, at the least I wish that it would be used on a superhero that has a lot of experience even if they rely on their powers (someone like older Spider-Man, even if his powers were removed he still has enough experience to survive and run away). To think that before this my only idea that wouldn''t be a weapon was a stupid Fitbit like device that monitors the users health, it stores all information and medical history, monitors the heartbeat, it can call an ambulance or the correct authorities as well as apply electric pulses to keep user alive, it emits a high noise to draw attention to user in case of emergency and finally it can also regulate medicine sometimes even straight into the bloodstream though of course I knew that even a device like this could be turned into a weapon (messing with the device to put a lethal dose of medicine into the body/bloodstream or replacing it with poison) but I just decided not to think about that and just build the device but now I don''t have to because I have an even better device. Not to say that the Fitbit like device doesn''t have any potential or use but it''s like Susan said that this is a place for the best of the best and if the best that I can bring to the table is this device then this isn''t the place for me, I need to bring my A-game for this and I do mean my A-game which means that this can''t be just any inhibitor device after all anyone else can make one of those and they usually have to be calibrated for different types of powered people (mutates and mutants, what I want to make is an all purpose inhibitor that will work on all powered/super people though I don''t see how that is possible after all the only way that powered people won''t use their powers is if they don''t want to, if they don''t want to? This is it, my all purpose power inhibitor that won''t actually inhibit anyone which means that people will be looking for the wrong thing when they try to figure it out, all I need to do is check over some of the Fantastic Four''s database for anything to do with the mind which I''m sure they''ll have as I know that they occasionally have meetings with Professor Charles Xavier AKA Professor X AKA The Mind Molester though I''m great full that there hasn''t been any meeting since I''ve come to intern here, this will also give me the prime opportunity to make a device to protect my mind. It seems that everything is working out perfectly for me, soon my device will be built and I''ll use the excuse of needing information for my device to discreetly use the Fantastic Four''s database to come up with a way to protect my mind though unfortunately I won''t be able to look at Reeds dimensional/universal research as they would surely take a log of what I''m looking at and this way they will think that I''m only trying to make my invention and nothing else, my baby ''Chantelle'' the car will soon be fixed and better than ever, everything is going my way which means that sooner or later something is going to show up to throw a wrench in my plans and I can''t help but feel that I''m gonna recognise the wrench. No time to worry about that now though, all I can do is forge on ahead and hope for the best all the while making preparations for the things to come that I do actually know about though even that knowledge is in question even though it''s still useful, now that I''m reminded of my preparations I haven''t actually been doing any martial arts or training for a while now which is a bad thing, I''ll have to catch up on that or before you know it even Peter will be able to kick my a.s.s and that''s not something I want as its kinda humiliating to even think about. I''ll start to practice martial arts and train again after I finish my work on this device but for now it''s time to get to work... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 10+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, heller8284, Wanous, Matthew Laird and Sage Honos. Thank you for the support. Chapter 73 - [AT] My Accent Was Great... [After Transition] We are both walking up the flight of stairs to the rooftop in silence with Barbara still being embarrassed about me teasing her and me enjoying her being fl.u.s.tered when out of nowhere she brings out a topic that I was definitely not expecting. "Here, this is yours right? You left it in the library when you ran out all freaked the other day." Reaching into her pocket she pulls out a very familiar memory stick which she proceeds to hand over to me and after looking it over and feeling the weight in my hand I can confirm that this is my special memory stick which I seem to have forgotten after the confusing merging, now that it''s served its use I wonder what was left on it, I hope nothing but I can''t say for definite. "Thanks, you didn''t look in it did you? Because that would be a breach of privacy you know." I ask her trying to judge what she''s seen on it because there''s no way that a naturally curious person like Barbara wouldn''t look in it and judging by the fact that she tensed up when I asked her she has definitely looked into it. "I mean, you rushed off so fast and I didn''t know who it might belong to so I had to look in it to find its owner but there doesn''t actually seem to be anything on it so I came to the conclusion that it was yours and you were gonna use it but fell asleep before you could actually do so." She tries to explain her reasoning but I''m just so happy that there was nothing left on the memory stick after it was used, still I should probably destroy this as there''s probably some magical trace or signature on it, I don''t f.u.c.kin'' know how magic works all I know is that it''s bullshit. I''m also glad that this wasn''t the Catwoman video memory stick, good times good memories, I wouldn''t know what I would do if she saw that (it''s kind of incriminating because it''s a s.e.xtape of me with a criminal) but now that I think of it it''s still back at the apartment in my backpack and I''ve been so busy that I completely forgot about it, I should probably make sure that that''s secure so no one will be able to view it (wouldn''t want Batman to see it and get listed by it or something, he''s kinda hard to predict that guy), it''s decided first thing I will be doing when I get home is encrypting that memory stick and then destroying my used magic memory stick just to make sure that nothing can be tracked back to me. "Come on, we''re here." Barbara tells me and I realise that we''ve reached the end of the stairs and no there''s is just a rooftop entrance in front of us which will lead to Jim Gordon on his smoking break which will hopefully make him more relaxed for what I''m about to do because he will definitely be a bit angry at me, following Barbara after she opens the door and goes through first before holding the door open for me behind her we enter into the rooftop and immediately I take notice of the main feature of the rooftop, mainly the giant projection lamp that has what seems to be the silhouetted shape of a bat on it presumably to cast it across the sky of Gotham City. From what I''ve researched in this universe Commissioner James Gordon incorporated it as a means of contacting Batman whenever he was needed and it was placed on the roof of the headquarters of the Gotham City Police Department though as Batman''s existence is not officially recognised by the Gotham City authorities the ''so-called'' Bat-Signal is explained as a method of using the ''urban legend'' of the Batman to terrify the criminal class of Gotham, this is mainly because the Justice League has not been founded yet and Batman hasn''t fully come into the light and been accepted as a superhero so Gordon has to use this excuse in order to cooperate with the Batman but after the Justice League becomes a thing there should be a lot less secrecy around him. Looking past the Bat-Signal I can see a man with red-brown hair with some strands of grey standing at the edge of the rooftop smoking a cigarette while looking down at the dark streets of Gotham, he is wearing worn black shoes showing that he runs in them quite a lot, a pair of plain brown slacks, a plain white shirt with a loosened red tie around the neck and on top of that he he has on a long brown trench coat that has definitely seen some use, he turns around when he hears the rooftop door open and I can finally see the spectacles on his face as well as his bushy moustache and his uneven stubble confirming for me that this is definitely the Commissioner James Gordon who I am looking for and who is going to help me finally get justice for my suffering at the hands of those two monsters. I start to mentally review all the information I have on him in my mind, James Gordon is the Commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department and one of the Batman''s greatest allies but he is a controversial political figure in Gotham City because of his willingness to work alongside a vigilante, he is one of the most honest police officers in the service and on occasion struggling against corruption from within. He frequently works outside the law when necessary, although he maintains a strict and unbreakable moral code because of which he has made it clear many times that he only tolerates Batman because they follow the same code and if he ever crossed the line Gordon would not hesitate to bring him down. They share many rooftop meetings on top of the Gotham City Police Departments Headquarters going over cases with Gordon supplying information to the dark knight, he contacts the Batman for their regular meetings using the Bat-Signal which shines a bright bat symbol into the night skies. His daughter is Barbara Gordon better known as Batgirl (all the meta-knowledge I used or had on people I interacted with stayed thankfully so I at least know her alter identity which I''m great full for), the hot red headed girl with glasses who brought me here that is currently marching up to her father with quite the frightening frown on her face. "Dad, how many times have I told you to stop smoking? You know that it''s bad for you." She finally stops in front of her father with her hands on her h.i.p.s, I followed closely behind her but now I''m just standing awkwardly of to the side waiting for them to finish their family moment. "I know sweetie but you know I only smoke now when I''m stressed which is mainly because I''m stuck on a case, I''ve been trying to cut down like you wanted." Barbara is still frowning even though Gordon is trying to appease her but I get the feeling that she''s frowning more because her fathers stuck on a case and not because of the smoking. "Well, what case is it?" She asks proving my theory correct. "It''s the recent robbery at Wayne Manor, the thief stole some valuables from a safe in Wayne''s study and then trashed the place after which they left but not before knocking out Wayne''s old butler Alfred Pennyworth, thankfully the old man''s alright but we don''t have many clues in this case." Oh shit, he''s talking about the burglary I did with Catwoman at Bruce Wayne''s mansion, well at least this will let me know what he''s got so far. "Well, what clues do you have?" Barbara asks her father, I would also like to know incase I might need to make a quick getaway in the future. "We have practically nothing, for some reason Wayne only has cameras on the outside of the building and not on the inside so we don''t have much footage of the thief, and what footage we do have is too dark and blurry to make anything out, apart from that all we have is Mr. Pennyworth''s description of his assailant which is basically that he has dark tanned skin as the rest of his body was pretty much covered up. He also told us that they had a southern accent but the butler reckons that it was fake and not the perpetrators real accent, so we''ve pretty much hit a dead end for the case though Wayne doesn''t seem to care too much if we solve it, that kind butler is wasted on a playboy like him." What the hell, my accent wasn''t so bad, I was really proud of that accent. "Barbara, who''s the tag along you''ve brought with ya and why''ve ya brought him to me?" Gordon ruffly grumbles out looking at me with unfriendly eyes, this guy definitely doesn''t like me hanging out with his daughter... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 10+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, heller8284, Wanous, Matthew Laird and Sage Honos. Thank you for the support. Chapter 74 - [BT] A Resurrection... [Before Transition] It wasn''t that hard to get access to all the information the Fantastic Four had on the mind and telepathy and all that sort of stuff as all I had to say was that I needed it to completely finish my product in time for the month deadline, if I knew that it was that easy to get information then I would have just asked about Reeds research into alternate dimensions but unfortunately for me Susan asked if this was the only information I needed to complete my project to which I said yes, if I turned around now and requested to access the alternate dimension research than although I would probably be granted it I would also look very suspicious and as much as I hate to admit it my friendship with Johnny has grown on me (though I haven''t been hanging out with him much aside from working on my car as I''ve been focused in completing my project) plus I''d like to stick around Susan a bit more as well. Once I had access to the abundance of information that the Fantastic Four had on the human brain/mind, which was most likely provided because of Reeds colleague like relationship with Charles Xavier, I had been able to get my head down and focus on my project like I have never focused before and wouldn''t you believe it, I had finished my product that would revolutionise the containment of super/enhanced people and it would surely impress the two big brains of the Baxter Building proving to be a very profitable product while not being too dangerous, now all I have to do is come up with the final schematic after all what I''ve made is just a prototype/LITE version of my final product which will have a sort of area of affect feature. It took me a week to finish my product as well as the presentation I was going to show at my project review and I''ve pretty much completed my task but I want to go above and beyond which is why I will spend this last week until the project deadline making the schematics for my final most advanced product which will surely secure a massive payday for ''Fantastic Four, Inc'' and keep the Fantastic Four funded while also making a nice little nest egg for myself, the reason I am only making a schematic and not the final product itself is because the final product will take too long to make as well as being very expensive but I have a plan for that as well which will also grant me access to Reeds research which involves the portal to the negative zone which Reed has already built. My product at the moment is essentially just a collar which will be put on super powered people that will stop them using their powers in an incredible and ingenious way if I do say so myself but this collar can easily ripped off by someone else that has super powers and isn''t wearing the collar which is why my final product will be a bunch of relays which will create a sort of area affect barrier where everyone inside will lose their powers which is quite frankly pretty awesome, I could probably get a Noble Prize or something for this shit considering how much it is going to help the world at large with super villains considering that they are a pretty big problem in today''s time. With only a week left until the deadline to finish my schematic even though I already have everything prepared for the presentation it was time to put my head down and get back to work, at least I thought it was until Johnny bashes the door open and barged into my workspace which was currently the electronics room. "Nick, there''s a party tonight and you my buddy are invited, it''s a college party at ESU so you know that there are gonna be a whole load of pretty probably drunken girls there ready to make the worst decision of their life which goes by the name of ''Johnny Storm'', let''s go!" Johnny immediately exclaimed much to my annoyance, I didn''t even look up from my work when replying to him. "I can''t Johnny, I''m busy working on my project which is due in a week so I don''t have any time to waste on parties." I''m startled by Johnny slamming his hand down onto the table and look up at him in surprise. "Cmon Nick, you''ve been working nonstop on this project for three weeks and we''ve hardly hung out, you''re gonna burn yourself out and I''m horny so lets go to this party, okay. I promise that if you go with me tonight I won''t annoy you for the next two weeks at least, plus you''ve been working so much that I bet you haven''t been able to scratch that itch in your pants so this will be good for you too." True, I''ve been focusing on this project for the last three weeks that I haven''t had s.e.x in the past three weeks either though that doesn''t mean that I don''t want to. "You know what Johnny your right, I''ve haven''t had fun in three weeks do sign me up, let''s go to that party and get some!" I set down my work and stand up, I''m dressed in brown boots, blue jeans, a white shirt with a black leather jacket on top so I don''t have to worry about getting dressed up for the party, I even have my black aviators on me to finish off the look (I have the money do I might as well dress nice and take advantage of being rich). Johnny gains a megawatt smile and punches his hand out into the air. "Alright, let''s go right now then, you work here so late that the party is about to start around now so we should get there just in time for when it gets jumping, let''s go get some!" Johnny quickly rushes out and I make haste to follow him finally catching up with him in the elevator where he pushes the button for the lobby. "The lobby? I thought we would be going up to the hangar and taking a vehicle from there, this isn''t like you Johnny, what''s going on?" I question him, usually Johnny''s all up for taking the Fantastic Fours vehicle out on unscheduled joyrides and to pick up girls so it''s weird that why aren''t taking one of the vehicles now. "Just wait my friend, I have a surprise waiting for us in the parking lot in front of the building, a surprise which I think you''ll like." He tells me but that isn''t enough for me, I annoy him all throughout the elevator ride and even the journey to the parking lot trying to get him to tell me but he keeps quite, Johnny can keep a secret when he wants to, we finally get to the parking lot and I''m awestruck by what I see waiting for me in one of the parking spaces. Johnny skips like a giddy child to the vehicle and rests his band on it. "You like it? I hurried up and finished it just for tonight." What he''s taking about is my baby ''Chantelle'' which is an grey Audi R8 that looks so gorgeous right now though I can''t stomp down at the bit of irritability I feel when I see the car finally repaired. "Dude, we were supposed to be finishing this together, don''t get me wrong I''m happy that my baby is finally up and running but I would have liked to have been there when she was finally restored!" I finish frustratedly, Johnny waves his hands trying to appeases me. "I know I know but I was bored and had nothing to do so I thought that I''d finish it, plus I thought that it would give us a great opportunity." My anger temporarily abated I look at him intrigued. "What opportunity?" I question him and to this he grins. "I brought it to the Baxter building for a reason, now that it''s finished I thought that we''d be able to work on it together at the hangar at the base. We could use the freight elevator to get it up to the hangar where we could use all the resources there go kit it out even more, I might even be able to convince Susan to let us make it flight capable." He finishes sparking the fire of enthusiasm in me. "No shit, thats a brilliant idea! Who knew that you you''d be so clever Johnny, well you know what they say, ''A broken clock is right twice a day'' and it looks like it''s your hour Johnny." I smirk at him but he just chucks the keys at me. "Shut up doofus and get in, your driving us to the party, it''s at one of the dorm houses at ESU." I catch the keys and hurry to get into the car with Johnny. Sticking the keys in the ignition and turning them I can''t stop the shiver that goes up my spine at the rumble of Chantelle''s engine. My baby is back from the dead... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 10+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, heller8284, Wanous, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos and Cameron. Thank you for the support. Chapter 75 - [AT] Who is Selling Human Meat... [After Transition] Seeing bother opportunity to mess with Barbara and tease her I quickly slide alongside her before once again wrapping my arm around her shoulder and pulling her close to me and then I began to don a friendly smile upon my face,I get ready to answer Gordon intent on telling him I''m his daughters girlfriend just like I told Detective Bullock downstairs in order to tease Barbara but before I can speak I feel a sharp pain in my side which morphs my friendly smile into an anguished wince, looking down I can see Barbara''s deceptively dainty hand grabbing a chunk of my side and squeezing down hard but then I look up at her face and I can see the intense glare she''s aiming directly at me though I''m glad that her father can''t see her face as I''m pretty sure that he would try to pipe me full of lead. Even though I stop my words I don''t remove my arm from her shoulders for the one simple fact that she was still intensely pinching my side and she''s still not letting go so if I try to move away she''ll just end up pulling my skin even further and causing me even more pain (I don''t care if you have superpowers or not, getting pinched in the side or behind the t.h.i.g.h or behind the upper arm hurts like a f.u.c.kin'' bitch and believe me when I say that if you don''t have elastic or bulletproof skin then you are not immune to the pain of a pinch) plus I feel like she pinched me because I was going to tell her fathers that I''m her boyfriend and not because I wrapped my arm around her which I''m going to see as a positive so I will just keep my mouth shut and hope she eventually let''s go of my poor flesh, seeing that I''m not going to try to talk anymore Barbara loses her glare and let''s go of my flesh. She then walks further to her father which coincidently means that my arm is no longer wrapped around her (no way that she did that on purpose, right) and I can hear the small sigh she lets out of her mouth with my enhanced hearing before she goes to speak. "This is my.. friend Nicholas James and he''s here because he has something to tell you, apparently it has to do with some big crime and he has evidence or something." She tells him before she looks to me to continue with the rest and get on with it, I notice now that Gordon has turned his attention fully on to me and is looking at me much more alert than he was before, he throws his cigarette on the floor and stamps it out while he questions me. "Well, what is it kid? Get on with it then." Gordon practically orders me which I mainly think is because he doesn''t want to waste time when other crimes can be solved, instead of answering him though I walk towards the big projection lamp that''s in the middle of the roof and I begin to admire it while talking to him. "So this is the famous BatSignal huh, so you just turn this on and he comes running, that how this works?" Now that I''m closer to the BatSignal I can get a better look at it and I notice that it has Super Carbon Arc Filaments to produce a beam 100 times brighter than a normal searchlight, Bullet-proof glass; handground for clarity, an Outer casing of duraluminium covered with bullet-proof glass, aYellow fog filter fir when Gotham isn''t cloudy which is almost never, a Batslide so they can remove the bat symbol for whatever reason and a Larger, changeable and more powerful carriage for the battery. My observation of the BatSignal is interrupted by an irate James Gordon who doesn''t look to pleased with my grandstanding but sometimes a plan needs some grandstanding to actually work. "Kid stop wasting my time and tell me what I need to know!" He sounds out angrily but I ignore him once again, I notice that Barbara is standing off to the side just observing but she''s ready to get straight into action if she has to. "How long would you say it takes for the Batman to actually get here? He can''t always get here super fast can he so how long does it usually take him on a night like this?" I continue which my line of questioning to do with the BatSignal but I can''t tell that Gordon is beginning to cross the line from irritated to angry which is a bit worrying but shouldn''t really affect my plans. "Kid.." He growls out in warning but I just look at him stoically and talk to him calmly. "Humour me..." I speak out and for a moment he looks at me blankly before letting out an audible sigh and muttering something about ''troublesome brats'' before he eventually decides what he wants to do. "Sometimes it depends on where the guy is but he''s usually up to something in the East Ends where most of Gotham''s crime takes place, he usually has his weird car with him and a load of his bat themed gadgets and tools so he should be able to get here pretty quick assuming that he sees the symbol in the sky which I''m sure he always keeps an eye out for, on a night like this? I''d say it would take him about 10 minutes to get here, maybe less if he not busting some thugs heads together." Honestly I didn''t really need this information as my plan would''ve happened anyway as I''d already positioned my self in the correct spot but it does give me a proper time frame to talk to the Commissioner and Barbara. "That''s good." I mumble out but it seems that Barbara heard me. "Why is that good?" She questions me to which I reply with my already thought out response. "Because it will give me time to talk to you guys and explain why I''m doing what I''m doing." Gordon let''s out a surprised ''what'' but it''s too late as my hands have already found its way to the lever for the BatSignal and without wasting anytime I pull down on it casting the BatSymbol on the cloudy grey skies above, I look back to them and while Gordon doesn''t seem to have reacted I can see that Barbara is tense and has one of her hands behind her back presumably holding on to a Batarang in case she needs to use it. "What the hell did you do that for? Batman doesn''t like to have his time wasted when he could be busy stopping crime!" Gordon shouts at me but I don''t get to offended at it as I have just fiddled with the man''s bat light. "The criminals I have evidence against and want to have brought down are actually very dangerous and I need the Batman to help me do it." I say as a way of explanation but Gordon is still a bit mad while Barbara continues to stay silent in the background though I do notice that she has put away her Batarang and is no longer tensed. "Why the hell do you need the Batman? I admit that he''s good at what he does but his specialty is those lunatics out there who runs around in costumes, the police can still handle the crime in Gotham. Just because the Batman is around now doesn''t mean he''s replacing us it just means he''s supplementing our protection of Gotham''s innocents." While Jim does make a good point I''m afraid that I can''t trust the police to handle this and I know that if I get Batman to take over the case the criminals will either be caught by him or they will end up killing themselves while trying to get away from him. "I know that but I''m not just talking about ordinary criminals, I''m talking about a drug and human trafficking ring that has been in operation for at least the last thirteen years and I don''t know what that means to you but it means to me that not only have they managed to escape Batman''s attention but they also have some friends inside the force that are helping them so the police can''t be fully trusted which is why I wanted to bring this to the Batman''s attention." I explain to them and while Barbara just narrows her eyes Jim Gordon is clearly shocked to hear that not only has a drug trafficking ring escaped the polices notice for the last thirteen years but they''re also a human trafficking ring that has dirty cops looking out for them. Barbara seems to want to let her dad take the lead but he is still surprised and so I choose to wait for him to snap out of the funk so we can continue our conversation although I feel that I''ve said everything that had to be said, now I just have to wait till batman shows up. "So this human trafficking ring is selling people? Or are they selling organs?" Barbara questions wanting the answers I provide to the question to snap her dad out of his daze and remind him of what important right now. "I don''t know if they sell people or harvest organs but I do know that they are selling human meat to rich people so they can eat it." I tell them which seems to wake up Gordon but even then he still doesn''t speak for some reason. My spider sense doesn''t alert me and my enhanced senses hardly pick him up but I notice at that moment that there is someone standing behind my back by the soft breath I can hear behind me, I freeze at the fact that someone has managed to sneak up on me in spite of my superpowers and enhanced sense but I''m startled when I hear his voice and I can feel the cold rage in his stoic voice when he speaks. "Who is selling human meat..." I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 10+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, heller8284, Wanous, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos and Cameron. Thank you for the support. Chapter 76 - [BT] A Noise... It didn''t take us long to get to Empire State University though I can''t tell if that''s because because I took a quick root or because of the awesome music we were listening to that made the time seem to fly as Johnny took the liberty of installing one of the latest radio boxes/cd players in the car and made sure to download a whole host of songs onto it for me, we didn''t really talk much on the drive over as we had preferred to listen to the music in silence but it wasn''t an awkward silence but a calm natural silence and that''s how you know that you have a good friendship and that''s how I know that I''m actually starting to like hanging out with the Fantastic Four though that may be because they haven''t had one of their extra dimensional accidents or adventures, maybe I will change my mind after that and try as hard as I can to get away from them. But until then if I''m gonna have to spend time with them then I''m going to enjoy it and benefit from it as well along the way but after this next week I''m gonna start training again as I''ve not had a chance to really use my powers and at this rate Peter is gonna be able to beat me even though I''m stronger and faster than him on account of his wit, intelligence and the experience he''s gonna acc.u.mulate while being a superhero and I at least wanna be able to easily manhandle Spider-Man plus I should really develop my powers and come up with new uses for them which starts with training, on any account after this week I''ll start to again progress to my end goal but for now I''ll have fun and that begins with going to this party tonight and getting moderately wasted (not enough to inhibit me or my senses but enough to give me a buzz which is already the amount needed to give someone a killer hangover the day after), dance with a few girls and then hopefully go home with one of them or if I''m lucky maybe more than one (Johnny''s stories have certainly widened my gaze on just how wild American girls can get, the British girls from my last life are really tame in comparison). Pulling up outside the ESU gates I take a look around to see where all the students are gravitating towards as that''s most likely the place where the party is going down and once I see the brightly lit building near the very back of the ESU grounds with a horde of people on the front lawn socialising I realise that that building is definitely where the party is at and so I drive towards it but I don''t park too close to it and park next to a different nearby dorm, when Johnny asks me why I did so I simply explain that I don''t want any drunk assholes leaving the party and my car being the first thing they see should they decide to go for a nice piss or a fun spree of vandalism which Johnny showed understanding towards since we just fixed this baby and we wouldn''t want her getting damaged so soon. Exiting the car with Johnny making sure to put the retractable hardtop/roof of my car up (which Johnny promises to change into a metal one instead of the current 5 sections of plastic the retractable hardtop is currently made out of) and lock it''s doors before making sure the keys were tightly secure inside my pocket, after which me and Johnny made the short trek to the dormitory that would be holding the party that would hopefully help to get rid off my three week dry spell of s.e.x which I haven''t been able to have since I have been too focused on my work lately and now that I think of it I should make sure to take care of my needs after I''ve finished my presentation to the Fantastic Four as well, finally nearing the dormitory and going up the steps to the path across the lawn I instantly notice about half of the college girls realise that Johnny Storm AKA The Torch is here to attend the party and about a quarter of those girls immediately drop what they are doing and rush towards him to encircle him and I notice the rest of the girls inching closer as well. Seeing that Johnny is trapped and won''t be able to escape for the foreseeable future I decide to head on in to the party inside the dorm, Johnny looked towards me asking me for help but I just shrug my shoulders at him as I walk of while giving him my "What am I supposed to do about it?" face which instantly results in him looking at me in betrayal and me laughing at his misery, it''s time to go in and get wasted after all. [][][] The party so far has been pretty wild with these college girls going crazy as they were pretty much doing whatever they wanted wherever they wanted without caring who was watching and I more than once had to leave a section of the building as there were quite a few couple going at it in the middle of the room but on one of those trips I was stopped by two girls who claimed to be best friends and they dragged me off into a corner and went to town on me giving me the sweet release that I had needed for the past three weeks though it only went as far as oral as I heard them soon after start to talk about their boyfriends and it kinda turned me off after all I would rather not be the cause of a relationship breaking up though I did let them clean me up before I left as their relationsh.i.p.s were already probably bound to break sooner rather than later with how these two girls behaved. After that I was drinking and dancing with girls though I didn''t accept any more propositions after those two girls from before because I discovered I didn''t really like these s.l.u.tty wild girls who would do anything that much and I''d much rather have a classy girl or a girl that at least respects themselves and their bodies as I would rather be with girl that''s special and uniques then all these college party girls that all just seem to be pretty much a carbon copy of each other which is a shame as I would have really liked to have gotten laid tonight, I saw Johnny around a few times through the night and shared a drink or two with him but I mainly left him to himself as he was taken full advantage of the type of girls around here and more than once I walked into a room to see him in a light I wish I could burn from my memory with a fury. Right now I''d drunken a bit too much which was the equivalent of someone getting truly pissed though I only had a light buzz which could be due to my powers or something else entirely though I really can''t be bothered to give it much though and so with my bladder full and about ready to burst I quickly ran through the building the building looking for a male restroom but with most of the ones in the building being used by couples with less than pure intentions I ended up finding my way to a secluded seclusion of the building with a corridor that had both male and female bathrooms but with male bathroom being further down the corridor than the female one and on account of the fact that I was about to piss myself I quickly asked for forgiveness before rushing into the female restroom to take care of my business and relieve my bladder which I could do without fear of being caught as there was practically no one in this area of the building. After relieving myself and making sure to clean up after myself to leave no evidence that a boy was ever in this restroom I left and began to make my way back to the entrance of the building intent on leaving and going home to get some rest as I''m pretty sure that Johnny can find his own way home without me as he can just just snap his fingers and turn into a flying blaze of fire, I''m about to turn around the corner and leave the corridor when I hear something coming from back down the hallway with my enhance senses though I can''t be too sure as I am a little bit drunk and could''ve easily misheard something but my gut wouldn''t let me leave and I instinctually felt something was wrong. I began to head back down the corridor to see if there was any worth to my instincts and see if something was wrong and about halfway down the hallway I heard the sound again but this time I recognised exactly what it was clearly and it was coming from the male restrooms which was definitely a cause for concern. Without wasting anymore time I urgently began to sprint down the hallway at full speed knowing that no one was around to see me, hoping that I could get to the toilets before anything has actually happened though I might already be too late.. ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, heller8284, Wanous, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos and Cameron. Thank you for the support. Chapter 77 - [AT] Bloody Cheater... [After Transition] "Who is selling human meat..?" Without thinking about it and reacting on pure instinct I quickly spin around (though no faster than a normal human would be able to) to see who is behind me although I''m pretty sure I already know and once I get a look at the person behind me my suspicions are easily confirmed as standing before me is none other than the Batman, making sure to act like a regular person I start to back away from him (unstably I might add to make it seem as if I''m startled) while trying to get a closer look at him to see what I can see but unfortunately it''s not much, I can see that he is 6''2", that he is a white man with a big jaw and a square chin but that is pretty much all I can tell about him as it''s pretty hard to guess his weight with how he standing. He is standing tall and straight but more importantly he is standing with his black cape/cloak completely covering his body from the shoulders down so it''s hard to get a full description of him, his cape is pitch black with a jagged edge which I guess when fully extended when gliding looks like a bat, his chin is clean shaven, the pitch black cowl he has on is designed to look like a bat with dull white eyes and two iconic pointed horns going straight up at the back of his head which are meant to resemble a bats ears, I can tell that his cowl is metallic which probably means that his suit underneath the cape has some metal components and isn''t without protection, I can''t tell with the cape in the way what the suit underneath looks like, if it is completely fabric which is unlikely, if it is completely metal like an armour, or what''s most likely which is that it is made of some resistant fabric with some armour plating systematically placed to protect him. I can''t tell what kind of Batman this is yet as I can''t see what colour his suit is underneath the cape (hell I can''t even see his boots) whether it is dark black or grey, you might think that that doesn''t mean shit but it can actually indicate a lot, the Batmen of the multiverse that have pitch black bat suits are more gritty, bitter and hard laced with some of them even being outright evil versions, those with grey/light black bat suits although still strict and straight laced can show humanity and humility, often showing some compassion and even doing some light jokes as well when they feel that the situation isn''t too dire, these conclusions I''ve come to from the meta-knowledge I had used and retained although there are probably some anomalies out there that disprove my theory but for now I''m gonna stick to it. "Who Is Selling Human Meat?" Batman voices out again but this time with a hard edge to his voice that seems to say that if I don''t talk he''s gonna dangle me off of a rooftop ledge though that won''t work on me and it''s at this moment that I realise that I''d spent a bit too long for his liking not saying anything and I''m about to get on his bad side so I decide to speak up. "There''s an orphanage in town that''s been up to criminal activities for which you are definitely gonna want to bust some heads tonight.." I speak out to him getting straight to business wanting to get this over with as soon as possible, I reach into my jacket pocket, to which I notice Batman slightly narrow his eyes at though I can''t see the reaction of Gordon or Barbara as they are right behind me, and I pull out a folder which contains all the findings and evidence I have on the orphanage though I''ve made sure to have a copy made incase this one is destroyed. "Here, this is all the evidence and information I''ve collected so far." I hand it out for Batman to take but he takes a moment to look at it before he swiftly takes it from my hand but from the movement he made I can tell that his costume underneath the cape is definitely grey, for a few minutes we just stand in silence as he reads through the file but I can see that his teeth are definitely tightly gritted together are the papers in his hand are crumpling slightly from his tight grip, he''s definitely angry about this and I doubt he''s gonna calm down after I tell him some other crucial information that I haven''t been able to get any evidence on. After finishing reading through my file he silently hands it out for Gordon to read through (Barbara begins to slyly look over his shoulder to read) before he asks me a question through his tightly clenched jaw. "Where do the children go in the van after they reach ten years of age?" He questions, thankfully during the time that I''ve been investigating the orphanage they didn''t have any drug mules older then 9 though unfortunately that must mean that they got rid of the ten year old drug mules before I started investigating and the merge. "After the ten year old drug mules are put in a van they are driven somewhere where they are fed to a meat grinder before being sold later on to some rich assholes that want ''Exotic'' meat." I voice with some derision in my voice and I can hear Barbara''s gasp and Gordon slight mutter of ''Christ'' while batman stays strangely silent. I notice that his jaw is seriously clenched as are his fists and I can tell that it''s taking his all to not grab me and beat the shit out of me right now. "And you just watched them do it?" His voices out his frustration and I can tell why he''s angry at me, he thinks that I just watched them put the kids through a meat grinder without trying to stop them and I can understand that but I immediately try to calm his anger at me by speaking out about how I gained that information. "I''m afraid that I didn''t gain that information through observation but through personal experience." I can see that his anger has been abated but it has just been replaced with confusion though he only shows it by tightening his lips. "Explain." He speaks out wanting an answer. Thankfully I''ve already come up with an explanation for this part and it starts with telling them my name and my history. "My name is Nicholas James and I-" though before I can start my story I''m cut off by the Batman. "Nicholas ''Nick'' James. Blood type, AB+. Height, 6''2". Weight, 185lb. Graduated from Metropolis University with PhDs in Biology, Chemistry and Computer Science. Currently unemployed and living at an apartment in Park Row, did I miss anything?" Batman speaks out stoically though I can feel some sass in his last few words, he''s probably got Alfred or Lucius Fox to run some facial recognition on me and is reading out the information they''ve put on the HUD on the inside of his cowl, bloody cheater. "Tell whatever ''Man in the Chair'' you''ve got in your ear to look further back into my history, maybe you''ll find out something interesting." Batman stays silent and doesn''t outwardly react to my comment though I can tell he''s doing just what I said he should. I decide to just let them discover what I was going to tell them, it''ll save me some breath at least and add a bit more mystery to myself which might appear more enticing to Barbara, we wait while batman goes through my history provided to him by his partner before he decides to speak. "The earliest information on you is 13 years ago.. You were found running n.a.k.e.d in the night through the streets of New York while covered in blood, human blood... You were ten at the time and the report says you were practically a mute..." He speaks out stoically and I''m not able to tell what he''s thinking but that doesn''t matter, with him setting me up with the facts it''s time for me to knock it out of the park with my awesome story. "You used to live at the orphanage..." He states with certainty and I can hear the sharp intake of air from both Gordon and Barbara but that doesn''t matter, this asshole just ruined my f.u.c.k.i.n.g story and my fun... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 10+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) Chapter 78 - [BT] The Toilet Bowl... [Before Transition] There''s no doubt about it, the noise I heard was definitely a muffled scream, a call for help and given that the voice was definitely feminine then I wouldn''t be able to leave this dormitory until I''m sure that she''s safe though I''m sure that she isn''t safe at the moment as her scream was definitely muffled by someone else which can only be bad, sprinting down the hallway at full speed (is it just me or am I faster than the last time I checked?) making sure that my steps are loud to alert the assailant that I''m here and hopefully stop him from going through with his actions, I''m not trying to be silent as I''m pretty sure that the assailant in this case is just an ordinary human and even if he knows that I''m coming to stop him he won''t be able to put up sufficient enough resistance to stop me from whupping his arse. I''ve just come upon the door to the male restroom and I can definitely hear a confrontation going on in there so without wasting time I barge through the door, nearly snapping it of its hinges though thankfully it holds, and I come upon a scene that I abhor with all my being, I can''t see her properly but there is definitely a girl in a corner next to the sinks and she has bundled herself up tight while sobbing with her arms wrapped around her, I''m in a bit of a haze from the alcohol and my own anger but I can clearly see that her clothes have been ripped a little which means that she was in the process of being assaulted though thankfully I interrupted it (maybe my loud footsteps helped in that regard) before something terrible happened though it still pisses me off that she''s been scared so much that she has physically retreated into a small corner under the sinks and even then she seems to still be trying to get away so much so that it looks like she''s trying to push her way into the wall. Ignoring the girl for now I focus on her attacker that is stood in front of her facing me with his arms spread out as if to be prepared for anything clearly expecting me to run at him in a rage to protect the defenceless girl but unfortunately for him I''m not gonna be the first one to attack as I''m not gonna use my punches though I will be using my hands, now that I know that the girls no longer in danger I can stop using my powers so brazenly and act with a calm head even though I''m still a bit angry so I begin to walk towards him in silence which clearly unnerves him as he can see from my eyes that I have a problem with him. I''m nearing him when he decides to take a wild swing at me but it''s so pathetic that my spider sense doesn''t even activate and I dodge to the side with ease by just moving my head slightly, without waiting for him to realise that I''ve dodged him my hand snakes out and grabs his outstretched hand by the wrist and pulling him towards me where I grab him from the back of his neck while twisting the hand I''m still currently holding behind his back to fully immobilise him and make him a non threat, unfortunately for him I''m still a bit pissed and seeing that I''m currently facing him to an open cubicle stall which has a toilet inside I gain a brilliant idea, at least it seems brilliant to my slightly drunken mind. Still holding him by the neck and the arm behind his back I drive him forward into the stall before pushing him to his knees and using my hand that''s still holding his neck to force his head into the toilet bowl (unsure if it''s clean or not) effectively drowning him though I''m not gonna kill him, still some water torture is good for the soul, especially souls like his, over the next few moments I''m constantly drowning him in the toilet bowl only occasionally pulling his head out to get a breath before promptly dunking it back into the toilet bowl, after a while I pull him out for the last time and realise that he''s unconscious either from insufficient oxygen or from fear of being dunked in again so I pull him back and push him to the toilet floor and he ends up lying down on his side while unconscious. I notice at that moment that his breathing is irregular, definitely not steady, and for a second I panic that I nearly just killed this arsehole and ruined my own future but out of the corner of my eye I can see the legs of the girl that is still crawled up under the sink and I''m reminded why I did it and promptly lose all feelings of panic or regret and because of this I can see a way to still keep this guy alive while also giving him a bruise, I walk over to his side and give him a swift tap to his stoats with my foot though it probably feels like a hedge slammer to him though it''s still not enough to bring him out of unconsciousness though it is enough to get him to start coughing out some toilet water and make his breathing normal again, I know that this guy was probably drunk when he assaulted the girl but that only means that he''s capable of doing it so hopefully his water torture session will stop him from doing anything like this in the future. I''m about to go check on the girl when I hear the male restroom door behind me slam open and I spin around to see some other douche enter the restroom and I can see that he''s looking around toe room and taking in the situation and clearly angry about something though I don''t think he can see the girl under the sink so what''s he got to be angry about I wonder, I mean you can see two guys fighting it out or knocking each other out on the street and not give a rats a.s.s so whys this guy so upset. "What the hell did you do to him!?" He shouts out and now I can''t tell why he''s upset, he must be friends with this arsehole which must mean that this guys just as much of an arsehole as the first (friends usually have the same interests) which means I should put his a.s.s on the floor as well as he''s hound to be just as much of a douche. The guy runs at me swinging with his right hand which I promptly duck just like I did to the other doofus but instead of subduing this time I just gave a straight punch to the nose knocking him on his a.s.s and putting him out for the count and now the arsehole just lays out on the ground completely out of it so clearly he overestimated his own ability, looking at my handy work I can see two guys laid out on the toilet floors completely unconscious and I can''t bring myself to feel any remorse or guilt for my actions even for the douche who was trying to help his friend especially since my actions have prevented a young woman from being defiled and that''s not something which can just go away. Looking down at my hands I notice some blood on it from the gentleman whose nose I just smashed as well as some toilet water from when I was drowning the other gentleman and it''s just the price that has to be paid to save innocent damsels from distress though I certainly don''t like having this stuff staining my hands, I walk over to the sink to start washing my hands clean and while doing this I decide to talk to the girl that''s still hiding in the corner underneath the sink to reassure her that she''ll be fine. "You can crawl out from under there now, I''ve knocked this shitbag out so your okay now, okay?" I talk to her while looking down and washing my hands with soap and scrubbing furiously because although I didn''t see anything in the toilet bowl when I was drowning the guy I can''t help the feeling that there was actually something in there so I''m gonna scrub my hands like f.u.c.k. I can hear her slowly crawling out from under the sink but I don''t pay it any mind and continue to talk to reassure her. "You''re okay now, you''re safe, he''s not gonna hurt you anymore." I speak to her and I''m surprised when she suddenly runs at me from behind and hugs me tight. "Thank you.." She speaks out and I''m surprised by the sound of her voice, it''s beautiful and so so mesmerising, I stop washing my hands and thankfully the tissue paper dispenser is right next to me so I can pull out a tissue paper and dry my hands without making her stop her hug which she clearly needs right now. Once my hands are completely dry I turn around making the girls loosen her grip and back away though she does still stay quite close to me and once I''ve completely turned around I''m mesmerised by her naturally blonde platinum hair that''s nearly completely white, she''s stunning. And after a moment I realise who she is, she''s Felecia Sara Hardy... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 10+ Chapters. A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, heller8284, Wanous, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos and Cameron. Thank you for the support. Chapter 79 - [AT] Giving Backstory... [After Transition] Though I''m still a bit miffed about batman ruining the punchline I don''t let that stop me from fogging on ahead towards my goal which is to make sure those two sc.u.m of the earth go to jail for the rest of their life (since I can''t get revenge with my own two hands and kill them this is the best I can do which will at least satiate the anger inside me). "That''s correct, I did live in that orphanage." I tell them trying to bring back a bit of mystery to the story, though batman ruined the ending the journey is sometimes worth more than the final destination. "How did you go from an orphanage in Gotham to running n.a.k.e.d through New York streets while covered in human blood?" Barbara questions to which I''m grateful for as it seems like Gordon was letting Batman have the lead in questioning me but it seems like Batman wasn''t gonna play along with me and most likely wait in silence till I continue so I''m thankful that we avoided an awkward silence that ended in me acquiescing to him. "I''ll get to that, ya see I grew up in that orphanage and I don''t know where I came from before that place but I sure as hell wish I would''ve stayed there even if it was a pigsty as it would surely still be a hundred times better than that damned orphanage, till the age of four everything was alright but it wasn''t to bad and I didn''t know of a better lifestyle than the one I had so I was alright but in that last year before I turned five things got bad, for that year I was beaten, starved and isolated from the rest of the children in order for me to be more malleable in the future." I tell them adding a bit of misdirection to make the story more gripping, maybe I should become an author in this new world as I have yet to decide on a profession, something to think about. "The staff beat and starved you, that''s horrible." Thank you sweet Barbara, if it wasn''t for your curious questioning and compassion I wouldn''t have half as much fun telling this story as the other two guys are just a couple of stiff boards that aren''t being moved by my pity story. "Not directly they didn''t, I didn''t know this at the time but the matron was telling the other children to not play with me, to beat me up and take my food at mealtimes effectively starving and isolating me without revealing that she was the reason I was suffering, I think she does this to the children that she thinks are bright and clever as once we turn five and we are sufficiently vulnerable she would make a big show out of protecting us from the bullies she set on us as well as feeding us making us believe that she is the only person we can trust and then she''ll take advantage of the trust that we placed in her." I continue my story which is all pretty factual but soon I will start to mix some non truths into the story while also making dude yo make some omissions. "She turned you into a drug mule." Batman states to which I nod and although I''m glad he''s getting more interactive with the rest of us I''d rather he wasn''t so stoic about my tragic past, I''m glad he''s furthering my story though as I would be pretty disappointed if he didn''t because he already knows most of what goes down in the orphanage as it was in the file I handed him to look over. "She makes it seem as if we owe it to her to do some little errands for her as well as making it seem that we''ll get extra treats and special treatment if we do them and so we go along with her, it used to be back when I was one of them little drug mules that we would just walk across the street to where a specific thug would be leaning against a lamppost and he would drop a bag which we would have to deliver after we gave him some sort of signal that we were the drug mule of the day and we''d deliver it to the place that the matron had told us about before." Wasn''t actually as bad as I''m making out to be at least in my memories but then again I did have quite a dark streak in this universe before the merge and I got a thrill out of doing the drug drops and avoiding other rival gangs. I take a pause to let the soak in and wait for one of them to ask a question or something but they never do and after a second I realise that they just want me to get on with the story, at least this means I''ve got them hooked. "I was a lot luckier than all the other kids as I managed to actually make it back to the orphanage after the drug drops, I tried to quit once and the matron said that I would no longer be getting special treatment from her which I was fine with as I was confident that my time on the Gotham streets would help me against a few bullies but the next day ten of the older kids got together and beat the crap out of me as well as stealing all of my food at mealtimes and at the end of the day I was begging her to let me do the drug deliveries again which I then did till the age of ten which was a miracle as a lot of the drug mules hardly made it past the first year delivering drugs in the cesspool that is Gotham." I didn''t actually try to quit being a drug mule but hopefully this little lie will help make them more sympathetic to my childhood and see that I didn''t actually want to be one (child me wasn''t really fussed though), it will hopefully also put me into a better light in their eyes. "Miraculously I wasn''t the only drug mule to make it to ten years old as there was another kid that also did and once we had both turned ten the matron took us and put us in the back of a white van which the drug dealer was driving before she hopped up in front with him, the entire inside of the back of the van was soundproofed so we couldn''t hear out and nobody else could hear in so we didn''t know what was going to happen to us, I think they wanted to get rid of us because we were now old enough that we were wishing up to what was actually going on and we were no longer the obedient little errand boys which they wanted so they took it upon themselves to get rid of us as we were supposed to die during one of our jobs instead of living till the age of ten." I notice that they are all silent and Grimm taking in the situation that children has to deal with such circ.u.mstances. Of course the other kid isn''t actually real though as I just added him to the story to make it more believable and give a reason why I was running n.a.k.e.d covered in blood. "We eventually stopped somewhere and they opened the back of the van to get us out and we both knew what was going to happen to us so when they went to get the other boy out first he sucker punched the matron before kicking the drug dealer in the balls and running away but unfortunately the drug dealer chased after him, while they were doing that I quickly pushed over the matron who was still reeling from the punch and ran away quite easily as she wasn''t an athletic woman thought quickly realised that there was nowhere for me to run. I was surrounded on all sides by open land with nothing around and only one road leading away from the little factory where we were but I knew if I followed the road they would find me later and if I venture out into the wilderness than I would definitely die so I chose to hide instead." I''m a really good story teller, I should be an author or even better an actor. "With the drug dealer running after the other boy the matron decided to look around for me so when she was far away enough from the van I circled around her and climbed onto the van using it as a way to get up to roof of a factory building it was parked next to by climbing on the window edges and pipes and just in time too as the drug dealer had come back with the other boy knocked out and both the drug dealer and the matron looked for me before giving up, I assumed that they though I would die while trying yo run through the wilderness or they would find me later while driving back on the only road out of there. I watched them take the other boy into the inside of the factory whose roof I was on and I looked in on them from the skylight which was on the roof though I wish I hadn''t as they- they.." I start to stutter and show some emotion to get some more feels from them and increase the tension and suspense. "What did they do?" Batman questions to which I start to sputter out my answer. "They- they, they fed the other boy in- into a... A meat grinder..." I am a great story teller, either that or a great bullshitter... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 10+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, heller8284, Wanous, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos and Cameron. Thank you for the support. Chapter 80 - [BT] Cats in the Cradle and the Silver Spoon... [Before Transition] There she stood with mesmerising natural platinum blonde hair that''s was basically white that curled down to her shoulders and she wore a simple pink top, blue skinny jeans and some pink trainers and when I looked up at her face it was so beautiful that I thought I was hallucinating but unfortunately it was ruined by the black mascara and tear marks that were running down her face as well as her puffy eyes from all the crying she did earlier while hiding under the sink but even then her face was still a picture to be hold and I could only imagine what it would look like if she wasn''t upset, looking down at her still stood there clearly clinging on to me as her saviour I knew that I had another beautiful distraction that would disrupt my life in the future (though I may like how she distracts me but that''s for the future). She is still a normal girl right now and she''s clinging on to me and I don''t need another pretty damsel in distress kinda girl annoying me and relying on me, I already have MJ and she looked after me when I got my powers and she''s grown on me herself so I''m slowly weaning her off of me and into a strong independent women who won''t constantly need my help when there''s trouble, if I remember correctly the Black Cat comes into existence when she gets r*ped during her time in college which I''ve just technically disrupted as both of the guys that were part of her origin story are knocked out cold on the floor wth some pretty bad bruising and trauma (for the guy I drowned) from what I''ve done to them. If I remember correctly then the drunk guy who was trying to assault Felicia before I got here wasn''t her actual r*pist as he was a guy that got too drunk and tried to r*pe her in the restroom but if I remember correctly someone comes into to stop the guy and proceed to save her before becoming Felicia''s boyfriend in the future, which must be the guy that entered the restroom and tried to hurt me when he saw the guy guy that I was drowning laid out on the toilet floor though it''s a bit weird how he tried to defend the guy on the floor when in another universe he would be having an altercation with him, I guess he''s one of those guys who acts like he''s a nice guy and helps everyone but when no one in looking and he knows he can get away with it he''ll do something bad, I hate those guys, he must have seen me and though I wasn''t that tough and that he''d be able to beat me which is why he actually fought mem laughable. In another universe this guy would have saved Felicia before becoming her boyfriend but in a few months when she would say no he wouldn''t care and would assault her knowing that it would be a ''he said she said'' situation as they''ve been going out for a few months plus he''d leave Felicia confused thinking it was her fault, this guy is the worst as the other drunk guy was at least drunk when he tried to assault her and I know that''s no excuse and that most likely means he''d do it sober if he could but I''ve sorted him out with some serious PTSD of what happens if he tries it again, on the other hand this douche who becomes Felicia''s boyfriend was definitely sober when he r*pes her and he was her boyfriend for months (which would make Felicia''s claim of s.e.x.u.a.l assault iffy if she involved the police without sufficient evidence) after which they would break up and he''d go on with his life (though in that universe he is ran over by a car and killed), he''s truly the worst kind of guy to do something like that. I remember that it was because of him doing this that the Felicia lost all of her trust in men (with her father not being around, her near s.e.x.u.a.l assault and her r*pe) and no longer willing to be a damsel in distress, to be a victim and to be afraid she decided to go and murder her ex-boyfriend/r*pist but before she can he''s run over and killed by a car and being frustrated that she wasn''t able to kill him she will steal a jewel and find out she likes it and so begins the Black Cat though the persona would not come into being for a while, eventually she would be arrested but would be freed from prison by her fathers mentor, the Black Fox, who would proceed to train her and give her the repertoire of skills she would need to become the Black Cat. Looking down at her now still trying to cling on to me I can see that she is nowhere close to being the woman that she was in the comics, though maybe it would be better for her this way. "Hi, I''m Nicholas James, you can call me James." I tell her. "I- my name is Felicia.. Felicia Hardy, t- thank you for helping me." She tells me clearly not being wary enough as I''ve just drowned one guy and knocked another out. "Do you want me to take you to your dorm room or drive you home?" I ask her as since I''ve saved her I should go all the way and make sure she gets home as well. "Y- yes please." If leave with her right now but I have some stuff to take care of first. "Alright, can you wait outside the room for a minute?" I asked her but she looks afraid for a second so I hasten to explain. "I didn''t come here because I heard you from the other side of the building but because I needed to go to the toilet and thankfully all the others were occupied so I had to come here which resulted in my saving you from that arsehole, so could you wait outside for a second while I take care of business." She looks hesitant but in the end she gives me a nod before tiptoeing around the two bodies on the toilet floor and exiting the restroom which was great for me as I don''t actually have to use the toilet but I do need to take care of these two guy so once she''s gone I quickly pick up the drunk guy who I drowned and leaned him against the back wall where anybody who came in would see him, this guys already been tortured enough and I''m sure that he won''t try anything again in the future but the other guy just has a broken nose which is getting off lightly though I don''t wanna torture the guy with Felicia just outside the door so I''m gonna have to come up with a different way to punish this guy and I quickly spot my solution underneath the sink which Felicia hid under a few minutes ago. Spotting some cleaning supplies under the sink I eye a bottle of bleach which I take and douse a nearby cloth with before I stick it under the guys nose making sure that he''s totally knocked out and out of it without killing him, this might have serious effects such as giving him organ damage but since he isn''t here to decide for himself I''ll risk it for him, removing the cloth I quickly stuff it into the bottle of bleach before putting the lid back on so that the janitor will know not to use it and putting it back where I found it, deciding to test out if the bastard underneath me is out I give him a swift slap on the face but he doesn''t make a noise which means he won''t make any noises when I''m punishing hi and making it impossible for him to assault anyone in the future. The first thing I do is take his broken nose between two of my fingers and snapping it back into place crooked but it wasn''t crooked enough for me so I broke his nose again this time having it move to the opposite side of his face before resetting it again which makes it is ally crooked and messed up do that girls will be disgusted by the sight of him, a doctor will probably have to fix his nose soon but there''s no way it''ll ever look the same again but this is only a small part of my punishment, looking down at the hand he used to try to hit me I assume that it is his main hand and so I decide to crush it, I stand up and proceed to stamp on his hand using not too much force till its practically broken in every single spot which will ensure that he will never be able to use this hand again and is he does try to assault a girl it''ll be easy to defend themselves from him. Now that my job is done and around only a minutes gone past I decide to finish up so i flush a random toilet and open the taps at a sink before I take this guy and make him straddle the guy I''d already lent up against the back wall, taking a few moments to just look at them I decide that this isn''t humiliating enough so I quickly remove all the clothes from both guys except there u.n.d.e.r.w.e.a.r (because I''m never going to do that, ever) I put them back in the same positions assured that they will be sufficiently humiliated when they are eventually found by someone so I spare a second to chuckle at them before I wash my hands at the already open tap before closing it and drying my hands on one of the drying machines. It''s to to take a cat back to its cradle... [AN: Can anyone spot the reference to some music? Here''s a hint, ''little boy blue and the man in the moon''.] ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 10+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, heller8284, Wanous, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos and Cameron. Thank you for the support. Chapter 81 - [AT] Complete and Utter Fabrication... [After Transition] "They forced him into a meat grinder and turned him into minced meat!.. It was horrible..." They all stay silent in shock, to hear that a child was forced into a meat grinder while still alive is a shocking gruesome thing to hear especially for these three people who believe in justice so much that they took up a job to fight for it although only one of the threes jobs is actually legal in the eyes of the law, Batman was the first to break the tense silence that had come over us. "What else?" It seems that Batman has decided to place his feelings to ones side for a moment and gather more information with a calm mind which I can respect, I certainly wouldn''t be able to do it as I get a bit too emotional sometimes and especially after the merge. "I don''t know how long I watched them do it or how long it took, all I knew was that by the time they had finished fully grinding him it was starting to get dark." I continue. "I honestly thought that they were finished at that point but it seems that they weren''t as they put on some plastic gloves and some yellow scrubs and started started to shovel all of the minced human meat into plastic bags which they then sealed shut, there must''ve been at least twenty bags of minced meat they got from that kid and I watched them do it without taking my eyes of them for a single second because I didn''t want to lose sight of them and i didn''t want to be caught unaware, it was horrible to watch and what was even more horrible was the ease and efficiency they did it with which meant that they had probably already done this a dozen more times before which was terrible to even think about." A take a breath as if reliving the memory, honestly I don''t know what happened to me after I was put in the meat grinder so I''m making all of this up now, I don''t even know if they had ever minced up a kid before they did it to me but I don''t mind making them look even worse in the eyes of these guys (which is hard as the matron and drug dealer are already some of the worst people in the world) as it will just mean that they will go after them with every fibre of their being. "It was really dark at this time and I had to hide as I noticed a truck coming into the parking lot and reversing so that the back doors of the truck were facing towards the factory unfortunately it was so dark that I couldn''t make out any distinguishable features on the truck but thankfully it was so dark that no one noticed me on the top of the factory, the guys in the truck went and opened the backdoors of their truck before walking to the front and having a smoke break." Gordon interrupts me here. "Those guys, do you think you could remember what they looked like or the logo on the side of the truck? Anything would help." He''s already read through all the information in the file I handed over and even then it''s only on the information I had on the matron and drug dealer and their schedules, I didn''t really care about anything else do it would make sense that he would ask for some more information, I didn''t even try to find out the matron and drug dealers names, their families or their pets as I didn''t give a f.u.c.k and none of it would change my mind, all I wanted was to kill those two in the most horrific way possible but that clearly no longer an option. " I didn''t see anything, it was too dark to see and I was a little preoccupied with trying to hide." To this Gordon nods. "With the two drivers smoking at the trucks front the matron and the drug dealer came out of the factory and went into the back of the truck with the plastic bags full of human meat, I don''t know what they did but after they left the back of the truck leaving the doors open the matron went over and sat in the van while the drug dealer went and gave some money to the two drivers before joining the matron in the van and then they drive off which was the last I ever saw of them until I came back to Gotham a few weeks ago, I noticed that the truck drivers were staying at the front of the truck finishing off their smokes and I knew this was my chance." At this point I''m getting a bit stressed as I''m not sure if my story is gonna pull through and that Batman will believe it as I''m sure that there are a few loop holes in it, I hold my hand out to Gordon and make a specific gesture which he understands and so he pulls out a cigarette and lights it before handing it to me so I can take a long draw of it before letting it out to stave of my stress a little, we both choose to ignore the glare that Barbara is giving us and I''m not too bothered about it as my healing factor will make sure the cigarettes don''t affect me (I never smoked in the marvel universe but after the merge I''ve come to find I like to smoke at least when I''m stressed and I don''t really care about getting rid of the habit as it won''t really kill me will it?) plus even though Barbara''s glaring at me she''d probably like me more because I do as girls like Barbara like a fixer upper and I''ll probably be associated with her father in her mind which makes me more likeable to her, all girls have daddy issues though it''s a matter of the magnitude of the issues. "I wanted to get down off of the factory roof but because the van which I had used to get on it was gone I was stuck, I contemplated going down the pipes and ledges at the front of the building that I used to climb up and then dropping the rest of the way but I decided that it was too close to the truck drivers and they might hear me so I decided to go down the back of the factory on the opposite side which was thankfully a bit closer to the ground, without much time to think before they finished smoking I decided to take off my clothes and tie them together into a rope before tying it to a metal pole on top of the roof but I realised that it was still to far from the ground and I didn''t want to land and cut my feet which would leave a blood trail so I decided to use my u.n.d.e.r.w.e.a.r and socks to further the rope and drop while hoping that I''d land without cutting myself which I thankfully did." I tell them some more lies that are a bit of a stretch but I couldn''t come up with another way to explain why I was n.a.k.e.d in New York. "Why would you worry about the landing? Didn''t you have shoes?" Barbara asks but thankfully I''d already come up with an answer to this. "None of us had any shoes at the orphanage except for the ones the matron would get out with some nice clothes incase there were any visits or anything, I actually had a ratty pair which I got for being a good drug mule but I didn''t have time to put them on before the matron dragged me and that other kid to the back of the van." Batman speaks at this point. "Which would explain why you were n.a.k.e.d as you had to use all your clothes to make a rope which would help you get down from the roof." To which I nod happy that Batman is going along with my story, for now at least. I continue my complete and utter bullshit story. "I landed on the ground without cutting myself and making sure to be silent to the best of my ability I made my way to the back of the truck before climbing into it, I spotted only one thing in the back of the truck which was a big white refrigerator and knowing that the drivers could come back at any second to close the doors I decided to go and open it as it was the only place I could hide, of course at this time I forgot that the matron and the drug dealer brought the plastic meat filled bags back here and so when I opened the refrigerator I was treated to the sight.. The sight of..." I cut off here as if too traumatised to speak about it, though I am probably traumatised about my true experience back then I think instead of stifling me it just gave me an extra bit of insanity which isn''t too bad I guess. "It was filled with meat." Batman states for me to which I nod, I''m so glad my audience is being so interactive with my fabricated story... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 10+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, heller8284, Wanous, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos and Cameron. Thank you for the support. Chapter 82 - [BT] Possible Location of the Serum... [Before Transition] Exiting the male restroom I''m immediately ambushed by the presence of Felicia as she immediately bolts up from where she was sat down leaning against the wall though she doesn''t actually say anything to me and I don''t say anything back as I simply stare back at her waiting for her to talk while she waits for me to talk and it''s quite awkward, eventually she relents and forgoing her hesitance she begins to speak up but deciding to be a bit mean I also decide to talk to her just as she opens her mouth to speak. "So, where am I dropping you off? At a dorm here or do you live off of campus?" I ask her, she was obviously waiting for me to speak and tell her we can go but I don''t know where she currently living which was why I waited for her to talk but it was clear that she didn''t get that so I had to speak up. "R- Right, I uh- I live at one of the dorms here on campus but I don''t think I''ll be staying here anymore so if it''s not too much trouble can you come with me to pick up my stuff, it''s not that much and I can carry it easily, is that alright?" I''m sure that if this girl wasn''t just out of a traumatising experience she would be a lot more confident and even maybe a bit of a bitch (who really knows?) but currently she''s as timid as a mouth and I just don''t think that it suits her, especially knowing the potential she has which I''ve just set her off course from ever fulfilling. "Sure, that''s no problem, lead the way and we''ll fetch your stuff." And so we set off with her leading the way although I''m right beside her with her walking just a step in front of me though that doesn''t stop her from looking back every two seconds to see if I''m still there, this girl is getting too dependent on me and I''ve only known her five minutes, I''ve gotta find a way to break her out of it or before I know it she''ll be bugging me everyday unable to go outside without me beside her. The walk to her dorm is relatively silent with her telling me which way to turn every once in awhile but apart from that she was as quiet as a mouse which I didn''t like so I eventually decided to engage her in conversation to bring her out of her newly made she''ll and after a few questions she started asking her own questions and when we were eventually nearing her dorm room she was pretty lively and no longer quiet although you could still tell she was a bit down though throughout the conversation we had I learned quite a lot about her with her learning not much about me that wasn''t publicly available (at ESU, interning with the Fantastic Four, currently single and ready to mingle). I learned that she''s currently doing an arts major though her mother Lydia Hardy the lawyer is a bit miffed about that, her father is died in a plane crash when she was little (I know that he''s actually alive and locked up somewhere) though you can tell she still idolises him and apparently he was quite old when he had her at least 30 years older than his wife and was quite rich to boot as he said it was all inheritance (though I know it''s really because he was a burglar, I also switched the conversation over to her father as that''s the only interesting thing in her life), apparently her father was a little boy during World War Two and his name was John Hardesky but he changed his name to Walter when he was older for some reason and when he met his wife he took her last name becoming Walter Hardy completely different from the name he was born with. Honestly it was quite interesting as I can remember two main versions of this man from my memory and one is definitely more interesting than the other but that is more because of the benefits it could bring me if the version in this world is actually that man, the first version is regular plain Walter Hardy who was a cat burglar taught by the Black Fox and he was eventually arrested for a crime he didn''t commit which gave Felicia the drive to learn to be like him and free him from prisons though I don''t think it''s this version as the facts don''t point to it, the more interesting version is where Felicia''s dad is called John Hardesky and he''s a cat burglar though what''s interesting about this version is when he''s a boy he was forced by hydra to watch observe Abraham Erskine and observe Steve Rogers being injected with the super soldier serum where he memorised the formula (somehow, I think because Vita Ray''s weren''t a thing in that universe or it simply wasn''t needed for the formula, I think it was because he had a photographic memory) but decided not to hand it to hydra before running away. This version of the man would never tell anyone the formula and he would eventually be caught by SHIELD in the mIddle of a jewel heist where he would be incarcerated by SHIELD for his crime but more importantly to safeguard the Super Soldier Serum from anyone who would want it leaving his daughter Felicia''s to believe he was dead, eventually he would be kidnapped by the Kingpin for the formula and after the Kingpin also kidnaps Felicia he decides to give it to them but Kingpin decides to test a modified version of the formula on Felicia making her into a super soldier and eventually Kingpin is beaten and John Hardesky is taken back into SHIELD custody where he would go back to being a prisoner on the helicarrier and Felicia would use her new status as a Super Soldier to become the Black Cat. I don''t think it is the former version and it is most likely the Super Soldier version though the fact that he changed his name to Walter Hardy means I can''t be 100% certain though it''s most likely since he was around during world war 2 and Felicia believes he died in a plane crash so unless he actually died in a plane crash he is most likely incarcerated by SHIELD though whether he is being incarcerated because he knows the formula or he knows some other kind of top secret information, either way the man likely knows something so it''d be a good idea to stick close to Felicia incase she ever comes into contact with her father so I can find out what he knows though I suppose I could just keep a constant tab on her and not actually have a relationship with her, decisions decisions. It''s not like I need the Super Soldier Serum or anything as I already have spider powers and they are as good if not even better than the serum as they give some other powers as well, I bet some people might think that the Serum is better because Captain America can beat Spider-Man but tags is mainly because captain America had proper training and martial arts while all Spider-Man has is experience (the way of the spider doesn''t count since it''s not been used more than once for some reason and it''s only one martial art style while master martial artists have loads of styles mastered) which Captain America has way more of anyway and is more durable, but if someone with the same experience and martial prowess is Captain America gained spider powers I have no doubt that they''d be able to beat him with ease. Plus combing two serums together is way harder than all the fanfic so make it look as its combining two miraculous things into one and that''s damned hard and even if you do figure it out it would be hard to actually use it on someone as they''d most likely die than get powers, it would be a normal person as it would be much harder to create a serum that would adda completely different set of powers to an already powered person though it''s probably not impossible you''d only be able to do it the once as it would get more and more complicated the more powers are added and eventually it would become impossible and probably c.u.mbersome having all those powers and being a master of none as they don''t have the time to master them all. We''ve been to Felicia''s dorm by now and she put all of her stuff into bags (there is definitely a whole lot more than she said there would be) and so I am carrying most of her bags with Felicia''s only carrying a box of some of her personal effects as we head out of the dorm and start to walk towards my car, I don''t think she''ll every be living in the campus again and I can''t blame her as she was nearly assaulted on this very campus but as I''m walking to the car with Felicia I decide to voice a question I have that I''m surprised hasn''t been answered by now. "Hey Felicia, once we get this stuff in my car where will we be going? You have g actually told me where we are heading." I reveal to her and the gives a little ''oh'' as if she''s just remembered. "We''re going to my mom''s house which is in Flushing, Queens, I hope that isn''t too much of a detour for you." I quickly shake my head in the negative. "No it''s fine, it''s actually on my way as I live in Forest Hills which is close by, small world huh." Small world indeed, although New York is pretty much the main city in this universe... I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 10+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, heller8284, Wanous, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos and Cameron. Thank you for the support. Chapter 83 - [AT] Stop Pissing Around... [After Transition] With batman stating that the white refrigerator in the back of the van was full of meat I then continued on from there. "It was full of meat but the terrible thing was that I couldn''t tell what kind of meat was in there or if it was all human as it all looked the same and all I knew for certain was that the remains of that other boy were in there and I couldn''t tell it apart from the rest of the meat in there, all the meat was in plastic bags and they all looked the same to me which begged the question, what meat was it? Was most of it animal meat? Was it all human meat and is that why I couldn''t tell it apart? Or is it half n half, being an effective way to get rid of remains I bet that there was a lot more human meat in that refrigerator than I hoped there would be which made me want to run away and never look back." Here I frown. "I just stood there dazed looking at the inside of the refrigerator wondering how much of its contents was illegal and horrific but I was soon broke out of my daze when I heard footsteps outside and I knew that the two truck drivers had finished their smoke break and where coming back here to close the truck doors which meant I no longer had time to dawdle, I instantly without thinking about it jumped into the refrigerator and laid down on the stack of (human?) meat inside before pulling the lid of the refrigerator down on me unprepared and not thinking about how actually cold it was in the refrigerator and so I waited in silence just listening for the two truck drivers while feeling like my entire n.a.k.e.d body was melting from how cold it was but luckily sooner than I thought I heard the back of the truck slam shut and thanking god I quickly opened and leapt out of the refrigerator all the while shivering." Batman frowns at this. "You should be dead, even if you only endured that temperature for less than a few minutes without clothing or any other source of heat you should have died from hypothermia in the back of that truck, how did you survive?" He questions but luckily I have already come up with an explanation, I wouldn''t give a fake story to the Batman without making sure it was foolproof. "I knew that I''d die as well though I didn''t know the word hypothermia since we never really went to school but I still knew that I might die from the cold so I quickly went and looked at the back of the refrigerator and after seeing some instructions for it on the back I quickly knew what the wires that were feeding into the refrigerator were doing and so acting quickly I pulled out the wires that were keeping the cold inside the ringers tor working while leaving the power on as I didn''t know if they''d be able to tell if the power went off, I quickly opened the lid of the refrigerator hoping that it''d help to make the cold stop and after waiting for all the inside of the refrigerator to not be so cold anymore I climbed into it." [AN: I know the this isn''t how refrigeration works in the back of a truck but let''s just say that it is, okay? Let''s say that when the MC was ten this is how trucks kept things cold as if the entire back of the truck was refrigerated then the story wouldn''t work as the MC (in this fake story) would freeze to death.] Jim let''s out a confused mumble. "You got back into the refrigerator even though that''s what caused the problem in the first place, why would you do that?" Barbara soon cleans up the confusion for him. "It''s like when you''re lost in the desert at night or your lost in the wild in winter where you cut open a camel or a deer and you get into it to keep yourself, I guess technically it could work with load of plastic wrapped meat but something is a bit off." Here Batman interrupts to show his conclusion. "You are correct miss Gordon, although the meat should no longer be freezing with the refrigerator no longer in working condition the meat should still be cold so if Nick were to climb in he would most definitely die, which begs the question how are you alive? There must be something else you did." Batman concludes to which I sigh because although I came up with this story it would affect my reputation a little. "You are once again correct Batman, I''d hoped I would be able to avoid this part of the story but nothing gets past you, does it Batman?" I say but Batman remains stone faced and so with a sigh I begin to explain. "I remember seeing on the TV''s through window shops or other people''s Windows a few survival to shows and although my mind was a little fuzzy I could remember those guys always using their pee for things to survive and being the little kid I was that was stuck in a hole I decided to trust in those tv shows and so I pissed into the refrigerator on top of all the meat before getting into the refrigerator myself and closing the lid after which I began to pull the meat up and buried it on myself eventually covering myself in it so that I couldn''t even see the top of the refrigerator anymore." They''re all a but silent at that and while Barbara and Batman''s faces are pretty stoic I can see that Jim''s face is set in a frown most likely relenting the fact that a child had to do this to survive and although this didn''t actually happen to me I''m a bit sad that I''ve had to tell everyone it did though I''m willing just to make sure that those two sc.u.m of the earth are punished, I''m thankful that Batman begins to speak or else it would''ve gotten awkward. "It''s plausible, though your external body was cold your internal body was still warm though it wouldn''t be for long but since it was still warm that meant your bladder which holds your urine was warm and urine when outside of the body will stay warm for around 4 minutes so when you urinated into the refrigerator you warmed up all the meat, not to mention that when you urinate your body warms up especially if you are cold and once you climbed into the refrigerator you surrounded yourself with the met which also kept you warm enough to survive, you were incredibly lucky." [AN: I don''t know if this would actually work but I do know that there is some factual basis here though if it''s right I couldn''t tell you, oh well its fanfic toon right?] Of course I was lucky, I made this story so that I could prove that i was able to survive without any powers though the story f.u.c.k.i.n.g suck for me. "Yeah, I''m super lucky for having to stay in an enclosed space surrounded by possible human meat that is covered in my own piss all the while n.a.k.e.d, I''m the luckiest person in the world." Even if the story isn''t true I still have to show some angst to make them think that this event affected me a lot, though the fact that I''ve had to convince these people I basically pissed on myself induces enough angst as is... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, heller8284, Wanous, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Cameron, Shawn Smith and Derrick Porter. Thank you for the support. Chapter 84 - [BT] Your Own Hero... [Before Transition] "Wow, this is your car? It''s so cool." Felicia says when we finally finish the trek to my car, well more of a trek for me since I''m carrying all her bags while she''s had a nice stroll just carrying a box, don''t get me wrong I''ve got powers so this doesn''t really affect me but still carrying all theses bags is annoying. "Yup, do me a favour and reach into my pockets for the keys and open the boot." I tell her because even if I have powers I still only have two hands. "The boot?" She questions and I realise that she won''t get what that means since she''s american and not British. "I mean the trunk." I say to clear the misunderstanding. "Ah right, gotcha." She says nodding though I think she''s realised what boot now means though she doesn''t comment on it. She comes over and for a second I''m confused why she''s not getting my keys from my pocket when I realise that I have two front pockets and a back pocket and I haven''t clarified where exactly my keys are, I guess it would be a little awkward to start fishing inside all my pockets. "They''re in the front right pocket, just reach in and then open the boot with them." And without further ado she reaches her hand into my front right pocket and starts to fish around looking for the keys to my beautiful Audi R8 named ''Chantelle'' but I quickly realise a problem when I feel Felicia''s hand rooting around in my pocket, now without meaning too sound too snug it turns out that I am quite gifted when it comes to the size of my appendage, so gifted in fact that I have to make sure that it goes down one trouser leg so that my crotch doesn''t get too compact, it turns out that today in a mad coincidence I had put it down my right trouser leg. The same leg with the pocket that holds my keys and the same pocket that Felicia is currently rummaging around in looking for my keys while getting dangerously close with her hand to my unmentionables so close that without my consent my little brother is beginning to stand to attention though thankfully it''s only at half mast right now which I''m grateful for because if it stood up straight she would definitely notice it, I''m sweating mire and more as she rifles through my pocket and it''s been about 30 seconds since her hand first delved into my pockets depths and I''m beginning to worry when I''m washed over with a wave of relief when I hear her words. "Oh, I think I''ve got it." Unfortunately that wave turns out to be melting hot lava as I''m star struck and speechless when she grabs onto my appendage with her dainty hand and I can slowly feel it enlarge in soon to hit full power, it''s quite clear that when she also feels it getting bigger she quickly realises what she''s grabbing. She''s so startled by it though that she just keeps hold of it while not knowing what to say and I''m beginning to worry that she won''t let go before I go ''Super Saiyan'' which might frighten her off and ruin our newly budding connection that might lead to a possible serum so I quickly begin to talk to break her out of her daze. "Felicia, I''m currently at half mast but I''m approaching full nuclear warhead and if I reach that stage I''m going to assume that it''s because you wanted me to so its best you let go now before I get the wrong idea, okay?" I tell her and she''s like a deer in headlights as she suddenly raises her head and looks right into my eyes with a blush quickly covering her face and as her pupils meet mine she''s suddenly quite alert and seems to finally register what I had said and so without even letting go of me she quickly retracts her arm and pulls her hand out of my pocket accidentally giving me an enjoyable tug that I groan at and she blushes more heavily at my groan. Thankfully we are both given refuge from this awkward and highly e.r.o.t.i.c moment by the sound of something hitting the ground with a nice ring to it and we both look down towards it and notice that it is my keys and they must''ve been pulled out from my pocket by the momentum when Felicia pulled her hand out if my pocket like it was a cannon and her hand was the cannonball, this gives us a nice little way to quickly bypass the situation though I don''t doubt that it will be on both of our minds for quite some times but we can put it to the side now. "Can you open the trunk? You can then go and sit in the passenger seat, with that box as I''m sure it''s contents are important to you, while I put the bags in the boot, thanks." I tell her not minding my Britishness seeping through as I don''t much mind it at the moment. "Oh, right gotcha.." She says before quickly picking up the keys hitting the unlocking button and then hitting the boot button and opening the boot for me before taking her box and going to sit in the front seat without another word, I guess she''s a bit embarrassed about what happened and so am I though it is outweighed by my happiness at what has just occurred as who doesn''t like to get touched by a beautiful girl especially one as gorgeous as Felicia, I quickly begin to pile the bags I''m holding into the boot making sure that they don''t mess up the other things already in the boot and making sure to position them so that they all fit properly, man am I glad that Johnny really went all out pimping out my car because honestly although the engine in the back looked cool and all the trunk space at the front was piss poor and so I grateful that Johnny somehow switched their positions and somehow kept the cars aesthetic while increasing the boot space in the back and making it look like the engine was still in the back by using some carbon plating and adding some grooves, I''m am so thankful for that and I can''t wait until we kit it out even more in the future. I then close the boot and walk around to the front of my car before opening the door and sitting int the driving seat while Felicia remains silent and so deciding to reciprocate that I start up the engine and put my seat on all the while remaining silent and we begin to drive of to Flushing, Queens, New York which shouldn''t take too long as there''s not much traffic around at this time plus I know a few back alleys and shortcuts from my time driving through the streets as a break from my research, we''ve remained silent for about ten minutes before deciding that I didn''t want to wait in silent anymore and so I begin a new line of conversation that she might be s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e to. "So, do you wanna talk about what happened back there?" I ask her to which she sputters. "Nothing happened, it was an accident so I would appreciate if you didn''t bring it up again!" She finishes a bit agitated but I''m just confused. I then realise that she is referring to the pocket situation that I wanted to avoid for the rest of the night and not what I was actually alluding to and so I go about correcting her assumption. "Not that, I meant what happened in the male restroom before I showed up and helped you, do you wanna talk about it?" I ask again to which she replies with nonchalance that I didn''t expect from her. "What''s there to talk about? I was almost r*ped but I wasn''t, you came and stopped it for which I''m grateful. End of story, done." She replies but I know that you can''t be that unaffected by something like what nearly happened to her and so I press harder. "Really, have you even given some though to what would''ve happened if I wasn''t there? It''s pure coincidence that I needed to go to the toilet and if I didn''t need to there''s a good chance that you would''ve been r*ped tonight, I may have been your knight in shining armour today but what happens next time?" Felicia turns to look at me. "Next time?" She questions to which I answer. "Of course there''s gonna be a next time, did you think this was a one off? You''re a beautiful girl and it''s likely that people are gonna try again in the future to do what that guy failed at tonight, you know the saying ''What Happens Once Can Never Happen Again But Everything That Happens Twice Will Surely Happen A Third Time'', it''s only a matter of time till someone tries a second time which will then mean that it''s gonna keep happening." Felicia looks even more agitated at that. "What am I supposed to do then!" She shouts at me to which I reply. "Instead of me rescuing you next time you can rescue yourself and stop that second time without the help of anyone else. You can be your own hero..." ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 12+ Chapters. A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, heller8284, Wanous, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Cameron, Shawn Smith and Derrick Porter. Thank you for the support. Chapter 85 - [AT] Exposed Stink... [After Transition] "So the truck was how you got to New York City." Batman states absolutely certain of that from the facts I''ve given or at least certain that that''s where my story is leading him, if he believes it or not is another question altogether. "That''s right, I don''t know how long I was in there but it must have been long considering that I was alive when I arrived in New York and it is fairly close to Gotham so it must have been long, still that was the most torturous moment of my live, trapped in an enclosed space so much that it was hard to breath, the smell was nauseating and it took my all to keep from puking (from the meat and urine mixed together), I was still cold and shivering a little bit, the urine was stinging my entire body after a bit and the most torturous thing about that experience was my thoughts, there were thousands of thoughts swirling around in my head that tortured me and the worst thought by far was that I was surround by the deceased remains of human beings and more specifically the chopped up remains of a boy that I had only been conversing with a few hours ago." Shaking my head as if to get rid of all the thoughts swirling around in my head I continue on bypassing that subject. "Anyway I was broken from my thoughts from the the truck coming to a complete stop and the engine turning completely off which I knew meant we had arrived at our destination since I felt the truck stop a bit ago for gas and I knew this was my chance to get out and runaway, unfortunately the back of the truck was still locked which meant I couldn''t escape unless I suddenly found myself with super strength plus I could hear the two truck drivers hop out of the truck and then coming around to the back door and opening it, I truly thought that I was gonna be discovered once they opened the refrigerator and so I held my breath as hard as I could and hoped for a miracle." Taking another drag of my cigarette i continue on. "I could hear them getting close and closer to the refrigerator and I was getting ready for the moment where they undeniably opened the refrigerator and found me since although I was covered in meat they''d still be able to tell I was there and I thought that my only hod would be to surprise them and runaway as fast as possible no matter how risky it might be and so I waited and waited till I finally heard the lid of the refrigerator rise, I could see some light coming from the outside and I could make out the two people above me staring down at me and at that very moment I was ready to bolt and I was about to until I was stopped by the reactions of the two men, they looked down briefly at the inside of the meat before recoiling away in disgust and for a second I was confused what was happening until I heard them and realised exactly why the had recoiled." I finish and am about to continue with the story when I''m interrupted. All three of them, Batman, Barbara and Jim Gordon all speak out at the same time in unison. "Because of the smell." They all say at the exact same time and I raise a brow in confusion at them to which Jim answers my untold question. "This is Gotham, the city with not only the worst crime in the United States but also possibly the worst smells in the entire country, if there''s anything a person from Gotham city could say was there special talent it would be identifying smells because most of the residents of this great city know exactly how a dead body that has been left alone for weeks smell and we know just how much smell can affect someone though most of those in Gotham have learned to simply ignore it." He finishes to which I nod. "Okay,, I guess that makes sense, whatever." Ignoring that weird insight into the population of Gotham, though I do strangely get what they mean from the ten years I lived here, I continue on with my story. "Your correct of course, they couldn''t stand the smell of the inside of the refrigerator and I heard them blaming it on the matron and the drug dealer somehow breaking it which made the meat turn off for which I was grateful for and what I''m most thankful for is that they couldn''t stand the smell one second longer and so they promptly ran out of the truck and started puking leaving the back doors wide open as well as the refrigerator open and seeing my opportunity I made the most of it, being urgent and panicked I started to claw my way out from underneath the plastic bags of meat ripping underneath my fingers in the process and catching some remains of plastic on myself as well as covering myself in the blood from all the meat I tore into and taking advantage of the two truck drivers puking in the grass I quickly sprinted out of there like hell which is why I was found running n.a.k.e.d in the night through the streets of New York while covered in human blood though I didn''t ever tell anyone about it, you are in fact the first people I''ve ever told." "Why didn''t you ever tell anyone?" Batman questions stoically without giving anything away though I can still tell he''s a bit angry since he''s discovered that this operation has gone on for over thirteen years and I could''ve told somebody and have it stopped. " I was ten when that happened and I was traumatised by it so I did what any normal person would do, I tried my hardest to forget about it and for a time I had suppressed it letting me live a normal life with the Steins, I didn''t think about it anymore considering there wasn''t much I could do plus they definitely had some police in on the operations since there was more than once when I was a drug mule and I was caught by the police only for a few hours later a cop to drop me back at the orphanage and tells me not to get caught again (which is actually true), so I tried to forget about it and continue on with my live but when I went to university I was haunted by those memories so I got myself involved with alcohol and all sorts of drugs trying to forget but there was only so much the intoxicants could do before it came back and so once I graduated I decided that I needed to face this head in which is why I came back to Gotham." Batman was about to interrupt again definitely a little more angrily than before but it seems that Jim notices this and decides to interrupt and ask his own question to give Batman a second to cool down though you wouldn''t be able to tell that he was agitated from how he looked. "Nick, is there anything that you can remember about the place the truck was parked at before you ran away from it, anything at all that might give us a clue on fully cracking down on this operations?" He finishes to which I reply truthfully with what I remember from what actually happened six years ago. "It was a mansion though I couldn''t tell you which or who owns it as I wasn''t really focused on that at the time though I don''t think I ran too far away before I was found by the New York police officers so if you check their report you should find out where I was picked up and from that find out the possible mansions located near that location, honestly I don''t even know if those people knew they were buying human meat as it could''ve just been them selling it as exotic meat and telling them it was from a rare animal though if they did know it was human meat I hope you catch them and ruin them." At this point Batman is a bit more calm though that doesn''t mean he''s forgotten his line of questioning. "You''ve been here for the past month and gathering evidence in these two people but from what I can''t tell you haven''t collected much evidence for the time frame that you''ve been here, in fact you don''t have much information about anything else except those two people and I know that there is usually a lot more than two people involved in these types of operations, which begs the question, why isn''t there information on them?" Batman points out and I''m at a bit of a crossroads and I don''t know eps here to go from her but before I can actually think of a reply he barges on forward. "This information you''ve given us, although it contains some evidence what it mostly contains is information on those two specific people, more specifically there schedules, where they sleep, where they live, when they go to the toilet, when they eat their lunch.. When they''re most vulnerable..." He finishes and I''ve got a bad feeling about where he''s going with this. "This is a schedule of what they do and when, not to be provided as evidence but to be used to plot there demise... You were going to get your revenge and murder them..." He states with absolute certainty. Well shit, what do I do now then... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 12+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) Chapter 86 - [BT] I am Not a R*pist... [Before Transition] "Be my own hero? I don''t know if you''re aware but I''m just an 18 year old arts major not the f.u.c.k.i.n.g Black Widow, I''m just me okay and I''ll never be anything else." She starts to say as if what I had suggested was absurd which to be honest it is but I know for a fact that she is capable of becoming a super and so I forge on ahead. "I''m not saying to become a superhero like the Black Widow but you know that the Black Widow doesn''t have super powers, she''s just a woman who learned everything there is to do with fighting and espionage while learning how to use technology to her advantage and while admittedly that is quite hard it isn''t impossible, I''m not saying to get to her level but I am saying that you can learn enough to kick a.s.s and take names and you can certainly repeal any guys who can''t take no for an answer." I finish hoping that my speech will be enough and that she''ll start to learn how to fight. "So I should take some self-defence lessons and learn how to defend myself, I suppose I can do that, mom wouldn''t mind paying for the lessons." Felicia says to which I''m immediately appalled, what female characters actually take self-defence in the marvel universe and end up becoming big characters because I''m absolutely certain that the Black Widow didn''t take self-defence and so I''m sure as hell not letting Felicia take it. "Self-defence? F.u.c.k no, that just learning how to hold off your attackers long enough to run away, what you wanna learn is how to make your attackers regret ever targeting you in the first place, to send them home with two broken arms and a squashed testicle regretting the moment their eyes fell on your person, that''s the kinda fightin'' you wanna learn, not some piddly a.s.s self f.u.c.kin'' defence." I say meaning every word, learning self-defence is for damsels not heroines. Felicia rolls her eyes at me. "As great as that sounds I wouldn''t know the first place to look to find a teacher that''s gonna teach me to be how to be that badass and incase you didn''t notice I don''t have very many options to learn from and my mother doesn''t have the type of money that you would need to hire those master martial artists do I''m not left with very many options." She''s right of course and for a moment I think of trying to teach her myself (though I''m not the best, shit I''m probably not even in the good category) but I don''t have enough time in the day and then I think of referring her to the dojo run by colleges wing (Shang Chi is apparently still in China or wherever he is) but that''s a bad idea as she''ll probably be taken in by the hand then so I suppose that the only real option I''m left with is sending her to the teacher she originally had in the comics though how I''m gonna lead her to that is gonna be quite difficult. "Anything is better than those self-defence classes that only teach you how to hold off attackers and run away, it doesn''t even have to be someone you pay to teach you, surely you have someone in the family who knows how to fight or maybe a neighbour or family friend that has some experience, maybe you could ask them?" I hope she''ll catch onto my line of thinking and head in the direction I''m willing her to go. "I don''t have very many relatives and if you think anybody in my neighbourhood is gonna try and teach me how to fight you''re dead wrong, as for family friends my moms mostly focused on her work so she doesn''t really have the time to make buddies and she really can''t make them in her line of work." She says but I see an opportunity to interject and lead her down a particular line of thinking. "Yeah sure, your mom doesn''t have any friends that could teach you but what about your father, I know he''s dead but you said he was around during the time of World War Two surely he would''ve known someone who has some experience after all back then everyone was a fighter, maybe you could ask your mom about it." I say trying to make her think of a particular individual though I hope I''m not being to brazen with what I''m trying to do but even so it should still get her thinking and I hope that she already knows about her fathers former career by now. "Now that you mention it my dad did have a few friends like that, apparently he was a uh, a- a former soldier and he was particularly friendly with his superior officer who became a mentor to him and taught him everything he knew, apparently they were were really good friends before my father died, if I remember correctly his name was something Chalmers I think but he had a nickname in the uh- the army, they called him Black Fox, I suppose I could find out how to contact him by asking my mother or going through my fathers old stuff but honestly I might be more trouble than it''s worth and I can just learn this stuff myself or from some people in the city." She tells me and I now know for a fact that she knows her father was a cat burglar and he had a cat burglar mentor called Black Fox (probably thinks he actually died in the plane too) but she wants to avoid contacting him as she knows her mother would disapprove of it, as far as I can see she doesn''t have that fire to do it or the willpower to train hard, she''s not motivated. "Alright, you can do what you want but all I''m saying is that instead of learning some self-defence you can learn from people with actual experience who can tell you how to kick a guys a.s.s six ways from Sunday , ultimately its up to you." After that we go back to being silent and once we reach Flushing, Queens I ask for her address which she tells me without any hesitation and so I begin to drive while just listening to the music that''s on to fill the silence and eventually we arrive at her neighbourhood, honestly it isn''t too bad and looks like a nice safe neighbourhood but that''s just the appearance, I end up parking just outside her house which is quite nice though it''s a but its not what I''d expect from a high class lawyer which is apparently her mothers professions, Once I''ve parked up I take a closer look around the neighbourhood and I notice that apart from all street lights there''s no light on at anyone''s homes which means they''re all asleep and there doesn''t seem to be a single soul on the street outside. Without some idle chatting I begin to take the bags out of the boot while she takes her box and goes to open the front door, she tells me that her mother isn''t home and so I don''t have to try and be quiet which some may take as an invitation to some naught misdeeds but I can tell that she''s just being sincere and while she leaves the door open and goes to put her box in her room I leave the bags I''m carrying in the hallway in her house and leave making sure to close the door behind me, I''m back in my car now ready to leave because honestly I was having some bad thoughts just now and although it might be enjoyable to stick around I also know that it would cause more trouble for me as I would have one more woman distracting me from my research and right now I feel like I honestly have enough. I''m startled when the passenger door of my car opens and Felicia hops in closing the door behind her. "Hey your just leaving without saying goodbye, that''s not very nice is it." She says but I''m not paying much attention to her words rather paying attention to her body language and from what I can tell although she is a bit shuck by tonight she isn''t as worried by it as she would need to be to become the Black Cat, thinking about it she only became the Black Cat for revenge really as in the comics the guy who originally saves her in the restroom becomes her boyfriend and eventually r*pes her when she doesn''t put out for him, it wasn''t really the r*pe which made her want to take revenge but the betrayal that came from the guy that saved her and became her boyfriend, someone she though she could trust. I look over at her in thought. "What?" She says without losing her enthusiasm though I notice the smile on her face wain a little, what made her the Black Cat was her need for revenge because of that betrayal and I need the Black Cat as she will be used by Wilson Fisk to help free her father and then used as a test subject for the modified Super Soldier Serum, the Black Cats existence is crucial for me to get that serum which means that she needs to get that motivation, to feel the need for revenge from a betrayal and currently I''m the person who saved her in the restroom taking the place of the guy from the comic, someone who she trusts explicitly from her white knight syndrome and I know what I must do, she doesn''t need to be r*ped to become the Black Cat, what she needs to feel is that sense of betrayal and vulnerability so that she can decide that she doesn''t want to be a victim and become the Black Cat. I know that I''m gonna hate myself for this tomorrow and even though I''m not gonna do much to her as I just need to break her trust in me I have to do this as that serum could make all the difference for me to help me survive in this universe and so without a second thought, because I know that if I don''t act immediately I''ll p.u.s.s.y out, I lunge at her... [AN: I know that a few of you are gonna get freaked out at this but don''t worry as he wont actually do anything (or will he?) as he just needs to break the trust she has in him and essentially the trust she has in all men, I hope you''ll at least stick around to read the next BT chapter to see what actually happens instead of quitting here and now.] ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 12+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) Chapter 87 - [AT] Emotional Manipulation... [After Transition] I take a deep inhalation of the smoke from my cigarette and then let it out with a sigh because I now know that the ruse is up and the Batman is onto me although the situation isn''t unsalvageable as he''s only caught onto one of my lies and from where I''m sitting the truth could be easily understood and it might even result in me being seen in a better light. "Right again Batman as always, you''re correct I did collect all that information with the inept to eventually murder those two pieces of shit but in my defence I think my thought process was perfectly justified, those two did a lot to me and I wanted revenge plain and simple." I can see all of there faces harden though even though there faces harden I can see Batman''s face show a little understanding after all he has to understand criminals to catch them and I''m certain he has contemplated a few times at the beginning of his career just killing some criminals like the joker or something. "You don''t have to kill them, there are other options." Batman speaks out to which I nod. "Options that I am taking right now, as much as I''d love to dress up in some tight spandex and fashion myself after some kind of creature and go spread my own version of vigilante justice I''m afraid that even if I did take that route the moment I came into contact with them I know I would want to kill them and I honestly think I would as well." I tell them before Barbara ask her own question. "And why didn''t you murder them? Why are you coming to us?" I notice her little slip up which I''m happy to point out. "I''m not going to you or your father rather I''m going to the Batman for help and honestly I don''t know why I didn''t go through with murdering them as once I''d collected their schedules I hit a wall which I desperately wanted to get through as I just kept remembering what happened to me and then thinking about all the other boys and girls they did it to during the past thirteen years all the while I kept my silence and allowed them to act as they pleased and I felt a duty to stop these two people permanently, I suppose I realised that they had already taken enough from me (a childhood, a home, a family and most importantly my innocence) and I would be damned if I''d allow them to take away my freedom in the process of getting justice." "I suppose that''s why I''m here as I can''t properly trust the police with all the informants and dirty cops in it and I guess Batman is my most sure fire way of seeing justice being served which I desperately want though I can''t help regret not doing this myself as I''ll forever be haunted by the fact that during these past thirteen years children have been abused and killed because of my silence, I just want it to stop and I''m sure that the Batman is gonna make sure that''ll happen." I say to which they''re faces soften a little though you wouldn''t be able to tell from Batman''s stoic face though I''m sure of his feelings through what he says next. "Don''t do anything like this again. I''ll handle it from here." Saying that I can detect that he''s about to leave and leave Jim Gordon to deal with the rest but before he can I realise that if he doesn''t go after them with the same level of intensity that I would then there would be a chance that the matron and the drug dealer might get away, and so I need to make this personal for him and luckily for me I know just how to accomplish that. "If only Thomas Wayne didn''t die, things would be so much different." Saying so I drop my cigarette on the rooftop floor and grind with my foot to make sure it''s out but out of the corner of my eye I can see that Batman has stepped in his steps and I notice Barbara looking at him in worry just because his father was mentioned." Why would things be different if Thomas Wayne was alive?" Batman asks and through that I know for a fact that I''ve got him hook, line and sinker and I am soured by the fact that he asked, usually Batman states and demands but never asks and because of the simple fact he has asked I can tell that I''ve got his attention. "The orphanage I grew up in is the Gotham City Orphanage which was created and funded by Thomas Wayne and it was apparently a safe haven for all orphans or at least it was until he died all those years ago, the second he died things went to hell and the control of the orphanage shifted over to the Falcone mob who used the place for their own profit utterly tainting something that used to be a safe place for children created by Thomas Wayne." I see the face of Batman (or at least the parts I can see harden) and I can tell that this has just become personal from him which is shown through his next question. "The Falcones?" He questions and I know exactly what he wants to hear. "Yeah, apparently it''s under the control of one of Falcone''s lieutenants and he pretty much isn''t too fussed about what goes on there as long as they''re making the same amount of money each month, it''s weird really as apparently they practically gained control around the same time that Thomas Wayne was killed though I don''t think that''s much of a coincidence as it''s hard to believe that a rich and powerful guy like Thomas Wayne would be gunned down by a random two bit street thug, if you ask me I think Falcone had something to do with it which I really hate him for because if Thomas Wayne didn''t die my life would''ve probably been a whole lot better." And I know for a fact that that goes double for him as well and I know that this will light a fire under his arse to shut down the operation at the orphanage and go after Falcone. Batman stays silent for a second in thought before he seems to collect his thoughts and instead of leaving he asks me some more questions trying to get as much information as possible from me knowing that the orphanage was part of Thomas Wayne''s legacy. "Is there anything you can remember about your time at the orphanage that might be useful? Did you ever hear them talking about Falcone? Does the lieutenant ever go to the orphanage himself? Tell me everything." He says to which I reply. "Sorry man but it''s been thirteen years and everything that I know is probably outdated and not useable plus during my weeks of observing them I''ve noticed that telling you any more of my experience won''t really help you take them down." I notice that Batman gets frustrated at my words and shows it. "And why is that?" He all but practically snarls at me. I turn around and lean against the railing looking out onto the Gotham streets as I sigh. "I don''t really remember much from back then that wasn''t to do with running around Gotham and planting drugs plus from what I''ve observed they''ve definitely changed how they do things and if I didn''t know from my own time there I probably wouldn''t have even noticed any illicit activity happening, the main difference between thirteen years ago is and now is you because with you running around cracking down on crime they learned to be more cautious and subtle so they''ve changed how they do things from when I was there so I''m afraid that anything I can tell you will not be more useful than information you can gather yourself through your own sources, sorry." I tell him and it''s true as well as I probably won''t be able to help him much with this job I''m fobbing off onto him but he''s Batman and I''m sure that he''ll shutdown this operation before the week ends but just to make sure I''ll be keeping my eye on the proceedings to make sure that everything goes to plan. I wait for a few moments when I realise that I''m not getting any replies and so I turn around only to come face to face with James Gordon and his daughter Barbara who look at me amusedly, Batman is nowhere to be seen. "Yeah he does that sometimes." Gordon says amusedly to which I mock frown. "That''s a bit rude isn''t it? To leave without saying goodbye." I say to which Jim nods in understanding while I look around my surroundings into the dark night. With my enhanced senses and abilities I can clearly see Batman running away on top of a rooftop a few blocks away before he zips of with his gr.a.p.es into the sky and spreads his cape to begin to glide, that''s so frickin cool... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 12+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, heller8284, Wanous, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Shawn Smith, Derrick Porter and Alex. Thank you for the support. Chapter 88 - [BT] Bad Intentions... [Before Transition] [Warning: (A little bit R.-.1.8) Things get a little forceful here so if you want to skip it I''ll make sure to summarise everything at the start of the next BT chapter and although I don''t think that this writing is all that bad I''m still aware that people have differing opinions to me so if you don''t feel like reading this chapter it''s okay to skip it and I''ll summarise it in the next chapter.] She''s startled when I suddenly grab her and she cries out for help before I lift her out of her seat and pull her into my l.a.p before clasping one of my hands around her mouth putting an end to her cries for help leaving her desperately mumbling into my hand and I can feel the sheer dread she feels as she struggles in my grasp desperately trying to free herself, this brings me no p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e and frankly I feel quite disgusted with myself right now but I know that sometimes you have to do bad things to get what you want and I''ve started to realise that I''m more than willing to pay that price as Felicia needs to become the Black Cat and if she doesn''t my chance of getting that modified Super Soldier Serum goes down the drain which I''m not willing to risk and so I''ll have to make Felicia lose all trust in men here and now. I''m not going to do anything that will be traumatising as I''ll just mainly be doing some heavy petting above the waist but even still I feel great guilt at the thought of doing so and even though I don''t want to do this I want that serum more than that and so I''m willing to bear a few burdens in order to get what I want though I''ll definitely never forget this even if my objective has already been achieved by doing what I''ve already done to Felicia and breaking her trust in the process but I need to make sure that that feeling of betrayal sticks and is strong enough that she''ll feel the need for betrayal and take the path of revenge which will eventually lead me to the modified Super Soldier Serum, I sit there for a moment with Felicia in my l.a.p struggling against me with my hand clasped around her mouth and I think about what I''m doing and contemplate if I''m willing to do this after all this is not a planned out operation but rather an impetuous impulsive spontaneous action thought out on the fly with my adrenaline running high and sitting there thinking about it I realise that the pros out way the cons and so I decide to push on ahead with my actions. I''ve only known her for less than a day and this relationship has hardly blossomed enough for me to feel anything close to what I need to feel to take any action other than the ones I''ve decided to follow through on today and I don''t mind forsaking a possible relationship with this woman for the possibility of getting such a rare and highly valued item such as a modified Super Soldier Serum and so I will go through with my actions just for the chance of acquiring it, I already have my hands full juggling Mary Jane and Gwen although I don''t see the intelligent blonde near as much as I used to I still have a bi-weekly friend with benefits session with her (though I haven''t had a chance to see her in the last three weeks since I''ve been so focused on my research for my new invention) so I pretty much already have all my needs taken care of and I don''t see a need to add a third troublesome woman into the mix as its already so hard to split my time between the girls and my research already. Finally giving in to my plans I begin to continue with my actions that I feel will never be possible to reverse and as I feel her continue to struggle in my arms I decide to put a stop to that by taking my free hand and gently resting it on her stomach making her freeze in shock and go unnaturally still in horror as I begin to softly c.a.r.e.s.s her skin feeling her supple skin through her skin tight top and feeling the fantastic elasticity of her abdomen all the while begin to breathe heavily near her ear further shocking her into silence and make her cease her strained cries for help which honestly makes me feel even worse though I don''t stop my actions, I begin to creep her out further by moving my head closer to hers and beginning to sniff her neck smelling the delightful perfume and scent she decided to wear tonight but I don''t stop there as I slowly begin to move the hand that is still softly c.a.r.e.s.sing her midsection downwards towards her nether regions inching closer and closer before eventually I''m about to descend to depths never reached by any other man and I can slowly feel the acceptance she begins to feel and the dread she feels as she gives up. Except I overturn her expectations because instead of going down below her waist my hand stops and begins to instead snake up underneath her top slowly inching upwards despite the slight shake her body undergoes every few seconds and I lightly scr.a.p.e my nails across her soft skin as my hands move up leaving her some light marks to look at later and remind her of the sense of betrayal she feels though the marks will most likely disappear by tomorrow morning though that doesn''t mean that she''ll forget about them, as my hands lights trail her skin still continuing their rise I decide to talk to her and so moving my head closer to her head and stopping my sniffs I begin to softly whisper into her ear though I know that she will think of my voice as anything but soft. "It''s so easy isn''t it? For me to overpower and manhandle a defenceless dainty girl like you who can''t even put up a little fight, your so weak that it''s almost laughable." I mutter into her ears playing on her sense of vulnerability and insecurities to hopefully vilify myself in her eyes, I know that she''ll eventually come for me for revenge but I''m already thinking up countermeasures for that and how to satiate the hate she feels for me in the future and so far that relies on my wealth as I know that she definitely likes wealth and treasure. I feel her stiffen up at my words but that doesn''t mean I stop my actions and so my hand finally reaches its destinations at the top of her midsection with the tips of my fingers slightly brushing at the edge of her b.r.e.a.s.ts (huh, she doesn''t have a bra on) wiggling back and forth lightly skimming the underneath of her b.r.e.a.s.ts that one might not even notice it but I know for a fact that she does by the little shiver that dances through her body each time my fingers connect with the underside of her b.r.e.a.s.ts, with her being caught of guard I take it as the prime opportunity to strike with another insidious comment. "You know it would be so easy for me to r*pe you right now and you know the funny thing? I''d be able to get away with it as well and it''s not because of a lack of evidence or witnesses or anything but it''s because of the simple fact that I''m richer than you, you could build the most solid case against me and I''d still be able to get away with it for the simple fact that I''m wealthy and I''d be able to easily slide anything under the table by greasing the right hands and using my connections." I begin to hear some slight whimpers from her but I still don''t think it''s enough so I barrage her with some more truths. "The simple fact is that the world is against you and they''re isn''t anyone that''ll be able to look out for you or do anything for you because even if someone does try to help you they still won''t be able to help you, the only one you can rely on in this world is yourself, only you can protect yourself and only you will ever be able to do what needs to be done to come out on top and its because you don''t realise that simple truth that you''re in this situation right now under my mercy, all I had to do was pretend to be a knight in shining armour and you fell for my tricks." I begin to hear some quite sobs from her now and I decide to end this as soon as possible so I no longer have to prolong the pain. "In this world you''ll always be downtrodden unless you fight for yourself and carve your own way through this shit storm and unless you realise that almost everyone has ulterior motives against you you''ll always find yourself being taken advantage of Felicia, you''ll always be defenceless, being used and abused till you die unless you take your life into your own hands, you''ll always be a defenceless little girl." I finish to find that I can''t hear or feel anything from her anymore though I don''t have time to worry about that anymore and I quickly release my hand holding her mouth shut and shift her back to the passenger seat where she stares at me blankly not understanding what has just happened with tear leaking from her eyes. "Get out." I say coldly and that seems to break her out of her daze as she opens the door and bolts out quickly sprinting up the stairs to her house and quickly taking refuge inside her own home though I doubt she feels any safer in there, I reach over the gearbox and close the passenger door she left open. I turn the ignition in my car and slam my foot into the peddle to accelerate and head home to try to sleep off tonight, I''m tired... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 12+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, Wanous, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Shawn Smith, Derrick Porter and Alex. Thank you for the support. Chapter 89 - [AT] Future Plans... [After Transition] Well it''s been a week since I had a rooftop chat with Batman, the commissioner and his daughter who just coincidently also moonlights as a sidekick to said superhero but despite the action that has occurred over the time I''ve been in this universe I''ve suddenly found myself with nothing to do and no plans to follow and so for the last week I''ve just relaxed in Gotham city occasionally getting lucky at some of the local bars (though I didn''t meet anyone that properly caught my eye but that doesn''t mean I didn''t take any of of the pretty girls home) when I didn''t have my ear to the ground trying to find out what Batman has been up to lately and as far as I can tell he''s been going after operations run by the Falcone family and has temporarily left the orphanage to the wayside and I can only assume that he''s done that because none of the kids are close to ten years old and therefore not in danger so he has time to crack down on the organisation and gather evidence and although I don''t like it there''s not much I can do about it. Though after I stopped looking at Batman and actually took notice of Bruce Wayne and what he has been doing lately I discovered that he''s been showing some public interest in the orphanage as well as making moves to purchase the orphanage back and begin funding it and updating it stating his reason being that he has recently learned that it was put in place by his father and he wants to return it to its former glory further showcasing photos of the orphanage before Thomas Wayne''s death and after his death showing an extreme change in the quality as well as increasing public opinion of himself for showing such a caring side, right now I assume that after he has laid the groundwork to show that Bruce Wayne is definitely interested in the orphanage which will most likely scare the current owners into temporarily stopping all illegal activity giving him time to investigate and collect evidence as well as cracking down on other operations to further dismiss Falcone''s hold on the city but I''m beginning to lose my patience with how long this is taking and so I''m contemplating involving myself more with the process of shutting that place down though that does run the risk of me possibly committing a sin since that place is very personal for me. That''s not the only thing I''ve been doing though as I''ve also been contemplating what my profession is going to be in this new universe as I no longer have the inheritance I had in my last life and will actually have to work for a living to provide for myself as well as funding my own projects that I might have in the future though I''m not too interested in anything else at the moment and am more than willing to take a break from researching at the moment but that doesn''t mean that a project will not catch my eye in the future but I also have to make sure my profession is well paying as I need a lot of money to fund my lifestyles which I want to be of the same level that I had in the last universe or better (money for anything I could possibly want, tech, cars, women and general fun), and after ruminating about it for the last weeks or so I''ve finally decided on what I want my new job to be and I''ve finally decided to be an owner and CEO of a company though not just any company but a construction company. Of course I thought about having a tech company or really any other type of company but I realised that the competition in those fields are too fierce and tiresome with dirty business being done often and so I decided to go into construction instead as there''s not as much competition there (no Lex Luthors, Maxwell Lords or Bruce Waynes) but I didn''t just decide on it because it was easier as it comes with a lot of other good benefits such as the fact that with a f.u.c.kton of superhero fights happening this is probably the most lucrative and stable company to have in these times not to mention the fact that it''s currently early days for superheroes with the justice league not being formed yet so it would be better to get in now while the field isn''t as saturated as once the justice league is formed and all the alien invasion happen there''s going to be a lot of opportunity for b.u.t.t loads of money, not to mention the fact that in the aftermath of superhero battles there are a lot of tech and objects left laying around that are just waiting for me to pick them up and investigate but don''t get me wrong I''m sure that the government is gonna roll up (or Lex Luthor) and take the big space sh.i.p.s and ray guns but they''re not gonna be there the whole time we clear debris and fix the place and there''s bound to be tech and alien belonging hiding under the rubble which I''ll be able to take ownership of without anyone being none the wiser. I''m basically going to make the Damage Control of this universe though I''m definitely gonna change the name as I don''t feel like taking the name as I''d feel a bit shitty doing that though I''m definitely going to take the work ethic and functionality and invest it in my future company though that''s definitely gonna take some work and I can''t actually use any of the money I''d appropriated from my underground fights as well as my bank robbing so what I''m currently contemplating is going to Bruce Wayne and asking Him to help fund my new company relying on his knowledge on me from Batman and eventually after I''m well set up I''d confront Bruce and say that I''ve discovered his secret identity and that although I respect what he does I can''t have my company that I''ve worked so hard for be connected to a vigilante and then buy him out with the unsaid threat of his identity though I won''t explicitly say that or even imply it as that would get me on his shit list but this is just an idea for now, honestly I''m off two minds right now about involving Bruce Wayne who is the only rich guy I know in this universe who I have blackmail material on (though I''ll never use it but I can definitely let him know that I know and therefore make him work to accommodate me or who knows, I might just let it slip) but I also can take a massive loan out from a bank (wouldn''t be too hard to find some blackmail on one of the workers there and have him approve it even with my good credit score which is surprising) and I could even be able to pay back the amount straight away with the millions I''d already robbed from the banks effectively laundering it back into the bank and getting rid of it so it wouldn''t implicate me in the future and begin using the loan money to buy out existing small construction companies combining them into one. Though how I''m gonna get loyal employees that would gladly pilfer alien technology for me I don''t know aside from some minor mind control though that might be a sin so I''m unsure if I''d be able to do it without some consequences though I can think about that stuff when I get to it as currently that f.u.c.kin'' orphanage is still up and I don''t think I can move on or do anything else till its shut down so I can think about all that stuff later when I don''t have this deep seated anger inside of me stopping me from focusing on anything else, actually I''ve just decided it''s taking too long and so I''m gonna try to find out what''s the holdup by talking to a gorgeous redhead that has connections to both Batman and the police and as it happens I managed to get her number after the talk on the Gotham Police Headquarters roof though if it''s because she liked me or if it''s because she wanted me to contact her if I had anymore information I don''t knew and so I''m just gonna give her a call and so I dial in the numbers into my phone and ring the number. "Hey Barbara, are you busy today?" I question her after she picks up. "Hi Nick, dads just left for work and I didn''t really have anything planned so as it runs out I''m free, did you need anything?" She says to which I''m relieved as I don''t think I can take another day without knowing what''s happening regarding that orphanage. "Great, can you meet me for some coffee then?" I ask to which she pauses and doesn''t answer for a few seconds, what''s wrong I''m just asking to meet up? "Uh yeah, sure Nick I can meet up with you, what time?" I''m relieved when she speaks and so I enthusiastically tell her the time and locations of our meet up. "How about in an hour and we can meet up at..." I tell her the location of the coffee shop that I scouted out yesterday evening which should be a good location for what I want to do. "Okay, I''ll see you there Nick, it''s a date." She ends before promptly hanging up and panicking me, did I just set up a date with her? I didn''t even mean to though... I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 14+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, Wanous, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Shawn Smith, Derrick Porter, Alex and Manuel Arauio. Thank you for the support. Chapter 90 - [BT] Hopeful Orange... [Before Transition] After that tiresome night I went home and straight to bed and then for the rest of the week I concentrated on my project that was nearly due in no matter how much Johnny continued to pester me in the hopes that I would come out to play with him though I managed abate him by promising that I would start joining him on his adventures once the deadline had passed and I was assured that I definitely had a place at the Baxter building, and so for the rest of the week I worked on my project which is the enhance version of a collar/accessory which will be put on super powered people that will stop them using their powers in an incredible and ingenious way if I do say so myself but this collar can easily ripped off by someone else that has super powers and isn''t wearing the collar which is why I have spent this last week working on a schematic which will be a bunch of relays which will create a sort of area affect barrier where everyone inside will lose their powers which is quite frankly pretty awesome and I wanted to get this finished before the deadline to show a possible new route off of my already completed project and prototype collar power inhibitor. And after a week of working on it straight I''ve finally managed to finish the schematic in time for my presentation which is in an a half hour and as you can see I''ve worked my a.s.s of to the last minute even though my presentation was finished a week ago and everything I did in this last week can be seen as overkill and unnecessary but that''s the way I like it which is going above and beyond expectations and blowing people socks off and now it''s time to blow the Fantastic Four''s socks off as its time for my presentation which is in less than half and so I sprint to gather everything I need for my presentation and work to transport it upstairs to the conference room that I was first accepted in and which my presentation will be held in and it takes several trips to bring all the things I need up to the conference room, just in time as well it turns out as the entire crew of the Fantastic Four enter with Reed having his head face down in a tech pad no doubt working on some glorious piece of technology, Ben slumping through the room to sit on the couch at the back of the room while eating crisps (f.u.c.k you anyone who says potato ch.i.p.s or ch.i.p.s as ch.i.p.s come with fish goddamn it, they are called crisps or crips) depressed as usual, Johnny enters quite excitedly which I surprised at though I assume he''s exited because he knows that after this presentation I will once again be free to go on some escapades with him and for some god forsaken reason I''m looking forward to it as it seems that every time I go to hang out with it I get involved with some exciting event. After all three of them enter with Johnny joining Ben on the couch and Reed taking a seat at the conference table with his head still buried in his tech pad which kinda annoys me as he should be paying attention to my upcoming presentation but then Susan enters the room looking quite stunning as usual though I''m surprised at the amused look she shoots my way as she also takes a seat at the conference table but once I take a look down at myself I realise why she''s amused and its becomes of my appearance that may have very well been quite fashionable this morning but now it''s covered in soot with burns and stains littering nearly every inch of my colleges and this is because I have been working all day testing some components of the schematics I was unsure of and after testing them I modified them to make sure they worked although I haven''t built the entire schematic but unfortunately all my testing resulted in a few mishaps which resulted in my current disheveled appearance which is definitely not fit to present though I''m not too bothered about that, and once they are all seated and ready though Reed is still keep focused on his tech pad with Ben still slouched on the couch eating crisps while Johnny is sat next to him slyly carving his name into one of the orange rocks that form up Ben''s body with something sharp (where on earth did he find that and why is he carving his name into the Thing?) though thankfully at least one of the Fantastic four seem to be paying attention as Susan is sat straight staring at me waiting for me to start. I decide that Susan''s attention is all that I need and so I decide to start my presentation although I don''t have a PowerPoint doc.u.ment or anything as I''m more of a show and tell kinda guy though it is a bit nerve racking as this is the first time that I''m actually going to be showing my work to actual genius scientists that save the universe on a regular basis, I quickly shake my head and resolve to power on through and get through this with a calm head and so I begin to speak. "I don''t have a presentation or anything as I believe that we are all advanced enough to not need such things so I''m just gonna lay all my work out on the table for you to looks at while I show a demonstration of my work as I think we are all intelligent enough to skip all the posturing and just let the tech speak for itself, Johnny get up here, I need a Guinea pig." I say while spreading all my work out on the table which only Susan seems to be paying attention to while Johnny lets out a startled "What!?" To my words dropping the sharp things he was using to carve his name into Ben''s orange rocks before wincing and hopping that the big orange giant doesn''t notice which thankfully he doesn''t. Johnny hesitatingly makes his way up towards me while Susan seems to be reading through my project and once he reaches me I begin to give him some instructions. "Don''t worry nothing is gonna happen, I just need you to stretch your left arm towards me while raising your right arm into the air and completely covering it in flames using your powers, okay? Good." Saying this I pull out my prototype which I changed from being a collar into being a bracelet/shackles/cuffs for criminals as I feel like a collar will be bad branding for my invention and once I see that Johnny entire right arm has been set aflame I slap my bracelet prototype down onto his left arm and clasp is shut around his arm and as soon as I do the flames that had fully encased his right arm dissipate into the air leaving Johnny to let out a confused sound. "Huh, what?" I hear him say to which I smirk in victory and turn toward my adoring crowd which just seems to be Susan at the moment though Ben seems to have got a good laugh out of Johnny panicked face at losing his powers. "As you can see my invention has made Johnny here lose the use of his powers resulting in him no longer being able to encase himself in flames which is definitely a plus as I''m sure more than a few people were getting annoyed seeing such an annoying firefly fly around the sky." I finish. "I don''t understand." I hear Susan say. "From these blueprints and schematics I can only make out that you''ve utilised a few different components to create a few different energy fields that when combined allow for a energy field to cover the bracelet which prevents any scans/tampering from happening to it without some serious power or preparation but apart from that I can''t tell what you''ve used to negate Johnny''s power which I''m amazed at by the way as I wasn''t aware of any way to negate our powers which came from a cosmic power storm, how did you do it?" She says and I''m about that reply when I''m interrupted by the big orange rock for,action in the corner of the room suddenly standing from where he was sitting on the couch and asking his own question. "Wait, I though you just found a way to get rid of his fire but you''re telling me that that little gizmo you slapped onto his arm completely got rid of his powers? Is it just specifically for him or does it work for anyone? Could it work on me?" I hear him say with a mountain full of hope and I feel a little bad knowing that he wants to be free of his orange form. I let out a sigh and scratch the back of my head. "I don''t know Ben, it''s not been fully tested and I don''t know if it''d work on someone with your particular circ.u.mstances." I say but I''m pretty sure that it won''t work on him as my invention doesn''t actually suppress powers... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, Wanous, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Shawn Smith, Derrick Porter, Alex and Manuel Arauio. Thank you for the support. Chapter 91 - [AT] Brewing Interest... [After Transition] I decide to just ignore what she said and think it was just a phrase she used and even if she did mean it I''d rather ignore it and feign ignorance right now as I''m currently much too busy and stressed to worry about that and instead of wanting to go on a date with her right now I want to see if I can get any information out of her about what Batman and the police are doing and see if there''s anything I can do to speed the process up, honestly I''d much rather go on a date with her and forget about the rest but the heart wants what the heart wants and what it currently wants is revenge against the matron and the drug dealer but unfortunately that''s unattainable so I''m just going to have to settle for having them imprisoned for the rest of their natural lives and it''s not because I''m not wanting to stoop to their level or anything as I would easily stoop so low but all the other possible solutions I came up with were risky as it could risk giving me a sin and even just one sin would result in me being paid a visit by the spectre otherwise known as the spirit of vengeance. What constitutes a sin is actually very confusing outside of of the regular things such as the Ten Commandments and the 8 prohibitions and all that crap because there are so many religions with so many differences that it''s hard to say what could actually count as a sin aside from the obvious ones such as murder and theft but even they are a bit iffy in such cases as ''An Eye For An Eye'' as that can get misconstrued in a lot of different way such as harming someone back in an equal way to how they harmed you or killing someone they love if they killed someone you loved and it just gets a whole lot more confusing when you start to think about it so I''ve just decided that I''m going to follow the laws (most of them at least) as they are set in place to keep people civilised and if I follow them (some of them) I should minimalize the risk of committing a sin but even then some of the things I might usually do are still up in the air, am I allowed to blackmail people or does that count as a sin because if so I''m gonna be very limited in what I''ll be able to do in the future though I suspect blackmail might be alright as it''s just holding bad things other people have done over their heads in order to gain an advantaged and does a sin really count when its committed against someone bad or in order to help other people such as a poor man stealing food to feed his family? I think it''s best if I just follow the law as close as possible and if it ends up that I might have to break some of them I''ll cross that bridge when I come to it and just pray that no spirits of vengeance turn up when I do so but for right now I''m just going to focus on my current date/interrogation of Barbara and for just that occasion I''ve put on some nice clothes that DC me had before the merge dressing in some nice black shoes, some slightly baggy blue jeans and a white shirt with a nice leather jacket on top finally finishing off the look with some gold rimmed aviators to wear on my face (DC me had some nice fashion sense, either that or both versions of me had bad fashion sense and I just don''t realise it) and I''m currently driving to the coffee shop I''m meeting Barbara in in a nice BMW I''ve rented in the last week as I needed something to drive and have s.e.x in when the girls I met in the bars I''d visited were too horny to wait for us to get back to either of our apartments though I have been having to park the car in a close by nice neighbourhood with good security instead of the slightly dangerous district I live in now, I''m currently driving towards the coffee shop which I managed to find while collecting information on the matron and the drug dealer and it looked alright so it''s where I chose to meet her I just hope she doesn''t actually think it was a date as I''ve dressed pretty casually (as its a coffee shop) and I hope she isn''t too mad when she eventually realises that I''m just pressing her for information on the case surrounding the orphanage and she will realise because the is a very intelligent woman. I''ve just pulled up next to the coffee shop and I can see Barbara inside and she sees me too so I decide to wave at her but then I look further down the street to see the the Gotham City Orphanage which is only a little but away and can clearly be seen from this coffee shop which is another reason why I chose this coffee shop as I''m sure that Batman has already placed surveillance on the orphanage and would surely have a problem with me sniffing around the place on account of him knowing that my plan was originally to kill the two of those pieces of shits but this way I''m down the street on a date with Barbara and I have no doubt that Barbara has already figured out the reason I chose to meet her here and will probably report it back to Batman but at least this way he''ll know that I don''t plan to murder them and shouldn''t be too angry with my presence observing the place, I quickly park the car making sure that the windows are fully closed and the doors are properly locked without anything of any worth being obviously displayed through the window as you can never be too careful in Gotham though one can say I''m being risky just by parking it on a street in Gotham though I''m not too bothered about that as i took out some insurance on it but I can think about this sort of boring stuff later as right now I have a beautiful redhead waiting on me and I''m not one to keep a woman waiting. Entering the coffee shop I notice Barbara seated across the way in a nice spot next to the window which is just perfect for me as it provides a clear view of the orphanage and I suspect that that''s also the reason she chose such a spot as she knew that I would definitely want to see it which means that she likely already knows the reason I invited her here although I''m unsure of whether or not she''s angry that I''ve just used this meeting between us as a chance to get a closer look at the orphanage and not to actually court her which I''m unsure of if she actually wanted that to happen, I make my way towards her noticing her hair done up in a ponytail with her purple glasses on the tip of her cute nose as well as some light makeup covering her face not that she needed it and she''s wearing some nice brown hugger boots, some tight jeans and a great bug blue puffer jacket that''s covering up the contours and lines of her body which is mildly disappointing though that''s gone when I finally reach her and sit down on the chair opposite. I''m about to speak to her when a waitress comes over to take our order. "Hi what can I get you?" She asks and I notice that Barbara already has a cup of coffee and so I order one for myself. "Just a coffee, thank you." She nods to affirm my order. "A hot and steamy coffee coming up just for you." She practically purrs trying to flirt with me but before I can respond she walks off to fulfil my order and I notice Barbara giving me a raised eyebrow which I chose to ignore. "Anyway, hi Barbara it''s nice to see your beautiful face again." To which Barbara replies. "It''s nice to see you again as well though I think there''s someone else here that''s particularly happy to see you." She say eying the waitress who took my order to which I chuckle and scratch the back of my head. "Well I for one am particularly happy to see you again." I say which seems to mitigate some of her irritation though I can see there is still some there which I once again choose to ignore and barge ahead into conversation. And so for around the next half an hour we chat and get to learn more about each other all the while I''m keeping a visual on the orphanage out of the corner of my eye while Barbara keeps an eye on me though I am listening and paying attention to the conversation as I have learned that Barbara has a black belt in karate and a brown belt in judo, she is excellent at gymnastics going as far as to regional championsh.i.p.s but not continuing as she would rather focus on her studies (I.E fighting crime as Batgirl), she has a photographic memory, she is super advanced in the field of computers and electronics as well as having graduate training in library sciences (the field of study that teaches how to manage books and other information, particularly through collecting, preserving, and organizing books and other materials mainly in libraries though I believe she did it to develop a better database on criminals), she currently has a doctorate in history but she is about to graduate summa c.u.m laude with a Ph.D from Gotham State university, I''ve also learned personal things about her as well. I''ve learned that she had her tonsils removed at the Gotham Presbyterian hospital the day before its roof collapsed, that her eyes are actually blue but when the light hits it at certain angles it can turn a mesmerising green, that her birthday is on the 23rd of September and I''ve also learned that I''m getting a bit too interested in this girl... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, Wanous, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Shawn Smith, Derrick Porter, Alex and Manuel Arauio. Thank you for the support. Chapter 92 - [BT] Mental Maths... [Before Transition] "Why not?" Ben questions furiously trying to hang on to the hope that I might be able to return him to his human form but I''m sad to know that it may actually be impossible. "It''s because of the way my device works, you see my device doesn''t actually negate anyone''s powers and all that''s Susan been able to see is that I''ve created a way for no one to be able to get precise scans of my invention without some serious preparation or brute force and what she''s missed is a small tiny component of the bracelet that-" At this point I''m interrupted by Reed who I''ve just noticed has set his tech pad down and is looking through my work. "Your device rids people of their memories of their powers therefore making them forget that they have powers and how to use them creating the illusion of negating powers when in actuality you''ve just made them forget about their powers, am I correct Nicholas?" Reed questions to which I smile as I figured that someone of Reed''s intelligence would be able to understand my device though I''m quite happy that he hasn''t gotten it actually correct. I''m about to answer him when Susan makes her own observation. "Oh I see it now, there is a tiny part of the schematic that is in actuality a technological component that seems to interfere with the wearers mind but how did you know what it did Reed as I can''t seem to tell from just looking at these blueprints?" She question to which Reed replies with a smile. "Well you see Susan looking through the schematic I couldn''t see anything that would work to actually negate someone''s powers and seeing from the demonstration on Johnny that this is exactly what this device does I could only come to the logical conclusion that it was through the cerebral tech in the device that removed his powers and thinking about how I would have done it I came to my own conclusion." Hearing Reed''s conclusion Johnny is shocked at the fact that his mind may have been messed with while Ben is inevitably saddened and distraught. "So it just removes the memories of having and using people''s powers, so it wouldn''t actually do anything for me?" He questions and I can''t stop the bit of pity and guilt I have for him because I accidentally raised his hopes. "Sorry Ben, while Reed is correct that my device alters the mind to negate powers I''m afraid that it doesn''t quite do it in the way he said as that goes against my morals a bit, my device doesn''t remove people''s memories or anything but instead it forces on the wearer a specific belief or ''truth'' if you will and that truth is the fact that they can no longer use their power and that they only have the strength of a normal human and so it doesn''t actually make any changes to their memories." I say and while Ben looks a little confused at my words Johnny looks relieved at the fact that my device hasn''t actually messed with his mind though Reed voices his opinion on my device. "But why would you do that? If whoever wears this bracelet remembers that they have powers then they''d come to the obvious conclusion that the bracelet is at fault for their loss of power and they would do anything to get rid of it, if you would just do it my way then the wearer wouldn''t remember the fact that they have powers and would therefore not try to remove it making this a perfect device for powered criminals." He says assured of the fact that his way is better but I''m glad I get this opportunity to pop that little bubble and show him that although he might be the cleverest man in the room he might not always have the best idea. I let out an audible sigh that seems to shock Reed before I begin to explain to him the reason for my sigh. "Reed you''re not looking at the big picture, while yes your method would be more efficient at the beginning at the end it would turn out to be more trouble than it''s worth and would result in a lot of backlash as your method would break human rights as memories make the man and to remove those memories even if just temporarily would be a great injustice as it would literally change someone into a completely different person even if that person is a vile criminal who are we to decide what memories they can and can''t have plus when eventually one of those powered criminals gets out if the bracelet (it''s inevitable and it will eventually happen) they will be very angry at the violation of their rights and will become all the more dangerous and when asked why they suddenly became more volatile you can guess who they are gonna point the finger at, all in all in the long run your method would result in a lot more issues." I say and I actually believe what I''m saying as this would be too much in the public eye and I wouldn''t feel safe putting my name on it while knowing that there will be definite backlash. Reed sighs in defeat (at least I believe it''s in defeat as that would mean I''ve bested him). "I guess you''re right Nicholas, but won''t people get angry at your version as well since it also messes with the wearers mind?" He questions trying to get a small victory for himself (or maybe he''s just genuinely trying to be constructive) but I answer his question easily. "My method doesn''t actually mess with their mind as it just forces them to believe that they are unable to use their powers and I think that the public at large will believe that it is a necessary precaution that they can live with as it doesn''t actually violate anyones human rights (much) plus I''ve taken measures to make it so that without some serious preparation people will just believe it negates powers and so they shouldn''t have a reason to suspect it interacts with their minds (unless a telepath realises it) and even if the prisoner wearing it does realise it it still shouldn''t matter, Johnny try to use your flames now that you know that you can still use your powers and it''s just the bracelet making you believe you can''t." I say to which Johnny nods and with a scream of ''FLAME ON'' he tries to use his powers but is upset when nothing happens and he just looks like an idiot. "See." I say. "Even if he knows that he can still use his powers and it''s just the bracelet making him believe he can''t he still can''t activate his powers." I say with a little bit of smug but Reed still tries to debunk my work with Susan looking at him reproachfully for trying to ruin the device I''ve worked so hard on though he doesn''t seem to notices. "Even so isn''t your device a little convoluted when there are already some methods to negate powers out their that don''t mess with cerebral technology?" He questions but I already though about this before making my device otherwise why would I have made it. "I have no doubt that there are already some device out there that can suppress and negate powers but I bet each of them have to be made specifically for different individuals with different power sets such as a specific suppressor for someone with the X-gene but even they would need to be calibrated for mutants with different powers, my device is a one shoe fits all as it will work on nearly everyone and there would be less resources spent coming up with ways to negate certain power sets, my device is simply more convenient and more assured to work than others." I finish but Susan seems to pick up one one part of what I''ve said. "What do you mean ''nearly everyone''?" She questions to which I answer quite clearly. "Well you see what my device does is make everyone believe that they can''t use their powers no matter the source of where their powers but I believe that it will only work somewhat on a few individuals, for instance I believe a powerful telepath would realise that their minds are being affected and would work to neutralise the effect on their mind but since the effect is constant their abilities would be limited as they would constantly need to neutralise the bracelets affect, I also don''t believe that this device would work on the hulk as his power doesn''t care about about Bruce Banners belief as it would just activate whenever he''s angry and so my device wouldn''t work on him and finally although my device would work on people such as Ben making them believe they only had human level strength they would still be a lot stronger than a normal human due to the changes in them physically and as such it would at the very least limit their strength." Susan nods to my explanation seeming to accept it while Ben ask his own question. "What do you mean ''at the very least''?" Are people just gonna keep finding slip ups in my words, what the f.u.c.k... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 14+ Chapters. A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, Wanous, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Shawn Smith, Derrick Porter, Alex and Manuel Arauio. Thank you for the support. Chapter 93 - [AT] Coffee Shop Catastrophe... [After Transition] I was so consumed by our conversation that I completely lost sight of why I was there and in so doing I took my eye of the ball and ceased my watch on the orphanage and now that I think of it I think that''s what Barbara wanted as she didn''t want me to do anything I''d regret and so distracted me from it by conversation and I wasn''t too bothered about that as I wasn''t really here to watch the orphanage but rather to coax some information out of Barbara and so I was about to start edging the conversation towards that direction when the waitress that was flirting with me earlier started to slide her way towards us, I was really getting annoyed by this woman now as she''s come over a few times to ask if we needed anything else although I could tell she was really talking to me and even though I politely declined she refuses to see reality for what it is. "Hi again, do you guys need anything, anything at all, after all my job is to bring you whatever you want.. Anything at all." Although what she said was technically alright on the surface I heard the slight sultriness in her words and judging by the expression on Barbara''s face so did she and she doesn''t like it. I''m about to politely refuse her again when she gently trails her hand across my shoulder even though I''ve made it clear that I''m not interested in her and so forgoing my polite approach I decide to cut this at the root and just be as brutally harsh and honest as I can without outright insulting her although I''m tempted to do just that. "Excuse me, you''ve come over several times and I''ve refused several times so if it''s alright with you if I do in fact need anything to do with the services offered by this establishment I''ll make sure to wave you or someone else over but apart from that can you leave us alone and stop interrupting us, thank you." I worded my scolded words to her in such a way that she''ll know exactly what I meant as I said that I''ve refused her services specifically and I''ve said that if I need the shops services and not hers I''ll ask for someone making it clear where I stand with her and if that doesn''t prove to be enough I shot her a cold stare to get my point across which it apparently does as she acts like her hand is touching fire and she immediately retracts it from where it was touching my arm but in the process she knocks over my cup of coffee and spills it all over the table and my l.a.p. "Oh my god, I''m so sorry sir. Let me clean that up for you." She starts to panic over spilling hot coffee on me as she might lose her job and although my hands were scalded by the hot coffee turning my burnt hands bright red they quickly healed up so fast that it was done in the blink of an eye with Barbara barely having any time to see it happen though the waitress is still fumbling about trying to clean the table and so I drag my hand through my hair because of the stress this woman is causing me and in doing so I tilt my head to look out into the bleak street and in doing so I''m shocked at what I witness, further down the road I witness the sight of that old bitch of a matron loading three boys between the ages of seven and nine into the back of a white van before she closes the back door and goes and deposits herself in the front passenger seat and in doing so informs me that someone else is driving the white van and it is most likely the drug dealer who is driving the van and from the if oration I''ve amassed I''ve come to the conclusion that they are about to go and get rid of the three boys who are most likely drug mules and I know that I can''t let such a thing happen without trying to stop it just like I wished someone would help me when I was being forced into that meat grinder. I quickly stand up and try to leave my seat but I''m stopped but the waitress who is still panicking in front of me and won''t allow me to leave, Barbara is just confused and stands up as well but doesn''t ask anything as the waitress asks her own frantic query. "Please don''t tell my manager, I can clean it up, please I need this job." She begs to which I don''t care but I don''t have time for this now and so I grab my wallet before reaching in and grabbing several bills before throwing them onto the table with some of the bills being stained by the coffee that was covering the table and not caring that I threw more money than what I owed I walk passed the woman shoving her out of my way without another word and start to rush to the door quickly exiting and sprinting over to my parked BMW pulling my keys out of my pocket and pressing the button that opens the car which resulted in a ice sounding beep from the parked car, when I finally reach the car and pull open the door I''m about to enter when I''m stopped by a hand grabbing onto my arm quite tightly and when I trace the hand back to its owner I''m face to face with a serous Barbara Gordon who seems to be hell bent on getting answers. "What are you doing? Why did you suddenly rushing off? What''s wrong?." She barrages me with a bunch of questions and I''m about to answer when I noticed that the engine of the whit van down the street has started up and they''re about to drive off and so I quickly shut down her questions by shaking off her hand from my arm. "We''re losing time, get in and I''ll explain on the way." I don''t say anymore and I quickly get into my car closing the door behind my and putting my keys into the ignition turning the keys and although I hear the passenger car door open and shut and feel the presence of someone sit in the passenger seat I don''t pay it any mind as I put the car into gear and proceed to slam my foot down onto the pedal throwing the car forward suddenly booting it down the street hoping to catch up to the white van that has already turned off onto another street and I don''t like the fact that it''s left my sight but there''s not much I can do about that but push the throttle and throw my car up a gear going even faster to catch up while definitely breaking some speed laws though I''m sure that there are more crimes happening in Gotham that are taking up police attention. Speeding through the streets and swerving past car after car I''m beginning to close in on the White van when a truck pull out of a side street completely blocking off the road and blocking my view and so I have to hit the brake and turn the car to the right in the hopes that I''d slow down the momentum of my car enough not to ploughing into the side of the truck and kill Barbara in the process as I would heal right back up from it and I''m thankful when we drift to a stop only a few meters from the truck but I''m angry as hell that I''ve lost the White van and I show my anger by punching the steering wheel which results in beeping the car horn as well, I''m shook out of my anger by Barbara placing her hand on my arm and shaking it before she begins to speak. "The alleyways over there, it''s your best shot, it''s a literal labyrinth leading to the slums of Gotham but I know my way through them and I should be able to direct you so that your able to get several streets further much faster than you''d be able to on the roads which should put you in front of that White van as this street is straight with hardly any turnoffs that lead to anywhere actually worth going, that''s the vehicle your following right?" I nod my head and push down the on the pedal quickly driving into the alleyway not questioning how she knew which car I''m following though I''m sure she managed to pick it up by seeing which cars have been on the same street I''ve been on for the longest amount of time though I''m not too bothered about that right now and so I continue to drive off into the labyrinth of alleyways with tents and makeshift houses that are put up around the area by Gotham''s less fortunate. I''m making my way through a series of alleyways as fast as possible listening to the directions that Barbara is barking out as she''s my only hope right now, I can''t let those bastards do to some more poor kids what they did to me... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 14+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, Wanous, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Shawn Smith, Derrick Porter, Alex and Manuel Arauio. Thank you for the support. Chapter 94 - [BT] Determined Orange... [Before Transition] Thinking about how I will be able to explain this I decide to give him an example. "Think about it like this Ben, if a person who had absolutely no control over their ability were to put this on and nothing was to change and their powers are still way out of control then that would mean that they are truly not able to control their powers and I think this scenario would apply to anyone whose powers manifested in their physical form such as a mutant having an extra set of arms or something." I say and Ben immediately gets depressed and flops back onto the sofa behind him making it creak dangerously though thankfully it holds, it must have been specially made with Ben in mind. "So what your saying is that your doohickey won''t work on people like me who had their appearances change because of their powers." He m.o.a.ns out going into full depression but I don''t want that and so I decide to continue my talk in the hopes that I might give him some hope or something. "I''m saying that it won''t work on all the people who had their appearances or physical body change because of their powers as some of their changes just can''t be controlled while some of them just might be able to." I say but it''s clear that Ben doesn''t understand or he just has lost interest but what I''m about to do next should grab his attention. "Reed can you please come on up here for me please? I think another demonstration is perhaps in order." I say while walking over to Johnny and removing the bracelet from his arm which he seems happy to comply with because as soon as he is free he begins to play around with his fire powers just to make sure that they aren''t permanently strong, by the time I''ve removed the bracelet Reed is standing next to me looking a but hesitant but I''m not bothered about that right now. "Reed, can you please show a quick demonstration of your powers, nothing special just a quick display please." I say to which Reed begins to showcase his powers by stretching and and shrinking various parts of his body even going as far as to shape himself into the shape of a teapot which I found quite amusing. "That''s enough Reed, you can return to normal now thank you." I say to which Reed begins to comply though I get the feeling he''s beginning to get a bit irked with my ordering him around though he doesn''t seem to show it. "You see Ben I think that your and Reed''s powers are quite similar, in fact I''d say that the only difference is that he can control his powers." I say while Reed begins to unravel himself from teapot form. "Oh yeah, Reed''s a big rock monster as well, how''d I miss that?" Ben states sarcastically which I chuckle at. "No, what I''m saying is that you both took on the composition of a certain material which for you was rocks/earth while Reed took on the metaphysical properties of rubber/elasticity, watch what happens when I put the bracelet on Reed." I say and as soon as Reed is once again in human form I slap my bracelet on his arm which promptly stops him from using his powers. "Can you try and use your powers Reed?" I ask and Reed nods his head and a few moments later I can see his face morph into an expression of frustration as he wills his body to change shape yet nothing happens, I think that Reed is more angry over having his mind not conform to what he wants than his powers working as I''m sure that he believes that he can overcome my device because he is simply intelligent and I bet that he''s pretty miffed that he can''t overcome my device. "Now you see here Ben that even though Reed''s powers manifested themselves in a physical form he''s been forced to go back to being a normal human without the ability to use his powers and that''s because he is able to use his powers but even still..." I reach my hand out and before Reed even know what''s happening I grab onto to the end of his nose and begin to pull and in doing so Reed''s nose is pulled out as if its piano h.i.p.s and it''s dragged around nearly a meter away from his body though not without a lot of resistance. "As you can see even though my bracelet is restricting Reed from using his powers that doesn''t mean that he''s actually lost his powers as even though he can''t use them his body still has its rubber/elastic properties and so I can stretch him even if he himself can''t and that''s because his ability is both passive and active." I let go of Reed''s elongated nose at this point and it smashes back into his face throwing him backwards with a nice whack. "The bracelet is making Reed subconsciously believe that he can''t use his powers no matter what evidence might be thrown into his face and this means he is subconsciously using a level of control that Reed himself isn''t even capable of right now to restrict his body into the shape of a normal human and even when I stretched his nose out his body desperately tried to return to normal human dimensions." Johnny excitedly joins the conversation at this point. "Oh so what your saying is that Reed''s powers are both active and passive like in a game and it''s active to turns his body into different shapes and stuff but it''s passive in the form of making his body like rubber no matter what shape he takes and that can''t be changed, right." I blink a little at what Johnny said while Reed seems to find himself and begins to rub his nose. "Yeah that''s right I guess, you see this device works by making you take whatever control you might be capable of and returning you to a baseline human as much as possible with that control based on if your powers are active or passive, so what I guess I''m saying Ben is that whether my device works on you or not depends on whether your powers are passive or active and how much control you might be able to have over your powers." Johnny again intrudes with one of his weird analogies that somehow make perfect sense. "Oh so if his powers are passive he''s going to be stuck as a rock monster unless someone finds a way to remove his powers but if his powers are active he will be like a saiyan that''s stuck in super saiyan and depending on the control he''s capable of the bracelet will revert him to back to a normal saiyan, it''ll be like he has a transformation like a power ranger." Everyone stares at Johnny a bit confused while I marvel at the way he''s related real world problems to cartoons and anime and I''m quite impressed about it as well, Ben doesn''t seem to have comprehended my explanation it seems and Johnny''s analogys just seems to have confused him even more. "What?" Ben dumbly asks to which I give a simpler answer as I remove my bracelet device from Reed''s arm. "Basically one of two things are going to happen if I put this bra let on you, either you will stay as you are right now but just be a lot weaker or your appearance will be changed in some way though the extent of that change I can''t be sure of except that it will definitely be regressing to your former human self though whether you''ll fully return to looking like a normal human I don''t know." I say but even then Ben is still confused but he seems to have gotten the gist of what I''ve said if I''m to go by the new light of hope I''ve seen ignite in his eyes. "So if I put on that Gizmo there''s a chance that I might change back to being a normal guy again?" He questions with his big rock monster puppy eyes. Everyone in the room looks to me though I can see that both of Reed and Susan look to me worried by the fact that I''m raising Ben''s hopes for nothing while Johnny just looks happy for his friend at the chance to return to normal and so I try to mitigate some of Ben''s expectations so that he won''t be so disappointed when my device fails to work on him like he hopes it will as I''m nearly one hundred percent sure that my invention won''t revert him to normal and it seems that both Reed and Susan think so as well. "Ben, there''s a chance that it might return you to normal but that chance is really small as it seems that you don''t currently have any control over your powers and so its most likely that your powers are passive and my device won''t work like you hope." I finish but Ben just walks to me with his thick orange tree trunk legs. "But there is a chance isn''t there?" He asks to which I nod as its true that it''s a possibility. Ben finally stops his legs in front of me and reaches his arm out towards me. "Put it on me." The Thing says and it doesn''t seem like he''ll take no for an answer... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 14+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, Wanous, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Shawn Smith, Derrick Porter, Alex and Manuel Arauio. Thank you for the support. Chapter 95 - [AT] Waiting in an Alleyway... [After Transition] I''m continuity topping the steering wheel while waiting silently for something to happen, we''re currently sat inside my BMW rental that''s parked just inside an alleyway that''s connected to a main road and we''re waiting for the white van to eventually pass so we can follow them but it''s taken for ever and I''m getting impatient and I''m showing my impatience by continually tapping the steering wheel with my fingers as I wait but it seems like my coping mechanism is annoying someone else in the car. "Can you stop that tapping already, it''s getting annoying now?" Barbara says while rubbing her forehead but I just ignore her words in favour of asking my own question. "Where the hell are they? Are you sure that they''ll be coming through this way? What if we''ve lost them? What the hell are we gonna do?" I start word vomiting all my worries that have been brewing inside me for the long a.s.s time that we''ve been waiting in this alleyway just watching the cars go by and the immeasurable worry I get when I see that it isn''t the white van that I''m waiting for, I can''t help but worry that we''ve missed them and those kids are gonna get butchered as I sure as hell cant remember the factory I was taken to and I don''t even know if they''re even taking those kids to the same place. Barbara sighs. "Can you just relax, we''ve only been waiting here a few minutes and we definitely got to this place before the white van so don''t worry, we will definitely spot them soon." She says but that doesn''t reassure me at all (it''s only been a few minutes?), they might not even be going this way as there''s never a one hundred percent guarantee for anything in reality, nothing is assured and more often than not things will go the worst possible way, I think there''s some kind of law about that actually and I think it begins with an M or something. "But how can you be sure that they''ll come this way? They might''ve taken a turn or something and we will have completely lost them, what then?" I question but she shakes her head appearing to be sure that her answer is correct and I can''t help but dislike her for being so self assured that she''s right but that''s only because I''m very worried about those kids having the same kind of thing that happened to me happen to them and every second I sit here doing nothing is a second that takes them close to their doom. "Trust me, there''s nowhere this road really leads to so they must be coming down here, so just wait, okay?" Barbara tries to reassure me to which I do not reply and try to stop the conversation there being too worried to have a chat right now. Barbara still seems to want to have a conversation though and I don''t think there is anything I can do to stop the inevitable. "While we''re waiting you can answer some of my questions, to at least stop your stressing for a little bit at least." I just sigh in resignation before giving a resigned nod. "Ask way then." I say but I still don''t take my eyes off of the road in front of us making sure to keep my eyes peeled for the white van as well as making a nite if any if the vehicles that pass with enough storage space for the two crap bags and the three kids in case they changed vehicle. "First of all, why did you leave the coffee shop in such a rush and why are we following this White van?" She questions and not wanting this conversation to be too drawn out I strive to answer her as quickly and concisely as I can do I can put my all into watching the road though I still don''t take my eyes of the road for even a second too afraid that the van will pass without me noticing. "When I was in that coffee shop and the waitress spilled that hot coffee on me I somehow caught myself staring out of the coffee shop window and I saw that White van further down the street and I saw both the Matron and that drug dealer getting into it and not only th-" I''m just getting started when Barbara interrupts my dialogue with her own observation. "Nick, you shouldn''t be following those two, I know they hurt you deeply when you were younger but remember that you brought this situation to police attention because you didn''t want to stoop to those two''s level and you knew that you would do that if you had any deeper involvement with their arrest or anything to do with them, we should be leaving this to the proper people while keeping our distance so they can do their jobs. Leave this to the police and more importantly the Batman, let me call my dad and tell him okay." She says already reaching into her handbag/purse to get her phone but I tell her the whole situation before she can get her phone out. "I wouldn''t have followed them if it was just them Barbara, I saw the matron leading three kids into the back of the van, okay!?" I finish shouting which I didn''t actually intend to do but somehow ended up doing. "Three kids..?" She questions to which I nod. "That''s right and I could tell immediately what was happening, these three kids went wearing clothes that were too ratty and I could tell that they were more filled out than any kid living at that orphanage has any right to be without some special treatment and I know that the only special treatment offered at that orphanage is reserved for this desperate kids who are willing to be drug mules." I finish to which Barbara suddenly gets really quite not even bothering to continue to search for her phone in her handbag. "The- they''re going to go and do to those kids what they tried to do to you when they were ten?" She stutters out no longer so assured that her decision to wait here was correct knowing that lives are on the line, the lives of three young boys and so I nod my head to tell her that her conclusion is right. "They''re going to go and kill those boys in probably one of the the worst ways that anybody could die." I affirm her conclusion to which she looks very concerned but also confused. "But why? They should''ve stopped all illegal activity once they learned that Bruce Wayne was interested in the orphanage and they shouldn''t have risked doing anything illegal with so much public attention, it''s not the way that the Falcone Mob act as they''d let things die down when it gets too hot without committing any crimes even crimes as small as jaywalking. It just doesn''t make sense." She says seeming to be in denial that her actions (even if it is loosely connected to her as I''m sure that Batman is the one who made the decision) could have resulted in three young lives being endangered, but I''m here to widen her eyes to the truth disregarding MO''s and patterns with cold truth. "I don''t know how the Falcone mob works, acts or reacts but what I do know is that orphanage and those two pieces of shit, as well as that van. I can''t forget that van as it was part of the worst day of my life so you can be sure when I say that ''those boys are in danger'' that those boys are in mortal danger." She nods her head and begins to rifle through her bag looking for her phone again. "I''ll call my dad and let him know so he can bring the police and hopefully he''ll contact Batman if he doesn''t already know about the situation." She says that but I bet that she gonna somehow notify Batman through her phone while in the process of getting in contact with her father but I can''t wait for that as I''ve already waited long enough and so I put the car into to gear and put the pedal to the metal boosting out of the alleyway and turning to go down the street that the white van should be coming from. "What the hell are you doing? We should be waiting here for the van to come!" She looks up from her bag startled when I suddenly started driving but I don''t stop driving for even a second. "I''ve already waited too long and this is a two way road so I''m gonna head down it until I see the white van and once I see that I can spin around and start following it, I''ve already wasted too much time with my inaction." I continue to speed down the street serving through traffic while Barbara seems to have become resigned to my actions and continues her search for her phone. "I''ve found it, let me just call my dad." Barbara exclaims and when I look over she''s already typing away into her phone presumably calling he father as well as notifying the Bat. I just home they get here before I do anything I regret... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 14+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, Wanous, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Shawn Smith, Derrick Porter, Alex, Manuel Arauio, Kieta Aki and Darth Bane. Thank you for the support. Chapter 96 - [BT] Massive Malfunction [Before Transition] I sigh before reaching out to grab a hold of his arm and slapping the bracelet onto his massive arm before backing up a few steps incase anything unexpected happens and it seems that the others also thought the same as Reed, Susan and Johnny also backed up giving enough space for Ben if anything out of the ordinary happens though I think that''s the result we want, Ben is still in the middle of the room while the rest of us have backed up to the edges of the room interested to see what will happen to him and so we wait a moment but nothing seems to happen. "Umm, is this thing working?" Ben questions and I slowly begin to make my way towards him still cautious that something will happen though Ben seems to find my cautious pointless as he rolls his rock eyes at my actions. "It should be working, it worked on Reed and Johnny earlier so I don''t see a reason why it shouldn''t be working on you." I say and it''s at that moment that orange rock start to fall off of Ben''s body crumbling to the ground all the while his size begins to shrink in size with orange rocks peeling off of his entire body even his face which gives my a glimpse on the white skinned man that hides beneath the rocky orange surface. "I- IT''S WORKING!?" Ben shouts in shock with a hint of disbelief and I''m beginning to see more of the man beneath the rock reveal himself one orange rock crumbling off at a time and it''s at this point that the rest of the Fantastic Four realise as well, with Johnny shouting in joy and Susan smiling happily at the results. "I- I can''t believe it." Reed''s mutters shocked that my invention that only reacts with the mind seems to have worked in Ben and I am equally as shocked as I didn''t expect it to work in any capacity whatsoever apart from limiting his strength though I can''t say I''m unhappy with the results, to think my invention could even release the transformation caused in Ben by the Power Cosmic which is kinda like primordial energy or something. "U- UARGGH-" We are shaken out of our happiness by Ben''s sudden scream and it''s at this point we realise that Ben''s transformation back to being human has suddenly stalled and is apparently causing him immense pain which can be sleazy seen by the guttural screams he is releasing, the areas of his body where the orange rocks seem to have crumbled off are suddenly regaling while other areas of his body shed the orange rocks creating some kind of sickening loop in which he seems to be stuck between both The Thing and Ben Grimm. "Hold on Ben, we''re coming." Reed says while rushing to his tech pad that he left on the conference room table which he picks up and starts to fiddle around on presumably trying to figure out some way to help Ben, meanwhile Susan seems to go straight for the problem at hand and is using her invisible force fields/barriers to try and remove the bracelet from around Ben''s half rocky half human arm and it''s honestly quite sickening to know that it''s my invention causing him this pain when it should have helped him but there''s nothing I can do in this situation and so I back up to get some distance and Johnny seems to do the same as well simply because there''s no way he can apply his powers in this situation. His body is quickly switching back and forth between rock and flesh never seeming to decide on one or the other and not fully committing to either and while Susan tries to use her powers to remove the bracelet there seems to be some sort of invisible energy field, probably being caused by my invention/energy field and the power that Ben''s giving off (Power Cosmic) mixing together in some weird way, that is stopping Susan''s powers from getting too close to Ben and preventing her from interacting with the bracelet and so it seems we are relying on Reed to come up with some solution though that doesn''t mean that Susan is going to stop trying. It''s at this point that I spot something that the rest of the people in the room have failed to see and it is that the bracelet that Ben is currently wearing seems to be overheating and malfunctioning with sparks leaving the contraption and steam rising from it and it seems like it''s only a few seconds away from exploding and with the energy field that''s surrounding Ben it''s hard to say whether the explosion will be big or small and so I decide not to risk it and back up further but it''s at this point that I realise that while Reed and Johnny are far away enough Susan in her attempts to remove the bracelet has gotten very close to Ben and seems to be in the metaphorical ''splash zone'', the bracelet is going to blow up any second and so without wasting a second I quickly Spring towards Susan only hearing Johnny in the background squawking in surprise at my actions and I quickly snatch her up lifting her off of the ground and putting her over my shoulder before sprinting back towards where Johnny is though it seems that I didn''t have enough time as it''s at this point that the bracelet explodes blasting me and Susan forwards though thankfully it seems that we were far away enough not to get caught in the blast and only got affected by the air pressure real eased from the blast. While rolling on the ground with Susan in my arms I notice that the blast seems to have affected Ben as well as I see a silhouette be blasted across the room through the smoke though I don''t have time to think about it as I roll across the floor with Susan tightly pressed to my c.h.e.s.t with my hand cradling her head into my c.h.e.s.t is to prevent her getting damaged in any way as it seems my presentation has already become a shit show and I''d rather it be just one of the Fantastic Four being injured during my presentation than two and hopefully this will buy me enough goodwill that they will be willing to not kick me out and rescind my internship here, rolling to a stop on the floor with my back on the ground and Susan laying in top of me in a it of a shock at the unexpected explosion and I do my best to ignore the feeling of her c.h.e.s.t pushed against me and my arms wrapped tightly around her middle across her supple back. "T- Thanks, I didn''t realise that the device was about to explode otherwise I would''ve put up a barrier." I look down to see Susan staring up at me and I quickly let go of her sitting up while she seems to get a hold of herself and remove herself from my vicinity. "No problem, I had to do something when I saw that my invention was about to explode and you were so close to it." I reply. "Guys, are you two okay?" I hear Johnny running over to come check up on us and as both Susan and myself work our way up to our feet Johnny finally arrives helping his sister up off of the floor. "We''re fine Johnny, thank you." Susan replies while I dust my self off of all the soot and dust that landed on me from the explosion and it''s at this point that Reed runs up to us. "It seems we''re all okay, come on. We need to check up on Ben and see if he''s okay." He tells us before running off in the direction that I saw Ben''s silhouette blast off into, I guess he must''ve seen what happened to him as well. "Cmon, we need to check up on Ben!" Susan says before running off to follow Reed and me and Johnny follow closely behind her heading in the direction Ben flew off into and I can only hope that he isn''t injured too badly otherwise I''m gonna be in deep trouble, he was half human half rock monster at the time of the explosion so there''s a chance that he could have been seriously injured and what if he''s somehow ended up becoming some kind oh human/rock hybrid because of me, I need to make sure that Ben''s okay otherwise my whole reason for coming here will be in jeopardy and I won''t be able to access the information that would help forward my research. Me and Johnny finally catch up with Susan just when she stops next to Reed and he seems to be staring ahead into a cloud of smoke but I can just about make out a silhouette in the smoke and I can tell that the silhouette is raised a few feet off of the ground though I can tell that the silhouette is man shaped I can''t quite make out the thickness and size of the man inside through the dark smoke and so I can''t tell what has actually happened to Ben, Reed proves to also have the same problem and so he goes about resolving it by stretching out his arms in front of him and wrapping them around each other in a pirate before he retracts it very fast creating a force of wind that clears all of the smoke from the surrounding area and gives a clear line of sight to Ben''s location so that we can find out what has happened to him. With the smoke cleared away we all have a clear view of what has happened to Ben and I can say that it isn''t a pretty sight, I hope he doesn''t get too angry about this... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 14+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, Wanous, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Shawn Smith, Derrick Porter, Alex, Manuel Arauio, Kieta Aki and Darth Bane. Thank you for the support. Chapter 97 - [AT] On The Trail... [After Transition] I slam my foot down on to the brake to come to a complete stop in the middle of the road and impede traffic which results in cars going around me, horns beeping and a whole lot of vulgar language and gestures being thrown my way though thankfully they don''t care enough to get out of their car and come and get physical with me as that would take even more time away from the already limited time I already have to find those three kids and save them, apparently Barbara is also confused as to why I''ve stopped since she looks up from her phone that she''s been doing something on the entire time to question my actions. "Nick, what are you doing? Why''ve you stopped for? We need to find those kids now!" She shouts to which I sigh and point outside of the front window of my rental BMW and she follow my finger to look in that direction also. "This is.." Barbara mutters but I finish her sentence for her. "This is where we were blocked by that truck and lost sight of the white van, we''re right back to where we started and we''ve lost them as well..." "What!? Didn''t you see the van as you were driving down the road, did you miss them or something?" Barbara questions me to which I growl out. "I was watching the entire road the whole time, I never took my eyes off of the road even once in case I might miss them and the only time my eyes weren''t keeping a watch on this road was when we were taking the scenic route through the alleyways so either the white van passed the spot where we were waiting before we got there or.." Barbara interpreted here. "No, I know Gotham and I know for a fact we would''ve gotten to that alleyway way before they could''ve passed it, even if they were driving one of Bruce Wayne''s super cars we would''ve made it just in time to see them go by so they can''t have passed us." I continue what I was saying before she interjected. "Or they took a turn off of this road and we weren''t there to see which road they took and so we can''t follow them, either that or they turned around for some reason and took a different route. Maybe they noticed we were following them." Traffic is still going by us and there are still a lot of horns, vulgar language and rude hand gestures being thrown at us but I don''t feel like giving a shot about that right now, I''ll react if someone gets out of their cars to start something with me but for now I''ll ignore it. "No, they definitely didn''t notice us following them as we were only just about to catch up to them when the truck blocked us so they shouldn''t have had a reason to turn around and they definitely didn''t go passed the alleyway where we were waiting. So they must''ve taken a turn off of the road somewhere between here and the alleyway where we came out, if we can find that then we can find those kids and help them." Not needing anymore words to be spoken I quickly start to accelerate before spinning the car around onto the other side of the road and going back the way we came ignoring all the various reactions of the other drivers on the road to my actions as I couldn''t give two shits about them right now though I am surprised that nothing further happened as this is Gotham and I wouldn''t be surprised for some people to start blasting just for some minor inconveniences. "You said that there were hardly any turnoffs that lead to anywhere actually worth going on this road right?" I question Barbara while driving. "That was before I knew we were following a van with three kids in the back that were being driven somewhere to be killed, with a reason like that they could''ve gone down any of the turnoffs off this road." She says while rapidly cl.i.c.k.i.n.g away on her phone probably doing something to help the situation but I don''t question it, I''m coming up to a turnoff on the left now and so I slow down to see if there''s any clues that I can spot the might tell me if the white van went down this way but before talks again just as I begin to slow down. "Don''t go down there, it''s a factory that''s open today with over two hundred employees working. The white van won''t have gone down there as they need somewhere secluded to dispose of the kids where they won''t be interrupted." I guess I know what she begun to do on her phone then, thankful that she began to get information using her phone to narrow down where the van could''ve gone I speed back up keeping an eye out for the next turnoff. I continue to drive down the street occasionally slowing down a bit at any road I come up to before speeding back up when Barbara tells me that the white van won''t be down there and why which I''m thankful for as its already saved us a lot of time and I''m glad I brought her along now, I''ve just began to slow down at the next road when she speaks out again. "This place is also a factory but it''s closed today plus the gate should be tightly locked as the place has good security, check if the gates open or if there''s any tire track on the muddy ground in front of the gate. If there''s not we should move on to the next road which is the last one left and should be where the van went if it isn''t this one." Barbara says without looking up from her phone continuing to gain information on her phone as we don''t have a minute to lose, I look up at the front gat and notice that there is a padlock on the front gate and there doesn''t seem to be any fresh tire tracks at the front gate either so I''m about to speed up again when I notice something. "What about the dirt side road next to the turnoff?" I question but even as I do so I turn the car right to go into the dirt path as I just have a gut feeling that this is the place where I should be going while Barbara looks up from her phone to see what I''m talking about. "That''s weird, there should be no reason to have another path to the factory when they have a main gate, it''s not bad or anything but it is definite weird as why would they need a dirt path when they have a perfectly good entrance already." It''s at this point that she notices that I''ve turned the car and I''m beginning to go down the dirt path that surrounded on also sides by dense trees so much so that it makes it hard for even any sunlight to come through the thick underbrush of the trees above. "Why are you going down here Nick? I admit it''s a bit weird but it doesn''t mean anything, we should''ve checked out the other road as it was only a minute or so away to check that off of our list because if it turns out you''ve chosen wrong those kids are going to die, we can still turn around and check out the other road and still have time to come back here if that road checks out." She say but I don''t take my foot off of the gas for even a second. "Barbara, this is the place I can just feel it, I can feel it in my gut. I feel it in my bones, I''m not wrong." Barbara looks baffled at my words. "But what if you are?" She says to which I shake my head. "I''m not Barbara but even if I am everything should be okay as Batman should already be on his way to help those three kids ." Barbara freezes up at my words and even in this tense situation I find it a little amusing. "W- Why would Batman know?" She questions to which I chuckle. "Because you called your father and he''s probably already got a few squad cars to come out probably coming himself as well but I think that the Batman should be keeping an eye on the police as well to see if there''s any pressing situations and so he should''ve found out by now as well and should be on his way to help those kids right now." Barbara just nods her head at my explanation relieved even though I know that the scenario I gave should mean that Batman might come late but I know for a fact that Barbara contacted the Batman before she called her father and so he should be just behind us. With Barbara falling into silence I put all my concentration into following the dirt pathway, I''ll definitely help those three kids escape the same fate that happened to me... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 14+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, Wanous, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Shawn Smith, Derrick Porter, Alex, Manuel Arauio, Kieta Aki and Darth Bane. Thank you for the support. Chapter 98 - [BT] Subconscious Shenanigans... [Before Transition] With the smoke cleared from our eyes due to Reed''s ingenious use of his powers to make himself into a glorified fan we can clearly see what has happened to Ben Grimm and it isn''t a pretty sight but then again he''s always looked like an orange rock monster so I suppose although it''s still a bit ugly he''s already used to it so he probably won''t be too mad but I feel bad knowing that his hopes have been shot down, embedded into the wall about a meter off of the ground is Ben in his orange rock form more known as ''The Thing'' and although it''s a bit of a letdown that he didn''t return to his human form I''m still glad that his condition wasn''t worsened or anything as that would result in a much worser situation for me as it would pretty much turn the entire Fantastic Four against me and get rid of any of the goodwill I had before so thankfully Ben is just his normal horrifying rock creature self or I wouldn''t know what to do, the thing that I most disheartened about in this situation is not that Ben''s hopes were smashed but rather that my invention was smashed as I can see it''s no longer attached to Ben''s spirits and is now spread across the room in several different parts as it was blown to smithereens. Ben suddenly moves his arm out of the wall to grip the edge of where he''s embedded before using it as leverage to rip the rest of himself out of the wall pretty much damaging the rest of the wall as he does so but in the end he pulls himself free of the bricks and plaster to stand on his own two feet and I''m just glad to see that he doesn''t seem into be injured in any way but my mood is brought down when I see the look upon Ben''s face as his expression is s morphed into a mix of sadness and anger which he shows as he punches the wall that he just climbed out of knocking it down entirely and making an open floor planned room as we''ve now got two different conference tables in the same area as a result of destroying the wall, the rest of us stay silent at his action as we know that it isn''t right to speak up right now but Johnny doesn''t seem to think the same as he''s about to speak out and probably make an ill timed joke though thankfully Susan reaches out with her hand and wraps an about a meter force field around Johnny thankfully silencing him before Ben hears him though I can still see Johnny''s lips moving inside the barrier with no words reaching my ears, I need something like this to shut him up as well in the future. "What happened? It was working for a second but everything went wrong." Ben says despondently and I''m unsure about what to say so I''m thankful when Reed takes the initiative to speak to his friend and comfort him, maybe even give him a reason as to what happened as I''ve come up with some theories myself but I don''t know if I feel right about pitching the ideas to Ben as it might just upset him more. "Something went wrong Ben, halfway through your transformation back to being a normal human orange rocks began to grow on your human parts while the orange rocks that were already there kept falling off to reveal your body underneath and it began a cycle when you were between some metamorphosis of Ben Grimm man and Ben Grimm The Thing, never becoming either." Reed speaks out to comfort his friend but even then I still see a glimmer of hope spark in Ben''s eyes at Reed''s words. "But it was working? Meaning that if you found out what caused the problem you could fix it and then use it to make me human again, right?" Ben''s speaks out directing his question towards Reed which grinds my gears a little as this was my invention and if anyone should be fielding questions about it it should be me and not Reed, I made the damn thing and he''s only known about it for fifteen minutes. Reed seems to be trying to find the right words to say so I take this opportunity to answer Ben''s question about my device as I am the foremost authority on it, not Reed. "Ben, there is no problem in my device as it worked on both Johnny and Reed and It either works or it doesn''t work, there is no in between. Plus I''m sure that Reed''s probably already working on a way to solve your issue so I think it''s better to wait for his solution rather than rely on my shoddy device that has clearly not worked for you." I speak out and I''m confused when Reed sighs and shamefully hangs his head while Ben clenches his fists so tight I can hear the orange rocks grinding against each other and he growls at me. "REED''S ALREADY TRIED TO CURE ME AND ITS NOT WORKED, IT NEVER WORKS!! HE''S ALREADY TRIED EIGHT TIMES AND IT WORKS FOR A WHILE BUT EACH TIME IT STOPS WORKING AFTER A WHILE AND I WAKE BACK UP AS THIS THING!! I CAN''T KEEP WAITING FOR A CURE THAT WILL NEVER COME!!" Ben roars out practically deafening each of us and makes Reed''s shame burn even more though I''m surprised at the fact that Reed has tried to to cure him eight times and each time he''s failed, Reed is not the type of man to fail that many times at a single thing. We all stay silent for a few moment at his words with Ben''s heavy panting being the only sound in the room even though he hasn''t strained himself at all, it seems that in all the drama Susan released her barrier that was keeping Johnny isolated from infecting the rest of us with his stupid jokes and I realise this when I hear him speak out into the stagnant air breaking the silence. "Hey Nick, didn''t you say that either your device works or it doesn''t? Then what happened to Ben as something was very obviously working before it stopped for some reason." Johnny speaks out and I''m surprised at the fact that an actual relevant thought left his mouth and it actually has some basis, I''m also a bit angry at him as well as he''s just brought up a question I really wanted to avoid and I can now see each member of the Fantastic Four looking to me in askance wanting to now the answer to Johnny''s surprising question, I sigh before opening my mouth. "My device works by implanting a belief into the wearer subconscious and that belief is that their powers aren''t working and the only have the strength of an average human which means that it either works on people or it doesn''t as their powers don''t care about the users thought or subconscious, the fact that the process of transformation started for you only to be stalled and disrupted halfway through the transformation can only mean one thing." I speak out with reluctance as I didn''t want to share my theories at all as they are bound to anger and sadden Ben. "And what''s that then?" Ben spits irritably and I ignore it for the moment as I can imagine how he feels knowing that he might never return to being a normal man. "It can only mean that there was a thought in your subconscious that was even more powerful than the thought placed in you by my device and both thoughts must have been opposing each other which resulted in a fight between both of them in your subconscious which was essentially symbolised by the the cycle transformation you were having before ultimately the thought that was in your subconscious before my device was put on you won and reverted you back to the Thing, at least that''s what I think but I''m not a physiologist or anything so I could be wrong." I take a breath after telling him the bad news and j can see him visibly get angry at the information I''ve given him. "Who could''ve put such a thought in my subconscious? Was it Doom? Did he do it just to make Reed fail in trying to cure me? Why?" He begins to go on a tirade though thankfully he hasn''t resorted to showing his anger through his actions as that would result in a lot more damage and probably injure me as well (as I wouldn''t be able to display or use my abilities to avoid his rampage). "Ben, I think it''s best to get some sort of therapist/physiologist here to take a look at you but it would probably be best to get a telepath to give you a once over as we don''t even know if my theory is correct and even if it is we don''t know that this has been done to you by anyone." I speak out to direct his thought to how to resolve the issue at hand instead of getting angry and depressed at it but it seems that Ben chose to focus on one part of what I said instead of the message i was trying to show him. "What do you mean ''we don''t know that this has been done to you by anyone''? What other probable reason is there?" I''m getting tired of the fact that everyone here seems to be nitpicking my words and reading between the lines, looking for nuances. "It''s possible that there is a chance that.. That the subconscious thought might be your own without any.. Interference from anyone else..." Why did I say that? I''m half expecting to get punched through the wall any second now... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 14+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, Wanous, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Shawn Smith, Derrick Porter, Alex, Manuel Arauio, Kieta Aki, Darth Bane and Arun. Thank you for the support. Chapter 99 - [AT] I Need a Hero... [After Transition] We drove in silence with Barbara messing about on her phone most likely informing people about the situation as well as probably telling Batman which roads we''ve checked and telling him to check the road I decided to forgo in favour of following my gut and going down this dirt path so that I''ve I am in fact wrong then Batman should be able to save those kids and if I''m correct he will only be delayed by a little plus Barbara is here so he should be fine with checking that other road but while she was doing this I just concentrated on the road making sure to keep my eyes open for anything that might be important as well as avoiding anything that might impact the speed at which we will reach those kids as there have been a few animals and tree bits laid across the road though I''ve also seen tire tracks as well, following the dirt path we eventually arrive into a clear open field though there''s still a dirt path for me to follow but from here I notice the factory that that was on the road next to the dirt path as well as the fact that it is entirely walled in so as to make a very secure area but it can also be seen as trying to keep things as private as possible as most of the other factories we visited on the other roads were gated because they generally don''t need to be so private but for some reason this one is surrounded by brick walls which only makes my suspicions worse. Driving along I notice that we are driving parallel to the brick wall the encompasses the factory and eventually we drive past the edge of the compound and so I begin to doubt myself but after a while the dirt path begins to turn and it turns out to eventually lead to the back of the walled in factory and to a gate and I can clearly see that the gate is open but I don''t drive through it instead deciding to slow the car down and park on the grass to the side about 15 meters away from the gate so as for my car not to be easily seen from anyone inside the factory compound and I switch off the ignition of my car stopping the engine and bringing it to a quiet so as to not alert whoever is inside though I have a pretty good idea, Barbara seems to approve of my actions as she makes no move to question what I''ve just done but she does make a move to question our current situation. "Nick, this can''t be the place can it? You said that you remember the place being surrounded on all sides by open land with nothing around and only one road leading away from the little factory where you were taken when you were ten, this isn''t a little factory and there are trees around as well as another exit at the front of the compound so unless they''ve changed the location in the last eight years then this can''t possibly be the place you told us about." Barbara finishes bringing up a good question which I don''t actually have the answer to. I never in fact actually saw what surrounded the factory in which I was turned into kicked meat and sold off as what actually happened back when I was ten was that it was only me in the back of the van and when the door opened I punched the matron before trying to run away and all I saw surrounding me was a factory and walls enclosing the factory and unfortunately I didn''t have the chance to see more than that as I was shot in the leg by the drug dealer and then dragged inside the factory to be fed to a meat grinder so when I made up my story for the Batman I couldn''t say that there was a brick wall surrounding the place as that would mean that I had no incentive to stick around and get in the truck so that I could be delivered to New York and run around its streets n.a.k.e.d and covered in blood and so I said that I was surrounded by empty land and had no choice but to climb into the back of the van so as to make everything connect together and make as seamless a story as I could, I didn''t think that we would ever actually end up at this factory ever again and so the story didn''t really matter as I expected the Batman to shut it down but I guess I made a mistake when I made the situation personal for him and in doing so forced these thugs into panicked action which drove us back to this location which could very well unravel the pack of lies I''ve told and make me an suspicious in Batman''s eyes and you definitely don''t want to seem suspicious to Batman because he will sure as hell start investigating up you. I think there''s a way that I can pull this off where the version I told Barbara and the true version coincide so as to make my lies more compact and much more unlikely to unravel, all I have to do is give Barbara an explanation that is as airtight as I can make it without being easily disproved. "No this is defiantly the place Barbara, I remember that factory as it was one of the worst nights of my lives and as for the other stuff you mentioned, it was dark that night so I couldn''t really see much and when I escaped the clutches of those two assholes I ran towards the gat to see if I could escape but all I saw was empty land with a path that leads away which is the land we are on right now and I couldn''t see anything else as I was surrounded by the brick wall which I guess I forgot to mention but I was ten at the time and I guess my thought process wasn''t the best at the time along with the shit education I had but if there''s one thing that I do remember then it''s that factory. This is the place Barbara and I know that those kids are in there, I''m not gonna let what happened to me happen to them barb. I just can''t." I sigh while hoping that she doesn''t find any fault with the tale that I''ve told her. "You mean what happened to the other boy that was with you that night, right? In any case every moment we spend here is a moment wasted so what are we gonna do?" Oh shit I didn''t even notice the slip up, best to just gloss over it and hope the doesn''t pay it anymore mind. Glossing over my slip up I decide on a plan of action. "I''m going to go in there and try and help those kids while you wait here for the police or Batman okay?" Barbara looks insulted. "What''s? No way, I''m not gonna let you go in alone while I just wait out here?" She shouts most likely getting angry at the fact that I''m treating her like a damsel but I can''t have Barbara going inside there, I need the Batgirl and the best way to make that happen is to make Barbara stay out here but she''s definitely not gonna do that so I''ll have to try something else. "I just need you to wait until I''ve distracted them okay? Then you can sneak in and take the kids out to safety while I''m distracting them, I just need you to wait out here but if Batman or one of his sidekicks show up I want you to stay here and let them handle it okay?" I say to give her a reason for Barbara Gordon to stay outside while Batgirl follows in after me as I need the Batgirl there to take care of the matron and the drug dealer because otherwise I''m gonna end up killing them, while this method does work in my favour it also comes with the disadvantage of limiting myself to a normal human as I know that Barbara is gonna be watching and the two assholes are gonna live through this so I cannot reveal my abilities. "But what about you? That drug dealer probably has a gun on him, your definitely going to be at a disadvantage in there, we should just wait for Batman. You can stay here to watch the factory while I run back to the main road to flag down some of the police and get them to come here okay? This is better than your plan." Trying to get a opportunity to become Batgirl without risking my life but I can''t allow that and I thought that I could stay away but I can''t, I need to be involved in the downfall of those two sc.u.m of the earth even if their punishment is just life in prison. "I need to do this Barbara, I''ve spent eight years ignoring this and during those eight years who knows how many kids have been killed because of my inaction. This is my chance to start making up for that and I know that nothing will ever get rid of my crime but it''s at least a start okay, I NEED TO DO THIS..! Plus, I can handle myself Barbara so don''t worry okay? I''ll be fine." I say unintentionally getting too emotional at the end for some reason but I don''t question it and I don''t give Barbara the chance to question me. I immediately exit the car without giving her another glance and I begin to run over to the factory gate managing to get a balance between fast and silent incase anyone might hear me, I can''t move in with my life until I enter that factory... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 14+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, Wanous, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Shawn Smith, Derrick Porter, Alex, Manuel Arauio, Kieta Aki, Darth Bane and Arun. Thank you for the support. Chapter 100 - [BT] Using Protection... [Before Transition] Suffice to say Ben didn''t take my theory well though thankfully he just got up and ran away which I appreciate as I would have been smushed into the ground if he wanted to hurt me but anyway it''s been two weeks since that accident and I''ve continued to work here with nary a problem except from Ben giving me a wide birth whenever we pass each other in the Baxter building but apart from that everything is dandy but I suppose if there''s one thing that I was a little miffed about then it would be the fact that after Ben ran off I didn''t get to finish my presentation or even present my newest invention which was the set of relays towers that would amplify the ''No Power Field'' (I''m still trying to figure out the name for me device and any other variations of it but I think this will be alright for now) to cover a certain amount of area which would ideally be used to imprison powered criminals but in the end I didn''t get to present it and nobody asked about my project again since they weren''t really in the mood for it, I don''t think that I''ll be giving out or telling anyone about my ''No Power Field'' relays as it might be useful to keep that information to myself for now but since the bracelet is already basically revealed I''ll just wait for the offers to roll in assuming that S.H.I.E.L.D ever finds out about my device as they would most assuredly want it. In these past two weeks I''ve basically been given free reign to do whatever I want during my internship and develop whatever I want but I think this is only because right now they''ve been focusing on trying to bring a telepath to the Baxter building in order to check over Ben''s mind to see if my theory is correct and from what I''ve overheard while I''ve been trawling around these hallowed halls, definitely not trying to gain whatever information I can, Reed has been trying very hard to get a certain professor over hear to examine Ben''s mind and I don''t want to be anywhere near a telepath with an unprotected mind and so I''ve taken these last two weeks as an opportunity to prepare for the mind readers arrival and I''ve done that by developing my own special device to ward off any mind peepers in the last two weeks but honestly it didn''t even take me a week as I used the information that was available at the Baxter building as well as the information I gained while creating my ''Power Banning Bracelet'' (is this a better name? It''s got alliteration in it) to create a device that would put up an energy field around me that would stop any mind readers and then I used the rest of that week to make the device as small as possible to microscopic which I did using all the readily available information provided to me by the Fantastic Four''s database, it was at that point that I notified that I hadn''t come up with a good place to have the device on me and so came my next job for the following week. I had to come up with somewhere to have this device placed in me where it can''t be messed with by anyone or removed from me but it was at this point that I realised that people with magnetic powers existed and they would be able to easily able to mess with the device and so I spent about a day or so switching out the materials used in my device for non ferrous materials which sacrificed a little bit of the size but it was negligible but I realised that my device could be a easily fried by anyone with electrical, lighting or thunder based powers and so I decided to wrap my device in a, quite thick for the size of my device, layer of rubber before wrapping it again in a layer of non ferrous material that has low conductivity for heat and electricity and despite this my end result was still a quite small device but now I needed a place to put it and I had a great idea, I spent this rest of the second week working on implementing my design and it took quite a lot of work as I was diving into a field that although I''ve read up on and kept up to date on I don''t actually have much experience with it and so I had to focus extra hard to make sure I don''t mess up on this but in the end it all worked out even though it took a lot of hard work but in the end I was satisfied as I came up with the best way to implement my idea with the utmost safety although some may say that my chosen method is actually the most risky. The idea I came up with was to implant the device in my head as that way it wouldn''t be easily removable by anyone else as well as having it be secure and safe where no one can mess with it but this came with the issue of how to implant it in my head and as I currently don''t have anyone who I trust enough to help me do this and I don''t want to involve my butler Earl Grey as he would definitely have a problem with it so I was left like most other times in my life relying on myself but of course I couldn''t use my own two hands to get it done and so I decided on the next best thing which would be a machine be lit by my own two hands which would implant the device in my head and I did this by building a kind of medical station that only had the items and tools that would be needed for my operation (as I did not have the time to add anything else though what I''m making could be a lucrative innovation for the medical sector) as well as making a simple artificial intelligence though it would probably be closer to a virtual intelligence as I''ve installed it into the medical station as well as giving it all the information that would be needed for my procedure and what to do if it was to go wrong (the VI bit) but that wasn''t enough for me as something unexpected might go wrong and so I downloaded as much medical information as well as general knowledge relating to my procedure into the machine so it could go over the information itself and make a decision if anything unexpected was to happen during the procedure (the AI bit) though thankfully I''ve made the decision to keep the machine quite simple without that much freedom as I don''t need a Skynet situation happening. On the last day of my two week free period I waited for Johnny to go out partying while Reed stayed at his own lab, Susan went to her room and Ben was being depressed somewhere in the building and he wants to stay as far away as possible from me at the moment which is perfect and so I hacked the security cameras in the room which I''ve mainly been working in feeding it a loop of myself moving around working before beginning the procedure with my medical station using anesthetiser on myself before my head was actually opened up and I know it would have been better to do this at my bas.e.m.e.nt at home but I had an oversight and developed my medical station here and by the time I thought about it my medical station was already built and I didn''t have anyway to remove it from the building and so I was forced to adapt and do it in the Baxter building as I didn''t know when the mind defiled would be coming and I''d rather have this device implanted in my head now then risk it and come into contact with professor mind sweeper before I was ready and have all my most intimate thoughts revealed as well as my true origins and my meta-knowledge, I am glad that I went through with it though as I now have a permanent mind shield around myself that will keep nearly every telepath out of my mind (I doubt that I would be able to fend off the mind attacks of the Phoenix and I''m a bit iffy about resisting a host of the Phoenix). Immediacy after my procedure was done and my medical station had served its use I completely erased all the data in it as well as eradicating the budding artificial intelligence in it before completely dismantling my machine and getting rid of all the parts and destroying any component that might have once held the budding AI in it and that is because I don''t want to create an AI right now as I''m sure that I''d mess it up and the only time I''d be comfortable with creating an AI would be when I''ve analysed as many already existing and stable AI''s as I can and have discovered the similarities between them that keep them loyal and obedient and I don''t think I''m gonna make an AI before then unless I''m confronted with an unforeseeable situation which I don''t think is gonna happen, apart from that nothing has really happened much in the past two weeks that wasn''t the same as before as I''ve just attended my lectures at ESU sometimes getting in a tutoring session with Mary Jane here and there and that''s pretty much it. Now I can just concentrate on using the information in the Fantastic Four''s database to further my personal research... ________________________________________________ We have officially reached a hundred chapters with a grand total of 150,213 words. Woohoo and thank you to everyone that has been reading my work. I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 18+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, Wanous, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Shawn Smith, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Kieta Aki, Darth Bane and Arun. Thank you for the support. Chapter 101 - [AT] Splashing the Gas... [After Transition] I get to the brick wall that encloses the factory and I hug myself against it all the whilst moving along until I get to the edge of the open gate and get a look inside to see what''s happening and if I wasn''t sure before then I definitely am now as I now have a clear view of the entirety of the factory hidden behind the brick walls and I am getting hit by trauma as I remember this place to the exact tee (at least the parts I had a chance to interact with) such as the place the van in which I was held captive was parked and which I escaped from though it doesn''t seem to be there now, I remember the path I took while running away and I remember when that path stopped because I was shot in the leg courtesy of the drug dealer and I can see the exact spot where I fell to the ground and though you wouldn''t be able to tell now as the ground is as clean as can be for a factory but I can still tell, cutting myself from my reminiscing I begin to search the rest of the place with my eyes and I am upset when I discover no white van in sight but I''m still not discouraged as I spot a garage door (the bay opening things that all factories have) that''s opened on the side of the factory which is the same factory where I myself was once treated to the unsavoury behaviour of those two pieces of shits and it''s my bet that the van is inside. Taking one quick look around to make sure that there''s no one around to seem me I notice that there are cameras all around the place but after further inspection I discover that these cameras are in fact turned off which must mean that the owner of this factory is probably involved with this or this owned my someone from the Falcone mob but I''m not much bothered about that now as its perfect for me that the cameras aren''t on so no one will be alerted by my presence and so taking advantage of the opportunity that had been awarded to me I decide to press my advantage and silently make my way across the stone paved ground towards the open garage door and making sure to take cover behind the brick wall next to the opening before risking a peek around the corner to see what I can see and hopefully find out that they haven''t killed those kids yet, poking half of my head around the corner I can clearly see the white van parked inside not too far away from the garage doors facing inwards but it was also blocking my view and so I took the risk and quickly moved inside before taking cover behind the back of the van before taking a breath and then again poking my eye around the corner on the lookout for the victims and the aggressors and I am momentarily shocked stiff as my eyes are inescapably drawn to a simple looking machine in the middle of the factory and despite its unassuming appearance I knew what sordid secrets it held as I was once stuffed inside that machine and turned into minced meat that was soon sold off and it still sickens me to know that at some point my lumps of flesh were owned by someone with the sole purpose of consumption and it haunts me. "Hurry it up you idiot! We don''t have all day!" I hear a screechy voice that snaps me out of my funk and I quickly hid back behind the van hoping that I wasn''t spotted while I was zoned out of it and I concentrate on my hearing to hear everything inside the warehouse, it kind of annoys me that I have to do this as my enhanced hearing should be able to hear for quite a long distance but because of the feedback and sensory overload I eventually overtime ended up limiting my hearing and other senses and I didn''t even realise it since I didn''t have much use for my abilities in the past and the only time it would all start working properly would be when I was working off of adrenaline and I was in a life and death situation and this is a major flaw so you can be sure as shit that I''m gonna resolve this in the future but for right now I''ll make do. "Shut the f.u.c.k up Bitch, we need to do this properly and rushing it will just mess that shit up so shut the F.U.C.K UP and keep on pouring it!" I hear a deeper male voice reply in response to the screechy voice and i would recognise those two voices anywhere as they were imprinted in my mind the day their owners shoved me down a meat grinder but I stave off the burning hatred that is burning me inside and instead try to focus on what I need to do which is find those kids and rescue them before these two fulfil whatever wicked ideas or growing in their psychotic minds right now. Again poking my head around the corner but this time slowly as to not arouse any attention I sweep my eyes over the entire factory in search of the two Devils in human skin, keeping an eye out for the kids as well as they are my main priority right now though I wouldn''t say no to giving them both a good punch but I don''t know if that would count as a sin and I''m not willing to risk my life for those two c*nts. "Are we even supposed to be doing this? Won''t this lead back to us since we''re just splashing this stuff around the place, it''s not exactly gonna look natural is it." I hear the screechy voice call out with clear concern and it surprises me that the bitch actually has emotions that aren''t negative as I didn''t see hide nor hair of them the entire time I was under her care, though I suppose concern for your own wellbeing would fit right up her decrepit alley. "So you are fine with shovin'' those kids of yours down a meat grinder and then selling them off as food but you''re a bit worried about some arson? Haha, you gotta sort your priorities out you old bitch." I hear the deeper male voice chuckle in response and when I lay my eyes on the both of them my suspicions are confirmed when I see that they are both moving around the factory lugging around dome jerry cans with them and they are splashing gasoline about every which way making sure to especially cover certain machines and I notice that they are particularly focusing on the meat grinders strewn around the factory, I guess they used whichever one picked their fancy for their sordid crimes. The matron scoffs out in derision but otherwise ignores his comment in favour of her self preservation, was I once like these guys and only caring for myself? "I''m serious, won''t the police know that this fire was deliberate and investigate because of that. Won''t they find out about everything we''ve done? What are we gonna do then?" She says that put she still continues to to pour out the gasoline trying to drown the entire factory in the contents of her Jerry can even while she has doubts about the safety of what she''s doing, I bet she''s got no other option and she''s choosing to rely on his criminal expertise and experience but in response the other guys just sighs before speaking. "Listen, here''s what''s gonna happen. We set this place on fire with the kids inside and with them all the evidence of what we did and then when the firemen come to put out the fire there gonna get a pat on the back before being sent home with a nice little bonus and then when the police come were gonna make sure it''s one of our guys who know when to look the other way, when the insurance guy comes to make sure it isn''t arson me and my buddies are gonna take him out to a strip club, get him some drinks and maybe get a few girls to keep him company and at the end of the day he''ll have taken care of the paper work without ever have stepped foot in the building and after all that is over one of our peoples construction company are gonna come in to clean up the debris and build something new while making sure to get rid of everything that was left over from the fire including any remains of the kids." He continues with his explanation to reaffirm her and keep her from freaking out. "After this fire apart from the firemen who are gonna look the other way no one else is gonna enter the building until our construction guys come to build a new way for us to profit while getting rid of all the evidence of our old operation, with Bruce Wayne looking into the orphanage it''s gotten too hot and it was only a matter of time before one of those super freaks came and busted the place so it''s good to get ahead of the curve and take care of this now before anyone discovers it. Everything will be fine, we''ve done this kind of thing a million time so calm your saggy t*ts okay?" He finishes with a demeaning remark but even then the matron just looks relieved to know that she''ll be getting away with their crimes. "Well what are we waiting for? Let''s burn this place to the ground!" This bitch definitely needs to be stopped... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 18+ Chapters. A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Shawn Smith, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Kieta Aki, Darth Bane and Arun. Thank you for the support. Chapter 102 - [BT] Surprise Guest... [R.-.1.8] [Before Transition] I have just arrived back at the front door of my house after a tiring day at the Baxter building though I am glad with all the progress that I''ve achieved even though in its tiring and stressful, I put my keys in the door and unlock it all the while looking out into the drive and finding it strange that Earl''s car isn''t hear though I don''t pay it too much attention as I open the door and enter into my own house only to be surprised at what I find waiting for me which appears to be a beautiful blonde girl that I''ve known all my life, standing in my living room is one Gwendolyn Stacey who seems to have been waiting for me as she leapt off of the couch as soon as I came through the door and so closing the door behind me I ask her a question. "Where''s Earl? He''s usually here around this time?" I question while walking over to her and Gwen seeing me moving closer begins to smile before answering my question. "Well I asked Earl to leave as there''s something I wanna do with you tonight and thankfully he agreed to my request and won''t be back till tomorrow which should be enough time for me and you to hang out." I finally close in on her and stand before her. [R.-.1.8] I smiled softly down at her. "Alright. What would you like to do?" I asked her and she smirked at me. "Well, I was thinking that you and me haven''t hung out or even had any fun together lately so I was hoping to rectify that." She said leaning in and pushing herself further into me and so I leaned back some until I fell back and was now laying down on the couch she was just sitting on while she was on top of me giggling. "And how are we going to go about rectifying that?" I asked her with my breaths getting a bit heavy. "Lay back and relax for me, would ya." She said with a smirk before she kissed me deeply and I''d forgotten what her lips felt like, they were soft and moulded to the shape of mind and reacting to her I stretch my hands out to grab her waist while her arms slowly sn.a.k.e.d around the back of my neck consequently her large b.r.e.a.s.ts were squished up against my c.h.e.s.t and her tongue began to play with my lips until I slowly opened them while we continued to kiss. She ran her tongue against mine and they danced as our lips stayed connected and we stayed like this for a few minutes before she slowly pulled her lips away from mine. "I was thinking we could try some physical bonding? Very physical." She said smirking sultrily and we were both breathing a bit heavy trying to catch our breath from the make out session we had just endured together, I slowly unzipped my pants and then lowered them and then I took everything off except for my u.n.d.e.r.w.e.a.r leaving my boxers for her to deal with which she decided to take on whole heartedly as she smirked while running her hand down the length of my body starting at my c.h.e.s.t and ending just above my boxers. "Wow, impressive. Is it just me or have you gotten even more muscles since the last time I saw you?" She said humming softly as she admired my chiseled body which I had in thanks to part my new spider powers and in part to my own training though I have been slacking lately. She leaned down and started to kiss on my c.h.e.s.t before slowly trailing her kisses down to my abs before then running her hands along the slowly growing tent in my boxers and smirked. "I wonder if this has also improved since I last saw you?" She question while slowly pulling my boxers down off of my legs. "I think your''e going to be pleasantly surprised." I said smiling to which she giggled finding my remark slightly amusing before her eyes grew wide at my member. "You really have grown, you gotta share your secrets with me." She laughed with trace amounts of shock before l.i.c.k.i.n.g her lips as she slowly wrapped her hand around it, she began to slowly stroke me while biting her lower lip some with her eyes glued to it. "A good diet as well as regular training and exercise doesn''t steer you wrong." I said sarcastically to which she shook her head and smiled before she lifted her head up to look at me and locked eyes with my own and her lips turning up into a grin before she leaned down gently placing her lips on my tip and humming softly which sent vibrations down my member and I let my head lay back in response as I tried to calm my breaths but then she started to take me into her mouth and started to Bob her head gently all the while keeping one eye on me to witness my breaths grow more out of control and giggled letting the vibrations return which added another layer of p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e and I pulled my self out of my haze to look back down at her and her long blonde hair dr.a.p.ed over one of her beautiful blue eyes as she continued to suck on me with the one eye that I could see still looking directly into mine. She began to speed up her motions and I felt her her tongue moving all around my length and tip inside of her warm mouth and my disappointment was immeasurable (and my day nearly ruined) when she removed her lips after a while but I was even more happy when she began to start l.i.c.k.i.n.g and s.u.c.k.i.n.g on my sack while her hand worked and pumped my shaft, the movement of her mouth sent a euphoric feeling all over my body until she removed them once again though her hand still continued to slowly jerk me as she hit her lip still smirking and moved her other hand to move the beautiful blonde hair from her face. "I''ll definitely be getting plenty of exercise tonight along with a nice yoghurt." She cooed which removed all of my restraint as I reached out and grabbed her face and pulled her close to me now making her hand move from my member and she now placed it on my c.h.e.s.t. Our faces were now mere inches apart before I closed the distance and started to kiss me and she began to embrace it by reciprocating my actions as I moved my hands to her lower back and started to remove her clothes before I pulled her shirt clean off of her as we now kissed each other hungry for more of each other with her lifting her arms to let me take off her shirt and they came back down to clasp my cheeks and the other side of my neck but now her b.r.e.a.s.ts which were still encased in her bra pushed against my b.a.r.e skin as I let my hands move down further and start to remove her pants from her delicious legs which she assisted me with as I did so by squirming her way out of them before she threw her clothes to the side of the couch and I now placed my fingers between her legs and started to tease and rub her since she still had her p.a.n.t.i.e.s on. This caused her to give off quick and sudden breaths in reaction to my movements as we continued to devour each other''s mouths before she seductively but my lip and pulled on it a but before releasing it from her hold and before I knew what was happening she was quickly removing her bra and deciding to help her undress I pulled down her p.a.n.t.i.e.s before I picked her up which caused her to laugh and let out a small surprised Yelp as I did so before I chose to silence her by spinning her around and pinning her up against the wall with her face pressed up against it before I grabbed her h.i.p.s and trusted myself into her causing her to most loudly, she gripped her nails against the wall as I began to start pounding into her trying to find something to grab but she could do nothing but try and stay standing as I rammed her up against the wall continuously. Her m.o.a.ns only grew as every thrust caused a thud on the wall and I just hoped my neighbours won''t be able to hear our actions but I didn''t care enough to limit my actions as I looked at her face only to see her eyes begin to roll to the back of her head as her b.r.e.a.s.ts shake as I sped up my thrusts even more with my pelvis smacking against her perky a.s.s cheeks and it got louder as I went on due to my force increasing and she didn''t need to her our body''s clap together get louder to tell her that I was going hard and had no intention of stopping and I knew this because of her m.o.a.ning turning into near screams, she started to try and bite her lips together to quiet herself but it didn''t do much as I then chose to swing her around and throw her back down onto the couch before I rolled her so that she laid on her side and I lifted the leg that was highest up over my shoulder spreading her legs apart before I began to thrust into her again and this position let me see her face much easier and clearly along with her perfect bouncy b.r.e.a.s.ts. I reached down and started to play with and pinch her n.i.p.p.l.es as I pounded into her and she was loving it just as much as I was. "S-so.. Damn... GOOD!" She called out with one word every thrust and I smirked at her words and continued on enjoying her incredibly tight and drop dead gorgeous body that looked like it belonged to a goddess and as I continued I could feel her body growing tighter and she but her lip hard and gripped her own b.r.e.a.s.ts trying to hold in her screams of p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e as she came all over my member too overcome by my railing, I myself was getting close but I wasn''t there yet and so I continued to thrust into her a few more times before she pulled away and so I followed her actions by bringing jet leg down off of my shoulder and she laid down on her back and waved her hand for me to come closer while letting out one last smirk even with all the heavy panting she was doing. I straddled her body on my knees and moved closer so that she could place her lips around my tip and suck on it while also letting her tongue run up against it as she teased me to which I let out soft breaths before she took my full length into her mouth and started to move her lips up and down my entire shaft which led me to let out grunts of p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e with her doing this between my legs it kept the hair out of her face as it laid under her on the couch, I had to bend my body over done so that I didn''t have to bend my shaft as much and this allowed her to take me in even more as she deep throated me without gagging and I started tonight lay move my h.i.p.s in response to help her as I propped my body up with my hands against the arm rest of the couch. She tried to pick up the pace of her bobbing which only caused more p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e to be sent through me and I loved every second that her lips were wrapped around me with her entire body seeming to be silky smooth from her skin to her lips and even her gorgeous blonde hair and without thinking as p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e overtook me I pressed my member deeper into her mouth but she didn''t hesitate and continued on proving that she was extremely good at this and it drove me to my end, she felt my me,bet beginning to throb and she pulled her mouth away still pumping my length in her hand very fast as I exploded with my warm white seed going all over her face and down to her b.r.e.a.s.ts but she just giggled with that cute smile plastered across her face the whole time. After I had completely finished she gently kissed my tip and licked off some of my seed from it gently as she dragged her finger along her body collecting some of it on her finger tips and s.u.c.k.e.d it off her fingers while staring up at me the whole time. "So damn good, huh?" I asked panting and laughing. "Definitely. You overwhelm me." She said seductively before I got off the couch smiling and picked her up while she laughed before I began to head up to my room with her hanging onto my shoulder in a fire mans carry to continue on the festivities upstairs. This women has her hooks in me and I love it.. But some times I think the hold she has over me can be dangerous... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 18+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Shawn Smith, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Kieta Aki, Darth Bane and Arun. Thank you for the support. Chapter 103 - [AT] Foreboding Dread... [After Transition] With the matron now being much more enthused about pouring gasoline all over the factory she quickly gets to work pouring it out like its candy know that she knows that none of this will come back on her and I''m disgusted with the way she''s acting only caring about herself and whether she would get in trouble and not caring about all the kids she''s killed and for some reason I hate her even more than the drug dealer because she was entrusted with the care of countless children and she''s using it for her own profit in the most gruesome way possible and it''s because of this that I hate her more than the drug dealer as that guy is just doing this for profit and he''s not been entrusted with children but rather taking advantage of the matron who has but I still want to kill both of them no matter who I hate more but I can''t do that, with the matron being much more enthused I notice her beginning to walk to the from of the van and I begin to hold my breath when she''s nearing and I see her heft up her jerry can about to pour it over the front of the van when she''s stopped. "Ay yo, what the f.u.c.k you doing? Are you stupid bitch?" The drug dealers voice calls out while walking over to the matron to pull the Jerry can out of her hands. The matron clearly confuse tries to go about explaining herself. "What do you mean? We''re burning all the evidence right? That includes the van as well so I was about to pour the gas on it, why did you stop me?" She yells out and I find it hard not to face palm at her answer though clearly the drug dealer doesn''t have the same problem as I clearly hear his hand slap against his face whole I''m trying to hide behind the van. "Ahh." I hear the matrons voice gasp out and I''m beginning to think that wasn''t his hand hitting his own face but his hand impacting her face, the bitch deserves it though. "You dopey a.s.s cracker! You dumb, huh? How the hell are we gonna leave this place if you burn the f.u.c.kin'' van that we came in? You dumbass!" He shouts at her not afraid that anyone would hear him as he currently thinks that they''re all alone but he will find out that he''s wrong soon, I can hear the matron beginning to physically cower and whimper from his shouts though that doesn''t sent stop her from speaking up and asking another question. "B-but doesn''t the van also have evidence in it? Are we not burning it? What are we gonna do with it then?" She starts stuttering but eventually finds her stride and asks a string of questions and I can hear the drug dealer physically sigh. "Of course we''re gonna burn it but we needed it one last time to drive the kids up here and so we will need it to drive out of here once this place is burning but after that I will take it to the middle of nowhere like an abandoned lot or something and set it on fire before leaving it there and getting a ride back from one of my friends. Ya happy now?" He tells her but I can still hear the bitch asking questions, she is really proactive when it comes to her own crimes I guess. "But then couldn''t we have burn the kids in the van instead of in this factory? Wouldn''t that be better as if they''re just in a van in the middle of nowhere then it''ll be fine right? No one will find them?" She really does have a lot of concerns doesn''t she, selfish bitch that she is. "Trust me when I say it''s better for them to be burned to death here than in the back of a van. With it being here at least we can control the situation as we own this area but if it in the van it would need to be nowhere near our territory as we wouldn''t be able to interfere and if it''s in our territory we would be a suspect, anyone can find the van after we''ve burnt it but there''s a difference between a burnt van that no one will really care that much about and a burnt van with the remains of three dead kids in the back. The cops would definitely investigate that and there would be no way for us to control the situation so it''s better that it''s done here, just focus on pouring the gasoline and leave the thuggery to me, alright." The drug dealer explains tiredly clearly not wanting to be here with this woman but I guess he had no choice or something, who gives a shit really? With that over they both spread off to keep pouring gasoline over the places trying to link all the fluid on the ground next to each other without creating to many big piles or too many trails so that will keep them busy for now and I can focus on the important thing now which is finding those kids and from how they were talking about it I know for a fact that they haven''t done anything to them yet but I can''t seem to find them anywhere in the room and even with my enhanced senses I can''t seem to find them so I begin to suspect that they aren''t in the factory and are maybe being held in some other building for the time being or something and it''s frustrating me that I can''t find them, I''m about to leave my position at the back of the white van and go exploring the factory and any other near by building when I''m hit with a sense of dread that''s not really that powerful but is a bit concerning but it seems to die down after I stop moving so I''m about to try leaving again but I''m once again hit with a sense of dread and after a while I realise that this is my spider sense as I haven''t used it that much since its been on the fritz since I came to this universe and it still seems to be acting up now and it starts tingling every time I try to leave my spot at the back of the white van where I''m hiding. Still it seems to be activating every time I try to leave my position so it can''t be a coincidence and it''s definitely trying to tell me something but the danger it''s blaring at me isn''t really that dangerous though it is weirdly alarming and I''ve looked around but I can''t spot anything that seems to be a threat to me and every time I try to leave my position my spider sense activates and I''m hit with a sense of foreboding as if I''ll regret it if I go in that direction or I''ll regret it if I leave my current position behind the van, even though it''s been on the fritz for a while I''m going to believe in my spider sense and trust my instincts as this is the first time it''s ever been so consistent with its reading in this universe and the last and it''s startling me and it''s because of that fact that I''m going to stay at this position but I still do t like it as I need to find the kids plus this van is giving me really bad memories as its the same van that I was once locked in the back off when I was ten years old and I can remember that it was sound proof because no matter how much I listened I couldn''t hear anything from the outside world and I remember that no matter how much I pounded and screamed no one was.. Able to hear me... From the inside... Sure,y there''s no way right? I mean they can''t be that dumb to leave the kids in the back of the truck as well as leaving the backdoors pointing towards the exit as well, I mean that is way too dumb of them if it was true but then again they do think they are the only ones out here and they want to get this done as soon as possible as well so it''s not impossible that they left the kids in the back of the white van while they poured gasoline all over the place and they were gonna get the kids out after they had done that it light both the kids and the factory on fire at the same time, they do think that they have gotten away with everything and they are currently getting rid of all the evidence that would incriminate them so maybe they are getting a bit too lax and they''ve made a few mistakes. Deciding not to waste anytime I quickly crouch and pull my lock picks out of the pocket on the inside of my jacket and I never leave the home without it as its something that Earl made sure to stress in my very limited lessons with him but I appreciate and abide by them all the same (I do miss the old guy, I hope he''s well right now) and I''m glad I do as if I didn''t have it right now I would need to use my super strength to get into the backdoors which would have a high probability of exposing that I am super human and put me under some peoples watchful eyes and some of those eyes are worse than others and I don''t mind Batman as he could appear to be very nice when compared to some of the other shady arseholes out there who seriously need to be taught a lesson but one which I''m afraid I will be unable to give as it would definitely count as a sin which I can''t swing right now, I immediately get to work trying to pick the lock while being a silent as I can go not alert the others. Up, down, up, down, left, right, twist left and then twist right and with a click the back door is open though the click was very audible and loud in the silence of the building so I hope no one heard it... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 18+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) Chapter 104 - [BT] Losing Sight... [Before Transition] I''m currently on my way to the Baxter building and it''s the day after I had slept with Gwen which I had enjoyed immensely and I don''t think I''m bragging when I say that she enjoyed herself too but I had some major problems the next morning when I woke up with her laying on top of me and I once again used the ol'' ''hug and roll'' technique to escape from her tight grasp ol'' since the hot blonde was luckily still asleep on my arm and we were still cuddling so I first implemented part 1- I first slowly and gently hugged Gwen who was half on top of me making sure to stay in this position for a while as to not immediately wake her up, I knew that she was kind of a heavy sleeper from past experience but I still don''t want to take the chance of waking her up, I hadn''t actually seen her for a while and the first thing we had done was have s.e.x so I have to try to do this as quietly and efficiently as possible because if she wakes up I''m gonna be stuck here for a while. I decided to then hug her more tightly and slowly began to hug her and roll towards her side of the bed making sure that she is traveling down along the length of my arm as I do, again making sure to do this as slowly as possible, then it''s time for the next step. Step 2- immediately after hugging her and moving her down the length of my arm I quickly and smoothly rolled away from her making sure to pull my arm out from underneath as I do so finally making my escape. After that I had quickly dressed up in my semi formal clothes prepping to go to the Baxter building and I was actually pretty early so I decided to chill out at home but before that I cleaned up all the mess we''d made the night before as I didn''t want Earl to have to clean that up and I collected Gwen clothes and folded them before silently placing them in my room where she was sleeping and with that complete I was free to start watching the TV on low volume so as to not wake Gwen and after that I spent time making coffee and a full English breakfast because it''s my favourite and I''m patriotic when I feel like it and since I''m not an animal I decided to make another pot of coffe along with a full English breakfast for Gwen and I''d just finished it at the perfect time as I needed to leave for work and so I left the coffee and full English breakfast on the kitchen counter still piping hot before i left the house making sure to slam the door really hard behind me so as to wake Gwen up from her sleep so that she could eat the food while it''s still hot and after that I quickly legged it to the car and started it up before driving off as I didn''t want Gwen to catch me though I did leave a note that I did have to go to work so hopefully she won''t be too angry though I''m not holding my fingers crossed. And so right now I''m currently driving ''Chantelle'' my personally customised Audi R8 on my way to the Baxter building hoping I won''t get held up by too much traffic but this is New York so it''s pretty much guaranteed though sometimes you do have those small miracles like when you hit green lights all the way to work though I haven''t had anything like that happen to me and I very much doubt that''s there''s gonna be no traffic on the way to work unless hells frozen over and though I was from England in my past life and I lived pretty much my whole life in a small town this was a major change fro me as I was suddenly shoved into a new life that took place in the sting bustling New York City and I''ve gotta say that over the time that I''ve lived here I''ve really come to love it even with all the pigeons and rats, the crime riddled streets and the stale New York air which I slowly acclimatised to, part of the reason why I love this city so much is because is because of Gwen who I met for the first time in elementary school and she was so much smarter than all the other kids there that I naturally ended up hanging out with her rather than fraternise with the rest of the idiots and that trend carried in through they years and we always hung out often going to each other''s homes (my parents forced it at first but eventually I started to enjoy it) and she had the same interest as me which was science and she could even hold a conversation with me about it even knowing more than me in some fields. She was even there when I found out that my parents died and she comforted me though I didn''t really show how much I appreciated it at the time since I started to isolate myself from her and everyone else (except for Earl as he was my butler) focusing more on my research to travel to other world that weren''t just parallel universes of this one but actual other multiverses but even then she didn''t give up on me and came to visit me everyday often just sitting beside me in silence when I ignored her and focused on my research and she did that for quite a while before I eventually ended up getting angry and shouting at her asking why she was still there but then I noticed that she was crying and instead of answering me she kissed me and I forgot about everything else and we ended up losing our v.i.r.g.i.nities together that night and after that although we never technically said it we were ''together'' and we stayed that way for the rest of our first year in high school though I still spent most of my time on my research though I noticed little by little I was beginning to spend less and less time on it in favour of hanging out with Gwen, it got to the point that I was spending half the time I used to spend researching actually hanging out with Gwen and I was beginning to have doubts about what I was doing though I never voiced them even though they were there and I really began to fall in love with Gwen but I never actually said it to her. And then during summer break before my second year of high school which is actually just nearing its end now (even though I tested out and started attending ESU which is coincidently the same place Gwen attends but that''s just a coincidence) she told me that she had tested out and was going to start attending ESU and so that''s what happens while I started my second year at Midtown high and after that even though we tried we stopped hanging out so regularly often only meeting up occasionally which would only be a friends with benefit s.e.x session which is all that we had time for as Gwen was so busy and I actually reverted back to how I was spending most of my time focusing on my research before I eventually hit a wall and decided to find a way to get into the Baxter building to help further my research (which I''ve accomplished and am now doing) but that still doesn''t change the fact that I was deeply involved with Gwen, even now I''m still thinking of her and I care so much about her that it''s dangerous and diverting my attention away from my research and I discovered that once she had gone to ESU and we stopped hanging out so much that she was limiting my research and I think eventually I would have stopped my research entirely if she didn''t leave and that''s too horrifying to think about so I try to keep my distance from her but every time I see her I''m swept away by a wave of emotions and it''s why usually the morning after I run away. Over the course of the last year we''ve met up quite a few times (at least once a month, often times many more) and always end up having s.e.x and always the day after I leave her asleep and run away so that she would get mad and angry and stop coming back to me but rain or shine she always turns up and never seems to be angry or anything and so the cycle has continues even though I leave her every time hoping that she''ll stop coming because I''m worried that one of these day I''m gonna stay in bed and end up never leaving this universe in order to be with her and I want to fulfil my parents wishes for me as well as my own goal and Gwen is a constant doubt in my mind every time that I see her and so I hope she''ll stop visiting me but she never does, I guess she must be addicted to me because I''m practically just having s.e.x with her and then leaving and still she comes back so I don''t know what''s wrong with her as any sane woman would definitely have a problem with that and might even go as far as to start ripping up all my clothes and shit so I''m really confused by her, she confuses me and puts all my thoughts in disarray which I can''t afford. It''s at this point that after navigating and serving through the New York streets and taking some back alley shortcuts I''ve finally arrived at my destination which is the Baxter building, it''s time to get to work and hopefully forget about Gwen for now as even now she''s still distracting me. She confuses me... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 26+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Shawn Smith, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Kieta Aki, Darth Bane, Arun And Tyler A. Thank you for the support. Chapter 105 - [AT] Rookie Hero... [After Transition] I wait holding my breath just waiting to see if anyone heard the click and was coming to check up on the van but after waiting a few moments I realised that no one was coming and so I relaxed and finally preparing myself I slowly opened one of the backdoors of the van so as to not alert the two arseholes prowling about the place but also to not scare the children inside the van incase they would shout or scream if I opened the back doors too fast and shocked them but instead of risking that I''m taking things slow as to not alert the two bastards in the building and assure the safety of these children as much as possible, with the backdoors of the van being slightly opened some rays of lights were able to get by me and light up some of the darkened back of he van allowing me to spot the children inside who were curled up in a corner looking up at me in fright clearly scared as they do not know who I am or what I want and so I go about relieving them of there worries straight away by holding up a finger to my mouth to tell them to keep quite before I Ben to whisper to them. "Stay quite, I''m gonna get you out of here alright, do you understand?" I whisper to which I see the two front and older boys nodding there heads and confident that they''ve all got the message I start to beckon them towards me with my hand. It takes a few assurances before eventually one of the older boys who was in front of the other boys began to inch forward towards me which pushed the kids behind him to follow his lead and start to push up as well making sure to stay behind him and from what I could see the first boy looked around eight years old with another eight year old behind him and next to that eight year old is a seven year old who doesn''t quite seem to understand what is happening but seems to be trusting the two older boys who have clearly noticed what kind of person the Matron is just like I did at their age and I''m glad that they understand as it makes a lot less hassle for me, eventually the first boy started to near me before he stopped and once I took a proper look at him I noticed it was because he was wary of me and not wanting this to take longer than it had to or upsetting the kids I began to smile at them and slowly back away from the van making sure that I was out of eyeliner for anyone inside the building and I mainly did this to show some goodwill to the kids and hopefully gain there trust so that I could further along this problem and get them out of here much quicker and it seems to be working as the boy in front takes the lead and get to the door and hesitating before he finally decides to hop out before taking a look at his surroundings to get his bearings. After he does he comes to the conclusion that he''s somewhere that he shouldn''t be and so he takes the lead and begins to walk towards me in the hopes that I might help him but there''s clearly still some distrust in his eyes and so I wait till the other eight year old boy gets out of the van behind him which seems to have emboldened him a bit so in confident enough that I crouch down and put my hands on his shoulders to keep Jim''s steady and get his attention which he flinches at but otherwise doesn''t show much of a reaction and taking it as a good sign I decide to start whispering to him and giving him some instructions. "Listen to me, once the other kids are here I want you to grab each of there hands before following me to the exit where I''ll point you towards the gate and from there your going to run towards it and once your outside it you''ll see a car which my friend is in so go towards that and if she isn''t there just hide behind it as help is on the way, okay? Nod if you understand." I tell him to which he nods and it is at this point that the other eight year old gets here with the seven year old kid following him while holding onto the back of his shirt as he''s clearly confused but is choosing to follow the older boy and I nod to the kid who I talked to and understanding me he grabs the hands of the other two kids and it is at this point the I get behind them and start to usher them out of the building when I notice that the kid is going to open his mouth to say something so I clasp a hand on his shoulder before shaking my head. "Stay quite kid. Just remember what I told you." The kid just nods his head and stays quite while holding onto the other two kids hands as I continue to shuffle them to the exit. We are at the garage opening of the factory and just outside with me looking at the kid jerking my head towards the kid which he seems to understand as i want them to go to the car while I stay here and make sure that these two assholes don''t leave the place before Batgirl gets here and captures them and I know it''s selfish but as soon as Batgirl gets here with those two still inside I''ll leave and go back to the kids, I realise that the kid still isn''t moving and so confused I quirk an eyebrow at him which he seems to understand as he answers my query. "What about the other kid in the van?" He questions and my mind goes blank as he says that as I''m completely befuddled and dumbstruck, what other kid? I only saw these three kids being shoved into the back of the van by the matron and no one else although the backdoors was already opened when I saw her doing that.. Could it be that there was already a kid inside the van which I didn''t see but why the hell wouldn''t I have noticed them when I just freed the other kids inside the van? "Go kid, go outside the gate and to the car like I told you to. I''ll fetch the other kid, go." I whisper to him in a stern voice to which he nods and heads off dragging the other two kids along behind him and once I notice that I I diatom get into action as I spin around and start to make my way back over to the van as quickly and quietly as possible to get this other kid that I apparently missed. I''m not a f.u.c.kin'' superhero and I don''t swing around in spandex, I''ve never done this type of thing before or ever been in this type of situation so I don''t have enough experience to get everything right the first time and I just assumed it was three kids in the back of the van as that''s the amount of kids I saw getting shoved into the back of the van and I didn''t think anything of it but when I looked into the back of the van I only saw those three so unless the kid was lying to me I either missed the kid entirely (but that''s impossible) or he was behind the other kids and I didn''t see him which must mean he''s younger then them probably five or six and i really shouldn''t have backed away from the van to give the first kid some breathing room and just trusted that the other kids would follow him as its my mistake because if I had stayed at the van instead of backing away I would have noticed that there was another kid in there and I wouldn''t be panicking right now, I finally reach the back of the van and I look inside panicked making sure to check every inch of the van but no matter where I look I don''t see a kid anywhere but I doubt that the eight year old boy was lying to me so why isn''t this mystery kid in here? He clearly not in this van anymore so he must''ve got out when I was leading the other kids to the exit and wandered off and because I was focused on those three kids I didn''t realise it, f.u.c.k I''m really shit at this kind of stuff and if in the future I''m ever faced with such a situation I''ll probably leave it to the professionals instead of half-assing it and messing it up. I bring my head back out of the back of the white van panicking as to where the f.u.c.k this kid could''ve gone and so I start to frantically look around this place looking for any kind of clue and I know for a fact that they haven''t gotten by me and they definitely haven''t left the factory building which must mean that they are somewhere inside which also means that they are in danger as the matron and the drug dealer are so where in this factory building as well and they are definitely gonna get pissed if they find one if the kids they had locked in the back of the van walking around willy nilly, I quickly peek my head around the corner of the van and I spot a five maybe six year old kid walking around in the middle of the factory and it''s at this point I realise why he didn''t follow the rest of the kids and it''s because he was just recently released encrusted by the matron to be a drug mule using her brainwashing methods and so he very much likes her right now and is probably looking for her which is why he didn''t follow the other kids who have been drug mules long enough to know not to trust the matron. I start to quickly and quietly manoeuvre my way towards him thankful that he doesn''t seem to notice me as he''d probably run away and I''m getting closer to him hopeful that I''m gonna be able to snatch him up without alerting anyone when he suddenly shouts out "Matron!?" and runs off around the corner... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 26+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Shawn Smith, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Kieta Aki, Darth Bane And Tyler A. Thank you for the support. Chapter 106 - [BT] X Gon Give it to Ya... [Before Transition] I walk out of the elevator on the thirtieth floor of the Baxter building which is the reception and it has the upper half robot named Roberta manning the desk though she completely ignores me already having identified me and quantifying me as a non threat so she says nothing as I exit the elevator and walk across the room to the elevator that would take me to any of the top five floors of my choosing but as always when I entered the elevator I pressed the button for the 34th floor as that was where I would meet Susan every morning of my internment and she would make note that I was here before we both headed of to do whatever it was that we wanted to accomplish for the day only sometimes having some small talk although that has been occurring less and less frequently in recent days but I''m sure it has nothing to do with her view if me and more to do with how busy she has been in recent days as have most of the rest of the Fantastic Four (except Johnny and I hardly see Ben so I have no idea what he''s been doing), when the beep sounds the elevator doors begin to open (the elevator is so smooth and swift that you hardly even notice that your moving) and I step out onto the 34th floor but I''m a bit puzzled as usually Susan would already be out in the open waiting for me as I''ve made sure to always be on time but for some reason Susan is nowhere in sight and I''m a bit puzzled as to why and so I decide to investigate by using my enhanced hearing to see if I can hear anything. Using minor powers like my enhanced senses isn''t too bad to use even if I''m trying to hide my powers as long as I don''t reveal to anyone the information I''ve gained from my superhuman senses everything should be fine and so I strain my eyes while looking around confusedly so as to play it up for the cameras that are definitely watching even though I can''t see them and as I''m doing so I pickup some faint sounds of conversation within one of the briefing rooms though I can clearly make out whose talking or how many people are in the room as pretty much all of the base has been upgraded and modified so as to be soundproof especially the briefing rooms where important business goes down so I''m unable to clearly tell what''s happening in the room but I can only assume that Susan is in there and I need to inform her that I''ve arrived in the building so I start to walk down across the room occasionally knocking on and opening some room doors as I wouldn''t be able to explain how I new exactly where she was and I don''t want to act too suspicious in front of the cameras, eventually I come upon the door that has people on the other side of it and so I knock on the door when I hear the voices inside quiet with my enhanced sense and taking that as my cue I push the door open slightly just enough to get my head and a bit of my upper body through the door way and I see inside the room to see what I can see. "Uh, hello?" I awkwardly call out as I look at the people in the room whose conversation I seem to have disrupted. "Oh Nick, it''s you. I completely forgot that you were coming in today, sorry. You can just go ahead and start working on whatever it is your focusing on right now." Susan calls out to me and I am eager to comply as I want to leave the room as fast as I possibly can as I''ve just scanned the room and apart from bored Johnny and mopey Ben who are sat on a couch and Reed and Susan who are sitting at the conference table across them are some people that I have never met before but I know exactly who they are just from looking at them and I definitely don''t want to be near them for a prolonged amount of time so I''m just about to leave the room and go about my day when I''m stopped abruptly by one of the new guests speaking aloud. "Hold on a moment young man.." I hear a wizened English accent call out behind me and I stop in my tracks before slowly turning around to face the man in question as I have no other choice en though this is a situation I dearly wanted to avoid based on my knowledge from comics and other portrayals of the man sitting at the table and I couldn''t leave even if I wanted to as the man spoke aloud when everyone else was quiet so I can''t just pretend I hadn''t heard him as that would obviously be a lie. "Yes? How can I help you?" I call out politely to the man just hums in contemplations before asking a question that I was expecting as soon as he stopped me from leaving the room. "Yes, are you perhaps a mutant? Or do you have any powers in general." He asks me. I show genuine surprise on my face as even though I expected him to ask this question I''m still surprised by it and while I try to think of a response I go over everything I know about this man in my head which isn''t much except that his name is Charles Francis Xavier also known as ''Professor X'' and I know that he was a brilliant student, attending multiple schools throughout his educational career before finally attending Bard College in his early teens and graduated from Harvard University when he was 16 years old intent on undertaking graduate studies, Xavier entered England''s Oxford University to gain his Ph.D.s in Genetics and Biophysics and he was drafted by the government and was sent to Korea during the Korean War where he and his step brother Cain Marko served in the same unit (who coincidently discovered a mystical ruby in the Temple of Cyttorak that transformed him into the superhuman Juggernaut) after which he went to Egypt where he met Ororo Munroe and defeated an evil ancient mutant or something, I''m not too sure what actually happen but I know that it was what started his need to help humans and mutants coexist or something and that''s pretty much all I can remember about him apart from all the mind manipulation and f.u.c.kery he apparently does on his own students but I''ll wait till I''ve actually properly interacted with the man myself than base my life in the knowledge I have from the comics as there''s no assurances that they are correct. I''m about to answer his question when I''m interrupted from doing so by the other person who has tagged along with the Professor on this trip. "Professor?" Ororo Munroe asks in question as to why he suddenly asked such a question and I must say that she is a stunning dark skinned woman who looks like an gorgeous Nubian goddess with her shining white hair in contrast to her dusky complexion and it''s clear that Johnny shares my opinion as his eyes have pretty much stayed on her this whole time and he doesn''t seem to be listening to the conversation but instead of paying attention to that I try and focus on what I know about this beautiful woman which is that she is the descendant of an ancient line of African priestesses all of whom have white hair, blue eyes, and the potential to wield magic though I''m unsure if Ororo ever does use magic and at the age of five a plane crash destroyed her home in Cairo (Egypt) and her parents were killed but she survived buried under rubble near her mother''s body which had a traumatising effect on her which left Ororo with severe claustrophobia that I think she still has and she managed to escape the rubble of her shattered home with nothing but the tattered clothes on her back and became homeless and orphaned before she was found by a gang of street urchins who took her to their master who trained her in the arts of thievery and she soon became his prize pupil, excelling in picking both pockets and locks, during her time in Cairo as a thief Ororo picked the pocket of Charles Xavier and he discovered her but I don''t think he took any actions and after that. I think that somehow she ended up wandering for thousands of miles and almost dying during her trek across the Sahara Desert but she awakened her mutant ability to psionically control the weather and she eventually arrived at her ancestors'' homeland of the Kilimanjaro Valley on the Serengeti Plain in Kenya where she was taken in and taught to be responsible with her powers and Ororo soon came to be the object of worship of the local tribes who believed her to be a goddess due to her gift to command the weather but I''m not quite sure how she ended up joining the X-Men after that but u think that Charles recruited her when his students were in danger or something, I''m not too sure actually but I''m snapped out of my thoughts when I hear the Professor answer Ororo''s silent question. "Now now Ororo, I''m only asking as I can''t actually read this young man''s mind. In fact I wasn''t even aware of his presence in the building till he entered the room." Well shit, my mind reader protection kind of blew up in my face... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 26+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Shawn Smith, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Kieta Aki, Darth Bane And Tyler A. Thank you for the support. Chapter 107 - [AT] Grabbing a Kid... [After Transition] The kid ran around the corner out of my sight and I knew that the jig was up so I said balls to the wall and I started to run after the kid not caring about any noise I might be making but even so I made sure to stay within human limits as I knew that Barbara also known as Batgirl is probably around and would definitely take note if I start to use super human abilities but I''m assured that running at my current speed will be fine since I know that Batgirl is nearby incase anything happens and I''m also pretty positive that I''ll be able to catch up to the kid before he can get to the matron as I was already quite close to him when he ran off and so I round the corner and immediately I''m proven wrong as soon as I turn around the corner as I immediately come face to face with the drug dealer who is only a few meters away from me and no longer lugging around a jerry can as well as the matron who is standing a bit behind him lugging around two jerry cans in her hands but the one thing I''m immediately alarmed by is the fact that the kid is struggling in the drug dealers grip and still trying to get to the matron while the drug dealer is pointing his arm towards me and within his hand is a pistol that is pointing in my direction and about to fire at me, I know that I can easily dodge such a bullet but I still don''t want to showcase my abilities so I''m about to lunge back behind the corner to take cover just slow enough for the bullet to nick my arm at which point I would still my regeneration to keep up appearances but just as I was waiting for the gun to fire and set my plan into motion it''s thankfully stilled by the fact that I notice something whizzing towards the drug dealer out of the corner of my eye. With my enhanced abilities I can clearly see a Batarang flying towards the gun in the drug dealers hand and I can see that it is just a plain black Batarang though it does have a few yellow indents and thin lines along it that categorises it as belonging to Batgirl and I notice a little seam/indent along the middle of the Batarang which I surmise is probably where it''s folded as a way for easy storage in a utility belt and as I watch it spin through the air I''m baffled by the fact that it''s named as a mix between a bat and a boomerang as its more like a shuriken as it steaks through the air but I suppose that naming it as a Batarang does make it a little less threatening so I guess it''s not without purpose but as I watch it fly towards the gun in the drug dealers hand that''s about to fire at me I take a quick moment to think about how I''m going to play this and so I decide to completely forgo my previous plan as I''m sure that the gun will be knocked from his hands before he can fire which gives me a lot more options, going forward with my new plan time resumes and instead of darting for cover I resume my (normal within human capabilities) run towards the drug dealer completely ignoring the gun in his hand having complete trust that he will be disarmed before he has the chance to shoot and I''m proven right as the Batarang clashes against the gun in his hand before he can fire it and knocks it to the floor out of his hands and stunning him in the process which coincidently makes him let go of the kid and gives me the opportunity to shoulder barge him in the c.h.e.s.t sending him sprawling into the floor and I''m not ashamed to admit that I used more force than necessary and probably broke a few ribs but I couldn''t help myself given this little chance to inflict some pain. The reason I chose this course of action was because it would mean I can get closer to the kid faster and grab him as soon as possible rather than wait behind a corner giving more time for them to react but I also did this to show Barbara that I have no abilities as I would have used them in that situation as well as show her that I didn''t retreat when at gunpoint which will hopefully earn me a few points with her though that was only a small part of my reasoning with one of the biggest being the chance to inflict some damage on one of my two former torturers without drawing attention to myself as well as getting away with it but I don''t have time to think of that right now as I immediately grab the kid who had fell to the floor at some point in the exchange and hug him to my c.h.e.s.t before standing up and turning around but it''s at this point that the matron decides to take some action in the panic and she does the first thing she can think of which is throwing one of the jerry cans that she had at me which I easily dodge and watch as it hits against the front of the White van splashing some gasoline out onto the van before dropping to the ground and pouring more gasoline out onto the floor which began to pool together around and under the van but I had no point to think of that as I had a primary objective to get out now even with the kid struggling for freedom in my arms going as far as to bite me though I don''t pay it any mind concentrating on running at human speed towards the opened garage doors. As I run I hear the sound of something dropping to the ground and a sloshing sound and I take the chance to look behind me to see that the matron has dropped the other Jerry can to the floor which begins to pour out gasoline onto the ground and she begins to run towards the drug dealer who I notice has gotten up at this point and has reached behind his back to reveal another gun which he takes out and points out in my direction before thinking better of it and instead beginning to aim and look around the rafters clearly recognising the object that knocked the previous gun to the ground was a Batarang and so he began to search the rafters in search for the Batman or his sidekicks clearly thinking them the bigger threats here and I agree as I begin to focus on running again but I spare a second to look up into the rafters and unlike that drug dealer I spot with my eyes Batgirl standing in the rafters near the entrance of the factory and I clearly recognise the fact that instead of immediately fighting with the two arseholes she''s instead protecting me and the kid by disarming the two and keeping them at bay with batarangs waiting for me to get out with the kid before she decides to take them on and it''s at this point that I also take notice of her ensemble which is a dark purple nearly completely black costume which is part fabric (probably Kevlar or something much better) as well as part metal plating which has been placed in vital areas allowing for protection as well as flexibility and I notice that her cape is completely black aside from the yellow on the inside as well as the yellow boots, gloves, insignia (BatSymbol) and utility belt and I notice that her helm reveals much more than Batman''s as it basically reveals all of her lower face even with the mask wrapping around her chin as well as her eyes which I notice are a clear blue no matter which angle I look at them from which is different from her regular eyes and different than a few adaptions of Batgirl she has her ears inside of the helm instead of outside of it and I notice that the bat horns on her helm or much more thinner and lengthier than Batman''s. I don''t get much more time to look at her as I notice that she has a Batarang in her hand which she flings out behind me most likely to disarm the drug dealer again and as I continue to run nearing the white van I decide to show my appreciation by shouting out "Thank You!" Into the vast open space of the factory making sure not to look directly at her and I noticed cue that she looks towards me when she hears me shout but that proves to be a mistake as I''m shocked when I hear a gun fire two times in a row and I watch as two bullets fly past me and I turn my head around just in time to notice one of Batgirl''s batarangs knock a gun out of the matrons hands and I notice that it was the first gun that was knocked out of the drug dealers hand so I suppose she must have picked it up and fired it at me when I accidental distracted Batgirl so I''m just happy that she''s a bad shot and missed us but when I turn my head back around to keep on running I realise that she must''ve hit the front of the van which I''m just nearing and ignited the gas which was on it from the Jerry can she threw at it and the fire has spread across the front of the van and has spread to the gas on the ground which has pooled on the floor under the van and I realise that I shouldn''t be so close to it and so I quickly turn my back on it and try to run away from it but I''m afraid that it''s too late. The van explodes behind me sending me flying forward and I make sure to hug the child closer to my c.h.e.s.t and wrap my arms around him to protect him but as I''m thrown forwards I notice that the explosion of the van has ignited the rest of the gas poured around the factory and the place is quickly lighting up. This situation is getting really bad... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 26+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Shawn Smith, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane And Tyler A. Thank you for the support. Chapter 108 - [BT] Professors Powers... [Before Transition] With everyone in the room looking at me I decide to answer and since I already thought of someone one day asking about my immunity to mind readers I already came up with a precaution though I didn''t think I''d have to use it this soon but then again I knew that some type of mind reader was going to visit this building to inspect Ben but I thought it might just be someone like Dr Steven Strange who would view his mind through magical means or maybe Agatha Harkness as I know that the Fantastic Four has some kind of tie to her but I''m unsure how that came to be though I think it had something to do with Franklin Richards that doesn''t yet exist in this reality though the chance of it being a mutant mind reader did cross my mind and I just hoped to skirt by them and avoid the, which would be pretty easy as Charles already revealed that he didn''t even know of my presence till he saw me but unfortunately I walked right into the middle of a meeting between the Fantastic Four and Professor X and the professor isn''t the type of person to ignore anything that catches his interest as he''s quite the busybody, having already thought of this situation when I was implanting my ''Mind Field'' (is that a good name?) I speak out my already though out excuse. "I''m afraid I''m not a mutant sir, in actual fact I merely have a device on me to protect my mind from anybody that has the ability to interact with it." I say managing to catch a glimpse of disappointment in the man''s eyes at the fact that he hasn''t discovered another mutant for his sick collection (powered people in a school together is a recipe for disaster) but it quickly leaves his eyes more interested in how I''ve managed to protect my mind. "Oh, why would you do such a thing? Mind readers aren''t so common that you would have to go out of your way to get protection for yourself." He asks in question and I reply with the honest truth as I see no reason not to. "I knew that some type of mind reader was going to be visiting the building soon and so I took precautions to protect my own mind." I say aloud and Charles looks a little confused about how I knew about his arrival here and seeing this Susan steps in to add her own tidbit. "It was actually Nick here who suggested that Ben might have.. Psychological issues that are resulting in his.. Form." Susan says aloud pausing at times to choose the correct words to not offend Ben but even so I hear him growl in the corner though thankfully that''s all he does and nobody seems to pay it any attention so I don''t either, Xavier hums in thought before asking his own question. "Well even if young Nick''s theory is incorrect it doesn''t hurt to have a check of the mind though I am curious why you took such precautions young man? Surely you knew that whatever mind reader that came to this building would be invited by your mentors the Fantastic Four and given their trust and credibility it would only be right to assume that anyone that they did allow access to their personal home would be someone they trust, so why did you choose to take such precautions?" He questions and though he sound quite judgemental and accusatory I can tell that he is merely interested in my choices and holds no other intentions, I''ve piqued his interest and he''s the type of personal that likes to unravel others and figure them out just because he can and he finds it interesting though sometimes that leads to a bad ending but right now I don''t mind answering his query and maybe even enlighten him a little. And so I begin to speak without blunting my views on mind readers (though I''m sure if I myself was a mind reader I''d have very different views) and I don''t hold back, I''m pretty miffed about such people with the power to control minds. "I didn''t make this device purely just for you Professor as I was always planning to make something to protect my mind from outside interference it''s just that your arrival made the subject a lot more urgent for me and so I went about making the device before your arrival just knowing the fact that I would be in close proximity to a mind reader, don''t get me wrong I don''t have a problem with mutants or anything but I would have a problem with anyone who has the power to interact with others minds no matter the source of their powers and it''s for the simple reason that people''s minds should remain their own." Charles hums in thought. "What do you mean? Please enunciate." He asks me to further explain my views which I am glad to do. "The memories make the person and to know that there are people out there who can mess with your memories and effectively change who you are as a person is frightening, would I still be myself if my mind was altered by a telepath even if they did so with good intentions? I''m sure that you wouldn''t use your powers in such an amoral way but there are definitely people out there who would and even if you wouldn''t use you powers in such a way I would still find it hard to interact with you without some form of protection from your telepathy." Charles nods to my explanation in understanding though he still seems to want to unravel me and figure out why I have such a paranoia but I can''t exactly tell him that all the fiction in my last life led to such a paranoia as I''ve seen movies and read comics and stories which show just how bad mind control can be with some examples being from this very universe. "And why is that?" He furthers the conversation. "Because even with your powers that are specifically focused on the mind I doubt that you have full absolute control of your ability and that means that you could be affecting others minds without you fully knowing, maybe your own views and thoughts are affecting the world around you without your knowledge because of your powers and you don''t even realise it, in general I think it''s wrong to fully trust any ability that specifically interacts with the mind." I finish and am a big irritated when Charles begins to chuckle while everyone else in the room looks introspective and in thought probably contemplating my views. "I assure you young man though your thoughts may be correct about some other lesser experience telepathic people in the world I have honed my ability over a vast few decades and have put my all into mastering my craft, I am in absolute control of my mental faculties and my power doesn''t affect others unless I want it to. I have taken steps over the years to ensure that my powers would never harm others unless the need arises of that you can be assured." I frown at his self assured mess and I want to pop the little bubble that surrounds him, I know that when he says he''s taken steps over the years he''s actually talking about altering his own mind, at least I think so because if I remember correctly when he first decided to lead the mutants to coexistence with humans he decided to use his powers to rid himself of any flaws that he had or negative thoughts or views with his powers and I respect the dedication required to put your all into a single path but that self experimentation of his also had a lot of side effects that he hasn''t even noticed and nobody else has noticed it either and one of the major side effects I believe is that he is very self assured in his actions often doing things with good intention without fully thinking about it and I so want to open his eyes to his faults even if I''m unsure if this realities Charles Xavier took such actions I know he''d still make bad decisions for the greater good (honestly, sometimes I think Sir Ian McKellen and Sir Patrick Stuart''s roles in the X-Men movies should have been reversed as Professor X is a lot like Dumbledore). "Can you say that with one hundred percent certainty professor? You powers are based on your own mind and it uses your own mind to work so wouldn''t it be correct to say that you have gained control of your own mind in order to control your powers but even so everyone has a subconscious so while you may believe that you are in full control of your powers your subconscious which is also part of your mind is affecting the people around you without your knowledge so unless you have full control over your own conscious and subconscious I would say you have still yet to fully control your powers. No one is perfect professor, even if you are a mutant you should never forget that you are still a human and even the most perfect of humans make mistakes and have flaws and that''s just a part of humanity and to denounce that would be to say that you aren''t human, to not question yourself would mean that you are either in one hundred percent control of yourself or just ignorant of the fact that you aren''t, no offence professor." I say getting the rant out of my mind but even then there are still things I held back as I shouldn''t know about them and it would be frankly rude to say some of that stuff to someone I just met. "No offence taken young man, you have given me quite a lot to think about and it amazes me that even an old man like myself still has much to learn about the world.. I believe you''ll go on to do great things in the future and I expect to hear about them..." Well I''ve just gotten his attention haven''t I, I don''t want it though... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 26+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Shawn Smith, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, Tyler A and Zed. Thank you for the support. Chapter 109 - [AT] Sweet Karma... [After Transition] Landing roughly in the ground I toss and roll across the floor before coming to a standstill facing the ceiling which was weirdly tinted orange but when I looked around me I saw the fire spreading all throughout the factory with the flames burning high and bright but another thing I noticed when I looked at the ceiling of the factory is that the ceiling was collapsing from the explosion of the van and when I looked to where the hell splashing originated I see nothing but piles of debris piled up and burning away with most of the debris being metal and when I look above at the ceiling where Batgirl was once hiding I notice that it has collapsed and has blocked the exit effectively trapping us in here but what I''m more worried about at the moment is Barbara''s location as the rafters she once hung off of have now collapsed to the floor in a fiery rage so I''m worried where she could''ve ended and I didn''t have time to keep track of her after the matron got her hands on the fallen gun and started firing at me and the kid in my arms and speaking of the kid he''s no longer struggling in my grasp as he''s calmed down and is just gripping onto me tightly which I honestly prefer as it makes it easier on me to not worry so much about what he''s gonna do but for now I have to focus on trying to get out of here with the kid before the fire spreads to o far and we can''t get out but also before this kid inhales too much smoke and dies as I''m fine inhaling the smoke because of my enhanced abilities and powers, standing up I make sure to keep the kid tightly grasped against my c.h.e.s.t with one of my hands making sure to press his head into my chance to make him less likely to breathe too much smoke but I''m afraid that this isn''t such a good preventative measure so I''m gonna have to hurry up and find another way out of here as the garage opening is no longer feasible on account of it being barricaded by so much debris and I don''t have the time to remove it plus it''s on fire as well. I begin to look around the place looking for a possible exit that doesn''t require me to use my powers to escape from but so far it looks like I won''t have a choice as pretty much all sides are blocked off by raging fires and the opening I do see at the moment are on the factory ceiling which is half collapsing but I''m afraid I don''t have my web shooters on me to help me get up there and I would need to use a wall or surface to wall crawl up there but unfortunately all my paths to any such surface are blocked off by fires but I suppose I could just use my enhanced jumping ability to leap up there as that would be easily done but I would have to do it perfectly so that the already crumbling ceiling doesn''t collapse when I jump out and land on the roof so that is a last resort as I don''t want to use any of my powers to escape if I can find any other avenue to escape without my powers but if I''m left with no choice then I can use the roof holes and just hope that no one spots me though that seems up in the air right now as I don''t actually know Barbara''s fate and if she''s in any position to see me using my powers, I look around to see if there''s anything I could maybe use like a fire extinguisher or some rope or anything that might be useful but I don''t seem to be able to find anything and I now know that life isn''t as convenient as video games where you''ll find a fire extinguisher in the kitchen suspending in mid air surrounded by a blue aura and spinning slowly to show that you can pick it up and so it seems my last option is to use the ceiling and escape using my powers but first I want to make sure that Barbara isn''t watching me or anything because I''m pretty confident that she''d be able to escape the blast being and experienced and trained as she is but still I shouldn''t shirk the idea that maybe she was caught in the explosion and is trapped somewhere and so I begin to close in on the debris that now stood in place of where the van was whole also straining my ears to see if I can hear her with my enhanced hearing but all I seem to hear is the roars and cracklings of the burning fire. I''m nearing the burning debris to see if I can spot Barbara through it or hear her by straining my ears but it seems that she must''ve gotten clear of the explosion as I can''t see any traces of her not even the batarangs she threw earlier as they''ve probably already been swallowed up by the bristling fire and reduced to ash but as I''m straining my ears I manage to hear something coming from the direction that I found the kid at send so I begin to walk towards it while trying to focus my hearing to block out the crackling of the fire to see if I can identify what the sound is but as I near I can also begin to see some figures and silhouettes through the fires and I can just about make out there figures of which there appear to be two though one is a lot less lively than the other and it isn''t too hard to figure it out who is on the other side of the fire and they must''ve been lucky (or unlucky) enough to find themselves in a clear spot that wasn''t consumed by fire but as far as I can see that doesn''t seem to be for long as they are pretty much trapped there. "HELP! PLEASE HELP ME!!" I hear the screechy voice of the matron call out through the fire but even that is a little difficult to fully make out and for a moment I give Rome thoughts to the possibility of answering her pleas and helping her and the drug dealer survive as leaving them to die while having the power to save them might count as a sin and doom me to death and I''m not about to die just because I didn''t save these f.u.c.kers and so I begin to think about how I might save them, the fires are too high so I won''t be able to get through by jumping over them, the ceiling is too unstable for me to jump up and attach myself to it to get over to them. I don''t have a fire extinguisher to help me put out the flames to get to them, I don''t have my webshooters to help me either and my enhanced abilities don''t seem to be able to help too much in this situation but if there''s a chance that they can be saved and I don''t find it and end up being killed by the Spectre than I''m gonna be pissed so I begin to rapidly look around my surroundings to see if there''s any avenues I can find to help them and each second I don''t see any options I only feel better but I can''t spend too much time here as the child in my arms is in danger as well and I''d much rather save his life than theirs but as I try and look around that doesn''t mean that those two are staying idle, I might even go as far as to say they are being very detrimental to their own situation and they don''t have enhanced senses so they don''t know that I am on the other side of the fire trying to figure out a way to help them no matter how much I don''t want to but that doesn''t seem to discourage the matron as she continues to screech out for help. "SOMEBODY PLEASE SAVE ME! I DON''T DESERVE THIS!!" The matron screeches out but it seems like the drug dealer has had enough as he promptly stands up from where he was sitting on the ground and shouts at her. "Shut the f.u.c.k up bitch! We wouldn''t be in this situation if it wasn''t for your dumbass so the least you could do is shut up and let me die in peace without listening to your annoying f.u.c.kin'' screeches!" He bellows to which the the matron retaliates with her own words. "Shut up! This is all your fault when you decided to go and burn this place to the ground along with those kids, we would have been fine if we just left things as they were but you had to go and decide to shut down the good thing we had going, YOU," she finishes punctuating her last point by poking him in the c.h.e.s.t really digging her finger into him which he shows when he reacts to he actions by pushing her back and away from him. "GET THE F.U.C.K OFF ME BITCH!" Unfortunately for him he pushed her a bit too hard and far as she only managed to stabilise herself before falling into the flames but that wasn''t enough as her arm still brushed against the flames and caught her sleeve upon fire which quickly began to spread across the rest of her sleeve and start the process of lighting her on fire and I began to her her screams in anguish and worry and in her panic she began to frantically move around and thrust her arms in all sorts of directions trying to blow the flames away but oxygen just makes a fire bigger which was being shown as the fire began to grow and start consuming her and she in her panic began to realise that waving her arm around wasn''t helping and she decided it was better to move her whole body and so she began to run around while on fire in pain and screaming in anguish and she ran right into the drug dealer who also consequently caught on fire oddly starting with his sleeves as well which lead to a chain reaction of them both being conducted,ed by the embers and running around in panic all the while both of them screamed hellish screams of anguish that I took great p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e in hearing and I was glad that they ended up killing each other before I figured out a way to save them. With all the screams the child in my arms naturally got curious and began to lift his head up to look around but I pushed his head back against my c.h.e.s.t and this time I made sure to cover his ears as he definitely shouldn''t be listening to their dying screams, me on the other hand? I''m going to enjoy this for what it was. Karma, sweet karma... ________________________________________________ I had my exam on Friday which I''m sure you''ll be happy to now I passed, it was then my birthday on Saturday and I''m now 20 years old. It''ll be back to your regular scheduled chapters from now on, enjoy. I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 36+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, Tyler A and Zed. Thank you for the support. Chapter 110 - [BT] Late Introductions... [Before Transition] With my conversation with the professor pretty much over I decide that I''m going to leave to focus on my project as I''d much rather do that then stick around and find out the results of Xavier''s search of Ben''s mind which I''m not really bothered about and I''m sure I''d know the result anyway if in the next few days I either see a new human that I''ve never seen before walking around the building with no orange rock monster in sight or I see the same old grumpy orange rock monster that probably hates me for unveiling the truth to him but either way I''ll love with it, I''m about to say my goodbyes and leave the room when I''m interrupted by Johnny. "Hey man, where''s this mind protector doohickey then? Is it on you? Is that a new earring? What does it look like? Can you make one for me?" Johnny rapidly spurts out and I take a moment to digest it but I also take a moment to come to terms that even though Johnny doesn''t look or act that smart he sometimes has pretty good questions and observations that no one else has though thankfully I''ve already come up with an answer for some of the answers he''s asked me. "The ''mind protector doohickey'' is currently on my person, this is a new earring thanks for noticing and in fact this earring holds my mind protection device in it so that it is close to my brain to work more efficiently. I can''t actually make you one Johnny as this device I''ve made has been specifically calibrated for my own mind to make sure it is more powerful and potent but unfortunately I can''t make one for you as I wouldn''t be able to make one for you without extensive research as i would need to analyse your mind and i don''t know if your powers would prevent my device from working on you as you have what Reed calls ''The Power Cosmic'' powering you and i wouldn''t know the first thing in how to go about getting around that, sorry. You''d be better off asking Reed to make it for you as he knows about your anatomy than me." I say speaking truthfully as I have no need to study the power cosmic as it is too unreliable and sporadic of a source and I wouldn''t know how to gain any powers from it as it could go badly wrong like it did for Ben and there''s no system for what kind of powers it grants people so it would be best that I leave it alone and just let Reed research it but I''m afraid he doesn''t research how it affects people and the people who do know how it works are much too dangerous and I''d much rather leave it alone than get anywhere close to them. "Oh, bummer. Well Reed, can you make me one? Also nice earring dude, it''s not too much so that I don''t question your s.e.x.u.a.lity but it isn''t scrappy enough that I question how much pot you smoke on a daily basis plus you got it on the right ear. I got an earring in high school and made the mistake of getting it in the wrong ear and I was very confused when I started gaining the interest of a lot of boys, I was flattered but I had to let them down easy." Johnny compliments and I can hear Susan begin to chortle at his expense. "I remember that, it was the funniest two weeks of high school until you finally found out that you had an earring on the wrong ear and stopped wearing earrings all together." That does sound pretty funny and I''m glad I didn''t make the same mistake as Johnny as I got my earring in my left ear and although that doesn''t mean much nowadays I still prefer it and the earring I had pierced into my left ear is just a simple silver stud that isn''t too big and I''m happy with that as I don''t really like my earring but I need it, I had the medical station pierce my ears when I was having my brain implant put in the other day and that''s because I knew that eventually people would discover that I''ve protected my mind against mind readers even if I didn''t expect it to be so soon and instead of them knowing that it''s an implant in my head I have them think that it''s an earring in my left ear which is close enough to where the implant actually is in my head that they shouldn''t be able to find the implant and this is good as it acts as a red herring and might potentially help me out in the future plus I''d rather people didn''t know I have an implant in my head against mind readers. "I can''t believe you let me walk around for two weeks like that and dint tell me, anyway Reed can you make me one? I wanna make sure that when I end up with a girl that it''s not because I''m being mind controlled, you have no idea how many times a girl has snuck some fake love potion into my drink thinking that it would actually work and I''m not worried that one time it might actually work but I''d still like to be careful." I stifle my snort as I''m pretty sure that he actually has quite a healthy fear of that but doesn''t want anyone to know and it''s clear that Susan also thinks the same as I can see her cover her mouth to stop Johnny from seeing her smile. "I''m sorry Johnny but it would take too long to come up with such a thing as well as making it calibrated to you specifically to withstand the cosmic power also I would have to make it fire proof and there are bigger more important things I have to focus on. If I have any time though I''ll try and look into it." Reed sighs and pretty much just rejects Johnny but quickly ad-libs at the end to let Johnny down easily which Johnny just nods at though he doesn''t seem to have much hope for that, After they both stop speaking the room remains silent for a moment before I decide to make my move and try to leave the room and go focus on my project. "Right, well I''ll leave you guys to it and I''ll go focus on my work. It was nice to meet you two." Saying so I turned around and made for the door but I was stopped by the professors next words now that he''s finally stopped being silent while we all had our little moment. "Hold on a second young man, you should stick around and wait for the results after all you brought this possible problem to our knowledge. We haven''t even introduced ourselves to each other." He say and so I stop in my tracks and turn around to face them before walking back over to the conference desk to take a seat next to Susan. "Very well." I say because it would look weird and suspicious for me to leave even after he insisted that I stay and I don''t want to arouse any suspicions plus it would be rude to leave after he asked me to stay. "Great, I am Professor Charles Xavier but you can just call me Professor. This is my colleague Ororo Munroe, it''s nice to meet you..." He says leaving the end open ended clearly asking my name and so I answer. "Nicholas James, you can call me Nick. It''s nice to meet you Professor, Miss Munroe." Charles smiles at me while Storm gently shakes her head. "Just Ororo is fine." I nod my head while looking at her. "Nice to meet you then, Ororo." Storm is a statuesque black woman with silver-white hair and startling blue eyes and though her uniform has changed several times in different continuities it seems she still favors black leather and gold accents with lightning-like motifs,cloaks to catch her winds on in this universe along with a complicated black headgear that really frames her gorgeous face and while her hair has run the gamut from ultra-long to mohawk punk to short (and I think she just had her head shaved f.o.r.c.i.b.l.y in one of the last comics I hear about) here it seems she has stuck to the stunning ultra long silver-white hair, at least for the moment. I settle in for what seems to be a fairly stressing event for some people though I''ll at least not be bored, plus I get to interact with Storm so that''s cool... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 36+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) Chapter 111 - [AT] Swooping Down... [After Transition] I watch them burn for a while and I''m brought out of my daze when I realise that their screams have stopped and their corpses have stopped twitching and it''s at this point that I also realise that I shouldn''t have stayed and watched them burn to death with the kid in my arms because even though I''m hugging him to my c.h.e.s.t to stop him from seizing it making sure that he wouldn''t be able to hear their screams over the crackling of the fire but even so I realise that I''ve stayed stationary too long and in doing so I''ve been letting the child in my arms breathe in the smoke and fumes which are definitely harmful even if I am holding his head against my c.h.e.s.t to limit the smoke he breathes he''s still been inhaling quite a lot so I shouldn''t have stayed and watched them burn to death no matter how much I enjoyed it as I should''ve just left once I saw them being consumed by the flames, realising my mistake I immediately turn around and walk around while gazing up at the ceiling to find the biggest hole I can leap through so as to not risk making any mistakes when I jump out through it and once I''ve found the perfect spot I walk to it and look directly up from underneath the big hole to the big blue sky which I can see through the whole though it''s swiftly being clouded by dark smoke from the fire with the fumes rising into the sky. As I look up through the hole preparing myself to leap I spot something moving through the desk smog above me though I can''t quite make out what it is because it''s so high in the sky and small that it just looks like a dot and with all the smoke I can''t make out what it is even with my enhanced eyesight but I don''t worry about that anymore as I notice that while it was just gliding through the sky before when it stopped around the middle of the whole or thereabouts it started to suddenly seem to be increasing in size and after a moment my brain rebooted and got rid of my brain fart as I could now clearly see the identity of the black dot in the smoggy clouds of smoke as it was getting bigger and bigger not because it was increasing in size but because it was nearing the ground at a rapid rate and because it was nearing me it started to become less covered in smoke and I could finally clearly see what was coming down at such a high speed and it turned out to actually be the Batgirl, it seems she actually did escape the explosion though it seems that she became trapped on the other side of the debris and so her only option to get in here and rescue us would be to find another entrance but since pretty much all other access to the building has been blocked off by fire she decided to come in through one of the many holes in the roof but since the roof isn''t too stable she decided to gain height and glide in the sky and when she finally neared over the biggest hole which I also coincidently decided on she immediately dive bombed so as to enter into the building without actually touching the roof as it is likely to collapse at any moment. I don''t know how she gained such height in the first place but I''m assuming that she used some kind of technology or device to gain such height so as to time her drop perfectly and still have room to manoeuvre if she judged it wrong but clearly she didn''t as I begin to back up when she dives in through the hole in the factory ceiling and as soon as she is through she immediately pulls back on her gliding cape to stop her momentum and slowly float to the floor and I''ve got to say that it was a pretty cool sight to see though now I''ll have to rely on her to get me and the kid out of here as I can''t use my powers in front of her now but I''m sure we''ll be fine since she''s probably been in worse situation which she''s resolved though it is pretty annoying since I was just about to leap out of here, she lands while retracting her glider back into a cape which begins to cover her from the shoulders down (bit weird but I''m guessing she''s taking a page out of the Batman''s book?) though her cape isn''t as long as Batman''s so it stops around midway down her t.h.i.g.hs as she walks towards me and the kid with a smile on her face which I am guessing is because she''s happy that we''re okay and she got in here without collapsing the roof. "Sir, I''m glad you''re okay. Come with me and I''ll get you out of here." She says stopping a short distance in front of me although we are both still underneath the big gaping hole in the factory ceiling. "Batgirl, thank god you''re here. How are we getting out? The entire place is surrounded by fire, there''s no way out!" It took literally all I had to not add a ''Gee Willikers'' in there since I''ve decided to play the role of a hapless citizen who is in way over his head and is relying on Batgirl to get us out of here though I am wondering what solution she has to get out of here and whether she came up with the same idea as me or she came up with a better solution than mine which will make me a bit embarrassed since I bet it would be something simple which I overlooked, Barbara takes a moment to look around and take in her surroundings and as she does she obviously takes notice of the fact that the matron and the drug dealer have died that she decided not to talk about it and tell me her plan. "You are gonna hold that child close to you and with your other arm to going to hold onto me and in turn I''ll hold onto you while i shoot my grapple gun with my other hand and attach it to the ceiling which I then retract to rapidly pull us up into the air and out of the factory at which point I will manoeuvre is to a safer location. Is that clear?" She asks at the end for my take on the subject though I think that''s just for courtesy''s sake and she''s definitely gonna grab me no matter how I look at the solution which is favourably since it''s basically the same as my plan except that she isn''t jumping and is instead using a grappling gun to get into the he sky after which I''m assuming that she''ll start gliding us to safety which works out alright, it might be a bit difficult with her holding onto me and the kid but I think she''ll do fine as she strong and trained and I bet that her suit will also help but the roof is a bit of a worry since it will immediately start to collapse when the grapple attaches to it so she has to immediately retract the line to get off of the factory before it collapses but I bet she''s already thought of this since she''s a genius so I suppose I am fine with this plan. "Yes ma''am, lets get out of here as soon as possible. Don''t want to spend another second here." I say to her and in response she pulls out her grapple gun and starts aiming it while I heft the child up to get him properly stable in my grasp and when she nods her head at me I close in to her getting close at which point the wraps one arm around me while I wrap my free arm around her but as I do so when my arm makes contact she suddenly shivers and jolts and in any other situation I wouldn''t have questioned it but I did find it a little worrying and so as she was aiming the grapple gun I quickly let go of her before she can fire the grapple gun at the roof and she looks at me annoyed and questioning to which I ask her. "Can you please open your cape Batgirl, I need to check something. Please.." I ask her to which she''s about to talk and reject it so I continue on before she can say anything. "If you don''t do it then I''m going to stay in this place with the kid and burn to death. Open your cape!" To which she looks undecided but eventually decides we can''t waste anymore time and so she moves her cape to the sides behind her arms. F.u.c.k, she got a long metal piece lodged in her torso stuck between two of the metal platings of her suit that make it literally impossible to remove right now, there''s no way she can get both me and the kid out of here with an injury like that... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) Chapter 112 - [BT] Spider Problems... [Before Transition] Sitting at the table I didn''t really have much to say so I just stayed quiet as they all did whatever it was they did and I retreated into the back of my mind where I pondered over various things like my research, the women in my life, the universe, the possible threats as well as the possible power boosts and things out there but when it comes to power boosts I know of quite a few different power sets and how to achieve some of them like the iron fists but to get his power you need to punch a important dragon in the heart and I don''t have an immortal dragon on hand which is pretty much the problem for all the powers I knew about as each power needed a different ''immortal dragon'' and sometimes I don''t know what they are or how to acquire them and if I did know how to acquire them then it was too difficult and dangerous to get and I''d rather not risk my life when I''m sitting comfortably with a lot of wealth and a butler to boot, it want even my intention to get spider powers either as I only went on the Oscorp field trip to see Peter get bitten by the radioactive spider as well as maybe witness it bite Cindy Moon who would then be locked up in a bunker for ten years by some guy with spider powers before being released and becoming the superhero known as Silk. All I was there for was to witness these two events as well as capture the spider that would be left unattended afterwards but it seems that there would be no Silk in this universe as instead of the spider going to bite Cindy Moon after Peter it was accidentally flung in my direction and I accidentally swallowed it and after a two week coma I awoke with powers but even so I didn''t intend to gain any powers even if I''m enjoying them at the moment (even though I haven''t really had any opportunities to use them) but nevertheless my intention was to capture the spider and then analyse it and find a way to get powers from it but even then I wouldn''t use it on myself as I would try and gather as many power options as possible first as it is hard to gain a set of powers and then use a serum on yourself afterwards as the result would be unknown and I don''t want to risk that, therefore I wanted to gather as many power options as possible first and then analyse and research them all before figuring out how to combine the ones I could in a way that would compound for more potent powers and only take that final serum as that would be much more safer than continuing to mutates myself with adding various powers to myself which would probably end up exploding me at some point but I''m afraid that''s a non-issue now as I''ve swallowed the spider and have spider powers now though I suppose that this isn''t too bad either since I think I remember Spider-Man only having strength below the Hulk and the Thing but he seemed so much weaker than other people because he holds back his power (and his durability isn''t as enhanced as his strength as his powers are more focused towards agility and dodging than durability) though his problem is that he doesn''t know how to gauge his strength properly and ends up holding too much back which lets his rogue gallery get the better of him more often than not. Spider-Man has been shown to have the power and strength to beat a herald of Galactus on his own though I''m unsure of which one it was but I think it was the one that was covered in flames or something like the human torch but way stronger and since he has so much power then it only stands to reason that I''ll be stronger than him since I''ve already estimated that my powers are at least three times more potent than his because of me getting more spider venom in me since I swallowed the spider as well as having already developed my body to near human peak (physically but not in terms of prowess) at least for my age which resulted in my spider powers being much more pronounced than his as well as getting a few extra abilities such as my talons (AN: not claws as I changed that like over 80 chapters ago) as well as my ability to shoot venom blasts as well as control spider. The spider control is actually the only power that I have taken the time to develop whenever I have the time since it is really useful not because I can control all spiders as I have found out that I can''t control that many at the moment as I have to divide my attention though I have managed to increase the amount I can control but the main reason why I have taken a particular likening to this ability is not because of the possible offensive capabilities (which aren''t much at the moment as I would need to control hundreds to start using them offensively kind of like Spiders-Man who was a Peter Parker that was devoured by a swarm of radioactive spiders and became the swarm or the swarm took on his consciousness) but because of the stealth and espionage possibilities as when I communicate (not really talking with them but telling them what to do and they listen) with the spiders they will listen to me and follow my orders as it''s like I enforce my will on them and I control them even when I can''t see them and I haven''t really done any research into this as it''s more likely that it''s because of mystical spider totem stuff though I bet that if I did research it then it would show me using brains signals or some shit to control them kinda like Ant-Man controls ants though he has a helmet on that does all the work for him and I have to actually focus and control my power to do it though I think it will become one of my best powers when I''ve fully controlled it because not only can I control various spiders with the amount still increasing but I can also see through their eyes as well which means that if I get a bunch of spider to crawl through a building I can look through their eyes (I''ve only managed to looks through 4 spiders eyes at the same time so far but that only used to be one so I am improving) and map out an entire building as well as see inside, see what''s happening and spy on people which is pretty useful as most the times spiders can go pretty much unnoticed as long as they don''t start to come out of the dark corners and running around the walls and floor so thank you mystical spider totem powers which have given me the best possible espionage power though it''s going to take a hell of a lot of work to get it into a working condition where I can use it with ease. Speaking of mystical spider totem stuff that''s actually one of the downsides of these powers aside from the fact that it''s also gonna be pretty hard to add any other kind of powers on top of these ones but the spider totem stuff is definitely the worst and one of the reason I didn''t want to get spider powers without first combining them with other serums and stuff to get the best and strongest powers possible for the simple fact of spider totems being an endangered species as they are hunted throughout the multiverse by beings known as the Inheritors who capture them and eat them or their spirit or something but basically they suck out the spider totems life force for them to consume and that''s because each spider totem is connected to the web of life and so their life force has the best taste which makes them the best meals for the Inheritors who are made up of definitely less than ten people with all of them being siblings except for one who is the father though I have no idea about the mother and this is one of the reasons why I have sped up my research on my machine, I don''t know when exactly they came for Peter in the comics except that it was after Otto Octavius (Dr Octopus) took over his body as well as after Peter took his body back ending the Reign of the Superior Spider-Man which is weird as it takes place during both of those periods because of weird multiverse time rules or something and I know that these inheritors are eventually defeated (though I think I recall them coming back later because of Otto Octavius and cloning machines or something) but that doesn''t happen until after they come after 616 Spider-Man and a lot of spider totems are killed in the process and I don''t intend to be one of them which is why on e I got these powers I immediately graduated Midtown High and applied to the Baxter building so as to further my research and leave this multiverse as a whole as soon as possible so the Inheritors can''t come after me since they could come at any time after all I''m just a normal guy that was reincarnated here and although I was fine with taking my time before to build my machine I don''t wanna die so I''m going to build my machine as soon as possible and escape this multiverse as soon as possible. "Nick? Come on we need to go to Reed''s lab to see the telepath fondle Ben''s mind, cmon let''s go already!" I hear Johnny speak into my ear as he shakes me from my daze and I turn to see the others all leaving the room, I guess they finished their conversation and it''s time to see if my theory is correct. ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane and Zed. Thank you for the support. Chapter 113 - [AT] A New Man... [After Transition] I take a quick sigh before I ultimately decide on my course of action and what I will do going forward since it''s clear she won''t be able to take both me and the kid with her out of here with the metal piece stuck in her abdomen in between the metal laying of her suit but I doubt that she''s not gonna try and take us both out of here and I bet she can do it as well but she''s definitely end up killing herself in the process and I can''t allow that as for all I know her existence is crucial to the continued survival of this universe and honestly a kinda like her and don''t want her to die trying to save my worthless as so I suppose there''s only really one way to go now, with my decision made I proceed with my plan to finally kill off Nicholas James. "Batgirl, you cant carry both me and the kid out of here with that metal piece lodged inside your guy and if you try to even if you do end up saving both of us which is highly unlikely you''d end up killing yourself in the process so I think the best option for all of us right now is for you to take the kid with you and leave me behind, I''ll try and find another way out of here." I speak out while shoving the kid in my arms into the side of her that doesn''t have a metallic object poking out of it and left with little other options she ends up taking the child into her arms and holding him as if she didn''t then the kid would have fallen as I let go of him as soon as I shoved him toward her, I''ve pretty much taken the decision out of her hands and made it for her but I think I''m in the right here since I have an advantage here. "What? I''m afraid not sir, you''ll just have to come with me and the kid whether you like it or not me if I end up succ.u.mbing to my injuries it''ll be after I have saved both you and the child as that is my duty as a hero and I''m not going to forsaken that." Barbara looks bewildered at my actions and starts to speak to convince me otherwise taking a strong tone which I''m pretty sure usually everyone goes along with but I''m afraid that I''m not everyone and I''m not going to be pushed over here by someone who I''ve gotten to know over the past few weeks that I''ve been in this universe and even Though I admit I''ve done something''s I''m not proud of and even disgusted at back in the marvel universe I''m not the kind of guy whose gonna let his friends die for no reason. "Listen, no matter what you say I think it''s better that you and the kid get out of here rather than just me and the kid because let''s face it, I''m a degenerate loser that''s not worth a dime and I''ve indulged in every type of drug and alcohol out there and I''ve used and taken advantage of anyone I''ve ever met while you are an amazing person that risks your own life to help others and if you die here instead of me then that means there are gonna be possibly thousands of people out there that your not gonna be there to save and they need you so take the kid and go, I''ll try and find a way out of here if I can and who knows. Maybe I''ll find a way." I tell her hoping that that''ll be enough to dissuade her from being so stubborn and actually leave with the kid so that Nicholas James can die here tonight because there''s definitely no other way out of here, I''m not lying when I said all that stuff as all I did when I was in the marvel universe was basically use and take advantage of people and I indulged in every type of intoxicant possible during my past here in the DC world as well as commit numerous crimes that resulted in the deaths of dozens of people (I don''t regret murdering that f.u.c.k back in the marvel world though because he definitely deserved it though I suppose I could have found another way), when I look back and think of the person I used to be before I was reincarnated in the marvel universe I can''t even recognise myself anymore as that guy was just a normal person that went about his life without hurting others and if the opportunity arose and he could help others then he more often than not would but I''m not that person anymore and it disappoints me immensely to think of all the things I''ve done because I never even had a drink or smoked a cigarette back in my original world. It''s time for Nicholas James to die. "I don''t care, your gonna be saved whether you like it or NOT!" Barbara explains while grabbing hold of my arm and trying to pull me with her to the spot directly underneath the big hole in the ceiling but I don''t budge an inch as I use my powers to resist her pull and I don''t doubt that she''d be able to move a normal human even in her weakens condition while injured but she doesn''t move me and I believe that she''ll just think it''s because she injured and not because I have powers, but this is getting a little bit too ridiculous now and the fire is starting to enclose on us and I can see some parts of the factory roof start to collapse around us and I realise that''s e don''t have any more time and I''m tired of playing these games so I''m just going to be as blunt as possible without caring and just hope the kid currently in Batgirl''s arms isn''t paying too much attention. "BARBARA!!" I shout out which stops her in her tracks and she turns around from where she was trying to drag me to face me while hugging the kid into her neck with her hand and covering his ears. "W-what? I-I''m afraid we don''t have time to chat, we-we need to go!" She falters for a moment before ultimately deciding to ignore it and continue her efforts to try and drag me clearly trying to avoid the fact that I called out her real name, I don''t let her and I still refuse to move. "Barbara, stop!" I call out and again she stops and turns to face me no longer being able to avoid the fact that I called out her true name and reveal I know her secret identity but even still she tries to pointlessly try to keep her identity secret. "W-why do you keep calling me that? You''re wrong and we need to go, now!" She says but this time before she can try to pull me away again I continue to talk, I''ve committed to my decision and nothings going to change my mind. "Barbara stop, I know it''s you. You may have your entire face covered and you might have even altered your eye colour but there''s no way that I could ever mistake that gorgeous red hair of yours that''s currently pouring out the back of you Bat helmet or whatever it''s called, I know it''s you." I say and in response she remains silent clearly too shocked to say anything and that works out perfectly for me since I don''t want to prolong this for longer than necessary. "You don''t have to say anything but know that this is my decision and I want to do this, you have a father that is waiting for you out there as well as a bunch of friends that are gonna be distraught if you don''t show up while I don''t have anyone that''s going to miss me if I disappear since I haven''t been a very good person lately. I want this Barbara to make up for all the stuff I''ve done and finally put it all behind me plus if I think about it it''s like I''m giving my life for yours and I think I''m getting a massive bargain so you get out of here and you better go and and save the world one day. Thanks for the last few weeks Barbie, I might not have known you for long but I''m glad that I got to meet you and find out what an amazing person you are. See ya around Barbs..." Taking the opportunity for what it is I take hold of her chin and lean forward to lay a soft and lingering kiss on her soft lips before I pull back while she still in a daze and jump several steps back. The ceiling above where I am now standing begins to collapse and I actually knew that this would happen as I took notice of this section of the factory roof crumbling while interacting with Barbara and now that I am going to die under this hail of debris and be consumed by the encroaching flames she''ll have no choice but to leave with the kid as I''ll already be smudged to pieces and burnt to shit but I''m alright with that even though it does pain me to see Barbara''s face when I see the horrified realisation on her face when she realises what''s happening but I think this was for the best, with this the toxic Nicholas James who was once a nice normal guy but was reincarnated into a world that was from out of fictional and dealt with it with denial and by acting out against the world as if everyone and everything was out to get him by I''ll no longer be that man. With this Nicholas James will die in this fire and from the ashes will arise a new man and he will strive to do things different and no longer be so scared of the world that surrounds him and instead embrace it and overcome it, I can modify my bone structure to give me a new face with my regeneration powers and even though I will have to make a new identity I doubt it''ll be hard to get a new identity though it definitely won''t be as good as the one the reality altering memory stick face me but I''ll make do and start a new life and be a better man, I''m going to try and be like that guy who never hurt others for self gain before he died and reincarnated. Tonight Nicholas James will die and tomorrow from the rubble a new and better man will take his place, and with that my vision turns to black as I''m consumed by the flames and the debris... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) Chapter 114 - [BT] Bumping Confectionaries... [Before Transition] I stand from my seat and begin to follow Johnny out of the room. "Very eloquent way of putting it Johnny, I quite like it. ''Lets go see the telepath fondle Ben''s brain'', never change Johnny." I say to him but in response he only says "huh?" While looking back to see what I had said but I just tell him to ignore it which he has no problem doing as he continues his journey across the hall to the elevator and I''m following him to it as apparently we''ll be going to Reed''s lab to have Ben''s mind checked over for some reason but I''m sure whatever the reason is it''ll be good and maybe Reed wants to analyse how the professor does his thing because that guys always curious no matter what and it doesn''t matter if it''s even close to his field of experience as long as it interests him he''ll try to find out more, following Johnny along the corridor towards the elevator I notice the rest of the Fantastic Four as well as the professor and sorority get inside the elevator and instead of waiting for us who have just left the conference room they instead take the elevator presumably to the 33rd which is just below this one and which is also Reed''s laboratory and I can''t fault them for not waiting for us since we are lagging behind plus the elevators are super quick so by the time we get there the elevator should already be back and waiting for us to enter it and follow them down a floor. "So? Who was it?" I''m knocked out of my thoughts by Johnny starting a conversation during our walk to the elevator though I''m a bit surprised that it''s a question and one that I''m very confused by, who was what? "What? What are you on about Johnny?" I ask him but he just annoyingly turns around so that he''s walking backwards towards the elevator and shoots a smirk at me like it''s obvious what he meant, I hope he trips and falls. "You know what I mean. Cmon Nick, this is my area of expertise after all." He says making me even more confused and weirded out, I begin to shake my head at him hoping he''ll get the message. "Sorry, I honestly can''t say I do. Mind informing what you are actually on about before I get tired of you and start pretending your invisible like your sister?" I threaten him and though he get the message he doesn''t seem to be very scared of it but regardless he begins to clear up the situation and reveal what he''s on about, I wonder what it is. "I meant whose the lucky girl that you bumped uglies with last night?" My breath hitches when he says the and I begin to sputter. "W-what?" I let out bewildered though Johnny takes the opportunity to tease me a little more. "Ya know what I mean, the girl you took to pound town, whose kitty did ya feed, who did ya knock boots with, whose oil did ya check, who did ya do two person push ups with, whose biscuit did you butter, whose doughnut did you give the cream fill-" I reach out and pushed him backwards when he continues on with the metaphors some of which were a bit gross, luckily he manages to catch himself but even so he still begins to laugh. "How did you even know? It''s not like I shouted it from the rooftops." I say quite shocked that he somehow found out about it. "Haha, you might as well have because it''s clear as day. Your face says it all." He laughs out stopping all the metaphors he was clearly having a fun time thinking up, how can this guy e such an idiot yet so intuitive at the same time. "I very much doubt my face told you anything because you can hardly read let alone read expressions, how did you tell?" I question yet again because I very much doubt the fact that Johnny read my expression when Charles Xavier couldn''t even read my mind, I press X godammit. "Well yeah I guess you''re right, I noticed that you looked a bit happier than you usually do but o wouldn''t have been able to tell if you didn''t do something that you usually do everyday. It was pretty clear when you didn''t do it that you must''ve gotten some company recently." I quirk an eyebrow. "Oh, and what is this thing that I do every day but didn''t do today? Go on then, tell me." I ask him which he nods to and reveals a second later. "Well usually you would ogle my sister quite a lot and check her out but today you didn''t do that, well not much compared to usual at least but still." What, do I really look at Susan that much. "Sure we met the dark goddess that is Storm today and you spent a pretty long time checking her out in the conference room which I also did but even then you didn''t do it as much as you have in the last few weeks and adding your smile and upbeat attitude into the equation I can only conclude that you got ''some'' last night." He says quite nonchalantly like he didn''t just say I''ve been to piercing on his sister, how am I not being roasted right now. "Listen Johnny, I''m s-" I try to apologise to him knowing that I''ve pretty much been exposed though I''m surprised when he raises his hand telling me to belay that apology. "It''s fine dude, I know my sister is pretty cute which shouldn''t be a surprise since she shares the same genes as me. Plus if you had a hot sister I would definitely hit on her and probably already have slept with her after all she wouldn''t be able to resist my charm so it''s fine that your just being a pervert, it''s not like your actually doing anything wrong." I chuckle awkwardly at his points before I decide to skip past it entirely, I suppose I do spend quite a bit of time looking at Susan and her beautiful everything. "Wow Johnny, you''re like a regular Sherlock Holmes. Except you can only solve things that are s.e.x related." I joke around to which he responds quite friendly. "Guess that make you my Waterson, eh? Johnny Storm S.e.x Detective, solving every sticky crime and discovering exactly how long it''s been since someone last had s.e.x." He about to continue when his back collided against the elevator doors which I noticed he was nearing but decided not to point it out towards him as it might''ve been funny but unfortunately it wasn''t, we''ll get em next time. Johnny presses the button for the elevator putting our conversation along the wayside and the elevator doors open up instantly so he steps inside with me following him after which he presses the button for the 33rd floor and the elevator zooms off downwards which should only give us a few more seconds to talk before we arrive at our destination and Johnny seems to want to make the most of that. "So? Whose the girl you spent last night with." He asks while waiting for the elevator to take us to our destination and so I answer back in a clipped to e to show that I don''t actually want to talk. "It''s just an old friend, I don''t wanna talk about it. Please." I ask and it seems like he''s about to talk again but fortunately a beep sounds out as the elevator comes to a sudden stop at the 33rd floor and stops our entire conversation. The elevator doors open up and I''m mesmerised by what I see... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane and Zed. Thank you for the support. Chapter 115 - [AT] A Thick Pipe of Pain... [After Transition] I open my eyes to complete black and I realise that I can''t see anything at all except a pitch black darkness and after recollecting the last things I remember I wonder if I actually did die in the factory blaze and I''ve been taken to an everlasting void to live out my days and I begin to regret but it''s at that point that my vision begins to acclimate to the darkness and I begin to see my surrounding that are not actually much since I''m surrounded on all sides by debris so much so that I can''t actually see that much even with my night vision but I can see lot bits of gaps that have even more debris on top but that doesn''t matter as its all the confirmation I need to know that I''m actually alive which I only doubted because this was actually my first time actually using my regeneration after the merge of my two selves and I didn''t actually test it at all which in hindsight was a really stupid mistake so I''m glad that it actually worked, figuring that my regeneration must''ve taken quite a lot of time after being consumed by the raging fires and buried under all this debris I come to the conclusion that this sight must already be cordoned off and investigated (they''re not gonna believe anyone survived this and they won''t get construction crews in till someone buys it as this is Gotham and the politicians won''t waste money on cleaning up this mess when they can be making their own pockets heavier) so there must be no one around so I decide to chance it and begin to move around to try and push the debris away from me and escape my confines but no matter how hard I try it seems I just can''t gather the strength to do so and after a while of trying and having minimal progress I finally figure out the reason why. Moving my arms through the debris to the area around my midsection I manage to feel out around there and I grab hold of something that seems to be directly on top of my stomach and so I try to shift it out of the way coming to the conclusion that this was what was disrupting my movements and I was right since when I grabbed hold of it and tried to pull it off I felt an intense pain and screamed out in anguish because although I was right that this was what was holding me back it''s not because it was too heavy or something but it''s because it''s going straight through my lower torso and seems to be stuck into the ground impaling me and restricting my movements and it''s a wonder that I didn''t notice it''s when I first woke up but I surmise that my whole body under quite a lot of pain right now being buried underneath a literal building (since my powers are more tuned towards agility and speed not durability, gonna have to find a way to solve that problem in the future but that''s future Nick''s problem not mine) and I only noticed the object going through my body when I tugged on it and felt a sharp pain that overwhelmed the rest of the pain I was feeling, after I felt around the object that was keeping me pinned in place I came to the conclusion that it was a thick industrial pipe that must''ve been from part of the debris and it''s ran through my midsection just to the left of my spine and I can feel my spine scraping against the side of the metal pipe every time I move and to make matters even worse only a little bit of my body is left around the pipe making the pain even worse. It''s no wonder I feel weak as shit and can''t even move the debris off of my body and its because did this f.u.c.k.i.n.g metal pole that penetrating through me and stopping me from using any of my strength as pretty much all functions come from the bones and all bones are basically reliant on the spine and currently my spine is in a precarious situation with it rubbing up against the burnt rusty pipe running through me and it''s stopping me from actually using any of my strength to move any of this debris and it''s starting to worry me since I''ve never been in a situation like this before ( not even my DC self as the closest he got was when he woke up in the back of a meat truck but it was easy for him since he was only wrapped in plastic bags which were restricting him and were easy to break out of but I''m surrounded by debris and have it inside me as well) and I''m beginning to panic wondering if I''m going to be stuck down here for years to come or if I''m going to be eventually found by in my state I''m going to be powerless when I''m taken by the government for countless experiments, I don''t want that and that''s not going to happens and I''m definitely not gonna be stuck down here for f.u.c.kin'' ever so dredging up all my determination and strength I start to roughly move my other hand towards the pipe going through me before I clap it with both hands and steady myself before I pull up with all my might to try and dislodge it and at the same time I let out a guttural scream as it grinds against my spine as i move it in an upward motion and pretty much straight away I let go not being able to take the amount of pain but I instantly realise I have to take hold of it again straight away as it begins to move back into the position I just moved it from as it slides against my insides causing me even more pain. I take a moment to breath before I try once again this time making sure to keep a hold of it even if I stop moving it which I make sure to do even as I go through this process another ten times each time releasing a anguished roar from the pain but after those ten times I begin to understand my situation and realise a few things with those things begging the fact that due to the fact of me only being able to muster a little strength that I''m surrounded on all side by debris whenever I move this pipe up it only goes up around a centimetre as my hands are immediately stopped by the barrier of debris that lays on top of me and I can''t break through it with my neater strength which is all going towards moving the pipe which doesn''t even go up a centimetre maybe even less than that, I realise that this is going to take me a long f.u.c.k.i.n.g time to do and I''m no LG sure how long this pipe actually is or how far it''s ran through me and into the Earth because I could be looking at a two maybe three meter pipe that gone through me and with me only being able to move it a centimetre at a time I''ll have to repay the process over a hundred times maybe two hundred depending on how much has gone through my body and that''s going to take a hell of a lot of time to do so since each time I''ve got to acclimate to my new position and make sure that the debris and progress I''ve made isn''t going to collapse on top of me as well as taking breaks when I''m too tired so this could take a long a.s.s time. I take a moment to regret my course of actions because of my d.e.s.i.r.e to remain out of the limelight and undiscovered by anyone since it''s because of that d.e.s.i.r.e that I chose to I stay inside of the burning building and ended up buried underneath all this debris with a pipe going through my gut rather than just saying f.u.c.k it and using my powers to escape no matter the fact that I might expose myself to anyone that was watching because what reason do I have to keep my powers a secret since I don''t have any family or friends that would suffer from the reveal that I have powers so I should''ve just said f.u.c.k it and jumped out of the building because honestly the only person that would have seen it would''ve been Barbara and I highly doubt that she would''ve done anything that would''ve negatively impacted me or told the authorities since she might not have even told Batman if I asked her too, I swear when I get out of here I''ll never hold back again no matter the consequences and I''ll put my all into everything rather than hiding my powers for some f.u.c.k.i.n.g useless reasons like I did back in the Marvel universe since I''m honestly confused why I didn''t always use my powers to my advantage whenever I could but I suppose it''s because of my messed up mentality at the time, well I''m not gonna make the same mistake here because I will be using everything available to me to achieve my goals and I won''t hold anything back for some stupid insignificant reasons. Finding my resolve my determination hardens once again and I tense before clasping my hands around the pipe tightly and heave it upwards with all my strength while screaming out in a guttural roar of pain. I''m gonna get through this no matter how long it takes... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane and Zed. Thank you for the support. Chapter 116 - [BT] Delving Into the Mind... [Before Transition] I was stunned speechless at the sight laid out before me as I''d never actually been to the 33rd floor before since it was Reed''s laboratory and I had no reason to go there plus even though it wasn''t said I still felt like it was off limits but now I regret never coming here because all around me is a beautiful ocean of technology and machines all haphazardly places around the place and yet they all fit and blend seamlessly together to create a spectacle and even though quite a lot of corners are cut with wires being exposed and machines being without their casing it all still looks awesome since I can tell that they are all still safe to use and perfectly functioning and I can only surmise the reason why they haven''t been fully assembled is because Reed is constantly changing the layout out of his lab and building new stuff so he doesn''t have time to worry about how everything looks and I have no doubt that to a regular person this place would look cluttered and messy but to someone educated and aware of the objects and items in the room it would look magnificent, I marvel at everything as I walk and follow Johnny who doesn''t have any reaction so I guess he doesn''t understand just how awesome this place is or he''s just seen this type of setup so often that he''s grown used to it and no longer finds it interesting but still I''m a bit offended that he''s ignoring everything here as half of these things are just theoretical in other scientists works but here they are a reality and so I''ll be making sure to take a closer look around the place and into the archives for more information since I now know that there''s so much more here that might benefit me. As I follow Johnny along through the 33rd floor I notice a big open space in one section of the room that''s cluttered with devices and machinery and I also notice that the ceiling height doubles there so I can only surmise that that''s the part of Reed''s lab that spills over into the 34th floor but I''m about confused when I notice that there are devices clinging onto walls, hanging from the ceiling or piled on top of one another but there doesn''t seem to be any stairs around to get to this device but then I remember that this is Reed''s laboratory and he would be the only one using it so it makes sense that their are no stairs since he can just stretch himself to reach wherever he needs to reach and this makes sense since it makes more space for more machinery and tech, it''s at this point that I''ve finally snapped out of my marvelling since Johnny has stopped in front of me and I nearly crashed into him but once I take a look around I realise why he stopped and it was because we arrived at our destination which is the other guys location and spreading my gaze to the surroundings I quickly take note of what''s happening though it seems that the rest of the Fantastic Four, the professor and Ororo haven''t noticed our arrival or if they have they don''t deem it of enough importance to distract them from what is currently happening I understand that because at the moment they''re are all watching as Ben is lying down on a metallic platform/table/gurney thing and Reed is putting securing some metal clamps on each of his limbs (including around his neck) that seem to be coming out from the metallic table though I''m confused as to why since the Thing would easily be able to break out of those as he''s been known to go toe to toe with the hulk (before the Hulk got angry at the fact he wasn''t winning and got even stronger). Apparently sharing my concerns Ben asks Reed what I''m currently questioning. "Are you sure this thing is gonna to hold me, looks pretty brittle. Why are you even putting this on me anyway?" Ben questions although I know the answer to the last thing he asked as it is pretty obvious and Reed explains that in the next second. "Well Ben, we are putting this on you since we don''t know how you are going to react when the professor delves into your mind. Also although this metal may look weak I''ve chosen it specifically because it will be able to take all your strength, at least I believe so." Reed tells Ben and the professor decides to add his opinion as well. "Quite convenient actually, it''s just what we need since we don''t know what your reaction will be. " The professor says and in response Reed chuckles. "Not coincidence Professor, it''s actually the reason I wanted this meeting to happen in two weeks rather than straight away. I''ve spent the last two weeks designing this new composite metal so that it would be able to resist Ben''s strength." The professor nods in understanding while Reed continues to strap Ben in place before he takes out some kind of metal harness which he places on Ben''s orange rocky head, he starts to connect all sorts of wires to the contraption and hooks it up to a machine which begins to show some waves on it. "We will be using this device to keep an eye on your brainwaves and if anything happens we all know no I doubt it will since the professor is professional. I''m sure that if anything does happen though the professor will pull out before any harm is done." Reed starts to explain as he notices Ben starting to worry when he placed the contraption on his head though it seems his effort was for nought since he just gave Ben quite a few more worries, Ben is right to be cautious since the mind is a fragile thing and we don''t know if even just looking at it would be dangerous. Reed believing that he has calmed Ben''s worries gets back to fiddling with his devices and setting everything up, the professor being much more aware than Reed notices that Ben is still having a mild panic and so tries to reassure him by using his words which is his preferred method to deal with everything though if that fails he doesn''t mind altering people''s minds, hold on Nick you promised to reserve your opinion until you''ve actually gotten to know the man instead of building up a view and opinion of him based on my meta knowledge that might not even have any basis in this universe. "You don''t have to worry Ben, today''s session is strictly just a viewing session. I''m only going to be looking into your mind and I won''t be messing or touching anything so you don''t have to worry, I''m just going to try and find any problems that you may have in your mind and after that and discussing it further with you we would take steps to resolve it." Ben seems to have visibly calmed down due to the professors words and Susan shoots the professor a grateful look in response, Reed being totally unaware of the going ons as he is too consumed with messing about with his devices finally finishes setting everything up. Before looking up and giving a sharp nod to the professor. "Okay Ben we are about to start, if at any time you start to have second thoughts or panic just think that you want to stop and I will know and do so promptly. Are you ready?" The professor asks and Ben deciding to nut up and shut up gives a firm nod filled with determination though you can''t really tell since his head is being restricted by the clamp around his neck and the contraption upon his head, the professor seems to get the message though and places his hands on Ben''s temples and closes his eyes while Ben does the same and they defend into silence. All seems to be consumed by silence and while Susan and Reed begin to look at the brainwaves on the screen and Ororo keeps an eye on the professor me and Johnny are left with nothing to do, so I decide to keep an eye on the proceedings with a particular focus being on Ben since I want to know if having the professor in his mind is having any effects on his body since it might help me streamline my cerebral mind protection device but I don''t think I''ll be getting much information just by staring at them so I too walk over to behind Reed and Susan to keep an eye on the brainwaves while also keeping watch of Ben and the professor just in case the brainwave readings somehow ended up being wrong. "Soˇ­ How long does this sort of thing usually take? Am I gonna be able to take a bathroom break and get some dinner before something actually happens?" Johnny being his crass self decides to start a conversation with Ororo trying to figure out how long this is going to take and if he could be doing something else while waiting for the results, I also wouldn''t mind knowing how long this process takes since the professor is currently the foremost authority (as I don''t think Jean has fully become the host of the Phoenix yet and Emma Frost while formidable still has less experience compared to Charles Xavier) on the subject of telepathy and the mind and knowing how long it takes him to do a full scan of the brain would really give me good idea of how dangerous telepaths are and if I need and more preparations and precautions. Ororo is about to answer Johnny when she is disrupted by a low growl sounding out in the nearly silent room and figuring out where the sound was coming from we all look towards Ben on the metallic slab whose jaw is clenched, all of a sudden his growl gets louder and deeper and he starts to move his limbs pulling on the clamps making them creak dangerously. I guess something is going wrong in that mind of his but what? And is it the professors fault... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane and Zed. Thank you for the support. Chapter 117 - [AT] All My Might... [After Transition] Grab, pull , pain, stop, take a break, Grab, pull , pain, stop, take a break, Grab, pull , pain, stop, take a break, Grab, pull , pain, stop, take a break etc. That''s all that''s been going through my head for however long I''ve been stuck in this godforsaken place, all day every day but I don''t know how long I''ve been following the process and it''s like a mantra in my head because I''ve just stopped thinking and I just follow those actions partly shutting down my brain just to make everything go faster and stop myself from going insane because that''s what''s going to happen soon or later if I don''t get out of here soon. I don''t know how long it''s been, at the beginning I kept trying to keep track of how long I''ve been here but eventually following this monotonous process I''ve lost track and the days just seem to blend together even the blackouts blending together because there''s been so many blackouts and even when I wake up it''s straight back to the process with no wait or breaks because I just can''t sit here and do nothing, Day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, I don''t know how long I''ve been here and I''ve stopped caring because all that matters is pulling this pipe up and I don''t even think about it anymore I just do it. I spend half my time screaming out in anguish because of the excruciating pain that runs through me each time I pull on the pipe and I didn''t try stifling them because sometimes it was that scream that took all the stress out of my mind and helped me to continue on and I thought that it was fine because I''m buried under a pile of bricks and there''s no one around here to hear until one day when I was following the process I sensed something that startled me and it was vibrations running through the debris surrounding me that took me out of my daze and after that I focused my senses and I realised that up above me there were people walking on the debris which was directly on top of me and for a moment I thought about shouting out to them for help and I was about to until I realised that I wouldn''t be able to explain my situation which was the fact that this building has been collapsed for who knows how many days and I''ve been stuck underneath it all this time which would definitely gain government attention if found out so I stopped my pleas from leaving my mouth, it didn''t really matter though because the people walking above me shuffled around the surrounding debris which caused a kind of cave in on me and reset some of my progress as well as causing me a lot of pain so I instantly blacked out and when I woke up they were gone and I got back to the grind but it was only a few days after that that I had to stop again since more people came though thankfully they didn''t reset my progress and after eavesdropping on them I learned that people were hearing my anguished roars and were coming to investigate. After that day I tried to start stifling my screams and ignore the pain but it was hard to do and people kept coming and investigating but eventually I managed to get the hang of it and people started coming less and less until eventually they stopped coming at all and I learned to bear the pain though I do occasionally scream out when I get frustrated but it''s become very occasional and so I don''t think people will take any notice of what I have noticed so at one point the screams were coming fairly frequent and that''s because each time I thought I made any progress debris started to cave in and reset my progress by shoving the pipe back down through my gut no matter how hard I tried to hold onto it but with my meagre strength there wasn''t much I could do and each time it happened I was getting frustrated and screamed out in anger until one day when it happened again and I was about to scream in frustration I noticed something that made me catch my breath, I was seeing rays of light shining through the debris where before it was completely pitch black and I was only being able to see by the grace of by night vision but now the light was shining through the holes above me and it reignited my hope and determination to get out of here and another thing I noticed was that the pipe coming through me was very damaged it had holes going throughout it but what was most important about this was that there was sunlight shining through the holes and it was much more powerful than the sunlight which was shining through the debris above me and I came to the conclusion that there was no longer any debris covering the top of the pipe which was allowing the sunlight to come to through at the top of the pipe and down shining out through these holes, reigniting my hope I start to work even more intensely and I started to scream out less and less though I did occasionally scream out because I was very stressed but each time I pulled the pipe up there was no longer any shift in the debris meaning there was no setting back my progress which made me work even harder. I was getting closer and closer to freedom with each pull of the pipe and that forced me to work even that much harder knowing that release was close and I will no longer have to be stuck here like a mouse caught in a rat trap and then one day when I was pulling the pipe up and I lowered my hand to grasp the lower part of the pipe I realised that only three of my fingers wrapped around the pipe with the other two fingers only clasping air and I realised that the pipe was no longer inside of me which meant that my regeneration would no longer have anything obstructing it and I could leave this hell on earth after my body healed but that seemed to be taking some time since my own to slowly knitting it self back together and I figured it was because I''ve been trapped for such a long time without any nutrition but my body doesn''t have much energy left to heal itself with so it was doing so slowly but I was just relieved to know that I would soon be out of here but that relief was soon replaced with fear and terror and I felt vibrations once more rock through debris on top of me, there were people walking around on top of the debris above me and there were two of them and with each step they took they risked resetting all my progress and I could feel the pipe slowly inching back down towards my healing wound regardless of the fact that my hands were still wrapped around it but most of my energy was going towards healing my wound so I had little strength to resist the gravity acting on the pipe and pushing it back down towards my body and so I put my all into grasping the pipe and trying to push it back upwards to keep it from impaling my body once more. It took all my strength to keep pushing up the pipe and keep it from going through my mid section again all the while waiting for my wound to heal and for the part of my spine that was injured to heal so that I could use my strength again but with each step the two strangers above me took they sent the pipe further down and it was getting closer and closer to my body and so I strained myself with veins bulging and bones aching to push up with all my might and it was at this point that the damage my kid section and spine was finally healed but I had no way to anticipate how long that would take and so when it was finally healed I was still pushing the pipe up with all my strength with Bob of my hands on top of one another pushing up at the bottom of the pipe but with my injuries healed my strength fully returned and before I could stop myself my arms shot upwards thrusting the pipe out of the debris and up into the air while shooting debris everywhere around me, once I realised what I had done my arms were stretched up into the air going through the debris and out into the open air and even with the dust clouds swirling around from my actions I was amazed to feel the abundance of air flow past my skin once again and so much that I temporarily forgot about the two people that were above me just to enjoy the feeling though I didn''t care much about them since they''d probably already seen the pipe fly through the air but they hadn''t seen me and so I could quickly burst through the debris and escape before they can see me. Before I could act and put my plan into action I felt something wrap itself around my arm and pull me up through the debris and into clear day, a part of me was confused at what was pulling me out but another was just glad that I was finally free.. Finally free... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane and Zed. Thank you for the support. Chapter 118 - [BT] Psychokinetic Problems... [Before Transition] We all watch as Ben practically starts to spasm flailing his limbs about and making the clamps around his limbs and neck creak dangerously all the while his growls are becoming louder and louder with him grinding his teeth because of something happening in his mind and I have no doubt in my mind that that something is because of the Professor but whether that''s because of something he did on purpose or because of some kind of accident we will have to wait till the professor has left Ben''s mind to find out, all of us watch worriedly as Ben struggles before finally Susan and Reed come to their senses and look at the screen to monitor Ben''s brainwaves and see what is actually happening to him though I''m pretty sure when I say that there is nothing we can do about this situation as the professor is currently the only one with any leeway here. "Reed! His brainwaves are all over the place, I can''t even make sense out of these readings! What the hell is going on in there?" Susan shouts in a panic when she realises there is nothing she can do in this situation and Reed seems to be in the same boat, meanwhile myself and Johnny take a back seat and just watch the proceedings while Ororo goes to check on the professor. "I know that Susan, I can see it on the screen as well! Either these are his real brainwave scans which would be pretty alarming or there is some type of energy messing with the scans which seems to be more likely, unfortunately I don''t have any device to scan these energy readings and I don''t have enough time to build a device to do it for me!" Reed shouts back at Susan frustrated with his own lack of ability, meanwhile Ororo is checking up on the professor and seems to have discovered something. "Something seems to be wrong with the professor as well! He is sweating profusely and seems to be shaking as well, whatever is happening to Mr Grimm seems to be affecting the professor as well!" Ororo says with that alluring accent of hers which is sounding better and better each time I hear it and I look over towards the Professor and I notice streams of sweat pouring down his red flushed forehead while he continues to shake slightly as if he''s got pneumonia or something though curiously he still has his eyes crunched together and sells to be concentrating intensely, Reed continues to check up on the brainwave scans while Susan makes her way over to the professor being the resident medic of the Fantastic Four (seems to have become her role to look after everyone else) as Johnny tries to help in his own way. "Well why don''t you try shaking him awake or something? Here, let me wake him up before one of these to die!" Johnny says as he walks towards the Professor to do what he says but he is disrupted by Ororo standing in his way, he looks mildly confused while Ororo still has a calm look upon her face though I can spot some glimpses of panic floating in her mesmerising blue eyes. "Please, do not do that. You cannot disrupt a telepath like the professor when he is doing a detailed scan of someone''s mind, it could have untold consequences for both of them so please stay your hand." Ororo patiently tells Johnny while Susan continues her check up on the professor to make sure he is alright while during all this I still observe calmly but I do make sure to put a distraught expression upon my face (I did it without even thinking it seems, I must have took to Earl''s lessons better than I thought), Johnny knowing there''s nothing he can do here moves to stay close to Ben to keep a close eye on him while Susan and Ororo stay close to Charles to make sure he''s alright as well. Everything seems to be under control for the moment until suddenly there is some kind of psychokinetic blast around Ben and the professor which sends the professor and his wheelchair shooting past Susan and Ororo before the wheelchair falls backwards sending Charles head over a.s.s sprawling onto the floor and it seems that the event was not over since Ben takes action at this moment as well as his left arm suddenly breaks out of his restraints and flings outward in a panic hitting Johnny back through the air though luckily for him I moved into position to catch him though it seems I underestimated ''The Thing''s'' strength as even though I do cushion the blow for Johnny I am still sent to the floor with him, Johnny groans out in pain as he lays on top of me so I follow suit and groan out in pain as well as I''m pretending to be a normal human and as I do so I cast my eyes out around the room to see what is happening and it seems that both Ben and the Professor have awoken from their mind diving experience and are opening their eyes while Reed rushes over to Ben to make sure he''s okay as well as take the contraption off of his head while removing his restraints while Susan and Ororo such towards the Professor to make sure he is alright as well as to help him back onto his wheelchair. Nobody seems to be coming to help us up though so I wait for Johnny to get up off of me before he stretches out a hand for me to trap onto and pulls me up to my feet, about time as well since I was getting pretty bored of laying there waiting for home to break out of his daze plus it''s uncomfortable having someone lay on top of you when it''s not a woman. "Thank you. I appreciate it." I tell him as he pulls me to my feet as he clasps his other hand onto my shoulder tugging me a Pat, he gives a bright shiny smile to me in response. "No, thank you. It must''ve hurt catching me like that, are you okay?" He asks me in worry and I laugh out in response to reassure him, I don''t need him making Susan check me over and realise that my muscles are much more dense than they have any right to be. " no, I''m hardly hurt. What really caused me to feel some pain was your fat arse laying on top of me, better start laying off of the food or girls are gonna start avoiding you." I joke with him trying to distract him from worrying if I''m injured but I''m confused and startled when his face loses its smile, I''m even more alerted when he instead starts to frown. "Dude.. Don''t even joke about that. My good looks are one of my best features." He says befuddling me before I start to laugh out loud at his response while he rolls his eyes at my amus.e.m.e.nt though we are both shaken out of our moments respite when we hear a grumbling (crumbling? because he''s made of rocks?) sound echo out across the room. "Reed? What happened?" We hear Ben groan out and it reminds us of the situation at hand and so myself and Johnny quickly make our way back over to the metallic slab where Ben is beginning to sit up and as we move towards it I notice that Susan and Ororo have already helped the Professor back onto his wheelchair and he seems seems to be relatively fine although he''s rubbing his head slightly in pain as Ororo wheels him back over in Ben''s direction as Susan follows them towards us. We finally all close in on Ben to find that Reed has taken the weird contraption off of his head as well as removed all of the restraints on his limbs and the one around his neck though the one around his left arm is still destroyed, I can see that while Reed continues to batter Ben with continuous questions Ben is just ignoring him in favour of rubbing his rocky head in pain (does that even work? he''s just rubbing the rock that surround him so it''s not even relieving his pain is it, I''m a bit confused actually because is it his human self trapped beneath all that rock which means he doesn''t have a rocky wang or has his human self been transfigured into rock meaning that he does have a rocky wang? Very confusing and I''m not about to go as ask him about it in case he feels like whopping me one). "Are you alright Ben? Do you remember anything? How do you feel? Are you up to doing some tests?" Reed continues to belter out his questions before Ben has enough and tells him so, quite nicely compared to what I''ve seen from the rocky man so far through the whole time I''ve known him. "Reed stop it, your hurting my head. I''m fine alright, I''ve just got a headache and I''m feeling very tired so stop yer yapping." He speaks out quite quietly though Reed seems to have heard him and has since stopped asking him questions and me and Johnny don''t open our mouths either as we know that Ben is pretty tired and we''d rather not test if he''s tired enough to not care about clobbering us though we can rest assured when Ben himself speaks out to find out what has happened. "So Reed, what happened while I was out? What did you learn? Was the twerp correct about me having mental problems?" I guess I''m the twerp in this scenario huh, not very nice considering I''ve revealed a possible cause of his condition. "I''m afraid that I''ll be the one answering that question Mr Grimm and I''m afraid it''s not good news... Though depending on how you look at it, it might not exactly be bad news either..." The Professor finally makes himself known, I''m guessing that whatever the news is Ben is not gonna like it... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane and Zed. Thank you for the support. Chapter 119 - [AT] Pulling Out... [After Transition] Being pulled out of the debris I don''t even look at what pulled me out because I am so mesmerised and stunned by the sight of the bright blue sky with the blazing yellow sun shining down on me for the first time in who knows how long and I''m so preoccupied with the feeling of the shining sun on my skin that I don''t even react to anything or try to see who pulled me out of my makeshift tomb even with the perpetrator still holding onto my arm but I can''t ignore them when another hand clasps onto my shoulders presumably to steady me even though I don''t need it and paying closer attention to the hats going on I realise that it is the hands of a man that are currently holding onto me though they seem to have quite a good grip, broken out of my daze by the contact I look down from the sun to see just who pulled me out and is currently holding onto me but I am dumbfounded when I see a black armoured gauntlet with small three blunted blades coming out of the side of it holding onto my shoulder and arm and I follow along the arms with increasing dread but I can no longer deny it when I see The black bat symbol emblazoned on the figures broad grey c.h.e.s.t and when I look up from the torso I come face-to-face with the stoic expression of the Batman whose bright white eyes are currently narrowed at me. I''m momentarily dumbfounded and don''t know what to say but I don''t have to say anything as Batgirl Suddenly runs around the corner towards us in a panic, though what she''s panicking about I have no idea. "Batman! I heard that large crash, what... happened..." she say but peters off at the end there when she suddenly notices me and we lock eyes from across the distance, I guess I''m a bit off my game since I couldn''t even surmise that she was panicking because of the large crash I just caused. "The debris in this area seems to have collapsed and luckily I managed to spot Mr James'' arms sticking out of the debris but once I got him out of there he seems to be just fine. Almost as if he hadn''t spent two weeks trapped underneath a building that collapsed on him while being consumed by flames, he doesn''t even have a single burn.." Batman says to Batgirl clearly pointing outs some discrepancies and mysteries that worry me but I ignore them in favour of the fact that he said that I''ve spent two weeks underneath there and I''m surprised that it was in actuality such a short time when it felt like so much longer, now what am I gonna do in this situation with Batman clearly wanting answers for why there''s not a scratch on me and I''m afraid I''m in short supply of possible reasons except for the truth though if there is one silver lining to this situation it''s that from inferring how Batman explained the situation to Barbara that he didn''t see what happens aside from seeing the aftermath of the collapsed debris so there might be a chance that I''ll end today without revealing any of my other powers except a select few maybe even just one if I can get away with it. "Yeah, he looks fine. Just.. fine..." Barbara says while still staring at me before her eyes trail down my body and her face or at least the parts of it that I can see go bright flushed red before she quickly spins around on the spot to avert her eyes, I''m confused why she did so before I follow along where her eyeline used to be directed and I realised that I was completely stark (is it called stark because Tony is found n.a.k.e.d in a lot of places often in scandalous situations or is it just a happy coincidence?) n.a.k.e.d with my silly waving in the wind so I guess the fire did effect me since it burnt off all my clothes which I liked. Batman taking notice of my situation let''s go of me realising that I can stand on my own two feet without assistance and presses a button on his left gauntlet and I wonder what he did for a second before I hear the low rumble of something in the distance and I''m awestruck when an absolute beast of a car/tank bursts into view chucking up debris behind it before it skids around to a stop with its back end faced towards us and Batman promptly takes hold of my arm with his right hand before practically shuffling me along towards the back of the Batmobile and I notice the back of the Batmobile open up to show two seats facing outwards that also looked to have restraints built into them as well and I got a dangerous suspicion that that''s where I was going to be deposited by Batman while he takes me somewhere unknown and the only reason I''m letting him push me along is because I know that he probably doesn''t want to capture or imprison me and Barbara definitely won''t let anything bad happen to me plus by the way he''s currently manhandling me he must not suspect me to have any powers other than a healing factor so if I break away now and run away I''d be revealing myself to have super strength and possibly other powers so it best to just go with the flow for now since I''m nearly a hundred percent sure he''s not gonna do anything bad plus I notice that his suit is mostly grey so according to my ''Batmen of the Multiverse'' theory he should be a nicer Batman than most but there''s always the exceptions like the Thomas Wayne Batman who kills and others so my theory is pretty much useless, I look worriedly at Barbara as I''m pushed past her and though she shows a conscious effort to not look below my neck she shows me a reassuring smile and a nod to assure me that I''ll be fine and it does help but I can no longer appreciate her smile when we arrive at the back of the Batmobile and Batman pushes me towards it. "Get in. You''re gonna get checked out even if you do seem perfectly fine plus we will get you some clothes and some food but for now you can have some water and fruit." Batman states and presses another button on his gauntlet and suddenly a compartment next to the back two seats opens up and out comes some bottle water and fruit which I find quite weird honestly, I show this by looking at the Batman weirdly while sitting into one of the seats at the back of the Batmobile though I do manage to notice that just before my a.s.s touches the cushion some kinda film spreads across the street and I''m a bit amused to see that Batman doesn''t want me to sit in his car n.a.k.e.d though I can understand the reasoning. Batman notices me looking at him weirdly because of the fruit not because of the film over his seat because that would need superhuman senses to see that as it was so cats so he comes to the conclusion that it''s because of the fruit, he walks up to where I''m sat before fiddling with some of the things inside of the Batmobile while answering my unasked question. "Crime doesn''t rest and neither do I. But I still need to eat and drink which is why I have some provisions in the Batmobile in case of emergency or general needs, can''t fight on an empty stomach." I guess that makes sense since you can''t expect him to only eat during the four hours that he''s Bruce Wayne and then starve himself for the other 17 hours he''s Batman (apparently he only needs 3 hours sleep and can go 4 days without sleep as well, I think he sometimes get in some naps (micro naps I think they are called?) whenever he can) but I''ve never questioned when and how much he eats so I guess I can see him keeping food in the Batmobile, Batman suddenly grabs the restraints that are reminiscent of the safety guard on a rollercoaster and pulls it down locking me into the seat which alerts me some since I know that this seat is usually used for the criminals he captures. "Hey ah, I''m not in trouble or anything am I? Because you''ve locked me up in the back of your car." I ask him jokingly but with some genuine concern to which he looks at me stoically, it seems to pretty much be his default face aside from the little glimpses of emotion on his face that you can miss pretty easily if you''re not careful. "If you were in trouble you''d be in handcuffs and I certainly wouldn''t be providing you with sustenance, these restraints would also be a lot tighter then they are now. These restraints are multipurpose as they can act as restraints but also as a seatbelt, the Batmobile goes at very high speeds so these are for your protection." He states out blandly before he steps away from the and presses another button on his gauntlet and the doors begin to shut enclosing me in darkness apart from the dim lights in the compartment that are meant to provide minimal light so people in here don''t have an easy time trying to escape, the last thing I can see before the doors close and the seam seals close was Barbara smiling and waving at me that did a lot to reassure me. In the total darkness I had a moment to contemplate what''s currently happening before I ultimately came to terms with the fact the I will be revealing my regeneration to the Batman in the near future plus he''ll be taking a few blood and DNA samples as well, I can rest assured though since my blood will be irradiated so he won''t be able to get much from that with just an analysis and with my DNA samples hell be looking for regeneration not spider powers so he won''t discover my other powers without at least some experimentation on animals but just to be sure I''ll be modifying my blood and DNA samples to self destruct after a while since that is something my DC self worked out how to do while committing crimes since he didn''t want to leave evidence behind. I''m shook out of my thoughts by the Batmobile suddenly thrusting forward and I hold onto my restraints for dear life as my surrounding begin to rumble like crazy, I guess these roller coaster like restraints really are needed... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) Chapter 120 - [BT] Mental Blocks... [Before Transition] "And? What''s going on in my head?" Ben asks the professor with some trepidation since he really doesn''t want all his problems to be caused by phycological issues because that would mean that it isn''t something Reed can just whip up a cure for and he won''t be able to easily return to his human form anytime in the near future, I can understand why he''s scared of what the Professor will reveal but Ilya must also be feeling relived just at the fact that the Professor has news for him even if it is bad news since that would mean that they have found the crux of his problems and going from there to solve it will be easier than travelling blind however I doubt that Ben will see it like that since he''s more liable to smash something in anger and go back to being depressed which is really easy for him since he doesn''t like to go outside as he is. "Ben, it''s not as simple as what''s going on in your head. The mind is a complex thing and messing with it can have untold consequences such as what just happened when I tried to view into your mind but instead got blasted halfway across the room and gave you an intense headache, we can not be lighthearted when facing matters of the mind." The Professor speaks out some warnings when Ben wants to know what happening inside his mind but it''s made quite clear by the professor''s words that he did not get a full view of his mind before he was blasted but I bet he saw at least some of it as he triggered something in Ben''s mind that sent out the psychokinetic blast from Ben''s body. "So, you didn''t find anything then? You didn''t see anything before you were pushed out of my mind than? Nothing at all?" Ben''s starts to talk out clearly becoming panicked at the fact that the Professor was blasted out of his mind when he started to investigate the deep vestiges, the rest of us stay relatively calm with me and Ororo being mostly indifferent (though I show a different expression upon my face) while Johnny looks worriedly at his friend just like Susan while Reed listens with an interested face. "While I did not get a full comprehensive view of your mind I did see most of the important bits and I did manage to find out just what the issues in your mind is Ben, at least before I was shoved quite violently out of your mind space. Though since I was blasted out I do not have all the information apart from some which I was able to gather before I was ejected from your mind, I''m afraid that I will not be able to dive into your mind again to look at the problem since I would be met with the same results as the last time and there''s nothing I can do to change that." While the rest of us look intrigued by what could be causing the Professor to be restricted in his abilities Ben along with Johnny instead focus on the fact that the Professor has discovered something and pay more attention to that then pondering what could''ve possibly booted the a skilled powerful telepath like the Professor out of Ben''s mind, I am also quite intrigued by this mystery since the only things I can think of that would be able to beat and force Charles Xavier out of the mind are more skilled telepaths than him and telepath with the Phoenix inside them ( or any other kind of power like that residing within them) and I know for a fact that Ben is neither a telepath nor a host of the Phoenix but who knows maybe he''s the host of the earth though I''m pretty sure it''s Ororo Munroe that is the champion of Gaia or something along those lines which begs the question, what could''ve forced the Professor out of Ben''s mind so violently like that? "That doesn''t matter, all that matters is that you found something. What is it, can you get rid of it? Please get whatever it is out of me, I can''t stay like this anymore. I can''t handle it." Ben word vomits when he hears that the Professor found something and I''m pretty sure that''s all he heard since at the end of his dialogue he gets more desperate and begs for help when the Professor clearly just stated that he won''t be able to go into Ben''s mind again and come out with a different result so I''m willing to bet that Ben stopped listening after the professor said he discovered something and it''s showing as he''s clearly asking the professor for something which he just said he can''t do, I honestly feel bad for the guy and I hope that whatever information the professor has will be able to aid Ben in returning to his human form since I do genuinely hope the guy will be able to stop being depressed since I know since I''ve met him the guys been nothing but a grumpy arsehole but I know that that''s only because he''s depressed and not because he''s an arsehole. I do know that there''s hope for him since I know that in the comics the kid department of the Fantastic Four (future something they were called, I don''t think that included those four kids calling themselves the power pack but who knows) decided to help Ben return to his human form but instead of trying to do it like Reed who was trying to make him a full time cure or something they instead decided to make something so he would be able to turn human for a few days before it stops working afterwards they would modify it to work again and so on and so forth so he could have a few day as a human after a couple of months being a giant rock formation, kinda like in Detective Conan where Haibara Ai makes a pill that would return Kudo Shinichi from his child form back to his teenager form but the pill had a limited amount of uses since it would stop working on him each time after around a day I think so he wasn''t able to return to being a teenager for very long periods of time and he wouldn''t do it unless there''s an urgent need which is kinda similar since I know in the comics Ben used a method to temporarily return to being human so he could enjoy his honeymoon with the blind woman love interest of his which means he has to return to human to use his wang but that doesn''t mean he doesn''t have a rock wang but he just can''t use it (is that why he''s so grumpy, he has he can''t find release I mean if he can even stroke the dog in his rock form would some pebbles come out or something) which is why he''s so angry all the time because he can''t even maturbate. "Ben, I can''t help you any further asides from telling you exactly what the issue in your mind is as it is beyond my capabilities to solve it. What I can do though is tell you what the problem in your mind is and give you some probable ways in which you could go about resolving it as sometimes the best help you can get for mental issues is self help." The Professor sighs, relenting at the fact that he won''t be able to help Ben further. Ben goes to say something but he doesn''t manage to get anything out when the Professor holds up his hand to stop him from speaking, Ben surprisingly stays quiet and acquiesces to the professors demands even though I can see that he desperately wants to say something but kudos to him for losing his tongue and allowing the Professor to say his piece. "I''ll answer any questions at the end Mr Grimm but for now let me tell you what I have discovered and then you can ask me anything that you''re unsure about, I''ll do my utmost to help you resolve this issue. First of all I only had a cursory glance around your mind before I finally found what I was looking for and what I discovered was a mental block in your mind that was quite hidden, in fact I had to spend a very long times looking for it as human thoughts are a lot faster that''s out here so while for the rest of you it might have only been five minutes for me it was a lot longer than that and I used that time to look around and find the mental block inside Ben''s mind." At this point Reed interrupts directly ignoring what the Professor said earlier while we all look and though Susan and Ororo are looking at him disapprovingly for speaking when he wasn''t supposed to but he doesn''t seem to realise it, sometimes I wish I could have ignorance on the same level or even more than this guy because then I wouldn''t have to be some worried and panicked all the time plus I''d be a lot more happier. "And what is this mental block? What is it doing to Ben exactly?" I suppose his ignoring of the professors words came form a good place and the Professor clearly saw this as well so he didn''t mention Reed interrupting his talk and instead answered him, I guess being a benevolent leader and a forgiving mutant messiah or whatever is kind his schtick. "A mental block is simply that, a block in your mind that is preventing you from doing something or thinking about something. In this case Ben''s mental block is preventing him from returning to his human form and even when you give him a cure to help him his mental block would soon revert the progress and turn him back to his current form, it was good of you to bring me here to examine him as now that we know what it is we can go about resolving this and helping Ben return to his human form." The Professor says ending on a high note with hope for the future though Ben ignores that in favour of asking his own questions since Reed already broke the rule, he asks some interesting questions as well. "So how can we get rid of this thing? How do I even have it anyway? It''s not like it appeared out of thin air or anything, it must''ve been Doom. He must be playing one of his sick games again but this time he''s gone too far." Ben shouts out and I can see the professors face turn slowly into frown the more that he''s talks. "I''m afraid that there isn''t any outside influence that is causing this mental block of yours Ben." The Professor tells himself stopping Ben in his tracks, I guess you can''t run away from anything forever no matter how hard you try... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane and Zed. Thank you for the support. Chapter 121 - [AT] Old Victims... [After Transition] I sit for quite a while in the back of the Batmobile with dimmed lights but that sucks for him because I have night vision and I can clearly see everything in here although there''s not much to look at and so I decided to bust myself for the duration of the trip by drinking some of the bottled water as well as eating some fruits of which he had a nice supply of some apples, bananas, oranges and gr.a.p.es which were definitely the best I''ve ever tasted but I guess that''s the luxury of the wealthy and they have the best of everything but god damn are these things good they must''ve been made in a special way or something for rich people and no matter what I''m definitely going to look into getting myself some of these in the future because they are so goddamn delicious, aside from busying myself with eating the food items provided to me by the Batman I''ve also been trying to use my senses to see if I can hear anything outside of this Batmobile and more importantly if I can manage to eavesdrop on the other two inhabitants of this moving tank of awesomeness but no matter how hard I try even going so far as to try and shut off my other senses to focus on a singular one I can''t seem to sense them even when I completely gave up on hearing them and decided to try and just smell their scents since I was trying to sense them and I at least want to accomplish that even if it is with a useless sense in this situation but no matter how hard I try I can''t seem to be able to sense anything outside of my compartment in the back of the Batmobile which means that this thing is completely sealed or which I guess makes sense since the Batman must primarily use this to transfer criminals (or people he doesn''t particularly like or trust enough) and he doesn''t want them being able to try and escape because someone like Poison Ivy would be able to manipulate the plants outside of the vehicle but I guess he stopped that from happening by completely seeking this compartment of not allowing anything in or out and I can even tell that the air that''s coming in is being regulated by something and continuously checked, I guess thats Batman ''the most prepared hero'' for you. Since I''ve spent all my time trying to sense while in the Batmobile I''ve come to figure that the only sense I can actually use to tell the state of the outside where rod is my sense of balance/momentum since I can tell the speed at which the Batmobile is moving by that and I''ve noticed that a few times he''s stopped the vehicle before it moves again five minutes later I''ve also been able to tell which direction he has been moving the car in by basically making myself slightly floppy and light weighted and when the car moves in a certain direction the momentum will carry on through to me and move my body through which I can tell whether he''s moving left and right but since I don''t know much of Gotham I don''t exactly know where he''s going but since I''m bored as I''ve been in the back of this thing for at least an hour (more snacks and stuff came out a compartment after a while and I''d already figured that the Batman has cameras viewing me so I''ve been making sure to make my actions as subtle as possible (yes, even the floppy method since I only needed to feel the slightest moment in the direction before I stopped being floppy to figured which way he was turning) I''ve decided to try and see if I can memorise his pathing and see if later on I can figure out how to get wherever he''s taking me assuming he''s taking me where I think he''s taking me and see if that would clue me into a secret entrance plus I''m bored and it''s something to do, he''s stopped like twenty times or something every 5 - 10 minutes and since this is Batman we''re talking about I can pretty much conclude he''s not stopping to get some fast food or get the Batmobile waxed so he''s probably stopping to prevent some crime he''s been alerted to in the area which I guess is fine but by this pace I''m guessing that I''m not gonna get wherever we are going until the end of the day and so I ready myself for a long time in this small enclosed space (do I have claustrophobia? After being trapped in the back of a van, being stuffed into a small meat grinder, having my meat wrapped in several separate plastic bags, being trapped under a collapsed building? I definitely have a problem with enclosed spaces but not so much that I''m gonna start freaking out) and so I sit and wait through several trips and five minute stops while busying myself with some time waiting activities and I don''t take much notice when the Batmobile stops and stays stationary once again but this time something unexpected happened. Instead of waiting the customary and now expected 5 or more minutes the Batmobile shoots of again after a few seconds and I take notice of this because it''s the first time that it''s happened during the length of this trip and as much as I like to think that the Batman needed up stalling the Batmobile I somehow know that''s not true and now that I think about it the Batmobile was going a bit faster than usual before that stop so something must''ve happened but what I don''t know and I don''t think I''m gonna know before I get out of this compartment though I do have some ideas such as Batman stopping to pick someone or something up or stopping to drop or something or maybe drop Barbara somewhere which I frown at the thought of since I thought we were at least friends but then again I''ve been trapped under a building for like two weeks or something so maybe her feelings mellowed out during that time and I''m nothing more than some weird guy/scientific anomaly that survived a burning building falling on him and than surviving for two weeks underneath said building, I can''t say I''m not a bit disappointed at the thought but I guess I can accept it if that is indeed what has happened but I can''t help the niggling feeling that I''m forgetting a certain scenario but for the life of me I can''t seem to remember what that is so in the end I just give up on it and go back to what I was doing which was eating some unbelievably tasty fruit and trying to map out the path that the Batmobile is taking taking into account the turns and the duration of the turn as well as the duration between turns though this whole process might be for nought as I might not actually be going to the place that I think I''m going and am actually going to the hospital to get a check which I highly unlikely since Batman knows I''m not a normal person since I''ve survived unscathed underneath a bunch if debris for the last two weeks and the more likely option is that he is taking me to the Thompkins Clinic which is in the Park Row/East end area and is run by Dr Leslie Thompkins who is trusted by Batman to be discrete and trustworthy so this is most likely where I''m being taken but even so on the off chance that he might be taking me where I think he''s taking me I''ll try and memorise the path the Batmobile is taking. After a while I feel the Batmobile begin to take a lot of rapid turns as well as swerve all around the place before it finally stops though what''s weird about it''s stop is that I can feel the car spinning a full 180 even though I can tell that the Batmobile is stationary and cannot possibly move or turn like that without actually accelerating so I''m mighty confused by what is happening right now though I am getting quite excited since it''s definitely not something that you would see happening in East End so my hopes as to where we actually are is shooting up rapidly though I make sure to keep calm though I do make sure to become extremely alert since I can feel that this is my final stop for the day and I probably won''t be moving in the Batmobile at all for the rest of the day, I wait a couple of minute before finally I can see the seams of the back of the Batmobile open up and begin to let some light through as it slowly opens up and I feel my seat begin to move out of the compartment to be hanging just inside the Batmobile but out enough that my legs are outside of the Batmobile and I take a moment to look back in regret to see the fruits slowly go back into their compartments and I wish I could''ve eaten some more of this delicious fruits but once I forget about those and I try to get out of my seat to take a look around my surroundings I notice that I can''t seem to remove the restraints with normal human strength which worries me a little bit and so I begin to look around to see if there is anyone here who can provide me with some assistance and I forget about the layout and appearance of my location in favour of looking at the person who is currently approaching me dressed in a fine black butler suit that includes white gloves and they seem to be wearing a Bat mask on their head that reminds me of something and after a moment I realise it looks like the Batman mask Adam West wore in the television show and I find some humour in that but I''m assured that it is not Adam West plunder that mask when I see the thin white pencil moustache on the upper lip of the man. "Hello sir. I''ve been expecting you." Alfred Pennyworth states while looking me in the eyes and for a moment I worry if he knows that it''s me that robbed the mansion of which he in charge of a few weeks ago, as well as the fact that I knocked him out cold... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane and Zed. Thank you for the support. Chapter 122 - [BT] Power Cosmic... [Before Transition] "What do you mean ''there isn''t any outside influence that is causing this mental block''? How could it have gotten there then? Why is it in my head!?" Ben shouts already knowing the truth but doing everything in his power to deny it and try to make up an excuse but he knows and by this point so do all of we and I can''t help but feel sad for the man, Charles also apparently feels the same way as me as he does a deep sigh before trying to explain to Ben the obvious truth. "Ben, no one has implanted this mental block inside of you and there isn''t a mysterious and convenient excuse as to why you have this mental block. It''s of your own making, your subconscious mind has made this mental block and only you yourself can resolve this issue." The Professor speaks out brutal and to the point and for a moment I wonder if he could have been a little lighter but then again he is the trained psychologist/therapist and if he thinks ripping off the bandaid as soon and fast as possible is the correct solution in this situation then who am I to question it, Ben is still clearly having issues with the revelation and I can understand that as he has learnt that the thing that has been stopping him from returning to being a normal human (his greatest wish perhaps) is himself and it''s a bit of a mind f.u.c.k to deal with. "How? How is that possible? I want to return to being human, it''s the only thing I actually want so why are you telling me that I''ve subconsciously been stopping myself from doing that!?" Ben questions quietly at first before gradually getting louder and ending shouting straight into the professor''s face point blank and though Ororo tenses up a little at this presumably to take action if needed Charles stays calm and tranquil as if there''s not a ornate rock man screaming into his face but then again I guess the Professor has dealt with these types of situations before and knows how to deal with them, Charles let''s Ben get it all out and then gives him a moment to calm down and catch his breath not at all minding the spittle on his face as if he''s used to these kinds of situations. After Ben calms down he realised that he''s standing and leaning over the Professor threateningly so he moves backwards and slumps back down onto the medical platform in defeat and I can bet that part of why he''s done that is because of him noticing Ororo behind the Professor clearly preparing to take action if needed and that must''ve alerted him that he''s getting a bit too worked up so he decided to move back and realise the situation he''s in, he''s also decided to try and see if there is any solutions to this problem which I''m pretty sure is the right thing to do in this situation and I''m glad he''s realised that as shouting at the Professor and denying reality isn''t going to help him overcome his problems and return him to being human. "Sorry Professor, I got a bit worked up but I''m fine now. So, what can we do to fix this? Can you remove the mental block from my mind and let me turn back into a human? Can you do that?" Ben speaks asking a relevant question and I too am interested in this as the topic of why the thing can''t return to being human interested me in my past life and I actually researched it and found a few things so I would like to see if any of these theories are true and so far it''s looking like one of them are but then again that depends on the reason behind Ben having this mental block, I''m rooting for the guy now and I want him to get his human body back because I know that me and him haven''t been on the best of terms since we met but somehow I''m relating to him and I don''t know in what ways I''m relating and I can''t quite tell why but I am and I want this guy succeed in getting his human body back. "I''m afraid that''s quite impossible Ben, I find that it''s better for the person with a mental block to work through it by themselves perhaps with the help of a therapist because if I rid you of the mental block then there''s nothing to guarantee it not coming back if you haven''t worked through the issues and solved the root problems. And even if I could do this Ben, which I''m considering as you are a good man and a hero and deserve some happiness, I''m afraid I wouldn''t be able to as there is something inside you that is preventing me from doing so." The Professor clearly tells him clearly and concisely giving him all the facts and reasons which everyone can understand and agree with but the last thing is what catches mostly everyone''s attention and draws us to him again, what could be preventing the Professor from messing with Ben''s mental block and it seems Reed is also perplexed by this as he asks the question which is in everyone''s mind. "Charles, why is it that you wouldn''t be able to remove the mental block? I understand why you don''t but to know that you, one of the most powerful telepaths in the whole world, can''t remove this mental block even with your strength and expertise I can''t help but be curious as to what is preventing you from doing it." Reed says and I find myself nodding along with his question and though Johnny didn''t really think of this before at the professors words he''s clearly realised it know and he also wants to know just what is preventing the Professor from removing the mental block, we all want to know Ben especially and seeing this the Professor endeavours to answer our question to the best of his abilities. "I''m afraid I too am quite puzzled by this as well as it''s not often that I find myself limited when it comes to matters of the mind but I find myself stumped, this isn''t something I''ve encountered before. When I tried to view the mental block itself before I only managed to learn that it is impeding Ben from returning to his human form and I tried to learn more about the cause of this mental block but no matter how much I tried I was unable to do so and the mental block was fused or empowered with some strange almost primordial energy that was preventing me from truly analysing the block and when I tried to break through it it rebounded me and before I could learn anything else I was blasted out of his mind by the weird powerful energy, it even impacted me in the real world and forced me across the room. I''ve never encountered such a phenomenon before, I''ve seen some strange mystical things in my day but this energy truly feels like one of the most powerful energies I''ve ever encountered." The Professor says and I notice that he only said ''one of the most powerful energies'' he''s ever encountered and from that I can infer that he''s already come across the Phoenix inside Jean Grey''s mind though he probably doesn''t know that that''s what the energy he found in her mind is and if this energy in Ben is what I think it is then it may have indeed come close to the Phoenix energy but ultimately falls short and it''s seems Reed is also thinking what I''m thinking as he also has some ideas as to what that energy in Ben is, of course there''s every chance that I''m working but I somehow feel that I''m correct as this energy would alone with one of the theories from my last life. Reed snaps his fingers together in a eureka moment. "It must be cosmic power, Ben was exposed to a lot more of it than the rest of us when we first got these powers and it wouldn''t surprise me if there''s where most of Ben''s problems with his transformation are coming from and it seems that because of his over abundance of cosmic power some seems to have somehow empowered the mental block in his mind and enforced it. I''ll have to run some tests and research some things but if if I''m correct then I could build a device to drain him of the cosmic energy but not enough that it would kill him as this cosmic power has become an complicated part of us and entwined itself with our DNA but I could drain enough that you would stay in your rock form but have the power drained from the mental block which could allow the Professor to remove the block with ease, I just have to run some tests." Reed speaks aloud unintentionally mimicking the same thoughts running through my mind and confirming the past theories in my past life of which there were two main ones which were the fact that Ben had a mental block preventing him from returning to being human because he was afraid that his girlfriend Alicia Masters (the blind sculpture artist) would leave him for some reason or another and though I haven''t seen her since I''ve been in this building I have come across a weird art room the was quite at odds with the rest of the scientific building so I guess she''s not been here for the past few weeks for some reason, another theory was that the universe itself didn''t want Ben to stop being the Thing as he had a higher purpose or something and so they stopped him from returning to being human and it seems in this universe it is both of these theories as he has the mental block (I don''t know if the cause is the same) but it is in fact being empowered and enforced by the power cosmic which is the universes way of keeping him as being the Thing and it has in fact been noted in my last life that the more comfortable Ben became as the thing the more his form showed it as it became more cartoony and friendly basically keeping him as the thing and I guess that''s what would''ve happened here as well. "Stop it Reed, the Professor is right. This is the cause of my own issues and I should solve them myself otherwise they''re always going to be there, I''m grateful for the help Reed but this is something I have to do myself. Professor, would you perhaps be able to give me some therapy sessions in the future? Or if you can''t can you please refer me to some trustworthy therapists?" I''m happy that Ben is taking the actions needed to solve his problems and it seems this will work out in the professors favour as well as helping the Fantastic Four can help him a lot in the future, I can''t help but wonder if this is a coincidence or something that the Professor saw and took advantage of in the name of mutant and human coexistence... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, Zed and napier Crawford. Thank you for the support. Chapter 123 - [AT] The Batler..? [After Transition] "Hey there Bat-Butler? Batler? Whatever, can you tell me where I am, please?" I ask Alfred not knowing what to call him since he currently is dressed as a butler and he has a bat mask on so I end up adding bat before butler and then thinking better of it I combine the two to call him ''Batler'' but I realise that that too is stupid since it sounds like Hitler for some reason when I say it out loud even though it is closer to battler but I guess that''s just the way my mind works so I decide to just say whatever and get to the important stuff hoping he''ll just tell me what to call him instead of me having to come up with something as I''m in restive and very unoriginal, amused by my horrid naming sense Alfred chuckles slightly before he decides to answer my question as well as give me an actual name to call him by. "I am ''The Butler'', you can just call me butler though. As to where you are that will not be revealed anytime in the future, perhaps never but know that you are safe and in no danger as we are in the Batcave though you will never know the location of it." He speaks out clearly enjoying the fact that he''s dressing up like his master and even having a stage name though that is only momentarily as he then goes on to tell me that he will not reveal where we are only telling me that this is the Batcave which I could pretty much work out for myself since I am being treated to such dark and gloomy scenery as well as the fact that I am safe and in no danger which I already guessed as these are the good guys although I''ll still be cautious against them taking my blood or DNA or stuff but I already have defences in place for that, I look around the surroundings and I''m treated to the sight of a big wide cavern made up of dark and craggily rocks though that does nothing to takeaway from the high tech appearance of everything else as the Batmobile is currently parked on a round metallic platform with only a single steel walkway leading away though that is only enough for about three people so I have to beg the question of how the Batmobile got here since I can see no possible pathways for the vehicle to have taken to get here so I can only assume that they have been closed up so I can''t speculate anything. "Well, that''s certainly assuring isn''t it. I''m just supposed to take your word as a guarantee am I?" I question while trying to subtly see the rest of the cave but I can hardly see anything else apart from the walkway out of the corner of my eye so I suppose that the Batmobile has been parked or the platform it''s on has been turned in such a way that I can''t see the rest of the cave which must''ve been a strategic decision to limit the amount of information that I''m capable of acquiring while I''m here, I decide to just forego the subtlety since I''ve clearly been brought here by them and I''ve just been told that this is the Batcave so I think it would be normal for anyone to try and see veryhing here so I begin to crane my neck around in all sorts of directions to try and see what I can see though it seems it''s not much since I can only see a bit further along the walkway and everything else apart from the platform we are currently on is enshrouded in darkness. "Yes. Now can you stop turning your head around so wildly in case you end up exasperating any injuries you may have since that is what we are here to check for though just by looking at you it doesn''t seem like you''ve just spent the past two weeks buried under a Buliding, though you could certainly do with a shower." He tells me bluntly without any kind of hesitation whatsoever in reply to me question the I should just trust his word and I can''t help but be a little amused by his answer and I show it as well by chuckling at it as well as at the fact that he just called me smelly though I guess that''s a given since I''ve been buried under a Buliding for two weeks staring in my own sweat and a pile of my own blood. "I guess I''ve got no choice, huh. Well Batman is one of the good guys unless you''ve managed to dupe the entire world with a great PR guy plus Barbara works with you guys and from what I know about her I can tell that the rest of you guys are trustworthy since she wouldn''t associate with you guys if you weren''t, by the way can I have some pants since it''s quite chilly in this cave?" I ask now noticing the stiff breeze travelling through the air and being reminded of my lack of any clothes whatsoever as well as the fact that I''ve been sat here n.a.k.e.d in front of this old dude for quite a while now, I''m just glad that I can see his eyes and the fact that his eyes haven''t travelled below my neckline. "Yes, I had heard that you''d discovered miss Gordon''s secret identity just before you told her to get out of the factory with the child and stayed behind to die though that seems to have been an exaggeration. If I can be assured that that information won''t be spread I''ll see what I can do about getting you some pants, maybe I''ll even get you a shirt and some shoes as well as some food to accompany that since I imagine you must be hungry after behind trapped for two weeks." He speaks out while narrowing his eyes dangerously and I''m man enough to admit that I felt some danger from that especially since his face took on a serious frown when he spoke and though usually I would keep my face straight and hide any feelings I decided to let some of my true feelings out and laughed nervously while scratching the back of head, although I was indeed being restrained to the chair my arms and legs were still mobile and I was able to move them around without much difficulty. "Well, you don''t have to worry about that. Her secret is safe with me after all I did stay behind to die while convincing her to leave with the child, we both know that if I hadn''t convinced her she would have stayed and tried to save both of us and end up dying in the process." I tell him while chuckling nervously and scratching the back of my head, I''m trying to convince him that I won''t reveal her secret to the world and I try to emphasise that by telling him that I decided to stay behind so she and the child could live but is seems that he isn''t being convince me by my words going by the fact that his face has moved in inch. "You knew you would survive." He says trying to disprove the fact that staying behind while Barbara and the child left meant I was trustworthy and I can understand where he''s coming form but even so I''m a bit pissed that he''s undermining what I''ve just gone through, I even show this by gritting my teeth and talking out through clenched teeth all the while glaring at him. "That may indeed be true but that doesn''t mean that I didn''t feel pain being consumed by the flames and crushed underneath the weight of an entire factory, even if I survived and knew I''d come out fine that doesn''t mean me staying behind means any less. There was a chance that Batgirl may have pulled though and saved all of us or saved me while killing herself or the boy in the process (or dropping me but I knew I''d survive) which would''ve spared me the pain and my newly developed claustrophobia but I chose to stay behind knowing I would be treated to inscrutable suffering as well as the fact that I may have been buried underneath there for who knows how long, I think that proves that I''m not gonna go and tell the world the identity of the girl I gladly suffered through so much pain for." I talk out becoming more heated as I go since I do feel quite strongly about the topic and I''m getting pretty pissed that he''s undermining just what I''ve gone through since it I didn''t get out fast enough then there''s every chance that I would''ve had to resort to ripping parts of myself off and eating it to keep myself going and surviving with my regeneration so I''m glad that I''m managed to get out of there quickly, but I''m slightly confused when I realise that Alfred is no longer glaring or anything but instead smiling at me. I come to the conclusion that he''s either smiling at me because he now believes that I''m trustworthy enough to keep the identity of Batgirl a secret and he won''t have to go behind Batman''s back to get some other trusted superhero to erase my memories (since I''m assuming that Batman does not condone mind manipulation in such a way, moray Batmen don''t) either that or he''s happy that he''s caught me out and basically got me to admit that I have regeneration powers/a healing factor though I''m not too bothered about that since I already knew that I would have to reveal such to Batman since that would be the only excuse which would be able to explain why I was able to survive underneath the collapsed burning factory for two weeks but either way I''m not really fussed about the outcome, Alfred seemingly now gotten what he''s after now decides to play a it more friendly. "Very well, I believe that you would not divulge the secret to anyone. By the way, how did you discover your powers since you would have needed to do so to know that you would survive the blaze and collapse of the factory." He says and I can''t tell why he''s smiling since he just mentioned both scenarios I just thought of so I''ll be guessing that it''s a combination of the two, I''m not really in the mood to answer right now though. "If it''s all the same to you can we discuss that when the Batman gets here because I would much rather not talk about it twice, it''s not exactly a nice subject. Plus I though we were here so I could have a check up so why don''t we get on with that and save the important stuff for when everyone else is here?" I say and he nods his head to confirm my request. "Very well I suppose. Let''s begin your check up, sir." He says and reaches in his pocket to pull out some kind of small remote which he then points straight In my direction and I worry that he does know that it was in fact me that robbed the mansion o couple of weeks ago, either that or he''s about to pull a Men in Black and erase my memories... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane and napier Crawford. Thank you for the support. Chapter 124 - [BT] Mary Jane’s Gossip... [Before Transition] It''s been a couple of weeks since the revelation of the mental block in Ben''s mind and all things considered he''s been handling it like a champ as opposed to Reed who has been quite stressed out about it wanting to run tests and experiments as well as create a device to drain the excess power cosmic from Ben to weaken the mental block in his mind even if he wasn''t going to get it removed by a telepath but Ben refused stating that the power cosmic didn''t really matter in hindsight as it''s just stopping outside interference and enforcing the mental block but as long as he solved his own issues than the block would disappear though he didn''t put it as elegantly as that and I really respect the guy for trying to deal with his own problems and cut them off at the roots instead of just temporarily trimming them and one day allowing them to grow back so I''m happy to say that since then me and Ben have been getting along great and hanging out quite a lot watching Television and eating junk food together (I make sure to work it off when I go home, or if I find a female partner to help me with some other exercises) and I''m betting that''s because he''s glad to know what his problem is and now can go about solving it so he''s grateful to me for helping him find out the issue even if he maybe didn''t want to hear it, about a week after the professor Charles Xavier gave Ben his diagnosis we were visited by a certain lanky man as apparently Charles Xavier was too busy and troubled by mutant issues to personally help Ben with his issues though he did recommend someone and even helped Ben to contact him so i guess in the end he didn''t help Ben out in order to gain some points and favours to cache in on in the future so maybe he''s not as bad as he''s been made out to be though that doesn''t mean I''ll be letting my guard down as I''ll be keeping a close eye on him if he''s around me but as long as he keeps his distance I won''t really be bothered about him. Anyway the man who showed up a week later was a fairly tall and lanky Caucasian man with long brown hair, brown eyes and quite a nerdy disposition dressed in a plain white shirt and slacks that were covered by a doctors coat and his name was Dr Leonard Samson though he told us all to calm him Doc Sam and he seemed to be a pretty good guy that had his doctorate in psychology and was here to assist Ben in resolving his issues by being his therapist and so he''s been having sessions with Ben in the Baxter building for the last few weeks but I haven''t really had many chances to interact with him as I''ve been busy with my own stuff and duties though from what I have seen from interacting with him he seems to be a really good guy who is here to genuinely help Ben with his mental health though he does seem to strike me as the opportunistic sort and I always see some envy in his eyes when he sees any member of the Fantastic Four use their powers in front of him especially The Thing though I don''t think that''s because he wants to be a rock person but because he would like to have that sort of strength and be buff because I''m guessing he was bullied in school or something and though that does make me a little wary of him I''m not overly bothered since any normal person would be envious of the powers of others so it''s quite normal though I do think that envy will get him in trouble some day as he is quite opportunistic as I''ve often seen him looking over Reeds shoulder and inquiring about his work which annoys Reed but he complies anyway since the man is helping his friend. I haven''t really had time to interact with the guy and I''m not sure if I want to since it seems it''ll be more hassle than it''s worth and I''m busy enough as it is since I''ve been working quite a lot on my own research not to mention the fact that Reed has caught onto my interest to do with other dimensions and trailering to them so he has I listed my help to be his assistant occasionally alongside Susan to help him with his projects and I realised pretty much straight away that he was working on the portal to the Negative Zone and though I don''t know much about the dimension I do know that it''s quite dangerous but it''s not like I''m the one that''s gonna go exploring it and the information and knowledge I''ll be able to derive while helping Reed to build the portal will go a long way helping me with my own research and so I''ve lately been putting my all into helping Reed build the Negative Zone portal only occasionally working on my own project when an epiphany strikes me while working on the portal and this is because I figured it would be better to finish working on the portal first than to work on both side by side and end up realising after I''ve finished the portal that I''ve made some mistakes in my own project or it''s really inefficient so I''m just gonna finish working on the Negative Zone portal as fast as possible so I can get some more knowledge and get back to working on my own project as soon as possible. Anyway right now I''m currently in the Coffee Bean in mine and Mary Jane''s usual booth were we always sit while I tutor her on her subjects though that''s only around two times a week where before I used to be everyday after School though that doesn''t seem to have impeded just how much Mary Jane has been absorbing and studying and going by the report cards she''s been showing me she''s starting to get a few A''s in her subjects and her grades never drop below a B so I''ve seen quite a lot of process although I''m not gonna stop there as I''m gonna make her a straight A student by the end of the year so that during her last year at high schools she''ll be getting A''s in all her classes and end up finishing her exams with A''s as well but right now we''ve just finished our tutoring session and she''s packing away her stuff into her backpack and we are now ordering some muffins and stuff as well as a refill for our drinks since now that the tutoring part is over it''s time for the chit chat part and I bet you''re wondering why in the hell would we have a chit chat part and that''s because it''s a way for me to influence Mary Jane in a social and goal oriented way though I do mix it in with some of her gossip and topics as well so as to not make it so obvious that I''m subtly influencing her according to what I want her to be (which is kind of f.u.c.k.e.d up now that I think about it but I harden my resolve when I tell myself that I''m making her a better version of herself and making her more successful in the future and this is for her own good since it''s not like I''m doing this to manipulate her into sleeping with me since she''s been trying to sleep with me for nearly an entire year and I''ve been putting it off). It''s during these gossip sessions that I subtly influence her by talking about some interesting topics, recent news and other such things and she responds am quite well since I''m playing on her emotions to get closer to me and I further play on her emotions by mentioning strong influential women and telling her how much I like them such as saying something along the lines of ''Pepper Potts is a real catch, I like strong business women like her'' or ''Emma Frost is really hot, she''s really ruthless and focused which I really like in a women'' and my favourite which I''ve begun to use quite a lot more recently which is ''Susan Storm is so awesome, I''ve really been enjoying working alongside her since she''s so beautiful, intelligent and clever and we can talk really easily over any new developments in the scientific world together'' which hits differently since I''m actually in contact with this woman and since I''ve been lately showing little to no interest in Mary Jane she''ll try to emulate and be like these women I''m talking her about since she knows I like them and will try to be more like them to gain my attention which I admit makes me kind of an arsehole but at the end of the day she''ll have a really successful career in the future and I''m not really getting anything out of this so as far as I''m concerned no harm no fowl. I don''t think we''ll be getting straight to those topics though since apparently Mary Jane has some really juicy gossip or big news that she''s been dying to tell me all day though I stopped her and made her study first but it seemed like she really wanted to tell me the big news as she worked harder than ever and we finished our tutoring session a lot earlier than we usually would so I guess she must be dying to tell me and she''s been waiting for this all day so I guess I''ll let her have her moment before I start the subtle ''For The Greater Good'' manipulation, Mary Jane sure does seem to be secretive about it though since she waits till the waitress brings us our snacks and refills our drinks before she looks around to make sure no one is listening or nearby and then she leans in closer to whisper to me so I''m guessing whatever news she has must be pretty secretive since she''s taking a lot more precautions than she usually would when she''s talking about the school rumour mill. ''Nick, you were right. You were right Nick." She whispers to me before starting to looks left and right to make sure that no one had heard her which I find mildly amusing though I am a bit confused about what she''s on about so I c.o.c.k an eyebrow in question showing my puzzlement, seeing my confusion she looks around once more to make sure no one is listening before she leans in even closer than before and start to whisper more softly than before to me. "What you said before, about it being possible that Since you were given power by a genetically altered spider made by Oscorp then isn''t it possible that someone else was also given powers by a different genetically altered spider at Oscorp. You were right, and I know who it is because there as someone else who was also there during our school trip to Oscorp and could''ve swallowed a spider th same as you and I know who it is!" She whispers out excitedly with some panick but I just find myself to stunned to respond since she accused me of being Spider-Man a while ago before I debunked her theory but to think that she was still caught up on it, she certainly is a red headed stubborn spitfire. "It''s Peter Parker, he also got some powers from the spiders at Oscorp! He''s Spider-Man!" Well shit, sorry Peter but it looks like the cat is out of the bag... I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford and Marcus Lane. Thank you for the support. Chapter 125 - [AT] Beautiful BatCave... [After Transition] I worry for my safety when he points that remote device straight at me and I worry for a moment if he''s about to shock me, erase my mind amen in Black style or harm me in any way whatsoever and i tense up when his thumb presses down on a button and i scrunch my eyes together to wait for whatever''s about to happen and when I hear a cl.i.c.k.i.n.g sound I know whatever''s gonna happen has just started and so I keep my eyes closed waiting but nothing ever comes and when I chance opening an eye I realise that Alfred is just staring at me amused my and when I look around nothing seems to have changed but as I do so I rotate my body and instead of being restricted in place by the restraints the restraints instead move with my movement and when I see that I start to fiddle with my roller coaster like restraints and to my surprise I easily lift it up above me freeing myself in the process and when I look at Alfred I can tell that he''s begun to trust me which I''m thankful for but he''s not yet trusting me enough to reveal any other identities, I stare at him for a moment before I gingerly get up out of my seat expecting for the restraints to immediately shuttle back down and entrap me again but when I get to my feet and feel my b.a.r.e soles against the cold metallic floor I realise that everything is fine except for the stiff breeze I can feel between my legs and I suddenly notice how cold it is in here. "Come along sir, follow me. I expect you don''t want to stay nude for the entirety of your stay here and I would appreciate you taking a shower as well, we need to get you cleaned up and checked out before Master Batman comes back. Chop chop." He says amused my watching as well push my legs together after feeling the cold breeze and he promptly begins to walk off without looking back clearly expecting me to follow and so I do but I make sure not to go anything even the railings since I''m sure there are probably a ton of cameras recording my every move and I would rather not set off any defences by doing something I''m not supposed to, for right now I will just follow Alfred along and listen to his instructions which will also hopefully include me getting dressed and after that I can think about what to do next and how I''m gonna leave this Batcave without piquing anymore of the Batman''s attention. As I hurry to follow after Alfred I begin to quickly move around the platform that the Batmobile is currently upon and when I pass the vehicle and finally find myself on a walkway which I follow Alfred onto I begin to marvel at the sheer amount of memorabilia and tech displayed all around the cavern as suddenly lots of flood lights are activated giving me quite the sight of the legendary Batcave which if I recall was discovered and used long before by Bruce Wayne''s ancestors as a storehouse as well as a means of transporting escaped slaves during the Civil War era and I think Bruce Wayne himself rediscovered this place when he fell through a dilapidated well on his estate (or was that just in the movie?) but much like Superman''s Fortress of Solitude the Batcave serves as a place of privacy and tranquility where Batman can be himself and focus on all his cases and optimise his crime solving process, if I can recall the cave is accessible in several different ways such as through a secret door in Wayne Manor itself which is located in the main study behind a grandfather clock which is probably iconic to every Batman fan and the panel unlocks when the hands of the clock are set to the time that Bruce Wayne''s parents were murdered which was 10:48 I think but I also wonder if there is another entrance like in the television show which has been shown to be behind a bookcase which slides to the side when a secret button is pushed revealing the "Bat-Poles" which allow Bruce Wayne and his ward to change into their Batman and Robin costumes en route as they slide down to the cave in the TV show and I amuse myself thinking about that but I also seem to remember a door disguised as part of a large display case and unlocked by pressing a sequence of keys on the nearby piano in some kind of Batman story, I wonder if like in the Adam West (R.I.P) TV show there is another secret entrance covered by a hologram or a camouflaged door which allows access to a service road for the Batmobile which may be how I got in here and I''ll investigate it at a letter date. The Batcave serves as Batman''s personal command centre where he can monitor all crisis points in Gotham and the world at large and the cave''s centerpiece is a supercomputer (The renowned Bat-Computer) whose specs are on par with any of those used by leading national security agencies (most likely even better) and it permits global surveillance and also connects to a massive information network as well as storing vast amounts of information both on Batman''s foes and his allies (I have no doubt that there is a file in there already detailing Superman and his weakness Krptonite, hell Batman probably has a stash of Kryptonite somewhere in the Batcave) through a series of satellite link-ups which allow easy access to Batman''s information network anywhere in the globe with the systems being protected against unauthorized access and any attempt to breach this security immediately sends an alert to the Batman as the Batcomputer is generally considered to be one of the world''s most powerful supercomputer systems albeit unknown to everyone aside from Bruce Wayne, Alfred, and a few select others, the Batcave also has a collection of ancient armor throughout which includes outfits worn by European Knights, Desert nomads, and Samurai warriors throughout the centuries which is weird but I guess it fits due to Batman''s study of military history and not only that but I can see that the cave houses Batman''s vast array of specialized vehicles on a variety of platforms foremost being the famous Batmobile (including the one I just came in) in all its incarnations mostly for nostalgia probably as well as for contingencies as all are probably still serviceable and kept in excellent working condition and Batman keeps a fleet of regular cars of various models and utility vehicles such as an ambulance for some reason as well for when I guess the Batmobile would be too conspicuous for a mission and other vehicles I can see within the complex include various motorcycles, and various air and watercraft (which I can see when looking down over the railing as they are parked on the water down there) such as The Batplane which looks like a single occupant supersonic jet. While looking down at the vehicles in the water I realise that the cave is being powered by a collection of hydro-electric generators in the water but my attention is soon taken by the sheer awesomeness of the displays set up ahead of me which include a bug green T-Rex Animatronic, a giant U.S. Lincoln-headed penny, A giant Joker playing card which likely came from the Joker but I seem to recall as story line where it was given to Batman or something, a display case of a rifle which seems to have been given quite a lot of importance as it''s been placed in the centre for some reason, a red monk shroud, a Bat-Suit that looks like it was made for a kid by there mother and it looks more in line for a costume party than an actual functioning Batsuit, a singular gavel for some reason, a cool looking sword but whereas there are many different swords on racks around the place this one has been given importance by being placed in a display case (maybe it belongs to a mercenary or assassin like Ra''s Al Ghul or something), an Egyptian mummy sarcophagus for some reason, a tooth which looks like it came from the mouth of some wild animal, a diary which I can see belongs to someone called Dana Drye with my enhanced vision, a small (compared to the T-Rex) robotic penguin which probably has something to do with the Penguin, a giant pair of dice, over sized ten pins, a human size chess board, a freeze ray which I bet once belonged to Mr. Freeze, a series of umbrellas, a double headed silver coin which is scarred on one side and oddly enough a display case for the hats of Batman''s villains though I can only recognise two of them which belong to the Riddler and the Mad Hatter. I''m distracted from my touring by a sudden bust of bats flying past me and I can tell that they are American brown bats and when I watch them land on the ceiling I realise that the place is lit up enough for me to make out that the rocks and walls of the cavern are made up of bedrock and limestone and for a moment I take in the sheet vastness of the cave and I realise just how huge it is as well as how much time and effort must''ve gone into this plus this probably isn''t even all of it as there are probably a bunch or rooms built into the cave walls for different purposes and it looks like all the things in the display cases are locked away tightly and deactivated if they can be so I''m assuming that Batman is keeping the truly dangerous stuff locked away somewhere and he''s probably keeping the important stuff locked away in a room somewhere as well because I can not for the idea of me see any display case containing any of the previous costumes for Batman, Robin or Batgril apart from the costume one in the display case but that is just made up of some grey spandex, a cape and so stick on bat ears so I''m not counting it, I''m shook out of my mesmerisation but Alfred clapping his hands together twice to gain my attention. "Through here you will find a shower for you to use and I will leave some clothes out for you while you use the facilities but don''t take too long as we still need to give you a checkup. I will also prepare some food for you but I expect you to behave yourself while here, don''t touch anything you are not supposed to and don''t go exploring, understood?" He asks to which I nod and realise that we reached the end of the walkway while I was looking around and now he''s waving me through a door which I guess leads to a bathroom of sorts, I go through not wanting to waste time and get through the checkup as fast as possible as I''d like to have it done before Batman gets back as he will likely be a lot more attentive then Alfred and I don''t want that. I step through the doorway which immediately closes behind me in a modern way as the door just slides out of the wall and shuts, I look towards the shower and make my way towards it. I sure hope Batman isn''t paranoid enough to have any cameras in here... [AN: Can anyone guess where the memorabilia I mentioned in this chapter came from, the story behind them or who it belonged to? Hint, some of them are quite obvious.] ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford and Marcus Lane. Thank you for the support. Chapter 126 - [BT] Parker Problems... [Before Transition] So to summarise Mary Jane has just told me that Peter Parker is Spider-Man which has just come out of the left wing for me as it was only a couple of weeks ago that she was accusing me of being Spider-Man and at that time I thought that she should have already known that Peter Parker is Spider-Man by then since she lives next to him and should have heard a noise late at night before seeing him crawl in through his window dressed as Spider-Man but that did not happen because of me and the reason why that did not happen was because it was late at night and originally she should have heard a noise and Mary Jane should have just been relaxing in her room then heard the noise and then catch Peter in the act crawling into his room through the window dressed as Spider-Man but now she actually studies with headphones in which means that she didn''t hear the noise and witness Peter dressed up as Spider-Man,l which was why she only suspected me instead and she was close enough to me to actually confront me about it and even though I''d already shut those thoughts down I apparently opened a new line of inquiry for her when I told her that if it was possible for me to gain powers from the spiders at Oscorp than it was equally possible for someone else to also gain powers from Oscorp as well and she must''ve put it together when she began to suspect Peter since they are neighbours and even if she does study most nights it was inevitable that one day she would look out of the window and spot Spider-Man crawling in through Peter Parker''s window and if she kept an eye out she would probably witness the same sight every night so the conclusion was foregone, except in the comics she stayed silent and never mentioned it to anyone keeping it to herself and staying as far as possible away from it before eventually revealing to Peter that she knew when they began dating after Gwen''s death (which will not be happening in this reality as for some reason Gwen decided to skip the last two years of high school and go straight to ESU so she and Peter won''t be in the same classes when he attends and they shouldn''t really meet which should keep her from becoming friends with him and then eventually meeting Norman Osborn and dying at his hands, though I don''t even know if Osborn will become the Green Goblin in this reality since Harry Osborn is not friends with Peter and that might''ve changed the pathing of this reality although I sincerely doubt it) so why is she telling this to me and not just ignoring it like she did in the comics and what is she expecting to get out of this conversation apart from some juicy gossip that she will never reveal to anyone and more insight into the world of heroes. "Hold on a second Mary Jane, you can''t just say something like that. You need to have proof and be able to back it up plus why would you even think that little Peter Parker is Spider-Man, no offence but I used to protect the guy from bullies so I highly doubt that he would start going out in spandex and fighting crime even if he did get powers since he wasn''t brave enough to fight against his bullies let alone hardens criminals." I say trying to see if I could deflect some of Mary Jane''s suspicions because although I might not be taking a vested interest in Peters life I do respect the guy and I would rather not complicate his life more than needed as he is pretty important to this reality and if I messed with his current existence then I could be dooming this reality and possibly myself as I''ve no assurance that I''ll be able to leave this multiverse before the the inheritors come looking to eat some Spider Totem''s and who knows if this Peter was crucial to stopping them even if his purpose was just to be cannon fodder if he wasn''t there then maybe an inheritor would have one less obstacle which could upset the whole story line and make is so that the Inheritors win and they would eventually come for me unless I left this multiverse but I can''t think that I would have that done before they come so it would be in my best interest that I keep this Spider-Man alive so that he''d be pulled in to fight against the inheritors or would draw the Inheritors attention if they came here which would give me enough time to escape from them (maybe it would also be in my interest to also improve this Spider-Man as well such as getting him better tech, better experience, better martial experience so as to make him a bigger threat to the Inheritors, it wouldn''t hurt to have a veteran Spider-Man to also fight the Inheritors maybe I could also figure out a way to make it so that this Spider-Man would be a lot less squeamish and maybe even deadly), I need Peter to keep being Spider-Man and be a lot loss focused on other things that would take away from his nightly activities. "I know, I still think of him as the nerdy kid that lives next door but it''s true and I have proof. I first noticed him one night while looking out my window and I spotted Spider-Man crawling along May Parker''s roof and entering the Parker house through Peter''s window and imagine my surprise when he ripped off his mask without even closing the window revealing himself to be Peter Parker, ever since then I''ve been keeping an eye on the Parker house just in case I imagined it but I often see Spider-Man swinging into and out of Peter''s bedroom window and after I thought about it I realised he was also there when we went on the Oscorp trip so it''s possible that he also got his powers the same day that you did which would fit the timeframe of when Spider-Man started appearing." Well I am impressed as she must''ve learnt from the first time she accused me of being Spider-Man without any evidence and this time she must''ve waited and observed enough just to be sure before she came to me with her proof but why did she come to me to tell me about it, is it just because she accused me last time and she''s brought this to my attention to say you''re right it''s this guy instead or is this some kind of thing to prove that she can work out Spider-Man''s identity or something after failing so spectacularly last time. "Okay Mary Jane I believe you but even so, when I swallowed the spider and got my powers I was in a coma for two weeks having to be constantly fed through an IV and when I went back to school I didn''t hear anything about Peter also being off school or anything. Plus even if he is Spider-Man what are we gonna do about it, it''s not like we''re gonna go up to him and tell him we know and the expect to go on with our lives." I tell her trying to figure out what she wants to do with this information of hers, I also try to throw a little doubt in there as well by stating the difference in how we got our powers and hope that will take a little of the air out of her sails. "Yeah well, maybe the spider he swallowed wasn''t as potent or something or maybe he only ate a few legs or half of it or something, either way something from a spider at Oscorp got into Peter and gave him powers the same as you and I bet he wasn''t in a coma because his powers are a lot less potent than yours and he probably didn''t swallow a dangerous irradiated spider whole like you. I''ve seen him in the costume so there''s no doubt about it even if we don''t have all the facts like how he got his powers or why he''s doing this and as for what we''re gonna do about this, well I was thinking that we would tell the police or something because he''s doing something incredibly dangerous and every night I watch him limp through his bedroom window with a variety of injuries bleeding out and he''s gonna get himself killed. Even if he does have powers that doesn''t mean he can''t die and I''m worried that this idiot is gonna go out there and kill himself which would give his poor Aunt May a heart attack and I don''t want that so I think we should tell the police or maybe the Avengers and get them to make him stop, maybe we can even tell his Uncle Ben and make him talk sense into Peter because he''s gonna get himself killed at this rate." Huh I guess she wants to stop him from milling himself which fits because Mary Jane can be a bleeding heart at time and likes to help people if she can but I think this is a bit too much for her, what is she even thinking trying to tell the police which I definitely can''t allow so I''ll have to dissuade her of these actions. "Listen Mary Jane, I get where your coming from but we can''t do any of that. If we tell the police or the Avengers you can sure as hell bet that other people are gonna find out about it and more likely than not some shady government agency or terrorist group are gonna try and take him and indoctrinate him to be one of them and work for them and if everyone finds out who he is him and his family will be in danger since even if he''s only been Spider-Man for a little while he''s already made several enemies and if they find out his identity they''ll always be trying to kill him or hurt his family to get back at him so the best thing we can do is keep silent about this, we can''t tell his Aunt and Uncle either since that would be intruding on somebody else''s business plus his Aunt is so frail that she might have a heart attack and his Uncle has just been crippled so I wouldn''t feel right putting this stuff on their plate since I doubt Peter would stop, we can''t really do anything in this situation." I finish hoping that I''ve persuade her not to do anything rash, maybe I''ll even get her to keep silent and even try to forget about this information. "Okay, I guess Nick but... He''s gonna get himself killed, what are we supposed to do, nothing?" She says broken hearted at the fact that poor fragile Aunt May May lose her nephew and have a heart attack after the bad news of Ben being crippled, it seems like I''ll have to do something but this may just play to my advantage as well. "Yes Mary Jane, we have to do nothing. As much as I hate it anything we could do would just Milan''s things harder for Peter and endanger him and we also aren''t his friends so it''s not like we could help him like that but I know how much this is bothering you Mary Jane so, I used to protect him from bullies so I could probably help him out and we might not be able to stop his extra curricular activities but I could definitely help make it safer for him without him knowing somehow." I finish feeling a plan come together but that''s temporarily disrupted when I feel Mary Jane slam into me ambushing me, the two mammaries feel quite good pressed against me. "Thanks Nick, I know I''ve been troubling you. I really appreciate you helping Aunt May not lose her nephew, that sweet old woman has been through enough." I enjoy the hug for what it is while trying to think through how to help Peter in the most subtle way possible after all it benefits me in the end if he''s more prepared to fight against the Inheritors, several plans come together in my mind before being replaced to try and come up with how to help Peter in the best and most subtle way possible. It''s certainly not easy with Mary Jane currently pressed up against me... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford and Marcus Lane. Thank you for the support. Chapter 127 - [AT] Full Physical... [After Transition] I finish my shower in what must be the most luxurious shower I''ve ever used and that''s saying something since I''ve used some high tech facilities in my time but not beat the extravagance of this bathroom though I guess that''s what you get when you go for efficiency and care with all the products available for me to use which I took advantage of since it has been two weeks and so I used all the expensive care products as well as having a good shave to get rid of the scruffiness that grew on my chin during the two weeks I was trapped under the factory and I must say that after all that care I feel great and look great as well and I know that Alfred said not to take too long but he''s also the one that said I smelled so in a way I took my time showering so I could smell nice for Alfred (I wish I didn''t think that), I exit the shower expecting to have to do the customary n.a.k.e.d quick dash out of the bathroom to get those things you forgot to bring in with you and on this case I was expecting for Alfred to have left a towel and some clothes outside of the bathroom for me to pick up but to my surprise when I got out of the shower which had its glass sides all fogged up I notice a towel hung up on a rack next to the shower that definitely wasn''t there before and when I moved my eyes around the room to see if I could spot any other changes I noticed a pile of neatly folded clothes layer out on the counter that I left all messy with care products and shaving foam but now it''s compulsory clean so I guess Alfred must''ve cleaned up while he was silently placing my towel and new clothes in here which I didn''t even notice since I was so preoccupied with enjoying my shower and feeling clean after being trapped in a dark, dirty and damp place for the last two weeks but I guess I can''t account it entirely to that as Alfred was apparently a great MI6 agent or something (I think? It''s a bit muddled actually) like that which he''s shown before as he snuck up on me when I was robbing the Wayne Mansion because even if I didn''t have my Spider Sense I still had my enhanced senses which he had somehow managed to evade entirely during our last encounter so it would be best not to underestimate that man in the future proceedings. I quickly pull the towel of the drying rack and use it to dry off wanting to not waste anymore of the old man''s time and after some finishing touches with some more care products one of which I forgot entirely wanting to get into the shower immediately which is a toothbrush which I pulled out of a fresh new pack (there was dozens in the cupboard under the sink and even then each of them is a very high quality and feels great on the teeth, I might take this with me since it feels so good) and use to brush my teeth which haven''t been brushed in the last two weeks but then again I haven''t eaten anything in the last two weeks though that doesn''t mean they aren''t dirty but lucky for me if I ever get my teeth ever get too dirty, bent, yellowed or even chipped I can just rip them out a regrow new ones (shouldn''t hurt too much, can''t compare to what I''ve already been through so it should be relatively easy to do) but even then the only situation I see myself having to regrow my teeth in are if they are knocked out of my mouth since with my regeneration I won''t get cavities or anything matter of fact I don''t think I can get any viruses or diseases (at least not ones that aren''t tailor made to kill someone with high regeneration, I''m at least glad that I can''t get STD''s though that''s no reason to risk it) with my regeneration so I don''t really have to worry about that which is cool, having taking care of the rest of my body and dried off I begin to put on the clothes that were left out for me which consist of a black pair of men''s u.n.d.e.r.w.e.a.r (the expensive kind, not used before), a pair of black dress socks, some beige dress slacks, a brand new collared white shirt of which I leave the top few buttoned unbuttoned and roll up the sleeves before finally slipping my feet into a pair of black leather shoes which were promptly laid out for me with all the clothes looking brand new and then I begin to apply the finishing touches such as styling my hair (don''t want to go out with it being all over the place since it''s grown quite a bit in the last few weeks and seems to be a little long, like the Christian Bale Batman length hair so I''ll have to get that sorted out eventually though for now I think it looks alright) and making sure that I''ve not missed anything before I straighten my shirt and walk to the door to leave the bathroom though I become a little confused at how to leave since there is no door knob but that''s answered for me when the door slides open by itself revealing to me Alfred Pennyworth waiting on the other side. "Hello sir, it''s good to see that you are finally done. If you would follow me we can begin to finally do the tests that are need to be done, nothing overly complicated just a physical check up and maybe taking some blood samples of course with your consent just to make sure that you are actually fine and that your ''unique skill'' doesn''t turn out to have any nasty consequences and after that we can finally get some food in you and then wait till the Master returns." Alfred talks before tuning on his foot and walking off with a proper posture befitting of a butler with his arms behind his back and I make haste to follow him resisting the urge to wander off a start fiddling with all the possible cool stuff in here plus the technology and it takes my all to refrain from moving to the giant animatronic T-Rex when we pass it and Alfred clearly notices as he laughs at my dilemma though doesn''t comment on it and so I resign myself to follow him to wherever we are going, eventually we finally come to a doorway and since I was following Alfred the entire time I realised that he took me on a long route that kept me away from any important things like the BatComputer and any other Bat themed things (as it seems only the important tech and the right to have the word ''bat'' put in front of it, I really need an identity to put before my own devices) though I can understand that since he can''t fully trust me after meeting me once (twice actually though I hope he doesn''t realise that) and so we move not the room which looks kind of like a regular doctors office having a weighing scale, a height measurement thing and all sorts of other things that a doctor''s office would have and so I follow Alfred to where he sits down on a chair with me taking the chair opposite him and getting ready for whatever tests he''s going to be doing though I''m sure I could refuse any test I don''t want to do and he won''t argue probably because he knows Batman will find out they information one way or the other with or without my consent if he deems it necessary. It turns out the tests weren''t as bad as I was expecting them to be since he started of just asking me questions about my health history, my job (of which I have none), relationsh.i.p.s (of which I have none so I saw no reason not to answer so), medications, allergies, supplements, or any recent surgeries and then he took my blood pressure reading and checked my heart rate and respiratory rate before he then finally started to observe my appearance doing a visual examination looking at my head, eyes, c.h.e.s.t, abdomen, my musculoskeletal system (hands and wrists) and then my nervous system functions checking things like my speech and walking, after that it was on to the physical examinations in which he used tools to examine my eyes, ears, nose, throat, heart and lungs before he started to touch parts of my body to check for abnormalities checking my skin, hair and nails before testing my motor functions and reflexes and although he wanted to examine my genitalia and rectum to make sure there was nothing wrong with me I refused to let him do so which he honestly looked grateful for since I''m sure he had enough of that when he was a war medic (was that before or after he was in the MI6, losing my meta-knowledge really screws up some of the information in my mind since I relied on some knowledge that I never even think about but always know though now I don''t know), finally it was down to brass tacks and he asked if he could take some of my blood for several tests so as to get a complete blood count as well as a complete metabolic panel which would check my blood plasma count and test for any issues that exist in my kidneys, liver, blood chemistry and immune system And he seams immeasurably surprised when I offered my arm for him to draw blood from though he doesn''t let that stop him from quickly capitalising on it and drawing my blood afraid that I would suddenly change my mind. "So, you sure that you only wanted my blood to check if I have any problems in my body or did you want it so you could try and see how I survived under a collapse factory building for two weeks. Either way I''m not really bothered and I don''t have anything to hide, check my blood in that microscope there if you want but I can guarantee you''ll be disappointed at what you find." I speak and he watches me with one eye before he decides to drag the microscope closer and put a drop of the blood he took from me between two glass before placing it under the telescope and beginning to look into it, as he does this he speaks to me not really trying to deny anything. "You''re right Mr James, I do want to see what resulted in your ''unique skill'' and allowed you to survive two weeks trapped under a building. I''m sorry but I have to check whether you are a meta-human or if this ability has been gifted to you through the use of technology and if so that would mean that there would possibly be others out there with your ability, it is our duty to try and prevent such things as more often than not those powers end up in the hands of those unworthy of it." After that he goes silent and resumes his work trying to see what he can observe from the drop of my blood under the microscope and I too remain silent knowing that he''s gonna be surprised at what he finds and it seems he''s starting to frustrated and confused at the same time by the results he''s finding, this is the first time someone apart from myself has examined my blood and it''s quite amusing. "H-How is this possible? Y- You. There''s nothing even remotely special about your blood, it''s completely ordinary!" He says in disbelief and I''m quite offended that he just basically called me nothing special though it doesn''t put a dampener on my mood swings him find the results I expected him to, I already knew that he would find nothing... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) Chapter 128 - [BT] 20 Ingram Street... [Before Transition] So here I am in Forest Hills Queens which is coincidently in my neighbourhood so I didn''t have to go out of my way after finishing off my meeting with Mary Jane and although I offered to take her home she said she had somewhere to be which is why I''m standing in front of 20 Ingram Street alone which is the house that is also known as the Parker house which currently holds elderly Ben Parker, his wife May Parker and their nephew Peter Parker also known as the masked menace Spider-Man though that''s only if you were to ask J Jonah Jameson and I''m pretty sure the only reason that he has a vendetta against Spider-Man is because he stole his son John Jameson''s spotlight when saving him from the failed rocket that was in flight though I think that''s a pretty even trade off so I guess it''s not only that and I seem to recall that J Jonah Jameson doesn''t like Spider-Man because he wears a mask and if I remember correctly his first wife was murdered by a man who wore a mask though that seems like a flimsy excuse as half the heroes in this city wear a mask so it must be something else or J Jonah Jameson is just an irrational man, anyway I shouldn''t have headed off in a tangent but I did because I''m debating whether or not to go through with way I''m about to do and distracted myself by thinking about nonsensical things but I can''t keep doing that as the reason I am here is because Mary Jane was worried that Peter was gonna get himself killed after she discovered he was Spider-Man and though in part it''s because she''s worried about his safety it''s mostly because she is worried what will happen to sweet old May Parker if her beloved nephew were to die as well as having to cope alone with a now crippled husband and I wish she didn''t have a bleeding heart but she does and although I know that Peter will be fine (unless this is anything like the 1060 universe in which Peter died and Miles Morales took up the mantle of Spider-Man, at least before there was that secret war thing and the universes got mashed together so there were two Spider-Men being Peter and Miles) it doesn''t hurt to make sure that my buddy Peter (future meat shield to all spider related problems) is strong and hardened enough so that he can solve any problems he comes across (and stop them before they come to me, spider totem shit is often bullshit) and so I shirk off any remaining doubt I have and start to stride up to the door prepared to finally get it over with and start to make some bigger differences than the safe moves that I was limiting myself to and instead embrace making decisions that might mess with any meta-knowledge I have instead of freaking out like when I discovered that I saved Ben Parker from his fate and worried what kind of consequences that would have although I''m glad that Spider-Man still came into existence. I finally come upon the green front door after travelling up the path through the nice cozy garden and after taking a breath I knock thrice on the door and then wait telling myself that if no one answers the door then I''m going to go home and forget about this and find some way else to keep Mary Jane from complicating Peter''s life and distracting him from his duties and so I wait and after a few moments I come to the conclusion that no one is going to come and so I''m about to turn around and leave when I hear May Parker calling out that she''ll be there in a moment with my enhanced hearing and stop in my tracks before resigning myself to getting more involved with this family just hoping that I wouldn''t contract any of the Parker luck off of them (maybe it''s not Parker luck and it''s actually Spider luck, what if I already have it?) and so I contemplate about that for a moment before the green front door in front of me is swung wide open showing that the owner doesn''t feel in any danger of feel like she might be in danger while in this neighbourhood which I understand since it''s mid day and this is a nice neighbourhood, I look at the person who answered the door and come face to face (having to direct my face down towards her upturned face, do people really shrink when they get older or is that her normal height) with May Parker who looks surprised to see me though she doesn''t look unwelcoming at the sight of me. "Nicholas dear, is that you? Well come on in I''ve just finished making some wheat cakes, Peter''s favourite, and you can have some with Ben, Peter is in his room right now but I''ll call him down. Come in dear, come in." I don''t even have the chance to get a word in edge wise before she''s shuffling me in through the door closing it behind her and towards the kitchen not even asking why I''ve come or being unwelcoming because in fact she''s being too welcoming and serving me some food as well and I''m a bit dumbstruck by the kindness and overall gentleness this woman is projecting and so I''m lost for words. "Uh, thank you Mrs Parker. Sounds delicious." I speak out not knowing what else to say and not being able to actually refuse her (what the hell are wheat cakes and why do they sound so dry?), I have gained access to this house much easier then I expected to and am now being pushed to have a meal in their kitchen. "Don''t be silly dear, you can call me May. After all you saved my husband, the stubborn old fool he is. Make yourself comfortable while I go get Peter, he''s been in his room since last night and has y come out so I think he might be a little unwell but I''ll check if he''s up to coming down." Saying so she pushes me toward the kitchen and then leaves to head up the stairs leaving me awkwardly standing in their living room just before the doorway to the kitchen because that woman is too nice for her own good and I can''t help but feel that it might get her hurt one day from people taking advantage of her, and she mentioned that Peter is unwell so I''m assuming that either he actually is just sick or he had a big fight with some super villain yesterday and is currently l.i.c.k.i.n.g his wounds. With nothing left to do while May goes to check up on Peter and find out if he''s up to coming down I head in through the doorway and into the kitchen which has a nice warm cozy family feeling to it and I look around the yellow room spotting some things that make me realise how much I miss my own parents before my eyes finally alight on Ben Parker who is currently sat at the kitchen table reading the newspaper though he obviously notices my entrance b the way his eyes shoot up to meet my own and instead of questioning why I am here he instead smiles at me warmly while gesturing with a free hand for me to take a seat at the kitchen table with him and I move to do so when I''m visibly shook by something I see, when I move over toward the kitchen table and move to pull out my own seat next to Ben I look down and I see that instead of Ben being sat on a kitchen chair like the one that I''m currently pulling out he''s actually sat in a chair that has wheels attached to it which is more commonly known as a wheelchair and I''m struck with horrible guilt when I see him sat in it but more than that I''m struck by a crushing sense of defeat because that was actually the first and only time I actually tried to help someone in danger on my own and not only did the man end up getting shot he ended up in a wheelchair (the fact the he is Ben Parker and Peter''s uncle who is crucial to his origin story has nothing to do with it) because the fact is that even for all my spider powers with which Peter can save so many I ended up not even being able to save an old man from being shot and I sometimes question why I even have these powers when I have to much time on my hands and I''m not working, Ben notices that my eyes are looking at his wheelchair and he must have seen some inkling of what I''m currently feeling on my face and he started to chuckle. "Don''t worry about it kid, you saved my life remember so me sitting in a wheelchair Harley even needs mentioning. In fact I''m beginning to like it, before this everyone in the neighbourhood would be asking me to help with this or that but know they just handle it themselves for which I''m grateful for since I can relax now though that doesn''t mean that I don''t still help out around the house even without the use of my legs, need to keep these old bones moving." He says smiling and I smile back as I pull out my chair and take a seat next to him, pulling my chair in and taking another look to the oven to see some kind o mix between a pancake and a cake being cooked which must be wheat cakes which look low-key delicious. What Ben said to me mostly resolved me of all the guilt I felt towards his his current condition as he would most likely be dead and not able to spend this time with his wife and nephew if it wasn''t for me though I still feel bad about it but what''s still here and thriving more than ever is my sense of defeat and failure as him sitting in his wheelchair is a symbol to me of failure, that I couldn''t even save the once person that I actively tried to save. I''m just not cut out to be a hero and I''m not going to be one, this is the the best my moment of heroic fantasy could do and I don''t feel like trying again anytime soon... [AN: I believe that Marvel have stated that the Parker house is actually at 20 Ingram street which I also believe is actually a real place in forest hill queens, nice little fact there.] ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford and Marcus Lane. Thank you for the support. Chapter 129 - [AT] DNA Playground... [After Transition] "H-How is this possible? Y- You. There''s nothing even remotely special about your blood, it''s completely ordinary!" He says in disbelief and I''m quite offended that he just basically called me nothing special though it doesn''t put a dampener on my mood since he found the results I expected him to because I already knew that he would find nothing and it''s precisely why I agreed to do all of these tests (apart from the check up of my genital and anus, not doing that for this old fuddy duddy) since I knew that he would come up with nothing when he reviewed the tests since I''ve already tested everything about my regeneration ability (well at least my DC version did, he tested the f.u.c.k out of this thing) and since the time that I''ve been here in this universe after the merge I used whatever time I had to fiddle with my powers and stuff and being the paranoid piece of shit that I am I immediately came up with ways to hide my abilities and powers to the best of my ability and in the process I learned quite a few things which I could easily do with the pre knowledge that my DC self discovered during all his years in high school and Metropolis university of which I''ve greatly reaped the benefits, of course even then and even my past DC self couldn''t unearth all of the mysteries of my ability but what he did find even if he couldn''t explain it properly (although he had theories that he couldn''t test) was probably the biggest advantage of my regeneration/healing factor, I''m currently reaping the rewards of that great discovery as shown by the fact that Alfred is confused by the sight of my very ordinary, non-special and very mundane blood (given that he''s not explored all of the bloods contents which I''m grateful for) when he knows for a fact that I have some type of power that helped me survive underneath that factory building for two months and came out without a scratch because I all but confirmed it when I came in and he asked/ alluded about it and since I knew that there was no way to feasibly explain how I could live under there for two months so I told him what he wanted to hear and what the Batman knows (even if he doesn''t know exactly) so as to avoid more suspicion and weariness from the current members of the BatFamily (speaking of which where is Robin? I know he''s around somewhere but I don''t know exactly how old he is). "Ha, surprised you did it? Surprised me as well when I found out, couldn''t understand it but I had a few theories but unfortunately I''m not willing to test them out." I tell him trying to seem as open as possible about my abilities hoping that when Batman later reviews what I did show in here if he''s not watching right now (because he will definitely watch what I''m doing in here, he''s Batman) he would be suspicious if I didn''t tell Alfred anything but then again he might be even more suspicious if I just start to tell Alfred everything about my abilities so I will have to do a carefully balance of both by telling Alfred mostly about my abilities while also holding a few things back that Batman might think we''re to important to tell a random guy in a bat mask and butler outfit, Alfred looks at me in response to my humour at the situation and he seems irritated that I let him do it I even when I knew the results though he does still seem a bit shocked but I felt it best to let him discover this for himself instead of me telling him and getting him a bit weary at the fact that I already knew plus this way he''d feel some more trust towards me as I let him take my blood. "You... you knew that this was gonna happen? Why didn''t you tell me? And why is your blood so normal when your clearly have powers that aided you in surviving underneath that collapsed factory building for two weeks? That''s not normal and it should definitely show that you are a meta-human or something." Alfred word vomits but even then he doesn''t lose his disposition and asked everything clear and calmly which belays the fact that he is desperate to know why he could not find anything out from my blood as there is a chance that they can''t find anything out from my blood when he clearly knows that I have powers than what are the chances that there are a lot of other people out there with powers but it doesn''t show in their blood which is a frightening thought, of course that''s not possible since my powers are very specific and I know the exact reason for this phenomenon as my previous self discovered it before the merge and had some of his theories about it but I have largely confirmed a single theory though I am unwilling to test if it''s true. "Alfred, I graduated from Metropolis University with PhDs in Biology, Chemistry and Computer Science. Did you honestly expect me not to try and figure out my own abilities and test my own blood for anything, it''s pretty much the first thing I tried to do when I got into science and the reason I to biology and chemistry though it turns out I couldn''t fully investigate it. I knew that you weren''t going to find much in my blood that could be an indicator of my power which we both know by now is regeneration or a healing factor or whatever you wanna call it but I knew seeing is believing and you wouldn''t believe me at face value and would probably believe that I was lying so I let you take my blood and see the results for yourself, I believed it would be that much easier for both of us this way and it would probably make you not think me trying to deceive you if I had told you before you discovered it yourself. As for why my blood shows as being ordinary when I clearly have a healing factor I don''t have a proven fact about why my blood is as it is but I do have a theory that I''m pretty certain on but unfortunately I don''t want to test my theory, and I''m not gonna budge on that issue." I tell him answering each of his questions in turn but not really explaining the last one as if I''m trying not to explain it while knowing that I''m gonna have to do it reluctantly which should give me some more credibility (at least with Alfred if not anyone else, I''m pretty sure Batman isn''t gonna give a shit) and make the rest of what I say believable, Alfred looks at me clearly waiting for me to elaborate on my theory but he ends up staring at me for a few moments before he realised I wasn''t going to expand on it and so he had to ask me himself. "And what is this theory? I by aren''t you willing to test it?" He asks and I take a breath before sighing and rub bling my forehead before I eventually decide to reluctantly tell him, I''m trying to sell it and I actually don''t want to tell anyone this so I guess it works. "My theory is that all of my cells are quantum entangled which means that when any of my cells realise where the true body is then any cells not attached to the body stop regenerating making it just my ordinary DNA without the regeneration included, but I don''t know now this for a fact and I am not willing to risk myself trying to follow through on a test to prove it when it doesn''t really matter in the end. Basically any piece of me that isn''t connected to my main body or the part of me with the most mass then it isn''t going to regenerate and my main body or the part of me with the most mass will start regenerating what I lost, but it gets a bit more complicated from there when you try and find out the exact limits and start to ask some very complicated question which I can''t seem to find the answers to." Of course there is a lot more that I''m not telling him like the fact that I''ve come up with several ways to pretty much get rid of all the DNA in my blood (or at least most of it) which is the most likely way that people would get my DNA and even than my blood only has around the lifespan of around an hour (maybe even under, still trying to work on getting it lower) so even if my blood gets spilled outside of my body and somebody finds it they would have to get it to a lab and analysed in under an hour which is nearly impossible and even then only the slightest bit of DNA is in it for them to find which would take even longer and so by the time that they would be able to get to my DNA my blood would already be dead and gone and no longer be able to be used, I''ve done this in quite an ingenious way if I do say so myself as usually red blood cells have a lifespan of 120 days and they have no DNA in them so I managed to reduce the lifespan to around an hour or so and filled most of my blood with red blood cells while using the very most minimal amount of white blood cells, plasma and platelets that I require and while for the average man this would result in a severe case of anaemia my regeneration actually takes care of that and gets rid of the ill side effects and not only that but with my rate of regeneration I can produce way more red blood cells than a normal man who produces around around 2 million a minute I produce more than a thousand times that which makes up for any negative side effects and when the red blood cells die after every hour the homophobia is broken up and the iron is salvaged and transferred to the bone marrow to be used again in the production of more red blood cells, all of this being possible through the increased control of my body that my regeneration/healing factor has given me (is my power really a healing factor or is that just a side effect since I can actually control some aspects of my body, I''m sure wolverine or dead pool can''t do that). Of course in this scenario I didn''t really do anything and let them take my regular blood away (my blood isn''t irradiated or anything on account of my regeneration that somehow got rid of all the radiation that came from my spider powers while leaving the powers behind so I don''t have to worry about them finding about my spider powers as they would actually need flesh to get anywhere with that) since I want this process to be as smooth as possible plus if Batman noticed that my blood died to soon or there isn''t enough DNA inside it then he will get even more suspicious so I let Alfred take a blood sample that has enough red blood cells and just enough white blood cells, platelets and plasma as well as DNA that it won''t look suspicious and I made sure to change the blood Alfred took so that it had no spider power DNA or anything in it, Alfred doesn''t seem to have clicked on to anything though and I don''t expect him to as he is instead more preoccupied by my alluding to an experiment that I don''t want to do. "How would you possibly be able to prove your theory? And why are you so unwilling to go through with proving it when you clearly know how to?" Alfred asks and I smile at the hook line and sinker, know I''ve just got to give enough info without really revealing anything. "The only way I''ve tough of to prove my theory is to cut off the tip of my finger and place it in a corner and then cut off a full finger and place it in a different corner before entirely vaporising myself and seeing which finger I regenerate from because if I''m correct and all of my cells are quantum entangled then each of my cells would have an entire memory of the rest of my body and so I would be able to fully regenerate from the full finger no matter how long that takes and not from the finger tip as it has less matter than the full finger, you can see why I don''t want to try this sort of experiment as it is very risky with a high chance of death." Alfred gulps but otherwise doesn''t show anything else and I wouldn''t even have been able to spot that without my enhanced senses, but I know exactly how he is feeling when he speaks next. "Yes, I can see why. It certainly doesn''t seem to be worth the risk, does it..?" ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Tim Brown, Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane and Omar Amurrio. Thank you for the support. Chapter 130 - [BT] Wonderful Wheat Cakes... [Before Transition] I am sat at the table with Ben for a few more moments where we are simply making some small talk and chatting about random things that don''t really have any substance but are still interesting and so we preoccupy ourselves until May returns to the room and smiles at us conversing nicely at the kitchen table before she moves to the oven to check on her wheat cakes and presumably finish them off, I''m quite looking forward to them actually as they look very delicious and the smell from here is making me salivate and I usually have a strict schedule of what I eat which is prepared by for me by my Butler and is a lot more healthier than any other boy my ages diet and it has very little fatty or junk foods so I''m am quite looking forward to these wheat cakes as I think I can allow myself a little cheat day after all these years. "The wheat cakes are just finishing up dear, won''t take much more than a minute. Peter knows you are here but I''m afraid it''ll take him a bit longer to join us so we''ll just get started without him, poor boy must not be feeling too well since he was still asleep when I checked on him and had the covers pulled up over his neck." Well two guesses what that''s about though I only need one and my educated guess is that he was probably shirtless and in his u.n.d.e.r.w.e.a.r or he was still in his Spider-Man costume having gone too bed too knackered out to change and he must''ve pulled up the covers either too hide all the bruises and damage on his body from his nightly activity or too hide his Spider-Man costume from May''s eyes when she came to check on him and right now he''s probably getting changed into some normal baggy clothes to hide his new muscles and fitness before joining us down here, I''m shook out of my pondering when I notice May starting to stack all of the wheat cakes onto a big plate which she places in the middle of the kitchen table before fetching 4 smaller plates from her cupboards and placing them in front of myself, Ben and herself before she also places one in front of an empty chair which is presumably for Peter and then she takes her seat next to Ben and opposite me. May settles herself into her chair before putting down some cutlery in front of me, Ben and where Peter is going to sit, she then waves me towards the big plate in the middle of the table filled with a bunch of wheat cakes which almost seem like an inhuman amount for this little old woman to have made by herself and she waves towards me to take some and start eating. "Come on dear, help yourself to some wheat cakes. They are Peter''s favourite you know and they seem to make you big and strong as well, why just the other day Peter helped me take in some of the groceries bags from the car when I went shopping when just last year I remember him struggling to be able to even take a few in but this time he pretty much took them all in. I guess Peter wants to help out more around the house now, such a thoughtful nephew we have don''t we Ben." I reach my hand with a fork in it out and take a few wheat cakes to plop down onto my own plate before starting to treat myself and eat them with gusto and oh my god these are delicious, while I''m being amazed by just how good these wheat cakes taste Ben starts to make conversation while helping himself to some wheat cakes and he puts down the newspaper but the first thing he does is what any man that has been married for as long as he has does, he agrees with his wife. "You''re right May, we''ve raised him well haven''t we. I''m sure Richard and Mary would be proud of the smart, well mannered boy, soon to be man, that he is today, I just wish they could''ve been here to see it themselves." Woah way to bring down the mood by talking about Peter''s dead parents Richard and Mary Parker which has also started to bring up a few questions in my own head such as are they shield agents/scientists in this reality, did his father develop Venom like in the 1610 universe, are his parents still alive like in some story lines, is his sister Theresa somewhere out there and most importantly did they have anything to do with the development of the irradiated spiders at Oscorp like in a few realities because if so they may have some of there research stashed somewhere in this house which could certainly go a long way in helping me to understand my own powers and how they came to be since I didn''t get a chance to properly examine the altered spider before I swallowed it. May reached across the table to rest her hand on top of Ben''s which is currently on top of the table and comforts him by slowly patting him, meanwhile I''m here feeling like I''m intruding on a family moment while gorging on May Parker''s delicious wheat cakes. "I do too Ben, I do too. But what''s best is that we continue to raise their son into a man they could be proud of, that''s the goal." They take a moment to stare into each other''s eyes and I can''t help but feel I''m missing something crucial as they share this look but I decide it isn''t any of my business and go back to eating these heavenly wheat cakes while waiting for Peter to come downstairs and join us so I can put my plan into motion, Ben and May stop their loving stare at each other and go back to eating their wheat cakes though Ben also reads the newspaper while doing so and in turn May seems to want to continue chatting. "So dear, what have you been up to lately. I heard from Peter that you tested out of Midtown High which encouraged him to try and do the same although we finally managed convinced him not to as we would like him to stay in high school and enjoy his life before having to start working hard and getting thrust into serious society in which everyone isn''t that nice and Peter is such a fragile boy that I would like for him to enjoy high school for a bit longer, anyway what have you been doing since you left Midtown?" She asks and I can tell just how much this woman loves Peter Parker because every time she talks about something if she can she will find some way to link it to Peter and talk about him though I can''t say that she does that all the time it''s just that she has done that in every conversation that I''ve had with her so far which isn''t actually that many, she waits for a response and I begin to think over what I can and can''t tell her since somethings are just not good to tell her and my biggest problem is debating about whether or not to tell her about my internship at the Baxter Building because I''m unaware if she is a gossip and I would rather not tell her than tell her and she spreads it around which needs up getting the attention of some pretty bad people even if these people wouldn''t be able to get into the building with the Fantastic Fours defence and security. "Well May, I aced my exams at Midtown and after that I began studying at Empire State University studying mathematics, physics, engineering and biochemistry which I am doing excellent at. Apart from that I''ve also been tutoring Mary Jane Watson to help her get better grades and I know you know who that is because she talked about you guys a few times, I''m actually only currently attending Empire State University on Mondays and Tuesday and for the rest of the weekdays I''m interning at the Baxter Building with the Fantastic Four and I''ve actually been there quite a while, coming up on nearly two months now actually." I decide to say balls to the wall and just tell her everything currently going on with my education and anything to do with it since I''m pretty sure anyone that wants to get into the Baxter Building already know about me at this point and although I don''t think Mays the type of person to gossip about this kind of stuff but even if she does I don''t think it''ll end up finding it''s way to any thugs or anything that might want to use my connection or get into the Baxter building and even if they do I''ll find some way to deal with it, May seems to be fine and admiring of everything else I''ve told her but the minute I tell her that I''m interning at the Baxter building with the Fantastic Four she looks absolutely she''ll shocked. "Your working with the Fantastic Four, that''s amazing. Oh my, the Fantastic Four!" May gets over her styled and explains in shock to Ben who just chuckle is at her over reaction but I''m guessing with Peter as a nephew she probably knows just how much of a big deal this is and even if she doesn''t she''ll still know that I''m working with a group of heavily respected superheroes which is might shocking in or itself. "Did someone say something about the Fantastic Four, without me being present? I hope your not talking about Reed Richards new paper on dimensional energies without me, because if you are that would really suck." Peter calls out from the living room before he walks into the kitchen and see me sat at the table with his Aunt and Uncle and he certainly seems surprise to see me, very surprised... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) Chapter 131 - [AT] Chess Moves... [After Transition] After the checkup being done there was pretty much nothing else to do and although Alfred tried to ask some more follow up questions I convinced him to hold off on them as I''d rather wait till the Batman arrived so I can just say it once and not have to repeat myself which he aquifer to since it''s only Batman that would really only be capable of using any information I could give and while it would be alright to have Alfred gather the information I''m sure Batman would be more comfortable doing it himself so as to make sure he doesn''t miss anything and I''m sure that even if Alfred does it for Batman he would still end up doing it again since he doesn''t want to miss anything and I think Alfred knows that as well since he didn''t really try too hard to get more answers and instead started to have some small chat with me since we have nothing to do but wait till Batman returns so that he can continue my very kind interrogation and we chat for quite a while about rather mundane such as my education and other stuff but the topic remains largely around me since he can''t really talk about himself and although he could probably talk about Barbara since he knows I know her identity he refrains from doing so feeling that he would be overstepping his bounds if he were to do so, eventually we have chatted for a bit and we were about to continue when my stomach makes itself known by grumbling loudly which reminds both myself and Alfred that I had been stuck underneath a factory building for two weeks without anything to eat and so he promptly stands up and leads me to what looks like a sort of cafeteria area which is relatively small and looks largely unused and seats me their before telling me he will return with a meal and drink for me but before he goes I request for him to bring along a chess board as well for us to have a match since we don''t know how much longer we will have to wait for Batman and so we can preoccupy ourselves with it. Alfred soon returns with a meal and drink ready for me but I also notice that he has brought a chessboard along with him as well and without even needing to research it or anything I can tell that the chess board and chess pieces are very expensive just by looking at them since they are fully wooden and refined as well as intricately detailed and for a moment I ponder if Alfred is just so used to such high quality items and living arrangements that he doesn''t even notice that the fact that everything he''s giving me is telling me quite clearly that the Batman, who presumably owns this place since it''s called the BatCave is a very rich man but then again he does regularly go out on the daily in a tank shaped like a car with bat motifs as well as expensive bat themed gadgets so I guess it''s just a given that Batman is a very rich dude or he just has incredible funding behind him and so I will make sure that if asked I will state the latter since it''s more believable as who would believe that a man who is rich and has everything he could possibly want in life would go out and risk his life fighting the deranged and dangerous inhabitants of Gotham City. After I finish my meal which was equally as expensive and luxurious as everything else I''ve seen before now I began to play some chess with Alfred and he seemed happy to oblige and seemed to be enjoying our match which I too was enjoying since it''s been quite a while since I''ve had a good game of chess since I used to play with Earl back in the Marvel universe and while he used to state that it was a training exercise to train my strategic mind and tactics which I believe I also believe that it was mainly used as an excuse to get me to stop working so hard on my research and my machine, which I don''t mind since those times playing chess matches with Earl and slowly but surely catching up to his level of experience and playing on a level playing field are some of my best memories from the Marvel universe and while I don''t want to go back there anything soon it doesn''t mean I didn''t enjoy my time there but unfortunately I was forced into a corner and escaping that universe and coming to the DC universe was my only option at that time and I miss Earl as he was a man that was near and dear to my heart but I suppose that''s just another reason I''ve started to like Alfred since he is also a butler and is in many ways similar to Earl given their years in service before becoming butlers and it''s why me and Alfred are getting along so nicely while waiting for Batman to come back but so far our games have been equal and we have both won the same amount of times with each time being a very close call. Eventually we are on our umpteenth game with Alfred having one more match than me and I''m very close to getting a checkmate and wining so as to make our scores even again but unfortunately just as I''m about to put my final strategy into action an alarm ring out through the room we are in and I can tell that it''s also running through the rest of the BatCave as well though it isn''t a panic or ''alarm'' alarm but more like a reminder or notice alarm that is informing you of something that you were waiting for and it seems like Alfred must have set it up since he seemed to have been expecting it and he smiled at the alarm sounding, he promptly gets up and the before I can do anything he swipes the pieces of the board and into their compartments before closing that chess board to which I sputter as I was just about to cry Kate him and win making our scores even but before I could do so he completely ruined the game and packed it away to which I find myself befuddled which I seem to show on my face as well since Alfred notices it and gives me a polite smile in return. "I''m sorry Mr James but it seems Master Batman has returned and so we must call our game short of which there was no winner, which I believe results in me being the overall winner. I''m afraid we mustn''t dilly dally and we should be off to meet up with Master Batman, you were a worthy opponent Mr James and I would not be adverse to playing more games with you in the future but for now we must be off." The entire time he was speaking he kept the same polite smile on his face but for just a second ali could''ve sworn it turned it so a smirk though I lose sight of it after a second and all I saw was his polite smile but I noticed the slight bit of smugness in his smile because he was the overall winner of our games and it''s because of that that I knew that he must''ve used Batman''s arrival as an excuse to stop the game and keep himself as the winner, geez what a shameless old man that hides behind the facade of an elegant butler but then again I can''t help but like the man, he reminds me of Earl a little. "Don''t think I don''t know what you just did Mr Bat-Butler, it wasn''t very nice. Using Batman''s arrival as an excuse to end the game before I checkmated you, I''m sure we could''ve finished the game before we had to go meet up with him." I tell him trying to catch him out and make him admit that I would''ve won which would''ve made our scores equal and since he tried to cheat would give me the moral high ground which would be an equivalent to winning the entire thing and so I would come away with a victory (even if we end up drawing, I would have the moral high ground which would make me the winner overall) which is what I want because I can be a very competitive person when it comes to these kinds of thing, to my accusation (j''accuse) Alfred seems nonplussed and keeps his polite smile on his face but I can no longer see the glimmer of smugness or anything else apart from politeness. "I''m afraid I have no idea what you are on about sir, none whatsoever. Either way it wouldn''t be good to keep the Master waiting so we should be off, follow me and don''t stray." Saying so he competing disregards my accusation (j''accuse) and walks off to meet up with Batman and with no other option left I reluctantly get up out of my seat and move to follow him leaving the chess board back behind me on the table, I was so close to history as well. I follow along behind Alfred in silence still grumbling over my loss which should''ve at least have been a draw and so I stay silent and just follow along behind him to show my disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e at his cheating but he seems to be ignoring me and focusing on just traversing to the Batman, either that or he just hasn''t notice that I''m a bit miffed with him which I doubt since this guy is very good at reading atmospheres and people so I bet he is just amused with my behaviour and is chuckling behind his polite mask which I''m getting more miffed at since he cheated to win against me but soon enough that doesn''t matter anymore since we have finally navigated our way along the pathways which I again notice is the long way so as to keep our path away from anything important but this time I notice the fact that we have taken another path and I finally realise why when we finally alight on a platform that holds the magnificent BatComputer on it which is comprised of many screens and each one is searching through various things so much so and at such a speed that I can''t keep up and have trouble following it but I don''t pay it anymore mind when I finally look at the large back chair in front of the BatComputer. I can''t really see if anyone is sat in to since the chair is bug and tall meaning I wouldn''t be able to see someone sat in it from here but when I look above the chair I notice two pointy black things jutting out from in front of the chair and it doesn''t take me long to realise that those two pointy thing are bat horns, my assumptions is proving correct when the chair suddenly swings around a full 180 and facing me with a stoic expression on his face and narrowed eyes is Batman and I can''t tell exactly what he''s thinking but I''m pretty sure that it''s a good bet that it is something I''m not capable of knowing since he is always twelve steps ahead... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane, Omar Amurrio and Arun. Thank you for the support. Chapter 132 - [BT] Shoving it in his Face... [Before Transition] It''s quite obvious that Peter was joking about someone discussing Reed Richard''s new paper on dimensional energies as he clearly expected his aunt and uncle to be talking about the Fantastic Four''s escapades instead of their research or something because not to be rude or anything but they aren''t really scientifically minded and so he obviously expected them to be talking about their superhero news and not their research which was why he made that joke which was quite frankly quite lame, it''s also obvious that as soon as Peter walks in through the doorway and his eyes alight onto me he is quite shocked and he clearly didn''t expect for me to be here so May mustn''t have told him when she went to wake him up and he thought she only called him down so he could partake in the food and May notices his surprise at the sight of me and so she introduces me even though I didn''t need it and she tries to explain what we were just talking about for his sake so he could join us and be part of the conversation. "Yes dear, your friend Nick is here. He was just telling us that he''s been attending Empire State University since graduating from midtown and he''s studying mathematics, physics, engineering and something called biochemistry, not only that but he was actually just telling us that he has started an internship under the Fantastic Four, isn''t that great Peter?" May finishes pretty much having brought Peter up to speed as he doesn''t need to know (and it isn''t relevant) about May and Ben''s previous conversation about his parents and I think she summarised it pretty well, Peter certainly seems to think so as he was interested when May was talking about my studying at Empire State University though that was more envy than interest since he too wanted to graduate from Midtown High after I did but his guardians wouldn''t let him but the interest/envy turned to shock when May stated that I was doing an internship with the Fantastic Four. "S-Seriously! That''s AMAZING, what have you been working on? Getting to work with them on all their projects must be awesome, but how do you get paid? I thought that the Fantastic Four was a non profit organisation that don''t make any money, are you working there for free then?" Peter quickly rushes over toward the table and haphazardly jumps into his seat before turning around to face me all the while rambling off his questions which were admittedly quite good though I can''t help but hear the note of grumbling in his tone when he talks about the Fantastic Four being a non profit organisation and because of the I remember that around two months ago before I started working at the Baxter building and just after Spider-Man made his debut Johnny actually told me about Peter Parker (not that Johnny knew it was Peter Parker) also known as Spider-Man breaking into the Baxter building and getting caught in a glass (plexiglass I think?) cage before asking the Fantastic Four for a paying job but then he found out that they were a non profit organisation and so being angry he broke out of his confinement and ran away after calling them pikers (whatever the hell that means) in his anger and so it''s been two months since then, it''s crazy how time flies but right now Peter is eagerly waiting for an answer and so I strive to answer his questions to the best of my ability while keeping as much of it as possible hidden because I don''t know whether I''m allowed to talk about what we work on in the Baxter building especially since as of lately I''ve been helping Reed out with his projects which is mainly working on a portal to the negative zone. "Well Peter, it is amazing to be working with the Fantastic Four especially Reed Richards. During my first month at the Baxter building I was given the assignment of creating an invention that benefits the world while also not being able to be used as an weapon or to harm anyone which was quite fun and a bit difficult but after I completed that I''ve mainly been working with Reed and helping him work on his projects, it''s honestly amazing to work on those projects and I''m learning so much thanks to being able to work for them even if I don''t get paid." I finish making it seem extra awesome with my words to try and push it into Peters face that while he rejected working with the Fantastic Four because he wouldn''t get paid i instead did so and am learning a lot in the process which must be killing a science nerd like him to know that he gave up on working with one of the most brilliant minds in the world in a moment of anger, and while I can see the regret and envy on his face he quickly pushes it aside trying to ask another question and I can tell that he''s about to ask what invention I made for my month long assignment as well as what I''m working on with Reed and while I don''t particularly care about telling him what I''m working on with Reed since it''s his project and not mine I would rather not tell him about my invention as I''d rather keep it to myself which is fairly easy right now since Ben and Johnny don''t really care about it whereas Reed has such a short attention span that he''s already forgetting about it and Susan was more worried about Ben who tried my ''Power Nullification Bracelet'' and forgot about it in the commotion so I''m definitely not about to tell Peter about my device which everyone has pretty much forgotten about which was why I quickly cut him off and continued talking before he could get a word in edge wise. "Actually I''m not too sure about the pay thing as the Fantastic Four is a non profit organisation but I do know that Reed Richards regularly invents something and patents it to generate money to stay in the Baxter building and buy stuff such as food and materials and he lets you pretty much use all the resources in the Baxter building to do whatever you want so if I use all the resources given to me to create a device for absolutely free and then patent it I would basically be getting paid like that by them in materials and goods though I''m unsure if the would take a percentage of the money earned from the patent since it was made and developed using their resources, I''m honestly not that bothered because I have enough money as is and so anything I do make while there I don''t need to patent to make money. I''m basically getting paid in metals, technology and materials which I can use to my own d.e.s.i.r.es without being higher by the Fantastic Four about it which is quite frankly awesome, isn''t that great Peter? I can make whatever tech and stuff I want for practically free which is very useful and if I make anything that could be used by the public I can patent it a make money that way as well, it''s a win win even if I don''t make any money as being able to use all those resources for my own ends is payment enough, you''d be an idiot to turn down an opportunity to work with the Fantastic Four even if it is technically for free." I say rubbing it into peters now even more and I can tell he feels quite embarrassed and regretful as he gave up the opportunity I was just talking about and all the resources I bragged about could''ve helped him make tech for his alter egos activities and maybe he wouldn''t come home with so many bruises each night, it''s quite fun to basically shove it into his face while pretending to remain oblivious of the fact that he had an opportunity to do what I''m doing and he can''t am exactly get angry over it since I could t possibly know about him turning such an opportunity down. "Haha yeah, you''d be an idiot to turn down such an amazing opportunity. I sure wish I could have an internship with the Baxter building, so much discoveries being made there and so many advancements in science that most of the world doesn''t even know about. I definitely wouldn''t turn down an opportunity to work with them, I''m really jealous of you man." He admits at the end and it''s quite funny to see him basically call himself an idiot which has provided quite a lot of entertainment for me but him talking about my internship stirs up an old memory, if I remember correctly I''d did offer Peter an internship opportunity at Stark Industries but he never got back to me so maybe I could bring it up again and see if I could get Peter and Tony to have roundabout the same relationship they had in the MCU which would make Peter a better Spider-Man and would maybe make Tony Stark into less of an asshole so there would be winners all around. "Hey, I know it''s not the Baxter building but what about Stark Industries, I offered you an internship there before remember. It''s still on the table if you want it, I can help you get it at anytime if you want." I speak to him offering him the opportunity and Peter looks positively giddy and ecstatic at the information but that doesn''t last as we are brought Out of our conversation yesterday a loud harumph l, a loud female harumph. "I don''t think so mister, we''ve discussed this before. You are not going to work or even do an internship at Stark Industries and you will remain at Midtown High until you graduate, whatever you decide to do after that is up to you." Aunt May speaks out cutting our conversation short and she looks very stern at the moment, kind of menacing as well... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) Chapter 133 - [AT] Truths... [After Transition] I stare blankly at Batman for a moment not knowing what I''m supposed to do and where we are supposed to go from here and it''s not helped by the fact that Batman himself is just staring at me with a stoic face and narrowed eyes so I can''t actually read anything from him and I''m beginning to get more and more worried as we just stay in position and stare at each other as I''m beginning to wonder just how much Batman knows and what he suspects as just the fact that he knows I''ve lied and I have a healing factor/regeneration could beg the question of what else I''ve lied about or intentionally withheld and you can bet the Batman has already been coming up with conclusions and suspicions as he is the worlds greatest detective, hell I bet he actually returned quite a while ago while me and Alfred were having our various chess matches and he''s searched and found everything he possibly can about me and that the alarm that sounded out wasn''t an alarm that the Batman had returned but an alarm to tell Alfred that he wants to converse with me now that I''m ready (all purely suspicion on my part but I can''t bite the nagging feeling that I''m right, either way he''s probably found out everything he possibly could about me) but before I can start working myself too much about what he knows Batman gestures out with a hand towards me which takes me by surprise. "Take a seat. Now." He demands and I''m once again reminded that the Batman isn''t a man that likes to mess around or waste time as he''s in the big leagues and serious at what he does unlike the Fantastic Four who I was formerly friends with who welcomed me in with open arms and nary a suspicion to which I took great advantage of but it''s clear that the Batman isn''t going to allow something like that to happen on his watch, I am then momentarily befuddled by what he means by take a seat because as far as I can see there is only one seat on the platform we are on and Batman is currently in it but then I notice that there is actually a seat directly behind me that was definitely not there when I walked onto the platform and I also notice that Alfred is nowhere to be seen and he must''ve already left to let us get down to business and so I gently lower myself into the seat which appeared out of nowhere (most likely silently put in place by Alfred before he left, either that or it came out of the floor itself and positioned itself perfectly behind me) and settle into it and try to get comfortable in it since I feel like we are in for a long conversation and I''m currently sat straight across from Batman with only a meter in distance between us so it could easily get very dangerous for me as well so I make sure to keep my eyes peeled for anything. We once more just stare at each other for a few seconds with me nervously fidgeting in place under the Batman''s narrowed eyes and him watching me like a hawk as if to try and catch me out or something but I don''t show anything except what I actually feel which is nervousness and I think anyone would be nervous if they were getting one on one time with the Batman as well as being kept under constant watch and having every one of my actions observed by the Batman under a magnifying glass which could anytime have the sun put through it and melt me into slag like a little toy army man, I don''t know if Batman has found what he was looking for or anything but he seems to make a decision and so he strangely and quite shockingly relaxes his body which looks very out of place and he bunches his back over before clasping and interlocking his hands together while resting his forearms on his knees and even trough it looks like he''s relaxing compared to his previous sitting posture I can tell he''s observing everything just as much as he did before and the only reason he''s taken such a position is to reassure me and make it seem like he doesn''t in any way whatsoever want to harm and and that I can trust him which just makes me more on edge on the inside though I show a slight reduce in my nerves to him to show that his tactics are somewhat working. "Nick, I know that you''re not telling me the entire truth about the orphanage and your involvement with it. I have no doubt that the information you have given us is mostly if vaguely the truth probably adapted by yourself to leave things out but I''m afraid that I need all the facts to help me in my investigation and to make sure that the rest of the operation is taken down, we already know that you have a healing factor/extreme regeneration which was presumably why you changed the story and gave us a different version of events but that is no longer necessary, you can tell the truth now." I guess Batman decided to go the good cop route though I''m a little bit confused as to why since he could''ve just been his regular self and still gotten the exact same answers out of me which begs the question, why the hell is he being so nice about this? "From what I know about you you''re a pretty thorough guy and so I have no doubt that during the last two weeks where I was otherwise preoccupied you would have shut down the operation at the orphanage entirely, I just don''t see a way that you could''ve gone two weeks without doing anything about the situation at the orphanage and since I know you are a pretty thorough guy it''s a good bet that the situation is already dealt with so why are you questioning me and bringing up old wounds when it doesn''t even really matter? Also, why are you being so nice about it? From what I''ve heard about the Batman you would usually break some bones and dangle guys off of rooftops to get the information you want so why are you going such a different way about this with me and why exactly are we in your secret base for this conversation, I''m quite confused about the entire thing really." I speak aloud my thought because I was very much expecting that Batman wouldn''t be happy with the answers I would give him and would think I was holding something back so he would take to fighting me and breaking some bones to get the answers he wanted as he knew I''d be right as rain afterwards because of my healing ability plus I would have thought he''d done so as well to see my power in action and garner more about me and the limits of my ability but it seems like I was mistaken, he seems to e playing nice for some reason and I just don''t know why which puts me even more on edge than if he was just being his usual Batman self and demanding answers and interrogating me for them if I wasn''t being very forthcoming. "I break the arms and legs of criminals, I hold criminals off of the tops of rooftops by their legs when I want information out of them and as far as I am aware you are not a criminal and are actually a civilian so I have no reason to treat you in such a manner and while you may have contemplated the murder of that orphanage matron and that drug dealer in the end you didn''t go through with it and in fact you brought it to my and the polices attention and even came clean about the fact they you contemplated it so as far as I am concerned you are an innocent man and so I have no reason to treat you the same way I treat criminals. As for the orphanage operation you are correct that I have already resolved it but I still do need that information because I need to know your powers, whether they are harmful to you or others, if you are in control of them and I need to ascertain whether you are a threat to anyone which means I have to get a grasp on your mindset and your mental health and stability which will start with you and me talking about your powers, how you acquired them in case anyone else might have the same abilities and also whether or not you may endanger anyone else or be in danger yourself sue to your abilities." Batman speaks out quite frankly and I can''t quite disagree with anything he has said so far and I guess I just figured he would have already found out about all the crimes and illegal things I''ve done in this universe (or rather my past self) and for some reason I had the i rational thought that he would also know about my crimes back in the marvel world but I guess that''s impossible and I''ve just been seeing the man as much more than that in my head because he''s the goddamn Batman but I have to remember that while he is probably one of the most intelligent people in the universe he is not omniscient or omnipotent so I should stop freaking out and start to think logically. "I understand that and am more than willing to cooperate, but why does that include bringing me into your secret base of operations. Surely you could''ve taken me somewhere else to do this and you didn''t need to potentially open up your sacred place of operations to a potential leak, so why am I here?" I question him genuinely because I did not under any circ.u.mstances see myself coming here and walking among these hallowed pathways especially not being willingly allowed in and even treated to a meal, this is just so far away from the knowledge of Batman I do have left in my mind that it''s disconcerting and worrying that he''s being so different from expectations. Batman leans forward and clasps his hands together interlocking his fingers just under his chin and then with the same blank white eyes and stoic face he states something that shocks me, he does it with such a casual nonchalance that I don''t even register what he''s said until after he''s finished. "The reason your in the Batcave is because we also have other things to discuss as well and I''d rather not have such conversations in an unprotected locations, first of all you know that Barbara Gordon is Batgirl. Not only that but you know something else as well.. My true identity..." I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane, Omar Amurrio, Arun and Shakran Saleh. Thank you for the support. Chapter 134 - [BT] Family Matters... [Before Transition] "I don''t think so mister, we''ve discussed this before. You are not going to work or even do an internship at Stark Industries and you will remain at Midtown High until you graduate, whatever you decide to do after that is up to you." Aunt May speaks out cutting our conversation short and she looks very stern at the moment, kind of menacing as well and I can''t for the life of me figure out why she is so against Peter having an internship at Stark industries as not only would he be allowed to do it while also attending Midtown High since he is such a talent but he would also be getting paid quite a good amount as Stark Industries is a massive company and it can easily afford to pay some interns as they want to keep them sweet and at the company especially if they are low grade geniuses (not geniuses like Tony Stark or Reed Richards but regular geniuses) and Peter is much more intelligent than them so he could be looking at quite a comfortable position and money earner which would help him immensely in his spider themed activities as shown in the comics where he owned Parker Industries and he had high tech gear and resources which allowed him to go international and fight crime all over the globe. "But Aunt May this is an incredible opportunity, not only would I be working for arguably the best company in the world but I would also be working for Iron Man which would be so cool. Not only would the internship give me some money so I can help out around here but it could eventually turn into a full time job at one of the most premier companies in the entire world, this is basically what I''ve always wanted so I don''t understand why I''m not being allowed to go to this internship." Peter voices out his problems and concerns to May but she doesn''t look shaken and the resolute expression on her face doesn''t even budge an inch and it''s clear that Peter also realises this and he eventually loses heat and ends up questioning why they aren''t letting him do basically his dream job, I''m also quite curious as to why they aren''t allowing him to take this fantastic opportunity which I would definitely take but my interest is more with dimensional energies and multiversal exploration which Reed Richards is the lead authority which is why I''m on an internship at the Baxter building while Tony Stark is basically one of the foremost lead authorities on technology, artificial intelligence and mechanics and while I do have some interest in those subjects they are outweighed by my interest in everything dimensional. "Peter we have already told you this but first of all we don''t not need you helping out on financial matters in this house since mine and your uncle Ben''s pension is serving us just fine at the moment and a young boy like you should be enjoying his time at school and not working to help us out and I''d understand if you got a part time job to buy things for yourself but we do not need your help to pay the bills going man, and second of all I don''t want you developing weapons to be used against other human beings since I know that Tony Stark has stopped all of his production of weapons and cancelled all of his contracts but it''s being reported that Stark Industries is still producing weaponry for a unknown branch of the government and I don''t want you making weapons that will kill others because I thought your dream was to make scientific discoveries that would benefit and help everyone and not weapons. But the main reason I don''t want you working at Stark Industries is because of Iron Man and while I understand that Tony Stark is a great hero and I respect him for putting on a suit of armour and helping people everywhere I also know that he has a lot of enemies and more often than not they will always attack his place of business which is exactly where you want to work, I can hardly go a few months without hearing about some new attack on Stark Industries on the news or about Iron Man fighting some supervillain in the middle of one of his building putting his employees into in danger, the man has enemies and while you work at one of his company''s there is always the chance that your gonna be put in harms way especially since you would be working in New York which is Stark Industries base of operations and Stark Tower has the most likelihood of being attacked so you can''t go intern there." May states the facts and I find myself agreeing with her on many of those accounts since Tony Stark does attract a lot of enemies in his line of work as both a superhero and the owner of Stark Industries as people are always attacking to steal technological advancements from them or trying to steal Tony Starks Iron Man armour or Arc Reactor not only that but Tony Stark is generally an asshole and douchebag who pisses off nearly everyone he meets which is why he is being attacked so often, I bet the branch of the government that Stark Industries is rumoured to being producing weapons for is actually Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division otherwise known as Shield which is actually more of a global organisation than a branch of the US Government and I guess Tony Stark is producing weapons for them because they aren''t involved in wars or anything but are actively involved in the defence of all of humanity and earth whether that be from threats from the stars or more domestic threats closer to home. Peter nods his head to her points but still doesn''t give up and directs his gaze towards Uncle Ben hoping that he will be able to do something about the situation and maybe he will be able to convince Aunt May and mitigate some of her stubbornness and it seems like Ben is not going to answer Peters hopes as he just smiles sadly at Peter and shrugs his shoulder while lifting his hands to either side of his head with his palms facing up to give Peter a ''sorry but I can''t do anything in this situation'' look which doesn''t seem to get through to Peter since he still continues to stare at Uncle Ben pleading with his eyes for help but no matter what he does Ben doesn''t do anything and I can understand that because ''happy wife equals happy life'' or in this case unhappy wife equals unhappy life and if he were to support Peter and go against his wife May then he would definitely have a unhappy wife, Aunt May notices Peter''s begging looks to Uncle Ben for help and she quickly like an eagle spins her head around almost to the degree that I thought she was part owl and she stares at Ben to see what his response to peters pleas is though it''s more of a threatening kind of look than an observant look. "I''m sorry son, but your Aunt and I are together on this one. It''s just too dangerous to work for the man and we don''t need any help paying the bills for our house, if you really do want to do this then you can pursue it after you graduate from Midtown High and we won''t stop you from doing it but please think about your safety okay." Ben seems to have passed the test as May stops staring at him after he finishes speaking and returns her gaze to Peter and I notice Ben take a quick sigh of release while wiping some sweat of his brow out of the corner of my eye and I find it amusing but also as a warning to not get married anytime soon since I don''t know if I''d be able to handle the pressures of marriage and I''m used to being a lone wolf at the moment, I''m becoming out of my self aggrandis.e.m.e.nt when May makes to continue on from where Ben finished and make a more personal point this time to convince Peter not to do the internship at this moment and I feel kinda awkward at hearing such an emotional moment between a family though it''s been pretty awkward just sitting here eating wheat cakes while listening to them argue about a subject I brought up. "Your uncles right Peter, after Midtown you can decide for yourself and we won''t try to stop you but please think about your own health and safety. It wasn''t so long ago that we lost your own mother and father and we don''t want to lose you as well, what kind of guardians would we be if we let you put yourself in dangerous situation without trying to stop you and I can only imagine how your mother and father would feel up in heaven if we didn''t at least try to protect you and persuade you from talking such dangerous decisions." May goes on a bit more to explain to Peter that they were entrusted with his safety by his mother and father and to not try and protect him would be letting down his parents and I''m amazed out just how much of a guilt trip she''s pulled off without even meaning to and being completely genuine and it seems to have worked as well since Peter is longer arguing, in fact he seems to feel a little shame at the trouble he''s causing for his aunt and uncle but then again peters has always been blaming himself for pretty much anything and everything no matter the universe. "Your right aunt May, I''m sorry. I''ll think about it again after graduating Midtown High and who knows maybe I''ll feel different about it, but I''m still gonna be getting a part time job so I can help around here only if you need it though otherwise I''ll use it for myself." Peter speaks out smiling at his aunt and May smiles back pleased, quite a nice family moment. "Thank you Peter, I appreciate it. Oh my, you were certainly hungry weren''t you Nick. Do you want seconds?" I''m confused at May''s words which she suddenly directs towards me but once I look down at my plate I realise I''ve eaten all of the wheat cakes she served me, they really are delicious... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane, Omar Amurrio, Arun and Shakran Saleh. Thank you for the support. Chapter 135 - [AT] Telling the Truth... [After Transition] I go stark still at Batman''s claim shocked at the fact of what he just said but even more surprised because it''s true though I don''t know how the hell he figure it out because as far as I can tell I didn''t even allude to knowing his identity or say anything that would require me knowing his identity unless I somehow let it slip in conversation but the only conversation I had with him was when I was on the Gotham Police Department roof where I only told him my past at the orphanage which was loosely based on the truth and I talked about myself the entire time with Batman just listening and after that I had a little snippet of conversation with him when he pulled me out of the debris earlier today but even then it was only me asking for food and him demanding for me to get into the back of the Batmobile so I can''t think of a single reason why he could''ve come to the conclusion that I knew his identity, I thought all of this in a couple of seconds while showing a confused expression on my face that was actually truthful as I actually am confused but I realise the longer I stay quiet the more suspicious I might seem to him so I quickly break out off my daze to snort at what he just said as if it was completely unfathomable and I try to play off my shock as if I''m surprised at the accusation and not surprised that he caught me out. "Hold on a moment, what the hell are you on about man? I don''t know your identity, I only know Barbara''s secret identity and that''s only because I left her in the car outside the factory five minutes before Batgirl showed up inside the factory with the same red hair, the same complexion and similar eyes so it wasn''t too hard to guess since Barbara only just called the cops and presumably you just before we got there so there wouldn''t be enough time for the police or you to get there let alone Batgirl who shouldn''t have known anything and should have only been informed after you so it wasn''t too hard to deduce they were one and the same, I know who Barbara is but I don''t have a clue who the hell you are." I''m hoping that by vehemently denying it (or maybe just denying it with the vehement since that would only make me more suspicious in his eyes) he will begin to doubt himself though I doubt that will be the case as the Batman doesn''t often question himself and when he does it''s over more serious things than me so my best case scenario right now is for him to just let this go and not hang on it anymore since it would be more trouble than it''s worth and hopefully he will just decide to stop questioning me in regards to this as he will figure out that he won''t get any answers from me and he won''t force it out of me either since he just stated earlier that he''s only harsh on criminals and I''m not a criminal so unless he goes back on his word (which I don''t see him doing just for a regular civilian who just happens to have super regeneration) I will be fine but in any case even if this is my best hope it still is highly unlikely and I just keep wondering why he suspects me of knowing his identity, we stare at each other for a second without giving anything away on our faces before he eventually relents and I think that I''ve won but I realise I haven''t when he just spins his chair around to tap a button on his Batcomputer and then he spins back around to stare at me while I look up at the screen of the Batcomputer to see what he''s brought up and I''m confused when I see it is just a picture of my old orphanage with a bunch of information about the place brought up alongside it and I just look at it confused wondering for what reason he has brought this eye sore up on the screen and it''s clear that Batman can see what I''ve been thinking (is it my expressions? Is that how he found out I know his identity? By reading minute expression on my face and figuring it out from there?) and he starts to talk to explain why he''s brought this up on the screen. "When we last spoke upon the rooftop of the Gotham Police Department you told me and the Gordon father and daughter your history at the orphanage and how you found yourself running through the streets of New York covered in blood and while I now have no doubt now that that story was fake I also know that some elements of it are true but that doesn''t matter as you turned me onto something that was happening under my nose for over ten years and I was resolved to stop this festering cancer but after the conversation on the rooftop and I was about to leave you stopped me by mentioning Thomas Wayne, you talked about how the Orphanage was put in place by him and how it was his legacy and it was being defiled by criminals while also lamenting how different your life could''ve been if Thomas Wayne wasn''t gunned down in an alleyway and so you lit a fire under me and made dealing with the situation at the orphanage personal for me but unfortunately this backfired on everyone because instead of pushing me to take down the operation at the orphanage straightaway and have the orphanage completely shut down you unknowingly made me slow down because of which four children''s lives where put in danger and all because I wanted to procure the orphanage in my civilian identity of Bruce Wayne to preserve the legacy of my father instead of having it shutdown after I destroyed the operation." Bruce finishes with a calm voice showing no emotion whatsoever and I''m frightened because he''s not showing anger or any other emotion when he should be feeling some negative emotions towards me since he just revealed that he knows I emotionally manipulated him and played on his feelings and the death of his parents to try and manipulate him into crushing the operation at the orphanage quickly but it backfired on me when he instead tried to take the slow route and procure the orphanage for himself to preserve his father legacy while saving the children in the process but this didn''t work and instead panicked the matron and the drug dealer in turn endangering four children, which while I''m sure Bruce feels terribly guilty about ultimately falls on me and is my fault because if I didn''t try and emotionally manipulate him than he would''ve gone about it as business as usual and shut down the operation with the usual impunity he shows to all criminals in Gotham but I don''t regret it since I thought I was doing the right thing and in the end I saved those children so no harm no foul right. I start to think about how I can play this situation and how to get out of this without revealing more than I have to and try to come out this looking a shiny as possible but no matter how I play this in my mind there is no good way to get out of this since even if I can say that I didn''t know about Batman''s true identity when I talked about Thomas Wayne to him he just revealed his true identity of Bruce Wayne to me without any hesitation which shows that he was absolutely 100% certain that I knew his identity back on the rooftop of the Gotham Police Department so if I continue to deny knowing his identity prior to he himself telling me then not only do I be seen as a liar in Batman''s eyes I''ll also be seen as untrustworthy, selfish and suspicious which means that anything I do say to him in the future will be taken with a grain of salt and he won''t believe a single thing out of my mouth if I lie about this know which can be very bad for me if he doesn''t believe anything I tell him and still hold suspicions, sometimes the best thing to do is to tell the truth and while it''s not something I''m used to doing I''m also used to doing things that are best for me and in this situation both of those coincide so as far as I can tell telling the truth in this situation is my only way out of this that doesn''t make Batman not trust me and might even help me in the future since now that I for definite know his real identity I won''t be leaving this cave without having some type of relationship with him and I''d rather it be a working relationship than a relationship full of doubt and suspicion in which my every move is held under a microscope. "Your right, I did know your identity back on that rooftop and I did try to manipulate you by making the situation as personal for you as it was for me in the hopes that you would endeavour to shut down the operation at the orphanage as fate and as hard as possible but I''m afraid I didn''t take into account how much you loved your parents which resulted in you trying to preserve something your father left behind, I wouldn''t know what that''s like since I never had any parents and since I couldn''t understand the love someone could have for their parents I didn''t realise how that might affect your actions. While I do feel bad for doing that and because of that four children were put in danger I don''t regret doing what I did since at the time I thought it was the best way to shut down the orphanage, I just didn''t realise that party animal, carefree Bruce Wayne and cold, callous Batman could possibly feel that way about anyone which was my mistake." I tell him telling the complete truth maybe even a little bit too much but I don''t regret it since this is probably the first time I''ve actually told the truth and it feels pretty nice though I don''t think it''d be something I''d do regularly and maybe I should just save it for Christmas or something, during that moment of hard truth though I do have to admit I snuck in a part about myself to try and see if I could mute his reaction by reminding him of my orphan status and the fact that I don''t have parents to see if maybe that could resonance him and maybe lessen his reaction to the truth I just told him. Batman stay still for a moment with his arms by his side and I worry for a moment that it''s just him holding back his immense rage for me which is why he''s starting stock still but I''m relieved when I see his face twitch into a frown and his eyes narrow at me a little. "How did you figure out my identity?" He asks and I''m frozen, I can''t exactly say I know his secret identity since it''s sort of some of the meta-knowledge that wasn''t ripped out of my head by one of the most powerful beings in the universe... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane, Omar Amurrio and Arun. Thank you for the support. Chapter 136 - [BT] Male Friends... [Before Transition] After that whole conversation which I rudely listened in on and finishing my wheat cakes while having some normal small talk with the Parkers which was not as heavy as the previous topics and not as emotional where we just talked about what we''ve been up to and me and Peter pretty much just took over the conversation as we started to talk about new advancements in the field of science and bringing up any theories or papers that were published and while that meant we started to exclude uncle Ben and aunt May from the conversation at the table they didn''t seem to mind as Ben just went back to reading his newspaper while aunt may just went somewhere to presumably start doing some housework after she finished her meal though me and Peter didn''t really mind as we were so caught up in our conversation but that changed after aunt may came back into the room, by this point we had already finished all of our meals and we were just sat there talking about science as Peter has a pretty interesting brain to pick and he has some ''outside the box'' thinking so it''s always interesting to hear his views and it was at this point that May came in and took all of the plates off of the kitchen table and headed towards the sink to start doing the dishes and since I was a guest in this house and it''s etiquette to help in these situations I quickly stood up and tried to go and help May with the dishes since she cooked for us. "Here May, let me do that. It''s the least I can do since you cooked such amazing food for us, at the very least I''ll help you do the dishes." I move towards her to try and take the dishes from her hands so that I can wash them myself because that just what passes for being polite when you are a guest in someone''s house in America but it was way different in my past life and I''m not sure if it was because of my nationality or my culture but usually we would just let the owner do the work since the guest would be treated as a guest and it would be seen as rude to try and help out at the house you are visiting which is why I''m pretty awkward when it comes to social situation since it just such a large difference for me and I''ve not socialised properly that much since I''ve been here so I might be a bit awkward when trying to talk to others but I''ll just ignore that and continue trying to help aunt May, unfortunately for me it seems aunt May took offence since she swerved the dish''s out of my way before I could even touch them and she did it so fast I nearly assumed she had spider powers as well though it was quite clear that she just doesn''t want anyone messing with her work. "No you don''t mister, this is my job and I''ll be darned if anyone takes it from me. Anyway you didn''t just come here to talk to us two fogies did you, I''m pretty sure you came here to talk to Peter so you both can go and do whatever it is you boys do these days while I wash up, okay?" May says while starting to busy herself by washing up the dishes and she does it with such haste that I think she''s afraid of me trying to help probably thinking I''m gonna mess it up which I guess is normal for old women like her since back in her day a man couldn''t be trusted to do anything besides work as they''d mess everything up and I guess she thinks the same of me and Peter since she such a strong stubborn old woman and I''d rather not fight with her right now so I turn around and look to Peter who looks very confused, he looks like a deer in headlights as I look towards him and nod my head toward the kitchen door to suggest to him that we should leave the room and he seems to get the message as he quickly gets up and says something to his aunt and uncle before leaving the kitchen room and gesturing for me to follow him to the living room where we both just stand in the middle of the room looking at each other before he decides to speak first. "So, what did you want? Did you just come here to offer me the Stark Industries internship again or was it something else?" He questions trying to get to the crux of the reason of why I''m really here because while it might appear to aunt May and uncle Ben that we are friends we are actually more like acquaintances who saw the benefit of hanging out together while in Midtown High because he could hang around with me and I''d end up protecting him from the bullies like Flash (I know he grows up to be a good guy and he has his own problems but at that moment he was a bit of an asshole and so I didn''t give him any slack because when he grows up no one in the real world would treat him like he was treated in high school though I suppose he already has a healthy dose of reality given that his father is a grade A drunk asshole who gets physical a lot) and I would listen in and look at whatever book he was reading or notes he was making plus he also took up a seat next to me which was good because that only usually left one seat free which was taken by Mary Jane who I much preferred to all of the other thirsty girls who were trying to claw at me like one Liz Allen who got a bit obsessed with me after I slept with her one time because Flash really pissed me off that day and I regretted it ever since because she became an annoying person who was always trying to get a repeat though I don''t think Flash ever found out about it since he still just acted like he usually does, he''s right to be kinda cautious of why I''m actually here and to be honest I don''t actually have a good reason since I''m only here to somehow get him to become a better SpiderMan who won''t die so easily (I don''t actually know how I''m supposed to do that now that I think of it) and that''s only because Mary Jane asked me to since she''d feel guilty if he ends up dying on one of his escapades as SpiderMan and she didn''t do anything about it like telling his aunt or uncle to try and stop him from going out. "I''m just here to have a chat Peter and see how you guys were doing since I do feel kinda guilty about my part in what happened to your uncle, but I can see that you guys are doing all right so that''s good. I also thought that maybe we could chat about some stuff and what''s going on at Midtown High since I left, to be honest I don''t have have many male friends and Earl has been on my back about going out and relaxing since I spend too much time working on my own projects and so I thought I''d come and see what you were up to since I didn''t really have many other options." I just made up a shitty excuse because I really had no other reason to come or prolong my staying here but in the end my excuse made me seem kinda sad and lonely which isn''t the case since I specifically mentioned that I don''t have many male friends (ie I have a lot of female friends) and I also didn''t deign to mention Johnny Storm who is probably the closest thing I have to a friend right now because if I did mention him then Peter would ask why I didn''t go to him instead and I just can''t come up with more bullshit, I decide to just barge on past what I just said and take a seat on the couch before Peter can try and make an excuse but he reaches out to stop me at just above human speeds so he''s lucky that I already know about his powers as that would be suspicious to any one else but I don''t mention it as I instead just look to him in question at why he stopped me from sitting hoping that he isn''t just trying to get me to leave as that would make my job really difficult and I promised Mary Jane that I would try and improve Peters chances of surviving his chosen career whatever that entails because I honestly don''t know. "Uh, let''s go up to my room and chat instead. Don''t want to annoy aunt May or uncle Ben with our chatting do we?" He splitters out nervously while scratching the back of his head with the hand he just removed from my shoulder and I don''t mind it since this could be better for me as I can be a lot more open and hinting with what I say in his room rather than if we were to have a conversation within earshot of his aunt or uncle so I nod towards him plus I''m pretty sure he only wants to go upstairs because I said we''d chat about Midtown high and while I''m sure his aunt and uncle knows he get picked on there I don''t think they know that actual scope of the bullying and so he must want to go upstairs to keep them dorm actually finding out how bullied he is because he must downplay it at home and it must be a lot worse since I left even with his spider powers as he can''t use them to defend himself or he''ll risk exposing himself, I direct my hand towards the stairs while smiling at him. "Well, what are we waiting for then? Lead the way my friend, I hope you cleaned up your room though because I don''t want to find any of your material lying around." I finish with a joke in the hopes of lightening up the mood but it seems that instead of doing that I''ve made it more awkward as Peter just laughs nervously at my words, and then he quickly bolts up the stairs towards his room before I can even say anything. "Hold on a second Nick, just want to make sure my rooms tidy. Won''t be a minute, just hold on." I chuckle amusedly watching him rush up the stairs to tidy up his room but instead of waiting down here like he asked I instead begin to follow him up the stairs at a leisurely pace and I make it to the open door in the hallway in time to see Peter flinging a backpack into his closet and just before he closes the closet door I manage to catch a glimpse of red and blue so two guesses as to what he''s just his in there, peters quickly turns around after slamming his closet door shut and presses his back up against it totally not acting suspicious and he spots me at the door and tries to play it off cool. "So Nick, what did you want talk about? Should we start with Midtown, because things have been pretty different since you left..." ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane and Arun. Thank you for the support. Chapter 137 - [AT] Wardrobe Malfunction... [After Transition] "Your right, I did know your identity back on that rooftop and I did try to manipulate you by making the situation as personal for you as it was for me in the hopes that you would endeavour to shut down the operation at the orphanage as fate and as hard as possible but I''m afraid I didn''t take into account how much you loved your parents which resulted in you trying to preserve something your father left behind, I wouldn''t know what that''s like since I never had any parents and since I couldn''t understand the love someone could have for their parents I didn''t realise how that might affect your actions. While I do feel bad for doing that and because of that four children were put in danger I don''t regret doing what I did since at the time I thought it was the best way to shut down the orphanage, I just didn''t realise that party animal, carefree Bruce Wayne and cold, callous Batman could possibly feel that way about anyone which was my mistake." I tell him telling the complete truth maybe even a little bit too much but I don''t regret it since this is probably the first time I''ve actually told the truth and it feels pretty nice though I don''t think it''d be something I''d do regularly and maybe I should just save it for Christmas or something but during that moment of hard truth though I do have to admit I snuck in a part about myself to try and see if I could mute his reaction by reminding him of my orphan status and the fact that I don''t have parents to see if maybe that could resonance him and maybe lessen his reaction to the truth I just told him, Batman stays still for a moment with his arms by his side and I worry for a moment that it''s just him holding back his immense rage for me which is why he''s staying stock still but I''m relieved when I see his face twitch into a frown and his eyes narrow at me a little. "How did you figure out my identity?" He asks and I''m frozen because I can''t exactly say I know his secret identity since it''s sort of some of the meta-knowledge that wasn''t ripped out of my head by one of the most powerful beings in the universe so that means the truth is out of the question and just when I was starting as well, I guess I can just do some rational bullshiting because since I know his true identity it isn''t hard to spot some things that can point to his alter ego and when combined they paint a pretty picture and while maybe that picture wouldn''t be enough it would be easy to just say I went with a hunch or something. "I wouldn''t have been able to deduce your identity if I was in anyway aware of the goings on of the world or payed attention to the media or world in anyway whatsoever but unfortunately for you I was in a dark place and was trying to run from my past so during high school and especially during my time at Metropolis University I indulged myself in endless amounts or drugs, alcohol and women but because of my healing factor alcohol and drugs were only momentary highs and so I found myself mostly indulging myself in women but even then that wasn''t enough and so I started to get involved in underground fight clubs and even made so money while doing it but I mainly did it to forget about my past which I was running away from as well as the high I got from it and because of my healing factor I didn''t have to worry about getting hurt and could just lose myself in the ring and it''s because of this that I didn''t pay any attention to the news or situation in the world, when I was a kid I was more focused on delivering drugs to get fed and after that I spent all of my time running from my past and the guilt of me letting those two sc.u.mbags continue to do what they did to me to other kids and so I indulged myself in whatever I could find though they were just momentary highs and so I had no time to see or even hear about Bruce Wayne and his party ways and so I had absolutely no idea about you outside of some small talk that I occasionally heard but didn''t care too much about." I finish telling the absolute truth as my DC self before the merge truly felt like this and did these things and while he didn''t feel quite as much guilt as I am portraying and mostly did what he did out of trauma now that we have merged together we are a seamless blend of each other and while he might not felt as much guilt at letting kids have the same fate as him I definitely do after the merge and so this is all kinda true and everyone knows truth is the foundation of a good lie, Batman clearly doesn''t seem to think so as he is still narrowing his eyes at me and I can tell he is getting impatient as while he might not usually be as irritable he''s just had me admit to him that I know his identity and I tried and semi succeeded in emotionally manipulating him. "What does this have to do with you knowing my identity? How does it relate?" He all but growls out at me probably thinking that if I know his identity how many other people also do and that might be because he''s worrying I told others or others took my avenue in discovering his identity, either way he doesn''t really have to worry about it that much as I''m not gonna tell anyone and I only know his identity because of the remnants of my meta-knowledge and even then I don''t think many people actually discovered his identity in the comics except from Tim Drake who becomes one of the Robins, Ra''s Al Ghul, Dr Hugo Strange and maybe the Joker but he just didn''t care about his true identity or something, either way he''s doing a good job of keeping his identity a secret and so I have to play to that and basically show my working out like I would on an exam and to do that I could just do some good old plagiarising and explain my knowledge of his identity by taking inspiration from the people who actually did discover his identity for themselves. "Basically what I''m getting at is that I had no actual impression of you at all and so I hadn''t been spoon fed the dialogue and image you were cultivating as Bruce Wayne for other people to see and so I got to have fresh eyes on you and I didn''t even pay any attention to you until I started to try and work out the Batman''s identity to see if I could trust him to take down that orphanage as I couldn''t trust myself and so I began to try and work out just who the Batman was and so I had to do as the great Sherlock Holmes once said ''When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth'' and that''s exactly what I did, I merely looked at the Batman''s appearances and estimated his height, his weight and his build and then I began to think of just who had the resources to be the Batman because he definitely wouldn''t work for anybody''s organisation since he''s so secretive and he didn''t even coordinate with the police when he first began and even now he only contacts Commissioner Gordon so it must be someone who doesn''t take orders from anyone and since having benefactors would basically equate to having a boss and someone who could possibly give him so orders in return for funding the Batman must be someone who either got funding with no string attached which is probably impossible or all the resources he uses are his own and so he must be incredibly wealthy to afford the toys and gadgets he uses." I take a moment to catch my breath and see what Batman is thinking of my explanation so far but it seems he has calmed down a bit since I started talking and doesn''t seem to be showing any expression or emotion on his face at my words, I wait for another second or so to see if he''s going to say anything but he seems content to simply listen and let me finish my explanation so that''s exactly what I do. "Using everything I had found out so far and so elementary deductions it wasn''t hard to narrow down my search because I was looking for a wealthy athletic white man who was at least under or around the age of 30 and since most wealthy people in the world came into it they never really exercised so it wasn''t hard to narrow down the results to rich people who actually exercised and looked after themselves while also having enough wealth to afford the toys Batman uses and I could narrow down my result even more since Batman was based in Gotham so too must his real identity and since Batman is a hero his true identity must at least take a neutral position in public and must try not to cause harm in his public persona which cut down the results immensely since nearly every rich athletic white person in Gotham looked out for only themselves not caring about who was in there way, having only a few candidates left I decided to look at anything else that might lead to his identity and so I took a look at your companions and it was as pretty easy to deduce that one was a lot closer than the other since Batgirl was mostly seen on her own and Batman and Robin are mostly seen together being known as the ''Dynamic Duo'' so I focused on Robin and when I looked at my candidates who had any connection to children/teens around Robins age I came upon you since you had become the ward to one Richard ''D.i.c.k'' Grayson and normally at this point anyone else would have refuted the idea and thought it impossible because of your carefully crafted public persona but I didn''t pay much attention to that or give it much weight and so I ignored it where others would have disregarded it thinking that a playboy, idiot, naive rich boy like Bruce Wayne couldn''t possibly be more than he looked but I learned long ago never to trust how others portray themselves and so I focused my research on you as you had become my primary suspect." "From there it was pretty easy as once I was 70% sure you were the Batman I invested all my time into investigating you and Richard Grayson (where is he by the way, I haven''t seen him yet) and I discovered that D.i.c.k before he became your ward was part of the Flying Graysons with his parents before their untimely death and when I saw the similarities between Robins suit and the outfit used by the performers in the Flying Graysons act it wants all that hard to connect the dots and come to an answer, Bruce Wayne was Batman and while I was almost certain I couldn''t fully trust my conclusion as while I may have disregarded your public persona mask that didn''t mean it was actually you as there was still some doubt and so upon the rooftop I tried to subtly manipulate you by using Thomas Wayne and either it worked or it didn''t and I wouldn''t lose anything either way so when I saw that it worked it was all but confirmed that you were the Batman." I finish and I can see Batman drinking it all in and while most of my dialogue right now was bullshit I just made up none of it was false and pretty much all of it was fact so there would be no way for him to disprove that, everything I said was correct and plausible especially the similarity between Robins costume and D.i.c.k Grayson''s outfit when he was in the circus with his parents. "I see." Batman simply says after my speech and after taking it all in, that''s all he has to say which I''m surprised at and the atmosphere is getting pretty stale so I decide to try and continue the conversation while also adding some advice. "If I might, you should really see about changing Robin''s costume. Seeing the similarities between it and the one D.i.c.k Grayson wore in the the circus was definitive, it was pretty much the nail in the coffin..." ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane and Arun. Thank you for the support. Chapter 138 - [BT] Hell’s Thugs... [Before Transition] It''s a few days later and I''m currently walking through an alleyway hoping to bump into a certain someone because my entire plan to help Peter hinders on it and seeing as my other plan didn''t work out this is what I''m banking in otherwise I can''t do anything to help him and I made a promise to Mary Jane that I would but unfortunately when I eventually cornered Peter in his room a few days ago when I visited the Parker house he was just so dense and no matter how many hints I dropped or nudges I gave him he just ignored them and continued to chat away about what was happening at Midtown High since I left like I gave a f.u.c.k and every time I talked about superheroes and stuff which eventually leads to the new hero Spider-Man and I inform Peter of my observations of the hero such as that he is an inexperienced guy who got powers and doesn''t know how to use them nothing actually got through to him that would actually make him improve himself as he just got very defensive of Spider-Man whenever I made comments like that and when I talked about Captain America not being as good a hero if he didn''t have all that training and prowess Peter just agreed with me without actually taking anything on board and I even went as far as to blatantly say ''Those powers are wasted on Spider-Man, if Hawkeye or Black Widow or someone actually trained and experienced had those powers than they would be a much better superhero than him'' but even then Peter missed the entire point and got really defensive over it staying that he was probably just starting out, after that he got quite frosty with me since from his point of view I was just continuing to roast Spider-Man and criticise him so when we got to a lull in the conversation I knew I had overstayed my welcome as the atmosphere was awkward and so I had to leave without actually achieving my goal and I know that that Avenue wouldn''t work to improve Spider-Man. It certainly didn''t make matters better when I saw MJ later and she asked me how I had progressed in what she had asked of me and when I told her I was working on it I could see the doubt and worry on her face but once I reassured her she was fine but she still worried and so after once again assuring Mary Jane that I would help Peter I set out to find some way to do that but no matter how I thought about it there was actually no way for me to actually help him since I couldn''t help him in anyway whatsoever without telling him I knew his identity in the process so I wouldn''t be able to potentially provide him with samples of tech which he could copy and make for himself in the future and I can''t help him learn how to fight properly because even now I''m not that good or qualified enough to teach someone and I don''t think I would be able to anytime soon as Earl has gotten up in his years and can no longer teach me and anywhere I do want to learn from would have to be pretty advanced and all of those places came with conditions and consequences so I have decided to instead do what I can manage on my own and keep my anonymity so there is no way I can help Peter there either but who says I have to be the one to help him and it''s because I came to that conclusion that I have been patrolling these streets these last few days, currently it''s after dark and I''m wandering around the dark dangerous streets of Hell''s Kitchen looking for a certain someone who had claimed this area of New York as his own turf but it doesn''t seem to have mattered because for the last few days I''ve been wandering around I''ve been accosted several times by different thugs trying to mug me or in one case trying to murder me for no reason but I easily put them all down making sure to limit myself to the strength that someone of my build and stature would have but even then it was easy to take down these thugs as just because I was using merely human strength I was still using my enhanced senses and so it was child''s play to beat these guys down and I''m surprised that all they had was there hands and some shitty melee weapons as I would have expected at least one of them to have a gun given that this was America but surprisingly all they had was some melee weapons and even the guy who came out of nowhere and tried to kill me for no reason only had a bloody knife. Usually after all this beat downs I would just leave the guys in the streets unconscious as they were only by themselves or at most in groups of three or four plus they gave me an option to hand over my wallet before they even got their weapons out and even after they got their weapons out they still gave me a chance and since I don''t know what their circ.u.mstances were that they would have to turn to crime I honestly didn''t care either so I left them on the street since I''m not a hero and I don''t think they would actually seriously harm anyone plus they might have a change of heart after I had knocked them out but unfortunately the crazy guy who tried to kill me for no reason could not be held under the same banner and once I had easily knocked him out after he came at me with a knife I noticed that his knife was bloody with some older dried blood on it as well and so I mustn''t have been the first person this guy had attacked and so it was with a heavy heart that I decided to rap this guy up in some cable I found nearby and then called the police to alert them to his location and I had no doubt the guy would be indispensable due to the bloody knife I left with him as well as his clothes that were sprayed with blood as well and so I left him there tied up for the cops after I called them and that''s because unlike those other thugs this guy was just murderous and he was far more dangerous so I couldn''t in good conscious leave the guy there to wake up and go attack someone else and since I''d already knocked coed him out I just had to inform the police of his arm re-evaluate before quickly escaping the scene, my day wasn''t made any better the next day when I discovered that the guy had made it onto the news and it''s been reported that the guy was a serial killer who has apparently been connected to eleven different murder investigations but the media was reporting that the man was claiming that there were dozen more murders and it looked like the guy would eventually be sent to Rykers Island for eleven consecutive terms though that was still out for the jury but it still grinds my gears that a guy like this was out on the street and it took me who isn''t even a hero to capture him and I''m regretting that I didn''t do more damage to the guy but I can at least be comforted by the fact that the guy isn''t a super and so he would most likely stay in prison and die there but the name Cletus Kasady continued to ring in my head and I felt like I had heard it somewhere but no matter how much I pondered over it I just couldn''t make any connections and so it mustn''t be that important if I could forget about it. There was no mention of me or someone capturing the guy and then informing the police about it and it seems that the police were withholding that information and seemed to be taking credit for his capture though they didn''t explicitly say that but I''m guessing that they would rather have it known that they captured the serial killer instead of it being known that he was captured by and given to the police by a unknown person which I suppose I could understand since they want people to trust the police and since most crime was being solved by heroes nowadays this would look good for the police department and probably help them out and I didn''t really give a shit but unfortunately it seems that for one reason or another Kletus Kasady was being transferred from one place to another for some reason and the press found out about it and I don''t know whether it was Kasady trying to be a d.i.c.k or it simply made sense in his twisted mind but he shouted for all the world to hear that he wasn''t captured by the police and he was instead captured by some guy and then he proceeded to give a description of me before the police could stop him or shuffle him into the building and so it was no surprise that a high profile case like this (because the police were making a big deal out of it to improve their image) already had a lot of attention and so I was flabbergasted to hen on the news the reporters were talking about a new possible vigilante/superhero who captured the serial killer that the police couldn''t and they even had a description of me, thankfully I took precaution every time I went to walk the street of Hells Kitchen and wore black pants, black boots, a black t shirt, black gloves and a black hoodie over that to hide myself and I had the hood pulled up and stuck to my head using my sticky powers so as to completely shadow my face and not reveal anything so all the press had right now was a white man completely covered in black and that was it which I''m grateful for since I''m not a hero and I''m not about to let the media brand me one either but still this vague description of me was enough to rattle me and so this time when I travelled around Hells Kitchen I decided to where casual regular clothes instead of all black although I still had a hoodie on and my face protects by my stick me powers keeping the hood shadowing my face. It seems to be working as well since I''ve been walking around Hells Kitchen for a while and the few people that saw me didn''t give me another glance so I must be in the clear and so it was with a relieved mind that I continued to prowl the streets of Hells Kitchen looking for a certain man who could help me with my Peter situation but it seems it wasn''t to be tonight since out of nowhere while I was walking down an eerie silent street with no one in sight a whole bunch of thugs began to pour out of the alleyways surrounding the street both in front and behind me and it wasn''t long before I was surrounded on all sides by around thirty thugs who were all holding baseball bats and crowbars menacingly and when I took a closer look at them I realised that I recognised a few of them as some thugs that trie to mug me who I proceeded to beat the shit out of before leaving them in the gutters. "You may have changed your clothes vigilante but we can still tell that you''re the same bastard who was f.u.c.k.i.n.g with us, you shouldn''t have done that. Now the tables have turned and your gonna get yours, LET''S GET HIM BOYS!" One of the thugs step out from the crowd to make their little speech and it seems this guy is the leader of these rabble rousers, this''ll teach me not to be nice and leave guys unconscious in alleyways... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) Chapter 139 - [AT] Biological Variant... [After Transition] "From there it was pretty easy as once I was 70% sure you were the Batman I invested all my time into investigating you and Richard Grayson (where is he by the way, I haven''t seen him yet) and I discovered that D.i.c.k before he became your ward was part of the Flying Graysons with his parents before their untimely death and when I saw the similarities between Robins suit and the outfit used by the performers in the Flying Graysons act it wants all that hard to connect the dots and come to an answer, Bruce Wayne was Batman and while I was almost certain I couldn''t fully trust my conclusion as while I may have disregarded your public persona mask that didn''t mean it was actually you as there was still some doubt and so upon the rooftop I tried to subtly manipulate you by using Thomas Wayne and either it worked or it didn''t and I wouldn''t lose anything either way so when I saw that it worked it was all but confirmed that you were the Batman." I finish and I can see Batman drinking it all in and while most of my dialogue right now was bullshit I just made up none of it was false and pretty much all of it was fact so there would be no way for him to disprove that, everything I said was correct and plausible especially the similarity between Robins costume and D.i.c.k Grayson''s outfit when he was in the circus with his parents. "I see." Batman simply says after my speech and after taking it all in, that''s all he has to say which I''m surprised at and the atmosphere is getting pretty stale so I decide to try and continue the conversation while also adding some advice. "If I might, you should really see about changing Robin''s costume. Seeing the similarities between it and the one D.i.c.k Grayson wore in the the circus was definitive, it was pretty much the nail in the coffin..." I speak aloud my thoughts hoping to convince him to change Robins costume because while I appreciate the homage to his parents and the fact that it''s his old circus costume the fact remains that the kid is dressed in bright green, red and yellow which I suppose is okay but it''s made worse by the fact that his costume is basically a green child sized baby grow that leaves half of his arms uncovered apart from the bright green gloves and all of his legs uncovered apart from his feet which are covered in bright green ''pixie'' boots which are just disgusting and over that he just has a red vest with three ties keeping it closer, a black belt tying it for some reason because I don''t think it''s a utility belt since I can spot any pouches and over all that is a bright yellow cape that wraps around his shoulders and connects underneath his chin but for some reason attached in top is a yellow shirt collar which is part of the cape and looks very f.u.c.kin weird, I can respect him trying to pay homage to his parents and the circus by basing his costume off of his acrobat uniform in the circus but there''s gotta be a line I mean the kid is basically dressing up like Namor which is just weird and I really want his bad costume to change not only because it looks terrible (but also somehow inexplicably works) but because it hardly covers the kids body apart from his vitals which is just wrong. "Robin''s costume will be discussed with him but I do see your point, I let him do it because even my own costume is an homage to my father since he once dressed up as a bat at a Halloween party. I can understand why he did it but if it''s helping others like you to discover our identity''s then it will have to be rectified, though it''s none of your concern so don''t worry about it." Damn he just told me straight up without any hesitation but I guess that must be because he already knows I know his identity so there''s not much he can do there and all of the information he just gave me is inconsequential and doesn''t really mean anything but I''m glad that he didn''t take me knowing his identity in a bad way, more importantly I finally realised that the Bat-Suit (that looked like it was made for a kid by there mother and more in line for a costume party than an actual functioning Batsuit) in that display case I saw earlier must be Thomas Wayne''s Batman party costume so no wonder it was in a display case despite it''s quality and the fact that it was more central than some of the other displays in the Batcave as it holds more importance. "Your abilities, tell me about them. How you discovered them, what really happened for you to end up in New York, the limitations, the advantages and disadvantages and more importantly anybody who knows about your abilities and anyone who might have your DNA." Before I can speak again it seems that the Batman has decided that it''s no longer time to chat and so he gets straight to business and lists out his demands of what he wants to know and it takes a braver man then me to not listen when the Batman talks, all I''ve gotta do is tell the truth which should be pretty easy since there''s nothing I really want to conceal here since my ten generation ability is already out of the bag and so I should try and be as open as possible about it and hopefully win some points and trust with Batman. "Straight to the point eh, well I suppose there''s no point beating around the bush. First of all everything I told you about myself is true apart from what really happened the day I was out into the back of that white van but I suppose I should start from the beginning which is when I got my ability, it was when I was five years old and it was my first day as a drug mule for the matron and the drug dealer and so when I had been given the package to deliver I was off in my way to the rooftop of a building where I would hide the package underneath the nesting in a pigeon coup but when I got there and was doing so a man approached me and tried to steal the package from me but I''m since doing this job correctly was the difference between starving and being fed for the first time in ages I held on and fought back with all of my power before eventually I fell off of the roof and went splat on the paved alleyway down below behind the building where thankfully no one was around." The Batman frowns and I''m confused as to why, he shouldn''t be upset that I was tossed off of a building and went splat since he can clearly see me fine as day now and he has already figured out that this was when I got my power so why is he frowning. "There was nothing else in the alley? No chemical spills, no broken down electrical wires, there wasn''t any unusual weather or lightning?" He asks and I understand why he''s frowning as he''s trying to work out from whence my powers came and while the possibility that it was my own body changing that produced my powers is very high he can''t ignore the possibility that it may have happened from outside influences and if so are there possibly any others which I''m pretty sure isn''t possible, I own gained my healing ability because of my rewriting of reality with the clear instruction that I would live to my current age among other instructions and so when I fell off of that building the universe had to make sure I lived but since I went splat they could only give me my healing factor to survive that but who''s to say the method in which it gave me my regeneration because either it could''ve just granted it to me or they could''ve put an elaborate plan into motion to grant me these ability which could mean that the elements to my regeneration could be out there and possibly used by someone else. "There was nothing like that, it was as clear a day as you can get for Gotham, when I woke up hours later in the alleyway I was only covered in my own blood, there wasn''t any green goo or toxic materials in the alleyway and the alleyway was bout as clean as an alleyway could be but there wasn''t anything there that could provoke such a change in the human body. I''ve tried to research it before when I wasn''t drowning in some of my temporary vices but I didn''t manage to get very far." Honestly my DC self did try a few times before the merge to investigate the source of his powers but he didn''t stick to it as he was more interested in finding out all the possible advantages of his abilities instead of the origin of them and now that I''m in control I can do that as well but since my body is a merge between spider powers and also healing powers there may be no way to actually tell the origin of my power as it may be entirely mystical since the universe was involved and if there is then it will take a long time to figure it out properly, Batman probably already has an idea to my power and it''s origin. "From the sample I''ve reviewed there is nothing I can see to explain your abilities apart from the unusual balance of your blood but that''s not impossible and if your theory is correct about your body being that all of your cells are quantum entangled which means that when any of your cells realise where the true body is then any cells not attached to the body stop regenerating making it just ordinary DNA without the regeneration included then I wouldn''t be able to discover anything from this sample but I do have a few theories, my first and utmost theory right now is that you posses the Metagene which is a biological variant that some humans have and while not a lot is known about this gene it is being heavily researched since an absurd amount of powered people are appearing in recent days and so far what has been found is that the gene often lays dormant until a moment of extraordinary physiological stress activates it and upon activation it would use the source of the biostress as a catalyst for "genetic change" resulting in metahuman abilities which I suspect is how your powers came into being as you fell off the roof and impacted the ground. There isn''t much more I can figure out about your abilities origins without a sample and since your cells are quantum entangled that would be impossible, the only way to research it would be to analyse your DNA while it is still connected to you and for that to happen it would have to be an integral part of you that isn''t reproducing constantly and so I would have to dissect you to discover anything more about your powers so I can analyse you from the inside and while I know that you would survive I have no reason to do so and put thou through that pain, unless you want to in which case I can put you in contact with some scientists who could do that for you and be discreet as possible." I rapidly shake my head in the negative when he offers me that option and though it''s hard to tell I think his lip is slightly upturned and he''s taking amus.e.m.e.nt in my panic, what an asshole though I''m glad he won''t be trying to unravel more about the origin of my ability since that would require him to do a live dissection of me and I don''t think that''s something he wants to do especially to someone who hasn''t done anything wrong and has been helpful to him so far. After that moment of levity Batman returns to the topic at hand, the topic being my abilities and him wanting to know as much as possible about them. "The white van, tell me about it. What really happened that day." He asks and I guess I have no other option to tell him but I''m glad that at least by clearing this upon no one is gonna believe I slept in a refrigerator surround by meat that I pissed on, apart from Commissioner Gordon who won''t be privy to this conversation... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane, Arun and frank ivkovich. Thank you for the support. Chapter 140 - [BT] The Devil... [Before Transition] I''ve been walking around Hells Kitchen for a while and the few people that saw me didn''t give me another glance so I must be in the clear and so it was with a relieved mind that I continued to prowl the streets of Hells Kitchen looking for a certain man who could help me with my Peter situation but it seems it wasn''t to be tonight since out of nowhere while I was walking down an eerie silent street with no one in sight a whole bunch of thugs began to pour out of the alleyways surrounding the street both in front and behind me and it wasn''t long before I was surrounded on all sides by around thirty thugs who were all holding baseball bats and crowbars menacingly and when I took a closer look at them I realised that I recognised a few of them as some thugs that trie to mug me who I proceeded to beat the shit out of before leaving them in the gutters. "You may have changed your clothes vigilante but we can still tell that you''re the same bastard who was f.u.c.k.i.n.g with us, you shouldn''t have done that. Now the tables have turned and your gonna get yours, LET''S GET HIM BOYS!" One of the thugs step out from the crowd to make their little speech and it seems this guy is the leader of these rabble rousers, this''ll teach me not to be nice and leave guys unconscious in alleyways so next time I''ll leave them with a few broken bones so that even if they wanted to they wouldn''t be able to do anything but I can think about that later because right now there are thirty f.u.c.kers wielding weapons coming to murder me and I''m not afraid to admit I''m a little scared. I''ve never been in a proper fair fight because of my early limited training so I was easily able to deal with the assholes in high school and once I got my spider powers it became even more unfair as I wasn''t facing any supervillains and even while I was prowling through the streets of Hell''s Kitchen I was only ever accosted by at most four thugs at a time so it was easy to deal with them with my enhanced abilities but even so I''ve always had the advantage in any of the fights I''ve had and I pick my battles very carefully but right now there are more than thirty thugs coming at me each and every one hungry for my blood and yes maybe my spider powers make this a fair fight but I''ve never fought this many people before and I''m not got enough martial prowess to handle this with ease but what I do have is my spider powers, I won''t be able to beat all of these guys with just my limited fighting skill so I will have to rely on my spider powers or more specifically my ''spidey sense'' (spidey senses are peters thing, maybe I should call them something else like ''My Nick Tingles are tingling, that was horrible) to avoid most of the blows that will undoubtably be coming at me and I have no doubt that I will have to take a few huts but I can at least make sure those hits are on my body and from blunt weapons rather than bladed weapons but still this is gonna be pretty hard and I can''t be like Peter who would pull his punches to not hurt them when he could knock them out in one go so I''ll have to make all of my hits KO''s to take them out quickly and efficiently because if they''re not taken out in one hit then they''ll get back up and eventually they will overwhelm so I''m aiming to knock them out before they can even get a hit on me. "DIE MOTHERF.U.C.KER!!" I no longer have time to think and plan my actions as the first thug is upon me and the first thing he does is swing out with the crowbar in his hand and so I lean back avoiding it and when he goes to take another swing with it I move forward ducking under his swing to get in close and then I uppercut his stomach with enough strength that he''s instantly out of the fight and on the floor with probably a few broken ribs, I notice a knife coming towards my side and so I reach out and grab the wrist of my attacker before pulling him towards me and levelling him out with a punch to the face the takes him out for the count and I have barely a moment to appreciate before I''m was again attacked but this time in both sides by two people and so I duck underneath their blows before sweeping their legs out from under them and then jumping on one of them and knocking him out and I''m about to do the same to the other when my senses blare out and I spot a bat that is swinging full force toward my head and so I jump backwards to minimise the damage while raising my arm to block the bat and while most of the damage is absorbed it still hurts a bit and I wince but I don''t have any time to think about that before I''m once again on the move avoiding a metal pipe that was heading for my stomach and so I lose my self in the battle and I start to focus purely on avoiding blows with my spider sense while taking my shots where I can and if that means taking a few licks here and there to take out a few of them then that''s fine. I don''t know how long I''ve been fighting for because it feels like a long time but it can''t be more than a few minutes and at some point I realised the force I was putting in my punches wasn''t enough because while admittedly some of the guys I was putting Dow were staying down more than one kept getting back up like the first guy who I punched in the stomach and while I''m sure I broke a few of his ribs he still got back up and was swinging at me and so I''ve had to increase the strength I''ve been using on them little by little to try and find the sweet spot where they won''t be able to do anything after I hit them and I finally find it and I begin to put loads of these guys down for the count once I find that balance and IM''s a trying to feel confident when I''ve taken out nearly half of the guys that have attacked me and I''m getting into the groove when I suddenly find my spider sense going off like a blast siren and so trusting my abilities I quickly do a big jump and roll while hearing a loud bang and when I get to my feet I realise I''m no longer surrounded by any thugs as they are all together staring at me and in front of them all is the guy who first spoke and leads these guys but what''s more important is the gun I spot in his hands that has smoke coming out of the barrel and when I look back to where I previously was I notice a small bullet holes in the ground so that must be what my spider sense was warning me about, this is getting out of hand and while I was resolved to fight these guys before that was only when I thought they only had melee weapons and I''d be able to handle them which I was as I''d take nearly half of the guy out of the fight but now that a gun was involved that makes things much harder not because the guns cares me or anything but with more bullets flying around it''s gonna be harder for me to fight and doge and I''m definitely going to have to showcase more of my abilities than I already have (though that can be passed off as human) and I don''t want to use my abilities because the moment it gets out that there''s a vigilante with powers out there I''m gonna have a lo of people looking for me and I don''t think I''m good enough to avoid them for long but unfortunately what other option do I have but to continue fighting even if that means showing more of my abilities. Knowing that there were no civilians in the area as they''d already ran off and hid )as this was Hell''s Kitchen and they were used to it) I saw no other option than to continue to fight but at least I could be assured that no one else besides these thugs is gonna see my powers and I''m glad that I have my features masked as well with my hood on and so it was with a heavy heart that I decided to use my powers out in the open and if Murphy''s Law (Whatever can go wrong will go wrong) is working like it always does then at least one organisation is gonna find out about it and they''re gonna have motives and designs on me but that''s just what I''m gonna have to deal with since I don''t want to be shot and I''m gonna have to deal with these guys if I wanna stay in Hell''s Kitchen to accomplish my objective here though revealing my powers might make that objective much harder, the guy with the gun holds it out to point it at me and he''s close to pulling the trigger but it seems he wants to have an upgrade from thug to minor villain as he decides to do a bit of monologue for me. "I didn''t think I''d have to get this out but you left us no choice, this is your own fault. You should have left us alone, now your gonna die." He speaks aloud and I''m confused as to what he''s thinking as if I recall correctly all of these guys tried to mug me during the past few days and I just put them down in return so it wasn''t me getting involved in their business but theses guys trying to mug me and when he points the gun at me I don''t move because for some reason my spider sense doesn''t go off but he still has a gun and so I decide to move quickly before he can shoot but when I''m about to move off my spider sense rings slightly and so I stop in my tracks, I know it''s stupid to stay with the guy pointing his gun at me but I''m not gonna be like Peter who constantly doubts his spider senses and ends up paying the price for it and I''m assured that these guys don''t have anything to mess with my spider sense so I can trust it and so I''m gonna stay standing here with the guy aiming his gun at me rather than move which makes my spider sense tingle and I know that sounds stupid and idiotic but if I can''t trust my own powers than what''s the point in having them, so I stay standing waiting for something to happen. I begin to panic when I see the guy begin to press down on the trigger and I''m worrying if I''ve made a big mistake and I''m preparing to quickly dodge but even then I would''ve still left it too long and at best would come out with a shoulder wound but just when I''ve begun to doubt myself and move I notice some kind of red cylinder streak down from the darkness above the city and it impacts the gunman''s hand knocking the gun out of his hand and to the floor and while I ignore the thugs panic I trace the trajectory of the red cylinder back up to the top of a building and I see standing there the person I''ve been looking for this entire time, the ''Devil'' of Hell''s Kitchen... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane, Arun and frank ivkovich. Thank you for the support. Chapter 141 - [AT] My Abilities... [After Transition] Batman returns to the topic at hand, the topic being my abilities and him wanting to know as much as possible about them. "The white van, tell me about it. What really happened that day." He asks and I guess I have no other option to tell him but I''m glad that at least by clearing this upon no one is gonna believe I slept in a refrigerator surround by meat that I pissed on apart from Commissioner Gordon who won''t be privy to this conversation, and so I told the entire truth about what happened to me that day when I was 10 and put into the back of that white van and most of what I had told him previously was correct apart from a few things which I had to clear up first being the fact that there was no one else in the back of the white van except me and that there was no other person in the back and so when we arrive at the factory as soon as the back doors opened I smashed a fist into the matrons face and kicked the drug dealer in the balls before making a run for it but I didn''t get far when the drug dealer shot me in the leg and then I was dragged inside and they forced me into a meat grinder and when next I woke I was in the back of a truck in a fridge surrounded by meat on all sides and so when I saw my chance I ran and that''s how I ended up on the streets of New York at night cover in blood, with that cleared up it wasn''t too hard to make some connection such as the fact that I was turned into minced meat and then packaged before bing put in the fridge and that my regeneration was so powerful that my meat ripped out of the packages and joined back together to reform me or the more horrifying idea of the fact that there was a big chunk of me that started to regenerate out of a single plastic bag which would mean the rest of my meat was left in the back of the truck and people have probably eaten it by now but I''d rather not think about that and believe in the first theory but either way Batman now knows what really happened that day and consequently knows just how powerful my healing factor is and while some may think revealing that is idiotic he already knew either way and if he knew then I''d rather have the full width of the ability being seen by him so I can actually use it and not be suspicious when he eventually finds out that I lied to him so this is the better way plus I don''t want to constantly hide since this is my new life and I wanna live it differently to how I f.u.c.k.e.d up things back in Marvel. "Hmm, I suppose that would explain why you were so obsessed with the matron and the drug dealer since they gave you the worst experience of your life. Your abilities seem quite powerful as well to regenerate yourself back up from strips of yourself though we don''t know how long that actually took or the time frame, you''ve had your abilities since you were five years old so tell me what you''ve learnt about them in the past thirteen years. I need to know your powers, whether they are harmful to you or others, if you are in control of them and I need to ascertain whether you are a threat to anyone which means I have to get a grasp on your mindset and your mental health and stability which will start with you and me talking about your powers and also whether or not you may endanger anyone else or be in danger yourself due to your abilities, I need to know everything." Batman says after I''ve finished telling him the truth and after taking a few seconds to digest what I''ve said and obviously coming up with suspicions and conclusions in his head he demands for me to tell him everything I know about my abilities though I get the feeling that the last thing he said really encompasses his entire personality because he needs to know everything and in this instance I wouldn''t mind telling him about the full scope of my abilities since I want to be rather free and unfettered in my new life rather than how paranoid and worried I was in Marvel though I will still keep some of that mindset as this place isn''t sunshine and butterflies, knowing that Bruce Wayne was waiting for me to get on with it and start telling him my abilities and since he''s given me such a nice stage to present some aspects of myself I shall endeavour to use it to the best of my ability to aid my own narrative and goals and if I can add some extra information which will definitely be going in his database as I can use it to give myself some more freedom. "My abilities huh, well first of all I have a lot of abilities but I only have one superpower which is an advanced healing factor but this superpower comes with a whole range of advantages and abilities as side effects all of which are pretty awesome. First of all it keeps me permanently in perfect health which means my strengths and my skills can be at their peak levels for as long as I''m alive, it also means I don''t need to sleep because my body is always fresh and energetic so I don''t get tired though that doesn''t include mental strain so I do still sleep but only when I have to and the rest of the time I can do whatever and I have so much more time than everyone else that I can use to pick up new skills or something, I also have some enhanced strength because all humans have hysterical strength like when a mother lifts a car to save her child though her muscles and tendons would tear but I would be fine and regenerate it instantly so I can use that hysterical strength all the time though it doesn''t even compare to someone like Superman though I can still push myself to some crazy levels compared to a normal human this also includes enhanced speed and enhanced jumping since I can run faster without worrying about my limits and move and act faster as well. I also have enhanced senses as well since all of my body is in peak physical condition including my senses which means I have perfect hearing, eyesight and smell so I''m more in tune with the world around me and notice more of it than others because as people get older the more there senses get damaged even someone twenty years old but I don''t have that problem and so my body is perfect which means it can also be amazing at everything as well so my accuracy and aim are perfect which I learned while playing some first person shooters as I always get headshots and I''m pretty much the best at anything that involves hand-eye coordination and this also applies to my intelligence as my brain processing power is also enhanced since my brain is in perfect physical condition at all times so I''m extra aware of my surroundings and I can process it all much faster though that does get annoying sometimes as babies and alarms really annoy me, possibly my most useful ability is that I can''t get fat and I''m an appropriate weight for my body type because I don''t sleep and I''m in perfect health which means I need to burn a lot of calories which means I can eat all the food I want to and I don''t have to even go to the dentist since even if my teeth did rot away I''d just grow new ones and not get fat though if you didn''t find me under that building when you did them I don''t know what would''ve happened to me as I hadn''t eaten anything and my regeneration was working nonstop so thank you for that, in fact a lot of the maintenance a lot of other people have to do everyday like brushing your teeth I don''t have to do since I''m constantly regenerating and so I have more time in the day for other stuff. Oh and also I''ve never been sick or gotten any disease or anything, I''m constantly in perfect health and shape as some ladies can attest to." I finish telling him all of the abilities of my advanced healing factor which are all in actuality true, there were somethings I''m keeping to myself because they would be more hassle then they are worth and would only cause trouble. In actuality everything I''ve said is true and while others might see it as a f.u.c.k up to tell him about this I see it as a way to increase my worth in his eyes and lessen his suspicion as well as gain more freedom to act when I want to instead of staying my hand as I wouldn''t be afraid of showing some strength (definitely not all my strength though) and not only that but these things compound on top of my spider powers as well and enhance them to another level which means my strength and speed is enhanced nearly tenfold due to my advanced healing factor and not only that but so are my senses though that is definitely annoying when it comes to large sounds and bad smells I''ve actually gotten used to processing it with my enhanced processing capability (because my Brian is constantly in perfect health which has only made me smarter) and dealing with it straight away which must be some kind of side effect from the merge for some reason but it''s definitely annoying with large alarms and bad smells since they are ten times worse for me but unfortunately I haven''t had time to actually treat the limits of my new power as I was afraid I''ve been being watched since I first met with Batman so there''s not a lot I could do but these are somethings I''ve noticed and made logical conclusions about, I''ve tried to avoid the immortality (or maybe living for a very long time) aspect of my powers since that would just complicate stuff and I''ve also not mentioned how I can be used to help medical research in regards to critiques and diseases since while it may be good in the short term in the long term it''s a disaster and could possibly spell out the end of humanity so I''m gonna be avoiding that. "You forgot to mention the immortality, you also have that. Or is it just a longer lifespan then is feasible for other humans since you are still again just a lot slower than other people, you can even be killed so it''s a false/pseudo immortality." Batman speaks out and I kinda expected this since the guys so smart but I really hoped he would miss it, it seems I was hoping for the impossible. "Yeah, I did forget to mention that. I''d rather not think about it to be honest since questions of morality can often get you down especially with my ability, I''d rather focus on my intense regeneration which allows me to regrow everything for limbs to organs as well as the fact the with my advanced healing factor I can never get sick or diseased since I fight off all viruses and diseases easily." I speak out hoping to divert him from that topic since I am actually quite worried about it and I''d rather not think about it right now, I suddenly hearing some steps on the walkway behind me coming toward us and so I spin around to see who it was. "Wow, you have an advanced healing factor and can easily beat off viruses and diseases, do you know what this means? You can cut out your organs and give them to people who need them because you can just regenerate another one, you could end all diseases and virus related death on the planet because we could just infect you with them and your regeneration would fight it off and create antibodies which could be used to save millions or maybe even billions of lives. Nick, you could stop so much death with your abilities it''s amazing!" The over excited form of Barbara Gordon currently dressed as Batgirl with her cowl off is making her way towards us while also bringing up other topics I had wished to avoid, this is gonna be difficult to explain properly why I can''t just do what she thinks I can... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane, Arun and frank ivkovich. Thank you for the support. Chapter 142 - [BT] Legally Blind... [Before Transition] I begin to panic when I see the guy begin to press down on the trigger and I''m worrying if I''ve made a big mistake and I''m preparing to quickly dodge but even then I would''ve still left it too long and at best would come out with a shoulder wound but just when I''ve begun to doubt myself and move I notice some kind of red cylinder streak down from the darkness above the city and it impacts the gunman''s hand knocking the gun out of his hand and to the floor and while I ignore the thugs panic I trace the trajectory of the red cylinder back up to the top of a building and I see standing there the person I''ve been looking for this entire time, the ''Devil'' of Hell''s Kitchen though I only caught a glimpse of the red silhouette atop the building before I lost sight of it almost immediately caught up in my panic and excitement at getting one step closer to achieving my objective but once I realise I''ve lost him it''s not hard to find him again with my enhanced senses but I find myself surprised when I find him already dancing in the group of thugs across from since he moved with such speed and grace almost as if he was performing and he made every move with such precision and elegance that it almost looked scripted if not for the spurts of blood and the bowls of anguish he leaves in his wake as he moves through the crowd like a steamroller and no one can do anything to stop him so caught in their panic that they''ve all forgotten about the gun on the floor but even if they had remembered it wouldn''t have meany anything since the red figure was blitzing through them with a speed that was superhuman and made me question my own ability since my showing was lackl.u.s.tre in comparison to the skill and speed shown by the man in front of me. I watched on in utter amazement as the spectacle before me occurred and the man in red moved with a clinical professionalism as he utterly obliterated the men that had been hungry for my blood only a minute ago and he acted with a smoothness and calmness the befuddled me staying absolutely silent as he carried on with his work not even reacting to any of the queries thrown at him in the confusion by the men he was putting down so very quickly and I found myself marvelling at his skill, his finesse, his calm and his speed, before I had even knew what had happened (even though I watched him do it all with my own enhanced senses) he had laid out every man the ambushed me flat against the ground and out cold and I realised he had done it under a minute since I first saw him on top of the rooftop which made me feel like shit since it took me five times the amount of time it took him to lay out the other half of the guys that attacked me though I suppose it wouldn''t be fair to compare ourselves like that since he was a trained superhero who was using his powers and everything in his tool belt while I am a slightly trained (read that minimally trained) guy with spider powers which I didn''t even use in this battle so in the end I guess you can say I did what he did in five times the time but I was only using the ability of a regular human while he was using his powers so I think it''s fair to say that if I used my own powers properly than I could have done it just as fast as him and I''m not just coming up with excuses for why he was so much better than me even though he clearly was but that doesn''t really matter since I''m more of a Bill Nighy ''The Science Guy'' who rarely gets involved in fights while he''s a Mike Tyson who''s liable to bite someone''s ear off so I don''t really see the need to get too upset about the difference between the both of us since fighting has t really been my goal though I do suppose I could devote more time to learn more since this was quite the bad showing today because I still used my enhanced senses to aid me and still did worse than him while all his superpower is is basically enhanced senses as well though he''s definitely had more time and experience with using them. I''m knocked out of my daze when I see the man clad in red leaving the midst of all the thugs he has just knocked out to head in my direction and I feel some trepidation as the guy is after all a Lawyer on top of being a superhero and I take in ''The Man Without Fear''s appearance as he walks towards me which is made up of red gloves and boots which both went up his limbs stoping underneath the joint in his limbs, a darker red bodysuit which looked like a mix between spandex and leather somehow but it covered the rest of his body with armoured plates placed strategically through the suit though it was placed minimally and only on vital allowing for some protection while allowing the utmost agility and flexibility which fits the mans modus operandi, he had brown leather (or something that looks like leather) belt and holsters attached to both sides of his legs but instead of holding guns which are what most holsters are made for these ones have been specially made and fit in them the two billy clubs one of which he used earlier, the final feature I gazed upon was his mask which left his chin and nose uncovered while covering the rest of his head with red lenses covering the eyepieces as well as the two iconic small horns jutting out from opposite ends of his forehead which left no doubt as to who this man was and as if that wasn''t enough then the two D''s on his c.h.e.s.t that were overlapping one another in a diagonal manner made it clearly obvious just who the man walking towards me was. The man was none other than the Dardevil otherwise known as Matt Murdock whose story began with his father Jonathan "Battling Jack" Murdock who raised Matt alone and Jack wanted his son to be more successful than him so he impressed upon Matt the need to constantly study instead of playing sports with other kids hoping that Matt might become a doctor or a lawyer instead of being like himself which led to the neighborhood bully''s calling the "cowardly" Matt as "Daredevil" for some reason which I can''t remember (seems like a pretty weird nickname to call someone your bullying) but one day Matt saw a blind man walking towards an oncoming truck and so he pushed the man out of the way and when the truck crashed a radioactive chemical or something spilled out striking Matt across the face and blinding him but it also resulted in his hearing, smell, taste, and touch being amplified to superhuman degrees as well as developing a "radar sense" like echolocation that formed a mental picture of his surroundings so it didn''t really matter that he was blind now and I think he then received training from some ninja master or something and learned how to control his new abilities and honed his skills in acrobatics and martial arts, if I can recall his father Jack Murdock joined up with a crooked fight promoter/criminal who set up Jack to be a heavyweight contender in a boxing match just to have him take a dive but Jack refused and won his fight going against the criminal and after that Jack Murdock was shot dead by the criminal and his men which pushed the now orphaned Matt to search for his father''s killers using his new abilities and skills to find the gang and then punish them severely but when he chased down and confronted the promoter/criminal who suffered from a heart attack and died before Matt could do anything but I think when Matt confronted him he ended up knocking a women out of the window and thought he killed her and so he ran away in horror over what he had done. I''m pretty sure that is his origin story though I have no clue if that is the case in this universe though it''s something to go by which is better than nothing but I don''t actually know what happened after that but I think he went to Columbia or Harvard and got a law degree where he met Foggy Nelson his partner at his law firm and I think the assassin Elektra (I''m not ok sure about that) and I think he became Daredevil when he wanted to help one of the clients at the law firm he runs with Foggy Nelson and it ended up becoming a regular thing for him but apart from that I don''t know a lot him or his capabilities but right now I need his help with a certain problem of mine and I''d rather fob it off on this guy than deal with it myself though I guess I am kinda dealing with it myself since this guy is my solution, hopefully this meeting will go well and I''ll be able to achieve my objectives without disadvantaged myself or getting losses which should be easy enough. He has reached me by this point and he looks me up and down before crossing his arms and directing a frown towards me, he stays silent for a moment before he decides to open his mouth and question me. "Huh, so you''re him are you? The new vigilante that''s been running around, the vigilante that caught that serial killer Cletus Kasady..." ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane, Arun and frank ivkovich. Thank you for the support. Chapter 143 - [NAC] Slowing Down… [Not A Chapter] Alright guys, some news for ya. I got a job about a month ago and I''ve been working pretty much every day but I''ve tried to be consistent none the less and I feel like I''ve pretty much done that keeping the same rate of chapters going out. Unfortunately I''ve tried my best in this past month and I have other things happening as well and I don''t have as much time as I used to to write (not that I had much time in the first place), I am really burning myself out at both ends of the stick and I need to just slow down and take a moment. This doesn''t mean I''m gonna stop uploading chapters here though, it just means that I am going to change up my schedule a bit to make things a bit easier on myself. Previously my schedule was like this: AT Chapter - BT chapter - no chapter - no chapter - no chapter - AT chapter etc. But now my schedule is gonna be like this: AT Chapter - BT chapter - no chapter - no chapter - no chapter - no chapter - AT chapter etc. (I hope you understood that, each one was what happens on that day) Whereas it used to be a three days pause between uploads it will now be a four days pause between uploads and you will still be getting around two to three chapters a week, this is to make things easier on myself and keep some rate of chapters going out to you guys. I hope you can understand, please keep supporting me my faithful readers. Thank you. Chapter 144 - [AT] Half a Brain... [After Transition] "You forgot to mention the immortality, you also have that. Or is it just a longer lifespan then is feasible for other humans since you are still ageing just a lot slower than other people, you can even be killed so it''s a false/pseudo immortality." Batman speaks out and I kinda expected this since the guys so smart but I really hoped he would miss it, it seems I was hoping for the impossible. "Yeah, I did forget to mention that. I''d rather not think about it to be honest since questions of morality can often get you down especially with my ability, I''d rather focus on my intense regeneration which allows me to regrow everything for limbs to organs as well as the fact that with my advanced healing factor I can never get sick or diseased since I fight off all viruses and diseases easily." I speak out hoping to divert him from that topic since I am actually quite worried about it and I''d rather not think about it right now, I suddenly hearing some steps on the walkway behind me coming toward us and so I spin around to see who it was. "Wow, you have an advanced healing factor and can easily beat off viruses and diseases, do you know what this means? You can cut out your organs and give them to people who need them because you can just regenerate another one, you could end all diseases and virus related death on the planet because we could just infect you with them and your regeneration would fight it off and create antibodies which could be used to save millions or maybe even billions of lives. Nick, you could stop so much death with your abilities it''s amazing!" The over excited form of Barbara Gordon currently dressed as Batgirl with her cowl off is making her way towards us while also bringing up other topics I had wished to avoid, this is gonna be difficult to explain properly why I can''t just do what she thinks I can and I don''t think she''ll like it but unfortunately it''s true plus I really don''t want to do any of those things as it''s too much responsibility and will most likely get me hunted down by people who want to take advantage of my abilities with or without my approval. ?? I sigh at Barbara''s words and run my hand through my hair because of what she''s just suggested and I can already tell that this is going to be a point of debate with her and so I look over to Batman to see if he can help me with this because a guy as clever as him should have already figured out why I can''t just do what Barbara says I can and I can tell that he has figured it out already because otherwise he would be pressing me on it instead of staying silent and in reply to my plea for help dealing with Barbara he just stays stoic while staring back at me as if it''s not his problem which it''s not but I would at least appreciate a bit of help, Batman is clever enough to figure why I don''t want to give my organs to every Tom, D.i.c.k or Harry or help make antibodies for all diseases and viruses in the world but that''s not to say Barbara isn''t clever enough because she is but she''s got a lot more hope and optimism than Batman so she doesn''t see the obvious reason why it would be a bad idea for me to start lending my body out to help the world no matter how nice that might sound. "Barbara, I can''t do that. First of all I''d rather not have to keep getting cut open plus I''d rather not deal with the hassle from people running me down to get an organ for themselves rather than wait on a donor list and secondly, I don''t know what to actually list next because there are just so many reasons why I can''t do something like that and so many ways for it to go wrong." I speak out hoping that she''ll listen to reason but it seems she doesn''t seem to find my reasons all that good and I can understand why since now that I hear it it does sound selfish in my ears so I wish that I listed my other reasons but it''s too late now as Barbara has already got a smouldering look on her face at my excuse and not the s.e.xy kind either (though it is kinda s.e.xy), she looks ready to go to war with me over this and I can understand why because it could potentially help people the world over but she''s still not seeing the risks and downsides to it and it seems she''s not gonna unless I explain it out of her since she''s too hopeful and optimistic to see just how dangerous what she''s suggesting actually is. "What do you, what the hell Nick! Why don''t you want to do this, I mean I can understand why you don''t want to get cut open but you''ve been through worse already so this should be a walk in the park plus you''d be put under anaesthesia while they remove your organs so you''d be fine. But even so you could still use your gifts to help people by allowing scientists to discover the antibodies to various diseases or viruses by infecting you with them which you''ll regenerate from and help the entirety of humanity, how can you be so selfish Nick?" My face twitches at her heated words and I find myself a little nay a lot irritated at her words since she doesn''t know jack about the situation and she''s judging me when she doesn''t even have all the facts and I can take being hit by others, talked shit at or ridiculed but I can''t take someone I thought of as at least a friend doubting my actions and motivations because fair enough if my intentions were purely selfish or something but in this situation my reasons are only a tiny amount selfish because I could make a lot of money curing all the diseases of the world and giving people organ transplants, becoming the ric.h.e.s.t person on earth wouldn''t be too hard and I could probably swing getting Batman to look out for and protect me in some way since I''d be helping the entire world even if it was for a price but I can''t take the fact that she would question and doubt me when just two weeks ago I stayed behind to burn to death in a collapsing factory while I pushed her to escape even if I knew I would survive being burnt alive it isn''t exactly a nice thing. "First of all my regeneration is so fast that any anaesthesia used on me would wear off near instantly so I''d be in a tremendous amount of pain while they cut me open and robbed me of my kidneys and yeah I suppose that that might be a worthy trade but nearly everyone in the world is born with two kidneys when most of them only need one so it shouldn''t be too hard for those who have two kidneys and only need one to give up the spare for someone that needs it desperately but I don''t see many people doing that for other people unless they are close to them so why should I do that especially when I would end up strapped to a gurney all day having my organs ripped out for people who wouldn''t give two shits about me as long as they got their liver, and that''s if it was even possible because from where I''m sitting it''s definitely not and you must''ve not looked at all of the facts since it should be pretty clear to anyone with half a brain why it would be a bad I dead to give organs out willy nilly as well as curing all diseases and virus using my own antibodies." I take a breath and a moment here to think about what I am about to say as I should put it as clear as possible to stop the foolish though in her mind and open her eyes to reality, it seems Barbara has gotten more angry and pretty incensed at my half a brain comment and she''s about to let loose a tirade and probably shout my ear off (though I''ll regrow it, ha Brook joke kinda) but before she can do that I''ve already sorted out what I wanted to say in my mind and so I get to it before she can get a word in edge wise and put me of track. "First of all since you weren''t here when I told Batman how I thought my ability works I''ll let that slide since my theory is that all of my cells are quantum entangled which means that when any of my cells realise where the true body is then any cells not attached to the body stop regenerating making it just my ordinary DNA without the regeneration included but I don''t know that for a fact and so if I give my organs out who knows what''ll happen to the recipient aside form some kind of mutation plus if one day I''m somehow fully vaporised I might just start to regenerate out of that organ I gave to a random person and grow out of them killing them in the process or somehow becoming Siamese twins with them which I doubt they''d want so it''s best to stay away from that, what I can''t let slide however is your thoughts about me using my antibodies to help stop disease and viruses all over the world since you should be smart enough to realise why that a bad idea but since you clearly need me to spell it out for you I''ll do it. In the short term the plan to infect me with diseases and viruses and come away with cured and antibodies to form vaccines is great and all but that only in the short term because in the long term it get worse and worse since instead of people researching it every time a disease or virus comes they instead just infect me with it and cure it that way but diseases and viruses mutate over time and so I''ll constantly be getting infected with worse and worse viruses that are trying to mutate to overcome me and one day they''ll actually succeed and kill me regardless of my regeneration and if that my fate then I doubt anyone else can survive which would mean the end of humanity from a virus that mutated just to kill me and ends up killing everyone, and I bet you''ll say that we don''t have to go that far and we can only cure the few serious viruses and diseases and then stop but that won''t matter as people will be dying from this stuff everyday and instead of waiting for the real search to be done they''ll want to get the cure via me and the government will do it too since they don''t want to waste money on research and they''d rather do this and crumble to the public opinion of sheep''s who only think in the short term so they take me regardless of whether I want to do it and they''d use me for all their problems before eventually humanity gets wiped out by a virus mutates to kill me and I don''t know about you but I don''t want to be the reason for humanity''s extinction, the path to hell is paved with good intentions and it''s a slippery slope." I finish and gasp for air since I rapidly spoke and worked myself up as it got very heated and I forgot to take a breath but that doesn''t matter as it''s seems I got the point across as while Batman doesn''t look too fussed since he already expected it but Barbara looks flabbergasted, speechless slightly ashamed and while I do think I was a bit too harsh on her I don''t regret it since I don''t like my intentions being called into action when I''m actually trying to do the right thing though I do fear that I''ve burnt any bridges I once had with Barbara... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane, Arun and frank ivkovich. Thank you for the support. Chapter 145 - [BT] It’s for a Friend... [Before Transition] I don''t know a lot about him or his capabilities but right now I need his help with a certain problem of mine and I''d rather fob it off on this guy than deal with it myself though I guess I am kinda dealing with it myself since this guy is my solution, hopefully this meeting will go well and I''ll be able to achieve my objectives without disadvantaging myself or getting losses which should be easy enough, by this point he has reached me by and then he directs his eyes at me and he looks me up and down before crossing his arms and directing a frown towards me, he stays silent for a moment before he decides to open his mouth and question me. "Huh, so you''re him are you? The new vigilante that''s been running around, the vigilante that caught that serial killer Cletus Kasady..." I''m already getting a reputation as a vigilante even though I''m not one because of the f.u.c.k.i.n.g media as well as that serial killer prick Cletus Kasady who I now wish I could have broken his jaw when I had the chance so that I wouldn''t have to be dealing with all this attention but sadly I can''t time travel (at least not yet) and if I could time travel then I wouldn''t waste it on an insignificant thing like this when I could use it in various ways to aid myself and change reality to aid me but that''s for future Nick to deal with if he even manages to create one, more importantly I changed my clothes after my minimal description made it''s way onto the news and I change the colour of my clothes since the clothes were already pretty indiscreet and half of New York could be wearing the same outfit so how does this guy know that I''m the vigilante that was in the news and that caught the serial killer unless he''s been watching me as I do those things which I heavily doubt but then again he must have seen that I took down around fifteen of the guys who were after me before he got here to ''save me'' plus the outfit I am wearing isn''t that different to what was reported by the news except for the different colour scheme so it possible that he came to the conclusion that I am the vigilante in fact it''s more then possible since this guy is a lawyer and he literally gets paid to pay attention to fine detail, catch people out and solve cases so it wouldn''t be a stretch that he came to the conclusion simply by the facts laid out before him. ?? "Uh, I''m not actually a vigilante or at least I didn''t set out with that goal in mind. I''m just a guy who''s taken a few martial art classes and I''ve been searching these streets at night for someone, the thugs and the serial killer actually attacked me and I just fought back and it was as simple as that, I''m not trying to be a superhero or something." I tell him the honest truth as I don''t have anything to hide except my spider powers which I only used minimally and he didn''t see that and so the truth should be best since a lawyer like this guy can always catch you out plus I''m pretty sure he''s able to tell whether I''m lying by my heartbeat so it''s best to tell they truth and remain a non threat than to lie and get caught out and become suspicious in his eyes which will cause more problems in the long run, I''m just gonna tell the truth about why I''m here and after that''s done I''m gonna go home and hopefully never meet this guy again and wash my hands of the whole situation mowing that I''ve done my absolute best. "Hmm, just a few huh? Well that doesn''t matter, who have you been looking for at night that it was worth facing a serial killer and fighting off this bunch of thugs. Must''ve been someone pretty important." I see his lips become tight and though I can''t see through his red mask and his red eye lenses I get the feeling he''s quirking an eyebrow at the fact that I said I''ve only taken a few martial art classes and yet I''ve taken out fifteen men in the span of around 5 minutes though they were just useless thugs but quantity would be hard to deal with for a novice which I actually am but I had my enhanced senses to help me fight them but I can''t exactly say that so I''m just gonna ignore his doubt at my answer and focus on what he last said. "I''m, actually I''ve already found who I''ve been looking for the past few days. I''ve been searching for you, because I need your help with something and I didn''t know who else could possibly help me with this or if I did I didn''t know how to get into contact with them and this seemed like the best and easiest option. Please help me Daredevil, it''s important." I tell him and as I finish my sentence I get the weird urge to bow which must be because I watched so much anime and manga in my last life and those Japanese tendencies sometimes affect me but thankfully I ignore the urge as I''m not gonna be bowing to anyone anytime soon and while it would be best if I got his help I wouldn''t really be too put out if he suit me down and I could go home knowing I''ve done my best to honour Mary Jane''s request, I''ve honestly gotten tired of coming out on these streets every night for the last few days and fighting off lots of muggers as it''s just so mundane to beat them after a while and I''ve gotta say I got a bit of a rush fighting the thirty men that came after me but just because I liked the thrill doesn''t mean I''m gonna do it again because I''m not one to easily risk my life no matter how small the risk and how big the cause unless it''s personal or means something to me but I don''t think I care that much about anything or anyone in this world to do something like that. "You''ve been looking for me, what for? I''ll help in anyway I can, it''s must be urgent if you''ve spent the last few nights looking for me and even fighting a serial killer off instead of going to the police so it must be something serious. Tell me the situation, and if it needs my intervention then I''ll intervene." He says losing the slight hit of casualness and humour he had to him and settling back into his stony facade and getting serious about my plea for help, honestly this is going a lot better than I would''ve though if since I thought it would take me a lot longer to find him or he''d doubt me and try to capture me but I guess this guy relies too much on his abilities or he doesn''t see a need to be more cautious of me since I''m a civilian plus my heartbeat hasn''t told him I''m lying since I''ve told the truth to him and while that might not be the entire truth it''s still true and so he has no need to doubt me and instead has a duty to help me with my issue. I''ve decided to take a drastic measure here but in the end I have to act like I have nothing to hide and so if I have nothing to hide then I don''t need to cover my face or withhold information so I''m going to reveal my identity to him and ask for help, this will make him less suspicious of me and give me less importance in his head since I''ve revealed my face and identity without any fuss and people who have powers or are up to something usually hide stuff so me being as open as possible will make him see me as a regular civilian and hopefully make him forget about me and not pay much attention to me after my business here is done and some people might say this is a stupid decision but from where I''m sitting this is the best possible play since he''s most likely already remembered my heartbeat and since he''s a superhero there''s a high possibility he might visit the Fantastic Four and recognise me there which would make them all wary and so this is the best play. "My name is Nicholas James and I currently work as an intern at the Baxter building, I''m not here because there''s been a crime or I need your help in your capability as a hero but I do have need of your abilities. Actually it''s not me that has need of your abilities but a friend of mine, I''m asking you to please train my friend and help him better himself." I reach up and pull my hood down to reveal my face to him and I casually drop the Fantastic Four''s name to gain some credibility in his eyes since they were the first superhero family and that has quite a lot of weight in peoples dudes and after that I get straight to the crux of the issue which is somehow to fob my Peter problem onto Daredevil and get him to train Peter so the kid doesn''t somehow get himself killed and ruin my plans as well as fulfilling my promise to Mary Jane, now I''ve just somehow gotta manoeuvre Daredevil into training Peter without Peter finding out that I directed Daredevil to train him and hopefully keep myself from getting too involved with him in his capacity as a hero. "Sorry kid, but I don''t have the time to train anyone as I''m pretty busy saving lives if you didn''t notice. If you''re just looking for training for your friend take him to a gym or a dojo so he can learn there, there''s quite a few around New York and quite a few of them aren''t terrible but I''m afraid I''m not gonna be babysitting some kid when I could be out there saving lives." Apparently having said what he needed to say Daredevil begins to turn to leave and I see him reach a hand for the billy club in his holster which he uses to traverse around the city but I can''t let him leave yet I can''t physically stop him and I don''t know how to get him to listen since he''s decided to leave after hearing my request, I bet he wouldn''t have even stayed to say no if I didn''t name drop the Fantastic Four and he''s pulled his billy club out of its holster and he''s about to thro it to leave the area when we do the only thing I can think of to get him to stay and hear me out and I''m in too much of a panic to question whether or not this is the right move but it''s my only move. "WAIT!! My friend that needs training, it''s Spider-Man..." ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane, Arun and frank ivkovich. Thank you for the support. Chapter 146 - [AT] Three Options... [After Transition] "First of all since you weren''t here when I told Batman how I thought my ability works I''ll let that slide since my theory is that all of my cells are quantum entangled which means that when any of my cells realise where the true body is then any cells not attached to the body stop regenerating making it just my ordinary DNA without the regeneration included but I don''t know that for a fact and so if I give my organs out who knows what''ll happen to the recipient aside form some kind of mutation plus if one day I''m somehow fully vaporised I might just start to regenerate out of that organ I gave to a random person and grow out of them killing them in the process or somehow becoming Siamese twins with them which I doubt they''d want so it''s best to stay away from that, what I can''t let slide however is your thoughts about me using my antibodies to help stop disease and viruses all over the world since you should be smart enough to realise why that a bad idea but since you clearly need me to spell it out for you I''ll do it. In the short term the plan to infect me with diseases and viruses and come away with cured and antibodies to form vaccines is great and all but that only in the short term because in the long term it get worse and worse since instead of people researching it every time a disease or virus comes they instead just infect me with it and cure it that way but diseases and viruses mutate over time and so I''ll constantly be getting infected with worse and worse viruses that are trying to mutate to overcome me and one day they''ll actually succeed and kill me regardless of my regeneration and if that my fate then I doubt anyone else can survive which would mean the end of humanity from a virus that mutated just to kill me and ends up killing everyone, and I bet you''ll say that we don''t have to go that far and we can only cure the few serious viruses and diseases and then stop but that won''t matter as people will be dying from this stuff everyday and instead of waiting for the real search to be done they''ll want to get the cure via me and the government will do it too since they don''t want to waste money on research and they''d rather do this and crumble to the public opinion of sheep''s who only think in the short term so they take me regardless of whether I want to do it and they''d use me for all their problems before eventually humanity gets wiped out by a virus mutates to kill me and I don''t know about you but I don''t want to be the reason for humanity''s extinction, the path to hell is paved with good intentions and it''s a slippery slope." ?? I finish and gasp for air since I rapidly spoke and worked myself up as it got very heated and I forgot to take a breath but that doesn''t matter as it''s seems I got the point across as while Batman doesn''t look too fussed since he already expected it but Barbara looks flabbergasted, speechless, slightly ashamed and while I do think I was a bit too harsh on her I don''t regret it since I don''t like my intentions being called into action when I''m actually trying to do the right thing though I do fear that I''ve burnt any bridges I once had with Barbara, I don''t regret speaking though because this girl is too optimistic and hopeful and while sometimes I envy her ability to feel such feelings so strongly I also get irritated when it blinds her to truth and reality plus I really don''t like thinking about the possibilities and consequences of my abilities existing since it''s scary and worries me a lot so it''s better to just ignore it as there''s nothing I can actually do about it but Barbara''s questions and apparently righteous anger at me not trying to use my abilities to help others made me explain it to her and brought these issues to the forefront of my mind and I don''t like to think about them and while I dealt with most of my issues before I left the Marvel universe these new abilities of mine have only brought me new and fresh issues that are equally if not more worrying. Instead of waiting for Barbara to get over her bewilderment and most likely apologise to me for her insinuations about my abilities I don''t hate as turn to Batman to phrase some of my own doubts about what''s happening and the future, he knows I have abilities and he knows I know all of the identities of the current Bat-family so where can we go from here and how will Batman be assured of my trustworthiness and that I won''t reveal their identities to let me go free and get on with my life. "Batman, where do we go from here? You know about my past and my abilities while I know about you and your comrades true identities, frankly I''m not seeing a way you could let me go with such crucial information and I''m also sure that a paranoid guy like you would want to keep tabs on me since I have abilities and powers which gives me the capability to be a threat to people even if I would never to do that but I don''t particularly want to be watched every day of my life since I like a bit of privacy. Can we work out some way to go forward, a way for you to trust me and let me live my life with the information I have and not keeping constant surveillance on me everyday, is that possible?" Batman takes a moment to think while interlocking his fingers together under his chin but while he does that Barbara who had just recovered from my talking down to her becomes shocked and speechless again at the fact that not only do I know her true identity but I also know Batman''s and Robin''s true identities which throws her for a loop so much so that she doesn''t get the time to apologise for her earlier infraction, Batman suddenly leans forward and gets up off of his chair (Bat-Chair?) before walking toward me and stopping before me and levelling me with a dead eyed start and pinning his eyes to mine for some kind of intimidation factor which is working very well and I''m sure that he''s not trying to be intimidating to me (at least I think so) but he''s Batman and this is how he acts so it''s natural for him to intimidate me without even thinking about it. "You have three options, you can only choose one. Option one, you go about your life while allowing us to surveil you for the indefinite future to make sure you don''t tell anyone our secrets or use your ability to cause harm, while this will be invasive as long as you''d don''t use your abilities in bad ways and don''t break the law we would see no need to get into contact with you and you can carry on with your life and even forget about us watching you. Your second option is a more drastic measure, I have a colleague who has a wide range of abilities and if you wanted to take this option they would be able to alter your mind and erase the knowledge of our identities from your mind and you would be able to go on with your life with our even being aware of us and while we would still monitor you because of your abilities it would be far less than it would be if you knew our use ties plus you wouldn''t even know you were being monitored and be completely unaware of it allowing you to go about business as usual, this is highly more invasive as we''d alter your memories but that would be it and we''d only do it with your permission." I wait for a moment for him to voice the third option but he doesn''t as he seems to want me to chooses between these two options before relenting to the final option which must be much more serious but it seems I''ll have to ask for the third option because I can''t choose either of these options, with both of these options they will be monitoring my actions and while the first one would be very heavy monitoring I would at least know about it but with the second option even if it was light monitoring I wouldn''t know I was being monitored and so I might take some actions that alert the Bat-family which is just as dangerous and both options would make it dangerous and hard for me to manoeuvre though this world since I wouldn''t be able to act as freely as I would want to and I wouldn''t be able to do anything I''d like to plus I''d rather not be watched by Batman all day which means I''ll have to go to the third option since it''s my only option left even if it does turn out to be bad it can''t be worse then the other options. "I guess I''ll have to go for the third option since I don''t want to be put under watch for the rest of my life wondering if you guys are still watching me while I''m in the bathroom on in the bedroom and I don''t particularly want anyone in my head or erasing any of my memories since those are a part of me so I guess I''ll have to choose option three even if I haven''t heard it yet since it''s gotta be better than these two options, I just want to have some freedom and the ability to have a personal life without someone watching me like my life''s a reality show." I speak my views hoping that the third option would be better and not something like ''now that you''ve heard it you have to do it'' kind of thing since I wouldn''t like to be forced into something before I even know what it is so I''ve asked for the third option and if it turns out I don''t like it I can always pick one of the other two options since while they might be inconvenient and restrictive I''m sure I could work out some way around it or some way to get them to reduce the surveillance, I just hope option three isn''t something like finding a way to remove my abilities or something since that''s make me less of a threat but I highly doubt that''s going to be an option since it''s way worse than a mind wipe since it''d be essentially killing me since I''d die much earlier without my healing factor than I would with it. "The third option, you might want to think seriously before you take this option as it''s not something to decide lightly. You have a spectacular power which grants you a range of abilities and if those abilities are honed properly you could be a force to be reckoned with and you could help a lot of people with your new range of skills and abilities, if you chose this option you would be staying with us here and I would be training you to the best of my ability and you would join us fighting crime in Gotham when I think your ready, you would be saving lives with your abilities and this way we wouldn''t have to constantly monitor you since you''d be close to us here and you''d stay with me and D.i.c.k at Wayne Manor. You would become one of us and help fight crime and save others, we''d still be keeping a watch on you but everything I''ve seen points to you being a good person with the capacity to help others and I want to hone that and you wouldn''t be under watch since as we work together and train with each other there wouldn''t be a need for surveillance as you be with us most of the time though we would still check in on you every once in a while but we wouldn''t be so ham fisted about it. If you choose this option you would become a crimefighter facing dangerous opponents nearly everyday and I can''t guarantee your safety ,you might face people like Killer Croc or the worst of the worst like the Joker, do you still want to choose this option?" Well f.u.c.k... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane, Arun, frank ivkovich and Alex. Thank you for the support. Chapter 147 - [BT] Mr Devil... [Before Transition] "Sorry kid, but I don''t have the time to train anyone as I''m pretty busy saving lives if you didn''t notice. If you''re just looking for training for your friend take him to a gym or a dojo so he can learn there, there''s quite a few around New York and quite a few of them aren''t terrible but I''m afraid I''m not gonna be babysitting some kid when I could be out there saving lives." Apparently having said what he needed to say Daredevil begins to turn to leave and I see him reach a hand for the billy club in his holster which he uses to traverse around the city but I can''t let him leave yet I can''t physically stop him and I don''t know how to get him to listen since he''s decided to leave after hearing my request, I bet he wouldn''t have even stayed to say no if I didn''t name drop the Fantastic Four and he''s pulled his billy club out of its holster and he''s about to throw it to leave the area when I do the only thing I can think of to get him to stay and hear me out and I''m in too much of a panic to question whether or not this is the right move but it''s my only move. "WAIT!! My friend that needs training, it''s Spider-Man..." Daredevil stops dead in his tracks before putting his billy club back into its holster and turning around to take another look at me for a moment before he decides to come back having probably listened to my heartbeat and determined that I''m telling the truth which convinced him to come back and hear me out as training an ordinary friend of mine would''ve been troublesome but training my friend that is SpiderMan should''ve peaked his interest enough for him to at least hear me out and give it some thought and that''s all I need as I already having a bunch of guilt inducing drivel ready to spew at him that would make him hate himself if he didn''t agree to my request (don''t you just love guilt tripping), Daredevil has walked back over to me and after giving me another once over to make sure nothings wrong probably this time paying extra attention since I''ve mentioned a fellow superhero and after that he reigns to speak. ?? "As far as I can see Spider-Man is doing alright at this business actually doing far better than most, why would he need my training? And more importantly why couldn''t he ask me for training himself? Why are you asking me for him?" Daredevil questions confused as to why me an ordinary citizen would be braving the streets of Hell''s Kitchen looking for Daredevil to ask him to train Spider-Man when Spider-Man could''ve done it himself instead of endangering an ordinary civilian by sending him to arguably the worst part of the city at night to look for a superhero who''s always in some kind of danger, I take a moment to think about how to answer this since I have to convince Daredevil to train Peter without revealing Peter''s identity and making sure that Daredevil won''t tell Peter that I''m the one who convinced Daredevil to train him and after a moment I''ve gotten my story straight and so I start to narrate it hoping this''ll work. "I went to high school with the guy and I graduated and went off to study at Empire State University and start my internship with the Fantastic Four so me and the guy don''t hang out much anymore but I''m still his friend and he''s decided to go out at night dressed as a spider and beating up thugs and even some supervillains, he''s my age which means he''s a teenager and before he got his powers he was a nerd who never had a fight in his life and so he''s got no experience with fighting and more often than not when I see him he''s always got at least a few injuries which he tries to hide. I''m afraid he going to get himself killed while doing this but I know he won''t stop because of something personal happening to one of his family members and so he''ll keep going whether I try to stop him or not but at least I can try and make him a better superhero which is why I''ve come to you, please train my friend and make him a skilled superhero so I don''t have to worry about him dying every time I see him swing out over New York, please." God anime and manga really have affected me and I had no idea how much but right now I feel like sliding into a dogeza while screaming "Tanomu!" because that''s just how these scenes go in the anime and manga I''ve watched but I''m not gonna bow to this guy because at the end of the day this doesn''t really affect me all that much since I''m only doing this because Mary Jane asked me to help Peter and whether Peter is trained by Daredevil or not he''ll still be the Spider-Man everyone grew up to who always gets up no matter what and carries on no matter the odds or what he''s against and even if this is a different universe with a different Peter Parker he still carries the same name and that name means something so I''m not that worried about his survival since I''m sure he''s gonna do just fine without my interference but if I can make him stronger he''ll deal with more problems so I''ll have less hassle and maybe this Peter will be able to kill an Inheritor by himself which would be awesome since he''s my first line of defence if odd guys come here before I manage to leave this universe and I''m sure they''ll try and come for me first since I''m the more powerful totem so the more powerful and skilled I can make Peter the more time and defence I''ll have against the inheritors if they ever come here, honestly while this might be entirely selfish and be because of my self interest it will still benefit Peter in the long run since he''ll be able to handle his villains much more easier and avoid less heartache in the long run and if I''m lucky Daredevil might be able to convince Peter of the necessity of killing and actually make something of the Boy Scout and maybe he''ll actually be able to survive the Inheritors which are one of the major reasons that I''ve sped up my research since those guys are crazy strong and immortal spider hunting vampires and they kill nearly all of the spider totems in the multiverse before they are stopped and I''m now a spider totem and arguably one of the most juicy ones since I swallowed the spider instead of just getting hit so getting Peter trained can only benefit me in the long run as he will be my first line of defence if the Inheritors ever come to this universe. "Tell me the kid''s, Spider-Man''s name. I''ll find him and if he meets my requirements I''ll think about training him, if he doesn''t reach the benchmark then I''m gonna try and stop him from continuing this path if he wouldn''t be able to handle it." He wants Spider-Man''s secret identity but I can''t tell him that as that''s how he will inevitably find Peter which Peter will question which would point him in my direction and create more trouble for me since I don''t really want to be too involved with Peter because of all his villains plus the Green Goblin and he is basically a more intelligent and rich Joker from DC except with less insanity and less chaos though he''s just as violent and some times even more insipid and cruel with his plans than the Joker is because Norman Osborn really wants to hurt others while the Joker is trying to debunk Batman''s whole goal and make him question himself and make him become more like the Joker as he sees the world as a big joke so what''s the point in anything, Osborn has no such ideology or anything behind him as he''s got just as much cruelty and insanity inside him but the driving force behind him is his power hungry ways and his mad grab to become better than Spider-Man''s and everyone else which is much scarier as he is focused and driven so I don''t want to get too close to Peter and end up becoming one of Peter''s weaknesses in the eyes of his enemies. "I can''t tell you his identity because that would be a breach of trust plus he doesn''t even know that I know he''s Spider-Man and to be honest I''d rather he didn''t because I don''t want to become more involved with the superhero community than I already am and right now I''m fine with occasionally having to hide under a desk whenever the Baxter building is attacked (which hasn''t happened yet but I''m expecting it) plus it''s make our friendship weird and I''d rather keep things as they are right now, so I''m not gonna tell you his identity but you do know my identity and I only really hung out with one dude when I was at my high school so it wouldn''t be too hard to find out Spider-Man''s identity if you really wanted to. I''m asking you to please train him and not to mention me or my name since we don''t really hang out anymore though I still worry about him sometimes, he usually hangs out around queens or Manhattan and he stays away from New Jersey as much as possible so it shouldn''t be too hard to find him without knowing his identity unless you really want to know it but I found out from Johnny that you capes usually respect each other''s secret identities." I tell him and hopefully he won''t mention me to Peter or actually show up in Peter''s room or some shit but if he does I hope he won''t mention me and I''m sure he can come up with a good excuse for why he wants to train him by himself as he''s cleaver being a lawyer and all, having said everything I pretty much want to I wait for Daredevil to respond in some sort of fashion. "I''ll check the kid out if that''s it, if I think he needs training and he isn''t gonna stop being a superhero then I''ll give him some training but he''s not gonna be my number one priority. Why don''t you wa-" I''ve gotten my answer and that''s all that I needed plus I feel like if I stayed any longer he''s gonna start asking questions I don''t really want to answer so once he''s finished his current sentence I quickly turn and run away while waving at him, he''ll let me go since I''m a citizen who hasn''t done anything wrong and I hope since I left him with a final sentence he''ll feel responsible to train Peter. "Thanks for agreeing to my request Mr Devil, don''t train him too hard as I wouldn''t want him to die before he''s even out fighting villains. I need to go but thank you for agreeing to train him, bye!" I run off while leaving those words and some how I can feel Daredevils bewilderment at having had this stuff dropped at his feet, well not my problem anymore... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane, Arun, frank ivkovich and Alex. Thank you for the support. Chapter 148 - [AT] Exposed... [After Transition] "The third option, you might want to think seriously before you take this option as it''s not something to decide lightly. You have a spectacular power which grants you a range of abilities and if those abilities are honed properly you could be a force to be reckoned with and you could help a lot of people with your new range of skills and abilities, if you chose this option you would be staying with us here and I would be training you to the best of my ability and you would join us fighting crime in Gotham when I think your ready, you would be saving lives with your abilities and this way we wouldn''t have to constantly monitor you since you''d be close to us here and you''d stay with me and D_i_c_k at Wayne Manor. You would become one of us and help fight crime and save others, we''d still be keeping a watch on you but everything I''ve seen points to you being a good person with the capacity to help others and I want to hone that and you wouldn''t be under watch since as we work together and train with each other there wouldn''t be a need for surveillance as you be with us most of the time though we would still check in on you every once in a while but we wouldn''t be so ham fisted about it. If you choose this option you would become a crimefighter facing dangerous opponents nearly everyday and I can''t guarantee your safety ,you might face people like Killer Croc or the worst of the worst like the Joker, do you still want to choose this option?" Batman finishes having given me an offer I can''t refuse not because I don''t want to because it is literally the only other option I have left that doesn''t put me under heavy surveillance or mess with my mind but even so it''s gonna be pretty stressful having to constantly be around the paranoid members of the Bat-family having to constantly watch what I''m saying but I honestly don''t see any other option since this is the only option that doesn''t mess with my mind or place heavy surveillance on me, though that last one is only because it wouldn''t be needed since I''d already be in such close proximity to the Bat-family that the surveillance would be useless but it does mean that I''ll have a bit more freedom since they won''t be able to keep their eyes on me all the time so I should be able to find time to do my own things. ?? Maybe it''s betters to look at the bright side and see the silver lining which is the fact that I''m going to be trained by the motherf_u_c_k_i_n_g Batman who is arguably one of the best martial artists and strategists in the DC universe as well as the fact that he''s gone toe to toe with literal gods with only his capability as a human and his intense intelligence and if he''s going to train me then surely some of that stuff will rub off on me plus I remember the Spectre telling me that while my soul will never be white it could still be washed out by performing good deeds so maybe this could actually be a good thing to be one of Batman''s little sidekicks for a while and do a little soul cleansing before gaining the Bat-families trust and leaving effectively ending my superhero career but this is as good a plan as I can think of and it wouldn''t take more than a year to gain their trust so I''ll be a superhero for around a year before giving it up and going to do whatever my heart d_e_s_i_r_es, honestly that encounter with the Spectre just reminded me of the fact that there are a lot of higher beings out there like gods and not only that but the fact that would exist and souls must go somewhere after their mortal vessels die right so I wouldn''t it be right to assume that there is at least one afterlife in the DC Universe (not too sure about afterlife''s in the Marvel Universe apart from the Asgard Ian ones like Valhalla but I at least know that there are a few different hells in that universe) like Heaven which I''m pretty sure I remember existing in the DC universe and if Heaven exists then surely so must Hell and I definitely remember what little I can still recall about John Constantine and his deals with demons so if someone has a soul as dark as mine then surely it wouldn''t be too hard to guess where the soul would go after it''s mortal vessel dies. I know the fact that I''m technically immortal because of my new healing factor should waylay some of my fears about death and the afterlife but even I will still die someday as my regeneration just prolongs my life and doesn''t actually make me immortal and even if I do someday finds a way to become fully immortal it wouldn''t mean anything since anything and everything that has a beginning must have an end and death comes for all no matter how long it takes and while it might take a long time in my case I don''t want the place I end up in after my death to be surround by boiling lava and scorching fires with little imps and demons running around the place following the orders of the devils in charge which is actually the place it looks like my soul will be going after I one day eventually die and I don''t want that to be true so the least I can do from now on to make sure I at least avoid any hells is to stop being such a bad person and live my life like a normal guy so while I may be a superhero for around a year that doesn''t matter since I''ll be alive for such a long time I can just help out at the homeless shelter every month for the rest of my very long life or give a little help to some people who need it that doesn''t really cost me anything and when the day comes that I die my soul should be closer to white than to black like my soul is at the moment, right now though according to the Spectre my soul is very close to becoming black and if I commit one sin the Spectre will be coming for my soul so maybe the best thing to do would actually be to learn and act as a superhero under Batman for around a year which should at least be enough to cleanse at least some of my soul so that if I do happen to die sometime soon (which is near impossible right now) then at least I can be assured my soul won''t be going to an everlasting hell of everlasting suffering since I would much prefer purgatory or limbo (if they exist) to that alternative. "I accept your offer, I''ll take option three. Don''t expect me to jump straight in and start battling Solomon Grundy or something though, because that way out of my pay grade." After taking quite a few moments to think it over I finally reply to Batman to which I see Barbara visibly light up at my answer making me think she isn''t too mad about the dressing down I gave her earlier though I do notice that she deflates after a few moments for some reason but I don''t pay it any attention as all my focus is on Batman since he is currently the biggest threat to my future, he sits there for a bit contemplating the answer I gave him before he finally deigns to speak in reference to my answer to which I give him my undivided attention. "Your going to have to undergo a lot of training before you face anyone on that level, an almost impossible amount of training. Are you sure you''ve thought this out? This could lead to some of the worst experiences of your life and you''ll be put through a lot of pain because of it, I''m not gonna be able to promise you you''ll come out on the other side alive but I will train you to the best of my ability." I''ve already thought out my decision and I feel like I''ve made a pretty good one as well since this option gives me more freedom, more training and the chance to avoid hell so of course I''m gonna take it, as for the last part of his sentence well I start to chuckle at it since it seems so absurd to me. "I''ve thought my decision out plenty and I feel this is the best option for me, as for the pain I''ll be put through because of it and possibly the most worst experience of my life. I''ve already been put through so much pain because of the worst experiences of my life so far like being fed into a meat grinder and being burnt alive before being pinned down for two weeks underneath the demolishes smouldering remains of a factory, I think I''ll be able to handle any pain or experiences that come my way in the future since I can''t see how they could possibly measure up to what I''ve already been through." Batman narrows his eyes and I get the feeling he''s about to admonish me for underestimating the life I''ve chosen to have and the things coming my way but he doesn''t get the chance, before Batman can give me a lecture we hear some footsteps one again coming up along the walkway that Barbara just came from and we hear a voice bounce out from that direction as well. "Hey Batman, Batgirl, what''s up with he new dude standing so casually in our super secret super hidden Bat-cave, seems pretty unusual to have some guy invited in so whose this guy? Also why is your cowl off Batgirl? You do know your showing this super random dude who has somehow infiltrated the Bat-cave your face, right?" His words leave no question as to whose coming this way and I turn to greet him when I''m struck speechless by what I see, there he is in all his glory wearing a green child sized baby grow that leaves half of his arms uncovered apart from the bright green gloves and all of his legs uncovered apart from his feet which are covered in bright green ''pixie'' boots which are just disgusting and over that he just has a red vest with three ties keeping it closer, a black belt tying it for some reason because I don''t think it''s a utility belt since I can spot any pouches and over all that is a bright yellow cape that wraps around his shoulders and connects underneath his chin but for some reason attached on top is a yellow shirt collar which is part of the cape and looks very f_u_c_kin weird, I''m honestly at a loss for words at the fact that he actually goes out in that and the only thing that actually makes it passable is the fact the he is a prepubescent kid but if he was like the D_i_c_k Grayson in the comics who was wearing the same thing closing in on his twenties then I would lose all respect for the guy and I would ego it''ll kill myself in his place wearing such a ridiculous costume. "Robin, meet Nicholas James. The reason Barbara is not wearing her cowl is because this man already knows all of our secret identities, not only that but he will be working together with us in the future taking on a field position as soon as he''s ready to join us, he''s our new teammate." Robin is silent processing Batman''s words as he looks directly at me in confusion and wanting to start a good working relationship with the kid for the duration of my time here I go to greet him, unfortunately before I can even get a word out he starts to shout and what he spouts actually leaves me confused, befuddled and absolutely speechless. "BATMAN, YOU CAN''T LET THIS GUY WORK WITH US. HE''S A WEIRDO FREAK WHO WATCHES P_O_R_N IN THE MIDDLE OF THE LIBRARY, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE GODDAMN AFTERNOON!" The f_u_c_k... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane, Arun, frank ivkovich and Alex. Thank you for the support. Chapter 149 - [BT] Dreadful Worries... [Before Transition] After I ran away from Daredevil (effectively leaving any problems including Peter Parker or Spider-Man at his feet) I''ve been carrying on as normal or well as normal as can be when you''re working as an intern under the first family of the Marvel Universe AKA the Fantastic Four since they''re always bringing their superhero business to the office and while I have seen some superhero it business in action usually catching the tail end thankfully I''ve not been getting to involved usually just watching the tail end of the incidents and while there have been a few incidents while I was at work such as a portal or something randomly opening and swallowing up the Fantastic Four I''ve managed to avoid any interference by grabbing onto anything I can while the portal sucks the rest of them in and secretly using my wall crawling abilities to attach my fingers to the object so that while the rest of them got pulled to god knows where I managed to stay at the Baxter building and using my suddenly free time to use the resources of the Fantastic Four to my while and diving into their databases for whatever tickles my fancy without worry of being caught until they pop back up at which point I feign my worry for them stating that as the reason I stayed at the Baxter building till they came back (sometimes days) when I really had no reason to worry about them since they are the Fantastic Four and their safety was all but assured, it''s been three months since I talked to daredevil about helping Peter and everything has been just fine for me attending Empire State University on Mondays and Tuesdays, intending at the Baxter Building for the rest of the week, having random one night stands whenever me and Johnny went out for a night on the town including the rare few occasions during the last three months when Gwen appeared and enticed me but apart from that I''ve been focusing on my research with whatever free time I can get and I''m getting closer and closer to a breakthrough but sadly I''ve been getting less time to focus on my research as after I told Mary Jane that I enlisted Daredevil''s help in order to aid Peter she got really happy and as of late we''ve been hanging out a lot aside from my tutoring her and while we haven''t crossed any sort of lines yet we''ve been getting close to it though I always stop before anything can happen. ?? Life''s been pretty great for me lately and it''s been even better by the fact that nothing has happened in the last three months to upset my life and it''s been awesome since I''ve not had to be stressed at all just focusing on my life and not worrying about anything else not even Peter Parker better known as Spider-Man has been bugging me after I dropped all of my problems off with Daredevil and forgetting all about him and I don''t even know if Daredevil has actually done anything or even been training Spider-Man but that''s not my problem anymore and I don''t think I''ll find out anytime soon since I usually just hear about Spider-Man''s activity on the news or in the newspaper but it''s never live and there''s not much footage shown on TV since they usually focus on the bigger guys like Iron Man so I can''t actually tell if he''s improved or anything and while I can probably search for new videos of him on YouTube I''m not gonna waste my time with that plus if I do see a video of him and he''s not improved then I''m gonna wonder why he hasn''t gotten better and if Daredevil isn''t training him for some reason and if that''s the case I''m gonna be obliged to step in and find out why so it''s better if I just ignore it so that I can get on with my research with the least amount of distraction as possible, as such for the last three months life has been as normal as possible as it could be for me and it''s currently a Tuesday which means I''m currently attending a class at Empire State University and the class is Biochemistry which is taught by Dr Curt Conners who I know to be quite pervasive in the Marvel Universe considering the fact that he eventually changes into a giant a_s_s bipedal lizard that stalks the streets and sewers of New York and tries to turn the rest of New York into lizards as well but thankfully at this moment in time he''s just mild mannered Dr Curt Conners who only has one arm and isn''t green and scaly which I''m thankful for since this is one of the only lessons I attended that I actually feel like I can learn something at because the man is a genius in his field but it''s a shame the man will become a Giant Lizard in the future without the use of his brilliant mind but thems the breaks. I''m actually paying attention to the mans lectures since he can actually teach me something that I don''t already know unlike the rest of these staff members who are just here for a pay check and aren''t actually passionate about their subjects so it''s a unfortunate that in a few short years this mans mind is going to devolve into a lizard brain so I''m glad I''ll be able to suck whatever knowledge I can from him before he''s no longer in a state to tell anyone anything, he''s in the middle of his lecture when suddenly the bell rings out signifying the end of the lecture which takes both me and professor Curt Conners by surprise and he chuckles while scratching the back of his head in response to it. "I guess I lost track of time, well that''s what happens when you get caught up in the wonder of science. Alright before you go remember to read up on the next twenty pages of your text book in preparation for our next class, if you don''t then you''re going to be lost so make sure that you do. That''s it, you can all go." He says but everyone has already left their seats and are heading to the exit without heading the professors words but that''s their loss since they are most likely gonna turn up to the next lecture and not have any clue what''s he''s talking about unlike the other professors who literally teach out of the textbook Doc Conners asks us to read ahead in the textbooks and then in the lecture he talks about things that require that knowledge which further imprints it on out minds which is why I actually pay attention in his classes and I''ve already read all of my textbooks and memorised them so I don''t really have any ''homework'' to do so I do enjoy these lectures, I move towards the exit to leave the lecture hall but all these students are like animals trying to shoot through the door as fast as possible crowding around the door so instead of joining the wild herd I instead laid back and waited for the crowds to thin out so I could walk out calmly instead of joining the wild frenzy and getting some weird looks at the fact that I was literally immovable while the rest couldn''t get past me so it''s best that I hang back while they all get through but this isn''t normally a problem since I''m usually the first one out the door so I can get home and start researching as soon as possible it this time I took a closer seat because the lecture was interesting which means I''m gonna get out later than usual. When the crowd finally thins out with most of them out the room I can finally leave and so I head out the door and make my way in the direction of the nearest exit which is coincidently very close to my lecture hall and I''m usually out very quickly because of it but this time because I had to wait other people throughout the building have left their classes and are also headed for this exit so whereas usually I would be out with minimal trouble this time I''m impeded by a heavy amount of traffic because of the student populous many of which I''ve never seen very much of because I''m usually out of here as soon as possible and so I find it takes a long time for all of us to start funnelling towards the exit and I''m following the crowd quite calmly when suddenly I stop and create a barrier for all of the other students behind me but I don''t far since across the hall past the exit I can see Gwen in a less crowded area which is fine since I see her sometimes but what really catches my attention is that a guy has his hand in her shoulder while talking to her and it''s making me feel a sense of dread, I trail the palm on Gwen''s shoulder back up to its owner and my sense of dread worsens even further as I see an older man dressed in a brown suit with a white shirt and red tie but his distinguishing features are his grey hair, his thick glasses and his bushy white moustache moustache along with his kindly smile as he talks to Gwen but I can spot something in his eyes as he looks at her that unsettles me and so without caring about any consequences I fully out my left hand to the side to grab a male student by the shoulder who was passing by me and dragged him towards me and though he struggles and tries to shout at me I use my superior strength to clench down on his shoulder to the point of pain which gets him to calm down so I can ask my own question. "You see that guy across the hall in the brown suit with the white hair, what''s his name? Is he a professor?" I ask with a calmness that''s unbefitting for the wariness I feel inside and it shocks me that I''m this calm when I have a whole bunch of suspicions running through my mind, the student I grabbed clearly realising that he can''t escape my grip decides to just answer my question in the hopes that I''ll let him go. "Dude, that''s Doctor Miles Warren. He''s a professor that teaches here, he''s one of the professors that teach biochemistry and apparently he''s some sort of genius or something." Having my suspicions confirmed without thinking I let go of the students shoulder in shock and filled with dread and as I trail my eyes back from his face to the hand he has on Gwen I can no longer see it as his hand holding onto Gwen''s shoulder but I instead see it as his hand c_a_r_e_s_sing Gwen''s shoulder and that invokes in me an indescribable rage that I didn''t know I was capable of, right now Gwen is in close proximity to the man known as the Jackal thanks to my meta-knowledge and thanks to that knowledge I also know that this man has a sick obsession with Gwen Stacy in the 616 universe and while I''m sure that this isn''t that universe I can''t help the dread and worry that fills me as I watch him stand next to Gwen and the fact that there''s a single universe out there in which he targets Gwen Stacy is one universe too many and so I''ll have to do something about this man sooner rather than later and I''m gonna have to start investigating him to find out just how much he''s like the 616 version of Jackal and how much he''s progressed in his path. I stay absolutely still and watch the man like a hawk and I''m relieved when Gwen turns to leave and heads to the exit but even then I don''t take my eyes off of the older professor making sure to keep an eye on him as he moves through the hallway and talks to other students and faculty members even as I get abuse thrown at me for blocking up the hallway but I just ignore it and focus on the man for I don''t know how long before I watch him finally open a door in the corridor and go in before closing it behind him, I stare at the door for a few minutes more before I realise that the halls are absolutely silent with no one else around except me but all that does is give rise to the deep seated negative emotions I''m feeling right now only exacerbating the worry and dread I''m feeling at such a dangerous man being so close to Gwen, too close... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane, Arun, frank ivkovich, Alex and Kieta Aki. Thank you for the support. Chapter 150 - [AT] DaddyBat... [After Transition] "Robin, meet Nicholas James. The reason Barbara is not wearing her cowl is because this man already knows all of our secret identities, not only that but he will be working together with us in the future taking on a field position as soon as he''s ready to join us, he''s our new teammate." Robin is silent processing Batman''s words as he looks directly at me in confusion and wanting to start a good working relationship with the kid for the duration of my time here I go to greet him, unfortunately before I can even get a word out he starts to shout and what he spouts actually leaves me confused, befuddled and absolutely speechless. "BATMAN, YOU CAN''T LET THIS GUY WORK WITH US. HE''S A WEIRDO FREAK WHO WATCHES PORN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE LIBRARY, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE GODDAMN AFTERNOON!" What the absolute fu?k is going on with this kid that he can come out with a random accusation like that I mean it''s fu?k?n? sick that this is what the kid comes out with because of some weird jealousy and misguided sense of territory just to be the only male person by Batman''s side (must be some level of attraction or something going on their, with a name like Dick he''s sure living up to it) and I don''t even want to be on this team but I don''t like people making up shit about me, I mean I''ve never even watched p?rn outside of my own house or property and even then it''s only with meticulous preparation to make sure I was along and that was only before I lost my v?r??n?t? because afterwards I had no need for watching p?rnographic videos so I have no idea where he got the idea that I watch p?rn in public because I don''t but now that I think of it watching p?rn doesn''t mean masturbation and for some reason I''m getting some deja vu from this kid like I''ve seen him before but I can''t quite tell because of his mask, hold on a minute I think my brain giving me a flashback. [][Flashback][] I reach into my pocket and pull out the memory stick and insert it into the computer and then I go to the section that shows my memory stick and I click on it and a pop up immediately comes up asking if I want to open it but this immediately sends of alarm bells in my head as there is nothing asking for a password and I''m pretty sure my memory stick asks for a password, so this is definitely not my memory stick but that brings up the question of what is actually going on and where is my real memory stick. I decide to that the easiest way to get answers would be to open this memory stick and just rip the band aid off so I click open and a video file pops up, I quickly lower the volume so that it can can''t be heard by normal human ears(unfortunately I don''t have any earphones with me) but with my advanced senses I will be able to pick it up. I click play and the video immediately starts up and reveals Selina in all her glory sitting at her coffee desk looking into the camera with a sultry smirk. "Hey there slick, your probably a bit confused as to what is going on here and your probably quite angry right now but don''t worry cause I''ll explain it to you. You see my goggles are special and not only do they see in the dark but they also have thermal vision so that night where you followed me to my stash and I looked up at the ceiling and you were invisible, yeah I had my thermal vision turned on and could see you clinging to the top of the ceiling so I figured out that you took the real memory stick and replaced it with a fake. I can respect that, you couldn''t trust me a known thief so you decide to make sure that I fulfil my half of the deal whether I liked it or not and I can''t blame you for it. Actually you went above and beyond for me tonight so I decided to give you a special gift, I managed to find out where you put the real memory stick(I''m a world class thief so it wasn''t that hard to figure out) and I switched it with the fake one before going back to my condo which means that memory stick you picked up that I left underneath my p?nt??s is your original memory stick." My eye begins to twitch at the sheer annoyance she has instilled in me with her actions and I can''t help but let out a sigh of tiredness, if I left that memory stick at her apartment I would be kinda screwed and it would be a bit awkward to go back and get it after I sneaked out of there. " I kinda hope you''ll take the p?nt??s as well but I won''t know till you leave later, anyway since you helped me out and even saved my life I thought I''d give you this gift to remember our time together. See ya later slick, it''s been fun. Enjoy the video..." She finishes with a sly smirk and I can''t help but dread what is about to happen as I can guess what she is talking about, I quickly try to press X on the video file but I''m too late. "HARDER YOU BASTARD, HARDER!!!" I just press X before it manages to go any further but the damage has already been done, she gifted me a s?x tape of our time together and it has just embarrassed me in this very public place. The voice was low yes but trust me when I say that that was Selina screaming at the top of her voice and the library is dead silent right now, so the boy sitting across from me definitely heard that and I can see the 13 year old slowly lift his head over the top of the computer and stare at me with wide bewildered eyes, eyes that hold shock but I can also detect a hint of regret that he didn''t get to hear more. "Pop ups, adverts and clickbait is so bad nowadays that you can never know where clicking on a link will take you when you are trying to do some serious work.. Such a shame that we live in such a shameless society... What''s up kid, do you perhaps want the link?" Trying to tease this kid into going back to doing his work is my only course of action. Sigh, what has your life become when your trying to dissuade a kid from asking questions about your s?x tape that you made with a voluptuous cat burglar but I quickly forget about that when the boy across from me is clearly dumbfounded and his face quickly heats up to a volcanic red. "W-what.." He sputters unable to say anything else, that''s right just keep him off his feet and eventually chase him off through overwhelming bullshit. "I said, do you want the link to it? I actually closed it as quick as I could but it should be in the history which I am about to delete, so speak now or forever hold your peace.." I catch him off guard and try to make him seem like a little pervert, that''s right I''m not the one in the wrong here, I just accidentally clicked on a pop-up while you ya little pervert are trying to find out the website link, to think children are so corrupt nowadays and they just keep getting younger and younger. The boy''s face quickly crumbles into a grimace and he quickly tries to correct the supposed mistake. "W-what? No, I DON''T want the link! Why would you even think that?" Now to hit him with some confusion and make him question himself, I''ll have him questioning his s?xu??ity in another ten minutes if he doesn''t give up after this (that came out wrong, I''ll make him think about his s?xu?? preferences by questioning why he doesn''t want the link, not by showing of my bodacious body and irresistible charm). "Dude, you don''t have to lie to me, there''s no one around and I could literally see you drooling. In fact (did you know?) you still have some drool on your face, right here." I point with my pointer finger (that''s what the finger is for,pointing) to my chin just under my mouth, he probably hasn''t had the time to fully process what I just said before he''s already wiping away at his mouth because when someone (most likely people older than you or authority figures) questions your hygiene or cleanliness in public more often than not your first response is to automatically try to correct what they just critiqued about your appearance. In this case the boy automatically wiped his mouth without checking if I was even telling the truth and probably even feels some wetness on his hand (psychologically that is, the mind is often the greatest wonder of all and that is something that Charles Xavier would probably say), he looks down at his hand for a moment before he looks back up and is about to try to continue the conversation with a retort, I have him on the ropes so I press my advantage. "Listen kid, even if you do want it I''m not gonna give it to you because you shouldn''t be wasting your time on this stuff yet. You should focus on studying and doing your chores and you can waste your time on this stuff when your older, cool kid?" He opens his mouth to try to get a word in but I just continue anyway. "Great! Good talk kid, but maybe next time you should have a conversation like this with a family member or something and not a stranger in the library. So remember, don''t do drugs and stay in school! Words to live by." I finish with a big thumbs up in is direction along with a giant megawatt grin(Naruto mode) and then go back to my computer screen. Holy shit that kid that inadvertently heard my s?x tape with Selina Kyle/Catwoman was actually Richard ''Dick'' Grayson also known as Robin or otherwise known as the guy right in front of me whose trying to spread my dirty secret to his teammates Batman (who has some kind of weird love-hate relationship with Catwoman, the woman I was with in the s?x tape which would definitely make the next year awkward) and Batgirl who I''m trying to get along with in a more than friends way which will definitely go to shit if this little bastard actually convinces these guys that I watched prom in the skidded of the library and if for some reason they somehow find the actual memory stick with the s?x tape then. Atman will definitely be angry and I don''t want to see that, also I noticed just how different I was back then and might I also note that that was before I actually used my magic memory stick and fused with my newly created DC self which I''ve just realised had some changes to me as I used to joke around a lot more back then and I had shorter thoughts and got more sidetracked over random things that weren''t really worth anything but now even if I do still have some funny thoughts I don''t voice them out like I used to and I''m actually quite a bit more serious now (probably because of my new power and the fact that with my new memories came the experience of being chopped up in a meat grinder, great times) but I can fret about that later even though I don''t really mind the changes, right now I''ve got to figure out a way to get this kid off of my back. "Wait, you were that kid who was sat across from me in the library that day? Why the hell are you accusing me like this man, I told you that it was a pop up that appeared on my screen and I turned it off as soon as possible. You were the one who was so interested in it, I can understand that your trying to dredge up anything you can to get rid of me because you don''t know me but Batman and Barbara have met me quite a few times and so they should have a pretty good idea of my character so even if you don''t trust me or know me can you at least trust their judgement and give me a chance." Robin seems to lose his stride for a second at my words but he manages to get back on track, this kid really doesn''t want to let this thing go. "Bullshit, I know what I saw that day. You plugged in your memory stick and then went to open it but before you did I noticed you turn your volume down just in case but even the when you opened up the files from your memory stick the sound blared out, you brought your own p?rn on a memory stick to the library and tried to secretly watch it but it was louder then you thought it would be and you got discovered, admit it." This kid really is very observant even if it is for some of the dumbest shit ever but I can''t back down now, I''m going to be stuck with these people for at least the next year and I can''t have their image of me tainted already even if Robin''s view of me already is. "Dude, that memory stick was blank. If you even had any actual information on me you would know that I only recently came back to Gotham and I was at the library with a blank memory stick to copy any information I might need but while I was searching for said information I accidentally got caught by a pop up which you heard, I hadn''t been sleeping lately and so I took a moment to rest my eyes after that incident from you and I fell asleep. When I awoke it was to Barbara shaking me awake and when I saw her I bolted because at that moment I was still of two minds whether or not to go through with my plan and murder the two people who made my life and so many others hell so when I saw the Commissioners daughter in front of me I ran away leaving behind my memory stick which Barbara then took possession of, when she returned it to me later it was after she had a snoop and realised that the memory stick was empty, she can confirm this for you if my word isn''t enough. Holy shit am I good at bullshiting or what, no one needs to know that I switched the s?x take memory stick with the magical one i between Robin hearing Selina''s m??ns and me falling asleep. "It''s true Robin, I can confirm. I looked through the memory stick and it was empty, I returned it to him when we next met. Barbara jumps in to defend me probably because she''s still a bit guilty about her classy notions about me earlier, she probably would have done so anymore but the guilt made her defend me without any tth ought of their being truth to Robin''s words. "B-But, Barbara he, h-" Robin''s tries to carry on with his point but stutters to find anything solid before he''s stopped by Batman interrupting him, DaddyBat has my back (never saying anything like that again, eww). "Enough Robin, stop it. Nick will be working with us now, so you better get along because out there it''s a matter of life and death and I know which one I prefer." And that was how my life with the Batfamily began... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane, Arun, frank ivkovich, Alex and Kieta Aki. Thank you for the support. Chapter 151 - [BT] Miles Moral- Wait, Its a Different Miles… [Before Transition] I stay absolutely still and watch the man like a hawk and I''m relieved when Gwen turns to leave and heads to the exit but even then I don''t take my eyes off of the older professor making sure to keep an eye on him as he moves through the hallway and talks to other students and faculty members even as I get abuse thrown at me for blocking up the hallway but I just ignore it and focus on the man for I don''t know how long before I watch him finally open a door in the corridor and go in before closing it behind him, I stare at the door for a few minutes more before I realise that the halls are absolutely silent with no one else around except me but all that does is give rise to the deep seated negative emotions I''m feeling right now only exacerbating the worry and dread I''m feeling at such a dangerous man being so worryingly close to Gwen, quickly shaking my head of those bad thoughts I quickly leave the buildings front doors in the hopes of spotting Gwen and catching up to her to try and pry some information out of her but when I exit through the doors there are hardly any students left in front of the building which makes me realise just how long I spent watching the man in the hallway but that doesn''t matter as I try and spot Gwen but she''s nowhere in sight and so I give up on finding her knowing that she will show up at my house at some point during the next couple of weeks and so I instead head towards my car and instead of how I can equally great the car with a gentlesness I can find it within my to pull forth the same car that I one showed it and so I get into the car slamming the door closed behind me before starting up my engine and zooming out of the car park and off of university grounds. I''m probably speeding through the streets of New York right now but I can''t seem to bring myself to care as various thoughts run throughout my mind and not a single one of them is positive for the simple fact that today I saw Miles Warren otherwise known as the Jackal laying his hand upon Gwen''s shoulder whom he''s known to have a sick obsession with in the original 616 universe and so far I have seen quite a few similarities to the 616 universe in this universe so the simple fact that I''ve seen them in close proximity intoxicates my mind with various negative emotions that I have no clue on how to handle, even if I want to cut ties with Gwen and act as horribly as possible towards her such as when I have s?x with her whenever she visits and then leave her sleeping never saying more than a few sentences to her during the whole meeting but that''s only because I''m worried that my connection to her is gonna stop me from leaving this universe but I can''t seem to bring myself to properly straightforwardly break my connection to her and so I act horribly and hope she''ll do it instead but she never seems to do it but even so she was still my first friend in this universe and probably still remains the single person I care about most in this world and so the fact that she might possibly be in danger is driving me mad and quite possibly making me a little unhinged which is why instead of heading home and ending up focusing and losing myself in thinking about what I saw today I am instead heading towards the Baxter building to focus on my work their and helping out Reed with his projects which will hopefully take my mind off this subject at least for a little bit, I forgot to think about the car ride over though because right now my mind can only think about one thing. If I remember correctly Miles Warren was a professor of Biochemistry at Empire State University in the 616 universe which so far lines up with what he''s doing in this universe but if I recall in the 616 universe he fell in love with the Gwen Stacy of that universe who was the girlfriend of Peter Parker at that time and I think he managed to collect their blood samples and started to clone Gwen and Peter but after Gwen was killed by the original Green Goblin (Norman Osborn) Miles blamed Spider-Man (who he new to be her boyfriend Peter Parker because he was cloning him) for her death and started to work on cloning Spider-Man starting with the first clone who I think was named Kaine who was suffering from degeneration but before Warren could dispose of him he escaped and he lived to become one of the Spider-Men of the universe (and I''m pretty sure he was also integral to the downfall of the Inheritors as he had a special role, he was called the other or something), becoming mad with grief after the death of Gwen Stacy the girl he loved (who he was double the age of, and I''m pretty sure it wasn''t love but a mad obsessive fixation) and wanting revenge on Peter Parker for her death he became the Jackal and after perfecting his cloning and making all his preparations he started his confrontation with Spider-Man by trying to manipulate the punisher into killing him which didn''t work and so he sent one of his clones of Gwen Stacy after him to torture him emotionally and after a long debacle the Jackal defeated Peter and took him back to his hideout or some kind of stadium where Peter was forced to fight his clone unaware of who was actually the original Peter Parker and the place ended up exploding killing the clone of Gwen, the clone of Peter and the Jackal who was actually later revealed to just be a clone Miles made of himself. Afterwards Miles put into action his next plan where he found both of the Peter Parkers who were unconscious after the explosion (as the clone actually survived) and he injected a drug into the original to simulate death which forced the clone believing himself to be the real Peter Parker to dump his body into a smokestack to dispose of it and not rise any questions but the Jackal actually rescued Spider-Man from the smokestack and replaced him with the body of a failed spider clone to create further confusion in the future and after erasing and implanting new memories into Peter to make him think he was the clone and force him to wander the world as Ben Reilly also known as the Scarlet Spider but unbeknownst to the Jackal his equipment had been messed with by one of his lab ?ssistants which (I think was orchestrated by Norman Osborn) resulted in Ben Reilly in actuality being the clone and Peter Parker still being the original but even so it still caused the both of them quite a lot of heartbreak and anguish and at one point resulting in Peter giving up his mantle of Spider-Man to Ben Reilly believing he was the original and while in actuality the original and the clone were correct about who they are if Miles equipment was messed with then this diabolical plan would have worked perfectly showing just how deranged and crazy this mad is, Ben Reilly eventually died at the hands of Norman Osborn but even then he wasn''t spared as the Jackal managed to collect a DNA sample from his dissolved remains to use in future experiments and at one point the madman actually managed to take Peter DNA cells and manufacture a virus which he placed in thousands of bugs which he then released throughout New York to infect people before the Spider-Virus eventually became airborne and while at first it granted people powers like Spider-Man it eventually transformed them into huge/humanoid spider monsters which resulted in New York becoming Spider-Island before a cure was eventually found but this should demonstrate just how dangerous and deadly this man could be if he had the time to further his research since he just casually creates various clones and sends them after Peter willy nilly with such ease. I also remember that Miles Warren was far from being done with Ben Reilly and brought him back to life through a new cloning procedure he devised that allows the subject to retain all of their old memories even to the point of death but realising that the procedure wasn''t perfect Miles continued to kill Ben and redirect him numerous times till he perfected the process twisting the once stellar superhero into a facet of his former self and warping his personality into something nasty after killing him so many times which eventually forced Ben Reilly to break free but instead of being merciful like his old self he was instead ruthless and he cloned Miles Warren creating numerous clones of him before convincing them all and the original that they were all clones and forcing them to work for him to keep receiving pills to keep the cellular degeneration at bay and afterward Ben used them all to put his own plan into play by creating New U Technologies which ends up being a very interest story line but that''s neither here nor there, what actually concerns me most about he man is his craziness and his obsession with Gwen as he was so crazy that he actually injected himself with Jackal DNA which aloud him to take on a green form similar to his old costume but for real and his obsession with Gwen Stacy was so strong that he found out about Spider-Gwen which is a Gwen from another universe with spider powers and he followed her back to her own dimension with his deranged stalker ways to find her and capture her and convince her of their love even if it was in actuality a altogether different Gwen from the one he once new but that didn''t matter to him which should showcase how far he is willing to go with his obsession for Gwen Stacy and I can''t risk this Miles Warren being the same kind of guy. I''ve been so caught up in my thoughts that I was pretty much speeding and driving on autopilot as when my car stopped I had realised that I was at the Baxter Building which I got to be relying on muscle memory and my own subconscious actions as I worried about Miles Warren and what he could potentially do to Gwen or what he already possibly could''ve done but I don''t know if I''m worrying over nothing since this Gwen is two years younger than she should''ve been since she graduated early because of me so maybe Miles Warren doesn''t have an obsession with her due to her younger age and even if he does he wouldn''t start going crazy and become the Jackal since he only did that once the original Gwen Stacy died and he had a target in the form of Spider-Man but even so I can''t run the risk of it without properly investigating the man and finding about all I can about him including how far along he is with his research because I swear to god if is guy has already started cloning Gwen then I''m going to fu?k?n? burn him half to death before chucking him into a saltwater ocean where he''ll drown while suffering from the salt in his wounds, I should probably also find out how far along he is with his research as well as his mental state of mind and if I don''t think it''s good enough then I''ll either have to destroy all of his research or eliminate him altogether as I can''t be careful with such a threat though I suppose a lobotomisation could do the job pretty good as well. Shaking myself from my daydreaming I quickly switch of the engine of my car before leaving it and locking it before heading up the stairs to the entrance trying not to think about anything I witnessed today so I could focus on my work, it''s really he''s to forget about it though and I can''t help but have my mind keep running back to various scenarios but hopefully once I''m inside the building and working on something I''ll forget about it, at least for the momentˇ­ ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane, Arun, frank ivkovich, Alex, Kieta Aki, hisham, Jermaine Koster and Christopher Ames. Thank you for the support. Chapter 152 - [AT] Orphan… [After Transition] It has since been three months from the day that I was brought to the Batcave and officially recruited to become a member of the bat family even if I don''t plan on staying for long and so I had planned for a gruelling time training and fighting criminals but while I might''ve had plenty of training I haven''t even had a single fight with even a Gotham city thug since Batman doesn''t believe I''m ready and while usually I would be fine with chilling here training instead of putting myself at risk fighting villains out there but I''ve realised that the longer I spend training here the more time I''ll end up staying overall with these people since they won''t be able to properly trust me if we don''t work properly together in the field, but it''s looking like Batman''s gonna make my training last another three months before I''m aloud out on the field and with my estimation of a year needed to properly gain their trust using our heroic escapades that would mean my time with the Batfamily would extend over a year and a half which is six months more than I wanted and and six months waisted when I could be doing something better but no matter how I try to convince Batman he doesn''t let me take to the field even though I feel like I''ve been trained enough and my powers would make up for the rest but Batman is making it a point for me to be properly trained and not to rely on my powers which I understand but still don''t like. So far after Batman made sure I was at the peak of my physicality such didn''t take too long as all I had to do was lift an inhuman set of weights after eating which replenished all the muscles I lost whilst starving underneath that building for two weeks and once he made sure of that he took to training me mainly focusing on my combat effectiveness and training me up so I can be as skilled as possible but he still makes sure that I learn all of the other stuff I need to learn on the side like chemistry, criminology, forensics, martial arts, gymnastics (which was easy for me because of my spider like powers, though I just blamed it on my regeneration), disguise and escape artistry all of which I''ve been finding quite interesting, not to mention all of the sparring I''ve been having to do with them and although I got the Batarang throwing down pretty easily because of my incredible accuracy still had to have them teach me how to use them properly and masterfully instead of just having one hundred percent accuracy and the rest of the family also help out with Alfred teaching what he can, Robin reluctantly helping me with stealth, disguise, escape artistry as well as gymnastics teaching me all sorts of tricks while Barbara helps me with technology and hacking which has been a little awkward since her misunderstanding but we''ve gotten past it and she apologised which helped clear the air and put us on good terms again. While my training has all been taken care of my living situation is a little weird since we had to find a way to justify why I''m living at the Wayne mansion when I''m 18 years old and clearly not a ward so Batman had to do some finagling and create, erase and alter documents but he eventually came up with a plausible reason for me to be living at 1007 Mountain Drive with Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth and Richard Grayson and the way in which he did it while masterful is also probably the thing that was most responsible for my relationship with Dick being quite rickety because Batman validated my staying here by relating me to Dick Grayson through various documents, he ended up doing this by creating a false set of parents for me that the Grayson''s (Dick''s Parents) met while travelling the world as part of Haly''s Cirucs (which makes it hard to find fault with the story, though not impossible) and after becoming really good friends I was made the godchild of the Grayson''s before they left with the circus effectively making me and Dick god brothers and after Dick losing his parents Bruce Wayne couldn''t find a reason to keep the last of his family away which is why he opened his doors to me and let me stay here so me and Dick could be close which we also have to portray in public which I have good fun with while Dick remains irritated and Batman effectively erased me being found covered in blood in New York at the age of ten and gave me a different backstory that still ends up with me being fostered by the Steins. Of course I couldn''t just be seen as a freeloader at the Wayne mansion and so Bruce Wayne pulled some strings for his wards god brother and got him working as an ?ssistant to Lucius Fox the head of R&D at Wayne Enterprises not only for his ward but because he knows I am a talent because of my PhDs in Biology, Chemistry and Computer Science (all of which are being heavily compounded thanks to my training), and Lucius Fox also knows who I am and enlists my help in making new gadgets for Batman while also teaching me a lot as well as how all of Batman''s current gadgets work and while I can understand this as Batman potentially getting me a job just to keep an eye on me all the time I don''t really mind since being ?ssistant to the head of R&D is a very lucrative job and since I''m not paying rent or buying daily necessities which are being provided by Batman so I''m literally raking in the dough. I''ve just finished up some training by myself in the Batcave since the rest of the guys are all out on patrol fighting crime so sometimes I have to train by myself and while this kind of training is easier on me it''s also a lot more boring so I finished up after working up a sweat and after that I took an nice shower before heading toward the Batcomputer in the middle of the Batcave to see what the rest of the Batfamily are up to and when I get there I can see Alfred sitting in the chair his hands dancing across the keyboards interface while talking to the members of the batfamily whenever necessary and giving aid if needed and as I come up behind him I can see all members of the Batfamily in the various displays, and it looks like they are fighting against Jonothan Crane at the moment also know as the Scarecrow and it seems like the fear obsessed lunatic doused an entire building with fear toxin and locked down the building as some sick experiment to research his fear toxins and its effects and so the Batman has gone ahead to confront Crane and stop him before he escalates things out of control while Batgirl and Robin move throughout the building knocking out all the fear induced civillians as fate as possible and while I take notice of all of them I particularly look at Robin or more importantly his new uniform. His old uniform consisted of a green child sized baby grow that leaves half of his arms uncovered apart from the bright green gloves and all of his legs uncovered apart from his feet which are covered in bright green ''pixie'' boots which are just disgusting and over that he just has a red vest with three ties keeping it closer, a black belt tying it for some reason because I don''t think it''s a utility belt since I can spot any pouches and over all that is a bright yellow cape that wraps around his shoulders and connects underneath his chin but for some reason attached on top is a yellow shirt collar which is part of the cape but thankfully that monstrosity has been retired (though it''s still an eyesore being displayed in one of the Batcaves display cases, wish I could burn it), Robin''s new costume however consists of dark green and black boots (not fu?k?n? pixie boots), full length dark green nearly black pants (thank god), dark green and black gloves, the torso is covered by a short sleeved bright red top with his Robin symbol on his left ?h?st though he made the executive decision to keep the yellow ties from the last costume across the middle of his torso but at least it looks better and more modern now, he has his yellow utility belt around his waist and on top of his entire ensemble he has a black cloak that reaches his calves and goes up his neck stopping at his jawline with the inside of the cloak being yellow and finally to finish it all of he has his classic eye mask on his face and all of this is a big improvement from his last costume and while Robin might be mad at me for being the reason his old costume which was an homage to his parents I''d forever retired I hope I''m the long run that that costume should''ve never seen the light of day on a growing boy. Watching the display of screens I notice something on one of the displays that shock me and so I don''t hesitate to ask Alfred about it, it''s quite hard to see this and know that Batman and his sidekicks are busy with something else across town. "Alfred, isn''t that Two Face robbing a bank? Shouldn''t we be, ya know, doing something about it?" I ask confused as for all I know he might''ve missed it since the guy was quite old, but even still being the Batman''s butler should''ve made him very observant. "I know Nick but there isn''t much we can do, not with Batman and the rest being caught up dealing with the Scarecrow. I''ve already informed the authorities and hopefully they''ll try to negotiate before they try to shoot the man and his crew, I know it''s hard Nick but we can''t be everywhere and we can''t always win." Batman and his sidekicks might be caught up but I''m not and I''m seeing this as a possible opportunity to further my plans and gain their trust, Two Face might be a crazy deranged guy but at the end of the day he still a base line guy with a crew and that I can easily take out so there isn''t much trouble that might happen as opposed to fighting Killer Croc, or Bane. I quickly sprint off with Alfred still paying attention to the screens instead of me so it''s not hard to disappear and head for the costume rack/display in the middle that belongs to me, I quickly alight upon my costume and stare at it in wonder for a moment while deliberating about my actions but it''s still the best option and so I gaze at my black and gold costume, it''s time for Orphan to make their debutˇ­ ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane, Arun, frank ivkovich, Alex, Kieta Aki, hisham, Jermaine Koster and Christopher Ames. Thank you for the support. Chapter 153 - [BT] Portal to Another Dimension… [Before Transition] After passing through the reception and taking all the elevators up I finally arrive at Reeds laboratory which is on the 33rd floor and walking out of there elevator I immediately spot Reed working on some it in the middle of his laboratory which is where I expected him to be since if he''s not there then he''s usually sleeping or on some wacky adventure but what does surprise me is the fact that the rest of the Fantastic Four are surrounding him as he works with Ben and Johnny looking very impatient and Susan looking very tired and I''m immediately wary since usually only Susan comes to Reeds lab for one reason or another because of her crush on him which he is highly dense and unaware of but the others usually never come here except for Johnny when he wants something stupid being made or he has a problem (which actually isn''t as often as you would think, surprising I know) and Ben used to come down here to buy Reed about solving his problem every so often but know that his problem has been revealed to him by Professor Charles Xavier and he''s been seeing Doctor Leonard Samson so he no longer has a reason to be bugging Reed but in actual fact whilst it''s weird that they''ve come to visit him in his lab what has alarm bells ringing in my mind is the fact that they''ve all come together so something must be up, I edge closer without trying to hide but it''s clear that the are all caught up in conversation with Reed too invested in his work to pay attention to my approach and so I decide to eavesdrop a little to try and see if I can figure out just what they are talking about or more like just what the other three are shouting at Reed about while he just continues to work on his project but know that I get a closer look it seems like he''s working on that portal that I''ve been helping him with. "Reed, you can''t seriously be thinking about opening that portal now, we have no idea what it''ll do or if will even work and more importantly we have no clue what''s on the other side. You''re putting not just us but everyone in the building in danger if this thing fails and explodes, we have no idea just how much the dimensional energies will Steve the the portal or even this world or whether or not it''ll amplify the explosion so it''s best if you hold off on it for now, at least till we do some more tests and then we can try opening the portal but until then I think it''s best to wait and maybe even try and acquire a testing facility somewhere else to do this in where we wouldn''t be endangering any other people." Susan ever the voice of calm and reason tries to persuade Reed to rethink his thought which must be to finish and open the portal today and while I knew that it was nearly finished I didn''t think it''d be in use so soon considering the fact that I estimated that it would take us another couple of weeks to finish but I guess Reed couldn''t wait any longer and started to fixate and focus on this project since I last saw him and he must be finishing it up today and planning to open it and see what''s on the other side which would indeed be quite serious and so I can see why the entire Fantastic Four are here to try and convince him to rethink his plan but if there''s one thing I''ve learned about Reed over the past couple months of working with him then it''s the fact that he has pride (some may even call it an ego, I''m some) in his work and he would never think it would be wrong or mistaken in any way and so he''ll do what he think is correct and right without caring about others opinions unless he''s smacked in the face with cold hard proof which I believe is not going to happen in this situation, Reed begins to respond to Susan not giving any leeway and explaining his views and his evidence before he notices me coming his way and beckons me forth. "Susan you don''t have to worry so much, I discovered this dimension while I was searching for a way to travel through sub-space and I opened a portal to it and since I''ve discovered it I''ve been regularly been sending probes through the portals and I''ve been studying it a fair amount and I''ve determined that it largely unpopulated and not only that but with all of my time sending probes through portals I''ve figure out how to create the perfect portal and I''d enlisted the help of Nick to build it for the last couple of months and it''s finally close to completion and I''m a hundred percent sure that we can open it up without any dangers plus we will only be opening it up to check it works before switching it off since we won''t actually be going through. Nick what are you doing here on one of your college days, actually never mind just come over here and help me finish the portal to the new dimension I discovered and maybe once we''re ready to go in we can bring you with us." While I''m definitely not going to venture to the other side of the portal with them I wouldn''t mind helping in creating the portal to this new dimension that''s been a discovered since I''ve become more invested in it as I''ve worked on it for the last couple of months with Reed and I''d like to help in its final completion before Reed complete it all by himself which it looks like he''s close to doing and so I quickly hurry past the others joining Reed like a well oiled machine since I immediately know just where he is in the process and I get to work with nary a word immediately helping to bring this project to completion whilst Susan and the others look on flabbergasted since I''d just appeared and immediately started to help Reed with his work while they were all trying to stop him and slow him down whereas I joined him and started to fasten the process, I imperially start to put pieces and parts together connecting wires and tightening bolts whilst soldering parts together and welding components to one another without even having to look at a schematic or a blueprint since I''ve worked on this baby for over three months and I''ve already memorised the blueprints since I''d already spent so long on it plus the fact that this project involved portals and dimension particularly got my interest since I could use the experience to help me in my own endeavours with my own project. "Nick, what the hell are you doing? You must''ve heard us trying to dissuade him from opening this portal as soon as you got out of the elevator yet you immediately start to help him complete the project instead of trying to dissuade him like the rest of us so what gives. Opening this portal could be very dangerous and could endanger everyone in this building maybe even going as far as to end anger everyone one in New York and while Reed says that it''s largely unpopulated that still means there''s some population and I don''t want one of that population coming through here without precautions so it would be best if we''d tabled this idea for right now and try to hold off on it at least for now, maybe we could acquire some kind of testing faculty or something to do this in where we wouldn''t affect anybody else and we could have precaution in place maybe somewhere like the vast Nevada dessert where there''s hardly anyone around." I continue on with my work whilst she talks though I do take the opportunity to lift my head every so often to make it clear that I am listening to her as I talk since I don''t want to be too rude, honestly i don''t want Reed to open the portal yet either and I''d much rather be as far away as possible when he does since I don''t have a particular need to expose myself to potentially hazardous places but I''ve been working on this project for the past three months and I want to be part of its completion as well but that doesn''t mean I''m want Reed to open the portal since finishing the portal and activating it are two very different things but there is a small part of me that does want to see what''s on the other side since it''s such a fascinating subject plus the fact that this portal is quite similar to what I want to create except mine wants to go to a different universe/multiverse and having the experience of building it and maybe even going through it could be very useful towards my future goals. "Susan, I understand where you''re coming from but I''ve been working on this thing for the past three months and I at least want to be part of its completion plus just because I''m helping to finish it doesn''t mean it''s going to be activated though it does still fall on you guys to persuade him not to go through with it. Honestly though I don''t think it''ll be too bad if he just turns the portal on for a few seconds to make sure it''s working before turning it off just to make sure everything''s working and it won''t explode or anything, after that we can begin do more tests and even send some probes through to the other side to do a deeper and more extensive search with a stable connection before we properly think about people going in or keeping the portal open for longe reptiles of time." Finishing what I''m doing I put everything int it''s correct place before closing the compartment I was working on and taking a step back to admire the device while Reed puts on the finishing touches before he himself gets up after finishing the portal and walks over to the interface on the side of the portal, which is a separate podium that is used to monitor the conditions on the other side of the portal after it''s open and next to the interface is a simple switch to turn the portal on and off with anymore specifics having to be done through the interface which Reed begins to fiddle with before reaching out to grab ahold of the lever. "Nick is correct Sue I''ll only be opening the portal for a few scant moments before closing it again to make sure that it works and that''s it, you have no reason to worry since I''ve already done my calculations and an explosion is highly unlikely and after I used the interface I made sure that the portal will open in the middle of space in that dimension so nobody will be coming through or seeing it so you don''t have to worry. Just think about the possibilities Sue, this is a dimension made up of anti-matter otherwise being known as a negative matter universe just what could we discover from such a universe, from such a- a negative zone." Hold up a second, did this man just say negative zoneˇ­ before I can do anything Reeds hand pulls down the switch with all the force of a thunderbolt which makes me go pale and my blood begins to go dry. With a shudder the machine rumbles and a portal springs to life, a portal to the Negative Zoneˇ­ ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane, Arun, frank ivkovich, Alex, Kieta Aki, hisham, Jermaine Koster and Christopher Ames. Thank you for the support. Chapter 154 - [AT] Grind Boots… [After Transition] Watching the display of screens I notice something on one of the displays that shock me and so I don''t hesitate to ask Alfred about it, it''s quite hard to see this and know that Batman and his sidekicks are busy with something else across town. "Alfred, isn''t that Two Face robbing a bank? Shouldn''t we be, ya know, doing something about it?" I ask confused as for all I know he might''ve missed it since the guy was quite old, but even still being the Batman''s butler should''ve made him very observant. "I know Nick but there isn''t much we can do, not with Batman and the rest being caught up dealing with the Scarecrow. I''ve already informed the authorities and hopefully they''ll try to negotiate before they try to shoot the man and his crew, I know it''s hard Nick but we can''t be everywhere and we can''t always win." Batman and his sidekicks might be caught up but I''m not and I''m seeing this as a possible opportunity to further my plans and gain their trust since Two Face might be a crazy deranged guy but at the end of the day he is still a base line guy with a crew and that I can easily take out so there isn''t much trouble that might happen as opposed to fighting Killer Croc or Bane and so I quickly sprint off with Alfred still paying attention to the screens instead of me so it''s not hard to disappear and head for the costume rack/display in the middle that belongs to me, I quickly alight upon my costume and stare at it in wonder for a moment while deliberating about my actions but it''s still the best option and so I gaze at my black and gold costume, it''s time for Orphan to make their debut and I doubt it''s gonna be a happy occasion for Two Face. Staring into the display case I can see the suit I myself designed and gave to Batman in preparation for the today that I would eventually be joining Batman on his crusade but I had no idea that that day would be today but even so I''m glad that I finally get to try out this awesome costume which is made up of the same material as Batman''s suit being some kind of (better and more flexible Kevlar) fabric and connecting metal plates that cover the most crucial and critical spots of my body (even if I can just heal, Batman made the executive decision of putting those their as he doesn''t want my ability to be so easily revealed) so my suit is just as advanced as Batman''s as well as flexible but where it really differs is in its appearance as it is basically a completely black costume with gold (not yellow) highlights in places but it''s still mostly black with the boots being completely black with a thin line of gold running along the top, the gloves/gauntlets are the same except the vambraces are smaller than Batman''s and gold as well as gold encircling the edge of my gloves as well as the knuckles and joints of my gauntlet being gold coloured metal to add some more oomph to my punches since I can handle the weight, I have a yellow (can''t really be gold since that would be a bit too gauche and douchey) utility belt around the waist which has just as many compartments and gadgets as Batman''s which I have been training with, the legs are black with some gold lines running through it and the same with the arms but when it comes to the torso it''s all black with some thicker gold highlights as well as a golden bat symbol across the ?h?st just to spell out what team I''m on but that isn''t really necessary thank to my cowl which is completely black with no gold highlights whatsoever as well as the customary bat horns you''d expect of a bat themed super though mine are slightly almost negligible taller than Batman''s and thinner as well as curving back slightly at the very tip but what really makes my mask stand out is the fact that it covers my entire head not exposing the chin like Batman''s as well as the fact that the eyes are tinted black not white which gives it some extra care factor but I''ve taken into account that I might interact with children and so I''ve made it possible for the tint to switch to white as well as the chin part of my mask to be retractable though it''s very hard to spot the seam. I quickly take the suit out of its display case and get undressed right then and there replacing my clothes with the suit before Alfred wises up and figures out that I''ve ran off to fight crime without permission and so I hurry up placing on my costume before I reach back into the display case to grab my retractable cape which is fashioned to be completely black on both the inside and outside with a similar jagged end as Batman''s which I take and clip into place around my neck and for a second I take a moment to marvel at how I looked and felt in the suit because I felt right at home in it being comfortable as well as form fitting and as I look at my reflection in the display case I just closed I also take a minute to reflect on why I chose to design my suit like this as well as take the name Orphan, when I was first told by Batman to design my hero suit and come up with a name I decided to think about all the Batfamily heroes and see if I can find a theme to fit into and while I may no longer recall much information such as the secret identity''s of some of these characters I do still remember that they exist and a tiny bit of information about them and so when I was trying to get some inspiration for my own mantle I thought of Orphan who I don''t know the secret identity of but I know that the character was an even better fighter than Batman as well as being an Orphan (no parents/ abandoned) which connected to me since I myself am an orphan three times over now since I was abandoned in the DC world and raised in an orphanage and while I did have parents in the Marvel world they died and back in my original world where I was a bit younger than I am now I died leaving my parents behind making me parentless (does that count? I technically lost my parents when I died so I guess it does) which makes three times an orphan and so I found the name quite fitting and so I designed my costume using the same colour scheme and aesthetics as the future Orphan who will be the successor to my one year mantle (she is basically gonna carry on the name I make today, it was a bit weird to take the name of a female superhero but when I thought about it I realised that there were a few girl Robins so gender doesn''t really matter as much as the heroics) and I know she''ll live up to the name since I kinda chose it because of her but also because of the irony as well as shits and giggles. "Nicholas, what do you think you''re doing!? You do not have permission to leave this estate while wearing that costume and you are not allowed to partake in any heroics until you''ve been approved to do so, DO NOT LEAVE!!" Alfreds panicked voice breaks me out of my daze and my neck twists around to see him still at the Batcomputer working away though he has managed to turn around to shoot me a glare and demand that I stay here but I find myself emboldened by the fact the he can''t leave his seat otherwise he would leave Batman and co with support, taking advantage of the opportunity afforded to me I quickly run off toward the area of the Batcave with the vehicles and the secret exit that opens a distance away from Wayne Manor while waving back towards Alfred with mischievousness layering my voice. "Don''t worry Alfred, I''m just heading out to the store for cigarettes. I''ll be careful so don''t worry, I''ll make the right decision at the two way street so you just focus on ?ssisting Batman so they can get to me faster if you are that worried, trust me Alfred I''ve been training for this!" Without waiting to hear a reply I continue to run off eventually arriving at the bat themed vehicle area but unfortunately Batman has yet to get around to providing me with my own vehicle and much more unfortunately I don''t have any keys or access to any of these vehicles either so I''m left just with what I''ve got in my possession but that doesn''t stop me from still running to the vehicle exit which is still definitely very long and would take a long time to run across without showing too much of my spider powers but I have already thought about such scenario is and how I can use what I''ve already told Batman to make things easier on myself, one of the things that I told Batman was that my regeneration also gave me one hundred percent accuracy as well as a perfect sense of balance and equilibrium which it does but only in the way that it boosts my already perfect sense of balance and equilibrium given by my spider powers and using that fact as well as the fact that Batman''s knows I can handle more then a peak human due to my regeneration I managed to get quite a bit more advanced tech than the others since I''d be able to use them with my powers while the others would just be weighed down. Reaching the long exit I spot the long narrow road used for the bat themed land vehicles but I don''t focus on that but rather the two rails alongside either side of the road and leaping forward I land on the right hand rail where I need a click and with a sudden whoosh I''m speeding off down the rail and though I stumbled a little at the beginning thanks to my perfect balance and equilibrium I get a hold of it straight away and I''m zooming off like an expert thanks to the magnetic soles of my boots that have affixed themselves to the metal rail on the path as well as the boosters on the back of my boots which give me a massive acceleration down the pathway, thanks to Batman knowing of my enhance physique because of my regeneration and my superhuman capabilities he allowed me to have more tech and advancements than he would usually allow since they would just slow them down but that''s not the same with me because of my abilities and so I had a variety of tech placed into my suit on account of my ability to handle it and one of the advancement in my suit was placed on my boots which was making them magnetic as well as adding booster to the bottom and back of my shoes to help me traverse around better which I got thanks to explaining to Batman that it would improve my mobility and agility (as well as my evasion and escape chances, though that''s so totally not why I wanted them) which would make me a much more fierce opponent when in the field but with all of the tech in my suit I was suddenly reminded of Magneto and his mutant power and while I''m unsure of whether there''s anyone in DC with a similar power I decided to be cautious which involved replacing quite a lot of the metal components of the suit with nonferrous metals as well as putting a lot of failsafes in the suit to get rid of the metal components as well as ditch the booster and magnetic underneath of my boots which is easily removable since they are on the bottom which is a part that I''ve made retractable. With my magnetised boots firmly on the rail with one foot in front of the other as well as the back of my boots using boosters to thrust me forward (honestly, playing Ratchet and Clank in my original world gave me the idea for these boots since they are kind like the grinding boots), wait for me Two Face, you are my stepping stone on my path of heroics and I''m not gonna let the base form bitch keep me from my goals. It''s time for the world to meet Orphanˇ­ ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane, Arun, frank ivkovich, Alex, Kieta Aki, hisham, Jermaine Koster, Christopher Ames and Ethan Fuentes. Thank you for the support. Chapter 155 - [BT] Roid Using Grey Lion… [Before Transition] Finishing what I''m doing I put everything in to it''s correct place before closing the compartment I was working on and taking a step back to admire the device while Reed puts on the finishing touches before he himself gets up after finishing the portal and walks over to the interface on the side of the portal, which is a separate podium that is used to monitor the conditions on the other side of the portal after it''s open and next to the interface is a simple switch to turn the portal on and off with anymore specifics having to be done through the interface which Reed begins to fiddle with before reaching out to grab ahold of the lever. "Nick is correct Sue I''ll only be opening the portal for a few scant moments before closing it again to make sure that it works and that''s it, you have no reason to worry since I''ve already done my calculations and an explosion is highly unlikely and after I used the interface I made sure that the portal will open in the middle of space in that dimension so nobody will be coming through or seeing it so you don''t have to worry. Just think about the possibilities Sue, this is a dimension made up of anti-matter otherwise being known as a negative matter universe just what could we discover from such a universe, from such a- a negative zone." Hold up a second but did this man just say the motherfucking negative zone, before I can do anything Reeds hand pulls down the switch with all the force of a thunderbolt which makes me go pale and my blood begins to run dry as with a shudder the machine rumbles and a portal springs to life, a portal to the Negative Zone. The negative zone from what I know is apparently a really fu?k?d up place that heading towards destruction and is basically a wasteland of a dimension with resources being scarce and mostly everyone their being bad guys only looking out for themselves and while I don''t know exactly what villains live in the negative zone I do know some of their names like Annihilus (which sounds very menacing, and that''s just the guys name) and I know that they''re all very dangerous since they live in a dying universe (I''m pretty sure that the negative zone is contacting as opposed to our dimension which is expanding, meaning that that universe is heading for implosion) and so right now I''m shit scared at the fact that I unknowingly helped to make and activate a portal to that godforsaken dimension and while I can take some solace in the fact that in the comics Reed used the universe for his own purposes basically making it a trash can for anything he didn''t want including villains that he couldn''t handle and decided to just chuck them into the negative zone before eventually making a prison for super humans in that universe though I get the feeling that didn''t work out so well given the fact that he bunched up a bunch of villains in an alternate dimension and left them with minimal supervision but I''m not like that and so I''m really wanting to shut this portal down without permission from Reed but I think that would be insubordination (and I don''t know if that matters to them) and it could possibly get me kicked out and keep me from the information I need so I''m going to leave it for ten seconds and then close it, what''s gonna happen in ten seconds. Reed after turning on the Portal slowly walks towards it mesmerised while I made sure to manoeuvre through the room towards the switch to get ready to turn off the portal as soon as possible because I''m uneasy with it open but clearly Reed doesn''t have that problem as he stalks towards the portal and begins to try and peer through to the other side while running his fingers along the edge of the device running dangerously close to the portal itself but I can''t find myself to bothered about that as I''m just counting down the seconds until I can close the damned thing and then leave this building as quickly as possible to get a drink and forget about all the shit that''s happened today, I keep my hand on the switch ready to close the portal at a moments notice while Reed caught up in his amazement continuous to stare blankly into the portal with probably a million things running through his mind but I don''t far anymore as ten seconds have passed and so I speak out to tell him that I''m closing the portal. "Reed, it''s been ten seconds. I''m closing the portal now so back up, we don''t know how the portal closing could affect the machine or overload it so gain some distance before I turn it off." I speak out clearly being much more lenient than I should be giving him time to back away which means the portal will be open for a few seconds more but even after I''ve spoken with my hand raring to pull the lever (almost doing so subconsciously while waiting for Reed to move) Reed stays where he is continuing to look into the portal (the abyss really) before some part of his brain seems to understand and recognise what I just said as he then shoots his arm out towards me in a stop motion. "Hold on for a second Nick, I still need to do some tests. I was so caught up in the beauty of the portal that I completely forgot about using my scanner to scan the portal and sending some of my better and bigger probes through to gather more information for our eventual journey to the other side, just wait there while I go get the scanner and probes to send through the portal." Sue immediately get affronted as there was a clear set upon deal where the portal would be open for ten seconds before it is closed just to make sure it is okay and there was no mention of scanners or probes being used so clearly Reed was disregarding what the rest of us had said and was trying to gather as much information as possible too caught up in his excitement which clearly angered Susan as she agreed to the terms and she is probably feeling some negative emotions right now because it was completely ignored, immediately she strides towards Reed who hadn''t had the chance to get away from the portal before Susan accosted him in front of it digging her finger into his body which didn''t really work since he''s elastic and she was basically just stretching him. "Reed, what the hell! We agreed that you''d only open the portal for a few seconds to make sure that it worked before closing it until we got a proper facility to use it and made some failsafes, you can''t just change your mind on a whim. Nick forget what Reed said, you close that portal right now before anything further happens." Susan begins shouting at Reed not giving him a chance to get a word in edge wise before she turns and starts barking orders at me to close the portal but I find myself stuck between a rock and a hard place since on one hand Reed wants me to keep the portal open and he is technically the boss of the fantastic four and ''Fantastic Four inc.'' so he would be able to fire me for going against his orders but on the other hand Susan is clearly the more author active one here and she''s basically the boss in all but name but she doesn''t have the capacity to fire me but if I disobey her she might want to get me kicked out which she would be able to do one hundred percent as the rest of the team would listen to her but if I disobey Reed while he might try to get me kicked out I would have Susan on my side for siding with her and she would be able to keep me here even if my position is a bit shaky, if it''s a choice between one or the other than it''s clear who I''m gonna choose and so I''m about to bring my arm down to close the portal but before I can the unexpected happens (or is it unexpected since I tempted fate and Murphy''s law answered). Before anyone even knew what was going on something blasted out from the portal shooting at Reed and Susan and blasting them backwards and it was only because of Susan and her fast reaction conjuring up a forcefield that neither of them were hurt aside from being a little scuffed but even so we were all on our guard staring at the portal and snapping out of my daze I pulled down the lever with all my might hoping to close the portal down before something really bad happened but it seems I was too late because just before the portal close something managed to come through from the other end and it didn''t look very nice, standing in front of the now closed portal is some kind of giant bipedal beastly animal looking around the room menacingly but you could tell he wasn''t an animal by the fact that he wore an amour of some kind and his eyes were full of intelligence and when I looked closer I noticed a lot more than him being a monster such as the fact that he had armoured boots, ?h?st plate and pants along with some durable looking large bracelets that encircled his wrists each article having intricate designs as if designed by a master of their craft, the thing was built like the hulk (and he might even be a bit bigger than the thing) with an animalistic face sporting a wide snout like nose, beast like sharp teeth, a face that look like it was stopped halfway between a transformation from a human to a wolf along with the wolffish ears poking out of the thick black lions main that surrounded his head and if there was one thing you could tell just by looking at him it was that this guy wasn''t friendly or misunderstood monster, he was a genuine monster out of a nightmare. "I thank you beings for providing me with such a passageway, it was just in time as well since the explosive core where positive matter and anti matter meet was about to burst and send out a wave of destruction which I would be caught in. Thankfully I managed to blast my way out of the containment suit those rebellious dogs put me in before sending me to an abandoned planet for my death by being caught in the wave of destruction and conveniently there was a open portal providing me a way to escape the blast, for that you have my thanks and so I''ll show you some mercy and allow you to serve me since you''ve brought me to my new kingdom, a place to start anew and rebuild my armies after I conquer this new planet and inevitably wipe out the puny defence your species will put up." We all stare dumbstruck at the guy startled by the sheer audacity of him to claim that he would wipe out the defending armies of earth and conquer it to make his own armies but when I look at his bulging muscles and his animalistic face I get the sense that he would actually be capable of that and while I don''t have a monkeys as to who this guy is I know that he''s incredibly dangerous since my spider sense is going off like a vibrator which is a crude but accurate metaphor, the rest of them are too dumbstruck by his arrogance to properly reply to anything and we all start at him in silence for a moment with Reed and Susan getting back up and into their stances to joint Johnny and Ben in the upcoming fight but it seems like the huge grey guy noticed their defiance and he doesn''t like it. "A shame that you''re not going to accept my mercy, you mustn''t understand how rare it is and you are ignoring it in your ignorance. No matter, you can die with the countless others who will fight my inevitable conquest but before you do I will grace you with the name of the new ruler of this planet. I am you''re new king.. Blastaarˇ­" ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane, Arun, frank ivkovich, Alex, Kieta Aki, hisham, Jermaine Koster, Christopher Ames and Ethan Fuentes. Thank you for the support. Chapter 156 - [AT] Holding The Bank… [After Transition] I ride the rail with my boots giving the maximum boost possible shooting me grinding down the rail at speeds that would be dangerous for a normal human but I''m not a normal human as I can take an infinite amount of more beating than them and so it hardly fazes me as I''m boosted at break neck speeds down the secret passageway and with my enhanced eyesight I spot the end of the passageway which is just a bit a bit metallic semicircular door and I''m about to contemplate slowing down to figure out a way past this when the doors begin to open by themselves making me wonder whether this is an automatic response to something travelling down this passage at high speeds or if Alfred has noticed my absence and has opened the door for me but either way I''m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth (at least a gift horse I can trust) and so I continue to grind the rail to the very end, nearly reaching the end of the rail I jump disconnecting my magnet boots at the same time to give me both lift and speed as I shoot out of the hidden passageway exit into the air while spreading my arms out and pulling my cape taut to start gliding through the air and as I do so I take the time to appreciate the fact that Wayne Major is built on top of a mountain and so the secret exit brought me out at the side of the mountain (to a road with a sheer cliff) meaning I could boost through without issue into the air without slowing down and so I boosted out of the mountain into the air high above Gotham City giving me an amazing view of the city and the bright lights as well as the bustling noise of the city and when you look at it like this you can''t see all the bad things or hear all the pain and it gives you hope that this city might be salvageable since it looks alright from here but I shove that thought out of my mind and focus myself back on my gliding to get to the bank as fast as possible. At some point during my flight through the air towards the bank I realised that the boost from the railway was wearing off and so to maintain some degree of speed and height I began to dive downwards and then pull back up to catch some air beneath my cape to give me lift as well as speed and while every time I did this I did manage to near my previous height in the sky my position was still lowering and so at the cost of my altitude I was maintaining my current speed to get to the bank as soon as possible and I did manage to get quite far as well as close to the bank but at that point I had lowered enough to the ground that there were now a lot of buildings impeding my path and so it was at this point that I decided to retract my glider and begin to swing through the concrete jungle using my own ingenious invention, instead of having the grappling gun like Batman and his sidekicks I instead opted to have a more streamlined and powerful version attached to the underside of my wrist as part of my costume (it is indeed retractable if it ever becomes a hindrance instead of a benefit, pretty much all add-ons and pieces with metal parts are retractable since I want that option if I ever run into anyone with Magneto''s skill set) and this had the benefit of being much easier to use and smoother to apply to aid my traverse of my surroundings and the reason that Batman and the others don''t use this is because while streamlined the wrist attached grapple would still way down their arms and impede them when they are fighting others as the extra weight on their arms will make them more ?umbersome and my device is also more powerful the theirs since I am actually able to handle the extra power while if they used it their arms would be ripped out of their sockets so overall thanks to my revealed regeneration I have access to a lot more tech and firepower than the others which is just great for me. What really pushed me to use this version is how similar it is to another version of travel I really wanted to use and as I stretched my hand out allowing a grapple to punch through the air and wrap around an overhanging gargoyle I marvelled at the feeling of swinging through the air before retracting my previous grapple and shooting out another from my other arm to continue swinging through the city towards my destination and while I did enjoy the rush of swinging through the air I still couldn''t help but feel that there was still something missing whether it be that fact that I''m not using webs (which means I''m not actually web slinging) or the fact that there was always a pause between each swing due to the fact that I had to retract my previous grapple instead of letting it go like you would a web strand but as much as I enjoyed this form of tracks I still couldn''t help but anticipate actually web swinging one day and I don''t know if it''s because I have exposed powers now and I want to try it or if it''s engrained in my spider addled DNA but I feel a real urge to do it, this form of swinging will have to do for now and while it''s not the real thing it''s still close and it feels so natural for me to swing through the air like this and while there is a lot of mental calculations required such as angles and distances I find it very easy to do meaning my experience is nothing but pleasant and there are plenty of things for my grapples to wrap around (a whole fu?k ton of Gargoyles on nearly every building in Gotham City) so I swoop through the dark streets with ease with no one seeing me (no one ever looks up) or being any the wiser as I move through the city at break neck speed with the grace of a dolphin (after getting used to the swinging, everything has a learning curve) and closing in on my destination I manoeuvre myself through the air for a final big swing which would launch me high into the sky above the city and once I''m launches up into the air high above the city I spread my wings out catching a nice gentle glide to take me the rest of my journey to the top of the Bank currently being robbed by Two Face as well as hiding my approach to the building from everyone on account of being so high and landing with nary a sound on top of the roof. The Police are surrounding the bank with officers cordoning the ends of the street off with dozens of police cars laid out along the street with nearly twice the amount of police officers hiding behind the vehicles each holding their guns with only one person who I recognise as police commissioner James Gordon holding onto a megaphone while crouched behind a police car and I can only ?ssume that he''s already used the device before I got here since he promptly drops the megaphone to the floor and takes out his guns and it''s at this point realise the fact that there are numerous bullet holes (most likely from a shotgun considering the spread of the impacts, along with bullets from a few other guns such as machine guns and pistols interspersed throughout) in the police cars in front of the Bank with quite a lot of bullet holes actually being in the car commissioner Gordon is hiding behind and I noticed of few points of impact along the floors in front of the cars as well which means these thugs from Two Face''s crew didn''t even consider any negotiation to get out of here even with them being surrounded and instead decided to start shooting at the officers outside and I doubt that Two Face would allow them to do that without a reason as he''s not stupid so the guys ali side the Bank must have some leverage otherwise the cops would have retaliated by now, I duck down to hide when I finally turn my gaze on the buildings surrounding the Bank and spot nearly a dozen snipers on them all aiming down at the bank focusing on any of the windows with a clear view obviously looking for targets and I''m glad they are so focused on the inside of the building since I was not aware of them when I flew down and so it''s only my good luck that my presence here is still unknown but what may be perhaps more worrying is the fact that snipers are actually here and not just a few but around a dozen which could only mean that the situation inside is a lot worse then I expected and the only reason that a bunch of snipers would be here patiently waiting is that there are a bunch of hostages inside which just made my job ten times harder. Having gained a scope of the situation outside of the bank I now turn my gaze onto the inside of the bank and I do this by edging myself over to one of the glass ceilings on the roof and leaning forward to peer through into the building but my view is blocked by a big ?ss expensive looking chandelier (Dwight would probably be salivating about the perfect crime now, no wonder Two Face decided to rob this place it''s fancy as fu?k) which irks me a little bit but I pay it no mind as I use a finger to tap the side of my cowl activating an alternative mode (Robin calls it detective mode, but it doesn''t really help you be a detective instead of helping to identify people based on their best signatures as well as scan the surrounding for various things) which allows me to see a whole lot more than I should be able to as I can see through the building and see quite a lot of heat signatures through the building and going off of the schematics I pulled up on the small computer interface on my arm and using the alternative mode to apply it to my surroundings I actually have a physical map of my surrounding along with enemy locations, I can tell that right now there are a few people wandering around the halls of the building probably on patrol with some guards stationed at all the exits with mor guards stationed at the main entrance and while their are a few more thugs pissing around in a few rooms without the supervision of their boss I notice five people in what should be the vault and going by the actions I can see them performing they must be stealing all of the stuff in the vault so I can leave them alone for now since that will take them quite a while but most of my attention right now is focused on the main hall of the bank where there are quite a lot of thugs standing around one of which must be Two Face (can''t really tell just going by heat signatures, he is still just a regular human after all though half of him is badly burnt) but what really cat he sky attention and worries me ante the bunch of heat signature maybe around fifteen or so that are also in the main hall but different to the other heat signatures these ones are in the ground with the thug heat sources surrounding these ones so I can only conclude that there are around fifteen or so hostages down there that are stopping the police from coming in to take these guys down as well as stopping the snipers from taking their shots at these scum. Realising just how serious this situation now is I take a moment to review all of my possible actions in this situation and just what I can do as well as how the thugs as well as the hostages inside might react in turn not to mention the previous Arkham Asylum inmate Two Face who is looking to be bat shit crazy and a wild card on that is too unpredictable Ona Fflint of his instability, but there''s not a lot to go on right now which is why used my enhance senses and push my ears to the limit to hear just what''s going on inside and see if I can gather any more information that would aid my current mission, I came out tonight thinking that this would be over but that''s clearly not the caseˇ­ ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane, Arun, frank ivkovich, Alex, Kieta Aki, hisham, Jermaine Koster, Christopher Ames and Ethan Fuentes. Thank you for the support. Chapter 157 - [BT] Blastaar Blasting… [Before Transition] "I thank you beings for providing me with such a passageway, it was just in time as well since the explosive core where positive matter and anti matter meet was about to burst and send out a wave of destruction which I would be caught in. Thankfully I managed to blast my way out of the containment suit those rebellious dogs put me in before sending me to an abandoned planet for my death by being caught in the wave of destruction and conveniently there was a open portal providing me a way to escape the blast, for that you have my thanks and so I''ll show you some mercy and allow you to serve me since you''ve brought me to my new kingdom, a place to start anew and rebuild my armies after I conquer this new planet and inevitably wipe out the puny defence your species will put up." We all stare dumbstruck at the guy startled by the sheer audacity of him to claim that he would wipe out the defending armies of earth and conquer it to make his own armies but when I look at his bulging muscles and his animalistic face I get the sense that he would actually be capable of that and while I don''t have a monkeys as to who this guy is I know that he''s incredibly dangerous since my spider sense is going off like a vibrator which is a crude but accurate metaphor, the rest of them are too dumbstruck by his arrogance to properly reply to anything and we all start at him in silence for a moment with Reed and Susan getting back up and into their stances to join Johnny and Ben in the upcoming fight but it seems like the huge grey guy noticed their defiance and he doesn''t like it. "A shame that you''re not going to accept my mercy, you mustn''t understand how rare it is and you are taking it for granted in your ignorance. No matter, you can die with the countless others who will fight my inevitable conquest but before you do I will grace you with the name of the new ruler of this planet. I am you''re new king.. Blastaarˇ­" "Like hell we are gonna let you do any of that, you freak face! You clearly don''t know but we are the strongest guys around so I suggest you hop on home before we lose our patience, don''t make us kick your ?ss ugly! Flame On!" Before any of us can actually do anything Johnny makes himself known by putting his foot in his mouth and insulting the incredibly dangerous new threat that''s made itself known before screaming his catchphrase and lighting himself on fire disintegrating the clothes he wore on top of his superhero suit but even then Johnny only does so to make himself intimidating and he doesn''t actually attack Blastaar clearly hoping that the self proclaimed king would take his offer and go back home since I think even Johnny can tell just how dangerous this guy is, I can see both Susan and Ben with at his actions but ready themselves for the upcoming fight while Reed ignores Johnny in favour of analysing Blastaar for anything useful but it seems Blastaar doesn''t like how he''s being disrespected and underestimated as he lets lose an angry growl that threatens to deafen us with its volume before letting out a breath to try and rid himself of his frustration probably in the hopes of subjugating us and getting himself some soldiers to help conquer this new dimension for him ur unfortunately that isn''t gonna happen. "You would''ve otherwise been slain for your insolence you pest but your powers intrigue me, I can conquer this world by myself quite easily but it would take me quite long to do so on my own as even one as mighty as me can only be in one place at a time. Get on your knees and repent now and you''ll be welcomed into my new kingdom with open arms, you can be one of my new generals to help my usher in the new age of Blastaar. The same goes for the rest of you as well especially you Rock Spirit, join me now and help me bring this world to its knees or defy me and die, the choice is yours." Blastaar growls out one last olive branch ignoring Johnny being Johnny and the Fantastic Four lay it no mind and while a lesser mind might give it some credence I do not possess a lesser mind and I know if this Blastaar comes from the Negative Zone then the Fantastic Four of other universes must have also had encounters with him and to my knowledge the Fantastic Four were still going strong in the comics before I died and so they must''ve already dealt with this guy before so it stands to reason that the Fantastic Four of my universe should have everything they need and the capacity to beat this guy so I figure if I just stay in the background and avoid the fight to the best of my ability then the rest of the team will deal with this problem easily enough without any risk to myself and so I try and whiten myself and slunk down slightly as if trying to hide behind the podium with the interface for the portal while leaving the rest of the situation for the others to handle, this time Johnny doesn''t say anything instead deferring to Reed much like the rest of the team who also look toward him for guidance and some semblance of a plan or battle plan since he''s the one with the proper grasp on everyone''s ability''s and with his analytical mind he should''ve figured out some way of fighting this guy and the appropriate response so they all wait for his orders on how to best combat this new adversary and finally Reed speaks out his battle plan which I expected since he s attacking a new foe whose powers and strengths he''s unaware of but what he says last startles and unnerves me. "Johnny, cover fire and try and blinding him with your fire, fly around and try to be an annoyance. Ben, it''s clobbering time, take the battle to him while I try and restrain him with my abilities by wrapping around and tying to tie down his limbs. Sue, keep your distance and support us by shielding us when needed and going on the offensive whenever we are in a tough spot. Nick, fire up the portal, we are gonna blast this guy back to where he came from." They all begin to take their respective roles with Susan dropping back with an annoyed face and her hands spread out towards the grey beast while Johnny has already taken to the air and started to blast fire at Blastaar and Ben and Reed break into a run towards him with Ben shouting out his customary catchphrase ''It''s Clobbering Time'' but what I''m most horrified at in this scenario is that I''ve been given a role by the team leader and it''s quite the crucial role as well since I''m opening the portal to send this guy home and while it''s as easy as a flick of a switch it still makes me quite the target and paints a bullseye on my back since I''m tasked with opening his way home and while it does make me a target I don''t worry much since I think I know what Reed was thinking and why he didn''t mind shouting his plan out loud, Reed shouted out all our orders aloud so we knew what we were supposed to do but he did Johnny first so he could start blasting Blastaar and distracting him with his flames and mine last so Blastaar would be to busy dealing with Johnny''s flames to stop me from opening the portal and so is saw no fault with his plan and raised myself arm to grasp the switch but it seems like both myself and Reed miscalculated heavily since we ?ssumed that Blastaar would be distracted by Johnny but it seems that isn''t the case. "You think I''ll just allow you to send me home, you buffoons! You think these pitiful flames can stop me, stop the might of Blastaar! Tremble before my power, I''m here to stay and you''re not sending me back through that portal!" Johnny''s flames were doing absolutely jack shit to the mean grey beast known as Blastaar and they weren''t even affecting the guy not even making him flinch and this is where Reeds plan went into disarray since Johnny wasn''t sufficiently distracting Blastaar and while I''m sure Johnny could turn up the heat even more that would take him to levels that would be too dangerous for the rest of us in the room (most likely me since the others could probably handle it, Johnny thinks I''m a baseline human) and so without Blastaar being distracted there was nothing to stop him from stopping me from opening the portal and so with inhuman speed he shot his arm out toward me sending my spider senses blaring like a bomb siren, I managed to catch just a glimpse of some sort of blast leaving his fist and heading straight towards me but it came at me with such speed that there was little I could do except from jump backwards but even that wasn''t much and my death was as pretty much guaranteed with how loud my spider sense was but it seems I was lucky since instead of the blast aiming at me like I thought it was it was instead aimed at the console with the switch and controls for the portal so he must of thought it prudent that instead of killing me who would operate the portal he would instead destroy the controls to the portal so no one could operate the portal which is a bug relief for me but even with me jumping backwards and the blast aiming at the console the blast was so fast and powerful that when it impacted the console it absolutely obliterated alit and blasted me with such force that I was sent across the room to collide with the back wall of Reeds laboratory. "NICK, NOOO!! YOUR''E GONNA REGRET THAT YOU FUCKIN'' ARSEHOLE! ARGGHHHH!!!" I can see Johnny scream in fury and begins to let loose a continuous stream of flames that are much hotter than his previous ones at Blastaar instead of the fire blasts he was doing earlier and these ones seem to actually have some affect as I can see the bug grey oaf grimace which I sincerely enjoy since the bastard ended up blasting me across the room into the back wall and while it''s nothing I couldn''t handle with my enhanced durability it still pisses me off not to mention the damage from the actual blast but I''m a bit confused at how much Johnny is overreacting at my ?ssault since he seems to be really angry and mad about it and I never thought that we were friends like that and it''s making me feel a bit bad for using him only to gain access to the Baxter Building but I block that from my mind for a moment since there are more important things going on than stupid questions like that, I quickly check my front which took the brunt of the damage from the blast and it hurt quite a bit seeing it''s how powerful that blast was as spider powers are mainly for agility and not durability and so I quickly stiffen up my body to ignore my injury and find my way to my feet, while I could probably lay back and wait for the fantastic four to defeat this guy I''m now really kissed or at being blasted and would actually really like to send this grey troll packing but how to do that is the question since I can''t actually reveal my powersˇ­ ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane, Arun, frank ivkovich, Alex, Kieta Aki, hisham, Jermaine Koster, Christopher Ames and Ethan Fuentes. Thank you for the support. Chapter 158 - [AT] Breaking Bank… [After Transition] Having gained a scope of the situation outside of the bank I now turn my gaze onto the inside of the bank and I do this by edging myself over to one of the glass ceilings on the roof and leaning forward to peer through into the building but my view is blocked by a big ?ss expensive looking chandelier (Dwight would probably be salivating about the perfect crime now, no wonder Two Face decided to rob this place it''s fancy as fu?k) which irks me a little bit but I pay it no mind as I use a finger to tap the side of my cowl activating an alternative mode (Robin calls it detective mode, but it doesn''t really help you be a detective instead of helping to identify people based on their best signatures as well as scan the surrounding for various things) which allows me to see a whole lot more than I should be able to as I can see through the building and see quite a lot of heat signatures through the building and going off of the schematics I pulled up on the small computer interface on my arm and using the alternative mode to apply it to my surroundings I actually have a physical map of my surrounding along with enemy locations, I can tell that right now there are a few people wandering around the halls of the building probably on patrol with some guards stationed at all the exits with more guards stationed at the main entrance and while their are a few more thugs pissing around in a few rooms without the supervision of their boss I notice five people in what should be the vault and going by the actions I can see them performing they must be stealing all of the stuff in the vault so I can leave them alone for now since that will take them quite a while but most of my attention right now is focused on the main hall of the bank where there are quite a lot of thugs standing around one of which must be Two Face (can''t really tell just going by heat signatures, he is still just a regular human after all though half of him is badly burnt) but what really caught my attention and worries me is the bunch of heat signature maybe around fifteen or so that are also in the main hall but different to the other heat signatures these ones are on the ground with the thug heat sources surrounding these ones so I can only conclude that there are around fifteen or so hostages down there that are stopping the police from coming in to take these guys down as well as stopping the snipers from taking their shots at these scum. Realising just how serious this situation now is I take a moment to review all of my possible actions in this situation and just what I can do as well as how the thugs as well as the hostages inside might react in turn not to mention the previous Arkham Asylum inmate Two Face who is looking to be bat shit crazy and a wild card that is too unpredictable on account of his instability but there''s not a lot to go on right now which is why I used my enhance senses and push my ears to the limit to hear just what''s going on inside and see if I can gather any more information that would aid my current mission, I came out tonight thinking that this would be an easy open and shut situation where I just had to bash some heads together but that''s clearly not the case and I''m beginning to realise just what I agreed to become involved in three months ago. "How in the hell did the fu?kin cops get here so quickly, we''ve only been here for a while and the next second there''s a bunch of pigs outside with a cordon and snipers surrounding the bank. This should have been an easy smash and grab with Batman preoccupied on the other side of town by that freak Scarecrow Crane but somehow the cops got tipped off, if I find out one of you boys have been talking to people you shouldn''t have been talking to then I''ll make sure your fates left up to the coin and that is a fu?kin promise!" It seems like Two Face has gotten frustrated at being caught in the act and he''s currently taking it out on the guards in the main hall suspecting that there''s a rat among his men when in actuality it was Alfred that informed the police about the situation from the Batcave because Batman and his sidekicks were too busy fighting Crane and it seems that that was what ol'' Harvey aren''t was banking on which was why he put his plan into action now but the cops weren''t supposed to catch on so it''s only natural he thinks there are snakes around him and there most likely are but they definitely didn''t tip off the police. but that doesn''t matter right now since Two Face is currently looking at all of his man with distrust so much so that they can''t find it in them to make even a slight move which means none of them men in the room are paying much attention to the hostages that are being kept in a corner of the room which would make this a prime opportunity to rescue them but unfortunately there is no coverage or barriers blocking them from view and most of them men are still facing that direction which means they would definitely see a rescue attempt and end up killing some of the hostages which I can''t risk and so I''ll find solace that the thugs and Two Face are otherwise preoccupied for no which means that the hostages are safe for now and I can focus my efforts on getting rid of the rest of the thugs in the building silently before tackling the main hall. Using detective mode to see if there were any gaps in the security to work myself into the building I find a room at the other end of the building that''s unguarded since it''s on the second floor and there''s no way up to it and knowing that the Batman and his sidekicks are busy they saw no need to defend it which is fine by me since I managed my way to the window and picked it open gently closing it behind me after I enter the bank and began working my way through the second floor which was largely unoccupied since there weren''t too many entrances to the building on this floor and so there was just a few guys guarding the fire escape and the door to the rooftop, so it wasn''t too hard to take them out since they split up often since they''re bored and unsuspecting people which makes it easy for me to knock them out and use some good old zip ties to tie them up while having there mouths with cloth I ripped from their own clothing and with that the second floor was easily cleared which meant it was time to head down and clear out the first/ground food before heading to the boss battle at the main hall and it''ll be much easier with all the other thugs already knocked out. Heading to the ground floor I immediately found things much harder since this was where most of the thugs were focused and so it made it hard and time consuming to take them out silently which meant I was gonna have to get more brazen which meant instead of waiting for them to split up I had to instead take two maybe three of the thugs down at the same time which I was dreading at first but once I actually did it I found it almost easy to do since I could take out groups of these guys with nary a sound which surprised me a lot since I usually get my ?ss kicked hard fighting Batman and only just b?r?ly managing to fight Robin and Batgirl on equal grounds thanks to my enhanced abilities but it seems when combined with my enhanced experience and expertise I am a force to be reckoned with since nearly all the thugs on the ground floor were taken out in such a smooth manner apart from a few mishaps here and there such as when a guy turned around as soon as I was about to put him into a choke hold and I panicked and punched him in the throat which worked since he couldn''t warn his comrades but it still scared the crap out of me which got rid of the small ego boost I was having, it made me more cautious again which was actually good since there were a lot more tough situations I had to deal with throughout the rest of the bank and I would have been in trouble if I wasn''t cautious but I was and so I actually managed to clear the rest of the bank except the main hall having a bit of difficulty when it came to the guards on the doors since they were also being watched by snipers but I found my way around that by using my voice modulators and what I observed to lure a guard away from the door with another thugs voice before taking him out and then taking the other guard out by pulling him towards me with my grapple which was so fast that he had no time to react as I clothes lined him and knocked him down for the count. With all that stuff done and all the thugs in the building zip tied and gagged I made my way back to the second floor and travelled to the main hall which was the size of two floors which means I could approach from the upper floor and look down from the walkways at the main hall without alerting the rest and trying to figure out a way to free the hostages without endangering them, but right now I''m finding that very hard since they are in clear view of the rest which means I can''t do anything overt or even try using a smoke bomb since the thugs are liable to start shooting in the smoke and injure/kill some of the hostages and this makes my job very hard so I spent quite a bit of time pondering this but I knew I didn''t have forever since it was surely only a bit of time till these guys realise what''s up and start hunting me and holding the hostages at gunpoint so I have to act fast with the hostages protection as first priority. "Hey you, go check on the guys in the vault and see how far along they are. If they''re behind schedule come back and get some more men to go help packing up the riches, we''ve not got a lot of time till the cops start getting itchy fingers so hurry up and get the shit quick. You can take some of the guys patrolling the building if they''re working too slow, we''ve got the entrances guarded and the pigs aren''t brave enough to come in like Batman would be so there''s no point in having them patrol when Batman busy dealing with that fear fu?ker so pick them up if you need any extra hands and make it snappy, I ain''t paying ya to stand around." Two Face getting antsy just waiting instructs one of the men to go and check up on the progress in the vault which I completely forgot about and get some more men if they needed to hurry it up and so off the man went and I''m just glad that the path he took to the vault wasn''t near where others were patrolling which made it so he didn''t discover them knocked out which I''m glad for since I followed him to make sure he didn''t get alerted and I ended up following him to the vault which he entered to talk to the other guys in there and since I was here I decided to take care of the guys but unfortunately I couldn''t waste too much time with the hostages still in danger so when the guy entered the vault I threw in some knockout gas after him and slammed the vault door shut which should take care of them and so I posted a note on the vault door to inform the police when they came that thugs were in the vault before I headed back off to the main hall for my run in with Two Face, I have the beginnings of a plan to save those hostages and take out the rest of these scumˇ­ ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane, Arun, frank ivkovich, Alex, Kieta Aki, hisham, Jermaine Koster, Christopher Ames and Ethan Fuentes. Thank you for the support. Chapter 159 - [BT] A Plan in Motion… [Before Transition] I quickly check my front which took the brunt of the damage from the blast and it hurt quite a bit seeing just how powerful that blast was as spider powers are mainly for agility and not durability and so I quickly stiffen up my body to ignore my injuries and find my way to my feet and while I could probably lay back and wait for the fantastic four to defeat this guy I''m now really pissed at being blasted and would actually really like to send this grey troll packing but how to do that is the question since I can''t actually reveal my powers, viewing the fight for a second from my position laying down on the floor I can see Reed currently wrapping himself around Blastaar trying to restrict his limbs and movements while leaving his head alone which Johnny is keeping a constant barrage of fire blasts at while Ben continues to lambast the grey mountain with blows that all actually avoid Reeds stretched body while Susan provides support by shielding them from Blastaar''s attacks as well as protecting them from any friendly fire needed and I take a minute to marvel at the teamwork they are displaying since it takes real dedication and effort to get that good though there are slight mistakes here and there but that doesn''t matter much since Susan covers them so right now the invader is taking a serious beating though it looks more like he is being pushed around but not actually hurt that much. "Enough you filthy MAGGOTS! GET OFF OF ME, NOW!" Blastaar no longer wanting to play around and getting angry roars aloud and let''s of some kind of full body blast like the blast he used earlier which blasts Ben back and blows Johnny tumbling through the air while affecting Reed in quite a different way since he was in such close proximity but with his powers Reed is awkwardly blasted away from him flinging in every which direction like a balloon that''s been blown up and let go with putting a knot on it which blows it around the entire room before it eventually loses juice and collapses somewhere and without anything holding him back anymore Blastaar goes to take a step forward but finds himself restricted for some reason and when I look towards Susan I can see here holding her hands out towards him keeping him in place and not allowing him to move an inch which seems to be taking quite a lot out of her considering her strained face but this allows. Both Johnny and Ben enough time to recover and rush back in to the fight with Reed joining them shortly after in battle after recovering from his spin around the room, I watch as they easily get back into position and continue battling the hulking grey monstrosity without giving an inch and keeping him in place right in front of the teleported and I realise that this battle is going to be in a stalemate for a long time or it''s gonna get resolved quickly if the grey beats begins to use his blasts more efficiently but for some reason he isn''t doing it which I''m grateful for but even so it''s only a matter of time before he starts blasting which is gonna be pretty soon but even so there''s not a lot I can do in this situation given the fact that I can''t physically get involved due to hiding my powers and the only way I could possibly affect this battle in anyway is to use my technical expertise and knowledge but even then I''m stuck for ideas and so I take one last cursory glance around the laboratory in search of something that may interest and aid me in my endeavours. Spotting the things around me and all my possible tools and equipment I began to fashion a plan in my mind that just might work without actually getting me too involved in the fight as I would just be acting as limited support to the rest of the guys and so with the vestiges of my plan forming in my mind I pick up the remote control for the television in Reeds laboratory and begin to slowly worm crawl my way back to my currently occupied friends which was fine by me since it meant no one would be paying too much attention to me allowing me to be free to do what I''m gonna do without interruptions though perhaps no one paying attention to me could be a bad thing considering I''m in a literal battle field and people aren''t gonna keep an eye out for me as shown by the blast of fire that johnny just blasted by me, now more cautious and frantic I hurried my way towards my destination while making sure to take cover behind objects on the way to protect my own ?ss and quite quickly I managed to make it to my destination which was actually the control station for the portal that had been blown up by Blastaar to prevent us from opening it up and sending him back through and it was dangerously close to the battle seeing as to how the control station was connected to the side of the portal which Blastaar was fighting directly in front of meaning that I was just a few meters away from them only being hidden by the destroyed remains of the control station. Although it is indeed dangerous being so close to the action I''m at least being covered by the wreckage of the control station and there''s a reason why I''m here as well because even if the control station is destroyed the portal itself is fine but it needs a switch to be activated which is why I brought the remote control along with me as I''ll be using the components inside of it (mainly the bu??ons) and whatever I can salvage from the remains of the control station to create another activator for the portal and while I might not be able to do anything with it other then turn the portal on and off (not choosing where to deploy the portal in the Negative Zone, not putting coordinates or any other deeper controls) that''s all I need since I just want the portal to be activated to send the big grey bastard through it to three Negative Zone without thinking about where he''s gonna end up and just caring about the fact that he''s no longer here with us, I quickly get to work as I hide behind the remains of the control station taking whatever I can salvage from it and implanting it in the remote control while ripping out the nonessentials from the remote which was pretty much all of it but all I really needed was a signal to relay to the portal and switch it on and off so with some quick work I managed to alter the remote to connect to the portal and switch it on and off but of course while theoretically this should work I don''t actually have any confirmation that it will work since I can''t test it out due to Blastaar being right in front of the portal and if he sees it turn on then he might destroy the thing before he can be blasted through so I''m gonna have to work on some faith now but what''s more important at the moment is finding a way to blast him through it because while the others are getting some hits in they don''t have enough force to blast him away. Thinking quickly now that I have the device to activate the portal I begin to make my way back the way I came to the edge of the room making sure to stay out of sight before I then skirt along the outside of the room till I get where Susan is and at this point I ?ssure myself that I am far enough away from the fight that it wouldn''t matter if they saw me or not since Blastaar would be too caught up in battle to do anything and so I actually started to walk on my own two feet instead of crawling along the floor like I had been and arrived next to Susan who didn''t even notice me because she was much too focused on the fight ahead of us, and who could blame her when her forcefields could be the difference between life and death for any of the other three members of the Fantastic Four considering the punches Blastaar was throwing around along with the blasts he was starting to use now but that didn''t make as much difference as it did the first time considering the fact that the rest of them now knew to expect it and so could avoid and work around it such as Reed now hitting and punching with enlarged fists instead of trying to restrict the invaders movements. "Sue, are you alright? How''s the fight going and are we winning?" I ask as I pull along side her startling her in the process but she immediately refocus on doing her job considering how vital it is but she manages to interact with me as she does so, I can see some of the others across the room also noticed my appearance but they don''t pay it much attention since they don''t have the luxury to and instead they concentrate on fighting this guy who actually didn''t notice me which I''m very grateful for. "Nick, your alright? Thank god, we were so worried when you got blasted across the room by that monster. You should get out of here, get to the elevator and leave while we take care of this guy." She''s telling me to leave and go while they fight him which I admittedly did think about but right now I have a plan and I while I''m nearly one hundred percent sure that the Fantastic Four can take care of this guy by themselves there''s that slight chance that they might die while in battle or fail which would not only mean that one of the best superhero groups in the world is gone but it would also mean that I''d no longer have an internship here and most of their files and day would most likely be confiscated by Shield or some other organisation therefore restricting my access which I can''t allow so I have to make sure they beat this guy so that my place here is safe as well as my access to the wealth of knowledge stored within the databanks (oh, and also the fact that if they lose this Blastaar guy would win and be given free reign to do what he wants till some other superheroes manage to get here and I''m too close for comfort to wait until they do so this is my best option), coming in close to her as she concentrates on the fight I get close to her and lower my mouth till it nears her ear and I begin whisper quietly into her ear. "I can''t leave now, what kind of guy would that make me. I''m whispering because I''m unsure if this Blastaar has super hearing or something and I don''t want him to hear this, I''ve rebuilt the controls to the portal he''s currently standing in front of and I can now activate and open it but we need to do it at the right moment because if we do it too early he''ll destroy it pushing us back to square one. We need a plan to push him through and right now even with the punches Ben''s throwing Blastaar is too tough and his stance is making him very stable making any chance of him getting punched through the portal low, do you have any idea as to what we can do to push him through or maybe get him off balance so that Ben can punch him through the portal?" Susan turns an eye on me in response to my words and I quickly back away from her ear feeling that I was too close but she doesn''t seem to care about that as she regards me with an eye before glancing down at the TV remote control in my hand that I refashioned into an activator for the portal and while she eyes it with some concern she eventually decides to trust in my word and she nods, she then gestures with her head for me to come closer to her and I do so before she become again and I be the message lowering myself so my ear was next to her this time so that she could whisper to me. "I''ve got a plan, it should work. Just make sure you keep your finger on the trigger and get ready to pull it, you''ll know whenˇ­" ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane, Arun, frank ivkovich, Alex, Kieta Aki, hisham, Jermaine Koster, Christopher Ames and Ethan Fuentes.. Thank you for the support. Chapter 160 - [AT] Hurried Hostage Rescue.. [After Transition] On my way back to the main hall I go to all the exits on the ground floor and break the chains off of them leaving them open before heading back towards the main hall but instead of going inside I used my alternative mode to pinpoint everybody''s heat signatures in reference to the building schematics and when I confirmed which corner of the room the hostages were being squashed and held hostage in I made my way to the room behind that wall making sure to leave the door open behind me and I went directly to one of the corners of the room which was also specifically behind the wall where the hostages were and after making sure that none of the goons were paying attention since they weren''t really open electing company given the fact that the Batman is busy with his sidekicks dealing with the Scarecrow across town which means they aren''t expecting me or anyone else to have the balls to come in and take them on let alone free the hostages, reaching into my utility belt I pulled out an explosive gel gun which was a gun that had cartridges of explosive gel in it and shot them out and could be activated by a small detonator left in the gel but instead of using it straight away I reach back into my utility belt and pull out a small contraption that I made myself and affix it to the end of the explosive gel gun which would allow the gel to come out in smaller and thinner quantities which along with the modifications I made to the gel gun should help me free the hostages. The modification I made to the explosive gel is that I made it a lot more quieter when detonated in exchange for some of its bang which obviously doesn''t really affect things if you use it in large quantities but when applied precisely with a small amount the most noise generated will be a light buzzing that''s almost insignificant and so I go about applying the explosive gel with the gun in small lines along the wall behind the hostages making a nearly perfect square that reached the floor before igniting it which resulted in a light buzzing as the entirety of the gel detonated leaving an indented burnt square in the wall about a centimetre deep and while its not a lot the wall isn''t that thick here and so I go about applying this process several more times before finally I''ve gotten through most of the wall and with the final application and detonation of my modified explosive gel the square section of wall gives way almost toppling to the ground but I catch it before it can and then gently lift it out of the wall and place it gently onto the ground beside me before I peak my head through to the other side of the wall to find myself subject to the startled gazes of the many hostages who are half terrified out of their minds because of my actions, watching them closely I move a finger to my mouth in a shushing gesture which they all seem to get and it seems like all of the visibly calmed when they got a good look at me or most likely my visage which was similar to a bat but I didn''t mind since it made it easier for me to get an ?ssessment of the current state of the hostages who were all ?du?ts so no worries there but hand I looked closely it seems that there were two security guards among them with one being perfectly healthy and the other being a bit beat up but both of them were at the back of the wall surrounded by the rest of the hostages who thankfully didn''t take notice of my arrival and my guess is that these guards were squished into the corner to prevent them from doing anything funny but this works to my advantages. Thankfully my removal of the wall was quiet which meant even most of he hostages were unaware of my appearance behind them and only those who were close to the wall noticed my presence which made this much easier for me to do since I was working with a smaller crowd which should make things progress smoothly, looking at them both I pull them both close so that they can hear me but I can tell which is the better one to trust with an important job and so I pull out a Batarang and cut the zip tie holding the beaten up security guards arms behind his back it when he immediately raises his arms towards his mouth to ungag himself I shoot my hand forward grabbing onto his and shoving them back behind his back which he glared at me for but I just glare back which seems to cower him and seeing that he''s aware of the situation I begin to whisper to him to explain to him his role going forward. "Keep your hands behind your back for now and don''t ungag yourself, the only reason this hole in the wall isn''t being discovered is because it''s so low that all of the hostages bodies are keeping it hidden but if you start waving your hands and ungag yourself than those goons are gonna noticed and the only reason that they haven''t already is that they are distracted right now and don''t care to much about you guys to keep an eye on you. Now listen to me, because you two are gonna have some important roles here and if you don''t do your jobs like I tell you to and think it better to run off then just know that I''ll find you and when I do I won''t be happy, understood?" They both rapidly nod their heads at my words but while I can tell that the beat up security guards nod is filled with dedication I can tell that the untouched security guards nod is filled with fear towards me and my retribution if he deserts the post I give him, ?ssured that they are both listening intently with the will to act ,no matter where they might have gotten the motivation, I begin to whisper again to tell them what parts they''ll be playing in my plan and I turn to the beat up security guard and address him first. "What you are gonna do is grab ahold of some of these hostages one at a time every five to ten seconds and push them through this hole to the other side of the wall without properly freeing them where this other security guard will be after I free him and drag him through and he''ll cut them free before directing them towards an exit before pulling through the next hostage, your gonna have to be slow and careful here since any mistake and these thugs are gonna realise something fishy is going on so be as subtle as you can and don''t ungag any of them even after you''ve dragged them though to the other side of the wall since silence is golden in this situation and I''d rather not have them screaming and drawing attention. So remember to be subtle and not alert anyone even the other hostages apart from the ones your dragging through since they''ll notice and their behaviour will inform the thugs in the room so do your best and stay calm, I''ll be waiting up above in the rafters keeping an eye on things and if it looks like things are about to go bad I''ll jump down and start fighting them giving you time to escape in which case you''ll need to take this and starting cutting the zip ties off of them since stealth won''t matter at that point in time, okay? Good." Reaching out I shove a Batarang into one of the hands behind the beat up security guards back before I then reach out and grab the other security guard before I pull him through with me last the wall to the other side where I immediately stand him up and cut off his zip tie before I make another shushing gesture at him which I make sure he understands before I pull out his gag from his mouth and allow him back the ability of speech, he then immediately goes to speak I place my hand over his mouth and shake my head no at him and instead start to whisper to him to make sure he knows what he''s doing. "Alright listen, your gonna pull the people though the wall to this side and cut open their zip ties with this Batarang I''m gonna give you but don''t ungag them and tell them where to go but make sure they know to go quietly or if that impossible hang a few back releasing them one at a time just to make sure they don''t stampede and alert the rest of the thugs to what''s really going. All the rest of the guards in the building have been knocked out and all the doors have been opened so just direct them to the closest exit and they should do just fine, you focus on this stuff while I hang out above the main hall and keep an eye out incase I need to involve myself with this before the hostages can escape." I reach back into my utility belt for the umpteenth time today and pull out another Batarang which I hand to this guy before I immediately run off out of the room without another glance already ensured that he''ll follow my orders and I''m not too bothered about leaving these Batarangs behind since Bruce is a billionaire and he can just make millions of these so it doesn''t matter if I misplace a few of these since Batman has left thousands of these things laying around Gotham City and while admittedly they are usually found and cleaned up by either the police, an organisation or a proxy for Bruce there are still quite a few that have been missed and found by others who probably sell it for a pretty penny with it being a rare item from a famous superhero, making my way back to the second floor again I keep on the alternative mode and I can see the heat signatures moving from which I can tell that both security guards are doing their jobs perfectly and the hostage rescue is going as planned but that won''t last and so I quickly reach my destination on the second floor which is a large hall that''s connected to the main hall on the first floor from which I can see the entirety of the floor where the thugs are going about their own business with Two Face shouting at them completely oblivious to the fact that their hostages are escaping from right under their noses which I find pretty hilarious but nows no time for humour which is why I''m not laughing. Using my grapple I pull myself up to ones of the many gargoyle ornament/statue things that''s attached to the upper wall and I land on top of it for the perfect spot to watch and keep an eye on the proceedings and wait for when it''s gonna go off the rail which shouldn''t be too long now, it''s only a matter of time before they notice the number of hostages dwindlingˇ­ ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane, Arun, frank ivkovich, Alex, Kieta Aki, hisham, Jermaine Koster, Christopher Ames and Ethan Fuentes.. Thank you for the support. Chapter 161 - [BT] Wrecking Ball… [Before Transition] "I''ve rebuilt the controls to the portal he''s currently standing in front of and I can now activate and open it but we need to do it at the right moment because if we do it too early he''ll destroy it pushing us back to square one. We need a plan to push him through and right now even with the punches Ben''s throwing Blastaar is too tough and his stance is making him very stable making any chance of him getting punched through the portal low, do you have any idea as to what we can do to push him through or maybe get him off balance so that Ben can punch him through the portal?" Susan turns an eye on me in response to my words and I quickly back away from her ear feeling that I was too close but she doesn''t seem to care about that as she regards me with an eye before glancing down at the TV remote control in my hand that I refashioned into an activator for the portal and while she eyes it with some concern she eventually decides to trust in my word and she nods, she then gestures with her head for me to come closer to her and I do so before she beckons again and I understand the message lowering myself so my ear was next to her this time so that she could whisper to me. "I''ve got a plan, it should work. Just make sure you keep your finger on the trigger and get ready to pull it, you''ll know when." Nodding my head in response to her words I quickly back away from her so as to give her enough space as to concentrate on her job which is providing support to the others and making sure they don''t die which is pretty important so I''m fine with backing off and staying silent while just keeping watch and waiting till the moment where I have to activate the portal which shouldn''t be too much of a weight considering the fact that this battle is continuing and Blastaar doesn''t look much like he''s tiring so they''re gonna have to do something soon or risk the me of them getting seriously injured so I''ll have to focus entirely on the battle and make sure I don''t miss my opportunity to open the portal when they throw him backwards, otherwise we''ll be screwed and while I''m sure they could handle it and pull it out of the bag even if I failed I''m pretty sure they would still be angry so I better not fu?k this up. Standing quite a fair bit behind Susan now I concentrate and focus my all into watching the battle as it progresses and it seems like the guys are making some headway now that they''ve gathered more information on his capabilities with Reed mostly zipping around the guy using his stretching powers to provide some sort of distraction whiteout getting too close while zapping him with some kind of weapon which he seems to swap out every so often trying to find something that will hurt him and while he does that Johnny still fires his blasts at the guy but because he can''t make his fire too hot as he would risk hurting others here he has instead improved his accuracy and has began shooting at Blastaars eyes (or any orifice he can really, I saw him shoot a blast directly into the guys mouth one time) which are proving to be a weak point of his since he gets hurt and so he has to close his eyelids to protect his eyes which blinds him, this gives opportunity for Ben to get through and start sucker punching him (Ben has not really changed what he''s doing but he''s changed when he''s doing it as he''s waiting for opportunities provided by the others to get in and deliver some damage) but even then Blastaar knows what to expect after closing his eyes so his stance is wide for stability with his arms crossed in front of him to provide some measure of defence so that even with Ben delivering some serious damage the guy is like a rock that''s taking it and isn''t getting thrown away which means even with the guys better teamwork and efficiency we are not getting closer to getting this guy through the portal and back to the negative zone. Susan seemingly seeing her opportunity yells two different orders at once for the other Fantastic Four members to hear, the first one being for Johnny and the second one being for both Reed and Ben to follow and I''m wondering what the words she is shouting actually mean because they are pretty weird. "Guys we''ve got a plan trust me, just follow my orders! Johnny, Fire Spout. Reed and Ben, Wrecking Ball! Shoot him towards the goal!" I think I understand the last bit as she''s telling them to hit Blastaar into to the goal with the goal being the portal as it''s circular and pretty easy to understand what she means without tipping off Blastaar because they probably don''t have sport where he''s from and I can gather form context that it''s Ben and Reeds job to hit him towards the goal since their orders are ''Wrecking Hall'' which I don''t know how to interpret because obviously in that scenario Ben would be the wrecking ball but for something to be a wrecking ball it needs to be swinging from something and while theoretically Reed could be the chain in this scenario I don''t think he has the strength nor the rigidity to be the chain to Ben''s ball so I''m pretty confused what''s happening here, what I''m not confused about though is Johnny''s job since with a name like ''Fire Spout'' it''s not too difficult to infer what that means since spout is sometimes used in place of spew so Johnny just gonna be spewing fire which he''s been doing this entire time so for this to actually have a code word to it must mean something different is also being done here aside from the regular blasts and I figure out the difference pretty fast considering that Johnny started to blaze a continuous stream of fire at Blastaar which is no different to what he''s done before but what is different is the fact that Blastaar had to actually defend against this fire by crossing his arms in front of him and even then it seems like the fire is nearly pushing him back and I quickly understand what is different about Johnny''s flames this time being the fact that they are considerably more hot now reaching unbearable temperatures and while I can actually handle these temperatures due to my powers these guys don''t know that and they have some resistance to fire so I''m a bit confused at what sues planning until I see a brief shimmer in front of me and I realise she placed a force field/barrier in front of me to protect me from the heat which I appreciate as it keeps my cover intact but even then she continues to look at the battle and concentrate on her work but when I look at the battlefield I''m confused as to what she''s actually doing since I can''t see any of her forcefields at all (yes they''re invisible (kinda) but with all the flames I would have expected the forcefields to become visible but I can''t see anything). Seeing that Johnny is doing what he''s supposed to which is following his sisters orders I look over to Ben and Reed curious as to how ''Wrecking Hall'' worked since I couldn''t figure it out but when I looked over it seemed like Reed was reluctant to do what Susan wanted him to as he stood there just staring at Blastaar as he was sieved by Johnny''s fire contemplating and not wanting to follow Susan''s plan which I can kinda understand since she hasn''t really said anything about the plan and just ordered them around but she''s only done that because she doesn''t want to alert Blastaar and make him destroy the portal before we send him threw but it seems like Susan isn''t noticing Reeds reluctance as she focuses on doing whatever part of this she involved in and I''m about to step in and say something when I see Ben approach Reed and pull him along to the centre of the room which was thankfully somehow empty of clutter which is rare for any part of Reeds lab, it seems that Reed decided to go along with the plan since he had no other option and he had no other plans in the work so he might as well try and do this since he very one else was doing there parts already and so Reed quickly stretches his arm out across the room and I can''t see where it goes as it''s lost in the clutter but when it appears again as it saps back to his body he''s holding a metal pole around the size of a baseball bat and once he has it he holds it out upright and suddenly both ends of the pole extend digging into both the floor and the ceiling and I can see various other metal components pop out from the sides and begin to hook themselves into the floor and ceiling to make it stable and I''m confused what this is supposed to be and I''m equally confused when Reed goes and wraps his entire body around the midsection of the pole sand then stretches out his hand toward Ben with all his digits elongate he and wrapping around Ben''s body which the orange rock man doesn''t seem to mind. I''m a whole lot more confused when after being wrapped up by one of Reed''s arms Ben begins to jog around the pole in the middle slowly working his way up to a full blown sprint while all the time having Reed holding onto him and as Ben ran circles around the pole which ended up in Reed''s whole body and arm being wrapped up around the pole as he ran around the pole but what amazed me further was the fact that no matter how many circles Ben sprinted around the pole it just seemed like Reed''s arm kept going and stretching to accommodate him and after about a minute in which Blastaar was still being full blasted by Johnny Ben had ran around the pole ten to fifteen times before he stopped and that made me even more confused as to what was supposed to happen and I was surprised when Ben started to kneel on the ground and curl up into a hall before I found myself astonished when Reeds elongated arm began to fully wrap up the orange rock man completely covering him showing nothing of the man underneath as he was entirely covered by layers of Reed own body, I watch for a moment as they just sit there and wait for something to happen which I''m unaware of but it seems all they were waiting for was a signal. "Alright now, do it! Let it rip boys, full speed!" After Susan shouts that I see Reed press a bu??on that was almost invisible on the pole with his other free hand and suddenly the pole itself began to him as if some machinery was going to work in there, staring at it I can only come to one conclusion, holy shit this is crazyˇ­ ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane, frank ivkovich, Alex, hisham, Jermaine Koster, Christopher Ames and Ethan Fuentes.. Thank you for the support. Chapter 162 - [AT] Batman’s Here… [After Transition] Hanging on my perch above the main hall of the bank I watch as Two Face continuous to watch the cops outside through the windows while his thugs either do the same as him or quietly whisper to one another in their own little groups so as to not upset Two Face and because of this no one pays attention to the hostages in the corner of the room and no one notices how little by little the number of hostages are dwindling due to them being pulled through the little hole i the corner I made and escaping but even then the numbers have obviously changed and all it will take is one thug looking in their direction to notice so I''m prepared for action at any moment and I honestly find it bizarre and lucky that they haven''t clicked on already but I''m not that lucky and so somethings gonna give soon, watching the security guard one by one grab the hostages and push them through the hole I realise that it''s taking too long but there''s nothing I can do and I''ve already committed to this so I either stick it out or start beating on the thugs but both come with risks and right now sticking this out is looking much better at least till as many hostages as possible are gone and then if an start to act since I don''t want anyone dying on my first escapade especially since this was an unsanctioned outing and Batman didn''t give me permission so if I fu?k up now I fu?k up everything I''ve been working toward these last three months and I can''t let that happen. "Tsk, those fu?k?n? cops are still outside and they''re not gonna be movin'' anytime soon. We''re gonna have to start leveraging these hostages for a way out of here soon once we have all the cash, it''s not like we don''t have enough hostages so we can pop a few to set the mood and get what we want. Speaking of which where the fu?k are the boys down in the vault? They should''ve finished packin'' up the moolah by now, so what''s the goddamn hold up? Forget it, looks like we''ll be here for a while before the pigs fulfil our demand but first we gotta show them we mean business. One of you grab two hostages and bring em to me, we''ll flip a coin to see which one gets whacked and which one gets to leave. Make em see we''re serious but we''re also willin to play ball, shouldn''t be long till they start lickin our ?sses with the Bat on the other side of town and unable to figh-" Two Face begins to turn around from his position watching the cops from the window as he questions where the thugs in the vault are not knowing that I''ve locked them in there and knocked them out with knockout gas and when he mentions killing a few of the hostages to get the message across to the police (though I''m sure they already know the situation considering that they''ve not tried to make a single advance on the building yet) I find my disgust of the man grow knowing that he was once the distinguished DA Harvey Dent the white knight of Gotham but now he''s just another mad man in Gotham because half his face was burnt off and there are thousands of people in Gotham with way worse problems but you don''t see them having a bitch fit because of it and what really disgusts me about this guy is how weak he is to have all his morals and principles thrown out the door because he suffered an acid attack well so what I''ve been thrown through a literal fu?kin meat grinder and I''m not half as crazy as this guy, when the guy begins to talk about using the hostages and orders one of his men to grab them I know I no longer have the luxury to wait and I have to act but there are still some hostages in the room which means I''ll have to protect them as well as fight these guys which makes my job a thousand times harder but as he goes to finish his last sentence I have an idea and so before he can actually finish his sentence I reach behind my back and pull out a Batarang which I fling across the room with such speed that it knocks the Tommy gun straight out slot Two Faces hands before I jump down from my perch knowing that''s where they''ll look and land on the walkway above the main hall and wait. "FUCK, IT''S THE BAT! EYES ON THE SKY BOYS, HE''S UP THERE SOMEHWERE AND WE GOTTA BRING HIM DOWN!" Two Face immediately shouts after his Tommy gun is knocked out of his hands and he reaches both of his hands into his jacket to pull out his two automatic silver pistols and begins to aim up at the ceiling looking for Batman which his henchmen soon copy all of them looking and aiming up in search of the Batman which means they''re not looking at the hostages which will allow them to hurry up and escape which is why I''ve done this since I needed to make sure as many hostages escape as possible and for that I need them distracted and what better way to do that then to play on their fears (ironic since right now fear is being used to terrorise people across the other side of Gotham by Scarecrow while I''m using it here to save lives, just goes to prove anything can be a weapon but it''s whose hands the weapon is in which counts) primarily being Batman and so throwing a Batarang and sticking to the shadows (since while the lower floor is lit up the top floor isn''t proving to be sufficient to hide myself) should convince them that Batman is here and should take up most of their time allowing for the hostages to escape, if they looked a little closer at the Batarang that knocked Two Face''s Tommy gun out of his hands then they would''ve noticed that while Batman''s Batarangs are plain black this one is black with golden/yellow inlays as well as edge proving that the one attacking them isn''t Batman but tensions are high right now and their fear is preventing them from looking to closely more afraid of a possible threat and so they continue to stare up at the ceiling panicked and unaware that their attacker is not Batman and that their hostages are all escaping. "B-But Boss, I though Batman was fighting Scarecrow across town? How can he be in two places at the same time? Maybe the rumours are true and there actually are hundreds of Batman''s out there fightin crime? How else can he be here when he''s fightin Scarecrow all rod town along with big his little sidekicks?" "Shut up you idiot, he must''ve already dealt with that freak Scarecrow and come straight here. Show yourself Batman, let''s settle this man to man instead of you hidings n the shadows you coward." One of Two Face''s goons is especially scared right now and begins to panic as well as doubt his boss and question the possibility of a rumour suggesting that there might be hundreds of Batmen fighting crime but Tow Face immediately shuts that down with an annoyed brown before calling out Batman to show himself and fight which I''m clearly not gonna do since I''m not Batman and there are still hostages that need to escape but I know that they aren''t gonna look up here forever and they''re are gonna need some extra stimuli to keep there attention focused up here as well as too distracted to notice the fact that hostages are escaping or that they could potentially grab a hostage for extra protection so I need to give them something to focus on and keep their minds distracted from the hostages, thinking quick I quickly sneak across the path to the front of the building with windows which are covered on either side by curtains that are currently open allowing for the moonlight to shine directly through the window and so I pull out another Batarang and throw it across the room making sure it makes some sound to draw their attention so they can see it go through one of the opened curtains dragging it along for a bit as it crosses the room before landing in a wall but the thugs are more distracted by the curtain flashing across the window for a moment blocking out some of the moonlight shining though and it almost looks like a cape streaking across the window making them think it''s the Batman and so without a single word between them they all aim up at that section of the room and let loose a volley of bullets am starting an absolute barrage in the wall and windows which would no doubt startle the cops outside and I''m just glad that I''m not there since I would be ripped to shreds and Ben if I would recover almost instantly from it. . The barrage raged on for like a minute before they finally stop having to reload their weapons even if half of them did it during the barrage and then continued firing and they stare up not hearing a single thing before they begins to look askance at each other asking ''if they had got him'' while Two Face continues to glare upwards not letting a single emotion show, I watch as he ejects the clips from his pistols and puts new ones and in before he finally barks at them to shut up and actually tells me what he''s thinking. "SHUT UP! That ain''t enough to take out the Bat, somethings up. By now he would''ve taken out half of you guys already but he not made a single move, he is up to something and we ain''t gonna let him do it so easily. Grab some of the hostages and point your gun on their heads, let''s see if he''ll do anything when we got some bozos at gun point." Heeding his orders his thugs turn around to grab some of the hostages but they don''t move from there spots whic oh pisses of Two Face since gmthey aren''t following his orders, he himself also turns around. "What the fu?ks taking you guys so goddamn long? Just picky up a couple body shields and hold them in front of yourselves, it''s not fu?k?n? hard to d-. WHERE THE FUCK ARE THE HOSTAGES!?" Two Face''s face twist into a grimace of anger when he turns around to see the corner that was previously filled with hostages empty with nary a sight of a single hostage which immediate angers him while his thugs all look around awkwardly knowing that they would be getting in trouble for this but this means that I''m free to act properly with the hostages gone, with the kids away its time for daddy to play or rather, with the hostages away it''s time for me to start busting head togetherˇ­ ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane, frank ivkovich, Alex, hisham, Jermaine Koster, Christopher Ames and Ethan Fuentes. Thank you for the support. Chapter 163 - [BT] Blastaar Blasting Off… [Before Transition] I''m a whole lot more confused when after being wrapped up by one of Reed''s arms Ben begins to jog around the pole in the middle slowly working his way up to a full blown sprint while all the time having Reed holding onto him and as Ben ran circles around the pole which ended up in Reed''s whole body and arm being wrapped up around the pole as he ran around the pole but what amazed me further was the fact that no matter how many circles Ben sprinted around the pole it just seemed like Reed''s arm kept going and stretching to accommodate him and after about a minute in which Blastaar was still being full blasted by Johnny Ben had ran around the pole ten to fifteen times before he stopped and that made me even more confused as to what was supposed to happen and I was surprised when Ben started to kneel on the ground and curl up into a ball before I found myself astonished when Reeds elongated arm began to fully wrap up the orange rock man completely covering him showing nothing of the man underneath as he was entirely covered by layers of Reed own body, I watch for a moment as they just sit there and wait for something to happen which I''m unaware of but it seems all they were waiting for was a signal. "Alright now, do it! Let it rip boys, full speed!" After Susan shouts that I see Reed press a bu??on that was almost invisible on the pole with his other free hand and suddenly the pole itself began to hum as if some machinery was going to work in there, staring at it I can only come to one conclusion but even then I was confused since I don''t think even this would be enough to blast Blastaar through the portal but then again I could be wrong since I don''t know exactly what the guys limits are and these guys have been fighting him for a while so they shouldn''t you have a more accurate measure of him and if they think fifteen spins are gonna do it then who am I to doubt them. With Blastaar being preoccupied by Johnny''s full power fire blast which even managed to push him a few steps back there''s nothing he can do as the pole Reeds attached to begins to hum and whirl before suddenly it revs up and begins to rapidly spin and when you take into account the direction Ben had run around the pole before hand you realise that he ran around the pole away form Blastaar and the portal and now that it began to spin in the opposite direction Reed himself who was attached to the pole itself began to spin around and he was attach her to the big wrecking ball that was Ben using his elongated arm and so as he began to spin so did Ben at a rapid speed and with each revolution the speed got faster and so did Ben and even then I noticed Reed either stretching or shrinking his arm as he span to give Ben enough slack to speed up but not enough length to hit Blastaar before they were supposed to whichever I''m guessing they''ll know when Susan tells them and so they began to spin as Johnny continued his constant stream of fire on Blastaar and Susan watched them seemingly concentrating on something, with each revolution they spun I knew they had one less spin and I worried that whatever plan Susan was working on it wouldn''t happen fast enough before the spins reached there end and I worried that the power of Ben even with all the centrifugal force wouldn''t be enough to shoot Blastaar through the portal even with Johnny keeping him at bay which was why I was so shocked when Susan shouted her next orders to them. "Reed, hit him towards the goal NOW! Johnny, kill the FIRE! Nick, you know what to do." While she shouted her two previous orders got here recipients she whispered her final order to me because not only was I right next to her but I also had the most important job which was to open the portal at the exact right time so the Blastaar could be hit through but to do it so that Blastaar wouldn''t be able to destroy it before he was sent through but what alarms me most is the fact that I thought this plan hinged on Johnny distracting Blastaar with his flames slowing Ben to hit him through the portal but just now Susan ordered Johnny to kill his flames which he immediately did without hesitation which shows just how loyal and trusting he is of his sister but the situation is bad since Reed also follows through on his orders as well as he extends his arms to give Ben enough slack so that he would now be able to punt Blastaar but he only did that just after Ben passed Blastaar which meant he had another entire revolution to do before Blastaar would be hit by Ben and with Johnny killing his flames Blastaar no longer had anything distracting him and while that would admittedly only be for less than a second that was still too long as Blastaar could dodge or even brace himself for the blow in that time, my fears are proven true when Blastaar realises his situation and begins to raise his arms to defend himself but just before my hopes are compulsory dashed i see a slight glimmer beneath the invaders feet and suddenly he stumbles backwards and that was when I realised the absolute genius behind Susan''s plan and he needs good what the crux of the plan truly was because Johnny''s flames were not only meant to distract Blastaar but they were also intended to push the man back a bit which would be enough for him to step onto the paper thin forcefield Susan had laid against the ground behind him which was what she was concentrating on this entire time and so when Johnny cut his fire and Reed lengthened his arm Susan did her own part of the plan. With Blastaar standing on Susan''s thin force field she turns her forcefield into a slope and since Blastaar was on the forcefield he stumbles back caught unaware and by surprise and that''s when I realise that it''s my turn to do my part of the plan which was probably the easiest but since I created the device on the fly and I hadn''t tested it I found myself worried that it wouldn''t work when I pressed the bug bu??on in the remote but thankfully my device worked perfectly and the portal behind Blastaar shudders to life creating a portal to somewhere in the Negative Dimension but even then Blastaar doesn''t even have the time to realise that it''s open since he''s stumbling backwards and before he can react Ben completes his final revolution and smacks straight into Blastaar as he''s destabilised and blasting him off like a rocket straight through the portal that I had just opened and that must''ve hurt both of them a lot but since almost all of the kinetic energy transferred from Ben to Blastaar at the point of collision Ben finds himself on the ground as Reed unwraps his arms from him and Johnny flys down to land beside them while releasing his flame transformation and I hear Susan let loose a sigh of relief which I find myself also doing alongside her, thankful for the mad man to now be on the other side of the portal I quickly realise that said portal is still activated and so I aim the remote towards it once again and press the bu??on to deactivate it but nothing happens and so I press it again and then again and again each time with more pressure and speed before I finally realise that the remote control was bust and no longer working which means that the portal was still activated meaning that anyone or rather Blastaar could come flying back through at any moment. "SHIT, THIS GODDAMN REMOTE! I CAN''T SHUT DOWN THE FUCKIN PORTAL, FUCK! QUICKLY, ONE OF YOU GUYS DESTROY THE BLASTED THING!" With Johnny having flames off and Reed reluctant to destroy his own machine so suddenly Ben is the one who reacts straight away and barrels towards the opened portal and smashes one of his fists towards the machinery encircling the portal and blasts away a chunk of the machine deactivating the portal in the process but this comes with consequences as the portal shuts down backlash is created which creates a blast which not only destroys the machine in its entirety but blast Ben across the room and straight past us to be embedded inti a wall but the guys a buck orange rock man so he should be fine plus it''s not like any of the residual energy blast will affect him considering the fact that Ben is a tank and empowered by too much cosmic power so he''ll likely be fine, we all breathe a sigh of relief as we stare anxiously at the wall Ben was embedded in and watch him slowly pluck himself out of it and fall to the ground looking about tired but no worse for wear but immediately afterwards knowing that his friends are safe Reed rushes toward the remains of the portal which me and him spent over three months working on and completing so it''s a bit of a shame to see it go but I got a lot of information out of it in the process but it seems like it meant a lot more to Reed as I can see him scavenging through the pile while muttering to himself and it seems like he''ll be here a while do we all ignore him. "Well I guess we''re finished here, huh. I''m gonna go see Alicia and calm down, maybe relax a little. See ya guys later.." Ben speaks out after a moment as we all look at each other and he quickly leaves the room with Johnny soon following him afterwards stating that he''s going out to get a drink and relax and while he offered for me to join him I declined stating I was too tired and after a moment Susan leaves the room as well after looking at Reed scavenging the remains of his machine but this time I quickly follow behind her and catch up to her in the corridor before the elevator, it startled me just how causal these guys were after an attack by an extra dimensional alien but I guess they''re just used to it after all this time and most likely they are all going to relax for the rest of the day to cool of from the action today and talk about it tomorrow. "Hey Susan, do you mind treating me in your medical lab? I got a bit roughed up today when that Blastaar guy shot that beam at me and I got injured because of it, hurts like hell so I''d appreciate you stitching me up" Susan turns around in the corridor to see me and nods her head agreeing to treat me, I follow her into the elevator and stand beside her as she presses a bu??on to lower the elevator a level to go to the medical lab and while waiting to arrived about destination she questions the extent of my injuries. "You did good today Nick, I appreciate it. Now, just how injured are you? You don''t look that bad to me, a few scrapes and bruises but nothing maj- WHAT THE HELL!" Susan shouted her reaction after I brushed the lab coat I was wearing to the side and lifted up my shirt to show her the piece of metal shrapnel that was imbedded into my gut between two of abs from when Blastaar destroyed the control panel for the portal, I''ve been tensing my muscles this entire time to prevent blood loss but it''s really wearing on me nowˇ­ ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Derrick Porter, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane, frank ivkovich, Alex, hisham, Jermaine Koster, Christopher Ames and Ethan Fuentes. Thank you for the support. Chapter 164 - [AT] Two Face’s Thugs… [After Transition] "SHUT UP! That ain''t enough to take out the Bat, somethings up. By now he would''ve taken out half of you guys already but he hasn''t made a single move, he is up to something and we ain''t gonna let him do it so easily. Grab some of the hostages and point your gun at their heads, let''s see if he''ll do anything when we got some bozos at gun point." Heeding his orders his thugs turn around to grab some of the hostages but they don''t move from there spots which pisses off Two Face since they aren''t following his orders, he himself also turns around. "What the fu?ks taking you guys so goddamn long? Just picky up a couple body shields and hold them in front of yourselves, it''s not fu?k?n? hard to d-. WHERE THE FUCK ARE THE HOSTAGES!?" Two Face''s two faced face twist into a grimace of anger when he turns around to see the corner that was previously filled with hostages empty with nary a sight of a single hostage which immediately angers him while his thugs all look around awkwardly knowing that they would be getting in trouble for this but this means that I''m free to act properly with the hostages gone, with the kids away its time for daddy to play or rather, with the hostages away it''s time for me to start busting head together and I''m not gonna be gentle. Before any of them can react and before Two Face can recover from the fact that his hostages have escaped I quickly lob a few knockout grenades into the middle of the hall where they promptly go off and start to affect all the men on the ground floor with half of them passing out cold on the floor but it seems like those guys where rookies since the rest of them seemed to understand what was happening and covered there mouths and noses to stop themselves breathing in the knockout gas and this group included Two Face who covered his mouth and nose with one arm while wildly turning and waving his other gun toting arm in all directions trying to spot me but I don''t let him have the chance, aside from the gas being able to knock people out it was also pretty thick creating a nice blankety for me to jump down into without letting a single sound out even from my landing and from there I began to run around picking off the guys who were furthest away from Two Face getting rid of the weakest links first since they were the ones who would be the most trigger happy seeing as they are alone and panicked while the others are close together and I don''t want to worry about these guys firing in a panic and killing each other because that would reflect badly on me when Batman inevitably requests a battle reports and so I quickly dart around the edges of the room picking of those that are alone and slowly work my way inside but they that time the others have figured out their game plan. "Alright keep an eye out for the fu?ker, and fire at anyone you see. I don''t give a shit if you see a fu?k?n? kid or a fu?k?n? dog, if you see something moving shoot at it and don''t fu?k?n? stop, we''re taking this bastard down now!" . With the smoke still hot he couldn''t see me clearly as I was stalking through the smoke while watching them thankful that my mask had a filter built in and so didn''t have to worry about inhaling any of the knockout gas but that doesn''t matter since right no Two Face has gathered to henchmen close to him and they''ve all back up against each other forming a crude circle in which they continued to look around trying to spot me without leaving any blank spots as well as leaving no room for me to get closer to them without them noticing and firing on me and so I decided it was enough subterfuge and cautiousness and it was as now the time for proper action since I''ve already been as cautious and careful as possible to take out as many thugs as I can and rescue all of the hostages with minimal danger for them and for me myself but I''ve clearly hit the limit and it''s time for some plain old brutality, reaching out my hand I fire my rappel straight towards them titling anymore stealth and the hook shoots straight forward going straight through the makeshift circle they''d formed by passing just next to a thugs head and coming out the other side and hooking onto the gun of one of the thugs on the other side and immediately afterwards I retracted my grapple pulling the gun towards me along with the gunman attached to it pulling him back into his fellow henchmen and tripping them all up breaking up their formation as the gun leaves his grasp and comes flying toward me but by that time I''ve unhooked my grapple from it letting it fly across the room on its own as the grapple shoots back into its place on my wrist and while some of the thugs got confused and tripped up there were others who took advantage of this mishap and used it to help them battle me. "HE''S OVER IN THAT DIRECTION BOYS, START FIRING. DO NOT LET UP UNTIL EITHER THE BASTARDS DEAD OR YOU RUN OUT OF BULLETS, OTHERWISE YOU''RE GONNA BE DEAD SO KEEP FUCKING FIRING!" With my actions letting them know my direction and where I was they began to fire toward me even if they weren''t sure of my exact position as the goons on the floor tried their Ramsey''s to get back up but it was taking them awhile which I was grateful for as a lot of bullets we''re getting quite close to me as I ran straight towards the gathering of criminals using my enhanced reflexes and responses as well as using my spider sense occasionally when edger I was dangerously close to getting shit but even then I didn''t stay idle as I ran towards the group of gunmen as I continuously reached behind me into my utility belt and pulled out handfuls of Batarangs which I launched forwards towards them as I ran hitting the gun in their hands and knocking out the weapons from their hands though I couldn''t manage to get all of them so quite a few still had theirs gun on them when I finally reached them, that was fine though since I was now directly facing them and in close quarters so it didn''t matter if a few of them had their guns since they wouldn''t be able to use them and they knew that as they holstered their weapons and instead pulled out a variety of melee weapons such as bats and crowbars and began to swing them towards me trying not to clip each other but clearly not trying all that much since I dodged and evaded all of their attacks with such ease that I nearly thought that they were all moving in slow motion but it was clear that all of my groaning and skill derived from Batman had an amplifying affect on my senses and reflexes so I was easily able to run circles around them allowing them to hit each other as I gracefully swerved among them punching and kicking where I could which would immediately knock them down where a swift kick would knock them out if they weren''t already knocked out. I moved with a swiftness and grace that surprised even myself since I was so used to getting my ?ss kicked by Batman and just b?r?ly hanging on against Barbara''s and Dick when we sparred that I was shocked when I saw just how much I''d improved in the last three months since I was taking care of these thugs with such ease and speed that I could nearly compare myself to Daredevil the one time I saw him fight back in there Marvel universe and while I might not have his skill and experience my enhanced senses and reflexes bridged some of the gaps between us at least until I catches up my own skill and technique to match and even surpass his at which point these guys wouldn''t even be a challenge but for the moment while I might be handling these guys with ease it still took a bit of effort and concentration to not mess up and take a knife to the ribs and so I continued to fight them using a swift chop to the neck to knock some down while at other times I would end up having to give a blunt kick or punch for the back of the head to really give the brain a nice jumble and put them down, shortly afterwards all of the thugs were down in the ground and knocked out but it was also at this point that I noticed one man dressed in a black and white three piece suit just like the others running towards the front exit but what made this guy different was the fact half his face was burnt off and he goes by the moniker of Two Face and he was currently running to the front door to leave thinking that the Batman was after him which I can understand since the smoke was pretty thick and I was a figure dressed in all black with bat horns so he must''ve seen my figure in the smoke and ?ssumed it was Batman which was why he ran when he noticed all of his men were getting decimated and so I quickly gave chase to the man who did a lot of crime and I wasn''t about to leave him out of my sight when I''ve just finished mopping up his crew and he was the cherry on top which I was not going to let get away. Giving chase whilst still in the smoke Two Face obviously notices my actions when he turns around to look behind him and begins to fire back towards me with his two silver pistols which I dodge pretty easily since he''s firing at me from such a length away that it''s easy to dodge the bullets since it took a while to actuality arrive, Two Face finally reaches the front entrance with me right on his tail but he goes out through the doors before I can reach him but I can rest ?ssure since last I checked there was a police cordon outside with a dozen cops parked in this place ready and waiting for him so it should be easy picking from her and so thinking that I ripped through the front door and straight out of the bank and into the outside world but what I find isn''t very nice, not very nice at allˇ­ ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane, frank ivkovich, Alex, Jermaine Koster, Christopher Ames and Ethan Fuentes. Thank you for the support. Chapter 165 - [BT] Emergency Surgery… [Before Transition] It startled me just how casual these guys were after an attack by an extra dimensional alien but I guess they''re just used to it after all this time and most likely they are all going to relax for the rest of the day to cool of from the action today and talk about it tomorrow, just goes to show that humans can adapt to anything or put better that they can be desensitised to anything since I know I''ve heard stories about a regular guy who slowly resolves over time into a psychopathic maniac and sometimes I wonder if I myself am going down a similar path. "Hey Susan, do you mind treating me in your medical lab? I got a bit roughed up today when that Blastaar guy shot that beam at me and I got injured because of it, hurts like hell so I''d appreciate you stitching me up" Susan turns around in the corridor to see me and nods her head agreeing to treat me, I follow her into the elevator and stand beside her as she presses a bu??on to lower the elevator a level to go to the medical lab and while waiting to arrive at our destination she questions the extent of my injuries. "You did good today Nick, I appreciate it. Now, just how injured are you? You don''t look that bad to me, a few scrapes and bruises but nothing maj- WHAT THE HELL!" Susan shouted her reaction after I brushed the lab coat I was wearing to the side and lifted up my shirt to show her the piece of metal shrapnel that was imbedded into my gut between two of my abs from when Blastaar destroyed the control panel for the portal, I''ve been tensing my muscles this entire time to prevent blood loss but it''s really wearing on me now and just tensing my muscles around the shrapnel only reduced the amount of blood loss not completely eliminated it and right now I''m going on empty which was part of the reason I fastened up the fight against Blastaar so I could free Susan up so she could treat me rather than waiting for them to finish the fight or try and sneak out to get myself treated (whether that be at the hospital or using any tools I myself could find/getting Earl''s help) and risk being seen by Blastaar on my way out and get blasted again which I didn''t want a repeat of since I saw what happened the first time I got blasted. "OH MY GOD, WHY DIDN''T YOU SAY ANYTHING WHEN YOU WERE RIGHT NEXT TO ME? JESUS CHRIST, THIS IS MORE THAN A BIT ROUGHED UP NICK! WE HAVE GOT TO GET YOU TO THE MEDICAL LAB IMMEDIATELY, IT ALREADY LOOKS LIKE YOU HAVE LOST A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF BLOOD!" Susan immediacy rushed over to my side and began examining my wound careful not to exacerbate my injury but the entire time she was screaming at me shocked by the large metal piece sticking out of my gut as well as frightened by just how much blood was beginning to pour out of my wound now that I''d finally relaxed after getting out of that dangerous situation and in turn un-tensed my muscles which allowed the blood to start seeping out around the metal shard embedded in me and while I could''ve kept my muscles tense and restricted my blood loss I felt now would be a good time to un-tense as it would be quite weird for me to have the sort of willpower and tenacity to keep my muscles tensed without metal shard in me which was why I chose now to relax since the elevator was nearing its stop and the medical lab was right next to the elevator so Susan should be able to rush me into the medical lab and start treating me within the next minute so I don''t mind bleeding out for some tens of seconds since it''ll be stopped in less than a minute and I''ll be stitched up and back to tip top shape, as soon as the elevator dings and the elevator doors open Susan immediately stops using her voice and goes extremely silent as she holds onto me with both her hands and lifts us off the ground by placing an invisible force field under us and levitating it up off the ground and before I knew it we were off zooming down the corridor and into the medical lab with Susan blasting the door open using her powers and hopping off the platform and gathering medical equipment and tools while the forced field gently lays me down onto a metal table. Susan having gathered her tools and equipment drops them onto one of those metal trolley tray things that you see in a surgery and she wheels it over to me before plucking a pair of scissors off of the tray and cuts through my shirt and ripping it off me to expose my wound to the air after which she begins to gather her tools that have been messily dropped I got he metal tray and sort through them placing the beside her in a particular order so as to have the most effective and efficient surgery possible with minions risk though she is going a lot more hurriedly than I thought she would because right now I don''t feel that bad or anything so she''s probably overreacting at my gruesome wound, I watch calmly as she sorts through her tools and equipments but that''s when I notice something decidedly off which was the fact that she only brought tools and equipment with her but I didn''t see anything like an IV or any syringes or drugs with her which was weird since usually that would be a crucial part of a surgery to put the patient to sleep/numb them and gives them drugs and stuff through the IV throughout the surgery and afterwards but I don''t see anything like that and I''m right to be worried when Susan grabs onto my shoulder and steadies me. "Listen to me Nick, we don''t have time to use any anaesthetics or drugs on you right now. Since the time you received this injury from Blastaars blast you''ve been bleeding out and though the metal shard which caused your injury also ironically stemmed some of the blood loss you''ve still lost quite a lot and so I don''t have the time to find the drugs and anaesthetics and measure the correct dosages for you since that would be wasting time we don''t have, time you don''t have. I''m going to have to operate on you straight away without any anaesthetic so you''ll be awake and definitely feeling quite a lot of pain as I operate and stitch you back up which is why I''m gonna be holding you down against the bed with my forcefields so you don''t move during the surgery and make me make a mistake, I''m gonna be holding you down pretty tight so I apologise in advance." Fuck I completely miscalculated the fact that I''m no longer a regular human which she clearly believes as a regular human wouldn''t be able to stem their blood loss by simply tensing their muscles and they would definitely be feeling woozy after loosing the amount of blood that I have but I''m no longer a regular human and am an enhanced spider human meaning that I am a lot more tougher and durable than a regular human and so I haven''t really felt the affects of my wound much apart from the pain but Susan believes me an ordinary man and an ordinary man after receiving a wound like this and having it for that length of time would definitely be close to death so it''s no wonder that Susan is so worried and we be operating immediately without any anaesthetic which is bad news for me since I didn''t take any of that into account and I didn''t expect to be wide awake for live surgery, I try and lean up to talk to Susan about the situation but before I can say anything I''m immediately slammed back down onto the surface of the metal bed and my limbs are clamped down as well with my legs being stuck down against the surface of the metal bed and my arms being strapped against my side and when I go to talk to Susan about doing something about my situation I realise that even my head is being strapped down against the metal bed as well and when I try to speak I realise that she even used a force field to close my mouth and hold me down only leaving my nose free to allow me to breath and I''m confused at why she''s done that as she could be doing it since my screaming during surgery could impact the movement inside my body and make her make a mistake or it could be because my screaming itself will shake her and make her make a mistake either way my mouths been clamped shut so I can''t even protest any of this and I just have to b?r? with it. . Susan immediately gets to work by removing the metal shard from my stomach which brings me a sharp pain which fades away but leaves behind a burning sensation as my insides are exposed to the air and she immediately get to work by delving into my insides and doing god knows what and in the process cause me intense hellish pain the makes me want to scream but I can''t even do that with the force field clamping down onto my lower jaw only allowing me to let out low m??ns and murmurs as she starts to stitch me back together and I can only express my pain through my body but even that is restricted so I end up just stretching and curling my hands and feet in all directions as some way to try and let the pain out which is stupid but helps for some reason but it''s not much as she begins to use multiple tools (that I can''t see from here as my heads is strapped to the table) to begin mending my insides and my wound, this pain is the worst I have ever felt in my life since it hurt when the metal shard was put in me by Blastaars blast but that was a short brief instant of pain which calmed down afterwards as I got used to the pain and walking around with it but this was a lot worse since the pain was constant as she started to nip and tuck at my insides moving things around and clamping things together which just hurt immensely and she stitched me back together starting with the damage inside me which I think was minimal as it missed my vitals and then she began to stitch up my wound on the outside before beginning to wrap me up in bandages and make sure that my wounds weren''t infected. I don''t think I will ever feel a pain worse then this in my entire life and while I know that there are worse pains and suffering out there I don''t plan on receiving them as I will be looking out for myself and with my meta-knowledge I should be able to avoid most the dangers but even then I don''t know everything as there is too much plus some things I just wouldn''t be able to predict or escape since while I might not be in the MCU the infinity stones definitely do exist in this universe (they exist in all marvel universes I''m pretty sure) and knowing that someone in possession of them could erase half of life in the universe is scary (not to mention the fact that this universe might have a Thanos enamoured with Death and not one obsessed with balance, so this universes Thanos may even erase more than half of all life which is even scarier to think about plus marvel comics Thanos is a lot fu?k?n? stronger than MCH Thanos) and I''m pretty sure there''s nothing in the DC universe that''s capable of such a feat which is one of the reasons I want to go to that universe, at the moment though I''m just glad that the surgery and the pain is over, the worst pain I''ll probably ever feelˇ­ ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane, frank ivkovich, Alex, Jermaine Koster, Christopher Ames and Ethan Fuentes. Thank you for the support. Chapter 166 - [AT] Clothesline… [After Transition] Two Face with his guns in hand was currently running to the front door to leave thinking that the Batman was after him which I can understand since the smoke was pretty thick and I was a figure dressed in all black with bat horns so he must''ve seen my figure in the smoke and ?ssumed it was Batman which was why he ran when he noticed all of his men were getting decimated and so I quickly gave chase to the man who did a lot of crime and I wasn''t about to leave him out of my sight when I''ve just finished mopping up his crew and he was the cherry on top which I was not going to let get away, giving chase whilst still in the smoke Two Face obviously notices my actions when he turns around to look behind him and begins to fire back towards me with his two silver pistols which I dodge pretty easily since he''s firing at me from such a length away that it''s easy to dodge the bullets since it took a while to actuality arrive and then Two Face finally reaches the front entrance with me right on his tail but he goes out through the doors before I can reach him but I can rest ?ssure since last I checked there was a police cordon outside with a dozen cops parked in this place ready and waiting for him so it should be easy pickings from here and so thinking that I ripped through the front door and straight out of the bank and into the outside world but what I find isn''t very nice, not very nice at all. I don''t know how it happened since the police should have been keeping their distance and retaining the cordon whilst behind their cars but for some reason it seems a lonely cop had wandered close enough to the bank for whatever reason (probably to get a view inside when they heard all the gunshots and screams, those guys really shouted a lot when they were scared) and because of that when Two Face burst out of the buildings front doors there wan an immediate hostage for him to grab and use as leverage which is what I''m seeing right now since Two Face currently has one of his arms wrapped around the police officers neck pulling him in close whilst his other hand levels his silver handgun towards the police cordon but when he heard the doors slam open he began backing up so that myself and the police cordon were to his sides so he didn''t expose his back since he backed up to a pillar that was part of the outside of the bank, he begins to wildly wave his gun around occasionally pouting it at his hostages head as a threat which Commissioner Gordon sees and begins to speak to Harvey through his speakerphone trying to deescalate the situation and somehow get his officer out of this alive. "Listen Harvey, just calm down. Think about what your doing, think about your situation. Are you thinking about it? Let me spell it out for you, currently you are entirely surrounded by the police with a dozen squads on every corner of the block and another dozen snipers on the roofs ready to put you down. You''ve got no hope of winning here because you don''t have your crew to help you out and you''re not gonna win in a gunfight especially if you hurt one of these officers so be careful, we aren''t taking any chances and the second you shoot a snipers gonna shoot back so why don''t you just put down the guns and let him go and we''ll take you back to Arkham? Come on Dent, this is your only out here." Two Face puts the gun he was levelling at the police in his pants while making sure to point his other gun at the hostage using the arm that was around the police officer and point the gun at the bottom of his chin while he reached into his pants pocket and pulled out his signature two sided coin that had one side burnt off and he flipped it in the air before catching it and gazing upon it looking for his decision, honestly I feel like I''m being ignored since I just came out of the bank and while both the police and Two Face are aware of my presence they aren''t focusing on me too much more focused on the hostage situation and so they clearly think I''m Batman or something and they haven''t looked close enough to see the slight differences in my costume to Batman''s being the fact the my costume has good/yellow inlays, slightly longer a bat horns on the cowl, black lenses in the cowl whereas Batman''s has white lenses and the biggest fact being that my face is entirely covered and not exposed like Batman''s chin but even then I can see a few of the uniformed officers have noticed that I''m not Batman and are mumbling to each other about it quietly but they don''t point it out to Gordon since he''s busy right now. "Looks like I''m not gonna go so easily Commissioner Gordon, the coins decided and I gotta respect the rules. I ain''t putting my gun down or letting this guy go either and I''m definitely not gonna go back to Arkham, YOU CAN''T MAKE ME AND NEITHER CAN BATMAN SO-. You''re not Batman, who the hell are you?" Harvey puts his coin back in his pocket after he flipped it and once again pulls out his silver handgun from his pants and levels it at the police begin to wave it wildly while he talks fist pointing it straight at Commissioner Gordon and then waving it towards me when he says Batman can''t take him back to Arkham but it''s at that moment that he finally takes a closer look at me and notices the fact that I''m not Batman which coincidently makes everyone else realise it as well when they take a closer look apart from the uniformed officers and go already noticed it but didn''t feel it was the right time to point it out due to the ongoing hostage negotiation between Two Face and Commissioner Gordon, Two Face asks who I am since I''m clearly it Batman but instead of answering his question I see an opportunity in Two Face''s shock and surprise and I take advantage of it by quickly reaching into my utility belt and throwing out a Batarang before he can even react and then with my already outstretched hand I release my grapple toward him faster than he can react and my grapple latches on to the end of his silver handgun that he currently pointing towards me and he struggles for a moment to keep it but I keep a tight hold of it waiting and it seems like Two Face has realised things are going bad for him so he uses the arm that''s currently wrapped around his hostages and carrying his other gun to point it toward his hostages chin and shoot but Two Face was so focused on my grapple that he forgot about the Batarang I threw out a second ago that curved through the air while he focused on my grapple and just when Two Face goes to raise the gun towards the hostages chin my sharp Batarang finally hits its mark by embedding itself in Two Face''s hand and making his drop his other silver handgun. . The hostage seeing his opportunity quickly struggles to break for freedom and he succeeds too because the hand holding him was just stabbed by a Batarang and his other hand is currently still holding the other silver handgun which is being held in place by me with a grapple and facing towards me but I''m not worried about him shooting it at me since I picked my opportunity well and my grapple attactched itself to the side of the gun so that the muzzle it pointing towards the bank and he can''t change its direction though he''s trying really hard to but seeing the chance to help the hostage in his escape I chuckle retract my grapple pulling the gun and Two Face towards a me and while the gun quickly zooms towards me Two Face let''s go after a second but that was all I needed as the momentum still carried him and he ended up stumbling forward to the ground releasing the hostage who quickly made a break for it and ran back towards the police cordon while I made the grapple let go of the gun during it retraction letting it go back to its spot on my wrist while allowing the gun to keep flying through the air towards me where I catch it with one hand fitted perfectly around the handle of the gun, I look at Two Face as he''s kneeling on the ground and he looks back at me and then down at my hand and that''s when I notice that I caught the gun and I was pointing it forward towards him but that''s when I saw the opportunity to do something really cool and pull of a really badass move that everyone wants to do and while looking directly at Two Face with his own gun pointed at him I move the finger on my hand holding the gun and fiddle them around for a second which cause the gun to start dismantling itself with the clip dropping out first and then the muzzle coming off and the various components of the gun coming apart and dropping to the ground before I was left just holding the singular handle of the gun with nothing else attach¨¦ ego it before I let go of it and let it drop to the ground as well to join the rest of its parts. Man that felt badass and I''m glad that Batman taught us about guns and how they work and made me learn about all sorts of guns and how they are made up and while he made sure we never used any guns he did make sure that we held them and made us train to dismantle them as quickly as possible with the goal being for under a second and while I could see the use in it I know understand that he taught us for the sheer badassery that doing that to someone''s gun exudes and I''m so glad I learnt it because it just a great feeling to take a villains weapon and break it before there eyes, I continue to stare at Two Face for a second as he kneels on the ground cradling his injured hand that still has the Batarang embedded into it but he suddenly breaks eye contact and looks to the side and when I follow his eyeline I can see that he''s looking towards his other silver handgun that he dropped earlier before his eyes darted back over to me and we stared into each other''s eyes again (well I am because he is just staring into my black lenses and since my head didn''t even turn when he looked at the gun the he probably doesn''t realise that I''ve noticed it, man we''re these black lenses a good decision) before he suddenly darts toward the gun and grabs towards it but not letting him do what he wants I run towards him and again use my grapple which launches through the air as I run at him and grapples onto the front of his shirt just as he picks up his gun and before he can even level it at me I retract the grapple pulling him towards me and I myself imp up into the air beige realest he my grapple but by this point he''s already airborne and flying towards me at a heigh speed an I myself have just jumped into the air and I stretch out my arm to the side and when we finally collide it''s in a clothesline that impacts his jaw/neck and ends him slipping through the air and tumbling towards the ground where he lands with a clatter utterly dead to the world (not actually dead just unconscious, that''s just a phrase of speech) while I just gently land on the ground again. Damn that was also badass, I was feeling unsure about this career decision earlier but right now I''m seeing the benefits and I''m enjoying it. I''m enjoying it a lotˇ­ ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane, frank ivkovich, Alex, Jermaine Koster, Christopher Ames and Ethan Fuentes. Thank you for the support. Chapter 167 - [BT] Hook, Line… [Before Transition] Eventually I learn to just ignore the pain and I do this by just closing my eyes and focusing on something else like my thoughts or my research and though I can still feel the pain of Susan stitching me and my insides up I find I can mostly ignore apart from some of the times where she does something and the pain breaks through the calm but apart from that I just closed my eyes while trying to regulate my breath and focused on something else which helped for the duration of the operation, before I knew it I was completely ignoring the pain having gotten used to it and while I still feel the pain I just don''t react to it anymore since I learned that every time I did react even with all the restraints Susan put on me with her powers my insides still moved and with Susan still messing around inside me that just meant I caused myself even more pain since my insides moved around her tools while they were doing there job and so I stopped moving and learned to ignore the pain since there would be even more pain if I didn''t and right now I actually don''t feel any pain at all so I must have mastered something and learnt not to feel pain which just proves how powerful and wilful I am. "You can get up now, I''ve just finished stitching you up and I need to wrap the bandages around you. I''ve already removed the forcefields holding you down so you''re free to move just make sure you don''t do anything too strenuous otherwise your wound will open up again and we don''t want that, let me just get the bandages and then we''ll be done and you can go home though I do think you should go to the hospital just I case to make sure you''re actually alright. It actually turns out that I didn''t have to do the surgery so quickly and without anaesthetic either since usually someone who had a wound for that amount of time would''ve already bled out and died but for some reason you didn''t actually lose that much blood so you don''t need a blood transfusion which I was prepared to give, I think it''s because the metal shard didn''t hit anything vital or any veins and it lodged itself against the wound and kept most of the blood in so you got lucky, it''s ironic that the thing that wounded you also kept you alive isn''t it." I open my eyes and notice Susan walking over to one of the cabinets across the room and searching for some bandages/gauze presumably while talking towards me and I realise that I don''t master my pain or something but that the surgery ended without me realising it as I was so focused on ignoring the surgery and the pain and it ended without my awareness which I suppose is a kinda mastery but the only reason I no longer felt pain was because she finished stitching me up and so I moved to sit up I the metal bed but when I moved I felt a stinging pain on my stomach and when I looked down I realised it was the stitches moving due to me moving so I guess the pains still there and it''s exacerbated by movement so I''ll have to keep that to a minimal over the next couple of weeks or maybe even days since I don''t know how good my healing factor is and this might be fully healed in a week but I no longer have time to think about that as Susan has come back now with some gauze/bandages ready to wrap around my wound which she promptly starts doing. "Right let''s get this started, just sit still Nick and I''ll wrap the bandages around you. I''m gonna have to do it pretty tight so you might feel a little pain as I wrap it tightly around the wound but try not to move as I need to make sure this is as secured as possible, wouldn''t want you waking up in the middle of the night tossing and turning to find out your bandages have come loose and your wounds open again so sit still. Alright, now we can start to talk. Why the hell didn''t you tell me about this injury when you were right next to me while we were fighting Blastaar? I admit that you''re help with the remote helped shut down Blastaar and defeat him but you had already built the remote and so we could''ve past it off to Reed and I could''ve taken you to be treated for your injury straight away, I know that Blastaar wouldn''t have been defeated as fate but those guys are tougher than they look and they would''ve been able to eventually defeat Blastaar and send him back to the Negative Zone even without my or your help since I was just support and you just had to press a bu??on so there was no reason to risk yourself." While Susan bandages my wound she begins to talk to me and ask me questions about why I would stick around and try and help take down Blastaar but I can''t exactly say that the guy losses me off when he blasted me and gave me this wound or that however much I believed in the Fantastic Fours chances of taking down this threat I had to be absolutely sure that they would survive and defeat Blastaar which is why I helped because if the Fantastic Four were defeated and some of the members were injured or even killed they would probably die and the group would be disbanded or worse get replaced and I''m not about to be an employee for a Fantastic Four made up of Spider-Man, Wolverine, the Ghost Rider and Hulk because the only reason I am in this building is to gain access to the wealth of knowledge and information stored within its walls and databanks which would most likely be confiscated by shield once the group disbanded which would mean no more research for me and so it was in my best interest and to keep the Fantastic Four alive and going, I can''t tell Susan that though but maybe I could tell her a slightly different version of that that''s a lot less selfish and horrible and instead a lot more kind and respectable since I do still want to keep my job here for everything that it provides. "I didn''t tell you about my injury because I wanted to help, even if Reed, Ben and Johnny would be able to handle Blastaar alone I didn''t want to take that chance and drag you away from the battle just to help me. You were more than just the support for the team Susan you were keeping them all alive and if I dragged you off to help treat my injury than that could''ve been condemning one of them to death without your aid keeping them alive and so I stayed silent, you were crucial to defeating Blastaar Susan I mean you kept them alive and you even came up with a plan to defeat him on the spot and it worked.. You were amazing and inspiring Susan, everyone here is and I guess I thought that if I showed you all my wound than you would get worried about me staying and working here and maybe even fire me for my own protection but I don''t want that, I want to stay here and work with you Susan. To work with all of you and research and create things that could help all of humanity and I now that the portal we just built doesn''t really do that but it''s a start, I think I''ll stay away from Reeds projects in the future and try and help out and ?ssist some of the other people working here." I think that was a good enough start with some good points and reasons along with a heavy dose of flattery towards Susan that doesn''t hurt to help and it''s not like anything I said about her wasn''t true since it was all true and she was crucial in Blastaars defeat and sending him back through the portal because I couldn''t have come up with such a good plan that would actually work and she did because she''s clever and she knew all of her teams capabilities and powers along with her analysation of Blastaar to figure out what would work and it did work, I do think it''s time for a bit more flattery now so that she doesn''t actually fire me for my own protection and to keep me safe and I know just how to do that by playing on one of her soft points but before I can say anything she''s finished bandaging my wound and she turns around and takes off her bloody surgery glove turning them inside out as she does and throwing them in the bin before she walks of let to the sink to wash her hands while continuing her talk with me. "Okay I guess I can understand that, just make sure to be more careful in the future and look after yourself since we can all take care of ourselves. More importantly what are you gonna be able to do if you aren''t helping Reed on his project and start helping some other people here, Reed is the only one working on projects here and if you were to help anyone else here you''d just end up sitting in the couch and watching television with Johnny and Ben on the couch while eating junk food or maybe helping Johnny out with his maintenance of the vehicles but I don''t think that''s the reason you came here so what would be the point of staying if you''re not actually gonna do some work and advance science?" As she goes to wash her hands I quickly look around the room and I can only spot my blood on the pair of gloves that she just threw into the bin and not anywhere else so I guess she cleaned me up after the surgery but there is no way in hell I''m gonna leave any of my blood laying around and I currently have my clothes with the blood on them next to me but I also need that pair of gloves and so with her back turned toward me I quickly rush over to the bin ignoring the pain of my wound and grab the pair of surgery gloves out of the bin and shove them into my pocket before going and sitting back in my spot like nothing had happened, meanwhile Susan was just responding to what I had said earlier questioning who I would be helping in the Fantastic Four apart from Reed and mentioning how pointless it would be to help Ben and Johnny but she missed some Rory else out of that list and I saw my opportunity for some flattery to keep my place her stable and to also bu??er her up and get her on my side. "What do you mean Susan? The person I would be helping instead of Reed, that would obviously be you right?" That''s the hook and line and know it''s just the sinker that''s left, and it''s gonna be a pretty brutal sinkerˇ­ ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) Chapter 168 - [AT] Get McFly’d… [After Transition] I continue to stare at Two Face for a second as he kneels on the ground cradling his injured hand that still has the Batarang embedded into it but he suddenly breaks eye contact and looks to the side and when I follow his eyeline I can see that he''s looking towards his other silver handgun that he dropped earlier before his eyes darted back over to me and we stared into each other''s eyes again (well I am because he is just staring into my black lenses and since my head didn''t even turn when he looked at the gun the he probably doesn''t realise that I''ve noticed it, man were these black lenses a good decision) before he suddenly darts toward the gun and grabs towards it but not letting him do what he wants I run towards him and again use my grapple which launches through the air as I run at him and grapples onto the front of his shirt just as he picks up his gun and before he can even level it at me I retract the grapple pulling him towards me and I myself jump up into the air pulling him with my grapple but by this point he''s already airborne and flying towards me at a heigh speed and I myself have just jumped into the air and I stretch out my arm to the side and when we finally collide it''s in a clothesline that impacts his jaw/neck and ends up with him slipping through the air and tumbling towards the ground where he lands with a clatter utterly dead to the world (not actually dead just unconscious, that''s just a phrase of speech) while I just gently land on the ground again, damn that was also badass and I was feeling unsure about this career decision earlier but right now I''m seeing the benefits and I''m enjoying it a whole frickin lot because of the thrill I just got screwing this deranged man and his crew over and I can feel my mouth curling up into a wicked grin unbidden and I can''t stop it but I don''t worry about it either since my mask covers my chin as well so they can''t see my wicked grin which I''m glad for since the image of a grinning/smiling Bat themed person doesn''t exactly fit the theme and I don''t really wanna cramp on the big bosses brand plus just the idea of a grinning Batman sends shivers down my spine for some reason and fills me with dread but that must be because it''s an unimaginable sight since I''ve never properly seen a grin on that chin when he''s wearing a cowl since he smiles a whole lot when he''s Bruce Wayne. Looking down at the ground behind me I can see Two Face laid out on the ground with a pretty bruised neck and probably an equally bruised larynx so I feel like the guy won''t be doing any talking any time soon but as I look closer at the man I spot something on the ground next to him which glints and catches my eye and so I move to go and inspect it which immediately results in about a dozen different red spots focusing on my body being directed by the snipers behind them but even so I don''t even stop in my stride as as soon as the laser sights aim at me they are immediately called off with a shout from Commissioner James Gordon who tells them to hold their fire and so I continue to walk to the thing that caught my sight on the ground next to the defeated form of Harvey Dent and I bend down to pick it up and bring it close to mud eye to examine it, standing back up I can here James Gordon rushing in my direction along with a few other footsteps following him but he tells them to hang back a little and let him deal with it since he has experience when it comes to Bat people but I hardly pay it any kind as I''m more focused on examining the silver coin in my hand which must''ve slipped from Two Face''s pocket as he flew through the air as I can clearly see that it is a two headed coin but one side has a pristine silver glow while the other is burnt to a crisp making the head on this side b?r?ly legible and as I look at the object in my hands I get the feeling that it is a cursed object not in a magical or spiritual way but I feel that it is ominous and while it may only have sway over one man it still unsettled me to see the object which can literally be seen as the duality of man along with belonging to the literal personification of the duality of man as if it''s some kind of Dr Jekyll and Hyde shit. "I didn''t know that there was another one of you crazy goddamn Bat-people running around, it wouldn''t hurt to get a warning before another one of you show up just so I can keep my guys from shooting at you on sight. Unless this is you Batman and you decided to have a costume change, hell I still remember the first time I saw you when you started out and you had that thin bat-symbol on your ?h?st and those purple gloves as well." Gordon comes up behind me and starts to talk to me as I continue to face away from him and look at the half burnt silver two headed coin in my hand and pondering if I should just take it with me or destroy it but after a moment I come to the realisation that I have no right to torch probably the only thing this man in the ground still cares about plus I could be inviting even more trouble by doing so as it might make the man more unhinged or even make him vow to take revenge and come after me effectively giving me a nemesis and man who will constantly be trying to kill me and I don''t want one of those no matter how small the chance of hat happening is and so I kneel on the ground once more and pull open Two Face''s suit before tucking the ominous coin back into one of his inside pockets and patting it for good luck before getting back to my feet and spinning to look towards Gordon who was hammering on behind me about costumes, he was saying something about Batman having a thin bat symbol on his ?h?st and purple gloves as well which if I''m remembering correctly seems to be very similar to earlier iterations of the Batman so I guess in this universe he did wear that sorta stuff before wising up and donning proper equipment plus I''m kinda wondering if he also wore black br??fs on the outside of his costume but that''s a question for later since a very tired police officer is looking at me with questions in his eyes. "I''m not Batman, I''m Orphan. I''m new in town and I just thought I''d go and see the welcoming committee, most of the thugs beside have been knocked out and zip tied but there are probably a few who don''t have suitable restraints on them plus the five or so guys who are taking a nap down in the vault so be ready for them. Apart from that the hostages should all be out of the building by now and they''re probably around the back of the bank with a few of your other men, they''re all there and I''d recommend you getting Two Face restrained and in the back of a police vehicle as soon as possible before he wakes up." "This ain''t my first rodeo kid, I know what I''m doin here probably more than you do. So Orphan huh, I guess your story is pretty self explanatory but I think the names a bit on the nose. So are you one of Batman new sidekicks or something? Better hope you are because your running around with the visage of a bat on your head and if you didn''t hear that kinda taken, I heard you can get sued for that type of stuff for using their likeness or something." Gordon reaches into the inside pocket of his brown duster/overcoat (what''s the difference, really) and pulls out a pack of cigarettes from which he pulls a single cigarette and stuffs it into his mouth before he puts the cigarette pack back in its place and pulls out a light from one of his other pockets to light his cigarette before he waving on the men behind him which promptly signalled them to storm in threw the front of the bank so they could begin cleaning it and taking the men inside into custody while another came up to Two Face behind me where they grabbed him and cuffed his arms behind his back and then began dragging him towards their police vehicles to suitably detain the man and make sure he can''t escape, but even as this happens the man stays calmly smoking his cigarettes while staring towards me with me staring right back at him and I''ve gotten pretty pissed since he called me a sidekick when I am in actual intact just a temporary worker whose only staying till all my boxes are ticked but it still pisses me off that I was called a sidekick by this man and he''s just calmly staring at me and so I decide to take a little petty revenge by a pulling a trick on him that he''s probably used to but not in this specific way and so I move my gaze from him towards behind him and I point my hand out pointing towards something in the background and with Gordon being curious what I was pointing at he turns around to stare into that direction along with all the other cops outside who saw me pointing and also looks around to see what I''m pointing at. "God fu?k?n? damn itˇ­ Every time, goddamn bat-peopleˇ­" I hear Gordon sigh out as I watch him from the shadows of the roof of the bank since he turned back around after not seeing what I was pointing at and noticed the fact that I was already gone along with dozen other cops who also got tricked by me and looked only to discover that I was gone when they turned back around which is a classic trick that Batman always does on Gordon but I bet he''s never done it at the same time to a couple of police squads as well and he''s never done it by making them look way by pointing behind them which is My revenge in Gordon for calling me a fu?k?n? sidekick which I''m not, he got what he deserved when I fu?k?n? Marty McFly''d him.. classic trick from the back to the future series, wonder what that movie is like in this universeˇ­ ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane, frank ivkovich, Alex, Jermaine Koster, Ethan Fuentes and Luke Soper. Thank you for the support. Chapter 169 - [BT] Sinker… [Before Transition] "Okay I guess I can understand that, just make sure to be more careful in the future and look after yourself since we can all take care of ourselves. More importantly what are you gonna be able to do if you aren''t helping Reed on his project and start helping some other people here, Reed is the only one working on projects here and if you were to help anyone else here you''d just end up sitting in the couch and watching television with Johnny and Ben on the couch while eating junk food or maybe helping Johnny out with his maintenance of the vehicles but I don''t think that''s the reason you came here so what would be the point of staying if you''re not actually gonna do some work and advance science?" Susan was just responding to what I had said earlier questioning who I would be helping in the Fantastic Four apart from Reed and mentioning how pointless it would be to help Ben and Johnny but she missed someone else out of that list and I saw my opportunity for some flattery to keep my place her stable and to also bu??er her up and get her on my side. "What do you mean Susan? The person I would be helping instead of Reed, that would obviously be you right?" That''s the hook and line and know it''s just the sinker that''s left which I think is gonna work out pretty well and while I''m not hoping for awesome results I am hoping to at least convince her to let me continue to work and stay here in spite of the danger and harm I would be in staying at this workplace environment where there''s a villain attacking every few weeks and while before I managed to get by pretty unscathed in the past today I didn''t which would probably make the Fantastic Four sceptical about keeping me working here in fear of my safety but if I could just convince Susan and have her keep my injury to herself than my position her would be safe and I would be free to continue my research, I honestly wouldn''t mind working with Susan instead of Reed now because with me helping Reed to create the portal to the Negative Dimension I''ve gotten pretty much everything I need to know out of him about the subject and everything else I can learn by going through the databanks to which I now have full access since they trust me though I do still try to be subtle about what I''m researching plus Susan specialises in everything that Reed doesn''t (when I say specialise I mean doesn''t really focus on, if Reed focused on the subject her probably be the foremost authority) which is basically nothing to do with tech and more to do with biology and chemistry which I could do with learning more about since I do want to become stronger to deal with the dangers in this world and even the next world and learning more about my current biology and how to improve it could be crucial to my survival and I don''t wanna half arse anything by just injecting myself with shit the moment I get my hands on it and actually wanna know what will happen when I inject myself plus I might be getting a Super Soldier Serum later if my plans with Felicia go to plan (not really a plan since I''ve just tried to make her into the Black Cat and hope she finds her father who''ll know about the serum) and I want to actually be able to tell what it is and how it''s made before I even think about using it. "What, me? Why? I''m not working on any projects or anything, my job is pretty much to just make sure that the boys behave and don''t blow up New York. When I''m not comforting Ben on his appearance which he admittedly doesn''t do anymore or trying to stop Johnny from making idiot mistakes I''m working in Reed''s lab and helping him with his projects, I don''t know why you would try to help me because I have nothing I need help or an ?ssistant for." Susan starts to deflect when I confirm that I want to ?ssist her in her projects but at the moment she doesn''t have any projects and I bet she hasn''t had any projects for a long while since she''s usually trying to help Reed in his lab as some way to gain the attention of her crush but the man is so oblivious that he doesn''t even realise it and when she''s not trying to get closer to Reed (which he makes nearly impossible for him since he''s always working and ignoring her, d??k move really) she is too busy trying to help Ben with his problems or dealing with the fallout of Johnny and his rash and stupid actions to actually focus on anything she wants to do herself because on top of all that she the glue that keeps the Fantastic Four together since she''s constantly mending their relationships whether it''s been a fight between Johnny and Ben for Johnny making fun of him or an altercation between Reed and Johnny because Reed won''t make him some device which he wants to use for selfish reason she''s always mending bridges and keeping them together, it must honestly be exhausting to do so much and not have any time left for yourself in the day and that''s the weak point where I''ll strike since she''s already got some discontent towards the rest of the team for Reed ignoring her more focused on his tech and Reed and Johnny making problems for her so I''ll be a breath of fresh air that''ll actually be a friend and listen to her and be their for her and her problems which will make her want to keep me at the building since she wouldn''t be able to carry on without me their to help and I''ll need this soon since while Ben and Johnny are getting along pretty well with me I can only call the relationship between myself and Reed distant and I worry that he''ll try to fire me since he is a very prideful man and I''ve shown him up a few times since I''ve been here by pointing out something hung he''s missed or not following his orders like just recently in the battle against Blastaar so I do need more than half of the Fantastic Four on my side since Reed holds a lot of clout. . "Honestly I''m a bit disappointed Susan, I mean one of the main reason I wanted to come and work at the Baxter Building with the Fantastic Four was so that I could work with you. I read a few of your papers and I was really excited by the things you wanted to do and hinted at doing in the future, I mean you weren''t like all the other pompous scientists and doctors you were really trying to help. I mean everything here''s great but the things Reed works on while admittedly advancing science doesn''t really help anyone much since the technology he creates is usually too advanced and dangerous to give to the rest of the world and the stuff he does give out is usually a quickly made product for the sole purpose of generating cash to keep the Fantastic Four going and funded which doesn''t really help anyone else on earth, but you wanted to help people by developing medicine and researching virus and cures to help people and that''s what I want to do as well and I want to help you with it. I was really looking forward to working with you when I first came here but you were basically a lab ?ssistant and a nurse to help latch the other guys up, you are more than a nurse or a lab ?ssistant Susan. You want to help people and I want to help you do it, helping Reed in his lab is honestly a waste of time for you when you could be working to help millions of people with your own projects, real projects." I voice out to her as I get up and grab my jacket and put it on and zip it up over my n?k?d torso before picking up my bloody cut up shirt to take home with me since I don''t want to leave any blood here as I don''t want to leave any trace or something to be analysed and so I''m taking those bloody gloves and their bloody shirt back home with me since those are the only things that have gotten blood on them apart from a little bit of blood on my pants but I''m wearing those so I don''t really have to worry about that but as I gather my things and voice out my thoughts I can see that Susan becomes visibly shook by what I''m saying and she becomes speechless at my words which are encouraging her to be better, honestly Susan probably doesn''t have many friends or much of a life outside of this building since she got her powers and so there has never been anyone encouraging her like this before or pushing her to be better since Ben was usually too caught up in his own problems with Johnny having his own head up his arse and Reed to focused on his own projects which leaves Susan quite vulnerable which I''m glad to take advantage of since I''ll be providing her with the encouragement she needs and she''ll be keeping my position here stable so that I can continue my research so it''s a win win. "I''ll see you tomorrow Susan, hopefully by the you''ll have decided whether or not I''ll still be working and ?ssisting Reed in his lab or if I''ll be working with you and making real change that will truly help people on earth. I''m off to go to the hospital to get myself properly checked, you''re not just a lab ?ssistant Susan. You are probably the only person in this building who would be able to actually develop something that would help millions of people, bye Susan." Leaving her shocked and speechless I quickly finish gathering my things and leave the room closing the door behind me happy that the shock prevented her from questing why I was taking my cut up bloody shirt home with me when I should''ve just thrown it in the trash since it''s essentially useless but even if I did throw it in the trash that''s too much of a risk for someone to find and then lol not be happy if it leaves my sight and I feel much better knowing where my blood is thank you very much, I quickly head to the lounge area where nobody seems to be around and quickly procure myself a bag to place my bloody clothes into before I head to the elevator to go back down to the lobby and the to my car after which I''ll drive home and take a long sleep since I''m wasted. Today was a very long day starting out with me seeing Gwen and Professor Miles Warren at Empire State University and then coming her and having an altercation with an extra dimensional alien, this day has been way too fu?k?n? longˇ­ ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane, frank ivkovich, Alex, Jermaine Koster, Ethan Fuentes and Luke Soper. Thank you for the support. Chapter 170 - [AT] Tag Teamed… [After Transition] With the situation at the bank over with I remain at a loss for what I am supposed to do now since I''ve completed my objective but I''ve still got a lot of energy and willpower plus I''m already in the costume so I might as well stay out late and make the most of it before I''m reprimanded when I get home and the best way to do that is to beat on a whole lot of ?sshole criminals who can''t complain that I broke they''re bones since they are in the wrong and so I know what I''m to do but I''m still unsure about which direction I should head in because there are definitely different danger levels in different parts of Gotham though danger is never below orange in any given area of Gotham but it certainly gets more dangerous when you head into areas controlled by the different mobs like the Penguins mob or when you head into areas that are less fortunate but pretty much there''s different sorts of crime in each area so I''m at a loss as to where to go (definitely staying out of the Jokerz territory, the mad bastards) since I''ve just started and I don''t wanna chew off more than I can bite which I would be doing when heading into different super villain territories (note, avoid parks and botanical gardens since there might be a red headed ivy there), thinking calmly I realise that my best bet right now is to stick with someone with more experience and since there''s no one around like that right now I''m going to have to find them and currently all three of my possible allies are dealing with Scarecrow and so I head off in the direction of where Batman, Robin and Batgirl are fighting against Dr Jonathan Crane and his fear toxins and I make sure to fight any crime. Can on my way using my enhanced hearing and the tech provided by Lucius Fox to search out any crime on my way and putting a stop to it and by the time I get there they all should e finished with Crane and I can hopefully join them kicking more bu?? if Batman doesn''t send me back to the mansion. I know it might seem a bit contradicting to head out and meet up with Batman and the gang who are in battle against Scarecrow who literally induced fear into people when I want to fight against crime with the least amount of danger to myself which is why I''m not going into Joker territory or anything but that''s because I figure that by the time I get there they''ll have already dealt with Scarecrow especially since I''ll be stopping almost constantly on my way there to put down other crimes by lesser criminals on the way plus I''d rather be in the company of Batman whose fighting a super villain in Gotham than along by myself in Gotham fighting against criminals at least until I get some bearing in this business which is why I''m heading towards them plus Alfred knows I''m aware of their situation which I s why I want to deal with Two Face because they couldn''t and it only stands to reason that someone like myself who is currently a superhero in training would go and try to lend aid to his mentor against their orders so I''ll do that to add to the narrative plus it''ll be cool to see how Batman handles one of his rogues in person and maybe I''ll be able to pick something up when watching him fight seriously and not like when we are sparring where he''s going easy on me, I continue to travel in the direction of Batman''s fight against Scarecrow by traversing the rooftops with jumps and the occasional grapple and glide all the while stopping to prevent crimes such as two guys trying to stick up a convenience store, a man trying to corner a woman in an alley, an idiot trying to steal a parking meter, a group of guys cornering two women in an alley, a cat being tortured by some punks, guys gratifying and drawing d??ks on a wall, vandalism and multiple other crimes ranging from some low brow stuff to crimes that will result in some serious time and it''s like a never ending circus since the crimes are making themselves aware to me one after another and I begin to wonder if I''ll ever manage to make it to Batman but before I know it I''m standing upon the rooftop of a building that''s overlooking a warehouse by the docks and it''s currently being surrounded by multiple police officers and ambulances that are just waiting near the entrance and I realise why since a moment later there are a few police officers dragging out what looks like some dock workers though they are a bit too bloody for that and they are immediately restrained tightly against some stretchers that have restraints on them and are loaded into the ambulance and other vehicles and I wonder why but I realise a second later when more police officers come out through the front entrance. What I have noticed is that all of the police officers who have come out of the building are dressed in full riot gear and gas masks as opposed to the regular dressed officers and medics outside and it''s clear why as unlike the other group of riot officers who came out dragging unconscious dock workers this group of riot police are only bringing out one dock worker but this time they are conscious but I don''t know if that is the right word since they are acting wild screaming and trying to hit everyone around them but the group of five riot officers are holding him and trying to force him towards one of the groups of medics and officers who are waiting with a stretcher and restraints and I quickly deduce that all of the dock workers inside the warehouse have already been doused with fear toxin which makes them wild and unpredictable and so worried about whether the officers would be able to handle it I quickly jump off of the rooftop and glide across the street and I top of the warehouse perched just above the entrance to keep a closer eye on them and hopefully gain some insight into the situation inside since I ?ssumed that the incident would be over by now but it''s still continuing for some reason, it seems I had no need to worry however since the five officers seem to be controlling the situation well enough and they were forcing the dock worker in heir grasp towards the stretcher and wanting to get this over with one of the nurses waiting with the stretcher moves closer with it towards them which seems to trigger the fear addled dock worker who must see something terrifying in place of the nurse since he freaks out and with surprising strength grows off the officers holding him and begins to run towards the shocked cowering nurse like an animal and it''s all too sudden that I''m too late to react and just as I''m about to jump down I find myself stalling since the problem was solved when a meaty thump sounded out and the dockworker falls to the ground unconscious and standing above him is a particular plump detective in a black leather duster. "What the fu?k did I tell you ?ssholes? Can''t you follow my simple instructions? Enter the ware house and proceed room by room preferably following in Batman''s footsteps and collecting all of the people he''s knocked out, if you come upon a room with Batman is in hang back and wait for him to clear it before entering and if you find a room with Crane inside then retreat a couple rooms and wait till Batman deals with him. The rest of us will stay out here and maintain the cordon around the warehouse to make sure none of these crazies get out and attack the ''good people'' of Gotham while a select few of you dressed in riot gear and gas masks enter the warehouse proceeding with caution and detaining these miserable sacks slow and steady with Batman preferably doing all the hard work, if you meet one of these crazies inside and they are awake don''t fu?k?n? grab them and drag them outside, you fu?kin knock them out and then drag them out." "B-But Sir, these are civilians. Even if they have been affected by t-the fear toxin, they are still civilians, S-Sir." One of the cops who looks pretty young and green questions the man in charge which turns out to be a mistake since that gathers all of the man in charges attention onto him, Detective Harvey Bullock locks his gaze onto the green officer who trembles nervously under his stare as the detective slowly smokes his cigarette before writing forward and getting into the officers personal space and blowing a face full of smoke into his face. "Are you questioning my orders Officer Blake? Because it seems like you are, now I would much rather have the commish in charge but he was closer to the bank Two Face was robbing which means I was stuck in charge of this bullshit and I just got word that the bank robbery was foiled not fifteen minutes ago so the Commissioner will be here soon to take over but until then you will follow my orders to the fu?k?n? letter, understood? I don''t give a fu?k if it was your fu?k?n? grandma in there, knock them out then drag them out, savvy?" The officer rapidly nods his head which seems to please Bulloc since he backs off and heads back to his station which is in the seat of his car listening to the radio while sitting with his door open and his legs hanging out but I find myself more baffled by the fact that I only stopped the bank robbery fifteen minutes ago because I encountered around thirty different crimes during my trip from the bank to here and to discover that that was only during thirty minutes makes me truly worried for the future of this city and it''s people, quickly shaking my head I resolve myself to find Batman and discover the situation since this incident should''ve been finished by now yet there are still crazies running around and the Scarecrow has still not caught which must mean something is up. Quickly sneaking across the top of the warehouse I begin to peer through every window I can to get a glimpse of the situation inside and while most rooms have knocked out dock workers inside them there are a few which still have some crazies running around and not wanting to disregard my duty in my new role I quickly jump into those rooms silently knocking out all of the crazies and taking them down which seems to work just fine though it''s an effort to stay out of their line of sight since they are re jumpy and paranoid constantly looking around but I''d rather do it stealthily than alerting them which alerts others with the screams and maybe even Scarecrow himself and I don''t want my presence here known so while it takes a bit of effort and skill I make sure to knock out each and every person I see that''s been affected by the fear toxin preventing them from endangering others and clearing the path for the police to collect them and restrain them till they can get the help they need, clearing room by room making sure to travel between each using the top of the warehouse since that''s seems to be the best avenue or not getting discovered I quickly clear out room after room of fear addled dock workers before I eventually make it to a room near the end of the warehouse where I finally done the people I was looking for but I''m heavily confused by the situation. Why is Batman being tag teamedˇ­ ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane, frank ivkovich, Alex, Jermaine Koster, Ethan Fuentes and Luke Soper.. Thank you for the support. Chapter 171 - [BT] Zebra Daddy… [Before Transition] After leaving the Baxter Building dead tired as well as battered I make my way to my car and enter it before starting the engine and darting off towards my home hoping to get a full nights rest since today was a long and tiring day especially after the relaxing three months I had where nothing really happened and now things just keep hitting me one after the other and I''m tired of it and so I speed towards home and I decide to take the scenic route because it''s dark now and New York''s people are about and crowding the street so instead of taking the direct route which is almost definitely jammed with New Yorkers I decide to take a different route that while longer in distance will prove to be much quicker than the standard route and my new route takes me through some of the darker streets of New York but nothing compared to the evils of Hell''s Kitchen so I wasn''t particularly worried about driving my baby ''Chantelle'' through these streets, on my way though I begin to feel a bit thirsty and I realise that I hadn''t had anything to eat or drink since my classes at Empire State University which was hours ago and so I pull up next to the curb and park my car before getting out and heading a bit down the street towards a nearby convenience store and on my way I pass by an alley way and when I look inside it I see a few homeless people in it but I don''t pay much attention other than that as I walk by passing a Asian dude that was dressed in a purple and he was being followed by a couple of girls who wore very revealing clothes but I chose to ignore them and enter the convenience store where I buy a drink to tide me over for now ?ssuming that Earl probably has some food prepared for me at home which he usually does. Exiting the convenience store I opened the cap of my drink and began to drink it as I walked back towards my car passing the alleyway and when I look in it this time all of the homeless people seem to have scattered and coming out of the alleyway is that same Asian dude I passed dressed in purple and smelling of all sorts of filth like drugs and sweat and following behind him once again is those same two women who now that I look closer seem to be hookers/prostitutes and by the way they were trailing behind he Asian man he must be their pimp and standing in the middle of the alleyway as I was I was inevitably in the purple dressed Asian mans path but instead of making an issue out of it he tries to just continue on past me like I don''t even exist knocking into my shoulder on the way but instead of me being pushed back I stand absolutely still which makes the Asian man recoil backwards which was a mistake on my part but sadly I wasn''t able to act in time since my gaze was captured by something else instead and I couldn''t act properly and stumble out of the way like I was supposed to which would result in no problems and issues but now there are problems and issues, these problems occurred because I noticed that instead of two trips trailing behind the pimp there were now three and when I looked at the back of the pack there was thin petite girl following behind them and while she was dressed in rags (presumably because she was homeless and was squatting in the alley, the pimp must have found her and scared off the other homeless fellows around her) and all sorts of dirty with her white skin being covered in dirt and her dark black hair being matted in sweat and grime I couldn''t help but take notice of her beautiful and mesmerising green eyes that shone in the darkness but what drew me to her eyes were not the beauty of them but the dullness in those eyes as if the spark of those eyes had gone out and there was no life behind them. She walked in an robotic way as if following orders like a robot and she acted like she had no care for herself or anything as I watched ever b?r? feet travel across the stone ground little pieces of debris jutting into the sole of her foot and even stepping in puddles of rainwater but she didn''t seem to care just carrying on walking after the pimp with no regard for herself showing no pain and no care and when looking in her eyes there was no spark or anything as she had lifeless dull eyes that worked to diminish the beauty of them and I was so preoccupied with this girl who couldn''t be older than fourteen or fifteen that I completely missed the Asian pimp trying to bump me out of the way which resulted in him being pushed back instead, instead of reacting aggressively straight away like I ?ssumed he would when I realised the situation he instead to the opportunity to look me up an down seemingly searching for something before he decided to act and he slapped the drink out of my hand and to the floor where it poured out it''s contents all over the ground and I didn''t even get more than a sip out of it and as I stared at the contents of my drink pouring out all over the ground I heard a click and when I looked back up I got the full view of a muzzle pointing in my face and the hand holding it belonged to the pimp who was staring at me with a stoic face still seemingly looking for something in my expression. "That''s right, you shouldn''t have fu?k?d with Zebra Daddy! Watch where you''re goin fool, should''ve stayed out of daddy''s way!" One of the hookers behind the Asian pimp who is apparently called Zebra Daddy (is he from peppa pig, goddamn Daddy Zebra ?sshole) shouts out in deference to her pimp clearly trying to stroke his ego and the other hooker nods vehemently in agreement trying to also catch the train of brown nosing the Asian pimp whose clearly ignoring them and just staring at my face as he shoves his gun in my face while the young girl at the back just continues to wait while staring listlessly forward and I look at them all for a moment before looking at the pimp who was pointing the gun at me and staring straight into his eyes while contemplating what to do in this situation since I don''t think I''ve ever been in a situation like this, there are several ways to play this with the simplest being begging for my life and hoping the guy gets sick of me and leaves but he could also get sick of me and shoot me plus I''m not the type of guy to beg for his life so that''s not an option and while I could definitely kick this guys ?ss I''d have to kill him afterwards since it would take superhuman abilities to dodge a bullet and if I killed him then I would have to kill the two hookers following him as well to keep them silent and I don''t know what I would do with the young girl whose just been picked up by the pimp because I wouldn''t feel right doing anything to her plus I''ve never killed before and while prostitution is illegal I would be at odds with killing the two hookers and I''m unsure about whether I could kill the pimp since I''ve never killed anything before that wasn''t in a video game and so with a loss for what to do in this situation I continue to stare into the pimps eyes while contemplating if I would have to dodge the bullet but not fast enough so that I would get graded by it to make it believable and then kick his ?ss but the decision was taken out of my hand when the pimp acted and there was a bang. "Shut the fu?k up Bitch! Let the men talk, you just stick to doin what you''re good at and keep your mouth shut!" With a clatter the hooker who was spouting of towards me falls to the ground after being bitch slapped by the Asian pimp causing the other pr?st?tut? who was also trying to brown nose the pimp to quickly back off and shut her mouth while staring straight down at the ground while the young girl at the back finally raises her head and seems to recognise what''s going on around her but even then when she clenched her hands and she seems like she''s about to act and do something she suddenly unclenches her hands and let''s whatever she''s feeling to as she calmly takes in the situation no longer about to act and just observing meanwhile the Asian pimp tucks his handgun back into the waist of his purple pants after bitch slapping his own worker and then he turns back around to be nice more lay his gaze upon me, honestly I''m at a spot as to what I''m supposed to do here as even when he was pointing his gun straight at me I had a semblance of a plan to use my enhanced senses and the second his finger twitches to pull the trigger I would pull out of the way of his gun and attack come what may but he completely upset just what I was gonna do when he suddenly turned and but he slapped his hooker instead of shooting or trying to hit me and know he''s looking at me again but this time he''s not pointing a gun. "Women, am I right? They''ve only got one mouth and it ain''t there for speaking. You got balls kid, but meaty balls. You might wanna think twice about brandishing them around the place with such enthusiasm lest you wanna get ''em cut off, you''re lucky you met a guy like me who ain''t the fussed about shit like this. Next time kid, you better watch where you''re walking cuz the next time I ain''t gonna be so nice." Saying so Zebra Daddy straighten his suit jacket before trying to leave with his two hookers quickly trying to follow after the mouthy one who got slapped to the floor stood up with nary a sound and big bruise on her face and as they go to leave the young girl is about to follow but before she does she takes one last look at me and she stares directly into me eyes and I stare back but this time instead of cold lifeless eyes I see something inside her green irises that''s familiar to me and something I see inside myself every morning and while I don''t know exactly what that is I can tell that we both have it and a second later it''s gone as her eyes are back to being dull and lifeless but I can''t get the sight of such a familiar look out of my brain and before I even knew it my body acted on its own, my hand had reached out and grabbed onto to the shoulder of Zebra Daddy who had just passed me and I stopped him in his tracks knowing that this was a stupid idea and was liable to bring me so much trouble and yet my body acted on its own uncaring of my thoughts and before I knew it words left my lips without my say so because for some reason I began to resonate with this young girl that I hardly knew. "Let the girl goˇ­" ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane, frank ivkovich, Alex, Jermaine Koster, Ethan Fuentes and Luke Soper.. Thank you for the support. Chapter 172 - [NAC] Roll Call… [Not A Chapter] Hi guys, this isn''t a chapter. I just wanted to know how many people are actually reading my story since I can''t actually tell from the data I get on inkstone, I get information on collections but that''s just how many people have added it to their library and that doesn''t mean they are actually reading it. Which is why I want to do a sort of count to see how many people are here, I will leave a sentence below that you can paragraph comment on (PLEASE ONLY COMMENT ONCE). You can comment whatever you want, I just wanna know how many of you guys have read this far. Number of Readers: Chapter 173 - [AT] Fear Toxin… [After Transition] Quickly sneaking across the top of the warehouse I begin to peer through every window I can to get a glimpse of the situation inside and while most rooms have knocked out dock workers inside them there are a few which still have some crazies running around and not wanting to disregard my duty in my new role I quickly jump into those rooms silently knocking out all of the crazies and taking them down which seems to work just fine though it''s an effort to stay out of their line of sight since they are really jumpy and paranoid constantly looking around but I''d rather do it stealthily than alerting them which alerts others with the screams and maybe even Scarecrow himself and I don''t want my presence here known so while it takes a bit of effort and skill I make sure to knock out each and every person I see that''s been affected by the fear toxin preventing them from endangering others and clearing the path for the police to collect them and restrain them till they can get the help they need, clearing room by room making sure to travel between each using the top of the warehouse since that''s seems to be the best avenue or not getting discovered I quickly clear out room after room of fear addled dock workers before I eventually make it to a room near the end of the warehouse where I finally find the people I was looking for but I''m heavily confused by the situation. I had discovered the people I had been looking for but I''m befuddled by the scene inside because while everyone I was expecting to see is here the things I was expecting inside the room and what they were doing went heavily against my expectations since while Batman, Robin and Batgirl were fighting they were for some reason fighting against each other while Scarecrow watched on from the sidelines as he fiddled with his chemistry set presumably working on some diabolical concoction of fear but while Scarecrow was acting as expected the others were not and I could not find a reason as to why because as far as I knew the only thing that could possibly result in Batman, Robin and Batgirl fighting against each other would be the fear toxin produced by Dr Jonathon Crane but they can only be affected by that by breathing it in and I know that they took precaution against him as they wouldn''t be part of the Bat-family if they didn''t, in fact I can see all three of them down there wearing there gas masks which are heavy metal things that are affixed to there jaws covering there mouths and they appear to be working with ease and there doesn''t seem to be any breaks or cracks on them so they are in working condition and when I take a closer look I can see nothing wrong with any of their gas masks but what I can see is their behaviour and looking closer I can tell that both Robin and Batgirl are acting erratically and wildly attacking not only Batman but each other as well going for devastating crippling blows while Batman remains his calm and collected self but I go an see his face is in a grimace as he constantly fights against the other two trying to not hurt them and trying to keep them from hurting each other which is taking all of his time and hence he can''t focus on Scarecrow who seems to be brewing something malevolent in the corner of the room. "Haha Batman, you didn''t expect this did you? Before my fear toxin could only be dispersed as a gas to be used the most effectively which made my toys somewhat troubling given that a harsh breeze could blow them away which is why I mostly confined my activities to the inside of building and not only that but my marvellous fear toxin could usually be thwarted by wearing a simple gas mask which you make heavy use of which usually results in me being sent back to Arkham. But I had enough time outside of that wretched pen this time that I managed to actually make some advancements on my work since my experiments proved themselves to be useful and I finally managed to improve on perfection by making a new variation of my brilliant Fear Toxin by transforming it into pure liquid form and while I could always do this by condensing the fear toxin into a liquid that had always proved to be immensely lethal killing people as soon as injected which was a wasteful death since they had never experienced true fear before their death but now they can since I have finalised the calculations and my Fear Toxin now comes in pure liquid fear which your two sidekicks are now experiencing, it''s a shame that I only had time to make two doses before I was unfortunately discovered by those insufferable workers but I made them worthwhile by using them on your sidekicks when they were least expecting it but not to worry Batman. I am making another dose now and you can soon join your sidekicks in their fate of experiencing true unadulterated fear before an ultimately satisfying death, it won''t be long until you have two ounces of liquid fear running through your veins Batman, haha." Hearing Scarecrows villainous monologue it''s not hard to figure out what happened since he pretty much laid it all out for me by telling me that the Bat trio must''ve come in here with their gas masks on and not expecting much of a threat because without the fear toxin (which they had effectively neutralised by wearing gas masks, though that doesn''t seem to be the case now) Scarecrow better know as Dr Jonathon Crane was just a crazy man in a Scarecrow costume and so once his fear has had proven ineffective they must''ve gone to capture him (mostly Robin and Batgirl first, hotheaded teenagers that they are) and when their guards were down he must''ve struck out and injected them with the liquid fear before they could do anything which is proven correct when I notice with my enhanced eyesight tiny needle wound upon their shoulders/necks while Batman appears to have no such wound, most likely while they were hot headed and ended up being injected with fear toxin Batman must''ve still had his guard up because he knew Scarecrow would not face them if he didn''t think he could win and when Scarecrow made his move Batman was able to avoid being injected with the injection but his two companions weren''t so lucky and got liquid fear I side their blood veins which forced them to go crazy and starting attacking Batman and each other and now with Batman busy Scarecrow got to work making another dosage of fear toxin yet it wouldn''t be long before this guys plan crumbles down around him since he didn''t account for me. With Batman preoccupied trying to keep his two sidekicks from killing himself and killing each other there was no one to stop Scarecrow from using his chemistry equipment and making more doses of liquid Fear Toxin one of which he will soon inject into Batman as he has the syringes nearby and ready to fill but what kind of newly minted hero would I be if I didn''t try and stop this mad man and his obsession with fear and so while he''s still focusing on his chemistry set I get ready to leap down and knock his block off since my mask already has a gas mask/rebreather attached to it and built into the mask since my chin isn''t exposed but I stop myself before I try and leap down and take a moment to contemplate the current situation before I do anything rash and end up worsening the situation since you don''t know exactly what hat the madmen that are part of Batman''s rogue gallery have to n store and what backup plans and countermeasures they have so I take a moment to once again observe the situation and see if I missed anything before I can act, after looking around I can''t see anything alarming and my spider sense isn''t going off so I''m ?ssuming there''s no traps in store but during my period of contemplation I come to the realisation that while everyone else (warehouse workers/dock workers) was doused with fear toxin in the form of gas both Batgirl and Robin were actually injected with fear toxin directly into their bloodstreams with a newly minted recipe as told by the creator himself and so I had no idea if this product would have irreversible side affects or consequences and we had no samples and f the liquid fear toxin on hand in case we do need to work on helping both Batgirl and Robin recover but luckily for me Scarecrow is working on creating more liquid fear toxin right now and while that may increase the danger a bit I should be alright as long as I intercept Scarecrow after he''s made the liquid fear toxin and before he''s put the liquid into the syringes. And so I wait while watching anxiously as Scarecrow gets to work creating a new batch of liquid fear toxin and paying attention to the process he''s using and the ingredients in case it might come in handy later but all the while Batman is continuing to fight to a stalemate with both Batgirl and Robin while protecting them from each other and I''ve seen multiple openings to take them down quite brutally but each time he doesn''t take advantage of the opening and focuses on continuing the stalemate and I''m confused as to why since while they may be put out for a couple of weeks or maybe months by him taking advantage of the opening that should be a fair price to put them down and take out Scarecrow before he can create the next batch of liquid fear toxin but then I realise that perhaps Batman has come to the same conclusion as me that we need a sample of the liquid fear toxin in case it has lasting effects on Batgirl and Robin which must be why he''s maintaining the stalemate because if he put them down now then Scarecrow would stop working on his next batch of fear toxin and most likely run which could leave both Batgirl and Robin in dire states so he''s maintaining the stalemate till Scarecrows done but this comes with extra risks since he will have to take down both Barbara and Dick after the next batch is made and that will take some time which Scarecrow will use to load his syringes and make himself a bigger threat, of course he could just be trying to put them down as gently as possible while knowing that he has time since a scarecrow is busy making his next batch however I doubt that since Batman always has a plan and he''s skilled enough that he could''ve already put these tow down as gently as he wanted so I''m guessing he''s got the same objective as me and as I stare down at him as he continues to stave off his fear crazed sidekicks I could''ve sworn that his eye flickered to me watching them through the window for less than a second and though I can''t be sure I''ve chosen to ?ssume that he''s aware of my prescience as that would make the most sense going forward but whether he''s aware of my presence or not doesn''t matter since I still have the same objective and right now he''s helping to compete it. Now it''s just a waiting game till the next batch of liquid fear toxin is done, Batman looks like he''ll be able to tough it out for a few more minutes just fine. He''ll be fineˇ­ ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane, frank ivkovich, Alex, Jermaine Koster, Ethan Fuentes and Luke Soper.. Thank you for the support. Chapter 174 - [BT] Escalation… [Before Transition] Zebra Daddy straightened his suit jacket before trying to leave with his two hookers quickly trying to follow after the mouthy one who got slapped to the floor stood up with nary a sound and big bruise on her face and as they go to leave the young girl is about to follow but before she does she takes one last look at me and she stares directly into me eyes and I stare back but this time instead of cold lifeless eyes I see something inside her green irises that''s familiar to me and something I see inside myself every morning and while I don''t know exactly what that is I can tell that we both have it and a second later it''s gone as her eyes are back to being dull and lifeless but I can''t get the sight of such a familiar look out of my brain and before I even knew it my body acted on its own, my hand had reached out and grabbed onto to the shoulder of Zebra Daddy who had just passed me and I stopped him in his tracks knowing that this was a stupid idea and was liable to bring me so much trouble and yet my body acted on its own uncaring of my thoughts and before I knew it words left my lips without my say so because for some reason I began to resonate with this young girl that I hardly knew. "Let the girl goˇ­" I spoke aloud into the open air and a resounding silence was all I got in return as Zebra Daddy, the two hookers and even the young girl stared at me with the two hookers being in shock and the young girl looking at me in confused indifference but that was all different to the pimp Zebra Daddy who turned back to look at the offending limb holding into him before he started laughing when he followed the limb back to my face, even though he was laughing I could see the unyielding rage in his eyes as he glared at me with his mouth tightening after he finished laughing to again descend us into an uncomfortable silence as he reached back and clamped his hand down onto my offending arm trying to crush it in his grip to try and teach me a lesson but I can''t be less bothered about pretending right now and so his actions are useless as he''s just straining his fingers and he realises this as well and it helps add to his rage even more as he instead flings my arm away from him before once agains straightening his suit jacket and turning around to face. "Do you know just how much you just fu?k?d up? Do ya? Here I am trying to be a nice guy and letting you go scot free even after you bumped into me like that but I guess it''s true what they say, give an inch and they''ll take a mile. Why the fu?k do you even what the girl for? You know her or something, is she your lil sister?" The man starts to go on his own monologue as if ramping up to some finale but I couldn''t be less bothered as I continue to stare at him as he continues to run his mouth about me offending him and in a sense I can understand that as everything was resolved and he was leaving with the only thing he had done to me was slapping my drink out of my hand and to the floor and watching it spill out whereas as in any other situation he would''ve probably beat me senseless (not that he could, but he would''ve tried) or simply tried to pop me by pulling out his gun and shooting me in the head (but high actually would have killed me, but my senses, agility and dexterity is high enough that I would easily be able to dodge but if I was caught off guard I could technically get one shotted) but in my case he left me be and tried to leave but here I was taking a mile when he gave an inch by trying to stop him taking the young girl and turning her into a pr?st?tut? but I just couldn''t let it happen after seeing such a familiar look in her eyes, what particularly catches me of guard is when he asks me if the young girl is my little sister and when I take a closer look I realise that we both have dark black hair along with green eyes (hers are a bit brighter while mine are a bit duller, though I suppose right now hers are a bit duller) as well as fair white skin so it wouldn''t be a stretch to believe that we might be related as we do look pretty similar but I know there is no familial relation there since I was an only child and my parents only had their parents who are long dead and no other siblings or cousins so I''m the last of the family and I know for a fact we aren''t related but we sure do look like we could be. "I don''t know the kid, she don''t know me either and she sure as shit ain''t my little sister. Even so I can''t let you take her and take advantage of her turning her into a pr?st?tut? when she clearly isn''t all there, she''s just a kid that doesn''t know any better and is down on her luck and I can''t let her do this when she''ll regret it for the rest of her life. I got my reasons but that doesn''t matter right now, you just need to let the girl go and keep on walking and get back to whatever it is you pimps do all day, Zebra Daddy." Finishing my sentence by sarcastically calling him Zebra Daddy (the guys clothes aren''t even black or white or even striped, he''s got the daddy part down being a pimp but I don''t see the zebra part unless that''s something to do with cocaine or something but I''m a lot less knowledgable about this shit than anybody else) and I know that I''m massively messing up right now since I''ve never gone and picked a fight with anyone else with them usually picking a fight with me and getting me into trouble but even then most of my fights were playground antics apart from the bug fights in Hell''s Kitchen I was apart of but that''s it really since when I fought those mole people creatures they were pretty mindless and in the fight against Blastaar I was pretty much just support and this guy is harmless in comparison to those situations but there''s a big difference between these situations, in the mole people situation me and Johnny were just walking along the street when the ground started breaking up and out came mole people and the fight in Hell''s Kitchen was due to me kicking bad guys ?sses while looking for Daredevil since I could not in good conscience watch them attack women and most of the time it was guys trying to mug me which cultivated in them all getting together and coming for me and just in the situation earlier today Blastaar suddenly jumped out of a portal and started fighting so I had no choice but to get involved but in all of those situations I never chose to be involved (not fully at least) and they were just thrown on me and I had to do my best but this time I''m making a conscience decision to get involved in this situation for the first time and while it does seem to be a lot less dangerous than the other situations it''s still new ground for me since this is my first time actively trying to involve myself and helping someone (and I don''t even know why, because of a look I saw in her eyes) but I don''t mind since these are relatively low stakes and those are the stakes I like best. "What the fu?k? Let me get this straight, you don''t even know this little white girl and yet you are trying to get in my face and get me to leave her alone when you don''t even know her. You must be fu?k?n? crazy thinking any of this would go your way, this fu?k?n? girl here wants to come work for me. I told her to come with me and she came and I didn''t even have to use threats or the lure of money because she just followed orders like a good bitch, someone must''ve already trained her or something cuz she is good at following and listening to demands and that''s just the kinda girl I want on my roster which will drum up some good business. Why the fu?k are you even involving yourself in this when it''s got nothing to do with you, this girl chose to follow me and become a pr?st?tut? and as far as I can see you don''t have any fu?kin right to try and stop her or me when you don''t even know her so I''ll give you one more chance to fu?k off right now or stick around and end up another punk kid dead in a gutter, your choice." I know that I have no right to stop her from doing what she wants since it''s her life and her body and if she wants to become a s?x worked than she can but even so I can''t forget that look in her eyes and so I can''t just leave and let her follow this guy because her eyes are so lifeless right now and she needs help plus to be honest I''m not doing this in a completely selfless way either because sure I want to help her but I''m also seeing an opportunity to benefit from this as well, looking at her right now she looks like she''s just going with the flow since she''s got no reason or purpose of existence which is why she''s just following this guy since he''s telling her what to do and I don''t want him taking advantage of her but I''m being kinda selfish right now as well since I''ve realised that she has no purpose and no reason to live which means right now she''s very malleable and easy to mould which means if I save her and she becomes in my debt I could mould her and make me her reason to live which would result in me finally having a confidant because while everybody else like Gwen and Mary Jane might be close to me I could never fully trust them since they don''t have any reason to stay on my side and beings are fickle but with this girl I could make her into the proverbial Robin to my proverbial Batman and have a close confidant who listens to my every word who I can mould to my whims to help me and someone I can confide in knowing that they won''t betray me since there will be a clear hierarchy since she would be coming from a position of debt and I need that since even Earl doesn''t know everything I get up to and I need someone to help me with my stuff that will follow my every order and I can see it in her that she''s capable of that and I admit that I''m taking advantage of her but it''s better than the pimp who woke turn her into a prostitution and s?x worker while I wouldn''t take advantage of her like that so I''m infinitely the better option. "You are gonna let the girl go! Now! She is better than being a hooker for your degenerate ?ss!"Suddenly Zebra Daddy grabs me by my collar and pulls me closer trying to intimidate me but seeing the situation for what it was I grabbed onto his collars as well since it''s better this way without him being able to pull out his gun and when he realises that I''ve graves him back he gets angry and tries to wrestle me to the ground but I just stay standing as he starts trying to shake me, he lets one of his hand go and tries to reach back behind him to his gun but because of my arms he can''t reach back to his gun and so settles for grappling with me again but this time trying to get a few punches in which I dodge while still holding onto him all the while the three girls are but he''s side watching but I''m not really paying attention to them. "Motherfucker, you''re fu?k?n? dead! You hear me, dead! That little white bitch is gonna be my fu?kin hooker and she''s gonna make me cash, she wants to do it and she wants the money as well so fu?k off and DIE!" Zebra Daddy yells out as we continue to fight and grapple each other in close quarters with our actions escalating every second, we are properly tussling now with me taking it easy and not using my powers since I don''t particularly want to kill this guy but I will if I have to but I have to stop thinking about that when something unexpected happens. "YOU DON''T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ME OR WHAT I WANT! ARRGGGHH!!!" With a scream of rage the young girl we were both fighting over starts ti rush over towards us at a starling speed and out of the corner of my eyes I can spot a glint of metal in her hands which must be a life or something and as she swipes dangerous weapon at me with frightening speed I quickly react and jump back letting go of the pimp managing just to dodge in the nick of time and because of this the young girl swing wide and end up smashing through the throat of Zebra Daddy with her.. With her fu?k?n? CLAWSˇ­ ________________________________________________ The polls have come in. This book with a total of 1.98 million views and 7.1 thousand collections has a total of around 70 readers, according to the roll call I did. ???? I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane, frank ivkovich, Alex, Jermaine Koster, Ethan Fuentes and Luke Soper.. Thank you for the support. Chapter 175 - [AT] Three Knock Outs… [After Transition] Finally after who knows how long Scarecrow was finally done with finishing his new batch of liquid fear toxin and so I no longer have to stalk the dark corners of the world sticking to the shadows and watching Batman, Robin and Batgirl fighting against each other with Batman remaining calm but receiving injuries even so due to the other two getting more and more agitated and affected by the fear toxin which was making them attack with wild abandon usually going for lethal hits which Batman did not well to disarm without hurting the other two too much and as fascinating and interesting as it was to watch I had begun to get bored of it which is why I am so glad that Scarecrow was finally done with his new batch and I could finally intervene, having watched the entire procedure and production method of this new liquid fear toxin Dr Jonathon Crane had since served his purpose and he was no longer useful which meant I no longer needed him conscious since I now new the liquid fear toxins production method and now had a handful of samples nearby so I can deal with this loser now before he can properly put his fear toxin into the nearby syringes and become an a more realised threat then he is right now which wouldn''t be too hard for him to die actually if he just picked up a bat or maybe a gun and actually had a weapon other than fear toxin which couldn''t affect me due my costume/armour fully covering every inch of my skin and a lot more high tech stuff in my suit than any other member of the Bat-family but even so every enemy is a threat no matter how small and it is your duty to keep an eye on them and defeat them which is why I will be showing no mercy when I take this ?sshole down since I don''t want to give him a chance to do anything disadvantageous to me no matter how unlikely it is. "Haha, the time is nigh Batman! Soon you too shall taste the ultimate fear before I finally end your pathetic existence once and for all before spreading the truest emotion of fear throughout the world without you to stop me, soon all shall know true fear. As soon as I put my new batch of liquid fear toxin into a syringe I''ll inject you with it the same as your sidekicks, of course you won''t make it so easy but right now you are a little preoccupied with your two fortunate sidekicks fighting against you and sooner or later you''ll let your guard down and I''ll find inject you with true fear, it''s only a matter of time." After finishing his new batch of liquid fear toxin instead of getting to work straight away and luring it into his syringes he instead starts his evil monologue and it''s which he wishes to install fear into Batman which I suppose I can now understand as this is the reason why all villains want to monologue instead of just killing him and that''s because they want Batman to know he was vested by them and they want him to feel some kind of emotion before his death and in this situation Scarecrow wants Batman to feel fear so much so that he is trying to give some to him naturally instead of with his fear toxin plus they want everyone to know that they killed Batman (if a Batman dies in a forest with no one around, does the Batman really die?) which is why they take their sweet time and also try to savour this experience since it''s a one and done type of thing and there won''t ever be a Batman like him again which is why they always tow their time (at least I ?ssume), he''s unfortunately for this idiot he''s massively underestimated Batman since he should be able to easily manhandle his two sidekicks and momentarily bypass them to take down Scarecrow but before I allow Batman to do anything I instead act first by using the opportunity afforded to me to spring down from my position and glide down to land silently behind Scarecrow whose still fiddling around with his workstation and before he even knows what''s happened I reach out my hand and grab him by the back of his head before pushing forward with significant force and slamming his forehead against his workstation absolutely battering his forehead and most likely giving him a concussion as well as knocking him out but since I can''t see his face from my angle I''d rather not risk anything plus I still feel him trying to stand a little (or is that my imagination?) and so I slam his head back against his workstation one more time and this time I know he''s completely out of it when his body absolutely slackens when I pull him back up and he basically dribbles out of my hand and falls to the floor but even then I don''t want to take any chances and so I quickly work to restrain the man and tie up his arms and legs and torso basically cocooning the man so much that it looks like he''s wrapped up like a burrito ("The Burrito. The Burrito. It''s awesome and it''s so good to eat. The Burrito. The Burrito. It''s filled with good things to eat. Burritos are yummy and Burgers are gross. Burritos are yummy and Burgers are gross. Buns, Ketchup, Pickle, Cheese put that patty in between. It''s Burger what, what. It''s Burger what, what. Buns, Ketchup, Pickle, Cheese put that patty in between. It''s Burger what, what. It''s Burger what, what." Of all the things I could have retained from my meta knowledge I got stuck with this, what the hell is this and why do I know it and think it''s applicable in the DC universe, why did this pop into my brain just now?). As I look down at the entirely cocooned fearsome Scarecrow I feel like I may have gone a bit overboard but then again I feel like my fears are justified because I for one do not want to get any sort of fear toxin in my system because the things I know and retained from my meta knowledge along with all the shit I''ve gone through is plenty terrifying already and I don''t need the fear toxin bringing them to life for me so I took extra precaution and made sure that the Scarecrow would be unable to do anything that might negatively impact me which is why I also clattered his head against his workstation two times when I''m sure that a single time would have sufficed but I''m not taking any chances because while this guy is less physically dangerous than Two Face I fear him more because he is mentally dangerous and I don''t know if I would be able to resist Fear Toxin like Batman''s been shown capable of in many different universes so definitely not taking any chances, stepping over the unconscious form of Scarecrow I stare down at his workstation where he had just finished his new batch of fear toxin which was quite little actually probably just enough for three maybe four syringes which means that there was relatively little and so I quickly stored the new batch into a container I had sourced from my utility belt which will keep it entirely isolated and I then placed the container back into my utility belt into a pouch which was padded so that even if I took a beating or something the container would be just fine which was great for me but after putting away my new sample I stared down at my he workstation and realised that all the ingredients for the fear toxin was bear and a suitably clever man could probably figure out the recipe by just looking at theses ingredients and I don''t want more people out there with this recipe so I quickly find and choose the ingredients and chemicals which aren''t really harmful separately or when mixed together and start to pour them down the sink next to the workstation to make sure that no one would be able to replicate Scarecrows fear toxin from this workstation but most likely those who want it would already have it but it doesn''t hurt to be through. After finishing with that I realise I turned around to once more lay my eyes on the sight of Batman battling against both of his sidekicks still managing his to keep the two at bay and keep them from properly hurting anyone and he makes it all look so effortless but perhaps it isn''t as effortless as it appears because he''s trained both Batgirl and Robin up to his standard which are pretty high and he''s fighting them both at the same time trying to keep them from attacking each other as well as not hurting them too much while they are acting with lethal force so maybe he actually was being held up by them and my help was most opportune for him and maybe I overestimated the Batman because at the end of the day he is just a man who prepares for everything and is one of the smartest men in the world but he still has only two arms and legs, running over to help Batman out of his perilous situation I quickly reach into my utility belt and pull out a pare of bolas which I fling through the air towards Barbara and since she''s so occupied fighting Batman and probably way too freaked out by the fear toxin she notices too late and ends up covering caught in the bolas which means Batman can now focus solely on Robin who he quite easily handles diverting and deflecting the young boys attacks while looking for an opening that would allow him to take the young boy out with the least damage done but rather than wait for him to do that I quickly sneak over behind Richard and pull another tool out of my utility belt which I use to take down Robin and with a little flicker of electricity Dick goes out like a light. "A taser?" Batman asks watching me put the standard issue taser back into my utility belt after I had used it on the back on Richards neck to knock him out quite easily, I would have like to use my Venom Blast but I don''t feel like using my unknown abilities any time soon but I did need an option to knock people out quickly and effectively and so I chose the taser since while not as high tech as some of Batman''s gadgets it still gets the job done. "If it works, it works. It''s quite effective actually." "Never mind, I''ll get Robin. You get Batgirl, I''ll pull the Bat-mobile up out front and we''ll put them in before getting them back to the Bat-cave to run some tests and help them by hopefully flushing the fear toxin from their system. Don''t think we won''t be talking about your unscheduled outing later, but right now we have other things to deal with." Batman finishes and I wonder what my punishment will be for going out crime fighting without permission but I can worry about that later and so I walk over to Batgirl who is still tied up by the bolas but I notice that she''s looking at me as I advance in her with sheer terror in her eyes as well as determination and I realise a second later where that determination is focused as shes somehow managed to get one of her nagar age out behind her back and she''s trying to cut open the wire between the bolas but I can''t allow that and I know how clever she is and it''ll be much more trouble with her conscious so I again pull my taser out and walk over and taser her in the neck knocking her out before picking her up and slicing her over my shoulder, I wonder is she''ll be angry that I tweeted her later. No point worrying about that, just got to get to the Bat-mobile now while Batman goes and informs Bullock that the situation is resolved while carrying Robin with him. Quite the day I''ve had today, very eventfulˇ­ ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Manuel Arauio, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane, frank ivkovich, Alex, Jermaine Koster, Ethan Fuentes and Luke Soper.. Thank you for the support. Chapter 176 - [BT] Claws Out… [Before Transition] "You are gonna let the girl go! Now! She is better than being a hooker for your degenerate ?ss!"Suddenly Zebra Daddy grabs me by my collar and pulls me closer trying to intimidate me but seeing the situation for what it was I grabbed onto his collars as well since it''s better this way without him being able to pull out his gun and when he realises that I''ve grabbed him back he gets angry and tries to wrestle me to the ground but I just stay standing as he starts trying to shake me, he lets one of his hand go and tries to reach back behind him to his gun but because of my arms he can''t reach back to his gun and so settles for grappling with me again but this time trying to get a few punches in which I dodge while still holding onto him all the while the three girls are by the side watching but I''m not really paying attention to them. "Motherfucker, you''re fu?k?n? dead! You hear me, dead! That little white bitch is gonna be my fu?kin hooker and she''s gonna make me cash, she wants to do it and she wants the money as well so fu?k off and DIE!" Zebra Daddy yells out as we continue to fight and grapple each other in close quarters with our actions escalating every second, we are properly tussling now with me taking it easy and not using my powers since I don''t particularly want to kill this guy but I will if I have to but I have to stop thinking about that when something unexpected happens. "YOU DON''T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ME OR WHAT I WANT! ARRGGGHH!!!" With a scream of rage the young girl we were both fighting over starts to rush over towards us at a starling speed and out of the corner of my eyes I can spot a glint of metal in her hands which must be a knife or something and as she swipes the dangerous weapon at me with frightening speed I quickly react and jump back letting go of the pimp managing just to dodge in the nick of time and because of this the young girl swings wide and ends up slashing through the throat of Zebra Daddy with her.. With her fu?k?n? CLAWSˇ­ The young girl isn''t carrying a knife, she''s got two fu?k?n? claws coming out of her hands right on the ends between her knuckles and they are fu?k?n? terrifying! I can no longer focus on the flaws though when I hear a massive spurt ring through the air and when I look over in the direction of the noise I notice that only know has time caught up and blood has spurted out of the gaping slash on Zebra Daddy''s throat painting the floor red and he''s only just realised it too as he reaches his hands up to try and close his wound and keep the blood from coming out but it''s a worthless venture since there''s nothing he can do to keep the blood inside his body and all he''s doing is covering his hands in a massive amount of blood as it seeps through his fingers and in a matter of seconds he''s lost too much blood already and he fumbles to his knees still trying to hold on for dear life but it''s ultimately pointless and with a thud he fall face down on the ground in a pool of his own blood dead and I take a moment to just breath after witnessing death for the first time ever in front of me and it''s not as easy as I thought it would be to cope with and I''m not even the one who murdered this guy so I dread the day that I''ll be forced to kill someone and who I''ll handle it when I can''t even handle this, I continue to stare at the dead man on the ground for a second stunned until I hear two screams ring out into the night and when I whip my head around toward them I notice that it was the two pr?st?tut?s from earlier and while one had already began to run off the other had stumbled and fell down onto the ground on her ?ss and began to try and crawl away in her ?ss in terror before she finally managed to get herself to her feet and after directing one look backward she too ran off and when I followed her eyes back to where she was staring I was again reminded of the situation after being stunned by the pimps death even though I talked so lightly of death and killing him myself, pathetic. Watching the pimps murderer once again my eyes are drawn to the two claws popping out between her index and middle finger as well as her pinkie and ring finger and while I say claws these don''t look like they are made of bone or whatever animal claws are made out of but they have a distinctive metal shine to them and they look sleek and sharp with dangerous edges and when I follow the claws back up the hand and arm to its owner I realise I''m staring directly into the girls green eyes and she''s staring directly into mine and for a second we just stay there like that and while I wish things could''ve have stayed like that nothing lasts forever which was proven when the girl must''ve heard some imaginary signal or something and rushed at me with a ninja run dragging her claws along the ground behind her where they were just basically carving a straight groove through the pavement and she was coming at me at a freakishly fast speed and I only had a moment to realise my situation and try to do something about it which is when I jump back once again to avoid her swing once more but she must''ve learnt from the last time I dodged her claws and took precautions this time because as she pulled her claws from the ground and swung at me and missed she also threw all the small bits of debris she had just clawed out from the ground at me and I only had a second to cross my arms in front of my face to protect from the fast makeshift projectiles but even then while I managed to block the bigger pieces of debris there was also dust sized debris which she had flung at me and that got through my hastily made guard and straight into my face and eyes partially blinding me, she must''ve realised I wasn''t a regular human when I dodged her first slash and she ended up killing the pimp Zebra Daddy and so this time she took extra measure to defeat me ?ssuming that I would jump back out of her reach again and she was right but that was a one totem deal and it''s not gonna happen again as I''ll now be using all of my abilities to fight her off since I know for a fact that if I don''t I''m dead and so I''ll not hold anything back but unfortunately I had made this decision to late and now my sight was practically useless as my vision was blurred and I could no longer see much and so as I heard the girl once more make a rush for me I had to rely on my enhanced senses to dodge her and even than it was just b?r?ly and the only thing that was really helping me out here was my spider sense which I was relying on heavily to avoid her strikes and slashes and I''m guessing my agility is also playing a factor here since she mustn''t have thought I would have been so flexible and able to bend around all of the attacks that my spider sense was informing me about. Even so with all of my abilities and spider sense helping me I still had to endure some injuries though thankfully they were just some thin shallow cuts into my skin and so it could be a lot worse than it was but some blood was dribbling out of my tiny wound and threw me wounds were all accumulating slowly over time and eventually the blood loss everywhere would be too much but I''ve got a lot of time before that happens and thankfully the clothes I''m wearing are soaking up all the blood that''s leaving my body and I''m just glad that she hasn''t noticed the injury I incurred against Blastaar earlier this day and she''s not sliced at it since while I might heal quickly it''ll still take a few days and I''m just glad that I haven''t given my injury away otherwise she would most likely be exclusively targeting that area but right now my injury isn''t affecting me much and I have time to figure out how I''m going to get through this and for that I need to know more about my opponent which means I have to search my meta knowledge for any information that can help me, now that I have a moment to think since we''ve kinda gotten into a rhythm while fighting each other with my spider sense helping my better every time and my eyesight slowly returning I can try and search my memory for who exactly it is that I''m fighting and it doesn''t even take long know that I can think about it since the claws were a dead giveaway since claws are ?ssociated with Wolverine but this here is a young female with claws and if I remember correctly in the comics Wolverine had a female clone made of him that was called X-23 which must be this delightful young woman across from me whose trying to tear me to shreds right now but I''m afraid that''s all I really know about her since I wasn''t much of an X-Men fan and I watched the movies but in Logan X-23 was a little girl so I don''t think that''s applicable here but I do know some of the basics around her by osmosis while reading and watching other entertainment and so I know she was trained as an ?ssassin to follow all orders which must be why she ended up just following that pimp because she was so used to following orders and so she just followed him when he told her to high might be useful but I''m unsure if it will actually help in the situation, well only one way to know. "STOP! STOP RIGHT NOW!" I shout while she''s still trying to eviscerate me with her Adamantium claws but she doesn''t hear a word I say continuing to try and slash me to pieces hardly using any of the combat skill she undoubtably has after being trained to be an ?ssassin and instead she continues to fly at me in a rage using no technique and since it appears words aren''t going to help I''ll have to try and beat her off using force and thankfully she''s gonna make that easy for me with her using absolutely no technique and being angry which plays to my advantage and so with my eyesight now returned and recovered from the debris in it I make my move, subverting her expectations instead of continuing to dodge like I have been doing this time I instead lunge forward after one of her swipes to take off my head and not expecting this she doesn''t react in time for when I ran into her tackling her to the floor where I hold her hands down against the floor and sit on her legs so she can''t use her legs to try and kill me since she had a pair of Adamantium claws coming out of her feet as well and while she might be more highly skilled and dangerous than me she isn''t stronger than me and I weigh more than her and so she can''t do anything except struggle as I hold her down against the ground and while she could probably somehow get out of this by ripping off a limb or something and regenerating it (which people related to Wolverine are known to do) she won''t be able to do that since I''m holding her down and she can''t use her claws to do it and she can''t use my own strength against me to rip off her arm or something and I won''t allow her the chance so she''s effectively stuck beneath me and she is restrained. Now where do I go from hereˇ­ ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) Chapter 177 - [BT] Passenger… [Before Transition] "STOP! STOP RIGHT NOW!" I shout while she''s still trying to eviscerate me with her Adamantium claws but she doesn''t hear a word I say continuing to try and slash me to pieces hardly using any of the combat skill she undoubtably has after being trained to be an ?ssassin and instead she continues to fly at me in a rage using no technique and since it appears words aren''t going to help I''ll have to try and beat her off using force and thankfully she''s gonna make that easy for me with her using absolutely no technique and being angry which plays to my advantage and so with my eyesight now returned and recovered from the debris in it I make my move, subverting her expectations instead of continuing to dodge like I have been doing this time I instead lunge forward after one of her swipes to take off my head and not expecting this she doesn''t react in time for when I ran into her tackling her to the floor where I hold her hands down against the floor and sit on her legs so she can''t use her legs to try and kill me since she had a pair of Adamantium claws coming out of her feet as well and while she might be more highly skilled and dangerous than me she isn''t stronger than me and I weigh more than her and so she can''t do anything except struggle as I hold her down against the ground and while she could probably somehow get out of this by ripping off a limb or something and regenerating it (which people related to Wolverine are known to do) she won''t be able to do that since I''m holding her down and she can''t use her claws to do it and she can''t use my own strength against me to rip off her arm or something and I won''t allow her the chance so she''s effectively stuck beneath me and she is restrained. She continues to struggle underneath me like a rabbit animal trying to claw at me but with me holding her wrists down against the ground she doesn''t have enough leeway to even get her Adamantium claws into me and since I sat on her legs instead of sitting on her midsection she literally can''t even lift her legs from the ground which means she can''t get the dangerous Adamantium claws in her free anywhere near me not that she has them out right now which means that I effectively have here in a deadlock and at my mercy and isn''t that something because for the first time ever I have just trumped an actual good damned comic book character who would usually have plot armour but I just won and Wolverines daughter/clone lies undermine defeated and this is the first time that I''ve ever done anything of actual measure in this world and it''s defeating a superhero who was made to be strong, enticing and amazing yet I who used to just be some random shmuck defeated her and it''s given me a rush as I''ve never felt before, but I soon have to push this amazing feeling away as I''ve got more urgent matters to deal with such as the struggling young woman beneath me who''s looking at me with a ferocious look in her eyes and she''s currently trying to snap her head up at me to bite me but thankfully I''m taller than her and she''s smaller than me so she doesn''t get close to even biting the tip of my life but that doesn''t mean she doe at stop trying because she keeps going at it like a woman possessed and I''m honestly getting tired of this plus I''ve got quite a difficult situation on my hands and I have to deal with it quickly. "Listen to me, FUCKING LISTEN! Good, now that you''ve stopped acting like an animal we can finally fu?k?n? talk like civilised human beings instead of whatever it was that you were being." I try to talk to her calmly at first but when she wasn''t listening to a word I was saying I blow my too because it running out of time and pull her up by the arms before slamming her back down and shouting at her which seems to have gotten her attention as she stops trying to bite my face off and instead starts to stare at me without saying a word but even so I can still see the aggression hidden behind her eyes just waiting to be unleashed, while she''s now staring at me calmly and silently I can tell she''s realised there is no way out of the situation she''s currently in which is probably just why she wants to make an opportunity and she''s currently hiding her time behind the mask of calmness just waiting for for the opportunity to strike but there''s nothing I can do in this situation as I''m in a rush so I will just have to hope that my words reach her and if they won''t then I will deal with that bridge when we come to it because right now I''m gonna do something that really stupid. "Okay, now I''m sorry that I git involved with your situation but I was just trying to help a poor young woman who was down on her luck and being tricked into being a pr?st?tut?, clearly you don''t need any help considering the claws you''ve got which makes wonder why you were actually following that sleaze bag but nevermind that. Now that you''ve just slit that pimps throat we need to get out of here before the body is discovered, thankfully the convenience store I went to is a while away down the street and there are only CCTV cameras inside and there was no one also in the vicinity apart from those two hookers who ran of scared straight away and in their business, they know what to say and what not to say so they probably won''t be telling anyone about this (especially not the police) and so we can get away before the body is ever reported to the police. Most likely this body will be found by son thugs or homeless people but they''re more liable to loot the corpse than report it to the police and since this body is gonna be out all night in the cold Rigour Mortis should set in and the time frame of the death should be around an hour or two when investigated by forensics which gives me a good enough already alibi and ill have an alibi at home but right now I have to get out of her and so do you, there aren''t many things that can make a wound like that and so if you kill anyone else or they already have you on record due to the specific way you kill than they could be coming for you soon so it is in mine and your best interest to get the hell out of here. At the end of the day, this was a misunderstanding and we don''t really have a proper grudge or anything between us so what say we let this be bridge under the water and leave each other alone, I go my way you go yours and hopefully we never see each other ever again, sounds like a plan." Then I wait a moment and while she doesn''t reply she does stop breathing so heavily and starts to calm down slightly and I can see the rabidness and the aggression literary bleed out of her eyes and body and so I decided to take a chance, I slowly let go of her wrists quietly easing her hands away and bringing my hands back to myself although I am still sat on her legs and I''m about to get up since it seems like things are actually going well. The next thing I know is that I''m the one laying with my back against the ground and she''s on top of me and she''s just grabbed me by the collar and pulled me up towards her and as quick a lightening her right fist is pressed against the bottom of my chin while she''s still holding me up by her left hand which forces me to prop myself up by placing high my hands behind me flat on the ground and while this situation does look dire I know I can get out of this alive by acting quickly and shoving her hand from underneath my chin before she can do anything but there''s an equal chance that she''ll be able to unleash her claws and while she isn''t likely to kill me there''s a good chance she will take off some of my lower jaws and maybe even some of my tongue and I''m not sure enough in my limited regeneration to risk that but I will if I have to, all is silent and we simply sit there with me on the ground and her on top of me simply staring at each other in the eyes and waiting for the other to make a move and it''s clear when I stay very still and don''t say anything that I''m not gonna make a move and I''m not saying anything because I don''t know what may trigger this crazy young woman and so we stay in the same position before she decided starts to slowly drag her fist away from the pit between my chin and neck and I praise whatever god that''s out there thinking that she''s finally gonna leave me alone and split but my hopes are dashed when her fist stops near the tip of my chin and suddenly two of her Adamantium claws spring out and run along either side of my face which frankly nearly makes me shit myself. We continue to just stare at each other with her claws pressing against the sides of my face and I feel a great sense of security and unease at the same time because I know from the comics that X-23 better known as Laura Kinney only has a single Adamantium claw in bit her feet and two Adamantium claws coming out of her fists which she has out right now and so I feel a sense of peace knowing I can now act with impunity without risk but my meta-knowledge isn''t invincible and there is a chance that she might have a middle claw as well since this is real life and I haven''t seen her feet claws yet so there is every chance that she has a middle claw just waiting in there and it could come out at any time so I still don''t make any moves, we continue to stay like this staring each other in the eyes and then she suddenly retracted her claws and stood up and backed away from me and seeing my opportunity I quickly worked my way back up to my feet and then I started at her confusedlynfor a second before I started to back away and then I turned around and ran back down the street all the way to my car to get out of this crime area as soon as possible and away from here to make sure my alibi is airtight and so I panicked and started t search my pockets for my keys and quickly found them an opened my car before getting in and starting the car. Suddenly I hear the passenger car door open and close and when I look to my left I see the dangerous girl who was just threatening my life sitting in the passenger seat looking all casual. Laura Kinney, X-23 is sat in my car and she''s staring at me with a blank look and I''m so fu?k?n? confused right nowˇ­ ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane, frank ivkovich, Alex, Jermaine Koster, Ethan Fuentes and Luke Soper.. Thank you for the support. Chapter 178 - [BT] Passenger… [Before Transition] "STOP! STOP RIGHT NOW!" I shout while she''s still trying to eviscerate me with her Adamantium claws but she doesn''t hear a word I say continuing to try and slash me to pieces hardly using any of the combat skill she undoubtably has after being trained to be an ?ssassin and instead she continues to fly at me in a rage using no technique and since it appears words aren''t going to help I''ll have to try and beat her off using force and thankfully she''s gonna make that easy for me with her using absolutely no technique and being angry which plays to my advantage and so with my eyesight now returned and recovered from the debris in it I make my move, subverting her expectations instead of continuing to dodge like I have been doing this time I instead lunge forward after one of her swipes to take off my head and not expecting this she doesn''t react in time for when I ran into her tackling her to the floor where I hold her hands down against the floor and sit on her legs so she can''t use her legs to try and kill me since she had a pair of Adamantium claws coming out of her feet as well and while she might be more highly skilled and dangerous than me she isn''t stronger than me and I weigh more than her and so she can''t do anything except struggle as I hold her down against the ground and while she could probably somehow get out of this by ripping off a limb or something and regenerating it (which people related to Wolverine are known to do) she won''t be able to do that since I''m holding her down and she can''t use her claws to do it and she can''t use my own strength against me to rip off her arm or something and I won''t allow her the chance so she''s effectively stuck beneath me and she is restrained. She continues to struggle underneath me like a rabbit animal trying to claw at me but with me holding her wrists down against the ground she doesn''t have enough leeway to even get her Adamantium claws into me and since I sat on her legs instead of sitting on her midsection she literally can''t even lift her legs from the ground which means she can''t get the dangerous Adamantium claws in her free anywhere near me not that she has them out right now which means that I effectively have here in a deadlock and at my mercy and isn''t that something because for the first time ever I have just trumped an actual good damned comic book character who would usually have plot armour but I just won and Wolverines daughter/clone lies undermine defeated and this is the first time that I''ve ever done anything of actual measure in this world and it''s defeating a superhero who was made to be strong, enticing and amazing yet I who used to just be some random shmuck defeated her and it''s given me a rush as I''ve never felt before, but I soon have to push this amazing feeling away as I''ve got more urgent matters to deal with such as the struggling young woman beneath me who''s looking at me with a ferocious look in her eyes and she''s currently trying to snap her head up at me to bite me but thankfully I''m taller than her and she''s smaller than me so she doesn''t get close to even biting the tip of my life but that doesn''t mean she doe at stop trying because she keeps going at it like a woman possessed and I''m honestly getting tired of this plus I''ve got quite a difficult situation on my hands and I have to deal with it quickly. "Listen to me, FUCKING LISTEN! Good, now that you''ve stopped acting like an animal we can finally fu?k?n? talk like civilised human beings instead of whatever it was that you were being." I try to talk to her calmly at first but when she wasn''t listening to a word I was saying I blow my too because it running out of time and pull her up by the arms before slamming her back down and shouting at her which seems to have gotten her attention as she stops trying to bite my face off and instead starts to stare at me without saying a word but even so I can still see the aggression hidden behind her eyes just waiting to be unleashed, while she''s now staring at me calmly and silently I can tell she''s realised there is no way out of the situation she''s currently in which is probably just why she wants to make an opportunity and she''s currently hiding her time behind the mask of calmness just waiting for for the opportunity to strike but there''s nothing I can do in this situation as I''m in a rush so I will just have to hope that my words reach her and if they won''t then I will deal with that bridge when we come to it because right now I''m gonna do something that really stupid. "Okay, now I''m sorry that I git involved with your situation but I was just trying to help a poor young woman who was down on her luck and being tricked into being a pr?st?tut?, clearly you don''t need any help considering the claws you''ve got which makes wonder why you were actually following that sleaze bag but nevermind that. Now that you''ve just slit that pimps throat we need to get out of here before the body is discovered, thankfully the convenience store I went to is a while away down the street and there are only CCTV cameras inside and there was no one also in the vicinity apart from those two hookers who ran of scared straight away and in their business, they know what to say and what not to say so they probably won''t be telling anyone about this (especially not the police) and so we can get away before the body is ever reported to the police. Most likely this body will be found by son thugs or homeless people but they''re more liable to loot the corpse than report it to the police and since this body is gonna be out all night in the cold Rigour Mortis should set in and the time frame of the death should be around an hour or two when investigated by forensics which gives me a good enough already alibi and ill have an alibi at home but right now I have to get out of her and so do you, there aren''t many things that can make a wound like that and so if you kill anyone else or they already have you on record due to the specific way you kill than they could be coming for you soon so it is in mine and your best interest to get the hell out of here. At the end of the day, this was a misunderstanding and we don''t really have a proper grudge or anything between us so what say we let this be bridge under the water and leave each other alone, I go my way you go yours and hopefully we never see each other ever again, sounds like a plan." Then I wait a moment and while she doesn''t reply she does stop breathing so heavily and starts to calm down slightly and I can see the rabidness and the aggression literary bleed out of her eyes and body and so I decided to take a chance, I slowly let go of her wrists quietly easing her hands away and bringing my hands back to myself although I am still sat on her legs and I''m about to get up since it seems like things are actually going well. The next thing I know is that I''m the one laying with my back against the ground and she''s on top of me and she''s just grabbed me by the collar and pulled me up towards her and as quick a lightening her right fist is pressed against the bottom of my chin while she''s still holding me up by her left hand which forces me to prop myself up by placing high my hands behind me flat on the ground and while this situation does look dire I know I can get out of this alive by acting quickly and shoving her hand from underneath my chin before she can do anything but there''s an equal chance that she''ll be able to unleash her claws and while she isn''t likely to kill me there''s a good chance she will take off some of my lower jaws and maybe even some of my tongue and I''m not sure enough in my limited regeneration to risk that but I will if I have to, all is silent and we simply sit there with me on the ground and her on top of me simply staring at each other in the eyes and waiting for the other to make a move and it''s clear when I stay very still and don''t say anything that I''m not gonna make a move and I''m not saying anything because I don''t know what may trigger this crazy young woman and so we stay in the same position before she decided starts to slowly drag her fist away from the pit between my chin and neck and I praise whatever god that''s out there thinking that she''s finally gonna leave me alone and split but my hopes are dashed when her fist stops near the tip of my chin and suddenly two of her Adamantium claws spring out and run along either side of my face which frankly nearly makes me shit myself. We continue to just stare at each other with her claws pressing against the sides of my face and I feel a great sense of security and unease at the same time because I know from the comics that X-23 better known as Laura Kinney only has a single Adamantium claw in bit her feet and two Adamantium claws coming out of her fists which she has out right now and so I feel a sense of peace knowing I can now act with impunity without risk but my meta-knowledge isn''t invincible and there is a chance that she might have a middle claw as well since this is real life and I haven''t seen her feet claws yet so there is every chance that she has a middle claw just waiting in there and it could come out at any time so I still don''t make any moves, we continue to stay like this staring each other in the eyes and then she suddenly retracted her claws and stood up and backed away from me and seeing my opportunity I quickly worked my way back up to my feet and then I started at her confusedlynfor a second before I started to back away and then I turned around and ran back down the street all the way to my car to get out of this crime area as soon as possible and away from here to make sure my alibi is airtight and so I panicked and started t search my pockets for my keys and quickly found them an opened my car before getting in and starting the car. Suddenly I hear the passenger car door open and close and when I look to my left I see the dangerous girl who was just threatening my life sitting in the passenger seat looking all casual. Laura Kinney, X-23 is sat in my car and she''s staring at me with a blank look and I''m so fu?k?n? confused right nowˇ­ ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Darth Bane, Marcus Lane, frank ivkovich, Alex, Jermaine Koster, Ethan Fuentes, Hisham, Eric Baker, Hunter Phillips, Matt and Agustin Sanchez.. Thank you for the support. Chapter 179 - [AT] Moonlight Sonata... [After Transition] Life is as great as it can be right now considering the fact that I''m currently one of Batman''s sidekicks which I have to reluctantly admit I am since I have been following him out every night since the night that has henceforth been dubbed ''Two-Crow Scare-Face'' since on that night I battled both Two-Face and Scarecrow and came out victorious which turns out to be quite the eventful night compared to what the others debuts were like since batman started just fighting thugs on the street and the mob with Robin following in his footsteps and going after a member of the mob on his first crusade but that one was personal since apparently that mobster was responsible for his parents death and that crusade led him to become Robin and Batgirls first adventure was literally putting on some purple tight fitting spandex with a tracksuit on top along with one of those toy batman masks you''d get from a shop along with a taser her dad gave her and she went out and took on someone called the Mothman who I can''t remember for the life of me so he must be pretty insignificant and so in comparison to the others my debut was a lot more eventful and dangerous, since my first night out on the town that is the steaming shit pile called Gotham I''ve been tagging along with batman who''s been looking out for me and teaching me quite a lot on the job and letting me take the lead on investigations which I was quite bad at admittedly but thanks to Batman''s guidance I''ve gotten a whole lot better but it still doesn''t compare to Batman''s skills which is why he has been sending me to crime scenes and investigations to start working on cases myself to improve and has further ''helped'' me by giving me two weeks leave from my job as an ?ssistant to Lucius Fox which I had been really enjoying and so now I''ve had all day to just investigate crime scenes and I''ve solved quite a few and right now I''m on my way to a brand new crime scene to solve a mysterious case. A few days ago, there was an ad in the newspaper that was directed directly at Batman and it stated "During the next full moon, once again on Moonshade Island the shadows will begin to vanish. Please investigate Batman. - Aaron Kane" and while some people did notice this add in the newspaper they inevitably thought it was just a prank or something which is why they just ended up ignoring it and while Alfred did bring it to Batman''s attention it was ultimately ignored by everyone at the Wayne Manor and yet a few days later Batman approached me and gave me a ticket to a ferry and told me to go investigate the case on Moonshade Island which was one of the multiple islands that was off the coast of Gotham City and while I did ask for more information on the case and why Batman thought it was relevant to investigate even going as far as to ask to use the Bat-computer to do some research but Batman did not tell me anything or allow me to do any research, he in fact banned me from any such research before I got to Moonshade Island and when I questioned his reasoning he stated that he has decided that it was time to test my detective skills and so he was sending me to take on this challenge while he remained here and looked after Gotham as Gotham would be defenceless without Batman and so he relegated this task to me and yet he was so sure that there was a detective needed just from that little add in the newspaper and so he must know something about this situation and identified that it was the perfect opportunity for me as well as the danger level being low since he did not allow me to take my Orphan suit with me and he didn''t allow me to take any gadgets either so I can surmise from that that I wouldn''t need them as Batman would not let me go into danger without being prepared and so this must truly only be a test of my detective skills and not any other type of test. Which is why i was given two weeks off of work and given a ticket for a ferry which would take me to Moonshade island where I had already been booked into a fancy hotel with my excuse being that I was taking a holiday for my two-week break when in actual fact I had come to the island to start investigating something and the only clues I had was the brief letter which merely stated "During the next full moon, once again on moonshade island the shadows will begin to vanish. Please investigate Batman. - Aaron Kane'''' Which means my only clue right now is someone presumably on the island called Aaron Kane which is why as soon as the ferry arrived at Moonshade island I got in the luxury car Bruce lent me (the car I was renting was returned by Barbara to the place I rented it from after she thought I died in the factory collapse and since I had already paid a full fee for the next couple of months they were happy to take it back and there''s nothing I could do about it either) which was subtle enough that I wouldn''t draw any attention and I immediately drove off the ferry and onto Moonshade island in search of answers with my main goal being to find someone called Aaron Kane, I know that I have a phone right next to me and I could probably search this dudes name and find out every single thing about him but that would defeat the purpose of batman sending me here and I don''t want to cheat either plus batman would know if i cheated and that would ruin all I''ve worked for so I''ve got to do this investigation properly with no cheating which is why I was immediately off to the Moonshade Island Village Office since this island has a tight knit community and everyone knows everyone and so I would head to the Village Office which would have information on everyone on the island and id ask the people who work there since they are the most likely to help and so I drove to the Village Office already knowing the way since I had procured a map of the island from someone selling them on the ferry. "I''m sorry but there isn''t anyone with that name on this island, I''ve searched through all of our records thoroughly but there isn''t anyone alive on this island with that name. I''m sorry that I couldn''t help you find the man you''re looking for since he is not on the island''s residents list, you could try asking the mayor since apparently he knows every single person on the island and probably has more information than we have in our records." When I got to the Village Office I parked up outside and then went inside and asked the guy at the front desk where Aaron Kane lives but after he searched through the system using the computer in front of him he tells me that there is no one living on this island called Aaron Kane which frankly baffles me since I got a message from the guy to come here and he is my only lead right and if I can''t find him then I''ve hit a dead end, the best I could do after this is to just travel around the island sightseeing and hoping I spot something or talk to some people for information or eavesdrop on people but those things don''t seem likely to help me but I can do them since I''ve got two weeks off but I think I will eventually have to resort to using my phone and cheating but first I will exhaust all my other options. "Hey, what''s going on here? Aren''t you helping this man? What seems to be the problem?" Out of nowhere this receptionist''s boss/supervisor comes out of nowhere and starts to ask if everything''s okay presumably because he picked up on my body language that I didn''t receive what I wanted from the receptionist and so he came to check up on the situation, it seems the receptionist wanted to answer his boss but I don''t want to waste any time and the supervisor probably knows more than the receptionist so I redirect my query towards him instead before the receptionist can say anything. "I''m looking for a resident that lives on this island but your receptionist searched the system and there seems to be no record of this man living here, I''m looking for someone called Aaron Kane who-" "A-AARON KANE! Did you say Aaron Kane!?" the supervisor/boss yells when I mention the name of the man who sent the mysterious letter to Batman and out his outburst the entire room dissolves into gasps before having a heavy period of silence as they all stare towards us in shock and I just stare back bewildered by their reaction to the name along with the receptionist who seems to be just as clueless about the situation as me, just what could Aaron Kane have done to elicit such a mass reaction from the mere utter of his name and why do I feel like nothing is going to be as simple as I thought it would be when I first walked through those doors. "No wonder you didn''t find him on the system, after all that man has been dead for more than ten years. It happened twelve years ago on the night of a full moon. Aaron Kane was a famous pianist that originated from this island and he was the pride of the whole village. Twelve years ago, after performing a concert at the village''s community centre he suddenly locked himself and his family inside his own home, and set the house on fire. according to the rescuers who arrived at the scene after brutally murdering his wife and daughter with a knife, he played the same piece over and over amidst the flames like a man possessed." With a heavy gulp I imagined the scene in my head of the wife and daughter''s dead bodies next to the piano Aaron Kane was playing while the fire consumed and the house whole, what kind of psychopath must he have been to carry on playing the piano even whilst he was being burned alive, I want to know and I also want to know what song he was playing on the piano since it must have been good to persevere and play it while being consumed by a blaze of fire. "And what was it? What was the song he played that night?" "What he played that night, the same night that he killed his entire family including himself and burnt himself and his house to ashes, what he played still haunts me today. He played Beethoven, Beethoven''s ''Moonlight Sonata''..." ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane, frank ivkovich, Alex, Jermaine Koster, Ethan Fuentes and Luke Soper.. Thank you for the support. Chapter 180 - [BT] Run Home... [Before Transition] I quickly worked my way back up to my feet and then I started at her confusedly for a second before I started to back away and then I turned around and ran back down the street all the way to my car to get out of this crime area as soon as possible and away from here to make sure my alibi is airtight and so I panicked and started to search my pockets for my keys and quickly found them and opened my car before getting in and starting the car and I''m about to but the pedal to the metal and ram it all the way home but before I can I suddenly hear the passenger car door open and close and when I look to my left I see the dangerous girl who was just threatening my life sitting in the passenger seat looking all casual and so Laura Kinney, X-23 is sat in my car and she''s staring at me with a blank look and I''m so fu?k?n? confused right now because she was just holding her claws to my throat a second ago and now she''s sat beside me looking like bu??er wouldn''t melt. I continue to stare at her confusion and she just stares straight back at me blankly but I quickly pull myself out of my daze when I realise we are just going to stare at each other for ever since she doesn''t seem like she''s going to do anything and while I could force the issue and try to force her out of my car I would undoubtedly lose because I only won since she underestimated me and I used the element of surprise to win but with her prepared now I know I will lose plus I really don''t have the time to fight her on this since there is a dead body just a ways away down the street and it can be discovered at any time and I need to jet out of here and get back to my house in time to establish my alibi because I''ve been caught on the CCTV inside that convenience store and they will know that I was in the vicinity so they''ll definitely investigate me later so I have to get home and establish an alibi, no longer paying attention to X-23 I reach beside me to the compartment between the seat and I open it before flicking open another tiny compartment within that compartment within which is a switch which I press and immediately I feel a rumbling through my car and with that rumbling comes a thrill that can only be felt when in the driving seat of an absolute beast which is what I''m in because not only did Johnny repair my baby ''Chantelle'' but he also went the extra mile and upgraded the shit out of her as well and so this car had a normal mode and an ultra-mode which I''m using right now and me and Johnny have gone on a couple of wild joyrides with some girls and we drove throughout all of New York making sure to avoid any CCTV cameras. In fact Johnny after realising that we can''t be caught using this car at full capacity since we''d be breaking the law went and begged Reed to make something for him and gave him some fake excuse or something and a day later Johnny had in his hands a GPS system with a built-in interface which he then installed into my car just above the radio but not before he analysed all of it and memorised it and made blueprints and copies for his own vehicles because this device was amazing since it had an entire map of the world and it was getting real-time information since it was piggybacking off of various satellites and worldwide networks all culminating into a legendary GPS device that could give you the best route to your destination depending on your circumstances such as avoiding any CCTV cameras and avoiding traffic and dense populations for the quickest and most stealthy way home and I am so glad that I have it installed in my car because this is going to be the thing that saves my ?ss tonight, ramming the accelerator down the car immediately takes of going from nought to 50 in 2.5 seconds and following the GPS I was immediately booting off down various alleyways and back roads inching closer and closer to my home all the while ignoring the homicidal maniac teenager sat just a few inches away from me just focusing on getting home as fast as possible so that I can be caught on the CCTV at my house and outside my neighbour''s house and if I time it just right I should be able to pull up outside my house at a specific time and if the police to investigate they will figure out that I would immediately have to drive off after I left the convenience store to make it back at that time so that would be my alibi and so I''m concentrating so hard on following the GPS and going as fast as possible because if I don''t the police will be after me and if the police are after me then so too will the superheroes (especially the Fantastic Four since this would be a personal matter for them four, Spiderman and Daredevil would also probably come after me) which will put everything I''ve been working towards into jeopardy. Left into an alleyway, right into a back road, left into an isolated street, into an alleyway and then through a variety of other roads and passageways that are isolated and unmonitored which means that my car hasn''t been caught on any CCTV cameras or spotted by any passer-by''s but during all this while I''ve been trying to ignore this wild claw girl next to me I couldn''t help but keep one eye on her at all times just to make sure that she wouldn''t snap and cut my throat randomly but I couldn''t help but wince when I saw that she had forgot to put on her seatbelt unlike me and because we were going at such high speeds she was nearly getting thrown all about from the whiplash and instead of putting her seatbelt on like a normal person she instead unleashed her claws on both hands and plunge them down on both sides of her into my brand new black leather seats to gain a foothold and stop being shaken around and it pained me to see her hurting my baby like this but what''s done is done and there is nothing I could do about it now but I noticed as time went on that her claws were constantly moving and cutting up more and more of my leather seats since she couldn''t find any purchase to deal with the speed since her claws were adamantium and cutting through whatever she was clawing onto and I knew it was only a matter of time until he seats were no more and she ended up plunging her claws down into the car itself which would fu?k up my car and mess with the engine and fuel and I needed this car to make sure I had an alibi so I couldn''t allow her to do so, turning into a long stretch of alleyway I resolves myself realising that it was now or never since I could speed down this long straight back road and I have time so taking my chance I lean over towards X-23 while keeping the pedal down and one hand on the wheel and she immediately notices what I''m doing and goes to pull her claws out of the seats and preferably into me but before she can I''ve already leant over stretching my hand out making sure to press it against her forearms and stomach to stop her from moving her arms while my hand grabbed the seatbelt which she seemed to realise and stop struggling at and pulling my hand back I quickly put her seatbelt on for her and then get back to driving my car ignoring her. Turning back to the wheel and reaffirming my hands on the wheel I once again pay attention to the long stretch of alleyway before me focusing on driving back home as fast as possible but between one blink of the eye and the next I suddenly see a black man and a white woman appear out of nowhere in the middle of the alleyway directly in front of my car and reacting as fast as possible I slam down on the breaks making the tires screech grateful that I had just put the feral girl''s seatbelt on but my car was moving way too fast and the brakes didn''t slow the car down enough in time and I heard the white woman scream out the name of the black man who must''ve been this so called ''Ty'' person before my car meets them and goes straight through them and yet strangely I felt no impact on the front of my car as I drove through them and when my car finally does screech to a stop I stay silent for a moment breathing heavily before directing my eyes at X-23 once again who shows no emotion on her face and after a moment I roll down the window and pop my head out of the window to look back into the alleyway at what carnage awaits me, yet bizarrely the alleyway was absolutely quiet with nary a sound and when I looked around the entire alleyway there was not a single soul not to mention any corpses or anything and there wasn''t even any blood or anything on the ground where they were and there was absolutely no evidence that the black man and white woman were ever there to begin with and there was no evidence suggesting to their location so I question if the incident was even real and so I pull my head back into the car and start confusedly think over the situation wondering what just happened but I realise that I''m losing precious time and I need to get back home to actually make a credible alibi and so I set off driving again chalking the incident up to being not my problem since this was the Marvel world and weird shit happens all the time so that could''ve been anything from a a ghost couple to them getting transported to another dimension so I pay it no mind, more focused on my own problems and as I drive off I know that they aren''t under my car either since my car didn''t hit any bumps or anything so that is one theory crossed off the list. That incidents probably going to haunt my thoughts for a while but I can''t focus on that right now since I''ve lost some time because of that and I''ve got to get back to my street now but if there is one thing I can be thankful for because of that incident then it''s the fact that the interruption probably was one of the main reasons X-23 didn''t gut me after I reached to put her seatbelt on so at least I''ll be grateful for that but even so I will still probably spend many a night thinking about this instance and just what happened here but I can''t focus on that now, I zoomed off down the streets this time making sure to keep my eyes on the road the whole time so that I don''t come so close to a hit and run accident again though I do occasionally look towards X-23 with one of my eyes to see what she''s up to since I can''t afford to ignore her and end up hurt because of it but I don''t feel too threatened by it since she''s now but her claws away since I put her seatbelt on for her and she''s sitting pretty comfortable just looking out of the window as I drive and for a moment I forget that she''s an ?ssassin born and bred and I''m reminded of that fact when I see the dried blood splashed on her knuckles from both when she fought me and when she slashed open that dumb pimp''s throat. Ten minutes or so later I''m pulling out of an alley a couple of blocks from my home with no CCTV on it or on the road before it if I take a direct route so that I can continue to drive to my house and be picked up by various cameras on the way further solidifying my presence here at this time and I''ve put my car back on normal mode since I''ve reached my objective and timed my arrival on this road perfectly so that it would have been impossible to reach this place after the death of the pimp and therefore I can be eliminated as a suspect, driving through the streets I make sure to go at the exact speed limit so they won''t later question the speed I was travelling at (e.g. how could you get here if you were travelling so slow/fast?) and I make sure to be picked up by as many cameras as possible without making it too obvious and eventually I arrive at my house in Forest Hills Queens and I ride up my drive and open the garage with my car key before driving into it and locking the garage again and turning off the car after which I take a moment to breathe for a second and just not think about all the shit that has happened to me today. After somewhat calming down I direct my gaze to the girl sitting next to me whose face looks just as casual and blank as it did before as if nothing had happened tonight and she hadn''t just slashed the throat of her would-be pimp. What the fu?k am I going to do now? And how am I going to deal with the little murder machine next to me... ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) Chapter 181 - [AT] Community Centre... [After Transition] Leaving the village office I begin to wonder just what the goal is of the person who put that ad in the newspaper was because they had to pay to put it in the newspaper so it wasn''t a prank or something and this message was for Batman after all so they must have had some kind of goal to send this to him under the name Aaron Kane who turned out to be a piano player who killed his family and burnt them all inside his own house but there must be more to this and it shouldn''t be as simple as that Village Office manager was making out and so whoever put that letter in the newspaper must have wanted Batman to investigate this Aaron Kane person but that''s kind of hard to do if your suspect is dead which is why I must find someone who will know more about the situation and I''m pretty sure that manager said the mayor of this island is close to everyone and that he was close friend to Aaron Kane as well so if there is anyone that will know more about this situation then it would be bound to be him and I believe the manager of that place said he is at the community centre, I''m making my way towards the community centre using the map when I happen upon a young boy and a woman in a doctor''s coat conversing. "Are you listening, Kenny? Make sure you keep yourself warm while you sleep, we don''t want you to fall ill do we?" The woman in the doctor''s coat tells the young boy who nods his head quite happily, turning around the boy then runs off while leaving some parting words for the good doctor. "Okay, I will. Bye, Doctor Nichols!" Seeing that the woman appeared to be quite friendly and helpful I decide to approach her and ask for her help so that she can direct me towards the community centre because while I can go there just using the map I think it would be better to get directions from a native and probably pick up some more information on the way, it doesn''t hurt that the woman looks quite beautiful wearing some black shoes, a blue skirt, a light purple turtleneck sweater with her doctor''s coat on top with her hair done up in a ponytail and since I have got two weeks holiday to stay here I figure that it wouldn''t hurt to get friendly with the locals and I think she looks like the perfect person to get friendly with so I approach her with the intention of asking for help and if it leads somewhere else then so be it. "Excuse me, Miss. Do you know where the community centre is?" I ask her and she turns around to answer me, she looks quite happy to help as well. "The community centre, huh? You''ve just got to take a right at that corner and the community centre is at the end of the street, you can''t miss it. But if you''re asking how to get there then you must not be from around here. Do you come from the mainland?" She asks after answering my question probably used to being so open here as it is an island and everyone knows everyone here so she probably asked that of me naturally without any hidden intentions, since she doesn''t have any ulterior motives, I don''t mind answering her question and maybe I''ll be able to find out a bit more about her like whether or not she''s single at the moment. "You guessed right, my name is Nick James and I''m from Gotham. It''s nice to meet you..." "Nice to meet you as well Nick, I''m Alex Nichols and as you can probably tell I''m a doctor. So, you''re from Gotham are you, my family is also from Gotham but I was born here. I''ve visited Gotham a few times but I don''t like it as much as this island, unlike Gotham isn''t this island so wonderful? There is hardly any crime on the island. compared to Gotham, the air is clear and it''s so quiet here too." Just as she finishes saying that a white truck drives by with the words ''Community Planning with Vitality'' with the name ''Shaun Masters'' written just underneath the slogan and it also has a megaphone speaker on the top, just as Doctor Alex finishes saying how quite this island is this white truck with the megaphone speaker on top drives by blaring "Residents of Moonshade Island, in order to protect the island''s fishing grounds, vote for me, Shaun Masters!" so loud that it sounds out stopping Alex''s conversation with me as it goes by. "Well, normally the island is quiet but the mayoral election is coming up. There are three candidates for Mayor at the moment with them being Karl Tate, Kevin Hale and Shaun Masters whose truck you just saw go by, according to my patients it''s looking like Kevin Hale is the favourite to win and he is the one that will most likely be elected as the mayor of Moonshade Island. Actually, if you are heading to the community centre then you just might be able to meet the three men that I just mentioned, after all the previous mayor Isaac Kingston''s second-anniversary memorial service is being held there tonight. I''ve actually got some patients to go and see so I''ll see you later, hopefully." Saying so Doctor Alex Nichols turns and walks away waving back to me and so I wave back watching her go before I decide to finally go to my destination and so I follow her instructions to get to the community centre, I take a right at the corner and then I walk along the street till I see the community centre. Finally reaching the community centre I can see a big photo frame displaying the portrait of the previous mayor at the front of the community centre but a lot of the attention is taken away from it by all the protesters outside the front of the community who are holding up sign stating ''Get out Mayor Tate!'' with quite a lot of the protesters holding such signs and even more shouting at the community centre to not let Mayor Tate get away with his tyranny of polluting the fishing grounds but ignoring all of them I walk around to the entrance of the community centre and when I enter I''m greeted by a reception and so I go up to the receptionist at the main desk and get ready to put on the charm, I don''t even really get the option to though as I state that I want to meet the Mayor and when I''m asked for my identity and reason I show the receptionist the inside of my wallet which not only has my ID inside but it also has my Wayne Enterprises pass inside which the receptionist sees and doesn''t even wait to hear my reason for coming and instead calls someone on the phone straight away and tells them of my arrival being very specific on the Wayne Enterprises part and so the receptionist leads me to a bench in the hallway and asks me to wait there before they go leaving me alone in the hallway, getting quite bored just sat here I focus on my hearing and all my other senses to spread them all over the building and see if I can hear any useful information and in doing so I locate the Mayor who is a few floors above me and currently talking to a woman. "Unbelievable, the previous mayor''s memorial service is tonight and they are outside protesting. How rude can you be?" The mayor is a bald fat man in his fifties who is dressed in a black memorial suit and he''s talking to the woman stood next to him and analysing both of their behaviours and body language around each other I can tell that they are quite familiar with each to most likely father and daughter since the woman seems to be in her mid-twenties nearly thirty, she responds to the mayor with a similar attitude. "Indeed, they''re so noisy. Harold, what are you doing? Hurry up and go shut those villagers up." She tells the man bespectacled man dressed in a suit who is most likely a butler or aide to the mayor and he quickly nods his head and runs out of the room, and as he opens the door and leaves another man enters the room dressed in dark clothing as wells as wearing some black circular sunglasses along with a grey beanie that allows his ponytail to peek out of the back. "Yo, are you guys all right? According to the villager''s babe, the odds are against your dad in the upcoming mayoral race." He tells the woman who is now confirmed to be the daughter of the mayor as well as his partner/girlfriend/wife or whatever but they are all so caught up in their conversation that they didn''t notice someone else come in through the door that was left open, it was a tall lanky man who seemed to be in his fifties but unlike the mayor, this old guy has a full head of grey hair along with a pencil moustache and he too was dressed in a black memorial suit. "That''s right, it seems that I have the most support from the villagers." He tells them and since he has stated that he has the most support than going by what Doctor Alex Nichols told me he should be Kevin Hale who is the favourite to win the election as opposed to the current mayor Karl Tate who doesn''t look like he''s going to be re-elected, the current mayor is clearly not happy at that much to the joy of Kevin Hale. "The only reason you''ve got so much support is that you know how to use your money." The mayor tells Kevin Hale to which he responds with a biting remark. "I''m just copying your methods, I learned from the master after all." But before the meeting could really heat up and fights began the butler Harold came back into the room to inform them of something, I don''t even think this guy even went to stop the protest because I honestly stopped paying attention to him once he left the room but I don''t think nearly enough time has elapsed for him to have dealt with the protestors outside so there must have been something urgent which forced him to waylay that order and return to the room. "There is somebody downstair who says he would like to meet with the mayor, right now. Apparently, this man is from Gotham, and he works for Wayne Enterprises." After that they started fussing over the fact that someone from Wayne Enterprises is here when in fact I''m not here in an official capacity and they begin to start talking about it and I get bored of listening to them think that this is an opportunity for them when it''s not and so I stop paying attention to them figuring that either they would come down here to meet me or someone would come down here to fetch me and take me up to them but they are certainly going to take their time for all of them to get her since there is like two flights of stairs they have got to get through, getting a bit bored of sitting here and waiting for someone to come I decide to instead have a look around the place and my eyes are immediately drawn to the big double doors at the end of the hallway that look mighty important and so I head there and slowly open it to peek inside but the big room is basically empty except for the lone grand piano in it and when I walk to take a closer look at it I glance out of the window and I realise that this building is on the shore because outside of the window I can see the ocean and Gotham in the distance which actually doesn''t look too bad from this far away and without the loud screams that usually accompany the city. Ignoring the view, I continue on towards the grand piano to analyse it better and when I do, I can tell that the piano itself is very old but I can''t tell much with the key lid/fallboard covering the piano keys and so I move my hand towards it to lift it up, but before I can even get a finger on it, I am interrupted by a loud shout. "DON''T TOUCH THAT PIANO! That is the cursed piano played here at the concert the day that Aaron died..." ________________________________________________ I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane, frank ivkovich, Alex, Jermaine Koster, Ethan Fuentes, Luke Soper and Striker.. Thank you for the support. Chapter 182 - [BT] Tense Breakfast... [Before Transition] "So, Master Nick. What did you get up to last night?" Earl questions standing behind the kitchen counter as he begins stirring the tea he''s making or whatever he''s doing as he watches me with an amused gaze which I find quite unpleasant because in any other situation I wouldn''t be too fussed but I can''t find it in me to relax right now and his teasing is irritating me especially considering the fact that sat across from me at the dining room table is one seriously ferocious and dangerous young woman who is calmly eating a full English breakfast without even looking at me since she''s so focused on Earl''s delicious cooking which I can understand but I am so tense and on edge right now that it''s a miracle I haven''t snapped at Earl''s teasing but that''s only because I''m trying to think about what the fu?ks going on and where we are going to go from here, currently Earl has cooked a full English breakfast for both me and X-23 here but I can''t seem to find my appetite and so I''ve hardly touched my food but female Wolverine over here has no problem scoffing up all this food not even bothered that she slashed a man''s throat last night and let him bleed out and so I just sit here at the coffee table staring at her as she enjoys my butlers fine cooking skills but one of the things that really confuses me is the fact that she''s wearing my clothes and she actually doesn''t look as bad or dirty as yesterday. Thinking back to what I did yesterday I don''t have a fu?k?n? clue as to why she''s still here in this house today because yesterday after I entered my garage I turned off my car and got out of the car closing the door behind me and seeing that she did the same and copied me I locked the car doors and after staring at her looking blankly back at me again I decided to just get this over with and so I literally went with the easiest option available to me and the one requiring the least effort and so I bluntly told her that she should go wash her hands in the kitchen to get rid of the blood on them and after that she was welcome to take any food she wants from the fridge but after that she has to go and leave my house and not waiting for a response I left the garage and made my ways to the stairs and just when I was nearing the top of the stairs I heard the sound of running water and when I looked back downstairs I could see that she actually followed my instructions and she went to the kitchen sink and was actually washing her hands and so glad that she was listening to me and following my orders I ?ssumed that she would take whatever food she wanted and then leave my house because she already followed my first instruction so why wouldn''t she follow my other one and so reassured I went straight to my room and flopped down onto the bed where I was promptly knocked out no longer caring about the situation since I was so tired after the barrage of events today and it seemed like she wasn''t going to cut me up so I could go to bed which I desperately wanted to, when I woke up the next morning and realised that my throat wasn''t slit I ?ssumed that she had followed my advice and left my house which is why I was so surprised when I did my daily amenities, had a shower, got dressed and then came down for breakfast only to find X-23 sat at the dining table wearing my clothes and with my butler Earl serving her breakfast which I found absolutely absurd so I simply took a seat at the kitchen table as well and decided to simply analyse the situation while Earl served me my breakfast and made me tea. "Nothing much, Earl. Went to ESU, went to work at the Baxter building and then I came home, just a normal day." I told Earl not responding in the least to his teasing and more focused on watching X-23 like a hawk as she absolutely devours the food in front of her like an animal that hasn''t eaten in weeks which is most likely correct given the fact that she has been homeless for who knows how long so she probably hasn''t been eating much either and while her healing factor is probably what kept her going for whoever long she was homeless it relies on the nutrients in her to actually heal her and so most likely she was near enough running out of nutrients and so her body must be absolutely craving nutrients right now which is why she''s gorging down the full English breakfast earl has made for her and I find it hard to connect this poor hungry girl with the raving beast from yesterday who was determined to chop my head off, why the hell is she still here though because if she stuck around for the nutrients then she literally had an all you can eat buffet available to her last night because I gave her permission to raid my fridge and take whatever she wants but it seems she focused more on that last part since it seems she''s helped herself to my clothes and my shower since she''s actually clean and without all that dirt and grime on her she actually looks really beautiful but I don''t let that distract me from wild creature that hides within her petite frame. "Nothing, huh? is that why I woke up in the middle of the night to find you conked out on top of your bed, and this young lady drinking water from the kitchen sink? And she was absolutely filthy as well so I had to let her use the shower and I gave her some of your clothes to wear, I hope you don''t mind. Honestly, what do kids your age get up to nowadays, coming homes so filthy you must have been doing that thing called dogging where you go and roll around like dogs in a forest or something, am I correct?" "No, you are not correct Earl. That is not what dogging is at all and I''d appreciate it if you actually took the time to learn what a word actually means before you use it in a conversation, also never use the word dogging again. I definitely would never do that and I certainly wouldn''t be doing that with... her." I say in response to Earl''s mistaken understanding of what dogging is and how I wish he''ll never say that word or any word remotely close to it again but if there is one thing that can be appreciated from that conversation then it is the fact that I now know why X-23 is still here and wearing my clothes and that''s because Earl found her in the middle of the night drinking water from the kitchen tap after I''d foolishly gave in and went to sleep without even making sure that she left and finding her in the kitchen Earl mistakenly ?ssumed she was one of my nightly paramours and seeing the she was pretty dirty showed her to the shower and gave her my clothes to wear and he presumably let her sleep in the guest room as well not knowing just how dangerous this seemingly innocent petite girl was and the fact that she could''ve ripped his throat out in seconds if he even so much as looked at her wrong which is why I''m glad Earl is about the nicest man you could meet and he helped her without judging her on what she was wearing, the question now though is why the hell is X-23 still here because she had gotten a free shower, some free clothes and an all you can eat buffet in the form of my fridge so why in the hell did she stay the night and why is she still here in the morning and while some may think it''s because of the room and bed Earl gave her they would be mistaken because I know someone like X-23 here who was trained to be the best ?ssassin in existence wouldn''t stay in a unknown location just because of a nice room and board so why is she here eating breakfast in my kitchen and what is her goal for being here? "I will endeavour to do more thorough research in the future the sir, so that we don''t have another mishap like this though I do now wonder what dogging actually is. Anyway, if you weren''t doing whatever dogging is then what were you doing? I know your exact schedule at ESU and when your work ends so if your day did go how you say it went then you should''ve been back home much earlier but instead you came so late in the night, where have you been all night and where did you meet-. I''m so sorry, I''ve been terribly rude and I don''t even know the name of our guest. My dear lady, would you mind telling me your name?" Earl starts to question just where I was last night already finding holes in my sloppily put together story but I can''t exactly tell him that some big, grey hairy creature came through an interdimensional portal and attacked us and because of that I was injured and required Susan to stitch me up and not only that but on my way home I encountered this beautiful young woman sat across from me and she not only slit the throat of her nearly pimp but she tried to cut my throat out as well, I am glad when Earl doesn''t continue his line of questioning but I become even more worried when he begins to question the identity of X-23 and while I''m just as curious what her name is and what she is going to tell Earl in response I''m more fearful that she is going to be triggered by his new line of questioning which is why I have tensed up though X-23 doesn''t seem to notice or care and I ready myself to leap across the table towards her if she so much as twitches ready to defend the only man in the world who is loyal to me and cares about me. Earl doesn''t seem to notice my worry or my caution as he continues to stare at X-23 waiting for an answer which I suppose is because he quite old now and he''s getting up in the years and while he might have once been a bonafide S.H.I.E.L.D agent when he was in his twenties that was only a short stint before he was injured and relegated to desk duty and so it''s no wonder that his skills and alert mind have rusted and wilted after all these years and he can''t see that the young innocent woman seated at the kitchen dining table isn''t innocent at all and that she is actually a bonafied relentless, cold blooded ?ssassin that wouldn''t hesitate to kill all of us in this room and then herself which is why I''m so surprised by her own actions, so surprised because when I take a closer look at her she hasn''t had a single reaction since Earl asked the question just continuing to eat where I would have expected her to snap and unleash her claws being the ticking time bomb that she is but instead she continues to eat but that doesn''t go on for long since she has eaten everything on her plate and only a few seconds had elapsed since Earl''s question and with no food to distract her any longer I would''ve expected her to react and get aggressive but instead she stared down at her empty plate for while in silence before she looks back up at us and opens her mouth to let out a response which would be the first time I''ve heard her talk when she isn''t roaring or trying to chop off my head. "Laura..." I now have a Pa treon up and running and when a chapter is ready it will go up on Pa treon first so please take a look. Some support from you guys would be appreciated and motivate me. Currently 34+ Chapters. (pa treon.com/GutsyRipper) A special thank you to my patrons Stormrall, Turtle, Matthew Laird, Sage Honos, Darth Bane, napier Crawford, Marcus Lane, frank ivkovich, Alex, Jermaine Koster, Ethan Fuentes, Luke Soper and Striker.. Thank you for the support.