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"No matter how messed up things get, you can always figure out the best solution."
- Eren Yeager (Attack on Titan)
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<{Blast wreckage, The Conclave, Gotham City}>
<(Bruce Wayne POV)>
"Your glutamate, dopamine, serotonin, cortisol, and adrenaline levels are off the charts, and your heart rate is at 200 beats per minute. Are you really that angry, sir?" Cortana whispered in a soothing voice.
She had every right to be concerned. The force with which I was clenching my armored fist could have easily fractured lesser materials, and if not for the Carbonadium and Promethium reinforcement, I might have crushed my own bones. But in my defense, my reaction wasn't unwarranted. After all, this was the first time someone had died on my watch. The first time an innocent had lost their life because of me.
People die every day. The world is unfair, brutal, and indifferent like that. But this was my employee—someone who had put their trust in my company, in me. She had a life. A successful one, even if Cortana's records were accurate, which they always are. She had dreams, ambitions, and a future. But now, because of some piece of absolute filth who wanted to steal from ME, she had none of that anymore.
"It isn't your fault, Bruce... you know that, right?" Cortana tried again, her voice gentle, an attempt to dull the edge of my guilt.
But instead of listening to her, I just exhaled sharply, my anger still burning. "No, it is my fault, Cortana." My voice was steady despite the fury simmering beneath. "I knew how dangerous this world is. I knew the risks. But I got complacent—thought I could change things by simply planning ahead, thought I was ready for anything. And now, because of that arrogance, a girl is dead. Shot, then burned to the bone in the explosion. They couldn't even recover her remains intact." My jaw tightened. "How do you expect me to face her family when they have to bury what little is left of her?"
"You don't have to. You're the CEO of the company she worked for; it's not your duty to—"
I shook my head, cutting her off. "It is my duty, Cortana. As the CEO. As the owner of the company, whose negligence played a part in her death." My voice was firm, unyielding. "And she wasn't the only one. Dr. Pamela Isley is missing, too. Even if we can confirm she was unharmed in the explosion, the fact still remains that she was most probably abducted by the assailant. That means she's in danger."
I exhaled, my anger giving way to a deep, cold determination. I didn't know the girl well, but I remembered how bright and brilliant she was. A gifted researcher. A valuable asset to the company. She was like a cute little nerd, passionate, full of ideas—someone who deserved better than whatever hell she was in right now.
And I was going to get her back.
"Our top responsibility right now is finding out what exactly happened here. That way, we can at least avenge Lucie and rescue Pamela." I muttered after taking a deep breath to calm myself before finally taking in the devastation left behind by the explosion in the Conclave's botanical research section. The explosive was incredibly powerful—likely thermite-based—engineered to incinerate even the toughest materials and erase all traces of evidence. Yet, despite its destructive force, the detonation had been precisely contained, something modern explosives rarely achieved.
"Any camera footage?" I asked Cortana through my suit while running another energy and life-sign scan over the area just to be certain.
"None. Whoever did this had someone on the inside—someone who knew this facility down to the last detail. They even had knowledge that manually overriding the surveillance system was impossible without prior approval, so they took out the entire power grid linked to features like security and monitoring." Cortana's voice was grim. "We were lucky to have multiple backup lines for the essential sections of the Conclave. Otherwise, the casualties would have been far worse than just one dead and one missing."
"But what I don't understand," she continued, frustration creeping into her tone, "is why my algorithm didn't flag this spy sooner. I should have detected them long ago—I run routine digital background checks on everyone working at Wayne Industries. I'm aware of certain spies still embedded in some company offices, but that is different. I allow them to remain there while keeping them away from sensitive projects so that I can use them to track the corporations trying to sabotage us. But my system has never detected an informant or a corporate spy inside the Conclave! It is still clearing them as non-threats," she fumed, her agitation unmistakable.
"It's fine, Cortana. Looks like this spy is using some old-school, untraceable method to pass intel to their real employer—and they're damn good at it too." I sighed, debating whether I could justify eliminating corporate spies as a necessary evil to my own conscience. "Flag every employee in this facility for digital tracking and mark them as high-priority surveillance targets, same as the politicians we've been monitoring all over the city. Assign separate drones to each of them—I want round-the-clock coverage on every Conclave employee, down to the janitors." I ordered.
"Done, sir. I also reviewed all camera footage from the surrounding areas, including every road leading to this facility. I even accessed the drone feeds posted throughout the city. But there's nothing conclusive—not even a single trace. You know what that means, right?"
"The intruder was a real professional—someone on par with the League of Assassins. They even knew how to successfully spot all of our drones." I nodded, my mind already narrowing the suspect list. There weren't many people in the world capable of pulling off something like this. My drones were good—really good—and anyone who could recognize and evade them was among the best in the business. With Cortana's help, figuring out who they were and who had hired them wouldn't be too difficult a task. I could probably even figure it out within a day or two, as long as I look into it in detail.
"But what I don't understand is why this massive, half-cracked, strange wooden shell is here in the middle of the wreckage." I crouched as my attention moved to the burnt wooden ball. After examining it, I discovered the thing has a hollow interior and a scorched yet incredibly tough exterior. I even took a few DNA samples of the thing, too, which are basically splinters of its wood, but I will have to go to my lab if I want to test it more thoroughly.
"I can see how it might have played a role in the explosion, but the real question is—who or what was it supposed to be protecting? And why? Was this some sort of experimental project that Dr Isley had been working on before... disappearing?" Suddenly, a proverbial light bulb went off in my head as I stopped speaking. 'Wait, could it be?' I thought.
"Did you find something, sir?" Cortana asked.
"Yes, I have a rough idea of what might have caused this… but I need to be sure." My voice was steady as I reached into a hidden compartment in my armor, retrieving a small, transparent, crystallized pill. "Cortana, for the next 24 hours, monitor my neural patterns closely and initiate Code 84 if anything goes wrong. Also, tell the Conclave staff to stall the cops for another ten minutes. I don't wish to be disturbed while I am on the pill." Before she could object, I quickly swallowed it.
"Code 84? But that's for—wait, you swore you'd never take it again." Her voice shifted, almost panicked.
"I need my brain operating at its absolute peak if I'm going to solve this." I exhaled, already feeling the shift, my thoughts accelerating, branching, sharpening. "The first 48 hours are critical in a missing person case—I plan to do it in 24... if she's even missing at all," I explained.
"I knew I should have sided with Talia and Nyssa in destroying those NZT-48 drugs back when you still had some sense," Cortana muttered, frustration laced in her voice. "Forcing the nerve centers of a human's brain to function beyond their natural peak always comes at a cost. Even if you're immune to its long-term physical damage, you aren't immune to what it does to your mind."
Her voice dropped, laced with concern. "It turns your already evolved brain into something akin to a supercomputer… a machine that calculates everything through sheer cold logic. A supercomputer that prioritizes results above all else—one that works relentlessly toward its objectives while dismissing any 'pesky and useless' human emotions that might cloud its judgment. It might be suitable for someone who has dedicated their life to their work, but not for a hero like you... not for someone who is surrounded by people who love him."
She sighed, knowing her words were falling on deaf ears. I was no longer listening. My focus was locked solely on the blast site, my thoughts moving at speeds even she couldn't fully track.
***
<{Inside a luxury yacht, Gotham Port}>
<(Omniscient POV)>
The imposing figure of Wonder Woman stood before a tinted one-way glass window, a knowing smile gracing her lips as she watched the bustling port city below. "Funny… I remember this city being so much darker, yet it's changed quite a bit over the years, hasn't it?" Her voice carried an almost nostalgic amusement. "Maybe I should try my luck at the casino while I'm here… or perhaps find a strong stallion to entertain me—someone who could actually keep up with the years of pent-up sexual frustration within this curvy body." She chuckled, a playful yet predatory glint in her eyes.
But then, her gaze drifted back to the queen-sized bed behind her, where a violet-haired woman lay, tightly bound in shimmering golden coils—the Lasso of Truth, unbreakable, inescapable.
The bound woman's piercing ice-blue eyes burned with defiance, though she struggled against her restraints in vain.
[[{(Image from Discord)}]
A nasty smile curled to Wonder Woman's lips as she slowly approached the bed. "Then again… this body only truly craves the mighty manhood of one man, isn't that right, Diana?" Her voice dripped with cruel delight as she loomed over her captive. "By the way, a word of advice, darling... Amazons should really figure out a way not to get trapped by the same lasso that can seal away or weaken magical powers and abilities. As an ex-Amazon, it's really insulting." She shook her head.
"You... whore, you won't get away with this." The real Diana seethed; her voice laced with rare disgust as she used a curse, she always did her best to actively avoid. Bound by her own sacred lasso, she strained against the unyielding golden coils. "Stop this now, Circe. There is still time. If you return my body to me, perhaps Themyscira will grant you mercy for the crimes you've committed over the years. But if you continue down this path, my mother's punishment—sealing away most of your innate magic—will seem like nothing more than a gentle reprimand compared to what awaits you."
Circe let out an exaggerated sigh, shaking her head as she paced leisurely to the bound Amazon. "Oh, Diana… Still worshiping the very ground your mother walks on, I see. Such a disappointment." Her lips curled into a mocking smirk. "The last time I laid eyes on you, you were just a teenager. Brash, fiery, reckless. You were at least entertaining back then. Now? You're just dull... like some goody-two-shoes."
She chuckled, a gleeful glint in her eyes. "But don't worry, I'll try not to hurt your man too much while I… milk him for information." Her voice dripped with amusement as if she were quite pleased with her own dirty joke. Before her gaze suddenly darkened, "I could have been content with just taking over your body, wielding your powers, and spending the next few months perfecting the pure untapped potential running through your veins. That alone would have been a reward for all the suffering I had to bear for the last few years." She exhaled, her smile turning wicked. "But then… You just had to introduce me to such a… delicious specimen of a man, didn't you?"
She grinned, tilting her head as if lost in thought. "A mere mortal—yet powerful enough to slay two gods. A feat beyond comprehension. A man like that either belongs in my collection…" She reached for a small white rat, lifting it from the playpen filled with rats and rodents of various kinds before absently stroking its fur with her index finger.
"Or…" She giggled, her other hand trailing down her own stomach, below even her navel stopping just above her nether regions, a hungry gleam visible in her eyes, "I could do him a favor—make things easier for the both of us—by simply draining whatever power he has for myself… through this tight virgin pussy of yours." Her voice was sing-song as if she were discussing a mere curiosity, "although again, it's my tight virgin pussy now."
She tossed the rat back into the playpen, wiping her hands as if dusting off an afterthought. "Normally, I could never attempt such a complicated ritual," she mused, "since one must be a virgin with an extremely durable body for the process to work… But lucky for me, you just so happen to have the perfect tools for it, don't you, darling?" She giggled again, like a child high on too much sugar.
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