A/N:
" " : Dialogue,
' ' : Thought,
"Italicized text" : Telepathy,
[ ] : System.
———————————————————
Omniscient POV
Nolan woke up, and was surprised to see that the sun had almost fully set. He checked the time, and saw that he had been sleeping for seven straight hours. He let out a laugh at the situation, as despite this apartment being the place he experienced the greatest amount of pain in his life, it was still the same place that brought him the most comfort he's felt in a month.
Heading into the bathroom, he decided that he would assimilate the two Character and Ability cards. Taking off his top, he pulled out the Transform and Domino Ability Cards, then inspected them.
[Ability Card: Transform (Pokémon)]:
[The User of this ability can transform into another creature, even gaining its abilities and skills. However, the abilities and skills will be less effective.]
[Ability Card: Domino (Dishonored 2)]:
[The User of this ability can link the fates of multiple people, causing them to experience the same phenomena. Maximum number of linkable people is four.]
Nodding at the Cards being just as he expected, he then assimilated the two Cards, gaining two new abilities. Choosing to test out the Transform ability, he morphed into someone that anyone in the building would have recognized, albeit painfully. Looking into the mirror, Nolan's father's face stared back at him. Letting out a quick sigh, he lifted the transformation, returning to his normal self.
He stripped down, then stepped into the shower. He turned on the shower, sat on the floor, then brought out the Killua Zoldyck and The Beheaded Cards, then inspected the Card for The Beheaded.
[Character Card: The Beheaded (Dead Cells)]:
[A Homunculus created from the soul of a tyrannical king, the Beheaded is a warrior of great skill and power. Its nature has made it immune to disease, and seemingly immortal, with nothing it has come in contact with being able to truly destroy it.]
[Skills:
Combat Mastery,
Double/Multi Jump,
Weapon Mastery.]
[Abilities:
Homunculus Rune,
Spider Rune,
Ram Rune,
Vine Rune,
Explorer's Rune,
Disease Immunity,
Teleportation Rune.]
He looked at the Card with confusion, as some of the abilities that he expected to be there weren't present. But he just accepted it, taking it as the possibility that most of those abilities were likely restricted to the in-game island kingdom that The Beheaded was from. Then with a resolute voice, he said: "Assimilate."
He had expected pain of some sort, but instead, he experienced a quick influx of information, and felt a solid mass form in his chest, while something gelatinous pervaded throughout his body. Taking a deep breath, he tightened his grip on the Card for Killua Zoldyck and gave the command to assimilate it.
Unlike the Beheaded Card, assimilating Killua Zoldyck caused his entire body to be wracked with pain. This was because, while the Beheaded was given such a name, he is in fact a gelatinous green blob with a core that more times than not, pilots a corpse, and on the other hand, Killua was an actual human being that had gone through training and torture so rigorous that any other non-enhanced human would die if they tried to undergo the same.
Nolan felt an extreme amount of electricity flow through his body, he felt so many painful blows that he almost passed out. He felt his organs protest against him, then after a short while, he felt all of these become muted, until he eventually didn't feel any pain. As he regained his bearings, he saw that he had fallen to the floor, and broken a few tiles on the wall and floor.
Sighing at the fact that he would have to pay for that, he then looked at his body. To call what his body had undergone a transformation wouldn't be far-fetched. His muscles had condensed and gotten definition, his bones had strengthened to the point that he could easily punch through steel, but none of these were as impactful as the aura he felt wrapped around his entire body.
"So this is how Nen feels. It's kind of viscous." He said, checking his body, which was instinctively using a principle of Nen called Ten, which wrapped his Nen aura around him without letting it leak. Once he was done checking his body, he had a quick bath, then changed into a white long-sleeved shirt, a black pair of baggy pants, a black hoodie and a white pair of sneakers.
He then put the rest of his personal belongings into a luggage box, while putting his books into a large box. After clearing out his closet of clothing, he used his hands to pry open the floorboards in it, revealing multiple $20 and $50 bills that totaled $3,270. Over the past five years, he had saved almost $4,500 from different sources, and he had taken the times that his father had gone gambling or into a drug-filled slumber as chances to hide his money away.
After taking out the money, he replaced the floorboards. He carried out his box of books, and stepped out of the apartment, choosing to never return. As he locked the door, he heard Artemis' door open behind him, and a set of wheels moving closer to him. Turning around, he came face to face with Artemis' mother, Paula Crock, the woman formerly known as the Huntress. And as he did, a notification popped up from his system, but he put it away for the time being.
"So you really had come back." She said as she looked at him, noticing some small changes. "Yeah. Hearing that Dad died wasn't the news I was expecting when I got back, but here we are." He replied with a sigh. "Nolan, I know that Abe hadn't treated you the best, but I hope you don't resent him." Paula said, hoping to appeal to Nolan.
"Don't worry about that, Ms. Crock. I know more than anyone what caused him to end up in the place he was in, so I don't resent him. But it doesn't mean I don't find fault in what he did." He said, his eyes holding a slight glint of sadness. "Besides, I tried to help him as much as I could, and it failed. He's dead now, so there's nothing I can do to change that." He said, then carried the box with the books, while trying to make it look like he was putting in more effort than he actually was.
"Sorry about that. But, please, help me give these to Arty. I feel like they'd be helpful to her." He said. "Of course." Paula said, opening the door to her apartment for him to place the box inside. After putting the books away, he walked up to Paula and hugged her. "Thank you for everything, Ms. Crock." He said, then released her from the hug.
"Take care of yourself, Nolan." She said with a sad smile, as he walked away. "Don't worry, I will." He said, then left the floor, heading to the ground floor with the keys to the apartment. Upon reaching the ground floor, he came across a built man with a full head of hair and a beard, which were beginning to grey as he aged.
"Hey, Sam." Nolan said, greeting the man, who was the building manager, Samuel Krasinski. "Hey, kid." The man said with a gruff voice. "About your old man, I…" Samuel began, but was stopped by Nolan. "I'm gonna stop you right there, Sam. I'm tired of hearing condolences, and I'm really not affected by it." Nolan said calmly.
"O… Okay, then. So what're ya gonna do now?" Samuel asked him. "For now, I'm gonna go to the morgue so that his body can be buried. Also, before I forget, here." Nolan said, handing Samuel twenty $50 bills and the key to the apartment. "I broke a few things, so use that to take care of 'em." He said, then walked out of the building, intent on never coming back.
Samuel sighed as he watched Nolan leave, then looked at the money in his hand. "I wonder what type of damage he did to give me a thousand bucks." He said curiously, then shook his head.
…
Nolan POV
As I walk down the streets of Gotham City, I notice that more than anything, I feel freed. Almost as if my father's death removed whatever hold he had on me, which it technically did.
My thoughts are interrupted when I feel some eyes focused on me. Judging from the level of hostility I am feeling, they're either connected to whoever my dad was in debt to, or they're idiots trying to rob someone that they think is vulnerable.
As I continue walking, the number of people following me increases. Eventually, I reach an alleyway and walk into it, then deposit my luggage into my inventory. I wait for a few minutes, and eventually, some men wearing suits walked into the alleyway, their hostility clear as day. I wouldn't even need Nen to notice them.
"When that fucker died, we thought we wouldn't get our money. But now that his kid is here, I'm sure our losses can be made up." One of them says as he pulls out a pocket knife. "Don't worry, kid. We won't beat you up too much. After all, we'll need your organs to be healthy if we want to sell 'em." Another one of them says while putting knuckledusters on both his hands.
Letting out a sigh, I decide that using Ren is overkill for these guys. Moving faster than any of them can ever hope to detect, I use Rhythm Echo and Anpō to dash forward, then lightly punch their arms and legs, and feel their bones snap like dry spaghetti noodles. I lazily slap the last guy, shattering his jaw, then turn around to look at them.
Every single one of the had crumpled to the ground in pain, with some of them shouting out, while others groaned. I walk up to the guy who had the pocket knife, and his eyes have changed. The greed and sadistic glee that were in his eyes had been replaced by fear, and his body instinctively tried backing away, which just caused him more pain as his limbs were broken.
"Argh. Fucking junkie never told us his kid was a damn meta." The guy said, making the wrong assumption that I was a metahuman, not that I was going to correct him. As I reach him, I squat to his eye level, and he sharply inhales, his pupils having shrunk to a needlepoint.
"Who told you I was around?" I ask him calmly, and he begins hyperventilating, almost as if someone calmly threatening him had given him some sort of trauma. I guess Batman's gotten to him before.
Putting my hand on his left side, I push my thumb into a rib, fracturing it and causing him just enough pain to cause him to refocus. "Answer my question, shitbag. I've got better shit to be doing with my time." I say, then grab his broken arm, causing him to shout in pain.
"Okay, okay!" He shouts out in between pants. "It was a homeless guy. We paid him off to tell us when you'd come around, and told him we'd give him more money when we caught you." He said while groaning from my grip on his arm. "But you lied to him, didn't you?" I say, knowing exactly how scumbags like him made their dealings.
"You were going to kill him if you captured me, since you wouldn't want any witnesses to a kidnapping. You wanted an easily disposable tool." I say, then smack the right side of his face, shattering his jaw and knocking him out.
After that, I activate Transform and turn into a Hypno, use Hypnosis to set all of them to sleep, then revert to my normal body. Deeming that I'm finished with them for the time being, I leave the place, heading to the Gotham Cemetery to get my old man's body taken care of.
…
Omniscient POV
Thirty minutes had passed since Nolan had knocked out the men who tried to attack him, and they were still unconscious. This had given the Dark Knight and his Boy Wonder a bit of pause, as they had discovered twenty men, all with broken limbs, and two of these men with broken jaws, all in a deep slumber, almost as if they had been drugged.
In Gotham, this wouldn't be all too strange, as villains like the Scarecrow, Mad Hatter, and Poison Ivy were present. But the thing that caused alarms to ring in their heads was the fact that there were no traces of gas, spores, or the identifiably unusual residue of the radiation that came from Mad Hatter's tech in the area. They had used multiple tools and gadgets to find even the slightest iota or residue of sedative compounds in the area, but found nothing.
For the officers of the Gotham City Police Department, that would have been a dead end in their investigation, but Batman and Robin were not as limited in resources, knowledge or capability as the officers were. "Who do you think would have done this?" James Gordon asked Gotham's Caped Crusader.
"I don't know yet. Were you able to get ID for those guys?" Batman asked Jim. "Yes, actually. As it turns out, they're Beretti's men. While we haven't caught these guys in particular for anything, the men under Beretti that we have gotten were involved in organ and sex trafficking. We'll see what we get these ones for." Jim said as the unconscious men were loaded up into ambulances.
After that, Batman and Robin shot their grapple guns away, leaving the place to be cleared up by the police. On a rooftop some distance away, Batman stopped, which prompted Robin to do the same. "Do you have an idea of who it could be?" Robin asked his mentor. "No, but I do have an idea of what they might be capable of." Batman replied in his signature gruff voice.
"The way their limbs were broken points to whoever did this having a good amount of skill in physical combat, and anatomy. As for how they're still asleep… the attacker could possibly be a metahuman." Batman said, already planning for the worst case scenario. "Well, it won't be the first time we've had one here. But why would whoever it is just attack them? Most people would leave any metahuman alone if they just showed their powers, right?" Robin said, hoping that they wouldn't face the worst case scenario.
"Yes. Which means that the attacker either attacked them for personal reasons, or we're dealing with another person who's gone or going crazy." Batman said, already running his mind through the worst case scenario. He didn't know who was responsible for this attack, but he would do what he could to make sure that whoever it was wouldn't put Gotham, which is already chaotic enough, into even greater turmoil.
Chapter End.
Word Count: 2,487.
Thanks for reading!