(3rd Person POV)
Over 7 years, Bruce used the information he gained from his unwilling helper, the Talon, to get the board of Wayne Enterprises in line. He didn't do it officially as Bruce Wayne, but unofficially as Philip Kane. He wanted to strike fear in the criminal's hearts, and he would start with his own company.
They fell in line and stopped selling weapons and other goods on the black market. Even the first problem Batman had to face stemmed from his uncle and the man called Nygma, who used weapons from Wayne Enterprises. But he wouldn't let his company be used that way. He needed it clean for his future public appearance.
Bruce also created a new and improved Wayne Foundation that helped children in Gotham. He made an effort to help those who couldn't help themselves. And children were at the top of his list, since they deserved better and had the most potential. Not only would they be forced to become criminals if they had no options, but they were also helpless, and Bruce sympathised with them. And if they were to become criminals ... it would be bad for them. That's what's called working smarter and not harder. However, he wasn't sure whether it even mattered in Gotham.
Now intentions meant jackshit in Gotham. If you wanted to get things done, you had to hire the right people or take matters into your own hands. And Bruce was not going to allow some greedy asshole to take the money that was intended to help children. So he created robots. Yeah, it was almost funny how his solving a problem was taking the 'human'-factor out of the equation.
He placed them in strategic positions so they could eventually work their way up the ladder, get better jobs, and gain more influence, which would, in turn, give him greater control over the city and its legal and illegal activities.
Bruce was playing on multiple fronts simultaneously, and it was all long-term planning. He was playing 3D chess while everyone else was still trying to figure out how to win at Tic-Tac-Toe.
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On Bruce's technological front, he was currently working on creating his security/information network. At first, he wanted to create nanobots that could infiltrate wherever he wished, but he put that off for the moment. He also decided against creating Artificial Intelligence, since he had other interests for now and planned to implement an endless number of safety measures first, before he even considered real functional AI.
He settled on tiny robots with multiple purposes. He wanted them to infiltrate wherever he wished, or to settle somewhere and camouflage themselves to give him eyes all over the city. In turn, he began creating the Batcomputer. According to what he knew, the Batcomputer was the heart of the Batcave and essential for Batman's detective work. But this one was different. Bruce would not make such a weak one as the original made.
His computer was going to be beyond the Quantum level. He was going to use the best materials and create something out of this world. He took time to do that. After all, he had time.
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As for school, well, Bruce, or rather his decoy, finished school normally and without much difficulty. So little difficulty that he never read a single page in a schoolbook or did any of his homework. He concentrated on reading university-level material and then discarded it to do his own research. He stayed in the range of smart but normal so that he wouldn't gain any attention.
He decided that after high school, he wasn't going to go to University. Bruce already knew everything he had learned. The only reason he even made his decoy go to high school was to 'try' and make friends. This might sound strange, but it is always better to put on a persona for Bruce Wayne. So when he eventually became Batman, there would always be another person who was Bruce Wayne, and those who knew Bruce Wayne wouldn't ever suspect that he was Batman. Bruce would have gotten lonely... if he'd cared remotely about something like that.
Bruce eventually settled for staying an outsider, riding that traumatised orphan train. Polite but distant. He had no interest in getting to know most of the children. He had, however, given the decoy the job of observing every child and person he met, without getting caught. It was something he had taken up as a hobby to help him gather early information in this new world. As a former Custodes, he was well-versed in espionage, but it never hurt to go back to it.
What he did in the afternoon, when the decoy returned, was to review all the data and create profiles for each child. With a glance, he knew each child's personality and character, knew what made them tick, what they liked and disliked and how to get them to do what he wanted. He knew where to push so it hurt, and who had a high chance of becoming a criminal or whose parents already were.
It took him all of one glance to get this down. And if you think that's a lot, well, he only spent one or so hours a day doing that, playing the entire day at 5x speed. He was not the one who went to school after all, but he needed to know what happened during the day. After one week, Bruce knew what there was to know about their character and a lot of other personal information.
What was he looking at?
Everything. Clothes, shoes, hairstyle, how well their skin was taken care of, the colour of their skin, and he wasn't talking about the amounts of their melanin, posture, gait, way of speaking, accent, the tone of their voice, the things they spoke about, their breath... everything.
There was a girl at his school named Vicky Vale, whom Bruce observed and created a profile of. He saw that Vicky was a determined girl and knew exactly what she wanted. He could also see that she was smart. She understood that her beauty was something she could take advantage of to get what she wanted, but also to have fun. That was why she took her time to dress well and do her hair and makeup.
All in all, Vicky Vale wasn't that complicated a character, and Bruce could tell there was an 87% chance she would do something concerning the news or research. She enjoyed gossip and finding out the truth, sticking her nose into other people's business, showing off her beauty, and enjoying the advantages that came with it. But she also tried to make connections early on, understanding the importance of that, especially in Gotham.
Bruce was content when he finally finished high school and was about to start his training trip around the world. Although to call it a 'training' trip was a gross overstatement. He had the plan to just download the knowledge of all the different masters, but then discarded that plan.
The reason was simple: his body had been undergoing many changes.
Getting certain people's templates was different from getting their powers. Getting the template of a human, a Galvan, a Time Lord and a Custodes, which is basically a genetically-engineered transhuman, meant that his body changed. This, Bruce had to address.
The Galvan side was a bit tricky, since they were rather small, grey creatures. Rick Sanchez was mostly alright, since he was human, but he had experimented on himself, which caused a reaction with parts of other templates.
The Doctor was a Time Lord, which, in hindsight, shouldn't have been allowed to be chosen as a template, since he had powers. But ROB must have forgotten about it, or he was giving him a pass. They were incapable of sexual reproduction, which, for now at least, wasn't a problem for Bruce. Gender was also merely a social construct and flexible. Also, Time Lords have two hearts.
Then there was the Custodes part of him. To say that he was special would be an understatement, and it was interesting to 'handle' that part. In short, Bruce had to deal with the increased height of 10 feet (3 metres) and the speed at which he grew.
In the end, it took Bruce a few days to find the perfect way to healtihy deal with his new biology. He removed the greyish tone of his skin and the small stature that was Azmuth, while ensuring that everything else worked well together and didn't cause secondary mutations or detriments.
Plus, he dealt with the height aspect by sending the excess height and weight, the excess mass, into a separate pocket dimension to keep the posture of a 'normal human'. The technology was integrated into his body to make sure nothing happened to it.
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(Sebas POV)
"Are you sure about this, Master Bruce?" I ask as I watch him finish packing his things. He has surprisingly little that he takes with him, but that is only on the outside.
In truth, he takes a lot of things with him; he has improved on his Portal Gun and added it to his watch. The watch can't be removed unless he cuts off his hand, he says. But I don't think anyone would do that, or even think about that, or even be capable of that. The watch had a very old, run-down appearance. But even if someone were still interested in stealing it, they couldn't. Because if someone other than Bruce and me were to touch the watch when it is not connected to Master Bruce... it explodes.
Master Bruce has stated his wish to travel and embark on a training journey around the world. I am happy with his decision, of course. As an 18-year-old, I can understand that someone with his intellect wishes to travel and grow stronger in his life as a vigilante. As a future symbol of vengeance and justice, he had to have the strength to back it up. But I knew that he was strong enough; he had created these things after all. I don't know their names.
"I'm sure. You know what I will do, and you know some of what I have done up to this point. Trust that the parts that you don't know are within my calculations," he tells me.
He gave me the same answer many times, but I still couldn't help asking whether he was sure. It wasn't something he programmed into my brain, but I couldn't help but see him as my son. He knew that and also saw me as someone very close... I think. He told me so. Even if he just appreciates my service, I am happy.
I wish Master Bruce all the best, but this trip still holds some danger. He told me about some of the things he might have to face. He is not concerned about them, and I have full trust in his intellect and abilities, which are beyond anything a man should be capable of. Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't be able to stop him now. Once Master Bruce has made a decision, there is no turning back from that.
"I see ... Would you then consider taking a phone with you? How else am I going to contact you?" I ask him.
"I have my watch. Should it be necessary, we can communicate through that. It is important that this remain a secret from almost everyone and that the rest see what I want them to see. I'll call you whenever I have time. That's mostly in between trainers. It might not take as long as I thought, since I am really talented in most things."
"Ever so humble, Master Bruce. But I can't refute that. You are indeed very talented in everything you touch. I wonder what you can't do."
"I wouldn't be able to live with myself, that's for sure. I just don't like cooking. Well ... I guess I could ... no. Let's not talk about that now," he says and looks me in the eyes. I know what he means. He's saying he needs me, and I appreciate it, at least in his way.
"I appreciate that, Master Bruce. But you know that you won't ever get rid of me," I say, and he smiles... slightly.
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Over the years, Master Bruce hasn't changed much. His personality stayed the same, extremely cool, calculating and detached, the one he had when he made me. He didn't become someone else; he just seemed to have adapted a bit more, worked on his 'mask'. Not much, since I always knew who he was, and there was no need for pretences between us. I don't know how he did it, but the experience with his parents must have accelerated his maturation.
When I asked him what his wish for the future was, he told me he planned to become a symbol of vengeance and justice. The Batman. He wished to strike fear into the hearts of criminals and all those who stood opposite humanity, and that's why he needed to go on this trip. Some people had already had their eyes on him. I knew some of his plans already, but not the finer details. Master Bruce was certain that, with the appearance of powers, humans would resort to crime, making it impossible for ordinary police to deal with them. And that there would be powers from outside of Earth.
He also told me that he would not kill if it weren't necessary. Should he see an easier or better option, then he would take the non-lethal route. But if he decided it wasn't possible and the person wasn't redeemable, he would take drastic measures. I was all for that option, as he was my master, and that wouldn't change.
"Take care, Master Bruce. And make sure to call me whenever you have time," I tell him, and hug him.
"I will, Sebas, you can count on me coming back having achieved all I set out to," he says and smirks, finally leaving.
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(Bruce POV)
Well, it is finally time for me to go on my training journey. It was a somewhat complicated time for me. It was hard in the way that I understood what it meant to be myself. I had already fully fused with all my templates the moment I opened my eyes in the hospital, becoming a new person altogether. But what did it mean to be this new Bruce Wayne? Was I fated to become Batman? Did I want to do that?
And the answer to all of that came slowly over time. I was indeed going to become Batman. It felt right and the most optimal way of handling the more complex problems that will arrive. I could also see minor changes in myself over the years. My intellect was also a sort of 'muscle', unscientifically speaking, and the more I used it over the years, the better I became at using it. It was like potential buried under mountains of averigeness that had to be dug up.
My intelligence skyrocketed, if you can believe that, beyond imagination. It was not just an addition of these characters' intelligence and minds. It was a multiplication. There isn't a way to measure my IQ right now. I might have to create a device for that in the future. But it doesn't matter anyway.
My cognitive abilities are through the roof. Thought Process, Learning/Mind, Brain Capacity, Calculation, Creativity, Intelligence, Intuition, Memory/Panmnesia, Perception, Response, Hypercognition, Parallel Processing, etc. ... all of these things were enhanced to ridiculous degrees. It was beyond impressive.
I will develop psychic abilities over time, even without training. The cells that stem from the Emperor of Mankind are still dormant, but I can see this changing in the future. I'll need to address that.
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Now I am finally going on my training trip. I hadn't trained a day since the moment I woke up. But I wasn't worried, the templates came with the muscle memory, so... yeah.
The Super Soldier Serum was, of course, already recreated and improved upon. Why do I say improved? Because I added something else to the mix. I knew that Peak Human was good, but in the end, it wasn't something that was impressive in DC. I hadn't taken the serum to allow my body's natural changes to develop, and also because taking it wouldn't help me in the slightest.
So I created something that fit me perfectly and went well together with the SSS. I made a serum that mimicked something along the lines of Luther Strode's power, from Image Comics.
Luther Strode was a human who had the power of the 'Killer Method'. What he did to achieve that was to: "...focus the mind, body, and spirit towards one goal. By aligning all three, the physical enthusiast can bring all of them under conscious control."
And what did I do? I created a serum that 'aligned' mind, body and spirit. That way, I had the best of both worlds. Why was that? Because I had to make sure to remove the negative need for killing that Luther Strode suffered from.
After taking this, together with my now fully matured body, I have long surpassed the peak-human level of strength. This journey is not necessarily about me, but someone else. Time to start my diary.