Bruce made his way through the dark streets of Gotham. The area he was in was not a place anyone would want to spend the holidays, though he was the exception. Gotham was a lawless city, and this district in particular was where the mould was located.
Mugging, murder, rape, torture, it could all be found there. He was there for one reason and one reason only. He wanted to find a man. The man who was responsible for his parents' deaths. He was the one who took them from him.
Bruce was no longer affected by it, but he owed his parents at least justice. Besides, no one would take anything from him, so he would have to handle this. The man had to be taken off the streets. He did not care about his motives or situation, his sob story or the difficult choices. He was going to receive the correct punishment.
So what he had to do now was find the man who killed his parents - Joe Chill. He was pretty sure what he would do with him. He would honour the parents of the boy he was before and not go around killing all the villains who turned up. There were a lot of unlucky people in Gotham, especially, and killing all of them was not the solution. Killing Joe Chill would avenge his parents, but it would not make him feel better, since he had made peace with that already.
The decision hadn't come easy and Bruce had thought long about it. Killing was now nothing special anymore. It would be easy as pie, and in a way, that was dangerous. But his mental strength was now above and beyond anyone in existence. He wouldn't lose himself in murder, as the original Batman feared. That didn't mean he would make the same weak decision of allowing the villains to be imprisoned, only for them to escape again and kill more. No, he would be different, far different.
Villains needed to fear him, truly fear him. And if they are merely imprisoned and don't fear final repercussions, that won't do.
He would not revive his parents. No matter how smart he was, he was not ready to face beings like Hades or Death of the Endless... yet. Given time, he would be prepared to face anyone and anything, but those things were forces of nature and stood far above him on the Multiversal hierarchy.
So finding Joe Chill was what he was doing now, and he was bloody good at it as well. He understood his talent as the future's best detective. But he guessed that the four templates, combined with Bruce Wayne, made him ridiculous, especially when bundled into one and directed at a single goal.
He reached a door and knocked.
After a moment, the door opened slightly, and someone looked out between the door and the wall.
"Yes?"
"Joe Chill, good evening. My name is Bruce Wayne."
...
..
.
- Some time later -
Bruce was inside the Batgarage, tinkering with a new device, when Sebas came in and saw something disturbing.
"Master Bruce, what is this?" he asked.
Bruce glanced at Sebas and then to where he was looking. Sebas pointed to a see-through cage with a man inside. The man was of average build and had unremarkable features, perfect for blending seamlessly into the urban streets and staying unrecognised. He was unshaven, and his hair was messy. He wore worn-out clothes that consisted of a once-white shirt and cheap pants. The man cowered in the corner of the cage, his fear palpable and easy to see.
He held his hands in front of his face, and yet the fear in the man's eyes was obvious as he looked at Bruce, between his fingers, who had not responded since he came down into the cave. No matter how much the man pleaded and begged, it was all for nought. He had dry tears and fresh ones running down his face.
Bruce looked at the man and then back at Sebas.
"This, Sebas, is Joe Chill. I'm sure you know him," Bruce said, and then he went back to his work, as if that settled things.
Sebas was confused for a second and thought about it. He did not know the man. But his confusion quickly gave way to another emotion, surprise and recognition. Instinctively, he understood who this probably was and then turned to his master. He knew what this was about, and he would not fail.
"I see. If my guess is correct, this should be the man who killed your parents, as well as my predecessor, Alfred. Am I correct?" Sebas asked.
"You are correct, Sebas," Bruce said.
"May I ask what you are going to do with him?" Sebas asked.
"Well... what would you do?" Bruce asked.
It was a test. Bruce created Sebas with a 'moral compass', making it similar to the one Butler Sebas had in the anime Overlord. But he also made sure not to make him an advocate of justice. His primary objective was to take care of Bruce Wayne and ensure he was well. The tinkering with personality was a test of Bruce to see how it worked.
"Well, Master Bruce, I believed that if this truly was the man who killed your parents, he deserved to be punished. I was, however, not entitled to say what that punishment should be. In my opinion, death was not the correct option," Sebas said.
"Why not, Sebas?"
"I am convinced that death is a very severe punishment and should be reserved for the most evil of criminals master. And whether this is true in this case is not for me to decide. And I believe ... that it is also not for you to decide, Master Bruce. I believe that it is for your parents to decide their punishments. So if you wish to punish him, you should ask yourself: what would your parents decide?" Sebas said.
Bruce stayed calm as he had expected this reaction. He provoked this situation for an important reason. It was time to see Sebas's reaction to his future actions. He wanted to see whether he could have Sebas as his butler or if he had to 'find' another one. Besides that, he also wanted to observe and gather intel on his 'creation'. So far, it has been somewhat lacking.
"I understand where you're coming from, Sebas ... and I agree with you. It is for my parents to decide. I am certain that they wouldn't want me to kill him to punish him for their deaths. But it's not even just about Joe Chill right now. It's going to be about my future as well. You see, I will one day become a symbol. A symbol that strikes terror in the hearts of criminals. I will become what they fear, and that will involve killing eventually.
I am not even talking about Joe Chill right now. There will come a time when I will kill because I don't have the patience or the will to put up with the cat-and-mouse game that would otherwise ensue. You cut out a tumour and don't just try to keep it the same size. Me not outright killing all villains is already monumental, which I do solely because it would be too simple and not right for what I will achieve," Bruce said patiently.
Sebas was quiet for a while, just looking at Bruce. He had a thoughtful look, then glanced at the man in the cage, and saw the sheer terror in his look. Sebas thought about Thomas and Martha Wayne and their deaths. The short lives they had in the grand scheme of things, and the young Bruce, who was now alone. He had gathered the information he needed to be a butler in Wayne Manor. But he also understood who his master was.
"I understand, Master Bruce. I understand that there are people, or rather creatures, in the human race that are not redeemable or don't deserve it. I am also an advocate for punishing those and removing them from the gene pool. So you will not get any negative reaction out of me. I will stand behind you as long as you stay true to your initial values and not turn into a murdering psychopath," Sebas said.
"I am not going on a killing spree. I will eventually kill, but that doesn't mean that I will go about it Wild-West style. I am content that you see it this way. We are going to get along very nicely, after a few twists and turns. Besides... I am not going to kill Joe Chill. I wasn't planning to. You are correct, my parents should decide his fate," Bruce said.
Bruce grabbed a device from the shelf. It was a very strange gun. Instead of shooting bullets, it had two blue, glowing discs that lit up when he fired it.
[Picture]
He walked to the cage and pressed a button. Four mechanical arms formed from the wall and grabbed Joe Chill, who still cowered in the corner. They seized one limb each and pulled him close to the edge, right in front of Bruce.
Bruce aimed the Mind Blower at Joe Chill and pressed the button. A flash appeared, and Chill's eyes turned white. Spit leaked from the corner of his mouth. Then Bruce knocked him out and walked back to the shelf to get his most prized creation to date.
The Portal Gun.
[Picture]
He recreated it and made it fully functional in this universe. He knew that the potential was far higher, but at that moment it was enough. Things could always be improved later down the line.
Bruce opened a portal to the alley in front of the Gotham Police Station and threw the man through it. He was not interested in showing him any kindness. Along with the man, he sent some information identifying him and what he had done. Now it was up to the corrupt police to handle the rest.
.
Bruce began a new project. He wanted to create his first clean energy source. He said "clean," but that was not his primary objective. He wanted something compact and easy to handle. A clean energy source allowed him to produce less waste, not that it was a problem anymore, now that he had created the Atomiser.
He had many options. But the one he attempted right now was something that came close to the Arc Reactor from the MCU. Bruce had no knowledge of the MCU, but the idea of the Arc Reactor was a good one. It was not his favourite, but he had to start somewhere. Originally, he wanted to start with the Microverse Battery, but he thought that he might have been a bit young to play with creating life on a whim. Besides, he needed to find better uses for it.
The electromagnetic device was not that hard to make. It was, however, a fascinating area of science, and he planned to delve deeper into it. But for the moment, it was enough. He had to upgrade the technology. It was simply not safe enough for him, considering how much more powerful he was making it. Why would he use something so powerful yet so explosive? Besides, the caution he received as a Custodes influenced him to make sure it was even safer.
So he upgraded the Arc Reactor in both power and safety.
It took about a day, more or less. But he finally managed to create his own version of an Arc Reactor that was safe when not in use and could power a city if needed.
.
Bruce created the Battery Maker. It was a special device that looked similar to the backpack he made earlier. What he did was induce nuclear fission within the electromagnetic circular device. It was bigger than the hand-held Arc Reactor, but it was also far more powerful. He called it the 'Nuke Circle'.
The Nuke Circle was embedded at the top of the Battery Maker. It was essentially two things merged into one. The Nuke Circle created energy through nuclear fission, and the cooling process was handled by the Battery Maker.
When the Nuke Circle was not in use, excess energy flowed into the Battery Maker, powering it and initiating battery production. These batteries appeared on the side of the device, similar to the Terrain Tool, where he could 'store' resources and materials.
And what fueled the process? It was self-sufficient. An infinite, clean, and safe energy source. There was no waste and only positive outcomes. The batteries could either be sold or used, and when they were empty, he could throw them into the Atomiser and be done with it.
It was truly a good invention.
Now that the energy source was more or less handled, Bruce started rewiring the electricity in the Wayne Manor. He kept the usual amount of electricity that they paid for, but if he powered all the devices he had already created and would create in the future, the electricity bill would have skyrocketed. And someone would notice such a humongous spike, defeating the 'secret identity' thing.
Why would he pay for milk if he could get the cow for free? It was not the correct saying, but it fit in his case.
He also considered creating a worse version of the Arc Reactor and having Wayne Enterprises enter the energy market. It would make him a lot of money, though he doesn't need it. It was food for thought. It might have been a bit early, but in the future, when he took over, why not? The only downside was that it would attract all sorts of leeches who wanted a piece, and villains who wanted to blow it up.