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Currently I have so many ideas for new stories and directions I want my old stories to go, but I don't have enough time to write them all down. Even a buck will help so please help me out with anything you can. That way I can spend some more time bringing a little more joy to both of our lives.
Turns out smiling all night long has consequences, I grimaced as I rubbed my face the following morning. My face was literally sore from smiling so much, I mean the dreams I had were pleasant… but now my face hurts. I guess it didn't really matter in the long run, the soreness would go away but my good mood would last for much longer. I would just have to be careful if Uncle Ben came around, his discount stories always got me laughing and I'm not sure my face could take that right now.
By the time I finished my morning rituals the soreness was a little better and I had won a drone in a hide and seek kind of game this morning. What made it cool was that it wasn't like the drones of my past life, it was more like the Ghosts from Destiny. Luckily the environment I was in let me build a few mini EMPs that disabled the seekers whenever they got too close for comfort. In the game I had to hide from these and while they could find my general location with their scan abilities I assumed they had to achieve an optical lock to end the game.
I ended up winning the game after I knocked down the last drone and apparently the best prize I could win was one of the drones that was chasing me. While I doubted the revival function from the game would work, if it could do everything else this would be one of my better prizes. It was definitely worth being the top prize, if I didn't have the brain boost I would have lost fairly quickly. Those scanners were no joke, while the game was called hide and seek it was more like a run from the swarm of robots chasing you and try not to be seen.
But anyway, now that the game of the day was out of the way I should start letting out my children before opening the shop. So I grabbed the Avatar book off the shelf and sat back down on my bed before opening it up and choosing who I wanted to summon. While I wrote a story for every person I could think of I wouldn't be able to summon all of them now. Just like I couldn't make Goku a planet buster I wouldn't be able to summon a hundred people until I grew more powerful.
It was like having a pool of energy I could draw from and each person I summoned would put a drain on that pool. The initial moment of summoning would cause the biggest drain but every moment I kept them summoned would drain me a little more. I had tested what my limits were as I wrote each book and I could keep a dozen people summoned and not lose any energy, as long as they were average humans. Of course the more powerful they were, the faster they drained my energy.
So I could summon a couple superheroes like Deku in his vigilante arc and Naruto after graduation, or I could summon a dozen people that were peak humans with no special abilities. Overall it was a pretty easy choice to make, right now I needed to grow and every person I summoned was like a multiplier for my growth, so the more I could summon the faster I would grow.
I smiled as I found the perfect page before focusing on the book and reaching into the page to pull out another book. Then I placed the Avatar book to the side and thumbed through my current choice until I found the last page describing the advantages I could afford to give them right now. Rationing my power meant that I couldn't give too many but at the same time these were my children so I didn't want to leave them with nothing to lean on.
Once I reached the proper page I leaned forward and gently blew on the page, and the words formed tiny particles of ink that drifted through the air as if caught in a stiff breeze. They swirled and grew denser until a figure started to form and I felt a substantial dip in my reserves. After a complete silhouette was formed the black ink started to flake away like ash and underneath was a man built for war.
Anyone in my old world would have recognized him with a single look and in a few years if my plans come into fruition this world will recognize him as well. The grey and black body armor, with the cape and funny helmet with two points sticking out the top, the yellow utility belt that always seemed to be filled with whatever he needed. Batman was the man with a plan and he would be the first one to help me with mine.
I smiled as he looked around the room he just appeared in, his head barely turning as he took in his surroundings. "Hey Bruce, how do you feel?" He looked back at me and the corner of his lip twitched, "I feel fine, am I the first?" I nodded, not at all surprised that he guessed correctly. Across various media people really tried to make Batman all knowing, and I was no different.
Thanks to my limited reserves I couldn't make him more than human but Bruce is almost always just a human. And he showed just how that could make some be able to hit above his weight class, to walk amongst gods without flinching. My version was a combination of Sherlock Holmes with knowledge in every field that could possibly help his detective work. Jackie Chan, with his knowledge of every martial art known by me and a few that I was able to describe from fiction.
I wouldn't be able to perform such martial arts but he was a little more malleable, so stuff from various fighting anime was imprinted onto his mind. From Baki's image training to Bang's Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist, and even some of the Niko style from Kengan Ashura. He wasn't quite at the level of performing the six styles from one piece but it was possible he would be capable of doing it one day.
As for his intelligence, he wouldn't be needing Lucious Fox in this reality, he would be able to make all his bat tools himself. Which was a good thing too since all he currently has is his kevlar suit, a couple of batarangs, and his utility belt, which wasn't bigger on the inside quite yet. To help with that I made his morals a little more flexible, without his company to back him he would be just fine stealing from criminals to fund his war on crime.
As for his no killing rule, well I made it so he wouldn't be quite as liberal as Jason but he would agree to remove some of the more disgusting trash from the streets. "Would you like to stay for your family and have them meet you somewhere else later?" His head tilted minutely before he sat in the chair in front of my desk while I picked the Avatar book back up before trying to find the right page once more.
As I flipped through the pages I looked up briefly and saw that he was leaning forward with his elbow resting on his knees and his hands clasped out in front of him. "Do you have any preference on who I summon first?" He gave a small shake of his head and just kept staring as I flipped through the book. After a few more seconds I found the right page and repeated the same process I used to summon Bruce.
Then I repeated it 8 more times before I was flat on the bed panting as I tried to regain my breath. Apparently I pushed it a bit too hard with the last one, but let's go in the order I summoned them. The first one after Bruce was Dick, he was the first Robin so it was only fair he would be the oldest of his siblings once more. But he wasn't Robin anymore and was wearing his Nightwing costume and just like Bruce his was made out of Kevlar only much thinner and lacking the armor plating his father's had.
Dick also had his escrima sticks strapped to his back and a smaller utility belt circling his waist. All and all I had made him into an agility fighter to pay homage to his roots, the Flying Graysons. Losing his family was an important part of his story and not something I could just take away without changing a fundamental part of himself. But I like to think the new family he gained caused the hole created by losing the old one to not feel as empty.
And it was hilarious to see Bruce's reaction when he realized who I had summoned first. He gave off such a tired dad vibe I was surprised that he didn't actually let out a sigh, but I guess the small smiles he gave to Dick's corny puns as I summoned the rest of the family made up for that. Jason was next and while I could help with Dick's trauma I could with Jason. It took a little finagling but since there was no Joker in this world I was able to work in his transition into the Red Hood with his… you know… death.
He was still the most violent of the bat family but without the lazarus pit messing with his head he never tried to actually kill his own family. Criminals on the other hand, well lets just say he still made it on to the path of benevolent crime lord. He was the second oldest brother and it showed, where Dick was built like a gymnast and Bruce was pure warrior, Jason was built like a brick shithouse.
If his whole crime lord thing didn't work out he should sign up for some powerlifting competitions. As for equipment, he had a couple guns, his helmet and leather jacket, but no anti-meta bullets. Bruce could recreate them in time but it just wasn't worth the cost to constantly replenish them until he had his own supply. That alone would be a major drain and cost as much as two or three characters, so he would have to make do with regular bullets for now.
Next was the original Batgirl, Barbra Gordon herself and while I didn't paralyze her (no Joker was getting better and better all the time) I did end up moving her to Oracle duties. But instead of a life changing injury forcing the change instead it was a natural movement when more family members started joining up. She could and would join patrols but for the most part she would play overwatch while the rest played their version peek-a-boo.
Another small change I made was the fact that Dick and Barbra had history. It was a little weird since I considered them all my children but they weren't actually related so who cares. As for why I didn't just have them dating right as they appeared, I kind of felt like it was even weirder to force that onto them. I have never been a great writer of romance, having never experienced actual love myself, so I would rather have something grow naturally instead.
One downside with Barbra was that currently I could only summon her with her suit or an enhanced laptop. I couldn't give her the whole batcomputer but I could give her something loaded with enough software to do any sort of tests they might need. It didn't have all the tools needed to run those tests included but once Bruce built them she could monitor the results. That was much more useful than a suit she wouldn't use for the next few weeks.
By then hopefully my energy pool will have grown enough to summon it, or Bruce will somehow pull it out of his ass like usual. After Barbra was Tim, and he was the most similar to Batman, in the realm of knowledge at least. While all the members had incredible knowledge of detective work Tim and Bruce took it to another level. Barbra was even better, as long as she was on the computer, it was just how their brains worked.
That could change in the future, now that I had summoned them they would not be returning to their books unless they were killed. They were alive in every way that counts, each one could even have children if they so desired, and if their books were destroyed and they were killed they would die just like any other person. It was why I was being so careful with them, no parent wants their kid to die.
Tim was another family member I was able to help, this version didn't have his showdown with Ra's so while he was extremely addicted to coffee that was his only deficit. No PTSD, no trust issues, at least not more than usual, and no death for him either. He still uses his bo staff and his uniform is more like Robin's than Batman's, as in no red cowl. After him was Cass in her Orphan outfit, with the hood and face mask, but she was another one I couldn't change enough about.
Her childhood sculpted her into what she was today, but I was able to change one aspect, she never took a life. Instead when her father wanted her to kill she refused and he did it instead. She still saw the life drain from the victim's body and that still formed her belief in no killing but at least now her hands were clean. Her childhood also meant that she had trouble speaking but without that defining moment it was no longer as pervasive.
I also gave her knowledge of a martial art that was very similar to the Hyuga's but instead of targeting tenketsu to stop chakra flow it targeted pressure points that could cause various effects. From just knocking them out, to numbing their bodies and even giving hallucinations, you can do a lot to the human body if you know where to poke it.
Damian was next and he was the same ball of fury as ever, I even made sure he kept his sword, cause why not. He also leaned more into the martial arts rather than deduction, but his younger age meant he couldn't perform the more fantastical moves like the Niko style. Once he was summoned and I started to notice that my energy reserves were about half way empty.
So apparently I could either summon more people or I could add something to one of the characters I planned to summon. It was a tough choice because as soon as I noticed I came up with a pretty good idea for what I wanted to do, now it only depends on if I had enough energy to do it. So I just continued summoning the family instead of worrying about that right now. Next was Spoiler.
I had to reach pretty deep into my memories with her to remember her history. It was never something I really paid attention to, I was always more interested in other characters. But with the help of my enhanced brain I was able to remember some of it and what I didn't I filled in with my own ideas. She probably ended up being half me and half DC but she would be good for the rest of the family.
Another comedian to match wits with Dick and someone else to bring Damian out of his shell would always be needed in this family. There was enough brooding to fill an entire city already. I was kind of worried that Gotham's weather would show up here in New York merely due to the fact that the Bat Family would now be doing their brooding here. But that was a problem for another time, for now it was time to bring some more girl power into the mix.
Batwoman was next, Kane Kane was a certified badass and I made sure that was true here too. I also made sure that she wasn't just a copy of Batman, it was something I had trouble with because when I lightened Bruce's burdens there would be a chance of his mood following suit. And that would bring them close enough that they could be gender swapped versions of each other.
But even though every parent wants their kids to thrive in their own way they can only give them the tools to do so. I didn't want to affect their personalities too much so if they did end up similar then well it would just suck to be everyone else. After Batwoman it was time for the last couple of contenders, Catwoman and Talia, both of which I was hesitant to add. But they were just too useful not to do so, Catwoman was a master thief and if the Black Cat was a thing here then I wouldn't have done so.
So far I hadn't found anything so either she had shown up yet or wasn't wasn't widely known, for whatever reason. All and all I felt pretty safe in bringing her in, Talia on the other hand was for a completely different reason, part of which is about my view on crime. In my opinion crime is a fundamental part of our reality, there will never not be crime so why try to wipe it out completely.
Instead you should seize control and limit its influence on those not entrenched in its clutches. And with Talia helping Jason they would do so, plus with the extra energy I had left over I was able to give her some of the boosts I had been planning to add later. The League of Shadows didn't exist in this reality and it would take too long to build it up, I also wasn't very comfortable with some of their practices.
So instead with a little help from the Shadowkhan they would become a literal League of Shadows. Using up the last of my energy I was able to give Talia the ability to summon the Shadowkhan like Jinwoo was able to summon his shadows. Only she wouldn't have to kill anything to get them, but this way she would have access to an army of loyal warriors wherever she went.
Unfortunately I wasn't able to make it an endless army, and I probably never would, but I was able to set a high limit. By infusing the ability into a look alike of Tarakudo's Mask like in the show Jackie Chan Adventures I was able to link the limit directly under her control. When she wore the mask she would be able to summon one type of shadow at a time. Each shadow would drain her reserves and she would have to wait for them to refill before trying again.
But as long as she was patient she would have her League and eventually it would reach heights beyond anything it had previously. Of course once I linked the ability to a real mask I was no longer able to summon it with Talia as part of her gear. Instead it would be stored in the Armory book. That came with the risk of it being stolen and used by someone else but it offers more protection this way and I believe it'll be more than safe guarded by the Batclan.
The current advanced chapters are:
Flip the Script Ch1-2
The Game Ch1
Millennium Ch1
Haven Ch1
Who is a Zoo? Ch1
God of Games Ch6
Breathe Ch1
Another Wayne Ch1
Salvation Ch1
Guide Ch1
Growth Ch1
I Wanted a Real Gamer System Ch8
Ark Ch3-5
A Real Gamer System Ch3-5
Tinker Ch1
Further Ch2
Puzzle Maker Ch3
A Thousand Words Ch1-2
Free Range Ch1