274 Returning Vacation

The stench of the city irritated me as it brought up some unpleasant memories of this world. Still, though, nothing a pizza from my favorite joint in this thrice-cursed city couldn't cure. They have a garlic bread deep dish pizza that was to die for. I was getting hungry imagining it. Neopolitan then finally asked me as she kicked some dumb pickpocket in the balls for trying to steal from her.

" So, my darling fluffy soft paw hubby, where exactly are we?"

" I have been to a lot of dimensions, but nothing like this, so I am curious as well."

Cirilla added, and I sighed as I gave a brief introduction to this world.

" We are in a dimension I like to call DC or Detective Comics for its formal name. It's a world full of superpowered heroes and villains with a lot of messed-up shenanigans and parallel worlds that make it a complicated world with no shortage of headaches. So when I ask you to do something, I hope you will trust my judgment and follow through."

" I trust you more than anyone, my dear naughty powerhouse."

The Tri-Colored Catgirl assured me, and the Witcheress grumbled.

" Fine, but can we get on with my training? You did say you would teach me."

" Don't worry. We will get to it soon, but I figure the both of you would like a bite to eat first. Plus, I have some friends I want to visit first to see if they are still interested in a fresh start in my home world."

Neopolitan looked at me with a mischievous smirk.

" They're girls, aren't they?"

" Yes to some of them, but I do have a guy friend or two that was dealt a bad hand."

Thinking of the circumstances of the few friends I have in this world, I really want to give them a fresh start. One has a little girl but can't seem to get a clean break from the business he fell into as an assassin, as he has no other prospects. Another is getting out of an abusive relationship after finally realizing that the person they fell in love with does not give a damn about them. Then there is another who hates what civilization has done to nature to the point of trying to "correct" It on their own terms.

I can't forget the one with the Mother of all daddy issues, ironic as it sounds. I sigh as I want to help them get a new start on life away from where their past follows too closely behind them as they are... good-ish people, for lack of a better term. There probably is one, but I can't think of it at the moment.

I then saw one of my favorite pizza joints, the Gotham Slice, getting robbed, of course. It looks like I need to update the wards on set the place to protect it. I used Magic to silence my approach and entered the store as the ski-masked robber demanded the middle-aged man working the register.

" Put the f*cking money in the bag r-!"

I put the robber to sleep with a bit of Magic and asked the cashier.

" You alright?"

" Yeah, just another day in Gotham."

The mild age man said with a sigh as he took out the double-barrel shotgun he was reaching for under the counter. He checked it, and I saw it was armed, then put it back. It looks like I saved the robber's life, unbeknownst to them. The cashier then told me.

" I'll take your order in a moment. Just let me get the cops to swing over to pick up this a*shole."

" Sure, no rush."

I said to him with a smile as this mild age man was part of why I liked this place as he is tough as nails and had no issue with getting blood on his hands in self-defense. I sat down and quietly checked the wards of the place and found them missing.

" Did this city block get leveled?"

I asked internally as I better start getting up to date on the year I have been gone in this world since I wanted the Justice League to forget me instead of other threats. Neopolitan and Cirilla came in and then sat next to me as I took out a cell I had for this universe to check the web on recent news. The Witcheress asked me as she looked at the unconscious robber.

" Is he dead?"

" No, just asleep."

I answered curtly and found some relevant news on the Justice League and... The Light... Cadmus has been exposed, meaning the Super Boy is likely in the League's custody. I felt tempted to go and check up on my old work on creating a new Superman with the mind of Lex Luthor, which resulted in the Super Boy, but I will hold off on it for now and see if the Light wants to use my services. While I am not a member of the Light, I am an associate member who provides various services as I somewhat agree with the Light philosophy on human advancement.

This is another to add to my to-do list during my hopefully brief stay in this world. The Gotham Police Department finally showed up to take away the robber, and after asking a few questions, they left. After placing an order for an extra large deep-dish pizza with extra cheese and pepperoni, plus an order for Cirilla and Neopolitan, I made a call.

My cell for this world rang, and I waited for my friend to pick up their cell.

" This is Harley!"

" Hey Harley, guess-."

" Hello? Is anyone there?"

I stopped talking as I knew I had her voice-mail as I was there when she decided to do this gag for her voice-mail of having difficulty hearing whoever was calling her. Either she is pissed at me for disappearing and not answering my call, or she is busy or asleep or is giggling at me for getting her voice-mail and looking forward to my reaction in hopes I forgot she set up this way.

Well, I guess I will go see her directly. I made a few more calls to some information brokers to find out where she is currently crashing, and they will get back to me once they learn something. Thankfully, my bank accounts are still flush, even after a year of inactivity, so wiring the money is easy. Everyone's pizzas had arrived, and we dug in. I went through old news reports to see what else had happened in the year I had been gone.

Aside from the usual DC shenanigans, heroes versus villains, nothing of note had happened that drew my attention, at least publicly. I will need to get in contact with the Light to see what has been happening behind the scenes. Hopefully, my stay in DC will be brief and uneventful.