3 Dark Heir Issue 3

Bronx, New York August 5th, 2000

With that said, I might've spoken too soon, as I was lucky enough to survive Shang Chi's training.

It took a few weeks for him to see the shape of the new martial art he tailored fit for me. Which incorporated the karate and kickboxing I learned under my uncle with Ninjutsu, Capoeira, Aikido, and Krav Maga while moving quickly from one combat stance to another as the battle progressed for both attack and defense, I dubbed the Way of the Night. Starting from the basics, how to breathe, how to meditate to throw a punch, to kick, weave, and dodge with minimal movement, I went over the different forms on my own during the spars with both Shang Chi, Andrew, and Tai.

To train my body and senses, he had me blindfolded and covered my ears to learn to respond to his attacks, whether it was a punch, a kick, or a ball he threw at me. I was excited as I thought of it like observational Haki training, but even that thought didn't help much as I was beaten mercilessly for weeks.

Eventually, it let me sense where he was coming from and let me dodge the balls or apples he would throw at me. I wasn't at the level where I could dodge bullets or lasers, but it was a step towards it. When I started to sense him, he congratulated me for tapping into my chi and told me it was time to step up my training.

Chi was a bioelectric energy that followed through every living thing. Everyone has different levels, and it would take hard work to train it for years as it grows alongside you. The good news is that I started young, so I had plenty of time to develop my reserves. At the same time, I meditated and focused on my mental and physical health, whether it was from taking enough breaks through the day to relax, getting enough sleep at night, and meditating to clear up my mind and focus on what I was doing at the time.

Shang Chi would change the pace between hard and soft attacks to differentiate the level of strength and let me sense which was a feint or the actual attack and let me grow my chi reserves the more I used it to sense what was around me all the time. I would never get it to the level of Iron First, but then again, I wouldn't have to fight a dragon to build my chi.

Shang Chi also up my physical regimen by wearing weights straps on my vest arms and legs to stimulate my body while I was fatigued while training my stamina, strength, and speed along side it upping the weights just as I got used to them just like Rock Lee did letting the consequences go so I could adjust to them without it for a couple of days so I wouldn't be surprised how my body felt lighter and the muscles I had started becoming more defined. He also reworked my nutritional program, which had me eating more calories throughout the day, eating more protein and vegetable-dense foods, waiting for carbs after training, and cutting out the bad fatty foods from the diet.

Andrew and Tai noticed it immediately but were impressed at my initiative when I told them I found an old-fashioned martial artist in Chinatown whom I was training under. They didn't, however, stop their lessons as Tai kept up with different Herbology and healing techniques and kept quizzing me in Chinese Cambodian. In contrast, Andrew kept up with his training me in military tactics and strategy while playing mind games like Chess, Go, and word puzzles while teaching me surveillance and counter surveillance, and keeping me updated on the Taylor Foundation, the proposals that he went through and projects he oversaw as I held the act of severe but curious teen as I worked on investigating the company and the more information on the cult they belong to as there weren't enough evidence on them killing my parents I had to find another avenue to get justice.

While on summer break, outside of training, I started working on my pet projects.

First, I created an AI I dubbed Network Enabled Organizer or NEO that had a mix of voice patterns of British accents male that took me two months to code. I had read up on Hank Pym and Tony Stark's work on computer programming, and I was excited to start as it became my first project since I got here. With my enhanced intelligence, it didn't take me that long to use the trope of a man dying and landing himself in a superhero world and creating an AI. Still, I have to admit I'm watching Iron Man movies. I realized how handy it is to have someone whom I can talk to and monitor the Taylor Foundation and keep tabs on people I had on a watch list, whether they were good guys or villains, and track what was going around me while I trained under Shang Chi.

I wrote it using a unique program language I created in my last life to make it streamlined. With my knowledge of the future, I made it so it was hard to back or detect, which let me run Project Smile, which was a facial recognition software I developed that let me piggyback on the public traffic cameras in the Bronx and Chinatown, which let Yoda oversee and record for me to recheck later on it.

My favorite project of the summer was working on the Nightwing suit. I went with the black and red Nightwing suit from Hush as it went with the Night Trasher colorway and is also my favorite color alongside grey.

I created a permanent solution to the web fluid that Spider-Man uses, which let me make a fabric that allowed me to weave in nanotechnology into the suit that was stronger than Kevlar, which was fire and electric proof knife proof, and small caliber bulletproof and acid and chemical proof. At the same time, it kept me insulated from cold and heat on the inside. That looks exactly like the Hush Nightwing suit in black with a red bird right in the middle that goes up my shoulders. I created a backup case and one for Spider-Man that looks like the Spider-Armor MK IV, as it's my favorite one. I'm also going to patent the permanent web fluid under both Peter's and mine names so when I start using it later on, to make new battle fatigues for the military and new uniforms for cops, he can get a royalty fee from the sales. He needs the money. As I checked up on him, his aunt May is sick, and he's getting shafted by the medical loans plus the other bills on his aunt's house. They're living paycheck to paycheck on Ben's pension from the army and his aunt's social security with what little he gets paid for his Spider-Man photos.

Another critical invention was creating shoes and a domino mask. The boots and domino mask were 3-D printed using the fluid incorporating the nanotubes. The shoes let me stick to surfaces and were sound absorbent, which upped my stealth factor by a lot as it made no sounds. I would be discovered by people with super senses like Daredevil and Wolverine, but it's still the first-generation model. I had plenty of time to upgrade it in the future. The black domino mask let me go undetected by electric surveillance such as cameras or sensors. It had reactive eyes that let me show emotions. It had HUD displays that worked like Detective Mode as it allowed me to see infrared, thermal, and X-ray lights and the like while recording everything as a backup so when I go on patrols, I can look back on it to see what I missed or what I need to work on.

The dark grey utility belt had pouches that kept my collapsible electric staff in, pellets in the smoke, emp, flash bang variety, and miniature trackers I made in the shape of ding wings. I had built gauntlets into the suit that had a built-in computer system with a holographic interface that was connected to Neo that had cables that could run out of it that let me connect to computer systems and the like and let me take samples of things while Neo did diagnostic on it. There are still some network issues, but I have time to fix them.

Now that the suit and the accessories, it's time for me to test it out.

A whirlwind of nerves and doubt climbed into his head as he walked up the stairs to the top roof of a skyscraper near the campus.

He walked over to the edge and looked at the city's skyline, and the night lights surrounded him and sounded down below.

'You triple-checked the grappler was functioning, and stop procrastinating and do it, ' I thought as I backed up to give me some running room and jumped.

The whole world queried down, and he enjoyed it as he kept running across the rooftops of New York.

'No wonder Nightwing and Spidey love patrolling; this rush is amazing' he thought as he free falls two stories before he adjusts the aim and shoots off the grappler as he starts to swing across. He felt weightless in the air, wondering if this was how flying was regarded. As he got lost in the motions, his doubt and nerves were drowned out, revealing nothing but excitement and pure joy.

Authors Notes:

Now that I got over my writers block since I got a rough arcs planned out for the character I'm going to upload this chapter and the next one next weekend. Hope you enjoy it.