1 Chapter 1: Welcome to The World of Superheroes

Date: April 4th, 2006

Location: Upper Northeast Edge Outskirts of Gotham, Wayne Manor, Batcave

Time: 6:56 A.M.

The Wayne Manor, one of the greatest historical lands to ever grace Gotham, was as silent and dreary as usual. A dark and depressive aura surrounded it, showing the years of fear and curses drowned into the walls, all thanks to the city's atmosphere.

A man dressed up formally can be seen calmly walking through the halls, tidying up the rooms as he passes by, and cleaning up some dust here and there.

After finishing his routine a few more minutes later, he walked further into the manor pushing a cart, coming up to an old antique grandfather clock, where it parted before him revealing a hidden elevator.

As the elevator descended further into the depths, sounds could begin to be heard from outside the elevator resembling the clashes of metal on metal. The taste of smoke is faintly perceived through the crevices of the elevator doors as it touches the floor and begins to open.

With a grunt, a man was sent flying over towards said elevator doors, before hitting the side as the man with the cart came into view. A sword clattered down and slid towards the butler's feet as he bent to pick it up.

"Judging by your state Master Bruce, I would say the score is now even as challenged by the younger Master since last year."

All the butler received was another, but more controlled, grunt. The man previously sent flying stood up showing off his outlined physique through the sweats and tank top he was wearing, and looked up towards the elevated platform set up for what looked like the intended use of an arena.

There, a boy around 13 years of age (even though he seemed older) could be seen peering off the edge as he stared at the man without any sort of emotion being shown.

The boy was around 5 feet 4 inches-

'5.43 feet.'

-and sported black colored curly but trimmed hair, on bronze/peach colored skin, with eyes as deep as night showing nothing at all. His similar attire to the man sent flying, but with shorts instead, outlined a physique that no normal 13-year-old would have.

"That's 150-150 wins now Father, making us even."

Bruce Wayne, "The" Batman, lowered himself up off the floor before giving a small smile in response, which was quickly wiped away before he nodded at the boy.

"Well done Master Benjamin," spoke up Alfred with a chuckle "I am pleased that one of us could finally best Master Bruce in some way."

Although no outward reaction was shown to indicate his affirmation of Alfred's words, Ben's pupils, which stayed black at seemingly all times, flashed a dark blue light that quickly faded away after a few seconds. However, both men already noticed this and just smiled while sharing a glance.

"Good morning to you as well Alfred." spoke Ben as he jumped off the edge of the arena and began walking towards the duo to better greet them properly.

Handing the sword he picked up to Ben for him to put them away, Alfred began to once again push the cart off to the side of the cave to properly set up some breakfast for the duo.

"How is our new ward Alfred?" spoke a deep voice behind him as he was setting up the table.

Shifting a glance to his master, Alfred had a slight grimace on his face, already implying the nature of the answer given to be negative.

"I'm afraid Master Richard is not yet in the best state of mind Master Bruce. I heard some sobbing when I walked by his door last night. He is still currently asleep and it will most likely be a few more hours until he awakens."

Showing no reaction to the words he just heard, Bruce just nodded as he went to sit at his spot at the table, while Ben came to join him on the opposite side before they began to dig into the feast of omelets, bacon, sausage, french toast, fresh assorted fruits, and more nutritious delicacies.

They ate incredibly elegantly, while Alfred who was standing at the side had a full view of what seemed like a mirror, with both man and boy moving in perfect sync as if they were one.

Approximately half an hour later, both occupants placed their cutlery onto their plates, signaling their end to the meal.

While Alfred began tidying up once again and served refreshments to Bruce and Ben, the younger of the two took the opportunity to speak.

"So, what happened while I was gone on that school camping trip that prompted you to adopt another person aside from myself? Even though you don't mention anything, I know you consider me a handful sometimes."

Bruce took a moment to ponder how to best answer that question before deciding.

"He lost his parents right in front of him, and his first reaction was to be angry, and hate everyone around him. I don't want a kid that young to go down that path." he answered as he took a sip of his freshly served cup of coffee.

Although, Ben could easily read between the lines. His pupils, which shone violet and indigo, showed his understanding.

"So basically, you saw yourself in him and decided to reach out to him like you wished someone did for you back then. I will support you and take care of him." he softly responded.

Bruce was stunned for a moment as he looked at the boy in front of him and noticed the colors flashing in his pupils.

It grew on him after a while how emotionless, yet expressive this, admittedly still new, son of his could be when he spoke.

It was like this even before the day he met him by accident. And he has grown to appreciate this side of the boy as it clearly shows how special he is in a way.

"So, what happened? Was it an accident, or premeditated? Before you start calling me a slacker, I haven't looked at the files you have saved to give myself an effective break."

"Even though you're a master in psychological behavior, you clearly don't make use of that branch of your skills to take care of yourself. You're more in favor of constantly working yourself to death." Ben spoke while his pupils went back to their emotionless black.

"…" If only he didn't constantly make fun of his under/misuse of his many skills and talents, maybe he'd find him more pleasing.

"In fact, this accident happened when I was trying to take a break. Three days ago on April 1st, I went to a performance being hosted here in Gotham by Haly's International Circus, presenting the acrobatic troupe 'The Flying Graysons'."

"They were a family of six, with two couples, both having a son each. They all took part in the performance, except for Richard as they felt he was too young and still unskilled, making it dangerous for him. Everything went well in the performance until they attempted to perform their final act without the aid of a safety net."

"The trapeze rig broke and the first couple, being Richard's parents, was deceased upon impact with the ground. His aunt and cousin were also deceased upon impact, while his uncle is currently in critical condition."

"So far, although he may survive, the best-case scenario is that he most likely can never walk again. I investigated the scene and concluded that it was premeditated. My investigation led me to crime boss Tony Zucco. He attempted to previously extort money from the owner of the circus, Haly, and when that failed, this ended up being his retaliatory message."

While Ben began silently taking all of this in for a few moments, Bruce began to study the boy for a few moments to better gauge his reaction. Although his face is always emotionless, by now he's already known that you can read his emotions based on the color of his changing pupils, which admittedly occurred a few times during how long he's been here.

Currently, however, he's shown more emotions than he has in the past month. His pupils lit up with a shade of red showing his anger at the situation, before lighting up with various shades of indigo showing how he felt for Richard's plight, and then settling onto an amber yellow, showing his sorrow at the ending.

The whole time, he never spoke a word or showed a single twitch in his muscles, indicating no outward reactions.

Just like how he thought before, emotionless, yet extremely expressive at the exact same time.

Ben, finishing his cup of orange juice, held it out to express to Alfred his request for a refill, before speaking.

"So, knowing you I bet you found out where he is right now. When do you plan to take him down?" Ben asked as Alfred topped him back up.

"Tomorrow, or a week after. I wish to get rid of his source of business and income so that he can't make a comeback." Bruce answered.

However, he didn't get the reaction from Ben he expected.

"Then hold off on doing that for now."

Bruce paused mid-movement while trying to take another sip of his coffee, before shifting his full focus onto Ben, with Alfred who hasn't interjected once this whole time doing the same.

"Why?" he asked simply.

Ben, with his eyes once more settled into that unnerving deep black, turned his gaze to his adopted father before asking an even simpler, yet heavy question.

"How would you feel if you had the chance at revenge for your parent's death, only for someone else to take it from you?"

Bruce was stunned, even though he once again didn't show it, and didn't know how to answer that question immediately.

They both knew the answer to that question since even if he wasn't the most open at times, Bruce was honest with those he was close to as long as it didn't involve his "Mission".

Yet Ben immediately continued, aware of his reaction, yet not mentioning it.

"Even though you never found the one responsible, we know what would've happened."

"I'm not telling you to completely ignore the guy obviously, you can keep track of his movements and get rid of some of his goons and contacts to trim him down and force him to lay low. But don't send him in yet. I can guarantee you that although not on purpose, you probably just adopted another hero into this mansion without knowing it."

He took a sip of his refilled orange juice before continuing.

"If you're serious about wanting to take care of him like you did me, he's going to know what's going on here and decide that he wants to get justice with his own two hands. Otherwise, he's another Batman just waiting to happen."

"I bet between 4 days to a week that he'll be joining us in our training sessions."

Yet, it was exactly this same tone that he used when discussing getting even with Bruce in his sparring matches when he made the previous bet of tying with him in a year, that immediately had Bruce become serious. Meanwhile, Alfred nodded along with most of the boy's words, before glancing at his master.

"I'm afraid that Master Ben has you pegged there Master Bruce. You were probably already aware of the magnitude of your decision, yet didn't take it to heart at the time."

Sighing, Bruce finally finished his cup of coffee before standing up from his chair and going to prepare a few things for his new ward.

If there's one thing he knew about his adopted son, then it's the fact that based on all previous bets, he's right around "94.37%" most of the time.

Rarely wrong doesn't even register in his mind.

Finishing up with his cup of orange juice as well, Ben thanked Alfred for the meal and began making his way back to the arena to meditate and burn off some more calories before getting ready for his day.

------------------

Date: April 4th, 2006

Location: Upper Northeast Edge Outskirts of Gotham, Wayne Manor

Time: 10:23 A.M

Inside a majestic yet mostly bare bedroom, Ben could be seen sitting cross-legged on his bed, with his hands hovering over his navel inside a circle formed from the connection of his fingertips.

After a couple of hours-

'2.37.'

-he finally began to stir as he opened his eyes, showing the swirling colors that resided in his pupils, as they faded back into the same black before he stretched and went towards his bathroom to clean himself up properly.

Around a year ago-

'1 year, 2 months, 10 days, 8 hours, 34 minutes.'

-he wouldn't have even begun to imagine his life to be as eventful as it was now. When he woke up in that landfill and ended up in that alleyway seeing those words in the newspaper, a name popped up into his head without even thinking.

'DC Universe.'

However… that was it. He had no idea what it meant.

'Thanks, brain. That's certainly extremely helpful at the moment.'

With nowhere to go, not knowing what became of himself and his family, and not knowing what was going on with all these strange calculations popping in his head, Ben did the only thing he could at the time.

He began to wander around the entire area.

Which was not exactly smart in a place like Gotham.

Which he realized now of course, not then.

However, before even doing that he had no idea how to proceed at the time with the revelation that he was lost, in what was probably a different universe with no one to guide him, and without even knowing the date.

Immediately, he tried to rectify that problem by continuing to flip through that newspaper, only to find out he was sent back almost 16 years-

'15 years, 5 months, 4 days, 16 hours, 28 minutes.'

- in time to 2004 around September, yet with around 6 years-

'5 years, 9 months, 18 days, 9 hours, 43 minutes.'

-back in body age, leaving him in the body of a somehow well-maintained 11-year-old that could somehow run slightly slower than Usain Bolt when coming right out of a hospital, and apparently, couldn't even feel his emotions.

The strange thing however was, he was born in early 1996 in this universe when shown on his records.

He was surprised to even have a record here.

Meaning, he should have been 8 years old when he woke up in that landfill.

Except, his powers, which have so far been correct, swear that his body was 11 years old. Bruce even did a bone age scan, proving it correct.

So he was either forcibly aged for 3 years, or he's missing more memories than he thought.

Confusing and scary stuff really.

Yet, he took in all of this information extremely calmly, since… well he just said he couldn't feel his emotions, didn't he?

Even when he should be shouting for joy at no longer being stuck in a hospital bed from the 'medical mystery life' that he lived and received a second chance.

And yet, he couldn't fear, love, hope, or even hate it, because he couldn't feel his emotions.

He wanted to be scared as well because of that, but of course, couldn't.

Not knowing what to do, yet having all of these unanswered questions burning inside his skull, he ended up wandering around and getting involved with the local homeless people for a couple of months.

At that time, he did his best to steer clear of gang activities unless he desperately needed money and food, but he refused to involve himself in any crimes, even if he knew he would probably be okay committing them thanks to a lack of reaction to anything else.

Imagine his surprise when he found out around the second month that he was in a superhero universe.

It was at that point that things started clicking into place for him.

'I'm probably a mutant like in Marvel, or whatever the term is here in the uni-

'Metahuman.'

-verse… yeah that's the word.'

It was at that point that he started making guesses about his power and the universe he landed in, and realized that he probably knew what the DC Universe was before, but somehow, the memories were lost or deleted.

Probably related to why he's missing 3 years on his current body.

'This universe is probably as dangerous as Marvel, maybe they are sister universes.'

In the end, he decided to take it all one step at a time, and he ended up involved with some crazy stuff in the last two months till New Year.

Around January, things took a turn as a few days-

'6 days, 8 hours, 29 minutes'

-before his birthday, he ended up meeting face-to-face with the big bad bat.

And now he's ended up here joining him in his crusade through justice as his 'sidekick'.

Cause that's definitely what a 13-year-old who can tie in a fight with a man who is considered the epitome of humanity is…

Not like he cared about the title or anything.

He spent, as his mind has spoken, exactly '1 year, 2 months, 10 days, 8 hours, 34 minutes' from that day training with Bruce constantly while keeping up with his schoolwork, and also learning from him in other arts.

Around the 3rd month-

'3 months, 4 days, 9 minutes.'

-however, he then began helping him out on patrols, fighting other villains, and more.

At first, he wasn't sure if he wanted to get involved in all this business, he just ended up training with Bruce to better understand his powers in case they became dangerous somehow.

Thanks to that though, he became able to feel once again, and eventually even control his emotions, yet still became confused with some things.

In the end, when he decided that he wanted to go through with it, Bruce took him down to the Batcave and showed him the costume he prepared and everything.

Yeah… he shot that down real hard and quick, adamantly refusing to even bother wearing that excuse of a costume.

Even though there was no change on his face, Ben realized at that moment that he could also sense emotions, hence the depression lingering off Batman for the next few days was palpable.

Still, who could blame him for his decision?

The name 'Robin' didn't exactly instill much confidence in him, or sound cool for that matter.

Hence, he worked alongside him as Wildcard, because that's what he intended to be, the move or hand that nobody expects, just as his name suggests.

Plus he hated Joker with a passion and some reasons relating to him spurred on some more philosophical thinking, but more on that later.

Ben thought that so far, he kept that hero name proud in his short time as one, through his actions. He saved Batman's life at least 2 times and even brought down a big bad (Bane) on his own.

But that's not important right now.

Today, he decided to get to know his new sibling.

Even though he was adamant about being adopted at first, Bruce somehow managed to convince the kid based on the fact that he has nowhere to go, and that he wouldn't be able to take care of his uncle alone.

After dressing himself, he started walking down the manor halls, reaching Richard's room quickly as they were pretty much neighbors. Taking a minute to compose himself, he knocked on the door, announcing his presence to the room's sole occupant.

"Come in."

Opening the door right when given permission, Ben was treated to the sight of Richard sitting on the edge of his bed and getting up to greet him. A few key details that he noticed were the fact that his eyelids were slightly puffy, his nose was slightly red, and even now, his lips would quiver every once in a while, showing that he wasn't yet done crying, but preventing himself now.

"Did I come at a bad time? I can give you more space if you would like. I only wished to introduce myself but maybe now wasn't a good idea." Ben questioned before Richard could say anything.

His powers heavily involved his mind and emotions, so the first thing he learned from Batman was psychology as he believed it would play an important role. He spent so much time on it just to be safe, that he was most definitely better than Bruce in almost every case, hence why he was dissing him about it earlier.

One of the first things he learned about Psychology in general, was to "ALWAYS ASK!". You can never know if someone will answer.

Asking questions shows you are involved and committed to speaking to someone, further showing that you understand they are here and value their opinion.

After hesitating for a moment, Richard took a deep breath to compose himself first before responding "Yeah you can stay, I honestly don't want to be alone anymore."

Nodding his head, Ben proceeded to sit across from Richard on an armchair, before turning his attention to him.

"Nice to meet you, Richard Grayson, my name is Benjamin David Wayne. I am your older brother in what will be your new family here. I will be here in the future if you need me for anything. Normally I'd be at school at this time, but I just got back from a camping trip and have off for a few days."

As Ben spoke, he continued to take notice of Richard's reactions, only to notice how he seemed to be unnerved by him. It didn't take a genius for him to realize it was based on his lack of facial movement/emotion when speaking. Since he got his powers, his face was set in a way that seemed to scream "death".

He's learned to have control of whether his emotions are reflected through his pupils, so he only does so with people he's close to at home or working as a hero.

It would draw too much attention if it ever happened in public.

"Thanks, I'm Richard Grayson, and you already… knew that. But I don't know what 'anything' is right now. I don't even know what to do with my life right now… one moment everything is going well, and the next… it's all gone."

Hearing Richard's response, and noticing once again the quiver in his voice denoting the urge to cry, Ben decided to let the silence linger for a bit as he thought of what to mention to better get the guy to open up and no longer remain depressed so easily.

He's just a young kid, and he's currently in a severely impressionable moment of his life.

He already agreed with the fact that one Bruce Wayne was enough for the world.

"What about your uncle?" he eventually asked.

Richard paused for a moment, before responding similarly in a slightly angry manner "What about my uncle?" he hissed.

"Isn't he still alive? That means that 'everything' isn't gone right now. Obviously, your family is no longer here, but isn't it the same for your uncle too? In fact, he's in a worse position now because he won't be able to walk anymore, and he's in a coma, preventing him from even grieving."

"So if anything, for the moment, just live your life as you usually did for your uncle's sake. It will take time to compose yourself, and I can't say with confidence that you'll never feel better about their deaths. However, that's how life is, you roll with what happens or you do your best and work hard to make life roll where you tell it to."

Richard was stunned for a moment, taking all of the words Ben said in, before he began hiccuping, and then started sobbing once again.

Rising from his chair, Ben crossed the distance as he sat beside Richard, before enveloping him in a side hug, pushing the kid's head over to his shoulder.

"As I said, take the time to compose yourself. Remember everything you know about your parents, about how they would want you to live. It will be hard, but you're not alone, neither before nor now."

"Instead of asking yourself why you're alive, tell your parents and yourself, 'Since I'm alive, I will live a life that will make you proud of me, and that I know you would approve of.' Show them through your actions the son that made them, and will continue to make them even from the beyond, proud."

*SOB SOB*

At that point, Richard no longer held back and began to wail while clutching tightly at Ben's shirt and leaning on his shoulder. At some point, the door creaked open showing Alfred having heard the commotion and coming to check. Ben noticing this just waved him off, signaling him to wait outside for him.

After a few moments, Richard seemed to tire himself out and sat up looking at Ben in an embarrassed manner, not knowing what to say. Hence, Ben decided for him.

"There you go. It's better to let it out than bottle it up and have it fester over time to become worse. Why don't you go back to sleep for now? Nobody expects anything from you at the moment, so take the time to figure it out. If you need anything we'll be here."

At Richard's nod, Ben patted him on the shoulder, then stood to leave the room.

Silently closing the door, Ben turned to face Alfred who was waiting outside, and inclined his head, motioning him to walk with him.

As they walked down the halls, Ben's first words put a dark expression on Alfred's face.

"I sensed his emotions. He was contemplating suicide you know. I understand why Bruce wanted to leave him alone to his thoughts for a bit, however any longer and he might've carried it out or ended up with the mindset of doing something equally regrettable."

"Had he tried to go through with that action, only to have it fail, it wouldn't be very treatable now, would it? Please back me up when I try to force Bruce to spend time with him should he object."

Nodding his head, Alfred responded swiftly "Worry not Master Ben, I shall endeavor to look over Master Richard and inform Master Bruce of this matter immediately."

Acknowledging Alfred's answer, Ben then bade him goodbye, before moving back into his room to better connect with the source of his powers like he usually does.

He discovered a lot in his time here, and his powers will only continue to grow through meditation and connection.

As he plopped back down onto his bed into a standard cross-legged stance, he looked deep within himself, finding a string full of colors, before trailing after it and arriving into a void that could only be described as "breathtaking".

It was a world of aurora's rainbows, oceans of color, and more.

'ESAMAL. Anything new to add?'