2 Putting Yourself Back Together

[Do you wish to use your first free ten rolls?]

A small holographic screen showed what looked like a small summoning room, with the side of the screen labeled Status, Assimilation, Items, Summons, and Powers. I read this with a completely blank expression as I simply sat there in a pool of what looked like blood. A small razor was on the side of the bathtub, and as I stared at it, I tried to make sense of what was happening.

Flashes of the immaterial screeching through my mind have almost ceased, and as I tried to get up, I slipped off the smooth tub and fell onto the floor, and I simply lay there attempting to breathe. I saw everything and nothing, and I could barely hold on for nearly a minute, yet it felt like centuries. That pain will remain with me forever, so as I slowly got to my feet shakily, I looked at myself in the mirror, and upon looking into it, I saw both a familiar yet at the same time different face.

Where there were once wrinkles or tired eyes were now clean and smooth as if I had never been injured or felt stress in my life. Observing the room, I looked at the tub filled with blood, and after a moment's deliberation, I drained the tub of the blood and scrubbed the dried portions away with a towel from the rack near me. I took it slow as I felt the years returning to me with what seemed like two lives worth of memories, yet they did not collide but remained separate.

Flashes of pain echoed in my skull but began to fade away, and after what was apparently hours of scrubbing, all the bloodstains were gone, yet I simply sat on the floor and stared off into the distance as I tried to make sense of it all. I remember my life in bits and pieces. But my new memories were fresh, and what I saw was less than ideal.

Abuse, neglect, a life not worth living to most, yet the boy lived on with it all until the Joker's henchmen pressured him to join them or die. The boy then returned home and went into the bathroom with a dead look in his eyes.

The boy chose the latter as he did not want to live as a criminal and thus ended his life. While the memories were there, the pain was not present, which I was thankful for as I did not need more pain in my mind and soul. If I were to put my state of being into words, it would feel like I was hanging off the edge of a cliff, and any mistake would send me into the abyss. I still remember those seven pairs of eyes staring right at me and those two hands, but then static.

I assume the static is due to my own mind trying to protect things I could not comprehend, like that equation I started to say when I was stuck in the source wall. My hands won't stop shaking as I simply hug myself on the bathroom floor. It turns out that the boy's parents, who mostly used the checks for various substances like booze and drugs from the Penguin, finally kicked the bucket last year.

They had no grave as the boy could not even afford a funeral, so he dumped the bodies into a junkyard where they were crushed, dismantled, and then burned away. No tears were shed that day in their memory, but for what the boy could now never have. But now I am in quite the conundrum as the fact that the Joker exists means that I am in Gotham City, and it seems like Batman has been active for a year now but exits as more of a boogeyman than a true figure. Robin was still Dick Grayson, as Robin has been active for half a year now alongside Batman.

My mind seemed to wish for me to distract myself, so I combed through my scattered memories as I tried to put the pieces back together. Then the house phone began to ring, and as I picked up, the man on the other end said, "Finally! I have been trying to reach you for hours now. Why weren't you at work today? You never called in sick?"

Trying to speak, I answered slowly, "I am sorry, but I was mugged today, so I went home as I needed to patch myself up." The man on the other end simply sighed as he said, "I understand, but I am not going to be able to pay for sick time. You know that, right?"

"Yes, I do. I just need some time to myself. Thank you for the generosity, sir." I said, barely able to mutter the words due to my dry throat. The man then said, "Well, it's out of your pocket, but I hope you can get it sorted out. I expect to see you tomorrow or the day after, or you are fired, got it?" He then hung up, and I placed the phone on the receiver and then sat down in the only intact chair in the house.

It seems that the boy worked at a convenience store nearby, which is how he met the Joker's thugs in the first place, so I may not go that way. I need to find a new source of income. If not, they will force me to the Joker's base and probably gas me with their damn laughing gas. Placing my head in my hands, I try to breathe and calm down.

"Slow breaths in and out," I tell myself as I begin to go through the common panic questions such as what I could smell, touch, taste, and see. It does help after a while. As I look out from the second-floor apartment I am in, as in the alley, I can see some homeless people getting fires ready for the winter night. Currently, it was December 8th, 2006, a year before either the Apallaxians attack or Darkseid, depending on the timeline.

The thought of multiple timelines makes me want to go to the Flash and break his damn legs, but that might be the enhanced aggression due to mental instability from my time in the Source Wall. Taking in my surroundings, my senses are then attacked by a rancid smell of dried booze and burning rubber. I almost gag at this place's bad smells as my mind wanders back to my old house.

It wasn't much, as it was little more than an overpriced duplex, but it was home with all of my collections and photos of my family and other memories. Memories that don't exist anymore as my life before this, other than information relating to various fictional media, have been erased. The names and faces are simply disappearing one by one and may not return. In fact, I still wonder how I'm still in one piece and not drooling in the corner, but even now, that information eludes me.

Grabbing a wallet on the table near the chair, I saw it dirtied and worn, and after taking out the school ID, I saw my name.

Nathan Lars Rockwood, born in 1989 to Jack Rockwood and Layla Bell, a resident of Gotham City, a student at Gotham City High School, and apparently a junior, if barely, if these grades say anything about my now terrible academic performance. So, as a seventeen-year-old orphan in Gotham, my luck truly astounded me.

Seeing as it was a Saturday, I decided to take today as a means to get myself together and, as such, sit in that moldy chair and stare into the ceiling, which was crumbling due to neglect. After searching the room for any photos or any identifying pictures, I found none. From previous Nathan's memories, I had little to no extended family as the father was an only child similar to my mother.

Any other family is out of state, with the grandparents on both sides being dead due to villain attacks or old age.

By all intents and purposes, I am alone.

But with my mental state, I could not even cry or scream but simply look towards the crumbling ceiling with a vacant expression on my face as the weight of my new reality came crashing down on me.

Actually, I should not think that as the walls may literally crumble or crash down on me. To be honest, they look like they are being held together by hopes and dreams, which in Gotham are very little, to say the least.

Thinking back to Batman, I have mixed opinions on him as, in his own words, he is a high-functioning sociopath who can't really kill people because if he did, he would not be able to stop.

This has been shown through various forms as well as side stories, or in the most recent iteration of an insane Batman, the Batman Who Laughs is the perfect example. The very thought that I share a Multiverse cluster with that being sends chills down my spine, which does make me slightly happy as I can still feel things.

Reaching down to my arm, I pinch myself, and as I feel pain, it verifies that this is not a very, very lucid dream. And the fact that it isn't and my hard drive remains undeleted is rather embarrassing, but my prior reputation does not really matter anymore, does it? Even if anyone's able to access it, all they will find is some rule 34 of various anime waifus, so it's not really that bad.

Placing all the identification back in my wallet, my hands still did not stop shaking as I pondered over everything. I tried to remember all I could from my previous life with a fine tooth comb, and as flashes of memory appeared in my mind of happier times, I felt a small smile form on my face.

Deciding to look back out the window, I see the fires from the homeless people are burning now as they are eating their dinner of burned rats and sewage water.

But taking my eyes from that, I see Wayne Tower in the distance, along with a branch for other various companies. It's almost funny as I see a Lex Corp. building near Wayne Tower. It's nowhere near the height of Wayne Tower, but it is impressive as the shape basically shouts pseudo-sci-fi. Say what you will about Lex Luthor, but the man has got style.

I could even see Gotham High School from here, and the fact that I'm back to schooling age is interesting, to say the least; a small part of me desires to simply get a GED and call it a day as I should be able to, but then I remember that the history of this world is somewhat different from my previous one. And the fact that the technology is more advanced than it was in my previous world says a lot about this universe. Staring out towards the city, you would never think that there are madmen and gods creating weapons of mass destruction.

So, to focus on what has happened to me, the devil met my entire being and then sent me into the source wall where I learned everything and nothing at the same time and have now possessed an alternate version of myself who just committed suicide. My name Remains the Same from my previous life other than my middle one, as instead of Lars, it was Stevenson. But I assume the fact that it was shorter was that the parents were too drunk to think of anything longer than four letters.

Looking at the holographic screen that displayed itself in front of me, I saw the same text: [Do you wish to use your first free ten rolls?].

Taking another breath, I looked into it and saw a big red button on the right side that said 'Spin The Wheel!" In bold lettering, which I feel was a reference of some kind, but the answer eludes me. On the opposite side of the screen were the other sections that I mentioned earlier, and as I touched the screen, I felt knowledge fill my mind again, which pertained to the screen in front of me.

Essentially, this is a form of gacha that can pull anything From across the Multiverse itself, and while it limits my draws on a monthly basis, I am promised to get useful items. Although the definition of useful is definitely subjective based on perspective, I truly have nothing left to lose at this point other than my soul, but even that may look like a mangled mess at this point. I mean, one does not simply expose themselves to the source of all things in the Multiverse without issues arising.

It was an odd feeling as I reached out to the holographic screen it felt like I was reaching toward my soul, as if this system was merged with me entirely, as if it was my own. Based on the fact that it takes three points to roll on this system once, I should be able to gain 130 points within a month or at least within 30 days if I factor in the points per day with the extra hundred from using money.

My innate curiosity does wish to understand the nature of these cards I am seeing as the system is flickering through them like a type of window shopping. And I'm not above admitting that I simply sat there and watched as the various cards appeared and disappeared. It was calming in a way. The only downside to this is that I needed $100 for emergency purchases. But the fact that it is one point per dollar is a good trade-off.

So, reaching for the button, I see the screen begin to glow as blue rings appear to be summoning something or someone.

I do hope to get something worthwhile, but a small part of me is saying otherwise.

Current Status: Nathan Lars Rockwood

Race: Human(Malnourished But Healing)

Assimilated Cards:

-None

In Progress Assimilations:

-None

Summons: Maidenless

Powers:

Unlimited Potential: Does not increase learning speed but breaks all limits. (Essence Of Blank)

Immunities Of The Involate Self (Curse, Fate, Destiny, Paradox, Cloning, Soul, Mind and Entrapment.)

Biological Immortality (Agelessness Not Regen Based)

Boredom Immunity

Items:

-None

(If there is any confusion on his form of immortality, it is the most basic one where when he reaches his prime age, he will stop physically aging. He has no regeneration or anything of that kind. Feel free to send recommendations for gacha pulls.)

(This is a test story with my other fic, so this will be by no means better than other gacha fics, so try not to set me aflame for making stakes with DC lore.)