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Gotham City

Oct 1, 08:08 EDT

“No mom, I'm fine”.

A curly haired blonde said while walking on the street. His fair face and soft features were crumpled up with a look of exasperation.

In his hand was a takeaway nylon from a fast food restaurant down the street.

“Yes, I know that”. Feeling the shoe on his left leg was a bit tight, he bent down, held the phone with between his ear and shoulder as he tilted his head to the left and began adjusting his sneakers.

“No, I haven't been robbed or threatened. No, I haven't been targeted by bad gangs....... No, I haven't seen any aliens. Mom!”

He yelled exasperatedly.

“Uh huh…mm”.

He kept nodding as the voice on the other end nagged with no signs of tiring.

“You could have chosen literally any other University..... Literally, any other course. You could have studied business, but no. It just had to be Gotham.....”.

“Gotham's one of the largest cities in the world mom. Its University is also equally famous and ranks among the top three hundred in the world.....”.

'Sigh! I knew I'd never hear the end of this'.

He sighed to himself as he began reciting the reasons why he had chosen to go to Gotham University instead of Harvard or Cambridge in England. Honestly at this point, he basically knew it by heart.

“And what the hell was that course you wanted to study again?”

“Crimolo..... Crimei.....”.

“It's criminology mom”. His eyes narrowed with some displeasure.

“Yeah that. What is it with kids and their quirky thoughts nowadays? A few years ago, doctors and lawyers were considered the hot professions.......”.

“It's not weird.....”.

The car went on for another five minutes.

“No I won't be going to the property”.

His exasperated face carried a slight frown.

“Because I want my independence, that's why”.

“Ok, I know. There's no need to worry.......... Yeah, I gotta go. Love you too Mom”.

As he ended the call, his shoulders dropped as if he had just completed a three-month-long journey.

The sky in Gotham wasn't particularly gloomy today. Although it was still kind of gray, it was better than most days.

The wind blew slightly, making his curly hair ruffle in the wind.

With bright-green eyes and a determined expression, anyone passing by who took a good look at him and what he was wearing would have the same thought.

'Tourists'.

He didn't give off the vibe of a Gothamite. Not even the wealthy ones looked so...... Cheerful. He looked like a typical rich kid who just came from out of town.

Typical newbie.

Peter didn't notice the occasional weird stares he got from the passersby.

Examining the surroundings, he couldn't help but mutter

“It's not as terrible as the news portray it to be”.

The streets were clean....... In this part of the city. People moved about regularly and no crimes were happening in broad daylight.

Plus the recent death of the Joker, at least it wasn't as bad as before.

Of course, he had already booked the ticket before the monster incident happened in Gotham and was lucky enough to still be on the flight coming when it did.

If not, his parents would never have agreed, no matter what move he pulled.

And so with steady steps, Peter Owen walked towards his high end rented apartment.

For apartment of that quality, Peter was sure he basically got it for a great bargain. Apparently, the owner was having trouble renting it out as no one would do so in this city.

............

Thirty minutes later,

“Belch!”

He burped while putting his hands on his stomach with a look of satisfaction.

He looked at the food wrappings and takeaway packets before he turned his head and fixed his gaze on the filled up trashcan.

“Well .......... Now I have to take out the trash”.

Seeing that it would most likely fall over if he tried to squeeze in any more, Peter couldn't help but groan.

Stepping outside, he walked towards the dumpster, lugging out a bulking garbage bag and pushed the cover-up.

Thud!

“Ok, that's it”.

He dusted his hands and put the cover back down.

As soon as he did, he saw the space a distance away from the dumpster suddenly swirl and split into a crack.

“Oh my.....”.

Before he could be amazed, he saw it spit something out before disappearing like it was never there.

Peter stood there in shock. Looking at what had fallen out of the....... Whatever the hell that was, his wide eyes were filled with disbelief.

“Is..... That a person?”

...........

Amari POV

“Ugh!” Pain.

It had been a long time since I last felt that.

Not physical though, but mental. The splitting headache I felt was worse than that of when I officially entered the DC world.

“Hiss!” I couldn't help but suck in a deep breath. Placing my hand on my head, I felt unprecedentedly annoyed.

“It's official, this is the worst day I've ever had since.......”. My voice froze.

Opening my eyes, I finally realized what was happening. My arms were back, as were my legs..... I could feel, hear, see…. The darkness was gone.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

I still had a body.

“......... Ok”. I couldn't contain my surprise.

It worked?

The next moment, however, I felt it. The tattoo on my arm signifying energy capacity was gone.

But that didn't mean I was empty. Quite the opposite, apparently.

I felt...... Full.

So…. So..... Full.

Feeling the power running through my veins again, my eyes couldn't help but widen.

“...... This is..... Quite an upgrade”. The energy I could draw felt quite literally inexhaustible, and the source from which I drew that power from was the first place that came to my mind.

The Sphere Of Gods.

“It worked”. I clenched my fists and stood to my feet. “In that case...... I'm a God now. In the literal sense”.

My connection to the Godsphere had been established. Not just the connection, I could feel the access I had towards somewhere within the Godsphere.

My Dimensional Space.

The separate dimension I had initially created was integrated in it as my own separate territory.

Like Darkseid had Apokolips, Morpheus had the Dreaming and Highfather had New Genesis, I had my own space carved out for me in there. In the truest senses, I was the ruler of a domain.

Coupled with the vast amount of power at my fingertips, I could enter and exit my dimension as long as I willed it.

A smile appeared on my lips. One not formed with indifference, amusement, or mockery....... A true smile. One birthed from an unfamiliar sense of happiness.

I didn't realize it at this moment.

The happiness disappeared as quickly as it came as more pressing matters came to mind.

“Alice, what happened?” I could revel in the joy of my success later on. Now, some things needed to be answered.

That darkness I felt........ The feeling was impossible to forget. It wasn't an illusion, I knew it happened.

The flash of light from the crack......

And with that, my eyes glowed involuntarily as the massive headache came back in full force.

I found myself back in that dark space, standing in human form. Even the floor under my feet was pitch black without even giving off a reflection. I saw the light emanating from the distance.......

“The crack......”.

And with that, I returned to my body in the real world with my hands on my head.

“That's....... my mindscape?”.

My mindscape was white. Pure, spotless white with nothing in it for miles.

I uttered incredulously, partially because of the dark setting and the giant crack that looked like a swirling white hole but mostly because….

“Alice?”

I called out once again. After waiting for several seconds, I didn't receive a reply. That was unexpected as well.

Alice was always with me.

“Come to think of it. Where am I?” I asked myself as I took a good look at my surroundings.

I was laid on an expensive couch.

The whole place looked tidy. Well spaced out and expensive. At last, expensive for eighty-five percent of the world population. Another ten percent could probably afford a place like this after tightening their belts for two to three years.

In two words, it was high end.

Only, how the hell did I end up in this place? And where exactly was I?

Conveniently at that moment, I noticed a newspaper on the table three feet away.

With a beckon, it flew towards me and I grasped it with one hand, I held it firmly and looked at the headline. Then I ignored that and looked at the date.

“Gotham Newspaper”.

“October 1st?”.

I raised an eyebrow in surprise. I practically skipped September.

'So I've been gone for nearly a month'.

'That explains some things. Like why, I keep having this feeling I can't recall something important'.

At that moment, I faded out.

It looked like my vision had inexplicably changed.

I was holding a newspaper, but it wasn't the same one.

<< Dec 30th 2022 >>

[Portugal Captain And Former Manchester United Star Confirmed Move To Al Nassar]

The newspaper dropped from my hand as the vision ended.

“Ugh!” I groaned.

'Are those...... Memory fragments?..... that's new'. Verifying the cause of my headaches, I couldn't help but frown as I felt the last pang of dizziness subside.

'That flash...... That was a memory flash. But why the hell will I have memory flashes?'

I rubbed my hand against my forehead.

“By the way, don't you think you've hidden long enough?”

There was no reply.

I let out a breath before turning to look at a nearby wall.

“I can hear your heartbeat, sense your existence......... And see you hiding on the other side of the wall near the kitchen”.

There was still no reply.

Seeing the somewhat slim guy hiding on the other side of the wall, covering his nose for fear that I would hear him breathing, I couldn't help but chuckle with amusement.

“No? Do you want me to tell you what color of underwear you put on as proof?........? Really, Batman's expression will be wonderful to watch if he knew that people wore underway with his face on em”.

I rested my hand on my chin and looked on as if watching a good show.

This was kinda funny.

Half a minute later, I saw a blonde youth with curly hair stick his head out of the corridor warily.

“Done hiding?”

“Um...... Hi”. His expression practically screamed how nervous he was. He didn't even need to say anything. This guy was a mind chatterbox.

I could hear every thought of his without even trying.

“Relax. I'm not going to probe your mind or transform you into a monster that will do my bidding, or try to pry state secrets from you...... Or ask you who is your leader. Seriously, kid, you have a very active imagination”.

I stopped listening to half the nonsense that was running through his mind, stood up from the chair and walked to the television, ignoring his stupefied expression.

“You........ You just.....”.

“I did”. I replied nonchalantly, feeling kinda good inside. I don't know why, a smile wanted to break out on my face.

I looked at the television and willed it to come on. It did, and played out the Gotham morning news report.

“Alice. Are you out there?”

I called out to the television.

Alice wasn't just bound to me, she was practically everywhere on the internet. Unless all modern electronic devices and the internet crashed, I shut her out, or I died, she would still be here.

Like Ultron from the Marvel Universe.

“Boss!”

Peter watching was confused. But that confusion cleared up when the TV channel disappeared and what was left in its place was a......... Red girl?

I couldn't help but let out a smile.

“Nice to see you're still here”.

Since I didn't die, then Alice wouldn't be erased from existence as well.

“Boss..... What happened to you?”

“Long story. One I'm not even sure of myself”.

“Yes...... But that aside. Why did your hair grow so long?”

“My what?” I asked with surprise.

“Mirror”. With my utterance, a mirror appeared in front of me

Seeing my new long hair with a length surpassing my shoulder, I raised an eyebrow.

“Add that to the list of what's new. Also, why am I dressed in this?”

I wore a black T-shirt that had the iconic S symbol of Superman on it along with ice silk slacks with red marks. My memory might be a little foggy, but I know that I never conjured this up for myself.

And with that, I turned my gaze back to the blonde kid.

“I.....”

He froze for a second before letting out a wry smile.

“I found you outside behind the dumpster......... Naked”.

“Well that explains a lot”. I said, and the mirror disappeared.

“You're not gonna.....”.

“If I wanted to harm you, you'd already be dead”.

My words made him feel chills.

“Still, I'm surprised. This is Gotham and you took in a complete stranger you've never met before?” I looked at him suspiciously.

“You're not from around here, are you?”

“No. I'm from New Orleans. Plus...... I saw you fall out of a space crack”.

“Fair enough”. I turned away.

“Alright Alice, did anything noteworthy happen while I was gone”.

“The Axiom disappeared”.

“I know. I also know where it is, don't worry about it. Anything else?”

“An incident happened in Metropolis”.

“Oh! What is it?” I was just asking casually, and Alice knew what I meant by something noteworthy.

Did Superman finally die? Or did something come out of the breaches.

I didn't need her to reply me, because right outside the window, on the streets of Gotham, the answer made itself known to me.

The asphalt floor cracked as giant plants emerged from the depths of the earth.

Overturning everything in its path before the vines stretched out to destroy whole buildings.

“Oh ......... That's what”.