Chapter 10

It’s New Year's Eve, and I woke up to a bang. Dick had run into my room with a pot and started banging it in revenge for me drawing his name on his forehead and taking a picture of it. It’s all fun and games until you wake up even earlier then normal heart beating a thousand miles a minute. But I guess I deserve some of the blame, maybe.

I got out of my bed and got dressed. I was now wide awake, and Bat Dad had something planned for the new year. I hope there are a lot of fireworks. Today I have a shirt with Batman throwing a batarang that Alfred got for me as a Christmas present, along with comfortable Batman pants. Heroes in this world seem to have merchandise too, and as they are hiding behind masks and stuff, they can’t really stop companies from making money from their image, I guess, or is Batman making his own merchandise for the Justice League?

I went down the stairs, and I was awake even before Alfred, so I watched some really early TV, and maybe an hour later Alfred comes and notices me awake this early.

“Good morning, master Leo. Up so early, I see.”

“Good morning, Alfred,” I said with a big smile, turning off the TV and running up to him.

“Breakfast time?” I asked excitedly because I was hungry and I was banned from using the kitchen unless it was an emergency. The last time I used it, I made a… mess, but it was not that bad. It’s not my fault I'm so short; I will totally grow up becoming taller.

“Yes. I was just about to start getting the bread ready.” Alfred said.

"Yes,” I said, pumping my fist.

“Do you want to help me?” Alfred asked with a smile.

“Sure, let's go!” I said, and I got to help by getting stuff out of the fridge. It's not much, but it's something. We talked, and I had so much fun, my inner child approves. and the food was soon done, I sat down and ate the delicious food.

The rest of the day went as normal as me and Dick played some games. I have started to draw some hero costumes. I really wanted something that is both heroic and also has that edge of anime look, so I drew belts, pouches, and big swords. things that I could think of that look cool. Edna Mode from the world of the Incredibles would be angry at me if she saw all the capes I drew on my superhero outfits. But capes are so cool, and you just need to make the cape detachable or something, I thought to myself as I drew some clasp-looking thing on the shoulder. I took out my notebook from my inventory. I wrote up stuff I want to remember and wrote Edna mode in there. Maybe I can get her to make my superhero suit. In the show, she shows the incredible things she could make for everyone in the family, from invisibility to superspeed to fireproof to bulletproof, and all of them are stretchable. I just hope that she did anything aside from spandex; otherwise, I have to go to someone else. I don't want my underwear on the outside of my hero suit. I thought to myself as I shivered at the thought. Nope, no outside underwear for me.

It’s getting late, and it’s a few hours from midnight, and Bruce announces that we are going to have a family night together. Watch a movie, and then together go out and watch the fireworks and do our own countdown, as he knows I still don’t really want to go into the city after the time I got kidnapped. We set up the living room with several blankets on the floor. Alfred sat on the couch dick to my left, and Bruce sat behind me as I leaned back on him as my backrest. It was so comfortable. Halfway through the movie, I fell asleep. It was too much for my young body; being woken up too early and taking no naps made me so sleepy. I woke up to someone gently shaking me, and I woke up being carried by Bruce. We were outside. I rubbed my eye and took a look around. Someone had cleared an area of snow, and we were sitting on a bench that was overlooking the city.

“The firework will start soon,” Bruce said.

"I thought you didn't want to miss it,” he said with a wink. I was confused, but I looked over the city as I sat in his lap.

The fireworks started at midnight, and there were so many fireworks. My inner child was doing a happy jig. If I had points, I would have spent a point just so I could make my eyes go star-shaped. We sat there for a while after the fire work had stopped, and I thanked Bruce for a fun new year before I fell asleep again.

The next day was a normal day. I woke up and went to the kitchen to eat breakfast, but when Dick came down to eat breakfast, he had one of those shit eating grins as he sat down at the kitchen table beside me, and I did not like the looks at that smile.

“Hi Leo,” Dick said with a predatory smile.

“Erm… Good Morning?” I was weary of what he was so happy about.

“Are you waiting for Dad to come down?” he said

“What… Dad? What are you talking about?”

"Bruce, of course,” Dick said.

“WHAT!? He is not my dad."I am now very confused.

"Well, you called him DAD last night,” Dick said, emphasizing the word dad.

"Na, ugh,” I said.

"Yes, you did ask Alfred,” Dick said.

“Did I really do that?” I wiped my head around and asked Alfred mouth agape. Alfred chuckled

"Yes, you did, Master Leo; it was very cute and made Bruce very happy, I presume,” Alfred said with a warm smile as he turned around to continue with whatever he was doing. I know I jokingly call Bruce Bat dad in my head because it’s funny, and my inner child grasped for a parental figure, I presume.

The rest of the week, Dick teased me about it good naturally. Alfred and Bruce thought it was very cute and chuckled at me blushing up a storm. It was embarrassing, and I really do look up to Bruce, as he is really good with kids when out of the Batman suit.

It’s now April and my birthday, and there's only a bit over a month left until I can go home. Dad and Alfred have been sneakily trying to figure out what I want for my birthday for a bit over a month now, and I hope I get to scratch off something from my bucket list today. I have been dropping not-so-sudden hints that I want to meet Superman. I really wanted to meet him once and have my picture taken with him so I could have it in my room beside some of the other photos in my room. I got a photo of everyone from Christmas sitting together on the couch. Alfred had the picture framed for me to take it with me when I go home.

I tried not to think of home as much as I could, or I got really depressed. I missed my mom and dad. It's like a hole in my heart, and my inner child needs the hole filled with something. Is this maybe why I called Bruce Dad? After the first time I did it after New Year's Eve, I started to call him dad more and more. It was embarrassing at first, but now it feels natural, and I now always call him dad.

The birthday party was nothing big. It was me, Dad, Dick, and Alfred; we were outside. Alfred had set up a bouncy castle obstacle course with foam weapons, snacks, and cake. Dick did not want to play in the Bouncy Castle as he was no longer a big baby like me, but I goated him into playing with me, and we had fun together. As we were playing, I noticed a shadow and looked up to see Superman flying there.

“Hello there, you must be the birthday boy I heard about,” he said with hands on his hip as he slowly floated down to the ground. I jump out of the bouncy castle and run up to him. And I hugged his leg as I looked up at him.

“MINE!” I shouted as I giggled to myself as I thought of the seagulls from finding nemo.

"Well, Bruce, you got an energetic one,” said Superman with a chuckle as he floated just a bit over the ground and floated over to Dad, Alfred, and Dick.

"Yes, very,” Dad said with a gruffer voice than he normally uses at home when not in his suit. I guess he is trying to keep his Batman persona around others.

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"Look, it’s Superman,” I said, pointing towards him.

“Yes, yes, but could you let go of Superman, Master Leo?" Alfred said

"Oh, sorry,” I said as I got off. Maybe I should rain in my inner child more. maybe…

I ran over to Alfred.

“Can you take a picture of us, please?” I asked excitedly.

"Well, of course, if it’s ok with Superman,” he said as he looked over toward Superman for confirmation.

“I would be honored to take a picture with you,” he said, and as he said it, Alfred pulled out a camera from behind his back. He must have already had this planned with Superman.

"Ok, go and stand by Superman so I can take a picture of you,” Alfred said. I walked over to stand a bit forward to the right side of Superman, mimicking his pose, hands on the hips, chest forward, and big smile. Superman looked down at me and did the same thing. Alfred took a few pictures and got Dick to stand beside Superman also while he had the chance to get a few more family pictures. Dad was just watching with his arms crossed and a slight smile on his face.

After taking the pictures, Superman stayed for a bit longer, and they all sang the happy birthday song, and then he had to leave. There was some disaster somewhere. I was not really listening as I was stuffing my face with my birthday cake. Best birthday ever. I opened my inventory, pulled out my book, and put a checkmark on my bucket list to meet Superman. We opened the birthday presents when we got back inside, but Alfred did not allow us to take them outside. He is always such a stickler, and at times he is no fun. When we got inside, I opened the presents and got some fun new stuff. My favorite were the drawing tools. I started to draw more, not because I was good at it or anything. But it helped pass the time, and I really liked sketching out hero costumes that I could use in the future. Alfred had gotten me folders with stickers on them. I had a few piles, from maybes to doodles, and a folder for my favorite designs. Alfred had seen all of them, as I liked to show them to him, and in one of the presents I got from him was a professionally made drawing of a few of my favorite hero costumes I have drawn so far. Alfred got a big hug for that one. I had already planned to, at some point in the future, get someone to draw my idea of a suit professionally, but Alfred already beat me to it. I got some more hero merchandise, clothing, toys, and a few stuffed animals.

It’s now May, and it’s less than a month until I can go home, and dad has asked me to come down to the batcave. He had something important to tell me. Maybe he found something important. I had no idea, but I got Alfred's help to open the clock so I did not have to use the chair again. After getting down to the batcave, I could see Dad sitting at the batcomputer doing something I could not see from this angle, so I walked over to him.

“Hi dad, what are you doing?”

“Wrapping up a case I finished recently,” he said, and as I looked up at the screens, I saw that the folder he was working on was called Court of Owls. I know I have heard it somewhere before as I tilted my head to the side, thinking, Dad interrupted my thinking when he closed the file and turned over towards me.

"Leo,” he said in a serious tone.

“Erm ya…” I said thinking I was in trouble for something as I squirmed.

“You are not in any trouble," dad said, giving me a smile.

"Oh,” I said, perking up with a smile.

“It’s almost been a year since the day you came here, and you will soon have enough points to buy the power to go home. You are an important part of our family, and you are welcome to come back and visit whenever you want, Leo,” Dad said.

I started to tear up and hugged Dad with all I was worth. Why did he have to go and say it all heartwarming and stuff? It makes my inner child squeal in delight.

Dad rubbed my back until I had calmed down. Stupid emotions are making me cry so much. Dad rotated the chair towards the bat computer and said,

“But there is something I have noticed over the year you were here; take a look at this,” he said, pulling up a folder called Snow White, and it was a folder on me with notes, observations, and stuff. Well, I guess you can’t take the detective out of Batman. Dad had been observing me for the year I was here. Paranoid, I thought to myself. But also valid. I mean, I was a stranger that just popped out of a rift in space, and he was making notes on our interactions. But he opened a file, and it was a picture of me from the first day I came here with measurements, and then a picture of me from my birthday with the same measurements. I was confused about what this all meant.

“The picture on the left is from the first day you came here, taken from a security camera, and the picture on the right is a picture of you from your birthday. Do you see any differences?” I tilted my head, but I could not see anything wrong.

“They look the same to me,” I said.

"Exactly, but they shouldn't,” he said.

“What do you mean?” I question.

"Kids, your age grow but you have not grown any taller; you still look the same as the day you came here. I think your powers are affecting your body.“

“Ehh, is that bad?”

"No, but I would like to do some tests and help you figure this out." So what he really means is that he wants to figure this out, but it will also help me, so I guess this is a win-win?

"Okay,” I said.

Bruce took out some tools, and we spent a while doing all the tests. It was rather boring, but I guess this will help me in the long run. And spending time with dad is always fun. He sometimes tells me stories of being Batman, but without all the punching people in the face or the really dark stuff, but I tried taking notes in my head of what he told me that might help me in the future in some way. After the tests were done, I walked back upstairs and sat and watched some TV as I pulled out my drawing tools with the TV on in the background.

A few days later, dad found me sitting in my room in my blanket fort I had made reading a book I took from the library. It was a fantasy book about some knight, not my typical stuff I like to read, but it was better than nothing.

“Hello Leo, how are you doing?” Dad asked me as he hunkered down, looking into my blanket fort full of pillows.

"Good, just bored, I guess,” I answered.

"Oh, what are you reading there?” asked Dad as he peered to see what the title was. I don’t know some knight fantasy story” I said as I showed him the front page.

“Is it any good?” Dad asked

“It’s ok,” I said as I closed the book and put it to the side, crawling out of my fort.

“So what do you want?” I asked as I stretched.

“Remember those tests we did a few days ago?” Dad said

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Anything good?” I asked

"Well, I had some friends help me with it, and we found some concerning things,” he said.

“Oh? What did you find?”

“We found your blood is supercharged with some sort of energy, and it’s probably this energy that you are using for your powers, like your inventory," dad said.

“Do you feel any type of drain when you use your powers?“ dad asked.

“Ehh no? Maybe? I can try, '' I said as I opened and closed my inventory several times, pulling out and in stuff, but I feel no drain or this energy.

"No, I don’t feel anything,” I said while looking at the stuffed animal I pulled out.

"Hmm, maybe your inventory doesn't have high enough of a drain for you to feel it or your energy is refilling too fast. I can’t figure it out without more tests, but do keep this in mind in the future. We also found something else while we were doing the tests,” Dad said.

“You know how you don’t seem to age well. Your body is frozen in time, your blood is frozen, and everything is just not moving. We think your energy is keeping your body alive, and therefore your body doesn't need to pump blood or do the things a normal body would do. Any food you eat is converted into energy. You will most likely never need to do the things a normal body would do. Any food you eat is converted into energy. You will most likely never need to eat, breathe, or grow unless you find a way around this Leo. You will be stuck as a kid forever unless you find a way.” Dad said it with a hand on my shoulder.

“We are here for you if you ever need someone to talk to about all of this,” dad said in a comforting tone.

“So I will always be stuck like a kid?” I asked dad.

"Yes," dad said.

“Awesome!” I said, pumping my fist. It will be hilarious when a kid kicks their collective butts.

“You might think this is cool now, but you might want to find a solution in the future.” Dad said it a bit sternly, thinking I might not understand it, and I do, but I am immortal, kind of, so I have all the time in the world to figure myself out later… much later. HUZAA PROCRASTINATION!

"OK,” I said with a smile. Dad just gave a faint smile and said he had to go back to work.

Today is the day I gain the last point to buy the power to safely use my powers. It took so much time to collect a year's worth of points that I can't imagine how long it might take to get the higher-tiered powers. I already had a conversation with dad about this a few days ago, and he said he would let me keep my room here for whenever I want to come back, so I left most of the non-essential toys and hero merchandise I got in my room. I don’t want to come back here to an empathy room; this has been my room for over a year. It’s somewhere to call home away from home. I walked down the stairs to eat and talk with Alfred until I got my last point. I bought the power, and I feel no difference, but I guess it only really helps when I am in my portal? Rift? Tear in space? I need to give it a cool name.

Dad, Alfred, and Dick meet me in the hallway to say goodbye. I gave everyone a big hug, and thinking that I would miss them, I started to tear up.

Alfred got down on a knee and wiped my tears away.

“Why are you crying, Master Leo?” Alfred asked.

“Because I will miss you,” I said.

“But you have the power to open one of those portals and come back and visit us whenever you want,” Alfred said with a smile.

"Oh, I didn't think of that.” I had been too focused on going home. I didn't think about coming back, but I could totally do that now. I gave Alfred a big hug and said,

“I come back and visit often,” I said, and dad stood to the side with a slight smile. I think I influenced Dad to try to become a better... Well, dad, I can’t really remember, but I thought he was tougher with the other robins in other timelines.

"Ya, you need to come back and visit often, baby, bro,” Dick said with a teasing smile. Dick has been calling me his baby brother ever since he turned 15 in March. I am not the only one who grew older this past year. Alfred and Dad only had very small birthdays, and Dick was hanging with friends most of his birthday. I was the only one who had a fun birthday with the family.

I turned away from Dad and the others to open my portal home. It took me a few seconds to figure it out, but it opened up with a tearing sound. I waved goodbye and jumped through.

Going back through the rift was fun. It felt like I was floating, and all around me there was a tunnel of aurora polaris, and I guess this was the protection. I wondered if anything in the tunnel was protected. I need to test it before I let anyone else travel with me.