14 No Money...
[The Batcave]
Alfred Pennyworth had worked for the Wayne family for years. While he was not there when his Master Bruce was born, he was there when Bruce became the Batman. He was there when Bruce had no one else, he was there when Bruce needed him the most. And during all these years, he had seen Bruce panic only a handful of times.
On the outside... Bruce seemed calm. He was the Batman, the man known to stay calm even under the greatest pressure. He was Batman, The Dark knight, the man who makes the boogeyman shit himself.
But Alfred knew that the current Bruce was not calm. His fidgeting movements while negligible for others… were not that negligible to him. He had seen his Master Bruce in similar situations when he first lost against Joker, when he was unable to save the lives of others and when he first met Void.
And considering the rumors and speculations, Alfred knew who made Bruce so nervous.
"Is it true?" Robin asked. "That the Void is back?"
Alfred looked at the youngster who had a frown on his face. His master Bruce took the kid under his wing after the poor boy's parents were killed. Whether Bruce saw his younger self in that kid or he just wanted to help him, Alfred didn't know.
"If the description provided by Barbara and Kara are correct. Then he is indeed the Void." Bruce, who was leaning on his Batmobile looked at the female Bat. "He did mention that his name was Void."
Barbara who was in her batsuit nodded. "He did."
"I thought he was just a myth…" Robin mumbled with a little worry on his face. Barbara wasn't any better either. Unlike Robin, she didn't know about Void so she had to do some research about him. And what she found was interesting, to say the least. And… she had experienced a bit of his powers herself.
"He is real, Dick." Bruce sighed. "I had fought him on multiple occasions in the past."
Dick Grayson had heard about a few major villains from Alfred… the Void being one of them. And Alfred put that guy even above Joker, which shocked Dick.
"Can't you find his location? Like you did with Joker?"
Joker was a cockroach that would hide in places that no one could find. No one other than Batman. Dick believed that Batman could find villains even in the deepest pits of hell.
Which was not wrong.
"I… can," Batman admitted.
"Then why haven't you sent someone to check his location? I can go if you want." Barbara suggested but was instantly shot down by Bruce.
"No." He looked at her with a frown. "You won't look for him. I will do it myself."
'Finding him is not a difficult task. He knew Void's hangout spot. And he heard the rumors about him beating Scarecrow.' He sighed internally. "None of you will go after him. That's an order."
Barbara and Dick were not happy but they couldn't go against the Bat.
Shaking his head, Bruce asked. "How is the new team doing, Robin?"
The previously concerned Robin put on a smile. "It's going better than I expected. While Cyborg is still getting used to his powers, the rest are pretty adept. Everyone is doing their best for the team and I believe that our teamwork is better than before."
Batman gave him a nod. "While I wanted you to join the Young Justice, I think you are better with the Titans." He smiled… And he rarely smiled. "You make a good team leader."
Hearing that, a massive smile bloomed on Dick's face. Being praised by Batman was a big deal.
"So when are you going to look into this matter?" Barbara asked, tired of looking at Dick's puppy face.
"*Sigh* I will do it once I am sure that the Joker is nowhere around his sight."
…
…
[[Blake Hardy]]
Since coming back, I haven't been to anywhere other than Gotham Central and the University. And I don't have much money either. I can rent an apartment but it won't be enough to buy one.
*Sigh*
I need to come up with a way to make money.
Steal it? No. I retired. I will have to think of something else.
Well… there is one way. An extremely easy way which does not involve robbing a bank.
Opening a small portal I pull a small metal from inside it. Anyone could figure out the type of metal it was by its golden shine. It was gold, pure gold without any impurities. And as expected it was quite soft.
Being a space manipulator was great for such things. There are countless dimensions with countless planets of various types. One of them being a planet made entirely of gold. So taking a few rocks wasn't something worth mentioning.
But the problem arises with selling them. I cannot sell them legally as I won't be able to provide any evidence as to where I got these from. The only way to sell them is through illegal markets which will also be a pain. So, the best way to solve this problem will be through a middleman.
"But who can I ask?" I was on top of the tallest building in Gotham. And even if I had supervision, I wouldn't have been able to enjoy the view as it was polluted to the brim. Gotham had become worse over the past couple of years and I can understand why Pamela was so angry at the superheroes.
Bruce is a multi-billionaire, he can make this city a better place if he tried. But he spent his money on other things. And I cannot blame him alone. Even amongst the villains, there are extremely rich people, like Vandal Savage, Penguin, and Lex Luthor. And while Lex went missing, Selina did mention that he did absolutely nothing for either Metropolis or Gotham… despite operating business in both places.
I will have to do something about the situation.
But Penguin huh? He did mention that Bruce made him lose a lot of money. And I do need a middleman…
Maybe I just found the perfect person for that.
…
…
[Later that day]
[[Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot, The Penguin]]
"This… where did you even find it?" I said putting the gold on the table. "It's purified to the extreme and we will have to add copper or silver before using it for anything."
I paused as I looked at the masked man. The mask was scandalously small. If he wanted to hide his identity, he had to do better. But then again… he never had been the type to hide it. The only reason he wore the mask was because the Cat forced him to do so.
"Found these while I was on my journey. I have quite a lot and want you to help me with it. I will supply you with more" He said while adjusting his mask.
Out of the only few that knew his identity, I was luckily one of them.
"It's not a big deal. But… how big of a supply are we talking here?" That was the biggest question. If he could supply more, it would help me a lot.
He grinned at my question. "Enough to shake the current economy."
I felt myself gulping my saliva. "That's a big statement."
His grin didn't dwindle. "It is indeed. And while I will provide you with gold, I don't want you to release them in the market so easily."
I nodded. "I know. It would destroy the economy and all the superheroes and cops would be at our tail. I can sell them to various countries but even then I will have to keep track of the supply."
The thought that he possessed enough gold to shake the current economy no joke. And even someone like him wouldn't just throw them in the market without proper planning.
"Originally, I had no plan of selling it. But I need a constant and large supply of money. And there is only you that I can trust who would be able to manage such a huge amount while not letting the money get to his head." He sighed. "I am not planning to reveal myself as the supplier before I take care of a few things. You will have to be extremely quiet about this."
"You don't have to worry about that," I assured him. "As long as you can provide me with the gold, I will be supplying you the money."
He laughed as he pushed his hand towards me. "Then that's a deal."
I shook the hand as an uncontrollable smile appeared on my face. "Yes. It's a deal."
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[A/N: I kinda messed up... I was supposed to write something else but had to write this cuz I couldn't use my brain properly because of the headache...
Also I think I forgot to send this chapter to Lasagna for the edits... F*ck me....
So, yeah... sorry about the quality and the plot of this chapter.
This headache is f*cking me up ...]
