Chapter 11: Trailing Shadows

Hey guys! How's it hanging?

I hope you've all had a wonderful week! I know I have.

When I first started writing this book, I honestly didn't have a lot of confidence going in.

I've been asking around lately for some advice from close friends and some trusted elders on what could be wrong, and I can finally say that I have a clear idea of what to expect as I continue going through with this.

Don't get me wrong, the plot points are here, ideas and notes, I've seen my writing improve in much later chapters compared to before...

Everyone here has been nothing but supportive so far as well and it means so much to me that I can't even put it into words!

But again, I just didn't have a lot of trust in myself moving forward.

I've been writing new chapters of course, but I was starting to feel like I stalled somehow, like they weren't good enough.

Thankfully, I now know that I'm just pushing myself too hard and that I need to let things come as they go.

I've been correcting past chapters in my free time for the more serious mistakes, but I'm much more slow-going about it and will post them when I feel like it.

As for the Character Info sheet, I was planning on updating it at some point this week but eventually decided that you're going to have to wait till Chapter 14 since it's an important plot point right before the first story arc.

Another update will happen after that.

As for this chapter... we're finally coming up to the action scenes!

Although brief, there is one included here.

I didn't think I was that good at writing action scenes, but again, I think I improved more when the later chapters involving them come out for you guys. (That's in two weeks by the way.)

If you think I could improve in any way, of course, you're free to let me know as usual!

Now, it's also time to give a shoutout to my newest patrons.

A big thank you to @Yusuf and @Tyson Kim! Your support has been noted and means a ton to me!

Now, I hope you guys enjoy the chapter!

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Date: May 31, 2007

Location: Central Gotham City, New Jersey, Upper East Side

Time: 2:13 A.M.

As people walked down the streets during Gotham at night, if they looked up, figures could be seen running over rooftops, as they jumped and spun in the air from house to house in an impressive display of speed and agility.

Wildcard and Robin had just landed on another roof when the former paused, signaling to the other to wait for a moment, as he peered into an alleyway due to a sound that caught his attention.

A scream.

Nodding to his brother, Ben slowly scaled down the side of the building, hanging on to a window ledge a little above where he noticed the disturbance, bearing witness to the sight of around 20 men all crammed into the alley, trapping a trio of women shivering in fear in what was obviously something involving ill intent.

One of them was a blond-headed white woman with neck-length straight hair, another white woman with black hair done up in a ponytail, and a brown woman with black hair done in a perm.

"Listen here, girly. You're going to keep your mouth shut, or I'm going to shut it for you. If you let out one more sound, you're going to beg me to play nice." the leading thug threatened, as he grabbed the woman with blond hair, her cry of pain informing Ben that she was the one he heard earlier.

Taking a few quick moments to run some calculations inside his head, he quickly identified 7 thugs carrying firearms of some form, with the rest most likely only having bats, pipes, knives, or possibly shattered beer bottles if a few of them break the ones they're currently holding in their hands.

'At least they're drunk. Makes my job easier.'

Grabbing a few smoke pellets from his belt, he stretched his hand above him for a moment where he knew his brother was watching, making a few hand signals, then dropping the pellets.

Deeply filled dark smoke started encompassing the surroundings, the thugs inhaling it too quickly due to being startled and coughing as a result.

"What the hell?" asked the lead thug from earlier, letting go of the women for a moment due to being caught unaware.

That was all Dick needed.

He jumped down from the roof of the 4 story building, angling himself so that he would land on the man's shoulders to break his fall, as he whipped out one of his escrima sticks and used the resulting gravity from his fall to bring it down between the man's shoulder and neck, the force knocking him out instantly.

He then performed a backflip off the still-falling man's upper shoulders and back, landing in front of the three women protectively.

"Stay behind me." he said, as he beat a thug that wandered near him while blindly waving in the darkness.

Meanwhile, Ben had already jumped down from the ledge into a roll between 3 of the thugs he identified to be in possession of some form of firearms.

He went for a leg sweep, taking all three down to ground, as he took out 4 cards from his belt, and aimed at the more distant of the thugs before throwing them.

As the cards hit their mark, the thugs slumped mid-movement, falling down to the ground unconscious.

Making sure the threat of stray bullets was neutralized, he pressed a button on his earpiece, signaling Dick to take action with him, as they systematically took down the remaining 12 thugs before their cover could completely disperse.

All of this occurred within the span of 30 seconds-

'24.86 seconds.'

-as Ben had first predicted before taking action.

After securing the thugs with zip ties, Ben nodded his head to the women.

"You three should know better than to be out at this time in. From now on, you should be home and staying off the streets before it becomes this late."

Finishing his piece, Ben didn't wait for a response as he jumped to the nearest wall and began piggybacking off it, leapfrogging up to the roof.

Dick just shrugged his shoulders at the women's confused looks before taking out his grappling belt, zipping off with one last laugh that echoed off his surroundings.

After they were both gathered on top of the building once more, Ben tapped his earpiece.

"Wildcard to Penny-One. We just apprehended a group of 20 thugs attempting to either rape or coerce a trio of women. Inform the GCPD please."

"Acknowledged."

Turning towards Dick, Ben first looked at his watch to check the time.

"I think that's enough excitement one night for you brother. We both have a school night, but you can't stay awake for longer periods of time like me or Bruce."

Dick huffed at that. "Man come on. I wanted to put away at least 5 or 6 more groups like this one. I have a personal record of taking out 100 goons in one night last month when we got rid of that trafficking ring." he complained.

Ben was relieved to tell that there was no real heat inside his words and that he was just complaining for the sake of joking.

Ben could tell that whatever Dick and Selina had discussed on Saturday at the zoo had helped the kid immensely. He noticed a change in the last few days in his emotions, and he seemed to have achieved a greater form of clarity of mind as well.

After they had finished touring the zoo for another two or three hours, Selina then took them down to the Diamond and Fashion District for some shopping, before they went to Downtown Gotham's Chinatown to grab a bite and end the day.

The bags they carried were definitely not an impressive part of the time they spent.

It was during the rest of that day that he first noticed how Dick lightened up by a huge amount, the kid actively trying to hang out with him more and converse as opposed to how Ben used to have to be the one to do so.

The changes became more apparent in the last few days as well.

He spent a longer amount of time training and studying, absorbing information faster than before, while also asking for help more often.

He used to try and train alone, unable to accept criticism too well, becoming heated once in a while.

The only way Ben could sum it up was that he looked more…

Free.

"It's just not your lucky day then." Ben replied, to which Dick sighed and nodded his head.

"Alright, I'll get going then."

"Good. Meanwhile, I will go meet up with Batman and try to convince him to get some rest as well. He shouldn't be staying up for 36 hours no matter how many times he says he's fine." Ben assured him.

As the two of them were ready to separate, a sound seemed to click into Ben's ears.

"Get down!"

A gunshot rang in the surroundings at the same time Ben lunged at Dick, blood splashing into the air a moment later.

"Wildcard!" Dick cried in alarm as he got his bearings back together quickly after the sudden attack.

"I'm fine. It only landed on my shoulder and all major arteries were missed. I can heal it later." Ben responded calmly.

He already realized the danger this world posed from early on and tried his best to prepare for every scenario that could be thrown at him.

Luckily, he already has an extremely high pain tolerance using the virtual pain simulation gear he created for himself, and it was also thanks to his heightened and highly trained senses that he was able to hear the shot.

Using his virtual simulation gear, he can train in combat while going through so many different scenarios, having the option to adjust the pain sensors to be either higher or lower than normal.

He can function in a mostly normal manner with up to 300% of normal pain firing through his body. Should he tap into the Black Light, he can function indefinitely under pain as well, but that's only a last resort as his mind can wander to dangerous places in that state.

Suddenly, the sound from earlier came into his ears once again.

'A sniper rifle.' he finally recognized.

He pushed Dick with a decent amount of force, causing him to skid on the left of the roof as he himself followed in a roll, the bullet hitting his previous position.

'Right where my head was at.' he examined the hole.

'Either he has good luck, or he's a professional.'

"Who's firing at us?" whisper hissed Dick, taking out a few birdarangs and lost at where to aim them.

"Safety first, questions later. Get behind that wall. My calculations tell me that the shot came from your line of sight when you were trying to leave, so unless he gets closer, we can continuously circle the wall to block his view instead." explained Ben in a swiftly calm manner as they rolled and speed crawled, trying to keep their body low from the sniper's scope.

"I've already signaled the alert for Batman. It's better to be safe than sorry." he said when they finally got some cover, a bullet hitting the edge of the chimney above them and piercing through it.

Dick became disturbed at that. "Armor piercing rounds?!"

Quickly, two cards appeared in Ben's hands, one glowing in a purple light as it seemed to turn into purple dust and move towards his shoulder wound, causing the bullet to squeeze out before healing, leaving no sign of his injury being there before.

He has been using the Traveler's Guide a lot, saving up many useful magical cards.

But that doesn't mean he leaves home without his tech/metal-lined cards either.

'I should start calling them Traveler Cards to differentiate them.' he thought idly before he focused once more.

"When we get back, I'm using this moment to argue to Batman about how we need better armor." Ben whispered as the second card glowed in an orange light, turning into a mirror that rippled and began to show the outline of a man.

"Is that…?" Dick began.

"Yup. This is who's attacking us. Looks like we're in for a rough ride unless we can get him closer." Ben responded when he realized the identity of their assailant.

"What, why? Who's that?" Dick questioned in surprise and confusion.

"We need you to get read up on those profiles we have saved on the Batcomputer. When I calculated the direction, trajectory, speed, and distance of that shot earlier, I already had my suspicions." Ben sighed while Dick became embarrassed.

"Sorry." Dick mumbled, causing Ben to wave him off to show he was just rambling.

"That's Deadshot, a contract killer and mercenary for hire. The fact that he's here targeting us means it's either personal since he always takes a job worth a pretty penny, or he was hired to take out either or both of us. Maybe even Batman." explained Ben, his card showing the image of the man in question as he quickly hoisted his modified sniper rifle onto his shoulder while moving his position.

The man sported a black and red styled heavy-duty combat gear, with an all-white mask on his head, the left eye of the mask having a red high-tech scope connected to it.

As the man began changing his location on the image, Ben and Robin quickly shifted their position as well to match him, making sure they remained out of his sights.

"Where exactly is he? The card's too small to reflect the area for me to make it out." asked Dick.

That was a downside to this magic trick, the surrounding area only being viewable if able to fit on whatever is reflecting it.

This could be negated with more training, the spellcaster being able to zoom in or out of the surrounding area.

'Just another thing added to the list. I need to step up my game. So much wasted potential I'm not making use of.' Ben mused once more.

For now, they just needed to work through it.

"He's around 3.64 kilometers away from us right now." Ben recorded.

"What?! That's impossible!" stated Dick in astonishment.

The farthest recorded sniper kill shot was said to be around 3.54 kilometers.

If his words were to be believed, then that would mean that this guy was shooting with such perfect accuracy in a consistent manner with an additional 100 meters on the world's recorded best.

Ben sighed at his brother.

"I hate that word. We live in a world where aliens, magic, immortals, super-technology, and so much more exist, yet you find this to be impossible?" he asked, taking out a few cards from his belt, attention never wavering as he took in every ounce of information provided to him at the moment.

"I mean when you put it like that…" Dick pondered.

"And that's not even the farthest distance he can shoot. We have feats recorded of his farthest shot being taken a whole extra kilometer at around 4.48."

"His accuracy is so superhuman in fact, that he's capable of having his bullets rebound off walls."

"I said earlier that this would be tough since he usually likes to keep his distance as far as possible because even though proficient in it, close combat is not his strong suit."

"It's to our advantage that he's unable to continue staying so far away due to there being no vantage points that can grant him a clear line of sight of us." finished Ben.

"So what do we do?" Dick questioned.

"I'm prepared to take him down. I just checked, and Batman is still 10 minutes away on route with the Batmobile."

"He won't be able to arrive in time though. Deadshot's been inching closer this whole time and will soon be in range of us."

"We're lucky he isn't using his armor-piercing rounds at the moment like he did earlier with the first couple of shots. He's probably running low, but we can't assume."

"Due to these reasons, we rush him together on my signal."

"I want you out of his line of sight, so that means shadowing my movements and using my frame to block his attention off you. When he's focused on me, find a position to pincer him. You'll use the opportunity when I'm making a frontal assault to take him by surprise." finished Ben.

Dick nodded his head at his words, becoming serious.

Another round of shots started eating away at the chimney, Ben keeping his senses split between being trained on the man's every movement, his surroundings, and what was going on via the image card.

'4, 3, 2, 1…' counted Ben as the man stepped into an invisible range.

The second Deadshot let up on his shots and went to reload his sniper rifle, Ben acted.

Signaling Dick, he dashed out from behind the wall, running full sprint toward the assassin.

The highest he could run back then when he first woke up in that landfill was around 22 mph. Now however, after years of training and taking his enhanced body as far as possible, he could travel far faster, rivaling cars moving relatively fast at around 60-90 mph.

As he crossed half the distance separating him and Deadshot, the man reacted real fast, dropping his sniper rifle, and aiming his wrist-mounted guns at him and firing in short bursts.

Ben kept his course, throwing a card in front of him that quickly expanded to form a green see-through circular shield that covered the entire front of his body.

He put a hand on its surface and pushed while running, using it as a cover similar to a riot shield to prevent the bullets from touching him.

Deadshot quickly took note of how his shots couldn't breach the shield, so he began backpedaling as he continued to fire in order to delay the amount of time it took for Ben to reach him, as he had a proper understanding of the difference between their speeds and knew he wasn't as fast.

"I've got to say, you've impressed me, Wildcard. Your senses have to be really sharp for you to have saved that Boy Wonder from my earlier shot. But, this is where it ends."

At his words, he halted his shots from his right wrist gun in order to pull out a pistol as he started firing in random intervals before or after he burst fired his wrist gun.

The intentions behind the arbitrary shots were made clear to Ben seconds later as the bullets began to visibly rebound off the surrounding walls, circling around his shield in order to target his open back.

-A 'told you so' moment for later.-

Luckily, Dick had already left his back and was making his way into position.

Time seemed to freeze in Ben's mind as his pupils flashed in a light and dark blue glow behind his helmet.

'Step one complete.'

With lightning-quick movements, he threw a card behind him that expanded into a shield similar to the one in front of him, canceling the threat of all the bullets coming at him.

Deadshot reacted fast and was prepared to use the gap in the sides of the shield at this point, but was forced to abandon his plans as the tell-tale whooshing of birdarangs gliding through the air behind him forced his attention to turn in that direction and shoot them down.

When the bullets made contact, all the birdarangs exploded into smoke, heavily hampering the one thing he relies on.

His vision.

Realizing his mistake he turned around as his lens switched to infrared.

Except nothing came up on his scans, the giant glowing shields already gone too.

Before any other action could be taken, a card appeared in his vision without warning and exploded into a giant net entangling him.

As he began struggling, Ben and Dick started coming into his vision from both sides, keeping a slight distance just in case he had any more surprises in store.

"Oh yeah. We owned this guy." laughed Dick, as he shot a look to his brother who nodded at him in agreement.

"Of course. There was never any doubt." Ben replied, keeping his full focus on Deadshot the entire time, but subtly.

"Hate to break it to you kids, but this ain't stopping me that easily. Should've either killed or knocked me out." the assassin spoke as he aimed a gun at Ben ready to pull the trigger.

But Ben was faster.

"Tonitruum." (Thunder)

Lightning suddenly started sizzling and arching around the net binging the man's body, causing him to seize up and start grunting in pain, before his emotions turned dull to Ben's senses, showing that he was unconscious and not faking it.

"Cool, how does that work though?" Dick asked in wonder.

His moniker was starting to make a lot more sense suddenly.

Ben started disarming the man, pulling gun after gun from his body armor before going for the bullets and spare knives.

"Delayed magical activation net. Our enemies usually end up thinking that we let our guard down for some reason, causing them to let their guard down instead."

One thing he learned in magic is that although not necessary, sometimes voicing a spell can help you to better convey whatever it is you pictured, thereby making it stronger.

But thankfully he didn't need to do that for every spell. Otherwise, he didn't think magic would be effective for him in battle.

Being a member of the Batfamily meant stealth, and it's hard to be stealthy if you need to shout out your chants every time.

-I love how you're trying to convince yourself that you have a serious reason instead of just admitting that you'd rather not sound like a generic fictional character coming off as a deranged man with 5th-grade syndrome.-

Ben ignored his non-physical partner as usual, making sure the assassin had no more weapons.

"Perfect timing. You're not a second late."

Dick was confused, before suddenly yelping as a hand landed on his shoulder without his notice.

"Good work." Bruce spoke after taking in the scene for a few seconds. "Any leads as to why he was here?" he inquired.

To which he received a shake of the head. "Negative. My immediate plan was to take him down and disarm him first before questioning him. And as you can see, that was a success."

Bruce nodded his head at his son's words before hauling the unconscious assassin onto his shoulders.

"No need to compromise one of our safe houses. We'll take him to the abandoned warehouse at the docks for interrogation."

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Date: May 31, 2007

Location: Lower Downtown Gotham City, New Jersey, Gotham Harbor's Docks

Time: 3:13 A.M.

After a ride in the Batmobile, going all the way from Central to Lower Gotham, they reached the warehouse at around 3:02 A.M, before Bruce and Dick got to work.

As the two were securing the man, Ben excused himself, citing that he needed a moment for himself to reflect.

But the truth was even simpler. He was basking in the glory of his success at accomplishing one of his goals.

Taking Deadshot's shooting skills for himself.

Ever since he found out about his kinesthetic intelligence and photographic reflexes, Ben did everything possible in these few years to make the most of them.

In the comics, Taskmaster had to physically see someone perform a move in front of him in order to copy it, but that wasn't the end of his capabilities.

He was also capable of doing it by watching someone act over a TV, but this was before he took the serum that boosted his ability, causing it to take longer due to something about being "unable to properly read how all muscles react and move in coordination the first time."

Ben, however, had three things the man didn't, making it possible for him to succeed where he failed.

Kinesthetic intelligence, superhuman intelligence, and minor intuitive aptitude.

Just these three powers can make him a beast on Earth, greater than even his father, as he can go beyond any normal human standards when it comes to improving any form of man made skill.

He had hundreds of ways in which he could've taken down Deadshot earlier, but he didn't due to two main reasons.

The first being that the man was on his list of skills to copy when he first read up on him.

He had a list of known people that he wanted to copy such as Deathstroke, Ra's Al Ghul or a member of the League of Assassins, a man named Richard Dragon who taught his father at one point, and more.

Due to his desire for the man's skills, Ben purposefully pretended that he was in a sticky situation to lower the man's guard, as it was already noted on the Batcomputer's systems how Deadshot had a braggart's mind and was sometimes too prideful in his abilities, letting his achievements cloud his judgements.

It can only be said that he was human and it was slightly expected.

The fact that the man was a skilled mathematician and mental calculator when it came to maneuvering his shots was a perfect match for Ben's superintelligence.

That meant Ben could easily make difficult shots like the assassins' as long as he managed to learn the proper shooting forms he was missing.

The second reason he held off was that he wanted Dick to get real experience against someone who wasn't just a normal thug.

The last time he ever got something close to a battle in the field against a truly dangerous foe was around the time of the Poison Ivy incident.

Most of Gotham's superpowered criminals are already behind bars in some way or another currently, so he's only been able to take on small time thugs and gangsters, dismantling a human trafficking ring alongside them only recently.

He wanted his brother to realize the improvements he's made in such a short time, but in a way that's humbling.

Sometimes, witnessing a bigger fist can do that to people…

'It's only called experience when you live to tell the tale. Otherwise, it's just another obituary.'

-Although you managed to reach the first goal, you need to start training your senses more. Had it been just a little bit less in distance, you wouldn't have sensed him in the first place.- ESAMAL interrupted Ben's thoughts.

Ben had already been aware of Deadshot's presence, as even though it seemed like the mercenary knew about his powers somehow, he got the range of them completely incorrect.

Every day, the range of his passive emotional sensing field increases as his connection with the ES grows.

But it's not by an extremely large margin unfortunately.

Currently, he could only expand his sense to around 3.7 kilometers around him.

Just enough to pick up Deadshot in his range.

Not to mention that he was still training on picking out certain targets over all the noise. So it was pure coincidence that he managed to pick the man out over all those people.

'Maybe it's because I sensed his intent for malevolence against us. I need to test that more.'

As Ben was finishing reminiscing on his actions and what he managed to accomplish, he saw that Dick and Bruce had managed to finish strapping the man down to a metal chair and pat him down one last time for any more concealed weapons.

As Dick went to take off the assassin's mask, Bruce grabbed his wrist stopping him.

"What's wrong? Aren't we supposed to run facial rec and identify him for more leverage? Not to mention just in case we have to deal with him later." Dick spoke, citing the usual standards he was taught to follow in these cases.

"You'd be correct if we didn't already know his identity."

Dick became stunned at that while Ben replied.

"Did you forget? He's listed on the Batcomputer. We really need to get you up to speed later."

Dick became embarrassed at that, while Ben turned to his father.

"But I'm curious. How did you first meet him? The files only said it was due to an incident involving the assassination of Bruce Wayne." Ben asked, amber orange lighting up behind his mask.

"It's as I recorded it. A few years ago, Deadshot, real name Floyd Lawton, was hired to assassinate playboy billionaire Bruce Wayne for the Cult of The Kobra." Bruce summarized.

Dick's eyes widened while Ben's irises switched to gold-orange as well.

"He demanded 10 million dollars as an agreement for taking on the contract before he was forced to swiftly change his mind when he was denied any monetary reward and threatened by the Cult with the one thing he held dear."

"What could a guy like him be so gung-ho about?" Dick interrupted.

Bruce gave him a Bat-Glare that caused him to sheepishly scratch his head and mutter a quiet "sorry", before he was answered.

"His daughter."

That bit of info brought the two up short.

Ben didn't show any outward reactions compared to Dick's spluttering, keeping his contemplations private.

'This world is filled with people full of stories that will never be told or shared, showing one side of themselves that is prone to being incorrect.' he considered, as he looked at Deadshot in a new light.

-What did you expect? This isn't a story, but reality buddy. Better get used to it.- ESAMAL sarcastically commented.

'I don't think of these guys as not real.' Ben read in between the lines.

'...Do I?'

"Deadshot came to me for help after falsely agreeing with the Cult, swearing to me that he would follow any order as long as his daughter could be saved. I agreed on the condition that there was no killing."

"We entered the warehouse where she was held captive and took out everyone in sight before one man was left standing with a knife to her throat."

"He impulsively shot and killed the man on the spot, realizing his mistake right after."

"He asked me to take his daughter to a safe place, before taking him to prison." Bruce concluded.

Silence lingered for a moment, before Ben broke it.

"So why wasn't this story properly recorded in the Batcomputer's systems?" Ben pondered.

"Incorrect. It's on the Batcomputer's systems, but you can't find them due to how much more protected the data is." Bruce explained simply.

Ben saw the look his father was giving him, and realized right away what it was meant to convey.

'I've been too lax and slightly arrogant recently.' he realized, calming his mind down as much as possible.

Even though he believes himself to be capable of training any known skill to man past the peak of what was thought possible…

He just wasn't there yet, and he keeps forgetting that fact.

'It takes time to bring out one's potential.'

There's also the fact that he's been underestimating other people's capabilities as well.

There's nothing "normal" about his father, and the man's understanding of his thought process with just one look was more than enough to prove it.

ESAMAL's voice quivered. -As if he needs to prove anything. Your dad is just downright terrifying. Sometimes I even wonder if he's human.-

'I need to step up my game. If he also manages to overcome my winning score for our spars, we're going to have a problem.'

-For some reason I feel like that'll be the least of your worries.-

"Alright, now that we know the who and how, what's our strategy? Good cop, bad cop? Straight intimidation? Rough housing?" Dick asked for clarification.

"We'll leave the routines for later." Bruce looked towards the assassin.

"Right now, he owes me a favor. Let's see if he'll keep it."

...

Floyd suddenly woke up to a killer headache, dizziness, and nausea assaulting him in waves, hampering his ability to properly take in his surroundings.

He could hear blurry voices on the edge of his hearing, yet couldn't make sense of them.

While trying to move his body, he felt that he was being held down on a chair, his limbs tied up in a way that prevented him from finding proper leverage to escape.

Taking a few moments to reorient himself, he took in a couple of steady breaths before shaking his head, causing the world to slowly come back into focus, the blurriness still lingering at the edge of his mind but no longer unbearable.

He scanned the place he was being held in and realized that he was in an abandoned warehouse, the two kids he was fighting earlier in front of him.

They had their arms crossed as they were speaking in low voices, before Wildcard turned to him suddenly.

'Can't believe Batman took in a monster like this one. What's he been feeding him?' the assassin huffed inwardly.

One Batman was enough, but then Wildcard came onto the scene recently, Robin being the newest addition.

'Taking in strays to build up as his soldiers? Doesn't seem like something he'd be willing to do, but he would probably not be against it either honestly.' he pondered.

He felt like Batman had double standards when it came to things like this.

"Great, you're awake." Wildcard suddenly spoke as he turned in his direction.

Floyd didn't know how he figured it out exactly, but to be fair he acknowledged that he made a lot of noise when he was rousing himself.

"I have to hand it to ya, you kids got me good. But you ain't going to be able to hold me here for long, and you're not intimidating enough to get me to spill anything." he taunted, already knowing why he was here.

Everyone wants information. That's why he always makes it back alive from his assignments when he somehow gets captured, even if rarely.

His targets usually want information on who ordered a hit for their death, the reason for his presence, trying to make deals with him to change his mind, yada yada yada.

In the end, he escapes, kills his target or completes his objective, and leaves with the money he was promised.

This wouldn't end any differently.

Or so he thought.

When he tried to reach for his spare knives to dismantle his bindings, he realized that he was completely bare.

None of his usual spare weapons were anywhere on his body.

Before the realization that this became tougher than usual could settle in his mind, the other kid, Robin, walked up to him.

"Well that's great and all, really." the Boy Wonder had a smirk cross his face. "But… we're not the ones you should be worried about."

Confusion settled onto his face at the kid's words. "Well of course I have nothing to be worried about. I already said earlier that you kids will get nothing out of me."

The older of the two, if his size was anything to go by, shook his head in what Floyd noticed wasn't really meant to belittle him or anything. It was as if he was just amazed at his ignorance.

"No. I will." a deep gruff voice stated from behind where he was seated, startling the daylights out of him.

Trying to crane his head as far right to put a face to the sound, he failed to find anything.

He was given a fright when he turned back to see a man dressed in all black suddenly appear in front of him like a ghost.

A shiver went up his spine as he finally identified the figure.

The Batman. The Dark Knight.

A symbol of fear that had only began in his crusade against crime in Gotham for those who stand against him, before his notoriety and mission expanded to the world by virtue of joining the Justice League.

'Awww crap. I didn't expect to meet an old friend.' he thought, wondering how Bruce did that.

The embodiment of dread and darkness seemed to study him for a few moments, taking in every single detail in how he reacted or moved, before he leaned forward until he was inches away from his face.

"It's been a while Floyd." Bruce stoically said, words coming off more as a statement than a greeting.

"Batman. I'm not even going to lie. I did not expect to see you today." he honestly expressed.

The Bat growled as he slammed his hand on the chair's armrests, his face inches away from Floyd's.

"Was that because of the ninjas that tried to hamper my arrival earlier?" he demanded.

"There were ninjas earlier? Cool!" Robin's whispers managed to be heard by everyone in the room.

"Now hold on just a moment. I didn't know about any ninjas. I was only told that you'd be kept occupied and to carry out my orders while you were busy." the assassin shed some light.

Batman remained silent for a moment.

'Taking that piece of intel and dissecting it into tiny pieces no doubt.' Floyd thought.

"You still owe me that favor from before. I've been keeping tabs on your daughter and she's remained well protected since that incident. Do you consider yourself a man of your word?" Batman suddenly questioned.

Floyd became expressionless and stoic, holding that form for some time.

"Yeah. I guess I need to pay you back for that." he eventually relented.

"Good. Then start talking from the beginning."

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

Date: May 31, 2007

Location: Central Gotham City, New Jersey, Upper East Side, Gotham Academy

Time: 8:34 A.M

Laughter could be heard going on outside the school grounds as friends met up with one another, the familiar woes and tales of gossip being thrown around the area.

A group of girls could be seen discussing their favorite boy bands, crushes, the newest makeup and fashion trends…

The boys were currently passing around a football, roughhousing, crudely talking about the latest news in their dating lives and who they were hooking up with…

All these cliques and groups were a new sight for Ben ever since he first started going to school.

Since he never got a chance to enjoy life as a kid, it stands to reason that he never knew if this was normal.

Ultimately, after spending almost 2 years going to school here now, he felt grateful for not being able to differentiate since he found some of the topics being discussed disgusting either way.

'If this is normal, then I'm glad I'm not.'

But then again, everyone had to swear at him that Gotham isn't normal in the first place.

He couldn't really disagree with that after all he's witnessed.

He remembered one time when he was still crashing with Selina how close to having an aneurysm she seemed when he tried asking her about a group of girls dressed up scantily in an alleyway they had walked by one day.

He couldn't forget the struggle on her face as she introduced and explained to him the concept of prostitution and what it stood for.

Even with the usual run-ins he used to have involving gangs and the random ruffian or drunk bar-folk, that was the day when he managed to get a true glimpse of Gotham and the shades it cast.

'The saying "Hell on Earth" had never held as much significance until then.'

The hospital is the center of problems related to the healthcare world, with matters pertaining to the medical sector being the most prevalent sight.

Sure, you'd see the occasional prisoner in a orange jumpsuit surrounded by officers and receiving treatment for whatever reason, or people begging doctors about money problems due to treatment bills…

But… other worldly problems like what he's seen here were treated more like a myth.

'Out of sight out of mind I guess.' Ben thought, relenting to the wisdom behind those words.

'You just have to see some things in order to believe it.'

While walking up to the school's entrance, the bell started ringing, informing everyone to start getting to their first class for the day.

Ben usually started his schedule off with geometry, but he didn't need to put much thought into it.

He was so far ahead of his peers in grades and mannerisms that his teachers usually don't bother him in class and left him to his own devices.

As such, he usually lets the time pass by continuing his studies with higher-level alternatives.

Even though he could be skipping grades and getting degrees at this point, he just didn't want that kind of attention for now, trying to spend more time socializing and just living in general.

Well, it's obvious that the socializing part wasn't going anywhere productive at the moment.

'Kids can be disgusting sometimes.' Ben shuddered.

After Batman had interrogated Mr. Lawton extensively a few hours ago, he came across loads of unexpected information.

Although still a lead, it was concerning.

"I don't know who hired me. They left me a letter at one of my safehouses the same day I visited, meaning they were keeping an eye on me for a while. I was ordered to capture the card kid, and kill the rest of you if possible." his words echoed in Ben's ears.

That led to the simple question of who would want him alive?

But what grabbed Bruce's attention came after that, confusing Ben and Dick since they didn't know why it seemed so important to him.

"Obviously, you should know that I hate following instructions right away, so I decided to do a bit of investigating of my own first. Although there was no clear evidence, I found some clues that led me to Lady Shiva. And since you said ninjas attacked you, you're dealing with the League of Assassins'."

Bruce ran to the cave first thing, his head in the Batcomputer's systems ever since.

As Ben spent his morning going through the motions, the afternoon sailed right in, one of his most dreaded periods of the day finally arriving.

Lunch.

Usually, you'd spend the time sitting with your friends and complaining about your day, talking about the same generic stuff he already had a headache from hearing in front of the building every morning.

It was like everyone around him was wearing a mask when mentioning these subjects.

He found it strange and annoying how some of these people could show how easily uncomfortable they felt when chatting up some topics, yet still go on with it despite that discomfort.

It felt unnatural. Like they were puppets moving to someone else's tune.

Which was something he refused to do.

The whole point of his new life was to make write his own story and live a little, not move to the whim's or expectations of others.

Ironically enough, he felt like he would rather die if it had ever come to something like that.

So for today, he did what he had always done which was to sit far away from everyone all on his lonesome.

'Peace and quiet is the way to go.'

Before he could even settle into his spot, a familiar face decided to join him for lunch alongside some company.

Regina set her food tray down opposite to Ben as she flashed him a smile, followed along by another girl and a pair of boys.

"Hey Ben, how's your day been so far?"

"It's been fine. Same old same old. What about you?" Ben replied while taking a fill of his food.

Today they had fried chicken strips with a side of mac and cheese.

Obviously it wasn't Alfred-level delicious, but it was enough.

Spending a short two months as a homeless person practically destroys any pickiness a person might have in an extremely mortifying way.

He's come to accept that simplicity is a gift of its own.

"Ugh, don't even get me started. Mrs. Robinson had me stand up in English class to read out loud. Doesn't she know how embarrassing that is?" Regina complained, her friends nodding in agreement.

Ben was confused at her words, not finding anything wrong with that. But, he decided to leave it be since he didn't particularly care.

Plus, he's already accepted how the girl could be given a brand new thousand dollar purse as a gift and still end up complaining somehow.

And yes, that apparently happened, although he couldn't be bothered with the specifics behind the how.

"Oh yeah, let me introduce you." Regina perked up. "This is Johnny, Rachel, and Kevin." she introduced one by one.

Johnny was obviously of African American descent, around 5'6" and weighing around 160 pounds from what Ben could analyze. He had black hair was done in a buzz cut and he seemed to be an athlete if his jacket was anything to go by. Basketball or football player probably.

Rachel was similar in appearance to Regina, with some of their facial structures overlapping in a few areas, making it obvious that they were related in some way. Both were petite at around 5'3" and 5'4" with Regina being the taller one, both weighing a bit more than 100 pounds, with long blonde hair.

She was probably also on the cheerleading team.

Finally, there was Kevin.

Although he wasn't one to judge, he got a strange feeling from the kid.

He was around 5'5" and 140 pounds, also with black hair done in a buzzcut, Hispanic descent and on the same team as Johnny.

Now that he noticed, a closer look showed how the group of four were seated in pairs, looking at one another once in a while, with the girls leaning in to each boy in a slightly secretive manner.

'So, they're dating.'

It seemed that Regina and Johnny were together, while Rachel and Kevin were the same.

'I thought she was dating the other Ben?' he glanced at Regina and Johnny.

There was another kid his age named Benny, not Benjamin, who he remembered was on the baseball team and supposedly going out with Regina.

-Guess now you know who gave her the purse.- ESAMAL helpfully connected the dots for him.

Ben understood, but eventually shrugged as he wasn't one to say anything.

Their dating lives are their own. He wouldn't want someone interfering with his dating life should he start one, so he wouldn't do the same.

Unless it seems dangerous in a way of course. It wouldn't be very heroic to ignore something that was toxic or potentially harmful to one or either of the couple.

As Ben finally reciprocated their greetings, they all began talking and getting to know each other a bit better.

Kevin seemed quiet the whole time while the rest talked, only taking glances of him at certain points.

"Hey." he suddenly spoke up. "I've been really curious for a while now, but how's it feel being the kid of Bruce Wayne? Must feel weird to see the guy with a new girl every other day right?" he "casually" probed.

Ben paused in his actions as Johnny elbowed the guy on the side of his stomach, allowing him to take in Kevin's strange mannerisms.

'So this guy's a covert bully. But where is this familiar feeling coming from? I literally just met him.'

-I got it.- ESAMAL replied. -It's similar to what alerted you to Deadshot, but not as intense. So it's probably a form of ill intent.-

'How many more times will you remind me that I need to train on that?'

-As long as it takes until you do.-

'Fine. But now I need to figure out how to deal with this guy. Wanna bet on how many people you think had to put up with his "kindness"?'

Everyone knows what bullying is, yet some don't know enough to realize that there are more forms than one in which it can manifest.

The more common or regular forms of bullying is actually made up of two different types of categories. Physical, and verbal bullying.

Only after that comes the more famous cyberbullying which has much more presence in today's heavily influenced technological and internet based society.

But the one form of bullying that doesn't receive as much attention, even when they could be more disastrous than the usual forms is covert bullying, more commonly known as "Social Bullying".

Social bullying is arguably one of the worst forms that bullying can take because a lot of the people who are victims of the trend are either so naïve or kind that they can't even tell they're being harrassed until it's too late.

It is also one of the leading causes for suicide alongside cyberbullying.

The normal three categories of bullying are capable of leaving a more obvious trail to the perpetrator, one which can often cause legal consequences to them if the person they're hounding kicks the bucket.

But people are smart and can adapt quickly, hence how the "subtle" part came into play.

Evidence of social bullying can technically never exist since unless you have enough witnesses, people can't properly convey the intent behind certain questionable actions in some events.

What happens is that someone basically pretends to be your friend by giving you compliments, asking how you're doing in an indecently "joking" manner, and other things like that.

People accept these things from others as if that's how the person is, thinking it's their normal behavior.

But they never expect to suddenly find themselves hanging off a cliff, having been led in the wrong direction by following behind their "friend", realizing their true faces too late.

The hard part comes for the victims only after the realization.

When they accept that everything was fake, it's in their nature to start blaming themselves for not noticing sooner.

They go through the five stages of grief, and again, since most of the time the victims are the people who are usually more timid and anxious…

They barely had a chance of reaching the last stages of acceptance, ending their lives at the fourth stage of depression.

So, those times you were probably excluded from group activities? Yeah that was planned, not an accident.

The times the guys accidentally lost your bookbag when they played that same prank on you they did for Jimmy a few days ago? Sorry, premeditated.

And again, people already know that the court can't prove the intentions behind some actions more often than not, causing these cases to not even see the light of day.

Even if there's an easy way to thwart such attempts of bullying, some people just find it hard to do.

For Ben? It couldn't be even simpler.

Just act confident.

It's how you deal with most forms of bullying before going to a figure of authority.

But Ben only had one problem that needed to be hashed out before that.

-You know that if you put this guy in his place with a little brawl you're gonna paint a target on your back, right? You okay with that?-

Ben discreetly looked around and saw how some people had already brought their attention onto the table and were observing the series of events.

Apparently this wasn't the first time Kevin's done this to someone, but nobody ever spoke up about it or even made a peep.

Otherwise, he would've known about this guy's nature earlier.

'Then again, this is Gotham. Everything involving the darker parts of human nature are just multiplied for some reason.'

Ben put the stray thought in the back of his mind as he forced his eyes to narrow on the kid.

'ESAMAL. Your crassness never fails to surprise me.'

-Hey! That's a low blow.-

'Well suck it up. Fists aren't the answer to everything.'

Ben ignored any further complaints his partner may have had as he finally straightened his back slightly. "I'm not sure I understand your meaning."

Kevin raised an eyebrow, as he shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm just wondering if you even had a mom or were just adopted out of pity you know? I mean, all the public knows is that Mr. Billionaire met you one day and decided to take you in along with that other street rat. My money's on the fact that you were the result of a one night stand before being abandoned."

"Dude." Johnny whispered harshly. "Not cool."

Rachel was actually looking at him in an appalled manner now, her face showing wonder.

-Apparently, she didn't know how lacking her crush is.-

'Not the time.' Ben spoke, using every ounce of his willpower not to let his eyes change red in pure rage at this kid's words.

It's one thing to personally be made fun off, but for the kid to constantly drag in his parents and Dick…

At this point, the guy was no longer even trying to be subtle. He was straight up attacking him by going through his family.

He probably had a grudge with Bruce for something he did when trying to improve the place, and decided to take it out on him.

Bruce Wayne did have many newspapers and reports about him, often mentioning how he stepped on a lot of toes to try and get reforms done in Gotham.

This city just refused to change it's ways sometimes. Crime was a big part of it's existence.

-Keep that grip buddy! I know you aren't used to it, but these kinds of things are actually pretty normal among kids.- ESAMAL tried placating him.

Ben made no motion that he heard his friend as he slowly stood up, face remaining calm as usual as he stared the guy down right in the eye.

"Batman Intimidation Tactics Rule #1 - Always put yourself in a higher position, making yourself seem larger to whomever you're facing."

Ben was already the largest person at this table, being taller than your average 14 year old. And since he was in great shape, his body was naturally larger as well.

He usually wears baggy clothes when outside of school so as not to draw attention to himself, but here everyone wears the same tight fighting uniform.

Because of this, he has to use his incredible body control in order to compact his muscles more to make himself look leaner than usual.

But now he was aiming for the opposite.

As he rose, he controlled the muscles on his shoulders and back make himself seem bigger and broader. He squared his body out, separating his legs a bit, leaning over the table.

The people who had already started paying attention earlier began telling their friends at this point, causing more and more eyes to become drawn to the scene.

"Batman Intimidation Tactics Rule #2 - Always put effort into keeping eye contact, and stay silent in your actions."

Some people are just conscious of locking eyes, usually averting them due to nervousness or fear.

This is such a perfect response because if they turn their eyes away for whatever reason, the emotions they feel at that moment tend to magnify since they no longer have a proper visual on what could be taking place, leading their minds to wander in strange directions.

Furthermore, silence is golden because it allows the ambient tension to be felt more easily, another multiplier that increases those negative feelings and dark thoughts.

But in the case of Ben, there's one factor that made all of this more eerie than usual, something that he forgot to include in his calculations or take into account.

His frighteningly calm, and also unnatural, demeanor.

His unmoving yet placid grey irises were more terrifying than his anger could ever be.

"Listen to me."

Even though his voice wasn't loud, the lunchroom suddenly went quiet as almost everyone had their attention focused towards Ben, a strange aura permeating around him as he looked down at Kevin.

"I take personal offense to people who make fun of my parentage, especially from my mother's side."

The way he enunciated his words slowly caused tension to rise at the same pace but in a weird manner.

It was as if the pressure wanted to rise faster than he spoke, but was forced to follow his pace, causing a great unease to settle into the whole room.

"It's especially offensive when a random kid I only met a few minutes ago is the one doing it, dragging in my kid brother as well."

Kevin was visibly sweating at this point as he finally averted his eyes.

'Bingo.' thought Ben.

"Why don't you look at me when I'm talking to you." he snapped his fingers suddenly, causing Kevin to look back for the sound out of reflex and become sucked into his eyes, unable to look away once again due to the sudden intensity that ramped up within them.

Another modification made to the Intimidation rule.

Sometimes, people would prefer not look at you and consider the idea of dealing with their thoughts rather than face the music head on.

"Usually, this is the part where someone throws a punch, but that just puts us down to a gangster's level. We are civilized people, no?" Ben "amiably" explained, receiving Kevin's rapidly nodding head in return.

"Good. So here's what's going to happen. I'm going to forgive you just this once, and in exchange I never want to see your face in front of me ever again. One day of my lunch being ruined is enough, don't you think?" he stated more than questioned.

Kevin was practically a bird at this point, his head only able to bob up and down continuously in agreement.

"Y-y-ye-yeah, you got it man. It'll nev-er-er happen again." he stuttered.

Ben slowly picked up his tray, maintaining eye contact as he started walking away.

He turned his body slightly, making sure the kid knows he still has him in his peripheral vision, before normalizing his posture once again and fully facing forward.

After dumping his load of trash in the garbage and leaving behind his plate on the tray rack, he began leaving the lunchroom.

-I'm proud of you buddy. That was sick!-

'Yeah, well, your opinion doesn't really matter to me at the moment.' he replied, some sourness leaking through.

It was moments like these that had him question humanity's potential for good.

All the constant reassurances he could receive from the loved ones in his life didn't matter if he made up his mind differently.

'Why did I decide to go to school again?' he idly wondered.

As he turned the corner away from the lunchroom, he accidentally bumped into something.

Looking down, he found a fragile girl no more than 5'2" in height or 100 pounds in weight, holding her head in pain.

Ben witnessed her looking up and meeting his eyes, freezing in place as his senses saw her begin to emit waves of fear, body seizing up and shivering in a progressive manner from clear terror.

-She's malnourished.-

'There's a lot of "Thank you, Captain Obvious." moments going on today, and I'm not liking it.'

After was just a few moments for him, but what must've seemed like ages for the poor girl in front of him who seemed ready to pass out, Ben bent down to her and extended his hand.

"I apologize. I wasn't looking where I was going."

Her reactions halted automatically, as she began looking between his hand and his face repeatedly a couple of times, trying to make out something.

She eventually accepted his hand as he pulled her up.

"Thank you." she voiced quietly.

Ben couldn't stand the pitiful feeling that seemed to well inside him when he watched her crane her head up just to meet his gaze.

'She's like a lost puppy.'

He eventually nodded his head and began walking away…

...pausing mid-stride as he turned to face her one last time and took out a pen and a spare napkin.

He quickly scribbled down something on it before handing it to her.

"Cheer up. Good times always come at some point." he restarted his walk.

Taken aback, the girl looked down at the napkin in puzzlement, only for her eyes to widen at what was written on it.

"Benjamin Wayne: (609)-###-####"

"Call whenever."

After being stunned for a moment, she seemed to muster up some form of courage, as she shouted down the hall after Ben's retreating back.

"Thank you!"

As if he never heard her words, he continued on as normal.

If someone were standing in front of him, they would've seen how his pupils turned shades of indigo, lavender, and purple.

-Still doubting the human potential for good?- ESAMAL teased.

'Don't pretend that you expected this for even a moment.' Ben replied as he walked to his next class.

-Well golly! Thanks Captain Obvious!-

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

Date: May 31, 2007

Location: Unknown

Time: Unknown

In a place of absolute darkness, the blurriest image of a man could be made out sitting on a level surface, as he spoke to the image of another figure kneeling in front of him.

"Did Floyd accomplish what I asked?" the blurry image of the man questioned the figure.

The figure shook at his question, before answering hesitantly. "I apologize sir, but he failed. It seems he was captured before being sent off to Belle Reve prison."

At his words, there was no change in the man's posture, but his sigh of annoyance was audible for the kneeling figure to make out as he muttered. "I give him so much training, and all I receive in return when I ask for one favor, and even offer a bonus upon completion, is disappointment."

He turned towards the kneeling figure, asking in a deep and stern voice. "Does that seem fair to you?"

The figure at this point was shaking even more intensely as he responded. "Of course not sir, he has no respect for you and all that you have done for him."

"Exactly." the man affirmed. "Then, there's Batman. I would recognize that form of fighting from anywhere. I took him in when he was just a boy, taught him everything I was ordered to teach and more, and yet he spits in my face by running away, returning to his billionaire lifestyle in Gotham."

As he finished speaking, his words carrying intensity and slight anger, he seemed to have paused for a moment, as he looked at the kneeling man, and sighed in sadness.

"Ah, I seem to have made a mistake in my loss of control. Now you've heard something which you were not supposed to have heard."

Finally, the kneeling figure couldn't hold it any longer as he began pleading with the man with slight fear in his voice. "Sir! I apologize for my lack of propriety. Please forgive my transgression and spare me."

"I know you're sorry, and I forgive you." the shadow of the man assured as the kneeling figure sighed in relief.

But the man wasn't finished…

"However, should I let you live, the Great One would have my head instead for my mistake."

Before the kneeling figure reacted to that, the next two words sealed his fate.

"Kill him."

A sword came slicing out of thin air, cutting the kneeling figure's head clean off as blood started spurting out of his lifeless body as it collapsed to the ground.

A man stepped out of the shadows, walking over the fresh corpse and avoiding the growing puddle of blood as he swung his katana to the side causing more blood to splatter to the ground.

The light seemed to somehow glint in the dark room while he sheathed his blade, the briefest sight of a mask covered his entire head, concealing his every feature.

It was styled with a half painting of orange and black, with his suit following the same structure.

The strange thing was how he only had one domino eye-hole to see out of on the orange side on the left of his helmet.

He carried two swords on his back and two heavily modified pistols at his side among other things.

"Deathstroke, you have your orders. I can't stomach this injustice towards myself, and the Great One is even more impatient than me. That's most likely the only reason he's heeded my request."

"Not only has the Bat not reciprocated our kindness, but he has even taken away what should not belong to him. He lost his claim when he walked out all those years ago."

At this point the man leaned forward, hands on his knees as the faintest silhouette of an armchair made itself known in the shadows, the right side of the silhouette's face obscured by a white mask with only the briefest glimpses of a scar etched through his brow.

"Return to us the 'The Prodigal Son', and kill Batman."

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

The plot's starting to pick up from here guys...

I know some people don't like slow starts, but it's important to establish how your character plants their feet when thrust into such a new world.

Their initial reaction to their new surroundings shapes their thought processes to the events that they take part in, either granting them growth or having them enter into a period of stagnation.

If a story starts and ends with a character not having grown in any way, then what are you even writing?

Well, that's my opinion. You can contest it as much as you want since that's how I write.

This chapter was meant to show Ben's growth in magic and some other things, but I changed it to include the action and school scene to show some growth as a person instead. Understanding about some of the things he's coming to realize about Gotham, the people in it, and himself.

Just like I've come to understand myself better this week.

I also added that mini lesson on bullying as some kind of awareness for it, and for a possible idea I had for a mini story arc.

Swiper no swiping, I've seen a lot of bullying and harrasment too!

There was this one time when some random guy I didn't know called me a terrorist.

Not going to get into that.

And just as another reminder for people, Ben's emotions are sometimes written as suppressed, in constant flux, or completely absent. This is an important thing to note when reading this story!

Continued support is shown by power stones, comments, reviews, and anything else that can be provided.

I'll see you guys next week!

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