Heart of Steel PT 1

It has been a rather long day at Wayne Enterprises, or at least it felt much longer to most.

People generally say the work day could've gone quick or slow depending on how busy and productive they were while on the clock, along with how business was exactly. The day would've gone by at a snap of their fingers if someone had to work on several projects or kept themselves preoccupied. Either that or would've been to a snail's crawl, as some example, with nothing much done to make things move at a faster pace.

The later was the case for a pair of security guards in the office building's lobby.

Looking at the clock above the entrance doors, Kotetsu drummed his fingers onto the desk's surface as he watched the seconds pass on buy. It was nearly closing time and people were heading home for the evening after a long day's work. The security guard and his co-worker/roommate would've left for home by now, but the two had to wait for the graveyard shift guards to arrive before properly clocking out.

"...What the hell is taking him so long?" Muttered the bandaged security guard. "Did that bean burrito Izumo had for lunch wreck his intestines that much or what?"

Kotetsu would've been using the restroom a quick moment by now if it wasn't for the fact that Izumo was taking forever in using the can. There must always be a security guard at the desk in case of anything. So if Kotetsu wanted to take a break or lunch or anything else, he needed his friend to watch over the station in his place.

"Stupid company policy bullshit…" Kotetsu said before his eyes landed on a gorgeous blonde, office worker that was walking past the security desk. She stopped some feet away from it as she pulled out her cellphone and spoke. The security guard wasn't paying attention to what she was saying, but was paying attention towards her appearance.

Her blonde hair was in a long, pixie haircut that framed her perfect heart shaped face. Her blue eyes were stunning as they seemingly complimented her ruby lips. The woman's figure was to die for with just the right curves in all the right places from what her pale yellow business attire gave out. Not too big, yet not too small on several areas that would practically land her a role as a Victoria's Secret model.

The bandaged guard was so distracted by her looks that he missed seeing her leave her briefcase right where she previously stood. Then again, with the sway of her supple ass made things even more distracting for the man to be distracted by. Just when the blonde was out of sight, Kotetsu snapped out of his trance and saw the woman's briefcase lying on the floor.

"Oh shit." The bandaged guard muttered as he got out of his seat and walked towards the briefcase. Picking it up, he wanted to call out to her, but with more and more employees leaving the building, it was hard for him to call her out. Especially since he didn't know her name.

"Hey." A familiar voice spoke up, causing Kotetsu to turn around to see his roommate returning. "Sorry it took a while getting back man." Izumo said as returned to the security desk. "There was a line and someone clogged one of the toilets… Is something wrong man?"

The bandaged guard dryly looked at his friend before looking back at the entryway as the hot blonde was nowhere to be found. Moving back his glance, Kotetsu just groaned as he walked back to the desk and told Izumo of what happened while he was gone. Suffice to say, his roommate was a little jealous.

"Damn, wish I could've seen that fine ass."

"If you didn't take so damn long, then you just might've."

Looking at the briefcase on their desk, a thought popped up in Izumo's head. "Do you think there's a reward for finding this? Like her giving us her number?"

"Us? Don't you mean me?"

His friend rolled his eyes at this. "Oh please~ You know I'm the more handsome out of the two of us. She'll clearly give the number to me."

"...I'm stronger."

"I'm smarter." Izumo rebutted with a cocky grin.

"Well I got the bigger dick."

"Right~ Like she would want to know that right away."

Rolling his eyes, Kotetsu went back to the situation at hand. "Regardless of getting a reward, I don't know if there's any contact information we could use to get in touch with her."

Looking back at the briefcase, Izumo went down and looked at the lock. "Maybe if we could get into this, then we could find her info… among other things."

"Yeah, yeah." Going down onto his knees, the bandaged guard fiddled around with the side locks for a brief moment. And much to their surprise, the case quickly opened. "Huh… Seems I still got the magic touch."

"In your dreams." Izumo said before the two peered inside of the briefcase contents. The two expected it to be filled with various forms of paperwork, only to find hardly anything at all. Only a few files that seemed to be of Wayne Enterprises orientation papers. "Weird…"

"No ID on any of this stuff." Kotetsu said as he flipped through any of the pages. "Seems that blonde was new here, reason why I didn't recognize her before."

"What should we do about this then?"

The bandaged guard rubbed his head before answering. "Nothing we could do about this now." Closing up the case, he walked to the security guard office and placed it on the table. "My best guess is that she'll show up in the morning for work and we could give it to her then."

"I guess you're right." Izumo soon covered his mouth and let out a yawn. "Man, it's getting late. We should probably head out now."

"Yeah… Wanna go for pizza before heading home?"

"I'm down with that."

The two guards exited the office and closed the door with it's deadlock from the outside. Once done, they made their way towards the building's doors so they could get the alarms set up before the graveyard security personnel arrive. But in the process, they bumped into someone that made them a little ridged: their boss.

"Whoa there, Mr. Wayne. Anything wrong?" Asked the bandaged guard.

Turning to the security guards, Bruce shook his head. "Not really. Just trying to get out before the night alarms are set. I've got a business dinner that I need to get to soon."

"No problem, sir. We were about to head on out ourselves."

"We could walk you to your car, if you'd like." Suggested the hair banged guard.

"Thanks. The alarm system makes me nervous."

"I hear that."

Unbeknownst to the lobby's occupants, at this time, the briefcase started to move… all on it's own inside of the security office room.

...Initiating retrieval designation…

The briefcase handle opened up from one end and receded slightly to show a metallic eye. Looking around the room for a brief moment, the 'briefcase' sprouted tentacle-like legs from its corners. Once it's little transformation ended, it walked off of the desk and made its way outside of the office.

The little robot quietly made it's way across the lobby, once it slowly closed the office door so nothing would seem amiss, before approaching the door to the building's stairwell. The 'briefcase' soon balanced itself as it's front legs expanded and reached the door handle to open it. Once stepping inside, the metallic optic looked upward to see the many flights of stairs.

...Initiating grappling rocket…

A hidden compartment opened up as a device ejected itself from the briefcase-like shell. Pointing towards the ceiling, the device activated and propelled the grappling hook at fast speeds. Once having a strong hold, the little robot was drawn upwards to the desired floor it was tasked on finding.

Coming to a stop, it swung several times before disconnecting the grappling hook from its being to land in front of the designated floor. Making it's way through the door, the little robot walked towards the Research and Development section of the building where most projects are kept outside from Wayne Tech. Lowering itself and walking across the floor, the briefcase bot navigated its way through the security lasers before reaching the main door.

...Initiating hacking protocol…

The keypad lock next to the door started to flash several times before the light went green. Soon the door slid opened for the little robot to enter and navigate across the room to the other side. Coming across another door, the robot's optics saw no door handle as a keyhole was present on the side.

...Initiating laser function…

As there was no other option, the robot's eye started to go red before a laser shot out and made an opening large enough for it to enter. Once done, it's optic receded back so it would charge forward and break through the inaccessible door and into the safe room. As it made it to it's destination, the little robot activated it's laser once again on one of the many safe doors to reveal several rows of microchips.

Back in the building's lobby, Bruce was waiting for the security guards to open up the doors for him to properly exit the building. Though it took a while since they had a bit too many keys on their person and it was hard to tell which one was which. The billionaire knew security personnel sometimes needed more than one key for their occupation, but seeing the oddly comedic amount on the one guard was a bit ridiculous.

Just when the guard was about to finally open the door, the alarms went off.

"Did we set it off by accident?" Bruce asked as his two employees ran back to the security desk.

Izumo was there to arrive first and typed a series of commands on his computer to reveal the breach of security. "No, sir. It's coming from upstairs, in the R&D department." Soon opening up the live feed, he and Kotetsu slightly gasped in what they were seeing.

"What the hell is that thing?" Asked the bandaged guard as the three saw some sort of robot stealing microchips via vacuum hose.

"We better not take any chances." Approaching their boss, Izumo escorted the billionaire to the security office room. "Right this way, sir." Once there, the hair banged guard unlocked the door and motioned their boss inside. "Now for your own safety, you stay put, Mr. Wayne."

As he got inside, Bruce raised a brow before shaking his head. He had no intention of standing around in this room and do nothing about what's going on. Walking to the far side of the room, Bruce pressed a series of buttons on a secret control panel installed before a door opened up for him to enter. Once inside, he closed up the door, changed into his hero persona and made his way to the R&D floor.

Upon reaching said floor, Izumo and Kotetsu had their guns drawn as they ran into the breached room. The pair looked all over but couldn't find the machine that stole from the company. But from the corner of his eye, Kotetsu saw the briefcase bot escaping.

Quickly turning around, the bandaged guard fired several bullets at the retreating 'briefcase' before his partner followed suit. Unfortunate for them, the bullets did nothing in stopping the robot. This forced the two to give chance as they saw it try to access the elevator. As the pair got close, the robot opened up a compartment from its side and sprayed a large amount of gas at them. The two coughed and wheezed before falling down onto the floor in a state of unconsciousness.

With them taken care of, the briefcase bot turned its attention back to the elevator. It eventually opened up for it to enter, but the robot didn't expect someone was already inside. Said occupant was none other than Batman, who glared at the thieving robot. This caused the bot to turn back and run away for another exit.

Not wanting it to get away, Batman fired his grappling gun which wrapped around it's body and held it in place. The robot was rather stubborn in not getting captured as it was being dragged across the ground with Batman pulling back the cable. Wanting to escape, the robot aimed it's eye at the cable and fired a small laser to cut through the bindings. Once done, it soon aimed its sights at the elevator and fired another laser in its proximity with the Dark Knight still inside.

Batman ducked down from being hit by the attack, but didn't realize the laser wasn't meant for him exactly. He learned this the hard way as the elevator was sliced in half, sending the bottom portion down the elevator shaft below. Batman reacted quickly and grasped the ledge before pulling himself up onto the floor.

He then looked around for any sign of the thieving robot, only to find a hole was made at the stairway door. Batman gave chase and ran up the stairs before reaching the rooftop. As he got outside, the Bat quickly ducked from a series of laser fires against him. The hero eyed the briefcase bot and saw it lower itself down before it opened up it's main lid. Batman expected some other attack to happen, but instead a mini- rocket revealed itself before firing its thrusters and flew away from the building as it destroyed the robot in the process.

Not wanting it to get away that easily, Batman aimed his grappling gun and fired before propelling himself into the air. Opening up his cape, it quickly went into it's gliding function as he soared through the air in hopes of catching up. All that he could do, however, was follow the smoke trail the mini-rocket left behind.

Off by the Gotham beach, the mini-rocket went faster and faster before crash landing at the sandy ground. Waiting there was a darkened figure as the person's features were hidden by the slight overcast in the night's sky. The being soon approached the rocket and picked it up before twisting it open to see the stolen microchips inside. Seeing as everything was in order, the person made their way towards the parked car and got inside to start up the engines before driving off with the stolen items.

As the person drove off, Batman arrived onto the scene and saw the retreating vehicle. Wanting to catch up, the Bat derived from the air and went back up to catch the wind underneath his gliding cape. He started to get closer and closer to the vehicle until the trunk opened up to reveal a gattling gun trained right him.

'Oh crap.' The Bat thought as he moved through the air to dodge the incoming bullets trying to take him out.

Batman was able to weave right through the bulletstorm as he dived and rose in the sky. His gliding cape started to falter, causing the Bat to realize his cape was hit several times. He tried to keep himself steady, but it was no use as he ended up diving right into the Gotham waters. It wasn't long after when he rose from the water, gasping for air and swam towards the shoreline. All that he could do now was make it back home as he lost track of the escaping vehicle with his stolen property.

-Batcave-

Underneath Wayne Manor, Alfred Pennyworth was currently dusting off the various displays Bruce had collected over his costumed career. From the recently acquired, ruined minotaur mech from the Nygma case; shark repellent, Victor Fries' Cold Gun, Harvey Dent's two-sided coin, the broken memory device used by Magpie, a giant Joker card and various others. But the one that stood out the most was the 18 ft. tall, 40 ft. long robotic T-Rex.

The former British agent remembered the outcome of that case fondly as it was one of the first outings Master Richard Grayson, otherwise known as Robin and Dick, had with Master Bruce. Dick felt rather accomplished when he took down the robotic T-Rex all those years ago that he wanted to have it moved into the batcave. But Bruce said otherwise as it would've been too difficult to transport and would've drawn too much attention.

Dick was rather heartbroken about it, causing the Wayne butler to convince Bruce to get the piece of machinery into the cave. It did excite the young lad like it was Christmas morning and his birthday rolled into one. Over the years, the Dynamic Duo procured specific items and put them out on display in the cave. Becoming estimates to their victories and to their eventual legacies.

And with how much was built around the giant T-Rex, the one section of the batcave was dubbed 'the trophy room'.

Alfred's little musings ended when he heard the bay doors open with the coming sounds of the batboat coming through the water channels below. The oceanic vehicle was rarely used with Batman's prefered forms of transport were the batmobile and the batplane. But it didn't hurt to have something to travel by sea.

But as to how the batboat got out was the Batman activating an autopilot feature into his vehicles to get to his destination before moving onwards. From the butler's understanding, Bruce radioed him earlier to turn on the autopilot for the batboat before getting the bay doors unlocked. Once done, the oceanic vehicle went off on it's own to retrieve the Dark Knight from who knows where.

As the Bat walked up the steps onto the main floor of his lair, Alfred came up and handed over a towel to his former ward. "Had a nice swim, Master Bruce?"

"You could say that." Bruce answered as he pulled back his cowl to start drying himself off.

Soon the batcomputer started to ring, indicating that a call was getting redirected from the main line. Picking up the phone, Alfred spoke. "Wayne Manor… Ah yes. Give me a moment." He then turned over to the billionaire, who was currently getting out of his batsuit. "Mr. Lucius Fox is on the line, Master Bruce. Shall I put him on the speakerphone?"

"Yeah, but him on for me please." Bruce said as he slipped off more of his suit before speaking up. "Hey Lucius, what's up?"

"Bad news, my friend. They got away with all the prototype protein-silicon wafer chips from R&D."

"And the design specs?"

"Safe in the computer, thank heaven." Lucius sighed out. "The thieves can't duplicate the chips without them. We should discuss tightening security in case they come back."

Bruce nodded as he saw Alfred come back with a fresh pair of clothes. "You're right. Give me at least ten minutes to head on back, Lucius. Thanks."

Ending the call, he walked towards his butler and took his clothes when the former British agent spoke. "What's this about protein-silicon chips, Master Bruce?"

"It's called wetware. The cutting edge of computer research."

"Sounds more like a line of swimsuits, to me."

"I'm talking about Al, Alfred. Artificial intelligence. The missing link between computers and human thought."

Alfred blinked before his eyes widened. "You mean machines that could think? Like you and me?"

"Yes and with a will of their own." As he started to change into the spare change of clothes, Bruce elaborated. "They could process raw data faster than we yet be able to make the leaps of intuition that inspired our greatest minds."

"Sounds as if the human race could become expendable. Well except for butlers, of course."

"Of course. I mean not everything could be properly done with an AI, theoretically speaking."

"Like getting things just right to one's personal perfection." Alfred said as he retrieved the batsuit to put it away. "Or even reminding you that you were supposed to be at a dinner meeting if the robbery didn't take place."

Bruce briefly stopped his actions and processed in what Alfred meant. He then widened his eyes slightly and palmed his face. "That's right, I was supposed to meet up with Naruto and Selina by now."

Selina came to him the other day and pitched an idea about an animal-rights charity event. Bruce was all for it as it would be good PR and to help strengthen the good relationship with the ravenette. Though Naruto decided to join in on the planning as the publisher thought his company could help split the costs since they donate much to humanitarian and animal-rights groups every year or so.

But Bruce was supposed to meet them at the Beret Rouge Club to work through the finer details.

Walking over to the batcomputer, he started typing through his cellular number and gave his publisher friend a call. After a few moments with the ringing sounding throughout the cave, Naruto answered. "Hi Bruce. Say, are you coming to the dinner meeting or not?"

"Sorry Naruto, but something suddenly came up. Mind if we could reschedule the meeting on another night?"

He could hear Naruto sigh over the phone at this point. "Yeah, I'm sure we can reschedule. When Selina shows up, I'll be sure to tell her the unfortunate news."

"Thanks for understanding Naruto and I'll be sure to make up for this, one way or another."

"No problem. Just do what you need to do since I have a feeling it's rather important… Anyways, good night." The publisher said before he ended the call.

"That solves one little problem, for now."

Bruce nodded as he made his way to the manor and to his car in the garage. The robbery situation at his company became first priority. He knows that this wouldn't be the last his company will get robbed, one way or another, but Bruce wants to halter that as much as possible.

Unbeknownst to him, he was going to miss out on something quite interesting involving a certain ravenette and cat people this night.

-Morning, Selina and Shizune's Loft-

Low sounds of groaning could be heard inside of Selina's bedroom as she slowly woke up from her deep sleep. The sun's rays peeking through the blinds, they landed on the couple's eyes to add annoyance on them waking up. With no other choice, the pair started to move in either sleeping in more or wanting to get up.

Naruto was forced to do the later as he absent mindedly phased himself out of Selina's hold and got out of bed before taking a shower all due to last night's events.

'Ugh, feels like my limbs are getting stiff…' Naruto thought as he stretched his aching limbs. 'Starting to feel like an old man…' Once drying himself off and in a clean change of clothes, Naruto saw his lover was still in bed while all wrapped up in a bed sheet cocoon.

"Selina? Are you alright now?" Asked the Uzumaki. Wondering if she was finally better, or at the very least stable after the whole turning into a real Catwoman. He moved his hand to nudge her to see the bedsheets were tighten around the person...once more he did it again as he heard a sigh. "Come on," the publisher said with a small smile. "We all have to face the sun one way or another."

"Go… away…" She warned though Naruto could tell it had no ill intent...just the classic 'I don't wanna' tone. "I have the sheets to block it."

"Now that's not fair." He said with relief filling his eyes. Naruto was truly glad that she wasn't scarred by last night's events. "You know I have the ways of making you… wake up… Man, I could have deliver that line better." The former shinobi scratched the back of his head, admitting that was a bad one.

"Nothing you'll do will get me out of this, Naruto."

Oh no… she made the mistake of making that sound like an challenge… Time for the old Uzumaki prankster genes to kick in.

Whistling a tune, Naruto grabbed various things as if it was nothing wrong as usual. In less than three full minutes, Naruto nudged his lover again with a small smirk. "Okay seriously, this is all you. Are you going to wake up?" He said desperately trying to sound serious and not give anything away, although his face was twitching like crazy. 'Please say no…'

Selina rolled a little in her make-shift bed cocoon, making her lover see a dark shadow inside. All that he could see was her emerald eyes glaring right at him. For a split moment, he thought his ravenette girlfriend was imitating Isis as the black cat sometimes did this when not wanting to leave the comfort of her bed.

Ignoring the instincts and well known experience of trying not to piss of women… he had a duty to his heritage. "I'll assume that as a no~?" He said, knowing what she would do what he hoped.

"Try anything and you're dead."

"...Oh well, I tried. But Kami as my witness… mom, dad, granny Tsunade… this one is for you~" He bumped his fist on his chest while shedding a manly tear.

CLICK~!

Selina rolled back to her old position… that is until the bed suddenly sprung upright, sending her flying. "NARUTO~!" She shouted as she saw clothes hanging onto the clotheslines.

"Going to need this~" Naruto held up one of his formed daggers as it tugged on the sheets, while not miraculously cutting it, it actually snag onto the metal as the person inside was spinning around.

"Wawawawawawa~!" Selina mumbled as her eyes turned into comedic spirals as she spun into the clothes which were large furry jackets and pants.

Naruto casually walked to the kitchen as he grab a markers, all black, and angle them as Selina past right to them marking her face in markings that were similar to whiskers. Before watching her hit the couch… it also sprung up. Naruto just grab a cup of coffee as Selina saw another set of clothes this time it was a tail, furry mittens and cat ears!

"Nononono~!" She cried before she somehow put them on. "I didn't even- WAH~!" She squealed as she return to the bed… before it shot straight up to the ceiling that had velcro on it. Shaking her head, the thief saw she was latching onto the ceiling like a stereotypical cartoon cat.

"...I hate it when you do that!" She growled before looking around in her loft. "And you better be fixing all of this… Again."

"I know, but I just needed to get you out of bed. And to be honest, I could've been more brutal..." He admits before taking a sip of his coffee. "This was Plan B... Plan 'A' involves fire, two sets of trucks filled with fish oil, and possible the entire city of cats."

"...How the fuck will you pull that off?"

"Sad to say, I couldn't find enough oil." He sadly sighed before sipping once more. "Also where is the creamer?" Naruto wondered as he chuckled at the scene.

"...You must have way too much time on your hands to think of that shit."

"Eh~" He replied with a shrug.

"If I ever have a child with you… you are not going to teach him or her any pranks." She declared. "Now get me down from here!"

Her boyfriend merely scoffed at hearing that. "Says you. That shit's genetic. Never knew on that until finding out about my mom… Also just put some strength into it you can get down yourself." He chuckled as he had one last part to his prank.

"Fine~" She moaned before with slight difficulty removed her arms first then realize something… "You… you have something else in mind, don't you?" Knowing that he would always give her his hand after a prank.

"Hmm?" He looked up and gave a odd expression. "What are you talking about?"

"Never mind." Selina sighed, she should have faith in Naruto… removing her legs she fell to the bed…

SPLAT~!

"...I hate you, so much… You're a mean man." She glared at Naruto as she was covered in creamer as the bed somehow was replaced with liquid. "I was sleeping on it... How did you do that?!"

"Trade secret."

"Well you're still cleaning this up." She said as she got up from the bed and made her way towards the shower to wash off the wasted cream and whatever else was on her.

As much as she loves Naruto, one thing she absolutely hates about him is his pranking trait. He tends to go above and beyond on them that it seems impossible on how the majority of them get pulled off in the first place. Even the ones she saw in his past were enjoyable to watch that would make a trap expert green with envy.

Selina loaves when Naruto aims his pranks on her. He doesn't do it all that often, thank god, but when he gets into the mood well your SOB. Though Naruto doesn't do the pranks at all towards Rachel since he doesn't have the heart to put any harm at all towards her.

But any possible boy having interest in dating her would be fair game to the Uzumaki.

Naruto sighed as he summon several Dusks and Creepers as they seemed perplex at the scene. "Don't ask, just clean." He asked as the Nobody's just tiptoed they're way to the bed.

The blonde noticed that one Dusk was using a Creeper as a broom as it swept up the milk, but it left no trace. Another pair of Creepers seem to hover around the milk before they shifted into a pair of vacuum cleaners. "That's weird... They never did that before." He mused as the odd silver beings quickly cleaned up the mess faster than before.

'I wonder if it's because of the new weapons… maybe they're get smarter?' He thought before one Dusk was body slamming another one… 'Eh… Maybe not.'

"Nice cleaning service~" Turning around, Naruto saw his bubbly girlfriend interacting with some of the Creepers while a Dusk waved at both her and Pam. "Heya, you guys playing nice?" She said as one nodded, before being hit on the head by a Creeper hammer wielded by another Dusk. "Ha, reminds of those old 'toons I watched as a kid!"

"Did they show that kind of interaction before?" Pam asked Naruto, who was taking notes in Lexicon. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing, just making some details about these guys. It seems after some prolonged exposure to each other, these guys can adept and work together." He explained as he made some drawings of some Dusk's holding Creepers in their weapons forms.

"Or just mess around without any proper order." Guessed the psychologist as she walked over to the thief's fridge and pulled out some orange juice.

"Been meaning to ask this, but why are you two here?" Questioned the Uzumaki.

"I was bored at home and wanted to check on ya." Replied the bubbly blonde as she poured herself a glass. "Though you weren't upstairs, figured you'd be down here."

"I heard some information from my plants that something occurred last night." Pamela said as she folded her arms. "But I was too busy with something else at the time and was too far away to be of any help. So, I'm guessing it wasn't too bad?"

"If by bad, you mean of Selina getting kidnapped… Then yeah, it wasn't that bad."

The botanist and psychologist blinked a few times in confusion before they ushered Naruto to give an explanation as they sat at the kitchen counter. Basically, Selina got kidnapped by a cat crazed scientist and was turned into a literal Catwoman. He came in to save the day, fought a 7 ft. cat-creature and procured the antigen to get Selina back to normal.

"Wow, I bet it open some doors for you both. Eh~?" Harley said nudging Naruto before a Dusk seemed to shaking, almost imitating laughter. The publisher looked at the Dusk before sending a glare at the particular summon.

"Shut up, before I send you away." Naruto warned as the being continued to clean his mess. "Anyway that's the end of that. But I wonder if Tygrus is fine on that island all by himself."

"Aw~ I would like to see Selina all furry." Harley pouted as a Dusk refilled her drink. "Thanks kid." She patted the Nobody, who seemed to salute to her before resuming its previous task… All the while Ignoring Naruto, who raised his mug for a refill.

"Jerk…" He muttered before looking at the blonde. "Hey Harley...can I ask you for a favor?"

"Sure, what?"

"Can you talk to Selina?" He softly asked. "I know she feels better, but I think she might benefit talking with you, who's a licensed psychologist."

This earned a serious look from the asylum employee. "I dunno, she might take it the wrong way or know I'm digging for something." Harley explained as she finished her drink, allowing a Dusk to grasp the glass with it's tiny arms. "But if you think it that she needs it, I can give it a go." She ended with a large smile.

"Thanks. Sorry for being selfish." He said as felt a small headache. "Okay guys, you can leave now." One by one, he saw each of the Nobody's disburse into plumbs of smoke before he let out a little exhausted breath. "I was summoning way too much there."

"But it looks like nothing happen." Pam announced as she eyed the sparkling loft.

"Huh seems they can mature a bit…" As he stood, Naruto felt one of the glass cups hit the top of his head. "...I bet they planned that one." The former shinobi stated as he brush his hair off any shards that were left. "And now I owe Selina a new cup."

"You most certainly will." Speak of the woman and she shall appear, in a bathrobe and a towel wrapped around her head to dry off her hair. Though it seemed odd for Pam and Harley seeing this since last time they checked, Selina had short hair and the towel bit only applies with long hair.

"I'll get it by the end of the day, I swear." Naruto raised his hand to wave it off.

"Yeah, yeah." Walking past them, she reached her fridge and pulled out a gallon of milk… before bringing the opening to her lips and chugging the entire thing all in one go… without taking a moment to breathe.

"Uhh…" Naruto blinked owlishly at the sight. "You, uh… have a need for calcium today?" He asked knowing that the human body can crave for certain things to benefit the body, but that was usually from neglecting certain food stuff.

Selina didn't respond as she held up a finger to hold that thought. All she wanted to do was to savor the delicious liquid going down her throat at a slow pace. Even moaning a little throughout the process.

"Wow…" Harley said as her eyes danced up and down to see her throat bulge a little before each load of milk was gulped down.

"I think...they're might've been side effects…" Pam said absentmindedly slightly amazed… horrified… erotic… whatever this sight was making her feel.

"You think?" Muttered the changed blonde as she saw Selina finishing the rest and held the container above her lips to let some droplets fall on her tongue.

"Ah~" Selina briefly voiced out before something bubbled in her chest. She then let out a loud burp before coughing a few times as a result. The thief then looked at her empty carton of milk and chuckled slightly. "Seems I need to go shopping for more milk."

Harley lifted a '9.5' score board. "Points on the delivery, but some off due to the ending."

"...Okay, that happened." The botanist said as she scratched her head before walking over to her friend. "Selina, might I check with you?"

"Sure." She said slightly uncaring, making Naruto raise a brow. She usually isn't like this. Hell she was reminding him of…

"Meow~"

"Oh there you are." Naruto said as he picked up Isis from the floor, who looked slightly lost. "Aw crap, her instincts are still there." He realized facepalming.

"What?" Selina said looking back at her lover before she felt Pam opening up her eyelid more before lifting up her lips. The ravenette then smacked the hand away and slightly glared. "Okay, what are you doing?"

"Pupils are fine, slightly… Naruto do you have picture of her? Preferably a close up?" The red haired woman asked.

"I got one." Pulling out a wallet from her purse, Harley opened it up to show one of several photos she had with the girls present in the loft.

"Hmm… just as I thought, look." She walked to Naruto pulling him to see the photo then to see Pam open the eyelids again. "You see?"

"Her pupils are different shape." He said as he let go of the photo, "Her eyes are slightly slight, nearly impossible to noticed."

"Not to mention her canines are sharper than usual." Added in the botanist.

Getting annoyed by this, with a twitch of her eye, Selina spoke her thoughts. "Okay, what the hell are you talking about?"

"And she is easily more moodier now than before." Pam pointed out at the twitched.

"So… what, she adapted to the splicing or something?" Suggested the bubbly blonde.

"Stop ignoring me like I'm not here!" Selina roared as she felt something in her hands. Looking down and saw her nails slightly became sharp. "The fuck?"

"Looks like it." Naruto said before moving forward to grasp Selina's hands, who moved out of the way on instinct. "Please look at me." Her lover spoke softly with slight worry in his eyes. "We didn't mean to upset you, Selina. We're just worried about you, that's all."

"...Sorry." She took a deep breathe as her nail's retracted.

"There's something I need to ask you about."

"Which is what, Red?"

"Did you, perchance, have an odd dream last night?"

The ravenette raised a brow and voiced her thoughts. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Just answer it please."

Selina soon rolled her eyes. "Yeah I did, something from a fever dream."

"And what did you see exactly?" Not getting an answer right away, Pam sighed. "Look. I don't care how odd it may be, but tell us… if you remember anything at all."

Selina tilted her head back as she adopted a thinking pose. Pacing back and forth around the kitchen before pulling off the towel around her head. The damp locks rolled out as the hair reached past her shoulders and slightly bounced. "Well… I remember this red, hued landscape."

"Anything else? Did you see something out of the ordinary?" Asked the botanist as Selina shook her head.

"I said I… wait… I remember… a cat."

Naruto sweatdropped on that bit of information. "Well, that's useful."

"And how odd is it for Selina to not dream of cats anyways." Harley chimed in. "I mean, doesn't she fantasize about anything feline related. Hell, even the feline Dream Spirits enjoy being around her than either of us."

"No, I mean like a giant sphinx cat." Selina explained slowly regaining her recollection from last night dreams. "And… And she had a mix of cat and toad eyes. Saying I was at… a Red Place."

Hearing this got Pam to sigh a little as she spoke. "That confirms it."

"Confirms what, Pam?"

"Some of the physical changes remained after the antigen did it's work are merely just a scratch on what happened to you."

"Heh, scratch." Harley giggled out before seeing the others look at her. "You know 'scratch' since she's like a cat now…" Seeing as neither of them were laughing, she hung her head and ushered them to continue.

"...As I was saying." Continued the botanist as she brought her attention back towards her friend. "Asides from the physical changes, you also visited that place in particular."

"And what place is that?"

"Like you said: you were at a Red Place."

It was then that things clicked with the resident Uzumaki, with his eyes slightly widened and quickly turning towards the botanist. "Are you sure, Pam?"

Seeing her boyfriend's reaction, with him knowing what's up, she nodded. "Yes, I'm sure."

Both Harley and Selina adopted confused expressions as to what Naruto and Pam were talking about. Said individuals soon noticed the others' reactions as they realized an explanation was in order. But question was: who would do it out of the two.

"Could you explain it, given that you have better knowledge than I do?" Naruto asked the red haired woman, who shrugged knowing he was right. "I'll get a pot ready, since it's a long story." The publisher stated as he found some tea leave containers. "Any flavors you girls want?"

The three gave their respective demands as the botanist started out with the little lesson about the Colored Nature Groups. Pamela went into detail with part of her side occupation as a Champion of the Green, which pertained to her meta-abilities over plant-life and everything that came with it. She then explained each of the other groups in general with a small example for each, like Solomon Grundy with the Black/Rot, before getting to the main topic of the discussion: the Red.

"Here." Their boyfriend passed out their respective cups, thankfully in time as Selina was slightly awe and stunned at the explanation. Though on the other end of the attentive spectrum, Harley was slightly bored as her mind went elsewhere from time to time. Pam was trying to make it interesting, but with the blonde's current mindset it tends to switch back and forth.

"So… I'm the champion of Red?" The cat lover concluded as she drank her peppermint tea.

"From my understanding Selina, you might possibly be in a minor category."

"Possibly?" Naruto voiced knowing that it wasn't like Pam to leave things to chance. "I mean... I know I could be considered 'minor' with me only having little access to the Green, but aren't you a little harsh there?"

"It's hard to tell at this point since she just barely got these current abilities, which we'll need to figure out through training. Especially since some of your previous enhancements through the serum I gave you, back in May, would've changed dramatically." The botanist answered as she sipped some of her Earl Grey. "But don't you remember anything from what this giant Sphinx cat told you last night? She could've helped out more on the details."

"I… think so?" The ravenette scratched her head as she tried to remember. "Things were fuzzy, like most dreams are. But if I meet her again, if I could, then I'll ask."

"A name perhaps?" The blonde asked drinking some green tea before shivering in slight disgust as he forgot to add sugar.

"...I think her name's Stopgap. Any significance with it, Pam?"

"No clue. I only know significant names with the group I'm associated with. Names with the other Nature groups are pretty tight lipped."

"Stopgap… I swear I heard before." The blonde mumbled scratching the back of his head.

"It means temporary fix, like using a picture frame to cover a hole. Good for a bit, but you still have to address the problem sooner or later." Harley informed them before drinking her gunpowder tea. "Those kind of terms are used alot in my field when categorizing people's habits."

"Anything else?" Pam asked as the blonde shook her head comically. "Then if there's nothing else-"

"I do suggest kitty here should get house trained."

"...Excuse me?" Asked the ravenette as she felt offended.

"Well~ You're part pet now and your animal instincts might take over from time to time… like downing the entire carton of milk all in one go."

"Just because I'm acting more like a cat doesn't imply that I will pee wherever I want!" Selina shouted at Harley while turning red at the accusation.

"Then just be sure you don't claw up any couches or furniture in the foreseeable future and then we'll call it good."

"I don't do it even now!"

Naruto however pointed at her hand with a deadpan expression. "Uhh… might wanna check again."

She turn her head down to see that she tore up armchair rest to shreds, "...I am going to need to some time to adjust to this."

"You should probably start bringing your nail filer or clipper with you for now on."

"And something to curb your anger." Harley stated, feeling a bit bad that her joke made Selina angry. "I can help with that, if you want."

"Uh huh. With what?"

"This~"

Before Selina realized it, Harley threw a big yarn ball over the thief's head.

"I am not…" Selina eyes shifted to the ball before looking back. "Going to…" Once more her eyes turn back to the still rolling ball. "Not… resisting well…" She said with pain look on her face… before jumping on the ball of yarn clawing it with her hands. And before long, Isis jumped out of Naruto's lap and joined her changed mother in the action.

"Oh~ I'm going to enjoy this." The botanist voiced out as the psychologist gleefully nodded.

"Yeah and I'm going to exploit the hell out of this for a very long time." Harley stated as she thought of getting a bunch of catnip to see how high her friend could get and acquiring some laser pointers.

Naruto just watched as Isis and Selina just try to keep the ball away from one another. "This... is a fun day." He said taking a quick photo to blackmail her at a later time.

-Cafe Triste-

"Welcome to Cafe Triste, where our coffee is always 'triste-worthy'." A teen woman greeted a young woman, who was next in line amongst many others.

The person who stood in front of the cashier was a red haired woman, barely in her twenties. Smiling at the employee, she placed her order and paid it before navigating her way through the crowd at one of her favorite establishments. The coffee shop was, thankfully in her thoughts, inside a bookstore that she always visited.

Her long, straight red-orange hair was so vibrate and stunning it nearly made people compare it to a afternoon sunset. She fixed her glasses, noting that it was slightly off in her vision. It was squared framed and black, matching her intellectual appearance well. Her eyes were a perfect dark shade of amethyst that shined when the light hit it in the right angle. Her skin was nice healthy skin tone, a fleshy peach complex for someone her age should have. She wore a yellow dress shirt and brown plaid skirt, while plain it didn't make her any less beautiful.

Once finding an available table, the redhead placed her belongings down before situating herself into the seat. With how busy it was, it'll be a while until her order will be ready. Knowing this, the redhead pulled out a notebook from her messenger bag and looked over it's contents.

'Okay… Need to do some adjustments on this one paper before I submit it first thing next week.' She thought before looking over the other documents in her possession. 'After that, I need to talk to daddy about more of his past cases for references on my side project.'

Said 'side project' was a book she was writing for quite some time now. Based off of various cases her father worked throughout his entire career as an officer of the law. It started out as an assignment from her creative writing course, but it seemed to continue on from there. On most of her free time, the redhead would dabble into her novel and either do adjustments or add things in to hopefully make things better.

The redhead looked over her little novel and bit her inner mouth with a little crinkle of her lips. Everything is doing well throughout the book, but she keeps having a hard time trying to write up the last few chapters to end things properly. Writers blocks are not something she enjoys coming across, but she goes back to it after some form of distraction to have her 'refreshed' before getting back into her project.

"What I wouldn't give to get some professional opinion on this." The spectacled woman muttered under her breath. "Not only that, but some great inspiration to drive this all the way through."

"A grande soy latte with extra whipped cream and an extra large black coffee for... Miss Barbara?" The cashier spoke out, getting the spectacled redhead to snap out of her train of thought. Barbara saw her order at the counter before standing up to grab her drinks.

She navigated her way through the crowd once again as it seemed tighter than before. As the redhead grabbed her drinks, she turned around… only to bump into someone on accident, causing her drinks to get spilled onto the man's clothes. "Oh crap! I'm so sorry!"

The male gave a small chuckled as he wiped off the remaining liquid and whip cream that didn't soak into his jacket and shirt, "It's fine, could've been worse." He grabbed a few napkins to dry the wet spots on his clothes while moving out of the crowd. "You don't need to worry about it, ma'am."

"Still, I should pay for the cleaning." Barbara insisted as the man sat down at her table.

He merely waved her off at her attempt. "Nah, it's fine. Water will help get the leather to not all sticky. And as for the shirt, I'll just throw it into the wash when I get home." Barbara was feeling bad on him not accepting her offer, but she still apologized with the hot beverages spilt onto him. "It's fine. I have a… tolerance to hot liquids, per say… Don't ask."

What Naruto was slightly referring to was the training he got from Talia years ago and amongst the vast things he learned from her was being slightly intolerant to hot liquids. She said that the Sohei Buddhist warriors believed that you must first fight with the mind before the weapon. It was a good concept, needing to think ahead in any kind of battle on various scenarios.

But that wasn't all that she was referring to as she poured hot liquids on top of her bare hand.

Naruto freaked out at her doing this, but somewhat calmed down as Talia stated that pain is inevitable yet suffering is optional. It was a cold outlook on how she stated it, but said it's what her father taught her and her sister years ago. Regardless of the philosophy; the lesson was to help numb yourself to specific, receiving pains. And with the former shinobi having dealt with different sources of pain throughout his life, he could at least numb himself to hot liquids.

So two cups of really hot coffee wouldn't cause much harm to him, even with his healing factor.

Once he dried off the wet stains, Naruto looked at the spectacled woman. "Though I should say that I'm sorry, miss, and buy those drinks that were spilled. I think it was my fault that happened."

"You don't have to."

"But I insist." He firmly said. "You purchased those drinks and I ruined them. Please, let me help you on this."

Barbara was going to refuse the offer, like he did towards hers, but he stood up and quickly made his way towards the counter and seemingly made his way towards the cashier. Once again, Barbara felt bad that he was doing this but he was obviously trying to a simple courtesy on what was obviously her fault. Then again, the place was busy and accidents could happen with how crowded it is.

Before the redhead knew it, the man returned with a small smile. "Well I got your order and it'll be ready sometime soon. And before you ask if I got them right, I handed back the cups to the employees up front when I ordered."

"...How?" She asked with a raised brow. "How were you able to order so quickly?"

"Eh~ I have my ways."

Barbara shook her head before finally inspecting the man sitting in front of her. He seemed rather familiar to her with the silver hair, his deep hazel eyes and whiskered cheeks. The redhead couldn't place him right away as she seemed lost in his strong, handsome eyes.

"Has anyone told you, you have really beautiful hair?" He suddenly asked, causing her to snap her out of her thoughts and look at him oddly.

"What?"

He nervously chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry about that. It's just that red hair seems to stand out to me a lot and you have a perfect blend of red and orange that compliments well with your amethyst eyes."

Barbara blushed a little on the whiskered man's compliment as she didn't receive one before… well except from her father. "T-Thanks."

"No problem."

An awkward feel filled the little area, causing Naruto to wander his eyes a little. They soon landed on her opened notebook and tried to make out what it was, out of curiosity, but chose against it. Naruto then looked back at the redhead, who was also looking away and had a feeling as she too felt the awkward air.

Wanting to end the feeling, Naruto spoke with a thought in mind. "So… Who's the second coffee for?" This got her attention as the publisher continued. "I'm guessing the latte is yours, since I think you seem the type of person that likes it's soothing taste. But is the second drink for a friend or what?"

Barbara looked at him with a skeptic look. Even though he was a cute guy, she wasn't going to give out much on her answer… asides from a little necessity. "It's for my dad. Just wanted to get him something when I stop by where's he's at very soon."

"Well that's nice of you."

"Thanks… So since you asked me something, mind if I ask you one?"

"Shoot."

"You seem rather familiar to me, but I can't quite place it for some reason. Would you mind telling me your name?"

Naruto blinked at this and was about to speak when one of the coffee shop employee's spoke up. "A tall, green tea latte; one grande soy latte with extra whipped cream and a venti black coffee for... Mr. Naruto?!"

"...I'll be right back." Was all the Uzumaki said before he got up and went to grab his order. When he got back with the cardboard cup carrier, he was met the slight wide-eyed look coming from the spectacled redhead. "...Yes?"

"You're Naruto?

"Yes." The whiskered man answered as he sat down, pulled out the green tea latte from the carrier and handing the carrier to the redhead.

"As in Naruto Uzumaki?"

"Is there any other Naruto out there in the world?"

A blush dusted her cheeks as she looked away slightly. "Sorry."

"There's nothing really to be sorry about. Though I do feel a little left out that you know my name, yet I don't know yours." Seeing her flustered look, Naruto mentally chuckled. "Well introductions are probably in order. Name's Naruto Uzumaki. What's yours?"

Getting out of her flustered state, the spectacled redhead answered once composing herself. "It's Barbara. Barbara Gordon."

"Well it's nice to meet you Barbara." He said with a small grin before it went down. "Wait… Gordon? Like Commissioner Gordon?"

"Yeah, he's my dad. You got a problem with that?"

The Uzumaki shook his head. "Not at all, really. He helped me out a few times in the past and I appreciated it a lot."

Barbara nodded as she knew about some cases her father took as he briefly talked about them. One involved the Joker Fish incident and Naruto's name was on the news. She asked her father on the details as he went on why the Uzumaki was being targeted by the crazed clown. She admits that Naruto's action was rather ballsy, but earned her some respect in her book.

Speaking of…

"Can I ask you something?"

"You just did." He cheekily said, getting a playful glare in return. "But since I'm in a good mood, I'll give you another."

Barbara let out a small chuckle from this before pulling out a separate notebook from her messenger bag. Taking a good look at it's pages, Naruto saw that it seemed thick enough to work for a standard novel size. He then looked at the title written down in marker before reading it outloud.

"The Binary Beast?"

"It's a story that I've been writing for quite some time now." Answered the commissioner's daughter with a small grin. "Started out as a little writing habit from my creative writing class at college and I got inspired by hearing more of my dad's cases in the past in wanting to write all of this down."

"...I'm guessing you want my honest opinion about it. Is that right?"

"If that wouldn't be so much trouble."

Naruto thought about it for a brief moment before shrugging. "Okay, I'll take a look at it." Barbara sighed and said 'Thank you' before the Uzumaki spoke up. "But don't think that you're the commissioner's daughter that I'll give you special treatment on this. I'll be very thorough about this and will give you criticisms on what you possibly need to do before you possibly hope of having this published."

The spectacled redhead blinked before quickly nodding. "Of course. I wouldn't have it any other way. Hell, it's a good way to better myself by getting hard criticisms on how to make my work better than before."

"Good. Now is there anything else I should know about this book before I take it and look it over? And I'll be sure to give it back to you, in person, once I'm done with it and have my notes for this story added in as a separate document."

Barbara nervously chuckled before answering. "Well… to tell you the truth. I'm not quite done with the last portion of the book. I'm stuck and I needed some help or some better inspiration to get me to finish this up."

"Good to know on that Miss Gordon." He said as he placed Barbara's notebook into his messenger bag.

Naruto could understand what Barbara was dealing with right now. He had several upcoming writers in the past come to him or his editors for some help in finishing up their books. Neither the Uzumaki or his editors finished the books, but gave advice on how to possibly work right through it as they were fresh eyes to the unfinished work.

"And speaking of inspiration... I was wondering how you were inspired into writing your books."

"Life experiences, mostly. But before you get into asking me about my 'Icha Icha' series and 'Gutsy Ninja', I inherited those from my late godfather and I wanted to publish them in his memory. So don't think I'm a pervert for writing the former."

"Not at all. But what about your latest book that just came out: Final Fantasy?"

"Honestly? Well it's hard to tell, but the idea just came to me (among several others). From there, it was just a lot of research through fantasy novels I previously published to going over a lot of Dungeons and Dragons materials to get a better layout on most parts."

"Thanks. I just wanted to know." Barbara looked at the green tea latte and saw he hasn't even touched it at all and voiced her thoughts. "Aren't you going to drink that? I think it's getting a little cold."

"Oh this?" Emphasising by shaking the latte drink in his hand. "This isn't mine, it's my young ward's. She's just wandering around the bookstore getting new stuff for her ever growing book collection and I got her this drink since she asked me to."

"Well that's nice of you."

"Speaking of, shouldn't you be giving your father his coffee by now?"

Barbara blinked before widening her eyes. She almost forgot on why she came here before. Grabbing her things, the spectacled redhead thanked Naruto once again for buying her drinks and looking over her book before running out of the coffee bookshop.

Naruto chuckled as he saw her leave before getting up from his seat. The Uzumaki needed to find his young ward inside of the bookstore. With her growing interests in books as of late, Naruto is sure she'd be gathering a large stack in hopes of him buying it all for her. He possibly might while getting the rest for her birthday next month.

-Wayne Tech-

"When I told the mayor the nature of the theft, he insisted I oversee the investigation." Commissioner Gordon spoke as he stood inside of Bruce Wayne's office alongside Lucius Fox. "Question is, where could the thieves sell this stuff?"

"Beats me." Answered the Wayne CEO. "The only other group researching Al on this coast is Karl Rossum's team at Cybertron."

"I thought Rossum was retired."

It was then Bruce spoke up to clear up the confusion. "Karl went into semi-seclusion after the loss of his daughter." Rising from the seat of his desk, the dark haired billionaire looked through his office window with small memories coming back to him. "He taught me everything about electronics when I came back to Gotham from my years abroad. But he's been more active in business as of late."

Gordon nodded as he spoke. "I'll be sure to talk to him, Mr. Wayne."

Before the police commissioner could make his way out of the office, the doors opened up as a spectacled redhead poked her head right through. "Dad, you in here?" She then looked further in and saw her father was still in a meeting with Mr. Wayne and his CEO. "Bad timing?"

Bruce saw the unexpected guest and widened his eyes slightly. "Barbara? Wow, you've grown since I last saw you. Come in."

Taking the invitation, Barbara walked into the office with a cardboard cup carrier with a small smile on her face. "Sorry I'm late dad. Something held me up at the one coffee shop you like your stuff from."

"No problem sweetie." Her father responded as he was handed his prefered drink.

Bruce came closer to the father/daughter pair before he spoke to the redhead. "It's been, what, four years? I thought I would've seen you at your father's Commissioner Ceremony last year."

"I was there, Mr. Wayne, but only for a short time. Had some projects and assignments that were due and could only stay for the actual ceremony before slipping out."

"And what are you doing now? College?"

"Obviously." Her father replied as he took a sip of his drink. "And she's made the Dean's List after the hard work she's done so far."

"Especially with the gymnastics scholarship alongside the long hours working at the library. Practically live there on most days as both a librarian and a student."

"Speaking of. What are you going for, Barbara?" Bruce asked.

"Well I'm aiming on getting a bachelors in Criminal Justice with a technologys minor."

"Hoping on joining the GCPD like your father?"

"She'd need to earn more than just the degree if she wants to join the force, you know." Answered the father as he crossed his arms. "She still has what it takes to join the olympics one day and I think she should compete in that first before taking the entrance exams."

Bruce chuckled on seeing how protective the commissioner was towards his daughter. The man hoped in delaying his daughter's attempt in joining the force since he still thinks his daughter is still a little girl… even though she's in her early 20's.

The billionaire was going to say more on the subject when his eye landed on something unique poking out of the redhead's messenger bag. It appeared to be a blue-eyed teddybear with a black top hat and bowtie. The plushie seemed a little worn out on some areas as he could see little breaks on the seams while continuous patch ups were made over the years.

"And who's your little friend?"

Barbara raised an eyebrow before realizing what Bruce meant. Opening up the messenger bag flap a bit more, she pulled out her teddy bear. "This is Freddy, my best friend since pre-K?" The redhead chuckled as she handed the plushie to Bruce. "Dad can't seem to pick me up at the airport without bringing him along."

Hearing this caused Gordon to faintly blush in slight embarrassment. "Yes, well, he knows the way better than I." Recomposing himself, he escorted his daughter out of Mr. Wayne's office. "So you go talk to Rossum, and I'll start things moving on my end."

As the father/daughter pair got out of the office, alongside Lucius, Bruce looked down and saw he still had Barbara's teddy bear on hand. He was about to leave to hand it back when Gordon quickly opened the door.

"Heh, sorry. Barbara forgot her bear. She'd kill me if anything happened to him." Was all the father said before he snagged the plushie and left, leaving Bruce chuckling at the commissioner's little expense.

-Cybertron-

It took some time for Bruce to arrive at his destination as it was not only located on the far side of the city, but also along the coastline. It wouldn't be much of a problem if it weren't for the fact the road getting there was big enough for a single car lane. Bruce had to wait for quite a while as several Cybertron marked trucks passed on by before he guessed it was time for him to proceed further on his path for answers.

Arriving at the company parking lot, Bruce exited his car and made his way towards the building's entrance. It was rather vacant, in his opinion, as the area seemed barren of any additional employee vehicles. The billionaire figured that he arrived when the company's work day was at its standard end and the trucks from earlier were making their deliveries.

Coming to the front doors, Bruce saw no visible door handle for him to use to enter. He was about to search for another, possible entrance when the doors opened up on their own. Bruce expected someone on the other side, only to see a small yellow robot with a monitor screen for a head… which had a message shown on its 'face'.

...Welcome, Bruce Wayne. Please follow me...

The billionaire raised a brow as the robot ushered him into the building. The two went through several hallways before coming across an elevator. Bruce was about to press the button, as per usual habit, when the doors opened up to reveal the Cybertron CEO: Karl Rossum.

The man was of short stature, compared to Bruce's height, with his greying brown hair and pale blue eyes. Currently wearing a brown, business attire in a rather loose feel to it. Then again, with the tired look the man wore it would be understandable he would somewhat have a laid back appearance, to some degree.

"Bruce Wayne." Karl spoke with a growing smile. "I'm so glad you called. It's been years." Ushering the dark haired man inside of the elevator, Rossum pressed the desired floor button before the doors closed on them. "I heard about the theft of those chips, my boy. You need better security."

"So I've been told, Karl." Soon the doors opened up to Karl's intended floor before the two stepped out. Bruce then spoke as he followed Rossum through the hallway. "But I'm just curious if anyone's tried to sell you any wetware."

Karl shook his head. "Afraid not. But if anyone does, of course, you'll be the first to know."

"I appreciate it. Really I do."

"It's no problem." The two then entered Karl's office as Bruce eyed the various gadgets and robot models littering the CEO's office. Coming closer to Karl's desk, Bruce sat down on the nearby chair as Rossum smiled at him. "Would you like a cappuccino?"

"Why yes, thanks."

Bruce expected Karl to go to a coffee machine he had installed in his office, only for him to press a button on his nearby lamp. To the billionaire's surprise, the lamp started to shift and change into something else. A cup then popped out from the bottom before the liquid beverage was poured from the machine's top. Once done, Bruce blinked on what he just saw. He remembered Karl's robotic work tends to be one thing and turn into another like one of those Transformers toys he saw advertised on some shops and commercials.

'Seems he actually brought them into reality, per say.' Thought the dark haired man. "Uh… thank you." Taking the cup into his hand, the billionaire took a sip and enjoyed the taste. "Now, me coming here and asking about what you know on my chips isn't the only reason I came." Drinking another sip, Bruce spoke again. "I was wondering about your own Al research."

"Right… Well once you finish your drink, I'll show you my pride and joy."

Seeing as he wasn't in any hurry, Bruce took his time to finish his hot beverage. As he took the last of his drink, Bruce handed the cup back to Karl before being escorted out of the man's office. The two went back to the elevator from before going down to a deeper level. As they reached its end, the doors opened up to an extremely large space when Karl spoke.

"Now, Bruce. This here is my greatest achievement." The Cybertron CEO said as he walked out and showed the large machine that practically filled the entire space of the room. It seemed rather intimidating the to billionaire, especially with the red optical eye faintly glowing near the top with it's two 'horns' sparking with electricity. "My prototype Al: HARDAC."

"...I'm sorry but what does HARDAC stand for?"

It was then that a door opened up from the machine's side. Exiting right through, Bruce saw someone with a rather feminine figure in a protective suit and mask over her form. Taking off the mask, he saw the woman's perfect heart shaped face with her stunning blue eyes. She then spoke the man's question with her ruby lips. "Holographic Analytical Reciprocating DigitAl Computer: HARDAC."

"Okay… And how did you hear me from the door?"

The woman merely smirked a little with her blue eyes seemingly shining a bit. "The little window was thin enough for me to hear."

Bruce nodded as Karl spoke up. "Bruce, this is Randa Duane, my assistant."

Not wanting to be rude, Randa took off one of her gloves before holding out her hand. The billionaire followed the action and grasped her hand to shake it. Though he fought back of letting go on what he felt.

"Your hand is like ice." Bruce said in a surprised tone."

"Sorry." Apologized the assistant as she let go. "I've been in the cold room."

"So tell me, what does HARDAC do?"

"Now, Bruce" Karl voiced out as he stepped between the two with a teasing grin. "I can't tell you all of my secrets now, can I?" Stepping away from the pair, Rossum scratched his head and thought on what he could properly state to his guest. "Let's just say that certain... That certain projects are under his control."

Bruce blinked a few times before he saw Karl look at HARDAC with a certain gaze in the man's eyes. The billionaire shook his head before speaking up. "Well... since you won't tell me what you're working on, Karl, maybe I can charm details out of your lovely assistant."

Randa tilted her head and gave Bruce a teasing grin. "Well, you can try."

Feeling up for the challenge, the billionaire asked the charming assistant. "Dinner, tomorrow night at my place?"

The woman thought about the offer before giving Bruce a little shrug. "I don't see why not. Though it'll be after 8… I tend to work late."

Bruce smirked a little before walking away from her. "Well, I better get going. Things to do and prepare for, you know."

Karl then spoke up as he walked beside the dark haired man. "Come on Bruce, I'll walk you out."

As the two left HARDAC's room, a synthesized voice was heard shortly after. "Randa… You did not bring me the design specifics I needed."

The assistant looked upwards towards the large machine and looked straight at the glowing red eye. "There wasn't time to get them from Wayne's data banks. I'll try again tomorrow."

"...Some people in high places are becoming too curious about this operation." HARDAC spoke as Randa walked towards him to continue her daily tasks. "They must be dealt with accordingly."

"I understand." Randa said as she pulled back the hood of her protective gear to reveal her long, pixie blonde hair. Coming up to a door built into HARDAC's frame, it opened up to reveal a shadowy figure standing there with no movement at all.

"Now… The next duplicant is ready. See to its placement tonight."

-Evening, Gordon Residence-

Inside of the living room; James Gordon was in his sleepwear, sitting on the couch as he read one of the books he wanted to catch up on. With how busy things have been as of late, the commissioner enjoyed the simpler things to unwind his mind from work. Even with his daughter's presence helped out on that little endeavour, in his opinion.

Taking his eyes off the pages, James briefly glanced at his daughter's old stuffed animal Freddy as old memories surfaced. Barbara got the old plushie when the old family was all together one last time at Fredbear's Family Diner roughly fifteen years ago. Before his ex-wife Barbara Eileen, who their daughter is named after, walked out on them.

Everything seemed fine on that day as their children were happy as could ever be. The parents were off from work that day and spent the entire time together as a family. James' ex-wife purchased the stuffed animal for Barbara, due to how much she was eying it during their meal. Barbara grew so attached to the little guy that they were practically inseparable. James remembered the scene as rather touching and figured nothing bad could ever happen too soon.

He was, however, too wrong as a few days passed when his wife left the family. There were no reasons given at all to her sudden departure as it frustrated James to no end. This resulted in having Barbara become closed off for years and J.J. (James Jr.) became a little trouble child.

As years went by, J.J. started to distance himself from his father and sister. Nothing could be done to really repair their strained relationship as Barbara Sr. was the root of the problem, as to what the counselors and therapists stated. And when J.J. graduated high school, he moved out of Gotham and went to attend college in Chicago.

Neither he or his daughter heard from him ever since as they occasionally wonder what's happening in his life.

Speaking of his daughter, Barbara was lying in front of the fireplace as she worked on her school assignments. She was rather chipper than before as they left Wayne Tech earlier today, which did confuse him. Barbara only showed so much emotions while together and with certain friends, but while spending some of the day together his spectacled daughter seemed happier all of a sudden.

Asking about it, James learned his daughter got into a small accident with Naruto Uzumaki at the coffee shop she regularly goes to. The publisher didn't blame her at all on what happened before he went out of his way to pay for her replacement drinks. Barbara wanted to pay for his cleaning, the Uzumaki politely refused the offer as it wasn't that much of a big deal.

Things progressed from there as the two started talking with her bringing up this one book she has been writing for some time now. Naruto gave her advice as he accepted to look over her book. Barbara seemed rather excited about it as she thought he was a great guy so far and hoped to see him again.

James inwardly chuckled as it seems his daughter was finally developing a crush for the first time with how he noticed her blushing cheeks. The commissioner did have a brief thought that he could've introduced the two sooner, if he ever had the proper chance. Naruto was a good kid as he was a self-made man in both founding and owning a successful publishing business. The Uzumaki would've been the perfect man to be with his daughter as he was kind, respectful and did things for others.

'Too bad he's already in a relationship with Ms. Isley or else I would've gotten the two together.' James thought before he heard the doorbell ring. He spoke up as he got up from the couch. "I'll get it, princess. You keep hitting those books."

"Okay, dad."

Reaching the door, Gordon opened it to see a pair of individuals standing in the darkness. Wanting to be polite, he spoke to them. "Yes? May I help you with something?"

There wasn't a verbal response at all as one of the shadowy figures stepped forward. The person's features were starting to show from the porch lights. Upon seeing the man better, Gordon widened his eyes in shock.

"What the-?!" Before he could say anything else, his mouth was covered to muffle his scream as he was shocked by a taser. The electric charge was too much for him, causing him to collapse into the person's arms.

Back in the living room, Barbara was working on her homework assignments as she hummed a pleasant tune. Though her mind started to drift elsewhere at some point as he kept thinking about the whiskered publisher she met earlier today. Barbara started to remember where she previously saw him as it was earlier this month.

The spectacled redhead was running errands downtown after classes that day. It was a rather 'off day' for her as she felt depressed. It wasn't unusual for her to feel this way as nothing seemed exciting in her life. Working full-time before college started back up, working on her novel for fun while keeping up with her gymnastics skills ate up a whole lot of her free time. Got to the point when Barbara viewed her life through the typical 'same shit, different day' scenario.

But things seemed to change when Barbara heard music coming from a music shop…

...Yeah odd for getting such a reaction from such a place, but it what was being played that drew her attention and to go inside. The melody was calming and had this indescribable feel that wanted her to listen at its source. Getting inside of the music shop, the redhead saw a pair of individuals standing in front of a silver haired, whiskered man as he played something from a guitar.

She didn't know how long she stood inside of the shop, but all that she did realize was the man played five songs total with the last four hardly ever stopped as he transitioned quickly into the next one. Barbara didn't know why, but she felt this little odd ache in her heart that she hadn't felt in a long time. Yet the songs soothed the pain as she continued listening till the last note was strung when she realized a crowd was formed by the man's playing.

"And to think Naruto's not only a great writer and publisher, but also a handsome musician to boot." Barbara muttered with a small, dreamy sigh before she realized what just said. On a small instinct, she moved over on the ground to see if her father heard her. If he did, well, she'd probably get teased for it or something.

Luckily for her, her father was not in the living room but seemed to take longer to get back for some reason. Ever being the worried daughter, Barbara got up from the ground and walked towards the door to see what's going on with her father. It would usually be either a case or some other police business that took up this much time. Upon reaching the door, it appeared to be neither as her dad closed the door.

"Dad? You okay?"

"I'm fine." Her father responded in a bland tone.

"Who was at the door?" Came the obvious question, though it wasn't answered. Feeling worried that something wrong must've happened, she grasped his hand to comfort him a little; only to jolt back a little on the feeling. "Were you outside? Your hand is like ice."

"I'm fine."

Entering the living room, Barbara got back onto the carpeted floor to get back to her assignments. When she looked back at her father, who barely approached the couch, he did something that he never done before… smacking Freddy away in a rough manner.

With widened eyes, Barbara voiced her concern. "Dad, are you sure?"

"I said 'I'm fine', Barbara." He responded in a colder tone, getting her to flinch in response.

The spectacled redhead tried to go back into her studies and assignments, but her eyes kept going back to her father as he went back into reading his book. That was never like him at all of being rough inside of their home. Well except when J.J. lived with him as things were strained while growing up, but that was besides the point.

'Who was at the door that caused you to act this way, dad?' Barbara thought as she periodically looked back at her father before going to bed.

-Next Day, Wayne Enterprises-

"...As of last night, Karl Rossum hadn't been approached to receive stolen goods." Spoke the Wayne billionaire as he typed away into his computer. "But he knew what was stolen."

Lucius nodded as he adopted a thinking pose. "So you'll try to squeeze some info from his assistant tonight."

Bruce stopped typing as he looked at his friend with a raised brow. "Squeeze may not be the best word in the current situation."

The CEO merely chuckled in response. "Sorry, but with your reputation as a 'playboy', things tends to get that thought to come to mind."

The billionaire rolled his eyes at this. "Well, to possibly help cover my tracks, I decided to improvise a little in hopes of throwing off Randa's guard."

"And what would that be?"

Bruce was about to answer when he heard the door to his office being knocked. Soon the doors opened up to reveal Randa walking in with a cream jacket and a brown shirt and skirt combo. Around her shoulder was her brown purse, matching her attire.

"I hope I'm not interrupting.

The billionaire shook his head. "Not at all. We're just installing new computer safeguards."

"Well then, I'll stay out of your way." Said the blonde assistant as she soon leaned against Bruce's desk before taking out a compact mirror from her purse. There she checked up on herself before applying any fixes towards her appearance.

Bruce and Lucius looked at each other as this went on. The CEO gave his friend a small shrug. Seeing this, Bruce shook his head before turning off his computer.

"So Randa, shall we go?"

Closing up her compact mirror, the blonde assistant walked towards her date for the evening before linking arms with him. "Ready."

When the pair left the office, with Lucius not far behind, Bruce spoke up as they walked down the hallway. "I've been meaning to tell you this earlier, but tonight's date is actually going to be a double."

Randa looked at Bruce with a quizzical look. "Why's that?"

"Well… It's actually been several months since I dated. And the last person I was with died when we were going out."

"Oh, sorry to hear that."

"It's quite alright, I've… tried to move on." He solomely said as they reached the elevator. "But a friend of mine suggested that the next time I go out with someone, I should do doubles until I felt ready going back to singular."

"Hmm… Smart advice." Randa voiced as she thought that it seems she'll need to adjust her plans while out on this date at the Wayne Manor. 'All I can do now is wait and see if the little robot I placed in Wayne's office will do its job properly.'

-Gordon Residence-

Inside of the dining room, Barbara was eating the meal she prepared for the evening. She would normally be enjoying it, as she does a good job in doing so for all of her meals. But it seems her father wasn't enjoying it at all as he barely touched his meal.

"Don't you like the roast, dad?"

"It's fine." He replied as he ate another piece of meat.

She eyed her father with a concerned look on her face. "That's practically all you've said since last night." Feeling hurt, Barbara wanted to know what's wrong. "Are… Are you mad at me?"

"No, you're-"

"I know, I know. 'I'm fine'." The redhead said in frustration as she stood up and took her empty plate into the kitchen.

Barbara thought that last night would've been one of those moments for her father to be in a slightly bad mood and feel better in the morning. But it seems that was not the case as he acted the same way throughout today. Acting cold towards not only her, but everyone else as others voiced their concerns towards her of seeing the odd change of mannerisms.

'Whatever happened last night changed you and I don't like it.' She thought as she washed her dishes before putting them into the washer. 'Wish there could be something to lift my spirits right now.'

*Ding Dong* *Ding Dong*

"...Who could that be?" Drying off her hands, Barbara walked to the door before opening it to find the Uzumaki standing there. "Naruto? What are you doing here?"

"Evening Barbara." Greeted the whiskered publisher. "I was just coming over to drop off your book you let me look over."

Remembering her request yesterday, the commissioner's daughter brightened up a bit from her sour mood. "Really? Already?"

"Yeah." Pulling out her notebook from his messenger bag, Naruto handed it back. "Didn't have any books to look over the past 24 hours, so I was able to go over it."

"And?"

"Well… I left my concerns and edits inside, like I stated before, but it was overall good. You'd still need to finish up the end, but I recommend doing that once you go through the notes and edits. Just so a better idea could maybe come your way."

Barbara nodded as she opened up her notebook to see written pages in Naruto's handwriting. Lifting them up, which were quite a bit, she saw the edits he made in pen.

'This'll definitely preoccupy whatever freetime I'll have.' She thought before closing her thick notebook. "Thanks for helping me out on this Naruto, it means a lot."

"No problem, Barbara. Just take your time and you'll do fine." Naruto was about to leave when he saw her body language. "Is something wrong?"

"No. Everything's fi-" The redhead caught herself from finishing what she was saying, due to her hearing it from her father ever since last night. She shook her head before correcting herself. "Yeah, something's not right."

"What is it?"

Barbara sighed. "Just my dad. He seems cold to me all of a sudden and I don't know what's wrong."

"Do you want me to talk to him or anything?"

"No, you don't have to Naruto. It could've been some case or something. I don't know for sure which is making him act this way."

Naruto scratched his head a little before pulling out a pen. Once out, he politely took her notebook and wrote in it before handing it back. "If you need any help on anything, Barbara, call my number. I'll do what I can, if you ask."

Barbara smiled a little and said her thanks before closing the door on him. It was nice of him doing this for her and being concerned for her. She'll definitely take up on his offer if the opportunity presents itself. But for now, she has something to preoccupy the rest of her evening.

Back outside, Naruto felt a little worried on what was going on as he walked away from the house. It was probably nothing as people need to have some days to be cold or whatever. No one can't be bright all the time.

Once far enough from the Gordon residence, Naruto disbursed into smoke to reveal he was a clone. Sending it's memories back to the original to show its task was complete.

-Wayne Manor-

Inside of the manor's dining room, Naruto took pause as he felt the influx of his clone's memories coming back to him. It wasn't noticeable towards Bruce and his date, but Selina saw as she's grown used to knowing her boyfriend's little quirks.

You might be wondering why the secret couple were here in the first place. At first, they thought Bruce wanted to make up for not being there for the business dinner two nights ago when he called them earlier today. It was something along those lines before their friend explained the little situation that was going on with the recent thefts towards his company and needing their help to possibly help expose her and the company she works for.

It at least was clear as to why Bruce had to cancel all of a sudden that night and the couple understood. But they did wonder what would've happened if he was able to make it to the restaurant on time. Would he gotten involved in searching for the ravenette thief or not? Who knows… Especially since Selina doesn't know who her friend really is, but Naruto does.

'I wonder when would be the good time to drop that tidbit on not just her, but Harley and Pam.' Thought the publisher as he ate more of his desert. 'Already I can tell they'd kill me on keeping such a secret from them that Bruce is actually the Batman. Though question is: how will they punish me for that.'

Unbeknownst to Selina on her lover's thoughts, who had her hair wrapped in a bun to hide a bit on the recent growth, she was laughing a little when hearing Randa's latest story from her workplace. "No way." She said in between giggles. "Are you serious?"

The pixie blonde nodded with a growing smirk. "But the best one was the dishwasher that turned into a Jacuzzi."

"How in the world would that work out?" Questioned the Uzumaki as he let out a chuckle. "I can understand washing the dishes, but having that go straight into a Jacuzzi of all things? I mean, come on."

"Karl's a genius, all right. A mad genius for coming up with these odd inventions." Bruce said as he finished up his plate. "Though he'd have to be if he knew it was wetware chips that were stolen. Care to explain that Randa?"

Before the pixie blonde could answer, Bruce's cell phone started to ring. Momentarily putting his question towards the side, the billionaire answered. "Wayne here." The dining room's other occupants saw Bruce's features change from a pleasant one to serious as the phone call proceeded. With a sigh, he nodded before ending the call.

"Something wrong, Bruce?"

"Sorry if I have to cut things short for now, but I have to go out." Rising from his seat, the billionaire made his way towards the dining room door. "Call Alfred if you need anything. I'll be back soon."

As he left, the publisher rubbed his eyes a little with a shake of his head. "He seriously needs to stay for at least one event." Leaning back in his chair, he saw his friend leave. However he felt Selina kick him for his rude tone and playfully glared at her. "Sorry… sheesh… OW~!"

"Is something wrong, Naruto?" Selena asked with a hint of a smirk.

"No."

"So… What should we do till he gets back?"

"Maybe explore the manor?" Randa suggested, getting looks from the couple. "Never been in here before and always heard Bruce has a nice collection of antiquities."

The publisher was going to say yes… until something struck him odd. "Didn't you just met Bruce yesterday?" He said out of natural curiosity, so how she would know something that knowledgeable. The man even out of uniform tries not to let his guard down or ever...

"Yes."

"Just… making sure." He said with a goofy smile although his eyes watched the pixie blonde women's movements carefully.

-Wayne Enterprises-

It took some time for Bruce to arrive at his company building after receiving the call from Lucius. As he got into his office, the dark haired man saw several police officers combing through the room while seeing Lucius typing away on his office computer.

"Lucius. Did they get the wetware specs?"

The CEO sighed as he rubbed his head. "I don't know yet, Bruce."

Briefly looking at the officers, Bruce asked his following question. "They dust the keys for any prints?"

"Yeah."

"And?"

"Nothing. And it seems that whoever got in here has the file alright."

The billionaire patted his friend's shoulder. "Don't worry, all they got was a decoy file I uploaded last night. The real one is back at my home." He explained to his old friend as the man felt relieved that nothing was too bad.

Not known to them, from outside of the office window, Randa's compact mirror was situated around the corner. It suddenly popped open before a small robotic eye came out and stretched upward. Once at its maximum length, the synthetic eye started flashing as the small attached antennas started transmitting its findings back towards its master.

-Meanwhile, Wayne Manor-

"Randa."

'Yes?'

"The information I needed was not in Wayne's office computer." HARDAC's voice rang through her mind. "Search the house. My data banks of Rossum's memories indicate Wayne always kept important backups at home."

'Yes… I'll do it right now.'

"I want that clock…" Naruto chuckled as his lover looked at the practically expensive and shiny grandfather clock when they explored the manor. Look like her cat-like instincts were kicking in again. The publisher turned to see Bruce's date standing still. "What do you think? I personally find it pretty dusty, despite how often Alfred cleans it."

However his words fell on deaf ears as she stood up from the couch and walked towards the stairs. Naruto suddenly felt alarmed, his honed instincts were kicking in like a stampede! "Hey-"

"Ah. I was wondering where you three went off to." Alfred said, holding a silver tray of tea and cookies. "You do make it difficult for me to serve tea." He chuckled as he noticed the blonde woman coming at him. "Miss Ronda I have made a excellent Earl Grey called Earl of-"

Without warning, Randa reached out as a taser came out of the sleeve of her jacket before hitting the Wayne butler in the chest.

"Get away!" Naruto warned the man as Selina turn her head just in time to see the blonde woman knock out the kind butler via electric shock. "Alfred!" He cried out as he moved towards the blonde assistant with a fist. "You're going to pay for that!"

RING~! RING~! RING~!

"Crap!" Naruto eyes widen as he hesitated for a second, which was long enough for the woman to stab his chest with the taser. "GAHHHHH!" He gritted as he felt limp and fell the floor, making the woman look at the device.

"Odd… should've been enough to render you unconscious… oh well…" She raised her foot ready to kick Naruto's head in… that is until Selina tackled her.

"Off my man!" She roared as her nails grow long and sharp, she turn her head slightly to see Naruto trying to lift himself up to get the ringing phone.

"That's going to take a second." He grunted as answered it. "Bruce, I hate to tell you this… but I think-"

SHING~!

Naruto eye twitched as the silver tray Alfred was previously using cut the phone's cordline. "You know, I should convince Bruce to switch his home phones to cordless."

'This isn't going according to plan…' The woman growled in thought as she saw Naruto stand up as if the taser never hit him in the first place. She, however, smirked as she saw Selina look to Naruto with a worried look… revealing there's something she can use. "Think fast~!" She said in mocked cheer, taking out a small silver container which Selina quickly caught in her hands.

"You better think twice when-"

"Selina, that's a flash-!" Naruto started until the world turn dark and loud annoying ringing was heard. "Bang!"

"What?!" Selina screamed out as she felt her ears were pounding against her skull.

Naruto however ducked a incoming attack as he smiled. "Going to have do a lot better than that!" He smiled before hearing something snap. "What's that sound?"

CRASH~!

"Ugh!" The Uzumaki gasped out as the chandelier hit his back with enough weight in lodging him into the floor. He was stuck! "Sonuva-" He started before smelling burning ozone, oh no… "Se-", he was about to say but heard his lover screaming as a loud thud-like crash came soon after. "Selina?"

"Don't worry, she's sleep… though it's really odd to see you still alive." Randa stated before Naruto's eyesight started to return. "But you'll be joining your friend soon enough." She smiled before slamming her foot onto Naruto's head with enough force to fully knocking the man out quickly.

She smiled knowing that both of Bruce's friends are now out of the picture. Looking over to where the grandfather clock Selina crashed into, Randa was going to dismiss it when she saw something odd behind the remains. Pulling the unconscious ravenette out of the way, the pixie blonde moved the clock's remains to see a hidden entrance.

Her curiosity got the better of her, Randa decided to explore her new discovery. It was rather dark as she made her way down the stony steps. Before long, her eyes adjusted from the dark when she saw something extraordinary.

"HARDAC, I've definitely found something." Randa spoke in a small trance-like state as her eyes scanned the legendary batcave. "Bruce Wayne is Batman."

"Intriguing." Spoke the Cybertron AI as it processed this newfound information. "This data may be useful later… There must be a central computer. It will have the data I need."

The pixie blonde took a bit as she walked through the cave until she found the batcomputer. "I see it." Approaching the piece of equipment, she started typing away. "Prepare for interface, HARDAC."

Once she was done, the AI's voice rang through her mind. "I will take it from here, Randa. You come home. Immediately."

"Understood."

-Later-

Bruce was getting worried as he made his way back home from the office. When he tried to call earlier in hopes of either having Naruto, Selina or Alfred to question Randa on recent findings something went wrong. His publisher friend answered the houseline but the call got disconnected. When he came back home, Bruce searched the house for any sign of Alfred or his guests.

"Alfred? Randa? Naruto? Selina?" The man called out as he kept looking… until he saw one room in a total wreck. "Oh god…"

"Ugh… took you long enough…" Naruto bitterly said as he struggled to get on up, despite having the chandelier pinning him down. "And I gotta say, you're taste in women suck."

Snapping his attention towards the pinned Uzumaki, Bruce rushed over and lifted the chandelier high enough for Naruto to crawl out of the way. As the publisher got out, the dark haired man dropped the ceiling decoration and saw the bloodstains on Naruto's clothing. "Are you alright?"

"Don't worry, I'm fine. However…" Looking towards the other people in the room, hazel eyes were filled with worry. "Alfred and Selina are a more pressing concern."

Quickly turning his attention towards his old friend, Bruce rushed towards Alfred's side. "Alfred? Alfred?"

He heard an audible groan from the former British agent as the Wayne butler slowly opened up his eyes. "Master Bruce?"

"Alfred, what happened? Where's Ms. Duane?"

Alfred held his head as it throbbed with pain. "Forgive me, Master Bruce. I-I can't imagine how, but I can't remember."

"I can tell you." Spoke up the publisher, causing Bruce and Alfred to look over to see Naruto gently hold onto Selina with care. "Randa did this."

The eyes of the billionaire hardened when hearing this. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. She attacked us all of a sudden..." The publisher paused when his eyes landed at the broken grandfather clock before he gazed at the dark passageway in the wall. "Bruce? What's that?" Naruto then saw his friend dash into the darkness without giving a response. "Bruce?"

Going down the dark stairway, Bruce momentarily forgot the needs of his friends as his primary concern was his home's breach of security. And he needed to see what exactly happened in his home through the batcomputer security feed. Once in his cave, he called out a voice command.

"Computer, scan the Batcave for-"

Suddenly his main computer turned on by itself as it started to go haywire. The screen went through an array of images, in rapid succession, before unrecognizable sounds were heard throughout the underground cavern. Before long, the cave's lights went into a strobe-light effect.

"What the hell?"

"Bruce!" A familiar voice called out from behind, causing the dark haired man to spin around to see his friend come down the stairs. "What the hell were you thinking leaving Alfred and Selina… behind…"

Realizing what was probably running through Naruto's head, Bruce spoke. "I can ex-"

Suddenly, everything seemed to have shut off all at once. The only sources of light came from the ruined grandfather clock entrance and the blinking light coming from the bat computer, leaving everything in the cavern in an eery and unsettling feel in the air. Neither men didn't know how to respond on what just occurred… until...

*THUD*

"What?" The two men both voiced at the sudden sounds with the mild shake of the ground.

*THUD*

"Bruce… What the hell is going on?"

*THUD*

"...I thought it was turned off." The billionaire muttered as his head turned towards the source. "Randa must've turned on the security protocol and reprogram it to attack anyone now."

*THUD*

"What are you talking abo...ut…?" Naruto asked with a drolled end as his eyes quickly focused in the darkness and saw the source of the loud 'thuds'. "Bruce…"

"Yeah?"

*THUD*

"Why... the fuck... do you have a mechanical T-Rex as a security protocol?!"

Standing a yard or two away from them stood the eighteen foot tall, forty foot long mechanical T-Rex as it's glowing red eyes menacingly stared right at the two men. It's intimidating figure made both men's shiver on what's currently happening. Before either men could properly react, the T-Rex mech opened it's maw and let out a piercing roar throughout the Batcave.

GRRRRRRAAAAAAAAWR!

-End Chapter-