6 Kill the Bat (2)

The next day, the news stations were in chaos. Reports of Bruce Wayne surviving an assassination attempt and being in critical condition were on every news channel.

I had no doubt it was probably a ploy set up by Bruce to catch whoever tried to kill him. After all the chances of Bruce surviving armor-piercing bullets were nearly impossible, which lead me to believe whoever tried to kill him, will probably make another attempt.

(Bruce Wayne)

Ever since that night, Bruce hadn't been able to get any sleep. He'd been staying up most nights down at the Batcave, while his decoy was back at the hospital. He had asked John Jones if he could impersonate him for a few days and the Manhunter had readily agreed even though he had other responsibilities.

" An attack on you is an attack on the whole justice league. You may have been in your civilian identity at the time, but that doesn't change the fact that you almost died." John had said.

He was grateful to his friends and with some reprieve away from the public eye he could take this chance to do some real detective work. He was trying to track down the person who ordered the hit on him as well as find the person who had saved his life.

He actually didn't know how to feel about his mysterious benefactor. On one hand he was grateful he had saved his life but on the other hand, he was worried about an unchecked meta-human running around in his city.

One who by Selena's description was young and powerful, so far the meta displayed super strength, flight, super speed, invisibility, telekinesis, and healing.

If he didn't know any better he would have pegged him for an alien, possibly a Martian. When he investigated that possibility, John told him that although some Martians had the ability to heal they were far and few in between, and were usually considered holy men or priests.

So it was either a Martian Priest or a meta-human who had hit the jackpot with superpowers. But, something kept niggling at the back of his head.

His eyes flicked to the object he had been rolling between his fingers for the last few minutes. It was the bullet that was supposed to kill him.

'This doesn't make any sense. Is it some kind some sort of temporal manipulation or did he just manipulate the matter itself? Then, there's that Stone that Selena mentioned the one with a horse carved on it. Also his name. Zodiac? Is it related to the Chinese Zodiac signs, possibly an allusion to his ethnicity? 'He thought.

" Master Bruce. You have been cooped up down here for far too long. Don't you think a break is due?" Alfred said, with a disapproving look. As he got off the elevator platform and walked over to him.

" Someone tried to kill me Alfred, and it was while I was out as Bruce Wayne. Which means either someone knows my identity as the Batman or Bruce Wayne acquired an enemy for himself."

" I thought the rest of the league told you to rest for a bit while they handled it. Sulking down here isn't going to get you anywhere than it did a week ago. " Alfred said.

" I'm not sulking Alfred, I'm investigating. I ran a spectrum analysis on the bullet and other than the fact it was shot from a sniper rifle. It's practically brand new. "

" How is that possible? "

" I think it might have something to do with our mystery meta-human. My wound wasn't healed, it was restored. There aren't any signs of rapid cellular regeneration often associated with those who had healing powers used on them. Not to mention the fact, that my clothing, armor as well as the bullet were all restored to their original condition. " Bruce said.

" It almost sounds like it's magic. " Alfred said, offhandedly.

Bruce muttered something incomprehensible in a low voice.

Alfred raised an eyebrow in question,

" Everything alright Master Bruce? "

" Everything... is just fine. But I think I might have to get someone else's expertise on this." Bruce finally said.

(POV End)

I was running low on funds and had opted to start looking for a job. I found one as a bus boy in a restaurant at least until I could sort out a plan for what I planned on doing.

I was primarily using the monkey and sheep talismans to scout the city. It took a little getting used to, but I eventually found shapeshifting into an owl was most comfortable.

They had good low light vision, could fly silently into the night and had impeccable hearing. I made it a habit to always swing by a few hospitals and heal a few terminally ill patients.

I reckon they will be in for a surprise the next time they have their check-up.

"Jason! Stop daydreaming and get back here. We still have to prep for lunch service." The restaurant's owner shouted.

"Right away Mr. Miraz. I'm just throwing out the trash." I shouted back.

I was done by the end of the day, and was starting to head toward an old apartment I found nearby. The owner was a little old lady who happened to inherit the apartment building after her husband died. The rent was a bit higher than I expected but I didn't want to haggle over a couple of hundred bucks.

I was down to my last hundred by the time I finished giving her a down payment and buying a few necessities like some clothes and a toothbrush

I still haven't found a place where I could safely practice with the talismans and unless I planned on becoming a thief I wasn't about to steal. Not only would that pit every hero against me, it would also draw the attention of bad guys all around town. I still had a few ideas though. Contrary to popular belief unless you planned on becoming a criminal, having superpowers weren't all that profitable.

I mean sure, I could open a demolition company, or possibly even open a delivery service and use my super-speed to make my deliveries. But, that just seemed wasteful and unrealistic.

The ox, rabbit, rooster, tiger, pig, and rooster talismans weren't all that useful outside of combat. The dog talisman could possibly be useful, but other than ensuring I didn't die of old age it didn't have much use for me right now.

I mean who wants to stay 16 years for the rest of their life. Hence, it hasn't seen much use yet.

The other talismans on the other hand had more esoteric powers which I could use to make a profit from.

For example, I could use the snake talisman's power of invisibility to follow someone without getting caught. A useful ability if I planned on becoming a private investigator.

Astral projection could be used to scout hostile territories or possibly even spy on criminals, so the sheep talisman was another viable option.

The monkey talisman could be used to turn different animals into endangered species and sell them for a profit, but then again selling rare or endangered species could draw undue attention to myself.

I could even use the rat talisman to animate statues. So, depending on the statue, historical figures or famous painters long-dead could now be brought back. Albeit considering how the talisman doesn't give you control over the animated objects it wasn't as convenient as it sounded.

The horse talisman arguably the most useful of them all could be used to heal people or even repair items.

Which is what I planned on doing.

I had already gone to various junkyards and even some pawn shops and started looking for things I could repair and sell. I had already managed to sell 26 watches, a half dozen blenders, 3 microwaves, a few TVs, and even a couple of laptops, although I kept one for myself.

All in all I managed to net a nice profit for me over the course of a couple of days. But, I had to slow down a bit since I started getting the feeling that the pawnshop owner suspected me of stealing them.

The restorative powers of the horse talisman repaired anything it touched to its original state as long as it had all its original parts. Which meant everything came out like it was brand new.

I managed to furnish my whole apartment with all new stuff courtesy of the Gotham junkyard and a little application of magic. I also repaired the walls, the plumbing, and practically anything I could get my hands on without it being too obvious. I even had my eye on an old broken-down chevy back at the Junkyard but had to wait until the guy who oversaw the yard found all the missing parts, since a lot of it was missing.

Though he looked kind of confused when I asked him to find me the parts. He didn't particularly mind since I was paying him. Eventually, I planned on opening a store. One that could provide services to all manner of people.

(Chapter End)

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