675. BANE

Iroh directly went in and showed the guard at the reception office his papers. Soon, the warden of Arkham Asylum came and showed him around while telling him about the inmates he was supported to heal.

"The most challenging one is Joker because he himself seems like a psychiatric. He would get inside your mind and brainwash you to become his follower. That is what he did with the last counsellor." The warden warned.

"Haha, do not worry about me. Getting into my head is harder than one can imagine. Right Ticky?" He asked the little orange slime.

"Ooooo..." It made a noise.

"See, he agrees," Iroh said.

"What is that thing?" Warden inquired. He was told not to do anything stupid with this counsellor so he was a bit scared of offending him but still asked about the strange creature.

"Oh, this is a creature I found by mistake. He has the ability to make people happy and depression go away. Why don't you try? Ticky, give him a dose." Iroh instructed.

Ticky jumped on the warden and hugged his head while making noise. Soon, the warden started laughing and the dark circles from under his eyes vanished.

"You were telling the truth. I really feel so good now. Ohoho..." He laughed.

Iroh then took Ticky back. He lacked an understanding of how much he should make people laugh before it becomes less of a joy and more of a punishment.

"Thank you, now my mood is much better. Thank you, little guy." The warden was sounding much better now.

"Okay, this is your first patient. His name is Bane. Here is his file." Warned said, showing him to the door.

Iroh took the file and read about this bane. Born in a prison on a remote Caribbean island, Bane grew up in the horrendous and violent confines of the Santa Prisca prison: Peña Dura, and was imprisoned since he was a child for his father's crimes. Bane's father was a revolutionary mercenary who opposed the Santa Prisca government but was eventually caught and sentenced to life in prison.

The man died before his sentence was complete, however, he left his next of kin to be imprisoned instead. At the age of eight, Bane had committed his first murder with the use of a knife that he kept inside of his teddy bear, Osito, whom he viewed as his one true friend.

Despite his violent surroundings, Bane trained his body and mind to perfection, read any book that he could get his hands on, toned his body in the prison's gym, and even received a classical education from some of the prison inmates, including a Jesuit priest.

Due to the cultural and geographical location of the prison, Bane learned a variety of languages, including English, Latin, Portuguese, and Spanish. Before long, Bane came to have complete control over the prison population and became its self-proclaimed ruler.

However, Bane would be plagued by intense nightmares that were centred around a city guarded by a dark and shadowy creature that resembled a bat. The Jesuit priest told him that he dreamed of Gotham, that his father had the same dreams before he died, claimed that their people's destinies would be fulfilled in that place, and how refugees from Santa Prisca helped build Gotham City 300 years ago.

Seeking to achieve his own sense of peace and conquer other territories and their population, Bane lusted to escape from the confines of the prison.

Bane's ambitions would be set in motion when the prison owners and doctors sought to use him and recognised his position as the prison's leader among the inmate population to test out military experiments that primarily dealt with the chemical compound known as 'Venom', which could increase an individual's muscle mass, stamina, durability, and adrenal levels to inhuman levels.

Bane was then strapped to a storage unit that pumped the drug throughout his system and, much to the success of the experiment, the venom was perfectly assimilated into his body. However, Bane used this to his advantage and violently slaughtered his captors, built up an army of mercenaries from within the prison and escaped with his army in tow.

Determined to build a criminal empire, he sought out Batman and broke the Dark Knight's spine. But Batman recovered and managed to beat Bane, by cutting off his precious Venom supply. After that, he was sent to Arkham Asylum.

Iroh closed the file and sighed, "Only if someone had given the child a hug and brought him to a warm home, all this chaos could have been avoided."

With that, he opened the door and got in. Bane sat by the table, reading a book. He was not wearing any masks at the moment but he was said to still be extremely strong.

Bane didn't even look at him and kept on reading. Iroh went ahead and sat on the other side of the table. He took out two teacups and poured some.

"Ah, this is nice." He enjoyed his tea. He also gave Ticky a big lollipop. He didn't talk to Bane at all.

Soon, an hour passed and Iroh was just humming some song and Ticky was wobbling hearing him.

Finally, Bane shut his book and looked at him, "Who are you?"

"I'm Iroh, a simple old man. They sent me here as a counsellor." Iroh answered.

"I need no counsellor." Bane scoffed.

"I know, but there is nothing bad about wanting to share a cup of tea, right?" Iroh poured him one cup and passed it.

Bane looked down at the cup. It was warm and steam was coming. The sweet and refreshing fragrance reached his nose soon. He felt as if he was sitting in a garden on a fine spring morning. Calm breeze flew by him, bringing the smell of mud, grass and nature to him.

This was the effect of Iroh's new tea. It would automatically smell and taste like what the consumer wanted the most.

Bane picked up the cup and took a sip. The feelings of freshness intensified and his mood refreshed. Forgetting all the grudges and hatred, he felt free.

Iroh started speaking in a calm and elderly voice. "I was once a murdering maniac, fighting for stupid things such as honour. But later I realised there was no honour in murdering people. In fact, I realised it too late because that same fight for honour took my son away from me. Then, this tea came into my life. It was just a hobby initially, but soon it became my escape from all the madness in the world.

"I now know, real honour is in helping others and of course, sharing a cup of tea."

"Another rambling old fool. This world does not run on kindness." Bane spoke.

"I know, but it will now. Also, someone has to start from somewhere. And when strong people like you do it, it becomes all the more meaningful. Tell me, have you ever helped someone?" Iroh asked.

Bane nodded, "I did help many kids from the prison get away from the life I led."

"Then try to remember. Did you feel more accomplished after helping them or did you feel better after hurting someone?" Iroh asked, putting Bane in self-reflecting mode.

Bane knew what the right answer was. Of course, he felt better after helping those kids. Knowing that someone is living their life now because of you was better than knowing that someone's family was crying by the dead body of a person you killed.

"What are you trying to say with all this?" He asked.

"What I am trying to make you realise is that there is nothing in being a sinner while there is a lot to gain from being a good man. There is too much darkness in this universe, more than you can even imagine, so, why be a small dot of darkness when you can be a shining bright star of hope for the hopeless?" Iroh said. Then, he suddenly put his index finger's tip on Bane's forehead's centre.

In a moment of spiritual revelation, Bane found himself seeing the vastness of the universe and its powers. There were gods, beings who could destroy reality itself. Then, it all zoomed into him, so small, so meaningless as compared to all that. His ambitions, so meaningless to the grand scheme of the universe.

He felt it, he felt he had wasted all his life on the quest to build a criminal empire, but that only brought him to another prison rather than freedom. He had all the power needed to make a real difference for the good in this world but he chose this insignificant path. Maybe the dreams about Batman he used to get in the pits were so he could join him, instead of fighting him.

He compared himself to Batman. The world knew his name, the symbol of justice for some. What was he? A goon beaten by the dark night. People didn't even know his name and considered him so small and insignificant that his life would have no impact on theirs.

He then imagined if he had chosen the path of goodness. He could have become a symbol of justice too. But, earlier, he was thirsty for revenge, after losing he wanted nothing. But now, he again felt that thirst, only this time it was for opposite ideals.

*Sip*

"Where do I start?" Bane asked with a change in his voice.

And that was mission successful for Iroh.

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GRANDPA UNIVERSE has ended and you can read all chapters and 22 chapters of the new Harry Potter fic on -patreon.com/misterimmortal.

Special thanks to *Douglas Flower* *Umar Latif* *Julian Rocamora* *Darrien Steely*

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