Vacation? #271

Author's note: I have oficcially started writinng a second story, a one piece fanfic to be precise. It's still in the trial phase and I only wrote one chapter so far, so I won't be post it here for now or any time soon.

I'll probably post here once I have ten or so chapters on the P-word site, but anyone who's interested in getting early access to the story can subscribe to my page for as little as 1$. Any chapters I write before I release it on WN will be available for all tier subscriptions. The link will be at the end of the chapter.

Anyway, that's enough self advertisment and selling out for one chapter.

Hope ya'll enjoy the chapter.

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"Everything seems to be in order..." I said as I finished the final checkups on my newly built factory. I didn't waste any time and instantly activated the machines, smiling as I watched the production lines come to life, assembling Sentry Drones.

Six days had passed since my call with Katherine Spencer, two of which I spent putting the final touches to gadgets I planned to supply to supply the GCPD.

I spent the two more days buying land all over Gotham, such as a ten-story building in the middle of Old Gotham, which would serve as the headquarters for my company for appearance's sake, several factories in the industrial district and wharehouses near the docks.

Then, I spent another day finalizing the paperwork for the various permits I needed to start production before setting up the automatic production lines in the said factories.

I was by no means counting my eggs before they hatched, as I'd already met with Deborah, and she seemed more than eager to accept the deal after seeing my gadgets.

I knew Deborah couldn't green-light the deal on her own because of all the yellow tape bullshit, but the deal was too good to refuse, and I was ready to pull a couple of strings of my own to ensure it went through if not.

Naturally, that wasn't all I did, as I had to arrange various meetings with different people to facilitate my work. I even had a second meeting with Agent Bundy, during which he stated that his superiors were interested, but they wished to see how the operation to take down the League of Assasins went before deciding.

If everything went smoothly, Harley, Deadshot, and Lady Vic would finally be out of prison in three to four days, meaning the operation would officially begin in about a week and a couple of days.

It was a productive week of hard work and a half, meaning it was time for me to take a break, and just in time, too, since Kara had returned to Earth two days ago.

The concept of dating and taking a break to smell the flowers from time to time was still foreign since I was already a bonafide workaholic at this point, but I'll run out of shit to do eventually.

In any case, Kara had already texted me saying she was on her way to Gotham while I was finishing up, and I gave her directions to my current location, so she should be here any moment now.

Sure enough, I heard a sonic boom and headed for the factory's entrance, smiling as I watched her land. "Welcome back to Earth," I said, my eyes widening as Kara approached to hug me.

I quickly gathered my bearings and returned the hug, to which she smiled and let go after a couple of seconds. "It's good to be back. Space is nice, but Earth isn't that bad either," She said with a chuckle as she stepped back, her gaze turning to the factory.

"I see you've been busy too. What were you up to?" She asked, curiously alternating her gaze between me and the factory's entrance, likely picking up the noise from inside.

"That I was..." I replied with a nod. "Come on in. Why tell when you can show..." I added as I headed for the entrance, gesturing for Kara to follow, to which she obliged without hesitation.

"You built all of this by yourself..." Kara asked, clearly astonished as she looked around the factory, noting the various machines and the first Sentry Drone to come out of the production line.

"Yup, all on my lonesome," I replied with a shrug as I watched the Sentry Drone go into the storage area and deactivate, going dormant. "All within the span of whole two hours..." I concluded without bothering to hide the fact I was showing off.

"That's... impressive..." Kara said after a brief pause. "And I don't mean it on Earth's scale..." She added as she slowly turned towards me, giving me a strange glance.

"Something like this would be considered impressive anywhere in the universe..." Kara added. "Have you tested your intelligence level...?" She asked, her expression brightening as she seemed to remember something.

"No, but the most intelligent tested human scored 225 in the global IQ tests..." I replied. "I'm pretty sure I'm way beyond that in terms of pure processing power..." I added with a shrug, causing Kara to frown in confusion.

"I don't mean the Earth's IQ system. I'm talking about the universal intelligence level system that the Coluans came up with..." Kara said as she understood what I said, and it was my turn to be confused.

"It starts with level one that is below average, and technically ends in level twelve since that was the highest recorded level..." Kara explained as she noticed my puzzled expression.

"Nah, it's probably not even available on Earth..." I replied, scratching my head. It's the first time I've ever heard about something like this. Then again, my comic book knowledge was limited, so it's surprising.

"Hm..." Kara intoned, her expression shifting suspiciously. "You said you've never been outside Earth, didn't you...?" She asked, giving me a strange smile, which instantly triggered alarms in my brain.

"No, I haven't... why are you asking...?" I cautiously asked, giving Kara a side glance, to which her smile became more pronounced.

"Well, today's your lucky day, then. I know a place a couple of thousand light-years away where you can get the test..." Kara casually stated, making the ridiculous distance she mentioned sound like nothing more than a leisurely afternoon stroll in the park.

"And it just so happens to be a vacation spot, as humans call it," Kara concluded, giving me a proud smile as she waited for my reply.

"That sounds like a long trip..." I said, scratching my head. "I have a lot of stuff to do, and I don't really need to test my intelligence level, do I...?" I asked, without giving a definitive answer as I debated the feasibility of an actual space trip.

I've never been to space, and it's because I don't want to. Heck, which human being in his right mind didn't dream about going into space or becoming an astronaut before adulthood crushed their dreams?

I would also have to go out of Earth at some point since the key to accomplishing my goals was deep in space, so having an experienced guide such as Kara on my first trip to show me around and teach me a thing or two would be tremendously helpful.

Then again, the trip might prove dangerous and might take too long for various reasons, which would ruin many of my plans for Gotham as I wouldn't be there to implement them.

"We'll be there in five hours if you let me fly you, and it would take a day or two to complete some formalities and apply for a test..." Kara said, raising an eyebrow.

"We can complete the test, tour the planet, and return to Earth in five days at most..." Kara added, crossing her arms. "That wouldn't be too much time away from your precious work, would it, Mr. Extra Mile ..." She asked.

Eh, fuck it.

"That's Mile to you, young lady, don't make me feel old now..." I jokingly replied after a brief pause as I chuckled. "But when you put it like that... I could do with a change of scenery, and five days away from work won't kill me. Probably," I added as I gave her a grave nod, causing her to let out a slight laugh.

"I can't go right now, though. I'll need to make a couple of calls and make some preparations in case our stay there was longer than expected..." I added, rubbing my chin as I mentally went through everything I needed to do before the trip. "How about tomorrow, same place, same time...?" I asked as I gave Kara a probing look.

"Sounds good to me. I'll see you tomorrow," Kara said as she approached and gave me another hug, much to my surprise. "Don't work too hard now," She concluded with a smile before flying into the air and disappearing into the horizon.

"Space, huh...?" I muttered as I watched Kara leave. "It should be fun..." I added as I quickly activated the factory's security system and retrieved my phone.

"Hello, Deborah... listen, something came up..."

...

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