While there were several possible answers, the one that he typed in was ‘To turn the Man into a Woman.’

After hitting the enter key, the text disappeared, and it let out a beep. A second later there was a rumbling and a large section of wall slid downwards revealing a door. This door was unlocked, and opening it revealed a large room, about forty by twenty feet. It held a wide variety of cabinets and boxes, even a white board. On a table was a computer station. But it was the decor of multiple questions that made it evident that this was one of Riddler's hideouts. Though based on the layer of dust on everything within it had been sometime since it was last used.

Entering the room, he started to look everything over. But as he did so, he couldn’t stop thinking about that door riddle. Something about it struck him as odd. It did not really feel like any of the riddles that James had ever read in the comic books. Rather it felt like another person, not the Riddler, had made that one. If that was the case, it was likely a message for the Riddler. Thinking back to the comics he had read, the Riddler did have several female companions, each one could have left that message. Perhaps it was a message from one of them wanting to take on the mantle of the riddler? Or perhaps he was just overthinking it.

Putting those thoughts to the backburner for now, he walked over to the computer and turned it on. It hummed for a bit and then turned on. Surprisingly it didn’t have a password on it at all. Unfortunately, it didn’t have access to the internet, so he couldn’t use it to research the web. It did however have a small local network through which the door password could be changed. Which he made into a thirty-word combination. The rest of the files on the computer seemed to be a mix of half-made plans, a list of riddles, and several photos of nude women which James realized must have been taken without the woman's knowledge.

It felt disgusting, and he deleted them off the computer. Not seeing anything else of note on the computer, he turned his attention to the room. A large whiteboard dominated one wall and was filled with riddles or at least attempts at riddles with several words being crossed out in them. Of the three tables in the room two of them were covered in gadgets and blueprints. Taking a look at them, he decided not to mess with them until he knew what they were lest they explode in his face.

The cabinets were filled with more components, and what appeared to be weapons of some sort. In a few of the boxes he found what looked like explosives that he carefully put aside for the moment. The last box he opened however caught him completely by surprise. Inside was what appeared to be latex, which at first he thought was some kind of costume until he found the bondage gear underneath. This mildly grossed James out for having touched the Riddlers sex toys. He did not need to know the Riddlers' kinks at all. Putting the box down he took another look over the room.

Other than the fact that it was once the base of a supervillain, this would make a good place for him to research a way back home. More importantly it would also serve as a good place to experiment his new abilities. The first of which was in light of the attack he should see just how vulnerable he was to a knife attack. Taking the switchblade he had gotten from the punk he cautiously poked his thumb with the blade. Finding it didn’t cut, he began to apply pressure to the blade, until it suddenly bent and broke off bouncing across the room.

Tossing the remains of the knife onto the table, James carefully examined his thumb. While the blade had been razor sharp, he didn’t spot any cuts. Though just before it broke it did start hurting very slightly, though more from the pressure then from the blade. Still it was nice to know that at least he wasn’t weak to steel knives. Though he got another feeling that something more exotic could cut him. At least this let him know he was fairly resistant to damage, though not totally invulnerable.

This meant that if someone struck him with superhuman strength he would definitely feel it. Given that he lacked any real fighting knowledge, he would be in a tight situation should he go up against an opponent like that. He also didn’t know if bullets could pierce his skin. Nor did he want to find out, as his gut was not telling him anything about whether or not he was bulletproof. Still having a higher level of durability was helpful, especially when so many murders seemed to run rampant in Gotham.

He tried a few other tests he had thought of to see exactly what he was capable of, but ran into several hurdles that would take some thought on how to get over. For instance while he knew he had grown stronger, he didn’t have any way to test out just how strong. Or the powers that seemed to affect people couldn’t be tested while he was alone. Other tests like flying were just too inconclusive to make any judgement on whether or not he could do them. What he really needed was to understand just where his powers came from in order to understand what he could do.

Although he had hit dead ends on some of his tests, he did have success in those that dealt with his senses. He found if he concentrated hard, he could hear a person walking on the sidewalk above. That was through the insulated room as well, so if he was in the open he could probably hear farther. His sense of smell and sight had been enhanced, but he couldn’t exactly figure out how to control them like his hearing. Though for a moment it felt like his vision could zoom in on things.

But he found that his greatest success came from his sense of touch. Not only did he find that he could feel the very air moving about him, he could pick up vibrations through the ground. He found he could roughly extend this sense to nearly half a mile around him. However, it wasn’t very detailed, and it took a long time for him to figure out what was making each vibration. It wouldn’t be a very fast detection method, but with the number of people who can turn invisible in this world it was better than nothing.

By the time he had finished all the tests he had thought of so far, he found that it was approaching seven a.m. Yet surprisingly he didn’t feel tired at all. It wasn’t even what had happened to him keeping him up. His gut was giving him the feeling that he didn’t need to sleep, at least not at the moment. Having things he needed to take care of, he headed out making sure to lock everything behind him. When he got to the lobby, he frowned when he saw that Stan hadn’t been by yet, he was supposed to collect the cash at six. He took a look in the complaints box and didn’t see anything, so he headed out.

Taking the subway he headed to a shopping district and picked up several things that he needed. First he got some new clothes that fit his frame better. He also picked up a pay as you go smartphone. It wasn’t the best, but it would do for what he needed. In addition he picked up a few books and tools that he needed to conduct more research. Finally, he had a large meal at a restaurant. By the time he got back to the apartment, it was in the afternoon.

Since he still had some time to spare, he went through the basement looking for any usable furniture he could use for his room. He eventually scavenged a small table and set of stairs that he placed into the room. He also got a bookshelf for the books he had bought. With the addition of furniture, it made his room at least livable. Taking the book of astrophysics he had bought he began to study it. While he could simply memorize the entire book in a matter of moments, he needed to take the time to truly understand what it was teaching, though with his newfound intellect proved not to be too much of a challenge.

When it was time for his shift to begin, he headed out and took a seat at the desk, while contemplating gravimetric field equations. A few minutes later he heard the elevator coming down and then a ding as it opened up. What sounded like sneakers emerged and a woman came around the corner and greeted him with an “Evening James.”

He nearly did a double-take as he realized that the woman was in fact Rebecca. She however looked completely different from last night. She was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans along with a jacket. She was not wearing any makeup and without it, looked like she was barely even twenty. Realizing that he had been staring a bit he coughed and said “Good Evening Rebbeca. How are you tonight?”

She gave him a tight smile and said “Been better I guess. I have some things to take care of tonight, so I have to take the night off. Here is the payment for the room.” She said handing him the cash.

Taking he looked at her and said “Is it something I can help with?”

“Not at the moment, just family things to take care of. I’ll talk with you later.” She said waving at him and leaving.

“Okay, be careful out there!” He called after her.

She glanced back and gave him a smile and said “Will do.”

He got the sense that she was worrying about something, and hoped everything was okay with her. She seemed like a decent person. Still he had to be careful not to dig too deep. She didn’t seem to be the person who liked people butting into her business. As he was thinking about that, the outside door opened and three men walked in. On first sight of them, James could tell they were gangsters of some sort. Two of them were hulking brutes, but it was the third man that made James blood run cold.

This thin man sauntered up to the desk and James' gut screamed that this man was a killer. In a thick accent the man said “You must be the manager that Stan hired, yes?”

“Yes, Is there something I can help you with Gentlemen?” James said a cool feeling settling in his gut.

“Yes, there is something. I am Alexandru Balan. I am what you call a problem solver for my boss. There was some dispute over who owned what in this neighborhood, and well now this place is now under control of the Ibanescu family whom I work for, and by extension whom you work for now.”

“I see, and does Stan work for you now as well?”

“No, Stan ‘retired’. His services weren’t up to our standards. He ran this place like he ran his life, fat and sloppy. But you…” The man gave James a long look “I get the sense you will work well in this position. We have plans for this place, great plans. Someone will come and discuss them with you in the future, but until then you are in charge of this place which includes delivering the money. Every week on Monday you will bring the cash from the safe to this location.”

Alexandru reached into a pocket on his jacket which let James see the pistol holstered within. He pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to James. Taking it he saw it was an address and James said “Alright.”

“Great. You seem like a smart kid, just keep your head down and do what we say, and we won’t have any issues. Not like Stan, he thought no one would notice he was skimming off the top. Too bad we noticed. How much was he paying you to watch over this place?”

“Four hundred per week and free rent.”

The man nodded and said “Congratulations you just got promoted. Your new pay is six hundred. You’ll get it every time you deliver the money on mondays. Oh and here is the key to the safe.” He pulled out the key to the safe and handed it to James who noted that there appeared to be a blood stain on it.

“Alright then, just letting you know who your new bosses are. Keep outta trouble kid or next time we meet might not just be pleasant.” The Man said with a crackle and headed back out into the night with the two others following him.

Great now he had to deal with a mob hanging over him.