I yawned as I jogged towards the park to meet my mysterious mentor, having woken up at 4 am.

Feeling the morning breeze that was only slightly less unpleasant than the usual smog-filled air I'd inhale at any other time of the day, I couldn't help but internally replay yesterday's events.

I'd actually surprised myself with how fearlessly I fought the three thugs, not to mention I almost won.

I guess dying, seeing Firefly burn a punch of people like a kid with a magnifying glass, burning ants in an anthill, and getting shot in a dark alley could toughen up anyone.

And yes, I do consider beating three thugs up with a wounded shoulder a win, despite it ending worse than I'd hoped and barely getting any sleep because the wound kept aching all night long.

God, or whatever equivalent there was here, knew I needed the win.

It didn't take me long to reach the park, and I found the homeless man waiting for me at the usual spot, no book in hand and leaning on the tree this time.

"You're in time. Good," the man said, nodding at me in greeting, which I returned as I approached him. "There's much to do, so let's not waste any time, but before that, I think proper introductions are due," he added, crossing his arms, and I realized (again) that I still didn't know the man's name.

"I'm Richard Dragon. I was once a thief in Japan until I met my teacher, O-Sensei, who took me in and taught me how to fight and live properly," the homeless man- no, my teacher, Richard Dragon calmly introduced himself.

"I'm Gray Whitlock. I'm a thief in Gotham..." I replied, trailing off as I thought of other details to add, but nothing came to mind. God, now I just feel lame.

Gods damn you, enhanced brain! You have failed me!

Sensing my awkwardness, Richard chuckled as he turned around and walked away from the paved path while gesturing for me to follow. I shrugged my shoulders and obliged.

After a couple of minutes of walking, I found myself standing in an open, grassy area. There was no living soul anywhere within sight other than Richard and myself, and all the sounds I could hear were those of nature.

"The road to strength is a long and arduous, Gray..." Richard sternly said, looking me in the eye. His tone and imposing figure radiated an undeniable aura of might and strength I'd never noticed before, causing me to gulp.

"However, you have potential, and I believe I can put you on the right path towards what you seek, granted you don't give up..." Richard stated, speaking in a matter-of-fact tone. "Which I know you won't..." he added, relaxing his posture and smiling at me.

And there it is again, the baseless confidence in me that made me unconsciously take his offered hand after my less than a pleasant encounter with Firefly first and ranting out my insecurities to him second.

Honestly, I had no idea what he saw in me.

The only thing I had going for me was the system, but he didn't know about it. The only thing I could think of to make him interested was how quickly my body improved.

But is that enough to not dismiss my words as the nonsense of a mentally ill man? Is it really enough for him to believe I could take on a god-like being if my theory is correct and there is such a being?

I didn't know or care about the answer. I desperately wanted to prove the man right and be worthy of such baseless confidence because I frankly didn't have that much confidence in myself, not with these odds.

That's all I knew, and It was enough. It had to be enough.

I displayed my resolve with a nod, and Richard faintly smiled.

"Then make yourself comfortable. We'll start with the basics, namely breathing," Richard said, gesturing towards the ground. I obliged, unconsciously taking a seiza posture under my teacher's amused gaze.

"You only need to make yourself comfortable; no need to take a special posture," Richard said, crossing his arms. "This isn't a kung fu movie, you know?" he added, lightly chuckling, and I felt my face heating in embarrassment.

"Are you really sure we're not in a kung fu movie? Because this sure feel's the setting of one..." I snarkily replied, not wanting to show my embarrassment. He stopped chuckling and scratched his head.

"Touché," Richard replied with a bitter chuckle, shaking his head in exasperation.

"At any rate, we've wasted enough time quipping. Let's get started," Richard said, crossing his arms and resuming the stern tone he had earlier while introducing himself. Gone was the carefree homeless man, replaced by a strict teacher.

"Close your eyes and take a deep breath," He instructed, and I obliged, feeling the kinda-fresh air filling my lungs. "Now let it out, and take another deep breath, but contract your abdomen," he added. I did as instructed and felt the air filling in the upper parts of my lungs.

"Good. Now let it out, and repeat, but expand your abdominal muscles when you exhale," Richard remarked after nodding in satisfaction.

Again, I obliged and felt the air fill the upper part of my lung and slowly depart my expanding lungs as I exhaled.

"That is called reverse breathing technique. I suggest you get used to it quickly because you will be applying it during training," Richard said, gesturing to the side.

"Now, start over, and don't stop this time..." Richard said as I opened my eyes to see his reaction, and I obliged again.

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and started applying the technique, thinking it was a piece of cake.

However, It took me only five minutes of performing the reverse breathing technique to devolve into a violent coughing fit. My abdominal muscles cramped, and my lungs ached like someone tore them apart with a rusty kitchen knife.

"You lasted longer than I expected... rest up. We'll continue in 30 minutes."

...

Wearing the iconic Robin costume Jason Todd tiptoed his way through the batman cave from cover to cover. He nervously inspected the area and only sighed in relief when he saw no sign of Batman.

"Did you find any leads about the Sionis family?"

Jason's relief instantly turned to panic as he heard that ever-familiar stern voice coming from behind him, almost scaring the soul out of him. He turned to face the speaker and barely resisted the urge to curse upon noticing Batman's blank expression.

"Nothing yet," Jason replied, expertly hiding his panic as he turned to face his mentor and father figure. His shoulders and back unconsciously straightened.

"Why?" Batman asked, getting straight to the point, with no emotion whatsoever. Jason winced as he thought of the assignment Bruce had given him.

It had been almost three years since the billionaire took him in and inducted him into his crusade against crime. Although Jason had been praised for his talent for martial arts, his abilities as a detective were found lacking. So Bruce had given him the assignment to investigate the Sionis crime family, which he did to a degree of success, but one particular thief had ruined everything.

"I had a lead, a guy who belonged to the gang," Jason replied, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'd been following the man for days, hoping he'd lead me to his bosses..." he added, sighing and trailing at the end of his sentence.

"What happened?" Batman asked in the same emotionless tone, unmoving, unblinking, and allowing no reaction to slip by his blank expression.

"He shot someone, and I had to interfere..." Jason replied. He wisely kept to himself the part where he wanted to keep watching and let the gangster walk away because he didn't want to compromise the mission if the thief didn't look like he was about to do something stupid and get himself killed.

"I see. Carry on and keep me updated," Batman calmly instructed as he turned to walk away, leaving a frustrated Jason to grit his teeth in silence, seething in frustration at the lack of reaction displayed by the caped crusader.

...

Gotham City

The Bowery, inside an abandoned warehouse

An enormous brute of a man wearing a luchador mask was pacing around the abandoned warehouse. He had transparent tubes all over his back and sides, a bright green substance coursing through them and into the man's towering body.

"Stop pacin' around, will ya?" said an older gentleman wearing a fine suit. However, he did not open his mouth. It was the puppet dressed as a mobster that did the talking instead.

"Da electric man said he'd be the distraction ya need, so he would," the puppet in the Ventriloquists's hand said, flailing its limbs.

"He ain't got the grains to double cross, or the guts for da matter," the puppet added with a light laugh. "My men gonn' be there, and ya'd have all the distraction ya need..." it concluded.

The hulking man grunted in response, going quiet for a moment to think.

"Fine, one week from now, we act, and I break the Bat."

 

---

 

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