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Chapter 172: The Darkness In All Of Us VII

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And Ian had just landed on Earth. A second later, he was in Gotham, standing right next to someone unexpected considering he was in the Roses' base, "Batgirl?"

"Wahhh!!" Her reaction was a jump of surprise and fright. It's not every day that someone can stealth themselves near her, especially when the door to the room was in front of her.

Ian released his psych the moment he arrived, so he sensed her within the Roses' main base. What was even more surprising was the fact that she wasn't attired in her Batgirl uniform.

That explains her next reaction, "How did you know?!" Only a second passed with her staring at Ian before she corrected herself, looking a little nervous, "I mean, it's nice to meet you again."

Like, of course, he would know who she is, considering he leads the Roses, and she knows just how vast their network information is.

"You joined?" Ian wondered, a bit curious.

"Yes." Barbara nervously nodded.

"Why?" Ian asked, confused. He was especially confused on why would she be accepted when she's a hero. She's bound to feed information to Batman.

The Roses, however, were left in Layla's hands, so Ian was confident she wouldn't make such a mistake.

And indeed, Barbara's explanation made things clear. So apparently, she lost her ability to move long ago as a result of an accident.

Well, it wasn't an accident per se, but something done by someone just as an act of revenge against Batman. 

Ian knows who is responsible for that, he heard of the incident after all. It was Simon Hurt, a psychopath who had spoken with Ian long ago. He left a gift for Batman before his passing.

To this day, Ian still wasn't sure whether he was talking to Simon or Darkseid, but he was sure the goal was to have her and several others be dead.

However, they failed, albeit not entirely. She lost her legs, and she had to live with that for a while, perhaps for her entire life if not for the Golden Rose.

It was a miracle solution that can even regrow limbs, produced by Ian personally. He's after all the only one capable of producing it, as far as he knows at least.

"I see... Well, welcome to the Roses." Ian shrugged, trusting Layla in her judgment. 

Moreover, Barbara may prove to be very useful considering her expertise, especially in information stuff. 

Ian remembers a similar incident happening to her, driving her to become the Oracle, a premier supplier of information to all heroes. Things obviously took a turn due to Ian's existence, but she still chose the same path despite still having perfect mobility. 

Perhaps what happened traumatized her, or she has been sent by Batman to observe the Roses. Ian didn't know, and didn't care because the Roses were quite cult-ish. She's bound to fall, especially with Layla's manipulation.

Ian waved his hand, teleporting her alongside him to the House of Mystery, "Recount all that has happened while I was gone, only the important stuff. I will take a shower in the meantime."

"What?" Barbara found herself stunned. Teleportation wasn't so shocking to her considering all the crazy things she used to face every day, and well, all of the peculiar information she came to know after joining the Roses.

What was shocking to her was Ian's suggestion, "You want me to take a shower with you?" She asked just to make sure.

"Huh? What?" Ian looked at her weirdly before remembering that not everyone knows of his powers, "No, just take a seat on the couch, and speak while I shower. I will be able to hear from everywhere, so you don't have to scream or anything..."

"Ah, ok?" Barbara nodded. She has certainly grown a lot since he first meets her which is why he found her over-the-top nervousness suspicious. Like, is he that scary of a person? Had he done anything that would warrant such a response?

Ian went ahead and took a comfortable shower. It felt like months passed since he had taken one with all the things he went through recently.

And while he can just perfectly clean himself with magic, he would much rather take a cozy shower to calm his mind.

He then put on a comfy violet pajama before taking a seat next to Barbara.

"So an alien fell to earth with the goal of collecting something called the mother boxes, but he was stopped by the Justice League?"

"Yes." Barbara nodded.

"But the Roses don't know where the boxes ended up?" Ian further questioned.

"Yes." Barbara swallowed in nervousness and nodded.

"Because of Batman?" Ian continued to question.

"I believe so. I think he made many precautions against you. I also tried to get any info about them to no avail..." Barbara answered.

"Oh? You'd go so far for the Roses?" Ian raised his eyebrows in surprise, feeling like she isn't lying. 

"Yes," Without hesitation, Barbara affirmed and even went on to explain, "I don't think there is anyone more capable of keeping Gotham safe than you. 

I've seen and experienced Gotham myself for many years, and I like the new Gotham. It can only exist if you do, so I want to support you even if I have to cross some lines I didn't believe I would cross before."

She didn't lie, Ian was sure. Perhaps the Rose of Psych gave him a natural detection of people's emotions and lies. Hell, he could read her mind right at the moment, but... He didn't feel like it nor did he need to.

Ian believes himself to be a decent person, never one to appreciate intruding on one's thoughts unless it was someone else but his own... Yeah, that made no sense. He definitely had read her mind.

"What did your father think of this?" Ian asked with a bit of amusement.

"He... He doesn't have a say in this. I followed his steps long enough, and I came to understand that the road he walks isn't the best." Barbara let out a small smile, "I guess I had father issues which I have finally gone over?"

Gone was her nervousness. What was left instead was a calm woman with a sense of direction.

"Father issues. Mother issues. I feel like almost everyone around me has experienced them at some point, everyone with parents that is." Ian also smiled and said.

"Did you?" Well, her fear of him vanished as she became quite comfortable around him, even asking him such a question.

"Me? Father issues or mother issues... There is a possibility, quite a high possibility in fact, but I guess only time will tell." 

Ian shrugged though his tone sounded a bit serious, quite the odd thing considering he never knew of his parents, or at least he didn't grow up with one to have such issues.

He sent her away soon after before bringing Harley and Selina into the House of Mystery. He had a plan in mind.

"So apparently, the society of villains did a bad thing," Ian murmured, instantly getting Harley's attention. To her, that sounded like an opportunity to discipline children.

"Layla is taking care of them, isn't she?" Selina remarked, "And I dare to say that she's more dangerous than most of the team."

"Yeah, but that's not enough! Bad people should be disciplined for the greater good! Right, darling?" Harley's hopeful eyes didn't escape Selina and Ian's sight. She was out for violence.

"It's not enough, I agree," Ian nodded, slowly an odd smile surfacing on his face, "This is about rudeness. Sure, they kill people and destroy cities. They even want to destroy the world, but I didn't mind because they weren't too rude."

Yup, Selina was sure the look on his face was that of annoyance despite his smile as Ian added, "The society of villains invited me to join their ranks... Now, can there be anything more disrespectful than that?"

"Huh? I don't really understand, but it must be super disrespectful! Let's gooo!" Harley didn't shy away from jumping up in happiness.

"..."