DC: I am Bruce Wayne

Chapter 167: Adventures of Batman (3)

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"A villain's strength lies in their ability to manipulate others."

– J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000)

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<(Bruce Wayne POV)>

"Darn it. Why doesn't this gun work like I want it to? It should theoretically kill any magical creature who has even a shred of mana inside them while completely obliterating their soul but instead, it is functioning like a gun loaded with harmless rubber bullets that just pushes its targets behind a little bit rather than killing them permanently. Hell, this isn't even useful for weakening or dealing enough damage to other magical beings." I complained to no one as I continued to tinker with the gun made from depleted promethium. 

Initially, I had wanted to make this gun from the Eighth metal that I had gotten from Hephaestus. However, fortunately, I decided to make a prototype from Depleted Promethium first since I didn't want to waste any of the precious godly metal in useless experimentation. Quite unexpectedly, it was one of the best decisions I had made in my life since for some reason I just couldn't get this gun to work even though I was sure that I was doing everything perfectly. From the various runes engraved on it with a magical engraver I had gotten from Zatanna during my training days called stele to the various jewels placed inside the gun to induce the magical effects of jewel craft, everything was absolutely flawless. But despite all this, something was still going wrong with the design.

"Do I need to invoke some otherworldly entities or perhaps perform a couple of complex rituals to get some divine or demonic blessings for this to work?" I wondered to myself with a deep sigh. 

"Sir, I think the reason why this isn't working is not because of a mistake in the design of the gun but because of the way magic works. You have yourself stated various times that even though magic has its own rules, it doesn't follow them as strictly as science. In science, doing something perfectly is enough for it to work. But in mage craft, the intent of the maker and their compatibility with mana is a major factor if their creations are going to work or not. Therefore, you might not have any control over whether this gun functions or not at all. I think the best you can do is seek the counsel of an experienced mage or sorcerer to see where this is going wrong while hoping that they will be able to help you." Cortana advised as her hologram flickered and appeared in front of me to take a look at the half-assembled gun.

"... You are right. I don't need this weapon right now. This project wasn't even supposed to be that urgent." I was just too excited to make this because I thought I could be like the Saint of Killers from Preacher and kill Godly Entities by putting just a single bullet in their head. *Heh* Imagine if I could kill Trigon or Darkseid with only a gun. That would be the most epic badass feat a gunslinger could ever possibly pull off." I chuckled while imagining myself pulling a Wild West standoff against some evil god. "Anyway, I know whom to ask for help for this. So, let's shelf this project for now till we take care of our more immediate problems." I suggested while nodding as if I was agreeing with myself.

I wasn't lying. Currently, I wasn't too desperate to complete this gun. I wasn't even going to need it for the time being against my current level of enemies. Most of the people I would have to face in the near future were either ordinary mortals or beings that mere Promethium or Batmanium weapons could easily kill. An immortal-slaying all-killing magic gun wasn't something I urgently needed right now. In a worst-case scenario, my All-Blades alone was enough for me to face any enemy. Instead, there were a lot of other plans and initiatives that needed to be finished soon. 

"Pull out all the latest news, Cortana. I want to make sure that I am not ignoring anything important." I said after turning towards the huge computer screen. After all, there were too many "villains" and psychos in the world that I wasn't aware of, but I wasn't going to sit back and do nothing just because I had never heard of them in my previous life. For all I knew, there could be some crazy guy who was currently in his parent's basement planning to dominate the world with the help of a massive glider bomb in the shape of a kite or something. 

"Well, there hasn't been a lot of big news recently. Unstable stock prices and fluctuating mortgage rates are the only global news people are talking about nowadays." Cortana announced, making sure to remind me about the "crash" that would be happening within a week or two. "Mr. John Kent has massively grown in popularity due to his stance on lax taxation policies and his strict education reforms. He has already become a favorite of the farmers, parents, and small as well as medium-sized business owners for that. Even Mrs. Martha Kent has for some reason become a beloved personality among the common people because of her genuine kindness and humility. I guess she has got herself a dedicated fan following after she went to that game show." The AI assistant briefed.

Well, that was a given. After all, people love celebrities who are kind and nice... at least in public. And since Mrs. Kent is both along with being homely, people absolutely love her. It's a shame that she doesn't want to enter into politics or the entertainment business, she would have been a perfect fit for them. 

"Also, there has been some news about people seeing humans flying here and there. Some of these flying humans even supposedly saved a few people from accidents. Most of the public are just dismissing them as crazy made-up stories but the frequency of such news is increasing every day." She said before adding, "Oh and I can say this with proof that your alien best friend is also one of these flying heroes. He even saved a couple of workers from a burning oil rig as well as rescued survivors from a forest fire in Africa. He is growing more and more "daring" with his hero work. It seems he is finally nearing the limit of his patience of having to refrain from using his powers to help people so as to avoid drawing attention to himself." 

Her words weren't a big surprise for me. After all, this universe's Clark Kent had that hero bug of wanting to save and help everyone. He was a do-gooder through and through, probably someone who would give up his life in a heartbeat just to save a kid with cancer or something. 

"Anything else I need to know?" I asked after a few seconds of silence.

"Not much in the global news. But there have been some... strange pieces of news happening here in Gotham. For one, an entire ship carrying containers containing supplies for Arkham just disappeared while sailing towards Gotham Harbour. There were no survivors, and nobody really knows what happened. Quite bizarrely though, there wasn't a single satellite facing the ship when it disappeared, and since the old ship didn't have any digital communication equipment except a radio transmitter which could easily be shut down, it can't be tracked." Cortana revealed.

"A ship disappeared just like that? Huh, that is indeed quite bizarre of an incident." I agreed with her conclusion. "Cortana, try to look into this and figure out the reason for the ship's disappearance since it might be a plot by one of the MANY genius-level crazy villains of Gotham... Although, honestly, I won't be surprised if this was just the work of a Kraken or some other dangerous magical sea creature. After all, the DC universe can be crazy like that." I harrumphed.

"Got it, boss," Cortana replied with her hologram giving me a mock salute. "Anything else for me to do?" she asked, looking as if she was trying to remember something. 

"No, that's it. Just observe and report back if you find any clues or something unusual." I replied, "Anyway, that concludes everything, right? Because we will be starting Project Underworld real soon and Batman won't be able to operate in Gotham for some time then. If any major problem arises at that time, our entire plan will get ruined." I uttered, making sure she understood the seriousness of the situation.

"Well, there is one more thing but it's not too big of an issue." Cortana started after a few seconds of silence, a silence that she used to pull up and analyze all the remaining information from newspapers and news media outlets all around the world. "Recently a couple of actors and crew from a famous TV sitcom went missing in Gotham after their show was cancelled due to the lead star quitting her role. Cops have tried their best to investigate the issue, but they haven't come up with anything useful. Honestly, this is the type of thing that I would normally ignore when reporting important events to you, but Wayne Enterprises owns the TV station that owns the license to the show, so I thought that you should know about it since people might ask questions." Cortana explained.

"So, someone is kidnapping a show's crew and cast? Why? Is it personal vengeance perhaps?" I wondered to myself before asking aloud, "Anyway, what is the show called again?" I asked curiously. 

"It's a kid's show called Love That Baby. The ratings and reviews of the Sitcom were dwindling recently but it had a pretty loyal audience among little kids." Cortana informed. "The name of the lead actress who quit the show was Mary Louise Dahl. Evidently, she has a rare condition called systemic hypoplasia which stopped her physical development when she was just a kid. So, despite being 20 years old, she looks just like a 3-year-old girl which makes her absolutely perfect for the lead role in the show, the character of Baby Doll. However, she quit her job after a small disagreement with one of the cast members, and the show was thus canceled. Apparently, she even tried to come back later but the creators decided not to clear the show for another season again due to the declining viewership."

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