DC: I am Bruce Wayne

Chapter 36: A Hero Complex

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"Just Believe In Yourself, And You Can Become A Hero!"

-All Might, (My Hero Academia)

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After Deathstroke left me after listening to my plan, I also prepared to leave the area. The cops were gonna be here any minute and I didn't want to waste my time explaining to them what I was doing in a destroyed farm alone at night.

But why was I getting the feeling that I was forgetting something? I looked around trying to figure out what I was forgetting.

My photographic or eidetic memory like all other eidetic memories out there acted on the principle of perfect recall. It means whatever I see, smell, hear, or experience after my transmigration will be stored perfectly in my mind without the memory deteriorating with time. But if I have to recall that knowledge, I'll have to think about it like searching for a particular file on a computer. That's why a lot of geniuses even though have eidetic memories still forget about general stuff like eating. It's not because they are idiots but simply because they don't care enough to try to actively recall that data from their minds.

Hmm? Oh, that's it. I had forgotten about Clark, the friendly neighborhood Kryptonian who was currently knocked out in a puddle of water.

I could wake him up and take him with me but the thing is that I already have too much stuff in my hands. I mean literally the Kryptonian warrior on my back is heavy enough for me. I can't afford to carry a Kryptonian teenager as well. Also, I am too lazy to wake him up and explain everything to him. It's better that he doesn't know anything about the extraordinary parts of my life until he completely trusts me.

He can find his own way home after he wakes up. This is his hometown after all, so even if people find him, they won't exactly be suspicious of him being an alien or a criminal just because he was sleeping in a puddle of water. Worse comes to worst, he will merely be grounded if his parents find out.

So I just picked up Aethyr's unresponsive body on my back and set off on my floating hoverboard to the location of the Bugatti EB110 whose coordinates were being displayed by Cortana on my watch. It was a car that 'my father' Thomas Wayne had bought for his car collection but unfortunately, he was never able to ride it although, Deathstroke was making his damn best to make sure that the car was used to its full potential by driving it everywhere he went.

Reaching the destination, I opened the trunk of the modified car and put the deceased Kryptonian's body into it locking the doors, not caring to bind her with anything since even Kryptonians can't exactly move once they are dead unless, of course, someone revives them with the help of a Kryptonian life matrix or some sort of magical ritual which on second thought is too common a thing in DC.

I should probably destroy the body as soon as I can after I am done with my experiments on it. After all, I don't want her to suddenly come back to life to take revenge against me, do I?

As I continued thinking about the various ways I could destroy a Kryptonian dead body, I reached the Kent family home and silently climbed the walls back into Clark's room. Reaching the room, I noticed the door was still closed and nobody had come inside. There wasn't too much noise as well in the house, so most probably the Kents didn't even have any idea that their guest and adopted son just had a fight with a murderous invincible alien soldier not even an hour ago.

I didn't have any plans to tell them as well. They will find out about their son using his powers if they find out. As far as they are concerned about me, I am just a normal kid who slept the entire night in Clark's room without even knowing what the young teenager was doing or where he was.

"Oh and before I forget..." I quickly went to Clark's restroom and began to look among his things, particularly his toiletries.

"There it is." After only a few minutes of searching, I found what I was looking for. I had a big smile on my face as I held three strands of hair in my hand.

Planet-destroying species who can punch apart a multiverse in the right conditions, yet still suffer from the occasional hairfall. How funny. I smirked as I kept his comb back in its place.

I could look for more DNA but this would be enough for the experiments I needed to conduct and truthfully I had no wish to go through the trash can in his room in search of used tissues that he might have abused to wipe out evidence of his carnal pleasures during his 'fun time'.

I quickly got out of the restroom before anybody could come into the room and prepared myself for some shut-eye after storing the DNA sample in a specialized container while wondering why Clark had two beds in his room in the first place.

"Whatever. More space for me I guess." I muttered as I lay down on the comfortable bed and closed my eyes for a good night's sleep after a hard day's work. After only about a few seconds of contracting and relaxing my body muscles in a specific method, I immediately drift to a as usual dreamless night of sleep.

***

(Next morning)

*Yawn* That was satisfying. Sleeping in the countryside is really comfortable for some reason, although it is nowhere near my Wayne manor in comfort and security.

I shut off the rooster alarm on my watch and looked at the empty bed beside mine. It seems Clark still hasn't returned from his adventure last night. I did feel a little guilty at first but the next minute I just shrugged it off since I knew that a little cold and bugs would be no problem to the knocked-out last son of Krypton.

Stretching my arms and legs lazily, I went to the restroom to complete my morning rituals. I already had my toothbrush in my bag, so I didn't need to worry about using anyone else's which would have been disgusting. I really hate couples and families using each other's toothbrushes. I mean there are a couple of things in life that are meant to always be private.

After I was done, I went downstairs to see if everyone else was awake and that's when I heard it. The gruff voice of an angry man harshly reprimanded someone.

Oh seems, Clark did return home but just not as discreetly as he left. I snickered to myself while tiptoeing downstairs knowing that Clark would probably be the only one able to hear me coming.

"You not only endanger yourself but your entire family last night Clark. You didn't even think of your friends who also could have been in trouble if anybody were to find out about your secret." Jonathan Kent said in an angry yet suppressed voice.

"I am sorry Dad, but I needed to do this especially when I found out that..." Clark suddenly stopped as he looked at the door of the room.

"You are not just irresponsible Clark. You are stubborn, too stubborn to see that what you are doing will not only cause you trouble but others as well. I understand that you felt that you need to help everyone but you can do it without being a hero, without putting yourself in danger.

*Sigh* Clark, being a hero is an extremely hard path, one that I do not want you to follow because I know that if you do it... you will never be able to return from it. You will never be able to stop. So think deeply about what you really want Clark because the way things are, sooner or later people will find out about your abilities, about what you can do and some of them will either want you gone or want it for themselves. Anyway, we will talk about this later after your friends leave. Right now, I'll have to help your mother with the breakfast. " The older Kent looking like he had aged a decade in a single night completed his speech and went towards the kitchen.

"Are you still just going to stand behind the door?" Clark spoke up a few seconds later as he directly looked at the door like he could see through it.

"You knew I was here?" I asked coming out from behind the door with a helpless smile, knowing full well that he was not only able to hear or smell me but see me through the wall as well.

"Yeah, I have... a good sense of hearing." He returned my smile with a smile of his own.

"So what happened last night? You were not in your room and I just saw you getting scolded by your dad." I said as I sat down on the sofa in front of him.

"Well, I heard that people were in trouble and I went there to help them, as simple as that. However, what I didn't consider was that helping people would take up my entire night making it impossible for me to come home before morning. And let's just say I was not as silent as a ninja when I tried to get back to my room this morning. Especially not since you closed off the windows from the inside and I had to try to enter through the kitchen door." He muttered the last part to himself but I clearly heard it due to my enhanced senses.

Hmm, I guess I did close off the windows last night before sleeping. I had been getting paranoid lately and locking all doors and windows before going to sleep was just one of the many many new paranoid habits I had picked up. I don't know if this paranoia is my own that I developed due to my constant thoughts of how to survive in this new world or something that I inherited from the original Bruce. But whatever it was, I was thankful for it because I knew that it could undoubtedly one day save my life even though it was giving me real trust issues whenever I met new people.

"You know Clark, your father is right. You don't have to force yourself to help or save other people. The world is always harder on heroes than on criminals. Individuals are smart but people, people are stupid and the only thing people like to see more than a hero is to see a hero fail." I said as I looked at his hunching figure, sitting on the sofa and looking lost in self-doubt.

"... No. I-I know that every time I try to help someone, it might be inconveniencing someone else, that I might be meddling in other people's business whenever I try to aid somebody but I can't help myself. My father wants me to be Clark, someone who leads a normal life by keeping his head down but I am not just Clark. Clark Kent is a part of who I am but I am more than just that. I am, I am..." Clark stopped as he looked unsure of what he truly was.

"It's not who you are Clark, it's what you can be. A Hero. In fact. anyone can be a hero as long as they have the heart for that. And meddling when you don't need to... is the essence of being a hero." I told him at which his eyes seemed to light up as he looked at me with enlightened eyes.

Man, I think I have quite a future as a professional motivational speaker.

"You taught me a lot of things today Bruce. You made me see a lot of stuff from a completely new point of view. Thanks." He thanked me earnestly.

"It's okay. Just remember to not forget your little friend if you become famous someday doing hero work. Maybe start with cleaning beaches and stuff. Be a hero for the environment as well you know. Who knows, maybe one day we will join you and we will open our club full of heroes." I joked at which Clark began to laugh as well.

"Bruce, good morning. Hope you had a good sleep last night. Anyways, breakfast is served, boys. Join us at the kitchen table. Selina is already there and she threatened to finish both of your portions if you do not get there right now." Mama Kent informed.

"Good morning to you too Mrs. Kent. And of course, Selina is there. She is always the first person in the room whenever there is free food involved." I grinned as I got up from the sofa.

"Selina is up already? How come I didn't hear her? She must be really stealthy." Clark murmured to himself with a voice full of awe.

Oh, he had no idea about how stealthy the little kitty truly was. She was gifted in that area. I have to work on my stealth a LOT more if I want to catch up to her or go to the same stealth level as the original Batman is supposed to be on. Only then, will I be able to catch beings like Kryptonians and Martians off guard like him.

"Let's go. I still need to give Mr. Kent the business proposal I wanted to give him regarding his farm last night." I said while hoping in my heart that he was not as big as a goody-two-shoes fool in reality as he presented himself to be.

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