"I don't know what game you're trying to py," he said very seriously, feeling that strange sensation. "I could break your arm right now. I could hand you to Gordon on a silver ptter," Batman said. His voice dropped to an intense whisper. "But I see what you are. You are disciplined. You are brilliant. And, above all, you are alone."

  The pain in my arm was sharp, but I forced myself not to scream. I had to maintain control.

  "I am not alone," I hissed through my teeth, injecting into my words all the threat and seriousness my childish stature could muster. "I have a dead man's switch. If I don't report back, my people have orders to plunge your city into absolute hell."

  I stared directly into the white eyes of the mask. "And don't forget an important detail: I was the one who saved you, you damn bat. I don't want unnecessary conflict. I'm just looking for a solution for both of us."

  He held me a second longer, evaluating the veracity of my threat. Finally, he let go, pushing me slightly back. I fell seated onto the metal floor, rubbing my sore wrist, but my dignity remained intact.

  "You don't have to be this," Batman continued. His aggressive stance softened just a millimeter, and his tone sounded almost paternal, loaded with painful experience. "I can teach you. I can help you channel that anger and that intellect into something constructive. You don't need to hide in the shadows selling venom and weapons. You can be better."

  I froze. Time seemed to stop in the cave.

  Was he... recruiting me? Did Bruce Wayne want to turn me into a Robin?

  The offer was, let's admit it, tempting. To be trained by the pinnacle of human perfection. To have access to his unlimited resources, his technology, his information network.

  But... that came with a price. It meant rules. It meant the "no kill" code. It meant strict morality and, worst of all, it meant subordination. And I wasn't born, nor reborn in this world, to be anyone's sidekick.

  I stood up slowly, shaking my hand to get the circution back. The initial fear evaporated, transforming into a cold, hard pride.

  "I don't need a father, Bruce. And I definitely don't need your morality," I spat the words with disdain. "Your method is... inefficient. You catch criminals, lock them up, they escape, screw up the lives of a hundred more people, and you catch them again. It's a broken cycle. A bloody hamster wheel."

  Bruce clenched his jaw, tensing his neck muscles. "Justice isn't easy."

  "I don't seek justice," I replied, taking a step back into the shadows. "I seek Order."

  The silence grew heavy between us.

  "I don't accept your offer of redemption," I continued. "But my commercial offer still stands: if you accept the truce, I will cut Bane's supplies this very night."

  I took a step back, letting the gravity of my words settle.

  "Without my military-grade weapons and without my resupply logistics, he will stop being invincible. He will return to being an enemy you can defeat. You will save your city today. And in exchange... you forget that the underworld of my city exists."

  Batman remained motionless, a gargoyle of silent judgment casting a long shadow. "Fine," he said finally, his voice rasping. "But if you bring crime to Gotham again... I'm coming for you."

  "And if you step foot in my territory in New York..."

  I returned his gaze. In that moment, I decided it was time to bare my teeth. The skill [Eyes of Chaos] manifested. An intense crimson red glow burst from behind the darkness of my mask, illuminating the gloom of the cave like two burning embers.

  "...not only will your city fall. Anarchy will spread from Gotham to Metropolis. Believe me, my contingency pn is far more lethal and definitive than Bane's. So don't give me reasons to activate it."

  There was a tense ten-second silence. Alfred, shotgun still in hand, looked at Bruce waiting for the order to fire. Finally, Batman nodded slightly. It was a pact with the devil, necessary to save Gotham from total colpse.

  "Go," he ordered.

  I smiled beneath the mask, the red glow of my eyes fading as I backed away into the darkness of the tunnel. "It was a pleasure doing business."

  I paused a moment before disappearing completely. My gaze nded on a lit dispy case, where the small, red, green, and yellow prototype suit rested.

  "By the way..." I said in a casual tone. "Red and green aren't my colors. Too fshy for my taste. I don't know how Dick could accept using that without feeling like a target practice dummy."

  Batman whipped his head around, ignoring the pain in his back. His eyes widened slightly in genuine surprise. "How...?"

  "I'll be watching you, 'Detective,'" I interrupted him, enjoying his bewilderment. "I want to see how a normal human solves the impossible. Don't disappoint me."

  I activated my Stealth and vanished into the shadows, leaving Bruce Wayne and Alfred alone in the cold, damp cave.

  "Master Bruce..." murmured Alfred, lowering the weapon with trembling hands. "That boy is dangerous. Young Dick is still training at the manor; he hasn't made his official debut as a hero yet. No one should know his name."

  "I know, Alfred." Bruce turned to the central computer, ignoring his wounds, and began typing rapidly, creating new encryption protocols.

  "He is the most dangerous person I have ever crossed paths with," Batman admitted, staring at the void where the boy had been. "Because he doesn't act out of madness or compulsive traumas. Yes, he is arrogant, but his intelligence is adaptable; he will learn quickly from his mistakes. He knows exactly what he's doing, possesses information that logically shouldn't exist... and worst of all, he is still just a child. Compared to him, that 'Cat' is a minor nuisance. That city is becoming a nest of problems."

  I met with my team in a satellite blind spot, an industrial alley where Ophelia and her elite group were waiting. Upon seeing me emerge from the shadows, everyone squared their shoulders and saluted with a military respect bordering on reverence.

  "The logistics phase is over," I demanded bluntly. "Store everything in the Inventory and get inside yourselves, too. We're leaving this city. We've gained enough already."

  Everyone nodded without questioning the direct order. One by one, they began to suck up the st containers of merchandise and, immediately after, were themselves absorbed by the dimensional void of my skill.

  Watching them disappear, I felt a stab of acidic envy in my stomach. I was the owner of that space, the "God" of that pocket dimension, and yet, I was the only one who couldn't enter it. It was like being the architect of a paradise and being condemned to stay outside the gates.

  'Damn [Weight of Destiny] restriction,' I thought bitterly, remembering the System error in front of Batman. 'I guess the Universe doesn't want me to win so easily.'

  Ophelia was the st one left. She crossed her arms, half of her white mask gleaming under the light of a broken streetmp.

  "Boss, why the sudden retreat?" she asked, her voice tinged with incomprehension and greed. "If we stay here one more week, with Batman out of the picture, we could cim massive territory in Gotham. Profits would triple."

  I shook my head, looking at her like a master correcting an impatient student. "Believe me, Ophelia. This Gotham, although dangerous, is a kindergarten compared to what's coming in the future. And about Batman..."

  I paused, looking toward Wayne Tower in the distance. "He is much more dangerous than you think. We need him alive. We need him to stay here to keep the future monsters busy, the chaotic clown that will be born from this disaster, and those who will come after."

  Ophelia tilted her head. "Boss, you talk as if you could see the future."

  "You could say that, in a sense, I can."

  I walked up to her. The height difference was evident; I barely reached her chest. However, I raised my hand and gently touched the cheek of her mask. She tensed for a second, puzzled by the gesture.

  "And I can see a magnificent future in you, Ophelia," I whispered. "I see how beautiful you will become when you heal. The day will come when that half-mask will be just a distant memory."

  She let out a soft chuckle, a mix of amusement and condescension. "You ftter me, boss," she said with a tone of pyful seduction, like someone humoring a precocious little cousin pying adult. "But you're a little young to be breaking hearts."

  "Trust me."

  I stepped back, lowering my hand, knowing that my physical age was my best camoufge and my greatest barrier. My verbal nguage hardened, erasing any trace of childish amusement.

  Her condescending tone triggered an arm in my head. She was treating me like a child, which meant she knew too much and respected me too little. It was time to drop the subtleties.

  "I don't care who you work for behind my back, Ophelia. As long as you continue working efficiently for me and harbor no ill intentions toward my person, you will have that magnificent future I promised."

  Ophelia's smile died instantly. Her rexed posture transformed into combat tension. The air grew heavy. "You know?" she asked, her voice now cold and professional.

  I activated my [Eyes of Chaos]. A crimson red glow illuminated my pupils, piercing her composure. "I know more than that, Ophelia," I said calmly. "I know about your accident in Europe. I know what lies beneath that half-mask and the pain of your face. And I know exactly why you work with Hydra."

  She took a step back, her hand instinctively going to her hidden weapon, but she stopped.

  "I won't ask for exclusive loyalty," I continued, deactivating the intimidation to show mercy. "I only ask that you don't fail me and that you be my intermediary with them. So tell me... what does the octopus crowd want? Also, how much have they investigated me? For you to recently state with certainty that I am a minor, when I never stated my age and my voice is always deep when I speak with you all. I'm sure they did a good job."

  I could see in her eyes the exact moment she understood her mistake in treating me like a child. Letting out a sigh, she regained her professional seriousness, although now she looked at me with a newfound respect, tinged with real fear.

  "They want your colboration for global transport logistics. They want you to join them. They've seen what you can move without being detected. And regarding the investigation, they only know you're a child because of your faked voice when asking the police for help with the sonic weapon."

  I could only bring my fingers to my eyelids, realizing that the mistake of asking for help had harmed me not only with Batman. Recovering, I ignored that fact, focusing on more important things.

  "What do I gain?" I asked with disdain. "As you can see, I'm not the type of person who follows orders from fanatics in green uniforms."

  "You gain cutting-edge technology, global intelligence, and connections in high pces," she replied. "Resources that even Ats cannot buy yet."

  "Fine. Make your proposal and discuss it with Marcus. I need my company to grow faster, and if using Hydra as a stepping stone serves me, I'll do it."

  Ophelia nodded slowly. "Understood, Ghost."

  I gave a signal my subordinates knew well. Upon perceiving her voluntary acceptance, I sent her to the Inventory. She disappeared on the spot, leaving me alone in the dark alley.

  Wanting to leave before Batman could devise a pn to lock me up, I decided to spend my final hours until my transport arrived watching Gotham from a distance, like a front-row spectator at the end of the world.

  Moving with my Parkour, I expected to see Batman's next move, but what captured my attention was something much smaller, and at the same time, more significant for the canon.

  I was on the rooftop of a middle-css residential building, observing through a third-floor window.

  [System: Key Character detected: Harleen Quinzel.] [Future Potential: Queen of Crime (Harley Quinn).]

  I frowned beneath the mask. What were the odds of bumping into her in a random building in the middle of this chaos? Statistically, almost zero.

  But then, realization hit me. It wasn't luck. Apparently, that ominous notification I received when my System evolved wasn't just filler text; it was a physical w of my new reality.

  {History: Destiny Warning} "Your path as a supervilin will constantly cross with the variables of this world... The System wishes you luck."

  "So the universe conspires to bring monsters together..." I murmured, accepting the irony.

  There she was. A young blonde woman, probably a university student. Harleen Quinzel. She was hiding behind a sofa in her own living room. The pce was a disaster, a sign of a violent break-in resulting from the riots.

  On the floor, near the entrance, y the inert body of an intruder. Harleen was holding a pistol with trembling hands, her knuckles white from the pressure. She didn't look like a vilin. She looked like a normal girl, traumatized, with ragged breathing and eyes wide with panic.

  I watched her from the distance, fascinated. There, amidst the chaos I had helped accelerate, the sanity of the future Queen of Crime was beginning to crack. Anarchy doesn't just break buildings; it breaks people. And I had just witnessed the first crack in her porcein.

  "The show is just beginning."