DC: I am Bruce Wayne

Chapter 35: Mental problems

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"It's more important to master the cards you're holding than to complain about the ones your opponent was dealt."

- Grimsley, (Pokémon)

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<(Bruce Wayne pov)>

"So, are you going to save her or take her memories? Because judging by her breathing pattern and heart rate she doesn't seem to have much time left even though physically her injuries seem to be healing at a much faster rate than a normal human. That's not supposed to happen by the way, just saying." Deathstroke sat on the ground in a relaxed position and commented cheekily.

"I-I don't know. Should I save her or should I just let her die? I mean she did kill a lot of people, innocents who were just doing their jobs or minding their own business. She killed them in cold blood just because she could, just because she was stronger. But does that make her truly irredeemable because it is possible that she did all that thinking that it was the right thing to do due to her upbringing or maybe she was brainwashed from an early age into being an ice-cold killer?" I suddenly began hesitating even though I previously thought that I was ready for situations like these.

Why was I suddenly hesitating when it came to killing her? Was I that weak-minded? But hadn't I already killed those people back then at Helena's house? But again, I just ordered their deaths that day, the true murder was done by my drones and Cortana. To me, that was less like killing someone and more like just ordering a troop member in a game to do the deed instead. But this, this was me letting someone die knowing full well that she could be saved if I desired it.

As I pondered about my choices, Aethyr's wounds had already been cauterized but despite that, judging from her breathing it seemed that she wasn't recovering at all. Instead, her condition was gradually worsening. This was probably because of the effects that her Kryptonian knife had on her physique. However, it needed to be studied more to determine what exactly these effects were.

I don't know if she would die or not without any immediate medical help but her body would definitely be ruined and she would forever lose her motor cognition. Even in the best-case scenario, she would permanently become a quadriplegic.

"If you are truly worried if she is innocent or not, don't. She is an experienced soldier through and through. I saw her eyes. They were the eyes of a veteran killer, someone who enjoys what they do. There is no brainwashing for you to undo. If one goes by her eyes, one can almost say that the entire purpose of her life according to herself is fighting and killing. Krypton and this general of hers are just excuses she gives herself. So stop bullshitting and do what you really feel like. Nobody will judge you because nobody is here in your place right now." The masked bodyguard said as he played with Aethyr's blue-bladed Kryptonian knife.

"You know what. You are right. I know what I need to do now. I always did." I repeated. I had made up my mind even before I came here. I was only hesitating due to the remnants of the human morals left inside this body from the previous Bruce as well as my own morality from my past life. But not anymore. In this life, I would have to do what I must, otherwise one day these things will come back to bite me in my ass.

Opening the small bag concealed on my back, I took out a portable Amusphere (an advanced model of the basic Nerve Gear), a little different than the one I used to full-dive for training purposes. This was made specifically for one particular purpose in mind.

Slipping it on Aethyr's head. I switched on the device and immediately Cortana's voice came from my watch.

"Connection successful. Should I start the extraction process?" She asked after giving me verification that the device working as it should.

"Do it. Make sure to compartmentalize all information and data available no matter how insignificant. I want to know everything about her and her race, how she trained, what she learned, what they eat, when they sleep, how many bowel movements they have in a single day, everything." I said, not caring about Deathstroke's silent snicker at how my command made me appear like some twisted stalker.

"Got it." She replied as a soft hum began to come from the headset making me wonder about how safe my newly made machine was. I didn't have the time or appropriate subject to test it out, so maybe this is for the 'greater good', the greater good of my own experiment of course.

"Initiating mind replication. Mental scan at 1%" A robotic voice similar to Cortana's original stated from the machine.

"I still can't believe that you invented all this. A mere child with the wits to outsmart even those high and mighty arrogant geniuses I met back in the military. Well, I guess it's true, kids truly are the future of the country." He said as he looked at the Amusphere with awe.

"Don't get any ideas. You know what will happen if you try to doublecross me, don't you?" I warned, not even looking at him but the serious tone of my voice carried the message loud and clear.

"Yeah, yeah. How can I forget when you fooled an innocent gullible fellow like me into signing that cursed voodoo contract? As long as I am in your employment, I can't cross you, betray you, or harm you or your friends and family in any way. Even after my employment term ends, I must keep everything I have seen, heard, or experienced with you a secret, otherwise, I would lose my life and my soul will be subjected to eternal damnation, not that it already has." He huffed like he was truly wronged.

The contract that he mentioned was actually a magical contract that I got from Zatara. It was supposedly a type of contract that demons use to sign deals. Once signed, it cannot be annulled unless agreed upon by all involved parties in it. Or unless some other higher-dimensional overpowered entity like a fifth-dimensional clown or some party animal archangel suddenly wished it.

I had long 'found out' that Zatanna was a magician and even confronted her about it. In fact, she wasn't even hiding it really. I think she wanted me to find out about it on my own so that she could have more things to talk about with me and fewer secrets to keep from her best friend. We still hadn't exactly told her father that I already knew about their family secret mainly because Zatanna warned me about her father regularly mind-wiping people who found out about their ability to cast magic. So, I didn't take the risk and just kept silent, waiting until the right time to tell him and beg/request/blackmail him into teaching me magic.

As for how I got the contract from Zatana, well it was simple. I traded it with her. I gave her a REALLY expensive magic book that she wanted after I bought it from an auction and copied it first for myself and in return she stole one of the numerous empty contracts that her father kept for making deals with different magical beings and gave it to me. It was an equivalent exchange in my opinion.

"Bruce, I have encountered certain mental barriers in her inner mind while trying to scan it. I can bypass them one by one, keeping her mind intact but that will take a lot of time, time that we don't really have. Or I can just force my way through her mental defenses using the full power of the processors. It will take a fraction of the time required for the first method but it will definitely do some permanent damage to her mind despite her Kryptonian heritage." Cortans's voice broke me out of my flashback as she dutifully informed me of the problem that suddenly came up.

"Do it. She isn't gonna be alive much longer anyway and I don't intend to save her. Record the entire process and all the effects of the scanning. It will be useful later on to improve the device." I ordered.

I could have easily saved her life but in the corner of my mind I knew if I did that, she wouldn't just magically turn good through the power of friendship or whatever and join my team of superheroes. No, instead a trained soldier like her will eliminate me and any other she considers a threat, this time while using everything in her arsenal and without underestimating humans as she did the first time before she got a surprise with her own knife piercing her spine.

"Inner mental barriers breached. Reinitiating mind replication. Mental scan at 75%" Her voice stated again as the soft hum of the device intensified.

"Is that blood coming from her ears? Okay, it's official now. I am never going near any of your helmets. Hell, I don't think I can even get an MRI scan after this without worrying about my brain leaking from my own head." He said as the sound of a gulp came from him.

This version of Deathstroke was really weird. I hadn't really read any comics or even watched a lot of shows about DC in my previous life but I knew that Deathstroke was one of the most dangerous assassins in the verse. I always thought he would have a serious personality. But this one was unhinged. He was more like Deadpool instead of my image of Deathstroke. He was mostly all fun and stuff where he was a likable guy but occasionally he becomes all cold and ruthless, especially during training, and sometimes he even goes completely silent like some psychopath.

Slade himself was aware of his problem and just chalked it up to side effects from the military experiments that made him an Enhanced Soldier. I had tried to persuade him to let me cure any mental effects that the experiments conducted on him might have left but unfortunately, he values his mind way too much to let anyone tamper with it. And truthfully he was right to do so because I know that the moment I get access to his brain I wouldn't be able to stop myself from embedding certain contingencies in him to make sure that he won't be a threat to the future me even after our contract period is over.

But again I'll probably do that anyway.

"Mental scan 100%. Mind replication complete" The Amusphere stopped humming.

"Do you have a full readable copy of all her memories?" I asked Cortana.

"Positive." She answered.

"Good. Let's go, Slade. The cops will be here soon. I got what I needed. We just need to transport the body back to my lab now." I said as I picked up the Kryptonian after collecting different DNA and hair samples from her in separate containers.

No way was I leaving her body or any of her DNA samples here. I knew too much about plots like these to know that some evil genius could easily make a clone using her DNA. That was not happening, at least not under my watch.

The Kryptonian warrior's body was actually lighter than I expected, almost as light as a fit athletic female which was in itself an impossibility due to how absurdly strong and durable their species is supposed to be.

Anyway, I was able to carry her body which was mostly brain dead due to the combined effects of her spinal injury and the Amusphere's effects on her mind with some slight difficulty due to my eternally peak human body. As for why I didn't hand it over to my masked accomplice? Simple, because I had another more important job for him.

"Slade, I will carry her to the car that you brought from Gotham. While I do that, I have an important assignment for you. You see, her sudden appearance in this town begs the question of how she came to be here. And I know the perfect place to start investigating that particular question. Tell me, Slade, have you ever heard of..." Bruce started with a smile on his face which soon disappeared as Deathstroke interrupted him

"Wait before you tell me the mission details. Know that this is going to cost you extra. I just get paid to be your teacher and bodyguard, not your errand boy. Of course, I will gladly be your errand boy if you pay me enough." He said like a shrewd businessman.

"You know, you are worse than my blood-sucking lawyers. *Sigh* How much do you want?" I asked annoyance evident on my face.

"Hey, don't give me that look. I'll have a young mouth to feed soon. And if you think that lawyers are blood-sucking, you definitely haven't heard of child alimony yet. Also, a million is enough." He snorted.

"Fine. One million it is. Now, as I was saying. Have you ever heard of the Luthors and their evil experiments in their secret laboratories?" I asked with an evil smirk that was not visible due to my mask.

"... OK, now I am interested. By the way, the price is two million now."

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