<div class="floatleft">(https://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/6/64/Young_Batman.jpg)</div><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Name:</strong> Batman (https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=294841.msg14455706#msg14455706)<br/><strong>Date | Time:</strong> Present<br/><strong>Location:</strong> Earth, if Fate can be believed<br/><strong>Tagging:</strong>Open. Raven<br/><strong>Note:</strong> He wants US to save the universe?</span><br/><hr/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote">Quote</div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">“This island must be kept secret. If any of you decide to escape, please do not speak of this place for then my magic will not be able to protect us from Chaos. We are on an island off the coast of Chile.” </blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/><em>Seriously?</em>It was a good thing Bruce had long been schooled in keeping his face impassive, because he kept hearing things that made him want to react. Fate's magic only worked if no one knew he was using it? Was that what he was saying? If so, that indicated a huge weakness in their supposedly powerful host, one Bruce would have to figure out how to take advantage of in the event their host was lying and HE was the threat they needed to combat. It was unlikely, however, that their host was lying about their location, since that could be so easily disproven, which meant they actually were on Earth off the coast of Chile. In any case, Bruce would begin to make his plans off that data. Because as he saw it there were two possibilities...Fate was telling the truth and there was a threat coming, and Bruce needed to be ready to meet it. Or Fate was lying and had a hidden agenda, and Bruce needed to figure out what that was. Either way...Bruce needed to stay, which meant he needed a plan.<br/><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote">Quote</div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote"> “There. I hope that we can grow to trust each other more now. My name is Joseph Schneider, the one currently chosen by the Helmet of Fate and the god Nabu. You can call me Joe.”</blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/>Why would taking off his mask make people trust him? Did Fate really think he was going to be that easily manipulated? Fate could have given any name, and given himself any appearance. Bruce, who was himself operating under an alias, knew that better than most. It was, however, interesting that Fate seemed to lose his powers along with his mask. Was it truly that simple? Not that managing to sneak up on Fate and take his helmet off would be simple by any means, but it was at least the start of a plan.<br/><br/>As expected, the answers Fate...or Joe...gave to Bruce's question...or more of an accusation...was meaningless. Except for the fact that Fate himself didn't seem to know the details, which if Nabu's answers were as confusing as the ones Fate gave, wasn't to surprising. The disquieting piece of information was that Nabu was going to be the teacher, which given the being's habit of speaking in riddles and half truths, did not bode well for anyone learning anything from him. Hopefully the Chemistry class would be more straightforward than the 'end of the world' lecture they had just had.<br/><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote">Quote</div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">“Take as long as you need to heal Miss Zor-El. When you are ready to join us for training, we’ll welcome you.”<br/></blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/>Now THAT was also an interesting piece of information. If Kara could take all the time she needed to heal...how long did it take to heal from losing your whole planet? Bruce hadn't yet 'healed' from the loss of his parents...that would be the work of a lifetime, and it was doubtful that was what Fate had in mind. So what kind of time frame were they talking about here? In any event, Bruce had the first of what he expected would be many disagreements with their teacher, and this time he chose to speak up, as he had at least some sense of what Kara was going through.<br/><br/>"No." He told her...not that he expected her to even acknowledge his statement in her current condition, but you had to lay the framework sometime. "You don't 'heal' from that kind of pain. You USE it. You learn, you fight, you train. You do everything you can to ensure what you are going through never happens to anyone else. For now...this is probably the best place for that. And the best time to start training is now." Yes, that wasn't very sympathetic, but Bruce remembered all to well how unwelcome sympathy had been during his loss. Yes, Kara and her cousin now probably hated him for butting in, and Fate was probably annoyed with him, but he wasn't here to make friends or be the teachers pet But there was one thing Alfred had told told...told him many times until he at least began to believe it. And Kara probably needed to hear it as well.<br/><br/>"It wasn't your fault." He concluded.<br/><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote">Quote</div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote"> “Mr. Jordan, while you’re here, there won’t be any alcohol consumption. You will need to be sober to effectively perform. You can take that elevator to the second floor. The first floor has your kitchen, banquet hall, dining room, and library. The second floor is where you all will sleep. You will find the keys in the locks. Take your key and pick whatever bedroom you prefer. There are many. I recommend though that you all try to pick a room close to each other. You’re all a team now. The third floor…heh none of you will need to worry about that floor yet. Those floors have nicer rooms and are for senior members. The rooms are a suite with their own bathrooms. Unfortunately, on the second floor, Males and females use their respective community bathrooms. You are all currently on Basement Level 1. You are free to explore this basement and Level 2; however, you must not ever venture to Basement Level 3 without me. It is not safe. Do you understand?”<br/></blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/>Given Mr. Jordan's performance so far, Bruce wasn't confidant being sober would be much of an improvement, because seriously, they had been talking about aliens for most of their time in the room, and he just NOW figured it out? But that wasn't Bruce's problem, and he concentrated on the rest of Fate's instructions. First off...Bruce had no intention of taking the elevator...such a small building as this, the stairs would be just as efficient, and better exercise as well. Not to mention being less enclosed in case of attack. The library sounded quite interesting, and Bruce suspected he'd spend a lot of time there...as usual. Kitchen was necessary just for survival purposes, assuming there actually was food there, The dining room and banquet hall could both be ignored...Bruce was more curious if there was a gym and some sort of workshop available.<br/><br/>Bruce knew exactly which room he wanted...or rather, one of two. If they were in Chile, that meant he'd need a north facing room to hit the satellite over the equator, and of course he wanted a corner room as that meant two means of escape rather than just one. He frowned a bit at Fate's next statement. "Are there other students here then?" Bruce asked. If not...didn't that mean THEY were the senior students? If so, Bruce wanted to know who else was on the island. Not that Bruce cared about not getting a nicer room...he'd spent most of the last decade sleeping in huts or caves or just outside...but it was interesting Fate clearly had the resources to make 'nicer' rooms, but just hadn't cared to do so, and that the 'nicer' rooms were potentially off limits, even if they weren't going to be used. The shared bathroom didn't bother Bruce at all...if it did become an issue, Bruce coupled always set up a latrine elsewhere on the island.<br/><br/>But it was basement level three that really sparked Bruce's interest...what was the man hiding there? But once again the red head just couldn't keep his mouth shut. Why the hell would you TELL the enemy your plans? Did the man lack any type of filter that kept his thoughts from coming out of his mouth?<br/><br/>But the orange alien at least provided a bit of a distraction, and Bruce felt an unaccustomed sense of amusement at her over reaction to Raven's request not to be touched, but at least it didn't appear any lasting harm was done from that mis step. But with so many aliens present in the room...including Raven, Bruce recalled...that misunderstandings were bound to occur. But Starfire, as she seemed to want to be called, did make a good point about the food, though of course what may be edible for a human may NOT be edible for an alien, but of course Fate would have accounted for that, unless he intended to poisin his new students.<br/><br/>Starfire's statement to Kara would probably be much better received that Bruce's own, and he was relieved that Kara at least had the offer of friendship, something Bruce had lacked, at least among those his own age, back when HE had needed a friend. That would also help the Young woman cope...and coping was about all you could do.  Bruce also bit back another chuckle of amusement when it seemed Starfire joined the 'can't listen to the red haired one' club.<br/><br/>And then someone new came into the room, and Bruce felt a flash of annoyance. Not that it really affected him if the man was late, but if they were going to be team mates, they needed to rely on one another, and how could you rely on someone who couldn't do something as simple as show up on time? No...this was indeed a very strange group of people who were supposed to save the galaxy, and Bruce was not optimistic about their chances given what they had seen so far.<br/><br/>Bruce saw the look Raven (the only one who hadn't really given him reason to doubt the reason for her presence here, it seemed) gave him and nodded politely in return, but he figured he had said to much to her already and didn't want to risk a reaction like the one she had given Starfire, so he addressed Doctor Fate instead. "How far does this 'shield' of yours extend?" Bruce asked, not really caring if anyone heard that question. "I have some...equipment...I'd like to work on, and I don't want to go beyond your field. Also...how do you want the equipment to arrive?" Bruce doubted Fate would approve of a shipping container arriving at the dock of his secret island...assuming there even was a dock.<br/><br/>Bruce, of course, had other questions as well, but asking their host 'how do I take you out?' was hardly something you asked, and Bruce doubted he'd get actual answers to any of the other questions swirling around in his head, so he settled for the practical ones, and he also remained behind to hear Fate's answers to the other public questions, not wanting to leave until he'd gathered all the data he could.<br/><br/><br/>