DC: I am Bruce Wayne

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"Every journey begins with a single step. We just have to have patience."

– Milly Thompson,  (Trigun)

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<(Bruce Wayne  POV)> 

"Do you have to go? I mean first, it was Helena, now it's you. What about our gang? Didn't we promise each other to always be together?" Vicki asked with a few tears barely being held back in her eyes.

Vicki was the most emotional among everyone else right now after she, Selina, Alfred, Zatanna, and Deathstroke along with Ace came to see me off at the airport.

"Yes, we did and I remember that. I will always remember that. So, don't worry, I'll surely come back. All you have to do while I am away is just wait for me and chase your own dreams for now. After all, you always wanted to head your own news media organization, didn't you?" I ruffled her hair with a knowing smile on my face.

"Wait, don't tell me you were the one who recently hired my dad as the editor-in-chief of Gotham News Network and Gotham Gazette?" She exclaimed with amazement on her face.

"Well, your father deserved the promotion and the pay hike. He is quite a capable person in the industry. So, hiring him was also good for my own company. Just make sure to work hard to succeed him after it is time for him to retire and make the company even bigger" I admitted.

After Wayne Entertainment's immense success primarily through copying Disney films and shows since the studio didn't exist in this universe, I had now begun to branch off. Acquiring the currently struggling Spotify and barely succeeding Netflix was just the first step to foray into the future digital streaming space.

But, I didn't just stop there and also acquired a couple of news companies to expand my influence in the news industry of the country including Gotham Gazette and Gotham News Network, both of which were new struggling companies that were barely keeping themselves afloat. Thus when I appeared in front of them like a generous investor ready to buy them while not firing even a single one of their employees, the owners were more than happy to let me in.

I was also in talks to acquire the American Broadcasting Company or ABC in short soon but I had no idea if the discussions were actually going to go through since I was going away and the fact that whether the deal would happen or not would purely depend on Alfred and Lucius.

"Yeah, I'll definitely work hard and one day be the most famous individual in the media world, I promise." She claimed resolutely. Then after a moment of what seemed like minute hesitation, she bent forward and timidly gave a small kiss on my cheeks to show her determination.

"Huh? Thanks for the kiss, I guess." I awkwardly thanked her as I took a peek at Selina who had the most neutral expression I had ever seen on her face.

Vicki didn't reply anything to me and just shyly stood there while throwing a subtle smirk at Selina at which she just snorted amusedly knowing that she had done a lot more than just a measly kiss on the lips. In fact, for some reason, I felt like one of those girls who was NTRing her pure innocent boyfriend while having a lewd affair with their common friend. In short, I felt like an asshole.

"And as for you Zatanna, don't laze around. Who knows, maybe the next time we meet, I will have found a way to fully access the mystic arts and be better than you in magic." I teased.

"As if. You will never beat me in magic. I am a proud member of the mighty Zatara family after all. There's no way you will ever beat me" She grinned as she gave me a tight hug wrapping her developing body around me tighter than what was needed even though I didn't resist in any way.

"I see. By the way, what happened to your father? He did give me a call to bid me farewell but didn't explain why he was so busy that he couldn't come personally." I asked raising one of my brows.

"Well, my father took a liking towards teaching students magic after he taught you, so when you 'graduated', he took up another student from a friend of his. Apparently, this new boy is quite talented and smart as well, although not nearly as smart as you or me. Anyway, today he had to perform some ritual on the kid to save him from some kind of demonic curse on his bloodline or something." Zatanna uninterestedly said.

"Oh, I guess that's acceptable since it really does sound like an emergency." I shrugged.

A new magical student, huh? Wonder if I know him?

"I'll see you soon kitty. Take care." I then proceeded to give Selina a tight hug, which she returned quite excitedly. 

"Come back in one piece. I'll be waiting for you, tiger. And, remember what you promised about us turning 18 as well as the fact that you are not allowed to get close to any hoes, no matter how desperate you grow due to your hormones." She whispered, now currently a tad bit more knowledgeable about stuff like these after having read up on the topic and getting her 'talk' from Cortana.

"Yeah, I will. And yes, I look ahead to that." I whispered back in a husky voice to try to rile her up. One thing I realized was that I appeared quite handsome and charming to most girls my age and I always made sure to use that fact to my full advantage.

Finishing our hug, I gave a nod to Deathstroke at which the mercenary nodded back.

"Stay safe Master Bruce. who knows, if you come back too late, then perhaps I would take your entire fortune for myself and go on a vacation to the Bahamas after buying a private island." Alfred said with a small smile on his lips.

"Sure Alfred, sure." I chucked knowing that it was purely a joke since he was too loyal to even think of actually doing that. Plus even if he was somehow mind-controlled or anything, the legal contract was still too complex and intricate in design to allow him to do anything like that without getting my approval first. Plus, I had some really good lawyers.

"*Woof woof* Don't worry, I'll take care of them my human best friend. Leave it to me, dattebayo." The collar on Ace's neck spoke with a voice that sounded a lot like Kevin Hart. 

"Letting your collar have that tiny little mod was really worth it my dear anime dog." I laughed at Ace's annoyed and frustrated expression.

I was glad that I had given him a peak-dog serum. Even though it didn't give him any superpowers or special abilities, it still tripled his life expectancy as well as made him the most physically fit dog in the world besides making him extremely intelligent as well.

"I'll come back soon guys, so soon that it will be like I never even went away. But, I'll have to bid you guys goodbye for now." I did a theatrical bow as I backed away to my private jet.

'*Sigh* I surely will miss them but I really need to do this. This is my ticket to the ultimate training that I need, to become the force that can bring about true balance to this chaotic universe, to attain true peace.' I thought to myself as I went up the stairs to my jet while waving to the family that I was temporarily leaving behind.

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(AN: I am sorry if this seems like a short chapter. However, I had to delete about 400 words here while writing the next chapter because I decided to change part of the story midway. So the chapter became significantly shorter even though I had originally written it to be much longer. But don't worry, I'll make it up in the next chapter and give an extra thick chapter (with 2000 words) like I have been writing recently 😁 Ciao)

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