False Reflections: Issue #7

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And a special thank you to Joe, you absolute madman.

Summer, the favorite time of year for students across the world. No homework, no assignments, no classrooms, and certainly no teachers. It is a time for unprecedented freedom and relaxation.

Surprisingly, I am no exception. Considering almost everyone actively avoids everything with even the slightest proximity to school, as well as the fact the orphanage is suddenly overrun with children at all hours, all obligations to act as a Prodigy melt away for months straight.

It is the single most freeing sensation I feel, and I luxuriate in it as I get to finally feel alive for the next three months. Usually I spend the majority of my time as Ryu and moving around the city for as long as I can, until I’m forced back. I also tend to focus more on the technical aspects of my projects.

And yet here I am, back in a far more monitored apartment building, with a swarm of police and reports flitting outside like vultures surrounding the nearest carcass. Gaining importance had some obvious downsides, the world suddenly keeping a closer eye on you whenever anything of note happened being one of the most annoying ones.

After being kidnapped just a few days ago, I was only just now able to walk around without noticing people looking in on me for ‘my safety’. While usually the fact my kidnapper was in prison (with not-insignificant brain damage, I am not apologizing) would cause all of Gotham to wash their hands of me and go back to ignoring my existence, my recent popularity made it so everyone suddenly felt bad someone so young was going through all of this.

The police made a show of sending people to keep an eye on me, but it was clear they were mainly there to dissuade anyone from interviewing me, considering the officers’ track record when it came to dealing with supervillains. So making sure none of the paparazzi got the chance to pressure me into saying something about the GCPD’s general level of ability and competence was priority number one.

Though considering the crime spree across Gotham as students across the city got much more free time, giving the legitimately uncountable number of gangs a sharp uptick in bodies to use, they’d all fuck off for good by noon.

So instead of worrying about all of them, I decided to worry about my Mask. I’ve gotten… not quite stronger than before, but my aim is substantially more accurate and my natural composure has risen even moreso. But the single most important thing was my awareness.

I could feel the wind shifting on my skin, hear the subtle buzz of insects from outside my apartment, and sense the gaze of the hidden camera far better than I had even before. It almost felt like my peripheral senses, the odd feeling of something not being quite right or in the right place had sharpened from a dull stick into a sharp blade.

It didn’t take a genius to recognize exactly where these new abilities had come from, but once again I found my powers growing exponentially from being witnessed first hand by a member of the Batfamily. I didn’t doubt Batgirl had shared everything she noticed with the rest of her allies, but even then three(?) people believing in my abilities shouldn’t give me anywhere near this much.

But at least these powers weren’t clearly supernatural, even if I’d never made myself appear more aware of my surroundings than the average person, so the sharp increase in my senses was particularly grating on my focus. But after being under implied house arrest for three days, I learned to cope.

So, I decided to deal with those problems when I had the time and freedom to decide. Instead, I multitasked- reading through my various emails while deciding what I’ll do with all my free time. Now that the Touch-Light was completed, I had an itch to do some other science while I continued updating and improving my first invention, but I didn’t feel like doing two straight up machines at once.

Instead, I focused on one of the few fun things I got to do with this power of mine. Every year I dedicate my summers to researching a single topic to the best of my ability. Sure it was nerdy, but with how I’ve lived I had to eventually fall in love with the act of science eventually, or I'll drive myself insane.

… Could I go insane with this power? If I hid it well enough, would Facade just make me sane again?

Ignoring the introspections, possibly shelving psychology as one of the potential research projects, I glanced through the various emails I’d received. I scoffed again at the various rich families offering to either get tutored by their heirs or tutor their children.

Please, even a child could tell they just want either the credit of ‘teaching the prodigy everything he knows’ or evidence that ‘his intelligence is greatly exaggerated’. Hell, some of them offered both at once, like I didn’t know how to play the social games.

Of course, I was going to write a response that actively pandered to each of them but subtly told them I had no interest in doing this, when one email stuck out to me. Not because of the family attached to it, but because of where it was received- my school email.

I read the email once, before racing to type my reply. Gotham Academy may be a snobby shithole filled with the exact kinds of people that caused this city to end up as it did, but I’ll be damned if I don’t reap the benefits of such an illustrious academy.

Like, say, getting out of the city for a weekend.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone at all, but people generally didn’t trust Gothamites. They don’t hire people who live there, they usually avoid sending anyone not already associated with the city anywhere near there if they can help it (and have enough sense to do so), and they certainly don’t let the ‘common riffraff’ in their notoriously shitty public schools go to places outside of Gotham.

When you’re from Gotham, no one else wants you. It’s like being born cursed, unwanted and untouchable by everyone else. A large part of why no one leaves Gotham, other than most people being… reluctant to take them in if they had any other option, is that Gothamites hate the places that reject them.

At least Gotham accepts you. At least in Gotham, you have a place, no matter how awful it is.

Being in this city is like being in an abusive relationship, so it’s no wonder I didn’t hesitate when I saw the school trip was going out of Gotham. Even if we’re only going to New York.

And we had to figure out our own transportation. Which is probably a lie, but to be honest I’m not exactly desperate to hang out with the rest of the student body on my goddamn vacation. So, instead of whatever exorbitantly wealthy means of travel they were going to use (personally I bet it was going to be private jet, considering Poison Ivy is too busy in Arkham to throw a bitch-fit), I took the subway.

Unsurprisingly, Jersey and New York are fairly close to each other, so there were multiple ways for me to travel to our destination. And, well, I went with one of the cheaper options- just because I had money now didn’t mean I was going to spend it like it was limitless.

One round trip from Gotham to Brooklyn. I kept that firmly in my bag, along with the other things I refused to leave in my apartment.

Considering I had just recently been kidnapped, it’s no surprise I doubted the safety of the new one, so I grabbed all the important things I owned and left.

… I tried to ignore how light my bag felt, and focused on it’s contents as I held it in my lap. Better to obsess over whether I packed everything than let my unfortunately enhanced perception pick up on all the disgusting shit Gothamites and New Yorkers do in public when they think no one is looking.

Most of the things I took are materials and the halfway finished upgraded model of the TouchLight, along with my personal version of the old model. Keeping the new, fancy stuff away from Gotham was a no brainer- this overgrown flashlight was my golden ticket out of there, and I wasn’t going to let some jackass of varying financial status fuck this up for me.

The old model… was more for sentimental reasons. Combining that and the various supplies for a three day trip, and I was good to go.

… Oh, and I was riding the train as Ryu instead of the hyper-famous Ken who definitely would be swarmed by the general population for various reasons, most of them mildly annoying and some of them potentially threatening my safety.

Fucking Riddler fanboys.

After dropping off my less-important stuff off in a hotel room, and ensuring the still-incomplete latest upgrades were hidden to the best of my ability, I decided to spend the free time I had experiencing life in New York.

We were apparently going to Broadway later tonight, but the entire Summer Trip is mostly a way to draw in other rich/influential people to send their children to Gotham Academy. Their website is plastered with images of students studying frantically and then trips to Hawaii and Mount Fuji.

I let the hidden question of why we were going to New York- and why I hadn’t been asked to meet with a single person from the Academy- wash down my back. Call me easily pleased, but I’m too busy enjoying my vacation to be pissy they probably sent the other students to a different/more expensive destination.

After all, I can practically hear the spin they’ll pull on me already. ‘To apologize for how our school has treated him, as well as the inadvertent consequences of the media’s excessive exposure on the topic, we offered Ken an exclusive vacation that allowed him time to himself.’

Chuckling to myself, I continued to wander the streets of Brooklyn, idly considering the fact most people were keeping their distance as I walked down the street. Was Ryu’s walk intimidating or something? Could they tell just by looking that I was from Gotham?

For once, I decided to let those questions fall to the wayside. Who cares? Ryu wasn’t going to come to the area again, and him suddenly becoming a tad more intimidating wasn’t anything to stress about.

Instead, I contemplated the benefits of skipping the Broadway show. While I didn’t have anything against musicals, I was in a different place where I wasn’t being monitored. For once. 

I could use this for finishing the upgrades or even figuring out what project I was going to do for the summer!

All I had to do was deal with the person following me, and I could start this summer on the right foot

Someone had been keeping an eye on me for the past several blocks, while I was making a show of looking interested at the sheer color the streets of the city had- small, mom and pop stores and restaurants that had some of the best smelling food pouring out of them, landmarks and designs that weren’t fucking gargoyles or owls, why wouldn’t I stare in awe?

But the person had been following me the entire time, despite the multiple times I’ve gotten ‘lost’ and almost ended up turning into dead end streets and alleys. And while I couldn’t quite make out who exactly was following me, even with the various reflections I passed that I used to peak behind me, I could tell they were finally making a move on me.

I stopped for a moment as I let them come to me, tensing and relaxing my body in case it all came down to a physical confrontation. Worst-case scenario… is that it’s an alien who wants to eat me. Realistic worst-case scenario, I push them onto the street and run as far as I can before calling a taxi to my hotel.

“Excuse me?” Blinking at the surprisingly beautiful voice, I turned back towards the woman who’d been stalking me.

For a moment, I forgot that she was most likely a threat to me, and felt my eyes widen for a moment as I looked at her. Long blonde hair tied up into a ponytail, pale blue eyes, and an enticing smile on her face as her skin reddened in embarrassment. She was tall, to the point I wouldn’t be surprised if she broke six foot.

She was one of the most beautiful women I’d ever seen in my life, she seemed to be my age, and she thought she was playing me like a fiddle. I could see it in her eyes, the measured flickers away from mine, without the shakiness of an impulse decision. She crossed her arms beneath her chest, but there was no nervousness in her actions.

She was dressed gracefully, a simple green dress that fell to her knee yet teased the slightest bit of her thigh when she moved or jittered, wearing sneakers that seemed fairly good for both running and making no noise.

The reason for my surprise, aside from her shocking beauty, was how fake everything else was. Measured. I didn’t doubt that anyone else would’ve fallen for her act immediately, or been distracted by the way her conservative outfit ‘accidentally’ drew attention to her best features.

“Yes?” I asked, dragging my eyes up in false embarrassment at being ‘caught’ checking her out. “Do you need something?”

“Um…” She muttered shyly, and without saying a full sentence I couldn’t help but praise her acting. Considering the obvious honey trap she was sending my way, and what people actually knew about me, a shy but earnest girl who worked up the courage to talk to me sounded like my ideal woman.

Unfortunately, I’m more into passionate girls, but I wouldn’t chase her away.

“I-I’m Rachel.” Liar. “I, uh, just saw you walking by and decided to come… say hi?” She asked uncertainly, and I could only respect her foresight. A statement like this combined with her personality, and I’d assumed she’d only followed me so long because she was hesitating for so long. “S-sorry if that’s weird or anything.”

“No, it’s fine. I’m Ryu,” I held my hand out to her, and spotted the twitch in her eyebrow. She knows that’s not my name. Which should be impossible- the dissonance between Ken from tv and Ryu on the street should be more than enough to ensure people don’t connect the two.

… Unless she knew who I was before she’d spotted me herself.

She daintily put her hand in mine, and I focused on the prick in Ryu’s mask. I didn’t make Ryu stupid, yet suddenly I felt a hit to my intelligence as I shook her hand. Surely she didn’t expect me to kiss it like a fairy tale knight meeting a princess.

“Hm. Both our names start with R’s, huh?” She smiled like she considered it a silly coincidence, but I could tell she assumed I made up that name on the spot. I chuckled, hiding my desire to scoff at how condescending ‘Rachel’ was.

Seriously, is there a more basic name she could have picked from?

“So, what brings you to Brooklyn?” She asked after I let her hand go, obviously fishing for information- or distracting me from something.

I shrugged. “Eh, school trip. We’re meeting up again in like an hour, but there’s barely anything interesting going on.” I lied as easily as I breathed, and noticed her eyebrow twitch once again.

There’s a lot of information you can gain from lying, even if you’re caught in that lie. Depending on how much information they already know, you can more easily decipher what else they likely know. Or what they want from you.

For example, Rachel here knows who I am, why I’m here, and what my school schedule is like. She hasn’t attempted to pickpocket me, and is mostly making conversation to keep my attention on her.

I’d give good odds that she’s a plant to distract me from something, but the callouses on her hand tell a completely different story. As someone who regularly works out and practices martial arts, I recognized the rough patches on her hand that had been treated by quality lotions, the hardness of her knuckles as she shook, and the balance she failed to hide as she walked.

She was trained, though not so much in social deceptions or acting… or the enhanced perception I’ve gained is going crazy combined with my own ability to spot lies.

“Anyways, I’m going to a Broadway play tonight.” Rachel added as we continued to walk around the city, going to a location far enough away from my hotel to split off, and ensure she isn’t following me before heading to my actual destination.

“Oh, really?” I asked with ‘barely hidden’ excitement, having played along with her this entire time. Breaking off early would make whoever she was working for rush to finish whatever job they had. 

Either robbing me, or kidnapping me. At this point it was either or, considering Rachel didn’t have the tired air or barely hidden ferocity of a contract killer. Or she wasn’t clued in on exactly what was going on- I can’t be certain on how well she was trained, since she definitely wasn’t trained to talk down her target.

“What play?” Unsurprisingly, it was the exact same one I was going to see, at the exact same time. “Oh, small world. I have to go see that one too.”

“Have to? Do you not want to go see it?” I blinked, considering that question was the first honest thing she’s said in the past hour of walking and talking.

I tilted my hand uncertainly. “Eh, I won’t turn my nose up at a good musical. I’ve just never been to one before, so I’m not too enthusiastic about it all.”

“Really? It’s Broadway. World famous for acting and musicals, on literal millions of people’s bucket lists, and you’re not enthusiastic about it?” An unexpected amount of sass came out of ‘Rachel’, and I was forced to admit defeat.

“I mean, I’m still going to go to it, I’m just keeping my expectations low.”

“You have no taste.” She said, hand reaching up to flip her hair back snootily, only to realize she was in a wig and on the mission. She froze for a moment, having made the rookie mistake of letting an actual opinion leak out of a meek and shy mask, but immediately reconciled the act. “O-oh, uh, sorry. Get really excited about… plays.” She murmured, voice going softer as she spoke to the point I struggled to hear the last word.

Ah, I remember the first and last time I did that. I was doing a presentation in elementary school, and got too into the subject matter- metahuman biology, I think- and actually spoke like I knew how to captivate an audience.

I had to course correct hard, pulling my neck into myself like a turtle afraid of nearby predators, and be as quiet as possible for the rest of the school day.

… Hm. Actually, maybe I’ll look into meta-biology for the summer.

“Nah, it’s fine. God knows I act weird when I’m invested in something.” I reassured her, sticking to ‘obvious teenager saying whatever makes the pretty girl stick around’. “Still, if you’re so passionate about it, maybe you’d like to go… see it together?”

Glance away, think of embarrassing things to make your cheeks red, glance back in clear interest and nervousness, and…

“Sure!” She smiled happily, and if it weren’t so fake my heart may have skipped a beat.

Conflicted feelings filled me even after we split up, thoughts of the… enemy stuck in my mind as I wandered my way back to the hotel room.

The second I stepped inside, I knew without a shadow of a doubt someone had gone through the room. Everything was almost exactly as I left it, including the piece of paper I’d stuck into the hinge of the door.

Unfortunately for the intruder, the paper was bait. The real indication were the creases in the carpet in the shape of footprints- footprints I had deliberately left there, and hand been removed by the time I’d returned.

Most people would assume a hotel would clean stuff like that up when the guest was gone- unfortunately I’d bribed the front-desk to not let any cleaners into my room until I’d left. And, considering this place wasn’t Gotham I wouldn’t immediately assumed he was in on this or went back on his word.

Especially since the bedsheets were just as messy as before.

Paying close attention to the lack of cameras in this room, I went straight for the one hiding place I cared about.

I went into the clothes in my backpack, and patted down each individual article. I sighed in relief- all the pieces of the new TouchLight were still there.

You’d be surprised how much stuff you could hide inside your clothes, where people wouldn’t search. Oh, they’d check the pockets and between the individual articles, but in the cloth and cotton?

Only extremely small bits and pieces- like bobby-pins- would fit inside, so no one would bother.

The relief I felt was like a wave washing over me, even as I went to the much worse hiding spot. All the most important things were still accounted for, and considering someone was now actively looking through my things I’d ensure they never left my person.

… Actually, I might just end my trip early to make sure no one can rob me. That sounds like a much better idea-

My personal TouchLight was gone.

…Shit. But, well, I’ve already got an upgrade and a patent. Taking the thing apart and reverse engineering it will take far longer than me finishing the new version, so I wouldn’t be losing any money.

Besides, I’ve made multiple copies of that little thing. Hell, I kept one on me just in case! It’s what made me so aware of being robbed, along with my hotel key and wallet, of course. The other ones even have better features!

… So why was I so absolutely furious at being robbed? It’s not like this was the first time it had happened to me, hell it was the least important thing they could have taken, besides a pair of socks.

It didn’t matter. It didn’t matter.

…. But. It. Did.

Because that little piece of metal and plastic was the first one I ever completed. It was the thing I shed blood, sweat, and tears over for years upon years of my life.

Ever risk I’d ever taken, every lie I’d ever told, all of it was for that overgrown flashlight that I already had so many better versions of. Every bit of my present, my future, I owe to that tiny little thing.

So what if it’s insignificant? So what if it’s already been replaced and upgraded?

In my eyes, that was the only part of me that was completely, 100% genuine. My invention I made myself. No theft, no deception, it was just… mine.

And someone took that from me, despite it being practically worthless to anyone with the ability to reverse engineer it. Hell, Wayne Enterprises are going to start selling by the time school starts in August.

Yet here I am, planning exactly how I’m going to get it back like my fucking life depends on it.

Sometimes, I remember I’m nowhere near as smart as the world believes I am.

A/N: Internet cookie for whoever guesses who Rachel is. Give you a hint, she’s from a different comic.

Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve updated, I’ve had several ideas for the chapter, but all of them were surprisingly worse than this one.

Next time- Action, probably! Drama! Reverse theft!

Thank you for reading, Peace.