Genesis 1.7

– o – o – o – o – o – o – o –

HAPPY HARBOR, RHODE ISLAND

JULY 9TH, 1:24 EDT

"Uggggggggh," Zeke let out a guttural sound of frustration as he dropped his head on the steel table in front of him. Moments later, both his fists met it as well with a hard thud.

-2

He ignored the bright red notification visible in his mind's eye, far too focused on letting out his frustrations on the innocent piece of furniture. The young teenager lifted his head up only to drop it again, another deep groan coming from the back of his throat as he continued to hammer at the table using nothing more than his fists and skull. I made myself look like such an idiot.

-2

Admittedly, it wasn't the smartestidea to run up to Superboy and gush over him like an insane fanboy. In fact, there were a lot of things he could have done there that would have been a lot less embarrassing or flat-out weird, but, in all fairness, it was Superboy.

-2

"Uggggggggh." His head met the table again, his groan just a bit louder this time. First time meeting Superboy, and you act like a little kid. What's wrong with you? Zeke could remember reading so much about Superboy, purposely buying as many older Teen Titan comics and trades mainly for more Superboy action.

It didn't even matter which incarnation you were talking about. Leather jacket Superboy, Black shirt Superboy, Bald Superboy, Superboy-Prime… they were all so freakin' awesome. I mean, this was Kon-El, of all people. Conner Kent, Fifty-percent human, Fifty-percent Kryptonian, One hundred-percent awesome. How was he supposed to keep his calm when he of all people walked up to him?

I can't believe I thought he didn't exist, Zeke thought incredulously. After finally figuring out how to use the tablet in S.T.A.R. Labs, an act that had gained him a single extra INT point, Zeke had spent a bunch of time looking up a lot of information on this Earth. Specifically, everything he could find out about certain superheroes. Newspapers and street conversation with random people who would bother to answer his questions were good sources of info but they were far from ideal when it came to finding stuff out. So, he searched and searched until he finally felt he had a general idea of the universe he had found himself in.

The Justice Society had been around on this world since the Forties, with Wonder Woman having been part of it like the old comics always showed. The original Black Canary wasn't part of the JSA here, for some reason, although she was apparently affiliated with them… whatever that meant. The Spectre didn't seem to be around at all, something Zeke couldn't help but be thankful for, but he couldn't deny that it was a bit of a letdown that all the familiar names he knew of didn't seem to exist here, for some reason.

Heroes like Booster Gold, Firestorm, Power Girl, Raven, Starfire, Beast Boy, Wonder Girl, Donna Troy… None of them seemed to exist anywhere. Even if they were around, they hadn't done anything to make them famous yet.

Hell, it seemed like almost everyone involved that was ever involved with either the Teen Titans or Young Justice didn't seem to exist for some reason. The fact that Superboy's name had originally been on that list of never-beens had been just as big of a letdown at first but then, he was suddenly introduced to the teen hero he thought didn't exist.

Being thrust face-to-face with the cloned Kryptonian had gotten that false assumption out of his head in an instant. Right in front of the Big Red S, he was reduced to a gibbering fanboy, disregard for personal space and all.

"Uuuuughhh."

-2

To make matters even worse, his little outburst a few minutes ago had not been taken well by Superboy at all, the clone stomping off in annoyed confusion with the green-skinned girl floating off behind him.

After a slightly awkward conversation, Captain Atom had simply herded him into this room and told him to wait for a little while, before leaving him alone to do who knows what. Stuck in this drab spartan room, with nothing but a single metal table and four uncomfortable chairs of similar material as furniture, Zeke couldn't help but feel like this space reminded him of every interrogation room he could remember seeing on TV… ever. The giant, nearly wall-sized, mirror directly facing him didn't exactly help disperse that opinion either.

It had already been nearly ten minutes since the man had left and Zeke couldn't help but feel a little nervous, the antsiness not helped by the fact that this room didn't seem to have any Wi-Fi for his S.T.A.R. Tab to pick up.

"Uggggggggggh." What's taking him so long?

The doorknob suddenly shifted and Zeke's eyes snapped open, the sound of footsteps outside the door catching his attention as well.

The boy sat up quickly, pulling his hands away from the side of his head, and stared at the entrance as Captain Atom entered the interrogation area. Zeke opened his mouth to say something only to close it, eyes widening, as Batman strode in immediately after, his cape billowing slightly behind him. Without turning around, the Dark Knight shut the door behind himself, locking it with a deft movement.

"So," Zeke offered with a wry smile, "I'm guessing I'm in trouble?"

"Of course not," Captain Atom cut in, a look of slight surprise on his face at the question. After a slight pause, the chrome hero turned to Batman. "Right?"

"He's not," Batman turned his gaze to face the boy at the table, Zeke sitting up slightly as he felt Batman scrutinizing him.

"Okay, that's good to hear." Zeke frowned slightly, "By the way, thanks for using the door this time."

Zeke noticed Captain Atom trying to contain a smirk at his words, and he shot his mentor a slight smile back.

"You're welcome." Batman's response was as curt as it was gruff, but none of that really mattered in the face of what it meant.

"Was that a joke?" He couldn't help himself from asking, the sentence blurting out of his mouth before he could stop himself.

"No."

"Oookay, then." He tried to suppress the urge to roll his eyes, not exactly sure how Batman would take it. Instead, he clicked his tongue and leaned back in his seat, trying in vain to make himself comfortable. "So, then, if I'm not in trouble, what's with the…" The kid gestured around him with both hands, not feeling the need to complete his sentence. "No offense, but this doesn't feel like the 'Not in trouble' room."

The two heroes didn't bother to answer as they joined the boy at the table, sitting down in the two uncomfortable steel chairs opposite Zeke. Batman leaned forward, mouth in a flat grim line. "Do you know why Captain Atom brought you here today?"

"Not really. That's why I just asked," the boy replied, giving Batman a shrug using only his face. He inclined his head, staring over at his mentor. "He just told me I'd be meeting some people. I didn't expect Superboy, though."

"So, you do recall a Superboy from your Earth?" asked Captain Atom. "Because you seemed to know who he was when you met him."

"Yeah. Superboy was pretty big. Was on like a couple different hero teams. He was supposed to replace Superman in case he died… I think," Ezekiel hedged at the end, unsure if that was exactly how Superboy's origin went. It really didn't help that all this stuff started to blend together after a while.

Batman regarded the boy for a brief moment, the flat line of his mouth beginning to drift downward at the sides. "So, you recall enough of your previous life to remember that you were a fan of Superboy?"

"I mean," Zeke faltered slightly, suddenly very aware that he was in the midst of lying to the World's Greatest Detective yet again. His previous statements had been few and far between, Zeke going out of his way not to directly lie, but struggling to give the information in a way that didn't directly give away that these people's lives were fake. "Who wouldn't be? He's Superboy. That's all you have to know, really," Zeke continued with a smile on his face, still riding a slight high from actually touching him. "The guy's a teenage Kryptonian. The Boy of Steel. Literally the strongest teenager on the planet."

"That's enough about him. We can get back on that topic later." Batman leaned forward in his seat, his expression growing slightly more intense. "Captain Atom informed me that that you remembered something rather important," Batman began again, his voice taking on a harder tone. "Something called the Tower of Babel incident. Do you recall bringing this up with him?"

Uh-oh. Zeke nodded hesitantly, his hands shifting on the table as he began to feel a certain anxiousness creeping up on him. "Um, yes… I do. Yes. We talked about a bunch of things that I could remember, but I mentioned… some of it… sir." He nodded again, unsure of what else to add.

While Captain Atom had been something of an absentee mentor over the past few weeks, the man did make an attempt at building up some sort of a relationship. Thanks to his S.T.A.R. Tab, the captain had been able to contact him through video call, something Zeke had honestly appreciated.

As stiff as the metal man could be, he was a pretty nice guy and rather easy to talk to, considering how good a listener he could be. Sharing some of his "memories" with Captain Atom had simply been a part of their conversations after a while. After all, he was stuck in S.T.A.R. Labs all day with the same set of scientists and assistants. There really wasn't much to share other than what testing he did and how long he did it for.

Were the things he said worthy of an interrogation, though? He doubted it.

Obviously, the Dark Knight didn't feel the same way.

Batman's eyes narrowed, the white lenses somehow moving with his facial expressions in a way that was undeniably off-putting. He leaned forward, clasping both hands together in front of him on the table. "Explain."

"W-what?" Zeke replied, fighting to keep in control of his voice so he didn't yelp. For all the hype surrounding Batman's skills, the kid felt pretty sure that his glare had to be pretty up there with all the rest of them. "But I…" the teen paused, taking in a gulp of air before he continued again. "I thought Captain Atom had told you already."

"He has. You haven't," Batman recited calmly, as if those four words explained everything, "Now, explain."

"Oh... okay." The kid nodded quickly, swallowing a mouthful of nothing as he tried to think. "I… I remember that there was a situation a while back," Zeke began, his mind racing as he tried to recall plot points from a certain comic that he could recall reading at some point. "where Rā's al Ghūl st-"

"Ra's," Batman interrupted.

Zeke blinked. "Umm… what?"

"You said Rah-us," Batman repeated, emphasizing the word. "It's pronounced Ray-sh."

"Oh," Zeke frowned slightly, confused as why that of all things would be different. "Okay. Anyway, Ray-sh al Ghūl stole… Well, first of all, he wanted to… uh… you know," The kid raised his hand up and drew a thumb across his neck, sticking his tongue out of the side of his mouth to mimic a dead body, "do that to a good chunk of the world's population. Thing is, Ra's knew he couldn't pull it off because you and the League would stop him when he tried anything big. So first, he hacked your… well, not yours…" He winced as Batman's white masked eyes narrowed again, "He hacked that Batman's secret files on the Justice League and got a bunch of their information."

If Batman's expression could get more severe, then that's just what it did. The mouth visible between the cowl and chin guard curved even further downwards. It was an impressive scowl, it really was.

Still, it had nothing on the ninja move that nearly made him wet himself several weeks ago, but it was intimidating.

"How much information?" Batman demanded, the intensity in his voice making Zeke wince. "Of what type?"

"Um… okay, uh, well," Zeke opened his mouth, hedging sounds leaving his lips as he tried to think of a way to break to Batman that he knew his identity without making the man angry at him. "You see…"

Or at least, angrier.

"How much? I don't… I'm not sure how much exactly but I'm pretty sure it was… well, a lot." Zeke raised a hand to the side of his face, scratching at nothing but smooth skin as he tried to answer Batman's questions. "And the type? Basically, uh… I guess, most things you would put down in secret files. League mission details, possible choices for new League members, and…"

"And?" Batman spoke, his voice low but still holding the same intensity as it always seemed to.

Why couldn't Superman be the one asking me these questions? Or Wonder Woman? I'd take the Flash anyday. Zeke shifted in his seat, unable to shake the sensation that he was under a magnifying glass the longer Batman stared at him through those unfeeling white lenses. Captain Atom seemed to feel the tension, shooting Batman a warning look as his protege began to fidget under the man's gaze.

Turning back to the boy in front of them, the captain leaned forward in his seat. "Ezekiel, is there something that you want to add?"

"Y-yes, sir." Oh, yeah, he's gonna love this.

"Would you mind telling us, son?"

The boy nodded, anxiously scratching the side of his face again. Closing his eyes, he prepared to say one of the most important parts of what he had been working up to. "Secret… secret identities..."

Whoa! Ezekiel winced, instinctively leaning back as Batman seemed to jerk in his seat, the table legs screeching as they scraped against the floor from the sudden movement. The tension in the room seemed to have jumped up several notches, Captain Atom eyeing Batman warily while the Dark Knight's gaze seemed locked on to the boy in front of him.

Zeke opened his mouth to try to speak further only to find the words dying on his lips, his mouth suddenly dry.

[Paralyzing Fear] negated by Gamer's Mind.

Zeke let out a slight shudder, blinking in surprise as all the tension and nervous fear he had suddenly been feeling just melted away, replaced by an almost unnatural sense of calm. Glancing at the notification, the kid let out a low sigh. Oh, that's definitely handy. Sitting up in his seat, the kid blinked a few times and turned his attention back to Batman, both he and Captain Atom seemingly engaged in a silent conversation.

Noticing the boy staring at them, Batman's head snapped back to face Zeke and his jaw seemed to unclench slightly as he spoke, just enough for the man to force out the sentence, "How are you aware Ra's obtained this information?"

Zeke winced again, the unspoken question ringing loud and clear in his head. "He… he released it… to everyone. All over the world. Though, it ended up hurting him too because a lot of his info was in those same files." Please buy it. Please buy it. Please buy it, Zeke begged, hoping Batman wouldn't ask any further questions. He was already winging it as it was, mixing in parts of a half-remembered Justice League comic into his own lie.

In a way, his prayers were answered, as Batman seemed to be mulling over his words. Instead, Captain Atom spoke up, his voice more curious than interrogatory. "Why would al Ghul do that, though?" The steel-skinned hero shook his head, a slight frown on his face. "I've never dealt with the man personally, but I doubt there's anyone in the League who hasn't read his dossier. The man leads a secret group of assassins. Why would he do something so… overt?"

Shrugging, Zeke opened his mouth to respond to his mentor only for Batman to cut him off with a raised hand.

"...There's more."

"What?" Captain Atom turned to face the black-clad man at his side, confusion clear on his face. "What do you mean, 'There's more'?"

"You." Batman didn't respond to the captain's question, instead rounding on Zeke. "There is something you're not mentioning. What else did Ra's find?"

Hazel eyes widened, Zeke's mouth falling open slightly as Batman pointed a finger at him. "I… I don't…"

How did he…?

"What. Else."

A low hiss of air escaped Zeke at Batman's tense growl, the man clearly not willing to let him avoid the question. The kid sighed, laying both hands flat down on the table. "Okay, it… it didn't end at just secret identities. There were some plans you made for the League in case any League member ever went..."

Batman seemed to grow still as Zeke spoke, the man's fists clenching tighter on the table with each and every word. "Rogue," he finished what Zeke left unspoken.

Captain Atom glanced over at his teammate, a look of unhidden shock spreading across his face as Batman continued to sit there silently, his gaze focused on Zeke but his attention somewhere else entirely. He turned his shocked expression back to the boy in blue. "Son, these contingencies... what did Ra's do with this information?"

"Uh, well," Zeke fidgeted slightly, not exactly sure how to phrase this tactfully. With a sigh, he shook his head, deciding to just blurt it out. "He used them. Took down almost everyone in the League, too."

Batman shifted slightly, the Dark Knight seeming to refocus again. At least, enough to demand an answer. "The League. You said things were different. Who was on the League?"

"League members? I…" His mind raced again, trying to remember what the timeline was for the League at that point and who had been on it at that point. Why did half of what he remembered seem like it was all taking place in the same year? "I'm not… not really sure, at least. It was smaller than it used to be when this happened. Something had happened but… I-I don't really remember what," Zeke replied, trying to buy himself some leeway for any holes Batman would eventually find. "So, it was Superman, Wonder Woman, you, Aquaman, The Flash, Martian Manhunter, Plastic Man and a new Green Lantern, a fourth one named Kyle. Kyle Rayner."

"Plastic Man?" Captain Atom raised an eyebrow at the additions. "Another Green Lantern?"

"Look, I didn't pick the guys," Zeke answered with a simple shrug. "I don't know what to tell you."

"Everyone else?" Batman asked. "You've mentioned you remember the League as being bigger."

"I don't remember how big the League was but it was pretty big." Zeke shrugged, unsure what to say. "I think all the others might have been reserve members for some reason."

"Reserves?" Captain Atom questioned, looking back with a confused frown. "Why would the League ha-"

"That's not important," Batman cut in, interrupting his teammate with a growl. "These contingencies? What were they?"

Zeke stared straight ahead for a moment, trying to recall exactly what they were in the first place. After a period of silence, he began with a sigh. "Martian Manhunter was hit with nanites mixed with magnesium to make him burst into flames, Plastic Man was frozen with liquid nitrogen and shattered, Aquaman was exposed to Scarecrow's fear gas and was so scared of water he almost dehydrated himself," The kid took a breath, Captain Atom leaning in closer as Batman sat there, rigid and unmoving.

"Green Lantern was blinded so he couldn't use his ring, Flash had seizures when he was shot with a special bullet that vibrated at his special frequency, Wonder Woman was forced to hallucinate a fight against her perfect equal in a fight until her body eventually gave out from the stress and Superman was exposed to a specially made type of Kryptonite that made his skin invisible and caused him a lot of pain..." Zeke paused, realizing that there was only one person left on the team, and stared at the two League members in front of him.

Captain Atom had his mouth open in shock, staring unbelievingly as Zeke finished speaking while Batman just sat there, seemingly stoic and unfeeling. "What of our other League members? Green Arrow? Red Tornado... myself?"

"I don't know what to say," Zeke replied as he shook his head, trying not to let his nerves show on his face. "I can't really remember if the reserve members were attacked or not. All their information was still spread, though."

As if sensing the boy's unwillingness to answer the question he wanted to hear the most, Batman asked again. "The… other Batman? The contingency for him; what was it?"

"I don't..." Zeke frowned, halting his words as he tried to think back. "I don't remember. There might not have been one." Despite not having to lie this time, the kid couldn't help but feel that same magnifying glass sensation almost intensify as Batman stared right into his eyes. I wonder if Bruce Wayne ever lost a staring a contest as a kid.

Fighting the urge to smirk at his own joke, Zeke shook his head and continued staring back at the leader of the Justice League. "I don't think he ever thought he needed one."

After a moment of tense silence, Batman leaned back in his seat. The frown on his face had disappeared, but even then, the straight line of his mouth didn't seem any less grim. "Captain Atom, can you finish up here?."

The man in question nodded hesitantly, still reeling from some of the things he had learned. "Of course."

"Good." Turning to Zeke again, Batman continued. "You'll be staying at Mount Justice for the near future until the League can find you a more permanent residence. Captain Atom will explain everything else." Without a word more, the Dark Knight pulled away from the table as he stood up in one smooth movement and walked out the door, both the captain and the young boy staring after him.

Both mentor and protege turned back to look at each other, uncertainty clear on both their faces. They stayed like that for a while, almost locked in one long moment of silence.

"So, I'm guessing you know my whole story then," Captain Atom spoke up after some time. The small smile on his face that seemed slightly forced, obviously trying to ease the tension. "Considering you know everything else."

Zeke opened his mouth to reply with something of a joke but, with a shake of his head, changed his mind. What he knew of Captain Atom wasn't exactly joke-worthy, especially in front of the man himself. Instead, he decided to just come out with it. "...Captain Nathaniel Christopher Adam, framed for a crime he didn't commit and chose to participate in a military experiment in hopes of a presidential pardon. The experiment ended up bonding you to the metal and sending you into the future."

He tilted his head to the side, a tense smile on his lips. "I'm guessing that's pretty close to what happened here?"

"That's about the long and short of it, yes," Captain Atom said with a slight chuckle, nodding his head at Zeke's words. After a moment, he paused and leaned forward. "You know that pardon never did actually pan out. When I got back, they just decided to…" The captain gestured with one arm, splaying out his fingers, "let me go without much fuss. The benefits of being legally dead, I suppose." He chuckled again, but this time, the sound came out rather hollow.

There was silence again, the morbidity of Captain Atom's attempt at a joke not exactly successful at easing the tension. "So, uh," Zeke began again as the two continued to stare at each other, raising an eyebrow at his mentor, "when you picked the name 'Captain Atom', were you just being lazy or…"

– o – o – o – o – o – o – o –

HAPPY HARBOR, RHODE ISLAND

JULY 9TH, 1:49 EDT

Zeke slipped into the cavernous hallway, his sneakered feet surprisingly loud on the light brown marble-like material that served as flooring for most of this mountain base. Captain Atom had let him go a short while after Batman had left the room, a ten minute gap in between being the length of time it took for Zeke to give the metal-skinned hero an accounting of a few of the major heroes he could still remember. It had been a bit of a hassle and, overall, kind of a slog trying to drag up memories of B-list and C-list heroes that he doubted he cared about before all this, but he figured he might at least try and give up any potentially useful info, right?

The Captain had been especially interested in the idea of Breach, comparing his existence to another metahuman named Major Force created in the same manner Captain Atom had. Then, Zeke had explained that he remembered a Major Force existing as well, which only left the Captain wondering just how many similar military experiments the government had going.

Not too long after, the captain had brought the question and answer thing to a close, letting Zeke go to pick out a living space to make his own. It hadn't taken long for the kid to pick out a rather spacious room, with a brand new bed already inside and everything else he figured he'd need.

With that taken care of, Zeke stepped out of his brand new room, hands on his hips in a superhero pose as he decided that it was time for the main item on the agenda. Operation: Make Superboy Like Me is a go!

One hand came up in a glorious fist-pump that stopped being glorious about half-way through when Zeke suddenly realized that he had no idea where to find Superboy in this giant mountain base.

"... damn it."

– o – o – o – o – o – o – o –

HAPPY HARBOR, RHODE ISLAND

JULY 9TH, 2:06 EDT

"This has to be it, right?" Zeke paused where he stood, finally having found himself in front of what had to be the room belonging to Superboy.

At least, he assumed it was. After having gone through several hallways, a workout room, a couple dead ends, a library, another workout room, a locker room, a kitchen, a shower room, more vacant rooms than he honestly felt like counting, all of that before finding himself in a a third workout room, Zeke doubted this could be anything else.

"Seriously, this place needs a map or something," The teen muttered to himself, raising his hand to knock on the door. "Either that or some arrows on the wall." Shaking his head, Zeke brought his fist down only for his hand to meet nothing but air as the door slid open.

Zeke gaped as Superboy stood in front of him once again, the big red "S" once again drawing his attention. Pull it together, man. "Hi! I'm Z-"

"You're standing outside my door." Superboy stated, ignoring whatever Zeke had begun to say. "Why?"

"Oh, you knew I was here, huh?" Zeke began, pulling his outstretched hand back from the doorway as Superboy continued to glare at him. He chuckled slightly, cocking his head to the side. "How could I forget, right? Super hearing, duh."

"No," Superboy intoned, dropping another roadblock in the conversation. "You're just loud."

"...okay." Not exactly as smooth as the Superboy I expected, but I can work with this. Zeke offered the clone a beaming smile. "Anyway, my name's Zeke and uh, apparently, I live here now, so I just wanted to say hi." The smaller teen stuck his hand back out, this time extended in a proper handshake. "Hi."

Superboy stared at his outstretched hand and returned his gaze back to Zeke's face, his expression still the same frown as it usually seemed to be. "Hi."

Zeke's smile faltered just the slightest bit at Superboy's dismissal of his handshake, but he kept it strong as he pulled his hand back in. Talk about your tough crowds. What's with this Superboy? Black shirt and jeans but none of the coolness. "Look, I also wanted to say sorry for what happened today. I can get a little excited around certain people and, in my defense, that shirt's really cool." Zeke beamed wider, determined to make this Superboy like him no matter what. "So, how about it, Conner, friends?"

While Zeke wasn't expecting a hug or anything special other than an acknowledgement of his words, he definitely wasn't expecting what happened next.

"Conner?" Superboy blinked, a confused expression replacing his smile. The teen moved forward, standing up straight as narrowed eyes stared down questioningly into Zeke's nervous gaze. "Who's Conner?"

Wait, what? The confusion wasn't limited to Superboy, Zeke opening his mouth slightly as he tried to process exactly what was going on. "But that's… Isn't that your… name? Connor K-" Zeke found himself leaning back, cutting himself off as Superboy began to advance on him. The clone stepped away from his doorway and Zeke began to back up, eyes widening as the confused expression became another scowling face.

"Who's Conner?"

"Do you… not use that here? I thought…" He tried to laugh off the situation, his voice taking on a slightly higher pitch as Superboy's expression began to shift back into annoyed frustration, the clone's hands tightening into fists at his sides. Wow, this Superboy gets angry easy.

"Hey, you don't like Conner, I get it." Zeke raised his hands up to his face, palms out in the universal display of surrender. "You probably like to stick to your Kryptonian roots. I don't mind either way, Kon-EAahhh!"

Suddenly lifted of the ground by the collar of his jumpsuit, Zeke found himself staring down at Superboy's scowling face, the scream still on his lips slowly petering out as he tried to control himself from freaking out.

[Paralyzing Fear] negated by Gamer's Mind.

The kid blinked as a wave of something seemed to fill his mind, all the frantic fear and stress disappearing in an instant.Seriously, Gamer's Mind is so coming in handy these d…

He paused that line of thought, craning his head downwards to cast a glance at the angry demi-Kryptonian right in the middle of holding him one-armed by the scruff of his neck in a way that Zeke doubted was possible for anyone without some level of super strength. Honestly, I feel way too calm right now. Weird.

"Who. Is. Conner?" Superboy demanded, his voice a tight growl.

Zeke tried to offer the angry clone another smile, but the attempt lasted about half a second before it dropped into a blank expression. The kid quickly remembered how well that had worked out before and for all he knew, smiling was what set him off in the first place. Shrugging as best as he could given his awkward position, the kid let out a sigh.

"I… I feel like we're having two very different conversations here."

Spoiler: STATUS Ezekiel Patrick Armstrong Age: 13 Level 1 Experience 50/250 Health 110/110* [250/250] Mana 65/65 Willpower 53/53 STR 16 (-30%) SPD 26(-30%) VIT 14* INT 14 WIS 8 CHA 10 Stat Points: 2 Cash: $375 Traits

Malnourished: Too little to eat for too long has weakened your body, drained you of vitality and made you more susceptible to bumps and bruises. (-30% to STR & SPD, Health does not gain VIT bonus, Health/Will recovery is slowed by 50%, and Will-based skills cost twice as much)

Bright Kid: While you're no genius or some prodigy, you're obviously brighter than most kids. By the time you're an adult, however, no one will care. (Before the age of 18: +75% to INT gain and +25% to speed of learning Mana-based skills/abilities) Perks: None

Skills

Power Sprint Lv 6

You'll never be the Flash relying on this alone. Still, we've all gotta start somewhere.

While active, your running speed increases by 5% per level. (30%)

Cost: 1 Will/s

Power Strike Lv 1

Not exactly a heavy hitter quite yet.

Increases the STR value and knockback of your punches/kicks by 10% per level. (10%)

Cost: 5 Will

Abilities

Gamer's Body Lv. MAX

Allows your body to exist in a similar standard to that of a video game character.

Sleeping restores HP, MP, Will and removes most negative status effects. Health, Will, and Mana regenerate at a base of 1 point every 30 seconds. Food and drink items can accelerate recovery.

Gamer's Mind Lv. MAX

Allows your mind to exist in a similar standard to that of a video game character.

Grants immunity to mental status effects, emotional trauma and severely damaging emotional states. Grants immunity to forceful/unwanted mental intrusion.