Name: Here Comes The Sun. (Solar Exalted in DC)
Author: Xiosdestro
Website: Space Battles
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Exalted in Gotham
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I walked up the steps and past the pillars of the Gotham City Public Library. Pushing the doors open, I glanced over at the librarian's counter and waved to the redhead there. She glanced up from what she was doing, waved back and flashed me a number for a computer that was free. I grinned back with a thumbs up and headed to the free computer. I've been coming here for four months daily since I arrived in this reality., and let me tell you, settling into a new reality was hard, but it did come with its perks.
I sat down at the free computer and started it up. The first few days were a struggle; I slept in crawl spaces and read old newspapers. I eventually found the library, and Barbara – the redhead – helped a lot. Shame she was paralysed, something to fix in the future when I get settled. I pulled up my email and saw my refugee paperwork was done, and I'd be getting my papers sometime tomorrow. Superhero worlds have crazy ways to get your citizenship papers. When I went through the process, they were asking how I got here, and it had a drop-down menu where I could select clones or magic accident or aliens. A whole bunch of different reasons.
I closed my email and, with a burst of essence, brought up some programs and started hacking. I went to the bounty boards and started doing white hat bounties. The legal kind of hacking. I was doing group work at the time and pulling in bounties with it. All the cash from the bounties went to a bank account I had set up. After I completed a few bounties for money, I stopped hacking and started closing out the programs. It took three weeks for me to learn enough about computers to do what I just did today.
I stood from the computer and waved to Barbara to let her know I was done, then headed into the shelves of books the library had. I grabbed some books for what I was studying, found a seat and started reading. I went through a book and a half before Barbara rolled up to the other side of the desk I was sitting at. I met her eyes and gave her a nod, "What's up?"
She reached across and grabbed the book I sat to the side, "You done with this?" she asked while waving the book.
I gave her a nod, and she flipped the book over to read the cover. "Are you reading these because you're interested, or are you learning from them?"
"I'm learning. Your world's history is crazy. This Earth is a death world." I replied.
"Why do you say that?"
I closed the book I was reading and sat down in front of me before leaning back, "Do you want a list or in general?"
"Our world can't be that bad."
I pointed over my shoulder in a random direction, "You got a guy who can shift continental plates, pulling cats from trees not that far from here. Over in Washington DC you got minotaurs walking the street and amazons that can throw cars like they are footballs. Where I come from, Zeus is a myth, and here he is a proven fact, and don't even get me started about this city. You all need to abuse your Second Amendment rights."
She let out a chuckle, then crossed her arms, setting the book in her lap, "Are you staying safe? Do you have a place yet?"
I gave her a nod before replying, "Yea got a place in the West End near Little Italy and the Old Docks. Rent's killer, though, especially for a one-bedroom. Better than fighting homeless for holes in the Narrows, though."
The first few days here were rough.
She chewed on her lip before saying, "I'm not sure that's safer than the Narrows. You're near the bad part of Gotham."
"You don't have to tell me that. I woke up to gunshots last night, but hey, needs must."
She frowned before nodding, "Well, I will let you get back to your reading."
She rolled back and started to leave before I asked, "Are you closing the library tonight?"
Barbara paused before shaking her head, "No, Tammy is, I'll be out of here before then, so you don't have to stay late."
I got into the habit of staying late when Barbara closed and waited outside for her ride. Normally, it was her dad, some guy named Dick around our age, or Dicks Butler, Alfred. I wasn't going to let someone in a wheelchair sit outside alone after dark in Gotham. Barbara told me she was fine the first few times I did it, but if something happened to her because I walked away while she waited, I wouldn't be able to live with myself. She rolled off, and I returned to my reading.
It was a few hours later that I got sick of reading, so I stood and put the books I was using away. Walking past the front desk showed that Tammy was sitting in it, so I headed out. I headed north a few blocks, then swung west as I headed towards my apartment. I stopped by an ATM to pull out some cash for the week, then headed home. I was about a mile from my place when, ahead of me, some guys walked out of an alley and got into a car before pulling out and leaving. I didn't think anything of it until I got up to where the men exited and looked into the alley.
There was somebody lying there in a pool of slowly expanding blood. With a burst of essence, I leapt at them. I covered fifteen or so feet in one leap. Mid-air, I scanned them and understood they had been stabbed seven times. I angled so I would land next to them while reaching down to my waist and pulling out a safety pin. I snapped the end of the safety pin when I landed and flipped them over so I could get at their wounds. Using the string from their top, I sewed their wounds shut with the pin as a needle. It was messy, but it worked. When the bleeding stopped, I stepped back and looked them up and down. I was glowing pretty well, so I was acting as my own flashlight. This person was just murdered. Their wallet and Id were still there, so this was targeted. He was breathing shallowly, so he was going to be out of it for a while. I pulled them out of their own blood puddle and waited for my glow to abate.
When my glow went away, I reached down and patted him down for any weapons before I reached down and lifted him into a fireman's carry. With the guy on my shoulder, I headed home. I got some looks, but Gotham reminded me of a more screwed-up New York and people just looked away. I pulled the key from my pocket when I got to my apartment. It was on the ground floor, paid extra for that.
My apartment was small. There was a counter that wrapped around to the left and hugged the wall, covered in stuff. Ahead, there was a couch, so I headed there and dropped the guy on it. I went to one of the two doors in the room and entered my room. I dug around for a change of clothes and changed into them before getting some for the guy, then came out and placed them near him. They might be a little big for the guy, but that was perfect with what I was going to do.
I got something to eat while watching the sunset. I kept watch on the guy, but he was out of it, so I slid over and started poking him with bursts of essence. The guy went from pale to a healthy flush slowly over the course of an hour. I stepped back and waited a bit. When he didn't wake up, I pulled my hand back and gave the guy a satisfying smack across the face. The guy jerked up and flailed around in a panic before he just looked around and saw where he was, "Good morning sunshine!" I said with a grin.
He glared at me before spitting out, "Who the fuck are you and where the fuck am I?"
"What's the last thing you remember?"
He kept flailing for a bit, and when I didn't do anything else, his eyes rolled in his head as he searched his memory. His face went through a few emotions really fast, fear, disbelief and anger, before he returned to glaring at me like it was my fault. I was still grinning, and I spoke before he said anything, "You got murdered, boy. A few hours ago. Whoever you were with left you in that alley bleeding out."
His face fell. It started to hit him. I cut in before he could fall any farther. "Have you ever pulled your own stitches?" I waved at the clothes I had laid out. "You need a shower. There are scissors on the counter for the stitches. 7 holes are closed, you should be thanking me. We can talk when you're done."
He grunted before grabbing the clothes laid out and heading towards the open door where he could see the bathroom. I heard the shower start, so I looked at the leather-wrapped couch and went to grab a rag to wipe the blood off. Not the first time I've done that. I sat down on the now clean couch and waited for the guy to get done showering. He took his time; I think he struggled with the stitches. The bathroom door opened, and the guy came out holding the scissors in his hand, looking like he was going to attack me. "What did you do to me?"
"Stitched you up and healed you, but that's not what matters," I said while leaning back into the couch. "Your friends think you're dead, if that's what you call friends."
I burned some essence, and he started to pale. I waited a bit before continuing. "They will try again and again until they succeed. Do you know why they murdered you?"
I scanned him up and down. He didn't have any clauses, so he wasn't a hired thug; otherwise, he'd have calloused knuckles. He chose not to answer, so he probably betrayed them first. "Stole from them, didn't you?"
He paled further, "Do you have any skills? wait, never mind, it doesn't matter."
I stood up and walked past him to where I set my wallet. I opened it and pulled out a few bills. Then turned to him and burned some essence while telling him, "Take this and get on a bus out of Gotham. The farther away you go, the better."
He hesitantly stepped towards me before snatching the bills and heading towards the door, following the compulsion I gave him. Right before he stepped out into the night to disappear from Gotham, he turned to me and asked in a whisper, "What are you?"
I met his eyes and could see my glow reflected in them, and answered, "A God."
I sure felt like one.