[ Location: Gotham City, New Jersey, The Clock Tower ]
[ Time: 8:30 PM, EST ]
[ Third Person POV ]
[ Bruce Wayne / Batman ]
[ Image Here ]
Midnight winds and dousing rains beat at the black walls of the clock tower. Inside its creaking form, two figures stared intently at the pale, glaring screen before them.
Thunder rumbled overhead as Bruce Wayne and Barbara Gordon continued to follow the ongoing events of Gotham's latest disasters.
Bruce had faced nights like this before, they came by every few years. Nights when it felt like everything that could go wrong, would go wrong. Nights when the fragile peace of society disappeared and the true soul of Gotham shows its madness. Nights when good men and good women were gunned down in alleyways right before their children's eyes.
Bruce ground his teeth just thinking about it. The streets were flooded with a fresh wave of money-hungry criminals thanks to Black Mask and mercenaries from all over the world had flooded into Gotham looking to claim the bag in his head.
He'd already dealt with his fair share of hunters and thugs tonight. Mainly because far too many cops had already been hurt or killed tonight and even those who made it to the ER weren't safe. He had to deal with nurses killing patients and construction workers tearing work sites down like Jenga towers.
But not only was he stretched thin but so were the cops and now he knew the other part of why besides the disastrous crime rate of tonight.
A large-scale assault was being held right on the headquarters of the GCPD.
Bruce clenched his fists as he and Barbara watched security footage of the precinct. Countless men in black and orange attacked the GCPD headquarters.
Countless goons armed with laser rifles assaulted police barricades on all fronts. Gim had been stuck inside giving commands for the past hour or so but they had barely managed a fighting retreat.
[image]
"Pause video," Bruce squinted leaning in slightly closer. A single one of Deathstroke's minions had taken a bullet from an officer in the forehead only for it to glance off.
Instead of spilling blood though Bruce saw exposed wiring and circuitry. If it had been a wound in any other location he could have written it off as simple cybernetics, but the robot had been shot in the head and simply kept going as if nothing had happened.
"They're robots," Bruce said calmly folding his arms. Beside him, Barbara let out a slight gasp and started frantically typing.
"Barbara, resume the live CCTV feed and try to see if you can hack into them,"
"Way ahead of you Bruce," She said but he was already in the depths of his own thoughts trying to figure out where Slade had managed to gain so many androids. They reminded Bruce mainly of Foot Clan robots. The machines seemed to be of similar quality to Footbots, the probability was that too his knowledge Slade and the Shredder hadn't had any contact recently.
The odd ninja robots weren't the only servants of Deathstroke on the loose either though. Roughly 3 hours ago a highly trained squad of armed ninjas took over a Wayne Enterprises production factory. These men weren't machines like the others and they wore Deathstroke's personal symbol.
[image]
Bruce wanted to deal with them personally What they wanted with the factory was the real question. A question was answered quickly when the live feed resumed. Walking up beside a squad of Slade's droids was a far larger robot. It was large black and white with a single orange eye. The droids stopped firing their red lasers and stepped out of the way of the larger machine.
The police officers looked up in terror as the white giant ran over to them and smashed right through their makeshift barrier, lifting a police car over its head, and slamming it down into the thick of their line with its pincers.
Bruce grimaced as behind Slade's army a line of ten more giant droids walked up behind them.
"Barbra, the hack?" He glanced over at her but she was already slamming her fist on the desk
"Damn it! I'm locked out, probably the Calulator's work again. We need to get out there Bruce my father ne-" Barbara turned to look at Bruce but he was already in the elevator putting his cowl back on.
"I'm already on it. You stay here keep an eye on the situation until I get there. Send Nightwing down there as well if you can," Bruce said as his cowl's HUD came back to life.
"Nightwing is still clearing out several of Kraven's bases," Barbra said as the doors closed in front of her. Batman patched her through to his line quickly enough and they resumed talking like nothing happened.
"Also Bruce, the league has been calling should I patch them through?"
"No let it ring again, also patch me through to Jim I want constant updates on the situation real-time," Batman said meanwhile calling the Batmobile to meet him downstairs.
A few moments passed before Batman was already on his way down to the precinct.
-["Batman is that you?"]-
"It's me Jim what's the situation?"
-["Thank god, I've been trying to reach you all damn night!]-
-[The city's overrun we're stretched to damn thin. These ninja robot bastards have the entire precinct cut off from the rest of the force. The only people I've been able to reach on the outside are Montoya and Bullock. The pinned down by someone at Ace Chemicals. Some other bastards are headed down to the asylum.]-
"Who?"
-["I don't know the line cut off before I could get a clear answer. All our damn comms are jammed."]-
-[BOOOM!]-
"Jim what's happening? Jim? Jim!"
-["I'm alright I'm fine. These damned bastards just blew a giant hole through our line."]-
"Hold Jim can you do that for me?"
-["Do you even need to ask?"]-
"Stay put Jim Deathstroke's robots won't last for long,"
-[ "What are you doing?"]-
"Evening the odds."
XXX
[ Location: Gotham City, New Jersey, The Clock Tower ]
[ Time: 9:00 PM, EST ]
[ Third Person POV ]
[ Kairo Oyama ]
[ Image Here ]
*Crunch* *crunch* *crunch*
"Soyou were thinking that while you were out it would be a good idea to steal from a small army of armed criminal hunters?" Kai said pointing a spoon at the woman across from him.
"To be fair at the time I was also looking for someone and I thought she might be down that way," Catwoman said crunching down a big bite of cereal.
"Well considering the fact you got caught clearly you're not a very good thief," Kai said, teasingly.
"Maybe you should hang up the costume, or at least get some help next time," he smirked, suppressing a laugh at the literal cat burglar a bad thief.
"I am NOT a bad thief you brat. I'll have you know I just still have a $100,000 diamond from a museum just the other day," She said with a huff lifting her chin at him.
"And yet you still live like this," Kai said using his spoon to point at the cat-filled apartment all around them. To be fair it was quite spacious, extremely so for someone who lived in this part of Gotham City, but it was filled to the brim with cats and other cat-themed appliances. On the other hand, there were just so many damn cats!
There were at least a dozen of the small felines, possibly even more, and plenty of them had been running around trying to catch Mimi in her bird form since the moment Kai and Selina had made it back inside. None of them had managed it yet, thank the heavens, because if they did, that particular cat was in for a very nasty and very fanged surprise.
"All my money pours back into my work, and I do not need help with it," She said crossing her arms before grunting slightly and uncrossing them trying not to aggravate her wounds. She'd taken several cuts from the hunter girl before Kairo had arrived to intervene. They weren't as bad as her main injury but they still needed bandaging and cleaning up all the same.
"Sure you do, or you wouldn't have gotten caught now would you? Heck, I could help you steal all that cash you were talking about," Kai said pondering the possibility. Now that he really thought about it getting rich was a real goal of his and if he could achieve financial independence this early in life then it would probably be worth the risk. All he had to do was convince her and with his skills there probably wasn't anyone in this city he couldn't convince of anything besides Batman himself.
"Why in the world would I take a little kid like you on a job? Do you even know the first thing about stealth?" Selina asked pointing her spoon at him accusingly before taking another spoonful of her cereal.
"I can be stealthy I promise! Not to mention I have just the trick for this," Kai grinned remembering he had just the right skill for a situation like this.
"Oh yeah and what's that?" Selina asked half-teasingly half genuinely curious.
"Watch this," Kai waved his hand in front of his bowl of cereal and activated his inventory skill. The bowl completely disappeared and Selina's mouth dropped open at the display.
"Tadaa! I can store a whole bunch of stuff in my own personal pocket space. With my powers and your skills, we could steal all that money no problem, " Kai waved his hands back over and the bowl reappeared as Kai started to dig back in.
"That would be super useful," Selina murmured under her breath.
"So? You in or out?" Kai said reaching out his hand to her.
"Oh, what the hell Bats has his Robin, doesn't he, don't see why I can't have my own sidekick," Selina chuckled before taking his hand and shaking it.
"I'm not a sidekick you crazy cat lady. We're equal partners alright," Kai said a bit more seriously than before. He might be embarrassing the carefree nature of a kid and all its silly fun, but that doesn't mean he enjoyed being talked down to or looked down on.
"Yes yes well get into the details later can we just talk about something else for now? Like this lovely meal," Selina said looking back down at her food. Something about being shot made food taste just so much better even if it was breakfast at night.
"You know personally, I'm not a big fan of Cheerios. I'm much more of a Fruity Pebbles man myself," Kai said, scooping a spoonful of Cocoa Puffs into his mouth.
"A man huh?" Selina chuckled teasingly only to wince in pain. She had the upper half of her costume off now and the two of them sat down at a dining room table.
"Hey, you don't have to be old to be a man you know!" Kai protested narrowing his eyes at the cat burglar. She just smiled taking another crunchy bite of her cereal.
The two of them sat across from each other at a kitchen table. The two of them had taken roughly half an hour to get Selina from bleeding out on a rooftop, to being bandaged up inside an apartment and eating cereal surrounded by what was at least a dozen cats.
The two had gone from bickering to eating a meal together like friends in just a few minutes. It seemed that persuasion and charisma had been doing their work and it had been dismally easy to get Catwoman to drop her guard around him. Hell, she'd even unmasked herself in front of him with only a little convincing.
Mainly because he pointed out the fact that, 1 head already saved her life, 2 he already knew where she lived, and 3 that he had superpowers and could totally beat her in a fight if he wanted to.
So instead here they were scaring down Coaco puffs and wondering about what exactly their next move should be.
"Is that so little man? Tell me, what exactly is a boy with powers and his strange pet bird doing out so late? Isn't it past your bedtime?" She said finishing her bowl and lowering the milk to the floor for one of her many cats to drink.
"First off Mimi is not a bird, and secondly I don't have a bedtime," Kai said noting her behavior before copying her as he finished his meal.
Selina shoots him another questioning look at that and instead of engaging that further, she picks up the cat at her feet, now finished with the bowl of milk, and places it in her lap. She pets the feline a few times causing it to delightfully purr before she lifts her hands much to the calico's distress.
She ignores it though instead deciding to ask the boy in front of her a few more questions.
"Your parents must be worried though. I appreciate the help kid but you should really go home," She said folding her hands and leaning forward with her chin atop them.
"I don't have parents I'm an orphan and my orphanage burned down earlier today so no,"
Kai said his tone was completely blunt as if he couldn't care less about any of that. Selina almost froze before lifting a brow. At first, she'd thought she hit a nerve but judging from his behavior that didn't seem to be the case.
"Besides your the one who got shot shouldn't you have someone worrying about you?" Kai asked, he stood up from his chair and took his spoon over to her sink.
"Not really, well maybe one of two people. I was actually out looking for someone as well," She said, eyes beginning to widen as if just now starting to recall when suddenly there's a jingling at the door.
Selina stood up while Kai spun around putting the spoon in his inventory and readying himself for a fight.
Then the door opened to reveal a slim figure slipping through the door and locking it behind herself.
"Holly!" Selina shouted running over and hugging the other girl, all the pain of her wounds forgotten entirely.
[image here]
"Selina?" Pulling the younger woman into a hug. The girl was then and clearly younger than Selina.
'Early twenties probably,' Kai guessed but it didn't really matter to him.
"Holly, sweetie, are you alright?" Selina asked cupping the other girl's face.
"I'm fine I'm fine I promise," Holly said with a small smile arms reaching up to gently pull Selina's hands away.
"Where were you I was so worried," Selina asked still not fully letting go of the other woman and wrapping her back in a much looser but still intimate hug. The blonde girl didn't resist instead she simply did the same only for Selina to wince in pain at her touch.
"Me? Oh my god Selina what happened to you?" Holly pulled back slightly her eyes tracing the numerous bandages all over Selina's body.
"It's nothing, baby," Selina said still worrying over her roommate.
"Nothing! " You're hurt, come here let me look," Holly said dragging Selina by her arm further into the apartment only to stop the moment she heard someone else.
"Ahem," Kai clears his throat no longer preparing to attack but feeling a little awkward about watching them silently.
"Ahh! Who the hell are you," Holly screamed waving her hands before reaching into her purse for a pistol.
"Whoa there lady, I come in peace," Kai raised his hands trying not to look threatening.
"Your eyes!" Holly shouted pointing at the white-haired child with glowing green eyes standing in her apartment.
"Oh right, that. Sorry if I scared you. It's Holly, right?" Kairo said dismissing the glow and returning his eyes to their usual slighted white pupils without a hint of green or glow in sight.
"Ah umm yes and you are?" Holly asked still somewhat frightened but quickly recovering. She was a Gothmite born and raised after all and having the ability to overcome fear quickly is a valuable trait in such a city.
"Holly baby this is Kairo. Kairo this is Holly," Selina gestured to the white-haired boy. Kai grinned and did a charming little bow to the younger woman.
"Hi, it's nice to meet you my named Kairo but you can call me Kai,"
"Hello… Kai,"
"Great so just to be clear are you two like a couple or something?"
The two women looked at each other. Holly with an exasperated frown and Selina with a charming smile and a shrug.
-[five minutes later]-
"So here is the plan. I call it Kai's super awesome ultimate plan to get super rich and probably not die trying!" Kai said dramatically pointing a finger into the air.
The two girls were now seated on a couch across from Kai who had his back to their TV. It was muted for now but it was playing a live feed of the Batmobile transforming into a giant mech and storming through an army of Deathstroke-themed robots.
"Great name," Holly rolled her eyes while blowing a bubble of pink gum.
"The final name is still pending alright well workshop it later. Now, back to the plan,"
The two of them leaned in with clear interest. Holly's bubble popped and Selina put her cat off to the side.
"Step 1 recruitment time!" Kai grinned.
[Chapter Image Here]
XXX
So I kept writing the chapter and it kept deleting itself and I had to rewrite it multiple times, which was discouraging and felt like it brought down the quality and length of the chapter, and postponed its release for which I apologize.
I just realized that I forgot to think about what the date is. I just kinda forgot to choose one. I have an idea for what generation I want Kai to be part of but I have no thought for the year. Need to figure that out soon but I honestly don't know how.
Whoops what can you do 🤷🏽♂️
Also Olive Garden is overrated in my opinion but I haven't had it in a very long time though.