Princess Of Gotham

Masterlist of Stories in this blog

Princess of Gotham

Terrors of Gotham

Betrayal in the Shadows

Fields of Death

Princess of Gotham

Chapter 16: Heroes or Vigilantes

"Is it normal for there to be so many heroes on patrol at this hour?" Cheis asked, walking on the edge of the roof of a building, pointing towards the street. The rest of us were sitting, watching as a group of girls in costumes quite similar to ours, tried to stop a car that was going at high speeds.

"It's not normal," Sound-Road replied, "Should we help?" he turned to look at me. If I knew it was one of Batman's enemies we would have blown up the car by now, but since they were probably civilians, we couldn't do much without at least flattening a tire and then paying for it.

"Let's go down," Hakan said, running to the edge of the building to jump off.

"Let's go down, let's not try to commit suicide," I scoffed, also jumping in the same direction as Rai, but not before preparing my shadow to break my fall.

Malowe, who had arrived a few minutes earlier, arrived downstairs before Hakan and me. Mike didn't take that long either, since he could travel/run at the speed of sound, he wasn't as fast as Flash or his pupils, but it was something compared to those of us who ran at turtle speed in Sports class.

The car passed close to us, almost running us over. Cheis, still from the roof, shot at one of the tires, unfortunately, this caused the driver to lose control and was about to crash into a building. My shadow would not be enough to cushion the crash, let alone stop it.

I turned to look at Parallel, who apparently had read my mind, and was already trying to stop the car with his telekinesis. The girls who had been following the vehicle came close behind us, while I picked up my shadow and Sound-Road approached to see the damage.

"Greetings, fellow masked colleagues," said one of the girls with a huge smile on her face. I turned quickly so I could see her face. The face of many of my nightmares. My companions only gave me looks full of confusion. "My name is Genesis, leader of Black Mamba. These are my partners: Nova, Agape, and Shayra," she pointed to each of the girls.

The first one wore a white suit with gold details and a hood, the second one wore a bright pink suit, and the last one wore a green suit. Genesis, on the other hand, wore a blue suit, with details quite similar to Nightwing's suit. They all wore black masks, but I could still recognize these figures anywhere. It was almost a mockery that they thought I wouldn't recognize those names.

"Eclipse. Leader of the Warriors Society," I said, shortening the distance between us, realizing that I was a few inches taller than the other girl. I stretched out my hand in greeting, more than anything else to cover appearances: "We are vigilantes of Gotham, Metropolis, and Star City," Genesis squeezed my hand, looking at my companions, who were behind me.

"We had already heard about you, quite a lot in fact, many criminals think we work for you. The... What did they call her, Shay?" Agape asked.

"The Princess of Gotham," said the other two at the same time, with a dramatic voice and exaggerated hand movements. It didn't bother me that they called me that, what bothered me was that they made fun of me because my father, Jason, had been the first one to use that nickname on me and it meant a lot to me. I let go of Genesis' hand and prepared to introduce my companions for the night. I shouldn't have, because they had known each other before but didn't know it, and I didn't feel like fighting that night.

"These are some of the members of my team: Parallel, Sound-Road, Blackbird, Hakan, and Pandora, my right hand, but I'm sure you already knew that. Unfortunately, I can't introduce you to the others because they are in other parts of the city, or they don't want to come down," I excused myself, pointing to the building from which Cheis was still pointing his gun.

"Wow, your little green-eyed friend is cute," Nova whispered in my ear, pointing at my brother. I tensed, for she was too close to me.

I took a few steps away from her and smiled at her as best I could. I advanced towards my cousin and signaled her to move away from both teams who were already starting to have a friendly conversation.

"They give you the creeps, don't they?" I hated that she could read me so well with that mechanical eye, I couldn't hide anything from her.

"No, this is much worse than just a feeling, we need to talk to Shade urgently," I said quietly.

"Calm down, we'll be leaving in a few seconds and we probably won't see them again," he replied, starting to walk towards where our companions were socializing.

"You don't understand the gravity of this situation, do you?" I warned, grabbing her robotic arm.

"I understand you better than anyone, but we need to keep up appearances," she argued, releasing her grip on me.

I stood there for a moment, trying to process the situation. I approached my team, signaling them that we should retreat to watch other streets.

"Sound-Road, report the damage to the base," I ordered when I was relatively close. Mike nodded and turned to contact Jim.

"Since when are you a hero?" Shayra asked me, again too close for my liking.

"I don't plan to share that information with someone I barely knew," I answered without turning to look at her, as her gaze made me uncomfortable, "Besides, I've always felt that the title of hero is still too big for us."

"So you are a vigilante?" She asked again. I could simply answer that I have not left.

"We are not judges or jurors in this crusade," I commented, almost reciting, pulling out my shadow to serve as a rope to climb up to the roof of the nearest building.

"Why are you talking about yourself in the plural? I mean, I don't think that's everyone's opinion" I was shocked, how could I let that happen? The 4 girls turned to look at me.

"Eclipse, we have to go now. Black Arrow and Callan are having trouble with some of the Joker's helpers," James reported. I thanked him internally and motioned for everyone to leave right then and there, leaving the other team with words in their mouths and doubt in their heads.

James gave us the exact direction as we ran across the rooftops, some faster than others. A few meters later I texted Poison and Scorpion to meet us in case the Joker showed up.

I remembered my father's warning, stopping near where Callan would probably be butchering those madmen. In my mind, I began to strategize where I would not disobey Jason and where I could help Batman.

I walked the remaining meters to my companions, ready to help capture the stupid clown.

Reblogging this so I can show it later to my mom ._.

Princess of Gotham

Chapter 22: The First Encounter

3 years ago

That week couldn't have gone any worse. Nightwing on the other side of the world, without even giving us a call, Red Hood without showing any signs of life, and Red Robin in San Francisco on a mission.

I take it back, it could get worse. I was wandering around the city with my brother, robbing some convenience stores, just like in the old days. According to him, this would help me "relieve the stress" of the last few weeks. Although I thought it was because he had run out of the money Jason gave him and was too embarrassed to ask Bruce.

But just before we entered the fifth store, there were screams in the distance, patrol car sirens, and gunshots. My brother and I turned to look at each other and then saw the main avenue and, as if in silent agreement, we both ran straight into the chaos, throwing the backpack where we were carrying everything we had stolen on the ground.

As we ran, James put on the hood of his sweatshirt and a black cover-up that he carried in one of his pants pockets. As for me, I took off my glasses and put on my visor with the help of my shadow.

The place was not so far from where we were. As we arrived, the first thing I could see were three people, dressed in white, red and green, respectively, smashing the heads of anyone who crossed their path.

Batman, Batgirl, Batwoman, and, surprisingly, Poison were already there, trying to contain the three causing the mess or at least minimize the damage.

From one moment to the next, the three of them took off the masks covering their faces, looking from Batman to my brother and me. But they didn't move from their place. I signaled my brother and Jared to be on guard, but not to attack.

"We want to see the one who calls herself The Princess of Gotham", shouted the three of them at the same time.

"Over my dead body," said Blackbird, as soon as he could put a name to the faces. And as if it were a battle cry, Jared, my brother and I started the attack again.

At first, they dodged everything we threw at them, it got to a point where we had to defend ourselves and call for reinforcements. My first option, as always, was to call Pandora, but I remembered that she was with her father, on a mission. I finally decided to call Callan, Cheis, and Black Arrow.

And I won't deny it, I was afraid. Afraid that those things would be much stronger, afraid that they would kill me. And how could I not be, if I had already faced those attempts of human beings? During one stage of my life, I decided to call them "friends", even brothers. I took care of them and they took care of me. Henry, Arthur, and Samir.

The first reinforcement to arrive was Callan's huge wolf, but instead of feeling relieved, I became even more worried. This was the perfect scenario for another betrayal.

A bomb exploded a few meters away from us and as if it was a signal, I threw some small bombs that I was carrying with me, but they did not have the effect I wanted. Hakan had arrived, even without being called, exploding quite close to the enemy.

Arthur, who was dressed in greenish and black colors, approached me, so fast that I didn't even have time to attack him. A strange green smoke surrounded me, and the last thing I saw before everything went black was that hideous grin on his face.

I woke up in a cellar. Sitting in a wooden chair, without my trench coat or my tool belt, with a lamp shining on me. There was blood everywhere. Swords, plants, broken glass, and some artifacts I didn't know about.

Samir, dressed in black and white, with disheveled hair and a few scratches on his face, came in sometime later, sat down on a chair in front of me, and although I had the chance to attack him because he was unarmed and I was not tied up, I could not even raise a hand without wincing.

"Don't even try it, princess. You'll be here for a while. Unfortunately, our boss doesn't want you dead, yet," he said, still smiling.

A short time later the other two came in, bringing with them heavy energy. One of them showed me a picture of a girl in what appeared to be the garden of Wayne Manor.

"Do you know who she is," he asked. I just shook my head slowly, "Have you seen her?" I shook my head again in denial, "Are you related to her?" Of course not, how could I be related to that traitor.

Apparently, he didn't like the answers, I could barely distinguish his hand that was going straight to my abdomen, giving me a strong blow.

"You're lying," said the only one to whom, so far, I had not paid attention. From his pocket, he took out two objects that at first sight were strange to me, but after a while, I deduced what they were about: "This is a potion of truth, granted by Shade herself," he said, raising a vial with a blue liquid in it, "I don't have to tell you what this is, surely you already know it." He held up a black, delicate dagger.

In any part of the universe, having objects like that you could be considered one of the most powerful people on Earth, after Shade.

With the little strength I had I tried to reach for the dagger but Henry, who at some point had positioned himself behind me, was faster than me. He grabbed my shoulders from behind to prevent me from getting up. While Arthur grabbed my cheeks, forcing me to swallow that blue liquid.

"Tell me the name of your biological father," ordered Samir, who was still sitting in front of me, after a few minutes had passed.

"Oscar Hart," I answered without even thinking about it. That thing was worse than I thought, even if I had been trained to evade the effects, it had been a long time since I had the need to use those skills. I had to get out of there fast.

The basic questions continued, making me reveal secrets that I thought I would take to my grave. My hands started to react when he started asking slightly more personal questions. I didn't think much of it and lunged at him to try to grab the dagger he was playing with with his hand.

As soon as I had it in my possession I tried to pull out my shadow again to try to protect myself. When I realized that it was going to be impossible in that situation, I started to run in search of a way out. The other two were following me, almost on my heels.

One thing I had learned from being with the Bat-family was to carry a device that was not so noticeable. In my pants pocket, I always carried a location and communication device.

"Callan, I need you to look for me near my coordinates. I will try to get out of here as soon as possible," I said as soon as the device was activated. My feet were failing, I felt like I couldn't speak and there were moments when I felt faint. That cellar had to have at least one window. And that was the first thing I found.

When I got to the window I realized not only that we were on the second floor, but also that this was my only way to escape. I backed up a few steps to take flight, seeing if my ex-partners were nearby. I ran, covering my face to avoid a cut. I heard the sound of glass breaking and at that moment I knew I was already falling.

Two shots rang out quite close to me. One of the bullets grazed my shoulder. When I hit the ground I had to roll to avoid getting hurt.

When I was able to get up, I looked around and barely managed to locate myself. From some signs, I could see that the warehouse was on the outskirts of the city. A vacant lot, surrounded by a tall brick fence a few meters from where I was, was the only thing I could focus on.

A loud noise behind me made me react, I started to run without turning to see what had caused the noise. I kept the dagger in my boot, trying not to get scratched. And I started running towards the fence.

A metal lever on the ground made me stumble. This might give me a small advantage. If my father could fight with this kind of thing, I could too. I took it in my hands, brushed some dirt off it, and continued on my way.

As I reached the fence, I turned back, barely making out the silhouette of one of the boys in the dim moonlight. At the speed I was going, I would still have time to jump and get out, but my limbs had to wake up well if I wanted to make it to the busy streets before I got caught again.

Training with Jason was paying off. As soon as I made it to the other side, I ran again. The risk of the boys still being close by, the adrenaline, and the strange poison they injected me with made stopping seem impossible.

I don't know how far I ran, when I stopped I was already reaching the Wayne Enterprises building. A group of people approached me, but only one of them stood in front of me, trying to stop me and reach my face so I could completely see him, but I was terrified, leaving me with no choice of where to run. Black smoke surrounded me before I could get off that street, and the guy who was in front of me disappeared. The roar of a wolf and the series of explosions that followed calmed me down a bit. James slowly approached me, wrapped me in a hug, saying that everything would be okay.

Previous chapter

Princess of Gotham

Chapter 14: Meetings & Snakes

The meeting room spanned half of one floor of the building, with a table large enough to fit all 13 of us.

"I'd do a roll call, but just by counting them, I can tell we're all here. So I'd appreciate it if everyone would line up at the end to check them out," Jim said, holding some white sheets of paper in his hand.

"Let's get this started soon, I feel uncomfortable surrounded by so many people." Black Arrow, known to the Waynes as Samantha Smith, another Green Arrow assistant who didn't last long.

"Good. Point 1: this week there will be nuggets in the cafeteria..." Said Jim, while Poison Spider tried to contain his laughter.

"Jim! That's not the list," said Oswald, quickly getting up from his seat to snatch the lists from Jim and switch them.

"Slade Wilson was spotted in Metropolis, Star City, and neighboring cities. Reports from Belle Reve say he is still a prisoner. The Teen Titans haven't reported his sighting either. And we want to keep it that way" I started to say after Jim dropped the countless sheets of paper on the floor.

Everyone turned to look at each other again. This situation was going to start getting out of hand.

"Two known criminals have escaped from Arkham. The Joker and The Scarecrow. Their exact location is unknown. Batman, Nightwing, and Red Hood have warned of the risks of seeking a face-to-face confrontation, so for the time being we will stand aside," Blackbird spoke, rising from his seat and standing beside Jim and helping him hold the sheets.

From what my brother said, I figured Dick had already warned Olive. But why were they getting so worried now?

"There are new heroes," Hakan said, out of the blue, "Or so I've heard.

If they mentioned anything about new heroes it must have been important, new heroes and villains were born every day, but that was none of our business, as long as they didn't cause us trouble.

"A new group of seven girls who call themselves Black Mamba," Hakan continued, also getting up from his seat, drawing the attention of most of us.

And that was something that Rai Hayashi had. No one could take their eyes off him, which at that point in the conversation meant that he had more than 5 pairs of eyes on him.

"Hakan and I tried to get some information out of them but I couldn't get very close to them, I tried to read their minds but it was impossible. I don't know if it's because of the distance we were at, some interference, or if they had previous training to detect us" When Malowe, our trusty shapeshifter, stopped talking, we all turned to look at Jim, who was already sitting in front of the huge computer screens.

"Nothing appears in the system about them, I'll need time to investigate them," anyone who saw him would think he was pressing keys at random, but he wasn't.

"Investigate them or ask them out?" mocked Sound-Road, who was almost sprawled out on the table next to Black Arrow.

Mike Vos was the son of an important actor and writer in Star City. A few years ago, when I was still in the orphanage, his family came to deliver a huge donation and we soon became great friends. Even after all the tragedies that befell us, we were able to control the metagene.

"Eclipse, may I take the floor," I nodded, still without saying a word, "What we should be concerned about right now is Slade Wilson. I would like to propose a plan for an effective attack."

Cheis Garcia, an immigrant who had earned their reputation for their incredible aim with firearms and for having no mercy on their enemies. I never offered them a position on the team, but one day they approached me saying they could be of great help, and I accepted.

The vast majority gave Cheis permission to explain their plan. Sadly, I again plunged back into my thoughts, managing to hear little or nothing of his plan.

"It's easy to say, but everyone here knows it's hard to bring Deathstroke down," said Oswald, exchanging arrows with his partner Samantha, "Besides we couldn't all go, we'll need to pick a team for this, split up, as usual," he turned to me and all I could do was signal for him to continue talking, but apparently that was all he wanted to say.

Why was making a simple plan so complicated? This team had had tougher missions than this, and now I couldn't even think straight or designate the team. It was known in advance that this moment would come, sometimes we would talk to each other making little plans for this, and suddenly the ideas were gone.

Robin had already warned me of the dangers of confronting Slade. In his personal experience, it was better to wait for him to find us than to look for him on our own. But I never thought that was the best thing to do. I wanted to find him myself and if possible, kill him and bury him more than 10 feet underground.

"Volunteers to go attack Slade," Jared asked loudly, drawing everyone's attention and causing more than one to raise their hand.

"We'll make a list and see what we can do from there," Callan said, rising from her seat.

Everyone began to leave the room, leaving Assana and me alone.

"I know what you're thinking, and I won't let you do it," my partner warned, approaching me.

"We'll talk about this later," I said, leaving the room.

Reblog to get Bruce Wayne some therapy

^-^

Cheis: relax just act mature

Jared/Poison: mature, got it

*Jared on his date*

Rai/Hakan: so what do you do for fun?

Jared *in a deep serious voice*: taxes

Princess of Gotham

Chapter 11: Father & Daughter

They escaped. They escaped just as we discovered Slade's location. This couldn't be just a coincidence. But the mere thought of the three of them working together was impossible.

"I'm going to sleep," I said, taking Assana's hand off my shoulder. I headed for the stairs towards the mansion. At one point I had to hold on to the stair railing. I felt dizzy and I didn't know if it was because I was sleepy or because the prescription of my glasses was no longer enough. Sleep was the only thing I wanted to do after so many emotions for one day.

"Jane, wait," I heard Assana shout.

"Don't worry, I'll go with her." I managed to hear Olive say before I closed the door leading to the Batcave. She was one of the first to find out about the escapes before we did.

With a horrible headache from the problems I was having with my team, the fight with Tim, and the recent information of two escapes from Arkham, all I could think about was taking a nap until at least 4:00 p.m. or if that didn't help, killing myself.

"Jane, wait for me," Olive shouted, trying to reach me so she could talk to me properly.

"Jane Pasley Todd." I heard someone calling my name. But I started running to my room. When I got there I locked the door and threw myself on the bed, still without taking off my suit, to try to fall asleep. "Daughter, open up. I want to talk to you, please," said my father, knocking on the door.

"I want to sleep," I answered, trying not to sound so curt. I took off my visor and threw it towards the closet door. I wrapped the quilt around me, curling up in my bed as I listened to my father try to open the door. The sound of the knob being jiggled frantically only made my headache increase.

"I warn you, I do know how to pick locks," Jason warned, leaving the knob alone for a while. I closed my eyes, trying to sleep. Five minutes later I heard the door open and he entered my room without turning on the light.

Jason Todd was never a model son. He was always rebellious, and he was always surrounded by trouble. When he came back to life all he could think about was his revenge on the person who was responsible for separating him from the only person he had ever considered close to him.

When he almost died in the attack on the orphanage when he was 12 years old, Jason decided to follow his father's example and adopt the one who would become his protégé and companion in the future. But that didn't mean he would mature overnight.

When he almost died in the attack on the orphanage when he was 12 years old, Jason decided to follow his father's example and adopt what would become his future protégé and companion. But that didn't mean he would mature overnight.

Back then he didn't know much about raising a rebellious teenager, yet he tried. But as the years went by, he would start acting like it wasn't his responsibility, leaving me in charge of Bruce or even running away in the middle of the night never to return.

There came a point when I stopped reproaching him, anyway, it wouldn't be the only time a father figure would leave me abandoned to my fate.

"Honey." He called me, a little calmer than before, but I was already too sleepy to answer, "Well, you probably don't want to talk," he said, as he sat on the bed and tried to take off my quilt, "so I'll sleep with you," I faced him, pouting. "Get up, I don't want to be cold. I'm going to pull the sheet off."

"Do you really want to be the exemplary father now," I asked. All he did was give me a little smile.

I reluctantly got up and pulled out a blanket I had stashed in my closet. I went to the bathroom and took off my suit, then put on my sleep pants and the sweatshirt I always sleep in. I went back to bed and saw how Jason was already settled on one side of the bed, writing something on his cell phone.

-Come on, it's almost 6 a.m.," he said, patting my side of the bed. And he was right, the first rays of sunlight were already visible from the window.

I lay down next to him and we cuddled so we could sleep. I was sure I would wake up at least until 3 o'clock in the afternoon, with a horrible headache.

And although I thought sleep would help me calm my nerves a little that night, I knew it wouldn't happen. Even my dreams tortured me, bringing my worst fears to light.

Since I received my metagene and basically since I came back to life, I have had many nightmares, some worse than others. I would dream of my biological father, other times I would dream of my mother's death, or even the loss of my new family. I would also dream about the time I was kidnapped to perform the genetic experiments that gave me my metagene. My mind would trick me, giving me the worst thoughts that, at times, even when I was awake, could not stop torturing me. I would wake up in the middle of the night and after that, I could not go back to sleep.

"Don't worry, if you have a nightmare, I'll be here." I managed to hear. Yes, obviously he would be there, but it wouldn't make a difference. It wasn't as if his mere presence would magically eliminate bad dreams.

"You definitely decided to start being the exemplary father," I replied. To finally fall into the arms of Morpheus.

Terrors of Gotham

Chapter 2: Pretend and Wait

The Wayne Manor was distinguished from others in Bristol for being the biggest and most luxurious of all, the enormous steel doors, the wide gardens, the garage with dozens of cars, the floral bushes, and the occasional motorcycles were characteristic marks.

Upon entering the mansion, the first to greet me as always was Alfred, although on this occasion his face denoted confusion, and looking me over from head to toe he told me to go upstairs to my room to change if I wanted to have dinner with the rest of the family.

On my way upstairs, exchanging my visor for my glasses, I couldn't help overhearing parts of the conversation in the library and resisting my curiosity, I went straight to my door.

As usual, my room was dark, curtains closed and my mess was on the floor. I turned on the lights and with the help of another switch adjusted their intensity. From the piles of clothes on the floor I grabbed a baggy, closed sweatshirt and jeans. The shadow got rid of the coat, boots, and gloves. Before I went into the bathroom to take a shower and change clothes, my phone rang from somewhere between my desk and my bed. I ignored it, I didn't have the energy to argue with someone on the phone.

I needed to organize all the thoughts in my mind, to start distributing my time among the most important tasks. Organize the three missions leaving available the team that would be dedicated to infiltrating LexCorp, look for a distraction for Angie, and see if I could escape to the forest for half an hour. On top of that, I had to talk to Roy Harper, and ask him to lend me an island.

The mere thought that in the long run, I would have to throw away years of friendship made me sick, I tried to think about it as little as possible, but my mind always betrayed me. At one point I didn't know if what was running down my face was water droplets from the shower or tears.

The idea was to simply take a lukewarm shower, no longer than 15 minutes. However, I was so stressed that the water came out almost boiling and I was under the stream of water for almost an hour, and it would have lasted longer if it wasn't for that person screaming and almost knocking on the door of my room to the floor.

"Pasley, dinner is ready," I couldn't quite identify whose voice it was, but I thanked him for silencing my mind, even for a few seconds.

I didn't answer, I didn't expect him to have been waiting for one either.

When I entered the dining room, it was already full. Grayson, Drake, the two Wayne's, to no one's surprise, Arthur Johnes, my father, and my brother, sitting in their respective chairs. Alfred had already served everything and some were even beginning to serve themselves and eat.

"You're early." And my plans to go unnoticed were ruined at that moment. Bruce looked up from his plate and turned to look at me, Jay mimicked his action.

"The meeting," I said to see if the girl sitting across from me noticed the intentions behind my tone of voice, "took less time than expected due to the, at least to me, surprising absence of everyone. And I didn't feel the need to stay on patrol," Angie and Arthur were still engrossed in their world, talking to each other almost in whispers, as if they knew everyone at that table could read lips, pretending it was just them alone in that room.

"I'm glad you're all here, how about a training session?" asked Dick, not noticing or ignoring the tense atmosphere between me, my cousin, and what I thought was my boyfriend.

"Sorry dad, we have classes tomorrow," Angie replied, taking a bite of food.

"They gave us a day," James contradicted.

"Hm, then I forgot."

The rest of the dinner was harmonized by the Wayne brothers and their harmless bickering and complaining towards Batman. As soon as everyone was satisfied they began to retire one by one to different rooms in the mansion.

Angie and Arthur sat for a while in the dining room, still talking about their things and pretending that neither my brother nor I were there. It was strange, they had never behaved that way before, in all those years I knew them they had never behaved so irresponsibly.

"If you'll excuse me, I have to talk to Drake," I reported before getting up from the table and leaving the dining room.

Any stranger would get lost in the hallway. If my memory served me correctly, which often failed me, I also got lost in so many rooms. Nowadays I knew every hallway like the back of my hand, which made tasks like that easier.

"Tim, can you help me with something?" I said, knocking on the door. I waited for an answer, probably a no, but what I got was the sound of something banging against the door, the floor, and some of the furniture, so that finally someone opened the door.

"Hi, I'm sorry, I was organizing some things and by accident, I knocked everything over. Come in, come in, sorry for the mess," he said quickly, letting me into his personal sanctuary.

"I'm the one who's sorry, this isn't even important it can wait," I said, starting to turn around to leave.

"What do you say we talk about it tomorrow?" he asked scratching the back of his head, his room wasn't really a mess, if we didn't count the clothes on the floor, the pile of wires on his bed, and desk.

"That's fine with me," I told him, once I left his room.

Sleeping with so much on my mind was almost impossible. That's why as soon as my cell phone started to ring, still in my clothes, I deigned to look for it, not in such a hurry because I knew that if it was urgent they would leave a message or communicate directly through Oracle's systems.

To my surprise, it was only Cheis, asking me if I had time to go for a walk in Row Park, walks that I was grateful for and that meant more than just that. Escaping from the mansion at night, when the security systems were activated, was much more difficult than entering, but the shadow was of some use.

Walking the streets of Gotham again, more aware than a few hours ago, made everything feel more real. My problems, my life, everything.

The streets on the East Side were horrendous, the floor was sticky, the air felt humid, maybe it was just my imagination. I had spent my entire childhood going back and forth from alley to alley, stealing from anything that moved and in all those years I had never complained about the environment, surely I had become weaker after living so long in the mansion, surrounded by luxuries with always clean floors and food on the table.

As I turned right at one of the corners, I could finally see the face of my companion, who by the trash on the floor I could tell had started the fun without me.

"You are late," they said, without even turning to look at me.

"Too early, too late, why nowadays people don't settle for anything?" I asked, taking the cigarette and puffing on it.

"Do you want to get philosophical with me or do you want another dose of the toxin?" asked Cheis, rummaging through his suit pockets.

"The last thing I want right now is to think."

The moment you realized everything you do is worthless. That your friends already did it, so if you do it, it's just a copy, stealing an idea.

The moment you realize you really have no talent, no amazing thing about yourself that you can show everyone, while your friends all always say how amazing the other friend is.

The moment you realize you'll never achieve your goals because you need to be good at something you're not, because you lack an ability, because the more you try to learn, the more you get tired of even trying.