Disclaimer- I do not own anything besides my laptop.
Hopefully the first of many one shots
I just plain got bored
Summary-We know the many exploits of the dynamic duo, but we don't know the ones of a preteen who lives in the shadows. Her life in a day.
She woke up slowly, yawning while holding herself to the beam to hold her balance. Cracking her knuckles, she undid the large bowtie which kept her into place. The shoe laces dropped to the ground of the warehouse with a soft plink as she was already made down the screwed in ladder against the wall.
"Damn," she muttered. Gathering the shoe laces, she untied them, lacing them into her rugged running shoes. Glancing around to make sure no one was ready to jump her in the early hours of the morning, she walked over to a broken pipe bursting with water.
Undressing herself, the girl bathed, usually glancing around with sudden movements. You couldn't be too sure in Gotham City.
Finally, smelling as though she had walked out a fragrant soap shop, she made her way to another pair of clothes, neatly folding her discarded ones as she was done.
With a comb, she pulled at her long black hair which had decided knot and curl as it always did. How it bothered her to no end.
"Saturday" she commented to herself as she looked at her pocket calendar, "Laundry day."
Twisting her hair as it fell into her loose beanie, she grabbed her carefully folded clothes, adding them the other outfits in a bag she worn in the past week.
Thus, the fun of the day began.
The girl, sack slung off her shoulder, floated to the rooftop (yes, floated). Once outside, she donned the blinding contact lenses, along with a black mask. It was a silly little notion, yes, but she had numerous times been mistaken as a cat burglar using this route. Walking at the very least didn't suffice as it took longer to get around the city.
She jumped to the nearest rooftop.
As such, she did so every Saturday morning, a route that took only ten minutes.
Mask off, she landed into the alleyway next to Robatussen's twelve hour laundry service. "Good morning, !" she exclaimed happily to the middle aged woman behind the desk. "Morning, Marli," stated as 'Marli' walked by, snickering to her supposed name.
"Mother still not feeling well?"
"Yup. I still need to get these cleaned though."
"Your usual washer an' dryer are open, hon."
Marli made her way, pulling out her coins. Placing them into the slot and putting her clothes in, she wondered what would happen in the day.
"Got a news paper, ma'am?" she asked the Mrs. She got the main section of the Gotham Gazette as a response.
"Riddler riddles the police; Five Bank Robberies in the Past Two Weeks" she read aloud, sitting down. It was a typical day, though with one thing missing...
A man wearing a black ski mask entered the shop, cocking his gun at Mrs. Robatussen as he slowly made his way to her.
"Give me all the money you have in the cash register!" He exclaimed, completely not noticing Marli as she snuck behind him.
"Give it no-" He fell unconscious as Marli pushed one of his pressure points on her tip toes.
"Honestly," she stated as a police officer escorted the drooling idiot away, "You'd think they'd learn by now".
Her dryer dinged off. She folded them neatly, placing them into the sack.
"Best be off. See you, Mrs. Robatussen". The older lady smiled and shook her head as she left to go sort things in the back.
By now, the sun was just rising as Marli made it back to the abandoned warehouse. Making it to her corner (a small space in the shadows no one could spot-unless they thoroughly looked), she lifted the group of hollow crates that hid her stuff. Under it, she placed the sack, completely emptying the clothes. She folded them, marking which ones she would wear throughout the next week. Any ones that were out of place were refolded and placed accordingly.
Grabbing her book bag, she pulled out a copy of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon while unpeeling an orange. She ate quietly, placing the peels on a tattered piece of paper while reading the exploits of Usagi's latest melodrama.
About an hour later, the peels were placed into a nearby dumpster as she walked in the shadows to the nearest second hand book store.
"Morning, Mac" she stated, giving a lopsided grin to the elderly man. "G'day, kid."
She made it over to the manga section, grabbing various titles set out on the shelf to read. This carried on for around two hours as her stomach announced it was time for lunch. Silently, Marli placed the books back on the shelf. She used the back door to head to the nearby farmer's market.
"I would like to announce the generous donation that Mr. Wayne has given to the Gotham city orphanage has made a wonderful difference to those in need," a tearful woman stated on the television Marli passed by.
"Close, Wayne, but no cigar," a bald man stated, "You'd have to be Batman to clear out this city-and even he can't clear out Joker!" his companion cackled.
Marli only had to crack a smile. It took no idiot to figure out those statements were ironic in so many ways.
Making it over to the farmers market, she went over to the fruit stand.
"Hello, Alfred!" She smiled at the older British man that was picking out some apples. "Good morning, Miss Marli." It was a real treat for her to see this particular man at times. As far as she knew, he was the butler to a certain Mr. Wayne and his 'sons'.
"I heard Mr. Wayne donated some money to the orphanage."
"You heard right. Any other news that came with that?"
"Some passerby stated that it wouldn't do any good. Even compared him to Batman," she stated. "Oh, the irony," she muttered. He cracked at smile at that, thinking it was only her state of living she had referred to.
"Well, Miss Marli, this is Damian. Damian, say hello." Alfred pushed someone around her age from around him (hiding?).
"Hello," Damian muttered. He was a good few inches taller than her, maybe by around five, six.
"Hiya!" She started feeling the apples, picking up one. She put a finger to her chin, than picked up a second.
"Can I have these?" she asked a lowly woman behind the counter. She fished out a five dollar bill, trading it for a bag.
"Thanks."
All the while, Damian was staring at her. She turned to him.
"Well, I guess I'll see you some other time!"
She walked off, all the while listening to Damian's and Alfred's conversation.
"Well, that was... interesting."
"Quite so. She's actually pretty insightful on various subjects."
"Yes, she's very-hey! Didn't we have more than six apples?"
By then, she was giggling, heading over to the kettle corn stand and getting a bag. Her three apples felt heavy in her pocket.
"Well, you were being a jerk" she muttered. Walking to the street corner and turning left, Marli headed over to the botanical park.
It was around seven o'clock when Marli was walking back 'home'. Already, she was in the middle of two street fights, an attempted takeover of the park and, surprisingly, someone tried to steal her beanie. Well, that wasn't odd at all.
Walking into the alleyway as a 'shortcut' (actually a way to jump around the rooftops), Marli inwardly cursed as someone immediately started to follow her. Immediately, he grabbed from behind. Quickly elbowing him, kicking him where it counts and smashing in his nose, he was left whimpering as she walked out of the alleyway.
"I'm being too careless," she muttered, clicking her tongue.
"Rutha."
She felt the gaze of a little bird as she slipped into the warehouse.
She instantly regretted it. With The Joker's back facing her, she quietly slipped outside. In less than ten minutes, her goods were on her back as she made her way to a warehouse closer the market.
Settling down, she wrote in a journal her experiences for the day.
No one would find her, no one would see her. She, a civilian, stuck out in many various ways that she didn't care to count for. At least, that's what she told herself...
Marli took off her beanie, brushed her hair, placing it into a ponytail. Her contact lenses, ever so blinding, were taken out and placed into her book bag. Her teeth brushed, she kicked back against a support beam that she had flown up to. Tonight, she wouldn't tie herself so she would be supported. She'd be alert, poised in case of an attack. With palms burning, Marli thought of those she knew and remembered, drifting off into a sleep filled with those flying in the sky.
So is the day in the life of a street rat.
End?
Can I please have some constructive criticism please?