Terry sat down at his desk, and scanned the classroom. His eyes locked on one girl, sitting in the corner by herself. He'd never seen her before, neither at school, nor anywhere else around Gotham City. She brushed auburny-black hair out of her eyes, and adjusted her glasses. She was a pretty girl, thin, with sparkling green eyes.
She looked up from the notebook she was writing in, and caught him looking at her. She smiled brilliantly at him, and Terry quickly ducked his head.
As the class progressed, Terry noted, covertly watching the girl, that she didn't do any of the class work, but watched the class and took notes on them.
When the bell rang, Terry quickly gathered up his books, and hurried to catch up with the girl. "Hey," he said, tapping her lightly on the shoulder. "New here?"
The girl turned and smiled again. She shifted her armload of books, and held forward a hand. "Hi. I'm Heather Kane."
"Hi. Terry McGuinness," Terry offerred, shaking her hand.
"Thanks. You know, you're the first person I've met here that's acted normally towards me?" Heather shook her head. "Anyway, I'm here to write a story about the similarities and differences between schools in Gotham City and schools in Metropolis. Boring, I suppose, but hey, that's what the most juniour reporters get."
Terry shugged. "Doesn't sound so bad. My boss used to know all about Metropolis, though, maybe you should talk to him. Bruce Wayne. Maybe you've heard of him?"
Heather's face lit up. "Of course! My dad, he's worked with him alot. Don't ask me on what, 'cause I have absolutely no idea. All I know is how dad keeps telling me what a great guy he is."
Terry shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so."
Heather giggled, then checked her watch. "Look at the time! Look, I've really got to get going. See 'ya round, Terry!" She waved, and hurried away.
As Terry watched her walk away, Leona Brite came up beside him, and playfully punched him in the arm. "Who's the girl, Terry?"
Terry tore his eyes away from Heather. "Heather Kane. She's here to write a story about Gotham City and Metropolis schools."
"Fascinating," Leona said with a shrug. "Now, have you forgotten? Meeting with Bruce."
***
"There's been a rash of jewel thefts," Bruce Wayne rasped, looking at the two black figured standing in front of him, looking at him with cold, glittering, white, and inhuman eyes. "No one knows what the point is. Any jewels they steal are uncutm rough, and worth almost nothing."
Bruce turned in his chair, and tapped a button on the huge keyboard beside him. A map flashed on the viewscreen, and the two black heads swivvelled to look at it. Red dots glowed across a map of the continent, like a path. "The only city that they haven't attacked yet is Metropolis," he pointed out. "They're probably afraid of iSuperman/i." Bruce's voice sounded bitter when he said that name, but it could have been a trick that age played on one's voice.
"What makes you sure they'll attack tonight?" The black woman asked. Bruce turned to look at her, a shadow with a golden bat blazed across her chest.
"There's a shipment of the same type of jewels tonight, at Gotham City Museum. I wouldn't put it below them."
The male shadow, as enigmatic as her, with only sharper ears and a red bat, nodded slowly. "Makes sense."
"Of course it does. Now go get them." Bruse ordered, sighing, and leaning back in his chair.
Gracefully, the two moved away and headed for their vehicle. As they passed a black motorcycle with the bat emblazoned on the front, she sighed. "Do we have to take your wheels?"
"Bruce's orders." He said smoothly, and opened the door to their vehicle, for her to enter. She did so, quickly, and easily, like a cat, and settled herself the co-pilot seat. He lowered himself into the pilot's chair, and the engine began to hum.
"Nervous, Bat-boy?" She asked, giving him an eery grin through her inhuman mask.
"Not if you aren't, Batgirl."
"That's Batiwoman/i, Bat-boy."
***
Leona Brite hung suspended on the wall, using no ropes, but only her technologically advanced suit. If anyone had looked at where she perched, like a fly on a wall, they wouldn't've seen a thing.
Leona always felt a strong kind of power when she wore this suit, like she was invincible. She'd never felt that way when she'd taken on the guise of the cat, but then, she'd always have to watch that Batman coulnd't catch her. That could hardly happen to her now, that she was his partner.
Speaking of partners...
Leona scanned the room, and spotted Terry, hanging upside down on the bottom of a balcony. He nodded once at her, and Leona acknowedged his signal. Now all they had to do was wait.
They didn't have to wait long. From the shadows, three figures in black snuck out, and one set to work on the safe. Leona snorted mentally. 'For Pete's sake,' she thought, 'You'll never get it open ithat/i way. They put in a newer safe after the last time iI/i opened it.'
Then she shrugged, nodded at Terry, and lightly touched the buckle of her belt. There was the slightest whipsper as she became visible, and she saw Terry do the same. Yet, neither moved.
One of the theives had a powerful flashlight, and he was using it to scan the walls. Leona felt its powerful beam go over her, yet all she did was glare down at the theives like some kind of wall gargoyle. The beam passed on by her, then suddenly stopped, and swung back to pinpoint her. "It's Batgirl!" The theif screamed!
Terry suddenly swung down from under the balcony, his red wings out, the boot jets burning. "Actually, I believe she prefers to be called Batiwoman/i."
The theif screamed again, swinging the flashlight to shine on Batman. Another, with more sense of mind, pulled out a weapon that looked like a crossbow. He fired a dart at Batman, but Terry simply ducked out of the way.
As he fought to reload the weapon, the third, apparently disgusted with attempting to crack the safe, slapped a thermal detonator onto the door, and thumbed on the charge switch. "Get back!" He shouted, and even the two Bats backed away.
The safe exploded in a blast of sound, smoke, and brilliant light. The theives all raced at the safe, and both Batman and Batwoman flung themselves at the three.
The screaming flashlight bearer swung a punch in Leona's direction. Leona grinned maliciously, scary behind her mask. "Never try and hit a woman," she taunted. Then, with a vicious arc, she slammed her fist into the theif's gut, making him double over in pain.
But suddenly, something struck her hard over the back of her head, and Leona gasped in pain as her vision clouded.
Terry didn't appear to be having much better luck. He had faced off against the largest of the three, and the thug was basically just slamming Terry around extremely badly. Terry grunted as the thug's fist connected with his jaw, and he fell back.
Just when it seemed the battle was going the very worst, a woman's voice suddenly broke over the ruckus. "Now, now, three against two. The odds aren't exactly fair, are they?"
All heads spun to look at the speaker, a young woman with auberny-black curly hair, and a conspiratory smirk. She wore a red and blue bodysuit and cape, with a golden 'S' slapped across her chest. She floated effortlessly in the air, then shrugged. "What say we even the odds a little?"
Then there was a rush of wind, and they found themselves staring at the empty space where she'd been a moment before. Then one of the theives let out a strangled cry, and they spun to see the woman behind them, effortlessly holding the largest of the thugs up by his collar, with one hand. Then, with an almost casual flick of the wrist, she flung him away. He skidded across the floor, and smashed into a wall, collapsing in a motionless heap.
A snarl emerged from the theif with the crossbow, and reaching into his pocket, he slammed a different dart onto it. Then he swung it up at the mystery woman, and Leona gasped as she saw the dart glowing red. "Watch out!" she cried, and she saw the woman's eyes widen at the sight of the dart. She moved to get out of the way, but the dart was already fired.
The dart slammed into her stomach, and the woman gasped in pain. Then, she suddenly began to cough, bringing up blood. She collapsed onto the ground, clutching at the dart, and gagging in pain.
Leona flicked her wrist, and a batarang appeared in her hand. She flicked it up into her fingers, and with a well-aimed shot, slammed the crossbow out of the man's hand. The crossbow skidded across the floor, and the look the theif gave her was pure poison.
"Let's get out of here!" The theif yelled, and the two remaining theives began to back away.
"Oh, no you don't," Terry said cooly, and flung a bat-bolo at them. The two theives got bound together, and snarled angrily.
Leona, meanwhile, had run to check on the woman. "We need to get her out of here!" She yelled back to Terry.
Terry growled once, then turned and scooped the woman up. "This is Superwoman," he said, a note of disgust in his voice. "Wonder what she's doing in Gotham City?"
"Who cares?!?" Leona cried. "She needs help, and she needs it now!"
Terry nodded once, then shot up into the night.
That's chapter one for you! Please read/review!!