Neon Tiger – Part One
(20 March 2015, Blüdhaven, New Jersey, USA 11:16 EST)
Artemis Crock looked dreamily out of the front passenger side window. Normally she loved long car rides; they always seemed to relax her from the stress and worries of her life. Unfortunately normalcy no longer existed in her life, at least not for a very long time. Artemis reflected on what she decided to undertake. Dick and Kaldur had come to visit her and Wally at university, but this was not a social call. Wally and Artemis were especially surprised to see Kaldur, last they saw he had left the Team and joined forces with his father, Black Manta. Nightwing informed them that nothing was what it seemed anymore; the two of them concocted a tenacious and treacherous plan to help infiltrate the Light and help it implode.
From the moment they finished speaking Wally wanted to kick the both of them out the apartment. Wally, for whatever reason was done with superhero activity and wanted to have a normal life. Go to university, find a good job, get married and have children, live in a quaint suburban home with a white picket fence. Artemis sacrificed her personal aspirations to appease Wally; working with Green Arrow was something she had always dreamed off. Her father Crusher Crock, the villain called Sportsmaster, was always so cold and distant with her. Any attention Crusher would ever give to Artemis when he would train her; because of her father she mastered everything from robbery to kidnapping and extortion. He was never one to tuck her in at night and read a bedtime story, he was far too busy orchestrating major bank heists and negotiating with police to release hostages. Green Arrow had been the man she always dreamed was her actual father; he would arrive in the middle of the night and rescue her from the hell that was the Crock household.
Green Arrow was a great mentor and appreciated everything he had instilled her. But instead of using those to stop criminals…she was using it to cram for finals and hold down a part-time job. Wally could sense her listlessness; he promised that things would be so much better once they graduated. Her life had revolved around superheroes, and super villains for that matter. It was difficult not to talk her old colleagues; it just brought back too many great memories for her to deal with. Now she was embarking on this new chapter of her life…well not exactly her life per se. Dick Grayson was unusually quiet as he drove, he would never admit it, but he was on pins and needles. His sunglasses hid the anxiousness in his eyes. The plan was put into motion months ago; Artemis went undercover as Tigress, a villain who has risen through the ranks quickly to be body guard and hand-picked lieutenant, and confidant to Black Manta and the former Aquaboy. One thing none of them counted on was how nosy henchmen could be. Whether they worked long nights working on Black Manta's submarine or canvassing new targets her new cohorts confided in one another about their lives, even more so than superheroes. So Tigress needed a back story, and fast.
"Here we are." Dick announced. He parked the car a block away so as not to appear suspicious. He opened the door for Artemis, she held her shoulder bag as Dick guided her around the neighborhood she would be living in, the Caernarvon Section. Blüdhaven was always referred to as the ugly stepsister of Gotham City. Gotham was lauded for its dark, urbane synergy; Blüdhaven was always the skid row, a tough as nails municipality whose crime rate at times made Gotham look like a docile hamlet. Artemis had requested to have her undercover residence in Blüdhaven. Her mother Paula, once known as the super villain Huntress, would often bring her and her sister Jade to get food from the Asian grocery or visit friends who lived there…Paula would also go into Blüdhaven when she knew something especially heinous would occur with their father. There were nights, sometimes days at a time when Artemis and Jade would stay with nuns Saint Bernadine's Church. Her mother could not break away from a life of crime or Artemis' father until it was too late, until she was left broken spiritually and physically. Artemis vowed to never let a man have that kind of power over her again, but what about Wally? He never forced Artemis to retire, like the way her father forced her mother to continue in crime, but she allowed his own wants and desires come before her own. A part of her was actually relishing this time alone from Wally, to gain perspective on what she really wanted out of life.
Blüdhaven was much cleaner than she remembered; the vagrants and hookers who frequented the streets were replaced by vendors and street musicians. The neighborhood still had a working class charm to it, mom and pop stores and restaurants abounded next to old brownstones, factories and apartment buildings. She still saw residents who had lived and worked in Blüdhaven for many years in richly diverse neighborhoods; the artists who came in search of affordable living and studio space; and the few upper class people who reveled in the city's affordability and lowering crime rates. The well to-do would attempt in vain to instigate the process of gentrification, with the fear of inevitable exile from the original lower class inhabitants. But most people and companies were still far too anxious to encroach very far into Blüdhaven.
Artemis remembered the creative energy and tension that thrived on the flexibility of Blüdhaven; its unpredictability and odd moments of grace. There were also many families and couples that she and mother knew there that created such strong communities in the neighborhoods that were neglected by middle-class Gotham residents and suburbanites wanted to inhabit. Artemis had tried to explain to Wall about her experiences of post-bankruptcy Blüdhaven. Back when everything was lawless, downtown or uptown; defiantly not for the faint-at-heart. Blüdhaven was even more local and obscured, the grit was real.
"Blüdhaven sounds awful." Wally told her.
"You don't get it Baywatch." Artemis informed him, "You live in right outside of Central City your entire life, in the warm, safe bosom of suburbia. Central City has always had success and prosperity, it looks like something out of a old John Hughes movie. I was born and raised in North Gotham; I saw and experienced skid row and have never flinched at anything that I witnessed. More and more newbie, bourgeois suburban transplants whose parents fled the cities like Gotham and Blüdhaven, worried about the thought of crime, even though it exists everywhere. They tell their progeny to be wary of city living, but they don't head warnings and now attempt to turn these places into the cul-de-sac of their youth. These hipsters are just a caricature of everything wrong with city living." Wally frowned at how critical Artemis was being,
"I try not to complain about these newcomers. They don't know any better. To them, what they are currently experiencing is all exciting and new. And that's okay. Gotham and Blüdhaven are still an exciting place to be. There is a reason why people say 'When you die in Blüdhaven - going to Hell is considered a promotion. It still has an element of danger that made it exceptionally sexy and gives it a raw edge like no other place on Earth. This landscape is constantly shedding its skin and evolving. Who knows where we go from here..." Artemis wanted to turn Wally into a sophisticated urbanite, but she knew he would resist as much as possible. He would never go into a place like Blüdhaven, with subway trains smeared with graffiti and a cacophony of culture clashes without his costume for instant street credit. Artemis relished being in Blüdhaven again, she had not stepped foot there since she started attending Stanford University.
"This is one of the best areas of Blüdhaven." Dick said, hoping to reassure Artemis from any reservations she may have had.
"Oh totally," she agreed, "I would come here all the time in high school. It's nice to see people don't still piss on stoops all times of the day." She placed her arm around Dick's shoulder. "Don't sweat it boy wonder, I practically grew up in Blüdhaven so I know I'll get around fine. So where exactly will I be living?" Dick smiled and took her to the front of the old Seneca Hotel. The Seneca was once a high end hotel in the 30s through the 50s for people who did not want to deal with Gotham traffic or prices. As the city became increasingly dicey the Seneca was boarded up, the Blüdhaven Historical Society fought hard to have the hotel made into the landmark to protect it from demolishment. A subsidiary of Wayne Enterprises helped convert the Seneca into an amalgamation of pristine condominiums, luxury apartments and affordable housing.
He entered the safety code that unlocked the front door. The Seneca Hotel was truly beautiful, there was no spared expense in the restoration details. Dick showed her the ins and outs of the building; the laundry room, the gym, garbage room, the common areas and finally to her place of residence. He placed a brightly polished set of keys in the palm of her hands, he held up the twin set in his hand.
"There are only two people who have the keys to your place, you and me." Dick told Artemis. "You have the penthouse apartment," he pointed to the keyhole on the elevator, opposite the regular keypad. "You place the key there and turn, it'll take you straight to the top. There's also a secret elevator for you to take directly up and down in case you want to be inconspicuous." As the doors opened Artemis took a deep breath. The penthouse was amazing, so large and spacious. Dick made sure there was everything she could have wanted was there. He showcased the hidden draws and closets filled with weaponry.
"So how exactly am I paying for all this?" Artemis asked. "Did you locate some long lost, rich geriatric relative who left me a trust fund in his will?"
"This penthouse belonged to a guy who's in prison for the foreseeable future for major white collar crimes. All of his possessions were auctioned off to help reimburse all the people he swindled. Luckily the penthouse in its entirety fetched a decent price. A subsidiary of Wayne Enterprises purchased it, along with a condo that I live in on the other side of the city. I planned on using this space as a hideout. Now it is at your disposal." Whenever you won't be with Kaldur or on assignment with other colleagues this will be your respite."
"A girl could definitely get used to this." Artemis teased. Nothing in the penthouse was her possessions; she had to be a blank slate, Artemis Crock was dead and that façade had to remain in tack. But there was one thing she had to have. Out of her shoulder bag she brought out a stuffed animal. It was an old tiger looking thing with faded orange and black stripes with a white belly and mouth. She squeezed it deeply before she placed it on her bed.
"Childhood toy?" Dick asked.
"There was a show I used to watch a show on the Cartoon Cavalcade Channel called 'Zoobles.'" Artemis explained. "It was about the adventures of animal friends who lived in a zoo together. My favorite was Tiger-Lily; a Bengal Tiger who was sassy, rough and always prepared to kick butt. She was my spirit animal. I've had this since I was five; I took it from my apartment with Wally right before I faked my death. I wanted a small part of me to be in the apartment. So how many of us know I live here?"
"Even Kaldur does not know your residence, it seems best to keep at least one of us out of the loop." Artemis examined the glass case her Tigress costume was in, resting on a mannequin, a light on the roof of the glass case illuminated the minute details she placed in it. She breathed in a heavy sigh; it was finally time to begin her new life. A folder placed on the kitchen counter was all Artemis needed, a new birth certificate, and passport, a driver's license and social security card. She inspected the materials carefully, Artemis had to absorb as much of this information as quickly as possible.
"Goodbye Artemis Crock, hello Xiulan Hú." Artemis sighed. "Let me guess, I'll pretend to be a beautiful heiress of a pineapple plantation with a penchant being a hell raiser?"Dick read off major points of Artemis' new identity.
"Xiulan Hú was a Chinese American college student, only year younger than you are Artemis." Dick told her. "Hú was valedictorian of Our Lady of Perpetual Sorrows High School."
"Wow, sounds rather cheery."
"She is also a sophomore at Gotham University and will be completing her Bachelor of Arts degree in Asian Studies and Communications. Hú is an only child and most of her family lives in San Francisco and Los Angeles, so you won't be having too many relatives over dinner."
"Pity, that oven in the kitchen looks like it's begging to be used for a big holiday dinner." Artemis joked. In the building's garage housed a motorcycle and sports car, to be used at her discretion. Artemis had always dreamed of having such a plush life, she would just have to get used to living it alone. Artemis took Dick's hand, she held it firmly. "You have to promise something.
"What is it?" Dick questioned.
"Don't ever tell Wally where I live. No matter how much he wants you to do so." Artemis instructed, seemingly reading his mind Artemis explained her reasoning. "You know how Baywatch feels about this plan in the first place. If he even had the slightest inkling of where I was, he would run over here and try to convince me to stop. I…or should I say Tigress has come way too far now to have something like that happen. If the wrong person sees him, we will both be in jeopardy. "
"You have my word." Dick assured. She hugged her former teammate goodbye; he showed her the secret elevator and made his way back to Gotham to meet up with Barbara Gordon and Tim Drake. Artemis watched Dick get into his car and drive away, her fate was sealed. Artemis Crock was dead, now Xiulan Hú, the Tigress lived.
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