Well, This is the first chapter. It's kind of like an prologue, except there's two parts. ^^ There's some extremely mild language in here, and some dying/death, so it's rated T.
DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own the Justice League, Batman Beyond, or the characters from either. NOTHING besides Kaila, Toreen, Kaila's Mother, Starr, and etc. ^^
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Chapter One - Goodbyes
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She had been at a club the night it happened. Angered by her mother, Kaila had left the house in a fluster of emotions, dressed in a regular white shirt with some vintage stone washed jeans, and had landed hard in the seat of her car. Starr, her assistant, greeted Kaila with her familiar mechanical voice.
"Good evening Miss West. Destination, please?" Kaila took a second to calm her nerves enough to speak.
"Dance Club: Juice Bar 12, on 46th street." she barked at the computer. She was in no mood for the usual conversation she had with Starr, and just wanted to go someplace where she could see her friends and be herself.
"Right away." The computer replied. The engine started and the vehicle lifted off the ground, hovering about three feet. Then it quickly glided along down the street, racing towards central Gotham City and out of the suburbs where she lived with her mother and her visiting grandfather. Kaila sat with her elbow up on the edge of the window, and her hand holding up her head. She was slightly startled from her thoughts by Starr's metallic chatter. "My sensors indicate that you are angered as well as sad, Miss. May I ask what is the matter?" Kaila looked away from the console between the two front seats and sighed.
"My mom." She told Starr. "She's been so picky lately, you know, really uptight. I think it might be because Grandpa is visiting from Central City…"
"And how does this make you feel?" Starr asked in her usual monotony. Kaila frowned.
"Angry; very angry. Who gave her the right to be so mean? I get one C in English class, and she goes nuts, then Grandpa comes over. 'Oh, be sure to brush your hair extra well, Kaila.' Does she think I don't brush my hair?! Nothing is good enough for her. Jeez…" Kaila broke off as they approached the building with a bright blue neon-looking sign. Juice Bar 12
"I am sorry that I have not been able to complete our conversation on the cause of your agitation, Miss. We have arrived at your destination. Total time of travel: Three Minutes. Time Started: May 14th, 2077 at 9:07 PM. Time Ended: May 14th, 2077 at 9:10 PM. I hope this information has been helpful to you, Miss West." Starr said as they dropped slowly to the ground. The car beeped once, and the engine died.
"Yeah…it has." Kaila whispered to herself as she stood from the driver's seat. She wasn't really sure why it was still called that, if you didn't really drive the car. She shrugged, figuring it was just habit, and went inside with her purse swung over her shoulder.
"How many?" The clerk at the counter asked her when she got through the line at the door.
"Oh, it's just me." Kaila told her, handing over twenty credits. The clerk nodded, stamped her hand with a glowing ink that said, Juice Bar 12in blue. "Thanks." She nodded as she entered the large room; seemingly made out of only glass panels, the walls pulsing with the music. People swaying and shaking with the beat all around her. Different colors glowed everywhere, illuminating the room, and then darkening again before changing to a different color. When she spotted one of her friends, Toreen, Kaila went over to join her at the drink stand.
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Kaila had been there for nearly an hour when her video link buzzed in her pocket. She pulled out the tiny device and checked the caller ID; it was her mother. Rolling her eyes, she shoved the link back into her pocket. Nearly five minutes later it buzzed again.
"Is something wrong?" Toreen asked her as they got up to dance to a new song by Beat 5-o. Kaila put a hand to her forehead before sliding it back down and into her pocket.
"No, just my mom. She's been on my case all night, so don't worry about it." She dismissed it as they made their way to the dance floor.
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Another hour and four missed calls later, Kaila decided that she should go home.
"I'm so glad you were here, Tori." She told her friend as she sat in the seat of her car, the door still hanging open.
"Aw, no problem. I'm here almost every Saturday night, you know, just to chill. Sometimes I come here with Rob." Kaila shuddered. Even the thought of Robert, Tori's boyfriend, made her sick. She hated him; he was always so mean and stuck up…she wondered what Tori saw in him anyways.
"Well, I guess I've got to go home sometime…face the music, you know?" Tori giggled.
"Yeah, I feel you. Good luck with your mum, she's definitely gonna be peeved. 'Bye!" Tori smiled, and then turned to her own car. Kaila's own smile faded as she imagined several different simulations when she got home. Starr's voice interrupted her horrible endings to a perfect night out.
"Miss Kaila. I have received several signals from your house. I expect that you have some messages on your video link as well? Can you please check them?" Kaila nodded.
"Yeah, I will when I get home." Kaila waved her hand at the computer database. Starr made a whirring noise as the car drifted up.
"Destination?" She asked. Kaila flipped a switch on the long board of buttons in the front of the car.
"Home." She told the computer absent mindedly. She had disabled the traveling information, as she knew how long it had taken them to get to the club. When they arrived home, the computer shut off with the engine, and Kaila exited the vehicle. She turned and walked slowly to the front door, practicing apologies in her head, her coat slung over her arm. She just as slowly scanned her hand and listened as the door whizzed open. Once inside, she paused. The lights were all out, and it didn't look like anyone was home.
"Mom? Grandpa? Hello?" She called out into the emptiness. She dumped her purse and coat in the nearest chair, and scanned the door shut. "Mom?" Hurriedly walking toward the fridge, Kaila noted that a hologram chip was posted there. She gingerly picked it up, squinting to see the writing on it. 'Kaila' it said. She slid it into her video link, and pushed the button. A blue light shot up out of it, and an image of her mother with tears in her eyes was standing there.
"Kaila, I tried to get your video link…when you didn't answer after a while, I realized you were still mad at me. I'm sorry…Grandpa Wally is in the hospital-" she broke off with a sob and flood of tears. "He's…he's had a stroke. The doctors are doing all they can, but it's severe…I don't know what to say…Oh God Kaila, I'm so sorry, I know it's-" Kaila pushed the button to make it stop. A salty tear rolled down her cheek.
"Oh my God…Grandpa…" She muttered to herself. Thumbs flying across the keyboard of her video link, she dialed her mom. She waited until there was a 'click' from her mother's link, and then burst into tears. "Mom…is he okay?" she asked the blue figure of her mother standing in front of her.
"Kaila…oh Kaila, honey," Her mother cried, dropping to her knees. "He's gone, he just went." Kaila's eyes grew wide; her breath uneven. She bit her lip to keep from screaming. I didn't even get to say goodbye…his only granddaughter, and I didn't say goodbye.
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Kaila still couldn't believe it. But she knew she had to; she'd been up to the casket of her grandfather three times. She surveyed his charcoal colored suit and black tie, and his gray hair; not even leaving a trace of the brilliant red she had inherited. He held only a single rose between his two clasped hands. She remembered hearing stories about him when she was younger, and about he was such a joker. She'd seen pictures of him with some of his friends, John Stewart, and surprisingly Bruce Wayne. She wasn't sure how he fit into her grandpa's circle of friends, but she was happy that he had made some connections in Gotham.
The funeral had started. She took her seat and listened in silence as they read his obituary. Her father's brother went up to the podium, and started speaking. She noticed he had the same red hair as she did, and her grandfather as well.
"My father…I regarded him as my hero, as did several other members of the community. Some of his friends, like Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent, if they could be here today, would have come up here and told all of you about his younger days as a police vehicle mechanic, and his wise cracks. If he were here today, he probably would've seen all of us and say, 'Hey, who died?'" Kaila glanced around the room and noticed a pretty lady, probably about twenty-eight or in her early thirties, nodding with a sad smile on her face. Her thick black hair was pulled back into a ponytail, with a wisp separated and hanging loosely around her pale face. She was dressed in a short black mini-dress, and had a tissue dispenser sitting on her lap.
"Who's that?" Kaila whispered to her mother, who was sitting beside her, daintily dabbing tears from her eyes. She cautiously followed her daughter's gaze.
"Oh, her? Why, that's Diana Buntings. What a nice young woman." Her mother smiled weakly. The rest of the funeral progressed slowly. Kaila barely listened to any of the obituary, but she heard, clear as day, the part about Wally being proceeded in death by her father. She wiped a tear of her own away from her eyes as she thought about her father…he had died when she was only two years old. She heard a tiny noise from the back of the room, and watched as Terry McGuiness and his wife, Dana, the inheritors of Wayne Industries, walked quietly into the room.
Well, this is Gotham… Kaila told herself as the handsome couple bowed their heads in the back of the large room.
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"Are you sure you don't want to come with us to the funeral dinner?" Kaila's mother asked her after the burial. Kaila was fighting hard to keep her tears in, so she wouldn't embarrass herself in front of Terry, Tori, Dana, and her uncle. She nodded quickly.
"Yeah mom. I'm sure," She told her mother, and then added with a sigh, "I think I'm just gonna go home…" Turning on her heels, she stormed to her car. Tori ran after her. "I'm gonna go home, too, can I catch a ride?" She asked her friend. Kaila smiled weakly.
"Of course. Come on, then." With that the two girls entered the car, and started driving. Meanwhile, Terry turned to his wife and gave her a quick kiss.
"Dana, I think I'm going to go as well. I'm not feeling up to dinner; I think I'll lay down back home." Dana's brow furrowed in worry.
"Oh dear…I could go with you if you need me to." She told him, laying a hand on his chest. "Do you want me to come?" He shook his head.
"No, I'll be fine." He smiled at her, and turned to get back to his car. Once inside, he slowly started moving down the street, but once out of the sight of the other funeral goers, he gained speed and swerved into an alley. "Oh God, I can't believe I'm doing this…" He swung out of the car, and carried his backpack with him and a remote control. Quickly pushing a button, the middle aged man then fished a black piece of clothing out of his bag. Pulling the mask over his head, he saw the black craft looming over him. "Sorry, Wally."
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"Kai, can you just let me out up here?" Tori asked Kaila as the approached the bridge. Kaila leaned back in her seat.
"Yeah, sure." She said quietly. "Starr, optional steering column, please." A whirring noise erupted from the front seat, and a column with a wheel appeared. Kai grabbed the wheel and started steering themselves over the bridge. Suddenly a black shadow loomed over them.
"What's that?!" Kai cried as she slammed on the breaks. The speed they were going with the breaks added in caused the engine to die.
"Kaila! Watch out!" Tori cried as they barely missed hitting a large columned bridge support. They skidded over the black pavement and held on.
All the rest was a blur…Tori's screams for help, a light airless feeling, terror pulsing through Kai's entire body, her hitting the hard surface of the bridge pavement, and a dark figure of a man looming over her, calling her name in concern…but something was wrong with him; he had…bat ears?!
"Kaila! Are you alright?!" He called to her, scooping her up in his arms. She squirmed weakly, and her hand stung really bad across the base of her palm.
"Let…go of…me…" She murmured quietly. Then it all went black.
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Oh no! What will become of her? And what about Tori? I would like some feedback! Was it boring, or exciting? Do I need to fix anything? Do you have any suggestions? Anything and Everything is appreciated! I'll try adding the next 'chapter' up here soon, so be on the lookout! :]
-Kat
