Chapter 2 - Batgirl


Mar'i told her dad about the older boy after school. He had stilled when he heard the name. She knew it was because of the name because he asked her to repeat it.

"Colin Wilkes."

"Hm."

Dick was silent after that.

"You know that's really suspicious," Mar'i informed him.

He smirked at her. "Maybe I want you to be suspicious. Put a little mystery in your life."

"I don't need mystery, dad. Action and adventure are what I want."

"Of course."


Mar'i wondered about the mystery of Colin Wilkes but knew that answers would come in time. Instead, she focused on doing a good job as Nightstar. It would be beyond embarrassing if she received any injuries; not to mention her dad would probably pull her out in his over-protectiveness.

The city of Gotham seemed to sparkle at night. Lights were everywhere but in the dark sky. Mar'i found herself staying on rooftops, staying connected to the city due to the bright atmosphere.

It was rather odd that Gotham was considered one of the darker cities. The sky even lit up with a Bat Signal.

"I hope you're not thinking of answering that," a voice said from behind her. Nightstar jumped and twisted around.

"I thought you weren't going to follow me, Dad."

Dick Grayson smiled and gave a small bow. Nightstar knew she needed to get better so he wouldn't be able to sneak up on her like that again.

"Bats heard I was back in town. He probably expects me over there. I'll have your comm on me at all times but I'm guess you want me to pretend I don't know you."

"Hopefully we won't have to interact," Nightstar responded. "But, I guess."

Her dad smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder before vanishing into the lights below. Nightstar watched as he swung and leapt from building to building.

"Alright, my turn," she said to psych herself up. She went in the opposite direction, following the path she had mapped out earlier. A patrol route.

A few blocks in and she spotted some men taking TVs out of the smashed window of an electronics store.

"Shocking," she muttered. She hadn't been expecting people to be committing crimes out in the open. She started by sneaking around the dark side of their car and puncturing those two tires.

Then she ran around and managed to knock one out with the element of surprise. The others noticed her right away, standing over the body of their fallen comrade in crime.

She noticed that one of them ran away. The rest formed a semi-circle around her.

She internally scolded herself. She should have found a way to take a few more out before they noticed her.

"Really? You're going to fight a girl over a bunch of TVs?" she bantered. Two charged her.

She kicked at one's midsection, causing him to fall back to recover.

She elbowed the other in the jaw, probably not a smart move but he was down and out.

A third charged her and she used the momentum of his attack to toss him into the car. The thud his body made caused her to wince in sympathy.

The forth teamed up with the first to pull their guns on her. Nightstar dropped a smoke pellet and ducked out of the gun's predicted path before rushing criminal number one and knocking him out. The forth started running the moment he heard the body hit the ground but was tripped up as Nightstar hooked a grapple around his feet and tripped him.

Nightstar tied them all up and then called for the police.

"Nice job," a voice greeted her when she landed on the rooftop across the street.

Nightstar was not surprised, she had spotted the woman with purple highlights on the familiar black uniform watching.

"You're Batgirl!" she announced with a wide grin.

"You look like a fan," Batgirl responded with a smile. "Love the colour, girl!"

"Thanks."

"But, you probably shouldn't be fighting crime. I mean, we've got it all handled."

"We?" Nightstar questioned, fishing for information.

Batgirl twirled a strand of blond hair around her finger.

"Yeah. I mean, I don't think you work for Batman and this is his city. There are some who work outside of his influence with his permission but I don't think you're one of those. Who are you?"

"Nightstar."

"That doesn't sound very batty. Or birdy either."

"Maybe I'm the hero who'll bring naming sense to this city," Nightstar responded.

Batgirl laughed but then gave her another warning to quit.

"Did you just 'quit'?" Nightstar asked. She knew this woman's past. Stephanie Brown; the girl who didn't quit. She had even acted out against Mar'i's father when she decided to join Gotham's vigilante scene.

"I'd proud of what I do," Batgirl said. "But, we don't need more people in masks here."

Nightstar shrugged.

"I'm sure we'll meet again," she said, completely ignoring Batgirl's comments. They were part of the same family, even if Steph didn't know it.


The next day brought no more surprises, just more boring classes which Mar'i tried not to fall asleep in. She got home to a note from her dad.

He apologised but, even though they had just moved in, he was going out of town for some kind of mission. He would try and call her before patrol.

Mar'i wasn't happy about that. She should be going with him! That's what she had been training for. To help!

He couldn't tell her much when he did call. Mar'i hung up after a 'good night and be safe' and changed into Nightstar. She wasn't going to sit around and wait for her dad to get back, worrying all the time. She was going to get things done and help others.

Her mother had once told her that by helping others, her own problems would have less of a hold on her. That connections to other people helped.

Nightstar jumped out of her window. She let herself feel the pull of gravity as she fell towards the ground.

Kick off the building, extend the grapple line and swing around the lamp post and into the alley next to their apartment building.

She felt a little better.

Nightstar's first job for the night: help a lost little girl get home. The child had thought that they could run away and live in the sewers since their parents didn't pay any attention to them now that they had a new little sister and brother. But it was cold and unfamiliar and the child was scared. Nightstar helped the child home. The overworked couple had given the little girl a big hug and many thanks to Nightstar, which was cut short when one of the twins started crying.

Nightstar immediately noticed the bulky figure in the shadows across the street when they left.

"That was a nice thing you did," a gruff voice said when she got closer to the figure. It wasn't Batman, there was no sign of the cape and cowl. Instead, there was a hat and long jacket, like some kind of Noir era detective.

"Thank you," she responded. Mentally, she was taking all the clues she could to try and figure out who this was. There was a faster way, which both of her parents swore by. "Who are you?"

"I'm Abuse," he responded. "And you are?"

"Nightstar." Her father had mentioned an Abuse a few times. A friend of Robin's but she didn't know much more about him. She certainly didn't know that he was still working.

There was something else she was certain she was forgetting.

"Nice to meet you," he said, holding out a big hand for her to shake. It wrapped around her hand firmly and was there was the slight sheen of sweat on it.

"I know of you but, I didn't know you were still in Gotham," she said.

"Ah." He rubbed his neck nervously. "I probably won't ever leave Gotham. But, you know of me? That's curious."

Nightstar tilted her head in confusion.

"Most don't know about me. Even the Gotham police assume that my work is Batman's."

"That can't be true," Nightstar responded. Her dad had told her about Abuse so there was a chance that the police noticed his work. Especially since he seemed to have brass knuckles with 'Abuse' printed on them so that his punches would cause that mark on his enemies.

Abuse gave her a smile.

At that moment a dark figure dropped down from the rooftops, looking for Abuse.