The night became day and along with it, the girl thief faded into a shy and lonely young woman who currently transferred to Gotham University. Ana dressed herself in her favorite outfit: a magenta tank top with rings of sliver plastic rings attached to the neckline, her two toned blue skirt that reached her ankles and her dark red high heeled sandals with leather straps at the ankles.
After settling into her dorm, she hurried to the office to pick up her schedule. Eyes darted at her from all angles as she slipped into the office. Boy, first day and it's beginning to look like every nightmare she had in high school. She laid low, her books close to her chest as her heart pounded inside her.
Inside the office it was rather comfortable. The walls were painted spring green, a sofa sat on one side of the room while an oak desk stood on the other side. The professor look up from her work at the timid teen with a cold like stare.
"Ah, Azure Isabella Squires, I presume?" she asked, taking off her glasses and cleaning them with a tissue. She sounded like a computer.
"Y-yes, that's me, ma'am," she stuttered.
"Please sit," the professor offered the chair in front of her. The girl sat down and laid her books in her lap.
"I'm Professor Bertinelli, Dean of students. From your own personal records, you have a high GPA score in every one of your academics and SAT and ACT scores. You received a SAT Scholarship in your senior year and you have currently transferred from Maine University with majors in Engineering and Graphic Design, am I correct, Miss Squires?"
"Yes, Ma'am."
"Well then, we expect high hopes from you here at Gotham University, Azure."
"I won't let you down, Ma'am." the girl stood up and took the schedule from her and walked out the office and found herself being watched with ever step she took. Struggling to at least earn a grin, she gave a warm smile to everyone only in return to see glares on every frozen face. Great... this was her never-ending nightmare. As she made her way down the steps, a snobbish sorority queen shove her and she fell flat on her face, her wine colored glasses sliding off her face and her books spilling out of her plaid messenger bag.
"Oh I'm so sorry," the blonde sneered, "maybe you should watch where you're going, Hippie!"
At the name of Hippie, everyone around her burst out laughing. The remark stabbed her in the back, the words so cold to the touch she could feel her mind scream out to Black Spade to save her. Oh how she would love it if she threw a Queen of Diamonds at that snot witch, a gloating smile smearing her face as she watched pea soup goo drip from that goat's designer outfit. But she knew deep down inside, that if she were the cold hearted thief, it would end right then and there. So she took on the torture as names where thrown from every direction.
She thought she heard someone yell, "Damn freaking Becky why don't you shut the hell up and leave the poor kid alone!"
"Why don't you nerd," Becky snapped back, and she and her possie walked away. The laughter died down and students quickly forgotten about the girl. All... except for one person. She could hear his or her footsteps come closer and closer to her and two strong but gentle hands slowly slipped the wine colored glasses onto her nose.
Ana blinked as her eyesight adjusted.
"You okay? That fall looked pretty nasty." She recognized that voice from a few seconds earlier. She found herself staring at a pair of green and white sneakers then forest green baggy pants, a matching shirt, a mop of black hair and finally a pair of brown eyes filled with concern for the fallen being. Amongst the scorning foes that hated her, here in front of her was her Samaritan who took the form of a young man with the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen.
"You okay?" he repeated. Suddenly her senses kicked and she clamped her mouth shut as terror filled her soul. He was sweet enough to help her but he could be doing this to prank her. She looked away but gave a slow nod, her black bangs falling into her face. He watched her blindly scramble in search for her books for a moment before he reached out and pushed back her bangs.
"Don't be shy, I'm not a Beckdroid vampire here to suck the life right out of you," He laughed, his warm smile made her stomach flip, "I'm Jaime Reyes, freshman in Law Enforcement. What's yours?" She stared at him for a moment as she drew in her breath.
"A-Azure Squires," She squeaked with a small bow, "But you can call me Ana."
"Azure, eh? That's means blue…Ya' know you remind me of someone I know. I just can't remember who..." he said, as he stuffed a large teal book into her bag. He looked at her and shrugged.
Ana quietly studied the boy. He was her age but a few months older than her, stood at 6'2, and had a Latino ancestry, he wasn't as buff as most of the idiotic jocks on campus nor did he show a snobbish hostility towards her. Plus he was kinda… cute…no wait… handsome…with that sad puppy dog look.
He picked up a journal like notebook filled with doodles of animals, people and heroes. He stopped and stared at one page. She sat there cautiously like a frighten deer ready to run when she heard him laugh and say that the drawings were horrible... but he didn't. Instead, his face lit up with a child like smile.
"DUDE! YOU- YOU DREW THE CAPE CRUSADER! THE DARK KNIGHT! THE GREAT DETECTIVE! BATMAN" He cried with excitement. She felt the corner of her lips twitch upwards and a warm air from her stomach rise to her throat and she let out a joyful laughter.
"I take it that you are a fan of his?" she gasped for air as her giggled died down.
"Am I? I'm his biggest fan ever!" She listened closely as he explained the life of Batman and all of his weapons and how he himself dreamed of becoming a hero and making a difference.
He reminded her of a story of a young clockmaker and a librarian that she used to tell her kid brother Ranger when he was only two. The librarian was walking down the street when she came across and old store in the back of an alley way. She never saw this store before and went inside. There she stepped into what to her was a magical world of clocks and hourglasses, ticking away at different times. And at the back of the store was a door. Suddenly a young man appears out of no where and surprises the librarian. She is frightened and runs out. The next day, she can't help it but she is once again drawn towards the shop and sees the young man. She greets him and he tells her the story of his life as a time traveler and dreams that one day he would make a difference despite what everyone else says about him. But the thing that made the librarian fall for this man was that he never gave up on his dream. That was the kind of person she liked… that was the kind of guy she…
She felt a gooey sticky feeling swimming inside of her. It was warm and bubbly almost like sparkling water fizzing as it was poured into a glass yet it felt like the rush a roller coaster or falling off a waterfall. Speaking of speed…
She felt light-headed and tipped over again, nearly fall flat on her face when Jaime grabbed her shoulder and kept her steady till she regained full consciousness. Ana looked up at him and grinned.
"My hero," she said with a smirk. He rolled his eyes and pretended to pout as he handed her the sketchbook. She looked at her picture of Batman, then at him.
"You want this?" she asked.
"Whoa! Whoa! Ana you made that," he said waving his hands in front of his face.
"So? Seeing that you're a fan of Batman, and that you helped me out, I want to give it to you. Besides, this isn't my best drawing of him. I was thinking of redoing it anyways."
"R-really?" he blushed a little, earning another amused snort from her, "Well can you sign it?"
Ana smiled and took out a sparkly glitter pen and carefully wrote her signature in her best cursive. To her relief, this day wasn't a total nightmare. She stood up and handed him the picture.
"By the way, you never told me about your major, Ana," Jaime said as he gently placed the picture into a folder.
"Engineering and Graphic Design."
"Really? My pal Paco's girlfriend is in Graphic Design and fashion design. She's all girly girly insane, loves to shop, somewhat insane with driving, but she's no Queen Bee Becky. I think you'll like her," he looked up at her and watched with amusement as she constantly kept turning the map of the campus with a confused and desperate look. With a chuckle, he took the map from her and folded it.
"Why don't I show you the technology department myself," he said politely bowing to the newcomer, that pathetic mischievous grin once again decorated his face. Ana felt her blood rush to her bronze colored face. There it was that disgusting feeling again, charging through her like rampaging bull. She felt as if her body was on fire and she was held down by her card chains. But the feeling lasted for once again was moment for when she came back to her senses, she was following Jaime down the pathway.
She listened contently as her companion babbled on and on of heroes, masking the after effects of the unknown emotion that some how let her guard down and her heart vulnerable.
"I didn't come here to play games and party till drool drips from my mouth. I made that promise to Ranger and grandma that I would graduate and when I get a job, I'll quit being Black Spade and just be Azure Squires, a successful business woman who would open her heart to others and aid them in tough times. I got this far as Ana and I will keep going," she thought, ripping the last fragments of the emotion and throwing them into the fire that burned stubbornness.
"So what state are you from?" she asked.
"I came here with Paco from El Paso, Texas. I left a mom, a dad and a bratty little sister to continue my education. Dad says that I'm the first on his side of the family to graduate from high school and go to college. You?"
"My family lives just out of the state. I have a selfish but adorable kid brother and a grandma who loves to watch wrestling with our housekeeper at home."
Ana looked up in awe at the large department. She felt so small compared to this giant building. So this was the technology department, sweet. As soon as she walked through those doors, it would be the very first step she made on reaching that goal.
"Jaime!"
The duo turned around to see a girl with dark strawberry blond hair with light red highlights bounding towards them. Jaime casually greeted her with a wave before being tackled with the girl's hug and noggie.
"Thought that you could escape me, eh?" she said with an evil like accent. He chuckled before pushing her off of his back. As she settled down she noticed the newbie curiously observing the building once again, taking in all of the details down to the glass of the windows.
"Sooooo Jaime… aren't you going to introduce me to your new friend here? I obviously haven't seen her around here."
"Oh," Jaime elbowed his companion, "Ana this is Teresa Day. Teri this is Azure Squires, she just transferred from Maine University with two majors with Engineering and Graphic Design." He joked with Ana by using her head as an arm rest.
"Nice to meet you, Teri, now Jaime get off of me," the girl growled, give him her own version of a playful pout.
"Oooh Maine? They have theeee bestest lobsters like ever! And OMG you're in Graphic design? Oooh CLASSMATE YAY!" Teresa squealed, "oh and that outfit is hippie like at all! In fact its style is perfect in fashion. Miss Goat Cheese was wrong! I mean the colors don't clash and that armband on your upper arm looks mighty snazzy. "
"Thanks, I love your outfit too; it's um… where is that from…" Ana's face twisted into a confused look as she stared at a bright orange top with a sash dangling with coins across the waist line and a matching bell bottoms."
"Ooh! I went to a bazaar during a Cultural festival and found all this there! Ooooh I love culture, tomorrow I am wearing a kimono I got from Japan! Or maybe…"
Jaime fidgeted. It clearly looked as if he didn't really want to listen to the girl stuff. He stared at the clock then at Ana, wondering if she was now comfortable with her surroundings.
"Guys, I've got to get class. Paco's probably pissed that I'm dawdling," he said, impatiently, "You can take it from here right, Ana?"
"I'm sure I can brave through this on my own, Jaime. But thanks for helping me out. You really did give me a huge confidence boost," Ana said. Jaime raised an eyebrow before giving both girls a goodbye, leaving the new student guessing if those were the right words to say.
"Ooh, Blender lad, tell my Taco Paco I said hi!" Teresa called after him. She turned and walked along side Ana as the made their way towards the classrooms. Through out the class, students eyed Ana and Teresa as they chatted about clothes, food and music throughout the class. They whispered to each other about the new girl and her first day.
One Beckdroid sauntered over to them, an evil smile on her face as she hid her phone behind her back and pressed the record button.
"So, you're the Hippie right?" she asked in a snotty voice.
"What do you want, Regina?" Teresa snarled.
"Oh I just want to welcome the new student here."
"Thanks," Ana said blandly. "Don't let your guard down. I mean you give her the Black Spade look. You won't blow your cover plus you can get that tick off your back!" She thought.
"So what's your name? Oh I think I heard it from hmmm oh right, is it Tippy?" Regina sneered. Some of the students giggled at the comment.
"Leave her alone," Teresa whined, trying to protect Ana from breaking down.
"Shut up, crayon."
But she didn't breakdown. Right then and there, Ana melted into the expressionless face of her alter-ego. The sparkle from her brown eyes vanished and were replaced with two cold pupils that looked like black holes swirling dangerously, ready to swallow Regina and her phone.
"It's Azure Squires," her voice sounded like nails, "you have a problem with my name?"
"N-no. But… your outfit looks ugly!"
"Really? Why thank you, I suppose so but to tell you the truth, I wouldn't be caught dead wearing that. Teresa what do you think of it," she pointed at the designer shirt and jeans.
"Gross," she replied, her voice also sounding icy, "I mean Green is soooo not this season's black. Not to mention those really bright red jeans, really clashes with everything. She reminds me of my older brother; you know the one with the beard and burps a lot."
Regina dropped her phone in terror. She had no where to run… except the "posh room" aka the bathroom. Ana and Teresa high-fived each other as other students stared in disbelief. The new girl felt triumphant. Perhaps sometimes allowing Black Spade to take the wheel wasn't so bad, just as long as she didn't over do it.
By the afternoon, her very first day had made a huge turn around. To no one but her, this was the second time she smiled for someone aside from her family; the first was the Blue Beetle. But this was the first time she felt such warmth and acceptance.
Perhaps this would be her home. Perhaps she and her family can settle down and set up an actual life, one where she could earn real money and send Ranger to a good school (then again he would probably finished college with that big brain of his by now.) A life where no secrets would ever be kept from her old grandma of the operations her own grandkids have been doing. A life where Nana, would quit worrying over her family and just be a normal-
"So you play the electric guitar plus you sing? Sweet combination, girl," Teresa said as she munched on a Chicken Teriyaki sub.
"Yep, I've been singing since I was two and I taught myself to play the guitar at age six. It helps when I'm on the streets since money is tight and all," Ana replied as she began sketching Blue Beetle. He seemed to enter her mind as she kept replaying the events during that rendezvous with him.
"Sounds like you need an upgrade on your performance. Why not join a band here on campus. There's a battle of the bands coming up soon later in the year. Me and a couple of other students are forming a band and could really use your help. Besides, it's another way to keep you know who off your back. I bet you that she'll be coming after us when"
"Cool. I'll keep that in mind."
Two pairs of hands came up behind the girls and covered their eyes. "Guess who?" An unfamiliar voice asked in a mocking tone. For a moment Ana felt like she was going to flip. Yet familiar warmth calmed her nerves though she had no idea where she was.
"Taco and Blender lad?" Teresa giggled.
"Darn!" the girls turned around to see Jaime and another boy standing right behind them, grinning their ears off. The other boy was more buff than Jaime and had a similar spiky like hairdo like Ranger.
"Ello Terror," he said, kissing Teresa.
"Hi, sweetie."
Jaime sat down beside Ana and began chewing on some gum.
"So is this your chica, amigo?" the boy asked. Jaime and Ana gave quick glances before turning back to look at him.
"She not my girl, Paco. She's a friend," Jaime grumbled.
"I'm Azure Squires call me Ana. You must be Paco, Jaime and Terri told me a lot about you," Ana waved at him.
"Did they tell you how awesome I am," he grinned. Teresa and Jaime groaned at his question.
"Yes… plus they said that you beat up Queen Becky's boyfriend."
"Yup," Paco flexed his muscles, "I'm bad. No one messes with my girl and gets away with it." He eyed Teresa's sub and snatched it from her hands.
"PACO!!!!!!!!" she screamed as he pretended to flee from the group with her lunch. She grabbed her weapon… a butter knife and chased after him.
"Happens every time," Jaime sighed as he fell backwards into the grass, "She makes one of her mother's famous sandwiches and he steals them. Even when she's eating it."
Ana snorted and took another sip of her coffee. That must have been a Paco thing. Either that or a boy-girl thing, eh, she really didn't care. She wouldn't dream of dating till she was at least out of college. She had enough to worry about.
"So Miss Squires, how was your first day?" Jaime taunted her. Ana made a face before gently swatting at his nose.
"Don't ever call me that," she said, "And it was fine. Teresa and I back talked a snob drone."
"Nice. Hey I got a question and it may sound stupid so you don't have to answer but… In a battle between Superman and Batman vs. Poison Ivy, Ivy uses her powers to control Superman and make him turn on Batman. Who wins?"
"So not a trick question, boy. Batman for his utility belt."
"Dude, nice! Even Paco got that one wrong. Okay you ready for the next one?"
"Bring it. I'm ready," Ana gave her game face as she answered his questions, her smile growing wider and wider with each passing question.
That night, Ana curled under her covers when her cell phoned played her favorite ring tone. If it was her favorite ring tone then it had to be Ranger.
"Hey bro," she greeted him.
"How's your first day? A nightmare of snobs and nerds that gawk at your geeky beauty that they follow you around for hours, talking about RPG games and math problems?"
"Almost good, I can't say well cause I got shoved down the stairs by a snob. but I did flick a drone off with the help of some new friends."
"Really? Do tell. Wait. Don't tell me, you went Black Spade didn't you? Nana is so going t"-
"Relax Ranger, I only went that mode for at least a moment just to get rid of her."
"Oh well… Nana is jumping up and down to talk to you. Boy does she look angry. Time for conference mode."
Ana heard barking on the other line that sounded loud and clear… and upset. "Since day one of training, she's been like that to us, a mother instead of a dog," she thought with a smile at the memory of Nana. After watching Peter Pan too many times, she fell in love with the Saint Bernard/ Nanny named Nana and suddenly realized that Ranger need someone to look after him. So after walking out of a market, she came upon a small family that stood next to a small box with the words: PUPPIES, $5.00 each. There all alone in the box was the cutest Siberian husky puppy she had ever seen. Looking into her wallet and seeing that she had only $10 left she gave it to the hungry family. She told them to keep the change and left with the happy little dog licking her face in thanks. Little did Ana know that this pup had the mind of a caring human mother and from the start with a little training, she would become a caretaker to the family.
"Hi mom," she joked. Nana growled.
"Yes mom, I 'm sorry. But really I didn't go that full mode."
"Ana, Nana is right, if you go Black Spade, it would be the end of all of us. You'll go to jail, I go into a foster home, Grandma goes to a nursing home which I bet she'll go mad over. And Nana goes to the pound," Ranger warned her.
"I know, but what could I do? Ana is all cry baby and she was even hurting Teresa. Switching egos was worth it."
"I guess." Nana whined in agreement to Ranger's statement.
"I have to go, I've stayed on the phone way too long, guys. Who knows if someone is broadcasting our conversations. Call me up when you found another item. I'll be waiting. Good night Nana, Ranger."
Nana barked. "Night sis," Ranger yawned.
Ana took out a holographic imager of her family: Nana, Ranger, Grandma Kate and herself. Though he was bratty and selfish, Ranger was right. This operation that they kept hidden from the rest of the world could split the family. She regretted coming down this route but what could she do? She needed the money. But that was only half of the truth.
Suddenly she see it flashing before her eyes. Herself as a little girl. The gun shot echoing her ears and staring at his body then at the witch that lived with her for at least a year.
Her eyes snapped open… to escape, to flee from her grasp… that was the whole truth. She rolled over to look at her alarm clock. 3:00 AM. Only a dream. In her mind she picture a large brown chest with her unwanted memories stuffed inside, it's contents spilling out and grabbing at her. She fought back and slammed the lid shut and locked it. They had to be locked away. They were both hers and Black Spade's weakness that no one, hero nor villain should ever know about. Ana closed her eyes and fell asleep again, praying that they would never come again.
Some where else in this very small world, a creature cried out for her freedom as she shielded her unborn baby from the evil that hissed in the shadows. She didn't want to live like this. She need someone to hear her cries and awaken her from her slumber from the rocky tombs before evil got a hold of her. She made a vow to Merlin and Etrigan that she would not rise again like her ancestors but now she could sense it. Someone was planning to use her for his own doings.
Yet she only sought hope that someone out there was hearing her. Facing the same pain through his or her life and braving it through and through.
