Chapter 2: Meeting The Bat
Just as she expected to hear the report of a gun and feel a bullet smash into her body, she heard another sound. Almost immediately the thugs dropped their weapons and clutched their hands. She saw something dark loop around behind her somewhere, but before she could turn, there was a sound like wings and a dark shape flew over her, accompanied by another shadow. Fear was evident on the thugs' faces as the shadowy figures took them down, one well place punch each.
Powerful right hooks. She thought, admiring the skill and grace in which they acted. She watched as they turned around, speechless, and then she remembered that she had originally come here to talk to him. As she stared like an idiot, she knew that Batman was sizing her up, but for an entirely different reason than the thugs. He would be assessing her strengths, weaknesses, and whether or not she was a danger to him or his city. She knew full well that the other figure was Robin, and she should probably thank them for their help.
"How old are you?" Batman asked suddenly, his voice deep and commanding. She did a double take.
"W-what?!" She sputtered, trying to wrap her mind around that. "I expected the first words out of your mouth to be, 'who are you?' or 'what are you doing here?' not 'how old are you?'"
"How old are you." He repeated firmly.
"What do you want?" She asked, kind of sarcastically. "How old I really am, how old I want to be, or how old I feel? Take your pick. Anything between 14 and 236." She knew it was a bad thing to piss of Batman, but he had thrown her a major curve ball that she wasn't ready to deal with right yet.
"You're not answering the question."
"My identification says 21." She growled, barely keeping from adding a 'happy?' on to the end of that.
"What about the beads?" Robin asked suddenly, looking pointedly at the beads securing the first thugs wrists.
"The first time I did this, it was by accident, and the only thing I had to tie the guy up with was Mardi Gras beads. They started calling me Mardi Gras, and the name and beads stuck." Mardi Gras answered, and then shifted the topic. "Moving on to the reason I came; the mob boss Sharoden is here, and word is that he was followed by someone called Cain." Walking over into the shadows, Mardi Gras picked up a trench coat off of a hidden, black motorcycle. Putting it on, she started to latch it up. "I couldn't get much on him, but my sources gave me the impression he is bad news. Now, if you'll excuse me." Starting her motorcycle, she got on, once again glad that her miniskirt had shorts under it. She had made them specifically for that purpose and was very glad. Peeling out of the alley before they could respond, she breathed a sigh of relief.
As she left, she could have sworn she heard Robin say, "There's no way she's 21."
Short, I know, but reviews are nice anyways.