Part 2 – A Halloween Fiasco
Bette Kane's party was held in one of her family's old warehouses. Loud music filled the air, so loud that it was easier to text the person next to them then to have a conversation. The building was packed with teens, most them drunk and about a third of them were high on something. As Dick and Barbara walked in, the party was in full swing of things. People in costumes were drinking, making out, or grinding against each other.
"Remind me again why you wanted to come here?" shouted Dick. "We could be at the Monarch Theatre; they're having a Basil Karlo movie marathon! All his best films, The Terror, The Mad Monk, and Moon of the Wolf!"
"Richard, you need to spend time with humans," replied Barbara who was dressed as Princess Amethyst.
"What the hell does that mean?" demanded Dick.
"Well lately you've been spending too much time training for wrestling," answered Barbara. "As well as hanging around Wayne Manor. When you do hang with people, it's mostly with me going to the movies or people online. You need to be with live people."
"This coming from the president of the computer club," grumbled Dick.
"What did you say?" asked Barbara trying to make herself heard over the party.
"I said you're right," replied Dick. Barbara snorted but let it slide. "Hey, there's Bette. Better say hello." Bette Kane, McCallum Academy's head cheerleader, stood at near the punch bowl with a red solo cup taking to Rebecca Fallstaff, Bette's best friend, and fellow cheerleader. Like Bette, Rebecca was a blue-eyed It-Girl though had short black hair compared to Bette's long, blonde curls. Bette was dressed as a naughty angel while Rebecca was dressed as Cleopatra.
"Don't drool, Dick," growled Barbara. Dick gave her the finger and walked over to their hostess.
"Bette! Great party," Dick said, hoping he sounded more enthusiastic to be here than he really was. Bette squealed and hugged Dick, allowing him to smell the alcohol on her breath.
"Dick! Barbara! I'm so glad you two could come!" Bette squealed, clearly showing Dick and Barbara that she was tipsy.
"Wouldn't miss it!" replied Barbara. "Love your costumes by the way."
"Thanks," said Rebecca a bit drunkenly. "Your costume is pretty cool, but what are you supposed to be Babs? I know Dick is that superhero Christian Bale played in that movie with Heath Ledger, but are you some kind of purple princess or what?"
"I'm Princess Amethyst from the Gemworld games," explained Barbara. Rebecca just continued to look confused.
"Seriously Rebecca?" sighed Bette, who still hadn't let go of Dick. "The Gemworld games are like one of the biggest video games. Like it may get turned into a movie, I heard that Emma Roberts and Charlie Hunnam are being considered for the leads."
"Seriously? Oh my God, Charlie Hunnam is so hot," squealed Rebecca. As Rebecca and Bette talked about Hollywood's most handsome actors, Dick mouthed to Barbara, 'Get me out of here!' Barbara just winked and threw her two cents in about which actor was the biggest hunk. Dick groaned and tried to escape Bette's grip on him, but despite being trained by Bruce in the art of escape, Bette wouldn't let him go.
"Bette why the hell did you invite the nerd and charity case?" demanded a drunken male voice. While Dick was grateful that the question ended the girl's conversation and thus allowing him to disengage himself from Bette, he groaned when recognized the asshole.
"Why hello John," said Dick. John Daggett was the jackass quarterback of the McCallum Academy Titans. Just like his father Roland, John was every bit the bully. John saw himself as the king of the school and everyone else were his serfs. Dressed as the Devil, John reeked of booze and pot and was accompanied by three other players from the football team. Rebecca's boyfriend David Lawford, running back, karate black belt, and dressed as Julius Caesar, Justin Hardwicke, right guard and dressed as Freddy Krueger, and Andrew Lydecker, wide receiver and dressed as Scorpion from the Mortal Kombat games.
"John's right Bette," said David putting his arm around his girlfriend. "You really shouldn't be hanging out with their kind."
"And what kind is that?" hissed Barbara as Dick glared at David. Unlike John who bullied anybody who wasn't one of the popular kids, David picked on the scholarship students like Barbara or those who didn't come from old money like him. David had a special hatred toward Dick, the orphaned circus performer.
"The geeks, the losers, the ones that don't belong," explained David returning Dick's glare. "McCallum is where the next generation of Gotham's social elite, and unlike you two, we're the cream of the crop."
"You two foul up the place," added John. "An orphaned loser and nerdy bitch. Though I will say this, you would kind of hot Gordon if you stop dressing like a geek." John then smacked Barbara's ass, who in turned punched John hard enough to split his lip.
"Fucking pervert," snapped Barbara as Dick and David instinctively got into fighting stances.
"Fucking cunt!" snarled John. He took a step toward Barbara only to have Dick throw punch in his face. Johns sputtered the drink and gave Dick a death glare, then step back slightly when he saw no fear in Dick's eyes. This made John angrier. "You're dead Grayson!"
"Keep your hands off of her, Jonny Boy," growled Dick as he considered a dozen different ways to take John down. Though John was bigger and heavier then Dick, John was impaired by alcohol and weed. Plus, Dick had been trained to take down guys a hell of a lot tougher than the high school bully. But doing so would reveal that Dick Grayson had a hell of lot more martial arts training than a normal teen would. Being normal was what Bruce had stressed in order to keep a secret identity. Finally, Dick muttered "Ah, fuck it," and kicked John between the legs.
John's eyes bulged out of his head as he shot up in the air. He made a strangled noise and fell to the ground on his knees; hands over his privates. When he finally hit the ground, John puked his guts out.
"Holy shit!" gasped Justin as Bette and Rebecca screamed in disgust. Andrew tried to help John up but Daggett just rolled on the vomit covered the floor in pain. David opened his mouth a couple times but said nothing. Barbara just stared at Dick with eyes as big as saucers. Other party goers began to stare and mutter.
"Come on Barbara," growled Dick. "If we leave now, we might make it time for the Karlo marathon."
Dick walked into the manor's informal dining room, stretching his muscles from his morning workout. Since it was Sunday Alfred was dressed informally, khakis, a sweater over a dress shirt and tie. Bruce was in jeans and a blue plaid shirt reading the paper, and Selina was still in her robe sipping tea. She looked up and smiled at Dick, "Hey Dick, how was the party?"
"Um great," replied Dick as he sat down. "Didn't stay too long. Barbara and I hit a classic horror movie marathon at the Monarch."
"Why did you leave the party?" Selina asked as Alfred placed an omelet in front of Dick, then poured him a cup of tea.
"A couple of assholes from the football team decided to ruin the party for us," explained Dick.
"Language Master Richard," said Alfred. "And was John Daggett one of the football players?"
"Um… yeah," Dick replied between forkfuls of food.
"Roland's kid," inquired Selina. "He must be a prick like his old man."
"You have no idea," said Dick.
"Roland caused a stir at the Davenport party," commented Bruce. "First was his completely inappropriate costume. Next, he introduced me to his new lawyers, Lawford, Hardwicke, and Lydecker. You probably know their sons."
"Yeah I do," replied Dick. "Why would Roland try play nice with you? He hates your guts."
"Roland's construction company is up for a bid against City Vision to build a new Wayne Enterprises in Atlanta," explained Bruce. "Since Roland's last scandal, he needs a big contract. Though why Roland thought introducing me to a law firm that represents Gotham's top gangsters would put him in my good graces, I'll never understand."
"Maybe he hopes you're secretly as corrupt as him," guessed Dick reaching for the paper. As he flipped through the paper an article caught his eye, a story about a robbery by Alexander Knox.
RARE ANTIQUES SHOP ROBBED BY ANIMAL MASKED YOUTHS.
In a town such as Gotham City, Halloween would seem like any other day with our city's fair share of costume criminals. However, since earlier this October a new hero came to town, it seems new costume criminals must make an appearance. And it so happens they chose the day when everyone is in costume to begin their careers as costume criminals.
Marco's Rare Antiques was robbed during the town's Halloween festivities by three young men dressed as a fox, a vulture, and a shark. This terrible trio stole nearly a hundred thousand dollars in rare coins from the safe of Marco Vespucci. On top of that, local security guard Henry Jones unconscious. Mr. Jones's jaw, nose, and several ribs were broken by the thieves. Despite these injuries, Mr. Jones was able to write out a statement to the Gotham City Police and has made it clear he is more than willing to give a testimony if called. The GCPD are still in the early stages of the investigation and will give a public statement when they have something concrete.
GCPD has asked for Gothamites to call the tip hotline if they have any knowledge of the robbery on Halloween. Now we can only wait and see if this was just an isolated incident with a couple of juvenile delinquents taking advantage of the holiday? Or will Fox, Vulture, and Shark join Gotham's costumed Rogues?
Dick grabbed the page of the paper that had the article and headed toward Bruce's study.
"Dick?" inquired Bruce. "What's up?"
"This article in the Gotham Globe," replied Dick "About the robbery at Marco's Rare Antiques, I want to investigate it."
"I don't know Dick," said Bruce. "We got enough on our plate with Dent, White, and Sionis grabbing for power after Sin Tzu left, we may be too busy."
"True," replied Dick. "But I still want to keep an eye on this. The last thing we need is three new costume characters making a debut. If this Terrible Trio is going to be a thing, I want to get ahead of this."
"Alright," agreed Bruce. "But it takes a back seat for now. Once we got this power struggle completely under control."
"Copy that Bruce," Dick called out as he left the dining room.