Sorry if it took me so long. Enjoy this chapter!
It was a sunny afternoon as Jervis, Jonathan, Ivy and Harley were on the road to find Alice. As Jonathan was driving, Jervis began to think with worry for Alice. Is Alice alright? Is she still even alive? Did her cousin find out that she was following her and probably killed her? Oh heavens......please let it not be so.
Harley was sitting next to Ivy bored as usual. Even though she wanted to help Jervis find Alice and make things better for the two of them again, she wished she would've brought her puddin along with her, but she knew that Ivy would never approve bringing Joker for the trip. Harley yawned and turned her head to the side to look at the passing trees until the corner of her eye saw something from behind the car. She looked at the "something". It was a person on a motorcycle and for some odd reason to Harley, there was a nagging feeling that the biker was following them.
"Uh.....fellas.....?" Harley stammered.
"What is it now, Harley? If its about the Joker again, I'm not listening!" Poison Ivy said a bit harshly.
"That goes double for me!" Jonathan agreed then starts imitating himself as Harley. "Oh I miss Mistah J! I wanna hold him and kiss him and marry him!"
Ivy laughed at Jonathan's imitation, but Harley pouted angerily.
"Oh very funny you two! But in case that you haven't noticed, we're being followed!"
Both Jonathan and Ivy's eyes widened. "WHAT?!"
"Its true!"
"Is it Batman?" Ivy asked.
"Nope. It's just a random person on a motorcycle!" Harley said as she pointed at the back window.
Ivy peeked out of the back window and saw the person on the motorcycle. "Jonathan, you better step on it."
"Im already ahead of you!" Jonathan said as he floored it.
The car was picking up speed as the person on the motorcycle was also doing the same. Then suddenly the mysterious person whipped out a gun and started shooting at the villains. Harley screamed as she took cover, while Ivy did the same.....except the screaming part.
"Oh crap...." Jonathan cursed, then looked over to Jervis and used his free hand to shake him. "Jervis!"
"Huh? What?" Jervis said as he snapped out of his deep thoughts.
"Get your head out of Wonderland and grab a gun! We're being attacked by some hotshot on a motorcycle!" Jonathan informed.
Jervis took a look and saw the person riding on the motorcycle and gasped. He quickly picked up a gun from one of his big pockets and started firing. Both the bullets from each other's guns kept missing but they kept on firing......and somehow reloading again. As both the shooters continue their gunfight, Harvey started to whimper in fear, while Ivy was getting irritated on the mysterious biker's persistance.
"We got to get rid of this guy! Jonathan, can't you ditch him?" Ivy asked irritably.
Jonathan kept turning the steering wheel to avoid their opponent's bullets. "Im doing the best I can! But I can't seem to shake him off!"
As Harley continued to quiver, she managed to speak a couple of words. "The forest....."
"Huh?" Jonathan wondered as he listened to the scared Harley.
Ivy seemed to understand what Harley was trying to say, even though she didn't want any of the trees to be destroyed, she knew that they didn't have much of a choice. "She's saying that we need to hide in the forest!"
"But won't our persuer follow us in there?!" Jonathan asked with an "Are-they-crazy?!" look.
"No. The forest is too thick. He won't follow us in there. Now drive us into the forest!"
Jonathan was surprised that Ivy was actually giving him her blessing about driving like a maniac in the thick woods, but a part of him understood that they have no other choice. His free hand grabbed the back of Jervis's trenchcoat and pulled him in.
"Why did you pull me in?" Jervis asked.
"Because I don't want you to either lose your head or to get violently thrown out of the car." Jonathan said.
Jervis looked surprised and confused at Jonathan's reason. "Ok.......but why did you think Im going to lose my head or get violently thrown out of the car?"
"Because Im going to do something REALLY stupid. Now hang on!"
Jonathan violently steered the car into the thick woods, causing Harley, Ivy, and Jervis to scream while the car crashed from tree to tree. As the car kept on going, the person on the motorcycle stopped at the spot where Jonathan fiercely turned and shot a few more rounds at the fleeing villains and their getaway car, however they were gone.
"DAMMIT!" The mysterious person cursed with femininess in "his" tone while stuffing the gun angerily back in "his"belt gun pocket. The mysterious persuer lost them and she knew that she couldn't go after them into the forest for it would be suicidal. She also knew that it would be pointless if she just waited for them here in the open road, so that leaves her with only one option: to get to Bluestone City and set a trap for them. She smirked underneath her helmet and drove off. This was going to be easy.
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Alice was continuing to drive as Janet looked out the window, looking for a clear field for them to start Alice's knight training.
"So....what's up with your cousin anyway? How did she became The Phantom Knight? If you don't mind me asking." Janet asked curiously.
Alice sighed at the sad and bittersweet memories of watching her cousin, turning to crime. "Well, it all started when my Aunt Jodie and my Uncle Stan were having problems with their jobs.......their bosses were jerks."
Janet blinked with amazement. "Really?"
"Yeah! They even treated them like dirt! Things got tough financially at Raine's house. So at first Raine told her parents that she's going to get a job that pays well."
"What did her parents say?"
"They said no, they told her that they got it under control, which in Raine's mind it was a lie."
"How old was she when that happened?"
"Oh....eight or nine. Raine was always obedient to her parents, but this was the only order that she couldn't follow. So secretly she went to find a job without having her parents knowing."
"That really must of took her a long time."
"Well yeah, it did for a couple of years. When she became thirteen, a rich family lady found her and offered her a job to take care of her youngest son. The only people that ever treated Raine badly as she was doing her job was the rich lady's eldest daughter, who was one heck of a brat."
Janet made a painful expression on her face. "Ouch."
"That's what I said when Raine told me about her job. I knew that she was emotionally breaking down, so I tried to persuade her to quit, but she couldn't.....she wanted to help her mom and dad so badly. As time went by I suddenly felt that there were a couple of changes within Raine." Alice explained.
"What kind of changes?"
"Well.....Raine still acted the same towards us, but deep down inside her, I actually felt her burning hatred towards those who think that they are better then anybody else, while the second change was something intense.....something really scary that's been emotionally eating her alive."
Janet shuddered at Alice's cryptic words.
"Then after a few more years later, Uncle Stan called me and asked me if I have seen Raine anywhere. I told him that I haven't seen her in weeks and that's when I knew that Raine ran away from home. I knew that she ran off with a crime organization that she joined when she was fifteen."
"Is that it? You never saw her again?" Janet asked.
Alice shook her head at first. "We thought we would never see her again, but......before I came into adulthood and before I met Billy, Aunt Jodie called me again and she said that Raine came back home, she was really happy to tears." Alice said as she smiled at the memory. "I immediatly came over to greet my cousin and I told her welcome home. She told me that she left the Knight Sydicate and she told me of her vow of never stealing again. And she kept her word, until yesterday evening on the news. I don't know what got my cousin to start stealing again......and I also don't know what got her to suddenly start hurting people.....but I must do whatever I can to stop her."
Janet was silent for a few moments, then as she turned her gaze outside of the car she found a wide open space for Alice's training.
"Stop the car, I found a good space for you to start practicing."
Alice stopped and carefully parked the car. The two got out, then Janet pulled out a couple of good sturdy sticks that she found while searching for a good spot to train Alice.
"Are you sure that I have to fight Raine?" Alice asked with bit of sadness.
Janet sighed. "Im sure. Since she pulled so many crazy stunts, including almost making me roadkill, I still don't think that reasoning is going to stop her. Now, are you ready for your first step as an honorable knight?"
Alice nodded.
"Ok." Janet said then started to toss one of the sticks to her. "Think fast!"
The stick flipped towards Alice and quickly bonked her on the brain.
"Ow!" Alice hissed as she rubbed her new sore spot on her head.
Janet held back a giggle and managed to pull herself together. "Always use fast reflexes when someone throws random stuff at you. Believe me, it helps."
Alice groaned a bit. "Very funny." Then she tries to pick up the stick that Janet threw at her, but it was hard to hold it properly. "It's....kind of heavy."
"It'll take your arms a while to get used to the weight, not to mention that you'll probably feel the aching pain in the morning." Janet explained with a smile.
Alice's eyes widened with terror and once again groaned. "Ah man........"
"Alright....lets start with your first lesson, how to strike with your sword....now watch me."
And thus started Alice's training of being a lady knight.
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(meanwhile far away from the villains, mysterious motorcycle lady, Alice and Janet)
Batman was in his batmobile finally leaving Gotham City to start his search for the four remaining villains and The Phantom Knight. He already did a background search on his mysterious new enemy and from what he found out was that the knight thief was a woman and that she shares the same last name and blood of Alice Pleasance. Because of that information, Batman couldn't help but think in concern. Did Alice knew about this? Prehaps she's still at home safe and sound......but then again.....
Batman then knew he should've visted her and gather more information before he left Gotham. Although his concern for the girl's safety was great, he was more worried about the villains that left Gotham even more, since they might cause some huge damage to someplace outside of Gotham. Though this whole thing of Scarecrow, Harley, Poison Ivy, and Mad Hatter leaving Gotham, puzzled him deeply. What could have made them leave Gotham like that? Was it because of the Phantom Knight? Well it had too since the thief's sudden crime and sudden leave must of intrigued them deeply. They might be thinking of joining forces with her. Batman deeply glared at the thought as he kept on driving. Hopefully he won't be too late.
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