Well, technically I am updating this over the summer holidays… One day from Labour Day but… Oh well XD
I hope that you all have enjoyed your summer I'll be entering my final year of high school, so we'll see how frequently I update this. I hope you enjoy :D
Man, did it ever hurt!
Jak pulled herself up off of the ground, wiping off the blood from the cut on her lip with the back of her hand. It was going to take her a bit to explain that to Alfred and Bruce. She charged the thug in the alleyway, managing to duck as the brute took a swing at her with his gigantic fist. Rolling on the ground, she jumped up behind him and grabbed his neck with her arms. Squeezing as hard as she could, she held onto him, though he was scratching at her arms. Suddenly, he backed up into the wall, crushing Jak between his figure and the brick. Her arms constricted his neck even further as he walked forward to get read to crush her again.
It seemed that she finally made progress as he stopped scratching at her arms, and he slumped to the ground. Releasing her grip on his neck, she felt for his pulse. Thankfully, it was still there; he had only been rendered unconscious. Keeping her hand on him, she closed her eyes and teleported the both of them to the police station.
This has become a sort of routine for her. Everytime she had a little bit of time to herself, she would put her costume on and would roam the alleys in Metropolis. If there was nobody to fight, then she would go to Gotham, even though she knew it was risky, with Batman and all. The people at the Metropolis police department now recognized her, and they were always thankful when she brought criminals in.
It had been a little over a month since she'd come to stay at Wayne Manor. She could feel herself getting stronger and more agile everyday. Taking down thugs in back alleys was getting easier and easier, each time she did it.
Jak didn't even try to lie to herself, she liked the way she looked better too. The amount of baby fat on her body that had never seemed to go away was fading. All that was left behind was toned muscle and gentle curves.
Her identity as "Portal" was really taking off. She bought herself a proper costume, that consisted of a tight, black long sleeve shirt and slightly baggy black pants, that were tucked into white boots that hit her knee. She had sewn a covering for her head on the neck hole of her shirt. It covered her entire head, even her hair, so she looked a bit like she was bald when she wore it. Two white circles went over where her eyes were, giving her a wide-eyed look. To finish it, she put a white belt around her waist, pulled on some short wrist-length gloves, and put a long, billowing black cape around her shoulders.
Sometimes a headline about Portal would be in Bruce's morning newspaper. He was beginning to wonder just who this new hero was, which made Jak nervous, but she was being careful. It was very unlikely that he would find out her secret.
After she dropped off the thug, she teleported back to her apartment to survey the damage to her face. Finding herself in her bedroom, she quickly walked down the small hallway to where her bathroom was located. As she stood in the mirror, she pulled off her face covering. She sighed as it slowly sank in that it was going to be next to impossible to explain it. A shallow cut ran diagonally across her bottom lip. During the fighting, the blood must have smeared onto her chin. Her right eye was puffy, and she wouldn't be surprised if she would develop a black eye. Early in the fight, before she found her rhythm, he had managed to catch her off guard.
Even besides the damages on her face, her whole body ached from being thrown onto the ground. She would definitely have some bruises. Grabbing some hydrogen peroxide from underneath her sink, she began to clean the blood off of her chin. She ran it over her lip, wiping the blood off. She clenched her jaw as the peroxide stung her lip. Once she finished cleaning her wound she was glad to see that it was much less noticeable after it was cleaned, but she was going to have to do something about that black eye.
She made her way to the kitchen, where she opened her amazingly intact freezer. She was surprised that it was still working after the battle there, but extremely grateful for the fact. Grabbing a frozen bag of peas, she held it to her eye, hissing at the intense cold against her skin. She could only hope that the swelling went down, and that she would be able to conceal the bruise.
As Jak stood there in her ruined kitchen, gripping the countertop with her left hand, she wondered, What am I doing?
This was the exact opposite of what she said she would do for years. After her parents, after Cadmus… She had promised herself that she would never allow herself to become someone's prisoner ever again. Someone's experiment. The word made her clench her jaw and grip the counter even harder. No, she didn't have time to think about that at this time.
Looking at the clock, she realized that she had better get back to Wayne Manor before somebody noticed her absence. She put the peas back in the fridge, quickly changed from her costume into normal clothes, and teleported into the bathroom near her room in the manor. Reaching into one of the drawers by the sink, she pulled out a tube of concealer. She quickly dabbed it around her eye, blending it all out.
Jak sighed as she glanced in the mirror. It wasn't a perfect concealing job by any means, but it would have to do. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. She continued to the dining room, where she knew that dinner would be waiting.
"Jak, please. This is only for your safety."
"I told you this before. I don't like space."
"Be reasonable. Lex and that woman are still out there, they pose a threat both to you, and what we expect to be the rest of the world. We need as much information out of you as possible, and J'onn is the only one of us that will be able to properly question you."
Jak balled her fists at her sides as she stared up at the hero. Superman had come to speak with her. More specifically, to convince her to accompany him up the the Watchtower. She shook her head.
"Why can't he just beam down here?"
"He is in charge of the entire Justice League! We can't risk him leaving the tower, just in case any problems develop." Jak sorted through her thoughts, trying to come up with some sort of response.
"Am I really the only person that can help you?"
"You were specifically targeted-"
"The whole building was targeted!"
"You were the only person that was shot."
"What does that have to do with anything?" She could almost feel her losing control of herself. Her hands were shaking and her voice had cracked at the end of her sentence.
"Somebody either wants to capture you, or if they can't, dead." Crossing her arms, she turned around so her back was facing him. She felt paralyzed with fear. It hadn't really sunk in until now. There was some one out there that wanted to get her. Bring her fist up to her mouth, she bit her knuckle. She would have to be especially careful, especially when she was Portal.
"Can't somebody like Batman interrogate me?"
"Bruce can't delve into the far reaches of your mind, which is exactly why J'onn is the only one. And don't think of it as an interrogation, think of it as… Helping us to save the world." He put a hand on her shoulder.
"We need you, Jak."