Tomcat jumped onto the rooftop and looked around before breaking into a run. He flipped off the rooftop and landed on the next one. He glanced back and saw the team chasing after him.
"Kid Flash is waiting to cut me off at the next building," he muttered. He swiftly turned to the left and jump down towards the busy street. He swung his whip and caught it on a street lamp and swung safely to the other side. He landed just like a cat and started running again. He glanced back and saw Miss Martian breaking away from the team and heading after him.
"If I break away, Miss Martian is to follow…" he said softly.
"Stop," Miss Martian shouted, flying closer to him.
"Why would I do that?" Tomcat smirked. He jumped off the roof's edge and dove into the alleyway. He grabbed one of the fire escapes and swung into an open window. He ran through the abandoned apartment and into the hallways. He ran to the next door and entered the empty apartment. He ran over to the window and quickly opened it. He glanced outside, looking around and seeing nothing. He climbed onto the fire escape and quietly climbed down.
"There he is!" Artemis shouted from the rooftop. Tomcat let go of the fire escape and landed on the ground. He continued running and slipped around the corner, coming to a dead end.
"You are trapped," Aqualad told him.
"Thanks so much for telling me what I already know," Tomcat smirked.
"Just hand over what you stole," Superboy demanded. Tomcat smirked and held out a cat statue.
"Do you mean this?" He purred. "I might, but where would be the fun in that?" He leaned against the brick wall and his eyes widened as he fell back, the wall opening. The wall turned, trapping him in a dark corridor. The thief tumbled backwards and groaned, rubbing his head. He reached into his pocket and took out a mini flashlight, turning it on quickly. The light danced across the walls as he stood up. The wall opened behind him and the team was pushed inside with some shouts of surprise.
"I know stealth is a hard concept for you guys to grasp but could you try to be a little quiet?" Tomcat glared at them.
"Please, we know this is your doing," Superboy growled.
"Oh yeah, then why would I have been caught off guard when the wall opened?" Tomcat huffed. "I was caught off guard so much, that the statue flew out of my hands! Do you really think I did that on purpose?" He took a few steps forward, his light focusing on the ground. "Great…" he muttered, looking at the broken statue. "I'm so dead."
"Well, the statue's broken, we have Tomcat, let's just go," Artemis sighed, pushing against the wall. "Hey! It's stuck!"
"Fantastic, you guys broke it," Tomcat growled.
"Or, maybe it can only be opened from the outside," Kid Flash suggested.
"That is a stupid idea," Tomcat sighed. "You're such an idiot."
"I thought you liked Baywatch," Artemis muttered.
"I do," Tomcat nodded. "But I don't want someone else's man. I want my own guy. I'm not going to hit on him and kiss him when he's dating someone. I have standards."
"You're kidding…" Kid Flash groaned. "You mean…all I had to do to get you off of me was to tell you I was dating someone?"
"No, I would have known you were lying," Tomcat answered. He turned back towards the empty corridor and began walking.
"Where do you think you're going?" Superboy asked.
"To find the exit," Tomcat answered. "I don't know about you guys, but I kinda wanna get out of here."
"We shall join you," Aqualad announced.
"What?" The team shouted.
"He is a criminal, and we are supposed to catch him. In order to do that, we must not let him out of our sight," Aqualad told him.
"Yeah but-!"
"You guys coming, or what?" Tomcat asked.
"Ugh, we're coming," Artemis groaned as they followed him.
"Which way do we go now?" Superboy asked as they came to an intersection.
"It seems like we have been placed inside a maze," Aqualad commented.
"I could run through each way and try to find an exit," Kid flash suggested.
"Don't waste your energy," Tomcat ordered.
"It's not a bad idea," Miss Martian told him.
"And what happens when he runs out of energy?" Tomcat questioned her.
"I have a protein bar so I can refill my energy," Kid Flash told him.
"And what happens when the energy from that is gone?" Tomcat asked him. "You should save your energy. We could be in enemy territory. Do you really want to chance running into one of Gotham's freaks when you're out of energy and can't fight?" Kid Flash took a step back and looked at the ground. "Thought so," Tomcat hummed. He shined his flashlight and examined the tunnel entryways. "Maybe there's a clue in the design of the tunnels; something so that whoever made these would be able to find his way through without getting lost."
"But what kind of sign would they post?" Aqualad asked, looking at the tunnels as well.
"It wouldn't be something too obvious," Tomcat hummed. "You don't want just anyone walking into your hideout." The light moved upward until it hit the ceiling.
"Look, there's a scratch above the right tunnel," Miss Martian noted. The light skimmed over the ceiling, lighting up the other tunnels as well.
"There's nothing above the rest them, think we should give it a shot?" Superboy asked.
"Right now, it's our only clue," Tomcat muttered, walking into the right tunnel. They walked for a few minutes until they came to a fork in the road. The flashlight pointed at the ceiling and they saw that there was a scratch above the turn, and not for going straight. "We may have found our map. Keep an eye on the ceiling."
Tomcat turned his flashlight off as they reached a door.
"What do you think is behind it?" Kid Flash asked.
"I can't sense anything," Miss Martian told them.
"Then let us be quick and quiet," Aqualad ordered. Tomcat reached for the doorknob, and jiggled it, noticing that is was locked.
"Great," Artemis huffed. Tomcat rolled his eyes and kneeled next to the door. He reached into his pocket and took a lock pick and placed the tools in the keyhole. "Or you could do that," he muttered.
"Please, Sportsmaster must have taught you a thing or two about picking locks," Tomcat muttered. "And you did grow up in the wrong side of Gotham. You have to do what you can to survive."
"That's why I'm a hero, not a villain," Artemis growled.
"Whatever," Tomcat muttered. "And don't you guys have superpowers? Actually, we don't want to tip anyone off so it's probably for the better that I pick the lock." The lock quietly clicked and Tomcat stood up, placing the tools back in his pocket. He opened the door and walked into the building.
"Something seems off," Superboy muttered as they entered the abandoned building.
"Well well well, you have a lot of nerve to bust into here," a voice laughed. Out of the shadows walked a man with pale skin, red lips, green hair, and a purple suit.
"Joker," Tomcat growled.
"Bingo," he laughed.
"Mista Jay has been anxious to meet you kids," An accented voice rang out. The group turned around and saw a woman with her blonde hair in two childish pigtails. She had on a red bustier with black frills decorating it. Three black diamonds were on her right breast. She had on a white jester collar with bells on the tips. The tips reached her waist and jingled softly. She had on a red miniskirt with black petticoats on underneath. Three black diamonds were sewn onto the left side of her skirt. Her right stocking was white with black diamonds decorating it. The one on her left leg was black with white vertical stripes. She had a pair of black stilettos on her feet. On her arms were black gloves with red diamonds decorating them. Over her eyes was a black curved domino mask.
"And Harley Quinn," Tomcat growled.
"Righty-o!" Harley giggled, swinging her large hammer onto her shoulder. "We were getting bored waiting for you kids! You sure took a long time!"
"You were waiting for us?" Miss Martian asked.
"Of course, word in the alleyway was that Batsy had a whole team of sidekicks!" Harley smiled.
"We thought it would be best to throw you a welcome party," Joker laughed. Gotham villains stepped into the light. "You remember, Ivy, don't you?" He asked, taking the hand of a woman with light green skin and red hair.
"Greetings children," Ivy smirked.
"Where's my little bird?" Joker asked with a malicious smile. "We can't really have a welcome party without the Boy Blunder."
"He's with Batman," Kid Flash muttered.
"Too bad, he's going to miss all the fun," Joker laughed.
