Disclaimer: All characters (except Julia, Adrian, Alex, Julio Alvarez, Nathan, Aunt Marina, Erik, Alicia, Danny, and Kitty) are not owned by me and are used without permission solely for the entertainment of fan-fiction readers.

Author's Note: This chapter catches up with Julia three years after chapter 1. Her plans on becoming a vigilante are more serious and more of a reality now. Next chapter will follow Julia's time studying the martial arts and traveling around the globe. And her arrival back to L.A.

Chapter 2: Sweet Sixteen

"How does it look?" I asked.

"WOW, it looks wonderful!" replied Kitty.

I grinned as I stood in my new costume. I had created a new material that was a mix of leather and Kevlar. Style and protection rolled into one. I called it Kleather. My new suit consisted of black Kleather pants and tank top covered by a long Kleather jacket that reached past my knees. My mask was black with dark purple trim, covering my face all the way up to my forehead and halfway down my cheeks, leaving my mouth and chin exposed. My hair was pulled up into a tight ponytail as always to keep it out of the way. My utility belt was metallic and held all the necessities of a vigilante. To finish it off, I wore black Kleather gloves and black boots (I think it's ridiculous for a vigilante to wear heels).

"Well, wish me luck on my first official night on the town as a vigilante"

"Good luck, and don't worry, I got your back!" replied Kitty.

I nodded before disappearing out the window.

- - - - - -

"HELP!" screamed a young woman as she ran down the alley.

Behind, there were two thugs chasing her. As she rounded the corner, she found herself at a dead end. She whirled around desperately, knowing the thugs would be there any second. She backed into a corner, heaving deep breaths and trying to calm herself. Then, the two men rounded the corner and stopped dead. Both wore grins on their faces as they slowly closed in on the young woman.

"Please. I don't have any money! Please, don't hurt me!" the woman begged. Her mascara was running from the tears in her eyes and her dirty blonde hair stuck to her sweaty face. Her gray eyes were wild and scared as the men began to laugh.

"Aw, the poor little girl is scared of us Jimmy. Ain't that a laugh? I guess we'll have to give her a reason to be scared of us, won't we?" said one man.

"Yup, how's about we scare her real good Paulie?" replied Jimmy.

The woman looked at them with wide eyes as they moved closer and closer. Paulie pulled out a switchblade and Jimmy rubbed his knuckles.

That was when a figure dropped down on Paulie, knocking him to the ground. The young woman scrambled behind a dumpster, terrified as she watched the whole scene. She was shocked to see that the figure was that of a girl, no older than 18. She wore a very form-fitting outfit and seemed quite angry.

"It's not nice to pick on girls. Didn't your mother teach you to be nice to girls?" I asked harshly.

I kicked Jimmy in the gut and then kneed him in the face. Jimmy fell to the ground, clutching his nose.

"You broke my nose!" he whined pathetically.

"You're lucky that's all I did to you, you piece of scum", I replied.

Paulie stood up behind me, switchblade in hand, ready to attack.

"LOOK OUT!" warned the woman.

I ducked as Paulie swiped the switchblade in the air over my head. I brought back my elbow into Paulie's chest, knocking the air out of him. Then I spun around and kicked his feet out from under him. Paulie lay on the floor groaning. I tied up the two men and went over to the young woman.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"I've been better, but I'll survive, thanks to you", the woman replied. Then, she looked up at me, "Who ARE you?"

"Just someone that wants to help", I replied as I turned to leave.

"WAIT!" said the woman. I turned to face her. "Thank you", said the woman sincerely.

I nodded, fired my grappling hook into the air, and disappeared over the wall of the alley.

The woman smiled and walked out of the alley quickly, her heels tapping on the cement.

Up above, I watched her leave safely before running off into the night.

- - - - - -

"You know that if that woman hadn't warned you, you might have gotten seriously hurt", reprimanded Kitty.

"I know, I know. I got careless. Does this mean more simulators and training?" I asked, knowing the answer.

"Of course it does! This was a test and you definitely did not do as well as expected. But it was your first time out on the street, so it really was not that bad. You know that you need to have everything down perfectly if you want to survive out there every night! Your life is one the line every time you go out there and you have to be 100 percent ready!"

I nodded, "As always Kitty, your right. I'll start simulations."

Kitty sighed as Julia left the room. It was hard enough training an aspiring vigilante. She also had to control the head strong, reckless teenager in her as well. Good thing Julia was such a computer wiz.. If I hadn't created her, Kitty didn't know how I would have gotten this far.

Kitty had also tried to keep the news of Batman reappearing in Gotham away from me. She decided to tell me when the time was right. She believed the news would only lead me to Gotham. She didn't want to give me any reason to go there. Not yet. Not until I was prepared. Under HER terms.

- - - - - -

Nathan Lane rubbed his forehead and sighed. He looked up and signaled me to continue.

"Causó risa al licenciado la simplicidad del ama y mandó al barbero que le fuese dando de aquellos libros uno a uno, para ver de qué trataban, pues podía ser hallar algunos que no mereciesen castigo de fuego", I read to him.

Nathan stopped me by raising his hand, "Julia I think I should just drop this friggin' class because let's face it, I'm no bloody good at Spanish!"

I shook my head, "Look Nathan, you just need to try a little harder. It will come to you, okay? Now you read the next part".

Nathan let out another sigh and took a deep breath, "No, dijo la so-bri- na, no hay para qué. per...um... per-do-nar a ninguno, porque todos han sido los... daaa-ñaaa-do-res: mejor será... er...a-rro-ja-llos por las ventanas al patio y hacer un ri-me-ro dellos y pegarles fuego; y, si no, lle-var-los al corral, y allí se hará la... ehm... ho-gue-ra, y no o-fen- de-rá el humo".

I clapped, "Excellent! Nathan, you read perfectly fine, I don't see what the problem is. You'll do fine on your final oral exam. Besides, you got me to help prepare you for it!" I said, winking at him.

"Cervantes is most definitely not easy reading, but I suppose that if I study really hard and get lots of practice, I'll be okay", replied Nathan.

"That's the spirit!" I said cheerfully.

Nathan smiled, "I can't believe that we are graduating this year. And you got to skip a year for cryin' out loud. You are lucky darlin' cause high school's a lot of crock and bull sometimes. But it's hard to believe that next year we'll be off to college!"

"Yeah I know! It's unbelievable!"

"We have finals next month and then we are done. And then there's the prom coming up, but my going to it is rather iffy", he said a bit sadder.

I looked at him. He had been really down lately because he and his girlfriend of two years, Ashley, had broken up a few weeks ago. I had been trying to get him to move on, but it wasn't easy, he had really loved Ashley and it had crushed him that she had been seeing someone else for some time. It had not been a pretty scene when he confronted her about it. Many tears were shed and many harsh words spoken. In the end Nathan ended the relationship and left Ashley standing in the hall. Ashley seemed heart- broken at first, but then a week later, she was on the rebound with Matthew Hickens, captain of the soccer team.

"Nathan, you know that if I don't get asked to the Prom, we can go together. And trust me, you and I both know nobody is gonna ask me!" I joked, trying to raise his spirits.

Nathan looked at me like he had snapped out of a daydream and grinned, "Absobloodylutely! But don't go turning down any offers because of me luv".

I hit him playfully on the arm; "You know I'd rather go with my best friend than any of those jerks at school! Unless some really hot mystery guy were to show up on my doorstep . . . in my dreams!"

We both burst out laughing.

- - - - - -

Prom Night

"ARGH! I can't do this, Tia! I need help fast!"

Aunt Marina's head popped into my room, "What is it dear?"

I looked desperately at her, make-up strewn all over my dresser, "I could use some help here!"

Aunt Marina chuckled loudly as she entered the room and sat next to me.

"First of all, go take a shower. You have lovely features and beautiful curly hair so you hardly need any fixing up at all. Now go!"

A few minutes later, I came out. My hair was dripping wet and I had a tense look on her face. Aunt Marina sat me on a chair and put in some gel in my hair. Then, she began rummaging through the make-up.

"Now try to relax and sit still", ordered Aunt Marina. I obeyed (at least the sitting still part). Thank god my aunt had come to help me get ready for prom.

After a few minutes of putting all sorts of stuff on my face, Aunt Marina told me to stand up. She used her fingers to brush my curls, which had dried out perfectly, into place and put in some more gel to hold them that way.

"Done!" Aunt Marina announced triumphantly.

I stood up in my lilac prom dress. My curls framed my face perfectly and the color of the dress went surprisingly well with my tanned skin. My hazel eyes were beautifully outlined with black eyeliner and purple eye shadow. The dress fell in exactly the right way and hugged all the right places, showing off my athletic build and curves. In short, I looked like one of those girls in magazines, something that would never have been noticed under my regular clothes, glasses and messy ponytails.

"God, I can't believe I am wearing a dress! This is so uncomfortable!" I whined.

"You look stunning", commented Aunt Marina.

I just scowled at the mirror. I couldn't believe I was actually going out like this.

"Well, I guess I better get going, Nathan is going to meet me at the school", I said.

Aunt Marina kissed her on the cheek before sending her downstairs, "Have fun Julita"

Downstairs my dad took like a million pictures of me before he finally saw me to the door. Adrian was waiting outside for me in his car. He was home for the weekend from the dorms of the University of California (he had gone for electronics engineer). He would be driving me, but Nathan said he would drive me home afterwards.

The whole drive to the school, Adrian was silent, but once we got there he told me to be careful and to have fun before kissing me on the cheek. He wasn't always annoying.

Renbrook Academy Gymnasium

Music boomed from the other side of the double doors I faced. I finally pushed them open and entered the gym. Hundreds of students filled the room. Tables were lined along the perimeter of the basketball court, while the court was being used as the dance floor. Couples crowded it, moving in time with the music. I made her way to an empty table. Several people pointed and whispered to each other as I passed by. Great, now I'm going to be the subject of school gossip for the next week.

I had been sitting at the table alone for about five minutes before Nathan showed up. He used the phrase 'pardon me' about a million times before he sat down next to me. We sat chatting until Nathan stood up and asked me to dance.

"I would be honored if you would give me the pleasure to dance this piece with you darlin''", Nathan said.

"You know I hate to dance. Besides, I'm no good at it", I answered from my seat.

"Have you gone mad? Stop arsing around and dance with me Julia!"

I agreed on the one condition that Nathan not do any disco dance moves he had learned from a really old John Travolta movie. After Nathan accepted the terms, we walked out onto the dance floor and started to dance.

Suddenly, the lights went out in the gym. It was quickly followed by gunshots being fired into the air. Nathan grabbed my hand so we wouldn't be separated in the dark. My eyes quickly adjusted to the dark and I tried to assess the situation from where I stood. All I could see were a lot of people running around. I knew I should have brought my communicator with me! Yeah but where would I have put it? Damn dresses!

I somehow managed to break free of Nathan's iron grip. He was surprisingly strong. I bounded off into the dark and positioned myself behind some overturned tables. If I could only get OUT of the gym, then I could get to my locker where I had some useful things stashed. I crept from cover to cover, staying out of site, which wasn't that hard since it was dark and all the chaos the students were creating was really . . . chaotic. Finally, I arrived at a door. Two guys in black were guarding it. A few swift punches and they were goners. I pulled up my dress to step over their unconscious bodies.

My heels hit the floor as I ran down the hall. God I hated dresses, I could hardly move in mine. I finally made it to my locker, where I pounded in the security code. I retrieved my 'toys' from it and thanked my lucky stars that my gym clothes were in my locker too. I took off the skirt from my dress and pulled on my black exercise pants. I rammed my feet into my sneakers and pulled a black hooded jacket over my dress top. Then I ran back down the hall, sneakers squeaking as I ran. When I arrived back at the door I had come through it was guarded again on the inside.

The lights were back on in the gym as I looked through the glass window of the double doors. I saw about ten guys tops, all armed heavily with laser guns. I gripped my ninja stars and gas pellets. The one who appeared to be the leader was actually a woman who wore the same black outfit and helmet as the others. The helmet covered most of her face except the lower half of it. She was yelling orders that I had trouble understanding. But I did catch the part she yelled at the scared students covering the floor.

"Alright, if yall cooperate, we might just let yall go. Since we ain't got all night, I'll just get to the point. I need a few of you promising young people to come with me. I'm gonna read yer names and if yall could be so kind as to let yerselves be known, we can get this done and over with quickly", the woman said in a southern drawl.

Ten bucks she's blond, blue-eyed and from Tennessee

I started making my plan. First of all, I need to get the lights out, for two reasons. One, it will be easier to surprise and fight them in the dark. Second, no one will be able to see me in the dark. So no one could ID me later on. So all I had to do was get to the basement and cut the electricity.

"You should cut the electricity"

"Kitty?" I asked.

"The one and only"

"But how . . . " I asked, puzzled.

"You forgot to remove your pieces again, as usual"

My hands went to my ears, sure enough, I had on my earrings that acted as my communicator/video feed to Kitty. They must have gone with the dress, because my aunt would have said something if they had not.

"And you wait NOW to speak!" I hissed.

"Hey you're the one who wants to go out there on your own. This is great practice. I might not always be there Julia"

"You always have an answer for everything. How about giving me an answer to my present predicament?"

The woman had started reading names, "Michelle Godwin, Andrew Conway, Helena Verone, Nathan Lane, and Courtney Schmitt. Please don't make this harder for yall, just let yersleves be known."

Great

"Kitty, time's running out", I urged.

"I'm on it"

The lights went off. I smiled.

"Thank you Kitty"

"The pleasure is all mine"

I opened the doors I had been standing by and took out the two guards again. These guys just don't give up! Everyone had used the blackout as a means to escape. People were running around crazily in the dark. I kept bumping into people, but I kept my eyes peeled for the attackers. I took down about four or five more before I ran into the woman, who was dragging Michelle Godwin behind her. Michelle was a thin, frail eighth grader I had seen a few times in the hall. Her clear blue eyes were wide with fright and her light blonde hair was a mess. I grabbed the woman and pushed her to the ground. Her grip on Michelle broke loose with the fall. Michelle scampered off behind a table.

The woman stood up and charged at me. I sidestepped and she passed right by. Bad move. But she did an about face and came back at me, which caught me off guard. She rammed head first into my stomach. I doubled over her, the wind knocked out of me. I grabbed at her head, knocking the helmet off. My hands found her hair and I yanked with all my might. The woman screeched and fell to her knees, grabbing her head. Primitive methods work well too. She turned to me, her face red with anger.

"Who are you? she asked.

"Just someone who'd rather pick on her fellow classmates herself"

I finally got a good look at her. She was not the blonde haired blue-eyed I had pictured. Instead she had black hair in a messy French braid and dark, menacing eyes. Her ruby red lips were curled into a snarl and she was clawing at me. I jabbed her across the face and then right-hooked her under the chin. She fell the ground, blood coming from the corner of her mouth. Oops.

I found the other men and took care of them, tied them all up, and changed back into my dress. Once I was back in the gym, Kitty turned the lights back on. Everyone seemed okay and they had crowded around to see the 'gift- wrapped' criminals. Nathan ran up to me and grabbed my shoulders.

"Have you gone off your rocker? You scared me half to death when you disappeared like that! Are you awight?" he interrogated.

"I'm fine Nathan"

"You're a real nutter, you know that? Running off like that . . . what were you thinking?" he went on.

"Dios mio! Calm down! I'm FINE!"

Nathan finally calmed down and we left the prom. We drove home and he walked me to my door.

"Hope you had fun, at least before they crashed the party" he said.

"Of course I did. I even got to dance", I joked.

"You're a real head case, you know that luv?" he asked.

"You only remind me constantly", I said, rolling my eyes.

We laughed and Nathan said goodnight as he left.

- - - - - -

Graduation Day

I could feel the butterflies in my stomach. I just wanted to get this over with. Just if you were wondering, today was graduation day. Oh, and did I mention that I was Valedictorian and had to speak in front of the whole school? Give me a dozen baddies and I can take them out without batting an eye, but speaking in front of the school and I feel like I'm going to throw up. Great super hero I am going to be.

My dad and my brothers (Adrian had taken a few days off from college) were sitting in the third row along with my Aunt and cousins. From behind the curtain, I looked at the huge crowd gathering.

"Miss Alvarez, we are about to begin, could you take your seat?" said Mrs. Sundar.

"Of course" I said, giving the crowd one last look.

I sat down in my seat next to Miss Pavlik, my calculus teacher. She smiled at me. I smiled back just as the curtains went up.

After a long sequence of boring speeches, the principal, Mr. Delaires stood up to the podium. I glanced at him for a moment before going back to searching the sea of faces in the theatre. While Mr. Delaires was droning on about our futures, I looked at my family. My father gave me a small wave and Adrian gave me a thumbs-up sign. It was then that I got really nervous.

"Please give a warm welcome to this year's valedictorian, Miss Julia Alvarez!" announced Mr. Delaires.

I snapped my head up and stood up quickly. I walked slowly to the podium as the room was filled with applause. I shook the principal's hand before stepping up to the podium. I stared out at all the people sitting in their seats. My eyes rested on my family and it was like I finally had taken a breath of air after holding my breath. I calmed down instantly and began talking.

"Thank you Mr. Delaires. Good evening ladies and gentleman, parents and teachers, and friends. Members of the class of 2042, we are here to celebrate one of the great days in our lives. Although it is only one of many yet to come . . . "

(Okay, this part is kind of boring. Just a lot of stories and quotes and mushy stuff. Let's skip on to the end)

"As you stand at the gate of the future, I shall give you some words of advice. It is men and women who have made the world, and they have made it against all odds. I urge you to be guided by your nature. Our worst natures can, it's true, be arrogant, venal, corrupt, or selfish; but in our best selves, we can and will be joyous, adventurous, cheeky, creative, inquisitive, demanding, competitive, loving, and defiant. Be guided, if possible, by your better natures. And remember that the future belongs to those you believe in the beauty of their dreams. With that being said, it is my great pleasure to present to you the class of 2042! Good luck and many congratulations to you all"

The room filled with applause, laughter, and shouting. All the graduates flung up their hats according to tradition. Everyone started hugging each other. Students and teachers were crying and signing yearbooks. Students were going down among the parents, friends and other guests. I hopped down the stairs and into my dad's arms. He kissed me on the side of my face as I hugged him.

"I'm so proud of you", he said into my ear.

"Hey Julia, ready to party?" asked Nicole Baker, a girl in my Literature class.

"Be there in a sec Nicky!" I replied.

"See you at home dad!" I shouted before running after Nicky.

I stood in front of my family, backpack slung over my shoulder. My eyes were bright with tears.

"I'm going to miss you guys so much" I said as I hugged my brother tightly.

He smoothed my hair and kissed the top of my head, "Don't you worry. We'll be right here waiting for you when you get back. Just go have fun".

"Flight 1406 to Tokyo will begin boarding in 10 minutes" said a woman's voice over the loudspeaker.

"That's you", said my dad with a smile.

"I don't want to leave", I whispered.

"Don't be ridiculous! You've been waiting all your life to go study martial arts in this school! Julia, you're going to the best martial arts school in the world! Now let me see that gorgeous smile of yours", he said.

I gave him a weak smile.

"Come on Julia, I know you can do better than that!" he urged.

The things he did to cheer me up. I gave him my 'famous' grin.

"That's the stuff!"

"I Love You!" I said, kissing him on the cheek.

"I love you too!" dad replied.

I gave him one last big hug before going over to my brothers.

"Good luck sis and keep in touch! I wanna know what you're doing over there!" said Adrian.

"Bye Julia!" said Alex. He gave me a hug and I kissed him on the head.

Nathan was waiting silently. I walked over to him.

"I'll keep an eye on them for you luv. Just go and 'ave yourself a banging good time!"

We hugged before I made my way over to the door to immigration. I looked at my family one last time before going through the door.

- - - - - -

I looked out the window of the airplane and watched as we approached the coast of Japan. We would be landing shortly. My laptop lay on my lap. Kitty's face suddenly appeared on it.

"This is exciting, isn't it? Going to Japan to study martial arts with real masters. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity"

I just sighed and continued to look out the window, thinking.

Kitty rolled her eyes, "Could you please drop the homesick act for a moment and realize what a great time you are going to have! Your family will be there when you get back, but this only happens once in your life! So snap out of it already! Like if you won't be able to talk to them EVERYDAY over a vid-phone anyways", she said with an annoyed tone.

I looked at her and gave her a weak smile. She was right, as usual. My family was going to be there when I got back, but this only happened once in a lifetime. I might as well enjoy it. Well of course I was going to enjoy it! I was going to Japan for god's sake! Ah, life is good.

The rest of the flight was much more enjoyable. Kitty and I talked a lot about what types of martial arts I was interested in learning more about and just other vigilante talk. After a long flight, we finally began out descent into Tokyo.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, please prepare for landing. We will be arriving shortly at Tokyo's International Airport. Flight attendants, please prepare for arrival", announced one of the stewards over the intercom.

I watched as the plane lowered onto the runway. The plane gave a huge jump as we touched down and a few smaller jumps until we slowed down and started to taxi into the gate.

About five minutes later, the captain announced out arrival and turned off the fasten seat belt sign. I stood up and took my rolling bag down from the overhead bin. I slung my backpack over my shoulders and packed my laptop into its pocket on my rolling bag. I filed down the aisle behind the other passengers until I finally emerged from the plane's door. I walked quickly down the terminal where a big, bright sign appeared in front of me.

WELCOME TO TOKYO

I smiled. Hello Tokyo, here I come!

- - - - - -

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- Lady Artemis -