Author's note: Sorry it took me so ling to get this chapter up. But nobody seemed to be reviewing and I wanted to wait to get five reviews before posting. I also joined a new RPG game and have been spending alot of time there. You can read the future tales of Falcon at the sight. It's Batman Beyond. It's at jakazul.proboards19.com/index.cgi You can choose who you want to be from over 100 characters or make up one of your own. I still need someone to play the twins of Wonder girl and Super Boy and someone to Play Impulses and Cissie's Daughter. And we still need a comissioner Gordon along with various other characters. Or make up your own. Or you can catch me at gothamcityusa.com if you want to chat in the message boards. Oh, and yes. I know that Falcon is also one of CC_Graysons characters but I wrote this back in october before I started reading her fics and didn't know what else to call her. Sorry CC.
A/n 2: Oh, and one of my friends emailed me. Asking if she could use my character in her story. Anyone who wants to can use Rachael in their stories can, just make sure you tell me so I can read it. ;) E-mail me or leave a note about it in your review.
Disclaimer: I do not own Batman, Batman Beyond, or anything related to them. I do, however own Rachael. But DC can buy her...for a price.
Ch.4: Of First Encounters and Lasting Impressions.
Rachael had never felt anything like this before. She was worried, scared, and knew there was a chance she would not come back from this mission alive but at the same time... she felt complete and total freedom as she soared through the air with nothing to hold her down.
She arrived at the Candy Castle factory where Batman and Robin were being held mere minutes after her departure. She landed on the roof of a nearby building and looked for an invitation to a subtle entrance.
After a few seconds, which to Rachael seemed like an eternity, she put the com-link that she had "borrowed" on and searched her utility belt for something that she could use. She grinned as she pulled out what looked like a handheld computer and slipped the utility belt around her waist.
She turned on the com-link as she crouched in the shadows. . "Oracle,I need you to--" Rachael started to whisper.
"What the heck do you think you're doing!!!! You're going to get yourself killed. Do you know how DEAD I am for letting you slip out from underneath my nose?" Oracle shouted over the line and caused Rachael to wince.
"Listen, I know you're mad. But nows not the time. Two lives are at stake tonight. And if they're gone, many more lives will be lost because they weren't around to save them." Rachael said in a serious tone that made it sound like the weight of the world was on her shoulders, but she probably just watches to many cartoons. "So please, lend me a hand. I need your help. I can do this, I know I can."
Oracle was silent on her side of the line as she thought over all that Rachael had said. "............Fine. What do you need info on?"
"N'kay. I need the floor plans for the Candy Castle on 40th and main. Is there anyway you can upload a map of it on to the palm computer thingy that was in the utility belt?" Rachael asked as she slowly creeped through the shadows to the edge of the roof so that she could see down to where a bunch of guys guarded the factory.
"Here for twenty-four hours and your already actin' like you're one of us" Oracle told Rachael with a sigh. "Okay heres what you need to do..."
________________________________________________________
Rachael waited until she could easily get close to the building without getting noticed by the half asleep guards. She used the wings/gliders that were webbed between the sleeves of her suit to slowly drift down to the ground among the shadows.
"Oracle, any word from Batgirl yet?" Rachael whispered gently into her com-link as her feet alighted the ground.
"Yeah. Seems the Joker anticipted her interfering with his fight with Batman. So he sent some of his men to preoccupy her. She should be done and over to your location in ten minutes."
"Thats ten minutes to long." she sighed lightly as she could. "Ok quiet time for me now. Rachael out."
"Gotcha. Oracle out"
Rachael turned the com-link off and put it into the safety of her utilty belt. 'Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. The Joker should have been able to get better help than THIS. Two are already asleep and the other three are taking a midnight snack. Not that I'm complaining or anything. I'm not sure I could take on even ONE of them by myself, but thats not the name of the game now is it.' Rachael thought to herself to try to calm her speeding heart down as she tip toed past the two sleeping guards and then made her way behind the other three that all had their backs conveinently turned towards her and the door as they joked amongst themselves. She quietly opened the door, keeping her eyes trained on the lackees all the while. Rachael quickly ducked inside and locked the door behind her as soon as she noticed that there were no windows in this patcular room, so the only way they could get in would be through the door and it would take them awhile to brake it down.
"Whew," Rachael let out a breath that she had been keeping in ever since the rescue mission had started. She was terribly frightened about what awaited her but at the same time.... 'What a rush" Rachael's mind exclaimed as her heart raced ninty miles a minute.
She jumped as she heard a groan come from the small room. She looked down at the ground to find several unconcious thugs all around her. Among them lay Harley Quinn, quiet forgotten by the Joker.
Rachael let out a low whistle "Man! Batman and Robin did all of THIS. I've got a looong way to go before I'll be THAT good."
She quickly found her way to the stairs and rushed up them as swiftly as she could. The building was only about two stories high, but she wanted to get to the Dynamic Duo as soon as she could. Who knew what the Joker would try to pull.
________________________________________________________
"Wakey. wakey, eggs and Bakey. Batman. I want you to be awake when I kill your birdy and then slowly kill you." The Joker taunted in a sadistic, yet cheerful tone he was so well known for as Batman slowly came to conciousness.
Seeing he was awake, the Joker gleefully hooked the chains that bound Batman to a large pulley and, with a remote in his hand that controlled the pulley, hoisted Batman into the air. He switched the direction from up to the right until Batman was only a few feet above a large vat filled with what seemed to be chocolate.
Batman looked to his side to see the boy wonder hanging limp in his chains, in the same predicament as him.
"What better way to go than death by chocolate, with a special ingredient from yours truely," The Joker cackled in laughter and changed controls . The new control had a large yellow R on red paper taped to the back of it (Obviously Robin's pulley's remote).
"I've added smylex to get an extra smile out of you two party poopers. Ha haaa. Enough of the previews now. Time for the show!" rned around to where she was not so gracefully crouched and planted an elbow strike to her bJoker pushed one of the controls down, lowering our poor Robin painfully and slowly. Closer and closer to the poisenous, chocolate goo.
"O what fun. This is gonna be the finale people will always--"
Our girl in the lime light kicks down the door just in time for a dramatic entrance. "Always never see? Probably because they'll be too busy talking about the debut of a new hero. The Falcon."
Her coat hung open and her belt laid loosely around her hips. At first the Joker was suprised, but he quickly regained his composer and grinned from ear to ear with a sinester grin directed towards her.
"Why Batsy, where do you get all these wonderful side-kicks." The Joker asked as he lounged towards the young girl with a small dagger.
"Batman's PARTNERS come coustom. But I know a place where you get one" Falcon informed the Joker as she kicked on her boot jets, extended her wings, and flew up a few feet to barely dodge his attack; then kicked the remote out of his hand as she fell back to earth.
"They're selling sidekick doubles of you at www.losers.com I belive." Falcon teased as she landed on the control with a crunch, stopping Robin centimeters before his tabi boot covered feet alighted the milk chocolate death trap.
Seeing this, Joker angrily attacked the girl. He struck her the back with his elbow, causing her to fall to her hands and knees.
"Your pathetic. I've seen grannies put up more of a fight than you. You should go home while you still can." The Clown Prince of Crime crowed.
"Don't listen to him...Falcon. He likes to talk so just ignore what he says." Batman encouraged her in his own, unenthusiastic way as the Boy Wonder started to come to. Batman pulled a pick from his gauntlet and began to attempt to pick the lock that bound his wrist.
"But I like to talk to," the Falcon complained through gritted teeth as she quoted the Batman Beyind movie and would continue to do so until she could get the Joker realy fired up. (small warning.)
She back-kicked the Joker in the knees with the chunky heel of her boot before he could make a second attack, then made her escape by once again turning on the jets and finding her hiding place among the many dark and shadowy rafters that supported the ceiling.
"Please don't get yourself killed Rach." Robin half whispered, half prayed as he waked to see the situation at hand. He to, struggled to pick the locks of his chains.
"Y'know Joker, you make me laugh. But only because I think your pathetic." Falcon said with a snicker.
"Stop laughing at me."the Joker yelled at her shadows.
"What?! I thought the Joker always wanted to make people laugh." Falcon haunted him from the rafters. "Thats why your always after the Bat-clan, isn't it? Because they would never laugh at your jokes? Too bad." Falcon laughed at him again, just to mock him. (Oh yeah, WAY to many cartoons.)
"Stop it. Stop it now." he shot one of her shadows and it ricocheted off of one of the cement walls.
" So you fell in some chemical that dyed your hair green and bleached your skin, so you decided to become a super villian? What, couldn't make it into clown school?" Joker growled at this and his eyes scanned the rafters for any sign of life. "I mean, electric buzzers, acid squirting flowers, laughing gas. Wheres the comedy in that! Make a face, drop your pants, do SOMETHING." She called out for the last time as she noticed that Batman and Robin were free of their death trap out of the corner of her eye.
The Joker finally caught a glimmer of movement in one of the corner rafters and chukled slightly to himself "End of the line. Chicky."
The Joker fired at our young hero and ,even though Rachael was quick on her toes to try to dodge the bullet, she wasnt quick enough. It hit her. She lost her balance and plummeted off the rafters.
The Joker let out a large boisterous laugh. "Now THATS comedy." He took a step back and bumped into something hard and bold to the touch. His expression changed as he realized who it was that was standing behind him. He was trying to figure out what to do so hard that he didn't realize that there was no crashing sound after Falcon had fell behind a large pile of boxes. And Robin is nowhere in sight.
"Uhoh" the Joker whimpered , still grinning, as a hand grabbed his shoulder. And the man connected to that hand was ready to duke it out.
________________________________________________________
Falcon fell for what seemed like forever. She wasn't unconcious and she wasn't even dead., which suprised her a lot. But she knew that if the bullet didn't kill her the fall would. She was sure of it.
Everything was in slow motion but she was too stunned to react. She had never been shot at before in her life. She saw the Joker, satiated with his small victory. And she saw Batman quickly, but quietly, approach him. But where the heck was Robin? The two fighters quickly disappeared behind the large stacks of crates.
She closed her eyes, waiting for her body to meet the floor. But instead, she landed in the strong, youthful arms of the Boy Wonder.
"Are you alright?" He asked in a concerned voice as he looked her over with his eyes for a trace of blood or a bullet hole. His hand brushed over her left collar bone and she hissed in pain.
" Miracously the kevlar blend in the coat prevented the bullet from going through you. But I won't be suprised if your collar bone is broken." He said as he inspected the injury.
"Its funny how...how quickly a person can go from doing the saving to being the one thats saved." She told him as he seemed to somehow stay still yet at the same time come nearer.
The two became closer and closer, neither one realizing what they were doing. They just seemed to be drawn to each other. He held her in his arms, reluctant to set her down. It was as if he feared that the moment she touched the ground, the earth would swallow her whole. Their faces inched closer and Falcons arms found their way around Robins neck. They were so caught up in the moment that the world around them was completely forgotten.
Their eyes closed and their faces were just just about an inch apart from one another when--
"What are you...doing." asked a familiar female voice.
Rachael and Robin's eyes shot open as they both came to their senses. "Falcon".scrambled out of his arms and put a good eight feet between them.
Batgirl smirked evily behind her fullface cowl. And, even though Robin and Falcon couldn't see it, they could feel her glare. And it made them both eneffiably uncomfortable.
"Ummmm. I...uh. I wonder how Batmans holding up," Rachael said nervously as she backed out from behind the crates and then dashed towards where Batman was handcuffing the Joker, who spotted a black eye and a missing tooth. Falcon was quickly followed by Robin and Batgirl.
"The police should be here in a few minutes," Robin said as he stood by Batgirl and kept his distance from Falcon.
Batman gave him a short nod of recognition then turned to the new, budding vigilante and starred at her with "The Look."
"Uhoh. I...I'm in trouble, arn't I" Rachael asked no one in paticular. She felt herself shrinking on the spot as she bit her lower lip. She looked up at his shrewed face and suddenly didn't feel worthy. It was to much for her to bear any longer and she looked down at her feet in shame.
"We'll continue this discussion when we get back to the cave." Batman said as he turned so his back was facing her and walked to a nearby second story window, leaving the Joker tied up and unconscious on the floor. "Robin will drive you there and then were going to have a conversation with Oracle. Is that clear?"
"Yes sir," Racahel replied barely above a whisper as she glanced up to see that he was gone and police sirens and lights rapidly approached the building. She felt a hand gently touch her good shoulder.
"Come on. Lets get out of here before the police arrive."Robin told her and proceeded towards the "Vigilante Exit" followed by the Falcon and a VERY mischeivious Batgirl.
--------------------------
I'd like to thank the following people for reviewing:
Queen-Of-Demon-Dragons
Jakazul
ZzFlash
DeeDeeBATSY
Archer
Keep reviewing you guys. And as for you guys who didn't review last time. REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW this time.
A/n 2: Oh, and one of my friends emailed me. Asking if she could use my character in her story. Anyone who wants to can use Rachael in their stories can, just make sure you tell me so I can read it. ;) E-mail me or leave a note about it in your review.
Disclaimer: I do not own Batman, Batman Beyond, or anything related to them. I do, however own Rachael. But DC can buy her...for a price.
Ch.4: Of First Encounters and Lasting Impressions.
Rachael had never felt anything like this before. She was worried, scared, and knew there was a chance she would not come back from this mission alive but at the same time... she felt complete and total freedom as she soared through the air with nothing to hold her down.
She arrived at the Candy Castle factory where Batman and Robin were being held mere minutes after her departure. She landed on the roof of a nearby building and looked for an invitation to a subtle entrance.
After a few seconds, which to Rachael seemed like an eternity, she put the com-link that she had "borrowed" on and searched her utility belt for something that she could use. She grinned as she pulled out what looked like a handheld computer and slipped the utility belt around her waist.
She turned on the com-link as she crouched in the shadows. . "Oracle,I need you to--" Rachael started to whisper.
"What the heck do you think you're doing!!!! You're going to get yourself killed. Do you know how DEAD I am for letting you slip out from underneath my nose?" Oracle shouted over the line and caused Rachael to wince.
"Listen, I know you're mad. But nows not the time. Two lives are at stake tonight. And if they're gone, many more lives will be lost because they weren't around to save them." Rachael said in a serious tone that made it sound like the weight of the world was on her shoulders, but she probably just watches to many cartoons. "So please, lend me a hand. I need your help. I can do this, I know I can."
Oracle was silent on her side of the line as she thought over all that Rachael had said. "............Fine. What do you need info on?"
"N'kay. I need the floor plans for the Candy Castle on 40th and main. Is there anyway you can upload a map of it on to the palm computer thingy that was in the utility belt?" Rachael asked as she slowly creeped through the shadows to the edge of the roof so that she could see down to where a bunch of guys guarded the factory.
"Here for twenty-four hours and your already actin' like you're one of us" Oracle told Rachael with a sigh. "Okay heres what you need to do..."
________________________________________________________
Rachael waited until she could easily get close to the building without getting noticed by the half asleep guards. She used the wings/gliders that were webbed between the sleeves of her suit to slowly drift down to the ground among the shadows.
"Oracle, any word from Batgirl yet?" Rachael whispered gently into her com-link as her feet alighted the ground.
"Yeah. Seems the Joker anticipted her interfering with his fight with Batman. So he sent some of his men to preoccupy her. She should be done and over to your location in ten minutes."
"Thats ten minutes to long." she sighed lightly as she could. "Ok quiet time for me now. Rachael out."
"Gotcha. Oracle out"
Rachael turned the com-link off and put it into the safety of her utilty belt. 'Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. The Joker should have been able to get better help than THIS. Two are already asleep and the other three are taking a midnight snack. Not that I'm complaining or anything. I'm not sure I could take on even ONE of them by myself, but thats not the name of the game now is it.' Rachael thought to herself to try to calm her speeding heart down as she tip toed past the two sleeping guards and then made her way behind the other three that all had their backs conveinently turned towards her and the door as they joked amongst themselves. She quietly opened the door, keeping her eyes trained on the lackees all the while. Rachael quickly ducked inside and locked the door behind her as soon as she noticed that there were no windows in this patcular room, so the only way they could get in would be through the door and it would take them awhile to brake it down.
"Whew," Rachael let out a breath that she had been keeping in ever since the rescue mission had started. She was terribly frightened about what awaited her but at the same time.... 'What a rush" Rachael's mind exclaimed as her heart raced ninty miles a minute.
She jumped as she heard a groan come from the small room. She looked down at the ground to find several unconcious thugs all around her. Among them lay Harley Quinn, quiet forgotten by the Joker.
Rachael let out a low whistle "Man! Batman and Robin did all of THIS. I've got a looong way to go before I'll be THAT good."
She quickly found her way to the stairs and rushed up them as swiftly as she could. The building was only about two stories high, but she wanted to get to the Dynamic Duo as soon as she could. Who knew what the Joker would try to pull.
________________________________________________________
"Wakey. wakey, eggs and Bakey. Batman. I want you to be awake when I kill your birdy and then slowly kill you." The Joker taunted in a sadistic, yet cheerful tone he was so well known for as Batman slowly came to conciousness.
Seeing he was awake, the Joker gleefully hooked the chains that bound Batman to a large pulley and, with a remote in his hand that controlled the pulley, hoisted Batman into the air. He switched the direction from up to the right until Batman was only a few feet above a large vat filled with what seemed to be chocolate.
Batman looked to his side to see the boy wonder hanging limp in his chains, in the same predicament as him.
"What better way to go than death by chocolate, with a special ingredient from yours truely," The Joker cackled in laughter and changed controls . The new control had a large yellow R on red paper taped to the back of it (Obviously Robin's pulley's remote).
"I've added smylex to get an extra smile out of you two party poopers. Ha haaa. Enough of the previews now. Time for the show!" rned around to where she was not so gracefully crouched and planted an elbow strike to her bJoker pushed one of the controls down, lowering our poor Robin painfully and slowly. Closer and closer to the poisenous, chocolate goo.
"O what fun. This is gonna be the finale people will always--"
Our girl in the lime light kicks down the door just in time for a dramatic entrance. "Always never see? Probably because they'll be too busy talking about the debut of a new hero. The Falcon."
Her coat hung open and her belt laid loosely around her hips. At first the Joker was suprised, but he quickly regained his composer and grinned from ear to ear with a sinester grin directed towards her.
"Why Batsy, where do you get all these wonderful side-kicks." The Joker asked as he lounged towards the young girl with a small dagger.
"Batman's PARTNERS come coustom. But I know a place where you get one" Falcon informed the Joker as she kicked on her boot jets, extended her wings, and flew up a few feet to barely dodge his attack; then kicked the remote out of his hand as she fell back to earth.
"They're selling sidekick doubles of you at www.losers.com I belive." Falcon teased as she landed on the control with a crunch, stopping Robin centimeters before his tabi boot covered feet alighted the milk chocolate death trap.
Seeing this, Joker angrily attacked the girl. He struck her the back with his elbow, causing her to fall to her hands and knees.
"Your pathetic. I've seen grannies put up more of a fight than you. You should go home while you still can." The Clown Prince of Crime crowed.
"Don't listen to him...Falcon. He likes to talk so just ignore what he says." Batman encouraged her in his own, unenthusiastic way as the Boy Wonder started to come to. Batman pulled a pick from his gauntlet and began to attempt to pick the lock that bound his wrist.
"But I like to talk to," the Falcon complained through gritted teeth as she quoted the Batman Beyind movie and would continue to do so until she could get the Joker realy fired up. (small warning.)
She back-kicked the Joker in the knees with the chunky heel of her boot before he could make a second attack, then made her escape by once again turning on the jets and finding her hiding place among the many dark and shadowy rafters that supported the ceiling.
"Please don't get yourself killed Rach." Robin half whispered, half prayed as he waked to see the situation at hand. He to, struggled to pick the locks of his chains.
"Y'know Joker, you make me laugh. But only because I think your pathetic." Falcon said with a snicker.
"Stop laughing at me."the Joker yelled at her shadows.
"What?! I thought the Joker always wanted to make people laugh." Falcon haunted him from the rafters. "Thats why your always after the Bat-clan, isn't it? Because they would never laugh at your jokes? Too bad." Falcon laughed at him again, just to mock him. (Oh yeah, WAY to many cartoons.)
"Stop it. Stop it now." he shot one of her shadows and it ricocheted off of one of the cement walls.
" So you fell in some chemical that dyed your hair green and bleached your skin, so you decided to become a super villian? What, couldn't make it into clown school?" Joker growled at this and his eyes scanned the rafters for any sign of life. "I mean, electric buzzers, acid squirting flowers, laughing gas. Wheres the comedy in that! Make a face, drop your pants, do SOMETHING." She called out for the last time as she noticed that Batman and Robin were free of their death trap out of the corner of her eye.
The Joker finally caught a glimmer of movement in one of the corner rafters and chukled slightly to himself "End of the line. Chicky."
The Joker fired at our young hero and ,even though Rachael was quick on her toes to try to dodge the bullet, she wasnt quick enough. It hit her. She lost her balance and plummeted off the rafters.
The Joker let out a large boisterous laugh. "Now THATS comedy." He took a step back and bumped into something hard and bold to the touch. His expression changed as he realized who it was that was standing behind him. He was trying to figure out what to do so hard that he didn't realize that there was no crashing sound after Falcon had fell behind a large pile of boxes. And Robin is nowhere in sight.
"Uhoh" the Joker whimpered , still grinning, as a hand grabbed his shoulder. And the man connected to that hand was ready to duke it out.
________________________________________________________
Falcon fell for what seemed like forever. She wasn't unconcious and she wasn't even dead., which suprised her a lot. But she knew that if the bullet didn't kill her the fall would. She was sure of it.
Everything was in slow motion but she was too stunned to react. She had never been shot at before in her life. She saw the Joker, satiated with his small victory. And she saw Batman quickly, but quietly, approach him. But where the heck was Robin? The two fighters quickly disappeared behind the large stacks of crates.
She closed her eyes, waiting for her body to meet the floor. But instead, she landed in the strong, youthful arms of the Boy Wonder.
"Are you alright?" He asked in a concerned voice as he looked her over with his eyes for a trace of blood or a bullet hole. His hand brushed over her left collar bone and she hissed in pain.
" Miracously the kevlar blend in the coat prevented the bullet from going through you. But I won't be suprised if your collar bone is broken." He said as he inspected the injury.
"Its funny how...how quickly a person can go from doing the saving to being the one thats saved." She told him as he seemed to somehow stay still yet at the same time come nearer.
The two became closer and closer, neither one realizing what they were doing. They just seemed to be drawn to each other. He held her in his arms, reluctant to set her down. It was as if he feared that the moment she touched the ground, the earth would swallow her whole. Their faces inched closer and Falcons arms found their way around Robins neck. They were so caught up in the moment that the world around them was completely forgotten.
Their eyes closed and their faces were just just about an inch apart from one another when--
"What are you...doing." asked a familiar female voice.
Rachael and Robin's eyes shot open as they both came to their senses. "Falcon".scrambled out of his arms and put a good eight feet between them.
Batgirl smirked evily behind her fullface cowl. And, even though Robin and Falcon couldn't see it, they could feel her glare. And it made them both eneffiably uncomfortable.
"Ummmm. I...uh. I wonder how Batmans holding up," Rachael said nervously as she backed out from behind the crates and then dashed towards where Batman was handcuffing the Joker, who spotted a black eye and a missing tooth. Falcon was quickly followed by Robin and Batgirl.
"The police should be here in a few minutes," Robin said as he stood by Batgirl and kept his distance from Falcon.
Batman gave him a short nod of recognition then turned to the new, budding vigilante and starred at her with "The Look."
"Uhoh. I...I'm in trouble, arn't I" Rachael asked no one in paticular. She felt herself shrinking on the spot as she bit her lower lip. She looked up at his shrewed face and suddenly didn't feel worthy. It was to much for her to bear any longer and she looked down at her feet in shame.
"We'll continue this discussion when we get back to the cave." Batman said as he turned so his back was facing her and walked to a nearby second story window, leaving the Joker tied up and unconscious on the floor. "Robin will drive you there and then were going to have a conversation with Oracle. Is that clear?"
"Yes sir," Racahel replied barely above a whisper as she glanced up to see that he was gone and police sirens and lights rapidly approached the building. She felt a hand gently touch her good shoulder.
"Come on. Lets get out of here before the police arrive."Robin told her and proceeded towards the "Vigilante Exit" followed by the Falcon and a VERY mischeivious Batgirl.
--------------------------
I'd like to thank the following people for reviewing:
Queen-Of-Demon-Dragons
Jakazul
ZzFlash
DeeDeeBATSY
Archer
Keep reviewing you guys. And as for you guys who didn't review last time. REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW this time.