Disclaimer: Own only Felina. That it. And a few more invented people, but concerning Batman Beyond – just Felina. That it. Thank you, and good night. No, wait – don't go. Read on. Yeah, that's it! Ha ha!!
FelinaChapter Two: Day's End
Adrian sighed as the seventh period bell rang. Finally! [DL: Here's the deal. I used to go to a school with seven periods, so this school does too. Nyah!] She got up after gathering her books together, reminding herself why she was here and that, now that the school day is over, she had a lot of running around to do. So what if this was the first time she redid school, and the first time she came up with this new "tradition?" Having a first time is just another way of saying you should do it right.
A theory her mother used to have was "When this universe ends, another will begin, and everything that you do in this one is going to happen in that one, too. So do things right the first time," although that might have just been a way of getting her to listen and obey. Nonetheless, the idea stood firm, the whole concept of doing things right the first time. It stuck into her head and was one of the few things she lived by.
Gotta find them, gotta them, gotta find. . . Him!! She thought. She ran up to a nice blonde boy with hazel eyes and started talking. This tradition, if it worked as she wanted it to, would become a really great idea, and should have the kindness effect she wanted. Or, she hoped so.
**Terry**
God, he was tired. Last night had had a particularly tough battle with a bunch of jokers, around thirty or forty of them. He won, but got a nice bruise on his right side because of it, and the fight had lasted until two in the morning. Bruce gave him that "I know what you're going through" look again before he left, which could also be translated into "I know you shouldn't have to have this responsibility, and I'm sorry for it".
He had a hard time throughout seventh period in staying awake, mainly because of how his teacher droned on in just the right voice to make you want to sleep. He yawned as he sat down on a bench and waited for Max and Dana to get there. But he was drifting off again. . .
Giving another yawn he laid down along the bench, letting himself get some rest.
After what seemed to be another few seconds a hand was on his shoulder, shaking gently to wake him up. He moaned some protest and used his elbow as a shield against the sun. [DL: I do that when I sleep. Move my elbow over my eyes so it blocks out the light completely.]
"Come on, Terry," Dana's voice broke in. "You slept all night, didn't you?"
He moaned again, not liking the turn of subjects. "S-studying. . ." he managed.
"He was up for a long time last night," Max said. "I was trying to help him learn the periodic table of elements, but I don't think he got it."
"No big surprise," Dana said back.
"What's with him?" Adrian's voice appeared.
"Stayed up all night again," Max said, in a disapproving tone.
"Aahhh," Adrian said, and joined the girls in shaking him awake.
Terry whimpered with the need for sleeping and tried to shoo away the girls' hands, but they just giggled and laughed and kept poking, shaking and tickling. "Hey, come on, stop it!" he whined. More laughter followed his comment and then the hands were pulling, and pulled him right off the bench. He rolled onto his stomach and put his arms around his head, trying to sleep again.
The three girls circled him almost like vultures would before choosing a spot somewhere around him and shoving and whining at him.
"Cut it out!" Terry tried again, only his voice was muffled in the school's carpet. A few passersby laughed at the three girls trying to wake up a very reluctant boy, and a boy with red hair looked jealously at him. "Okay okay!" he finally said, sitting up and yawning again.
Adrian bit her lip and smiled at Max and Dana, and they all got the idea she was getting at. They started shoving him again, whining all over again, leaving Terry very confused as to why they hadn't stopped yet.
Adrian winked at Dana and whispered for her to play along. "Come on, you can't keep ignoring all of us!" she said.
Dana blinked and then joined in. "Yeah, we're not just your slaves!"
Max caught on and went in for the kill. "Are you going to take us out tonight or what?" she snapped.
They were all standing now and all three girls began vying for his attention, tugging at his sleeve or turning his face this way or that. Terry was starting to blush now, never expecting this, despite how his male pride was enjoying it. He laughed nervously. "I don't what you're talking about!"
"Aw, come on," Adrian whined. "You can't honestly say you don't remember!"
"That beautiful night we all shared," Dana went on.
"Aren't you gonna ask us again?" Max finished. By now a whole group was surrounding them, interested at the turn of the conversation. They were making Terry sound like a real playboy.
"Wasn't it amazing?" Dana asked Adrian.
Adrian nodded and ran with it. "The best night I've ever had!" Holding back a real laugh she gave Max a glance that told her to finish this, however she wanted it to.
"I'm surprised you got McDonalds to make us fresh food!" Max ended it all with a snip at McDonalds.
A bunch of the onlookers groaned and left, and a few looked disappointed. "That's it?" one guy said.
After the hall filtered out and nobody was paying attention anymore, all three girls burst out laughing, while Terry sat back down with a slight blush still on his cheeks.
"That wasn't very nice," he accused the girls, who were now laughing hysterically.
Adrian was holding her middle and rolling on the ground, Max was leaning against a wall, and Dana was sitting on the ground with a hand over her mouth.
"Yo-you should've - " Adrian began, but couldn't finish.
"S-seen your. . . your face," Max finished for her.
All that just got Dana laughing harder, and Terry allowed himself a few laughs as well. After all, it probably was pretty funny. He was about to snap at them again to be quiet before someone came up and asked about it, but before he did another thought entered his mind. "Adrian, was that you're 'surprise'?"
She stopped laughing and sat up, realization sparking in her eyes. "No, that was a random event," she said, and stood up. She gathered her things and scribbled something onto a piece of paper. After a few minutes she flipped it over and scribbled on another piece, and then ripped them both out. She walked over to Dana then, and handed her one. Then she gave the other to Max, and went over to Terry.
"My surprises," she said, "differ on men and women. They - " she pointed at the girls who looked impressed – "get a specialized drawing each. And men - " she pointed at Terry – "get something else."
"What?" he asked, and blinked. Smiling again, Adrian leaned up to him and gave his cheek a small kiss. It wasn't all that easy, but he kept himself from blushing badly. So that was her way of saying "thanks" for saying "hi" back when she introduced herself?
She stood up and gallantly made a sweeping bow to the girls. "I must take my leave now, for I have other pupils to find and reward. Farewell!" she finished, with a wave of her hand and ran off down the hallway.
Dana and Max said the like and turned to Terry, excitedly showing him their pictures. Dana's was her face, in a very seductive pose, eyes half shut and lips parted. There was a rose on either side of her face – the left one pointing up and the right one down – with vines growing from them that intertwined around and around her portrait. The edges faded off, and the entire thing was in pencil, which left what looked to be a glow around the roses.
Max's was a full-bodied picture, with her sitting like she was on stairs, right foot lower than the left. Her left elbow was on her knee and she had her chin in her hand, smiling softly and looking amazingly beautiful. Around her was smeared pencil lining, making it seem like she as well had a glow. Decorating around the glow was more odd vine-like sketches, in small, broken lines. Several dots also accompanied the vines, making it all the better. On each picture, at the bottom corner, was a signed name, but it read "Felina" – not "Adrian". On the top right-hand corner was the date, along with the word "Original".
Adrian must have a real passion for art. Terry was about to complement their poses in the pictures, but his cell phone rang just then.
With a frustrated grunt he answered it, unhappy with the way he was always being called. "Yeah?" he said. The girls smiled at each other and walked off, bumping into other girls with the same type of beautifully done poses on pictures.
"Now, Terry," was all Bruce said before the line went dead.
Terry put the phone back in his pocket and got up, sighing as he left. He stopped off at home and dropped his backpack on the ground and told his Mom and Matt where he was going.
"What is it this time?" he asked, flipping up his mask as he entered the BatCave.
Bruce looked at him. "It's somewhat strange. Watch this," he said, clicking a button and the screen popped up with surveillance footage.
A woman, who had a strange red outfit on, was leaping around and kicking the crap out of a gang of T's. When she stopped she looked up at the camera and smiled, and that's when Bruce paused the screen. He zoomed in to show her face, which consisted of cat eyes, nose, and mouth. She even had whiskers.
"She's been spliced?" Terry asked.
"I don't know." Bruce changed the screen to show a few more details of her – like her tail, cat's feet and claws. She had very strange coloring as well, and every part of her that was exposed showed hollowed spots, solid spots, and short or long stripes. She looked like every type of cat was put into her.
"At first," Bruce went on, "I thought she might have been Catwoman. But she doesn't look like her at all, and has more developed moves." He turned to Terry. "I think she didn't start this fight, but be careful anyway. Barbara knows about her as well – and she's very fast."
"Agility of a cat," Batman – since Terry turned over to that personality – observed.
"More like all the great cats of the jungle," Bruce corrected. "Look at her coloring," he added, zooming out to show all of her.
Her stomach was white, though mostly hidden because of her strapless bathing suit-looking thing. Around that, in a circle, was yellow, then orange, then brown, and black. Her tail was all black.
"Okay," Batman went on, leaving it open that he didn't quite understand Bruce's meaning.
"Black – for a panther. Orange and yellow for the tiger and cheetah. White for a snow leopard, and brown for just about every other cat in the world. Understand now?" Bruce didn't wait for an answer, but went on. "Panthers are very good stalkers and climbers. The tiger is the most powerful, and the cheetah is the fastest. The agility comes from all the cats, and I'm guessing, mostly from the brown part of her."
"You don't know what kind of cat is the brown?"
"No, I don't. It might be some kind of genetically enhanced cat, probably from a leopard or something to that effect. It might even me a wolf or something, just to add diversity to the mix." He turned to Batman. "She's been made to be the perfect cat, so watch out."
"Alright," Batman replied, slightly annoyed. He'd already gathered that he should be careful – he was Batman; he's always careful. "I'm going. When did this come in?"
"Yesterday, at about one in the morning."
"So she's nocturnal," he observed. "My type of girl," he added as he left in the Batmobile.