"Gotham? Where is that?" I asked again.
"We're in the states, Mel." Now I was really confused. There was no city called Gotham in the states that I was aware of.
"What the hell did Thanos do?" I muttered under my breath. I felt my suit retract back to the left bracelet on my wrist. I'm in unknown territory and walking around as Voltess would freak people out.
I still had on the clothing I had from the beginning of the day. Who would have thought this is what happened in less than twenty-four hours.
I headed for the end of the alleyway. I had to find out where exactly Gotham was at and how to get back to the others. Wherever Thanos had sent me it definitely wasn't a nice city.
Hardly any street lights were actually working. The apartments looked completely run down and not to mention the smell of sewage lightly lingered in the air. I know every city has its bad side of town but damn…this is bad.
I had no idea where I was going at this point. I felt like I was wandering around aimlessly. I noticed three men across the street from me. From the looks of them they looked like your classic thugs. I didn't pay any attention to them and kept walking.
My eyes darted to barely look over my shoulder as I heard rushing footsteps. The three men had apparently seen me and were heading straight towards me.
"Hey sweetheart. Why are you out so late?" One of the men questioned.
I rolled my eyes and ignored them and continued walking. These idiots had no idea who they were messing with.
"Hey dollface! We're talking to you!" Another one shouted. I smirked at hearing the rise I was getting from them.
I continued to ignore them. Showing them they weren't phasing me one bit.
"Hey bitch!" I snapped as soon I felt a hand on my shoulder. I grabbed his wrist and bent it at an awkward angle. I slammed the thug into the brick wall adjacent to me and twisted his arm behind his back. I kicked his leg out from under him and slammed his head into the brick wall. I threw his body at one of the other thugs that came charging at me.
The guy charging me wasn't expecting his buddy to be thrown at him. He fell to the floor knockout after the back of his head hit the sidewalk. The last guy pulled out a knife.
"You're dead, bitch." He announced.
"Funny, I don't feel dead." I quipped back at him. He charged at me with the knife in hand.
I quickly caught him by his wrist and used my other hand to jab into his wrist. The impact caused him to lose his grip on the knife and it fell harmlessly to the ground. Once he was disarmed I quickly brought up my knee into his gut to make him step back. I then swung my leg at him and I felt my foot make contact with his jaw. He slumped down onto the floor with the rest of his unconscious buddies.
I let out deep breaths and still had my guard up. The adrenaline is still pumping in my veins. I felt a presence behind me. My jaw muscles clenched feeling the threat behind me.
I spun around and threw a punch expecting it to be another thug. A gloved hand skillfully stopped my punch by gripping it in his hand. I stood there stunned seeing a dark figure standing there. The guy was big as in muscles and height. He had a cowl covering his head that had two pointed ends, he wore gray and black with a cape and a bat symbol on his chest. He resembles a bat in a way.
This guy is clearly a hero of some sort. Only people like him and I were dressed like this. Secret identity and all.
"Are you alright?" A very low robotic voice came from him. A voice synthesizer huh?
Seeing the man dressed like a bat wasn't a threat, I slowly retracted my arm.
"I'm fine. I can handle myself in a fight." I answered. His eyes glanced at the knocked out thugs behind me. I saw the corner of his lip lift up in a smirk.
"I can see that. What are you doing walking around this late? It's not safe." The man spoke again.
I narrowed my eyes at him, "Look pal, it's none of your business what I'm doing. As I said before, I can handle myself." I went to walk past him and I felt him grab my wrist.
I stopped and looked back at him dangerously. I had to hold back the sparks from showing on my hand.
"Let. Go." I said dangerously. This guy seemed genuinely surprised at my attitude towards him. It's almost like he was expecting me to be more fearful of him.
"At least let me get you home." He spoke up. Speaking of home, where was I going to stay?
I ripped my arm out of his grip, "I can walk home just fine. Take a hint and leave me alone." I lied to him. I had no idea where I was going. I most certainly did not have a home here.
I stormed off and I half-expected him to start following me. I looked over my shoulder and saw that he was now gone. Who the hell was that guy? Whoever he was, he was clearly highly trained in close quarter combat. He blocked my punch like it was nothing.
No One's P.O.V
The Batman watched from the building above as the blonde woman made her way down the street. She was an interesting one, he'll give her that. He had been watching her walk alone for a while. When he noticed the three men going after her, he was ready to glide down and deal with them himself.
What he didn't expect was how she fought back. She skillfully and swiftly took down each of the men. He was so stunned that he didn't move from his spot on the roof until after she kicked the last guy in the jaw. Her reflexes were also sharp. She instantly detected him behind her when he had just landed. There was a lot of weight thrown into the punch that he caught. If he didn't manage to catch it in time with his own reflexes he was sure that it would have dazed him.
The woman didn't seem to be that threatening from afar. Her build was small but clearly athletic and she seemed to stand at 5'6". She also seems to talk to him as if she had never heard of Batman before. It wasn't long in the conversation when he deduced that she had no clue who he was.
She showed no fear in her eyes when meeting him when other people easily cowered at the mere sight of him.
"Master Wayne, gun shots have been reported on the east side." The voice of Alfred broke him out of his thoughts. Batman or more known as Bruce Wayne sighed seeing as the strange blonde woman took a corner and was now out of sight. He wanted to follow her. He not only wanted to make sure she was safe getting home but this woman was a complete mystery to him. He wanted to know more.
"Master Wayne?" Alfred repeated in his ear.
"East. Got it." He said gruffly before jumping off the building and gliding in the direction.
Melody's P.O.V
Night had finally passed and the sun was now shining overhead. I didn't sleep at all nor would I be able to find a place. Considering I had no money on me to get a hotel. I did find more things out as I explored the heart of the city now.
Apparently, Stark Industries doesn't exist here but Wayne Enterprises does. Clearly, wherever Thanos sent me was a completely different world. Maybe even a different universe entirely. I saw news tabloids everywhere talking about a "Bruce Wayne". From what it described, it sounded like this city's version of Tony Stark. A classic playboy, billionaire, philanthropist. Speaking of Tony, I wonder how he's doing. He went up to space and I never found out if he was still alive. He better be otherwise I'd probably send him six feet under myself.
I walked into the public library and headed for one of the public computers. I went to the one that was the furthest in the corner. If I wanted to figure out a way to get back home, I needed to blend in. Which meant, getting a job but I doubt this world has my degrees from MIT.
I waited until the person using the computer in the back section got up and left. I looked around to make sure no one was watching. I leaned down and touched the computer tower below me. Instantly, I bypassed the firewall and all security protocols for the library computer.
I pulled up MIT's website and began to go to work to add my student profile. I didn't count this as forgery, merely just copying what I had done already. I legitimately got these two degrees in my world. This was the easy bit. The hard bit was creating a social security card and birth certificate. I'd be making entirely new ones, I wouldn't be stealing someone else's identity. Too bad they won't have an IP address to track considering my powers made that hard to do so.
Once that was all done, I pulled up Linkedin and posted my profile. I attached my resume and kept Stark Industries as my past work experience. I could tell anyone that it was a small business and they'd believe it. Now I just needed to wait.
No One's P.O.V
Lucius Fox sat at his desk while Bruce Wayne was in his office having a conversation. A knock sounded at the door.
"Come in." Lucius answered. A man in a suit and tie walked in with files in hand.
"Here are the latest potential hires, sir." The man said and set the files on his desk.
"Thank you, Joseph." The man nodded and made his exit and closed the door behind him.
"New hires?" Bruce asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Considering I can't be CEO and Head of the Technology Department, it's only right." Lucius stated matter of factly.
Bruce walked over and briefly glanced at the files. "Whoever it's going to be will have some big shoes to fill in." Bruce commented with a smirk.
Lucius picked up a random file and caused some of the files to splay out. Bruce looked at them with no particular interest until his eyes landed on a profile picture. He froze seeing the picture of the blonde woman he met last night as Batman.
"Mr. Fox," Lucius looked over at him, "I highly suggest you look into her file." He pulled out the woman's file and handed it to him.
Lucius frowned but took it, "Why this one?" He asked as he looked at the woman's profile.
"I met her last night as Batman." Lucius raised his brows at this.
"This is the woman you told me about earlier. The one that tried to punch Batman?" Lucius asked amused.
"A highly skilled and trained fighter, Mr. Fox." He reminded him.
"Let's see here," Lucius said as he skimmed the page, "Melody Moser graduated from MIT in masters of Technology Engineering and Meteorology. She has a genius IQ level of 178. Her previous job was the Head of Technology at a business called Stark Industries." He read off.
Hearing this just made Bruce want to know more about this woman. She could fight and had a genius level IQ? This Melody Moser wasn't too keen on Batman but maybe he could get more out of her as Bruce Wayne.
"Mr. Fox." Bruce said out loud.
"I'll send her a message on the website. She didn't list a phone number to contact." Lucius stated.
Melody's P.O.V
I drummed my fingers on the desk of the library. I let out a huff as I leaned my hand on my cheek. What am I still doing here? Did I really think I'd get a response from my profile only hours after uploading it.
"Get a grip, Mel." I muttered under my breath. I put my hand on the mouse and went to close out the tabs when I message ping on the profile.
I frowned and pulled up the message. My eyes widened seeing the company name that responded.
"Wayne Enterprises." I read outloud in a soft voice. I read the attached message.
Good morning Miss Moser,
My name is Lucius Fox and I am the CEO of Wayne Enterprises. Your profile landed on my desk this morning as a potential candidate for our Head of Technology position. I am reaching out to you to possibly schedule an interview? I don't see a phone number listed on your profile. Please reach back out to me using the messenger application on the website. I look forward to hearing from you.
Lucius Fox
CEO Wayne Enterprises
My jaw hung open reading the email. How did I get a CEO's attention? Not only that but the CEO of Wayne Enterprises?! I was more expecting a news station to reach out to me to report on the weather. Not another Head of Technology position like I had with Stark Industries.
I shook my head out of my daze and quickly typed in a response.
Mr. Fox,
Thank you for your response. I would love to set up an interview. I can do any time or day for the interview.
Melody Moser
No One's P.O.V
Lucius laptop pinged as he got a message back on the website. "What'd she say?" Bruce asked.
Lucius read off the response, "She wants to set up an interview." He stated.
"See if she can do it today." Lucius gave an incredulous look to the billionaire.
"Today? Are you in that much of a rush to meet this woman? What exactly did she do to get your attention, Mr. Wayne?" Lucius asked.
"I can't explain it, Mr. Fox. There's something about her. She was hiding something when she met Batman. It's a gut feeling I have." Lucius gave out a sigh and typed up a response.
Melody's P.O.V
"Today?!" I shouted in surprise. I cringed as several people shushed me around the library.
How the hell would I find the appropriate attire for a job interview in just hours notice? I don't exactly have any money on me right now. I rubbed my face with my hands. I did a double take of the clothes I was wearing. Jeans and a v-neck were not considered business attire. I could wear this when working with Tony because he had never given a rat's ass about dress code before.
I bit the tip of my thumb as my brain wracked around ideas. The only one that came to mind that I hated was to siphon money into a fake bank account for the time being. I could do it, but it was essentially stealing. That went against my morals completely.
I let out a sigh, "Screw it." I muttered and typed a reply to Mr. Fox. I'd see him within the hour. I'd go as I was dressed now. It was just a job interview. If I didn't get this one, there were others out there.
I pulled up directions to Wayne Enterprises and printed them out before finally walking out of the library.
Melody meets The Dark Knight himself, Batman. In classic fashion it's because of some thugs at night trying to harass her. Except, Melody is no damsel in distress. I've been reading a lot of BatmanXOC fanfics lately and all of them are the same. The OC tends to be a weak female that can't fight back even if they tried and some (not all) eventually get trained by Batman in some way but don't really partner up. So in my fanfic, they start off as partners.