Hello again readers, I've been absent for a while, but I'm back and have a new story to tell. This one's been sitting on the shelf for a while, so I thought, why not get it out there. So this story takes place in the world of "Justice League: Gods and Monsters ", which features a dark, alternate take on the DC Trinity. I was thinking about the movie's version of Batman (Kirk Langstrom) and then I thought of Barbara Gordon who is Batgirl and wondered what this world's version of the character would be like, and that's where this story comes in. This will basically be my take on Barbara in this universe and her origins. Anyway, I hope you guys like it.
(Warning: the story will contain some blood here and there, obviously)
It was a dark and cold evening in Gotham City; most of its citizens were off in their own homes or minding their own business. Everyone was doing fine, except for a few. In a more worn-down part of the city, a lone figure was walking down the streets, arms held together trying to stay warm. The figure was a young girl, late teens, who had a slender figure, fair skin, and short red hair and reached down to her shoulders. She was wearing a thin coat over a black T-shirt, blue jeans, and two black shoes that looked a little worn out.
This young girl, named Barbara, was used to this area because it was the one place that she had to live in for the past four years. When she was just 8 years old, her father, Police Detective James Gordon, was shot in the line of duty when trying to stop a criminal from getting away. Since she had no other family to go to, she was sent to an orphanage that was just outside of Metropolis. However, it wasn't as comforting or cozy as she thought it was, at the people that worked there didn't take too kindly to the children.
So when she turned 13, after living in the orphanage for five years and not being adopted, she snuck out in the middle of the night with very few belongings that she had and ran away from the orphanage, where she hitchhiked down the highway until she reached Gotham City. Since she didn't want to be found by authorities and taken back to another orphanage, she chose to live in the poorer and more run-down district of Gotham where she lived in buildings that were abandoned.
Every day she lived in bad conditions, she had very little money, clothes that were used and had seen better days, and took food when she needed it. She was aware of the criminal activity that plagued the city, and after witnessing many horrible crimes on the streets, she felt that there was no hope left for the city.
Then, just a year ago, she began to hear about the dark vigilante known as Batman, who was one of the members of an alleged terrorist group known as the Justice League that enforces the Earth. She heard that he preyed on his victims like a vampire, biting their necks and draining them of their blood. Many people saw him as a criminal and a monster, but Barbara saw something different in him. She felt that he gave criminals something to be afraid of, and despite his brutal tactics, gave the people of Gotham someone to watch over and protect them.
At the moment, she was just walking back home to her apartment with a few pieces of leftover food that she found in a nearby dumpster. It wasn't the cleanest thing to do, but she had no other choice since she didn't have a job. She passed by a gang of six men that stood by a car that was just talking. One of the guys spotted her, but Barbara paid no attention to them and just kept walking down the street.
"Hey you, little girl." said the man that walked up to her.
Barbara still didn't look at him, but the man grabbed her by the shoulder, causing her to turn around. Upon looking at him, she could see that the man was in his mid-thirties; he had a loose leather jacket, dark hair, and had some stubble on his chin.
"What's a pretty little thing like you doing out here?" when he spoke to her, his breath reeked of alcohol and cigarettes.
"Nothing" Barbara said quietly "I'm just going home"
"Won't your parents be worried?" the guy asked in a smooth-talking manner "my boys and I can give you a lift if you want."
Barbara knew what he was going for, and she didn't want to be reeled into whatever he was setting up.
"I think I'll be fine," said Barbara "besides, I've learned to never talk to strangers."
"The names Tommy Elliot sweet cheeks," the guy was now starting to make advances towards her "So what do you say? It's freezing out, and it'll just be one quick ride." Barbara was starting to get a little irritated and scarred
"Leave me alone," Barbara said as she just turned away and try to keep walking. The guy, Tommy, was starting to get impatient.
"Hey, I'm asking politely," said Tommy "don't be rude to somebody like that."
"I said leave me alone," said Barbara, speaking a little louder as she started to pick up her pace and walk a little faster.
"Don't walk away from me," Tommy said as he then grabbed her arm and yanked her towards him "I'm talking to you."
At that moment, Barbara didn't hesitate and hit Tommy right in the face with the piece of food that she had, causing him to stagger off balance. Knowing that she got in too deep now, Barbara just ran as fast as she could down the streets, hoping to evade her pursuers. Unfortunately, Tommy and his gang were faster, and one of them grabbed Barbara around the waist and held her tight so she couldn't escape.
Barbara squirmed and thrashed about; trying to get free and keep running, but the guy holding her was a lot stronger than she was. Before she knew it, she was being carried down to a nearby alley that was dark and dirty. The man holding Barbara stopped at the edge of the alleyway and Tommy walked up to her and faced her while the rest of the gang stood behind him.
"You shouldn't have run off like that," Tommy said with irritation "Now I'm going to have to teach you a little lesson."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a knife. Barbara thrashed and screamed as the man grabbed her face and pulled the knife against her throat. Just as he was about to do something with the knife, a swift sound was heard.
"Did you hear that?" one of the gang members asked his buddies.
The rest of the gang didn't notice at first, but after a few seconds, they all started to get the feeling that someone else was here. Tommy looked at his boys, and the three of them slowly pulled out guns that they had hidden in their coats. They slowly looked around to see who was there, but there didn't seem to be anyone.
"I don't see anybody," one gang member said out loud.
Merely seconds after he said that, something lunged at him and lunged its arm straight through its chest before it ran into hiding, all while the rest of the gang were shooting wildly at whoever it was that killed one of their own. They ceased firing and looked around, all of them starting to get scared.
"Who's there?" Tommy shouted, a little shaky after what he and his buddies just witnessed "Where are you!?" he quickly turned around and was met with a sight that sent chills down his spine.
Before he stood a tall, dark figure, which had pale white skin, but the rest of his features were hidden behind a mask that covered his head, with two pointed tips shaped like bat ears on the top, and red goggles that covered his eyes. He wore a black jumpsuit with white in the middle and looked down on the criminals before him.
Tommy quickly raised his gun to shoot, but Batman was quicker and kicked him in the stomach, sending him flying towards the brick wall, hitting it and falling to the ground. The other gang members saw what Batman did and raised their guns before they opened fire. The dark knight quickly dodged the gunshots and one by one, attacked each gang member. One of them he knocked to the ground, another gang member had his neck snapped, and as predicted, he bit down onto the neck of another gang member.
As he kept fighting, Barbara watched him in shock and amazement. It was slightly disturbing to see how he took care of each crook, but seeing that he came to her need and that he would even bother to help someone like her, gave her hope. Little did she know, Tommy was recovering from the hit he took and he was slowly getting back up on his feet. After Batman dropped his next victim to the ground, Tommy was coming up to him from behind.
Then, Barbara felt something inside of her that slowly began to grow. Ever since she first came into Gotham, she didn't feel like doing much to help those in need, and just wanted to get on with her life. Now, she felt a sense that she wanted to make a difference, seeing Batman in action gave her a sense that she wanted to do something good for the world and that she can face the criminal scum. Batman came in to protect her, now it was time for her to return the favor.
Barbara picked up an empty bottle on the ground and threw the bottle straight at Tommy's face. It shattered upon impact, and Tommy touched his face to feel a few cuts here and there. He looked at Barbara, and knowing that she shouldn't have messed with him, grabbed her by the hair before she could escape, and lunged the crowbar in his hand straight through her back
Batman stopped and looked to see that Tommy had stabbed the young girl in the chest with the crowbar. Barbara stood with her eyes wide, looking down on where the crowbar had stabbed her. The metal tip was sticking out of her chest, with fresh blood pouring out of the wound. Blood began dripping from her mouth, and Tommy pulled the crowbar out of her chest, and Barbara's body slumped to the cold, hard ground, with the young girl clutching her wounds as she choked on her own blood.
Batman stood up, looking straight at Tommy, who still had the bloody crowbar in his hands, and was holding it up in defense. They both knew how this would end and not wanting to face Batman now that he was back on his feet, Tommy dropped the crowbar and ran, leaving Batman to stand among Tommy's fallen gang, who were either dead or injured.
The sound of chocking caught Batman's attention and he turned around to see Barbara who was dying right in front of him. Batman walked over to the girl, who looked up to him as she clutched her bloody wound with one hand, and knelt down beside her. Barbara could feel the blood loss and saw dark spots in her vision, but she could clearly see Batman in front of her and with little strength, she had left, she wanted to say something to him before her life left her body.
"You saved me," Barbara said to Batman, quiet as a whisper but loud enough to hear. "Thank you."
In a few moments, Barbara's body went limp, and she lied dead on the pavement. Batman looked down on her, knowing that this girl, who he was too late to save, had just risked her life to save his, which is something that not everyone had done for him. Unknown to Barbara, Batman had been watching her, seeing how she struggled to survive without anyone to look after her, and it made him feel sympathy for her.
Seeing her without a family reminded him of how his condition ruined his chance at having a family of his own with Tina. This young girl before him was so young and full of life, and even though she didn't have much to live for, he could have saved her. Then, a thought came to his mind. With all the equipment he had, maybe he could save her. He knew that what he would do would change the girl and that her life would never be normal again, but he didn't want to see her
"You don't have to thank me yet," Batman said to Barbara's body.
He picked up Barbara's body from the ground, cradled it in his arms, and then jumped up to the rooftops and ran across them, making his way towards his hideout
Barbara's eyes slowly began to open, taking in the dim light that was above her. At first, she thought she was in heaven or had joined the afterlife. When her vision cleared up a little, she saw that it was from a ceiling light, shining down as she was lying on an operating table.
As the rest of her body awakened, Barbara noticed that she felt strange and weird. Her body felt much stronger than it was before. Her throat felt a little dry as if she hadn't drunk anything in a while. She lifted her hand to shade her eyes from the light above, and when she did, she saw that her skin was now pale white. Curious, she touched her skin, which felt icy and cold, as if she was touching a dead body. Finally, a thought came to her, and she moved her finger to her teeth. She moved the tip of her finger down until she felt two sharp, pointed teeth.
Shocked by this discovery quickly remembered her being saved from a group of criminals by Batman before she got in the criminal's way and ended up with a knife in her chest. The last thing she could recall was thanking Batman for coming to her aid and then blacking out. Barbara began to sit up from her position, seeing that her body was covered in a hospital robe, and took in her surroundings. She was in what looked like a laboratory, her bed appearing to be right in the middle of it, next to a glass chamber that held a rack of small vials. Around her, there was a fair amount of laboratory glassware placed on the desks surrounding the lab. A few laptops were visible, along with a fireplace with a flat-screen TV above it, and shelves that were filled with books, papers, and a few more glass containers.
Amazingly she could smell the contents of the glasses, even though they were far away from where she was. She moved her legs out from the bed and stepped onto the ground, and felt the hard ground touch her feet. Her legs wobbled a bit, and Barbara caught the bed to balance herself.
"Looks like it worked," a voice said from beside her. Barbara turned around to see where the voice was coming from.
Before her, stood a man, appearing to be in his early-to-mid-twenties, with pale skin, red eyes, and neck length black hair. He wore a uniform that she immediately recognized, even if he wasn't wearing the mask.
"Batman," said Barbara "It's you isn't it?"
"Yes," he said, "It is." He walked down to the nearest desk and picked up a small glass containing a red liquid that he handed to her "Drink this." Barbara was hesitant at first, but took the vial from his hand and slowly drank what was in it. "I'm surprised that the procedure was successful." Barbara finished the glass before she answered.
"What is this stuff?" she asked him. The liquid she drank felt like blood, but it somehow tasted sweet and juicy.
"Synthetic plasmid" Batman answered, "There was a good chance you would be a little thirsty when you woke up so this will help ease you into your transition." Barbara was still curious about all of this and wanted answers.
"What do you mean 'transition'?" Barbara asked him "How am I even here. I remember being stabbed by that dick."
"You were stabbed." Batman replied "I took your body back to my lab and did some work on you. I did a little surgery on your body to seal up the wounds, and then I pumped a serum made from the anti-coagulant properties of the saliva of a vampire bat combined with nanotech into your body. I had to use defibrillators afterward in order to restart your body."
As Batman explained this to her, Barbara slowly began to put the pieces together.
"So, you saved me?" asked Barbara, to which Batman nodded in response. "This means that I'm…"
"Like me, yes" Batman replied. He didn't want to frighten her with the word 'vampire', but she knew what she now was anyway "You sacrificed your life for me, so I decided to return the favor."
"But why?" Barbara asked him. Batman took a deep breath before he continued.
"I've been watching you for a while now," he said to her "I saw how you lived, alone, no home, no friends or family to care for you. I never had the chance for a family"
It pained Barbara to hear this, and she realized that he was just like her in many ways, he was isolated and alone, with almost no one there to look out for him, besides his friends in the Justice League. She couldn't help but feel sorry for him, but she felt glad that he wanted to look after her, and was willing to revive her as a vampire in order to save her life. As far as she was concerned, she now had somebody to look out for her, and someone for her to look out for as well.
"Then it looks like we both have something in common." Said Barbara, who then looked down at her pale hands and at the rest of her body "It feels so… strange," she moved her hands along her arms "My body feels cold but stronger. I can hear things coming from miles away, and see things that I don't think I could see."
"I know," said Batman; he knew that Barbara was still getting used to her new form "I felt the same way when I first received my condition, and I was so desperate in finding a cure, but I never found it."
Barbara had a look of pity on her face, understanding how he at first saw this as a curse.
"Over time though, I was able to control my abilities, adapt to my new senses and strength, and use it to my advantage." He continued "Unlike you, however, you'll have someone that can help you, train you to use it. It will be a long and hard process, but I will be with you every step of the way."
Barbara listened to everything that he said to her, and inside, she found herself thinking about it all. She had died in that ally trying to defend someone, and before that, she didn't think she had any purpose in this cruel world. Now, she found herself 'reborn' in a way, becoming something that wasn't human, which might as well be what she was meant to become. Her new form actually felt a little good, being a lot faster and stronger. With a new sense of confidence, the girl then turned over to Batman.
"I'm in," Barbara said with a confident smile.
Then, another thought came to her. Now that she was going to be with him for a while, she might as well get to know him more
"So, is there someone else under that mask?" she asked, "I mean, what else do I call you besides Batman?"
Batman knew what she was thinking, and removed the mask to reveal a young man with shoulder-length black hair.
"Kurt," the man answered to her "My name is Kurt Langstrom."
Sometime later, a ship pulled into Gotham harbor in the middle of the night. Although the docks were closed at late night hours, a group of people were down on the docks, waiting for the ships arrival. The gang stood by their cars and waited as the ship docked in the bay, and the ships doors opened. Several crates were being unloaded from the ship, and the gang members looked into the crate to reveal an array of military grade weapons.
"Looks like we hit the jackpot this time eh Tommy?" one of the gang members asked another member, who looked back at the others.
"As long as they give us what we want, we're all good." Tommy said with a smirk.
The gang continued to collect the weapons out of the crates, as the benefactor of the trade exited the ship and walked down to meet with them. The benefactor was a Japanese woman, well in her thirties, dressed in a well-groomed business suit with a few guards flanking her.
"Well, it's good to know one of my boys could afford this Tatsu" Tommy said with a smirk.
"Business as usual," Tatsu simply replied, "I have the weapons, the question is do you have something for me in return?" Tommy nodded and called one of his lackey's over. The man carried a bag that was filled to the brim with money.
"It's all there," Tommy said to Tatsu "enough for you to go home happy, and then some."
Before the deal could continue, however, a loud screaming noise was heard, followed by a body being thrown from the shadows. Tommy's goons and
"What was that?" one of the goons shouted.
"Shit, they found us!" another one shouted. The goons and Tatsu's body guards raised their weapons, and Tatsu moved her hand towards. A few minutes later, Batman leapt out of the shadows and swiftly took down another goon. Soon, the whole dock erupted into chaos as Batman fought the goons, with Tatsu's guards standing their ground in case the Bat came for them and their boss.
"Not this again." Tommy muttered to himself in fear.
He had encountered Batman once, and he didn't want to do it again. So he reached for a rifle that was in the crate, and started to run towards the farther side of the dock, far away from the fight as he could, not caring what happens to everyone else.
His heart was racing as he stopped next to one of the many rows of containers. He didn't know how Batman had found out where the deal was taking place, but as long as he was far away from him as possible, he knew he was safe. Then, just as his breath had caught up with him, he heard something move around him. He turned to see nothing in front of him, until he heard movement again, this time sounding like it was getting closer. He lifted his weapon, cocked it, and aimed the weapon anywhere that the sound may have come from.
"Where are you?!" Tommy shouted, trying to mask the fear that was consuming him "Come out and face me!"
A few seconds later, Tommy felt something hit him so hard that his back hit the wall, and he could see who it was. In front of him, was a woman, with pale white skin, in a black and yellow jump suit, heeled boots, and a black mask with red visors in the eye holes, and a hole at the back for her bright red hair flowing out. Something about her seemed familiar to Tommy, but that wasn't important to him at the moment.
"Well, if you want to fight me, here I am." the girl said with a dark glare.
Tommy fired his weapon, but the girl quickly dodged the bullets, and knocked the gun right out of his hands. With no weapon, Tommy threw a few punches, but the girl blocked them and threw a few more back. The criminal was easily overwhelmed as the girl kept throwing more and more attacks at him, the precision and speed clearly meant the girl was a trained fighter.
In a matter of seconds, Tommy was feeling bruised and battered, and the girl delivered one more kick that sent him flying to the ground. The girl smiled as he walked over to the fallen criminal, who was still in pain from the beating that he took.
"You think you could outrun the Bat and I?" the girl asked him "I knew you would turn up again sooner or later.
"Who are you?" Tommy croaked.
She knew that he was confused, and since she had finally found him, she decided that now was the time. She reached up to her mask, and slowly as the attached piece slipped down to the side, Tommy looked at her in shock. It was the face of the girl that he stabbed in the alleyway some time ago. His spine started to tingle, and from the girl's perspective, he looked like he was staring right at a ghost.
"W-w-w-what the hell?" Tommy stuttered in his question.
"Don't worry; I've learned my lesson, like you said." She said, "Now, I suppose it's time you learned yours."
Barbara smiled in satisfaction, showing her teeth and revealing her two fangs. Tommy's eyes were wide with terror, and started to back away.
"N-no, please, PLEASE!" Tommy begged.
In an instant, Barbara lunged straight at Tommy, and he screamed.
Well, that's the end of the short, and just so you know, the Tommy in this story is in fact an alternate version of Tomas Elliot (Hush). Meanwhile, Tatsu is an alternate version of her comic's counterpart Katana, whom I imagined as a Yakuza crime boss. I know it's short, but I thought that this story would work a little better as a one-shot. I hope you guys liked it. TBH, I haven't written much in a while, so hopefully this will be my first step towards getting back into writing more fan fiction again. Until next time, this is Superfan44, goodnight, and good luck.