Raven
It's warmer in Richard's box fort than it is outside, but it's still cold. Garfield turns into a bear and we curl up next to him burrowing in his fur for warmth. Richard insists he's not that cold and lets me have Garfield's jacket, even though he's shivering just as much as I am. Eventually we fall asleep.
"If you guys are coming with me, get up," Richard shakes my shoulder and then taps on Garfield's nose. I sit up while he gather's Garfield's clothes. I hand him the jacket. Garfield turns into a cat and stretches before slipping out of the box shelter to change. Richard throws his clothes through the makeshift door.
"Thanks," Garfield says, but he sounds like he means it sarcastically. Richard goes to his backpack and pulls out a bottle of water and a couple granola bars that he probably stole from the kitchen.
"Here." He passes me the water and I take a sip before handing it back. He takes a sip and puts it down before handing me a granola bar. Garfield comes back in and he passes him a granola bar too.
"So, what's the plan?" Garfield asks.
"We have to head across town." Richard pulls a map out of his backpack and puts it on the floor. He points to an area near the upper middle of the map. "We have less than seven hours to get there."
"..." It's still hard to believe we're on our way to kill someone. Maybe he'll change his mind on the way there... I know he's upset, I can feel his pain, but is this justice? This person took two lives, but they only have one to give themselves... It won't bring his parents back even if this man dies. Why didn't the police arrest him and put him in jail?
"We're here." He moves his finger towards the bottom of the map. "This is where we're going."
"Is that where the man is?" Garfield asks. Richard nods and rolls up the map.
"How are we getting there?" I hope we're not walking the whole way. Richard frowns and digs in his bag. He pulls out a black bi-fold wallet. We watch him open it and pull out two green bills with ones on them. I don't know much about money, but I know that's not a lot.
"We don't have enough money for the bus or subway, so we need to get some cash first. Walking will take too long." He puts the money back and packs up his backpack again.
"How will we get money?" Garfield asks.
"I don't know. We'll figure it out on the way." We finish eating the granola bars and then head out. Even though the sun is up, the warehouse is still dark inside. There are more people here than there were when we entered this morning. If not for the faint rise and fall of their chests, they could be dead. They don't stir even a little as we pass them.
Outside is noisy and loud. It takes a minute for my ears to get used to the sounds of the thousands of cars on the roads, the wind blowing trash down the street and the bustle of people walking by. Garfield grabs onto both of us, looping his arm through ours and I'm grateful. It feels easy to get lost out here. If we got lost, would we just disappear into the chaos?
Richard walks like he knows exactly where he's going, even though the streets here are like a maze. There are tiny alleyways, narrow side streets where even cars can't go down and too many buildings, with too many people. We end up near a staircase that takes us to a lower level. Once we're down the stairs we get to a wall of machines with half doors. People tap their cards and the little doors open to let them through.
"Garfield, can you turn into a bird and distract the security guard?" Richard glances at a man in a tan uniform who's looking at his phone.
"Isn't there another way?" Garfield asks. Richard narrows his eyes.
"I have enough money for one ride by myself." Richard says. "You guys wanted to come." Garfield lets go of Richard and we follow him to the corner. He transforms and Richard picks up his clothes. We hear the security guard yell. Richard starts running, so I follow. He hops over the little gates. I go under. He sprints a little farther away and then stops, waiting for Garfield. Garfield flies towards us and we keep walking. We pass a bathroom sign and Richard and Garfield go into the bathroom. When they come out Garfield is human and changed again. Richard leads the way and we end up standing on a subway platform.
"Next time you can be the distraction," Garfield mumbles.
"Fair enough." A train comes and when the doors open, we get on. It's busy, bustling with people. The platform was cold, but inside is too warm. The air is stagnant with the faint smell of pee and body odor. There are no seats open so we stand, holding onto silver poles for support.
"When do we get off?" I don't know how long I can stand this. Being this close to so many people in a confined space makes it hard to shield. Plus, every time the train stops, I nearly fall. Richard looks at the map above the door.
"Five more stops," he says. Every time we stop, I remind myself that we're getting closer to getting off. At the fifth stop Richard grabs Garfield and I by the scruff of our jacket sleeves and we hop off the train. We head up to the surface again. Even though we traveled so far, the city looks pretty much the same. We walk for a while, but after a bit my legs are tired. Garfield looks tired too and so does Richard. We start walking by a rundown park. It's not great, the playground is rusty with sun-faded paint and sidewalks are icy with snow, but there are benches.
"Can we stop somewhere?" Garfield asks. "Take a break?" Richard looks at his watch and sighs. "Just for a minute."
"Thanks." Richard stops and looks at the park. "You guys wait on the bench. I'll be right back."
"Remember your promise," Garfield warns him. Richard nods.
"I'm gonna go get us a snack." he points to a small shop on the corner. We brush the snow off the bench and sit down.
"How much farther do you think it is?" I ask. Garfield shrugs.
"I don't know." Garfield swings his legs back and forth on the bench, as if he's on a swing. "I don't mind the walking or the cold. I'm more worried about what happens when we get there." I nod, because I'm worried too. If Richard feels like he has to do this, we have to help him, but it doesn't mean that I want to...
"If you could kill the person who killed your parents, would you try?" He pauses and then looks at me before nodding.
"I think I would do the same thing." Garfield looks away. "What about you?"
"What about me?" I ask.
"If someone killed your parents, would you want to kill them?" I shake my head.
"...My father hurt my mother." The words "father" and "mother" feel foreign as they roll off my tongue, but it's the only way he'll understand who I'm talking about. "If I could stop him from hurting anyone ever again, I would." Death isn't a solution for him though. Evil doesn't die. He puts a hand on my shoulder.
"I'm sorry." He leaves his hand there for a minute. "After this, we'll have to come up with a plan..."
"A plan for what?" I ask.
"We can't go back. Not after this, so we'll have to do something... Maybe we can get out of Gotham. Nothing good ever happens here anyway." What about the Daytons? I don't think he'll like it if I ask that though.
Richard comes back. When he opens his backpack, he gives us each a bottle of water, a candy bar and he open up two packs of hand warmers that we shake up.
"This cost way more than two dollars," Garfield says.
"Don't worry about it." Richard hands him another candy bar. "We can only stay here a couple more minutes. Then we have to go. We don't have enough money for bus fare and it's going to take us a while to walk the rest of the way. We can stop in a shop or something to warm-up halfway there." I hate that we're walking, but Garfield is right. Once we get there, the hard things start. The walking will feel like nothing.
We do keep walking and we share the hand warmers. They stay heated for a long time, but eventually fizzle out. When our legs are starting to feel numb, we stop in a coffee shop and Richard asks them for warm water. They don't want to give it to him, but they do. We sit at the table and sip on hot water for a few minutes before Richard says to go. He points to one of the women on the phone, watching us carefully.
Eventually after night falls, we get to the place where the man Richard wants to kill is. It's an abandoned warehouse. We get to a chain link fence and he pauses.
"You can come in with me, but stay out of it." We nod that we will respect his wishes. I'm glad he doesn't try to make us stay out here though. If he needs our help, I want to be there. We climb the fence, which is easier for them, than it is for me, but I make it over. Then we walk up to the side of the building and find the fire escape. Richard goes up first and then us. We climb all the way to the roof. According to Richard there are three floors. The meeting is on the second floor.
Once we're on the roof we take the stairs down into the building. The third floor is more like a catwalk that gives access to machinery to lift heavy crates and boxes on the second floor, which is visible below. There's a rail around the entire floor that looks down into the second floor. Richard stops at one part and lays on the floor, so we follow suit. He puts a finger to his lips signaling for us to be quiet. He looks at his watch and we wait.
Five men walk in. They all have on black suits and from this height it's hard to notice anything special about any of them. They all have dark hair and pale peachy skin similar to Richard's. Richard seems locked onto one of them though. He has a brief case.
"How are things progressing?" The briefcase man speaks.
"Things should be finished by the end of the week, boss." One of the men says.
"Good job, boys." The briefcase man says. "Now, we just have to wait for our guests to show up." The men all turn and look around.
"We got guards posted at all the doors looking for em' and batman, just in case he tries to interfere." The briefcase man pats the man who spoke on the shoulder.
"Good, good." Another man runs up the stairs.
"They're here." That man says. Another man with a briefcase walks up the steps with his own group of thugs following behind. They talk for a few minutes in hushed voices and then trade brief cases. They each open them. The new man's briefcase has guns. The other one, that Richard is interested in has cash. The man who apparently just bought a bunch of guns, leaves with his group of thugs. The other men start counting the cash. Richard waits a few minutes and then surprises Garfield and I by jumping down from the second floor to the first floor. He lands in a crouch in front of the briefcase man and pulls a knife out of his jacket pocket, pointing it at the man's chest. His men immediately pull out their guns.
"Don't boys," The man laughs. "What are you doing here little boy? Isn't it passed your bed time?" I can sense Richard's anger loud and clear from here. This man has no idea who he's dealing with...
"You killed my parents." The anger is just as loud in his voice. I'm sure the man can hear it too. "Now, I'm going to kill you." He moves his knife towards the man and has he does one of the men raises his gun back up towards Richard and pulls the trigger. Just as he pulls his finger back, a shadow crosses the room and Richard is pushed out of the way. There's a man there, who also narrowly misses getting shot. It's Batman. The boys are obsessed with him, so I recognize him right away... He was there my first night on earth and saved Ragalira.
Batman pushes Richard again and then starts fighting with the thugs. They try to shoot him, but he always gets out of the way just in time. Richard doesn't leave his side though. He fights too. Garfield looks at me and we watch in awe. Just as Batman is about to punch one of the last men, we hear a noise behind us. We look over our shoulders and there are two of the thugs up here with us. One of them grabs Garfield by his shirt collar and the other grabs me by mine. They dangle us over the railing, threatening to drop us.
"Put them down!" Batman yells. He has one of their friends by his shirt collar and fist raised toward his head. I look at Garfield. He's worried, probably about me. He can turn into a bird, so I don't think he cares if they drop him. I give him a half-smile. It's fine if they drop me too. It's been a while, but I won't fall. It' also not that high. Richard just jumped and he didn't break any bones. We'll be fine.
"Back away and drop your weapons and your belt." The man holding Garfield yells. I turn my head to look at Batman. He's going to do it. He lets the other man go and reaches for his belt. If he does that, they'll probably kill him. I dig my nails into the man who's holding me's wrist. He's surprised and he drops me right away. I levitate and land softly on the ground. Garfield see's I'm safe and transforms into a bird. The man didn't expect that and freaks out, dropping what is now just Garfield's shirt. I collect them, but catch the briefcase man running past me. I drop the clothes and sprint after him.
"Richard!" I yell. He hears me and I can hear his footsteps as he turns to follow. Garfield turns into a cheetah and chases after the man, cornering him. Richard doesn't have his knife anymore. Garfield looks at Richard and I cringe, because he's definitely asking for permission.
"Call your friend off!" The briefcase man says. He pulls out a gun. I take a slow breath and concentrate, using my aura to rip it away from his hands and throw it. It bounces off the wall and lands near our feet. Richard looks at it for a minute and picks it up. "I can give you anything, anything."
"You killed my parents." Richard pulls something on the back of the gun and it clicks. He raises it towards the man, but just as he moves to pull the trigger a hand rips it out of his grip. It's Batman. He takes the gun and gives Richard a nasty look. Police officers appear behind him and they grab the man.
"What do you think you're doing!" Batman yells. He grabs Richard by the arm and then turns to look at Garfield and I.
"He killed my parents!" Richard shouts back defensively.
"Do you want to be just like him?" Batman asks.
"You don't know what you're talking about." Richard tries to get out of his grip and fails.
Something about Batman feels familiar... I did meet him that night when I first arrived on earth and the boys have shown me a million photos, but it's something else.
"Let's have a talk and then you're going home." He drags Richard around the corner. His voice is different, but something about it is the same... It's Mr. Wayne! Same height, build... The way his aura feels... It's definitely Mr. Wayne.
He and Richard come back after a few minutes.
"Let's go." He starts walking and leads us outside to a police car. He taps a police officer on the back and points to us. I look at Richard.
"Are we going back?" I ask.
"We have to." He says. "There's no way we'll be able to outrun him..." His logic doesn't make sense. We can definitely get away from Batman, but I guess we can't live in his box fort forever...
The police man knows who we are immediately. He puts us all in the back of his car and drives us back to the orphanage, complaining the whole way about how worried everyone has been about us.