Petey and Shay make their debut in this chapter. Hope you enjoy it. I don't own anything that I don't own.
It had been three days since Charlie had died, and the numbness just wouldn't go away. Petey was on the roof of the apartment building two blocks down, tossing rocks off the side. There was no ladder, but he'd been taught how to climb particularly well. Getting down was the hard part. The news had come to him through a network of contacts who knew how to listen for the important details. To most people it didn't matter, another criminal who got what he deserved. But he had lost his brother, and that did matter.
"How's the weather up here?" asked a brunette with her braided hair over her left shoulder. She was dressed in casual clothes, a grey T-shirt under a purple hoodie and a faded pair of jeans. He'd seen it before, since she only had two different outfits. There was a scar on her eyebrow, but she'd never said where she got it.
"Delightful," he replied sarcastically. His clothes weren't nearly in the same condition, covered in dirt with holes in his socks. The shack Charlie had managed to afford didn't have a shower so they'd both been filthy.
"I'd ask if you were okay but that's a stupid question," she commented.
"No shit," he said. He wasn't mad at her; he just didn't want to talk at the moment.
"I know it won't help, but I brought you some things from the Emmersons." The Emmersons were her adopted family, or sort of. Most of the time she lived on the streets, but once every week they'd open their doors to her and she'd stay there for the day.
"Thanks Shay," he responded. She set a bag next to him but he didn't even have to look in it to know he'd like it. Amaya Shay was truly his only friend in the world, and also his guardian.
The attack on the Narrows nine months ago had claimed his parents, who'd been killed by Scarecrow's men. There had been six months where they had nowhere to live, and they'd wandered the streets with no food and no way to shelter themselves from the brutality of Gotham. But she'd found him one morning and taken him on a tour of the slums around the city. She taught him how to climb, how to steal, and everything else he needed to live in a city like Gotham. Even after Charlie had gotten the shack Petey still continued to hang out with Shay. They were partners in crime, sometimes quite literally.
"There are some books in there and a bag of gummy bears," she stated, bringing a smile to his face. They were both avid readers, devouring any books they could get their hands on. Every time she was done with one she'd borrow it from the Emmersons and let him read through it for himself. As for the gummy bears, he just loved them.
Both remained silent for a few minutes, enjoying the view. She didn't bother taking a seat, knowing he wouldn't remain still for long. They saw different things when they looked over the skyline. To her it was a city that had problems, but a beautiful city that could fix its problems. But to him it was a beautiful sky that hid the ugliness below it, full of corruption and death at every turn. Gotham had been doused with gasoline nine months ago, now he was waiting to see who would light the match.
"Do you want to talk?" she inquired. That was the question he didn't want to hear, but he knew she'd ask anyway.
"No." He got to his feet and told her, "Let's just worry about tonight."
"Right, your routine suicide attempt," she said with a roll of their eyes. "Whose eyes are we spitting in now?" Petey was determined to take on the entire criminal organization of Gotham, every goon and every kingpin. The two of them created trouble for the gangs and then fled the scene. So far they hadn't been caught, but it still made her uneasy.
"I got some good information yesterday," he informed her. Despite his general hatred of most people he was remarkably good at the social game, playing the middlemen to get secret information about dealings and potential crimes.
"Shouldn't we just let Batman handle it?" she questioned. He gave her a look and she answered herself, "Thought that was a longshot." Most kids might have perceived Batman as their hero, but Petey definitely wasn't one of them. To him the Dark Knight was a servant to the rich, protecting those who could protect themselves instead of those who really needed someone to save them. His only common interest with Batman was putting every crime boss in Gotham behind bars. Shay disagreed of course, since the Emmersons and Petey were the only people she liked more than Batman. One of her lifelong quests was to find his identity and meet him in person to ask him all her questions. Petey knew she was gathering clues and didn't object, as long as she didn't make him help.
"He's too busy to handle the real problems," he responded bitterly. "We can handle this ourselves. The Chechen is buying from Jonathan Crane tonight, also known as Scarecrow." Shay's eyes widened and she took a step away in fear. In her head she thought of the fear toxin, everything that it had done to her.
"No," she interjected firmly. "We can't go after Scarecrow. I can't." Heart rate increasing, labored breathing, hallucinations, trying to get her. She shook the memories from her head. Subconsciously she'd been chewing her nails and she forced herself to stop. Nervous habit.
"But we can get him," Petey pressed. "If he gets thrown in jail then he can't hurt any more people. I need you to help me on this one." She exhaled in exhaustion, thinking about her friend alone against experienced criminals.
"We better be careful. Get some of our gear and bring it tonight." He nodded emphatically, glad she agreed. This was personal for him too, Scarecrow needed to rot for what he did to Petey's parents. He was the number one criminal Petey hated, or at least he had been until three days ago. Now Joker was his prize, but Scarecrow still could be part of the collection.
"We're going to nail him," he assured her. "I'm going to get ready."
"Petey?" she interrupted. He looked at her and she told him, "You know I understand what you're going through. If you want to talk I'll be ready for you." She started her climb down the side of the building, careful to avoid any windows so no one would see her. When she reached the ground she gazed back up as if expecting he would have followed her. It concerned her that he had shut himself down; usually they could talk about anything. Even more than that, he hadn't displayed any reaction to Charlie's death but rage and anger. It wasn't healthy for him and it was going to tear him apart if he didn't open up soon.
They didn't talk again that day, keeping to themselves until it was time to meet. By that time it was nearly midnight and most people would be at home. Shay was at the location first, watching the parking garage from across the street. A white van had driven inside ten minutes earlier and now she watched as two black vans went in as well. Scarecrow wouldn't be relying on manpower, his fear toxin and intellect would be his weapons.
"Am I late for the party?" Petey inquired jokingly as he approached with a large duffel bag. He dropped it in front of her and she unzipped it. There were tranquilizer guns, gas masks, and smoke grenades enough for both of them.
"Did you rob the army?" she asked in disbelief.
"You taught me too well how to steal," he replied, not really answering her question. "Let's take these bastards down." He put on one of the gas masks and hooked some grenades to his belt, wielding the tranquilizer in his right hand. She suited up as well and they hurried across the street.
By the time they were a level below the vans the meeting had already started. Petey put a finger to his lips and they crept closer to where the criminals were. Scarecrow was talking.
"…you can buy from someone else," he confidently informed Chechen. "Assuming Batman left anyone to buy from." Knowing what Chechen put his money into, they were no doubt talking about drugs. This deal wasn't turning out the way it was supposed to.
At that moment the two ran onto the same level, firing into the backs of the unsuspecting criminals. Petey was only good from close range and hit one of Chechen's men, but Shay was much more accurate and hit a Scarecrow goon across the garage. This drew everyone's attention and the two immediately took cover. Bullets flew at Petey in his position behind a blue car and he glanced at Shay two cars behind him.
"Release the dogs!" shouted Chechen. The doors of the second black van were opened and they noticed two large canines had been stored inside. At their leader's command, two goons took the dogs off their leashes and the mutts rushed at him. Sticking his arm out, he subdued one of the dogs with a single shot. The second drew closer to him and he fired again, missing. It was on top of him in an instant, razor teeth lunging for his throat. He used his legs to keep it away from him and shot it close range, pushing it off of him.
Shay grabbed one of her smoke grenades and tossed it into the fray of criminals, creating an escape strategy for them. Petey got out of cover and started shooting at anything he saw, trying to get closer to Scarecrow. One got too close to him but Shay was covering him from behind. He ran closer to his target and tried to fire. Unfortunately Scarecrow was able to perceive his form in the smoke and shoved one of his goons in the way of the dart. Gas shot out of his wrist but the gas mask protected Petey.
Before he could hit Scarecrow, a bullet flew into his shoulder and his body hit one of the cars. Instead of being from the criminals, he'd been shot by some fat slob in hockey pads and a Bat mask. Three Batmen started attacking and everyone started firing with guns.
"Petey!" Shay cried out, hiding to avoid getting hit by bullets. Chechen took the opportunity to get into one of the vans and start the engine.
"That's not Batman," Scarecrow noted, subduing one of the Batmen with gas. A figure emerged from the shadows and started taking out everyone in his way, the real Batman. Shay couldn't help but watch with amazement. While everyone was distracted Chechen seized the opportunity to drive away from the scene. Scarecrow got into his van and started driving away.
Someone pointed a gun at Batman and Shay came out of cover to defend him, firing into the goon. But this put her directly in the path of the van and it started backing up toward her. Before it could hit her Batman grabbed her and pulled her to safety.
"This is no place for children," he growled, but there was no bitterness or spite in it. There was more concern. By saving her, he'd fallen behind the van. He took the time to take care of all the remaining goons, allowing Scarecrow to escape as well. After everything was quiet he tied up the Batmen and left them for the police to find, but strangely didn't touch Shay.
"We're trying to help you," Fatman pointed out. Batman walked toward the Batmobile, maintaining his scowl.
"I don't need help!" he replied.
"What gives you the right?" demanded Fatman. "What's the difference between you and me?"
"I'm not wearing hockey pads," Batman noted, closing the Batmobile.
Shay rushed quickly over to Petey, who was bleeding on the ground. He forced a smile and shifted himself into a more comfortable position.
"I have to get you to a hospital," she said urgently.
"Relax, it won't kill me," he assured. The sound of sirens met their ears and he added, "You need to get out of here now."
"You're coming with me."
"I'll slow you down. The cops will be here in a minute and they can't catch you. Get out of here." Reluctantly she complied and quickly made her way to the roof so she could escape unnoticed while they were cleaning up. Sure enough cops arrived in less than a minute and started taking everyone into custody. Two grabbed Petey and got him out of the parking garage, putting him into an ambulance.
How polite, he thought bitterly. At least they're fixing up my shoulder before they throw me in jail. Scarecrow had escaped, stupid Batman.
I'll try to update as soon as possible. I promise all the OC winners will be in the story in the next two chapters max and all five will be really important. Please let me know what you thought.