Chapter Two

Seriously, how the heck was she always getting into these messes?

First, it was helping her brother from a bully. And now, she dove head first into a situation that was worse than a measly ten year old bully.

"Move, bitch! Or I'll kill you!"

Yeah, far, far worse.

Stella felt incredibly stupid right now. The moment the terrified scream had ripped through the evening air, she had run towards the sound without a second thought. A part of her had not been prepared to see a man gripping a woman's hair with his fist raised, hidden inside one of the darkening alleyways. Again, without another thought, she had thrown her backpack at the man's back, giving the woman enough time to escape his grip and scurry to her. And now here she was, between the two of them.

"N-no!" Stella yelled out, even though her body was trembling in fear. Her sense of justice, no matter how idiotic it was, took over and grounded her feet. Her daydreams of being a superhero was coming true much faster than she had anticipated. She couldn't run now…no, she wouldn't run. She could feel the woman hiding behind her shaking uncontrollably and it only served to fuel Stella's desire to protect this innocent person.

"Little girls like you should run along home." The burly man sneered while he stalked closer to them. Unconsciously, Stella leaned back a bit and gulped.

"P-please, don't let him get me." The woman behind her whimpered quietly. It probably didn't matter to the woman that Stella was just an eleven year old kid because it was most likely better than having no one there.

It was petrifying, but she had to help this woman. She had already dove head first into the fray and she couldn't back out now, even if her gut was screaming at her to turn the other way. So, she steeled herself and lifted her fists up. If her self defence skills from taekwondo were able to help her with a bully, she was certain it could help her now too. She was the best in the class and she practiced hard every day. She could do it.

"I-I won't let you hurt her!" She shouted and adjusted to her defence stance. Her frown deepened when the man laughed loudly at her.

"Then you'll die with her!" He bellowed after his laugh and he reached out to grab Stella.

Somehow, she managed to avoid his attack by using her small size to her advantage. She ducked and moved to the side in one fluid motion. The woman screamed and scrambled to the side as Stella maneuvered closer to the man's side and aimed a strong punch to his gut.

The man howled at the sudden pain and he grabbed the spot she had punched before glaring at her viciously. The young girl aimed a mid-kick to his other side and ignored the desire to cheer in triumph at the solid kick that got the man on one knee.

Things seemed to be going well. She could totally beat him and put him in jail. Batman would probably be really proud of her too.

However, she was ripped out of those distracting thoughts when the angry man got up and charged at her. She tried to avoid him, but he was bigger than her and his broader size knocked her to the ground roughly. Before she could get to her senses, a sharp pain coursed through her as the man picked her up by her hair. She cried out in surprise and reached up to grab the hand that was in her hair.

"Playtime's over. You're dead." He growled in pure rage. His grip tightened and she winced while trying to reach him with her kicks, but to no avail. Terror raced through her veins as the gravity of the situation finally weighed down on her. This wasn't some bully from her brother's class. This was a man three times her size with bulging muscles and strength that she couldn't match up to. This was a man that didn't spew out empty threats. He was livid and strong and he was going to act on these threats.

Who was she kidding? Everything up to this point had been pure luck.

She was going to be killed.

"You should've gone home when you had the chance." He snarled and reeled his other arm for a punch.

She fought as hard as she could, thrashing and screaming and trying to dig her fingernails into the hand that was pulling her hair. She tried everything and anything to stay alive while tears clouded her vision. Not even the woman she was protecting could loosen the man's grip.

Oh god, she was going to die because of her stupid decision and her stupid sense of justice.

However, just when she thought he was going to kill her, the most surprising and amazing thing happened.

The echo of young laughter filled the alley and the man stopped before he threw the punch, also confused as to what that was. Big mistake. Something, or rather someone, dropped down from above and knocked the man onto the ground. Unfortunately, she was released like a sack of potatoes when he fell and her already scraped knees hit the ground too.

The pain was nothing compared to the surprise she felt when she finally saw who had come to her rescue.

"R-robin." She muttered in complete awe.

Hello! Happy Friday.

Thank you for the follows, favourites, and reviews! I really appreciate them! :)

This chapter was on the shorter side :'D I tend to have some problems with tenses, so I apologize for that. Things are starting off a little slowly, but don't worry, I swear it's going somewhere.

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed!

~Mari