I absolutely loved all of the guesses for who the two vetalas might be! And many of you got close, however there was one thing most of you forgot. Both vetalas are women! See if you can figure it out before it's revealed in this chapter!
"What was the place called again?" Artemis asked from her place at the computer.
"The Greenhouse," Wally answered, "It's a bar,"
"And you're sure about it?" Zatanna crossed her arms as she leaned over Artemis's shoulder.
Dick was about to speak but Artemis let out a small huzzah and caught everyone's attention.
"The majority of the victims have receipts for this place, they were all regulars," She announced.
"So what's the plan?" Wally asked as he stockpiled everyone's silver knives into one pile, double checking that they were all, in fact, silver.
"We'll need bait," Dick spoke up, his face grim.
"What?" Zatanna hissed, "Are you serious? That's too dangerous,"
"What do you mean 'bait'?" Wally asked.
"It'll be fine, and they'll only need to draw out the two Vetalas," Dick explained, running his hands through his hair as he mentally worked out the details.
"I can do it," Wally offered quickly, "I'm the fastest, I can handle dodging their fangs,"
"Not gonna happen," Artemis spoke up, still facing the computer screen.
"I can handle it, Arty," The redhead insisted.
"I know you can," She shot back, swiveling in her chair, "But off all the victims, Bruce was only the second man they'd taken,"
"We could dress him in drag," Zatanna snickered. Wally sneered in unpleasantness.
"Like that would work," Artemis rolled her eyes with a smile, "I'll be the bait," She stated with finality.
"Absolutely not," Wally spluttered out.
"Why not?" She frowned, her stature growing defensive. Dick put a hand to his mouth as he watched the two eagerly.
"I, uh, just think that, uh," Wally looked around, searching for a reason.
"You know I can handle myself, right," Artemis leaned forward, eyeing the redhead sharply.
Wally let out a loud, genuine laugh, "I'd be an idiot to think otherwise,"
"Then what's the problem?" She huffed.
"There's probably a better way to go about this," Wally suggested, looking to the two other occupants of the room hopefully.
"I could be the bait," Zatanna shrugged, "I've definitely got a step up on Artemis,"
"You do not," The blonde retorted indignantly, "I learned to fight at a much younger age than you,"
"But you aren't psychic," Zatanna smirked.
"What," Wally blurted out, his eyes widening, "What?"
"Did I forget to mention that?" Artemis mumbled, looking sheepishly at her partner.
"What?" Wally squeaked.
"I'm psychic," Zatanna stated simply.
"What does that mean?" He asked, running a hand across the back of his head.
"I can move things. But it's pretty limited," Zatanna pursed her lips as she attempted to explain.
"She has to do this thing though," Dick wrinkled his nose, having difficulty as well.
"I say things backwards. When I do that I have more control over the objects I'm moving,"
"Zee also has the psychic ability to be able to say things backwards," Artemis teased, earning a small glare from her friend.
"Can you show me?" Wally asked a bit hesitantly.
"Sure," Zatanna grinned. She turned toward the motel table and held her hand up, her eyebrows furrowing as she concentrated, "Gnirb em eht koob,"
One of their mythological reference books suddenly went flying off the table and soared straight into Zatanna's outstretched hand. The moment it touched, she grabbed it and turned on the spot to show the redhead with a victorious grin.
"Cool," He decided, a smile stretching across his face.
"But not a fast enough tactic to be any use against Vetalas," Artemis pointed out, "It should be me who's the bait,"
Wally opened his mouth to retort but found himself torn. He knew that Artemis could handle herself well. He had no idea how well Zatanna was in a fight. So it seemed logical that he should support the blonde being bait, but his entire being still screamed against it. To keep her away from such a dangerous task. He looked helplessly to Dick, the only other objective voice in the room who had seen both women fight before.
"It should be Artemis," He declared to the room at large, his expression serious, "She has a faster reaction time than Zee,"
"I'll go get ready, then," She offered, gracefully leaping up from her chair and heading out of the motel room, no doubt to get her clothes from the car and change in her and Wally's room.
The moment the door closed behind her, Dick spoke up.
"Wally-"
"No," The redhead held up a hand, halting his friend, "No, its fine. I understand," He sighed, running a hand through his hair.
"You're allowed to be worried though," Zatanna said, the tone of her voice revealing that she was nervous as well.
"So what is the plan?" Wally asked, diverting the conversation as his eyes were trained on the motel door where Artemis had left.
Dick shifted on his feet slightly, "Artemis will do her thing and get the Vetalas attention as a good victim. We'll wait outside and keep watch. Once they reveal themselves as Vetalas and attack, we'll make our move,"
"What if they attack her in the bar?" Zatanna questioned.
"They wouldn't, the venom knocks the victim and it would draw too much attention," He assured her.
Artemis stepped back into the room, her step confident while her eyes shifted with a tinge of hesitation.
"Since when do you own a skirt?!" Wally gasped, his eyes widening at the sight of the blonde's rather attractive clubbing attire, "And high heels!"
"You don't know everything about me, West," Artemis smirked, planting her hand saucily on her pushed out hip.
"Then we'll have to fix that," He laughed in response. Zatanna threw the blonde a knowing look which was entirely ignored, making her smile.
"We'll need to head out soon, everyone stock up," Dick motioned to the pile of silver knives and blades on one of the motel beds.
The atmosphere grew quiet as the clack and clink of knives settled into the air, heavy anticipation falling around them.
Artemis, or rather, "Alice" was careful to control her acting as she entered The Greenhouse. Her normal observant attitude wasn't going to get her targeted so she did her best to act disinterested in everything around her. She had a microphone in her ear and the noises of Dick and Wally bickering over something was rather distracting as she walked smoothly around the tables toward the bar. The bartender was a handsome man and he smiled at her as she settled into a stool.
"Can I get you something, Sweetheart?" He asked, his voice holding the smooth tone of honesty that Artemis figured had gotten many a drunk to spill their troubles.
"Spicy Ginger," Artemis answered quickly, acting rather disinterested in the man.
"You like spicy gingers, Artemis?" Zatanna snickered into the blonde's ear over Artemis's choice of drink. The woman bristled but ignored the comment, choosing not to focus on Wally's embarrassed splutters and instead on letting her eyes drift around the bar.
The victims had been mostly female for a reason, the two best options to explain the phenomenon were either that the vetalas were picking up lesbians, or making friends with the women and coaxing them somewhere else. Women were much more likely to trust other women, after all.
Either way, Artemis's best shot was to act entirely disgusted by males. She didn't find this too difficult. The bartender dropped off her drink and she immediately took a sip. The bourbon in it was harsh against her throat and the ginger added a tangy sour taste that made her lips curl. It wasn't exactly a 'girly' drink, but her demon possessed father had decided early on that she needed to build up an alcoholic tolerance.
"That's a bit much for a pretty little thing like you," A brown haired man sauntered up to the seat next to her, his shoulders leaning a bit too close to her own for comfort, "How about I buy you something sweeter?" He offered, the smile on his face falling a bit more on the lecherous side. Artemis rolled her eyes at him and set down her drink carefully on her napkin.
"Who's that?" Wally's voice resonated in her ear.
"Shhh, don't bother her," Dick responded just as clearly.
"Not interested," Artemis told him, not even glancing in his direction as she spoke.
"You sure, sweetheart?" He tried again, "I ca-"
"Not. Interested," Artemis stated firmly, turning her head to glare at the man. He wrinkled his nose in disgust and leaned back, his eyebrows turned down in half-confusion.
"Fine," He huffed, sliding off of the stool and stomping away. The blonde didn't give him a second glance, choosing to rather sip at her drink some more and scan the smoky atmosphere. She let her eyes linger on each of the women in the bar, an action that was both helpful for her act and helpful to scope out possible suspects.
One man tried to catch her gaze as she was looking around, he was ignored and Artemis turned back to the bar, raising her hand to get another drink, signaling with her fingers that she wanted two. If the vetalas were watching, they might assume that she was going to be drunk after she'd downed the alcohol. The blonde smiled at the bartender as he dropped off her order. The vetalas would be wrong, of course. Artemis finished the next glass quicker than the last and reached for the second without hesitation, knowing it would take at least two more glasses before she even got tipsy.
For the next twenty minutes, Artemis worked through her third glass slowly, letting her posture slump in order to have the appearance that the alcohol was taking effect, she swirled the liquid in the glass often and pretended to be oblivious to anyone around. Two more men came up to talk to her but she continuously shooed them away with a sneer and an unpleasant demeanor.
Her drink was almost gone when she was finally approached by two women, Artemis smiled at them and they each took a seat next to her at the bar.
"We noticed you seemed kinda lonely, Hun," One of them stated, patting Artemis on the arm and leaning toward her in a comforting manner, her blonde pigtails bobbed on the side of her head as she spoke and Artemis resisted the urge to snicker at their ridiculousness.
"And that you don't seem interested in any of these men," The other leaned in, catching Artemis's gaze as she scoffed out the word 'men'. She had long red hair that cascaded down her shoulder and elegant features, her demeanor altogether rather sultry.
"Men!" The blonde woman laughed, throwing her head back in a loud scoff, "Who needs 'em. Right?" She grinned, looking to Artemis for an answer.
Artemis smiled wickedly, knowing that she'd caught herself a few vetalas, "Yeah, I gave them up a long time ago," She smirked.
"I told you she look sensible, Ivy," The woman with pigtails clasped her hands together in glee.
"Don't get ahead of yourself Harley," Her partner smiled pleasantly, lifting a hand to rest upon Artemis's shoulder, "We have a proposition for you, Honey," Ivy rose her eyebrows.
"Oh it's gonna be super fun!" Harley squealed. Artemis looked back and forth between the two, trying to keep up with the conversation.
"Yes, Harley and I were going to head home soon," Ivy started, her eyes growing hooded as her eyes gathered a seductive glint.
"And you can come too!" Harley cut in, the smile on her face turning mischievous.
Artemis assessed the situation and decided that yes, these were certainly the two they were looking for.
"Go with them," Dick's voice chimed in her ear, backing up her decision.
Artemis pulled out all the stops for her acting, bringing a teasing smile to her lips and sitting up a little straighter, catching both of the woman's eyes, "I hope that you're insinuating what I think you are," She purred, "Or I'll be very disappointed," Artemis smirked, leaning into the hand Ivy still had perched on her shoulder.
The two vetalas smiled at her response.
"Oh, don't you worry, sweetheart," Harley assured her, drawing her arm across Artemis's shoulder, "We'll take good care of you," She hummed.
"Artemis this is really weird, can you hurry up?"Wally's voice simpered into her ear.
"Let me just pay for my drinks," Artemis leaned forward with a smile, holding her arm up to catch the bartender's attention. Harley and Ivy kept their arms around her as she paid and Artemis worked her damndest not to tense up, "Alright, lead the way, ladies," The blonde cooed.
The three all kept their hands tucked around each other's waists as they made their way out of the bar, catching a few curious stares as they left.
"Are we walking?" Artemis spoke up, trying to keep a conversation going so that when her backup came, they would be distracted.
"Yes, it's not far," Ivy said, her voice smooth. Harley giggled, something that had begun to make Artemis rather nervous, and bounced on the balls of her feet as she walked.
"We're gonna take a shortcut," She laughed, using her free arm to point to an upcoming alleyway.
Artemis didn't know if her friends had a clear view of where she was, so she spoke up instead, knowing that they could hear her.
"In there? That looks kinda sketchy," She wrinkled her nose.
"Don't you worry, we take it all the time," Ivy assured her, confirming that Artemis could expect them to attack once they'd made their way far enough into the dark alley.
She resisted the urge to look toward where she knew her friends were hiding across the street.
It's Ivy and Harley! I wanted to chose some Gotham villains because of the focus on the Bats in this chapter. What do you think?
Zatanna is psychic It took me a long time to decide what she would be, but I decided against making her a witch because witches are something that hunters kill and I already did the "not all monsters are evil" spiel. What do you think of my decision?
Please review and let me know what you think! And keep a lookout weds-thurs for the next chapter!
Love, Veg