Chapter 2: The Tagger
A/N: Here is my second chapter! In this chapter, we meet the one who tagged the theater! Hope you enjoy it!
The team still had an hour and a half before the time they would normally have left the movie theater, so they decided to visit some popular places around Gotham. It was 10:30 A.M, and the movie ended at noon high.
Kid Mouth decided he was hungry, so the team stopped off at McDonald's. Robin didn't order anything…
"You know, even if you had a salad from this place every day, you would die of a heart attack at twenty seven," Robin said aloud to the rest of the team.
"Not me, I'm the picture of health," Wally said, acting as if he were cool, and stuffing a whole burger into his mouth.
"Besides, how bad could a salad be?" M'gann asked.
"How bad? Well, when seventy five percent of the salad is dressing and fat, pretty bad."
M'gann inspected her salad after Robin's statement. "Well, aren't you hungry?"
"Nope, I already had breakfast at home," Robin replied with a smile.
The team got into an argument, playfully talking about how the girls would look if they were fat, until…
"I know, Dick Grayson is so cute! I mean total hottie!" A girl at the next table said to her blond friend.
"Yeah, talk about it! But, he's also pretty feeble minded, I mean, did you see how those kids beat him up? What a loser! Still, I'd take a weak hottie over some muscle freak any day."
The first girl replied, "Yeah, I know! Kids like him are easily manipulated. As weak as he is, I could probably hold him down in a bed. Maybe I could even get him to perform for me, being a circus freak and all."
By now, Robin's face was pale white and staring down at the table. Nobody was finding this funny, except for the two girls at the table beside them. Dick stood to walk away.
Suddenly, Zatanna stood, took off Robin's glasses, revealing Dick Grayson, and grabbed his jacket. Before anyone could move, she pulled him into a kiss. The two girls mumbled under their breaths, and the team could barely hear the blond whisper "Damn, he's got a girlfriend."
Zatanna smiled and pulled away. She looked into Dick's bright blue eyes for a moment, and then pulled him along as the rest of the team stood to leave. Dick slipped his glasses back on and smiled.
BREAK LINE _
Ten minutes went by, and the team was now on the North side of Gotham. The streets were beginning to crowd with people as they walked to work, and the team decided to stick to the alleyways.
Dick stopped and looked up at a familiar sight. The team was standing behind the North Gotham IMAX Theater, and, just like the other theater, there were words along the back. In red this time, the words read "Show Grayson Some Res…" and the rest of the word Respect was missing.
Suddenly, from a back alleyway, a figure lunged towards the building. With the arch of an arm, a small anchor flew through the air and landed atop the theater. A rope was yanked and the anchor held a pipe. The team's eyes followed the rope to who had thrown the anchor.
A dark figure stood there, small and slim. It had long black hair that covered the face, and wore a black jacket and jeans. The girl had a duffel bag slung over her shoulder, and she opened it to pull out a can of spray paint.
"M'gann, mental link," Kaldur said, and M'gann connected to the teen's minds.
Should we stop her? Wally asked.
Well, she is breaking the law. Artemis agreed.
Yeah, but, she doesn't seem like a bad person, Zatanna thought.
We don't know her, she could be a bank robber with a thing for Dick, we just don't know, Wally flailed his arms.
What do you thing Kaldur? Conner said, turning to their leader.
Kaldur thought for a moment, and then looked up at Robin. Robin hadn't said a word, he just stood and watched as the girl climbed the rope and opened a can of paint.
I suppose, Kaldur thought, that it is Robin's decision. Robin looked back at him. What would you have us do?
Before Robin could answer, another figure appeared from the alleyway. A police officer had come forth, and he pulled his club. "Hey, you!" He yelled.
The girl on the wall started and her hold on the rope slipped. She fell ten feet and hit the ground, her back hitting first.
Ooh, that had to hurt, Wally thought, earning him a glare from his teammates.
To the team's surprise, the girl stood. She turned to see the police officer was seconds away. Swiftly, she grabbed her duffel bag and turned on her heals. Robin stepped aside, and the team imitated his motion. As the girl passed between them, Robin stepped forward again, blocking and slowing the officer in his chase. The girl rounded a corner and was gone.
"Hey, watch it kid! You let her get away!" The officer said, grabbing Dick by the arm.
"What? It's not like I did it on purpose. Besides, it's not my job to catch her." Dick replied stubbornly.
The officer looked angry, but moved on. He let go of Dick and followed the path the girl had taken.
"Why did you do that?" A voice said directly behind them. The team jumped in surprise, but Robin turned around calmly.
"Half of me didn't want to," he said.
The dark haired girl smiled. The right half of her face was covered by her long black hair, while the left revealed a dark blue eye, as deep as the deepest ocean. Her pupils were unseen in the solid midnight blue.
"You didn't answer my question, kid. Why did you help me escape, especially if part of you wanted me to get caught?"
Robin thought for a moment, and then lifted his hand. In a hesitant motion, he took off his dark sunglasses to reveal his bright blue eyes.
The dark girl's eyes widened. Her face was a pale white, and she blushed a little, turning her seeable cheek pink. She looked down shyly. "Yeah, that explains it."
"So, what's your plan?"
She looked up at him, "Why, you want in?" Dick laughed and shook his head no. "Well," she continued, "I'm pretty much using my entire life's savings for this, and I have to admit, it's totally worth it. I've never done anything illegal before, but…" She unzipped her jacket. She wore an electric blue tank-top, and there was a strap that went from one hip to the opposing shoulder. Strapped on like grenades, were water balloons.
"Water balloons?" Wally asked curiously.
The girl laughed. "Yup, each one full of paint. I start with writing on the back of the theater, and then I go inside and throw a paint-balloon on each screen that's showing… well, I'm sure you can guess which movie."
"Sweet! Can I help?" Wally asked, reaching for a few of the balloons. Artemis slapped his hand away and shook her head with a glare.
"So, how long before you're caught?" Artemis asked.
"Well, hopefully, I won't get caught. I'm going to hit every theater in Gotham, then turn myself in. By then they should have learned their lesson." Artemis smiled. She kind of liked how this girl thought.
"What about your parents? Won't they be disappointed?" Kalder asked.
The girl's smile faded, and her face turned cold. "If my dear daddy comes to see me, then good." She said. Her voice had turned dark and somehow sinister. "Maybe I can give him hell," she said. Another smile, but very different, crept over her face.
"Okay, we get it; you don't like your dad." Wally said, "But what about your mom?"
"Never knew her." The girl said lightly and shrugged. She obviously didn't care too much about her past.
"So, where do you live?" Dick asked, and the girl smiled at him.
"The world is my home," she said and stretched out her arms. "From every cheery park to every forgotten dump, it's all mine as much as it is anyone's. If the world belongs to everyone, then it can all belong to me!" She said, and she turned to walk away.
"So, you want to be a dictator?" Kalder asked seriously.
Still smiling, the girl turned back. "I didn't say the people are mine. I don't own the people, nor do I want to. Everyone would be nagging in my ear all day, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, I could do without all that. It would drive me crazy," she paused and thought for a moment. "Well, crazier!"
"You know, for someone who wears all black, you are really cheery!" M'gann said.
The girl just shrugged and walked towards the theater wall. "So, are you going to call the cops or are you going to let me finish my mission?" She scaled the wall and begun to write again.
Again, the team looked to Robin.
"It's not my job to catch vandals who use spray-paints." Only the crooks, robbers, and super villains. He said through the mind link. The rest of the team nodded. This girl wasn't really causing any harm.
"Well then, Grayson, I suggest you leave before you're counted as my associate in crime."
"I didn't catch your name, you know."
The girl finished with the final letter on the wall and came back to the ground. She tugged on her rope and let the anchor hit the ground. She then stuffed her things back into her bag.
"You can call me Joule," she said, turning to him with a smile. "And with that, we go our separate ways. Hope I'll see you again someday, Grayson!" And she turned and skipped to the front of the building.
Connor came up besides Dick. "This day just gets stranger by the minute."
A/N: Well, did you like it? I had some difficulty writing this chapter at first, and then I realized… I need a villain. The person who made the movie is more of a subtle villain, not a super active one who fights and throws bombs. So, I decided to change that. Next chapter, we can start to see what's really going on here. Includes actual fighting! ;D
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