Daitan'na: Grit of Gotham

Chapter Four:

Truth or Ties

Shortly before I leave the hotel Tim comes to find me again and gives me this little device to wear at the ear, to communicate with them. The comm link makes me feel like some kind of spy…very slick.

Jason made me study the map of Gotham City quickly before we leave. He said there is no time for me to get lost, as if he knows I will get lost. We separate as we exit the hotel. I have the necklace in my hand and it feels like ice. So I walk on, taking the time to study the city in broad daylight. And it's just as great as it looks in the night.

I'm getting a few odd looks probably because of my mismatching ruby red vest and dirty-green cargo pants. My tattoos are on full display because it's a hot day to wear anything long sleeved and people of Gotham deserve to see their beauty. I really am vain.

It's hard to envision a city looking like this to be constantly inundated with crime. Jason said it's a miserable place he grew up in. No one's safe at night, he said. 'You get stabbed or shot for money or get caught up with a drug baron or crime lord. From petty crooks and drug dealers to assassins, aliens, and psychotic killers, trouble in Gotham has variety'. Not the ideal home, clearly, but it sure owns its dangerous ambience.

I think about where Wei-san could be. In a small, arcane Chinese medicine store? No, of course not, because she could easily get them in China. What can Gotham possibly offer a witch? It's too modern…too newfangled…what would she be looking for?

"Here you go, Wei-san," I said, dropping the sack onto the dinner table. The jars in there clicked and clanged. "Everything you asked for."

"Including six fly agarics and the bell heathers?"

"Yup, I made sure not to poison myself with the toadstools and belladonna berries, just like you advised." I said and collapsed in a chair.

Wei-san smiled and placed a cup of tea before me. She squeezed my cheek. "Thank you, Tomoe. Are you interested in what I'm making today?"

"Always," I sipped the hot milk tea. "What do you need the poisonous toadstools and fruits for anyway?"

The thing about Wei-san's brews is that she required the most specific ingredients. She said if she wants the color blue she can't get just about any blue. I don't know what in her mind tells her she needs borage, not a cornflower. If she wants yellow, it must be an elecampane, not a sunflower. She wouldn't allow it otherwise. She said it's not only the pigments, it's the herbal properties and their corollaries on the whole brew itself as well. She said every ingredient is a piece to a puzzle and if one is not correct or needed, her magic will fail.

Her magic is limited that way. Every brew has a base and their quintessence. Their fundamental requirements should be acknowledged or it wouldn't make sense. Her spells, however, are different. Witches beyond her age created spells and enchantments she used today but if Wei-san wanted to create her own, it'd be very tricky. Suppose she wanted to extend the life of a flower. She'll need another plant, probably one still in bloom. Her magic recognizes the necessary element — in this case, the life span of the plant — and transfers it to the subject. It's much, much trickier than it sounds but that's how I understand it, even though her magic itself is still unfathomable. When I ask her how she does it she simply answers: "my mind is my magic".

She's grinding up the little black berries, her hands in gloves. "The fly agarics contain hallucinogenic alkaloids and the belladonna berries contain atropine. The remedy I am brewing is not pleasant…it will sting and burn. While the healing properties of the cure work on the wound, the hallucinogens from the toadstools can distract the mind and the poisonous compound of the fruits play as a muscle relaxant."

"Wound? Are you hurt?" I sat up in my chair in alarm.

"No, my dear," She said, turning around. "You are."

"Wha—oh," I said. I looked away.

A creature bit me while I was on an errand. It was a winged reptile, not a dragon, but it was small and angry, its mouth full of corrosive acid that scalded into my shoulder. I had Dokutokuna heal it but it was a slow recovery. I hid the ugly, brown wound from Wei-san because I never felt it was appropriate to ask for anything. She was already doing so much, giving so much.

"I didn't want to bother you. You were quite busy."

"My dear," She sighs, kneeling down and putting her arms around me. "Don't you see? Everything I do…it's all for you."

All these memories are not helping me with where to start looking. So why am I recalling them? It's just making me miss her more.

'Tomoe? Come in, Tomoe.'

'Yeah, Jason?' I speak back into the comm link.

'Come to Gotham's Toy Box right now. It's across Central Park.'

'Did you sight the witch?'

'No but she left a sight alright.'

'Okay, on my way.'

Lucky I studied the map before I left so I know my way around the city a little. Gotham Toy Box? No problem.

When I get there it's absolute chaos. The windows to the store are all shattered and kids and parents are running out of there crying for help. I jump in and try to rush the citizens out faster. I look around for anybody hurt.

I gasp. There's a young boy not older than eleven shrieking, holding his neck in agony. Dark, red streams seep through his fingers, blossoming across his bright blue shirt. When he removes his hand there's a grotesque wound. Flesh seems to have been chewed away, leaving bloody chunks and a pool to flow. There's a girl with her parents trying to carry her away from the store. I notice scarlet fluid caking over her ear…or what's left of her ear.

"[Dokutokuna!]" I call out. He appears by my side at once. "[Heal all the people that are injured the best you can right now. Go!]"

Dokutokuna's healing abilities should be strong enough to stop the hemorrhage but most likely not enough to close the wounds. He can't heal what's not there…their flesh. But the rest the hospitals can take care of.

I jump into the store and join Jason and Nightwing. We come to face a bunch of…toys?

"What's happening?" I shout to them, over the sound of wailing sirens.

"That."

I look at where Jason is pointing.

The stuffed animals are alive, bearing huge, keen sets of teeth. Their mouths dilate until the point they're big, bottomless holes. They climb off the shelves, their eyes glinting with malice and throats emitting guttural sounds. No longer fluffy and cute, just hungry and evil.

"Flesh-eating stuffed toys," Nightwing remarks. "Never thought I'd see the day. Be careful. Don't let them touch you."

I unzip my sling bag and pull out my Sai. I was hoping I wouldn't have to use these. I don't even know why I carry them around…if I only have little experience with it and…if they aren't mine.

"They're coming for us!" Jason yells and we spring into action.

A soft, used-to-be-cuddly bear latches onto my ankle at once. It has a rather strong grip, staying on when I shake my leg vigorously. It lets go at the swing of my Sai and growls and widens its mouth. Its teeth collide with the sharp dagger and the tip impales its throat. The toy goes slack and drops to the floor.

A stuffed bunny attacks me but behind me comes another one. I drop my Sai and struggle to get the tiny thing off of me. The one in front of me lunges, ready to chomp my head off. I finally find the ears of the living toy clinging onto my back, pull it over my head, and slam it against the other salivating plushy. They both fall at my feet and become as still as actual stuffed toys. I grab my weapons and look around me.

Jason to my right is shooting them right in the mouths. They explode everywhere, cotton and other things I don't really want to know flying in our faces. When I see three plushies grabbing onto him with jaws open I race to aid but a bird toy comes soaring towards me. I slash off its wings and stab it through its beak. When I look at Jason, he has these large sharp blades geared up at his arms. It slashes and rips away easily at the incoming toys. Impressive.

"Just…one…more!" Nightwing says, beating the last one with his baton-like sticks.

The only sound heard now is the crunching of glass under our boots. A weird pain floods my chest all of a sudden. The atmosphere of the place…the dreadful feeling I'm getting out of it…why is it so familiar?

"This is her work for sure," Jason tells Nightwing. "And she vanished before we got here."

"She was here," I say quietly.

Why am I only seeing her in my head?

"Yeah, we kno—" Jason says but I cut him off.

"No. It's Wei-san…" I say. "I know it's her." I feel the necklace in my palm. Cold but I know there had been a lick of warmth. I've just missed her.

Nightwing and Jason exchange glances.

The air is suffocating me. Telling me, screaming at me that Wei-san…Wei-san was…

"I…I have to find her," I back away. "She was here. I feel her."

"Tomoe!" They call out but I'm running out into the city already. I can't believe she slipped away from my fingers. What if she's hurt? What if she's trying to send me a sign? What if…what if she did this?

I don't know where I'm going but I'm running. My feet thump hard on the concrete and I feel heavier each step. Jason is calling for me through the comm link but I don't want to talk. Things are adding up now. I'm scared. I'm scared they're right.

Oh god. I can't deny this anymore.

They are right.

I find myself back in the hotel. Jason gave me this key card to the room, saying I have access to it. I thought it was real sweet of him until I realize he followed me. Again.

"Do you really have nothing better to do than to stalk me?" I ask, burying my face in my hands.

He walks to the bed and sits next to me. "Probably not. I'm supposed to look after you."

"In case I foolishly walk into a trap and get myself killed?" I spit.

"I want to be honest with you but—"

"But what?" I glare at him. "Tell me the truth, Jason. Last night when you were listening to me, I thought I said too much even though you seemed to understand… but you've been playing along, haven't you? Just to get me on your side, you convinced me that you believed me. Tell me truth now."

He sighs. He removes his helmet.

"I wasn't acting, Tomoe. We may have just met recently but you needed someone to talk to. I listened because I wanted to…but my people and I had an agreement. Batman thinks — scratch that, he knows who you're looking for and who we're looking for is the same person. But he didn't want you to hear that again because he thought you might go look for her yourself and get hurt or worse, get killed. So he told me to stick with you and make sure you're safe while we track this woman down together."

"Wow," I breathe out. I turn so I don't have to look at him. "This man is really getting on my nerves…if…if you were very close to someone but people are telling you they're a criminal, would you believe them right away? Or would you deny and look for the truth yourself? It's not easy to…to just throw away years of bond together and come to…realize…"

"Frankly, I would do what you're doing," He says seriously. "I've been down the same road, I know. I would shoot who's trying to tell me otherwise but—"

"Then what's keeping me from shooting you?"

"The truth, Tomoe. The truth," Jason says. He grabs my shoulders and shakes me hard. I let him, moving like a lifeless fish. "It's a hard pill to swallow but we're here to help."

"You don't understand, Jason," My voice cracks. "If the only person I ever loved turns out to be evil, a murderer…I've got nobody else. I have nowhere to run, nowhere to hide and cry. I've lost…my home again."

My eyes are stinging, my palms are moist. The drumbeat of my heart is slowing but getting heavier. I want to throw the lamp at the TV then maybe at Jason's head but I also feel like curling up on the floor in a fetal position and waiting for the screaming voice in my head to simmer down. Jason's gloved hands rub my shoulders now and he says,

"We're on your side. Believe me. If we find her, you get your answers. You can decide whether or not…she's family to you anymore."