Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Disney, Square Enix or Detective Comics. They rightfully belong to their respective owners.
"Speech"
'Thoughts'
Radio/TV
"Headset/Flashback"
-Scene Shift-
Chapter 11: Fast and Changing Times in Gotham
In the infamous city of Gotham, there is quite an amount of history within its borders since its founding over two hundred years ago. Though some say it could be further. Who knows for sure?
Originally, it was a new start to a bright future for many colonizers since its settling and founding. Being prosperous with how everything went in its development throughout the generations.
But as the years went on, things changed.
As only the one-percenters brought the good part of the city to them, Gotham was notorious for its hostile nature. This became more well-known throughout the past century. Crime, corruption, and poverty were high and widespread to the point that Gotham was considered a sort of "ghost city" that nobody ever talked about, courtesy of the dominating crime lords.
In a sad way, it became a place where the strongest and most cunning rule... where the cost of survival is paid for by others... and everyone feels alone.
This all began to change years ago when Batman made his debut.
Upon his presence, the war on crime made a drastic leap in making Gotham safer for its people. The Caped Crusader made many of those in corrupted power feel threatened in losing their influence and wealth.
As if there was a cosmic shift in the scales of Order and Chaos, adversaries were made to counteract Batman through causality. A new breed of "crazy" criminals and supervillains occasionally terrorize Gotham. It wouldn't be just there but many other locations all over, courtesy of the rise of the Justice League. And they have grown exponentially.
Yet time and time again, justice had prevailed, one way or another.
Despite the presence of the Dark Knight and his proteges, Robin and Batgirl, the war for Gotham's soul still goes on.
Within the daylight hours, the city wore a mask. Clean shafts of concrete, the work of men who died generations ago. From afar, it looks like an achievement. But once up close, you'd see a facade to hide the dark nature it bore. But as night falls, the mask comes off for everyone to see what Gotham truly is.
Presently, an event was going on within a series of closed-off streets.
*VRROOOM*
*VRROOOM*
*VRROOOM*
Reason being was that a race was taking place.
"And the Gotham City Speedway is off to an exciting start." Spoke the announcer over the speakers around the area. "The fastest racers in the country have gathered here in Gotham, each striving for the charity of their choice. And Gotham's very own Bruce Wayne is the only non-pro racing today for Gotham's Children's Hospital."
In the stands, Roxas was viewing the charity event alongside many other Gothamites and other visiting parties. The majority were cheering on in their own respective ways. He didn't need to glance about to see it was a packed event.
Unless one had a good sky view of the event, they would have to settle on the jumbotron in order to see the racers across the track. After all, the event was spread across a number of Gotham's streets.
Some people believe this kind of race is far better than Nascar, given the aforementioned race circuit was a bit boring of merely going around a rounded rectangle. At the very least everyone can see the cars in their peripheral view instead of looking at the overhanging screens.
Certain events are not for everything.
On this brisk March day, Roxas glanced about to see the other attendees had their own respective foods and refreshments. Him a bit hungry for a little particular treat.
"Wish there could've been Sea-Salt ice cream for sale." Roxas muttered to himself. "Would've been nice to have while watching this."
Sure, he could acquire the unique treat back in the Dreaming, but it didn't exactly taste the same. Might be some subconscious desire of the genuine article in the Waking World. Or it could be that he wants to eat it alongside others who are friends.
Only way for him to have it from the Waking World, he'd either need to either go to Twilight Town to purchase some or make some of his own. And clearly the latter will be difficult in his opinion, given he doesn't know how to make the delicious treat, unless he looked it up.
"There's plenty of time for that." A small chuckle flew out of his lips. "Can't wait to see how M'gann and Zatanna would like them."
"And Bruce Wayne takes the lead!"
Looking back onto the track, he just missed the race car the billionaire rode across the check off line which doubled as a finish line.
The Keybearer thought back about why he was here. Him hearing about the event. The majority of the proceeds go to the winning racer's charity of choice. An idea that sprang up after what happened to the World, courtesy of Dr. Destiny's unknown actions to everyone. Something nice and good while being entertaining at the same time.
He wondered why do such a thing in the first place. Why not just cut out "the middleman" as Zatanna calls it and just donate the money directly? It was more complicated in several cases from what Roxas was wrapping his mind about. The event was supposed to draw in crowds, help bring up certain awareness and so much more.
As far as he knew, this race was working.
Viewing the racers on the jumbotron, an apparent memory flashed in his mind. Him… or rather the one he recognizes as Ventus racing on a track over at DisneyTown for a celebration festival. Him riding not a typical racing vehicle but his Keyblade which oddly took the form of a stylized glider, somehow. Not just this, but the other blue-eyed blonde battling against creatures that were reminiscent to Heartless on the race track.
A frown crossed his features, Roxas exhaling an annoyed sigh.
After doing the task for Lucien a while back of retrieving the Magdalene Grimoire, the librarian hasn't come across any information about Ventus quite yet. An apparent excuse was that his particular "life book" hasn't manifested quite yet as the Dreaming is still undergoing repairs, which is reflected not just in its expansive landscape but the castle's library.
While Roxas knew he needed to be patient, the situation was a bit nagging on him. Him wanting to know who this Ventus person really is and his connection to him.
He was brought out of his thoughts upon hearing the announcement the final lap was now commencing. This had him and everyone else focus their near-undivided attention on the jumbotron to see who the leading racers were.
Shortly after this happened, something flew over the guarded fencing and skidded onto the assigned race course before speeding onward.
This was clearly surprising, drawing a lot of attention to the apparent arrival.
"Uh… That vehicle isn't registered." The commentary said with clear uncertainty and nervousness.
The golden-yellow race car zoomed across the racetrack, swerving around the other racers. Of course, there were some instances when the vehicle merely knocked them aside, having the others crash into each other in the process. It was as if the new racer was disregarding their safety and focusing on winning.
"Who's crashing the race?" Roxas asked, practically voicing the shared thoughts of many in attendance.
On the last stretch of the final lap, the golden-yellow car practically flew past and smacked the vehicle driven by Bruce Wayne. The action caused the one race car to swerve, knock into several guard posts and flip over in the process.
A number of gasps and yells were given out as a result, having rescue personnel made their way to the various crash spots.
The "party-crasher" rode their vehicle to the winning circle, where a large gaudy-looking trophy was placed filled with all sorts of bills. As it came to a stop, a number of cameramen and reports came up to inspect the vehicle a bit closer. It wasn't just them, but various forms of security coming in as they were weary of this new arrival.
The central part of the vehicle opened and receded back. The driver partially climbed out to reveal themselves, earning a great number of reactions.
The person wore a one-piece yellow and black race uniform that nearly covered him from head to foot with only their eyes and lower mouth exposed. Given by the faint blonde facial hair, it showed the person was a man. One eye was dark green while the other was bright red. There were some mechanical pieces on his left arm as opposed to his right arm being entirely cybernetic in nature.
"I won our race," the man finally spoke up as he basked in the apparent glory. "So I'll collect the prize for my favorite charity…"
Suddenly, a robotic clamp came out of the golden-yellow vehicle and ensnared the large trophy. Once lifted up, it receded back to the race car with various dollar bills flying out of it before it all poured into the same opening the clamp came out of.
"Me, Gearhead."
Once this was said, the trophy was tossed aside, causing many reporters and security to move away so they wouldn't get harmed in the process. This gave Gearhead the opening for him to get back into the vehicle just as police sirens filled the air.
"Always wanted to race Gotham's finest." Says Gearhead, having the top of his car close back up and speeding away onto the race track.
As a number of police cars gave chase, Gearhead plowed through the security barriers and went out into the streets of Gotham.
Back at the stands, Roxas saw all this and narrowed his eyes at the man who was disregarding the safety of others.
-Hours Later-
The streets were clean and black, and the clouds above casted dark shadows. A typical Gotham City ambiance. The sun comes down at four or five o'clock depending on the season.
To Artemis Crock, she was pretty sure Gotham was the only city in America with such a fucked up time zone.
"Hey, dumbass! Look over here!"
Artemis knew the insult wasn't geared toward her. Local high schoolers in the area were loud and obnoxious and hurled snubs at each other left and right. She peeked a glance at the alleyway and the origin of the galled voice.
'Jesus.' She thought with a small wince. 'Was that a college student getting beat by a bunch of high schoolers?'
"Prissy blue-haired bitch! Just give us your money already!"
The (possible) college student, blue-haired and raggedy, grunted as the three high schooler punks continued kicking him. He did not give in to their demands, however. He sniffled and hiccuped but he wouldn't let the younger boys take advantage of him.
Before either punk knew it, they were smacked from behind by some object. It was a trash can lid that sailed through the air and hit harder than a frisbee. It bounced off the first punk and nailed the other. When they finally looked toward the person who threw it, the one who didn't get hit was met by a flying kick to the face. As he fell down, the others met their pal in a similar fate with a few quick punches and smacks with a pair of pipes.
The punks thought they were hot shit, but once they were met with a surprise attack, they were quick to change their tune and become a cowardly lot. They quickly ran away without looking back to see they weren't attacked by the Batman or his sidekicks.
No, it was merely Artemis.
Seeing them run with their tails between their legs, Artemis looked toward the blue-haired person on the ground.
"You okay?" The archer asked.
She didn't get a verbal response, only the person scampering onto his belongings, quickly getting to his feet and running to parts unknown.
Artemis deadpanned at the response.
"Yeah… You're welcome." She sighed.
Another Gotham moment.
Could've been worse.
She could've walked away, leaving the (possible) college student to his humiliating fate, but old training kicked in to take them down.
It was a thankless action, but she needed to vent off some displaced aggression today.
Leaving the alleyway, Artemis resumed her trek back to her home for basically all her life.
Home was a small apartment with a two bedroom and two bathroom, and twenty minutes away on foot from her school, Gotham North High. It was located at the end of the third floor, room 312, the balcony facing the street. Other windows went to the fire escape.
Her asshole of a father could probably afford a better place, especially considering how low rent was in Gotham. He could definitely do such a thing, given his job occupation. And insurance was at an all-time low and covered a fuck ton of shit but since the Joker was still alive, walking and making plans… well, he didn't want to risk the insurance companies using a loophole to get out of insuring him.
Artemis thought that was a complete bull. But she looked into it and heard from a number of people that some companies have indeed done that.
She lived an ordinary life–or as ordinary as a Gotham citizen could be. On occasion, depending on the location, she saw Batgirl, Robin, Batman and the rare instances of other heroes of the Justice League, but that was it. Other than that, her life was typical. Mundane. She saw fights and wanted to stay out of them, but sadly took part, courtesy of several factors.
Nearing her home over at the middle-class block in Gotham Heights, she spotted a homeless girl sitting outside the apartment complex. A blue-eyed blonde close to ten years old, silently begging him for spare change. Her little cardboard box was empty.
While everyone else ignored her, she didn't.
Fishing out her wallet, she handed her a five-dollar bill before seeing the bit of light fill her eyes. She smiled a little and walked away.
'At least it wasn't a kid on drugs.' She thought to herself. 'God knows how bad that would be.'
Entering her home, she was greeted with silence. This meant her father wasn't home yet or left some time ago. On the off chance, he was gone for work for god knows how long. That suited her just fine.
Once taking off her boots, Artemis immediately made her way to her bedroom, tossed her clothes into the hamper and headed right to the bathroom to get clean of the dirt, grime, sweat and blood.
Lying in the tub, soaking in a guilty pleasure bubble bath, Artemis pulled up her phone and watched some videos. Clicking one at random, she saw it was a news broadcast.
"...In other news, Gearhead is still at large after his appearance at the charity race earlier today." Said news reporter Vickie Vale. "Many racers were injured during his abrupt entrance and exit, including Bruce Wayne. Presently, he is recovering at his estate but his doctor -Dr. Leslie Thompkins- assured he will make a good recovery after several days of rest. As for the others-"
She closed out the video and decided to switch it to some music to calm her thoughts.
Her life, for the longest time, was typically been waiting. Waiting for something to happen. For something to change. She sadly got that bit of outlook as a child when her mother went to prison, her older sister ran away and her being left alone to be raised, trained and toughened by her father.
Thinking back to the one news report, of the new "crazy" riding into town, Artemis shook her head in annoyance.
A lot seemingly happened since the world went to shit a few weeks ago. In their neck of the woods, Arkham Asylum and Blackgate Penitentiary had a massive breakout with nearly everyone vacating them. As far as she and everyone else knows, all of the inmates are recaptured and readmitted to Blackgate while Arkham is… questionable at this time.
Rumor is, the city board is considering shutting down Arkham Asylum due to its unique history of repeated breakouts. The place would either close its doors for good or a new facility would be built to properly house the super "psychotic" criminals while the proper insane individuals stay at the one asylum as it was originally meant to be.
The idea had been floating around for years, but the recent incident was perhaps one of the bigger shoves to finally make it happen.
Pulling up her phone again, she went to the calendar app and saw that April 1st -April Fools Day- was right around the corner. She and every Gothamite knew it was essentially "Joker's Day". Everyone was gonna wonder what scheme he had cooked up next for his big joke upon the city; especially since he was still out and about.
Shifting her mind a bit, she scrolled on the same app and saw that in less than four months from now, her mother would be out of Blackgate Penitentiary. Whatever happens then, a good amount of change will hopefully begin for her future.
It was her life, after all. Her preparing for a battle of strife that's ever going, but hardly approaching. Only waiting for something to happen. Like waiting at a bus stop taking her on some particular path.
Yet she yearns for a means of escaping reality and going into a fantasy. Something to change her life from the usual norm.
'What I wouldn't give for a rabbit hole to fall into.' She thought to herself, drying herself off in her bedroom. Her eyes glanced at a particular poster hanging on the other side of the room. 'But I'm Artemis, not Alice. There ain't a Wonderland for someone like me. Not with my family history.'
While blow-drying and combing her hair, she had a video app pulled up. It was set on random and autoplay.
After a certain news feed finished playing, one came up in particular.
It was a headline over in London, England. Something which occurred weeks ago of a terrorist group's failed bombing attempt.
Her gray eyes focused more on the old news report. It shows a video feed of what happened within the Old Bailey Courthouse through their security cameras. A hostage situation occurred while a large bomb was set to blow, regardless if the authorities were to show up and negotiate.
No other known hero was present to stop it. Only some unknown. Some nobody no one's ever seen or interacted with prior to that day.
It was practically their heroic debut.
'Huh. Wonder why I never saw this before.' Artemis thought with curiosity.
She placed down the hair dryer and comb, focusing more on the video that was playing.
The hooded individual swiftly incapacitated the terrorists. Even interrogating one -from what the feed perhaps suggested- before going to where both the hostages and the bomb were kept.
There wasn't a security camera in the one room where it all happened, but one was outside of it. It showed the hooded person bursting through the door before about a minute later people began filing out and making their way outside of the building. Before the news video ended, Artemis saw the new hero entering some magical portal of some kind and hasn't been seen since.
By the end of watching the video, Artemis did a web search on the incident. She read through the proper news article of what happened that day, skimming over the testimonies of some of the hostages.
In some odd chance, she found related articles about this hooded nobody. How they were spotted in Central City and partnering up with Kid Flash in taking down Tarpit. And after that, seeing a brief one of the same person stopping a car chase involving robbers over in Boston.
A thought then passed her mind. An inspiring one at that. One which had a desire of her wanting to go out this evening instead of staying all cooped up at home this weekend.
'It's probably time I stop waiting.' Thought the Crock girl as she began rummaging through her closet. 'I'm gonna start walking or probably run where I wanna go. I'm gonna do something fun.'
Instead of wearing something that screamed party time, she wore a different getup that said action.
Checking herself in front of the vanity mirror of her room, Artemis gave herself a look over to see if anything was missing or out of place.
Her present attire was a midriff-baring costume that highlighted her build. It was colored in various shades of green and consisted of a mask extending from the hairline to the cheekbones, a sleeveless top with a stylized arrow tip on the front, fingerless gloves, pants with black knee pads, and black combat boots. She had a black utility belt and pouch strapped on her left leg that were filled with assorted tools. Artemis carried a quiver along her back with a bow and a multitude of multi-purpose arrows. Holstered on her left leg was a collapsable and lightweight crossbow. The right had a few sheaved knives. They were her little bits of insurance if she lost access to her bow.
The outfit she had on was something she mostly fashioned together. The equipment, however, was stuff she acquired from her father. Reason behind that is… complicated to summarize it all.
Seeing she was somewhat ready, Artemis went to her bedroom window, climbed out to the fire escape and went to the roof.
"Alright, let's see how tonight goes." Muttered the young archer, pulling up her phone to select something in mind. "If I can't wait for trouble to come to me, I'll come to it instead."
Pulling up a song playlist and playing it at random, the familiar beats of 'Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me' by U2 flared in her Bluetooth earpieces. With it pumping her up, she took off into the night.
*BRRRNNNNGGGG*
The sound of an alarm going off. The source came from a convenience store that was in its slow period in the nighttime hours.
Inside the establishment, arrows were knocked and drawn.
"Don't." Said the young archer.
Hands were raised, coming from the cashier. Yet the arrows weren't aimed toward the store employee.
They were aimed at a pair of masked gunmen trying to rob the clerk.
"Don't? Don't?!" Mocked one of the burglars. "Kid, you have a little bow and arrow set." He and his partner held up their weapons, a revolver and a shotgun. "We have guns."
The moment the guns were visible, Artemis slightly adjusted her bow and let loose the bowstring. One arrow struck one robber in the head, having him collapse onto the floor. The other arrow exploded and covered the shotgun with a thick paste, making it hard to fire.
Seeing this happen, the one conscious burglar charged in with the shotgun, intending to smack and club Artemis. She ducked from the swing, smacking the robber with her compact bow into his chest. She then smacked him upwards from underneath his chin to have him go unbalanced. He was then knocked off his feet by a roundhouse kick, sending him crashing into a cooler.
The bag the one burglar was carrying fell and spilled its contents across the floor. It was now littered with wads of cash.
Once Artemis stepped closer, the robber spoke up.
"The money! We'll split it with you-"
The archer narrowed her eyes at the burglar, her lips twisting into a frown.
"-Or you take it! Take it all!"
Gray eyes narrowed further from there.
"POLICE! FREEZE!"
A pair of police officers arrived at the scene. Guns were drawn and ready to take out any assailants.
"What happened here?"
All that they saw here were the two robbers on the ground with the clerk hiding behind the counter. One robber was unconscious, the other was ensnared by some pasty substance.
"She wouldn't take the money." Said the conscious burglar. "What kind of masked thief doesn't take the money?"
While the cops arrived on the scene a bit too late, someone else was present seeing it all.
Said individual saw Artemis fleeing and going elsewhere. An interest took hold, prompting them to follow her and watch.
Time went on for the young, aspiring heroine. She took out a number of crimes whenever she came across them. There were some other thefts and muggings thwarted. A drug deal. An attempted rape.
'Would've thought it would be more exciting.' Artemis thought passively as she was now listening to 'Something in the Way' by Nirvana. 'Perhaps it's a slow night or the Bats are having all the fun.'
She found it weird she hadn't come across Batman or his sidekicks tonight, no matter how many crimes she stopped so far on her first time out in a costume. They could be trying to track down this Gearhead or be involved in something else.
Whatever the case was, not exactly her problem.
Besides, she's not too keen on running into Batman anytime soon.
She could perhaps deal with Robin and Batgirl, but they'd snitch on her which would draw his attention to her.
And with that, a certain conversation would no doubt come to pass. A topic that may be brought up by her could be of joining their little group-
'Who am I kidding?' She thought as she quickly shook her head. 'If I tried to join the Bat, he and his sidekicks would want to know who I am. Probably demand my whole family history. And once they know that there's no way they'd trust me. No way they'd ever let me be one of them.' Looking down at her present getup, he continued her thoughts. 'I can play dress-up all I want, but no one's ever gonna buy me as one of the good guys.'
She wondered if this was perhaps a bus stop in her life, waiting for something to take her to somewhere boring or continuing to something exciting.
"What I need is a good rabbit hole to go into." She mutters to herself. "I'd just need to find my white rabbit-"
*BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG*
The familiar sounds of gunshots filled the air, having Artemis drawn to them. She looked for the source, questioning on how to proceed once she had located it.
Wasn't long before she saw two thuggish-looking people running across the street, almost getting hit by a few cars. She wondered what they were doing as they were unloading more bullets.
Their target… was a cat?
Narrowing her eyes in utter curiosity, Artemis chased after the fleeing feline.
Said creature sought to escape the death the two thugs were trying to give to her. She got to a bridge overpass of one of Gotham's rivers. She is small, quick and agile in avoiding a number of passing cars and the bullets trying to kill her.
Yet things were quite unfortunate as one bullet caused the cat to jump the wrong way, having it fall off to the side of the bridge and to the river below.
By the time one of the thugs got there, he began firing at the water below.
"Got it."
"You sure?"
"Oh yeah." Said the first thug. "Even if I missed, it would've died in the fall."
"...Right." Says the second thug, sounding unsure.
Not a moment later, a limo pulled up with the back window rolling down. The two thugs saw their employer seated there.
"Is it dead?" He said.
"Sure, Rough Cut." Responded the second thug.
"You better be sure."
The back door to the limo opened up, having the two thugs climb in. Once the door was shut, the vehicle took off.
If the two thugs had been more thorough in checking for the cat as instructed, they would've seen it was alive.
Where exactly would've been slightly difficult. For you see, the cat was caught by someone before it took the big drink. And said someone was hiding beneath one of the support structures of the bridge.
Presently, Artemis was calming the frightened cat, gently stroking its fur and giving it a few kisses for good measure.
"You ain't a white rabbit, but you sure are cute." She whispered out.
"Mwrow~"
Why were those two shooting after a defenseless cat?
This question rolled around her mind as she kept calming down the feline. A little mystery that intrigued her. One which brought a smile on her face.
"Think I found my rabbit hole."
"A rabbit hole?"
"GAH!" Yelped Artemis, almost jumping out of her skin and dropping the cat in her arms to the river below. Luckily for her, she was quick to keep the feline in her arms.
"I'm sorry!" The person blurted out. "I didn't mean to scare you."
Looking over, the archer saw a black hooded individual. Their attire was practically some leathery material. And the hood over his head completely obscured his features.
While this was the very first encounter with this person, it felt like she knew him, somehow. A subconscious feeling.
It was at that moment did she realize this person was on the other side of the support structure. Yet he quickly closed the distance by leaping over and gently landing on the spot beside her.
"Who are you? You don't look like one of the Bats."
Unbeknownst to her, the new arrival cocked a questioning eyebrow underneath his hood.
"I'm just a Nobody." Was the plain response.
"You sure look like somebody to me."
The hooded teen chuckled at this. "I'll take that as a compliment."
She gave him an odd look in response. Shaking her head, she voiced a question. "How did you find me?"
"I saw these two guys chasing after a cat and firing at it. Decided to check out what's happening." He kneeled down and carefully reached out to pet the feline. It calmed down after a moment or two, enjoying the sensation. "After they left in some limo, I found you and the little one here."
"Well… thanks for checking, I guess." Artemis muttered with a moment's hesitation.
"No problem."
"Who are you?" She asked.
"I'm Roxas. Nice to meet you." He greeted her. "And who are you?"
The masked blonde opened her mouth before closing it.
'Crap. I have no idea who or what to call myself.' She thought in duress.
Thinking of something, she ended up blurting out "Artemis" all before clamping up.
"You mean like the Greek goddess?" The hooded teen asked with clear intrigue/
"...Yeah… Yeah!" The archer hastily said, not believing her luck.
Who knew her own name could work out on this? Though it was a bit of a risk as there aren't that many women who are actually named Artemis.
"Interesting way to pay homage to her, given she's an archer and all that." Roxas noted.
Artemis held up her bow and gave out a slightly strained laugh.
"That's true." She said awkwardly.
"Beats calling yourself Archery Girl or something uncreative or boring."
She snorts. "Yeah."
"I mean I met Speedy a while ago and I still don't know why he's called that." The Nobody said with a shake of his head. "His moniker fits better for a speedster, if you ask me."
Artemis chuckled a little in response, agreeing with him on the thought.
Getting back to the matter at hand, she asked him, "You said the thugs got in some limo." She saw him nod. "Did they say anything?"
"Just acknowledging them apparently killing the cat to some guy named Rough Cut."
"Rough Cut…"
Roxas tilted his head at the manner in which Artemis said the name. "Sounds like you know him."
"Of him." She corrected. "He's a diamond smuggler… among other things." She said with disgust. "Frequents a few clubs whenever he's in town."
He nodded once more before shifting his focus to the feline in her arms. "Now why would Rough Cut be after little one here?"
Seeing the jewel-encrusted collar around the cat's neck, Artemis unclipped it and saw some inscription on the inlay. Once reading it, she pocketed the item.
"I think I know now."
Running and hopping across many rooftops as quickly as they could, the pair made their way to a strip club with the name "Kitty Corner" written in neon over a row of signs. Each advertised their own particular way being girls, events and business hours. One of the highlights of the establishment was one "Buttermilk Skye".
Overlooking the place, the two blonde teens saw a number of individuals walking in and out of the front entrance. It was mostly the former, given this time of night.
"You know this Rough Cut would be here?"
"I'm merely hoping he is." Said Artemis. "This is the closest place to where we were at."
"And if he wasn't here?"
Before she could give a response, a limo pulled right in front. Not long after, a large man climbed out of the back and made his way into the building.
"That's the car I saw earlier." Said Roxas.
"And that'll probably be our guy."
Roxas emanated a hum from his throat. "How should we do this?" He asks her.
Artemis blinked, almost not believing what she just heard. "You're asking me?"
"Well, yeah," Roxas said as though it was obvious. "You're familiar with Gotham. I can follow your lead."
This felt odd for her to hear. Someone wanting to follow her?
Tonight seems to get a little better for her now.
Following Artemis to the back, Roxas was able to get them inside when she kept a lookout. With a quick knock with his Keyblade, which was brought out momentarily, the doorway opened for them to proceed.
Once inside, senses were quick to pick up on a lot of things. For one, a certain type of bass music filled the air. It was mostly muffled, given where in the building the pair were. There was an odd assortment of smells one could pick up on. Mostly it was cleaning products to the faint aroma of stale cigarette smoke.
"Hey, what are you two doing-"
Roxas did some quick work on the security guard by casting Sleep on him. He was out like a light, but he was on the verge of collapse. Luckily for him, the two costumed blondes caught him and repositioned him by having him leaning against the wall. Once slipping on the man's sunglasses on his face, no one was ever the wiser to tell of his current condition.
"Neat trick you did there." She comments.
Walking past the sleeping guard, Artemis and Roxas made their way to the section labeled "Private - Employees Only" on the partially opened door.
This allowed the pair to hear a conversation take place inside.
"Rough Cut's back." Commented one woman.
"What did he give you?" Asked the other.
"He must be smuggling diamonds again."
"That thug could smuggle his own mama. You know, Maggie got one of those last week."
"...You heard from her?"
"Nope."
Hearing everything that was needed, Artemis kicked the door open, startling the two women inside of the changing room.
"Was that necessary?" Asked Roxas.
Artemis gave her partner a look before focusing on the strippers.
"You ladies look like you deserve a break."
In the main area of the club, Rough Cut and his two thugs were watching the latest stripper walk off the stage to the back from the front row seats. They were waiting for perhaps a few more performers before getting to their next destination for the night.
A figure soon appeared on the far end of the stage, positioning themselves against one of the stripper poles. Spotlights soon went on towards the person to reveal Artemis leaning against it without her bow, quiver and crossbow.
'God I can't believe I decided to do this.' She thought to herself.
She had done… a few things in the past year. A means of rebelling against her father while he wasn't around. Not drugs, mind you. Just having sex a few times with some guys from school. If her dad was remotely present at those times -or caught wind- then the few guys she briefly dated would've been six feet under right now and she'd be harshly punished to toughen herself more as he would put it.
This situation, however, was completely new for her to experience. A means to somewhat lower the guard of Rough Cut and his men.
As the music began playing, she strutted forward and slowly performed a few acrobatic moves to show how flexible she was. First was a spider cartwheel, using a lot of her upper body strength to swing her hips and legs into the air before bending further to pull herself up onto her feet without much issue. Without wasted movements, she latched onto the far end pole and hoisted herself up into an inside leg hang before doing a butterfly move.
As this went on, Rough Cut's thugs were commentating to themselves.
"This is new." Said the first thug.
"I think this place is trying out some new stuff." Responded the second.
"If only they did some work with some of the ladies of the Justice League, I'd be here more often."
"Though I gotta wonder if she's new cuz I've never seen a girl like her before."
During all this, Rough Cut had an open smile, showing his diamond teeth. They weren't permanent. They were literal diamonds shaped like teeth and lodged into his upper and lower jaw. He sensually licked them for an extra sheen to them for his sense of perversion.
Once getting out of a jade split, Artemis pulled out her knives and threw them at the thugs.
The first struck one thug in the shoulder, piercing it with enough force to have him tumble over his seat. As she whirled to the second one, the man pulled out his gun and was about to fire. However, she had the quicker hand, flinging at the gun and knocking it away. Once onto her feet, she swiftly kicked the first thug across the head once he pried the knife out of his shoulder. With the other thug, she delivered a harsh backhand across his face to knock him to the floor.
Seeing the gun on the stage, dropped by one of the thugs, she took hold of it and fired the rest of the clip into the ceiling. This caused just about everyone in the establishment to more or less flee out of the front door.
Tossing the gun aside, Artemis focused her attention on Rough Cut, who didn't seem all that phased on what just happened.
"Something I could do for you?" Says Rough Cut.
Artemis pulled out the jewel-encrusted collar from her pocket and held it in front of the diamond smuggler. "I'm looking for the owner of this."
He glanced at it briefly before focusing back on the young archer. "Never seen it before."
"Take a closer look, bub." Artemis growled slightly.
The man did but used that moment to grab onto the table in front of him and throw it at Artemis.
She dived out of the way from getting hit. Coming out of a recovery roll, she dashed out of the way to avoid getting hit by one of the leathery chairs. When one was about to hit her, due to her being a bit slow, the plush seat was suddenly cut in half, with the pieces going on opposite sides.
Before Artemis was Roxas, who had her bow and quiver hanging off his back with her crossbow in his left hand. His right hand was wielding Oblivion.
From her spot, the young archer eyed the Keyblade with a closer look. Her mind momentarily flashed back to the video she saw earlier today.
'Is he the same person?' she thought momentarily.
Seeing the new arrival, Rough Cut opened fire at the black hooded teen. However, the bullets did nothing as he effortlessly swatted them away. With this being useless, the diamond smuggler ran off and out of the establishment.
"You okay?" Asked Roxas, hoisting Artemis onto her feet.
"Somewhat." Was her response as he handed over her equipment. She then saw the Oblivion Keyblade in his hand. "When did you get that?"
"A long time ago."
With that said, they took off and ran out of the building. Upon reaching the street, they saw the limo speeding off.
"He's getting away." Artemis said in frustration.
"We can catch up."
"With what?"
Roxas pulled out a metallic baton with some glowing lights on it from some back pocket.
Hopping and skipping back a bit before flipping into the air, Roxas pulled the baton apart. Upon splitting the device, something happened before Artemis' eyes.
In an odd form of a miracle or magic, digital sparks formed out of thin air and took shape between the two baton halves and underneath Roxas. The baton halves quickly formed handlebars as a machine resembling a futuristic motorcycle took form from the inside out. The inner workings were quickly seen before more of the outer shapes solidified. Upon meeting the pavement, the vehicle was properly available for Artemis to see.
The front and rear wheels are of identical size. A grid-like design was along the shell of the primarily black bike with white lights all around. The rear end was extended to include enough space for two riders at a time. And near the front wheel were a pair of discs.
Artemis was bug-eyed when seeing this. Calming down slightly from her surprise, she let out an amazed whistle.
Well, it couldn't be a light cycle from the Tron movie, right? It had to be something inspired by it.
"Where'd you get the sweet ride?"
"A gift from a friend."
"Some friend you must have." She murmured, appreciating the motorcycle.
"You have no idea. Hop on."
The moment she got on, the light cycle soon took off into Gotham's streets.
Chasing after and finding the limo took some moments, but Roxas was able to get up to it. The approach didn't go unnoticed, however.
Coming out of the sunroof, Rough Cut carried an assault rifle and opened fire at the futuristic motorcycle.
Roxas pulled back on the brakes, flaps appeared on the cycle's back and having it slowed down rather suddenly. He then whirled the bike and maneuvered around the various cars on the road.
During one of the harsh swerves from the limo, Rough Cut saw his ride was passing a car haul truck. Smirking, he fired upon part of the mechanism keeping the ramp of the upper level stable, wrecking the control panel in the process. This caused the ramp to suddenly fall down and crush the car underneath. In the process, one by one, cars from the upper half began rolling and falling off.
"Oh, this ain't good." Artemis commented from the "bitch" seat.
Seeing this, Roxas had to quickly swerve away from the incoming flailing cars. There were a few close calls when they were nearly hit.
Looking back, Artemis cringed at seeing the wrecks on the street behind them.
Back at the limo, Rough Cut frowned upon seeing his one attempt failed to stop his pursuers. Yet upon hearing the fog horn from a truck behind him, he got an idea. Seeing that the car haul truck didn't work, perhaps this next attempt will.
Turning around, the diamond smuggler fired upon the truck's grill and ended up hitting one of the front tires. This caused the vehicle to swerve and flip over, having its trailer fall down as well.
The limo would've gotten crushed, but it quickly swerved out of the way before it could happen.
As for the light cycle, a different approach was needed. Glancing over, he got an idea.
"Hang on tight." Roxas called out to her.
"What are you-"
The futuristic bike accelerated, causing Artemis to cling onto Roxas in the process. She held onto him tighter when he swiftly tilted the cycle, having it swerve to the lowered ramp of the car haul truck. Up and up he went before sailing off, just as the haul truck came to a quick stop in order to avoid colliding with the toppled-over truck.
The landing was somewhat harsh with a hard thud. But once stabilizing the cycle, Roxas resumed the chase.
"You okay back there?"
"I'll live." Bullets zoomed past as Roxas swerved once again. "Only if he stops shooting at us."
Things were more problematic as the chase went on. Some cars got into accidents along the way, courtesy of Rough Cut firing at their wheels in an attempt to knock the two teens away.
After some time behind Rough Cut's limo, Roxas was able to get in front of him.
Wanting to take care of the matter at hand, Artemis repositioned herself on the "bitch" seat as she had her crossbow out. Pulling the trigger, she finally retaliated at the diamond smuggler.
The shots would've been more on point, but Roxas kept swerving about and making the arrows miss. However, one did hit Rough Cut in the shoulder, making him snarl in the process.
An opportunity came knocking his way when he saw a caged vehicle carrying propane canisters in front of his pursuers. Pulling out his hand pistol, he fired a few rounds and struck the canisters, resulting in them exploding.
The resulting blast caused Roxas to swerve his light cycle, having it knock into some side barriers and flip over, flinging both blonde teens off of it. As this happened, the futuristic bike reformed back into the baton as it skidded for some moments on the pavement.
The moment Roxas took the baton off the street, he and Artemis heard the fog horn coming from a fuel truck blaring from behind. Looking back, they saw the one vehicle coming their way.
Quickly taking Artemis into his arms, he leapt into the air. She yelped in the process before the Greater Nobody landed on the fuel truck and kept steady.
"Warn me next time." Artemis complained.
"Sorry. No time." Roxas looked on seeing Rough Cut's limo speeding onwards. "Don't know where he's going now."
"I have an idea."
Following Artemis' lead once more, the pair found themselves at the docks. They were able to locate Rough Cut's limo near a warehouse.
Speaking of, the diamond smuggler was questioning some of his men who were operating some shipyard equipment.
"Where's the boat?" he asks, both impatiently and rushed.
"It's coming in now." Responded one of them as another was driving a crane truck to soon lift up a shipping container. "We thought you weren't gonna be here?"
"Things changed." Rough Cut stormed away and headed to the warehouse office. "Just get that load out now."
A few moments after the smuggler closed the office door, the windows to the space shattered inwards. This was due to a pair of men being flung inside and appeared battered up.
In response to this, Rough Cut pulled out his gun and became rather alert. Upon rushing out, he heard a female voice speak from somewhere. He figured it was that Green Arrow wannabee. This was due to her voice echoing and carrying throughout the small portion of the warehouse.
"You're smuggling more than diamonds, Rough Cut. Something far more precious."
"You can thank a kitty cat for informing us." Voiced a teen boy.
Seeing a dark shadow move from the corner of his eye, Rough Cut quickly turned and fired. He moved once more when seeing another move in his peripheral vision.
"And you two little shits want a cut out of this, huh?" He heard the click from his gun, signaling the magazine was empty. Changing it out, the smuggler continued. "Fine. Lay off and I'll give you both 5%."
"That's not gonna cut it."
"Doubt you'd even uphold that promise anyways."
Rough Cut gritted his diamond teeth. "You think I'd be intimidated by the likes of you?"
"Not really." Said Artemis from a rather close spot.
"You look stressed out." Whirling around, Rough Cut saw the black hooded teen was behind him. "You should lay down and Sleep."
The moment the spell was cast, Rough Cut became rather drowsy. He tried to stay awake, but he was out like a light. This was courtesy of Artemis drop-kicking him, sending his head to the warehouse pavement to properly knock him out.
"Lights out." Artemis spat at the knocked-out smuggler. She turned to Roxas with a small smirk. "That was easy."
"That it was." Roxas looked towards the water and recalled a detail. "Didn't Rough Cut say a boat's coming?"
She regarded him with a nod, realizing the implication. "Which means more of his men will show and expect the shipment."
Nodding, Roxas was about to move when a small feeling washed over him. Something which he voiced. A response his Somebody would've said.
"Race ya!"
The moment this was said, Roxas ran off, having Artemis balk slightly.
"Wha- Hey!"
Some minutes passed as the two young heroes took care of the incoming boat belonging to Rough Cut. They made quick work of the men operating it.
With their one issue taken care of, especially securing Rough Cut and his knocked out men, Artemis went to one of the shipping containers and saw the lock on it. Before she got the chance to take care of it, either by picking it or destroying it with an arrow of hers, a flash of light appeared in her peripheral vision. Looking over, she saw Roxas with Oblivion in his hand and tapped it against the lock. A split second later, it came undone and fell onto the pavement.
"...Okay~" She drawled out. "Neat trick."
Shaking her head, she grasped the container door and opened it up. The moment this happened, she and Roxas saw what lied inside.
"Women?" Asked Roxas.
"Yeah." Artemis responded. "Rough Cut doesn't smuggle just diamonds, but women as well."
Gazing at them, the Nobody saw there were about a dozen situated inside of the container. They were a mix of people from the streets, some who looked like they worked at the club he and Artemis were at earlier, and some were out of place.
As he kept looking at them, Artemis voiced a question. "Who here is Holly?"
"...That would be me."
Coming into the light from further back of the shipping container, Artemis and Roxas saw a tanned or olive-skinned girl who appeared a few years older than them. Her frizzy red hair was pulled back by a hairband. Her clothes were slightly torn up but still manageable to wear, despite how much skin they didn't cover up.
Artemis pulled out the jeweled collar from her pocket and handed it over to Holly. "We found your cat."
Looking at the cat collar, it was actually a bracelet. The etching on the back read 'Holly, take care of yourself -XOXO Selina'.
"Message wasn't for you," Holly soon looked up and gave the two a smile. "But thanks for helping me… and us." She said, referring to the other women coming out of the shipping containers.
Roxas gave her a nod and a hidden smile. "No problem."
With this one container taken care of, the Nobody went to many others, unlocked them with his Keyblade and freed the many other confined women Rough Cut was planning on smuggling out for his operation.
As this went on, Artemis used the cell phone of one of the knocked-out men and called the police to inform them what just happened at the docks before hanging up.
No doubt the testimonies of these captured women will put Rough Cut and his men behind bars for a very long time.
Once the last of the containers were opened and freeing the last of the people, Artemis told Roxas it was time to go.
Pulling out the light cycle baton from his coat, he materialized the futuristic bike. The two teens get on and take off into the night.
As the pair left the docks, a dark figure appeared and landed on the ground beside Holly.
"That was rather nice of them to do."
Holly looked back seeing her old friend there in her thieving getup.
"Well, my message got intercepted by them, Selina."
Selna Kyle, otherwise known as Catwoman, hummed. "Why do you never listen to me?"
"Sorry, I really was trying to leave town, but needed some traveling money. Didn't expect I'd be nabbed when lifting some wallets from some rich assholes."
The cat burglar looked at Holly's attire. "In that?"
"Was trying something new."
"Uh huh." Selina exhaled a sigh. "I'm sorry I didn't get over sooner. I was dealing with a job when I heard of what happened."
"It's alright."
"It's not." She retorted. "I should've paid more attention that you were in danger."
Wanting to change the subject, just so Holly doesn't see her old friend berating herself more, she voiced a passing thought. "What do you think of them?"
"Interesting." Selina said simply. "Don't know if Batman is recruiting more kids."
-Elsewhere-
"So what did you wanna talk about?"
Roxas and Artemis were standing on a rooftop. Them having ridden away from the docks and ending up somewhere else. After some time riding around, Artemis wanted to talk to Roxas at a private spot, per say.
"A few things."
"Being…"
"We did good back there." Artemis began. "We saved a lot of people from ending up in a really terrible life."
"That we did." Roxas said with a nod.
"But I noticed you weren't really happy about it." The Archer quickly added, making the Nobody pause.
"Huh?"
"When seeing all those women in the shipping containers." Artemis pointed out. "You looked like you were ready to explode back there."
"How?" Roxas pointed to his hood-covered head. "You haven't seen my face."
"I've learned how to read body language." She clarified. "Now fess up."
There was a moment of silence as the Keybearer took the time to recollect that horrid sight and the disgusting feeling he experienced when first laid eye on those poor women.
"...I just don't understand how people could do this sort of thing." He quietly muttered fists clenched tightly. "Wanting to sell people like that."
This got a look from Artemis, making her wonder how naive Roxas was on the topic.
"Sometimes they wanna do it for the betterment of their city or whatever." She states with a scoff. "Load of bull, that is. It's really for the betterment of your own pockets and ego rather than anything else. I don't personally know their type, but I know the gist. Dirt like them shouldn't preach about what is the right thing to do. All they do is just flex their wealth, power and authority on those less privileged or those who are a threat to them. Even going so far as to exploit their skills and traits, one way or another."
Roxas was silent. Him pondering on what the archer just said.
"You okay there?"
"It's a poor thing to enslave another."
"That it is." Artemis responded before doing her best in the awkward situation. "Wanna talk about it?"
"...A while ago, I helped save someone." He explained the details as best as he could. "She was held captive for years by a man and the one who owned her before. They used and exploited her for their own ends with no way out, not just of who she is but what she could grant them."
A questioning look was seen across Artemis' face, but stayed silent to hear Roxas vent. But she was able to get the quick jist of what happened of the black hooded teen saving a rape victim. Though she wondered what else there was of this spoken situation.
"So this whole thing at the docks…"
"Reminded me of what happened to her." No. XIII confirmed the thought in her mind.
Roxas thought back to when he met Calliope. Him seeing her state of abuse. How she was used for her power for decades. It was only through the actions of him and Morpheus did she finally become free from her captivity.
'Hopefully, she's doing well, wherever she is.' He thought before finding himself speaking on a related topic. "Not just her, but a friend of mine."
"A friend?"
"...One of my best friends." Roxas' tone was somber. "She's gone now."
The archer found herself in a more awkward spot now of getting into a particularly personal subject.
As much as she wanted to perhaps make things even and voice something personal, Artemis did the next best thing she could think of.
"Hey. You-
Before Artemis could voice her coming response, she saw something golden-yellow racing across the street with the sounds of a roaring engine in the air.
"Wait, what's that?"
Looking over, Roxas saw what Artemis spotted in the distance. Narrowing his eyes, he responded. "Trouble."
On the streets, a familiar golden-yellow race car speeds past and swerving in front of an armored truck containing bagged up money.
Seeing this, the security driver quickly radioed into dispatch. "I think I may have trouble. Send back up, now."
Before he could get a response, Gearhead swerved his car over, opened up the top and shot something from his left arm. The object latched onto the armored vehicle, which orange circuit-like lines appeared all over its surface.
Suddenly, the driver was meeting resistance as he was trying to use the wheel and pedals. When he let go, he saw the wheel was moving on it's own.
"It's… driving itself?"
Baffled, the driver could do nothing as his armored truck was now following Gearhead into a secluded alleyway. He saw he was getting closer to the golden-yellow race car with his own ride not slowing down. He covered himself, expecting a crash with glass raining down on him with airbags deployed.
All that happened was the armored truck swerving and spinning around, having the back facing Gearhead.
The coded padlock flashed a series of numbers of the screen before it flashed green. Right after, the doors opened up, depositing many bags of money onto the pavement.
Smiling, Gearhead was about to acquire the bags when he heard engines roaring in the background. Glancing over, he saw an all too familiar vehicle appearing in the alley's entrance.
It was the Batmobile.
"Batman." Gearhead says with a challenging smirk. A cord came out of his robotic right arm, seemingly on its own and plugging itself into the console. "Time to kick things up a notch."
*VROOM* *VROOM* *VRRUMM*
"It's racing time."
*SKREEEEEE*
Gearhead took off, leaving the armored truck behind. Not long after, the Batmobile went after it.
Throughout the many streets of Gotham, a chase ensued between the two vehicles. Them weaving and swerving around the many others. From a sky view, one could see a pair of figurative light trails with how fast they were going.
However, Gearhead's ride was much faster than the Batmobile, which was lagging behind.
Speaking of… Inside of the iconic vehicle of the Caped Crusader, there were a pair of passengers inside.
"He's getting away." Said a female voice.
"I know." Said the second, more male in comparison.
"We need to get faster."
"How? This thing has a speed limit."
And neither of them were the Dark Knight.
In reality, it was his sidekicks: Robin and Batgirl.
After what happened earlier today, Batman -aka Bruce Wayne- was out of commission for perhaps a week. He would've tried to get up sooner, but Dr. Thompkins -Bruce's old family friend- was very adamant he stayed in bed and did his work from there; both his known life and secretive one.
Bruce was reluctant at first, given his stubborn nature, but he was forced to comply.
Until his proper discharge, Robin and Batgirl had to pick up a lot of the slack.
One such challenge they had to deal with so far was dealing with Gearhead, who they were presently pursuing.
Robin was presently driving the vehicle. He was doing his best, given the circumstances. He was more used to riding his motorcycle, same with Batgirl. This would be quite the disadvantage of them as they don't have the proper time and experience as to their mentor.
Yet the Batmobile was the fastest vehicle they had, which was needed to hopefully take down Gearhead. Not to mention they needed to keep the appearance the Batman was alright and well in keeping Gotham's streets safe.
The golden-yellow race car zoomed through the streets, forcing the two young members of the Batfamily to activate the Batmobile's thrusters. Even then it wasn't enough to get close.
Some turns were rather quick, causing the Bat-themed vehicle to collide against certain buildings' edges and walls. No doubt there would be many scrapes and dings in the process. But this wasn't the first time such instances happened to their piece of hardware.
Looking onward, Gearhead saw the incoming traffic lights of the upcoming intersection and noticed they were about to change.
"Let's see your reaction time."
Shifting into gear, the villainous racer was quick to swerve through and around a number of pedestrians before getting onto the other street.
As for the Batmobile, Robin didn't have the quick reflexes in terms of driving the car in comparison to Batman. In response, seeing the overly crowded intersection, he was forced to hit the breaks and skid to a halt. He stopped the Batmobile just in time or else he would've ran over several pedestrians.
"Dang it!" Robin hissed out, banging his fist onto the wheel.
"We can still catch him." Batgirl reassured him.
"How?"
Before she could give him a response, something sped past them through the other side of the intersection. All they got were the white lights coming off of it.
"Who's that?"
"I don't know." Robin quickly shifted the gears and stepped on the gas. "But we're gonna find out."
The Batmobile now gave chase to not just Gearhead but the other vehicle going the same well as the villainous racer.
-Insert Final Fantasy VII Remake: Midgar Expressway Long Version-
Inside of the golden-yellow race car, the adrenaline junkie of a villain chuckles to himself. Him having beaten the Batmobile.
He was planning on finding another score to hit when he heard a distinctive sound. Looking from his rearview mirror, Gearhead saw the one coming up to him. He blinked in curiosity in response.
"New challenger, huh?" He voices, inspecting the cyclist combatant's ride. "Nice wheels."
Some dings and explosions went off on the outside of his ride, making him annoyed.
As it turned out, Artemis had out her crossbow and used the multipurpose arrows to shoot at Gearhead's race car. Didn't do much good at all, yet it got the man's attention.
Narrowing his eyes, his annoyed look shifted to a smile as they finally got onto the freeway.
"Let's see how well they handle when my little road warriors rock their chassis."
As this was said, a number of objects were deposited out of the golden-yellow race car's bumper. They quickly unfolded and formed into a number of robotic drones once the light cycle sped past them. Each soon came after him and Artemis.
Hearing the additional sounds behind her, she saw what was happening.
"We got company."
As this was said, some drones sped forward and sought to knock the light cycle all about.
Seeing this, Roxas decided to step up the game.
Flipping a switch, the discs on the light cycle detached and began hovering. A moment later, Roxas pressed the trigger on the handlebars, causing the discs to shoot at the incoming road hazards.
The young green archer balked a little at the sight and what was hovering beside each side of the light cycle. Them firing blaster fire to strike down the road drones when coming in Roxas' line of sight.
"You didn't tell me this baby has blasters.
"You never asked." Was his response. "Also I'd rather not use it with all these people around."
She composed herself and nodded.
With Gearhead, he saw this happen, making him balk a little. Yet he composed himself and smiled a bit further.
"Oh this is gonna be good."
Bundles of spike strips were shot out of the back of the vehicle; folding out the instant they met the pavement.
Seeing this, Roxas had the light cycle jump over them. Upon landing, he fired once more at the drones before speeding up to get closer to Gearhead.
From far behind, Robin and Batgirl were able to somewhat catch up to Gearhead and the new arrival. While curious on who it was and why they were here, the two sidekicks of the Batman held back such inquiries. For now they needed to stop Gearhead.
However, the Batmobile made contact with the spikes, puncturing it's tires. Yet a program within the Bat vehicle was deployed, inflating secondary tires.
"You are a crappy driver."
"I'm doing my best here."
"Then do better."
"Do you wanna drive?" Robin shot back.
"I would if I could, but Batman won't let me." Batgirl snapped back with a pout.
Their conversation came to a brief halt when they saw some of Gearhead's drones coming up and attacking them.
"Then how about you shoot while I drive." Said the Boy Wonder.
"...Since when did this have guns?"
"Talk later."
Flipping a switch on the dashboard, a secondary panel appeared on the passenger side with a pair of joysticks with buttons on top. The screen on said panel lit up, showing a targeting system.
From the outside of the Batmobile, panels opened up at the front where a pair of machine guns popped out and unfurled before lighting up, showing it was ready.
The masked redhead beamed seeing this and was eager to grab the joysticks. "Cool." She said, pressing the triggers which ignited the machine guns to whirl and fire.
The bullets flew, striking and mowing down the enemy drones on the freeway.
With them clear, Robin sped the Batmobile to catch up.
Back up front, the chase ensued with Roxas firing the light cycle disc blasters while Artemis assisted with her crossbow. She perhaps would've done more with her bow and arrow, but she hadn't exactly trained in this sort of scenario to make better shots.
Up ahead, sharp turns and ramps went on, given what Gearhead was choosing on his impromptu course. Not to mention still avoiding the many other pedestrian vehicles on the freeway.
Needing to make a sudden swift turn, Roxas let go of the left handlebar, summoning Oblivion into his hand. He then jabbed it into the pavement, carving it up as the bike's engines roared as the vehicle made the sudden quick movement.
Some of Gearhead's drones appeared, having Roxas quickly bash and cleave them with Oblivion. This was easy enough on the left side, but when some appeared on the right, trying to take him and Artemis out, he switch Oblivion onto his right once letting go of the one handlebar. This caused the light cycle to slow down as Roxas destroyed the drone.
The moment the last of them were destroyed, more drones were deposited from the rear of Gearhead's ride.
Needing to take care of this quicker, Roxas flipped a switch on the futuristic cycle, causing a white hard-light ribbon to jet out of the back wheel.
Seeing this happen, Artemis was reminded more of this vehicle being more and more reminiscent of the Tron franchise. Of how the hard-light ribbon was causing the drones from behind to collide against it and either crumble or flip into the air and crash moments later. Other drones were quick to adapt, moving around the cycle ribbon and moving on forward to the cycle's sides. In the process, Roxas was forced to take care of them with his Keyblade if Artemis couldn't shoot them down.
With this, Artemis voiced an idea. "Do you have another one of these?"
Roxas turned back slightly to focus more on her. "I do. Why do you ask?"
"You need better movements and I'm hampering them with me here. I can help."
Dismissing Oblivion momentarily, Roxas pulled out a second light cycle baton and handed it over.
Taking it in her hand, she gave him a nod. "Thanks. I'll return it back, I promise."
Recalling how Roxas did to summon the light cycle earlier, she leapt off the futuristic bike. With the baton in hand, she separated both ends and had it form around her. Some seconds passed when she landed her new ride on the pavement as it took off.
Her light cycle was the exact model as Roxas', except for the fact it had green lights instead of white.
"Oh, this is gonna be nice."
After going over the controls, Artemis was able to not just deploy the hard-light ribbon but the disc blasters from the sides.
Up front at the chase, Gearhead was dealing with Roxas and Artemis firing upon him. And not long after, the Batmobile appeared as it joined them in taking him out.
"I hate tailgaters."
More drones were deposited onto the road, but a good number were blasted down before they had the chance to unfurl and form appropriately.
With Oblivion held out to the side, magic blanketed the Keyblade. With a swift swing, a magical arc flew across the air and struck Gearhead's ride. This caused it to swerve and lose ground. Another magical arc went sailing and hit Gearhead once more, causing him to slow down enough for Roxas to speed up and get close to a degree. He then performed a spinning slash against its side, carving deep into the golden-yellow vehicle.
The racer snarled, turning his steering wheel in order to bash the Nobody, yet Roxas swerved out of the way. This let him be open for Artemis and the Batmobile to fire upon Gearhead. When the hail of fire came to a brief halt, the Keybearer came in and carved up the golden-yellow race car once more.
Being blasted and hit on by the three opposing vehicles, Gearhead snapped.
"That's it! You're all roadkill!"
The golden-yellow race car sped on ahead and entered a tunnel. There Gearhead collided with a large modified truck with large wheels. Instead of suddenly stopping, something peculiar was happening.
"His ride merges with others?" Artemis comments.
Roxas was quick to overcome his surprise and gave out a shrug. "Eh~ I've seen weirder."
"How?"
"I have a very peculiar existence."
Inside of the Batmobile, Robin and Batgirl gained an uneasy feeling as they watched the spectacle unfold.
As this went on, Gearhead was using his unique technology to merge his ride with many others. In the process, he booted out the other drivers and sent them elsewhere, like to the walls of the tunnel to the sides of the road once out into the night air.
In the end, Gearhead's ride now resembled a large monster truck of a machine, tripling the height over them on the end result. Multiple metallic wheels on each side and the large body which housed Gearhead inside. Said body looked like a large robot with exhaust pipes coming out of its shoulders and back with its arms composed of scrap metal.
"Buckle up and be ready to be demolished!" Gearhead voiced out from the sound speakers.
Robotic arms were raised with openings appearing from the palms. Flames erupted from them, scorching the road and intended chasers.
The cyclists were quick to avoid the offending flames. The Batmobile got a good blunt of the force as the vehicle's exterior withstood the heat. Afterall, Batman had configured his ride to handle the attacks he dealt with against Firefly in past encounters.
As the flames momentarily washed away, the Batmobile's machine guns fired upon Gearhead. This prompted the villainous racer to act accordingly by speeding back and smacking against the car behind him.
Buzzsaws formed from the robotic arms. They whirled and whined in the air, soon coming down to take down the people chasing him. Robin hit the breaks, having the Batmobile fall back from getting hit by the spinning pieces of sharp metal.
With a bit of an opening, Roxas swung Oblivion and sent out a magical arc right at the mechanized enemy. The blast regained Gearhead's attention towards him.
The racer piloted his machine to hopefully ensnare the Keybearer, but he swerved out the way. In the process, Artemis used her light cycle to fire upon the mech with the Batmobile following soon after.
Riding in close again, Roxas started swinging his Keyblade, cutting through the metallic wheels on the right side. He kept up with the assault before the wheels of the one side were lifted up as they rapidly glowed. Seeing this, Roxas backed off. At their apex, the wheels were slammed down hard to the pavement, having a small shockwave be exerted.
Unfortunately the attempt missed as Roxas was unharmed as he rode back in to attack the wheels once more. Before long, a few of the wheels on the one side blew up, causing Gearhead's mech to slow down.
Hoping Gearhead can be stopped indefinitely, Roxas swerved his ride to the left side of the mech and began attacking the other set of metallic wheels. In the process, the assault from Artemis and the Batmobile didn't let up. Wasn't long before the other set of wheels were wrecked as sparks flew off of them.
"STOP WRECKING MY RIDE!" Gearhead bellows from the speakers.
Despite them being destroyed, the wheels were starting to reform as they kept on turning and propelling Gearhead's mech onward. However, this meant the main body was more or less staggered.
Seeing this, Roxas casted a barrage of Thunder spells left and right, causing further damage in the process.
From within the Batmobile, Robin and Batgirl saw what the hooded cyclist was performing. Them wondering of them having an unusual spellcaster in the vicinity. Questions and more questions appeared in their minds, but were shoved aside for the time being.
After the barrage of Thunder attacks, Gearhead's mech began functioning once more as his wheels were fully operational. Flames began erupting from several ports of the main body and from it's arms. It spun around, having the hot fire scorch the pavement in the attempt of harming anyone nearby.
However, this got a few Blizzard shots in retaliation into the burning vents, courtesy of Roxas.
"I doubt that'll be enough to cool him off." Artemis said passingly.
"It'll take a lot more to get him to stop being angry." Roxas said back.
"No kidding."
The buzzsaws formed once more, having Gearhead bring them down on the attempt of carving into the one doing the most damage to him. Seeing that wasn't enough, Gearhead put an immediate break, attempting to surprise his pursuers by having them almost crashing into him.
This didn't exactly work out as planned as Roxas and Artemis were quick to swerve out of the way. In the process, Gearhead's mech crashed through the hard light ribbons. Didn't do much damage, courtesy of how big the racer's creation was.
All things couldn't be said for the Batmobile.
The Batmobile wasn't fast to avoid the upcoming collision. It caused the driver to be momentarily disoriented. It was enough for what Gearhead intended to do.
The spinning blades coming from the mech's arms carved the top part of the car carrying Robin and Batgirl. Sparks emanating from it in the process. Before much else could be done, Gearhead used his mech smack and crashed the Batmobile through the barrier and fell to Gotham's waters below.
As this happened, the hatch opened up allowing Batman's sidekicks to leap out and use their grappling guns to get to safety. Just in time too as the Batmobile crashed to the jagged rocks on the shoreline with a following explosion.
Seeing all this, Roxas voices his concern. "Do you think Batman is okay?"
"He's been through worse." Artemis said reassuringly, not really knowing it wasn't the Caped Crusader in there.
"If you say so."
With it just them now, the costumed blondes had to pick up more in taking Gearhead out.
The young Archer kept firing the disc blasters from her light cycle whereas Roxas used his Keyblade to send out magical arc attacks from afar. On occasion, the Keybearer got up and close to attack Gearhead's wheels while occasionally firing off Thunder and Blizzard spells when the racer retaliated with his buzzsaw and spinning flameflower attacks.
Eventually, all of Gearhead went through his staggered state with his mechanical wheels having to rapidly go under repairs.
"Alright. Time to finish this off." Roxas voices out.
Seeing all this, Artemis got an idea. She slowed down, meeting up with the hooded blonde. Once a safe distance, she lept off her light cycle, which dematerialized back into its baton form in her grasp. In the process, she got back onto Roxas' ride.
"Roxas."
"Yeah?"
"I'm going for the head." She said, pulling out her bow and getting some arrows ready from her quiver. "You hit its underside."
"Got it."
Taking a harsh break, Artemis was thrown off of Roxas' light cycle. She sailed right near the Gearhead robot's head and fired five exploding arrows at once. Their combined force caused the robotic mech to be unstable and lean far off to the side with one set of wheels clearly into the air.
With the underside exposed, Roxas sped right in and brought up Oblivion with magic greatly blanketing the Keyblade. With the speed of his light cycle, he was able to harshly carve right into and through the Gearhead creation. Once all the way through, Roxas sped quickly to catch Artemis with his ride before she harshly landed on the freeway pavement.
"Thanks for that." She said upon landing.
"No problem," was his response as he quickly skidded his light cycle to a halt.
The two soon faced the wreckage that was Gearhead's creation. The halves were split open with one side relatively upright while the other was toppled over.
Walking out of it all was Gearhead, who glared hot daggers at the people who defeated him.
As he walked away from his wrecked ride, it started to fall apart a whole lot more… literally.
Many cars and other vehicles began breaking and forming off from Gearhead's monster of a mech car. They began piling up on each side before one remained. But it too reformed from the golden-yellow race car to an ordinary Dodge Charger.
"No one beats Gearhead." Snarled the cybernetic racer as he stormed up to them. "You hear me! No one!"
Whipping out his right arm to the side, the fingers of his robotic arm reformed into elongated claws.
Before he could get closer, a Thundaga Burst was cast, having Gearhead electrocuted. When he tried to get back up while being shocked, he was met face-to-face with Roxas.
"Sleep."
With the spell cast, Gearhead became woozy. He didn't have much of an organic brain anymore, given the cybernetics to his body. Yet with the factor the electric attack he received was able to knock those systems out, leaving his organic side to be more active. Thus he became more susceptible to the Sleep spell.
The hard smack across the head from Roxas' Oblivion Keyblade was able to finish the job, having Gearhead crumble to the earth.
"Is he dead?"
"No. Just unconscious." Roxas dismissed his Keyblade as it went into dark motes of light. "What now?"
Artemis quickly looked and saw a news chopper heading their way.
"I recommend we skedaddle, right now."
"Why?"
"I'd rather not be questioned on our involvement in this." She read his posture of confusion. "Trust me on this."
"Alright."
Getting back onto his light cycle, Roxas took off just in time for the news chopper to view the scene with speculations being reported of the incident.
-Later-
Perched on the city's clock tower, the two young heroes sat on its edge. They were facing where the sun was beginning to rise from the horizon.
"This was quite the long night."
"That it was."
Pulling back his hood, Roxas revealed his blue-eyed blonde looks as the morning breeze hit his features.
Artemis paid no mind as to why he would essentially "unmask" himself. It was his deal and decision. What right would she have to judge?
Yet she couldn't help but look at the morning light reflecting off of his blue eyes, making them brighter than before.
"I'm usually a sunset kind of person, but the sunrises sure look great." He said with a soft smile.
"Depends on the location." She comments, focusing back on the sunrise at the horizon.
Roxas nodded, pulling out something from his coat.
Artemis saw this from the corner of her peripheral vision, turning more to see what it was.
"Is that ice cream?" She asked, inspecting the baby-blue-colored dessert item.
"Yeah."
"...How…?"
"I have my ways." Came the cheeky response.
Artemis playfully shoved him before looking back at the offered frozen treat.
"What's this for anyway?"
"The icing on the cake."
A snort came from her when she heard this.
She looked at it before getting a few licks out of it to get the flavor.
"It's salty… but sweet?"
"Sea-salt ice cream."
"Never heard of it."
"Doubt you would."
The two blondes sat there, eating the frozen treat while enjoying the sunrise slowly blanketing the land.
During all this, Artemis thought to herself. 'Perhaps this isn't so bad after all. Maybe this bus route I'm taking will lead to something good in my life.' After partway finishing her ice cream, she spoke. "Hey, about earlier," she garnered his attention, "with your friend…"
"Yeah?"
"She'd probably be proud of you for what you're doing."
Hearing this means of reassurance got Roxas to brighten up a bit more. One which reflected more from the light coming upon the city of Gotham.
-End Chapter-
AN:
This was something I thought of doing for a while of an unusual entry for the story. Melding several sources together to have a fun time of Roxas' first visit into Gotham. Whereas some would've thought he'd meet Robin and Batgirl, I thought to change it up by using Artemis instead.
In case y'all forgot, Artemis is a Gothamite. So a different introduction was used in a way for Roxas to interact with one of the Team prior to the events of Young Justice. I honestly had tried thinking of something for Robin and Batgirl, but nothing seemed to work prior to what I had planned so far.
At the very least, I believe Roxas got a good start to a friendship with Artemis. Now I can only speculate on how things will progress between them.
Anyways, be sure to review this story guys! Would like the criticisms. Please and thank you!
R&R