Harley tapped her chin. "I spy, with my little eye, something … gray." It was another perfect day in gotham city. The air was stale, the police sirens flared every ten minutes, and there was always a cloud in the sky… what was there NOT to love about this place!?

"Hm….. the clouds?" Iruma asked as he looked up. "Everyone talks about the sky being blue, but I've never see a blue sky before."

"I think I saw the clouds turning green once when the joker tried to gass the city." Babsy recalled as she kicked her feet off the rooftop they were all sitting on. "Okay, my guess is … the chalk outline of the woman on six."

"Good choices, good choices, top stars, really I'm impressed… but WRONG!" She laughed as she pulled out the rubber chickin and batted the two of them on the head. "It's the color of the blimps!"

"I thought they were yellow?" Iru asked.

"Nope, gray, see." Barbra pointed upwards. "They blend into the clouds. They only look yellow because the light's always shining dowards."

"Oooh, that's why I was so confused." Iruma nodded. "Dang it, I was so close."

"Sorry Iru, but I'm the master of eye spy!" Harley grinned. "No one's been able to beat me before, and no one ever will!"

"Okay then." Iruma smiled. "You're on. I spy something … green."

"The ACE chemical plant?" She guessed.

"No." He stated.

"Dang it, too obvious!"

"Okay, my turn, my turn…" Barbra nodded as she looked around. "...ooh, the barf right by the bench on third street."

"Nope." He smiled.

"Really?" Babsy blinked. "What else could it be?"

"The spray painted graffit of the Riddler?" Harley asked again.

"Nope."

"The special sauce from Burrito Bucket's super grande all green all the time burrito special?"

"Colder." Iru gleamed in delight.

"The water over three rivers down?"

"Nada."

"The green hair of that Joker cosplayer?" Harley pointed over. "Uggh, they're copying his 'damaged' phase." The least joker-like joker style ever.

"Nope … and what's damaged? I don't see any scar tissue."

"Exactly." Harley nodded. "Babsy, got any ideas, the well's drying up over on my end."

"Last guess … the radioactive waste near the docks?" Babsy guessed.

"Nope! It's a flower!" Iruma shouted. "I win, I win, I'm the new I spy master!"

"...What flower?" Harley asked as she and Babsy looked around.

"The one growing in the middle of crime alley." Iruma nodded.

"..There's no plants in crime alley." Babsy countered. "That's kind of what makes it an alley. The only thing growing thei is the mold on the ground.. Ooh, did you mean the mushrooms?"

"No, I meant flower. There's a flowing growing out of one of the cracks in the pavement." Iruma explained.

"No there's not." Harley chuckled. "Stuff never grows out of crime alley."

"Then what's that?" He pointed to … a … flower…. A vibrant… pink and frilly flower. "… Is it not a flower? Have I been saying it wrong?"

"...How the frick did THAT grow in the middle of all the grime?" Babsy questioned as she took Iru's hand and hooped on down to the pavement to get a closer look

"I guess miracles really can happen." Harley noted as she joined them, jumping from brick to brick as she reached the ground. "A flower.. Wow.."

"Yeah, It's been growing out of the ground for the past few days." Iru nodded as he explained, getting closer. "Luckily not too many people come this way, so it's been relatively safe so far, and all the rain at night actually helps it grow."

"Aww, look at you, taking care of it." She ruffled the boy's head.

"Why does everyone pet me?"

"Cause you're so small and softy and cute and huggable!" Barbra grinned as she held the boy. "Oooh, we can totally bring this back home and keep it at my house, that way a little bit of crime alley is always with me!"

"Why not leave it here?" Iru boy asked.

"Cause that's less fun." Barbra nodded as she began reaching for it-

Wham

"Look out!" Only for Iruma to tackle Babsy back as a frying pan was sent flying into her direction where Babsy' head would've been.

"Hey!" Harley shouted to the direction. "What gives!?"

"Stay away from her!" Shouted a red headed girl with a glare, pale skin, and really, REALLY baggy clothes..

"You're the one that attacked Babsy!" Harley shot back.

"I'm not talking about the parasite!" The short, sickly looking girl growled as she gently surrounded the flower protectively the same way she and Babsy surrounded Iruma. "You were about to bisect her without a single care!"

"… Wha-" She started.

"Oh, I'm so sorry about that." Iru said without a hint of hesitation or lack of understanding… somehow. "I tried to suggest just leaving them here but-"

"I don't want to hear your excuses!" The girl growled, taking out a knife.

"Hey, hey, hey! Don't you get any funny ideas!" Harley growled as she got in front of the two. "That's MY department, and trust me, I ain't in the mood for laughing!"

"Neither am I! The flower has ONLY been able to grow due to the lack of…your kind living here." The girl growled.

"...Chinese?" Iruma titled his head.

"Ugh.." The moodier emo redhead in the area groaned. "Just leave! Leave here and never return!" The girl screamed in anger.

"... But I live here." Iruma spoke up quietly.

"Not anymore you don't!" Harley would just suggest rushing her, but she had a knife. "If life is to be preserved, than those undesirable parasites must be purged…so leave before I make you."

"We're going, we're going, we are gooing, going, gone. Gonzo. Gonereno-" Babsy kept going.

"I said LEAVE!"

"Leaving right now!" Barbra shouted as she pushed the two of them out of the alleyway. "Okay, okay we're safe, saaaafe."

"… Poor girl." Iru pouted. "I should have tried to apologize more."

"Poor girl?! Iru, she kicked you out of your OWN home!" Harley screamed.

"I have plenty of other homes." Iru said. "There's the alley on fifth, the abandoned parking lot, that one really nice looking bus bench-"

"Iru, take from a girl that likes to take what she wants… you can't just let someone walk all over you when they get into YOUR biz!" Harley elaborated. "This is your alley! You weren't hurting anyone and she kicked you out for no good reason!"

"I mean, I assumed that it wasn't a big deal because no one was arguing with her." He said.

"Cause she had a knife!" Babs screamed.

"And Ratcatcher had a rat army, and Joker had a gun." Iruma said. "That means I shouldn't be afraid of anyone ever right?"

"...Right, you're desensitized to danger." Babsy muttered as she tapped her chin. "Alright, so there's a crazy girl with a knife living in crime alley that doesn't want anyone around due to the miracle flower growing out of the cracks." She nodded.

"It's clear what we gots to do Babbabarbabell." Harley turned to her first bestee.

"Yeah, we gotta find Iruma a new home!"

"Actually I was thinking we beat the girl up till she runs home black and blue."

"We can't do that." Iruma argued.

"Exactly Iruma, we're good-"

"She's probably an orphan like me. She likely has no home to run back to." Iru said. "I'll just find a new place to sleep."

"Come on Iru, do you really want to just give up that easily?" Harley pouted. "I hate seeing you getting yelled at for no reason, and if it happens once, it'll just happen again and again until you're out of places to sleep."

"What are you talking about?" He tilted his head with a smile. "There's always a place to sleep. That's why being homeless is fun."

"Also we kind of need to stop desensitizing him to danger." Babsy said. "If we actually did beat her up, which is bad and wrong, he'd think he was bulletproof."

"But I'm not." Iruma said. "I just avoid danger whenever it actually happens."

"Come on, Barababelbal!" Harley got out her beady eyes. "We can't just let Iru get tossed around like this. We gotta stand a line and push against this injustice! Make sure this girl isn't going to do this to any other innocent beans ever again!"

"…" Barbra sighed. "Alright … I get it."

"Great!" She reached for a pipe. "You keep her attention, I'll knock her out from the back."

"Can we not hurt her?" Iruma spoke up. "She was trying to protect the flower, her hearts in the right place."

"He's got a point, Leany Beany… why don't we just do a good old fashion stake out. Spy on her, find out where she lives and what her weaknesses are?" Barbra suggested.

"Aaah … then we crack her skull open." A perfect plan.

Barbra tapped her friend's shoulders. "We got movement." You know … after five hours of the girl having a conversation with a flower.

"Aww, I was enjoying her story." Iruma pouted. "A world full of fluffy flowers that hug you and smell like dreams."

"Iru, I love ya, but your sense of storytelling needs work." Harleen grumbled as they quietly snuck to follow the girl.

"Well I don't know how to read still, so I barely know how a story is supposed to be told." Iruma replied back. "Most I pick up is that there's people that act stupid and want to hurt people, so someone strong and smart steps in, beats them up, and everyone's happy for some reason."

"That's what heroes do, Iruma." Barbra smiled. "Beat up people who are stupid and want to hurt people."

"But she's not being stupid. She's protecting a plant, and plants make air, which we need to breathe." Iruma shot back. "We shouldn't beat her up for that."

"We're not going to beat her up."

"Not yet at least." Harley chuckled. Sometimes Bab's wondered if Harley was a bit TOO into fighting. "Besides, she stole your home without letting you explain yourself."

"I don't have-"

"She stole your best sleeping spot." Harley corrected.

"It's like how Jason and you fought because you stumbled into 'his' territory." Barbra brought up. "He didn't have the right to try and beat you up over a burger just like how this girl doesn't have the right to kick you out."

"What are you talking about, he was in the right." Iruma said, before frowning. "At least he was before tossing the burger away and wasting precious food that's so hard to get." The boy's voice got dark and scary sounding.

"...Iru, you alright?" Harley asked.

"Yeah, why?" He blinked as if the last ten seconds didn't happen.

"...No reason." Eh, probably something they'll look into once they get Iruma's home life all sorted out. "Come on guys, we need to keep close. But not too close." Too close and she'd see them.

"You think she lives in an old greenhouse or something?" Iruma asked. "She really cares for that plant."

"She's probably a mutant plant bitten by a radioactive venus fly trap." Harley snorted. "Maybe THAT'S why she loves it so so much."

"Nah that can't be the case." Babs shook her head. "If it was then she'd hear every plant we walked by telling her that we were following her."

"You mean I could say hello to her if I talked to any plant?" Iruma blinked in surprise. "Whoa, that sounds like a phone but way more fun."

"Don't make friends with the enemy, Iru." Harleen argued.

"But if they're our friends, then they're not our enemies."

"You really are too sweet for someone that's grown up homeless." Barbra grinned as she stopped. "Okay, she's entering a building now."

"She has a whole building to herself? Lucky." Iruma notted.

"No, it seems to be a still running apartment." Barbra nodded as she took out her binoculars. "Lights are on… she's going upstairs… really really upstairs."

"Oh, does she live on a roof?" Iruma asked. "Good for predators, but the rain has to be a nightmare."

"No.. she's going into a door… D 52, ooh, looks like she has a roommate… or that could be her mom, probably her mom."

"YES!" Harley cheered. "Hah, she's no orphan, which means plan 'beat her up' is a go!"

"Ooorrrr, we do something that is both better and worse at the same time." Barbra suggested.

"How is it better AND worse?" Harley asked.

"We tell her parents." Barbra grinned.

"...Babsy wabsy… that is the most sinister plan you've come up with to date…. Let's do it!" Harley giggled.

They all walked through the front door, making their way upstairs, reaching room D52, and smiled as she knocked on the door. "Are you sure this is the right thing to do?" Iruma asked

"Eh, not really." Harley shrugged. "But it's either this, beat her up, or accept you'll never be able to stand up for yourself."

"Option third please." Iruma nodded.

"Nice try." She poked him in the nose. "Much as I don't want things to escalate, you have to draw the line somewhere, or else you're going to keep moving from spot to spot and it's going to make it harder for us to find you everyday."

"Not if I know where you live." He smiled as the door opened, revealing a tall, sleep deprived, red headed woman. "Hello there, mam."

"...Pamela, you got more visitors that want to complain about you stabbing people again!"

"TELL THEM TO FUCK OFF!"

"She said fuck off." The woman said as she walked to a cabinet, leaving the door open.

"...Are… are we allowed inside?" Barbra asked cautiously.

"Look, as long as you're all young enough to not sue, I don't care." The woman grumbled as she took out a flask. "Although if you steal anything I own, I'll shank you."

"I can see where ms moody get's her wonderful personality from." Harley whispered with a mutter.

"Yeah … let's just leave." This was clearly an uncomfortable and bad call on Barbra's part.

"Is she upstairs?" Iruma asked.

"Girl spends all her time on the roof. Probably growing pot, or something I lost track.." The clearly drunk woman took another drink. "I'm just gonna.." The woman fell over on the floor, snoring with drool coming out of her mouth.

"Thanks." Iruma waved as he headed for the stairs.

"Whoa, Iruma, what are you doing?" Barbra asked.

"Well, we're here anyways, and I wanted to apologize more, so, might as well do it while I'm here." Iruma shrugged.

"Cool …" Harley looked at the downed woman. "..."

"You don't wanna beat her up anymore, do you?" Barbra whispered.

"Kind of be like beating down a puppy… with no legs…. With cancer." Harley nodded back.

"Good, long as you don't want to hurt anybody that doesn't deserve it." Barbra was used to many things, both as the commissioner's daughter and a proud Gothamite ... But there were a few things that were unsavory to witness no matter what the circumstance was.

"It's alright little ones, she's probably passed out from drinking too much. That means no more uncomfortable noises." Pamela assured the little flowers. Her only friends. Mother had been drinking quite a bit ever since dad got arrested …. Which Pam could only respond with 'when was her mother going next?' when it happened.

Just yelling, complaining, violence. Two rotten parasites constantly feeding off of each other and making their own lives, her lives, and the lives of her real friends worse. "It's alright Pam." Travis reassured her. "With all the cars, loud noises are something to get used to at this point."

"You don't need to be strong for me little ones. You can tell me all your woes." People… people just didn't connect to Pam … or Pam didn't connect to people, or something like that. Talking to people … felt like torture. A constant dagger into her brain, having to deal with walking, talking, breathing parasites that took up more and more of the planet's natural resources."

"Eh, not like complaining will do much good." Martha spoke up. "You're too young to do anything, we should be more worried about your health little one."

"Everyone's a little one to plants." She deadpanned with a giggle. "I'm fine, humans don't need as much sun as you guys."

"You sure? You look a little pale." Philip asked

"I'm completely fine. I had three extra beef and bacon burgers today." She reaffirmed. It was all the protein that she needed.

"Alright, but maybe it wouldn't hurt if you talked to more people your own age." Martha spoke up in a tone of concern.

"Right, as if anyone my age cares about plants." Pamela rolled her eyes. "Did you know I saw a girl today … she was going to cut up an innocent surfinia and place it in her room like a trophy?"

"The horror!" Travis shouted.

"Calm down, I'm sure it was just ignorance."

"Yes… ignorance for the feelings of innocent and helpless plants… ignorance that would've gotten the poor girl killed." Pamela growled. "I was able to scare her and her friends away though, making sure she left alone until she's strong enough for me to help her." Too young to safely move. "Doubt she'd care when she's an adult either. Just another example of rotten humans."

"Do you hate yourself?" A young voice ... a human voice spiked up from behind her ... a voice that was not welcomed.

"You have ten seconds to leave before I retaliate." She said as evenly as possible as she began taking out her knife.

"Okay … but could you answer my question first?" The voice asked.

Pamela groaned as she turned around ... seeing that it was the boy from earlier.. the boy that was friends with the plant killer. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Well Harleen wanted to beat you up, Barbra wanted to follow you to your house, then she suggested we tell your mom, then your mom passed out and said she'd shank us if we tried to take anything she has."

"She wouldn't even remember you being here, let alone if you stole anything.. not that there's anything worth stealing here." Pamela grumbled. "Look, if you're looking for an apology, then forget it-"

"No, I was actually trying to apologize to you." The kid interrupted. "You clearly put a lot of time into keeping the flower safe and healthy. It's really pretty and I should've spoken to Barbra more about leaving it alone."

Pamela blinked. That was the first time anyone ever even suggested she was in the right about something plant related. "And.. you care about the plant?" She asked.

"Well yeah, it's pretty and it's a miracle anything green out of the alley." The boy nodded.. nodded with a sincerity she couldn't believe could exist. "Also flowers don't need food, so I wouldn't have to compete with resources against it."

"Plants do need food, it's just not the food that parasites like humans need.,, food that hand constantly destroy.." She muttered.

"… So do you hate yourself?" The kid asked again. "You keep talking bad about humans.. are you not human?"

"… I wish to hell and back that I wasn't.." Pamela grumbled. "It's nothing but pain everyday… people are pain.. they exist to only cause pain.."

"I thought we existed to survive and live." The boy stated. "Or cause people make babies and lose them on occasion."

"That's not what I-"

"And you didn't cause me pain. You just told me to leave." The kid smiled. "I mean, sure you almost hit Barbra with a frying pan, but that was a misunderstanding, and no one got hurt in the end."

"… You are the most bizarre … thing I've ever met." Pamela looked up and down at him skeptically. "And I suppose you think just being nice to me is going to make me hound you less about the alley?"

"No." He shrugged. "I was fine letting you keep it, there's plenty of other places I can sleep. Babs and Harley keep saying I should 'stand up' though or I won't have anywhere to sleep." He let out this bright grin. "But that's the thing about being homeless, you can sleep anywhere."

"… You're homeless?" Pamela blinked. She didn't expect that out of this kid.

"Well … yeah." He tilted his head like a baby bird. "What did you think I meant when I said I lived in Crime Alley?"

"I thought that meant you lived in a nearby apartment or something, you know, like with your parents or something!"

"Oooh, I see why you're confused." The boy shook his head. "I don't have parents. They lost me and I don't know who they are."

"I …"

"I'll find them one day though, or they'll find me. Probably." He shrugged, turning back to the stairs. "I wonder what's keeping Babs and Harley …"

"Aww, he seems like a cute little fellow." Martha cooed. "He doesn't look like he'll hurt a fly, let alone a flower."

"Maybe you can let him stay in the alley and you both can watch over it." Philip suggested. "You can't be there 24/7, and you'll have somone your age you can talk to."

He … seemed nice … but … "Do …" She got his attention. "Do you eat plants?" A final, final test, to see if he actually-

"I'll eat anything if it's edible." He shrugged. "Most of the day it's old milk cartons and dead rats. Sometimes I get lucky and find an old apple core or a piece of moldy bread, though lately Babs and Harley have been spoiling me with stuff like burritos and hotdogs."

He ate apples.. he would eat plants.. he was a threat"… Get out, and stay out of that alley." She growled. "I will not let anyone who would hurt a plant like that near an innocent flower."

The boy tilted his head curiously, but nodded. "Alright then. Sorry again about everything."

"Really? He's desperate and you still draw the line there?" Travis asked.

"He's a threat."

"The little bugger literally said he eats from the garbage. He doesn't really have a choice to be picky." Philip pointed out.

"It's too much of a risk." Pam argued back. "What if he eats that innocent little one before she has a chance to bloom?"

"Still kind of cruel, and he came all the way here to apologize when he didn't have to." Martha noted.

"It's a cruel world." Pamela grumbled. They would see one day that it was necessary. It was necessary for people to die in order for plants to live.

"Iruma, hold on, we can't go back, there's construction going on in crime Alley." That red headed murderer spoke from the stairs-

"Wait what!?" Pamela screamed as she ran forward and grabbed the girl by the color of her shirt. "What construction?! What construction!?"

"Harley turned on the tv and passed by the news channel ." She said. "Apparently someone got the rights to build over it. It's today."

"No no no no! They can't do this!" Pamela screamed. "They can't hurt that innocent youngling!"

"Seriously, take a chill pill." The blonde girl rolled her eyes. "You've making a big stink out of a freaking plant of all things. Just let it go."

"… Let it go … let it GO!?" She grabbed the girl's collar. "That flower is the only, only bright spot in this cesspool of a city, the only thing that gives me any solace …"

"Rude."

"Not the time Martha!"

"It's mine to protect and I'll be dead before I let anything come close to hurting it!" Pamela rushed out the door.

"Wait, you're going to get hurt-!" The boy called out.

"I don't care!" She shouted back. A flower growing in the middle of crime alley… what was the beacon of misery for people grew a beacon of hope.. and she would die before that hope crumbled into dust.

Roland dagget was a smart man if he could say so himself. There weren't many people who would take a gamble on a trash heap like Gotham and risk pretty much their entire life fortune in the real estate and crime world of said city.

But, when he realized criminals would pay a LOT of money for a comfy room that didn't ask questions … bada bing, bada boom, loads and loads of cash! It practically grew the money out of the ground. Of course, he needed room to actually begin construction, and he didn't exactly have legal permerts to start anywhere nice, so he did the next best thing-blackmailed the Mayor and made him 'look the other way' while he tore down crime alley.

"Alright boys, we do this fast and we do it hard! I want this entire section torn down and ripped apart!" He shouted out to his crew. "As the old proverb said, break it down before building it up!"

"Is that how it goes?" One of the men asked.

"Who cares, the faster we get rid of crime alley, the faster the checks come in!" Not only that, he could totally spin it into his favor and get media sympathy for 'taking charge of ridding the city of its monument to crime'. Ooh, if he was lucky, maybe Bruce Wayne would through one or two million for naming a few streets after the rich brat's parents.

"Um, sir, we have a problem." One guy said.

"Is it the gas pipe problem or the supervillain falls from the sky problem?" Ronald questioned.

"The 'little protester with a knife' problem."

"The what now?" Dagget blinked as he looked ahead.. seeing a little girl with baggy clothes and a knife standing in the way. "Wait a minute, isn't this the same brat that got in the way of our, completely legal, chemical dumping into the pond?"

"Same one." The man nodded. "Should we call the cops and haul her ass back to the cell?"

"Screw it, keeping moving ahead, she'll get scared off eventually." Dagget rolled his eyes. "And if she doesn't.. make sure the cement is extra thick when we repave the sidewalks.

"You got it boss." They nodded as the tractor moved forward as planned.

Great. Now he could just focus on his own coffee break. The girl will get scared off, or crushed because knife doesn't beat bulldozer, and things would be fine. "Hey, mister! Mister! You got to stop!"

"Ugggh, more brats…"' He turned around as he saw three more children, two girls and some blue haired boy, running up to him. "Look, this isn't a playground. It's a dangerous place full of dangerous equipment." He gave the standard lines of 'caution'. "So either get your friend out of here or stay out of our way…"

"Well she isn't really our friend per say.." The girl in the purple hoodie muttered.

"That gives you even less reason to be here." He deadpanned.

"But she has something to protect!" The boy said.

"The land's already been bought out, she doesn't have a home in this place anymore."

"Wait… no, that can't be right." The red headed girl muttered.

"Sorry to say lass, the world's too cruel for-"

"No, I mean legally if you bought the place, then you need to give everyone that lives in crime alley compensation to find better housing, or else it's a fine that'll last from ten to thirty years in jail." The girl in the hoodie continued. "Not to mention the legally required month everyone woulf be required to have in order to move out and relocate."

"… You're a smart little girl, aren't you?" He asked.

"Comes with being a cop's daughter." She grinned. "So, you're going to stop the contraction now."

"Heck no, too late for that." He waved off as he continued to press ahead. "So instead I'm going to do the sensible thing." Ronald picked up the girl by the scruff of her collar. "Yeet!" And tossed her out of the area. "No witness, no crime."

"Hey, you can't do that!" The blonde girl with pigtails shouted.

"…" He grabbed her by the pig tails. "Yeet!" And tossed her. "Seems like I can."

"So.. your really not going to stop?"' The blue haired boy nodded.

"Not even a little." He went to grab the kid by the cowlick.. only for him to dodge away. "Look kid, this place is going out whether you like it or not, so either get out of the way or get run over, cause I can assure you, in Gotham, two dead kids is just another Tuesday in this city." Seeing he wasn't going to stand and fight, he went to check on the 'knife girl'. "Last chance, missy! Either you get out of the way or you're just another face on a milk carton everyone will forget about!"

"Fuck you!" Well that answered that one.

"Keep rollin boys." He signaled his guys.

"You can't do this.. you can't .."

"I have the money kid, make the rules." Dagger stayed the simple truth. "That's how it works in Gotham." The rich took control while the poor were lost and forgotten.

"….No.." the kid muttered before gettting ahead of the the construction and heading right into the alley, into the path of destruction being set.

"Eh, two dead bodies won't stir up too much trouble." Dagget shrugged. He watched as the bulldozer got closer and closer to the kids, about to squash them into paste.

"Hey, what are you doing-stay away from her!" The knife girl shouted as the kids.. ran over to some kind of weed in the ground. Wow, people would go crazy over anything. All the more reason why these idiots wouldn't be missed.

"Yo, mister suit man!" He turned to see the blonde pigtail girl.. in one of the tractors. "Is this button important!?" She grinned as she made the arm move towards him.

"Don't you fucking dare!" He shouted.

"You see, I don't think it's the people with money who have the power, it's the people with the big crazy metal machine that have the power!" The girl giggled as she drove it forward into the bulldozer ahead of her.

Shmassssh

He saw the destruction of his other equipment … "You …" He growled, walking up to the other children. "Wanna play dirty, fine?"

"Stay back!" The girl in the sweater shouted. "I'll-" He kicked her in the ribs, sending her into a wall.

"… You're a dead man!" The pigtailed girl screamed as she hopped out of the vehicle, to witch Dagger grabbed her by the collar and slammed her into a wall.

"And you smashed the only thing that gave you an advantage, little bitch." He growled.

"Grappling hook!" He saw the red head fire off some sort of device … that he moved around, before punching her face.

"Pathetic … and all this for some weed." He walked up to the flower, slamming his foot down … only for the boy to get in the way, using his own body to stop his foot

"Someone … cares about … this flower … more than their own life …" The boy said, blood coming out of his head from the impact said. "I don't get it … but I'll keep it safe …"

"Well then." He pulled out a gun. "I guess you'll be prepared to die for a worthless weed. Then again, that's what kids are at the end of the day."

"NO!" The girls screamed.

He pulled on the trigger, using the light of the bulldozer to aim it at the blue haired moron … only for the light to be obstructed … by a bat shadow.

"Assaulting minors now Dagget? That's a low even I didn't think you'd stoop to."

He froze at the gravely voice, instantly dropping his weapon as he ignored the gasp from one of the girls. "Ba-Ba-Batman!" He shouted, trying to compose himself. "This is, I'm just, trying to push away some trespassers from the land I own."

"Land that you don't have the permits to renovate." The dark knight spoke from his perch. "I know what you and the mayor talked about. You're just first on my list of scum tonight." And with that, the goddamn Batman leapt into the sky and slammed Dagget into the ground.

"You can't prove anything, Batman! One call to my lawyers and they'll clear me of any real estate fraud!"

"Oh, I'm not attacking you for your shady deals… I'm attacking you for pointing a gun in crime alley and threatening children.. one of which happens to be Commissioner Gordon's daughter." The vigilante growled, slamming his foot into Ronald's head.

"… The what now?!" The brat was who's kid!?

"He knows me." The redhead in a purple hoodie whispered with sparkly eyes … or that was the head wound. "Batman knows my name!"

"You better run now while you have the chance." The dark knight muttered as Dagget's vision started to get blurry. "I believe your father will have words for you when you get home tonight, Ms Gordon."

"Running, running is good." The hoodie girl nodded as the four kids fled.

"I …" Was all Ronald got out before he was lifted up into a fist.

Iruma panted as he hit a wall. "Okay … so that was Batman …" He looked very…

"I MET BATMAN!" Barbra hopped up and down in giddiness. "I met Batman! I actually met him and he knows my name and he totally saved the day and THIS IS THE BEST DAY EVER!" She shook Harley. "I MET BATMAN! DIDNT HE LOOK COOL!?"

Scary. Iruma would be more inclined to say he looked scary. And that was coming from someone that wasn't all that afraid of bats. The man that had him dead to rights instantly dropped his weapon and tried to plead and lie for safety. That.. that felt practically supernatural.. and not in the fun magical way like Zee.. but… intense… and dark. "Yeah…cool .. is a word to use." Iruma nodded simply, knowing that Barbra was to excited for her to accept any other answer.

"And not to mention, we totally saved your home Iruma!" Harley exclaimed. "We saved crime alley! We saved Iru's home!"

"Its not really my home, I mean; I did get kicked out of it." Iruma nodded as he turned to the girl with baggy clothes who was staring at him. "Is there something on my faces-?"

"Why did you protect the flower?" The girl asked him. "You had a gun pointed at your head and you were still standing in the way."

"… Cause you cared about them." He said honestly, pulling something out from behind him. "And I know you care for it.. and since someone like that mean man can come back again.. I figured that it would be better for everyone if it stayed with you." He gave her his gift.

".. She's alive.." The girl stated at the flower, which Iruma had placed in a pot. "You took her out without hurting her.. she still has her roots.."

"I already lost where I slept. There's no need for both of us to lose something today." He handed her the plant. "I know it's healthier to leave a plant where it started … but surviving is surviving, right?"

The girl looked at the plant, before looking back to him. "You… you almost died for it.."

"It's what you care about.. and if you care about something, it's worth risking everything for." He smiled, looking to the two girls that taught him that.

The girl in the oversized green sweater set the plant down before hugging him. "Thank you… thank you thank you thank you… I'm sorry you got hurt."

"It's fine, I get hurt every day …" He reassured. "I just have to wrap it up and sleep, then I'll be better in the morning. I'll.. I'll stay out of crime alley though if you still want me too.."

"You saved the flower.. you have every right to stay whenever you want." The girl nodded. "My… My names Pamela. Pamela Isley."

"Nice to meet you Pamela." He smiled. "I'm Iruma. This is Barbra and Harleen."

"Yay, we get Pam as a new buddy!" Harley exclaimed.

"Don't push it." The girl growled, before sighing. "So… you happened to be a fan of meat?"

"Ooh, I love meat!" Iruma nodded with a wide grin. "Like I said, I eat anything edible, but meat is more filling than anything I've eaten.. you know, when I can find it in the trash."

"Would you … like to have a steak with me?" She asked, moving her hair across her face

"Absolutely!" He grinned, before pausing. "It wouldn't cost you much, would it?"

"I have my dad's old credit card." She grinned as she pulled it out. "All you can eat."

"All we can …" He began drooling. "Everyone I know is so cool."

"Aren't you quite the ladies man~." Harley giggled as she poked his face. "Pretty popular with girls, aren't 'cha?"

"Well yeah. Every friend I make is a girl." He shrugged. "I just keep happening to run into nice ones."