The dark shadow of crime, which was practically synonymous with Gotham City, still loomed. Martha herself knew that despite her best efforts publicly with Wayne Enterprises and several charities she founded in Thomas' name, was not enough to break the hold that the dark criminal underworld of Gotham. A frustration that she certainly understood and shared with the seemingly revolving door of mayors, police commissioners and city district attorneys who either were unable to do much of their set promises or were secretly on the take, ending up being exposed and resigning... or in one DA's case; murdered in his own apartment by one of the crime families. Hence, Martha was trying to work on how she and Kel could strengthen their bond and control so that hopefully soon, the She-Hulk could take the fight to the criminals.
In the meantime, summer came in the year of 2004 and Poppy was now 5 years old, though she looked more like she was 6, thanks to part of her gamma genes, through Martha gave the excuse that some preemies sometimes have that kind of face that makes them look older due to the fact that they have to work harder to catch up to other babies.
Poppy's genes however also seemed to have regressed in other ways as Poppy hadn't 'hulked out' in a matter of speaking since she was only some months old. Leslie's theory of them being regressive until perhaps she started to hit puberty was the most reasonable explanation and something that would have to be waited on, but at least Martha was glad that she didn't have to truly run a web of lies for those she employed in the manor about Poppy anymore.
As for Bruce, he was now 14 years old and was already growing into a young, handsome version of his father, but luckily, Martha's features had softened him up though. He himself had decided to socialize again with those of his age by attending public school rather than the private ones that he was originally attending where almost nobody knew how exactly rich that he is, but still seen as a well-off kid just the same.
Bruce was also taking a bit of his own initiative in terms of wanting to better prepare himself in case of hopefully non-existent situations, such as another mugging or being abducted and held for ransom due to his family wealth. Martha easily had her gamma side to protect her, but Bruce didn't have that luxury and deemed it right for his age to get some self-defense training. Poppy would tease that he was probably going to be built like a heavy weight boxer by the time he would legally be an adult with how hard he trained sometimes.
The family was spending part of the summer break traveling across the nation for two purposes, one, to have some relaxation and just to get away from Gotham, but the other was the ulterior motive of trying to train with Kel and getting some more practice.
Martha herself, in the past few years, had been making some 'contacts' and 'connections' in regards to what she was hopeful to do with what she was now calling powers, in the hopes of using them to help make Gotham a safer place for Bruce and Poppy, as well as a deep part of her, trying her best to never let what happened to Thomas occur again if she could do something about it.
"You're too slow, Brucie!" Poppy teased as she had just tagged her older brother and was trying to keep away from him in a game of tag. Bruce partially had the mindset that he was getting too old for that sort of childish behavior, but it would be reasonable considering that it was his baby sister, and he cared for her deeply.
Bruce laughed, "I'm gonna get you, rascal! Here I come, Poppy!", using his bigger feet to catch Poppy through a roost of trees in the nearby meadow and forest of the town called Eunice, which is in the middle of Louisiana.
A few minutes later, Poppy shrieked out in laughter as Bruce scooped her up, tickling her, "Gotcha!", and Poppy laughed, "No-fair! You are-supposed-to tag me, not-tickle me!".
Bruce grinned, "Who says that the tagger can't tickle? You're it!", dropping Poppy playfully in a pile of leaves, and Poppy blew leaves out of her hair as she shouted, "Oh, now you done it, Brucie! I'll get you!", getting out of the pile and sprung to her feet as she chased Bruce, and jumped into him as he skidded into a spot of mud.
They blinked at the mud splattering at them before laughing together, and Poppy giggled, "Looks like I caught you, big brother!", before feeling rain landing on her nose, and looked up, getting off Bruce as he wiped his face and clothes of the mud as Poppy looked at her big brother, "Rain tag!", before tagging him, and running off with a laugh.
Bruce smirked, "Oh, now it's on!", before taking chase again, not caring about the rain for some minutes as they traded tags as the ground got challenging, and then finally, Bruce grabbed Poppy who shrieked in mock fear and laughter, "No, no, not the mud!", as they skidded through puddles before laughing together as they giggled and panted after the game of tag, and then Poppy shrieked out in surprise as lightning came.
"Brucie!", Poppy shivered into Bruce's arms, "That felt close!", and Bruce frowned, "And the rain's getting heavier and faster...Come on, Poppy, we better get back to Mom and Mama and Alfred, okay?".
Poppy blinked around, "Okay, but...are we lost?", and Bruce replied, "We won't get lost as long as we're together, okay? I got you, Poppy...I think I saw the church steeple over there...We can ask the nice priest if we can be warm and safe inside, and call Mom or Alfred, alright?", helping Poppy, holding her hand as she nodded, "I trust you, Bruce...Let's go...".
Bruce led the way as the rain kept coming down. He knew it was a cloudy day beforehand, but it didn't really look like it was going to rain for a while and the skies still didn't look that bad even a few minutes ago. Now of course, the skies were darker as the rain got heavier and the thunder crashed. Neither of them was aware, but nearby, there was a decent sized dam.
Nothing too large, but certainly kept water levels in the nearby area down a few feet down the small river it blocked. It however had seen better days as true maintenance had passed it by for much too long and was on the verge of faltering especially with a good rainstorm pelting and already starting to cause the water levels to rise.
Soon, the rain got even more harder, blinding Bruce and Poppy, yet they held tight to each other, as Poppy whimpered, "I'm scared, Bruce! I can't see barely anything!".
Bruce replied, "I know, it's going to be okay!", as he noticed that the ground was getting really flooded, and he replied, "Come on, we have to get to high ground!", looking now worried as he couldn't see much of anything as the rain pelted them, scared that he got them lost as he can't see the steeple of the church or even anything else to be a landmark of the town.
He saw a small hill with a few trees as he and Poppy kept going, trudging through the flooding and mud, and helped Poppy climb the hill, relieved to see that the thunder and lightning wasn't close to the hill, but still was worried as they tried to take cover under a tree with wide span of its branches.
"Ahh!", Poppy cried out as she slipped on some mud and started rolling down the hill. "Poppy!", Bruce shouted as he rushed back down to try and grab her before she came to a stop, "Are you alright?!".
"Ye-yeah!", Poppy told him. "I just slipped!". Normally, rolling down a hill probably would've been fun, but with the storm and all, fun was the last thing on her mind.
Bruce replied, "Come on, I got you!", putting her ahead of him, "Let's go back and try to stay under the tree!", as they started again of the struggling climb. As they got to the middle of the climb, they faintly heard something rumbling as unknown to them, the dam broke out at last.
"Bruce?! What was that?!", Poppy looked at Bruce, and Bruce replied, "I don't know, but keep going!", urging Poppy on, watching her if she slipped again as he focused on getting her and himself to high ground.
As the rumbling sound got louder, Bruce happened to glance back, and saw the distant trees shaking and such, and his eyes widened as he heard the familiar sound of water, not the rain, but something worse, and he shouted, "Run to the tree!", as they reached the top of the hill.
Poppy listened to her big brother, running as best as she could, making it to the closest tree, and Bruce helped her up, "Quick, climb! I'll be right behind you!", and ignoring the pelting rain, the slickness of the tree, and such, Poppy expertly climbed the tree, making it to a sturdy branch, unknowing to them that the tree has been in rot, as Bruce climbed after her, making to another branch opposite her around the trunk, hugging it and their hands together, and then everything slammed as they found out the rumbling sound was a flash flood combined with the dam breaking and the storm, coming in fast from the height Poppy and Bruce could see from.
"Look out!", Bruce cried as the waters slammed practically right into them as the water hit fast; Bruce almost completely lost his grip in an instant but managed to hold on while the vibrations and Poppy's weight were now starting to crack the branch she was on.
Even if the dam wasn't too large, it blocked quite the diverting drain way of the gushing river, and now as it had broken out, it was as practically as high as some of the old trees, higher than the small hill, hitting hard through the roost of trees on the small hill, and with the addition of the flooding waters already thanks to the storm and such, it was taking the easiest way to town, to cause more damage and devastation to the buildings, and all.
But right now, the rotting tree, the branch especially was in danger as Bruce and Poppy yelled in fear and worry, as Bruce replied, "Hold on, Poppy!".
"I am!", Poppy shouted before suddenly, the branch's cracks got stronger and with the vibrations, Poppy's weight made it worse, and before she knew it, she slipped, screaming, trying to grasp the sagging branch, "Bruce, help me!", crying out in tears of fear, searching for Bruce in the darkness of the pelting rain and storm clouds.
Bruce quickly wrapped his legs around his branch as he went down, past the trunk, with a hand to hold on to a knotted branch, reaching out with his other hand, "Poppy, I'm right here! Grab my hand!", fear and horror clenching his heart as it's his baby sister in danger right before him, fighting back the memory of being helpless when his father got shot.
"I'm trying!", Poppy screamed as she kept trying to reach out, her fingers just getting to his barely before the branch finally gave out and Poppy fell into the surge with the branch, "BRUCE!".
"POPPY!", Bruce screamed as he could just make her out now being washed away, holding onto the branch like a life preserver for dear life while still screaming.
Bruce narrowed his eyes, determined to let go of the tree, to jump after Poppy when a presence of a familiar scent was felt, stopping him, as he heard his father's urgent voice, 'Don't you dare, Bruce Thomas Wayne! I'm not going to see your mothers' hearts breaking even further about losing you too! I'll protect Poppy as much as I can, watch over her, and get her to a safe place when the flood is over! Stay here until the flood is gone and get back to your mothers and Alfred! Understand?!'
Bruce looked around for a few moments. Did... did his father come back once more or was that all just in his own head, going half insane with fear and sorrow? He decided to listen to the advice and hung on as best as he could.
Even if he made it all up in his head, he felt a bit confident that Poppy would be watched over by his father's spirit, then hopefully, Kel could track her down like she had done when he first found the caves under the manor.
The storm lasted for several minutes as Bruce bit his lip, hearing the faint sounds of destruction and dismay in the town, hearing the faint roars of his mama, helping the people, realizing that his mom had changed into his mama at instinct of protecting the people as the floods were technically a bad person, namely Mother Nature.
He prayed that once this is over, Kel would stay in astral form while Martha is restraining Kel back when...when he breaks the news...God, he didn't know how far the floods would have brought Poppy, but he knows that Poppy is smart...She will hold on as much as she could to the branch, and even if she gets separated from the branch, she can swim...
After all, in staff-free days at the manor, Poppy would swim with Martha and Kel in turns in either pool, inside or outside, but still, the force of the surging waters would tire her out sooner or later...All the same, if he tells his mothers that Thomas is watching and nudging her to safety, maybe they wouldn't be too much wrecked and brokenhearted, and Kel would be cognizant enough to get into tracking mode...
What felt almost like a whole day to him even if it was much sooner, the waters began to recede, slowly draining and spreading out after the quick wave of devastation that struck it. Bruce finally climbed down off of the tree and found himself in almost still knee-deep water.
"POPPY!", Bruce screamed out; hopeful that maybe perhaps she had only been washed away some yards and was still within screaming distance. He called out for her again but there was no response. He silently prayed that she would be okay... that she was still alive at least at that moment and that she could quickly be found.
Bruce waded through the knee-deep water, keeping his ears open as he listened for any peculiar noises, but it was the random animal noises of annoyance and frustration, along with seeing the aftermath of the forest/meadow, having to step over felled trees and to his rising horror, waterlogged squirrels and such, and then seeing the steeple of the church in relief, coming out into the trail, seeing the modern damage of bicycles, motorcycles, cars, tables and such as it was a warm summer day where people was biking and eating under canopy tents outside in town as he got closer, seeing devasted people on rooftops and any other high spots they could reach, hearing the cries of people as they searched and reunited, coming down from their high spots, while overhearing gossip that a green female monster had blurred around town, saving people from getting hit by trees or a bicycle or whatever, from being stranded, or unable to get upstairs like elders and disabled people.
Many people went to check on him in concern, but when he told them that he's fine and mainly unscathed, though he knew he looked awful. "Bruce! Poppy!", Bruce heard Martha's voice call out as he ran towards the sound before he saw his mother.
Martha's eyes widened in horror the moment she saw him but without Poppy. She ran up to him and hugged him tightly as she started to sob, "Poppy... where... please don't tell me...".
"She... she got washed away... but... I think she might be okay still... Father... I think he might be protecting her...", Bruce whispered.
Martha heard Kel's worried yet relieved sob in the back of her head, and Martha looked at Bruce, "Come, Bruce, we must find Alfred in this mess...I told him to stay close to the inn, but if we know him, he's sure helping around too...God, what happened?!".
"I...We were playing tag...and then rain tag...the rain didn't look like it was gonna really be bad...until we heard the thunder and saw the lightning randomly...I really tried to keep her close, Mom...I really did! We went for high ground when the rain got really hard and loud...she slipped once, but I caught her...Then I heard something getting really loud...I urged Poppy to climb this tree...I followed after her...We held on, Mom...We really did...we didn't expect it...it was literally over the hill with our tree...with the wind, the rain, and everything...I...I reached for her...I tried...a branch broke under her...She...the look on her face...I wanted to jump after her, but I felt him..I heard Dad's voice...he told me to stay...he didn't want you or Mama's hearts to be more broken if...I was lost too...He went after Poppy, saying that he will try as much as he could in watching over her, to protect her as much as possible, to nudge her to safety...It..it was so much water, so much force...I'm sorry! I'm sorry that I failed! I'm not a good brother, you should hate me!", Bruce broke down as it finally hit him, sobbing and crying.