Terrors Of Gotham

Princess of Gotham

Chapter 10: Red Robin

I went out into the street, making sure there was no one on the street. I sat down on the sidewalk, leaning my back against a lamppost. Assana and Olive had already left, and it felt rude to ask them to come back for me.

Being the good sister that I am, I had to wait for James and Jim to finish talking, but apparently, they had a lot to tell each other, as it took them a long time to leave. When I noticed that I was falling asleep I decided to call my father to pick me up and take me home. But when a motorcycle parked in front of me, I noticed it wasn't Jason.

"What are you doing here?" I asked the boy standing next to his bike. I got up from my uncomfortable seat, shaking off my clothes and shaking off sleep.

"Your father sent me. Apparently, something happened in Arkham while we were patrolling." Timonthy replied, approaching me and inviting me to get on his bike.

"I prefer to go alone, thank you very much." I said, trying to be polite and that my nerves of being next to him would not be noticed. I started walking down the street, towards the main avenues, without noticing that he was following me.

"My brother trusts me to get you home safely," he said, grabbing my wrist with his hand, not only making me stop, but also making me turn around and stand too close to him. "You're still angry about what happened the last time we talked."

"We weren't talking, you were yelling at me in front of my team. You embarrassed the hell out of me," I said, as I tried to break free from his grip, unsuccessfully, as he squeezed my wrist so hard I was afraid it would leave a mark.

A few months ago, he and I had had a loud argument in the Wayne Manor library, when my partners joined us for a study session. We had started out arguing about my responsibilities as team leader, it came to a point where he threw my father's identity in my face, telling me that I had the thief gene in my blood. That time I couldn't resist and hit him in the face with my shadow. He was about to hit me back, but we were interrupted by the arrival of Tim's then-girlfriend, Stephanie Brown.

The two of them also started arguing, one of the many reasons they broke off their relationship. And that was the first of many fights we would have, and in the future, would cause situations like this.

"I already apologized, but you didn't want to listen to me," he said, almost shouting, while he kept squeezing my hand.

"Let me go, you're hurting me," I shouted, trying to get out of his grip, but to no avail. "I said let me go!" I panicked when I noticed that his grip was getting stronger. I didn't have to think much about my next move. My shadow grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him to the ground. Finally getting him to let go of my hand.

When the shadow completely returned to my hand, I started to run back towards the building I had come from. But as I was almost at the door, someone from behind put his hand on my shoulder stopping me. Like an instinct, my body tensed and the shadow went to that hand.

"You have a right to be angry, but at least let me take you home," Tim said in a peaceful voice, trying to calm his breathing.

"I'll sleep in the apartment, thank you," I said, letting go of his hand, starting to walk, this time, in the direction of Jason's house.

After adopting me, Jason asked Bruce for some money to buy an apartment in a central area, at first he refused, but after a few months, he accepted. Sometimes we used it, but usually, we stayed at Wayne Manor or, in Jason's case, at a hotel.

"No. You're not sleeping there," he protested, stepping in front of me and carrying me like a sack, "Guys, I'm taking my niece. I'll see you another day, good night," he shouted, trying to make sure those still inside could hear him.

We could still see the reflections of the lights in the windows, so we could tell that someone was still there.

"Put me down. I can walk by myself," I started kicking and hitting him on the back in an attempt to get him to put me down.

"After not sleeping all night and running on sugary drinks, I don't think you can even tell the difference between a horse and a donkey," he said, sitting me down on his bike.

"Because of some people I couldn't even drink that. And I'm not that sleepy, I haven't slept for almost a week, this is nothing. I am capable enough to stand in front of my team and give them orders." I replied, rather angrily, when he sat down in front of me and started.

"Hold still," he said, as he put on his helmet and started to move forward. And even though I didn't want to, I had to hold on to him to avoid falling out of that vehicle.

The trip lasted a little more than half an hour, and during that time neither of us said a word. When we arrived at the Batcave, I didn't even wait for him to stop and I got off as fast as I could.

I quickly greeted my father. I stood next to him, looking at one of the computer screens. As I looked closely at one of them, I noticed that the Scarecrow and Joker files were open.

"Why do both files say they are free," Timonthy asked, standing behind me.

"They escaped in the wee hours of the morning, a changing of the guard that took a few seconds too long," Batman explained, tapping the keyboard.

"Why didn't we find out sooner?" asked Assana, approaching me, and then placing her hand on my shoulder, apparently trying to reassure me.

"I didn't want you to worry too much," answered Bruce.

"My life is a mess," I muttered.

Masterlist of Stories in this blog

Princess of Gotham

Terrors of Gotham

Betrayal in the Shadows

Fields of Death

Princess of Gotham

Chapter 24: Troubled Family

"Harper!" Timonthy and I shouted as we took in the full view of the person who had walked through the door. The red-haired boy wearing his favorite cap with green ink tattoos and the typical red suit. And obviously, he came in drunk, as expected.

"I honestly wasn't going to come but I said to myself: Roy, you haven't visited your nephews in like 2 weeks. And now I'm here. Is your father here?" he said, as he sat down in one of the dining room chairs, or at least tried to sit in a chair. God brings them up and they get together.

"Actually it was almost a month, days more, days less. But now, kind gentlemen, I must go to sleep because I have classes in a few hours. I don't want to fall asleep in history or math class so..." I said while I was trying to arrange the couch for Roy to sleep, when I finished talking, I pointed out the exit to Timonthy, not through the door, but through the window.

I didn't want him to sleepover, it was one thing to ask him for help because my brother wasn't around and another to want him to sleep here. We still hadn't fixed our problems, and I still refused to talk to him.

After I got Roy settled and finished cleaning up the mess, I went to sleep, two hours was something. I put away my suit and settled down to sleep, with the moonlight bathing my room and a mountain of homework that I didn't feel like doing right then and there.

When my alarm went off, I could smell food, Jason was a pretty good cook and rarely had anything raw or burnt. Unlike me, the most I could make was instant soup.

I got up and put on my school uniform, I had to admit I hated that uniform, but it was better than wearing casual clothes. I decided to comb my hair for once in my life, putting on a tiny braid and leaving the rest loose.

When I got to the kitchen I noticed Roy and Jason having a pleasant conversation, laughing from time to time, with Roy throwing bread crumbs at my father's head.

"How did my favorite niece wake up?" Roy said, trying to hug me. And when he did, he squeezed me in his arms.

"Fine, but could you let go of me?" I asked, trying to get out of that bear hug.

"Not until you call me uncle" The smile on his face became huge, and the food on the table only made me want to get out of it as fast as possible.

"Uncle Roy, now let go of me," he finally let go, but the smile was still on his face. It wasn't very often that I called him that, but he loved it. "My brother is not here yet?" I asked as I poured coffee and took some food on a plate.

"I thought he was the one who took me to my room," Jason said, walking over to the table to put down another plate of food.

"Actually... I called Jackson to help me. And now I'm running late, would either of you like to give me a ride? or give me the keys so I can drive?" I asked, trying to avoid the subject. I took the keys to my father's motorcycle, making them jingle so they could see that I was serious about going on my own without a driver's license.

In the end, Roy offered to give me a ride, he wasn't a bad driver, but it wasn't like I enjoyed the ride much either. When he dropped me off at school I warned him to keep Jason away from the phones in case the school called him about something, I had a bad feeling and didn't want to get the classic hour-long scolding.

As I walked in I started to look for my brother or a classmate of his to let him know about my brother's absence, but someone got in my way.

"Look at you, you almost look like a normal girl. Without those painted hairs and those chains on your skirt or those excessive extra sweaters, and obviously without your classic bodyguard," said the girl in front of me, as if we had known each other all our lives.

"Do I know you?" I asked, sweeping her with my eyes.

"Don't play stupid with me?" she replied, moving closer to me.

"If I may, I have to look for my brother," I tried to avoid her so as not to get into more trouble.

"Why? To hide behind him?" Her tone of voice was getting more and more irritating.

"Angella, leave her alone" Marcel Cleary was the guy everyone feared because he could ruin your family's financial situation in seconds, and that was worse than a blow. Advantages of being the son of a multimillionaire family. When the girl finally walked away, he spoke again. "So, what's Bruce Wayne's granddaughter doing alone?"

"I'm looking for my brother, have you by any chance seen him," I asked, starting to walk along with him.

"No, but we have a lot of classes together, I'll let them know he's not here. Don't worry," he said kindly, we said goodbye and went our separate ways.

When I entered the classroom corresponding to my class, I looked for my seat next to my cousin, and to my surprise, the new boy's seat was empty.

"What about the new boy?" I asked, arranging my things on the table before the annoying literature teacher arrived.

"I don't know, I didn't see him in the courtyard," Olive answered, playing with a pencil in her hand, then tossing it at someone's head, "Hey, did you talk to Damian? When I got to the Manor he was saying something about leaving Bruce in the kitchen and then he wasn't there," she recounted, starting to take her things out of her backpack.

"I didn't talk to him, but Jason was saying something similar, I didn't take it seriously because he was drunk, but Tim also said Damian told him about that weird adventure. At this point I don't know what to expect from those guys" I said, copying her actions.

The first two classes went on forever, with one teacher literally ignoring me and another not explaining what the Punnett square was and expecting us to guess how to do it.

When recess came, I was more annoyed than anything, at least I hoped the next few classes would be a little lighter or I would start using the shade to distract myself.

At some point, Timonthy approached my table, carrying a cute white thermos with an adorable polar bear drawn on it.

"Wow Wayne, I didn't know you liked bears," Jared teased, tossing him a piece of lettuce.

"Just so you know, they're fierce hunters, and the thermos is not for me." When he finished speaking, he brought the glass close to my face.

"For me?" I asked incredulously. Tim wasn't much of a gift-giver, and this was really adorable.

"Yes, and it's full. I asked Alfred to make the coffee since he knows how you like it," this was definitely adorable, at least to me.

Before recess ended, I went to the bathroom, asking Olive to put the thermos in my place if I didn't make it to the cafeteria before the bell rang.

Usually, in those places, the most horrific acts are witnessed. Clearly, I did my basic needs and washed my hands (as anyone not addicted to pictures in the bathroom mirror would do) and before leaving I ran into Angella.

"Wow, it's a small world," she said, pushing me into the stinky place.

"And it sure is." I tried to dodge her to get out since the bell had rung a few seconds ago.

"I'm told you don't even live in your grandfather's manor. Who does your father have to suck his dick to have money to eat?"

"I would ask you the same question Wilson."

"Tell me, Jane, how does it feel to be Bruce Wayne's forgotten granddaughter? Oh, that's right, you don't know."

"So that's what this is all about? Ha," I said, straightening up to look taller.

"You missed me so much, you had to find a replacement." And so much for my patience.

My fist went straight to her nose, she didn't even have a chance to avoid it. As she tried to block the gush of blood, I grabbed her by the hair and slammed her head against the sink. Then I pulled her into a cubicle and whipped her again against the toilet bowl knocking her unconscious.

Blood was flowing from her nose and from a cut on her forehead. This would be a big problem if they found me here.

I took out the shadow and had it destroy the camera in the hallway while I washed my hands, arranged my hair and uniform skirt. I left Angella lying on the floor, bleeding.

As I walked out into the hallway, I picked up the shadow and headed to my last classes of the day.

Previous Chapter

I mean, there are a lot of people saying they want to help (including me). We can totally start it with a little organization

I'm just saying

there should be an AmRev webtoon

"If you don't think you can fight all your problems, you're not hitting them hard enough." -Jason Todd probably

Princess of Gotham

Chapter 7: Scorpion and Poison

James paid for the next 4 beers. But he did have to go downstairs to act the hero and ask for them for free, saying they were for Batman, it didn't work out well, he couldn't get away with it and had to pay for them. When he returned to the rooftop he gave us each a can, although I didn't even open it and just gave them to him for a draw.

"... And then Roy told me I was an idiot and.... and...What was he saying?" Jason was saying, taking sip after sip of his can, as he told us about his latest great feat with his team. A great feat that no matter how hard he tried, he never managed to finish.

Apparently, the only interesting thing that happened with Nightwing and Pandora was a speeding driver, so I invited them to hang out on that rooftop too, a family reunion more than anything else, but they still weren't there.

"Wow, wow. I thought I'd run into one little bird today, but not four." Said someone behind me in a voice I knew all too well. A spider web stuck to me juicy and was snatched out of my hand.

"I didn't think I wouldn't step on a spider but look at us." Said James, getting up to go say hello to Poison.

"My juice," I sobbed, still in the same position. "This time I did pay for it."

Jared Barrera, like me, grew up in the orphanage, watching our backs. He, too, had gotten his powers from genetic experiments. He was a big fan of a comic book character who had spider powers. Even with that, he had great skills in acupuncture, which explained those knitting needle-like weapons. A skill that served him well being on a team like ours.

James and Jared greeted each other, like the great friends they were, and agreed that the next round of beers would be on Jason.

"I'm supposed to be in charge of you guys, not that I'm buying for you," Jason complained, also getting up to greet the newcomer.

"Bosses, I'm here." Jared greeted me from afar, as I was still sitting, sending the shadow to steal another juice. Assana just turned and waved to him. "Scorpion told me he was going to pick them up to go out drinking somewhere, but I think something happened because it's already late." He said to James, looking at the imaginary watch on his wrist.

"James was just planning to call you for that," I spoke after standing up and giving my newly arrived friend a nice greeting. "Now not only do you owe me $100, but you also owe me a juice.

We all sat on the floor waiting for Batman to give us the signal to leave, or for Nightwing to design to answer the calls. We listened to some anecdotes of Red Hood and the Outlaws, marveling at each half-told tale, a story could never end well. At one point James began to recount some of the missions he had had with Scorpion and Superboy, a temporary member who helped out on some missions.

After two o'clock in the morning, another hero joined our little gathering.

"Ladies, gentlemen, and esteemed non-binaries, these are the heroes who guard our city." Announced Oswald when he arrived at my side, snatching the juice that Jared had given me.

-Seriously you guys aren't even going to let me finish a juice. - I said as I looked for an empty can to throw at the newcomer.

Oswald Queen was for many years a secret assistant to Green Arrow focusing on helping him with strategies and locations, he never went out to the battlefield. There came a point when he got fed up with that anonymity and began to support Arsenal and, later, supported the Teen Titans. But it wasn't until the creation of Major Arcana and the Justice League's intervention in the team that he was free to go out on patrol and got the recognition he deserved, was even officially adopted by Oliver Queen and began to be known at some social events.

Although he doesn't have a metagene or any extraordinary skills, he has a special talent with the bow and in hand-to-hand fighting, but there were obviously people who outshone him in marksmanship

"At least tell me you stole a drink from James." Oswald pleaded, I simply shook my head in denial. "Spoilsport." He criticized, then turned to my other companions. "Did they leave me something?" He questioned, starting to look for a new can.

"Yes, we kept the garbage. Go throw it away," said Assana, passing him two empty cans and pointing with her head to the garbage can on the avenue we were supposed to be watching.

"Don't be like that, at least invite him a can." Jason scolded him, passing a can to my brother so he could give it to the newcomer.

"Thank you, Mr. Todd." He thanked him, once he had a new can in hand. "But I was just coming to tell your daughter that we have a huge problem."

Jane Hart

3 years ago, in 2018, I felt very lonely, to the point the only thing I could do was watch TV all day long and read.

One day, I was changing channels, trying to find something to watch, when Teen Titans Go popped on my screen. I watched it, I liked it and I tried to find more about it, to the point I discovered Nightwing New 52 and Grayson. I fell in love with the whole batfam and the idea of a new character appeared in my mind.

Jane Todd, biological daughter of Oscar Hart, adopted by Jason Todd (yes, this is weird, sorry) and grand daughter of Bruce Wayne.

The idea is still forming on my mind, but I think I can get somewhere.

U-U

Jane/Eclipse: I gave Bruce a get better soon card

Oswald/Scorpion: that´s so nice of you...

Jane: no he wasn't sick, I just thought he should do better

How curious... Such a strange and delicate thing. Adrift in the waters of fate... Which way will you wander I wonder?

—The High Priestess (The Arcana)

Vesuvia from The Arcana

Part of my 5 color challenge. I tried to record my process while drawing this but my device is slow as f****, so no speedpaint for now.

Extra 1

The First Night

The night was warm, no clouds in the sky and you could almost forget the terrible weather of the days before. But the ones that live the same lives as me, don't have time to admire the sky. We are rushing, trying to survive.

I was not at my best, I had bruises, scrapes, and cuts all over my body, my clothes were torn and stained with mud and blood, one ankle was probably sprained, my stomach was roaring with hunger and I felt that at any moment I would faint, but I had promised my companions that I would get something good to eat.

And that's what I did, that was my priority. My backpack was full of sweet bread, some snacks, and energy bars that I was able to steal with a lot of effort from some stores before entering that pharmacy. My ankle was really slowing me down.

I needed some things to at least keep the deeper wounds from getting infected. The streets were a little busier than usual, which made my tasks a little easier. But I was worried that some villain was attacking near the place because the heroes could pass in front of me at any moment.

That's what I was thinking as I searched the aisles for some bandages and hydrogen peroxide. I could tell I didn't belong there, the hallways were white, clean, and neat, smelling of medicine and disinfectant.

When a family entered the place, going directly to the cashier to ask for some product, I knew it was my chance to run away, I took the things I was checking, put them in my backpack, and ran towards the entrance, making the alarms start ringing. But I didn't care and crossed the street without looking both ways, causing a motorcycle to almost run me over, luckily it seemed the guy in the red helmet knew how to drive well.

I would have apologized to the driver if it wasn't for the guy who started yelling at me to return the things I stole, and I started running again.

"Somebody catch her," I managed to hear when I was already reaching the beginning of an alley, where luckily I would lose sight of those people.

To my bad luck, the guy on the bike got off and started to follow me. Being taller than me, he was also faster.

Some stairs a few meters away from me would be my best way out, so as I could I climbed up to the roof of the building. But that man was on my heels.

I started jumping from rooftop to rooftop, climbing the stairs to the tallest buildings, and jumping over the narrow alleys, without my usual agility for obvious reasons. And when I noticed that I had nowhere to go because below me there was a street crossing, the place where I was standing was too high, and the boy was quite close to me, I was forced to face him.

"Please, let me go. I'll return everything, but don't call the police" I said, it was better for my friends to go without food for another day than to lose the person who got them that food. When the light finally hit my companion's face, I noticed he was still wearing the red helmet.

"I'm not calling anyone, but where are your parents?" he said, slowly approaching me.

"My mother, dead. And hopefully my father too" I replied trying to give as little information as possible.

"Orphan, okay. So...are you staying in an orphanage?" he asked, still walking towards me.

"Yes" when he was a few steps away from me, I brought my hands up to the frayed straps of my backpack, holding them out to prevent him from taking it off at any moment.

"What do you have in there?" he asked, kneeling down on one knee and standing almost level with me, and held out his hand as a signal for me to open my bag and reveal its contents. I turned back, and again to face him.

"None of your business," I said, trying to sound confident and ignore the cold night breeze. I tightened the straps of the bag even more.

"I asked for a reason" the boy replied, although I couldn't see his face, I could tell he was smiling. He got up and tried again to get closer, but I could not afford to have the enemy close and with more advantage, so I tried to take a step back, unfortunately, under my feet there was nothing. Apparently, the person in front of me noticed that I would rather fall than have him close, so he stopped and spoke again.

"No, no, don't go back, I'll stay here. See?" he started again, but how could I trust him if he was still wearing his helmet?

I finally gave myself a chance to take a good look at my companion. Red helmet, brown leather jacket, and a gray t-shirt clinging to his torso with a red bat on his chest, before I could come to a conclusion, I saw that he was wearing a gun on each side. This one definitely worked with Batman, not up close like Robin.

"You're definitely not Batman, so who are you?" I asked before the silence became awkward.

"If I tell you my name, do you promise to tell me yours?" he replied.

"I don't promise anything," I said.

"I'm Red Hood, and all I want to do is get you to the orphanage so you can be safe" his answer didn't give me much, obviously he wasn't going to give me his civilian name.

"I'm Jane, and I know the way to that place that is not even close to being an orphanage" I answered looking around for some stairs to go down to the street and withdraw from there to finish with the interrogation.

"Why are you so hurt?" he asked.

"It's none of your business either" I replied, giving up on my search for a way out.

"Is that why you were at the drugstore?" he asked trying to get closer once again.

"No" I replied dryly.

"Don't think I didn't notice you limping as you ran over here" he said. I didn't have much choice, if I really wanted to get out of there I had to act and fast. "I can help you, but only if you let me."

"I don't want your help" after what he had gone through the previous days he should know better than to trust anyone, or accept help from anyone. "I can manage on my own"

"And I'm sure you can, but if you really hurt your ankle it will be hard to get home without falling a couple of times" he insisted, holding out his hand again.

Seeing that I didn't say anything was probably his cue to do something to gain my trust. His hands went to the helmet to remove it, and although I could see his face, I could not see his eyes, as they were covered by a domino mask, at least something was something.

"Fine," I said finally. I had to hurry back to the orphanage before one of the caretakers noticed my presence and punished me again, but if I didn't want to worry my friends, let alone my brother, I had to heal at least most of the wounds.

I took a few steps forward still doubting the person in front of me.

I put my backpack in front of me, slowly opened the zipper, and began to take out the bandages I had taken from the pharmacy. From the look on the boy's face, it was to be expected that he would want me to take everything out, just to check that I wasn't carrying any medicines or tools that could kill someone. I took out the antiseptics, the pain pills, and some ointments to cure scrapes, burns, and cuts. Underneath all that and still in the bag, small boxes of cereal, cereal bars, and two instant soups, and a bottle of water. I let him check and let him think it was just a few late-night snacks.

I didn't let him check any further, because at the bottom were my personal things.

"It's personal," I told him, closing the backpack before he started questioning me further.

"You have some cuts on your face, I'll start there and finish with your ankle, let me know if you feel I'm invading your personal space."

"It's okay," I said, sitting down on the floor. He moved a little closer to me.

From one of the many pockets of his belt, he pulled out a small bottle with a clear liquid and a piece of cotton. He soaked the cotton and brought his hand slowly to my cheek, seeing the doubt on my face he paused and explained. His hand was covered with a black glove, which would probably make the contact less uncomfortable for me.

"I need to clean the wound," he said, "it is only an antibacterial, then I can apply the ointment" he finished explaining, and finally he lightly pressed the cotton against a cut I had on my cheek, and I instantly tried to move away again. "I know it burns, if you want you can hold my hand and squeeze it if it burns too much" he raised his other hand, also covered by a glove, and I held it between mine.

He continued to clean my face wounds for a while, when he finished, he threw the cotton on the floor and took out another piece.

"Do you have any other wounds on your arms?" he asked, soaking the cotton wool again.

"A scrape on my elbow," I said in a whisper, every minute with him I was losing a little more of my confidence and the adrenaline I had escaping from the pharmacy, making sleep, tiredness, and pain begin to win me over, I closed my eyes for a moment, but I needed to be alert for anything, how long had it been since I slept well?

"I need you to take off your sweatshirt, I would say just roll up your sleeve, but you will hurt yourself more," he said looking me directly in the eyes, or so I thought because of the mask and the white spaces in his eyes didn't let me see.

I didn't want to take off my sweatshirt, the night was cold, and my t-shirt was torn and dirty. But the constant rubbing of the fabric against my scrape made that my only option.

Minutes later he was already applying the ointment, for that he had taken off his glove. I could tell he was nervous, he had probably never healed someone's wounds before or he didn't want to hurt me anymore.

A breeze caused me to shiver, something my companion noticed.

"I don't have any band-aids for the scrape, so I'd better put a piece of the bandage on your elbow so you can put on your sweater," he said, opening the package of bandages I stole.

"Okay," I replied, after yawning, already giving in to sleep. "Why are you doing this?" I asked, trying to ignore the dream.

"Because you remind me so much of me," he said, finishing covering my elbow with the bandage. "The ankle will be the hard part" he began to say, more to himself.

Not realizing I was still holding his hand, I leaned against his shoulder, closing my eyes and letting my mind rest a little.

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