He stood frozen in the alley. Blood-chilling at the sight before him. A person stood a few meters in front of him, their head lowered, staring down at a… a lifeless corpse. Blood dotted the white baggy hoodie they wore.
He flinched as their head snapped up. Somehow, someway, knowing they were being watched. Even with their head facing towards him, he couldn't see the person's face. The only thing that stood out from the darkness of the hood being the red piercing eyes glaring at him, examining him, as if watching for any movement, or searching for something.
The person raised a hand, a white flower appearing out of thin air in their grasp. They blew a kiss and smiled a glowing smile. And then that smile widened, and widened, and widened.
Until it became shaped like some abstract depiction of a crescent moon.
Too wide, too stretched to fit on someone so small. And that was the kicker, wasn't it? The person couldn't be taller than five feet, probably not even that! And yet…
… Those eyes, and that fucking grin!
'Wait,' he suddenly thought. Pale flower? Knife wounds?
'Shit.' Even if it was the slightest possibility, he didn't want to take any chances. He turned around and ran. Only to instantly stop as the hooded figure stepped from out behind the other end of the alley, right in front of him.
'Shit! Shit! Shit! What the hell!?' He looked behind him, and saw that he was gone. He had… teleported.
'I'm so fucked.' He wanted to laugh, cry, scream, or something! But all he could do was run. And run. And run. And run.
He didn't know for how long, all he knew was that his lungs burned. And that, for no matter how much he ran, he always saw them.
Glimpses of white out of the corner of his eyes, elongated and twisted shadows, a wide grin and red piercing eyes glowing in the darkness. He ran through empty streets, flinching at stoplights, the distant blinkers of cars, and any bright light. As if the very light itself would somehow morph and distort into the form of his stalker.
And then, it stopped. He stood in the middle of another alley, having unknowingly run into a deadend. His head swung, sweat flying off his face, eyes frantically moving as he searched for the Pale Caretaker. Still sure he wasn't safe.
And he was right.
Tinkling laughter rang out. A boy's laugh. A child's laugh. Coming from above. Hair rose on the back of his neck, and he hesitated. Afraid to look up. But he needed to, and so he did. And there he saw him. The white figure standing atop the edge of a building, wiggling his fingers at him playfully.
He was being chased by some demon child!
… Honestly? Yeah. That seemed to be about right for this damned city. But there was no better place for a criminal. Most of the time.
*Thud*
Then, as he was running out of the alleyway, the sound of something heavy hitting the cobblestone rang out. He looked behind him, and saw that the hooded boy had jumped from the top of the building to the alley floor!
He looked forward only to raise his arms in a desperate bid to protect himself as a knife flew towards his face. He stumbled to a stop, arms still held defensively in front of him.
'I'm not hurt?' As if to laugh at such a foolish thought, his head was roughly, painfully pulled back as a hand grasped his hair. He stared up straight into the night sky, eyes wide, pupils dilated, neck wide open and lonely. It wasn't for long.
With a slow, almost caressing care in its touch, the cold sharp steel traveled across his neck. Splitting the skin open like it was a zipper, until all that was left was a bloody mockery of a smile in place of his once whole neck.
Still holding the body by it's hair, he threw it back, letting it collapse onto its back head first, a loud *crack* coming from behind him. But he was too preoccupied to care.
Ainsley covered his mouth with his hands. While he usually smiled to intimidate the people he killed, he didn't usually smile so widely, so genuinely. He's always enjoyed terrifying his targets, but that wasn't that… that was just playing with the poor bastard. That was dangerous.
And it didn't matter that it was the first time he had killed someone since getting his new Abilities. He had really enjoyed that. Hell, he laughed! He didn't laugh unless he found something really funny, or was nervous and stressed.
'Or terrifying someone so completely and utterly that Terrify levels up four times, apparently.' He scratched the back of his head. While he didn't feel particularly guilty about that fact, since the person he had done it to was a murderer and all, it was still worrying.
Not because he was enjoying it. He had already decided that as long as he kept it to criminals, he'd be fine. Probably. After all, it was hard not to enjoy getting stronger, or to be really fucking good at something.
Which, in his case, was murdering people. But, again, that wasn't the problem.
No, it was the way he had extended it. That was a problem. He could've been done in seconds, yet he had let it last minutes. Minutes that could've caused the criminal to go to a populated area and obtain a hostage. Or attract the attention of the local vigilante family.
'I need to stick to my usual MO, quick and efficient, even if I don't get as many skill levels out of it,' he decided. Though that was getting harder and harder, it felt like.
With that done…
[Calling Card]
He summoned another flower in addition to the previous one. He stuck the flowers in the man's split throat, making an actual smiley face, and left.
He still had a mass murderer to find.
'This is going to be a long night.' He just knew it.
*****(Page Break)*****
How did someone go about tracking a Serial Killer? Well, I was no detective but I had some ideas, being one myself and all. DNA, pattern, trail of bodies, ect. Unfortunately number 1 and 2 of those… weren't really applicable. That wasn't even mentioning how I knew nothing of forensics in the first place.
In the first case, Victor Szasz was already a widely known murderer. And for the second, he didn't really have any pattern. He mostly ran around Gotham dicing people up as he went. No rhyme or reason to it. His murderous rampages usually stopped only when he got caught by either Batman or the Police.
Sometimes on his outings he killed people in Old Gotham, Eastend, Chinatown, Crime Alley, other times in Amusement Mile. Which was Joker's territory, so there was no way I was going to touch that place with a ten foot pole. Though it's not like that stopped Mr. J from targeting other parts of the city, like he had done many times in the past. Still wasn't going to risk going near it.
Thankfully, for me, his enthusiasm left a pretty clear trail of bodies, and none of them led even remotely close to there.
'Okay, so… he escaped Arkham Island, somehow. Then his first few murders, aside from some of Arkham's guards, was in Burnley. Then The Bowery, and after that, he supposedly crossed Sprang Bridge so he should currently be in… Upper East Side? Fashion District?' He had only been out for four days, and yet he had already racked up such a sizable body count.
He didn't even have any powers. He was just a crazy bastard. 'What damage could I do?' I wondered.
If I just started killing people all willy-nilly? Would I ever actually be caught? I didn't leave any DNA, I didn't show up on cameras, my murder weapons always disappeared, and I didn't have any particular pattern. Not to mention, I was a child.
Even if there were eyewitnesses, which are notorious for being unreliable, of me committing murder in broad daylight, who would believe them? There would be no evidence. I was practically a Serial Killer on easy mode. I couldn't actually be convicted of any crime through proper legal means.
It was exciting, worrying, and terrifying to think about. It gave me a bit of confidence that, even if Batman was looking for Victor Szasz as well, which he probably was, that I'd be fine.
'Fashion District and Upper East side,' I repeated to myself.
*****(Page Break)*****
I watched from my gothic perch atop a building in Old Gotham. My feet kicking the air idly. 'How hard is it to find a Serial Killer!?' Very, apparently. I didn't even try to entertain the irony of that thought.
I had been searching for most of the nights that week, and yet I still hadn't found the Tally Mark Killer. Despite following his trail all the way to Old Gotham. Which was frustrating, considering I needed to find him within the next few days. As my parents were coming home soon.
And the only reason they hadn't caught on to my extracurricular activities wasn't because they were stupid, or that I was super good at hiding it, no. It's because they were often gone on business trips.
I scratched my hooded head. 'This would be a lot easier if I weren't doing this all by myself.'
I wished Maps could help me. She would've at least made it more interesting, considering her love of stakeouts. Then again, this was more of a search. And I couldn't just go to Maps and ask, "Hey, want to find a Serial Killer together?" Even if she was better at this kind of stuff than me.
Not in good conscience, at least. She was just a kid. And while that may be hypocritical of me, she just wasn't like me. Maps hasn't been killing people since she was five. Plus, I had superpowers. Though, above all that, she was actually a good person. She'd never agree to what I was doing if she knew. And I didn't want to lose my friendship with her.
So, like always, I'd have to do it alone.
Though it wasn't a complete waste of time. I had managed to level up once, I was in the city, may as well kill people, you know?
Though doing so didn't help my anxiety. The, "Pale Caretaker," was on the news nearly everyday due to my actions. There was more and more of a chance that I'd get noticed, or worse, caught. I was probably being paranoid, but it was always hard to know in this city.
'Better to be safe rather than sorry.' With that in mind, I decided I'd stop killing any criminal that I came across. Or intervening and stopping crimes.
Jumping off from my perch, I got to searching the city. Again. And… within minutes I ended up unintentionally killing someone.
'Yeah, unintentional. Let's go with that.'
*****(Page Break)*****
My entire body was heavy. My eyelids felt as if they were laden with lead. Not to mention the sharp pain in my head, and how blurry my vision was. Bright lights hurt especially, thankfully, there weren't that many in Gotham.
'A few days with little to no sleep will do that to you.' I sighed. I searched day and night.
And even with Unstoppable working overtime, I wouldn't have been surprised if I fell asleep right there and then. I honestly wanted to. But I didn't, instead forcing myself not to as I continued to watch the street. I had to squint my eyes real hard to even see normally.
Which didn't help as my eyes ended up closing completely every so often. I may actually be falling asleep for a little bit at a time, but it was hard for me to tell.
All in all, I was frustrated and tired.
As I opened my bleary eyes that had closed for the one-hundredth or so time, I noticed something. A man in an alleyway approaching a girl at midnight. Not a good look. At least, that's what I thought I was seeing.
'C'mon, just ignore it,' I told myself.
But it was hard not to. I could tell with Killer Instinct that he was a murderer, he clearly didn't have good intentions in mind. And I could help her.
I usually let the crimes come to me, and only kill when I was involved. But… call me a bleeding heart, but over the past few days straight of being out in the city, I've helped some people. And the more I did, the more I realized how good that felt.
I could see tangible benefits of all that I've worked for. Actual results of good that came from having these powers. I felt like more than just a murderer, or some guy hoping to be mugged in order to get stronger.
And, so…
I had no choice. I was probably going to regret this. Somehow, someway, this was going to blow up in my face. I could just tell. But I was going to do it anyway. Because I was an idiot and wanted to play the hero.
Sighing, I let myself side off the edge of the roof, falling. Landing lightly despite how heavy I felt, my body was far stronger than its small size and weight would suggest. Now on the ground, I stalked towards the bastard.
The skill, Stalk, was a bit of a misnomer. It included all types of movement, running, walking, climbing, parkour, and ect.
The only reason I could guess why it was named that is because Jaguars stalked. Lions stalked. Cheetahs stalked. Tigers stalked. What they all had in common was that they were very agile.
In turn, I was agile. I was quiet. And I was deadly. Even when sleep deprived.
A knife appeared silently in my grip. With each step I awoke more and more, my eyes focusing, my breath steadying, all sensations becoming clear. I could feel my blood pulsing in my ears. My lips stretching, my teeth being bared for all to see.
'It's weird,' I thought. Ever since being reborn, I had a harder time trying not to smile than I did actually smiling. I smiled for practically every little thing, and, sometimes, even when I wasn't happy. No wonder nearly everyone found it creepy.
Shaking my head from those distracting thoughts, I got prepared to strike. Following closely behind the man. My grip on the knife tightened. And—
I stopped. 'Well, this is awkward.' The girl who had thrown the man to the ground, easily dispatching him, glared at me, eyes narrowed, body tense. Waiting for me to make a move, any move.
I didn't move an inch. Now that I was closer and wasn't looking at her from above, I could get a clear look at her face. She was a few years older than me with black hair, blue eyes, and asian features. From her dirty appearance, roughed and torn clothes, she was probably homeless as well.
'She's a murderer too. Should I kill both of them?' Yet, for some reason, she felt familiar. And not the familiarity I felt from seeing a fellow murderer due to Killer's Instinct, no it was… I knew her. Somewhere.
I forced the smile off my face. And with slow, cautious movements, so as to not cause any drastic actions from her, I dropped the knife. Relaxing my body, I raised a hand and gave her a gentle wave. "Hey," I said.
She looked taken aback, before giving a small, hesitant wave of her own back. She looked between me and the guy groaning on the ground, half unconscious.
Shaking my head, I said, "I'm not with him." She relaxed. I smiled again, making her tense for a moment, before she suppressed her reaction. I wouldn't have noticed it if I wasn't used to such a reaction. She was good.
I continued to stare at her, my eyes soaking in every detail on her face. I only noticed a couple things.
First of all, she was kind of cute. Second, the more I looked at her, the more that familiarity continued to eat at my thoughts. I knew her.
'But where? Where would I know a homeless asian girl who can easily take down a grown man twice her size, and is seemingly mute?'
Oh. I realized it as soon as I laid it all out like that. The girl who was standing before me, was the future Batgirl, in the flesh.
Cassandra Cain.
'Right. She's mute because she can't understand language due to her parents teaching her to speak body language? Whatever that means.' She shifted uncomfortably.
I blinked, realizing how weird I must look. "Sorry, for staring. It's just I could've sworn I've seen you before, but maybe not," I said. I then turned my attention to the collapsed man.
Crouching down, I glanced up at her. "So, are you going to kill him, or do you want me to?" I asked, my mind still jumbled.
She stepped in front of the man defensively. I just raised an eyebrow. "You know he was going to murder you, right? He's a Killer."
She looked at me, as if to say, "How would you know that?"
I sighed. "I know he's a Killer the same way I know you are—" her eyes widened, panicked, "—I've got a good Instinct for these things. Like recognizes like and all that. So, can I kill him?"
She continued to keep herself between me and him. I rolled my eyes. "Fine, be that way," I said.
"So, then what are you going to do with him?" She looked confused at my question. "You can't call the police, if you even had a phone, or could talk, considering he didn't actually end up doing anything, even though he wanted to. And, honestly? You would be more likely to go to prison than him, with how much you beat him up." She nodded, listening. Or reading my body language, or something, she was weird.
'Well, she is a child assassin who feels guilty over someone she murdered.' At least, I thought that was her backstory.
"Right, so you can't give him to the police, and you won't kill him, so… what? You're just going to let him go?" She nodded again.
"Seriously?" She nodded, more confidently this time. "Look, we're all Killers here, so I'm not going to judge you, but him?
"He's worse than either of us. You know what he would have done to you, right?"
Just as she was about to respond, a shout from besides me interrupted our conversation. "Kill!? Who's going to fucking kill—" I dodged his attempt to stab me with the knife I had dropped. I summoned the knife into my hand, as I did so it disappeared from his.
Using my free hand, I wrapped it around his throat and straddled him, pushing him back to the ground. With no hesitation I stabbed the knife into his shoulder, severing the rotator cuff tendon in it.
"Fuck! Fuck you—!" Before he could say another word, I stabbed the knife into his other shoulder.
I glared at him. "If you say something, do something, or try to interrupt me while I'm talking, I'll sever your achilles tendons so that you'll have to crawl out of here. Got it?" Wisely, he decided to shut up.
Getting off him and standing up, I put a foot on his chest and gave him one final look, wordlessly demanding him to try anything, he did nothing. Good boy. With a smile, I looked back at Cassandra. Her attention wasn't on me, instead it was focused onto the bloody knife in my hand.
"Ah, it's a cool superpower, isn't it? But don't tell anyone, alright? It'll be our secret." She gave me a weird look, like she was trying to determine whether I was mocking her or actually being serious.
"Anyways, back to what I was saying. You do know what he was planning to do, right?" She didn't respond. She just stayed still.
"What? Nothing to gesture, or do you really not know?" I asked. Again, no response.
'Does she actually not know? Seriously? Well, I guess it'd make sense, child assassin and then homeless for however many years.' Sighing, I pinched the bridge of my nose.
"Well, alright. If that's the case, let me spell it out to you then." Hopefully she could read my body language well enough to understand what I was getting at.
"He looked at you—" I pointed at her with my knife, "—and thought, 'Hey, that's a nice cut of fresh, fuckable meat.' If you couldn't have defended yourself, and if I or some other vigilante wasn't there... He was going to rape you, and then kill you. And you're still going to let him go?"
She hesitated for a bit, before nodding, body twitching. As if I were going to do anything.
"That's a bold strategy. Well, alright. Just don't forget that you will be the one responsible when on the news you see that some girl has been murdered and defiled, by yours truly right here." I pointed my knife at the guy below me, I didn't know it was possible, but she tensed further. Body coiled, waiting to move if I did anything at all.
I continued talking as if I didn't notice.
"And, I know. What self respecting Gothamite, who can't defend themselves, would be walking down the streets in the middle of the night? But, I don't know, people can be pretty stupid." She just looked at me, curiosity in her eyes.
I blinked, doing my best to look taken aback, as if just realizing something. "Oh," I gasped, channeling my inner Maps.
"You're new here, aren't you? Ooh, now that makes sense." I grinned. "Well, since I'll be the first, and probably only one to say it, Welcome to Gotham, City of Scum, Heroes, and Constant Renovations!"
She smiled nervously. Before glancing at me and the person underneath me.
Having noticed her gaze, I let the knife slip from my hand as I shrugged. "Hey, you beat him fair and square. I won't touch him unless you allow me to," I said.
I looked at the man beneath me, and stepped off of him. "Well, you heard her, you're free to go." He sat up hesitantly, looking both afraid and relieved.
Good, he should be. I smirked. "But—" He tensed, she tensed, I didn't care.
Honestly, this guy was lucky. I wasn't planning to kill him in the first place. Just put the fear of God in his heart.
Summoning the sharpest and most durable knife I had into my hand, I jumped onto him, legs straddling his waist once more as I wrapped my free hand around his throat, pushing him back to the ground. And then, with all my strength, stabbed the knife into the cobblestone street next to his head. The blade sunk in with an ear grating screech, until half of it was held snugly in the stone.
"I really should kill you, you know? You're a Killer. I Kill Killers. It would make sense, wouldn't it? For me to, well... kill you?"
"Yesyesyes! It would, it would!" He nodded frantically, face ugly as he babbled and cried incoherently.
"I won't though." I smiled. "The pretty lady here doesn't want that. So you should thank her, and her misplaced kindness, really. Though—" I didn't listen as he shouted insincere thanks to Cassandra, and instead I just pulled out the knife from the ground.
"—If I ever see any hide or hair of you walking around at night, I will kill you. Not because you did anything wrong that particular, hypothetical night, and not because I hate you.
"No. I will kill you because I just felt like it. And I'll get all the delayed gratification of letting you go, only to kill you later. Okay? Alright?" I said.
He didn't respond. He was utterly petrified. I got off him, patting his cheek as I did so. Standing up, my nose wrinkled as I frowned.
"Someone's dehydrated." His response to that was scurrying out of the alleyway like a rat.
Satisfied, I turned to Cassandra. She was just staring at me, mouth wide open in shock. Like I was a monster…
Seeing such a look on a person who was going to be a hero's face genuinely hurt me a bit more than I thought it would. 'Is that what everyone will look like when they find out what I actually am?' I wondered.
Smiling, I stepped closer to her. "I won't give you my name, that would just be stupid, and you, well, you can't give me yours either for obvious reasons. But, I feel like we'll be seeing each other around. I know your face and you know mine, right?" Finally snapping out of her shock, she stared at me. Confusion evident on her face.
"So, when you can finally talk, I'd really love to hear your name, from you. I bet you have a really beautiful voice. And when you do that, I'll tell you mine then too."
[Calling Card]
I summoned a white rose, and put it in her hands. I didn't look at her face. With that done, I walked past her. Feeling her eyes on me due to my perk, I gave her a final wave without looking back.
Stepping out of the alleyway and onto the street, I scratched my head. 'Why did I do that?' I asked myself.
I thought back onto that look I saw on her face. Imagining everyone else looking at me like that, it made me… yearn for a connection, I guess. A true connection.
Plus, it's not like having another friend, especially one who knew, no. Not even a friend. Just having another person who knew who I was, truly…
It helped me feel better prepared for whatever may happen. And if that person just so happened to have a secret identity like me?
All the better.