Maxie was out in the city again with Lucian. Things have been so hectic lately that it felt like weeks have passed, even when it's only been a few days.
Had she been moving too fast with him? Maybe. But they lived in Gotham; if they didn't live hard and fast, how far could they ever get in life? Taking things too slow, they would be snuffed out before could make anything for themselves. That's what she believed now.
This line of thought was only reinforced by her mom waking up. It didn't feel probable, but it happened anyway. On instinct, as her mother's daughter, she knew—something was wrong. Her injuries were too terrible for her to just wake up so soon, and to be so energetic on top of that. She treated Maxie and her siblings like she had before they were all grown up. There was pain in her eyes as she did so.
Maxine knew. Deep in the pit of her stomach, she knew. She would lose her mom soon.
'This is probably something you'd want... right, mom?'
She felt guilty treating reality as if her mother had already passed, but it was inevitable. For now, she would just have to pick a direction and run with it—and that direction was the path that Lucian offered her. If it didn't work out in the end, she would deal with it then.
...
Lucian took Maxie to a Halloween store. Speaking of, Halloween was just around the corner. Just one more week and change before it came. It was going to be huge.
"Heh. I bought a hockey mask from here when I first visited," he said while nostalgically admiring a cheap Jason Vorhees mask.
They started there when building up Maxie's ensemble. Since she didn't know much about 'dress code' when it came to vigilantes and heroes and whatnot, she left the job up to him. She did quite like his Manticore outfit, and he designed it himself. That counted towards her confidence.
He bought two plain white masks, saying that one was for him. She liked that they were going to match with that in mind. Next was a thick hooded jacket, and he made sure that it had some allowance because they were supposed to modify it. Last were cargo pants because pockets were essential, heavy duty work boots, and gloves to protect her hands and avoid leaving prints.
Now back in the apartment after a quick fast food run, Maxie stared at the ensemble laid out on the graffitied coffee table.
"Uhh... isn't this a bit edgy...?" she asked.
Lucian shrugged. "It is, but it's par for the course with vigilantes."
Maxie eventually asked what specifically they were supposed to do with her 'costume,' for lack of a better word to call it. He explained that, like he mentioned earlier, they were going to modify it, then expanded that they were going to pad it out with armor with some help from a friend. She then asked how and when they were going to do so, and he said that he had connections for it, and that it would happen soon.
"That won't matter tonight, though," he added. "Mostly, I just wanna get you introduced so when we're out there together, it won't be a surprise."
Speaking of surprises, Maxie remembered something important then. "Oh shit. Luce, I almost forgot to tell you. Tammy called last night," she said.
"Hng?"
She told him about the call, and the accusations that her best friend had made at Aleck's behest. While she spoke, Maxie realized the amount of distaste that she had developed while talking about Tammy. That was bad. She... it was becoming harder to separate her from Aleck.
"That just ain't true," Lucian said when it was all done. "I'd smell it if we had contraband in the food. An even bigger problem though, is if the people I work with kept that information from me."
"They'd really know?"
"They should. They're the best damn detectives in Gotham, far as I'm aware, and I'd be bumbling blind if not for them. If they knew and kept it from me, I'd be pissed."
Maxie leaned against him, hugging his arm. "I'm sorry," she whispered.
"What for?"
"I almost believed her," she said. "I doubted it was true, but my first instinct was to take what she said and run with it..."
Lucian locked their fingers together. "And you came and asked anyway. That's good enough for me."
The revelation brought him a few more things to think about. Aleck ordered Tammy to feed Maxie those lies. He was sure, because [ Justice Sense ] never signaled hard enough at work for it to tip him off. There was undeniably some shady shit going on about Iñigo's business, but nothing pointed to signs of that specific line of crime.
Lucian originally planned to reveal Aleck's true nature with Nightwing's help, but maybe some improvisation was in order.
"Now that we're revealing shit about that cunt..." He told Maxie what he knew about Aleck in turn. The crimes. The mind control. The danger that this enemy posed.
He felt her jaw set through his arm, how she barely kept from grinding her teeth together. How her body tensed, stuck between clinging to him and lashing out. He held her all the while, doing what he could to soothe her.
By the time she calmed down, it was already dark out. The apartment was overtaken by darkness, which was more comforting for both of them than anything.
"Is this why you asked if I wanted to become like you?" she questioned after the lengthy silence.
He nodded into her shoulder as she clung to him. "Partly. I wanted there to be a clear path for you if you wanted to do something about it yourself."
She took in a deep breath, then sighed it all out. "Thank you..."
...
The time for the meeting drew near. Lucian and Maxie headed out in their respective equipment, kitted out almost perfectly identical.
Lucian was, as usual, garbed in pure black with a strong contrast of white from his plastic mask. His sword was now strapped to his waist, ready to draw at a moment's notice. Maxie was similar, though smaller, and the shock of her red hair actually drew more attention to her. Because of this, she kept it tied up and covered by her hood. As far as weaponry went, Lucian lent her the gun he was given from the previous night, as well as several pairs of knives.
He guided her through empty streets and dark alleys, using his enhanced senses to procedurally figure out the best path in conjunction with [Danger Sense]. Threats were inevitable, of course, so he used those as opportunities to quickly show off some demonstrations on how to deal with threats in hand-to-hand combat.
[ 15 minor threats eliminated. ]
[ Earned 600 EXP. ]
[ Instruction bonus: 75 EXP. ]
[ EXP to next level: 2,605 ]
Soon, they ended up in an alley behind the building that Nightwing indicated. As they stared up at it, Maxie got nervous.
"We really need to climb that thing?"
"Yeah," Lucian replied. "Climbs are actually a go-to. Most people use grappling hooks or other tools—we're lucky I can climb walls."
She gulped, but steeled her resolve. "O-okay. Promise you won't let me fall?"
"Promise." He crouched down with his back to her, hands already in position to support her legs.
"This would be so romantic if heights weren't so freaky..." She climbed onto his back anyway, wrapping her legs tightly around his waist and her arms around his neck. She might have worried about choking him if he was normal, but her nails never left any marks on his body while he drove her crazy earlier. He should be fine.
"Like a mama possum and her baby," Lucian mumbled, placing one foot onto the wall, and then the other. As he did so, tendrils wrapped around Maxie's body to serve as a harness.
She clung to him tightly as he climbed, treating the harness like it wasn't there. Irrational fear didn't cause this—her reasoning for such behavior was practice. If she ever needed to latch onto him for dear life, she needed to be able to do it reliably on her own.
Lucian put one foot forward over and over, steadily ascending. He kept his upper body as vertical as he could during the climb. Crawling up walls usually took minimal effort—especially when he could use his hands as well—but he had the weight of an entire person on him, had his arms occupied, and couldn't use One for All. It was a full workout for his core, back, glutes, and legs.
Luckily, he was still firmly superhuman and could use Blackwhip as climbing assistance. He snaked tendrils out from his body to grip at various attachment points, stabilizing his every step. Reaching the top was made easy this way. It mostly felt like going on a short walk uphill with a moderate weights strapped to him.
As the rooftop neared, he joked, "You're my backpack in more ways than one now," which earned him a huff and a light bonk to the back of his head.
He hauled his body over the edge, and once he was straight and upright, Maxie hopped off, harness disappearing in whisps of dusty shadow.
"Right on time," said a familiar voice. "You must be the Phantom's partner."
Approaching them was Nightwing. It was Maxie's first time seeing him, and... something struck her about his appearance—he looked almost identical to Lucian. Same facial structure, almost the same voice, similar frames. The biggest differences she could point out were their hairstyles, Nightwing having darker skin, and being a little bit taller.
She squinted behind her mask, but made no comment on her observations.
As far as attire went though, they could not have been more different. Nightwing wore a form-fitting suit that almost looked like spandex. It was padded with some sort of protection around vital areas, but other than that, it was basically a wetsuit. Lastly, instead of full facial covering, he only wore some sort of domino mask. It shouldn't have worked as well as it did, but Maxie really couldn't imagine what he might look like without it.
"I... do other vigilantes dress up like that...?" She whispered to Lucian. The getup honestly had her at a loss for words.
"Not all of 'em, I don't think, but it's a trend," he whispered back.
After that, he stepped forward and spoke at a normal volume. "Anyway! This is Nightwing," he said to Maxie. "He's the first other vigilante I've ever worked with. Great guy, better skills. Learned a lot from 'im the one night I helped him on a job."
Nightwing's aura visibly brightened under ki vision, which felt a little infectious.
"Now, as you already know, this here's my partner, both in regular people life, and now in this one, too." He put his hand on Maxie's shoulder, and she leaned against him subtly since they were already so close.
Nightwing chuckled at the sight. "Okay, that's really cute. We've got business to talk about, though. Have you told her yet?"
Lucian nodded. "I did, actually. I had an opportunity to bring things up to her earlier. She's mostly up to speed now."
"Great," said Nightwing. "That makes things easier. Mind if we go somewhere else? I got a car nearby that we can take to one of our hideouts."
"Our?" asked Maxie.
"I belong to a whole family of vigilantes. Come on, I can introduce you two to a couple of them."
Down below, the Nightbird waited. Unlike the numerous Batmobiles that Batman had, this was one of a kind. Nightwing scarcely used it, after all—he loved bikes much more. Tonight was simply an exception, because three people couldn't fit comfortably on the Wingcycle.
Lucian boarded the car alongside Maxie, and when Nightwing got it on the dark and desolate roads, he initiated conversation with them. "Let's talk about the plan along the way. I've got some new information for you, so pay attention."
Oracle had gathered much more information as daylight burned away. Apart from Killer Moth working with Aleck to set up that meeting, they also learned that it was a vendetta invitation. That was to say, they planned to ambush Lucian to 'remove' him from the board. There was also a plan for a scenario where he was beaten, but survived—they would turn him into a guinea pig to test new drugs and equipment.
"That son of a bitch..." Maxie hissed under her breath. In her mind, she thought, 'Okay. So my idiot really does need someone watching his back.'
Then, Nightwing posed the alternative that Batman suggested. "You can go to the meetup still. Instead of your original plan though, we'll default to a counter-ambush from the start."
"You wanna bring in this Killer Moth guy?" Maxie asked.
"We do. How do you feel about us using Lucian as bait?"
She crossed her arms. "I mean, as long as you can promise he'll be safe in the end... I feel kinda useless right now, though."
"It'll feel like that," Nightwing said after a beat. "That's how it was when I started, too."
Curious, Maxie looked at him through the rearview mirror. Lucian's attention was piqued as well. "Could you elaborate on that?" she asked.
"Oh, it's a really long story. The short of it, though?" His face softened in nostalgia and a dash of melancholy. "I was a massive try-hard when I was younger. Always jumping into things without a second thought. If the people in my life weren't there to rein me in, I wouldn't be here right now."
When they merged into real traffic, Nightwing engaged the Nightbird's 'cloaking' system. It wasn't any fancy invisibility or light refraction tech—all it did was shift pigments along the surface. This transformed the emblem on the hood into a pair of white chevron stripes, making the vehicle look like any other modified muscle car.
While he drove, Nightwing made a call. Through his earpiece, he contacted two people over their communication lines. "Spoiler, you free? ... Alright, good. Pull out from there and return to home base, pick up Orphan for me. ... Yeah. Won't be anything strenuous. ... Okay. I'll see you there."
"The who now?" said Lucian. 'Appearances, appearances... don't show your excitement.'
"Just some friends," Nightwing replied. "You're gonna love them."
...
Nightwing slowed the car as Robinson Park came into view. Maxie perked up as soon as she saw where they were. "Your hideout's somewhere around here?"
"You could say that," he replied, pulling into a seemingly random parking garage.
The garage door closed behind them, and even when it stopped, the noises of machinery didn't. Before them, the garage's floor was tilting down, revealing more and more of a hidden underground passage. Nightwing drove down it, following the tunnel's curve. If one followed their trajectory, it was a wide round turn that led directly beneath the park's area.
The Nightbird continued through the dark, cramped space until it eventually widened—the change was almost abrupt. The tunnel led to a spacious cavern, large enough that their vehicle had ample room to drive around if they so wished. Already parked inside were two motorcycles, and Nightwing pulled up next to them.
"Alright, we're here," he said to his passengers. The doors unlocked, and Lucian exited and helped Maxie step out.
Nightwing proceeded forward onto a metal walkway, lit up by bright fixtures that hung overhead. They fell into step behind him, with two people waiting at their destination. One of them was flipping about, performing acrobatic stunts while the other simply watched.
"Oh! You're here!"
Spoiler stopped in the middle of her routine when everyone drew near, while Orphan rose from her seating. She favored her left leg, though it was obvious only to two people in the cave.
"It's about time more of us showed up!" Spoiler happily approached the couple and circled around them excitedly. She stopped in front of them, giving a little wave. "Anyway, I'm Spoiler!"
"Orphan," Cassandra said with a nod, having moved to stand by Stephanie.
"The people call me Phantom," said Lucian, warping his voice into a chorus. "But you probably already knew that. Though I've been thinking of rebranding into something more solid," he added, shifting the sword on his hip.
"And I'm his partner," Maxie followed, nervous. "I don't really have an alias yet, but... yeah. I guess I'm here now."
The girls took her away back to where they were waiting earlier, borrowing her to get acquainted. Maxie only went along with it after Lucian waved at her in encouragement. This left him all to Nightwing, who had something to bring up.
"I hope you don't mind getting split up from her," he said once the girls had moved out of earshot.
"It's fine," Lucian replied. "Besides, you'll let me take her home if she wants out, right?"
Nightwing nodded, approving, then moved on to something that came up because of their current arrangement. "Alright. Now, I've got something important to ask."
He first explained that he, Spoiler, and Orphan all belonged to a larger vigilante group, led by Batman—it was usually indicated by a bat or bird emblem somewhere on their uniforms. They usually operated on their own individual terms, but they would occasionally spend some time working together on bigger cases that couldn't be handled by one person. Their current situation was one of them.
"How long's this been running for?" Lucian asked.
Nightwing leaned against the railing on the platform they were on. "A few weeks now. Again, Black Mask is behind this whole thing. We wanted to cut off all of his connections first before burying his schemes for good."
"You were worried they'd spread out and regroup if you just went for the head right away..." Lucian thumbed the hilt of his sword, feeling his soul's connection to it. Its shape changed, just a little. "How many more of these connections are still up?"
"Just Aleck's, and he's surprisingly been the toughest so far. We didn't catch him soon enough. This is the part where you come in."
Since Orphan was injured and couldn't participate in rounding up the enemies, Nightwing wanted to properly get Lucian in on the case. Because of his powers, their burdens would be significantly lifted.
"There is one caveat," Nightwing added after his explanation. "Tonight, I'll only be testing you."
Lucian pulled up Penny's notes. "Elaborate?"
"We're only hitting two locations tonight. First, we're gonna brush up on how to operate. I'll basically be babysitting you again."
"And the second place?"
"We'll see if you can handle a location on your own. If you can, we'll have you running multiples tomorrow."
...
– ৹ – ৹৹◎৹৹ – ৹ –
[[ New Quest: Unpaid Internship ]]
Description: Nightwing will retest your knowledge tonight. Perform well, and more opportunities open up for you. Otherwise, you'll have to carve your own way
Time Limit: 6 hours.
Objectives:
[1] Clear a location with Nightwing, with minimal issues.
[2] Clear a location on your own with minimal issues.
Penalties:
• Objective [1] failed: Objective [2] will be closed. No rewards.
• Objective [1] completed, but Objective [2] failed: No Objective [2] rewards. Nightwing will decide to formally bench you.
Rewards:
[1] 1,000 EXP; one D-grade item or one Basic non-class ability of your choosing.
[2] 2,000 EXP; one C-grade item or one Intermediate non-class ability of your choosing.
– ৹ – ৹৹◎৹৹ – ৹ –
...
Leaving Maxie to Orphan and Spoiler, Nightwing took Lucian to a warehouse by the docks. It was one of the locations that Aleck was concentrating his resources in—primarily weapons and drugs. There have been no signs of trafficking victims being held inside. From a vantage point at a safe distance, they could spot crates stacked on top of each other, every single one labeled in code.
Nightwing gave Lucian clear-cut instructions for their first orchestrated raid. "See those? That label means explosives. Whatever you do, make sure those don't get ignited. Drugs are over there—yes, that label. Ruin them if you want; just make sure to leave evidence."
They moved in after formulating a general plan. Lucian walked right up to the front entrance as the Manticore, while Nightwing snuck in from above.
One of the guards posted at the massive doors startled, raising his rifle and ready to shoot. "Huh...? H-hey! Who's there?!"
The other one followed his partner's gaze, staring out into the dark. "You sure you're not just seeing things?"
"I- I don't even know, man... I swear I saw a pair of eyes out there..."
"Then you're probably just seeing things," the partner groaned. "Seriously... you watch way too many horro—"
Before he could even finish his words, he was immobilized. So was his paranoid friend, and they were both lifted into the air. The one who'd done it to them soon emerged from the darkness that surrounded them. Though they had allies everywhere inside the warehouse, they felt alone in the face of this... thing.
It had its claws bared. Twin dots of purple light pierced from those hollow, black sockets, right through their souls. Before they could take in any more details, this person, thing, whatever it is that held them in the air—it reared back.
They shook in place, unsure of what would happen next. They were both convinced that they were going to be thrown against a wall, or against each other, or maybe torn apart right then and there. Then, it suddenly leaned forward, and their worlds exploded.
For a long distance out, a bellowing roar could be heard. Those close enough to hear it clearly startled. Anyone caught in the immediate vicinity fainted from the sheer force, including those two guards. Walls shook. Windows shattered.
The beast had roared.
The rest was a blur. Those at the front engaged the obvious threat that appeared—this humanoid purple thing with metal claws and teeth. It was shrouded in arcs of lightning, and parts of its body burned with purple flame. Despite its anatomy, they dared not call it human, especially not after witnessing how it fought.
As those at the front fought for their lives, the ones in the rear couldn't assist them—another problem had just shown up. While this one was definitely human, he was not any less of a threat. He struck out with weapons—sticks, of all things—that glowed with energy like their own elites' weapons. The biggest difference was that none of them could land a hit on him.
One by one, from two directions, the warehouse fell.
The Manticore tore its way through from the front. It struck with violence so terrible that half of those that saw simply gave up or passed out from the terror. From behind, Nightwing slipped into and out of enemy formations, turning their own base against them and taking them out with inhuman efficiency.
In no more than ten minutes, the warehouse had been handled. Even though it was smaller than the factory, the efficiency with which those two operated was much greater than before. Greater power. Better planning. Experience in cooperation. These three elements worked towards that outcome.
...
Lucian looked over the destruction he'd wrought. Several dozen men down. Claw marks carved deeply into crates. Metal panels bent and distended, some completely dislodged. Firearms lay in pieces all over the floor. Even after taking down as many people as he did, he barely felt winded.
Nightwing arrived as he was binding everyone up. Blackwhip and Full Cowling made the task a middling effort.
"Record time," said Nightwing. "Last time I cleared a job site this fast, it was with a speedster..."
"High praise," the Manticore mumbled, arranging Aleck's goons like little dolls, leaning them against drug crates.
"You ready for the next site?" Nightwing asked.
"Just gimme a minute to breathe, then another on-site to make a plan."
...
[ Quest: "Unpaid Internship" update. ]
[ Objective [1] has been completed. Objective [2] cleared for progression. ]
[ Rewards for clearing Objective [1]: ]
[ Received Tiger Climbing Gear [D] ]
[ New equipment has been stored to your current Utility Belt. ]
[ 1,000 EXP has been granted. ]
[ EXP to next level: 1,605 ]
—=—=—=—=—=—=—=—
[A/N]: Hi! So, uh... I've been sick this whole week.
Anyone know that thing where your eyes and nose are runny, you can't look at light, and if you do, you just tear up and snot out ten times worse than you already are?
Yeah, I caught that thing.
Thankfully, that only delayed the chapter for a few hours. Unfortunately, my writing might have suffered a bit. Already getting better now, just some nasal blockages and mild coughs.
We're getting Maxie, Stephanie, and Cass next week, alongside a solo job by Lucian with Nightwing watching.
After that, it'll be a series of raids with Maxie getting training in the background. When all of that's done, it'll be the volume finale.
Whew...
I'mma pass the fuck out now