Yonaka smiled weakly up at Taras. With a wince she giggled quietly. "All thanks to you, mate. Be dead as without your help." She returned the compliment, not nearly as eager to maintain the alleged pride that Taras did. Tupolev did her a great servie. Saved her life. Even if she had survived that gunshot she would still be out of the war, which was unacceptable. Chloe couldn't go home, not yet. But now, she was back, and a little dazed, but back in the fight.
Chloe flinched as the tank exploded. She had to restart it, quick. The song of the tank came to an end and was quickly started from scratch, but during that short time frame Tupolev had taken some hits. The wreckage of the tank vanished and reappared in full working order as the record began to play again.
Tupolev was on the move, his stand moving into the fortress. "Little bugger's quick, eh?" She commented, watching it scurry within the fortress.
After a moment of waiting, Tupolev reported it was over.
Chloe breathed a sigh of relief, placing both her hands on her knees. The tank vanished, the recording stopped before it could crush into the fortress gates.
"Some hidden fuckin' rendezvous, eh? Some crazy bird, was it? Fuckin' 'ell." Chloe wiped the sweat off her forehead.
"Let's get someonewhere safe. Oi! Lillaine! You got a real safe spot for us to get too, or what?" The lumbering, feminine, ghostly automaton raised her voice in Chloe's stead to get the alleged Frenchwoman's attention.
Annie sat down and collected her thoughts, having hung up the phone. "Phoo. Okay. Here we go. Nothing is going to happen." She grabbed the wheel and moved her fingers up and down. Then she reached down and twisted the key, the old clanker rumbling to life. "No worries. Skip college today. Let's...let's go." She was nervous. She didn't want anything else to happen.
Fortunately, she was able to make it to Willow's house without issue. No murderers or strangeness or anything. But she was worried about Willow. What was going to happen to her? Did Annie hear her say she was adopted, too? Things were getting strange. Poor Willow. It wasn't right for a parent to keep something like that from a child. In her experience, being adopted didn't hurt at all if you never knew otherwise. She could see how other people would want to find their 'real' parents (even saying 'real parents' made Annie's mouth taste gross), but Annie was happy with the family she had. It was why she was fighting so hard against this letter nonsense. She just wanted to live a normal life.
Pulling up on the street infront of Willow's house, Annie took a deep breathe and turned off the car. Walking up the drive way she approached the door and rapped against it with her knuckles. Three fast knocks, a pause, and then two more knocks. Annie always knocked doors in the same way. It was a secret knock she developed when she was a kid that became a habit that never left her. Then she wrung her fingers together and waited for someone to answer the door, looking behind her to see if anyone was around.
@Cai Chaos You can have your Batwoman's personality be a clone of an already existing superhero, sure, but the story we're writing together is going to be different from canon. Mainly because I don't want to compete with professional writers in my storytelling, lol. Ultimately though your Batwoman is going to be a replacement of Bruce Wayne in this universe, but she can behave however you'd like.
June flinched away from Jin's flinch as if the younger student had struck her with some kind of pyschic blast. June's hand retracted and her fingers grasped at mid air. Bad move. Not right. 14, not 6. Thanks very muchly. June nodded quickly. "R-right. Sorry, sorry. Come, come this way. Follow me. Don't get lost." She said helpfully, and began to lead Jin away, careful to avoid being too directly in the line of sight of any of the Welcome Leaders. 14, they were 14. Almost the same age when June had come here, but Jin seemed suspicious, like she didn't like the place, which was weird. Still, best not push it, she might say or do a wrong thing again.
June brushed a stray hair out of her face and turned quickly over her shoulder as she walked, her ponytail swooshing dramatically. "It's better because it's- the people- they want to help. Not like other places, where they're mean. Well, they're mean sometimes but I deserve it." An ominous sounding statement, but June was just referring to the times where she had misbehaved and was punished or reprimanded. The only difference was most rambunctious students didn't have the ability to seal someone's mouth shut forever, so extra precautions had to be taken.
June blinked at the question, wringing her hands. "Uh, me?" June opened a glass door and held it, waiting for Jin to enter the lobby first, smiling too brightly. She hid half of her face behind the clear glass. "I, uh, I dunno." The woman replied quickly, the nonsensical answer hiding the bad memories. She was a bad liar, and Jin could probably recognize the type of response.
"What's your name? I'm June!" June asked, trying to change the subject.
The following won't be happening all at once, but will build on each other over time. Allies and enemies. Batwoman isn't alone in her quest to save Gotham but there is certainly no shortage of enemies.
Arcs:
Batwoman vs Falcone
Batwoman, with the help of the good members of the GCPD, routes out corruption and strikes back against the major crime syndicate that has run Gotham since the 20's. Carmine Falcone has had connections with the Wayne family in the past, and she is forced to call into question the nature of the parents she has looked up to for all these years.
Batwoman vs The Penguin
Carmine isn't the only crime lord in town. The Copplebot family has long warred with the Falcone family and everything seems to be coming to a head. The Cobblepots have been a family in Gotham for centuries and were once a well renowned name. But the Wayne's put them out of business and now the Penguine, the last remaining member of the Cobblepot family, has taken to the streets for years now to rebuild the Cobblepots as a criminal empire and has succeeded.
Batwoman vs Black Mask
Old money isn't the only money, and only recently have a band of criminals known as the Black Masks been making moves in Gotham City. There seem to be more to their motives than money and power, which interest Batwoman.
Wayne vs Arkham
Wayne battles against the evils of Arkham Asylum, attempting to reform it and create a place where the criminally insane can go to be reformed. This is one of her most longest lasting and hardest to win battles as the public believes as long as the criminals are locked up or dead they cannot harm anyone. The mysterious Elizabeth Arkham runs the facility, and performs inhumane experiments with the help of one Hugo Strange on the prisoners within.
Wayne vs Mayor Hill
The mayor is in the pocket and works with the corrupt politicans of Gotham to maintain the crime families flow of income. A mediator between the oldest crime families and the law, he has continued the long standing tradition of the Mayor's Seat being nothing more than the strings attatched to a puppet. All the while he puts on a face of being tough on crime, and his elite task force smash through Gotham's poor districts. Brutality feeds off brutality and even cops not working with the mob have become nothing more than thugs in uniform.
Batwoman and Lieutanent Gordon
Barbara Gordon knows that the GCPD is corrupt, and she and her group of close friends are trying to make things better from the inside. But both the law, both legal and criminal, are keeping them subdued. Batwoman will find an ally in the daughter of renowned Commissioner James Gordon and together they can make the police force something to be relied on again, rather than a tool of fear and of evil.
Wayne and Harvey Dent
One politician aims to make changes, and he has a target painted on his back because of it. Wayne will find an ally in Harvey Dent and his crusade and crime. Harvey aims to put the criminals and the insane where they belong, and forever shut the revolving doors of Arkham and Blackgate. But Harvey is treading in dangerous waters, and when one looks into the abyss, it tends to look back.
Wayne and Harley Quinn
A psychiatrist working at Arkham Asylum and moonlighting at Blackgate, Harley Quinn has seen the hostile, brutal environments of both places and aims to make it a better place. Wayne and Batwoman will find an ally in her as she wades into the waters of madness in hopes to find the truth.
Batwoman vs Bane
Batwoman isn't the only vigilante in town, though Bane's methods are of the lethal variety. Not to mention drug dealing and attempting to accrue power in Gotham's underworld, Bane seems to be against evil in lip service only. Or perhaps Bane believes that one can only find salvation in the ashes.
Batwoman vs Catwoman
The two similarly named, darkly dressed women who crawl the Gotham rooftops come into conflict. Catwoman works for dangerous people and herself, stealing valuable technology from various places including Wayne enterprises. Upon further investigation, the caped crusader discovers there may be more to the cat burglar than just thrill seeking and greed. Perhaps they mirror each other more than they realised, and maybe they can become friends, allies, or more.