The Darkest of Knights

Seab frowned at Luna.
"I said I wasn't interested in you. Past tense, I have a minor curiosity now. And as for your plans, I don't really care, I'm just wondering what she-" he jabbed a finger at Ivy "-plans to do to keep me here." Seab said, raising an eyebrow at Ivy when he pointed at her. He had to remember he still needed these three; he still needed to see where they were going.

"Gah!!" Alice screamed as a human body came twirling out of her back. "What is it?!" Batgirl asked. "Oh my word.. geez it's Karmy!" Alice said disappointed. "Do you always have to do that?"

Mercy wrote:(Oh uhh.. Gee.. Um Music? I hope we won't have the same problem most of us had with picking up scents as a wolf like we did last time. Last RP everyone complained about Lupe using her scent to find anyone and everyone at any given time and it was just plain cheap. So yeah, I'm not depriving you of your powers, just don't go all out on us like Lupe did..)

(No worrys M. I was gonna have them get lost and met up with someone else in the rp. I didn't even know there was issuses in the last rp. Anything else I should know about?)
Jersey was getting close to his boiling point. Sky had the scent on and off again. They were lost in the city, and oh, Batman was still at large. He started to voiice his feelings, "Well, this-" Sky turned on him, "Jersey. Not. A. Word. I had it and lost it again. Why don't we just take a break? Call Nickoli and tell him that he can get off his butt and go search. Why did I let him go to the base?" She continued to rant on and on as Jersey called Nickoli, told him what Sky said, and pulled into an ally. "Relax. Sky I think your just mad one of your little hero role models went bad. Really, this is why I wasn't a hero and you shou-" He stopped when he saw Sky had left down the road. She yelled back to him, "Just head back to V.A.M.P HQ! I'm searching alone."
Not long after she was at the Police Station, hoping to hook up with some team of cops with info.

(Crap I posted myself into a corner with that line! xD )

"What I plan to do?" Ivy repeated with gritted teeth. "My actions all depend on what you think you're doing here. Like I said, not a villain then a stalker or looking for leads. A stalker, I'd let go." Her hand's illumination grew. "But if you're some sick creature looking for information to turn a hero in...." Her anger grew to the point her hands turned into fire.

"You say that like you expect me not to!" Karmy scoffed. "Seriously though. I had no other choice. I had to find y'all somehow." she said, obviously not telling them they were being traced.

(Yeah, I had several people PM me about Lupe's outrageously cheap and god-knowledged character. So just don't be cheap and you're golden! :D)

"Guhh! Karmy! Why are you doing this? This isn't like you! Why are you trying to stop us?" Alice screamed at her. Batgirl put a hand on her shoulder, "We have to keep it quiet Al.." "No! This is ridiculous! She's like my best friend!" Alice protested.

"Dammit Mercy!" Karmy said getting defensive. "I thought you said you would not go back into crime! Batman is guilty and we need to bring him in. You were the one who said all that stuff about Justice and everything. Why are you going against it now?!" she screamed back. "If you really believe Batman is truly innocent, then take him to the police and have him prove it!"

"I told you once, I told you before, you don't know Gotham! You don't know who the new commissioner is! You're so incorrigible!" Alice said continuing to raise her voice. "Guys!" Batgirl said coming between them, grabbing them at the back of their heads and slamming them together. "Shut the hell up! We have bigger issue to deal with other than ourselves!"

Seab yawned.
"Yeah, sorry to say it, but whatever. Whether I'm a stalker, a bounty hunter or whatever else you feel like accusing me of, the point is I'm sticking to my own business and not gonna let someone like you keep me from it." Seab rasped out.
"And, actually, I've never had respect for villains or heroes. They both think they're the right one anyways.

"Gah dammit!" said holding her beating head. "I'm just trying to help!" In a blind rage, she spun around and nailed Batgirl right in the kisser, sending her flying back.

Alice grabbed Karmy's shoulders from behind and kicked the back of her knee dropping her to the ground, she grunted from the pain and had her head backwards so she was facing Alice. She grabbed Karmy's head, holding it in place, and throwing her head down on hers, a massive headbutt.

Ivy realized, unfortunately, he was correct. Anything else she accused him of he could deny, and as far as she had seen, he hadn't done anything but annoy the Trio.

"Stick to your own business, then. If we catch you nearby again, we'll have the right to assume you're either." Her hands extinguished. "Let's just go. You know where." She whispered to the team. She didn't want to say Greenwich in fear somebody else would hear, and go there before they could investigate.
---
Poison Ivy clenched her teeth, urging them to leave as soon as possible.

Karmy slammed into the floor and lay in a daze. She wearily stared up at the blurred form of Mercy. "Dammit.. Mercy..." she slurred. "Why do ya.. gotta be so.. hard headed about this stuff."

(Batman and Robin are already at the STEAM.. sorry I didn't post that Shadow.. but I implied it.. it won't happen again ._.)

Alice shook her head at the comment, she learned how to place a headbutt without actually hurting herself through the reading and practice. "You really want to help us?" She asked extending a hand to her. "No tricks?" She asked. Batgirl got up and checked her lip, she was fine, but there was still pain. She looked at the two. "Are we ready to go or what?" She asked.

"Finally..." Seab grunted as he turned the opposite direction and began walking away. Now, there's a problem. he thought as Hac flew back down to his shoulder.
"What happened?" Hac screeched.
"We can't stalk them. For whatever reason the one with the goggles can sense me." Seab replied. He can sense me...but I still have one more idea, they suspect me, but let's hope they don't suspect a hawk. he thought, this was the closest thing he had to a lead; he wasn't letting it go. After explaining his thoughts to Hac, the hawk replied "And if they sense us again?"
"Then I suppose we can't deny anything any longer and we'll have a fight on our hands as a last ditch effort."
"Or, you could forget it. You can't handle three at a time."
"Well, yes. I'm just hoping they won't notice a pair of birds."

"I wanna help you Merc, cause I trust you." Karmy said taking her hand. "But I do not trust Batman." she sprung up and threw Mercy at Batgirl. She pulled out a communicator leading to Casius. "CAS! They're at the STEAM building! Tell the police!"

(Sorry Shadow ._. I'll wait till you come back.)

Alice jumped at Karmy, tackling her and pinning her to the ground. "What the f*ck Karmy?!? What was that for!?" She asked "To trust me is to Trust him! Who's side are you on?! Call it off Karmy! Call it off!!" Batgirl was so confused, she had heard a lot about Karmy. Karmy was honest, lighthearted, cheery, and dependable. This wasn't the same person Alice was talking about.

"I'm on the side of Justice Mercy!" Karmy screamed. "Just like you once were. You said this is a corrupt city! How can I trust the hero of a corrupted city?!" she said struggling. Mercy was smart, she had Karmys hands pinned.

"You don't know Gotham and you don't know Batman! He would NEVER kill anyone! Especially Gordon!" Alice told her. "Just trust me. Please Karmy. I'm your friend. You know I won't do anything to hurt this city. We literally built this here.. Together. Trust me, true justice is trusting Batman." Alice pleaded. Batgirl began hating where this was going. She had her hands at her hips. "Alice.. We really have to go. Dick is counting on us."



Batman and Robin entered the STEAM building at the North Entrance through an air conditioning vent. They had landed in the camera room, quietly, there were two guards sipping coffee and talking about work. Their feet were crossed and resting on buttons and knobs that controls the security systems. Batman signaled Robin to take out the guard on the right while he would take the left.

"Oh man, Albert is such a douche.."
"Callicsh?"
"Yeah man, he thinks he's all high and mighty when he's just an unbelievable douche!"
"Haha! Yeah, I actually forgot about him since he left for Jump City."
"I just have that type of--"

Batman knocked out his guard. "Jimmy? Hurk-!!" Robin took out her guard. "Use your flexi cuffs to tie down the guards, let me look for the security tapes." Batman ordered. "Yes sir." Robin replied in obedient response. "Batman opened up files on the security system and opened up files from several hours ago. 9:00, the time of the murder. He observed the tapes.

He saw Gordon and himself break into the screen walking down a hall. Gordon had his gun up, he was looking around. Being very silent. There must have been a reason why The Commissioner was with him. There must have. The fact that he was even with him meant that there was no tension between the two. That seemed like proof enough, but the went into a blindspot. Just then Gordon came crashing onscreen with Batman's grapple in his chest. "Dammit!" Batman muttered. In the video Batman came running up to Gordon, it looked like they were talking, suddenly a bright light flashed on Batman; the police. Batman ran out. And the video ended. He made a copy and extracted the tape and stashed it away. He began working on the security system, shutting down all the alarms. "Barbara and Alice will have it easier now. You done with those cops?" Batman asked Robin. "I got one.. But this guy has funny hands." Robin complained. Batman knelt and helped her. "Let's go. We have to make an investigation now. Let's go Robin." Batman said standing up, Robin stood with him.

It was freezing, the Gotham bay always did have shitty swimming. Mame's teeth chattered in her skull as the water lapped at her head, her clothes were heavy and drenched, pulling her down under the waves every now and then.

Through all this discomfort however there was one thing that annoyed her the most, she was out of shape. Not anything as gruesome as being overweight or emaciated, but she hadn't been able to exercise in so long, her muscles were weak, and she found that slowly but surely the black gushing depths of the bay was slowly dragging her under the waves. Her mind was still idled by the drugs, so she could focus on the water slowly filling up her lungs, even as she tried to breath in more, her arms stroking one after the other, her feet and legs kicking hard to propel her light frame through the inky liquid.

She was so close to the boats, so close but they were moving away, back towards the city. Mame let out a growl of frustration, that was instantly stifled by the water that poured down her throat. She promptly ignored the sensation of her lungs expanding, no matter how much it hurt, her vision began to blur but she chalked that up the the salt from the water. She was determined, so much so that she didn't realize she was drowning herself, so on she swam, drinking down the water like she was an alcoholic on a binge, tired muscles quivering from lack of heat and over exertion.

She wasn't going to last much longer, the tenacious youth began to sink, her legs refusing to kick anymore, her arms flailing as she slowly was pulled into the crushing black. She looked up through the water, her body expelling food and water as it desperately tried to empty her lungs and stomach of the salt water, even as the debris swished around her head her arms kept padding, she needed to get to Gotham!

When her eyes slowly began to close a hand reached down to her, she wasn't sure if it was real but she arched for it, pressing her body up with the last bit of strength she had, her fingers brushed the rough calloused palm before it latched on her and hefted her body up out of the water. She sputtered and vomited again, wave after wave of salt water pouring from her mouth as she was helped onto the motor boat by a very concerned looking police officer. Mame cursed her luck but was too weak to speak, or even look up, instead she allowed herself to be rolled onto her back, her button up shirt torn away from her skinny torso, two hands settling on her ribs as they pressed down to flush out the rest of the silt and what not that had invaded her lungs.

She wasn't too concerned about being bare chested in front of two officers of the law, she wanted to live, they were helping her do more then just that. After a good fifteen minutes of this gentle pressure she was assisted up onto a built in chair next to the drivers seat and wrapped in a large wooly blue blanket, even as the police officers mouth moved she couldn't comprehend what he was saying. He looked concerned with a slight tint of skeptical, she wouldn't blame him, her shirt had said Arkham Asylum on the back. Mame coughed a bit and placed her pale hand to her throat, rubbing at it slightly before looking up to the boys in blue. " It's....a mad house...awful.....They tried to kill all of us" Her lie was mulled over, then bought as the police man patted her on the shoulder. For a moment she looked over to his hand, enjoying the contrast of his warm brown skin against her chilled pale shoulder, it was such a lovely sight.

Mame Sat quietly in her seat, watching the man go to speak to his co worker, she still couldn't comprehend much but vomiting had woken her up significantly. Her hands and arms twitching into movement as she swaggered to her feet, stumbling forward towards the two in a clumsy drunken manner. It wasn't until she had fallen into the black police officer and pressed her fingers into his belt that it went horribly wrong for the two of them.

A shot rang off from the mans side, a hot bullet skidding down his leg until it cut through his knee cap. As he fell to the ground the other police officer rushed to grab his fire arm, however the tiny blonde already had the stolen pistol trained on him, pulling the trigger and sending led through his coppery flavored brains. After the figure flew back, rag dolled over the side of the seat the pale youth turned to the sweating man, a small frown on her face as she gripped the gun a bit tighter, her hands were still pretty weak.

She walked over him, tilting her head as she inspected his name tag, she crinkled her nose then straddled the bleeding man, her thighs holding his arms in place at the shoulder as she leaned down over his head, sure she was underaged....Not like he'd get arrested for it. Mame smiled and moved the gun nozzle to rest against the joint of his jaw, his eyes widening as he shouted out pleas, she pressed the gun into his jaw further and smiled pleasantly. " Thank you for saving my life Officer Raynard, I would have died without you" Leaning down, she silenced his pleas with a kiss, enjoying the delicious sensation of lips against her own, and the contrast between their skin tones, that is before she pulled the trigger and blew off his jaw.

Her ears were ringing, blood spattered across her face. Teeth, tongue and bone splintered and splashed over the deck, Mame tilted her head back, the gun pointing straight up, her mouth opened as her eyes stared wide at the dark Gotham Sky.

And she laughed, and laughed and laughed.

(Daaaammmmnnnn Bloody... Omg omg omg omg that was just sooo apic...!! Omg... WOoooooooowwwwwww!!)
(Nice Mercy! All on your phone.. That is awesome XD!! Nice cameo too )

Mercy may have been smart, but it had been 2 years since they had seen each other. Karmy had learned a few new tricks. She opened her mouth and clicked her tongue against her teeth*. A portal appeared underneath Karmy and Alice and they fell a few feet away. Unfortunately, that little stunt had cost Karmy a lot of energy and she struggled to pick herself from up off the ground. "I can't just.." she coughed and stood up. "I can't just leave Casius and Cyrah behind Mercy.. They've pretty much been my family for the past two years and I trust them. I trust them like I trust you!" she cried.

Why is trust, something that should come easy in life, so hard? Karmy had to make her choice. She had to make her choice for her friends. For justice. For Gotham... For herself. The only person Karmy knew she could never trust. "Karmy?" Casius' voice crackled over the communicator. Karmy looked at the communicator. Then looked back at Mercy. What was her choice?

"Karmy!" Casius' voice came through the comm. "They're there!"

It was made for her. Shots rang out and BANG! Karmy felt a white hot pain skim the back of her leg. She fell to the ground, screaming and holding her it in pain. A lone police officer stood, gun raised. "Freeze!" he screamed. "Dammit!" Karmy pained and looked up at Mercy from the ground. "I do trust you..." and she snapped her fingers. Portals appeared underneath Mercy and Batgirl, sending them to alleyways behind STEAM. Karmy was losing blood and her head began to spin. The officer began to slowly approach her but she had one last trick. Even though technically it wasn't hers. She ripped off the tab from the flash grenade that she had taken from Mercy, and tossed it. Before it exploded, Karmy managed to snap one last time before she passed out.

Hours later, Karmys limp form washed up on the shores near Gotham. Her breathing was ragged, her body soaked to the bone. Karmys headband no longer rested on her head. Caseys bag no longer wrapped around her shoulders.

Steam could problely be seen coming from Sky's ears as she came closer to the Police Station. She was thinking about how a jerk Jersey was until, a scent hit her vampire nose. More than one familer scent. "Ivy? Luna?" She said rushing over. "What... Really?!" Seeing it was them for sure, she smiled. "Long time no see!" Sky didn't even think of Zero there, she forgot she had on her mask too.

Astro's eyes flashed a gleaming light blue. His hands gave off a matching glow. His hair was tasseled violently, and he felt his whole body shake. He was being ripped in half, tossed and turned, flying yet falling. He felt as if he was being stretched in all directions until he was torn to pieces. While that whole sensation went through, his body fall to the ground, limp.

If anyone had seen, they surely would've been alarmed. Astro was slumped against the wall, his teeth clenched as if in concentration and his eyes shut. But that was just an effect of astral projection.

I can't believe I almost screamed. he thought to himself. I should be used to this by now.. He had performed this stunt in a dark alleyway. Nobody would see him unless they were looking, or if they went down the alley. Of course, he had to admit, his attire wasn't the most conspicious. White and white with more white....It's the color of the stars, my saviors, I shall not doubt them. He assured himself. His memory was fading with every day, but if there was one thing he was sure if, it's that he was raised by the stars. They taught him to use his abilities, to harness the life of others, to both heal and kill. To project himself out of the barriers of his body, and float about as who he truly is: a soul.

Was this true? No. Did he know? No. But that wasn't a concern now. He had astral projected himself for a reason, and that was to find Batman!

As his soul, he was a vague outline of a humanoid form. If he could, he'd being giving a tiny smile. You see, something he had learned was that there aren't really ghosts. Just astrals projecting themselves and scaring the heck out of Normals for fun. Astrals always saw other astrals projecting themselves. All humans could feel the presence slightly, and some people could see them. It was never really explained to him, and if it was, he didn't remember.

Not that he remembered a lot from his past anyway.

His soul self jutted upwards, beginning the long search of Gotham for the Batman. After all, he mused dryly, How hard could it be to find a man dressed in a bat cowl and tights?
---
Ivy gasped. That voice, though a bit older, was nearly the same. She knew just who that was. "Sky!" She smiled, opening her arms to embrace the old friend.

Sky hugged her old friend, then hugged Luna, "It's Skyfire now Ivy. Oh I've been around. This year has been the best though. Started up V.A.M.P with Jersey. What about you two?" She turned to Zero, "Why do you smell famlier?"

(Oh snap, it took me so long to type this, uhh Shadow I used Robin a bit x_x)

Batman looked at STEAM's video surveillance cameras that were currently active; police and investigators were guarding and searching the area still. "Aww crap." He muttered. "What is it?" Robin asked. "Look." Batman pointed at the screen. "That's where he was murdered?" Robin asked. "Yeah, we have to get there.. How are we going to distract them long enough?" Batman asked pondering, he bent down looking at the officer's walkie talkie.

"Can I trust you to be quick?"
"How quick?"
"Faster than Kid Flash."
"I'm not sure about that.."
"Detective-wise."
"I'm still not sure Batman..."
"Well we have to take the chances. Here's the plan... You're going to start off where the murder happened.."

Alice screamed, "NO! Karm-mph!!" Batgirl held her mouth. "We have to be serious for a minute Alice..." She said looking at their entrance. "And why does she keep calling you Mercy?" Batgirl asked. "Long story. Anyways, down to business right?" Alice said checking the door, then opened it up. "Ladies first." She said. "What're you implying?" Batgirl asked as she stepped in the building.

"Batgirl, come in do you copy?" Batman asked through radio contact. "We're here. We got held up by Karmy. How are things on your end?" She asked. "We dropped by the surveillance room. We were able to pick up the murder scene. Unfortunately I couldn't see the murderer, it hit a blind spot the second my Grapple hook shot into Gordon." Batman answered. "Guards are covering the scene of the crime. Tell me when you meet up with Robin, I sent her to it and she's on her way. I'll wait here for now." He finished. "On it, Alice and I are on our way... Wait where is the scene of the crime?" Batgirl asked "I'll get Robin to tell you. You have to help her investigate it. I have to get in character." Batman said signing off.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Alice wondered aloud. "He's probably going to get the police to come to him while we investigate."