Raven

The sound of my leather boots hitting the ground filled my ears, thump, thump, thump. The streets I was running through were damp and empty, the desolate part of Gotham City reflecting the poorest areas in all their glory.

I shifted the rucksack on my bag, feeling the money in the plastic bags jostle in a comforting weight against my shoulder bags. Despite my increased tiredness, I smiled. I am Raven…and what I want, I get.

But that bastard, had not made it easy. I’d watched the fucking offices for the last two weeks whilst he and his rubber faced goons, robbed left, right and centre. I’d smiled in disdain as he looked through me from several televisions before raising his gun and shooting down the cameras.

My breath was starting to come in puffs as I heard the faint noise of sirens several streets away. Shit. I must not have killed that last guard. Or, had let him live long enough to call in the forces.

So far, in the world of Gotham City, the flight of Raven had gone unnoticed. I had been able to swoop down on my prey, killing those that deserved death in the alleys, robbing those who had too much money, and had gotten away with it. It was also thought to be the workings of him. But not this time, this time I knew I’d been seen. Perhaps, subconsciously I had made myself be spotted by those cameras, to show Gotham City, that not only should they be fearing The Joker, but there was a new bird in this nest.

I paused for a moment, rubbing my legs where I was starting to ache, and leant my head back to the cold wall behind me. I sucked in mouthfuls of cold air but the sirens were coming closer. I buried my head in my hands for a moment, cursing the second of stupidity for not finishing up my work. The local taxation offices had been heavily guarded due to The Joker’s raids in other buildings. I hadn’t expected for my night to be quite so difficult.

I stood up again, my knees cracking and looking behind me, hopped onto the dumpster leaning against a low wall beside me and fell down onto the next alley. The street it joined was busier than the last, and as I neared the main road from the narrow alleyway, I paused like a cat, sniffing the air around me.

There was a chink of beer bottles, several sounds of gruff male voices and laughing. I bit my lip, considering and then closed my eyes with a satisfied smile when I heard the purr of a motor engine.

I looked around the wall, to see a group of middle aged men around a small fire on the street. I rolled my eyes, and then walked slowly towards them. The mask that covered the upper part of my face protected my identity, and my eyes were clouded by black contacts.

The three men stopped talking immediately, their eyes roving up my body slowly and hungrily. I smirked, the corner of my mouth lifting into an evil smile. I ignored them all, walking towards the bike and passing my hand over the smooth leather of the seat. I looked up then, and gazed at the staring men.

“Mind if I take her for a ride?” I asked the closest man, and he blinked at me.

He then smiled, showing me several black teeth…lovely. “What you say we both go for a ride darling?” he laughed, and licked his lips. I fought the urge to vomit but kept my eyes focused on the keys he tugged out from his pocket.

I sighed, “I’ll make this an easy choice then.”

They didn’t notice my hand reach behind me as I pulled my gun from it’s holster and two of them scrambled up hastily when I pressed the mouth of it to the dirty one’s neck. My other wrist flicked, the comforting feel of my switchblade caressing my palm.

It didn’t take long for one of them to lunge for me. I hit him, breaking his nose and shot the other in the foot. He howled, falling onto the ground but another shot to the head silenced him forever. The second man came at me again, and I sidestepped, passing the blade across his neck. The last one watched his friends die, and scrambled away from me.
I closed my eye, raising the gun again, focussing. I let him run for a moment, a strange glee rising in me as a hope grew in him that he would live. I laughed then to myself, my finger coming down once more upon the trigger.

I turned before he fell, but I heard the satisfactory thump of his already dead body hitting the ground. I flipped the first man over, and extracted the key of the bike from his fist. The sirens continued the next street over, but the roar of the engine drowned it out from my ears.

I closed my eyes as the wind flew my hair back. Opening them, I swerved onto a busy road, and immediately, yet another siren went off. I was speeding….oopsies.

Rather than pull over and flirt my way out, I quite obviously began to drive faster. I laughed out loud, the wheels of the bike skidding as I zig-zagged through the line of traffic. I broke the red light, ignoring the blaring horns, only focussing on the distance the squad cars were behind me.

I soon lost all other traffic besides the squad cars and I bent down low over the handlebars. This was intense, certainly not how I’d imagined my peaceful robbery would go. I could hear them demanding me to pull over as we neared the bridge near the outskirts of Gotham City. I smiled, and cackled again. I hadn’t had fun like this in a long time. I’d forgotten what it was like to be really wild, I hated playing it safe.

The sirens were getting closer, and cursed under my breath. I swerved to the right as I entered the middle strip of the bridge, the bike crashing into the stone walls bordering the drop into the water below. It bucked in the air, and I launched myself up and over, curling my body into a ball as I fell, long and hard.

The fall wasn’t so long it would kill me, but my body fell into shock when it hit the cold water. I floated for a moment, my limbs not reacting to my screaming brain, until finally they kicked into action. My lungs began to burn for oxygen as I stayed below the surface, swimming down and across, knowing the police up above would be looking for a gasping body.

I fought the need for air as long as I could before finally I surfaced, deep near the undergrowth, gasping. I choked, several times, spitting out the dirty water. I groaned, my whole body aching from the impact with the water, and dragged myself onto the bank. I sat by a tree for a moment, heaving in air, looking up from the shadows to the bridge where lights where been shone down upon the water.

I managed to drag myself up and cursed to myself again as my ankle collapsed underneath me.

I ripped the fabric from around my eyes, opening up my bag to check my money was still intact. I congratulated myself on the clever thought of the plastic bags. Wads of cash were always difficult, that’s why I always preferred my computer chips. Though they wouldn’t have been quite so waterproof.

“Looks like you had yourself a mighty fine police chase Birdie.”

I jumped at the sound of the voice, and if I hadn’t recognised his mocking tone, I would’ve shot him without a glance. Shit, my guns were probably wet…

“I always like to let them chase me Clownboy,” I turned to smirk at The Joker, and he shook his head from the shadows of the tree he was leaning against, “It’s just no fun otherwise.”

He began to walk closer to me, and my gaze narrowed. “What are you doing here?”

He chuckled, “Birdie, I should be asking you that…but I saw your little trick from the bridge, clever…but the pigs and their dogs will be sniffing around here soon. And I don’t think you’ll get far with that leg.”

I gingerly put my injured foot back onto the ground, and refused to hiss in pain, “I think I’ll be fine.”

I began to walk away from here, my vision weakened by the dim light of night and the trees and undergrowth around me. The Joker followed me, his eyes curious and his smile, leering at me.

He came closer to me, his voice whispering in my ear, causing my hair, though wet, to stand up, “If you beg for help, I just might give it.”

Ignoring the pain in my ankle, I whirled on him, my blade up close and personal with the skin of his neck. I could feel his jugular against it, and the zip of excitement of actually killing him pulsed through me. If he was gone…no-body would be in my way…

But there was one problem to that plan, mainly the smooth point of a knife sticking dangerously close to the bottom of my ribcage. I shifted, feeling it pressing closer and knew any more would break through the fabric of my clothing, and my skin. I pressed my blade harder to his neck and watched a bead of blood drop.

“One thing you should know about me CB,” I hissed into his face, “I never beg.”

He sneered at me, “That’s not what I’ve heard.”

Red rage poured through me with his words, and I snarled, forgetting about the blade in my hand and instead hitting him hard with my other fist. He staggered back, laughing, his blade ripping through my clothing, nicking my skin neatly enough for a thin river of blood to run from it.

He watched the blood run down my milky white skin for a moment, seeming entranced. And then he looked at me, his eyes meeting mine, so intense and deep, it shocked me. He smiled, a twisted smile, “I’d kill you if it wouldn’t be such a waste.”

I pouted my lips, “I take that as a compliment, now…let’s get out of here.”

He chuckled, pocketing his knife and allowing me to sling my arm over his shoulder. He looked at me as he began to lead me away to his new hide-out, “Don’t think this is over between us Birdie.”

I smirked, “Of course not CB, life wouldn’t be half as fun..”

He licked his lips, taking the drop of blood from the corner of his lip onto his tongue, the result of my attack. I passed my free hand across my stomach which burned, but a smile filtered through. I have a feeling, this would become a love hate relationship.

There can only be one psychopath in this town. And I’m determined it will be me.