Birds of a Feather (Oswald Cobblepot)

Heroes in the Making

    Clyde, Hakeem, and George all fall to the ground, tied up in a thick rope. Batwoman proudly stands above them, hands on her hips, "That was easier than I thought."

"Fences are always all bark, no bite," Montoya explains.

She kicks one of the fences, Hakeem, "So, who're you selling children to? C'mon, spit it out."

"W-we don't know! They always wear masks, white masks. And they're always in nice clothes, and they pay through the roof-"

"Oh, would you shut up!" Clyde shouts, "You're gonna get us all killed!"

"Killed by whom, huh? Who're you so afraid of?" Montoya questions.

George, still out of breath from the fight, begins to speak, "...they watch you at your hearth...they watch you in your bed..."

Suddenly, all of the boys start speaking at once, "Speak not a whispered word about them, or they'll send a Talon for your head."

There's a smashing of glass as the Talon crashes through the window, landing on the ground with one knee bent. He rushes us, wielding the same two blades we'd taken off of the Talon before.We all get out of the way, dodging the Talon's blades, but we realize that he wasn't aiming for us. Going to the three fences, he slashes Hakeem and George's throats, making a go for Clyde, who's cowering in fear.Batwoman jumps him from behind, wrapping both arms around his neck. He throws her off of him, and turns around to face her.

"So...you're the girl who's been causing us so much trouble..." the Talon cracks his head to the side as he starts stalking toward her.

She chuckles, "Oh, so now the Talon talks?"

He lunges for her, slashing wildly. She dodges him, getting in one good punch to his stomach. He falters, but not enough to let him stab her in the leg. She cries out in pain, falling to her knees as he yanks the knife out of her, releasing a droplet of blood as her costume becomes stained with it.

"I was merely using it as a means for distraction. I also have a bit of a flare for the dramatic, I confess," the Talon flips his sword in his hand, as he stops just short of her.

"Don't think of this as anything personal Miss, I'm just the messenger," he raises his blade, "you've greatly upset my employer, and they...to put it simply...want your head. If you don't struggle this'll be over quickly, and I might not even have to hurt your friends."

He stabs down, but Batwoman rolls to the side just in time, hitting her cape. She rips the cape free from the blade, tearing a piece of it off. I work around behind him, kicking him in the knee. He stumbles forward, "Ladies, such uncivil tactics! If you had any kind of dignity you'd face me like men!"

Snarling, Batwoman tackles him to the ground, "You wanna fight like a man?! Fine!" she punches him across the face, a loud crunching noise sounding from his face.

She punches him repeatedly until the Talon's head falls to the side, as he falls unconscious. Batwoman rips off his mask, to reveal a completely different man from the one we'd fought just last night.

She sits back, "...so there's more than one of these guys?"

"However many there are, this one's going away. I just called for backup. You two...probably want to get out of here," Montoya tells us, "Trickstress, here's your mask, I'll circle back to join the police."

I nod, before Batwoman and I fire our grappling hooks and zip up to the roof. Montoya tosses me my mask, before running out of the Flea.

From a nearby warehouse, we watch police cars pull up to the Flea. They bring out the fences, the Talon, but also the Flea residents. This doesn't surprise me of course, the warehouse may be abandoned, but the people staying there are doing so illegally. They may be clearing out the Flea now, but the people will come back. They always come back, the Flea is their home.