The Beginning

The Start of it All

I could hear the growling from my rapidly growing hunger as I watched the couple laughing while enjoying their meal on the restaurant's terrace. Once they were finished eating, I made a swift entrance towards their now vacant table in order to snatch up their leftover food items and quickly shoved the scraps of food into my bag. I took off towards the alleyway where I was currently spending my time. A little about me, I was 15 and had no place to call home other than the city known as Gotham. I felt someone's eyes focused on me but after a few quick glances around my surroundings, I shrugged it off and pulled out my food, shoving some of the contents quickly into my mouth. I was startled briefly when a teen boy wearing a mask and a red and green costume complete with a cape stood in front of me.

"Are you okay, miss?" His voice startled me even more. This reaction was to be expected though since I was so sleep deprived that I could have just as easily been hallucinating. The reason for his voice startling me was due to the fact that it was hard to have made that part up. There was something to the tone of his voice that even the best imaginations couldn't have produced. When I realized that I hadn't yet responded, he spoke again while taking a few steps more towards my direction in an attempt to stand closer to me. "Miss?"

"I'm fine." I quickly responded hoping that he would just go on his way but he did the opposite. "You can go now." My tone was easily showing my disdain as I went back to eating my food. I watched him, glancing up through my lashes.

He went to speak again when an older man came out of the shadows to join him. I glared at them both with a heavy sigh seeping through my cracked lips. "Let's go." The older man I now recognized to be Batman commanded from the younger man. This must be the boy wonder himself. I rolled my eyes which the teen had apparently seen and smirked slightly.

"She's stealing food. I was trying to see if she was okay." He stated simply while I glared at him. The older one turned towards me, finally noticing my small stature. He was eyeing my condition when he suddenly gave a small nod.

"Fine, we can take her in." My eyes widened in shock at his nonchalant statement. I began shaking my head frantically.

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way." The teen spoke again and my muscles began to tense. I glared, placing my leftover food back into my bag. I stood up while holding my glare towards his tall and muscular frame and prepared for a fight to ensue.

"Fine. I think I'll choose the hard way, thank you very much." I smirked defiantly. The teen grinned with a small nod then quickly swung his hand through the air. I easily dodged it while landing a blow to his side. He stumbled momentarily in surprise. I decided that I would take this as my chance to run but had made that choice a moment too late. He quickly released some type of rope which wrapped tightly around my upper arms and torso. He lifted me up then threw me over his shoulder causing me to growl towards him.

His shoulders shifted slightly due to his chuckling. "You said you wanted to do it the hard way." I sighed in defeat and dropped my head and arms. My hands were slightly swaying in front of his rear and I caught myself taking the sight in. I was so tired and weak that halfway to their location, I had passed out. They pulled into their hideout after tying a scarf around my eyes so that I couldn't see anything around me. Someone lifted me up then placed me into a chair while tying my wrists so that I couldn't run. Finally they took the blindfold off of my eyes causing me to blink rapidly due to the bright light. "So what's your name?" The teen asked me, in a slightly demanding tone. I bit my lower lip while shaking my head.

"That's fine. I've already found her. Her name is Seraphina O'Connell. She was born on Halloween of 1991 and has no parents listed. Why do you have no parents, kid?" Batman demanded from me. I glared up at him just as the purple smoke slowly began to encircle my body.

"That's why. What people would willingly claim someone like me? I'm a freak." I stated, my voice turning darker as I spoke and purple sparks began appearing in my eyes turning my once hazel orbs to a deep purple. The two males looked at me, the older one had his face set in a stone like manner whereas the teenager was staring at me with his mouth slightly agape.

I was surprised when I saw the teen take off his mask while icy blue eyes continued to stare at me in surprise. The older one went to lecture him when he gave a simple pointed look back towards Batman. "You're not a freak. You're hungry and tired. You need somewhere to stay and we could use someone like you to help us." I rolled my eyes, scoffing quietly.

"No thanks. I'm good." I smirked at the now angered look on his face. The older man stood up then and walked over towards me.

While untying the ropes, he spoke, "You have nowhere else to go. We have room here and food that you don't have to steal. You will be staying. It's not up for debate." I growled while rubbing at the marks that had formed on my wrists from the ropes.