The Adventures of Hat-man & Pigeon

~Chapter 21: Where?~

(A/N) Oh, you're back..

Welcome.

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Jack walked out of the room, pulling his hat on over his suit's bat ears.

Azrael greeted him with a nod. "It's time to go, buddy." He cringed at his words, and began to pull Jack out of the cafè.

As they left, Jack could hear Stephanie shout: "But your muffins, sir!"

Azrael ignored her, though.

~

They walked down the street, Azrael dragging Jack purely out of habit.

"Where are we going exactly?" Jack asked, looking up and down the street.

People kept giving them weird looks. Jack figured it was probably because of their costumes, which was understandable.

"Iceberg lounge," he replied, pulling Jack around another corner.

"Wait. What?"

"It's a place owned by a crook named Oswald. We need to talk to him."

Jack tilted his head. "Why? I thought we were looking for Ryan."

Azrael sighed. "Yes, we are. I just need to talk to Oswald. He has something that we might be able to use against the Court of Owls." He paused before continuing to talk in hushed tones, his grip on Jack tightening. "Ryan's being held captive by a bunch of assassins, we can't just go in there without a plan. Oswald will help us--he owes me."

Jack nodded.

They walked in silence for a few more minutes before Jack spoke again.

"Why are you holding onto my wrist like that?"

Azrael looked at Jack before looking down. "Sorry," he mumbled, letting go. "I didn't realize I was dragging you."

Jack rubbed his wrist. "It's okay, dude."

~

After an hour of walking, they finally arrived at a dark and gloomy looking building that contrasted with the rest of the street.

There seemed to be blood on the door handle, making Jack wince. The place looked terribly dark and gruesome, which Jack tried to convince himself was exactly what he liked. He was Batman. He liked this kind of setting. He wasn't scared at all.

"Come on," Azrael said, breaking the silence and making Jack jump.

He opened the door, and Jack reluctantly followed him in.

After entering the building, Jack immediately bumped into what appeared to be a man wearing a penguin costume. The man dropped the tray of drinks he was serving guests, causing a woman in a silver dress to slip and bump into another woman. And as they all tumbled to the floor, they managed to knock a giant cake in the middle of the snack table off.

Their fall was also accompanied by a few crashes and an ear-splitting shriek as the woman in the silver dress fell head first into the cake.

Jack started to apologize when Azrael roughly pulled him to the side.

"What the hell was that?" He snapped, making Jack feel worse about bumping into the penguin guy.

"It was an accident," Jack explained. "How was I suppose to know he'd be right there?"

Azrael gave an exasperated sigh. "Watch where you're going around here. You've already attracted way too much attention."

Jack frowned, rubbing his arm.

"Just-"

Azrael cut himself off with another sigh.

"Just wait here and stay out of trouble, okay?"

"You're treating me like a child," Jack protested.

Azrael crossed his arms. "You're kind of acting like a child."

Before Jack could answer, a gasp erupted from the penguin man.

"He pushed me!" The penguin man cried, pointing an accusing finger at Jack.

"I did not!"

"Yes you did!"

"No I didn't!"

"You pushed me, and everyone knows it!"

Jack opened his mouth to yell "I did not!" again when Azrael moved inbetween them.
"Stop fighting or I swear to the skies above that I will stab one of you with an arrow," he said, eerily calm.
He then began to move Jack away from the man in the penguin costume, protectively.

"Oh, yeah. Have this guy take care of you, you little brat." The penguin man spat at Jack, watching them go.

Jack tried ignoring his taunts. It didn't even matter what the penguin man's opinions were, he was just a penguin man.

They had made it a few feet away from the man, ignoring his curses and excessive language toward them.

"Jeez, I just bumped into him. People need a personality check," Jack muttered.

Azrael abruptly did a U-turn, heading back to the penguin man who was sneering at them, covered in cake and mildly bruised.

He grabbed the man's wrist, dragging him to a corner of the room. The penguin man struggled in Azrael's grip, clawing and hissing.

Azrael finally let go after dragging the man a few feet from everyone, pushing him into the wall.

Before anyone could react, Azrael took out an arrow used for his crossbow and straight up plunged it into the penguin man's arm, sticking all the way through and into the wall.

The penguin man's scream made a few people drop their drinks, and more glass shattered onto the floor.
His face was twisted in agony and his breathing turned rapid.

"Calm down," Azrael whispered. "Take a deep breath and hold it for about twenty minutes. We'll all feel a lot better after that."

He then left the penguin man's pained form stuck to the wall.

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(A/N) I'm so sorry for this.