Jules had done practically everything, but Bruce's decision would not be wavered. It had been three whole days of arguing, whining, pouting while sitting cross-legged upside down in the air, attempted escapes, and a lot of begging.
Tim had painfully watched knowing very well Jules was dealing with Bruce's overprotectiveness all because he had impulsively gotten her a bunny.
Damian had had his suspicions whilst taking the hare, but the shelter worker insisted it was just a big eared rabbit breed. Well, Damian didn't know much about bunnies, so he just went with it. After she had her allergic reaction, Damian had taken the hare back to the shelter and proceeded to yell at the shelter worker for a good 45 minutes.
Alfred had taken her floppy self to her room and wrapped her in blankets, Tim profusely apologizing to a semi-conscious Jules who just grunted in reply, not willing to make the effort of sounding out words.
Alfred then proceeded to scold Tim and Damian for a good hour, while Dick disinfected the room in which the hare was in and Jason recorded his two younger brothers getting berated by the irritated old man.
"Miss Julianne has been the victim of abuse, neglect, a grenade explosion, a demonic possession, and at least a hundred other things she refuses to tell us. Do not let her be the victim of your frivolity. I expect this sort of behavior from Master Jason, not from a well meaning boy like you."
"Touché, Alfie." Jason rolled his eyes.
"Sorry Alfred.... I was just, trying to make up to her." Tim muttered.
Alfred just sighed in defeat, turning to Damian.
"And you, young master?"
"Don't look at me. I was just along for the ride."
"Wha-hey! You're the one that yanked me out of bed to go to Bo's place! You shoved all this on me! I was gonna apologize after the storm died down a bit more!"
"T-t, only because your troll brain takes a century just to form the beginnings of a proper apology. "
"You little-"
Just then, Bruce burst into the house. Apparently Dick had called Bruce and told him everything.
Jules recovered after a few hours, but Bruce had taken EXTREME measures.
No leaving the house, a hare could cross her path.
No playing with the other pets, the fur could somehow trigger another reaction.
No patrol, since apparently allergic reactions happen out of nowhere with zero triggers and Jules could fall off the Gotham Bank building while having an epileptic seizure and die.
(Bruce was oddly specific for that one...)
Jules had tweaked her new Switchblade suit in the meantime, integrating a nanotech feature into the entirety of it, so now she could have the suit ready at all times and it would "grow " over her outfit if she pressed the button she integrated into her sun necklace.
She modified her mask to be more aerodynamic and added an extension of her user interface AI, PATCH.
Bruce had tried to get her some more bedrest, but Jules had just stuck her tongue at him like a toddler and continued to hang upside down.
And after three days of hell, Jules had finally managed to convince Bruce that she wasn't going to straight-up die the second she saw anything that resembled a hare.
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It was girl's day out, and Jules was on her way back from Tsuki's place. Tsuki's parents were out at work, so she and Jules had taken the liberty of cooking an awesome stir fry together as their lunch. Tsuki did Jules' nails (which now were a polished shade of metallic red) and they watched the Rocky Horror Picture Show as well as the Incredibles, and read some creepypasta and Buzzfeed articles. All in all, not a bad day.
It was near dusk, and Julianne made a point of staying on the lit side of the sidewalks, eyeing every alleyway she passed suspiciously.
She turned the corner, only to hear sounds of a scuffle, followed by terrified yelp.
Jules immediately ducked into an alley, peeking just her head out to see the scene.
Black clad men were wrestling a rather tall boy into a white van that looked exactly like what a kidnapping van would look like with a large bike rack bolted to the top of it.
Jules pressed the button on her sun necklace, and slowly the nanotech suit masked her civilian identity, until Switchblade stood, peeking out an alley. Switchblade yanked on her helmet, which was a separate nanotech item always kept in her bag, and turned on the system. She pulled out her weapons and holstered them to her hips.
Quietly, she addressed her A.I.
"PATCH, identify victim."
The A.I. ran facial recognition.
"Alaric Johannes Tusko, male, 16 years of age."
Switchblade's mouth went dry.
They're taking Alaric.
The black-clad men threw the boy into the back of the van, and most of them climbed in from there while the other two went up to the front to drive.
She took in a deep breath, gravity bending onto a roof, flipping over a clothesline before landing on her feet with a muted thud, eyes not leaving the van as it started zooming down the street.
She started chasing after it, racing from rooftop to rooftop, occasionally gravity bending a few buildings forward.
She pushed her legs even harder as the van picked up speed, and just before the row of buildings ended, Switchblade jumped.
She hit the top of the van with a louder thud, no doubt alerting the men inside.
The van started speeding down the road even faster, and Switchblade increased her gravitational pull, keeping her onto the van as she clung to the bike rack, slowly inching her way down to the back of the van to kick in the doors.
Before she could do that though, the men had already slammed the van doors wide open and started firing at her with those stupid alien weapons.
Switchblade growled, kicking one of the guns out of the masked man's hand before kicking his face in. She clung to the bike rack with two arms and hauled herself up out of the way as one of the hostiles fired a larger alien gun, which ripped one of the van doors clean off.
The white van door skidded down the road, smoking from the alien blast, sparks flying up from the sheer force, sliding to a stop as the van drove away.
Her senses went crazy and Switchblade dove to the side as a purple blast punched a huge hole through the roof of the van.
She quickly grabbed hold of the now wobbly bike rack before she could fall to the road, which was a blur of asphalt beneath her.
Pulling herself back onto the van, she realized she had a new way in.
Diving into the van feet first through the smoking hole, she knocked over a guy that was standing directly beneath the hole in the roof and crushed his gun, before swiftly knocking him out.
Quickly counting the five other hostiles, she flashed them a sinister grin from under her mask as she flicked out her switchblades. Alaric, the poor boy, was tucked into the far corner, his hands zip-tied together and his mouth forced shut with duct tape, but his eyes wide as saucers.
"PATCH," she said to her A.I. with a strangely confident lilt in her voice that shocked the hostiles. "Play some music to kick ass to."
Immediately, Eminem's Till I Collapse started playing through her helmet, and Switchblade smirked.
(y'all can slot in your kick-ass song/comment them below, I just chose one from my Spotify)
Switchblade disabled the men one by one, using her momentum to knock out two men at once, before striking out with her switchblades with the other three. She started softly singing along to the song, bouncing along to the beat as she fought the rather well trained men. They weren't as agile as the female vigilante, but they still were able to get a few hits.
They were fighting in a very small space after all, the limp bodies of the other hostiles giving them very little leg room to beat someone up.
She heard a loud revving sound and Switchblade whipped around to see none other than the Batmobile, chasing after the van.
Timbo must've put a tracker in my suit... well, it's great they joined the party.
The sleek black vigilante car was larger and cooler than Switchblade could imagine, and she could gawk at it all day, but then she remembered she was beating up bad guys.
Right. Back to that.
She turned back to the fight, narrowly dodging a punch, before grabbing that man's arm and twisting it sharply to the right.
She grinned, singing the chorus in the hostile's face teasingly as she slowly yanked his arm further to the right with every beat.
" Til the roof comes off, till the lights go out
'Til my legs give out, can't shut my mouth.
'Til the smoke clears out and my high perhaps
I'm a rip this sh*t till my bone collapse."
He bellowed in pain and his little friend tried jumping in to save him, but Switchblade slammed the hilt of her switchblade into his head as he lurched forward, knocking him out.
With a final headbutt, the man with the now broken arm slumped to the van floor, unconscious.
Switchblade dusted off her suit, turning to the final man standing.
He held up his hands in surrender and Switchblade gave him a thumbs up, using his own zip ties to tie his hands together.
Switchblade turned back outside to the Batmobile, which had disappeared into the night.
Weird.
Her senses went off again, slowly thumping against her veins, and she quickly untied Alaric. "You okay dude?"
"Thanks Switchblade."
She narrowed her eyes. Where was his accent?
All of a sudden, her senses went haywire as the van violently rammed into something and flipped.
Everyone in the van slammed into the roof, Switchblade hitting her head rather hard, leaving her kinda dazed.
Everything seemed like it was in slow motion. All she could see was Alaric's eyes, now taken over by a hue of yellow, and a strange ring of gold sparks that the van plunged into.
Switchblade felt time shift, and her stomach dropped down somewhere to her ankles because of the strange feeling that stretched and squashed her at the same time, twisting her insides into knots.
She saw Alaric's hands moving in weird circular movements, and was about the question him when suddenly the van landed back onto its wheels with a harsh force that sent Switchblade flying into the roof headfirst once more.
"Ow..." She mumbled, slumping against the van's interiors, stars popping up in her vision as she rubbed her head.
She spotted the Batmobile that was stopped perpendicular to the road, and the road block barrier that cut off the other side. They must've wanted to stop the driver by blocking all his escape routes, but instead the dumdum had decided to flip the vehicle.
Switchblade felt Alaric's large hands pick her up bridal style and felt him carrying her over to the Batmobile, softly murmuring reassurances.
"It's okay, Jules. I've got you."
Confusion filled her insides as she stared at Alaric, her friend, the new kid, the cute Hungarian with an accent that was strangely missing, and she realized she knew absolutely nothing about him except for what he wanted her to know.
And he knew all about her alter ego. Switchblade groaned. First Bo, now him? Now she had no choice but to trust him.
Alaric gently set the girl down only a few feet away from Batman and his two birds, raising his hands up to show he was a friendly.
Switchblade majestically managed to stand upright for three seconds, before she raced over to some bushes by the side of the road and threw up.
Batman stepped out of the car along with Robin and Red Robin, tense and ready to beat up this kid. Robin hurried over to Switchblade, checking to see if she was alright.
As soon as she was done, she pulled the helmet back over her head, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand and popping in the Gravol ginger that Damian -Robin- gave her.
She walked back to the Batmobile silently, turned to Alaric, and screamed at the top of her lungs.
"WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED BACK THERE?! WHERE'S YOUR ACCENT?! HOW DID YOU DO THAT? WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?"
Alaric bit his tongue, sighing in defeat. "I am your shadow guardian, sent to shadow you and protect you. I was assigned by the Sanctum. I will explain more once we return to the Cave."
Batman glared at the boy. "I suppose you know everything?"
Alaric huffed, a strange aura falling over him. "Every detail."
Red Robin raised an eyebrow. "Are you planning on betraying us? Let us know beforehand so we can, y'know, brace for impact." He nonchalantly replied.
"I am connected to her. If I upset our emotional relation then I will have failed our mission."
"What mission?" Robin snapped.
"I am forbidden spare you the intricacies of it all, Robin."
"Is your name even Alaric?! " Switchblade shouted, having finished processing the whole situation. "Are you even 16? I thought you sucked at English!"
"Then I have played to my cover well. My true name is Lionel."
She ignored him and continued ranting. "Alright, then, NOT-Alaric, tell me what your mission's goal is. Why are you here?!"
Alaric looked them all dead in the eye.
"I am here because Gotham will burn."
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