Grunting in pain, I grab the metal tweezers and twist to reach my shoulder. Alrighty, here goes. Bracing myself, I plunge the tweezers into the bullet wound and dig around, gritting my teeth. Finally the tweezers catch on something and I pull out a small piece of red-stained metal. I glare at it, then drop it into a petri dish. Grabbing a few bandages, I wrap up my shoulder and let out a breath. That's much better, damn. Flipping some hair out of my face with my right hand, I walk into the kitchen and open the fridge, pulling out a bottle of chocolate milk. I love chocolate milk. I start to unscrew the cap, then am interrupted by a small creak from the entrance of my hideout.
Raising an eyebrow, I slide a knife out from the knife block and creep forwards, making my way towards the small noise. I press against a wall, then peer around it to look for an intruder. Someone is kneeling down, Placing a few fingers on the drops of blood I left on the carpet. They're wearing a black cloak with red designs, and their hood is up. Long black hair hangs out from underneath the hood, fading to red at the ends. The bit of skin I can see on their fingers is patterned with red swirls . The person straightens up and looks around, and a spark of recognition flares in me. The red eyes, the black face mask...... She's the one I bumped into on the street! What's she doing here?!
The girl turns to look in my direction and I whip my head back, gripping the knife a bit tighter. Heavy footsteps, presumably her boots, begin making their way towards me. I narrow my eyes. A black shape rounds the corner and turns.
I dive at her like a football player, then pin her down with my knees and put the blade of my knife to her neck. Immediately her eyes widen. She bunches her knees, then pushes up, launching me away from her. My knife skids across the floor and I snarl, getting into a fighting position on all fours, my ears flat back against my head. I'd rather not shift, but if it comes to it, I won't hesitate. I guess my hat flew somewhere off as well. The girl whips out a jagged dagger, then stops and stares at me. Or, more particularly, my ears. I wrinkle my nose and growl more, a blush growing on my face. Godammit, this is why I keep the hat on. It's never really been a problem before, I've always instinctively kept it on by pressing my ears to the inside of the hat and, effectively, keeping it in place.
Well, while she's preoccupied, I suppose. I lunge towards my knife, grabbing it and sliding across the floor on my stomach. Then I stand up and brandish it. The girl lowers her dagger a bit and pulls down her face mask. "Hey, I don't want to hurt you." I grin, but don't lower my guard. "Well that's fantastic, because I don't want to get hurt." I already got shot today. Can the world give me a break? I mean damn!
Slowly, The girl bends down and sets her weapon on the ground, then straightens up again. My lord, she is tall. The girl lowers her hood, and I notice the same red swirl design on the left half of her face. I feel my ears straighten a bit, my guard lowering. The girl holds her hands out in a surrendering gesture. I narrow my eyes. "Alrighty then. Who exactly are you? Why are you here?" The girl takes a step forwards, and I growl a warning. She stops. "My name is Abbylon Firefeather. I came here to propose a partnership." Raising an eyebrow, I tilt my head. "I'm listening." Abbylon steps closer. "Well, I saw you back there, at the bank. You're a rather good burglar. In addition to that, you haven't been caught. Just tonight, you escaped capture by Batman." I snort. "I hardly think I was his top priority tonight." Abbylon shakes her head and lowers her hands.
"In any case, you haven't been caught, which means you're stealthy to some extent. I'd like your assistance in killing the Batman." I blink. Well, that was unexpected. I thought she was going to enlist me in some robbery or something. Huh. Well. I lower the knife and shrug. "Well, I dunno man." Abbylon takes a step forwards. "C'mon, please? I can't kill him alone, no-one can! He's taken down entire gangs in one night. With your help, we could do it! We'd be heroes!" I grin a bit and set te knife down, then walk over to the unopened chocolate milk on the counter. "Well, there's one problem with that, Abby. You see, I'm a criminal, not a hero." Abbylon's jaw drops. "W-what? Well, then, that should make you want to get rid of him, right? I mean, isn't he just a hindrance to being a criminal? Wouldn't it be easier to get away with things without him swooping around?"
I pop open the cap. "Well, yeah, I suppose it would. But it also wouldn't be as fun. Getting caught is part of the appeal! Every criminal with a calling card wants their work to be acknowledged. I'm no different. It gives me a thrill, knowing that I escaped capture again. That every time they upgrade, I can do better. That I'm pretty much the only criminal to date that's never been caught by a giant flying rodent wearing spandex and kevlar." I shrug. "I dunno. Without the challenge, why do crime at all? Villains need Heroes just as much as Heroes need Villains. If you get everything you've ever wanted without a fight, then what's the point? It's not crime anymore. It's just straight up being greedy." I take a sip of my chocolate milk and smile at Abbylon. "At least, that's my opinion. So, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to decline your offer."
Abbylon deflates. "Oh." I sigh and walk over to her, patting her back. "I'm sorry I can't help. I wish you luck, though." Bending down, Abbylon picks up her dagger and hides it in the folds of her cloak, then straightens up. "I'm sorry for wasting your time. I'll leave right away." I giggle. "Aw, come on! Stay awhile! Just because I can't help you doesn't mean we can't be friends!" Abbylon looks back, confused. "What?" I grin and spread my arms in a welcoming gesture. "What's mine is yours, Abby. I wouldn't even mind it if you stayed here! It gets a bit lonely sometimes. I've got too much space. It'd be nice to share." Abbylon turns around and giggles a bit. I raise an eyebrow. "What?" She waves her hand. "Oh, it's nothing. You're just not what I expected from the mysterious 'White Wolf'." I shrug my shoulders and laugh. "Well, don't believe everything you hear on the news. Those people are jackasses."
Abbylon grins. "Well..... I mean, I don't really have anywhere else to go. So I guess.... If you'd be willing to come with me to grab my stuff, I'd love to stay with you." I clap, then wince at my shoulder. "Fantastic! Let's go, then!" Abbylon's eyes widen. "Right now? But it's pouring rain!" I grin and skip over to my umbrella stand, grabbing two and handing one to her. "All the more reason to get your stuff right away!"
Abbylon and I walk back to my hideout. She's holding a small container that holds a few personal items. I don't really know what they are, but I won't pry. Her business is her business. I know the way to my hideout by heart, but I set a path just in case someone wanted to find me. Small wolves hide on the graffiti-ed walls around my hideout, noses pointing in the direction of my 'lair'. The wall that conceals my hideout features a painting of a forward-facing wolf. All you have to do is push the nose in and the door opens in front of you. It took a lot of money and some help from the Riddler to get this door, and I'm very proud of it. Reaching up, I press in the nose of the wolf and step inside. All the lights are off. I look around and try to flick a light on, hearing Abby step inside behind me. "Huh. That's weird." I mutter to myself and take a few steps inside. Abby lets out a muffled yell behind me, and I hear something hit the floor. I turn to see her container on it's side. It's lid has stayed on, but the objects inside are all skewed. Also, Abby's disappeared.
I take out two throwing knives and turn in a circle, my ears flat against my head underneath my hat. "Who's there? Abby? Where are you?" A small whooshing sounds behind me and I whip around. "Abby?" I creep forwards a bit, legs slightly bent. A draft of air passes by me, and I jump a bit. Heart pounding, I turn in a slow circle. What the hell is going on? I turn to face down the hall. A slam sounds behind me and I jump, my heart beating so fast I think it'll burst. "What the f-" Someone grabs me from behind, covering my mouth and pinning my hands behind my back. "Better not finish that word, Wolfie. And for the record.... I don't appreciate being called a rodent."
I swear to god this is the best day of my life.
