Chapter 44: Back to Crown Park
It took a solid 3 days of lounging around before I felt like my old self. "Remind me to not overdraft myself like that again Morph!" I tell him.
It may be my imagination, but he seems to be slightly bigger in recent days. Ill have to pay closer attention.
Bored with staying in the scrap yard I decided to take the motorcycle I had been repairing and drove to the park to keep my promise to April about checking for messages in the tallest tree of Crowne Park. I think Morph got a kick out of the rumbling of the bike as he hummed in my ear constantly with a little giggle when we hit a bump.
When I got to the park, I parked my bike and walked to the largest tree I could see. Ironically it was the very tree that the bats would come out of at night and that I had crawled out from between its roots. First walking to the spot I had dug out in my efforts to leave the cavern to see if the tree's roots were still bare. If they were I would have to take care of that. Luckily someone had done that already.
Not feeling like making a change right now, I decided to just climb the tree naturally. Removing my extra density, I climbed the tree placing my weight where the tree could best bare it. I would like to say that once I reached the top, I could see past all the darkness of Gotham, but this tree just wasn't tall enough for that.
After taking in the view for a while I started back down after not seeing any notes left for me, until I started down that is. About a quarter of my way down I came across a vine that had a note tied to it. I couldn't believe I missed it, but I chalked it to me looking up the whole time and not looking around at every level.
I found it to be a good reminder that I shouldn't look at only the big things in my life but also spend time admiring the simple things around me.
In the note was written a number and under it was a cryptic message that read [Message me my name and yours, this is no fool's joke! Once I get it, I will reply when I'm ready.}
Wow, that doesn't sound like April's writing at all. Hope this Pam isn't as high maintenance as she seems. Hmm, the vine seems to have grown through the message so if I want to keep the message whole, I will have to cut the vine. I decided against that and just tore the note, not like I can't remember a simple phone number. Well, unless it's my own, not like I call myself.
I continue down the rest of the way and once I get to the ground, I brush my clothes off and finish by rubbing my hands together. As I head toward my bike, I see 3 teens surrounding it with their backs towards me.
Teen, "I'm telling you that if I can get beneath this cover, we will see the wires and we can hotwire it, this thing is just using weird bolts. It won't turn."
Looking over their shoulders I say, "Well it is righty tighty and lefty loosey. You are turning the bolt the wrong direction."
Without looking back at the voice, the teen says, "What, are you a mechanic? If you know so much, why aren't you doing it instead of me?"
"Well not officially but I'm learning a lot. I got this thing running anyway." I say.
The teen turns quickly and sees who is talking. He thought it was one of the guys he was with, but they were so busy watching him that they let this guy get so close with no warning. "How could you guys let him get so close? Get him I bet he has the keys on him."
Other Teen, "You heard him twirp, give me the keys and get lost!"
"Nope, that is my hard work right there, I'm not done with it yet either." I glibly say.
Seeing I'm not afraid of him he decided to get closer to intimidate me and all that got him as a sharp pain from his foot. Looking down he saw my foot on top of his. Before the full gravity of the pain in his foot hit him. Crying out he reached down to comfort his painful extremity.
Stepping past him I push the one closest my bike away and tell the two still standing, "Take your friend and beat feet. I have no interest in punks looking for an easy buck. Your parents could probably not afford the medical bills, so I would be hurting them more than you."
Starting my bike, I just drive away and forget the idiots. I think it's time to buy a phone.
Going east on the main road that leads to Powers bridge I notice a cellular phone shop and stop in. I haven't yet turned any of the treasure into money but the little I got from J'onn is enough for my needs with plenty to spare. Once the attendant got my phone running, I called Earls and told Arnie to get an order for Big Belly Burgers from the guys there, my treat. Having seen the chain just before I noticed the phone store, I headed over to the parking lot and waited for Arnie to give me the guy's orders.
Once it came, I went inside to place the order to go. No drink because I wouldn't be able to carry them on my bike anyway. Imagine my surprise to see a familiar figure behind the counter, "Hello Hana, I would like to place an order to go please."
Yup, the person who wanted to sell me for food was now selling me food instead. I saw on her nametag it read Trainee next to her name.
"You look familiar Hana, didn't you used to sing over by Brentwood Academy? I don't see many people near there lately, did all the street musician's find another spot?" I ask as I wait for my order.
At the mention of the school, I see panic in her eyes. And she says, "I don't go there no more, anyone that does is doomed. I'm trying to make a better life for myself the right way." she said it with dedication in her voice I was glad to hear. Smiling my thanks to her I headed back to the scrap yard to await the night.
That night I went to the roof to see if Robin would stop by, I made sure Arnie knew because I halfway figured he was the one watching me for Devilbat. After about 2 hours I saw Robin swinging my way in the distance.
"Where have you been Logan? Things have started to get crazy around here, well crazier than normal that is." Robin.
Logan, "I went to Boston for a couple days to work on an issue you and I have. Ended up battling an underwater race bent on devouring its way through the ocean."
Robin, "What issue are you talking about?"
I explained about the treasure I had found and the League rules about sharing. Not like he didn't see me pull it out of my Niffler pouch anyway.
Robin, "The mission hadn't included me when you gathered it, so I don't need any of it. I'm set anyway."
Logan, "Surly you don't want to be beholden to Devilbat your whole life, take it and set up some stuff for yourself. Maybe a simple programing company you can spend some off time working on."
"Overall, we have about 1,700 coins each, valued at 350,000$ per coin (Auction starting point) and several gold cups and Crosses along with some random jewelry. The broker Aquaman directed me to recommend auctioning the cups, jewels and crosses but only selling the coins at a slow pace to get maximum value out of them. Of course, you can always ask your mentor his opinion, maybe he has access to markets I just don't have." Logan.
Robin, "It would be nice to have some level independence on him. If you insist then I will split the treasure but only if it's a 30/70 split in your favor. I don't want to be beholden to you just like I am to Devilbat. That aside, I got the go ahead for this." Robin takes his mask off and reveals the face I knew to be Richard Grayson. If you are serious about training with me then there is a training room under the Knightsdome arena not far from where we took down the drug dealers our first night working together.
"Can we get it equipped with one of the weight machines from the watchtower? My muscle density seems to be increasing at a much more rapid pace than J'onn and I first assumed. I feel like I could do 500-pound bench presses for an hour. I'm guessing my limit is around 800." Logan said
Robin said, "If you learn my quick style of martial arts with that kind of strength you would be a monster."
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