A game by another name (working title may change later)
Author: eclipse_krashenta© WebNovel
Chapter 1: Chapter One Awakening
You know, of all the people on this bus, I'm probably the only one here willingly. But I suppose Gotham City isn't a place you usually go to willingly. But When you're a homeless kid dodging child protective services, there aren't a lot of places to run to.
"All right, last stop, everybody off," said the bus driver, taking a bite of his sandwich. But I can use that to my advantage. Gang and supervillain violence makes for a great smokescreen to hide behind, plus abandoned buildings to crash in.
Awaken, Child of Truth
[Beginning system installation...10%...30%...40%...70%...
100%]
[Welcome To The Eclipse/Gaia System™]
[NAME: Zephyrim]
[RACE: ?????]
[LV: 0/5 (EXP: 0/10)]
[HP: 32] (HP Regen 5 per hour)
[MP: 46] (MP Regen 6 per min)
[STR: 9]
[DEX: 7]
[CON: 10]
[WIS: 13]
[INT: 10]
[LUK: 26]
[Stat Points: 0]
[Perk Points: 0]
What th—
[QUEST: Find Shelter For The Night]
[REWARD: 300 GP]
"Hey kid, time to get off," the bus driver said with a growl, towering over me until his eyes softened. "Not doing so hot, are ya, kid?" he said, lighting up a cigarette.
"What tipped you off, the ratty clothes?" I replied, half as a joke, half as a diversion. "Nah, you've got the look of a runaway, not a street rat."
"My boss called and said this was my last bus ride 'cause he's moving to another city," he said, leaning on the side of the chair. "Can't say I blame him. I've only been here three minutes and I already want to leave."
"Yeah, no kidding," he exclaimed with a laugh before taking a drag of his cigarette. "If he was just getting out of Gotham, it would be fine, but the bastard docked my pay," he said, stomping his cigarette into the floor of the bus. "I'm supposed to take the bus back to where we store them and leave it there, but if I happen to get my keys stolen and some kid starts using them to sleep in my old bunk, well, what am I supposed to do?" He said with a grin, dropping a set of keys on the seat next to me.
My eyes widened. "That would be unfortunate indeed," I said, stashing the keys in my bag and sporting a grin of my own. "Yes, it would. Be careful though, kid. Poison Ivy's greenhouse is just a couple miles east of there," he said, sitting back down.
————————
"Money, miss?" I pleaded to a group of girls walking by me. This was the fourth group I'd asked.
"Sorry, we don't have any on us," a girl with ginger hair apologized.
Awaken, Avatar of SOL
[Beginning system installation...10%...30%...40%...70%...
100%]
[Welcome To The Eclipse/Gaia System™]
[NAME: Feenx]
[RACE: ?????]
[LV: 0/5 (EXP: 0/10)]
[HP: 32] (HP Regen 4 per hour)
[MP: 38] (MP Regen 3 per min)
[STR: 8]
[DEX: 14]
[CON: 8]
[WIS: 7]
[INT: 12]
[LUK: 7]
[Stat Points: 0]
[Perk Points: 0]
What… what is— "Are you alright, miss?" asked one of the two black-haired girls. The other crouched down to my height and looked me in the eyes; hers looked like blue crystals. "Wait here, we'll be right back," she said, grabbing the other two and running off. Not long after, it started to rain, and I took cover in an alley.
[Quest: Survive]
[Objective: Survive until help arrives]
[1:34]
[REWARD: 600 GP]
Survive? Survive what? "Hey, little lady, how much?" a man said, stumbling down the alley. He had been drinking. "Come on, I'm asking how much for your time?" he asked again. What does he mean? Suddenly, the man started grinning. "You're not a hooker, are you?" Then he jumped on top of me, trying to take my jeans off.
"What are you doing?" I screamed at him, trying to push him off me. "All the hookers in this damn city work for a crime boss, but you don't, so I don't gotta pay squat or worry about getting killed," he said, giggling and grabbing my chest. Desperate, I bit his hand and tried to run, but he grabbed my leg and started dragging me back before getting on top of me again. "You stupid bitch! If you'd just let it happen, you would have at least enjoyed it," he said, rubbing against me. I could feel his breath against my neck, but I also heard running—someone running down the alley toward us. "What the—why do you have a tail?"
No… nononononononononono. "NOOO!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as the world went red. I closed my eyes tightly.
"Help her!" "By the Gods, that's hot!" "Mom, be careful!" The voices of the girls from before and someone else were all mixed together. The weight on top of me slowly lifted as I curled up.
[QUEST COMPLETE: Survive]
[REWARD: +600 GP]
[Enemy Slain: Paul +30 GP +50 EXP]
[LEVEL UP X1]
[LEVEL UP X1]
[LEVEL UP X1]
[LEVEL UP X1]
[LEVEL UP X1]
[You Have Reached MAX Level]
What… what happened? I thought to myself, slowly getting to my hands and knees and looking around. The alley was steaming from the rain being evaporated, cloaking everything in steam. The area around me was melted into slag, although both myself and my clothes were untouched. In front of me was where something had been turned to ash, and next to it was a still-burning hand. I reread the screen: "Enemy Slain." I killed that man.
The alley was eerily silent now, save for the persistent hiss of steam. My heart pounded in my chest as I struggled to make sense of what had just happened. I looked around, my eyes wide with disbelief, at the destruction left behind. What had been a grimy, decrepit alley was now scorched and distorted, the rain having transformed into vapor upon contact with the intense heat.
"Are you okay?" the girl with the blue crystal-like eyes, crouched beside me, her expression a mix of concern and shock. Her friends, the ginger-haired girl and the other black-haired girl, stood nearby, their faces pale and worried.
"I—I think so," I stammered, my voice trembling as I pulled myself up from the ground. I glanced at the still-burning hand lying a few feet away, a stark reminder of the violent encounter. "Did I really...?"
She nodded slowly, her face serious. "Yes, you did. But it's not your fault. You were in danger."
"That was incredible," the ginger-haired girl said, her voice tinged with awe and confusion. "I've never seen anything like that."
I shook my head, trying to clear the haze of fear and confusion that still clouded my mind. "I don't understand. How did that happen? I just wanted to survive."
She reached out, her hand gently resting on my shoulder. "We have some friends who can help you. You're safe now. We'll take you somewhere where you can get cleaned up and figure things out."
I looked at them, still trying to process the surreal turn of events. The pain and terror were starting to give way to a strange mix of relief and disbelief. "Okay... okay," I said, finally nodding. "Let's go."
The girls helped me to my feet, guiding me out of the alley. As we walked, I glanced back at the scene of the destruction, my mind racing with questions. What was happening to me? And why did it feel like my entire world had just shifted in the span of a few moments?
The crystal eyed girl, who had intervened with such force, looked back at me with a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, we'll figure it out together. You're not alone in this."
As we approached a waiting car, I glanced at the car's interior—a stark contrast to the chaos outside. It was clean and well-kept, a small island of calm in the midst of the storm. As the vehicle drove off, I looked out the window, the rain still falling softly against the glass. For the first time since arriving in Gotham, I felt a flicker of hope.
We had a long road ahead, filled with questions and uncertainties, but for now, I had a chance to catch my breath and make sense of the new reality I was forced to confront.
—————————
After that we drove for a while I don't know how long once we parked we went down a deserted ally and into a rundown photo booth "Head inside we'll be right behind you" Wonder Woman said a reassuring smile on her face I hesitate for a moment before doing as she said she's been nice so far siting down inside the booth I wait for something to happen " override Wonder girl B04" she spoke the booth lights up and I'm somewhere else.
—————
Breathe in, breathe out, focus on the here and now. I repeat this mantra in my head while continuing to breathe deeply. Okay, what are my options? The original owner of this bus skipped town, and the driver left me the keys. He mentioned a place where the buses were stored and gave me keys to both the bus and the garage. One problem: I can't drive. So how am I going to get this thing there without drawing attention? Come on, Zephy, think. You've been in tougher situations than this.
As I think, a sticker on the back of the driver's seat catches my attention. Looking closer, it's an advertisement for a tow truck service, specifically a warranty for this bus—one that isn't expired yet. "Perfect," I say to myself, a grin taking over my face. It's time to break the bus.
Grabbing the keys from my previous seat, I open the bus door and wander around, giving it a once-over, looking for something I can break that wouldn't be too obvious. The bus is old and rusty, clearly not well taken care of, which works to my advantage. Reaching the front of the bus, I pop the hood.
I wasn't a mechanic, but in Metropolis, I used to sleep in an alley across from a car depot. I learned a thing or two by watching them and sneaking in to steal car parts to sell—usually back to them. Suckers. Of course, they eventually found out, and I had to leave Metropolis, but that's in the past.
Checking around the engine, I find a few loose wires and pull them. I also remove the spark plug, but I don't do anything more than that. I don't want to make it obvious that this was sabotage rather than wear and tear. After double-checking that I haven't left any loose wires or obvious signs that this was my doing, I go over to a payphone nearby. Thankfully, Gotham's payphones have recently been made free for everyone—thank you, Bruce Wayne.
Dialing the number for the tow company, I wait for the line to connect, willing myself to calm down and trying to make my voice as deep and gruff as possible. "Hello, this is Arctic Tow Truck Service. How may I help you?" says a feminine voice on the other end of the line.
"Yeah, this is Hank from Gotham Coach. One of the buses is broken down, and the warranty on it says that you'll tow it where needed," I say, trying to emulate the bus driver's gruff voice.
"Ah, I see. If you can give me the warranty number, I'll send a tow truck right to you," the girl responds. I can practically hear the fake smile in her voice—the same kind of smile someone gives you when they're lying.
"Look, lady, you sound like you've been in Gotham for a while, so you probably know how this works. Whatever's on the bus, the big guy don't want it found. The pickup is at the garage. Now, you can either send the tow truck, or I can talk to the big guy and tell him who delayed the delivery... your choice." It was a bluff, but she didn't need to know that. I've been in a lot of cities, and the gangs in each one, despite being in different cities, had a similar structure.
The big gangs let the smaller gangs have some territory in return for doing jobs for the bigger gang. What those jobs are depends. The imaginary "cargo" I just told her about could be anything—drugs, weapons, in the worst cases, people. But the bottom line is, someone wanted this to go somewhere. That's how it worked in other cities. It's probably ten times worse in Gotham.
The line went silent except for the sound of her breathing, a little quicker than before. "Someone will be there soon," she said, hanging up quickly. Guess I scared her. Time to get into position. I rush back to the bus, get inside, close the door, and begin scanning it for a place to hide. 'Under the seats? No, too obvious. The driving seat has a bigger-than-normal space for the pedals, but whoever's coming would have a direct line of sight from the door.'
I look up and see a luggage compartment. Perfect. I grin to myself, grabbing a sticky note and pen from my bag and quickly scribbling a message:
"Saw Batman. Get the bus to the garage now!!!"
That should work. Opening the bus door again, I stick the note on the front of the bus and race back inside, closing and locking the doors behind me again and climbing into the overhead luggage compartment to wait.
——————
It's not long before I hear a truck pull up. I adjust myself to look through one of the holes worn in the compartment. I see a guy, maybe late 30s, with a big beard, get out of the tow truck and look around, probably searching for me or, well, "Hank." After looking around for a bit, he starts checking the truck, using a flashlight to inspect inside—though he's not going to find much. Eventually, he reaches the front and sees my note.
After reading it, he visibly freaks out and rushes to connect the tow cable to the front of the bus, just as planned. My grin fades as I see blue and red lights in the distance. Of all nights, there just had to be a police patrol car here. The car stops, and the officer steps out. "What's going on here?" he asks, leaning on the side of the tow truck like he owns it.
"Just towing this bus to its garage," the truck driver answers, clearly nervous.
"Oh yeah? Well, I hope you won't mind if I check it," the policeman says, walking up to the bus's door and trying to open it. Good thing I locked it—or at least I thought so—until he kicked the door in and began searching the bus. "What's this? Someone left behind their bag. Well, it'd be a shame to leave it here," he says, picking up my bag and rifling through it. It didn't matter what city I went to, the police were the same everywhere—always entitled, just criminals with a different name.
I think to myself, losing my bag isn't good; being discovered is worse. I force myself to stay quiet and not move.
The policeman exits the bus, not bothering to close the door, and goes back to the truck driver. "Alright, you know the rules—no business in my part of the city without paying." Ah, I see how it is now. Calling this one a criminal was more accurate than I thought. He's an insider for a gang or just a corrupt cop. Either way, he's abusing the influence he's been given—truly a criminal, a government-sanctioned criminal.
The truck driver tries to argue, but the policeman unclips the holster for his gun. He doesn't draw it yet, but that's enough to make the truck driver finally give in and pay the man. It makes me feel bad for this guy—suckered into giving me a free ride, scared out of his mind that Batman's going to beat him up, and now shaken down by a corrupt cop. What a night.
As we arrive at the garage, he unhooks the tow cable and drives off. I don't blame him. After the night he's had, I'd want to go home too. But just to be on the safe side, I wait an extra five minutes before climbing out of the luggage compartment. I nearly fall over; I was laying on my leg the entire ride. As I support myself on one of the seats, some of the things in my bag catch my eye. Looks like the policeman didn't take all of it. My luck strikes again.
Stepping off the bus into Gotham proper is a terrible feeling, like the city has eyes watching me. Buildings tower in the distance. I can almost make out Wayne Tower if the moon wasn't so bright tonight. Tearing my eyes away from the scenery to unlock the garage door, once inside, I contemplate exploring but I'm tired. I'll explore until I find a place to sleep.
After about 15 minutes of searching, I find what looks like an old office. Only this one is furnished—there's a desk, a computer, and a bed. Nothing fancy, nothing to write home about, but I don't think I've slept in a bed in years. Closing the office door behind me, I collapse on the bed and fall asleep almost instantly.
— New chapter is coming soon — Write a review