Author's note: dear readers, we are in grave danger. A horde of anal-probing alien, invaders is closing in on us, and the only way to stop them is to donate power stones!
How that works exactly, nobody knows, so just do it!
...
I shrugged as I walked to the window and closed it, turning around to go to my bed and get some rest. However, I couldn't move, freezing in place as I turned my body and my eyes locked onto someone else's.
"Boo!" Two arms reached for my head, and before I could react a feeling of softness engulfed my head, causing me to blink slowly, my brain regaining its functions as I registered who these chest-pillows belonged to.
"What are you doing here, Harley?" I asked as I pushed the crazy blonde away, giving her a bemused expression and an annoyed glare, to which she snorted in laughter. (Author's note: sorry, not sorry. Couldn't resist XD)
"Can't a gal show up an' say hi to her buddy?" Harley matter-of-factly asked, crossing her arms in front of her chest. I didn't even bother to reply, merely giving her a blank stare that spoke of my disbelief.
"Ugh! Fine! Kitty might have kicked me out cause I emptied her stupid wine cabinet," Harley replied, shrugging her shoulders after enduring my unblinking stare for an entire minute.
"I need a place to crash, and since ya saved me twice, I figured you wouldn't mind," she added, her tone assured as she regarded with an expectant expression on her face.
"Also tried to kill you once, and I still have the motive to try again," I blankly replied, furrowing my eyebrows as I scowled. "What makes you think I won't slit your throat the second you fall asleep?" I asked, my tone still neutral as I gestured to the side.
"I know lots o' people who'd slit someone's throats in their sleep, and believe me, pal; yer not the type," Harley casually replied, taking my words with a grain of salt as she shook her head.
"How did you even know where I live?" I asked as I let out a tired sigh at her reasoning, breaking my monotone voice and rubbing my forehead in frustration at the situation.
"I asked Kitty and said I wouldn't leave unless she told me," the crazy blonde replied, dramatically spreading her arms apart as she gave me a smug grin that only made me feel more frustrated.
'For fuck's sake... I need to have a word with Selina about this...'
"Why come here anyway? Aren't you friends with Ivy or something? I know she escaped Arkham a while ago," I asked, feeling my eyes twitch in annoyance. "Better yet, what about that murder-happy boyfriend of yours?" I added, gesturing to the side.
"I'm over that bozo; ain't no man with a cheap suit and a cheaper grin gonna tell Harley what to do anymore!" She replied, resting her hands on her hips and looking offended at me, suggesting she'd take shelter with the Joker.
"An' Ivy... Ivy is cool, but I'm already sick an' tired of wiping my bum with leaves!" she concluded, firmly shaking her head and crossing her arms in front of her chest.
'Hm? So she's not with the Joker anymore? That's good.. I think? Whatever, it's none of my business,' I sighed, scratching my head as I debated whether the effort I'd have to spend kicking her out would be worth it or not.
"I don't have half the energy to deal with you right now," I said, letting out another sigh, much to the crazy blonde's satisfaction, as she sent me a smug, victorious grin.
"The bed is over there," I added, pointing towards my room while rubbing the back of my neck. "Get some sleep and leave in the morning. There won't be a second time," I remarked as I took out my laptop, put it on the desk, and resumed grinding my computer skill.
I might be tired, but not nearly enough to fall asleep while sharing a roof with Harley Quinn. Too much paranoia for that to happen.
"And don't disturb me while I work," I concluded without bothering to turn around as I heard the door to my room open as the crazy blonde made her way inside.
"Gotcha," Harley replied as she went inside the room, closing the door behind her, and I sighed at how un-assuring her tone was, but I ignored it and started working.
...
[+2 levels to the Computers skill]
[Computers (level 5)]
[+1 level to the Programmer class]
[Programmer (level 10)]
[+3 stat points]
I smiled as I tried running different math problems on my now-improved calculator app. I spent the last four hours improving the app since I only made it to solve simple math problems at first, but with how it is right now, it would make studying math completely useless.
Not to say that studying school math was practical to begin with since almost no one would use it in their everyday lives after they graduate, but you get the idea.
'Now I only need five more class levels to raise my archetype level to one...' I mused as I turned to my character screen.
Name: Grayson Whitlock
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Age: 17
Archetype: (The Mad Scientist level 0)
Class: [Thief (level MAX)] [Fighter (level MAX)] [Acrobat (Level MAX)] [Programmer Level 10]
...
Stats:
Body: 50
Mind: 50
Spirit: 50
Stat Points: 15
.....
Skills:
[Brawling (level 35)
[Crime (level 25)]
[Acrobatics (level 12)]
[Computers (level 5)]
....
Perks:
[Dormant Metahuman]
[Silent Step]
[Eidetic Kinesthesia]
[Superhuman Stamina]
[Perfect Recall]
[Accelerated Healing]
[Energy Detection]
[Energy Concentration]
...
Archetype powers:
[Network Crash]
...
The fight in the abandoned hospital had raised my Acrobatics skill by two levels, raising my class level by one, and then my computer skill increase gave me another, raising the Programmer calls to level ten.
I'd been curious to see if raising my archetype level (by increasing my class to level 15) would give me anything, like another power or something along those lines.
'I'll find out eventually, I guess...' I shrugged, dropping the subject, and frowned as I heard a thud coming from my room, where Harley was sleeping at the moment.
'What's that crazy chick doing now...?' my frown deepened as I heard another thud and stood up, heading toward the room to make sure the crazy blonde wasn't doing anything too wild in my room.
I arrived at the door and reached for the knob, freezing as I heard a muffled moan, followed by another.
'Is she...? Oh, hell no! I fucking sleep there, you blonde degenerate!' I felt my irritation rise as I opened the door and burst inside, only to freeze again at the sight of the crazy blonde, gagged and tied up on top of my air mattress.
Harley immediately turned to me, her eyes widening as she began screaming and gesturing by wildly flailing her head. I immediately understood what she meant and equipped my gear, channeling energy into my fist as I turned around and swung.
My fist stopped an inch away from the face of the man standing behind me, and I sighed at the sight of the dark costume and flowing black cape, feeling the urge to punch a hole in the wall and make a run for it.
He was tall, at least 6.2 feet tall, with broad shoulders and a muscular body that even his black kevlar-titanium alloy suit failed to hide as he towered over me, staring me down through the black cowl covering his face.
"Grayson Whitlock," the man blankly remarked, his voice gravelly and deep, unphased by my glowing fist an inch away from his face and my mortified expression as he stared directly into my eyes.
'Ah, shit... he knows...' I internally sighed as I lowered my hand. I didn't know what he knew, but he definitely knew something. He wouldn't be here, calling me by my name otherwise.
I turned to Harley and felt the urge to sigh again as I walked toward her. And the man didn't say anything or try to stop me for reasons unknown to me.
"Sorry, but you need to take a little nap, Harley," I remarked, sighing as I kneeled in front of the tied-up Harley, folding my index and middle finger together and joining them.
I frowned in concentration and buried the joints of my two fingers in the side of the crazy blonde's neck after taking a deep breath, standing up, and turning back to the caped man in my room after making sure she won't be getting up for a while.
I knew this day would come and prepared for it, creating an almost endless amount of arguments and rhetoric to get this man off my back if I even got on his radar, but I didn't expect Harley to be there when he came knocking.
Technically, the man didn't knock, but this is DC comics! They don't do that here...
"Do you have something to hide?" the man asked, still standing in his place. He didn't move a muscle, and his tone was natural. He didn't put any effort into it, but he looked both menacing and intimidating by merely standing there and doing nothing.
'Here goes nothing...'
I took a deep breath, calming myself as I prepared to face the worst obstacle I'd come across since coming to this world: convincing Batman not to kick my ass.
...
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