Disclaimer: I do not own Jackie Chan Adventures, Batman, or Teen Titans.

Betaed by: The excellent Zim'smostloyaservant

A Shadow of the Titans

Created by

Nocturne No Kitsune

Written by

Eduard Kassel

Chapter 15

Spreading Wings

Or

That Glamorous Post Dropout Lifestyle

"Jade."

A voice called from the darkness she hadn't noticed was around her. When had the lights gone off?

"Sorry, but you have rested long enough. You need to wake up. NOW," The Queen commanded, her eyes shining though the ether.

Jade's eyes snapped open and squinted shut. The room was pleasantly lit by candles, she noticed. It smelled like a magic workshop. The familiar scent of spices, herbs, mixed chemicals and a certain invigorating muskiness. Throwing the thin blanket off, Jade stood up and saw she wasn't wearing her uniform, but a simple white kimono-style robe with oddly short sleeves.

And what was with her skin?

Holding her arms up, she examined them, feeling a bit less shocked than she probably should. From the knuckles up, the blue skin of her arms was obscured by a simple but intricate tattoo design of overlapping feathers of black and shades of blue. Rotating her arms and looking closer, she saw the feathers were not quite uniform, with different length but the same shape. The design went on, up under the sleeves of her outfit. Even the underside of the arms had the pattern, as if feathers had been pressed and wrapped around them.

Frowning, Jade ran her hands over the opposing arms. Smooth, very smooth, like her arms had been waxed, with not a hair left on them.

'Jackie would freak to see me inked up like a gangster,' Jade thought. That made her laugh, that with the species change and supervillainy, she was having a minor freakout on tattoos.

"Blaghreg!" Jade coughed in place of the intended laugh.

That… was not right, Jade realized. She put a finger to her lips, which felt a bit swollen. Tracing to the right, her finger passed over her lips and ran over a row of sharp teeth. The sucked in breath she felt over so many teeth. Moving her finger back further to her molars, she opened her mouth and touched her finger with the edge of her tongue.

…

"SKREE!" Jade shrieked, jumping to her feet on the bed. Talons digging into the mattress tore up audibly, making her eyes dart down to the bird feet and scaled legs attached to her. Panic rising made her arms tingle.

Tingle, hot tingle. Hot hot, Jade thought, thoughts racing as her arms seemed to tremble in place. Jumping down from the bed, her feet hit the floor as feathers burst from her skin in a surge of shadow, sweeping out and consuming her hands and tearing through her sleeves and shoulders crossing her upper back to meet behind her neck.

Jade stared dumbly at the feathers standing tense and edges gleaming menacingly. Slowly, she raised her right wing to her face. She tried to wiggle her fingers. But while the fingers were itching, they seemed absent; the long feathers tipping her wing seemed to twitch some. But no feathery hands, it seemed.

Numbly, Jade ran the feathers over her teeth with a swipe, sending some sparks flying.

"Uh. Huh," Jade said. Darkness crept in from the edge of her vision, and Jade fell to the floor face first, scraping the linoleum with sharp feathers and talons as she sprawled. A few seconds after losing consciousness, shadows poured out of her like water, and the feathers coiled and folded on themselves, settling back into place and forming humanoid arms, down to fingers complete with near-gleaming pointed nails.

X X X

"Seems our little bird is quite new to this flying, as we thought. Fascinating. Set a tray in there, and another change of clothes. Add it to her bill," Penguin said, leaning on one arm as he watched the footage play out on a screen in his office.

When he was alone, the staff members having left, he typed in a new sequence on the keyboard, making a screen switch to a simple blue "Dr".

"The girl woke up. She seems to not be psychotic, but she has yet to even see her reflection," Penguin stated.

"Well, do what you can to get her back on her feet, Mr. Cobblepot. She's no good to the institution as some broken bird. New powers are nice and all, but her sanity and what not are vital to what we want to achieve here."

"Tut tut. You mean what 'you' want to achieve. You have commissioned me to see to her in this matter, but we have both reserved the right to terminate this contract if we feel the matter is becoming more trouble than its worth. And to be frank, dear Doctor, you require this endeavor's success far more than I do."

"Understood, but don't think you can take this lightly. I may not intimidate you, but I am also here on behalf of scary people we both know even you are not eager to cross. All we ask is that you sincerely do your part."

"Of course! I pride myself on quality of service. Which reminds me. For the time being, need we invest in the 'Zhu Chan' brand specifically?" Penguin asked.

X X X

There was a sandwich and a pitcher of water and cup next to Jade when she woke up, and a note from Penguin explaining she was in his care.

The food made things seem to settle down in her head as well as stomach. Sitting on the floor, Jade took stock of the situation. She could sense magic at work, no doubt to keep her in check in this room. But she couldn't fault Penguin for that. He hadn't survived and thrived by taking stupid chances, especially with a villain he barely knew. At the very least, the fact she wasn't strapped down or some seal applied to her indicated she wasn't a prisoner. Or at least no more than she had been at the HIVE.

The Joker… her thoughts veered away from that with a shake of her head. She'd tried to kill him.

'Well, why not?' she admitted to herself. Shendu had not survived her blowing him up by any intention on her part. He was a monster and had just tried to kill billions and was declaring his intent to do it again even when helpless. And she had realized in that moment that he could just outlast Jackie, her, and everyone else. Like he said, even if it took centuries, he could try again. So she had decided to end it, end him. Uncle made a point later on how if it was that easy, someone else would have done it (in addition to the "stronger evil" dealie-o), while Jackie had made more of an ethical argument, but that was a time she had not really cared to listen.

Yes. She had really been okay with killing, hadn't she? Weren't there lines that, once crossed, opened that option? Right? Or at the very least, if someone has no regrets. Or if they are too dangerous too be held reliably?

Maybe Batman had wanted to stop her from crossing a line, but even so. She was not happy Joker was still alive, still out there. But maybe it was better she had not been the some to kill him? So what, hope someone else did it?

Ugh, she needed a distraction, her head was starting to ache. So with no urgency, she took stock of herself. Her legs to start with.

To be blunt, she had bird feet. Not fully at least, not like any bird she knew, but a hybrid maybe? Four "toes", at least three times as long as human ones, five if you counted the "heel toe". All ending in a short but sharp talon. It seemed she could control the sharpness by thinking, somehow. Running them along the floor, she could leave no mark by not wanting to cut, or wanting to cut it left lines.

Twisting her leg for a better look as she sat, Jade jerked in surprise when she bent easily.

"Okaaay," Jade muttered, as she found herself patting her shoulder with her scale-covered foot.

She could see now that the scales ran up her shin but tapered out just before reached her knee. The scaled parts seemed scrawnier than she recalled under the black scales, but remained sensitive to the touch, and her body above that seemed normal.

Making a fist with her foot, she released the toes one by one, flexing them.

'My heel is a thumb? Sure, why not?' Jade groaned internally. She was probably being monitored, so it was best not to reveal how much she was in the dark here. Putting her handy-dandy bird feet back down, Jade ran a hand through her hair. Or tried to.

'What?' Jade thought at the stiff resistance.

Spotting a mirror in the corner of the room above a sink, Jade walked over to it.

She narrowed her eyes at the sight. Her horns had grown. They were nearly as long as her hand curving out a bit and then up; not in the way, but not exactly easy to conceal. They were at least a lovely dark gray color that put her in mind of stone. Smooth to the touch-

'Okay, enough touching,' she thought, pulling her fingers from the protruding bone. Blushing a bit, she turned her attention to her hair.

Her spiky hair was standing up, like it had been sprayed or jelled or something. Poking it with her fingertips showed it was still hair, kind of soft even. But grabbing one of the spikes, it was resistant to coming down, even as it submitted. Having it back in place, she let go, and watched it slowly but surely right itself.

'If that doesn't get better, I will need to cut it shorter,' Jade decided. But what the heck, even her hairdo was getting messed wth. Not as bad as being bald, but still.

And trying to focus on her hair meant she was able to ignore the fact she was pressing a piece of cloth over her mouth to avoid seeing that. One thing at a time, she told herself, turning from the mirror. For now, the hair. Maybe if she pressed it down with the Rooster.

Reflexively, she stroked her navel to confirm she had the talisman. She didn't feel it.

"Cro crick!" she slipped, pulling open the robe to see her stomach. Looking down, she was stunned to find another tattoo. A familiar one, done in red against her blue skin. A rooster, wings spread in what she could only call a glorious pose. The same kind of style as the image on the talisman, if far more dynamic an image, no talisman in sight.

Jade's eye flicked up, and she locked onto a candle burning nearby. It quickly floated into her hand.

'So, I do still have it? I don't feel it in my body, though. Or is that it? Did I assimilate it or something? Like Shendu did back in the day? Well, that's a good thing, right? I never wrote down the talisman removal potion here, so that means even if that could work, no one will be able to take it from me. Hey, that may mean even Jackie couldn't make me give up cool telekinetic powers,' Jade thought, smiling for the first time since waking up. Or rather, trying to smile. It didn't… feel right.

'…Okay Jade, no more putting it off.'

Slowly, practically forcing herself to do so, Jade lowered the cloth away from her face. Allowing her to face the horror directly.

Oddly enough, the front of her lips were still there, albeit swollen and surrounded by scar tissue. But the rest… it was simply gone. From the edge of that front patch all the way back to her ears, the skin had been removed, her sharp teeth and gums fully on display and ringed by the black scars running along the new edges of her skin. It was a macabre mockery of a clown's smile, a grin permanently etched into her flesh, and for just a moment Jade didn't see herself — she saw the Joker, leering over her and laughing as he took in his work.

'Did you learn the lesson?' she could swear was being whispered at her by the reflection.

With another screech, Jade slammed a fist into the mirror, shattering it. As the glass shards fell, so did she, collapsing to her knees and covering her face with both hands, trying very hard not to sob in outrage. It was several minutes before she could pull herself back together enough to get back to her feet.

With the Rooster helping her stay on her feet, she made her way back to the bed and flopped down on her back. Glancing to something in her periphery, she noticed a change of clothes had been left. Presumably when the food and water had arrived.

Jade frowned (well, at least she thought she was frowning) at that.

She had drunk most of a pitcher of water and eaten a sandwich. And sitting up to look to where the plate and cup still rested on the floor, saw no abundance of crumbs of half-chewed food or dribbles of water around. How had a bunch of stuff not fallen out of her mangled mouth?

The spark of interest sputtered a bit, though, as the image of the leering Joker loomed. Slumping back on the bed, Jade groaned at the general state of everything. With morbid curiosity, she opened her mouth as wide as she could and slid her wrist in between her molars, rotating it then to part the pointy teeth even more. With a grunt, she pulled her arm out of the teeth and after a few seconds of struggling, grabbed her lower jaw letting it click back into place, still far from what humans should have.

CLACK

She slammed her teeth together, the sound jarring her more than any pain. Huh, didn't hurt a bit, she noted. She could eat metal easily, maybe she could gnaw her way into enemy strongholds now. A winged mole of shadows, beware her jaws of villainy!

'Okay, this is going weird places,' Jade thought, scrunching her eyes closed.

Fine, she had never been good at contemplating her navel. She coped with feeling bad by trying to do something about it. There… there was no fixing her face. That would have to be an Uncle thing, because any villain that might be good for it, she wouldn't trust . And as for her, well, she couldn't even regrow her eyebrows. Yes, fixing this would have to go in the "When I get home" box.

Huh, between no eyebrows, the tall hair style, her lovely long horns, ruined mouth, blue skin and red eyes, her face really didn't have much resemblance to where she started, Jade noted.

…

'Don't fall into that, Jade. This is not a safe place to breakdown. One foot in front of another. Starters, we have a little mystery, see what you can do about that.'

Getting up off the bed, she walked over and poured the last of the water into the cup, then went over to the mirror shards. Looking them over, she decided on a large, reasonably wide piece and reached out her free hand to lift it before her with the Rooster power. Rotating it to show the lower half of her face, she winced at the sight, and proceeded to take a drink. The water dribbled out of the sides of her mouth, over her teeth.

There was still some left, and Jade refrained from the urge to throw the cup and glass into the wall. Raging out wouldn't help. Really, it would not even make her feel better for long.

Something was different. Because she was watching?

Hmm, maybe that was it. When she had grown to "size awkward", she'd been tripping over her feet and teleporting across the planet. But she was standing on these new bird feet pretty well, all things considered. Maybe unlike that hack, this transformation came with some proper built-in instructions. But it was like muscle memory? She needed to do rather than think about doing?

Well, it made as much sense as anything these days. Closing her eyes and trying her best to clear her mind and just experience sensation, Jade took a long sip. And felt a strange warm tingling through her face. It was small, not even quite uncomfortable, but yes, she could feel it. A bit like lifting a weight with stress and burn, but not buckling under it.

Her eyes opened calmly as she tried swigging the last of the water in her "cheeks". Patches of glistening oily black covered her ravaged features for a second, only to burst into vapors as Jade watched, making her sort of spit the water out the sides of her mouth.

"Mel ruc," Jade muttered.

Two Days Later:

The last two days had been focused on recovery. The creepy mage had come in twice to look her over, and so had a nurse. Turned out she had been passed out for a week. According to them, her body had been in bad shape; aside from the wounds mystical and physical, she had been tapped out, like she had overdrawn to near lethal degrees on magic and quite malnourished.

Even so, she refused anything but food and water. She wasn't taking any potions from them or letting them examine her. The quickness they backed down with kept any of the budding panic from blooming.

Yeah, anyway, it seemed Queenie had made a good point. The transformation being rushed like that might have killed her if she had not fallen into the hands of someone able and willing to care for her. Though, "care" might be the wrong word, though.

The plus was that her body seemed to have soaked up the good stuff like a sponge. She may have lost some muscle mass, but she would be able to build that back up along with any mystic stamina lost.

Aside from that, she had checked with some basic spells to see if her magic was in order. The answer seemed to be yes, but she was disappointed her magic didn't seem stronger as a Higher Shadowkhan. If all she got out of this was bird powers, she'd call shenanigans if she ever saw big red and ugly ever again.

The wings were pretty badass at least, though, even if the tattoos were still too much for her. Yet again, her body altered without her desire, ugh.

The good news was she didn't need to worry about shredding every shirt or cloak she wore. While the feathers seemed all or nothing in being formed, turning her arms intro wings and feathers covering the top of her shoulders and the top of her back, the sharpness was optional. The feathers at rest were basically just soft but durable feathers. She was sure getting hit with them wouldn't be nice, but you might stuff a pillow with them if they didn't poof once leaving her body. Which hurt, yeah, no plucking.

But she could harden them. Or sharpen them to cut as if she had hundreds of blades attached to her arms. And it could be all the feathers, both on either wing, or just her torso feathers. So she wouldn't rip her clothes, save the sleeves, apart unless she chose to. Hmm, she could only see that as desirable if she needed hasty armor there.

But hey, no need to radically rethink her wardrobe. Besides the face situation, of course.

Yeah, her shadow cheeks. Aside from being creepy in their own right, they were like tensing a muscle and spinning a plate on it. It seemed reflexive to help her eat, and now she could talk briefly with it. But getting a proper face back wasn't going to happen anytime soon. Besides, unlike the wings, it seemed to strain her. She guessed the wings were more a part of her body now, while this cheek thing was some kind of freak mutation from getting maimed right before transforming.

Anyway, when told by the nurse she'd be seeing the Penguin today, Jade had made a wardrobe request.

Which was why, as she followed the mystic, in addition to wearing the provided sandals and kimono robe, a dark blue half-mask was covering her nose and everything below it. Even if he had been watching her live, she would feel better facing him without her ruined face on display.

X X X

Penguin's office was not quite what she expected. Nothing like it, actually. The room was concrete, with pipes with florescent tube lights overhead, simple rugs on the floor, the desk and file cabinets all metal and utilitarian. No computer in sight either, but a typewriter to the side of the desk.

As Jade took a seat in the folding chair indicated by the man who was dressed fancier than the rest of the room, he noted her attention on the typewriter and file cabinet.

"In this age of connectivity and super hackers, information on paper in a well-locked room is in many ways safer than any amount of digital encryption. Those who think in only one direction, even if it's forward, will also be at a disadvantage to those who think in whatever way they can to achieve their goals. Consider that tip free," Penguin said, setting the paper he had been signing into his outbox.

"Mr. Cobblepot, thank you… I am in your debt," Jade said, bowing in her seat. She had to be brief to keep her words clear and crisp. Raising the volume also seemed to break the shadow cheeks. So short, soft-spoken, and to the point. Ugh.

"Indeed you are. I have taken the liberty of preparing an itemized receipt. You should note clothes charges are not included — I am not so boorish as to not see a minor, much less a lady, decently attired with ulterior motives."

He handed her a paper from one of his desk drawers. Jade's eyes slid down the column of accumulating dollar signs. All the way to the total.

'Oh crap.'

"You have good composure, or perhaps you have gold bullion stashed away and I'll end up looking foolish as you settle the account here and now."

"Uh, I'm not broke… but this…" Jade admitted.

"No matter, I rather anticipated this, and have a payment plan proposal," Penguin said, smiling as he leaned forward.

Yeah, Jade could tell that even if he might have appreciated cash up front, he was liking having her in the palm of his hands, to determine how to squeeze the money out.

"The short version is that you will be working it off. Not for me personally — amongst my side businesses, I from time to time match talented and skilled people with employers who require special needs to be met for their projects. With a reasonable fee to both parties for facilitating the cooperation, of course. In your case, the fee you pay will be a percentage of your total payment from the client instead of the usual flat rate. You'll still get enough to meet your own expenses and then some, while being able to chip away at our account. Of course, if you want to purchase my assistance in getting settled into Gotham, you can just add that to your debt so as to preserve your current operating capital."

"Uh, how long do you think it would take mph, er… settle this account with jobs like that?" Jade asked, glancing back to the bill.

Penguin smiled, light catching in his monocle.

"Well, that would depend on a number of things. How much work you are willing to do. How high risk and reward you are willing to go. How much you can get away with charging for your services. And of course, your luck on being able to make sure you both get paid and don't end up in Blackgate or somewhere else. Naturally, if I feel you are dragging your feet and taking advantage of my generous nature, I will pursue other ways to make good on my investment. Unless, of course, you have your own proposal for payment? A good businessman is always willing to give an ear to negotiation."

…

'Queen, if you have something, saying it would be appreciated. Nothing? Of course, why not?'

"So, Mr. Cobblepot… when and how do we start And what should I do… do for an affordable but not vripfile… a good apartment in this city?"

The smile widened a bit and the stout man got up and extended a hand. Floating out of the chair, Jade took it.

His hand did not feel pleasant.

X X X

The Buried Brick Homes & Gardens looked like someone had taken a 1920s apartment building, welded and patched in updates through the Cold War, and during the whole ordeal splashed various fantasy genres haphazardly around. Which, as she understood it, was kind of what the four sunken buildings were.

Four mid-income apartment buildings built back during the Depression, they were sunk trans-dimensionally when some jackass tried to raise an eldritch horror but got his goose cooked by some Presbyterian badass with a bayonet and a lot of gasoline, which apparently could be blessed. Long story short, the buildings were left mostly intact but they sort of were forgotten about for magic reasons and only quite existed if you approached them from certain directions. And were still underground.

So, nature abhorred a vacuum, and while several cults and such had tried to take possession of the block, they had lost out to the lower income bracket of Gotham's supernatural, who had claimed it as their town against both "normals" and uptown type magical people. The lobby of building Beta, for instance, seemed to serve as a fusion of food court, bazaar, and medieval market, with empty constable bobby suits prowling around as enforcers.

In short, it was pretty awesome, and smelled like a heady mix of magics and a local mom and pop restaurant that would outrage health nuts and inspectors, but still be better than most places that serve food.

The Penguin helped hook her up with an apartment. Which led to her following a middle-aged but still pretty cool-looking minotaur human thing with one eye — patch, not cyclops — through a hallway that buzzed and glowed with wards disguised as graffiti, and graffiti that was just that.

"So, does Batman know about this place… Miss Trius?" Jade asked the grumpy cow woman clad in khakis and a blue tanktop. This place didn't seem to fit with the general motif of Gotham as a setting, but she supposed it was a kind of pocket dimension from reality dealing poorly, so it probably had its own non-Gotham zip code and everything.

"He's Batman," Miss Trius answered, with a voice that bespoke of many cigarettes.

"Right, of course." Why was a grumpy landlord making her feel like she was before the tribunal again? The fact she tried to get Jade to sign the lease in blood might have had something to do with it. Thankfully, she'd haggled down to a trip to the Shadow Realm as a security deposit, strictly NQA of course.

"Listen, Mr. Cobblepot is in the circle of trust between the likes of us and the likes of him, so I am willing to rent to you. But there are certain rules everyone here is expected to follow. Lone crime is income for a bunch of us, but if you go capital C crime on your own name or full Rogue or something, you're out. We don't need Batman dialing Zatanna again. You try making your income chart balance when half your tenants are warped back from whence they came. Whence they came my hooves, most of them were born Earth-side, freaking two-faced human magic users. Playing both angles for sympathy as the little bleeding martyrs, am I right?"

"Sure, yeah."

"Anyway. If you want to run any business in the Buried Bricks, you have to pay up to the building merchant guild and get their approval to make sure you're not going to do something that will threaten us all. You want to do business in the markets, that's extra, and be ready to have to fight for your space. And that's not just a metaphor; the business world is no place for the weak or pacifists. Rent is pad on time. No exceptions, and if I have to take it out of your hide, I will."

"Not a metaphor?"

"Good, you catch on quickly. Also, no self-sustaining portals or warps in the building. Warp all you like on your own power, but nothing anyone else can pick up and use. Last thing we need is another bunch of Korean teenagers stumbling through and turning this place into a budget horror flick. Next, no guests for more than two nights unless you start paying rent for multi-tenants. And don't think just because they're small, incorporeal, or invisible I won't find out. And finally, no hanky-panky unless you're married. And that means married to the person or people you're doing it with! I run a respectable establishment; you don't like it, go bunk with the humans and their chronic hypocrisy."

"Uhh, okay."

"Good. In that case, welcome home!" the lady monster said, getting out an old-fashioned key on a numbered key chain and opening a door with some fake Latin phrase sprayed across it. Showing… a bare room, where it seemed walls had been knocked down so that the bathroom and bedroom were all part of the main room.

…

"Yeah, there's reason this one was still up for grabs. The last occupant had a thing about cramped spaces. And they ended up getting disintegrated, so not even a body to chop up for the damages. Still, everything works, and I can get a curtain installed for the space if you want, no charge. It won't be pretty, but hey if you want guests without them seeing you eat, your ladyness…"

"Uh, I'm not looking to socialize."

"Nice. Also, there's no internet down here, at all. Every time some smartypants tries to get it to work, either some horror from the multiversal vortex either invades or mind controls everyone, or the pocket dimension starts to rupture because of reasons. So use the landline if you need to make a call."

With that, she tossed a key to Jade and pointed out a rotary phone built into the wall, before turning and leaving.

"…Well geeze, Jackie, it wasn't all bad. I got my own apartment, paying rent and everything," Jade snarked to herself, not caring if her words slurred when alone.

At the very least, she could sleep outside the Shadow Realm now; it probably wasn't healthy to keep exposing herself that much, and who knew what impact it would have on her new form.

Still, taking it all in, she couldn't help but smile. Not some dorm, but a real apartment, with the kind of weird neighborhood she could only have dreamed of. Heck, it was the kind of place someone as off center as her wouldn't even stand out!

"Focus, Jade, focus. It's just a stop off. You're a long way from home, don't get comfy," Jade reminded herself, checking the toilet to make sure nothing was lurking in there. Couldn't be too careful, she assured herself.

*knock knock*

"Hello?" Jade said, cracking the door open with the chain put in place.

"House warming plant!"

"Be a good neighbor or else," the… twins said. Jade looked from the two pretty blonde twenty-or-so upper bodies with four arms and four purple eyes, each to the equally blonde but very much spider lower body.

"Is that a tomato plant?" Jade asked, looking at the gift they were both holding.

"All organic! Made with no icky Earth-hurting science."

"Just old-fashioned alchemy and earth magic, like Demeter intended. But with a modern, informed view improving the process."

"We sell ketchup too!"

"…What's your name?" Jade asked, letting the duo drider into her barren parlor.

X X X

Two Face was not in a good mood tonight. The coin decreed it so.

The horrifically scarred man in the color-divided suit was sitting in a back corner of a dingy bar, whose air was thick with tobacco smoke, and shady business. The coin had led him down this path, to his current scheme and reaching out to Penguin rather than trusting his own minions on the scheme. He glanced at the identical twin thugs standing flanking him, wearing matching outfits. Good find, these two; two was better than one, after all.

Penguin was a good fence, and ran a decent club for when a man's coin bid him live it up a little. But he couldn't like the bird, since Cobblepot had decided to try and have it both ways. Criminal or law abider. Left or right. Up or down. Two was the golden rule, and Penguin sought to stand over the line. Mocking it.

The coin flew, he snatched from the air. Good head, so let it go for now and focus on business. Right. The Penguin had promised him a thief who could be relied upon to do the job solo.

Checking one of his watches, Two Face frowned. It was seven minutes after the stated meeting time. Where was this guy?

"Harvey Dent," a girl's voice called out.

"Two Face when it's work," he said in a gravelly voice. Hand on his holstered gun, he looked under the table, following the voice. Movement stirred, and he glanced up to see the table prowler plop herself into the spare seat.

"Well, you dress like someone special. But I don't know you," Two Face remarked, hand still on the gun. At least she was too small to possibly be the Bat in disguise.

"Glad to hear it. You can call me, Karasu," the kid said. They wore a hooded dark cloak, with a jacket and gloves completing the look. A leather mask with built-in goggles and a bird's beak in place of a mouth made for a creepy look. They even had the leather worked to make it look like they had horns like some devil coming out of their forehead.

Hmm, looking her over, he admitted he couldn't be sure of the age or even the boy-and-girl bit. He was pretty sure that was a Japanese name, was it a boy name? His gut said girl, but he was ruled by the coin, not his gut. On the one side, he disliked working with an unknown. On the other, he didn't trust most of the people he did know.

The coin flew. Catch. Good side.

"Pleased to meet you, Karasu. I assume you got sent by mail?"

"The postage was fine… but they handle their packages roughly."

So she either was sent by Penguin, or had been spying. Well, forward then.

Two Face leaned forward and outlined the job enough to explain the needs and risks. The payment too, of course. All while withholding enough details to make sure if she wasn't going to buy in she wouldn't know enough to rat or steal a march on him.

The beak dipped and rose though, so gloved and bad hand shook on it.

He wondered as they went their separate ways for now if this was the beginning of somebody new in town, or if this Karasu would just be one of the countless pretenders to step up only to get devoured by Gotham.

X X X

Conceal her identity, even if it was ultimately futile, that was Jade's thinking. The longer the secret lasted, the better. Besides, nothing wrong with trying out a new look, right?

The mask had been a great find. Plague doctor, it was called, covering the whole face, chin and ears. The beak motif… Jade was feeling it with her wings. Besides a very visible bird theme, it was a degree of separation from her old style, which had been hobbled anyway, being short two talismans. And it had the great bonus of the built-in goggles, along with the beak and leather protecting her face entirely from any onion attack. Yeah, she was so done getting taken down by a veggie. And why try a disruptable magical solution when simple physical materials will do the trick?

The goggles even concealed her eye glow with the darkened lenses. She had to have it modified to accommodate and cover her horns, but apparently the Penguin had a leatherworker on staff who worked surprisingly cheap when it came to "fascinating body shapes".

She'd also given herself a haircut. Since her hair insisted on standing on end, she needed less of it to be practical. Another reason for keeping the cowl — before she gave up in the face of the fact haircutting was not as easy as it looks, she'd mauled her poor hair into something like a mohawk. She wasn't about to display that, or cut her hair short enough to get rid of it.

A high collar and kerchief for her neck and long leather gloves she could take off or shred in a pinch for her wings, and no blue skin was visible.

New powers, new look and name… she was pretty sure even the HIVE wouldn't tag her in a hurry.

X X X

The job for Two Face was simple enough. Break into Don Sorenzo's mansion and take a recognizable piece of jewelry from his daughter's room. The rub was not to be seen, and to take nothing else. Two Face didn't want to rob the Don, he wanted to break him by showing his people could get right where the Don would most fear and take only trifles because they could always come back, and do much worse.

Apparently, tonight Two Face was moving on the Don's territory, which meant as violence erupted elsewhere in the city, the mansion turned into a fortress, knowing they were a prime target. Quietly, though. As Two Face had predicted, the Don's thugs were good and careful enough that even as they prepared for war, the Don's family had a peaceful evening before going to bed.

Jade should know, she watched a good bit of that evening.

It was a nerve-racking assignment, because right up to putting the necklace in Dent's hand and getting a bulging envelope in exchange, she was expecting something to go wrong.

'Huh, maybe things are on the upswing?' Jade wondered, seated on a roof with a lantern set up next to her, counting the cash out.

X X X

Even when Penguin took his cut, Jade had ample cash, in her opinion. She stopped by her landlord first, went ahead and paid next month's rent just in case. Next purchase was a proper futon. Then, Jade decided, groceries!

Yeah, downside of being on her own was no cafeteria or pantry to raid. True, she could live out of dumpsters and stuff, her "eat anything but onions" thing meant starving was not an easy task. But darn it, she was going to eat like a person, not the goat the other students kept calling her. The weird stuff was garnishes or sides, at most.

Her neighbor, Asuka-Tammy, ran a vegetable and ketchup stand in the bazaar. Meat was, well…

"You look like you have every meat here except human."

"Sorry to disappoint, these holidays mean demand is high," the dark-skinned cyclops with an apron and a shaved head said, arranging skinned rabbits on the display.

"…Second thought, maybe I'll stick with free range pigeon."

It wasn't just "stuff" on sale, either. Services were also offered. Wardmasters advertising security measures there. Tutors for all sorts of oddities over there. And yes, a fortune teller over there.

Jade noted the hairstylists set up in a corner, seemingly a family affair run by a group of humanoids who had an extra pair of arms for legs and lush hair covering them, save for their faces and hands. Jade couldn't call it fur, as they quickly but stylishly scurried about on the floor or the scaffolding that permeated their shop area. Because it was all styled, dyed, braided and such that calling it fur seemed unfair. Naturally, Jade wasn't going to let such cut her hair, too risky; even if they didn't have designs on her, they might sell it or let it fall into the wrong hands. But darn it was fascinating to watch them move, and even more to see them artfully attend to their customers.

It occurred to Jade, watching them, that she couldn't tell the boys from the girls, or even if there were any. Age was only apparent by size and lines on the face. Hair color seemed no help, as the only silver one was clearly a young teen.

That was when she noticed they had a "for sale" stall, watched over by one of their own who was missing their leg arms.

'Jocksaha Hair Dye, 36 day guarantee, NO ROOTS. No side effects save for reptiles, amphibians, the French, and the bald. Shop is not liable for death, mutilation, age alteration, and mutation via use outside of intended purpose,' Jade read the sign.

Amused by the sign and getting a mild glare from the counter jockey, Jade floated over to look over the bottles labeled with tiny paper tags of color.

X X X

Jade was back in her apartment, stowing her purchases in the cupboard and mini-fridge, when the Queen spoke up.

"Hair dye? Really, Jade, we don't even own a hairdryer and you call this essential?" the Queen said. Jade rolled her eyes and turned to face the Queen. She was in her wispy form, only the head looking solid atop the billowing shadows that attached to Jade.

"I never said it was essential," Jade remarked.

"What next? Make up, seasonal masks?" the Queen snarked. Jade ran a finger over the simple cloth ninja mask she was wearing at the moment, frowning.

"Well, I suppose I should be glad to see you, as it means you didn't pull off that evil merger you've been aiming for. If this didn't do it, I'm not sure what would," Jade remarked.

"Meh, I think it's been about acceptance from the start. Knife to the neck choices may not cut it. Though if you are rejecting your natural hair color, perhaps you are embracing the wild and crazy side?!"

"…"

"…Okay, that sounded a lot more menacing in our head," the Queen admitted, forming a hand to make a self-dismissing gesture.

"Well, I am going to answer it, so you can't pretend that didn't happen, Queenie. A lot has been forced on me since I got here. And I am pretty sick of it. So making a change of solely my choice has appeal," Jade said, plucking the dye bottle from where she had put it on top the fridge. Pulling up her clothes to reveal her stomach, she checked the red label against her rooster tattoo. A perfect match in shade, as she expected.

"Jackie would be angry at you going delinquent with your hair," the Queen pointed out, lounging on the carpet Jade had taken to using in place of a table.

"Between the supervillainy, species change, and the mass of tattoos, I think he'd forgive me for a little hair dye. Besides, did you see the price on this stuff?! They really are undercharging if it works as well as they say," Jade cheerily stated.

"Uh-huh. So, aside from being a dayworker for supervillains while paying off our debt, what other wonders await you in the post-school dropout world?" the Queen snarked.

"Since when do you just show up to chat, anyway? Aren't you only supposed to come to freak me out with temptations of darkness? Give in to your anger! You cannot escape your fate! I saw you jaywalk there! EVIL! And now all this," Jade remarked.

"Oh, that's easy. We're a lot closer now, and you actually want to see me."

"No I don't, you're annoying."

"So are you."

"Well, you embody my annoying side."

"Oh, like good and light can never be annoying?"

"Not as much as you."

"Well, what's the plan, future redhead? A kilt and magical bagpipes?"

"Ugh, I need to find those masks and get out of here!" Jade moaned, facepalming.

…

…

…

"You know?" the Queen asked, wide-eyed, as she leaned into Jade's face.

"…How do I know that?" Jade whispered, meeting the Queen's eyes.

"Keep going, exactly what do you know?" the Queen whispered eagerly.

"That inter-dimensional, or inter-realm, travel isn't point A to point B. It's point A to B, to C. A to B is breaching the realm barrier, or reality and dimension. C is the other side of that chaos, your destination in the wider reality. But without C, B usually fails to manifest or collapses immediately. In a world as unstable as this, with mystic and tech tearing through space and time so much and naturally permeable to begin with, it's easier than it would be at home, which is more solid," Jade said, her tone stilted, bracing herself against the fridge as the Queen hovered at her shoulder.

"Yes, yes, go on," the Queen whispered.

"Because of that difference, it's not so much a question of power to open a breach, to reach B, it's finding point C in the ever-expanding vastness of the multiverse. This Earth is so far removed from ours in so many ways, a direct connection is nearly impossible. But with sufficient mystical powers anchored to a reality, you can hone in on it, like a lighthouse in reverse! I have changed too much from what I was there to use myself. The full set of the Oni masks, though, spent ages attuning to that Earth and are formed from its connection with that branch of the Shadow Realm! With all the masks, it's only difficult, not impossible!" Jade cheered exhaustedly, reaching the end.

"SKREEE!" the Queen cheered, forming thin claw-like hands that were solid enough to pull the weary Jade into an impromptu whirling dance.

"That was my memory you were using! The barrier is crumbling Jade, we are going to be one again!"

"What?" Jade said, jerking her hands out of the Queen's, stopping her in her tracks.

"Let's see if I can do you! Okay! You aren't trying to form Shadowkhan because you're worried it will corrupt you like it did Black. You are also in denial about needing a bra soon, and that you've been gaining a little in those thighs…"

"GET OUT!" Jade screamed, slashing the specter with her hand. The Queen didn't cry out, but as her face fell apart and vanished she looked so confused, and Jade felt a treacherous hint of guilt as the apparition vanished.

"…I need to hurry, I can't forget what she is, or this place," Jade muttered to herself, looking to where her bird mask hung on the wall.

X X X

"Good to see you showing some initiative in matters of disguise. People in this line of work are very particular about their 'look'. At your age, you are freer to experiment, don't let it go to waste," Penguin said, looking her over from behind his desk.

Her hair was dyed a deep red to match her hidden tattoo, and even with her hood down, she was sure that the new color, hair style and mask made her unrecognizable. Well, unless she ran into Batman, because Batman.

"You have a job, Mr. Cobblepot?" she asked. He gave a smile around his cigarette holder thing. Jade wondered where you bought stuff like that. Were there rich people stores that sold outdated drug accessories?

"Yes, it's Riddler this time. Time sensitive, too. I told him I'd have someone who can stealthily plant packages across Gotham inside one night, ready to meet with him at eight o'clock."

"Bombs?" Jade asked.

"A professional never pries. And Nygma is not the Joker."

"So where do I meet him, and what's the payday?"

X X X

The job wasn't bombs, thankfully. Though Jade would not be surprised if bombs were part of the whole thing. For the moment, she was more concerned with flying. Duh, of course she would want to give a set of wings a try!

First lesson was, her wings could not let her fly. They could, with a lot of effort, get her off the ground for a bit, but not enough that she'd call it flying. Combined with the Rooster hovering powers, though, she could probably win against a foot-racing Jinx… and thinking of the pink-haired witch, as always, brought a surprising feeling of melancholy, and something else. Homesickness?

No. Jump, the HIVE, none of that was home, anymore than the Buried Bricks were. She had to keep reminding herself of that, no matter how long it took or how much she changed physically. Though she wouldn't let that keep her from enjoying the perks of her new form from time to time.

Still, as Jade flapped to the tip of the derelict smokestack, she could not help but think she was missing something. She probably was; this new body was taking some… exploring. While things hadn't gotten messy yet, Queenie had a point, Jade admitted. She was, ugh, filling out. Who knows, maybe being Shadowkhan meant she could avoid the ladies' hygiene aisle until she got back home?

Opening the knapsack she was carrying, she pulled out her list and, after consulting it, pulled out the big sealed envelope with the green question mark on it. Ripping away the cover on one side to reveal light-catching adhesive, Jade stuck it to the inside rim of the stack. She had four more of these to place across the city. It didn't take a genius to realize she was laying a trail Batman would be following soon. So, big name villains apparently were too good to start up their own scavenger hunts.

"Oh well, so long as I get paid. Next one's a vent at Daggett Industries HQ. Ugh," Jade muttered, kicking off the rim and flapping off into the night.

The H.I.V.E.:

'Nice duds, Blue, you can pull off the plague doctor look. Being so short makes it creepier,' Jinx thought, browsing through the villain profiles on Gotham. Apparently Two Face had flipped the coin to be a jackass and posted data on a Super he hired for a one time job online.

Jinx was keeping her lips zipped, but she was 95 percent certain that was Blue. Could she make ninjas now? And the young villain really, really hoped that mask was a fashion choice and not some Joker deal.

A warning bell rang and Jinx shut down the computer. The day was set to suck. It had finally happened — Jinx's performance had slipped enough that she was not only sent to the newly-refurbished Pit for the night, but had to take an after class sit-down with Dr. Gunn.

Honestly, she'd prefer the Pit, even after all the Belgians had done to up the torment, to a teacher being all passive-aggressive threatening about GPA and failure yadda-yadda. She knew it was an unhealthy attitude, and frankly was a bit surprised at herself. But it was just harder to focus on school stuff these days.

Gunn had sent a message telling her he was multitasking and they'd be taking a ride on his iron horse. Great, another bit of cliche steampunk junk. Probably with a stupid Western name and fake apples made out of coal to feed it or something.

Soon:

Well, it wasn't cliche, so much as a play on words, it turned out.

Jinx looked out the viewport as the wastes passed by while this trackless train tore through the landscape. Well, tearing might be the wrong word — putting her head out the window, taking in their curving course, she watched the vehicle lay and cover its own tracks, with mechanical arms moving as a near blur. And looking around, she once again tried to get some kind of headcount to all the guns, cannons, etc. adorning the steam-esque engine.

"Yeah, she's a beauty, ain't she? I've had many a woman in my life, but this gal here is my baby," Gunn said with a smile as he worked the chaotic mass of levers and pulleys that controlled this thing without a steering wheel or pedal in sight.

'What is it, with guys and vehicles?' Jade wondered.

"Yeah, she's got more and better features than those newfangled phones. Why, she even has anti-mind control buffers, science and magic."

"Why mention…" Jinx said, frowning. Why did she feel… weird?

"Because, even if you've been slipping out of it along with a lot of the other students, that sidewinder in the weeds, Blood, has been putting his finger on yer mental scales. I rightly never cared for fiddling with the head meat, downright unrespectable."

Jinx could only stare at Gunn, not quite comprehending what was happening. Her head was swimming slightly, as if she was coming out of a hangover, yet at the same time felt clearer than it had in a long time.

"Blood was controlling me?" she finally managed to say.

"Not directly, near as I can tell," Gunn replied, "But he was influencing you, and all yer classmates, to make you more obedient to him. Apparently his big ol' plan was to raise an entire generation of villains that would be subconsciously primed to serve him at any time, making him one of the most powerful people in the world by default."

"Ambitious, impressive even," Jinx commented, as she considered the implications of that.

"Yeah, if'n you don't mind the idea of someone as petty and egotistical as Blood being the one with all that power," Gunn said, Jinx grimacing in agreement at the thought, "Which is why myself and a few others have decided to nip this thing in the bud."

"You're talking about a coup. And if you're telling me about it, you want me in on it," Jinx said. It was a statement, not a question.

"An' what's wrong with that? It's how Blood came to power, we'd just be returning the favor," Gunn said, "And bear in mind, aside from the fact he's been messing about in yer head, Blood's the one who sent yer little blue friend off with that there maniacal clown. Which, by all accounts, ain't been working out too well for her. So, considering all that, where's yer loyalty going to lie when the fists start flying?"

"…If you were really confident, you wouldn't need the students," Jinx pointed out.

"Don't sell yourself short, kid. Besides, a coup is supposed to be so smooth that if you start after clearing breakfast, you can still have the time to whip up a proper supper. I don't just want that sidewinder's fang broken, I want him strung up and ready to be made into boot leather with hardly a scratch on the paint of the HIVE. I'm coming to you because I'm confident enough to tip my hand to you in order to have someone ready to rally the students when the time comes. And make sure no one gets any unfortunate ideas on who is deserving of their allegiance."

"So, I get to lead part of your coup?"

"It'll look quite fine on your resume. And of course, I'll do my best to see your gal pal brought back into the fold as a matter of course. Contender in the making like her, that's just good horse sense to bring her back from the high pasture. So beyond that, ya'll of course will get well rewarded."

"I assume you have some way to keep me from falling back under Blood's little psi-blanket without tipping him off?"

"Quite so. But first, I reckon you ought to go ahead and pull that cord you been eyeing. No shame! What proper person of this earthly plane could resist?"

CHOOCHOOO, went the train whistle as Jinx pulled the cord, not quite repressing the smile.

"Well, first thing, I need to get word to Zhu Chan. Bug trouble is more than on its way, I hear it's in her new neighborhood," Jinx said.

"Well, that's not exactly a short order on long notice, compadre. Blood wants no support at all going that kid's way, as part of his little petty fit on the whole Shadow Crisis. He catches any wind of me poking in that matter, he'll start looking harder than I can afford. But, I might just happen to have a string I can pull to get your words to a certain blue ear. No guarantee they'll cooperate, though, and if they do then like as not they'll take their own time seeing it done. But sure as the sun setting west, I can give you my honest effort as an outlaw," Gunn answered, scratching his cheek. But he looked more thoughtful than dismissive, and Jinx realized this was probably her best chance to warn Blue.

But no need to sell her services cheap. She had a solid grade in Evil Economics, after all.

"So then, about the Honor Roll privileges…" Jinx began, grinning at Gunn. Would you look at that, her bad mood was quite gone now, she realized. Maybe there was something to enjoying a vehicle after all?

Gotham, Buried Buried Bricks, The Troll's Keg:

It was a small crowded pub someone had made by demolishing two apartments' dividing walls and a janitor's closet. Dominated by three gaming tables and the surprisingly nice bar, complete with a saloon mirror behind it. The namesake old troll loomed behind the bar dressed like a classic bartender, down to the bowtie and apron. Though a younger him was depicted in three paintings adorning the walls, showing him engaged in plunder and pillage clad in half plate. And a sign over the entrance read "A Troll Shortchanged is a Perilous Foe."

As hot and chattery as the atmosphere was, Jade's attention was on the people occupying the three barstools next to her.

"So you see, it all began with me. I was a lovely red-haired urban gardener who, after being unfairly expelled from college over that backwash incident, was a rising star in the urban gardening community. Alas, I drew the eye of the cutest man you ever saw over a vacant slot, and this witch got jealous. And I do mean witch, magic and everything. So she used a wish she had lying around to remove me from existence, with my spot being taken by this one," Tammy said, sipping her beer. Asuka rolled her eyes, sipping a cup of umeshu.

Jade had been invited on a neighborly drink with the pair. It seemed the more they drank, the less they regarded one another as two halves of the same, she noted. For herself she was holding her original drink, having paid for it, but no way was she showing her mouth in public. She hadn't even looked at it in a mirror since, well, those first times.

"Tammy is incorrect, Karasu. You see, I was a promising business student specializing in agriculture and food products at a prestigious but not too fine school in Japan. I caught the eye of a lovely Earthy coed, and was quite interested, but her hanyou ex-girlfriend called in a favor to wipe me out of existence to replace me with Tammy here," Asuka supplied.

The two degenerated into a passive argument over which of them came first in this seeming musical chairs of existence.

"So where did the whole conjoined… spider thing come from?" Jade asked.

"Oh, I got eaten by a giant spider serving a reality-devouring elder god at the airport," they said in sync, both rosy-cheeked from their drinks.

"Yeah, apparently our two-in-one thing unraveled in her stomach, and boom!"

"Indeed, we ate our way out and took what was hers and made it ours."

"So, ever tried to separate?" Jade asked. She raised her hand in defense as the two glomped each other, looking freaked out at the very thought, "Okay, okay. But what about being human again?"

"I think conjoined twins of different ethnicity would rather stand out," Asuka remarked sadly, realizing her bottle was empty. Tammy nodded, fiddling with her latest beer can.

"Well, don't you miss it at all?" Jade pressed.

"No. This is better," they said together. Jade just took in the bizarre woman and those words before throwing up her hands.

"Whatever, have fun, I'm done."

"Aren't you the designated driver?" they asked.

"You live upstairs!" Jade snapped as she floated off her barstool, wine glass in hand.

X X X

After nursing a hangover and finding no messages from Penguin when she woke up, Jade inspected the jars she had been stocking up on. Magic-tinted mason jars to be precise; she was on her third effort to try and ward them with the tools on hand.

If she was going to go globetrotting to hunt down the masks, she'd need money. Not so much for traveling, as she could eat most anything and cut travel time down with shadow jumping. But she needed money to both get out from under her current debt and to grease the wheels to avoid drama with other villains. Fact was, being a chi sorceress might make her unique, but with magic bazaars about, there was little she could charge for and expect to sell it at a profit. Not to mention, the guilds were cutthroat — the boss didn't even have his head on his shoulders!

And taking jobs was problematic. She wasn't looking to improve her villain cred for its own sake, and any job with pay worth the risk, she had deduced, was something Batman or Rogue related. Oh, sure, there were all sorts of profitable enterprises, but rackets were spoken for in Gotham. Honestly, she probably got off so well with the Wayne job because it was just so audacious.

So, her current scheme to get money flowing without risking any Bat encounters was to try to jar and sell the fruits and veggies of the Shadow Realm. If her neighbor could make rent by selling veggies and home creating ketchup, someone as awesome as her could surely turn around her debt in a hurry.

X X X

It was a simple job, of the "go there, steal this" variety. If Jade had to guess, she was tapped both because the object could be magic, and maybe the Penguin was still testing her.

She did not care for the look of the charm. Sun Wukong, yuck. Maybe if there was a Monkey King in this world he wasn't horrible, but Jade didn't want anything to do with any version of him if she could help it. But she was lurking around the gallery's ceiling because it was too good a payday to pass up. And on the bright side, it wasn't even part of the main show-runner exhibit; that was some Egypt deal.

Getting in had been easy enough. She entered hours ago with the patrons, shadow hopping. Now she needed only to get where she needed to be and-

'OH SQUEEEE!' Jade thought as she spotted the woman in the catsuit making her way across the floor, so casually and elegantly avoiding any detectors, side-stepping cameras that were still active while ignoring ones she must have compromised in some ways.

Jade slipped a hand under her mask to bite down. Catwoman was in the building.

She must have made some sound… oh, wait, no it could just be how awesome Catwoman was, because the glorious thief paused and looked up, spotting Jade right away.

Jade was grateful for the mask covering her face, as it covered up her expression, even though it being shoved up a bit for her hand-in-the-mouth situation likely made her look a tad dorky. All she could do was wave with her free hand as her talons gripped part of the ceiling structure.

Catwoman arched an eyebrow, regarded her for a second, and moved on towards the main event.

Jade must have gotten her stuff, but she didn't really recall, beyond getting the money. Because, CATWOMAN.

X X X

"HAHAHAHAHA! Victory is mine! You thought you could evade me, but look at you now! YOU'RE PICKLED!" Jade cackled at the jar of sliced shadow fruit. The slices were floating in an onion-free brine spiked liberally with a potion of her own devising and ripping off.

Her lab had been somewhat mostly converted into a canning or jarrery, whatever the term was, she didn't care. The point was, she could now preserve this stuff and sell it for cash.

"I should ask the neighbors for more details on the application process," Jade remarked. This came none too soon; she'd nearly been spotted by Batman when helping Scarface board that ship. Thankfully, her contract allowed her to bail when Bat trouble was involved. She had been hired strictly as a portal provider, no obligation to trade blows with a mall cop, much less the Dark Knight.

So, her jar of modified vinegar and victory in hand, Jade floated down the hall to knock on Asuka-Tammy's door. Only to stop at the papers taped to it. One was a picture of the duo in front and to the side, with a legend declaring MISSING. Under it was a red sheet warning against entry due to feral spider kid hazard inside. Someone had handwritten on the red paper that yes, they had made sure their babies hadn't eaten the duo.

"The WHAT?! Since when did those guys have kids?! And why didn't anyone say they were missing?" Jade said to one one in particular, not noticing her words breaking off with her shadow cheeks.

"That's what you get for skipping every floor meeting," a bespectacled blue troll wearing only a tasteful gold and blue tie and a tiger loincloth said as he walked by carrying a dead goat in a paper grocery bag.

"I wasn't talking to you, Flesh Render," Jade grumbled, lowering her voice, "Well, knowing those two, they probably just got distracted… with some bizarre new urban gardening trick and lost track of time, right."

A menacing chirping and scrapping through the door made Jade decide to just hunt down a guild representative, away from possibly dangerous giant spider babies.

X X X

She was out there somewhere, Kitten had no doubt about that.

She was far from Jump, with its pretty views and bouncy vibrance. There were other things she missed, but they danced outside of her reach, passing thoughts gone as quick as they came to mind.

She knew she should sleep. But if she slept, she'd fall apart again. It kept happening; she'd ruined two dresses with it. She tried just tying herself together by the ugly seams, to keep it together. But when her guard went down, her body just tore through.

CLACK

The back of her head left a crack on the brick wall she was sitting against. More awake now, that was good, she decided.

The plastic bag took up her lap, spilling over. Holding all the clothes she had left. She hated streaking, but it was so hard to get more without being seen, it was a risk she didn't want to take. But why not put them on anyway? She could still walk down the street, fully clothed.

NO YOU CAN'T!

Her eyes darted around the deserted room of the rotting tenement. She could hear that none of the bums here were close. That was happening too much, it had to be some curse from that girl.

Yessss, that helped. The blue girl who had caused all this. Kitten let that image flow through her, easing all the aches and drowning all the doubts and arguments in her head. That one had to pay; she could lose herself for hours, fantasizing about ripping her apart. Eating every last bit of flesh and hair, and scrap of cloth. Then breaking the bones and swallowing them.

Yessss, no trace would be left and it would be like that monster never existed in the first place, and everything could be better.

As she waited for the sun to set so she could hunt again, a nagging doubt on the final outcome tugged at her, but she hardly noticed, just like she didn't realize her face had come apart again, mimicking the motion of her twisted fantasy.

As it came to pass, she would miss the sunset, drifting off into a dream of her father and better days.

X X X

Jade rubbed her eyes and set aside the latest volume of the Jade Spellbook.

The latest project she was documenting was a tracking spell for the masks. After all, she couldn't just go around asking for them. Aside from likely giving her identity away, after the Shadow Crisis too many people would assume she wanted them for a repeat performance.

She was sure paper was key, the Hana Fuda cards being a clue. So paper charms to anchor the spells…

But the field was just so wide! A lot of the magic she had worked on or come up with was sort of free range or adapting existing magic. This, though, it was soooo narrow. Even the plan to breach the dimensional barrier had a big target. But here, she needed to find these specific masks.

The easy option would probably be to wait for one or more of them to be unearthed from wherever and make a supervillain out of whoever found it. Even if the heroes collared them and commandeered the mask, that would give her an idea where to steal said mask from.

"If I only had one mask, that could get me started," Jade muttered, sliding the book into its warded sleeve and slipping it into the Shadow Realm. She'd taken the time to ward a tool shed and put it in the Shadow Realm as a storage unit. There was no keeping the Shadow Realm's atmosphere out, but she could at least keep it clean enough that the warded containers she stashed there stayed organized.

Time was another concern, Jade thought, looking over her pickling operation. The permit had been easier to get than expected; she only had to answer five riddles and defeat one member of the guild and two other applicants to get a spot. But you couldn't take a hiatus off the cart or you lost your spot. She was expected to do business in her spot on the market place for at least ten hours a day, five days a week without break for the first year. If she didn't, she had to pay a hefty penalty for squandering space, or she'd not only lose the space due to lack of productivity but be banned from any merchant or trade activity in the building for six months.

And her pickled shadow stuffs was not selling as well as she hoped. At this rate, she'd have to take the barber's advice and slash prices to build up market penetration.

"Market penetration? Ugghhh! When did I start missing school?" the small business owner moaned.

Also, she had a new expense to worry about. Speaking of which, she would need to remember to take those used ones to the surface for burning.

Maybe she'd get a glimpse of the new horror in town. People were saying some bug monster was now haunting Gotham. Nothing official, but given the trail it was leaving, people were talking as if it might be a new rival if it was smart.

Maybe Jade could interest it in a team up?

X X X

This place was a dump. Literally, she was perched on a rotting dresser.

She was here for training, and looked over the junk she had demolished. Plus side of the location, as few would notice junk getting mangled by her blows or magic.

Jade could admit she missed the HIVE for this stuff, having the quality facilities to cut loose physically even if you had to pay a small fee outside of scheduled classes. She had to make due with what she could find. And any deserted building in Gotham she might try and convert into a proper gym… well, there was a very good chance it was already occupied by some criminal endeavor being watched by the cops, or one of those two would come knocking and she'd get run out.

So she was reduced to making time in places like this to keep her physical skills sharp and rebuild some muscle mass. Time not being the easiest thing to spare in her current schedule either. She was wondering if the market was even worth it. Slashed prices had picked up business on her pickled shadows, but profits were razor thin. And the time. She could spend it practicing magic or reading up. But there was something awkward about doing pushups while waiting for customers.

And she was not going to gamble that the thigh situation was just puberty developments. She was a badass physical threat, not a squishy wizard, she thought, putting a fist to her chest in resolution. Ah crap, she thought at the action, and she'd really need to bite the bullet on that training bra soon too, wouldn't she?

Drumming her fingers on the leather of her mask's cheek, Jade summoned her wings and tore into the rubbish again. Someone had to pay after all, and why not the junk?

X X X

"Your next assignment is Scarecrow, a transportation of supplies and a principal subject from his current base to a field of operations facility," Penguin said. They were in his secondary office again. While he had offered her tea, her mask stayed in place. She trusted him, as much as one could in such circumstances, but saw no reason to needlessly risk her identities being linked up.

"Can you guarantee he won't gas me? With my powers… that could go badly for everyone," Jade asked.

"Guarantee, certainly not. But it's not likely — while he tends to be a harsh manager, he is quite focused. Gassing the temps I provide him with would simply be bad for the efficiency of his operations. So it's unlikely you will incur his wrath so long as you play along and do the job. You won't be using the Shadow Realm for transport. Crane has a thing for mixing magic with his science. Your role will be security and using your telekinesis to load and unload without noisy, difficult-to-conceal machinery."

"So, just a ride along… and heavy lifting? Okay, but my security doesn't cover Bat trouble. I'll give an exit, but that's all," Jade managed, keeping her cheeks together.

"So I informed him. The job goes down tomorrow night at 1 am…"

X X X

Alfred found Master Bruce at the large screen, comparing young Zhu Chan's current look to her former attire.

Alfred was not exactly a fan of young people dressing up like animals, but he supposed he should be grateful she wasn't showing off skin or her figure as so many young ladies seemed wont to these days. It puzzled him how it was supposed to be progressive to present themselves in such a way, but his understanding of the young people was called into question considering how Master Bruce had panned out on his watch.

"No luck at tracking her, sir?" Alfred said, placing the tray at his designated spot. The master did not answer, narrowing his eyes and folding his hands.

"Finding her would only be part of any solution, Alfred. I worry I burned any possible bridge with her by using her weakness against her at a vulnerable moment."

"Yes, that may not have been one of your better ideas, but at the time your focus was on preventing her from becoming a murderer, and you could hardly be sure how powerful she had become. Ending the standoff quickly was a valid priority. It was a strategic loss, but you can't expect to make the correct spur of the moment choice every time, sir."

"Batman can't accept the law of averages as an excuse, Alfred. My failure, my fault."

"In that case, perhaps you should reach out to a colleague? Track her down but let someone else do the reaching?"

"Diana?"

"Perhaps, though as I recall, Plastic Man has been veritably lighting up your other inbox, asking for team-ups. As a reformed criminal and a rather chaotic sorts, perhaps Mr. O'Brian would be better suited to offer a helping hand."

"The trouble with that is, I may not have the luxury of getting to call someone in. Her ability to shadow jump makes it difficult to confine her save with a pre-made trap scenario. And her magic and telekinesis make her difficult to fight. Clearly the new mask is meant to negate her onion weakness…"

He went on like that, but he was being productive now instead of contemplating his failure. When dealing with the Super types, the best way to help was often to trick them out of their own ruts without them realizing it, Alfred thought, taking his leave from the Batcave.

As for Batman, his eyes drifted toward one of the many vaults in the Batcave, where two small horns rested in a code labeled drawer. He knew enough about magic that he was sure those shed horns could lead him to Zhu Chan, but would the process harm her or worse destroy any potential for trust in using such a method?

He would have to call in one of two people soon. While she seemed to be stable in Gotham for now, he knew well that his city could be swift and stunning in its ability to ruin people.

X X X

It was fairly routine. Jade showed up at the place, apparently an old paper mill, and started levitating stuff down stairwells from the third floor office space Crane was using for his lab. And then loading it on a semi, where thugs saw to securing it.

Scarecrow himself was quiet, simply watching. The worst part was how he seemed to go off then was back without a sound. He only wagged a finger at her when his popping up made her almost drop a box of… things.

The least hammy villain yet, and he was getting her hackles up. And what sort of place were they taking this stuff to? Either a nice-looking place for horror irony, or straight up horror movie teens only would enter it, she figured.

Well, as long as his money spent well, it was not as bad as Scarface's "women" comments, and she was pretty sure that stupid puppet had said a certain word on her mistaken heritage that started with an "n".

"Gah!" Jade cried, reaching the office again only for Scarecrow to be standing just out of sight, next to the door.

"Heheh," he chuckled softly, standing with an uneven posture, straw leaking out of the joints of his costume and his eyes reduced to red circles in darkness under that bag. Ugh, he did red eyes all wrong — on her it was downright adorable, on him it was "grab the shotgun".

"Well, that was the last, right?" Jade demanded.

He shook his head and pointed to a door on the other side of the former work area.

"Where did-oh," Jade said, noticing some file cabinets had been shoved to the side. Leading her over there, she noticed there was track in the floor, so the cabinets were easily moved?

He opened the door and beckoned her into the dark room beyond.

"…No," Jade said, crossing her arms and lowering her beaked countenance to glare through her goggles.

The Scarecrow shrugged and clapped his hands, the lights coming on.

"Seriously, who uses clap lights anymore?" Jade griped, following him through.

A cage about the size of a van took up the center of the room, with a computer shoved into the corner and a rack full of unpleasant instruments by the door. The cage looked to be steel, with tighter crossed bars obstructing what was inside.

"No need to scared, yet," Scarecrow spoke as if he hadn't had a drink in days. With a flick of his wrist, he produced a large metal key on a thick ring.

"This particular asset is well-drugged, and bound besides. It won't be having two thoughts to string together or be able to crush a fly for twelve hours yet. And the proper containment is all set. You just need to move it tidily and stealthily."

He flung open the door, revealing Asuka-Tammy bound by every limb with metal cords and Tammy's mouth sewn shut with angry red marks running along the stitches.

Jade blinked.

"Well, I'm not paying you to gape. Or perhaps arachnophobia troubles you?" the Scarecrow asked.

Really, did she have any choice but to send the creep flying out a third story window?

Jade blinked at the broken window, hearing his scream cut out with nary a wince. She somehow doubted, even with surprise, that was enough to put down a Rogue. So be quick.

"Guess this means a black mark on my temp record," Jade said, getting into the cage and dragging the conjoined drider into their shadow.

The Next Night:

"So, is he dead?" Jade asked Penguin. She was not sitting, she was hovering in the air a bit to the left of her usual seat. When he called her landline, he had made it clear she was supposed to come right away. That could mean a number of things.

As for Cobblepot himself, he looked like a guy who had just realized the health inspector gave a C to the seafood place he just ate at. He regarded her with a bored irritation, though, in answer to her question.

"Apparently he's not even so injured as to not be able to complain at length. Perhaps that suit has some safety measures," he remarked.

"Oh," Jade said. Well, that could be a problem. It had only occurred to her later that making sure Crane was dead might have let her pin the blame on someone else. Though on the plus side, if she was outed as killing a Rogue, who knew the results? Would it mean she'd be considered a Rogue and get kicked out of Buried Bricks and suddenly be a bigger deal than she wanted, every poser and HIVE reject gunning for her to boost their reputation?

So yeah, while another Rogue alive and holding a grudge was bad, it might be less complicated than him becoming street pizza.

"Well, obviously I won't be getting paid," Jade remarked.

"Heh, I had to pay a hefty penalty fee for setting Crane up with a treacherous minion. Not strictly legal, but I have a reputation to uphold with my regulars. Be grateful I gave him money instead of your address."

"I am grateful. So, I'm guessing my next assignment will be particularly unpleasant?"

"No, because I won't be assigning you anything. The Cobblepot reputation can't be attached to an unreliable asset. To be clear, you still have to pay me back, and on schedule, but from now on you either find your own work or find another middleman. Also, the payout to Crane is added to your debt," Cobblepot said, sliding a paper to her. Jade's eyes widened behind her mask as she picked it up. The addition to her debt didn't set her back to square one, but it was a troubling leap in the wrong direction.

"Mr. Cobblepot, it was my neighbor he was torturing, it won't-"

"No excuses. You didn't have what it took to see a job through, and you turned on the client; as a matter of business, that is all that matters. What I said is not a suggestion, that's the way it is. I wish you luck in the villain community, but unless you wish to make a payment or want to partake in the Iceberg Lounge's fine dining and atmosphere, leave."

Jade held her head high as she departed, not letting her feet even touch the ground as a reminder to anyone watching she was powerful. But soon enough, she was back at Buried Bricks, a note stuck in her mail slot from the landlady giving her a pass on this month's rent for bringing the twins back. And half a dozen packages from other residents with odds and ends for the rescue.

Eating some chocolate-coated salamanders in her apartment, Jade slumped. Yes, she had no regrets saving those two. But what now? She was making ends meet with Cobblepot arranging things for her, how was she going to do that having to find work on her own? Heck, would any Rogue even hire her? Was she going to have to start burglar work?

Ugh, she might have to pack in her pickling business entirely and get an actual part-time job in the Buried Bricks at this rate. Because having a third Rogue gunning for her, well…

Looking to where her bird mask lay next to her, she smacked it aside with a spike of anger. The offending hand went to her mouth, pressing a palm on her remaining lips but feeling her teeth under her fingers.

Taking a deep breath she pulled her hand away, ignoring the saliva on it. She should go to the Shadow Realm, take the edge off, but honestly she was also tired of being so dependent on that place. The fact it grew a face, of sorts, on her when she was there… she did not like to dwell on it. However good that place could feel, even if it came with a face, it was even less home than this world here.

She needed a distraction. With a sigh she settled on one, wiping her hand off on her night robe.

Jade stroked her horns, letting the pleasant sensation run through her head and down her spine to other regions. Yes, she wasn't fooling around on this bit anymore; she needed something else on her mind right now, or she feared she might tear the apartment apart.

Warm feelings coursing through her, Jade went to bed with some resignation.

X X X

"No sooner do I get you out than you ask a favor. Real classy," Poison Ivy remarked, settling down hard on a seat made of living leaves.

"Ah, come on Red! You know I've asked for much worse out of the starting gate," Harley said as the tree lifted the green woman clad in leaves up and away toward the ceiling of the greenhouse.

"Don't say that like it's something to be proud of, moron," Ivy said, looking at the night sky.

"Welllll," Ivy flinched at Harley popping out of the foliage next to her perch, "Not proud, but it does mean you have precedent for agreeing to worse. Besides, you can't kid a kidder, Red, you've got a soft spot for kids."

"Most kids aren't enchanted horrors from another dimension."

"Too late to play the bigot card, Red, I know you hate all thinking meat equally."

"You can be so irritating to talk to. Besides, she tried to kill Joker, right? Shouldn't you want revenge or something?"

"Puddin' don't hold a grudge over that, why would I? Besides, Mistuh J can be a bit overwhelming; her giving him a little puppy bite ain't no big deal if he says it ain't. Besides, she's got built in teleporter powers! Just tell me you ain't got some plot that won't be useful for. Go on, try, you know you can't beat me in poker, Red."

"I'll think about it."

"Wohoooohcrap!" Harley bounced, cheering, only to lose her footing and tumble back through the foliage to smack on the floor.

"Heh, now that was funny," Ivy said, reclining further in her green seat.

X X X

The sword did not whistle through the air; its passage was silent, the man wielding it like shadow dancing from a bonfire. The candles were not extinguished by the stick or wick being cut, the wind of the sword's passing snuffed them out with no trace left as to how they went out. The room descended deeper into darkness, reduced to the light coming from the fire in the hearth.

The man came to a halt and inspected the sword in the modest light. Despite the exertion, there was no sweat on his form, no hitch in breath. In stillness, as he was in motion, elegance and control above all else seemed to be draped over him.

A knock came, a very precise one from the door across the room.

"Enter," the man called. The door swung open and a middle-aged servant in a robed uniform bowed while holding out an object on a cushion.

"The item successfully retrieved as per orders, sir."

"You are certain it is genuine?" the man said.

"We would not have troubled you with any news had we not been certain, sir," he looked up, unblinking, at the man, having crossed the room to stand before him in an instant.

"All these ages, and yet it never fails to inspire dread, how much power and potential for calamity can reside in something so small," Ra's Al-Ghul said, lifting the Oni mask off the cushion, "Continue the hunt. The Titans have the Mask of Tarakudo, so two more to go until the pieces are all on the table. Then the game can begin."

Authors Note:

Well, here we are. Hope that was a good read.

Here we have Jade dealing with being cut relatively loose. Both a chance to set her own pace as a villain more, and to explore her new form and powers a bit more. Not to say it's going the best or she's making the best use of it. This marks another major deviation from the old plans with Nocturne - Nocturne planned on Jade having her Shadowkhan in hand at this point and using them to make a good deal of money, even getting a black market executive bunker in Gotham as a lair. But Jade embracing her Shadowkhan didn't feel right; after getting transformed and plunged into trauma, I think she would shy away from anything that might push her further. And it seemed, in canon, that summoning the Shadowkhan did take people further dark side, and Jade would pick up on that.

So, the lack of free mooks and her debt to Penguin here see her struggling far more than was originally planned. Though I think it was a good call, as it was something else to develop Jade with that didn't involve moral or physical anguish. And with stuff like Asuka-Tammy and her side business seeing Jade expand her role a bit and not just be slotted into a part of this world. Not to mention it seems like a better setup to her eventual exit from Gotham for her to not be sitting pretty (heh, as much as I'm starting to enjoy this arc, I am looking forward to what comes next, oh YES). Well, hope you found my chosen route good reading.

Now, please stay safe out there in the world and strive to be good to one another.

Long days and pleasant nights to you all.