After A Long Night, There's Nothing Better Than Takeout

General POV

Deep in the seedier parts of Brooklyn, there was an apartment complex that didn't ask questions. All it asked for, was rent. And on time.

This part of Brooklyn was rife with criminals. Gangsters, gangbangers, 2-bit thugs--it was home to all walks of crime. You'd be just as likely to see a serial rapist as you were to see a measly cons-man. It was a place of survival of the fittest.

And in this specific apartment block, there belonged an apartment to the two biggest criminals in this part of New York, if not New York in general.

On the top floor, in a surprisingly well-furbished apartment. It had white painted walls, black carpet that looked ever so soft and every piece of furniture was of a high-quality and looked expensive. Whether it was leather furniture, wooden tables or pictures, it was all in many thousands of dollar range - yet right now, a truly massive Hyena was urinating up the side of one of the leather seats. Another Hyena was sleeping nearby, covered in feathers from a rather luxury pillow. The remains of said pillow had also been urinated on.

Another peculiarity of this apartment was also the amount of plants in it. Exotic types. Greens, reds, yellows, oranges, even purples--plants of all colors and sizes had been put wherever they fit. Weirdly enough, the still awake Hyena strayed away from the plants at all costs.

Suddenly, the door to the apartment swung open with a bang, a scantily clad pale woman with blonde hair, highlighted with a pink-red and blue, and pulled into two twintails which separated the colors completely. It was an oddly compelling hairstyle that only added to the woman's angelic beauty.

Except said 'angelic' beauty was currently twisted in a mischievous smile as the woman stepped into the apartment with one large step before slamming the door shut behind her, "Momma's home~!" she bellowed in a sing-song-like tone.

The Hyenas, who'd been either asleep or slowly getting there, leapt up, their tongues hanging out their mouths as they exploded towards the pale woman.

Two carnivorous animals vs one petite lady? It's obvious what the outcome would be. Except said obvious outcome never came.

Yes, the Hyenas leapt up and onto the woman. But instead of tearing chunks out of her with their bone-crunching jaws, they began licking her face like a normal household dog would do to it's owner. It was quickly obvious that the two Hyenas were, for all anyone could know, completely domesticated.

"Hahaha~!" the woman cackled, her pets licking her being exceptionally ticklish on her already sensitive skin, "I missed you two as well!" she shouted between cackling laughter, wrapping her arms around the two beast-like pets.

Unbeknownst to the pale woman on the floor, being licked by Hyenas, another woman had wandered into the hallway to the door, covering in a dressing gown, her blood-red hair tied up in a towel. Though some loose strands still dripped wet with water, showing she'd just gotten out of bathing herself. However, the woman's presence wasn't unknown for long as the Hyenas began whining and whimpering as some of the plants extended out of their pots and began to threatening slither closer to the Hyenas like serpents.

"Oh, hey Ivy!" the pale woman said, sitting up and her face covered in Hyena spit. She got up and paced over to the redhead, took the towel from her and wiped her face, "You're up late," the pale woman said, in between rubbing her face clean of the saliva from her pets.

"...Harley," Ivy said, her teeth grit, "I'm not up late...it's the morning, for Christ's sake," she seemed to be barely holding in her anger as she spun around on her heel toward Harley who was now walking passed her, "Is there...nothing, you want to say to me? An apology maybe?" she got out, her eyes narrowing toward the end.

"Apology?" Harley seemed confused, a finger tapping against her chin before she seemed to realize something, "Oh--! I'm sorry about not getting you that almond milk you asked me for! I'll go get it now--!" she was stopped by the taller Ivy, her face going rose-red from anger.

"I don't fucking care about almond milk, Harley!" she gave an angered shout, obviously having lost her patience, "I want an apology for suddenly up and leaving and only leaving me a note on the refrigerator!" she yelled.

"Huh?" Harley seemed confused again, this time lifting an eyebrow at her roommate, "I mean, I thought you'd be better off if I left you a note. I was kinda running late on being able to catch those goons and if they got away, I might not've known where Mr. J was--I guess they didn't know anyway, but in my defense, I didn't know that at that time--!" she was cut off for a second time as Ivy held up a yellow post-it note.

"And I quote 'Going out to kill Mr. J, if I don't come back, I'm dead. Sorry about the almond milk thingy'," Ivy read this out through her gritted teeth, the pearly whites grinding against one another, "...You think this is acceptable, Harley?" Ivy asked, her voice surprisingly calm yet it was nothing but the calm before the storm in Harley's eyes. "Do you know how worries I was, you blonde bimbo?! I was searching all over Brooklyn for you with my plants! Not once did I see hide nor hair of you! I thought you'd died, Harley...!" Ivy's voice ripped through her throat, anger quickly disappearing and being replaced with an overwhelming sadness and worry.

Harley lost her confused look, it being replaced with a guilty one as she stepped closer to Ivy and pulled the taller woman into a tight hug, "...I'm sorry I worried you, Pam...but you know more than anyone that I need to do this."

Ivy seemed somewhat placated by this before she pushed Harley away, holding her arms in a reassuring grasp as her green eyes peered down at Harley's blue ones, "I'm coming with you next time."

"--!" Harley's eyes instantly widened, her eyes shooting back and forth but not being able to meet Ivy's determined green ones, "Uh-uhhhh, I don't think t-that'd be the best idea, P-Pam," she suspiciously fidgeted, as if wanting to get away from Ivy. Said woman didn't miss this.

Ivy, eyeing Harley with suspicion, inched her face closer to the pale blonde, "And why would that be?" she said with a deadly sharp tone, her green eyes narrowing sharply as well.

"H-haha-ha, f-funny you should, you know, ask," Harley uncomfortable shifted, pulling her head and torso back and away from Ivy who was so close Harley was worried she might burn from the guilt of teaming up with another person before she asked her roommate to help her take care of her ex. "I, uh, k-kinda already have someone...to...uh, help..." she trailed off as Ivy's face lost all determination before it settled into a deadpan expression.

"You asked someone to help you before you asked me?" she asked, her expression still deadpan. Harley nodded. Ivy sighed. Ivy shook her head before she peered back at the blonde, a small smile playing at her lips, "Doesn't matter. I'm still coming with you."

Harley seemed surprised. She was incredibly sure that Ivy would've blown her top at finding that out. She wouldn't have been so nervous when telling her otherwise.

"You're...okay, with that?" Harley asked, obviously tiptoeing verbally as to not step on any landmines, "With the whole, 'I already have someone helping me' thing?"

"Sure," Ivy nodded, "You're using someone to help you. It's not illegal. But I'd still like to be there because - and don't take offense to this, Harley - you're dreadfully bad at knowing what's good for you. Just look at your relationship with the Joker--"

"--Hey!" Harley shouted in complaint but Ivy ignored her and carried on.

"--That just shows your lack for insight into who's a good person for you and who's a bad person who's, you guess it, bad for you," Ivy let go of Harley's arms and returned to a ramrod straight posture, "Which is weird," the redhead said, an eyebrow arched as she looked at Harley, "Because you used to be a psychiatrist. You should be able to see bad people a mile away."

Harley pouted at the last part, "Not my fault..." she mumbled before getting a no-nonsense stare from Ivy. This caused her pout to fade away, "I mean, I'm glad to have you come along with me and Catboy!"

This caused Ivy to stop and compute what she'd just heard.

"...Catboy?" she asked, a somewhat confused look on her face.

Harley nodded, "Yup! He wouldn't tell me his name but he wears this cute cat mask for kids, so I call him Catboy!" she beamed a smile at her roommate.

Ivy stopped, frozen, "Cat...boy, and wears a kid's animal mask?" she asked, more to herself as her eyes grew wide, "Harley..." she said, her tone serious, "You...you didn't kidnap a kid and go gallivanting around New York, did you? Please for the love of God tell me you didn't show a kid the image of you killing goons!"

"What?!" Harley's eyes went wide, "No! Catboy is a full-grown man! He's tall, got a deep voice, built like a Greek God! The sort of guy you like, Pam--He's not a little boy or anything!" Harley flushed red in embarrassment, waving her hands in front of her in denial, "Jeez, Pam...I know I'm crazy and all, but I ain't THAT crazy. I don't know whether to laugh or feel kinda hurt that you'd think I'd do that..." she trailed off, letting out a weak laugh as she saw the worry evaporate from Ivy's face.

"Thank God," Ivy wiped imaginary sweat from her brow, "I'm alright with you being a crazy murdering clown bimbo...just not that," she reiterated, Harley nodding along in agreement, "You might wanna come up with a different name in the future though. Just to be safe."

The room went silent between the two. The plants had gone back to normal, the Hyenas were no longer whining and had run off back to the living room--the hallway to the door was just quiet.

Until Harley spoke up, anyway.

"Wanna have some pizza for breakfast?" Harley beamed, seeming excited. Ivy just looked at her roommate before sighing and nodding her head before holding her forehead with her hand, like she was having a headache. Harley picked up the phone that was nearby and an idea came to mind as she mischievously smiled. Looking over her shoulder at Ivy who was walking off, she called out, "Hey, Ivy...what kind of pizza do guys usually like?" she asked Ivy, the only friend she really had. Which, to no one's surprise, was also the only woman she knew that had some experience with men outside of psychotic clowns and criminals.

Ivy looked over and spotted the mischievous glint in Harley's eyes and sighed, though she still answered, "They're not a different species, Harley. They have the same taste buds as women. Just don't put pineapple on it, you can never know if people like that or hate it."

Harley nodded before beginning to dial the pizza place. She had to order enough to convince them to send two delivery people.

As the phone rang, she wondered if she could get Ivy to go along with her plan...Eh, she probably would.

. . .

POV Change - Samuel Booker

Setting down on my living room sofa, I switched the TV on and put the white tiger mask down next to me as I looked at the salesman try to sell some crappy product to whoever was watching. Which was me and whoever else was awake at 3 AM in the morning.

Groaning, I stretched my legs out before bringing one of my boots up onto my knee. Looking at it, it was easy to see the somewhat melted rubber bottoms - it'd been where I'd run my electricity across it to burn away any blood on them before I even got close to my apartment building. It was an idea I'd come up with when I really didn't want to burn my boots because of how much I favored them over my other types of shoes.

My ingenious ideas strike again.

I'd gotten so good at burning the blood away, that I'd been able to do it with the rest of my clothes without setting them on fire. I'd fine tuned the electrical currents to the point where they only burned the blood and nothing else. I was actually somewhat proud with the result. Up until this point, it'd always just been me brute forcing things with my electricity. Which usually ended up in destruction. It was only recently that I'd gained the ability to affect magnetic metals with my power.

But now, with the completion of the body tempering stage ever so close, my control over the electricity I generated was sky-rocketing to incredible levels. I could only guess that the next stage would give me even more control over it while also boosting the brute force of the power.

Smiling to myself, I wondered about cultivating but it would have to wait.

Those novels weren't bullshitting - time really did fly by when you cultivated and it was exceptionally hard to tell how much time had passed when you were cultivating.

And I had college in a few hours. I was simply chilling myself out at the moment - in a few minutes, I was going to get into the shower, wash off whatever grime was still on me, and then go to bed. Luckily, I only needed around an hour of sleep to feel fully rested - my enhanced physiology really showing at times like this.

As I'd just taken my boots off, I heard a knock at the door.

I froze.

Someone knocking at 3 AM-ish in the morning? An unannounced visit at times like this were always bad. Robbers, serial killers, police--all of those occasions flashed through my mind before I closed my eyes and took a deep belief.

The first two could easily be taken care of. The latter? The police needed evidence. I had left them none at all.

Standing up, I silently made my way over to the door as the knocking continued. Leaning toward the door, I looked through the eyehole and felt both relief and annoyance pass over me as I saw Harley and another woman dressed in pizza delivery uniforms. The uniforms were a bit baggy in some areas - like the shoulders and lower legs. But in other areas...they were pulled very taut. Mainly around their busts, thighs and asses.

Stolen uniforms, then.

The two of them were holding six boxes a piece. Letting out a sigh, I spoke loud enough for my voice to get through the door but quiet enough that it wouldn't alert my neighbors. Which wouldn't be easy anyway - I took George Stacy up on his offer and had him help me soundproof my apartment.

"Harley," I adressed through the door, "What do you want?" I gruffly said, my annoyance at having my privacy invaded very clear in my tone of voice.

"Pizza delivery~!""Pizza delivery..." Harley chimed enthusiastically while her female friend said in a deadpan, almost bored, tone. Looking at the blood-red hair of the other woman, I had a striking suspicion on who it was. Swearing under my breath, I groaned and gave my reply.

"Get lost. I don't eat food given to me by other people," I said before going to turn away from the door. Harley's hushed shout interrupted me, however.

"Catboy...!" she said, her voice clear enough that I guessed she'd pushed herself up against the door. My enhanced senses told me I was right. She continued, "Open the door before I kick it down! I'll do it, don't think I won't! I've got pizza, so open the door!"

Stopping, I turned around and strode up to the door, "Harley," I started, "If you kick my door down, I'm going to knock you the fuck out."

My threat caused her to go silent before she clicked her tongue, "Well fuck you too, then. No pizza for you, catboy!" she huffed and turned away. Her friend, someone I kinda think I know the identity of, looked at my door for a few seconds before she followed after the seemingly annoyed Harley. Sighing, I turned around and rubbed my face with my hands before dropping my hands back down to my sides.

"Shower it is then," I decided and walked to the bathroom, not bothering to turn the TV off.

. . .

Ten minutes later, I was listening to some music and drinking a coffee on my balcony. Both my mood and Harley's appearance at my doorstep had dissuaded me from sleeping - if she came back and I was asleep, she'd no doubt kick my door down and do something stupid. I wasn't even caring about my identity anymore. If she knew where I lived, she'd be able to find out my identity - I could only hope any trust I placed in her wouldn't be betrayed.

...If it were, however, I'd end her. I could kill her from miles away and she'd never see it coming - I didn't have to worry about it.

I was physically powerful. I could summon, generate and control electricity with but a though--And Harley's crawling over the handrail for my balcony, pizza boxes tied to her back. My fucking God she's persistent...though I don't completely dislike that part about her, I wasn't expecting it to manifest in her climbing 11 floors up the side of a building.

Sighing, I put down the mug of coffee and dragged her over the balcony. The last thing I fucking needed was her slipping and falling to her death from my balcony - that'd link me to the death of an infamous criminal.

Dropping Harley to the floor, I looked over the railing and saw the rosy-cheeked redhead holding her hand up expectantly while she huffed from exertion.

I stared down at her before backing away and looking to Harley, "Help your friend or she'll fall."

Saying this, I walked back over to my seat, sat down and picked up my coffee. I downed the whole mug in a single gulp. I was gonna need the energy, if my instincts were right about the sense of unease I was feeling. The last time I felt this, my aunt forced me to go to my highschool senior dance because she wanted a photo of me in a suit.