On The Streets

"New York at last," Carol said in relief as she jumped off the truck and onto a lamp post before looking around. "It's no haven but it certainly is better than Gotham."

New York might be one of the biggest cities in the world but it's maintenance is for shit. Her enhanced sense of smell could already let her smell the awful awful scents floating all around. But, she wasn't complaining, no smell could make her want to go back to Gotham.

"First order of business, dump all of these clothes," she thought. Never underestimate Batman unless you are Darkseid. The mortal could overturn things in a very plot armor kind of way. It was entertaining to her as a reader but it would be very irritating to be on the receiving end. She didn't want to take the chance that he might have slipped more trackers in places she couldn't reach them.

This time, she decided that she would get clothes worth of her current status, broke and homeless. So, she went to the community donation centre and checked out the clothes they had. It was certainly quite shameful to steal from a donation centre but for now, she had to look out for number one.

"These will for now," she thought to herself as she looked at the used clothes she had on. The trousers were torn on the thighs making her wear stockings underneath, the beanie's colours had already faded due to over washing and the other clothes had some wears and tears, just enough to let anyone know she wasn't a well to do person.

"This should be enough," she said. "Next I guess is to deal with her money problem. For the moment, all she could think of is to take a cup and head on to the street, once her Batman scare was over would she think of doing something bolder.

######

New Yorkers were a different breed of people as Carol came to realize. Due to all the shenanigans its populace had seen, they had grown so accustomed to bizarre things they could walk over a corpse and not even think twice. It has been two hours since she started roaming the streets begging for money but nobody had even spared her a second look.

"Fucking hell!" she sighed tiredly as she sat down in an alley and started contemplating life. Her previous life, even though quite hard due to society, she had never been to this level of difficulty!

"You're trying too hard," she heard someone say making her look at the direction and say a girl who had cornrows walking towards her. She was shabbily dressed, somehow like her and she had an empty can of beans in her left hand.

"What do you mean?" Carol asked.

"Out there, you're coming on too strong, very few to none respond to that kind of begging," the girl said as she stood in front of her. "You have to ease them in, make them think it's their idea when they want to o give you money."

"Who are you?" Carol asked, relaxed. If this girl in front of her was anything dangerous then her spider senses would be tingling.

"You are new around here, aren't you? Everyone in our condition knows of me, I'm Elise," the girl said, extending her right arm for a handshake. Carol took it with no hesitance. "You're quite naïve, new girl. Don't worry, the streets will smarten you up. C'mon, I know somewhere we can eat and lay out heads for the night."

"Why are you helping me?" Carol asked as she started to grow apprehensive of the he girl in front of her.

"You are a pretty face and in these streets, pretty faces like yours are the first to be targeted. Just take it as I am investing in you and hoping to profit," Elise answered sincerely.

"You are inducting me into a gang!" Carol blurted out, making Elise wince.

"Why don't you shout louder, I'm sure the whole of New York want to hear you," she chided her before sighing helplessly. "Listen, kid nobody survives alone in these streets. So, you can either be three things, a gang member, a hooker or a snitch. I don't need to tell you what happens to the third one and the second one will definitely mess you up big time. So, I'm giving you the easiest and probably the best choice of the three."

Normally, a protagonist would have gone with her thinking he or she can overthrow the gang they are been inducted to but Carol knew otherwise. Once she joins a gang, the only way out will be limited to jail or killing.

"Can I think about it?" Carol asked.

"What's there to think about?" Elise asked with a flabbergasted laugh. She then looked closely at Carol and saw her resolution. "If that's your answer then all I can tell you is good luck, you are going to need it." With that, she walked away from her. Carol sighed in contemplation.

"Fucking hell! Trouble after trouble just keep following me," she said as she massaged her temple.

Just then, she felt a tingle through her body, a subtle warning of on coming trouble. Grading this warning and the warning she got when Killer Croc was after her, she almost thought of ignoring it until four teenage boys walked into the alley, they sights zeroing in on her immediately. Carol immediately knew what is happening, making her let out another sigh as she stood up and approached them.

"Boys," she greeted them.

"You think you're too good to join us, huh?" one of them said as he cracked his fingers.

"No, I don't think I'm better," she answered. "I just think I am too valuable to enter a fledgeling gang." This made them become even more enraged.

"Fuck her up!" their seemingly leader ordered.

"Don't tease a girl with a good time," Carol teased them as she prepared for a fight. But then, she noticed a girl younger than her rushing towards them and sending a flying kick towards one of them, sending him flying away, unconscious. The girl landed onto her feet as her hands were already into action, sending three quick blows to the nearest boy's stomach, making him double over and her knocking him the fuck out with a powerful punch to his jaw. The leader shrinker behind his last lackey as the girl turned to look at him.

"G...Get her!" he ordered his goon who was just as hesitant but the girl did not make a move for Carol was on it. Sending a punch, with controlled strength, onto the goon's face, sending him on lala land then kicking the daylights out of leader with an amateur looking snap kick and they were down.

"Thanks for the assist, kid," Carol said with a grateful smile. She now had a closer look to the girl and she noticed she was half Asian, just like herself. Also, her posture just told her she was well trained and as her Editic Reflexes took shape, she herself found she had adopted the posture flawlessly.

"Hnn," the girl said, reminding Carol of a certain Uchiha brat.

"You don't talk much, huh? Don't worry, I talk plenty for the both of us," Carol said enthusiastically. It was like an extrovert adopting an introvert. Just then, the girl's stomach grumbled almost silently.

"You hungry? C'mon, I'll buy you some food as a thank you," Carol said, taking the girl's hand so that she don't run away and dragged her along. She could feel the girl trying to resist but Carol's strength was just too much.

'If I can become her friend, she can show me how to fight and one of the hurdles I have currently will be gone. Besides, with how ignorant common Americans are, they might think we are sisters. I'll bank on that,' Carol thought as she continued walking.