DC Genesis

Neal raised an eyebrow. "That's awesome, glad to hear that they managed to work it all out," he said before lightly grabbing Nico's hand and starting to lead her away from the apartment building and to his car. Neal took his phone and threw it in the car, before offering Nico to do the same. Whether she did it or not, Neal was okay either way.

As they left the apartment area, Neal looked over at Nico and smiled. "So, do you wanna get food or just see where the road takes us?" he asked as they walked. "Oh, and did you hear about the shooting that happened earlier today? Apparently some guy was gunned down by four men. Nothing was taken from the store though so they thought that it was a professional hit of some kind."

"The opera? My god, Rose must really like this girl," Neal said as he was certain that the opera was something that she would never consider if someone wasn't twisting her arm in some way. "I'm glad though, Rose does seem to be in a much better mood then I've ever seen her in," Neal admitted as they started to walk down the street.

"Yeah, my dad was called in to the scene. They're trying to figure it out now. Though I think they're going to have a break in the case. They think that there was a witness of some kind there, they're trying to track him down before the press get any word of it," Neal said before they turned the street corner and began to head down the long streets of Gotham.

"I hear ya," Neal said as he took a bite of his own, which was covered in macaroni and cheese. It sounded strange, but once he got a smell of it he had decided to give it a try. Once purchased he had nearly eaten half of it before realizing that he was going through it too quickly. "I have never eaten at that place before, but I think we should go there more often."

Neal raised an arm and wrapped it around Nico lightly. "Are you having fun so far?" he asked.

Neal let out a bit of a laugh as he felt a blush come to his face. "Yeah I know you're right, sorry. I guess that I just like to hear you say it," he said as he looked over towards Nico. He was taking a risk with this idea, and he just wanted to make sure that he wasn't boring her or anything like that. "So I've been meaning to ask this, but you'd say we're official now right?" he asked as he looked over at her. " I know we've only had one date, but I feel like you and I both have a really strong connection with one another. If you're game, I would love to be your boyfriend."

Neal happily returned the kiss, glad that Nico was being cool about how nervous Neal seemed. He supposed that he just really wanted to make sure that things were going well, he liked Nico more than he had anyone in a really long time. The fun he had with Rose was one thing, but the emotional connection he had with Nico was just so strong. He loved every moment that they spent together.

"Sorry, don't know why I'm so jumpy," Neal said as his normal smile fully came back. "You're right though, I should just relax and enjoy myself," Neal said before something happened that would make that statement seemed rather pointless.

Gunfire, and lots of it.

Neal turned as he heard where the gunshots were coming from. Neal hadn't realized it as they were walking, but they had walked down one of the smaller areas of Gotham. It wasn't quite Crime Alley, but Neal started to remember stories of some serious stuff happening here. Neal suddenly became very nervous as he realized that there were not a lot of people in the streets.

"Die you piece of shit! Tell Cobblepot he can go straight to Hell!" a voice suddenly shouted. From a nearby alley, a man was suddenly thrown out in to the streets and crashed on to the pavement. Soon afterwards, a man donned fully in black walked out with his pistol still aimed at the man. After a moment, he seemed to realize that the man wasn't getting back up.

"Bette, S.S, we're moving out of here," the man said as he motioned down the alley. Soon, two women along with an elderly gentleman made their way out of the alley. With the exception of the old man, the three people in front of them all seemed to be armed with quite a heavy bit of gear. Whether it was their armor, weapons, or anything else, it looked military in nature. The older man on the other hand appeared to be in his fifties, hobbling after the two women that seemed to be helping him move. As Nico and Neal would see, the man had been shot in the shoulder and was bleeding very heavily.

"Thomas he isn't going to get far unless we patch him up," one of the woman said as she looked to the man in front of her.

"I'm aware of that, but we have to keep moving. There's no telling how many more men Cobblepot is willing to throw at us until he's dead. We keep moving until we're certain we're safe. Do you think you can do that?" Thomas asked the old man who gave a quick nod.

It was at this point that one of the women, whose face was completely covered up, seemed to notice that they were being watched. Within a moment she suddenly drew out a knife and pulled it back as if she was about to throw it.

"S.S.!" the man known as Thomas shouted before grabbing her wrist. "Keep your cool on they're just kids!" he shouted at her before looking over to where Neal and Nico now stood. "Unless those hot dogs are guns in disguise I doubt that we have anything to worry about," he said as S.S. placed her knife back where it came from.

"I apologize," S.S said in a thick accent that Brazillian (not to be confused with Russian). "You two should get out of this area, it is very dangerous for the both of you if you get involved."

"I could not agree with you more," Neal said before taking Nico by the hand. "Let's get the hell out of here," Neal said before turning to go back down the way that they came. Leaving didn't seem like it was going to be that easy. From the other end of the street, two black vans suddenly pulled in and began to speed down towards them.

"God damn it that Cobblepot is a persistent bastard," Thomas said before running forward. "Get behind us!" he shouted as he ran in front of Nico and Neal, clearly motioning for them to fall back. He quickly pulled out the pistol that was strapped to the holster on the side of his chest, immediately firing upon the cars as they came. The bullets began to pierce the windows of the cars, making them turn to the side in order for the drivers to avoid getting their heads ripped off.

"Get behind us, we'll keep you safe," Bette said as she moved forward along with S.S. Neal and Rose were just left standing with the old man as they watched the battle taking place. S.S used a pistol similar to Thomas' but it seemed to fire many more bullets. It was clearly fully automatic. Bette on the other hand went for bigger guns. She pulled out a grenade that was strapped to her belt before throwing it as hard as she could. Neal was stunned to see that it got as close to the cars as it did. The explosion seemed to stop the hail of bullets for a moment, but it didn't get close enough to do any real damage.

"Back down the alley now!" Thomas shouted as he quickly ejected his current clip before loading up another one in its place. The enemy had already started to fire back again, causing the group to move even faster down the alley. As much as Neal wanted to find a way out of this it seemed like they didn't have much choice but to stick the people that seemed willing to protect them.

"This way Nico," Neal said before quickly pulling her down the alley. While the three soldiers seemed to be holding off Cobblepot's men, the older man accompanying them was hunched over and breathing heavily as he clutched at his shoulder. He was red in the face and seemed to be sweating profusely. Apparently all of this stress wasn't good for him, it was amazing how that combined with a bullet to the shoulder tend to make a guy look like he was on death's door.

Originally Neal was just going to take Nico and run, but he couldn't help but look at this man that seemed to be in such agony. Neal's eyes looked back to Thomas and the women as they continued to be fighting to protect them. They could turn and run, but Neal felt compelled to stay for just a bit longer.

"Nico...he looks like he's in a ton of pain," Neal whispered as he looked towards his girlfriend. He was whispering so that no one would hear them, though the gunfire hid their voices plenty well. "Can't you do something for him?"

The spell was cast quickly enough, and instantly the man seemed to start to slow his breathing down. The spell was helping. He slowly looked up and glanced from Neal to Nico. "Who are you two?" he asked as his eyes narrowed suspiciously. When someone was able to say something and make your pain go away, there was clearly something going on.

"Just call us good people," Neal said as he wasn't really inclined to tell a stranger who he was. "My question is who are you, and why are so many people trying to kill you?"

The man gave a heavy sigh. "Earlier today, I witnessed a group of Cobblepot's men gun down a man in broad daylight. Not only that, but I saw some of their faces. They left before they noticed me, but somehow they learned that I had seen them. I think Cobblepot might have paid the owner off," the older man explained before giving a heavy cough.

"He wants me dead because Cobblepot himself was there. He was the man that shot the poor bastard down. He was wearing a mask, but he lifted it as if he wanted the guy to see him....those three want me to openly testify against Cobblepot to send him to jail. At the rate I'm going though, that isn't going to happen."

Neal's eyes were wide by the time the man finished his story. So he was the witness, now this was all starting to make sense. "Nico, we need to help this man get to the police alive. Do you realize what his testimony could do to this city?"

"Right sorry," Neal said as he realized that he was getting too caught up in this to realize that he wasn't explaining to Nico why this was so important. "Cobblepot is a gangster basically. He controls areas of the city through crime and murder, the police have been trying to get a hold of him for years....and apparently he realized how big of a mistake he made today. If we can get this guy to court, they might be able to put him away for good."

The gunfire soon ceased. Bette was the first one to come back, wanting to check how everyone was doing apparently. "Are you all alright? No stray bullets or anything like that?" she asked as she looked towards everyone.

"No, I think that we're fine Bette," the old man said with a small smile as he wiped some of the sweat from his brow. Apparently without feeling the pain, he seemed to be feeling a lot better. "These two were willing to help me as I lay here. If you could help them get out of here safely, I'd be appreciative."

Bette gave a small nod in the direction of the older man. "Understood Ron," she said before turning towards where her comrades were. They were lining the area to make sure that no one was immediately watching them. While it seemed like they won the gunfight, they had definitely not killed all of Cobblepot's men. They would be back eventually.

"You two should get out of here as soon as you can then," Bette said before looking at Neal and Nico directly. "You'll be safe if you go in the opposite direction of us."

"We want to help," Neal suddenly blurted out without even thinking. He seemed to catch himself by surprise with his outburst. His feelings had just taken over. Just knowing all the stuff that Cobblepot had done for so many years...it made Neal want to make sure that this old man got to the police. If they could protect him until court, maybe Cobblepot's influence on this city could be greatly reduced.

"HA! You two help?" S.S. asked as she walked over to join in on the conversation. "I admire the enthusiasm kid, but how on earth could you two possibly help us?"

When the spell took effect, Bette and Ron turned in surprise as they saw S.S. now truly covered in syrup and feathers that had spawned out of nowhere. For a long time no one said anything, and a silence filled the air. Surprisingly, the first one to make any noise was S.S. herself.

It was laughter.

Bette and Ron glanced at each other as if they appeared surprised that S.S. could be made to laugh at all. Eventually S.S. finally let the laugh die down as she looked at herself. "Well I certainly hope that was just a minor demonstration. If that's your actual power, that would be quite unfortunate....is it magic?" she finally asked as she began to pluck at the feathers. "I've only encountered a magic user once or twice, but I think you remind me of them," she said as she lightly began to pick at the feathers.

"What are your names? I'm Scandal, though I usually go by S.S." Scandal said as she kept her eyes on Neal and Nico. Neal had yet to showcase his power, so Scandal was still curious about him. If he had been the one to volunteer, he must have some ability as well.

It was at this time that Thomas came back. "Alright I think they're trying to regroup. Now would be the best time to..." but he stopped as he saw the condition that Scandal was in. "Uh...why do I have the feeling that I missed something?"

"Much appreciated, if you left that in my hair I'm not sure how happy I would have been in a minute," Scandal said as she leaned up against the wall of the alley that they were in. She turned to Thomas and quickly explained the situation and what they had learned.

Thomas was quiet for some time, thinking it all over as he looked at Neal and Nico. Neal also explained what he could do, might as well considering that they were going to be working together. "Well, I'm not going to say no as long as you two know the risk. We'll do what we can to protect you, but I can't even guarantee that we'll all make it."

At Nico's suggestion Bette chimed in. "It's not that simple I'm afraid," she said as she looked at Nico. "Cobblepot has paid off some of the police. There's no telling who would be on our side, and who would sell us out," she remarked. "However, we know of one cop on the inside that we can definitely trust. We're meeting him at a place not far from here, The Bare Truth. It's a strip joint. From there he's going to give us the information on where to transport Ron where he'll be safe until things quiet down," Thomas explained as he laid out the plan. "If we get Ron off the grid, Cobblepot might just leave town. He knows how damaging Ron's testimony will be."

Scandal looked over at Nico. "If you take us to The Bare Truth that will be plenty of help. We can figure out where to go from there."

Once the group arrived they didn't stand still for long. Thomas quickly lead Ron and the girls forward before entering the club. Neal and Nico of course didn't take long to follow, as Neal used his illusion powers in order to slightly make them look older along with changing their identification to match their appearance. Once they got in, they saw that Thomas and Bette were taking Ron towards the back of the strip joint. They seemed to be moving with purpose, most likely to find their contact.

On the other hand, Neal and Nico would notice Scandal sitting at an area where a dancer was currently working. The woman on stage seemed to be in amazing shape. Not only for that of a dancer, but the muscles on that woman made it clear that she was strong too. She wore a dark forest green bikini as she danced around the pole and on stage, her long red hair swirling all around her as she moved.

"So....what do you think we should do while we wait?" Neal asked as he glanced at Nico. "Do you think we should follow Thomas and Bette, or should we stay with Scandal?" Neal asked as the woman on stage moved in to more of the intimate parts of her routine.

Scandal's eyes didn't even look like they were blinking. They were fully focused on the woman up stage. Scandal placed some bills up on stage for the woman, which she gracefully received. Nico would probably catch the smile that came to the woman as she eyes Scandal, even giving a wink before going back to her dancing.

"Owowowowowowow", Neal said as Nico grabbed him by the ear and pulled him away from the woman that was dancing for Scandal. "Alright, you made your point let go already," Neal said as he finally broke Nico's hold upon his ear. Damn that hurt more than he thought it would. "Sorry, that was a dumb question," Neal admitted as they walked to try to figure out where Thomas and Bette were.

Eventually, they found Bette sitting outside of a door. She glanced up as the two of them approached. She gave a nod and a smile before motioning to the door. "Ron and Thomas went inside in order to meet up with our informant. He's a smart guy that used to work with us. He left though and eventually joined the GCPD," she explained before motioning over to a couple of chairs that she was offering to them.

"So I gotta ask, you two a couple?" Bette asked with a smile as she looked at the two of them. "I thought I recognized a date when I saw one, but you two have been full of surprises tonight."