This DCverse is Maddening

Albert stayed in that filth for well over an hour, sludge leave its mark across his skin and clothes. After fighting back his gag reflex multiple time, he finally salvaged his breakfast. The thick streams of foul air clung to the inside of his nostrils didn’t help his case what's so ever.

‘I need a bath…’

“Meeooww.”

Jumping in start, he looked over and locked eyes with a pair of big yellow slit eyes. A thin alley cat sat on its haunches, its fur as black as midnight. Lean, dangerous muscles lined its frame in the ambient glow of the street lights. A large scar cross over the side of its head and ended just under its cheek.

‘Why does this cat look...amused?’

Indeed, with its half-lidded eyes and the quirk of its head, the black cat looked upon him with human like amusement. Its whiskers twitched slightly in the warm breeze. There didn’t seem to be a collar on its neck, of if there had been one it was long gone.

“Hey bo-” The cat hissed angrily causing Albert to quickly amend his words,” Okay girl..”

He always was more of a cat person. Don’t get him wrong, dogs are cute and all but cats are just a ball of arrogance and fluff. Like a tsundere. They would cry for your attention until they go it and then ignore you. Reach his hand out, he slowly inched it closer and closer under her watchful yellow gaze. And just as his limb was within reach, with a mere blur a stinging pain slashed across his hand.

Quickly snapping his hand back, he saw a line of bloody scratches across his palm.

“I hope these don’t get infected..”

He chastised himself. Warily eyeing the cat now licking the blood off her claws, Albert the pulled out his phone and tried to triangulate where he was. It only took him a second to realize these alleys weren’t on any modern map. A glaring black hole in its entirety. A result of rapid urbanization and corruption.

“You wouldn’t know how to me get out of here?”

He asked the cat next to him. Not really expecting much of anything in response. Maybe she would keep on grooming herself.

The cat looked at him inquisitively for a few moments before hopping off the dumpster and stalking away. More akin to a tiger in its jungle than an alley cat. She looked back to his bewildered face after a few steps, and he could’ve swore the stupid cat had roller her eyes at him. He got the message though and followed behind his new guide.

It was probably a sight to see, a dirty teenager following in step with a mangy feline like a duckling to its mother.

‘Surprisingly, this isn’t even weirdest thing that has happened to me this week…’

Albert mused.

Every once and awhile as they ducked in between nearly identical brick walls, the cat’s ear would twitch in a random direction and would stop for few seconds before continuing on her way. They hadn’t come across anyone in their through this urban maze, and given how he look/smelled at the moment it was probably a good thing. It didn’t take long for him to recognize the familiar alley he had first ran through to escape the thugs. The clean-ish sidewalk was like a breathe of free air for his nerves. The passing cars and overhead street lights gave him a slim veneer of safety. A mere illusion he knew, but he couldn’t get rid of his hardwired instincts. Light good, darkness bad.

“Thank you,” He said down to his savior. Who apparently found grooming herself more appealing than to acknowledge him. Albert wasn’t too peeved at the dismissal, he knew all cats acted like this. But he wouldn’t let this debt go unpaid without some effort on his end,” Wait here, I’ll get you something..”

Albert looked around the dark street and locked onto a nearby convenience store. After a few minutes he exited the store with a single item, the cashier had held their nose time he was in the store. He was a little surprised to see the alley-cat still in her original position. Sure that all he would be met was an empty alley way. She sat on her haunches and even though she probably didn’t come up to his knew, somehow still looked down on him imperially.

He crouched down to her level and pulled out a small plastic container.

“I would’ve gotten you something like tuna but I don’t think you get a lot of fresh fruit out there..”

And he popped off the top to expose the light scent of watermelon to the night air. She only looked on him warily, getting the message he took a steps away from the fruit slices. Couldn’t blame her, who would want eat anything if someone nearby smelled like garbage. Tentatively, the cat sniffed the fruit and took a small bite. It didn’t last long after that, causing Albert to smile at the sight.

“Thank you again.”

Albert said while going on his way quickly, know that he would need to reach the shelter before it closes if he wanted to scrub away the filth off his body. The sound of a cat lazily meowing filled his ears as he turned the corner.

***********************************************************************************

Albert looked at the steam covered mirror like he normally does every morning. A teen with a slightly too big nose and too small eyed stared back in him. His thin, stick like frame definity wasn’t helping his appearance. With all these flaws, it made him slightly less attractive than someone in his age group. Don’t get him wrong, he wasn’t a piece of art in his past life either but still..

‘Status’

[Albert Nelson

HP: 20/20

MP: 9/9

SAN: 42/45

LCK: 45/45

IP: 1

Skills:

- Appraise: 25%

- Art/Craft (Photography): 55%

- Disguise: 20%

- Fire Arms (Handgun): 60%

- Library Use: 60%

- Listen: 30%

- Navigate: 14%

- Occult: 35%

- Psychology: 50%

- Spot Hidden: 60%

- Stealth: 41%

Talents:

- Resourceful

- Lucky

Cthulhu Mythos: 0%]

He was a bit surprised at the skill increase to his Stealth, no matter how minuscule it was. Albert had spent that whole night coming up with a reasonable theory. His skills grew better when they were used in practical situations and experienced explosive growth in dangerous times. He had wondered what would’ve happened if he combined an IP while in a dangerous situation. But given how valuable it these points were, he wouldn’t squander them yet.

‘Danger equals Growth, what an insidious system…’

This made him remember exactly what this system was based on. It felt as though some malicious being was dangling this carrot in front of him, urging him to take on more dangerous risks. It had officially woken him back up from the stupor and mystique of this new world.

‘Speaking of danger…’

The situation from the other day had also made him readily aware of. His own protection was lacking. He had prepared salt to ward off ghosts for goodness sake but he hadn’t even accounted for, the more arguably, danger in the form of flesh. Humans. Not meta-humans, mages, or aliens. Just normal humanity and all the cruelty it can dish out. The memory of almost being gunned down must’ve been subconsciously suppressed to the level that he hadn’t prepared anything in-case he inevitably came in conflict with another human. And given the city he was in, it wouldn’t just end with a bruised body and ego. It would fine his cooling corpse on the pavement.

Yesterday, he had decided to try to look into some sort of protection he could get his hands on. And almost immediately hit a roadblock. His high Fire Arms (Handgun) skill seemed like a good idea while he was transitioning here, given his lower stats, but how can a sixteen year old get a gun? He had found out he would need a concealed carry permit to even buy a gun legally. And to buy one under the table? The price would from crippling for his finances to not a frozen a day in hell. If the cost wasn’t so exuberant, Albert also wasn’t anywhere near ready enough to make deals with anyone from the underground of Gotham.

He also knew carrying a conventional weapon could get him kicked out of the shelter, so no guns or knives. It really didn’t leave a lot of options in that regard. Until he got his own place to stay, he would be a bit more creative in his self-dense. Albert internally cursed his stupid past self,’ Why couldn’t you have deign to put some points into the Brawling skill?!’

Alas, pumping more time and resources at this time wasn’t a viable option.

He sighed in resignation, this world definitely wouldn’t give him the time to develop properly. Slinging the warm towel over his should, he opened the door only to come face to face with familiar hazel eyes.

“Marceline? What are you doing here?”

He asked warily. Sure he might be on speaking terms with the girl, but that didn’t mean she could just pop up out of nowhere after his shower. He believed anyone would’ve been just as cautious as he was being.

“We have to meet up with the rest of the group,” She looked on anxiously,” We got the list and made some calls.”

“Already? I thought we were just doing information gathering?”

“I know, we got a little too excited and now it’s coming back to bite us. Lets walk and talk.”

Marceline waved him forward as she began to walk out of the shelter. Shrugging and tossing his towel into a nearby bin, he followed her speedy pace. He waved goodbye to the nearby staff members has they left the relatively warm environment into the chilly air of Gotham.

Albert hugged at his arms as they sped through the morning street of the waking city, eyeing the nearby alley ways for not just those purple bandanna's but also for those familiar yellow slit eyes. He had of course done some research on the thugs and found some...disturbing news. It turns out, they were apart of a small called the ‘The Violet Devil Riders’.

From his findings, they were originally just followed the good ol’fashion shake em’ down biker gang. They stuck too mugging some people for money, annoying but nothing too dangerous. But that had changed when Black Mask was arrested, they went from mugging to burglary and more violent actions. Instead of bruises and empty wallets, they escalated to cracked skulls. And apparently this wasn’t unique either. A large number of gangs had started to rapidly expand their territory. As to why these small gangster think they can hold on to that much territory was a mystery to Albert. It only made him more glad that he followed his instincts and ran from the encounter. Those guys would’ve done nothing good to him, that he knew..

Albert had also been keeping an eye out for that smart alley cat. No matter how hard he looked, not even a hint of her presence remained. Even going back to that alley hadn’t brought up anything of note. The only thing that verified that he hadn’t gone through a psychotic episode were the half-finished watermelon slices. He had threw his hands in the air and decided to let their paths meet again naturally in the future.

“So I heard some of the staff talking yesterday…”

Marceline hedged, breaking him out of his thoughts.

“Oh?” Albert asked, pretending to not know anything,” What about?”

“Apparently, you came in covered in trash and smelling like a dumpster?”

She decided to go for the jugular, causing him to flinch at her bluntness. Yes he had received a wide birth when he came stumbling in the shelter that night. The same gruff woman had given him a verbal lashing and practically locked him in the bathroom. She didn’t even humor the idea of keeping the ruined clothes and just tossed them. He was grateful that the older woman hadn’t asked any questions. But that didn’t stop her or anyone else from telling the story.

“It was an unfortunate experience..”

He decided to stop playing coy, and slumped his thin shoulders.

“What happened?”

She asked.

“I ran into some trouble on my way back to the shelter.”

“Is it related to the case?”

Marceline actually began to look a tad concerned.

“No,” Albert waved away her concerns,” It was just some muggers.”

“Oh,” Now she looked a bit confused,” Then why did you smell so bad?”

“I ran of course,” Now it was his turn to look confuse,” I don’t have a lot to my name to begin with, so why would I voluntarily give it up? So I ran and hid in some trash.”

“And that worked?”

“Worked well enough, I still have everything so it was worth it.”

“Did you get a good look at them?”

“Not really, they wore purple bandanna's over their mouths.”

“Increased gang activity is normal whenever a big shot gets arrested,” She nodded,” It should settle down soon.”

“Yeah it shouldn’t take long for Batman to take care..” He stopped in his musings as he saw the incredulous expression on her face,” What?”

“You,” Marceline started slowly,”Actually believe Batman exists?”

“Yes..?” Albert said, giving her a stupefied look.

“I didn’t think you bought into that urban legend,” She snorted,” That some buy dresses up in a bat costume and fights crime?”

“Then what about…?”

“Sparks have observed and tested,” She crossed her arms,” Their hasn’t even been an actual photo of the cape. It’s like those rumors of some guy in a green suit over in Star City.”

Albert decided to drop the conversation, there wasn’t already enough information for him to chew on.

‘It seems neither Green Arrow nor Batman has made a public appearance yet, but if Black Mask was trying to steal Kryptonite then that means he’s aware of Superman. Meaning the chances of the Justice League existing, is incredibly high…’

The youth didn’t want to continue to draw attention to his ignorance by outright asking Marceline about the League. It would make some amount of sense for the guild to stay out of the limelight and out of those super human's way.

The two continued to walk in relative silence until they entered the familiar storefront of Coffee Stains. With the jingle of the door bells, a joyous voice greeted them.

“Good morning! And Welcome to Coffee Stains,” The old man got a good look at the two,” The regular Marceline?”

“Good morning Jeremiah!” She smiled kindle at the older gentlemen,” Yes and could I get one of your muffins?”

“No problem,” The old man then looked in Albert’s direction,” What about you kid?”

“Good morning, I’ll take one too.”

“It should take a few minute so on and sit somewhere. Having you guys hover over me while I work makes me twitchy.”

The two teenagers rolled their eyes at the man’s antics, Albert had never ever seen the smartly dressed man spill a single drop. Making him envious of this man’s level skill and curious as to what the man used to do to get that good.

The youths eyes landed on the group of lounging teenagers in various degree of wakefulness. Angeline looked as though she was struggling to not fall asleep into her cup of joe. Her hair looked disarrayed and haphazardly put together. Normally ironed clothes were replaced by loose sweatpants and a sweater.

“Hey Lin,” The medium comforted her friend,” Didn’t get much sleep?”

“No,” The blonde groaned,” I was so nervous about today that I couldn’t get a wink of sleep..”

“Do you want to reschedule?”

“No,” Angeline shook her head vehemently,” This will probably be the most interesting part.”

“Does someone want to fill me on what’s going on?” Michael asked,” Lin wouldn’t tell us anything.”

“Y-yeah,” Steve nodded his head in agreement,” W-why don’t you f-fill us in?”

Marceline took a nearby seat and drummed her fingers on the table nervously,” Why don’t you guys go first? We have big news and will probably take up the rest of the day.”

“Fine,” The large teen shrugged,” We found a guy who collects old newspapers, and spent the whole day looking through them.”

` “T-there wasn’t much,” Steve added,”A c-couple of interviews with p-police and case p-progress. M-most of it died d-down when the police deemed her death a s-suicide.”

“Wow there,” The jovial voic3 interrupted,” I didn’t expect to come across something so serious so early in the morning. Let me drop this off and I’ll be out of you kids’ hair.”

The apron wearing man then set down the tray hold two coffees and muffins on the table. And promptly left the group of teens to their depressing discussion.

‘He must have put some crack in this or something, I’m going to get addicted to this soon enough.’

Albert mused, sipping at the pipping hot caramel latte’.

“Well,” Michael coughed to dispel the awkward environment,” We noticed there was huge gap and were told that he would be getting some more newspapers from lesser known sources in about a week. But we did get a picture of the broach.”

“You did?!”

Angeline looked more animated, but that bout of surprise seemed to have taken it out of her. Causing her to slump further into her chair.

“This is what we got.”

The tall teen laid out a singular photo. Making everyone lean in closer to get a closer look. It looked to be a picture of the staff. Their bland faces seemed to merge together and just made them seem like everyday people. They wore a variety of smart wear. There wasn’t anything that really caught the eye, other than a particular thing. Sure some people in the photo wore jewelry but there was only one woman who wore anything on the color of her dress.

The woman looked just as plain as everyone else. Tied back black hair, soft green eyes, and a sharp jaw. No one would call the young woman beautiful nor would anyone call her ugly. She was just….like any one else. Nothing eerie or anything that would indicate that she could become a ghost for so long.

“She’s pretty.” Angeline stated,” Like in a mousy, librarian kind of way.”

Albert couldn’t help but agree internally, and locked gazes with the blonde who nodded in recognition.

‘Ah, a fellow ma-er person of culture…’

“I guess?”

Michael said carefully.

“A-and,” Steve interjected,” The photo wasn’t focused on the b-broach, so I drew it based on what c-could be seen here.”

The lanky teen then set down a large notebook bulging at its seem. It was flipped to a certain page of a broach lightly sketched and detailed to the extreme. It seemed to be in the shape of flower that looked like trumpet. Lined in some kind of small gems, with a single pearl looking to be dripping off of one of its petals.

“What kind of flower is that?”

Albert asked.

“I-it’s a lily,” Steve answered,” From what I can tell a Lilium Philadelphicum or more commonly called, a Wood Lily.”

Albert was a bit awestruck at the drawing, it did look incredibly lifelike.

“Steve is our resident artist,” Michael answered his unasked question,” Got some real talent in it too.”

“He even drew us a portrait of each of us,” The blonde nodded in agreement,” I’ve always told him that art skills like that woul-”

“Let’s give Steve a break,” Marceline giggled,” He’s already as red as a tomato..”

It wasn’t hard to see the lanky teen’s ears and face becoming a darker and darker crimson. Heating up to such a degree that it could be used as a substitute for an oven.

“W-what about you Albert?” Steve asked.

“I got nothing,” He shrugged in defeat,” I didn’t anything and was told that information like that would probably be found in the City Hall Archive’s, something about security.”

“Yeah we did the roster of not just the students but also the staff,” Angeline yawned,” It was so detailed that we even found out who were still in the city.”

“We got in contact with some of them and they agreed to meet with us today..”

Marceline hedged.

“Today?”

Michael exclaimed.

“C-couldn’t you h-have given us a w-warning?”

Steve asked in exasperation.

“We got too excited and might’ve jumped the gun,” The hazel eyed girl had the nerve to look bashful,”I am sorry, but we also have even better news.”

“What?”

Michael really did look a bit peeved in this moment.

“We can’t do it here,” Marceline inclined her head to the counter,”Sparks might cause...fires.”

It took a couple of moments for Albert to parse the information underneath her statement.

‘Something about magic?

“O-okay,” Steve got the message,” Then what’s the plan for today?”

“First,” Angeline held up a finger,” There’s only 2 people alive in the city who were willing to talk to us, both students. We’ll meet up with one in the morning and the other during the evening.”