Gotham Magic by KFGatri and Raven

Episode 1

Prologue

"A Brief Encounter with a Scary Guy"

Debbie watched in amazement while a wicker basket suspended in mid air floated gently down to rest in front of her. Out popped Kasha, the fluffy calico kitten she thought she'd never see again, after her family moved to their new house. A small note read "Take good care of your kitten. St. Tail"

On the ledge above St. Tail smiled as the little girl clutched up the squirming kitten and ran to her mother.

Another job well done and another happy person. She took to the rooftops and bounded off over Gotham towards home.

Suddenly she was overcome by the feeling that she was being watched. As she stopped to look around a cloaked figure appeared in the shadows before her. She ducked quickly away, narrowly avoiding a bola which skidded across the rooftop. Ducking down, she took cover behind a blocky commercial air conditioning unit. Watching from her hiding spot, she saw him give a cursory glance her way and then off into the distance. There in the cloudbank, shining like a golden beacon, was the Bat-signal. With a moment's hesitation, he turned and fired a grapple and with a flourish of his cloak, he swung off into the distance. The moon broke through the clouds and illuminated her attacker's distinctive black and gray costume, giving her a good view for the first time. Slumping down behind the compressor, her heart lodged in her throat, Saint Tail realized that she had just barely escaped the Batman.

Episode One

The New Kid

"A Boy Goes To a New School and Meets a Very Interesting Girl"

Tim examined his schedule and tried to derive the location of his next class before the late bell rang. Starting high school was tough enough and being three weeks late did not help matters at all. Coming back from some extra martial arts training abroad had already made him late by two weeks. And the weekend he was supposed to spend with his girlfriend Kory had turned in to a week-long mission with the whole gang. Tim wandered down the hallway lost in thought. Well being late, I guess, is a small price to pay for saving Manhattan again. Yeah, I thought this would be exciting, sure. Join the long underwear brigade and have exciting adventures. Have all your dates with your girlfriend turn into missions to save the world. Yeah, great. Suddenly, he collided with someone and went sprawling across the floor in a shower of papers and books. He looked up at a girl with long red hair and blue eyes, staring daggers at him. In unison, they blurted out, "Hey, you watch what you're doing! Me? You watch what you're doing!"

Hearing the bell, they both gathered up their things in a rush and ran off to their class, arriving at the same class at the same time. The rude redhead dashed across the room and spun onto her stool. Surveying the sea of heads, Tim discovered just one open stool.

The Biology teacher Mr. Guarini said, "Oh hello. You must be our new student. You can take the open seat next to Mimi." He gestured off-handedly toward the stool next to Tim's redheaded assailant. Continuing with class, Mr. Guarini said, "Take out your lab manuals and get together with your partners. Turn to the lab on photosynthesis, on page 47." Tim rummaged through his backpack. Crap, where is my manual? I know I had it a little bit ago. He was starting to panic when he heard a curt voice say, "Excuse me, I'm sure this is yours." Grudgingly, he looked up and took his manual from the outstretched hand of the girl from the hall.

Before he could say anything Mr. Guarini called out, "Well Mimi, it appears you've finally found a lab partner."Hearing that, Tim resigned himself to being her partner. Deciding it wouldn't pay to clash with his new lab partner, Tim decided to make amends. While the teacher started in on the lab procedure, Tim considered his new partner, who adjusting a slim pair of wire-framed reading glasses upon her delicate nose. He had to admit, the glasses gave her an intellectual look that was kind of appealing. Catching him staring, she spun to face him.

"What?!" she snapped.

"I'm sorry about being abrupt with you in the hall. I guess I should have been paying more attention. It's my first day, and this place is like a maze. DO you think we could start over?" Extending his hand, he said, "I'm Tim Drake. Nice to meet you."

Appearing to consider the sincerity of his words, she timidly took his hand. Her features softened, and her grip became firmer. "Mimi Hanover. And I'm sorry, too."

The teacher poked his head between them. "And I'm Jack Guarini. This is a Biology class. Get to work!"

They scrambled to get their lab materials.

Tim had wanted to buy his lunch rather than deal with making it that morning, but after seeing what passed for edible for St. Paulia's, he was glad that Alfred insisted on making his first lunch. He planned to let Alfred continue making it. As he scanned the room for a place to sit, he felt a sharp tug on his sleeve.

"Hey Tim, you can sit with us."

Turning around, he saw Mimi sitting with some of her friends. At least he could only assume they were her friends since he didn't recognize any of them from his classes so far. Except for one dark haired girl who he thought he might have seen in Bio earlier. He pulled up a chair and squeezed in.

Mimi said, "So how's your first day going so far?"

"Smashingly" He replied smugly. "But I've got some catch up to do."

Pointing to the dark haired girl, Mimi said, "Well, this is my best friend, Sarah Monroe. She's in Bio with us. She lives in the convent with the sisters."

"Yeah, I thought she seemed familiar." Tim said.

"And these two are Renee and Karen" She continued.

"Nice to meet you guys. I'm Tim Drake."

"Oh, you live with Bruce Wayne.", said Sarah. "Oh wow the rich billionaire!" blurted Karen and Renee at the same time. "You didn't tell me that!" said Mimi.

"Well, it's not like I go around town telling cute girls that I am the heir to the richest guy in Gotham." Karen and Renee sighed in unison. Feeling a warmth rising in his cheeks, Tim continued, "I kind of wanted to keep a low profile. I just want to be just one of the guys. And I wasn't going to some stuck up prep school with a bunch of snobs."

"Yeah, I can see what you mean. Oh yeah, we should swap telephone numbers to work on our labs." mentioned Mimi. Karen said, "Yeah, that's a good idea! What's your number?" Tim questioned, "Are we even in the same classes?"

"Well, we could be.", she giggled flirtatiously. "Well I stink at bio and I can tell you're a cute - um - I mean smart guy and I can always use some help."

Tim decided he'd had enough. "Well maybe I'll try to squeeze it in between homework and seeing my girlfriend." "Oh. Yeah well that'd be cool too." Karen said, visibly deflating. Waving her hand in front of her two love-struck friends, Mimi fumed, "Hey guys lay off! I invited him to sit with us to make some friends, not to become the catch of the day."

"Protecting your investment, Hanover?"

"Shut up Dan." She snapped. She jumped up confronting a dark-haired boy. "Why don't you mind your own business?"

"Oh, touchy, huh? You must really like him or maybe you just like his money." He snidely remarked.

"You can be such a jerk. He's just my lab partner! I didn't even know who he was until just now."

"Well, it's never too early to start sinking your claws into him."

"Are they always like this?" Tim whispered to Karen.

"Yeah this is pretty much normal, although Dan is being a little harsh today. He probably just got his butt handed to him by St. Tail again last night and that always makes him a bit intolerable and Mimi loves to goad him about it. It's like they were married or something."

Tim decided he'd had enough. "Well, it was nice meeting you guys. I've got to go to the library before class."

Mimi glanced at him. "No, Tim, sit. You don't have to go because of Dan. He just feels inadequate because he can't ever catch St. Tail. She's too smart for him."

"Wait a minute! St. Tail isn't too smart for me, she's just been lucky so far!"

"Really, I don't even know why your dad even lets you tag along just because St. Tail baits you with those letters. I guess she finds you amusing, which is more than I can say for you!"

Tim started to get up and leave. Mimi shoved him back in his seat. "I SAID SIT!" ...Crash! Tim's chair tipped spilling him on the floor for the second time that day. "See what you did, Dan? Are you OK, Tim?"

"Oh just peachy thanks." He replied testily. "I think I will go to the library now. See you guys later." he said as he collected himself from the floor.

Mimi ran after him "I'm sorry Tim. Dan just gets under my skin in a bad way."

"Yeah, I can see what you mean. I learn quick - I'll be sure to give you two plenty of room in the future."

"Well, not too much I hope."

"Nah. It's not every day I fall for a girl twice in one morning."

Just then the bell rang.

"Well, got to get to class. See ya tomorrow."

"Ok. - Oh wait here's my number!" Mimi handed Tim a slim slip of paper.

"Wait, when did you write it down?" He said to the back of her head as she bolted down the hallway.

Strange girl. Cute, though. he thought to himself. Whoa, wait you've got a girlfriend remember, stupid? Starfire would roast me alive if she could read minds.

Tim sat in a large Victorian-style chair in the living room in Wayne Manor, perusing his Ancient History text. He looked up to see Bruce Wayne, taking a seat on the couch across from him.

"Welcome back. Sorry I wasn't able to meet your flight in yesterday, but I was out of town. Out of this world, actually. The League had a request for help from Darkseid of all people. So how was Paris?"

"A lot of fun, and very profitable. I learned a lot."

"I'll see how much later." said Bruce with a slight smile. Tim could almost feel the bruises forming already. "I saw the reports on Major Disaster's attempt to destroy New York. You handled that very well."

Tim smiled. "It was a team effort. I'm the leader of the Teen Titans, but the whole team contributed. I couldn't have taken Disaster down by myself."

"True, but I'm still proud of you. So how was your first day of school? Think you'll be able to catch up all right?"

"If I can stay off the floor." HIs guardian's eyebrows eyes raised quizzically, but Bruce apparently decided to let it drop. Tim continued. "I might have to stay home a few nights to do it, but yeah."

"That shouldn't be a problem. When you're finished with your studies, meet me in the Cave. I do have something I want you to look into. A new player showed up while you were away training – a thief called Saint Tail."

That got Tim's attention. Closing his book, he turned towards his mentor "She was mentioned a couple times at school today. No real facts though – just rumors about a female Robin Hood."

"From what I've found out, the rumors may not be far off the mark. Everything she's stolen has turned out to have been acquired illegally. She appears to steal the items to return them to their legitimate owners. She also gives a warning about her next target to a boy in your school, named Daniel . . ."

Excitedly, Tim interrupted. ". . . Anderson Jr.! Yeah, I met him today. He's kind of a jerk. Likes to play detective. He gets these warning notes, and passes them on to his dad, Detective Anderson, with the stipulation that he gets to come along."

"That simplifies things. I want you to keep an eye on Daniel, and find out when he gets a warning from St. Tail."

"You want me to try to capture her?" Tim asked. "If she's helping people, I'm not sure I should."

"No, at least not yet. Just observe her for now. Find out whether she is really just returning stolen items, or if there's more to her operation. If she is what she appears to be, we'll leave her alone. It's not like what we do is strictly legal, after all. I just want to find out what the story is on her. We'll decide what, if anything, to do about her later. I ran into her last week, though I only got a quick look at her. She seemed to be about your age, with long red hair worn in a ponytail, dressed in a costume with a magician theme. She seems to use stage magic as her modus operandi. Also she's very quick, and almost as agile as Nightwing."

"So basically I need to look for a teenage, red-haired Zatanna." Tim laughed. Red hair . . . Nah, that's too much of a coincidence.

Alfred walked in. "Dinner will be ready in 15 minutes. Master Bruce, I hope you'll be able to stay for Timothy's first dinner home."

Bruce grinned. "I think I can manage that. The city can wait an hour or so."

Three weeks later:

Robin crept along the rooftop, carefully using the shadows to avoid detection. Before he set out on this mission, Batman had restated that its purpose was reconnaissance, not capture. He watched as his subject, the thief Saint Tail, landed gracefully on a ledge on the building ahead of him, the Gotham LexInn South hotel. On the ground below his – well, Tim's classmate Daniel Anderson Jr. struggled to keep up on his bicycle. Robin wondered if Dan really knew how dangerous his hobby was. All the evidence pointed to St. Tail being on the side of the angels, but others in Gotham weren't so benevolent.

Suddenly St. Tail turned and scanned the area behind her. Robin quickly pulled his black cape over his costume, attempting to improve his camouflage. Had she spotted him? He waited, unmoving, for a few minutes as St. Tail watched. Then her attention was diverted. Robin saw Dan climb out a window onto the ledge, and move hesitantly toward St. Tail. While the thief was distracted, Robin bat-grappled over to the hotel, and quickly concealed himself in the shadows above.

St. Tail was trying to convince Dan to go back inside. Robin was too far away to hear clearly, but she sounded familiar. Before he could ponder that however, he saw Dan slip from the ledge. He moved instantly, dropping to the ledge next to Saint Tail. With one hand he threw a batarang with a cable attached. He grasped the one of the bars affixed to the nearest window in the other hand. The batarang looped around Dan's waist, and the line pulled taut, stopping Dan's fall. Robin was pulled off the ledge, but his grip on both the bar and the line held. Now what, genius? The line's too short to lower him to the ground, and after pulling my arms like that I can't hold him for long. His shoulders were already starting to hurt.

He nervously watched St. Tail pull out her wand. If Batman was wrong about her, I'm history. She pointed to the ground below Dan and counted, "One . . . two . . . three!" A pile of balloons appeared in a puff of smoke. Robin understood her intention, and let the line slide through his hand, lowering Dan as far as possible. Once the end was reached, he let go, and Dan fell into the balloons, dazed, but apparently unhurt.

Robin swung himself back onto the ledge, and looked at St. Tail, who checked Dan for a moment, then turned her attention to Robin. She was dressed in a black vest with tails, covering a sleeveless white top. Long black gloves reached past her elbows. The vest ended at a short pink skirt, and her legs were covered with black tights. The top portion of her face was covered with a black mask, though her blue eyes were visible, and her long red hair was tied into a ponytail with a black ribbon. She looked a lot like his friend Mimi Hanover. In fact, she looked _exactly_ like . . .

"Mimi?" "Tim?"

To be continued . . .

Authors Notes

We being KFGatri, and Raven have decided to combine our twisted imaginings and throw two animated / comic characters together who of course are nothing alike but we're going to pull it off any way. How did we think of it. Well we were sitting around shooting the sh** thinking of unlikely hero vs. hero and who would come out on top. And we almost split our sides thinking of how although St. Tail is super-

capable in her own show she wouldn't' last five minutes in a match up against the "The Dark Knight"

...Ok... Now get serious and pull yourself together.

Well we thought it would be cool to make a crossover that focused on the two characters that are most similar in age Robin (Tim Drake) and St. Tail.

Well the whole world knows that Batman lives in Gotham so for all of this to work we decided to Americanize the cast from St. Tail.

Mimi Hanover is of course Meimi Haneoka; Daiki Asuka Jr. became Dan Anderson Jr. And some of the characterization has changed a bit.

We're keeping it close but this is a work of art after all and we want our shining talent to show through.

Although the name is the same Robin you may notice some differences between our Shining Hero and the B:AS Robin We wanted something closer to the original comic Tim Drake and especially the version from Young Justice with a splash of Teen Titans tossed in. This series takes place three year after the last season of Batman the Animated Series, AKA "Gotham Knights" And is meant to take place at the

same time as the second season of Justice League, and the first season of Teen Titans, But don't let that be your guide In fact plan on not knowing what the h_ is going to happen next . I'm trying to keep this all age friendly without boring our more Wizened Readers Hence the symbols in place of key letters after all we don't know all the ages of the members of this news group.

That is our concession to Political Correctness. And that's all you're going to get. Oh and beware of future episodes PG 13 scenes. We'll let you know maybe. For the Sanity of the readers of these authors notes we have decided to alternate the writing of said notes every other episodes. Feel free to sigh now. You won't be

punished by these types of author's notes again until episode 3.

Not so Sincerely

Raven

P.S. These Author's notes were written over a decade ago. KFGatri & I are dedicated to completing this storyline, but don't think I've mellowed with age or anything.