Really sorry about the delay but I promise I'm going to finish it .
Enjoy
"So what now?" Gar asked.
"Perhaps we should try to talk to them?" Kori suggested.
Gar and Vic gawked at her,
"OK and after that, I'll find us some paper bags so we can line up on the street and shout about the end of the world at people who pass by" Gar ranted.
The group fell silent.
Kori and Vic stared at Gar blankly.
"There was a little too much thought put into that" Vic informed him.
Dick remained quiet during the exchange and was staring at a lone figure huddled up, in front of the pond in the park.
It was late in the night and the only light they had was the moonlight, making it impossible to tell anything about the person in the park but he was drawn to them, like he had been the other three.
It was slightly stronger this time, and he wondered if his search was coming to an end.If so, then what would happen once he had his group gathered together?
Well there was only one way to find out, he reasoned.
Meanwhile a ferocious battle raged on.
"Man I warned you about that food! We could all be home by now, but you had to scarf a tray of weird food you couldn't identify, if you don't know what it is, YOU DON'T EAT IT" Vic fumed.
"Friends, please" Kori begged, trying to keep the peace.
"Hey I knew what it was. It was escargot!" Gar shouted back.
Vic looked at him, unimpressed and even Kori shot him an exasperated look.
"OK so maybe I didn't what the French meant...but c'mon! These people are filthy stinkin' rich and what do they do? They march around the place in their fancy tuxedoes and just slurp snails off the wall! Poor snails"
Kori and Vic both looked disgusted and startled by the vivid image Gar portrayed of rich man wandering the streets 'slurping' snails off the wall.
"You truly have a strange turn of phrase"
"Don't get me started on caviar!"
They both shuddered at how he could describe rich people eating fish eggs.
Kori turned to Dick, who was staring intently at the lone figure.
"What do you want to do?"
"I'm talking to them" was all he said, and then he scaled the fence and hopped in.
Kori sighed and followed suit and shortly afterwards the two boys were following her.
Soon they were all standing a small distance away from the figure.
They seemed to be wearing a large hoodie with the hood pulled up and as they had their back to the group, they still had no clue as to the person's identity.
"Hey" Dick began.
The figure didn't move at all and only the sound of a flat, dry and feminine voice allowed them any signs of the person acknowledging their presence.
"Oh joy" the girl drawled, sounding as displeased as one could, using only two words.
Kori, Vic and Gar all glared at Dick, as if blaming him for this unexpected turn.
Dick carried on, undaunted.
"Can, we talk to you for a second?"
The girl rose to her feet, revealing her height.
She seemed to be the same height as Dick which was taller than Gar but much shorted than Kori or Vic.
Clad in a baggy hoodie and loose trousers, both of which were black, all they could tell was that she seemed to be a short enough girl.
"Look, I get that you've been kicked out of your prom, but there's no alcohol or parties here so you may as well just get lost" she told them crisply.
"Hey, we're not here for drinks" Vic objected.
"And we weren't at a prom" Gar added, indignantly. "We were at a charity gala..." he trailed off and turned to Kori curiously.
"Why were we at a charity gala?" he asked her and she merely shrugged in response.
"Charity, perhaps?" she offered.
"You need all the help you can get, little man" Vic teased, as Gar swatted at him.
The actual reason the four teens were at the social event had nothing to do with charity.
Wayne Manor was now home to four teenagers.
Try as he might to ignore their presence at home, Bruce knew that to ignore them or not explain their presence in public would be suicide.
Who wouldn't be troubled by a billionaire playboy living with three extra teens, no explanation given for their appearance?
So to avoid any scandal, he made a show of introducing them to society.
Bruce had sent them home around midnight while he stayed.
It was while they had all be driving home the conversation turned on escargot and once Gar had discovered its meaning, he screeched for the car to be stopped, leapt out and promptly threw up.
"We'd like you to come home with us" Kori began.
"Listen, cheerleader. I'm busy. Run along"
Dick could feel the three glares fixed on him again.
"I am not a cheerleader! I have never led a cheer in my life" Kori sulked, crossing her arms in a huff, earning an amused grin from Dick.
"Busy? You're sitting in the middle of the park in the middle of night! You're the opposite of busy...you're un-busy" Gar objected.
The girl shot him a look and the eyes almost seemed to glow in the moonlight.
"Look girl, we're trying to be nice, so get off your high horse and talk to us without insulting for us for two minutes" Vic said annoyed.
"I'm busy" she repeated.
"C'mon dude, the park will still be here in five minutes and I'm sure all your friends can wait a couple of minutes, right Stanley?" Gar turned and asked the empty space beside him.
"Wow, you're funny" The girl replied, flatly.
Dick had enough of the pointless banter.
"Look something's happening, something big. You can feel it; I know you can because we're all feeling it right now. We need to stick together"
The girl looked taken aback and for a second she looked like she was going to agree when she scoffed and turned away from them.
"I'm going home, I suggest you do too"
And with that, she walked away from them.
No one followed her simply because they didn't know what to say to make her stay.
Dick turned to look at others who were standing around, looking awkward and unsure.
"OK any ideas?" he asked.
Gar waved his hand around like a lunatic.
"That relates to what just happened" Dick added.
Gar's hand fell again.
"We'll think of something" Kori promised with a small smile.
"Failing that, we'll just stalk her until eventually she caves and agrees to come with us" Vic grinned.
The girl, named Rachel walked into her dark house, clicking the door silently behind her.
Her mother rushed down the stairs.
She made a move towards Rachel but froze and stood on the spot looking at her daughter.
"What are you doing out this late?" she demanded, large eyes filled with worry.
"Nothing, mother. I was just in the park" she replied, making her way up the stairs.
"Rachel" her mother cried, causing her to stop and look at her mother.
"Please don't walk away from me, what were you doing in the park this late?"
"Nothing"
"You don't need to keep everything to yourself, you know"
Rachel looked at her mother sadly.
"Yes I do"
That said, she went upstairs and straight into her room, shutting the door.
The following day, Rachel made her way through the park avoiding the joyful children and happy couples like they were the plague.
She wasn't like them and everyone knew it.
She hated people, but why was she still thinking about the people she met in the park last night?
They looked like something right out of a teen movie but they had wanted to talk to her.
Probably the first people in a very long time who wanted to talk to her and black haired guy was right, there was something big about to happen.
But she wasn't about to trust a bunch of strangers, annoying strangers at that.
She'd forget about them, much like they had her.
Of course this would have been a lot easier if they weren't all gathered around the pond, an area usually only she dared to thread, having a picnic.
The short blonde one saw her first and waved at her.
She stalked over to them where she was met with a chorus of hello's.
"What are you doing here ?" she growled.
"Ease up on the snarly voice, girl. We're here to enjoy the sunlight and Mother Nature" Vic grinned cheerily.
Kori, who was lying on her back, stretched out, dressed in a cute pair of shorts and a midriff bearing top, grinned.
She looked to the polar opposite of Rachel who was still dressed in her black hoodie and dark jeans
Even if the clothes highlight the differences, their appearances certainly did.
"I love the sunshine" Kori chirped as she rolled over on her belly.
"So they sounded as different as they looked." Rachel thought to herself.
"Why are you here?" she asked,
"You know you'd actually be kinda hot if you weren't always angry" Gar observed from his spot underneath a tall tree.
Rachel scowled when she noticed Kori was studying her.
Kori stood up and circled Rachel for a few minutes.
"Yes cheerleader. I look different to you, get over it" she snapped causing Kori to stop and give her an annoyed look.
Rachel glared right back at her until Vic stepped in.
"Alright ladies, there's none of us looking for a fight here"
"Yeah give us warning if there's going to be a cat fight, give us ten minutes to find a mud pit " Gar joked.
"I apologise, I did not mean to cause upset" Kori said, sincerely but without the usual warmth her voice usually carried.
"Whatever" Rachel said dismissively.
Dick and Vic exchanged worried glances.
"Look we're just here to get to know you" Dick began, approaching her.
"And if I don't want to get to know you?" she asked.
"Then you don't know a good thing when you see it" Gar replied instantly, flopping down to Kori who looked at Rachel with a raised eyebrow, daring her to contradict Gar.
"I'm Rachel" she admitted reluctantly, crossing her arms.
"Please to meet you Rachel. I'm Dick" Dick held his hand out to shake which only earned him a contemptuous look.
"Hey there lil' lady, I'm Vic" Vic slapped her on the back, knocking her forward a few steps.
"My names Gar but you can me hunk"
"You can call him Gar and that there's Kori" Vic interrupted.
The whole group lapsed into an awkward silence.
Their planning only took them as far as getting the strange loner to tell them her name.
Beyond this, it was anyone's guess.
"So what now?" Gar asked suddenly.
"Is it really this hard for you to be quiet for a few minutes, really?" Dick asked, half amused and half sceptical.
"Never was a fan of silent comedy" Gar replied instantly.
A small giggle, small enough to be mistaken for a hiccup, silenced the group.
Everyone stared at Rachel as if she grew a second head.
"See dudes, I told you she'd be hot" Gar crowed triumphantly.
Rachel blushed slightly and turned her head away.
She wasn't usually Gar's type but she vaguely reminded him of the moon.
Her skin was so pale and so smooth and it always looked like it had an eerie glow.
Her face was flawless as far as he could tell; she had a small but full pair of lips which liked the rest of her seemed dark, darker than the usual rose pink lips.
She had a large pair of doe eyes of a beautiful shade of amethyst and should length black glossy dark hair which framed her bewitching face, streaks of purple ran through her hair.
She was slightly taller than him and looked utterly lost in her jumper and jeans.
"So we a club now or something?' Vic asked, distracting Gar from his shy study of Rachel.
Rachel was about to say something particularly nasty when the sound of ringing cut her off.
Dick looked puzzled as he fished his small black mobile phone out from his pocket.
His expression grew more confused as he looked at the screen.
The group gathered around now.
"Hello?"
"My, my Dick, you have been busy" a smooth voice drawled.
Dick's eyes narrowed and Kori who had been standing next to him drew away with a gasp.
"Do send my regards to dear Kori"
"Who are you?" Dick demanded.
There was no reply.
"What do you want us for?"
"Oh a great many things but for now, I only want one thing"
"If you think we're going to do ANYTHING for you, you are…"
"Be at the Gotham train station at three o clock tomorrow. You'll find all the answers you're looking for, and if you do not attend, well I'll have to find you again, won't I?"
Kori shook her head at him, as if telling Dick they couldn't meet him like that again.
"And what if"
"Bring all your friends Dick, or I may have to bring them all myself"
"Wait!"
The phone line went dead.
In a fit of rage, Dick flung his phone at a tree which shattered on impact.
"Yeah um I hate tele - sales too" Gar joked feebly.
"OK what's going on?" Vic growled.
"He wants us all the train station tomorrow at three"
"Who?"
"Dick..."
"I'm going, I want answers and people could get hurt if we disagree"
"So that's it? You just decide we go and we all go?" Vic asked
"That's it" Dick replied and walked away from them.
Kori rubbed one her arms sadly.
"Why is he being like this?" she asked, softly.
To be continued.
Lots of love Nibbs