[Victoria’s Thought]: The problem with being the savior of the city is that it doesn't actually pay for lunch. My stomach is growling louder than a UMA, and right now, this three-dollar hot dog is the most important mission of my life.
The sun was setting over Sherwood, painting the glass towers in shades of amber and gold. Victoria Vega leaned against a brick wall, her Cyber Watch hidden under the sleeve of her hoodie, feeling the faint, familiar hum against her skin. She took a massive bite, the mustard stinging her tongue—it was the first moment of peace she’d had in weeks. No alarms, no green rain, just the smell of street food and the sound of traffic.
Then, the air started to itch.
[Victoria’s Thought]: That’s the thing about the Cybergem. It never lets you finish a meal in peace.
A static charge rippled through her hair, making it stand on end. The mustard on her napkin began to float, suspended in a localized gravity-well. Victoria dropped the half-eaten bun as the pavement beneath her feet vanished, replaced by a swirling vortex of violet and black. Before she could even scream, the street noise of Sherwood was swallowed by a deafening, metallic roar.
She felt like she was being pulled through a straw.
THUMP.
Victoria slammed onto cold, wet asphalt. The air here didn't smell like Sherwood’s clean ocean breeze; it smelled of salt, old grease, and a century’s worth of secrets. She scrambled to her feet, her eyes darting around at towering, gothic skyscrapers that looked like they were reaching out to choke the sky.
"Where... where am I?" she whispered.
A high-pitched cackle echoed from the shadows of a nearby warehouse. "Oh, a new visitor! A bit tall for a Dormouse, but she’ll fit the tea set perfectly!"
Victoria’s instincts kicked in before her brain could process the location. A small girl, no older than ten, was being dragged toward a black van by three men wearing oversized, nightmare-inducing rabbit masks. Standing over them was a short man in an enormous, grime-covered top hat, waving a cane like a conductor.
"Let her go!" Victoria shouted.
The man in the hat—Jervis Tetch, the Mad Hatter—turned, his eyes wide and frantic behind thick spectacles. "A rude guest! A gate-crasher! Wonderland has no room for those who don't follow the etiquette!"
He gestured with his cane. "Card soldiers! Attend to her!"
The rabbit-masked goons dropped the girl and pulled out high-voltage cattle prods. They moved with a twitchy, brainwashed precision.
[Victoria’s Thought]: I don't know who 'Alice' is supposed to be, but Top Hat just made the biggest mistake of his life. He ruined my lunch.
Victoria tapped her wrist. "Watch—Engage!"
In a blinding flash of violet light, the street-clothes vanished. Shimmering purple plating snapped into place over her limbs, followed by the crystalline, transparent green chest-plate. A domino mask formed over her eyes, and a cape of pure energy unfurled behind her, casting long, emerald shadows against the brick walls.
CYBERGIRL was online.
The first goon lunged. Victoria didn't even use a blast. She caught the cattle prod mid-air, the energy grounding harmlessly against her transparent armor. With a twist of her wrist, she snapped the weapon and delivered a palm strike that sent the "Rabbit" flying twenty feet into a stack of wooden pallets.
"Two left," Victoria snapped.
The other two goons charged together. Victoria leaped, her thrusters kicking in for a split second, and performed a mid-air spin. Her boots, glowing with green light, connected with both masks at once.
CRACK.
They hit the ground hard. The Mad Hatter shrieked, clutching his hat. "This wasn't in the book! This isn't the story at all!" He scrambled toward a fire escape, climbing with surprising speed. "You’ll pay for this, you glowing intruder! The Queen of Hearts will have your head!"
"Get back here!" Victoria started to lift off, her hand manifesting an energy net—but a sharp WHIRRING sound cut through the air.
CLINK-THUD.
A heavy, serrated piece of metal slammed into the brick inch from Victoria’s head, sparking against the stone.
Victoria froze. She looked down. It wasn't a UMA shard. It was a black, bat-shaped blade.
"I don't know who you're working for," a cold, feminine voice echoed from the rooftop above. "But in Gotham, we don't like new players using lethal energy in my neighborhoods."
Victoria looked up. Perched on a stone gargoyle was a silhouette that looked like it was carved from the night itself. The purple-and-yellow cape snapped in the wind, and the white lenses of the cowl locked onto Victoria with terrifying focus.
BATGIRL.
[Victoria’s Thought]: Great. New city, new rules, and I’m staring at a girl who looks like she eats UMAs for breakfast. I really should have finished that hot dog.
"I'm the one who just saved that kid!" Victoria shouted, her hands still glowing green. "Maybe put the toys away and look at the guys I just took down?"
"I see a high-tech meta-human with unregistered tech standing over three unconscious men," Batgirl said, her voice dropping an octave as she leaped from the gargoyle, her cape unfurling like a predator’s wings. "In this city, that makes you a suspect. Let's see how much that armor can actually take."
Batgirl hit the ground in a perfect three-point landing and reached for her belt.
[Victoria’s Thought]: Here we go again.
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