Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

The Wayne Legacy: Outtakes

By BetterInTexas

Outtake 10: Battle Royale

Ruby & Violet; Sam, Lena, Kara

Timeline: Somewhere after Epilogue III but before Epilogue VI

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I’m not sure this is a good idea.” Violet said once again, before walking into the school.

“You need to get out. You need to socialize. Tatsu told Mom who told me that you were on par with sophomore level in most subjects. At the rate you are going, we could be in class together next year.”

Violet shook her head. “I don’t want to go to school. I enjoy my instructor. I eat ice cream while listening to her talk about boring books by a man named Shakespeare. She told me the ice cream would make the boredom easier to swallow and she was right.”

Ruby sighed. “I get that. I would love to eat ice cream at school to during class. But…”

“We also eat pizza sometimes. If I do well on a test, we get a pizza from that place on Baker and Vine delivered to us.”

“I love that place. No wonder you study so hard.” Ruby grumbled, thinking Violet really did have a better deal working from home. “But think about what school could offer. You could play sports if you wanted, or be cool and join the robotics teams, chemistry club, biology club, geography and languages club, there is even a debate team.”

“Debating is a waste of time. Arguing is pointless. It only gives warning to your enemy that you are angry and about to react. Best to strike first, hard and deadly if possible, then run. Show no mercy, Ruby. Your enemy will show you none. Always remember that.”

Ruby sighed. “It would also help you get along in group settings and maybe chill sometimes.”

“I chill with you.” Violet replied, looking confused. “Why do I need to chill with others?”

Ruby shook her head, wishing, not for the first time, that Violet wouldn’t be so guarded. Yet Violet had talked often to Ruby, and she knew a bit of what Violet’s hellish life had been like.

When Ruby dragged her to the game room on Saturdays and convinced her to swim, Violet stayed near Ruby, despite her attempts to engage the pretty blonde in conversation with others. Ruby also noticed scars on Violet that reminded her of the hell the blonde had been through in her life.

“You might find you like it. You might find you want to go to school with other people. That not everybody beside me is bad.” Ruby tried again to encourage her friend.

“These are your friends. How am I supposed to act?”

“Just be yourself.”

“I don’t think that is a good idea.” Violet told her, shaking her head.

Ruby thought about it and almost agreed but didn’t want Violet to pretend she was someone else. Ruby loved her for who she was. Others would to.

“Come on. Help me load my robots onto the bus. Nationals at S.T.A.R. Labs awaits us. The best in the nation are going to be there. Mom said S.T.A.R. Labs will be out of business in a couple years and the competition would likely be at Kara’s new research lab. For now, we have to walk into Metropolis like we own it and take home the trophy.”

Violet did as directed.

Sam finally arrived and joined the bus as one of the chaperones rather than a parent following the trail. Of course, with the presence of Ruby’s mom, the bus would be led by and followed by armored SUVs filled with men carrying both large and small guns.

Ruby and Violet sat next to each other, but Ruby talked to other excited students behind her seat, while introducing a nervous Violet. The bus was loud with kids talking over themselves, carrying on conversations from front to back.

Sam was beginning to wish she had taken one of her SUVs. She had invited Lena to keep her company and the woman had graciously agreed to come with her. Lena, however, had been smart enough to bring headphones and had her head leaned back against the seat, eyes closed with a smirk on her face. The bus was not a typical school bus but a luxury liner, provided by Wayne Enterprises, yet the noise reminded her of a typical school bus.

Sam had taken the day off, yet when you were Vice President of Wayne Enterprises, you were never really off. Her phone buzzed and she talked to Vanessa who had a question about a caller Sam told her to put through.

After greeting the caller, Sam listened for a moment, then sighed internally. “Mr. Clayton, I do appreciate your desire to open five Mr. Burger restaurants in North Dakota. While I realize you will take on franchise costs, we would still be responsible for logistics. Our Mr. Burger franchises run from the East Coast to Los Angeles, but there are no restaurants in upper Mid America. North Dakota is very sparsely populated. I would have to dedicate a truck to make a regular resupply route from our Louisiana distribution facility to North Dakota. That is a very long drive, meaning it is costly and we would make little profit on our license.”

Sam listened for a moment more.

“Worth my while? Opening six more in Fargo would not help. That would mean I would need at least two trucks to make the trip, doubling pay and fuel costs, still cutting into my license fee. You would have to pay me more in licensing than other states and you aren’t sure you have the population to sustain that many restaurants.”

Sam nearly growled when a balled-up piece of paper struck the back of her head while chaperones told kids to stop throwing things at each other.

“I do appreciate you wanting to carry on our franchise, Mr. Clayton. If I didn’t, you wouldn’t be talking to me but rather an executive for our North American Food and Agriculture Division. I am trying to help you. I don’t want to see you fail and I don’t plan to lose money on any deal.”

Another roll of paper hit her head. Sam asked him to hold, put her phone on mute and stood with the ball of paper. She saw the boy who was tossing them and threw it back, hitting him in the ear. When he looked at her, she gave him a look she had learned from Diana. He quickly ducked his head and looked away.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Clayton. I’m at a school competition for my daughter. I wanted to speak to you personally about this. Perhaps you could run the numbers again…

“Fifty percent? Mr. Clayton, while that would certainly cover our costs and give us a healthy profit, you would have difficulty making a profit. As I said, I don’t want you to fail. A fifty percent licensing fee would be ripping you off. Have you considered our chain of movie theaters? We have a wide range of potential businesses and investment opportunities that would be advantageous to both of us.”

Sam was relieved when he agreed to consider it and told him she would have an investment manager contact him tomorrow to explore options.

“Why do I have a feeling you could have taken him for millions?” the coach in the seat across from her asked.

Doug Kemp was the robotics teacher at Gotham Prep as well as the coach of the team. He was a nice, handsome man in his thirties Sam had briefly met a few times. Ruby thought he was amazing and judging by the success of his team, it must have been true. Of course, he had the advantage of Gotham Prep recruiting top students across the country and in some cases, from overseas.

“Not my style. Sometimes people get excited, put themselves in bad situations. Someone else may take their money and crush their dreams but it won’t be me. I like our business partners to succeed.”

“That’s kind of a letdown. You are the only big shot corporate exec I know. I thought it would be like a movie. Cold, calculating, cutthroat, beautiful, like any good corporate villain.”

“Sorry to disappoint.” Sam replied with a smile.

“I’m not disappointed at all. I’ve never been so glad to be wrong. I wish we had more time to get to know each other this fall. You’ve been to every competition and yet we never seem to have time to just talk or maybe even grab coffee.”

Sam laughed. “We have spring and the next few years to get to know each other. I’m sure we will find time to talk one day. My job is extremely demanding. If I’m not spending evenings with my daughter or relaxing on weekends, I am at work. Another thing the movies got wrong. Sometimes you are making oil deals with Sheiks, and other times you are trying to save an over eager man in North Dakota from making a bad investment in fast food.”

Lena elbowed her then sent her a text.

“He’s flirting with you. He’s hot .”

“No, he isn’t.” Sam said aloud, reading her phone. Lena heard her and shook her head, turning to look out the window.

“He isn’t what?” Kemp asked her.

Sam looked at him with wide eyes. “Uh… the guy, hamburger guy is calling back already. It’s my day off. Someone else can deal with him. So… how long have you been a teacher?”

“Four years. I spent most of my twenties working as an electric engineer for Wayne Enterprises. When I turned thirty, I realized I wanted to spread my knowledge to others. I talked to Kara, and she suggested this. She told me I could come back to the company whenever I wanted but I haven’t been back. I love my job.

“I would ask you the same, but the world knows your story. Underdog to top dog. Impressive and inspiring.”

Sam blushed. “I got lucky and had someone believe in me. I got a break most people never get.”

“I only talk to Kara often, but I’ve met Diana Wayne. She doesn’t strike me as the type to give positions to those not good enough for them so don’t be modest. And Ruby is a great kid. You have done a great job.”

Sam smiled, pleased at the praise of her daughter. “She makes it easy. She thinks highly of you as well.”

“Maybe we can have dinner sometime and talk about how great you both are?” he asked. “C’mon, I’ve been working up the courage to ask you all semester.”

Sam raised an eyebrow. “You want to have dinner with me and my twenty bodyguards?”

“I’ll ignore them if you do.” He offered.

Sam began to sweat a bit, not having been in this position in a long time.

“She will be there.” Lena told the man.

Sam looked quickly at Lena, only to find her smirking.

“Yeah… yeah… that sounds… fun?”

“Great. Next Saturday night? Your choice, my treat.” Coach Kemp said with a smile.

Sam thought for a moment. “There is this pizza place on Baker and Vine, and a bar I hang out at called O’Malley’s. Maybe we could do that… I haven’t been on a date in a long time. I’m not sure how they work.”

“I’ll clue her in.” Lena assured the man. “Next Saturday sounds great. Pizza then beer. Now you have the date, Coach, so focus on winning this competition.”

Kemp laughed. “You are Lena Luthor, right? Is it true what I have heard?”

Lena was instantly on guard. “What have you heard?”

“That you are revolutionizing medicine using nanobots as delivery systems. Biomax and Wayne Enterprises are partners, right? Kara told me the work you are doing will get you a Nobel Prize one day.”

Lena was silent for a moment, greatly surprised and relieved, then enjoying a warm feeling inside she was beginning to recognize as pride. It wasn’t something she had felt much of until Kara and Diana had come into her life.

“I like him. If you don’t want him, I’ll take him.” She told Sam.

Sam rolled her eyes. Luckily the bus stopped before she had to say anything else. Once the bus had emptied, Sam looked at Lena in disbelief.

“You just accepted a date for me!”

“I put you out of your misery. You were full-blown frazzled. He’s a good guy, looks great, good with kids and isn’t intimidated by you. Plus, he complimented Biomax. He is marriage material. At least sleep with him. You might find out what everyone has been talking about over the last fifteen years.”

Sam shook her head and stood up, ignoring Lena laughing behind her. She was right. She had been getting frazzled. And it had been a long, long time. He seemed like a nice enough guy. It’s not like she had to worry about pushy dates or men with stalkerish tendencies. She had an army of bodyguards to handle things like that.

Ruby, Violet and the entire robotics team entered a large expo center attached to S.T.A.R. Labs where they often held science fairs, product demonstrations and research lectures. The Center held five thousand seats and they were full. Robotics wasn’t a sport that had a large fan base, but with thirty-two teams from thirty-two cities or areas, interested robotics nerds, sci-fi fans, family and friends, the seats filled up fast.

Ruby’s friend, Mindy, walked beside her and Violet. “So Violet, Ruby says you have this sweet homeschool thing going on. I was homeschooled the first ten years of my life. How do you like it?”

“Hello…”

“Mindy.” The blonde said, offering her hand that Violet shook.

“I like it fine. I am becoming very educated. My guardian Tatsu is pleased. I will go to college one day.”

“Sweet. I love your accent by the way. What is it?”

“Markovian.”

“Cool. What do you want to major in when you reach college?”

“I enjoy animals.”

“So… like a vet?”

“I was thinking more about shooting illegal poachers. I am very good with guns.”

Ruby cringed, thinking she should have had a talk with Violet about things she shouldn’t say, namely involving anything she or Tatsu have done to other humans and their acceptance of violence as a natural part of their lives.

“Sweet! I love guns. It would be so cool to put down those scum bags. What is your favorite caliber?”

Ruby shook her head. Mindy had always been the strange one.

“Let’s focus on the competition.” Ruby told the two.

Mindy walked off, after programming Violet’s number into her phone.

“I like your friend. Did she like me?” Violet asked, an open expression on her face.

“Yes. You two would encourage each other too much. You are not going to spend your career shooting people. Being a vet sounds like a good plan. We can talk about that later. You did good. We have time between matches and can meet the others you don’t know. Let’s not mention killing poachers or guns, or anything like that.” Ruby told her.

“It never bothers you.” Violet pointed out.

Ruby sighed. “True. Maybe just keep it on the downlow. These other kids aren’t hardcore like us. Wet work makes them all queasy, and I need them focused right now.”

Violet nodded. “That makes sense. I will be less hardcore.”

The team announcements began. Every competitor and coach had their name called out and was met with applause.

When the Metropolis Tech kids were introduced along with their coach, a special announcement followed. Their damn guest coach came out with spotlights on him. S.T.A.R. Labs own robotics specialist, Thomas Oscar Morrow.

The applause grew louder, and Ruby suspected it was aided by some artificial crowd noise from the sound system. She wanted to gag at how pleased the man seemed with himself. Kara had designed their curriculum, showed up randomly at practices and kept in touch with their coach. She doubted Morrow had anything to do with the Metropolis Tech brats.

Gotham Prep began to be introduced. Ruby walked out onto the floor and heard her mother, Violet and Lena screaming in the stands. She waved to them, smiling brightly, and walked to the sideline. After Coach Kemp was introduced, another guest coach was announced, this time for Gotham Prep.

“I didn’t know we had a guest coach.” Ruby said to her friend Trevor. He shrugged his shoulders.

The lights went down, and a spotlight fell onto the other side of the floor. Metallica’s Enter Sandman began blaring and, suddenly, there she was in all her blonde glory.

Kara Wayne stepped out onto the floor, flanked by John Diggle and three other bodyguards. She wore her hair in a ponytail, had on faded jeans, a Gotham Prep t-shirt and a brown leather coat that had a U.S.S. John C Stennis patch over her heart and a matching, larger one, on her back.

The crowd rose to their feet and cheered, parents from other schools, science and robotics fans, and other teams.

She walked in a circle around the field floor, signing autographs for kids until she reached Morrow.

Kara had been irritated at Morrow’s grandstanding with such a grandiose entrance. She had been content to watch from a box, but Morrow had thrown down the gauntlet and Dig told her to pick it up. Kara herself was uncomfortable with this but Dig had encouraged her, telling her the kids needed an extra boost. These were her people after all.

“Hello, Thomas.” Kara greeted him, not offering a hand.

“It’s T.O.” he told her. “A pleasure to see you again, Kara.”

Kara smirked. “T.O.? That’s what you are going with? Dr. Tomorrow? Pretentious much?”

“Says the girl walking around the floor with a spotlight on her, multiple bodyguards and Metallica playing.”

Kara looked around and waved to the crowd once again, to a new round of cheers then turned back to the flushed-faced man.

“The fans don’t seem to mind… and it’s not pretentious if you can back it up.” She replied truthfully, a wicked grin lighting her face. “I’m going to go say hello to my team. Good luck getting second place.”

Kara walked away from the irritated man and joined the Gotham team who were jumping up and down.

“You didn’t think I would miss this, did you?” she asked them once the music was turned down and the guests had returned to their seats.

“Listen to me. I have kept track of all of you this semester. I have seen your work, your practices, your original designs, and your skills. I have also taken a look at the competition as I was making the rounds. You have this. You have the best minds, the best coach, the best tech, the best robots. This is yours to win. Everything you have wanted this year, some of you have been wanting this your entire high school career, here it is, right in front of you! You’ve all worked hard for this, now take what belongs to you!”

At eleven p.m. that night, Kara, Violet, Sam, and Lena stood side by side, watching the trophy presentation. Gotham Prep had come through for the school’s first National win in seven years.

“I heard you gave a hell of a pep talk.” Sam told Kara, happily looking at the team celebrating, lifting the trophy. It had been a long day and into the night, round after round. They had dominated every team they went up against in every event.

“This was all them.” Kara said, obviously pleased. “They had a hard curriculum to get through, but they did it. Coach pushed them, and they answered. I wish I could have gone to high school and been a part of something like this.”

“I think I want to be on a team. Maybe high school wouldn’t be horrible next year.” Violet said.

Kara and Sam brightened.

“That’s a great idea, Violet!” Kara told her. “You want to be on the robotics team?”

Violet shook her head. “I was thinking of a shooting club or perhaps archery? Maybe… what is the sword fighting with the very thin sword and the white outfits that make it impossible to hurt someone? Is there some kind of physical combat team?”

Sam sighed and pulled Violet into a hug.

“There is a chess team.” She offered.

Violet thought for a moment. “I would like that.”

Kara and Sam smiled at each other, their relief clear. Violet had grown up around violence and it had been necessary for survival. Tatsu did not want her involved in any violence any longer and they whole heartedly agreed.

Then Violet continued, popping their satisfied bubble. “Chess is a good strategic game, that teaches you to lure your opponent into a false sense of security, trap them with no way out and pounce on them for the kill.”

Sam sighed. “We will find something you like. I’m thinking gardening or art.”

Violet joined the group, as they finished patting each other on the back and she and Ruby hugged each other tightly.

Lena bumped Kara in the shoulder. “Guess who has a date with Coach Kemp next Saturday?”

Kara looked at Sam with wide eyes. “Really?”

Sam nodded.

“Good for you. He worked at Wayne Enterprises for a time, and I have known him for a few years. I’m glad he is taking a chance. He is so self-conscious. Of course, having six toes on each foot and three nipples can’t be easy for anyone. Good for you, Sam.”

Kara winked at her and walked off.

“Kara? Kara come back here! You were joking right?” Sam asked, panicked. Turning quickly to Lena, she asked, “She was joking, right? You told her before this, and she was joking. Kara?!”