"And no fighting," Bruce huffs.

It's the day that Xiara is finally heading to her eleventh school, Hamilton Hill High School.

"Yeah, yeah, GGB," Xia sighs. "I'll try and be good and play nice."

"Trying isn't good enough."

"Try is all I can give," she replies with a smirk. "See ya later, old man." She walks down the steps and hops into the backseat of the limo. "Off to school, chore boy!"

Terry groans. "Don't call me that."

"Too bad so sad. Deal with it."

The drive to the school is rather quick and quiet. Xia plays on her phone the whole time. The newest trend going around Gotham is getting spliced. Xia already made an appointment to head there after school today. She wants to have some fox mixed with her.

Terry parks the limo in the school parking lot then opens the door for Xia to get out. They walk side by side into the school. A girl with pink hair walks up to them as Xia looks around at all the spliced students.

"Who's the new girl?" she asks.

Xia turns to look at her then to Terry. "Girlfriend?"

"Nah, I'm Max, Ter's best friend," she introduces, holding her hand out for a shake.

Xia looks down to her hand then back up to her face. She looks her up and down and back up again. "Hmph." Xia grins before walking off into the school.

"Hmph?" Max grunts, dropping her hand and looking to Terry. "Rude much?"

"Apple doesn't fall too far from the tree," Terry sighs.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Max asks.

"She's Bruce's great granddaughter," Terry explains.

"Great? Damn, I didn't think the old man was so old. I didn't think he was older than like 60."

The two begin to follow behind Xia who's already inside the school.

Terry sighs. "I have to watch over her too to make sure she doesn't get in trouble again. This is the eleventh high school she's attending. She's been kicked out the last ten."

"Seriously?! How is she able to go to a normal school?"

"Well, one, her parents are rich along with like her whole family line. Two, she's apparently incredibly smart. All of her classes are the most advanced they can go. She effortlessly passes everything, according to Bruce. But that's also due to her genes."

"Unfair," Max pouts.

"No kidding."

"What's her name?"

"Xiara Todd, but she goes by Xia," Terry says.

"Interesting name."

"You don't know the half of it."

They enter the school to see Xia angrily glaring at Nelson.

"I already told you I'm not interested in your twip self," Xia scoffs. "Now go away before I fling you out the nearest window."

Terry immediately rushes between the two, pulling her away and ignoring Nelson's remarks. "Hey, you know why you're here. No more fighting."

"Yeah, yeah. What are you, my keeper?" Xia scoffs.

"Pretty much, yeah," Terry replies. "Bruce put me in charge of making sure you stay out of trouble."

"Great," she scoffs, rolling her eyes.

A short haired blonde makes her way across the hall, wearing sunglasses and gaining the attention of everyone nearby. Whispers begin to go around. The girl steps up on a bench and whips off her sunglasses, slowly opening her eyes for dramatic effect. Her eyes are revealed to be green with black slits, much like a cat's.

"I don't believe it, Chelsea. You got spliced!" a black haired girl speaks up beside the group.

She completely avoids looking at Terry, not unnoticed by Xia.

"Crazy, girl. Your dad must've had a spizz fit," Max says.

"I don't know, Chels. Isn't messing with your DNA a bit drastic?" Terry voices.

"Even for you?" Max adds.

"Please," she shrugs off.

"Well, then why is the city trying to shut it down?" Terry retorts.

"Lighten up, Terrence. The law's against practically everything we're into. You gotta keep an open mind," the black haired chick scoffs, walking off.

"Here's all the info," Chelsea says then begins to hand out cards.

"No thanks," Xia declines the card. "I already have an appointment for later today."

"Oh, can't wait to see what you choose, newbie," Chelsea replies. "I'm Chelsea Cunningham. Call me Chels."

"Xiara Todd, call me Xia."

Chelsea gives a smile before moving on to hand other people cards.

"You can't be serious," Terry scoffs.

"I am, and you're taking me there," Xia smirks.

"Did you run this by Wayne?"

"GGB is not the boss of what I do. Nor is he the boss of my creds," Xia replies.

"He's not going to approve."

"When does he approve of anything?" Xia scoffs, crossing her arms. "So... is black hair girl your ex?"

"That was Dana," Max speaks up. "Ter here always had to ditch their dates because your great gramps always calls him away."

"Ah, some people just can't understand some people have more important things to attend to," Xia shrugs. "Now, what class do I take first?"

~~~

"Wayne is gonna kill me," Terry groans, sitting in the chair next to Xia.

Xia is sitting in front of the large computer, picking out how she wants to look spliced. "Shut up, chore boy. Your complaining is distracting and annoying."

A dark skinned tiger woman is helping with the details.

"I just don't think this is a good idea," Terry says.

"Well, I think the young lady would look stunning as what she's chosen," the man behind the splicing rave, Dr. Cuvier, speaks.

"See, he agrees," Xia points out.

The tiger lady walks off behind them as he moves beside them.

"You're smart to come in now. If my critics have their way, splicing might go the way of the dinosaurs. Not that I don't plan to fight them tooth and nail."

"Yo! We need to see the doctor.
Right now!" a sudden shout is released aimed at the tiger woman.

This catches the attention of all three at the computer. Terry quickly turns away and hides his face, making Xia quirk an eyebrow.

"Please excuse me," Dr. Cuvier says, dismissing himself and drawling Xia's attention to watch him go.

Xia turns back to the computer, finalizing her look. "I'm done." She looks to find Terry to see him gone. "Chore boy? Where the fuck did you go?"

"Is this your final decision? If you turn out to not like it we can always return you to normal," the tiger lady says, returning.

"Oh, uh, yeah."

"I'll take you to the room for you to get spliced."

The two head off and set Xia up with her transformation.

~~~

The splice was successful and a half fox she's become. Heightened senses, enhanced strength, nine tails, ears, claws, and sharp canines. It was also cool cause her tail color matches her hair. Two white tails and the rest are black. The white tails are in the middle with one black tail between them to make them symmetrical.

Xia looks at herself in the mirror, admiring her new look. "I actually really love this." She gives herself a few more minutes of looking at herself before she exits, looking for Terry. "Where is that damn chore boy?" She decides to call Bruce.

"Xiara? Where are you? You okay?"

"I'm fine. I'm at the Chimera Institute. I'm leaving now. I called to ask if you know where Terry is. He left me here."

"Ah, I have Terry out on an errand for me," he lies easily.

"Then how am I supposed to get home?"

"A walk isn't too bad."

"GGB, the walk from here to the manor is absolutely ridiculous and you know it."

"The limo has a hand scanner. Your print should enable you to open it and it'll bring you back here."

"Good."

"Why were you at the Chimera Institute?"

Xia smirks. "Just wait until you see my new look. You'll hate it."

"Please tell me you didn't."

"I didn't," she says. "But that would be a lie, wouldn't it?"

A long aggravated sigh comes from the phone. She laughs as she ends the call, imagining him pinching the bridge of his nose.

~~~

To say Bruce's reaction was funny would be an understatement. It was hilarious. Xia managed to snap a photo and send it to her gramps, Jason. He immediately responded, asking how she managed to get that look on Bruce's face. That ended up with her sending him a picture of her new look. He had mixed feelings. On one hand he thought it was totally awesome and glad she's a little rebel like himself. On the other hand, it was by a company that Batman helped take down, meaning he couldn't exactly like it. Though, she didn't have to know the full reasoning. She got a phone call from her parents later wanting her to return to normal. She then said she couldn't now as the Chimera Institute was shut down. You can blame Batman for that.

Bruce had an eternal battle whether he should inject her with the 'cure' or not. He decides to not because he knows Xia is smart and will wonder how he acquired such a thing. He doesn't need that problem. Eventually he'll likely give it to her while she's sleeping and make the excuse that it was faulty and temporary. He'll have to test how deep of a sleeper she is first to see if he can get away with it. Or maybe he'll make a way to have it ingested by her unknowingly drinking it before she sleeps. He will do that soon.

...

The next day at school, everyone's attention is on Xia. Everyone compliments her on the new look. Whoever is in her classes introduces themselves to her. She quickly becomes the most popular and talked about person in school. This was very unusual. She never became popular before because of her rough demeanor. This school didn't seem to care how rude she was. Everyone wanted to become friends with Xia who they have now dubbed 'Kyukon' which is the Japanese name of the Pokémon Ninetails. Xia didn't seem to mind though, she actually liked it. She enjoys the old anime anyway.