[Western Crossover] Don't Beat Up Your Date

The main story is complete! - “Don’t beat up your dates,” Nightwing, Helia’s teacher, said anxiously. “You can’t force people to go out with you, kid.” “Oh, I absolutely won’t. He said I won him over,” Helia declared with complete confidence. Winning someone over in the literal, physical sense still counts as winning them over, of course. Nightwing: …? In short, Helia Forsythe happened to rescue a handsome young man with dyed streaks in his hair on the streets of Bludhaven. The good news was that he checked every box on her list. The bad news was that he didn’t seem very bright. “Can I take you out?” She rolled up her sleeves and asked sincerely, with absolutely no intention of threatening him with violence. He hesitated for a second, then said yes. Maybe he was afraid she’d beat him up. After returning to Gotham, Helia discovered that her luck at work was unbelievably awful, but at least her dating life was going exceptionally well. Her date looked like a jock who wasn’t great at school, so whenever they went out, Helia just complimented his pretty face, his great body, his lovely voice, and his flirting skills. As for his brains… those didn’t matter! You can’t expect your date to be pretty, cool, hot, smart, funny, and ridiculously romantic all at once, right? After her job fell through for the umpteenth time and she was nearly killed, the kind (and nosy) Red Hood picked Helia up. She somehow wound up accepting his offer and promptly took a job in East Gotham. Helia: Yay! A new job! Get promoted, earn a raise, become the boss’s right-hand woman, and then marry him, beep! 😈 The other person: Forget your date. Why don’t you give me a chance instead? Helia: ? Her boss had finally been driven crazy by her. Anyway, Helia was very happy with her life! Her new boss always looked like she was about to drive him up the wall, and her date was always so sweet. Helia was even getting ready to confess her feelings and ask him to be her boyfriend! Then her boss took off his mask in front of her. …? Wait, wait, wait. Why did Red Hood look exactly like the guy she was dating? Blurb drafted on September 21, 2025 Blurb revised on September 4, 2026 Reader’s guide: 1. A light, sweet situational comedy novella, probably under 200,000 characters. Expect lots of cheesy tropes: love at first sight (❌), attraction at first sight (☑️). 2. Helia comes from Helios, the sun god in Greek mythology. Here comes a direct, no-nonsense heroine! Little H has plenty of flaws, both minor and major. You can tell from the blurb, of course. 😈 3. Both people in the relationship think the other is a sweet little dummy who’s bad at school (not true), so could we call this an unconventional Pride and Prejudice? If you’re interested, please add it to your collection! O.o Theme: Love and affection should be simple.