[DC Fanfic] Gods Among Men

[Saarai]

Act 1: Inglorious

Prologue​

Darkness. Pitch black and nothingness. All one would see on the TV set, no men, no women, no cameras. Just darkness. Unsettling darkness with a just as unsettling quiet. Until a voice cut through it like a well-crafted blade.

"Welcome to World News with G. Gordon Godfrey." The voice prompted several spotlights to come on, revealing a large desk. A TV monitor shot on, images of several cities shown. Gotham, Tokyo, New York, Metropolis, London. Finally, the source of the voice stepped into view.

He was an average sized man, a redhead possibly in his mid-30s or early 40s. The carrot topped man wore a nice black suit with a nice red tie, an air of confidence surrounding him. There was a reason why he had highest rated news show on Fox, in America, possibly the entire world at this point. He knew how to speak to people, he knew what they wanted to hear, he knew how to say exactly what they didn't want to hear, but keep them listening.

"I apologize for my rather bleak, rather dark opening to tonight's show. But, it's fitting. Darkness and suddenly light, but this darkness came just as suddenly as my light." Godfrey said as he paced the stage. "Tomorrow Superman will be speaking to the world. He'll be speaking not as Superman, but as the boy who fell from Krypton."

"Yes, Krypton. Space. A planet far from Earth, a planet where they breed supermen, no pun intended. Superman is not like us. He isn't Human. He hasn't had to deal with what we've had to deal with!" Godfrey exclaimed, "When he is faced with a gun he is not at risk. But, when you and I meet the barrel of a gun our lives are possibly coming to an end. We cry, we think of those we love that we'll never see again, that will never see us again so full of life." Godfrey paused, the silence once again filling in the empty spaces for him.

It was nothing but truth. People witnessed it. It was all over the news, all over the internet. Superman could take bullet after bullet and all he had to show for it was a little dirt on his alien skin. Superman was stronger than Humans, he molded himself as the champion of Humans.

Godfrey could almost hear the people across the country asking themselves one very important question.

"When will Superman turn and treat us like bugs beneath his red boots?" Godfrey asked the viewers at home, "I for one don't want to-..."

"I was watching that!" Augustus said as he tried to look around Raquel to see his TV, the young woman was working with the fact that Augustus couldn't see through her. "Yeah, you were watching that of all things." Raquel noted, "G. Gordon Godfrey is opposed to people like you. He doesn't want you here." Raquel said.

Augustus was a large African-American man, standing at about six feet and five inches. He was muscular, appearing to be a man who kept himself in shape. Raquel was possibly his opposite, a short, slim African-American woman.

"It's just television." Augustus told Raquel as he stood up from his seat, "Yeah, well, TV rots your brain. Even complex alien brains." Raquel retorted, making her way through the large Gotham City apartment towards the bathroom. "Don't turn it back on." Raquel ordered Augustus as she stepped into the bathroom.

"Bruce invited us to a party, I want to get there on time." Raquel said firmly, shutting the bathroom door. "I'll be ready." Augustus would be ready after he finished watching his program. He waited until he could hear the shower running, reaching out to turn his TV back on.

"...and on top of that they can look like us! They can talk like us! What other aliens are among us?" Godfrey asked as the program continued on the TV screen, "They destroy. The aliens destroy. Does anyone remember the alien Lobo?" Godfrey asked, looking around the set as he awaited an answer.

"Does anyone remember the carnage he left in his wake? What about Mongul and his Warworld? Do we suddenly forget these things before Superman and the Justice League postponed the carnage?"

"I don't see Mongul in chains, I don't see his grave. He'll come back, they always come back. Batman allows The Joker to return. Superman allowed Zod to return. Does anyone remember how close we were to kneeling before him?" Godfrey asked, "There are ways we can begin to combat the alien menace."

"The aliens can register, become documented. They can go home. They can be sent home. They are not wanted if they won't play by the rules. But, I admit, I don't want them at all. Call me a bigot, call me hateful."

"Don't call me if Sinestro brings another army here." Godfrey said, spotlights on his sound stage shutting off one by one until there was nothing but darkness.

The bathroom door began to open, Augustus quickly jumped from his seat to change the channel. "I'm going to call a taxi. Take your time though." He told Raquel, "I'm going to grab my nice suit." Augustus said, making his way towards his room as a talk show aired.

Three woman sat on a couch on a large white set. The first was an Asian woman, she donned a purple suit jacket and white skirt. The second woman was a Caucasian woman, a stern, very professional looking woman dressed in a black pantsuit. The last woman was a Caucasian woman, she wore a white skirt and white jacket. She was serious, lacking any specific emotions.

"Welcome back to The Panorama! I'm Linda Park here with Lois Lane and Louise Lincoln." Linda said, "I understand that you have more personal questions Ms. Lincoln, Lois?" Linda asked, "Yes, your good friend Crystal Frost, later known as Killer Frost, passed away recently." Lois said to Louise, "Yes, I know. Why bring this up?" Louise asked, "I've heard from some unnamed sources that you're continuing her work." Lois told Louise.

"The same work that made her who she was. A criminal and a murderer with a power of ice. A female Mr. Freeze. Do you care to comment on these allegations?" Lois asked, "Crystal was a very good friend of mine, I owe it to her to continue with her experiments and take the necessary precautions to prevent the same thing that happened to her from happening with others." Louise answered.

"Do you blame Firestorm for her death?" Lois asked, "Do you hate him? Were you and Crystal something more than friends?" She continued, "Um... Lois?" Linda said, "That's none of your business!" Louise said, "I didn't hear a resounding 'no' to any of those questions." Lois said to Louise, "Did you bring me on this show for this?" Louise asked.

The woman stood from her seat, storming away from the set. "Um... we'll be back with Bruce Wayne's rival for billionaire playboy of the year, Oliver Queen, after this commercial break." Linda said to the cameras.

"Clear!" The director shouted, "What the hell was that?" Linda asked Lois, "Journalism, Linda. You should try it." Lois answered, getting up to make her way backstage. "You're not a journalist anymore." Linda told Lois as she followed, "You can't do stuff like that to people." Linda explained.

"If we did more like that to people then maybe G. Gordon Godfrey wouldn't be beating us in the ratings with his... bullshit." Lois said, "I'm not going lowbrow to get ratings." Linda protested, "Not lowbrow. Interesting. I for one don't want to talk to Green Arr-..." Lois stopped herself as several members of the film crew made their way backstage.

"Oliver Queen," She corrected herself "...about his new fragrance or what bimbo supermodel he's dating now. You might be fine with that, but that's tabloid shit and I want to be remembered for bringing people real news." Lois said, turning to walk away from Linda.

Linda sighed, "Seriously, what does Kent see in her?"

 

[Saarai]

Chapter 1: Party Pooper​

The taxi approached the gates to a large mansion as several other vehicles were arriving, "Augustus? Are you seeing this?" Raquel asked, facing to the window as they drove up towards the mansion. "This is amazing. The last place I've been to that was even a little bit like this was your place." Raquel told her friend.

"And that incident at Bruce's place with Two-Face. That one doesn't count though because we were almost murdered." Raquel added, "Who's place is this?" Raquel asked, "I'm not sure, we can ask Bruce when we find him inside." Augustus told the young woman, watching as she expressed child-like excitement at the sight of a mansion.

It was refreshing. Normal.

Augustus was an immortal, an alien, he saw things like this a lot in his lifetime on Earth. He forgot how good it felt to be looking forward to something. He had been going through the motions for awhile now. Yes, he had his life as Icon, but that involved waiting for the bad to happen.

The taxi came to a stop at the mansion's entrance, a man came to open the door for Raquel, but the woman shot out quickly and was already on her way inside. "Uh... she's... excited. We haven't been out in awhile." Augustus said as he climbed out, "Especially not to a big place like this." He added, slipping a few dollar bills from a pocket to give to the man.

"It's all very well, sir." The valet said, smiling at Augustus.

Augustus made his way towards the mansion doors, one of the house staff pushing the door open for him to enter. The main room was large and open. It was regal. Expensive floors, expensive walls, expensive carpet and a large, very expensive chandelier.

Everyone who was anybody was present. Bruce Wayne, the mayor, lawyers, congressmen, senators, people who were famous for being the children of successful people.

"Augustus!" Raquel shouted from across the room, waving the man over. She stood beside Bruce Wayne and another young man. "I was wondering where you ran off to." Augustus told Raquel as he approached the group, "Bruce." Augustus said, quickly shaking hands with his friend, Bruce Wayne.

"Glad you two could make it, Augustus." Bruce said, "How are you enjoying Gotham?" Bruce asked, "It's a lot calmer than I expected." Augustus answered.

"Pleasure to meet ya'." The unknown man said to Augustus, jumping into the conversation. His words were coated in a very distinct southern accent, possibly Texan, it fit the smug grin he wore as he spoke. "John Dallas, this is my little party here." The young man told Augustus.

John Dallas wasn't very tall, a little below average as far as height went. A small man with a big mouth to compensate. His hair was neat, dirty blonde with a reasonable amount of gel for someone like him. He oozed both confidence and arrogance, undeserved satisfaction with his life. Yes, he was rich and powerful. But, he was rich and powerful because his family worked to be that way.

"Augustus Freeman. This is Raq-..."

"Raquel Ervin, we've been introduced." John told Augustus. The larger man didn't appreciate being interrupted, but not everyone could be as polite as he was. He learned that in his time on Earth.

"So... uh... what are you to get in here?" John asked, "I don't understand." Augustus responded. "You play football? You're a big guy. Basketball? I could see you being like a Shaquille O'Neal. Can you actually hit a free throw?" John asked with a chuckle.

"Why do you think I play sports?" Augustus asked, genuinely confused by the question.

"Come on." John said, "We don't get many... uh... people of your ethnic persuasion at parties like this unless they're playin' sports or makin' some of that rap music." John explained, "A lot of your people get into sports or music, I apologize if you ain't one of them."

"Excuse me?" Raquel asked, "Now, I don't mean any harm, but that's just the way things are." John said to Raquel, "You of all people should know that. You did say you grew up in Paris Island, right? How many of your childhood friends are playing ball right now or makin' gangster rap in a basement?" John asked.

"We should go over here." Bruce told Raquel, attempting to pull her along with him. "No! This racist asshole shouldn't be allowed to say things like that!" Raquel exclaimed loudly, "I could have swore we believed in freedom of speech in this country. Am I wrong?" John asked as many of the party goers began to turn their attention to the scene unfolding.

"Don't ruin the party because of historical fact, Raquel." John said, only digging himself into a deeper grave. "Gotta' have fun, get rid of that baggage."

"That's enough." Augustus told John firmly, "It's not baggage. It's historical fact, as you've already said. I-... my great-grandfather lived as a slave, his son had to endure racism, my father had to endure it. I was hoping we lived in a time where after four generations I wouldn't have to." Augustus said to John, "Bruce, we're leaving. We'll see you later."

Augustus turned to head for the exit, Raquel following behind him. As they approached the exit, the doors shot open.

Several men and women wearing monster masks made their way in. They were armed with pistols, assault rifles, shotguns and a few carried canisters filled with an unknown substance.

"Sorry to ruin the fun, but I have to wonder..." Came a voice from outside, "...why wasn't Jonathan Crane on the invite list?" The origin of the voice became known as a man dressed as a very evil, very demonic, scarecrow stepped into the room.

"In light of that, I decided to show up anyways. Not as Jon Crane, he wouldn't do things like this on his own."

"For the rest of the night I am and will only be addressed as... The Scarecrow."

 

[Saarai]

Chapter 2: Nothing To Fear​

"Who the hell do you think you are?" John said, storming towards Scarecrow. "It's not about who I think I am, it's about who I know I am." Scarecrow told John as his goons grabbed the billionaire. "No, let him go. He can't do anything to me." Scarecrow ordered, his thugs releasing John immediately.

"Can't do anything to you? Really?" John asked, stepping closer to the Scarecrow. The entitled billionaire was offended. He was rich, he was athletic, and he was a black belt in Judo and Wing Chun. He could do anything he wanted to some skinny freak who hid behind a mask and smelly gasses.

John threw a punch towards the Scarecrow, the madman easily sidestepping the attack. "Too slow." Scarecrow taunted as John stumbled by, "I'll show you slow!"

John turned to throw another punch at Scarecrow, before the punch could land a yellow cloud shot out from the Scarecrow's collar into John's face. It was effective in stopping the man in his tracks.

"Are you afraid yet?" Scarecrow asked, "No, you will be in a few moments." The masked man said to John.

"No. No!" John screaming, stumbling backwards into a wall. He slid down to the floor, eyes wide with terror. "You can't be repossessing my things! I'm rich!" John exclaimed.

The others didn't know it immediately, but John was experiencing his biggest fear.

Going broke.

"One down. Let's take care of the others." Scarecrow said, "Show me what you're afraid of!" On cue Scarecrow's goons broke the nozzles from the canisters they held, rolling them towards the partygoers just as the yellow tinted fear gas began to blanket the room.

"Bruce? Where are you?" Raquel began to panic during her futile search for her friends in the thick yellow cloud. "Augustus? Anybody?" She couldn't see them, she couldn't hear them. This was bad. Raquel found herself knocked to the floor as she moved.

"Oh, I'm sorry, are you okay?" The man who knocked her down asked, "Let me help you. I'm a police officer." He said, kneeling down beside the young woman.

Augustus meanwhile wandered back towards where he had last saw Raquel before the gas obstructed his vision. "Raquel, I'm on my way!" Augustus said loudly as moved. Eventually his eyes landed on a wounded Raquel, a police officer kneeling over her body.

"Got you now! You Paris Island parasites are going to get enough of ruining my city!" The cop yelled as he put his hands around Raquel's neck, "No one is going to notice if another one of you dies." The police officer told Raquel.

"Get away from her!" Augustus roared, quickly charging the violent police officer. He grabbed the officer by his shoulders, easily lifting him from the ground. "Hey! what are you doing?" The cop asked, "Keeping a promise." Augustus told the police officer before he flung him to the other side of the room.

"Hey! Stop it!" A party guest yelled, pouncing on top of Augustus. "Calm down, it's Scarecrow's gas. Whatever you're seeing isn't real." The man trying to restrain Augustus was a real cop. He had been working in Gotham for years, so he knew how to handle crazies like the Scarecrow.

He had even built up an immunity to Scarecrow's fear gas over time. He wasn't completely immune, but he had afforded himself more than enough time to save people from this particular madman when he arrived.

"Officers! I need help!" The Gotham police officer shouted, several of his fellow officers finding their way over. The police officers piled on top of Augustus, attempting to restrain him before he could do any damage.

Raquel raised her head in time to see what was going on around her. It was chaos. Gotham city was in chaos. Tanks, soldiers and jets flooded the streets and the sky. And then there was Augustus. Several US soldiers piled on top of him. "Alien scum! You don't belong here!" A soldier shouted at Augustus.

"Leave him alone!" Raquel yelled at the soldiers, scrambling to her feet. The young woman charged the soldiers, her fist finding it's way into his face and knocking him to the ground. She turned quickly and slammed the heel of her foot into another soldier's temple.

People in the mansion began to brawl. They were accusing others of being The Joker, or Two-Face. Some others weeping or screaming as they were faced with their fears. Be it spiders, snakes, or fire.

And the Scarecrow was thrilled. Giddy with excitement. He couldn't be happier if he tried.

"This is wonderful!" He nearly screamed, "So much fear! I can taste it!" Scarecrow told his men, "We can taste it too, boss. Tastes like victory." One of Scarecrow's goons said. Seconds later that same thug found himself wrapped up in rope and then pulled upwards into the unknown created by the gas.

"Oh no..."

In an instant another of Scarecrow's men was pulled into the yellow cloud.

"He's here... I was hoping he wouldn't be..." Scarecrow said, "But, I'm ready." Scarecrow stood still as his men were taken out one by one by the unseen force.

Raquel and Augustus continued to fight off their attackers, that was until they found themselves jammed with syringes. Almost immediately the effects of Scarecrow's fear gas subsided.

"That was a trip." Raquel said as she came to her senses, "Sorry." She told the men she attacked, "No worries." One of them answered, rubbing his head. The group turned to see their savior, a woman dressed in a black costume similar to Batman's. The only differences being the color of her boots, gloves, belt and the bat logo on her chest. All were a crimson red.

Even her hair was red to match her costume.

"Don't call me Batgirl. I'm not Batgirl." She said to the group, "It's Batwoman. Woman." She told them. "It's enough that I have to be in the big guy's shadow, but I'm not sixteen." The Batwoman said, stepping backwards and disappearing into the gas.

"Finally." Scarecrow said, "We can get down to it, Batman." Scarecrow's hands slipped behind his back as he spoke, possibly in search of another weapon.

"It's over, Scarecrow. But, I don't expect you to come quietly." A rough voice told the man. The yellow gas began to clear out, revealing the silhouette of a tall, dark figure dressed in black. It was the Batman, his dark costume and big cape making the man appear to be hulking. It even gave him a confident air.

"Glad you could make the party." Scarecrow said to the Batman. "Come now, Batman. Let's engage in some good ol' fashioned pugilism." Scarecrow said, calling out his enemy.

Batman stood quietly, not taking up Scarecrow on his offer. Instead the Batwoman stepped out from behind him. "You hit girls?" She asked, "Sometimes." Scarecrow answered, "Good!" The Batwoman shot through the air at Scarecrow, attempting to tackle him to the ground.

When the Batman was close the Scarecrow threw a punch at her, it never got the chance to connect itself. Instead a fist made of glowing yellow energy shot out. It hit the Batwoman and sent her flying across the room.

"Did I forget to mention that I made a new friend?" Scarecrow asked, "A nice man, an alien. He gave me this yellow ring. It's a lot like the ones your Green Lantern friends wear. Very stylish."

"Sinestro..." Batman said, "You got it! He wanted me to put to good use. And I will by making you work." The Scarecrow said, "That's right, I'm making you work tonight, Batman."

"Work for your victory."

 

[Saarai]

Chapter 3: End Of The Night​

Batman charged the Scarecrow, ducking and dodging each attack he threw at him with the yellow power ring. They were getting a little too close for Batman's tastes, but the Scarecrow loved it. The years of vigilante justice seemed to have taken it's toll on the Gotham Knight.

"You're less nimble than you used to be!" Scarecrow taunted as the Batman closed the distance. The vigilante reached out for Scarecrow and grabbed hold of his costume, but seconds later a hand made of glowing yellow energy came from below to grab the Batman.

The Batman was stopped in his place, the hand beginning to squeeze every inch of life out of him. Scarecrow pulled away from the Batman, wagging a finger at him as he put some distance between himself and the vigilante. The Scarecrow began to pace around the hero, the unseen expression on his face was one of glee beneath the mask.

He, the often underestimated Scarecrow, was going to be the one to finally kill the Batman. So many had tried, so many had failed.

"Look at you. Fearless as ever, but you don't need to be afraid to die." Scarecrow told Batman, "I won't make the mistake of talking too much, of giving you time, as much as I want to make you afraid." Scarecrow continued, the yellow energy that held Batman morphing into the image of Bane.

"Maybe this would be ironic, Bane breaks the bat again." Scarecrow said as his faux-Bane lifted the Batman over his head. "Or maybe... maybe it can be the man you fear the most." Scarecrow mused, "Yes... him." The yellow energy began to swirl and move, the yellow apparition of Bane disappearing gradually. It shifted until it came to create the image of Superman.

"We already know your fears about Superman, about most of those with superpowers, going out of control. Myself, The Joker, Two-Face, we're nothing to Superman. To people like The Flash. You should be right to fear them." Scarecrow told the ever-silent Batman.

"I'm not afraid of them." Batman told the Scarecrow, "I'm afraid of what will happen if I'm not there to stop them. But, you should be more afraid."

"Of what?" Scarecrow asked, "What do I have to fear?"

"The man to your left." Batman answered, prompting Scarecrow to make the rookie mistake of looking. Augustus was there, fist already moving through the air towards Scarecrow's face. The villain diverted the energy from the ring to form a wall between himself and Augustus, but the wall of yellow energy was no match for Augustus' strength.

The man's fist easily broke through the barrier, it slammed into Scarecrow's fist and sent him flying towards the exit. The Scarecrow nearly hit the front steps of the mansion. His confidence quickly waned as he scrambled to his feet and ran for the door.

Augustus flew out of the mansion as the Scarecrow stood up. The villain attempted to fire a blast of energy from his ring at the man, only to find Augustus' large palm slamming down on the ring. The energy was stopped before it had a chance to go anywhere.

Augustus began to squeeze the Scarecrow's hand tight, "I could break it. I could crush it right now." Augustus told him, watching as the Scarecrow began to scream in pain. "But, I'm not like you. I don't cause pain to people who don't deserve it." Augustus said, starting to pry the ring from the Scarecrow's finger.

"Not today!" The Scarecrow shouted, firing the built up energy into Augustus' face. The man was sent flying into the mansion through a wall, leaving a gaping hole in it. He slammed into the ground, destroying the wood floor beneath him.

Raquel quickly approached her friend, kneeling down at his side. "Are you alright?" She asked him, "I am. But, I imagine Scarecrow's used that ring to escape already." Augustus answered.

"You'd be right about that." The Batwoman said, standing near Raquel. "Green Lanterns can fly with theirs, I wouldn't be surprised if that was the first thing Scarecrow learned to do with his ring."

"Where did you just come from...?" Raquel asked, "It's a Bat-Family thing, I doubt they know how they get into places sometimes." Augustus told Raquel as he stood up.

Several of the party guests approached Augustus, most keeping their distance from him. "You took a direct hit from that yellow ring and went through a wall, but you don't have a scratch on you. How is that?" One of them asked, "Luck?" Augustus answered, "No, you have superpowers." Another guest suggested.

"Not a lot of black heroes." John Dallas said, having been rescued from his fear of actually having to work for his money. "That narrows it down." The man said, letting the ignorance flow from his lips.

"How'd you get your powers?" John asked, "Radioactive spider bite? No, that's dumb. Who gets their powers from radioactive spiders? Wouldn't you be more likely to die from something like that? Are you an alien?" John asked Augustus, "I don't mind if you are, but... it'd be nice to know."

John did mind, and some of other guests agreed. They were wealthy, they had much to lose if aliens invaded again, if Superman decided he was their ruler. Who would stop him if he tried?

John was a supporter of the alien registry that was being proposed. He and his father both planned to throw money at Congress and the UN to make sure it came to be.

"No. I just... got lucky." Augustus said, pulling Raquel along towards the exit. "Feel free to come around any time!" John called out to Raquel and Augustus, "Hopefully we won't have to deal with... this next time." John added, "Where's Bruce?" He asked.

"That's my cue." The Batwoman said, dashing towards the giant hole in the wall. The woman glanced back at Augustus and Raquel as they were leaving before she climbed her way up to the roof of the mansion. They didn't see where she had gone exactly, but they could be sure that the Batwoman was gone.

"That was a... fun first party in Gotham." Augustus said to Raquel, "Yeah..." She said, almost sounding disappointed. "Let's go see a movie, hopefully without Two-Face or the Joker deciding to make it their venue." Augustus said, grabbing hold of Raquel. He carried in his arms the way a fireman would carry someone from a burning building.

And with everyone else focused on the aftermath of Scarecrow's attack, Augustus took the time to propel himself and Raquel into the night sky unnoticed.

 

[Saarai]

Chapter 4: The Party Isn't Over​

The Batman charged Scarecrow, barely avoiding the attacks thrown at him by the villain's yellow ring. "You're less nimble than you used to be!" Scarecrow taunted as Batman closed the distance. The hero reached out for Scarecrow and as soon as his gloved hand took hold of the Scarecrow's costume, a hand made of energy shot up from beneath to grab him.

Batman was stopped in his place, the hand attempting to squeeze every inch of life out of him. Scarecrow paced the hero, the unseen expression on his face was one of glee. He, the often underestimated Scarecrow, was going to be the one to finally kill The Batman.

So many had tried, so many had failed.

"Look at you. Fearless as ever, but you don't need to be afraid to die." Scarecrow told Batman, "I won't make the mistake of talking too much, of giving you time, as much as I want to make you afraid." Scarecrow said, the yellow energy hand that held Batman morphed into the image of Bane.

"Bane breaks the bat again. Yeah, I know about that." Scarecrow taunted, as his faux-Bane lifted Batman over his head. "Or maybe... maybe it can be the man you fear the most." Scarecrow said to his prisoner.

The energy swirled and moved, the yellow apparition of Bane disappearing gradually. It was then that the yellow energy came to form into a faux-Superman.

"We already know your fears about Superman, about most of those with superpowers, going out of control. Myself, The Joker, Two-Face, we're nothing to Superman. To people like The Flash. You should be right to fear them." Scarecrow told the still silent Batman.

"I'm not afraid of them." Batman finally told Scarecrow, "I'm afraid of what will happen if I'm not there to stop them. But, you should be more afraid."

"Of what?" Scarecrow asked, "What do I have to fear?"

"The man to your left." Batman answered, prompting Scarecrow to turn towards his left. Augustus stood beside the villain, a fist flying towards Scarecrow. Scarecrow attempted to divert the energy from his ring in front of him, a wall beginning to form. The wall of yellow energy was no match for Augustus' strength.

The man's fist easily broke through the barrier, slamming into Scarecrow's face and sending him flying towards the exit. Scarecrow hit the front steps of the mansion, quickly trying to scramble up to his feet.

Augustus flew out of the mansion as Scarecrow stood up, the villain turned quickly to Augustus. He attempted to fire a blast of energy from his ring, only to find Augustus' palm slamming down on the ring. The energy was stopped before it had a chance to go anywhere.

Augustus began to squeeze Scarecrow's hand, "I could break it. I could crush it right now." Augustus told him, "But, I'm not like you. I don't cause pain to people who don't deserve it." Augustus said, attempting to remove Scarecrow's ring.

"Not today!" Scarecrow shouted, the energy that had been building up in the ring suddenly firing into Augustus' face. The man was sent flying back towards the mansion slamming into the walls and back into the ballroom.

Raquel quickly approached her friend, kneeling at his side. "Are you alright?" She asked him, "I am. But, I imagine Scarecrow's used that ring to escape already." Augustus answered.

"You'd be right about that." Batwoman said, "Green Lanterns can fly with theirs, I wouldn't be surprised if that was the first thing Scarecrow learned to do with his ring."

"Where did you just come from...?" Raquel asked, "It's a Bat-Family thing, I doubt they know how they get into places sometimes." Augustus told Raquel as he stood up.

Several of the party guests approached Augustus, most keeping their distance. "You took a direct hit from that yellow ring and went through a wall, but you don't have a scratch on you. How is that?" One of them asked, "Luck?" Augustus answered, "No, you have superpowers." Another guest suggested.

"Not a lot of black heroes." John Dallas said, having been rescued earlier from his fear of actually having to work for his money. "That narrows it down." The man said, letting the ignorance flow from his lips.

"How'd you get your powers?" John asked, "Radioactive spider bite? No, that's dumb. Who gets their powers from radioactive spiders? Wouldn't you be more likely to die from something like that? Are you an alien?" John asked Augustus, "I don't mind if you are, but... it'd be nice to know."

John did mind, and some of other guests agreed. They were wealthy, they had much to lose if aliens invaded again, if Superman decided he was ruler.

John was a supporter of alien registry, he and his father planned to throw money at congress and the UN to make sure it came to be.

"No. I just... got lucky." Augustus said, pulling Raquel along towards the exit. "Feel free to come around any time!" John called out to Raquel and Augustus, "Hopefully we won't have to deal with... this next time." John added, "Where's Bruce?" He asked.

"That's my cue." Batwoman said, dashing towards the giant hole in the wall. The woman glanced to Augustus and Raquel as they were leaving before disappearing into the night.

"That was a... fun first party in Gotham." Augustus said to Raquel, "Yeah..." She said, almost sounding disappointed. "Let's go see a movie, hopefully without Two-Face or the Joker deciding to make it their venue." Augustus said, grabbing hold of Raquel.

While everyone else was focused on the aftermath of Scarecrow's attacked, Augustus took the time to propel himself and Raquel into the night sky unnoticed.

 

[Saarai]

Chapter 5: What's The Worst That Could Happen?​

Day 45, September 23, 2015.

A storm knocked out most of the power, but I have most of the backups keeping the generator up. I've had much of Crystal's research left to work with, so not much would be lost by the computers going down. That Superskank Lois Lane has been searching for me since the interview.

But, I imagine with Superman's press conference today she won't be focusing on me for much longer. Less media attention is good for this experiment and for me. Crystal's experiment was controversial even before she became Killer Frost. Continuing with it, following in her footsteps won't be looked at as anything good by most.

Paying homage to my friend who went psycho and murdered people while slowly killing herself in the process. That doesn't look good on my resume.

The power's back on, I need to find my camera.

Dr. Louise Lincoln.

A recording would begin, showing a dark-haired woman dressed in a lab coat and a pair of glasses fumbling to place the camera on a tripod for a moment. "I went to Harvard, but I can barely work this thing." The woman said to herself, soon righting the camera.

"I'm Dr. Louise Lincoln, and I'm performing these experiments for my fallen friend, Crystal Frost." Louise said to the camera, "I think I've found the fatal flaw." She said, "Crystal died because she absorbed too much energy, it weakened her. What if the energy could make one stronger?" Louise asked, stepping away from the camera.

The woman pointed towards her massive thermo-chamber, "It's the same one Crystal used, I hired some people to move it for me when she was dying. I messed around with it, now it works much better." Louise said, "I'm going to enter and I'm going to recreate the experiment, but this time I have a plan. Using heat, energy, to prolong life. Humans powered on solar."

Louise headed towards the chamber, it's appearance was comparable to jet engine from the outside. On the inside it was completely white, empty, and vast.

"Wish me luck." Louise said, calibrating the instruments that powered the machine. The machine began to hum loudly, the inside lighting up brightly. The lights in the building would flicker for a moment, but soon they seemed to be working just fine despite the sudden power drain.

Louise turned towards the machine, shedding her coat to reveal a tight bodysuit. With a quick exhale of breath the woman stepped inside the chamber. "Computer, begin." Louise said, it was a surprise that she could be heard even over the loud hum.

That very hum from the machine began to grow louder. As it did the lights within the building began flickering on and off with increasing frequency and rapidness.

Soon the lights would burst, leaving the room in darkness save for the light coming from the thermo-chamber. Louise could be heard screaming at the top of her lungs over the hum, the light from within the chamber growing brighter. "Emergency. Shutting down all operations." Said a voice from the computer.

Seconds later the chamber exploded outwards. The camera flew from it's tripod, slamming into a wall before falling to the ground with a loud thud. There was the distinct sound of static as the camera began to die, but it worked well enough that you could see the lab was lit up by the glow of fire.

Louise dropped to the ground in front of the camera, gasping frantically for air. The woman raised a hand to the fire that was building up around, absorbing it into her palm. The fire entering her body seemed to give the woman a burst of strength, it was apparent in her movements.

It was like she had jump started herself like a car.

"Yes... I did it!" She screamed, snatching the camera and scrambling to get to her feet. "I did it!" Louise screamed at the top of her lungs, holding the camera up to her face. Her hair had taken on a distinct blue hue, her skin had become a pale blue, and her eyes had even become a deep ocean blue.

"What...? I thought... it doesn't matter. I've done what I set out to do." The woman said into the camera, ignoring her appearance. Despite seeing the changes the experiment made to her body the woman was proud of herself. She was stronger, better. She didn't need her glasses anymore, everything was clear.

She could see.

Louise spun around, taking a look at the destroyed laboratory. Part of no longer needing glasses was seeing the damage she caused to her expensive lab equipment and the thermo-chamber.

"Ah, shit. Time to clean up..." She said, shutting off the camera.

A blue woman boarding a plane, especially one who wasn't one of the world's heroes, would have surely ended with Louise being detained. Who knows how long that would be? Who knows if the government would experiment on her? Or worst, take credit for her work?

She couldn't have that. Not now.

Louise stepped out of her wrecked lab into the cold, glancing around at the lonely Canadian wilderness that spanned hundreds of miles in every direction. It was barely morning, she had lost track of time, but it couldn't be before noon. She was so busy dealing with her new look and basking in the fact that her experiment worked that the world around her ceased to matter for a time.

But as soon as she came back to reality everything began to matter even more.

He had to die. Firestorm had to die. He killed Crystal, it was all his fault that she was dead. He could have saved her, but instead he let her die. If Louise was there she could have done something. She could have made things right.

The rage built up in the woman was finally starting to seep out. Snow and ice swirled around the woman's body in increasingly violent ways. "I have to go..." She said to herself, eyes searching for a vehicle to take. She had gotten there by helicopter, but she had no way to call her contact anymore.

Then it dawned on Louise. The solution to her problem.

"I can bring energy into myself... can I fire it out like a propulsion system? Become a human rocket ship?" Louise asked as she aimed her palms downward, focusing as hard as possible on releasing the energy in her body through her hands. The woman strained and fought with herself until finally energy shot out and propelled her up into the air. "Yes!" She screamed with excitement.

And then she came plummeting down only seconds later to slam into a snow bank.

"Practice makes perfect..." She said to herself, getting back up to her feet to attempt the feat again. "Up, up, and... holy shit!" The blue-skinned woman shot up into the sky. This time she didn't come crashing down. Her flight pattern was sporadic at best, it would have legally been grounds for a DUI at worst.

"New York City... here I come..." She growled to herself as she soared through the air.

 

[Saarai]

Chapter 6: Multiple Personality Disorder​

"New York City! Here I come!" Virgil Hawkins shouted, stepping out of the New York airport terminal with his arms stretched out wide. He didn't much heed to the inconvenient placement of his luggage on the sidewalk.

Virgil was a young man of African-American descent with a head full of dreadlocks that reached just below his shoulders, he donned a pair of black cargo pants, a black T-shirt donning Captain Marvel's signature thunderbolt, and a blue hooded sweatshirt. He was physically fit and not very tall.

Average as far as anyone could see.

"Virgil! Virgil!" His sister, Sharon, shouted, but Virgil remained where he was. He was basking in the autumn breeze that found it's way through the city. "Virgil, can you focus for a second?" Sharon asked, prompting Virgil to spin around to see the young African-American woman dressed in a dark pantsuit.

"Sharon!" Virgil yelled, charging the woman and tossing his arms around her. "It's been so long, big sis." Virgil told Sharon. "Virgil... I saw you a week ago. We did a video chat last night..." Sharon informed her brother, "Yeah, but... I'm so excited! New York City! The Big Apple! The City That Never Sleeps!" Virgil exclaimed.

"Yeah... you might want to take that down a notch. Don't try to seem too excited." Sharon told Virgil with a smirk, "Come on." She said, gesturing for her younger sibling to follow. "My car is over here."

"You have your own car?!" Virgil asked, grabbing his luggage and following behind Sharon. "Of course. You don't think everyone here rides the train, do you?" Sharon asked her brother, pointing him towards the silver sedan parked on the street. "Sweet ride." Virgil said, jumping into Sharon's car.

"So, where do you live?" Virgil asked as Sharon began the drive into the city proper, "I never did tell you, did I?" Sharon asked, "Queens. I've got a place in Flushing." Sharon answered, "It's nice." She said.

"Ever meet anyone famous?" Virgil asked his sister, "I met The Flash once. Typical superhero emergency." She answered, "It was fun. Crazy, but fun." She said as they entered the city from the expressway.

As they moved something from the sky slammed into the path of the vehicles, many cars and trucks swerving and others crashing.

"What was that?" Sharon asked, slamming on the brakes to bring her car to a quick stop. There was a cloud of smoke and fire shooting up from the apparent crash site. It was then that about a dozen men, all donning very tight black uniforms with no features and glowing neon trims descended from the sky.

"Firestorm! Get up and fight me like a man!" One of the identical men shouted, he and the others floating just above the carnage. "All of me!" Another shouted, "I don't mean to sound conceited, but... there's enough of me to go around if you want to call some Leaguers. "You'll need the help."

"You're going to go do your hero thing, right?" Sharon asked, turning to look at Virgil. Her brother was already in the process of changing into his costume by the time she finished her sentence. "It's my job." Virgil told his sister, "No, it's not. You need a way to pay rent. I don't think you get a paycheck doing this stuff." Sharon said as Virgil climbed out of the car.

"Yeah... yeah..." Virgil said, slipping a mask over his eyes to conceal his identity from anyone who decided to be an amateur filmmaker. "I'm serious, Virgil!" Sharon called out as her brother ran towards the crater in the road.

"Need some help?" Virgil asked as he glanced into the crater to find a man in an orange and red costume, the top of his head lit up in flames.

"Your head is burning, dude." Virgil told his fellow hero, "Very funny, man. If you really want to help, let's kick Multiplex's ass. Uh... all of his asses." The other hero said, getting to his feet.

"You take the him on the left, I'll take the him on the right." The fiery-headed hero said, pointing towards Multiplex and all of his duplicates in the sky. "Piece of cake, I've fought Holocaust and Zod." Virgil boasted, "I'm Static, by the way." The young hero informed his new ally.

"Firestorm." The other hero told Static. "Welcome to New York. Don't let this turn you off, it's really a nice city."

"Need help to fight me?" Multiplex asked Firestorm as Static slid a rectangular sheet of metal from his pocket. "You carry metal around with you all the time?" Firestorm asked, "Eh, I've got stranger habits." The hero joked, "It'll make sense in a minute." Static told Firestorm.

"He can multiply, obviously, got to find the original." Firestorm informed Static, "Should be easy with two of us, he's gotten stronger than he used to be." Firestorm said, "Well, let's not waste any time!" Static charged forward, tossing the sheet of metal out in front of himself.

He jumped forward, the metal sheet almost instantly expanding into a circular shape. Static's feet were attracted directly to the flying disk, said disk continuing on it's path towards Multiplex with Static on top of it.

"Makes sense that you'd need help, ever since I got this yellow power ring I've been unstoppable." Multiplex said, "Wait? What did he just say?" Static asked, yellow energy shaped like a fist shooting out from Multiplex's power ring to hit the hero. The young man was sent flying towards the ground, but he acted fast and sent electricity shooting out from his palms to dampen his fall.

Once Static hit the ground his flying disk boomeranged out towards him, the young hero jumped and once again his feet found it easily. "Did I not mention that part?" Firestorm asked, flying towards Static. "Wouldn't have hurt to say something sooner." Static said, "Just sayin'."

The two heroes knew they needed to regroup. "Ever fought a Yellow Lantern?" Firestorm asked Static, "Once. With help. From Superman." Static answered. "Okay, uh... Multiplex isn't exactly a trained Yellow Lantern, maybe we can outwit him." Firestorm suggested, "All of him?" Static asked.

"I'm getting bored!" Multiplex yelled, "I guess I'll have to be the one to make an effort." Multiplex said, "Go!" He shouted, his doubles flying down towards Static and Firestorm.

Static fired blasts of his electromagnetic energy at the doubles coming his way and Firestorm followed the other hero's lead, heated blasts of energy finding their marks against the bodies of the doubles. The two young heroes maneuvered expertly around Multiplex's clones, firing blast after blast as they got closer to the original. The villain was confident in his abilities, he had a power ring, his doubles, his brute strength and he figured that he had the upper hand.

As the two heroes got closer and closer Multiplex balled up a fist, his yellow power ring growing brightly. Multiplex flew towards Static and Firestorm, yellow energy wrapping around his hand as he braced for impact.

Electromagnetic energy wrapped Static's entire body, his eyes glowing as he and Firestorm continued their kamikaze attack on Multiplex. It was clear that whatever was going to happen would be explosive, destructive, and blinding.

At the last possible second Multiplex was pulled downward, he let out a scream at not knowing what was happening to him.

Multiplex slammed around into the ground, creating yet another crater in the expressway. "What?" Multiplex asked, looking around in search of his attacker. Multiplex dreaded the sight he saw, a man in a dark blue jumpsuit, deep orange boots, gauntlets, utility belt, holsters, and a metal mask that was split down the middle by the two contrasting colors standing over him.

The left side was deep orange, exposing a single eye. The other side was dark blue, completely covering that half of his face.

The man was armed with several handguns, a katana on his back, grenades, daggers. He was a walking armory. He was the mercenary assassin known by some as The Terminator, and by all as Deathstroke.

Deathstroke reached out for Multiplex, grabbing the man by the neck and lifting him up. "You!" Multiplex shouted, raising the power ring to the man's face. The man placed a hand gently over the ring, covering Multiplex's entire fist. "Really?" The masked man asked, easily quelling the yellow energy.

"Why isn't it working?" Multiplex asked himself as if he expected an answer. It didn't take long for panic to set in. "It's because you fear me more than I'll ever fear you." Deathstroke explained to Multiplex, the crunching sound of Multiplex's hand as the mercenary squeezed it drowned out by the villain's pained screams.

Static and Firestorm couldn't do much but watch, Deathstroke wasn't an easy fight. Not even for them. "Is that... him?" Firestorm asked, "Yeah..." Static answered, "Deathstroke." He told Firestorm.

Deathstroke slipped the power ring from Multiplex's broken hand, tossing him away like garbage before turning to walk away. "We can't let him leave with that!" Static said, "Agreed! Let's go!" Firestorm cried.

The two heroes charged Deathstroke quickly, intent on stopping the legendary assassin. But once they were close the man turned on a heel, a roundhouse kick finding it's mark on Firestorm's cheek. The hero was subsequently knocked to the ground and nearly unconscious.

In the same motion Deathstroke fired off another kick, this one hitting Static dead in the nose and sending him reeling back on his flying disk. The young hero was quick to regain his composure, but as soon as his eyes found Deathstroke again there was a dagger finding it's way towards him.

Static let out a pained grunt, the dagger slamming into his body and deep into his chest. "Hello again, Virgil. Goodbye again, Virgil." Deathstroke said as Static fell from his flying disk and hit the ground. His eyes were shut and his body was still. He was alive, but the young hero was knocking on death's door.

Firestorm got to his feet quickly, searching the area for any sign of Deathstroke. The assassin was long gone, but there was Static bleeding out on the concrete his first day in New York City.

"Static!" Firestorm yelled, rushing to his new friend. "I'll get you help!"

"Stay with me, dude. I got you."

 

[Saarai]

Chapter 7: Legacy

or

Killer Frost Redux​

Firestorm scooped Static up into his arms, he knew he'd be able to get the young hero to a hospital before an ambulance would arrive. The damage down to the expressway had blocked up traffic.

The only real problem would be keeping Static's identity a secret, he assumed the young man had a family to keep safe.

Firestorm flew off towards the hospital, lowering his head enough so that it reached his hands to allow him to tap his right ear. "Justice League, this is Firestorm. I have someone who's badly hurt. One of us. We're near JFK heading into the city right now." Firestorm said once he had opened up communications with the Justice League.

"Firestorm, this is Hawk. Who do you have?" Hawk asked. "Someone named Static." Firestorm answered, "Static? I know him. Uh... Huntress, The Question, and some of the Titans are nearby. Raven is with them, bring them to her." Hawk told Firestorm, "Meet them underneath the Queensboro bridge." Hawk ordered.

"Got it, I'll be there soo-..." Firestorm was cut off before he could finish speaking when a blast of blue energy hit him, nearly causing him to drop Static to his death. "What the hell?" Firestorm yelled, turning to see a woman with pale blue skin, blue hair, and blue energy swirling around her hands floating in the air near him.

Louise Lincoln.

"Deja vu?" Louise asked, bad intentions clearly on her mind as she smirked at the fiery hero.

"What?" He asked, confused by the sight. "You're not Crystal. Who are you?" Firestorm asked, "Don't you say her name! You don't deserve to say her name!" Louise screamed, firing a blast of blue energy from her palms at Firestorm. The hero was ready this time, strafing to evade the attack.

He had to get Static to safety before he could fight. This wasn't the best place for a dying young adult to be. He had to find the Titans, maybe outnumbering the woman would make her back off until Static was safe.

"Sorry, I can't stick around and chat." Firestorm told the woman, "People to meet, things to do. The usual." The hero said, flying off again towards the Queensboro bridge. Of course Louise followed right behind him, intent on catching up to the young hero and avenging her dead friend.

"Afraid?" The woman shouted as she flew behind Firestorm, "Of you? Not really. Just in a hurry, you're going to make me late." Firestorm retorted, "You'll learn to fear Killer Frost eventually." Louise barked at Firestorm. "That's what the last Killer Frost said. Be more creative." Firestorm taunted.

His words only served to anger, Louise, Killer Frost. She raised her hands in front of her, and then she pushed all of her anger towards the hero to the surface. Killer Frost was channeling it all into a burst of energy that shot out from her palms and slammed into Firestorm's back.

He went spiraling out of control and he couldn't keep Static from slipping from his grasp, "Damn it! No!" Firestorm yelled as he watch the unconscious hero fall.

All Firestorm really could do was watch as Static began his descent towards Earth, towards what would surely be the end of his life. That was until a pitch black hand swooped in to keep him from falling further. It confused Firestorm for a moment until he righted himself and laid eyes on where the hand had come from.

Raven, the source of the hand, donned a dark purple leotard and hooded cloak as she hovered far above the ground. The hand gently cradled Static as it and Raven began to glide down towards the street.

Two other women and a young man flew nearby, making their way towards Firestorm. The first woman was almost completely black, parts of her body and her eyes giving off a teal glow.

She was the Titan known as Solstice.

The other woman had long black hair wore a black sleeveless unitard, it appearing to have star on it. Actual stars as if it was projecting images from a telescope. Almost as if it was the image of an actual place within the universe. And when her body moved, so did the stars. Firestorm still couldn't get used to that.

This was Donna Troy, the de facto leader of the Titans. Wonder Woman's daughter or sister. Firestorm didn't actually know much about Donna.

The last person, the male, donned a red and black bodysuit. On the front was Superman's crest, it was clear who this young man was. Anyone who didn't live under a rock knew who it was.

Superboy.

"Glad you could make it." Firestorm said, "I can handle her on my own." He said, gesturing to the new Killer Frost. "Are you sure?" Donna asked, "She looks pissed." Donna added, "Yeah, I got this, Donna." Firestorm answered, turning to face Killer Frost.

"Alright, it's just you and me." Firestorm said, "You and I." Solstice interjected, correcting Firestorm. The young hero gave her a look before bring his attention back to Killer Frost. "Good. I'll enjoy this." Killer Frost told Firestorm, blue energy swirling around her hands.

"We'll be close." Donna told Firestorm, leading the other two heroes away from the fight. Firestorm could handle himself, an amateur knock-off Killer Frost would be nothing to the hero.

He hoped so, at least. The last blast she hit him with was a lot stronger than he expected it to be.

On the streets of Queens, Raven stepped in front of a moving vehicle. The car screeching to a halt to avoid slamming into her, "What are you doing, you freak?" The driver shouted angrily, "Saving a life." Raven said, and with a flick of her wrist she tore the roof of the car off. She floated the dying Static over to the vehicle, placing him gently down in the back seat.

The driver of the car was ready to scream obscenities at Raven until he saw the young hero bleeding out. He was roughly the same age as his own son, the flood gates for his parental empathy were open. "Can I help?" The man asked just as Donna and the other two heroes flew down to the street.

People on the street began to crowd around the heroes, eager to see them in person. "It's Superboy!" A woman shouted, "Wondergirl! Marry me!" A man yelled from the crowd, "It's Donna Troy, I'm not Wondergirl anymore." Donna informed the man.

"No one ever knows my name." The black-bodied Solstice mused in an almost British yet very Indian accent, "They'll catch on one day, Kiran." Superboy told her, "The name Solstice might be hard to remember though." The young man added, "Try something simpler." He suggested.

Raven hovered quietly over Static, dark energy wrapping around the young man's body. "Call for paramedics." She said to the driver of the now topless car, "He'll need blood, I can heal his wound, but I can't replace his blood." Raven explained.

"I wish Cyborg was here, he could just scan him and see what his type was." Donna said, "And maybe he'd have blood ready." Solstice added. "Doesn't the League keep files on known heroes and vigilantes?" Superboy asked, "I'll contact the Watchtower." Solstice told the other heroes, slinking away from the group to make the call.

Her eyes drifted upwards to the fight in progress, watching as Killer Frost and Firestorm exchanged blows.

Firestorm took a blast of energy to the chest, reeling back, as he righted himself Killer Frost flew towards him. She slammed into the hero, taking him through the air to slam hard into one of the steel beams of the Queensboro bridge.

"I'm going to feel that in the morning." Firestorm muttered, slamming an elbow into Killer Frost's nose. The woman grabbed her face at the soft crunch of her nose bone from the impact. Pain was a good indicator that it was time to start putting some distance between herself and her enemy.

"And she'll be feeling that." Firestorm taunted. He stared the blue woman down, looking her over for a moment. "I know you...?" He said, not entirely sure he was making a statement or asking a question. Firestorm looked to the ID card still clipped to Killer Frost's tattered labcoat. "Louise?" He asked, "We know that name." Firestorm said, "We?" Killer Frost asked, "It's nothing." Firestorm mumbled.

"We're sorry, Louise. For Crystal, for what we did to her and for what we did to you." Firestorm said sincerely, floating towards Killer Frost slowly. The villain kept some distance between herself and the hero, crimson trickling from her nose and contrasting with the pale blue of her skin.

Killer Frost seemed unsure how to react to the kindness, to the sincerity in Firestorm's words. She could tell that in some way he cared about Crystal too, she just couldn't figure out why. Not yet.

"I-..." She began, trying to find the words. "I'm..." She paused again, "Go ahead, say it." Firestorm told the woman as he closed the gap between them. Anyone could fight with fists and explosive superpowers, but the greatest superpower of all would always be words. Kind words.

"I'm not." Killer Frost said, grabbing Firestorm by the arm. She slammed her palm upwards into the hero's elbow, dislocating the joint and breaking the bones around it. Firestorm raised his other hand to Killer Frost's face, firing a blast of energy into her that sent her flying back and down into the water between Manhattan and Queens.

"Bitch!" Firestorm yelled, "I mean, seriously." The hero shouted, flying down towards where he'd last seen Raven take Static. Paramedics were showing up on the scene, Firestorm figured he could get his arm put back into place while they were there.

He'd been blown up, shot, slammed into steel beam, stabbed, but a joint being forced out of place was the single most painful experience in his life at that point.

"Damn it. A little help." He said, coming down to stand besides Superboy. "Dislocation?" Superboy asked, "Let me handle that." Superboy told Firestorm, "Yeah, right, you bench press tanks, no thanks, man." Firestorm answered.

"Not always." Superboy informed Firestorm matter-of-factly.

 

[Saarai]

Chapter 8: Gods & Titans​

Firestorm, despite being as durable as he was, still suffered from having joints and bones. That was a downside to being a humanoid that wasn't one of those Martians. As the paramedics began to tend to him and Static, news crews were already arriving. Dozens of cameras just waiting to be shoved in the faces of the young heroes.

Among the cameras and reporters was none other than G. Gordon Godfrey. He was already out to speak with people about Superman's upcoming speech, but this event here was something else he could run as well. He had to keep those ratings up.

"Donna Troy!" Godfrey shouted, pushing through the crowd of reporters to jam his microphone in Donna's face, "Do you care to comment on the villain Multiplex possessing a Yellow Lantern ring?" The man asked.

"Those are alien in origin, are aliens giving weapons to our criminals? Is the alien Sinestro planning to return?" Godfrey asked the young woman. "What? I wouldn't know, you should be asking the League. We're Titans East." Donna answered.

"Titans East? Still technically part of the Justice League, it's why you get to operate, even if you're outside of the law. The laws that bind people like me who have no superpowers, or magic." Godfrey said loudly.

"Hey, back off." Superboy said, coming to stand in front of Donna and Godfrey. "Or what?" Godfrey asked, raising an eyebrow. "Or I'll-..." Superboy paused, looking around the many cameras and microphones pointed in his direction. He looked back to Godfrey, catching sight of the smug grin on the reporter's lips.

Superboy almost fell into Godfrey's trap. He knew how this kind of news worked from Lois.

"I won't tell you. You won't be harmed, but your ratings? Not sure how they'll do when one of your rivals gets to sit down with my whole team as we answer questions, some personal, about this and the threat of aliens invading again." Superboy told Godfrey.

"I think it'll be an exclusive too, insider information straight from the Titans. What the people really want to know." Despite the S shield on his chest, it was clear that Superboy took pointers from his fellow Titans rather than Superman.

Godfrey snarled, peering directly into the Kryptonian clone's eyes. It was as if he was looking into the face of someone who was his sworn enemy, someone he truly hated with a passion.

"I'll lay off." Godfrey said, masking his other emotions in favor of his Conservative persona, "For now." He added.

"Okay, people, nothing to see here!" A police officer shouted, he and other NYPD officers moving in to push back the crowds of onlookers and reporters. "Off the street. Emergency vehicles need to get through! Get off the street!"

"That guy's a jerk." Donna said to Superboy, "Tell me about it. He gives me this vibe too. I can't place my finger on it, but there's something about him." Superboy told Donna, "You should head to the water and look for that blue lady. We got this here." Donna ordered.

Superboy nodded, flying up from the street and towards the river. Killer Frost took a nasty hit, she was probably too wounded to get very far.

Sharon was just arriving home, it took much longer than expected thanks to the battle between Multiplex and Firestorm tearing up part of the road. There were many detours to be had.

Sharon tossed her large purse down on her couch, scooping up her TV remote from the same couch. She headed for her kitchen, turning on her TV as she walked. "Let's see how Virgil's doing." She said to herself, flicking through the channels until she found the local news.

"This is Christopher George with channel thirteen news, New York. Earlier today local hero Firestorm and the Dakota hero, Static, fought a fierce battle against the superpowered villain known as Multiplex." The reporter on the screen said, "During the fighting the hero Static was mortally wounded."

Sharon had grabbed a can of soda, popping it open and bringing it up to her lips. But, as she heard those words she nearly drowned herself with the soda and spit it out. "What?! Virgil!" She yelled, looking to the TV.

"The Titans are on scene now, the Titan, Raven, known daughter to the infamous demon god known as Trigon. Trigon is known to be worshiped by the Cult of Blood, led by the cult leader who refers to himself as Brother Blood." Christopher continued.

Sharon rushed to grab her purse, as soon as she had it in hand she was out the door.

She had to make sure her baby brother was okay.

 

[Saarai]

Chapter 9: Riddle Me This​

Back in Gotham City...

Augustus woke up from his nightmare, nearly letting out a scream before forcing it back down. All of the fear gas was out of his system, but the encounter with Scarecrow had brought his deepest fear about Raquel to the surface. Her past as a criminal. Everyone she knew from Dakota wasn't in prison, or dead, or turning over a new leaf.

There was no telling who would knock on that door and ask for a favor from Raquel, and no telling if she'd do it for them, no telling what the favor would be. Augustus was deathly afraid of Raquel being sucked back into her old life.

The man shook off the thoughts, climbing out of his bed and letting his eyes find the clock on his wall. "Noon already?" He asked, "Well, it's not the latest I've slept." Augustus said to himself, "Raquel, you home?" He called out as he approached his room door.

"Out here with an unexpected guest." Raquel called back to Augustus. The man stepped out into the living room to see The Question standing near the front door to the apartment and Raquel seated on the couch.

"And, to what do we owe this visit?" Augustus asked, raising an eyebrow at the sight of the faceless detective.

"One half League business, one half needing a favor." The Question said, "Yellow power rings. You're familiar with them, right?" The Question asked, "Yeah, Sinestro's people use them. Scarecrow had one last night." Raquel answered.

"Exactly, Scarecrow had one. So did Multiplex in New York this morning. Icicle Jr. We've even heard reports that Black Manta has one." The Question explained.

"What does that have to do with us?" Augustus asked, "Black Canary, Batwoman and I are following leads of our own. Deathstroke's been taking the power rings. Batwoman found Scarecrow dead last night, Icicle Jr. and his wife, Tigress, ended up in the ICU this morning." The Question answered.

"We're pursuing that lead, trying to find out who's employing Deathstroke and why." The Question said, "We've got another lead though, one more unexpected and that would surely take too long to follow if we want the Deathstroke trail to stay hot." The Question reached into his coat, slipping out a green origami question mark.

"How are you two with Riddles?" The Question asked, "Doesn't matter, it's not very hard." He said, tossing the origami question mark to Raquel before turning to head to the exit. "Wait? Not going to tell us where to start?" Raquel asked the faceless detective.

"It's in your hands." The Question said, "Good luck." He added, stepping out into the hall and shutting the door behind him.

"I guess we should get started." Augustus said, moving to take a seat beside Raquel as she opened up the origami question mark. It unfolded into a neat square, it contained a riddle, one of the Riddler's trademarks. Each word that made up the riddle written in different forms of handwriting with varying sizes in letters.

It was as if a group of people had all written a word, or a letter each. Or someone was very good at forging handwriting. Too good.

"Ready?" Raquel asked, "Yeah." Augustus answered, the two taking the time to read the riddle together. It read;

The sun rises in the West, that's where the day begins, to find the next clue you must confront the night and all it's sins, you're on the right track if you're at the End.

"Well, I don't get it." Raquel said, tossing the paper down. "Gonna give up that quickly?" Augustus asked, "It's easy. Look at how the W in west is capitalized, and the E in end is capitalized." Augustus said, "Yeah, I see them." Raquel told the man, "So what?" She asked.

"If west is where the day begins..." Augustus trailed off, raising an eyebrow at Raquel. "East is where the day ends." Raquel said, "As for the night and sins, those are more clues." Augustus said, "We're going to the East End." He said, "That was easy. Too easy, maybe."

"That's... suicide, actually. It's the East End." Raquel told the man, "Not for Icon and Rocket." Augustus informed the young woman, "True. I'll get my stuff together." She said, getting up to her feet and heading to her room.

"It says we have to confront the night, we'll go there later on when the sun starts going down." Raquel called out, "Fine by me." Augustus answered, leaning back on the couch.

"It's just going to be really... hectic." Raquel added.

 

[Saarai]

Chapter 10: Those Who Own The Night​

Night began to fall on Gotham City and the rest of the east. Night was when all of the real monsters came out, all of your bad dreams and every psychopaths sick fantasy came bubbling to the surface in Gotham City.

Icon stood atop the roof of his apartment building, eyes finding the light from the Bat-signal displaying a familiar symbol on the cloudy night sky. "Ready?" Rocket asked as she climbed the last few steps of the fire escape leading up to the roof. "Whenever you are." Icon told the young woman.

The two heroes shot off into the sky towards Gotham's East End, the city was much different at night. Cops and criminals were brawling, drunken people were having equally drunken slug fests outside of bars and nightclubs, but the real evil was taking it's time to show itself.

Or maybe Icon and Rocket weren't looking hard enough for it.

"Look, there's The Question." Rocket said, pointing down at the street. The Question stood in an alley, several armed men approaching the cornered detective.

"Should we help?" Rocket asked Icon, "I think that's a good idea." Icon answered, but as soon as the two heroes began to change course they noticed something in the shadows.

"Wait." Icon told Rocket, the two heroes stopping to watch the scene unfold.

"It's over, Black Mask isn't going to take any more of your shit." One of the gangsters told The Question, "You're going to die here like an animal." Another taunted, "I have a question for you." The Question said to his assassins, "What's black, red and right behind you?" The Question asked.

"What?" A gangster asked, before his brain could process the question he was wrapped in what appeared to be a cloak and dragged into the darkness of the alley's many shadows.

The other men turned to look for their comrade, opening fire on every part of the alley that seemed to be a little too dark for their tastes.

The Question charged the men who had now turned their attention elsewhere, the faceless hero grabbed two of the men by their collars. He lifted them both before slamming them face down, as he did this the cloaked figure would descend from above the alley.

It landed atop one of the gangsters before immediately leaping to another to take them down with a hard kick to the face, "There's more than one bat in town with moves." It said, a feminine voice coming from the dark figure.

She stood up to reveal her black and red costume and cape, it was once again the Batwoman.

"Got some runners." Batwoman said, gesturing to a few men who were taking the chance to run. They weren't going to stick around just to get beat up if they had a choice in the matter.

Before they could get out of the alleyway they found themselves faced with a blonde haired woman donning a black unitard and a black jacket. "You know who I am, right?" The woman asked, "Black Canary." One of the men answered, "But, you're still going to try to fight me, right?" Black Canary asked.

The men looked between each other for a moment, attempting to charge Black Canary while they had the advantage of numbers. This tactic would prove useless, the woman would let out a deafening scream. The scream grew in pitch, bringing the men down to their knees as their brains began to succumb to the pressure.

"That's how we do it." Black Canary boasted.

"Guess we aren't needed down there." Rocket said, flying off towards the East End once more. "It would have been nice to thank Batwoman. She's almost as hard to get to as Bruce." Icon said as he flew behind Rocket.

The two heroes flew over the East End, searching for any signs of where they had to go. "See anything?" Icon asked, "Not a damn thing." Rocket answered, "Want to head down?" Rocket asked Icon, "It's not like we can't handle pimps and gangsters." The woman explained.

"True. Let's go." Icon began to fly down to the ground, Rocket in tow. The closer they got to the surface the more unsettled they got by it. Gotham's East End was a place many citizens of Gotham would probably relate to hell on Earth. A haven for the most depraved criminals, low-lives and the scum of the Earth.

The denizens of the East End took time out of their busy lives to watch the two heroes descend on them, it wasn't that they were anything special, capes and cowls came around the East End often. Just not like Icon and Rocket. Super superheroes, they weren't like Green Arrow, or Huntress.

"I'm feeling really out of place here..." Rocket muttered, "You'll be fine." Icon told Rocket, "We can handle anything this place throws our way." He continued, eyes once again searching the area for any signs of where the Riddler wanted him and Rocket to go.

"Maybe he ran into some problems. Food poisoning. 'Cause I don't see jack that looks like it's leading to more riddles." Rocket said, "I don't know if food poisoning is the problem Nigma ran into..." Icon told his partner, "What?" Rocket asked, being turned by Icon to see the man they were looking for.

The Riddler was in a seedy bar, pistol aimed up at the infamous Deathstroke as he fought off the Riddler's bodyguards. "You think I wasn't ready for you?" The Riddler asked, "I have heroes on the way. Good ones. Batman." The Riddler told Deathstroke, "You're going down, Mr. Terminator." The Riddler taunted.

"You might have been prepared for me." Deathstroke said as he snapped the neck of one of Riddler's men, soon grabbing another by the throat and tossing him outside. He did this all while keeping his eye on The Riddler, advancing closer with each death.

"I'll pay anyone who kills Deathstroke handsomely!" The reformed villain yelled, but no one in that bar was stupid enough to go face to face with Deathstroke, The Terminator. That was suicide, and there were more pleasant ways to meet your end.

Deathstroke reached for his own pistol, unfazed by the fact that The Riddler already had a gun trained on him. Riddler could only wonder what was going through Deathstroke's head. Why wasn't he afraid? He could die. Riddler could kill him with just one well-aimed shot to the face.

The ever stoic Deathstroke continued his slow approach, "What's wrong with you? Why aren't you afraid?" The Riddler asked, "I have a gun!" He screamed, "Because you'll be bleeding out and dead in five minutes." A feminine voice said from behind The Riddler.

A dark-skinned Asian woman slowly slid placed the end of a sai to The Riddler's neck. The man's would-be assassin had long black hair, she donned a short green kimono and equally as green thigh-high boots. "What's wrong, Edward? No Riddles for me?" The female assassin asked.

"Didn't have one in mind for you, Cheshire." The Riddler said calmly, resigned to his fate. He was going to die, but if he died he was going to die getting the last laugh. "That's unfortunate, I've got one for you though." Cheshire told The Riddler.

Rocket broke off into a sprint, soon flying towards the bar and through it's window towards Cheshire. Icon did the same, his target being Deathstroke. Icon slammed his fist into Deathstroke's face, sending the man flying into a wall.

Rocket wasn't as lucky, as she flew towards Cheshire the green-clad assassin took the time to jam her sai into Riddler's throat. "I had a good one ready for you too." She said just before Rocket slammed into her.

The two women hit the bar counter, Cheshire raising a foot to Rocket's gut and pushing her back. Before Rocket could regain her balance Cheshire was lunging at her, a well-placed kick connecting and sending Rocket down to the floor. Cheshire pounced her, still bloody sai coming up and then down towards Rocket's chest.

Rocket grabbed the assassin's wrist, keeping the weapon at bay for the time being. "Told you something would happen!" Rocket shouted to Icon.

The hero was having issues of his own, he found himself on the defense from attacks from the ruthless, extremely quick Deathstroke. Deathstroke was only human, right? How could he possibly hold his own against someone like Icon?

What Icon seemed to forget was that Deathstroke held his own against, defeated, the man, the mere mortal, who held his own against Superman. When you put the man who owned the night on his back, you had some claim to ownership as well.

And it was going to be a long night for the two heroes who found themselves on the wrong end of it.

 

[Saarai]

Chapter 11: Dead On Arrival​

The Riddler stood with the help of the bar counter, green suit darkened by his own blood. The man held a hand to his neck, barely able to contain his blood as is, the sudden loss of so much leaving him disoriented.

But there was always a chance he could survive, right?

The Riddler wasn't a man who was supposed to die like this. He was supposed to die with a legacy. A bigger legacy than this. He was supposed to be the biggest villain-turned-crime fighter around. He always went for the gold.

As the two sides faced off, Icon and Rocket against Cheshire and Deathstroke, Riddler dragged himself along the bar. The reformed villain nearly collapsed, dropping down to a knee. Eyes finding something very interesting under the counter, maybe his luck wasn't running out.

"Give up." Deathstroke said to Icon as the two men circled eachother in the middle of the ruined bar. "Not a chance." Icon told Deathstroke, "He's probably dead by now. Or he will be soon. My job's done." Deathstroke informed Icon, "Give up and let me go about my day. I have other work to do." The mercenary said.

"And let you get away with murder? No. I saw what happened to Static because of you. He's alive, but I'm still pissed off." Icon told Deathstroke, "Do you know who else is pissed?" He asked, tilting his head to the right. Deathstroke barely turned his head before Rocket charged him and shot out an energy blast that sent the mercenary flying.

Cheshire attempted to lunge at Rocket from behind, only to find herself grabbed by Icon and tossed out of the broken window into the street.

"You look like you're having a bad day." A woman in a skintight catsuit told Cheshire as she approached from an alley, "Whatever, Cat-girl." Cheshire said to the woman as she pulled herself up to her feet, "It's Catwoman." The woman corrected Cheshire, pulling a mask up over her head.

It was complete with cat ears.

"What are you doing here? We're busy." Cheshire told Catwoman, jerking a thumb inside the bar to the sight of Deathstroke single-handedly holding his own against both Rocket and Icon.

"I need your help for something a little more... self-serving than what our mutual employer wants." Catwoman said to Cheshire, "I'll fill you in when you're done here. I'll find you." The enigmatic thief told her assassin counterpart. "This better be on the level, Selina." Cheshire said before charging back towards the bar.

"I wouldn't steer you wrong, Jade!" Catwoman shouted after the woman before heading off to take care of her own business in the East End.

Inside the bar Cheshire dove onto Icon's back, digging her poisoned nails into his face. "You might be a big strong man, but eyeballs tend to be squishy all the time. You aren't Superman." Cheshire taunted.

"True. That's why I'd hit a lady." Icon said, grabbing Cheshire's wrists and pulling her nails from his face easily. Though the scratches were deep enough to leave lasting marks on the hero's face.

Cheshire wrapped her legs around Icon's waist, attempting to keep the hero from separating her from his body. "I'm not going anywhere!" Cheshire told Icon, "Yes, you are!" Rocket said, turning her attention from Deathstroke to fire a blast of energy at Cheshire.

The blast hit it's mark, pushing Cheshire away from Icon and down to the dirty floor.

Deathstroke raised his sword up, approaching Rocket from behind with clear intent to cut through the young hero's body. "No!" Riddler shouted, lifting a sawn-off shotgun towards Deathstroke. The man didn't hesitate this time, almost immediately firing a shot that sent Deathstroke reeling and eventually stumbling into a table.

Again Riddler collapsed, the lack of blood in his body taking it's toll on him. The green-clad reformed villain was breathing slowly, Icon and Rocket rushing towards him.

"Edward, you're going to be okay." Icon told the man, Rocket climbing over the bar counter in an attempt to help Riddler. "Don't lie to me..." Riddler breathed out, "I'm going to die... go to... to... Godfrey." Riddler told Icon and Rocket.

"Godfrey? The talk show host?" Rocket asked, looking towards Icon before turning her attention back to Riddler. "He knows more... than he lets on..." Riddler said, closing his eyes. "What do you mean? Hey! Wake up!" Rocket yelled at the man, it was clear after a few seconds that he was dead.

Rocket lowered her head, accepting the fact that a man died in front of her. But, it was hard to get over her failure as a hero. It would be for a long time.

"Let's call the League." Icon said, the sound of a single gunshot catching his attention as it echoed through the East End. Icon couldn't help but notice that both Cheshire and Deathstroke had disappeared from the scene.

"Damn it..." Icon said, frustrated. "Let's go check out that gunshot. It might be connected." He said, he and Rocket flying up and out of the bar. To find the source of the gunfire.

That gunshot, very different from the others that usually inhabited the East End of Gotham City, caught the attention of every thug, pimp, vigilante, cop, prostitute, beggar, mercenary and snitch in the area.

Blood pooled on the dirty concrete of an alleyway, the tortured screams of a woman replacing the echo of the gunshot. Piercing the sudden silence that had befallen the crime ridden city.

In a blink of an eye someone was dead. Someone loved by the sounds of it.

Icon and Rocket flew through the air as quickly as they could, intent on finding the source of the screams. "This way!" Icon shouted to Rocket, leading her down towards the alleyway.

It was littered with bodies, gangsters and thugs mostly. Some were just wounded or knocked out cold, others were dead and gone.

Bullet wounds, knife wounds, bashed heads. This was a gangland skirmish, or a message by massacre. But, among the gangsters and thugs, among the lowlifes were a few people who were out of place. Even a female police officer clutching a gun.

"Whoa..." Rocket said to herself, examining the bodies. "Black Mask's men and some of Two-Face's." Icon told the younger hero, his eyes catching the sight of the crying woman hunched over with a bleeding man leaning against her. It was clear that he was dead.

The two were bound together, all she could do was sit there and let him rot next to her.

"Rocket... call the League..." Icon said to his protege, "Yeah..." Rocket muttered, turning away from the woman and her deceased love one.

Rocket raised her right forearm where she wore a device on her wrist similar to a watch. "Rocket to Watchtower..." The young hero said somberly, "Rocket this is Watchtower. What's the situation?" A man answered, "We've got a man down..." Rocket answered.

She went silent for a moment.

"We have a hero down..."

 

[Saarai]

Chapter 12: On The Verge​

Queens, New York.

One hour earlier...

Sharon sat in the crowded waiting room of the Queens hospital. It wasn't any more busy than usual, but the news of Static's injuries brought in fans, reporters, police officers and a few local heroes to show their support. Sharon liked that her brother had some many admirers.

Well, he did help save the world that one time. Most people would probably earn a few points with the population they saved from total annihilation at the hands of an alien or supervillain.

A young male doctor pushed through the crowd to enter the waiting room, "Ms. Hawkins." He said, gesturing for Sharon to follow him after getting her attention. Sharon stood up, following the doctor through the crowd of reporters, police officers, admirers and superhero friends of her brother.

"How is he?" Sharon asked the doctor as they got close to Virgil's room, "He's doing better, but.. there's still a chance that he could die. The dagger that the one-eyed man used on him punctured one of your brother's lungs. We're going to keep him for awhile, make sure he's really stabilized and then I can give you peace of mind." The doctor told Sharon.

"Thank you." She said, "If there's anything you need, just let me know. Ask for Dr. Rovin." The doctor told Sharon, offering the woman a comforting smile before heading off.

Sharon watched Dr. Rovin for a moment, her eyes catching site of a young tattooed Asian woman marching through the halls before finally making her way into Virgil's room.

Sharon could barely look at her sleeping brother. It was like seeing him dead despite all of the medical machinery he was hooked up to. "You uh... look like crap, Virgil." Sharon said, smiling slightly as she moved to take a seat beside her brother.

"This is my fault, I should have told you to wait. Kept you in the car instead of letting you go out there and get hurt." Sharon told the unconscious Virgil solemnly. The young woman couldn't help but beat herself up. Her brother, her baby brother, was on the verge of death and she couldn't have prevented it.

She thought she could, at least.

Sharon took hold of her brother's hand, squeezing it firmly. Seconds later the door to the room flew open, several people piling in to see a startled Sharon jumping from her feet.

The new group consisted of a young woman with long black hair, black jeans, and a purple crop top. The Ankh necklace she wore stood out to Sharon as well. Then there was a bigger man in a red and black letterman jacket, glasses and a baseball cap tilted low to obscure his face.

Last to join was a young man with brown hair, he wore jeans and a white t-shirt. He smiled at Sharon, "Uh... hey... we didn't expect him to have visitors." He said to her.

"Who are you?" Sharon asked, "Friends." The girl answered, "I'm Rachel." The young woman said, introducing herself to Sharon. "This big guy is Connor, that's Ronnie." She continued.

"Ronnie Raymond, and yes, I am single." Ronnie said to Sharon, his words prompting the woman to make a face. "Right. How'd you all get in here?" Sharon asked, "There are cops and capes all over the place."

"About that..." Ronnie began, "You're all superheroes, aren't you?" Sharon asked, "Not superheroes." Rachel answered, "Just connected." Rachel told Sharon, walking past her to head over to Virgil, she leaned over to examine the sleeping hero.

Ronnie's eyes found Rachel's lower back tattoo of a raven before drifting lower, "We just wanted to come check up on him." Connor added, stepping in front of Ronnie to obscure his view. "We'll be out of your hair soon." Connor continued.

"We should actually start leaving now. Connor and I have things to do for school." Rachel told Sharon, gesturing for Connor to follow as she head for the exit. "Yeah, this is my last year, so... I should scoot too. " Ronnie said, following behind Rachel.

"I hope he does better. Sorry we couldn't be any help." Connor said to Sharon, waving to her. "See you around." He added, heading towards the exit to join his friends in the hall.

"Strange bunch..." Sharon muttered to herself.

Out in the hall the three young people watched as several men and women shouted down the halls. A diverse group including a young female African-American doctor, an older, muscular African-American man, a heavily tattooed and Asian woman and Dr. Rovin.

"Yo, doc, what's going on?" Connor asked Rovin as he walked by, "Hm? Oh... uh... family drama among the Pierce family, I'm trying to get them somewhere... quieter." Dr. Rovin said, stopping for only a moment to explain.

"None of my business. My business is to find out who this new Killer Frost is." Ronnie told the two, "I'll catch you two around. You especially, Rachel. We can have a hot date." Ronnie teased, heading down the hall with a shit-eating grin on his face.

The grin disappeared once he thought he was far enough away from the others, he was serious about finding out who the new Killer Frost was. The teenage hero couldn't help but feel like the death of Crystal Frost could have been prevented, that he could have been the one to prevent it.

Ronnie pulled his cellphone from his pants pocket, tapping a few buttons and then holding it up to his ear. He waited a few seconds until someone picked up.

"Dr. Stein, it's me, Ronnie, I'm coming by your place. We need to talk."

 

[Saarai]

Chapter 13: Burning Desire​

Professor Martin Stein sat behind his desk in his classroom at the New York Institute of Technology. Busy after a long few days, after a ghost from his past had showed up unexpectedly, he was focused solely on his work. The college professor had fair skin and graying brown hair, he stood at about 5'10" and had an average build for an adult man. Professor Stein also donned a pair of horn-rimmed glasses over his brown eyes.

He heard the sound of a door swinging open, never once raising his head to see who it was. "That was quick, Ronnie." The man said, "Lex, actually." Professor Stein's visitor corrected, the voice prompting the professor to raise his head.

Coming down the steps from the entrance to the classroom was billionaire Lex Luthor. Bald, dressed in an expensive suit and walking with the swagger of a man who had nothing to fear, nothing to lose and all the power that it took to corrupt lesser men.

"What do you want?" Martin asked seriously, peering through Lex Luthor as if he could see the man's true self. "Really?" Lex asked, "Not even a, 'Hey. How are you?', for me, Professor?" Lex asked as he approached the other man's desk.

Martin remained silent, his lack of words said much to Luthor. The man before him didn't trust him at all. "Oh, please. Don't tell me you believe that alien. Don't tell me Superman's lies have gotten to you too." Lex said to Martin, "If I was as bad as he says wouldn't I be in prison by now?" Lex asked.

"Wouldn't most vindictive Wall Street capitalists?" Martin asked in a monotone. His words and delivery prompted Lex to laugh, the businessman genuinely found the joke funny. But, it was a time of business and not pleasure. He had finally get down to why he even showed up in the first place.

"I know you're Firestorm. You and that kid." Lex told Martin, "Really? I'm Firestorm? Wait... me and some kid are both Firestorm? That's absurd, Alex." Martin responded, "Please, professor, don't insult my intelligence. It'll always end badly for you." Lex told the professor.

"And, you don't threaten me, Alex. That'll always end badly for you." Martin retorted. The two men remained silent, exchanging glares for a few moments until Luthor finally turned on a heel and spoke.

"I can see this will be a waste of time. I'm going to go, but this won't be the last time we ever meet." Lex told Martin as he headed for the exit. "It helps me to think we won't see each other again." Martin told Lex, watching the businessman as he approached the exit. The door to the class swung open, Ronnie stepping in just as Lex was leaving.

Lex glanced back at the class for a moment as he stepped down the college building's halls, nearly bumping into a man dressed in a large hooded sweatshirt. "Emos..." Lex muttered as he continued on.

Back in the classroom Ronnie pointed towards the exit, "Wasn't that Lex Luthor?" He asked as he approached Professor Stein's desk. "Yeah. It was." Martin answered, "That guy's a dick." Ronnie said, Martin picking up a textbook and throwing it at the young man to hit him in the face.

"What was that for?" Ronnie asked, "Watch your mouth." Martin told the younger man, "Yeah. Whatever." Ronnie muttered under his breath. "About that lady we fought yesterday. She knew Crystal and you apparently know who this Killer Frost doppelganger is." Ronnie said to Martin.

"Louise Lincoln, she was another student of mine here. She was Crystal's best friend." Martin explained, "I fear that her love for Crystal has made her insane the way Crystal's love for me did to her in the past." Martin said solemnly.

"How do we find her?" Ronnie asked, almost immediately after he finished asking his question the door to the class flew open. Standing at the door was a mysterious figure in a large hooded sweatshirt. They raised their hands towards Martin, firing a burst of energy at him.

"Doc, move!" Ronnie shouted, scrambling to get out of the way as Martin ducked down behind his desk. Pieces of the wall fell down on Martin after the energy hit it, "Holy shit." Martin said loudly, "And you told me to watch my language?" Ronnie called out, taking cover behind some of the student desks.

Ronnie peeked out to see Martin's would-be assassin, watching as they began to remove the pants they were. "They're getting naked." Ronnie said, watching until the assassin removed the sweatshirt.

It was a woman and she had pale blue skin, blue hair, and blue energy swirling around her hands. She also donned a dark blue unitard, seemingly for mobility. It was the self-proclaimed Killer Frost. It hadn't occurred to Ronnie that if she was Louise Lincoln she'd know exactly where to find Professor Stein.

"Come out and die, Martin!" Killer Frost yelled, "Come on! I dare you to try to apologize for Crystal you washed-up loser." Killer Frost taunted, firing blaster after blast near the desk that Martin hid under.

Ronnie glanced towards the desk, knowing he wouldn't be able to get to it and become Firestorm with Martin without Killer Frost putting him down for dirt nap.

"Fuck it..." Ronnie said, glancing towards Killer Frost and then getting up to run. But, as soon as he got to his feet he was grabbed the woman. She had a tight grip on the back of his neck and lifted him from his feet, it was clear from his struggling that Ronnie was rather helpless.

"I'll snap his neck if you don't come out and show yourself." Killer Frost told Martin, holding Ronnie up high for the college professor to see. "Okay." Martin said, standing slowly to face his soon-to-be killer.

"Just... put him down, that's all I'm going to ask of you. This isn't his problem. What happened with Crystal and I, to your friend, is all my fault and we should be the only ones who have to deal with the aftermath.." Martin said to Killer Frost.

She thought on it for a moment, taking her sweet time before finally tossing Ronnie to the side. "I only need you to die anyways." Killer Frost said, glancing towards Ronnie. As soon as her eyes found Martin he was raising a gun and opening fire. A bullet struck Killer Frost in the stomach, the woman lashing out and whipping her blue energy all over the room.

"Leave!" Martin yelled at Killer Frost, "I will kill you." He told the woman seriously, Killer Frost had no intention of leaving, but on the other hand she wasn't faster than a speeding bullet.

With a frustrated and anguished scream the woman rushed out of the classroom, knocking down student after student who were searching for refuge from what they thought was a gunman as she left.

With a sigh Martin fell to the floor, back against the wall. "I'm probably going to be fired." He said, "At least we aren't dead and I'm still pretty." Ronnie joked, rubbing his bruised neck.

The two chuckled quietly, but their laughter was followed by a long silence other than the sounds of police officers running down the halls and shouting as they converged on the classroom.

"Dr. Stein?" Ronnie asked, "Yeah, Ronnie?" Martin responded, "Why do you have a gun?" The young man asked.

"It's uh... complicated..." Martin answered, "It's just complicated..."

 

[Saarai]

Epilogue​

"Freeze!" A police officer yelled at Killer Frost as she emerged from the college building she had just used as a venue for her revenge. She had gone through a back entrance into the college building, so there weren't too many officers on scene to stop her just yet.

If anyone was going to take her seriously she had to do something they wouldn't forget any time soon.

"Freeze? With pleasure!" Killer Frost yelled, suddenly raising her palms at the surrounding police officers. Before they could react the woman was unleashing a hellish swarm of ice and cold which froze anyone unlucky enough to be too close.

Others succumbed to cold, waiting to die from the sudden cold consuming their body. The cool night air combined with the fall weather made their deaths as quick as they could be.

Satisfied with her actions, Killer Frost shot off into the sky. She had to put some distance between herself and the murders she had just committed. Especially while she was losing blood from the gunshot wound in her stomach. She didn't get too far when she felt something tugging on her.

The woman found herself being pulled from her flight path against her will. She panicked, searching for any indicator as to what was going on. "Green Lanterns? No, why would they be here?" She asked herself, noting the lack of green energy around her. "What the hell?"

Killer Frost descended into an alleyway, where a limousine and several people stood. A short man wearing a hooded sweatshirt which all but concealed his face and identity. Deathstroke and Cheshire also stood in the alley, disinterested in what was going on.

They were just mercenaries.

The driver side door and the passenger side door of the limo opened up, two women both dressed in suits stepping out. The driver was a tall Caucasian woman with long blond hair tied into a single braided ponytail. She moved to the back seat while the second woman, a tall dark-skinned woman with long braids tied into a ponytail, stepped up to the front of the limo.

Killer Frost found herself sat as the driver opened the limo door. Out stepped Lex Luthor himself. Businessman, philanthropist, and to some, criminal mastermind.

"Lex Luthor? Really?" Killer Frost asked, "In the flesh." Lex responded with a smile, taking a few steps towards the blue-skinned woman. "I've come to make you an offer." He told her, "I don't need whatever you're selling." Killer Frost responded.

"You do, actually. You need a team." Lex informed the woman, "Really? Fuck off. I don't need anything." Killer Frost said, turning to leave the alleyway. "I know who Firestorm really is." Lex said, stopping the vengeful woman dead in her tracks. "I can tell you who they are, I can give you everything you'll need to kill them." Lex said.

"More importantly, I can give you allies in your fight against the Justice League when they come after you. Like-minded people who have some grudges to take care of and realize we can't do it alone. Not always." Lex explained, "We've all had injustices done to us by these so-called heroes."

"Why not return the favor?" Lex asked Killer Frost, the woman turning to address him. "What did they do to you?" She asked, "Like I said, injustice." Lex answered.

Concurrently in Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, Queens, New York...

Sharon sat beside her brother, watching as he slept through his coma. It had only been two days, but she was hoping he would suddenly awaken. That Virgil would get up and be at 100% in no time. But, it was wishful thinking. She had faith that he'd survive, but she wasn't sure how long he'd be out for.

Dr. Rovin pushed the room door open quietly, "Sharon?" He whispered, "Yeah...?" She answered, never taking her eyes from her comatose brother. "You should go get something to eat." Rovin told her, "You've been here for hours." He continued, "Come on, I'll buy you something." The doctor offered.

Sharon nodded, standing up from her seat to head for the exit. Before she reached the door she turned back, "My purse." She told Rovin, reaching down for the purse beneath her seat.

Before she could bend over to grab it Virgil shot up, startling the young woman and causing her to scream. Virgil, being just as alarmed, screamed as well. Hearing the flatline from disturbing the medical instruments attached to himself the young man's eyes opened wide.

"I'm a zombie!" Virgil shouted, "What?" Rovin asked, "No. You were in a coma." Rovin explained, opening the door to the room and gesturing for nurses and doctors.

"You almost scared me to death!" Sharon explained, "I wonder if you would have come back as a zombie. I've seen stranger things happen." Virgil joked, "I need to go. I need to go after Deathstroke. One-fourth revenge, three-fourths figuring out what he wants with yellow power rings." Virgil said, trying to stand up.

He only found himself pushed back down by his sister. "No, you just woke up from a coma. You'll open up your wounds, bleed out, and you won't make it to the elevators. Deathstroke isn't going anywhere." Sharon said, "If you try to leave I'll call dad." She threatened.

"You wouldn't." Virgil said to his sister, "Try me." Sharon retorted, "Dr. Rovin, make sure my brother doesn't do anything stupid." Sharon ordered, "I'll try, but... boys will be boys." Rovin joked as doctors and nurses entered to take care of Virgil.

"Come on, let's get some food in you." Rovin said, gesturing Sharon out of the room. He couldn't help but notice that she had a smile on her face, it was the first time he had seen her smile since she had been at the hospital.

"Silver linings..." Rovin muttered to himself, leading Sharon on.

 

[Saarai]

Act 2: Answers Left Unquestioned

Prologue​

"And we're back in five... four... three... two..."

"Welcome back to The Panorama! I'm Linda Park here with Lois Lane and later on we'll be having Oliver Queen." Linda said to the cameras facing her. Linda was an Asian woman in her mid to late-20s. She donned a purple suit jacket and white skirt, a bright smile taking up most of her face.

"Yes, we'll be asking Mr. Queen all of the hard hitting questions the masses really want to know." Lois said sarcastically, her words removing the smile from Linda's face for only a moment before it returned. Lois was a Caucasian woman with a stern, professional look her face. The woman was dressed in a black pantsuit and seemed to prefer frowning.

The two women sat on a white couch on large white stage and set, a window behind them showing downtown Manhattan and part of Times Square. The sounds of a few louder vehicles cutting through the awkward silence brought on by Lois' sarcastic words.

"Anyways, without further ado, Oliver Queen!" Linda announced, she and Lois standing. Linda pointing over at a tall, slim, yet muscular man in his mid-30s dressed in a black suit with a green tie. He had short blond hair and an equally blond beard reminiscent of a goat.

"It's a pleasure to have you on the show." Linda said to Oliver as he sat down on the couch with the two women. "It's a pleasure to be here, Linda." Oliver responded with a smile.

"Let's get down to what's been on so many minds for the longest. Are you, Ollie Queen, on the verge of settling down?" Linda asked, her words prompting a light chuckle from the blond man.

"I, uh... I met someone." Oliver answered, the audience responding with whooping sounds. Each one prompting Lois to roll her eyes.

"Care to tell us who this... lucky... lady is?" Lois asked, "Not at the moment. I'm already being kidnapped by super villains, don't need to drag anyone else in. Not yet. Not until I know it's real." Oliver said, the crowd letting out one collective 'aww'.

"Give me a break..." Lois muttered.

"We need to take a quick commercial break, but be sure to join us for more with Oliver Queen when we return." Linda said to the cameras. "And, we're clear." The show's director said.

"It's been awhile, Linda." Oliver said to the Asian woman, "I know. It's been almost a year, hasn't it?" Oliver asked, "How's Wally?" He asked Linda as Lois got up to walk backstage.

Lois was content with letting the two old friends make small talk while she went out for a smoke. Before she could reach the exit her phone began to ring. She slipped her phone from her pocket, staring at the caller ID and the unknown number it was displaying.

"Gotham City area code?" She asked herself, deciding to answer the call. "Hello?" She asked, "We've heard you're looking for a big scoop. No more doing interest stories for the hens clucking around the kitchen. Head out to Gotham City today, you'll get your comeback story and then some." A man on the other end of the line told the former journalist.

"Who is this? At least give me a name, something to work with if you're going to be so generous." Lois said, "In due time. Keep our contact a secret. Too many questions to answer if anyone else knows. I've arranged for you to be in the right place at the right time. You're going to Gotham to pick up a cake." The man told Lois.

"A cake...? Are you serious? Come on..." Lois said, "Would you rather it be lingerie?" The man asked sarcastically, "Be in the city around ten. Downtown, to be specific." The man said before hanging up on Lois immediately.

"Lingerie would probably seem more normal for me..." Lois said aloud, catching the attention of redheaded young man in a suit. "I didn't want to come with Oliver to this thing, now I'm kind of glad I did..." He said.

"Who are you?" Lois asked, "Oh. I'm Roy Harper. Oliver's protege, if you will." The young man told Lois.

"Oh, another one..." She said, "Forget what you heard, especially the part about the lingerie." Lois told Roy.

"What lingerie?" He asked, "I think I might grow to like you." Lois said before walking back to the set.

"And they call Ollie the ladies man."

 

[Saarai]

Chapter 1: Extra Credit​

Jaime ran down the halls of Gotham University, book bag swinging wildly and nearly taking off the heads of other students. "Sorry!" Jaime shouted every once in awhile, it was all he could do at the moment. He had to make it to class.

The young man donned a blue hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans and a pair of white sneakers. He was clearly Hispanic with short black hair. He was slim and stood shorter than average height for a college-age adult. His face was hairless, often leading people to assume he was much younger than he actually was.

Some would argue that his maturity, or lack of, didn't help much.

Jaime found his classroom, bursting in much to the annoyance of the other students and his teacher. "Sorry I'm late, Ms. Bertinelli." Jaime said to his teacher. Ms. Bertinelli was a tall, raven-haired young woman. Despite her teaching position at the university she didn't appear to be much older than some of the students in her class.

"Class is almost over, Jaime." Ms. Bertinelli said to the young man, some frustration present in her tone of voice. "Sit down. We'll talk about this later. But, you should at least take part in this week's end of class discussion." Ms. Bertinelli told Jaime. He didn't waste time in finding himself a seat. The last thing he wanted to do was disrupt Ms. Bertinelli's class any further.

The woman could be downright frightening at times.

"I'm feeling generous today, so I'll let you all decide what we talk about before class is over." Ms. Bertinelli told her class, several students raising their hands, others just shouting out topics.

"Alissa." Ms. Bertinelli said, pointing to a student. The girl she chose was a short redhead, she donned a very conservative skirt and a sweater vest combo. "I think we should talk about Wonder Woman and how she can potentially set back women in this country." Alissa said, smiling proudly.

"What she means is let's talk about why Wonder Woman has developed breasts and Alissa is still sporting an A-cup to go with the straight A's she got in high school." A male student said, prompting some of the other students to laugh. "Do you have a better topic for discussion, Mr. Carter?" Ms. Bertinelli asked the male student.

"Yeah, I do. Let's talk about The Batman!" The student said, his classmates seeming to like the idea. "Vigilantism is a big problem in this country." Alissa said, "What? I think it's cool that some people have the balls to go out there and fight super villain and gangsters with big ass guns." Another student interjected.

"Mr. Reyes, what do you think?" Ms. Bertinelli asked Jaime, "What?" Jaime asked, "About vigilantes, Jaime, what do you think?" She asked again.

"Oh, uh... I think, like, sometimes we need people who go outside of the law to do good." Jaime answered, "The cops and lawyers they're all, like, bound by the legal process. They aren't fit to really fight aliens sometimes either." Jaime continued.

"Yeah. I doubt the average Gotham cop is going to be much of a challenge for that Lobo guy." A student said, "Let's get specific. Asami, what do you think about... Gotham's own Black Canary?" Ms. Bertinelli asked.

Asami stood up from her seat. She was a young Japanese woman with long black hair tied into a ponytail. She sported a light green marshmallow vest over a white shirt and a pair of black jeans. What really stood were her eyes.

Her left eye was brown while the right eye was green.

"Um... I think she's too violent sometimes." Asami said, "I understand that you have to fight the bad guys. But, don't they still have family and friends who aren't criminals? People would miss them?" Asami asked.

"At least if they go to prison they can get visits. Bashing people in the head is lethal." The young woman said, shrugging a shoulder.

"Can I give my thoughts?" Ms. Bertinelli asked her class, "As you all may know, or don't because you're too lazy to use Google, I'm the daughter of Franco Bertinelli." Ms. Bertinelli told her class, "I could have gone down the same dark path that got my father killed." She said.

"I could have been the matriarch of some crime family. The same kind of loud Italian stereotype you see on reality TV these days." Ms. Bertinelli said, "But, a chance encounter with The Batman convinced me to put some distance between myself and my more... unsavory family. Look at me now." She said.

"A lot of them are in prison or dead, i'm here with you all, teaching you things that'll hopefully keep you from being consumed by Gotham City."

The room was quiet, the students had been listening closely to their teacher speak. It was clear that they had respect for her. Enough not to interrupt.

"That's it for today. You're dismissed." Ms. Bertinelli told her class, prompting them to start gathering their things and leaving. "Jaime, Alissa, Asami, stay behind." The raven-haired teacher said, gesturing the three students over to her desk.

"Jaime, you're late far too often to pass this class. Chances are you won't. But... I'm going to give you extra credit assignments to do. And they must all be completed." Ms. Bertinelli said, "Alissa, you'll tutor him and I'll make sure you get compensated for it."

"Asami, you're Jaime's roommate. Make sure he gets up and comes to class. Every time he's late, I'm marking you late. Regardless of if you get here ten minutes early or a day early." Ms. Bertinelli told the trio, "You're dismissed."

With those words the three college students headed out of the classroom.

Asami punched Jaime in the shoulder, "Kore wa detaramedesu!" She shouted at him, "I speak Spanish and English, not Japanese, Sam." Jaime responded, "And, now I'm stuck tutoring a lost cause." Alissa said, "I'm not a lost cause!" Jaime insisted in defense of himself.

"We'll meet at your place tonight." Alissa said, "And, I want Asami there. I don't want to be alone with a boy." Alissa told Jaime, "I'm all man, baby." Jaime said, flexing muscle-less bicep.

"I'll... be there at six." Alissa said before storming down the hall. "You have a way with women." Asami said, "I know, she's just playing hard to get." Jaime joked.

"Come on, Asami. Let's go meet Tye. He's getting off the train soon."

 

[Saarai]

Chapter 2: Crazy Train​

Asami's blue sedan shot down the Gotham Streets quickly, Jaime's eyes wide at the possibility that his life would end in a fiery wreck. "Maybe... uh... you should slow down?" Jaime asked Asami, "We're almost there, why slow down now?" Asami responded.

"Because I might die before I have my first kiss? That's a good reason." Jaime said.

"You haven't kissed a girl? That's kind of weird." Asami told Jaime, "Does my abuela count?" Jaime asked jokingly, pointing towards the train station as the vehicle approached it. "There! Tye should be here soon." Jaime told Asami.

The Japanese woman pulled over in front of the train station, Jaime immediately tossing the door open and climbing out. "Come on, Sam!" Jaime called out to his friend, practically floating into the train station. "You could slow down!" Asami shouted to Jaime as she followed behind him.

Jaime was bouncing on his toes excitedly as a train was pulling slowly into the station when Asami found him. "This is getting a little weird." Asami said, "Chill out." She told Jaime, putting a hand on his shoulder. "It's just been awhile since I saw my hermano." Jaime said.

"Tye and I grew up together, we're like brothers, you know?" Jaime asked Asami, "You'll like him. He's a little... temperamental, but he's cool." Jaime told Asami, watching as the train came to a stop. The young man searching the crowd for his friend.

"He should be around here somewhere..." Jaime said, "There!" He said, pointing into the crowd. "What? Where?" Asami asked, "Right here, come on." Jaime grabbed Asami's hand, pulling her through the thick crowd of people getting on and off the train.

"Tye!" Jaime called out, a young man with dark skin and long black hair raising his hand to wave. "That's Tye." Jaime told Asami, "I figured. He waved at us when you said his name." Asami said as the young man continued pulling her along. The two finally made it to Tye.

He was a little taller than Jaime, he was dressed in a pair of brown cargo shorts, a two tone black and white t-shirt, and donned an orange bandana on his head.

"Yo." Tye said, opening his arms up to embrace Jaime. "It's been what, a year? Two?" Tye asked, "Just about, hermano. This is my friend, Asami." Jaime said, gesturing to the young Japanese woman.

"Friend? Like... your 'friend', bro?" Tye asked, "No! Not at all." Asami answered for Jaime, "I figured. You're far too pretty to date a guy like Jaime and... it's Jaime." Tye joked, "Whatever. Come on, we'll show you around before we head back to the apartment." Jaime told his old friend.

The group turned to walk away, but before they could get anywhere they were pushed into the train by a man in a trench coat pulling along a woman with blond hair who donned a matching coat.

The man's features were obscured by a fedora tilted low to make sure there was always a shadow over his face. "Out of the way, kids." The man said, "Hey, don't be a dick, dude." Tye retorted, he and the others turning to the man.

"Listen, kid, I'm in a hurry. The last thing I need is to beat the shit out of you and be slowed down. Walk away." The man responded, as he turned to Tye. His fist balling almost simultaneously with Tye's own fist.

Before the two could come to blows Jaime stepped between them, "Come on, guys. Can't we all just get along?" Jaime asked, "Cam!" The blonde woman shouted, pointing towards a man in a dark blue jumpsuit, deep orange boots, deep orange gauntlets, a utility belt, holsters filled with various handguns, and a metal mask that was split down the middle by the two contrasting colors.

The left side was deep orange, exposing a single eye. The other side was dark blue, completely covering that half of his face.

He carried a katana on his back and was also armed with several grenades, combat knives and daggers. He was charging the train, his mere presence sending people ducking and running. The train doors began to close, the one-eyed man drawing two of his pistols and opening fire as the train began moving.

Everyone inside dropped to the floor, men and women screaming. Parents holding their children close.

"We gotta get up to the front, get this thing moving quicker." The man in the trench coat said, scrambling to his feet and rushing to enter the other train cars and make his way to the front. He slipped his coat and hat off, revealing blue tinted skin and a young face.

If it wasn't for his skin tone and the blue hue to his dark hair the man would have looked like everyone else. He would have looked normal. He had short hair, a goatee was moderately muscular. He stood at about 5'11, donned a pair of black cargo pants, a white tanktop, and a pair of black boots.

"Artemis, watch my back." The man said as he disappeared to the front of the train, the blonde woman he entered the train with removing her own coat to reveal a dark green bodysuit.

Holstered on her person were several crossbows and a few guns, her belt playing home to several magazines and on her back she carried a quiver for crossbow bolts.

"Artemis?" Jaime asked, looking towards where the blue-skinned man went. "You're Tigress! And, that guy, that was Icicle Jr." Jaime added, "What gave it away? His blue skin and the fact that we're wanted criminals whose faces are on TV every five seconds?" Artemis asked.

"You'd make a great detective, kid. GCPD could use you." Artemis continued.

"I had a long day..." Jaime muttered.

 

[Saarai]

Chapter 3: Derailed​

"That was Deathstroke, right?" Asami asked, "I'm suddenly very sick." The young woman said, placing her head in her hands as she leaned up against one of the train walls. "We're all going to die." She said.

"We won't die. Right, Tigress?" Jaime asked Artemis, "When you say 'we', you mean myself and Cam, right? We're getting out of here with every hair in place. Not sure about you kids." Artemis responded, "What a bitch." Tye said, "Excuse me, kid?" Artemis asked Tye, aiming one of her crossbows at the young man.

Tye faced down the woman and her weapon, almost challenging her to take the shot. "Go ahead." He said, "Tye, quit with that macho bullshit, this isn't the varrio." Jaime said to his friend, "I'd rather you not die on your first day in Gotham." Jaime continued, trying to make a good case for Tye to relax and not end up another casualty of Gotham's seedy underbelly coming to the surface.

"Yeah. Whatever." Tye muttered, crossing his arms over his chest. "Yeah." Artemis said, lowering her crossbow. She looked towards the front of the train, worried for her partner, her husband.

"Everyone stay where you are. I'll be back." Artemis said loudly, "Where are we going to go? We're on a moving train." Asami remarked, "That isn't the poin-... just... shut up, kid." Artemis retorted, turning to storm to the front of the train.

Artemis didn't get far when an explosion rocked the train and sent it upward and off the track. Everyone looked for something to latch on to as the train came back down to slam into a parking lot near the tracks. Crushing several cars and trucks before losing momentum.

When the derailed train came to a stop Artemis jumped to her feet, lunging for the emergency lever that would force the train doors open. "Cam!" She yelled, hoping to get her criminal husband's attention as the doors opened up.

The crossbow-wielding woman jumped out of the train, grabbing one the guns she carried with her free hand. This was as good a time as any to be prepared.

Jaime got to his feet just as Artemis was leaving, moving to help Asami stand before searching for Tye through the crowd of people who were also collecting themselves and heading for exits.

"Tye, you okay?" Jaime asked, "Yeah, yeah... I'm fine. We should get out of here." Tye suggested, getting to his feet to approach his friends. "I'm with him on this one. Deathstroke is after those two, and they aren't exactly people persons." Asami noted.

"Let's try do something to help the people here first." Jaime said, "We can try to guide Deathstroke and the others away from here." He continued, "How do you suggest we do that?" Tye asked, "Let me worry about that. You and Asami start helping the people still on the train." Jaime ordered, turning to head for the exit.

"Jaime, are you nuts? Get back here!" Tye called out to his friend, "Let him go. He knows what he's doing." Asami informed Tye, "There's some things you don't know about Jaime these days. I'll fill you in later." She continued.

Jaime ran for cover behind a car, checking his surroundings to make sure there were no eyes on him. "Okay, Scarab, it's hero time." Jaime said, seemingly to himself.

Jaime wretched in pain seconds later, a blue metallic scarab climbing out from his shirt to settle on the outside of the young man's clothing. After just a moment it began to expand rapidly, covering Jaime in blue and black metallic scale-like armor that also engulfed the young man's face.

The armor effectively shielded him from most damage and kept his identity safe. The last thing the college student needed was for everyone to know that he was the Blue Beetle.

Especially not Deathstroke right now.

"Okay, lets go." Jaime said, the scarab on his back sprouting metal wings. In seconds Jaime flew off into the air, making his way towards the front of the crashed train. Smoke and fire began to slowly engulf the darkening sky, the wail of police sirens heard closing the distance.

It didn't take long for Jaime to spot Artemis and Icicle Jr. The two were injured, using each other for support as they put distance between themselves and the wrecked train.

Deathstroke stepped out from the smoke and fire, katana in hand as he slowly approached his wounded prey. The master assassin was more than a match for the two criminals before him. It was no wonder many considered him Batman's only true rival.

And this was taking into account Superman's existence on Earth.

Artemis sat Icicle Jr. down, turning towards Deathstroke and raising one of her guns towards the masked man. As she moved to squeeze a shot her own gun was shot from her hands, the force of the weapon being ripped away breaking Artemis' trigger finger.

"We gotta do something, Scarab." Jaime said. They may have been criminals, but Jaime couldn't just let Deathstroke kill Artemis and Icicle Jr. That wasn't what heroes did. Especially not heroes carrying on the name of the Blue Beetle.

The young hero shot off towards Deathstroke just as the assassin was raising his blade to cut down his targets. Jaime put as much force as he could into his collision with Deathstroke, sending the assassin flying and subsequently slamming into a van.

"Get out of here!" He shouted to Artemis and Icicle Jr. "Now!" He yelled to make sure they got the message. This was going to be their only chance to flee while Deathstroke was down.

"Thanks." Icicle Jr. said, Artemis pulling him along towards a car. The two criminals climbed in, wasting no time hot wiring the vehicle and speeding off. Jaime watched the car speed away for a moment before turning his attention on the dangerous assassin.

The assassin was nowhere to be found, he had all but disappeared. "Talk about cliche." Jaime said to himself, taking flight directly upwards. The young hero was barely ten feet off the ground when he was struck by a bullet that sent him falling back down to earth.

Jaime found a boot pressed against his chest and a blade on his neck before he could collect himself, it wasn't hard to figure out who both belonged to.

"Hey, Deathstroke, fancy seeing you here. Came to catch the train?" Jaime asked the assassin jokingly. "I should kill you right now for making me lose my targets." Deathstroke said, "Deadshot was more than able to kill you ten times over. He never misses." The assassin continued.

"Why aren't I dead yet?" Jaime asked, "Because someone has plans for you. I'd rather that plan be to bury you, but it's not my call." Deathstroke answered, he pulled his blade away from Jaime's neck slowly. His boot raising from the hero's chest only to slam into his face.

"Nap time, kid." Deathstroke muttered, walking off to leave the young hero unconscious in the parking lot.

 

[Saarai]

Chapter 4: Dead To Rights​

"Deathstroke!" Jaime shouted as he sprung back to consciousness, taking a look around to figure out exactly where he was. The young man found himself on a dirty, worn couch in an even more dirty, worn room in what he could assume was dirty, worn building.

"Hey?" He said aloud, "Anyone there?" He asked, getting to his feet. The young man walked towards what appeared to be a kitchen, cautiously he peeked around corners. There was nothing. No one. No signs of life at all. "Creepy..." He muttered, heading for the exit.

Jaime pulled the door open only to find Asami and Tye standing before him. "Where'd you guys come from?" Jaime asked, confused. "Texas." Tye answered, "Japan." Asami answered as well, both taking the question as literally as possible.

"You know what I mean." Jaime said, "We couldn't find you. We got a call saying we could find you here." Tye told Jaime, "And, uh... Asami told me." Tye added, "About the scarab. You aren't alone, bro. I've got my own abilities." Tye admitted.

"What? Since when?" Jaime asked, "A few months ago, man. It's why I left. That, and my stepfather's kind of a dick." Tye said, "That's an understatement. During the whole walk here he went on about the many ways his step-dad could meet his end. At least four involved some sort of... penetration." Asami said.

"That's kind of weird." Jaime told Tye, "No one asked you. Come on. Let's get out of here. I feel like we're going to get mugged." Tye said, the trio of youngsters making their way out of the room and into the decrepit apartment's hallway.

It was just on the edge of Gotham's East End, an area notorious for it's high crime rate and gang presence. Tye, Asami, and Jaime weren't exactly in their comfort zones.

"How long was I out?" Jaime asked, "It took us about two hours to get here." Asami answered, "You shouldn't have been out that long. You sure you're alright?" Tye asked, "Yeah, yeah..." Jaime said, "Two hours?" He asked, "Between the cops, firetrucks, ambulances, and government agents we had a lot to go around." Tye answered.

"One question after another, and being held up at the yellow tape and other BS, bro."

"And, avoiding large groups of scary guys when we got to the East End." Asami said, "I didn't want Tye getting beat up trying to defend my honor." The young woman joked, leading the boys out of the building and into the street.

"We need to get downtown to our apartmen-..." Jaime began, cut off by what sounded like an argument. "You stupid bitch! You fuck everything up!" A man shouted, drawing the attention of the trio of youngsters. The man wore a nice suit, clearly a mobster, and he pulled along a young woman in a black dress.

"You asked me to bring you along. I brought you along. Don't talk to the boss like that again. If he doesn't kill you, I will." The man told the woman. She was clearly distressed, and visible bruises on her face indicated that things would escalate.

"I'll handle this." Tye said, breaking from the others to march towards the suited mobster. "Tye, no-... damn it." Jaime said, following behind his friend to stop him.

"Tye, you can't solve everything with your fists." Jaime told his friend, "I can solve this with them, though. And I'm going to." Tye said, set on showing the woman-beater how it felt to get hit.

The audacious young man took the mobster by the shoulders and pulled him back to throw him into a car, "What the hell?" The man took some to figure out what was happening, finally catching sight of Tye.

"Heroes die, kid. You want to live today." The man warned, slipping a gun out of his suit. He was showing it off for now, but the man seemed more than willing to use it on Tye. "Heroes win, too." Tye told the man, barely stepping forward when something slammed down into the car.

Glass flew everywhere, everyone close by putting some distance between themselves and the now totaled vehicle.

Standing atop the car stood the Batwoman, red hair a stark contrast to the black in her cape and costume. To many citizens of the East End the woman was a welcome sight, to others she was a problem, a threat, a harbinger. The mobster wasted no time in fleeing the scene.

He didn't want to deal with Bat-anything at the moment. At least not on his own.

"Whoa." Tye said, "Yeah, whoa." Jaime parroted, the two watching the woman. She reached down, lifting a man dressed in black paramilitary gear and a black balaclava. He looked like the average hired gun save for wrist blasters on each wrist and the futuristic eyepatch he wore.

"Where is he?" The Batwoman asked the man, "Where's Deathstroke? I saw him, Deadshot. You guys need better names, by the way." The woman said, "I feel like I was just slammed into a car by a bitch in spandex. Isn't that weird?" Deadshot answered.

His words only angered the crime fighter, prompting her to toss Deadshot into the street. "There's nowhere else for you to go. Nowhere else to run. I have you dead to rights, buddy." Batwoman told the assassin, jumping down from the car to approach him.

Her strides were slow and menacing. She had learned from her namesake just how to strike a little fear in the hearts of even the coldest men.

"Sorry, but I've got other things to do." Deadshot said, standing up to face the Batwoman. The assassin raised his wrist blasters and fired, the Batwoman narrowly avoiding the shots. "You claims to never miss, so I'm going to assume you're having an off-day." Batwoman taunted.

"I didn't miss." Deadshot informed the woman, "You didn't hit me." Batwoman told him, "I know." Deadshot said, raising his chin for a moment. Indicating something to the woman.

The Batwoman turned to see a young woman laid across the concrete, Tye and Jaime doing what they could to tend to her wounds. "Shit." Batwoman muttered, turning back to Deadshot.

The assassin was gone, he had taken what little time he had to spirit himself far away from his enemy.

"Someone! Call an ambulance!" Jaime yelled, "Call 911!" He yelled, the people of the East End deciding to ignore the young man's words. It wasn't their problem to deal with.

"Asami, do you have your phone?" Jaime asked his friend as she ran over, "Yeah, I do." She answered, "Call 911. Let them know there's someone shot in the East End." Jaime said, "You got it." Asami said, digging her phone out of a pocket.

"This isn't right, dude." Tye said, looking up at the Batwoman. "Do something. You're a hero." Tye said to the woman, "I'm not a doctor." The Batwoman informed the young man, "I'll contact the authorities, keep pressure on her wounds. Stop the bleeding." The Batwoman told the trio.

"You have to try something." Tye said, looking back down at the dying woman for a moment. By the time he looked back up at the Batwoman she was gone. Just like Deadshot she had all but disappeared.

"Figures..." Tye muttered.