Loud voices and screaming children were the everyday noises here at the orphanage. What could you expect though in Gotham City. There were too many kids and not enough people willing to adopt. I was one of the "phasers". Pretty much saying that I would never be adopted, and when I turned 18 I would be phased out. My whole life has been spent in orphanages. For the last 15 years I've been hopping from city to city to different ones. I was put up for adoption when I was born. My mother didn't want to have a child, let alone raise one. I found out more about her as I grew up and I'm now very thankful she gave me up. She did some really bad stuff, and she's still doing it. I spent my first 5 years at the orphanage in Central City. It was pretty nice there. The older kids looked out for me since I was so small and quiet. I liked it there, all the way up until my 5th birthday. That's when I got my powers. They were genetic from what one of the workers said. I accidentally froze a table one day when I was playing with another little girl. From that day on no one talked to me. I would see them shy away from me when I came near them. I could hear them mumble words like freak and monster. They all avoided me. I was only there for another month after the incident. They decided to transfer me to the orphanage in Star City. I guess they thought that maybe someone there might be willing to adopt a little girl with powers. Or maybe they just wanted to get rid of me and not tarnish the orphanage's reputation. I stayed there until I was 10. Most people still stayed away from me. I didn't know if it was because they heard what I could do, or if it was because of how I looked. Ever since I got my powers my hair color started changing. It used to be light brown, but now it was platinum blonde. My eyes used to be brown too, but they were icy blue now. My skin was pale, but still looked "normal". I think most people were afraid of my eyes. They knew that a person's eyes weren't supposed to be that color. The years that I was there I didn't have very many incidents. I would sometimes sneak out of the building and go to a nearby alley. That's where I would practice with my powers. I knew even at a young age that if I didn't get a handle on my powers that they could be a problem one day. Eventually I was deemed unadoptable and they sent me to the one orphanage you send all kids who can't be adopted. Gotham City orphanage. It was run down and overcrowded. I had to share a room with about six other girls, two of which were only 7. They all knew I was different, but they never knew how exactly. I keep quiet and come and go as I please. I still practice my powers in secret though. Life here isn't too great, but I suppose it's still better than nothing. It's still better than living on the streets.
Chapter 1: Striking Out
Today was going like any other day. I woke up, did some chores then walked around the building. I could hear some people talking about how a bunch of superheroes were bringing their sidekicks to the Hall of Justice. I went outside to the front of the building and saw a few of the younger kids playing on the sidewalk before I began to walk passed them down the street. I've found that I get fewer strange looks when I wear a hoodie and dark clothes, so most of the time I just wear a black hoodie and black jeans. My hood was always pulled up and my hair tucked in as much as possible. As I continued down the streets the symphony of Gotham met my ears. Police sirens, car horns and yelling. How could anyone actually like living in this city. It was so loud. I had no destination in mind as I wandered the streets. I was mostly just walking for the sake of getting away from the orphanage. I went to the park, a couple stores, and even saw a movie. I always managed to scrounge up a few bucks from doing chores every day. When the movie let out it was already dark out. I knew that the streets came alive with criminals at night. Mentally I began preparing myself for anything on my walk back. It was a quick walk, I was only about 5 minutes away when a scream reached my ears. It was coming from an alleyway not too far away.
"Someone help!" A woman cries out from the dark as I could hear some men laughing.
I bolted to the alley and saw three men pinning a woman to the wall. It was clear what they were trying to do and I wasn't about to let them get away with it.
"Get away from her!" I yelled out in my most intimidating voice, which in hindsight was not as intimidating as I had hoped.
The men looked up at me and their smile's grew.
"And what if we don't want to. What are you gonna do about it pipsqueak?" The man closest to the woman began to laugh while the other two moved toward me. Now that they were closer I could see how much bigger they were than me. They were almost twice my size!
One of them moved to grab my arm and I quickly gave him a punch dead in the face. He fell backwards holding his face and yelling in pain.
"You're gonna regret that kid." The other one said while grabbing my arm and tossing me into the wall. I let out a cough as the wind was knocked out of me before I looked back at the man approaching me again. The one I had already punched was getting back up with a bloody nose and anger in his eyes.
"You've got some balls kid. I'll give you that." The man was wiping blood away as he came closer. He threw a punch, but I sidestepped causing him to punch the concrete wall. He cried out in agony at his now broken hand before grabbing my shoulder and slamming me back into the wall. I felt pain flooding my arm as he shoved me multiple times into the wall. I felt a slight pop and then a second one from my shoulder going in and out of its socket. I could still faintly hear the woman not too far away crying with the man still pinning her to the wall. He seemed to be enjoying the show too much to continue what he was doing. I was getting increasingly irritated and when I had a moment between being shoved into the wall I brought my leg up and kicked the guy in the stomach. He doubled over in pain and coughed, leaving the other two men to take a step back.
"I'm tired of playing." I said while the two stared at me. A chill filled the air and the men began to look around in a panic. A white mist was filling the alleyway and a brittle cold gust of air caused the men to gasp. I moved toward the closest man and gently tapped his shoulder, a thin layer of ice beginning to spread from where I touched him. His eyes grew wide and he screamed trying to run away from me. He got a few steps away before the ice encased his body all the way up to his neck. The other man who had been pinning the woman to the wall was stumbling away trying to run out of the alleyway before I could get him. With a quick wave of my hand ice shards shot toward him and pinned his clothes to the concrete wall. The man who I had kicked managed to get out of the alleyway before I could do anything. The mist soon disappeared and the air returned to normal as I walked over to the woman who was in a heap crying on the ground. I knelt down next to her hoping I hadn't scared her too much.
"I'm sorry if I scared you. Are you alright?" I used a quiet and calm voice as she looked up at me. She nodded with fear still in her eyes, but also relief. "Would you like me to walk you home?" I helped her to her feet and she seemed to be in shock. She was just staring at me with wide eyes. I shifted nervously waiting for an answer before she spoke with her quivering voice. "Thank you" I wasn't expecting that honestly. I was expecting her to call me a monster and run away. I stared at her a small smile just barely visible from under my hood.
"You're welcome. I couldn't just stand by while they hurt you." The woman wiped away some of her mascara that had run down her face.
"Most people would have just ran off. Are...are you a superhero?" The question sounded very foreign to me. A hero? Someone like me?
"No. Just someone who wants to help." The woman finally showed a small smile.
"Well you're my hero." I could feel my heartstrings being pulled and the tears were beginning to pool in the corner of my eyes.
"You're the first person to ever say anything like that to me. Thank you." My voice was shaky and quivering as I spoke. It was so obvious I was crying. "Everyone normally calls me a monster." I let out a choked laugh before rubbing at my eyes under my hood.
"You are what you choose to be. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Just because you're different doesn't make you a monster. It makes you unique. Don't be afraid to be who you really are." This woman's words spoke deeply to me. She was the first person to see me as more than a monster. More than a freak. She truly saw me as a hero. "I think I should be fine the rest of the way hun. Thank you again." The woman left the alley and a feeling of ease came over me. Her words gave me hope that maybe I That maybe I could become something so much better than what everyone thought. I ran back to the orphanage in a joyful run, happy to feel like my life had a new purpose.
The next few months I went out at night, helping people who were mugged or cornered. I kept away from the big stuff just because I knew Batman would have it covered. One night though, I stumbled across a hunch of men loading weapons into a large truck. I could see crated and crates of the stuff being rolled into the huge semi. Looking around I could tell I had found my way to the docks at some point. With weapon caches this huge and the sheer amount of man power around I could only think of one person with that kind power. The Penguin. This was big, no HUGE! 'I shouldn't be here.' I thought while ducking behind some crates so I couldn't be seen. I could hear the men talking amongst themselves.
"Do you think the Bat will show up?"
"Doubt it. Penguin said he has some of Two-Faces goons setting something up on the other side of town. We should be in the clear!" The two began laughing before electing back to work. Now that I knew I couldn't just sit here and do nothing. Who knows what kind of damage the Penguin could do with all these weapons. I had to come up with a plan quickly. I could tell they were about half way through the warehouse by the time I got there. 'I need to buy more time.' I looked around the open area and stared at the truck. Miraculously enough, the gas tank was on my side of the truck where no one would be able to spot me. I watched the men carefully and made a break for it when I had my chance. Making it to the gas tank was easy enough, now I just had to pry it open. With a little effort I managed to get it open. I placed my hand over the hole and blasted ice into the gas tank. 'This will get me some more time...but just in case.' My thoughts wandered as I made my way to the front of the truck. I slid my hand against the metal causing ice to spread on the side and under the truck to the engine. I made a break for the crates once again and found cover Miraculously without being noticed. 'Now I have time to take care of what's in the warehouse.' I made my way quietly inside and went up to every crate I came near. I would poke my hand in and blast the guns with ice until I could hear them cracking and breaking. I got through maybe a quarter of the crates before I heard a lot of movement and yelling outside.
"It's the Bat!" I could hear them yell and immediately there was gun fire following. The yelling and shots ended soon as I found a hiding place behind a crate on the second floor. 'Crap.' I thought while listening carefully. I could hear Batman talking to someone, I could only assume it would be Robin. I could faintly make out what he was saying. I think he said something about checking the warehouse. 'Double crap.' I took a quick glance around and spotted a window not too far down from where I was. I slowly and quietly began to move toward it until I heard Batman's voice grow louder.
"It looks like someone already beat us here." He was obviously looking in the crates at all the ice. I couldn't move. The sheer level of fear I was feeling was making me freeze in place.
"Robin, run a thermal scan of the warehouse." I panicked and found myself lowering my body temperature to try and match the air around me. I could hear Robin walking around down below before he stopped.
"I'm not picking up on any hot spots, but there's a cold spot on the second floor behind some crates. 'I'm dead.' I panicked again and moved to the window, not caring if I made noise anymore. As I climbed out the window I remembered I was on the second floor. Looking around I couldn't see anything to cushion my fall. 'I'll deal with it later.' As soon as I let go and jumped a hand shot out and grabbed my wrist. It was a large hand with a very firm grip. I felt a lump growing in my throat as Batman pulled me back inside and set me in the ground. The two stared down at my hooded head in silence before Batman spoke. "Talk." He said in a demanding voice. My hands Were visibly shaking in fear as I remained silent. I could feel him glaring at the top of my head before he spoke again. "Tell me why you're here." I still couldn't bring myself to speak as Batman knelt in front of me. Holding out one of the frozen weapons he kept his same stern voice. "Did you do this?" I paused in contemplation finally displacing my fear and nodding slightly. "Why?" He questioned while standing back up. I finally found my voice again and spoke quietly. "I just wanted to help." My voice was barely audible over the background noise of the city. Batman seemed to be thinking for a moment before pulling me to my feet. He handed me a grenade and I stared at it puzzled. "Freeze it." Was all he said. I had never frozen a grenade before, but I understood kind of how it worked. I clasped both hands around it and ice slithered into the pin and froze the mechanism that caused the explosion. Batman took the grenade back and pulled the pin, tossing it over his shoulder and waiting a moment. There was no explosion. Was Batman testing me? "What's your name?" That was a strange question for Batman to ask. I was quiet for a moment, unsure of whether to truly answer him or not. "Eira." Batman nodded before turning and beginning to walk away. Robin seemed at a loss for words while looking back and forth between me and Batman. He quickly took off after him leaving me alone there. 'Am I off the hook?' I questioned myself before beginning to leave the warehouse. It was almost 6 am and I knew the people from the orphanage would not be too happy finding out I was out all night. It took me a out 15 minutes to make it home and quietly sneak into bed. I kept wondering what was going to happen now. Was Batman letting me keep doing this? Why did he just leave? So many unanswered questions. As I kept wondering if slowly felt sleep tugging at my eyelids before I drifted off into the black abyss of my dreams.