Chapter 1: The Glow That Illuminates
New Jersey, April 13, 21:47 EDT
The camera had been in her car, all the way down the road. That was the only reason she could film everything now. In her shock, she'd barely had time to slip on her shoes and sling her bag over her shoulder – even that was probably a bad idea – before running to her window, to the firefighter. He'd been yelling muffled commands through his mask while climbing in.
"Come on, come on, come on! Forget that! Come on!" He sounded like Darth Vader when he breathed, but it wasn't funny. It meant he wasn't the one coughing and crying while he carried her down.
Now she was on the sidewalk across the street, filming the demise of her apartment from behind caution tape and emergency vehicles. A huge stretch of their avenue was lit up like it was still twilight, but every time she pointed the camera up toward the roof, it caught the pitch dark sky beyond a cloud of smoke.
There almost seemed to be more smoke than actual flame. It was seeping out through the edges of closed windows and rolling out of open ones. They could barely see above the second floor through it all, let alone to the tops of the cranes that were extended even higher. How the firefighters were getting anything done up there was beyond her. Even if their eyes weren't watering like hers had, she remembered the thick, dark haze that she'd had to stumble through, barely seeing two feet in front of her, calling back and forth like a game of Marco Polo until she found the window.
She felt the cold night air mingle with the heat radiating from the building, and she kept thinking about how good it was that she at least had shoes on. Was that a terrible thought to have? She should have just rolled out of bed and made her way out. Even if it was only a few extra seconds, she'd wasted that man's time by grabbing needless stuff, and she'd dangerously wasted her own time. Still, it was nice that her feet weren't freezing on the concrete now that she was safe.
"That building is…it's crap, man. Single-pane windows, like-"
"No, you know what it is? They came in and installed new smoke alarms. That's what it is."
"Yeah, I just talked to Fred. He said that usually he can hear the alarm when it goes off and wakes right up, but this time he didn't hear anything."
"Yeah, no, I didn't hear anything either. I just woke up and smelled smoke and…"
The whole affair was a lot quieter than they made it look on TV. There was an occasional alarm or siren that went off from somewhere around them, but it was just as quickly silenced. There were people talking in the streets and static-filled messages coming over radios and walkie-talkies. There was a constant, dim crackle coming from inside the building, and a couple women by the ambulances were crying, but most of the noise came from the thunderous torrents of water crashing against the outer wall and window panes, searching for any opening to enter through. Even the reporters sounded oddly quiet, but then, she was used to hearing reporters through their microphones.
More glows started to appear inside, as if the hoses were somehow making things worse instead of better. It only came from the second floor at first, but the light was spreading up to the third floor now, maybe the fourth. It was hard to tell.
Suddenly, a wave of smoke blew out from the open first floor with what sounded like a muffled roar, obscuring the entire building and everything in front in a roiling, white haze. Some cries filtered back, something about supports giving out inside and calling everyone down.
A woman behind her gasped and dropped something that crumpled and smashed on the ground.
"What's going on?!"
She barely managed to turn her camera and see a plastic bag leaking on the corner of the sidewalk before a blur rushed past. When the camera turned back, the woman was struggling against an officer who caught her before she could cross the caution tape.
"My babies! My girls!"
"Ma'am! Please calm down!"
"My girls! They're in there!"
"Ma'am! Calm down! Look around – are they out here?! They may already be out! What are their names?!"
The woman froze and swiveled back around, turning her gaze frantically from the ambulances to the former occupants of the building who had all gathered together. "Marsha! Loraine! Marsha!"
She ran amongst the people, who were now looking around themselves for two little girls. Any lone children would have been kept close to the ambulances, where the authorities could keep an eye on them, but none of the paramedics had tended to a young girl and her baby sister.
"No!"
"Ma'am! I – I'm sorry! You can't go in there! It's too dangerous!"
The officer held the woman back. A young couple who apparently knew her rushed forward to try to help. She instantly turned on them, yelling something about keeping an eye while she was out. They cowed away, and her attention returned to struggling and pointing up toward the fourth floor, begging someone to go get her babies.
The camera caught movement behind the crowd, something shifting quickly just past the woman. It dashed in the direction of the building while the officer was preoccupied. When the camera turned to follow, a small form in dark, baggy clothes and a hood came into focus.
"What the-"
"Hey!"
"Who is that?!"
"Get out of there!"
"Get back here!"
Whoever it was didn't listen. The crazy kid was more than a full head shorter than every officer and firefighter he passed on the way, but no one managed to notice or stop him before he reached the outer wall. After all, civilians who tried to run toward burning buildings were usually hysterical, raising their own alarms and giving plenty of warning. This one moved with silent, single-minded determination. Unable to catch him, everyone expected the kid to run in through a door or window. Instead, he leapt onto a drainpipe.
She had to admit, even in her horror, that it was impressive how fast he shimmied upward. The tallest firefighter nearby ran over and jumped up to grab the kid's leg, but he was too late and missed. The kid disappeared momentarily behind thick smoke. The ladders were already being taken down, the cranes moving back.
He reappeared over a second-story window, latching onto the base of the brick window ledge above. One of his hands slipped, and a cry of fear rippled through the crowd. The kid's hood fell back, revealing a small head covered in tufts of a grown-out buzz cut, and a thin neck that made his baggy clothes look even larger on him.
He swung his arm back up, pulled himself over the brick ledge, hopped inside the open window, and vanished. Orange flames reached forward to lick the glass and spit out embers. Another cry rose from the crowd, but the camera stayed focused on the window. The patch of ceiling visible inside was burning brightly.
The firefighters couldn't go back up to find him. The building was coming down, and they were more likely to get themselves killed in the attempt than they were to save anyone else. The crowd was warned that if they stayed where they were, a lot of debris would be coming their way. Another twisting wave of smoke emerged from inside, surrounded by floating ash that glowed briefly – like fireflies –then faded. Now they could see the blaze behind it that covered the roof of the building like a halo.
Most people started moving further down the sidewalk in either direction. The camera lens lowered and showed for a minute only a shaky impression of the ground and some fingers. It stilled after that, but didn't rise immediately. A moment passed. Then another.
"Hey!"
The lens flew up, throwing the image out of focus. When it cleared, it showed an alleyway next to the burning building. There was a fire escape running down the side, a brick-wall dead end, and the kid with a buzz cut laying two prone forms much smaller than himself on the ground, where the smoky haze was thin.
"Hey, kid!"
"What- Jim, get over here! Officer! Officer!"
One of the reporters ran forward to the caution tape, followed by his cameraman. He waved down a nearby fireman and policeman and pointed out what was happening in the shadows before turning to the camera.
Behind him, the kid had looked up at their cries. His face could barely be seen, his features blurred through the smog. He looked down at the children again, then up at the officers coming closer. The larger of the two girls on the ground weakly raised her hand toward her savior, who gently squeezed it and seemed to say something short. He then stood up, stumbled slightly, and ran back into the alleyway.
The officer called after him, chasing him to the mouth of the alley while the firefighter checked on the children and carefully carried them away from the building. Part of the front wall further down the way started to collapse forward.
The kid had regained his composure and picked up speed. He jumped on top of a trashcan, to a taller dumpster, and from there leapt toward the brick wall. The camera barely caught him bracing one hand on top of the wall to vault himself over. Then a cloud rolled through, and he was gone. The officer didn't dare chase him past the fire escape, where flames were blazing against those windows as well.
"The two young children both survived their harrowing experience last night, incredibly with no injuries and only minor smoke inhalation."
The camera cut to a view of Marsha and Loraine's mother, no longer frantic. She was now smiling and crying with the white scenery of a hospital corridor behind her. "It's a miracle. It's just a miracle, and those are my baby's words. They brought her into the room and told us she'd be okay, and she just looked at them and said, 'I know. That's what the angel told me, and Loraine is going to be okay, too.' She said it was an angel that saved her and her sister tonight, and I believe that."
The camera cut to a girl no older than five sitting up in her hospital bed. "I was scared, yeah. There was smoke everywhere, but I knew to stay close to the floor. I didn't want to leave my sister, so I waited. I thought someone would come get us. Then the lady came in." Marsha grinned shyly and fiddled with the blanket over her legs.
"Young Marsha describes the girl as glowing and being surrounded by a large ball of light that pushed back the flames and smoke. Assuring Marsha that she was there to take her and baby Lorraine to their mother, their angel then proceeded to do just that, carrying them safely to the fire escape and out. With the two sisters out of harm's way, we can thankfully say that everyone made it out of the fire alive. A happy end to a tale of remarkable heroism. Back to the studio."
"Thank you, Sasha – remarkable, indeed. Wow." The shot switched back to the news anchors, all of whom showed more or less sincere expressions of amazement.
"I think wow is really all you can say, Paul. Our thoughts are, of course, with the victims of this awful affair."
"Absolutely, and about this young mystery hero, no one knows who she is or why she ran away. Police are asking that anyone with information about her identity or whereabouts please come forward. They've already reviewed several tapes made by news stations present at the time and by the civilians who were there last night, but as you could see, no one got a good look at her."
"Released statements suggest no one there even remembers seeing her in the crowd beforehand, not that they didn't have good reason to be distracted, but-"
"But – oh, sorry Amanda – but yeah, it's not just for thanks that they want to find this girl, but also to make sure she's okay." The camera began rolling through silent clips of the event while Paul spoke over them. "She ran straight into that alley there, and authorities found no sign of her this morning when they searched the debris. They're worried about any smoke inhalation and injuries she may have sustained."
"Without a clear view of her face, all that's been confirmed is her approximate height. They don't even have a probable weight or build because of how large those clothes are that you see her wearing. Before young Marsha told everyone otherwise, initial reports described her as a boy. Authorities think whoever this was, was just a teenager. A teenager. Can you believe that?"
"We've already received many messages and questions regarding whether or not this may be another young superhero, none of which, I'm afraid, can be answered at this time. The Justice League has given no word on whether they'll be looking into the matter-"
The image on the screen froze, and Batman turned to the team.
"We've already begun looking into the matter. You're being brought on board."
To be continued...