[Recognized; thebirdie 0-1, Resist 0-2]
RESIST: Welcome to the journey of Firestorm and Talon. We hope you find the journey entertaining as we the writers throw plot twists at you.
BIRDIE: Welcome! I hope you guys enjoy! And if any of you were reading any of my stories, I'm currently editing them!
RESIST: Yeah, and those reading my Birds of a Bat the next chapter is in the works and should be posted soon. With that. Please enjoy chapter 1 and make sure to leave a review and let us know what you think. Also, we don't own anything except our OCs.
YOUNG JUSTICE: IGNITION
Jump City
January 12, 23:10 PDT
Elizabeth Hills stood on the ledge of the worn down two-story apartment complex; she hesitated before ultimately stepping down from the ledge all together. Elizabeth released a shaky breath, clutching her chest in an attempt to ease her rapidly beating heart.
"This is crazy," she muttered to herself, pacing slowly on the rooftop, "This is so crazy."
Elizabeth made her way to the fire escape, careful not to disturb the squatting occupants of the apartment complex. Midway through her descend down the ladder, Elizabeth halted; she gripped the metal ladder tightly, looking down at the dimly lit alleyway below before sighing and re-climbing the stairs back to the rooftop.
"Now or never," Elizabeth uttered to herself, clenching her fists firmly. Elizabeth concentrated, a pleased smile tugging on her lips as her fists' erupted into flames.
Jump City
January 12, 23:25 PDT
"Phantom Five, are you on site?"
Phantom Five brough two fingers to his ear, pressing his ear-piece firmly, answering, "Yeah, I'm on site."
Phantom Five crouched, shuffling through the black duffle bag at his feet. He held the harness at eye-level, inspecting the gear before securing it on the rooftop railing. He secured the harness onto his waist, tugging at it before ultimately being satisfied with the new equipment.
"Good. Penguin paid a hefty price for us to get this stupid African jewel back to him," the voice in his ear informed him. Phantom Five remained silent, waiting for the voice to continue.
"Security systems have been hacked. You're clear to enter. Get the jewel and get out. Phantom Three is having some problems with his mission, so you'll be on your own."
Phantom Five sighed before crouching by one of the museum's skylight. With careful precision that can only be learned, Phantom Five lifted the skylight enough to slip through. He slowly lowered himself, glancing around the African exhibit below him before spotting his target.
"Asis' Sun Stone…" Phantom Five trailed off, reading the brief description of the jewel. Phantom Five scoffed, rolling his eyes before reaching for his glass cutting tool in his utility belt. Carefully, he cut an almost perfect circle in the glass display. Phantom Five reached the jewel, cradling with two hands before placing it in his breast pocket. Phantom Five pressed the center of his belt buckle, jerking slightly as the harness began lifting him back up.
With ease, he slid through the open skylight and onto the rooftop once more.
"Halt!"
Phantom Five turned slowly, heart racing rapidly; he internally cursed at himself, preparing himself the worst. A small, petite figure stood, fists and hair ablaze in bright, red flames. Phantom Five stifled a laugh, resisting the appeal to laugh at the girl.
"A-are you laughing? Why are you laughing?" The petite figure questioned, taking a step forward.
Phantom Five contemplated his response; the whole point of being a phantom is not to be heard, he reminded himself, but she can't be older than 12.
"I'm going to take you down," the petite figure threatened.
"Ok," Phantom Five said with a slight shrug. "I didn't catch your name." My voice is distorted anyways, Phantom Five reasoned with himself.
"It's, uh…" the girl struggled momentarily, "Fire Girl!"
"Fire… Girl…" Phantom Five repeated before shaking his head in disapproval. "You need to work on that."
Fire Girl sputtered, attempting to retort something witty. With her growing anger, her flames intensified. Phantom Five glanced around the baron rooftop, switching his masks lens to infrared and putting himself in a slight ease once he realized that Fire Girl was alone.
Fire Girl ran towards him, swinging her fists; dozens of small fireballs shot at him, most dissolving almost instantly. Phantom Five easily dodged the ones that remained; he performed a backflip, landing in a crouch by his duffle bag.
"Listen kid," Phantom Five said, grabbing his duffle bag, "fun's over. I'm out."
"Oh no you're not," Fire Girl stated, clenching her fists tighter. With a deep breath, she concentrated on the fire that engulfed her fists. The flames grew more stable and with a satisfied smirk, Fire Girl began throwing more fireballs. This time, Phantom Five noticed, less dissolved. Phantom Five dodged them, easily maneuvering across the rooftop.
Reaching for a smoke-grenade on his utility belt, Phantom Five pulled the pin on the smoke-grenade, "Catch!" he yelled. He threw the smoke-grenade and blindsided the unprepared girl. Almost instantly, her flames extinguished and she began coughing, struggling to see through the thick smoke.
I'll go easy on her, Phantom Five assured himself. He ran through the smoke, using her confusion to push her onto the ground.
"Halt!"
Phantom Five cursed, spotting the glowing figure through the smoke. Fire Girl's cough intensified, and momentarily, Phantom Five felt bad for blindsiding her, but this was strictly business. Phantom Five ran through the smoke, using his grappling gun to shoot a grappling line onto a nearby building and made his escape.
Inferno landed on the building, creating a fire whirl with his hand. The smoke drifted into the sky, revealing the petite girl laying on her back. She slowly sat forward, wiping her eyes with the back of her hands.
"Are you okay?" Inferno questioned, kneeling beside her.
"He's getting away," she rasped, struggling onto her feet.
"Who's getting away?" Inferno questioned, glancing around the empty rooftop. He noticed the discarded harness and then turned to the girl.
"Did you try to stop a burglar on your own?" Inferno asked.
"Yes," the girl answered firmly, quickly adding, "I'm Fire Girl."
"Fire... Girl?" Inferno repeated, rising from his kneeling position, "That's, uh, straight to the point. How old are you, kid?"
"13," Fire Girl answered.
"13? What are you doing here? Go home!" Inferno instructed, placing his hands firmly on his hips.
"I'm trying to help," Fire Girl explained. Inferno glared, crossing his arms over his chest; Fire Girl glared at him, secretly in awe of the Justice League's latest inductee. His black uniform was only accented with one sole red flame symbol on his chest.
"Help?" Inferno repeated.
"Stop repeating me," Fire Girl scowled, hair catching ablaze.
"Fire Girl…" Inferno muttered, staring at the bright flames.
"Shouldn't you be going after the burglar? I can help you, I know what he looks like," Fire Girl reasoned.
"I don't need help. You should go home, kid," Inferno said, rubbing his neck awkwardly.
Fire Girl crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at the older man. He scoffed, shaking his head, floating in the air. He gave the young girl an once-over before flying away. Inferno glanced over his shoulder, groaning as he realized that Fire Girl had made no attempt to leave. Inferno hung his head as he slowly descended down, landing in his previous spot.
"Welcome back," Fire Girl sarcastically muttered.
"I don't need an attitude, missy," Inferno said, pointing a gloved-finger at the young girl.
"It's not missy, it's Fire Girl," Fire Girl corrected.
"No, it's not," Inferno countered, shaking his head in disapproval, "How about… Firestorm?"
Fire Girl couldn't resist the urge to smile at Inferno. "Firestorm," she repeated, testing the name before firmly nodding. "I like it. Did you just come up with it off the top of your head?"
"Uh, no, it was the name of a friend of mine," Inferno admitted.
"So, does this mean I'm your sidekick now?" The newly named Firestorm asked.
"Yes, no, ugh, I don't know. I have to run it by Batman. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to take on a sidekick, actually," Inferno revealed.
"I say you do whatever you want. Why do you need Batman's approval if you are the one who protects Jump City?" Firestorm challenged.
"Trust me, you do not want to upset Batman," Inferno muttered, dragging a gloved hand across his face tiredly. "Um, how about we call it a night? I'll make sure you get home safe and I'll reach out to you in, um, a week? Yeah, a week seems reasonable…"
"Fine," Firestorm sighed.
Gotham City
January 21, 14:00 EDT
"Class," Mrs. Brown cleared her throat, "if anyone can answer the problem on the board, I won't assign any homework tonight. Fair warning, however, the problem has stumped every class before this.
The class collectively groaned; some students began working on the problem while others began packing, ignoring the problem altogether.
"Five minutes," Mrs. Brown informed from her desk, "Pencils down. Now, for those of you who actually tried, who wants to answer the problem?"
The students remained silent, glancing nervously at each other.
"Mr. Peters," Mrs. Brown sighed, noticing the sleeping student. Mrs. Brown crossed her arms over her chest as Barbara Gordon knudged at Nathan Peters. Nathan stirred awake, glaring at Barbara.
"Mr. Peters," Mrs. Brown repeated, growing visibly more annoyed.
"Yes, Mrs. Brown?" Nathan yawned, rubbing his blue eyes tiredly.
"Since you think you can sleep during my class, how about you answer the question on the board?" Mrs. Brown said, gesturing towards the lone equation on the blackboard. Nathan squinted at the board, muttering calculations under his breath.
"X equals 5," Nathan sighed, sitting upright in his uncomfortable seat.
"Wrong," Mrs. Brown confidently retorted, solving the problem on the board.
"X equals… I'm sorry, Mr. Peters, what did you say X equals?" Mrs. Brown asked, glancing over her shoulder.
"X equals 5," Nathan repeated monotonously, shoving his unopened notebook into his backpack. Barbara nodded, tilting her notebook into Nathan's peripheral vision.
"That is… correct," Mrs. Brown sighed as the class let out a collective sigh. The shrill Gotham Academy bell erupted causing the class to filter out immediately.
"Mr. Peters, a word please," Mrs. Brown said, leaning against her desk. Nathan nodded to Barbara, silently gesturing her to wait for him outside the classroom. Nathan looped his backpack through one arm, slowly trudging towards his algebra teacher.
"Yes, Mrs. Brown?" Nathan asked.
"I do not take kindly to people sleeping during my lesson," Mrs. Brown scowled, "I will let this one time slide only because you, and your friend Miss Gordon, are two of the brightest students I have."
"Thanks, Mrs. Brown," Nathan said, shoving his hands into his slack's pockets.
"Is everything okay, Nathan?" Mrs. Brown questioned, visibly concerned. Nathan perked up at the mention of his first name.
"You've never fallen asleep during one of my lessons. Is everything okay at home? Are you getting enough sleep?" Mrs. Brown persisted.
"Yeah," Nathan assured, "it's just… this lesson was boring." Nathan admitted, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.
"Well," Mrs. Brown cleared her throat, "let this be your first and final warning. Do not let this happen again."
"Yes, ma'am," Nathan sighed, trudging towards the classroom's door. He pushed the door open, immediately perking up at the sight of Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon leaning against the lockers waiting for him.
"Told you he'd make it out in one piece," Dick grinned, playfully elbowing Barbara.
"Yeah, I thought she was going to bore my brains into scrambled eggs," Nathan said, "but she let me off with a warning since I'm the smartest."
Barbara scoffed, rolling her eyes at Nathan.
"Want to celebrate? Tonight, at my place?" Dick suggested as the trio walked towards the main exit of Gotham Academy.
"My dad is taking me out to eat," Barbara explained, clutching her books closer to chest, "That is if he doesn't get called in."
As they exited the Academy, Dick waved at an awaiting Alfred Pennyworth.
"I wish I could celebrate," Nathan sighed, "but I've got plans of my own tonight. Dad wants me to help him with something and I can't get out of it now…"
"It's alright, I guess," Dick said with a slight shrug, "I'll just go with Bruce to one of his meetings then. Was hoping to not go, but it's better than doing nothing."
Nathan and Barbara waved at Alfred and Dick as the limo drove off. Nathan walked in silence as he walked Barbara to her house. Barbara hesitated on her front porch, noticing Nathan's unusual behavior.
"Everything okay, Nathan?" Barbara questioned.
"Yeah," Nathan sighed, "everything's alright, Babs."
Jump City
January 21, 23:05 PDT
"You're late," Inferno scowled, crossing his arms over his chest as he watched the young girl carefully climb over the rooftop railing. Batman remained silent, analyzing the girl's movements; they were careful, well-thought out, Batman noted.
"Yeah, well, when you said you'd reach out, I thought you'd call or text. We're meeting on the rooftop of an abandoned building on the opposite side of town I live in!"
"You see what I told you, Batman?" Inferno questioned, gesturing towards Firestorm.
"I like her," Robin said, landing beside Batman, "She has spunk."
"I don't need spunk," Inferno groaned, "I need someone who knows what they're doing."
"Hey, that's not fair. I read the papers when you first became Jump's hero. You didn't know what you were doing," Firestorm argued as she brushed off her pants.
"I'm Fire G— Firestorm. I'm Firestorm," Firestorm introduced herself.
"I'm Robin," the Boy Wonder smirked.
"Batman," the Dark Knight curtly said. "Why do you want to be a hero?"
Firestorm paused, processing her response. Inferno's annoyed expression faltered as he noticed Firestorm's momentary somber moment.
"Why wouldn't I?" Firestorm questioned, "I woke up one day being able to set fire to anything I touched. And I would be lying if I told you that I was happy about it. I mean, when we think of fire, we think of destruction. Well, I don't want that. I want to use my abilities to help people."
"She's yours," Batman approved, removing his grappling gun from his utility belt. Inferno nodded, watching the two swing away on respective grappling lines.
"Cool, I passed," Firestorm grinned.
"Listen, kid," Inferno paused, "I would be lying if I said I wasn't happy to have a partner again, but you're a kid, which means we've got to set some rules. First things first, we can only trust each other and the others who are like us. What's your name?"
"Elizabeth Hills. But I go by Liz."
"Hills? As in Jump City's ADA Joseph Hills?" Inferno asked.
"...No?"
"You're going to get me arrested," Inferno groaned.
"Moving on," Firestorm cleared her throat, "who are you?"
Inferno removed his mask, straightening his stance as Firestorm gave him a once-over. She furrowed her brow, confused.
"Am I supposed to know who you are?" Firestorm questioned.
"I'm Henry Papka," Inferno said, shoulders dropping at the realization that his new partner had no idea who he was. "I'm a scientist. I work for STAR Labs… it's kind of how I got my powers."
Firestorm nodded her head, "Oh, that makes sense. You're a nerd."
"Anyways, moving on to my second point. You can't tell anyone about our partnership, my identity, or yours. And finally, if I deem something too dangerous, you have to pull out. No questions, no objections."
"Fine, deal," Firestorm agreed.
"Okay, meet me here tomorrow and I'll have your suit for you."