A/N: This is a fic for the 2011 TV series "Young Justice League", not really the comics. But I couldn't find it in the choice list, so I settled for this. Anyway...read on.
The wind howled and churned in the midnight air, tousling my hair and arousing the dreaded goosebumps.
The clouds had settled perfectly atop Gotham City, concealing the moon and its light, which illuminated every cotton embedded into the cloud cover's ghostly body. From up here, the streets of the city were as lively as day; horns were honking, pedestrians were yelling, store bells were ringing upon entry. The traffic was relentless and undying, and working individuals were weary to be home. Overall, Gotham City was as loud by night as by day.
"Elaena!" Aunt Jen called, from below the hatch which led up to the roof. "Elaena! What are you still doing up there?"
Quickly, I turned away from the view and climbed down, back into the house, where I was immediately greeted with the overwhelming fragrance of cooking meat.
"What is that amazing smell?" I breathed out, closing the hatch behind me.
Aunt Jen gave me her legendary look of suspicion, where she curled her lip and scrunched up her eyebrows. She claimed it always invoked an honest answer, but I had proved it wrong on several occasions.
"Why do you care?" she demanded dubiously. Then her eyes widened and her eyebrows went up. "Oh! Nice try, young lady. You think you can make me forget you came back from work two hours late?" She waved her wooden spatula in the air. "I don't think so."
"Hey," I protested, pulling myself onto the kitchen counter and sitting on it. "Maybe I'm just surprised you're actually making a homecooked meal for once, instead of using those microwavable boxes you get from the store."
"Well I thought it might be a nice change," she said, stirring some kind of liquidy, cheesy soup that looked absolutely delicious. "I used to make homecooked meals, you know."
"What happened?" I asked, still eyeing the soup.
"I became a college professor," she stated, "at the biggest college in the state. And let me tell you: it's more than just grading thirty-page compositions, though there's that too."
"Lovely," I replied, not really listening. "So...is this amazing, homecooked dinner ready for us to inhale yet?"
Suddenly Aunt Jen got this really guilty look. She averted her eyes and said, "Well...that's why I called you down."
"To tell me it wasn't ready?" I asked. "You know, you could've just waited till you were finished to call me down."
She gave me another one of her famous looks, which basically said, Will you stop interrupting with stupid comments so I can say what I'm trying to say?
"No. But I forgot to check if I had all the ingredients before I started, and I'm out of parsley and lemon pepper. Can you run by the store and pick them up for me?"
I raised an eyebrow. "It's midnight. And you're letting me go into the city by myself. Do I have that right?"
Aunt Jen adjusted her apron, which I could tell she hadn't worn for years; it was stained and wrinkley and just very, very old-looking. Its original, vivid red color had faded to a pale pink. "Are you saying I should be doubting your trustworthiness?"
"No," I said. "I'm wondering why you're not doubting the city nightlife's trustworthiness."
"City nightlife?" Aunt Jen laughed and rolled her eyes, like, oh you're so naive. "I'm asking you to go to the grocery store. Not a gambling casino."
I jumped off the counter. "You know what? Never mind." I opened Aunt Jen's purse, which was laying on the kitchen table, and took out her wallet, and then grabbed a twenty. "Wait," I said, giving her a raised eyebrow, "why aren't you doing this? Couldn't you just go get it yourself? No offense."
"Technically," she answered, "I could. But then I would have to leave this broccoli cheese soup and this tenderloin pork in your hands, which I have been working on for the last hour. And you would most definitely forget all my instruction...no offense." Aunt Jen always teased me for saying 'no offense' because she claimed it was just another way of saying, 'I know this is really mean but pretend it isn't.'
Except she was right. I would forget. "Good point," I admitted. "Alrighty then."
"I expect you back in a half hour! You know where the Food Lion is, right?"
"...Yes," I lied, honestly too excited to be out past midnight.
"Where?"
I racked my brain but nothing came. "Umm...somewhere on 34th?"
She gave me her expert glare. "35th! Elaena!"
I shrugged. "My bad. See ya!"
"Take your phone with you!"
"I have it!"
I was halfway out the door when I heard her exasperated sigh, then, "No you don't, it's over there on the couch! Elaena!"
Luckily, I was far enough outside to be able to "not hear her" if you get what I'm saying. Before she could come after me, I closed the door behind me and set out.
The wind was a lot less breezy than it had been on the roof, but the cold remained; my jacket was barely enough to preserve the warmth I had inside.
The sidewalk I walked along was littered and narrow; it went along 37th street then turned right at the next intersection. Streetlamps were lit, and thankfully too, since without them the streets would be much darker. Beside me, 37th was beginning to clear, and cars and taxis were parking along on the shoulder; passengers were emerging and going home. The city was usually quietest around two or three in the morning, but even then, parties were still running wild, travelers continued on their way, and late-shift workers stayed on it.
I passed several shops and townhouses; lights were starting to flicker off. Another breeze drifted by and I buttoned my jacket up a little more.
What had Aunt Jen said? 36th street? 32nd? Or had she said I was right, and Food Lion was on 34th? All I knew was that she was right about my memory; it didn't go very far.
I stopped at the intersection and hit the button on the pedestrian's crossing light. I waited as the cars drove past and tried to remember which street Aunt Jen had indicated. I was sure it was in the 30's...but that didn't help. If I checked every street that would take hours. Then there was the possibility of asking someone for directions, but talking to someone this late at night? Not the smartest or safest option. And I had so intelligently left my cell phone at home, so I couldn't call Jen myself.
When the light was green and I crossed the street, I spotted one of those old phone booths sitting there up ahead. I shoved my hand into my pocket and even managed to dig out a spare quarter. Never before had I been so thankful for spare change.
So, I headed over, opened the door and stepped into the booth. For a second it occurred to me that this thing must've been the hangout place for a lot of germs in the city, but if it meant I could talk to Jen, I didn't really care. I stuck my quarter in the hole and dialed the number.
Ring.
I looked outside the glass as I wanted for her to pick up. Despite the dangers, the frightening largeness, and overwhelming population, Gotham City really was a convenient living place. And if it had random phone booths sitting on the side of the street when I needed one, then it was cool in my book.
Ring.
A gust of wind passed by, but I didn't feel it because I was in the booth. But I saw a lot of littered cans and cigarettes and food wrappers go flying across the street, and I wondered why the wind had suddenly picked up.
Ring.
Crack!
At first, I thought I was imagining the cracking noise. It sounded more like a rumbling than a crack, and really, what could be rumbling in the middle of a city? There was no construction, strange shops, wild animals, or anything around that could explain-
BOOM!
The ground beneath my feet cracked like an egg and the glass in the phone booth shattered. I closed my eyes and dropped the phone, just as I heard Aunt Jen's voice go, "Hello?"
Gravity vanished and within seconds, I found myself flying across the sky...then heading straight down towards the hard concrete, and then- a rush of pain slammed into my shoulder, as if a truck had just fallen on me, and I lay there stunned.
Suddenly the almost-quiet night exploded into noise. Sirens wailed, people screamed, and the rumbling noise I had mistaken for a wild animal was actually the start of a rampaging earthquake. It was the trembling ground under me that forced me to get up.
My vision was blurry, and my right shoulder was completely immobile, numb and momentarily dead, but I made myself get onto my knees. Then I used a streetlamp pole to help pull me to my feet.
I blinked a couple of times to adjust my sight, then - despite the pain - gasped at what I saw.
All of 37th street was totally wrecked, except for the buildings on the sides. The street was broken into bazillions of pieces, as if the earthquake had only struck the actual concrete street. It didn't make any sense.
Then suddenly, I heard this super high-pitched squeal, and more litter started flying past me. I realized, that was what had provoked the wind earlier when I was in the booth - I only hadn't heard it because I was enclosed within the soundproof walls.
The source of the squeal had come from something that was now far past 37th street. In the dark it was harder to spot, but it was also too distinct to miss.
Something that resembled a giant worm rose up beside the Chase skyscraper on 57th. A second later, two others ascended, their heads curved down to view the city below. I wasn't even sure if worms had eyes, but apparently these did.
One of them had crossed 37th street and was now headed onto 38th...which is what had caused the street's destruction.
I knew I had to get home. Forget Food Lion. Forget parsley and lemon pepper. I had to warn Jen. Gotham City was attacked every once in a while by strange and grotesque creatures, and help did come in eventually, but at this rate, Gotham would be demolished by the time rescue arrived. As for me? I had to warn Jen - before this worm problem turned into a worm catastrophe.
My shoulder was searing. I couldn't move my left arm at all without feeling a burning sensation crawl up and down it. The only benefit was that it distracted me from feeling as terrified and worried as I would be without it. It also helped that I'd been through something like this before. Last time, Gotham City had been infested by bazillions of grasshoppers, and Jen and I had been locked inside her house for two days before they'd all been exterminated. At least this time, the threats weren't as numerous or as hard to locate.
Even so, I pushed myself to hurry as I advanced back down 37th street.
Most of the city was in panic. The lights in every building had been turned back on, and those who were still outside were scrambling into the nearest shelter. Drivers were stopping their cars and climbing out, and basically just freaking out once they saw the giant worms. But overall, the whole city was dominated by a sense of fear and dismay and terror. People were scared for their lives, and every face I saw had their eyes wide and their jaw dropped.
As I neared Aunt Jen's house, I saw a huge shadow blocking the light of the moon from the other end of 37th street.
I gasped.
The giant worms I had seen before from a distance really hadn't looked that bad, from a spot that was almost unreachable to them.
But now that I was much closer, a cold shiver crept through me and I stopped moving completely.
It - was - humongous.
At least fifty yards in width, and hundreds of hundreds of yards in height, its whole body could've easily crushed one of our smaller skyscrapers. Black, slick, and smelly, I could sense its overwhelming features from across the street. My eyes widened. My jaw dropped.
Immediately the worm monster began a headlong charge down 37th. The whole ground shook and crumbled like an 8.0 earthquake, and whatever confidence I had melted.
It took me about two seconds to swallow my awe and make a beeline in the opposite direction. My shoulder hit its peak of affliction once I reached my maximum speed, though, and I could only press on for a few more seconds before I was forced to stop and soothe the distress. I looked for any doors to flee through, but when I checked the ones nearby, they were all locked tight, and I knew the inhabitants of those places had sealed them intentionally.
Clutching my wounded shoulder, I glanced back and saw the worm approaching too rapidly. My hand felt wet, and I knew the blood was beginning to pour dangerously.
In that moment, while my survival instinct was trying to decide what to do, I saw this little kid running towards me, trying to escape the advancing monster. He must've been just six or seven years old, with short, black hair and a tiny, chubby, adorable little kid body.
"Help me! Help!" he cried, coming right at me.
My mind was racing a million miles an hour. The worm had crossed most of 37th street in just a couple of seconds, even though it was one of the longest streets in the whole city.
I had to help this kid.
As soon as he reached me, I grabbed him and shoved him behind me, just as the worm came upon us.
Whole body refusing to die, I lifted my hands and forced every little thing inside of me to focus. I opened my eyes and saw the worm's giant black ugly figure come charging towards us at the speed of a freight train, and I screamed.
Immediately, I felt the power come to life, and suddenly I felt myself and the kid behind me being thrown backwards until we both slammed into the nearest wall. Sort of like-
BOOOM!
All of my senses went blank. I heard nothing, felt nothing, saw nothing...until ten seconds later, when I felt the ground under my feet tremble again.
I collapsed.