(So I noticed a small mistake I made in the previous chapter. I had Lucien refer to Kara as Warheart's wife when in fact they are fiances. I had to fix that so that's why the chapter might have been down for a few minutes. Anyways, here's the next chapter. Bringing in a new Super Hero. Hope you all enjoy it.)

Chapter Three: Fire

Location: Flint, Michigan (The Skies)

Year: 2010

Day: Tuesday

Time: 6:00 PM

In the skies above the city, three familiar heroes had taken flight and were searching the area for any signs of Night-Walker. Supergirl had taken the lead. Warheart couldn't believe he was actually reading a copy of the "National Enquirer" as they flew through the clouds. "Who would have guessed a copy of this magazine might actually come in handy?" He said looking at a crime scene photo from Night-Walker's latest strike.

"They had to be useful for something at some point." Supergirl said, smiling. "It says here they're calling our target 'The Ghost'. Looks like he's made quite the name for himself as one who strikes fear into his enemies." Mercury Knight gave a sort of half grin after hearing this. "Let's hope the rumors about him are true than. We could definitely use someone like him on our team."

Warheart nodded. "Agreed. Though I'm curious about this 'Dragon-Girl' that's also mentioned in this issue. Did you picture her in any of your visions?" He asked, turning his attention to Lucien. "To be honest, my attention was focused so much on the shadow manipulator I might have missed her."

"Well, looks like it's a good thing we're here." Supergirl said turning over to face the other two heroes, her arms were crossed behind her head. "We could end up adding two more members to our team in one place." Warheart grinned. "Let's hope so. Though there's no guarantee this 'Dragon-Girl' is a hero ... or if she even exists for that matter."

Location: Flint, Michigan (Bank of America)

Year: 2010

Day: Tuesday

Time: 7:00 PM

About an hour later, an alarm was blaring at the 'Bank of America'. Three criminals were making their way to the revolving doors, weapons in one hand, bags filled with cash in the other. Their faces were each covered with hockey masks in an attempt to hide their identities. "Move, Move!" The man behind his two partners commanded.

A moment later, they had made it outside and were tossing their bags into the back of their get away vehicle, an unmarked dark blue van. "Hurry, before the cops show up." Their leader barked as he rushed to jump in the front passenger seat. Seconds after he said this, a wave of fire appeared out of nowhere and knocked the guns out of the two criminals hands who had yet to get into the van.

They turned around in a panic to see what had attacked them. Standing before them was a woman with long red hair that appeared as if it were on fire. Placed over her eyes was a black and orange visor. She wore an orange tank-top which showed off her well toned abs. Over the tank top was an unzipped black leather jacket with a matching pair of leather pants. Orange, flame like highlights seem to glow like fire around the sleeves of both her jacket and pants. She also wore a pair of black leather gloves and a pair of black leather boots.

"So let me guess..." she said, rubbing her chin. "...the bank denied your loan, right?" The criminals immediately freaked out. "Boss, it's the dragon-girl!"

Without giving his partners a chance to get in the van, the leader of the group shouted "Floor it!" and the vehicle began to speed away. The hero before them sighed. "You never make it easy do you. And it's FIRE-DRAGON, not dragon-girl!" She said as she grabbed the two men before her and slammed their heads together, effectively knocking them out cold.

She then started to chase after their get away van as two large dragon-like wings made of fire sprouted on her back, allowing her to take flight.

(Flashback)

Location: Flint, Michigan - Burning Building

Year: 2009

Day: Friday

Time: 12:00 PM

A teenage girl around the age of seventeen was dressed in a firefighter's uniform as she stood before a two story house that had been set ablaze. She stood at about five feet, seven inches, had long brown hair and brown eyes. A name tag on her jacket read "Jennifer Anderson". She had her hose on full power as she and her fellow fighters attempted to battle the fire.

A woman was in a state of panic, her face was covered with ash due to the smoke. She removed her oxygen mask a paramedic on the scene had given her. "My ... My baby's still in there." She just barely managed to choke out.

"What?" Jennifer screamed, as she turned her head back toward the woman. "Are you sure?" The woman's eyes were filled with tears. "Y-Y-Yes." She stuttered.

Without thinking twice, Jennifer dropped her hose and charged through the front door of the house, ignoring the screams from the other firefighters. Jennifer quickly placed on her respirator and attempted to search past the smoke and flames. "Can anyone hear me?" She screamed, desperately trying to see. After a moment of searching, she heard a faint cry for help. She turned to find a small boy, probably no older than ten partially trapped under a collapsed coffee table. He was unable to pull his legs free.

Jennifer quickly rushed to his location, jumping between flames when she needed to. "Relax, I'm here to help you." She said, as she lifted up the table allowing the boy to crawl out. She helped him to his feet and gave him her respirator just as a wall of fire surrounded them. "Damn it, not like this!" Jennifer screamed. "I'm not going out like this." She thought as she attempted to find a way out.

Seconds later, she inhaled some smoke. Surprisingly, it didn't cause her to cough or choke. It was like breathing normally. That's when a flame jumped at her and caught her pants leg on fire. She panicked at first, but then she realized it wasn't burning her. Without thinking, she ripped her jacket off, wrapped it around the boy and picked him up in her arms.

Making sure he was fully secured, Jennifer charged through the fire. She was somehow able to see perfectly through the blaze as she made her way to the exit. Once she stepped outside with the boy, the other firefighters immediately grabbed the boy from her and started to pat her down. They ripped off sleeves and were shocked when they realized there weren't any burn marks.

Location: Flint, Michigan (streets)

Year: 2010

Day: Tuesday

Time: 7:10 PM

The bank robbers had managed to get about a mile away, as they sped recklessly down the street, nearly crashing into every vehicle they passed. "I think we lost her boss." The driver said. At that moment, their van's wheels began to screech as it was slowly lifted into the air. "What the Hell?" The crime boss poked his head out his window to find Supergirl, smiling. "You two think you own the road? The rules apply to everyone, you know."

"Crap! Supergirl!" The crime boss shouted as he grabbed his gun and shot up through the roof at her, the bullets bouncing off her body like they were nothing. "Please, haven't you guys caught on by now?" She said as she dropped the van down by a nearby police station. The criminals kicked their doors open and started to make a run for it, only to run head first into Warheart, which caused them to fall backwards. "What's the hurry boys? My guess is you'll be staying here for awhile."

The two criminals sighed and dropped their weapons in defeat. Two police officers exited the station, handcuffs in hand. "Thanks Supergirl, Captain."

"You might want to check the van for their stolen money too." A female voice said. Warheart and Supergirl turned to see Fire Dragon on top of the van.

"Dragon-Girl I presume?" Warheart asked. If her eyes could be seen behind the visor she wore, she would have rolled them. "Why does everyone call me that? It's Fire Dragon. Say it with me now. Fiirree ... Drraaggooonn." She said, acting as if she were directing a choir.

"Oh, forgive us. I guess that's what happens when you get your information from the National Enquirer." Warheart replied. Fire Dragon folded her arms. "Well, I've got places to be, so if you'll excuse me." Her wings flapped as she hovered just an inch over the van and prepared to leave.

"Wait!" Supergirl called out. "We need to talk to you about something." Fire Dragon sighed. "Sorry, no time for that." She then turned and started to fly off into the distance, Supergirl and Warheart decided to pursue her. Fire Dragon turned her head back. "Why are you two chasing me?" She called back. "Just listen to what we have to say and we'll leave you alone."

Supergirl replied, attempting to get through to her. "How about you listen to this!" Fire Dragon turned around in midair and began to throw balls of fire at the two heroes. Luckily they were easily able to dodge them. A moment later, a wave of water crashed through Fire Dragon's wings causing them to vanish. "Oh crap, crap, crap!" Fire Dragon shouted as she started to fall.

Just as she was inches away from crashing into a nearby roof, her body stopped falling and she found herself suspended in midair. "You're not going anywhere until you hear us out." Fire Dragon turned her head to see Mercury Knight, his hands outstretched before him as he held her in place. He then caused her body to turn upright. "Lemme get this straight. You try to get my attention by attacking me ... and then you want me to listen to what you have to say? I don't think so." She replied, crossing her arms. "Now you people need to leave me alone."

"You people?" Warheart turned to fiancé. "She doesn't know who we are." Supergirl shrugged. "Well considering we haven't heard of her until now, I guess it's not too surprising." Warheart rubbed his chin. "Good point, hun."

Supergirl turned to Mercury Knight. "You should let her down. I'd probably feel the same way she does if I were in her shoes." Lucien sighed and released his grip on Fire Dragon, causing her to drop on her butt. "Ouch, jerk." She said as she jumped to her feet. "Now what's so important?" She asked, irritated.

Warheart and the others landed on the rooftop by her and took a moment to explain the situation with Darkseid. "The way we see it, we have one year to form a team or things are going to get really ugly here." Warheart finished the explanation, leaving Fire Dragon at a loss for words. Supergirl attempted to comfort her. "Look, I know this is a bit much to swallow at once, but we could really use your help."

Fire Dragon thought for a moment before speaking. "Look ... I can't just drop everything and join you. I have a duty to the people of this city." Lucien was getting irritated. "The people of this city might not even exist in a year's time if Darkseid has his way." Fire Dragon sighed. "Look, I'm just not ready to commit to something this serious. I need time."

"That's just it!" Lucien screamed. "We don't have time!" Fire Dragon pointed a finger at him as she tried to defend herself. "First of all, you're a jerk and you can't force me to do anything. Second, if I did decide to join your little team it'd be of MY choice. Not yours." She reformed her wings and started to hover over the roof. "But for now ... I have nothing to say to either of you, no matter who you are."

She then turned away from the group and started to fly away once more. Lucien went to stop her in her tracks but Supergirl grabbed his arm. "Let her go." Lucien raised an eyebrow. "Are you insane? We can't just let her fly away."

"Look, the three of us know how serious a situation this is, but we can't force people to work with us. Fire Dragon's right, it has to be their decision." Warheart folded his arms. "I agree with Kara. Besides, we know of at least one hero here. Maybe if we just give her some space she'll come around." Kara nodded. "And we're not done here. We still have the shadow manipulator to find." Lucien sighed, dropping his arm. "Fine ... we let her go for now. What now?"

"We continue our search obviously. We have quite a bit of night left. That's plenty of time to look for our shadow friend. If we don't find him today, there's always tomorrow." Warheart explained. "Let's go then". Lucien replied and the three heroes flew off into the distance to continue their search.

Location: Flint, Michigan (East Side, High School)

Year: 2010

Day: Wednesday

Time: 8:00 AM

Bright and early the next morning, two students were on their way to school. They were riding in a what was clearly a used car, small dents on either side of the cars between the doors. Shane was behind wheel, while Jennifer sat in the passenger seat. Jennifer was wearing a long sleeve red shirt, a pair of black jeans with a brown belt tied at the waist and pair of black shoes. Shane's outfit was relatively similar except his shirt was blue. They were discussing her encounter with the three Super Heroes.

"I think you were right to ditch those losers. Remember my motto, trust no one." He said, turning the car into the school's driveway. "Trust no one, eh. So you really don't trust me." Jennifer replied, playfully. "You know you're different." Shane shot back, looking at her narrowing his eyes slightly. "I know, I know. Sheesh, someone's in a mood."

"But seriously, do you really think this 'Mercury Warrior' or whatever his name was is a psychic? That's pretty far fetched dontchu think?" Jennifer couldn't help but chuckle. "This coming from a guy who manipulates shadows who's best friend is a girl who manipulates fire."

Shane paused for a moment as he parked the car. "Good point..., but still, we can't predict the future and I have yet to meet the person who could." Jennifer smirked. "Oh, so you think Sylvia Brown is a fraud?" Shane nodded. "Duh, why else would she charge a thousand bucks for phone call?"

"I forgot I was talking to the man who trusts no one." Jennifer replied. "Anyway ... let me know if those guys chase after you again. I'll be sure to give them a piece of my mind." Shane said, slamming his fists together. "I doubt that'll make things better. Besides, I think they'll come looking for you next."

"I'd like to see them try to find me." Shane replied, actually chuckling. "Well, come on, we're gonna be late." Jennifer replied, grabbing her backpack from the back seat. "What else is new?" Shane asked, grabbing his as well. The two then exited the car and headed toward the school.

Location: Flint, Michigan (Parade)

Year: 2010

Day: Wednesday

Time: 3:00 PM

Later that day after school Jennifer decided to watch an annual local parade. She attempted to bring Shane with her, but these kind of events just weren't his thing. She was seated in a lawn chair with several people on both sides of the street. She had Shane on her cell phone as she waited for the parade to start.

"You don't know what you're missing, Shane." Shane's sigh was heard clearly through the other end of the phone. "I know full well what I missing." Jennifer smiled. "They have cotton candy." She said, extending the words as she reached into her backpack seated next to her chair, pulling out a bag of the stuff.

"Cotton Candy? Oh well why didn't you say so." Shane replied sarcastically. At that moment, the parade started. At the front of the line, the school's band began to play as they marched down the street. "Woo! It started!" Jennifer exclaimed, excited. "You don't say!" Shane called out loudly, attempting to be heard.

Directly across the street from Jennifer, Michael and Kara were waiting for the event to start as well. "This looks like a pretty nice turn out." Kara said, looking around. "Yeah, I wouldn't have guessed they'd throw parades here." Michael replied, reaching into a bag of popcorn he was holding as Kara nodded in agreement. "It's too bad Lucien refused to take a break and join us."

"Something tells me even if he weren't trying to form a team, he wouldn't have joined us." Michael replied. Followed by the band was a huge, black and red Chinese dragon made by the art of origami. Jennifer couldn't help but feel the dragon was meant for Fire Dragon. Following behind the dragon, was a float with several military officers. Moments later, the sound of jet engines were heard as a silver, metallic in appearance being appeared above the floats. Small flames shot out under his boots which appeared to be the source of his flight abilities.

Normal parade viewers assumed this to simply be a part of the show and were cheering with amazement. Jennifer on the other hand knew too well that things were about to get real serious, real fast. Without saying a word, the metallic dressed being outstretched his hands in front of him. Seconds later, blue laser beams were emitted from the palms of his hand. The beams instantly collided into a balloon of Spongebob Squarepants.

The people controlling the balloon lost their grip on the ropes and it began to spiral out of control. The metallic being then blasted a wheel off from another float causing it to steer off course and head toward the sidewalk. Thinking fast, Jennifer grabbed a kid standing near the edge of the sidewalk and pulled him to safety just as the float came to a stop.

Jennifer then looked around and found a nearby alley. She ducked into it quickly. After making sure no one was looking she removed her outfit revealing her Super Hero uniform underneath, minus the leather jacket. She then reached into her left pants pocket and pulled out her visor, that was conveniently folded. She unfolded it and placed it over her eyes as her hair instantly changed to red and her dragon like wings of fire formed on her back.

She then flew off into the sky toward the out of control balloon and grabbed onto it. "So this is how it's gonna end?" She questioned, sarcastically. "Done in by a Spongebob balloon. I did NOT see that one coming." She then spun around and with all her might hurled the balloon straight up. Once it was a safe distance away, she held one hand out above her and shot a wave of fire toward it. It made contact with the balloon at an extreme speed and blasted right through it, causing parts of the balloon to disintegrate and other smaller parts to float harmlessly away.

Michael went to jump to his feet to assist Fire Dragon when Kara placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hold on a minute, let's see how she does." Michael looked anxious to put a stop to this fast. "Okay but if any of these floats start to go out of control, we're jumping in." Kara nodded in agreement.

Fire Dragon made a mad dash toward the metallic man, dodging his laser beams or countering them with a ball of fire. After a moment or two of this, she managed to reach him, pulled her fist back and made a direct powerful punch to his head. The villain went sailing backwards and crashed into a nearby building. "Why? Why do you always have to randomly shoot at things Ultraforce? You are THEE most random villain of all time."

She commented just as a current of electricity wrapped itself around her, pinning her arms to her sides. "No, no, no!" Fire Dragon called as her body was thrown into a building on the other side of the street, putting out her wings upon impact. The being called Ultraforce then turned his attention back toward the parade and began to fire more energy beams toward the floats, seemingly making his way to the military float.

Once Fire Dragon was back on her feet, she noticed Ultraforce actually appeared to have a single target. "The military men. Of course!"

(Flashback)

Location: Flint, Michigan (Laboratory)

Year: 2000

Day: Monday

Time: 2:00 PM

It was just another work day, but for a man named Jack Williams, it was an important day that could make or break his career as a scientist. Jack appeared to be a man in his early thirties. He his blonde hair had been buzz cut to be extremely short and he had aqua blue eyes. He wore a white button down dress shirt, a pair of black dress slacks with a brown belt tied at the waist, a white lab coat and a pair of black shoes.

Jack was standing before a large video screen, an elder man dressed in a blue military uniform was shown. His head was mostly bald, save for the white hair around the sides and his well trimmed beard.

Jack was standing next to a black and white suit which was placed in a silver tube, the front covered by a window like door. A sign read "prototype" on the bottom of the tube. "General Smith sir, I am pleased to present you with the weapon of the future."

The general seemed unimpressed. "A suit of armor? We fund you with millions and you give us a suit of armor?" Jack shook his head, rather nervously. "No sir. It's far from just a suit of armor. Why with this suit, you can do away with virtually every other weapon the army has. Allow me to demonstrate."

Jack approached the tube and opened the door. He then pressed a button on one of the suit's hands causing it to open up. Jack stood between the front and back of the suit. His face was firmly placed into the front of the helmet, his hands went into the gloves and his feet into the boots. After he was firmly in place, the back of the suit slid forward, effectively covering his entire body in the armor.

The sound of jet engines were then heard as he levitated into the air. "As you can see sir..." Jack's voice commented, sounding rather robotic. "...the suit makes man capable of flight." Again the general was unimpressed as he made a snorting sound. "Big deal, so do planes. What about weapons Williams. Weapons."

Without saying a word, Jack pointed his left hand toward a wooden dummy he had set up for the demonstration. A blue laser beam was fired from the palm of his hand which blasted the head off the dummy. "And that's only a fraction of it's power." Jack commented, grinning inside the suit.

"Watch this." He then turned toward one of the lab's metal walls and began to fire off one of his laser beams. The beam began to easily weld through the metal wall. After making the beam cut a decent sized circle in the wall, he turned back to the general. The general smirked. "Somewhat impressive Williams. Anything else?"

"Of course sir." Jack replied. "This suit is also capable of generating an electrical current that can be completely manipulated." Jack attempted to activate the suit's next power, when suddenly his suit began to smoke, unleashing powerful electrical sparks all over the lab. Computer monitors were destroyed, lights started to flicker on and off as a wave of electricity surrounded the suit, moving up and down.

Jack panicked and was quickly able to exit the suit and dive under a table just as the suit exploded. Before the smoke could from the explosion could clear, the general shouted "You're Fired Williams!" and the monitor crashed to the ground.

"Fire me will you." Jack said, climbing to his feet. "I'll show you. I'll show you ALL!"

Fire Dragon's wings reappeared as she charged toward the military float, hoping the men had managed to abandon ship by now. To her surprise, three men were still on the float and Ultraforce was closing in, barley missing one of them with his laser beams. Moving fast, Fire Dragon flew above Ultraforce and slammed her feet into his back causing him to crash into the ground.

By now, parade viewers were panicking and attempting to flee the scene. Just when another float lost control, nearly crashing into some bystanders, Captain Warheart appeared before the float. His braced himself and grabbed a hold of the float, causing it to skid to a stop. Nearby, Supergirl had took care of another balloon gone wild.

Fire Dragon turned to find the other heroes had come to her assistance. "Where'd you two come from?" Warheart smiled. "Well, if you want us to leave ..." Fire Dragon shook her head. "That's okay, that's okay. The more the merrier." She replied just as ring of electricity wrapped itself around her legs, pinning them together. She was then forcefully slammed into the ground face first.

"Fire Dragon!" Supergirl called as she charged toward Ultraforce. Their fists collided into each other as they traded blows. A moment later, Kara had won the struggle and landed a kick to Ultraforce's head with such a force that he went sailing over her head. Warheart then appeared above Ultraforce and slammed both of his fists into the villain's back causing him crash into the street, leaving an imprint of his body upon impact.

"We got him!" Kara cheered, helping Fire Dragon to her feet. At that moment, Ultraforce jumped back to his feet and fired off two laser beams toward Warheart. Warheart immediately fired off his energy beams from his eyes and the two attacks met in between the two. Kara then rushed to her fiancé's aide and fired off her heat vision, causing the struggle to be even greater for Ultraforce as the beams went back and forth.

Fire Dragon then rushed behind Ultraforce and grabbed him around the waist causing him to lose control of his attack. Warheart and Supergirl's beams then collided into Ultraforce. Fire Dragon then jumped into the air and performed a perfect back flip as she slammed her enemy head first into the ground. Ultraforce's helmet cracked open revealing Jack's unconscious face.

Fire Dragon sighed with relief as she turned back to the other two heroes. "So ... about that team you're forming."

(And there you have it, another chapter complete. How do you all like it so far?)