Mount Justice|

March 11th, 2016|

4:12 PM, EST|

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~=YJ=~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nightwing got up from his place on the floor, before picking up his de-aged best friend. They turned to the screen where Black Canary looked one good shock away from scolding Nightwing. She shook her head out of her stupor and sighed.

"Alright, change in tactics. Twins, you're coming now. Bloom Blaster, Miss Martian, and Superboy; we need you three down here too."

"And me?" Nightwing asked.

"Isn't it obvious? You're on babysitting duty. And don't think I'm not telling Batman about this!"

Bloom Blaster had to clear her throat in order to keep from laughing. She'd love to be a fly on the wall of that conversation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~=YJ=~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Central City|

March 11th, 2016|

3:15 PM, CDT|

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~=YJ=~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ugh, what time is it?" Bloom Blaster asked.

"Uhm… My watch is probably wrong…" Pink Cougar answered.

"UGH! Why does America have so many time zones in one country?!"

Bloom Blaster never got an answer as the ship was struck.

"Miss M, what just hit us?" Bloom demanded.

"I think it was a stray meteor."

Superboy got out of his seat.

"I'm not waiting for landing; anyone coming down with me?"

Bloom Blaster followed suit. The Kryptonian jumped down the hatch, the crystal-kineticist trailing behind him. She generated a crystalline slide while the other barreled through the air. Superboy hit the ground with a soft thud, while Bloom alighted almost silently. The young woman reached for her comm link, turning towards any immediate danger.

"This is Bloom Blaster, what's the damage?"

The communicator crackled to life and the Flash's voice came online.

"Several meteors have damaged buildings, gas pipes, and water lines. It's going kinda crazy with fires starting randomly and flooding elsewhere at the drop of a hat."

"No casualties so far, but we can't know for certain," Black Canary added.

"Affirmative. I'll try to save the buildings, Flash I'll let you know where I find civilians."

She turned and ran for where a few people were fleeing. Two office buildings were burning brightly. She quickly isolated the fires and carefully manipulated them to a stop. Just as the flames went out she heard a gunshot followed by an alarm.

Are you serious?! She thought.

"There's a robbery in progress here. Any takers?"

No response. After thirty seconds she answered her own question.

"Alright then, I'm going in."

Ignoring the front of the building, Bloom Blaster snuck around to the back and silently used the employee entrance. She crept to the front; quietly hushing and reassuring the frightened shoppers huddled in groups. When she got to the front, a burly man wearing a ski-mask was spouting demands and holding the cashier — a trembling young man in his late teens — at gunpoint. Bloom Blaster went over her options quickly, if the gunman was alerted to her presence he would most definitely take the cashier hostage. Or worse. Nullify the gun it was.

Bloom Blaster conjured up a crystal to encroach the weapon. Soon enough, the crook got furious when the young man made no move to fulfill his demands and moved to fire a warning shot…

Nothing.

"What the-"

The chlorokineticsist let out a light-hearted chuckle and slipped from her hiding place. She carelessly leaned against a shelf with her arms crossed.

"I've rendered your firearm inoperable. You have no weapon, stand down."

The two became locked in a silent standstill. Then the mook became sharply smug. Bloom Blaster shook her head, already knowing his reason.

"You don't really think your little friend snuck up on me, right?"

She spun around just in time to catch the gun swinging at her, allowing the metal to distort in her hand. The second crook looked stunned for a moment before the heroine clocked him in the gut. She tripped him up and he hit the ground heavily. She paused momentarily at the sudden heavy footsteps. The first robber was trying to charge her.

As if.

Bloom Blaster sidestepped him and he barreled right into his companion. The force knocked out the second crook and disoriented the first. With a single strike to a pressure point, she knocked out the first offender. She proceeded to bind them both in crystal bands before turning to the people.

"Is everyone alright?"

There were cries of affirmation as well as gasps of relief. Amidst all that were a few heartfelt rounds of applause. Then the poor cashier, thoroughly shaken and relieved at the same time, broke down and cried. Bloom Blaster moved to sooth him as he sobbed and hiccupped. Eventually, she deemed him calm enough to be left with the others.

"Hey! Let us go!"

Bloom Blaster turned to the bound crooks. They had come to and were struggling against their bindings. The shorter one who was very clearly the younger, was putting up a heck of a fight with his fetters. The heroine stared at them flatly.

"No."

"You *****! When I get my hands on you I'll-"

"You'll what? I've already kicked your butts."

The younger mook glared murderously at the young hero while Bloom Blaster looked unimpressed. The crook continued to glare even as she spun on her heel, turning her back to them. She addressed the slightly shell-shocked people.

"Everybody, it's not safe to go outside just yet. There's a meteor shower that's causing a lot of trouble, so it's best to stay inside."

"What about them?" A boy around Bloom's age asked, pointing to the still struggling duo.

"They're stuck like that. You'd have to be strong as Superman to break my crystal."

She nodded and turned to leave when she stopped. Feeling something tugging on her leg she spun around and looked down. A little girl, her braids held back by a pink ribbon, wearing a Flash T-shirt looked up at her with wide, hazel eyes. The child looked terribly afraid and looked almost too shy to speak.

"What's wrong?" Bloom Blaster asked, crouching down to eye-level with the girl.

"Do you know when the meteo's bath is gonna stop?"

"Meteor shower," Bloom corrected, smiling gently. "I don't know when it'll stop, but it should be over soon enough."

Bloom Blaster turned to leave when she felt another tug on her suit.

"Do you have to leave them here?" The little one asked pointing to the scowling and moping crooks.

"Unfortunately, yes. The police are very busy doing what they can about the meteor shower, so they can't pick him up. So they'll have to stay here until they can get picked up by the authorities. I know you don't like it Sweetie, I don't either, but it's the best decision I can make, given the circumstances."

Despite the slight look of confusion on her face, the little girl nodded in understanding. Before Bloom Blaster could answer, another meteor smashed into the street, shaking the whole building down to it's foundation. Bloom grabbed hold of the small child as she nearly toppled to the floor. She held her close until the tremors stopped.

"Is everyone okay?" she called.

All answers were affirmative and Bloom let out a sigh of relief. She turned to the child in her arms who stared up at her expectantly.

"And that is why everyone is staying in here."