IN BLACKEST NIGHT
By: Malaizjan De Jesus
A/N: Chapter 10 is very short. But I will try to make it longer.
In brightest day,
In blackest night,
No evil shall escape my sight.
Let those who worship evil's might,
Beware my power,
Green Lantern's Light! –Hal Jordan, then later Jon Stewart
Chapter 10
Undisclosed Location
11:54 pm
The moonlit sky lit up nearly all of the shadowed corners of the city. The all-night Burger Fool was one of the few all-night eateries still open. Its neon light flickered and dance on the walls of the apartment buildings that surrounded it.
A normal city on the surface.
But in reality, it was far from it.
Most people would like to forget the events of the Gang Riots and on that fateful night, a mysterious gas was released and insanity ensued. Thus, the Bang Babies were born.
Mostly villains, no doubts there.
However, a few heroes arose to help out the out-manned and out-numbered police.
Static Shock was his hero name. He fought the other teenage Bang Babies time and time again, while keeping his identity mostly a secret. Only a few know who he really is.
One was Gear, a human whose passive exposure (is this even possible?) to the gas through Static allowed him to gain super intelligence. In other words, he became a super genius. Helping Static on multiple occasions, he became his partner. And at times, having a partner was the only way to win.
Then the team got bigger.
A created super soldier, She-bang, wanted to be normal and free from the people who wanted to mass-produce her and make more clones of her. Her creators took her away from the lab and raised her as their child. She butted in on Static's fights more than once, and annoyed the hell out of him and Gear, but in the end, having someone with super strength and agility like hers would be a great addition to the team. And so, she unofficially joined them in their fight to protect their city.
Then something unexpected happened.
A former villain, Rubber Band Man, wanted to be a hero. Wanting to get away from his older brother codenamed Ebon and wanting a music career, Adam Evans changed gears and at first, no one believed he wanted to be a hero. But when he helped Static take down Ebon, who most considered the most dangerous and most powerful evil Bang Baby ever, Static gave him a chance.
And no one has regretted it since.
So these four teens became the unofficial protectors of Dakota. The Dakota 4, the police refer to them as. Of course, within a few years of the insanity of Bang Babies, most went back to normal.
But not the Dakota 4.
Not Ebon and Hot Streak, the two who tried to start the second Bang Baby Gas by blanketing the city with it.
And not the two who were near the financial district of the quiet city, slinking around the 1st Merit Bank. Six years had passed since the first round of gas. Six years of these two running around robbing banks to start their "bounty-hunting" business.
Known to law enforcement as Puff and Onyx, the two 20 year olds were ready to make their move. Puff was a woman whose power was to make different vapors from her breath alone and she could fly as her feet turn into a "puff" cloud. She still had her trademark puff balls in her hair but her hair was slightly longer and she wasn't so boy-looking with her clothes. She wore a simple black long sleeved top and plum-colored jeans with black boots. All well-fitted on her tall frame. Onyx was a purple-skin strong man who could crush and smash things with little effort. He is considered the "reasonable" partner of the two but normally, he just goes along with whatever Puff asks of him. He wore black jeans and a black tank top.
Starshine exited the "Out of Order" phone booth that was located on 8th and Cardyle. For the city of Dakota, she was dressed to take out any of the "Bang Baby Villains"; black leggings, short brown ankle boots designed for her speeds, a black rubbed tank top with a cropped black jean jacket with rhinestones on the back and a brown thick belt holding her escrima sticks and arm plates for her throwing stars. Her red hair was pulled back into a ponytail and her eye mask felt itchy over her eyes.
She had been through the city 3 times already. On her last run through Dakota, Starshine had been sick with pneumonia and was poisoned, so she was little help to the heroes of this city. But they helped her greatly. She learned that Rocket and Icon were from Dakota when Kaldur had shown her how to use the computer. What Stara didn't understand was why Rocket hadn't joined the other heroes of this city.
But that didn't matter now. Starshine was well and strong again. She was ready to return and take care of some unfinished business with Dakota. Starting with the business mogul, Edwin Alva Sr. and ending with two Bang Babies-Ebon and Hot Streak. So yeah, she was picking a fight. But after what happened 8 months ago, which had answered the age-old question –If Ebon and Hot Streak were still alive- she wanted some revenge. They should have never tried to pick up that bounty that was on her head back then.
She walked by the 1st Merit Bank and saw something that made her back up. Through her plastic eye mask, she saw some old friends. A grin came to her face.
Puff and Onyx were carrying bags of currency.
Starshine walked up to the double doors, grinning like a fool as her hand glowed brightly, but not bright enough to alert them. She wasn't that stupid. After charging up for a few seconds, she touched the doors.
The doors exploded into a million pieces, which rocked two city blocks.
The bank alarms went off.
Starshine leaped away as Puff and Onyx dropped their loads and ran out of the darkened bank and down the steps as Stara stood six feet away. They were pissed.
"You!" Onyx snarled.
"When you'd get back!?" Puff hollered.
Starshine crossed her arms, looking all smug. "About 5 minutes ago. So…you guys forgot your parade of cops."
"I hate brats!" Puff spit at Stara, who zipped two steps to the left. The breath was acid as it ate the asphalt. The villainess stomped her feet. "Looks like your speed is back! I hate you!"
Stara tossed two energy blasts at Puff. The first nailed her back into the bank building. The second hit the building itself.
Onxy came at her.
Starshine dodged his out-stretched arms and pulled her escrima sticks free. She saw Puff getting back up and she struck Onyx many times, running around him in circles, hoping to make him fall. But his tough skin didn't feel her hits at all. She stopped and sent another blast Puff's way.
Onyx took that distraction and pinned her arms from behind. He squeezed hard.
Stara gasped, struggling to get out of his grasp.
"That's it, Onyx!" Puff gasped. She stood as she heard the sirens get even closer but at the moment, she didn't care. "Crush her!"
The muscle of the duo grinned as he did just that.
Starshine screamed as her ribs cracked. All of them at the same time.
A trash can came out of no-where and struck Puff in the face. She went down. "I knew if I followed the stench of your breath, I'd find you, Puff!"
Puff threw a fit as the first cop car roared around the corner. "Damn you, Static!"
Then the second cop car showed up seconds behind the first.
"Onyx, get lost! I'll get you later, Starshine!"
Stara was dropped suddenly and she was still on the ground holding her ribs when a set of arms picked her up and carried her away. Her masked eyes settled on the ebony eyes and shoulder-length dreadlocks. His eyes were hidden by a blue mask. "Static…"
"I'll get you back to base, Starshine. By the way, welcome back. We missed you…"
Happy Harbor
7:16am
Batman not being happy was an understatement.
He was livid.
Flash and his wife were worried.
Wally feared she took off again, despite him telling her not to.
Soleil thought Rocket did something to her sister.
"I already told you guys, I haven't seen her!" cried Rocket.
"How come your ID is the last one used for the Zeta Tubes?" Red Arrow asked.
"I used them earlier yesterday!" she defended.
"I am sorry, Rocket, but we all know you hate Stara," said Aqualad. "Where is she?"
"I don't know, alright! Stop asking!"
"We will hold off training until we can locate Starshine."
"Recognize: Starshine-B-1-0."
Everyone ran to where the zeta tubes were. But who greeted them startled them.
A girl in a white, leather bodysuit.
Artemis and Red Arrow wasted no time in drawing arrows on her. "Who are you!?" Artemis demanded.
"It's me!" The blackened visor that was settled over the girls' eyes went from a black lens to a clear one with a touch from the side of the visor, which looked like those Blu-Blocker sunglasses that old folks wore to keep out the sun. Stara's green eyes shone with laughter. "You guys like my costume?"
Starshine's costume was all white with red thin seams on the sides, red in the front and yellow in the back, to honor Flash as her mentor. Flash's symbol was located under her chest, which was framed in a corset-looking top with thin straps on the shoulders. Her freckled skin looked darker when paired with the bodysuit. Her skin from just above her chest to her shoulders was bare. Fingerless elbow-length gloves covered her arms. On her feet were knee-length boots trimmed on one side red and the other side yellow. She also wore a white leather choker with Flash's lightning bolt hanging from it. The visor was square-shaped and it fit over her eyes perfectly. On each side of the visor were 4 small buttons. She touched the last button on each side at the same time and the back holding her visor snug to her head slid back and she pulled it off. "Sorry I was gone for so long. The visor wasn't working right."
"Stara!" Soleil ran to her sister first, hugging her tightly. Iris was there seconds later, hugging the teen girl. "Don't ever scare us like that again!"
"We thought the Shadows got you!" Wally chimed in.
"I just went to Dakota. Didn't Rocket tell you guys?" Stara was genuinely confused. "I didn't know how to work the Zeta Tubes. She did it for me."
The team glared at Rocket with anger.
"Who do you know there?" Batman demanded, his tone suggesting that she better not think about lying.
Stara was nervous. Batman made her nervous. But not showing it was the tricky part. She stared down the Dark Knight as best as she could and said 4 words: "Static, Gear, She-bang and R.B.M."
****So here is the short chapter 10. I like to thank Obi-Wan 1022 for the idea of Stara's new permanent costume. I also like to thank Reina Grayson for helping me with some details for the costume. It looks like Rocket lied to them. What will happen to her now? What will Batman do with Starshine? What is Flash going to do with his protégé? Well…I haven't really gotten that far yet. But stay tuned! ****