Chapter 2 - Phoenix
The firemen had just arrived and started moving into the building. Suddenly they run out shouting, "The gas is gonna blow!" They turn around and watch, waiting for the explosion. Just before the building explodes Cris appears at a window. Jumping through it she is still in mid-air when the building explodes. The force of the explosion carries her further away, luckily for her, into a dustbin causing a not-so-soft-but-safe landing.
As soon as Cris lands on the ground she quickly checks the boy to see if he's all right. Standing up she walks towards the mother, who's now crying from joy. Suddenly something catches her eye, something in a dark area nearby. A bald man leans against a building lighting a cigarette. He watches as Cris walks away from the burning building. What startles Cris is that he's lighting his cigarette with a flame coming out of his finger.
She hands the crying boy over to his mother. She looks over at the bald man again but he's gone. She walks over to where he stood and finds nothing. It's only then does she notice a searing pain in her hand. Looking down she sees her hand is badly burned. She walks around a corner and then disappears. The bald man watches from behind a dustbin a few feet away. He doesn't seem too happy.
***
Matthew waits in the old factory. The night with Cris plays over in his mind. It was the first time he had ever displayed interest in another woman since his wife, Rebecca, had died, but Cris looked so much like Becca that when he first saw her, he thought he saw a ghost.
His heart still wore that wound. A wound that would only heal once he had finished off the man that had caused Becca to lose her life. He had been there for everybody before, he had saved others thousands of times, but he didn't save her.
"Batman will pay," Matthew says to himself softly, "Even if I have to wait an eternity." With the caped crusader gone from New Gotham, Matthew had to figure out ways to bring him back. Restoring chaos was one of his ideas. Now another had become subject to his hate, Shadow Walker. Matthew didn't know much the man known as the Dark Prince, but he grew fond of him, almost like a son he could never have. Then someone known as Shadow Walker stepped in and took his life, another wound opened in Matthew's soul.
Someone behind him clears his or her throat. He turns around slowly. It's the bald man. "And?" The bald man looks down at his feet, "Uh, the building's down, but this Shadow Walker saved a boy, and uh, yeah nobody was really in the building except for." "How do you know this person was Shadow Walker?" Matthew asks. The Bald man swallows, "She uh, disappeared like you said she would." "Did you see her face?" "No." Silence falls between the two of them. Matthew takes a deep breath in, "You have failed this time. I want Shadow Walker dead or alive, a considerable price will be paid. If you fail once more, I'll see to it that you'll never see the light of this world. Do you understand?" he asks. There's a violent spark of electricity between his fingertips. The bald man nods as he backs away. "Go, leave me," Matthew says, disgust rising in him. The bald turns and walks away.
***
As not to startle the others, Cris chose to use the elevator. Her hand hurt a lot and she was starting to feel the shock of the burn in her body. Strange how she didn't feel it till she had gotten out the building, perhaps one of the effects of the adrenaline that coursed through her blood.
What had happened in the building still seemed like a dream. She had crouched, waiting for the mass to fall upon her, but then she heard a voice in her head saying, "Cris stand up, and run away, Run my child, Jump away." It was her mother's voice. A voice she had yearned to hear for a long time. So she got up and ran, jumped through the window and sighed with relief as she felt the cool night air against her face before the blast. She wasn't cut in her face from the glass, but she did feel a little sore from the landing.
As the elevator doors open Cris looks up and sees Barbara at the computer station. She frowns as she concentrates. "I wouldn't frown that much if I were you, you might get wrinkles earlier than usual!" Cris says walking out of the elevator. "Cris! What happened you look like hell," Barbara says surprised, looking up. Cris smiles. "Thought you guys were having a night off?" Cris asks. "Yeah, but then we got an alert that was pretty serious so we left early," Barbara replied, pushing herself away from the computer. "Wouldn't perhaps be because of a fire would it?" Cris asked again. "We got the alert but we were a little late," Barbara replied frowning, "Why? Were you there?" Cris holds her hand up and says, "There was a little boy trapped inside, he's safe, but I think the fire wasn't an accident." Concern washes over Barbara's face as she moves over to Cris; "Are you alright?" she takes Cris hand and looks at the burn. "Yeah, I guess," Cris replies. Barbara excuses herself and then reappears with a first-aid box. As Barbara tends to Cris' hand, Cris tells her about the fire and the mysterious bald man. "I'll search the database for any fire meta's once I'm done here," Barbara replied as she started bandaging her hand. Just then elevator door opens and Helena steps out. "Looks like somebody's also seen some action tonight," Helena remarked as she approached them, "What did you do, punch your date?" she asks grinning. Cris smiles, "Says the one who thrills at kicking guys asses," she replies giving Helena a little glare, "As a matter of fact I burnt it, trying to open a door." Helena looks at Cris confused. "Cris was at the fire, she burnt it when she went in looking for a little boy," Barbara says, as she finishes dressing Cris' hand. "Ah!" Helena says. Cris looks around and then asks, "Where's Dinah?" "Upstairs studying for your History test," Barbara replied over her shoulder. She moved on to the computers and started searching for the meta Cris had described. Cris grins, "You think I should check how she's doing?" "Only if you can dodge the teddy bears she's gonna fling at you," Helena says chuckling. "Maybe I shouldn't," Cris replied.
After a few seconds there's a beep and the computer stops searching. Barbara types a few commands and then the info is displayed. "Okay, it doesn't mention any powers here, but here's a man that matches the descriptions more or less. Carter Jones, charged 5 times for arson, but was bailed before he could serve a sentence," Barbara reads the info out loud. "Does it say who bailed him?" Cris asks. "No, it doesn't have much info on that, there are also a few addresses," Barbara replies. "What about the officer who handled his case?" Helena asked in turn. Barbara grins and looks up, "A detective Jesse Reese." Helena smiles, "Well, I know where to go next, maybe he can tell me where's the best place to find him," she says walking to the elevator.
Once Helena is gone, Cris takes a look at the time, "Well I gotta get back home, else Dinah would have studied for nothing," she takes a look at her hand, "Thanks for the help, if Huntress doesn't find anything tonight I'll try tomorrow night during my patrol," she says and walks to the elevator. As she waits for the elevator to come up, Barbara asks, "How did the date go?" Cris grins, "You'll most probably see it in the newspaper tomorrow, we couldn't get one foot in the restaurant and the paparazzi where shooting like hell."
***
A man in a black sweater and cargo pants runs in-between dustbins. He looks behind him and sees Jesse is still behind him. He stumbles a little, but corrects himself and carries on running. As he passes a doorway, a foot is stuck out and trips the man, he flies into some dustbins and falls to the ground. Helena steps out of the doorway grinning. Jesse comes up and grabs the guy, cuffing him. He looks up at Helena. Before he says anything she looks at him innocently, "What? I didn't hit him did I?" "Thanks," Jesse replies and pushes the guy forward. "You're welcome," Helena says as she follows him. "Can I help you?" he asks. "Nah, just thought I'd see how New Gotham's best detective is doing," Helena replies playfully. Jesse turns around to face her and gives her one of those; 'Yeah right!' looks. "Carter Jones, know him?" Helena asks. "The arsonist? Yeah, why?" Jesse asks. He grabs the guys head and shoves him into the car. "Just wanna find out where I can get a good deal on a Zippo," Helena replies. Jesse gives her the look again, "I'm not buying it." "Just need to ask him a few questions," Helena replied, she enjoyed playing games, "I need to know where's the best place to find him." "Dunno, I suggest you try the last known address, I'm sure Oracle can tell you that one," he replies leaning against the side of the car. Suddenly his cell phone rings, he grabs it and says, "Hold on," looking up he says, "Huntress." but Helena's gone. "Just be careful," he says looking up into the night sky.
***
The apartment is pitch black when Huntress arrives. Using her night vision Huntress looks around the apartment. "You know, for a bad guy he's pretty neat, I wish my place was this neat," Huntress says running a finger along a shelf. She looks at her finger and sees no dust marks. ::He's not a bad guy yet:: says Barbara through the comm. "Oh sure, a guy who lights his cigarette with his finger has absolutely no connection to a building on fire, especially some-one who was charged for arson 5 times," Huntress says as she walks through the bedroom. ::The fire could still have been an accident:: Barbara replies. "Right," Huntress picks up a note that lay near a telephone. On it was the address of the building that had burned down, "and my name's Charlie Brown." She puts the note in her pocket. "Nobody seems to be home, maybe Cris can pick something up tomorrow night," Huntress says heading back towards the window. She hears movement in the alleyway. "Hang on," she says and jumps down.
"Well, well, well, we finally meet Shadow Walker," says someone behind her. She whirls around and sees Dragon walk towards her. "I don't know where you get your info from pal, but I'm not Shadow Walker," Huntress says as her eyes change. Dragon sneers, "Then who da hell are you bitch?!" "I'm gonna make you wish you didn't call me bitch," Huntress replies, "What do you want with her anyway?" she starts to circle Dragon. "Bitch has a price on her head," he replies flicking the cigarette away, "You know, I fell like having fun tonight, waddya say?" he asks thrusting his mid section back and forth. "Oh, you're gonna regret that!" Huntress says and ten leaps into the air, pushing her right leg forward. Her foot connects with his jaw, and he stumbles backwards. "Fuck!" he says. Then he smiles. Suddenly he spits a fireball out towards her, it barley misses her, just singing the corner of her jacket. "You just messed with the jacket," Huntress says and then lunges towards him swinging her left fist. He catches her arm and she feels as the jacket is burnt through and starts burning her arm. She thrusts her right knee up and hits him in the stomach. He lets go and leaps backwards. He opens his mouth. A huge fireball explodes towards her she leaps to a ledge nearby. Looking back, she sees Dragon had disappeared. "Uh, Barbara," she says heading towards the rooftops, "I think we need to have a chat with Cris tomorrow."
The firemen had just arrived and started moving into the building. Suddenly they run out shouting, "The gas is gonna blow!" They turn around and watch, waiting for the explosion. Just before the building explodes Cris appears at a window. Jumping through it she is still in mid-air when the building explodes. The force of the explosion carries her further away, luckily for her, into a dustbin causing a not-so-soft-but-safe landing.
As soon as Cris lands on the ground she quickly checks the boy to see if he's all right. Standing up she walks towards the mother, who's now crying from joy. Suddenly something catches her eye, something in a dark area nearby. A bald man leans against a building lighting a cigarette. He watches as Cris walks away from the burning building. What startles Cris is that he's lighting his cigarette with a flame coming out of his finger.
She hands the crying boy over to his mother. She looks over at the bald man again but he's gone. She walks over to where he stood and finds nothing. It's only then does she notice a searing pain in her hand. Looking down she sees her hand is badly burned. She walks around a corner and then disappears. The bald man watches from behind a dustbin a few feet away. He doesn't seem too happy.
***
Matthew waits in the old factory. The night with Cris plays over in his mind. It was the first time he had ever displayed interest in another woman since his wife, Rebecca, had died, but Cris looked so much like Becca that when he first saw her, he thought he saw a ghost.
His heart still wore that wound. A wound that would only heal once he had finished off the man that had caused Becca to lose her life. He had been there for everybody before, he had saved others thousands of times, but he didn't save her.
"Batman will pay," Matthew says to himself softly, "Even if I have to wait an eternity." With the caped crusader gone from New Gotham, Matthew had to figure out ways to bring him back. Restoring chaos was one of his ideas. Now another had become subject to his hate, Shadow Walker. Matthew didn't know much the man known as the Dark Prince, but he grew fond of him, almost like a son he could never have. Then someone known as Shadow Walker stepped in and took his life, another wound opened in Matthew's soul.
Someone behind him clears his or her throat. He turns around slowly. It's the bald man. "And?" The bald man looks down at his feet, "Uh, the building's down, but this Shadow Walker saved a boy, and uh, yeah nobody was really in the building except for." "How do you know this person was Shadow Walker?" Matthew asks. The Bald man swallows, "She uh, disappeared like you said she would." "Did you see her face?" "No." Silence falls between the two of them. Matthew takes a deep breath in, "You have failed this time. I want Shadow Walker dead or alive, a considerable price will be paid. If you fail once more, I'll see to it that you'll never see the light of this world. Do you understand?" he asks. There's a violent spark of electricity between his fingertips. The bald man nods as he backs away. "Go, leave me," Matthew says, disgust rising in him. The bald turns and walks away.
***
As not to startle the others, Cris chose to use the elevator. Her hand hurt a lot and she was starting to feel the shock of the burn in her body. Strange how she didn't feel it till she had gotten out the building, perhaps one of the effects of the adrenaline that coursed through her blood.
What had happened in the building still seemed like a dream. She had crouched, waiting for the mass to fall upon her, but then she heard a voice in her head saying, "Cris stand up, and run away, Run my child, Jump away." It was her mother's voice. A voice she had yearned to hear for a long time. So she got up and ran, jumped through the window and sighed with relief as she felt the cool night air against her face before the blast. She wasn't cut in her face from the glass, but she did feel a little sore from the landing.
As the elevator doors open Cris looks up and sees Barbara at the computer station. She frowns as she concentrates. "I wouldn't frown that much if I were you, you might get wrinkles earlier than usual!" Cris says walking out of the elevator. "Cris! What happened you look like hell," Barbara says surprised, looking up. Cris smiles. "Thought you guys were having a night off?" Cris asks. "Yeah, but then we got an alert that was pretty serious so we left early," Barbara replied, pushing herself away from the computer. "Wouldn't perhaps be because of a fire would it?" Cris asked again. "We got the alert but we were a little late," Barbara replied frowning, "Why? Were you there?" Cris holds her hand up and says, "There was a little boy trapped inside, he's safe, but I think the fire wasn't an accident." Concern washes over Barbara's face as she moves over to Cris; "Are you alright?" she takes Cris hand and looks at the burn. "Yeah, I guess," Cris replies. Barbara excuses herself and then reappears with a first-aid box. As Barbara tends to Cris' hand, Cris tells her about the fire and the mysterious bald man. "I'll search the database for any fire meta's once I'm done here," Barbara replied as she started bandaging her hand. Just then elevator door opens and Helena steps out. "Looks like somebody's also seen some action tonight," Helena remarked as she approached them, "What did you do, punch your date?" she asks grinning. Cris smiles, "Says the one who thrills at kicking guys asses," she replies giving Helena a little glare, "As a matter of fact I burnt it, trying to open a door." Helena looks at Cris confused. "Cris was at the fire, she burnt it when she went in looking for a little boy," Barbara says, as she finishes dressing Cris' hand. "Ah!" Helena says. Cris looks around and then asks, "Where's Dinah?" "Upstairs studying for your History test," Barbara replied over her shoulder. She moved on to the computers and started searching for the meta Cris had described. Cris grins, "You think I should check how she's doing?" "Only if you can dodge the teddy bears she's gonna fling at you," Helena says chuckling. "Maybe I shouldn't," Cris replied.
After a few seconds there's a beep and the computer stops searching. Barbara types a few commands and then the info is displayed. "Okay, it doesn't mention any powers here, but here's a man that matches the descriptions more or less. Carter Jones, charged 5 times for arson, but was bailed before he could serve a sentence," Barbara reads the info out loud. "Does it say who bailed him?" Cris asks. "No, it doesn't have much info on that, there are also a few addresses," Barbara replies. "What about the officer who handled his case?" Helena asked in turn. Barbara grins and looks up, "A detective Jesse Reese." Helena smiles, "Well, I know where to go next, maybe he can tell me where's the best place to find him," she says walking to the elevator.
Once Helena is gone, Cris takes a look at the time, "Well I gotta get back home, else Dinah would have studied for nothing," she takes a look at her hand, "Thanks for the help, if Huntress doesn't find anything tonight I'll try tomorrow night during my patrol," she says and walks to the elevator. As she waits for the elevator to come up, Barbara asks, "How did the date go?" Cris grins, "You'll most probably see it in the newspaper tomorrow, we couldn't get one foot in the restaurant and the paparazzi where shooting like hell."
***
A man in a black sweater and cargo pants runs in-between dustbins. He looks behind him and sees Jesse is still behind him. He stumbles a little, but corrects himself and carries on running. As he passes a doorway, a foot is stuck out and trips the man, he flies into some dustbins and falls to the ground. Helena steps out of the doorway grinning. Jesse comes up and grabs the guy, cuffing him. He looks up at Helena. Before he says anything she looks at him innocently, "What? I didn't hit him did I?" "Thanks," Jesse replies and pushes the guy forward. "You're welcome," Helena says as she follows him. "Can I help you?" he asks. "Nah, just thought I'd see how New Gotham's best detective is doing," Helena replies playfully. Jesse turns around to face her and gives her one of those; 'Yeah right!' looks. "Carter Jones, know him?" Helena asks. "The arsonist? Yeah, why?" Jesse asks. He grabs the guys head and shoves him into the car. "Just wanna find out where I can get a good deal on a Zippo," Helena replies. Jesse gives her the look again, "I'm not buying it." "Just need to ask him a few questions," Helena replied, she enjoyed playing games, "I need to know where's the best place to find him." "Dunno, I suggest you try the last known address, I'm sure Oracle can tell you that one," he replies leaning against the side of the car. Suddenly his cell phone rings, he grabs it and says, "Hold on," looking up he says, "Huntress." but Helena's gone. "Just be careful," he says looking up into the night sky.
***
The apartment is pitch black when Huntress arrives. Using her night vision Huntress looks around the apartment. "You know, for a bad guy he's pretty neat, I wish my place was this neat," Huntress says running a finger along a shelf. She looks at her finger and sees no dust marks. ::He's not a bad guy yet:: says Barbara through the comm. "Oh sure, a guy who lights his cigarette with his finger has absolutely no connection to a building on fire, especially some-one who was charged for arson 5 times," Huntress says as she walks through the bedroom. ::The fire could still have been an accident:: Barbara replies. "Right," Huntress picks up a note that lay near a telephone. On it was the address of the building that had burned down, "and my name's Charlie Brown." She puts the note in her pocket. "Nobody seems to be home, maybe Cris can pick something up tomorrow night," Huntress says heading back towards the window. She hears movement in the alleyway. "Hang on," she says and jumps down.
"Well, well, well, we finally meet Shadow Walker," says someone behind her. She whirls around and sees Dragon walk towards her. "I don't know where you get your info from pal, but I'm not Shadow Walker," Huntress says as her eyes change. Dragon sneers, "Then who da hell are you bitch?!" "I'm gonna make you wish you didn't call me bitch," Huntress replies, "What do you want with her anyway?" she starts to circle Dragon. "Bitch has a price on her head," he replies flicking the cigarette away, "You know, I fell like having fun tonight, waddya say?" he asks thrusting his mid section back and forth. "Oh, you're gonna regret that!" Huntress says and ten leaps into the air, pushing her right leg forward. Her foot connects with his jaw, and he stumbles backwards. "Fuck!" he says. Then he smiles. Suddenly he spits a fireball out towards her, it barley misses her, just singing the corner of her jacket. "You just messed with the jacket," Huntress says and then lunges towards him swinging her left fist. He catches her arm and she feels as the jacket is burnt through and starts burning her arm. She thrusts her right knee up and hits him in the stomach. He lets go and leaps backwards. He opens his mouth. A huge fireball explodes towards her she leaps to a ledge nearby. Looking back, she sees Dragon had disappeared. "Uh, Barbara," she says heading towards the rooftops, "I think we need to have a chat with Cris tomorrow."