CHAPTER 4
Reese entered the Dark Horse to find the bar hopping. The last time he was here, it was still called No Man's Land, and a young man named Gibson worked here. From what Helena had told him, Gibson and moved out of New Gotham. Now, named the Dark Horse, this bar, still meant for only meta-humans, was owned and worked by Helena's best friend, Danielle, who was also the newest member to the hero team. She was more of the informant to help Helena and Dinah fight crime, though she had the skills that could give Helena a run for the money.
The bar was rather quiet this night so it wasn't hard for Danielle to see him enter the bar. She was drying a glass when she saw him enter the bar, "Detective Reese!" she smiled as she put the glass away. "What bring you in here?"
"Just passing by," Reese said as approached the bar.
"So how's Helena? I haven't seen or heard from her for over twenty-four hour, I was beginning to worry about her?"
"There was an accident. Some villain with the power of fire caused a fire bomb of some sort to explode in Helena's face. Her eyes have been repaired, and bandaged up, but we are still waiting to see if she will be able to see or not."
"Why didn't anyone call me?" Danielle said angrily. "Okay everyone, the bar is closed tonight! Family emergency; drinks are on the house! Please make your way out the front door!" Danielle yelled.
There were mumbles and groans from the customers, but they slowly stood from their seat and made their way out of the bar. "Calm down, Danielle. I'll take you to see her, but I need some information that maybe you may or may not have. Do you know anything about a meta-human who calls himself Inferno?"
"Inferno?" Danielle looked at him confusingly. "As far as I know, there is no one by that name, alive at least."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I've done research for Oracle about the days of Batman. One of the enemies he used to fight was named Fire Fly, but he was not meta-human. He used blow torches and protected himself by fire-resistant metal armor. In the late days, while Batman confronted him, an accident was thought to kill Fire Fly in a chemical explosion. Instead, it gave him natural powers to control fire and not be burned by flames without his armor. He changed his name from Fire Fly to Inferno.
"Batman confronted Inferno once, but he was killed, falling of a bridge. His body was found and was buried. His death is for real. There is no way the person she was fighting was Inferno."
"Strange," Reese said under his breath. This definitely had to be told to Barbara. "Anyway, if you are ready, let's head back to the clock tower."
* * * *
"Fifteen…sixteen…damn!" Helena was counting her steps from the platform to the steps leading to the second level but she had miscalculated and tripped on the bottom step. She fell on top the steps, banging her knee on the corner of one of the steps. She felt a warm trickle of blood on her knee cap. "Great!"
"Master Helena, are you alright?" Alfred said walking down the spiral stairs. Barbara came rolling over from the other side of the platform when she heard Helena swore.
"Yea, I'm fine." Helena turned herself around to sit on the bottom step.
"I'll go get the first aid kit," Barbara said, turning her wheelchair around.
The door opened and in walked Reese. "I'm back!"
"Over here, Reese," Helena said, feeling stupid about having tripped and cut her knee open. Now, Reese was going to come over and fuss over her. That was the last thing she was in the mood for.
Alfred climbed back up the stairs to continue his work in the kitchen seeing that he was not needed here. Reese followed where he heard the voice, with Danielle following. He found Helena sitting on the bottom step of the spiral stairs, with a rip in her pants at the kneecap with blood trickling from her knee. "What happened?"
"Tried to count my steps from the platform to the stairwell," Helena replied.
"I brought someone who wanted to see you."
"How are you doing, Helena?" Danielle said kneeling down besides Helena.
"Danielle? It's good to hear your voice. I am going mad."
Reese left the two of them alone to talk and walked up the platform where Barbara had found the first aid kit. She and Dinah were there looking through the first aid kit, trying to find the right size bandage. "Hi Reese," Barbara said looking up at him briefly.
"Barbara I've got some news and information you may be interested in knowing. Inferno, who Dinah and Helena were fighting has not been found. It's been fourteen hours since the fight, and there is no sign of him. He is still at large."
"I can take care of Inferno," Dinah suggested.
"Not alone, you don't. You did very well, but you are not ready to go solo. I will go with you," Barbara said, closing the first aid kit.
"Will that device of yours work when you have use of your legs already?"
"Of course it will if not better. I am almost able to stand without holding onto the bars. With a few adjustments, I can adjust it to a lower level," Barbara answered.
"Anyway, I talked to Danielle, and she has told me some things about Inferno that I am surprised that you never picked up on."
"Really?" Barbara looked up at him with a surprised look.
"Batman confronted Inferno, who used to be known as Fire Fly. He fell off a bridge and was killed. He's buried at New Gotham cemetery."
"All truth be told, I was paying more attention to Dinah's first outing with Helena, I never even bothered trying to find out who Inferno was, and with Helena's accident, I never got around to it. I'm glad to see Danielle has been doing the homework I've been assigning her."
"So what does this all mean? If we were not fighting Inferno, who were we fighting?"
At that moment, Delphi sounded off an alarm. Barbara turned her wheel chair around and went over to Delphi and began punching on the keyboard. "Strange, Delphi has picked up activity at New Gotham Cemetery. It happened several days ago, according to the police record."
"Several days ago? Why is Delphi pick something up that is several days old?" Dinah asked.
"It appears a grave has been dug up, and the police has just been notified."
"Yuck!" Dinah said. "This is one mission I wouldn't mind passing up on," Dinah felt her stomach turn, just thinking about seeing the remains of a human body.
"No, Dinah, you and I are going to check it out. I have a feeling, this has something to do with Inferno."
Reese entered the Dark Horse to find the bar hopping. The last time he was here, it was still called No Man's Land, and a young man named Gibson worked here. From what Helena had told him, Gibson and moved out of New Gotham. Now, named the Dark Horse, this bar, still meant for only meta-humans, was owned and worked by Helena's best friend, Danielle, who was also the newest member to the hero team. She was more of the informant to help Helena and Dinah fight crime, though she had the skills that could give Helena a run for the money.
The bar was rather quiet this night so it wasn't hard for Danielle to see him enter the bar. She was drying a glass when she saw him enter the bar, "Detective Reese!" she smiled as she put the glass away. "What bring you in here?"
"Just passing by," Reese said as approached the bar.
"So how's Helena? I haven't seen or heard from her for over twenty-four hour, I was beginning to worry about her?"
"There was an accident. Some villain with the power of fire caused a fire bomb of some sort to explode in Helena's face. Her eyes have been repaired, and bandaged up, but we are still waiting to see if she will be able to see or not."
"Why didn't anyone call me?" Danielle said angrily. "Okay everyone, the bar is closed tonight! Family emergency; drinks are on the house! Please make your way out the front door!" Danielle yelled.
There were mumbles and groans from the customers, but they slowly stood from their seat and made their way out of the bar. "Calm down, Danielle. I'll take you to see her, but I need some information that maybe you may or may not have. Do you know anything about a meta-human who calls himself Inferno?"
"Inferno?" Danielle looked at him confusingly. "As far as I know, there is no one by that name, alive at least."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I've done research for Oracle about the days of Batman. One of the enemies he used to fight was named Fire Fly, but he was not meta-human. He used blow torches and protected himself by fire-resistant metal armor. In the late days, while Batman confronted him, an accident was thought to kill Fire Fly in a chemical explosion. Instead, it gave him natural powers to control fire and not be burned by flames without his armor. He changed his name from Fire Fly to Inferno.
"Batman confronted Inferno once, but he was killed, falling of a bridge. His body was found and was buried. His death is for real. There is no way the person she was fighting was Inferno."
"Strange," Reese said under his breath. This definitely had to be told to Barbara. "Anyway, if you are ready, let's head back to the clock tower."
* * * *
"Fifteen…sixteen…damn!" Helena was counting her steps from the platform to the steps leading to the second level but she had miscalculated and tripped on the bottom step. She fell on top the steps, banging her knee on the corner of one of the steps. She felt a warm trickle of blood on her knee cap. "Great!"
"Master Helena, are you alright?" Alfred said walking down the spiral stairs. Barbara came rolling over from the other side of the platform when she heard Helena swore.
"Yea, I'm fine." Helena turned herself around to sit on the bottom step.
"I'll go get the first aid kit," Barbara said, turning her wheelchair around.
The door opened and in walked Reese. "I'm back!"
"Over here, Reese," Helena said, feeling stupid about having tripped and cut her knee open. Now, Reese was going to come over and fuss over her. That was the last thing she was in the mood for.
Alfred climbed back up the stairs to continue his work in the kitchen seeing that he was not needed here. Reese followed where he heard the voice, with Danielle following. He found Helena sitting on the bottom step of the spiral stairs, with a rip in her pants at the kneecap with blood trickling from her knee. "What happened?"
"Tried to count my steps from the platform to the stairwell," Helena replied.
"I brought someone who wanted to see you."
"How are you doing, Helena?" Danielle said kneeling down besides Helena.
"Danielle? It's good to hear your voice. I am going mad."
Reese left the two of them alone to talk and walked up the platform where Barbara had found the first aid kit. She and Dinah were there looking through the first aid kit, trying to find the right size bandage. "Hi Reese," Barbara said looking up at him briefly.
"Barbara I've got some news and information you may be interested in knowing. Inferno, who Dinah and Helena were fighting has not been found. It's been fourteen hours since the fight, and there is no sign of him. He is still at large."
"I can take care of Inferno," Dinah suggested.
"Not alone, you don't. You did very well, but you are not ready to go solo. I will go with you," Barbara said, closing the first aid kit.
"Will that device of yours work when you have use of your legs already?"
"Of course it will if not better. I am almost able to stand without holding onto the bars. With a few adjustments, I can adjust it to a lower level," Barbara answered.
"Anyway, I talked to Danielle, and she has told me some things about Inferno that I am surprised that you never picked up on."
"Really?" Barbara looked up at him with a surprised look.
"Batman confronted Inferno, who used to be known as Fire Fly. He fell off a bridge and was killed. He's buried at New Gotham cemetery."
"All truth be told, I was paying more attention to Dinah's first outing with Helena, I never even bothered trying to find out who Inferno was, and with Helena's accident, I never got around to it. I'm glad to see Danielle has been doing the homework I've been assigning her."
"So what does this all mean? If we were not fighting Inferno, who were we fighting?"
At that moment, Delphi sounded off an alarm. Barbara turned her wheel chair around and went over to Delphi and began punching on the keyboard. "Strange, Delphi has picked up activity at New Gotham Cemetery. It happened several days ago, according to the police record."
"Several days ago? Why is Delphi pick something up that is several days old?" Dinah asked.
"It appears a grave has been dug up, and the police has just been notified."
"Yuck!" Dinah said. "This is one mission I wouldn't mind passing up on," Dinah felt her stomach turn, just thinking about seeing the remains of a human body.
"No, Dinah, you and I are going to check it out. I have a feeling, this has something to do with Inferno."
