A Firefly rises from the ashes.
Jonathan stood still, staring as Edward simply paced back and forth in front of him, occasionly glaring in his direction.
"If you're going to say something, then please, Edward, do say it," Jonathan mumbled out before he had a finger in his face, only just missing his nose.
"Are you nuts?!" Edward screamed. "I get that you want revenge, I get that but what I don't get is why you need me!"
"You have medical training," Jonathan answered back with a shrug. "If things went bad, which of course they're not going to, but if they did… then I'll have you to patch me up," Jonathan smiled slightly. "See, I thought ahead."
"You've planned this, every single bit of this idea is planned isn't it?"
"Well, I didn't plan all of it… Scarecrow did most of it, but it was my idea."
Edward threw his hands up in the air before he sat down on one of the chairs, Luna and Lucifer were sitting in the corner listening to the conversation with interest, Lui sometimes wincing at the loud voices. He didn't like loud noises, he liked quiet and calm, unfortunately arguments don't tend to be that.
"Ya' know… I get the fact that you want revenge, I get that, I mean there are a few people out there that I want to kill," Edward gestured towards the city's general direction before he let his hand drop and shook his head. "But that doesn't mean, I'd actually do it."
"I won't kill them," Jonathan sighed. "I'll just scare them a little, that's all."
"It's not you I'm worried about," Edward gritted before he gave him a pointed look.
"I have him under control."
"Do you, do you really? Forgive me for being optimistic."
Jonathan tilted his head to the side. "Somethings changed in you… I'm not sure what it is but… there's something different about you."
"Being framed as an associate for murder by your so called friend tends to make you a little different yes," Edward grit before he glared at Jonathan once more and then he shook his head in defeat. "Look… I'll help you, as long as no one gets hurt."
"No one gets hurt," Jonathan smiled. "It will just be a quick scare I promise."
Edward sighed and nodded before he looked over the desk with the various science equipment and other things like test tubes and peppets.
"Now on to the other thing," Jonathan said with a smile at his lips.
"No."
"Oh come on, Edward we'll be doing a good thing," Jonathan pleaded as he gave him a begging look.
"Going after crazy people is for the GCPD," Edward snarled.
"You are the GCPD."
"I'm not a cop."
Jonathan threw his hands in the air and glared at him. "Come on, someone has to take down Anonymous!"
Edward sent him a glare, his best glare, but it faltered when he found an even more intense glare staring back at him, it looked like a glare only a killer would be able to show and Edward was no killer.
He turned his head away and sighed before he ran his fingers through his hair and got to his feet. "Look," he sighed. "I want to get him, I honestly do. I want to do the right thing and capture him, but… I'm just not that kind of person. I'm not a hero, I'm just a man who works at the forensics in the GCPD. I'm nothing special."
Jonathan frowned. "I don't believe that."
"Well, you better start, because it's the truth."
"Why do you think Scarecrow called you Riddler?"
Edward paused. He was going to leave, leave and just help Jonathan with his revenge scare and then leave and never, never ever interfere with the boy ever again.
But that one question made him stop because it had been the one thing he'd asked himself since the docks.
"Scarecrow gave it you when he first saw you," Jonathan sighed and looked away. "It's his nick name for you… and… he only gives people nick names if he likes them and respects them."
"That doesn't mean anything," Edward whispered.
"Yes it does," Jonathan hissed back at him. "Because, if Scarecrow didn't think you were brilliant, do you honestly think I would? the answer to that question is I wouldn't," Jonathan marched over to him and glared up at Edward, being slightly taller then him, it made normal Jonathan not very threatening but when he turned Scarecrow… well that was a different matter entirely. "Listen to me Edward," Jonathan hissed as he stared up at him. "You are the only one I trust and the only one who is capable of my intellect and the same goes for me to you. If Scarecrow didn't think you were worth something, do you honestly think you'd still be alive now?"
Suddenly a knock at the door drew their attention and Edward smiled.
"Who's that?" Jonathan whispered as he stared at the door.
"Since, I can't talk you out of this," Edward explained as he walked over to the door and placed his hand on the door handle turning to Jonathan and smiling. "I figured you'd need to learn how to fight," he opened the door and showed Mist standing on the other side, a sports bag slung over her shoulder. "Meet your teacher, I figured you might need to know how to fight and who better then an assassin who's never been caught to teach you?"
The furnaces were alive with heat and fire, Dury sat staring into them, roasting his hotdog at the end of a poker as he sat in his shorts, with t-shirt and body warmer neatly folded next to him.
"Hey, Dury! Check me out!"
Dury slowly turned with a bored look on his face which quickly turned to one of surprise at the sight of Lyons.
"Gar?! What the… ?"
Garfield stood wearing a leather hoody, with motorbike trousers and normal black boots with a helmet that had a breathing apparatus attached to it.
He turned around and there spray painted on the back was an orange firefly, the paint running at the tips of the wings and the tail.
"What do you think?" Gar grinned from within the helmet as he pulled it off, a small tank of oxygen was attached to his back, small enough for him to move and light enough for him to move fast too.
"I.." Dury trailed off and frowned. "It looks good Gar… really good."
"Ha, I knew it would oh and hey check it out," he flipped his wrists, his hands were bandaged up underneath the gloves from his earlier ordeal with the furnace. With the sudden slip a device slipped out and there it was a built in flame thrower.
"Pretty cool huh?"
"Yeah.. it's really cool," Dury whispered with no enthusiasm not that Gar seemed to notice he was too engrossed in the moment.
"What building should we burn down first?"
"One were no one is staying, ya know as a test run…" Dury whispered as he stared at hi friend who he hardly recognised if at all.
Gar grinned with delight and nodded his head in agreement. "Great idea, start of small work up big!" he picked up a bag and tossed it to Dury who caught it whilst thumberling with it, before he swung it over his shoulder and chased after Gar who was already ahead of him.
"What's in here Gar?" Dury questioned as he heard the rattling of cans inside the back and the occasional sound of glass.
"Oh well, we gotta leave our mark right?"
"Our mark?"
"Yeah," Firefly grinned. "That way everyone will know, that the Firefly and the Moth struck and did it, that way they can blame us for something because we did it!"
Moth blinked a few times in confusion before he looked down at the bag he had swung over his shoulder. "But… what if we hurt someone by accident?"
"We won't, trust me," Garfield grinned and grabbed his hand pulling him as fast as he could down the alley.
Hit, hit, hit, block, block, block, swing, kick, punch, Bang!
Edward winced as Jonathan landed flat on his back for the fifth time in the last 30 minuets.
The boy got up and groaned before he turned to Edward and glared slightly. "I thought you said she'd go easy on me?"
Edward smiled back at him in response. "She is."
Jonathan rolled his eyes and turned back to Sphinx who was already standing in position to fight as Jonathan took a few more swings at her.
Hit, hit, hit, block, block, block, hit, hi- bang!
"Umm… ow?"
Jonathan sent him a glare but Edward merely smiled back to him in response and waved slightly.
"Why don't you come and try it?" Jonathan growled before Edward laughed at him and leaned back, holding his newspaper up and continuing with his crossword.
"No thank you, it's more fun to watch then to participate."
"I don't mind teaching you, Edward," Mist sang with a voice of pure innocence making Edward raise a curious eyebrow before he shook his head and pointed to the crossword puzzle again.
"I quite happy with what I'm doing, which is… staying out of the way."
Jonathan rolled his eyes. "Oh wonderful."
"I can't explain unexplainable bruises," Edward explained with a shrug before he looked over at him and smiled at Jonathan's dull look.
"Oh and I can?"
"Yes, yes you can."
He got a roll of cold blue eyes in response making him laugh lightly before he went back to his puzzle, smirking as he head another thud.
The kids were playing in the house, hide and seek seemed to be the game. Not very surprisingly, Lui and Luna were very good at it, but Lui was by far the best. Though you could argue with his use of telepathy, he did cheat.
Suddenly Edward's phone vibrated again and he frowned before he answered it and then his frown deepened. "I'll be right there," he muttered before he got to his feet and waved to the other two.
"Were you going?" asked Mist with a raised eyebrow.
"Work," Edward shrugged. "Shouldn't be too hard. I'll be back soon, in the meantime, keep practicing."
He then left and Jonathan turned back to Mist who was smirking at him and getting ready for another fight.
"Ready?"
Jonathan sighed before he got into his fighting stance. "As ready as I'll ever be- eeeeeeeoow!"
Edward smirked at the loud noise before he shook his head and wondered down to his car, but he stopped and frowned.
What was a van doing here?
He wondered over to it, it was far away from the house, not very far but… it was further then what he fully felt comfortable looking at.
He swallowed his fear down and wandered over to it, newspaper held high just incase. He knew it wouldn't do much but still… there's no shame in having a weapon.
He looked inside and saw no one in the drivers seat, perhaps they were around the back?
He wondered around and opened the back door, frowning as there was no one there but… there was some rope and what was that a bottle of?
He picked it up and looked at it's clear contence before he sniffed a bit of it and had to steady himself against the van as he felt light headed.
Chloroform?
Suddenly a hand was around his face with a cloth stuffed against it, the sweet smell was so strong Edward almost went under at the first sniff, but he fought against it and tried to make as much noise as possible, kicking the van as hard as he could, caring very little for how much it hurt.
He managed to struggle out of the mans grip but he fell to the floor, before he began to crawl and towards the house.
Then he was grabbed from behind and pulled backwards, the man was trying to shove the cloth in his face again, he couldn't risk that. He doubted he'd be able to withstand a second dose of the stuff.
"Mist, Jonathan!" he shouted as loud as he could. "Mist, Jonathan, Help! Help!"
The cloth was plastered to his face again and he fell limp against the man's form as his eyes closed, before he was picked up and shoved ungracefully into the back.
The doors were slammed shut as the man got in the front and began to drive just as Jonathan and Mist came running out of the house, Mist ran towards her car while Jonathan chased after the van on foot as it drove off.
He was never going to catch it, he could here Mist's car behind him and he moved out of the way as it drove past him.
He watched as she rammed into the van from behind before she drove up along side it, glaring at the man as he drove, before the man smirked at her and rammed into the side of her car, driving her off the road and into a tree.
Mist got frown back and forth with the force of the hit and she watched helplessly as the van drove away and she screamed in frustration before he punched the steering wheel.
Jonathan was at the door, gently opening it and helping her out of the car.
"We have to call the police," Jonathan insisted.
"They'll only get in my way."
"Mist," Jonathan growled. "They'll help us."
"He only keeps them for twenty-four hours," Mist snarled as she glared at him slightly.
"How do you know that?"
"Because, that's Anonymous!"
Jonathan felt his blood run cold before the blood of the Scarecrow boiled over, hot with rage and the desire to kill. "What?" he snarled his voice edging towards Scarecrow's only slightly.
"You heard me," Mist snarled as she stormed back towards the house.
Jonathan followed quickly after her, watching as she stormed into the house grabbing her sports bag and pulling out her Sphinx attire and she began to get dressed.
Jonathan felt the face of the Scarecrow itching in his pocket as it called to him and he looked over at Sphinx as she pulled on her boots and he frowned before walking into his room and pulling out his brown coat, curtesy of the Frights and he slipped it on, before he pulled the gauntlet on and fixed some black leather gloves that had once belonged to his father onto his hands and then he pulling out the Scarecrow's face as he went.
Before he had even stepped out of the door, Mist was there glaring at him.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"I'm going to help you get Edward back," Jonathan hissed and Mist shook her head at him.
"No, you're staying right here. You'd only get in my way."
"I would," Jonathan agreed. "But Scarecrow wouldn't."
Mist narrowed her eyes before she sighed in defete and shook her head. "I must be out of my mind."
Jonathan tilted his head to the side and Mist glared at him slightly before sighing once again. "Fine, come on."
They both got into Edward's car as they drove off, they told the kids to stay inside and lock the doors, telling them to not go outside and for Lui to read the person's thoughts to make sure it was them and it it wasn't then Luna was to scare them away.
As they drove Jonathan suddenly had an idea. "We could ask Rat and Croc to help us."
"Why would we do that?"
"Croc's got muscle. We don't know what Anonymous is like."
"Really skinny guy, makes you look like you have actual muscle on your bones."
Jonathan scowled at the comment before something clicked. "I take it I'm talking to Sphinx now?"
"You would be correct."
"Sphinx, they can help out, Croc and Rat know the streets better then anyone, they've been on it, under it within it, they know it inside and out."
Mist gave a heavy sigh and turned to him before she nodded in agreement. "You better be right about this."
"I am."
As Edward came to, he was greeted by darkness and then he heard a chuckle coming from behind him.
"Here let me get that for you," the blindfold was slipped away. "There, that's much better isn't it?"
He turned in his chair to see a young man that was somehow thinner then Jonathan, wearing colours that mostly consisted of black and grey, there was nothing special about him. He didn't have a face that was… what you would call memorable, but his crimes… those you couldn't forget.
"What do you want?" Edward whispered.
Anonymous smiled. "Well, what I wanted I have," he smirked and clasped his hands together behind his bag before he leaned down in Edward's face. "I have you," he grinned and showed stained yellow teeth, a clear sign that he drank a lot of coffee he could smell smoke on his breath so clearly he was also a smoker.
"Edward," he spoke his name and it rolled of his tongue making Edward shiver in discomfort. "Such a rare name. Not many people use it now, they believe it's too old fashioned. But I rather like it, always have and always will," he smiled and pulled out a book before he placed it on Edward's lap. "Did you know that the name Edward, in Anglo-saxon means guardian? It also means that from American names but, it was first created in the Anglo-saxon times, amazing isn't it?"
Edward swallowed and shuffled in his seat before a loud noise attracted his attention and he saw a television.
"Dear me," the man spoke as he shook his head and stared at the news, reporting a huge fire near the docks. "Such a bad, bad thing. Fires are so dangerous."
Edward narrowed his eyes and then they widened. "Oh lord….no…"
"I know," Anonymous agreed as he picked up the book and sat on Edward's lap, using him like a chair as he flipped through the pages of his book, Edward casted a glance and he felt his eyes widen as he saw the names. He recognised the people in the photos, they were some of the victims they'd found, but a few… a few he didn't know.
"We only got twelve," Edward whispered as he stared at all of the names that were ticked off on the front page of the book.
"Yes…" Anonymous chuckled. "I've actually got 36… and you happen to be lucky number 37," Anonymous crooned as he pushed some of Edward's hair out of his eyes, making Edward flinch away from his staring wide eyed. Okay now he was starting to see how invading people's personal space could get annoying.
"Now, now," Anonymous scolded with a shaking head. "Don't be like that, I'm not a bad guy, I'm just a collector."
"Of what?"
"Of names," Anonymous grinned before he walked over to the telly and raised a curious eyebrow. "I see someone else is trying to make a name for themselves… the 'Firefly' huh? Pretty rubbish name."
Edward felt his eyes widen. Garfield. Firefly. Oh.. "It's better then Anonymous."
He earned a hard slap for that. "Don't you dare speak a word against my name!"
"Funny how your name means someone who is nameless," Edward glared slightly. "Is that what you've been doing? Stealing people's names because you do not like your own?"
"You do not understand!" Anonymous shouted as he shook Edward, glaring down at him like he was the most desgusting parasite on the planet.
"And you got my name wrong," Edward informed him with a smirk.
"I doubt that."
"Oh but you have," Edward smirked. "I'm the Riddler."
T.B.C:
Note: I got a review! YAY! I'll be really happy if I got another XD So... hope you guys enjoyed this so please, plase please! read more to find out! :D