Alright, so here comes Raven and the other Teen Titans. I'm not really sure how I'm going to get Raven and CJ to talk or whatever, and so it might happen after this battle or I might not put it in. I'll try real hard, though.
Just to let everyone know beforehand instead of adding it in the end, the "giant rock man," and the guy with shimmering light around him while flying; yeah, those two are also OC's. They came from CJ's world and have their own powers.
And yes, I did reference a Marvel character in the chapter's name, and I am forever upset with myself for doing so. I'm am 100% DC, but it definitely fit for this chapter.
Chapter 13
The Teen Titans were just as grumpy as CJ was when they found out that she would be joining them. From the few mumbles they heard, they were upset about having her tag along and upset about being stuck with perimeter. They barely said a word, but they all got on a teleporting circle together, and CJ was given a comm. The moment they teleported down to Earth, an explosion erupted, a loud boom piercing the air, the ground shaking. The seven immediately prepared for action, the disappointment wiped from them, and the boy in red with the black cape issued the orders.
"KF, start getting these people out of here." Before the boy even finished the sentence, the boy in yellow was gone, disappearing down the street in a yellow blur. "Superboy, go find the source of the explosion." The boy in the black shirt with the red S on his chest didn't need any further instruction before he began to run towards the boom. After about ten feet away, he pushed off the ground, and leaped high into the air. He landed about a half a mile away.
CJ didn't have any time to be surprised.
"Raven, Wonder Girl, Miss Martian, Beast Boy, get inside those buildings. Start at the top, work your way down."
Those four flew away, and then Robin began running, and CJ followed. Robin quickly told her that they were to just tell people to go the opposite way from the explosion, and help anyone carry their kids, get out of their cars, help the elderly walk down stairs, small stuff.
It wasn't just the Teen Titans that teleported down, but three others. They were all male. One was younger, in his twenties, in an all back suit with what looked like a thick blue v on his chest, from shoulder to shoulder. Another was in a half purple half white suit, older, and his body stretched unnaturally, like he was made of rubber. The last was in some kind of blue armor, with spikes coming off the back up to his shoulders.
As they ran, civilians ran the way CJ was coming from. There were also a few cars, but most had thought running would be faster. CJ began to grow tired, but before she could slow down, they were close to the explosion source. Above the building, CJ could see a few objects flying around in the sky, then diving down to nearby buildings, disappearing out of sight.
She saw the yellow blur, and it stopped to reveal the kid in yellow again. He was appearing, grabbing someone, then running away from the explosion in a blur, then returning another ten seconds to pick up someone else. He continued to do this, and many people got out quickly.
From a nearby tall building, she saw Superboy fall from a high window, and land safely, a civilian clinging on to him. Then he set them down, and jumped back into the building. The girl was evacuating, too, and then it was her and the boy in reds turn to start to help. She looked around, not exactly sure what to do. She knew she should be helping evacuate, but the others had superstrength and could carry people, or could fly and carry people. The only thing she could do was tell people to stay calm and run away from the explosion. By the time she had helped a few people, her and the others were split up, all evacuating the nearby area as quickly as possible.
Looking towards the explosion sight, she knew what she had to do. She saw smoke, which meant fire. Leaving the Teen Titans and the other three, she ran towards the smoke. As she got closer, she saw that a building had caught fire, and from the looks of it, the building didn't look so good. There was a large gap in it, like it could have been made by a wrecking ball, and the bricks were black and crumbling, with fire pouring out of the gap.
Superboy was in the top floors, grabbing people and jumping down. The stairs were probably blocked off or crowded, and so he was helping. The only way CJ knew how to help was to absorb the fire. The source was about six or seven stories up. CJ had only absorbed the fire from the lighter yesterday morning. This fire was so far away, and CJ didn't know if she could do it.
She took in a deep breath. This is what she came down here to do. She was fire. That fire was her. She nodded to herself, then stretched her arms out towards the building. She didn't really know how to do it, but she did it somehow. The fire took the lead, heating up the area around her. She made the connection between her fire and that fire, and began to pull that fire toward her.
The fire seemed to be vacuumed to her. It no longer rose up, but down toward CJ. It looked like it was falling down a slide. The smoke disappeared, and the fire was pulled down to CJ. As it hit her, she grew as hot as the fire, absorbing its heat. She felt stronger, more confident, and pulled to her with greater force. Within a few moments, the fire was no longer in sight. CJ released the fire, and stood, taking another deep breath.
She felt good. She was happy that she had put the fire out, and confident that she could help more people.
She turned from that building and looked for more, but saw none.
"CJ, where'd you go?" A teen's voice said into her ear. This was Robin, as she had been told earlier when introduced to them. She was reluctant to answer him, but at the moment, he was in charge of her. She glared at nothing as she thought that.
She hit the button, allowing her to speak. It felt weird to talk into the comm. "I, uh, just put a fire out."
"You're supposed to be helping us evacuate."
She rolled her eyes. "I came down here to help with the fires, not direct traffic." But she began to help again, going into a nearby building and getting people out of the rooms and down the stairs.
She had been helping evacuate for about ten minutes before she heard a scream. One of the windows was open, and CJ immediately forgot the people she was calming down to look out it. Down below, there was some kind of battle going on. She recognized a few League members, fighting some people in civilian clothing. One of them looked like they were a giant rock. This rock person was swinging their huge, bulky arms around, hitting League members. CJ saw Green Lantern, floating in the air, throw his arm out, a green light emanating from him. This green light stopped the arm, but after some more pounding, the rock man broke it and hit Green Lantern. The man flew through the air and landed in the street. CJ was surprised that he got back up.
CJ didn't know who these people were the Justice League was fighting; she was trying to find the source of the scream. What she found made her gasp.
High up, on a roof top at least a block or two away, a man was standing on the edge, holding a woman. She was struggling to escape his grasp, and at the same time trying to scramble away from the ledge. She was the one that had screamed, and it was confirmed when she let out another screech as the man holding her pushed her closer to the edge.
CJ mentally kicked herself as she melted the window in front of her. She couldn't believe that she was doing this, but she kept telling herself that she was the only one that could save that girl.
Once there was a small hole in the window, and as it continued to melt, CJ heard the wind, carrying another scream from the woman. The glass, along with some of the wood around her, were melting. She stepped up onto the ledge and looked over the edge. She was at least ten stories up, maybe more. The bridge had been a bigger drop.
Worry hit her, but she pushed it away. She took one last glance at the scenes around her before she stepped off. She let out a small scream as wind hit her, making her hair flap wildly behind her as she fell down to the street below. As panic rose, so did the temperature. Again, she didn't know how she did it, but somehow, she angled her body just slightly to the left. In that slight shift, she turned in the air, and instead of falling down, she was now gliding sideways to the left.
CJ had flown before, in airplanes, and briefly off the bridge the other day; but this was different. Gravity no longer held her. She lifted her head, and she angled upward. She flew around a building, and let out a scream of exhilaration. She rose above the tallest building around, and took in the view.
While she flew, she barely heard a short conversation going on in her right ear.
"Titans, is CJ with you?" A hard voice growled out.
"She was in one of the buildings last time-" The young boy was cut off by another boy.
"Um, Robin? Is that…."
There was a short pause.
"She can fly?"
"You were supposed to watch her." Was growled out.
"Sorry, Batman."
Hearing the scream again got CJ back on track. She searched the roof tops below before she saw the one with the two people on it. She dove in that direction, catching speed from the fall. As she got closer to the roof, she realized that she didn't know how to land. Last time this had happened, she had fallen into water.
She slowed, sticking her hands out to help stop the land. She angled her chest up, so that she was upright, her feet down. As she got lower, the heat decreased. It was sort of like letting the air out of a hot air balloon. When she was a foot from the roof, she dropped, and once she hit cement, she released the fire.
As she descended, the man had noticed her coming towards him, because he was turned toward her, and had released the woman. She ran from his arms, towards another ledge, away from both the man and CJ.
CJ glared at the man. He looked like any other man. He wasn't wearing a funky costume or had odd colored skin. He was grinning like crazy, though. "This is going to be fun," he said before he charged her.
CJ had never been in a fight before, other than the bot in the training room. She also didn't want to hurt this man with her fire, but her fight or flight instinct kicked in. She switched the fire on, then began to back up.
His grin deepened as he saw the fire. She ran quicker, but he was running forward, having the advantage. CJ was reluctant to leave the woman alone, but she turned and jumped off the roof. Her plan was to circle back around once he had stopped running. She began to turn, but when she looked back, she could see that he was no longer on the roof, but he had also taken flight.
She didn't know what it was she saw, but there was some kind of white or silver light shimmering around him as he flew. She picked up speed, weaving in and out of buildings, but he seemed to be faster.
Just as he was just about to catch up to her, she swore- swore- she heard a boy yell. Then, a flash of lightning erupted somewhere nearby. The crackling of the electricity in the air and the flash of bright light shocked CJ out of concentration, enough to jolt the fire out of her. She began to fall, but as the sky turned, she saw a small black dot fly through the air, getting closer to her area.
It definitely wasn't a bird, because it was too fast and too big. Her falling was only for a few seconds, but in those seconds she saw the dot grow and become a man in red with a yellow lightning bolt on his chest. He moved so fast that he was only in her line of sight for a moment before he tackled the other flying man mid-flight, and the two disappeared to the far side of the city.
CJ didn't know if she was to thank the man in red, or prepare to flee from him if he was to come back for her. She regained her concentration and caught fire once again, returning back to the roof top. She didn't land, but floated a foot from the rooftop. She felt her hair flow around her, like there was no gravity, or she was under water. She imagined what she looked like then, probably just fire that levitated. The woman stared at her, stunned. CJ pointed to the door that would lead back into the building. "Um, we're evacuating the building."
The woman didn't wait for any more encouragement to leave and tore off to the door in fright. CJ found it was a little odd, but then remembered that she was still on fire. At least she saved the woman from that man.
That wasn't the last time CJ would see that man that flew with shining lights surrounding him.
Instead of taking the stairs, she flew down to the battle, putting off the evacuating for a moment. She wanted to see what was happening down at this intersection with the giant rock man. She landed a safe distance away, not wanting to be seen, but itching to help. The giant rock man was now unconscious, lying in a large hole made by what looked like himself off to the side.
CJ could see Batman and Wonder Woman fighting another man. Batman threw small black things at him while Wonder Woman kicked and punched at him, but he must have had superstrength, because he wasn't going down. Green Lantern was floating in the air, holding his arm out, the green light coming from his hand wrapped around a woman in what looked like a very large bubble. She looked like a porcupine, every few seconds shooting spikes out of herself and at the green bubble, but the green light held her and her spikes inside.
Green Arrow was shooting arrows at a man who was up about two stories. He was jumping from building to building, and held on with expertise. Green Arrow was shooting nets and little bombs at him, but the man was too fast, having dodged the arrows before they could hit their mark. Green Arrow must have anticipated the frog-man's next move, because after a few more jumps, Green Arrow shot to an area right before the frog-man could land, encasing him in a net. The frog-man fell, tangled in the net, all the way to the street. He didn't seem to be hurt as he hit the ground, because he still struggled on the cement. CJ was impressed with his tolerance.
Before CJ could take any more in, the man with the white-silver light surrounding him appeared, tackling CJ. The two were swooped into the air by him, and CJ immediately caught fire. She hadn't thought about what it would do to him, but she didn't truly care at that moment. He let go of her immediately, feeling the heat, but he continued to attack her.
CJ didn't understand why he was attacking her. She had done nothing to him, but help a woman escape his grasp. When he threw some kind of silver ball of light at her, she didn't care anymore. She dodged the attack, ducking low, but she still felt the effects of the attack. As the ball sailed by her, the static of it put all of her hair on end, like it was electricity. It sent some kind of ripple through her and the fire, making her very uncomfortable somehow, similar to hanging upside down with your eyes closed, while sweating.
At the time, she didn't comprehend if the fire would hurt her, but she was irritated that he was attacking her. While staying in the air, she threw fire at him. The first blow was a small fire ball, but he deflected it with a swing of his arm and a scatter of his energy. He did flinch, telling her that she had hurt him somewhat. She threw another one, this one larger and hotter, and he faltered in his flight. He dropped down about ten feet before he focused again, but CJ wasn't done. She threw a beam of fire at him, half missing.
With a shout of anger, the man stretched his arms and feet out. This was followed by a wave of the electricity, shooting out of him in all directions.
CJ didn't have a chance to evade the attack, and was close enough to get hit with the blast. It had an odd effect on her, and she, too, faltered in flight. The fire was still present in her, but for a moment she could no longer fly. She dropped, lower than her opponent had, and still fell. It was only about ten feet from the ground before CJ snapped out of confusion and caught herself.
Before she could try and attack the man again, the flying man with the yellow lightning bolt appeared again, tackling the man to the ground right by CJ. The shimmering man was unconscious as he hit the ground, and then the man in red turned to her.
Before he could attack her, though, she dropped to the ground and stared at him. He was glaring, hands at his sides, but as he looked at her, his gaze lightened. "Is your name CJ?" He asked, enthusiastically.
CJ frowned. He was Justice League. She should have known, seeing the costume. "Yes. Who are you?"
He grinned with a short wave. "I'm Captain Marvel!"
CJ was still on fire, and gave him a small smile.
"Captain!" Someone shouted nearby, and she and Captain Marvel turned to look. Green Lantern was waving the Captain over. He had is green light around a few people lying on the ground. They looked unconscious.
Captain Marvel gave CJ one last smile before he picked up the man that shimmered and flew over to Green Lantern. A hole in the bubble was made, and Captain Marvel placed the unconscious man in his arms on the ground by the others, then left Green Lantern and flew off towards the battle.
CJ blinked, returning to what she had been doing. All around, there were small fires, but CJ couldn't really figure out how they were made. One of them could have been from her. She absorbed them anyways.
"Flash!" was yelled in the comms, but CJ had also heard it in real life. She, along with a few others, turned to find him on instinct.
Green Lantern had abandoned the unconscious people and was flying towards something specific. He threw his arm out, and the green light expanded from his hand into another bubble. Inside the bubble was the Flash. The green bubble wrapped around him just as a very large chunk of cement fell from the building that he was next to. Once the cement had broken upon impact with the green light, the light disappeared.
"Thanks, GL." Flash said with a small smile. Green Lantern landed next to him. "No problem, bud."
Another shout was heard, but not from the comms. "Diana!"
CJ looked, hearing Wonder Woman's name, but she wasn't anywhere near the area. The shout had come from Batman, but he was walking backwards, like someone was approaching him. He jumped back, like he was dodging something, but there was nothing there. CJ saw him speak, but he was too far away to be heard. Then, he was pinned up against a wall, his hands at his throat, like he was choking.
CJ didn't know what was happening, and neither did Superman, who went over to help.
CJ turned back to her fire, and continued to put fires out and evacuate as much as she could.
She looked around for more fires, but her eyes landed on a van that was too close to the wreckage. She approached it, and found a camera man pointing a camera at a reporter. "…. are evacuating, and it looks like the Justice League is handling it." The reporter lady turned to look at the scene, but then saw CJ. She perked up, and jogged up to CJ, the camera man following her. "You're the girl from Genocian City! You saved that woman and child from drowning in the river."
CJ took a step away from the woman and shied away from the camera. She had put her fire out once she saw the two people coming towards her. "I'm not a girl, but yes. I did." She glanced back towards the battles. "We're evacuating the area. You two need to get out of harm's way."
Her efforts of keeping them safe were ignored. "Are you a member of the Justice League?" The woman asked her.
CJ didn't know what to do. She needed to get these people out of here, but they wouldn't listen to her. Maybe if she answered her questions they would. "No, I'm not. I'm simply here to help."
"When did you become a hero? What's your super hero name?"
CJ frowned. She hadn't thought about it before. She hadn't thought she needed one. Something made her want to give the reporter an answer. She didn't deserve a name, but she was a hero, in a sense. So she told her one that made sense. "Firebug." CJ didn't wait for her to ask another question. "Now please, evacuate." Then she backed away, caught fire again, and took off.
She was grinning as she flew away. Where did Firebug come from, and why would she want to pick it? She was fire, yes, but she wasn't a little bug.
If you didn't know: In the beginning, along with the Teen Titans, I put in Nightwing, Blue Beetle and Elongated Man. And this last scene with the reporter was probably awkward, but yeah. Genocian City is also made up, which is also where CJ saved those people from the bridge, which is said by the reporter chick.
Oh, and the thing with Batman choking: I was making it so that one of the people that came through the portal had the ability to make it seem like someone you loved was trying to kill you, so Batman thought he was seeing Wonder Woman trying to choke him to death. BMWW not-so-much-but-still-there scene!
Battle continues in next chapter. Finally, we will see some super villains, but the less popular ones.
