Chapter 3: Fire and Toxins
Fire and ice collided against each other, with Stormbolt throwing sharp pieces of hail as Firefly dodged while unleashing a spray of his flamethrower at him. Ethan formed an ice barrier to shield his body from the flames, while Firefly threw out incendiary grenades at the ice barrier as it exploded in flames with Stormbolt moving away from the fire. Stormbolt tackled him head-on as Firefly spun both of them, with Ethan still holding on. He tried to get near enough Firefly's jetpack, only for the pyromaniac to sent crashing at the windshield of a police cruiser.
"Ow. Damn that hurt!" Ethan groused, glaring up at Firefly cackling like an idiot
"Things are about to get hot in here!"
"Firefly, that's the dumbest line I have ever heard." Stormbolt countered, avoiding a volley of incendiary grenades as they spread fire
"You won't be saying that when you're toasted!" Firefly sneered blasting all-out with his flamethrower. "I'm havin' this spotlight! Not you!"
"First off, Garfunkel, we're outside covered in snow. It's about 36 degrees." Stormbolt still took cover while he was in the middle of conjuring water from the lake underneath the Gotham PD headquarters. "You ready mention a spotlight of all time? Man, you're dumb." he taunted with Firefly roared out in total rage
"You son of a bitch! You think you're funny!?" he yelled out as a small form started to grow underneath the water. "You think you're hot! Well, I'm the only one to be the one! Not-" Firefly was cut off being engulfed by a water serpent
Stormbolt moved away from the busted police cruiser as he saw Firefly trying to free himself from the water serpent's grasp. Then all of a sudden, the water serpent exploded as it swallowed a time bomb with Firefly spreading flames straight at Stormbolt who flew away. And out of nowhere, Firefly fired off wrist blasters that shot out heat energy
"That was your big plan!" he yelled out firing blasts of heat energy at Stormbolt while he dodged. "Get my attention by launching snow balls at me!? Turning me into an ice sickle!?" Firefly continued firing at Ethan as he brought up an ice barrier. "Have me get swallowed up by a water snake!?"
"Okay, first off..." Stormbolt trailed off, releasing a flurry of ice shards at Firefly. "I don't shoot snowballs, I shoot ice and hail. And second of all..." he flew in and gave out a flash kick to Firefly's face. "It's a water serpent. Get it right."
"Shut up!" Firefly barked, firing incendiary missiles at Stormbolt
Fortunately for Stormbolt, he dodged the missiles aiming toward him. But unfortunately for Firefly, his incendiary missiles were sent toward a vineyard garden at the end of Arkham city. But this was no ordinary garden, mostly one in Arkham city to begin with. It was Poison Ivy's very own vine garden, the garden Firefly sent burning as him and Stormbolt heard a shrieking scream coming from inside the old abandoned penthouse. At that point Ethan knew it was Poison Ivy, and she was angry. Then suddenly, they saw a giant venus fly trap appear out of the water as it growled venomously at Stormbolt and Firefly.
"It was him!" Stormbolt shouted, flying away while the giant venus fly trap sent a deadly snarl at Firefly
Firefly on the other hand, spread fire at the giant plant using his flamethrower in order to get away. The giant plant scattered away from the flames as Firefly took off, only for a couple of vines to grab his feet while closing its mouth with Firefly inside. And all of a sudden, the groaning sound of the giant plant indicated that the fire aronist was burning the venus fly trap on the inside as Firefly sprung out of its mouth. Fire encased itself inside the giant plant's mouth as it went back down into the river, cowering underwater with Stormbolt tackling Firefly from behind. They spinned around flying left and right, leading Stormbolt to aim Firefly at the roof of the abandoned Ace chemicals building after Ethan froze the pyromaniac's jetpack. Stormbolt pulled off the jetpack and sent three jabs across his face, leaving a broken glass revealing the villain's charred face.
"Next time get a new hobby." Stormbolt taunted, delivering one final blow toward Firefly's face as he was knocked unconscious while he flew away from the roof of Ace Chemicals
"Ethan?" said a voice which turned out to be Oracle's. "What happened? I lost contact with you 16 minutes ago."
Stormbolt landed at the top of a cross at the burnt church tower, placing a finger of his communicator. "I had a run-in with Firefly."
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Firefly not so much." Ethan chuckled. "I manage to take him down. I froze his jetpack while we crashed on the roof to the Ace Chemicals plant."
"Good thing you did. I got a lead on someone hiding in Lacey towers."
"Who is it?" Stormbolt asked Oracle. "Lady Shiva? Copperhead? Or is it that guy I met with Shiva?"
"Don't know. That's why you need to head there now." Oracle paused. "Got it! Roman Sionis' former safehouse."
"Thanks for the tip, baby." Stormbolt smirked leaping off and flying away to Lacey towers
"You're welcome. And Ethan,"
"Yeah, barb?" Stormbolt replied heading toward his destination
"Don't call me baby."
"What? I can't flirt with you?"
"As tempting as it was Charmer boy, I'd say the time for flirting's done."
"Well, I figured."
After minutes later, Stormbolt landed on the penthouse porch by his feet. The entire penthouse looked deserted, with shattered glass and a burnt wall welcoming him as Stormbolt step inside. This was the place where Sionis late girlfriend died, killed when the Joker forcibly fired out a shot. The bullet went to her chest, leaving her hanging above the chandelier Joker himself tied her up to. Stormbolt then heard a creak coming from the left, leading the master bedroom as Ethan powered up his fist with electricity. He walked closer as he opened the door slowly, seeing a king sized bed with a nightstand along with a window dresser. Stormbolt went in cautious, only for him to be tossed down on the ground by an unknown figure. He stared at the figure as the lights turned on, with Ethan getting a perfect view of his attacker. The attacker was a caucasian female with blonde hair and yellow snake-like eyes, wearing a red top exposing her stomach and brown skintight pants. She had tattoos on her cleavage, black makeup on her eyes with a bladed finger on her right hand. The most part was that she hissed, revealing a forked tongue as the woman grinned wildly at him. And at that moment, Stormbolt knew who this woman was.
"Copperhead." he grunted getting up from the floor, staring at the snake woman. "Had a feeling it would be you."
"Looks like I have new prey." she moaned staring at Stormbolt up and down. "And it looks like I got the prize."
"Okay, Coppy, this is what's gonna happen." Ethan started with him and Copperhead pacing around. "You're going to come quietly in sudden defeat of yours truly, and... " Ethan suddenly felt dizzy as his vision started to become blurring. "And that'll be pretty much it. Wait, what did you do to me?" he manage to speak out as Copperhead laughed sinisterly, with Ethan putting one knee on the floor
"I poisoned you as soon as you walked in. My poison is slowly killing you." Copperhead leaped up at a venitalation shaft, smiling deviously. "In a matter of minutes, your body will shut down. After that, you're done for." she concluded leaving the room from the shaft
"Well, shit." Ethan swore out weakly, dissolving into water and following Copperhead hot on her trail