Months later...
I dashed over the tops of Gotham city searching desperately for someone. Nightwing had completely disappeared, for weeks now too! I contacted Batman two hours ago asking if he knew where he was. Nightwing left no clues, nothing. I slid to a halt right at the edge of someone's roof spraying water in the air. The wind blew the hair out of my face. Come on, how can I not even find him! There was a sudden nasty explosion coming from a factory all the way back of town. I leaped over the street and landed on the top of buildings in the other side. Then racing to the scene of smoke, I swung myself over the bridge and through the city.
...
Dead end?
"Cannot be?" I whispered to myself touching the walls. I was trapped in this terrible place. Maybe I'm paranoid but how does the doors manage to shut by themselves? Something dropped to the ground. It sounded like metal or a gun reloading. I whirled around forming an energy blast in my hand in a defense position.
"Show yourself," I demanded looking around. I had night vision, but for some reason I didn't see anyone. I made sure I checked the high rising ceiling too. The noise that I heard again was just a piece of metal moving by itself. Wait...what? I dodged as it hurtled at me. It twisted around and I caught it with my hand before melting it into a saggy glowing mess. I lit my other hand up and deflected two more items that flew my way. Something else rattled against the cement floor. Pieces of glass weaved themselves together, forming this creature. I shot a moon beam and it went right through it.
"What is this thing!" I exclaimed. The glassy creature raised up a limb and smashed down. I backflipped to higher ground, staring at the crater. The monster's arm shattered but then the remains just decided to head my direction instead. I leaped to the ceiling and twisted around destroying pieces of glass that were following me. The 60 foot tall breakable material roared, instantly crushing me into the wall. The noise was so deafening and powerful that all the windows got blown off. Before I could even think about recovering from the blast, the glass monster flung itself at me and I bolted to the left. It cracked to pieces when it smashed into the metallic walls. Sharp pieces of glass cut my face. There was a little detail that I overlooked when that thing screamed at me. I stumbled forward and realized number one, my insides had just been mashed. Number two; those sound waves just had to disorient me enough that I didn't see the iron beam that was being torn loose above me.
CLANG!
...
I groaned and opened my eyes. It was dark and my head felt like it's either been whacked with a ten ton crowbar or split open by a wrecking ball. I tried to move but noticed my legs were being shackled. Chains were connected to the ground. My hands were tied behind my back with some pretty tough steel. The room was just square and plain. I stood up, swaying only to realize my left leg was broken a second later.
"Aah!"
Lesson learned. When beaten and bruised by some inhuman creature, check to see how many places have been crushed. Let's see...head bashed, check. Right shoulder battered black, check. Leg hurts more than being perforated with iron spikes, (long story) check. Dizzy and sick enough to puke blood, check. I think that last one packed a punch. I lifted myself into the air trying to break the chains but instead, got electrocuted. I panted as I lay on the ground, steam flowing off my clothes. Pulling myself up weakly, I managed to speak.
"T-That...about sums it up," I smiled weakly and pulled myself into a sitting position. I spent the rest of my time grunting and struggling to burn the chains off my wrists. Finding how that failed, I turned my head back to laser eye the chains off my feet. Well, every solution needs to have a problem right? Let's see, I missed my intended target and sliced the steel cartons in half instead. I wonder how that happened. Now I thought hard about how and why I was here. But so far I got the reason why those cartons I broke had to be steel. It was plasma, some sort of prototype that could absorb anything it touches. But it looked like a nice type of creature, it just transformed into a moving grey lump of steel. Cute and creepy. It turned back to its original look of hot pink jelly goodness and started advancing toward me. I turned back again and this time yelled, "SIT!" I think I broke a sternum there. The plasma instantly stopped and sort of gurgled in a purring manner. I dropped to the ground coughing weakly. Man, I think that hurt more than the time I got whipped by all five of the Teen Titans. Before I could think about what just happened, the plasma scooted back into the steel cartons of where it came from and a piece of it stuck to the bottom of my shoe. It was about the size of a tennis ball. The door opened a second later and two guys wearing sunglasses came in. They removed the chain sticking to the ground that connected to the shackles around my ankles and replaced it with a cast iron wrecking ball. The taller man pulled me up by the arm and shoved me toward the door.
"Move it," he said roughly. I stumbled and attempted to walk, clenching my teeth in agony. The other guy rolled the bowling ball thing in a barrow. I think it's so I can walk but can't fly very far. Yes! I made it into the hallway now please tell me I only need two steps to maneuver through this dark lablike place! They lead me in another room and I met a chubby man sitting in a desk. He rolled around in his office chair and stared at me.
"What a pretty looking thing we have here," he smirked as he leaned over his desk. He pulled my chin up with his finger so I would look at him. "So," he said, "You were the one trashing my factory?" I glared at him and said bluntly, "No." He frowned and then said, "Trespassing isn't allowed. I'd have you're brains blown out for that. Or maybe you'll run great for tests. After all, monkeys are getting boring." I caught a glance at the badge on his shirt.
Mr. Kaz. Then he turned back to me whispering, "I know what you want. You and that other boy can't help but notice I'd like to take all those so called heroes off their pedestal huh? Always busting through my offices and facilities, doing this and that whatever they like. And I'm stuck with a bill that costs a fortune!" Then the man wiped his forehead with a handkerchief, "Take her away." The two men dragged me off. As I turned the corner, I overheard two other men talking.
"Did you hear? One of the labs had an accident recently," the man in the suit said with a hushed voice.
"Ya, some creature burst out of the building. And some super hero after it too." the one with a white shirt continued.
"Max said that it was a prototype of those plasma goo they had us packing. Something went wrong I guess." Sooner or later, I was shoved into this weird chamber, and the walls seemed to be talking to me. First it seemed almost unnoticeable but gradually got louder and louder.
"Be quiet!" I shouted. It stopped, then started all over again. Was I just imagining things? Their murmurings were something I didn't understand, and really didn't appreciate at the time.
"If you want to say something, then say something useful!" I snapped. More hushed silence.
"Hero..." one echoed, "The bat and the bird fall together..."
"Beware of laughter," another started, "Dirt of fallen glass is treasure."
"To the one named of icy rock," it whispered, "soar." I must really be going mad. Then they all started talking again but one shouted louder than the rest.
"The red bird will free the rock!" it cried, "Ground under!" Now that totally caught my attention. Trying to sort out my thoughts which were pretty clouded up because of my injuries, I noted that the super hero who checked out the lab was probably either taken by the workers or crushed under whatever monster they were talking about earlier. And that super hero was most likely Nightwing, which explains the disappearance. Now that Kaz boss I met earlier doesn't like super heroes, which concludes the case that he might have had Nightwing locked up somewhere. Also, the walls said something useful. The bat and the bird fall together. One is Batman, the other should be Nightwing! They are going to be defeated at both! Before I get too worked up at this let's see the next one. Beware of laughter. Huh, either someone likes to joke a lot...the Joker! So the Joker is also behind this! My brain is starting to get mushed up now. Alright, last one before I pass out. Dirt under glass is treasure. What in the world is that supposed to mean?!
"Red bird will come," the wall said, "Icy rock, meets meteor." I was probably in this room with walls that won't shut up for three hours now. I lost track since I kept taking a nap and waking up. But the more times I snapped awake, the more exhausted I became. I'd probably fall asleep and not wake up from it again. The door opened but I didn't notice till someone spoke up.
"Hey," a male voice said. I looked up thinking it was Nightwing or Batman or something. Who I saw just left me astonished.
"J-Jason," I cracked a smile, "Why did you come for me?"
"Just keeping things even," he replied and glanced back at the entrance. He quickly freed me out of my bonds but the chains on my feet were a different story though. Jason got electrocuted trying to cut the iron links off. Wringing his hands, Jason fished in his pocket and drew out a laser. Voices from the hallways seemed to be approaching us. Jason pulled me up by the arm but I yelped in pain and fell to the ground again. He looked down at my leg and then grunted as he slung me over his shoulder. With the other hand, he pulled out a gun. Dashing down the hallway, he shot some workers in the legs and bounded up the stairs. Jason slid over to the left and said, "Hang on." I wrapped my arms around his neck as he flipped over the edge of a window. Then slipping his gun back into his pants, Jason jumped off the building. The next closest landing spot was almost thirty feet away and I assisted him by creating a bit of lift. We landed close to a wall and he pulled me off.
"Shoot," Jason cursed. Almost instantaneously, he leaned over me shielding me protectively with his body. The building we were previously on exploded so forcefully that I shut my eyes. The wind blew the hair off my beaten face.
Silence.
I was staring at him with amazement after that. He caught me looking at him but I tried not to seem too embarrassed.
"Let me see your leg," he said.
...
Right now I am trying my best not to give Jason a hard time. But when a guy is trying to bend your bones back into place, let's just say things won't be that easy.
"Don't move," he told me and then looked through one of his pockets mumbling, "Don't think I have anything for a cast right now." Something gurgled behind him so I blinked and looked up. It was that plasma thing I saw earlier in the lab. Jason must've heard it too because a second later he whirled around and blasted it with a gun. Both of them had a brawl after that. The gummy stuff that was under my shoe now crept up my leg. Wrapping itself around the broken part, it formed a thin plate of steel. Cool.
"Stop!" I winced a bit at how my chest seemed to split in half when I said that, "It's...a nice creature." I coughed again trying to get the uncomfortable feeling out of my lungs. Surprisingly, both of them halted with Jason ready to blow it to pieces.
"You know what this is?" he asked.
"W-We've been locked up together," I explained and clenched my teeth. My head suddenly felt like if I had been riding on a merry go round for three hours nonstop. Blood leaked from the corner of my mouth a second later. Now that my leg isn't bothering me, everything else is acting up again. The pink mass cautiously crawled up to us and then I weakly petted it. The creature was warm and was vibrating happily. It split in half and one part went to Jason while transmuting into a sharp red color. The other half scooted to me switching to dazzling blue. I think he was more or less grossed out. Just at that moment, the glass monster decided to pop into town again. It towered above us and let out an Earth shattering roar.
"Oh crap," Jason stared. This time, I snatched his hand and flew between buildings. Both rainbow putty stuff had shaped themselves into a ball and bounced behind us. The glassy monster placed a claw over where we just were, crumbling it flat. As I weaved through the city, my powers failed again. The wall which seemed to be right next to me suddenly swirled into a watercolored mess.
"Ugh..." I groaned digging a trench into the building adjacent from me. I blindly threw Jason into the air hoping he would find a way to land safely and I crashed into a window afterwards.
"You've been drugged," Jason's voice shouted from the roof. Someone scooped me up from the floor a second later and started running again. Blinking my ailments away, I looked to see a giant glass claw coming for us. He turned around and slammed a bomb on the floor before leaping (with great agility) between its fingers. Jason then swung down a couple stories and crashed through some wooden planks. I ended up on his back again. The bomb exploded, showering us with molten sparks. Jason whirled around in mid-air and shot a couple rounds with both guns he drew out. A black figure leaped from overhead. It took me a second to realize it was Batman. The dark knight, as Nightwing dubbed him, landed next to us gazing at the huge supernatural being.
"What took you so long?" Jason asked him. Glass tentacles stretched out from all directions and attempted to grab us.
"Shut up and move," Batman responded and jumped away. Jason ducked and flung himself over a couple of garbage cans. I turned back pulling an arm to throw a moon bolt and grimaced as my shoulder started killing me. Aiming for that cracked weak point on top of the creature, I shot.
"Eeeargh!" it screamed so bad that both Batman and Jason lost their balance. Jason tipped off the rail of a building but managed to grab a pipe in time. Batman swung over us grasping a line.
"Listen," I leaned over Jason's ear, "I overheard that this monster is one of the prototype plasma we saw earlier."
"You mean like them?" he asked pointing to the two colorful balls on the edge who just decided to morph into a copy of us. The Jason blob grabbed the real Jason's hand and pulled him up.
"Ya," I stared wide eyed, "Um...the glass one just couldn't change back."
"Any way to destroy it?" he asked.
"Acid," the plasma doppelgangers replied at the same time. Then they shrunk into two cute little jelly looking people in their respectful colors. It was almost like looking at those tamaran sprites that walk around in the forest. Batman ran down the alleyway and backflipped into a window.
"Can you fly now?" Jason asked me.
"Yes?" I answered unsurefully but he dashed and leaped straight at the failed experiment of plasma much to my horror. I shot right past its head and Jason plastered some mini bombs on it as we went past. Batman swung behind us throwing batarangs and stuff. I dived to the street and Jason jacked a car. He pulled out a box and replied, "Battery." The bombs activated and we ducked as the whole see through thing came crashing down.
Kraash.
Batman shielded himself with his cape. When the shards of glass were starting to build themselves back together, Jason asked for a lift. I pulled him up and flew over the growing mass of the glass creature. He let go of my hand and landed on the monster's bulky form. Smashing the battery in, he leaped off of it as I zoomed by and hitched a ride on me. Batman shot past us and did something to the battery. I didn't really see because a second later Jason shouted, "Look out!" With utmost stupidity, I swerved to a stop too late and went smack dab into a brick wall.
Wham!
Ow.
I could almost hear Batman chuckling at that. Anyway, the battery leaked out some sort of liquid and the glass creature melted apart. Jason helped me up. I was obviously embarrassed and so I turned around. Now have you ever seen anyone fly into a wall?
"I gotta say," he smiled, "You're kinda cute when you blush."
Pause.
I think I just melted right there.
"H-How did you find me in the first place?" I stammered as my ears started to turn red. I was desperately trying to change the subject. He held up the necklace that he gave me the last time we've met.
"You left this behind," Jason slung it over my neck and pulled his red mask back on before leaping into the shadows. I basically just stood there dumbfounded. There goes my hope for ever thanking him. I flinched as someone's touched my shoulder. The bad one. Man that stings!
"Who captured you," Batman asked.
