The story you're about to read is of my own creation, along with some friends of mine. It is set in England in the near future, around 2036-ish, and all the characters are original as well, except for certain mentions. Those are DC property. Other than that, the world of the Roblox game Helix: Ascent belongs to the amazing game creator FarmerJaller. Enjoy!
Chapter 4: The Legend of Black Bat
Rocky's whole world had changed. The only family he still had were Max and Elizabeth. Their parents, Martha and Thomas, were away on a business trip, and Rocky had never known them anyway. He had begun descending into depression, he was angry at the world, but most of all he needed to hone his abilities. He felt like somehow, if he could train himself enough, he could fix… something. Anything. If he could just fix something, then everything would be okay. His younger cousin Max was his rock in this dark time, keeping Rocky from staying up more than two nights in a row, keeping him from going after every potential mugger he saw. He helped Rocky train, as well. If he was going to insist on fighting crime like a vigilante, Max would keep him alive. Little did Max know, this would prove a challenge.
While he was able to convince Rocky to enrol in Flightbury's secondary school, Max couldn't keep Rocky from trying to fight crime, so together they brought some of their things to a nearby cave to use as a home base. This included computers, chairs, food… all the things they would need in order to stay in that cave for hours on end, which Rocky had no trouble doing. One night, Rocky asked Max about something that stuck out to both of them.
"I've been reading up on one of Flightbury's urban myths, one I've never heard of before. Max, what is Black Bat?"
"Black Bat? Like you said, just an urban myth. Guardian angel, mysterious protector and all that. Some cops and criminals will swear they've seen the Black Bat, but no one can even say what gender they think it has, so nobody believes them. The only thing all the stories have in common is a human-like figure dressed in black from head to toe, flying in and taking out criminals."
"Do you believe the stories?"
"I'm not sure. What I do know is that I've never seen Black Bat, and nobody I know has seen it, either. What about you? Are there any urban myths that you believe in?"
"It's not exactly an urban myth, but have you heard of the Green Hornet?"
"No, I haven't. What's that?"
"He's very similar to the Black Bat, in a way, except he's real. He was an American vigilante back in the 1940s and '50s. He dressed in a green business suit and hat with a mask, and used two unique pistols to fight crime. The funny thing about him, though, is he's my great-grandfather."
"Wow."
"I like to think that by doing what I'm doing now, cleaning the streets of human garbage, I'm paying homage to him."
"And it's good that you're doing that, but be careful. I can't lose you, Rocky."
Rocky nods and looks back at his laptop. He frowns and begins typing, then waves Max over and points a finger at the screen.
"See that, Max? That doesn't look like Flightbury does today, does it?"
Max walks over and looks at the screen. It displays an old city plan of Flightbury, showing a cityscape with rather short buildings, quite closer together, in places they shouldn't be or where roads are now. The caption beneath the photo reads, "Flightbury, circa 1930."
Max squints at the image. "This is definitely an older version of Flightbury. But why are you showing me this?"
Rocky leans back in his chair, contemplating. "I've been doing some research, and there have been rumours about hidden tunnels and secret passages beneath the city. People believe that there's a hidden history, a forgotten era of Flightbury that has been concealed over time."
"You think there's something more to this city? Something undiscovered?"
Rocky nods. "Exactly. If we can uncover the secrets of Flightbury's past, it might shed light on the present, on the corruption and crime that plagues this place. Maybe we can find a way to make things right."
Max's eyes gleam. "So we become detectives? Uncover the mysteries of Flightbury?"
Rocky grins. "Something like that. I'll be like a modern-day Green Hornet, fighting crime and finding the truth. It's time to bring justice to this city, Max."
Max extends his hand, and Rocky clasps it firmly. "Count me in, Rocky. We'll be legends. We'll actually make a difference."
