We're getting close to meeting the Team! Just so it's clear, Superman calls Mallory Torch because she doesn't tell him her real name, and the first thing he said to her (in the last chapter) was 'Well, you're quite the little Torch'. Now, on to the story. Please review!
Mallory soared over the training room. She simultaneously hit three targets and dodged a squirt of water, easily ducking under it. She circled herself with a ring of fire, swirling it around like a streamer. Two squirts of water came at her and she flew over and under. The pain was starting now, but she pushed it away. Her red eyes squinted in concentration as she landed and summoned fire in the shape of a horse. She leapt onto her creation and galloped across the room, and fiery legs never touching the ground.
She hit a few more targets before an unexpected stream of water shot her horse out from under her. She flew through the air and ended up on the ground rubbing her shoulder.
"Can you tell me what you did wrong?" Don asked over the intercom.
"I didn't keep an eye on my surroundings," Mallory answered with a sheepish smile.
Don gave her a rare smile through the observation window. "Good. Points off for that, but bonus points for presentation." She smiled and walked to the door.
"I have to go," she told him when she got to the observation booth. "I'm meeting my parents in the city in an hour."
Don set his clipboard on the control panel. "You shouldn't go into the city alone. You're only 14, you could get in a bad situation." Mallory only grinned and said, "With what I just did in there, you're still worried that I can't take care of myself?" Don's face hardened. "You know better than to use your power outside of the training room. Just, be careful."
Mallory nodded and hurried to her room to get ready. She took a cold shower and got dressed, then grabbed her wallet and hurried out of the school. She took a bus to the nearest train, then took that to the business district of Metropolis. Her parents were sitting at a table of a sidewalk cafe. She grinned as soon as she saw them. It had been months since they'd been able to come visit her, and she was still wary of going to her old house.
"Mom, Dad," she called. They rose to meet her. "Mallory! Oh, look at you!" Elaine said, pulling her daughter into a hug. Darrin petted Mallory's hair, then pulled her into a hug when Elaine finally let go. "I missed you so much," Mallory said when they sat down. "It's been too long," Elaine agreed.
They were interrupted by shouts and people pointing to the sky. Mallory smiled when she saw Superman fly by.
She glanced at a TV that was currently on a news station talking about an attempted robbery that had occurred a few nights ago. Footage of a gang trapped in a ring of fire being captured by Superman played behind the newscasters. "So the arson vigilante strikes again," Angela Chan said on the TV. "I have to wonder how the Big Blue feels about this. After all, an arsonist turned good catching criminals before he even shows up hardly makes him look good. And who is this new vigilante? Should we be concerned about their obvious fascination with fire? Are we-"
"Mallory?"
Elaine's voice jerked Mallory back to the table.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I spaced out for a sec," she apologized. Elaine's eyes softened. "I was asking if you see Superman a lot. I mean, the school being in Metropolis and all." "Mostly on TV," Mallory lied.
Truth was, she saw him a lot. It had been almost five years since her first night crime fighting with him. She snuck out of the school most nights and detained criminals until he showed up to take them to the cops. Until a few nights ago, she'd managed to keep from getting noticed by the press, but since they had the footage there was more to go on than the word of the criminals she caught. She didn't know if Superman knew who she was, more than likely he did, but she'd found that fighting crime helped her channel her anger and keep it at bay while she was at the school.
Darrrin's eyes drifted to the TV. The newscasters were still talking about the 'fiery vigilante'. "Well, that's new," he mentioned, looking at her pointedly. "Yeah," she replied easily, even though she knew it was almost five years old. "I heard a rumor that Volcana and Superman are starting some sort of power couple thing. Isn't that weird?" It wasn't a lie, she had seen it on something.
Darrin didn't look convinced. "That isn't you, is it?"
"Come on, Dad. The security at the school is like military grade. How would I sneak out of it and then manage to catch criminals before Superman? That's crazy." Darrin seemed satisfied with her answer. They finished their meal and started walking along the sidewalk.
"I'd love for you to come to the school and watch me train," Mallory said absently. "Train? I thought you were done with that," Elaine said. "I can't be done with it. With the way my powers are growing, I have to be able to control them." "But they cause you so much pain. Why don't you just stop using them?" Elaine meant well, but the question irritated Mallory. "I can't just stop," she snapped, then took a breath. "Sorry, I didn't mean that. The thing is, I can't just stop using them. It would be like shaking a can of soda. The pressure would build until it can't anymore, then something would happen to set me off and I would explode, probably literally."
Elaine looked at her daughter. She'd thought there would be a time that Mallory would be done with the school and would be able to go home, but it was starting to look like that would never happen.
"I have to get back. My visiting time is almost over," Mallory said, pointing to the time on her phone. "We'll go back to the school with you," Darrin said, and they rushed to catch the train.
My training room is over here," Mallory told her parents. They'd never watched her train on their visits, which she was kind of glad of. "I've already trained once today, but I can show you a little of what I've learned." She changed into her fire resistant shorts and shirt and slipped into the room.
She made a few fireballs, shaped fire into different animals, and wrapped a rope-like string around her like a spiral ladder. She jumped when the intercom clicked on. "All right, Mal, don't overdo it," Don's voice told her. She looked to the window and saw him talking to her parents. She hurried to join them, not wanting her parents to find out the extent of her powers. At least, not now when her dad could still be thinking that she was the fire vigilante.
"I know it sounds scary, but she's in no danger here. We told them that we would talk to you and relay your answer. I honestly don't agree with it at all. I-" Don's voice trailed off when he saw Mallory standing at the door. "What are you talking about?" she asked. Don sighed. He'd never lied to her, and he wasn't about to start now.
"Some men from some confidential branch of the government came here a few days ago and talked to the director about giving you a job. The director told them no, of course, but they made him promise to at least talk to your parents. This happened once before, and they didn't ask. I don't think it's a good idea."
Volcana. That had to be what he was talking about. Mallory had seen footage of the pyrokinetic when she'd confronted her former 'employers', and Superman had told her some of the woman's backstory.
"I don't want to go," Mallory said simply.
Elaine was visibly relieved. "Good, I'm glad you have sense enough to turn them down," Don said, giving her his second smile of the day.
Darrin's phone went off and he checked it. "Oh, Mal, we have to go," he said apologetically, pocketing his phone. "We have to catch the flight back to Central City. You should come visit us soon, though," he said, looking at her hopefully.
Mallory forced herself to look cheerful. "Maybe." She hugged her parents tightly. It never got easier to say goodbye. "I love you guys," she murmured, and Elaine gave her a squeeze and replied, "We love you, too, sweetie." All too soon, they were gone, and Mallory was left clenching her fists. It wasn't fair. She headed to the gym to beat up a punching bag. She would definitely be going out tonight.
Mallory flew around for an hour. She landed in bad areas and nervously checked for trouble. Her anger was building. She needed something to focus on. She landed on the last street in what she considered 'her territory' and sighed. Of course, when she wanted someone to commit a crime they all stayed home.
She wandered along, not paying attention to where she was going. She ended up in the business district, nearly sixteen blocks from where she usually patrolled.
She stopped in front of a Lexcorp building, frustrated and deciding whether she should just go back to the school or keep going. She kicked the building angrily. Of all the nights for the crooks to take off, it had to be this one.
"Hey! What are you doing?"
The voice made her jump as she looked for its source. A guard stepped out of the building and crossed his arms, scowling at her. "Kid, what are you doing?" he asked again, suspicion in his tone.
"Nothin'," she mumbled, hoping to look like a normal bored kid. She started to walk around him, but he grabbed her arm. "Wait, I think I'll check the footage. Come with me."
Alarm bells went off in her head. She knew she shouldn't willingly go into a dark building with a strange man, and the fact that it was a Lexcorp building only made the situation feel more dangerous.
"No, I have to get home," she said, trying to get the man to let go of her arm. "You need to come with me," the man said again, his grip tightened around her arm. "No," Mallory yelled. She jerked her arm again, struggling to get free. She debated whether she should use her powers, but the man had seen her face, so she decided she shouldn't risk it. He started to drag her into the building, her fighting and dragging her feet every step of the way.
"Let me go!" Mallory yelled, louder than she had been. She could feel the anger building, could feel the fire begging to be let out. The man continued to drag her to the doors. She stopped fighting suddenly, shutting her eyes tight. She knew they were red. He looked back at her when she stopped fighting, and when he stopped she opened her eyes to see why. When the guard saw her eyes, he went slack in shock. "Hey, what's with your‒wha‒"
It was enough of a delay for Mallory to pull her arm free and take a few steps back. When the guard recovered and took a step towards her, all reason left her and she flamed up and hovered over his head. He backed up, fear in his eyes. Mallory produced a fireball in her hand, glaring at the guard. She was about to let it fly when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She spun around, ready to throw the fire.
"Woah, calm down, Torch, it's only me," Superman said with a small smile.
Mallory's heart leapt to her throat as she realized what she had almost done. She closed her fist, ending the fire's life, and they descended to the sidewalk.
"What seems to be the trouble here?" Superman asked.
"The girl was loitering. When I asked her to move she started flaming up and threatening me." Mallory glared at the guard, her fists clenched so tight her knuckles were white, her eyes blazing red. Superman turned to her. "Now, what's your side?" he asked politely. "I was just walking. I kicked the building, this guy came out and tried to drag me into the building and wouldn't let go of me."
"All right, well, no harm done. Come on, I'll take you home," Superman said, and he and Mallory flew off. Superman pulled her down on the roof of the Daily Planet.
"Thanks, I guess. I need to go," Mallory told him. She stepped to the edge of the roof, but stopped when Superman said, "Torch, wait." She turned. "What happened back there? I found you aiming a fireball at someone's head. You almost blindly threw one at me. And you were unreasonably angry about the situation with the guard. What's going on?"
Mallory bit her lip. She'd known Superman for nearly 5 years now, but she'd never told him how her powers worked. It had never been necessary. She studied his face. The only things she saw in it were concern and understanding as he looked at her patiently. If she told him that her anger was tied to her powers, he could try to get her to give up the hero work, decide that she was too uncontrollable and volatile.
Still, she'd come to view him as an uncle, a mentor, even, and she felt he had a right to know. She sighed.
"I can't-well, I can't fully control my power. It grows every day. And, um, I think my anger is somehow tied to it. I get mad when I have to keep myself bottled up, and getting mad can cause me to lose control."
She watched him carefully. He pinched the bridge of his nose. "All right. Look, you should probably get home." Mallory nodded slowly and turned to go.
"Oh, Torch?" Superman said, as if as an afterthought. She looked over her shoulder. "Yeah?" "Thanks for telling me." She smiled slightly and nodded, then flew off.
Clark sighed heavily. Great, so she had anger issues. As if Conner wasn't enough. Well, at least Conner was being taken care of by the league. He flew into his window and got out of his costume.
When Robin, Kid Flash, Aqualad, and Superboy had first started the team, he'd thought about talking to Batman about putting Torch on it, but in the end had decided against it. She didn't seem like an ideal candidate for a covert team. Her powers would draw too much attention.
Now, he was glad he hadn't. Having two hotheads on the team was asking for trouble, especially since he was sort of like Torch's mentor, and Conner would have a hard time accepting that.
He sighed again. How could he help her get a hold of her powers? There was one pyrokinetic her knew that was on the right side of the law, but he didn't know much about her. Of course, he'd never seen her lose control before, so maybe she didn't need help.
That was what he tried to convince himself of as he drifted off into a fitful sleep.