Riley inspected the alien-tech while laying in bed. He'd never seen anything like this, and had been fascinated ever since he'd gotten his hands on them. He didn't know how they converted heat into energy, but he wasn't the smartest engineering wise, so he'd just left it alone.

In the opposite corner of the room Stephanie sat typing away on his computer. He obviously couldn't bring his weaponry to the library, so the two met at his apartment. He'd warned the blonde about the poor connection here, but she didn't seem to care.

Two days had passed since his run in with the assassin. He'd been keeping his Cinder activities to a low in case Black Mask hired someone new to kill him. Stephanie was still active, but she was making even less progress alone than the two did together. The blonde already knew his secret identity so he didn't care that she knew where he was staying. It's not like it'd be hard to find anyways.

"I don't know why you're searching the internet. It's not like the guy would post his location on social media," Riley commented, still looking over the design of the weapon. He wondered if he could change the silver color to match his Crimson attire. Stephanie didn't answer him, instead continuing to intently browse the web.

She'd been more diligent than ever since her run-in with Batgirl. She told him about her encounter with Robin as well, and it was clear the night had been hard for her. Riley never had friends, so he couldn't empathize with the feeling of losing them. Still, he'd tried his best. Despite their opposite occupations, Stephanie was his first friend so he'd stick besides her. Of course the two would fight after they dealt with Black Mask, but he wouldn't kill her after he won.

That meant he wasn't going to be able to use his new weapons, but it was a sacrifice worth taking. His time spent with Stephanie truly showed the difference in fighting ability between himself and Batman's allies as well. He'd enjoyed his spars with her, as they allowed him to get better in fighting. There might be a time where he couldn't use his abilities, so it was best to have as many weapons up his sleeve as possible. Why not strengthen the ones he'd always have access to?

He'd still never beaten the blonde, but the time would come eventually. He hoped him sparing her when they eventually came to odds would allow them to keep their current relationship going. Having a gauge to his skills for once was nice. His boxing club had been closed down after the owner died in a failed robbery, so he'd take any chance of improvement he could get. He'd also enjoyed her company. His time spent as Riley wasn't spent planning for things to do as Cinder. His whole point in creating Cindercorp was so he'd be able to live his life however he wanted, he didn't want himself to become a slave to his alias.

He'd told Stephanie that as well. She'd let her time spent as a hero take over her life, to the point where all of her time was spent on her nightly activities. She tried to recruit him to the light side, but he'd refused. Being a hero had too many rules, both moral and legal. Plus, he had too much blood on his hands at this point, but she didn't need to know that.

He'd tried to hide his villainy activities away from the blonde. He didn't know why, it wasn't like they were hard to find, but he did so all the same.

"Well it seems like you were wrong," Stephanie suddenly spoke, causing Riley to raise an eyebrow. She walked over and showed the brunette what she'd found online. It was a post from a trader online complaining how their ship had been stolen after they arrived at Gotham and the GCPD weren't doing anything to fix it. The man had luckily put tracking devices on his property just in case the current situation happened.

"How do you know he's there?" Riley asked. From what he knew, it could have easily been anyone. They could sell the ship for much more than they could the products, so anyone looking to make a profit could've sold it.

"The timeline from which it was stolen matches when Black Mask stopped expanding and seemingly disappeared. It might not be him, but whoever it was will know at least a little about where he could be hiding."

"What if it's just some random gang that decided to steal a ship?"

"Then we'd still be putting criminals behind bars," Riley rolled his eyes at the hero talk. "It's not like we'd be losing progress anyways. We'd just be in the same position as now."

Riley nodded at the logic. They had nothing to lose and all to gain. Well, they could lose their lives but there was a chance that happened every night in Gotham. He wouldn't mind taking the ship for himself either. It'd only expand Cindercorp's influence.

"Hmm, alright. We don't have anything better to do," suddenly an idea popped up in his head. "And since we don't have anything better to do, why not do it now? Batman and his sidekicks are only active at night, which means there'd be less competition if this ship actually has anything to do with Black Mask." They light hours of Gotham were drastically less eventful than it's dark hours. Riley had tried to open his illegal business during the day, but he always saw few customers. After that he'd discarded the idea and used the day to restock and prepare for the next night.

If Black Mask was anything like himself, he'd be doing the same thing. Attacking now would mean he'd be getting ahead of whatever he had planned for tonight, or at least force him to make changes to his plans.

Stephanie thought about it for a second before finally agreeing. She'd usually be at school right now, but she'd pushed her time as Stephanie to the side to focus on the issue in front of them. "Okay. The ship was stolen near Newtown, so I'll meet you there." The two nodded at eachother a parted their separate ways. Riley would have to make his way the Greenburg to stock up on guns, but afterwards he wouldn't have much more preparing to do.

He wouldn't be bringing his new weapons, as they'd probably put a hole in the ship and sink them. He'd hated having to wait even longer, but he valued his life more than his want to use the weapons. He assembled his Cinder attire from his wardrobe and made his way away from the apartment. A smile shined on his face as he did so. Finally, his day life was starting to become exciting.

/0/

The two disguised teens patiently waited on the ship. Their target had already set sails for the water, so they'd have to get a ride towards it. Stephanie disapproved of Riley's way of 'getting' a ride, but it was her fault for teaming up with a criminal. Riley had stolen a ship and kidnapped a member of the crew, forcing him to take them to where he wanted. Riley had told her afterwards that he wasn't actually going to kill the man, which is what he threatened to do if he tried denying them, but Stephanie didn't care.

It took them an hour and a half to finally see their target. From there they took smaller boats to get to their target undetected. From his senses, Riley could tell there were about 15 people on the boat. The men would obviously be armed, so just barging onto the ship was a no go. Riley wasn't very good with stealth, so he'd leave most of the stealth work to his partner.

The two reached the boat, Spoiler pulling out a grappling gun that pulled them onto the deck. Cinder warned her of the person nearby, who she silently dealt with. He was wearing the same skull mask covering the bottom half of his face which was common among men working for Black Mask. That meant they were going in the right direction.

There was a group of men guarding a quarter of the ship, so that was the way the two would be heading. They disposed of any guards in their way, Cinder's heat sensing allowing Spoiler to knock them out before they could alert anyone. Finally the reached the captain's quarters. Guarding the entrance to the quarters stood four men armed with automatic rifles. The two had already taken out all the men on the upper level of the ship, so they didn't have to worry about stealth any longer.

Four screams of pain filled their ears as the firearms exploded in their hands, taking off skin and fingers. The two quickly exited from their hiding spot, attacking the pained men. Cinder gathered heat to his hands, delivering two swift heated punches to the face of one man. He turned and grabbed the man closest to him, another yell of pain as his heated hands burned into his skin. An over-the-shoulder throw sent the man crashing into the wall behind them, knocking him out.

On the opposite hand, Spoiler swiftly dealt with her opponents with quick strikes. Their damaged hands and state of pain meant they didn't fight back much. Defeating the four men took all of 30 seconds. Cinder smiled under his mask. It was a sign of his improvement.

"He'll definitely have a gun pointed towards the door, be careful." Spoiler warned, earning a nod from her crimson companion. She kicked the door in, quickly dodging to the side as an array of bullet filled the area she'd just been standing. She dropped a smoke pellet, hiding their position from their attacker.

The two rushed into the room while their attacker was reloading, sprinting straight for the figure. Spoiler tackled the man, delivering two punches to his head as she did so. The man pushed the blonde off, quickly rising to his feet. From behind, Cinder delivered an elbow to the back of his skull. His head flew forward, right into a right hook from Spoiler. The blonde kicked at his leg, causing the man to fall to a knee. Cinder delivered a hook of his own, sending the man crashing into the floor.

There Black Mask lay, swiftly defeated by the two teens. Cinder pulled out a gun to finish the job, only to dodge a kick from Spoiler.

"What are you doing, Stephanie!?" He exclaimed, quickly tensing up.

"I'm not going to let you kill him, Riley. We aren't supposed to play the role of the judge, jury, nor executioner."

"Are you crazy? I don't care about your moral code, killing him now would make it a lot easier for the both of us in the future. I don't know if you noticed, but nobody in Gotham seems to serve their sentence after their arrested."

"That doesn't matter. If it comes to that we'll just beat him again. I won't let you-" the blonde was cut off by Cinder rushing towards her. She moved out of the way, only for a bullet to lodge itself into her leg. Spoiler fell to one knee and turned her attention to its originator. Cinder quickly turned his attention to the man that was previously defeated, pushing heat to the man's smoking handgun. Black Mask yelled in pain, clutching his right hand.

The yelling was cut off by the sound of two gunshots, before the body of Black Mask fell to the ground limp. Spoiler turned her attention back to Cinder, her mouth wide open in shock. The teen had swiftly put an end to one of the biggest names in the Underworld right in front of her.

"Do you see what I was talking about? He was going to kill you," Spoiler quickly put her guard up, preparing to fight her former partner. Cinder scoffed at the sight. "I'm not fighting you, Stephanie. Not now. You're hurt,."

"Oh, so now you have a moral code?" Spoiler spat, her eyes never leaving her target.

"You're my friend, not some asshole who would've killed me the second he got the chance to do so. I'm not fighting you Stephanie. When you're healed you can come find me and try to throw me behind bars. Until then we're done." The man in crimson made his way to the exit only to dodge another attack from the vigilante.

He sighed, putting his own guard up. Why did she have to be so stubborn. He rushed towards the injured vigilante, kicking at her injured leg. She buckled but didn't fall, retaliating in two strikes to his chest. Cinder grabbed her arm, burning his hands burning through her suit. This time, the kick to her leg sent her to her knees, allowing the criminal a free spinning kick to her head.

The world went dark for a second, but she stayed vigilante. She tried to rise to her feet, only for her leg to throb in pain. Cinder stood above her, shaking her head. She grabbed his foot, trying to take him down as well. She was rewarded with a kick to the gut, flipping her onto her back.

Cinder mounted her, pounding away at her guarded head. It was clear she would keep fighting, so he'd have to knock her out. His fist glowed orange, heat filling them. He easily broke through her guard, grabbing at her head. The blonde yelled in pain as he directed heat to her head. It wasn't much, seeing as he still didn't want to kill her, but he hoped it was enough to put her down for now. The blonde clawed at his hands, thrashing violently.

In the end it was useless, though. The darkness filled her vision once more, this time she was unable to fight it.

/0/

Stephanie's eyes shot open, taking in her surroundings. She was still on a ship, probably the one that took them to Black Mask. Her eyes widened at her change in attire. She wasn't wearing her suit, instead wearing shorts and a shirt clearly belonging to a resident of the ship. Her injured leg had been bandaged as well.

"Don't worry," a familiar voice hit her ears, causing her to turn her head. "I'm not into that sort of crime. I'm not much of a doctor, hopefully the bandages were enough for now." Cinder spoke.

"Where are we?" The blond quickly spat. Cinder just shook his head.

"On our way back to Gotham. You don't have to be so aggressive. I told you I didn't do anything."

"You murdered Black Mask."

"He was trying to kill us! I'm not like you heroes, I take attempts on my life very differently! I don't have the whole system on my side like you do-"

"Did you think about how that'd affect me!?" Stephanie yelled, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "My dad was a criminal, you know? Just like you. I hated him for that! His activities constantly put us in danger! I did everything I could, trying to prove I was better than he was. It's why I even became a hero in the first place, so I could make sure people like him couldn't see the light of day. It's why I wanted to prove myself as a hero so much, why I slaved over fixing everything I've broken. How am I supposed to do that now? I let Black Mask die in front of me. I did nothing to stop it. As far as I'm concerned, I'm no better than he is."

Riley was shocked. He took off his mask, coming face to face with the crying teen. He didn't know how he was supposed to respond to that, but he'll try. "I don't know if this is the right thing to say, but I don't regret it. My parents have been dead for as long as I can remember, so I can't say I relate to how you feel. I've been alone since I was a kid, so I've always put myself first. I've felt that way long before I found out I was a meta that this world is cruel, and someone won't always be there to save you,"

Riley placed his hands on her shoulder, staring directly into her sky blue eyes. "It's not your fault. It's not your fault that your dad was what he was, and it's not your fault that I killed Black Mask. You were injured, there was nothing you could have done to stop me," Riley chuckled a little. "Even if you weren't I would've killed him behind your back. You should be more selfish, Stephanie. You try so hard to prove you're not like your dad that you start to lose you. Who cares what he did for a living, that shouldn't affect you now, especially after you've separated yourself from him. Ever since I discovered my powers, I decided I'd live however I wanted. If I had to step on a few toes or even kill a few people while doing that, then it was what it was. At least I'd be living. You have to live a little, Stephanie. I've told you this since we've been together, but being a slave to Spoiler, that's not living,"

"You shouldn't have to hold yourself to the standards of Batman or anyone else. You shouldn't have to prove you're one way or another. Just live. If you ended up becoming a hero, then so be it, but at least it'd have been because you wanted to. We all have one life, nobody should spend it worrying about what anyone else thinks. You should do what you want to do, and if anyone has a problem with it they could fuck themselves."

The two stared at eachother. Riley couldn't tell what was going on in the girl's head, but he hoped his talk worked. He stood up and made his way to the door. He hadn't expected this to become as deep as it did, but there was nothing that could change that now. He'd give her some time to herself. It was clear she was suffering from some clear trauma.

/0/

The two split after the ship docked. It was 7 P.M now, and the night would soon arrive. Riley made his way to Greenburg Garden. He'd have less time to set up shop for tonight, but he didn't care. Black Mask was dead, by his own hands at that. The looming threat that shadowed him ever since the events at Grant Park was gone. He could expand as much as he wanted, and there wasn't anyone to stop him.

He entered Greenburg Garden to a weird feeling in his body. He didn't know what, but something just seemed wrong. No customers were there, but they'd probably just left after seeing he was gone. He entered the back storage area to find the lights off. That was even weirder. Even if he weren't there, his 'employees' should've been here to deliver whatever weapons they got their hands on during the day. He turned the lights on only to see a figure standing in the middle of the room.

Riley nearly fainted at the sight of Batman staring back at him. How didn't he feel him? Even now, he couldn't feel the man's heat signature.

"Where is Spoiler, Cinder?" Batman asked. His voice was dark and clear. He couldn't tell what the man was thinking. Riley grit his teeth. There was no way he could beat Batman. He'd just have to hope the Dark Knight wasn't aiming for him currently, although he doubted that was true.

"I don't know. What do you want?"

"Batgirl told me about your search for Black Mask. I have a feeling you were successful. Where is he?"

Riley clenched his fist. This was definitely the end of the road for him. "Yeah we were successful. Don't worry about where he is, just know that he was dealt with." The Dark Knight said nothing, instead sprinting towards him. Riley tried to react, but it was of no use. Every strike the man threw connected, and they hurt like hell. Even raising the temperature of his body to scorching heats didn't effect Gotham's protector.

Riley's body slammed to the ground, feeling the cold floor under him. This didn't stop Batman, who assaulted his head while he was on the ground. It only took a few hits for the world to go dark and his body to go limp.


Character Update

Name: Stephanie Brown

Alias: Spoiler

Age: 17 (Born August 11th)

Occupation: Vigilante

Height: 5'5 (165 cm)

Appearance: Fair Skin Tone, Shoulder-Length Blonde Hair, Sky Blue Eyes